bromwell high is a cartoon comedy . it ran at the same time as some other programs about school life  such as  teachers  . my   years in the teaching profession lead me to believe that bromwell high  s satire is much closer to reality than is  teachers  . the scramble to survive financially  the insightful students who can see right through their pathetic teachers  pomp  the pettiness of the whole situation  all remind me of the schools i knew and their students . when i saw the episode in which a student repeatedly tried to burn down the school  i immediately recalled . . . . . . . . . at . . . . . . . . . . high . a classic line inspector i  m here to sack one of your teachers . student welcome to bromwell high . i expect that many adults of my age think that bromwell high is far fetched . what a pity that it isn  t   
story of a man who has unnatural feelings for a pig . starts out with a opening scene that is a terrific example of absurd comedy . a formal orchestra audience is turned into an insane  violent mob by the crazy chantings of it  s singers . unfortunately it stays absurd the whole time with no general narrative eventually making it just too off putting . even those from the era should be turned off . the cryptic dialogue would make shakespeare seem easy to a third grader . on a technical level it  s better than you might think with some good cinematography by future great vilmos zsigmond . future stars sally kirkland and frederic forrest can be seen briefly .  
homelessness  or houselessness as george carlin stated  has been an issue for years but never a plan to help those on the street that were once considered human who did everything from going to school  work  or vote for the matter . most people think of the homeless as just a lost cause while worrying about things such as racism  the war on iraq  pressuring kids to succeed  technology  the elections  inflation  or worrying if they  ll be next to end up on the streets .  br    br   but what if you were given a bet to live on the streets for a month without the luxuries you once had from a home  the entertainment sets  a bathroom  pictures on the wall  a computer  and everything you once treasure to see what it  s like to be homeless  that is goddard bolt  s lesson .  br    br   mel brooks  who directs  who stars as bolt plays a rich man who has everything in the world until deciding to make a bet with a sissy rival  jeffery tambor  to see if he can live in the streets for thirty days without the luxuries if bolt succeeds  he can do what he wants with a future project of making more buildings . the bet  s on where bolt is thrown on the street with a bracelet on his leg to monitor his every move where he can  t step off the sidewalk . he  s given the nickname pepto by a vagrant after it  s written on his forehead where bolt meets other characters including a woman by the name of molly  lesley ann warren  an ex  dancer who got divorce before losing her home  and her pals sailor  howard morris  and fumes  teddy wilson  who are already used to the streets . they  re survivors . bolt isn  t . he  s not used to reaching mutual agreements like he once did when being rich where it  s fight or flight  kill or be killed .  br    br   while the love connection between molly and bolt wasn  t necessary to plot  i found  life stinks  to be one of mel brooks  observant films where prior to being a comedy  it shows a tender side compared to his slapstick work such as blazing saddles  young frankenstein  or spaceballs for the matter  to show what it  s like having something valuable before losing it the next day or on the other hand making a stupid bet like all rich people do when they don  t know what to do with their money . maybe they should give it to the homeless instead of using it like monopoly money .  br    br   or maybe this film will inspire you to help others .  
airport    starts as a brand new luxury    plane is loaded up with valuable paintings  such belonging to rich businessman philip stevens  james stewart  who is flying them  a bunch of vip  s to his estate in preparation of it being opened to the public as a museum  also on board is stevens daughter julie  kathleen quinlan   her son . the luxury jetliner takes off as planned but mid  air the plane is hi  jacked by the co  pilot chambers  robert foxworth   his two accomplice  s banker  monte markham   wilson  michael pataki  who knock the passengers  crew out with sleeping gas  they plan to steal the valuable cargo  land on a disused plane strip on an isolated island but while making his descent chambers almost hits an oil rig in the ocean  loses control of the plane sending it crashing into the sea where it sinks to the bottom right bang in the middle of the bermuda triangle . with air in short supply  water leaking in  having flown over    miles off course the problems mount for the survivor  s as they await help with time fast running out . . .  br    br   also known under the slightly different tile airport     this second sequel to the smash  hit disaster thriller airport       was directed by jerry jameson  while once again like it  s predecessors i can  t say airport    is any sort of forgotten classic it is entertaining although not necessarily for the right reasons . out of the three airport films i have seen so far i actually liked this one the best  just . it has my favourite plot of the three with a nice mid  air hi  jacking  then the crashing  didn  t he see the oil rig    sinking of the     maybe the makers were trying to cross the original airport with another popular disaster flick of the period the poseidon adventure         submerged is where it stays until the end with a stark dilemma facing those trapped inside  either suffocate when the air runs out or drown as the    floods or if any of the doors are opened  it  s a decent idea that could have made for a great little disaster flick but bad unsympathetic character  s  dull dialogue  lethargic set  pieces  a real lack of danger or suspense or tension means this is a missed opportunity . while the rather sluggish plot keeps one entertained for    odd minutes not that much happens after the plane sinks  there  s not as much urgency as i thought there should have been . even when the navy become involved things don  t pick up that much with a few shots of huge ships  helicopters flying about but there  s just something lacking here . george kennedy as the jinxed airline worker joe patroni is back but only gets a couple of scenes  barely even says anything preferring to just look worried in the background .  br    br   the home video  theatrical version of airport    run    minutes while the us tv versions add an extra hour of footage including a new opening credits sequence  many more scenes with george kennedy as patroni  flashbacks to flesh out character  s  longer rescue scenes  the discovery or another couple of dead bodies including the navigator . while i would like to see this extra footage i am not sure i could sit through a near three hour cut of airport    . as expected the film has dated badly with horrible fashions  interior design choices  i will say no more other than the toy plane model effects aren  t great either . along with the other two airport sequels this takes pride of place in the razzie award  s hall of shame although i can think of lots of worse films than this so i reckon that  s a little harsh . the action scenes are a little dull unfortunately  the pace is slow  not much excitement or tension is generated which is a shame as i reckon this could have been a pretty good film if made properly .  br    br   the production values are alright if nothing spectacular . the acting isn  t great  two time oscar winner jack lemmon has said since it was a mistake to star in this  one time oscar winner james stewart looks old  frail  also one time oscar winner lee grant looks drunk while sir christopher lee is given little to do  there are plenty of other familiar faces to look out for too .  br    br   airport    is the most disaster orientated of the three airport films so far  i liked the ideas behind it even if they were a bit silly  the production  bland direction doesn  t help though  a film about a sunken plane just shouldn  t be this boring or lethargic . followed by the concorde . . . airport          .  
brilliant over  acting by lesley ann warren . best dramatic hobo lady i have ever seen  and love scenes in clothes warehouse are second to none . the corn on face is a classic  as good as anything in blazing saddles . the take on lawyers is also superb . after being accused of being a turncoat  selling out his boss  and being dishonest the lawyer of pepto bolt shrugs indifferently  i  m a lawyer  he says . three funny words . jeffrey tambor  a favorite from the later larry sanders show  is fantastic here too as a mad millionaire who wants to crush the ghetto . his character is more malevolent than usual . the hospital scene  and the scene where the homeless invade a demolition site  are all  time classics . look for the legs scene and the two big diggers fighting  one bleeds  . this movie gets better each time i see it  which is quite often  .  
this film lacked something i couldn  t put my finger on at first charisma on the part of the leading actress . this inevitably translated to lack of chemistry when she shared the screen with her leading man . even the romantic scenes came across as being merely the actors at play . it could very well have been the director who miscalculated what he needed from the actors . i just don  t know .  br    br   but could it have been the screenplay  just exactly who was the chef in love with  he seemed more enamored of his culinary skills and restaurant  and ultimately of himself and his youthful exploits  than of anybody or anything else . he never convinced me he was in love with the princess .  br    br   i was disappointed in this movie . but  don  t forget it was nominated for an oscar  so judge for yourself .  
this is easily the most underrated film inn the brooks cannon . sure  its flawed . it does not give a realistic view of homelessness  unlike  say  how citizen kane gave a realistic view of lounge singers  or titanic gave a realistic view of italians you idiots  . many of the jokes fall flat . but still  this film is very lovable in a way many comedies are not  and to pull that off in a story about some of the most traditionally reviled members of society is truly impressive . its not the fisher king  but its not crap  either . my only complaint is that brooks should have cast someone else in the lead  i love mel as a director and writer  not so much as a lead  .  
sorry everyone    i know this is supposed to be an  art  film   but wow  they should have handed out guns at the screening so people could blow their brains out and not watch . although the scene design and photographic direction was excellent  this story is too painful to watch . the absence of a sound track was brutal . the loooonnnnng shots were too long . how long can you watch two people just sitting there and talking  especially when the dialogue is two people complaining . i really had a hard time just getting through this film . the performances were excellent  but how much of that dark  sombre  uninspired  stuff can you take  the only thing i liked was maureen stapleton and her red dress and dancing scene . otherwise this was a ripoff of bergman . and i  m no fan f his either . i think anyone who says they enjoyed     hours of this is   well  lying .  
this is not the typical mel brooks film . it was much less slapstick than most of his movies and actually had a plot that was followable . leslie ann warren made the movie  she is such a fantastic  under  rated actress . there were some moments that could have been fleshed out a bit more  and some scenes that could probably have been cut to make the room to do so  but all in all  this is worth the price to rent and see it . the acting was good overall  brooks himself did a good job without his characteristic speaking to directly to the audience . again  warren was the best actor in the movie  but  fume  and  sailor  both played their parts well .  
when i was little my parents took me along to the theater to see interiors . it was one of many movies i watched with my parents  but this was the only one we walked out of . since then i had never seen interiors until just recently  and i could have lived out the rest of my life without it . what a pretentious  ponderous  and painfully boring piece of    s wine and cheese tripe . woody allen is one of my favorite directors but interiors is by far the worst piece of crap of his career . in the unmistakable style of ingmar berman  allen gives us a dark  angular  muted  insight in to the lives of a family wrought by the psychological damage caused by divorce  estrangement  career  love  non  love  halitosis  whatever . the film  intentionally  has no comic relief  no music  and is drenched in shadowy pathos . this film style can be best defined as expressionist in nature  using an improvisational method of dialogue to illicit a  more pronounced depth of meaning and truth  . but woody allen is no ingmar bergman . the film is painfully slow and dull . but beyond that  i simply had no connection with or sympathy for any of the characters . instead i felt only contempt for this parade of shuffling  whining  nicotine stained  martyrs in a perpetual quest for identity . amid a backdrop of cosmopolitan affluence and baked brie intelligentsia the story looms like a fart in the room . everyone speaks in affected platitudes and elevated language between cigarettes . everyone is  lost  and  struggling   desperate to find direction or understanding or whatever and it just goes on and on to the point where you just want to slap all of them . it  s never about resolution  it  s only about interminable introspective babble . it is nothing more than a psychological drama taken to an extreme beyond the audience  s ability to connect . woody allen chose to make characters so immersed in themselves we feel left out . and for that reason i found this movie painfully self indulgent and spiritually draining . i see what he was going for but his insistence on promoting his message through prozac prose and distorted film techniques jettisons it past the point of relevance . i highly recommend this one if you  re feeling a little too happy and need something to remind you of death . otherwise  let  s just pretend this film never happened .  
this isn  t the comedic robin williams  nor is it the quirky  insane robin williams of recent thriller fame . this is a hybrid of the classic drama without over  dramatization  mixed with robin  s new love of the thriller . but this isn  t a thriller  per se . this is more a mystery  suspense vehicle through which williams attempts to locate a sick boy and his keeper .  br    br   also starring sandra oh and rory culkin  this suspense drama plays pretty much like a news report  until william  s character gets close to achieving his goal .  br    br   i must say that i was highly entertained  though this movie fails to teach  guide  inspect  or amuse . it felt more like i was watching a guy  williams   as he was actually performing the actions  from a third person perspective . in other words  it felt real  and i was able to subscribe to the premise of the story .  br    br   all in all  it  s worth a watch  though it  s definitely not friday  saturday night fare .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
  it appears that many critics find the idea of a woody allen drama unpalatable .  and for good reason they are unbearably wooden and pretentious imitations of bergman . and let  s not kid ourselves critics were mostly supportive of allen  s bergman pretensions  allen  s whining accusations to the contrary notwithstanding . what i don  t get is this why was allen generally applauded for his originality in imitating bergman  but the contemporaneous brian depalma was excoriated for  ripping off  hitchcock in his suspense  horror films  in robin wood  s view  it  s a strange form of cultural snobbery . i would have to agree with that .  
yes its an art . . . to successfully make a slow paced thriller .  br    br   the story unfolds in nice volumes while you don  t even notice it happening .  br    br   fine performance by robin williams . the sexuality angles in the film can seem unnecessary and can probably affect how much you enjoy the film . however  the core plot is very engaging . the movie doesn  t rush onto you and still grips you enough to keep you wondering . the direction is good . use of lights to achieve desired affects of suspense and unexpectedness is good .  br    br   very nice  time watch if you are looking to lay back and hear a thrilling short story   
the second attempt by a new york intellectual in less than   years to make a  swedish  film  the first being susan sontag  s  brother carl   which was made in sweden  with swedish actors  no less   the results  oscar wilde said it best  in reference to dickens   the old curiosity shop    one would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh out loud at the death of little nell .  pretty much the same thing here .  interiors  is chock full of solemnly intoned howlers .   i  m afraid of my anger .  looking into the middle distance  i don  t like who i  m becoming .   the directorial quotations  to use a polite term  from bergman are close to parody . the incredibly self  involved family keep reminding us of how brilliant and talented they are  to the point of strangulation .   i read a poem of yours the other day . it was in  i don  t know  the new yorker .   oh . that was an old poem . i reworked it .   far from not caring about these people  however  i found them quite hilarious . much of the dialog is exactly like the funny stuff from allen  s earlier films  only he  s directed his actors to play the lines straight . having not cast himself in the movie  he has poor mary beth hurt copy all of his thespian tics  intonations  and neurotic habits  turning her into an embarrassing surrogate  much like kenneth branagh in  celebrity   .  br    br   the basic plot  dysfunctional family with quietly domineering mother  seems to be lifted more or less from bergman  s  winter light   the basic family melodrama tricked up with a lot of existential angst . it all comes through in the shopworn visual  aural tricks the deafening scratching of a pencil on paper  the towering surf that dwarfs the people walking on the beach . etc  etc .  br    br   allen  s later  serious  films are less embarrassing  but also far less entertaining . i  ll take  interiors .  woody  s rarely made a funnier movie .  
in this  critically acclaimed psychological thriller based on true events  gabriel  robin williams   a celebrated writer and late  night talk show host  becomes captivated by the harrowing story of a young listener and his adoptive mother  toni collette  . when troubling questions arise about this boy  s  story   however  gabriel finds himself drawn into a widening mystery that hides a deadly secret  according to film  s official synopsis .  br    br   you really should stop reading these comments  and watch the film now . . .  br    br   the  how did he lose his leg   ending  with ms . collette planning her new life  should be chopped off  and sent to  deleted scenes  land . it  s overkill . the true nature of her physical and mental ailments should be obvious  by the time mr . williams returns to new york . possibly  her blindness could be in question  but a revelation could have be made certain in either the  highway  or  video tape  scenes . the film would benefit from a re  editing  how about a  director  s cut    br    br   williams and bobby cannavale  as jess  don  t seem  initially  believable as a couple . a scene or two establishing their relationship might have helped set the stage . otherwise  the cast is exemplary . williams offers an exceptionally strong characterization  and not a  gay impersonation  . sandra oh  as anna   joe morton  as ashe   and rory culkin  pete logand  are all perfect .  br    br   best of all  collette  s  donna  belongs in the creepy hall of fame . ms . oh is correct in saying collette might be   you know  like that guy from  psycho  .  there have been several years when organizations giving acting awards seemed to reach for women  due to a slighter dispersion of roles certainly  they could have noticed collette with some award consideration . she is that good . and  director patrick stettner definitely evokes hitchcock  he even makes getting a sandwich from a vending machine suspenseful .  br    br   finally  writers stettner  armistead maupin  and terry anderson deserve gratitude from flight attendants everywhere .  br    br    the night listener          patrick stettner  robin williams  toni collette  sandra oh  rory culkin  
i don  t know who to blame  the timid writers or the clueless director . it seemed to be one of those movies where so much was paid to the stars  angie  charlie  denise  rosanna and jon  that there wasn  t enough left to really make a movie . this could have been very entertaining  but there was a veil of timidity  even cowardice  that hung over each scene . since it got an r rating anyway why was the ubiquitous bubble bath scene shot with a    year  old woman and not angie harmon  why does sheen sleepwalk through potentially hot relationships with two of the most beautiful and sexy actresses in the world  if they were only looking for laughs why not cast whoopi goldberg and judy tenuta instead  this was so predictable i was surprised to find that the director wasn  t a five year old . what a waste  not just for the viewers but for the actors as well .  
the night listener           robin williams  toni collette  bobby cannavale  rory culkin  joe morton  sandra oh  john cullum  lisa emery  becky ann baker .  dir patrick stettner   br    br   hitchcockian suspenser gives williams a stand  out low  key performance .  br    br   what is it about celebrities and fans  what is the near paranoia one associates with the other and why is it almost the norm   br    br   in the latest derange fan scenario  based on true events no less  williams stars as a talk  radio personality named gabriel no one  who reads stories he  s penned over the airwaves and has accumulated an interesting fan in the form of a young boy named pete logand  culkin  who has submitted a manuscript about the travails of his troubled youth to no one  s editor ashe  morton  who gives it to no one to read for himself .  br    br   no one is naturally disturbed but ultimately intrigued about the nightmarish existence of pete being abducted and sexually abused for years until he was finally rescued by a nurse named donna  collette giving an excellent performance  who has adopted the boy but her correspondence with no one reveals that pete is dying from aids . naturally no one wants to meet the fans but is suddenly in doubt to their possibly devious ulterior motives when the seed is planted by his estranged lover jess  cannavale  whose sudden departure from their new york city apartment has no one in an emotional tailspin that has only now grown into a tempest in a teacup when he decides to do some investigating into donna and pete  s backgrounds discovering some truths that he didn  t anticipate .  br    br   written by armistead maupin  who co  wrote the screenplay with his former lover terry anderson and the film  s novice director stettner  and based on a true story about a fan  s hoax found out has some hitchcockian moments that run on full tilt like any good old fashioned pot  boiler does . it helps that williams gives a stand  out  low  key performance as the conflicted good  hearted personality who genuinely wants to believe that his number one fan is in fact real and does love him  the one thing that has escaped his own reality  and has some unsettling dreadful moments with the creepy collette whose one physical trait i will leave unmentioned but underlines the desperation of her character that can rattle you to the core .  br    br   however the film runs out of gas and eventually becomes a bit repetitive and predictable despite a finely directed piece of hoodwink and mystery by stettner  it pays to listen to your own inner voice be careful of what you hope for .  
this film is mediocre at best . angie harmon is as funny as a bag of hammers . her bitchy demeanor from  law and order  carries over in a failed attempt at comedy . charlie sheen is the only one to come out unscathed in this horrible anti  comedy . the only positive thing to come out of this mess is charlie and denise  s marriage . hopefully that effort produces better results .  
you know  robin williams  god bless him  is constantly shooting himself in the foot lately with all these dumb comedies he has done this decade  with perhaps the exception of  death to smoochy   which bombed when it came out but is now a cult classic  . the dramas he has made lately have been fantastic  especially  insomnia  and  one hour photo  .  the night listener   despite mediocre reviews and a quick dvd release  is among his best work  period .  br    br   this is a very chilling story  even though it doesn  t include a serial killer or anyone that physically dangerous for that matter . the concept of the film is based on an actual case of fraud that still has yet to be officially confirmed . in high school  i read an autobiography by a child named anthony godby johnson  who suffered horrific abuse and eventually contracted aids as a result . i was moved by the story until i read reports online that johnson may not actually exist . when i saw this movie  the confused feelings that robin williams so brilliantly portrayed resurfaced in my mind .  br    br   toni collette probably gives her best dramatic performance too as the ultimately sociopathic  caretaker  . her role was a far cry from those she had in movies like  little miss sunshine  . there were even times she looked into the camera where i thought she was staring right at me . it takes a good actress to play that sort of role  and it  s this understated  yet well reviewed  role that makes toni collette probably one of the best actresses of this generation not to have even been nominated for an academy award  as of      . it  s incredible that there is at least one woman in this world who is like this  and it  s scary too .  br    br   this is a good  dark film that i highly recommend . be prepared to be unsettled  though  because this movie leaves you with a strange feeling at the end .  
the film is bad . there is no other way to say it . the story is weak and outdated  especially for this country . i don  t think most people know what a  walker  is or will really care . i felt as if i was watching a movie from the    s . the subject was just not believable for the year      even being set in dc . i think this rang true for everyone else who watched it too as the applause were low and quick at the end . most didn  t stay for the qa either .  br    br   i don  t think schrader really thought the film out ahead of time . many of the scenes seemed to be cut short as if they were never finished or he just didn  t know how to finish them . he jumped from one scene to the next and you had to try and figure out or guess what was going on . i really didn  t get woody  s  carter  private life or boyfriend either . what were all the  artistic  male bondage and torture pictures  from iraq prisons  about  what was he thinking  i think it was his very poor attempt at trying to create this dark private subculture life for woody  s character  car  . it didn  t work . it didn  t even seem to make sense really .  br    br   the only good thing about this film was woody harrelson . he played his character  car  flawlessly . you really did get a great sense of what a  walker  may have been like  say twenty years ago  . he was great and most likely will never get recognized for it .  br    br   as for lauren  lily and kristin . . . boring .  br    br   don  t see it  it is painful  unless you are a true harrelson fan .  
when i first read armistead maupins story i was taken in by the human drama displayed by gabriel no one and those he cares about and loves . that being said  we have now been given the film version of an excellent story and are expected to see past the gloss of hollywood . . .  br    br   writer armistead maupin and director patrick stettner have truly succeeded   br    br   with just the right amount of restraint robin williams captures the fragile essence of gabriel and lets us see his struggle with issues of trust both in his personnel life  jess  and the world around him  donna  .  br    br   as we are introduced to the players in this drama we are reminded that nothing is ever as it seems and that the smallest event can change our lives irrevocably . the request to review a book written by a young man turns into a life changing event that helps gabriel find the strength within himself to carry on and move forward .  br    br   it  s to bad that most people will avoid this film . i only say that because the average american will probably think  robin williams in a serious role  that didn  t work before   please give this movie a chance  robin williams touches the darkness we all must find and go through in ourselves to be better people . like his movie one hour photo he has stepped up as an actor and made another quality piece of art .  br    br   oh and before i forget  i believe bobby cannavale as jess steals every scene he is in . he has the      s leading man looks and screen presence . it  s this hacks opinion he could carry his own movie right now    br    br   s  
this film is one giant pant load . paul schrader is utterly lost in his own bad screenplay . and his directing is about as comatose as it can be without his actually having been sleepwalking during the process .  br    br   the worst though is woody harrelson  whom i ordinarily like when he  s properly cast . he plays  the walker   a homosexual man in d . c . who plays social companion to the bored wives of the washington elite . he couldn  t have been more one dimensional if he had been cut out of a magazine and bounced around in front of the camera on a popsicle stick . his  southern accent  is that  off the rack  version that decrescendos from the beginning to the end of every line he delivers  as though the heat and humidity of the south is still draining him of every ounce of energy he has . it is monotonous . but  his is not the worst accent in the movie . his  boyfriend   played by moritz bleibtreau  attempts to affect some kind of a mid east accent that is so clumsy he can barely deliver the bad lines written for him . he is incapable of rolling his r  s in spite of the fact that in real life he is german  and speaks several languages  one of them being italian  that  s kind of a good reason to cast someone else don  t ya think   br    br   from the story  to the screenplay  to the directing  to the camera work  to the performances by the leads  this movie is bad from beginning to end . the only tolerable moments in this film came from three supporting actresses lily tomlin  lauren bacall  and kristin scott thomas . only these three managed to make it through this movie with their dignity in tact . in fact  all three are excellent  in spite of being trapped in a really bad film . ufortunately  no one could ever be good enough to redeem this endless series of flaws . if you like these three actresses  watch them in something else . this movie is not worth your time .  
i liked the film . some of the action scenes were very interesting  tense and well done . i especially liked the opening scene which had a semi truck in it . a very tense action scene that seemed well done .  br    br   some of the transitional scenes were filmed in interesting ways such as time lapse photography  unusual colors  or interesting angles . also the film is funny is several parts . i also liked how the evil guy was portrayed too . i  d give the film an  out of   .  
the plot for descent  if it actually can be called a plot  has two noteworthy events . one near the beginning  one at the end . together these events make up maybe   of the total movie time . everything  and i mean  everything   in between is basically the director  s desperate effort to fill in the minutes . i like disturbing movies  i like dark movies and i don  t get troubled by gritty scenes  but if you expect me to sit through   minutes of hazy  dark  literally  scenes with no storyline you have another thing coming . rosario dawson  one of my favorite actresses is completely wasted here . and no  she doesn  t get naked  not even in the nc    version  which i saw .  br    br   if you have a couple of hours to throw away and want to watch  descent   take a nap instead  you  ll probably have more interesting dreams .  
there are many illnesses born in the mind of man which have been given life in modern times . constant vigilance or accrued information in the realm of pyschosis  have kept psychologists  counselors and psychiatrists busy with enough work to last them decades . occasionally  some of these mental phenomenon are discover by those with no knowledge of their remedy or even of their existence . that is the premise of the film entitled  the night listner .  it tells the story of a popular radio host called gabriel noon  robin williams  who spends his evenings enthralling his audiences with vivid stories about gay lifestyles . perhaps its because his show is losing it  s authentic veneer which causes noon to admit he is no longer himself . feeling abandoned by both his lover jess  bobby cannavale  and his and best friend  joe morton   he seeks shelter in his deepening despair and isolation . it is here  a mysterious voice in the night asks him for help . noon needs to feel useful and reaches out to the desperate voice which belongs to a   year old boy called peter  rory culkin  . in reading the boy  s harrowing manuscript which depicts the early life and sexual abuse at the hands of his brutal parents  noon is captivated and wants to help . however  things are not what they seem and noon soon finds himself en  wrapped in an elusive and bizarre tale torn right out of a medical nightmare . this movie is pure robin williams and were it not for toni collette who plays donna d . logand  sandra oh as anna and john cullum as pop  this might be comical . instead  this may prove to be one of william  s more serious performances .   
plot is not worth discussion even if it hints at corruption  murder  power and the rest of thriller related topics . characters are interesting though sometimes . not realistic but interesting nevertheless .  br    br   development is slow like tea drinking ceremony . visuals not stunning  but good enough to ease the eye strain . good movie to watch after dinner before going to bed  nothing shocking too much  nothing overexciting . movie sitcom style .  br    br   i liked woody  excellent performance . had to fight the plot inadequacy and did the job pretty good . the rest are bearable though very predictable . the whole is watchable and better than most tv shows .  
i enjoyed the night listener very much . it  s one of the better movies of the summer .  br    br   robin williams gives one of his best performances . in fact  the entire cast was very good . all played just the right notes for their characters  not too much and not too little . sandra oh adds a wonderful comic touch . toni collette is great as the mom  and never goes over the top . everyone is very believable .  br    br   it  s a short movie  just under an hour and a half . i noticed the general release version is nine minutes shorter than the sundance version . i wonder if some of the more disturbing images were cut from the movie .  br    br   the director told a story and did it in straightforward fashion  which is a refreshing change from many directors these days who seem to think their job is to impress the audience rather than tell a story and tell it well .  br    br   do not be sucker punched by the previews and ads . it is not a hitchcockian thriller . see the night listener because you want to see a good story told well . if you go expecting hitchcock you will be disappointed .  br    br   my only complaint with the movie was the ending . the director could have left a little more to the audience  s imagination  but this is a minor quibble .  
this film is about a male escort getting involved in a murder investigation that happened in the circle of powerful men  s wives .  br    br   i thought  the walker  would be thrilling and engaging  but i was so wrong . the pacing is painfully and excruciatingly slow  that even after   minutes of the film nothing happens much . seriously  the first hour could be condensed into ten minutes . that  s how slow it is .  br    br   the fact that it lacks any thrills or action scenes aggravates the boredom . it  s almost shocking that even argument scenes are so plain and devoid of emotion . maybe it is because of the stiff upper lip of the higher social class   br    br   it  s sad that  the walker  becomes such a boring mess  despite such a strong cast . blame it on the poor plot and even worse pacing .  
the night listener is probably not one of william  s best roles  but he makes a very interesting character in a somewhat odd but very different movie . i can guarantee you that you have never seen this kind of movie before . some people maybe won  t like the slow pacing of this movie  but i think it  s the great plus of the movie . it is definitely one of the top movies that have come out the year     . it has a intriguing performance in a movie with a great content  dramatic feeling . this is no americanized movie . neither is it a predictable movie . you just feel that it is a movie that has secrets which you have a hard time to determine what the outcome of it may be . this is no excellent movie that has everything  but hell  it  s a damn good and very original movie .  
this movie must be in line for the most boring movie in years . not even woody harrison can save this movie from sinking to the bottom .  br    br   the murder in this movie are supposed to be the point of interest in this movie but is not  nothing is of any interest . the cast are not to bad but the script are just plain awful  i just sat in utter amazement during this movie  thinking how on earth can anyone find this movie entertaining  br    br   the producers of this movie were very clever . they made a boring movie but hid it well with the names of good actors and actresses on their cast . people will go to the blockbuster and probably see this movie and think  woody harrison  kristin scott thomas and willem dafoe this must be good and rent this movie .  boy are they in for a horrible time   br    br   if you like getting ripped off go and rent this movie  some people actually did enjoyed this movie but i like to watch a movie with meaning  
like one of the previous commenters said  this had the foundations of a great movie but something happened on the way to delivery . such a waste because collette  s performance was eerie and williams was believable . i just kept waiting for it to get better . i don  t think it was bad editing or needed another director  it could have just been the film . it came across as a canadian movie  something like the first few seasons of x  files . not cheap  just hokey . also  it needed a little more suspense . something that makes you jump off your seat . the movie reached that moment then faded away kind of like a false climax . i can see how being too suspenseful would have taken away from the  reality  of the story but i thought that part was reached when gabriel was in the hospital looking for the boy . this movie needs to have a director  s cut that tries to fix these problems .  
a worn  out plot of a man who takes the rap for a woman in a murder case  the equally worn  out plot of an outsider on the inside who eventually is shut out .  br    br   with such an outstanding case  one would think the film would rise above its hackneyed origins . but scene after scene drones by with no change in intensity  no character arcs  and inexplicable behavior .  br    br   the homosexuality theme was completely unnecessary   or on the other hand  completely unexplored . it seemed to be included only to titillate the viewers . when will hollywood learn that having gay characters does not automatically make a more compelling picture   br    br   a regrettably dreadful movie . when will lauren bacall pick a good one  i expected better of her and kristin scott thomas . this one is definitely one to miss .  
the night listener held my attention  with robin williams shining as a new york city radio host who becomes enamored with his friendship with a   year old boy  rory culkin  who is very ill . williams has never met the boy in person  as they have only been in contact by talking on the telephone . however  williams  ex  boyfriend  nice job from bobby cannavale  raises doubt about the boy  which prompts williams to arrange a meeting with him in person . what follows makes a permanent impact on williams in a way he does not expect . i will leave it at that . toni collette also stars .  br    br   i enjoyed this film  with toni collette giving a memorable portrayal of culkin  s adoptive mother . sandra oh also starred as williams  friend . the night listener is inspired by actual events  and it has a somber  almost creepy silence throughout . at times it is predictable  no thanks to some of the reviews i read before seeing the movie and just due to logic  but i liked it anyway . i enjoy williams in roles like this  more so than his comedic characters so that was an added bonus for me . recommended .      
i saw this movie at a drive  in in     . until  howard the duck  i considered this the worst movie i had ever seen . this movie tried to combine all the genera in one comedy  horror  teenage angst  and the hot rod that must have sired  my mother  the car .  maybe it deserves a second viewing to see if it is an accurate reflection of it  s time .  
popular radio storyteller gabriel no one  robin williams  scraggy and speaking in hushed  hypnotic tones  becomes acquainted and friends with a fourteen  year  old boy from wisconsin named pete logand  rory culkin   who has written a book detailing sexual abuse from his parents . to boot  pete has aids and this compels gabriel further still  since his partner jess  bobby cannavale  good  happens to be a survivor of hiv himself .  br    br   he also acquaints himself with pete  s guardian  a woman named donna  toni collette  brilliant   and when gabriel decides he wants to meet and talk to the two of them in person and goes to wisconsin  he discovers some secrets he was  naturally  not prepared to find .  br    br   based on real events that happened to armistead maupin  who co  wrote the screenplay with terry anderson  and directed by patrick stetner  this film moves a lot faster    min .  maybe a few minutes longer  than one might think a movie of this genre would run . that  s good in that it keeps the action and storyline lean and clear . it  s bad in that it leaves various holes in the plot and doesn  t sew  up any of the plot openings or back  story . i  d rather not go into any great detail except to say that  if you are not familiar with mr . maupin  s works or his personal story  you feel a little bit out of the loop here . still  the performances by williams  i would  ve loved to heard more of his narration  personally   collette  cannavale  culkin and much of the supporting cast  the waitress at the restaurant collete  s donna frequents does a great job with what small part she has   are top  notch and the mood established here   namely  the chilly  lonely dark exteriors of wisconsin and new york   give a terrific framing for this story . it may have ends that don  t tie together particularly well  but it  s still a compelling enough story to stick with .  
ghost of dragstrip hollow is a typical      s teens in turmoil movie . it is not a horror or science fiction movie . plot concerns a group of teens who are about to get kicked out of their  hot rod  club because they cannot meet the rent . once kicked out  they decide to try an old haunted house . the only saving grace for the film is that the  ghost   paul blaisdell in the she creature suit  turns out to be an out of work movie monster played by blaisdell .  
if there is one thing to recommend about this film is that it is intriguing . the premise certainly draws the audience in because it is a mystery  and throughout the film there are hints that there is something dark lurking about . however  there is not much tension  and williams  mild mannered portrayal doesn  t do much to makes us relate to his obsession with the boy .  br    br   collete fares much better as the woman whose true nature and intentions are not very clear . the production felt rushed and holes are apparent . it certainly feels like a preview for a much more complete and better effort . the book is probably better .  br    br   one thing is certain taupin must have written something truly good to have inspired at least one commendable effort .  
  ghost of dragstrip hollow  was one of the many    s movies about hot  rodding teens encountering the supernatural . in this case  the teens can  t pay the rent for their hangout and get evicted . with nowhere else to go  they decide on an apparently haunted house . as you may have guessed  once they arrive  some weird things start happening . and there  s a twist at the end .  br    br   there  s nothing in this movie that you haven  t seen in other movies  but it  s nice entertainment nonetheless . my favorite character was the foul  mouthed parrot . well  let me rephrase that he didn  t talk like a character in a quentin tarantino movie  but he said things that we don  t expect out of a bird . the movie  s pure hokum  but harmless .  
i absolutely loved this film  i do not at all relate to all the other comments i have read about it . i was completely enthralled through every second   br    br   i found the story gripping  the acting intense  and the direction spot  on . i would literally jump every time the phone would ring close to the end of the movie . even though there was nothing  scary  about the story itself  i was soundly on edge through the whole movie  and for the rest of my evening .  br    br   i found that there were so many perfect choices made . . . the casting  the script  the little bits of humor sprinkled in it . there were so many points where the film could  ve gone for the cheap thrill  but it never did  and that for me put this movie above so many of the mediocre thrillers that have come out lately . . . and for the last number of years .  
  ghost of dragstrip hollow  appears to take place in a spotless netherworld  an era long gone by  where the biggest sin a kid could commit would be in defying the law and getting a traffic ticket . it opens with a young female auto fanatic getting the business from her arch rival  who pressures her into a car race . that  s about it for the drag  racing   this b  flick is mostly concerned with rock  n roll  man  the folks at american international were obviously fond of decent  square teens who liked to party and yet didn  t mind an adult chaperone . there are a few amusing double entendres and fruity exchanges  necking kid  we thought we  d come out for some fresh air  . . . dad  where did you think you  d find it  down her throat     but the ghost is a little late in arriving . brief at   minutes  the movie cheats us with a climactic car race that actually takes place off  screen and a pre   scooby doo   styled unmasking which makes no sense . however  for nostalgia buffs  some mindless fun .  from   
this night listener is better than people are generally saying . it has weaknesses  and it seems to be having a genre identity crisis  no doubt  but i think its creepy atmosphere and intriguing performances make up for this . the whole thing feels like one of those fireside  this happened to a friend of a friend of mine  ghost stories . one big complaint about the movie is the pacing but the slow and sometimes awkward pacing is deliberate . everything that unfolds in this movie is kept well within the realm of possibility  and real life just sort of plods alongno  so there are no flashy endings or earth  shattering revelations  no  showdown  scenes . thank heaven . you have to get into the zone when watching this movie  forget your reservations and your expectations of what makes a  conventionally  good movie . williams isn  t terrific  but he easily meets the needs of the story  plus his character is supposed to be somewhat generic   no one   as he is the everyman  the avatar by which we ourselves enter the story . toni collette  s performance should be nominated for an oscar  even if she maybe shouldn  t win it  . give it a shot . for quality and content alone  the night listener is surely in the top twenty percent of movies coming out these days .  
the characters are unlikeable and the script is awful . it  s a waste of the talents of deneuve and auteuil .  
when it comes to movies i can be pretty picky  and i  ll complain about anything and everything that is done wrong . while every movie has its flaws  the night listener had an exceptionally low count .  br    br   if you read the last review  it was hard  since half of it was written in caps and it contained no actual information about the movie   you may have been led to believe that this movie was not too well done . unfortunately  if you read more than  lines into that same review  you discovered the poster  s reason for disdain he  she does not like the fact that the director is gay  or that the production team smokes crack . . . apparently  .  br    br   so  despite the fact that i have never written a review before  i thought this movie deserved one based on its merits  not the sexual orientation of its director . let  s go over a quick checklist first  . great plot  absolutely . i won  t give a shred of it away  but the plot is highly compelling and definitely not what one would expect based on the commercials . this is a thriller  not a horror  and it should be approached as such . the story really will amaze you  even more so because it  s true  and the plot did stay quite faithful to the actual events  .  br    br    . wonderful acting  oh yes . robin williams long ago broke free from the chains of the comedy type  cast  and he has since flourished in serious roles for which many people would have wrote him off just a decade ago . he once again achieves high form in his role in the night listener  playing a radio host who becomes increasingly troubled by and entangled in a case of . . . well  i  ll let you see for yourself .  br    br    . excellent direction  certainly . now  unlike the other poster to which i referred  i actually know something about direction . i  ve been sutdying the art of direction at school now for  years . of course i really don  t think that makes a lick of difference  the only thing that matters is if you like the direction   but i thought i should simply establish once again that i  m basing my opinions here on something both substantial and relevant . . . for example not the sexual orientation of the director  or the alleged drug habits of the production team  lol  .  br    br   patrick stettner  s direction was moody and dark  and he allowed the angles and lighting to help create those so  sought  after feelings of  tension and release  rather than the messy  fast  paced camera  work and quick cuts we  re so often subjected to today . some people can truly show you a story through their camera  while other  s feel as if they have to make the story with the camera . i really appreciate when someone these days has the courage to just use the camera as its supposed to be utilized  which is as an eyeball through which we all see .  br    br    . lighting  cinematography  and editing  great all around . i  ve already wrote so much  and i could go on about these last three things for another ten paragraphs  so i  ll just wrap it up .  br    br   in short  go see this movie . don  t listen to people who have alterior motives for trashing it  especially if they  re so stupid that they unknowingly reveal that motive    of the way through their post . enjoy the show   ben  
kareena kapoor in a bikini hmmmmmmmm .  br    br   akshay kumar . . .  br    br   anil kapoor . . . .  br    br   maybe saif . . . .  br    br   kareena kapoor in a bikini . . . . .  br    br   good banner . .  br    br   kareena kapoor in a bikini . . . . .  br    br   not one good reason not to see this movie . . . .  br    br   or so i thought . . . . . . . . didnt these people make jbj . . .  br    br   why o why did i forget that .  br    br   for all the criticism the first half of the movie isn  t that bad . . .  br    br   there is some intrigue and you feel a sort of irritation mixed with excitement that i felt when seeing guy ritchie movies like lock stock and snatch .  br    br   kareena kapoor is sizzling in a very skinny model sort of way .  br    br   akshay kumar is akshay kumar as only he can be .  br    br   anil kapoor is annoying but kind of funny  you almost forget that most of the time you cannot understand him .  br    br   saif is sidey ala main khiladi . . once again .  br    br   there is the occasional laugh and a few chuckles  and a few goosebumps during the kareena  saif love story  kareena in the rain  behind me on my bike hmmmmmmm  .  br    br   but mostly this half promises more than it delivers . . . . .  br    br   which makes the second half all the more unbearable . . . .  br    br   there was almost a cheer when the interval came not only because because of the wet kareena because of what people thought were the things to come .  br    br   instead we were treated to mind numbing torture which is difficult to put in words .  br    br   saif suddenly seam like a comic sidekick . . .  br    br   suddenly the sexy kareena looks anorexic  you realise that the second last floor is now empty and her face looks to big for her body  only girls can notice this and make other guys notice the second last floor was my observation  .  br    br   anil kapoor and his sidekicks get on your nerves .  br    br   akshay kumar is the only one who carries off the madness to some extent but even he become intolerable after a while .  br    br   all the while you are subjected to one absurdity after the other .  br    br   why     what      when     where     what have i done to deserve this . . .  br    br   a collective gasp went trough the audience before every song in the second half  which were ordinary even without the movie around it .  br    br   cannot relieve the trauma anymore . . . .  br    br   conclusion .  br    br   this movie starts of as a buzz which you feel could even turn out to a high but ends up slowly moving towards a headache and then rapidly turns into a full blown migraine attack .  br    br   please don  t watch this movie for any reason other than academic interest .  br    br   s cast  akshay kumar  first half .  br    br      s what  when  how  who to much confusion .  need a book to fill this  .  br    br   s cast  the whole second half  need many pages to fill this  .  br    br   total      im trying to avoid the  s and  s too not seem to extreme but make no mistake this movie is unwatchable no matter how decent the first half is  .  
somewhat funny and well  paced action thriller that has jamie foxx as a hapless  fast  talking hoodlum who is chosen by an overly demanding u . s . treasury agent  david morse  to be released on the streets of new york to find a picky computer thief  hacker  doug hutchinson   who stole forty  two million dollars from the treasury and left two guards shot dead .  br    br    bait  marks the sophomore feature for antoine fuqua   the replacement killers   and he handles the task fairly well even though it doesn  t top his first movie . what the two films have in common is the action sequences  which are flat  out excellent .  br    br   foxx is pretty good here although his character is annoying in the beginning  but throughout the film  i began to catch on . hutchinson is marvelous as the mastermind who can be ruthless as john malkovich and patient as the late laurence olivier was in  marathon man  . morse is okay as the agent who comes up with the ingenious plan to get whoever did it at all cost .  
i rented this on dvd and i kind of feel bad since dawson and lugacy are so earnest about it in the dvd comments . it  s not a bad movie exactly  but it  s one of those films that desperately wants to be a deep comment on human nature while not realizing that its story is practically a genre . plus  it is a little simplistic about the issue in a lot of ways  and the characters  behavior often strains belief . i  d say its a film that you would get something out of if you don  t have a lot of film  tv  literature  life behind you  to be honest  i  ve seen almost exactly the same story in horror comics even  . otherwise  its point has been made before and more artfully . and that gets to the big problem  which is that it really doesn  t have much of cinematic interest to it besides the point . it ends up being a fairly bland movie overall that invests everything in the idea that the basic story will be shocking and compelling  and it doesn  t really pay off .  
the legendary boris karloff ended his illustrious career by making four cheapie fright flick clunkers in mexico . this is the token moody period gothic horror entry from the bunch . karloff gives a typically spry and dignified performance as matthias morteval  an elderly eccentric patriarch who invites several of his petty  greedy and backbiting no  count relatives to his creepy rundown castle for the reading of a will . pretty soon the hateful guests are getting bumped off by lethal life  sized toy people who populate the place . onetime mexican sex symbol andres garcia of  tintorera  infamy portrays the dashing police officer hero and julissa looks absolutely ravishing as the sole likable female character . the clunky  plodding  non  direction  trite by  the  numbers script  ugly  washed  out cinematography  ridiculous murder set pieces  a gross fat slob gets blasted right in the face by a miniature cannon    overwrought string score  morbid gloom  doom atmosphere  largely lousy acting  karloff notably excepted   cheesy mild gore  poor dubbing and rousing fiery conclusion all lend this enjoyably awful lemon a certain endearingly cruddy and hence oddly amusing ratty charm . a real campy hoot .  
vijay krishna acharya  s  tashan  is a over  hyped  stylized  product . sure its a one of the most stylish films  but when it comes to content  even the masses will reject this one . why  the films script is as amateur as a  year old baby . script is king  without a good script even the greatest director of all  time cannot do anything . tashan is produced by the most successful production banner  yash raj films  and mega stars appearing in it . but nothing on earth can save you if you script is bland . thumbs down   br    br   performances anil kapoor  is a veteran actor . but how could he okay a role like this  akshay kumar is great actor  in fact he  s the sole saving grace . kareena kapoor has never looked so hot . she looks stunning and leaves you  all stand up . saif ali khan doesn  t get his due in here . sanjay mishra  manoj phawa and yashpal sharma are wasted .  br    br    tashan  is a boring film . the films failure at the box office  should you keep away .  
this tale based on two edgar allen poe pieces   the fall of the house of usher    dance of death   poem   is actually quite creepy from beginning to end . it is similar to some of the old black  and  white movies about people that meet in an old decrepit house  for example   the cat and the canary    the old dark house    night of terror  and so on  . boris karloff plays a demented inventor of life  size dolls that terrorize the guests . he dies early in the film  or does he   and the residents of the house are subjected to a number of terrifying experiences . i won  t go into too much detail here  but it is definitely a must  see for fans of old dark house mysteries .  br    br   watch it with plenty of popcorn and soda in a darkened room .  br    br   dan basinger      
the worst movie i have seen since tera jadoo chal gaya . there is no story  no humor  no nothing  the action sequences seem more like a series of haphazard akshay kumar thumbs  up advertisements stitched together . heavily influenced from the matrix and kung  fu hustle but very poorly executed .  br    br   i did not go a lot of expectations  but watching this movie is an exasperating experience which makes you wonder  what were these guys thinking      .  br    br   the only thing you might remember after watching it is an anorexic kareena in a bikini .  br    br   the reason why i did not give a rating of    is that every time i think i have seen the worst  bollywood proves me wrong .  
aro tolbukhin burnt alive seven people in a mission in guatemala in the    s . also he declared that he had murdered another   people  he used to kill pregnant women  and then he set them on fire  .  br    br   this movie is a documentary that portraits the personality of aro through several interviews with people that got to know him and through some scenes played by actors based on real facts .  br    br    aro tolbukhin  is a serious work  so analytical  it  s not morbid at all . such a horrifying testimony about how some childhood trauma can turn a man into a monster .  br    br   my rate      
summer season is here when the choices in the cinemas are limited to what  s the hottest movie of the week  given   .   of the screens dedicated to screening it . ok  so i may exaggerate on the percentage  but you get my drift . besides stuff from hollywood  bollywood too have their own share of highly anticipated blockbusters  and from some of the trailers shown  i  m hyped to watch them too . tashan was billed as one of the most highly anticipated for      but i was quite surprised at the lower than low turnout at the cinemas . when i watched jodha akbar  it was a full house  but it wasn  t for tashan .  br    br   after watching it  i knew why . it was entertaining  but it was fundamentally weak . just like it  s literal english title  which means  style   tashan is all style  but little substance . not that it doesn  t have the usual star power  but scenes felt forced  and some bordered on a tad ridiculous  even for bollywood standards i must say . which is quite surprising given that tashan is directed and written by vijay krishna acharya  who wrote dhoom and dhoom   both of which i enjoyed tremendously .  br    br   in his rookie directorial outing with tashan  while you can  t fault his direction  you  d probably scratch your head over the plot  which was clunky at best . it tried to force too many things into the story  though credit be given where it allowed you some avenue to question character motivation  but that came a little too late  and only toward the finale  which left you guessing for just a moment before it latched into full blown action mimicking many a thai action movie  with hong kong  s wirework and hollywood  s ludicrous firearms and gunplay with zero recoil . and in a bid to include everything including the kitchen sink  you have an assortment of vehicles appearing  and the one that took the cake  in a dhoom  homage  was the jetski boat in the middle of nowhere .  br    br   at best  tashan can be enjoyed as unintentional comedy  and this is attributed to how the cast hammed up with their characters . saif ali khan plays jimmy cliff  a call center executive who gives english tuition  only as a platform for fishing out new girlfriend material . his playboy ways gets junked aside when he meets with pooja singh  kareena kapoor   who  s not exactly who she seems  the meek and sweet natured hottie . she engages jimmy  s services for her boss  mobster bhaiyyaji  anil kapoor   who probably gets most of the laughs as he speaks broken english and phrases must like how an ah  beng does it . and to complete the quartet  akshay kumar plays bachchan pandey  an illiterate gangster for hire who got engaged by bhaiyyaji to hunt down jimmy and pooja when they escape with money stolen from bahiyyaji  s business .  br    br   so begins a road trip of sorts  with friends who turned enemies  and enemies whom you know will become friends as the road trip wears on . jimmy cliff is probably the most implausible of all  because he goes from zero to hero  executing moves that would shame rambo  in absolutely no time  which is quite out of character . kareena kapoor amps up the sex factor as she uses her charms to guile both men  and has plenty of opportunity to do so given the much touted bikini scenes  and other costumes that boast of plunging necklines or hemlines way above the knee . every character has a backstory created  and i thought akshay kumar  s bachchan pandey was probably the best  the most touching and the most fun of the lot  even though his character seemed a lot like a non  green incredible hulk with his gravity  defying leaps and power packing punches . his wounds also heal automatically  which impressively puts wolverine to shame . and the best part is his theme song  which is damn alpha  male and played in ra  ra mode each time he takes on adversaries .  br    br   but sad to say  that  s the only tune that is memorable  something that cheers  bachchan  pandey  bachchan  pandey  . for most bollywood movies i watch  i will usually be able to  despite the obvious language gaps  emerge from screenings humming a tune or two . i wasn  t able to do that after tashan  because the songs unfortunately just weren  t catchy at all . usually the song  dance routine works well into the storyline without any necessity to bring the characters out of the current scene or location . that i enjoy  versus plucking them out and plonking them into extreme settings high atop a mountain  or atop jagged rocks on the beach front .  br    br   tashan probably didn  t take itself too seriously  but coming from vijay krishna acharya  s story  you probably wanted something a little more decent rather than the ridiculous  and for continuity to be a little more careful as well . billed as a blockbuster  now i can start to understand why the crowds have already shunned this one . despite akshay kumr stealing the show  tashan could have been better on the whole .  
after seeing several movies of villaronga  i had a pretty clear opinion about him   he concentrates too much on the personal aspect of the characters  forgetting about a rhythm of the movie . that is why  though having good critics  his movies never caught the broad audience attention . in aro he follows the same line  but really improved on the rhythm  especially in the end of the movie . frankly speaking  i slept through the first part  cause though the first part gives necessary information  it is really slow . nevertheless the second part is absolutely marvelous and makes the whole movie the best movie ever made by villaronga .  br    br   recommended .  
shame on yash raj films and aditya chopra who seems to have lost their intelligence over the years and providing steady fare of tripe in this piece of cinematic crap thats not even worth you tube standards . i was gritting my teeth throughout the whole flick start to finish with the schizophrenic direction  plot line that never quite materialized and on the last scene i just felt ashamed that my country and its crorepati film makers can  throw away  crores on such stupidity . shame on the actors for taking this work and even commenting on it as some piece of work they can own up to . saif ali khan  completely disappointed in your choice of film . kareen shows enough skin for the puberty stricken and akshay comes up as the dim  wit . anil another retard with a pubescent fascination for english . his cronies were commendable in their acting and with the bizarre cinematography scattered in the last   minutes  it was enough to pop a blood vessel . don  t waste any brain cells  energy or your money to go see this  go see  rent amu  with konkana sensharma instead  a beautiful piece of independent film thats ever come out of india . intelligent  poignant and a wonderful story  tale that will touch everyone with intelligent actors and gave me hope that all is not lost in indian cinema making .  
there  s so many things to fall for in aro tolbukhin . en la mente del asesino  inside the killer  s mind   that it  s very hard to talk about it without giving any kind of warning . let  s just say that this movie is like an exercise in cinema but really  really great done . its made with super   black and white shots    milimeters  color  interviews  flashbacks . aro tolbukhin its like a movie made a documental or viceversa  which most peculiar aspect relays on the doubt that leaves you wondering  did he really ever existed  the movie follows the later life of an hungarian sailor that arrived in guatemala  worked in a religious mission and then killed some people . an act for which he got caught and death penalty sentenced . the movie starts because some french documentalists got interested in this character so they interview him prior to his death . nowadays  some more people got involved and make a deeper research of the character . the one we are witness of  the movie .  br    br   for the main part in the history we are guided by a semi slow phase to go look inside aros mind  mainly in order to decode why he did what he has done . nevertheless  the important thing is that the filmmakers never gives us a sided point of view they left the judging for all of us and even as we may understand his actions  we clearly never justify them . so  the first half is based upon recollecting information later things turn into aro  s childhood  giving the movie such an incredible new force  even tough never got weak or boring  .  br    br   i don  t mean  and don  t want  to spoil anything so the only thing left to say is that if by any chance you get this movie near you  believe me  the trip to see it is more than worthy .  
first lesson that some film makers  particularly those inspired by hollywood  need to know  just  style  does not sell . i guess tashan when translated will mean style . second  if you are hell bent on selling style  that does not spare you from having a decent story .  br    br   tashan has some story which could have sufficed with some better director . but it is not slick . for example  all three  saif  kareena and akshay  are narrators at different points in the story . but this setup is not utilized to properly . there could have been a better mix and match of their narrations . actions sequences are from the seventies .  br    br   cheoreography of the film is awful . i think vaibhavi merchant just sleep walked through this film . vishal  shekhar have put up a good score but it does not belong to this film . why is there a sufi song  dil haara  in tashan  why is the cool hinglish song  dil dance maare  not on anil kapoor when he is the one who is english crazy   br    br   akshay kumar is the saving grace of the film . but he is in his stereotyped self . you won  t mind missing this film .  
this has got to be a unique twists of two genres of ever seen . the giant monster movie genre with the living mummy movie genre . this unique blend makes for a unique and compelling story . the casts is outstanding  including tom bosley who as far as i know never has been in a horror movie before  ever . the effects are impressive and the idea of a giant mummy filled with smaller mummies is a cool one . my one complaint  i just wish we saw more of the giant mummy  but other then that i think they did a great job . the dialog  the characters and the story was perfect . the acting was wonderful . this has got to be the best movie to come out of the sci  fi channel . you heard me  the best movie to come out of the sci  fi channel . i give the fallen ones  out of   .  
if this is a     product from one of the biggest production houses of indian film industry  yash raj  then i am afraid it is a very long ahead for us to reach the right standards .  br    br   if you can go wrong to this length with such an enormous star cast of anil  akshay  saif and kareena  then movie making is still to be studied much harder by everyone associated with this film . the film lacks in almost all departments except cinematography and akshay kumar . he has a few good dialogues to render but that alone cannot make you enjoy a flick with huge expectations .  br    br   the first scene of a car going down into a river from the mountain has very cheap graphics like that of a cartoon film . that itself was a clear indicator of the director  s vision . every actor who otherwise is an asset to a movie is simply wasted . anil kapoor  s gimmick of attempting good english falls flat most of the times . and saif will surely hit himself thinking why he signed this movie .  br    br   in short it  s the biggest waste of resourses after  jhoom barabar jhoom  . i would say that even  aaja nachle  was a better enjoyable movie than this .  br    br   one cannot understand how and why this kind of script was written and approved . the most unwanted was the flashback sequence of akshay  s love story . after the faulty script the weakest point of the movie is its music . vishal shekhar have given just some filler tunes to each song . the songs start off very well and suddenly the tunes drop drastically . only one song  falak tak chal  is somehow good of all in the lot . an opportunity wasted by vishal shekhar .  br    br   regarding the continuity intelligence of the makers just sample this  akshay and saif are on the road in the hilly area of a foreign location  probably ladakh  . in the next scene they are searching for kareena in haridwar and then back in the hills with kareena in the dicky of their car . i am still thinking who wrote this .  br    br   if you manage to sit till the last then the climax is too long with silly and unnecessary stunts . you can see all the heroes walking through the storm of bullets not hurt as if they are god . are we still seeing a     movie with all these technical heights achieved  so no more words on this pathetic and downgrade movie but a sincere request to senior actors from their fan .  br    br   dear anil kapoor  akshay kumar  if possible please ask for a preview of your movies after their first copy is out . as artists of such stature  you have certain responsibilities towards your fans and viewers . people still clap for you as you enter the screen in your first scenes respectively . i think this kind of movie should not see the daylight as it hampers the reputation of all associated with the movie  the actors and the production house both .  
without kirsten miller this project needn  t have been completed . however with the awe inspiring beauty and talent that is miss miller i would definitely recommend it . it looked as if the other actors were only playing to her strong performance . wagner  s dismal attempt to honor this film was a bit disappointing  but his few scenes didn  t detract from being entertained . mostly my criticisms are with the writing and plot line  the group of talent assembled did a heroic job of salvaging what should have been a disaster . the charismatic miller delivery and timing were impeccable and believable . she plays that fine line between assertive and bossy but never offensive she is in fact the structural engineer she claims to be . i wish i had seen this on the big screen but alas i was fortunate to rent it before it was lost .  
i had some expectation for the movie  since it had a nice star cast and it is the return of the duo of akshay and saif . well  i was hesitant to watch the movie because this was done by the same man who wrote the story for dhoom franchise because i hated dhoom   but if dhoom  is compared to tashan  i would say dhoom  is very realistic .  br    br   when i saw the credits at the beginning  i felt nice because it was put up in a nice way . well  the very first scene itself pised me off . then  the major drawback of the movie is the action sequences . me and my friends were laughing our guts off watching this crappy fights . it was like akshay against some   thugs and all and the thugs even got machine guns  phew . . . you got to see this to understand how bad the action sequences are .  br    br   the other thing about the movie is the far too predictable story . it reminded me of some of the early    s movies .  br    br   well  the only thing the movie is worth is of sexy kareena  who looked really hot in this one . and for that  i give a rating of  out of   .  br    br   guys  please . . please . . . don  t see this one thinking that it is a real gangster movie . well  you can watch this to have some laughs at the terrible fight scenes .  br    br   thats all .  
sure  titanic was a good movie  the first time you see it  but you really should see it a second time and your opinion of the film will definetly change . the first time you see the movie you see the underlying love  story and think ooh  how romantic . the second time  and i am not the only one to think this  it is just annoying and you just sit there watching the movie thinking  when is this dn ship going to sink    and even this is not as impressive when you see it several times . the acting in this film is not bad  but definetly not great either . was i glad dicaprio did not win an oscar for that film  i mean who does he think he is  anthony hopkins or denzel washington  he does  half  good movie and won  t do a film for less than    million . and then everyone is suprised that there are hardly any films with him in it . but enough about  in my eyes  the worst character of the film . kate winslet  s performance on the other hand was wonderful . i also tink that the director is very talented to put a film of such a magnitude together . there is one lesson to be learned about this movie there are too many love  stories as it is  filmmakers shouldn  t try to add a crummy romance in to every single movie    out of a possible     i give this film a mere    .  
the action in this movie beats sunny bhai in gadar . akshay kumar possess the superpowers of leonidus in     neo in matrix along with spiderman and superman . it is hilarious . except for the typical akshay kumar and anil kapoor comedy i cannot see anything positive in this film . the story looks like the writer told his   yr old son to write . the movie is so unreal that anil kapoors long range shooting with a shotgun is the least most mistake by the director . except for the directors tashan to make this movie there is no other tashan . i regret wasting my money on this movie and i would not recommend it to anybody .     is the least i can give on imdb or i would give it a zero .  
when i saw this movie i was stunned by what a great movie it was . this is the only movie i think i would ever give a   star rating . i am sure this movie will always be in my top  .  br    br   the acting is superb . leonardo dicaprio and kate winslett are at their best . i don  t think anyone could have a better job than kate .  br    br   if it is a rainy day and you can  t decide what to rent  well  this is the one . you will love all the acting  special effects  and much much more .  br    br   if you have not seen this movie go rent or buy it now    you won  t regret it .  br    br    
i had a lot of expectations from this movie and more so since it was a yashraj film .  br    br   jimmy operates a call centre and one day he is invited by pooja singh to teach her boss  lakhan singh  english . the two fall in love and decide to run away but pooja tells jimmy that she can  t do this as she owes a debt to lakhan singh  who is also known as bhaiyyaji . but they decide and steal money from him and its only then that jimmy finds out that bhaiyyaji  lakhan singh is a don . in the meantime  bhaiyyaji hires a man  bachchan pandey  to track down jimmy and pooja .  br    br   starring saif ali khan  kareena kapoor  anil kapoor and akshaye kumar  the movie is directed by first time director viay krishna acharya and is produced by both aditya chopra and yash chopra .  br    br    tashan  has to be one of the worse films that i have ever watched . yes  the scenery is good and kareena kapoor  and her much publicised weight loss  looks good . but plot is extremely thin on story and at times makes no sense from one scene to the other  hence why i have said at the beginning that i had expected more from this film as it was a yashraj production . with reference to songs  unfortunately  there is not one song that i can remember now .  br    br   there are moments where one can laugh and that is mainly thanks to akshaye kumar and saif could have definitely done better while kareena kapoor played her part well . but this cannot be said for anil kapoor  it did not suit him at all as a villain . lastly  never mind aditya chopra  who in the past has produced and directed good films such as  mohabbatein   what was yash chopra doing by producing such a trash movie   br    br   conclusion bad movie  not worth wasting your time and that is my first and last impression .  
why do people bitch about this movie and not about awful movies like the godfather . titanic is the greatest movie of the   st century . with great acting  directing  effects  music and generally everything . this movie is always dumped by all because one day some one said they didn  t like it any more so most of the world decided to agree . there is nothing wrong with this movie . all i can say is that this movie  not only being the most heavily oscar awarded movie of all time  the most money ever made ever and sadly one of the most underrated movies i  ve ever seen . apart from that it is truly the best movie of all time . the only movies that come close to being like all the star wars and the lord of the rings trilogy or anything by the masters hitchcock or spielberg or tim burton . these are all good movies and directors but none match up to james cameron  s masterpiece titanic .  
i had no idea what the film is about before i saw it because tashan only had teaser trailers while it was being promoted . so i asked my friends if they knew anything about it and they said that  it is the directorial debut of vijay krishna acharya who wrote the screenplays for dhoom    and saif ali khan  s son ibrahim makes his debut in the film by playing him as a child in his flashback  .  br    br   after watching it  i understood that why their wasn  t a proper trailer because there wasn  t anything in the film to show . the story was extremely dum and even a   year old child can come up with a better story  line . there was hardly any action and the camera shook at every possible angle there is and it  s difficult to figure out that who is killing who . also the action was daft  unrealistic e . g .  man with a handgun managed to kill about    men with machine guns .  br    br   while i was watching tashan it reminded me of  films  br    br   sin city during the opening credits .  br    br   koyla anil kapoor  s terrible english like amrish puri in koyla .  br    br   jhoom barabar jhoom the outrageously ridiculous jokes that are not even a jot funny .  br    br   i also heard the budget is   crores which is the same amount as dhoom  and i don  t know where all the money went to . anyway if you did not like dhoom  then there is absolutely no chance that you will like tashan . race was hot on heels and that is a million times better .  br    br   the only  good songs are dil haara  challiya and both songs are shot in greece at good locations but what is the use of it in a rubbish film  even anil kapoor  s terrible english couldn  t save this discomfiture .  
just two comments . . . . seven years apart  hardly evidence of the film  s relentless pulling  power  as has been mentioned  the low  budget telemovie status of   gantry row is a mitigating factor in its limited appeal . having said that however the thing is not without merit  either as entertainment or as a fright outing per se .  br    br   true  the plot at its most basic is a re  working of the amityville horror  only without much horror . more a case of intrigue  gibney might have made a more worthwhile impression if she had played halifax  investigating a couple of seemingly unconnected murders with the  house  as the main suspect . the script is better than average and the production overall of a high standard . it just fails to engage the viewer particularly at key moments .  br    br   having picked the dvd up for a mere   .   last week at my regular video store  i cannot begrudge the expenditure .    .   would be an acceptable price for the film . just don  t expect fireworks   
i don  t want to go too far into detail  because i can  t really justify wasting much time on reviewing this film  but i had to give an alternate opinion to hopefully help people avoid the movie . the animation is crud and the story alternates between boring  pointless to extremely irritating . the humor was completely lost on the audience  and yes  ghost in the shell fans  this is not an action sci  fi or anything like that  its an attempt at slapstick comedy  and the humor just did not work after being translated . it was a total chore to watch this movie  and horrible way for me to kick off the film fest  especially considering how excited i was and how open i was for anything  i wasn  t expecting a ghost in the shell sequel  but i was expecting something entertaining  and it simply didn  t achieve this . yaaawwnnn . . . rent kino  s journey instead .  
what  s inexplicable  firstly  the hatred towards this movie . it may not be the greatest movie of all time  but gimme a break  it got   oscars for a reason  it made eighteen hundred million dollars for a reason . it  s a damn good movie . which brings to the other inexplicable aspect of it . i have no idea whatsoever why this movie left such an impression on me when i saw it in theaters . i  ve rewatched it on tv and video  and it had none of the impact it had when i saw it on the big screen  twice  or maybe three times  actually  . but that might be it  the appeal of it . it  s a movie  yes  capital m there  it  s an epic  it  s a spectacle in the order of gone with the wind or ben hur . now  ben hur and gone with the wind seem kinda hokey to me  with the hammy acting and excessive melodrama . not that titanic has none of that . well  the acting was actually very good . the melodrama was quite heavy  handed at times .  br    br   but the reason titanic works is that it  s such an emotional ride . i usually enjoy movies that stimulate the mind  or give me a visual thrill . this movie isn  t exactly dumb  but it  s not cerebral at all . the visual thrills are simply means to an end  to fuel the emotions of the audience . i didn  t cry when bambi  s mom died  i don  t react to tearjerkers . but this is a tearjerker to the power of ten million  an emotional rollercoaster that  if it were a regular one  would make buzz aldrin scream like a little girl . and i  m sure that if you see it on video and have decided that you hate it  and have a ready supply of cynicism  then you can thoroughly dislike this movie . but if you let that disbelief suspend just a bit  if you give this epic melodrama the benefit of the doubt  you  ll enjoy it completely . and look at the top ten grossing films of all time . is a single one of them bad  is a single one of them worth a score of  out of    no  not even the phantom menace . and this movie made  .  billion dollars worldwide . it can  t be bad . not possible .      .  br    br   p . s . how can anyone even consider comparing this to spiderman  spiderman was a fun movie  but it was a total     kneejerk that caused it to gross as much as it did . it simply wasn  t anything all that special . no one will remember it in   years . but i  m pretty sure titanic will be remembered .  
tashan  the title itself explains the nature of the movie .  br    br   this type of movies are actually made for flop . what a shame that yash raj films produces such movies those are worthless than c  grade movies . or even some c  grade movies have better and pleasing story than tashan . the much hyped and over  confidently promoted tashan poorly bombed at the box  office which it certainly deserved .  br    br   in my view  this is the worst movie ever made from honourable yash raj films  banner . how come they handled such a heavy project to new vijay krishna acharya who has no actual sense of making action flick  he tried to imitate sanjay gadhvi  s ways of making like dhoom but he suffered at last . the action scenes are more like than comics or cartoon movies made for exhausting the audiences .  br    br   the story also loses in its meaning and substances to tenderly win the audiences  hearts . in most scenes anil kapoor reminds me of southern tamil star rajnikant in his body languages and wordly expressions . i am not a fan of neither saif nor akshay  but the award of kareena should have finally gone to saif   s hand instead of akshay . just from the starting point i expected of it  but at the end it displeased me with the climax truth . saif is the main behind the whole adventure  while akshay joins in the midst . in any movie  the final should be judged with the whole characters of the entire story and the award or say reward should be given to the one who deserves credit . and tashan loses in this way  and unexpectedly failed to become a hit .  br    br   akshay  s has nothing new to show off his comedian talent here but still reminds of his previous movies . he seriously need to form a new image to his fans that would impress them again and again . in between saif did a great job in race  and now he returned again in his hilarious nature through this movie . but he has fully developed himself in the acting field . and last but not the least about kareena . she looks really hot with bikini dress of which some complain as she became too lean . but i myself don  t think so  instead she became slim . yes slim    it is a good factor for a female to attract the major people  or say  male  . beside them it is nice that saif  s son ibrahim appears in the beginning  last as young saif . i hope now he too will lean forward in target of making acting as his career .  br    br   those who like this tashan they are either mentally immatured or still want to go back to childhood  or say want to be admitted in an asylum . thumbs down to debutante director vijay krishna acharya who mishandled the project offered by yash raj films . in future he should experiment and study the script minimum of  years before going into practical directions .  br    br   sorry  i don  t like to rate good stars to this type of junk movies .  
previously  i wrote that i loved  titanic   cried at its ending  many times over   and i  m a guy in his    s . i also wondered about why this great movie  which won so many awards and was applauded by so many critics  was given only a  .  rating by imdb . com users .  br    br   well  i looked at the breakdown of the user ratings . while   .   of all votes gave it a   rating    .   gave it a  rating . these   .   of these irrational imdb users  in effect  pulled the overall rating down to  .  .  br    br   in my previous comments  i blamed this very unusual voting pattern  a sudden surge in  ratings  with a high   rating  dropping only gradually and then suddenly reversing course and jumping at the  rating level  on only one thing hatred for leonardo dicaprio . believe me  i  ve tuned into enough chat rooms to see the banter by young people  young men  mostly   who defame him left and right . they absolutely hate the man  and they will have no part in giving him any credit in  titanic  .  to answer one other user i am not talking about someone who just really doesn  t like the movie that much  and gave it a  or a   etc . everyone has  and is entitled to  his  her own taste . but no one can convince me that the imdb rating of only  .  overall for  titanic   pulled to that level by an inordinate number of ridiculous  ratings  is a fair reflection of the overall motion picture .   br    br   let me demonstrate my point by comparing the imdb user voting pattern of  titanic  to  randomly chosen box office and critical  bombs   there are many more  but these  will prove my point  .  heaven  s gate        was pulled from the theaters quickly after a very poor box office showing  and imdb voters  ratings were   .     ratings and  .    ratings  overall rating of  .   .  big top pee  wee        got  .     ratings and  .    ratings  overall rating of  .   .  cat people        got  .     ratings and  .    ratings  overall rating of  .   .  blind date        got  .     ratings and  .    ratings  overall rating of  .   .  jumpin  jack flash        got  .     ratings and  .    ratings  overall rating of  .   . what do all of these films have in common with  titanic   all of the percentages of their  ratings are lower     than  titanic   and none of these stinkers ever was nominated for a single award . again   titanic  got   .    ratings  compare that to the other  movies i just mentioned .  br    br   can there be any explanation other than the hatred of leo factor   br    br    
i just saw the movie in theater . the movie has very few good points to talk about . kareena  s beauty and a couple of songs may be . thats it . the movie is a complete disappointment in all areas . anyone associated with the movie will be disappointed  even mumbai indians too  just now chennai has made it to semi  final  .  br    br   but the worst i feel about the movie is the action scenes . now days bollywood is trying to copy action scenes from hollywood . but they forget that hollywood directors takes a lot effect to make it look like real . but unfortunately bollywood directors do not have that much of time . they spend their time on songs and publicity of the movie . now such too stupid action scenes may work in south as the audience just pay to watch their favorite actor killing bunch of people . but in bollywood this is certainly not going to work . all the action scenes i wish i could have forwarded . at the end even some chinese people appear from nowhere to beat akshay kumar . this is height of stupidity . audience is not paying to watch such stupidity . i think bollywood now should forget about the action movies . they cant make it . the last good action i have seen was from  ghatak  and  khiladiyon ka khialdi  . the current scene in bollywood is really sad for action movie fans like me . does these people see their movie after completion  can  t they figure out that the slow motion action  which is done using ropes  is too unrealistic and childish  better not to have action scenes if you cant handle it . i just want to go back to amitabh  s era where movie like zanjeer and deewar were having thrilling action scenes . the sound effect was not very effective in those days  but visually it is much better than current era scenes .  br    br   this movie now should open the eyes of the bollywood movie directors . please don  t make any more action movies  until you acquire the art of making it realistic .  
i loved this movie since i was  and i saw it on the opening day . it was so touching and beautiful . i strongly recommend seeing for all . it  s a movie to watch with your family by far .  br    br   my mpaa rating pg    for thematic elements  prolonged scenes of disastor  nudity  sexuality and some language .  
the storyline was okay . akshay kumar was good as always and that was the only good thing about the movie . kareena kapoor looked bad . there was so hue and cry over her size zero but she did not looked good leaner . i don  t know why the hell did anil kapoor accepted such a bad role . there was nothing much to do for him in the movie . just because it is a yashraj film does not means that an actor should accept the role however bad it is . said ali khan was alright . i think that it is high time that indian directors and producers start thinking of indian customers as intelligent lot . what are we  fools     what do they think  they will show  men taking on a swat squad to teeters and we will believe them . is the indian police so stupid that they are trying to nab some criminals . . . . they take an entire squad of     policemen and no one was there to surround the palace . the action was crap and i have never seen such bad action . akshay kumar was between a circle of      policemen all shooting at him . . . . . and he shooting back at them . none of the policemen  s bullet touched him but he killed all the policemen . crap . crap .  br    br   i think the fight director who thought of this scene should take retirement .  br    br   i strongly recommend not to see this movie .  
the movie titanic makes it much more then just a  night to remember .  it re writes a tragic history event that will always be talked about and will never been forgotten . why so criticised  i have no idea . could  will they ever make a movie like titanic that is so moving and touching every time you watch it . could they ever replace such an epic masterpiece . it will be almost impossible .  br    br   the director no doubt had the major impact on the film . a simple disaster film  boring to watch  converted to an unbelievable romance . yes i  m not the romance type either  but that should not bother you  because you will never see a romance like this . guaranteed  everything to the amazing effects  to the music  to the sublime acting .  br    br   the movie creates an amazing visual and a wonderful feeling . everything looks very real and live . the legend herself  titanic  is shown brilliantly in all classes  too looks  too accommodation . the acting was the real effect . dicaprio and winslet are simply the best at playing there roles . no one could have done better . they are partly the reason why the film is so great .  br    br   i guess it  s not too much to talk about . the plot is simple  the acting is brilliant  based on a true story  probably more then half of the consumers that watch the film will share tears  thanks to un imaginable ending which can never be forgotten . well if you haven  t seen this film your missing out on something hesterical  and a film to idolise for hollywood . could it get better  no . not at all . the most moving film of all time  don  t listen to people  see for yourself then you will understand . a landmark .  don  t be surprised if you cry too   
i was very displeased with this move . everything was terrible from the start . the comedy was unhumorous  the action overdone  the songs unmelodious . even the storyline was weightless . from a writer who has written successful scripts like guru and dhoom  i had high expectations . the actors worked way too hard and did not help the film at all . of course  kareena rocked the screen in a bikini but for two seconds . i think hindi stunt directors should research how action movies are done . they tend to exaggerate way too much . in chinese films  this style works because that is their signature piece . but  hindi cinema  s signature are the songs . a good action movie should last no more than two hours and cannot look unrealistic . but  in the future  i  m sure these action movies will get much sharper . also to be noted comedy and action films do not mix unless done properly . good luck next time .  
i had few problems with this film  and i have heard a lot of criticisms saying it is overlong and overrated . true  it is over three hours long  but i was amazed that it goes by so quickly . i don  t think it is overrated at all  i think the imdb rating is perfectly decent . the film looks sumptuous  with gorgeous costumes and excellent effects  and the direction from james cameron rarely slips from focus . leonardo dicaprio gives one of his best performances as jack  and kate winslet is lovely as rose . david warner  a great actor  steals every scene he  s in . the story is very rich in detail  and is hot on character development  obvious with the love story which is very moving when it needs to be  though in the first bit of the movie it is a little slow . the last hour is extremely riveting  and i will confess that i was on the edge of my seat  when the titanic sank . i will also say that the last five minutes were very moving . the music score by james horner was lovely  though i never was a huge fan of the song my heart will go on . the     miniseries was good  but suffered from undeveloped scenarios and some historical inaccuracies . overall  i give titanic an  .     . bethany cox .  
if there is one film which is the worst of this year  it  s tashan the first promo gave an indication that the film will be a boring dhoom  style film  and well i knew first only it would be a bad film whatever it maybe because of it being a yashraj film or maybe seeing the cheesy promo but this film gave me a shock  it was even worst then dhoom  and what i expected first saif  s introduction which is boring then saif  kareena meet  kareena is so artificial and then anil kapoor oh god  what he is doing in such a weird film  what kinda role it is  what acting is he doing  his first scene is alright but then his act gets repetitive and he overacts then came akshay who provided some nice scenes  but then the film became more boring and with all the outdated stuff childhood romance  overdose of childish rajnikant style action scenes and all boring scenes the ending is another joke  br    br   vijay krishna acharya would have got  films more to direct  if this film had worked  thats the strategy of yashraj  only money nothing else so vijay is another addition to their list of crap filmmakers music  vishal shekhar  is ordinary  br    br   performances akshay kumar comes in the film as a whiff of fresh air  he actually provides some engaging moments saif ali khan is irritating  kareena is equally bad anil kapoor hams outrageously and spoils the show even more rest are okay  
i think james cameron might be becoming my favorite director because this is my second review of his movies . anyway  everyone remembers the rms titanic . it was big  fast  and  unsinkable  . . . until april     . it was all over the news and one of the biggest tragedies ever . well james cameron decided to make a movie out of it but star two fictional characters to be in the spotlight instead of the ship . well  onto the main review but let me remind you that this is all opinion and zero fact and the only fact that will be present is an event from the film .  br    br   so our two main characters are jack  leonardo dicaprio  and rose  kate winslet  . they  re not annoying too much but watch this and you  ll find out why they could become annoying  http   tinyurl . com  ojhoyn  . the main villain i guess is bad luck  fate  hand of god  no blasphemy intended   or just plain caledon hockley  billy zane  . combine all of the above and what do you get   oh yes  we get a love story on a sinking boat . the supporting characters are the following my personal favorite  mr . andrews  victor garber   idk he was so nice   lovejoy  david warner   murdoch  ewan stewart   lightoller  jonathan phillips   captain smith  bernard hill   molly brown  kathy bates   and many more . we also got the present day treasure hunter  brock lovett  bill paxton  . they add something to the story  something good . the action in here is awesome  especially in the second half  the drama as also good . in the end you can have your eyes dropping rainstorms or silent tears . the story is simple and it works . a treasure hunter seeks the heart of the ocean and instead finds a drawing of a woman wearing the said diamond . she calls and tells her tale on the rms titanic . two lovers separated by social class and ultimately  the fate of the ship . everything about the story works and there are very few flaws . i give titanic  an    awesome  
absolutely awful movie . utter waste of time .  br    br   background music is so loud that you cannot understand speech . well if you really listen closely  whatever they speak is actually unintelligible .  br    br   camera work is bad  editing is not present  background score gives a headache  action is shoddy  dialogs are unintelligible  acting is abysmal and well kareena used to look like a wrestler  now she looks like a starved wrestler . hell you can slim down but you cannot gain grace .  br    br   after spending three hours watching a movie i want to like it  but this movie would not even allow me that pleasure .  br    br   please if you want to torture yourself  go ahead watch this .  
titanic is a long but well made tragic adventure love story that takes place during the ill  fated voyage on the unsinkable ship . writer  director james cameron has done a great job of making this movie about a fictional love story between two very different people and combining that with the real event of the titanic that sunk after hitting an iceberg on april        claiming thousands of lives who perished in the icy freeing waters of the north atlantic . the two leads in the film are great in their roles including leonardo dicaprio and kate winslet . they make for a good on  screen couple . dicpario and winslet also had genuine chemistry together which made the romance that eventually blossoms between them that much more believable . they both showed real talent when this one came out and both of them have continued to show just that in their most recently films as well . the rest of the supporting cast including billy zane  kathy bates  frances fisher  jonathan hyde  and bill paxton in a small role are equally impressive as their characters who help bring them to life in this film . the love story  the action  suspense  and the special effects are magnificent done especially for that time . the horror of the situation the characters were in felt so real because it really happened making you want most of them to survive this life and death situation . the pacing was a little slow at times and it was a little long but the rest of the movie made up for it  s few flaws . titanic makes for a great date movie which is sure to make some girls cry almost every time they watch it . the fact that this really happened definitely added to the movie making you feel sorry for all the lives lost when the titanic sunk into the atlantic after hitting an iceberg . overall titanic is a tragic heartbreaking story about two people who fall in love while on the ill  fated ship thats brought to life by the exceptional performances from the cast especially dicaprio and winslet who definitely make this movie worth the time to watch .  
sometime i fail to understand what do the directors think when they make a movie . . . i had had a trauma after watching welcome       and thought that they wont do it again . but after loads of amazing promos  tashan finally ended as heart attack .  br    br   such amazing  songs in promo  dil haara  chhaliya and tashan mein . . . . . and what u get in the movie  zero story  predictable plot  plenty of akshay kumar stunts and nothing interesting apart from watching kareena after her major weight loss . . .     br    br   music  wise another major disaster . . . in the music album  they have spent time on giving pathetic small dialogs of these  jokers and they haven  t thought of giving the background song of the scenes when akshay kumar is doing stunts . . .  that song is such nice  quite comparable to tashan mein and that is not taken in the music album       if you plan to watch this movie  i would say  watch it to listen to that background song which goes something like . . .  bachchan bachchan pandey . . .   br    br   overall very disappointed even with the way bhaiyyaji has made attempt to speak bad english   br    br   go away man  i need to puke   
the ship may have sunk but the movie didn  t    director  james cameron  from  the terminator  did it again with this amazing picture . one of my favorite scenes is  the dinner table  scene  in which rose  s family and friends meet jack after he saves her . rose has a look on her face that every woman should have when you meet  the one  . . . i hope i have that look when i am in the room with my future husband .  br    br   jack and rose have a connection that is  movie stuff  but it  s good movie stuff . we have the greedy mom and all her elite stuck up associates who live off of their husbands wealth . rose almost commits suicide but the gilbert grape star rescues her . i really liked the hanging over the boat scene . it was a good risk .  br    br   the movie is long but it  s fantastic    good story  good flow  good actors    go see it twice if you want  its worth it     
i had never thought the standard of yashraj films would ever degrade to such an extent  the film has a nonsense storyline which catches no interest .  br    br   saif has over acted . kareena has improved her figure  but is not a good actress anyway . akshay is good . anil is also good . may i say the role wasn  t good . .  br    br   great deal of cheapness is filled in . wondered if that was supposed to be the  comedy part  of the movie . just because last few movies were flops does that mean yashraj films should make this kind of rubbish  it has a history of so many good films .  br    br   overall  i was totally disappointed with the movie .  
titanic has to be one of my all  time favorite movies . it has its problems  what movies don  t  but still  it  s enjoyable .  br    br   when i stumble across someone who asks me why i like titanic  i suppose my first reaction is  wait a minute  you don  t   i know so many people who don  t like this movie  and i  m not saying i don  t see why .  the love story is too cheesy  well  yes but isn  t it enjoyable and moving  all right  the love story between jack and rose is very unrealistic  everyone knows that love like this doesn  t actually exist . but this is a movie  doesn  t everyone enjoy watching a beautiful story that lets us slip slightly into fantasy for a while  the next complaint  dicaprio and winslet are terrible actors . well  ok  in this movie  i agree that they do not perform to their full potentials . however i think it  s unfair to say that they are terrible actors . i personally think they are both very talented actors who unfortunately are very famous for a movie that they are not amazing in . but the roles they are given are simple  and the characters seem real enough that you can care about them quite a bit  but i agree with many people that they did not do as well as could have been expected .  br    br   and finally  if one is going to complain that they don  t like this movie because they hate romance  or because they hate history  or tragic movies  then i  m sorry but why on earth did they go and see a movie that is so clearly all of these things . it  s like people who complain the dark knight is a bad movie because they hate action movies . simply for being a movie  not because you dislike the genre  this is a good movie .  br    br   well deserving of its oscars  in particular  best cinematography  which i find to be the best i  ve ever seen in a movie save maybe the lord of the rings trilogy .  br    br   i know some of the writing fails  such as the constant screaming of each other  s names throughout the movie . the flashback portion of the story can be quite weak at times  but overall it  s an amazing achievement in making the titanic look so real  and the sinking feel so epic .  br    br   i understand why a lot of people dislike this movie  but for the most part it boils down to them disliking the fundamental idea  such as it being a love story  rather than them thinking the movie in and of itself is poorly constructed .  br    br   i can tell you that i have read more than five books about the titanic  including memoirs form the day it happened  and this movie is extremely historically accurate save just a few faults . the only main ones i can find is that the piping should be threaded copper  not steel  and the iceberg looks fairly unrealistic as is the scene where they hit it .  br    br   i give this movie       not because i like romance movies  but simply because it  s an outstanding cinematic achievement  that leaves one feeling horrified by the realistic adaptation of events .  
the film lacks style  i mean original style . everything looks copied including action  first appearances in the movie  songs  dialog delivery  etc etc . yes  there the goof  ups were original  like in the beginning a car is shown with number up number and few seconds later it starts falling down a hill with number mh . that was one in many goof  ups of the movie   anything good in the movie  yes  for kareena fans  if there are any  kareena in bikini . for akshay fans  his dialogs and action stunts . thats it . nothing else . so watch it on your own risk and don  t blame the director or actors . director is already insane and actors  i pity them .  
titanic is a classic . i was really surprised that this movie didn  t have a solid ten  overall in the imdb user rankings . maybe  it  s just cool to not give titanic credit nowadays  but when it was first made it was really something . when the movie came out people flocked to the theaters . when it came out on video my sister and i would watch it twice a day for a month . it was safe to say we were obsessed and for good reason . some of the disaster scenes were hard to forgot  like the frozen baby  or the guy who committed suicide after killing someone in the unruly crowd . many people died on that ship  and to convey that on film with the immediacy and emotion it needed is a hard challenge that james cameron stepped up to . and let  s not forget the amazing romance between jack and rose . whether or not their relationship was a figment of someone  s imagination it was lovely . they barely knew each other  but they would die for each other . they trusted each other . they sure as hell are giving romeo and juliet a run for their money .  i  ll never let go  jack .  titanic is a great film down to it  s very core . it is a powerful story told through brilliant acting  excellent cinematography  beautiful music  and a crew full of hard and dedicated workers . it really blows my mind when someone says they hate this movie .  
this movie is horrible . the acting is a waste basket . no crying  no action  hopeless songs . though the scenery is great . i have always wanted to go to greece .  br    br   anyway  as for saif  you  d expect a great performance  but even he let down the people .  br    br   akshay kumar  recognized as the pimp of bollywood and the voice of singhs . he was sensational in this movie . for only this performance  filmfare should introduce another award . the toiletries award for the worst performance . by the way the trophy should be a toilet seat .  br    br   kareena kapoor . she first of all is not comparable to her sister karisma . in acting  in looks  or in body . she now wants to prove to herself that she surpasses her . she comes into this movie wearing bikini  s and tank tops and short shorts . i really wonder why saif ali khan is letting his wife  to  be dress like that . but  she must  ve impressed some people dressing like that . and if you ask how  then consider every man is having an erection watching this movie . they are dreaming of having kareena kapoor in bed naked with a condom . including me . personally i think that she dressed like a whore  but i really liked it .  br    br   i am forced to give it a      but i  d really give this movie a     . an unachieved film .  
another aussie masterpiece  this delves into the world of the unknown and the supernatural  and it does very well . it doesn  t resort to the big special effects overkill like american flicks  it focuses more on emotional impact . a relatively simple plot that rebecca gibney  co . bring to life . it follows the story of a couple who buy an old house that was supposedly home to a very old woman who never went outside  and whose husband disappeared in mysterious circumstances a century ago . strange things begin to happen in the house  and john adam begins to turn into the man who disappeared  who was actually a mass murderer . highly recommended .      
ok  i am not japanese . i do know a little about japanese culture  and a little less about japanese pop culture . other than that  i am spanish  i eat paella and i like black humor .  br    br   good  with that point set  i can comment on the movie i have no idea on how it is enjoyable to the japanese audiences  mamoru oshii is quite a good director  despite the overly pedantic postmodern stuff in the style of talking head  and even that was curious and somehow interesting  and i am surprised he came up with this . it may just be one of those lost  in  translation cases  i am afraid it is  but as a european viewer watching the film with subtext overloaded english subtitles i just thought it was horrible . the jokes seemed bad  the script was overcooked  i mean  give the audience a break  and shut up a little you damn narrator  to the point of almost making my head explode over an overkill of fast  paced speaking and absurd action .  br    br   however  i thought the animation was really cool . the idea is great  and it is well exploited in those animated scenes . however  the eye  candy finishes as soon as the characters are left aside to start with an endless not funny at all mumbo  jumbo speech over still pictures . it just makes you want to fast forward to the next cut  out hysterical characters scene .  br    br   i read mamoru oshii is actually planning on a sequel for this . the idea was good but horribly exploited . maybe the second part will bring up the good parts of this first one and actually make an interesting movie  or maybe it will be more and more over  narrated scenes . but hell  if you thought talking head was dense  amazing lifes of fast food gifters will give cause you a stroke .  br    br   of course  all this comment is based on the experiences of someone who is european . probably this is totally useless to japanese people  maybe it was a really funny film lost in cultural frontiers and translation . maybe .  
for me personally this film goes down in my top four of all time . no exceptions . james cameron has proved himself time and time again that he is a master storyteller . through films such as aliens  the abyss and both terminators it is clear that he was a brilliant and confidant director as far as action and science  fiction goes . he sees a story and adds a strange quality to the film . but titanic is so much different to his other strokes of brilliance . the film is exceptionally moving and allows room for surprises  plot development and interesting character developments in a story that everyone knows . the story of the famed voyager sinking on her maiden voyage is legend so the challenge was for cameron to make a truthful  interesting and entertaining film about it . the acting is wonderful as leonardo dicaprio who plays jack and kate winslet who plays rose became superstars overnight with the release of this film and in most films i get annoyed when the supporting characters aren  t given a lot to do but in this film it is more purposeful because as an elderly rose  gloria stuart  tells her story it is quickly apparent that it is rose  s and jack  s story alone  no one else . emotionally it is entirely satisfying and can leave no dry eye in a theater or home . the music has become iconic and legendary . it is composer james horner  s finest soundtrack ever and evokes so much from the film and the audience . the song after so long has become annoying but i still appreciate it for the phenomenon it is and this film is . only one problem  the usual james cameron problem  is the dialogue which is memorable but in a bad way as in how cheesy it is at points but all that aside . james cameron has delivered a masterpiece and a romantic epic that sweeps you away on a journey of a lifetime . my heart won  t go on from this one .  
 . . . for this movie defines a new low in bollywood and has set the standard against which all cp must now be compared .  br    br   first off  the beginning did have elements of style . . . . and if handled well  could have become a cult classic  a  la pulp fiction or a desi desperado . . . but the plot  was there one   begins to meander and at one point completely loses it .  br    br   throw in a deranged don with an obsession for english  a call center smart alec  a femme fa tale who can don a bikini and a saree with the same aplomb  a levitating  gravity defying hit  man and a cop with a hundred  or was it a thousand  black cat commandos on their trail . . . . good ingredients in competent hands . but this is where i would like to ask the director sir  what were you smoking   br    br   im sure this movie would be remembered in the annals of bollywood film making  for what must never be done  insult the intelligence of the most brain dead of movie goers .  br    br   possibly the only redeeming feature in this desi matrix plus desperado plus grindhouse caper is the music . . . watch the videos . . . hear the airplay and you wont be disappointed . vishal  shekhar come up with some eminently hummable tunes .  br    br   how i wish the director had spent the money in creating some more eye candy . . . .  br    br   as i sign off  i want to really  badly know how does akshay  s bullet wound vanish in a microsecond . . . what were you editors doing  tashan  maybe . . .  
back in      do i remember that year clinton bans cloning research  the unfortunate death of princess diana  the marlins won the world series and a woman gave birth to septuplets . this was also the big year in the release of titanic  one of the biggest films of all time a tale about the ship of dreams  about a boy and a girl who fall in love but are torn apart by their social class and at the height of their emotional commitment the ship meets with disaster . i don  t think anybody could have expected titanic to be as huge as it was  the movie was bigger than life and had millions of fans     of them being teenage girls  i was   years old at the time  and of course saw the movie multiple times . it was the film that made me believe that the love that jack and rose shared was so real and beautiful . at the time i felt that titanic could do no wrong  of course i grew up and didn  t watch the film since i was    a couple years ago i saw the film on dvd for  .   and figured that it was a good price and to see what i thought about the movie now . was it worth the hype  was it really the best movie of all time  was that leonardo  s real nose  ok  i know that  s silly to say  but i did re  watch the film . being completely honest here  titanic is a great movie  best movie of all time  no  just depends on your idea of a good movie  but titanic delivered in romance  humor  disaster  emotions and never let us go on this maiden voyage .  br    br   the film starts with brock lovett and his team exploring the wreck of the rms titanic  searching for a necklace set with a valuable blue diamond called the heart of the ocean . unsuccessful  they instead discover a drawing of a young woman reclining nude  wearing the heart of the ocean  dated the day the titanic sank .     year  old rose dawson calvert learns of the drawing  and contacts lovett to inform him she is the woman in the drawing . she and her granddaughter elizabeth  lizzy  calvert visit lovett and his skeptical team on his salvage ship . when asked if she knew the whereabouts of the necklace  rose calvert recalls her memories aboard the titanic  revealing for the first time that she was rose dewitt bukater . in      the upper  class    year  old rose boards the ship with her fianc  cal hockley and her mother  ruth dewitt bukater  both of whom stress the importance of rose  s engagement to cal since the marriage will mean the eradication of the dewitt  bukater debts while they have the outward appearance of the upper  class  rose and her mother are financially broke . distraught and frustrated by her engagement to the controlling cal and the pressure her mother is putting on her to go through with the marriage  rose attempts suicide by jumping from the stern . before she leaps  a drifter and artist named jack dawson intervenes . jack and rose strike up a tentative friendship as she thanks him for saving her life  and he shares stories of his adventures traveling and sketching their bond deepens when they leave a stuffy first  class formal dinner of the rapport  building wealthy for a much livelier gathering of irish dance  music and beer in third  class . but after cal  s servant informs him of rose  s whereabouts   rose is forbidden from seeing jack again . however  after witnessing a woman encouraging her seven  year  old daughter to behave like a  proper lady  at tea  rose defies him and her mother  asking jack to sketch her nude and wearing only the heart of the ocean  an engagement present from cal . after a beautiful moment together in the very first backseat fun time  they go to the deck of the ship .  br    br   they then witness the ship  s fatal collision with an iceberg . after overhearing the ship  s lookouts discussing how serious the collision is  rose tells jack they should warn her mother and cal . meanwhile  cal discovers rose  s nude drawing and her taunting note in his safe  so he frames jack for stealing the heart of the ocean by having lovejoy plant it in jack  s pocket . upon learning cal intends to leave jack to die below deck  rose runs away from him and her mother to rescue him . jack and rose return to the top deck . cal and jack  though enemies  both want rose safe  so they persuade her to board a lifeboat . but after realizing that she cannot leave jack  rose jumps back on the ship and reunites with jack in the ship  s first class staircase . jack and rose return to the top deck  the lifeboats have gone  and the ship finally goes down into the freezing atlantic taking jack and rose down .  br    br   so does titanic live up to it  s hype  i still say that this is a great movie to watch  i think that there were and still are quite a few haters that for some reason just want to trash the movie because it had won a ton of awards and everyone was in love with the movie . but it has great acting  amazing effects  a well  written story and still looks flawless . love it or hate it  you have to admit this movie didn  t get a lot of hype just because of leo  s baby face or kate  s amazing ability to cry on sight  this film is something special . it will always hold a special place in my heart  it has too seeing that i saw this film  times in the theater when it was released . but all that aside  i do recommend this movie  it  s a great one and sure to go down in the classics one day .  br    br         
the sight of kareena kapoor in a two  piece bikini is about the only thing that wakes you up from your sleep while watching tashan  the mega  disappointing  mind  numbing new film at the cinemas this weekend . bad films are bad films and we see some every week  but tashan is not just a bad film  it  s a terrible film . terrible because it takes its audience for granted  terrible also because the filmmakers expect to get away without a plot or any common sense only because they  ve got big movie stars onboard . written and directed by vijay krishna acharya  tashan is what you  d describe as a road movie  but one that  s going in all the wrong directions . saif ali khan stars as jimmy cliff  a call  centre executive who  s hired to teach english to bhaiyyaji  that  s anil kapoor playing an ambitious up gangster  desperate to go cool . jimmy  s got his eye on pooja  the gangster  s pretty young assistant  played by kareena kapoor   who uses jimmy to swindle her boss of   crore rupees . determined to recover his money and also to punish both jimmy and pooja  bhaiyyaji recruits his most trusted henchman to do the job . so you have akshay kumar as bachchan pandey  the gangster  s faithful aide from kanpur  who tracks down the culprits and recovers the stolen money that  s hidden across the length and breadth of the country . much like those bad eighties potboilers  tashan too is held together by a threadbare script centred on a vendetta plot . but the treatment  s so over  the  top  so indulgent that it fails to establish any connect . instead of a coherent screenplay or a traditional three  act structure  you get a handful of set pieces around which most of the scenes are loosely constructed . that garish item song in the desert  the bullet  dodging action scene at a rajasthani fort  kareeena  s bikini moment  even that ridiculous climatic action scene complete with shaolin monks  a water scooter zipping through a dirty naala  and believe it or not  even a dhanno  style horse  driven tonga . in all fairness  not all these set pieces are badly done  the item song in the desert is quite neat actually  but very little of it makes any sense in the larger picture  because you  re just going from one piece to another without any help from the script really . little do you expect in a seemingly fast  paced road movie  to find a sickeningly sentimental flashback track about childhood sweethearts . you see the problem with tashan is nobody associated with this film knew what film they were making . what  s more  i don  t think they cared either  the film reeks of arrogance . arbitrarily packing in elements of every genre without actually bothering to stop and see if the mix does work  tashan is like an overcooked stew . there are films that kill you softly  and then there  s tashan  a film that kills you with excess . packaged snazzily with glossy  finish camera  work  exotic locations and fancy costumes  every frame of the film probably cost lakhs to put together  but it still feels like a hollow piece in the end because the story doesn  t hold . borrowing narrative from tarantino and style from stephen chow doesn  t help either because they don  t blend with the film  s wafer  thin plot . one may have complained a little less if the characters were more engaging  but anil kapoor  s grating hinglish dialogue makes you want to slit your wrists  and saif ali khan fumbles through the film foolishly  unable to find his feet . kareena kapoor  meanwhile  queen of over  the  top delivery  does a decent job . but of course  if tashan is salvaged to some extent  it  s thanks to akshay kumar  s irresistible presence and his spontaneous approach to the character . you cringe when he  s cupping his crotch repeatedly  and you scowl when he delivers those double  meaning dialogues  but not for a moment can you take your eyes off the screen when he  s up there . despite some good music from vishal  shekhar  the songs seem like they  re only prolonging your misery . well that  s because tashan is a test of your patience . in case you didn  t know  tashan means style . i  m sorry to say  this film has none .  
james cameron  s  titanic  is essentially a romantic adventure with visual grandeur and magnificence  a timeless tragic love story set against the background of this major historical event . . . it  s an astonishing movie that exemplifies hope  love and humanity . . .  br    br   leonardo dicaprio is terrific on screen with big charisma . . . conveying passion  trust  insouciance and ingenuity  he  s a free  spirited wanderer with artistic pretensions  and a zest for life . . .  br    br   kate winslet is absolutely lovely as the confused upper  class teen engaged to a nasty rich guy who finds herself  one night  plunged to the depths of despair . . .  br    br   billy zane is an arrogant racist  abusive and ultra rich who would lie  cheat  steal  bribe with money or even use an innocent young child to escape defeat . . . he keeps a   carat blue diamond worn by louis xvi . . .  br    br   kathy bates is the legendary unsinkable molly brown  the richest woman in denver  who is a lot less uptight than the other rich folk on the ship . . .  br    br   frances fisheris is the impecunious cold snobbish mother who  deathly afraid of losing her social stature  forces her daughter to become engaged to marry a rich  supercilious snob . . .  br    br   victor garber is the master shipbuilder  the real  life character who attempts to fix time  to measure it  in a sense  to make it into history . . .  br    br   jonathan hyde is the white star chairman who wants the titanic to break the trans  atlantic speed record  in spite of warnings that icebergs may have floated into the hazardous northern crossing . . .  br    br   bill paxton is the opportunistic undersea explorer in search for a very rare diamond called the  heart of the ocean .   br    br   gloria stuart is the     year old woman who reveals a never  before told love story . . . the nightmare  the horror and the shock are imprinted upon her deeply lined face . . .  br    br    titanic  is loaded with luminous photography and sweeping visuals as the footage of the shipwrecked ocean liner lying motionless on the ocean floor the incredible transformation of the bow of the sunken  titanic  that takes the viewer back to      revealing the meticulously re  created interiors the first sight of the titanic steamed steadily toward her date with destiny the titanic  leaving the southampton dock  and some dolphins appear jumping  racing along in front of the luxurious ship decaprio and winslet flying at the ship  s front rail in a gorgeous magic moment the intertwining of past and present as jack was drawing rose on his paper  the camera zooms closely on young rose  s eye  only to transform its shape into gloria stuart  s aged eye . . .  br    br   chilling scenes titanic  s inevitable collision with destiny james cameronin one of the most terrifying sequences ever put on film takes us down with the titanic  finally leaving us floundering in the icy water  screaming for help that never comes . . .  br    br   winner of   academy awards  including best picture  james cameron  s  titanic  is a gigantic epic where you don  t just watch the film  you experience it  the visual effects are amazing  like no other film  s . . . the decor is overwhelming . . . james horner  s music intensifies the emotions . . . the whole movie is hunting and involving  filled with a wide range of deep feelings . . .  br    br   it  s truly a moving tribute to those who lost their lives on that unfortunate ship . . .  
such a long awaited movie . . but it has disappointed me and my friends who had gone to see the movie on the first day . . from the trailers it looked like a action movie  but it turned out to be a out  out comedy  a bad comedy  . but one thing that deserves appreciation is the acting by these professional actors  they  ve done their part of the movie very well . good acting  but i don  t think that can save the movie . . india has been shot beautifully . kerala  rajasthan   ladakh   were all saturated with color  alright . nevertheless the way the intrinsic beauty of these places was shot made me want to find out exactly where those places were and when i could go there     br    br   action sequences were shot very shabbily  no one could make out head  tail of the stunts  they  ve used akki  akshay kumar  very well but could  ve been done much much better . .  br    br   animation is the worst i  ve seen in recent movies     s movies had better animation scenes i guess  initial scene where the car is falling off  flying should be better word  the road into lake  .  br    br   and the movies name has been mentioned nearly every   to   mins  just to make sure audiences don  t forget the movie name i guess . .  
this movie re  wrote film history in every way . no one cares what anyone thinks about this movie  because it transcends criticism . every flaw in the movie is easily overcome by the many amazing things the movie has going for it . it is an extremely beautiful movie  and i doubt many of us will see anything like it again . i  ve seen it more times than i care to count  and i still become transfixed every time  with a feeling which is hard to describe . one for the ages .  
i would have liked to write about the story  but there wasn  t any . i would have liked to quote a couple of hard hitting dialogs from the movie but  hinglish  is only funny for like  minutes  after that its overkill . i would have liked to swoon over the  keep  u  guessing suspense  but it was as predictable as . . . um mm  a yash raj movie    . i would have liked to talk of the edge  of  the  seat action  but i don  t like cartoons much .  br    br   sigh  br    br   all in all  this movie is perfect for  . people attempting suicide  i promise it  ll push you over the edge  . sado  masochists  this movie is way more effective than the barbed wire that silas guy in the da  vinci code wore .  . people researching alternative ways to spread terrorism  i swear the audience leaving the hall seemed to be in a mood to kill someone  . movie piraters more power to them . if any movies deserves to not have the audience spending money to watch  this is it .  . barnacles  most types of plankton  green algae  because almost all other living things would require an iq factor somewhat greater than what the movie offers . afterthought the director of the movie  obviously  is a species of his own .  and i hope to god that he is the only one of his kind . . one is enough   br    br   things that could have made this a better movie  . a story  . a choreographer  . a screenplay writer  . a stunt coordinator  . a story  did i already say that    . a director  preferably one who is not mentally challenged  although even one who was challenged could have done a better job   . anil kapoorbubonic plague  avoid at all costs  . a statutory warning   watching yash raj movies is injurious to your mental health    br    br   things i liked about the movie  . kareena kapoor  for obvious reasons  . the english sub  titles   mera dil kho gaya  becomes   my heart is in a void    chaliya chaliya chaliya  turns into  im a flirt  im a lover  im a vagabond  . . priceless .  br    br   in short  tashan to me  is like the opposite of a rubrics cube  the cube is supposed to increase the iq of the player  tashan promises to lower your iq  and that . . in a mere  .  hours  woot   br    br   sigh . . but thats just me . i could be wrong you  ve been warned anyways .  
titanic directed by james cameron presents a fictional love story on the historical setting of the titanic . the plot is simple  noncomplicated  or not for those who love plots that twist and turn and keep you in suspense . the end of the movie can be figured out within minutes of the start of the film  but the love story is an interesting one  however . kate winslett is wonderful as rose  an aristocratic young lady betrothed by cal  billy zane  . early on the voyage rose meets jack  leonardo dicaprio   a lower class artist on his way to america after winning his ticket aboard titanic in a poker game . if he wants something  he goes and gets it unlike the upper class who are so concerned with their social worries . the two fall in love and the audience sees the sinking of the titanic primarily through their eyes .  br    br   the movie begins in modern times with the exploration of the wreck by a group searching for treasures  that sunk with the titanic  which has recently occurred . one of the survivors of the titanic  rose dewitt bukater  who had heard of the exploration of the wreck on television and is flown to the boat where the search is being led from to tell of what she remembers to help the search . she gets to telling her memory of the one and only voyage of the titanic . with this  the scene shifts to southhampton  ireland where the titanic set sail from on april        as all the passengers are boarding . after another stop on the irish coast titanic went out to see on its maiden voyage across the atlantic bound for new york . historically the first few days of the voyage went by uneventful  but the fictional plot of the story is developed during this time as rose sees the hopeless entrapement of an engagement that she is in to the wealthy cal hockley and falls in love with third class passenger  jack dawson . captain smith alledgedly as shown in the movie was urged by the white star line director to increase the speed of the ship so they would make the newspaper headlines and receive extra publicity by arriving in new york on thursday night and not on friday morning as planned . smith then ordered the fateful decision going against his thirty  two years of experience to stretch the titanic  s legs out to full speed . the titanic had reports that the waters in the atlantic they were sailing in were full of icebergs  but they ignored these warnings and proceeded at full speed as shown in the movie . on april        at       an iceberg was sighted . they attempted to shut off the engines and turn the ship out of the path of the iceberg but there was not enough time and the ship hit the iceberg on the starboard side as depicted in the film . the portrayal of the many small holes in the side of the ship and not one large gash along the side is accurate . the crew of titanic sent out distress calls and set off distress rockets as shown until     when the lights finally failed . the lights of the california were spotted six miles away but they failed to realize what was going on and did not respond to titanic  s many pleas for help . the california had tried earlier in the day to warn titanic of the severe ice that had caused them to stop their trip but titanic had brushed them off causing the california to turn off its radio and leave the titanic on its own . the first class women and children were the first as depicted to be put into the twenty lifeboats that were on the ship . overwhelmingly the third class passengers suffered the most amount of deaths of any class and the crew was hit hard in this tragedy too . the word of white star line employees and first class passengers was believed over that of second and third class passengers when authorities were trying to gain information of the sinking . also  the metal that was used to build the titanic has been found in recent years under conditions of severe cold  which were experienced the night titanic sank to be extremely brittle . overall  the basic plot is very accurate in its portayal of the events and the times at which these events took place on the titanic .  br    br   many of the characters in the story were not real and created simply for the purpose of the movie or as composite characters to represent possible characteristics and ideas of people on the ship . the core group of rose  jack  cal  and rose  s mother all were fictional characters added into the story as they represent different groups of people from the time . yet many characters such as the unsinkable molly brown captain edward smith the ship designer  thomas andrew the white star line representative  bruce ismay and all of the titanic  s officers were real . the maiden voyage was going to be captain edward smith  s last voyage anyway as he planned to retire afterwards . he had been a part of the white star line since     where he worked his way up to his status as the millionaire  s captain when the titanic sunk . the portrayals of the officers is accurate as only four survived the tragedy except for the officer who threatened to kill all of the passengers of the ship with his pistol . he is on record as acting heroicly and was misportrayed to the point that james cameron apologized and evoked a monument in his honor in the officer  s former canadian hometown . as shown in the movie there was a language problem between the crew and many of the lower  class passengers from non  english speaking nations . in addition  officer lowe was the only officer who came back in the lifeboat as depicted . the old people shown in their bed as the water came in their room were based on the strauss  . not wanting to leave her husband  s side mrs . strauss refused to get in her lifeboat and died with her husband on the titanic . furthermore  mr . goggenheim who was shown sipping his brandy and smoking a cigar reportedly did go out like this dressed in his best . the richest man on the ship  john jacob astor  who owned most of manhattan died nonetheless as well  but his much younger wife was saved in a lifeboat . in addition  molly brown was saved and later had medals made up for the crew of the carpethia that picked the survivors of titanic up from the water . her ticket on the titanic had cost over four  thousand dollars and by the end of her life she ended up broke . all of the interiors of the ship were masterfully replacated down to the last pieces of china and silverware . the gymnasium  which is hardly seen is recreated perfectly with all of the machines reproduced to match those seen in old photographs . the wonderful outfits and costuming were an excellent re  creation of the post  victorian era of     . the rich at this time practically ruled everything  as the women  s suffrage movement had not quite gotten moving yet . women during this time often married for financial security as rose was considering doing and normally took a back seast status to their husbands as cal wished for rose to do . the rich did not take well to new money  such as molly brown as depicted . everything of the time was very formal . women had to be escorted to dinner by a male figure as seen with in the dining scenes . smoking was not very common among women of the time but holders of cigarettes  which were just coming in at the time were used as seen with rose in the movie . men of the time generally smoked cigars not cigarettes . women were constained physically by their corsets and socially by society . although james cameron had no background in historical films he brought in experts of titanic coupled with two years spent cross  referencing the history of the titanic and few liberties were taken . the beautiful cinematography and special effects also helped to make the film even more breathtaking .  br    br   a recognizable message can be seen in the movie titanic as the people on the ship had about three hours to contemplate their demise . the director  james cameron  shows the various reactions to this time of crisis in people  s lives . everyone reacts differently and he gets you to think of how you might have reacted had you been in that situation on the titanic on that fateful night . in addition  this film is a reflection of the      s when it was produced as it gives a look into the wreck of the titanic . only in the past fifteen years has the site of the actual titanic been found and explored . this movie was able to give us a deeper look into a disaster that many would not have viewed . however  the moral question of whether people today should be taking treasures from the wreck of an underwater graveyard is posed . there have been attempts to stop treasure seeking missions such as the one portrayed in titanic but all have failed . as it stands today anyone can make a voyage to the titanic and take whatever valuables they as portrayed in the film showing the general values of our time on this matter .  br    br   technically the film is very well done . to get footage of the wreck at the bottom of the ocean it took twelve dives to get all of the footage needed for the movie . in addition  a special camera had to be created to withstand the intense pressure at the bottom of the ocean . cameron did not plan on using the probe to go as far inside titanic as anyone has in the   years since the ship sunk but it worked out that this provided an unique perspective into the ship . furthermore  throughout the film fade ins and outs from the wreck of titanic to the scene of titanic during its actual voyage . this shift between the modern scene to the past scene during the voyage works as an excellent transition that makes the story easy to follow in aclear manner . at the very beginning of the movie a septune recreation is used to recreate the scene when the actual people left the european coast on titanic giving it distinction from the rest of the events of the film .  br    br   titanic plays almost like a historical biography and is like a work of art  a true epic . like most history novels  we know the ending  but it doesn  t take away from the wonderful treats that can be found in this picture . certain aspects of this film are academy award material including costuming  sound  cintematography  and editing . if you like interesting characters that will give you an insight into the life of characters in the early      s and how they face disaster  then this movie definitely is for you .  br    br    
this is the biggest flop of     . i don know what director has is his mind of creating such a big disaster . the songs have been added without situations  the story have been stretched to fill the  hrs gap and most disgusting are the action stunts performed by the actors it  s like everyone are having superpowers they can run in between the bullets are fire and nothing happens to them and one person fighting with    people . only the best performance was by anil kapoor man he is all time at his best playing the role of villain with a comic act speaking hinglish . . . akki is also done a good job . . . . but the movieee just forget it .  
i find it so amazing that even after all these years  we are still talking about this movie  obviously this movie wasn  t that bad or else people wouldn  t even bother to talk about it . i personally enjoyed this film immensly  and still do  i guess this film isn  t for everyone  but it certainly did touch the hearts of many .  br    br   as for those that think that this film is  overrated  or  over  hyped  . . . well  we only have the movie  going public to thank for that  lol you see  it  s not critics  article writers that make a film  huge  or a  hit  with the general movie  going public . people make the film a huge success . with titanic  everyone was in awe . let  s face it  a film like this had never been made before . at least not with the type of special effects needed to really capture the essence of the ship actually sinking . this film is so accurate that even james cameron timed the actual sinking of the ship in the film with the real sinking that fateful day in april     . even the silverware for goodness sakes matched   br    br   give this movie a break you guys  the critics thought this movie would sink big time  when this movie actually came out and people started hearing by word of mouth  which is the best form of advertisement mind you  that this was a good  decent  movie worth seeing  then everyone started flocking to the theaters in droves to see this movie . . . not once  not twice  but maybe  times and more  so  i really wouldn  t say that this movie was  overhyped  . . . at least not like the buildup for the matrix reloaded or the hulk is being  overhyped  . ha  critics didn  t even think that titanic would make enough money to cover cameron  s gigantic film budget that it took to make this mammoth of a film . however  the films money took care of that    million budget and much more   br    br   personally  i love this film . however  this film might not be for everyone . don  t say that this film sucks just because of romance though  that is the most sexist thing i  ve ever heard  disliking a movie just because it has romance in it  the story was sweet . the dialogue could have been better  but let  s face it . . . the real star of the movie wasn  t leo or kate . . . it was that gigantic ship  i think all of the actors including dicaprio and winslet did a fine job . it  s not thier best work  i  ve seen much better work from both of them  but it wasn  t the worst i  ve seen on screen before . give them a break   br    br    
all the world said that the film tashan would be a good movie with great pleasure  but this is not the case . vijay krishna acharya made a serious mistake to take as an actress kareena kapoor . she was unbearable throughout the film . her tom  boy look does not really goes well . even the film the story of the film is not making sense at all . everyone said that the quetin taratino of india is vijay but its not at all quetin . the talent anil kapoor was involved in this stupid movie . anil is an actor of large caliber and this film is not . akshay kumar has also been a victim of this film as all is saif . the style and the phoormola is not really good in this film i was disappointed  
i avoided watching this film for the longest time . long before it was even released i had dismissed it as an over  hyped  over  blown  overly romanticized piece of hollywood schmaltz  and i wanted nothing to do with it . i never watched it in the theatre . i shook my head in disbelief at the   academy awards  even though i had never seen it . then i was asked to be a judge at a high school public speaking contest . one of the girls spoke about this movie .  it was so great   she said .  you really felt like you were on the ship .   nonsense   i thought . i shared my feelings with my fellow judges . one looked at me and said   you might be right  but if she liked the movie that much maybe she  ll want to learn more about the real titanic . the movie must have done something right to get her so interested .   well  maybe   thought i . then it finally appeared on pay tv .  ok   i thought   i  ll give it a look see .  i didn  t want to like it  and i didn  t . i loved it  what a great movie .  br    br   where to start  first  the directing . my high school public speaking contestant was right . james cameron does a superb job of creating an almost  you are there  type of atmosphere . the gaiety of life aboard the most elegant ship in the world . the nonchalance as news of the iceberg first spreads then the rising sense of panic . you don  t just watch it you really do feel it . then  the performances . the lead performances from kate winslet  as rose  and leonardo dicaprio  as jack  are excellent  winslet  s being the superior  i thought  but both were good . they had their rich girl  poor boy characters down to a perfect  t  i thought . in my opinion  though  stealing the show was frances fisher as rose  s mother . she was perfect as the snobby aristocrat  and you could feel the fear and loathing she felt every time she looked at jack . then  the details . i  m no expert on the sinking of the titanic  but i have a reasonable general knowledge  and this film does a super job of recreating the historical details accurately and then weaving them seamlessly around the fictional romance . very impressive  indeed . then  the song . who can watch this movie and not be taken with celine dion  s performance of  my heart goes on .   br    br   problems . well  the romance was perhaps too contrived  in the sense that i just don  t accept that jack could have moved so effortlessly from steerage to first class .  i know he was invited the first time but he seems to keep getting into first class without being stopped until he  s been there for a while .  the realities of the separation of the social classes were much more realistically portrayed  i thought  when the steerage passengers were going to be left locked down there after the ship hit the iceberg while the first class folks got to enjoy half empty lifeboats .  br    br   a minor quibble  though . this is truly an excellent movie . my only regret is not seeing it in the theatre  where i think it would have been so much more impressive .  br    br        
i wasn  t terribly impressed with dante  s  st season offering in  homecoming   it wasn  t much of a horror story  but rather a smart political statement with the undead . screwfly situation is the story of a virus unleashed on the world that causes men  s sexual drive to replaced with murderous tendencies toward women . the episode starts out all right with a short film explaining the way the screw fly was killed of by scientists . then there is short scene where a man is arrested when females bodies are discovered in his home . i assume this is supposed to show the beginning of the outbreak  but is unclear because this is never revisited . the episode go ons for a while introducing characters blah blah blah . it seems cool and mysterious but the episode stars to get worse and worse as it lurches forward until its sad and unsatisfying end . the worst episode . well  except for chocolate .  
to all the miserable people who have done everything from complain about the dialogue  the budget  the this and the that . . . . who wants to hear it  if you missed the point of this beyond  beautiful movie  that  s your loss . the rest of us who deeply love this movie do not care what you think . i am a thirthysomething guy who has seen thousands of movies in my life  and this one stands in its own entity  in my book . it was not supposed to be a documentary  or a completely factual account of what happened that night . it is the most amazing love story ever attempted . i know that it is the cynical    s and the millennium has everyone in a tizzy  but come on . someone on this comments board complained that it made too much money  how lame is that  it made bundles of money in every civilized country on the planet  and is the top grossing film in the planet . i will gladly side with the majority this time around . okay  cynics  time to crawl back under your rock  i am done .  
i  ve now written reviews for several of the moh episodes  and this is among the worst . an interesting premise at the beginning is completely abandoned by the time the credits roll . if watching people things they never would in real life amuses you   let  s check out the basement     then this is your show . except  it  s not amusing or entertaining  it  s just annoying .  br    br   the extent of the virus is never  ever showed . i can very much overlook the fact that it affects men only  as the resulting situation is very  very frightening . but then things deteriorate as daughter lets obviously deranged dad into the home  and ultimately dies at his hands . the woman flees north  and runs into a few tens situations . then  some sort of spirit or alien or something appears and saves her  things that make you go huh   . or something . then  she is huddling for warmth . the end .  br    br   awful . these directors are mailing this tripe in .  
every once in a while the conversation will turn to  favorite movies .  i  ll mention titanic  and at least a couple people will snicker . i pay them no mind because i know that five years ago  these same people were moved to tears by that very movie . and they  re too embarrassed now to admit it .  br    br   i just rewatched titanic for the first time in a long time . expecting to simply enjoy the story again  i was surprised to find that the movie has lost none of its power over these five years . i cried again . . . . in all the same places . it brought me back to     when i can remember how a movie that no one thought would break even became the most popular movie of all time . a movie that burst into the public consciousness like no other movie i can recall  yes  even more than star wars  . and today  many people won  t even admit they enjoyed it . folks  let  s get something straight   you don  t look cool when you badmouth this film . you look like an out of touch cynic .  br    br   no movie is perfect and this one has a few faults . some of the dialogue falls flat  and some of the plot surrounding the two lovers comes together a little too neatly . however  none of this is so distracting that it ruins the film .  br    br   leonardo dicaprio and kate winslet are wonderful . leo is one of the fine actors of his generation . wait  til you see him in gangs of new york before you call him nothing more than a pretty boy . kate winslet was so strong in this film . the movie really was hers  and she held it together beautifully .  br    br   james cameron managed what many believed was impossible by recreating a completely believable titanic . the sinking scenes were horrific  just as they were that night . how anyone can say the effects were bad is beyond me . i was utterly transfixed .  br    br   this film is one memorable scene after another . titanic leaving port in southampton . rose and jack at the bow   flying  .  iceberg  right ahead   the screws hanging unbelievably out of the ocean . the screams of the doomed after she went down . and that ending that brought even the burliest man in the theater to tears .  br    br   the music  which has also been a victim of the film  s success  was a key ingredient . james horner  s score was simply perfect . and the love theme was beautiful and tragic . too bad celine dion  s pop song version had to destroy this great bit of music for so many .  br    br   i confess  i am a titanic buff . as such  i relished the opportunity to see the ship as we never got to see it   in all its beauty . perhaps watching it sink affected me more than some because i  ve had such an interest in the ship all my life . however  i doubt many of those i saw crying were titanic buffs . i applaud cameron for bringing this story to the masses in a way that never demeaned the tragedy . the film was made with such humanity .  br    br   another reviewer said it better than i ever could open up your hearts to titanic  and you will not be disappointed .  
masters of horror the screwfly solution starts as america is being infected by an airborne virus that affects the male population  when aroused men indiscriminately kill any woman in sight apparently in the name of god . scientist alan  jasn priestley  is brought in by the government  knows more than most  senses the situation may have gone too far already so he tells his wife anne  kerry norton  to take their teenage daughter amy  brenna o  brien   try to survive as the future of the human race may depend on them . . .  br    br   this canadian american co  production was episode  from season  of the masters of horrror tv series  directed by joe dante i thought the screwfly solution was pretty bad . i personally think the script by sam hamm sucks  it takes itself far too seriously  i don  t really understand why it  s part of the masters of horror series  the horror that the filmmakers are going for in the screwfly solution is in the actual story itself  themes  ideas it brings up rather than on screen visual horror particularly the tenuous ecological message it sees intent on ramming down our throats whenever it  s gets the chance during it  s short   odd minute running time which i felt itself was a problem as the thing just finishes out of what could easily be interpreted as necessity rather than any meaningful attempt to wrap things up . i wasn  t happy with the inconsistencies with the story either  if men only kill when sexually aroused why does the flight attendant casually break that woman  s neck on the plane  was he sexually aroused  i think not . why does every bloke then think he  s killing in the name of god  i just can  t see every single bloke on earth suddenly knowing the bible  starting to believe in god  i just found the notion ridiculous  the show also states clearly that there  s nothing religious about what  s going on so what  s the deal with everyone thinking they have a divine to murder any woman they see  then there  s the fact people get turned on by different things  what about gays for instance  will they kill guys instead of women  i know there  s a brief scene which makes a joke out of the gay issue but it  s conveniently brushed to one side  then there  s the thing which annoyed me the most . the fact that presumably every bloke on earth has turned psycho  killed all the women they go about their everyday business like nothing ever happened  it just felt so stupid  the plotting is rubbish  to round things off there  s a ending which looks like it was taken from a rejected episode of the x  files            with a bright neon alien .  br    br   director dante on this showing definitely doesn  t qualify as a master of horror as far a i  m concerned  the story is badly paced  it  s just so stupid considering it  s played deadly straight  instead of trying to make a proper horror show he turns in more of a thriller with it  s deadly virus on the loose situation  the subsequent mother  daughter on the run because of it  there  s very little here in the way of what i would call effective horror  even less gore . there  s a scene when a woman is stabbed with a broken bottle  a brief scene after when a guy stabs his own groin with said bottle  another woman is stabbed in the stomach but nothing else to write home about .  br    br   technically like the other episodes it  s really good  it doesn  t have the look of a cheap tv series  the special effects are great as usual  it  s well made . the acting is alright but no  one really stood out .  br    br   the screwfly solution is easily the worst masters of horror episode i  ve seen but bear in mind i haven  t seen all of them . . . yet . as a stand alone piece of entertainment it did nothing for me  as a show made by a so  called master of horror it disappoints me even more .  
i am not a parent  neither am i a male . but i was able to identify with every character  s heartaches and pains .  br    br   this is a movie teenagers should watch . maybe that way they will start appreciating the value of family again . i  m sorry for those that don  t understand the value of love  family and friendship .  br    br   it was very interesting to watch patrick duffy in a different role than that of bobby ewing . and it is great to see a   year old ben affleck giving his best in a moving and sincere performance . he showed at an early age  that he is capable of heartfelt drama . he should be offered more serious roles . note hollywoodland . . . his first serious role in years and he went out and won best actor at the venice festival in     .  br    br   this movie can be appreciated by people of all ages . maybe shouldn  t be watched by children under   because they might get scared that the same may happen to their families  but i recommend it to the entire family .  br    br   i bought this movie on dvd and have watched it with friends many times . because it portrays the values that are important in life .  
i love the frequently misnomered  masters of horror  series . horror fans live in a constant lack of nourishment . projects like this  and the similar  greenlight project  with gave us  feast   like it or lump it  are breeding grounds for wonderful thought bubbles in the minds of directors with a horror bent to develop and bring to maturation food for we who love to dine on horror .  br    br   this one began with a kernel of really  kool  idea and ran . . . right off the edge of  where in the world am i going with this      .  br    br   i don  t know how to spoil the spoiled but  spoiler ahead  all of a sudden . . . no  there was that light drifting across the night sky earlier . . . we have long haired luminescent aliens  huh  . . . huh   brain drilling males and . . . yeah  i get it but . . . well . . . the worst curse of storytelling  a rousing and promising set up without a rewarding denouement .  br    br   cue to storytellers . . . your build up has to have a payoff that exceeds build up . not the other way around . storytelling math    .  br    br   end of spoilers  big oops   
after a brief prologue showing a masked man stalking and then slashing the throat of an older gentleman on a deserted  urban  turn of the century australian street  we meet julie  rebecca gibney  and peter  john adam  as they go out house hunting . they manage to get a loan for a fixer  upper on a posh sydney street  but it turns out that physical disrepair is not the only problem with their new home . it just may be haunted .  br    br     gantry row combines a memorable if somewhat clichd story with good to average direction by catherine millar into a slightly above average shocker .  br    br   the biggest flaws seem partially due to budget  but not wholly excusable to that hurdle . a crucial problem occurs at the beginning of the film . the opening  thriller scene  features some wonky editing . freeze frames and series of stills are used to cover up the fact that there  s not much action . suspense should be created from staging  not fancy  fix it in the mix  techniques . there is great atmosphere in the scene from the location  the lighting  the fog and such  but the camera should be slowly following the killer and the victim  cutting back and forth from one to the other as we track down the street  showing their increasing proximity . the tracking and the cuts need to be slow . the attack needed to be longer  clearer and better blocked . as it stands  the scene has a strong  made for television  feel  and a low budget one at that .  br    br   after this scene we move to the present and the flow of the film greatly improves . the story has a lot of similarities to the amityville horror        though the budget forces a much subtler approach . millar and scriptwriter tony morphett effectively create a lot of slyly creepy scenarios  often dramatic in nature instead of special effects  oriented  such as the mysterious man who arrives to take away the old slabs of iron  which had been bizarrely affixed to an interior wall .  br    br   for some horror fans  the first section of the film might be a little heavy on realist drama . at least the first half hour of the film is primarily about julie and peter trying to arrange financing for the house and then trying to settle in . but morphett writes fine  intelligent dialogue . the material is done well enough that it  s often as suspenseful as the more traditional thriller aspects that arise later   especially if you  ve gone through similar travails while trying to buy your own house .  br    br   once they get settled and things begin to get weirder  even though the special effects often leave much to be desired  the ideas are good . the performances help create tension . there isn  t an abundance of death and destruction in the film   there  s more of an abundance of home repair nightmares . but neither menace is really the point .  br    br   the point is human relationships . there are a number of character arcs that are very interesting . the house exists more as a metaphor and a catalyst for stress in a romantic relationship that can make it go sour and possibly destroy it . that it  s in a posh neighborhood  and that the relationship is between two successful yuppies  shows that these problems do not only afflict those who can place blame with some external woe  such as money or health problems . peter  s character evolves from a striving corporate employee with  normal  work  based friendships to someone with more desperation as he becomes subversive  scheming to attain something more liberating and meaningful . at the same time  we learn just how shallow those professional friendships can be . julie goes through an almost literal nervous breakdown  but finally finds liberation when she liberates herself from her failing romantic relationship .  br    br   although   gantry row never quite transcends its made  for  television clunkiness  as a tv movie  this is a pretty good one  with admirable ambitions . anyone fond of haunted house films  psycho films or horror  thrillers with a bit more metaphorical depth should find plenty to enjoy . it certainly isn  t worth spending    for a dvd  that was the price my local pbs station was asking for a copy of the film after they showed it  factoring in shipping and handling    but it  s worth a rental  and it  s definitely worth watching for free .  
jewish newspaper reporter justin timberlake  as joshua  josh  pollack  is puzzled when a courtroom defendant whispers  thank you  to testifying officer ll cool j  as rafe deed  as he leaves the witness stand . in the opening sequences of this film  you are given the explanation . you will see mr . cool j  s devilish detective partner dylan mcdermott  as frances  laz  lazerov  decide not to murder damien dante wayans  as isaiah charles  . the cops in the city of  edison  are so corrupt they shoot their suspects  steal their money  and snort their dope . whether he  s out to impress his girlfriend  herein  called  pussy   or win a pulitzer  the city  s corruption does not sit well with the noble mr . timberlake .  br    br   timberlake decides to investigate the corruption  which reaches both unexpected scope and life  threatening levels of danger . writer  director david j . burke keeps the film above water  but just barely . ll cool j beats timberlake in the  pop star to movie star  sweepstakes  aka the  rapper to actor  progression  . mr . mcdermott has fun with his role . lending gravitas to the proceedings are sagely supporting actors morgan freeman  as moses ashford  and kevin spacey  as levon wallace  . f . r . a . t . means first response assault and tactical  but it  s more important to know that  edison  force   stars justin timberlake and ll cool j  not morgan freeman and kevin spacey  who seems lost  .  br    br    edison          david j . burke  justin timberlake  ll cool j  morgan freeman  dylan mcdermott  
daniell steel  s daddy  what a refreshing story . this movie glorified the importance of the family and the importance of parents in the lives of their children . how rare is that  in these times of  heather has two mommies   or what ever  you fill in the blanks  it is easy to see why this theme is not for everyone . with the father  s roles being prominent i was hoping this would be another daniell steel saga . how disappointing to have it end . every character was important and did a fabulous job carrying their role . i would have loved to see each character develop over the years . i loved this movie  it is one i will defiantly watch every time it  s on . good story  good acting  and i hope this isn  t a spoiler  but no obtrusive sex or bad language . yes it touched my heart . warning  get the kleenex ready . what i find sad is that this side of family life is rarely depicted today in our entertainment  be it television or . movie  s . daniell if your listening  you go girl  give us more .  
a huge disappointment from writer hamm and director dante . their previous collaboration on the first season  s  homecoming  was twisted and darkly hilarious in all the right ways . this poor handling of an intriguing premise left me bewildered . the supposed  payoff  showing generic aliens extracting something from the brains of the infected psychopaths was completely unsatisfying and explained nothing . if the point of the story was an extraterrestrial  cleaning  of the planet of it  s human infestation  why did they go about it in such a gratuitously sadistic and misogynistic fashion  why not just unleash a completely lethal virus a la stephen king  s  the stand  instead of having the male population butcher the females  i kept hoping the episode would improve as i kept watching but it just got more pretentious and preposterous . the religious subtext simply seemed forced but it was clear sam hamm must have thought it was profound by the weight he gave it . i like a lot of both dante and hamm  s work but this was just unwatchable .  
family problems abound in real life and that is what this movie is about . love can hold the members together through out the ordeals and trials and that is what this movie is about . one man  daddy  has the maturity and fortitude to sustain the family in the face of adversity . the kids grow up  one all be it  in the hard way  to realize that no matter how old they or a parent is  the parent still loves their children and are willing to provide them a cushion when they fall . all the actors portraying their characters did outstanding performances . yes  i shed a tear along the way knowing i had had similar experiences both as a young adult and later as a parent . this true to life is one which every young adult  and parent  would do well to see  although some will not realize it until they too are parents . a must see for those who care about their families .  
i gave this  stars because it has a lot of interesting themes many here have already mentioned . from the domestic violence  to sexuality and many of the taboos therein . outside of the gore i really would not call this horror so much as i would science fiction .  br    br   it  s bleak  depressing and hopeless . while i don  t mind a less than cheery ending  i  m really very tired of the  humans suck  clich that  s central to every movie . i know you can  t get a liberal arts degree today without bowing to the alter of self  hatred as a member of the human race  but how  s  bout as a writer  director we pretend we are different than everyone else in the pack and notice that the aliens killing the human race are evil  right now  if you are reading this and believe that humanity deserves to die  just go out  find a lake and swim  til your arms are tired . this way you won  t be around to direct the next film or write the next book telling me i deserve to die for being alive . it  s silly  not thoughtful  and boring .  
it  s heart  warming to see a movie that doesn  t bash males . in this one the wife  mother leaves her family to  get in touch  with herself  or pursue her libido . the father stays with and nurtures the kids  letting neither his work nor his love life interfere with his love of and responsibility to them .  
warner bros . made many potboilers in the     s and most of them are fast paced  economical and very entertaining . i really love how the studio exploited the less glamorous elements of our daily life . this is one of warner  s few hard  edged melodramas that simply doesn  t work . edward g . robinson plays a ruthless editor of newspaper who resurrects the    year old story of a murderess with tragic consequences . robinson gives a lively performance but he is surrounded by actors that don  t cut the mustard . h . b . warner  aline macmahon and boris karloff are good  but the bad acting of frances starr and anthony bushell in the second leads really hurts the movie . starr is particularly bad during her big dramatic scene near the end of the movie . in addition  the moralistic tone of the film seems ridiculous in the context of pre  code hollywood . leroy  s direction is full of innovative visual touches but he cannot overcome the bad acting and the unintentionally funny situations . sol polito  s camera work is strong . somehow  this piece of dreck got an oscar nomination for best picture  in a year that gave us  m    dracula  and  frankenstein   .  
i must admit  when i read the description of the genre on netflix as  steamy romance  i was a little bit skeptical .  steamy   in a movie from       i was prepared for disappointment . and when i realized it was shot entirely in black  white  i knew my erotic hopes were dashed .  br    br   boy  was i wrong  not only does this film have all of the elements of a steamy romance   the discovery of first love  fear of the secret being found out  a sudden unexpected end   but at times this movie was downright erotic . you will soon forget that it is shot in black  white . the cinematography deserves every accolade it has received over the years . and the performances from the two stars  essy persson and anna gael  are intense and memorable . ok  so they  re both in their mid twenties trying to play school girls . it  s     . do you really expect teenagers from the    s to be able to effectively explore a lesbian love story like this  many adult women were still trying to come to grips with their sexuality back then . anyone looking for real teens here is expecting too much .  br    br   i think this movie was way ahead of its time . the level of eroticism was an unexpected pleasure yet it still managed to leave a lot to the imagination  opting instead to give us poetic descriptions to add to what we were shown .  br    br   i have no doubt lesbians will identify with the characters here . as for you straight guys who love watching lesbians in action although it won  t be all you expect  i don  t think you  ll be too  too disappointed .  
a little girl  s dead body is found stripped of all possible means of identification . when it is discovered that one leg is longer than the other  it is assumed to be the body of a couple  s missing daughter . after this trauma  the couple separates and the mother becomes addicted to tranquilizers and leads a miserable existence . all of this changes when one day  many years later  she receives a phone call from her daughter  with the help of an ex  cop and a reporter  she sets out on a journey to determine if her daughter is indeed alive .  los sin nombre  is a mess plot  wise  moves at an achingly slow pace  and is completely unscary . the saving grace is emma vilarasau  who does an outstanding job as the desperate mother . the best part of the movie is the ending  but i  m not sure it is worth enduring the rest of the film . beware of the english subtitles on the recent r  release   they aren  t very accurate .  
this is a film . .  not porn .  br    br   this is a wonderful film    full of tender moments and memories   a beautiful piece of work    excellent    for intelligent  viewers only     br    br   if you are a film lover . a romantic . a person who has loved deeply  this is your film      br    br   it has a beautiful surreal quality . fine acting and directing . watching this film made me remember my first love .  br    br   thi is a film for those who want to reflect on life  love and the meaning of loss .  br    br   highly recommended for all film lovers .  
i  m not alone in admiring the first superman movie  a film that richard donner executed masterfully . i am also not alone in scorning richard lester  s superman  . . . which brings us to the richard donner cut of the same movie  sadly it is still an absolute abomination .  br    br   superman  s world is one where suspension of disbelief is required in strong doses  but superman  stretches things too far . it doesn  t matter who directed superman  because the script insults the intelligence of a first grader . in a sense there is no plot because the characters have zero motivation to act the way they do  unlike the original superman . with or without his powers  superman  s strength  or lack thereof  is handled in the least believable manner . there is too much to criticize  so i will not bother . i condemn this movie . . . perhaps the slapstick in the lester version is more appropriate to the moronic script this movie is based on . super  duper bad .  
it was a serious attempt to show the developing sexuality of two schoolgirls and did not try to exploit its fact even by today  s standards  the film is interesting and provocative  br    br   therese and isabelle are both attending the same girl  s school therese is energetic  intelligent  and becomes a mentor for the innocent  naive  sweet isabelle she guides her through a number of exotic experiences  including a trip through an exclusive brothel  into her first lesbian liaison  and indirectly into her first heterosexual experience  br    br   the film does not exploit any sex  nor is there an abundance of nudity . . . the imagery is effective  but sometimes the camera lingers too long  and the story goes slowly  br    br   the director  radley metzger  went on to make a number of explicit erotic films under the name of henry paris he always has extremely detailed stories  good acting  and very high standards of cinematography . . .  br    br   artistically  however  this is perhaps his most complete his later attempts supplied for entertainment  whereas  therese and isabelle  was a study into the nature of youthful eroticism . . .  
i grew up on the  superman ii  theatrical version   s  t   and as a kid  i loved it more than part i since not only did it contain more superman and three superman  type villains  it started off with a bang  the best clark kent to superman transformations and rescue scenes . kids no longer had to impatiently wait for superman to appear on screen  as in part i . now as an adult  i can see how the mighty had fallen with s  t  see my review .  i  ve always heard of the back  story on how they prematurely and unjustifiably fired the original  s director  richard donner from part ii .  it must have been a rarity back then to film two separate movies simultaneously  now it  s common  back to the future  and  matrix     for example .  unfortunately  after finally seeing the richard donner cut  or   s  rd   i still can  t fully recommend it . gone  was the great superman change scene  the entire paris rescue  as was the wonderful recap of part i in s  t  s opening . in fact  they all but wrote the words  previously on superman  in s  rd . the special effects weren  t great in either part i or s  t  but s  rd  they were mostly downright laughable  such as lois falling from the daily planet window . i will admit  some new scenes worked and some they took out were welcomed departures  such as any scene in the  honeymoon suite .  overall  if you grew up on s  t as i did  and loved it as a child  not nitpicking as i do as an adult  you should absolutely see s  rd as it  s almost a brand new childhood experience with dozens of new scenes .  spoiler alert  unfortunately  the worst change comes last gone was also the weird amnesia kiss from s  t replaced with the exact same ending as  i .  this is not only a lazy  unoriginal copout  it doesn  t make sense on why clark would go back to that diner  if those events never actually happened . and will he continue to  turn back time  for every confrontation   
we watched this in my women  s health issues class to point out how women are treated inferior to men in many societies  and i absolutely loved this movie . i plan on trying to get a copy of it myself to watch . the story is very touching and i would recommend it to anyone . i am a fan of different cultures and this movie was just what i needed . this is a movie for the whole family despite its rating . this is a movie i will show to my children . the professor of our class meant for the movie to primarily be a too to educate about women  but this movie was more than that . it is one of those movies that will forever stick out in my mind and will be a favorite .  
so . . . we get so see added footage of brando . . . interesting but not exactly oscar worthy stuff . susannah york was hardly a slouch . new scene where lois finds out clark is superman is slightly unbelievable in that he doesn  t notice that there are blanks coming out of the gun instead of real bullets . real bullets would have penetrated his clothes and then bounced off him onto the floor but forget that . . . let  s listen to donner make fun of lester  s version that made more logical sense . the president talks of the zod  defacing  the washington monument when it was originally mount rushmore . tweaking that scene made that line quite absurd . superman  s  freedom of the press  line sounded silly compared to  . . care to step outside  which was delivered better and had a fitting connection to clark  s earlier scene in the truck stop . then there is the ending with the  turn back the world to go back in time  effect . it turned back everything in the whole movie and made you wonder where exactly the rocket aimed for hackensack  n . j . ever went since it doesn  t free zod and company any more .  
i was going to bed with my gf last night  and while she was brushing her teeth  i flipped channels until i came across this chinese movie called the king of masks . at first i thought it was going to be a kung fu movie  so i started watching it  and then it immediately captured me in  and i had to finish it .  br    br   the little girl in the movie was absolutely adorble . she was such a great actor for being so little . maybe the fact it was in chinese  so the english was dubbed made it harder for me to tell . . . but she really seemed to be in character perfectly . i felt so bad for the girl as she kept trying to please her  boss  but everything just turned out rotten . lol . even when she brings him another grandson  just so he can pass on his art . . . it turns out that kid was kidnapped  so he gets arrested and has  days to live . lol . . . whatever she touches in an effort to be nice to her grandpa  just backfires .  br    br   in the end  he sees how much love is in her and teaches her the art of masks . . . which is just so heartwarming after all the mishaps in the movie .  br    br   definitely a gem  and totally original .  br    br   scott  
superman ii  the richard donner cut should be a fan  s dream come true . at long last  footage only seen in photos and scenes that only existed on the printed page would finally come to life . a director that was unable to complete his vision would have the opportunity to have his vision restored . it seems like a winning situation . and then you start watching this assembly of footage and you realize this  esoteric dream  is a very real nightmare of sloppiness and incompetence . while it  s entirely possible that no movie could compete with the finished perfect version each of us has imagined over the years it really should have been a thrill to finally see this project . and it is only a very few times .  br    br   you know things are shaky when the very first bit of text on screen looks like home brew computer graphics . but then we start seeing new footage  alternates from superman  the movie for the trial  and that first bit of hesitation fades away . hey  this is pretty neat  things are alright for these few fleeting moments until we see footage from stm intermixed with new effects for this project  and it doesn  t convince at all . and from this point on  it never ever lets up . it  s probably not right to judge a movie because of bad visual effects  but when this is supposedly the direct follow up to a movie whose tag line was  you  ll believe a man can fly  it  s difficult to believe anything shown on screen here . the best effects in this are from the original productions .  br    br   another issue with this re  cut . a lot of it just doesn  t make sense . the only reason any of it really works is because we  ve all seen the theatrical version of superman ii  a movie that does make sense . lester  s superman ii fills in the holes of this assembly . part of this could be because donner didn  t get to complete shooting  the other part could be because the makers of this project were intent on using as little lester material as possible . what we end up with is an assembly of footage that makes superman iv look airtight and coherent .  br    br   after viewing this  one gets the sense that while lester was faithful and comfortable using donner material  michael thau and his team were extremely disrespectful towards anything filmed by lester . the best scenes in the donner cut are the ones lifted relatively intact from the released version of superman ii . that includes the moon sequence and the diner sequence  not ironically  both were filmed by donner . but anything else from that movie filmed by lester is re  edited in such a hasty fashion  that it now makes lester seem like a ham fisted know nothing . while lester honored the donner material  lester here is thrown under the bus .  br    br   so is there anything good in this release  well marlon brando is in it  and that  s neat to see . in fact watching any of the material shot by donner is neat since it was all filmed at the same time as superman  the movie . but that only highlights the problems of this release . any of the major scenes  really just lois jumping and scenes with marlon brando  would have been better served as completed scenes in a deleted scenes section . instead they are shoe horned into a nonsensical narrative with inferior performances  many alternate takes from familiar scenes are used  sloppy edits and bad decisions .  br    br   watch the opening scene at the daily planet . why are we looking at jackie cooper  s back as he calls for lois and clark  at the end why do we have lois walking into her dark apartment only to have that followed by jackie cooper walking into a dark bathroom turning the lights on  i was initially confused by this  because i expected to see lois . the entire assembly is filled with questionable choices like this .  br    br   battle scenes are a mess too  with no geography between cuts . it  s just random action . of course  the major action scenes were shot by lester and his material is only used as a bridge to the next set of donner outtakes or alternates . they should have used more of lester  s footage  but probably had too much pride to admit that .  br    br   the sloppiness extends to the military missile as well . as noted elsewhere  the missile shown in the donner cut bears the designation  xk    while we all know it  s the  xk      a blind man in stm knows that  the producers of this assembly  who tried so hard to honor the original film  dropped the ball less than five minutes in and that mistake is indicative of the quality of the entire production . for all the supposed care that was put into this  the final product has an air of shoddiness to it that is inescapable .  br    br   the entire affair would probably be easier to digest if warner  s didn  t make this a separate release here in the states . as it is  we  re expected to pay for what is essentially a bonus disc of deleted scenes with a  play all  option . it  s really only worth one viewing so that we can finally see the legendary cut scenes  but after that initial viewing  i expect that this will be an excellent magnet for dust and little else . i know after my experience of watching this  i had new respect for lester  s version . it  s by no means perfect  but lester realized the deficiencies that were in the script that stand out here in bold relief . he managed to make a movie that has entertained for many years and will continue to do so  while this new re  cut will most likely only be remembered as a footnote in that films history .  
i admit to being somewhat jaded about the movie genre of a young child softening the heart of his  her reluctant guardian . i  ve seen enough of them  baby boom  kolya  about a boy  mostly martha  and to some extent  whale rider  to expect to be bored by the formula . what held my attention in the king of masks was the grimness of the setting small  town china in the      s . extreme poverty was the norm  and girl children were considered so worthless to poor parents that they killed them at birth or gave them to whomever would take them on the black market . when wang discovers his purchased grandson  whom he  s nicknamed  doggie   is a granddaughter  he initially casts her out  even though she  s showed great promise as street  performing heir . even after he reluctantly takes her back  he  s not too upset when she  s kidnapped . the film is gritty then  showing the lengths to which a young  street  smart girl had to go to survive in that society .  br    br   the two lead performances are believable and beguiling in their societal context . in a western society  one would expect at least a hint of resentment from wang at not having achieved more material success . wang so thoroughly accepts his station as a celebrated artist with low societal status  though  that i did  too . while doggie exhibits a level of precociousness and cunning that would be suspect in a modern  suburban child  it  s completely believable in the context of a kid constantly in survival mode in a society that treats poor girls like garbage . and after learning that her previous seven owners have physically and mentally abused her  her fierce attachment to wang makes perfect sense .  br    br   the peek at small  town life in a foreign country  the naturalness of the two lead actors  the surprising plot twists  and of course  the heartwarming resolution all contribute to a very watchable film .  
i was fascinated as to how truly bad this movie was . was the viewer supposed to learn something  or reflect on anything here  what was up with the pumpkins  was i supposed to be impressed with the motel shots  does it matter that there are some garbage bags on a rooftop across the street of a hotel  why does the narrator unsuccessfully mock the people he interviews  it is so obvious that he edited out the really informative parts of his interviews to achieve mockery  . the best part of the movie was the interview with the film professor who tells us how bad this movie will be even before it is finished .  br    br   i am truly amazed . i believe that the creator is struggling to become an intellectual or is trying to impress the intellectual community .  
this movie is the best film ever . i can  t remember the last time a movie has drawn tears out of me . with a tear in my eye  i admire this movie . it has all the elements that a good movie must have excellent dialogues  music  acting  story  plot . a story of friendship  courage  kindliness and loyalty between a street performing who famous to the king of masks and a little girl that sold as a boy in serf bazaar . little girl liked to be his granddaughter and king of masks liked a grandson . they were not conventional in real . every scene they were together was priceless . the camera work is flawless and grips you . the acting is inspired . xu zhu was excellent as the king of masks . renying zhou  doggie  looks pretty and played her character very well . zhigang zhao as liang sao lang was great . he played his helpful and kindhearted character extremely well . if you have  t this movie  try it once  do watch it .  
i was expecting a documentary that focused on the tobacco industry in north carolina . instead i watched a man who rues the fact that his great grandfather lost his tobacco empire to the duke family . and this went on and on . if mr . mcelwee  s family had prevailed over the dukes i doubt that mr . mcelwee would have any problems with the death toll caused by tobacco  related diseases . i grew up near the area where mr . mcelwee  s family began it tobacco business  i expected more than mcewee  s continual focus on his family . i learned very little about the history of tobacco in the nc economy and the ramifications to the state  s economy by tighter regulation of tobacco . the countless references to the movie  bright leaves  are out of place  so what if gary cooper played mr . mcelwee  s great grandfather  does the viewer gain any understanding of the role of tobacco in the north carolina economy by the showing of old film clips of a fictionalized film  i didn  t .  
verhoeven  s movie was utter and complete garbage . he  s a disgusting hack of a director and should be ashamed . by his own admission  he read  chapters of the book  got bored  and decided to make the whole thing up from scratch .  br    br   heinlein would have never supported that trash if he  d been alive to see it . it basically steals the name  mocks politics of the book  which is a good portion of it   and throws in some ta so the average idiot american moviegoer doesn  t get bored .  br    br   this anime isn  t perfect  but it  s at least mostly accurate  as best i can tell .  
when you go at an open air cinema under the greek summer night you usually don  t care what the movie is  edison started really good with some good effort from the singers  who  want  to  be actors and a once again great morgan freeman but . . .  in a movie there is usually a good start to catch audience  done  a bit boring yet story filling middle of the movie that is more about characters and less about action  done  and the third part is something really good so that you can remember the movie . . .  when you see   elite police officers  packed with weapons that can demolish a building  shoot at a guy behind a car  fail to hit him even once while he kills all  but   and then the guy takes out a flame thrower  to kill the rest    you realise that the greek summer sky filled with stars is way too good to be distracted by a movie like this   
wang bianlian is an old street performer who is known as a  king of masks  for his mastery of sichuan change art . liang is a famous opera performer of sichuan art and respects wang as an artist and as a person . liang is worried that a precious art shouldn  t die with wang and so he sows the seed of an heir in to wang  s mind . the film is about prejudices  male domination  state of art  values and most importantly warmth .  br    br   i can  t recommend this film enough . the whole film is in loops . everything has a significance . its a long story which has been edited so well that the length of the film is just   minutes . a total satisfaction . for five minutes it is an artistic film  next five minutes its a sad film  next five minutes its a thriller . it just keeps changing its mood like its protagonist changes his face . last scene on the rope is phenomenal . story and script is flawless . actors are brilliant . both the protagonists are artists you can tell the way they have performed . very impressive . it was not even nominated for oscars . that year  english patient  got the best film oscar and in the foreign film category  kolya  won .  kolya  was just ok and about  english patient  the lesser said the better . watch it     .  
the author sets out on a  journey of discovery  of his  roots  in the southern tobacco industry because he believes that the  completely and deservedly forgotten  movie  bright leaf  is about an ancestor of his . its not  and he in fact discovers nothing of even mild interest in this absolutely silly and self  indulgent glorified home movie  suitable for screening at  the director  s  drunken family reunions but certainly not for commercial  or even non  commercial release . a good reminder of why most independent films are not picked up by major studios  because they are boring  irrelevant and of no interest to anyone but the director and his  her immediate circles . avoid at all costs   
one of the most heart  warming foreign films i  ve ever seen .  br    br   the young girl is an amazing talent . stellar performances by her  doggie   the old man  the king of masks   and liang  the living boddhisatva  .  br    br    spoiler  the deplorable treatment of children  especially females is disturbing .  br    br   loved the music . the original chinese dialog heightens the emotional intensity of the performances and the story .  br    br   this is a must see   enjoyable family film  although not for very young children . would have rated the dvd release even higher if the soundtrack had been transferred better onto the dvd and the transfer had included the widescreen version .  
  the curse of frankenstein  sticks faithfully to mary shelley  s story for one word of the title  which wouldn  t be so bad if the changes were any good at all . the tragedy of the creature destroying frankenstein  s family has been completely excised and replaced with . . . nothing . the heart and moral centre of the story is gone . it doesn  t help that this frankenstein is a conniving  devious murderer he deserves everything he gets . the plot is basically a shallow checklist of frankenstein clichs . even taken on its own terms  this is rubbish a bland  rambling film featuring a shite  looking creature with a pudding bowl haircut . as it  s the first of hammer  s horror films  directed by terence fisher and starring peter cushing and christopher lee  its place in horror history is secure . but it  s crap .  
wow . what a wonderful film . the script is nearly perfect it appears this is the only film written by minglun wei  i hope he has more stories in him .  br    br   the acting is sublime . renying zhou as doggie was amazing   very natural talent  and xu zhu was a delight  very believable as the jaded old traditionalist .  br    br   the soundtrack was very effective  guiding without being overwhelming .  br    br   if only more movies like this were made whether in hollywood or hong kong  a family friendly  well acted  well written  well directed  near perfect gem .  
nintendo    you ers    how could you do this to me  i can  t believe it . . . this movie is actually worse than the first one . i went to see this at the theatre with my brother because my mother forced me to tag along . . . . oh god . . . where do i even begin  the plot sucked . the voice acting sucked . the animation sucked . the ending really sucked . if you liked this movie  you suck too . and to futuramafan      who said this was the greatest movie ever  you are a tool  plain and simple . this isn  t a movie for anyone but crack  addled ten  year olds with game boys who think pikachu is god . i  m still cry to this day thinking about that horrible turd of a movie . . . . and then there was pikachu  s adventure . . . don  t even get me started on that horrible mess of a film . it is  in all truth  one of the most boring experiences of my entire life . don  t go watch this at any costs .  br    br   bottom line go out  find every copy of this movie that you can  and burn it . burn them all  and then proceed to rent a good movie  like aliens . . . or bowling for columbine . . . or even back to the future   
the filming is pleasant and the environment is keenly realistic . i liked that it boldly redresses conceptions of the many difficult moral and social morays of the      s chinese  mainland countryside as well as more basic human questions  i felt i could get a real sense of the times  recreated even in splendid shots of traditional chinese theatre and in purist depictions of street living . it seemed worthwhile to experience . the interwoven role which buddhism plays is probably the most true  to  form  both in its menial and in its philosophic aspect  perhaps the most effective that i  ve seen in chinese film . casting is great . images are memorable . acting is solid enough . thematically puerile but still rich enough to compliment the vehicle of its expression .  
now i have never ever seen a bad movie in all my years but what is with songs in the movie what physiological meaning does it have . wow some demented pokmon shows up and they multiply i can get a seizure from this . animie is pointless the makers of it are pointless its a big marketing scheme look just cut down on songs and they will get a good rating i reckon that this movie would have been fine if they put out a message you must see all the pokmon episodes to understand whats going on and it is not a film . it is just an animation it should be on video .  br    br   ps i  ll give it a  because i just got  bucks i could not give it a half because there  s no halves .  
the king of masks is a beautifully told story that pits the familial gender preference towards males against human preference for love and companionship . set in     s china during a time of floods  we meet wang  an elderly street performer whose talents are magical and capture the awe of all who witness him . when a famous operatic performer sees and then befriends wang  he invites wang to join their troupe . however  we learn that wang  s family tradition allows him only to pass his secrets to a son . learning that wang is childless  wang is encouraged to find an heir before the magic is lost forever . taking the advice to heart  wang purchases an  year old to fulfill his legacy he would teach his new son  doggie  the ancient art of silk masks . soon  wang discovers a fact about doggie that threatens the rare and dying art .  br    br   together  wang and doggie create a bond and experience the range of emotions that invariably accompany it . the story is absorbing . the setting is serene and the costuming simple . summarily  it is an international award winning art film which can  t help but to move and inspire .  
pokemon the movie was a terrible film . unlike the first one  this is not a good film at all . the graphics were decent but the story was flat and no real drama was built up in it . in the first one the interaction between the characters were decent . the subtraction of brock and addition of tracey was bad . tracey really doesn  t have much to say or do  and unlike brock offers no comic relief . the only good points is you get to see misty actually get jelous over ash  and her early brooding over being called his girlfriend was entertaining . overall this film isn  t worth renting and the short movie before didn  t do anything for me or my wife . and we do consider ourselves pokemon fans . oh well  maybe the next one will be better . cant ge t much worse  
this is a superb movie  suitable for all but the very youngest  though accessibility for younger people was marred  at least in the print which i saw  by the use of some unfortunate choice of english sub  titling  for much of the film it is almost impossible to guess in which time  period it is set  there is no modern technology shown  not even the ubiquitous chinese bicycle  just a drab  almost monochrome  everyday life  against which is contrasted the dazzling display of the sezuan opera and of celebratory fireworks . even when a group of soldiers refer to their imminent departure for a theatre of war  this could still be any time in the past    years .  br    br   but then we briefly see a motor car  late   s  early   s style  and we realise that we are watching a china on the verge of huge upheavals  and that much of the world we are seeing is about to be swept away in the cataclysm of world war  and the communist revolution .  br    br   which makes the central character  s desire to adhere to old customs and traditions all the more poignant .  br    br   but the film also raises issues which are of vital importance even today  both within china and in other parts of the world the inequality between boys and girls  men and women the trade  for various purposes  in young children corruption in society injustice the importance of friendship .  br    br   maybe i  m reading too much into this film but i don  t think so  i also think that it is a scandal that films of this calibre are often not shown in the united kingdom  whilst dross is passed off as quality material .  br    br   but don  t get me started on that . . .  
much worse than the original . it was actually painful to sit through  and it barely held my six year old  s interest .  br    br   introduction of some new pokemon is marginally interesting  but storyline is extra  thin  dialogue is still bad  and music is mediocre . watch the television show instead  it  s much better .  
king of masks  bian lian in china  is a shockingly beautiful and profoundly touching film . winner of   awards from around the world  this film based on a true story centers on wang bianlian  a street performer in     s china who is growing older but has no heir to pass on his art of face  change opera . he has a unique talent of quickly changing masks in performance  and no one knows how he does it . he has a longing desire to have a grandson  as his art is a family heirloom that can only be passed on to a male heir . we then go to the streets  and see that people are selling their children because they can  t afford to take care of them some are even begging to take their daughters for free  because daughters are not worth much in this society . wang bianlian  s story goes on from there .  br    br   the film was so astonishingly good  the acting was amazing  and the issues were so weighty and well  addressed . there is the gender inequality and the depressing fact that in this time and place  no one wants a little girl . also interesting to note is that the famed opera actor who always plays a woman and is known as the living bodhisattva is a man who dresses as a woman  and while he is famous and well  respected  he regards himself as something low  a half woman . as we go further into the film  the face the issues of human slave trade and its demand and thus the lack of a possible solution for it  the brutality and corruption of the military and police  and the helplessness and lack of power any individual can face due to unfortunate events or even good intentions .  br    br   this is definitely one of the best movies i have ever seen in my life  and xu zhu  the actor who plays wang bianlian  presents yet another beautiful performance .  
i recently watched this again and there  s another version which is shorter     . i get the feeling they are the same movie but i would like to know the difference .  br    br   one is japanese and no pikachu short is all i can come up with . ohtherwise why vote for the same movie twice    br    br   prof ivy was rather boring . she sounded as if she was almost asleep  no expression at all with the few lines she had .  br    br   this was enjoyable enough but there wasn  t much to it at all .  br    br   a collector  whos after lugia  he has no plan to destroy the world  and the usual characters who try to stop him because trying to capture lugia causes a lot of destruction .  br    br   the pokemon movies that follow are slightly better  deoxys  poke   is great  with no .  almost here .  
this is how movies are supposed to be made a fascinating setting characters about whom you come to care deeply writing and editing that move the plot efficiently and build suspense . this is a wonderful film   deeply moving without being sentimental . highly recommended .  
i figured that it  s about time i let this one out . pokmon fans are suffering in america these days . why  because we rely on kids wb and  kids entertainment to provide us with our beloved series and movies . as far as the series goes  they do a pretty good job in bringing the fun and magic of the japanese versions to television . so what is their problem when it comes to the movies  honestly now  i have seen all three pokmon movies in japanese and i will definitely be seeing the fourth one . they are excellent movies . they are all enjoyable and fun to watch . and  after seeing pokmon     in theaters  i can  t help but wonder how these american producers read the japanese scripts . the way it appears  it seems that they read and see something that says insert empty moral here  in big bold faced letters . it definitely appears that way as they used the same wonderful dubbing methods they used on msb  extreme sarcasm there  and created this crap .  br    br   possible spoilers from here on  br    br   well  i guess i should first talk about pikachu  s rescue adventure . my first gripe with this came with no narration . i guess they got enough bad comments on the pokdex narration that plagued pikachu  s vacation  and  instead of going with a caring  gentle woman  s voice as appeared in pikachu no natsu yasumi and pikachu tankentai  they just cut the narration all together . this wouldn  t have been a problem  except for one thing . did anyone really understand why the exeggcute didn  t let togepi go until the end  possibly the fans  but i  m sure not the parents . then  there  s the theme song . i couldn  t help but roll my eyes at this one . the japanese theme song was tankentai wo tsukurou  and was sung by japanese children . it was fun and enjoyable . this one nauseating . now  one of my favorite parts of the short was the dancing kireihana . nice music  fun to watch . that  s changed with the bellossom . the music sucked for one  but on top of that  they had all the pokmon talk during the music  which turned out to be jumpy  annoying  and just unnecessary . oh  and then there  s the poliwhirl who thinks he  s a poliwrath . you  d think that guys that work with these characters constantly would at least learn what they are . basically  not much could save this little ill fated dub  which is very unfortunate considering its potential . but  i haven  t touched on the worst of it yet .  br    br   you  d think that the warning signs would  ve been apparent to me when i received my issue of nintendo power . for some unfathomable reason  i had been placing some faith in  kids and the wb . my thoughts were well  they screwed up on the first movie  but the second is different as far as the theme goes  so they should do well .  that in mind  i just didn  t pay attention to the warning signs i encountered in the theaters when the trailers said  you will believe that one person can make all the difference .  with the way they said that at every turn  i was hoping that this would not turn into a moral fest like msb did at the end of the english version . then comes nintendo power  in which i see all my fears realized in the words the main feature  the power of one .  at that point  i became a bit more uneasy . the power of one    not a good sign . however  i still kept some of my false faith . big mistake .  br    br   sitting in the theater  i was literally getting stomach cramps watching another movie which i loved in japanese being turned into complete and utter junk . i hear comments that say it was better because the moral was more subtle . i can see a point in that since they didn  t pander this thing  repeating it over and over like in msb . however  it did more damage than anything else in this movie . first of all  the legend that was read throughout was changed a bit to read the world turns to ash .  ah hah . so  ash is the chosen one  whatever . in the japanese version  the inhabitants of arshia needed a pokmon trainer to carry out their traditional ceremony . this time  he  s the chosen one . a greater way that this did damage was to lugia . lugia was one of the coolest characters in a pokmon movie . . . . when the movie was about lugia . in this one  lugia is forced to take a back seat to ash . in the scene where they  re flying back to the main island  lugia and ash are discussing the conditions of lugia  s existence  not that ash is going to make all the difference . overall in this category  ash wasn  t really the one person  that would make the difference  since he was helped by many along the way .  br    br   a lot of the other stuff is kind of nit picking . furura  s flute song wasn  t nearly as sweet and enjoyable as the japanese one . jirarudan  s speech to them saying his collection started with a mew card   ugh . even worse  misty  s outrage originally concerned the way moltres and zapdos were being held . why didn  t you put them in pokballs when you caught them  this is like caging them to be displayed .  much different from whining about him thinking pokmon are things to be collected like stamps . if there were any real redeeming values in this  they came from team rocket . some pretty funny lines . not really to make me laugh out loud  but more to make me giggle and slightly ease the pains in my stomach . well  that was officially the last american pokmon movie i  m going to see . i  ve imported the third one and find it very enjoyable . i would rather not see another japanese movie be ruined in the same fashion as the first two . i  ll be importing the fourth one as well . forget you  kids wb and  kids . you have forsaken me for the last time .  
this movie was excellent . a sad truth to how culture tends to clash with the sexes . this is just one big warm fuzzy type of movie . you have the master who is steeped in tradition and kind hearted in his own way  doggie despite being a girl thing to win his affections and you top it off with one cute monkey with a thousand facial expressions . this equals on big happy movie in the end . this movie does a good job at showing how steeped in tradition one can be  so steeped that they are willing to die without sharing their secrets . you see sides to a culture never seen before which helps enhance the drama that unfolds near the end of the picture . the cinema  photography is excellent  in particular the opening parade sequence with all the sparkers . bound to be in oscar contention for best foreign film .  
a cowboy sympathetic to the plight of a nearby indian tribe is wrongly accused in the rape and murder of the chief  s daughter  leading to much hate and violence .  br    br   this crackpot nudie feature is fun to look at  though thoroughly impossible to defend on any artistic level . the terrible costumes and the fact that all the indians are obviously white  makes this look more like a live action cartoon than the serious production that it  s press materials pretends it to be .  br    br   in short  the plentiful nudity  the real reason for watching this  is good . everything else is not . there  s definitely better examples of both genres .  br    br   more interesting is that the ramrodder was filmed at the infamous spahn movie ranch and features not one  but two members of the manson family  catherine share and bobby beausoleil  who was probably already in the can for murder at the time this hit the soda  stained screens of the pussycat theater   
this movie is worth seeing for the visual beauty and moving acting alone  but there also is an interesting cultural subtext of alienation . women and performers  both brought together in a supporting role of a transvestite opera star  are both doomed to be relegated to subserviant roles in china . this makes the unlikely bonding between an aged street performer and a young girl even stronger as a triumph over the native culture .  br    br   the only problem i had with this movie was the tendency of the soundtrack to swell up with emotion rendered unnecessary by the actors  performance .  br    br   a welcome alternative to unsatisfying summer action movies .  
this is an awful film . yea the girls are pretty but its not very good . the plot having a cowboy get involved with an indian maiden would be interesting if the sex didn  t get in the way . well  okay it might be interesting  but its not  because its so badly paced and and only partly acted . i can only imagine what the close ups of the dancing tushes looked like on a big screen  probably more laughable then they do on tv .  i won  t even mention the topless knife fight between two women who are tied together and spend the whole thing chest to chest . never read about that in the old west  this is a film that requires liberal use of fast forward .  br    br   i like schlock films but this is ridiculous . there is a reason that i don  t go for this sort of films and that they tend not be very good  the plot taking a back seat to breasts . the original nudie cuties as they are called were originally nudist films or films where there was no touching but as the adult industry began to grow the film makers either tried to be clever or tried to exploit something else in order to put butts in seats . the clever ones were very few which only left hacks who were of limited talent . the comedies often came off best with the humor approaching the first grade level  infantile but harmlessly fun . something that could rarely be said about any other genre cross dressed as a nudie .  br    br   the ramrodder looks good and has a couple of nice pieces but its done in by being neither western nor sex film .  br    br   i need not watch this again .  br    br   of interest to probably no one  the rapist and killer in the film was played by bobby beausoleil  a member of the manson family who was arrested for murdering a school teacher not long after filming wrapped .  br    br   obviously these sort of things will ruin some peoples lives .  
robert a . heinlein  s classic novel starship troopers has been messed around with in recent years  in everything to paul verhoeven  s     film to a tv series  to a number of games . but none of these  so to speak  has really captured the spirit of his novel . the games are usually unrelated  the tv series was more of a spin off  and the less said about verhoeven  s film  the better . little do most know  however  that in japan  an animated adaptation had already been done  released the year of heinlein  s death . and  believe it or not  despite its differences  this   part animated series is  plot  wise  the most faithful adaptation of heinlein  s classic .  br    br   the most obvious plus to this series is the presence of the powered armor exoskeletons  something we were deprived of in verhoeven  s film . like the book  the series focuses more on the characters and their relationships than on action and space travel  though we see a fair amount of each . while events happen differently than in the book  the feel of the book  s plot is present . rico and carmen have a romantic entanglement  but it  s only slightly more touched upon than in the book . while some may believe the dialogue and character interaction to be a bit inferior to the book  it gets a bit of the anime treatment  but what did you expect    but it  s far superior to the film . heinlein  s political views are merely excised  as opposed to the film  where they are reversed . the big payoff of the series  however  is the climatic battle on klendathu between the troopers and the bugs  aliens  which features the kind of action from the powered armor suits we would have like to have seen in a film version .  br    br   overall  i enjoyed this series because i wanted to see a vision closer to that of heinlein . and i think they did pretty well with this . if you can find this series  give it a look .  
ok so i hear about this new justin timberlake movie coming out which features some pretty big names . i mean great actors like  the freeman aka morgan freeman  an asset to hollywood  however completely wasted in this film . then we got kevin spacey  who i  ve been a great fan of ever since i watched american beauty and the usual suspects . both of these great actors probably signed on to the movie thinking it was going to be a great movie as i did when i heard the story . then enter a fresh faced justin timberlake . i say fresh faced because this is his first movie and those rotten tomatoes haven  t hit him yet . well the reason for that  i might add  is because no one will ever see this movie or even bother reading this review . the movie is so terrible that when i got into the first   minutes of it . the characters were so one dimensional that it makes some bible characters look like the don corleone . they got the one liners and sound  bite worthy stuff . the token troubled black guy  ll cool j  who is with a gorgeous woman who he otherwise would not even belong with in real life . the captain is this short whiny guy who speaks in such a high tone . and what crappy movie would be complete without the hero becoming richer because of an experience . oh and lots of gun fire  i mean a whole lot . spoiler  not     the kind of gun fire that leaves everyone in the police force who  s crooked dead and the hero prevails . they got flame throwers and rocket launchers  really no kidding .  br    br   bottom line if you want to see edison its because you are a great fan of one of the actors  or a great fan of justin timberlake  to all the   year old girls out there  enjoy   i wish i had more hands  because then i would have more thumbs  because this movie is so terrible because then i could give it so many thumbs down that thumbs down would no longer mean anything because this movie is so terrible because it sucks so badly that it made me laugh out of frustration about the story line because it just would not end because the firing and yelling just kept happening .  br    br   may gd have mercy on us all and save us from these terrible movies . well it could be worst  another rnb terrible actor turned singer turned terrible actor is usher  hehe check out in the mix lol  or even get rich or die trying  . now the special thing about that movie is that its got    year old men  playing   or even younger teens . i could go on with these .  
as i was watching this film on video last night  i kept getting these tingles that told me this one will endure . i  ve a feeling i  ll be watching this again and again for years to come .  br    br   it  s got all the timeless qualities you could ask for in a story  film . and even though some cultural references are obscure for me  a western viewer  at the core this is a universal tale .  
roy rogers stars as jesse james and his look  alike  gambler man clint burns . george  gabby  hayes is mr . rogers  s ex  pal  sheriff gabby . gale storm  jane fillmore  and sally payne  polly morgan  are a noteworthy team  as two reporters on the lookout for stories about the elusive outlaw hero .  br    br   of course  mistaken identity  impersonation is a plot development  since rogers essays a  dual role  . rogers is charming  as usual but  there is nothing really elevating this his performance above the ordinary  any potential to deliver a memorable jekyll  hyde performance is done in by poor material . the better pair to watch are ms . storm and ms . paye as the st . louis journal reporters  they are the film  s highlight . the songs are fine  though badly synched .  br    br    jesse james at bay       joseph kane  roy rogers  george  gabby  hayes  gale storm  
when tradition dictates that an artist must pass his great skills and magic on to an heir  the aging and very proud street performer  known to all as  the king of masks   becomes desperate for a young man apprentice to adopt and cultivate .  br    br   his warmth and humanity  tho  find him paying a few dollars for a little person displaced by china  s devastating natural disasters  in this case  massive flooding in the      s .  br    br   he takes his new   year old companion  onto his straw houseboat  to live with his prized and beautiful monkey   general   only to discover that the he  child is a she  child .  br    br   his life is instantly transformed  as the love he feels for this little slave girl becomes entwined in the stupifying tradition that requires him to pass his art on only to a young man .  br    br   there are many stories inside this one . . . many people are touched  and the culture of china opens itself for our western eye to observe . thousands of years of heritage boil down into a teacup of drama  and few will leave this dvd behind with a dry eye .  br    br   the technical transfer itself is not that great  as i found the sound levels all over the meter  and could actually see the video transfer lines in several parts of the movie . highly recommended        stars .  
i saw this film at its premier at sundance   .  br    br   since american beauty is a movie that had something to say  i had hopes for towelhead . unfortunately  it was a disappointment . in fact  of countless movies i  ve seen in almost a dozen sundance festivals  towelhead is the only sundance movie i  ve ever wanted to walk out early from .  br    br   the worst problem with towelhead is that it so obviously originates with a collection of  provocative  concepts concerning cultural stereotypes  rather than with an organic human drama . the screenplay derives from the novel of the same name by alicia erian . the famous edith wharton quote comes to mind i have never known a novel that was good enough to be good in spite of its being adapted to the author  s political views . that observation is especially devastating for towelhead because its political views are so stale and simplistic . if there ever was a time when towelhead  s white male villains  condescending portrayals of blacks  ironic treatments of foreign cultures  etc .  were fresh  it  s long past .  br    br   for a more detailed review  please look up any of the many professional reviews available online . almost all rate this movie poorly and expose the shallow and manipulative tissue it is based on .  br    br   on the other hand  the amateur reviewers seem more easily bamboozled . as you read through the reviews in this and similar sites  you  ll frequently come across superlatives  stunning    breathtaking    profound    shocking   . . . it embarrasses me to read them  but it does not surprise me . indeed  i  ve encountered many people who seem to regard any book or movie dealing with racial  cultural  gender  or sexual issues as deeply moving  thought provoking  full of profound insight . if you are such a person  by all means  rent towelhead and be moved by it . on the other hand  if you set your standards higher  you can safely pass on this one .  
an unexpected pleasure as i had heard nothing about this film .  br    br   shameful since it warrants having a wider audience .  br    br   a wonderfully humane story with a social message gently told  although admittedly predictable in its resolution . solidly acted by the principals . beautifully photographed with muted colors floating against grey that captures the nostalgic tone of the film .  br    br   my recent foray into chinese film  shower  the road home  not one less  has been an exciting one that i hope to continue exploring . china and its people is an amazing canvas for film  makers .  the king of masks  can be highly recommended as a starting point for anyone similarly interested in recent chinese film .  br    br    
unfortunately i made a mistake and i paid  euros at the movie theater to watch this shallow meaningless movie . my points  br    br   film is based on  things  br    br     ethnical point of view as it happens on most of the american films  the writer thinks itself as an expert after learning  or  things about the asian culture . but unfortunately it is not enough . knowing kunefe and  names of other foods doesn  t make a person understand a culture . for example shaving is the sign of clean life in asia but everyone was trying the girl to stop that . lebanese people are christian  ok they got that  and their cultural forms and beliefs and approaches are completely different from other arabic countries . the main difference between eastern and western culture is we don  t make ethnocentrism . so we don  t judge people after their first question about our life as the father figure did in all of the film .  br    br     sexual revolution of a girl there is nothing much to say about this . show me   girls which had these on their sexual awakening than i will say that i am wrong .  br    br   i wrote this comment because the producers are promoting the film in the black humor genre . please watch dr . strangelove and understand the meaning of black humor . a black humor has to reflect the truth and has to focus the audience to the funny parts of it . where is the truth  where is the meaning about the movie .  
one of the great things about many of the superb chinese movies you can find  if you are lucky  in the video stores  is they are very accurate retellings of actual  true stories . farewell  my concubine  the emperor and the assassin and this movie are perfect examples . the film makers take a true story and work hard to accurately create a movie without compromising the facts for dramatic or commercial convenience   the hallmark of much hollywood  and especially disney films .  br    br   in this story we follow the later years of an famous local street performer dubbed the king of masks for his mastery of sichuan change art . along an having lost his only son many years earlier  he searches to find a male heir to carry on his rare and dying art in a society that forbids females to have such work . master wang is sold a son by a slave trader . all is well as he joyfully prepares to pass down his art . but the son eventually is found out to be a girl . from there  the story get very interesting  with a good performance by master liang of the sichuan opera   a regional operatic style related to peking opera . fans of farewell my concubine should look carefully at master liang  s portrayal of a male playing the female role in chinese opera . it may help them come to understand that the players of these female roles were probably not homosexuals or castrati  but people who have be so psychologically conditioned as to be totally unaware of their own sexuality .  
hollywood  s misguided obsession with sequels has resulted in more misfires than hits . for every  godfather ii   there are dozens of  more american graffiti  s    stayin  alives   and  grease   s .  while the original  grease  is not a great film  the     adaptation of the long  running broadway hit does have songs evocative of the      s  energetic choreography  and an appealing cast . when paramount began work on a follow  up  the producers came up nearly empty on every aspect that made the original a blockbuster .  br    br   fortunately for moviegoers  michelle pfeiffer survived this experience and evidently learned to read scripts before signing contracts . her talent and beauty were already evident herein  and pfeiffer does seem to express embarrassment at the humiliating dance routines and tuneless songs that she is forced to perform . maxwell caulfield  however  lacks even the skill to express embarrassment  and his emotions run the gamut from numb to catatonic . what romantic interest  beyond hormones  could the cool sassy pfeiffer have in the deadpan caulfield  that dull mystery will linger long after the ludicrous luau finale fades into a bad memory . only cameos by veterans such as eve arden  connie stevens  and sid caesar have any wit  although lorna luft does rise slightly above the lame material .  br    br   reviewers have complained that  because  grease   is always compared to the original  the movie comes up lacking . however  even taken on its own terms  the film is a clunker . after a frenetic opening number  which evidently exhausted the entire cast  the energy dissipates . with few exceptions  the original songs bear little resemblance to the early      s  and the only nostalgia evoked is for  our miss brooks  and  sid caesar  s comedy hour .  the jokes fall flat  and the choreography in a film directed by choreographer patricia birch is clumsy to be polite . however  worse films have been inflicted on audiences  and inept sequels will be made as long as producers seek to milk a quick buck from rehashing blockbusters . unfortunately   grease   is not even unintentionally funny . instead  the film holds the viewer  s attention like a bad train wreck . just when all the bodies seem to have been recovered  the next scene plunges into even worse carnage .  
quote by nicolas martin  nicmart  from houston  tx  fine film  but dvd  reformatted for tv    april      this is a charming and emotive film . on the other hand  the dvd i purchased has been  reformatted to fit your tv  by the clods at columbia tristar . there is no excuse for not providing the film in widescreen format  except that hollywood treats all films like the moronic  disposable trash that it is so used to producing . what a shame .   br    br   what a  criminal   shame indeed . however  there is another version out though . see here for details http   www . dvdbeaver . com  film  dvdcompare   kingofmasks . htm  br    br   wonderful performances by the two main actors  the king and doggie  btw .  
the first part of grease with john travolta and olivia newton john is one of the best movie for teens  this one is a very bad copy . the change is only in the sex . in the first one the good one was sandy  here it  s michael . i prefer to watch the first grease .  
  masks  is a moving film that works on many levels . at its simplest  it is the haunting story of a street performer who bonds with a young child while trying to pass along his creative art  masks  to the next generation . although  at times the story makes the old man into a job  it is so well crafted  written  acted  directed  wonderful production values   it is easy to move beyond his plight . and  if you hang with it  the film is ultimately very sweet and uplifting . kudos all around . this is a wonderful film for children as well as adults . the trick is how to get americans who may not like foreign language films to see it   
i  m sorry  but even tj hooker  s adrian zmed couldn  t save this sequel . i went through half the movie thinking that this was a spoof of the original . then came that wild and wacky motorcycle scene  notice that this is the only movie that patricia birch directs   and i sadly realized they were trying to be serious . i did get a kick out of the fact that the opposing gang  having lost their  wheels  due to their gambling habits in the original grease  were forced to use motorcycles in the second movie . being shamed by that putz character carrington  i  d hate to see what they would resort to later maybe mopeds   br    br   i also never bought the hackneyed theme hunky  australian  boy  can  t  fit  into  outsiders  dominated  school  ergo  goes  for  tough  guy  with  stupid  biker  helmet  look . it was disney story gone horribly awry .  br    br   so  it looks like you can ruin a good thing by placing a bubble  gum smacking michelle pfeiffer in a musical . the only thing i took away from this movie was an idea of how many points out of ten to give it .  
beautiful and touching movie . rich colors  great settings  good acting and one of the most charming movies i have seen in a while . i never saw such an interesting setting when i was in china . my wife liked it so much she asked me to log on and rate it so other would enjoy too .  
the tenuous connection between this film and the first grease is established right at the beginning of the film when didi conn one of four cast members repeating their roles approaches young maxwell caulfield who is a british exchange student . although in the previous film olivia newton st . john  s foreign speech pattern is not explained  it  s explained here caulfield is her cousin . what  s conn still doing in school  i guess she just likes hanging around rydell high even though now she  s a beautician .  br    br   caulfield  s a smart kid  so of course the hood types led by adrian zmed have him labeled as a nerd . and that  s especially bad when zmed  s girl friend decides she likes caulfield . but being a nerd just isn  t going to cut it .  br    br   that  s when caulfield decides to put on a modern day zorro act . he gets a junked bicycle and puts it back together and teaches himself to ride . he gets himself a leather biker outfit with a set of goggles to hide his face . if getting michelle pheiffer is not in the cards  caulfield won  t have any trouble making friends at any gay male leather bar the way he  s outfitted .  br    br   grease  introduced michelle pheiffer and maxwell caulfield and started them on the successful career paths both have enjoyed . if you saw the first grease film  a much better film  than you definitely have an idea how this film will turn out .  br    br   in addition to conn  eve arden  sid caesar  and dody goodman  all faculty members from the original grease return in their roles . the music score isn  t remotely as good as the songs that come from the original .  br    br   it  s not that grease  is bad  it  s just not all that great .  
this is probably my favorite movie of all time . it is perfection in its storytelling . it will break your heart not because it  s over sentimental but because you will truly feel every emotion these characters go through . you feel for doggie because of the hopeless situation that existed for young girls in china at that time .  
well  at least my theater group did  lol . so of course i remember watching grease since i was a little girl  while it was never my favorite musical or story  it does still hold a little special place in my heart since it  s still a lot of fun to watch . i heard horrible things about grease  and that  s why i decided to never watch it  but my boyfriend said that it really wasn  t all that bad and my friend agreed  so i decided to give it a shot  but i called them up and just laughed . first off the plot is totally stolen from the first one and it wasn  t really clever  not to mention they just used the same characters  but with different names and actors . tell me  how did the pink ladies and t  birds continue years on after the former gangs left  not to mention the creator face motor cycle enemy  gee  what a striking resemblance to the guys in the first film as well as these t  birds were just stupid and ridiculous .  br    br   another year at rydell and the music and dancing hasn  t stopped . but when a new student who is sandy  s cousin comes into the scene  he is love struck by a pink lady  stephanie . but she must stick to the code where only pink ladies must stick with the t  birds  so the new student  decides to train as a t  bird to win her heart . so he dresses up as a rebel motor cycle bandit who can ride well and defeat the evil bikers from easily kicking the t  bird  s butts . but will he tell stephanie who he really is or will she find out on her own  well  find out for yourself .  br    br   grease  is like a silly tv show of some sort that didn  t work . the gang didn  t click as well as the first grease did  not to mention frenchy coming back was a bit silly and unbelievable  because i thought that she graduated from rydell  but apparently she didn  t . the songs were not really that catchy i  m glad that michelle was able to bounce back so fast  but that  s probably because she was the only one with talent in this silly little sequel  i wouldn  t really recommend this film  other than if you are curious  but i warned you  this is just a pathetic attempt at more money from the famous musical .  br    br        
it  s a tale that could have taken place anywhere really  given the right circumstances . street entertainer catching the attention of famous opera star and friendship ensuing . the aging entertainer finds  buys a male child to pass his art to . from there  we follow them through the rigors of their challenging  but free life along the river . traveling town to town  he performs and has some degree of notoriety . despite the times and the influences  the man is kind and good .  br    br   overall  the performances are first rate  especially xu zhu  who portrays the street performer . the child  renying zhou  is beautiful  and downright strong  and withstands the overt prejudices well . the two protagonists  along with supporting help from the kind opera singer  master liang  an interestingly androgynous zhao zhigang   paint a very interesting tale of forgiveness  sadness and love . some have mentioned this film  s remote similarities to ba wang bie ji  farewell my concubine   yet this film can  t stand easily on its own  any resemblance is remote at best .  br    br   my only qualm with the king of masks  is the ending . it was weak  cliche and about as subtle as a sledgehammer . the audience was already wrapped up in the story  what was the needless manipulation for  what a shame . to bring a fine motion picture that far  only to surrender to emotional  and corny  pathos like that . it frankly made this film good  instead of the classic  it should  ve been . that aside  the king of masks is still very well worth your time . i was happy to see the shaw brothers are still producing good films . highly recommended .  
boy  girl love affair  sequel with songs  only this time she  s the punkette and he  s the straight arrow . movie  buffs out there actually like this movie  it has fans  i must say  the mind reels . . .  grease   is a truly lame enterprise that doesn  t even have the courage  moxy or sheer gall to take the memory of its predecessor down in flames  like  jaws   or  exorcist ii   . no  it whimpers along in slow  motion and often just plays dead . it looks and feels cheap  with a large cast lost amidst messy direction and unfocused handling . this was the first time a substantial audience got a glimpse of michelle pfeiffer and  although she doesn  t embarrass herself  it  s a role worth forgetting . a misfire on the lowest of levels . no stars from   
i enjoyed the cinematographic recreation of china in the     s in this beautiful film . the story is simple . an older male performer wants to pass on his art to a young man although he has no living children . the faces of the actors are marvelous to see . the story reveals the devotion and gratitude of children to those who treat them well and their longing to be treated well . the operas in the film remind me of farewell my concubine  which was more sophisticated and intricate . the story here reminds me of a dickens tale of days when children were almost chattel . the plot is a bit predictable and a bit too sentimental for me but well worth the time to view for the heroism  humanity  and history portrayed .  
when i was    grease  was like crack . it was a classless  shameful  euphoric  and powerfully addictive experience . my sister and i would watch it  rewind it  and watch it over again and again and again until we passed out or became too confused and hostile to stand one another . so  if you are an    year old girl  and you reviewed this film as  brilliant  or  fun  or  better than the original grease   you have your fledgling adolescent hormones to blame and you can rest assured that this unyielding fixation with utter rubbish will pass .  br    br   if  however  you are not a little girl  you have absolutely no excuse to suggest that grease  was anything but an inane  artless  slipshod embarrassment for all who participated in its production  distribution  and  or consumption .  br    br   for the sake of criticism  i will dignify the film now by explaining why it blows  br    br    . in a well  executed musical  the songs should advance the narrative or develop the characters . in grease   with a few debatable exceptions  to the music is obscenely pointless . most of the songs appear to relate gimped innuendo about sex in an excessive and general way   score tonight    reproduction    do it for our country   and  prowlin    without making one concrete statement about any of the film  s characters or themes . plus  all of the music is uncomfortably stupid and no one in the cast demonstrates even the crudest semblance of an ability to sing or dance .  br    br    . the t  birds should be badass  and if not at least somewhat likable  but instead each of them is an annoying wussy  dufus  loser . in the end  when johnny nogerelli offers michael the sacred t  bird jacket and initiates him into the gang  michael should kick it to the ground  spit on it  and duck away to fervently scrub any part of his body that was touched by it . but of course  he accepts it as if it is gold because despite the fact that they are a bunch of bumbling meatheads  there is no greater honor than to be one with the t  birds .  br    br    . since michael is beautiful  smart  kind  resourceful  and above average in everyway  his musical impotence notwithstanding   it is feasible that stephanie would ultimately embrace him when he reveals himself to be the man behind the mask . stephanie  on the other hand  is a slovenly  slack  jawed  bubble gum smacking  dirty sweatshirt wearing  gracelessly rude and trashy dingbat . so aside from being pretty  i guess   she harbors no likable characteristics  thus  audiences are given no justification whatsoever for the depth of michael  s attraction to her .  br    br   i could go on and on  but i didn  t want to mention the gross inferiority to its predecessor since there are apparently so many cranks out there who seem to feel that such a comparison is unfair . i will say this though  to those of you who think you want to revisit this mess for old time  s sake grease  is an experience akin to re  living your first kiss . only you are   now and kissing a snot  nosed    year old kid with acne and slobby braces . the magic is gone and you are left feeling dirty and disturbed . trust me .  
ok  let  s get this clear . i  m really not into sci  fi  but for some reason i love stargate sg   .  br    br   jack o  neil takes his team sg   through a stargate . a round device that creates a wormhole . it gives you the ability to travel to distant worlds . it might sound like your usual sci  fi  series  but it  s not  the plot is set today not in some distant millennium like many other sci  fi  series . i find that great . it gives you things  happenings and such you can relate to  and you can jump into the series at any time without having to learn many new terms and names of all the gadgets . they have some of course but thanks to o  neil who likes to keep a simple terminology  there  s not many .  br    br   the series has a nice blending of action  humor and drama . if you enjoy loads of special effects you  re not going to find it here . they don  t use many bad ones but a limited amount of well made special effects .  
i found it very very difficulty to watch this after the initial  minutes of the film . i managed to stomach      minutes before switching it off in disgust and watching monster house instead  which  by the way  is great fun  .  br    br   the story has massive holes in it . the plot line is hugely over stated and dull  the acting is awful  especially from justin timberlake who should really stick to what he is good at  looking daft and singing like a castrato  . morgan freeman looked incredibly uncomfortable  especially when made to dance around to rock music for no apparent reason half way through the film after him and timberlake meet . freeman and timberlake  s characters seem to be supposed to have some sort of father  son relationship of sorts or something  which simply isn  t evident at all apart from the fact that though freeman  s character seems to have nothing but contempt for the ignorant and rather stupid character of timberlake  he never the less pulls out all the stops to help him uncover a completely ridiculous cover up .  br    br   it would take some incredible suspension of disbelief to give any credit to the story line  which is simply absurd and blown out of all proportion .  br    br   don  t watch this film  it is a pure waste of time .  
in the rapid economic development of      s in china  there is a resurgence of traditional chinese culture  partially due to the rise of nationalism accompanied by the increase in wealth  and more importantly  due to the sense of spiritual belonging after the collapse of the old socialist ideology in the post cultural  revolutionary era .  br    br   however  the resurgence of chinese traditional culture  namely  the confucianism  was not without disasters  because chinese are adopted the entire tradition without eliminating the bad part  and the discrimination against girls demonstrated in this film is an excellent example .  br    br   moreover  not only the part that should be discarded were inherited  the good part that was supposed to be inherited  such as the traditional opera  and its technique  such as changing face  was ignored in the resurgence  and facing extinction .  br    br   the director used this film to criticize the problem of re  embracing tradition by contemporary china and this is the deeper meaning behind the movie .  
i had to do a search on the actresses to find the board of this film because the title is now an unexpected love . it  s not really worth looking for but i was unfamiliar with both leads and wondered why they were headlining a lesbian flick on lifetime . everything  s pretty restrained and you don  t really get an idea of who these characters are so  as a viewer  i wasn  t able to become emotionally invested in the storyline . i guess i  m not the target audience for this but i  m not sure who is . everything  s muted and soft focus and earth tones . . . nothing  s very interesting . i had a prurient interest in seeing two women make out but it  s handled so discreetly that i was disappointed . rent personal best instead .  
this is a beautiful  rich  and very well  executed film with a rich and meaningful story . basically  it tells how an old master story teller needs to find a  male  heir to carry on his craft  but ends up not getting what he expected in his very male  dominated world . the characters must then deal with their situation and the old master must grapple with the conflict between his desire for a companion and heir and his and society  s traditional notions .  br    br   the story is fun  emotional  and complex . the exploration of the characters  their lives  and emotions  is rich and compelling the character development is strong while the characters are complex and not one dimensional at all . the film expertly conveys the old man  s emotions and his desire to find an heir  and compellingly shows how he and the kid handle the situation . there is also humour  sometimes quite subtle  at appropriate points . the film also examines the good and bad of traditional chinese culture  creating further interest and depth to the film .  br    br   the directing  acting  and scenery are all outstanding . added to the other strengths  this creates rich and convincing visual images and compelling  real characters . as a result  the film evokes strong empathy for  and feelings about  the characters .  br    br   some have claimed that the ending weakens the film  but i do not necessarily agree . perhaps it could have been stronger with a different ending  but any improvement in the overall film would have been rather small .  
i  ve read some of the comments about this film and can only surmise that some people are easily entertained . this movie is nothing . it  s so badly written  directed and acted that it barely makes an impression . the characters speak in cliche  ridden dialogue and the situations are completely implausible . while that might make this campy and fun  it doesn  t because everything is so lifeless the film becomes dull . it  s as if lee rose decided to write a drama about a woman struggling with her sexuality but then she either wasn  t allowed by studio execs to give the story some true  to  life gusto or didn  t have the cojones . this movie could go in the enyclopedia as the standard  issue bad lifetime tv movie .  
the movie is truly poignant  unique and uplifting . the story is universal in that it  s a battle between good  evil and the world between . the most important thing is that its rating is wrong  misleading  and a travesty . blockbuster has it rated as though it were an x rated movie . the truth is is that it is closer to g than pg and should be seen by children who can read the clear and simple sub  titles .  
i laughed all the way through this rotten movie . it  s so unbelievable . a woman leaves her husband after many years of marriage  has a breakdown in front of a real estate office . what happens  the office manager comes outside and offers her a job    hilarious  next thing you know the two women are going at it . yep  they  re lesbians  nothing rings true in this  lifetime for women with nothing better to do  movie . clunky dialogue like  i don  t want to spend the rest of my life feeling like i had a chance to be happy and didn  t take it  doesn  t help . there  s a wealthy  distant mother who disapproves of her daughter  s new relationship . a sassy black maid  unbelievable that in the year      a film gets made in which there  s a sassy black maid . hattie mcdaniel must be turning in her grave . the woman has a husband who freaks out and wants custody of the snotty teenage kids . sheesh  no cliche is left unturned .  
the fact that this film was put out on dvd still formatted  to tv and with a fuzzy picture really annoyed a lot of film purists . . . . . . and rightly so . this deserves a lot better treatment .  br    br   the story is about a street performer who needs a son to pass on his craft  the rules of the day  and winds up with a little girl instead  not the conventional way  . . . . and the problems that ensue afterward . the old man had bought the kid at a slave auction and soon discovers the kid is not a boy  which he obviously thought was the case .  br    br   the old man  bianlian wang  xu zhu  is kind of funny  looking with a missing front tooth and an infectious grin . the little girl  doggie   zhou renying  is a cutie . the rest of the story is how the two manage after that . i usually like a nice sentimental ending but this gets a bit carried away in the final   minutes .  br    br   overall  it  s involving story complete with drama  suspense  humor and sadness . just don  t expect a good quality picture for the money you are spending on the dvd . until it comes out on widescreen  rent it .  
they changed the title of this atrocity to an unexpected love . the only thing worse is the film itself . the script contains dialogue that would be laughed out of a third grade play recital . at one point when the wife leaves the husband  a bad cover of all by myself plays over the soundtrack  no kidding . the actors try but are defeated by the inept  unbelievably terrible script . direction is staggeringly bad . no wonder lifetime has such a bad reputation . how do things like this get made . i  m turning off the television before it  s over   
this spectacular film is one of the most amazing movies i have ever seen . it shows a china i had never seen or imagined  and i believe it shows      s china in the most real light ever seen in a movie . it is absolutely heart  breaking in so many situations  seeing how hard life was for the characters  and yet the story and the ending are incredibly joyful . you truly see the depths and heigths of human existence in this film . the actors are all perfect  such that you feel like you have really entered a different world .  br    br   i simply can not recommend this movie highly enough . it may just change you forever once you have seen it .  
this movie was okay  but it certainly defeats the claim that homosexuals are  born that way   especially when a woman can exit out of an unhappy marriage and just fall into the arms of another woman . it almost seems as if kate  s gender preferences turned on and off like a switch  making this film seem a little simplistic .  br    br   also  as is common with films that are trying to push an agenda  it was unfortunate that those characters in the film who had questions or disapproval over the gay lifestyle were labeled as  bigots .  and there was no happy medium . it was either kate  s friends and relatives totally embraced her or they totally shunned her . this is not typical of interactions between gay and non  gay relatives and friends . it is usually a mixture of emotions and values that come into play . it is possible to love people and treat them with respect while not necessarily condoning the choices they make . sadly  the movie showed none of these types of interactions . for a movie trying to portray tolerance and acceptance  it struck me as very intolerant movie  then at the end  kate apparently decides after all these years she wants to be with mac and everything is hunky dory  is that what being gay is really all about  come on   
i just saw this movie today with my children  son    and daughter   .   at the  rd annual roger ebert overlooked film festival . after the film the children in the audience were allowed to ask questions to the director  tian  ming wu . he  through a translator  told several stories about his life and the making of the film .  br    br   all tangents aside  both of my children really enjoyed this movie . of course  i had to paraphrase many of the subtitles for my daughter  but much of the film is visually self  explanatory .  br    br   i won  t give anything away  but the bottom line is that this film is so much better than    of the hollywood crap  especially children  s films  out there .  br    br   cheers .  br    br   p . s . there is a  real   original king of masks who can  could do   masks at once . the actor in the movie trained and learned to do up to  masks at a time  then they would cut and change to  new masks  .  
why do all movies on lifetime have such anemic titles   an unexpected love   ooh  how provocative    this much i know  would have been better . the film is nothing special . real people don  t really talk like these characters do and the situations are really hackneyed . the straight woman who  turns  lesbian seemed more butch than the lesbian character . if you wanna watch two hot women kiss in a very discreet fashion  you might enjoy this . although it seems like it was written by someone who doesn  t really get out in the world to observe people . why am i wasting my time writing about it   
this is a lot of silliness about a woman from london who marries a tea planter from ceylon whom she barely knows . it  s full of cliches  and the liz taylor character is not believable . it has a marvelous set  some exotic location footage . it shows taylor at the height of her beauty . she looks stunning .  
i remember watching this film in the eighties as a teenager . but i wanted to see it again  because traci lords is now earning a living as a  serious actor  . what the hell was going on in the eighties  this is a really bad film with bad taste and bad actors . definitely a waste of money .  
fabulous costumes by edith head who painted them on liz taylor at her finest   br    br   the sfx are very good for a movie of its age  and the stunt doubles actually looked like the actors  even down to body type  a rarity in movies of this vintage .  br    br   a cozy movie  with splendid panoramas   even when chopped down to pan and scan .  
this is probably the first entry in the  lance o  leary  nurse keat  detective series in subsequent o  leary films  he was played by much younger actors than guy kibbee .  br    br   a group of relatives  all played by well  known character actors  gathers in an old house  on a rainy nite  of course   to speak to a wealthy relative  who goes into a coma .  br    br   while they wait for him to recover  all sorts of mysterious goings  on happen  including a couple of murders .  br    br   a creepy film worth seeing   
elephant walk       starring an early peter finch as lord of the manor in some god  forsaken plantation where there is always the danger of elephants or mad englishmen  staying out in the midday sun and going berserk . well eventually they do  after the typhoid or cholera outbreak  of course  and much mayhem ensues . taylor replaced an ailing vivien leigh in this pot boiler  adventure flick . when the elephants storm the house and trap liz on the grand staircase i still get goose bumps . thank goodness dana andrews is around to save the day . one of my favorite guilty pleasures . in color too   
i am an actor  producer  director and what i am about to say are facts . this project was the worst film in movie making history . from producer to director and the edit of this so called film is a joke and i mean a big joke . why would blockbuster released such crap  i take my work very serious and this film is an insult to my profession . was the director trying to make a bad movie  i don  t think so . i seen bad zombie movies  but this takes the cake the coffie and everything on the damn table . this movie sucks    i really hate to talk bad about other filmmakers because i am one myself  but please consider in taking up a different profession . i respect the fact that you completed a movie  but i have to ask you  were you smoking crack   i mean the makeup on your girls  the scary zombies  what were you thinking . to the whole nation  if i could have voted zero i would have . worst film in movie making history     
 . . . or type on a computer keyboard  they  d probably give this eponymous film a rating of    .  after all  no elephants are shown being killed during the movie it is not even implied that any are hurt . to the contrary  the master of elephant walk  john wiley  peter finch   complains that he cannot shoot any of the pachyderms   no matter how menacing   without a permit from the government  and his tone suggests such permits are not within the realm of probability  . furthermore  the elements conspire   in the form of an unusual drought and a human cholera epidemic   to leave the wiley plantation house vulnerable to total destruction by the elephant people  as the natives dub them  to close the story . if you happen to see the current release earth  you  ll detect the elephant people are faring less well today .  
german filmmaker ulli lommel has managed a task many horror fans thought was impossible he  s unseated fellow teuton uwe boll for the crown of director of the worst horror film ever made .  br    br   lommel is truly the ed wood of the new millennium . this film is as shoddy and laughable as the best  worst of ew . i am both proud and embarrassed to say that i watched it in toto  morbidly fascinated to see just low the bar could be set . the answer is subterranean lommel dug a pit and buried it .  br    br   the fun begins with the cast of international nobodies . only someone who has lived in los angeles  where every auto mechanic  doctor and mailman is an actor or screenwriter waiting to be discovered  could easily understand how lommel managed to find so many wannabe actors willing to spew his ridiculous dialog with a straight face .  br    br   the main character  a villainous beat cop  is played by a german actor with a thick german accent . aside from being a serial killer  he is also the oldest beat cop in la . despite the fact that he stops innocent women drivers and takes them into custody  then drags them into his home  which inexplicably is the top floor of a furniture warehouse   and does all this in plain sight of his rookie partners  the lapd refuses to investigate  going so far as to physically attack one of his accusers in a ninja style raid on his apartment .  br    br   the sets are excruciatingly bad . the production designer  s budget apparently included just enough money for a can of paint enough to paint  precinct     on a cardboard wall .  br    br   since the actors were obviously unpaid non  professionals   a sad assortment of european emigres  possibly deportees if they acted in their native lands   bimbos  mimbos  and desperate middle  aged women   and since little if any money was spent on sets  special efx  locations or other production value  it is only fair to mention that they did spring for a few genuine  looking police uniforms . sadly  they couldn  t afford a police car the uniformed cops cruise the streets in a shiny new mercury rental .  br    br   more than half of the story focuses on the dirty deeds of our deranged german lapd officer and the futile efforts of two young rookies to stop him . one of these young actors is especially pitiable because he  s the only actor in this whole mess with even a vague shot at a real career in the movies . the other fits right in  with a rockabilly hairdo and tortured brando posing that needs to be seen to be appreciated .  br    br   the latter part of the film is where the title gets its zombie  as the victims of our killer are resurrected after he murders a girl who had just visited some voodoo priestesses to have a protective spell put on her . don  t ask why a girl from romania would resort to voodooism in anticipation of being murdered  just accept lommel  s logic and enjoy the absurd ride .  br    br   after much prolonged hand  clawing out of straw  covered roadside graves  the zombie girls manage to make their appearance . they look exactly as they did before death  maybe even prettier  with black glamor make  up generously airbrushed around their eyes . looking nothing like zombies  they look more like high fashion models ready for the runway .  br    br   at this point in the movie lommel borrows a creative note from his lauded countryman boll  and injects large doses of cheesy euro  trash techno into the soundtrack . we  re talking prehistoric electronic bumblebee noise . stuff they might have played in an ibiza disco when lommel was still young enough to shake his booty .  br    br   unlike other zombies  lommel  s girls speak and function as normal . . . er  i mean  as they did before becoming zombified . this gives our auteur ample opportunities to shower us with more of his golden dialog . yes  a golden shower it is .  br    br   i won  t spoil anything by revealing the shock ending . all i can say is it  s perfectly in tune with the rest of this masterpiece . the spirit of ed wood lives on . . . or should i say his geist .  
i got in to this excellent program in about season  and since then i have seen all the episodes got all the episodes on dvd and keeps getting better and better with the seasons of  and   . it now may not have richard dean anderson now but the addition of ben browder and claudie black it has still given the show more strength and original still even after   seasons . sadly now the sci  fi channel got rid of this amazing show with no hope relay for a   season there are making two direct to dvd movie and hopefully more . atlantis is still going strong on its  th seasons . and there is a third spin off in the works the stargate franchise is nowhere near dead . this tv show is a must see for all sci  fi fans and people of genres because this has such a wide range of things to appeal to all ages and all types of people watch it            
the plot of  edison  was decent  but one actor in particular ruined the entire film . justin timberlake ruined the film with every line he uttered during the movie . he is by far one of the worst actors i have ever seen  and should face the same fate as the entire f . r . a . t . squad .  br    br   whether it was an emotional scene  an action scene  or even a silent scene  justin timberlake managed to ruin it .  br    br   do not waste your time watching this film . don  t even bother downloading it  midget porn would be a much better choice .  br    br   and justin  if you  re reading this  stick to music . even though you  re no good at that  you  ve done a wonderful job tricking people into thinking you can actually sing .  
i was prepared for a turgid talky soap opera cum travelogue  but was pleased to find a fast  paced script  an underlying moral  excellent portrayals from all the actors  especially peter finch  amazing special effects  suspense  and beautiful cinematography   there  s even a shot of the majestic stone buddhas recently destroyed by the taliban . not to mention elizabeth taylor at her most gloriously beautiful and sympathetic  before she gave in to the gaspy hysterics that marred her later work . all the supporting players round it out  and i do wonder who trained all those elephants .  br    br   speaking of the stone  buddha sequence  you really can discern that it  s vivien leigh in the long shots . her shape and the way she moves is distinct from taylor  s . the only thing marring that sequence are the poorly done process shots  where the background moves by much too fast for horses at a walk .  br    br   if you want a thought  provoking film that is beautiful to watch and never boring  spend a few hours with elephant walk .  
this movie is a joke . i mean a  ha ha  funny joke . why  because the only redeeming thing about it was the good laugh i got at the sheer ridiculousness of nonsensical  inane plot and horrible acting . wow   br    br   within this movie there are so many unanswered questions . . . for example why do these women become zombies and how  why are there four black women who are zombie  s  caretakers  and what is their purpose  since when does  people make up a  nation  of zombies  and is smeared black eye mascara  scary  to anyone  anywhere  even a  year old   br    br   and lastly why was this movie made at all  why  why  why  no answer  that  s what i thought .  br    br   on the demand channel they actually issued this comment after the synopsis of the movie we apologize for this movie in advance  lol . at least they had the decency to do this much   
i watched  elephant walk  for the first time in about   years and was struck by how similar the story line is to the greatly superior  rebecca .  as others have said  you have the sweet young thing swept off her feet by the alternately charming and brooding lord of the manor  only to find her marriage threatened by the inescapable memory of a larger  than  life yet deeply flawed relative . you have the stern and disapproving servant  a crisis that will either bind the couple together or tear them irreparably apart  climaxed by the fiery destruction of the lavish homestead .  br    br   meanwhile   elephant walk  also owes some of its creepy jungle atmosphere to  the letter   the bette davis love triangle set on a singapore rubber plantation rather than a sri lankan tea plantation .  br    br   maltin gives  elephant walk  just two stars  and imdb readers aren  t much kinder  but i enjoyed it despite its predictability . elizabeth taylor never looked lovelier  and peter finch does a credible job as the basically good man unable to shake off the influence of his overbearing father . dana andrews   a favorite in  laura  and  the best year of our lives    is wasted as elizabeth  s frustrated admirer . the real star is the bungalow  one of the most beautiful interior sets in movie history .  
i cannot believe that this movie was ever created . i think at points the director is trying to make it an artistic piece but this just makes it worse . the zombies look like they applied too much eye makeup . the zombies are only in the movie for a few minutes . finally  there are maybe five or six zombies total  definitely not a nation . the best part of the movie  if there is one is definitely the credits because the painful experience was finally finished . again to reiterate other user comments  the voodoo priestesses are strange and do not make much sense in the whole movie . also  there is a scene with a snake and a romanian girl that just does not make sense at all . it is never explained .  
the scintillating elizabeth taylor stars in this lesser  known classic as a young girl from london who falls in love with a tea plantation owner from british ceylon  current day sri lanka  . upon arrival she instantly feels out of place and is forced to adapt to the new culture as well as be in constant awareness of the angry elephant herd . william dieterle  who also directed the life of emile zola and portrait of jennie  does a masterful job of bringing a somewhat dark  and almost eerie  undertone to this romance and the setting is one of the most beautiful i  ve seen with the black and white themed mansion and the gorgeous island scenery .  
seriously crappy movie .  br    br   first off  the movie starts with a cop and his partner parked outside of a warehouse  furniture store . the  bad  cop takes a girl  which they had pulled over  into the warehouse  s attic  while the newbie cop sits outside and ponders what could be happening up there . the  bad  cop eventually returns with a heavy duffel bag  and the newbie cop doesn  t think there are any problems  but he still wonders what was in the bag  so he asks  gets a bullshit response  and then he thinks everything is ok  for now  .  br    br   the  bad  cop repeats this process  and even once with a tit scene  made it slightly better  . but eventually people start to catch on  which took awhile considering how fing obvious it was . one girl gets a voodoo curse placed on her just in case she dies  like ya do . now  the  bad  cop eventually kills this magically protected bitch  and then he gets rid of the duffel  bagged body .  br    br   since she had the oogey  boogey magic put on her  she comes back with lots of eye  shadow on  which is supposed to indicate that she may be a zombie . . . also  the magic curse causes all of the other girls to become  eye  shadow monsters  . some of the girls meet up with a dude  who is apparently a currency specialist  and he offers them a ride  they look normal to him apparently  . but when the girls see other people  such as the one girls husband  he freaks out because she is hideous  some people freak out  but others don  t even notice  . . . . massive plot hole .  br    br   so  to wrap it up  the eye  shadow monsters kill the  bad  cop  who in turn ends up becoming a zombie in the last scene . it was as though they were trying to prep us for a sequel  like anyone would want to see part  of this cow dropping .  
a beautiful shopgirl in london is swept off her feet by a millionaire tea plantation owner and soon finds herself married and living with him at his villa in british ceylon . although based upon the book by robert standish  this initial set  up is highly reminiscent of hitchock  s  rebecca   with leading lady elizabeth taylor clashing with the imposing chief of staff at the mansion and  almost immediately  her own husband  who is still under the thumb of his deceased  but  dominant father . taylor  a last  minute substitute for an ailing vivien leigh  looks creamy  smooth in her high fashion wardrobe  and her performance is quite strong however  once husband peter finch starts drinking heavily and barking orders at her  one might think her dedication to him rather masochistic  this feeling hampers the ending as well  . still  the film offers a heady lot for soap buffs romantic drama  a bit of travelogue  interpretive dance  an elephant stampede  and a perfectly  timed outbreak of cholera   from   
i cant believe blockbuster carries this movie . it was so bad . i was totally fooled by the box art . don  t be fooled   its not worth your time i promise you . i don  t know if the positive reviews for this flick were a joke or what . i am so disappointed .    br    br   the description on the back of the box doesn  t even match  the girl that has the voodoo done on her is a stripper . the synopsis on the back says she is only   . did the people writing the description for the film even bother to watch it   those positive reviews had to be a joke they just had to be . if anyone actually liked this flick then i  ve lost all faith in humanity .  br    br   and don  t even get me started on the story compared to the title . or the fact that the entire movie was done all in  locations . or that the cops didn  t even have close to real uniforms . why would i even say that   who cares about the cops uniforms   compared to the rest of the movie the uniforms were spot on .  br    br   this movie is an insult to the zombie genre and all of its fans .  
elephant walk may not be the acme of literature or of film  but it is great entertainment in the quasi  melodramatic mode . it is the story of love  both genuine and illicit  as well as overweening ambition  devotion  and the arrogance of personal tyranny . a previous reviewer  john mankin  questions why the central focus of the film  the mansion called elephant walk  should have been built by the former owner  the  governor  the late tom wiley  right across the elephants  traditional path to the major source of water  the river . to miss this point is to essentially miss the point of the whole center of the film the hubris of man . that his son  played by peter finch  should become enthralled by the super image and enigma of his revered father  is not unexpected  since the son was without a mother growing up in a foreign jungle with only his father and his father  s rowdy  boys  club  as his role models . the point of the father was that he was a self  made man who would tame nature to his liking  and that liking was not just a tea plantation upon the lands the elephants once dominated  but also that he would dominate even the large bull elephant that led the herd  and thus he would dominate his son and all around him  and so we join the tale after the elephants have been denied the crucial dry season access to their pathway to water . who could know that this dry season would last so long and what the elephants would do in desperation to get water  this is the nexus of the film what will animals do to get water what will humans do to get power or love  ceylon  today  s sri lanka  is the huge island off the coast of india where the plantation is located and one quickly learns that it is the real scenery of the story  not just the expenses of miss taylor . were it not for this exotic location  much of the film was shot in ceylon   and the magnificent  bungalow  this would have been just another potboiler . one must recognize the atmosphere created here as integral to the time and place  as it illuminates the latter day wealth and power attained by the english immigrant  conquerors  that were part and parcel of the british raj . it is only such wealth gained by the use of virtual slave labor that one could build so magnificent a residence of ebony  teak  and marble . not to be overlooked are the wonderfully carved jalees  grille work window and doorway borders  evidently specified by art directors j . mcmillan johnson and hal pereira and obviously made by the cheaper labor on the island . such craftsmanship reveals the careful attention to detail that these men sought .  br    br   for those immune to the blandishments of time  place  and architecture  there is always the allure of miss taylor  as she marries a man she doesn  t really know and is tacitly wooed by a another man  against the background described  and under the overarching tyranny of the legacy of a man deceased . as i said  it is not great literature nor even great film  but it is great spectacle long before that term was debased by the special effects extravaganzas of today .  br    br   this is one of those films made to be seen on the giant screen of an outdoor drive  in  not on the home tv  so arrange the largest screen to see it on to fully appreciate its fine camera  work and scope .  
mt little sister and i are self  proclaimed horror movie buffs . we have seen just about everything  especially zombie flicks . now  we have seen a lot of good zombie movies  and a lot of bad ones . this by far is the worst movie i have ever seen in my entire life . not only was the acting horrible  but the special effects  graphics and ever  zombie  make  up was the worst i have seen . if you can even call it make  up  black eye shadow around the eyes  this is totally proof that you should never judge a book by it  s cover . cause the cover to the movie is the only sweet thing about . do your selves a favor and do not watch this movie                   i was so adamant about this movie i went as far as putting a sticky note on the inside of the movie before i returned it to movie saying  this movie sucks  don  t waste your time  return now  hahahhaa i don  t want anyone else to waste a good movie night on this pos movie  i don  t even know how it got the ratings that it did  t should be in the negative  
my parents took me to this movie when i was nine years old . i have never forgotten it . i had never before seen anything as beautiful as elizabeth taylor .  she was twenty  two when she made elephant walk  remember  i  m nine  so the feelings aren  t sexual  i just couldn  t see anything else on the screen . i just wanted to sit at her feet like a puppy and stare up at her . she has begun to show her age   she  s almost seventy  four  but i still believe her to be one of the most beautiful and breathtaking women to ever have lived .  br    br   i have seen the movie several times since  and it is a sappy melodrama . what saves it is  of course  miss taylor  s beauty  magnificent scenery  the very impressive elephant stampede  and a well  made point on human arrogance in the face of nature .  br    br   all in all  a well  spent couple of hours watching the movie channel or a rented video .  
someone actually gave this movie  stars . there  s a very high chance they need immediate professional help as anyone who doesn  t spend   seconds to see if you can award no stars is quite literally scary .  br    br   this film is . . . well . . . i guess it  s pretty much some kind of attempt at a horrible porn  snuff movie with no porn or no real horrible bits  apart from the acting  plot  story  sets  dialogue and sound  . i wrongly assumed it was about zombies .  br    br   watching it is actually quite scary in fairness you  re terrified someone will come over and you  ll never be able to describe what it is and they  ll go away thinking you  re a freak that watches home  made amateur torture videos or something along those lines .  br    br   i  m so taken aback i  m writing this review on my mobile so i don  t forget to attempt to bring the rating down further than the current  .  to save others from the same horrible fate that i just suffered .  br    br   i worst film i  ve ever seen and i can say  with hand on heart  it will never  never be topped .  
robert standish  s novel is about a triangular romantic situation on a ceylonese tea plantation . . . so the events of the ceylon backgrounds and pictorial beauty are rewarding points to william dieterle  s film . . .  br    br   the story is about a rich powerful planter  peter finch   who brings a charming and tender beauty  elizabeth taylor   into the jungle as his bride . . . the plantation  of course  is endangered by some kind of wild life . . . for this reason taylor  elegant as never in dazzling costumes  finds herself in a strange atmosphere . . . the echo determination of a ghost  the bad temper of a husband obsessed by the memory of his autocratic father  a highly dangerous disease  and the fury of wild animals . . .  br    br   in her confusion  boredom and annoyance elizabeth taylor looks to a friendly face  a pretentious foreman  dana andrews   who admires her beauty but tries to conquer her love . . .  br    br   with echoes of  jane eyre   the mysterious yorkshire mansion with a brooding master  and  rebecca   the innocent young second wife hunted by the image of the glamorous first wife   elephant walk  is a menace melodrama with a wide view of a huge tropical bungalow  exotic dances with rage excessively colorful  stampeding big bull elephants  amazing mansion set on fire  all in the company of an exquisite creature with an unquestioned beauty and talent . . .  br    br   the movie gave liz a change of scenery  and allowed her more creative energy and self  respect than most of her other willful debutante  rebels the wife here has a sharp tongue and a strong will  and so taylor plays her movie star heroine with more spirit than she was given credit for  
this film has to be the worst i have ever seen . the title of the film deceives the audience into thinking there maybe hope . the story line of the film is laughable at best  with the acting so poor you just have to cringe . the title  zombie nation  implies a hoard of zombies when in fact there are six in total . this cannot be categorised as a horror film due to the introduction of cheesy    s music when the zombies  attack  . the zombies actually talk and act like human beings in the film with the only difference being the make up which looks like something out a la roux video . if you ever get the chance to buy this film then do so  then burn the copy .  
one of the first ova  s   original video animation   i ever bought  this still has to be one of my favourite anime titles . a cyberpunk sci  fi action comedy set against an unlikely  for a comedy  that is  background of near  future pollution in a dystopian society .  br    br   the  heroes  of dominion are the tank police  formed with a  if we can  t beat crime  we  ll get bigger guns  philosophy  and who are  like the name suggests  patrolling the city in tanks instead of patrol cars  and who are actually far more dangerous than any criminals they are trying to catch . most  if not all  of these cops are borderline    psychopaths and neurotics  giving new meaning to the phrase  loose cannons  .  br    br   equally colourful and amusing are their adversaries  terrorist buaku and his hench  wo  men  the twin cat sisters  whose existence always seems to involve giving the tank police a hard time .  br    br   the animation is not state of the art  but it  s very nice otherwise the colourful palette and cartoonish look of the characters and mecha fit nicely with the comedic atmosphere of dominion .  br    br   the english dubbing is  again  lots of fun . the soundtrack of the english version is also very good . i wonder if they ever made a soundtrack album of that . . .  br    br   anyway  dominion tank police is great . it  s japanese cyberpunk sf with lots of comedy  filled with completely over  the  top characters and situations  making sure that it never takes itself seriously . highly recommended .  
i stopped by bb and picked up  zombie flicks to watch over the weekend . now  i understand that the effects will be cheesy  the acting will be sub  par  and the sets will be suspect . so i  m not expecting much . but it should at least have a story . stories don  t cost a thing except time . . . . . apparently  they didn  t have any time either .  br    br    zombie nation  had  zombies that appeared near the end of the movie that all looked like new wave hookers . the picture of the zombie on the front cover never appears in the movie . it was absolutely agonizing to watch and had nothing to offer the genre .  br    br   the running time is only   minutes but it felt like  hours . according to my wife  who could only hear the movie since she was on the computer in another room   it sounded like zombie porn . . . . which if you think about  sounds kinda gross . . . . . but it wasn  t even that good .  br    br   the only suggestion i can make is that maybe the writer tried to do too many things and ended up with an incoherent mess .  br    br   it ended up being a free rental and i still feel ripped off . i rated it a  out of   because imdb won  t allow me to use decimals .  
dominion tank police is without a shell of a doubt  one of the most amazing shows ever produced  but not just in the field of animation . while the first part  acts  and   mostly consists of action and fun  the second part is more serious and one should not treat the second part in the exact same way as first part . the subtleties are truly out of this world and the characterization is beyond brilliant . you must have an extra degree of intelligence to appreciate the intricacies of the second part  acts   and   . i do have some complaints though . in the first part  the tank bonaparte quite literally jumps over a tank shell and it did not make any sense at all . one might also question the plausibility of bonaparte jumping on the wing of helicopter gunship even though it was cool . buaku rules .  
not worth the video rental or the time or the occasional efforts .  br    br   makeup that a child can do . acting was over done . . . poor directing . editing was very choppy . . . many things made no sense or just seemed gratuitous . sound was badly dubbed . music was highly inappropriate . casting was extremely off . . . must have been on crack . zombies that talk let alone . . . drive  dance  work . . . just pisses me off . and the bad guy . . . holy crap  as horribly casted as he was . . . he was the best looking zombie of all . which doesn  t say much .  br    br   the cover art was good but very deceiving . . . as was the main menu of the dvd . . . great artwork and music .  br    br   don  t bother   
the anime that got me hooked on anime . . .  br    br   set in the year      hey  that  s not too far away now   the earth is now poison gas wasteland of pollution and violence . seeing as how crimes are happening ever   seconds are so and committed by thieves who have the fire power of third world terrorists  the government of the fictional new port city form the tank police to deal with the problem  cops with tanks  oh the insanity   br    br   the  heroes  of this series include the new recruit leona ozaki  a red haired japanese woman  yeah i know  they never match their distinctly japanese names with a japanese appearance  who has just been drafted into the tank police and is quickly partnered with blond  blue eyed nice guy al . leona is new at using tanks and unfortunately she destroys the favorite tank of tank police commander charles britain  also known as  brenten    a big guy who looks like tom selleck on steroids and sporting a pair of nifty sunglasses  a big revolver and a bad temper . britain didn  t like having leona join the tank police in the first place and her wrecking his tiger special  a giant green monster tank  doesn  t exactly endear her to him  nor is he fond of her taking the remains of his giant tank and using it to build a mini  tank that she nicknames bonaparte and he is soon pushing to have her transferred to child welfare  where the boys are more your size  as he puts it . there  s also specs  the bifocal genius  bible quoting  god fearing chaplain  purple mo  hawked mohican  and the pot bellied chief  who  s right on the edge thanks to the mayor always yelling at him about the tank police antics . seeing as how the tank cops often destroy half the city while chasing the bad guys and use extreme violence to capture them  they  re not very well liked by the people .  br    br   the  villains  are a cyborg named buaku who  s got a mysterious past that  s connected with a project known as  green peace   his gang and his two sexy cat cyborg sidekicks anna  uni puma . in the first installment these guys are being paid to steal urine samples from a hospital treating people who haven  t been infected by the poison gas clouds and in the  nd they  re hired to steal a painting that is of a naked buaku . the story  however  was uncompleted in the anime and was finished up in a cult comic   manga   book that  s very hard to find .  br    br   all sorts of chaos and mayhem ensue in this black comic venture that examines how far people want their police to go in order to catch criminals and what happens when the fine line between good guys and bad guys starts to get blurred . this is the kind of thing that if you were going to make a movie of it  you  d better go get quentin tarantino . uneven in places but still a lot of fun .  br    br   followed by  new dominion tank police  .  
thank god  i didn  t waste my money renting it but i downloaded it  this happens to be the worst movie i have ever seen in my whole life  fg visual effects  unnecessary gore and nudity  far apart from other zombie movies like night of the living dead and others . there are lots of loop holes and mistakes in the movie . ok if you get time after reading this comment  please check out the director  s  ulli lommel  profile . after seeing that i got a self explanation why the movie is like this  i mean every movie directed by ulli lommel gets a rating between  and  . and now am not willing to search what kinda movies these are directed by him  but i can finish all this by saying one strong sentence . even for fun or time pass or even at an extreme bored situation please do not watch this movie .  
fact stargate sg   is a cheesy sci  fi tv series .  br    br   there  s no escaping facts . how much you try to excuse yourself or explain it stargate sg   remains a cheesy sci  fi tv series .  br    br   stargate sg   does borrow and steal ideas briskly . special fx aren  t nearly as impressive as they could have been and the action isn  t going to blow you out of the chair . or couch for that matter either .  br    br   but  and this is where i really think stargate sg   deserves all the credit it can get  for each and every episode or stolen idea i think you can count at least one cheesy sci  fi movie that  s actually worse than a one hour tv episode .  br    br   in fact some episodes actually could probably have been   minutes long and still have been better than most movies .  br    br   and being able to keep that quality throughout the show and keep delivering and pushing the storyline further is what makes stargate sg   special .  br    br   i am very picky with my selections . i follow perhaps one or two tv series at most and i hold pretty high standards which made me even more surprised when i found myself caught .  br    br   so for those who decide to brush of stargate sg   as yet another tacky sci  fi show  don  t . stick with it and you  ll see what i  m talking about .  
 review may contain some spoilers  i  ll make this review short and sweet . i bought this movie from best buy because it sounded interested and had some top actors in it like kevin spacey and morgan freeman . how bad could it be  right  well  it  s pretty bad . justin timberlake plays pollack  a wannabe journalist who stumbles across a case that may lead to corrupt cops at edison  s police force . ll cool j is deed  a cop within the force on a special force team called f . r . a . t .  first response assault tactics  . he  s teamed with an  on  the  edge  bad cop named lazerov  dylan mcdermott  . in the opening scene we see lazerov  deed taking on some bank robbers  but at night they are busting a couple of guys doing drugs . i don  t want to give to much away  but things turn bad for the guys doing the drugs . pollack  who works for ashford  morgan freeman  goes to a trial involving deeds  lazerov . he suspect foul play and with the help of ashford  does some investigate that turns ugly . wallace  kevin spacey  who is all within the f . r . a . t . team joins with ashford to try to bring the corrupt cops to justice .  br    br   you can tell from the beginning that freeman and spacey  s performance are pretty lackluster . the only person that give a all out performance is dylan mcdermott . he is a complete nut case in this movie and made a believer out of me . ll cool j is terrible in this film . he says every line the same way and shows pretty much the same emotion . he was much better in movies like deep blue sea  any given sunday . the film starts off with some nice action but then drags it feet through the rest of the film . the ending is far from satisfying .  br    br   don  t waste your time with this film . i  m putting it on ebay this weekend .  
scott bartlett  s  offon  is nine minutes of pure craziness . it is a full  frontal assault of psychedelic  pulsating  epilepsy  inducing flashing lights and colours  and the first true merging of film and video in avante  garde cinema . there  s no story to speak of  but bartlett uses images of nature  particularly the human face and form  to provoke a sequence of emotional reactions  integrating these biological phenomena into the highly  industrial form of modern technology . in a sense  the film represents the merging of humanity into his tools  his machinery  his technology . this theme connects loosely with the subplot of hal     in stanley kubrick  s       a space odyssey         and  indeed  bartlett  s opening sequence of images  flashing colours before a close  up human eye  recalls dave bowman  s journey through the stargate . the visuals are richly  coloured  a confronting blend of sharp  vivid photography and increasingly  grainy video  as though we  re sitting too close to a television screen as a matter of fact  the end product was recorded from a tv monitor .  br    br   there appears to be some confusion about the film  s release date . imdb lists the film as a     release  but both the national film registry and the national film preservation foundation give     as the correct year . perhaps this disparity reflects the time between the film  s completion and its first public screening . either way  the visuals are distinctly ahead of their time  occasionally reminiscent of a     s music video  and some brisk techno music wouldn  t have gone amiss  either   offon  captures grainy  fragmented images  presenting life from the warped perspective of a computer processing too much information . i had a thought  and please don  t laugh at this free  thinking interpretation  that an extraterrestrial civilisation capturing earth  s television signals might very well receive such a disjointed  alien documentation of human life  a bizarre montage of only vaguely  familiar imagery that couldn  t possibly make any coherent sense . perhaps this is where mankind  with all his technology  is eventually heading  towards an irreversible merging of film and video  of purity and artificiality .  
ok its not the best film i  ve ever seen but at the same time i  ve been able to sit and watch it twice    story line was pretty awful and during the first part of the first short story i wondered what the hell i was watching but at the same time it was so awful i loved it cheap laughs all the way .  br    br   and jebidia deserves an oscar for his role in this movie the only thing that let him down was half way through he stopped his silly name calling .  br    br   overall the film was pretty perfetic but if your after cheap laughs and you see it in pound land go by it .  
i stumbled across this  act  i  by pure dumb luck and this was more than a decade ago . this was  nt even what the cover label on the tape mentioned . it amazed me . it intimidated me . it shocked me . i eventually forgot about and almost a decade later  i happened to think about it again . then went and bought both acts . they were even better than i had experienced at first .  br    br   my only complaint is that while the tank police keep on going on and on about being at war with crime  warranting tanks and heavy artillery  it would seem as though they are really having a hard time with criminals . that is either never shown or is simply a lie as they appear to be taking it easy most of the time . if that bit about being in a state of war was really propaganda  it certainly has not been shown as such .  br    br   i don  t think the original japanese version could have been any where as good as the americanized version of this . but regarding the story  there has certainly been some proper explanations lost in translation but it can be excused .  
usually i support independent art and i try to be very comprehensive and tolerant . . . i tend to support everybody  because their efforts are worth . . .  br    br   but this movie just moves away from all comprehension and tolerance limits   br    br   imagine the following situation  br    br    . think about the really worst horror movie you have ever seen in your life so far .  br    br    . think about some great  attractive art for that movie  s dvd box . . . and a promising plot . . .  br    br    . voil  you got zombie nation .  br    br   see it only if you really don  t have anything else better to do . anything is better .  
dominion tank police is an exercise in contradictive film making . the storyline across the  parts blends mindless action  slap  stick humor  touching humanity and thought provoking philosophical questions . it  s hard to believe that there was only one director  as the style changes from episode to episode . a must  see movie for anyone who likes anime .  
notice i have given this  star if the option been given i would have given this zero . as i put this dvd into my tv and sat down on my couch i was expecting some of the worst film making at its finest . i looked this movie up on imdb and saw that it was the worst rated movie so i guess i came into it critical of every mistake . but it didn  t prepare me for the crap that was about to spew from my television screen .  br    br   the box makes this movie out to look well ok at best . do not let that fool you . this movie needs to be banned from all shelves around the world .  br    br   the best way i can describe this movie is like porn but without any sex scenes in it . the acting  if you can call it that   the  plot   so many holes must look like swiss cheese   and the special effects really are just terrible .  br    br   please do not be like me and rent this movie because you think it will be funny to watch .  br    br   in the end i  m not saying i can make a better movie than this  but i am thinking it .  
i have to start saying it has been a long time since i have seen it  but have seen it  or more times a wonderful little romp that was clearly inspired by the musical  comedy pairings of new or fading stars with musical groups of prominence . kay kyser  s mysteries would be a good example .  br    br   having spike jones unleashed is the best part of the show  as he and his band play many tunes and are a part of the action  doing a fine job of support . hugh o  brien plays the face  buddy hackett the part rumor has it that was offered to lou costello and thus  abbott and costello replacing the leads . don  t know if that was true .  br    br   all in all  a pleasant movie  but important to have that much spike jones and his band on film for history . wish that it was released  as i haven  t seen or heard of it now in two decades . hope it is not lost  
if ever there was a film that deserved a big fat zero rating it  s this pile of crap . i love zombie films and even bad ones usually have something going for them but not this atrocity . i actually began to feel angry watching this film because it  s so insultingly poor  i can  t believe the people responsible for it would actually think this was acceptable .  br    br   there  s no plot and the non  plot is cut with scenes of sadism and spanking . the people don  t react  act or in any way resemble human beings . the entire movie is also shot in two rooms scantily decorated to vaguely resemble the places they are supposed to be . the whole thing is one pointless mess  it doesn  t go anywhere and when the zombies finally turn up they look rubbish and don  t do very much .  br    br   i could make a better film than this  so could you and so could someone who had never seen a movie before . it  s pitiful and without doubt the worst movie of all time .  br    br   honestly  the very worst movie of all time . you  ll note by the way that the only positive reviews give this a      and urge you to buy the dvd . i can  t imagine anyone neutral genuinely thinking this is a good film  it  s terrible .  br    br       and that  s generous .  
i  ve spent years looking for a copy of this film    mm  dvd  vhs   so i could show it to my kids . the movie is funny  and spike and the members of his band show why they were the best musicians in the business . they had to be that good to play that demented . i like it and recommend it for movie lovers of all ages .  br    br   the movie is about a turn of the century firehouse  with a crew of misfits that are firemen and the department band  when not fighting the fires  . there  s the usual running gags  plus the mayhem of spike jones and his orchestra . also  comedy relief provided by comedian buddy hackett and straight  man hugh o  brien .  
this movie had me going . the title was perhaps the greatest idea that i heard . i thought it was an independent movie about a zombie outbreak and their quest to take over the us and a group of lone survivors  band together  and plan to take out the zombies . dead wrong  it  s about a psycho cop with a weakness for killing his female arrests gets what  s coming to him when a pack of zombie women rise from their graves in order to get proper revenge . as you can see there is nothing about the nation nor a county involved . where to begin with the severity this cinematic disaster caused our nation .  br    br   first off  the zombie women look like victoria secret models with dark eyeliner and a pale face . what are zombies but mindless  debatable intelligent  cannibalistic killing machines that eat as a result of their primitive most basic needs  these zombie women walk like streetwalkers and runway models  they talk as if they are in a poor film noir movie and not do they act like real zombies . sure the eating and killing is there  but where is the mindlessness and the horrible disfigurement  although it is a very interesting concept and perhaps a great satire on the zombie genre  it makes fun of that genre and asks the question   why can  t zombies be beautiful vixen killing machines   i would say that this movie would be considered a really bad indie movie that was produced and made by garage junkies . i would not recommend this movie to anybody that loves zombie genres too much  it  s an insult and as for scarynot even .  
the performance by om puri  smita patil  and sadashiv amrapurkar and the whole chemistry comes off nicely  along with the minimalist approach to story telling and direction by govind nihlani . the dialogues by vijay tendulkar is also great .  br    br   i have not seen another movie like this . it is one whole  each piece so nicely fit in the plot . you cannot not be impressed by this movie .  br    br   amrish puri comes off as the bossy husband and  baap  of om puri . om puri is the young man caught between his sense of duty and his inability to fight the system . sadhashiv as rama shetty gives just about the right touch to the movie with his smiling and soft speaking villain . the first meeting of anand velankar with rama shetty  s at sadhashiv  s place is absoulely stunning . smita patil does not play a main role  but her part is also not distracting from the main plot .  br    br   and to add to this all kafi inamdar plays the role of a cop who has come to terms with the system and its workings . saying right things in the right places and knowing how to keep himself away from trouble . he is also the  guru  of om puri and helps him whenever he gets into trouble .  br    br   the movie not only brings to focus the difficulties faced by a police officer trying to do his duty but also the other side of brutalities in police custody . om puri captures hopelessness and the burning desire to break free in this exceptional performance in ardh satya .  br    br   a treat to all avid fans of indian cinema .  
i only watched the first   minutes of this and what i saw was a total piece of crap . the scenes i saw were as bad as an ed wood movie . no  it was a hundred times worse . ed wood has the reputation of being the worst director ever but that  s not true the idiot who directed this junk is the worst director ever .  br    br   the american cop has a german accent  the  police station  was a desk in a warehouse with a sign  police station  hanging on the wall . there is a fist fight where the punches clearly miss by about ten feet .  br    br   this cop pulls women over  cuffs them and leads them to a warehouse . he tells his cop partner to wait in the car . then he comes out of the warehouse carrying a duffel bag . the cop partner thinks maybe something is not right  that his partner might be a bad cop who is murdering these women  but he isn  t sure if that is what  s happening because  he  s a moron  the dialog is totally stupid  the acting is awful  and the characters act in the stupidest manner i have ever seen on screen . it is totally obvious to the cop  s partner that he is illegally abducting these women and he is slapping them and taking them into a warehouse and returning to the car with a duffel bag with a body in it  and yet  the partner  who is there all along  doesn  t know what is happening   br    br   the director of this film is a total hack . i stopped the movie at   minutes because i couldn  t take it anymore . it has to be one of the worst movies i have ever started to watch and i won  t waste anymore time on it writing this review .  br    br   absolutely worthless .  
directed by govind nihalani  this is definite cop film of indian cinema . may be the first one which portrayed the stark reality of corruption in the police force  politics with no holds barred  how it effects on a young cop . a man forced to join a career of a cop by his cop father . agreed that we grew up watching lot of good cop  bad cop hindi films but this is different . today  s generation  which grown up watching dark  realistic films like   satya    company  may be consider it inferior product in comparison but look at the time of its making . the film was made absolutely off beat tone in the time when people didn  t pay much attention to such kind of cinema  yet it becomes a most sought after cop film in class  mass audience when it released . for om puri its first breakthrough in mainstream hindi cinema  he delivered a class performance as inspector velankar . its more than cop character  he internalized a lot which is something original in acting . watch his scenes with his father whom he hates  smita whom he loves . smita patil maintained the dignity of her character to the expected level . my god what a natural expressions she carried    shafi inamdar was truly a discovery for me  he  s a brilliant character actor if given a chance  here in some of the scenes he outsmarted even om . the movie is also a debut of a promising villain on indian screen  sadashiv amrapurkar as  rama shetty  . it  s another story that he didn  t get such a meaty role  almost forgotten today as one of the loud villain of dharmendra  s b grade action films . watch the scene where om  st time becomes a rebel for his father  played by amrish puri   next both are sharing wine together . how inner truth started revealing for both the character with confronting feelings of love  hate for each other . two faces of indian police force  masculinity  impotency and in between lies  half truth  ardh satya  kudos to nihalani  s touch . the film won  national awards as best hindi feature film  best actor  om puri   filmfare awards in best film  best director  best supporting actor categories .  br    br   recommended to all who are interested in nostalgia of serious hindi films .  br    br   ratings       
zombie nation     r  br    br   hey  i was bored . i looked in my comcastic little box to find a movie to watch . zombie nation  hey  i love zombie movies . says the filmmaker has some sort of cult following in the description . funny how it doesn  t warn me not to watch this film . i could  ve used that advice .  br    br   zombie nation is just like troll  in that it  s completely misnamed . it has little  if anything  depending on your point of view  to do with zombies  and takes place all within one city . this film revolves around a crooked cop  who acts as badly as possible  he has to be trying to suck this much   while he arrests women for trivial bullshit and then kills them . yup  he  s a serial killer cop . not only is this film flawed in thinking that it  s a zombie flick  it also gets its serial killer facts completely wrong . serial killers enjoy killing  they live for it and they get down and personal with it . this guy knocks out the women  and injects them with some poison . he doesn  t even have sex with the corpse or dismember it . talk about boring  eventually  one of the whopping five women he kills has voodoo protection done to her and for no apparent reason  all five come back to life and head off to kill this guy . they were all buried or tossed into the ocean  but you wouldn  t know it buy the sharp clean clothes they  re all wearing . the women then act very poorly and take their revenge . oh yay .  br    br   this film was crap in every category . crap acting  crap writing  crappier sets  and crappier make  up effects . the women don  t look zombie  like  unless you count really dark make  up around the eyes to be the de facto definition of what makes a zombie . they can all talk  behave  think  and act perfectly human . the gore is weak compared to even many pg    films and the nudity is beyond brief . you see glimpse of breasts in the opening sequence . . . then the exact same breasts later  go figure . guess only one actress was willing to go topless for this trite . the police station is so badly constructed that you can see where they stopped painting the walls of the warehouse they  re obviously filming in . you can see the pipes and the bad lighting and the overly sparse set  up and even  unless you are blind  you can see the director failing . steer clear  it  s a waste of time .  br    br        
after  aakrosh   this was the second film for govind nihalani as a director . till this movie was made there was no audience for documentaries in india . this movie proved a point that a documentary can fulfil the requirements of a commercial film without diluting its essence . it was one of the successful movies in the year in which it was released . this movie contested against the big banners of the bollywood like  coolie    betaab    hero  in     .  br    br   smithapatel  in this movie acted more like a conscience of the hero whenever he drifted away or lost his composure she was there to remind him . she was not like an usual heroine to do the usual stuff of running around the trees and shrubs . at one time  she even gave up her love when the hero  s ruthlessness touched the roof top .  br    br   there was another character in this movie  which was played by om puri contemporary  naseeruddin shah . he played as an inspector  turned  alcoholic character . the role conveyed the message of the end result of a honest cop who rubbed the wrong side of the system which also gave the viewers a chance to forecast the hero  s ending .  br    br   in his debut film  sadashiv amrapurkar captivated the audience with his cameo role which ultimately won him the best supporting actor by the filmfare . the cop in the movie was not a complete straight forward personality he was able to adjust to the system to an extent . the anger which left half handedly continued in govind nihalani  s other film  drohkaal  . even after two decades  this movie is remembered just because of the director and the entire crew . each one played their part par excellence .  
yeah  i  m sure it really could be a nation . . . if four of them all stood at the four corners of the world and the other two cloned themselves a few billion times . man  i am really glad that i saw this movie on fear . net instead of renting it . i  m a big fan of the george romero movies and i  m pretty sure that if he saw this movie  he  d probably throw up while laughing too hard . i mean  what was with the raccoon girls posing as zombies and walking around like charlie  s devils  it really helped too that the music composer chose the crappy fashion show music for when the zombies walked up to their killer  especially the part where they go into the warehouse posing as the furniture shop  police station  apartment  flat  whatever room it was with the gong in the background  and the live woman was arguing about the closed furniture shop . i couldn  t even tell what nationality the killer was  and the fact that his accent indicated some multiple nations didn  t help either . oh well  what can i expect from a movie where they throw in a random fight scene for no good reason in a warehouse where they apparently ship boxes of air around the world . so  for all of those who worship mystery science theater     or if you just like reaming on bad c movies  c for craptastic   then this is the movie for you . . . or not .  
  ardh satya  is one of the finest film ever made in indian cinema . directed by the great director govind nihalani  this one is the most successful hard hitting parallel cinema which also turned out to be a commercial success . even today  ardh satya is an inspiration for all leading directors of india .  br    br   the film tells the real  life scenario of mumbai police of the   s . unlike any police of other cities in india  mumbai police encompasses a different system altogether . govind nihalani creates a very practical outlay with real life approach of mumbai police environment .  br    br   amongst various police officers  colleagues  the film describes the story of anand velankar  a young hot  blooded cop coming from a poor family . his father is a harsh police constable . anand himself suffers from his father  s ideologies  incidences of his father  s atrocities on his mother . anand  s approach towards immediate action against crime  is an inert craving for his own job satisfaction . the film is here revolved in a plot wherein anand  s constant efforts against crime are trampled by his seniors . this leads to frustrations  as he cannot achieve the desired job  satisfaction . resulting from the frustrations  his anger is expressed in excessive violence in the remand rooms  bars  also turning him to an alcoholic .  br    br   the spirit within him is still alive  as he constantly fights the system . he is aware of the system of the metro  where the police  politicians are a inertly associated by far end . his compromise towards unethical practice is negative . finally he gets suspended .  br    br   the direction is a master piece  thoroughly hard core . one of the best memorable scenes is when anand breaks in the underworld gangster rama shetty  s house to arrest him  followed by short conversation which is fantastic . at many scenes  the film has hair  raising moments .  br    br   the practical approach of script is a major punch . alcoholism  corruption  political influence  courage  deceptions all are integral part of mumbai police even today . those aspects are dealt brilliantly .  br    br   finally  the films belongs to the one man show  om puri portraying anand velankar traversing through all his emotions absolutely brilliantly .  
last weekend i bought this  zombie movie  from the bargain bin and watched it with some friends thinking it was going to be a budget version of  land of the dead  .  br    br   boy  was i wrong .  br    br   it seems as if they spent a good portion of their budget on the cover  art  which is very misleading to fans of the zombie genre .  br    br   we watched up to the point where the zombie chicks come alive and get in the car with some yuppie who is out in the middle of nowhere talking business on a cell  phone . they actually speak to the guy before one of the girls kills him but once they started driving the car  i couldn  t suspend my disbelief anymore .  br    br   some people actually consider this a  so bad  it  s good  movie  they are liars . i didn  t finish the movie  but one of the other reviews mention that they actually somehow become police officers at the end of the movie  which makes me glad to not have watched it all the way through .  br    br   this is even worse than  zombiez  do not watch   
an absolute classic   the direction is flawless  the acting is just superb . words fall short for this great work . the most definitive movie on mumbai police . this movie has stood the test of times .  br    br   om puri gives a stellar performance  smita patil no less . all the actors have done their best and the movie races on thrilling you at every moment . this movie shakes your whole being badly and forces you to rethink about many issues that confront our society .  br    br   this is the story of a cop  om puri  who starts out in his career as a honest man but ultimately degenerates into a killer . the first attempt in bollywood to get behind the scenes and expose the depressing truth about mumbai cops . kudos to nihalani    br    br   after this movie a slew of bollywood movies got released that exposed the criminal  politician  police nexus . thus this movie was truly a trend setter . this trend dominated the hindi movie scene for more than a decade .  br    br   this movie was a moderate box office hit .  br    br   a must  see for discerning movie fans .  
german filmmaker ulli lommel has managed a task many horror fans thought was impossible he  s unseated fellow teuton uwe boll for the crown of director of the worst horror film ever made .  br    br   lommel is truly the ed wood of the new millennium . this film is as shoddy and laughable as the best  worst of ew . i am both proud and embarrassed to say that i watched it in toto  morbidly fascinated to see just low the bar could be set . the answer is subterranean lommel dug a pit and buried it .  br    br   the fun begins with the cast of international nobodies . only someone who has lived in los angeles  where every auto mechanic  doctor and mailman is an actor or screenwriter waiting to be discovered  could easily understand how lommel managed to find so many wannabe actors willing to spew his ridiculous dialog with a straight face .  br    br   the main character  a villainous beat cop  is played by a german actor with a thick german accent . aside from being a serial killer  he is also the oldest beat cop in la . despite the fact that he stops innocent women drivers and takes them into custody  then drags them into his home  which inexplicably is the top floor of a furniture warehouse   and does all this in plain sight of his rookie partners  the lapd refuses to investigate  going so far as to physically attack one of his accusers in a ninja style raid on his apartment .  br    br   the sets are excruciatingly bad . the production designer  s budget apparently included just enough money for a can of paint enough to paint  precinct     on a cardboard wall .  br    br   since the actors were obviously unpaid non  professionals   a sad assortment of european emigres  possibly deportees if they acted in their native lands   bimbos  mimbos  and desperate middle  aged women   and since little if any money was spent on sets  special efx  locations or other production value  it is only fair to mention that they did spring for a few genuine  looking police uniforms . sadly  they couldn  t afford a police car the uniformed cops cruise the streets in a shiny new mercury rental .  br    br   more than half of the story focuses on the dirty deeds of our deranged german lapd officer and the futile efforts of two young rookies to stop him . one of these young actors is especially pitiable because he  s the only actor in this whole mess with even a vague shot at a real career in the movies . the other fits right in  with a rockabilly hairdo and tortured brando posing that needs to be seen to be appreciated .  br    br   the latter part of the film is where the title gets its zombie  as the victims of our killer are resurrected after he murders a girl who had just visited some voodoo priestesses to have a protective spell put on her . don  t ask why a girl from romania would resort to voodooism in anticipation of being murdered  just accept lommel  s logic and enjoy the absurd ride .  br    br   after much prolonged hand  clawing out of straw  covered roadside graves  the zombie girls manage to make their appearance . they look exactly as they did before death  maybe even prettier  with black glamor make  up generously airbrushed around their eyes . looking nothing like zombies  they look more like high fashion models ready for the runway .  br    br   at this point in the movie lommel borrows a creative note from his lauded countryman boll  and injects large doses of cheesy euro  trash techno into the soundtrack . we  re talking prehistoric electronic bumblebee noise . stuff they might have played in an ibiza disco when lommel was still young enough to shake his booty .  br    br   unlike other zombies  lommel  s girls speak and function as normal . . . er  i mean  as they did before becoming zombified . this gives our auteur ample opportunities to shower us with more of his golden dialog . yes  a golden shower it is .  br    br   i won  t spoil anything by revealing the shock ending . all i can say is it  s perfectly in tune with the rest of this masterpiece . the spirit of ed wood lives on . . . or should i say his geist .  
govind nihalani  s directorial venture of vijay tendulkar  s novel is brilliant . om puri plays an inspector velankar who is forced to protect underworld don rama shetty  played brilliantly by sadahiv amrapurkar . this is govind nihlan  s most talked about movie . this is a very good and a classic film . smita patil plays the female lead opposite om puri . naseeruddin shah is brilliant in a cameo role . although sadashiv amrapurkar has only  scenes in the movie he dominates the movie . this was sadashiv amrapurkars acting debut . om puri won a national award for this film for the best actor . filmfare award winner for best film  story  supporting actor  sadashiv amrapurkar  .  
btk killer  green river killer  zodiac killer the man keeps putting out absolute garbage and the ironic thing is  he loves his crap .  br    br   i  ve never seen a ulli lommel film but i was so amazed on how everyone thinks his stuff is so awful . like the movies i said in the beginning don  t even equal a six when added together  after reading the comments i was curious to see how bad this guy really is . he is the worst out there .  br    br   the credits wouldn  t end as the pathetic movie started and quickly i noticed that the audio was incredibly badly dubbed in . the acting was incredibly awful and same to the camera shots . the editing is easily the worst . this movie made no sense and i unbearably couldn  t take it anymore as it wouldn  t end and i was only   minutes in the movie . i couldn  t take it anymore . i wasted   minutes of my life .  br    br   do not watch this crap   
i love this show   br    br   every time i watch an episode i repeat that line and remind myself how good of a show this is . i am a huge sci  fi fan and this show has grounds to be the most important science  fiction   show in the history of film  tv . there are so many theories in this show about the universe i could start a religion . its amazing  season after season the show gets better and better .  br    br   i  ve been a fan of macgyver since i was     now  and i find it so ironic that my  favorite tv shows of all time star richard dean anderson . its also interesting how each character is practically the opposite of the other .  br    br   back when i first saw stargate the movie  i instantly liked it and considered it one of my favorite sci  fi flicks  then hearing a tv show would spin from it i got really excited  but didn  t get showtime till the fifth season was almost over .  br    br   though  i  m disappointed to hear that roland emmerich and dean devlin wanted to do a trilogy of movies but the studio optioned the series instead .  br    br   id say though that it turned out just fine . maybe even better .  br    br   this show is amazing  and i hope it never dies . atlantis here we come   
i rented this movie last week . i saw kevin spacey and morgan freeman were on it  so it seemed promising . and it was  until justin timberlake came on scene . he is a really bad actor and shouldn  t be allowed to make a movie ever again . i mean  he is one of the most boring  uninspired actors i  ve ever seen . he puts absolutely no emotion to any of his lines whatsoever . why the hell was he cast for the role of josh pollack  i think matt damon would have been a better choice .  br    br   kevin spacey was another big disappointment . his character is so dull  it seems like a bad mix of his character in american beauty and john doe in se  en . it might sound cool  but believe me  it  s not .  br    br   now  dylan mcdermott  s acting is very good . it  s about one of the very few good things about this movie . he is just inspired .  br    br   morgan freeman is good but nothing special . he has some really cool lines though .  br    br   about the story  although it was a bit obvious and exaggerated at times it was good . i was expecting a big twist when lazerov  dylan mcdermott  was killed  but nothing really happened .  
any story comprises a premise  characters and conflict . characters plotting their own play promises triumph  and a militant character readily lends oneself to this . ardh satya  s premise is summarized by the poem of the same name scripted by dilip chitre . the line goes   ek palde mein napunsaktha  doosre palde mein paurush  aur teek tarazu ke kaante par  ardh satya   . a rough translation   the delicate balance of right  wrong  commonly seen on the busts of blind justice in the courts  has powerlessness on one plate and prowess on another . is the needle on the center a half  truth    br    br   the poem is recited midway in the film by smita patil to om puri at a resturant . it makes a deep impact on the protagonist  lays the foundation for much of the later events that follow . at the end of the film  om puri ends up in exactly the same situation described so aptly in the poem .  br    br   the film tries mighty hard to do a one  up on the poem . however  chitre  s words are too powerful  and at best  the film matches up to the poem in every aspect .  br    br    
this movie was by far the worst movie that i have ever seen in my entire life . i  m not even kidding . it was poorly made and the actors couldn  t act . it was a waste of my time and money . it looked like a movie that my friends and i could have put together on our own . the case the movie came in is definitely a disguise . nothing in the movie looks like the zombie on the front of the case . it appears that the director or make  up artist has just put black eye liner under someones eyes an called them a zombie . the credits at the beginning of the movie take up almost   minutes of the movie . which watching the credits was the best part of the movie . this was honestly an awful movie and i couldn  t believe how badly it was put together . scenes jumped from one thing to the other and sometimes u were like  whats going on   the audio was awful and the action shots looked like a couple of teen  s joking around making a fake fight scene .  br    br   if you are considering renting or buying this movie i would advise you to at least watch the trailer for it because it show  s how awful it truly is . i wish i would have watched it before i rented it .  
the haunted world of edward d . wood  jr . isn  t a particularly good documentary . aesthetically  it  s lackluster and cheap looking  the people in it go off on tangents which make it very unfocused and in  cohesive  but this adds to it  s charm . i say this because it  s a documentary about an oddball that made oddball pictures and surrounded himself with fellow oddballs and  as such  there  s really no other way to document the life and career of the man and his crew of misfits . there are some glimpses of insight into both the genius and the ineptness of wood  and the portrayal of both qualities is a credit to the genuineness of the documentary . overall  it  s worth a watch for the wood fan and those of cinema in general  but don  t expect brilliance here . expect a documentary made after wood  s own heart .  
horrible acting  bad story line  cheesy makeup  and this is just the tip of the iceberg . i have never seen a worse movie in my life   minutes in i decided to fast forward to see if anything redeeming would happen . . . it didn  t .  aside from a nice breast shot  the movie apparently was filmed in some furniture warehouse  and the same warehouse was used for at least    of the sets . you even see this same red chair in several different  locations  if you are going to make a film at least rent an office building and an apartment  not some warehouse which will echo all your actor  s dialog . .  note to producers  renting a small office space and an apartment for a month is much cheaper than an entire warehouse  and both are quite a bit more versatile and believable  if you spend your money to rent this people i hope you got it with a return guarantee . . . you will be demanding your money back . . . i only spent   .   to rent this tonight and i feel ripped off .  
i originally caught this back in     in its one week run at a movie theatre . i was under impressed by it and my feelings haven  t much changed .  br    br   documentary about the infamous edward d . wood jr . covering his life and movies . there are interviews with people who worked with him or knew him . they include vampira  dolores fuller  bela lugosi jr .  loretta king  gregory walcott and paul marco . interviews are mixed with clips from the movies or some bizarre recreations . it is interesting  somewhat  but was this really needed  i  ve seen all of wood  s films and they  re just terrible . wood had ambitions but not a bit of talent to carry them out . i wouldn  t say he was the worst director ever but he  s down there . do we really need a docu on a very mediocre film maker  i do like the fact that they didn  t try to make wood out to be some sort of saint . more than a few of those interviewed  especially lugosi jr .  pretty much hated the man and it comes through loud and clear . also they totally ignore his films in the adult film industry in the     s and   s . still it  s of interest if you  re a wood fan . the best interviews are with vampira  who tears wood apart  and dolores fuller  a long time girlfriend  .  
every year i watch hundreds of films  including many low budget amateurish straight  to  dvd abominations that nobody in their right mind would ever want to see . i have seen thousands of films in my time  many excellent  many forgettable . zombie nation i will remember forever as one of the most hopelessly laughable  horror  films i have ever seen  in fact i still haven  t recovered from the experience of watching it .  br    br   the day after  it seems like some kind of weird dream . did i really see what i thought i saw  why do the police work out of a warehouse  did the voodoo priestesses really recommend that the  zombies  eat cheeseburgers  is it safe  is it safe  is it safe   br    br   i wouldn  t recommend zombie nation if you want to see a  good  film  and neither would i recommend it as  so bad its good  . however  if you are entertained by the prospect of watching probably the most indefensibly abysmal film ever  this is for you . now  whenever anyone asks me what the worst film i have ever seen is  i will say zombie nation .  br    br   seriously  i think it  s a greater crime to make a boring film than a bad one  and ulli lommel deserves credit for producing a film that actually stuns you with its ineptitude . he really is the ed wood jr . of the digital age  and i for one can  t wait to see if he makes another film as consistently ridiculous as this one .  
i loved this film . not being a swooning ed wood jr . fan  i prefer to appreciate his  boundless enthusiasm  and acknowledge his shortcomings . his movies are fun  but his personal story is one racked with pain . i hoped  and was delighted to find  that this film would be about understanding his turbulent life  rather than simply heaping him with posthumous praise . from beginning to end  this film evolves from a documentary into a mythology  leaving the cast and the viewer unexpectedly connected to each other and to ed wood jr .  br    br   what we get are people who knew ed wood the best talking about him from all perspectives  positive and negative  and showing us their character as much as ed  s . we get insight into ed  s personal and professional life from his romances  to his drinking  to his sexuality  to his friends  to his enemies  and even to his film making .  br    br   the film itself is shot in a low  budget way that seems done out of respect for ed  as if using the techniques of most theatrically released movies from     would be disrespectful  sort of like wearing a nicer suit than the president  . the set designer uses a sense of humor and also a great deal of insight when matching each cast member with their background .  br    br   fans will be excited to hear personal testimony regarding ed wood controversies  and new comers will be amazed that this man was real . the dvd is full of impossible to find gems   crossroads of lorado  and photo galleries   but the real treasure of this film is the surprisingly engaging and interconnected story .  br    br   ed wood had a habit of defining people through their association with him  for better or worse   to the point where one woman will go down in history as  swimming pool owner  for once letting him and his friends be baptized in her pool . this ability to define a person  s legacy comes through universally  as the most amazing effect of the film is to not only give a well rounded idea of the man that was ed wood jr .  but also to give a comprehensive view of the community that he created . somehow  without ever having more that one cast member being interviewed on screen at a time  the connection that ed wood created amongst the various people in his life becomes clear  and the viewer is left with great sense of involvement .  br    br   even the title hints at the b  list horror genre  but by the end  we see that even this is a kindness . what begins as unrelated stories by random people ends with the conclusion that all of the cast will be forever weaved into an unpredictably cohesive fabric that history will bring into haunting unity with wood  s legend .  br    br   in many ways a living contradiction  ed wood jr . could not be condensed to a single viewpoint . this collaborative effort is the closest to knowing him that we can ever get . being itself a juxtaposition of themes  it is at once respectful  provocative  thoughtful  gripping  fun  sad  kind  and fulfilling .  
i  ve discovered that this film gets rented based off of the packaging . the zombie on the front of the dvd looks cool and scary . then you get to the movie and it  s women with raccoon masks on . zero special effects . . . and even the fight scenes you can see them miss punches by  feet . the funny thing is that lommel acts in the movie briefly himself and is worse than the rest of the crap actors in the movie . the only thing i can think is that lommel is just trying to make such a bad film that people dub it a  cult classic  . . . however  i can  t possibly imagine anyone thinking this is anything but one of the worst movies ever made . the real horror in this film is how bad it is . i  m embarrassed i rented it and vow never to see another lommel film again   
  the haunted world of edward d . wood  jr .  is the definitive documentary on the life of the man who brought us such movies as  glen or glenda    bride of the monster   and  of course   plan  from outer space  . this exquisite film far exceeds where other documentaries  such as  look back in angora  and  the plan  companion   failed . it rounds up his surviving entourage  many of whom have passed away since filming  and gives an honest examination of ed wood and his work . nostalgic in the fact that it looks back at the darker corner of yesteryear hollywood  sentimental in its treatment of the director  down to the haunting music   this documentary is an absolute must  see for anyone who loves the director who so failed in his day . the entire two hours of the film lovingly and retrospectively pieces together ed  s life and untimely death for the viewer . best watched at  am while wearing an angora sweater .  
this is one of the worst films ever . i like cheesy movies but this is simply awful . where are the images in the film that are on the box  i think more money was spent on the dvd box illustrations than on the entire film .  br    br   why would a company release a dvd that the cover is so misleading  i feel like such an idiot for renting this movie based strictly on the box . as much as i explore imdb i should have done a little research and made a list prior to visiting my local video rental store . i have no one to blame except myself . i want my money and time back .  br    br   do not watch this movie .  br    br   even if curiosity is motivating you  stick cocktail umbrellas in your eyes instead . it will be much more enjoyable . you have been warned   
this film deals with the atrocity in derry   years ago which is commonly known as bloody sunday .  br    br   the film is well researched  acted and directed . it is as close to the truth as we will get until the outcome of the saville enquiry . the film puts the atrocity into context of the time . it also shows the savagery of the soldiers on the day of the atrocity . the disgraceful white  wash that was the widgery tribunal is also dealt with .  br    br   overall  this is an excellent drama which is moving and shocking . when the saville report comes out  watch this film again to see how close to the truth it is .  
i have made it my personal mission to go after those responsible for this film . i even got the rental company to give me my money back because i argued that they perpetrated false advertising .  br    br   it  s not enough that the movie itself is a p . o . s .  but the cover art is what sold me . i  ve done better make  up effects on my children at halloween than what the movie actually depicts versus the cover art . can you say  raccoon eyes    br    br   i  m not going to waste more of my time by going into the full details  but come on  the movie  s main character is an l . a . cop who was born and raised in alabama  but has a german accent    it  s beyond insulting .  
an excellent and accurate film . . . mcgovern takes great pains to research and document his writing and it pays off . he is not afraid to tell the truth  even though it might draw unfavourable reviews and comments from some who like stories to be clean and sweet and glossy .  br    br   once again  mcgovern brings in christopher eccleston  though not in as high a profile a role as he played in hillsborough . i found this movie as accurate  well acted and well presented as hillsborough and i applaud mcgovern for his poignant unapologetic writing . well done and my hat is off to the writer  the actors  the production crew . a great film   
i honestly want the last   minuets of my life back .  br    br   the only person that is fit to watch this movie is helen keller i kept saying to myself this has to get better this has to get better .  br    br   then the zombies finally showed up and they had some raccoon paint on there eyes .  br    br   they talked like regular people .  br    br   one drove a car .  br    br   some voodoo woman asked what one of the  zombies  wanted and the  zombie  said  i want to dance   br    br    that was it  out came the movie i couldn  t take it any longer can i sue for a  hour of my life       
the story of a drifter  his sheep ranch boss  and the boss  s daughter is not for all tastes  but it  s still very intriguing . it takes place in the beautiful country of new zealand  amongst the scenery we  ve come to know so well through other films from this region .  br    br   this movie was the first time i had ever seen the excellent mary regan  and i  ve been a fan of hers ever since . the cast also contains bruno lawrence  who is probably best remembered by american audiences from the film  smash palace  . terence cooper takes a turn as the ranch owner who pays a little too much of the wrong sort of attention to his daughter  regan  .  br    br   sharply acted  with unforgettably shattering performances from all of its leads . i first saw this movie in extremely edited form on late night television here in america  but believe you me  the unexpurgated version is not to be missed .  
wow . i went to the video store tonight because i was in the mood for a bad b horror movie and i found this gem . i looked at the cover and i thought it looked like just the movie for my mood . i brought it home and put it on .  br    br   this movie was not the b horror movie that i had in mind . this was much worse . i wanted a bad movie but what i got  i didn  t know that crap like this existed amongst man . this movie seemed like a  year old wrote and directed it and that is being nice about it .  br    br   i am an aspiring director and this movie made me so mad that someone out there is actually paying this guy to direct movies . he needs to work at a garbage dump shoveling crap where he belongs .  br    br   if you are thinking about renting this or buying it . i will tell you the same thing that i would tell someone getting ready to commit suicide .  don  t do it  it  s not worth it   i really have nothing nice to say about this movie . don  t do it   
i really like miikes movies about yakuza  this one i saw about  years ago and it really fued my head . never before seen such a sick and twisted thing . the story is good and the actors do their thing very well . i haven  t seen the uk or japan version  but i have to say that i believe that the german dvd is a bit censored . if you haven  t seen the movie already and live in germany maybe you better look out for a dvd from the nederlands or austria . the i  on dvd contains a lot of very hard and nasty scenes  but at the showdown i felt that something was missing  about one or two very short scenes .  br    br   all in all a good perverted movie with crazy characters and a high level of violence  that  s what i like miike for    
acclaimed director mervyn leroy puts drama on film that competes with the best of soap operas . high drama is found in the loves and infidelities in new york  s social set . oh yes  don  t forget jealousy can bring about tainted hearts and murder . the all star cast features barbara stanwyck  van heflin  james mason  ava gardner  cyd charisse and nancy davis .  
anyone new to the incredibly prolific takashi miike  s work might want to think twice about making this startling film their first experience of this truly maverick director . in keeping with miike  s working practice of taking any work that comes his way and then grafting his own sensibilities onto the script  this is at heart a fairly basic yakuza thriller  with a morally ambiguous cop chasing a gang which his lawyer brother has fallen in with . what takes the movie out of the realms of the same  old same  old however  is the utterly unflinching attitude so some of the most sudden and horrific violence seen in today  s cinema . and this isn  t that nice cool  clean violence so beloved of us cinema  this stuff is nasty  painful and hurts  that said  the pace is breakneck  the characters are unusual without being just being burdened with stock eccentricities  miike  s sense of humour reveals itself and the most unexpected moments  and his camera is never quite where you expect it to be  making it hard to look away from the screen  whatever he might be showing you  it doesn  t have the  ohmigod  ending of  dead or alive   but if you  re not squeamish  now  s the time to get on board the miike bandwagon before he ends up on some hollywood studio  s  new john woo  shopping list . . .  
the animation in this re  imagining of peter  the wolf is excellent  but at   minutes  the film is sleep inducing . they should have called it  peter  the snails   because everything moves at a snail  s pace . i couldn  t even watch the film in one sitting  i had to watch it   minutes at a time  and it was pure torture .  br    br   save yourself   minutes  do not watch this film  and you will thank me .  br    br   i can only guess that the oscar nominating committee only watched the first few minutes of the nominees . unfortunately  to vote for the winner in the best animated short  short   category  the voters will have to sit through the whole thing . i already feel sorry for them  and must predict that there  s no way this film will come close to winning .  
i love jack  s jokes like  the clich is . . .  or  over the top clich guy  black  oily skin  kinda spooky . . .  . he is just hilarious  daniel  s starting to catch up on him to  good thing jack  s not on the team anymore  in a way  or else it would have been sarcasm mania     i just love all the plots  season   a little less  i have to admit   the characters are great  the actors are great  i  m starting to pick up facial expressions  and more  from jack  daniel and teal  c . . . it just all theoretically possible and exciting . . . oops  their i go again    sorry  i  m also starting to pick up traits from carter  and all of this is driving my parents nutz        well  to conclude  i think it  s good for another three seasons or so  especially if they keep on packing the episodes with all this humor  drama  action and so forth                  
ll cool j . morgan freeman . dylan mcdermott . kevin spacey . john heard . cary elwes . roslyn sanchez . justin timberlake   wait a minute . justin timberlake  and he  s the star  i should have known better than to rent edison force . in fact  i did know better . but in a moment of absolute weakness  i rented this stv . when you have big names like freeman and spacey in an stv  you know it  s one of two things an indie or a dog . as in sat  on  a  shelf . which this did . and with good reason . the plot as such involves a squad of corrupt killer cops a la magnum force  and  journalist  timberlake is the only one brave enough to uncover them . he is targeted for his efforts   or maybe i should say for his horrible acting . i turned it off after one of the bad guys was shot through the forehead and still had the forethought to turn to his shooter and smile before collapsing . just awful . the real tipoff to how bad this flick is to see freeman on the cover and throughout the movie sporting an unruly beard  looking like nothing so much as a hobo . you just know the director was not in control . freeman is clearly slumming .  
the movie starts something like a less hyper  kinetic  more pastiche dead or alive strange underground activities are done while bodies are discovered by police officers . but when a police officer is killed  one tatsuhito gets involved . . . and when he discovers that his brother shihito is also involved  things get bloody quite fast .  br    br   an earlier work of miike  s  shinjuku triad society is still filled with his usual in the ol  ultraviolence and sadistic sex acts  though it  s not one of his more eclectic or flamboyant pieces . rather  it  s a pretty well crafted bit of pulp fiction  as tatsuhito digs his way through the underground  a maze that leads him to a gay triad leader who sells illegally gained body organs from taiwan and keeps an almost  brothel of young boys  one in particular the character who kills the cop at the beginning  . tatsuhito  s brother is getting involved with said society  so tatsuhito himself is forced to become a dirty cop and use similarly violent and sadistic tactics to penetrate into this sordid realm .  br    br   what  s mainly interesting about this little bit of work is the relationship tatsuhito has with his nemesis  wang . tatsuhito is a japanese born in china  later moved back into japan  and alienated for it . wang is a chinese who felt alienated in china  so killed his father and developed a crime wing in japan . wang also is a surprisingly shakespearian character  which is weird enough as it is  much less that you actually begin to feel sorry for him by the time his ultimate showdown with tatsuhito comes to be . and tatsuhito himself is a similarly tragic figure when he  s forced to contend with his lack of ability to control his brother . while it would be rude to state that miike  s movies are successful mostly on their shock value  it is true that sometimes it  s easy to lose track of how well miike can create bitter  dis  impassioned characters .  br    br     polarisdib  
this hitchcock movie bears little similarity to his later suspense films and seems much more like a very old fashioned morality tale . a young couple receives an inheritance that they believe will make them happy . they spend the money traveling about the world and living a very hedonistic existence . however  after a while the excitement begins to wane and the couple become dissipated and pointless in their existence . however  out of no where  when they are on a luxury cruise  the ship sinks and they lose everything   and end up much happier in the end because they now appreciate life  what an odd  silly and preachy film  personally  i  d like to inherit all that money and find out if it makes me miserable   br    br   the production values are relatively poor compared to later productions   a rough film with poor sound quality and rather amateurish acting .  
while not as wild and way out as some of takashi miike  s later films this is a very good crime drama .  br    br   the basic story is the story of a cop of japanese cop with chinese parents trying to take down an up and coming chinese mobster . complicating things is that his younger brother is acting as the lawyer for the villain and his gang . the film is actually much more complicated than that with several complications which both keep things interesting and distract things from the central narrative thrust . its this complication and loss of way about an hour into the film that makes this less than a great film .  it is a very very good one  this is definitely worth seeing especially if you don  t mind a no frantic pace .  br    br   a word of warning  the violence when it happens is explosive and nasty . there are also semi  graphic depictions of gay sex . if thats not your cup of tea  proceed with caution .  br    br    or  out of   .  
bored londoners henry kendall and joan barry  as fred and emily hill  receive an advance on an inheritance . they use the money go traveling . their lives become more exciting as they begin relationships with exotic betty amann  for mr . kendall  and lonely percy marmont  for ms . barry  . but  they remain as boring as they were before . arguably bored director alfred hitchcock tries to liven up the well  titled  as quoted in the film  from shakespeare  s  the tempest    rich and strange  by ordering up some camera trickery . an opening homage to king vidor  s  the crowd  is the highlight . the low point may be the couple dining on chinese prepared cat .  br    br    rich and strange           alfred hitchcock  henry kendall  joan barry  percy marmont  elsie randolph  
i found this a bit hard to follow to the extent that it seemed to dip in the middle while i tried to make head or tail of who was fighting who and why . one of the problems is the cultural  language one . here we have a chinese  taiwanese  japanese problem of which we know little and because we are simply reading english subtitles inevitably loose some of the subtleties . another problem is that there seem to be just too many only half explained twists and coincidences . nevertheless  it seems unlikely that there is a wholly bad miiki film and this certainly is not that . plenty of stylish and bone crunching violence  a window upon some less than orthodox sexual goings on plus the family aspect . all in all a decent ride but maybe checking out the storyline might actually be helpful before watching this one .  
yet another early film from alfred hitchcock which seems to have been done out of contractual obligation . as with juno and the paycock  you can tell that hitchcock had little interest in this movie . there is almost no style or craft to it at all . the story revolves around fred and emily  a young married couple  who come into some money and go on a cruise which proves to be a test of their marriage . emily is given a chance at a new life with a good hearted  wealthy man who falls in love with her  but chooses to take the high road and stay with her husband . this might seem more believable if fred weren  t made out to be a completely insensitive  pompous ass who jumps at the first opportunity he sees to leave his wife for another woman . the couple ends up staying together  but the movie lacks any real reconciliation scene . the third act goes in a completely different direction  with the couple stranded on an abandoned ship and rescued by an asian fishing boat . joan barry does give a very stirring performance as the faithful wife of an unfaithful husband . that  s about all you can say for this one .  
shinjuku triad society chinese mafia wars is unlikely to get distribution in the west outside film festivals . why  could your censors stomach a film where policemen anally rape male and female suspects to get them to talk  and the victims enjoy it  or see an old lady have her eye torn out of her skull  these are just a few of the shocks in store for viewers of this ultraviolent cops and gangsters story . it makes clockwork orange which was banned for years in the uk look like a disney cartoon .  br    br   should you see this film  yes it is fantastic and essential viewing for fans of asian cinema . the shocking moments are there to illustrate what goers on in the world of these characters . if you like this make sure you catch dead or alive which is very similar  barring the insane ending in doa of course  . great for japan that they have a talent like miike working at the same time as takeshi kitano . the best chance of seeing this film outside a takashi miike retrospective at a film festival is on dvd . if i haven  t put you off try hunting for a hong kong version on the web as i  m sure it will come out in that country .  
i imagine when hitchcock scholars and experts find themselves together  the talk is not of the master  s great films like  north by northwest  or  strangers on a train   but a lesser  known effort like this one from      obscure and seriously flawed  which showcases the great director in fledgling form .  br    br   emily and fred hill  joan barry and harry kendall  are a middle  class london couple scrimping to stay ahead . he begrudges their lot she accepts it . change comes in the form of a letter from an uncle  saying he will set them up so they can enjoy a life of globetrotting luxury . they make plans for a world cruise . but their problems have only begun .  br    br   just ask richard hannay  roger o . thornhill  or marion crane . well  marion  s indisposed at the moment  but you get the idea . travel and hitchcock go together like moths and candlelight  setting one up for a perilous journey at best . this is perhaps hitchcock  s earliest foray into this theme  and not his most successful or memorable . hitchcock tries to mix comedy with another element  in this case domestic drama rather than suspense  but the two do not cohere  at least not here .  br    br   the hills are a dull  flat couple  with no chemistry or personality . when they find themselves at the folies bergre  in the form of cross  cutting with footage that looks ten years older than the rest of this film  they are abashed at the outfits of the female performers .  the curtain  s gone up too soon   gasps emily .  they aren  t dressed .   br    br   when the hills drift away from each other on an ocean cruise  it seems a mercy killing more than a tragic thing  even if the people they partner off with are drips  too . emily  s man  gordon  percy marmont  carries around photographs of himself sitting next to empty chairs  which he suggests be filled by emily . fred  s girl  the princess   betty amann  has clara bow  s eyes and wallace beery  s five o  clock shadow . there  s also an obnoxious fellow passenger  a dowdy spinster whom hitchcock always introduces with a cartoonish horn cue . subtlety was still to come .  br    br   everything is shot in an abrupt manner  with confusing blocking and strained dialogue . hitchcock tries for some early comedy with fred and his umbrella that doesn  t come off  and kendall seems to aim for laughs while berry plays for tears . when fred and emily break off  they are seen being jostled on a pair of wedged  together rickshaws  one of many clunky attempts at symbolism .  br    br   emily  s the only vaguely sympathetic character  in part because she really cares about her husband and agonizes over her affair with gordon  but mostly because she  s among the first of hitchcock  s many magnetic blondes  her platinum ringlets whipping around her face like a botticelli aboard the open deck of a chinese junk near the film  s conclusion .  br    br   matters conclude with a dangerous situation as set  piece for the protagonists to come to grips with  and presumably repair their relationship . only they aren  t active participants in the resolution  and except for the fate of a friendly cat  nothing about the ending resonates .  br    br   at least you get some enjoyable views of london in the early     s  and a chance to see hitchcock when he was still working for food .  rich and strange  is hitchcock paying his dues  and learning his trade  one for scholars but not casual film goers .  
shinjuku triad society  albeit from perfect  is a fiercely compelling film for what it tries to depict in its uber  conventional realm . it  s a yakuza  triad picture  involving cops versus japanese   or chinese gangsters  mostly chinese  as the title suggests   but already even in his first technical  debut   takashi miike is already establishing many aspects to films that he would make from here  on in . social issues like black market trading of precious goods  in this case human organs usually from children nostalgia for childhood and one  s roots  which was especially prevalent in dead or alive   thumbing  of  the  nose at taboos like gay sex and  satirical  rape  violence towards women blood  curdling violence . it  s certainly not as surreal as some of miike  s most recent films  but this is expected as he  s trying out things that he  s just starting to learn  following a track record of straight to video programmers . it  s got all of those qualities  and it  s also  like the films that would follow from it  equally savage and heartfelt  crazy  in spots  and sardonic in its drama  and solid for genre fans .  br    br   the story concerns two brothers  one a chinese orphan raised in japan  tatsuhito kiriya  kippei shiina  pretty decent as a eastwood  esquire anti  hero  hero   who  s become a detective  and another  who  s become a gangster  or a would  be one . the main arch likely takeover gang comes from wang  a definite pun on what the gang represents during its spare  time  played by tomorowo taguchi as a typical wacko with real terror in his eyes   and his partner karino  takeshi caesar  who  s threatening even when just repeating a commandment over and over to a woman who  s just had her eye plugged out following a sour deal   who are the ruthless kind to pop up almost organically in a miike movie . there  s some intrigue involving the organ  trading scheme with the gangsters  which kiriya almost becomes a victim of  and the gang  s penchant for gay sex  at least with one little puppet of sorts who does whatever the main gangsters want . it all leads up to vengeance and redemption  qualities that miike and his writer are trying to emulate from shakespeare  hence the macbeth bit with wang washing his bloody hangs over and over after some gay sex saying  it won  t come off   .  br    br   if it doesn  t add up to the same emotional level of impact that a great shakespeare play would have  it  s par for the course of a film like this . miike  s goals are met  though just met  in his low  scale ambitions a gangster picture with some added levels of harsh familial trouble  the main tension between the brothers comes out of profession and duty to parents   notes on the crueler aspects of underworld crime  and what the realm of unrepentant sex  with both sexes  brings out psychologically in the characters . at the same time  shinjuku triad society also contains more than a few moments of classic biting black  comedy from the miike oeuvre . some of it just has to be taken with a grain of salt for what the director does in his outrageousness  like the bit at the beginning with the chair smashing over the face  or the randomness of the  interrogation  as it goes into a very twisted area . there  s even a laugh  out  loud line from the young sex  slave after finishing an act on one of the bosses  thank you  mr . weeny  burger .  miike and his writer don  t have enough here to make the film a full  on dark comedy like ichi or  of course  visitor q  but there  s enough to bring some appropriate levity to the darker aspects to the story and characters .  br    br   as the first entry of the  black society  trilogy  as it  s called  i was quite impressed  and it  s a fine quasi  calling card from one of the craziest new artists in contemporary cinema .  
there is no suspense in this serial  when one episode ends the acting is so shoddy  the effects are so poor and the script is so awful that the last thing on your mind is how batman and robin will save the day . no  in fact  the last thing on your mind is watching the next episode  this show is so boring that i can  t see how it ever got made  let alone released on dvd  obviously the effects are not up to par with contemporary batman films  but even the script is awful . an incoherent babbling mess about some evil professor and a ray gun or something like that  i am not quite sure  because it is too awful to follow . watch the   s version  or the    s versions  or even batman begins  just anything over this version   
this movie is the first of miikes triad society trilogy  and the trilogy kicks of to a great start . the movies in the trilogy are only connected thematically  and these themes are actually apparent in all his films  if you look close enough . shinjuku triad society is about a cop trying to prevent his kid brother from getting too involved with a rather extreme gang of outsiders  struggling their way to the top of tokyos yakuza . the kid brother is a lawyer  and the triad gang is becoming increasingly in need of one  as the movie progresses . the movie takes place in a very harsh environment  and is therefore pretty violent and tough . miike has done worse  but since this is a serious movie it hits you very hard . as usual there is also a lot of perverted sex  mostly homosexual in this one . the movie is in many ways a typical gangster movie  but with a great drive and true grittiness . if you  ve only seen miikes far  out movies  ichi the killer  fudoh etc .  this is worth checking out since it is sort of a compromise between his aggressive over  the  top style displayed in those movies and his more serious side  as seen in the other films of the trilogy . and as always with miike  there are at least two scenes in this that you  ll never forget  see it and figure out which ones for yourself  .  br    br        
 . . . this would have been what you got .  br    br   words alone cannot describe how bad this is . if you  re having trouble sleeping pop this in and i guarantee you  ll be out in fifteen minutes .  br    br   robert lowery was a pretty good actor in the   s   but he  s phoning it in here . in an interview  johnny  duncan  robin said that in one scene he and batman had to run from the car to the house and that lowery was doubled over out of camera range because his girdle was too tight  duncan himself looks more like a motorcycle hood than a boy wonder   in fact he  s more like a guy in his thirties waiting for lowery to kick off so he can wear the big cape .  br    br   driving a batmobile that looks like it rolled off honest al  s used car lot at below sticker price   the dynamic duo don  t put a lot of effort into hiding the fact that it  s bruce wayne  s car they  re driving   in fact it  s noted by several characters throughout the serial .  br    br   the acting is wooden   the sets are cheap   the dialogue is horrendous and if there was even a script they were following i  m sure it read along the lines of  batman says something here  because it certainly seems like they  re making it up as it goes along .  br    br   batman  s utility belt is made out of thin fabric with no apparent pouches to hold his gadgets   in one scene when batman needs a full size blow torch the producers just tuck one in as the scene starts   never to be seen again . his cowl is so bad he can  t even see out of it and his ears look more like flopsy mopsy the disgruntled easter rabbit than they do anything batlike .  br    br   in one scene  i am not making this up   batman substitutes counterfiet radioactive money that will burst into flames the second it is exposed to air as a payoff to some hoods . it  s radioactive so he can trace it   the reason it  s so highly flammable isn  t explained . well  unfortunately the thugs open the package in a cardboard warehouse   we know it  s a cardboard warehouse because batman sneaks in and pushes these boxes that look to weigh about six ounces on the hoods to knock them out   and soon the whole place burns to the ground . thanks batman   br    br   in another scene after the batmobile is disabled  batman flags down a passing motorist in the middle of nowhere and takes his car   leaving the man to fend for himself and telling him not to worry because if batman smashes up the car the police will surely buy him another one  yes  you guessed it  said car careens off a cliff within a few short seconds . not that it matters much to the motorist who has probably died from exposure trying to hoof his way back to gotham city .  br    br   there is a tired subplot with lois lane clone vicki vale who is convinced bruce wayne is batman   she must have noticed the batmobile parked outside of bruce  s house   or maybe she saw batman and robin running up the walk in the clearly densely populated suburban neighborhood .  br    br   everything about this serial is bad   and all but the youngest in the audience will want to hurl toast at the screen . if you  re looking for bad cinema you could not hit a better mark   if you want entertainment  try the burton batman films  the adam west batman tv series or the earlier lewis wilson batman serial .  
a lot has been said about shinjuku triad society as the first true  miike  film and i thought this sort of description might have been a clich . but  like all clichs  it is based on the truth . all the miike trademarks are here  the violence  the black humour  the homosexuality  the taboo testing and the difficult to like central character . shinjuku is however  one of miike  s most perfectly formed films . he says in an interview that if he made it again it would be different  but not necessarily better . i think what he means is that the film possesses a truly captivating energy and raw edge which seems so fresh that although he might be able to capture a more visually or technically complex movie he could not replicate or better the purity of this film .  br    br   as you might expect  the violence is utterly visceral  gushing blood and gritty beatings are supplemented by a fantastic scene in which a woman has a chair smashed over her face .  only a miike film could let you get away with a sentence like that .  the film has a fantastic pace  unlike dead or alive which begins and ends strongly and dips in the middle . dead or alive also deals with similar issues  miike is clearly concerned about the relations between the japanese and chinese in the postwar period and this emotive subject is handled well here  the central character really coming to life when you begin to understand his past .  br    br   i cannot sing shinjuku  s praises enough . i do not want to give away too much . this is miike before he began to use cgi to animate his films and is almost reminiscent of something like kitano  s sonatine . the central characters are superbly realized and the final twist guarantees that as soon as the film has finished you  ll be popping it back on again to work it all out .  
granting the budget and time constraints of serial production  batman and robin nonetheless earns a place near the bottom of any  cliffhanger  list  utterly lacking the style  imagination  and atmosphere of its     predecessor  batman .  br    br   the producer  sam katzman  was known as  king of the quickies  and  like his director  spencer bennett  seemed more concerned with speed and efficiency than with generating excitement .  unfortunately  this team also produced the two superman serials  starring kirk alyn  with their tacky flying animation  canned music  and dull supporting players .  the opening of each chapter offers a taste of things to come thoroughly inane titles   robin rescues batman    batman vs wizard    mechanical music droning on  and our two heroes stumbling toward the camera looking all around  either confused or having trouble seeing through their cheap halloween masks . batman  s cowl  with its devil  s horns and eagle  s beak  fits so poorly that the stuntman has to adjust it during the fight scenes . his  utility belt  is a crumpled strip of cloth with no compartments  from which he still manages to pull a blowtorch and an oxygen tube at critical moments   br    br   in any case  the lead players are miscast . robert lowery displays little charm or individual flair as bruce wayne  and does not cut a particularly dynamic figure as batman . he creates the impression that he  d rather be somewhere  anywhere else  john duncan  as robin  has considerable difficulty handling his limited dialogue . he is too old for the part  with an even older stuntman filling in for him . out of costume  lowery and duncan are as exciting as tired businessmen ambling out for a drink  without one ounce of the chemistry evident between lewis wilson and douglas croft in the     serial .  br    br   although serials were not known for character development  the earlier batman managed to present a more energetic cast . this one offers a group going through the motions  not that the filmmakers provide much support . not one of the hoodlums stands out  and they are led by one of the most boring villains ever   the wizard .   great name   actually  they are led by someone sporting a curtain  a shawl  and a sack over his head  with a dubbed voice that desperately tries to sound menacing . the  prime suspects    an eccentric professor  a radio broadcaster   are simply annoying .  br    br   even the established comic book  regulars  are superfluous . it is hard to discern much romance between vicki vale and bruce wayne . despite the perils she faces  vicki displays virtually no emotion . commissioner gordon is none  too  bright . unlike in the previous serial  alfred the butler is a mere walk  on whose most important line is  mr wayne  s residence .  they are props for a drawn  out  gimmick  laden  incoherent plot  further saddled with uninspired  repetitive music and amateurish production design . the wayne manor exterior resembles a suburban middle  class home in any sitcom  the interiors those of a cheap roadside motel . the batcave is an office desperately in need of refurbishing .  the costumes are kept rolled up in a filing cabinet    br    br   pity that the filmmakers couldn  t invest more effort into creating a thrilling adventure . while the availability of the two serials on dvd is a plus for any serious  batfan   one should not be fooled by the excellent illustrations on the box . they capture more of the authentic mood of the comic book than all   chapters of batman and robin combined .  br    br   now for the good news   this is not the     version   
this was the beginning of it all  granted  this is not friends at its best  but this was the show  s pilot  let  s not forget and not a bad one at that . we  re introduced to the gang and central perk  where our story begins . even from this first episode we get a sign of the ross  rachel relationship that will come over the next ten years  when ross says  i just want to be married again  and rachel storms in with a wedding dress on . . . probably not intentional as at the time the writers were going for a monica  joey relationship but fits nicely now when looking back . something else . . in this episode rachel is introduced to chandler as if the two have never met before but in later episodes  the so  called  flashbacks  this is contradicted as the two have met on three previous occasions . nevertheless  the point is this a fine start to a great show . this episode may not be the usual friends as we are accustomed to them  with the cast still a bit inexperienced but over the next few episodes we see why the show came to be what it was  keep watching  first season is a blast    
this show made me feel physically sick  and totally detached from british society as a whole . it was programmes such as this and blue peter that pretended that there were  are no class divisions in britain . they  d always say things like  go into your loft and you may find this . .  or  go into your back garden tonight and . . .   what about us  scummy  working class kids who never never had a  loft   and a  back garden  which was nothing more than a  meter square of balcony on the   th floor of a council block  public service broadcasting  yeah right  and on top of that  it was awfully depressing to see those stupid  middle class  up  their  own  backside kids mess about with bits of old plastic having  fun  . . . do me a favour  and  why don  t you  go and slit your wrists or do a coke overdose on  mama and papa  s  money . . . you make me sick  
here it is . . the first ever episode of friends  where we get introduced to control freak monica gellar  courtney cox   newly divorced ross gellar  david schimmer   hippy pheobe buffay  lisa kudrow   unknown actor and ladies man  matt le blanc and very sarcastic chandler bing  matthew perry  . this is how the scene starts off until we introduced to the  th and final friend spoilt kid rachel green  jennifer aniston  .  br    br   the episode is better than most people give credit for  like any new sitcom the first episode isn  t always fantastic . the acting in this episode isn  t great because the cast cannot identify and arnt really believable in their new characters  apart from kudrow and perry  who shine  .  br    br   matt le blanc  man  his acting was down right dreadful because until later  he gets more confident  but i think he tries to be funny but at most fails .  br    br   david schimmer  why does he over pronounce every word  he cannot speak normally  but he became one of the funniest characters in later seasons  but he isn  t confident . and i cannot sympathise with him jennifer aniston  looks hot  and does a good job as rachel green  but we only see the real rachel later in the  st season  courtney cox  looks quite anorexic in this episode  its worrying  she looks totally different now   more healthily   she acting is a little sketchy but everyones is in this   minute pilot  lisa kudrow and matthew perry  i  m doing these two together because their comic timing and acting quality was superb  and for lisa this was one of her first roles and she is so natural as pheobe  pheebs  and matthew perry is just matthew perry playing himself basically  the episode quality does improve later    such as the sets  they looks dark and creepy in this episode and makes them seem unfriendly  the acting is ok  the characters gain confidence with each new scene and i am proud this is the pilot  i hope we see the friends reunite  cause they will always be there for us   
he was my hero for all time until he went along with if you can call it a movie i went to the show to watch it and come out and not just asking for me money back but asked for double the money thats how bad my hero  s acting and the hole thing was . . . . . . . . . . . . . i can  t believe that steven segal  s career has hit so low that he has been reduced to making  th rate films with  th rate secondary actors . i watched this moving expecting to see him beet the crap out of some people the way he usually does . when he is reduced to using a single judo chop between the shoulder blades to take out an opponent and the guy falls like a ton of bricks something is wrong .  br    br   the plot is unbelievable as a movie  and even if you excuse the visuals  and had read this story as a novel  you  d be left wondering why you had even picked up the book .  br    br   steven segal goes through the motions and seems as if he is only doing this because he is under obligation . he shows no effort and no enthusiasm  and in some scenes he doesn  t show up at all .  br    br   i hate to repeat other peoples comments  but the use of stock footage for cut scenes and for visuals of the aircrafts in flight is pathetic . the condition of those scenes chopped in  is shaky and scenes themselves seemed to have deteriorated over time . the zappruder film showing president john f kennedy being assassinated is steadier and cleaner .  br    br   my honest opinion is to tell you not to waste your time seeing this movie  it is not up to the standards of his work in the glimmer man or exit wounds . i read one review that said the movie had a   million dollar budget  segal being paid  of that  and that the movie still came in under budget . i must concur .  br    br   it is no wonder that this is a direct to dvd movie  as no conscientious theater owner would play this movie .  
and that  s how the greatest comedy of tv started  it has been   years since the very first episode but it has continued with the same spirit till the very last season . because that  s where  friends  is based on quotes . extraordinary situations are taking place among six friends who will never leave from our hearts let  s say a big thanks to rachel  ross  monica  joey  chandler and phoebe    in our first meet  we see how rachel dumps a guy  in the church  how . . .  understand   monica  s search for the  perfect guy   there is no perfect guy  why all you women are obsessed with that      and how your marriage can be ruined when the partner of your life discovers that she  s a lesbian . till we meet joey  phoebe and chandler in the next episodes . . . enjoy friends   
i can barely find the words to express how utterly utterly awful this film is . i was sold on the promise of action  with segal and stealth aircraft  which normally make for an entertaining action movie . i can honestly say i  d rather gouge my eyes out with a cocktail stick than have to see this film again . the acting was so awful that it was almost funny . the story was insanely weak  with plot holes so cavernously wide you could fly an f    through them . the script was so poor  if i found out that a   year old wrote it i shouldn  t be in the least surprised . the direction and production is so amateur  i wouldn  t even hire these people to shoot my worst enemies wedding video . utter utter drivel . those responsible for making this movie have cheapened the art  and they should be ashamed of themselves . steven segal should never ever show his face in public again  i can  t imagine what made him agree to star in this  the worst film i have seen in my entire life .  
stargate sg   is a spin off of sorts from the     movie  stargate .  i am so glad that they decided to expand on the subject . the show gets it rolling from the very first episode  a retired jack o  neill has to go through the gate once more to meet with his old companion  dr . daniel jackson . through the first two episodes  we meet samantha carter  a very intelligent individual who lets no one walk over her  and there is teal  c  a quiet  compassionate warrior who defies his false god and joins the team .  br    br   the main bad guys are called the gouald  they are parasites who can get inserted into one  s brain  thus controlling them and doing evil deeds . any gouald who has a massive amount of power is often deemed as a  system lord .  the warriors behind the gouald are called jaffa  who house the parasitic gouald in their bodies until the gouald can get inserted in a person  s brain .  br    br   through the episodes  we mostly get to see sg    the exploratory team comprised of jack  daniel  teal  c  and sam  go through the wormhole that instantly transports them to other planets  this device is called the stargate  and they encounter new cultures or bad guys . some episodes are on  world  meaning that they do not go through the stargate once in the episode and rather deal with pressing issues on earth .  br    br   through the years  you start to see a decline in the sg   team as close knit  and more character  building story lines . this  in turn means even more on  world episodes  which is perfectly understandable .  br    br   my rating  .          while most of this show is good  there are some instances of story lines not always getting wrapped up and less of an emphasis on gate travel these last few years . but still  top notch science fiction   
how can there be that many corrupt cops without any one of them slipping up  with enough cops to run a mini  war that include such weapons as flamethrowers  you would think they would have been caught before someone writing for a weekly coupon newspaper overheard someone saying  thanks  to a corrupt cop .  br    br   you will never get your   ish minutes back . life is too precious to rent this movie .  br    br   i feel bad for the big named actors that made the mistake of making this movie .  br    br   if you like justin timberlake  feel free to rent this movie . he does have a very major part in it  so fans might enjoy seeing him .  br    br   however  i believe most of his fans are young girls  who may be turned off by the violence in this movie .  
the pilot is extremely well done . it lays out how the characters bond in future episodes . i don  t think anyone could have created a better pilot for this show . it displays remarkable creativity on the writers part . although not everything was straightened out because it was the very first episode  a lot of events that happen in future seasons were demonstrated in the pilot . an example would be ross and rachels future relationship . even though the nervousness of a first episode appeared  it was overcome by an amazing plot and outstanding cast choice .  br    br   bravo .  br    br   a great start to an unbeatable comedy   
i own almost every seagal movie  yes even ones like this that are low budget   and i must say  this may be the worst  not only of his movies  but of all movies ever made . the only highlight of this film  and only reason i gave it  stars instead of   is that a . it is seagal  and b . seagal does have some sweet action sequences  specifically in the store  and also when ever else he takes out an entire army with a knife . next time give me   minutes of seagal killing people  and don  t even bother with a story line  because the storyline not only stunk  but so did the acting  the fact that f     s and f     s somehow changed into f    s  and also the fact that the stealth was as fast as an f    . also the stealth never had to refuel    and since when is afghanistan considered hostile territory from an air force stand point . last i checked  afghanistan has no air force  we  usa  control the skies . also  this top secret mission was played through speakers to all the crew in the room  yet the admiral still whispers to the other guy that it is secret . also  how did seagal go from the bottom of the truck  to the top  please tell us why they jailed him  since when are air force pilots great commandos  unless they are owen wilson   and since when are their drunks in arab countries  considering muslims don  t drink alcohol  also on top of that  since when do arabs listen to orders from females like the   in charge  the highlight of the film was definitely seagal killing people in the store  and the other   people he killed with a knife  as well as the very brief and totally random lesbian scene that came out of nowhere .  
in the very first episode of friends  which aired   sept      the one where monica gets a roommate  there is a song playing as rachel sits in the window towards the end of the show  the line that plays is  if you ever need holding  . . . . does anyone know the artist singing or the title of the song  it is seems as if it is a great song . . . . i would love to get a copy of it . thanks for the assistance . i am looking for the album  cd it is on so i can purchase it .  br    br   i have the shows which are available for purchase and enjoy this show over and over again . it just seemed to be believable . . . thanks for the hours of entertainment you have provided over the years .  
well  i can once and for all put an end to the question  what is the worst movie ever made . . . ever   it is flight of fury  starring and co  written by steven seagal . sure there are lots of famously bad movies  but this one takes the cake in that it takes itself so seriously .  br    br   it is a romanian  made film that speaks to just how far romania has to go to catch up with bollywood . it also speaks to just how utterly devoid of intellect and talent steven seagal has become . this movie is so bad that you literally feel violated after watching it and need to crouch in the corner of the shower and cry  knowing that nothing will make you feel clean again .  br    br   it was released only on video  i can  t imagine why  and i suspect the workers that had to make the dvd  s had to wear protective gear and receive regular counseling .  
in this first episode of friends  we are introduced to the  main characters of the series monica geller  phoebe buffay  chandler bing  ross geller  joey tribbiani and eventually rachel green .  br    br   we discover that rachel  a rich girl that is monica  s friend from high school times  left her fianc  barry  at the altar  since she discovered she didn  t love him . she also decides to live with monica and become independent from her father  getting a new job as a waitress in central perk .  br    br   ross  for the other hand  discovered his wife is a lesbian and lost her for susan  her partner .  we see him moving to a new apartment during the episode   br    br   monica  in this episode  makes out  and eventually sleeps  with paul  the wine guy   who gave her the excuse of being impotent since he divorced his wife . but in reality  he was just deceiving her .  br    br   ps i just loooove joey  s and chandler  s haircuts in this first season     
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   the american military has just launched a major new stealth fighter plane that can evade detection unlike any other . a renegade pilot  steve touissant  steals it and plots to hold the us government to ransom with it . so they are forced to send in their best man john sands  seagal  who else   to stop him  in exchange for his freedom from a detention centre where his mind was to be wiped of all the incriminating information he  s learned over the years .  br    br   i skipped attack force because i could tell from the cover and all the post production tampering that had occurred that it would be crap and when all the negative reviews and low user rating came pouring in it just confirmed what i thought . but i decided to give fof a go because shadow man  by the same director  wasn  t bad and  what the hell  seagal was my favourite action star once and maybe  just maybe  he could make a great film again . oh what a fool i was .  br    br   dubbing  horrendous stock footage of aerial stealth fighter jets  awful camera work  cheap production values  risible  unconvincing fight scenes that have become seagal  s trademark and a boring  sleep inducing plot that doesn  t go anywhere .  br    br   thankfully his next film  once upon a time in the hood  which i  ll be skipping   apparently marks the end of his contract with sony  meaning no more of these awful european lensed action films and his next film prince of pistols might mark a return to theatres . hell  he  s done it before and stallone will have managed to do it before him  rocky balboa .   br    br   this isn  t a flight of fury . it isn  t even a flight of fun . it  s a flight that fails to even take off the ground .   
why did it sound like the husband kept calling her appy  it ruined a great episode and so i can only give it a  . proper grammar and pronunciation are essential to a film .  br    br   it was very hellraiser what with all the skin ripping though i dunno how anyone can survive without skin the skin is a vital organ to the body the biggest organ actually and without we would die . the more a horror film is true the more creepy it can be and more entertaining .  br    br   i do admit though that the stories from the great horror directors are very disappointing and very mediocre .  br    br       come on yankies get your english up to par   
unless you are mentally ill or the most die hard segal fan you will tire of this horrendous excuse for a film in under  minutes .  br    br   the plot  even for a seagal film  the plot is just stupid . i mean its not just bad  its barely coherent .  br    br   the acting  unbelievably wooden . literally seen better acting in porno  s . ironically this film tries to cash in on this audience which a  lesbian love scene  which is utterly cringe  worthy .  br    br   special effects  wouldn  t look out of place in a    s sword and sorcery flick .  br    br   unless you suffer from insomnia and have exhausted all other cures  don  t make the same mistake as i did and buy this dvd  as you will be asking for that hour and a half of your life back .  
masters of horror right to die starts late one night as married couple abby  julia anderson   ciff addison  martin donovan  are driving home  however while talking cliff is distracted  crashes into a tree that has fallen across the road . cliff  s airbag works ok  he walks away with minor injuries  unfortunately for abby hers didn  t  she ended up as toast when she was thrown from the car  doused in petrol which set alight burning her entire body . abby  s life is saved  just . she is taken to hospital where she is on life support seriously injured  horribly disfigured from the burns . cliff decides that she should die  his selfish lawyer ira  corbin bersen  thinks they should let abby die  sue the car manufacturer  get rich while abby  s mum pam  linda sorenson  wants to blame cliff  get rich  save abby . however abby has other plans of her own . . .  br    br   this american canadian co  production was directed by rob schmidt  whose only horror film previously was wrong turn       which on it  s own hardly qualifies him to direct a masters of horror episode   was episode  from season  of the masters of horror tv series  while i didn  t think right to die was the best masters of horror episode i  ve seen i thought it was a decent enough effort all the same  still doesn  t come close to being as bad as the screwfly solution       . the script by john esposito has a neat central idea that isn  t anything new but it uses it effectively enough although i  d say it  s a bit uneven  the first   minutes of this focuses on the horror element of the story but then it goes into a lull for   odd minutes as it becomes a drama as the legal wrangling over abby  s life  the affair cliff is having take center stage before it gets back on track it a deliciously gory  twisted climax that may not be for the faint of heart . the character  s are a bit clichd  the weak man  the bent lawyer  the protective mum  the young tart who has sex to get what she wants but they all serve their purpose well enough  the dialogue is ok  the story moves along at a nice pace  overall i liked right to die apart from a few minutes here  there where it loses it  s focus a bit  i wasn  t that keen on the ambiguous ending .  br    br   director schmidt does a good job  there are some effective scenes  this tries to alternate between low key spooky atmosphere  out  and  out blood  gore . there are some fantastic special make  up effects as usual  there  s shots of abby where she has had all of the skin burned off her body  the image of her bandaged head with her teeth showing because she has no lips left is pretty gross  images  make  up effects that reminded me of similar scenes in hellraiser        it  s sequels   then there  s the main course at the end where cliff literally skins someone complete with close  ups of scalpels slicing skin open  him peeling it off the muscle  putting it into a cooler box  very messy . there are also various assorted body parts . there  s some nudity here as well with at least a couple of pretty ladies getting naked . . .  br    br   technically right to die is excellent  the special effects are brilliant  as most masters of horror episodes it doesn  t look like a cheap made  for  tv show which basically if the truth be told it is . the acting was fine but there  s no big  names  in this one .  br    br   right to die is another enjoyable  somewhat twisted masters of horror episode that most horror fans should definitely check out if not just for the terrific skinning scene  well worth a watch . . . for those with the stomach .  
steven seagal movies have never been oscar material but with each passing release they get worse and worse .  br    br   this one starts with seagal getting picked up by the fbi because he killed a few people  in self defence  he  s active military so is saved from jail to rescue a stolen stealth plane that will be used by the clich  evil english villain  that hollywood is so obsessed with including these days .  br    br   suffice to say the film has terrible dialog that is almost always delivered with a hefty topping of cheese and lack of acting talent . the story isn  t interesting and there are segments of it which make absolutely no sense and do not add anything to the story  characters of movie as a whole such as the  lesbian  interaction between the two main females in the cast which is there purely for titilation to get viewers and yet isn  t even titilating just confusing as it makes no sense as to why it happened when it didn  t need to .  br    br   in short a terrible script with bad dialog  delivered by sub  par actors  boring and at times badly choreographed action scenes  and non  relevant parts that only serve to achieve the near  impossible and make the movie even worse .  br    br   save   minutes of your life and give this miss  even if you are seagal  s most ardent fan .  
what starts out as a very predictable and somewhat drab affair is in the end quite hilarious and entertaining .  right to die  is not very suspenseful but it more than makes up for that with some outlandish set pieces and over the top gore .  br    br   spoilers here  br    br   top credits also go to the dead  on performance from martin donovan as one of the most despicable characters ever to grace the screen . playing the character in a great  aloof  fashion  you nearly feel bad for the guy in the end when his grand plan ultimately fails . corbin bernsen also chews up the scenery playing a not  so  good  guy who gets his just desserts .  br    br   end of spoiler .  br    br   as a revenge  from  the  dead flick   right to die  benefits heavily from it  s performers and is more than an ok way to spend less than an hour .  
i just watched this movie on starz . let me go through a few things i thought could have been improved the acting  writing  directing  special effects  camera crew  sound  and lighting . it also seemed as though the writers had no idea anything that had to do with the movie . apparently back in      when the dollar was stronger you could buy a super advanced stealth bomber that could go completely invisible for    million . now  a  days those things cost about   billion and they cant go invisible . apparently you can fly from the us to the middle east in an hour . there was a completely random lesbian scene  which i didn  t mind  but it seemed like a lame attempt to get more guys to see it . the camera would randomly zoom in on actors and skip to random scenes . oh yeah  since its a steven segal movie  its predictable as hell . all in all i rank it right up there with snakes on a plane .  
this is one of the best episode from the second season of moh  i think mick garris has a problem with women . . . he kill  em all  they are often the victims  screwfly solution  pro  life  valerie on the stairs  i don  t remember the argento  s episode in season   etc .  obviously imprint  . i think he enjoys to watch women been burn  torture  mutilated and i don  t know . never least  right to die  is one of the best  with good turns and graphic scenes and suspense  specially with the photos from the cell scene  wonderful  . the acting is like the entire series  regular i could be worst like  pro  life  or  we scream for ice cream  . also i think the plot it could be made for a movie and not just for an episode . the ideology of the series is horrible  killing and terminating women  mutilating animals and on and on . . . the first season it was better than the second one with episodes like  cigarrette burns   the best of all    homecoming   the most funny    imprint   really shocking  .  
nobody could like this movie for its merit but  if you have a sense of humor and enjoy schlock movies for their mst  quality  then this is for you . it ranks up there with  road house  for its preposterous characters  sets and story line . the bad writing really cracked me up  i want you to dust those guys off  instead of  . . . dust those guys .  f    s take off from the carrier but  when they get into formation  they  re f    s  without a hint of anger or skepticism  segal goes back to work for the general who  only minutes before  was overseeing a covert  mind wipe  on seagal . segal runs out of bullets and resorts to a knife to kill the guards . so naturally  the guards all drop their guns and fight with knives too  the hand grenade is a dud but explodes anyway . the little stealth fighter can fly all the way from california to afganistan without refueling . then segal flies it back to california  the long way  i . e .  by way of europe  even though there  s a carrier giving him air support   minutes away in the arabian sea . the cic in the carrier consists of  black pcs   flat screen tvs and pictures of gauges and maps on the walls . what a hoot   
i  m not entirely sure rob schmidt qualifies as a  master  in the genre of horror  since he previously just directed one horror film called  wrong turn  and that one was actually just was slightly above mediocre  but fact is that he made with  right to die  one of the best and creepiest episodes of the entire second season of the  masters of horror  franchise . there was a similar underdog story in season one  when william malone made on of the best episodes with  the fair haired child  even though his other long feature films  fear dot com  and  house on haunted hill  sucked pretty badly .  br    br   the story of  right to die  cleverly picks in on the nowadays piping hot social debate of euthanasia  but thankfully also features multiple old  fashioned horror themes like ghostly vengeance  murderous conspiracies  pitch black humor and comic book styled violence . whilst driving home late one night and discussing the husband  s continuous adultery  the addison couple are involved in a terrible car accident . cliff walks away from the wreck unharmed but his wife abby is fully burned and needs to be kept alive artificially . whilst cliff and his sleazy attorney  corbin bernsen of  the dentist   want to plug the plug on her and sue the car constructor  abbey  s mum sets up a giant media campaign to keep her daughter alive as a vegetable and blame everything on cliff . meanwhile abbey  s hateful spirit comes back for revenge and kills someone in cliff  s surrounding whenever she has a near fatal experience with the medical devices . after a few victims  cliff realizes it might be safer for him to keep his wife alive if he wants to remain alive as well .  right to die  is a stupendous episode and exactly the type of stuff i always hoped to see from a tv  series concept like  masters of horror  . it  s violent and gory with a sick  twisted sense of humor and loads of sleaze sequences . the euthanasia theme and the whole obligatory media circus that surrounds it is processed into the script very well  yet without unnecessarily reverting to political standpoints or morality lessons . the atmosphere is suspenseful and the killing sequences are suitably nasty and unsettling . actresses julia anderson and robin sydney both have pretty face and impressively voluptuous racks  which is always a welcome plus  and corbin bernsen is finally offered the chance again to depict a mean  spirited and egocentric bastard . great  moh  episode definitely one of the highlights of both seasons .  
first of all  f    is not high tech any more and it is not a fighter aircraft .  br    br   secondly  the f    s and f    s cannot change their appearances they are not transformers .  br    br   thirdly  the f   has only one m   cannon  not two .  br    br   last but not the least  at the end of the film  seagle selected sidewinder missile . but somehow when he pulled the trigger  the actual missile fired turned out to be a maverick . as i have the experience of seeing f    s and f    s being mysteriously transformed into f    s  this small transformation of missiles is not a big surprise to me . however  there is still one question i have to ask how did they manage to use an air to ground missile to shoot down a flying f   . . .  br    br   when students hand in really bad work  teachers assign   s . now i think for the sake of properly marking this film  imdb should seriously consider adding a       option . otherwise  it is not fair for those who receive  out of   . . .  
well its about time . i had really given up any and all hope that there was going to be a standout episode among this season  s entries . while there have still been far too many drab to hohum entries  at least this episode turned out well . its rather funny that director rob schmidt who only has the not bad wrong turn to his credit and writer john esposito whose only scripting chores to date have included tale of the mummy and graveyard shift should be the ones to give us the best written and most thought provoking episode of the season . in  right to die  we are treated to the story of cliff and abbey . at the start of the episode the couple are having a conversation . abbey has caught cliff cheating and he is desperately trying to win her back . while they speak  they find themselves in a car accident where cliff is left with only scratches and bruises  but abbey is thrown from the car and catches on fire when a spark ignites and gasoline that had dripped onto her catches her on fire . and this is just the setup people . once in the hospital cliff must decide whether or not abbey should live in this state with no skin and only nerve reflexes . there  s also a side effect too . every time she flatlines  abbey goes a walking as a ghost and causes trouble for all sorts of people . hands down this is the best episode of the season and certainly ranks as one of the top episodes ever . from the gruesome effects to the taut script which threw in a few twists i never saw coming and suspense so palpable you can almost touch it  right to die should have the right to go on living forever .  
over the years i  ve seen a bunch of these straight to video segal movies  and every one holds the same amount of entertainment unfortanetley  the entertainment level is at a low . sure  the action sequences were amusing  but that was pretty much it . seagal was really in his prime when he did movies like under siege  under siege   and executive decision  at least on the action standpoint   but during the past ten years  these types of movies that star segal really do not meet his past qualifications .  br    br   on the more positive side  the movie did make good use of time  like some of the action sequences and use of wit . just when the movie seemed to just drag on  a pretty cool action scene brought it up out of the gutter . i honestly believe that more of segal  s movies would do better if he wasn  t the only one that fans recognize in the movie . supporting actors and actresses are a very important thing  and if his current movies had this known supporting actors and actresses  maybe the movie will get more popular results .  
a man and his wife get in a horrible car accident . when the wife is left in a persistent vegetative state  the man must choose between pulling the plug and letting her live . the decision is made even harder when he realizes her ghost wants to extract revenge on him and those around him .  br    br   this comes to us from director rob schmidt  who made  wrong turn   a film i have not seen  . with only one horror film under his belt  and not a particularly notorious one at that  i was a bit reluctant to watch this episode  expecting schmidt to be a  master of horror  in only the most liberal sense . my apologies to him for my underestimation . as of episode   in a   episode season  this was actually the best one yet .  br    br   the issue of the  right to die  is dealt with and covered in enough detail to be a solid plot device . however  this is only the foundation on which the story revolves . once the horror elements show up  the film goes from  decent  to  spectacular  . great acting  great plot  great dialogue  great suspense . i was a little creeped out at times  which is good  and most of all the gore is in extreme abundance  i read a review of this episode prior to watching it  where the reviewer said there is a strong hint of  hellraiser  in this . through the first part of the show  i had no idea what they were talking about . then there is a bit later where some images do remind me of  hellraiser   . however  i in no way wish to say that this takes away from the film . i can see no other way to create the effect that was created  and in my opinion this looks remarkably better than  hellraiser   .  br    br   some plot twists show up later on  and might invite the viewer to give the film a second look . i didn  t watch it a second time  but i think the beginning would make more sense if i had  not that it  s confusing  . the subplot with the dental hygienist is also nice  and i found myself going back and forth about whether i disliked the main character for his relationship with her or if i felt bad for him . he  s somewhat of an anti  hero to the whole story  if you will . i feel inclined to cheer for him as the protagonist  but he  s completely unlovable .  br    br   while the stuart gordon episode may be better and i  m excited about the  washingtonians  episode  i think i could safely bet that this is the key episode of the season and by far the saving grace of what was otherwise lackluster and routine . when legends like john carpenter let me down  again  i get a bit worried about the genre  s future  but then a fresh face like rob schmidt comes along and gives me hope . this one is a keeper  and please bring schmidt back for season    
you  ve gotta hand it to steven seagal whatever his other faults may be  he does have good taste in women . if you pick a seagal movie  chances are there will be one or more very beautiful women in it . and usually  they do not function as mere eye candy they get involved in the action and fight  shoot guns  kill with knives  etc .  flight of fury  offers the duo of ciera payton  who has a very sexy face  with luscious lips to match angelina jolie  s  and katie jones  and finds time to get them involved in both a catfight and a little lesbian fondling  and if it seems like i  m spending a little too much time talking about them  it  s because the rest of the movie  although passable  is so unexciting that it  s hard to find much else to talk about . ironically  the weakest aspect is probably seagal himself  who looks as if he can  t even be bothered to try to pretend to care . this being a military  type actioner  there is very little fighting in it  and he doesn  t fit into his role  a stealth fighter pilot   the best in the world   of course  very well  which may explain his almost offensive sleepwalking .        
stargate sg   follows and expands upon the egyptian mythologies presented in stargate . in the stargate universe  humans were enslaved and transported to habitable planets by the goa  uld such as ra and apophis . for millennia  the goa  uld harvested humanity  heavily influencing and spreading human cultures . as a result  earth cultures such as those of the aztecs  mayans  britons  the norse  mongols  greeks  and romans are found throughout the known habitable planets of the galaxy . many well  known mythical locations such as avalon  camelot  and atlantis are found  or have at one time existed .  br    br   presently  the earth stargate  found at a dig site near giza in      is housed in a top  secret u . s . military base known as the sgc  stargate command  underneath cheyenne mountain . col . jack o  neill  anderson   dr . daniel jackson  shanks   capt . samantha carter  tapping  and teal  c  judge  compose the original sg   team  a few characters join and  or leave the team in later seasons  . along with   other sg teams  they venture to distant planets exploring the galaxy and searching for defenses from the goa  uld  in the forms of technology and alliances with friendly advanced races .  br    br   the parasitic goa  uld use advanced technology to cast themselves as egyptian gods and are bent on galactic conquest and eternal worship . throughout the first eight seasons  the goa  uld are the primary antagonists . they are a race of highly intelligent  ruthless snake  like alien parasites capable of invading and controlling the bodies of other species  including humans . the original arch  enemy from this race was the system lord apophis  peter williams  . other system lords  such as baal and anubis  play pivotal roles in the later seasons . in the ninth season a new villain emerges  the ori . the ori are advanced beings with unfathomable technology from another galaxy  also bent on galactic conquest and eternal worship . the introduction of the ori accompanies a departure from the primary focus on egyptian mythology into an exploration of the arthurian mythology surrounding the ori  their followers  and their enemiesthe ancients .  
if you watched this movie you know why i said  jesus  jesus  jesus  . hehehe    every time they said  jesus  jesus  jesus  . . . i laughed thinking  jesus  jesus  jesus  why did i rent this movie   i cannot believe how oscar winners like freeman and spacey appeared here in the background while timberlake and ll cool j grabbed the screen . wtf is timberlake  dreaful acting  i think someone like joshua jackson could have done a much better job  this job was perfect for joshua jackson and believe me i am not a big fun of him . . . but i really prefer an actor  not this android called timberlake . and his girlfriend was shallow  hollow and annoying as hell . i was happy when they both were popped in the street .  br    br   the story was ok and i think dylan mc dermott did his bad guy role very well . the movie was entertaining but i think timberlake ruined it all . it would have been much enjoyable without him .  br    br   by the way  the music was ok  but suddenly every time the music appeared the movie turned into a mtv video clip with flashes  low motion and things like that . something misplaced for this cops movie i thought . maybe they wanted to make a mtv video clip for timberlake .  
fans of the hbo series  tales from the crypt  are going to love this moh episode . those who know the basic archetypal stories that most of the classic ec comics were based on  will recognize this one right off the bat .  br    br   underrated indie favorite martin donovan  also an excellent writer  co  author of the screenplays for apartment zero and death becomes her  is the kind of guy whose everyman good looks can go either way . he could play a really nice if misunderstood guy  next  door  or he can play the same role with a creepy undertone of corrosive sleaziness . in the case of right to die  he takes the latter approach  and it definitely works .  br    br   donovan is a doctor who has recently had an affair with his slutty office receptionist  robin sydney   much to the displeasure of his inconsolable  unforgiving spouse  abbey  julia anderson  . when the two of them get involved in a terrible car accident while returning from an unsuccessful weekend of  making up   and she  s horribly burned in a fire  he  s reluctant to pull the plug on her  not without some enthusiastic nudging from his even sleazier lawyer and best buddy  corbin bernsen  looking the worse for wear these days .   br    br   but abbey  s never been one to give up without a fight  and that  s where the ec  theme of the episode comes in . cuckolded husbands  and wives  have always been the genre  s favorite subject matter for some spooky  and ooky  supernatural shenanigans  and this case is definitely no exception . if anything  the ramped  up quotient of sex and gore must have bill gaines cackling with glee in his mausoleum somewhere .  br    br   and that  s not to mention that john esposito  s original script does give the adultery angle just a slight twist . you don  t realize as you  re watching that you only know half the story  until close to the end . . .  think what lies beneath with more guts and gazongas  and you  re there .   br    br   not a bad effort  but not the best of the lot  either . at least rob schmidt does display touches of flair here and there with the direction  especially in a scene that makes cell phone picture messaging into a truly horrifying experience indeed  as with most moh episodes  this one is following a prevalent theme this season of flaying and dismemberment  so the extremely squeamish need not apply .  
this movie should have never been made .  br    br   what a shame of the budget .  br    br   please hire convincing actors  and make a proper movie . very thin plot  and unconvincing lines . almost hilarious  and that is a shame for an action movie . . . .  br    br   definitely not worth watching .  br    br   they keep replaying the same  shots  of an stealth airplane flying away . you have seen it ones  and that was not worth re  running  or  times .  br    br   it is time for steven seagal to retire from movie  making .  br    br   his movies are getting worser every time .  br    br   black dawn  and submerged were already bad  but this movie is even worse .  
i was all ready to pan this episode  seeing that this  master  really doesn  t have any horror films under his belt . . but this is easily the best episode of the season .  br    br   the acting was good   i don  t know how he wrangled it  but we  ve got some real talent in this episode  and while you could see things coming from a mile away plot wise  at least it was entertaining and managed to keep me engaged for the full   mins  something that has been lacking up to this point in the series .  br    br   i especially liked the bit at the end  not a twist per say  but just a funny little bit where he becomes  as ever  the hen  pecked hubby .  br    br   really good effort . like i  ve said in other reviews  these are not true masters doing a lot of these episodes . . but they may someday end up being masters in the future .  
steven seagal  mr . personality himself  this time is the united states  greatest stealth pilot who is promised a pardon from the military  . . who attempted to swipe his memory at the beginning of the movie for which he escaped base  later caught after interrupting a gang of robbers in a shootout at a gas station  if he is able to successfully infiltrate a northern afghanistan terrorist base operated by a group called black sunday  who have commandeered an air force stealth fighter thanks to an american traitor . along with a fellow pilot who admired the traitor  jannick  mark bazeley   john sands  seagal  will fly into enemy territory  receiving help from his arab lover  jessica  ciera payton  and a freedom fighter  rojar  alki david  once they are on ground . jannick is kidnapped by black sunday leaders  stone  vincenzo nicoli  and his female enforcer  eliana  katie jones   and sands must figure out how to not only re  take command of the kidnapped stealth fighter  but rescue him as well . and  maybe  sands can get revenge on the traitor he trained  rather  steve toussaint  in the process . sands has   hours until a general  s navy pilots bomb the entire area . on board the stealth  black sunday equipped a biochemical bomb  hoping to detonate it on the united states .  br    br   seagal gets a chance to shoot afghans when he isn  t slicing their throats with knives . the film is mostly machine guns firing and bodies dropping dead . the setting of afghanistan doesn  t hold up to scrutiny  . . nor does how easily seagal and co . are able to move about the area undetected so easily  and the plot itself is nothing to write home about . the movie is edited fast  the camera a bit too jerky . seagal isn  t as active a hero as he once was and his action scenes are tightly edited where we have a hard time seeing him taking out his foes  unlike the good old days . one of seagal  s poorest efforts  and he  s as understated as ever  . . not a compliment  . even more disappointing is the fact that seagal never fights in hand to hand combat with the film  s chief villains  tis a shame . he doesn  t even snap a wrist or crack a neck in any visible way  . . sure we see a slight resemblance of some tool getting tossed around  but it  s not as clear a picture as i enjoy because the filmmakers have such fast edits and dizzying close  ups  .  
maybe it  s just because i have an intense fear of hospitals and medical stuff  but this one got under my skin  pardon the pun  . this piece is brave  not afraid to go over the top and as satisfying as they come in terms of revenge movies . not only did i find myself feeling lots of hatred for the screwer and lots of sympathy towards the  screwee   i felt myself cringe and feel pangs of disgust at certain junctures which is really a rare and delightful thing for a somewhat jaded horror viewer like myself . some parts are very reminiscant of  hellraiser   but come off as tribute rather than imitation . it  s a heavy handed piece that does not offer the viewer much to consider  but i enjoy being assaulted by a film once and awhile . this piece brings it and doesn  t appologize . i liked this one a lot . do not watch whilst eating pudding .  
flight of fury starts as general tom barnes  angus macinnes  organises an unofficial test flight of the x     a new stealth fighter jet with the ability to literally turn invisible . general barnes gives his top pilot colonel ratcher  steve toussaint  the job  everything goes well until the x    disappears  even more literally than barnes wanted as ratcher flies it to northern afghanistan  delivers it to a terrorist group known as the black sunday lead by peter stone  vincenzo nicoli  who plans to use the x    to fly into us airspace undetected  drop some bombs which will kills lots of people . general barnes is worried by the loss of his plane  sends in one man army john sands  co  writer  executive producer steven seagal  to get it back  kill all the bad guy  s in the process . . .  br    br   this american  british  romanian co  production was directed by michael keusch  was the third film in which he directed seagal after the equally awful shadow man        attack force        luckily someone decided the partnership wasn  t working  an unsuspecting public have thankfully been spared any further collaboration  s between the two . apparently flight of fury is an almost scene  for  scene word  for  word remake of black thunder       starring michael dudikoff with many of the same character  s even sharing the same name so exactly the same dialogue could be used without the makers even having to change things like names although i must admit i have never seen black thunder  therefore cannot compare the two . flight of fury is a terrible film  the poorly made  written waste of time that seagal specialises in these days . it  s boring even though it  s not that slow  the character  s are poor  it  s full of clichs  things happen at random  the plot is poor  the reasoning behind events are none existent  it  s a very lazy production overall as it never once convinces the viewer that they are anywhere near afghanistan or that proper military procedures are being followed . the action scenes are lame  there  s no real excitement in it  the villains are boring as are the heroes  it  s right down there with the worst seagal has made .  br    br   flight of fury seems to be made up largely of stock footage which isn  t even matched up that well  the background can change  peoples clothes change  the area changes  the sky  the quality of film changes very abruptly as it  s all too obvious we are watching clips from other  better  films spliced in . hell  seagal never even goes anywhere near a plane in this . the action scenes consist of shoot  outs so badly edited it  s hard to tell who is who  of course seagal breaking peoples arms . the whole production feels very cheap  shoddy .  br    br   the imdb reckons this had a budget of about            which i think is total rubbish  i mean if so where did all the money go  although set in afghanistan which is a war torn arid desert flight of fury looks like it was filmed down my local woods  it was actually shot in romania  the romanian countryside does not make a convincing afghanistan . the acting is terrible as one would expect  seagal looks dubbed again .  br    br   flight of fury is a terrible action film that is boring  amateurish  is an almost scene  for  scene remake of another film anyway . another really lazy  poorly produced action thriller from seagal  why do i even bother any more   
this was a superb episode  one of the best of both seasons . down right horror for a change  with a story that is way way above the average moh episodes  if there is such a thing . a man  s wife is almost burned to death in a tragic car wreck  in which he was driving . his airbag worked  her  s didn  t . she is burned beyond recognition  great makeup btw   and not given much of a chance to live without a full skin graft . but  even in a coma  she keeps dying but brought back by modern technology  and when she does die for a few minutes  her ghost appears as a very vengeful spirit . carnage of course ensues  and also some extremely gory killings  and also  some extremely sexy scenes . what more could you ask for  you might ask  well  not much  because this baby has it all  and a very satirical ending  that should leave a smile on most viewers faces . i just loved rob schmidt  s  wrong turn  direction too  he has a great knack for horror . excellent episode  this is one i  m buying for sure .  
flight of fury takes the mantle of being the very worst steven seagal flick i  ve ever seen . . . up to now .  br    br   it  s a dreadful bore with no action scenes of any interest  seagal isn  t really trying in this  he  s fat and his voice is dubbed once more .  br    br   the co  stars fare no better  being a rather sorry load of  rd raters .  br    br   the direction by keusch is very poor and it comes as no surprise that he  s also responsible for another couple of seagal stinkers  shadow man  attack force  the screenplay co  written by seagal himself is laughably inept .  br    br   according to imdb    m was spent on this boring load of old tosh  if these figures are correct i sense a big tax fiddle as nowhere near that amount was spent .  br    br   flight of fury is actually a shot for shot remake of the michael dudikoff flick black thunder  which has to be better than this tripe .  br    br   this has no redeeming qualities whatsoever  give it a miss      out of   
but the fun is in the journey .  br    br   i found this movie to be extremely enjoyable  not only are both leads extremely easy on the eyes  the humor from the supporting cast and the jokes actually made me laugh out loud several times .  br    br   yes  it  s predictable  and yes  it  s a clich romantic comedy . but the point is that it  s a sweet story  the message about finding your one true love also rings true in many ways .  br    br   the dialog is dead  on and the acting is well done on all parts  and over the top for comic effect . the bulgari scene is worth it  s weight in gold  the actress there deserves honorable mention  for those that panned it for being predictable  if you want a film with twists and turns that keep you guessing . . . then you want a thriller . this is a romantic comedy . . . it touched my heart and made me realize that i was lucky enough to find my true love in life  and it has been worth every effort along the way .  br    br   great date movie  great movie for a happy cry . . .  
as steven segal movies go this one is bottom of the barrel . his best was just fodder for bored teenagers . this one tips the scales  then falls off . the characters are all cardboard . the story is double lame . i can  t spoil it by telling you the ending . you already know how all steven segal movies end if you have seen one . here goes . he is a super  dooper government agent who know too much to turn loose so they decide  instead of killing him  to dope his brain until he don  t remember squat . he escapes  of course  gets arrested and is located by his old general who needs his one man in a million experience to get back a stealth plane that has been handed over to a terrorist gang in afghanastan by a rogue air force pilot who  surprise  surprise  segal trained . all the heroes  except segal  s character and his dusky girlfriend  die heroically and steve  baby save the whole world in one swell foop  or fell swoop . whatever . made with some surplus air force and navy flying film . and a lot of boom  booms . get some popeye cartoons instead .  
this is a really old fashion charming movie . the locations are great and the situation is one of those old time preston sturgess movies . fi you want to watch a movie that doesn  t demand much other then to sit back and relax then this is it . the acting is good  and i really liked michael rispoli . he was in rounders  too . and while you were sleeping . the rest of the cast is fun . it  s just what happens when two people about to get married meet the one that they really love on the weekend that they are planning their own weddings . i know . . . sounds kooky . . . but it is . and that  s what makes it fun to watch . it will make your girl friend either hug you or leave you  but at least you  ll know .  
steven seagal appears to be sleepwalking through a dreadful movie shot almost entirely in close  up to disguise the complete lack of budget and resources . to pick on the technical flaws  silver f  a    s and f    s take of from a carrier for an air  strike  and miraculously become camouflaged f    s for the actual strike  would give this movie more credibility than it deserves . suffice it to say that the most interesting thing in the movie is the credit titles which fade on and then disappear in a lightning wipe  which presumably is available to all users of final cut pro . putting all your creativity into your own credit puts michael keusch in the same category as marcel mandu .  
as we all know a romantic comedy is the genre with the ending already known . the two leads always have to get together . late in the third act i was trying to figure out how this will wrap up and how they will end up together . a clue was given right from the start  but you  ll never realize it until the end . it  s a simple hook  but it works . it had to be you cover a lot of the usual ground  but takes a fresh spin when ever possible . i liked all the ny characters and i loved the locations . it  s a postcard of ny . also it was nice to watch a film and not find anything offensive in it . so  if you like a good old fashion romantic movie . . . then this is for you .  
  flight of fury  is a shockingly dire but worst of all boring action film  i don  t expect a lot from a seagal film  all i expect is to be moderately entertained for   or so minutes with some mindless action  unfortunately this doesn  t even achieve that low expectation  the action scenes are few and far between  the plot  which is totally irrelevant in these films  is needlessly complicated and confusing with huge plot holes throughout  the acting is truly abysmal  bordering on embarrassing with seagal and his whispering one expression performance being the best among the sorry lot of  rd raters  i find it hard to believe that anything close to    m was spent on this dire mess unless    m of that   was seagal  s salary  i somehow doubt it  the one moment of any interest to straight guys or gay girls is that out of seemingly nowhere two hot chicks end up in a lesbian sex scene of sorts complete with huge baps on display other than that  it  s mediocre stuff which is no different to many of the michael dudikoff b  movies i  ve endured  br    br        
does anyone know the exact quote about  time and love  by george ede aka  father fitzpatrick in the move  it had to be you  he was talking to charlie and annna in the church as they were leaving  if not i will have to rent the movie . this was a great movie . i also loved serendipity  great love story for the soul   br    br   i met my one true love  my soulmate  and although i had the experience to meet him when i had least expecting it  i wasn  t ready for that kind of emotional relationship .  br    br   altho  we did marry  i wasn  t mature enough to give as much as i thought i would . i got complacent and took his love for granted and he withstood it for  years .  br    br   he finally left with resentment but we are still hurt and angry  in disbelief about the way it turned out . i had some very hard lessons to learn and we have now been apart  years .  br    br   this movie meant a lot because i am still waiting on reconciling with my one and only true love . i can now appreciate that distinct feeling inside of me and the quote of father fitzpatrick rang true for me .  br    br   i know when he has healed enough to trust me again  we will remarry .  br    br   don  t ever get complacent and take true love for granted  it has been the hardest lesson of my life .  br    br   also the music in this movie is outstanding and meaningful  this movie is deep and spiritually uplifting . true love is worth waiting for  if it is meant to be  it will  no matter what  it will happen  nothing is impossible  even when it  s the second time around  thanks   
i usually don  t comment anything  i read the others opinions  . . . but this  this one i  have  to comment . . . i was convinced do watch this movie by worlds like action  f     and other hi  tech stuff  but by only few first minutes and i changed my mind . . . lousy acting  lousy script and a big science fiction .  br    br   it  s one of the worst movies i have ever seen . . .  br    br   simply . . . don  t bother . . .  br    br   and one more thing  before any movie i usually check user comments and rating on this site . . .  .  points and i give this movie a try  now i  m wondering who rate this movie by giving it more than  points            
i  d have given this film a few stars  simply because it was a  lifetime  presentation actually filmed in the location represented in the story  here  new york city . most on this channel  whether  set  there  in rural iowa  oregon  virginia  l . a . etc .  are filmed in vancouver  ottawa  toronto or some other canadian locale .  br    br   but if there ever were one deserving the top rating     on this site  it  s this movie . certainly not for originality  for this story has been done many times  in many variations  with several very similar to this specific one . it  s also been done pretty often on the big screen  with mega  stars  past and present  from cary grant  james garner  harrison ford  tom hanks  et al  and deborah kerr  doris day  meg ryan  and many more . i can think of at least      more  just as prominent  past to present  off the top of my head  who could be added now  and there are probably many others which could be brought to mind .  br    br   not to drone on  but my point is that  in my opinion  this is by far one of the best of this genre i  ve seen . i caught it by chance on a mid  day friday  at a time when i had the tv on only because i was taking a couple of hours following a particularly hectic week . i  d never run across this flick in the  years since it was made . and  while the two leads have done enough to be known to most  they were completely unknown to me . the only two actors i knew were phyllis newman  anna  s mother  whom i  d seen in some things from her younger days  and michael rispoli  henry  charlie  s best friend  who was outstanding as  gramma   the menacing juice loan  tough  street guy from  rounders .   br    br   the chance meeting and coupling between both leads  best friends  as a sub  story romance  with the correlation of their being such to anna and charlie being only revealed to all later  is an oft  done plot contrivance within the genre  but makes no difference to the enjoyment here  in fact  it enhances it  .  br    br   checking some other comments  i agree completely with those which are the most positive . the primary word describing this film is engaging  in caps . this adjective describes the performers the characters the chemistry between and among all of the characters  in whatever combination presented  and all of the supporting and even minor roles .  br    br   i love films with a  harder edge   rounders  the escapist schwarzenegger  stallone fare  goodfellows  even the classics like  casablanca    gone with the wind    citizen kane .  but for pure  uncomplicated enjoyment  this one was outstanding . with a bare fraction of their budgets  it was equal to the results achieved by  you  ve got mail  and  sleepless in seattle .  and tom hanks and meg ryan couldn  t have done better than natasha henstridge and michael vartan here the co  stars and support personnel here were equivalent to those in these mega  films  as well .  
following the appalling attack force  chances were that seagal could only have a step up with flight of fury . to out  stink attack force would take some doing . flight of fury is a marked improvement overall  but still in the grand scheme of thinks  mediocre . mediocrity is seemingly an achievement for seagal these days  a sad insight into his movie career  s decline . where attack force was a hodge  podge of plot lines altered drastically from conception  to filming  to post production  flight of fury keeps the plot line more simple . someone steals a high  tech stealth fighter  planning to use it to fire chemical weapons  which we later  bizarrely discover  will destroy the whole world in   hrs  . seagal has to get the plane back . it  s that simple  no annoying sub  plots  and conspiracies weighing the film down like far too many of his recent works . that  s not to suddenly say the storytelling is good though  it  s pretty poor . the introduction to side characters is badly done for example .  br    br   in filmic terms fof is bad . it  s badly acted by all involved  and seagal looks bored to tears almost . he  s just got the look of a toddler who  s been forced to perform the school nativity against his will  and so performs with a constant grimace and air of half assedness . can we blame seagal though when the material is so un  ambitious and cruddy  not really . this is the final film of his castel studio  s  multi  picture deal . the producers can  t be bothered to make anything remotely good  promising a   or so million dollar budget  and  after seagal  s obligatory  million  probably pocketing a nice hefty chunk of it themselves  if the film was made for the remaining  million  then i  m elvis pressley   . so in that respect why should seagal put the effort into a film that  s already got distribution sorted before it  s made . fan  s though may argue  he at least owes them the effort . he  s seriously looking jaded  and the continued use of stand ins and dub  overs is further indication of this . michael keusch directs with some efficiency  while the cinematography is quite good  but in all technical areas  and as usual with castel  a bog standard stunt team  there  s nothing more than mediocrity  and nothing to help the film rise above its material  and bored leading man . again there  s a few action scenes focusing on characters other than seagal  which in all truth we don  t want to see .  br    br   overall the action isn  t too bad . it  s nice and violent  and on occasion we  re treated to a few vintage nasty seagal beatings  but overall nothing special . partly due to a poor stunt crew  and the lack of time to film anything too complex or exciting . for me  shadow man was a more enjoyable film  because while ignoring the incoherent  jumbled  plot line  there were more vintage seagal moments  and more of him in centre stage . he never disappeared for long periods during the film . seagal disappears bizarrely during one action scene here  and re  appears after  with little explanation . there  s far too much stock footage used . using stock shots isn  t an entirely horrendous thing  but using it as a crutch is . we  re treated to countless establishing shots of naval ships  all the time  which get annoying . plus the continuity of the stock footage is all over the place  just check the backdrops  chopping and changing  .  br    br   the film is just middle of the road . it says it all that the films best scene is a completely needless  and gratuitous girl on girl scene  with two hot chicks . seagal even perks up briefly then too  overall this may be one of the better stock footage based actioners out there  but that  s not saying much at all . this will please many fans  but they should bear in mind  seagal himself would probably want to forget this one  s existence .   
a sweet funny story of  people crossing paths as they prepare for their weddings . the ex  cop writer and the public school teacher fall for each other in this great new york setting  even though they are marrying other people . maybe a little trite in that the  partners  are both type a personalities  while our protagonists are much more relaxed . not anything heavy  but it made me smile . and hey for the guys  sell the natasha henstridge angle  and the gals  sell them the sappy romance  everyone wins   
i can  t believe that steven segal  s career has hit so low that he has been reduced to making  th rate films with  th rate secondary actors . i watched this moving expecting to see him beet the crap out of some people the way he usually does . when he is reduced to using a single judo chop between the shoulder blades to take out an opponent and the guy falls like a ton of bricks something is wrong .  br    br   the plot is unbelievable as a movie  and even if you excuse the visuals  and had read this story as a novel  you  d be left wondering why you had even picked up the book .  br    br   steven segal goes through the motions and seems as if he is only doing this because he is under obligation . he shows no effort and no enthusiasm  and in some scenes he doesn  t show up at all .  br    br   i hate to repeat other peoples comments  but the use of stock footage for cut scenes and for visuals of the aircrafts in flight is pathetic . the condition of those scenes chopped in  is shaky and scenes themselves seemed to have deteriorated over time . the zappruder film showing president john f kennedy being assassinated is steadier and cleaner .  br    br   my honest opinion is to tell you not to waste your time seeing this movie  it is not up to the standards of his work in the glimmer man or exit wounds . i read one review that said the movie had a   million dollar budget  segal being paid  of that  and that the movie still came in under budget . i must concur .  br    br   it is no wonder that this is a direct to dvd movie  as no conscientious theatre owner would play this movie .  
it  s amazing that from a good  though not wonderful  film made back in the early nineties  a whole franchise can grow .  stargate sg   is  without a doubt  a worthy addition to the science fiction genre and has the right to stand shoulder  to  shoulder with  star trek  as the kings of sci  fi .  br    br   following on from the     feature film  stargate   this series sees stargate command  a military  science organisation  figuring out that the stargate system can be used to travel to various planets across the galaxy and beyond and the military sets up a number of teams to explore . sg  is one such team  headed by military veteran colonel jack o  neill  and includes archaeologist doctor daniel jackson  military scientist captain samantha carter and alien teal  c  who has betrayed his overlord leaders in the hopes of one day freeing his people . earth quickly makes an enemy of the goa  uld  a parasitic race who use humans as hosts and think themselves equal to gods .  br    br   the top  notch cast have much to be congratulated for in bringing this show to life . richard dean anderson is perfect as the cynical and sarcastic o  neill  who can shift from boyish to deadly in the blink of an eye . michael shanks  as daniel  brings heart and an will of steel to the character  who has grown from wide  eyed innocence to darker and more hard  bitten as the show has progressed . amanda tapping  as carter  has perfected the balance between depicting her character  s femininity without comprising the fact she is a strong  intelligent military scientist . christopher judge is excellent as the aloof teal  c  who is able to depict the character  s emotions with subtlety . and don s davis is perfect as the esteemed general hammond who leads with a good balance of fairness and firmness .  br    br   almost all the episodes are are involving and portrayed with intelligence  reflecting on moral dilemmas as well as the friction between military interests and civilian beliefs  often shown through arguments between o  neill and jackson  . guest characters are solidly depicted and story arcs are handled in a manner that doesn  t bore viewers . sg  also excels in humour  from o  neill  s wisecracks to episodes that are just wacky and odd  sg  has everything from action to drama to romance to suspense to the heartbreaking scenes of death . it isn  t just an excellent sci  fi show but is an excellent show  overall .  
timberlake  s performance almost made attack the screen . it wasn  t all bad  i just think the reporters role was wrong for him .  br    br   ll cool j played the typical rapper role  toughest  baddest guy around . i don  t think the cracked a smile in the whole movie  not even when proposed to his girlfriend .  br    br   morgan freeman pretty much carried the whole movie . he was has some funny scenes which are the high point of the movie .  br    br   kevin spacey wasn  t good or bad he was just  there  .  br    br   overall it  s a dull movie . bad plot . a lot of bad acting or wrong roles for actors .  
sure  this movie is sappy and sweet and full of clichs  but it  s entertaining  and that  s what i watch movies for . to be entertained . natasha henstridge is stunning  even with the short hair . her smile is radiant and her beauty can  t be disguised . as for michael vartan  i  m sure the women love him . the two of them seemed to really like eacb other in this film . i don  t understand the comments that there was no chemistry between them . i guess we see what we want to see .  br    br   olivia d  abo and michael rigoli were fun to watch  even if d  abo  s british accent did creep into her supposed bronx speech . to tell you the truth i hadn  t really noticed it until i read these comments  but i went back to the dvd and now her dialogue sounds more british than american to me  but she was ideal for her role with that one exception .  br    br   it  s a story of two nice people who are getting married to significant others  but who find their soul mates in one another . it may be an unlikely story  but who says movies are all supposed to play like documentaries  it is no more unrealistic than any of the dramas that are screened every hour on the tube . that  s why we watch them  to escape from the humdrum of daily living for a short time and enter the world of the characters on the screen . i thought these actors did a good job of it  but hey  i  m a sentimental guy who tears up easily . don  t get me wrong though  it has to be a sentimental scene  and this movie had plenty of those .  br    br   i give it     only because i  m saving my      for that yet unseen super magnificent movie that i know will come along some day . if you see it advertised as coming up on the movie channel or lifetime movies  or whatever  make a note to watch it . i think you  ll like it .  
humphrey bogart clearly did not want to be in this film  and be forced to play a part  mexican or he would have been suspended . believe me  he made the wrong choice  presumably  after the success of  dodge city   warners tried a follow  up with errol flynn and his usual list of buddies  like alan hale  guinn  big boy  williams  frank mc hugh and the ever  present john litel  but they made the huge mistake of trying to present miriam hopkins as a love interest for flynn v . randolph scott  and as a singer to really make things bad  because she proved one thing  and that is she cannot sing . the story was not too bad  but with bogie clearly miscast also  it turned out to be a poor western that was overlong  and on a low budget  but in fairness  color would not have helped .  
a beautiful postcard of new york . the thing i enjoyed most was being able to watch this with my whole family and not cringe waiting for a stupid toilet humor joke to appear . it never did . my teenagers liked it too . my son for natasha henstridge and my daughter for michael vartan . my wife and i commented that we could not remember the last time we could sit with the kids and all enjoy something . this film told a story that felt comfortable but not old or done . the ending came with a twist which we all liked too . if you are not just a cynical person and have are willing to let a story unfold then this is for you . as a guy it takes a lot to hold my interest when it comes to romantic movies and this one did . i recommend it and we need more of these films to watch .  
it has been said   a city on hill cannot hide itself  and virginia city  nevada  perched on the side of mt . davidson at     ft . west of tahoe  is a prime example  or in the context of the movie  should be . virginia city exploded in the american dream as a shower of gold and silver  suspiciously the same year the civil war began . it was the birthplace of the dean of american letters it was where a young reporter named samuel clemens began using the name  mark twain  and went on to become america  s most famous writer . it was also the birthplace of the great hearst fortune  and the launching pad of john mackay  who became the wealthiest man in america  the third wealthiest man in the world . hey  they should have made the movie about him  in the      s virginia city was the boomtown of all boomtowns  the home of the big bonanza  at one time the largest  metropolitan  area west of st . louis and east of san francisco . but virginia city  the movie  misses all that and is more about a hogwash north  south duello between the characters played by errol flynn and randolph scott . flynn is capt . kerry bradford  a union officer who is a pow in a concentration camp run by a mean confederate commander named capt . vance irby  played by scott . these two are always getting in each other  s way . bradford escapes and then tries to stop a shipment of gold bullion being  snuck  out of vc by who else other than . . . irby   hey  what  s he doing here    horrible . bogart plays a laughable mexican bandit who can  t decide who  s side he  s on . miriam hopkins plays a murky character named  julia hayne   obviously a historical lunge at the town  s first lady  julia bulette  who in real life a celebrated prostitute . she goes to washington and talks honest abe about saving bradford  not irby  from hanging and blah blah blah . go figure . they shoulda hung the writer . in  real life  twain reports that on the last day of the war  the setting sun caused the american flag atop mt . davidson to appear to the puzzled residents to be weirdly on fire  kind of like the movie . three days later they discovered that on that day the south capitulated . one interesting quirk in the film is how sidekicks alan hale and guin williams flick their pistols forward when they shoot  like they  re fishing  or trying to make the bullets go faster . not a bad idea for the movie . the same kind of goofiness is lathered over sap and corn throughout the movie . gosh  how could they miss the gold madness  profligate wealth  gun battles in the silver mines  mark twain getting run out of town and beat up after a showdown  the crooked railroad  the opera house fire  artemis ward  bulette  s huge funeral  the chinese tongs  the black saloons  the auction . .  all this high on a mountain surrounded by desert  the truth was unreal . did its fabulous wealth actually spark the great american holocaust  well  if you count this movie  it wouldn  t be the first debacle to come out of virginia city . it  s a disappointment for virginia city fans because it misses what made the town a  city of illusions   where it is said evil seeps out of the ground . . . okay  other than that it  s a fun movie . flynn and the gang are always great no matter what history they  re destroying . if flynn would just play his rotten self i  d double my rating .  
i have looked forward to seeing this since i first saw it listed in her work . finally found it yesterday        on lifetime movie channel .  br    br   jim larson  s comments about it being a  sweet funny story of  people crossing paths  were dead on . writers probably shouldn  t get a bonus  everyone else sro for making the movie .  br    br   anybody who appreciates a romantic movie should see it .  br    br   natasha  s screen presence is so warm and her smile so electric  to say nothing of her beauty  that anything she is in goes on my favorite list . her tv and print interviews that i have seen are just as refreshing and well worth looking for .  br    br   god bless her  her family and future endeavors .  br    br   this movie doesn  t seem to available in dvd or video yet  but i would be the first to buy it and i think others would too .  
being a fan of cheesy horror movies  i saw this in my video shop and thought i would give it a try . now that i  ve seen it i wish it upon no living soul on the planet . i get my movie rentals for free  and i feel that i didn  t get my moneys worth . i  ve seen some bad cheesy horror movies in my time  hell i  m a fan of them  but this was just an insult .  
i caught this film at a test screening . was very surprised to find a really sweet and fun story . well acted . natasha henstridge is the next julia roberts . the male lead was awsome . very funny film . takes place in the best locations in new york . made me want to go there . i just saw  you  ve got mail  i thought  it had to be you  was a much better story . fresher .  br    br   it was clean and great for whole family . i think it will do well . audience i saw it with loved it . a definite recommend   
slashers   outta  stars   br    br   not really a very good movie . . . but i did like the idea behind it . . . and the the filmmakers did make it look pretty good considering the tiny budget they had to work with . the movie is ostensibly an  episode  of a live japanese reality show that sends several contestants into a sealed off  danger zone  and has three costumed creeps sent after to them to kill them . the survivor  if there is one  wins fame and fortune . . . everyone else just winds up dead . the main drawback to this movie is that the acting is pretty bad . none of the  real  people seem real at all . the actors playing the killers are kind of fun . . . because they are portraying cheesy and over  the  top caricatures of popular modern horror movie types . . . and that  s exactly how they would be done if this was an actual show . the movie pretends to be done all in one take . . . there is one cameraman who follows the contestants around the  danger zone  and everything is seen from the point of view of his camera . . . but the lights keep flickering on and off constantly  to hide the  cuts  from one take to another  i would imagine  .  
this is the first michael vartan movie i  ve seen  i haven  t seen alias  and i was curious to see if the guy can act . he sure can and is likable in this movie . natasha henstridge is of course gorgeous but she is usually in more physical and action roles  so i found her very good and lovable in this different  sweet  role of a schoolteacher . some of the negative comments i read are true  the movie is full of clichs and the story doesn  t ring true at all . also  even though every character in the movie remarks how good they look together  i don  t think there is screen chemistry there . however  i enjoyed this movie . the locales are nice  the characters are likable and goodlooking and the supporting actors are pretty good . if you are expecting to see a great romance  this is not it . but if you want to see a pleasant innocent goodlooking movie with likable characters its very good .  
how can this movie have a  .  this movie was a piece of skunk st . first the actors were really bad i mean chainsaw charlie was so retarded . because in the very beginning when he pokes his head into the wooden hut  that happened to be about oh  quarter of an inch thick  that really cheap as flimsy piece of wood  and he did not even think he could cut threw it  second the person who did the set sucks as at supplying things for them to build with . the only good thing about this movie is the idea of this t . v . show . bottom line do not waste your hard earned cash on this hunk of st they call a movie .  br    br   rating  .   
i just can  t understand the negative comments about this film . yes it is a typical boy  meets  girl romance but it is done with such flair and polish that the time just flies by . henstridge  talk about winning the gene  pool lottery   is as magnetic and alluring as ever  who says the golden age of cinema is dead   and vartan holds his own .  br    br   there is simmering chemistry between the two leads the film is most alive when they share a scene  lots  it is done so well that you find yourself willing them to get together . . .  br    br   ignore the negative comments  if you are feeling a bit blue  watch this flick  you will feel so much better . if you are already happy  then you will be euphoric .  br    br    ps i am    male  from the uk and a hopeless romantic still searching for his princess . . .   
i have read several good reviews that have defended and critised the various aspects of this film . one thing i see  over and over  is annoyance with megan  the idealistic political scientist  trying to change the world . i loved her character . maybe  because i am a   year old political science student and i think i  m going to change the world too  so i relate to megan . besides  she  s cute . she  s no super model  but more of a cute girl next door .  br    br   ok  so she cried and screamed a lot . it  s very dramatic  and seems overdone  but doesn  t it fit her character  she goes on that show with the intention of sacrificing her life to prove a point . she thinks people who enjoy such a show are sick . i think she made her argument very well . of course  being a young naive girl  she is terrified of what she is about to face . i think her acting accurately portrays a young girl showing moral courage despite her overwhelming fear . furthermore  i think she maintained a certain dignity throughout the film despite the desperate situation she was in .  br    br   as for the movie in general  other than megan  it was pretty much what i expected . it had excellent gore scenes  by micro  budget standards . the plot maybe took a quick thought  hardly any contemplation . it  s basically just a dark humorist senseless slasher film  which the name implies . i love the sadism of the doctor . he kept ripping megan  s shirt off  not just for the cause of sleaze  though largely so   but also to torment her  before he kills her . the chainsaw hick was hilarious . for slasher film lovers  he was probably the best character .  br    br   i give this film  out of   . it had a good setting  almost no plot  and a mix of good and terrible acting . i would recommend it for a cheap thrill  but hardly a diamond in the rough that is micro  budget horror .  
this great movie has failed to register a higher rating than   why not  it is a great portrayal of the life of christ without the ruthless sensationalism of the passion of the christ . johnny cash did great things for god which amazingly are shunned and neglected in areas where they should matter most  like our churches . the film itself took less than a month to film as johnny felt the strong presence of god guiding him through it . great credit to everyone involved in this overwhelmingly sincere movie which will always be cherished by its fans . at least the billy graham crusade rated it highly enough to use it as a prime source of education for new christians . thanks fox for producing it . as walk the line proved that it was freakish that this man survived yet alone produced such an underrated masterpiece . movies are not canonized through popular vote as this production proves  in summary i believe that this film is one of the worlds great documentaries as it is forthright  honestly portrayed and a great witness to the christian faith   
its spelled s  l  a  s  h  e  r  s . i was happy when the main character flashed her boobs . that was pretty tight . before and after that the movie pretty much blows . the acting is like e  list and it  s shown well in the movie . not to mention it is so low budget that preacherman and chainsaw charlie are played by the same person . the whole movie looks like it was shot with a camcorder instead of half way decent film . the only other reason i liked the movie was because chainsaw charlie and doctor ripper were funny . they said many stupid things that made me laugh . other than that if you see this movie at blockbuster do everyone a favor hide it behind lawnmowerman  . anybody that thinks this movie is good should be mentally evaluated .  
this is an entertaining look at the gospel as presented by johnny cash  adorned in black  of course  who sings a lot and narrates a bit also . if you like johnny cash  this film is quite enjoyable . also note the blonde depiction of jesus in this work . . . just for fun  try to think of five jewish men who have blonde hair . . .  anyway  its a fun presentation of the greatest and most important story of all .  
slashers . . . . . well if you like horrors its definitely one to see  otherwise don  t even bother . it is completely obvious that this film has an extremely low budget  for instance it looks as if the entire film has been shot in a warehouse somewhere  and on numerous occasions you will see the mike boom shadow and the camera mans shadow  trust me you wont need to look for them . also try to ignore the cheesy actors  if thats what you call them   the basic outline is a few people decide to go on a game show where they have to survive a night in a big maze due to their being  killers on the loose and whoever live  s at the end gets rich . now there is something about this film that keeps you watching and rarely do you find that with a cheap budget horror these days  for example when i watched it i thought to my self i would  nt mind having a go at this game  especially for    .    .    . so anyway i would recommend you watch it and make up your own mind .  
johnny and june carter cash financed this film which is a traditional rendering of the gospel stories . the music is great  you get a real feel of what the world of jesus looked like  i  ve been there too   and june gets into the part of mary magdalene with a passion . cash  s narration is good too .  br    br   but . . . .  br    br    . the actor who played jesus was miscast .  . there is no edge to the story like cash puts in some of his faith based music .  . because it is uncompelling  i doubt we  ll see this ever widely distributed again .  br    br   i  d love to buy the cd .  br    br   tom paine texas  usa  
i couldn  t help but think of behind the mask the rise of leslie vernon  a massively more amazing film  when watching this because of the realistic feel to it as well as the great innovative idea . this could have been a great film . the acting is . . . from some of the actors alright . from others . . . it  s downright horrible .  br    br   that aside the idea is great and the format is great . the story is pretty good as well  though suffering often from big blows to the logical mind .  br    br   nevermind that though right  it is a horror movie after all .  br    br   i really want to see this remade . . . i really want it to be the fantastic film that it wants to be .  br    br   however  and you can  t really fault the minds behind the movie for this  this is obviously built upon a shoe string budget . and the fx really hurt the film overall .  br    br   great movie . . . . if you were to swap out for some better acting and slightly better fx .  br    br   whoever wrote it should keep going though  great idea here .  
there are few films or movies i consider favorites over the years . the gospel road was one of them . i watched this as a young teen and would like the opportunity to watch it again . my favorite parts were the fact that  br    br     jesus was blond   br    br     the last supper was a huge meal   br    br     he liked playing with the children   br    br     his death was for all people and for all time .  br    br   the movie may not have been theologically sound or high quality acting  but it touched my heart at that time . besides i am a johnny cash fan and it was a brave venture . if it ever comes out on dvd  i will purchase it purely for sentimental reasons .  
more wide  eyed  hysterical   s hyper  cheerfulness that gives new meaning to anti  social  pathological behaviour . danza and grayson will leave you begging for mercy .  br    br   it  s a shame that all the people involved in the making of this movie are now dead  or in nursing homes  . i kinda thought about suing them for torture . as this movie started unleashing its shamelessly aggressive operatic assault onto my poor  defenseless ear  drums  i felt instant  strong pain envelop my entire being . that damn muscular vibrato can shatter soviet tanks into tiny bits  nevermind glass .  br    br    why didn  t you switch the channel if you didn  t like it    you might ask angrily . fair point  fair point . . . the answer is that i wanted to  but the pain was so sudden and excruciating that i fell to the floor  writhing in agony . with my last ounces of energy  i tried to reach the remote but couldn  t .  br    br   a silly little fisherman with the questionable talent of singing with an annoying opera voice is discovered by niven  who then proceeds to  pigmalionize  him . lanza is in love with asymmetrical grayson  but she predictably treats him with contempt until they finally hook up . this may seem like a rather thin plot  but this noisy movie is so chock  full of singing and music that there is barely any dialogue at all . this movie is relentless . forget about torturing hippies and war prisoners with slayer  s  reign in blood   as in a south park episode  . whatever little conversation there is amongst the silly adults that infest this strange   s musical world  it  s all infantile  as if they were all  year  olds impersonating grown  ups . i can only envy people who find movies like this funny . it must be great being easy  to  please what a world of wonder would open up to me if only i could enjoy any silly old gag as hilarious  gut  busting comedy .  br    br   but let  s examine this phenomenon  the   s musical . my best guess is that   s musicals offered the more day  dreaming idealists among us a glimpse into utopia or heaven  depending on whether you  re church  going or lenin  s  tomb  going   or at least very cheesy version of these fantasy  inspired places . ttono is more akin to a representation of hell  but that  s just me . i don  t seem to  get  musicals . people talk  there is a story  but then all  of  a  sudden everyone starts singing for about  minutes after which they abruptly calm down and then pretend as if nothing unusual happened  when you think about it  musicals are stranger than any science  fiction film .  br    br   worse yet  ttono  my favourite type of pizza  btw  is not just a   s musical  but one with opera squealing . opera is proof that there is such a thing as over  training a voice  to the point where it becomes an ear  piercing weapon rather than a means of bringing the listener pleasure . the clearest example of this travesty is when lanza and grayson unite their dark side vocal powers for a truly unbearable duet . i tried lowering the volume . i lowered it from   to   . then from   to   . then  . i ended up lowering it to a   which is usually so low that it  s only heard by specially  trained dogs and certain types of marsupials  and yet i still could hear those two braying like donkeys   br    br   take the scene in the small boat in the river . danza starts off with one of his deafening  brain  killing tunes  and then . . . nothing . no animals anywhere to be seen . even the crocodiles  who are mostly deaf  have all but left . if you look carefully  you might even see the trees change colour  from green to yellow  in a matter of minutes . no  this was not a continuity error  it was plain old torture of the flora . and those trees were just matte paintings  imagine how real trees would have reacted .  br    br   the reason glass breaks when a high c is belched out of the overweight belly of an operatic screamer is not due to any laws of physics relating to waves and frequency  but because glass is only human  hence can take only so much pain before committing suicide through spontaneous self  explosion . i can listen to the loudest  least friendly death metal band for hours  but give me just a minute of a soprano and i get a splitting headache .  
i wait for each new episode  each re  run with anticipation  the new look of sci  fi created by stargate sg   is a wonder that i hope will never end . to combine the past with the future is a new twist that is fascinating to me . season   should be a thrill in itself . i wish that richard dean anderson would show up more often in the new season  as i love his dry wit as much as his temper tantrums in his character as jack o  neill . the other characters add their own uniqueness to the show that makes it a winner  season after season . you cancel this program in the next three years  and you make a serious mistake . also  you need a bigger role for the asgard  they are just too cool .  
pathetic . . . worse than a bad made  for  tv movie . i can  t believe that spacey and freeman were in this flick . for some reason morgan freeman  s character is constantly talking about and saying  pussy  when referring to nsync boy  s girlfriend . morgan freeman calling women  pussy  is just awkward . . . what the hell were the people behind this film thinking  too many plot holes to imagine combined with the horrid acting  confusing camera angles  a lame script and cheap background music made this movie absolutely unbearable .  br    br   i rented this flop with low expectations . . . . but . . . well . . . it really sucked .  
i went into this film thinking it would be a crappy b  rated movie . i came out surprised and very amused . eva was good  but lake bell stole the show . she had amazing comedic timing . the jokes in this film were surprisingly original and really funny with one or two flat jokes in between . the plot was enough to tie it all together  a woman  eva  dies on her wedding day and comes back to haunt the woman that is going out with her was  to  be husband  its sounds far  fetched but it actually works quite well .  br    br        overall its a worthwhile cinema watch  if not get it on dvd when it comes out .  
a typical lanza flick that had limited audience appeal with a weak story line that was put together simply to justify lanza  s mgm contract at the time .  br    br   as reported by member lastliberal  above  grayson could not stand lanza because of his obscene advances towards her off  and sometimes on  camera . in addition  his gutter mannerism and the continual smell of alcohol in her face during scenes they did together were intolerable . after doing their second  and last  film together   toast of new orleans   the normally quiet grayson stormed into louie b . mayer  s office and told him in no uncertain words that she would never work with lanza again  period . mayer felt that grayson was much more valuable to mgm then lanza  so grayson  s statement stuck . grayson went on to star in a number of widely received  and far more profitable  musicals with howard keel and others . later in life when asked to compare lanza and keel her reply was that there was no comparison between them  and that keel was great to work with and had much more appeal to the  real people  in the audiences .  
i took a flyer in renting this movie but i gotta say  it was very  very good . on all fronts script  cast  director  photography  and high production values  etc . proves eva longoria parker is head and shoulders in rom  com above bad actors such as kate hudson and jennifer aniston  who mug and call it acting . who  da thunk it   br    br   parker and isla fisher are in a class by themselves in this regard and should try to hold out for projects as good as  over her dead body .  lake bell is excellent  too  and this is the first time i have seen her . and finally  paul rudd gets to shine in a really good movie  instead of lesser films .  br    br   a movie like this never gets its dues from close  minded males . it  s too bad . as other imdb reviewers here have noted  there is nothing lame about this gem   no hack writing or acting .  br    br   and its depiction of contemporary l . a . and california  in general  makes every scene look bright  beautiful  clean  and otherwise outstanding in every way . never before has a movie made l . a . look so good . ah  what a little talent and a lot of caring can do for a movie .  br    br   i won  t divulge the plot  but as a long  time and hard  core atheist  i was willing to suspend disbelief and buy into the supernatural theme in order to enjoy an excellent and light  hearted piece of entertainment . it reminds me very much of the old  topper  movies  which were also so enjoyable .  br    br   this movie exposes popular  but otherwise hackneyed  movies like  ghost  for the mediocre and overly sentimental crap fests they are . we already know the public taste leans heavily toward the mediocre . some of us save our praise for the truly worthy  however .  br    br   if you have enjoyed other overlooked gems such as  into the night  with michelle pfeiffer  jeff goldblum and clu gulager   blind date  with bruce willis and kim basinger   american dreamer  with jobeth williams   chances are  with robert downey jr .  christopher mcdonald and cybil sheppard   making mr . right  with john malkovich  etc .  you  ll enjoy this .  br    br   a first  rate job all around  even if it  s kinda hard to believe a straight guy can pretend to be gay for more than five years .  but even that plot device doesn  t detract from the movie  s overall excellence .  
i really didn  t expect much from this film seeing as it has people from parkersburg wv  which is were i live  acting in it . this town is dull and so is this film . there were a few decent scened in the movie but i was distracted by all the crappy landmarks they made a point to show . this movie may have been good if there was actual acting in it but there wasn  t any . unless you are from parkersburg and are interested in seeing what you see everyday  then stay away from this movie . the dialog will put you to sleep  the acting will bore you to tears and steven soderberg should lose some credibility after shooting crap like this . its a predictable movie with no surprises . what you see is what you get and that is a   minute tour of parkersburg west virginia and belpre ohio without a narrator .  
ah  i loved this movie . i think it had it all . it made me laugh out loud over a dozen of times . yes  i am a girl  so i  m writing this from a girl  s perspective . i think it  s a shame it only scored  .  in rating . too many guys voting  it was far above other romantic comedies . just because i  m female i don  t enjoy all chic flicks  on the contrary i prefer other genres . romantic comedies tend to be shallow and not as funny as they meant to be . but like i said  this movie had it all  almost  in my opinion . great script  good one  liners  fine acting . although eva longoria parker  s character reminded very much of gabrielle from desperate housewives  but so what  it was awesome . i will keep this film for rainy days  days when i feel low and need a few laughs .  
this film was recommended to me by a friend who lives in california . she thought it was wonderful because it was so real   just the way people in the ohio valley are   i  m from the area and i experienced the film as  just the way people in california think we are   i  ve lived in marietta and parkersburg and worked minimum wage jobs there . we laughed a lot  we bonded with and took breaks with people our own age the young people went out together at night . the older people had little free time after work because they were taking care of their families . the area is beautiful in the summer and no gloomier in the winter rain than anywhere else .  br    br   aside from the  if you live in a manufactured home you must be depressed  condescension  the story lacked any elements of charm  mystery or even a sense of dread .  br    br   martha  s character was the worst drawn . it  s doubtful that anyone so repressed would have belonged to a church  but if she had  she probably would have made friends there . i  ve read reviews that seem to assume martha was jealous of rose because rose was  younger  prettier and thinner  but if this is the case it isn  t shown . all we actually see is martha learning to dislike rose for reasons that would apply just as much if the three friends had been the same age and gender . we see martha feeling left out during smoking sessions  left out of the loop when social plans are made  used but not appreciated  and finally disrespected and hurt .  br    br   just one more thing are we supposed to suspect kyle of murder because he had once had a few panic attacks  please . this takes stigma against mental illness to a new level .  
this had a good story . . . it had a nice pace and all characters are developed cool .  br    br   i  ve watched a whole bunch of movies in the last two weeks and this had to be the best one i  ve seen in the two weeks .  br    br   jason bigg  s character was the best though .  br    br   even though it was small  it was cleverly crafted from the very beginning .  br    br   this may be a romantic comedy and i don  t like most  but the writing  direction  performing  sound  design overall in all capacity just was really thought out pretty cool .  br    br   this film scored pretty high out of all the movie  s i  ve seen lately  and the rest were big budget or better publicized .  br    br   good job in writing .  
when thinking of the revelation that the main character in  bubble  comes to at films end  i am reminded of last years  machinist  with christian bale . the only difference between the two films is the literal physical weight of the characters .  br    br   an understated  yet entirely realistic portrayal of small town life . the title is cause for contemplation . perhaps  we  the audience are the ones in the  bubble  as we are given no payoffs in the films slim   minute running time . audience reactions were often smug and judgmental  clearly indicating how detached people can be from seeing any thread of humanity in characters so foreign to themselves . these characters are the ones people refer to as those that put george w . back in office for a second term .  br    br   it  s sobering to consider how reality television has spoiled our sense of reality when watching an audience jump to their feet for the exit as soon as the credits role . this film has it  s merits  and is deserving of consideration for the things it doesn  t say outright .  
this is a great film .  br    br   i agreed to watch a chick flick and some how ended up with this . i had never heard of it or anyone in it  excpet mike from friends  .  br    br   but it is great  eva  lake and paul give amazing performances . the humour is consistently dry and witty .  br    br   paul rudd pretty much plays the mike character from friends  which works great  . the other characters are stereotypes and the plot is formulaic  i mean we are not talking  apocalypse now  here  but the characters are likable  the story is engaging  the soundtrack  production and direction all work well .  br    br   in all a great feel  good film that really deserves a lot more credit than it gets .  br    br   everyone has their own tastes but i really don  t understand the one star reviews for this .  
i just saw this at the venice film festival  and can  t quite decide about it . we were never allowed to get close enough to any of the characters to care about them . maybe that was the point  that we are all in a  bubble  of our own  but these people didn  t compel me to be concerned about them or shocked at their various fates . at a running time of just over an hour  the characters weren  t very well developed . lots of time was devoted to shots of factory equipment  forklifts  conveyor belts  shovels   and the slightly  creepy  looking baby dolls with surprisingly lifelike eyes  that most of the characters made for a living  were somehow more interesting than the live people . an interesting experiment  but somehow it never quite came together .  
actually my vote is a  .  . anyway  the movie was good  it has those funny parts that make it deserve to see it  don  t misunderstand me  is not the funniest movie of the world  and its not even original because its a idea that we have seen before in other movies  but this one has its own taste  a friend of mine told me that this was a film for boyfriends . . . i think that not exactly but who cares  also there is another movie that show us almost the same topic  chris rock appears in it  the name is down to earth  men  that one its a very funny movie  see both if you want and i know that you will agree that mr . rock won with his movie . i would liked that the protagonist male character were given to ashton kutcher  however  the film is good .  
san francisco is a big city with great acting credits . in this one  the filmmakers made no attempt to use the city . they didn  t even manage the most basic of realistic details . so i would not recommend it to anyone on the basis of being a san francisco movie . you will not be thinking  oh  i  ve been there   you will be thinking  how did a two story firetrap  stinky armpit turn into a quiet hotel lobby   some of the leads used east coast speech styles and affectations . it detracts  but the acting was always competent .  br    br   the stories seemed to be shot in three distinct styles  at least in the beginning . the chinatown story was the most effective and interesting . the plot is weak  ripped scene for scene from classy hong kong action movies . the originals had a lot more tension and emotional resonance  they were framed and paced better . but the acting is fun and we get to see james hong and other luminaries .  br    br   the white boy intro was pointless . i think the filmmakers didn  t know what to do with it  so they left it loosely structured and cut it down . the father is an odd attempt at a berkeley liberal  really  folks  everyone knows it  s not  groovy  to live in the ghetto  but his segments are the most humorous . they threw away some good opportunities . educated and embittered on the west coast  a yuppie jerk here is a different kind of yuppie jerk than they make in new york . they are equally intolerable but always distinguishable . that would have been interesting this was not .  br    br   the hunter  s point intro was the most disappointing . it was the most derivative of the three  and stylistically the most distant from san francisco . you  ve seen it done before and you  ve seen it done better . even the video game was better   br    br   despite the generic non  locality and aimless script  these characters have potential  the actors have talent  and something interesting starts to force its way around the clumsy direction . . . about ten minutes before the ending . good concept placed in the wrong hands .  br    br   ps  there is a missing minority here  see if you can guess which one .  
i watched this on an  hour flight and  presumably because of the pressure and the altitude  i actually found it mildly entertaining  emphasis on the  mild   .  br    br   the actual idea behind the film was brilliant a woman dies  her fianc falls in love with someone else  she decided to make sure they don  t get together  but eventually she lets them do it . sadly the actual film wasn  t as good . ok  there were a few laughs and the actors all worked well . but from the beginning the plot was about as predictable as the destination of the flight i was on . i think the whole gay  but  not  gay friend part of the story could have been worked a lot better . the talking parrot was a nice idea but to be honest it wasn  t really very funny .  br    br   in summary the film was more interesting than staring at the seat in front of me  but it was a close call .  
if he wanted to be accurate  he should have chosen some frisco natives and not a bunch of ny actors who know nothing about the sucka free  not sucker free  . i  ve lived in sf my entire life  and folks here do not talk or act the way these actors did . everything was over  dramatized  and the only cat i saw from the bay was jt the bigga figga with his little cameo as a rapper . no shock that he was the only one in the film who really dressed like cats out here  ie his warriors jersey  . not once did i notice anyone wearing any giants or  ers gear instead he fitted them in some cheesy made  up sf or oakland jerseys that aren  t even sold around here . hp has no bowling alleys  black and asian gangbangers do not wear head or wristbands with the colors of africa or china  s olympic team  nor does every chinese gangster wear a yao ming jersey and try and sound black while shooting hoops . further  while there now is a significant yuppie community that has invaded the mission  all that was shown was some white dude and a self  proclaimed      west coast boriqua .  this is not new york  puerto ricans here are few and far between  and the latinos in the mission are very  very different from the one that was shown here  who was without a doubt from ny . also  hp is not the only black neighborhood in the city . an accurate depiction would have shown the drama between hp sets in their own hood as well as vs . fillmore  sunnydale  lakeview  etc .  br    br   this film could  ve been much better if lee had done some more homework and had a better storyline to work with .  
i wasn  t a fan of seeing this movie at all  but when my gf called me and said she had a free advanced screening pass i tagged along only for the sake of seeing eva longoria and laughing at jason biggs antics .  br    br   overall it was actually better then i expected but not by much . this was like a hybrid of how to lose a guy in   days and just like heaven . a typical romantic comedy with its moments i guess . the movie was quite short though  around   min .  but it was enough to tell the whole story  build some character development and have a decent happy ending . the whole idea of a ghost haunting its former husband was a interesting plot to follow . eva did a good job of keeping up the sarcasm and paul rudd and the rest of the supporting cast  especially jason biggs  kept the laughs coming at a smooth pace .  br    br   overall i liked the movie only because it had a good amount of laughs to keep me going otherwise i would have given this movie a lower rating . hey its a chick flick and i  m reviewing this movie from a guy  s persepctive alright  it would be more of a fair fight if females reviewied this movie and gave there thoughts about it .  
this tv movie goes to show that bad films do exist . the only reason i saw this was it was covered on a ktma mst  k . it  s super bowl at the superdome in new orleans . however  no football is played whatsoever and we see the behind the scenes look at basically nothing . with the many stars in this film  it made no difference . i really don  t know why i watched this .  
look it  s eva longoria and paul rudd in a movie about a dead girlfriend haunting the new girlfriend . it  s gabrielle from desperate housewives and the guy who wore  sex panther cologne  in anchorman . if you are expecting a golden globe nominated movie then you need to rethink how you look at movies . however  if you are willing to suspend reality for   minutes and want to watch a funny movie then you  ve come to the right place . the characters are all funny . they work together very well . the real match up is paul rudd and lake bell . he  s as funny as he was on friends and she was funny and good looking all at the same time . i went with my wife  she enjoyed it and so did i .  
superdome is one of those movies that makes you wonder why it was made . the whole plot concerns someone trying to sabotage the superbowl  and all the attempts made to stop them . how tom selleck and donna mills  careers managed to survive this is beyond me . however  the most frustrating thing about it was there was no football in it at all  avoid this one if possible .  
over her dead body was a nice little movie . it was decent and entertaining  while still being pretty funny . there were a few clich  s  but i found most stuff fresh . at first i didn  t think it was going to be good at all  when it started out . if you can get past the first   minutes though  the movie starts getting more interesting . this film wasn  t burst out in laughter hilarious  and wasn  t oh my gosh wonderful . it was just a movie that you can sit down and enjoy for how enjoyable it was . i don  t see how this movie was bad . it  s rating is just a bit too low . i could  ve dealt with a  .   but a  .   also  giving this movie a  is disgraceful . it was pretty good  and there was nothing horrible enough about it to give it a   which is what most people gave it .  
it  s      and yes obviously there are too many black players on the teams as well  fans will be upset and certainly the       seats will be full  only less happy there are so many black players on the field  this made for tv super bowl movie is watchable . it  s not much more  but it  s really surprising the cast of talented actors that make an appearance  for the time   probably most notably tom selleck . unfortunately any goodness selleck brings to the screen  is quickly trumped by  actors  like dick butkus .  br    br   it  s a silly story about super bowl betting . pj jackson is charged by  new york   read mafia  for ensuring the game ends for their favor  in this case a            bet . pj is innocent enough  and seems to have a loose grasp by buying off a few people here and there . but things seem to fall apart for him . another person  the unsuspected lainie  takes charge . for a while  the mystery of murders isn  t known for certain  but is revealed rather plainly at the final murder that lainie is the new antagonist .  br    br   it  s a bad movie  but is watchable . the acting is decent  and the filming is ok . at least there weren  t any silly typical   s car chases  they have their place just not here  . just keep an open mind about past stereotyping and the cocaine era and you  ll survive .  br    br        maybe a  .    
i would have given this otherwise terrific series a full   vote if claudia black had not continued on in it  her inclusion as the silly  vela  has brought the series down in my estimation . to bring her in as a regular at the same time as including ben browder to replace rda was a mistake .  br    br   unfortunately we were just reeling from the loss of  jack  and really didn  t need this great series turned into new episodes of  farscape  .  br    br   i was a great fan of the film  stargate  and when the series was first announced i had reservations that it could live up to the film  but after watching the first episode i have to admit i was hooked . i have always looked forward to new episodes with great anticipation  
the movie itself is not too bad many comments have pointed out the obvious flaws of the script  but it is watchable . what really gives me the creeps though is that people like justin timberlake even get cast for movies  and on top of that for movies like this one . i have to admit i had never heard the man  s name before watching this  but the very instant he appeared i was just plain annoyed . the voice is crap  the face is a bad rip  off of legolas  the posture is horrible  and he cannot even properly coordinate all three of them . said to say  i was delighted when he got jumped after leaving the disco  because i was hoping from then on it would be morgan freeman and kevin spacey only . too bad i was wrong . these two and also ll cool j give a very decent performance  and they are the main reason i give this a  .  br    br   i see many upcoming movies with the little timberlake cast . . . and cannot believe it .  
in complete contrast to the opinions of the other review  this film actually was surprisingly good  i reluctantly went to see it and expected to be bored by clichs  obvious jokes and overacting  all of which the trailer had promised .  br    br   however  after  minutes in i found myself genuinely laughing and enjoying the refreshing acting . with only one  toilet humour  gag  over her dead body manages to actually come up with realistically funny scenarios and  without spoiling anything too much  some of the moments involving animals are hilarious .  br    br   the staple ingredients of a good film are all there script  director and actors and compared some other recent attempts at romantic comedy  this film stands tall .  br    br   sure  you aren  t going to learn anything or have a spiritual awakening  but if you go with an open mind you will more than likely have a good time   
the championship game is only a couple of days away  but things in new orleans aren  t as they should be . from players with marital problems to drug overdoses to gambling problems to a killer on the loose  life is getting in the way of what should be a memorable  wonderful time . can things be put back into order and a killer stopped before the big game is ruined   br    br   despite what you might think when you first read about superdome  this is not a football movie . in fact football is nothing more than a plot device and an after thought . instead  superdome is another of those lousy soap opera  ish   s made  for  tv movies populated with hollywood has beens and those that never will be . the cast sleepwalks its way through the thing with no one really looking good . the best  or worst  example is van johnson in a very small role looking generally lost as to why he  s there . the plot is dull  uninteresting  and unbelievable . donna mills as a hit  man   yeah  right  it  s about as believable as the affair she has with the liquor soaked david jansen . the movie also lacks any pace . trying to get all four or five story lines into the film zaps whatever flow superdome might have had . with no drama or suspense in sight  superdome ends up being a very poor example of a   s made  for  tv movie . the lone highlight for me was the voice  over work from the late charlie jones  a sportscaster i miss listening to . the eloquent way he overstates the intrigue and over  hypes the atmosphere in new orleans is pure cheese at its finest .  br    br   like most others who have seen superdome  i also did so courtesy of mystery science theater     . it may be one of the ktma public access episodes  but it  s one of the best examples of the shows early start . so even though i  ve only rated superdome a      i  ll give this episode a generous    on my mst  k rating scale .  
once when i was in college and we had an international fair  the russian section had a soviet  era poster saying  ne boltay    meaning  don  t gossip   . i  translated  it for the  generation  of tv watchers as  don  t be gladys kravitz    in reference to the nosy neighbor on  bewitched   .  br    br   however  when you see the result of gossip in the pvt . snafu short  rumors   you see that it  s not quite a laughing matter . in this case  the perpetually witless soldier overhears something about bombing and immediately assumes that the axis powers have attacked the united states . so  he tells it to someone  who tells someone else  who tells someone else  and it continues . as in  the russians are coming  the russians are coming   the story gets blown more and more out of proportion each time  so that when it gets back to snafu . . . well  you know what i mean  yes  it  s mostly wwii propaganda  complete with a derogatory term for the japanese  but i have to say that the pvt . snafu shorts were actually quite funny . of course  since they had dr . seuss writing and mel blanc providing the voices  it  s no surprise that these came out rather cool . worth seeing .  
comparison with american graffiti is inevitable so save your money and time by renting that timeless classic . speaking of timeliness  there was an episode of cheers where norm and cliff competed on who can find the most anachronism in a movie . they would have loved this movie everything from some of the songs and some of the clothing were wrong . there were sly reference such as  they paved paradise to put up a parking lot  . the filmmakers hoped to elicit some smiles from us but basically made me groan .  br    br   the characters in this movie are incredibly politically and socially astute for teenagers . almost as smart as the people who were in their thirties and forties when they wrote the darn movie . very little of what the characters said were believable . combine the bad writing and bad acting this movie just totally fail . although  there were two exceptions kelli williams liven things up as the future flower child and  despite what another reviewer said  rick shroeder was quite good . showing that brooding characteristic that would come to full boil in his eventual appearance in  n . y . p . d . blues  .  
friz freleng  s  rumours  is an excellent private snafu cartoon that warns against spreading panic  inducing rumours during wartime . produced  as were all the snafu shorts  to be shown to military audiences as entertaining instructional films   rumours  is extremely imaginative and crams tons of ideas into its very brief lifespan . when snafu starts a rumour about a bombing  it escalates into an eventual rumour that america has lost the war . this is illustrated brilliantly by way of a long  rubbery piece of baloney and several strange  fictional creatures who come back to haunt snafu with ever more terrible news about his country  s military .  rumours  is inventive  fast paced and funny  all of which help to overshadow the rather laboured   don  t badmouth the military  message . it stands up as one of the best of the private snafu shorts .  
when i spotted that noah wyle and ricky schroder were in the same movie  i was like  score  i admit  i was eager to see the movie . and i have to say  the first fifteen minutes or so were nostalgic in a way . then it went all down hill . i didn  t expect it to be a dump of politically correct civil rights mumbo jumbo . they took every possible controversial topic and threw it into one stupid story . i was appalled that noah was involved in anything of the sort  especially his role . nobody with a fully functional brain would actually accept all that crap about the vietnam war . if anyone really wants to know how communism was like  sit down and read a book on it . and not one that praises it or is against it  just the cold hard facts .  br    br   i only watched a few scenes here and there only because i wanted to see ricky  s body  but that was all that interested me . everything else about this movie irritated me .  
rumors is a memorable entry in the wartime series of instructional cartoons starring  private snafu .  the films were aimed at servicemen and were directed  animated and scored by some of the top talent from warner bros .  termite terrace  including friz freleng  chuck jones  and carl stalling . the invaluable mel blanc supplied the voice for snafu  and the stories and rhyming narration for many of the films was supplied by theodor geisel  i . e . dr . seuss . the idea was to convey basic concepts with humor and vivid imagery  using the character of snafu as a perfect negative example he was the dope  the little twerp who would do everything you  re not supposed to do . according to chuck jones the scripts had to be approved by pentagon officials  but army brass also permitted the animators an unusual amount of freedom concerning language and bawdy jokes  certainly more than theatrical censorship of the time would allow   all for the greater good  of course .  br    br   as the title would indicate  this cartoon is an illustration of the damaging power of rumors . the setting is an army camp . private snafu sits next to another soldier in the latrine  something you won  t see in any other hollywood films of the era  and their casual conversation starts the ball rolling . we observe as an offhand remark about a bombing is misinterpreted  then exaggerated  then turned into an increasingly frightening rumor that sweeps the camp . the imagery is indeed vivid the brain of one anxious soldier is depicted as a percolating pot  while the fevered speech of another is rendered as steamy hot air  i . e  balloon juice .  a soldier  shoots his mouth off   cannon  style  and before you know it actual baloney is flying in every direction . winged baloney  at that . panicked soldiers tell each other that the brooklyn bridge has been pulverized  coney island wiped out  enemy troops have landed on the white house lawn  and the japanese are in california . the visuals become ever more surreal and nightmarish until at last the camp is quarantined for  rumor  itis  and private snafu has been locked up in a padded cell .  br    br   this is a highly effective piece of work . the filmmakers dramatized their theme with wit and startling energy  and the message is still a valid one . in recent years we  ve seen that catastrophic events  real or imagined  can breed all kinds of wild rumors that spread more rapidly than ever thanks to communication advances . because the technology has improved  the private snafus of our time are able to broadcast their own balloon juice via e  mail  cellphones and blogging . consequently  rumors is a rare example of a wartime educational film whose essential message doesn  t feel at all dated in fact it may be more timely than ever .  
no wonder most of the cast wished they never made this movie . it  s just plain ridiculous and embarrassing to watch . bad actors reading cheesy lines while shiny classic showroom cars continuously circle a diner that looks more like a disneyland attraction . students fist  fight with the deranged principal as he tries to stop them from setting fire to a bronze civil war statue . the watts riots with a cast of . . . ugh . . .     dermot mulroney tries not to gag while he makes out with a mary hartman look  alike with the most annoying smile since  mr . sardonicus  . noah wyle reads bob dylan lyrics to the wicked teacher with a swinging pointer and very bad face lift . drunken virgin rick schroder sits in a kiddie rocket on his last night before entering the service . silly  giggling school girls dress up in leopard stretch pants and walk on the set of  shindig   sing horribly off key  and actually make it big in the music business . and who wrote this compelling dialog    i  m going to burkley and wear flowers in my hair  . . . .  i think i found someone to buy stick  s woody   . . . .  these people are  animals     these people are my  family   as the shirelles sing  mama said  . oh brother  what a mess . this is like a  reefer madness  of the    s except it  s not even funny .  
this was another world war ii message to the soldiers and to the allies to be careful about spreading rumors . these were called  instructional  cartoons because it was a mixture of serious messages along with a funny  looking main character called  pvt . snafu .   br    br   all of us have imaginations  along with fears and what  have  you  and that  s what happens here as pvt . snafu incorrectly adds two and two to something he hears and comes up with  five .  you can start panics and all kinds of disasters if you spread enough rumors and enough people believe them . that includes losing confidence in your country and your cause  as pointed out here in this cartoon . a good way to lose a war is demoralize the enemy . that  s still being done today .  br    br    we lost the war   declares one big baloney near the end of this cartoon . amazing how some americans still haven  t learned . this cartoon may be   years old but it sure has relevance today . as i write this  there were two terrorist bombings in europe today and some people still think the  war on terror  is just a bumper sticker slogan . amazing .  br    br   the writer  the famous  dr . suess   uses analogies of  hot air balloon juice  here to present the above message . with theodore geisel  his real name  you know the rhymes will be clever .  br    br   nothing hilarious here  but it wasn  t meant to be . you have to understand the climate of     and the justified paranoia that was out there during world war ii . people forget that war could have easily wound up with the other side winning . it was a tense time  
i saw this back in    when it was finally released . apparently because orion pictures was in bankruptcy  i think  the movie had not been released a couple of years earlier .  br    br   i have problem remembering details partly because i haven  t seen it in a long time  but i do remember it as a very dull movie . i kept debating whether to walk out of it . the store was not at all interesting or engaging . was a  rd rate america graffiti imitation .  br    br   none of the performances make it worth watching either . one of the biggest disappointments since a local newspaper reviewer gave it a high rating .  
though structured totally different from the book by tim krabb who wrote the original  the vanishing   spoorloos  it does have the same overall feel  except for that koolhoven  s style is less business  like and more lyric . the beginning is great  the middle is fine  but the sting is in the end . a surprise emotional ending . as you could read in several magazines there is some sex in the film  but it is done all very beautifully . never explicit  but with lots of warmth and sometimes even humour . it is a shame american films can  t be as open an honoust as this one . where dutch films tend to go just over the edge when it comes to this subject   de grot  stays always within the boundaries of good taste .  de grot  tells an amazing story stretched over more than   years . when you  ll leave the cinema you  ll be moved . what can we ask more of a film  anyway  this film even gives more . . . .  
couldn  t go to sleep the other night . so i got up  flipped on the tube  this movie was on .  br    br   film makers bit off more than they could chew . just as ambitious in scope as  forrest gump  was . but gump read like an fairy  tale where an extraordinarily lucky man guides us through the era . tgmb just relies on tired clichs to tell the story . almost like a broadway musical where actors have to ham it up . every character  s purpose was to fill a silly    s archetype .  br    br   take how we  re introduced to finnegan hugging his black maid  receiving a framed picture of mlk . criminey  talk about heavy  handed . why not just give him a t  shirt saying  i heart black people    br    br   sunshine  isn  t free love groovay  man  oh no  i didn  t have my period .   br    br   mary beth  i want to go to berkeley  not square ucla .  uh  excuse me  there was nothing square about la in the   s . rather than take the time to demonstrate what made berkeley unique  we just hear this brat whine about not going there .  br    br   can  t even remember the black kid  s name . he was just a prop used to show how racially tolerant the other kids are .  br    br   thing is  period pieces don  t have to be this cheesy . take  dazed  confused .  look how we  re introduced to the football hero  randall floyd . we don  t first see him on the football field . in fact  we never see him play football . we  re introduced to him in class  inviting his nerdish poker buddies to a party .  br    br   in  dazed  feminism isn  t a casual by  product of some chick getting knocked up . it  s much more organic  more serious than that . it  s refined in the ladies  room over a flip discussion about gilligan  s island . serious ideas can grow in the most mundane settings . but real life is like that .  br    br   some of the warm comments here note that the themes in this movie are still relevant . i agree  which is why i feel so disappointed by this piece of baby  boomer pornostalgia .  
tim krabbe is the praised author of  het gouden ei   a novel that was put on the screen twice   spoorloos  and  the vanishing   . one of the dutch writer  s more recent works is  de grot   a psychological thriller about two totally different men  egon and axel  who meet at a youth camp and  surprising enough  become friends for dear life . egon is a quiet  somewhat dull person  who spends his time studying and writing geography books . axel  on the other hand  is a charismatic  party  animal   a heavy drinking criminal whose everyday  s concern is to get a woman into his bedroom . from the moment they meet  axel has a strong influence on egon  while the latter envies him because he has a good life without really doing anything  such as reading thick books like egon   ultimately  egon is even dragged by egon into illegal practices himself  which leads to a fatal drug transport in a distant asian country .  br    br   after having read the book last year  i was surprised the critics were quite positive about it . in my opinion  the book suffers especially from the complex structure . while krabbe presents the story as an absorbing portrait of an uncommon relationship between two people  the plot becomes more of a puzzle the many episodes are not presented chronologically  so that two successive scenes are seldom in the same episode . because of this  the story feels surprisingly remote you often need to know a character  s background to really care for him or her . another complaint was the fact that the main characters  egon and axel  are a little stereotypical . egon is  the  dull intellectual  while axel is his exact opposite . in real life  such one  dimensional people rarely exist in books and films  they always seem to be there  taking away a lot of credibility .  br    br   despite all this  the film was a pleasant surprise  being much better than the book . the adaptation excels in its beautiful cinematography  humour and acting fedja van huet  egon  is one of the few dutch actors who can make you forget he is acting  which is  in my opinion  the highest an actor can achieve  . the drawbacks of the film  however  are the same as the book  s mainly because the characters are one  dimensional  they are so predictable that it becomes annoying . guess who wrote the script  indeed  krabbe himself . it is obvious that this talented director  that  s what the movie makes clear anyway  is hampered by a deficient screenplay . perhaps koolhoven should just have chosen a better book .  br    br        
major league back to the minors         br    br   starring scott bakula  eric bruskotter  corbin bernsen  dennis haysbert  jensen daggett  written and directed by john warren    minutes rated pg     for language and some violence   br    br   by blake french  br    br   believe it or not  in the new john warren comedy  major league back to the minors  there is one funny scene . it consists of a sequence where an infuriated coach throws a baseball hard into the wall behind him only to have it hit the cement and bounce back and smash him in the face . it  s not much  but with the exception of a few one  liners  it  s all this film has to offer . . . enough said .  br    br   this movie is not only structurally impaired  characteristically undeveloped  predictable and badly written  but also just plain bad . even non  critical audience members will hate this movie with all that they got . it is so familiar it just isn  t funny .  br    br   how many times does the same movie about sports have to be made  last years we saw this same material in  air bud golden receiver   and as bad as that film was  this is even worse . at least  air bud  was family oriented .  major league back to the minors  is too vulgar for a wholesome family to view together on a sunday afternoon . it is too childish for adults . so who is this film for  teenagers  elderly  people who are so desperate for entertainment they would rent something like this   br    br   the film  like many others like this  has one basic point it tries to make teamwork conquers all . yes it does  and what a great moral to try to prove . too bad we have already seen and excepted it so many times over and over have such little talent and intelligence that their cheerleaders are men in a ballerina costumes . where the silly announcers form their own  buddy comedy routine  muttering one liners to themselves like  they suck    this kids fast ball is timed with an hour glass    this guy dropped out of ball for a while to find something he lost   maybe it was his mind    somebody needs a nap   and  ever see a sunset as beautiful as that play .  where the characters have such little significance to each other that we never know them by name . and where the only heartfelt lecture scene about teamwork is so unknowledgeable that it is almost funny .  br    br     major league back to the minors  is so bad it stalls its trite ending right in the middle of a good closing sequence . the good baseball team is on a comeback  they are about to win and   the power goes out . i was thinking for a minute that this piece of trash had come to a conclusion  but in reality  its false final scene exists only to add minutes to the running time . the movie basically consists of a series of unrelated sketches that throw in so many putrid jokes it is are not funny . there is another kind  of  funny line of dialogue that has a coach and a player talking to each other about why a long time outfielder is not wanted in that position any longer . the coach  s answer  you  re too old  too slow  and too fat .  the player  s reaction is to die for . but that scene certainly does not make this movie noteworthy of you time  and certainly is not worth a cent of your money .  br    br   so here is another dreadful entre into this genre of film  another that is doomed with its own script  which is failed before seen  and another which is so familiar it seems like deja vu all over again .  br    br    
  de grot  is a terrific dutch thriller  based on the book written by tim krabb . another of his books   het gouden ei  was made into the great dutch mystery thriller called  spoorloos    the vanishing   in     . this one is not as good as that thriller  although much better than the american remake also called  the vanishing   but there are times it comes close .  br    br   especially the opening moments are terrific . we see a man  later we learn his name is egon wagter  fedja van hut   coming from a plane in thailand . when he picks up his bags it is pretty clear that he is smuggling something across the border . these scenes are perfectly directed  photographed and acted . a kind of suspense is created that you would normally not have in an opening scene like this . later we see how egon makes his deal in thailand with a woman  both stating that they have never done anything like this .  br    br   from this point the movie is constantly flashback and flash  forward . we see how egon  still as a child  here played by erik van der horst   befriends a guy named axel  as a kid played by benja bruijning  . we learn how they grew up as friends  sort of  and how axel  as an adult played by marcel hensema  became a criminal . egon in the meanwhile goes to college and settles with a woman . around this time he sometimes meets axel but does not really want anything to do with him .  br    br   the movie is chronological in a way . it shows egon and axel as kids  than as students  young adults  and in their mid  thirties . but from time to time  like i said  the movie goes back to when they were kids and jumps forward again . every time we see them as kids it explains something that happens when they are adults .  br    br   minor spoilers herein .  br    br   the title means  the cave   and it is the cave that gives the movie its happy ending  although it is in fact not that happy . like the beginning  the ending is terrific . the middle part of the movie is entertaining and in a way it distracts our attention of the first scenes  only to come back at that point in the end . it is the editing that gives the movie its happy ending  although we can say the dramatic ending is happy in a way as well .  
this is by far one of the worst movies i have ever seen  the poor special effects along with the poor acting are just a few of the things wrong with this film . i am fan of the first two major leagues but this one is lame   
though structured totally different from the book by tim krabb who wrote the original  the vanishing   spoorloos  it does have the same overall feel  except for that koolhoven  s style is less business  like and more lyric . the beginning is great  the middle is fine  but the sting is in the end . a surprise emotional ending . as you could read in several magazines there is some sex in the film  but it is done all very beautifully . never explicit  but with lots of warmth and sometimes even humour . it is a shame american films can  t be as open an honoust as this one . where dutch films tend to go just over the edge when it comes to this subject   de grot  stays always within the boundaries of good taste .  de grot  tells an amazing story stretched over more than   years . when you  ll leave the cinema you  ll be moved . what can we ask more of a film  anyway  this film even gives more . . . .  
how did i ever appreciate this dud of a sequel  all it does is throw balls  worst of all  it doesn  t compare to even the first installment of the series  the comedy suffers from not being funny . where did all the unintentional laughter go  enough slapstick on  the  field action goes on too long . bob uecker literally saved this one from a complete nine  inning shutout . what  s next  major league   return to the little league  ehh  could be  leave this one on the shelf and plan a trip to the all  star game . this one  s had three strikes too many .  
de grot is a very good film . the great plot comes from the novel by tim krabb  who also adapted this story for the screen . some really top  class acting  not only by van hut  but especially by marcel hensema  who mostly did tv  work prior to his performance of axel van de graaf . the film seems to kick of as a thriller  and sets an excellent mood . then we start to learn about egon wagter and axel van de graaf  and the story is revealed bit by bit in a very compelling flash  back structure  which adds to the more romantic aspect and the character  driven drama of the movie . in the end this all culminates into an emotional ending  that will grab audiences by their throats . make sure you know as little as possible about the plot when you are going to see this movie . a must  see  especially if you liked  spoorloos   the vanishing  s original screen adaptation  .  
this movie is a disgrace to the major league franchise . i live in minnesota and even i can  t believe they dumped cleveland .  yes i realize at the time the real indians were pretty good  and the twins had taken over their spot at the bottom of the american league  but still be consistent .  anyway i loved the first major league  liked the second  and always looked forward to the third  when the indians would finally go all the way to the series . you can  t tell me this wasn  t the plan after the second film was completed . what happened  anyways if your a true fan of the original major league do yourself a favor and don  t watch this junk .  
i started watching the show from the first season  and at the beginning i was pretty skeptical about it . original movie was kind of childish  and i was just looking for some sci  fi show while waiting for the bsg new season .  br    br   but after few episodes i became a fan . i  ve loved the characters  the not  so  stupid  as  you  think  he  is jack o  neill  the not  only  smart samantha carter  the glorious teal  c  women and kids favorite  and brilliant dr . daniel jackson .  br    br   of course  stories sometimes not serious  sometimes even ridiculous  but mostly it  s not about technology or space fighting  it  s about helping your friend  even risking your life for him . it  s about  we don  t leave anybody behind  . struggling to the end when all hope is lost . about the free will  and all good qualities that makes a human  human .  br    br   and now it  s breaking a record  going   th season  and still doing good .  
oh dear god . this was horrible . there is bad  then there was this . this movie makes no sense at all . it runs all over the map and isn  t clear about what its saying at all . the music seemed like it was trying to be like batman . the fact that  edison  isn  t a real city  takes away . since i live in vancouver  watching this movie and recognizing all these places made it unbearable . why didn  t they make it a real city  the only writing that was decent was  tilman  in which john heard did a fantastic job . he was the only actor who played his role realistically and not over the top and campy . it was actually a shame to see john heard play such a great bad guy with a lot of screen time  and the movie be a washout . too bad . hopefully someone important will see it  and at least give john heard credit where credit is due  and hire him as lead bad guy again  which is where he should be . on the a list .  
indian directors have it tough  they have to compete with movies like  laggan  where   henpecked  castrated males defend their village and half of them are certifiable idiots .  devdas   a hapless  fedar  festooned foreign return drinking to oblivion  with characters running in endless corridors oblivious to any one  s feelings or sentiments  alas they live in an ornate squalor of red tapestry and pageantry . but to make a good movie  you have to tight  rope walk to appease the frontbenchers who are the quentessential gapers who are mesmerized with split skirts and dishum  dishum fights preferably involving a nitwit  bollywood  leading actor who is marginally handsome . so you can connect with a director who wants to tell a tale of leonine village head who in own words  defending his village  this is considered a violent movie or too masculine for a male audience . there are very few actors who can convey the anger and pathos like nana patekar  narasimhan  . nana patekar lets you in his courtyard and watch him beret and mock the politician when his loyal admirers burst in laughter with every word of satire thrown at him  meanwhile his daughter is bathing his grandson . this is as authentic a scene you can get in rural india . nana patekar is the essential actor who belongs to the old school of acting which is a disappearing breed in hindi films . the violence depicted is an intricate part of storytelling with songdances thrown in for the gawkers without whom movies won  t sell  a sad but true state of affairs . faster this changes better for  bollywood  . all said and done this is one good movie .  
this movie is a disgrace to the major league franchise . i live in minnesota and even i can  t believe they dumped cleveland .  yes i realize at the time the real indians were pretty good  and the twins had taken over their spot at the bottom of the american league  but still be consistent .  anyway i loved the first major league  liked the second  and always looked forward to the third  when the indians would finally go all the way to the series . you can  t tell me this wasn  t the plan after the second film was completed . what happened  anyways if your a true fan of the original major league do yourself a favor and don  t watch this junk .  
i initially bought this dvd because it had srk and aishwarya rai on the cover and i thought  hey  another film starring aishu and shah rukh  little did i know that aishwarya would only appear in an item number in the last quarter of the film in a song which she shares with srk and helps introduce his character who is in the film for about just   minutes . shakti is a film about a mother  s love and endurance . it  s a film about transformations  ignorance  coming of age  stepping into the know and embracing the harsh realities of life . the item number in which srk and aishu appear in has nothing to do with the movie . it  s actually a dream sequence that occurs while srk  s drunken character is knocked unconscious by booze . he dreams that aishwarya rai is this sexy street girl who shows up at his favourite hangout spot one day  dressed scantily and begins to seduce him . the title of the song is  ishq kamina   loosely translated as  love  s a bitch    and it is just plain smoking hot  don  t miss it .  
this movie is so bad it  s funny . it stars scott backula as some coach  but that  s not important  what is important is the large black fellow who plays  st base . first off he has to be at least   years old  yet still plays minor league baseball  second he starts out the movie in the outfield despite not being able to walk  let alone run . coach backula brilliantly moves him to first citing the fact that when he attempts to run he stays in the same place for too long a period of time . backula shows more brilliant coaching strategy in the end of the film   spoiler   he tells his star player  downtown  to hit a home run  clearly  downtown  viewed this as a good move . he hit the home run and won the game for his team  a minor league squad playing the twins who were the class of the majors in the movie . now if only tony muser  manager of the royals  would be as smart a coach as backula and tell his players to simply hit a home run in every at bat  the royals would never end an inning let alone lose a game .  
good movie  good music  good background and an acceptable plot . but the main point again as his movies tend to be  the man is the best actor in idia and can turn dust into gold . nana patekar . this may be his second best performance after parinda  others may disagree  . although other movies are not far behind . one man that will never ever disappoint you .  br    br   good movie although i think shahrukh was a luxury this movie could have done without . you can see in his movies  others try very hard to reach his heights and act out of their skins . but this man is really something elase .  br    br   the movie is cool  the music and direction is excellent plot a bit thin but the screen play and dialog again very good . a must watch .  
okay  just by reading the title you would think that it would be a good movie . well  at least i did . it started out good but became so boring after the first half hour . spoiler  br    br   it tells a story about a mother that is so desperate for her daughter to become a cheerleader that she will go to any lengths to get what she wants . the only problem is that her daughter  s friend is the girl in the way . she always wins the competitions  therefore pushing the mother further towards  eliminating  her . after talking to a  hitman   the mother decides that the girl needs to be roughed up a bit . so actions are taken but she eventually gets caught .  br    br   the cast is awful and the movie drags on too long with nothing happening . don  t waste your time watching this .  br    br    
this is probably karisma at her best  apart from zubeidaa . nana patekar also gives out his best  without even trying . the story is very good at times but by the end seems to drag  especially when shahrukh comes in the picture . what really made me like it were the performances of the leads  the dialog delivery  as well as the story  for what it was . it could  ve been directed better  and edited . the supporting case was even great  including karima  s mother in law  even though she just had one shining moment  it was great to watch her .  br    br   the sets were also pretty good . i didn  t really like their portrayal of a canadian family  but once they step in india  it  s as real as it gets .  br    br   overall  i would give it a thumbs up   
this is one very dire production . the general consensus has always been that while princess margaret may have been spoilt and pampered and may have revelled in the excess of luxury at her disposal  she was a very beautiful young woman . here was the production  s weakest point  the actress failed to get that across . it also appeared that the production budget couldn  t stretch to a hairdresser  from the outset  the hair on the princess margaret character had a permanent birds nest in disarray look and looked as if she had been dragged through a bush . the actor playing the duke of edinburgh appeared to have prepared for his role by watching rory bremner imitate prince charles and was farcical .  br    br   the production was a flaw ridden  clich ridden  embarrassing load of rubbish . i think all daily mail readers deserve a free dvd copy for christmas   
a strong woman oriented subject after long  director krishna vamsi  s shakti  the power  the desi version of the hollywood hit not without my daughter is actress sridevi  s first home  production . a story about a woman  s fight against harsh injustice .  br    br   the story of the film revolves around nandini  karisma kapoor  who lives in canada with her two uncles  tiku talsania  jaspal bhatti  . there she meets shekhar  sanjay kapoor   falls in love with him and they soon marry . their family is complete when nandini has a boy  raja  master jai gidwani  . but their happiness is short lived  as the news of shekhar  s ailing mother  deepti naval  makes them leave their perfect life in canada and come to india . and that  s when the problems start . from the moment they reach  br    br   india  both are shocked to see the pollution and the vast throngs of people everywhere . they take a crowded train to reach shekhar  s village and when they finally reach the station  they have to catch a long bus drive to his village . the filthy sweaty bus combined with the uncertain terrain makes it a never  ending drive . and unfortunately for them  a frenzied mob that beat shekhar out of shape for no fault of his attacks their bus . fortunately  they get shot dead just in time before they can further harm him . after that  they drive to the handing havel where shekhar   s father  narsimha  nana patekar  lives with his wife  deepti naval  . nandani realized that her father  in  law is in command as soon as she enters the place  but her only solace is her mother  in  law  s warm welcome .  br    br   living there  nandini learns of her father  in  laws tyrannical behavior and realizes that ruthless killing is a way of life for him . the day she sees her father  in  law teach her son to throw a bomb  she loses it and lashes out against him  insisting to shekhar that they move back to canada . but terror strikes again when shekhar is murdered one day  leaving a broken down nandini alone with her son in this strange land where she is harrowed by a cruel father  in  law . her fight against this man to save her son is what makes up the climax of this emotional heart  wrenching film .  br    br   what sets apart shakti from most films being made off late is also the rural setting of the movie . the only drawback is ismail darbar   s music  which fails to rise above the script . the only saving grace is the sexy item number ishq kameena  which has been composed by anu malik . another pat for the director comes because he has extracted some splendid performances from his cast . karisma kapoor is the life of the film and has given a moving performance as a helpless mother . she is sure to win awards for this heated portrayal . second is actor nana patekar who is back with a bang with this film . his uncouth mannerisms suit him to the hilt and he  s shown his versatility once again with this role . sanjay kapoor is the surprise packet of the film with a sincere and effective portrayal that stands up against both the other actors . deepti naval too is in top form and her pr  climax showdown with nana is praiseworthy . shahrukh  s cameo provides the lighter moments and surely he  s been pulled in to get the required star value . though his role was not really required  he  s done it well . overall  shakti is a far superior film than most churned out these days and the pr  release hype is sure to get it a good opening . shakti is sure to get the critics and audience thumps up . so what if the film needs to be desperately trimmed by at least  reels to better the impact . shakti still has the power to go on without a hitch   
for months i  ve been hearing about this little movie and now i  ve seen it . i find it cute  cute how so many fledgling directors make movies where they combine other people  s creative ideas in order to make their own one  joke premise of a movie . troops  swingblade  any of the million blair witch parodies come to mind . if all that these directors want is a foot inside hollywood  s door then they  re doing the right thing and they should keep it up because combining plot outlines is how hollywood makes films . how many times have you heard the phrase   it  s animal house meets back to the future    it  s wall street meets dead poet  s society   or  shakespeare in love meets star wars   i remember when independent films meant original and daring not safe and predictable .  
seeing this movie was the most fun i  ve had at the cinema in a long time . however  i am not able to say whether this is a good or a bad film  because such simple qualifications simply cannot be applied . this picture has everything any movie could ever have . it has characteristics of a romantic comedy  a political commentary  a thriller  a drama  an action movie  a musical  and an absurdist self  conscious art film . it  s all in there  adding up to a myth .  br    br   the basic premise is about an indian couple  nandini  karishma kapoor  and shekhar  sanjay kapoor   happily living in canada  who rush to india to visit the husband  s parents after a disturbing news report . the rest of the story takes place in india  where the couple find themselves in the midst of a plot of fratricidal violence . at one point  the story borrows from  not without my baby   but to call shakti a remake of anything would be an injustice .  br    br   the ostensible story line takes a backseat to a number of astonishing interruptions  including shah rukh khan  s dream of aishwarya rai which comes as if out of another movie . in fact  the two stars are on all the posters  but they appear really late in the film  and only shah rukh ends up being a real character . yet he makes up for it with a spirited and truly unexpected performance .  br    br   karishma kapoor is the one with most work to do in this film  and she does an admirable job  having to link up the film  s twists and turns with a show of believable emotion . another notable presence is nana patekar  who plays narsimha  the tyrannical father of the husband shekhar . nana patekar dominates every scene he  s in with a scary but nuanced character .  br    br   the movie is not without its share of realism . violence is rampant  but truly disturbing in the abuse received by most of the female characters  with karishma getting soundly beaten on a number of occasions . at times  this violence is clearly disturbing but ultimately it becomes surreal as every dramatic sequence is usually followed by such comic and spectacular turns that the overall effect is nothing but cathartic .  br    br   i have seen a share of bollywood releases  and the mixing of genres and incredible plot resolutions are certainly their norm . but  shakti  raises the bar by absorbing an even greater masala without becoming ridiculous . it is a film that achieves the grandeur of a shakespearian tragedy  where the audience of the rabble and royalty is equally entertained . it is pure  gratuitous cinema  and the director krishna vamsi must have had a dream of a good time by throwing in every trick in the book . perhaps  the all  important message of violence begetting violence and the inspiring extents of motherly love were not the thoughts on my mind  but i came out of watching  shakti  exhilarated . making movies can be the most fun in the world   
way back in      a certain director had no idea about a galaxy  far away or near . he was trying to complete a movie with the title thx etc . this short is a remanufactured history of a certain george . i am sorry it has only cuteness to defend it . this is merely an advertising promo for the director  actors  et . al . it has little intrinsic artistic value . it is a brochure . the lead playing george  is very fine  as is the leia character  and the ersatz darth character . all else is plain commercial dross . what a waste . still  it got the job done i guess . the rest of the movie is merely treading water to kill time i guess . a brochure only .  
okay  i know this does  nt project india in a good light . but the overall theme of the movie is not india  it  s shakti . the power of a warlord  and the power of a mother . the relationship between nandini and her husband and son swallow you up in their warmth . then things go terribly wrong . the interaction between nandini and her father in law  the power of their dysfunctional relationship  and the lives changed by it are the strengths of this movie . shah rukh khan  s performance seems to be a mere cameo compared to the believable desperation of karisma kapoor . it is easy to get caught up in the love  violence and redemption of lives in this film  and find yourself heaving a sigh of relief and sadness at the climax . the musical interludes are strengths  believable and well done .  
where  s michael caine when you need him  i  ve seen most of the many seasons of mst  k  but this rare pre   st season flick  episdoe k     is easily one of the worst movies ever made . three  stars   lee majors  chris makepeace and burgess meredith  struggle through the worst batch of cinematography ever  delivering lines which must have been written by a secret dick cheney  style workgroup composed of exxon and gm lawyers trying to cut funding for mass transit and energy efficiency research . looks like it was filmed in almost total darkness  possibly on super  . makes logan  s run look like the cinematic sistine chapel crossed with shakespeare . i can  t imagine watching it without the commentary of crow and servo since it  s unwatchable even with it . clearly what  s needed in hollywood is some sort of    k which prevents the need for actors to take on bad movies like this in order to pay for their health care . with its  rights to pollute and drive  theme  by the end  i  m half expecting to see a charlton heston cameo where he delivers his  cold dead hands  speech . lee  i could have forgiven you for this in      but       
well  i  ll be honest it is not exactly a sholay . but you cant get a sholay every week . in fact  you could see distinct signatures of  not without my daughter   sally field       in this movie . however  as most  inspired  movies go  this one was a well  inspired one  well handled and well done . nana patekar  as usual  tends to overdo his hysterics  but all others are commendable . specially so about dipti naval saw her after a long time  but she hasn  t lost any of her grace . in fact  she has performed much better that when i last saw her . another one of the bollywood stars that seem to grow more beautiful as they age   br    br   all in all  a nice watch .  
stupid  mindless drivel about a jet assembled within hours by mechanics who have never worked on airplanes  piloted by burgess meredith  chasing a porsche race car which runs on decades  old gasoline sludge  driven by lee majors  with chris makepeace as the runaway techno  wiz who can mcgyver spare parts into a radio receiver which can pick up all frequencies simultaneously  and who somehow learned how to acquire and use chemicals to make high explosives in a perfectly peaceful society . as moronic as it sounds . terrible waste of burgess meredith  but chris makepeace may at least be forgiven on the grounds that this was only his second film .  
the beauty of this film is evidenced in the great portrayal of the power of a mother  s love  the exceptional performances  the steady execution and the quite innovative script . the film tells the story of an indian woman  nandini  who lives in canada with her husband shekhar and little kid raja . all of a sudden her husband informs her that his family in india  of whom she had not even known  is in troubles and the couple rush to india . when they get into the village  nanadini is shocked and terrified to witness a very wild rural culture shekhar  s family  ruled by his cruel  highly cynical and merciless father narasimha  lives a poor and highly violent lifestyle which is full of murder and terror and where women are subservient and helpless . nandini starts nagging shekhar to return home  but he is soon killed by his father  s enemies . when she wants to leave  narasimha refuses to let her take raja back to india . here starts the intense struggle which can be called  nandini vs . narasimha  .  br    br   india is not presented in a particularly positive light in this film  but it only shows a very tiny minority of its rural areas  so it may be even correct . the portrayal is in my view fair and not one  sided because the positive side is also presented to an extent . such a horrifying sight could be shown in a film about any country in the world . the locations are amazing  the music is wonderful  and krishna vamshi  s direction is aided by very effective cinematography and good editing . one thing that must be noted is the very ear  pleasing background score by ismail darbar  it is beautiful . the characters are very well defined though we do get to see both their bright and dark sides in different portions of the film . portrayed realistically throughout  the film flows well and is an interesting and fairly entertaining watch . its dialogues are superb and intelligently written  and although the shocking proceedings can be very disturbing at some points  a great deal of positive moments manage to relieve the tension .  br    br   the film  s biggest strength is the performances . karisma kapoor is breathtaking and very believable as nandini . her ability to strike a balance between vulnerability and unrestrained emotion is simply incredible . she displays so much intensity  impulsiveness  anguish and determination as the mother who wants to get her son back that this little kid seems to be her own son . her outbreaks while facing off nana patekar which are like volcanic eruptions show us how the simplest of women can become a tigress when it comes to her child . after fiza  this is her most powerful performance . one of the greatest actors indian cinema has seen  nana patekar is indescribable as narasimha . he manages to be hateful as narasimha yet admirable as the actor who plays him . patekar displays cruelty  wittiness and even humanity with total conviction . he is outstanding . another great performance comes unsurprisingly from india  s most underrated actress  deepti naval  who sensitises her character to perfection . sanjay kapoor is just adequate and shahrukh khan provides great comic relief . anyway  do watch shakti  it could have been better  but it is definitely a must  watch .  
this juvenile  bland flick is strictly for teenagers in old mens  bodies  desperate to relive their hormonally challenged teenage years . how  by burning up gas and equating a fast  reckless car  or plane  with freedom .  br    br   the plot borrows heavily from mister rogers  neighborhood  if it were run my an oil conglomerate  and logan  s run  if it were heavily sedated and lacked a clear sense of style  .  br    br   starring lee majors and burgess meredith this film is set in a post  gas  crisis world in which an all  powerful government doesn  t want you to  ahem  drive your car and burn gas . sort of the opposite of today  s enron  and  bush  oil  grabbing  suv  pushing government .  br    br   this juxtaposition alone makes the film laughable . but wait . . . there  s more . although the film is set in the future  we  re not shown any signs of future technology  beyond a return to bicycles  golf carts and horses . you will believe that the future looks . . . exactly like today . same clothing  same suburban houses  same green lawns as today and when the film was made . there are no solar panels  no windmills  no concessions to alternate energy .  br    br   the acting is flat and flavorless . even scenes which could have been gritty or moving  buddy  flick  honor  romance  horror . . . all fall flatter than a paper doll under a briefcase .  br    br   continuity is lacking   the jet flown by burgess meredith  s character changes colors and configuration from moment to moment as the filmmakers insult our intelligence with unmatched stock footage again and again .  br    br   the plot is as moronic and only half as exciting as a dukes of hazzard episode .  br    br   even die  hard car  film and sf fans should avoid this film like month  old roadkill  unless you enjoy heckling exxon executives trying to make a movie as empty as the hero  s gas tank .  
if any movie stands out extremely with the actors  acting skills  this is probably the one . i  ve never seen dialogues be spoken in such a rough way  but having a strong feeling . the movie was disturbing at moments . however  the movie was terrible at editing . the movie tries to go the commercial way by adding comedy and songs  yet they feel out of place . like karisma is getting beat up  and the same time srk is fighting  comically  with the police officers . the ishq kamina song was very out of place . on top of that  the movie is overly glossy in the beginning . the direction was not bad  but certainly nothing one can brag about .  br    br   i have to say that the actors  were chosen very wisely . without them  this movie would not have an impact . karisma kapoor has given her best role to date  and this looks very good on her record after zubeidaa and fiza . she looks pretty in the first half  and i  ve never seen an actress scream of emotion and anger as well as her . what is most ironic is this is probably her weakest written role to date . nana patekar was excellent as her father  in  law . not much to say about him  besides this is a role made for him . deepti naval as the mother  in  law was excellent especially in her final scene . though she doesn  t have much to say  her facial expressions and body language was good . the other good performance was the little kid . he was adorable  and is sure to bring tears to the viewer  s eyes . the movie was probably saved desperately by their performances . sanjay kapoor was all right  but he didn  t have much to do . shahrukh khan was wasted in his bad boyish type role .  br    br   one thing that brought the audience to the theater was ishq kamina . the song picturization and dancing is perfect for the crude lyrics of the song . and boy aish is mad hot . however  the song belonged to be in another movie only because it came at the worst moment ever . people may have come to the movie for aish  but they won  t brag too much about it after  wards . hum tum miley was properly paced  but seemed to drag as the suspense mood was leaving throughout the movie . damroo bhaje was boring and nothing to rave about . dil ne pukara is too boring of a song to get the mood of the movie . despite the poor editing  the performances alone make it a must see .  
i saw this movie years ago  and i was impressed . . . but then again i was only   years old . i recently re  watched it and want that time back . this film is pretty bad . while i like lee majors  chris makepeace  watch my bodyguard       if you would like to see a good movie that he was in . . . of meatballs  also starring bill murray  for some laughs   and burgess meredith  this role does  did nothing for their careers .  br    br   anyway  lee majors character  franklyn hart  is an ex  race car driver who plans on driving his race car  which he had in storage  across the country to california . one problem the government has outlawed all private transportation . i thought the concept was ok  not the worse i  ve heard of   but the execution failed horribly .  
the movie was sub  par  but this television pilot delivers a great springboard into what has become a sci  fi fans ideal program . the actors deliver and the special effects  for a television series  are spectacular . having an intelligent interesting script doesn  t hurt either .  br    br   stargate sg  is currently one of my favorite programs .  
there is an excellent reason edison went straight to video it would have landed in theaters with a crumbling thud . the movie lasted entirely too long and was perilously boring . just a notch above lowbrow  thanks to freeman and spacey  who obviously had a spare two weeks before their next films   the bad guys are as laughable and action as near non  existent as justin timberlake  s acting . i hate to knock the guy  but the sooner he realizes that pop is his forte  the better .  br    br   the movie isn  t all bad . . . just mostly . i like the fact that ll cool j was given what appears to be a shot at being leading man . he deserves it . and  unlike his fellow musician and co  star  he can act . kevin spacey is almost always enjoyable as well  you can see him gulp several times as he chews the scenery   and freeman has the ability to elevate this flick to three stars  out of ten . . . he  s not that good  .  br    br   when all is said and done  the ultimate error with this movie is that it is a mundane and tiresome piece of pseudo  action poppycock that fails to keep anyone awake . it also fails to make anyone give a good crap about any of the characters . all in all  t  s just plain boring . that being said  rent this when you are suffering from insomnia .  
uneven bollywood drama . karisma kapoor is excellent as an indian woman in canada who marries a friend  sanjay kapoor   has a child  and then visits his family in india only to find they are terrorist warlords . drama and tragedy ensue  and the film becomes a kind of not without my baby styled thriller . film is compelling  its few song  dance numbers are uninteresting and needless  the gaity of bollywood song and dance is really out of character for the intensity of this film  s drama  at least once we  ve left the comforting confines of their canadian love nest  although one number involving a cameo by the stunning aishwarya rai is enjoyably provocative  if ultimately misplaced as well . likewise  the inclusion of bollywood superstar shahrukh khan as a happy  go  lucky drifter who helps kapoor in her escape from the clutches of the warlord turns what had been a very serious drama into a silly farce  and it only gets back on his feet when his character  and his fantasies about rai that generate her cameo dance  are dispensed with . his throw  away comic  book dialog and the silliness of his fight scenes detract from the film  s primary gripping drama . the cast is nicely supported by nana patekar as the warlord  and the elegant deepti naval who is outstanding as his long  suffering wife who finally choses to stand up against him in one of the film  s best scenes ritu shivpuri and rajshree solanki are also very good as sanjay  s sisters in india  and very pleasing eye candy . but sanjay himself overacts terribly  especially during obvious ad  libs . the directorial style of writer  director krishna wamsi is sloppy  rampant with rough transitions and abrupt cuts  although his camera movement is good . the musical underscore is also quite effective  moody  featuring wordless female voice over a small orchestral ensemble  too bad little if any of that made it onto shakti  s soundtrack cd  but bollywood hasn  t yet discovered the value of including score along with songs on their soundtrack albums  at least not in most cases  . but shakti is karisma kapoor  s film  all the way  though  and the intensity of her performance once the film switches to india contrasts nicely with the gentle romance with which she engaged with sanjay in the initial canadian scenes . despite the unevenness of much of the picture  karisma  s performance completely sells the film and solidifies its otherwise inconsistent measures . in a strange way  also  i found the story to be another take on the ostentation of royalty i  d noticed in curse of the golden flower and marie antoinette  both of which i  d seen just prior  although shakti of course is an entirely different kind of film but the focus on a dysfunctional royal family  here living in the austerity of terrorism  controlled poverty in india rather than the elegance of versailles or the massive megalomania of feudal china  s tang dynasty  whose self  serving seeking of power brings ruin upon many others and forces an uprising of one kind or another provides the film with a notable subtext .  
after watching this on the mst  k episode  i have to wonder how many movies this film borrows from . it seems to combine elements of logans run  farenheight     final sacrifice and at least several others . at one point i was really expecting cris makepease to call lee majors rowsdower .  br    br   i wonder if the director has any clue how many holes there are in the plot . like the fact that  even though gas is unavailable  there is plenty of it in abandoned gas stations  and the stations are located close enough together to keep an f  race car going all the way across the country .  
what is contained on this disk is a first rate show by a first rate band . this disc is not for the faint of heart . . . the music is incredibly intense  and very cool . what you will learn when you watch this movie is just why the who was so huge for so long . it is true that their records were great  but their shows were the top of the heap . in     when this concert was shot  the screaming teenie boppers that threw jelly beans at the beatles were gone and bands  and audiences  had settled down to long and often amazing displays of musical virtuosity   something that few audiences have the intellectual curiosity to pursue in the age of canned music by britney and christina . what you especially learn here are the amazing things that can happen when gifted musicians are encouraged to improvise . try the concert out  it really is amazing .  
dull  flatly  directed  comedy  has zero laughs and wastes a great cast . alan alda wore too many hats on this one and it shows . newcomer anthony lapaglia provides the only spark of life in this tedium but it  s not enough .  br    br   one of those scripts that  if you were a neophyte and submitted it to an agent or producer  would be ripped to shreds and rejected without discussion .  
this is the who at their most powerful . although before the masterwork who  s next  which would provide anthems like baba o  reily and wont get fooled again . this film shows the group in transition from mod rockers to one of the biggest live bands of the    s .  br    br   daltrey shows what being a front  man is all about  entwistle steady as ever .  br    br   moon is great  check out the ongoing conversation with the drum tech  and see him playing  side saddle  whilst having a bass drum head replaced   br    br   townsend even looks like he  s enjoying himself occasionally   br    br   considering they took to the stage at  am no one in the crowd was asleep   br    br   there are not many bands these days could produce a set as tight as this and it is difficult to imagine any of the bands of today producing a concert that in   years time will be be enjoyed as much as this one .  
one of the lamer wedding movies you  ll see . smacks too too much of its time period so it was out of date before it hit the theaters . the ethnic stereotypes are like a henny youngman joke  except they just aint in the least bit funny here . molly ringwald  well what else needs to be said . give you a clue to the silliness  she destroys a        wedding dress  because  it just won  t be me  makes it into this rag  with straps and puts on a top hat  and everyone smiles cutely at her moxy  rather than ringwalding her neck . its a helluva a cast too  check out how heavy ally sheedy is . wheeeew   
this review is dedicated to the late keith moon and john entwistle .  br    br   the original drum and bass .  br    br   there seems to be very little early who footage around these days  if there is more then lets be  aving it  now  a  days it tends to be of a very different kind of who altogether  a parody  a shadow of their  much  better years . to be fair  not one of them has to prove anything to anyone anymore  they  ve earned their respect and with overtime .  br    br   this concert footage for me is one of their best . to command an audience of around a        plus strong crowed takes skill  charisma  wit and a whole lot of bloody good music .  br    br   we all know of the other acts on the bill  the doors  their last ever show weeks before jim morrison died   moody blues  hendrix  taste  free and many more . the point being that whoever were there it was the who that the majority had come to see . this show was one year after the great hippie fest of the      s woodstock . the film and record had come out and so had the who  s greatest work to date  tommy . the ever hungry crowd wanted a taste  to be able to experience their own unique event  to be able to  grove and love  in the knowledge that this gig was their own . to do this you needed the best of what rock  n roll had to throw at the hungrily baited crowd .  br    br   at two  o clock in the morning in late august     the m . c . announces   ladies and gentlemen  a small rock  n roll band from shepherds bush london  the  oo  .  br    br   john entwistle  s body suit is of black leather  on the front is the out line of a human skeleton from neck to toe  roger dressed in his traditional stage outfit of long tassel  s and long flowing hair  keith in a white t  shirt and jeans  as pete had his white boiler suit and doc martins that he  d preferred to wear .  br    br   the who never stopped their onslaught of high energy rock for over two hours  performing theirs and other artists  greatest tracks such as young man blues  shaking  all over  and then as on queue  keith baiting the crowed to  shut up  it  s a bleeding opera  with tommy  the rock opera . the crowed went wild . this is what they had come to hear  and the who didn  t disappoint  straight into overture and never coming up for air until the final note of  tommy can you hear me   amazing .  br    br   to capture a show of this magnitude of a band of this stature at their peak at a festival that was to be the last of its kind anywhere in the world was a fantastic piece of cinematic history .  br    br   the english dvd only comes in a soundtrack of english  linear pcm stereo  were as in the states  i think  you can get it with  .  at least   check local press for details  on that  okay .  br    br   the duration of the dvd is   minutes with no extras  which is a disappointment . yes  for a slice of rock and festival history this dvd would send you in a nostalgia trip down memory lane the moment you press play  for some of the best who concert footage as it was meant to be  live  raw and in your face   br    br   i would have given this dvd ten if it wasn  t for the lack of  .   and some extras would have been nice .  br    br   thanks roger  pete  john and keith .  
with this film  bunuel manipulates the viewer with all of film  s might while stating clearly in the film that his work is one of  objectivity  . obviously  it is not . for one reason  many scenes  shot by pure chance  are obvious set  ups  when that poor goat  accidently  falls off the cliff  you can actually see the gun smoke on the right of the screen   . for another  his concealing of one important information the hurdes people were the way they were for a specific reason which is just hinted at in the film . that is  goitre  a sickness caused by lack of iodine  salt  . this goitre is the cause of their cretinism and had bunuel only took the time to make his research  heck  if he checked  cretinism  in a medical dictionary he  d have found  goitre   he might have ended up telling the truth about these people  still  doubtfully  . instead  with his film  he judges them constantly  talking about them as  cretins   again and again  dramatizing the action  setting  up scenes to create the spectacle  all of this very unacceptable for a documentarist which claims to work for an all  mighty objectivity . bunuel talks all the time in this film  not letting one word to the people he is filming . he talks for them and  even then  judges them . this piece is flawed to it  s roots  to it  s ideology and it  s a real shame it  s considered a great film .  
this would have worked a lot better if it had been made as  mitchell in malta .  at least then we would have been spared the sight of joe don baker running around an otherwise scenic mediterranean locale clad in that ridiculous looking cowboy outfit . . . not to mention acting like an old west gunslinger . mitchell being mitchell  the film wouldn  t have suffered from a lack of gratuitous police brutality either . oh well . at least the comic comments of mike and the bots made this enjoyable fare as an episode of mst . i can  t imagine watching it on it  s own  however .  
this   minute documentary buuel made in the early      s about one of spain  s poorest regions is  in my opinion  one of his weakest films . first  let  s admit that   years later  spain is much richer than it was then  and when i say this  i fully admit that wealth can bring problems of its own  like excessive individualism and consumerism  though all in all wealth it  s a far better condition than the extreme poverty portrayed here  . and if poverty receded in spain it was not exactly with the sort of socialism that buuel favored  but with western european style capitalism . but one of the most shocking things about the movie is this in one scene  the narrator chides that in school  children are taught the value of pi . teaching math to poor people  the horror  . buuel shortsightedness is at its most glaring here  not realizing that it is access to the latest knowledge and technology what will help the poor overcome their situation . what is he proposing  that children are taught exactly what at school  doesn  t buuel understand that it is the lack of modern technology that has made them poor in comparison with other people   
joe don baker is one of a handful of actors who is often better than his material  and almost always under appreciated . he  s been in a ton of films either as a heavy or a hero  and has the type of strong  solid presence that wallace beery did half a century before him . baker can delivery material that would sound ridiculous coming out of another actor  and that  s what  s so great about him . he really seems to mean what he  s saying  regardless of how clich  obvious or silly  which puts him in a league with tommy lee jones  oliver reed and don stroud . it  s what made the walking tall trilogy work so well  and that same magic is here in final justice . this was a substantial hit in theaters and on video in the   s  and it has aged a lot better than many of the perhaps better known action flicks of the era . by moving the action from texas to europe  there  s a real timeless quality that doesn  t jar you away from the action on screen . to be honest  i  ve always enjoyed the films of greydon clark  who is a no  nonsense director in the same vein as     s clint eastwood  and this is one of his best . final justice is one of the lost gems of the late   s  similar to man on fire in its true grit and violence . i suppose if they remake this with the rock  a whole new audience will come to love it as much as i do .  
the writer  director of this film obviously doesn  t know anything about film . i think the dp on this project was tied up and replaced with a monkey  because every seen was either too dark or had the hotter hot spots than the sun .  br    br   the story was awful  the characters were very one dimensional . for someone to have said that this film was made for poker fans and not film fans  that someone is kidding their self  it was probably the writer  director  . no poker fan in this world likes this movie . even your money man hates this project . to go into a casino and play a few hands doesn  t give you the experience to write about poker . keep your day job . and if it  s playing poker  then you must be hurt  n .  
kudos to cesar montano for reviving the cebuano movie  panaghoy sa suba is very good   it has the drama  the action  the romance  and scene that will make you laugh .  br    br   while the story is not that original  a love triangle   or make a four  cornered  love  japanese occupation  rebellion  american as lord   its presentation is something cool  especially it uses it original language   bisaya for the filipino  nipongo for the japanese and english for the american .  br    br   this movie will go as one of this year  s best pinoy movies .  br    br   go watch this   
as a poker enthusiast i was looking forward to seeing this movie  especially as it had scotty nyugen in it .  br    br   basically  scotty nyugens short spots in this film are all it has going for it .  br    br   the characters are unlikeable and annoying  the soundtrack is awful and the plot  well  there isn  t one .  br    br   i honestly got a headache and found myself reading the barcode number on the dvd box after twenty minutes i was that bored . its actually ashame that nyugen was in this movie as otherwise i wouldn  t have wasted    buying it off ebay .  br    br   take it from me  avoid like   offsuit    dire .    
well it  s been a long year and i  m down to reviewing the final film for     . panaghoy sa suba  call of the river  placed second in the recent metro manila film festival . as expected  it didn  t do so well at the box office as it was too artsy for the common moviegoers especially since mmff is the season where a lot of families go out to see movies .  br    br   it was quite intriguing to see a movie that was not in filipino or english play out in the screen . i thought cesar montano did a good job both as a star and director . his great vision and creativity really helped this film . he was also very effective as the lead star and was able to express a wide range of emotions that was required for the film . also performing well was young actress rebecca lusterio . she did a great job portraying bikay  the younger sister of duroy . i hope to see her in many more film projects in the future perhaps venturing into other genres . i think that the fact that this film was in her local dialect really helped her .  br    br   some of the camera shots in the film were done very well . the scenery was made breathtaking even though i feel that if a lesser effort would have looked completely different .  br    br   in terms of the story i feel that the writers could have delved further into the lives of the lesser characters in the film . i certainly won  t be raving about the story of this film .  
totally ridiculous . if you know anything about poker  you will find it absolutely appalling but also entertaining because it is so clueless . the nerd who made this movie is obviously very religious and knows slightly about the game of poker  but i doubt he  s ever played above    .  i think he also knows nothing of golf .  where to start . i  ve seen better productions in the intro to film class i took freshmen year of film school . the actors to watch in this movie are queen momma  scotty nguyen  and the loser who can never win at poker . everyone else is as wooden as they come  like bad porn actors .  br    br   spoiler the man the movie starts with in the opening sequence is the only reason the film got made . he is a railbird who doesn  t play poker and never has a line of dialogue  but the actor is the man who obviously paid for the movie . i can  t think of a more useless waste of money than this man shelling out for this pointless production . it  s fitting that he had such a useless role .  br    br   there  s very little poker in this movie . most of the time is spent on useless side characters whose plots aren  t resolved in the slightest . queen momma does have a show  stealing scene where she throws her loser boyfriend through a window and tries to shoot his brains out . also the nameless arabs in the convenience store also give brilliant performances when they debate whether to beat up or kill an older lady who robs them . their subtle performances are easily among the film  s highlights . it makes you wonder why they bothered getting all these white people to play the leads .  br    br   in conclusion  complete nonsense . plan  from outer space has slightly more coherency . if you play poker though you might want to have a laugh . also if you  re christian you might enjoy some of the heavy  handed religious conversation that pepper the movie like pointless pepper . i hate movies made by religious people . especially ones who think they know something about things they know nothing about . it  s sad that jennifer harman and scotty nguyen got involved in this travesty as i can  t help but think less of them . they must be envious of johnny chan for getting in rounders .  
i  m grateful to cesar montano and his crew in reviving the once  moribund visayan film understorey .  panaghoy  is hopefully the forerunner of a resurgence in this vernacular  that claims more speakers than tagalog  . the dialect and lifestyle details are accurately reminiscent of this region of the philippines . downside the corny and stilted acting of the american antagonist . the other item that i didn  t appreciate was the lack of authenticity in the  period  costume of the same character  and above all  his bright red kit  car that i suppose was meant to pass for a     s roadster . without those small yet glaring details   panaghoy  would  ve been at least a  out of   on my rating   daghang salamat  manoy cesar  addendum this film sure beats peque gallaga  s  oro  plata  mata   which provided a different view of the visayas during the second world war . alos  there are some parts where the cinematography harks back to spielberg  s  the color purple  and the storyline begins to become reminiscent of  noli me tangere  .  
when i first saw this film it was not an impressive one . now that i have seen it again with some friends on dvd  they had not viewed it on the silver screen   my opinion remains the same . the subject matter is puerile and the performances are weak .  
as a kid  i loved this game . i played it a zillion times during spring     with my friend andrew . i used to play axel or blaze and he would be adam and no matter how often we played it we never seemed to get bored . then streets of rage  came out . and we quickly forgot that this one even existed .  br    br   you play as ex  cops axel stone  adam or blaze fielding  who have quit the force in order to take on the bad guys in their own way . there are  levels to work thru in a run  down and corrupt city led by the evil mr x . beating up all the bad guys and the end  of  level boss is much fun . level   the bridge  was my fave because you could chuck baddies down the holes into the river . you even have the chance to become mr . x  s right hand man at the end of the game  at a price  . this leads to the  bad ending  in which you become the the boss of the syndicate . exactly how this is possible is a mystery since you destroy the syndicate on your way to mr . x  but never mind .  br    br   streets of rage also has truly fantastic music . the composer yuzo koshiro did absolute miracles with the limited technology of the sega genesis . the main theme  level one  level  and final boss are standout tunes .  br    br   as a wii owner i am proud to have this forever on my console . but with streets of rage  also available  it does kind of render the first one somewhat obsolete .  br    br   pros  br    br   average graphics but nice backgrounds represented in a comic  book like panel progression that fits the tone of the game .  br    br   great tunes .  br    br   easy to get into and hard to put down .  br    br   cons  br    br   vastly inferior to the infinitely more complex streets of rage  .  br    br   poor enemy ai . baddies often walk away from you instead of engaging in combat . this is especially infuriating with the level  boss .  br    br   lack of combo moves .  br    br   lack of decent weapons .  br    br   bad guy models are repeated far too often .  br    br   graphics b  sound a  gameplay b  lasting appeal b   
people  please don  t bother to watch this movie  this movie is bad  it  s totally waste of time . i don  t see any point here . it  s a stupid film with lousy plot and the acting is poor . i rather get myself beaten than watch this movie ever again .  
on sunday july         the first episode of a new science fiction series called  stargate sg    was broadcast on showtime . a spin  off of and sequel to the     film  stargate  starring kurt russell and james spader  the series begins approximately one year after the events portrayed in the film . for ten seasons  it chronicled the adventures and misadventures of an intrepid team of explorers known as sg   . originally  the series starred richard dean anderson as colonel jack o  neill  two  l  s    michael shanks as dr . daniel jackson  amanda tapping as captain samantha carter  christopher judge as teal  c and don s . davis as major general george s . hammond . for ten long years  we watched the team battle against the goa  uld  the replicators  the ori and many other aggressors . at the same time  they forged alliances with the asgard  the tok  ra  the rebel jaffa  the nox and the tollan . they saved the world no less than eight times over the years and never gave up  not until death claimed them . and sometimes not even then .  br    br   as with all long  running series  they were numerous cast changes . michael shanks left the series in january     at the end of its fifth season in order to broaden his horizons as an actor . daniel jackson  s successor as the team  s resident archaeologist  geek was jonas quinn  an alien from a country called kelowna on the planet langara  played by corin nemec . however  shanks returned at the beginning of the seventh season in june     and nemec left at the same time . unfortunately  he made only one further guest appearance and his character was seldom mentioned afterwards . don s . davis left the series at the end of the seventh season in march     as he felt that it was time for him to go . the show  s original star and arguably its most popular actor  richard dean anderson  starred in the series throughout its first eight seasons . his participation in the seventh and eight seasons was noticeably less than in the earlier seasons . he finally left  sg    in march     in order to spend more time with his then six  year  old daughter . jack o  neill was by far my favourite character in the series and  truth be told  i never enjoyed the last two seasons as much as i did the earlier episodes for that very reason .  br    br   the ninth season represented a new era for the programme . with the departure of its lead actor and the defeat of the goa  uld and the replicators in season eight  many fans felt the series should go out on a high . regardless  the series carried on for a further two years with the ori replacing the goa  uld as the series  main adversaries . three new characters were brought in to fill the gaps as it were and help usher in this re  invention . ben browder came in as the cocky southern air force pilot lt . colonel cameron mitchell  the new leader of sg   . his  farscape  co  star  the lovely claudia black  began to play a prominent role in the series as the vivacious  sexy  hilarious and certainly extroverted vala mal doran  a former goa  uld host and con artist from another planet . a recurring guest star during the eighth and ninth seasons  she joined the cast full time at the beginning of its tenth and final season . rounding off the cast was the legendary beau bridges as major general hank landry  the new commander of the sgc and an old friend of jack o  neill and general hammond . for the last two years  they starred alongside the  sg    faithful  michael shanks  amanda tapping and christopher judge  and became valuable parts of and made equally valuable contributions to the stargate franchise .  br    br   alas  all good things must come to an end . during the initial broadcast of the first several episodes of season ten  ratings dropped considerably  resulting in cancellation in its august     . after ten seasons and    episodes  the dream was finally over . on march         what began with  children of the gods  ended with  unending  . the series finale made its world premiere on sky one in britain and ireland before being shown on the sci  fi channel in the united states on june        .  br    br   in the ten years that the series was on the air  it amassed legions of fans and even eclipsed the science fiction series   star trek   in terms of popularity in certain countries . it became the second  longest running sci  fi series in the world  second only to  doctor who              and the longest  running american produced sci  fi series  having surpassed  the x  files  only a few months before it ended .  br    br    stargate sg    represents the cornerstone of the  stargate  franchise . in      its success and popularity led to the production of a spin  off series entitled  stargate atlantis   which was regrettably cancelled after five seasons and    episodes in august     . although plans for another feature film fell through  two direct  to  dvd films   stargate the ark of truth  and  stargate continuum   were released in     and more are planned for the not too distant future . a third live  action series   stargate universe   is also due to premiere at some point next year .  there was  unfortunately  an animated series   stargate infinity   which ran only from     to     but the less said about that the better  . despite the end of  sg    and  atlantis  as continuing series  the future of  stargate  looks very bright indeed .  br    br   in conclusion  while  stargate  has yet to gain the same degree of popular recognition as other major sci  fi television franchises such as  star trek  and  doctor who   its still relatively new compared to those two sci  fi giants and i have every confidence that it will continue for many  many years to come .  
honestly before i watched this movie  i had heard many people said this movie was a disgrace . i did not believe that since morgan freeman and kevin spacey have taken roles in this movie  and watched it by my own . apparently they were right . i was really disappointed and wondering all the time during the movie  why the hell did i watch this movie .  br    br   of course i was not expecting much from justin as he really does not belong in the movie  theater business . but morgan and kevin  i could not stop asking myself why the heck they agreed to take part in edison . to be honest  their roles are rather stupid .  br    br   well you might think if the players suck  then i should pay more attention to the story . it is indeed story is the core of a movie  but guys . . . trust me . . . this is not a movie you want to give a credit for its story . imagine this  a smart  ass journalist  justin timberlake  wrote a story against the system and at the same time learning how to become a  real  journalist from his boss  morgan freeman  . this all was supported by one agent who still has heart for justice  ll cool j  and an brilliant investigator  kevin spacey  . at the end  they beat the system with a happy ending story .  br    br   jeez  i could not even carry on with this . just recalling the movie is making me sick already . my advise guys  don  t watch this  please save your money and time for another movie .  
imdb lists this as     for some reason  but the other sources i  ve seen including the excellent program notes mark it as    . doesn  t really matter  except that it  s quite interesting to watch this abstract collage of film and video  one of the first art works to merge the two apparently  in the context of the star gate sequence in      released the same year . pure abstraction isn  t really my thing  but i can take it in small doses and the super  saturated optically printed colors and psychedelic feel of this series of flowers  rohrschach blots  birds  etc is pretty compelling and quite beautiful . certainly helped paved the way for many other nascent video artists in the   s  and deserves to be better known .  
amateur  no budget films can be surprisingly good . . . this however is not one of them .  br    br   ah  another brad sykes atrocity . the acting is hideous  except for emmy smith who shows some promise . the camera  direction  needs serious reworking . and no more  hold the camera and run  gimmicks either it just doesn  t work . the special effects are unimaginative  there  s a problem when the effect can be identified in real time . if you  re going to rip off an ear  please don  t let us see the actor  s real ear beneath the blood . the scenery is bland and boring  same as mr . sykes other ventures   and the music is a cross between cheap motel porn and really bad guitar driven metal  see the scenery comment  .  br    br   did i mention the lack of any real plot  or character development  apparently  the scriptwriter didn  t .  br    br   whoever is funding this guy . . . please stop . i  ve seen some of his other  home movies   which i will not plug  and they are just as bad . normally  a  director  will grow and learn from his previous efforts . . . not this guy . it  s one thing to be an amateur filmmaker  but anyone can be a hack .  br    br   definitely not even a popcorn film . . . of course  chewing on popcorn kernels would be less painful than this effort .  br    br   award the worst ever military push  ups in a film .  
all i hear about is how poorly the animation is done . it may not be up to par with what everyone expects  but look at it this way . would you expect perfection in hell  it is my belief that the animation was made dry and gritty on purpose . it was great to see her character transformation in this movie  considering it will probably be as close to live action as we will ever get . i hope for a sequel very soon . if we want live action  i think we may be better off with chastity or purgatori . i don  t think lady death would transfer well to film . but be that as it may  it is my own personal belief that all the naysayers about this movie are dead wrong . no pun intended .  
an updated version of a theme which has been done before . while that in and of itself is not bad  this movie doesn  t reach the ring like the other  inherent and pure  evil ones do .  br    br   predictable  ambitious attempt that falls short of the mark . not worth sitting through for the tired contrived ending .  
it  s a very good movie  not only for the fans of lady death comics  but also for those who like animated movies  series of adventure and fantasy .  br    br   the film is about a innocent girl who is about killed for something she hadn  t done  but for be who she is daughter of the ruler of hell  lucifer himself .  br    br   then she seeks revenge . . . and the rest you better see it from the movie .  br    br   i liked the movie a lot  the characters are like the original comics  form chaos . i never had the chance of read the the first parts of the story in comics  only the last ones  after the passages in the movie  so i cannot tell you if the events are exactly like the comics  but . . . one way or another it  s the story of lady death   
this is a typical  perfect crime  thriller . a perfect crime is executed and the investigating police officer  ignoring all the clues  immediately knows who guilty is . the audience has to wait around the whole movie for the guilty to be caught . the result is like every single episode of  columbo  or  murder she wrote  . the director himself refers to the hackney story by showing the police officer watching an episode of matlock  this story barely fills up   minutes but the director insists on using all    minutes filling with every cliche in the book . skip this one  you are not missing anything .  
i personally liked this movie and am alarmed at the rating  s some people have given it . it is a movie based on a comic book and it is animated  now if you don  t like comic books or animation then of course you won  t like this movie so why did you watch and bother to rate it is beyond me . though  if you are a fan of interesting  strong characters and heroic  sexy  women kicking butt and saving the world  hell  you will love this movie . i thought the story really pulled me in and it was a very cool movie . quite anime  esque or more like some of the american movies following this new trend of adult animation . like titan a . e . meet  s the live action version of punisher . in the end i highly recommend this movie the comic buff and super hero fan or anyone with an open enough mind looking for a fun movie .  
murder by numbers is one of those movies that you expect is made  for  tv but isn  t . considering the only actor of any note is bullock  although michael pitt seems to be moving onto bigger and better things   it isn  t a great surprise that this movie quickly fades away from memory to be replaced by more important things . like . . . remembering to lock your front door when you go out . or putting clothes back on when you come out of the shower .  br    br   bullock plays cassie mayweather  a cop with personal issues  don  t they all  . together with her new partner  a wet  looking ben chaplin   she is called to investigate the murder of a young woman . nothing unusual there except that the perps are a couple of teenage students who think they  ve planned and executed the perfect murder . as the investigation continues  a battle of wills emerges between cassie and the main suspect richie haywood  ryan gosling  .  br    br   the crippling issue here is that the two leads are hopeless . bullock  though she is very nice to look at  is about as believable in the role of a hardened cynical cop as rodney dangerfield  actually  he  d be better   . chaplin  for his sins  is a complete non  entity and i feel sorry that he has to put this film on his cv in his attempt to break into hollywood . at least gosling and pitt  as the conniving sneering suspects  acquit themselves adequately . as if dodgy leads weren  t bad enough  a story that would send anybody to sleep and a highly predictable  but illogical  ending shoot this film in the head before it has a chance to run .  br    br    murder by numbers  has absolutely nothing going for it  even a pointless nude scene by bullock wouldn  t redeem it . well  just a little but still not enough to save it . forgettable  predictable and redundant  this is one film that isn  t going to move the cop genre forward . as cassie probably says on her next case  there  s nothing to see here people . move along  keep moving . . .  
i love the movies and own the comics  the comics are different then the movie but still i  d give it   out of   . it was awesome . if the movies got anymore awesome . i would have her babies . and i am female . read the comics you won  t regret it . yes in this movie since brian p . the artist for her died we don  t get nearly as good artistic work . i mean seriously don  t get me wrong these people did great  but different versions for different people . different strokes for different folks as the saying goes . any guy who doesn  t go bonkers over her is insane  or does not like women  or you know just plan insane . if i could count on my fingers how in love and how many times i have read the comics i would run out of fingers for sure  but hey there is always toes .  
well  the writing was very sloppy  the directing was sloppier  and the editing made it worse  at least i hope it was the editing  . the acting wasn  t bad  but it wasn  t that good either . pretty much none of the characters were likable . at least   minutes of that movie was wasted time and the other hour or so was not used anywhere near its full potential . it was a great idea  but yet another wasted good idea goes by . it could have ended  different places but it just kept going on to a mostly predictable hollywood ending . and what wasn  t predictable was done so badly that it didn  t matter . the ending was not worth watching at all . sandra bullock was out of her element and should stay away from these types of movies . the movie looked rushed also . the movie just wasn  t really worth seeing  and had i paid for it i would have been very mad . maybe i was more disappointed because i expected a really good movie and got a bad one . the movie over all was not horrifibly bad  but i wouldn  t reccomend it . i gave it  out of   b  c i liked the idea so much and i did like one character  justin i believe  the super smart one  . and it also had some very cheap ways to cover plot holes . it was like trying to cover a volcano with cheap masking tape  it was not pretty . anyway  if you see it  wait for the   .   theater or video  unless you like pretty much every movie you see  then i guess you  ll like this one .  
although not the best anime i have ever seen but i enjoyed lady death .  br    br   i have never read the comic book and just saw this at the video store and decided to give it a chance .  br    br   the animation was ok  i got the sense of the    s anime from it which is what set it off for me . why everyone else hates that is beyond me .  br    br   character development was fine . i like how they brought the transition from hope to lady death around . for you who don  t like it  obviously wasn  t paying attention . lucifer tells you how it happens  and she used his words .  br    br   creamtor was a nice mentor  soldier for her . his dark bruiting style was perfect for this kind of movie .  br    br   i think everyone here who has bashed this needs to take another look at it and reconsider . cause everything people have bashed this can be said about everyones favorite anime vampire hunter d  
at first the movie seemed to be doing great  they had the characters profiles set . . . the plot seemed to be going in the right direction . . . however  as the movie progressed it seemed the director focused on the wrong kind of things . . . or just a lot was edited from the movie . the characters  identities changed for the worse within the movie . also  there seemed to be a lot of implicit meaning   in other words   they had things within the movie that didn  t seem to fit the movie itself . and the title . . . no where in the movie does the title fit the movie . . . i suppose the title works for the previews . . . . actors did well with what they had . . . . . if they had a better director and writer  maybe this would have worked out better . but it didn  t . so now there  s a new terrible movie coming out this friday . . . . my opinion  . . . . don  t waste your time or money .  
rented this one accidentally  it was behind the movie box of what i thought i was renting  didn  t find out until i got home  watched it anyways . absolutely fantastic  a wonderful movie  and one of my top three favorite of all time  i recommend it to everyone   br    br   the story is enjoyable and easy to follow  this could have been easily messed up  but the actors and director do a great job of keeping it together .  br    br   the actors themselves are fantastic  displaying wonderful character and doing a terrific job .  br    br   gotta find a copy somewhere . . . . . . . . . . .  
so  i  m wondering while watching this film  did the producers of this movie get to save money on sandra bullock  s wardrobe by dragging out her  before  clothes from miss congeniality  did ms . bullock also get to sleepwalk through the role by channeling the  before  gracie hart  as many reviewers have noted before  the film is very formulaic . add to that the deja vu viewer experiences with the character of cassie maywether as a somewhat darker gracie hart with more back story and it rapidly become a snooze fest .  br    br   the two bad boy serial killers have been done before  and better  in other films . as has the  good guy partner trying to protect his partner despite the evidence  character been seen before . in fact none of the characters in the film ever get beyond two dimensions or try to be anything but trite stereotypes .  br    br   one last peeve  using the term serial killer is false advertising . murdering one person  even if it  s a premeditated murder  does not make you a serial killer . you may have the potential to become a serial killer but you are not a serial killer or even a spree killer .  
in my years of attending film festivals  i have seen many little films like this that never get theatrical distribution  and they end up in the   bins at walmart . i just found dvd of yank tanks there  great doc  but how sad for it to end up as a rock  bottom remainder .  br    br   i loved this film  wish i  d seen it at the cinema in it  s everything . i  d have preferred that new yorker films had translated the title directly . it  s good for americans to stretch a little . if the film  s title helps the us audience to explore random chaos  all the better . cinema imitates life  visa versa .  br    br   also  i found it distracting that the subtitles put prices in dollars . come on  the euro is not hard to figure out  make the gringo audiences do the math . seeing a film  especially one shot in paris  the viewer should not have the effect spoiled by being reminded i am an american watching a movie and they are translating the euros into dollars for me .  br    br   looking forward to seeing more of these actors and more from the writer  director as well .  
from director barbet schroder  reversal of fortune   i think i saw a bit of this in my media studies class  and i recognised the leading actress  so i tried it  despite the rating by the critics . basically cool kid richard haywood  half nelson  s ryan gosling  and justin pendleton  bully  s michael pitt  team up to murder a random girl to challenge themselves and see if they can get away with it without the police finding them . investigating the murder is homicide detective cassie  the hyena  mayweather  sandra bullock  with new partner sam kennedy  ben chaplin   who are pretty baffled by the evidence found on the scene  e . g . non  relating hairs . the plan doesn  t seem to be completely going well because cassie and sam do quite quickly have richard or justin as suspects  it is just a question of if they can sway them away . also starring agnes bruckner as lisa mills  chris penn as ray feathers  r . d . call as captain rod cody and tom verica as asst . d . a . al swanson . i can see now the same concept as sir alfred hitchcock  s rope with the murdering for a challenge thing  but this film does it in a very silly way  and not even a reasonably good bullock can save it from being dull and predictable . adequate   
this film has renewed my interest in french cinema . the story is enchanting  the acting is flawless and audrey tautou is absolutely beautiful . i imagine that we will be seeing a lot more of her in the states after her upcoming role in amelie .  
alfred hitchcock invented any kind of thriller you could think ofhe set the standards so high that any director who makes a suspense movie will be fatally compared to him .  br    br   the main subject of this bullock vehicle  all the ideas  almost everything was already in hitchcock  s classic  rope  the two students who commit a gratuitous crime  nietsche  s philosophy  and the clues that the boys disseminate  the master was the first to transfer them to the screen . and with an eighty  minute movie which was a technical riveting tour de force .  br    br    murder by numbers  does not take place in a single room  like  the rope   mind you . and  what a supreme originality  it pits two cops against the evil youngstersand  you would never guess it  these two cops are very differentactually  bullock plays the part of woman living like a man  and her partner  chaplin  is as shy as a clueless girlie . the two boys  performances are not really mind  boggling  not as good  as  say  that of edward norton in  primal fear  .  br    br   well  you know   rope  was so good . . . .  
seldom do we see such short comments written by imdb filmgoers . perhaps it  s because this lightweight dark comedy entertains and pleases without depth  or are we missing something  i  d watch it again if i had some incentive .  br    br   so what  s a happenstance  to the french it is  le battement d  ailes du papillon  serendipity  fate  perhaps it  s an event that is the culmination of a series of random happenings . we  ve all had these  it  s called life  but when looked at in this way  you begin to get the feeling that  random  might be more like  fated .   br    br   a  happenstance  in this film might be an occurrence as minor as knocking a few leaves of lettuce off the back of a truck or as major as basing a major life decision on the accuracy of a stranger tossing of a pebble . all these incidents cause other events that . . . well you get the picture  dominoes . multiply those by   characters and an average of  each and you have to really stretch your imagination to accept the remote chance that this scenario could happen . and i think that there  s a diagnosis for those who believe that life is like this . but then this is the magic world of cinema .  br    br   we admit that it is fun to watch the way the writer  director weaves together these unrelated events into a story which enmeshes the lives of these french citizens . if you have a couple of hours and are looking for a whimsical escape  here  s the place to do it . or if you  re recovering from surgery and aren  t going anywhere anyway  this will engage you while your stitches are healing .  br    br    happenstance  will not go down as an award winner but it should develop a cult following . stranger things have happened .  br    br   soren kierkegaard is attributed with the following  life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forward .  if you looked at the detail in many of your own life experiences  meeting your first love  finding the perfect gift  your last auto accident  you would find a series of seemingly random events leading up to it .  br    br   that  s the answer  i forgot to bring along an existentialist to explain  happenstance  to me .  
there  s something frustrating about watching a movie like  murder by numers  because somewhere inside that hollywood formula is a good movie trying to pop out . however  by the time the credits roll  there  s no saving it . the whole thing is pretty much blown by the  cop side  of the story  where sandra bullock and ben chaplin  s homicide detective characters muddle through an awkward sexual affair that becomes more and more trivialized the longer the movie goes on . although bullock is strong in her role  it  s not enough to save the lackluster script and lazy pacing . ben chaplin  s talents are wasted in a forgettable role  he did much better earlier in the year in the underrated  birthday girl   as well as chris penn  who has a role so thanklessly small you feel sorry for a talent like him . anyway  the plot really isn  t even a factor in this movie at all . the two teen killers played by ryan gosling and michael pitt are the only real reasons to see this movie . their talent and chemistry work pretty good and they play off of each other quite well . it  s too bad they weren  t in a much better all  around film . barbet schroeder is treading way too safe ground here for such a seasoned filmmaker . bottom line it  s worth a rent if you  re a genre fan  but everyone else will live a fulfilled life without ever seeing it  except maybe on network tv with convenient commercial breaks .  
  happenstance  is the most new york  feeling parisian film i  ve seen since  when the cat  s away  chacun cherche son chat  .   br    br   a film from last year released now to capitalize on the attention audrey tatou is getting for  amelie   its french title is more apt  le battement d  ailes du papillon  the beating of the butterfly  s wings   as in summarizing chaos theory as a controlling element in our lives .  br    br   tatou  s gamine  ness is less annoying here because she only occasionally flashes that dazzling smile amidst her hapless adventures  and because she  s part of a large  multi  ethnic ensemble  so large that it took me a long time to sort out the characters  especially as some of the cute guys and older women looked alike to me  and some of the characters fantasize what they should do such that i wasn  t sure if they were doing that or not .  br    br   but i loved how urban the coincidences were  from immigrants to love nests to crowded subway cars to hanging around cafs .  br    br   the subtitles quite annoyingly gave both parts of a dialog at once .  br    br    originally written            
having been pleasantly surprised by sandra bullock  s performance in miss congeniality  i decided to give murder by numbers a shot . while decent in plucky  self  effacing roles  ms . bullock  s performance in  serious  roles  see hope floats  speed     days  leave much to be desired . her character is at the same time omniscient  confused  and sexually maladjusted  the sub  plot of sandra  s past comes across as needless filler that does little to develop her already shallow character  . the two teenage boys gave decent performances  although their forensics expertise and catch  me  if  can attitude is belied by stupid errors that scream  we did it   chris penn as the all  too  obvious suspect is wasted here  as is ben chaplin  s token partner  love interest character .  br    br   spoilers ahead mediocre acting aside  the biggest flaws can be traced to a tv  of  the  week plot that never has you totally buying into the murder motives in the first place  and as mentioned  the stupid errors  vomiting up a rare food on the murder scene  an all too convenient and framing of the school janitor  the two boys hanging out together in public  a convenient love interest to cause friction  etc . etc  cause the view to go from being intrigues to being bored and disappointed by the murderers . the ending was strictly  by the numbers  and was probably the most disappointing aspect of the movie . using the now  cliched tactic of almost showing the climactic scene at the beginning of the film  and then filling the audience in how we arrived at that moment  the final scenes surprise no one and lacked any of the so  called intelligence the film purported to arrive at it  s conclusion . a somewhat promising concept  but poorly executed and weak in nearly every way .  out of  .  
  stargate sg    follows the intergalactic explorations of a team named sg   through a device called the stargate and all the surprises awaiting on the other side of the wormhole .  br    br   having seen this series sporadically for it  s first few seasons when it first came out  i didn  t know how good this series would really be    years after i had last seen an episode . my old impression was that the series was great  but my impression was far from the truth .  stargate sg    is more than just a simple sci  fi series  it is one of the most well made  interesting  long running  exciting sci  fi ever produced . and why  because it runs on an amazing premise .  br    br   this series value far surpasses that of the movie it was based on and i think it is a very good example that television  as a medium  with a suitable premise  is able to provide something that doesn  t work on the time restriction of film . the sense of familiarity created by a long running series  watching the characters and their circumstances progressing with time is stunning and just adds to the ability to suspend disbelief  and it  s all a result of terrific writing and a lot of dedication by the all crew to the show .  br    br    stargate sg    kept offering great adventures throughout the   years  but was never afraid of the challenge of moving the plot and it gave way for some very different time periods of the show  br    br    the first few seasons  perhaps up to the  th   th  focused a lot more on the exploration of planets and different situations  keeping the episodes fairly unrelated to each other if it were not for the always impending goaul  d threat .  br    br    from the  th to the  th there was increasingly more episodes focusing on fighting the goaul  d and preventing attacks on earth . after this seasons exploration of the planets was almost only an excuse for putting sg   in a place of goaul  d  replicator  ori conflicts  br    br    the  th season is probably the most mixed one . it has a stream of episodes that includes minor earth matters in which the stargate is hardly even mentioned  but the last episodes feature some great replicator moments .  br    br    the  th and   th travel together because they have the same new enemy and no jack o  neil . they are both good continuations  although the first few episodes of the   th season are a little weak  because they seem to be about little more than sg   and human  jaffa losing battle after battle to the ori .  br    br   basically  after season   exploration was pushed to the background  which in many ways was a shame  because of the potential and mystery each planet  episode  presented on the other hand  it made for so many great episodes of the ongoing conflicts that the change of nature of the show still worked and shows how great and bold the writers were .  br    br   even tough i believe the series have a high quality ending that nicely puts it to rest  the feeling i have is that it could go on the people involved were all great professionals and the series narrative had plenty to offer . a last season returning to the beginning nature of the series was very doable and would have been most welcome  but ultimately things are as they are .  br    br   in the end  because of the fact that i enjoyed everything  it  s a little hard to find that it ends . the big picture  however  the one drawn by the work of hundreds of people over the course of   years  is a sight of beauty and a true testament to the dedication of the crew  those outstanding actors and the characters the we will always remember as a collective by the name of sg   .  
lets enter the world of this movie for a second  so you can better understand the type of movie we are dealing with here .  br    br   edison is one of those really stupid movies where the bad guy and his goons have been letting loose       bullets shooting at the good guy behind walls and pillars  shouting at them  and then finally get to the good guy face to face and instead of killing him . . . . . . instead of wasting this guy that has caused you so much grief . . . . instead of just walking up and pop  . . . . . what do you do  the bad guy . . . . . he talks to him . he grabs the good guy and talks to him while holding his gun . they have nothing to talk about  shoot him  shoot him now  but he talks to him anyway . oh another thing . at the end  a newspaper says  pulitzer prize winner story right here  or something right above on a front page of a paper  when its like the first time the story is printed . so how in the heezy did someone win a pulitzer for it that fast  yea  you know those types of stupid movies  yea well that  s edison in a nutshell .  br    br   you get mr cool morgan freeman and shifty eyed tough kevin spacey who both phone in their roles completely  ll cool j who scowls literally every single moment of the movie  while proposing to his girlfriend in a damn night club of all places  and who  s last line  duck  was something from like a lethal weapon movie that was never made . . . and justin timberlake whining and spewing nonsense every time he talks  little cocky bastard . the only bright spot was a crazy dylan mcdermott doing his best  denzel from training day  impression  which was pretty entertaining .  br    br   oh yea so whats the movie about  eh  something about scandals involving the city edison  s fictional special unit police force called  f . r . a . t .  i swear i  m not making this stuff up  which was supposed to be a obvious play off of s . w . a . t . anyway little journalistic super singer boy justin timberflake smells something foul afoot after a murder involving  undercover cops from frat  and he goes scurrying off looking for a story  gaining his boss   freeman  trust along the way while they both unravel something even bigger and sinister than what they both thought . blah blah blah . its like a bootleg pelican brief meets a halfassed training day . the pacing was slow and off  the script was horrible  and the acting was extremely uninspired . it jumped everywhere without going anywhere . people get put in comas and you forget about them . everyone in this movie just didn  t think . damn what a stupid movie . its becoming harder to write any sort of review for it because the movie left my brain the second it ended . . . no lie basically  do not waste your time   
this isn  t exactly a great film  but i admire the writers and director for trying something a little different . the film  s main theme is fate and small  seemingly insignificant things that can greatly change the future . in some ways this reminds me of the film sliding doors  though instead of focusing on one random event  seemingly random stuff happens repeatedly and each one helps build to the cute conclusion . plus  an odd bald guy seems to understand all this and he talks about this during one brief scene   like he  s some sort of omnipotent being but there  s absolutely no explanation of him in the film  like the two guys that fight each other in the clock tower in the hudsucker proxy  .  br    br   the dvd jacket shows just audrey tautou . this is capitalize on her success in amelie  though she is only one of many actors in the film and there is no one starring role . the pace is brisk  the acting fine and the conclusion isn  t bad at all . the only reason i didn  t score it higher is that some of the characters were a bit uninteresting and i think the movie could have perhaps been tightened up with a few less subplots .  
hard to believe that director barbet schroeder once did the majestic and very funny maitresse        and now only seems to do  by the numbers  hollywood thrillers .  br    br   this is very lightweight john grisham material  crossed with the plot of a tv movie . bullock is cass mayweather  a feisty and independent crime investigator specialising in serial killers . ben chaplin is her reserved police partner sam kennedy  and together they make an uncomfortable duo . not good  when two unbalanced college maladriots  gosling and pitt  decide to send them on a wild goose chase  by planting very clever and misleading forensic evidence at a crime scene .  br    br   fair enough  but while bullock and chaplin fail to create any sparks  we also have to endure a several dull overly  melodramatic flashbacks illustrating an important event in cass  s history . then of course there are the frequent shots of a cliff  side log cabin where there  s absolutely no doubt the ott ending will be set . oooh . . . the atmosphere .  br    br   watch any episode of csi instead . it  s to the point and far more exciting .  
narratives  whether written  visual or poetic epics  generally try to avoid too may characters readers and viewers  after all  can be too easily overwhelmed by trying to keep track of who exactly is who . this is especially true in film  i think  simply because we cannot easily go back to refresh our memory in a cinema . viewers like myself  however  don  t have that problem because we see all our films on dvd or vhs .  br    br   a year ago i was introduced to audrey tautou  a french actress  whom i first saw in the fabulous destiny of amelie poulain       and later in a very long engagement        both of which were finely crafted and complex stories with a large cast of characters . this earlier offering exceeds the others in both ways more characters and more complexity .  br    br   now  other directors have used those techniques before robert altman with the player        short cuts        gosford park       and others paul thomas anderson did the same with magnolia       . stanley kramer did it with a mad  mad  mad  mad world in      a comedy of almost epic proportions . the difference with this film is  first the director lets us  see  inside the head of some of the characters and second  some scenes are repeated as means to refresh the viewer  s memory as the story flip  flops between different time periods .  br    br   the basic  the core  so to speak  story concerns a young woman  irene  tautou  who is told  by a fellow commuter on a train  that she will meet her true love on that day . this occurs in the first few minutes of the film . the clever irony at this point is that irene doesn  t realize that the young man opposite  gilbert robin  may be that  one true love  . and  nor does he . . .  br    br   they go their separate ways with neither realizing the potential significance of their close encounter . however  chaos results throughout the rest of the day  not only for the two young people  but for the rest of the characters who appear in a series of cleverly constructed and interwoven vignettes that all seem to be going nowhere  and yet . . .  br    br   if the story were simply that  it could tend to be boring  and even quite predictable . not so . the script and the director rip into our expectations with a host of innovative scenes that are all too commonplace  but which are turned into believable  extraordinary events that allow the two possible lovers to meet again . for example  the next time some bird poo from the sky drops onto a book or paper of yours  consider your alternatives two characters make an obvious choice that must occur before irene and her man of destiny meet again . or what about a stone chip flying onto your windscreen  consider again what would happen . . .  br    br   all of that is interesting enough . what was more interesting for me was assessing each new man who came along and trying to decide whether this guy was the one for irene  or whether it was  in fact  the young man on the train . that kept me guessing for a while .  br    br   i  ll let you think about that  should you see this delightful romp .  br    br   recommended for all .  
except for acknowledging some nice cinematography  i can hardly say anything positive about this movie . the single real issue is the protagonist  s dilemma whether to remain with his childhood friends in the world of misery or to leave them and take up his own life . abundant  emotionally powerful  scenes do not go with this plot and  because of bad acting  they also fail to create the intended atmosphere . the director only manages to introduce anthony  s dilemma and eventually brings an easy solution . the characters do not seem to evolve  although it is difficult to speak of any characters . . . perhaps except for sonny . beside him  actors do not get to play much and when some of them have to  they come off as self  indulging amateurs . i wonder what ruined the movie more the superficial script  throwing away all the potential of the plot  or the bad acting  disturbing any appeal that might be left .  
this entire movie is worth watching just for the magnificent final moment  its the best ending of any movie i  ve ever seen . perfect  beautiful  funny  simply wonderful .  br    br   i found this movie delightful  even with it  s french taking  itself  too  seriously deep meanings thing going on . i loved it  it  s a great love story . and i loved the way algerians were woven in  and by the way  the music during the final credits is great . i want the cd   
they must issue this plot outline to all wannabe filmmakers arriving at the hollywood bus station . they then fill in the blanks and set their story in whatever hick town or urban ghetto from which they just arrived . you know exactly what this movie is about from the opening shot  four young boys playing in grainy slow motion  accompanied by voice over narration . next stop after the bus station must be to buy stock footage of four young boys playing in grainy slow motion . once they  re grown  it  s easy to spot the writer  director among the four . he  s the quiet  contemplative  long  haired one who is never seen without his composition book tucked in his pants . this means that his superb writing talent will be his ticket from hickville to hollywood . only there  s no writing  or directing talent on display here . and if you still can  t figure out which one he is  here  s a hint the auteur and his character have the same middle name . it took over an hour to figure out that these twenty  something men were supposed to still be in high school . what looked like a prison was apparently a high school  the warden turned out to be the principal . once more  the poor  misunderstood rebel can pound everyone in the movie into the pavement  murder and pillage  but is powerless to stand up to his alcoholic father . how about hitting back  kid  like you do everyone else  numerous fist fight scenes for no apparent purpose . howlingly bad dialogue . many scenes badly out of focus . cartoon characters keep popping up as bit players and extras  drawing unintentional laughs from the premiere audience . overacting in the extreme . and if you don  t quite get the self  important speeches  or the slow  motion scenes  just listen to the overbearing music . it will clue you in and what you  re supposed to feel . poor marisa ryan must be racking up lots of frequent flier mileage as she travels around the country working in these amateur regional films . the biggest sin is that the audience is supposed to feel sympathy for kids who gun down old ladies  run over puppies chained to a tree  rob and steal  all the while complaining about their sad  sorry lives . but if only we could get out of this hick town and go to college . yeah  that  s the ticket . why is it that every twenty  something filmmaker believes that his life so far is so important  so interesting  that the world can  t wait to see it onscreen  if this movie is as autobiographical as it seems  then the auteur better be looking over his shoulder for policemen bearing fugitive warrants .  
this whimsical film had the misfortune of being released at the same time of the highly popular  amelie   both having the wonderful audrey tautou playing the central role . laurent firode  the talented director made one of the most enjoyable films that have come out of france in recent memory .  br    br   the film deals with chance  as its english title indicates . the french title makes reference at how butterflies wings can create chaos over the atlantic as they fly  as well as hurricanes in the pacific  something not to be believed just by looking at these colorful insects . from the start  the director interlaces all the characters one sees in the film and how each has a connection to the other  something that is hard to imagine  but in the film  s context seems to work well .  br    br   a chance meeting at the metro sets the tone for the film . irene  who is going to work  is asked by the woman sitting opposite her to tell her what her zodiac sign is and proceeds to read from her paper . irene  it seems will cross paths and will find her soul mate that same day . after irene leaves the train  the quiet young man seated next to the woman tells her he has the same birth date as irene . it seems they are destined to one another from the start  but alas  they will not reconnect until the last frame of the film .  br    br   audrey tautou is wonderful as irene . faudel  who plays younes  doesn  t have a lot to do until the end  but he shows he has a presence and plays well his part . the talented young cast makes a valuable contribution to the success of the film  which is as light as butterfly wings .  br    br   we look forward to future films by laurent firode because he appears to be a director with the heart in the right place and an ear to the way humans are connected .  
a lot of people seemed to have liked the film  so i feel somewhat bad giving it a bad review . but after sitting through   minutes of it  i feel i have to do so . where the heck is the plot in this film   i must have missed it  i was waiting for the storyline to unfold and nothing happened . sure the ending was  somewhat shocking  but they didn  t build up to it . i forgot who was who half of the time  so they didn  t really develop the characters . the acting was so  so  most of the time it was believable  but i was able to see through it most of the time . so . . . without giving anything away  i must say that unless you like the actors in the film  there is no real reason to watch this movie . i could be mistaken  but i just didn  t understand why there was so little  or too much of the film . i can  t decide which one that would be  so i say judge for yourselves . i don  t even know if renting it would be a good idea  the cost and all . . .  br    br   plot     characters     acting     overall     i feel like that  s too high really  i am staying with my vote up at the top .  
to me  this review may contain spoilers  but i like watching movies with no idea of what is going to happen  so therefore i think many of the other reviews here of this movie contain spoilers   br    br   i just watched this movie again  and i must reiterate that it has the best ending to any movie . ever . ever . ever . the real translation   the beating of the butterfly  s wings   is oddly not used as the translated title . i suppose they thought most americans wouldn  t know what chaos theory is  except for those who saw or read  jurassic park   . the movie is based on chaos theory  and how one small event can affect the outcome of seemingly unrelated events  which all lead back to one event . the movie is a whirlwind of wondrous cause and effect  as we follow the chain of chaos as it intertwines between several characters  about     . in a way  the ending seems inevitable despite this  but if you think about it  it is a perfect ending . think to yourself   what else needed to be said   it is at the same time a very brave ending . too bad we have to go overseas for a gem like this one  but an ending like this would never come out of hollywood .  br    br    
dick foran and peggy moran  who were so good together in the mummy  s hand  return for this very minor universal horror offering . but this time  instead of having wallace ford as the comedic sidekick  babe   we get fuzzy knight substituting as a silly buddy named  stuff  . but the results are nowhere near as charming  and the scare level is virtually nil .  br    br   dick is a businessman who gets the idea of spearheading a treasure hunt on a remote island inside a spooky old castle . peggy is one of the gang who comes along for the ride . but there is a tall and skinny john carradine lookalike in a black cape and big hat known as  the phantom  who crashes the party in pursuit of the buried fortune himself .  br    br   this  phantom  is not very mysterious  and no effort is made to even try and keep his rather average guy face in the shadows to create any tension or spookiness . it  s always nice to see perky moran  but otherwise you can chalk this up as one of universal  s instantly forgettable misfires .  
most people who chase after movies featuring audrey tautou seem to not understand that amelie was a character  it is not really audrey tautou  s real life personality  hence  every movie she partakes in is not going to be amelie part   part   etc .  br    br   now with that said  i too picked up this movie simply because audrey was in it . yes  it  s true  there is a big gap after the first scene where she isn  t seen at all for maybe   min  but i didn  t even miss her because i was having so much fun with the other characters . the guy who lies about everything is too funny  the guy who justifies people who run out of his cafe and skip out on the bill by finding coupons and such which balance out the loss  actually . . . . getting into all the characters here could take quite a while  but this is one of the best movies i  ve seen in a while .  br    br   audrey tautou  s character irene is not the overdone sugary girl that amelie was . in fact  as irene  her rudeness to a bum asking for change caught me off guard at first . in this film  irene is a girl with good intentions  but over the course of a  very awful  day  her disposition becomes more and more sour and pessimistic .  br    br   what makes this film completely great is you have all these really interesting stories and plots building . . . very entertaining to watch  great scenery and shots  very colorful and never too slow  and all of the characters can actually act . the best part of the movie comes with about   minutes left . . . . this is when all of the plots start to mesh together and the ride really picks up and everything ties together and makes sense  and the whole butterfly effect blossoms . i swear  it was the best   minutes of film i  ve seen in quite a while  and the ending . . . . it made me think  damn i really lucked out finding this movie  . the ending to this movie is top notch . whoever wrote the script for this is brilliant  because not only are there all these other subplots going on  but to somehow make them all tie in together  and in a sensible manner  which is the case here  but also to make each character feel human and come alive  not just some stale persona used as a crutch to build up this whole butterfly effect . . . very impressive .  br    br   i highly suggest this movie as it  s a great film to watch anytime  in any mood  with any company or alone .  
a horribly pointless and  worse  boring film . stranger than fiction has nothing new to say about anything  no characters beyond the most unimaginative stereotypes  and relies on a clunky central concept that is neither particularly original nor dealt with in a vaguely innovative way .  br    br   will ferrell is totally wasted in what he presumably hoped to be his answer to jim carey  s truman show  and substitutes his usual shouting routine  admittedly very funny if you discount talledega nights  for  well  pretty much nothing .  br    br   emma thompson is no more than mildly irritating  that some reviews i  ve read here are talking her up for an oscar nomination is laughable  whilst maggie gyllenhaal does a passable job with a very weak script that allows nothing beyond establishing her character as a former law student who dropped out of harvard to become a baker because she liked making people happy . please . that she ended up falling for ferrell  s  character  is utterly ludicrous .  br    br   marc forster  s attempts to jazz up the film using computer graphics only serve to highlight the uninspired the material he has to work with .  br    br   i had the choice of either going to watch the prestige for the third time or seeing this . i wish i  d opted for the prestige .  
the mystery here is why this delightful  small comedy has been ignored by most critics and has failed to find the audience it deserves . simply showcasing the budding talent of audrey tautou should be enough to generate greater recognition from the cognoscenti .  br    br   lacking in pretension and relying on quirky characterizations  its rumination on the interconnection of human behavior manages to be both amusing and life affirming and  unlike some of its more critically acclaimed competition in the genre  such as the taste of others  it actually entertains .  
stranger than fiction angered me so much  i signed up on imdb just to write this review . stranger than fiction is a surprisingly complex  touching and thought  provoking movie until the very end . once you suspend multiple lapses of logic  why didn  t will ferrell hear emma thompson  s voice   years ago when she fist started writing her book   the phone rang . the phone rang again .  how could she not know it  s him calling  etc .   the movie challenges one  s thoughts about mortality  fate  and sacrifice .  br    br   the brief history of literary themes provided by dustin hoffman should especially entertain former english majors . and maggie gyllenhaal is always a pleasure  even though will ferrell might just as easily be an ax murderer as a bumbling soul . her quick trust of him is a mighty big leap of faith .  br    br   ah  but the ending . until the very end  i would have given  out of   stars to this movie . the movie as a metaphor for life  s journey  as a tribute to the notion of  writing true   as a reminder that great literature is either comedy or tragedy  but not both  is outstanding . the entire movie leads the viewer to understand and accept the moment of will ferrell  s fate . and no matter how endearing a character he may have become  we know full well why we will accept the ending . the last act occurs  the screen goes white  the credits roll . a profound and powerful end to an almost perfect film . an end that would have been debated for weeks .  br    br   no           no credits rolled . say it isn  t so . say hollywood didn  t tack on another   minutes of crap that completely undermined the integrity and heart of the movie . dustin hoffman got it right when he said   it  s no longer a masterpiece it  s ok .  an apt review of the movie . except to me  it wasn  t even ok . i was so offended about the betrayal of  writing true   about the decision to pander the film that i actually burst into angry tears explaining this on the ride home from the movie . i don  t often cry . i could care less about most movies  but i am still angry about this one .  br    br   my questions for zack helm  the writer  are this did the original movie end when the screen went white  and were you forced by the vapid movie powers  that  be to tack on an ending unfaithful to the core of the movie  or did you tack that maudlin ending on yourself  i  ve read you  re brilliant . i hope your original script ended the movie the first time .  br    br   i know zack helm will never see this review  and i  ve been unable to find a contact for him to ask myself . but  please  movie  goers  am i the only one who feels this way about stranger than fiction  one good thing came from me seeing this movie i doubly admire lost in translation now .  
the fluttering of butterfly wings in the atlantic can unleash a hurricane in the pacific . according to this theory  somehow related to the chaos theory  i  m not sure exactly how   every action  no matter how small or insignificant  will start a chain reaction that can lead to big events . this small jewel of a film shows us a series of seemingly  unrelated characters  most of them in paris  whose actions will affect each others  lives .  the six  degrees  of  separation theory can be applied as well .  each story is a facet of the jewel that is this film . the acting is finely  tuned and nuanced  audrey tautou is luminous   the stories mesh plausibly  the humor is just right  and the viewer leaves the theatre nodding in agreement .  
a badly  acted two  character comedy  drama abruptly transmogrifies into a weren  t  we  awful  to  the  indians polemic  with lousy special effects  exploitative use of nudity  and ugly violence . it  s as sincere as a politician  s handshake  as obvious as a car salesman  s pitch  one of the worst movies in the history of the universe . absolute and utter dreck .  
we have to remember that the    s were practically a blank slate when it came to movies . hollywood was in transition from patriotic war movies  noir  two reel oaters  etc to movies with a message . we had blackboard jungle  on the waterfront and so on . some folks might think that was an improvement . i don  t . who was the mogul who said if you want to send a message  call western union  he was right . these psychological thrillers are less entertainment than some kind of remote therapy .  br    br   this one is a pip . it  s about three sisters trying to wrest control of their dead father  s estate . one of them  maybe the only one worth redemption enlists the aid of the company pilot to help her keep the rest of the family at bay . he  s initially in it for the bucks  but eventually falls for her . meanwhile the rest of the family schemes to sabotage the romance . the results are predictable . you get a little bit of everything in this movie . sexual tension between the sisters . a little subtle masochism . hereditary insanity  if there is such a thing . we never get to meet the parents  but they must really have been screwed up the cast is practically unknown . one or two of the actors sound vaguely familiar . the acting is so bad it  s hard to believe . it was released under the united artists umbrella by a company called bel  air productions . it was shot in and around la mostly at night and probably without permits . the end was so bizarre that i thought it was a joke . it was as if they ran out of money and the producer decided to wrap it up in the middle of a scene .  br    br   i can  t explain it  not even to myself  but i gave this pile of trash an     . i  m familiar with the term  it  s so bad it  s good   but i don  t think i ever ran into the phenomenon before . well  maybe  hot rods to hell   but this one certainly fits . you might want to try this if you love movies that seem like they were made in somebody  s basement .  
spoilers contained  br    br   i  d heard from various sources that this film was controversial and that the ending in particular was horrific . what i didn  t expect was the complete change in tack with about twenty minutes to go . what starts off as a typical cowboy  indian western suddenly descends into a very dull romantic  comedy  about honus  soldier blue of the title played by peter strauss  and cresta  candice bergen  who escape an onslaught of the cavalry by the cheyenne . the majority of the film then focuses on these two mismatched people hence the romantic comedy bit . donald pleasance then turns up and abducts them both for no real apparent reason . they then escape and both turn up  separately  at the cavalry base on the eve of an attack on the cheyenne base . as cresta used to be married to one of the cheyenne chiefs she escapes the cavalry base and joins up with them . so far so ordinary . then comes the ending . after enduring well over an hour of poor acting involving a cliched will they  won  t they get together storyline  the movie then transforms into over the top exploitation involving among other things a decapitation and a child being shot in the back of the head . similarities can be drawn with the wild bunch at this point of the film but the wild bunch kept the same tone throughout and didn  t resort to extreme gratuitous violence . in some ways  soldier blue reminds me of frank perry  s last summer which also completely changed tack for a shock ending . i didn  t hate soldier blue nor find the ending particularly disturbing but just found it to be pretty dull with an unnecessarily violent ending . if you want to see a film with a truly disturbing slaughter of the innocents  i would recommend elem klimov  s come and see .  
when a rich tycoon is killed in a plane crash  his spinster twin sister  martha craig  madge kennedy   doesn  t believe he grabbed the controls in a suicide dive  even though self  snuff runs in the family  but his three beautiful daughters couldn  t care less . the pilot  jim norton  john bromfield   goes to work for valerie craig  kathleen hughes  who soon coerces him into helping her wrest control of the estate from her troubled sister  lorna  sara shane  and the family lawyer  jess barker  . valerie wants norton to seduce lorna when he  s not fending off the advances of another sister  the nymphet vicki  marla english   but her plans are thrown into a tailspin when norton falls for his prey . all bets are off as a world of woe  including corporate chicanery  seductions  suicides  blackmail  a murder plot  the mann act  double  crosses  disfigurement  and poetic justice  befall  craig manor   an imposing mansion on a bluff overlooking the sea . . .  br    br   this preposterous potboiler would have made a perfect second feature for written on the wind  also from     . douglas sirk  s saga of a powerful  and powerfully dysfunctional  oil clan was said to have inspired the     s night  time tv serial dallas but the craig  s low  brow excursion into insanity seems right out of it  s sinful sister  soap  dynasty . all three siblings  only one of whom is really bad  are great beauties but it  s kathleen hughes  cartoon villainy that stands out . valerie is relentless in her quest to inherit the family fortune and her unbridled enthusiasm for evil is one of the movie  s many guilty pleasures . teenage sister vicki is quite a piece of work as well  reminiscent of carmen sternwood in the big sleep . when they first meet  she pulls the equivalent of trying to sit on norton  s lap while he  s still standing by coming on to him with the line  i graduated summa cum laude from embrace  able u .  whew   br    br   three bad sisters  produced by schlockmeister howard w . koch  is a terrific trash  wallow in exploitation excess and the cast is b  movie heaven marla  she creature  english    s hunk john  revenge of the creature  bromfield  once married to french sexpot corinne calvet   universal starlet sara shane  discovered by hedy lamarr   jess  mr . susan hayward  barker  kathleen  it came from outer space  hughes  and former silent screen star madge kennedy give it all they  ve got  however much or little that is . future eurotrash star brett halsey  trumpet of the apocalypse  is seen briefly as one of vicki  s victims .  br    br   b  movie rating      marla  and her body english  made marvelous movies  three bad sisters was recently seen on the big screen as part of the palm springs film noir festival but the jury  s still wiping soap suds out of . . . aw hell  it  s noir      on the noirometer  .  
soldier blue is a movie with pretensions pretensions to be some sort of profound statement on man  s inhumanity to man  on the white man  s exploitation of and brutality towards indigenous peoples a biting  unflinching and sardonic commentary on the horrors of vietnam . well  sorry  but it fails miserably to be any of those things . what soldier blue actually is is pernicious  trite  badly made  dishonest rubbish .  br    br   another reviewer here hit the nail on the head in saying that it appears to be a hybrid of two entirely different movies . what it is basically is a lame  clichd  poorly acted  odd couple  romance  strauss and bergen overcoming their prejudices about the other  s lifestyle and falling in love  ah  bless   bookended by two sickening massacres which wouldn  t have been out of place in a lucio fulci splatter flick .  br    br   there is no excuse for the repulsive  prurient  gore  drenched climax  in which cute little native american children are variously shot  sliced  dismembered and impaled in loving and graphic close  up  and large  breasted native american women are molested  raped and strung up  no excuse  that is  except box office .  the massacre itself  whilst repulsive in its misplaced intention  is very badly staged and shot a bunch of actors lying around with bright red paint smeared on them  intercut with a few special  effects sequences of beheading  dismemberment  dismemberments  incidentally  which utilised real amputees in their filming . now that  s what i call exploitation .   br    br   forget all the pap you  ve heard  including the ludicrous commentaries that begin and end the movie  about this being a  protest   an indictment of american brutality towards the native peoples . this film doesn  t give a stuff about the plight of the cheyenne had it done so it would have featured some involving native american characters  would have led us to get to know and to care about the nameless  faceless innocents who get slaughtered at the climax . instead what we get is the silly white bread romance of bergen and strauss  lousy actors both  in this at least   with plenty of blood  guts and severed heads thrown in to attract the curious .  br    br   which is a terrible shame  because there is a movie to be made about the sand creek massacre  about all of the real life massacres the us  and britain  and all so  called  civilised  nations  have participated in over the centuries  iraq   . this just isn  t that movie .  
the first and second seasons started off shakily  with good episodes sandwiched in between average ones  and at times resorting to clichd stories . but once it started to set up the universe in which it exists and started to develop it  s characters more  it became a lot more fun and entertaining .  br    br   the main reason this show succeeds it because of four men richard dean anderson  peter deluise  joseph malozzie and paul mullie . richard  s dry sense of humour makes to show so much better  peter  s directing is excellent and makes any episode so much more entertaining  and joe  paul never fail to make a funny  interesting episode together .  br    br   once you understand what the show is about and get to know the characters  i doubt you won  t like the show . for those getting into the show i suggest the episodes  the other side   a good serious episode  and  window of opportunity   a classic comic relief episode .  
the movie started off strong  ll cool j  deed  as an undercover police officer  with partner sgt . lazerov  dylan mcdermott from the practice  possibly miscast as a bad guy   committing robbery and murder . deed refuses to kill the drug dealer  which sets up the conflict of a dirty cop with a conscience . the other big names  freeman  spacey et al  are well cast and the movie shows promise .  br    br   the movie begins to fall short as soon as justin timberlake  pollack  is introduced . given the opportunity to make a good movie that people will possibly see repeatedly  or one that teenage girls will go and see the once because of timberlake  i would choose the former . even talented actors have to work hard at their craft timberlake is not talented and no amount of hard work can save him . i would have thought he would put on a better show  given the fact that he has been acting talented for years . everything he did in this film was unconvincing .  br    br   just because a singer sells millions of records and sells out stadiums  it does not automatically translate that they can act successfully in feature films . even hardcore n  sync fans will not be able to ignore the obvious lack of acting talent .  br    br   that aside there are a few plot holes  such as pollack  s sudden sniper ability and deadly operation of warehouse machinery . this movie had so much promise . thoroughly disappointing .  
that hilarious line is typical of what these naughty sisters say .  it  s funny on its own terms and pretty funny unintentionally  too .  only two of the sisters are really bad . boy  are they bad  too  one is given to pinup poses and salacious comments where e  er she goes . the other is got up to look like marilyn monroe . she has those sensual  slightly parted lips . and  not to give anything away  she is even more bad than the other .  br    br   all three sisters are played by starlets . the man who stumbles into their lives is played by john bromfield . he had something of a career .  br    br   this looks today like possibly the first mainstream soft  core porn ever marketed . well  of course not the first but the raciest at that time .  br    br   the girls wear as little as possible and let  s not forget about the female audience members bromfield is shown shaving with an electric razor   whose fetish was this    bare  chested . he also is shown sopping wet in a swimsuit .  br    br   there  s a real plot here  too the girls  family  see  is cursed . they are prone to suicide   or dramatic deaths that can be made to seem like suicide .  br    br   the movie is not bad . i truly don  t know where it was shown . maybe it was made for drive  ins . somehow  and i could be wrong  i felt that the typical male audience was not the primary target here . the women are scantily dressed . they often resemble lurid covers of mags like police detective or jackets of dime novels .  br    br   but the guy seems to be the central focus . not everyone in the movie likes him  but all the girls love him . and i think the audience is meant to also .  br    br   it  s lots of fun   and on its own terms  too .  
first of all  this film can be divided into three segments . a promising opening  with the ambushing of some cavalry by the cheyenne . this is followed by what can only be described as a long boring middle section  with the totally miscast candice bergen and  soldier blue  traveling together to reach the safety of an army garrison . miss bergen spews forth inappropriate four letter words every time she opens her mouth  and looks like she just walked out of a     s jack nicholson movie . i mean she maintains zero interest  with zero believability . the third and final section involves the totally gratuitous slaughter of an indian village . this is so obviously overdone to lay on the anti  war propaganda  that it comes across as simply long  outrageous  and contrived . not recommended .  merk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jacobe  comment above  here  s an idea . why don  t you actually watch the movie you are commenting on  instead of chirping your liberal nonsense . this is not a political site  it is for reviewing films .  merk  
faith and mortality . . . viewed through the lens of an elderly ashkenazi jewish  american gentleman and a younger  african  american jewish gentleman who waver between being at odds with each other and having frank talks about how their lives have unfolded over the years . .  br    br   mostel  s character is a tailor with chronic back problems  and a terminally ill wife belafonte  s character is a career hustler  never settling on a regular job  and a fatal car accident leaves him in an odd purgatory   he must convince mostel to renew his faith  as it has been failing along with his wife  s health  and his own  . . but belafonte  s levine has his own problems  still pining for the girlfriend he left behind . .  br    br   belafonte  s character leaves the film before he seemingly should  and so the the ending is cryptic  and the film suffers somewhat from its ambiguous ending . .  br    br   this is not a  typical  hollywood movie on ethnic relations or about a person  s crisis of faith . . it is worth watching more than once and appreciating the excellent performances of the principal actors . .  
when sam peckinpah  s superlative the wild bunch       opened the door to outrageous displays of graphic cinematic ultra  violence  it did so with a talented  if whisky  marinated  hand guiding the camera and had a compelling story with characters who had actual depth  but in no time flat there were scores of imitators that fell far from the benchmark set by peckinpah  s epic  and soldier blue definitely falls into that category .  br    br   soldier blew  er  blue tells the story of foul  mouthed new yorker cresta lee  candice bergen  a blonde proto  hippie chick who  s been  rescued  from two years of  captivity  among the cheyenne and is now being sent to a fort where she  ll be reunited with the fiance she only wants to marry for his money . also on board the wagon she  s traveling in is a shipment of government gold  cash the cheyenne need to buy guns with  so in short order the soldiers are wiped out and cresta flees to the hills  accompanied by honus gant  peter strauss   the lone surviving cavalryman . calling gant by the snarky nickname  soldier blue   cresta demonstrates that her years among the  savages  was time well spent  outstripping gant in survival skills  common sense  and sheer balls  and over their journey toward the fort they must persevere against the elements  a band of hostile kiowa  an unscrupulous trader  played by donald pleasance  here giving one of his most ridiculous performances  and that  s saying something  and  in the tradition of many previous western  set romantic comedies  each other .  br    br   during the course of their misadventures the two opposites are inevitably  and predictably  attracted to each other and eventually end up getting it on  while gant has a freshly  treated bullet wound that went clean through his leg  no less  in what was surely the only conveniently located cave for at least a twelve mile radius that wasn  t filled with rattlesnakes  mountain lions  or who knows what  to say nothing of the cheyenne  who could have done something really spiffy with such a primo apartment  there i go  thinking in nyc real estate terms again  .  br    br   realizing that their love could never flourish outside of the cave  cresta leaves gant and makes it to the fort by herself only to discover that the moron in charge won  t spare a couple of men so they can rescue gant the regiment needs all available personnel to launch an attack on the nearby cheyenne village  and once cresta gets wind of that she slips past her obnoxiously horny hubby  to  be and makes a beeline straight to the cheyenne to warn them of what  s coming .  br    br   what happens next is what gained the film its infamy it turns out that all the wacky misadventures and squabbling were all just a lead  in to a hideous reenactment of the     sand creek massacre  an orgy of rape  torture and general sadistic evil perpetrated in the name of  keeping the country clean   and almost forty years after its release this sequence still disturbs and nauseates for its sheer cruelty . children are trampled beneath the hooves of charging horses or impaled on bayonets  unarmed people are beheaded  a nice effect  i have to admit  women are stripped and pawed by gangs of slavering brutes  then raped and mutilated  in one truly sickening instance a naked native woman puts up too much of a fight  so her rapist instead decides to cut off her breasts  which we thankfully only see the start of before the camera moves on to chronicle some other hideous act  and scores of innocent people are shot and dismembered  their compone nt parts impaled on pikes and waved about in victorious celebration or kept as the most ghoulish of souvenirs . no joke  this scene would instantly garner an nc    rating if released today  to say nothing of possibly spurring native american interest groups to riot in the streets over the incredibly exploitative manner in which the atrocities are depicted .  br    br   i  m all in favor of westerns that don  t shy away from honest portrayals of how the west was won  or stolen if truth be told  but this film has no idea of what kind of movie it wants to be one minute it  s a heavy  handed pseudo  hippy lecture about how the treatment of the natives was totally effed up  well  duh    then it  s a light  hearted battle of the sexes farce wherein cresta proves herself five times the man gant is and manages to look hot in her tasty red calico poncho  with no undies   but that all goes out the window when donald pleasance shows up with an unintentionally    hilarious pair of buck  toothed dentures and our heroes must figure out how to escape from his murderous clutches in a sub  plot that goes nowhere  all of which culminates in the aforementioned apocalyptic climax . any one of those tacks would have been okay for a coherent film  but the end result is a slapdash mess that milked the horrors of its final ten minutes for all they were worth in the film  s promotion and poster imagery .  br    br   but by trying to be all things to all audiences  soldier blue ends up as an incoherent  preachy mulligan stew of presumably well  intentioned political correctness  but if they were going to tell the story of the sand creek massacre  wouldn  t it have been a good idea to have some indian characters who were more than just walk  ons with murphy brown acting as their mouthpiece  we get to know absolutely nothing of the people who get wiped out solely for what appears to be a crass ploy to lure gorehound moviegoers into seeing  the most savage film in history .  if you  like me  were intrigued by the provocative ads and reviews that shower almost endless praise upon it for its  daring to tell it like it was   take my word for it and let soldier blue slowly fade into cinematic obscurity .  
the unlikely duo of zero mostel and harry belafonte team up to give us some interesting performances and subject matter in the angel levine . it  s one interesting twist on the themes from it  s a wonderful life .  br    br   zero is married to ida kaminsky and the two of them belong to a special class of elderly jewish poor in new york . mostel used to be a tailor and proud of his trade  but his back and arthritis have prevented him from working . kaminsky is mostly bedridden . he  s reduced to applying for welfare . in desperation like jimmy stewart  he cries out to god for some help .  br    br   now maybe if he had gotten someone like henry travers things might have worked out differently  but even stewart had trouble accepting travers . but travers had one thing going for him  he was over    years off this mortal coil and all his ties to earthly things were gone . god sent mostel something quite different  the recently deceased harry belafonte who should have at least been given some basic training for angels before being given an assignment .  br    br   belafonte hasn  t accepted he  s moved on from life  he  s still got a lot of issues . he also has a wife  gloria foster  who doesn  t know he  s passed on  hit by a car right at the beginning of the film . you put his issues and mostel  s issues and you  ve got a good conflict  starting with the fact that mostel can  t believe in a black jew named levine .  br    br   this was the farewell performance for polish  jewish actress ida kaminsky who got a nomination for best actress in the shop on main street a few years back . the other prominent role here is that of irish actor milo o  shea playing a nice jewish doctor . remembering o  shea  s brogue from the verdict  i was really surprised to see and hear him carry off the part of the doctor .  br    br   the angel levine raises some interesting and disturbing questions about faith and race in this society . it  s brought to you by a stellar cast and of course created by acclaimed writer bernard malamud . make sure to catch it when broadcast .  
other than the great cinematography by the marvelous james wong howe in the battle scenes  this film is a true stinker .  br    br   this is the second film that i  ve seen in recent days directed by alexander korda . the first was charles laughton  s  rembrandt .  it was so lousy that i shut it off . this one i  m afraid is not very much better .  br    br   flora robson is as ugly as ever as queen elizabeth . perhaps  her performance as the virgin queen was good for     standards but when you compare it to that of a helen mirren  it is absolutely no match . in robotic fashion  robson states her lines . her battle message to the english troops is so lackluster in spirit .  br    br   even a dashing laurence olivier can  t save this utter piece of boredom .  br    br   future wife vivien leigh is in a supporting role here and she doesn  t really convey anything here . to think  that scarlett was  years later   br    br   it  s a shame that history with the spanish armada is made out to be so boring in this film .  
some spoilers  br    br   i was pleasantly surprised to find the harsh criticisms  acting  dated dialogue  unclear storyline  unfounded . belafonte is great as a brandoesque  menacing  swearing spirit who must earn his wings but is realistically ill  equipped from his past life to do so . he learns too late how empty his hustling  materialistic life was without love . mostel is likewise great as an anguished man with his dying wife fanny . in spite of his prayers for a miracle  his bitterness prevents him from accepting  or believing  in one . the two social worlds the characters represent alternately collide and complement the other  the result being hilarious and touchingly sad .  br    br   the perplexing ending is actually quite consistent with the rest of the film . after looking everywhere for belafonte  mostel looks up to see a falling feather  and he frantically reaches for it as if he  s finally willing to believe in angels and miracles . but belafonte wasn  t allowed to finish his miracle  either to restore fanny  s health or mostel  s faith   so he never got his wings . the feather floats tauntingly out of mostel  s grasp  a metaphor for both men  s live it  s too late and you don  t get a second chance . like  it  s a wonderful life   this movie is magical  wonderful  funny  but terribly tragic .  
i remembered the title so well . to me  it was a flora robson movie with olivier and vivien leigh in supporting roles . and it had vincent massey  s voice from behind whiskers . well flora robson was great . her next signature  for me  would be    days at peking  . the same role but with different sumptuous gowns . and the same voice . as for the armada  it was a subtext . i like black  and  white films . was everything done in elizbethan times at night  it was talky and difficult to fathom  at times . i couldn  t tell which was the love interest . was it the spaniard or was it vivien leigh  and i do not believe that elizabeth i would have been the brilliant strategist to recommend that fire ships be sent against the armada . apparently it worked for the empire  but not for the script . this might have been more accurate  historically  but bette davis had more engaging scripts . and i missed daylight   
 . . . and i do mean it . if not literally  after all  i have not seen every movie ever created    at least  obviously  among the ones  the many i know .  br    br    .     the rule of thumb with imdb is this sometimes movies rated very highly  for example  the piece of kannes  kompetition  krowned  korean  kraap called  oldboy   can be truly bad . but rarely a movie worth watching is actually rated under  . this movie  very much worth watching  is . a disgrace .  br    br   true  i give it a   in protest . the movie is not perfect . its true rating should be an  or a  . it has some acting flaws  belafonte especially   the script wanders around  sometimes . however  what we have here is one of the greatest directors of all times  the czech jan kadar  directing two of the greatest actors of all time  the beloved  larger  than  life zero mostel and the sublime ida kaminska in an acting  poetic  moral tour de force . a pair made in heaven  it  s true that this movie  little flaws apart  does not pander to the average audiences  but those interested in watching an excellent  while  again  not beyond criticism  movie of the incomparable director who gave us  the shop on the main street   the best movie ever about holocaust  should not miss this just because some silly imdb rating system decides that  american beauty  is better than  the angel levine  .  br    br   it isn  t .  
spoilers  br    br   well  the one line summary says it all . melvilles  le samurai  is the original and there are elements of  leon  . and they are better  much better   br    br   in the  samurai  alain delon is a lonely warrior  professional killer who keeps a bird in cage and is stealing cars for his jobs  with so much suspense in these scenes   . even the end is exactly the same the samurai seeks death in dignity and is getting shot with an empty gun in his hand . the world has changed he realizes and there is no place for the samurai in it .  br    br   delon is not killing so many people like the ghost dog . but i guess jarmusch liked  leon  very much or even  desperado  by rodriguez . so he added this  too . and let me guess the girl will become a professional like ghost dog  like natalie portman in  leon     br    br   so what was jarmusch thinking after all  where is the unique  the original thought in this movie   br    br   i cant see the point in making carbon  celluloid  copies .  br    br   a     rating by macaulay connor  
i got a good laugh reading all the idiotic comments for this film   br    br   as it  s obvious that those people who criticized the movie never seen it  or were stupid enough to pay to see it .  br    br   the best reason to watch was on the elvira show a few years back . elvira delivered the movie with as many laughs as one can .  br    br   it  s an ok monster flick  compared to the hundreds of horrendous american flicks made . way better      
now i  ll be the first to admit it when i say something that may be blasphemous or unfair  so i would like to apologize in advance for my ranting about how much i disliked this movie .  br    br   that about sums it up too . i disliked this movie . to be more specific  i disliked the concept of this movie . the cinematography was good . the mood was nice . and the acting was satisfactory .  br    br   however  the story is fatuous  unacurate and misleading . it is also offensive .  br    br   i am a quarter cree indian  and for some reason i feel insulted  on a personal level  by the nature of whitaker  s character . first of all  he  s a black guy . and this isn  t a racist remark  i swear . the thought of a white  hispanic or even native american swinging a katana on a rooftop offends everything that the katana represents . the katana represents the soul of a samurai  imbibed with the souls of his ancestors who guide and protect the samurai . for ghost dog to use his guns instead of the katana is also an insult to the blade and the souls inside  and where the heck did he get a katana anyway  it must be one of those replicas  which insults the samurai caste even more .  br    br   also  ghost dog showed no honor . near the end of the movie  he shoots a bodyguard in the back through a window and then assassinates a man by shooting him in the face through a faucet drain . not only is this a cowards way to kill an enemy  it  s more like a ninjas way silent assassins a group that samurais deny exists  but hates none  the  less .  br    br   then he tries to kill his boss  when he finds out his boss is a baddie . you know what a true samurai does when he learns his master is proven bad or dishonorable  he kills himself  to prove that he would rather die then lower himself to the level of his doggish master .  br    br   everything about the character was a giant contradiction to the real code that all samurai adhere to bushido .  br    br   so  we have great cinematography  good ambiance and so  so acting encompassing a satiricle plot and premise   which unfortunately is the most important aspect of it   making it an unsatisfactory overall film  and an insult to everything a honorable bushi  samurai  holds dear .  br    br    .     bleah  
i was around  when i saw this movie first . it wasn  t so special then  but a few years later i saw it again and that time it made fun  a lot   br    br   i think the best parts of the film are yeti  s body language and the  special effects  also .  br    br   if you wanna watch this movie  don  t wait for a hollywood made blockbuster  even this film was made from approx .     dollars    br    br   i  ve a copy of it . movie and video version as well  but i don  t think it had been ever shown in cinemas   br    br   watch it  enjoy it    yeti for ever     
  don  t bother to watch this film  would be better advice  if you like marilyn monroe in her other roles . this was a huge disappointment considering the great cast  not just marilyn .  br    br   the story was just nothing  certainly nothing like described on the vhs box  of course . there simply was no suspense  precious little excitement and too many dull spots  most of them trying to show why  nellie   monroe  was so messed up . this was not a good role for monroe  even though i didn  t need to see this character to know she could act .  some like it hot  alone was good enough evidence for me . but this role just didn  t fit her and it  s no surprise it wasn  t one of her more popular films .  br    br   it  s also too bad a film had the waste of the talents of actors like richard widmark  anne bancroft  elisha cook jr .  jeanne cagney  donna cocoran and others .  br    br   summary it  s not entertaining and entertainment is the name of the game .  
most yeti pictures are fatally undermined by a grave paucity of energy and enthusiasm . not so this gloriously bent  batty and berserk over  the  top italian  made shot  in  canada kitsch gut  buster it  s a wildly ripe and vigorously moronic ghastly marvel which reaches a stunning apotheosis of righteously over  baked  what the hell  s going on   crackpot excess and inanity .  br    br   a freighter ship crew discovers the body of a    foot yeti that resembles a hirsute    s disco stud  complete with jumbo wavy afro  perfectly preserved in a large chunk of ice . they dethaw the beast  jolt him back to life with electric charges  grossly mistreat him  and keep the poor hairy goliath in an enormous glass booth . before you can say  hey  the filmmakers are obviously ripping off  king kong    our titanic abominable snowdude breaks free of his cage  grabs the first luscious nubile blonde euro vixen  the gorgeous pheonix grant  he lays lustful eyes on  and storms away with his new lady love . the yeti gets recaptured and flown to toronto to be showed off to a gawking audience . of course  he breaks free again  nabs the vixen  and goes on the expected stomping around the city rampage .  br    br   the sublimely stupid dialogue  sample line  philosophy has no place in science  professor    cheesy  far from  special effects  the horrendous transparent blue screen work and cruddy tonka toy miniatures are especially uproarious in their very jaw  dropping awfulness   clunky  mis  direction  and a heavy  handed script that even attempts a clumsily sincere  is the yeti a man or a beast   ethical debate all combine together to create one of the single most delightfully ridiculous giant monster flicks to ever roar its absurd way across the big screen . better still  we also have a few funky offbeat touches to add extra shoddy spice to the already succulently schlocky cinematic brew the vixen accidentally brushes against one of the yeti  s nipples  which causes it to harden and elicits a big  leering grin of approval from the lecherous behemoth     the vixen nurses the yeti  s wounded hand while he makes goo  goo eyes at her  the yeti smashes windows with his feet while climbing a towering office building  and the furry fellow even breaks a man  s neck with his toes     . overall  this singularly screwball and shamefully unheralded should  be camp classic stands tall as a remarkable monolith of infectiously asinine celluloid lunacy that  s eminently worthy of a substantial hardcore underground cult following .  
this is a well  worn story about a man who marries to escape the hangman  s noose  then sets about  taming  his reluctant bride . it manages to be sexist and racist at exactly the same time . we never find out  for example  why a woman who won the respect of an indian warrior is completely unable to fight back against her erstwhile husband . or why the members of her team are so eager to get a  real man  in the saddle when she seems to have been taking care of things just fine on her own . this only made sense in fifties hollywood .  br    br   there  s a really stupid scene where she horsewhips him and he actually catches the whip   the second time   then yanks her off her horse . never mind that the first time probably would have lost him an eye  which would make it pretty hard to grab that whip  then  he prevails in a fight against her indian bodyguard where he spends the first two thirds of it getting beaten to a pulp . that  s some second wind . later  he successfully negotiates with some bloodthirsty indians  as they all are in these flicks  after they reject her now she  s his  squaw  . never mind that he has zero diplomatic skills and she  s been negotiating with them for years . and the way he keeps rejecting her attempts to seduce him just to keep her keen and keep her from getting a hold on him   yeah  right . like the women are just throwing themselves at him all the way down the trail .  br    br   finally  neither of the leads is convincing in their roles . madison is just a jerk who gets unrealistically lucky . fleming flips her hair and scowls a lot  but is totally unconvincing as a fiery tomboy . the only reason you  d root for her is because you want to see madison get tied to a runaway horse and dragged over a cliff before the film  s end . the way that madison tames fleming is so predictable and has so few obstacles that it will irritate the heck out of you if you see women as anything but blow  up dolls . even if you do see them as dolls  the total lack of suspense will bore you .  br    br   total waste of time . even the scenery  s kinda dull . give this one a big miss .  
being a giant monster fan  me seeing  yeti  was an absolute must  especially after hearing so much about it . thanks to the good  ol bootleg market i was able to find a copy pretty easily  and was happily surprised upon watching that this flick was actually  dare i say  decent .  br    br   decent for what it is  actually  namely a cheesy giant  monster flick . it kicks in pretty quickly as yeti is found pretty much immediately  and we get introduced to various characters . they consist of some sleazy ones  some good ones  and a girl who is pretty much one of the most downright strikingly beautiful girls in any cheesy sci  fi film  by far .  br    br   yeti looks like a long  haired guy straight out of the original woodstock concert  and really  he  s not that bad of a dude  especially after being introduced to the world in some kind of funky cage  like thing . godzilla he is not  despite his rude awakening  he doesn  t even rampage  actually he rarely destroys anything in the whole picture   but kinda just looks puzzled while trying to figure things out . yeti seems to understand english pretty nicely  my copy was dubbed in english  and he knows who the good guys and bad guys are .  br    br   however  we want to see the giant yeti do his thing  and he  s pretty much in the whole movie  and in typical low  budget fashion  he seems to change size a lot depending on the scene and there  s even a bunch of the  fake legs  shots of him just standing there .  br    br   yes  the special effects aren  t the greatest  but there are definitely some good ones here . a scene where yeti smashes through a warehouse is done very well  and in another  he uses the windows of a building as  ladder steps  to climb down from the top of it  shattering each window with his foot and often shocking the occupants inside  in one sequence that really looks much  much better than it should in such a  bad  movie .  br    br    yeti  never stoops as low as say   a . p . e .  does . actually the only time it even comes close to genuine silliness is when the beautiful girl causes yeti  s nipple to become erect and he lifts his eyebrow in an  oh yeah baby  manner . but even this isn  t that bad  and kinda even gets a laugh out of the viewer .  br    br   the movie is pretty long for this kind of thing  but surprisingly enough it doesn  t get boring  the story is actually good  and just watching this utterly gorgeous actress on screen will make any male viewer happy .  br    br    yeti  may not be in the upper echelon of giant monster flicks  but it is definitely better than other king kong    rip  offs like  a . p . e .  and  queen kong  by very far .  
to be honest i had heard this was pretty bad before i decided to watch it  but i  m never one to let others influence my viewings  in fact i  m more likely to watch something out of defiance  . bullwhip had one thing going for me before the viewing anyway  the fact that rhonda fleming and those gorgeous eyes was in it had me interested right away . the picture isn  t very good  and is in fact very morally dubious  all the characters are corrupt and shifty in one way shape or form  all motivated by greed or egocentric victories  this is all well and good if the surrounding film can do justice to a bunch of despicable people and create a taut climax shuddering picture . sadly it doesn  t  and as the finale fills your eyes with sugar you can  t help shouting out that you have been cheated into watching a pretty bad film  nobody in the cast come out with any credit  with lead man guy madison painfully wooden in the extreme .  br    br   not even the lovely rhonda can make me recommend this to anyone       
yeti deserves the  star rating because it is the one of the greatest bad movies ever made . i saw it at a midnight screening in l . a . and people were roaring and cheering at the insanity  this movie is one of those cinematic trainwrecks where you think it cant get any stranger and then it does  the millionaire who funds the project to thaw the yeti looks like chris penn and john goodman both poured into an ill  fitting suit  the guy playing the scientist is one of the worst actors to ever appear on screen  and yes  there is a mute boy  who sorta kinda looks like a girl  and he  s mute ever since he survived a plane crash that killed both his parents  hmmm  maybe therapy for the kid    . then this hottie italian girl is seen by yeti  once he thaws  which takes forever    and he is instantly in love with her  what is one of the most hysterical things about the movie is that this giant yeti makes  bedroom eyes  at her  it  s like a large barry white trying to seduce a groupie . in fact  once the large yeti picks up the hottie and has her against his chest  she accidentally touches the yeti  s nipple and yes  the film takes the time to show his large grey nipple get hard     yikes of all yikes  plus there  s a collie dog in it because the italian producer must have heard that american audiences like dogs and he sorta kinda tried to get a lassie  there  s also this insane scene where the yeti eats a giant fish  keeps the large fishbone and uses it to comb the italian girl  s hair  gee  thanks yeti  now my hair is smooth and smells like dead trout . you  re the best .  this film is more bizarre than something ed wood could have ever dreamt up . if you are a fan of classic cinema crap  seek this baby out .  
i  m basing this on my observations of one episode i saw last night          . i don  t think i  ll be watching again . the acting was totally wooden  the plot completely predictable  the ending totally unrealistic   i mean who would believe a   million dollar judgment for the death of a recovering drug addict with terminal cancer  the lead actor  victor garber  seemed so uncomfortable  almost embarrassed in his role   perhaps he realized how bad the writing was   i fully realize that the drama offered this season is pretty poor  but they can surely find better writers . maybe they are outsourcing the writing to india or china   i  ll bet we won  t be seeing this one next season   
stargate is the best show ever . all the actors are absolutely perfect for there roles . i love the connection between the characters . if you have not seen this show i very highly recommend it . although this program is compared to star trek a lot of the time it actually can  t be because it is completely different . i am a star trek fan but i would definitely rate this show well above any of the star treks . unfortunately i live in new zealand and we do not get stargate on our tv so if i want to see it i have to buy the dvds and season   is not out here yet so i can not see it for quite some time  which is highly depressing  . however this program is very very good and is a must see  but be warned it is highly addictive . so in summery i love stargate  and amanda tapping  .  
beginning with the poster  featuring only morgan freeman and kevin spacey   the entire movie was a fraud . one stereotype after another  this movie was about nothing  or nothing new  at least . after      minutes  you realize that you  ve just paid to see justin timberlake and ll cool j recite their way through another cop  flick .  br    br   basically  the story is about the corrupt system in some city  all secretly supported by the backbone business and in town  under the watchful eye of some hot  shot politician . the almighty and above  the  law organization is called frat and guess what  they  ve got a kick  ass loony cop shooting and beating at will  suspects  girlfriends  you name it . frat cops are corrupt and greedy  so they end up making mistakes that get discovered by a young and talented      journalist . one hour later  after a series of unbelievably bad  made shooting scenes and more stereotype lines  everything ends happily and we get served the final line  you can  t beat the system . bah  don  t see this waste of film roll . freeman and spacey barely have   min altogether   
people forget that there have been several king kong ripoffs  congo  king kong vs . godzilla  king kong        they all ripoff one another  but yeti stands on its own . it only borrows one element from king kong and that is the animal  s attraction with one female .  br    br   the yeti myth is based on bigfoot  not like king kong  and archeologists have been fascinated it  at one time they did exist  but there is no scientific data to prove it .  br    br   this movie is hard to find  but its worth watching it . the first time i watched it was on  elvira  s mistress of the dark shows  in the early      s . it sent chills down my spine as a kid  especially when the yeti got mad . i saw it again  around     am on abc about  to  yrs ago . seeing it again made me appreciate it more  it has some overall good effects  for its time  and the story involves a mute boy and his dog  and an evil businessman person who wants to kill the yeti for his own purposes . also the music is pretty cool  its very yeti like .     br    br   gianfranco parolini and the yetians creates a great monster like atmosphere .  br    br   vote  and half out of   .  
happened upon a copy of this . not mine and if i had spent my own money on this i  d be finding those responsible and demanding it back  all i can say is this would be a terrible student film . any understanding of the medium of film is absent . acting is god awful  the story would have been rejected from the original twilight zone series as unoriginal and lame  and the change in tone of the lead character  s reaction to the  ghost  is laughable .  br    br   i can only agree that the  glowing  reviews of this film are from friends and family . i  m afraid it  s not even entertainingly bad .  br    br   amateur in the extreme   br    br   avoid  avoid  avoid   
here  s another movie that should be loaded into a satellite  fired into space and pointed in the direction of the galaxy andromeda to show distant possible civilizations the best of humanity . this movie is so endearingly stupid and revealingly honest in being little more than a rip  off of the already bad movie classic king kong from     that it not only manages to upstage that film in terms of sheer belly laugh idiotic goofiness  but successfully predicted much of peter jackson  s miserable     computer cartoon bearing the same name  as far as a  romance  between the giant  here a yeti  and a gorgeous human female  antonellina interlenghi of umberto lenzi  s city of the living dead  who is very easy on the eyes  .  br    br   the film was made for kids so aside from some innuendo over fish bones and a bizarre nipple tweak to say goodbye you can forget about sex   the yeti even has a sort of giant jock strap to cover up his monstrous package  the result being even more amusing than anatomical correctness . but as a trade  off you do get a wacky old scientist  two inquisitive kids  tony kendall in a rare turn as a duplicitous bastard of a villain  a helpful intelligent collie dog who gets to have her own adventure  dog adventure movies were big in europe for a while  and of course emerges as the hero at the end for saving the yeti  who turns out to be the good guy  glorious stuff like front end loaders decorated to look like giant ape hands  a monster who  s size literally changes scale from shot to shot  some inappropriately horrible deaths that will make the carnage in godzilla vs the smog monster look tame by comparison  crowd reaction shots a  plenty made up of either spanish  italian or canadian extras depending upon scene  you can sort of tell where they were shooting from how the extras are dressed   and some of the most enthusiastically staged but inept special effects work ever in a giant monkey movie .  br    br   it  s here that the film won me over it  s enthusiasm just for being made . frank kramer is actually the same gianfranco parolini who brought the world sartana in     and god  s gun the year before this  was a very important director in the spaghetti western and action  adventure genre film scene from the      s       s and by the time of yeti he was probably delighted to get the work . i would say that this is his most adventuresome movie ever  or rather the one he took the most chances with  and may have felt more comfortable taking those chances with the film aimed at kids  families . the movie has a kind of reckless abandon to the way it was made that renders the technical errors or inconsistencies totally meaningless . or rather they are part of the fun  and if the movie had been played seriously it wouldn  t have worked   which is exactly why peter jackson  s movie sucked .  br    br   he forgot to have fun with the material and let it dictate the outcome using his army of stupid power macintosh pod people animators  and with all it  s faults  clunkiness  kramer  s yeti is actually closer to the spirit of why we watch movies like this  which is partly to see actors in ape suits tearing apart miniature sets on sound stages  not seamlessly animated vapid hours of nothing other than hard drive space . i  d rank this up there with king kong versus godzilla and it  curse of the great golem as one of the most enjoyably improbable giant rampaging monster movies ever . because the movie looks so  fake  you can get over the story and just have fun watching stuff get wrecked  trampled  tossed about and smashed . knowing that and armed with a fertile  energetic enthusiasm for having the chance to make the movie  parolini pulled out all the stops and delivers a full bodied adventure that might get a bit rough for some of the small tykes but is the first movie i will ever share with the grandkids someday when their stupid parents leave them with me for a weekend . this is stuff for the ages and one of the most telling expressions of humanity to ever be committed to celluloid .  br    br         it  s about ten minutes too long but who cares  you only come around once and i  d rather go out with a smile on my face .  
frankly i  m rather incensed that on the basis of the dazzling reviews attributed to steven smith i wasted nearly two hours on his debut offering . have they all been written by his pals  the action clunks along  the music is irritating and over used  the script is simply dire and the actors  with the exception of the gardener  mediocre at best . i do think we should support the efforts of a young filmmaker but saying it  s brilliant when it  s not will surely only encourage him to make the same mistakes again i . e . continuing to write his own scripts and using the same actors for another venture . yes  it  s his first film  low budget etc .  i get it  but it  s also out there for members of the public to purchase and it  s just not up to scratch .  
having seen most of ringo lam  s films  i can say that this is his best film to date  and the most unusual . it  s a ancient china period piece cranked full of kick  ass martial arts  where the location of an underground lair full of traps and dungeons plays as big a part as any of the characters . the action is fantastic  the story is tense and entertaining  and the set design is truely memorable . sadly  burning paradise has not been made available on dvd and vhs is next  to  impossible to get your mitts on  even if you near the second biggest china  town in north america  like i do  . if you can find it  don  t pass it up .  
it  s one of those dramas that  s so bad that it almost hits the point of being very funny  the script is absolutely dire  direction appalling  lighting purely armature  the only thing letting it down from a true so bad it  s good feel is that the sound design is only quite bad it adds no suspense to the story although trying hard  but doesn  t at least destroy any speeches . there  s continuity problems of seasons of out door shots throughout . and finally last but not least the acting is appalling . for a professional production it very much has the feel of a university media project you have to feel sorry for the sorry for anyone who had to put their names to this .  
i have always been keen on watching hong kong movies  but all of them failed to meet my expectations . . . until now  burning paradise doesn  t contain the flat humor most hk movies have  nor a second rate story line that has been dragged into the film . the story is not complex  but there are never scenes that are just there to fill some  intelligent  space  the only truely intelligent martial arts film i have seen is crouching tiger  but since hollywood is involved it is no true hk movie for me  . there are some incredible fight scenes in this movie  from the first one  which is one of the coolest i have ever seen  yet so short  to the last main scenes  but mind  there  s also a lot of blood that flows  people cut in half  decapitated  etc  . the production is pretty good and the special effects show that the fantasy of the writer can be fulfilled even though some shots must be pretty technical  notice the sheet of paper that he throws and got pinned into a wall   . yep  it  s not tsui hark or john woo that made my favorite hong kong film  it  s ringo lam  and i  m sure as hell going to check out more from this director  ace .  
when thinking about captivity many words come to mind . among them are uninteresting  unentertaining  unsuspensful  unsexy  unfathomable  and unwatchable .  br    br   i used to hate those movies from the mid to late nineties that were basically ripoffs of scream but these new saw knockoffs are beginning to make those films look like classics . they still pander to the same demographic that those other movies were so successful at doing  but now they add a new level of degeneracy that make the twelve to fourteen year old girls they  re aimed at feel like they  re hardcore and hip .  br    br   this movie is a load of boring crap  what the hell has happened to larry cohen  his name hasn  t been attached to anything good since      even so  i was still surprised to see that he had anything to do with something this bad  was anyone surprised when the movie  s love interest turned out to be one of the psychopaths  did anyone not know it when they first saw him  only someone who has never before in his or her life  ever seen another movie   
  br    br    burning paradise  is a combination of neo  shaw brothers action and ringo lam  s urban cynicism . when one watches the film  they might feel the fight scenes are only mediocre in nature but that doesn  t matter  it  s attitude and atmosphere that counts . this great film has both   always trying to be different than his contemporaries  lam gives us to traditional heroes  fong sai  yuk and hung shi  kwan  and puts them in a  raiders of the lost ark  setting . however  these are not the light  hearted comedic incarnations that you might see in a jet li movie . instead these guys fight to the death with brutal results . what makes the film even better is that anyone could die at anytime  there is no holding back . too bad  they don  t make films like this more often .  
i  ll keep this short thanks to greg for helping me to put this succinctly captivity is about a guy who drugs a girl  s drink  imprisons and tortures her  then poses as a captive to have sex with her . that is the single twist and punchline of the film . it  s torture as slow motion date rape . and  it  s not even a good movie . it  s not so bad it  s good it  s just bad .  br    br   it should also be mentioned that among critics  there is a  spoiler code  that they dare not break  even though some were tempted to on this one because it is so vile . why no one had the cojones to step up and say   this is garbage  and this is why   is beyond me .  br    br   don  t give your money to these poop  peddlers .  
an unusual film from ringo lam and one that  s strangely under  appreciated . the mix of fantasy kung  fu with a more realistic depiction of swords and spears being driven thru bodies is startling especially during the first ten minutes . a horseback rider get chopped in two and his waist and legs keep riding the horse . several horses get chopped up . it  s very unexpected .  br    br   the story is very simple  fong and his shaolin brothers are captured by a crazed maniac general and imprisoned in the red lotus temple which seems to be more of a torture chamber then a temple . the general has a similarity to kurtz in apocalypse now as he spouts warped philosophy and makes frightening paintings with human blood .  br    br   the production is very impressive and the setting is bleak . blood is everywhere . the action is very well done and mostly coherent unlike many hk action scenes from the time . sometimes the movie veers into absurdity or the effects are cheesy but it  s never bad enough to ruin the film .  br    br   find this one  it  s one of the best hk kung fu films from the early nineties . just remember it  s not child friendly .  
the only reason i give it a  is that filmography is so stylized these days such that it has at least something to comment on .  br    br   this film is asinine . it  s like so many other   st century grind house fodder . the gore is gratuitous and simply revolting . i didn  t care about any of the characters  but i did care that some cretin bothered to pen this crap i  d complain about the money i spent  but my date and i wisely left after   minutes and went to an adjoining theater to watch the adventurous and entertaining  live free or die hard   which probably got a much higher rating from me simply because i endured the utter poop of  captivity  for   minutes .  
hello dave burning paradise is a film for anyone who likes jackie chan and indiana jones . the films main protagonist is most definitely the bastard son of these two strange fathers . as for the other characters well they are familiar transformations of similar action film stereotypes . where this film is original is in the blending of the traditional hong kong movie style with the hollywood action adventure . sadly this has not been true of the films he has made in hollywood .  
absolutely fantastic .  br    br   now  before a legion of cinema purists choke on their latts  allow me to elaborate . much as i enjoyed it  this is quite simply one of the worst films i have ever seen and is certainly the worst film i  ve seen at the cinema  an impressive claim  as i remember seeing daredevil on the big screen  . the two leads  daniel gillies and elisha cuthbert  were unconvincing at best and downright awful at worst . of course  they weren  t helped by a script that had as much emotional depth as a daphne  celeste single and characterisation that was about as convincing as the oj defence . the plot  to stretch the term slightly  was thin to non  existent and the  gore  scenes  whilst undoubtedly brutal  were irrelevant and laughably formulaic . what plot there is revolves around a twenty  something model  cuthbert  who is abducted  imprisoned and subjected to various visceral tortures  both psychological and physical . the torture scenes feel like disconnected set pieces and the emphasis was laid squarely upon shocking rather than scaring the audience . whilst there really are very  very few positives to draw from this film  its redeeming features are the very flaws that make it such a dreadful film . i have never heard a more vocal audience in a cinema . within twenty minutes  the entire cinema was in stitches and remained that way throughout . for my part i came out flushed with laughter  buoyed by a film that had ascended to the pinnacle of appalling film  making . whichever way you look at it  this is truly a cinematic achievement and a blueprint for future directorial wannabes detailing minutely how not to make a film .  br    br   p . s . i omitted to mention that i managed to get in to the film free . . . so i can afford to laugh about it . i was still tempted to ask for my money back . . . it really was that bad .  
this is one of the finest films to come out of hong kong  s  new wave  that began with tsui hark  s  zu warriors of magic mountain  . tsui set a tone for the new wave  s approach to the martial arts film that pretty much all the directors of the new wave  jackie chan  sammo hung  wong jing  ching siu tung  etc .  accepted from then on as a given namely  the approach to such films thenceforth would need more than a touch of irony  if not outright comedy .  burning paradise  put a stop to all that  and with a vengeance .  br    br   it  s not that there isn  t humor here but it is a purely human humor  as with the aged buddhist priest at the beginning who somehow manages a quick feel of the nubile young prostitute while hiding in a bundle of straw . but this is just as humans are  not even buddhist priests can be saints all the time .  br    br   when irony is at last introduced into the film  it is the nastiest possible  emanating from the  abbot  of red lotus temple  who is a study in pure nihilism such as has never been recorded on film before . he is the very incarnation of milton  s satan from  paradise lost    better to rule in hell than serve in heaven   and if he can  t get to satan  s hell soon enough  he  ll turn the world around him into a living hell he can rule .  br    br   that  s the motif underscoring the brutal violence of much of the imagery here it  s not that the abbot just wants to kill people he wants them to despair  to feel utterly hopeless  to accept his nihilism as all  encompassing reality . thus there  s a definite sense pervading the red temple scenes that there just might not be any other reality outside of the temple itself  it has become all there is to the universe  and the abbot  claiming mastery of infinite power  is in charge .  br    br   of course  fortunately  the film doesn  t end there . though there are losses  the human will to be just ordinarily human at last prevails .  if you want to know how  see the film   yet there is no doubt that  in viewing this film  we visit hell . hopefully  we do not witness our own afterlives but we certainly feel chastened by the experience  and somehow better for it over all .  
the documentary revolves around eva mozes kor  a holocaust survivor  part of mengele  s experiments on twins  consisting primarily her version of what happened at auschwitz  and a comparison of the emotions of the other survivors of the twin experiments . the movie obviously had great reviews . it  s one of those topics that no one dares to voice a contrary opinion about .  br    br   i too  for a large part of the movie  got sucked into the emotion that the movie  maker so obviously wanted the viewer to concentrate on . one of the user reviews on imdb by eric monder  obviously having nothing critical to say about the issue on a public forum  could only find the sweetest nectar .  in one of the many dramatic sequences  as a group of jews argue with kor at a jewish center  the meaning of the word  forgive  is even debated  but the isolated and outnumbered kor holds her own  but by this time  the sappy hold that the movie had on my dormant emotional repertoire had let loose enough that i could see clearly once more . after the  strong  willed  eva kor forgives her  nazi captors  the movie begins to delve into what forgiving is all about  at least from the viewpoint of kor . the movie goes about following her  past her public statement forgiving the nazis and into new territory . to me  this was the meat of the movie  surrounded by inedible fat of her  act of forgiveness  . obviously  it was a very sick cow .  br    br   on a mission to test her theory of forgiveness  in order to heal wounds of the past  she makes her way to the  promised land  to meet with some arabs  to discuss with them the issues that they face and to see if dialogue cannot lead to a better understanding of the situation and heavily interspersed with debates and discussions with jews in the us on her act of forgiving the nazis  including one at a jewish center in chicago . from then on  anyone not so teary eyed that they can  t see the screen will find it hard  pressed to miss the obvious contradiction in her statements .  br    br   firstly  you immediately notice her body language  defensive and unwilling to listen in a room full of arab scholars and teachers . her comments about how she feared that they might kidnap her shows how much of a waste of time  effort and money the entire act was . a rather annoyed dr sami advan  professor of education at bethlehem university  gets it just right when he tells kor off for a statement she makes about how she would rather be asleep in her apartment .  br    br   finally  the debate at the jewish center in chicago  where she is  grilled  on the meaning of forgiveness and her right to do so  in the wake of those that continue suffering through the trauma of the acts .  br    br   i will cut to the chase . by the end of the movie  i was hoping i hadn  t chosen to watch the movie . the movie was badly made  failing to delve deeper into anything about auschwitz apart from the purely trivial  just sufficient to make sure the holocaust is refreshed in the viewers memory and to incite a barrage of tears . it showed that kor  the subject of the documentary was unable to engage in fair discussion . her discussion abilities were limited to parroting her stance on forgiveness  at best  to a complete unwillingness to listen or participate .  br    br   lastly  is everyone so retarded today that they can  t notice the difference between making peace and forgiving  quoting another imdb user   i don  t see her forgiveness as being weak  quite the contrary  she just wanted to relieve its hold from her soul  she wanted the suffering to be over  so she let it go .  that would be the perfect layman  s definition of making peace .  br    br   i guess  in a world of propaganda  blind faith and political correctness  there is no room to question those that have  gone through more than the human mind can fathom  .  br    br   p . s . the dictionary certainly should go into all those books  to  buy lists everyone keeps making .  
people expect no less than brilliant when steven spielberg directs a movie  and this movie is no exception . some movies i love did poorly at the box office but  i  m glad to say  this movie isn  t one of them  over nine million dollars  which i don  t think was bad for back then  . the characters were fun  the animation was clear and not fuzzy  and the music was modern  too  which is unusual for an animated movie . i didn  t think professor screw eyes or his  scary cirus  was too scary for little kids  the targeted audience for this movie   but i thought what happened to the creepy professor at the end was a little too dark for a kids  movie . overall  this movie is a fun and enchanting classic that i have loved dearly for years .  
this movie looked as if it might be good at the beginning  but never fleshed out to it  s expectations . the director is talented and has some good camera angles and artistic ideas  typical of the asian directors   but doesn  t know how to create or tell a good story to go along with it . the story was fragmented and seemed to go off in all sorts of different directions throughout the film  never finding a solid  explainable  interesting angle . basically  the movie never fit the explanation on the press releases . the acting was very good  however . all the actors gave good performances  and jude law was outstanding as he is always is . it is too bad he chose to do such a weak film .  
i disagree with anyone who done  t like this movie .  br    br   i used to love this movie when i was little and i still do . it  s sweet  funny and warms your heart . and it proves that love and friendship can never be destroyed .  br    br   and even though it didn  t have much of a story  it was still excellent i give it a   and two thumbs up .  br    br   oh yeah and it proves that your deepest wish  s and dreams can come true .  tear  tear   br    br   i love this movie  personally if anyone says it sucked than i will say  shame on you .  because it was a delightful little movie and i  m glad that at least some people liked it .  
jude law gives his all in this beautifully filmed vampire flick which offers little else of value . completely lacking in eroticism  excitement  or leading ladies with appeal . one decent fight  a few moments of mild suspense . and a one  note plot .  br    br   the movie waxes philisophic in a series of conversations between law  s character and a dogged homicide detective  well played by timothy spall . but despite their best efforts  both actors are staked to the cross of the film  s banality .  br    br   with a lesser actor in the lead role   and without the benefit of oliver curtis  s cinematography   crocodiles would blend into the sea of low  budget vampire quickies .  
this show has been my escape from reality for the past ten years . i will sadly miss it . although atlantis has filled the hole a small bit .  br    br   the last ever episode of sg   on television anyway  was beautifully done . robert wrote something that felt close to reality . as though he was trying to explain what it was like on the set of the show .  everyone working closely together for such a long time there are bound to up  s and downs . but over the years they  ve turned into a family  . i thought this was a wonderful way to end despite anyone else  s criticisms .  br    br   sg  was something special and time and time again it took me across thresholds of disbelief and amazement . the wonderful characters  stories  directors  writers . from episode one i was hooked . the blend of action  science  drama and especially comedy worked so well that made me keep wanting more .  br    br   there are no real words in which to completely express what this show meant to me . i can only thank those who kept the show so fresh and entertaining for so many years . it has inspired me to do many things that i thought was impossible .  br    br   i look forward to the movies next year and i really hope there will be a number of them . i never want the show to die .  br    br   stargate sg              
ll cool j performed much better in this movie that i expected  he did a fabulous job acting as a  renegade  cop within a  renegade  department . from the very beginning  he does a great job of building viewer empathy for his character and the predicament he  s in . he acts as a sort of  gentle giant    a person whose rough exterior can scare anybody  yet whose heart is clearly in the right place from the very start   and he does an amazing job . he was quite clearly the best character in the movie .  br    br   this was certainly a performance that will not win morgan freeman any awards . after starring in powerhouse films like the shawshank redemption this film was certainly a step down . his role in edison simply did not allow him to show his true talents as an actor   and in terms of the conglomeration of characters placed him sadly on a back burner . there are so many ways his character  moses ashford  could have taken a more pivotal role . that he didn  t was disappointing and a true let  down . i was hoping to see more from him in this film .  br    br   timberlake ought to have stayed in the music industry . his portrayal of a young journalist was poorly acted and unpersuasive . this movie is a typical action movie that  at least initially  bears some resemblance to corrupt police affairs la has experienced in the past . being an action movie  it has its share of shoot  em  up scenes  blood  and guts . these scenes are typically unrealistic and painfully predictable . watching the beginning of the movie there is very little suspense as to what will happen at the end   think of what you would typically expect in a good  cops  bad  cops conflict   and it bears little resemblance to a real police shoot  out .  br    br   what irked me most was the way timberlake  s character behaved during shoot  out scenes . he starts out having guns and not using them . then when he finally gets around to using one he fires it as if he  s been firing a gun his whole life . then he runs out of bullets and doesn  t have a gun   and   seconds later  without moving or anything   suddenly has  more fully loaded guns and extra ammo   little plot errors like this really ruined the movie for me .  br    br   if what you are looking for is a blatantly fictional plot in a fantasy world where everything turns out okay  then you  ll probably love this movie . personally  it doesn  t matter to me what kind of movie it is as long as it is realistic . make me believe that the story is true . this story was so obviously fictional in so many aspects that i came away feeling unsatisfied .  
genre dinosaur  animation  new york  time travel  circus .   br    br   main characters rex the tyrannosaurus rex  elsa the pterodactyl  dweeb the parasarolophus  ooo the triceratops  a boy called louis  a girl called cecilia and captain new  eyes .  actors john goodman  rex   yeardley smith  cecilia   martin short  stubbs the clown   felicity kendal  elsa  etc .   br    br   what happens four dinosaurs  see above  are fed some  brain grain cereal  and are now cuddly  friendly dinosaurs who are going to be nice to children . they go into new york  with big plans  br    br   my thoughts this is a cute animated film . the animation of the dinosaurs when they go cuddly and friendly is a bit floppy and not  so  good  but they look pleasant all the same that way . i like the dinosaurs when they are cuddly and friendly  they are nice  friendly and good . i like  almost  all the characters featured  especially elsa and cecilia  but of course i like the others as well . overall  i like this film a lot      br    br   recommended to people who like good children  s animated films  people who like dinosaurs  john goodman and people who think that circuses aren  t always what they seem enjoy      
i love all types of films  especially horror . that being said  survival does not live up to any of the hype surrounding it .  br    br   i can  t give it any points on originality . there is nothing wrong with exploring the same themes  or remaking what others have done . it has just become a cop out for indie films to take us on a slasher journey through the woods  a crazed killer  and as of lately  throw in some crazy family . on those lines i have to compare it with the likes of texas chainsaw  wrong turn  though the twist in that one is obvious   and others . survival falls up way short against comparable films . the plot was just not original in any way . some films can get by with a weak  and way over  done  plot with superb acting  special fx  or a slew of other factors . survivial doesn  t have any of that to bank on . if you will  note the following the acting in the movie never took off . i don  t knock or blame the actors for that  nor the director . the dialogue was at best mediocre  and the actors involved never showed  not saying didn  t have  the talent to pull it off . i mention  standouts . the leading man in this film certainly has the look  but i seriously thinks he needs to consider more training before he is ready to carry a film . the actor who portrayed greg also had potential  but we never got to see any of it  watch the movie to see why  you won  t believe it . .  .  br    br   the grainy film look . ah yes  that little tid  bit of film making magic designed to take us to the glory days of  grindhouse  films . in today  s film making  that has become a gimmick . it either works or it doesn  t . in this case it just does not work . there are too many other flaws going on  so it winds up distracting from the film  not adding to it . that being said  i think they did a good job of adding that grain . that is some good  quality grain . i think with a different script  better direction  and possibly actors  they should try another  grindhouse  attempt . they will probably pull it off .  br    br   as far as the tech aspects  in my opinion  they never quite gelled for me either . better care could have been taken with audio  sounds like it was fed directly into the camera  but there is nothing wrong with that  and for being shot on dv  it was too soft for my taste .  br    br   that is all i have to say about that . . . . .  
i do try not to take imdb ratings to heart  but i was flabbergasted when i saw the  .  rating to one of my childhood favourites . it doesn  t wow me as much at    but as a family film this is a sweet and well meaning movie . kids will definitely love it and won  t mind the flaws  and the adults can guess the actor behind each character and admire the subliminal messaging of the film . none of the film was preachy in any way  in fact it has a great message that added to its sweetness . i will admit though that the story is on the thin side  and some scenes like screweyes  s death  which still freaks me out  may be a tad on the scary side . but the animation is well above average with nice colours and good character animation . the music by james horner is very beautiful  and the song featured is memorable  catchy and amusing . i really liked the characters  louie is probably the most in  depth of them all  but the dinosaurs were at least engaging . martin short  s clown was both hilarious and emphatic  the part when he tells screweyes  i quit   had me in stitches . my favourite is screweyes though  an effective villain who is crafty and i suppose intelligent . if anything though  i wish the film kept in the part when he explains how he lost his eye and why he is scared of crows because that way he could  ve been more developed in terms of depth . the script  while not oscar  worthy  has its funny and heart  warming parts  and should keep kids and adults entertained . the voice acting for me was what made the movie . john goodman  martin short  rhea perlman  felicity kendall and yeardley smith all gave solid performances  but special mention has to go to kenneth mars for he was absolutely superb as screweyes and almost unrecognisable . all in all  this is a good movie . i don  t get the rating  honestly i don  t . sure this film isn  t perfect  and it is not as good as a dinosaur movie such as land before time  but it is good fun .  .     bethany cox  
this is an incomprehensible horribly low budget piece of awfulness .  br    br   i don  t even have the vocabulary to say how dire  turgid  boring  confusing  and just plain strange this effort is  hey what d  ya know i do . . . .  set in a post  apocalyptic america some guys meet on a beach and slaughter and chaos ensue  it was all so incomprehensible i couldn  t make head or tail of any of it .  br    br   seriously how this got picked up by national lampoon totally defeats me it really is awful .  br    br   and not in a its so bad it  s good cult way .  br    br   it is just awful  awful  awful  awful .  br    br   honestly . if you still don  t believe me then watch it with every intention of loving it then come back here and tell me what you think . even gerbils on acid couldn  t hope to understand this .  br    br   avoid or even better destroy . . .  
i saw this when it first came to video  my little sister got it as a gift and i was probably   at the time . . . what stood out for me was the lack of mid  movie conflict that so many movies have  where the main characters get mad at each other because when it comes time to explain themselves they just don  t say the one thing that you  re shouting at the screen that would make sense of the whole deal  that any person of reasonable intellect would know to say . this is what i like the most about the movie i guess  that the main characters don  t do mean things to each other halfway through . . . they don  t break up and make up  they just grow to like each other more as the movie goes on .  br    br   these two kids team up and though they seem at first to be from opposite sides of the track  they  re not that different . loui is actually just some middle class kid that needed to realize how lucky he was to have a loving family  and cecelia was an upper class kid that just needed to prove to her family that she existed and they would miss her if she was gone . anyway  i saw this movie posted on hulu and had to watch it again . . . sure there  s plot holes if you analyze the script and no  woog and dweeb shouldn  t be eating hot dogs since they would have been herbivores in reality .  br    br   now  what detracts from the film is it  s unexpected scariness . little kids under the age of  would probably be frightened by the scenes with dr . screweyes . and  the addition of him halfway through the movie  though it  s blatantly obvious in the first scene that he will make an appearance  is too abrupt . . . there should be a glimpse of him doing his show earlier in the movie  perhaps to show that it  s not that scary without the the dinosaurs . i guess it just lacked any real present danger for the entire first half of the movie  so that it lacks a little continuity when he appears for the second half .  br    br   considering the target audience  who i  m sure can overlook the not so mind blowing animation and dialog issues . . . i think i  ll give it a pass on those factors too  and just enjoy the story . it  s a great flick for kid and it does stick in your mind . . . makes you kinda think about how you treat people and it should be revisited every   years i think .  
this movie was made by a bunch of white guys that went to school together . well there  s nothing wrong with that  except it looks like it was made by a bunch of white guys that went to school together .   percent of the cast are white males about same age . it  s almost like watching a bunch of guys at boys camp who turned the camera on themselves . the movie has no plot . it simply repeats the same action of blood bath after blood bath . there are some funny scenes and comedic bits . but they don  t redeem the flat monotony .  br    br   the graphic cartoon scenes are used to cover the stuff that was obviously beyond their budget or resources to do  and not done very well at that . anything that can  t be done with white guys running around on the beach covered in blood is done with cheap animation .  br    br   i went to see this film after seeing the trailer  which makes it look like a tarrentino piece . well  the trailer scenes are as good as they ever get . ther rest of it just repeats the same kind of mundane  inane comedy . it works at times  but it gets boring after the same stuff comes at you over and over . it  s more like a string of satuday night live skits than a movie . it  s a hit  you  over  the  head  with  it kind of comedy . i can see where the story idea is intriguing . but  in this film post apocalyptic america is much like medevil england . in fact wheatlry says the story ideas came from that era . he plans to make a part  . i guess he thinks he  s tarrentino or maybe doing a parody thing .  br    br   at the opening in la  wheatley mentioned he will bring back pretty much the same cast in part  . he was asked if he might consider a more diverse cast in the next one  to which he replied  well yea  sure .  
its great i loved it ha cause i love dinosaurs they r the greatest animals but i loved the show cause it wasn  t copied from another show and it was a originals ha it has a good storyline and great for little kids  if they like dinosaurs that is  i have a few downs too its not all that great cause of the dinosaurs look a little mutated so i should have had but a  but right now is a little late for that yay  more lines to go it is great for a fantasy show though warning this might spoil a part for u so if u don  t want it to be spoiled don  t read on plz near the end is kinda weird cause all they need to do is get dang i forgot what it was so nvm guess its not a spoiler so never mind i loved it and its my opinion and sorry for any missed spelled words if any  
this is the biggest pile of crap i have ever watched . do not rent  the makers of this movie should be band from ever making another movie . it starts with some what of a plot  then fades fast to nothing . i think i would rather watch paint dry then to as much as looking at the cover . the actors were awful  the plot faded fast  filming left to much work to be done . not one good thing to say about this crap movie . if you rent this movie you will waste your money . i really enjoy national lampoon movies  but this was a waste of time . learn to write  learn to act  learn to produce  and learn to direct . i feel i should sue these a  holes that made this movie for money wasted on rental cost and time lost .  
i wouldn  t call  we  re back  a dinosaur  s story  simply a kiddie version of  jurassic park  . i found it more interesting than that . like the former  it calls into question the security of bringing beings from one era into ours . but it really opens my eyes when i see who provided the voices john goodman  rhea perlman  jay leno  walter cronkite  julia child  kenneth mars  yeardley smith  martin short and larry king . to paraphrase that a given actor  the  cheers  woman  the  tonight show  host  the most trusted name in news  a famous chef  the  young frankenstein  police chief  lisa simpson  one of the three amigos and the cnn guy .  br    br   but i guess that i shouldn  t focus only on the cast . i thought that this movie had something for both children  purely fun  and adults  natural history  . true  it  s escapism  but the perceptive kind . i would actually say that john goodman doing rex  s voice here is sort of a precursor to his voice work in  monsters inc  . worth seeing .  
i work as a hotel concierge in washington dc and take my word  there was nothing remotely accurate about the character played by michael j . fox    we simply do not walk around with our pockets bursting with theater tickets and     bills    if i ever let anybody use a room for some  afternoon delight  time i  d be fired on the spot  the organization to which i belong  les clefs d  or  has very definite standards of ethics and conduct that we take seriously .   similarly untrue was the concept  at the end of the movie  of doug simply removing his gold key emblem and passing it on to some other employee  we earn those keys and it is a badge of honor and knowledge to be allowed to wear them . there is a whole application and vetting process to joining our organization .  br    br   this film does nothing to dispel the unfortunate perception of a concierge as nothing but a money grubbing mercenary . in short it does a disservice to our organization . i welcome any comments .  
this was a personal favorite of mine when i was young  it had everything that was great with    s kids movies . . . lovable dinosaurs  cute kids  an eccentric villain  and a few great songs  and not the typical little mermaid  beauty and the beast type songs  but ones that are atually entertaining   i ran into this movie again recently and i still love it as much as ever  i recommend that everyone of every age should see this movie  and i definitely think that it should be introduced to the younger generations  sorry not the most informative  i  m in kinda a rush . . . just please  trust me . all who go against this movie are killing their inner child   
i expected alot from this movie . kinda like lee as a naustradamous like caracter but instead all i got was a waste of time and a boring movie . i can  t even explain this movie . it had wooden acting  terrible script from pieces from the bible like hurricanes  tidal waves and earthquakes . but that was at the end  the rest of it i had to wait and hope that something meaningfull would happen but it didn  t . this movie is about a couple that tries to find out the changes going on in the world like places in china where there was an earthquake and end up at a convent run by eight nuns and a priest . the convent end up being the key to the misshappenings . the whole movie is missleading and boring . one of lees worst .  
this movie has to be my favorite of all time . its not supposed to have a plot  because its makers wanted people  charlie sheen  i think  to believe it was a real snuff film . this was an exercise in visual effects  and doesn  t cut away when the action happens like every other film does . movies these days are now all about sound effects  leaving the visuals to be made by computers cause its easier to deal with cgi blood . there still are movie makers who still can  t get fake blood to look like the real thing . there is no rape scene because that wasn  t the point of making the film . have you seen the hills have eyes   the rape scene was funny instead of shocking . although i  m sure there are some gonzo porn film makers that have tried to marry porn with horror . but since they probably suck at making films  they probably wouldn  t be able to pull it off . the movie  baise moi  has a disturbing rape scene because the actresses are actually porn stars and they show everything even though the movie overall sucks .  br    br   its too bad that a movie can  t be made without thinking of the money aspect of it all  especially when talking about an ao or nc    rating . i  m sure eli roth has the ability  talent to make his hostel film series much much better  but he has too tame it down to get an r rating . . . or at least i hope that his movies sucked because of these limitations .  br    br   watch traces of death or more than smashed pumpkins if you want no frills real footage  accident  crime scenes  footage  . don  t forget that this movie was made in     . the fact that this film can still stand up against most crap made these days says a lot about this film . that would be like someone saying the  bit super mario brothers sucks because the ps  has better graphics .  
end of the world is an uneventful movie  which is odd since it is supposed to be about the total destruction of the earth . the main character is some kind of scientist  i  m not exactly sure what kind . he has two jobs at a government    facility guarded by four security men . his first job is monitoring transmissions to and from space  although this actually seems more like a hobby he does when not working on job    . job   requires him to put on a protective suit and go into a dark room . . . at least that  s the best i can figure . apparently the  plant  is not exactly top  secret  as the scientist brings his wife there . she hangs out  they  re on their way to a dinner  while he discovers a message from space major earth disruption  repeated over and over . he says something about it being the first message from space he  s ever been able to decipher his wife tells him they  re going to be late for the dinner party . so they leave and go to the party      . moments later he finds out that china has suffered a major earthquake . from there  the movie goes . . . nowhere  yes  christopher lee is in it  but that really doesn  t help much . besides  lee gives a lackluster performance along the lines of his appearance in howling ii . this movie is boring  but it has enough stupid elements that you might want to suffer through it once if you like christopher lee or z  grade sci  fi . plus  there  s lots of stock footage of the earth being destroyed .  
this movie is banned in just about every foreign country i can think of . the japanese people    who star in this must have been really desperate for a job  or we  re just friends . here  s the scoop  br    br   three thugs torture the hell out of a helpless woman  they use all kinds of things to eventually kill her  they burn her  kick her  spin here around in a chair  over    times    they use sound torture  by forcing her to listen to a static sound for over   hours  it don  t sound that bad at all  but it can make you go nuts  . they throw guts  probably from an animal  at her while shes knocked out  and she freaks when she wakes up . and who can forget the grande finale the greatest eyeball torture i have ever seen   br    br   if you have not heard of these films  and watch one without knowing that it is a simulated snuff film  you will think it is   just ask charlie sheen  this is guaranteed to freak people out and make some sick  like i said pure underground . check it out if you are a fan of underground horror  or foreign gore . if your not i highly recommend you read  up on the series before watching  from the gore  shock  and creativity aspect it gets a    but from the storyline and all that stuff it is a  . an underground classic . . .  br    br   my final rating is a      br    br    
this is one of the most boring movies i have ever seen  its horrible . christopher lee is good but he is hardly in it  the only the good part is the opening scene .  br    br   don  t be fooled by the title .  end of the world  is truly a bad movie  i stopped watching it close to the end it was so bad  only for die hard b  movie fans that have the brain to stand this vomit .  
i first heard of this movie after purchasing the     flick  snuff  . i was told that devil  s experiment was much better so naturally i went ahead and ordered the guinea pig box set . i was really interested to hear that charlie sheen had come out trying to ban either this movie or the second one  so my interest was peaked .  br    br   devil  s experiment is a short film with no story  no character development . just  men torturing a woman for about   minutes . they torture her in various ways like beating her  spinning her in circles over and over again then forcing her to drink alcohol  forcing her to listen to hi  pitched noise for   hours  smash her hand with a mallet  burning and putting maggots on the burns  throwing guts at her  and ultimately shoving a sharp needle through her eye .  br    br   i must say that a lot of this movie was fake  like the beating scenes . but then  some of it was actually well done as far as grossing you out . the scenes in which the woman is being spun around in circles was making me dizzy watching it . or the scene in which she is forced to listen to sharp noise for   hours is painful to think about . the worst is the eye scene . i didn  t shutter when watching it but simply thought  damn  that looks pretty good for such a low budget movie  . i did enjoy the flick but i don  t know if i can really recommend this unless you have seen most of what the horror genre has to offer .      
end of the world looks like a good movie on the box cover but be warned its bad . being a big fan of mega star actor christopher lee i was fooled . like tentacles     a good cast does not mean it  ll be a good film . the beginning looks promising then it turns to tedium  many parts of the movie are too dark to see whats going on . the rest of the cast is shown briefly likelew ayres  dean jagger  and macdonald carey as a security guard . i would expect better from charles band who made good fun movies like the re  animater and dolls . i heard christopher lee was tricked into making this film . he was told his co stars were going to be jose ferrer  john carridine  and dean jagger . well dean jagger is there but the other two never made it  lucky them  if you make a movie about the end of the world use a bigger budget and better storyline . dean jagger went on to do two good movies afterwardsalligator     and game of death     sue lyon  lolita  is also in the movie minus her lollipop . if you are a glutton for punishment then watch end of the world i dare you to say awake during the whole movie .  out of   .  
this is the first out of the guinea pig series  and is one of the more infamous films out of the collection .  br    br   it took me a long time to finally man up and get my hands on a copy of this notorious group of films . i bought the guinea pig box set and decided to watch the collection in order by release date . so i popped this sucker in and sat down .  br    br   from what i had read on the internet  and realizing the content involved in this film  i was expecting to test my nerves in full force . this ended up not being the case .  br    br   the film focuses on a group of men who kidnap a woman and begin torturing her with the hopes of discovering the human breaking point  and how long a human can tolerate pain .  br    br   sounds like one sick flick right  wrong . the film fails to shock . this may be because i have become desensitized over the years do to my obsession with horror  but i think it is safe to say that any true gorehound could sit through this with ease .  br    br   on the other hand an individual who does not have a well knowledge of this type of film will most likely be overwhelmed and disgusted by the images they see on the screen . though it failed to shock me the film contains some pretty mean spirited and graphic scenes of violence . including the ripping out of fingernails  intestines thrown at an unconscious woman  and a needle through the eye .  br    br   overall i think for majority of the gorehounds on this board that you should just get your hands on a copy of this film for the novelty of it  but i suggest that for any new comers to these type of films that you should work your way up to this one .  
what can i say about this film other than  don  t see it  . i waited and waited and waited for someting  or anything  to happen and it just didn  t come . watch amazingly as two people walk around while setting the record for most filler screen time in a single movie . what are they doing  are they solving a mystery  are they gathering clues  possibly  it  s just hard to tell . at the end of the movie  after a lot of radio signals are decoded  illegibly on some sort of pet monitor  and this guy gives some lectures  the plot is finally revealed and tossed aside as quickly as possible . some aliens want to get back to their home world utopia and are so happy there that they want to blow up the earth  i guess they don  t like sharing the wealth  . my guess is they finished filming and saw their   minute work or art  garbage   and decided that they  d let the editing crew turn it into an   minute feature film . watch at your own peril  it  s not even funny because it  s so bad  it  s just bad .  
i haven  t always been a fan  but the show grew on me . it wasn  t until after season  that i started to see the richness of the show . they finally brought daniel jackson  s search for his wife to an end and finally most of the go  ould system lords were killed by rival lords  sg   or others .  br    br   towards season   stargate sg    was beginning to become stale . with the new writers and the close attention by produer peter deleuise  the show became more and more solid .  br    br   the characters had become stale as well . colonel jack o  neill was the stereotypical hero with emotional baggage . after his son charlie was killed in a shooting accident with o  neill  s weapon  he had decided to end his own life by going to abydos in order to face off with the go  ould ra . the character offers little growth for any actor and actor richard dean anderson chose to play him straight raising emotional barriers to protect himself . only allowing his close friends in .  br    br   amanda tapping joined the cast as captain samantha carter . she was a feminist on the edge  ready to battle any man who would doubt her ability to do her job . though this character had little area to grow  tapping has done a great job of concentrating on carter  s strengths . she has taken the time to get a basic understanding of some of the things carter talks about in order that she can present the character intelligently .  br    br   christopher judge joined the cast playing the alien teal  c . teal  c was an alien called the jaffa . infant go  ould   snake like creatures  would embed themselves into the jaffa until they had grown to the point when it would be inserted into another life form . the jaffa would die . teal  c was the first prime of apophis  army . knowing that apophis was not a god like go  ould pretend  he realized the genocide that their armies had wreaked on the galaxy . finally  having had enough  he and jack o  neill freed their team along with quite a few innocent people . after arriving on earth  he realized that earth was the planet he was looking for  who would help him fight the go  ould . christopher judge has done quite a bit with a limited character . teal  c is a wise warrior  much of which he learned was from his teacher master bra  tac . the show would not be complete without master bra  tac played by tony amandola . he is also a rock . in the end  he became adviser to most of sg    especially daniel jackson .  br    br   don s . davil was there from the beginning playing major general george hammand . davis has done an incredible job with hammond making him sympathetic and normal . he does his job  has a wife  sons and daughters and grandchildren . you can really say  he is the anchor of the base . simply  i would die for that man . if not allowed by his superiors to provide troops to support teams off world . he will go himself . he doesn  t leave anyone behind .  br    br   i saved dr . daniel jackson for last  because this character  i believe has grown the most in the ten or eleven years it has been on . in choosing shanks i don  t think the producer realized how strong shanks would be and now when people talk about jackson  they don  t talk about spader  they talk about shanks . in the early years  the jackson character came off as a whiner . that  s why i probably wasn  t a fan . as the seasons pasted  the character became stronger . this gave him confidence . in the end  as of season    the jackson character has matured to the point that he has become a self sacrificing hero . he still monitors the groups ethics . he still is lead at providing information that can move any mission forward . acheaology  history  culture and exploration are part of his very being . he is determined . though a man of peace  he has matured to the point that using his weapons may be the only way to solve a disagreement .  br    br   other characters include  most recently vala mal doran  claudia black  and colonel cameron mitchell  ben browder   new lead of sg   . both actors come from a series called farscape and why they were put together is any bodies guess . i see little difference between mitchell and crichton  farscape character  . black  s character is simply off the wall . definitely different from her soldier like character arin soon .  
i saw this movie at the toronto film festival with fairly solid expectations . the movie has a great cast and was closing at the festival so it must be good  right  how wrong i was .  br    br   i knew we were in trouble when before the film the director was talking about how when he was directing an episode of wiseguy he met an unknown actor named kevin spacey  a director  writer of wiseguy making his feature debut  blah  . . . well the director  writer of edison must have some incriminating pictures of kevin spacey killing a homeless man  because i cannot see how he  along with the other actors in the film  would ever agree to be in this disaster .  br    br   this movie is absolutely appalling  it  s a mixture of every cop hard boiled clich ever . there is nothing new with edison . the acting was bad and the direction was even worse . it looked like that aforementioned episode of wiseguy . this was the best casted direct to video movie i  ve ever seen .  br    br   some examples of just bad silly moments in edison . . . morgan freeman dancing around his apartment for no reason to rock and roll music . . . justin timberlake getting creative criticism from his belle while his apartment is surrounded by candles . . . llcoolj driving a vintage firebird . . .  guys being shot in the head . . .  br    br   this movie is the opposite of good .  br    br   stay away from edison   
guinea pig the devil  s experiment is without a doubt  stars on first view  its a raw realistic creepy and disturbing look into the dark side of human nature . this movie gets right to the point  you may be thinking what point  the point is to satisfy fan  s of just extreme violence and gore . this movie has some gore  more or less just torturing a women violently . there are really only  scene  s that could be considered gore . i  ll tell you one thing though guinea pig the devil  s experiment makes hostile look like sesame street . if you thought hostile was a crazy brutal disturbing torture flick then you ain  t seen the half of it until you  ve seen guinea pig the devil  s experiment .  br    br   movie rating     gore      br    br   guinea pig the devil  s experiment  uncut       
dull  cheap sci  fi thriller  made with an almost total lack of conviction  a control room full of computers and other devices used to receive and decipher messages from outer space is run by only one man  and is very poorly guarded at night   and full of campy sound effects . christopher lee is not only wasted  but he also gives one of his few  i  m here strictly for the money  performances .        
i am surprised than many viewers hold more respect for the sequel to this brilliant movie . . . i have seen all the guinea pigs and this one is easily the best .  br    br   even though ive seen the  making of   i still have doubts when watching those   mins of pure torture  its that powerful .  br    br   a   out of   because this movie achieved perfectly what it set out to do  be the best fake snuff film ever made .  
a good deal of running around . a badly conceived adversary with very little complexity . a scientist who works in communications sending off signals into space and receiving them  gets caught up with aliens . along with his pretty wife  he invades their territory and is given secrets about them . he becomes rather traitorous in the process . granted  he is given little choice anyway . there is a scene where he gives them everything they want . this is a dull movie with lots of long stretches where little happens . the plot isn  t technically bad . it  s just that we are usually following a car  a trip through a woods  investigating a building . this is what editing is all about . i suppose the story wouldn  t technically support much more . not much here .  
after having watched  guinea pig   two questions come in mind  besides  am i really a psychopath to watch that      is it a snuff   the answer is no  although it  s the closest thing to a snuff movie i  ve ever seen . and then   where the hell have they found that girl   . because she gets tortured for    min  without any reasons given  in fact  there is nothing else in this movie    fingernails teared off  beaten with hands  feet  tools  infested by maggots  . . . and many more until the final scene  i  m still not sure how they did that  . because it belongs to the  japonese underground scene   it  s obvious she didn  t get a lot of money . so what were her  their  motivations   br    br   i saw it in japonese without subtitles  but it  s not a problem  no real dialogues  the boys are just insulting her in a few scenes  . i haven  t seen yet all the serial  but the first  guinea pig  is not known for being the best one . still i  ve rated   because if the purpose was making people believe this a snuff  the issue is quite good  ask charlie sheen  the actor  . but i think they could have gone further  which they did in the following ones .  br    br   another movie i  m hiding from my parents .  br    br        
  a scientist discovers signals from space that appear to carry information concerning a series of seemingly unrelated natural disasters  occurring across the globe . hoping to discover the source of these signals and who  s behind them  the scientist and his wife set out on a trek to locate the intended recipient of the signals . what the couple eventually discovers is a small remote convent with occupants who are not really who they appear to be   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   kirk scott  as andrew boran  is the scientist who intercepts alien messages on his computer . he suspects a series of  large earth disruptions  may be connected to the weird space static . mr . scott and pretty blonde wife sue lyon  as sylvia boran  investigate the mysterious signals from outer space . they discover priestly  but creepy christopher lee  as  father pergado    and other silliness . given that   end of the world  is remarkably dull .  br    br    end of the world       john hayes  kirk scott  sue lyon  christopher lee  
this movie has no story . it  s only about a bunch of guys who tortures an innocent young girl to death .  br    br      spoilers     br    br   this is what they do they beat her  put her in a net and let her hang inside like birdfood  spin her around on a chair until she pukes  expose her to loud noise  pour boiling oil on her  put worms in her sores  crush her hand with a sledge  hammer and finally pokes a needle through her eye .  br    br   this movie was so realistic that if i didn  t know it was fake i would have thought it was a snuff  movie . although i was disgusted by this movie i really liked it . it scared me . i guess it fills some kind of purpose . i give it a      .  
christopher lee is one of my favorite actors  i  m trying to view all of his work . he has been known to single  handedly save movies with his presence . unfortunately  this is not one of them . this movie suffers from a low budget and it  s production values are disturbing . please . . . for the love of christopher . . . . avoid this film   
i have seen the short movie a few years ago . after that i watch all sequels . the first one is really not the best  but it  s the most popular one . i  ve already watch the making of guinea pig  . it  s really great what these guys did . also the sequels are excellent in the special effects . take your chance to watch it   
spoilers  br    br   wow  end of the world is a singularly underwhelming cinematic experience .  br    br   here is the full story a scientist is getting messages from space  a la independence day  . the messages say stuff like a massive disaster is about to happen and then the scientist hears later on the radio that a huge earthquake just happened in china . he starts thinking that the messages have something to do with the disasters around the world so he  s trying to figure out who  s receiving the messages  and who  s also sending out messages in space  . he and his wife eventually figure out that the messages come from a convent . they visit it . everything looks normal  including the priest played by a bored christopher lee . but the scientist is adamant and really believes that the messages are coming from and going to that convent . so he and his wife secretly go back to the convent where they are caught snooping around by the aliens  disguised as priests and nuns . they are held against their will and the alien played by lee forces the scientist to get something they need in order for them to return to their planet . once the alien get the special element  the aliens all depart one by one to their home planet in some sort of tacky looking transporter platform . lee  being the last alien left  tells the couple that the earth will be destroyed because of some sort of hokey decision by the aliens . lee walks in the transporter and he  s gone . the couple  looking at the monitors that show stock footage of natural disasters occurring all over the world  decide to follow the aliens . because earth is doomed  the couple doesn  t see any point of staying behind so they walk in the transporter and disappear . the last shot of the movie is a papier mache planet earth exploding . the end .  br    br   that  s it .  br    br   i  ve never seen such a dull movie in my life . it  s the most underwhelming movie i  ve ever experienced . the scientist and his wife are two of worst heroes or protagonists ever put on screen . they don  t care about anything . they see the earth disasters on the monitors and decide  what the heck  who needs earth anyway   they don  t even try to stop them or do something to make things better . this kind of story might have worked if the film had an overwhelming sense of doom to everything but the action and atmosphere are nonexistent . the actors and the folks behind this dull flick are going through their paces  so much so that you can almost feel when they punched their cards when they got off and returned to work . i wasn  t expecting much with this movie because it is a charles band production  but i didn  t expect it to be this bad .  br    br   christopher lee was once asked what was his worst film he ever made and he mentioned starship invasions . well  i  m sorry chris but starship invasions was actually goofy fun . starship invasions is terrible but terribly entertaining . end of the world is much  much  much worst it  s beyond dull and inert  with no entertainment value whatsoever .  
this movie is the first of the six infamous guinea pig movies and is one of the best . at the same time  it looks realistic and unrealistic  just knowing that the movie is fake . the story is about a woman who got captured and is tortured in a lot of different ways . a man in the beginning of the story receives a letter without a return address  and it includes a manga video  showing the torture . the men who capture her are testing the limits of a human before they die . some scenes are shocking  such as the eyeball scene and others are not shocking like the girl being punched    times  because you see punches in nearly every movie . this movie has a lot of gore so i would recommend this to people   or older .  br    br        
it  s got christopher lee  it  s got huge banks of     s computers that make teletype noises as letters appear on the screen  it  s got radioactive isotopes that not only glow in the dark but emit pulsing thrumming noises  it  s got volcanoes  evil aliens disguised as nuns  tidal waves  earthquakes  exploding cars  exploding coffee machines  and as a climax the entire planet blows up . how on earth does this film managed to be so incredibly  mind  numbingly dull  the answer  my friend is because    of this movie is made up of establishing shots  most of them involving long tracks  pans  or zooms in combinations  or occasionally all three  that do nothing except give the crew something to do . there are endless shots of our protagonists driving  getting in and out of cars  driving again  walking around looking at stuff  getting in cars and driving . . . i just sat there watching endless parade of nothingness in stupefaction muttering  say something  please somebody  just say something . . . do something . . . anything  . . .   br    br   the dialogue  when it does come  is terrible .  br    br    maybe their minutes are measured on a different scale than ours .  was a typically meaningless line . the script culminates in the destruction of the world by stock footage  justified in this speech from lee as the head alien  br    br    the planet earth has emitted an over  abundance of diseases  they are contaminating the universe . all the planets light years away from here will suffer unless it is destroyed    br    br   this is is neanderthal sf script writing . this is the sort of motivation you find in the sort of      s japanese monster suit movies aimed at  year olds . it is  and i collect such things  the most god  awful line from an english language sf movie since buster crabbe retired . it beggars belief that this movie was released in the same year as star wars and close encounters .  br    br   lee  who always struck me as a smart  useful actor with a sure knowledge of his limits  delivers his lines as if he is going to kill his agent for getting him into this pile of drek . i don  t blame him .  
the first installment of this notorious horror series is presented as if it were a snuff film discovered by the producers and set up like an amateur camcorder tape  complete with a digital timer at the bottom of the frame . it presents a woman being kidnapped by a gang of black  clad men who torture her for several days before finally killing her . the hapless victim is beaten savagely and pelted with raw meat before having her fingernails pulled out with pliers  her hand smashed with a hammer  her eye punctured with a needle  and so forth .  br    br   in the most nauseating scene  the woman  s captors burn her with hot water and drop live maggots into the burns . the series received a great deal of publicity when american actor charlie sheen  believing the series to contain actual murder  attempted to ban its distribution in the united states . an fbi investigation revealed that the films were only what they appeared to be to most viewers   sick re  creations using nasty  but obvious special effects . gruesomely staged by acclaimed japanese comic  book artist hideshi hino  who also directed the third and fourth episodes  this film is a sure way to clear all but the most tolerant of rooms . but  gorehounds probably won  t find anything special .  
your mind will not be satisfied by this nobudget doomsday thriller but  pray  who  s will  a youngish couple spends the actual end of the world in the hidden laboratory of some aliens masquerading as church people .  br    br   small  apocalyptically themed outing  end of the world has the ingenuity and the lack of both brio and style of the purely    s similar movies . and it  s not only that  but eotw plays like a hybridnot only doomsday but convent creeps as well . the villain of the movie is a wellknown character actor .  br    br   this wholly shameless slapdash seems a piece of conventexploitation  that significantly    s genre which looks today so amusingly outdated . anyway  the convent  s secret laboratory is some nasty piece of futuristic deco  christopher lee is the pride of end of the world but the end of the world is not at all his pride   
what can i say about this film that hasnt already been said  well to tell the truth alot of it looks very fake like some of the slaps and the kicks . how charlie sheen though this was real i dont know . im sure they would be hitting and kicking her alot harder if it was . however the scenes with the pinching and the hot oil look very real . and the final needle in the eye scene is amazingly done and is probibly the only thing on film that has ever shocked me .  
this film had a great cast going for it christopher lee  dean jagger  macdonald carey  lew ayres   solid b  movie actors all . but this downer of a movie didn  t use any of them to any sort of advantage  with none of their characters even meeting on screen  though christopher lee does get to play opposite himself in several scenes  .  br    br   the motivations for the aliens in this movie seem to change at the drop of a hat . first  they just want to repair their ship and leave  then they turn on the main character by killing most of his friends and not releasing his wife after he gets them the crucial part they need . then  out of nowhere  this  peaceful  race decides they have to destroy the planet because it causes too many  diseases   though they do offer the main character and his wife a spot in their society  .  br    br   most of the film is spent watching the man and wife drive or walk or stand around or sit at desks doing nothing . you almost wish they had gotten taken out with the rest of the planet at the end  just in vengeance for boring us to death .  br    br   unless you really like chris lee or seventies low  budget sci  fi  i  d give this one a miss . it falls into that narrow range of wasted celluloid between star odyssey and ufo target earth .  
wow  alot of reviews for the devils experiment are here . wonderful . my name is steve and i run unearthed films . we just started releasing the guinea pig films on dvd for north america . now before you ask why am i writing a review  instead ask why some people bash it . i  m writing this review because i love the guinea pig films . why do i love em  it  s because they go for the throat and they don  t let go . i  ve seen it all . almost every horror film known to man  argento  fulci  bava  buttgereit . from every underground cult sensation to every hollywood blockbuster . i  ve seen it all and the films that have stuck in my head over the years was definitely the guinea pig films . why because it doesn  t try to hide the reason why we watch horror movies in the  st place . this review is for the devils experiment . i find it devoid of story which is fine by me . why do i watch horror films  so i can see blood and gore and the torture of people . the devils experiment not only delivers but that  s all it is . pure unadulterated violence . yeah i like a story but sometimes i just want the gore and the devils experiment delivers ten fold . why do people bash it . cause they like a story  so that the torture and death of a person can be hidden behind a story . it make em feel better about themselves . we all want blood and gore . it  s just really hard to justify it if it  s not wrapped around a story . the guinea pig films have a historical meaning to them and they have created a definitive splash whenever they have been released .  br    br   i  m thrilled to be able to release one of the most famous horror series in the world . maybe i shouldn  t have written this review but then again maybe i should . my view is biased cause were releasing them but then again it  s not . i  ve always told people to find them and to watch them way before i started unearthed films . sure it  s exploitive and over the top but isn  t that why we watch horror films in the  st place . the devils experiment is not for everybody . it  s for thrill seekers and gorehounds only . if you think jason movies and freddy krueger movies are awesome then stick to those . but if your on the next level and have seen it all then the devils experiment is for you . there is a reason why they haven  t been released for over   years . they are wrong  disgusting and down right freaky and not something to watch with your mom  unless she is totally cool . good luck  enjoy and never stop living your life .  
the earth is destined to be no more thanks to father pergado and a bunch of nuns . christopher lee  who has since said that he was duped in to appearing in this by his producers who told him loads of great actors were involved  is father pergado and gets to do his usual serious and scary routine . the cast are not too bad  though most have now retired from acting . the film has terrible sound effects  mainly created from pressing keys on an old computer it seems  and it ridiculously pondering at times  showing a scene of the sky  for instance  for what feels like hours at a time . despite this the story is pretty humorous in a world  is  doomed sort of way and the production is adequate . interestingly one scene features albert band and wife jackie meda band writer frank ray perilli and charles band  s assistant bennah burton . despite its plodding nature i genuinely wanted to see how it all worked out and thus quite liked it .  
a lot of people unfairly sh  t on this series but several of the guinea pig videos are fairly entertaining . devil  s experiment in particular has some really fantastic effects work   not just the infamous eyeball scene but also a very realistic skin slice on the foot and a hand breaking with a sledgehammer are very realistic   especially for the video  s vintage and low  budget .  br    br   let me start at the beginning now for those who don  t know this film is an  extreme  torture  fake snuff film that surfaced in japan in the mid    s . it  s plot as it stands is simple a young girl is held by a few men and forced to undergo a series of brutal tortures to see where her breaking point is . this entails brutal violence   all effectively realistic effects including the ones mentioned in the last paragraph as well as a painful looking application of hot oil to the captive girl  s arm and placing of maggots in the subsequent flaky wound .  br    br   the least effective sequences are at the very beginning of the video and consist of an unconvincing slap session where three men take turns slapping the hell out of the girl as her head falls about and a second sequence where the three men take turns kicking the girl and pushing her to the ground . these two scenes are obviously staged and detract from the realism of the rest of the proceedings .  br    br   the actress who plays the victim of the  experiment  is pretty convincing at being in pain and takes a good amount of abuse and rough stuff on camera . her reactions as she has headphones strapped to her head and loud noises are played for hours on end are chilling . some of the other abuse she takes is being strung up in a net from a tree during the only times she is given a rest . also there is a disturbing scene where the giggling captors through guts at her and one other disgustingly sleazy scene where she is spun in an office chair and forced to drink a bottle of jack daniels till she pukes .  br    br   if you haven  t seen this series i hope i have helped you decide whether or not you want to give this episode a shot .  .     for devil  s experiment .  
i saw this movie in the theater when i was a kid and always remember it as my first experience with getting ripped off by a horrible movie with a good commercial . the commercial was great  but it i found out later that it had every explosion or  special effect  in the entire movie  about   and even some that weren  t in the movie . there was some sort of plot relating to the aliens but the aliens were never actually shown in the movie as far as i remember . it was clearly a case of someone making a buck off a cheap movie designed to scam people . i guess my world of innocence ended that day  when i found out there were bad people out there who make bad bad movies .  
my rating refers to the first  seasons of stargate sg   which are wonderfully fresh  creative and addicting . when the cast stepped through the gate  you never knew what lay on the other side  starting around season   the show took a different focus  still good  but different .  br    br   the series follows the adventures of a team of humans  and one alien  who regularly venture into a planetary transport device called the  stargate  . the backstory of the series is based on the characters and events of the movie  stargate  in which the device is discovered during an archaeological dig in egypt .  br    br   the episodes are light  innocent and easy to watch  and very creative . many of the inventive stories could easily have been made into great sci  fi movies of their own . what happens next was always unpredictable .  br    br   the characters on which the show rests are also well  defined and brilliantly performed . their tone is serious  but the dialog is flowered with incredible wit and humor . they are simply fun to watch .  br    br   starting somewhere around season   the series started to evolve into a continuing storyline based on fighting a single foe  the goa  uld  then the ori  . the plots become more complex  a lot more political  strategic oriented  and interdependent . the characters were still as great as ever but the show was different in nature .  br    br   one thing that must be mentioned is to watch the episodes that commemorated the    th and    th episodes . they are simply can  t  miss shows . they exhibit the creative and wildly humorous genius that carried the series through   seasons .  br    br   if you are a sci  fi fan  watch a few episodes of the first  seasons and you  ll likely be hooked . if you like evolving story lines between two opposing sides  you have   seasons of shows to look forward to .  
that is the only question i am left with . why did this movie suck so much when it had such a great cast  why was the writing so bad  it left the audience completely unconnected with the characters  why did it not make any sense at all  why did the studio take a perfectly good premise and  hollywood  the hell out of it when all it needed was good  smart story telling  why  i never understand why movies that start out good turn into a pile of crap by the time they  re released . i hope for the sake of freeman an spacey  who are oscar winners  that this never is released to the big screens in america .  br    br   as someone that holds a bachelors degree in journalism  the whole story is just utterly laughable . i just . . . think the script had potential  but the execution turned it into a clich  and an awful one at that . just . no .  
the first installment of this notorious horror series presents a woman being kidnapped by a gang of black  clad men who torture her for several days before finally killing her . she is beaten savagely  spun around in the chair endlessly  has her finger nails pulled  animal guts are thrown at her  hot boiling water is poured on her and finally her eyeball is punctured with a needle  really sick and nasty scene  . the makers of this unforgettable torture show tried to make it as real as possible and for me this one is the closest thing to a snuff film you can get without committing murder on tape . of course some of the special effects are rather poor but the idea of making a snuff is pretty gruesome . i have seen also  flowers of flesh and blood  which is more gory and sadistic  but less disturbing . anyway  this one is a must  see for horror fans   
this movie was terrible  i rented it not knowing what to expect . i watched the  st  minutes and the movie and knew it was a bomb . the acting was bad and there was no plot . the monster is soooooo fake . it growls and its mouth doesnt move . also why would they have a doctor playing a xylophone to kill the monster . just plain bad don  t even waste your time .   out of     
first off  this is not supposed to be a brilliant and thought provoking film like so many other reviewers seem to compare it to . the first review says something along the lines of anyone who likes this knows nothing about horror cinema  apparently its the other way around . if one were to look back after the film it really wasn  t meant to be convincing  it was a low budget ipecac . but really thats all it was aiming for  it was meant to blow viewers away with sheer shock value  and all the flaws it its visuals were much less noticeable back in the original vhs versions  .  br    br   i gave this one a high score because it reached its goal and even though it was not downright horrific  in non  shock sense  it did make me slightly sick and thoroughly paranoid  pessimistic  i didn  t trust anyone for about a week because i didn  t want to wake up strung up and tortured   
wow  i just saw this on t . v . as one of the  scary  movies they show around halloween . was this rated g  there wasn  t really anything to make this movie scary  or worth watching . also  other people say this is a spoof  but i don  t think so . for a spoof  you need something called  humor  . this low  budget crap  fest didn  t have a shred of humor  and it didn  t make much sense  either . you basically have a goofy looking monster  man in rubber suit  coming out of closets  killing people  i guess  since you never see the monster doing violence to anyone or any bloody aftermath . the spinning newspaper tells you that people were killed by the monster  so i guess that  s good enough .  br    br   the military tries feebly to kill the monster  which isn  t much larger than a man . they have very bad aim . then the military flees  wow  did this movie make the u . s . military look pathetic or what  the monster  while hard to kill  doesn  t do much besides shuffle around and roar . oh  and occasionally a second head pops out of its mouth and shrieks . it was a slightly interesting  yet a total alien ripoff .  br    br   what was the deal with the scientist playing the xylophone to attract the monster  it was hard to understand a lot of the dialog due to the poor sound quality . also  why did the monster carry around the main wimpy guy for so long  why didn  t the monster go into the closet when it had a chance  why do i insist on trying to make sense out of the senseless   
just the ultimate masterpiece in my opinion . every line  every phrase  every picture is exactly in place and lindsay crouse and joe mantegna are just the cool shrink and the sleazy con  man  so well cast .   out of     
now  i flicked onto this just out of curiosity and had to keep watching  in the same way that you watch a car crash . . .  br    br   i appreciate the fact it  s a spoof  but that should not stop me from criticising the god  awful directing  acting and dialogue . seriously  this rated as one of the poorest movies i have seen  it looked more like an episode of tales from the cryptkeeper  and a poor one at that . . .  br    br   okay  a few criticisms    when the doctor had his heart attack in front of the monster  we never see the monster attack him  so we assume its a heart attack   the army then launch shells  rockets  bullets at the monster  which was feet from the doctor  yet the doctor is not touched by any missile and is still alive    the army attack from about    yards away  and we see a flame  thrower being used  geez  those things have a range of no more than   metres     when the monster tries to take the professor  the soldiers run into the classroom and fire into the ceiling the monster drops the kid  and the soldiers don  t try to shoot the monster    come on     the monster looks like it something out of power rangers     there is one scene where the five  good guys   the priest  the girl  the doctor  the reporter and the kid  all look shocked and we get reactions  along the lines of hand to mouth  one after the other  so natural     the general just runs away  time after time    the general refuses to try electricity and wouldn  t listen    the acting is awful    did i mention the rubber suit monster         that god  awful music  non  stop   
  house of games  is a flawlessly constructed film  and one of the few films i have seen that had me gaping at the screen in astonishment at how cleverly and unexpectedly it ends . i first saw it on video a few years back after reading roger ebert  s review  which proclaimed it the best film of     . i had my doubts  mainly because it is not quite as well known as other films from that year . boy  was i in for a surprise . this was one of the smartest  most well  written movies i had ever seen .  br    br   the screenplay is quite a piece of work  not only in terms of the plot  which twists and turns and pulls the rug out from under you just when you think you have it all figured out   but also in terms of character development . on my second viewing  i began to realize that mamet  s screenplay succeeds not only as a clever suspense film  but that each plot development contributes to our understanding of the characters and their motivations . the climax of the movie is particularly effective  because it is absolutely inevitable . it stems naturally from what we know about the characters  and it is therefore much more than just an arbitrary twist ending . the performances by lindsay crouse and joe mantegna also add enormously to the film . i cannot picture any other actor besides mantegna playing the role of mike  and crouse plays her role with just the right amount of restraint to suggest a repressed criminal mindset . their work  plus mamet  s extraordinary screenplay  combine to create one of the greatest films of the      s . it is truly a must  see .  
yes  the southern star features a pretty forgettable title tune sung by that heavy set crooner matt monro . it pretty much establishes the tone for this bloated and rather dull feature  stunningly miscast with george segal and ursula andress as an adventurous couple in search of a large diamond . add in harry andrews  with a strange accent  no less  chasing an ostrich  tons of stock footage of wildlife  and poorly composed and dull photography by raoul coutard  and you end up with a thoroughly unexciting romp through the jungles of senegal .  
just watched the film for the  rd time and enjoyed lindsay crouse and the rest of the cast just as much as before . it just keeps getting better and better . you simply have to marvel at the carefully measured way of speech  the slow deliberate action  everything being exactly in place .  br    br   truly one of the great ones and definitely my all  time favourite     
the head of a common new york family  jane gail  as mary barton   works with her younger sister ethel grandin  as loma barton  at  smyrner  s candy store  . after ms . grandin is abducted by dealers in the buying and selling of women as prostituted slaves  ms . gail and her policeman boyfriend matt moore  as larry burke  must rescue the virtue  threatened young woman .  br    br    traffic in souls  has a reputation that is difficult to support  it isn  t remarkably well done  and it doesn  t show anything very unique in having a young woman  s  virtue  threatened by sex traders . perhaps  it can be supported as a film which dealt with the topic in a greater than customary length  claimed to have been ten reels  originally  . the new york city location scenes are the main attraction  after all these years . the panning of the prisoners behind bars is memorable  because nothing else seems able to make the cameras move .  br    br    traffic in souls           george loane tucker  jane gail  matt moore  ethel grandin  
unique movie about confused woman  lindsay crouse  who gets involved with sharp con men . joe mantegna gives an oscar  caliber performance as the slickest of the group . absolutely enchanting first hour  as mantegna shows crouse  the ropes  of his con games . story line unravels a bit later on  but still stands as a unique portrayal of an innocent caught up in a dark world . definitely worth a shot .  
kirstie alley  looking a bit slimmer  but only a bit  is in this mess along with a man who is a macguyver lookalike  bleached blond hair and all . the premise of the movie is about an older woman        who cannot get her screenplay produced due to age discrimination so she sends in her younger nephew to pose as the writer . not an original idea and not a very good movie with lousy acting  inane dialogue and a ridiculous plot . there is another plot concerning a writer with a crush or admiration for kirstie  s character and why this is included is a mystery . the actor who portrays kirstie  s brother is so wooden and miscast  it was torture to watch their scenes . what is there to say about this film . avoid it .  
house of games has a strong story where obsession and illusion play a big part . a psychologist offers to help a patient with his gambling debts and gets caught at the game .  br    br   have you ever felt fascination for something that was both dangerous and wrong  watch what happens if you pursue this urge and go all the way . sit on the edge of your chair as tricksters are being tricked and victims turn into perpetrators . you  re never sure of who is exactly who in this movie .  br    br   this is both a quality and a drawback of the script . as the movie ends you feel that the story lacks a bit of consistency . but all this is largely compensated by the excellent psychological development .  br    br   this is definitely one of the best movies about gambling .  
  st watched             out of    dir  jon keeyes   over  the  top rehash of    s supposed horror flicks like friday the   th  versions  thru whatever  . i can  t think of much redeeming here except  or can i think of anything   the story revolves around a bunch of stupid people listening to a radio program one year after some kids were slayed in the woods as an  homage  to this  supposedly . but  lo and behold  one of the stupid people  have connections to the actual event because her sister was one of the ones murdered  again  how stupid is this that she would even be a part of this  . guess what  the murderer is at it again and we  re tipped off from the very beginning who it is  so there goes any mystery whatsoever  . and besides all this  where are the  cops  and why doesn  t someone call them . i can  t believe this movie was financed by someone and made . you would think that by now the american people would be judged a little higher  at least in their movie  going experience  but not so by this filmmaker .  
plenty has been written about mamet  s  the house of games   most of it good . i decided to revisit the flick to see how it held up after   years and was surprised at how much i enjoyed viewing it again . the film  s success and durability probably has much to do with two principal ingredients which are always fun on film a good story and a good scam . mamet manages to bring his signature moodiness and obvious histrionics to the film while scamming us  the audience  and the mark simultaneously . then he explains the art of conning only to do it again  etc . all the while building the story .  the house of games   now a freebie on cable  is worth a look for first timers and an okay rerun for mamet fans .  b   
this piece ain  t really worth a comment . . it  s simply the worst  horror  movie i have ever seen . the actors are bad as bad can be and the whole plot is so silly it nearly made me cry . shame on you i say    
this typical mamet film delivers a quiet  evenly paced insight into what makes a confidence man  joe mantegna  good . explored as a psychological study by a noted psychologist  lindsay crouse   it slowly pulls her into his world with the usual nasty consequences . the cast includes a number of the players found is several of mamet  s films  steven goldstein  jack wallace  ricky jay  andy potok  allen soule  william h . macy   and they do their usual good job . i loved lindsay crouse in this film  and have often wondered why she didn  t become a more noted player than she has become . perhaps i  m not looking in the right places   br    br   the movie proceeds at a slow pace  with flat dialog  yet it maintains a level of tension throughout which logically leads to the bang  up ending . you  d expect a real let down at the ending  but i found it uplifting and satisfying . i love this movie   
without a doubt this is one of the worst films i  ve ever wasted money on  the plot is  erm sorry  did i say there was a plot  the scariest moment was when . . .  nope can  t think of one  the best special effect that had me hiding under the bed covers was . . .  nope can  t think of one for that either . you knew who the killer was right from the start . there was nothing scary about the whole movie  in fact the only two vaguely interesting bits were when you saw the kid sister  misty  in the shower and when you saw nurse toppan take her top off . this film should only be watched to get an idea of how not to make a horror movie     
in the spirit of the classic  the sting   this movie hits where it truly hurts . . . in the heart  a prim  proper female psychiatrist  hungry for adventure  meets up with the dirtiest and rottenest of scoundrals . the vulnerable doctor falls for the career badman  and begs to be involved in his operation . while the movie moves kind of  slow   it  s climax and ending are stunning  you  ll especially enjoy how the doctor  forgives herself    
this movie is outrageous . by outrageous  i mean awful . i had more fun watching the paint dry at my local hardware store on an august day while suffering from a migraine and heat stroke . the acting got progressively worse as the  movie  advanced  and the directors use of euphoric drugs became apparent as the final scenes approached . when misty was shot to death she decided that it would be prudent to blink post mordem . that was not intelligent . truthfully  stevie wonder could have caught that with his eyes closed . if you are deciding between playing with a nail gun while intoxicated and watching this movie  bear in mind that the nail gun will probably give you a better story to tell your friends .  
i enjoyed this show for two reasons  . richard dean anderson  . amanda tapping . these two performers carried the show with able support from the regulars and recurring actors . the replacement of rda in seasons     was enough to take the heart out of the show .  br    br   the chemistry between all the main characters is just tremendous . you get the feeling that the actors like to pal around after the camera stops rolling . this relationship carries over into the program we get to see .  br    br   rda gives his  o  neill  character believable personality . he never knows when to give the wiseass in him a rest . you watch the others roll their eyes in dismay at some of his utterances . still  they know that he is the man to have around when the situation is perilous .  br    br   there is a lot going on between  carter  and  o  neill  under the surface . they manage to keep the lid on  but often just barely . the episode  solitudes  in season  had some of the best drama ever seen on television . the love between the two made the prospect of dying bearable because they faced it together .  br    br    carter  and  jackson  often have to smooth over some of the turbulence created by  o  neill  . yet  o  neill  s  tactical instincts always seem sound . he understands what to do without having to think about the matter . the team has several times been placed in jeopardy by the others not listening to his orders .  br    br   the quality declined markedly in seasons  and   . the original story arc was mostly used up and the new villains never really caught my interest . ben browder was far inferior to rda in carrying the show . he had his rare moments with claudia black  but that was all . amanda tapping was phoning in her performances these two seasons . you could see her greatly changed appearance after having a baby . she was probably thinking more about the child than the show .  br    br   the spin  off  stargate atlantis  has a few moments  but is mostly a weaker effort . the major characters lack the chemistry of the cast of the original . the villains  wraiths  are so improbable as to be ludicrous . maybe amanda tapping can breathe some life into the program or it won  t last beyond the fourth season .  br    br   there has always been a problem for me in the special effects for the show . to have spaceships shaped as pyramids is a design monstrosity seldom equaled in sci  fi . the use of torches for illumination in these ships is just as bad . the campy use of decor from ancient egypt concealing ultra  modern technology is just as hard to accept .  br    br   i wondered about some of the continuity on the show too . in the season  opener   daniel jackson  is shot up and his uniform has a gaping hole where he was wounded . he crawls into a sarcophagus and it heals his body and restores his uniform like it just came off the rack in the wardrobe closet . the episode  hathor  has a sarcophagus fall into the hands of the sgc  yet it is never mentioned again . this device could have been used in several later episodes on  daniel    o  neill   and  dr . frasier  .  
wow . i do not think i have ever seen a movie with so many great actors that had such a pivotal role so miscast . justin timberlake is perhaps the single worst actor to land a bigtime role in a movie with the star power and money behind it that edison had .  br    br   his acting was painful to observe . the story was ok and all the other characters were played by professional actors  heck  even ll cool j was fine since he has had numerous small parts to cut his teeth on . how the director and movie company figured that timberlake was ready for this role there is no way to comprehend .  br    br   his character ruins the entire experience since every time he is on screen you are actually rooting for the corrupt cops to cap his sorry ass  and he is supposed to be the hero . . . i would not waste money on this one at the theater or on video . maybe if you have hbo and have nothing else to do at  am on a saturday night and you are drunk and stoned  this may be ok .  br    br   watching timberlake in this role was like watching a human  kermit the frog  act in a hollywood blockbuster  just didn  t work at all .  
a film destined to be on late  night tv long after the present instant  money  makers  have long been forgotten . perhaps a little too subtle for today  s youngsters  but in time they  ll grow into an appreciation of this movie .  
  american nightmare  is officially tied  in my opinion  with  it  s pat   for the worst movie of all time .  br    br   seven friends  oddly resembling the k  mart version of the cast of  friends   gather in a coffee shop to listen to american nightmare  a pirate radio show . it  s hosted by a guy with a beard . that  s the most exciting aspect of his show .  br    br   chandler  monica  joey  and . . . oh wait  i mean  wayne  jessie  and the rest of the bad one  liner spouting gang all take turns revealing their biggest fears to the bearded dj . unbeknownst to them  a crazed nurse  serial killer is listening . . .  br    br   crazy nurse then proceeds to torture ross and rachel and . . . wait  sorry again . . . by making their fears come to life . these fears include such stunners as  voodoo  and being gone down on by old ladies with dentures .  br    br   no . really .  br    br   this movie was  in a word  rotten . crazy nurse  s killing spree lacks motivation  there  s nothing to make the viewer  jump   the ending blows  and   again   voodoo   br    br   if you have absolutely no regard for your loved ones  rent  american nightmare  with them .  br    br   if you care for your loved ones   even a little bit   go to your local blockbuster  rent all of the copies of  american nightmare  and hide them in your freezer .  
this movie should not be compared to  the sting   or other caper  heist  con game films . what makes it such a great movie experience is what it has to say about relationships  deceit and trust . it  s also a fairly cutting critique of psychiatry  given that the female protagonist is a shrink who is so easily deceived and then acts out in such a primitive manner in the finale . has mr mamet had an unfortunate experience in therapy  highly  hugely recommended   
this movie had to be the worst horror movie i have ever seen . the acting was terrible  horrible and cheesy and talk about a predictable plot  i will never watch this movie again nor will i recommend this movie to anyone . what a waste of time  first  as soon as the movie began i realized what i got myself into . all they did for this movie was copy scenes from many other horror movies out there and bunched them all into this one movie . the prank phone calls  halloween night  a psycho  and one knife  its absolutely ridiculous . i was not scared at all during the movie  which i thought horror movies were supposed to do . as for the making of the movie  its pretty hilarious how they all talk about how this movie was so great and so scary . i mean how do you not realize that the movies is a cheap rip off of  scary movie  for example . at least get some good actors in there and then maybe it would have been pulled off as a good horror movie .  
ask yourself where she got the gun  remember what she was taught about the mark  s mindset when the con is over  the gun had blanks and it was provided to her from the very beginning .  br    br   when the patient comes back at the end she was supposed to see him drive away in the red convertible and lead her to the gang splitting up her   thousand .  br    br   the patient was in on the con from the beginning .  br    br   mantegna does not die in the end  the gun had blanks .  br    br   there  enough spoilers for you there  this is why people are giving it such high ratings . it  s extremely original because of the hidden ending and how it cons most of the audience .  
when i read the back of the dvd case  i thought that it sounded really interesting . . . so . . . i had my mom throw it into the pile of movies in the   for   dollars  section at blockbuster . when we got home and popped in the movie . . . twenty minutes into it  we found ourselves turning to each other going  this sucks . let  s put in something else .  i  ll admit  a few of the lines from the friends at the caf made us smile a little bit . but come on  at least get some decent actors  every once in a while in a movie  if the acting is bad and the movie isn  t going at a painfully slow pace and actually seems interesting  i can gut it out and get a few laughs at how they  re over  or under  doing their lines . but i can only take so much . crying scenes looked like the actors were having hysterical fits of laughter  there was no delivery for their lines . . . amateur doesn  t even come close to the acting in this film .  br    br   anyone who came on here saying that this film was good had to have been on some really good drugs while they were watching the movie . it  s the most pointless thing i  ve ever had the displeasure of watching . do not watch or buy this movie       
i  m a big fan of films where people get conned  and house of games is almost the pinnacle of the  films where people get conned  genre . in short  it  s an exceptional thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat by providing interesting characters with many levels  and never truly revealing what  s happening  while throwing in many twists and surprises to upset completely what you  ve just seen . the film cons the audience on many occasions  and despite us knowing this it  s still difficult to guess where it  s going  and every twist comes off as a surprise . as mentioned  i  m a big fan of cons in movies and the plot of this one follows a female psychiatrist who receives a patient with a huge debt owed to a fellow gambler . she then goes to the gambler in an attempt to help out her patient  and on the way gets drawn into the art of reading people in order to pull off a con .  br    br   house of games breathes a sleazy atmosphere throughout  and david mamet does well in establishing his film  s setting in the underground levels of the city . the film is well acted also  with all concerned bringing life and believability to their characters with the greatest of skill . joe mantegna stars as the con man at the heart of the film  and although his performance is a little under wrought  he  s always solid and believable as the villain of the piece . lindsay crouse stars alongside him as the psychiatrist seduced by his work  and again is believable in her role . she may not be the greatest looker  but at least she can act . the way that the film executes it  s plot is the main star of the show  however  and you will no doubt be amazed on multiple occasions as to how the film constantly manages to amaze and deceive the viewer . at times it  s almost like we are in the thick of the action and being conned by the con men in the film . another thing that  s great about this film is the way that it shows the audience how to pull off certain cons  which is useful if you  re interested in making twenty bucks  say . all in all  house of games is a truly first rate thrill ride .  
when it comes to horror movies  i am more than willing to suspend disbelief  ignore sub  par production values  and overlook plot holes in the interest of a good scare . this movies simply has no good scares to offer . it can  t even be enjoyed as camp . bad dialogue  bad acting  bad direction  the kills were predictable and poorly staged  the music was annoying  the camera work was wretched  even the costumes were bad . i felt really bad for the actors  who were obviously trying  but who had to deal with terrible  contrived dialogue and an obvious lack of direction . i doubt they got any rehearsal  either . it  s embarrassing to watch  and so boring than making it through to the contrived  surprise  ending requires tremendous endurance . it  s quite easily one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen .  br    br   i don  t normally write reviews  but this one was so bad that i felt compelled to warn others . this movie is a complete waste of time . if you must watch this movie  don  t miss the  making of   featurette . the writer  director seems to be under the impression that making the killer a woman was kind of bold  daring move .  seen it .  he and the cast spend half an hour deconstructing this film as if it  s a new  age  citizen kane .  it  s like listening to a group of third  graders take you behind the scenes of their christmas pageant . they truly think they  ve created something of substance . it  s sad  really the only reason i gave this movie a    is because i think    should be reserved for true atrocities  like  manos hands of fate  and  space mutiny .  so  american nightmare  isn  t the worst movie i  ve ever seen  but i  d have to say that it  s somewhere in the bottom fifty .  
spoilers this is a gripping movie about grifters . but who is conning who here  when does the hunter turn into the prey  this gritty  dark movie is slow moving and seductive . it pulls you in and drags you down the proverbial garden path  only to waylay you just as you think you are safe .  br    br   it has a riveting script  with good acting  at least from the leads  . i didn  t notice the background music  but it was never jarring  so it must have been done right .  br    br   i was very surprised that i liked this movie  because i don  t usually go for this genre but this one sucked me in and kept he hooked until the end .  
in texas  seven friends meet in a bar to celebrate the halloween night before going to a party . meanwhile  they call the american nightmare pirate radio for fun and confess their innermost fears . a serial killer  who is listening to their confessions  makes their nightmares come true  killing each one of them in a sadistic way .  american nightmare  is a weird low budget movie that has a horrible beginning without any previous explanation  a woman kills two couples in an isolated camping area  as if it were friday    th . then  the story shifts to a bar  where seven friends are celebrating halloween . from this moment on  the story has a great potential  and the unknown cast has a very reasonable performance  showing also some beautiful breasts and naked bodies  as usual in this type of c production . however  the end of the screenplay does not provide any explanation for the killing instinct and motives for the behavior of the nurse jane toppan  giving the sensation that the budget ended before the finalization of the shooting . with a better beginning and conclusion  this weird story would be a good low budget slasher movie . my vote is four .  br    br   title  brazil    agonia    agony    
get ready for it this is one of my favourite films of all time . i am relatively unaware of david mamet  s  writer and director  other works but after having watched this film half a dozen times  it  s always a joy to watch   i can say without hesitation that he is a genius . this film is extremely well written  and quickly draws you in to its milieu of deceit  con  artistry and back room hustles . the feel of the film is very similar to the sting       and it also pays homage to film noir .  br    br   it  s quite a psychologically complex film and will definitely get you thinking about the various plot twists and motives of the shady characters . it is slightly predictable at times but the shocking climax is always exciting to watch .  br    br   generally  the acting is superb  especially joe mantegna  but someone who i watched the film with remarked to me that it  s not a good idea to have a heroine  lindsay crouse  who is not only a gambler  a smoker and a thief but also sports a bad    s hairdo . i agree  but i think she is nevertheless outstanding in the role .  br    br   the less you know about the plot of this film  the better  just like mamet  s most recent film  the spanish prisoner  because the ending will be even more impressive . just sit back and be prepared to be taken for a ride by a movie that comes dangerously close to brilliance .  
the premise is amazing and the some of the acting  notably sally kellerman and anthony rapp  is charming . . . but this film is near unwatchable . the music sounds as if it comes from some sort of the royalty free online site and the lyrics as if they were written with a rhyming dictionary open on the lap . most of the singing is off  key . i think they may have filmed with the singing accapella and put in the music under it . . . the dialogue is really stupid and trite . the movie works best when it is actually talking about the real estate but unfortunately it strays to often into stupid farcical sub  plots . i found myself checking my watch after ther first twenty minutes and after   wondering  when is it ever going to end .   
opening the film with a bach toccata is an aural hint of what is to unfold in this intense drama . all the compositional devices bach perfected to keep his listener  and the performer  intrigued and entertained applies to this film . there isn  t a mutual tenderness between the two lead characters and the lead female in the final scene i feel is justified in stating she was raped even though her victimizer feels she was forewarned that he was a cad . mamet compellingly explores the emotional chasm and differences between the genders but i feel he is clueless about how they actually compliment one another given a healthy sense of humor . if mamet ever developed a healthy humorous take on the interaction between the genders i wonder how this work would have ended  as it exists it is very somber and mean spirited .  
so you might be reading some of the comments posted on this film  and you might be thinking to yourself   huh . there were sure a bunch of rave reviews posted on december   .  funny thing is  most of these rave reviews sound like they  re coming from the same person  or at best a small  coordinated group of  open house  groupies . the truth  my friends  is that this film is truly unwatchable . just because it  s  independent  doesn  t mean it gets a free pass . if you  re going to make a musical  whether on film or on stage  whether on broadway or at the local community playhouse  you should probably make sure that  a .  your actors can sing   b .  your actors can dance   c .  you have decent sound equipment   d .  you have a well  written score  and  e .  you have lyrics that are witty and charming . even anthony rapp can  t save this one . it  s one of those unfortunate movie  going experiences where i actually felt deeply embarrassed for everyone involved .  
this is very nearly a perfect film . the ideas would be repeated by mamet  but never told so succinctly . this is really about the failure of trust  of the human condition . the film weaves the idea that we are all criminals  no one is innocent . is there anyone alive today who hasn  t seen this play out in our own society  every single day  the film is very much structured like a hitchcock thriller . except  there are no more innocent characters . the world is now completely polluted  ruined and everyone is participating in the con . could anything be more true   br    br   don  t miss the soundtrack . it is wonderful .  
i feel totally ripped off . someone needs to refund the   .   i spent at blockbuster to rent this homemade mess . this is not a musical it is a complete waste of time and my evening . what i don  t get is why did this get distributed in the first place    . . . somebody must have been doing some heavy drugs the night that deal was made . i  ve seen better films come out of film schools and i have been to film school so i can say that as a fact . the quality of this work is also just so very bad to view . . . shot on dv    nuff said . the songs are not songs but just banter that sounds the same in every section . want to see a good musical  then don  t rent this movie .  
  house of games  is definitely not without its flaws  plot holes  stiff acting  final scenes  but they do little to detract from the fun of watching a thriller that so methodically messes with your head .  house of games  does almost everything a good thriller is supposed to do . of course  this is not a huge feat given the fact that we  re dealing with the the world of confidence men and the cons they perpetrate . so it stands to reason that we never really know what  s going on  even though we think that we do . but that  s what makes the film worthwhile for those who are game a film for which repeated viewings are indulgences instead if necessities .  br    br   it has a definite hitchcock slant to it . the film draws on some similar themes found his     effort  marnie   considered a misfire when released but now regarded as one of the master  s more thought  provoking works . one could easily consider the idea of lindsay crouse  s character being the same as tippi hedrin  s . . . ten year later perhaps . both are strong  willed loners  both with compulsive behaviors which compel them to walk too close to the shark pool . as crouse  s repressed  up  tight character says   what  s life without adventure   put your reality check on a low setting and enjoy swimming with the sharks   
the single worst film i  ve ever seen in a theater . i saw this film at the austin film festival in      and it blew my mind that this film was accepted to a festival . it was an interesting premise  and seemed like it could go somewhere  but just fell apart every time it tried to do anything . first of all  if you  re going to do a musical  find someone with musical talent . the music consisted of cheesy piano playing that sounded like they were playing it on a stereo in the room they were filming . the lyrics were terribly written  and when they weren  t obvious rhymes  they were groan  inducing rhymes that showed how far they were stretching to try to make this movie work . and you  d think you  d find people who could sing when making a musical  right  not in this case . luckily they were half talking  half singing in rhyme most of the time  but when they did sing it made me cringe . especially when they attempted to sing in harmony . and that just addresses the music . some of the acting was pretty good  but a lot of the dialog was terrible  as well as most of the scenes . they obviously didn  t have enough coverage on the scenes  or they just had a bad editor  because they consistently jumped the line and used terrible choices while cutting the film . at least the director was willing to admit that no one wanted the script until they added the hook of making it a musical . i hope the investors make sure someone can write music before making the same mistake again .  
wealthy psychiatrist lindsay crouse has just published her first novel and is feeling down about her profession feeling that it  s hopeless to help her patients . a young gambling junkie client asks her to help him pay off his debts if he truly wants to help him get better . here she gets involved with joe mantegna . to reveal any more of the plot would spoil one hell of a fun movie and  house of games  may very well be the best con movie i  ve seen . david mamet wrote and directed this gem that  s full of snappy dialogue  great one  liners  and enough twists to keep you guessing til the end . crouse is perfect as the uptight psychiatrist needing a change and mantegna tops her as the devilishly sly con  man . and with the exception of a coincidence in the last quarter of the movie  the film is in utter control of it  s audience and we are loving the con .  br    br    out of   
this movie was so terrible it was almost good . . . almost . we love musicals  but not this one . even with the terrible sound quality  poor cinematography  and many actors who can  t sing or dance  anthony rapp actually managed to give a good performance  especially toward the end  . the character marjorie  a drunk lady  was enjoyable to watch  too .  br    br   the plot is very unexpected and could have been funny without terrible singing and cheezy piano music . admittadly  some of the songs  fantabulous  are pretty catchy  but not in a good way  .  br    br   open house is a funny movie to watch simply because it is awful  we think it might be a good stage musical  with excellent actors  .  
i  m not great at writing reviews  so i  ll just spout my opinions . . .  br    br   i loved this series at first . the adventure  the action  the comedy  the drama . . . i thought it was all brilliant . anderson  tapping  shanks  judge  davis . . . i loved them all . davis  it seemed  was the fifth  most important person in the cast . not a big deal . but when his character  general hammond  left at the end of the seventh season  and anderson  s character  colonel o  neill  moved from the field to the office  the quality of the series suddenly fell off a cliff . i don  t know whether it  s because hammond was more important that i realized or what  but for some reason  after the seventh season  the series turned to  .  br    br   the first seven seasons  though  were awesome . the movie stargate seemed mediocre the first time i saw it  but it turned out to be  even if this wasn  t the original intention  a brilliant setup to the series . i recommend that you watch the movie first  then watch the first season of the tv series  then watch the movie again  you  ll have a whole new appreciation of it the second time around  believe me   and then watch the rest of the tv series .  br    br   the last three seasons of the series aren  t nearly as good as the first seven  but that doesn  t mean they aren  t good . it just means they  re a letdown if you  ve gotten spoiled by the first seven seasons .  br    br   after you have finished this series  be sure to watch the spin off series  stargate atlantis . it is a worthy successor to this brilliant series .  br    br   edit on         i just found out that don s . davis died a few weeks ago . it is a great loss .  
normally  i have much better things to do with my time than write reviews but i was so disappointed with this movie that i spent an hour registering with imdb just to get it off my chest .  br    br   you would think a movie with names like morgan freeman or kevin spacey would be a bankable bet . . . well  this movie was just terrible . it is nigh on impossible to  suspend disbelief   i tried  really  i wanted to enjoy it but justin timberlake just wouldn  t let me .  br    br   timberlake should stick to music  what a dreadful performance  no presence as an actor  no character . can  t blame everything on justin the movie also boast a dreadful plot  badly timed editing its definitely an  f  .  br    br   after seeing this  i have to wonder what really motivates actors . i mean  surely morgan actually read the script before taking the part . did he not see how poor it was  what then could motivate him to take the part  money  of course  acting is at times more about who you are seen with rather than really developing quality work .  br    br   ll cool j is a great actor he gets a lot more screen time than freeman or spacey in this movie and really struggles to come to terms with the poor script .  br    br   meanwhile  the audience goes  what the hell is going on here  you expect me to believe this crap    br    br   in short  apart from justin a great lineup badly executed  very disappointing .  
house of games is spell binding . it  s so nice to occasionally see films that are perfect tens . there are few movies i  ve seen that can grip you so quickly . from the opening scene this movie just gets you .  br    br   i  m trying really hard not to give to much away to those who may not yet have seen this but there will be a few spoilers so don  t read anymore if you don  t want to know .  br    br   i would say house of games is not just a superb film but is the best movie about con artists i have ever seen  bar none . from the moment the movie is over it begs to be replayed .  br    br   lindsay crouse as margaret ford is simply perfection  from her mannerisms to the inflection of her voice she gets into the role immediately . joe mantegna was also wonderful . the dialogue in this movie has an unforced almost unscripted quality and these two people communicate as much in a look as they do with their voices . i also loved the way the movie was filmed  in that grainy  surreal type of way  it fit perfectly and helped make the film what it was .  br    br   there were a few movies i  ve seen and loved that this reminded me of including the grifters and the usual suspects but really  house of games is completely different in it  s way . margaret and mike are two of the most absorbing characters i  ve seen on the big screen and not only do they have screen chemistry that is strong and palpable from the moment they meet  but the buildup that starts from the moment they set eyes on each other is electrifying . you know something  s going to happen but you have no idea what . and just when you think you  ve guessed what the  something  is  you realize you haven  t even scratched the surface . . . .  br    br   house of games is one of those movies that may be lumped in to a certain genre of movie type but is essentially a movie about human nature . the character study is not just about the mind of the con artist but the victim as well . as the movie moves along and we get to know more and more about the main characters  we learn about them not just through what they say but how they say it . it is a great character study and is flawless in the way it speeds to it  s conclusion .  br    br   in closing  i  d rank this   of    call it  although not my absolute favorite film  pretty high on the list   most definitely outstanding and would go so far as to say it does rank as one of the best character studies and contains some of the best  twists  i  ve ever seen as well . although i love all types and genres of movies  when it comes to movies of the human psyche  it really doesn  t get much better then this . see this movie .  
did heidijean really see this movie  a great christmas movie  not even close . dull  bland and completely lacking in imagination and heart . i kept watching this movie wondering who the hell thought that carly pope could play the lead in this movie  the woman has no detectable personality and gives a completely lackluster performance . baransky was great as usual and provided the only modicum of interesting the whole thing . probably her involvement was the only reason this project was green lighted to begin with . maybe i  m expecting too much for a lifetime movie played   days from christmas but i sat through this thing thinking that with a different director and a recasting jj with an actress that at least could elicit sympathy this could have been quite a cute little movie .  
here  s my first david mamet directed film . fitting  since it was his first  as well .  br    br   the story here is uneven and it moves along like any con movie  from the little cons to the big cons to the all  encompassing con . it  s like  the grifters   but without that film  s level of acting .  in that film  john cusack was sort of bland but that was the nature of his character .  the acting here is very flat  i sometimes wondered if the bland acting by crouse was supposed to be some sort of attack on psychoanalysis  . at least in the beginning . it never gets really good  but it evolves beyond painfully stiff line reading after about ten minutes . early in the film  some of lindsay crouse  s lines   the way she reads them   sound as if they  re inner monologue or narration  which they aren  t . with the arrival of mantegna things pick up .  br    br   the dialogue here isn  t as fun as it should be . i was expecting crackerjack ring  a  ding  ding lines that roll off the tongue  but these ones don  t . it all sounds very read  rather than spoken . maybe mamet evolved after this film and loosened up  but if not  then maybe he should let others direct his words . he  s far too precious with them here and as a result  they lose their rhythmic  jazzy quality . what  s more strange is that other than this  the film doesn  t look or feel like a play . the camera is very cinematic . my only problem with  glengarry glen ross  was that it looked too much like filmed theatre  but in that film the actors were not only accomplished  but relaxed and free . everything flowed .  br    br   i wouldn  t mind so much if it sounded like movie characters speaking movie lines   or even play characters speaking play lines   but here it sounds like movie  or even book  characters speaking play lines . it  s a weird jumble of theatre and film that just doesn  t work . that doesn  t mean the movie is bad   it isn  t  it  s often extremely entertaining . the best chunk is in the middle .  br    br   it  s standard con movie stuff the new guy  in this case  girl  margaret ford  lindsay crouse  gets involved in the seedy con underworld . how she gets involved is she  s a psychiatrist and one of her patients  billy is a compulsive gambler . she wants to help him out with his gambling debt  so she walks into the house of games  a dingy game room where con men work in a back room . i  ll admit the setup is pretty improbable .  were they just expecting crouse to come in  were they expecting she  d write a cheque  was billy in on it  one of these questions is definitely answered by the end  however .   br    br   and from here the cons are start to roll out . i found the beginning ones   the little learner ones   to be the most fun . we  re getting a lesson in the art of the con as much as crouse is .  br    br   we see the ending coming  and then we didn  t see the second ending coming  and then the real ending i didn  t see coming but maybe you did . the ball just keeps bouncing back and forth and by the last scene in the movie we realize that the second crouse walked into the house of games she found her true calling .  br    br   i  m going to forgive the annoying opening  the improbable bits and the strange line  reading because there are many good things here . if the first part of the movie seems stagy  stick with it . after the half  hour mark it does really get a momentum going . if you want a fun con movie  then here she is . if you want mamet  go watch  glengarry glen ross  again   james foley did him better .  br    br     
carly pope plays jj  a newly promoted food critic whose flamboyant  overbearing mother moves in with her . jj  aghast at this turn of events  then blackmails restaurant owner  alex  to entertain her mother in exchange for  maybe  reviewing his dying restaurant . alex predictably falls for the daughter while warming to the mother . there are numerous problems with this movie  the characters are universally   dimensional . jj is a self  serving  hateful character  her mother superficial and shallow . jj  s colleagues at the magazine are bitchy and opportunistic . the underlying message of an over    woman unable to make it on her own  without male assistance is bad  bad  bad . the acting is uniformly dull  the script uninspired . the films only saving grace is the setting of new york city . i would so not recommend this film .  
if your idea of a thriller is car chases  explosions  and dozens of people being mowed down by gunfire  then  house of games  is definitely not the movie for you . if you like and appreciate psychological drama and suspense  then  by all means  see it .  br    br    house of games  tells the story of an esteemed psychologist and writer  dr . margaret ford  lindsay crouse   who tries to help a patient and gets involved in the shadowy world of con men led by the charismatic mike  joe mantegna  . to say anything more about the plot would ruin the suspense . frankly  i find it hard to believe anyone who says they saw the twists coming . just like a clever con artist  this movie draws you into its web and lulls your vigilance .  br    br   the story is taut and well  crafted  the dialogue smart and laconic  the acting uniformly good  mantegna is superbly charismatic  . some have complained that dr . ford is not a very sympathetic character  and wondered why mamet would make lindsay crouse look so physically unattractive . but dr . ford is supposed to be cold and aloof moreover  her homeliness is in a way essential to the plot  at one point  i believe that an injury to her sexual self  esteem is a key part of her motivation . . . i  ll say no more  .  br    br    house of games  is a dark look at the underside of human nature that concludes on a note of discomforting ambiguity . it will hold your attention every second while you are watching  and stay with you for a long time afterwards .  
i wasn  t expecting this to be a great movie  but neither was i expecting it to be so awful . i hated the mother character so much i had to turn the channel . i turned it back  hoping it was just one part of the movie  but no . and for the daughter to sit there take being embarrassed  or almost done out of a job  or driven to madness inside her own home  are you kidding me  i was raised to respect  and even fear  my mother but i  d put her up fast in the nearest hotel if she proved that annoying in my house . i was expected to follow a set of rules in my mother  s house  after all .  br    br   i didn  t buy any of it . i tried giving it several chances  i really did . sorry .  
house of games is a wonderful movie at multiple levels . it is a fine mystery and a shocking thriller . it is blessed with marvelous performances by lindsay crouse and joe montegna  and a strong  strong cast of supporting players  and it introduces ricky jay  card sharp extraordinaire  prestidigitator and historian of magic . its dialogue  written by david mamet  is spoken as if in a play of manners and gives the movie  in which reality is often in question  an extra dimension of unrealness .  br    br   on the face of it  house of games is a convincing glimpse into the unknown world of cheats and con men  diametrically different from the sting  which was played merely for glamour and yuks . at this level it does succeed admirably .  br    br   however  you cannot escape the examination at a deeper level of the odyssey of a woman from complacent professional competence to incredible strength and self realization . the only movie i know of which treats the theme of emergence of personal strength in a woman in as worthy a way is the underrated private benjamin . that thoroughly enjoyable movie unfortunately diffuses its focus  hopping among several themes and exploiting the fine performance of goldie hawn to chase after some easy laughs . house of games sticks to its business . as poe once said of a good short story  it drives relentlessly to its conclusion .  br    br   there is another strain of movies  about  women  epitomized by thelma and louise  a big budget commercial money maker with the despicable theme that women are doomed  whether or not they realize their inner strengths . what tripe .  br    br   as usual you really ought to see this film in a movie theater . it should be a natural for film festivals . nominate it for one near you if you get the chance .  br    br   i bought the original version of house of games and gave it to my   year old daughter . better she should see it on a tv than not at all .  
i hate to sound like an  old person   but frankly i haven  t seen too many movies that i like that were made after     . . . generally  movies just seem to get worse and worse  although i quite enjoyed the scott baio vehicle  the bread  my sweet   except for the  de rigeur  sex scene which added nothing of value to that movie  . this movie makes the mother  a former las vegas chorus girl  seem to be incapable of surviving on her own  although she is clearly in her   s  though hinted at being in her   s  . i didn  t buy it . i  m   and like all the women i know in their   s and   s  more than capable of surviving on my own  as i have been doing since i graduated from high school at    got legally emancipated and set off on my own life  s journey .   br    br   the daughter is not believable in her job role . . . she gets a promotion she doesn  t deserve  a great opportunity  and drops that ball too  but when another female employee steps up to the plate and is ready to deliver  the writers shoot her down as an  opportunist   when she was just doing what any career  oriented person would do   taking advantage of a wide  open opportunity created by the lack of self  discipline of her coworker  a girl who apparently doesn  t understand the concept of honoring her promises  to her boss  in this case  .  br    br   the daughter grudgingly  allows  her mother to stay with her  on a temporary basis  but then treats her mother  the woman who gave her life and raised her to  adulthood   like a pariah . apparently the  writers  of tripe like this do not understand that it is not  the common thing  for parents to act like children  and then be treated as children by their children . that is just more of the societal  baloney  that hollywood keeps trying to force down our throats as though we  their public  were stupid for desiring to be entertained by their creative offerings .  br    br   this is a sad movie with a stupid ending . if the young male restauranteur had been real and not a two  dimensional  tv character   he  d have stayed with the mother  who was not that much older than him and quite attractive . but in the end he  falls  for the daughter  a shallow  rather uninteresting girl who has that cuteness of youth  but in an ordinary  bland way .  the  opportunist  young woman who worked with this nothing girl was far more attractive  physically .   br    br   there was no believable reason presented to the audience as to why the restauranteur preferred the daughter  who was an uptight  selfish  self  centered btch who treated her mother with unbelievable disrespect  to the mother   a woman who was kindhearted  sweet  tempered  humorous  and had a joie de vivre the daughter could not even begin to comprehend . of course the mother had her own flaws . . . she had reacted to her husband  s demise by drinking herself into a stupor for a year or two afterwards which supposedly created the rift between her and her smarmy daughter .  br    br   regardless of the way the characters were or were not developed  this is a baloney movie and a waste of your valuable viewing time unless you actually like baloney .  where  s the mustard    
the united states of kiss my ass   br    br   house of games is the directional debut from playwright david mamet and it is an effective and at times surprising psychological thriller . it stars lindsay crouse as best  selling psychiatrist  margaret ford  who decides to confront the gambler who has driven one of her patients to contemplate suicide . in doing so she leaves the safety and comfort of her somewhat ordinary life behind and travels downtown  to visit the lowlife place  house of games .  br    br   the gambler mike  played excellently by joe mantegna  turns out to be somewhat sharp and shifty . he offers crouse  s character a deal  if she is willing to sit with him at a game  a big money game in the backroom  he  ll cancel the patients debts . the card game ensues and soon the psychiatrist and the gambler are seen to be in a familiar line of work  gaining the trust of others  and a fascinating relationship begins . what makes house of games interesting and an essential view for any film fan is the constant guessing of who is in control  is it the psychiatrist or the con  man or is it the well  known man of great bluffs david mamet .  br    br   in house of games the direction is dull and most of the times flat and uninspiring  however in every david mamet film it is the story which is central to the whole proceedings  not the direction . in house of games this shines through in part thanks to the superb performances from the two leads  showy and distracting  but mainly as is the case with much of mamet  s work  it is the dialogue  which grips you and slowly draws you into the film . no one in the house of games says what they mean and conversations become battlegrounds and war of words . everyone bluffs and double bluffs  which is reminiscent of a poker games natural order . this is a running theme throughout the film and is used to great effect at the right moments to create vast amounts of tension . house of games can also be viewed as a class  war  division movie . with lindsay crouse we have the middle  class  well  to  do educated psychiatrist and joe mantegna is the complete opposite  the working class of america earning a living by honest  crime .  br    br   the film seduces the viewer much like crouse is seduced by mantegna and the end result is ultimately a very satisfying piece of american cinema . and the final of the film is definitely something for all to see and watch out for  it  s stunning .  br    br   an extremely enjoyable film experience that is worth repeated viewings .      
having seen men behind the sun i guess i hoped for an evolution in style  technique to match the larger scale of this movie . i was also quite interested to see someone make a hard  hitting fact  based fictionalised account of what happened during this most notorious of japanese atrocities  but this is not it . this plays like a bottom  to  mid tier european nazi exploitation movie from the   s  e . g . ss experiment camp etc  perhaps more like deported women of the special section actually  . granted it has a greater scope and more people running around  but it resorts to the same cheap and cheerless device of lots of hapless non  actors limply falling over to the sound of ridiculously fake gunshots  spiced up with the occasional poorly executed  shock  sequence . the admittedly horrible documentary footage is roughly spliced in between scenes so hackneyed that even these real images are robbed of much of their power . watch channel   s  the holocaust   aired recently  still running    as of  no      for a genuinely disturbing documentary on the evils of war  featuring excellent in  context use of actual footage  . this is the type of treatment the horror of nanjing deserves  not this hackneyed exploitation garbage  a better executed exploitation movie minus the disrespectful use of stock footage would have been fine  but again this is not even a very good exploitation movie  . rating    as exploitation   as a treatment of the subject  .  
david mamet wrote the screenplay and made his directorial debut with house of games   a character study fraught with psychological overtones  in which a psychiatrist is lured into the dark world of the confidence game . margaret ford  lindsay crouse  has a successful practice and has written a best  selling novel   driven .  still  she is somewhat discontented with her own personal life there  s an emptiness she can neither define nor resolve  and it primes her vulnerability . when a patient  billy hahn  steven goldstein   confides to her during a session that he owes big money to some gamblers  and that they  re going to kill him if he doesn  t pay  she decides to intervene on his behalf . this takes her to the house of games   a seedy little dive where she meets mike  joe mantegna   a charismatic con  man who wastes no time before enticing her into his world . instead of the twenty  five large  that billy claimed he owed  mike shows her his book  and it turns out to be eight hundred dollars . and mike agrees to wipe the slate clean  if she  ll agree to do him one simple favor  which involves a card game he has going on in the back room . in the middle of a big hand  mike is going to leave the room for a few minutes while he is gone  her job is to watch for the tell  of one of the other players . by this time  not only margaret  but the audience  as well  is hooked . the dialogue  and mamet  s unique style and the precise cadence with which his actors deliver their lines  is mesmerizing . as mike leads margaret through his compelling  surreal realm of existence  and introduces her to the intricacies of the con game  we are swept right along with her . from that first memorable encounter  when he demonstrates what a tell  is and how it works  to the lessons of the short con   to the stunning climax of this film  mamet keeps the con going with an urgency that is relentless . and nothing is what it seems . in the end  margaret learns some hard lessons about life and human nature  and about herself . she changes and whether or not it  s for the better is open to speculation . mantegna is absolutely riveting in this film he lends every nuance possible to a complex character who must be able to lead you willingly into the shadows  and does . crouse also turns in an outstanding performance here you feel the rigid  up  tight turmoil roiling beneath that calm  self  assured exterior  and when her experiences with mike induce the change in her  she makes you feel how deeply it has penetrated . she makes you believe that she is capable of what she does  and makes you understand it  as well . the dynamic supporting cast includes mike nussbaum  joey   lilia skala  dr . littauer   j . t . walsh  the businessman   ricky jay  george  and william h . macy  sergeant moran  . house of games  is the quintessential mamet he  s written and directed a number of high  caliber plays and films since  and will no doubt grace us with more in the future . but this film will be the one that defines him and you can go to the dictionary and look it up . you  ll find it under perfection .  this is one great movie you do not want to miss . i rate this one      .  
although  i had no earthly idea on what to expect from this movie  this sure as hell wasn  t what i would have had in mind  had anything actually come to mind . once i heard of its existence  all i knew was that i had to own a movie called please don  t eat the babies . unfortunately  i could only find a copy under its alternate title  island fury . looking back  i guess i could call it a lose  lose situation . on one hand  i still don  t get to be known as the guy who owns a movie called please don  t eat the babies  and on the other hand  island fury would ultimately reveal itself to be an awful  pointless  boring  unwatchable piece of garbage . yeah  definitely lose  lose .  br    br   i  m not even sure what genre they  re going for here . just early    s badness  with a flashback that might actually be longer than the non  flashback . first up  two teenage girls are being chased by two bad guys  once caught  the bad guys bring to our attention that one of the girls have a coin on a string  around her neck  and somehow  these bad guys know of a lot more of these coins hidden on an island somewhere . and this is where things start to get weird  somehow these guys know of a trip the girls took to some island  years earlier  when they were only   . i guess this is supposed to mean that the girls should know exactly where this alleged treasure is . so  now  we  re in the past  while the girls try to retrace their steps  so these bad guys don  t kill them  although  i wouldn  t have minded if they had . in the flashback  the   year old counterparts are on a boat trip with their sisters and the sisters boyfriends  eventually stopping by an island for some air  they get mixed up with some kid and his killer grandparents . any potential suspense or reasons to keep on watching never shows up  but the flashback was undeniably better than the present  which  still  isn  t saying much .  br    br   for a while there i had forgotten about the original story  at one point  i ithought maybe the director had too  and when the flashback ended  that would be the end  which would have worked for me considering this disappointment would have been a half  hour shorter . this pointless movie within a pointless movie does eventually end  and real stuff does happen  but it  s stupid . i guess i didn  t exactly expect a movie filled with infants being devoured  or anything like that  but i did expect some form of outlandish b  entertainment  mostly just a confusing  inept storyline  unsure of its genre . my advice would be to seek out something worthwhile like attack of the beast creatures . if anyone  i would only recommend this one to serious b  movie collectors who must have them all  anyone else interested probably has brain damage . what really gets me is that i still have no idea why they called it please don  t eat the babies .      
this movie is amazing  while being funny and entertaining  it is also profoundly deep and eye  opening . i will watch it again and again . bruce is a guy who is unhappy with his life . he has a job and a life  but it isn  t what he thinks it will take to bring him happiness . bruce is bitter  unsatisfied  and resentful that his life isn  t the way he envisions it should be . as a result of this state of mind  bruce ends up losing his job and blaming god for everything that he thinks is wrong with his life . god comes to bruce and grants him godly powers . bruce uses these powers to get everything he has always wanted . his life is finally exactly what he envisioned it would take to make him happy . . . . . with one exception . in the process of gaining everything  he loses the one person who truly loved him . as the movie unfolds  bruce learns that the real change that needed to occur in his life was not the circumstances  but his perception of what was truly there . this movie was inspirational and deep . if you really pay attention  it forces you to look at your life with a deeply humbling respect for the fact that a lot of the time we are so much more blessed than we recognize . as my wife says   since when does anybody know what it takes to make them happy   and my humble addition   may we not lose ourselves and those who matter while we try to find out .   
roommates sugar and bobby lee are abducted by menacing dudes while out shopping one day and taken back to a secluded island that the girls reluctantly tell the thugs that they last visited when they were ten years of age and that a fortune is located on . all that just pretty much bookends a movie that is pretty much one long flashback about the girls first visit to the island and subsequent fight with a cannibalistic family .  br    br   this one is extremely horribly acted by everyone involved to the point that i started feeling bad for poor hank worden who truly deserved much much better . as much as i didn  t like  barracuda   that  s on the same dvd  i have to admit that this film makes that one look like citizen kane .  br    br   eye candy one pair of tits  they might belong to kirsten baker   br    br   my grade f  br    br   dark sky dvd extras vintage ads for various drive  in food and trailers for  bonnie  s kids   features nudity    the centerfold girls    part  time wife   features nudity    psychic killer     eaten alive  . the dvd also comes with      s  barracuda   
this is one of those movies that they did too much promoting for . if you watch t . v .  then you might as well not watch the movie . almost all the funny scenes are spoiled in the previews  except one which just happens to be jennifer annisten being the funny one . it is typical jim carrey humor and it is really funny . just don  t go see this movie expecting to be surprised . all in all  if you like jim carrey or comedies this is a must  see  otherwise just watch the previews and you  ll be just as satisfied .  
this is available on a  drive in double feature  from dark sky films  and since i just had finished up  barracuda   i watched this too . this is a film that proves to be incredibly ambitious and inept at the same time .  br    br   we begin with two young ladies wandering the streets of some foreign town  but where exactly are they  they stop to look at necklaces from some chinese vendor  and try on chinese  style clothes at a shop  but then we see some aztec dancers  and all the while  these girls are being followed by two guys  who eventually drop whatever stealth they didn  t have to chase the girls on a wild run though the town  and they finally catch them .  br    br   it seems that one of the girls has a coin on a string around her neck  and these guys want to find the loot  and where did she get it  so  in flashback  we go back to find out . and how did they know she had this coin  hard to say  really .  br    br   now  back in the day  when these two women were   years old  they were out with their sisters and their sister  s boyfriends on a boat  and after stopped to get air in their tanks  they tow this young boy back to his home dock  only to have his grandpa come out  invite the  young  uns  up for herbal tea with granny . but not everyone has the tea  todd has gone back to the boat to check on the young girls  and then when they  re away from it  the boat blows up  and when they get back to the house their friends have mysteriously disappeared . well  it seems as though these  kindly folk  raise their own vegetables but they wait for the meat to drop by for a spell  and serve it herbal tea .  br    br   but the girls and todd did leave the island  but now  they  re returning  escorted by their captors  and they  re there to find the treasure  despite the fact that no one ever showed the girls where it was before . there also seems to be someone else on the island  and the thugs mysteriously begin to die  one by one  and since there  s only three  it doesn  t take long . and there  s even a sort of happy ending  which will leave the viewer every bit as baffled as they were throughout the rest of the film .  br    br   the two thugs seem to be speed freaks with anger issues  and combined with no acting ability they  re borderline hilarious . the hillbilly  type family is also devoid of acting ability  despite the fact that the grandpa is hank worden  who appeared in many films and tv shows . the action is confusing  the locales are even more confusing  and the island looks like southern california .  br    br   so what the hell is this  i  m not sure  but it certainly is worth seeing once so you can think  or say   huh   out of    very bizarre .  
i absolutely loved this movie . it met all expectations and went beyond that . i loved the humor and the way the movie wasn  t just randomly silly . it also had a message . jim carrey makes me happy .    
first of all i just want to say that i love this show    but this episode . . . this episode makes a mockery of the entire show .  br    br   i don  t know what they tried to achieve with this episode but they successfully created the worst episode in the entire series .  br    br   there is no story line  everything is chaotic and the jokes . . . . . are crap .  br    br   the way they tried to answer some of the remaining questions in the game . . . . . for example  how do the furlings look like  by creating that stupid  previously on . . .  . . . . . . is simply embarrassing .  br    br   its clear that the writers are running out of ideas and that is really too bad .  
wow  finally jim carrey has returned from the died . this movie had me laughing and crying . it also sends a message that we should all know and learn from . jeniffer aniston was great  she will finally have a hit movie under her belt . if you liked liar liar you will love this movie . i give it     .  
this really should deserve a  o  rating  or even a negative ten . i watched this show for ages  and the show jumped the shark around series  . this episode  however  is proof that the show has jumped the shark . it  s writing is lazy  absurd  self  indulgent and not even worthy of rubbish like beavis and butthead .  br    br   it is quite possible to be ridiculous and still be fun   pirates of the caribbean  the mummy  count of monte cristo   all  fun  movies that are not to be taken seriously . however  there is such thing as ridiculous as in  this is the worst thing i  ve ever seen .  and indeed  this is the worst episode of stargate i  ve ever seen . it  s absolutely dreadful  and this coming from someone with a stargate in her basement .  br    br   makes me want to sell all of my stargate props  most seriously .  
i have to say  from the beginning  when i watched the stargate movie movie i wasn  t blown away or anything it was like an average sci fi movie  with a lot of potential  though the movie wasn  t as  erm  amazing as other sci fi movies such as star wars or aliens  which if u are a sci fi fanatic u will admit one of those two titles are amazing  even though i  m not as hardcore sci fi fan as some people  i don  t remember one line from either of those movies  i  m not a big fan of wearing star wars t shirts  in fact if you saw me i would look like an average person to you  ah getting slightly off the point here  well my point is that the that you don  t have to be a hard core sci fi fan to like this great series  which unfortunately ended after   amazing seasons with no drop in its quality as it got nearer to its end  in     .  br    br   though i didn  t like the movie much i was quite looking forward to the first season in      and let me tell you  the special effects were only one of the brilliant things about the series  the chemistry between the characters just blew me away the special affects  were as good if not better than most sci fi shows running today . i have to admit that i would never have gone into sci fi if it wasn  t for stargate  and my dad  who actually got me into sci fi when i was like   and i  m glad he did  other wise i wouldn  t have seen the brilliant shows like sg   which now in my opinion sets the benchmark for nearly all sci fi series and movies  basically if a new sci fi series isn  t better or as good as sg   its not worth watching . basically this is the best sci fi show to date  and if you don  t watch this  then you have no idea what you are missing   
i don  t remember the last time i reacted to a performance as emotionally as i did to justin timberlake  s in  edison .  i got so emotional i wanted to scream in anguish  destroy the screen  readily accept the hopeless cries of nihilism . timberlake is horribly miscast in fact  casting him is like casting andy dick to play the lead role in  patton   or nathan lane to play jesus . but that is almost beside the point .  br    br   timberlake is simply a bad actor and he would be equally terrible in any role . i used to have problems with ben affleck  s acting talent  but timberlake makes affleck look like sir ian mckellen or dame judi dench . with his metrosexual lisp  read lithp   his boyish glances and emotional expressions which derive from something like  the   clich expressions for actors   he poisons the screen upon which he is inflicted mercilessly  and no matter how you slice it  i do not and will not buy his role as an amateur  turned  crusader  for  justice journalist . it simply will not fly .  br    br   however  timberlake alone isn  t to blame for his failure . director david j . burke puts him not only in the  essentially  primary role  but also places him aside morgan freeman  kevin spacey  john heard  dylan mcdermott  cary elwes and  i  m surprised he was as good  ll cool j . i can imagine one almost physically suffering watching some of this cast interact with timberlake .  br    br   there is an upside to this of course the moment any of these actors interact without justin there it feels like a double relief . a pleasure  if you will . freeman and spacey may not have more than   minutes of screen time alone together  but that ten minutes is blissful in contrast to their scenes with our so  called hero . dylan mcdermott is also a breath of fresh air .  br    br   but enough of timberlake bashing  words aren  t enough in this particular case to do the trick .  edison  is a very  very run  of  the  mill corruption story . it  s plot ranges from clich to simply preposterous . i do  however  admire the motivation behind making it  which i interpret as an homage to films like  serpico   or  donnie brasco   or maybe even  chinatown .  don  t get me wrong   edison  is not even in the same ballpark as these films  but i can stretch my suspension of disbelief to admire its reason for existence  perhaps to justify my sitting through it .  br    br   the script  in and of itself  features some surprisingly bad writing . yes  it has some decent interchanges  but any conversation between piper perabo  who is wasted here  and timberlake seems like it was lifted straight out of a dawson  s creek episode . it  s your typical far  too  glib  for  reality  let  s  impress  the  audience  with  how  well  we  articulate  and fail  dialogue . this dialogue  mind you  is punctuated by great music at the wrong moments  sometimes it feels like  edison  wants to morph into a music video  where the emotion of the scene is not communicated through acting  but precisely through the badly chosen music and variant film speeds  read slow  motion  .  br    br   thinking about it   edison  is a curiosity . it  s sure as hell got a cast to kill for but the performances are marred by timberlake who simply doesn  t work . in film as in most art  if one thing is off  the whole thing feels off . directors must make tough choices . david j . burke missed the mark here . some of the scenes play well in and of themselves  but as a whole  they don  t seem to fit like puzzle pieces from different puzzles forced into one incoherent picture . and it  s not particularly an exciting puzzle to begin with .  
bruce almighty is the best jim carrey work since the truman show  and was a pleasant surprise after some of his recent  hey hollywood  look how good i can act   box office disappointments . it  s great to see jim recognizing and embracing his strengths . he won  t get an academy award but the film itself will last longer than many of the  awarded films  of the academy . he is at the top of his form in this most recent film  it  s like the return of an old friend .  br    br   carrey  freeman  and aniston all do a great job together  comfortable in their comedy roles  superb comic timing  and obviously having fun together but without the  hey mom  look how funny i am  type of comedy . a real surprise was steven carrell as carrey  s nemesis  carrell of the daily show fame   who walked away with some the best and funniest scenes of the film . i laughed harder at carell than anyone else in the past three years .  br    br   i can foresee the religious nuts in the us will be up  in  arms over the treatment of god  but the bottom line of the film is true to all major theological beliefs  we are masses of protoplasms trying to get through our short lives by exercising our free will . without married with children t o complain about  this will likely become a target of people with misplaced priorities  who know the types  men adorned in gold watches on sunday morning and late nigh television  selling prayers to god  . and  again  about  .   of the country will care and    of the media will report it .  br    br   the bottom line this a purely entertaining film  each audience member laughingly wondering what they would do  and a feel  good feeling at the movie conclusion . a walk down any major street in america has to confirm that god has a tremendous sense of humor . what better comic genius to remind us of that than jim carry .  br    br   thanks again  jim   it  s great to have you back    
i bought bloodsuckers on ebay a while ago . i watched parts and deemed it just too dumb to review again . the excessive amount of watery  blood  at the beginning is just plain obsolete  not to mention the  whip  around  wind sounds . my friends and i made a super low budget movie  and the effects still exceeded this crap fest .  br    br   as for the amount of mistakes in this movie  there are way too many to count . i knew one of the actors  believe it or not  he was my theatre teacher . ha   br    br   final verdict don  t bother with this  horror  flick .  br    br    stars  out of a possible     
after a slow beginning  bruce almighty is a very funny film that had something positive to say . it wasn  t one of jim carrey  s best performances  but he was still ok . morgan freeman was just right as god . jennifer aniston had some good moments . i miss steve correll on  the daily show    br    br   i like director tom shadyac  s choices of movies . he also did liar liar  patch adams  and the nutty professor . in all three of those and in bruce almighty  he takes a big comedy star and tells a human story with him . a director who knows comedy  can get the talent he gets  and can tell a meaningful and intelligent story with it is hard to find .  br    br   my biggest complaint is that they should have used more biblical references . i only remember three specific biblical references and they were the three funniest parts of the whole movie . my guess is that the first few drafts of the screenplay had more biblical references  but they were cut out because the producers were afraid of offending people . that  s too bad because i thought it was a missed opportunity .  br    br   my grade  br    br    out of    
   minutes  and it felt twice that long  brief crossing is not brief enough . indeed  the first   minutes or so consist almost entirely of a dialogue  more of a monologue  really  of a woman approaching middle age  tediously droning about  men   disappointment  sex  aging  and her recent breakup  to a french teenager she met in the ship  s cafeteria .  br    br   the tedious monologue continues as they go to duty  free shop  and to a bar  where finally her self  involved rant pushes him away . the  story  can  t end there  of course  so she persuades him to listen to her drone on more as she brings him to her cabin .  br    br   what little romance  sex  or for that matter  anything at all this film has besides bitter rantings is hardly enough to justify the price of a rental unless you are one of those who love dramas where nothing interesting happens at all . yes  the ending is very nicely done  but it is scant reward to subject yourself to what amounts to a turning your living room into a virtual therapy session with a narcissistic whiner .  br    br   of course  some people like it . i could be wrong .  
let me start out by saying i  m a big carrey fan . although i  ll admit i haven  t seen all of his movies coughthe magesticcough . bruce almighty was enjoyable . none of the other reviews have really gone into how cheesy it gets towards the end  i dont know what the writers were thinking . somehow i couldn  t help but feel like this movie was a poor attempt at re  creating liar liar .  br    br   on a positive note  the daily show  s steve correl is hilarious and so is the rest of the cast . see bruce almighty if you  re a big jim carrey fan  or if you just want to see a light  hearted  que soft piano music  somewhat funny comedy .  
it has its merit  s morvern callar is both the merits and the disappointments . she  s so enigmatic  so original . is it her method of dealing with the pain of a lost one that  s making her so distant and un  relatable  or is she as one reviewer called her a revolutionary  personally i  d call her dysfunctional .  br    br   morvern is completely detaching herself . disposing of her boyfriend  not thinking of informing family or using the money he gave her for a proper funeral  she selfishly splashes out on a trip to spain . she  s seems so devoid of anything relatively human bar greed . the only element that enables the audience see the human side of her is her close friend she takes on holiday with her . although by the end her friend is dumped and morvern has nothing that ties her down to humanity . she may as well have killed herself .  br    br   despite managing to make spain look as gloomy and bland as the uk the director  s shots were superb  the lighting and color made the film visually stunning .  br    br   it  s really a shame the movie has nothing in it that keeps interest . it  s little over   minutes but feels a lot longer . they manage to make morvern seem interesting to grab your attention but do nothing with her only alienate her from you more to the point where you don  t care about the characters or the film .  
bruce almighty  will sweep the academy awards with a record   oscar wins  it will surpass titanic  as the highest grossing film of all time  jim carrey  s illustriousness will be at such a supreme level that he will announce his presidential candidacy for the     white house playoffs . almighty then  these grandeur fantasies would only transpire if the filmmakers  carrey included  would possess the powers of god . that very same premise is the paramount ingredient in carrey  s new laugh riot bruce almighty  . carrey plays bruce nolan  a televison reporter who is so utterly obsessed in being the main anchor that he holds god to total culpability for his own contretemps . god  heavenly played by morgan freeman  grants bruce the gift of god   his powers  in order to challenge him if he can do god  s job any better . obviously  bruce gets carreyed  away with his newfound blissful faculties and uses them selfishly . carrey is back in his habitual almighty comedic form in bruce almighty  . jennifer aniston was not mis . pittiful  as bruce  s girlfriend . however  my premier kudos goes to director tom shadyac for not letting the dog out of the house for    and showing us the most hilarious doggoned bathroom scene of all time  bruce almighty  is not the most in  depth carrey film  but it is still an almighty chuckling exhibition of carreyism    good  
my wife and i watch a film every night with no distractions  and mostly artsy films that require thought . i have tons of patience for films that are slow to blossom . my wife has double the attention span that i do . all that being said   this film is just plain empty and boring  it went nowhere . never blossomed . it started fairly strong with a promising plot . . . then she bakes cookies . . . goes to spain . . . . she sulks  she stares . . . . the credits roll . uneven  full of holes  false starts  dead ends . we ff  d through several extended sequences of her just staring off into space . artificial depth was implied when she played with the mud and cried . zzzz . . . . . . it  s like a beautifully shot chick  flick that  s pretending to be deep or artsy . you never get to know nor understand morvern at all . about halfway through you just don  t care anymore . we just wanted to see at least one of the plot lines develop . don  t waste your time on this . i  m shocked it scores so high .  
jim carrey and morgan freeman along with jennifer aniston combine to make one of the funniest movies so far this     season  late may  and a good improvement on carrey  s past crazy and personally forgetable roles in past comedies . with a slightly toned down carrey antics yet with just the zap and crackle of his old self  carrey powerfully carries this movie to the height of laughter and also some dramatic  tearfully somber moments . elements of jim  s real acting abilities continue to show up in this movie . this delightful summer entertainment hits most of the buttons  including dramatic elements along with the goofy moments that fit perfectly with this script . while still lacking in the superbly polished ensemble of comedy  drama  bruce  almightly deserves credit for being a great date movie along with a solid message and soft spiritual cynicism and parody that maintains its good  natured taste . eight out of ten stars .  
nothing happens .  br    br   then characters with no personality don  t develop .  br    br   then the end never comes because there  s no beginning and no middle .  br    br   there are beautiful shots that are made not beautiful because they aren  t even allowed to be  because this movie isn  t even there . there  s no  is  in this movie because there  s no plot or characters or themes or ideas or symbolism or discussion or dialog or point . there  s nothing   br    br   there is a good point it has a good soundtrack . but the sound editing is such and the movie proper is such that watching it isn  t even worth your time  so if you  re really interested  i  d suggest going and buying the soundtrack or something . you  ll get everything you can from this movie without all the fatigue  headache  and impatience .  br    br     polarisdib  
ok  so it  s not a masterpiece like the godfather  but it doesn  t have to be . the only purpose this movie has is to make the viewer laugh several times . if it can make the viewer laugh a bunch of times  it has accomplished its purpose . i laughed out loud and left with a smile . i feel like i got my money  s worth .  
there are a lot of pretentious people out there who will pretend that this is endowed with some kind of beautiful meaning  and that ignorant fools like me don  t  get  it . obviously this means that we should stick to hollywood dross .  br    br   it has every  a  hem  artistic clich in the book  i guess it is good that the director is one of the chosen few . almost a self parody drowning in its own pretense .  br    br   the director of the  almost equally embarrassing  movie  ratcatcher  returns with another piece wallowing in artistic nonsense it is difficult to understand and apparently is a study of alienation . the best way to describe this film is alienating for its viewers .  
fairly funny jim carrey vehicle that has him as a news reporter who temporarily gets the power of god and wrecks havoc . carrey is back in familiar ground here and looks to be having a good time  and jennifer aniston as his put upon girlfriend is also charming and affecting . the story is predictible to the extreme but the cast  including morgan freeman as  god   is great and makes the film worth catching . grade b  
it was probably just my dvd    but i would not recommend that anyone try to watch this picture on a dvd .  br    br   i had to turn up the volume on my tv to the highest possible level  in order to hear about   percent of the dialog . some of the talking still remained sub  audible . if you  re from scotland  you might have a chance  albeit a slim one .  br    br   peoples voices were drowned out by nearly all ambient sounds  including unwrapping a package  footsteps  even puffing on a cigarette .  br    br   with the volume turned up to a level at which voices can be heard  i can guarantee that at least one of your neighbors will phone the police when the scene changes to a loud environment  such as a disco . and that you will injure yourself diving for the remote to turn it back down .  br    br   there is art and there is art  even in the field of audio mixing . but this effort  in a time of war  would meet international criteria to be classified as an atrocity .  br    br   after about a half hour  i gave up  having seen nothing else redeeming in the picture  either .  
well not actually . this movie is very entertaining though . went and saw it with the girlfriend last night and had to use the  i think there might be something in my eye  routine . the movie is a great combination of comedy and typical romance . jim carey is superb as a down on his luck reporter who is given the power to change himself and the city in which he resides . in fact all the characters are great . the movie is not overly funny or sappy  good flick to go see with the wife .  br    br   all in all     . . . . note  i am not an easy grader . thats all from bigv over and out   
when a movie of a book seems pointless and incomprehensible  the cause can invariably be found in the book either it was pointless to start with  or the point is one not easily conveyed to film  or the movie missed the point  which is the most frequent of these results  and the easiest to happen  especially when the point is one not easily defined . the book  morvern callar  has a point every reader of the book must have felt this  and felt as if he had gotten it but i suspect most of them could not state it in words . i  m not sure i can  myself  but perhaps it comes to this  or something like it things come  things go  such is life  but we carry on or at any rate some of us   people like morvern   do . no doubt a more erudite critic could construct a more adequate definition . but the important fact is that there is a point   possibly the sum of the entire story is the point   and that this would have been the main thing to keep in view  and to carry over  in adapting the story to film . the maker of this film evidently missed the point  and doesn  t substitute one of her own and so the film is about nothing .  br    br   this is not the usual complaint of a book  lover that his favorite text has been violated . the merit of the book is something i conceded grudgingly in reading it i found it a bloody nuisance  and an occasion for kicking the author in the pants and getting him in to finish the job properly . the narrative is supposed to be the work of the half  educated morvern  but that illusion is constantly dispelled by a dozen different types of literary effect  as if the author were poking at her with his pen there are inconsistencies of style and tone  as if different sections had been composed at different times and any conclusions i could reach about morvern had to remain tentative because it was uncertain which implications the author intended and which he did not for instance  despite morvern  s own self  characterization as a raver  am i wrong that in the end she remains essentially a working  class scots girl  and beneath her wrapping of music downloads not so different from those of generations past  in any case  despite my irritation at the author  i couldn  t deny that his book stuck with me and what i couldn  t get out of my head was his character  s attitude  her angle on the world  which was almost as vivid as a goya portrait . morvern is the kind of person who  s always encountering situations at once rather comic and rather horrible occasionally she invites them but more often they land on her  like flies  so that much of her life consists of a kind of gauche but graceful slogging  through  unconsciously practical and unconsciously philosophical   and that doesn  t begin to describe it idiosyncratically enough . the complex of incidents and of morvern  s responses to them are the substance of the book  and its achievement  in exposing a cross  section of existence it would be difficult to illuminate otherwise for all my dislike of the book  i can see this .  br    br   the morvern just described is not the morvern of the movie or if it is  most of her is kept offscreen . an actress who might have been a good fit for the character  had she been the right age at the right time  is angharad rees  from the old tv series  poldark  . samantha morton  then  would seem like good casting she  s rather the same sort of actress  and in one of her earlier movies   jesus  son   she played a girl who with a few adjustments could have been turned into this one . unfortunately  as the film turned out  she doesn  t have the character from the book to play . for one thing  the book is one that  if it is to be dramatized  virtually cries out for monologues by the main character to the audience without her comments  her perspective  her voice  the story loses most of its meaning . it has lost more of it in that the adaptor has expurgated it of its comic and horrible elements the most memorable incidents from the book are curtailed before they turn grotty  and so morvern  s responses  whether of amusement or distaste  depending on her mood  are missing too  and the incidents no longer have a reason for being in the story . in short  the filmmaker chose for some reason to turn a brisk  edgy serio  comic novel into a genteel art tv film  and chose as her typical image one of ms . morton languishing in a artistically shaded melancholy as if the outing morvern signs up for were a tour of the stations of the cross . this isn  t at all what the book  or the morvern of the book  was about . for another thing  the morvern of the movie isn  t scottish  the actress said in an interview she hadn  t had time to study up the accent   and she ought to be it  s important that she  her family  and her mates are all from a single place . and finally the film is missing the end of the story morvern  s spending all she has and coming home to icy darkness it  s winter  the dam has frozen  the power has gone out  and the pub is dark . minus this  and minus all of the rest  what  s left is a failed art film  a dead film  about a subject whose strength lay precisely in her refusal  or native inability  ever to give in to being dead .  
i for one was glad to see jim carrey in a film where being over the top wasn  t the goal . his character is like all of us . wanting more  better things to happen to us and expecting god to deliver .  br    br   morgan freeman made a great god . with a sense of humor and a genuine sense of love for each of us yet ready to take a little vacation when the opportunity presents itself .  br    br   i thought jennifer aniston  s character was a little too vulnerable and understanding towards carry  s basically self  centered tv anchorman wanna  be but that  s the way it was written .  br    br   i think the previews ruined several potentially very funny scenes because everyone who saw them knew what was coming before it happened .  br    br   i have read a number of the reviews and it seems some people are looking a little too deep . this is a summer comedy and is not meant to solve the problems of the world although there are a few messages we could all take to heart .  br    br   a funny film .  
lynne ramsey makes arresting images  and samantha morton can summon feeling with a gesture . so what a drag to discover their talents wasted on this mannered  pretentious lark .  br    br   ramsey can  t bring callar to life . her attempts are too arty and oblique . repeatedly her camera lingers on long silent shots of the agonizing actress as if morton  s obliterated gaze alone could supply character . we are in a blank warholian hell of self  indulgence for a film that has minutes to spare on bugs crawling across the floor  you might think it could get round to fleshing out its protagonist . but how will it do so if she rarely speaks  without the novel  s interior monologue  the celluloid morvern callar is nobody . small wonder ramsey has morton undress often .  br    br   that said  the first ten minutes were so impressively acted  shot and edited that my hopes were soaring . give the film that much it knows how to make promises  if not how to keep any .  
i am a very big jim carrey fan . i laughed my ass off during liar liar and ace ventura . i also like him in his serious movies  especially truman show . this one is a cross between his very funny side  and his serious side . he is of course very funny in this movie  but there are parts that are very serious  and he pulls it off with a lot of ease . he is truely a multi  function actor .  br    br   as for the rest of the cast  i was happy with jennifer aniston  s acting . i think she is more than just a couple of nice tits and great ass . morgan freeman makes a very cool god . as for steven carell  his limited scenes are very funny  especially in the anchor scene .  br    br   overall  i would have to rate this a  . good acting  funny script  and some very serious situations make this a very good film .  
i have to admit that i stuck this one out thinking something would have to happen  besides the dead body in the first scenes . . . and her disposal of him . i was wrong . it was a cinema verite of betty hits the beach encased for the first part by mordant morven . i really don  t care what young lassies from scotland do these days  who thy screw  what drugs they take . visually  the stroll through the cabo de gata in andalucia was pleasant and surely the high point for me . the nadir was the chop shop for her dead boyfriend . as the movie came to a close i had two thoughts . . .  . that  s all there is   . now i see why her boyfriend killed himself . rename it .  bare bitch boredom  or what i did on my trip to spain .  i  m such a sucker for sticking these things out .  
i would have rated the series a perfect   for outstanding and consistently high quality story and character development had it not been for the last episode of season     br    br   the final episode of the   th season  unending   where  it would certainly appear that  the asgard have been killed  off in a very rushed  unconvincing and very unceremonious fashion  left me in disbelief   br    br   from the extremely rushed end of the series  it  s obvious that many of the story arcs were originally scheduled to occur over at least one more season . my guess would be that they rapidly accelerated these stories to position the stargate sg   franchise for the two upcoming direct  to  dvd moves   br    br   unless the asgard return in a future sg   movie  with a very good explanation of the  apparent  extinction   i think that the fans have been cheated with a poor clean  up of loose  ends   br    br   poor end to an otherwise brilliant sci  fi series .  
my dad is a fan of columbo and i had always disliked the show . i always state my disdain for the show and tell him how bad it is . but he goes on watching it none the less . that is his right as an american i guess . but my senses were tuned to the series when i found out that spielberg had directed the premier episode . it was then that i was thankful that my dad had bought this show that i really can  t stand . i went through his dvd collection and popped this thing in when i came home for a visit from college . my opinion of the series as a whole was not swayed  but i did gain respect for spielberg knowing that he started out like most low tier directors . and that is making small dribble until the big fish comes along  get the pun  ha  ha . like spielberg did . it  s like jesus before he became a man . or thats at least what i think that would feel like . any ways if your fan of columbo than you would most likely like this  even though it contains little of peter falk . i attribute this to the fact this is the start of the series and no one knew where to go with it yet . this episode mainly focuses on the culprit of the crime instead of columbo  s investigation  as many later episodes would do .  
i first heard about this film about   years ago when i was a kid in grade school     it just so happened that i was thumbing through the encyclopedias in the classroom one day  and under the entry for movies  or cinema  i don  t remember   were several stills for different movies from mainstream to experimental  and one of them shown on the page was a still for offon . it really intrigued me  since it stood out the most on the page  it was a still from the film of the scene with the eye with other elements superimposed over it  .  br    br   about   or so years later  the public library here where i live had available for checkout the whole   dvd set of  treasures of american film archives  released by the national film preservation foundation . so when i was reading the notes on the dvd cases for the set  i was quite pleasantly surprised to see that offon was on one of the discs . after all these years  i could finally see the film  after viewing it  it slightly wasn  t was i was expecting it to be  it tended to be a more organic  looking film  not that that  s a bad thing  but i was expecting it to have a more electronic aesthetic   but it was still an impressive film  imho  considering the techniques scott bartlett used to make the film  including hand  tinting the film itself  and using video equipment for some of the film  s scenes  filmed off of a video monitor   giving it a more distressed  lo  res look .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  the techniques used in this film were quite ground  breaking for     . that  s why it  s still one of my favorite short  experimental films  and a creative inspiration for me as well . . .  
my girlfriend once brought around the zombie chronicles for us to watch as a joke . little did we realize the joke was on her for paying   for it . while watching this film i started to come up with things i would rather be doing than watching the zombie chronicles . these included  br    br     drinking bleach   rubbing sand in my eyes   writing a letter to brad sykes and garrett clancy   re  enacting the american civil war   tax returns   gcse maths   sex with an old lady .  br    br   garrett clancy  aka sgt . ben draper wrote this  the guy couldn  t even dig a hole properly . the best ting he did was kick a door down  the best part of the film  . this was the worst film i have ever seen  and i  ve seen white noise the light . never has a film had so many mistakes in it . my girlfriend left it here  so now i live with the shame of owning this piece of crap .  br    br   news just in owen wilson watched this film and tried to kill himself . fact .  br    br   do not watch  
a very funny movie . it was good to see jim carrey back in top form . it was definitely worth the price of admission . morgan freeman and jennifer aniston both played outstanding supporting roles in this film . i think they may have played the dog a bit too much however  still a good film to see .  
i  m a fan of arty movies  but regretfully i have to report this movie to be pretentious drivel . agonisingly slow to develop a non  existent plot based on a promising premise  the experience is  shall we say  trying . even after bad movies i feel that i learn something  or enjoyed some aspect  but there there was nothing to appreciate . the premise was not uninteresting  but the movie starts and ends there . the acting was ok  though the characters were utterly boring . for the protagonist to aim at such an audacious goal  she is mightily empty . pity . i usually enjoy movies that are unformulaic  but lack of formula should not be confused with zero content .  
bruce almighty  one of carrey  s best pictures since . . . well . . . a long time . it contains one of the funniest scenes i have seen for a long time too . . . morgan freeman plays god well and even chips in a few jokes that are surprisingly funny . it contains one or two romantic moments that are a bit boring but over all a great movie with some funny scenes . the best scene in  it is where jim is messing up the anchor man  s voice .  br    br   my rating      
it a bit peculiar that a story that is placed in a part of oslo where a very high percentage of the local residents is from an asian background does not even show one asian or african person  not even as an extra . that fact probably describes norwegian race relations in general .  however .  br    br   no spoilers  only a brief introductory description  br    br   buddy portrays four young people living in a flat  share in oslo . the protagonist are two young men that don  t manage to direct their life in any serious fashion  and one might say that the film could be about being indecisive and avoiding responsibility  a sort of fear of growing up . the narrative plays on typical teenage dreams and fantasies and lifestyle role models . quite the clich . although the story is mildly funny  the acting is good and as a  young person  one can sort of identify with the characters crazy  situations and complicated love affairs  i don  t find the story or the characters very believable . to polished and lacking in depth . this film uses all the classic audience pleasing tricks to make an entertaining film that has as much intellectual depth as friends   yes that show on tv  .  br    br   has norwegian film finally found its identity   audience pleasers in well known american style .  br    br   how about watching lukas moodysson  s tillsammans  together  .  
this film is the best film jim carrey has ever made . carrey did not have his usual face making stuff in this film . he was both funny and sad . carrey played a reporter named bruce nolan . nolan blames god  morgan freeman  for everything that goes wrong in his life . then  god comes down from heaven and gives bruce his powers . as i said before  carrey did an excellent job . i also thought that morgan freeman and jennifer aniston were great as supporting actor  actress . the plot was good because it had many subpoints in the main point . this movie can be funny  bruce  s dog  as well as sad  the  break  up   . the script worked well  too . i am glad they made a sequel to this film . i rate this film a     .  
since  rugrats   falling from the category of good and funny cartoon series to a mediocre and indeed outright horrible fare for two year olds in the past three or four years  obviously the tyrants at klasky  csupo should be out of ideas . after dumbing down all of the characters  adding even stupider new ones  replacing some voices  though i like nancy cartwright  she is not chucky finster    and having no sense of continuity  ex .  in a kimi episode i watched the other day  tommy and chucky each got a new puppy but it subsequent episode  the aforementioned dogs never appear   you  d think the creators could kill the show for mercy . but noooo .  br    br   all i will say concerning this special is that it sucks  while not as horrible as the kimi episodes  everyone is even stupider than they were  including grandpa  my god  he used to be the best character on the show  but now  he has no real purpose  . the ending is needlessly fluffy  and the only thing different between this and other crappy new episodes          is that the kids can interact with adults . whoa  what fun   br    br   no stars at all for  the rugrats all growed up  . klasky  csupo  please destroy this show before it gets any worse .  
bruce almighty is the story of bruce nolan  an average man who feels god is messing up his life . god confronts him and show bruce the error of his ways . of course  giving someone god  s powers could take a turn for the worse . bruce almighty is a good comedy  jim carrey is good  as always morgan freeman is first  rate and seems right at home as god and the cast brings the plot together well . the jokes are almost always on target  although sometimes they resort a bit too much on carrey  s facial expressions . i liked the fact that the movie actually portrayed god  not only that but also as a black man . i thought this quite well  especially with the brilliant freeman . there are some hilarious scenes  the opening cookie scene for instance  others miss the target slightly but still a good film .    out of    
comments contain spoilers i was barely holding on to this show as appointment tv when they started the annoying music under every scene  when don epps was averaging almost a shooting per case  when the very nasally diane farr was obviously pregnant  but we weren  t to notice  and when colby was a fg triple agent . but now  in tonight  s episode  david is trapped with a paranoid  nut job who is an obvious amateur with a gun  in an elevator and . . . . he can  t disarm him . a trained  experienced field agent who has been  st through the door many times and is experienced in hand  to  hand fighting  can  t take out a nut job . not when said nut job blinks  looks away  drops his head  closes his eyes not even when he looks up at the fiber optic wire wriggling around the ceiling like a stripper on a pole for   seconds .  br    br   then the scene came that let me know that as much as i enjoy learning from the chubby  frumpish but very charming charles epps and his sexy sidekick  love interest amita  my friday nights will be better spent otherwise engaged . don gives david the  distress word  that is the code for  the st is about to go down   david is ready  they kill the lights  drop the elevator  startle the nut job and . . . . . .  br    br   david cannot disarm  kill  beat into submission the nut job . the bad guy ends up with both guns  david ends up shot .  br    br   i  m done . hope the numb  rs are fun .  
  bruce almighty  looks and sounds incredibly stupid  especially from the trailers . nevertheless  i found in it a deeper message that actually made me like this film more . bruce  jim carrey  is angry at god and is given divine powers by him to be god for a week to see if he can do a better job . morgan freeman plays a man symbolized here as god  and though it isn  t his usual type of film or one of his best roles  he does excellent with what he is given to work with . although crude at times  the film does have quite a few laughs  from bruce parting his soup in half like the red sea and the customers  reactions to him  as well as freeman  s seemingly laid  back and wisecracking image of god . it is overly exaggerated at times  and there is some crude humor  but overall it manages to be somewhat funny . there is a decent supporting cast  such as jennifer aniston  lisa ann walter  and steve carrell  which always helps . the end of the film proves to be very romantic and tear  jerking  and the message is clear  that we should do what god has called us to do and  be the miracle .  the film is far from perfect  but still enjoyable  and far better than i and many people probably would have expected  especially if we see the deeper message of the film .  br    br    out of   
here  let me wave my hands over the keyboard  i  ll tell you what salad she  s going to order . over and over  works like a charm he  s such a genius  omg how does he do it  my bullshit detector freaks if i even pass this show when i  m scanning channels  i have to be very careful  these days it  s useful far too often  so i don  t need it getting broken on idiotic crap like this . . . careful with that remote   . is this supposed to be some fascist propaganda to make people believe in some invisible realm of uberman control and mastery  or what  why does it exist    br    br   this is the most inane show  completely unbelievable and contrived  and i cannot understand why it  s still on the air . so may geeks give so much better shows such a hard time  sarah connor chronicles  true blood   but give this nonsensical drivel a pass . shows like firefly  if there were any like that  fall away after a season  but mindless stuff like this that makes zero logical sense just keeps marching on . yeccch .  
if you want a serious laugh pain  watch this movie  and the things bruce inflicts on his fellow newscaster . the deleted scenes are priceless . i don  t know why they didn  t include them in the original movie . it can  t be because of time  since the movie is only    minutes long . morgan freeman is a brilliant actor  who has been overlooked for too long . jim carrey needs meds   
as an engineer  i must say this show  s first season started out very promising . most of the applied mathematics were somewhat plausible  and the relationships portrayed between the eppes brothers and father gave the show an interesting edge .  br    br   but after the first season  the show started degrading  heavily . most of the mathematics and technology used in crime solving is now utter gibberish and very laughable to all people involved in science  technology for real .  br    br   the involvement from the actors still feels okay and i can imagine a fair amount of money is still going into producing each episode  but in the end  this has degraded to a very unpleasantly tasting dish which is a mix of a grade c action thriller and csi style cop show .  br    br   if you are gonna watch it  go for only the first season and possibly parts of the second . thereafter i would not waste my time . myself  i gave the show up midway through season  .  br    br   season    stars season    stars season    stars  br    br   let  s sum that up to  stars . since charlie doesn  t know his math anymore  i won  t bother with the correctness of mine either .  
as someone who lives near buffalo  new york  this movie scored points with me before i even saw it  since the story is based here . there are even some bit parts with real  life news  tv anchor people from buffalo . . and  for once  it doesn  t knock the area . hallelujah   br    br   theology  wise  puh  leeze    god is still made to look and think like humans . . . and  of course  be a bit on the liberal side . being the lightweight comedy it is  it  s nothing that should win any awards but it still is entertaining and is a pleasant way to kill    minutes .  br    br   there are some laugh  out  loud slapstick comedy scenes and  hopefully  audiences  from christians to atheists .  got something out of this besides a few laughs  such as what prayer should really be all about . kudos to the writers for at least getting that theology correct and giving a good message .  br    br   overall  it  s a good  hearted film that should offend very few .  
after watching a dozen episodes  i decided to give up on this show since it depicts in an unrealistic manner what is mathematical modeling . in the episodes that charlie would predict the future behavior of individuals using mathematical models  i thought that my profession was being joked about . i am not a mathematician  instead a chemical engineer  but i do work a lot with mathematical models . so i will try to explain to the layman why what is shown is close to  make  believe  of fairy tales .  br    br   first  choosing the right model to predict a situation is a demanding task . charlie eppes is shown as a genius  but even him would have to spend considerable time researching for a suitable model  specifically for trying to guess what someone will do or where he will be in the near future . individuals are erratic and haphazard  there is no modeling for them . isaac asimov even wrote about that in the      s . even if there were a model for specific kind of individual  it would be a probabilistic  stoichastic  one  meaning it has good chance of making a wrong prediction .  br    br   second  supposing the right model for someone or a situation is found  the model parameters have to be known . these parameters are the constants of the equations  such as the gravity acceleration   .  m  s    and often are not easy to determine . again  charlie eppes would have to be someone beyond genius to know the right parameters for the model he chooses . and after the model and the parameters are chosen  they would have to be tested . oddly  they are not  and by miracle  they fit exactly the situation that is being predicted .  br    br   third  a very important aspect of modeling is almost always neglected  not only by numbers  but also by sci  fi movies the computational effort required for solving these models . try to make excel solve a complex model with many equations and variables and one will find doing a herculean job . even if charlie eppes has the right software to solve his models  he might be stuck with hardware that will be dreadfully slow . and even with the right software  hardware combination  the model solution might well take days to be reached . he solves them immediately  i could use his computer in my research work  i would be very glad .  br    br   as a drama  it is far from being the best show . the characters are somewhat stereotyped  but not even remotely funny as those in big bang theory are . the crimes are dull and the way charlie eppes solves them sometimes make the fbi look pretty incompetent .  br    br   for some layman  the show might work . for others  the way things are handled makes it difficult to swallow   
i really do not know what people have against this film  but it  s definitely one of my favourites . it  s not preachy  it  s not anchored by it  s moral  it shouldn  t be controversial . it  s just god . any possible god  no matter the religion . and it  s really funny .  br    br   jim carry plays bruce nolan  a tv reporter usually stuck on the lighter side of the news  desperate to prove himself  more or less to himself  that he can be taken seriously and do a good job in an anchor job . this drive is what is slowly driving his beautiful girlfriend grace  jennifer aniston  away . when the final straws are executed  he  s quick to not laugh  but yell in the face of god  who in turn gives bruce his powers . bruce then makes his life better for himself  until he  s guilted into helping others  where he then continues to miss the point of his powers . meanwhile  his constant excitement about his own life makes him more selfish  leaving his relationship on dangerous ground .  br    br   ok  that was kinda long . but as a plot  it works well . the step  by  step fashion in which we meet the challenges of being god is much better than clustering his problems together  and is able to hide itself fairly well .  br    br   as you probably know from hearing about this movie in the first place  carrey  s pitch  perfect acting stays in character  which  luckily enough  is him   and controls and gives atmosphere to the movie scene by scene . whether they would admit it or not  the role was written or rewritten exclusively for carrey . without him  the humour would turn flat  as humour is half execution . and the humour is very good in the first place . but without carrey  it would kinda feel like a it  s a wonderful life wannabe .  br    br   jennifer aniston is great and  no matter what some may say  does not act like the only excuse for the third act . at least  you don  t think that when you see her . she gives a heartfelt performance and makes you forget you  re watching a movie  she and carrey feel very much like a real couple .  br    br   the movie feels ggooooodd  see the movie to understand   has a very nice feeling  tackles the idea appropriately and better than expected and overall should never have been called slapped together just to save carrey  s career  which wasn  t goin  anywhere .  .  
the  math  aspect to this is merely a gimmick to try to set this tv show apart from the millions of other cop shows . the only redeeming aspect to this show is rob morrow  although his career must have been  undeservedly  waning after northern exposure if he signed up for this schlock .  br    br   the lame  ness of the  math  aspect to the show is encapsulated in one episode co  starring lou diamond phillips  which just confirms that this show is the last refuge of the damned .  in order to catch a fugitive  the  mathematician  uses some theory about  bubbles  . so  he gives this long explanation that  if we have seen the suspect in places a  b and c  then we can use  bubble theory  to calculate where he might be . he does this all on a chalkboard  or maybe with a stick in the dirt  i cant remember  .  br    br   anyway  when you look at the finished product  he basically took three spots  and picked a point right in the middle and said  ok  mathematically  here  s where we are most likely to find the fugitive .  at which point  one other character points out  oh  that point also happens to be the cabin where the guy used to live .  is that math  its not even connect  the  fkg  dots    this show reminds me of the math major i used to work with in banking who had a mathematical analysis he could do to  support  points that every one else had already agreed on through either less  complex analysis or basic common sense .  br    br   it just goes to show   when you  re a hammer  everything looks like a nail . i can  t wait til they stick the numb  rs team on osama . . . they  ll use calculus  call an airstrike in the middle of the mountains  and hit osama and not even scratch the five children he uses as human shields . . . cuz hey . . . its all about the numbers .  br    br   totally ludicrous tv show .  
well  was morgan freeman any more unusual as god than george burns  this film sure was better than that bore   oh  god  . i was totally engrossed and lmao all the way through . carrey was perfect as the out of sorts anchorman wannabe  and aniston carried off her part as the frustrated girlfriend in her usual well played performance . i  for one  don  t consider her to be either ugly or untalented . i think my favorite scene was when carrey opened up the file cabinet thinking it could never hold his life history . see if you can spot the file in the cabinet that holds the events of his bathroom humor i was rolling over this one . well written and even better played out  this comedy will go down as one of this funnyman  s best .  
this is really really bad . lamas shows just how a second rate actor does his job . but what makes it worth watching is the scene where oj angrily grabs a fellow cop by the throat as if to kill them while the jukebox plays a song with the lyric  i got the evidence on you   .  makes me want to hear the rest of the lyrics  attributed to david gregoli and leslie oren but i couldn  t find it on itunes  . talk about seeing into the future . . . too funny for words . the rest of the movie is forgettable . the score and songs are more interesting than the script . ditto the sequel . which begs the question of why they would do a sequel at all . my understanding was that foreign sales drives a lot of these b movies . doesn  t say much for the world  s viewing habits .  
now either you like mr carrey  s humour or you don  t . me  myself and irene had audiences both walking out in droves and  on the other hand  cheering and collapsing in puddles of mirth . bruce almighty is a bit more mainstream  but you have been warned .  br    br   if you  re not sure  watch the trailer . i saw the trailer three times and still laughed at the same gags when i saw the film . if you don  t find the sight of a dog putting the seat down after using the loo funny  don  t bother with the movie .  br    br   carrey  a reporter stuck in a rut covering  lighter news  berates god when the whole of his life seems to be going to pot . god takes up the challenge and asks carrey if he can do better . carrey gets into the swing of having all of god  s powers by making his girlfriend  jennifer aniston   s breasts bigger  getting himself promoted  and answering everyone  s prayers by single stroke computer commands .  br    br   this is not a highbrow movie or even that memorable  but it is very well made within it  s very limited intent  provides almost continuous laughs to carrey fans  and even any religious cheesiness is likely to be inoffensive to all but the most narrow  minded god  squadders and anti  god  squadders .  br    br   on the more thoughtful level  the film tempts us to speculate about carrey  s own career  stuck in his  comedy  typecasting he has largely failed to make an impression as a serious actor even after winning two golden globes . his most accomplished  straight  role  the man on the moon  is less well known that his comedy romps  or the truman show  on which the academy heaped three nominations whilst bypassing carrey  .  
  cia codenamealexa  is an absolute horrible rip off of luc besson  s classic film  la femme nikita        . the film is basically about a woman who is taken in and trained by the cia and is forced to do a secret mission for them .  pretty much the same story structure of la femme nikita  the acting combo of lorenzo lamas and o . j . simpson is perhaps the worst in cinema history . lamas   acting  is simply a bad steven segal impersonation . watching orenthal act in this film is an excruciating experience .  br    br   the writing and acting is so poor in this film at times it is laughable . there are so many action movie  conventions  in the film it is ridiculous unnecessary car explosions  people flying thru glass windows  terrorists  bad ponytails  etc . the musical score resembles david michael frank  s score for  hard to kill         which furthers the steven segal theme of this movie . there is plenty of martial arts in the film  and it is pretty well done for a low budget american production . the mindless action and over the top acting never lets up  and i have to admit i was mildly entertained .  br    br   lorenzo lamas had the look of an action star back in the early    s but he is certainly no action star  that is why he is doing soap operas and not action blockbusters . my recommendation is that you skip  cia codenamealexa  and check out  la femme nikita  instead .  
i nominate this and babylon  as the best television sci  fi series made . both stand out in my mind because unlike early star trek series  there is a consistent evolution of plots and characters . if you look at the original star trek and star trektng  they were fine shows  but there was no overall theme or plot that connected all the episodes . in many ways  you could usually watch the shows totally out of sequence with no difficulty understanding what is occurring . this was less the case with deep space   with its giant battles that took up all of the final season  and the other trek shows  as there was more of a larger story that unified them . this coherence seems to have developed as a concept with babylon  and saw this to an even greater extent with sg   . the bottom line is that in many ways this series was like watching a family or a long novel slowly take form . sure  there were a few  throwaway  episodes that were not connected to the rest  but these were very few and far between and were also usually pretty funny .  br    br   and speaking of funny  i loved that sg   kept the mood light from time to time and wasn  t so dreadfully serious . in this way  i actually enjoyed it more than babylon  . jack o  neill was a great character with his sarcasm and love of homer simpson   it  s really too bad he slowly faded from the series in later seasons .  br    br   to truly appreciate sg    you should watch it from the beginning and see how intricately the plots work . this coherence gives the show exceptional staying power . and  if you don  t like sg   after giving it a fair chance  then sci  fi is probably not the genre for you .  
i don  t understand how   of us  receive such a high rating . . . i thought that the first half dragged on and the second half didnt make sense  followed by an unresolved climax which was not worth the trouble . however  i did like jared harris  performance of john lennon which was worth the wasted  hours .  
starring jim carrey  morgan freeman  jennifer anniston i was really quite skeptical the first time i watched this movie . i mean  what a conceptual nightmare . jim carrey playing god  nothing is sacred anymore .  br    br   well  this movie is hardly sacred  but it also is not sacrilegious  at least not to any great extent . yes  jim carrey has the powers of god for a while  but he is not god . confused  i  ll give you the low down .  br    br   jim carrey plays bruce nolan  a reporter who is down on his luck and feeling very unsuccessful with his life . he lives with his beautiful girlfriend  grace  anniston   and you can tell right off the bat that they love each other  but the relationship is on fairly shaky ground .  br    br   then bruce gets a shot at anchorman  only to have it underhandedly stolen by evan baxter . obviously not please  bruce shares his thoughts with the world through the television in a way which is comical and definitely worthy of getting him fired .  br    br   much complaining and griping about god later  bruce gets a page . after a while he gets tired of it calling  so he responds and goes to the omni presents building  heh  . there he meets god  freeman   who is the boss  electrician  and janitor of the building . i found this highly amusing . god is the boss  the holy spirit is the electrician  and jesus christ is the janitor . think about it . boss  obvious . electrician  the guy who keeps everything running . janitor  the guy who cleans up the mess that the world has left . brilliant .  br    br   anyway  bruce is a little skeptical about having actually met god  but when god gives bruce his powers and gives him a shot at playing god  he starts to believe a bit . wonder why . enter the flagrant abuse of powers for personal gain and to abuse the enemies .  br    br   since this is hollywood  bruce obviously eventually smartens up  learns his lesson  and starts using his powers for the good of the world . in the end he cries out for god to take it away and prays that his will be done  not bruce  s .  br    br   since it is jim carrey  the movie is quite amusing  and there are definitely some highly entertaining moments in it . the movie is not perfect theology  but for hollywood  it is definitely a good attempt . many statements in the film can be quite thought provoking and even challenging  and i applaud tom shadyac for his effort in this movie .  br    br   so  while far from perfect  definitely an amusing popcorn movie with a little bit of thought behind it .  br    br   bottom line  .  out of   worth a view or two   
lorenzo lamas stars as some type of cia agent  who captures some exotic beauty named alexa  kidnaps her daughter and forces her to fight her former employers . o . j simpson is also on board to provide a dash of acting credibility for the not so talented ensemble . i must admit i  m not a fan of lorenzo lamas  or his movies . he stinks . however when compared to o . j simpson and lamas  comatose wife kinmont  lamas seems like ah  jean  claude van damme . i only saw cia because of the renewed interest around the o . j simpson trial  you see because if your parents had cable and the extra channels  you couldn  t escape this movie . in     you could go to an amish community and some moron would have this playing in their portable tv . the movie itself is a collection of lame action sequences and would be intrigue although the shock value of o . j simpson jumping after fireballs and exchanging would be one liners do provide some unintentional humor . also where was bobby knight and kobe bryant to make this a complete camp classic   br    br    out of    bad   
jim carrey is back to much the same role that he played in the mask  a timid guy who is trying to get ahead in the world but who seems to be plagued with bad luck . even when he tries to help a homeless guy from being harassed by a bunch of hoodlums  and of course they have to be mexican  obviously   his good will towards his fellow man backfires . in that case  it wasn  t too hard to predict that he was about to have a handful of angry hoodlums  but i like that the movie suggests that things like that shouldn  t be ignored . i  m reminded of the episode of michael moore  s brilliant the awful truth  when they had a man lay down on the sidewalk and pretend to be dead and see who would actually stop and make sure he was okay . the results were not very promising  so it  s nice to see someone in the movies setting a good example .  br    br   jim carrey plays the part of bruce nolan  the nice guy mentioned above whose entire life seems to be falling apart . or even better  it seems to be breaking up by the blows of bad luck like an asteroid entering the atmosphere  a little metaphor that comes up when bruce miraculously finds himself a gigantic news story later in the film  . bruce is nearly   years old and all he has to show for it is a position as a news reporter of the sort that reports on such exciting news as the local bakery that  s seeking to bake the world  s biggest cookie . he  s desperate to obtain the job of head anchor at the tv station  but he loses his cool on live tv when he hears that the job went to his rival colleague . you have to love how they time the revelation of this news to him seconds before his first live report . needless to say  he loses his temper on live tv in one of the funniest scenes of the entire film .  br    br   morgan freeman delivers a fantastic performance as the man himself  displaying a god whose infinite wisdom is somewhat reflected through freeman  s massive talent as an actor . he is the kind of god who takes his job very seriously  but in such a way as to advise his followers  as well as the viewers of this movie  that there are times when you need to slow down and do some manual labor in life . i love his line that some of the happiest people in the world come home smelling to high heaven at the end of the day . there are a lot of people in the world  maybe more than our share in america  who are so absorbed by their money and their possessions and their jobs and everything that they completely lost touch with the natural side of themselves as humans .  br    br   one of the biggest strengths is that the movie is able to provide great advice to people in general about improving their lives  and this message is clear and acceptable regardless of the viewer  s religion . i  for example  tend to reject organized religion in all forms and i see god and satan to be metaphors for different aspects of nature and human psychology rather than actual figures who ever lived or continue to live . but despite the fact that i don  t believe that god exists as an entity overseeing the universe or as a janitor dressed all in white who mops the floors of his downtown office in his spare time  i was able to appreciate the messages that were delivered in this movie .  br    br   jim carrey  s movies display this fantastic evolution that ties them all together and makes the newer ones look even better just because you can see how far he  s come . if you compare bruce almighty with movies like ace ventura  both of which i loved  by the way  or a lot of what he did before he got into film  it  s amazing how far he  s come . he has moved from cheesy tv comedy to cheesy comedic films to comedies that are truly intelligent and meaningful like this film as well as others like the truman show  man on the moon  and the majestic  easily one of his greatest films ever  . jim carrey has unmistakably moved from the cheesy comedy of his past to become one of the most important comic actors working today .  br    br   jennifer aniston also once again provides an excellent addition to the movie  as she did in the side  splitting office space  as bruce  s girlfriend  who becomes increasingly exasperated by bruce  s growing stress about his life as well as his negligence to ask her to marry him . there is definitely some low  brow comedy in the film that doesn  t really fit with the importance of the film  s meaning or the quality of the delivery  such as the dog reading the newspaper on the toilet and the whole monkey scene  but it was definitely pretty nice to see ace ventura  s friend spike make a cameo appearance . as stephen king very well knows  it  s always nice to see familiar characters . it  s almost like seeing family again .  br    br   bruce is endowed with the powers of god for a given period of time so that he can understand life a bit better  and he says a lot about himself when he uses the powers only for his own purposes rather than to help all of the people who pray to him . the thing i love about this is that  like i said before  religion is absent from my life  but i was able to watch this and learn a lot about myself as well by thinking about what kinds of things i would have done had i been endowed with such powers . the movie allows us to learn vicariously this way  which empowers the message even more .  br    br   the scenes that involve the news station are easily the funniest in the entire film  such as the scene when bruce loses his temper about the anchor position  the jimmy hoffa scene  who was conveniently buried with an original birth certificate and a complete set of dental records   the scene where bruce  s rival colleague is made to go nuts on camera  and my favorites  the ones at the beginning and the end involving the local bakery  s cooking . the movie has plenty of time for carrey to deliver some excellent jokes  such as when he says to god  who reveals that he  s the janitor  the proprietor  the electrician  etc  that his christmas parties must be real bashes  and to be careful about drinking  because on of him might need a ride home  i also loved the end when he says that behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes . a little too true  and as gallagher would add  behind every great man is also an amazed mother  in  law .  br    br   bruce almighty is one of the more memorable comedies to have come out for quite a while  and is probably the only directly religious that i can remember seeing that i am anxious to buy on dvd to add to my personal collection . it is a comedy written and performed in good taste  but with enough relatively low  brow humor to keep the kids entertained . this is a meaningful comedy for the whole family  which is becoming rarer and rarer these days . in a world that is about to be flogged with yet another american pie film and another scary movie  which are only scary because of their sheer barbarous idiocy   it  s nice to see that there are still people making comedies worth watching . don  t miss this one .  
spoiler alert in this generic and forgettable action movie  lorenzo lamas does his usual tough guy  pretty boy act  and his future real life ex kathleen kinmont is ass kicking hot chick alexa . oj simpson is a detective  coasting by on his since vanished genial public persona . translation cable tv filler . there isn  t enough skin to qualify this as a guilty pleasure .  br    br   the script has some gaping holes . best  worst moment in one jarring scene  oj  s partner expresses his aversion to the morgue . oj responds that some of the bodies are pretty hot  or words to that effect . this vague necrophilia reference is offensive enough but in light of the murders committed shortly after this movie was released  it is truly appalling  and therefore entertaining in an unintentional  horrible way . i was so startled that i laughed until champagne came out of my nose . now that  s a guilty pleasure . bc  
as long as you go into this movie knowing that it  s terrible bad acting  bad  effects   bad story  bad . . . everything  then you  ll love it . this is one of my favorite  goof on  movies watch it as a comedy and have a dozen good laughs   
as an impressionable   year old  i liked the  love conquers all  philosophy of the   s sitcom  bridget loves bernie .  i did understand the controversy  which was about the romantic complications between a jewish cab driver  david birney  and an irish catholic school teacher  meredith baxter  and both sets of parents  harold j . stone and bibi osterwald as bernie  s parents audra lindley and david doyle as bridget  s parents  who have issues with the young couple  s interfaith marriage .  br    br   looking at the show now with years of personal life experiences  i am amazed that the show was even a success for one  albeit  highly  rated season . created by veteran tv writer bernard slade  who a few years after the show  s cancellation would write the successful play  same time  next year    bridget loves bernie  was a very light  superficial comedy that collapsed under its own airy weight .  br    br   there was no denying the real  life chemistry between birney and baxter . but  in later years  both actors have shown that they are better actors in other projects  birney in his short  lived role in  st . elsewhere  and baxter in  family  and  family ties   . here  they were trying to breathe life in a show that needed a much gritter comic edge  which might have given the complications more depth to a very controversial subject .  br    br   the show aired saturday nights between two cbs powerhouses  all in the family  and  mary tyler moore  . both of those shows were smart  funny and had enough of an edge  more so on the former that the latter  that kept my interest in the situation and the characters .  bridget loves bernie  was not very smart and only had some occasional chuckles .  br    br   this was another example of a show that really was not as good as i remembered .  
china o  brien       was an attempt to make cynthia rothrock a star in the united states . this golden harvet production was helmed by veteran director robert clouse . sadly he was either lucky with enter the dragon or he  s lost his touch because he  s not that great of a director . the only reason to watch this movie is to see the fighting skills of ms . rothrock and richard norton . if this movie was directed by corey yuen or hoi meng it could have been an action classic instead of a cheesy straight  to  video action flick .  br    br   china o  brien returns home to help out her dad . he  s having trouble with the local mob and he needs her help . so she returns home and restores order  with the help of two unlikely people  . but will they be enough to topple mister big and his evil cronies   br    br   if you  re a big cynthia rothrock fan then this movie  s catered for you . i only enjoyed the fighting scenes  everything else is rubbish . why didn  t raymond chow shell out a few shekels and hired a top notch action director   br    br   recommended .  
this film was hard to get a hold of  and when i eventually saw it the disappointment was overwhelming . i mean  this is one of the great stories of the twentieth century an unknown man takes advantage of the unsuspecting airline industry and gets away with millions in ransom without hurting anyone or bungling the attempt . with all of this built  in interest  how could anyone make such a lackluster  talk  laden flick of this true  life event . while williams is always interesting  the screenwriters assumed that the d . b . cooper persona was stereotypically heroic like a movie star  s what we get is a type  without any engaging details or insights into the mind of a person daring enough and clever enough to have pulled it off . harrold practically steals the movie with her spunk and pure beauty  but the real letdown was in the handling of the plot and the lame direction . shame on this film for even existing .  
this one and  her pilgrim soul  are two of my favorite episodes in this new version of twilight zone . as i mentioned in my comment on the new series  there  s something lacking in this new series . maybe they emphasize too much the lesson that has to be learned . it  s a little bit more mawkish and sentimental than serling  s version . however  this episode can be considered as quite sentimental too . i think the appeal is that no matter what they do  the lovers can never unite . i remember i wasn  t surprised by the korean movie  il mare   later remade into  the lake house  . i think it  s because i saw this episode first so it ruined the impact of the later film .  
as someone who likes chase scenes and was really intrigued by this fascinating true  life tale  i was optimistic heading into this film but too many obstacles got into the way of the good story it should have been .  br    br   the bad  i  m a fan of robert duvall and many of the characters he has played  but his role here is a dull one as an insurance investigator .  br    br   the dialog is insipid and the pretty kathryn harrold is real garbage  mouth . from what i read  there were several directors replacing each other on this film  and that  s too bad . you can tell things aren  t right with the story . i couldn  t get  involved  with treat williams  portrayal of cooper  either . he should have been fascinating  but he wasn  t in this movie . it  s also kind of a sad comment that a guy committing a crime is some sort of  folk hero   but i admit i wound up rooting for the guy  too .  br    br   not everything was disappointing . i can  t complain about the scenery  from the lush  green forests of oregon to the desert in arizona .  br    br   i  d like to see this movie re  made and done better  because it is a one  of  a  kind story .  
this a good episode of the new twilight zone that actually includes interesting ideas and clever stories  i note both of them are based on short stories  .  examination day  is set in the future  year unknown but at a point where they have cake candles that light themselves  huge tv  looking  phones  that double as numerous other entertaining machines and distributed only to those of a certain age . . . and the examination day  a point where    year  olds must undergo a government  required iq test . the kid is this story  dickie jordan  david mendenhall  is just celebrating his own   th birthday and is a smart kid  so is calm  even eager to take the test that he has seen friends pass easily and knows he will excel at based on his school grades . his parents  christopher allport and elizabeth norment   on the other hand  say he shouldn  t have used his birthday wish on getting a good score  and while their reason includes that they believe he  s capable and he should have no need to worry  it  s pretty obvious they are worried . i won  t give anything away in the ending  but i will say this  there  s a point where we get a glimpse of what  s to come as far ass why the test is such a heavy subject that evening  or another   his parents ask dickie whether he  d prefer to watch tv all night . by today  s standards  we  d be pleased he  d say he  d rather read and not just because there  s nothing worth watching . . . but why would his family ask this  the flavor of what  s encouraged and discouraged in the future reminded me a bit of the atmosphere from harrison bergenon  which i hear hasn  t received a great adaptation to the screen  . i only wish they could  ve provided an opening and closing narration to make this theme as powerful as the obsolete man was . i found it to be better than the short story it was based on . i haven  t read the one that  a message from charity  was based on  but would like to since it was interesting  a    year  ld boy  peter  robert duncan mcneill  is suffering a fever from unclean water  that has always been common in his massachusetts hometown . . . but he is able to see through the eyes of a young puritan woman suffering the same type of fever  charity payne   kerry noonann  who also finds herself able to experience what goes on around him . they both recover  especially since it  s common for that to happen in      but the connection doesn  t go away . charity is curious about the sights and sounds she records of     and they each enjoy each other  s company  especially peter  who has promoted grades in school enough to always have felt isolated from other students  even at the college he  s been staying in one place at . things take an unexpected turn  though  when charity reveals some of these experiences to a friend who take her claims that the   colonies will breach from england as a sign of bewitchment  added to the fact that she was spared death from the fever  not so common in      . the two try to learn a way to save her . the ending is sad but has an interesting final moment that makes it touching . both segments of this episode include a lot of pain but both times  through a lesson  warning that sounds like something rod sterling would  ve cooked up and entertainment  make cheerful watching as reminders that friendship  love  and wisdom do a great deal . probably    of this has no theme  but somehow i think it all would have been approved by sterling  s crew .  
i can  t believe that people thought this stinking heap of trash was funny . shifting the attempts at humor among cruelty  disgust and stupidity   there  s something about mary  leaves little reason to stay until the end . sure  cameron diaz is very pretty  but that is never going to be enough to save a movie . ben stiller tries hard to work within the plot  and is obviously very talented  but the movie is a loser .  br    br   not once were any of the scenes believable . the shots were badly timed and poorly framed . the farreley brothers should be kept away from making films at all costs . i check imdb to see what they are working on just so i know what to avoid .  br    br        the bonus is from the one time i smiled . it  s not like i  m immune to humor or alone in my opinion . my wife hated it  too . the next day we saw  rush hour  and laughed ourselves silly . this movie just stunk .  
remember these two stories fondly and in the first  set in the not too distant future  we see a young boy preparing for examination day  the state i . q test . the boy is slightly puzzled as to his parents anxiety as some of his friends have already done it already and eventually goes off to do the test . upon arriving he is given an injection and is curious as to why . the examiner smiles and tells him that it is just to make sure he tells the truth . the boy then asks  puzzled again  why wouldn  t he  it is later and the parents are sitting waiting worriedly by the screen when a message appears and declares that the state are sorry  but their son  s i . q level has exceeded the national quotient and ask politely would they like a private burial . a corker of a concluding scene  a message from charity was a heart warming story about a fluke mental connection between a girl from the past and a guy from the present . which pans out into a weird story of witchcraft accusations in the past and delving into the history pages in the present . a nice story with a heartwarming conclusion .  
to be honest at the time i first heard of this show i though it may be a bad idea to make a show that makes muslims use racial jokes on themselves but it is the exact opposite . i realized that the show doing that can help people understand that if a muslim uses s a word like this in real life it doesn  t mean it is a terrorist thing . it also show  s how people give the muslims a bad name because they play on their stereotype  by watching the show regular people will realize that all though there may be bad muslims out it doesn  t mean we are all bad we just try to live  day at a time  like how hard it was for amair to get on a plane and how he used words like  blow up  or yaser saying we  ll blow away the competition  and people took it the wrong way . being a muslim i know that stuff like this don  t usually happen  but they do and many people think bad things about muslims or afghanistan or iraq  its not right things are not like that . people will see how we are poorly treated by watching this show and it may make them think on how the act . i am glad a show like this came on the air . there are many shows that piotr muslim people as terrorists  many people do find them funny to my opioion it is ok to do it now and then because prety much everything is made fun of who are we to say you can not make fun of that is unfair  but it is done to often and really gives muslin people a bad name .  
you know how star trek fans flocked to all the star trek movies  even the really bad ones  why  to see their heroes in action one more time . that  s the way i feel about doc savage . i am a major fanatic for the character  and the prospect of seeing doc and his crew in an adventure was overwhelming . and the first   minutes of the film only heightened that feeling of anticipation . then they decided to crib elements from a number of doc adventures and throw them into this one movie  resulting in a somewhat disjointed film . there  s a lot of promise in here  diluted by a number of unfortunate choices  the music  the  camp  elements  etc .  but the spirit of doc is there  and that  s what those of us familiar with doc and his crew respond to . so  in my long  winded way  what i  m trying to say is that this is not a bad movie it  s just not as good as it should have been . and anyone who is a fan of superman  james bond  indiana jones  buckaroo banzai  and many other characters ought to check this movie out just to become familiar with the hero who provided inspiration for them all .  
up until this new season i have been a big  little mosque  fan . however  the new season had absolutely ruined it .  br    br   the new christian vicar has destroyed the entire intent of the show . it has always been about living together to overcome prejudice . the new vicar ruins that premise and shows christians in a very bad light .  br    br   i am neither christian or muslim  but loved watching the show and seeing the camaraderie between amar and the reverend . not any more .  br    br   just cancel it and be done with it . it  s not worth watching any more .  br    br   it might still be saved  but a lot of change would need to be made .  br    br   bring back the old format .  
it has said that the movies and baseball both thrived during the great depression . it appears that the grim realities of a nation caught up in the aftermath of this economic disaster created a need for occasional relief for the populace . a temporary escape could be found in the on going soap opera that is baseball .  br    br   likewise  an occasional excursion of  or  hours into the darkened auditoriums of the cinema . the presence of a radio in just about everyone  s house hold kept depression era america at once attuned to world  s events and provided many a drama and  especially  comedy shows for a pleasant interlude from harsh reality .  br    br   the literature of the time also flourished at all levels . the juvenile reading habits helped to create the comic book as we know it  what with all the fantastic characters and super exciting adventures . but the comic book just did not magically appear  all fully developed with all the colorful  color pages  all by itself . there were mediums that were ancestral to them . obviously  the newspaper comic strip was one parent  providing the visual  narrative method of story telling .  br    br   the other direct ancestor was the pulp magazine . the inexpensive  prose story publications that carried a great deal of stories of the same adventure characters in on going  though not necessarily serialized  tales . the pulp medium had been around for some decades and introduced us to edgar rice borrough  s tarzan and johnston mcculley  s zorro . the      s brought forth a bumper crop as feature characters like the shadow  the avenger  g   s battle aces and the spider  master of men all found their way to the news stands  among many others .  br    br   one other was doc savage  a full  blooded super hero of the written story the covers of the pulps had perhaps  the only  picture  of the hero . possessing extraordinary strength  super keen senses and a protean genius class intellect  doc was the prototype super hero .  br    br   he also assembled  of his former army buddies into a small  free lancing team of adventurers . each of them was an expert in a given field . so we had a top rated chemist  lawyer  construction engineer  electrical engineer  geologist  archaeologist  paleontologist  etc .  br    br   the doc savage stories were very popular in the      s and     s  and were published into the middle     s . then they went into a hiatus for a good      years . then the brainstorm came about to repackage the old novels in new  container   the paperback book . a fresh look to the cover art was introduced  featuring a highly stylized series of paintings of a very muscular doc  with a perpetually ripped shirt .  br    br   the re  introduction proved to be highly successful  with the publication of a title a month  and for a while more  . soon  there was a rumor of a doc savage movie  but when  by what producer  well  the venerable  man of bronze  was back on the news stands for over   years before any real project got put together . it was veteran stop  action animator and producer of top special effects films  geoprge pal  who did the film along with warner brothers .  br    br   when doc savage  man of bronze arrived in the movie houses  it boasted of a well casted team of actors  albeit a largely  no name  as far familiarity with the viewers . with former tarzan of tv  ron ely  s nearly perfect casting in the lead  up and coming beauty of a starlette  pamela hensley in the female lead and veteran character paul wexler  as the villainous  captain seas   no other name would have been recognized . and  just maybe that was a plus in this case .  br    br   the story does a fine job of both getting most of the audience acquainted with the incredible group and at the same time get a plot going . use of narration  by paul frees  and short film clips are the method pursued to move the introduction along to the main body of the story .  br    br   from the very start  there are hints that this story will go with the same sort of manufactured  camp  humor as the batman tv series . some really great looking early scenes involving doc and the whole crew doing their individual specialties are thrown toward humor by the paul frees narration and the unexpected  unlikely outcomes .  for example  an experiment of doc  s with a miniature rocket  missile turns out to be part of a method of catching fish  a small one at that .  the whole story unfolds like that  hitting the viewer with a little  camp  every so often  as to keep reminding us not to take it too seriously . we are also puzzled about mr . george pal  s being the producer  his last  . he who had been so well known for special effects  surely a factor that could be put to good use in a sci  fi action setting of the pulp character  s world .  br    br   i can remember seeing it quite vividly . mrs . ryan  deanna  was in the hospital  just having given birth to our  nd child  michelle           . our older girl  jennifer  was visiting her grandmother  so after visiting hours were over in the maternity ward  it was straight over to the old marquette theatre    rd  kedzie  here in chicago .  br    br   having seen it and being a guy with a good familiarity with doc  i was sort of let down by the final product . i could accept a little of this  camp  business  but would not have objected if mr . pal would have seen fit to let it all hang out and have some real neat dinosaurs and volcanoes to give it all a little more pulp  comic  serial type excitement .  br    br   and yet  the cast  headed  up by mr . ely and the others  made the whole film likable  if not lovable . the sets and locations were  as far as we can see  very much like those of a     s serial or adventure flick which would be enjoyable to about anyone .  br    br   and maybe that  s just what they were trying for with this doc savage  man of bronze .  
who likes awful  comedy  shows like little mosque on the prairie  the only two kinds of people i can think of who watch this are one  muslims and self  proclaimed liberal defenders of every ethnic group who are so thrilled there is a show about muslims that it doesn  t even matter if the show is good or funny at all  which it is not  . two  old people and people whose idea of comedy is incredibly predictable  badly written  stale jokes .  br    br   cbc needs to really take a look at what they are doing and who their audience is . if they keep only writing comedy for really old people then guess what will happen  their audience will die off soon and they will have no audience left . i  d be curious who even writes for this show  do you think it  s actually muslims  or hip  funny young people  no  i bet it is old white guys who have been writing the same jokes for the same kind of bad cbc shows since the      s .  br    br   when you look at the cbc comedy shows there are  air farce was only finally just taken off the air  thank goodness   but we still have lame ducks like this hour has   minutes and rick mercer that we are paying for  not to mention this poor excuse for  comedy  little mosque on the prairie . it is supposed to be offencive and funny  only the cbc would think this lame show is at all offencive or funny . shame on the cbc for squandering our tax dollars on shows only a few people would bother watching .  
having read many of the other reviews for this film on the imdb there is ostensibly a consensus amongst purists that this film is nothing like the books upon which it is based . upon this point i cannot comment  having never actually read any of the protagonists adventures previously . however  what i can say with certainty  is that it strikes me that many of the said reviewers must have surely undergone a sense of humour bypass let  s be honest here  this film is just so much fun   br    br   ok . . so i must concede the point that the film apparently is not representative of the character  s but let  s put this into a clear perspective . . do the same individuals who are carping on about this film also bemoan the fact that the classic      s batman series does not remain faithful to the original dc comic book character  or perhaps is there still unrest in same persons that the     film version of flash gordon was too much of a departure from the original series   br    br   the point is  yes this film is incredibly camp but that  s precisely its charm   br    br   former tarzan  ron ely plays the eponymous hero in this  and bears more than a passing resemblance to gary busey to boot   and is backed up by a great supporting cast who all look to be having a ball with their respective roles . also look out for a very brief but highly welcome appearance by horror movie favourite michael berryman .  br    br   best scene  far too many to choose from but check out the hilarious facial expressions adopted by the waiter when savage and his men commit the ultimate faux pas of ordering coke  lemonade and milk at a formal occasion  also the often noted scene near the end of the film wherein savage tackles his nemesis captain seas utilising various martial arts disciplines which are labelled on screen   priceless   br    br   simply put  the film doesn  t take itself at all seriously and is all the more fun for it . great fun from start to finish   and you  ll be singing the john phillip sousa adapted theme song for days afterwards guaranteed    
unlike many  i don  t find the premise or theme of this show the least bit offensive . its execution  however  is another matter entirely . like so many b  minus movies  all the decent gags appear to have been spliced into the trailers . for most of the    or  so minutes we sit in waning anticipation any morsel of real humor . or at least something to keep one from fidgeting with the remote or counting carpet fibers . with a couple of exceptions the acting is awful the comical over  emoting and gesticulating of some cast members might be well suited to a late  night infomercial  but not a primetime sitcom  even a canadian one .  notwithstanding the admittedly original cultural angle  i cannot help but think this is mainly a misfired shot by the cbc to replicate the success of corner gas . unfortunately  they got the tone   and the script   completely wrong for the prairies . the final insult is that they apparently couldn  t even afford to have the location work done in an actual small town  why  are they so hard to find in saskatchewan   did they think the audience would be fooled by the downtown regina exteriors  as a proud canadian i hope this thing goes away soon  and that the rest of the world  primed by the cbc  s publicists  quickly forgets this colossal embarrassment of a sitcom .  
this series is set a year after the mission to abydos in the movie stargate . it explains a lot of the stuff that the movie neglected to mention . such as  how was the stargate activated without a human computer  where did the goa  uld  ra  s race  come from  how many are there   br    br   the first episode has a retired jack o  neill  spelled with  ls  recalled to active duty by general george hammond due to an attack by the shut down stargate from apophis  a powerful goa  uld who killed four men and kidnapped one woman . we meet samantha carter  a brilliant scientist who claims that she should have gone through the stargate the first time  and is determined to go through now . we find out that daniel got married on abydos  and that there are hundreds of gate addresses that they can dial . then daniel  s wife gets captured by apophis and becomes his new queen .  br    br   it continues in the second episode where general hammond announces the formation of the sgc which includes nine teams  in which jack  s team will be sg   which consists of jack  samantha and daniel . they go to chulak  a goa  uld homeworld to rescue daniel  s wife and another one captured at abydos named ska  ra . they get captured  and just as apophis gives the order to kill them and many other prisoners  a jaffa named teal  c  first prime of apophis  saves them and goes to earth with them  where he is made part of sg   .  br    br   that was only the beginning of the adventure . in the course of the show they have gone to the past and future  gotten transported to alternate realities  swapped bodies  grown old  met alien races which include a rebel alliance of goa  uld called the tok  ra  in which samantha  s dad becomes a member  the asgard  a cute little race in which we see thor most often  he  s jack  s buddy   and avoid global disaster by the skin of their teeth countless times .  br    br   the show was recently canceled  but lasted ten seasons . in season nine  a new enemy called the ori came in flaunting brand new powers  new dangers and bringing to light new mysteries surrounding the stargate and its creators  the ancients . season nine and ten also saw the introduction to two new characters  ben browder as cameron mitchell  the new leader of sg   and claudia black as vala maldoran  a female human from another world who brings a new sense of fun to the team .  br    br   very well  produced  interesting characters  fantastic special effects and a subtle love interest between samantha and jack  this one has it all . a different way of travelling the galaxy  and different kinds of adventures  this is one show you don  t want to miss . unlock the gate and step through . you won  t regret it   
this movie is one long chiche after another . first of all  though they did their share  there is a unwarranted dope scene where john sniffs weed like an idiot . the wigs and accents are terrible . they sound worse then the old beatle cartoons . john is the nasty  envious  closet homosexual  slave to yoko he is portrayed as being in the discredited albert goldman book . they even keep spouting song titles in regular conversation  it was always just the two of us   john would not have been mean to his fans like this either . like his death showed us he was too nice if anything . the one funny scene is where a dumb beatle fan only recognizes john and asks him to sing paul  s yesterday . an insulted john says something along the lines of  sure and while i croon why don  t you get down on your knees  put on your wife  s wig  and lick my liggin  . that made me laugh for days . really this movie is funny in how serious it tries to be while coming off ridiculous . john and paul also did not sit pontificating all day  they were funny light hearted guys who even during the beatles break up where far more personable then portrayed here . forget it .  
possible spoilers  br    br   i recently watched this movie with my   year old son and was pleased to see that he laughed in the right places and was thrilled by the action sequences . ron ely is just right as doc . cool  calm  almost always in control  and with an occasional twinkle in his eye  . what more can one ask for  i have never read a doc savage book  so i don  t know if it is faithful to the source but i enjoyed the light tone and derring  do . many people have compared this movie to raiders of the lost ark  which i don  t think is fair . the difference in budget is astounding  raiders must have at least   times the budget  . doc savage does not have the extensive location work that raiders has . special effects are also at a minimum but come on people  the story is a lot of fun and the humor is just right . the sousa music is catchy  love that theme song  every time i watch the film  i end up humming the theme for days  . the best way to approach this film is to just relax and enjoy . highlights include the exciting opening sequence where the fabulous five and doc chase the indian sniper throughout the rooftops of new york and the very funny fight sequence between doc and captain seas . not as good is the villain who sleeps in a giant crib  really   . overall a great movie to watch on a rainy day . i give it  out of   .  br    br   doc savage  doc savage . . . thank the lord he  s here   
i was really hoping that this would be a funny show  given all the hype and the clever preview clips . and talk about hype  i even heard an interview with the show  s creator on the bbc world today  a show that is broadcast all over the world .  br    br   unfortunately  this show doesn  t even come close to delivering . all of the jokes are obvious  the kind that sound kind of funny the first time you hear them but after that seem lame  and they are not given any new treatment or twist . all of the characters are one  dimensional . the acting is  well  mediocre  i  m being nice  . it  s the classic cbc recipe  one that always fails .  br    br   if you  re muslim i think you would have to be stupid to believe any of the white characters  and if you  re white you  d probably be offended a little by the fact that almost all of the white characters are portrayed as either bigoted  ignorant  or both . not that making fun of white people is a problem  most of the better comedies are rooted in that . it  s only a problem when it isn  t funny  as in this show .  br    br   canada is bursting with funny people  so many that we export them to hollywood on a regular basis . so how come the producers of this show couldn  t find any   
most people miss hollywood  s point of concept . if a hero can stimulate heroic deeds to the mind of a child  within the confines of the law then i  approve of the lessons being taught by doc savage .  br    br   in all times of conflict or war  the public and government look for heroes to decorate . the motion picture industry brings heroes to the screen for people to identify with  such as doc savage  james bond  superman  batman  spiderman and others . doc savage is remembered by more than one generation as being the  best of the best  before james bond  superman or any of the others . all others that follow doc savage are only a part of the character  not the  man of bronze  .  
this show is terrible  the jokes are all terrible and just getting worse and worse . i am one of those people who was never a big fan of corner gas but at least i liked it at first until it got into a rut around season two  all the jokes had been played out and the characters had nothing to them . well at least corner gas was good at first  little mosque on the prairie is typically awful bland cbc comedy that had nothing going for it from episode  . who are the people who are watching this show anyway  i am being honest is it old people or maybe just people who actually live on the prairies  maybe the jokes are for them and they work there  i don  t know a single person who likes this show and can  t stand it myself  the jokes are totally predictable and the characters are even less developed than in corner gas . hopefully it won  t last much longer because all the success this show has had seems to me to be based entirely on the premise of this show being muslim which is different and could  should have led to a great show .  
the problem is that the movie rode in on the coattails of the    s  created concept that comic books could only be done as  camp   i . e .  the    s batman show  for tv and movie . thus you have combat sequences with subtitles  come on    a cluelessly unromantic doc savage  he was uncomfortable around women in the pulps  not an idiot   monk mayfair in a nightsheet  a scene guaranteed to give you nightmares for several nights   and the totally hokey ending with the secondary bad guy encased in gold like a herve villechez posing for an oscar statute . and when they  re not doing booming sousa march scores  the tinkly little  funny  music undercuts much of the drama .  br    br   even as such  this movie is . . . okay . it  s fun  and when it stays serious it  s a very accurate representation of the pulps . except for monk  as has been mentioned before he  s hugely muscled  not obese . and long tom  who is supposed to be a pale scrawny guy with an attitude  not paul gleason with an  inexplicable  scarf .  br    br   the green death sequences  for instance  are remarkably gruesome and not something i  d recommend for children . but they are very close to the feel of the pulps . when the writers and producers get it right  they do get it right  i  ll give them that .  br    br   but if the producers had done doc with the loving care and scripting of  say  reeves  first two superman movies  think what we might have had then . i think the problem is the movie  s schizophrenic . there  s a definite sense of trying to do a    s homage  but they  re also trying to give in to the  heroes must be camp  attitude that batman created . one gets the impression there was a sober  pulp  style first draft and then someone came in and said   hey  let  s make it funny  it worked with the batman show  years ago    br    br   but doc lives on  thanks to earl macrauch and buckaroo banzai . if macrauch ain  t doing a homage to doc savage in that movie  the man is truly demented . so when the series actually gets on tv  allegedly mid  season in         doc savage  updated to the    s  will live once more .  
if you  re looking to be either offended or amused or both  you  ll probably have to look elsewhere . lmotp really isn  t even very thought provoking beyond rehashing the usual silly clichs . at the end of the second episode i felt a little embarrassed that i actually sat through the contrived mess .  br    br   beyond the thinly veiled gimmicky premise thats attracted all the initial attention to it in the first place it  s just another lame  innocuous and anti  septic attempt at commentary and entertainment that the cbc typically excels at producing . and once the  zomg muslims in rural canada roflmao    hype wears out its welcome  the show is likely to follow into the ether of cancellation because it  s so shallow when judged on its merits alone .  br    br   unless you  re obsessed with muslim culture in the west and  or are easily amused by the most minute idiosyncrasies on the subject i really don  t see how lmotp is enjoyable beyond satisfying the curiosity that stemmed from the hype . other shows have better addressed the issue of cultural  ethnic dichotomy in western multi  ethnic societies . lmotp will never rank among them in entertainment or insight .  
this is a very entertaining movie . a few of the reviews that i have read on this forum have been written by people who  apparently  think that the film was an effort at serious drama . it was not made that way . . . . it is an extremely enjoyable film  performed in a tongue in cheek manner . all of the actors are obviously having fun while entertaining us . the fight sequences are lively  brisk and  above all  not gratuitous . the so  called  green death   utilized on a couple of occasions  is not  as i read in one review   gruesome  . a couple of reviewers were very critical of the martial arts fight between doc and seas near the end of the film . hey  lighten up . . . again  i remind one and all that this is a fun film . each phase of this  fight  was captioned  which added to the fun aspect . the actors were not trying to emulate bruce lee or jackie chan . this is not one of those martial arts films . ron ely looks great in this film and is the perfect choice to play doc . another nice touch is the unique manner in which the ultimate fate of the  bad guy   seas  is dealt with . i promise you that if you don  t try to take this film very seriously and simply watch it for the entertainment value  you will spend    minutes in a most enjoyable manner .  
i was excited to see a sitcom that would hopefully represent indian candians but i found this show to be not funny at all . the producers and cast are probably happy to get both bad and good feed back because as far as they are concerned it  s getting talked about  i was ready for some stereotyping and have no problem with it because stereotypes exist for a reason  they are usually true . but there really wasn  t anything funny about these stereotypical characters . the  fresh of the boat  dad  who doesn  t understand his daughter . the radical feminist muslim daughter  who by the way is a terrible actress   and the young modern indian man trying to run his mosque as politically correct as he can  he  s a pretty good actor  i only see him getting better  .  br    br   it is very contrived and the dialog doesn  t flow that well . there was so much potential for something like this but sadly i think it failed  and don  t really care to watch another episode .  br    br   i did however enjoy watching a great canadian actress sheila mccarthy again  she  s always a treat and a natural at everything she does  too bad her daughter in the show doesn  t have the same acting abilities   
outragously entertaining period piece set in the   s  it is a spin on the classic cliffhanger series  as much as  raiders of the lost ark   only done on a low budget and much campier by director michael anderson . the opening scenes laces liberal amount of gothic art nuveau  predating batman by two decades . starring ron ely  tarzan  as a perfectly cast hero and the gorgeous pamela hensley as the local latina mona tagging on to our hero on a goldhunt in the non  existent latin american country of hidalgo . best line  our hero to mona  holding a fist to her chin just as you expect him to be tender with her and give her a hug  mona  you  re a brick    br    br   paul wexler  s ham  and  cheese blackhat  captain seas is a an absolute delight . expect a little  raiders . .   a dash of  batman   a little  the lost world   a little  lost horizons  and a whole lot of campiness and you  ll get it just right . watch out for cult favorite michael berryman in a small part as undertaker and enjoy the campy use of john philip sousa  s patriotic music . a prime candidate for dvd release  it is certainly overdue . an unmissable treat for the whole family .      
little mosque is one of the most boring cbc comedies i have ever seen . they have a way of producing the easiest comedy programming they can for the oldest most  easily  offended viewers which for cbc means   year old farmers in saskatchewan . the jokes are all predictable and so deathly lame i can  t believe it . the performances are very hammy and over acted but i don  t blame the actors since those kind of one dimensional stereotyped characters are probably exactly what the cbc asked for and demanded . very lame show with bad jokes they tried to present as  controversial  well it is less controversial than the other boring cbc comedies like the hour has   minutes  royal canadian air farce and rick mercer  s report .  
i was brought up on doc savage  and was petrified by the green death as a child but even then as now  i found it thoroughly entertaining . i have made countless friends and colleagues watch this film and have been most amused by the diversity of reactions  granted they mostly think i  m odd but there you are .  i don  t know what it is about the doc  but he always gets the girls  has to be the ultimate line when you look at his sad band of men . this film is a classic spoof on all the super hero genre  and was way before it  s time  it is not to be taken seriously  move over austin powers . ron ely is a god . it is unfortunate that this film hasn  t been released on dvd in the uk . i don  t think it should be remade and bastardised  like i said it  s a classic  it cannot be done without ron .  like the italian job without mini  s and michael caine  . i give it      .  
this series just gets worse and worse . poorly written and just plain not funny  the premise is excellent  but the writer  s inexperience shines through . by trying so hard to offend no one they end up insulting everyone . now into the second season the desperate cast have stopped waving their arms about  and resorted to that patronizing  smug   oh  silly you  style acting that comes with a no laugh script . they roll their eyes and shake their heads at each other as if to say  aren  t we zany  isn  t this funny  well  no  it  s not actually . gum disease is less painful . no wonder  with the exception of corner gas  canadians generally avoid canadian tv . come on cbc you  re suppose to be our leading station showcasing the best of canadian talent . pull the plug on this amateurish mess .  
we so often talk of cinema landmarks  kane  the godfather  a bout de souffle . one film however is too often overlooked by  serious  film critics . i am talking of course about the classic doc savage  m . o . b .   br    br   this film is not only exciting but also seriously explores the issue of exploitation of the developing nations by us imperialism . not to mention kung  fu .  br    br   it also possessed the greatest soundtrack in film history  until of course queen  s breathtaking work on flash gordon  . although a bit of a rarity  this film is well worth seeking out  it will repay the effort of your search ten  fold .  
once again canadian tv outdoes itself and creates another show that will go unwatched after its premiere episode .  br    br   last time i remember sitcoms were supposed to induce a reaction we in the business call laughter . how funny is it to beat the stereotype of all white people thinking that all muslims are terrorists  ok maybe one joke just to stick it to the masses . but not   minutes . it  s called beating a dead horse . even snl would know to give up after a commercial break .  br    br   also  let  s have a little conflict in these scripts . will she or won  t she be able to serve cucumber sandwiches to break the fast on ramadan  when will ramadan start  ohhhhh this is emmy winning stuff here .  br    br   and the characters  what characters   they are all cardboard cut  outs without anything interesting to make us want to follow them from one situation to the next . that  s the point of the situation comedy . we need to have strong  interesting  dynamic characters so that we are constantly drawn to the tv set each week . we have to care about these characters to worry about what trouble they  re going to get into next week . if i never see these characters it  ll be too soon . thankfully i can  t remember any of their names  note to cbc  that  s not a good sign  .  br    br   and the acting is so bland . it  s more so a problem in casting than in the actors . none of these people actually embody the characters they play . they just seem to act their part as though they were working on a movie of the week . sitcoms require actors who live and breathe that character  make us fall in love with them  where they become inseparable from the character the portray . watch any american sitcom and you  ll see how easily identifiable characters are . part of the problem is that the actors seem to treat this project as though it might be a platform to bigger and better things instead of being their one big character of a lifetime for whom they will spend the next  years portraying . that level of disinterest in the characters and the project shows . but to be honest  considering the lame concept and the horrible writing  there  s not much for the actors to do but say their lines and try not to bump into any furniture . as another commenter mentions  this seems like a tv movie and not a sitcom .  br    br   and the directing or lack there of  what can i say  canada has so much talent  look at what the comedy channel is doing with puppets who kill and punched up . look at the trailer park boys  not the movie cause it bit the big helium dog  . look at any american show to see the potentials our talent as that  s where many of our stars go to find decent work .  br    br   give credit to the cbc  they really know how to build publicity for a non  event . remember  the one   no  well don  t even try to learn any characters names in this show  as it  s sure to go the way of the dodo .  br    br   let  s all hope for a full blown actra strike so that nothing like this emerges from the ceeb for a good long while .  
given the title  this first follow  up to quartet       obviously reduces the number of w . somerset maugham stories which comprise the film . the author still turns up to introduce the episodes  but there  s no epilogue this time around by the way  while the script of the original compendium gave sole credit to r . c . sheriff  here maugham himself also lent a hand in the adaptation  as well as noel langley  though it  s unclear whether they contributed one segment each or else worked in unison  . as can be expected  much of the crew of quartet has been retained for the second installment  though this also extends to at least three cast members  namely naunton wayne  wilfrid hyde  white and felix aylmer  the last two had bit parts in the episode from quartet entitled the colonel  s lady  . while trio ultimately emerges to be a lesser achievement than its predecessor  slightly unbalanced by the third story which takes up more than half the running  time   it  s still done with the utmost care  acted with verve by a stellar cast and is solidly enjoyable into the bargain .  br    br   the verger tells of a church sexton  james hayter   for which the story  s title is another word  who  s dismissed after   years of service by the new parish priest  michael hordern  simply because he  s illiterate . rather than rest on his laurels  despite his age  he not only takes a wife  his landlady  played by kathleen harrison  but opens a tobacconist shop strategically placed in a lengthy stretch of road where no such service is offered  and  with business flourishing  this is developed into a whole chain . the last scene  then  sees him pay a visit to bank manager felix aylmer who  not only is surprised to learn of hayter  s lack of education  but is prompted to ask him what his other interests were  to which the wealthy  and respected  tobacconist replies  with some measure of irony  that he had the calling to be a verger   br    br   the second episode  mr . know  all  is the shortest but also perhaps the most engaging a voyage at sea is utterly beleaguered by the insufferable presence of a pompous young man  nigel patrick   british despite his foreign  sounding name of kelada  who professes to be an authority on virtually every subject under the sun . naunton wayne and wilfrid hyde  white are the two passengers who have to put up with him the most  the latter because he shares a cabin with the man and the former in view of patrick  s attentions to his pretty wife  anne crawford  . during a fancy  dress party  however  the passengers decide to enact their revenge  on kelada by having one of them impersonate him  a jest which he naturally doesn  t appreciate    still  it  s here that he contrives to show a decent side to his character  told by crawford that the necklace she  s wearing is an imitation  wayne challenges patrick to name its pricebut the latter realizes immediately that it  s the genuine article and that this would compromise crawford  s position if he were to tell  so kelada allows himself to be publicly ridiculed rather than expose the fact that the woman probably has a secret admirer   br    br   as can also be deduced from the title  sanatorium deals with the myriad patients at such a place  run by andre  morell the protagonist is a new intern  roland culver  who wistfully observes the various goings  on . the narrative  in fact  highlights in particular three separate strands of plot  one humorous  the feud  between two aged scots long resident at the sanatorium  played by finlay currie and john laurie   one melodramatic  the erratic relationship between disgruntled patient raymond huntley and long  suffering but devoted wife betty ann davies  and one bittersweet  the romance between nave but charming jean simmons and dashing cad michael rennie which  in spite of having pretty much everything against it including the fact that morell has diagnosed simmons as a lifer  while rennie only has a few years left to him  leads the couple to the altar  .  
this show is a perfect example of how the cbc should stick to either news  sports  or satirical sketch comedy . as a developer of situation comedy  cbc has shown it can combine the pizazz of  king of kensington  with the belly laughs of  the beachcombers  . it is an embarrassment to great shows like  kids in the hall  and  second city  that they have to share their comedic roots with this lame production .  br    br   i have to admit  that i didn  t give this show much of a chance right from when i first heard of its concept . to start  half of the concept is a direct attempt to rip  off one of the few sitcom successes in english  canadian history   corner gas  . the rest of the concept   the cultural clash   is far from being original and is too often used as a crutch for screen writing laziness . the selection of the muslim religion as the basis for the  fish out of water  characters seems to be a desperate attempt to be  edgy  and  topical   but comes off as forced . some of the jokes that are based around the local  s reaction to the newcomers are cringe inducing and thoroughly insulting to the intelligence of everyone involved  especially the audience .  br    br   this show is a perfect example of how cbc just doesn  t  get it  when it comes to creating canadian content  especially when presenting canada as a multicultural environment . cultural diversity in canada does not have to be presented in such a heavy  handed and forced way . it would be a refreshing change to see cbc introduce diversity into a television show without making the show all about said diversity . i doubt that cbc has sufficient sitcom talent to pull off something so subtle . a comparison could be made to the way diversity is depicted in corner gas   i . e . the aboriginal characters are not set apart by their ethnicity nor is their heritage used to generate story lines . more realistically  their lives and the other characters lives intertwine in a way that makes ethnicity no more significant than any of their other personal characteristics .  br    br   that being said  even as a formulaic fish  out  of  water comedy this show fails . the acting is weak  the comic pacing all over the map  and the story premises that i saw were too far beyond the suspension of belief  even for a comedy . the only saving grace is the talented derek mcgrath  who is horribly wasted here . i doubt that even the addition of guest stars  colin mochrie  for example  as an anglican archbishop  can save this dog . i decided to give the show a chance once the cbc  s  hype  had died down but two episodes were all i could stand   i could almost feel my braincells shutting themselves down with each failed punchline . the time  slot would be better served by airing more coronation street  air farce re  runs  or dr . who . even an infomercial would be an improvement .  
the makers have chosen the best people for the job  and set the scene wonderfully . every interior is full of detail that tells you all about the people who live in it . whether the period is the   s  the first story   the present  ie      for the middle story  or the     s  the last   costumes and settings are lovingly observed and created . i love the fussy costumes of the two old ladies in the sanatorium  exquisite lace overlaid by the finest shetland shawls . roland culver as ashenden is very appealing  but never mind the soppy young lovers  it  s raymond huntley as the man who resents his wife  s health and independence who harrows our emotions . he usually played comical  pompous types  but here he is subtle and convincing and very impressive . the china seas  great   s film starring gable and harlow  stole the plot from the mr know all episode  and also nicked a story by kipling  . i wish we saw more of naunton wayne as the jealous husband  though he has a good moment looking melancholy in a mexican hat . i love that posh bird who plays his wife  too .  
i think the show had a pretty good concept to work with . but the execution was poor . the script is poor and acting is bad . there were many issues that could have been portrayed in a better way  like the protest against gay marriage or finding the graveyard . the show can  t be properly termed as comedy show as it lacks humor miserably . i should say this show was barely successful in putting the life of muslim community to some extent .  br    br   till now second season is worse than the first one . i had my hopes high regarding this show  but i was kind of disappointed . still i appreciate cbc for putting up such concept in front of the viewers . anyway i wish best of luck for the future .  
trio  s vignettes were insightful and quite enjoyable . it was curious seeing so many soon to be famous actors when they were very young . the performances and attention to detail were wonderful to watch .  br    br   observation . in film it isn  t necessary that source material be in alignment with the contemporary era to be interesting or worthwhile .  small morality  storytelling is quaint  or coy  only in the eye of the beholder   thankfully . story content   well told   can overcome it  s time  subject or place .  br    br   ironically  there are quite a few contemporary films today that have not overcome the conventions or cutting edge mores of the present era . inserting  small morality  content   occasionally   might provide a dimension lacking .  
i  m trying to picture the pitch for dark angel .  i  m thinking matrix  i  m thinking bladerunner  i  m thinking that chick that plays faith in angel  wearing shiny black leather  or some chick just like her  leave that one with us . only  get this   we  ll do it without any plot  dialogue  character  decent action or budget  just some loud bangs and a hot chick in shiny black leather straddling a big throbbing bike . fanboys dig loud bangs and hot chicks in shiny black leather straddling big throbbing bikes  right    br    br   flashy  shallow  dreary  formulaic  passionless  tedious  dull  dumb  humourless  desultory  barely competent . live action anime without any action  or indeed any life . sf just the way joe fanboy likes it  in fact .    
a message movie  but a rather good one . outstanding cast  top to bottom . interesting in that bette davis  s plot line is essentially back story  the extremely negative reviews  name throwing at the screenplay  playwright  associating this somehow with extremely negative comments about  angles in america   etc . etc .  object to the movie being too preachy about germany in wwii . gosh  that is just a bit too sophisticated an understanding of morality for me .  br    br   theatrical and movie  making  and acting styles vary over time and of course   years later this particular movie would not be made in this way . yes casablanca is a better movie  i guess   but although made in the same year and both having nazis in them  casablanca is primarily a love story . the love story in this movie takes second seat to the spy plot   more of a thriller . both have a rather large number of somewhat cheesy accents and wonderful character actors . the children are a bit tedious and could have been edited  
while i have never been a fan of the original scooby  doo  due to its horrid production values   it appears like shakespeare compared to this pile of crap brought to us by hanna  barbera  without a doubt  scrappy  doo is about the most annoying and awful character created for children  and this includes the teletubbies as well as tommy the tapeworm  . whose bright idea was it to create some sort of short mutant dog and enable it to speak and then saddle the scooby  doo characters with it   whoever it is deserves to die or watch this show  i think death is preferable  . the bottom line is that the little dog is simply unfunny  annoying and grates on the nerves   and this is only in the better episodes   after many years  it would have been better to just end the franchise than create this mess  i can see why in the live  action scooby  doo movie they made the villain scrappy  doo   since practically everyone hates him   
this is actually a trilogy of  of somerset maugham  s short tales . the first one is the verger  which is about   minutes long and very enjoyable . after   years albert foreman is laid off from his church job because he can  t read nor write . so what does he do  opens a tobacco shop  of course   br    br   the second is mr . know  all which was actually a story i had read for school  years ago and instantly forgotten  until i heard the familiar introduction . another   minute one  and also very good . it worked better on film than in a book for me  but then perhaps that  s because i was only   the last time  afterall .  br    br   the  rd one is nearly a let  down . almost an hour in length  it simply drags . it  s not all that bad  but not as quick and snappy as the last  . i watched the first quarter hour of it and then skipped forward to the last quarter hour  and found that it still made sense and really i hadn  t missed a thing   br    br   overall i give them     and  out of    respectively .  
wow  here it finally is the action  movie  without action . in a real low  budget setting  don  t miss the hilarious flying saucers flying by a few times  of a future seattle we find a no  brain hardbody seeking to avenge her childhood .  br    br   there is nothing even remotely original or interesting about the plot and the actors  performance is only rivalled in stupidity by the attempts to steal from other movies  mainly  matrix  without having the money to do it right . yes  we do get to see some running on walls and slow motion shoot  outs    secs approx .  but these scenes are about as cool as the stupid hardbody  s attempts at making jokes about male incompetence now and then .  br    br   and  yes  we are also served a number of leads that lead absolutely nowhere  as if the script was thought  out by the previously unseen cast while shooting the scenes .  br    br   believe me  it is as bad as it possibly can get . in fact  it doesn  t deserve to be taken seriously  but perhaps i can make some of you not rent it and save your money .  
made after quartet was  trio continued the quality of the earlier film versions of the short stories by maugham . here the three stories are the verger  mr . know  it  all  and sanitorium . the first two are comic  the verger is like a prolonged joke  but one with a good pay  off   and the last more serious  as health issues are involved  . again the author introduces the film and the stories .  br    br   james hayter  soon to have his signature role as samuel pickwick  is the hero in the verger . he holds this small custodial  type job in a church  but the new vicar  michael hordern  is an intellectual snob . when he hears hayter has no schooling he fires him . hayter has saved some money  so he tells his wife  kathleen harrison  he fancies buying a small news and tobacco shop . he has a good eye  and his store thrives . soon he has a whole chain of stores . when his grandchild is christened by hordern  the latter is amazed to see how prosperous his ex  verger . the payoff is when bank manager felix aylmer meets with hayter about diversifying his investments . i  ll leave it to you to hear the unintentional but ironic coda of the meeting .  br    br   according to maugham he met a man like max kelada  nigel patrick  on a cruise . in mr . know  it  all kelada is a splashy  friendly  and slightly overbearing type from the middle east who is on a business trip  regarding jewelry  by steamship . his state  room mate is mr . grey  the ever quiet and proper wilfred hyde  white  who is somewhat  silently disapproving of max . max likes to enliven things  and soon is heavily involved in the ship  s entertainment . at this point the story actually resembles part of the plot of the non  maugham story and film china seas        as max makes a bet that he can tell a real piece of jewelry from a fake  after insisting that a piece of jewelry he spotted is real  . i won  t describe the way max rises to the occasion .  br    br   sanitorium is the longest segment . roland culver plays  ashenden   the fictional alter  ego of maugham  a writer and one time spy as in hitchcock  s the secret agent  . here he has to use a sanitorium for a couple of months for his health . he finds a remarkable crew of people  including jean simmons as a frail but beautiful young woman  finlay currie as an irascible scotsman  john laurie as a second irascible scotsman who is  at war  with currie  raymond huntley as a quiet patient who only shows his internal anger at his situation when his wife shows up  and michael rennie as a young man who has a serious life threatening illness . culver watches as three stories among these characters play out to their conclusions . the last  dealing with simmons and rennie  is ironic but deeply moving .  br    br   it was a dandy follow  up to the earlier quartet  and well worth watching .  
god  i was bored out of my head as i watched this pilot . i had been expecting a lot from it  as i  m a huge fan of james cameron  and not just since  titanic   i might add   and his name in the credits i thought would be a guarantee of quality  then again  he also wrote the leaden strange days . .  . but the thing failed miserably at grabbing my attention at any point of its almost two hours of duration . in all that time  it barely went beyond its two line synopsis  and i would be very hard pressed to try to figure out any kind of coherent plot out of all the mess of strands that went nowhere . on top of that  i don  t think the acrobatics outdid even those of any regular  a  team  episode . as for alba  yes  she is gorgeous  of course  but the fact that she only displays one single facial expression the entire movie  pouty and surly   makes me also get bored of her  gal wit an attitude  schtick pretty soon . you can count me out of this one  mr . cameron   
wilhelm grimm  alexander knox  stands trial for nazi crimes . three witnesses give evidence  father warecki  henry travers   wilhelm  s brother karl  erik rolf  and wilhelm  s former lover marja  marsha hunt   before wilhelm speaks in his own defense . the film ends after the court sums up . . . .  br    br   the film is told in three flashback segments as each of the witnesses takes the stand . the story is mostly set in a small polish village and memorable scenes include the village reaction to the death of anna  shirley mills   who wilhelm is accused of raping the treatment of the jewish villagers as they prepare to be moved to concentration camps and the church service where willie grimm  richard crane  denounces his nazi upbringing whilst mourning for his girlfriend janina  dorothy morris   marja  s daughter  after she has been shot at a brothel .  br    br   throughout the film  knox is unrepentant and is very convincing as a bitter  resentful and evil man . martha hunt has some powerful moments and matches him with her strength and henry travers is also very good in his role as a priest . this film delivers an effective story that stays with you once it has finished .  
awful  simply awful . it proves my theory about  star power .  this is supposed to be great tv because the guy who directed  battlestar  titanica is the same guy who directed this shlop schtock schtick about a chick . b o r i n g .  br    br   find something a thousand times more interesting to do  like watch your tv with no picture and no sound .      i rated it so high b  c there aren  t any negative scores in the imdb . com rating system .   br    br    zaphoid  br    br   ps my theory about  star power  is the more  star power  used in a show  the weaker the show is .  it  s called an indirect proportionality quality    star power   less  sp  makes for better quality  etc . another way to look at it is  more is less .    br    br    z  
this was a wonderful little american propaganda film that is both highly creative and openly discusses the nazi atrocities before the entire extent of the death camps were revealed . while late     and into     would reveal just how evil and horrific they were  this film  unlike other hollywood films to date  is the most brutally honest film of the era i have seen regarding nazi atrocities .  br    br   the film begins in a courtroom in the future   after the war is over  the film was made in       the war ended in may       . in this fictitious world court  a nazi leader is being tried for war crimes . wilhelm grimm is totally unrepentant and one by one witnesses are called who reveal grimm  s life since     in a series of flashbacks . at first  it appears that the film is going to be sympathetic or explain how grimm was pushed to join the nazis . however  after a while  it becomes very apparent that grimm is just a sadistic monster . these episodes are amazingly well done and definitely hold your interest and also make the film seem less like a piece of propaganda but a legitimate drama .  br    br   all in all  the film does a great job considering the film mostly stars second  tier actors . there are many compelling scenes and performances   especially the very prescient jewish extermination scene towards the end that can  t help but bring you close to tears . it was also interesting how around the same point in the film there were some super  creative scenes that use crosses in a way you might not notice at first . overall  it  s a must  see for history lovers and anyone who wants to see a good film .  br    br   fyi   this is not meant as a serious criticism of the film  but hitler was referred to as  that paper hanger  . this is a reference to the myth that hitler had once made money putting up wallpaper . this is in fact not true   previously he  d been a  starving artist   homeless person and served well in the german army in wwi . a horrible person  yes  but never a paper hanger   
what was an exciting and fairly original series by fox has degraded down to meandering tripe . during the first season  dark angel was on my weekly  must see  list  and not just because of jessica alba .  br    br   unfortunately  the powers  that  be over at fox decided that they needed to  fine  tune  the plotline . within  episodes of the season opener  they had totally lost me as a viewer  not even to see jessica alba   . i found the new characters that were added in the second season to be too ridiculous and amateurish . the new plotlines were stretching the continuity and credibility of the show too thin . on one of the second season episodes  they even had max sleeping and dreaming  where the first season stated she biologically couldn  t sleep .  br    br   the moral of the story  the one that hollywood never gets   if it works  don  t screw with it   br    br   azjazz  
never viewed this film until recently on tcm and found this story concerning poland and a small town which had to suffer with the nazi occupation of the local towns just like many other european cities for example norway . the first world war was over and people in this town were still suffering from their lost soldiers and the wounded which war always creates . alexander knox   wilhelm gimm   gorky park  returns from the war with a lost leg and was the former school teacher in town . he was brought up a german and was not very happy with the polish people and they in turn did not fully accept him either . as the hitler party grew to power wilhelm grimm desired to become a nazi in order to return and punish this small polish town for their treatment towards him which was really all in his mind . marsha hunt   marja pacierkowski    chloe  s prayer   played an outstanding role as a woman who lost her husband and was romantically involved with whilhelm gimm . there are many flashbacks and some very real truths about how the nazi destroyed people  s families and their entire lives . the cattle cars are shown in this picture with jewish people heading to the nazi gas chambers . if you have not seen this film  and like this subject matter  give it some of your time this film is very down to earth for a     film and a story you will not forget too quickly .  
a story of amazing disinterest kills  the psychic  over and over again . the characters and plot are completely uninteresting  as is fulci  s mad camera work  which is usually a redeeming factor in his films   and any grasp of suspense is nowhere to be found . it  s padded out to an insufferable degree   by the end  you won  t be clamoring with excitement but stricken with boredom  and  like me  maybe an uncontrollable urge to fall asleep  . jennifer o  neill  s performance deserves occupancy in a better movie . fulci gorehounds beware   there  s just not much going on in  the psychic .   br    br        
the only reason i give this movie an  out of   is because there are few movies  in my opinion  that are perfect . this little b picture is a taut story  well told . i  ve always been intrigued by alexander knox  but have seen him very few movies . here he plays wilhelm grimm  a sad little man who turns into a monster . he betrays everything and everybody without an ounce of remorse . the performance is one of the most chilling performances i  ve ever seen . since world war   actors who played nazis or other evil types in films have occasionally been nominated for oscars . i imagine that since this was made during the war  the academy felt like honoring a performance like this would have been like honoring evil . but knox puts in that kind of performance   a man so bitter and consumed by guilt that he thinks nothing of making others suffer . i still can  t get over it .  br    br   marsha hunt  who usually plays the filbert gibbet or social butterfly  is cast against type in probably the best performance i  ve ever seen her give  too . maybe not oscar worthy  but the best of her career . nothing against her i have enjoyed her in those  slight  roles she often played . but here she proves she up to the task of heavier drama .  br    br   if you like human drama stories  or stories about the fates of those who suffered at the hands of the nazis  i highly recommend this fine little film .  
average  and surprisingly tame  fulci giallo which means it  s still quite bad by normal standards  but redeemed by its solid build  up and some nice touches such as a neat time twist on the issues of visions and clairvoyance .  br    br   the genre  s well  known weaknesses are in full gear banal dialogue  wooden acting  illogical plot points . and the finale goes on much too long  while the denouement proves to be a rather lame or shall i say limp affair .  br    br   fulci  s ironic handling of giallo norms is amusing  though . yellow clues wherever you look .  br    br    out of   limping killers  
this one is tough to watch   as an earlier reviewer says . that is amazing considering the terrible films that came out right after wwii   particularly the  liberation  of dachau . it is clear that  as of the middle of the war  we knew exactly what was happening to the jews . the sequence that shows a  transport  is vivid  almost as if based upon an actual newsreel  the nazis liked to record their atrocities  . knox as the nazi is brilliant . he charts the course of a nazi career . that charting is particularly telling when contrasted with the reactions of other germans  at first laughing at hitler  then incredulous  and finally helpless . that contrast  however  permits us to believe in the  conversion  of one young nazi officer to an anti  nazi stance . that did happen  as witness the several attempts against hitler  most notably the staffenberg plot which occurred as this film was coming out . a strong film  effectively using flashbacks  accurately predicting the nuremburg trails and others that would occur once the war ended .  
i was really disappointed in this movie . those that voted this thing a   have a screw lose . the acting was ok  kinda wooden and cardboard . the ending was sorry . i just didn  t care for this at all .  br    br   no way could i recommend this mess .  
this movie was extremely funny  i would like to own this for my vintage collection of     s movie must see again list  i know this cast of characters  they are people that i have met over the years and that prompt me to search out this comedy  unfortunately this was never put to dvd or vhs . redd foxx always a clown of comedy  pearl baily a great match as his wife witty and sassy  norman a son with a secret not sure if he will have a future if it is out  dennis dugan crazy funny man . miss dobson hooker with a heart and little conscience . love  lust  strange family ties this movie qualifies for a come back encore performance  situation comedy with a mix of events as this could and should find its way as a remake  i do think finding cast would be extremely difficult maybe impossible  except jerry seinfeld playing dennis dugan role  this earmarks a couple of seinfeld episodes that also brought me back to norman is that you  keeping them in the closest was surely impossible as impossible to reform pretend hooker girl friend and infidelity of a parent . this movie was a wild ride advise of a cabbie  remind me of episode kramer takes advice of his caddie over his lawyer .  episode from seinfeld  the parents have there jaw dropping moment  fun over fun it is screaming bring me back .  
man the ending of this film is so terribly unwatchable and dated that my entire film aesthetics class laughed like crazy . now most of the rest of the film was okay . it had a few unintentionally funny scenes but had a few real good camera shots and editing . yes alderich is a great director who made flight of the phoenix and whatever happened to baby jane among others . the problem isn  t with direction  acting or anything technical . the movie is just destroyed in the third act . why  the murders  twists  turns and characters have all been revolving around nuclear material  what the heck was the writer smoking when he came up with that  the way it just comes out of nowhere may have been the biggest deus ex machina in history . for all the complaints about burton  s planet of the apes  the life of david gale or notorious i think this is the worst ending ever . what a let down .  
norman  is that you  was  this is all third hand  so take it with a grain of salt  adapted to an african american family from a jewish one  when it made the transition off stage and onto screen . also  it was one of those movies originally filmed in video  so the prints from the theater can  t have been that great . still  performances by redd foxx and others were pretty good .  br    br   what i wanted to tell you all is that the movie is a period piece it reflected the attitudes in the mid to early   s about finding out you have a gay son or daughter in your family . for that reason alone  it  s pretty interesting  if not a little  hollywood  . don  t believe me  check out lines about curtains  etc . very stereotypical . not too deep .  br    br   but . . . the movie really shines in a couple of areas . there is a side splitting scene when redd foxx is trying to find his wife  who  s run away with his brother    to ensenada in a souped up pinto . the phone conversation across the border is really memorable .  br    br   but . . . the best scene in the movie is when wayland flowers and madame did his  their gay routine that he used to do in gay bars and nightclubs . to the best of my knowledge  this is the only time that routine was filmed . and  it  s a slightly cleaned up and much shorter version  i  m told . still  it  s vintage madame  and shouldn  t be missed . people are still stealing lines from wayland the man was truly gifted . enjoy the movie   
this movie is just plain dumb .  br    br   from the casting of ralph meeker as mike hammer to the fatuous climax  the film is an exercise in wooden predictability .  br    br   mike hammer is one of detective fiction  s true sociopaths . unlike marlow and spade  who put pieces together to solve the mystery  hammer breaks things apart to get to the truth . this film turns hammer into a boob by surrounding him with bad guys who are . . . well  too dumb to get away with anything . one is so poorly drawn that he succumbs to a popcorn attack .  br    br   other parts of the movie are right out of the three stooges play book . velda  s dance at the barre  for instance  or the bad guy who accidentally stabs his boss in the back . and the continuity breaks are shameful frau blucher is running down the centerline of the road when the camera is tight on her lower legs but she  s way over the side when the camera pulls back for a wider shot . the worst break  however  precedes the popcorn attack . the bad guy stalking hammer passes a clock seconds after our hero  except the clock shows he was seven minutes behind our guy .  br    br   to be fair  there were some interesting camera angles and lighting  and the grand finale is so bad that it must been seen  which is the only reason that it gets two points out of   .  
i saw a trailer for this on afro promo  the collection of movie trailers for movies featuring african  americans . it looked like what it is a highly tendentious  wacky  comedy in which an uptight black man realizes that his son is gay . it would seem that redd foxx  s  rf  wife has left him for his brother  who works with him at  the store  back in phoenix . he has taken the bus to visit his son norman is los angeles .  br    br   so as rf arrives  norman  wearing nothing but powder  blue bikini shorts  gets out of his waterbed to answer the door . trying to buy time by making his elderly father take the stairs to what appears to be the   th floor  norman tries to wake his lover  who steadfastly refuses to budge . it was just to the point where i wrote  why won  t he wake up   when suddenly he does  and me and my friend  s jaws dropped for the first of many times as we are presented with our first glimpse of the blue  eyed  swirl  hairdoed garson  norman  s white live  in lover  who just  had the most faaaaaabulous dream  garson is a flaming queen of a type that can only be imagined as emerging from     l . a . he has dresses and a purse and big clunky jewelry  and seems to have modeled both his look and persona on carol brady from the brady bunch .  br    br   norman orders his lover to find somewhere else to stay during his father  s visit . garson goes to stay with waylon flowers  and madam answers the phone when norman calls .  br    br   so rf attempts to reach his wife in mexico . while he is on the phone  garson comes in to pack his dress and rf confronts him . with a burst of   s soul music meant to evoke his dawning revelation  but sounding more like we  re about to hear a very special track by the emotions   he realizes that his son is gay .  br    br   his first impulse is  i  ll kill him . i  ll kill him .  then rf goes on a long walk  wherein he cycles through all of the thoughts a confused parent might have  such as  maybe we toilet trained him too soon .  his thoughts are all triggered by something he sees on his walk  for instance a burly truck driver appearing just as he is contemplating what makes a real man . surprisingly  he goes to a bookstore and buys about eight books on homosexuality . this  it must be said  is about eight more books on homosexuality than my parents bought . he then goes straight to a park bench and reads them all   br    br   rf then hires audrey  a six  foot amazon prostitute  in this amazing fur thing  played by tamara dobson of cleopatra jones . he hired her for norman to try out heterosexuality  but this pisses norman and he storms out to go stay with his friend melody .  br    br   then garson comes over and offers to take rf out for the night . he commiserates over the loss of rf  s wife  and tells the tale of his own mother  who harbors an irrational prejudice against pilippinos because  she was molested at a luau .  they attend a long featured performance of wayon and madam  which culminates in madam violently bashing her head against the piano until her hair comes loose . once more  mouths were agape .  br    br   so it seems that  wouldn  t ya just know it  rf and garson have a wonderful evening together  you see  staid  traditional older black men just have to see the crappy  highly  effeminate entertainment of mega  queens in order to come around to all the gay world has to offer  it  s really just that simple  this still does not prevent rf from yelling  rape   when garson wakes him from a bad dream . it ends less predictably than you  d think .  br    br   there was so much that was just off . what is the basis of norman and garson  s relationship  they don  t seem to have any rapport  and norman has no qualms whatsoever about kicking garson out  and even when he comes around to stand up for himself  he never defends garson or talks about their relationship . there were some kind of sweetly quaint touches like rf going to buy all those books on homosexuality  and sitting right down on the park bench to read them  i like the idea that a parent would actually try to find something out about homosexuality  rather than just run off to get drunk or commiserate with his friends .  br    br   other than that  it  s kind of just what it seems like a little relic of a bygone era  an era in which some gay people thought that if uptight straight people just sat down and watched a drag marionette performance  we could all learn to love and understand one another  and because of the whole naivet of this thing  the extreme stereotypes and message  laden dialogue just come off as charmingly outdated  and provide a great deal of grist for discussion on how things have changed for gays in the past   years . i guess the only thing that seems offensive is the idea that gays  female friends are desperately in love with them  and are willing to get them drunk in order to sleep with  and by extension convert  them .  br    br         hey  check out cinema de merde  my website on bad and cheesy movies  with a few good movies thrown in  . you can find the url in my email address above .  
how did mike hammer live  in a penthouse with a golf bag stashed in the corner next to a big screen cathode ray tube tv and a snazzy fireplace  nah  he  d knock back a bottle of rye and twenty unfiltered camels on the couch or floor of his fly  specked office or in the stink of a lousy downtown la flop house  wiping the dried red crust and oil smeared mud off his face  that  s how . spillane wrote trash paperbacks  for sure  but how do you make it worse  give some desperate scheming producer a blank check because he thinks any film noir titled crap will sell at the box office  add some over  the  hill hot tomatoes and just generally screw  up the story  line by some retard  drugged out screen writer  that  s how   
say what you will about schmaltz . one beauty of this film is that it is not pro  american . it is a morality about some americans being called to high purpose and how they rose to the occasion . it is inspiring because it is about people of noble purpose .  br    br   to me  the most interesting part of the film is the education of fanny and david farrelly  bette davis  mother and brother  . as fanny says   we  ve been shaken out of the magnolias .   br    br   in today  s political climate where  led by a president who shamelessly lied to us and used     to bring out the absolute worst characteristics of human beings  we sunk to the level of the     murderers to seek blood  thirsty vengeance . it can  t all be blamed on mr . bush  after all  we allowed him to lead us in that direction and even re  elected him after his lies had been exposed . now  with complete justification  we americans are reviled throughout the world .  br    br   today  we watch this film with a new awareness that the rise to power of nazis in germany was not due to a flaw in the german character  but  a flaw in human beings that allows us to rationalize anything that will justify our committing immoral and heinous acts . i  m not comparing george bush to adolph hitler . but  i am pointing out how a leader can whip us up into a frenzy of terror  hatred  and hyper  nationalism to do despicable things .  br    br   sadly  the blackmailer  who will do whatever needs to be done for his own agrandizement  no matter how immoral  is most like the leaders of our country  those who support them  and those who have buried their heads so deep in the sand  that they can  t even be bothered to vote .  br    br   a film like watch on the rhine reminds us of what we once aspired to be  a force for the betterment of humanity  and that we have it in us to once again aspire to lofty goals .  br    br   geoff  
i grew up on scooby doo where are you  and i still love it . it is one of my favourite cartoons along with darkwing duck  talespin  peter pan and the pirates and tom and jerry . this show though is good for kids  the voices are good  don messick and casey kasem are perfect as scooby and shaggy   the theme tune is tolerable and it has some nice animation . however it is rather disappointing . i normally don  t mind scrappy  but when he appears to be like the main character  it gets annoying fast . complete with the catchphrase puppy power  scrappy is somewhat more annoying than usual . also half the gang are missing after the first year  somehow it didn  t feel like scooby doo . and the jokes and the story lines were in general lame and unoriginal  very little chasing monsters or unmasking the baddies . all in all  not as bad as shaggy and scooby dooget a clue  but this show is disappointing .     for the animation  voices  theme tune and the fact it is nice for kids . bethany cox  
even though this movie came out a year before i was born  it is definetely one of my favorite comedies . it stars redd foxx as a father who tries to understand his son  s homosexuality . like most parents  he doesn  t know a thing about what it means to be gay and has all of these stereotypical notions of what gay people are like . his son  norman  is now grown up and living on his own . when his father  ben  finds out that his son is gay  he pays his son a visit in hopes of changing him . the title comes from one of the funniest lines in the movie   when ben gets to norman  s apartments he runs into a female prostitute and thinks it  s his son in drag   norman . . . is that you    . the movie had me laughing from start to finish . redd foxx is great . although a lot of the content is stereotypical  i didn  t find anything offensive about the way the material was handled  and it even has a good ending . highly recommended .  
this is one of the worst films i  ve ever seen . i looked into it mainly out of a morbid curiosity since i loved the novel  and i wish i hadn  t . i turned it off after a little less than an hour  though i wanted to turn it off after five minutes . i wish i had . it disregards the novel a lot and changes all sorts of factors . unless the film managed to redeem itself in the last   or so minutes  which would be impossible  i would in no way recommend this . its an insult to one of the greatest writers of the   th century . i don  t think  as many people say that it is  that  the bell jar  is necessarily unfilmable  but this particular rendition could have been done without . i  d almost like to see this one day in the hands of a director and screenwriter who can do it justice .  
a genuine screaming situation comedy farce of the mid   s this film was a huge hit for about  minutes and disappeared off the face of the earth . i am constantly amazed at some comedy films that are a big release one week and then vanish high anxiety  the cheap detective  the black bird  don  t look now we  re being shot at . . . . . . . . . . and have no profile at all today . norman was the comedy of the month in whenever     and everyone seemed to see it  laugh about it and then never ever mention it ever again . famous for being shot on videotape and transferred to film  an experiment at the time  norman is a raucous politically incorrect closet slamming farce that the farrelly brothers should look at remaking today . if they had made it in the first place there would be no complaints about its content and slant either . it is very funny and yes very rude and hilariously all wrong . just as it should be . in fact as a groovy     film with all those horror colours and clothes it actually works better today .  
i rented this movie from the library  it  s hard to find for good reason  purely out of curiosity . i  m a huge plath fan and this movie was a complete disappointment . the bell jar       is by far one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . the script is horrible  not because it strays from the original novel text  but because it strays without focus or intent . the scenes are ill  constructed and don  t lead the viewer anywhere . what  s with the hokey voice over of plath  s poetry  lady lazarus has little do with greenwood  s situation plath  s poetry was completely misused . marilyn hassett is completely unbelievable as esther greenwood  or any   year old for that matter  partly due to casting  she was   during filming  the age plath was when she died  and partly due to the fact that she can  t act . hassett is all emotion  no craft  no skill . the direction is mediocre the director simply covers what  s there  which isn  t much . the only reason i  m giving the film a  is because  isn  t an option . sorry sylvia  you  ll have to wait for someone else to adapt your fine work into something more fitting .  
melvyn douglas once more gives a polished performance in which  this time  he inhabits the role of a detective who can  t place love before duty and adventure  and the warmly beautiful joan blondell  who  far from being illiterate  as one reviewer suggested  wrote a novel about her early life  is as enjoyable as ever as his ever  suffering sweetheart . it  s almost a screwball comedy  almost a thin man  type movie  almost a series  i guess  that didn  t quite make it to a sequel . it doesn  t quite reach classic status  but it has all the ingredients for a fun   minutes with an episodic but pacey script  fine character actors  and direction that keeps it all moving fast enough so that you nearly don  t notice that williams  douglas  isn  t exactly columbo when it comes to detecting . i wish there were more films like this .  
jameson parker and marilyn hassett are the screen  s most unbelievable couple since john travolta and lily tomlin . larry peerce  s direction wavers uncontrollably between black farce and roman tragedy . robert klein certainly think it  s the former and his self  centered performance in a minor role underscores the total lack of balance and chemistry between the players in the film . normally  i don  t like to let myself get so ascerbic  but the bell jar is one of my all  time favorite books  and to watch what they did with it makes me literally crazy .  
the  amazing mr . williams  stars melvyn douglas  who did five films in      one of which was ninotchka with garbo . his co  star was joan blondell  maxine   who also did five films that year  three of which they made together  douglas is lt . williams  and he and his co  horts are presented with a dead body  and they must figure out what really happened . viewers will recognize his co  workers  the actors  clarence kolb  donald macbride  don beddoe  always played positions of authority . . . senators  bank presidents  policemen . this who  dunnit has a flair of comedy to it   the policemen are always throwing jabs at each other  and even williams and his girlfriend are battling verbally . some fun gags  williams even takes the man they arrested along on a date with his girlfriend . there  s a lot of fun stuff in here  so get past the slow beginning and wait for the funnier stuff later on . don  t want to give away any spoilers  so you  ll have to catch it on turner classic movies . director alexander hall made mostly comedies  and was reportedly engaged to lucy at some point .  
the golden era of disney cartoons was dying by the time the end of the   s . this show quack pack shouldn  t even be considered a ducktales spin off because the show barely had anything to do with ducktales . it  s about a teen  aged huey  dewey and louie as they make trouble for their uncle donald and talk in hip  hop lingo and they are fully dressed unlike in ducktales . i prefer the little adventurous nephews from ducktales . there are humans in duckburg and the ducks are the only animals living in duckburg . there  s no references of scrooge mcduck . the stories are repetitive  the plot is boring but the animation is good . if you want lots of slapstick humor  i recommend this to you . if you want a better disney show watch  darkwing duck  or  ducktales  .  
melvyn douglas and joan blondell co  star in  the amazing mr . williams   a     mystery  comedy that  s quite good  although forgotten  probably due to the number of incredible films that came out in     .  br    br   douglas plays a talented police detective married to his job  while his girlfriend waits for a wedding that is constantly postponed . what happens in this film is no exception  he  s called to a murder scene just as he  s about to walk down the aisle yet again .  br    br   both stars were excellent at comedy  worked together well  and often   and help make this battle of the sexes fun . edward brophy and donald mcbride are on hand for excellent support .  br    br   as you can read in other reviews  melvyn douglas doesn  t make much of a woman .  br    br   entertaining if a little on the long side .  br    br   one of the comments here trashed melvyn douglas  one of our greatest actors . he literally floated effortlessly through dozens of films as the other man and the best friend before coming into his own in films as an old man . he wasn  t lazy  but rather  a very hard  working actor  who made it look easy  who had a broadway career simultaneously with his film career . he just wasn  t cast as a leading man in films or given very challenging roles under the studio system . i challenge anyone to see his devastating performances in  hud  and  i never sang for my father  and call him lazy or make reference to his smirk .  
saw this film ran in the wee hours on tcm . several problems with the film were apparent from what i saw . first  the adults did not age when the children did for   years . several parts of the film had continuity problems  for some reason the actor who played the youngest son looked like the oldest when the   years passed .  br    br   the copy i saw was missing about   minutes or so  at least a huge gap with black screen appeared . it is too bad  because even though the script left something to be desired  bergman  russell both did fine in the film in their roles . it is a shame the large chunk is missing  but what is here is watchable .  br    br   i just wish it was all intact . the script makes little sense in that bergman  s character is sent away when the kids are small but then brought back to take care of them when they are adults  some of the time lines don  t make sense either . there is a stock market crash that resembles     but the kids grow up to fight in world war  . all the acting by the support folks in this film is fine . just wonder what was in the   gap of film i could not see as it was missing .  
the only other review of this movie as of this date really trashes the stars and the movie itself . i usually like to read the user comments to give me an idea of what to expect from a movie i don  t know much about . it  s unfortunate when there aren  t many comments for a certain tile  because when there is only one review and it unreasonably trashes the movie and cast  you don  t get an idea of what to expect . i read the review before watching this title and i don  t know where all the venom for this movie and the stars came from . douglas and blondell were both very talented and attractive people who usually delivered  even when the material was not the greatest . i found the movie and the performances fun and enjoyable . it isn  t one of the great all  time classics  but a pleasant and funny diversion  much more than you can hope for in most newer movies . if you are a fan of these stars  you will not be disappointed .  
by     columbia was a full  fledged major studio and could produce a movie with the same technical polish as mgm  paramount or warners . that  s the best thing that could be said about  adam had four sons   a leaden soap opera with almost terminally bland performances by ingrid bergman  top  billed for the first time in an american film  and warner baxter . bergman plays a frenchwoman  this was the era in which hollywood thought one foreign accent was as good as another  hired as governess to baxter  s four sons and staying on  with one interruption caused by the stock  market crash of      until the boys are grown men serving in world war i . just about everyone in the movie is so goody  good it  s a relief when susan hayward as the villainess enters midway through  she  s about the only watchable person in the movie even though she  s clearly channeling bette davis and vivien leigh it  s also the first in her long succession of alcoholic roles  but the script remains saccharine and the ending is utterly preposterous . no wonder bergman turned down the similarly plotted  the valley of decision  four years later .  
what was there about     that helped produce so many excellent hollywood films  well  whatever it was  the magic may also be found in this columbia picture . it  s a long forgotten screwball comedy that turner classic movies has begun to show .  maltin  s movie book does not contain it .  in nearly every department  amazing mr . williams is a jewel .  br    br   it  s the story of a first  rate police detective who can never find the time to marry his intended . as the wedding bells are about to ring  he gets called to the scene of a murder . the lady in question has to learn the hard way not only to enjoy the pursuit of criminals but to belong to the police force . there are a lot of laughs in the process .  br    br   melvyn douglas proved again that he had few peers in light comedy . joan blondell was at the peak of her career and is a delight . edward brophy and donald mcbride are hilarious .  br    br   the film goes on a bit too long  but who cares  the screwball comedies are always able to entertain  and this film belongs right in there with the best .  
you  d think that with ingrid bergman and warner baxter that this film would have been a lot better . sadly  the film suffers from difficult to believe characters as well as a major plot problem that makes some of the characters seem brain  addled .  br    br   the film begins with ingrid bergman coming to work for the stoddard family . everything is so very peachy and swell   the family adores bergman and things couldn  t be more perfect . well  that is until the mother  fay wray  dies  the stock market crashes in      wiping out the family  s fortune  and bergman is forced to go back home to france . this portion of the film is a bit sticky sweet  but not bad .  br    br   later  after the family  s fortunes have improved  bergman returns . the four boys are now all grown and there isn  t really a conceivable reason why they  d hire her once again as a governess . but  briefly  everything is swell once again . but  when wwi occurs  the four all go to war   gosh  in the midst of this  one of the sons  david  brings home his new wife  susan hayward  . miss hayward  s character is as black and white as the others  though while they are all good and swell  she  s obviously a horny she  devil . to make things worse  she comes to live in the family home while david is at war .  br    br   now here is where the movie gets really  really dumb   brain  achingly dumb . hayward begins an affair with one of david  s brothers but when the father sees a silhouette of the lovers  bergman enters the room from another entrance and pretends that it was her  not hayward with jack  why   why would any sane person do this to save the butt of an obviously evil and conniving woman  this was exactly the sort of excuse bergman needed to get rid of the gutter  snipe once and for all  this is just a case of lousy writing and made me mad . . . and most likely did the same to the audiences back in     .  br    br   the rest of the movie consists of failed opportunity after failed opportunity for hayward  s evilness to be exposed . this just flies against common sense and made the film a silly melodramatic mess . as expected  however  the truth eventually comes out and everyone is swell once again    happy to be one big loving wonderful family minus the slut  hayward .  br    br   the film suffers because of poor writing . hayward  s affair made no sense   at least in how it was handled . and  having characters who are so gosh  darn good or evil  with nothing in between  sinks this movie to the level of a second  rate soap . the only thing that saves it at all is the acting    they tried as best they could with a turgid script . suffice to say that the columbia pictures writers who did this film should have been slapped with a dead chicken   
delightful minor film  juggling comedy and detective  romance and drama genres as nimbly as lt kenny williams  melvyn douglas  balances his devotion to his girl maxine carroll  joan blondell  and his duty to the force as an ace detective .  br    br   this hodge  podge may not appeal to all viewers today  but in its day  it had something to offer every member of the movie  going family  and the resolution to the rather tired feeling  versus  duty plot is original and refreshing  and well worth the wait .  br    br    the amazing mr . williams  contains what must be among the most outrageous blind dates in film history  and its bright comic repartee sparkles . ludicrously frocked  melvyn douglas delivers some of the best lines  i  d walk down main street in a turkish towel before i  d let any woman control my life   and the effervescent joan blondell lets her barbs fly with typical aplomb  good grief  you look like my aunt nellie    br    br   the crime  solving here is standard fare  although a fine cast of character actors helps bring the material to life .  br    br   from today  s vantage point   the amazing mr . williams  is perhaps most interesting for its insightful commentary on gender as a socially defined construct  all the more malleable for its seemingly rigid boundaries . while much of the gender commentary takes place in a superficial battle of the sexes  at times it is both subtle and penetrating  playing out not only in some of the finer details of the film  but in the battle of genres that reaches its culmination in the final scene .  
i just saw adam had four sons for the first time and the thing that struck me was that i believe that the model used was theodore roosevelt and his four sons . they were approximately the same ages as the four boys in this film . warner baxter in his portrayal of adam stoddard talked about the same values and family tradition that you would have heard from our   th president without some of the more boisterous aspects of tr  s character .  br    br   like tr all of the stoddard sons serve in world war i  in this case though the youngest only loses an eye instead of being killed .  br    br   but what if a female minx gets into this all male household and disrupts things  that  s susan hayward  s job here . in one of her earliest prominent roles  hayward is a flirtatious amoral girl who marries one son  has an affair with another  and starts making a play for the third . it  s an early forerunner of the kind of a part that later brought her an oscar in i want to live .  br    br   i suppose that with as powerful a model of decorum as theodore roosevelt was and warner baxter portrays  everyone is afraid to tell father what  s going on . the sons and also their governess ingrid bergman . here  s where the plot gets a little silly . bergman is introduced to us as a governess hired by baxter and wife fay wray for their kids . wray dies and baxter suffers some financial reversals in business . bergman has to be let go . she goes back to france and years later comes back to the family when the kids are grown up .  br    br   i  m sorry  but i can  t believe the kids need a governess now . hayward is quite right when she confronts her that it wasn  t the kids who brought her back . in the normal course of things  bergman would have gotten on with her life .  br    br   one of the previous reviewers said that a quarter to a third of the film i have was edited out . possibly that could be the reason for the many plot holes we have .  br    br   it  s too bad that ingrid and susan could not have done another film together in the fifties when hayward was at her heights and bergman had just made a comeback .  br    br   susan hayward is the main reason to see adam had four sons . and i  m willing to believe that a good deal of ingrid was left on the cutting room floor .  
this movie is very good . the screenplay is enchanting . but meryl streep is most impressive . her performance is excellent . she brings me to go into the heart of her role .  
i was very excited to see that they had made a movie out of my favorite book ever . i didn  t realize it was disney until it was too late . i was appalled by the many omissions of crucial parts of the story . it was as if someone made a movie out of a  th grader  s book report on the novel . meg did well in school and neither her nor her father wore glasses . mrs murray  meg  s mother  was not portrayed as much of a scientist at all they left out her kitchen laboratory and replaced it with the internet . and that  s just the beginning . by halfway through the movie i found myself shouting at the screen  much to the dismay of the other people who were watching the movie who hadn  t read the book . i wish i had more thumbs so i could give four thumbs down for this one . the only good thing i can say is that for a person who has not read the book  this movie is kinda alright .  
this is one of those movies that made me feel strongly for the need of making movies at all . generally speaking  i am a fan of movies based on worthy true stories . and this one is great  besides meryl  s performance which has gained a lot of recognition and praise  the movie  s greatest asset is the story it is based on . the riveting tale of a couple who suffer social and legal torture  after having undergone enormous emotional pain at the unexpected and brutal death of their infant child is really an eye  opening fable that exposes the inhumane side of fellow humans  and uncovers the barbarism of a very refined and lawful society . it is interesting to see how people who consider themselves as kind and intelligent people  the emotional jury ladies in the movie for example  are in reality nothing more than selfish dupes who would  for their dogmatic beliefs and prejudices  shut their brains to any deliberation and contemplation even in the light of all facts pointing very clearly against their opinions . the other face of the so  called  civilized  society that the movie exposes is the apathy to the pain of fellow human beings  needless to say  this is very general  even though this specific tale unfolds in australia   that goes as far as becoming a true cruelty . must see if you are willing to take something serious and perhaps thought  provoking .  
first of all  i am a huge fan of madeleine l  engle and was so excited to see that a movie was made for one of my favorite books  a wrinkle in time . this movie  however  ruined that excitement for me . i am sorry  but meg was described in the book as having fizzy curls and glasses and as being considered very uncool . in the movie  she has straight hair and no glasses and is the  sporty type  with a deep voice . this is not how madeleine l  engle pictured meg to be at all . in fact  meg was based on madeleine  s character and depicted the way she felt when she was young . this is just one major example how the book and movie are different . so i would say  if you want to watch it for entertainment purposes  watch it but if you are a devoted fan of madeleine l  engle and her wrinkle in time series  i would suggest skipping this movie .  
i think this movie was probably a lot more powerful when it first debuted in      though nowadays it seems a bit too preachy and static to elevate it to greatness . the film is set in       just before the entry of the us into the war . paul lukas plays the very earnest and decent head of his family . he  s a german who has spent seven years fighting the nazis and avoiding capture . bette davis is his very understanding and long  suffering wife who has managed to educate and raise the children without him from time to time . as the film begins  they are crossing the border from mexico to the usa and for the first time in years  they are going to relax and stop running .  br    br   the problem for me was that the family was too perfect and too decent   making them seem like obvious positive propaganda instead of a real family suffering through real problems . while this had a very noble goal at the time  it just seems phony today . in particular  the incredibly odd and extremely scripted dialog used by the children just didn  t ring true . it sounded more like anti  fascism speeches than the voices of real children . they were as a result extremely annoying   particularly the littlest one who came off  at times  as a brat . about the only ones who sounded real were bette davis and her extended american family as well as the scumbag romanian living with them  though he had no discernible accent  .  br    br   it  s really tough to believe that the ultra  famous dashiel hammett wrote this dialog  as it just doesn  t sound true to life . the story was based on the play by his lover  lillian hellman . and  the basic story idea and plot is good  . . . but the dialog is just bad at times . overall  an interesting curio and a film with some excellent moments  . . . but that  s really about all .  
after the success of scooby  doo  where are you  they decided to give scooby and shaggy their own show . but unfortunately  they added a new character that spoilt scooby  doo success forever . they invented a new show with a new title  scooby and scrappy  doo . it was scrappy  doo that made this show a complete failure  probably for both adults and kids together . scrappy was the stupid brave puppy that always looked ready to beat someone up . scooby and shaggy were getting scared of the villain  and they were also trying to stop him . scooby  doo doesn  t need any little annoying bastard puppy nephews . if they wanted scooby  doo to be more successful  they should have either killed or never thought up scrappy . this was just poor  maybe your kids will prefer it   
i believe they were telling the truth the whole time . . u cant trust anything in the wild . . . they family went through hell . those poor boys too young to understand what was going on around them . but still having to deal with the rumours . as well as dealing with the lose of their little sister . i cant believe this case went on for so long . seems like the jury couldn  t see the truth  even if it bit them on the ass . i feel for this family  and if i could let them know i hate what has happened to them  i would . i have no idea what they went through  i cant even imagine it . after watching this movie  i was in tears  and had to check on my little girl in bed . . . i think everyone should watch this .  
we all know that some of the greatest movies of all time were based on books . while not particularly accurate adaptations  these movies were nonetheless excellent films . some great examples are the harry potter series  the lord of the rings trilogy  and  to a lesser extent  almost every disney film ever made . however  i must regretfully announce that a wrinkle in time is not one of those movies . not only does it fail to meet some of the most basic expectations of madeleine l  engle  s fan base  it manages to defy the standards of scriptwriting  acting  special effects and  ultimately  respect for the audience . mind you  i  m not trying to be mean on the contrary  i went into this affair with an open mind . i figured that a made  for  t . v . movie would make up for its lack of razzle  dazzle in its script . after all  the star wars spin  off ewoks was decent  if a little silly . come to think of it  the original star wars was made on  a lunch money budget   and look where it took george lucas  however  from the first scene onward  disappointment started enveloping me as if i  d gotten too close to the black thing while tessering .  br    br   the same way greedo shooting first became the symbol of the star wars special edition of      a disaster of monumental proportions involving a disgruntled director making several hideous changes to a beloved classic   mrs . whatsit has officially become my personal symbol for the confusion and stupidity that is a wrinkle in time . the reason for this is the fact that she has been mutated beyond belief . aside from the slightly controversial decision of casting alfre woodard  star trek first contact and radio  as our favorite star  turned  mentor  the filmmakers decided it appropriate to introduce her as a crow . that  s right  a crow . moreover  the heavenly centaurion form of this greatly beloved character has been hacked at by what looks to be a demented eight  year  old the majestic half  man  half  horse with wings has become a huge human head with a creepy smile mounted awkwardly on the bowlegged body of a horse that happens to be sporting a pair of wings in the middle . had i been five  this would have psychologically traumatized me for life . the worst part is the fact that when it spoke  it was shown from behind so as to avoid the responsibility to lip sync  resulting in a scene that was spent looking at the back of its head and seeing a single  unmoving cheek  thus rendering the piece of special effects less believable than e . t .  br    br   having gotten the most painful part out of the way  i must go on to the tear  inducing one the characters  the acting  and the story . i  personally  had always imagined meg to look somewhat similar to moaning myrtle from the harry potter films plain hair  glasses  and a figure most supermodels would find laughable . she was always a slightly anxious  humorously pessimistic math genius who quite simply could not have cared less about the imports and exports of nicaragua . in the film  she is an unpleasant know  it  all for whom i have no sympathy whatsoever . in fact  she makes me feel sorry for poor mr . jenkins  her school principal  who continuously has to deal with her . calvin  the kind  intelligent kid who everyone thinks is a jock has becomea jock  the irony is horrible . as for the memorable happy medium  they took the pleasant old woman who liked to look at happy things and replaced her with a being who is  above gender  and likes to look at  funny  things  such as girls falling off of swings . the only three people i can think of who did a decent job are charles wallace  mrs . whatsit and the man with red eyes  nicknamed  the dude with red eyes  due to his complete reinvention as a character  .  br    br   the story is a mess . a good comparison to this aspect of the movie is harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban  which didn  t do a good job of retelling the story found in the book  yet kept the sole of the original work . here  the sole of the book is having a pleasant chat with hades down in the underworld  apparently unaware that its body is being destroyed . as the dark lord complements the sole on how well it showed that truth has to be felt and not seen  the flat  nosed wookies of ixchel  who replace the wondrous beings who hold aunt beast among their ranks  tear the spine up . as the god of the dead notes how subtle the terror of the earth  like camazotz was  the torn pages are scattered in the sandstorm and lost in the darkness of the land of evil .  br    br   i am very sorry that this film exists . i do not believe that the actors were genuinely bad . it  s the way the characters are written that ruins it . a wrinkle in time deserved to be adapted by lawrence kasdan  directed by george lucas or steven spielberg  enhanced at industrial light and magic  scored by john williams  given its sound at skywalker sound  edited by thx and marketed by twentieth century fox . in its current state  the film is unworthy to be shown to self  respecting people . even madeleine l  engle thought it was bad . the book was good  the film was bad  and mrs . whatsit was ugly .  br    br   score  .      if i could   br    br   pros  br    br   they got the names right .  br    br   cons  br    br   it had horrible problems with the cliffs notes level of adaptation  script  acting and special effects  not to mention lack of evidence of ever having read the book . oh  and the main cover  poster has a picture of the three main characters riding a flying horse over a castle . some might say that this symbolizes high adventure . i say it symbolizes the irresponsibility of the cover artist who didn  t even bother to photoshop meg  s arm on properly .  
when the chamberlain family is camping near ayers rock  australia  lindy chamberlain  meryl streep  sees her baby being dragged out of their tent by a dingo and then begins an ordeal that no one should have to experience . for it seems like the dingo story is not believed by the public or the press  and the whole thing turns into a circus . lindy doesn  t help matters either because she won  t play to the jury or courtroom  she  s only herself  and she  s a tough nut to crack  so of course everyone thinks she  s guilty because there  s a piece of evidence that hasn  t come to light . sam neill is excellent as michael chamberlain  a seventh  day adventist pastor  who has doubts about his faith and perhaps about his wife . it  s good  or bad  to see that people are just as prejudiced and stupid elsewhere as they are in the states too  because the australian public doesn  t believe the story and the media only fans the flames . eventually  lindy is found guilty and sent to prison for a life of hard labor  but years later  a missing piece of evidence shows up and she  s freed  but not until after the family  s life is basically ruined . a heart  breaking story  very well done  a bit long but well worth seeing .  out of   .  
this movie barely followed the story line of the movie . all of the fascinating points in the book didn  t even exist in the movie . they ended up turning it into a cheesy  tween  disney movie  crush  story between meg and calvin . it was so bad it should have been hillary duff playing the part  or one of the likes . this movie was nothing more than an insult to the intelligence and mysticism of the book . i can  t believe disney could even get away with making such a cheap  basic rendition . if you  ve ever read the book  i think you would agree it could easily be made into a movie of  lord of the rings  equivalence . this movie should have never been able to use the title of a wrinkle in time . poorly done .  
religious bigotry is rampant everywhere . australia is not immune to it .  br    br   a dingo snatched a baby and the mother was tried and sent to prison for having  killed  her own baby . i don  t mean to spoil the story for you  but you need to know the basics before getting knee  deep in what caused this woman to find herself inside a prison .  br    br   buy or rent the movie and discover how deep  seated human hatred of those who are different continues to thrive around the globe .  br    br   this is a very moving motion picture with a terrific cast of actors .  br    br   both meryl streep  with her famous aussie accent  and sam neill  whose accent is his native  born pronunciation  are outstanding . those with supporting roles are also quite good .  br    br   you will remember this movie for many years .  br    br   see it   
i only recently found out that madeleine l  engle  s novel had been turned into a tv movie by disney and ordered the dvd . the book was a favorite of mine when i was a child and i read it several times .  br    br   despite some of the child actors not resembling the characters as described in the novel  the murry family is well cast  with a likable  if too pretty  meg at the center and a charles wallace who is convincing as a child prodigy without becoming irritating .  br    br   the first half hour is promising enough  doing a good job in establishing the relationships between the lead characters and at setting the scene . unfortunately as soon as the non  human characters appear the adaptation starts to unravel and once the children leave earth the whole thing falls apart . alfre woodward is too youthful looking and much too regal as the eccentric mrs whatsit  think miriam margolis or joan plowright instead  and kate nelligan face is so mask like and inexpressive  she must have visited faye dunaway  s plastic surgeon in recent years . for some reason they make her mrs which look like glinda from the wizard of oz when she should have resembled a benign wicked witch of the west .  br    br   in the end what lets this down most badly are the terrible special effects and art direction . i understand that this is a tv movie  but the cgi looked like something that could have been done   years earlier . mrs whatsits  centaur incarnation is a disaster as is the chewbacca like suit for aunt beast  who in the novel is a velvety  elegant creature instead of the ungainly big foot like thing shown here . i could go on and on  nearly every artistic choice is a disaster  presumably because there wasn  t a large enough budget to do this justice  but also because the design work lacks imagination and good judgement .  br    br   this really would have needed the sense of wonder spielberg brought to his early films . what a shame that with the current popularity of adapting children  s literary fantasy series nobody thought of adapting a wrinkle in time and it  s sequels for the big screen  giving it the scope it deserves .  
this review contains spoilers for those who are not aware of the details of the true story on which this movie is based .  br    br   the right to be presumed  innocent until proven guilty  is a basic entitlement of anyone in a civilised society but according to fred schepisi  s partisan but sadly convincing story of a famous australian murder trial  it was not granted to lindy chamberlain  accused of killing her baby . the story suggesting her innocence was unlikely  a dingo was alleged to have taken it   but those implying her guilt even more so  and there was no solid evidence against her . but the australian public was transfixed by the possibility of her guilt  and the deeply religious chamberlains appeared creepy when appearing in the media  and the media themselves  of course  were anything but innocent in this process  . so although cleared by an initial inquest  they were later prosecuted and convicted . although chamberlain was eventually released  this shamefully only followed the discovery of new evidence  proving  their innocence  something no defendants should have to produce .  br    br    a cry in the dark  is well acted throughout  especially by meryl streep  who puts on a convincing australian accent  at least to this pom  s ears  and manages keep lindy sympathetic  to us  while still conveying how she managed to become a national hate figure . the scenes where she actually gets imprisoned are simple but heartbreaking  because we believe in the characters as real .  br    br   regardless of the accuracy of its portrayal of this story  something i can  t comment on   the wider theme of this film will ring horribly true to anyone with a passing knowledge of the british popular press and its ruthless habit of appealing directly to their readership  s least charitable instincts . no legal system will ever be perfect but the current cry against asylum seekers in contemporary british tabloids comes from exactly the same pit of evil as the voices that put lindy chamberlain away . i  m not a religious man  but the bible still contains some killer lines  if you  ll excuse the pun  .  judge not lest ye be judged  is one of them .  
i have never read the book  a wrinkle in time  . to be perfectly honesty  after seeing the movie  do i really want to  well  i shouldn  t be reviewing this movie i  ll start off with that . next i  ll say that the tv movie is pretty forgettable . do you know why i say that  because i forgot what happens in it . i told you it was forgettable . to be perfectly honest  no tv movie will ever be better than  merlin  .  br    br   how do i describe a tv movie  i have never written a review for one before . well  i  ll just say that they usually have some celebrities . a wrinkle in time includes only one . alfre woodard  or woodward  i am not sure   the oscar winner .  br    br   the film has cheesy special effects  a mildly interesting plot  scenes that make you go  wtf  . the movie is incredibly bad and it makes you go  wtf  . what did i expect  it  s a tv movie . they usually aren  t good . as is this one . a wrinkle in time is a waste of time and a big time waster . to top it off  you  ll most likely forget about it the second it  s over . well  maybe not the second it  s over . but within a few minutes .  br    br   a wrinkle in time    
a cry in the dark  br    br   a cry in the dark was a film that i anticipated would offer a phenomenal performance from meryl streep and a solid  if unremarkable film . this assumption came from the fact that aside from streep  s best actress nomination  the movie received little attention from major awards groups .  br    br   little did i anticipate that a cry in the dark would be such a riveting drama  well  constructed on every level . if you ask me  this is an under  appreciatted classic .  br    br   the film opens rather slowly  letting the audience settle into the chamberlain  s at a relaxed pace and really notice that  at the core  they are an incredibly loving  simple family . fred schepisi  the director  selects random moments to capture of a family on vacation that give a looming sense of the oncoming tragedy  while also showing the attentive bliss with which lindy  streep  and michael  sam neill  chamberlain care for their children .  br    br   while the famous line  a dingo took my baby   has become somewhat of a punchline these days  the movie never even comes close to laughable . the actual death of azaria is horrifyingly captured . it is subtle and realistic  leaving the audience horrified and asking questions .  br    br   the majority of the film takes place in courtrooms and focuses on the chamberlain  s continuous fight to prove their innocence to the press and the court  which suspects lindy of murder .  br    br   the fact that it is clear to us from the beginning that they are innocent makes the tense trials all the more gripping . as an audience member  i was fully invested in the chamberlain  s plight . . . and was genuinely angered and hurt and saddened when they were made to look so terrible by the media . but at the same  the media  public opinion is understandable . i loved the way the media was by no means made to be sympathetic  but they always had valid reasons to hold their views .  br    br   the final line of the film is very profound and captures perfectly the central element that makes this film so much different from other courtroom dramas .  br    br   in terms of performances  the only ones that really matter in this film are those of streep and neill . . . and they deliver in every way . for me  this ranks as one of  if not    meryl streep  s best performances . for all her mastery of different accents  which of course are very impressive in their own right   streep never loses the central heart and soul of her characters . i find this to be one of streep  s more subtle performances  and she hits it out of the park . and neill  an actor who has never impressed me beyond being charismatic and appealing in jurassic park  is a perfect counterpoint to streep  s performance . from what i  ve seen  this is undoubtedly neill  s finest work to date . it  s a shame he wasn  t recognized by the academy with a leading actor nomination to match streep  s . . . b  c the two of them play of each other brilliantly .  br    br   more emotionally gripping than most films  and also incredibly suspenseful . . . a cry in the dark far exceeded my expectations . i highly recommend that people who only know of the movie as the flick where meryl screams  the dingo took my baby   watch the film and see just how much more there is to a cry in the dark then that one line .  br    br   . . . a . . .  
i was browsing through netflix and stumbled upon this movie . having fond memories of the book as a child  i decided to check this out . this is a movie that you should really pass on .  br    br   it is just not worth seeing . it is very boring and uninteresting . i feel that it would even be that way to small children . it has no magic that the book contains . this movie is not horrible  but you will just find yourself not caring ten minutes into it .  br    br   there are moments that just come off as weird . the witch character is not very good . the family acts like it is no big deal that these odd things are happening . i know this is a kids movie  so as an older audience we must not look too deeply in things  but the whole movie just feels like it was written and produced by people who have never had any movie making experience before .  br    br   the dvd that i had began skipping in the final moments of the film  and instead of trying to fix it i just turned it off and sent it back to netflix . i really didn  t care how it finished . skip this film and read the book instead .  
fascinating movie  based on a true story  about an australian woman  lindy chamberlain  meryl streep  accused of killing her baby daughter . she insists that a dingo took her baby  but the story is highly suspicious . the film is actually about the media circus that took place around the case  the way australians interpreted what was presented in the media  and the lynch mob mentality that ultimately led to the woman  s conviction  based on barely any hard evidence . i love films that question the media  and also films that take a hard look on how people are railroaded by the justice system . i  ve always thought that juries ought to be showed   angry men before they go through with their duties . it  s not  as has often been said  a liberal movie  but a clinical look at how we as human beings interpret events based so much on our prejudices and a desire for revenge . a cry in the dark is likewise clinical . schepisi is careful not to make the film at all melodramatic . some may find the film boring or dry  but i found it engaging .  
i have loved this book since my  th grade teacher read it to our class many years ago . and i have read it to every one of my  rd and  th grade classes over my past   years of teaching . supposedly a movie had been made in the past  but i  d never been able to locate it . well  my students and i were all so excited when we heard that disney had brought madeline l  engle  s excellent book to the screen .  br    br   as i watched the movie  i had the highest of hopes . as the film went on  i became more and more despondent . they had botched it badly  never had i been so let down by a favorite book  to  film adaption . i understand that films can  t stick strictly to a book  but they don  t need to change things for the sake of it  most  if not all  of departures from the book were totally unnecessary   br    br   i kept my opinion to myself at first and just listened to my students discuss the movie . well  it wasn  t just me . nearly every single one felt the same way   cheated out of the great story that madeline l  engle had so skillfully created   br    br   why  they wondered  did aunt beast look like chewbacca from the star wars movie  why couldn  t calvin  s hair have been red  why did mrs . which not have the proper  witch  like  outfit that was such a clever play on her name  basically  we all wondered   why did nearly every single detail have to be changed   br    br   i have always dreamed of how wonderful a movie this book would make . i am still waiting for that movie . this one was a wrinkle in time in only the broadest of senses . i  m going to write to peter jackson and try to convince him to take on the task   
in august     the disappearance of baby azaria chamberlain and the pursuant trial of her parents lindy and michael for the alleged murder of the child caused an uproar across what was then a very angry nation . the media and the public had already tried and convicted the accused couple and were baying for blood . what followed was a gross miscarriage of justice .  br    br   michael and lindy chamberlain claimed that while camping near ayers rock  central australia  that a dingo had taken their ten week old daughter from their tent as they were preparing to eat in the barbecue area . no  one believed them . lindy was charged with the murder of her baby  and michael as an accessory after the fact . the whole country was abuzz with whispers of a ritual killing . the chamberlain  s trial was over before it began .  br    br   lindy never proved her innocence  so she was found guilty . there was never enough evidence to convict her  yet the jury was swayed by public and media pressure . how could we as a nation even sit in judgement  from where we are  how could we possibly presume to know  unless there was absolute proof  and no reasonable doubt whatsoever  the chamberlains should have been acquitted .  br    br   fred schepisi  s film unequivocally and whole heartedly supports the argument of john bryson  s novel  that the chamberlains were completely innocent of the charges laid against them . that in fact a dingo did take baby azaria on that fateful night at ayers rock .  br    br   schepisi has brilliantly captured the mood of a blood thirsty nation  hell bent on  the truth  being brought to light . he shows australia in a rather unbecoming light as a people who were totally obsessed with seeing the chamberlains pay  his screenplay  co  written with robert caswell  vigorously stirs the emotions and will most certainly find the audience saddened and angered at the travesty of justice which occurred .  br    br   the outstanding meryl streep gives an incredible performance as the woman accused of the most dreadful of acts . she brings to life most convincingly the tough little aussie who was ready to stand up to the allegations and set the world straight . even her accent is almost  but not quite  spot on . a very good effort by the master of that trade . sam neill is every bit as good as streep as the at first faithful but then disillusioned michael who cannot comprehend why their world is falling apart  and he starts to question his christianity . his  as was streep  s  is a showing of great emotional strength that will move you profoundly . the entire support cast are also excellent  with some of australia  s finest actors and actresses playing a part .  br    br   technically the film is brilliant too  with director of photography ian baker capturing this great land with splendour  especially the rock  . editor jill bilcock keeps the whole movie tense and very emotionally charged  while bruce smeaton provides a telling score .  br    br   for all aussies this is a must see  a shocking look in the mirror if you will  at what we as a country did to a family who just wanted justice to be served  and the truth to be known . as michael chamberlain said   i don  t think anybody really understands what innocence means . . . . . to innocent people .   br    br   saturday  may         video  br    br   even on return viewings fred schepisi  s account of the travesty of justice that befell the chamberlains  who lost baby azaria at ayres rock in      is still emotionally powerful and honestly moving .  br    br   schepisi and robert caswell have expertly transferred john bryson  s novel to the screen  telling with simplicity the horrifying story of a vacation gone terribly wrong for michael and lindy chamberlain  whose new born daughter azaria was taken form the family tent by a dingo just moments after being put down .  br    br   amid media speculation and vicious public rumour lindy was charged with the murder of her baby  and michael was charged as an accessory after the fact . what followed was little more than trial by media  and with the australian people determined she be put away  lindy was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour  even though the prosecution could present no motive and little other than circumstantial evidence .  br    br   meryl streep is in top form as the accused woman who battles australia head on to prove her innocence . she is truly awesome  and the only thing that fails her is a true blue aussie accent  though she does her level best to sound ocker . you might wonder why a top australian actress wasn  t cast in the role  but star power is probably the answer . alongside meryl is an equally impressive sam neill  outstanding as the husband who sees his world falling apart before his eyes  while he feels powerless to do anything about it . a strong aussie cast lend compelling support .  br    br   editing from jill bilcock is very timely  ian baker  s cinematography of the rock and other rugged locations is visually brilliant and bruce smeaton  s music is perfect for the part . truly a must for all conscientious australians .  br    br   sunday  june         video  
  this may be a bit on the spoilerish side  i would like to start by saying i did not watch the entire movie  nor could i because it was evident from the first hour that i was going to be incredibly disappointed . that of course is the problem with taking  what many believe to be an amazing book  and turning it into a disney made  for  tv movie .  br    br   a wrinkle in time should have been made into an amazing movie a long time ago . it  s got a great storyline that could hook children and adults . plus it  s got built in quality sequels . but disney  fying was not the way to go . the problem with the movie is that all the things they changed to turn it into a visual story dumbed down what was so great about the book . it is a complicated and emotional story for kids . there was no reason to make charles wallace purely  psychic   because that was the easiest way of explaining it . there was no reason to write a fight between the three mrs . w  s as added tension  there is enough tension in the story without that . there was no reason to remove meg  s glasses . . . that deprived us of what could  ve been a very sweet scene between calvin and meg that happens in the book .  br    br   i could nitpick for days about little things  but i also think larger things  like the art direction was a off . take for instance the way they made camazotz look  with its strangely darkened skies . the creepiness that comes across in the book is that camazotz could be earth . it looks like earth . it has people on it that look like humans . the skies are blue  the grass is green  and there are children playing . but something is a little bit off . the directors chose to make camazotz a complete other instead of taking the lesson in the book and applying it to the overall direction of the movie . the lesson of course is that camazotz could very well be earth  that is if we forget how to love . it would  ve been much creepier to have a beautiful afternoon as they  re walking down the street with the kids bouncing the balls in the same rhythm .  br    br   i unfortunately did not watch the end . maybe someone can tell me how disney messed up the end as well .  br    br   overall an artistic disappointment .  br    br    
i found it hard to like anyone in this film . the central characters  lindy and michael chamberlain  whose daughter disappears during a night out in the australian outback  are not bad people  but then surely not all  or even most  of the scores of people we see throughout this movie would be bad if we knew them better . but though we are as sure as the film wants us to be of the guilt or innocence of the chamberlains from the start of their life  s tragic disarray  the film takes on a more or less sociological perspective pertaining to gossip  news media  crowds  mobs and assumptions . it  s not a movie about the degenerate society of australia in particular it  s merely an account of a true story that happened there . society en masse is much less evolved than the individual feels ensured that we are .  br    br   when a warden insists upon killing all of an aborigine  s dogs because of the unverified action of a single wild dog  when a randomly ruined life spins even further out of control owing to the majority of magazines  newspapers and tv programs distorts the tragic truth to a level of drama that provokes its consumers into a frenzy  there is no sign of empathy or even any kind of looking outside of one  s own unaware perceptions  influenced left and right by the vigorous hearsay and vibes of those who surround one  s life . the reason i appreciate the film is because it turns the focus inside out  from the victims to the masses .  br    br   the evidence against lindy chamberlain aside  suspicion was jet  fueled mostly by a virtue of hers . to the public eye  she did not seem sufficiently distraught by the death of her baby daughter . why was she able to keep her cool  even a sort of aloofness let alone holding her head up  for tv and the press  how much of the downward spiral could  ve been prevented had she behaved more to the public  s liking in the media  meryl streep  one of  if not the  greatest actress working today  may not give a performance that particularly stands out  and frankly neither does any other actor  or department of film  making . but she  and the screenwriters  do understand lindy . what is infuriating is that it  s not that difficult . apparently  she was not naturally prone to showing emotion in public in any case . whether or not she is approachable as a lovable character in the immediate sense  we are naturally prone to sympathize with her situation .  br    br   whether or not her performance is as immediately gratifying as sophie  s choice  the devil wears prada  angels in america or other such work  it is a triumph . it is difficult enrapture an audience when you purposely deny them insights into yourself . she frustrates us because we don  t know what she  s thinking or feeling . it took me awhile to feel endeared toward her  but this is the movie  s way of suggesting the reaction of the public  s attention .  br    br   she is married to a pastor  and they both practice a religion that is in a small minority and thus misinterpreted by most . initially  they react to their loss as if to be reconciling themselves to god  s will  kick  starting a rumor mill generating the notion that their daughter  s death was some sort of ritual killing on their part . whatever happened to the little girl  her parents were part of a margin with whom most of the media  s intake didn  t immediately identify  so the first inclination was to go after them like a pack of hungry . . . well . . .  br    br   meryl streep and sam neill are constantly on screen  but the australian public plays the real leads here . like punctuation for each plot advance  director fred schepisi cuts away from restaurant to tennis court to dinner party to saloon to office  where the public tries lindy and gets carried away into their own passionate projections .  br    br   this golan  globus docudrama is not particularly memorable . the setting  s atmosphere doesn  t give a pleasurable enough compensation for the fact that no performance or facet of production stands out . but it is very successful as an indictment of the collective conscious of the public .  
i really didn  t like this movie because it didn  t really bring across the messages and ideas l  engle brought out in her novel . we had read the novel in our english class and i absolutely loved it  i  m afraid i can  t say the same for the film . there were some serious differences between the novel and the adapted version and it just didn  t do any credit to the imaginative genius that is madeleine l  engle  this is the reason i gave it such a poor rating . don  t see this movie if you are a big fan of l  engle  s texts because you will be sorely disappointed . however  if you are watching the movie for entertainment purposes  or educational as was my case  then it is an alright movie   
i remember seeing this movie shown several years ago on the lifetime tv network and thought it was an interesting story . several years later i see it again and fall head over heels in love with this movie . the story behind the movie is fascinating in and of itself . the cast just makes it that much more appealing . meryl streep is definitely at the top of her game in this picture . she nails mrs . chamberlain  s mannerisms  the accent  and even look . she shows the pain  hurt  surprise  and anger that lindy had to endure  and in the process it  s hard to remember that it isn  t lindy . in my opinion  this performance of meryl  s was better than her oscar  winning turn in  sophie  s choice   and should have garnered her her third oscar . sam neill is perfect as michael chamberlain  and for some surprising reason  wasn  t recognized by the academy with at least a nomination . in all  this movie only receive one oscar nod  streep  s for best actress .  however  it did receive several australian oscars and nominations .  br    br   definitely a top  rate movie it tells a great story and you get great performances from the entire cast .  
i have read the whole  a wrinkle in time  book and then saw the movie . the movie contained all the elements in the book but since the book was    pages and the film was  hours it felt really crammed in with too many effects and bad acting .  br    br   a wrinkle in time is about a girl named meg  charles wallace  and calvin must team together to find meg  s father and get off the island camazotz .  br    br   the beginning of the film is really a stinker . the acting is awful  the direction is laughable  and so far the situations aren  t necessary . i really was crushed to see the same person madeleine engle that wrote the book and created the movie  made a great book  and a terrible film . the acting is worse than any straight  to  video acting . yes  i got to admit there was cool effects . but seriously they were all done terribly and not serial in any way possible . if you read the book you will be crushed by the movie . i wish could give it a  but sadly i can only give it  . a half could have been useful .  
meryl streep is such a genius . well  at least as an actress . i know she  s been made fun of for doing a lot of roles with accents  but she nails the accent every time . her performance as lindy chamberlain was inspiring . mrs . chamberlain  as portrayed here  was not particularly likable  nor all that smart . but that just makes streep  s work all the more remarkable . i think she is worth all   or so of her oscar nominations . about the film  well  there were a couple of interesting things . i don  t know much about australia  but the theme of religious bigotry among the general public played a big part in the story . i had largely missed this when i first saw the film some years ago  but it came through loud and clear yesterday . and it seems the australian press is just as accomplished at misery  inducing pursuit and overkill as their american colleagues . a pretty good film . a bit different . grade b  
the  wrinkle in time  book series is my favorite series from childhood . i have read and re  read them more times than i can count over the last    years . the characters  with all their virtues and flaws  are near and dear to my heart . this adaptation contained very little of the wonderful  magical  spiritual story that i love so much . to say i was disappointed with this film would be a great understatement .  br    br   if you have never read the book  s  i imagine you will enjoy the movie . the acting is passable  the special effects are well done for a made for tv movie  and the story is interesting . however  if you love the books  avoid this movie at all costs .  br    br   i found this statement at the wikipedia page of the novel  in an interview with newsweek  l  engle said of the film   i expected it to be bad  and it is .    br    br   i  like another reviewer here  feel the need to read the book again to dispel this movie from my mind .  
this movie was nominated for best picture but lost out to casablanca but paul lukas beat out humphrey bogart for best actor . i don  t see why lucile watson was nominated for best supporting actor  i just don  t think she did a very good job . bette davis and paul lukas and their three kids are leaving mexico and coming into the united states in the first scene of the movie . they are going by train to davis  s relatives house . davis and lukas were in the underground to stop the nazis so they are very tired and need rest . but when they arrive home  their is a nazi living there and their  s not much either can do about it . it turns out the nazi only cares about money and is willing to make a deal with lukas . their is more to the plot but you can find that out for yourself .  
horrible acting  horrible cast and cheap props . would  ve been a lot better if was set as an action parody style movie . what a waste . starting from the name of the movie .  br    br    the enemy  naming it  action movie  would  ve made it better .  contributing to the parody effect  . the cop looking like a   year old player  the blond girl just having the same blank boring look on her face at all times . towards the end of the movie him and her are working together to take down the bad guys and every time they exchange words it just feels like the cheap lines given before a sex scene in a porn movie . horrible . don  t waste your time .  
this is a docudrama story on the lindy chamberlain case and a look at it  s impact on australian society . it especially looks at the problem of innuendo  gossip and expectation when dealing with real  life dramas .  br    br   one issue the story deals with is the way it is expected people will all give the same emotional response to similar situations . not everyone goes into wild melodramatic hysterics to every major crisis . just because the characters in the movies and on tv act in a certain way is no reason to expect real people to do so . this is especially apt for journalists and news editors who appear to be looking for the the big sob scene that will pull the ratings . it  s an issue that has to be constantly addressed .  br    br   the leads play the characters with depth  personality and sensitivity . and they are ably supported by a large cast all playing based  on  fact individuals . some viewers may be surprised to learn that many of the supporting cast in this story are people better known in australia as comic actors . it re  enforces my idea that comic actors make some of the best supports in dramas because with comedy they know how to establish quick impressions of individuals .  br    br    spoiler warning    br    br   i have to say something very personal here in that i am actually an ex  adventist who was a practicing member in australia at the time this incident occurred so i have a slightly different impression of the story than most . i think it is handled with amazing creativity and personality  and emotional heart . i think the best scene is the one where the couple are hounded by the new choppers . it captured the themes of the story brilliantly .  br    br   i once heard fred schepsi say in an interview that he told the actors to  play the best case for their character they could  . while this is especially apt for this story  i think it is also a general principle that should apply to all acting as well .  
i got all excited when i saw the ads for this movie because i recently read the book and really enjoyed it . the movie  however  did not meet my expectations . having read the book recently prepared me for big let down as often happens when stories are translated into movies . the characters didn  t seem to fit very well with the book . the direction was weak . i had a hard time getting into the characters . there wasn  t a real connection with the viewer about what was going on . the dialog didn  t explain adequately what was happening . it just seemed slapped together and rushed through . all in all i was very disappointed with the movie . i suppose if you haven  t read the book  it might be ok by itself . at the very least  it might entice you to read the book  which you  ll probably enjoy more .  br    br    
once you pick your jaw up from off the floor from the realization that they . . . somehow . . . managed to put this thing together so fast that it was released the same year the case ended  you  ll find that it  s not half bad . the plot is engaging and interesting  and the pacing is fast  with this covering many situations  and thus often jumping swiftly on to the next one after a line or two has been spoken . where this really stands out is the acting . the performances are excellent . neill and streep are both impeccable . it  s also cool to hear so much australian spoken in a hollywood film  and even those who don  t come naturally to it at least attempt an accent . the cinematography and editing are nice enough  but they don  t really go beyond the standard stuff . this movie  s story is compelling and the fact that it is authentic just makes it all the more chilling . while i have not read the novel or heard of what happened outside of this picture  i understand that it is quite close to the truth . there is some moderate to strong language and disturbing content in this . it is  at times  a downright great courtroom drama . i recommend this to any fellow fan of such .      
this abc straight  to  tv failure does absolutely no justice to the brilliant fantasy novel that is a wrinkle in time . ms . madeleine l  engle brought children and adults alike into a magical  fantastical and original world like no author before her . this novel  the first in her  time quartet   is a beautiful take on life  the universe  and time itself . yet it is easy for any child or adolescent to understand . its unwavering morals are prevalent throughout the book . this film adaptation can be seen as nothing but a mockery of ms . l  engle  s work of art . honestly  what were they thinking  the effects look cheap and ridiculous  the plot is mushy and uneven  the dialogue is far  fetched and just about every magical characteristic of the novel has been lost . this was a horrible attempt at bringing this book to the screen . i sincerely hope that someday an intelligent  worthy director  guillermo del toro  david yates  alfonso cuarn  makes another attempt at bringing this book to the screen and understands it for what it truly is a masterpiece . this adaptation can only be compared to boring  fake and cheap motel  room art which holds no ground and makes absolutely no impact on its audience .  
meryl streep is excellent in her nuanced and stoic performance as the infamous lindy chamberlain who was accused and tried for allegedly killing her own baby azaria chamberlain and using her alibi of ravenous dingoes as her defense . based on the book  evil angels  and titled so in its australian release  a cry in the dark is an ugly film to watch . it presents a scenario that  s all too real for us in america the witch  hunt against a person deemed an easy target .  br    br   lindy chamberlain was this woman . being someone who spoke her mind  someone who didn  t play the sympathy card  and someone who was just tough enough to move on with her life despite her horrific ordeal  she was labeled as suspect and hated beyond comprehension even when it was clear she didn  t kill her own child . the media began a tightening noose and a progressive invasion of privacy that soon had the entire nation glued to their sets as they eviscerated this family piece by piece . and through it all  lindy remained as stoic as ever  even when her husband michael was falling apart .  br    br   this stance  of course  is the power of strength  as unsympathetic as it may look like  and people happen to react strongly to that . they want to see a distressed mother cry and weep and occasionally faint at every turn  not sit there and look blank . people don  t understand that not everyone grieves the same way and when someone decides to stand strong they begin speculations . meryl streep embodies this tainted woman to the hilt and in doing so creates a cold  but not unfeeling woman  one that stood by her convictions even if they cost her liberty . because of her  sam neill is allowed to have his character slowly dissolve into despair   someone has to  or the chamberlains would be too detached  and no one wants to see that . except the monster that has at the time of this writing become the news  media . they  ll always eat train wrecks up and feed the mangled manure to the uninformed public .  
disney  what happened  i really wish the movie had been set in the    s like the book was . and i really could have dealt with cheap special effects in order to save the budget for a more accurate adaption . . . . . i  m glad that  maybe  someone might be influenced to read the books . . . . . but  the man with red eyes interchangeable as it  and what  s up with the volcanic upheaval  where was that in the book  peter jackson  save us     a long time ago       i heard that there was european version of this film . i sure wish i could id it . i can only imagine it might be closer to the real story than this poor adaption . this movie needs to be x  d .  
spoilers following i picked up the book  evil angels  when it first came out knowing nothing of the case . just to give the press and the austrialian people a break here  i was quite far into it before i began to question the chamberlain  s guilt . the author obviously intended the reader to understand why the public jumped to the conclusions they did . john bryson told the story just as it was presented to the jurors  and picked up by the press  of the arterial spray  the actelone     plates  dr . james cameron  s certainty that the collar was cut with scissors  that a baby could not be taken whole from her clothes with the buttons still done up  bloody hand print  etc . all quite convincingly . after all  these were experts in their fields who were testifying with no apparent reason to lie  and the fact that the evidence was completely wrong wasn  t apparent to me at all . it was also highly technical evidence  difficult for a layman to understand . to this point  beyond some hearsay testimony in the trials  hardly anyone had ever heard of a dingo attacking a human people didn  t believe it was possible . the public was suspicious of the seventh day adventists  whose origins made them appear to be a cult  and all sorts of wild beliefs about them contributed to the appearance of guilt . were it not for dedicated  selfless lawyers who worked relentlessly to investigate and counter the trial testimony  finding azaria  s clothes later would not have been enough to get lindy out of jail . the book shook me for that reason  and i  ve been reluctant to come to a conclusion about anyone  s guilt ever since  excepting oj of course  . i was thrilled that a movie was going to be made about the case and don  t think it could have been done better . i  ve always liked sam  who i could identify with completely  and meryl was perfect as always . beautiful photography  haunting music . i think it  s not only a very good  but a very important  movie . too bad it didn  t receive more publicity at the time it was released .  
i have grown up pouring over the intertwined stories of the wrinkle in time chronicles . my dream was that one day a screenwriter would come across their child sitting in a large sofa reading a winkle in time  and would think  what an amazing movie this would make . sadly enough that screenwriter failed  changing characters  throwing in lame humor  and all out destroying the plot . i know that it is a hard task to change a well loved novel into a movie . but why can  t you stay true to the book  why must you change the way characters think and act  for those of you who have not read the book  pick it up  find a soft couch  and let your imagination run wild .  
lindy  meryl streep  and her husband michael  sam neill  have just welcomed a baby girl  azaria . as seventh day adventists  they live their beliefs every day and soon have azaria dedicated to god at their church  with their two older boys looking on . michael gets a vacation and the family decides to head to ayer  s rock  one of the most impressive tourist spots in all of australia . not being wealthy  the family camps near the site . after a wonderful first day  lindy puts baby azaria to sleep in one of the tents . suddenly  she hears azaria crying . as lindy rushes to the tent  a dingo dog is just exiting  shaking his head . the baby is gone and soon  so is the dingo . although the entire camp looks for the baby  she is not found . concluding she is dead and that the dingo made off with their beloved child  the chamberlains struggle to accept god  s decision and go on with their lives . but  unfortunately  the story gets sensational coverage in the news media and soon the tale is circulated that lindy murdered the baby . she is subsequently arrested and put on trial . how could this happen  this is a great depiction of real events that shows how  mob rule  is not a figment of the imagination . the entire country turns against the chamberlains  in part because they are seen as odd . streep gives her best performance ever as the complex lindy  whose own strong  willed demeanor works against her every step of the way . neill  likewise  does a wonderful job as the hesitant and confused michael . the cast is one of the largest ever  with depictions of folks around the country getting their digs into lindy  s case . the costumes  scenery  script  direction and production are all top of the line . if you have never seen or heard of this film  remedy that straight away . it is not a far cry from reality to say that this  cry  should be seen by all who care about film and about the misused power of the media .  
the book is so good that at least the opening of this made  for  tv movie will move you  but then  as it diverges more and more from the book  taking out all the religion and love and mathematics and putting in cotton candy cliches  it becomes boring . still  from comments i  ve heard  people who have not read the book tend to like it  and if it leads even on child to read a wrinkle in time  it will have served its purpose . the most embarrassing change is to make the happy medium a clone of mary poppins  uncle albert  i love to laugh  . nothing is quite so squirm inducing as characters on the screen laughing hilariously at things that are totally unfunny .  
this is a true story of an australian couple wha are charged with murder when their infant child disappears . meryl streep is excellent  as always  and manages to hold our interest even though she plays a character who isn  t particularly likable .  br    br   the media frenzy that surrounded this case in australia is reminiscent of the sam sheppard murder case in ohio during the    s . these real  life situations demonstrate that the media in fact can affect how a criminal case is handled . i well remember the cleveland plain dealer running a huge headline stating  why isn  t sam sheppard in jail   . the prosecutor eventually succumbed to this relentless pressure  and sheppard was tried and convicted . only after years in jail was he exonerated .  br    br   i love movies which tell a true story  do it in an interesting way  and make an important point in the process . this is one of those movies . other good movies which tell the story of innocent persons charged with crimes include  hurricane    the thin blue line   and  breaker morant  . in particular  the latter is another australian film which is highly recommended .  br    br        
awful . this thriller should have buried . what a piece of crap . terrible writing  characters are less than believable . horrible schlock   stick some b  stars in a terribly written pos to try and give it a little credit  but it fails miserably . if i didn  t have to write ten lines about this movie i would have given it a word word review  it starts with  sh  and ends with  it  .  br    br   horrible ending  retarded . who writes this crap . the ending of this film is so contrived  weak it  s as if they had no idea what to do with this story line  or they just ran out of money . most likely due to the number of cameos in this movie . it  s a good thing that these actors are on the way out  because this would be a career killer . good thing for them that hardly anyone will see it . at least no one important  like future investors . it could have ended a thousand different ways  but as it is  i feel cheated out of my precious time .  br    br   don  t bother with this one  you will feel like you wasted time you can never get back .  
an unqualified    .  the level of writing and acting in this australian movie is reminiscent of the very best of  old  hollywood . sam neill and meryl streep are very good together . neill matches streep line for line  and take for take   it is one of the best showcases yet of his prodigious acting talent and he is at his sexy and gorgeous best  notwithstanding the intensity of his role . this engrossing film is a treat for any movie fan who loves a gripping courtroom drama  portrayed in the most human but unsentimental terms . the movie   which won several top awards in australia   boasts not only a superlative cast and director  but wonderful and authentic australian locales . it proves that people are the same the world over . and  after all these years  people still delight in repeating the famous streep line  accent and all  a dingo ate moy baby   including that imp  elaine benis  on  seinfeld .   
these were over   minutes of semi unexpected boredom . first  i was wondering how it is possible to produce something like that . then  reaching   th minute i was convincing myself that it  s only a few more minutes  and i lasted to the very end which i  m kinda proud of as i consider watching this movie as a great test for human  s patience and crap tolerance . was it worth watching at all  well  as i wrote above  if you want to test yourself  give it a try and if you  re strong willed enough  you may even last to the end . . . the movie lacks coherence and characters seem to have no common sense at all . all happenings in the movie  you can be sure you saw somewhere before  and they seem to be put in this movie just to fill the film reel .  
when i first saw  a cry in the dark   i had no idea what the plot was . but when i saw it  i was shocked at what it portrayed . when i saw it a second time in an australian cinema class  i realized a second point communication issues . you see  when a dingo snatched lindy chamberlain  s  meryl streep  baby  she and her husband michael  sam neill  were grief  stricken but didn  t show it . as seventh day adventists  they believed that god willed this to happen  and so they couldn  t mourn it . but when people all over australia saw their lack of sadness  everyone started believing that lindy did it herself .  br    br   the point is  the wrong message got communicated to the public  and it turned people against lindy . even though this was a pure accident  it still happened . it may be one of the biggest disasters resulting from the existence of mass media  regardless of any media outlet  s political views .  br    br   as for the performances  streep does a very good job with an australian accent  no surprise there   and sam neill is equally great . you will probably get blown away just by what you see here . definitely one of fred schepisi  s best movies ever .  
this movie was poorly written  poorly acted and very predictable . it was very low  budget and i can understand why it was never released and went straight to video . it wasn  t even campy fun  it was just a complete disaster and i wish i could get the      hours back  the colors were horrible along with the plot which has holes so big in it you could drive a mac truck through them .  br    br   the plot itself had the young bride doing things that she absolutely was not physically capable of doing   what a stretch  skip this movie and watch something better in the horror genre . just about any movie comes to mind that is better than this .  br    br   ejames      
meryl streep was incredible in this film . she has an amazing knack for accents  and she shows incredible skill in this film overall . i really felt for her when lindy was being persecuted . she was played realistically  too . she got cranky  upset  and unpleasant as the media and the government continued their unrelenting witchhunt . i didn  t expect much from the film initially  but i really got interested in it  and the movie is based on a real person and real events . it turned out to be better than i had anticipated . sam neill was also outstanding this is the best work i  ve seen from him  and i  ve really liked him in other movies  the piano  for example  . i gave the film a   but if i could rate just the acting  i  d give the it a  .   and a perfect   for streep .  
this  movie  is such a bad work  nothing seems to even try and be realistic . plot is weak  acting  miserable  actors wondering around like in a  st year production  trying very hard to act with no chance at all from the beginning . what a flop  what a waste of time  money and effort to all concerned including the audience . well  as in any thriller  here too are murders  corpses and blood . just imagine someone who  minutes ago  committed a murder with a knife  and came out calm and smiling  not to mention clean as a whistle  as if slashing one  s throat is done by a virtual agent . also  this murder was supposed to be done by a tiny fragile woman on a high strong male  and she cut his throat    did she ask him  politely  to bend down for her  much more stupidity of that same kind is going on and on leaving the audience wondering if this meant to be a joke which just turned out to be a bad one . continuity is another huge problem as for instance the eager  hungry groom is lying in bed  waiting for his virgin  bride to get out of the bathroom and after a long while  falls asleep      . next scene opens with the young couple entering the reception  area  asking for guidance to scenery spots  not a word about last night    such a waste of time even to try and write about this low  low supposed  to  be  movie  .  
  a cry in the dark  is a masterful piece of cinema  haunting  and incredibly though provoking . the true story of lindy chamberland  who  in      witnessed a horrific sight  seeing her   month  old baby being brutally taken from their family  s tent  while camping on the austrailian outback . azaria  the baby  was never seen again  and the result of her horrendous disappearance caused a true life frenzy all around the world . meryl streep does immaculate justice to the role of lindy  as she always does . but the one thing that helps  a cry in the dark  never fall flat is the brilliant direction . a truly inspired and accurate outlook on this baffeling case  tears are brought to the eyes . the concept is nothing less then terrifying  and afterwards you are left haunted  but also inspired .  
as a writer i find films this bad making it into production a complete slap in the face . talk about insulting . i was writing better stories than this in  th grade . bad acting  bad writing  bad directing and when added all together the result is complete and total failure .  br    br   the only thing this movie manages to accomplish is tricking the unsuspecting consumer into wasting their time . who would green light something so poorly written  it  s not artistic  clever  smart  suspenseful  mysterious  scary  dramatic  nothing .  br    br   the characters are flat and boring with no development . the plot is as recycled as an aluminum can . they somehow managed to cast a few very familiar actors who all must be pretty desperate for work or hoping one of these low budget independent movies will turn out to be the next  pulp fiction  . this script should have been used to line a bird cage  not a movie .  br    br   oh and last but not least  a       lb woman of course has the strength to kill men and women twice her size without a struggle and in a single blow .  br    br   avoid this bomb like it will infect you with an std .  
watch on the rhine is one of the best anti  nazi propaganda films made during world war two . paul lukas was certainly deserving of his oscar . bette davis shines brilliantly as the great actress and beauty she was . i would recommend this film to those interested in that era  and  of course  the fabulous films of the late  great  ms . bette davis .  
ho  hum . an inventor  s  horst buchholz  deadly biological weapon is in danger of falling into the wrong hands . unknowingly his son  luke perry  has been working on the antedote all along . enter cia agent olivia d  abo and the cat  and  mouse car chases and gunfire begins . also in the cast aretom conti  hendrick haese and an aging roger moore . moore seems to haggardly move through this mess definitely not one of his better efforts . perry fans will be accepting . d  abo is wrong for the role  but nice to look at .  
some movies seem to be made before we are ready for them . as i watched this film  made in      in      i thought i was watching the o . j . simpson debacle  although i have very different opinions about the innocence of the individuals in each situation  .  br    br   the australian news media  if this movie is to be believed  devoured the case of a possible infanticide and truth was left as an afterthought . it was scary to see the scenes of invasive  swarming media hordes  ridiculous accounts of half  truths and lies and debates over the supposed merits of the case by persons at all levels of society .  br    br   equally appalling is the media  s depiction as indifferent and uncomprehending of the technical information in the case . i do wish more was made of the issue of religious prejudice in the case  the accused are seven  day adventists  .  br    br   today these circuses have become common but that makes the lesson only more important .  br    br   streep is excellent as usual  and this is the best i  ve ever seen sam neill . the aussie accents get a bit thick at times but not incomprehensible .  
i regret every single second of the time i lost while watching this movie  really . unhappily  i always find it hard to switch off a movie once i started watching it . especially  when it  s such a classic or what people use to call a classic . i think that this is one of those movies every movie  lover should have watched at least one time  so that was why i watched it . don  t get me wrong  i like humphrey bogart and his wife lauren bacall both as a couple and as actors  but this movie was a big fraud in my opinion . no really good plot  neither an espionage flick nor a romantic love story . well  not even a convincing mixture of both of these genres . only thing which caused tension was that it was uncertain whether  bogey  and bacall would stay together in the end or part from one another . i think  to have and have not  is very overrated and bogart was in many better films during the     s .  
this is an extremely  powerful based  on  a  true story film that can be infuriating to watch . i say that because how brutal a hounding press can be to people  in this case an innocent australian couple charged with killing their baby .  br    br   meryl streep received a lot of recognition for her performance when this film came out but i thought sam neill was just as good . let  s just say they both were excellent but the role was little harder for streep because she had to learn an australian accent .  she learned it so well i had trouble understanding her in parts .   br    br   without giving anything away  all i can say is this movie will wear you out emotionally .  
or  marlowe at sea  . yet another ridiculously overrated old film with bogey . quite talky  too . bogey basically plays the same character as in the marlow films always in control of a situation  never nervous  no matter how dangerous a situation  calls women  slim  and  dames  and other such nonsense  is the only  real male  i . e . alpha male in the movie  the only other alpha male male being the head of gestapo  but he is only a fat alpha male male   and  naturally  every attractive young woman who comes his way cannot resist his charms and wants his penis within hours of their initial introduction . the character clichs are all here . bogey is supposed to be the same type of cynic  about  to  reform as in  casablanca   and naturally he often refuses money or other valuables when being offered them  but how does that fit in with the tough cynic in him  it doesn  t  so he can  t be a cynic hawks wanted it both ways a character who is both the  cool lone cynic  and yet a well  meaning humanitarian . i don  t think so . . . bacall does her non  chalant  cool babe  routine for the first time  and there are plenty of overrated  not all  too interesting so  called  sexual innuendo  exchanges between her and bogey these dialogues sound silly by today  s standards .  just purse your lips and whistle . . .  . a load of crap . . . she was   when this was made but looks a lot older  and is far less attractive than the female stars of the day . her bony face  with its sharp features  is nowhere even close to radiating the kind of feminine beauty of a de havilland  the cuteness of a myrna loy  let alone the likability of an irene dunne . bacall was more suited for playing vampires  not femme  fatales .  in real life she is very much like her face a hollywood bitch .  there is a scene in which bacall breaks into tears very unsuitable for her character . there are two or three bad musical numbers  but my fast  forward button was ready .  br    br   if you  re interested in reading my  biographies  of bogart  bacall  huston  and other hollywood personalities  contact me by e  mail .  
roll is a wonderful little film . toby malone plays an   year old kid  very well acted  by the way  who is into soccer . malone  s cousin takes him out the night before his big game on an adventure with many twists and turns involving two gym bags  a drug lord  some tough bikers  some cops  and some prostitutes . . . and the movie keeps us guessing as to which characters are on which side of the law  what the contents of either gym bag is  and even what gender a key biker is . parts of it reminded me of lock stock and two smoking barrels .  br    br   for me  roll reinforced three opinions that i already held before seeing roll . those opinions are  . i really want to visit australia one day . the country and cities are beautiful and it looks like such a cool place for a vacation .  br    br    . some of the best filmmakers in the are australian . the cinematography in roll was especially impressive . i loved the stylized colors and lighting in many of the scenes .  br    br    . australian women are hot   
i enjoyed the first reviewer  s comment far more than i did the film when i saw it at a second  run theatre in the early     s . i was impressed then by the care taken to create costumes modelled so closely after the tenniel drawings . but to me  the cast was largely squandered  their personalities muffled by the masks  while the direction i think of as being unusually static  and the photography murky . the rating jotted down at the time was a nought  which means  not worth sitting through even once  .  br    br   still  i too would jump at a chance to have a second look .  
mat spirogolou  s  toby malone  family know he is a talented footballer  and are pleased when he secures an audition to join a big club . they hope that when he arrives in the city his cousin will look after him .  br    br   but the cousins are like chalk and cheese one a naive farm boy  the other a streetwise spendthrift who has managed to get mixed up with drug dealers and gangsters . mat is unlikely to have a quiet evening in before his big day .  br    br   having missed his cousin george  damien robertson  on arrival in the city  mat encounters further trouble when a young biker takes him for a ride in more ways than one .  br    br   toby malone  probably better known for his work in theatre  puts in a commendable performance as the bucolic teenager . there are telltale signs of a low budget  but as with so many other low  budget movies there  s more fun  seemingly more spontaneity  and more charm  than there is to be seen in the average hollywood blockbuster .  
this is one of those films that i could only sit through once . charlotte henry is fine   in fact  all the actors were fine . the problem was in the script  the dialog  the direction  the editing  the sets and the special effects . granted  this was      but it really creaked . part of the problem is that actors like richard arlen  gary cooper  w . c . fields and cary grant are not recognizable  there faces cried for a recognition that was not forthcoming  . the movie just clumped along with no cohesion . much of lewis carrols spirit  humor and continuity are missing . what a pity  it  s such a great book . i would recommend disney  s     version .  
i just sat through a very enjoyable fast paced   mins of roll .  br    br   roll is about a country boy  mat  toby malone  who has dreams of becoming a sports star . mat travels to the city and is to be picked up by his cousin george  damien robertson  . well  that was the plan anyway . george is involved with a gangster  tiny  john batchelor  and is making a delivery for him . needless to say  mat gets dragged into george  s world .  br    br   i thought it was great how mat teaches george some morals and respect while george teaches mat how to relax and enjoy life a little . toby and damien were well cast together and did an outstanding job .  br    br   every character in the movie complimented each other very well  the two cops were great . david ngoombujarra brought some great comic relief to the movie . tiny played a likable gangster that reminded me of one of my favourite characters  pando  from two hands .  br    br   one of the other things that i liked about roll was that it showcased the cities that i grew up and lived in for   years  perth and fremantle . it was good to see sights and landmarks that i grew up with  especially the old ferris wheel .  br    br   this rocks  n  rolls  
a family moves into a old house in japan . but there  s a catch it  s haunted  boo     . aw  didn  t mean to make you jump . it  s only a review . settle back down . ahem  now anyways it  s haunted by an old samurai who killed his wife  her lover in slow motion . this naturally makes a  minutes scene stretch out to about  or  . horrid acting . horrid story . but how bad can it be you ask  well it was so bad my brain started to melt  leak out through my nose in thoughtful drips . it was so bad whenever doug mcclure came on  screen i prayed that i had flashbacks of small wonder  yes  i know doug was in  out of this world   not  small wonder   but it  s pretty much the same damn show   i can hum the  small wonder  theme better  there are movies that are so bad they  re good . this isn  t one of those  br    br   where i saw it showtime beyond  br    br   my grade f   br    br   eye candy mako hattori gets topless  susan george gets  love scenes  one nude  one just topless   br    br    
a country  boy aussie  rules player  mat  goes to the city the night before an all  important afl trial match  where he is to be picked up by his cousin . and then things go wrong .  br    br   his no  hoper cousin has become mixed up in a drug deal involving local loan  shark  drug  dealer tiny  who looks like any gangster anywhere but is definitively australian  . needless to say  mat becomes enmeshed in the chaos  and it isn  t long before thoughts of tomorrow  s match are shunted to the back of his mind as the night  s frantic events unravel .  br    br   accomplished western australian professional shakespearean actor toby malone puts in a sterling performance as young naive country  boy mat  and successfully plays a part well below his age . best support comes from john batchelor as tiny  and an entertaining role by david ngoombujarra as one of the cops following the events . roll is fast  paced  often funny  and a very worthwhile use of an hour .  
this is a rotten movie . the cast seem to know just how bad it was . it starts badly and by the end is truly bad . the acting is woeful . the script could of been written on the spot . and although the movie is a horror film it has no scary scenes . crap  out of    
i  ve just watched roll and what a pleasure it turned out to be . toby malone  s performance really stood out  i found myself actually caring about what happens to matt throughout the whole of the film  which itself is a lot of fun  very pacey with a good mix of well rounded characters  quite an achievement considering it  s short running time . there are plenty of good twists throughout as well  it will keep you guessing until the end . other characters to watch out for are the totally insane tiny and the sneaky attractive jesse . it may not have the huge budget of a hollywood blockbuster but don  t let that put you off  you could do a lot worse than checking this out  you won  t regret it . good fun .      
i saw this film at a pre  release screening at the writers guild theater in beverly hills . as i recall  the film  s producers and director were in attendance  presumably to gage our reaction .  br    br   many scenes evoked gales of laughter from the audience  which would have been fine if it had been a comedy  but it was supposed to be a horror film .  br    br   if the audience wasn  t scared  it seems the filmmakers were . they delayed release for over a year . out of curiosity i saw it again to see if they  d re  cut it as far as i can tell  they hadn  t . it was the same lousy movie  just a year older .  br    br   it almost qualifies as  so bad  it  s good   but it  s slow  paced and boring .  
a film i expected very little from  and only watched to pass a quiet hour  but what an hour it turned out to be . roll is an excellent if none  too  serious little story of  country  boy  lost  in  the  big  city  makes  good   it is funny throughout  the characters are endearing and the pace is just right .  br    br   toby malone is the true star of the film with his endearing portrayal of matt  said country boy and local aussie rules football hero come to the big city to try out for one of the big teams . he is supported superbly by john batchelor as local gangster tiny . watch out for these two .  br    br   highly recommended .  
aside for being classic in the aspect of its cheesy lines and terrible acting  this film should never be watched unless you are looking for a good cure for your insomnia . i can  t imagine anyone actually thinking this was a  good movie .   
this film is an hour or so of good entertainment and has some genuinely funny moments . i loved the character of matt  and also tiny . they seemed the most engaging and funny characters  and certainly the most interesting . matt is very good  as is his no good cousin   and the police woman and the blonde biker woman provide some welcome eye candy . i must say i saw striking similarities between matt and another aussie actor  eric bana . my personal favourite part was the brothel scene  loved that . overall  i liked the film and it  ll get about an  rating . the penalty however  i was disappointed in . it was a side foot curl  rather than the appropriate laces blast .  br    br   i am of course kidding .    
while the premise behind the house where evil dwells may be intriguing  the execution is downright pathetic . i  m not even sure where to begin as i  ve got so many problems with this movie . i suppose i  ll just number a few of them  br    br    . the acting  when you see that edward albert  doug mcclure  and susan george  and her teeth  are the stars of your movie  you know you  re in trouble  not that it matters much to me  but these are hardly a  list names . susan george may have been in a couple of movies i enjoy  but i  ve never considered her the greatest actress i  ve ever seen . and in this movie  her acting is embarrassing . as for the other two  the less said the better .  br    br    . the ghosts  the ghosts or spirits or whatever you want to call them reminded me quite a bit of the ghosts in the haunted mansion ride . at disney world . and  they are about as frightening . and why did they have to be so obvious  subtlety is not a characteristic of the house where evil dwells .  br    br    . the plot  how predictable can one movie be  the outcome of this movie is painfully obvious once you meet the three main characters . if you couldn  t see where this movie was headed after about   minutes  you need to see more movies .  br    br    . the convenient priest  what are the chances that the haunted house you buy just happens to be across the street from a group of japanese monks  not to mention that one of them knows the history of your house and comes over  knocks on the door  and asks if you need help removing evil spirits . absurd is a word that comes to mind .  br    br    . everything else  it  s very difficult for me to think of any positives to write about . i suppose i  ll give it a point for the opening scene and a point for the house  s architecture . that  s a sure sign of a winner  noting the architecture as a highlight of any film doesn  t say much about the actual movie .  br    br   i  ll stop . you should be able to get the idea from what i  ve already mentioned . and  i haven  t even mentioned the annoying little girl or the invasion of the crabs or a multitude of other problems . be warned  this thing is horrible .  
plato  s run is an entertaining b movie with gary busey . it is a fairly unknown film so one i saw it at a car boot i thought this looks entertaining i was right to . gary busey plays plato smith a tough mercenary who is framed for the assassination of a powerful cuban crime lord now on the run plato must survive long enough to prove his innocence with the help of his friends played by steve bauer  scarface  and action star jeff speaksman  the expert  . what i liked about plato  s run was the way the film never got boring the plot may have been done before but it was still good the acting was fun to watch and the action was quite fun as well especially the climax gary busey makes a good hero ironic since he normally plays the bad guy and steve bauer is good as plato  s sidekick even jeff speaksman makes a good performance and he cant even act well to finish it of plato  s run is an enjoyable effort from nu image films and i give it  out of    
film starts in     japan in which a man slashes his wife and her lover to death and the commits suicide . it  s a very gory  bloody sequence . then it jumps to present day . . . well     to be precise . ted  edward albert   wife laura  susan george  and their annoying little kid move to japan for hubby  s work . they rent a house and   surprise  surprise   it just happens to be the house where the murders took place  the three dead people are around as ghosts  the makeup is hysterically bad  and make life hell for the family .  br    br   sounds ok   but it  s really hopeless . there  s a bloody opening and ending and nothing happens in between . there is an attack by giant crabs which is just uproarious  they look so fake   i swear i saw the strings pulling one along   and they  re muttering      there  s a pointless sex sequence in the first   minutes  probably just to show off george  s body   another one about   minutes later  but that was necessary to the plot  and a really silly exorcism towards the end . the fight scene between albert and doug mcclure must be seen to be believed .  br    br   as for acting   albert was ok as the husband and mcclure was pretty good as a family friend . but george   as always   is terrific in a lousy film . she gives this film a much needed lift   but can  t save it . i  m giving this a  just for her and the gory opening and closing . that aside  this is a very boring film .  
  a wrong  doer is often a man that has left something undone  not always he that has done something .    emperor marcus aurelius  br    br   the dvd release of  watch on the rhine  could not come at a better moment . it restores to us a major lillian hellman play stirringly adapted to the screen by dashiell hammett  hellman scholar bernard f . dick  s audio commentary affirms his authorship  . it presents a subtle performance by bette davis  who took a subdued secondary role long after she  d become the workhorse queen at the warner bros . lot . equally significantly  it reminds us that world war ii had a purpose .  br    br   sure  you say  like we needed that . we  ve heard cary grant sermonizing in  destination tokyo        about japanese boys and their bushido knives . we  ve watched jackboots stomp the living hills in  the sound of music        . we  ve toured an england callously occupied by germany in  it happened here        . yet  truth to tell  we still need the message spread .  br    br   i have an    year  old friend who curses franklin roosevelt regularly . he feels that fdr connived the u . s . into a foreign fight we didn  t need  and thereby caused the death of his favorite cousin . he  s encouraged in his demonizing of allied leaders and the trivializing of war two by patrick buchanan .  br    br   the political columnist has freshly released a fat book heavy with detailed research which claims that adolf hitler would have posed no further menace to poland  europe  or the world if only the third reich had been handed the free city of danzig in     . buchanan holds that if those selfish poles hadn  t confronted the nazis  drawing in foolishly meddling britain and giddily altruistic france  no war would have engulfed the west . he believes that without the rigors of total war  no one in germany would have built gas chambers to provide a final solution to the jewish problem .  br    br   some commenters on this site feel that  watch  sags under the weight of stale propaganda . maybe . however  neither my friend nor pat buchanan seem to have gotten the film  s point some people hurt and kill to grab other people  s land  goods  and liberty such people dominated the axis powers and  enough  didn  t appear in their vocabulary .  br    br   paul lukas deserved the oscar he won . he and bette davis put convincing passion into their portrayals of refugees who fight oppressors . they give emotional punch to the intellectual case for stepping off the sidelines  for actively facing down torturers and murderers . bernard dick notes that hellman didn  t care for lukas as a person since he stayed apolitical . of course  as a hungarian he had seen first  hand bela kun  s bloody  dictatorship of the proletariat  replace an outmoded empire and then topple to admiral horthy  s right  wing tyranny .  br    br   in a marvelous cameo role added to the play by hammett  henry daniell sardonically depicts a wehrmacht officer of the class that disdains the brown shirts he serves . his phili von ramme would doubtless stand with field marshal rommel in     during the plot of july   th against hitler . in april      however  he pragmatically abets the nazi cause  although he insults herr blecher  the butcher  and scorns the rumanian aristocrat teck de brancovis for trying to peddle information on an underground leader .  br    br   teck  a pauper and possible cuckold  wishes cash and a visa to return to europe where he can resume the shreds of a life that had come undone with the empire  shattering great war and the greater world  wide economic depression . he has no political convictions  no scruples about trading a freedom fighter for his own tomorrow . mercury theater graduate george coulouris lends this burnt  out case  s old world cynicism an edge of desperate menace .  br    br   lucille watson gives winsome vitality to the grasping man  s hostess  a domineering old gal who knows her mind and gets her way   but who doesn  t adequately appreciate her children and their achievements outside the home she controls . she and her pallid office  bound son belong to the american version of von ramme  s and de brancovis  privileged kind . however  this family hasn  t seen ruin and never will . they  re moneyed people who could silently advance evil simply by not opposing it .  br    br   this mother and son might easily make choices which would reflect that complaisance toward national socialism and fascism which flourishes today in my friend and in pundit buchanan .  watch on the rhine  has a manicured period look . its dialogue reflects its erudite origins on the stage rather than sounding fresh from the streets . yet hellman and hammett  s film has gut  based power . audiences still need to hear and heed its call to arms against grabbers relentlessly on the march .  
that this poor excuse for an amateur hour showcase was heralded at sundance is a great example of what is wrong with most indie filmmakers these days .  br    br   first of all  there is such a thing as the art of cinematography . just picking up a   mm camera and pointing it at whomever has a line does not make for a real movie .  br    br   i guess we have to consider ourselves lucky the director didn  t pick up someone  s camcorder . . .  br    br   second  indie films are supposed to be about real people . there  s nothing real in this film . none of the characters come across as being even remotely human .  br    br   what they come across as being is figments of the imagination of a writer trying to impress his buddies by showing them how  cool and edgy  he is .  br    br   sorry  but this is not good writing  or good directing .  br    br   what is left is a husk of a bad movie that somehow made its way to sundance . hard to believe this was one of the best films submitted . . .  br    br   in any case  it made me loose what was left of my respect for the sundance brand .  
in     i had just moved to the us from ceylon . i was    and had been married for a little over three years  and was beginning to come out as a lesbian . i saw this movie on an old black and white tv  with terrible reception  alone  and uninterrupted  in an awakening that seemed like an echo of the story . i was living in a small house in tucson arizona  and it was summertime . . . like everyone else here  i never forgot the feelings the images of this story called forth  and its residue of fragile magic  and i have treasured a hope that i would see it again someday . i  ll keep checking in . i also wish that someone would make a movie of shirley verel  s  the other side of venus  . it also has some of the same delicacy and persistent poignancy . . .  
i don  t think anyone sitting down to view this film would be expecting anything remotely appearing like a classic ghost story but you have to ask yourself when it  s over if you were ever scared . this doesn  t really work on that level but the cast does try hard and the film doesn  t tack on one of those happy endings . story is about an american couple who travel to kyoto  japan so that ted fletcher  edward albert  can write a book and he brings along his wife laura  susan george  and their daughter amy  amy barrett  . their friend alex curtis  doug mcclure  who works at the american consulate helps them find a house to live in and he finds one that is haunted . about    years earlier in the same house a samurai found his wife cheating on him and he kills both of them and then commits suicide . their ghosts still inhabit the house and when the fletcher  s arrive it doesn  t take long before strange things start happening .  br    br   spoiler alert  br    br   at times the ghosts inhabit the bodies of the fletcher  s and they start to act like the japanese people that they were before and laura starts to flirt with alex which leads to an affair . meanwhile  ted starts behaving more strict and after he pours soup down the throat of amy he goes to ask a monk for help . unfortunately the ghosts get ted  laura  and alex to play out their death scene like it happened    years earlier .  br    br   this film was directed by kevin connor who is known as a good television director but he has made horror and science fiction films before and has worked with mcclure on some of them . while this never comes close to being scary or developing atmosphere it does have two things in it that i liked . first  it doesn  t have one of those sappy endings where the couple embrace after defeating the demons . instead  it ends in a very bloody fight where everyone succumbs to the evil of the ghosts . secondly  it has susan george in the cast  i  ve always been a fan of hers even though she has appeared in mostly schlock but her performances are always top notch . also she usually appears nude which she does here in two separate scenes and while she doesn  t have classic features she does have a unique tomboy like look about her and it  s one of the reasons why she was so popular . but after appearing in silly films such as this i think it led to her getting out of the business or working only sporadically . this isn  t a bad film but it  s never convincing and watching the ghosts scurry around when the monk gives an exorcism is practically worthy of a giggle or two . the bottom line is that this is silly and i hope george decides to resume her career .  
the previous reviewer has said it exactly . i saw it once  was enchanted  saw it a second time when it was re  broadcast within a week or two of the first airing . i still remember some of the scenes . the setting is the opening of the   th century  the war referred to in the title is world war i . one of the scenes was set in a women  only section of a public place  which was an interesting historical note . the moment when one of the women first touches the other is one of my all  time great movie moments . i don  t think of this as a  gay movie   it  s an interesting and tender period love story  where the two principals happen to be women . i would love to see this movie again i would buy this one if it ever came out on dvd .  
dull haunted house thriller finds an american family moving into a    year old house in japan where a violent murder suicide love triangle occurred .  br    br   novel setting is about the only element of interest in this very slow moving horror flick by the director of motel hell . the film generates zero suspense and is composed of somewhat choppy scenes that rarely seem to be leading anywhere overall .  br    br   one obvious example is a fairly early scene where the male lead visits a temple after realizing that his house is haunted as the monk had earlier warned . the monk recounts the history of the house  which the viewer is already familiar with from the opening sequence  and then the film simply cuts away to something else . earlier the monk had offered to help . well  where is the help  the family continues to stay in the haunted house as things get worse and worse and no mention of the monk is made until nearly the very end when he turns up again to do what he should have done an hour earlier   try to drive the spirits out of the house  although by this time it  s difficult for the viewers to care .  br    br   there are some  probably  unintentional campy laughs in seeing the american actors at the end become possessed by the japanese spirits and suddenly start doing bad martial arts  i say probably because the scene is more than a little reminiscent of the chainsaw duel from the same director  s motel hell which was more obviously meant to be amusing  but on the whole this is a forgettable dud .  
as with all the other reviewers  this movie has been a constant in my mind after   years . i recall going to the library researching all that i could on this story . i even wrote to the pbs station for more information . despite all this  all i was able to find out was that it was a story printed in a newspaper in the early part of the     s .  br    br   fastward to      after years of searching ebay for on a weekly basis and there it was  a vhs copy of the movie . there was one other bidder but i was determined to win this movie . the losing bidder wrote me asking for a copy which i gave her . despite owning a copy  i still searched and searched finally finding a site that sold a dvd copy of the movie . you can find it at http   www . johntopping . com  harvey   perr  war   widow  war  widow . html  
the film opens with a peaceful shot of a traditional japanese house complete with thatched roof that sits on the side of a small hill and an on screen caption appears that reads  kushiata kyoto  japan      . a young japanese trainee samurai named masanori  toshiya maruyama  walks up the winding path to the house  inside waits otami  mako hattori  with whom he is having an affair behind her husband  shugoro  s  tsuiyuki sasaki as toshiyuki sasaki  back who happens to be masanori  s teacher . shugoro unexpectedly arrives home to find his wife and student having very intimate relations with each other . his honour destroyed the enraged samurai brutally murders both otami and masanori before committing suicide . over a century later and ted fletcher  edward albert  arrives in japan on a working holiday with his wife laura  susan george  and their young daughter amy  amy barrett  . their close friend alex curtis  doug mcclure  who works for the american consulate helps them out by finding them a place to stay  you don  t need me to you where  he jokingly says it  s going so cheap because it  s haunted  to which both ted and laura laugh off as they obviously don  t believe in ghosts  at least for the time being that is . almost immediately the film goes into clich mode . lights turn on and off by themselves  laura has an uneasy feeling about the place and a local zen monk  henry mitowa  gives them an ominous warning for them to leave before it  s too late which they ignore  of course . the spirits of otami  masanori and shugoro were doomed for eternity to remain within the walls of the house because of a majyo witches  tsuyako olajima  curse put upon them . but there may be a way they can break the curse  unfortunately for the fletcher family it could potentially cost them their marriage  daughter and possibly even their very lives .  br    br   directed by kevin connor i thought this was a pretty average film  ok to watch once if you  ve got nothing better to do but after a day or two you  ll probably have completely forgotten it . nothing sticks in the memory as being particularly bad but on the other hand there  s nothing particularly good about the film either . the script by robert suhosky from the novel by james hardiman is a little on the dull side and strictly by  the  numbers  a lot of ghostly goings on happen throughout the film but none of it is very interesting or exciting and the flat characters and direction doesn  t help things . there are couple of silly sequences like the giant plastic crabs that try to get amy and her babysitter  noriko  mayumi umeda  . and there is a scene where the zen monk exorcises the house and the ghosts are banished outside unable to get back in  however that is until ted simply opens the door and they just walk right back in  some exorcism  one more thing  i think it was a bad idea to have doug mcclure who was   when he made this  try his hand at kung  fu and oriental sword fighting  george gets her ample breasts out a couple of times including a very unerotic sex scene with mcclure  although great pains and a couple of bed sheets that stick to them like super glue were taken to ensure no below the waist nudity was present . apart from a couple of mostly off screen decapitations there  s no blood  gore or violence to speak about . the  transparent  ghost effects are ok but they ain  t going to impress many people these days . it  s professionally enough made and looks quite nice but the potential in the japanese setting and myths is squandered as this film could have been set in america  england or any western country without having to change a thing . an ok time waster .  
i saw this movie in      my first year of living in new york . i went on to live there for the next   years  but never saw anything as delicate and beautiful again as this small tv movie . it was part of a pbs series as i recall  and i  ve never forgotten it .  br    br   there are no sex scenes to speak of  just delicate  moving  extraordinarily touching moments full of tension and excitement  all set within a conservative  boston  i think   world war  environment where women played the role of devoted wife awaiting the return of husband from the war  and did not seek out a career and financial independence . frances lee mccain is superb in the role of career photographer and i have spent the next   odd years searching for her in equally challenging roles to no avail .  br    br   there has to be a video of this movie  sure it should be on dvd but surely at least a video   
this can be one of the most enjoyable movies ever if you don  t take it seriously . it is a bit dated and the effects are lame  but it is so enjoyable . there are giant crabs that attack a girl . oh  and the crabs sing japanese . it is amazingly bad . and the ending  which has been telegraphed throughout the entire film is hideously awesome . predictable  but seeing the final fight will leave you rolling in your seat . don  t even give this film a chance and you will love it . susan george is fun to watch and yes  she does appear naked . her daughter isn  t quite worth putting up with  but she does get attacked by giant crabs . they are the size of large cats . this is a   but i love it . as a movie  my god  but for entertainment  i give it a  . did i mention there are giant crabs   
almost   years later i recall this original pbs film as almost unbearably tender . periodically  i check here at imdb hoping that someone has had the good sense to purchase the rights and put it on a dvd . it  s september of      and i keep hoping   deep sigh .  br    br   one of the two lead actors went on to a small career primarily in a prime  time evening soap the other  frances lee mccain  was seen in small roles here and there for a few years . but nothing they did before or after ever matched this little movie which was produced  as i recall it  on a short  lived pbs series which showcased original screenplays by new and up  and  coming playwrights .  br    br   i watched it every time it was shown on pbs  maybe  or  times . that was before the era of vcrs  so i have no record of it  except in my mind  s eye .  br    br             addition to above happy new year  ladies  this wonderful film is finally available on dvd at ladyslipper . org . my understanding is that the dvds are burned from the writer  s own personal copy .  
 . . it  s this one  very cool premise  right off the bat .  br    br   has an excellent first scene  gotta give credit where credit  s due .  br    br   has solid characters and a decent enough script for a ghost story but here are the things that bothered me whenever the ghosts appeared  which i really liked by the way how it was done  how it looked . . . the only thing was the ghost  s relationship . because of the way things went down in the first scene you  d think their dynamic would be different .  br    br   things slowed down a little too much in the middle i felt  and the crab  spider scene was just not good . but then the ending is actually very good  sure   the grudge  basically told the same story with a polished lens but no samurai  s and that  s what i liked about this movie comparatively .  br    br   please  someone one with a tempered style remake this movie .  br    br   fans of  silent rage  would absolutely love this movie .  
it  s been a while since i  ve watched this movie  and the series  but now i  m refreshing my memory  this was a very funny movie based on the classic series  johnny knoxville and seann william scott were hilarious together . bo and luke duke help uncle jesse run moonshine in the general lee . when boss hogg forces the dukes off their farm  bo and luke sneak around hogg  s local construction site and find samples of coal . they soon realize that boss hogg is gonna strip  mine hazzard county  unless the dukes can stop him  with the help of their beautiful cousin  daisy . my only two problems with the movie was that burt reynolds wasn  t right for the part of boss hogg  and sheriff rosco p . coltrane was way too serious . other than that  i highly recommend the dukes of hazzard     
at the beginning of the film  you might double  check the dvd cover and re  read the synopsis a couple of times  but no worries . it  s not  memoirs of a geisha  that you purchased just a movie with an intro that is much more classy and stylish than it has any right to be . still  the opening is by far the best thing about the entire movie  as it shows how in the year     a samurai sword master catches his wife committing adultery . he decapitates the two lovers before doing some hara  kiri  ritual suicide through disembowelment  . cut to present day  when the american ambassador in japan welcomes a befriended family and drives them up to the same house where the aforementioned slaughter took place nearly one and a half century ago . from then onwards  this becomes a seemingly routine haunted house flick yet the utterly retarded and implausible script still makes it somewhat exceptional . let  s start with the good aspects  namely the original japanese setting and the presence of the delicious susan george who is my all  time favorite british horror wench  well  together with britt eckland  linda hayden and ingrid pitt  . the bad aspects simply include that the screenplay is incoherent  imbecilic beyond repair and full of supposedly unsettling twists that only evoke laughter . the restless spirits of the house soon begin to entertain themselves by perpetrating into the bodies of the new tenants and causing them to do and say all sorts of crazy stuff . the spirit of the massacred adulterous woman particularly enjoys squeezing into susan  s ravishing booty and transforming her into a lewd seductress  in this  possessed  state  she even lures the american ambassador outside to have sex in the garden of a high society diner party full of prominent guests . so  strictly spoken  it  s not really  evil  that dwells in the house just a trio of sleazy ghosts with dirty minds and far too much free time on their long  dead hands  obviously these scenes are more comical than frightening  especially since the light  blue and transparent shapes remind you of the cute ghost effects that were later popularized in  ghostbusters  .  the house where evil dwells  is probably the least scary ghost movie ever . throughout most of the running time  you  ll be wondering whether director kevin connor  who nevertheless made the excellent horror films  motel hell  and  from beyond the grave   intentionally wanted to make his movie funny and over  the  top  like  motel hell  maybe . but then again  everyone in the cast continues to speak his  her lines with a straight and sincere face  so i guess we are nevertheless supposed to take everything seriously and feel disturbed .  the house where evil dwells  is never suspenseful or even remotely exciting and it doesn  t even contain any grisly images apart from the massacre at the beginning . i am fully aware of how shallow it sounds  but the two scenes in which susan george goes topless are the only true highlights . well  those and maybe also the invasion of cheesy and ridiculously over  sized spiders  or are they crabs   in the daughter  s bedroom . how totally random and irrelevant was that  if you ever decide to give this movie a chance notwithstanding its bad reputation  make sure you leave your common sense and reasoning at the doorstep .  br    br   trivia note for horror buffs keep an eye open for the demon  mask that was also a pivot piece of scenery in the brilliant japanese horror classic onibaba .  
what is wrong with you people  if you weren  t blown away by the action car sequences and jessica simpsons hot body then you are majorly screwed in the head . of course the film isn  t a masterpiece  i don  t think it was aiming to be . it was fun and funny  i never watched the show when i was younger  i only recently saw one episode  and when i watched the movie  i felt it had the same kind of atmosphere . the movie seats were practically shaking  and the car sequences were good because it didn  t bore me and drag out like some of the scenes in  fast  furious . and jessica simpson is plain hot  i just wish they had used her more in the action sequences . all in all  i had a hell of a time watching this and i would go and see it again soon and i will buy it on dvd . people  enjoy it for what it is .  
this could have been interesting  a japan  set haunted house story from the viewpoint of a newly  installed american family  but falls flat due to an over  simplified treatment and the unsuitability of both cast and director .  br    br   the film suffers from the same problem i often encounter with the popular modern renaissance of such native fare  i . e . the fact that the spirits demonstrate themselves to be evil for no real reason other than that they  re expected to  besides  it doesn  t deliver much in the scares department  a giant crab attack is merely silly  as  generally  the ghosts inhabit a specific character and cause him or her to act in a totally uncharacteristic way  such as susan george seducing diplomat  friend  of  the  family doug mcclure and edward albert force  feeding his daughter a bowl of soup   br    br   at one point  an old monk turns up at the house to warn albert of the danger if they remain there  eventually  he  s called upon to exorcise the premises . however  history is bound to repeat itself and tragedy is the only outcome of the tense situation duly created  leading to a violent yet unintentionally funny climax in which albert and mcclure  possessed by the spirits of their japanese predecessors  engage in an impromptu karate duel to the death  at the end of the day  this emerges an innocuous time  waster  tolerable at just   minutes but  in no way  essential viewing .  
having read some of the other comments here i was expecting something truly awful but was pleasantly surprised . reality check the original series wasn  t that good . i think some people remember it with more affection than it deserved but apart from the car chases and daisy duke  s legs the scripts were weak and poorly acted . the duke boys were too intelligent and posh for backwood hicks  the shrunken boss hog was too cretinous to be evil and rosco was just hyper throughout every screen moment . it  s amazing the series actually lasted as long as it did because it ran out of story lines during the first series .  br    br   back to the movie . if you watch this film in it  s own right  not as a direct comparison to however you remember the tv series  then it  s not bad at all . the real star is of course the general lee . the car chases and stunts are excellent and that  s really what d . o . h . is all about . johnny knoxville is his usual eccentric self and along with seann william scott as cousin bo the pair make this film really funny in a hilarious dumb  and  dumber sort of way the tv series never achieved . the lovely jessica simpson is a natch as miss daisy  burt reynolds makes a much improved boss hog and m . c . gainey makes a believably nasty rosco p . coltrane  the way he always should have been .  br    br   if you don  t like slapstick humour and crazy car stunts then you wouldn  t be watching this film anyway because you should know what to expect . otherwise if you want an entertaining car  action movie with a few good laughs that  s not too taxing on the brain then go see this enjoyable romp with an open mind .  
giant crabs cursing in japanese  what was in that drink  a terrible movie  but laughable . i love the invisible samurai ghosties running around . drink much beer before you see this movie .  
i  m a huge fan of the dukes of hazzard tv show . and i really enjoyed this flick . i enjoyed myself here a lot more than i did with other summer blockbusters .  br    br   it  s funny hearing people rail against this movie with excuses like  lame plot  and  it  s much cruder than the show .  does anyone remember the crudeness of the humor in the pilot episode  daisy makes incest jokes and bo says that luke had probably fathered half the kids in the orphanage . the only reason it was cleaned up is because it changed to and earlier time slot .  br    br   and as far as the plot goes . it was the perfect dukes plot . in fact as a remake it probably stays truer to the source material than any tv show that has migrated to the big screen .  br    br   while sean william scott and johnny knoxville aren  t exactly like their small screen versions  they do a great job and work very well together . i wasn  t too keen on burt  s boss hogg though . and i would have like a little bit more incompetence from sheriff roscoe . in the movie roscoe is a little . . . scary .  br    br   and who didn  t have a smile on their face as the general lee is racing through the streets of atlanta and the back roads of hazzard   br    br   folks  allow yourself to enjoy a movie that is just an excuse for nostalgia  bikinis and car chases  you won  t be sorry . it  s just a great dumb movie   
from reading all of the comments posted here on imdb  this movie seems to get ragged on a lot  but i didn  t think it was that bad . i  ve seen much worse  actually .  br    br    the house where evil dwells  is a ghost story about a husband and his wife  ted and laura fletcher  and their daughter  amy  who move into an old house in japan . little do they know  a japanese ninja brutally murdered his wife and her lover  and then killed himself    years earlier with a samurai sword . as strange things happen in the house  the ghosts of the previous residents begin to possess the bodies of the living  and plan on re  enacting the bloody murder that took place    years back .  br    br   i saw this movie and decided to give it a chance  from the cover it looked like a decent ghost story . it was routine  and it was corny  but i  ve seen worse in my day . the ghost sequences were a little over  done  we get to see the translucent blue  tinted figures randomly pop up randomly around the family  and take over their bodies . to be honest  the ghosts in this movie kind of reminded me of the ghosts in the haunted mansion ride at disneyland . i may be mistaken  but after watching this  it seemed to me that the japanese horror film  ju  on the grudge  and the american remake of that film ripped this off a little . the old japanese home where a brutal murder took place  ghostly activity  curses put on the home  etc . but i may be wrong .  br    br   to sum it up  this is a pretty corny ghost story . don  t go out of your way to see it  but if you like this kind of thing and it happens to come on tv you can give it a shot .     .  
i saw this movie when i was a child . it blew me away . this was before the days of television  so a movie of this magnitude  could send a young kid into orbit . it so impressed me  that i went to see this movie for twelve consecutive days . the special effects used at this time were far ahead of its  time . sabu was a real delight  as was rex ingram as the genie . i found myself singing  i want to be a sailor  for months after the film left town . i would recommend this movie to any and everyone . i forgot to mention conrad veidt  who was as villainous a character as you  d ever want to meet . also  june duprez was never lovelier than she was in this picture . the color was outstanding . give this movie an aaa   
director kevin connor and wannabe action  hero  romantic lead doug mcclure  re  team in this ghost story set in japan . they had been moderately successful together in the      s  with the likes of  the land that time forgot          at the earth  s core        etc . without plastic monsters to carry the narrative along though  the results are shabby and derivative in the most corny way .  br    br   the film begins with a prologue set in the   th century  with a samurai husband killing his wife and her lover before committing suicide . a move forward to the present introduces married couple ted  laura  visiting japan and moving in to the house where the tragedy took place .  br    br   no surprises as to what happens next  with the spirits of the dead starting to take over the new inhabitants with family friend alex  mcclure  assuming the role of the wife  s lover .  br    br   everything rumbles clumsily along with the elegance and grace of a charging elephant  to an inevitable  but surprisingly downbeat  conclusion . main points of interest are two feeble decapitations   the omen  has a lot to answer for in promoting this as a standard horror set  piece   and the love  making scenes featuring the doe  eyed but extremely kinky susan george . the first is a long  don  t look now  inspired piece with her hubby  complete with piano music the second a much shorter  probably at her insistence  entanglement with mcclure  both looking pretty uncomfortable . anyway  every cloud has a silver lining and both scenes show of her fantastic knockers so all is not lost .  br    br   overall i can  t decide whether  the house where evil dwells  is rubbish  watchable rubbish  or entertaining in a masochistic kind of way . if you  re not into the genre there is nothing here at all  but for horror fans there is probably enough to provoke the odd rye smile and appreciative nod of respect for effort .  br    br   best scene  in any other film the big  black  tree  climbing  japanese  muttering mechanical crabs would have stolen the show . they are eclipsed though by the legendary family meal scene  where a ghostly head appears in the daughters soup . on seeing this apparition she asks what kind of soup it is        to be told beef and vegetable  before uttering the immortal line  ugh  there  s an awful face in my soup  . if this wasn  t enough the reply is  c  mon  eat your soup for daddy .  laurel  hardy rest in piece .  
loved the movie . i even liked most of the actors in it . but  for me ms . davis  very poor attempt at an accent  and her stiff acting really makes an otherwise compelling movie very hard to watch . seriously if any other modern actor played the same role with the same style as ms . davis they would be laughed off the screen .  br    br   i really think she  phoned this one in  . now if it had myrna loy or ingrid bergman playing the part of the wife i would have enjoyed it much more .  br    br   i guess i just don  t  get  bette davis . i  ve always thought of her as an actor that  plays herself  no matter what role she  s in . the possible exception is now voyager .  br    br   i  m sure many of the other reviewers will explain in careful  and i hope civil  detail how i am totally wrong on this . but  i  ll continue to watch the movies she  s in because i like the stories  writing  supporting casts  but  i  ll always be thinking  of different actresses that could have done a better job .  
raising victor vargas is just a bad film . no amount of denial or ad  dollar supported publicity with change this sad fact .  br    br   maybe peter sollett saw he didn  t have the money to do the movie he wanted to make and decided to take the easy way out by making a bad film that cynically apes the tenets of current  edgy film  making  . maybe he just doesn  t know any better . it  s hard to tell .  br    br   what  s not hard to tell is the result . except for a few viewers who will intellectualize the bad film  making into an attempt at pseudo  realism  few will enjoy it .  br    br   i know i didn  t .  br    br   do yourselves a favor and pass on this film .  
next to  star wars  and  the wizard of oz   this remains one of the greatest fantasy films ever made . it  s a true shame it  s not as well  known as the former films  maybe because it sticks to a story based on legends rather than contemporary or sci  fi settings  and that it  s british  meaning a smaller market for films  but its wonderful to know that it  s deserved that reputation .  br    br   like all great family films  one can be a child  an adult  or even a teenager to enjoy this film  i  m currently     but one must appreciate classic films first . i absolutely adore this film . it has an extraordinary music score by miklos rozsa  perhaps my favorite classic film score  that rivals any john williams  star wars  score  a fast but not flashy pace  beautiful sets  dialog  and use of color  both the sets and cinematography won oscars   and state  of  the  art oscar  winning special effects  for the time  and some are still stunning  . and  of course  june duprez  s sultry looks as the princess rivals that of catherine zeta  jones   she even looks like jones in a way   .  br    br   in conclusion  this is one of my all  time favorite movie  next to  the adventures of robin hood   and it truly deserves more attention . it is a true adventure of enchantment throughout  and  along with  robin hood   it  s my desert island film that i could watch over and over again without getting annoyed .  br    br   stars   excellent   
i just rented and watched this movie just to see what  s all the fuss about . so here  s what my reactions to it are . it  s easily seen that this is a low budget film with poor actors . the main plot of this movie is about a woman getting revenge on her rapists . this concept if done right could easily turn out to be a really provocative film . however  the movie doesn  t shock or disturb me at all . it just bored me . this movie could be easily shortened to under   minutes . all lot of scenes are mainly there to fill in time  like those scenery scenes and some scenes i described below .  br    br   contains spoiler i find the rape scenes quite tame . i don  t know if i have watched the cut or uncut version  if there is actually such a version . i also found many plot holes within the already badly written plot . here  s a list on top of my mind .  br    br   why don  t the rapists rape jennifer during the night when she walked out her house to find out what those noise are . that would be an excellent time .  br    br   why don  t they just gang rape her  instead of delaying some of the rapists the pleasure and lengthening jennifer  s ordeal by such a long time . it would probably be more shocking and disturbing that way .  br    br   i found it really stupid that the rapists left her in the forest and head back to her house . maybe to show that these rapists are really imbeciles .  br    br   these rapists should at least know that if you want to do a dirty job right  they shouldn  t send a coward imbecile to do the job .  br    br   why didn  t jennifer call the police when the rapists finally left  which should be the first thing that pops up in most people  s mind  especially for someone who is a writer .  br    br   why didn  t these rapists smell danger miles away when they saw jennifer is alive   br    br   i find it really amazing that a slender lady like camille can pull a man up a tree and hang him . ends spoiler  br    br   but hey  this movie is not without its merits  camille keaton is gorgeous and i get to hear one of the funniest line i have recently heard when matthew protest of going back into the house and kills jennifer  why me  why me  i didn  t even cm      
it is very rare for a film to appeal to viewers of all ages   to children for a fine narrative and a wonderful  colorful production  and  to adults  for a literate script  fine production values  good casting  acting  all bound together with a fine rozsa score . two roughly contemporary films accomplish this    thief of baghdad        and  the adventures of robin hood        . some of the back story on this production is fascinating . this production  commenced in england in the summer of      moved to hollywood  and proved a cover for british intelligence efforts  the producer  alexander korda  was subsequently knighted in     . here is a unique case of the intersection of art  commerce  and politics  by all means  secure a good cd of this film for your library   
i  ve seen the gator bait films  and this is almost exactly the same thing as those . a woman is sexually assaulted by a group of degenerate men and systematically exacts her vicious revenge on each of them . the thing that sets this movie apart from those ones  although not very far  is that the sexual content is not glorified . there is full frontal nudity many times throughout the film  but not for a second is it ever sexy . some of the rape scenes might seem a little extensive  but that  s only because the movie is trying to strengthen the audience  s need to see this woman seek revenge .  br    br   this is a weak film  it has no other way to maintain interest other than manipulating our natural desire to see this woman get revenge on her attackers . i spit on your grave is not the kind of movie that you expect to deliver a serious moral  but i was glad to see that  since it contained a significant amount of violence inflicted upon the female lead  it was not meant to pass off as a ta film .  br    br   b  movies are notorious for being driven by nudity and out of control adolescent sexuality  and while i spit on you grave is unmistakably a b  movie and contains more than its share of nudity  the nudity does not drive the plot . on the other hand  the only thing that drives the plot is an empty necessity for revenge against a group of rapists . these men are evolutionary drop  outs just like they were in the gator bait films  and the biggest challenge for the writers seems to have been to come up with new and exciting ways to kill them  but the reason the film can never be anything more than a meaningless b  movie is because it does not deliver a message of any kind  but instead it simply satisfies the audience  s desire to see a bunch of rapists get exactly what they deserve .  br    br   the one problem that this leaves is that we have to sit through the sexual attacks . oddly  the first half of the film is the part that contains the most nudity  although not by much   but it is by far the most painful to watch . we are even let down a little as we watch the woman obtain revenge since a couple of the deaths were so elaborate that they were obviously impossible  it seems like pure luck that the guy in the lake at the end felt such an overwhelming desire to hug the motor on the boat and press his genitalia against the propeller  staying that way while the woman yells some final words at him and pulls the cord   but again  this movie satisfies only the desire for revenge that the first half filled us with .  br    br    spoilers  you know that this is all the movie means to do  since it literally ends the minute the last guy is killed . the woman does not live happily ever after  she doesn  t write her book  she doesn  t leave and never return to that nightmare place  she just gets in the boat and motors around the lake while the movie simply stops in its tracks . but hey  what more did you expect   br    br   oh  and did you read the tagline  if you decide to waste your time watching this  try and find any man getting broken or burned . i was really looking forward to those  
this is a beautiful movie filled with adventure . the genii in the bottle is a classic scene . romantic in it  s finish  all things turn out as they should be . i saw this first as a child and have remembered it as a fantasy i wished was true .  
i  m not going to bother with a plot synopsis since you know what the movie is about and there  s almost no plot  anyway . i  ve seen several reviewers call isoyg an  anti  rape  film or even a feminist statement  and i just have to chime in on the galling hypocrisy of these claims .  br    br   first of all  what do we see on the cover of this movie  that  s right a shapely woman  s behind . whether it was zarchi  s attempt to make an anti  rape statement  and i absolutely don  t believe it was  is entirely beside the point . the film is marketing sex and the titillation of sexual assault and the material is so graphic  everything but actual penetration is shown  that no one but the hard core exploitation crowd will enjoy it .  br    br   the rape  s  in the film is uncomfortable  brutal and hard to watch . there  s something to be said for presenting a horrible crime in such a brutal light  but there was no reason for this scene to go on for seemingly   minutes  none . there was also little character development of the victim and only one of the rapists is slightly developed  mere moments before he  s murdered  so the scene isn  t at all engaging on an emotional level . really  it  s just presented for the sake of showing extreme sexual violence and you can tell by the movies isoyg is associated with on imdb  caligula  cannibal ferox  etc .  that it attracts only the exploitation crowd .  br    br   finally  a few reviewers have commended zarchi  s so  called documentary style and lack of a soundtrack . but considering how inept everything else in the film is  acting  script  etc .  i suspect these were financial decisions and the film looks like a documentary because he literally stationed a camera and let his porn  caliber actors do their thing .  br    br   i  m not going to get all up on my high horse talking about the content of isoyg . i  m all for exploitation  horror and love video nasties . in fact  i  m giving this movie three stars only because it truly does push the envelope so much further than some other films . however  it  s also poorly made and after the rape occurs  just downright boring for the rest of the film as we watch a bunch of ho  hum  mostly gore  less murders and wait for the credits to roll .  br    br   this is probably worth watching once if you  re a hardcore   s exploitation fan but i  m telling you  the movie is overall pretty bad and not really worth its notorious reputation .  
let  s cut a long story short . i loved every minute of it . a lavish fantasy in true arabian  nights style . there  s an evil magician  a pretty princess  a djinn and everybody lives happily ever after . modern hollywoond sure does have one or two things to learn from this classic . only quibble the special effects are pretty dated  loved sabu with the djinn  s foot  though    
okay  you have  br    br   penelope keith as miss herringbone  tweed  b . b . e .  backbone of england .  she  s killed off in the first scene  that  s right  folks this show has no backbone   br    br   peter o  toole as ol  colonel cricket from the first war and now the emblazered lord of the manor .  br    br   joanna lumley as the ensweatered lady of the manor    years younger than the colonel and   years past her own prime but still glamourous  brit spelling  not mine  enough to have a toy  boy on the side . it  s alright  they have col . cricket  s full knowledge and consent  they guy even comes  round for christmas   still  she  s considerate of the colonel enough to have said toy  boy her own age  what a gal    br    br   david mccallum as said toy  boy  equally as pointlessly glamourous as his squeeze . pilcher couldn  t come up with any cover for him within the story  so she gave him a hush  hush job at the circus .  br    br   and finally  br    br   susan hampshire as miss polonia teacups  venerable headmistress of the venerable girls  boarding  school  serving tea in her office with a dash of deep  poignant advice for life in the outside world just before graduation . her best bit of advice  i  ve only been to nancherrow  the local stately home of england  once . i thought it was very beautiful but  somehow  not part of the real world .  well  we can  t say they didn  t warn us .  br    br   ah  susan  time was  your character would have been running the whole show . they don  t write  em like that any more . our loss  not yours .  br    br   so  with a cast and setting like this  you have the re  makings of  brideshead revisited   right   br    br   wrong  they took these   dimensional supporting roles because they paid so well . after all  acting is one of the oldest temp  jobs there is  you name another    br    br   first warning sign lots and lots of backlighting . they get around it by shooting outdoors   hey  it  s just the sunlight    br    br   second warning sign leading lady cries a lot . when not crying  her eyes are moist . that  s the law of romance novels leading lady is  dewy  eyed .   br    br   henceforth  leading lady shall be known as l . l .  br    br   third warning sign l . l . actually has stars in her eyes when she  s in love . still  i  ll give emily mortimer an award just for having to act with that spotlight in her eyes  i wonder . did they use contacts    br    br   and lastly  fourth warning sign no on  screen female character is  mrs .  she  s either  miss  or  lady .   br    br   when all was said and done  i still couldn  t tell you who was pursuing whom and why . i couldn  t even tell you what was said and done .  br    br   to sum up they all live through world war ii without anything happening to them at all .  br    br   ok  at the end  l . l . finds she  s lost her parents to the japanese prison camps and baby sis comes home catatonic . meanwhile  there  s always a  meanwhile    some young guy l . l . had a crush on  when  i don  t know  comes home from some wartime tough spot and is found living on the street by lady of the manor  must be some street if she  s going to find him there .  both war casualties are whisked away to recover at nancherrow  somebody has to be  whisked away  somewhere in these romance stories    br    br   great drama .  
a magical journey concocted by alexander korda and michael powell . these two titans of the british cinema have mixed some fabulous ingredients to produce a movie masterpiece  some of the most ravishing early technicolor  a sublime and shimmering miklos rozsa musical score along with the youthful exuberance of sabu  the theatrical and malevolent villainy of conrad veidt and the exquisite beauty and voice of june duprez as the princess all work wonderfully well . miles malleson who plays duprez father  the sultan of basra  also wrote the perfect screenplay which is appropriately grandiose . don  t miss this one  since posting the above comments  i have obtained the recently released dvd and can honestly say i  d never seen the picture properly until viewing this dvd version  the clarity and resolution is so precise and the colors are so vivid that i was stunned  this amazing classic can be watched time an again and never fails to charm and delight the viewer . again  a must see   
with knightly and o  tool as the leads  this film had good possibilities  and with mccallum as the bad guy after knightly  maybe some tension . but they threw it all away on silly evening frill and then later on with maudlin war remnants . it was of course totally superficial  beautiful english country and seaside or not . the number one mistake was dumping knightly so early on in the film  when she could easily have played someone a couple of years older  instead of choosing someone ten years older to play the part . they missed all the chances to have great conflict among the cast  and instead stupidly pulled at the easy and low  cost heartstring elements .  
a fantastic arabian adventure . a former king  ahmad  and his best friend  the thief abu  played by sabu of black narcissus  search for ahmad  s love interest  who has been stolen by the new king  jaffar  conrad veidt  . there  s hardly a down moment here . it  s always inventing new adventures for the heroes . personally  i found ahmad and his princess a little boring  there  s no need to ask why john justin  who plays ahmad  is listed fourth in the credits  . conrad veidt  always a fun actor  makes a great villain  and sabu is a lot of fun as the prince of thieves  who at one point finds a genie in a bottle . i also really loved miles malleson as the sultan of basra  the father of the princess . he collects amazing toys from around the world . jaffar bribes him for his daughter  s hand with a mechanical flying horse . this probably would count as one of the great children  s films of all time  but the special effects are horribly dated nowadays . kids will certainly deride the superimposed images when abu and the genie are on screen together . and the scene with the giant spider looks especially awful . although most of the younger generation probably thinks that king kong looks bad at this point in time  willis o  brien  s stop  motion animation is a thousand times better than a puppet on a string that doesn  t even look remotely like a spider .     .  
quite what the producers of this appalling adaptation were trying to do is impossible to fathom .  br    br   a group of top quality actors  in the main well cast  with a couple of notable exceptions   who give pretty good performances . penelope keith is perfect as aunt louise and equally good is joanna lumley as diana . all do well with the scripts they were given .  br    br   so much for the good . the average would include the sets . nancherrow is nothing like the house described in the book  although bizarrely the house they use for the dower house looks remarkably like it . it is clear then that the dower house is far too big . in the later parts  the writers decided to bring the entire story back to the uk  presumably to save money  although with a little imagination i have no doubt they could have recreated ceylon .  br    br   now to the bad . the screenplay . this is such an appallingly bad adaptation is hard to find words to condemn it . edward does not die in the battle of britain but survives  blinded . he makes a brief appearance then commits suicide  why   loveday has changed from the young woman totally in love with gus to a sensible farmer  s wife who can give up the love her life with barely a tear  less emotional than brief encounter  . gus  a man besotted and passionately in love  is prepared to give up his love without complaint . walter  mudge in the book  turns from a shallow unfaithful husband to a devoted family man . jess is made into a psychologically disturbed young woman who won  t speak . aunt biddy still has a drink problem but now without any justification . the dower house is occupied by the army for no obvious reason other than a very short scene with jess who has a fear of armed soldiers . whilst miss mortimer  s breasts are utterly delightful  i could not see how their display on several occasions moved the plot forward . the delightfully named nettlebed becomes the mundane dobson . the word limit prevents me from continuing the list .  br    br   there is a sequel  which i lost all interest in watching after this nonsense  and i wonder if the changes were made to create the follow on story . it is difficult to image that rosamunde pilcher would have approved this grotesque perversion of her book presumably she lost her control when the rights were purchased .  
this was usually producer alexander korda  s advice on set to many of his underlings the film is credited with three directors but in truth alex  zoltan korda and william cameron menzies helped out  pushing it to six .  br    br   for john kobal  s     book   the top    movies   his survey of   film critics saw the thief of bagdad reach   th place . a closer examination reveals only jose luis guarner  john russell taylor and kobal himself actually voted for the picture  but their high placings were enough to take it to near the half  way mark .  br    br   the outbreak of the second world war saw the movie  s production shifted around england and america  eventually seeing completion in     and winning three technical oscars . like citizen kane  it is in some ways perhaps a film you might admire rather than love .  br    br   the special effects  outstanding for the time  are still reasonable  and actually hold up if you squint . but it  s not so much their effectiveness as the audacity of the inventions . among them is an amusing horse  constructed out of a kit model  which  when a key is inserted up it  s rear end  begins to fly . there  s also a killer toy of the six  armed goddess kali   perhaps quite obviously a single woman with two women sitting behind her  and a quite horrific  looking giant spider . also impressing is the climax with its wonderful flying carpet . but most memorable has to be rex ingram appearing as  in a superb moment of cinematic conceit  a djinn  genie  nearly a thousand feet tall  ingram portrays the genie as quite a menacing creature  and adds an element of danger to the proceedings . and look out for the moment where he  s tricked back into his bottle   br    br   john justin does well as the arabic king who  for some strange reason  has an english accent and a stiff upper lip . sabu  the astonishingly muscled   year  old  is near  namesake abu  a likeably cocky thief . after they cross paths with the evil jaffer  conrad veidt   justin finds himself blind and abu is turned into a dog . when it seems the rest of the film will be told in flashback through the blind ahmed  s  justin  s  perspective  we find that halfway through the movie we catch up to the present and the adventure continues . in truth  the second half is someway the better  being full of greater incident and more fantastical in nature .  br    br   three small songs pepper the piece  though as the film lasts for    minutes this feels more like mild flavouring rather than a real ingredient i wouldn  t classify this as a musical . it  s all great fun justin and june duprez are the love interest for the mums and dads  veidt is the boo  hiss villain  and abu is the youthful  irrepressible robber . it may take a while to get into the somewhat dated mindset and overblown melodrama of   s english movies  but once you  ve sat through the first half an hour or so this film really draws you in . quite commendable .  
being a filmmaker myself  and possessing a somewhat dark and subversive sense of humour  i thought i was in for a treat when i took home  my wrongs . . .   not that the dvd cover gives anything away  instead opting for the ambiguous quote from controversialist director  chris morris   a short film including scenes   . i should have known better really  and avoided this insipid  and often offensive  piece of twoddle .  br    br   the scene in the church is repulsive to watch  especially since we are all too familiar with morris  s warped attitude towards paedophilia from his notorious tv series  brass eye  and serves no purpose other than to shock . how this film is labelled a comedy i will never understand .  br    br   the runner  s commentary sounds like a novel idea in principle  having been a runner myself  it  s often an interesting and uninhibited perspective on the filmmaking process   however this is sadly not the case here . instead  we are treated to some public schoolboy ranting about dogs on film  before concluding that there are no really great movies starring dogs . this is all very interesting  but not worth a single frame of celluloid .  br    br   to say that this film goes nowhere would be an understatement . it relies far too heavily upon its heightened style  at the expense of plot  character and dialogue  leaving the viewer strangely perturbed and unfulfilled . its over  simplified message  that man should take responsibility for his actions  is both glaringly obvious and poorly illustrated .  br    br   the film does have its moments of pseudo  kafkaesque surrealism  but ultimately  it fails to convince  to entertain  to enlighten and just ends up being irritating . if you want to see a really great piece of short filmmaking  i strongly recommend  franz kafka  s it  s a wonderful life   by peter capaldi .  
the making of the thief of bagdad is quite a story unto itself  almost as wondrous as the tale told in this film . alexander korda nearly went broke making this film .  br    br   according to the citadel film series book about the great british films  adopted son of the united kingdom alexander korda had conceived this film as early as     and spent years of planning and preparation . but world war ii unfortunately caught up with korda and the mounting expenses of filming a grand spectacle .  br    br   budget costs happen in us films too  only cecil b . demille always had a free hand at paramount after     when he returned there . but demille nor any of his american contemporaries had to worry about enemy bombs while shooting the film . part of the way through the shoot  korda transported the whole company to america and shot those sequences with rex ingram as the genie in our grand canyon . he certainly wasn  t going to get scenery like that in the uk . korda also finished the interiors in hollywood  all in time for a release on christmas day     .  br    br   the spectacle of the thing earned the thief of bagdad four academy award nominations and three oscars for best color cinematography  best artset direction for a color film  and best special effects . only miklos rosza  s original musical score did not take home a prize in a nominated category . korda must have been real happy about deciding to shoot in the grand canyon because it  s impossible to get bad color pictures from that place .  br    br   the special effects however do not overwhelm the simple story of good triumphing over evil . the good is the two young lovers john justin and june duprez and the evil is conrad veidt as the sorcerer who tries to steal both a kingdom and a heart  both belonging to duprez . this was veidt  s career role until casablanca where he played the luftwaffe major stroesser .  br    br   of course good gets a little help from an unlikely source . beggar boy and thief sabu who may very well have been one of the few who could call himself at the time an international movie star . literally rising from poverty working as an elephant stable boy for the maharajah of mysore he was spotted by alexander korda who needed a native lead for one of his jungle features . sabu captures all the innocence and mischievousness of youth as he fulfills the arabian nights fantasy of the boy who topples a tyrant . not a bad message to be sending out in     at that .  br    br   the thief of bagdad holds up remarkably well today . it  s an eternal tale of love  romance  and adventure in any order you want to put it .  
simply not the quality i expected from morris  love brass eye and blue jam  . this is very much like a not so bad student film . what concerns me  in all this is why did it win a bafta    morris makes fun of  enshrined mediocrity   ayn rand  in much of his work  nathan barley  and yet with this piece is urinating down the backs of the talented and telling us its raining   br    br   i just hope as he has chosen a subject i would love to tackle  the humanity of terrorism  four lions  that he isn  t going to cock that up  wasting the opportunity to make a statement about the farce of mainstream ignorance and opinion on this emotive and heavily spun phenomena .  
although time has revealed how some of the effects were done this story of love and adventure still is special .  br    br   if you  ve never seen this film before you  ll be shocked at how much has been stolen by later film makers . i was watching this with a friend who was amazed at how much disney  s aladdin cribbed from the film . they loved the movie and enjoyed that it was such a touchstone for so many other films and film makers .  br    br   i  ve given the film an  out of   instead of a   out of ten  which is where a good portion of this film dwells  because in the final   minutes the film falls apart in the pacing . everything is rushed as if they has to suddenly get to the end . from the point from the departure of the djinn to the end it appears to be more sketch then finished painting . it doesn  t kill the film  but it does weaken it .  br    br   still its required viewing for anyone who loves a good fairy tale  or even a great movie .  
there  s nothing wrong with a popcorn movie to keep you off the streets . it  s just that some are better than others . this is very poor . the acting is awful  the script dire and the special effects overrated .  br    br   why does hollywood treat it  s audience with such contempt  and why have they made a sequel   
this was a favorite of my childhood  i can remember seeing it on television and thrilling to it each time . now that i  m grown up and have a kid of my own  i wanted to introduce him to this classic movie . we watched it last friday  and he liked it . during abu  s fight with the giant spider  my son  s hand crept over and took hold of mine  he was genuinely scared .  is he gonna beat the spider  poppa   just watch  you  ll see . he has no historical frame of reference to speak of  eight years old   so bagdad under the grandson of haroun al  raschid might as well be oz under ozma .  br    br   i think he especially liked how much of the heroics and derring  do were perpetrated by the boy  thief  and not the grown  up king . in fact  if you deconstruct the film  s narrative a bit  the king is the thief  s sidekick  not the hero at all  which must be very satisfying to imaginative  adventurous young boys .  br    br   it  s definitely a period piece  i suspect that by the time he  s eleven or twelve  my son will find it  corny  or whatever word the next generation will be using by then . the love story is barely one  dimensional  as a cynical friend commented   why does ahmad love the princess  because the narrative demands it .  the willingness of abu to put himself in jeopardy  repeatedly  for the clueless  love  struck deposed king is equally improbable . but to quibble about such things while accepting flying mechanical horses  fifty  foot genies and the temple of the all  seeing eye would be fatuous in the extreme . the satisfaction of seeing the prophecy fulfilled at the movie  s climax is tremendous  as is the final shot of abu triumphantly flying away on his  stolen  magic carpet  seeking  some fun  and adventure at last    
one of the major flaws in this film is that while the mocking of pretentious yuppies is satisfying  it fails to realize that the movie makers themselves are guilty of being one of those that deserve to be mocked . one of the characteristics of these yuppie types is the conceited misunderstanding that they  the yuppies  are the only ones sophisticated enough to understand art . while the movie ignores this characteristic and instead focuses on their misunderstandings of dinning  i find it ironic that only people who enjoy this movie boast the same conceited taste in films as the characters do in their choice of dinner . if these pompous characters that were in this movie have a video library at home  i would bet that american psycho would be one of those movies .  
i have seen this film several times  and watched it today  on tcm  solely because of geraldine fitzgerald . she is a much underrated actress and i have to admit i have had a crush on her since i first saw her  probably in  wuthering heights    or more years ago  . the real star in this movie  however  is paul lukas  and he deserved all the accolades he got . he makes it clear  whether we like it or not  that the end justifies the means . naziism had to be stopped  and anything that helped do it was good . he gave his children a line about being bad  and that they should not be bad  but as he said earlier when conversing with adults  he would do this sort of thing again without hesitation . lukas did give an excellent portrayal of a man caught in this situation  and made it clear that what he did was a very hard thing to do .  br    br   some people think his victim was a nazi  but i don  t think so  i think he was only after the money . his nazi associates knew this and that is why they did not have much use for him .  br    br   one interesting point in the film  and presumably also in the play  is the fact that muller  lucas  is a german . while the anti german hysteria of wwi was not repeated in wwii  there was considerable anti  german sentiment and some germans were interred similar to what happened in california with people of japanese ancestry . it was something of an act of bravery for hellman to write a play about good germans at this time  maybe she thought they were the ones who signed the nazi  soviet pact   . after all  the us and british air forces were bombing german cities and having no qualms about killing innocent civilians . i think  however  that the dresden bombing and firestorm happened later  after  watch on the rhine  was released .  br    br   the title is something of a play on words  as the  watch  is looking west  from germany . in fact  watch am rhein was a german army marching song  used in wwii  but the nazis had their own marching song that was used as well . but muller is a german and he is engaged in his own  wach am rhein  .  br    br   all the other actors did an excellent job here although bodo was too much there are children like him . i am surprised he did not give his father  s secret away . in real life  he may very well have done so .  
this  film  is one of the most dreadful things i have ever seen .  br    br   please do yourselves a favor and avoid this incompetent concoction .  br    br   shaking the camera and having your actors adopt scowls does not count as  direction   which this film needed in droves . not that the writing was all the wonderful  rather we were left with a bunch of completely artificial characters directed in that most artificial way  the pseudo  documentary  style  prized by those who don  t know how to direct  .  br    br   this film gives the impression that it was done cynically to appeal to critics who don  t know the first thing about film  making  which is most of them  .  br    br   just terrible . it says a lot about sundance and what it  s become that victor vargas was showcased there .  
when i read other comment  i decided to watch this movie . . .  br    br   first  cast specially michael madsen and tamer karadagli good enough . . .  br    br   film  very intelligence and interesting because  cast have a lot of international specially european actor and actress like from turkey and russsia . . .  br    br   second  story is basic and you can guess but if you interesting action good play you  ll like in my opinion . . .  br    br   third  final chapter is not special or interesting  it  s regular like other action movies . . .  br    br   finally  i recommend to watch this movie . . . and i hope you  ll love it enjoy d  
without wishing to be a killjoy  brad sykes is responsible for at least two of the most dull and clichd films i  ve ever seen  this being one of them  and camp blood being another .  br    br   the acting is terrible  the print is shoddy  and everything about this film screams  seriously  you could do better yourself  . maybe this is a challenge to everyone to saturate youtube with our own zombie related crap   br    br   i bought this for    but remember  you can  t put a price on   minutes of your life . you  d do well to avoid this turkey  even at a bargain basement price .  
probably the finest fantasy film ever made . sumptuous colour  spectacular sets  incredible  spot  on miklos rosza musical score that is perfect for each scene and mood . acting is superb as well in what could have been stiff and pretentious in lesser hands  but here the poetic dialog is deftly  sensitively spoken  the humour is subtle and delightful as well  .  br    br   doubtless spielberg and lucas were enthralled by this one . along with  the four feathers         one of the two finest motion pictures released by alexander korda and london films    and one of the finest motion pictures ever made .  br    br   a true  compelling classic   
enough is enough . . . sometimes they just need to stop making movies based on a concept that is long dead . the first tremors movie was great . the second one was ridiculous . the third one was nauseating . the tv series was depressingly awful . and this movie just drives the stake deeper .  br    br   basically another excuse for cheap computer effects and puppetry  now we have the series set in the wild west  in the      s  and they fight graboids . like a rehash of the first one  they have to learn how to beat them all over again . mildly entertaining i suppose . otherwise this straight  to  video release  just like tremors  and   is just going way too far . oh and i continue to wonder how there is never any record of these events taking place . . . did they just simply forget to record this unprecedented event  i think something like this would be history  making  so our pals in the first film wouldn  t be so unprepared .  br    br   movies like this that ruin the original just make me crazy . avoid this garbage .  
words can hardly describe it  so i  ll be brief .  the thief of bagdad  was my favorite movie as a child  and it has never ceased to astound or enchant me . i loved this film from the first moment i saw it  when i was a boy of six who had started reading  the arabian nights .  i remember walking into the tv room in the middle of sabu  s battle with the giant spider and being instantly beguiled .  br    br   rarely has so much beauty  magic  and wonder been captured on film . sabu and john justin are superb as the dashing heros  conrad veidt is throughly delightful as the wicked villain jaffar  and rex ingram is a joy to watch as the sardonic genie . georges perinal  s photography is some of the best use of technicolor . one of the three credited directors is michael powell  a filmmaker who has been rightfully heralded by the critics but is often overlooked by audiences for his remarkable films  including  a matter of life and death   aka  stairway to heaven   and  the red shoes .  he is one of the true masters of the camera  right up there with david lean  akira kurosawa  and orson welles .  br    br   as with all great works of art  the beauty of  the thief of bagdad  lies in the detail . every frame has its own magical charm . the story never lags  and the characters and their actions are always involving . here is a film that will never grow old .  
dear dear dear dear dear . . . me  i had the strength to see it through . . . but why    br    br   the first two films where fun and actually somewhat good . but this is so bad we had problems seeing the whole thing . this was some kind of tremors for kids . i can  t believe this movie was made at all . . seems like the props where taken from some bad western series of some kind  for kids  and they just did whatever they could with it .  br    br   what audience is this movie for  i can only think of      year olds . if you  re older than   you  ll have serious problems with this movie . it  s not only slow  but it  s so utterly boring . the characters are overacted  not just a little either  and so stereotyped it  s fun for a while . . but not long enough to not make you want to fling tomatoes at the screen . you know everything that is going to happen too  cause yes . . . you  ve seen it a billion times before in any hero series on tv for kids . i picked all the survivors and all the tremor fodder the second the characters got introduced . it  s so bad . . so wrong . . so . . . crap .  br    br   but ok  we did get a laugh now and then . not just at the silly plot holes  but some scenes where worth a replay or two . . . or one scene that is  where two baby tremors fling themselves at one of the obvious tremor fodder guys . . it  s really a great scene which made us replay it over and over and laugh wholeheartedly . still makes me grin when i think about it . but that only happened one more time sadly . . and that  s when the  badass  gunman shows up and overacts his part wonderfully . . . that and one comment  they spring from the ground like some demonic trout   at this point we where almost crying with laughter . but after that . . nothing could ever top that . .    . . so it  s pretty much downhill from there .  br    br   so tops here are demonic trouts and overacting . if anybody ever tells you this is a good movie . . . he  s either a  plant   vegetable or someone very evil . this movie has got to be the worst of the tremors by far . looking forward to seeing tremors   it  s bound to be box office hit compared to this . . . this . . . goosebumps no . . i  ll leave it at that .  
i first saw thief as a child which makes me almost as old as the jinn i guess . as any kid would be  i was delighted with the imagination  inventiveness and energy of the film . several years later  i realized how much of the satire and wit of the script i had missed on that first viewing . i have never passed up an opportunity to watch it throughout the intervening years . in addition to the script  the production transcends the fantasy genre . this is korda  the storyteller at his very best . when you see thief as a child you know that youve had a great time . when you see thief as an adult you know that youve seen a masterpiece . its as timeless as the story it treats . an amazing work .  br    br   thomas mccarthy  
well . . . tremors i  the original started off in     and i found the movie quite enjoyable to watch . however  they proceeded to make tremors ii and iii . trust me  those movies started going downhill right after they finished the first one  i mean  ass blasters    now  only god himself is capable of answering the question  why in gods name would they create another one of these dumpster dives of a movie   tremors iv cannot be considered a bad movie  in fact it cannot be even considered an epitome of a bad movie  for it lives up to more than that . as i attempted to sit though it  i noticed that my eyes started to bleed  and i hoped profusely that the little girl from the ring would crawl through the tv and kill me . did they really think that dressing the people who had stared in the other movies up as though they we  re from the wild west would make the movie  with the exact same occurrences  any better  honestly  i would never suggest buying this movie  i mean  there are cheaper ways to find things that burn well .  
this is an oriental fantasy about thousand and one arabian nights plenty of incredible adventures  fantasy witchery and wizardly . the malignant vizier jaffar  magnificently played by conrad veidt  with powerful magic faculties imprisons the prince ahamad of bagdad  attractive john justin  who loses his throne  then he escapes thanks a little thief named abu  sympathetic sabu  . they arrive basora where ahamad and the princess  gorgeous june duprez  fall in love . but prince and thief are haunted by jaffar  ahamd is turned blind and abu is become a dog . the story accumulates several fantastic ingredients such as transformation of the starring  a flying mechanic horse  magic bow  flying carpet and of course the colossal genie  overacting performed by rex ingram  who gives three wishes to sabu  the magic eye  the figure of goddess kali with several hands  among others .  br    br   this remarkable picture ranks as one of the finest fantastic films of all time . produced by london fim  s alexander korda and directed by the definitively credited ludwing berger  michael powell and tim whelan with a stunning screenplay by lajos biro and miles malleson also dialogs writer and actor as sultan fond to mechanic games . the wwii outbreak caused the paralyzing shooting  then the three korda brothers and collaborators traveled usa continuing there the filming in especial on grand cannon colorado . the splendid visual and glimmer technicolor cinematography  setting and fx provoked the achieving three oscars  production design by william cameron menzies and vincent korda  cinematography by george perinal and special effects by osmond borradaile though today are dated and is urgent a necessary remastering because the colors are worn  out . furthermore one nomination for the evocative and oriental musical score by miklos rozsa . this vivid tale with immense doses of imagination will like to fantasy fans and cinema classic buffs  
just a few words . . . . this movie really sucks . it  s like those tv movies with bad cast and plot . it  s amazing how they could make this sequel worse than the iii . don  t waste your time watching this crap  even if you like the tremors movies .  
despite having  different directors  this fantasy hangs together remarkably well .  br    br   it was filmed in england  nowhere near morocco  in studios and on a few beaches . at the outbreak of war  everything was moved to america and some scenes were filmed in the grand canyon .  br    br   notable for having one of the corniest lyrics in a song   i want to be a bandit  can  t you understand it  . it remains a favourite of many people .  
this  the direct  to  video death rattle of the tremors series  features sixty inspired seconds  sawblade you  ll know it when you see it  and more tedium and filler than you can shake a stick at . tremors  was obviously shot on a cripplingly low budget . that means they only had enough special effects mojo for three or four minutes of precious worm  on  human violence  tops . the lackluster  cliche  spouting cast and hackneyed writing ensure that the remaining hour and a half of the tremors  experience feels at least fifteen thousand years long . only hardcore tremors fans will be able to sit through  much less enjoy this film . if you aren  t among them  don  t bother .  
this film  was one of my childhood favorites and i must say that  unlike some other films i liked in that period the thief of bagdad has held on to it  s quality while i grew up . this is not merely a film to be enjoyed by children  it can be watched and enjoyed by adults as well . the only drawback there is  is that one can not see past the bad  effects  compared to the effects nowadays  like one could when one was a child . i remembered nothing of those effects  of course it had been about ten years since i  d seen this film  when i was about eleven years old . who then watches effects  one only seeks good stories and entertainment and this is exactly what this film provides . in my mind this film is one of the first great adventure films of the   th century . coming to think of it i feel like the indiana jones films are quite a like this film . there is comedy  romance and adventure all in one  which creates a wonderful mixture that will capture you from the beginning until the end and although the film is old and the music and style of the films is clearly not modern  it succeeds in not being dusty and old . all of that is mainly due to the great story  the good directing and the good acting performances of the actors . in that department sabu  as abu  and conrad veidt  as jaffar  stand out  providing the comedic and the chilling elements of the film for the most part . great film and although an  oldie   definitely a goldie  . i hope someone has the brain and guts to release this one on dvd someday .  br    br    out of    
the fourth  tremors  feature goes back in time  to the year     .  the legend begins  in the small city of  perfection   which was then  rejection  nevada  . as the story begins  seventeen miners are killed by the ghastly  graboids  . some of the characters in the present  day  tremors  films have ancestors  both figurative and literal  in the past . most obvious is the ever  returning michael gross  as hiram gummer  . unlike his descendant  mr . gross is inept with firearms so  he hires gunslinger billy drago  as  black hand  kelly  to shoot  em up some  dirt dragons  .  br    br   this one takes some getting used to  as it takes place in the distant past . it  s like a western with miniature versions of the original film  s monster  graboids  . these tamer  dirt dragons  are nowhere near as terrorizing as their  tremors        counterparts . consequently  in this film  the characters spend an awful lot of time on the ground  which would not have happened in the original movie . and  it was weird to have the citizens give up the fight so quickly  when gross temporarily decides to leave town . why so helpless  why didn  t brent roam  as juan pedilla  immediately rally the people to fight without gross  disappointing .  br    br    tremors   the legend begins       s . s . wilson  michael gross  brent roam  billy drago  
abu  the thief of bagdad  helps king ahmed regain his kingdom from a wicked sorcerer .  br    br   as europe was going to war and significant sections of the world was going up in flames  sir alexander korda  s london films unveiled this lavish escapist fare from the legends of the arabian nights . replete with swords  sorcery  it gave audiences in     a short respite from the headlines . it also is a fine piece of film making  featuring good acting and an intelligent script .  br    br   conrad veidt gets top billing and he deserves it  playing the evil magician jaffar . his saturnine face with its piercing eyes makes one recall the macabre roles he played with such relish during silent days . here is a villain worth watching . as the boyish thief  sabu is perfectly cast in this  his third film . while not a hero in the typical sense of the word  his character is certainly heroic in deed  action .  br    br   the rest of the cast do fine work . john justin is both energetic  sensitive as the unenlightened king who must learn about the realities of live the hard way sabu gets a significant part of the action  when he  s not transformed into a dog  but justin is appropriately athletic when needs must . lovely june duprez plays the endangered princess of basra  coveted by two very different men . appearing late in the film  massive rex ingram shakes things up as a genie with an attitude .  br    br   allan jeayes uses his fine voice to good advantage as the storyteller . miles malleson gets another eccentric role as the childlike sultan of basra  forever dithering on about his mechanical toys  malleson was also responsible for the film  s screen play  dialogue  . aged morton selten portrays the benevolent king of legend . mary morris  later an exceptional stage actress  plays the dual roles of jaffar  s accomplice and the six  armed silver dancer .  br    br   the film was begun in britain  but wartime difficulties made korda move it to southern california  which probably explains the presence of american ingram in the cast . the art direction  in vibrant technicolor  is most attractive  especially the fairy tale architecture in blues  whites  pinks .  br    br     br    br   born sabu dastagir in      sabu was employed in the maharaja of mysore  s stables when he was discovered by korda  s company and set before the cameras . his first four films  elephant boy       the drum       the thief of bagdad       jungle book       were his best and he found himself working out of hollywood when they were completed . after distinguished military service in world war ii he resumed his film career  but he became endlessly confined for years playing ethnic roles in undistinguished minor films  black narcissus       being the one great exception . his final movie  walt disney  s a tiger walks       was an improvement  but it was too late . sabu had died of a heart attack in late      only   years of age .  
warning this review contains minor spoilers .  br    br   well the writers of the first tremors are officially out of ideas . i  m a big fan of the first movie and the first two sequels are pretty good for straight to video fare . tremors   the legends begins  however  is a very dull movie . where the heck are the graboids     br    br   due to the relative lack of graboids through the first   minutes i  m convinced that this entry into the series is suppose to be a  character study  . unfortunately there isn  t one interesting character in the movie except for billy drago  s character who is given too few lines  too little to do and in the end too little screen time . what saved the  nd and  rd movies was the presence of michael gross as burt gummer . whenever there wasn  t any action on the screen you could rest assured that burt gummer was going to be interesting to listen too and  or watch . however in this movie gross plays hiram gummer a very poor and boring substitute .  br    br   on the plus side when the graboids  dirt dragons in this movie  are on the screen they do look good but that is about as good as it gets .  br    br   i was impressed when i saw that tremors  was listed at    minutes long . pretty good for straight to video . but after watching it i  m sure that this movie is a good   minutes too long . there are long stretches of dialogue that is boring and doesn  t further the plot any . was there a rush to get this movie made  i think not  more time could have and should have been spent on the script .  br    br   i thought i had hit a gold mine when i saw tremors  packaged for sale with . . . . tremors    what luck i thought  pay for   get   for free . well after watching tremors  i like to think i paid for the original and got this mess for free  i can  t imagine paying a single dime for tremors  . for fans of the series it  s best to forget that tremors   the legend begins even exists .  br    br   tremors   the legend begins rates a  out of   .  
the story  line of  the thief of bagdad  is complex  owing to its being told in flashbacks and having three separate and equally important strands woven together . the screenplay by lajo biros and the dialogue by miles malleson keep the story moving skillfully at all points . the young king ahmad of bagdad is angry at his vizier jaffar for executing a man for having different ideas . he discovers while in disguise that people blame him for jaffar  s deeds and hate him . he is imprisoned by jaffar  where he meets abu the young thief . the two escape and take a boat to the city of basra . there the companions spy when men clear the way so none will see the princess of the city passing by . ahmad falls in love with her and visits her in her garden . he tells her he has come to her from beyond time and wins a kiss . then he is captured . when jaffar comes to win the princess of basra for himself  ahmad attacks the evil vizier who blinds him and turns abu into a dog . jaffar then asks for the princess  s hand  and he gives the gift of a mechanical flying horse to the sultan of basra . the blind ahmad then tells his tale in the marketplace  accompanied by abu as his dog . the prince has fallen into a sleep and nothing can wake her . so jaffar sends his servant halima for ahmad and the dog  in hopes the prince can rouse her . he does awaken her . she boards a ship to find a doctor to cure ahmad  but she is captured by jaffar who then throws the dog overboard . she then allows jaffar to take her in his arms  on his promise to restore ahmad  s sight and turn abu back into a thief . the princess sees a vision of ahmad he is in a boat jaffar sends a storm to beset him and abu is shipwrecked on a deserted island . abu finds a genie or djinn who wants to kill him now that he is free after many centuries spent imprisoned in a bottle . abu tricks him into proving he really came from so small a vessel  then corks him in again . for freeing him  he gets three wishes . his first is for sausages . in the meanwhile  the princess pleads with her father to refuse jaffar but jaffar shows the sultan a new mechanical toy  one of whose six arms stabs him to death . abu makes a second wish  to find ahmad . the cunning genie flies him to the goddess of the all  seeing eye . abu has to climb a great web to get to the gem that is the eye  battling a giant spider  then scaling the goddess  s statue . abu gazes into the  eye  and sees ahmad in a canyon . he has the genie take him to ahmad . ahmad uses the eye to see the princess . she smells a flower and forgets everything at once . abu wishes they were in bagdad  but the genie laughs and leaves jaffar tells the princess that she is in love with him  omitting mention of ahmad . ahmad tries to fight his way to the princess  but jaffar smashes the  eye  . abu finds himself in the  land of legend   where the old men who rule want to make him their king . he steals a bow and a magic carpet and escapes instead  to hurry to save ahmad and the princess . the thief arrives in time to save the young king from the executioner  using his bow from the flying carpet  to the wonder of the throng who had come to watch the execution . jaffar tries to flee on the mechanical flying horse  but another shot from the bow finishes him . ahmad is ruler again and plans to wed his princess but when he tries to make abu his vizier  the young thief refuses  saying that what he wants is adventure  not hard work and confinement in a palace however grand it may be . this fantastic story was given a sumptuous production by producer alexander korda . the production was designed by vincent korda who was also art director  while georges perinal did the colorful cinematography . the directors credited are ludwig berger and michael powell  with tim whelan  alexander korda  william cameron menzies and zoltan korda participating . the extraordinary and numerous costumes designs were the work of john armstrong  oliver messel and marcel vertes . the production  apart from its gorgeous and expensive  looking visual splendors  i claim is dominated by two other elements  the choral music of miklos rozsa and the performance by conrad veidt as the evil jaffar . rex ingram plays the genie with a curious accent  plus his usual intelligence and power . june duprez is lovely and effective as the princess mary morris is a sad and beautiful halima  and miles malleson a properly bumbling and avaricious sultan . as ahmad  john justin appears to do most of what can be done with the part of a young prince in love and then some he is memorably good in his winning role . this film has a spaciousness about it that is found  i assert  in other korda works also . its imaginative content stands in contrast to very  strong realistic sets  costumes and set  design elements . this is one of the most memorable idea  level fantasies of all time  worthy to be enjoyed over and over .  
i found tremors  the legend begins  to be dull and boring . all the action scenes were stupid . the so called  graboids  are reduced to the size of a modern day house cat  if not smaller . the acting was horrendous  and this film was just an unnecessary movie in the tremor saga  because even though it tells the story of how the graboids were formed  the story is so dumb and useless . also  if you want to tell a story way back in time  make sure you use the same actor  michael gross   to be someone in the past  when he  s someone in the present in the other tremor movies . geez . . . if you haven  t seen this film  don  t waste your time . stick to tremors      and   for a good time . this film however  make sure you  re remote is sitting right next to you with the stop button working for a quick retreat away from this nonsense .  
i first saw this movie when i was a little kid and fell in love with it at once . the sets are breath taking and some of the script is damn right hilarious  you sons of a thousand fleas  .  br    br   it is always shown on tv late at night or really early in the morning i woke up at about     am once and it had just started . tv companys need to show a little more respect and put it on prime time sunday so everyone can get a chance to view this fine work .  br    br         
if fassbinder has made a worse film  i sure don  t want to see it  anyone who complains that his films are too talky and claustrophobic should be forced to view this  to learn to appreciate the more spare style he opted for in excellent films like  the bitter tears of petra von kant  . this film bogs down with so much arty  quasi  symbolic images it looks like a parody of an  art  film  . the scene in the slaughterhouse and the scene where elvira  s prostitute friend channel  surfs for what seems like ten minutes are just two of the most glaring examples of what makes this film a real test of the viewer  s endurance . but what really angers me about it are the few scenes which feature just elvira and her ex  wife and  or her daughter . these are the only moments that display any real human emotion  and prove that at the core of this horrible film  there was an excellent film struggling to free itself . what a waste .  
  the movie tells the tale of a prince whose life is wonderful  but after an evil wizard tells him to go into town disguised as a beggar the wizard then locks up the prince and soon becomes the shadow ruler of baghdad . the jailed prince meets a thief called abu who helps him escape the jail and head to a town called basra where he meets a princess who he falls madly in love with  but unbeknown to him the evil wizard jafa is also in love with the princess and tries to convince her father to allow him to marry her . jafa soon learns that the prince is trying to win the girls heart so he makes him blind and turns abu into a dog . this leads to the prince and abu going off on an adventure to find a way to defeat jafa  restore peace to baghdad and marry the princess . during their journey they encounter everything from sarcastic genies that takes abu on a flight through the clouds  a giant spider that  s really hungry  and a flying horse that probably gives birth to one of the most beautiful sequence these old eyes of mine have ever seen .  br    br    this is a pure fantasy movie from start to finish it has flying horses  genies  flying carpets  and wizards that can actually do magic instead of just hit people with their staffs . it doesn  t have any cheesy moments and the love story isn  t a waste of time . the production designs are just stunning in this movie . from the palaces to the different dangerous traps that the heroes encounter . even though this movie is over   years old  the production design is far better than most of the crap that gets tacked on in today  s cinema . the music and songs are also well done . anyone who sees it will no doubt hail   i want to be a sailor sailing on the seas  as one of the great musical moments in movies . i  m usually not a huge fan of singing in movies since i find them about as enjoyable as doing my taxes but i  ll be more than happy to make an exception for this movie .  br    br    what sells the movie for me is the sheer fact that you get to see things you don  t see in everyday life which is also the same reason why i love stuff like  two towers  and  silent hill  . way before today  s modern fantasy movie came along with their realistic cgi to blow our minds there was this movie which blew your mind without having green screen scattered all over the place . one of my favorite shots in  two towers  is the one where we see the trolls opening the black gates  the main appeal of that shot for me was seeing these great fantasy beings doing what is essentially manual labor  and that  s what i love about the genie and other creatures in the movie . they  re just there trying to make a living just like everyone else which gives them a real feel even though they  re all just fantasy beings .  br    br    it  s literally impossible to watch this movie and not notice where the makers of  aladdin  got their inspiration . the characters from this movie are pretty much the same characters in that movie from the talkative genie right down to the flying carpet . it  s not an entirely bad thing in my eyes since it  s nice to know that i  m not the only one on the planet that has a deep passionate love for this amazing movie . i first saw this as a kid in the motherland and thought it was the greatest thing in the world and upon watching it again last week i still think it  s amazing . that  s a true testament that a great movie can withstand the test of time . sure  the effects look a wee bit outdated and cheesy but it was made way back in the    s so give it a break . not everything looks outdated though since most of the stuff can still hold its own today when scrutinized under today  s standard .  br    br    if you ever wanted to see a live action version of  aladdin  then you should get your wish with this but the angry cynical bunch will probably do good in avoiding this since this won  t be their cup of tea .  
as if the storyline wasn  t depressing enough  this movie shows cows being butchered graphically in a slaughterhouse for all of five minutes while the protagonist is narrating her early life as a butcher . weird stuff . then there  s the core premise of the hero  heroine who goes and cuts his dick off because a he  s besot  ten with at work says he would have gone with him if he was a girl . is this person a psycho  a masochist  just a doomed queen who takes things too far  and what sort of traumatic childhood did he have  just that he didn  t get adopted and had to live it out with nuns who at first loved him and then later hated him because he was unruly . he tries to explain to us the reasons he did what he did  but it  s really really so hard to empathize . such sad and unusual self destruction . was it supposed to be funny  what was it all about really   
outstanding film of     with paul lukas giving an oscar calibrated performance as the head of his family bringing them back to america from europe as the nazi menace deepened .  br    br   the usual terrific bette davis maintains her reputation here and for a change was not nominated for best actress for this or any film of     .  br    br   encounting treachery around them  lukas successfully deals with the situation . he knows he must return to europe on a clandestine mission and return he does .  br    br   davis again pulls out all the stops with a katharine hepburn  like shedding of tears when they must part . resolute  she knows that her older son  must follow him on his path to liberty .  br    br   a wonderful film highlighting american positive propaganda against a wicked foe .  
i can  t believe this movie managed to get such a relatively high rating of   it is barely watchable and unbelievably boring  certainly one of the worst films i have seen in a long  long time .  br    br   in a no  budget way  it reminded me of star wars episodes i and ii for the sheer impression that you are watching a total creative train wreck .  br    br   this film should be avoided at all costs . it  s one of those  festival films  that only please the pseudo  intellectuals because they are so badly made those people think it makes it  different   therefore good .  br    br   bad film  making is not  different   it  s just bad film  making .  
the thief of baghdad is one of my ten all  time favorite movies . it is exciting without gore  it is beautifully filmed and the art direction is flawless . the casting couldn  t have been better . rex ingram made me believe in genies . and the epitome of evil is certainly captured by conrad veight as jafar . he set the bar very high .  br    br   . . i watch this movie at least twice a year . . . and never tire of it . this film is an adventure for all ages . . no  one too old to enjoy it . the thief of bahgdad jogs my memories to a more innocent time . . . i was ten years old the first time i saw it and the u . s . was just about to enter wwii . conrad vieght was such a great actor that he was able to continue this underlying  evilness  a few years later in  casablanca .  and korda teamed up  i believe  with justin and dupree again in  the four feathers  . . . . great film  making   
this is a confused and incoherent mess of interminable scenes of boring dialogues and monologues . that is no exaggeration you have to make a tremendous effort to even try to become involved with it .  br    br   i sincerely thought fassbinder would make something interesting in order to tell why does erwin  elvira suicides at the end  but instead of this  in every scene somebody is trying to explain  when he was young  this happened . . .  and  he just came back from casablanca and ordered to cut everything down there . . .   etc .  br    br   soon in the movie  erwin  elvira is in a slaughter house talking with a friend prostitute  certainly a slaughter house is the best place for a pleasant little chat   and while telling her the story of elvira  s life  fassbinder shows the killing of one cow after the other . it is difficult to choose between giving attention to the disturbing images or what the transvestite is saying . of course we come to the very forced and coarse symbolism of  i have suffered much in my life  and am about to die  .  br    br   in one of the sparse moments where actually happens something  erwin  elvira encounters a former lover  that only after performing a extremely gay choreography with two other guys  as if going for the necessary level of homosexuality  is that he recognizes elvira .  br    br   there are some interesting shots and ideas  i must admit  such as when the nun tells the story of the young erwin   but everything on the movie is wasted due to fassbinder  s self  indulgence .  
an utterly beautiful film  one of a handful of i saw when young that entranced me then and still do  in thief  s case the impression actually seems to get better with the passing of time . by the     s my daughter and i had seen it many times on tv but still went to the pictures when it came to the local art  house cinema  when it had finished we came out starry eyed with heads full of poetry and miklos rozsa  s stirring music wishing it could have lasted a couple of hours longer and thinking what a beautiful world it suddenly was again .  br    br   idealistic prince ahmad wants to slum it amongst his people for a while to check things out  but evil vizier jaffar takes his chance to imprison him and seize the throne . after escaping with a little thief played by sabu  ahmad spots a princess and they fall blindingly in love  along the way they have many adventures  although apparently not enough for sabu   and love not only conquers but annihilates everything . the special effects must have been mesmerising in      but time has taken its toll and lessened their impact especially since digital cartoonery has taken over even live action  but they still hold up well compared against films like superman from   years later . anyway  if i  m requested to suspend disbelief in gargantuan guffawing genies  flying horses and carpets i also suspend disbelief in perfect special effects  favourite bits the dreamy scene in the sunlit garden when ahmad reveals himself and adelaide hall  s suitably romantic song the stunning colours in the tent in the land of legend  in fact  the stunning colours throughout sabu and rozsa  s triumphant but still wistful finale . conrad veidt played the baddie in two of the most incredible movie romances ever  this and casablanca  and then died . john justin and june duprez were great in the leading roles of lovers  both of them slightly and refreshingly stilted  but the parts didn  t call for a huge range of emotions only pure love mattered .  br    br   there  s a couple of mildly violent images in it  but rest assured this is a glorious feelgood experience with a     positive message  it  s only a pity that nowadays little kids don  t watch this instead of the porn they prefer . one of my top   film favourites  i can  t recommend this too much  may it be shown to the end of time .  
it  s funny . i  ve seen a bunch of fassbinder films and i have found some to be extremely creative and interesting  while others are repellent and self  indulgent messes   like this film . for me  it ranges from great to crap   without much in the middle . i know he has a lot of fans among the  sophisticated   but i can  t help but think that a lot of his appeal is pure hype . from my point of view  and i know i will get a lot of negative ratings for this   he made too many movies too quickly and was too self  indulgent . his gay or gender  bending films  like this one  tend to be really bad   sloppily done  sometimes quite boring  such as querelle and the bitter tears of petra von kant  and sometimes just gross  like this film  . couldn  t his message about acceptance of a person  s gender  confusion be handled better than showing him get slapped around or watching cows being gruesomely slaughtered  show some sensitivity for the subject matter and make your characters more human and sympathetic   then  maybe  i  d care about the films .  br    br   i  m honestly at the point after watching this film that i might not bother with any more fassbinder films   the bad seems to be out  weighing the good .  
the thief of bagdad is a treasure . first and foremost  it is a good story . though my four children  s primary exposure to this tale  the most famous of the stories of the arabian nights  comes from the disney corporation  the thief of bagdad held their interest to the end . the story moves along at a good pace and includes a twist or two that reduced predictability . sabu  who plays the young thief  abu  also measures up to any of today  s teen actors in appeal  judging from the number of times i heard my oldest daughter say   he  s c  u  t  e    br    br   in      the film won oscars for cinematography and special effects . today  of course  those effects seem very dated   look  it  s barbie flying through the air   declared my daughter at the sight of the genie flying  . yet they fit into the story well . the film is  after all  over   years old . the effects fit with the script . furthermore  what ones sees in the thief of bagdad remained pretty much state  of  the  art for the next twenty  five years . one need only compare the opening montage from a     star trek episode to see this . in that  it was quite an achievement .  br    br   this qualifies as a family film  though there are a few stabbings near the end . the acting is so obvious and the wounds so bloodless as to those scenes nearly as artificial as animation .  br    br   all in all  a fun film worth watching for either an evening of pure entertainment  or for the historical value of the effects . i recommend it .  
this film is in the mandingo  drum type  br    br   they were both dreadful but they are     better than this tripe   br    br   badly acted  made oliver reed is the main name  eartha kitt also is in it . tis a pity . rating is     about as low as yu can get  br    br   as always  br    br   jay harris  
i grew up with this as my all  time favorite film . the special effects are incredible for the era  and won awards . i can remember the dialogue as if i  d heard it yesterday . it is simply a great  timeless adventure . the music is by miklos rosza  who is cinema history  s best . sabu is the thief . conrad veidt is the grand villain . i have a copy within reach  for the next trip down memory lane . whoa there  rex ingram wants out of his genii bottle   
there are no reasons to watch this movie . should you have won and extreme amount of money and having spent your time discovering life  s every pleasure and have come to a point where by chance you are at a loose end and have some time to kill  like that would ever happen  then get this movie from the video shop  if you can find it and put up with the assistant laughing at you then ask for this movie . be prepared however for you mind to be invaded by extremely wooden acting by absolutely everyone  in fact the best acting was by the people who said nothing  . oliver reed tops off his grand career by playing a drunk  go figure . but wait i forgot there is one reason to watch this movie  claudia udy showing her chest  sadly no other reason than that   
i first discovered alexander korda  s       fantasy  the thief of bagdad in the early      s on a re  issue billed as  the wonder show of the century   both korda technicolor films  the thief of bagdad and jungle book were shown on one never to be forgotten program . the music of miklos rozsa enhanced both films . the technicolor in each was incredibly beautiful  the thief of bagdad has remained on my list as the best fantasy film ever made . as the years passed  it became more difficult to enjoy the film  s color in the way it had originally been presented in . true technicolor gave way to a eastman color process in the middle      s . both kino and samuel goldwyn reissued the film both theatrically and on video . but the eastman color prints were more pastel in nature and muted the vibrancy of the original technicolor . the laser disc release of this title also has the pastel look to it   nice  but not as it should be . now comes the m  g  m dvd   dec      issue . the thief of bagdad again has the wonderful technicolor look to it on a dvd that is nothing short of stunning    it was so exciting to see it like this once again that after viewing the dvd once  i watched it a second time . the only  extras  are a spanish dubbed version  sub  titles in both english  spanish  and a beautifully done original theatrical trailer . thank you m  g  m for this exceptional dvd release . now  one can only hope that korda  s four feathers and a restored version of korda  s jungle book  to replace to poor public domain prints in circulation  will soon follow on dvd .  
this is an extremely silly and little seen film about slavery in the west indies and it stars puddy from the  seinfeld  show  patrick warburton made his film debut in this contrived movie and he  s noticeably slimmer here . oliver reed got top billing but he  s hardly in the film at all . warburton plays a white slave and its funny to see all the young and horny wives of rich old men bidding on him because they all want to have sex with him . eartha kitt plays an owner of a bordello and they  re is so much nudity in the film . if its not drunken orgies at the bordello then its the young wives having they  re turn with him . then of course towards the end the slaves revolt and there  s the bloody standoff . no real political message like the film  burn  but just another contrived plot device to move the story along . incredibly they made a sequel and warburton and all the rest of the cast came back  i hope they got paid a lot of dough because this first film is pretty bad . the nudity keeps it watchable and warburton  s lack of any accent make it at times laughable . very bad film but i got to admit that i want to see the sequel .  
three flash  backs introduce the main characters  abu  jaffar  and the princess  who will interact with ahmad three are the songs  each linked to those same characters . three times does ahmad pronounce the absolute word  time   in his declaration of love to the princess  answering her three questions at their first of three meetings . so strong is the impression he causes  that the princess will resist the three attempts by jaffar to conquer her  by three successive ploys deceit  hypnosis  and memory erasing . yet  jaffar owns what he describes as the three inescapable instruments of domination over a woman the whip  the power  and the sword . three is the number of flying entities the mechanical  horse  the genie  and the the genie and the magic carpet . the genie offers three wishes to abu at their first of three encounters three times does the genie laugh loud in the mountain gorges  and three are his considerations about human frailty  before he departs . abu overcomes three obstacles in the temple of dawn  armed guards  giant  spider  and giant  octopus  . three are the instruments of justice the magical eye that shows abu the future  the magical carpet that transports him just in time to save ahmad and the princess  and the bow  and  arrow to execute jaffar . there  s magic in the number three  and there is magic in this movie .  
  stars out of a possible    and that is being overly generous .  br    br   i thought with a cast of james woods  cathy bates  randy quaid  lou gossett  jr .  and henry thomas  how could it miss . i was wrong .  br    br   i can only wonder what drugs sam shepard was on the week  end he cranked out this piece of dribble . i  d long suspected sam s . of being kind of nuts  this film  based on his play  confirms it .  br    br   this is the kind of artsy b . s . that actors love to sink their teeth into as it gives them a chance to endlessly emote . however  for the viewer who sits through this nonsensical trash  there is absolutely nothing to love about this movie .  br    br   you haven  t seen dysfunctional families until you  ve seen this bunch . pa is crazy  ma is crazy  the son is crazy and the daughter is  oh yeah  crazy . they also have mouths on them that utter words that would make a sailor blush  especially the teenage daughter .  br    br   in addition to the above  as if that weren  t enough  the plot   and it  s so thin you could read thorough it   has a hole in it the size of alaska .  br    br   ma is conspiring to sell their rundown farm . as it turns out so is pa . now i don  t claim to be a real estate expert  but the last time i checked  property jointly owned must have both of the owners signatures in order to be sold . if only one of them owned the property  then the other could not legally sell it  so it would be pointless for that person to do so . mr . shepherd prefers to ignore this basic fact  and therefore  his plot does not work .  br    br   not that anything else was really working anyway .  br    br   the only possible reason anyone could have for watching this film is if they are absolutely desperate to see james woods in full frontal nudity  and i can  t imagine why anyone would want to .  
like the arabian nights this film plays with storytelling conventions in order to make us feel that there  s plot  plot and more plot it opens with what appears to be the frame device of a blind man telling the story of his life  then plunges into a flashback which takes us right up to the blind man  s present  where we discover that about half of the story is yet to come .  it must be admitted that the second half doesn  t quite live up to the promise of the first .  like the arabian nights it tries to cram as many middle  eastern folk motiffs as possible into the one work . a freed genie  a beautiful princess  a flying carpet  fantastic mechanical toys  sea voyages  a crowded marketplace  a wicked vizier  jewels . . . i don  t know why it all works  but it does . everything is just so beautiful . the sets are beautiful . june duprez is beautiful . rozsa  s score is especially beautiful . as usual  it sounds hungarian but somehow he manages to convince us that he  s being hungarian in a persian way .  
before seeing this movie  i would  ve said that i loved everything kathy bates has done . now it  s everything  minus  one . james woods is pathetic . . . not his character  his acting . someone should  ve told him that  poor  is not synonymous with dirty  nor ignorant  nor cliche . ditto for randy quaid  s stereotyping . the only redeeming feature is henry thomas  who isn  t a strong enough actor to carry this sodden mess . if you enjoy the country  you  ll enjoy the scenery . that  s the best i can give it .  br    br   i  m a serious fan of both independent and quirky films  but this is simply terrible .  
  the thief of bagdad  is impressive in the shape of the evil magician jaffar  conrad veidt  . he plots with lies and magic spells to obtain the kingdom from its rightful ruler the young king ahmad  and a gorgeous princess from her father . . .  br    br   he falls victim in the end  as all tyrants do  in books and legends  to love and of the common man whom he ignored  here embodied by the little thief  sabu  .  br    br   the armies of good and evil  black and white  are superbly realized in both visual and literary terms . . .  br    br   the script is poetic  simply and very beautiful . . . the costumes of the magician and his men rising and falling like the wings of black birds  attacking suddenly in the night to inflict destruction and create terror . . .  br    br   the radiant hero wears white turbans and robes  and his princess is dressed in pinks and pale blues . . .  br    br   for spectacular scenes it matched all that had gone before  while through its use of color  it brought to life a world such as had not seemed possible before . . .  br    br   with flying carpet and flying white horse  with a giant genie  excellently played by rex ingram   with evil wizards  and with the good acting of sabu and veidt   the thief of bagdad  captures the quality and true atmosphere of the arabian nights . . .  br    br   the     version remains the screen  s finest fairy tale   
this would  ve been a great silent film . the acting really is good  at least in a look ma  i  m doing really big acting  sort of way .  br    br   everything is huge . every line is profound  every scene is shattered by human tragedy   br    br   mostly  i felt like gagging . yet  like any train wreck  i couldn  t tear my eyes away . this dialogue might  ve worked on the stage  although i doubt it . on the screen  it was cluttered  haphazard  hackneyed and pretty much every other stereotypical negative adjective you can come up with to describe a really bad dramatic work .  br    br   if you enjoy your melodrama in huge  heaping doses  you might enjoy the movie . be prepared to wait  however . for all that melodrama  this thing sure plods along at its own pace .  br    br   this script must  ve sounded a lot different when the actors involved were reading it to themselves . it simply doesn  t work once they get around to delivering it in front of the camera .  br    br   imdb does us a great disservice  at times  when it uses its goofy computer  controlled  weighted score  . curse of the starving class deserves less than a  .  br    br   character  driven fiction is great  but when you develop your characters by simply pushing them through hoops with no plausible explanation for their maturation or evolution  it isn  t character development  your characters must have a motivation . being drunk for a while and waking up in a field is not character development . that  s a plot contrivance .  br    br   stay away from this movie . or at the very least  watch it muted . perhaps you  ll get some amusement from all the arm  waving the characters do .  br    br   oh  and word to the wise   to prove that this is truly an artsy film  you see james woods in all his dangly male  look  at  me  i  m  the  figurative  and  literal  representation  of  the  naked  vulnerability  of  man  glory .  br    br   don  t say you weren  t warned .  
the story of the boy thief of bagdad  as it was once spelled  has attracted filmmakers from raoul walsh in      who starred douglas fairbanks in the first  silent  rendering of  thief of bagdad   to less imposing  more recent attempts . the best  however  remains      s version which for its time was a startling  magical panoply of top quality special effects . those effects still work their charm .  br    br   no less than six directors are listed for the technicolor movie which starred sabu as the boy thief  abu  john justin as the dreamily in love deposed monarch  ahmad and june duprez as the lovely princess sought by ahmad and pursued by the evil vizier  jaffar  played by a sinister conrad veidt . the giant genie is ably acted by rex ingram .  br    br   ahmad is treacherously deposed by jaffar and when later arrested by that traitorous serpent  he and the boy  abu  suffer what are clearly incapacitating fates . ahmad is rendered blind and abu becomes a lovable mutt . their adventures through the gaily decorated hollywood backlots are fun but the special effects make this film work .  br    br   two men were responsible for everything from a magic flying carpet to the gargantuan genie who pops out of a bottle with a tornado  like black swirl lawrence w . butler and tom howard .  howard  incidentally  did the special effects for the     version of this film . both men had long and distinguished careers in technical wizardry .   br    br   duprez is outstandingly lovely while little called on for serious acting . justin  s ahmad projects a driven but dreamy romanticism untouched by erotic impulses . sabu is really the central actor in many scenes and he  s very good . for a movie meant for kids as well as adults there  s a fair amount of violence but of the bloodless kind . still  i don  t think anyone under eight ought to see  thief of bagdad .   br    br   this film makes periodic appearances on tv but today my teenage son and i saw it in a theater with quite a few youngsters present . it was great to see computer  besotted kids in an affluent community respond with cheers and applause to special effects that must seem primitive to them .  br    br    thief of bagdad  is a pre  war hollywood classic from a time when strong production values often resulted in enduringly attractive and important releases . this is one of the best of its kind .  br    br       .  
this is not a children  s movie     br    br   this movie is like a  bad acid trip  for kids under the age of  . for a month my  year old from time  to  time would ask me  why was that rabbit bleeding from its mouth  or  why did the bulldozer bury all the rabbits   .  and that wasn  t the worst of it  . we stopped it about a    hour in but the damage had been done . intensely morbid  oppressive  violent . fortunately he  s finally forgotten about the whole wretched thing . whomever decided this movie should be marketed to children should be brought up on charges . . . .  go ahead censure me  my conscience is clear .  .  
i have to agree with mr . caruso jr lanza  s was the finest voice god had to offer if only he could have found the courage to go for broke leave hollywood and head for the opera he could have been the american caruso everyone says he could have been but in any case he is a fantastic introduction to the art form no bones about it and if thats the way its gonna be so be it . see the film you  ll see why mr lanza still come up in discussion even in my house . someone says pavarotti i say mario lanza . as for the film itself when will it be on dvd they must have it restored and vhs isn  t good enough but this should also be the only lanza film put on dvd the others are down right bad and boring .  
probable reasons why so many people on this site have enjoyed this  br    br    . they might not have read the book .  . they might enjoy gore and violence in a film .  . they might be very young and therefore not understand the violence .  . people might not understand how somehow more scary and more violent it is compared to the original book .  . there are sure to be many other reasons not covered here .  br    br   the only thing i liked about this film is the song   bright eyes  .  br    br   if perchance  you happen to be one of those people who has read the book  enjoys calm and peaceful films without violence and are quite old and understand scariness and violence  you are sure not to like this . otherwise you will almost definitely enjoy this .  br    br   like in the book  a rabbit called fiver in an unsuspecting warren warns of terrible danger to come . only a few rabbits  including his brother hazel  believe him and they set out on a dangerous journey to find a new place to live . . .  
watch on the rhine started as a broadway play by lillian hellman who wrote the film and saw it open on broadway at a time when the soviet union was still bound to nazi germany by that infamous non  aggression pact signed in august of     . so much for the fact that hellman was merely echoing the communist party line  the line didn  t change until a couple of months later . lillian was actually months ahead of her time with this work .  br    br   the play watch on the rhine ran from april     to february     for    performances and five players came over from broadway to repeat their roles frank wilson as the butler  eric roberts as the youngest son  lucile watson as the family matriarch and most importantly villain george coulouris and paul lukas .  br    br   lukas pulled an award hat trick in     winning an oscar  a golden globe  and the new york film critics for best actor . probably if the tony awards had been in existence then he would have won that as well . the oscar is even more remarkable when you consider who he was up against  humphrey bogart for casablanca  gary cooper in for whom the bell tolls  mickey rooney in the human comedy  and walter pidgeon for madame curie . every one of his competitors was a bigger box office movie name than he was . lukas  s nomination is usually the kind the academy gives to round out a field .  br    br   jack warner knew that which is why mady christians did not repeat her broadway part and the role of lukas  s wife was given to bette davis . davis took the part not because this was an especially showy role for her  but because she believed in the picture and just wanted to be associated with it . it  s the same reason she did the man who came to dinner  a much lighter play than this one .  br    br   davis is the daughter of a late american supreme court justice who married a german national back in the weimar days . after many years of being vagabonds on the continent of europe  davis lukas  and their three children come to america which has not yet entered the european war . they  re made welcome by lucile watson who is thrilled naturally at finally meeting her grandchildren .  br    br   the fly in this ointment are some other house guests  a friend of davis  s from bygone days geraldine fitzgerald and her husband who is also from europe  a rumanian diplomat and aristocrat george coulouris . coulouris is a wastrel and a spendthrift and he smells an opportunity for double dealing when he suspects lukas  s anti  fascist background .  br    br   his suspicions are quite correct  it  s the reason that the family has been the vagabonds they  ve become . lukas fought in spain on the republican side and was wounded there . his health has not been the same since . his family loyally supports him in whatever decision he makes . those decisions affect all the other members of the cast .  br    br   adding quite a bit more to the broadway play including some lovely fascist creatures was dashiell hammett who was lillian hellman  s significant other . coulouris playing cards at the german embassy was a hammett creation with such loathsome types as henry daniell  kurt katch  clyde fillmore  erwin kalser and rudolph anders .  br    br   coulouris is truly one of the most despicable characters ever brought to screen as the no account runmanian count . he was a metaphor for his own country who embraced the nazis with gusto and then equally repudiated them without losing a step after stalingrad .  br    br   lucile watson was up for best supporting actress in      but lost to katina paxinou in for whom the bell tolls . dashiell hammett was nominated for best adapted screenplay and the film itself lost for best picture to that other anti  fascist classic  casablanca .  br    br   though it  s an item firmly planted in those specific times  watch on the rhine still packs a stern anti  fascist message that bears repeating infinitely .  
how many more of those fake  slice of life  movies need to be made  hopefully not too many .  br    br   raising victor vargas is a very self  conscious attempt by the director peter solett at garnering the attention of hollywood . nothing wrong with that in general . what is wrong with this film in particular is that it ignores the audience and piles on every clich in the book of supposedly  edgy  hollywood independent production .  br    br   it  s supposed to be  real  so left shake the camera  documentary style   except no documentarian would shake the camera on purpose . . .  br    br   it  s  edgy  so let  s not waste any time lighting the film .  br    br   it  s  hip   so let  s have the children use swear words like al pacino in scarface . . .  br    br   and so on  and so forth . all that you are left with is a very self  conscious attempt at impressing hollywood that won  t impress anyone outside of the  rarefied  indie crowd that seems to still heap acclaim on every bad film .  
the great caruso displays the unique talents of mario lanza . he shows great acting capacity and is in top form as a lyrical singer  paired with dorothy kirsten  soprano of the metropolitan opera . indeed  i dare to say that he performs some songs better than caruso  check a  vuchella from tosti and la danza from rossini  . the mgm art and music departments also did a good job . this movie could be perfect  were it not for the awkward presence of ann blyth we see that she is trying her best  dressed in the fifties style in scenes just before      unforgivable . lanza deserved a better leading lady  and blyth should stick to less demanding productions . also notice that ms . kirsten sings most of the opera duets of the film with lanza  giving the wrong notion that caruso had a kind of permanent leading soprano .  
ok  i know that a lot of people will probably resent this review as watership down is a  classic  and a standard part of most people  s childhood  but seeing this film for the first time at the tender age of    i must admit i really hated it .  br    br   we watched this film because my sister had read the book and really enjoyed it  and many people who whimpered at the very words  watership down   their memories of seeing the film as children and having their emotions torn at the seams  recommended it . to be honest  i wish i hadn  t bothered . i gave it the benefit of the doubt generally i don  t like to stop watching a film half way through . this was an exception . it was really  really  excruciatingly  sickeningly dull . this film was possibly the slowest thing i  ve ever watched  imagine a doped  up snail in space   and really didn  t  do it  for me . the art was alright the backgrounds were nicely made if not a little bland and twee  yet the rabbits themselves were not very endearing and the animation was quite jumpy and poorly produced .  br    br   i  m not going to go into huge details about the storyline basically it is the tale of a group of rabbits who leave their warren due to the infiltration of humans in the area . generally a moralistic story about the perils of human interactions on the environment  it uses anthropomorphic rabbits to put the message across . for me  i kind of wished that they would get gassed  not because i  m a horrible sadistic person  but because the characters were uninspiring  annoying  dull and generally quite rude  oh i  m so terribly english  . i found that i was constantly looking at the clock whilst watching the film  and it took a whole   minutes or so before anything actually happened  and even that was a terrible anticlimax .  br    br   if i were to praise it in any way  i  d have to admit that the concept of showing children the perils of building on the countryside and hopefully unveiling the arrogance of humans etc etc is quite well  meaning . maybe it is all in general sanctimonious and preachy  but the message it  s trying to put forth is good in its nature . the musical score was not bad  too .  br    br   so  to conclude  this film is pretty poor . i couldn  t watch it the whole way through  or i  d probably be forced to eat my own legs in sheer boredom . granted  it isn  t  torque  bad  but it still doesn  t rate highly in my eyes  so i  ve given it a     .  br    br   hope this helps .  
this is a most handsome film . the color photography is beautiful as it shows the lavishness of the metropolitan opera house in brilliant color . other indoor scenes at various mansions  etc are equally brilliant . as for the music  what more can be said other than that lanza  s voice was at its  peak as he sang so many of the worlds  best known and beloved arias . the marvelous dorothy kirsten is also a joy as her soprano voice blends with that of lanza in delightful harmony . of course  hollywood took their customary liberties with the life story of caruso . there is precious little in the story line that relates to actual events . for example  the facts relating to his death are totally fabricated and bear no relationship to the truth . there are some very good web sites that tell the true story of caruso and contain several pictures of him . these web sites can be located by using any good search engine . there are also several books available concerning his life history . but  the fictional story line does nothing to mar this beautiful film . the voices of lanza  kirsten  and the chorus members are the real stars of this movie . enjoy  i know that i sure did .  
i saw this movie as a very young girl  i  m   now  and it scared me witless for years . i had nightmares about every aspect of this film from the way it was drawn to the music to  obviously  the violence . my parents still argue about who allowed me to watch it and both of them say that they would never let me watch such a movie . i think they only say that knowing that i have such strong feelings about it    i am currently reading the book  out of morbid curiosity and the fact that it  s a classic  and it is really a great story . however i don  t think that it should have been made into a cartoon . ever . well  maybe kids nowadays would find it quaint but it gave me nightmares for weeks and weeks and i still have a hard time seeing rabbits drawn in a similar way . gives me a little heart palpitation every time . yah i am a wuss but i strongly suggest that any parent looking to show this movie to their kids  read them the book instead or watch it first to make certain that they approve of the content . not everyone finds it as disturbing as i did but we are out there     
mario lanza  of course  is  the great caruso  in this     film also starring ann blyth  dorothy kirsten  eduard franz and ludwig donath . this is a highly fictionalized biography of the legendary  world  renowned tenor whose name is known even today .  br    br   the film is opulently produced  and the music is glorious and beautifully sung by lanza  kirsten  judmila novotna  blanche thebom  and other opera stars who appeared in the film . if you  re a purist  seeing people on stage smiling during the sextet from  lucia  will strike you as odd  even if caruso  s wife dorothy just had a baby girl . also it  s highly unlikely that caruso ever sang edgardo in lucia the role lay too high for him .  br    br   in taking dramatic license  the script leaves out some very dramatic parts of caruso  s life . what was so remarkable about him is that he actually created roles in operas that are today in the standard repertoire  yet this is never mentioned in the film . these roles include maurizio in adriana lecouvreur and dick johnson in  girl of the golden west   there is a famous photo of him posing with a sheet wrapped around him like a toga . the reason for that photo  his only shirt was in the laundry . he was one of the pioneers of recorded music and had a long partnership with the victor talking  machine company  later rca victor  . he was singing jose in carmen in san francisco the night of the earthquake .  br    br   instead  the mgm story basically has him dying on stage during a performance of martha  which never happened . he had a hemorrhage during  l  elisir d  amore  at the met and could not finish the performance he only sang three more times at the met  his last role as eleazar in la juive . what killed him  the same thing that killed valentino  peritonitis . his first role at the met was not radames in aida  as indicated in the film  but the duke in rigoletto . so when it says on the screen  suggested by dorothy caruso  s biography of her husband   that  s what it was  suggested . what is true is that dorothy  s father disowned her after her marriage  and left her   of his massive estate . they also did have a daughter gloria together  who died at the age of   on           . however  caruso had four other children by a mistress before he married dorothy .  br    br   some people say that lanza  s voice is remarkably like caruso  s  but just listen to caruso sing in the film  match point    caruso  s voice is remarkably unlike lanza  s . in fact  from his sound  had he wanted to  caruso could have sung as a baritone . he is thought to have had some trouble with high notes  further evidence of baritone leanings and the role he was preparing when he died was othello  a dramatic tenor role  which lanza definitely was not . lanza  s voice deserved not to be compared with another . he made a unique contribution to film history  popularizing operatic music . he sings the music in  the great caruso  with a robust energy he is truly here at the peak of what would be a short career . his acting is natural and genuine . ann blyth is lovely as dorothy and gets to sing a little herself .  br    br   really a film for opera lovers and lanza fans  which are probably one and the same .  
firstly  i am not easily scared by . . . anything except for my few phobias  but this movie is absolutely horrific . this is not appropriate for children at all  i had my mouth open the whole time it just shocked me i . couldn  t believe how gory it was for a children  s movie  bunnies being brutally murdered  it  s just unnecessary to be so horrifying and be rated g . i recommend being over  to see this . but don  t get me wrong  it was probably a good movie if i wasn  t scarred mentally as a child . i cannot believe a parent would allow a  let  s say   year old child to watch this . it  s just to intense and complicated  not to forget gory  for young kids . i  m wayy over  and i was shocked by the violence . i don  t recommend  
yes  be my love was mario lanza  s skyrocket to fame and still is popular today . his voice was strong and steady  so powerful in fact that mgm decided to use him in the great caruso . lanza himself thought he was the reincarnation of caruso . having read the book by kostelanitz who wrote a biography of lanza  he explains that the constant practise and vocal lessons became the visionary caruso to lanza . there is no doubt that lanza did a superb job in the story  but the story is not entirely true blame it on hollywood  i used to practise singing his songs years ago  and became pretty good myself until i lost my voice because of emphysema  asthma ten years ago . reaching the high note of be my love is not easy but beautiful   
so . . . it  s really sexist  and classist  and i thought that it might not be in the beginning stages of the movie  like when stella tells steven that she would really like to change herself and begin speaking in the right way and he tells her not to change . well  he certainly changed his tune  and it seems that the other reviewers followed suit . what at the beginning appears to be a love story is really about social placement and women as sacrificial mothers . the end of the movie does not make her a hero  it makes the whole thing sad . and its sad that people think it makes her a hero . perhaps that is the comment of the movie that people should take away . positive reception reflects continual patriarchal currents in the social conscience . yuck .  
since musicals have both gone out of fashion and are incredibly expensive to make without all the talent needed to make one under contract to a studio  i doubt we will ever get a real life story of enrico caruso .  br    br   but if everything else was in place it was no accident that no hollywood studio attempted the task until metro  goldwyn  mayer had mario lanza under contract . no one else could have done it  i doubt whether it will ever be tried again .  br    br   and why should it . i think enrico caruso himself would have been satisfied as to how his singing was portrayed on screen . for his tenor voice was his life  his reason for being on the earth .  br    br   to say that liberties were taken with his life is to be modest . caruso  like the man who portrayed him  was a man of large appetites although with a lot more self discipline . he had numerous relationships with several women and fathered two out of wedlock sons who are not in this film .  br    br   his contribution to the recording industry is treated as almost an afterthought . he  s shown in a recording studio once late in his life . actually he started recording right around the turn of the last century and together with irish tenor john mccormack for rca victor made the recording industry what it became .  br    br   when caruso and mccormack were at their heights you had to practically inherit a ticket to see either of them perform live . but a lot of immigrant italian and irish families had a phonograph and a record or three of either of these men . it  s why both became the legends that they are .  br    br   what the film does have is some beautifully staged operatic arias done by mario lanza  a taste of what he might have become had he the discipline of a caruso to stick to opera . the great caruso won an oscar for sound recording and received nominations for costume and set design .  br    br   mario himself helped popularize the film with an rca red seal album of songs from the great caruso . unfortunately due to contractual obligations we couldn  t get an actual cast album with ann blyth  dorothy kirsten  and jarmila novotna also .  br    br   though blyth sang it in the film  lanza had a big hit recording of the loveliest night of the year further helping to popularize the great caruso .  br    br   if you  re looking for a life of enrico caruso  this ain  t it . if you are looking for a great artist singing at the height of his career  than you should not miss the great caruso .  
i should love this movie . the acting is very good and barbara stanwyck is great but the the movie has always seemed very trite to me . the movie makes working class people look low and cheap . the fact that the daughter is ashamed of her mother and that the daughter does not rise above it has always made me a bit uneasy . barbara stanwyck as the mother worships the daughter but the daughter forgoes a mothers love to find happiness with her well to do fathers family . i wonder how many others who have seen this film feel this way about it . again the acting was very very good and worth watching . i really don  t like the story line . just a personal preference . thank you  
the great caruso was the biggest hit in the world in     and broke all box office records at radio city music hall in a year when most  movergoers  were stay  at  homes watching their new   motorola televisions . almost all recent box office figures are false    because they fail to adjust inflation . obviously today  s    movies will dominate . in     it cost   c to   .   at radio city   c to   c first run at loew  s palace in washington dc  or   c to   c in neighborhood runs . what counts is the number of people responding to the picture  not unadjusted box office  media spin .  the genius of the great caruso was that the filmmakers took most of the actual life of enrico caruso  really not a great story anyway  and threw it in the trash . instead     of the movie  s focus was on the music . thus mgm gave us the best living opera singer mario lanza doing the music of the best  ever historic opera singer enrico caruso . the result was a wonderful movie . too bad lanza would throw his life and career away on overeating . too fat to play the student prince  edmund purdom took his place    with lanza  s voice dubbed in  and with the formerly handsome and not  fat lanza pictured in the advertising . if you want to see the great caruso  it  s almost always on ebay for   .   or less . don  t be put off by the low price  as it reflects only the easy availability of copies  not the quality of the movie .  
this movie is great  mind you  but only in the way it tells a very bad story . stella is so terribly crude  and never learns better . her husband is incredibly snobby and small  minded . neither ever learns better . is this realistic  somehow  stella understands that her daughter is ashamed of her gaudy manners  dress  yet cannot understand that she just needs to tone it all down  i don  t think so . stella is a good woman  and a very good mother . giving up herself  so her daughter can be associated with a bunch of bigoted snobs is disgusting .  br    br   much of what we see might have been normal for the times  people having a beer or two  enjoying a player piano  dancing  but it is made out to be some sort of moral inferiority .  i can  t have our child living this way   spare me .  br    br   this story tells me one thing that the unwashed working class cannot ever hope to aspire to the heights of the upper classes . and that is simply a load of hogwash .  
i like it because of my recent personal experience . especially the ideas that everyone is free and that everything is finite . the characters in the firm did not really enjoy their  real  lives  but they did enjoy themselves  i . e . what they were . the movie did a good job making this simple day a good memory . a good memory includes not only romantic feelings about a beautiful stranger and a beautiful european city  but definitely about the deeper discussion about their values of life . many movies are like this in terms of discussion of the definitions of life or love or relationships or current problems in life or some sort of those . before sunrise dealt with it in a nice way  which makes the viewer pause and think and adjust her breath and go on watching the film . before sunrise did not try to instill a specific thought into your head . it just encouraged you to think about some issues in daily life and gave you some alternative possibilities . this made the conversations between the characters interesting  not just typical whining complaints or flowing dumb ideas . you would be still thinking about those issues for yourself and curious about the next line of the story . the end was not quite important after all . you could got something out of it and feel something good or positive about yourself after the movie . movies are supposed to be enjoyable . this is an enjoyable movie and worth of your time to watch it . i am on a journey too . the movie somehow represented some part of me and answered some of my questions .  
i hate this movie . it is a horrid movie . sean young  s character is completely unsympathetic . her performance is wooden at best . the storyline is completely predictable  and completely uninteresting . i would never recommend this film to anyone . it is one of the worst movies i have ever had the misfortune to see .  
jesse and celine  ethan hawke and julie delpy  are two strangers on a european train . the two come from widely different backgrounds  he  s american and she  s french  after they talk a bit on the train jesse manages to get celine to get off the train and explore vienna with him . during the next several hours the two wander vienna taking in all that the city has to offer and become madly infatuated with each other . but will this newfound relationship last past sunrise .  br    br   this wonderful romantic  comedy is a breath of fresh air to a genre that has been in decline . written and directed by richard  dazed and confused  linklater   before sunrise  never bores because of its  small cast . in fact it flourishes due to the leads that make you love their characters and have a wonderful charisma between the two . smart dialogue makes this a must for romance fans .  
well  they say nymphomania leaves you unsatisfied . i don  t know if stella james  sean young  qualifies as a clinical nymphomaniac  but she certainly is in to sexual relations with men . she  s still exploring  trying to find  more data  so she can see what she wants from life and the men in it  though it seems like at her age she should have a pretty good idea by now .  i can  t agree  however  with anyone who says young is too old for the role . if she is  we should all age so nicely .  for the most part this film left me cold  though it  s by no means the worst of its type you  ll ever see . and unlike the recent  eyes wide shut   at least something happens in this one .  
amazing movie that  in theory  should be boring but is delivered with subtlety and incredible acting that i have long despaired of ever finding . instead of relying on clichs and overly dramatized moments the plot unfolds through a series of incredibly realistic moments . the lead characters are not perfect  and so relating to them as people you could know is easy . the movie is not trying to pull laughs  or push an ideal onto the audience but simply showing us the possibility of true love in any circumstance .  br    br   i am now restless waiting for the weekend so i can see the sequel . a moving  thought provoking  funny look at love that i think should be an absolute romantic classic up there with casablanca and breakfast at tiffany  s . will soften even the hardiest heart .  
did anyone else feel as betrayed as i did  the first hour or so was pretty solid but the last . oh my god . it seemed like it was predictable and cheesy . not grandiose and epic like the entire run of the show has been . most reviews have read have been glowing but i really can  t understand why . i had seriously predicted that general ending way earlier on but then retracted it because i thought  no  they would never do that  that  s far too lame .  i can hardly stand it . i feel so unsatisfied . i think i  m about to walk out the door to go sell every season i own . someone please . change my mind . i want to love this . so bad . someone tell me why i  m wrong . great show . terrible ending .  
i  m not usually a fan of strictly romantic movies but heard this was good . i was stunned . easily the most romantic thing i  ve ever seen in my life . stunning . brilliant  sweet  funny and full of heart . the chemistry is flawless as is the writing and directing .  br    br   ethan hawke and julie delphy are so natural and sweet together you really think they  re a couple .  br    br   the movies grabs you right away and doesn  t let go . you can  t look away nor can you stop listening to them . even the little moments just melt your heart .  br    br   this has jumped into the ranks of one of my favourite ever . a masterpiece .  
the first half was ok  but the last half really  really disappointed . it  s funny the producers even admitted they didn  t have a clue for the ending  and it really showed . whats really sad is i have to write ten lines of comment minimum to be able to post this . i really didn  t want to include spoilers to qualify my remarks since the show isn  t really worth that effort . when battlestar galatica first came out i was really excited with the prospect of a better remake  it didn  t happen that first season border on being space porn . they eventually cleaned it up a bit and actually had some pretty fair drama  so i started watching again . but to end the series with kara being a cyclon god angel  same with baltar and six was pretty dumb .  
an american woman  her european husband and children return to her mother  s home in  watch on the rhine   a     film based on the play by lillian hellman  and starring paul lukas  whom i believe is repeating his stage role here   bette davis  lucile watson  george coulouris  geraldine fitzgerald  and donald woods . an anti  fascist  a worker in the underground movement  many times injured  and wanted by the nazis  kurt muller  lukas  is in need of a long vacation on the estate of his wealthy mother  in  law . but he finds out that there is truly no escape as one of the houseguests  coulouris  is suspicious as to his true identity and more than willing to sell him out .  br    br   great performances abound in this film  written very much to put forth lillian hellman  s liberal point of view . it was certainly a powerful propaganda vehicle at the time it was released  as the evils of war and what was happening to people in other countries reach into safe american homes . the movie  s big controversy today is that paul lukas won an oscar over humphrey bogart in  casablanca .  humphrey bogart was a wonderful screen presence and a fabulous rick  but lukas is transcendent as kurt . the monologue he has about the need to kill is gut  wrenching  just to mention one scene .  br    br   though this isn  t what one thinks of as a bette davis movie  she gives a masterful performance here as kurt  s loyal and loving wife  sara . her acting tugs at the heart  and the love scenes between kurt and sara are beautiful and tender .  br    br   the last half hour of the film had me in tears with the honesty of the emotions . lillian hellman is not everyone  s cup of tea  but unlike  the little foxes   she has written some truly sympathetic  wonderful characters and a fine story given a casting and production values by warner brothers . highly recommended .  
first of all  write the script on a napkin . who needs more than that  after all we  re not a hollywood film .  br    br   then get amateur actors . it will be good for the festival hype . after all  who needs people who have spent years honing their craft  then  hire a cinematographer who doesn  t know how to light . you see  if it  s well  lit  it won  t look  real  and the festival people won  t like it . who needs to have professional level photography anyway  then hire a ten  year old who has never held a camera to be your operator . it will give your movie that completely amateurish touch that festival screeners will mistake for  reality  and guarantee that even though you will empty the seats from real people  critics and a small sliver of the audience who over  intellectualize will scream  genius  because they won  t believe this was just complete amateur  hour .  br    br   once you  ve done that  buy your ticket to the festival of bad movies aka sundance .  br    br   what a sad waste .  
i bought the dvd of before sunset and saw it for the first time a week ago . having saw it twice  i couldn  t help but missing before sunrise  not because the sequel was not as great  but i felt that these two movies completed each other like no other sequels ever did  every time i finished watching one of them  i feel the need and yearning to see the other . so  i ended up spending the weeks watching both of them repeatedly  i will be quite embarrassed to mention how many times exactly . the most remarkable thing about before sunrise is how you feel the development of the feelings of their characters towards each other . it sounds so simple  the growing of the chemistry  i think other romantic films might think that they succeed to track the development  but to me  who doesn  t believe in nora ephron  before sunrise is the first film to really gives the viewers chance to feel it . when i saw it for the first time  about  year ago when i was    i already liked it . but  i didn  t rate it as a  great film   it still seemed to me like another thinking persons  feel good movie  linklater was too smart to make it more realistic  it was   minutes too long  the characters was too well fabricated  i thought i liked it because it was like a dream and because i enjoyed their conversations  etc . etc . . but now  thanks to before sunset  i feel that  s more to before sunrise than what i felt for it before . i saw the elements more clearly jesse  celine  vienna  their conversations  everything . how each of them are separated element by itself  and they have a chance to mix  the story is just a frame of time  i am no longer feel manipulated . and the freedom that every scene has  as well as its refusal to be overly efficient  how blind i was that those qualities didn  t strike me as exceptional when i first saw it  now   year have passed  the more movies i  ve seen  the more i realize that many movies are just collections of ordered scenes that only exist for the sake of its ending  even movies like pulp fiction or linklaters  s own slackers included . the jesse and celine tale avoid that  maybe before sunset is a better example in this case  but before sunrise is also one of few films that its ending is just a consequence of time  not a destination  every single scene has its own life . i don  t know whether linklater or anyone else had a sequel in mind when they made before sunrise  but to me  one of the most amazing things about these sequels are how these two films visually contrast each other . before sunrise which i think employs more static angels and brighter color schemes  seems to try to capture the smallest atoms of liveliness surrounding jesse and celine  the world is always full of hope whether or not the characters feel it . meanwhile  i enter the vision of boredom as jesse stuck talking to the journalists in before sunset  and celine  s first smile from behind the shelves are the most heartbreaking smile i  ve seen in a beginning of a film  and the many moving shots after that takes me to a place i don  t know with a sadness in me  no matter how beautiful paris is  and no matter how happy i am that they meet again . i  m sorry that i go on this long with my limited english  before sunrise is already an extraordinary film without me pouring my scattered thoughts  and it gets even better with an equally great sequel following it .  
there are many good things about the new bsg there  s the multiple cylon roles for model  and   for example  which the two actresses played superbly . there  s the old school feel of industrial design aboard galactica   my ship will not be networked  over my dead body    also  all the space battles  the special effects  even though the seasoned sci  fi watcher will acknowledge the cartoonishness of it all  the darkness of the characters  their essentially flawed nature .  br    br   that makes it all the more bitter that the ending was so childish .  br    br   yes  the first part  the scenes in space  the raid on the cylons and all that was very good . but the mushy ending  i always watch films and shows these days with the timer hidden  so i never know how much time is left until the end . so for me it was a special kind of torture  to see the end happen over and over again . every time i thought  oh this is the final scene  the final shot  i got one more . every frakking character got its complete ending  that wasn  t really necessary .  br    br   what really highlighted the schoolboy amateurishness of it all the young roslin scenes . why is important for us to know that a she lost her sisters and father in a horrible accident and b that she has a one night stand with a former pupil  student  what does that bring to the story  where was the linkage  now  i  m all for a more european  ish style approach  and a random acts of whateverness in films and shows  and all that  but this was just ridiculous . this didn  t bring anything meaningful to the story .  br    br   also  i  ve seen the  last frakkin special  and in it ron revealed his own cluelessness about the plot he couldn  t come up with a good ending for the story  so . . . . he just didn  t  it  s never as much about the characters as they made the last episode to be . the whole  this was thousands of years in the past  idea  the mitochondrial eve thing  was also used in the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy  and believe you me  there are a lot of bsg watchers who know that particular h  g  storyline . and speaking of hera  now there  s a storyline that was not worked out well  at all . instead we get roslin is doing her former pupil who  s   years younger . don  t get me wrong  i  m all for older women with younger men . the more power to them . but this . . . just made no sense .  br    br   all in all   the writing in  this series is as flawed as they intended its characters would be . that goes even moreso for the last episode . i hope lost and   do better  with their series finales .  
i  m not even sure what to say about this film . it  s one of only a handful of movies ever made that i would consider romantic . to try to talk plot or performance or technical details about this film would be in the words of frank zappa  like dancing about architecture  . it absolutely hits the nail right on the head in the way it captures those fleeting moments in life that move us and then run away from us never to be experienced again . this seems like the movie the character version of charlie kaufman in the movie adaptation wanted to write . the ending is left open and ambiguous  no happy ending here  just mystery . no profound life lessons  just a couple of horny and intelligent kids exploring the ability to feel the most irrational and unrealistic of feelings . . . . . . romantic love .  br    br     out of   watch it with your special lady and recommend it to a stranger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
i loved the first season . the quality went down a little bit in the second season  which however had a great middle  pegasus   . third season was fairly novel and original and was ok . fourth season started going downhill fast  because they never even began giving us any explanations  when by now we were really starting to need them . what the hell was the cylon plan  why were there two cylon factions  what was the point of angel  kara leading the fleet to a devastated earth    what kind of a past did the last five cylons have  and how did they survive  or were they reincarnations  questions everywhere  answers nowhere .  br    br   and then comes the end . earth    our earth  in the past . well  okay . but destroying the fleet   giving up technology and giving up any kind of urban life  and spreading a few thousand people paper  thinly across the planet   that  s not only anti  science  it  s anti  reason and anti  life . and the philosophy of the show then seems to be that humanity is forever trapped in a cycle going from nature romanticism to a decadent capitalist society inventing destructive a . i . that ruins everything . it is without vision  without hope for a grander future for humanity  and it is antithetical to proper science fiction . and don  t even get me started on the angels  religious claptrap of the worst kind  the ultimate disappointment    br    br   the whole  all this has happened before and will happen again  thing should have related to the previous incarnation of the series  not just to earth as we know it . making the new show somehow consistent with the old would have been the definitive stroke of genius . frakkin shame .  br    br    out of   .  
i must admit that at the beginning  i was sort of reticent about watching this movie . i thought it was this stupid  little  romantic film about a french woman who meets in the train an american and decides to visit vienna with him . i was not actually enchanted about this kind of script  since it continued to make me believe that it is just a movie . still  i watched it  and i was amazed . . .  before sunrise  is one of the few films who dare to talk in a rather philosophical way  wondering about the fact that in the moment of our birth  we are sentenced to death  or that it is a middling idea that fact that a couple should rest together for eternity  or that  we  humans  can afford sometimes to live in fairy  tales .  br    br   the ending was wonderfully chosen  we do not know if they will meet again in six months  at six o  clock  in vienna  s station   in our optimism  we sincerely hope so . the actors acted in a very good manner  so  that  i began to believe that i  myself could live a love  story just like this .  
horrible ending  and i can  t believe moore spent a year coming up with it . smacks of l . ron hubbard and dianetitcs  which hubbard claimed to pen in just three weeks . this was actually disappointing enough for me to toss my discs from the first  .  years . now  the first  .  hours were action packed  though absurd in the premise  and then it deteriorated into a slow  painful  sophomoric dissolution of the series . unbelievable how slow and drawn out that last hour was . were we to think more deeply  if i wanted a lesson in a  materialism  i would reread daniel quinn  s ishmael . absurd to think   k people would give up everything for a  fresh start  . absurd to throw in a disappearing kara  and a reappearing baltar and six . absurd to throw in the mitochondrial eve . just absurd .  
american boy jesse took the train to vienna in order to take the plane for usa . on the train he met a french girl celine . although they met the first time  they talked like good friends . when the train stopped at vienna  jesse begged celine to accompany him to have a tour on vienna . then the romantic story unfolded .  br    br   at first they were cautious . the funniest scene was their listening to cd in music store . they peeked at each other  though their eyes did not contact . after in  depth conversation  they relationship became close . then i saw the most romantic scene that they pretended to call their respective friend . their deep love for each other was expressed completely by words .  br    br   love is a strange thing . when you really want it  it will not come as you wished . love needs mutual understanding . without it  love will not last long . spiritual harmony is the most important for love .  br    br   excellent screenplay and performance resulted in huge success of the movie .  br    br   one of the best romance movies .      
the fight scenes were great . loved the old and newer cylons and how they painted the ones on their side . it was the ending that i hated . i was disappointed that it was earth but    k years back . but to travel all that way just to start over  are you kidding me    k people that fought for their very existence and once they get to paradise  they abandon technology  no way . sure they were eating paper and rationing food  but that is over . they can live like humans again . they only have one good doctor . what are they going to do when someone has a tooth ache never mind giving birth . . . yea right . no one would have made that choice .  
the most amazing combination of love and psyche of two young people . presented in the most sublime manner and definitely touches your heart . a rare combination where the sequel surpasses the prequel in both storytelling and intensity of emotions . the movie re affirms your faith in love and pain of separation . the joy of seeing your most beloved is unparalleled and anything can be sacrificed . ethan and julie have essayed eternal characters with such simplicity that gives the movie a sheer joy and love to watch . a must see movie for all the people who believe in true love . by far the most romantic  at least one of them  movie of all times .  
did i step in something or is that bad smell coming from daybreak     god was behind everything  what has god got to do with sci  fi  god is only the answer when you can  t think up a sensible explanation for something . in fact  this is exactly the problem with the series finale  they obviously couldn  t think up sensible explanations for the multitude of big questions that were raised throughout the series such as how kara thrace come back from the dead in a brand new viper  how her old viper and charred body ended up on earth   why baltar has an imaginary  in his head  why  has an imaginary baltar in her head  etc . so they explain it with  angels  or just don  t explain it at all .  br    br   the plot of the last  episodes had holes big enough to fly a basestar through . for example  why does galactica and its crew go on a suicide mission to rescue one girl  hera   particularly after adama said there was no way he  d attempt a rescue  because they found out the location of the cylon base  that  s not a good reason to sacrifice the crew  s lives . and how did anders know the location  and what was the point of the flashbacks to the major characters  lives before the war  it  s like they forgot to do it earlier so they threw something in at the last moment .  br    br   the people who wrote the last two episodes could not have been the same writers who created what has been so far a sensational series . feels like the script writing was take over by evangelical christians on a mission to spread  the word  . forget trying to tie up the loose ends in the plot  the important message the writers wanted to get across is don  t put your faith in technology as it will lead to your destruction god is your ultimate salvation  tough luck if you have an illness that needs medical treatment  .  br    br   imagine in the final movie of the star wars series they tell you there is no  force  . . . instead  a jedi actually gets his power from jesus . then they fly their spaceships into the nearest star and go live in the forest with the ewoks . would this be a good ending  no it frakken  wouldn  t .  
my watch came a little too late but am glad i watched both this and the sequel together . . . which makes me compliment the makers of this flick for giving such a pure and basic treatment to the idea of romanticism . . . and very marginally separating it from the idea of relationships  as a lot has been written about the movie already  it would just be appropriate to highlight few portions of the movie which i personally loved .  br    br   i think the point where jesse and celine make phony phone calls to their respective friends was a very shrewd way of telling each other what they had meant to each other through a journey not even extending   hrs . . . the curiosity of two people who both think the other has made an infallible impact on the other has been very smartly dealt with . . .  br    br   on the plot front  making a romantic story work on pure conversation is not an easy job to accomplish . .  br    br   i believe in romantic flicks of such flavor  the characters are not clearly designed even in the writer  s and director  s mind . what the actors bring out is what becomes of them . . right or wrong even the idea bearers would find it difficult to justify . . . to become the character  the life the actor gives has to go beyond instructions and the story . . . here both the actors do just the right job  kudos . .    and before sunset is another feather which makes this one even more beautiful   
with these people faking so many shots  using old footage  and gassing animals to get them out  not to mention that some of the scenes were filmed on a created set with actors  what  s to believe  old film of countries is nice  but the animal abuse and degradation of natives is painful to watch in these films . i know  racism is ok in these old films  but there is more to that to make this couple lose credibility . portrayed as fliers  they never flew their planes  martin johnson was an ex  vaudevillian  used friends like jack london for financial gain while stiffing them of royalties  denying his wife  s apparent depression  using her as a cute prop  all this makes these films unbearable . they were by no means the first to travel to these lands  or the first to write about them . he was ok as a filmmaker and photographer  but that  s about it .  
i managed to catch a late night double feature last night of  before sunrise        and  before sunset         and saw both films in a row  without really having the chance to catch my breath in between or ponder on the meaning of each film separately . after sleeping it over  i have to say that i largely prefer the former over the latter  and i shall explain why .  br    br   before sunrise introduces us with then young actors  ethan hawke  reality bites  dead poets society   only   at the time of the film  s release and julie delpy  the three colors trilogy   then    although looking much younger  . he is a promiscuous american writer  touring europe after breaking up with his girlfriend she is a young french student  on her way home to paris . they meet on the budapest  vienna train and spontaneously decide to get off the train together . the two deeply spiritual and intellectual individuals than spend a whole night together walking the beautifully captured streets of vienna  exchanging ideals and thoughts and gradually falling on love .  br    br   the film has      s written all over it back then  technology was leaping rapidly  the new millennium with all it  s hopes and dreams was waiting just around the corner  and young adults like the ones depicted in the film were filled with love of life and passion for the future . the characters of jesse  hawke  and celine  delpy   with all their flaws and inconsistencies  celine  s accent  if by mistake or on purpose  was half american  half french  and it swinged from one spectrum to the other  breaking the character  s credibility   were a mirror of the time . watching the naive couple swallow life with such meaning and excitement  acting all clichd and romantic yet managing to have the audience fall for them as well  is what really made this movie work for me . the fact that the director doesn  t let you know if their relationship continues after the film or not makes it all even more worth while .  br    br   all in all  sunrise is a dreamy stroll through the urban landscapes of vienna  a well told classical romantic rendezvous  and a film i will definitely return to for further insight sometime in the future .  
the     s saw a vogue for documentary films about remote corners of the world  with an emphasis on wild animals  exotic terrain and primitive people with unusual cultures . despite the logistics of transporting a film crew to a distant and dangerous place  and then bringing  em back alive  with the film footage   such films were often much cheaper to make than were conventional hollywood features . . . because there were no expensive sets  costumes  or high  priced movie stars .  br    br   the most successful makers of such films  artistically and financially  were the team of martin e . johnson and his wife osa  who made several documentaries  sometimes with blatantly staged events  in africa and asia . the johnsons  safari films were extremely popular  inspiring several parodies . . . most notably wheeler  woolsey  s  so this is africa   in which the very sexy esther muir plays a character named mrs . johnson  martini  instead of martin e . johnson  geddit   . although several other filmmakers were producing safari documentaries at this time  the johnsons  films were the most popular in this genre because they relied heavily on humour . viewed from our own more enlightened  i hope  standpoint  this is a serious flaw in the johnsons  documentaries there are too many scenes in which the funny little brown or yellow people are made to look complete idiots who are easily outsmarted by the clever white bwana johnson and his wife .  br    br   one definite asset of these movies is the presence of osa johnson . ten years younger than her husband  she manages to seem young enough to be his daughter . while certainly not as attractive as the shapely blond esther muir  osa johnson was a pert brunette who gave ingratiating performances in front of the camera in all the films she co  produced with her husband .  br    br    congorilla  is probably the best of the johnsons  films . the shots of the congo are interesting and have some historical value as evidence of what this environment looked like in     . the shots of the pygmies and other natives are also interesting  although these suffer from the johnsons  penchant to stage events in a manner that makes the natives look  wild  and alien .  br    br   the best  and funniest  scene in  congorilla  is an improvised sequence in which osa johnson attempts to teach a jazz dance to some pygmy women .  the dance is the black bottom  no less . . . the same dance which bob hope famously taught to daisy and violet hilton  the conjoined twins .  wearing jodhpurs  riding boots  and a pith helmet  osa johnson starts scat  singing while she does high steps and slaps her knees in her attempt to teach this dance to the african women . meanwhile  they just stand there staring at her  apparently wondering what this crazy white woman is trying to accomplish . it  s a very funny scene  but it has unpleasant undertones . osa johnson is doing a dance that was invented by black americans the implication seems to be that black africans should instinctively be able to perform this dance after a brief demonstration  using natural rhythm  i guess  because it  s in their blood  or something .  br    br   i  ll rate  congorilla   points out of   . this film says a little bit about african life in the     s and rather more about american cultural perceptions in that same decade .  
this is a slow moving story . no action . no crazy suspense . no abrupt surprises . if you cannot stand to see a movie about two people just talking and walking  about a story that develops slowly till the very end and about lovey  dovey romance  don  t waste your time and money .  br    br   on the other hand  if you  re into dialog  masterful story telling  thought provoking ideas and finding true love in the fabric of life then this is your movie . i recommend you watch this movie when you are most alert  though  because the pace  the music and the overall tone of the movie can put you in a woolgathering mood . it  s truly fantastic . i really mean that .  br    br   ethan hawke and julie delpy are annoying with their mannerisms at times but  thankfully  the chemistry between the two makes the acting very natural  warm and tender . they act and feel each other out from the very beginning  making you feel as an intruder .  br    br   in their conversations there are excellent commentaries on many subjects that will provoke thought and conversation between you and your partner . i thought it was too deep and too diverse for such young characters but i may be underestimating their intelligence . still it did not ruin the movie .  br    br   the overall story is very simple which i think gives the movie it  s charm and ultimately it  s power .  br    br   bottom line the movie  s flow is slow . the dialog is fascinating . the story builds gently  systematically and substantive . the build up to the finale is satisfying and in the end rewarding .  
admirably odd  though mean  spirited comedy  drama about a strange young man who hopes to fly like a bird through the houston astrodome . robert altman  directed quasi  comedy with eccentric characters is so overloaded with weirdos that it starts to creak early on from the weight . some of the cinematography is evocative  shelley duvall is a stitch in her debut as a tour guide  and sally kellerman looks every inch the glamourpuss as bud cort  s vision of a  mother bird   imagine altman and producer lou adler explaining that role to her   . in the lead  bud cort is   once again  after  harold  maude    a true original not off  putting like  say  michael j . pollard  cort manages to be geeky  wacky and inoffensive  a tough act to pull off . unfortunately  this is one of altman  s misfires . he can put together a cast and a showpiece like no one else  but let him get fired up with some misguided inspiration and he spirals downward .  from   
after a chance encounter on the train  a young couple spends a single night strolling the streets of vienna  discussing life and love . the primary reason to see  before sunrise   is to watch a young julie delpy deliver her lines . as  celine   this sexy  brainy  soulful brown  eyed blond is sort of a cross between brigitte bardot and joni mitchell as they were in their mid  twenties . risking overstatement  celine is practically the ideal woman  unusually beautiful and very feminine while being natural  unpretentious  introspective  and selflessly loving . we can easily forgive that she is a bit eccentric and talks a blue streak  for her sincere  intelligent remarks are occasionally penetrating . further  her varied expressions are nothing short of captivating and she speaks english with a french accent that is very endearing .  br    br   if there is a fly in the ointment of this good movie  it would have to be her unkempt and disheveled costar . ethan hawke as  jessie  comes off like a vaguely appealing slob  sort of a maynard g . krebs of the nineties . attempting to appear detached and nonchalant  he sort of drags himself through certain shots . his pants fit poorly  his tee shirt is coming untucked  his wavy dark hair  his most attractive feature  needs a good washing  and someone really should have showed him how to properly trim his youthful goatee . nevertheless  he is supposed to represent an unwashed youth on a two  week train ride around europe  so the look he has cultivated is probably pretty genuine . his oft  cynical observations and wry sense of humor seem to impress the unapologetically romantic celine  although she is occasionally disturbed by the extent of his alienation . when he finally admits to her that he is utterly sick of himself and likes being near her because he feels like a different person in her presence  we know he is getting somewhere .  br    br   after blowing their collective funds on a series of cafes  bars  and silly diversions  they agree that because they may never see one another again  they should make the most of it . jesse bums a bottle of red wine off a sentimental bartender so that he and his newfound lady love may repair to a local park in the middle of the night to lie on the grass  looking up at the moon and the stars and watching the sun come up .  br    br   given his boundless luck in the romance department  it is especially irksome when jessie  as the very definition of a naive jerk  foolishly allows this wonderful young lady to slip from his grasp . he contents himself with a half  baked plan  quickly devised at the railroad station when he bids her adieu  to reunite at the same spot in half a year . when the appointed time comes  you just know this beautiful and unusual girl will be involved with another  perhaps even married and pregnant . for whatever reason  she probably won  t show  while jesse  who ends up working at target or  if he  s lucky  the local library  will go back to vienna  desperate to see her again  only to wind up alone .  br    br   despite what for me was a very discouraging conclusion   before sunrise  is a beautiful movie . i highly recommend both it and the sequel   before sunset .   
the movie sucked  it wasn  t funny  it wasn  t exciting . they tried to make it so bad that it would be good  but failed . and thinking it  s cool to like this movie  next to the hype  are the only reasons that this movie is a success . . .  br    br   the fact that at this moment    voted a   out of   for this movie seems pretty concerning to me  either the movie going public is going insane or this vote is unrealistic which can have numerous causes  and should be dealt with . anyway it is a less than average movie which bloomed through mouth to mouth advertising . it  s success can only be described as a marketing marvel .  
when i saw this movie in the theater when it came out in     via a free advanced screening  i was totally enchanted and would have gladly paid to see it . i was sorry when i talked to many people afterwards who had also seen it and who were totally disappointed with it and how it ended . i  on the other hand  felt completely the opposite . i was totally satisfied with the outcome and everything else . people i talked to said there was too much talking  plus they were unhappy because they felt that the ending left you wondering about the fate of the two characters . i found these observations to be absurd and to also be painful evidence of how the majority of the american movie  going public seems to have a tendency to want easy  to  follow stories in films with not too much complex and intelligent dialogue lest they get confused . they also like to be spoon  fed tidy endings   happy or sad . this disgusts me . nobody wants to be challenged anymore    and as for the ending  and i don  t want to be a spoiler   i am totally content because i know in my heart that these two characters will see each other again . it  s all about your own personal faith in romance and destiny . it  s a very personal film that doesn  t speak to all people . but it certainly spoke to me . give it a chance  be patient with it  richard linklater has crafted a very lovely film with a beautiful story set against the beautiful background of the city of vienna . watching it makes you feel as if you yourself are strolling through the city streets along with the characters . as if you yourself were tripping through europe on a eurail pass . it  s very intimate . plus  ethan hawke and julie delpy do an exquisite job of bringing the complex script to life . they must have improvised during some parts and it works well . they have a great chemistry in their roles . their awkwardness as strangers getting to know each other in the beginning is very believable and you can truly feel the romance and bonding develop between them as the movie progresses . i get the feeling that this was a very personal work for mr . linklater and i deeply respect him for getting this film made . it definitely touched me and i hope it touches others just as much . bravo for romance     
i  d like to think myself as a fairly open minded guy and it takes a lot    for me to dislike a movie but this one is without a doubt one of the suckiest  crappiest movie i  ve ever seen   br    br   i have no idea what  s wrong with the people who gave it such a good rating here  imdb is usually pretty reliable when it comes to ratings  . . . the only thing i can imagine is that people must  ve voted during one or more conditions  br    br    . while being shitfaced  stoned out of their minds  . they  ve received hard cash for the votes  . under gunpoint  br    br   i can  t believe i wasted a good  h   min of my life for this pathetic excuse for a movie .  
ever since i can remember and i  m only   my mother and i have been and continue to watch older movies because well i find them much more rewarding in the long run  but hey don  t get me wrong i do love the movies we have today just not as much as i love movies of the   s and   s  anyways  now i have to say the moment i started watching the movie my eyes were glued to the tv . of course my favorite character was the grandmother played by lucile watson . but i loved the way betty davis and her family was portrayed . the children . . . did not act like children in the slightest . but there is good reason for that  having had to hid and run most of your life  seeing the awful things children saw those days destroyed their innocence . so people saying  oooo i hated how the kids acted . . . blah blah blah  read between the lines and know they saw things children should not see .  br    br   paul lukas . . . dear paul did an amazing job    now i know many people are mad that he go the oscar and bogie didn  t but hey they both did amazing jobs so i think it could have gone either way . but lukas  performance was so amazing that by the end of the movie i was reduced to tears . i loved this movie so much and recommend it to anyone     d  
what a bad  bad film    i can  t believe all the hype that has been lavished on this pretentious  amateurish excuse for a real movie   i left the theater before the end  stunned by how bad the direction and camera  work of that movie were   and to read adoring paeans that claim there is truth and reality in this film when all it is in reality is a brazen attempt at pulling the wool over the eyes of reviewers and festivals by being cheap and tawdry .  br    br   at least this film showed me once and for all that the sundance festival has become a complete joke and that being shown here is more a label of bad film  making than anything else .  br    br   avoid at all costs . you  ll want your time back  i know i did .  
this movie is intelligent . that is  more than most other movies  it transcends the least common denominator  stupid people will probably not appreciate it . the story also relies heavily on dialogue . it has some parallels to lost in translation  although before sunrise is much brighter  somehow less abstract  and simply a lot better .  br    br   the script  the characters and even the slightly surreal atmosphere feel totally realistic . the actors play absolutely brilliantly . rarely have i seen a movie where the script and the acting has melted this perfectly together .  br    br   the dialogue moves into very personal issues  with the risk of becoming a little over the top . it does  however  stay on the right side almost all the time  although i found a few moments a little awkward and embarrassing . balancing on this fine line demands outrageously talented actors . sometimes  it yields great results  and overall this movie is simply stupendous  only very  very rarely is  love  in films depicted in a way that i find trustworthy and realistic . every time that is achieved  the result is fantastic . i think the stunning and apparently timeless beauty of the female lead actress helped quite a bit in this respect . she still looks stunning in this film    years after .  br    br   this is simply a gem of a movie that you can  t miss . one of the best movies i have seen from the     s   
unless you are between the ages of   and    except for the r rating   there are very few things to like here . one or two lines from kenan thompson  david koechner  we really should see him more  and sam jackson are humorous and julianna margulies is as good as she can be considering her surroundings  but sadly  that  s it . poor plot . poor acting . worse writing and delivery . the special effects are dismal . as much as the entire situation is an odd and awful joke  the significant individual embedded situations are all equally terrible . if we consider the action portions  well there are unbelievable action sequences in some films that make you giddy and there are some that make you groan . this movie only contains the latter kind . this leaves little left . i  m so glad i did not pay for this .  br    br   despite any hype  i can read and think  so as i sat down to watch  i did not expect anything good . i had no expectations  but was somewhat worried going in . yet  like a train wreck  one cannot merely look away . and even with no expectations  i was let down . bad . not even  so bad  it  s good  material . i  m  very  tolerant of bad movies  but this makes  six string samurai   which i liked  oscar worthy .  br    br   no  this piece of over cgi  d rubbish is in the same company as battlefield earth  little man and gigli . how this is currently rated a  .  completely mystifies me . brainwashing or somehow stacking the voting system is all that i can think of as answers .  br    br   i could go on and on but suffice to say that tonight  i witnessed a train wreck . i need to go wash my eyes .  of    
before sunrise has many remarkable things going on  almost too many to fit into one review like this  but it  s suffice to say that it  s one of the most observant character studies of the nineties  maybe even in all of contemporary cinema  to be observant not about love  per  say  so much as it  s about a human connection . how does one fall in love at first sight  no one does  at least that  s deep down the consensus that linklater wants to show with his film . and yet there is the possibility of as intense a connection  of a bond that can form in those that are young and with many ideas that can be expressed articulately and with a breadth of cynicism and is somehow very tender and true at the same time . linklater here gives us the story of celine and jessie  a french girl and an american boy who get off the same train heading to vienna  and on the way there start to talking about things  at first arbitrary  then personal  jessie seeing death for the first time in his great grandfather  . jessie persuades celine to go along with him on a night out on the  town   in vienna  until his plane the next morning .  br    br   before sunrise gives jessie and celine  in the midst of the gorgeous vienna scenery and locales to go on and on about subjects that have a lot of importance  and in a sense is about the act of having conversations  of what it  s like to watch people having one leading into another and another . here it  s often about relationships and commitments  as jessie and celine tell stories sometimes somewhat inconsequential  or seemingly so  and another that may tell a lot about their essential qualities . we hear confessions of desires for other loves  or what weren  t really loves  of being part of a family or part of an upbringing that may or may not inform how you  ll love your life  of what it means to believe or not believe in some religious form  or just to have some connection to any faith and the soul  i loved the bit about the quakers in the church   and sometimes laced with cynicism or skepticism . jessie may be more responsible for that last part  but what  s fascinating about the film is that it  s never exactly cynical itself  just commenting upon cynicism that lays in the concerns of men and women at that age of their lives .  br    br   meanwhile  it  s always great to see ethan hawke and julie delpy in these roles  where they  re not incessantly annoying in that   s generation  x mode  but are the kinds of people where if not in the central conceit of the film  which isn  t a bad one at all but a necessary one  one might think to find walking along the streets of a city somewhere . the conceit is that of an old romantic picture ala brief encounter  only here intimacy is expressed in the central characters either between each other  where sweet asides are actually acceptable   i have to tell you a secret   jessie says  and then leans in for a kiss  ho  ho   or in the little moments that pop up with other people along the way . i loved the scene with the poet  where it  s very cinematic a thing to suddenly find a random romantic bit player in the midst of a romantic picture with such beautiful words at his disposal  or with the palm reader and how the reactions from jessie and celine are that we might share  but really are seeing them do it first  hand . all the while hawke and delpy embody the roles interestingly  we can see how neuroses are being formed already for their adult lives  as it may lead off into the future . . .  br    br   featuring splendid cinematography and a script with an ear for natural wit and a true sense of what it means to have a moment of happiness  however self  contained  as it may lead into something more . who  s to say you can  t suddenly be attached to someone  if only for less than   hours  and be that much more attached than a married couple  this is perhaps linklater  s thesis  but there  s more to it than just that . it  s a very dense film  and one that will have me calling back to it repeatedly . one scene especially  which is both cheesy and brilliant is when the two of them are talking  on the phone  in front of each other mimicking their expositions might go to the other  s friend . a  
i stopped watching this pos as soon as the snakes started  taking over  the plane .  br    br   at first i thought maybe it should get a  one  for the comic relief . but then i realized i could just watch the three stooges for free and laugh more   br    br   whatever respect i might have had for samuel jackson has been irreversibly destroyed . and hollywood demonstrates once again how removed from reality they really are . when i was a kid we used to catch snakes for fun . the only thing snakes would do is huddle at the bottom of the cargo bay . and no amount of hollywood cartoon snakes can change that .  br    br   this movie isn  t worth a trip to blockbuster . be warned if you pay for it  the only  victim  is your dumb ass .  br    br   if you want to be really scared  i suggest the descent . if you want humor  go to your local stand up comedy club . their worst performer will be a million times better than this trash .  
this is truly truly one of the best movies about love that i  ve ever seen . closely followed by none other than  before sunset   which technically isn  t another movie at all  since it  s about the same two people and the same romance .  br    br   this is  love  in the real world . ok  that  s only if most people are as intelligent and eloquent as the leads in the movie . reading the other reviews  it pleases me to know how so many other folks are crazy over dialog  based movies as well . and this is what makes  before sunrise  so good . the dialog is perfect . it  s so real  so engaging and funny . it  s hardly a surprise that jesse and celine fall in love   coz you fall in love with them at the very same time .  br    br   my favorite scene is the one in the coffee shop  where they pretend to phone their best friends  with the other pretending to be said best friend . it  s perfect . brings you back to the very moment when you fell in love for the very first time in your life .  br    br   i must say that if you have a choice  do watch  before sunrise  before watching  before sunset  . if like me  you watched  sunset  first  it  s hard to shake off the feeling of pity and sadness for the two young lovers throughout the entire show .  br    br   once again  the greatest romantic movie in my books . wonderful acting  excellent script  and beautiful locations . young love  at it  s best .  
all internet buzz aside  this movie was god awful . i expected the movie to be more of a farce than anything . instead the film makers tried to make a serious thriller  horror movie  and they completely missed . there were only a few good parts  and a couple good lines by samuel jackson . other than that  it was a bunch of gore and some poorly animated snakes . all of the internet joking was miles better than the actual movie . now that the movie has actually come out  hopefully this joke will die . don  t waste your time or money on this piece of over hyped trash . if you  re looking for something that  s funny and entertaining  then just go to snakes on a blog .  
richard linklater  s beautifully directed mixture of youthful romance and paris travelogue is one of the    s best thinking person  s romantic movies . julie delpy turns in one of the decade  s most engaging performances as the parisian lass who spends a day with stranger  on  a  train ethan hawke . the dialogue  and there is oodles of it  is sometimes meandering and overly precious  but this portrait of two young wannabe  lovers making a romantic  intellectual  and spiritual connection to one another is full of wonderfully amusing  touching and insightful moments .  
i saw an early screening of this film in new york and i  along with my friends and pretty much the entire audience  were vastly disappointed . the movie wasn  t even so bad it was good it was as lifeless as a snake  bite victim . samual l . jackson looked surprisingly tired through most of it and the snake effects were lame . it reminded me of one of those cheesy scifi movies  except the cheesiness of this movie was not funny or even campy . it all seemed worn  flat  and overtly formulaic . i  m shocked to say i actually think anaconda was more fun . it  s easy to understand that soap realizes it  s a piece of sit and plays along with it  but what the film fails to embark on is a script that has any scares of suspense . it  s the worst kind of lame movie it  s joyless .  
sweet and charming  funny and poignant  plot less but meaningful   before sunrise         the third movie of richard linklater  is dedicated to everyone who ever been in love  is in love  or never been in love but still dreams of it and hopes to find it . it is one of the very rare movies that is  should  will be equally interesting to teenagers  their parents and even grandparents . it seems a very simple little movie with no spectacular visual effects  car chases  or long and steamy sex scenes . two young people in their early   s  two college students  american tourist ethan hawke who is returning home after the summer in europe and the french student julie delpy who goes to paris to attend the classes in sorbonne  meet on a train . they are attracted to each other instantly even before they start talking  they hop off the train in vienna where they walk around exploring the city all night . they talk and fall in love . that  s it  that  s the movie . it could  ve been boring and silly but instead  it is a lovely  believable  clever  and moving romance that only gets better with each viewing  at least  for this viewer  . high praise and my sincere gratitude go to the director and writers for delivering two charming characters  superb writing  always interesting and witty dialogs  two awesome performances  and the atmosphere of magic that falling in love is . julie delpy  who looks like a botticelli  s angel  is great in portraying smart  independent  and incredibly attractive young woman .  
the only thing great about the movie is its title . in this case   snake on a plane  is example of not judging the book by its cover  the title says nothing about the movie . when i went to the theater  i wasn  t expecting citizen kane  i was expecting independence day  a movie that  s pure popcorn fun  but instead  i got that horrible roy liotta movie called  turbulence  yes  this is how bad soap is . the only thing make soap better is its title . and it  s not even the apporiate title for the movie  the wasn  t even a glimpse of  snake  or  plane    minutes into the movie  what a false advertising  if it wasn  t for its title  soap would be just another unforgettable cheap b  grade summer movie . and the r rating  it has to be the most undeserved r rated movie of all time  the makers of the movie only add a few f word to make this a r  all of the violence are kept pg    level . you know what  s really r rated  the r rated superstar edge  see him at summerslam instead of waste your money on a snake   
first let me say that before sunrise  like all movies  is not a movie for all tastes . it appears some folks are less smart to acknowledge this fact  but it is remarkable to contemplate the kind of outright dislike this small harmless movie generates from some people . for me  like most folks here  before sunrise struck a deep chord in me  i was truly stunned  moved  inspired by it . this is a movie that ultimately benefits from more than one viewing . it creates some of the most awesomely unforgettable feelings and emotions you can possibly imagine . it is impossible to imagine this world without ever thinking about the kind of inspirational feelings i got from it .  br    br   the movie works as a communion of two fragile souls that are starting to get to know each other . it is very intelligent and inspiring  not so much in how one conversation necessarily ties into the next or the significance of the topics of jesse and celine  s discussions  but rather the little nuances  the perfectly articulate responses they provoke from each other . it captures an honest  romantic  yet fleeting human emotion that is starting to blossom in the awesomely sublime viennese milieu it convinces us that their evanescent relationship might be the greatest compliment in the world . and what happens after that night is open for debate  but i never doubt that they won  t each other again .  br    br   the facile comments by rockythebear and the below user are hopeless examples of a doctrinaire dissenter unwilling to accept and respect those who love this movie .  br    br   see it and it may change your way of life .  
this must be one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen  the graphics are ridiculous  and the script pathetic and the biggest question is how this rather low brow script got trough the selection process .  br    br   i like all sorts of movies from deep dramas to the more male oriented kill everything you see type of movie  so i can  t say i  m picky . i have been struggling to find something to compare it to  but i just can  t think of anything that matches this  maybe starship troopers  . witch in my opinion makes the movie gods cry and me thinking about throwing out my dvd player  but compared to this its effects are great . the acting superb and the script should be awarded . you know when a movie is bad in a funny way  well folks this isn  t one of those this kills your soul minute by minute .  
i watched this movie   years ago . and have watched it on video an average of once a year since . it  s the type of movie that  s timeless  because the themes are universal  yet the stories and conversation are so personal . it  s also one of the very few movies that capture you from frame one til the credits roll  despite the fact that there are  really  just two  very involving  characters . this owes a lot to the engaging acting by hawke and delpy  who make us believe that they are actually jesse and celine . this is also the first movie i saw that mentioned reality tv  and now  the phenomenon is rampant  i love the way this movie just envelops the audience in its space  and makes you think  however jaded you may be  that you are one of those characters . it also made me want to ride the train around europe  i have not met anyone who has not been able to relate to this movie . maybe that speaks about myself  my friends  or just the sheer genius of this movie .  
b movie at best . sound effects are pretty good . lame concept  decent execution . i suppose it  s a rental .  br    br    you put some olive oil in your mouth to save you from de poison  den you cut de bite and suck out de poisen . you gonna be ok tommy .   br    br    you stay by the airphone  when agent harris calls you get me    give me a fire extinguisher .   br    br    weapons  we need weapons . where  s the silverware  all we have is this . sporks     br    br   dr price is the snake expert .  br    br   local ers can handle the occasional snakebite . alert every er in the tri  city area .  
there are many people in our lives that we meet only once in our lifetime  but for some reason or another we remember those persons for the rest of our lives . these once in a lifetime friendships occur between people with long distances between and there are always some natural reasons for why we don  t meet these people anymore . we don  t always even know their names  as we are never presented to each other  and sometimes we even forget to ask what their names are . it  s funny how common humanity makes occasional friends and we like to keep it as such  because reuniting might spoil fond memories  or we don  t know do they . we are too afraid to check that out .  br    br   the movie  before sunrise  just caught me watching it . i never had intention to watch it through  but because the discussion between the couple seemed interesting  i gave a look for the rest of the film . i didn  t know what to expect from it  but nor did the young couple . they had time to discuss with each other until the sunrise and anything could happen before they had to separate . i believe this film has had good reviews because the situation is something that everybody on this planet has at least once or twice lived through . it makes us all think about all those people we have met only once in our lives .  
i chose to see this movie because it got a good score here on imdb . but a lot of people either have really poor taste or someone  s been fixing the score .  br    br   either way it was a real disappointment . the movie is exactly as stupid and far fetched as the title would suggest . there really is no reason to give a summary of the plot  but here goes it felt like someone had been thinking  wouldn  t it be cool to make a movie where there were snakes on a plane  and then the snakes for some reason would go crazy and start biting and stuff     and that  s about it  the plot is thin and unoriginal . the snakes are bad cgi  but it makes sense to cut corners on a movie that no one in their right mind will recommend to anyone   . the acting is poor  and all people are unbelievable stereo types .  br    br   to sum it up it  s one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen  stay away   
if you are a traveller  if there is a fire burning into your heart  if you  d call  home  every place on earth  but none of them can give you enough  if you are always looking for the next thing and if you believe the other part of your soul is somewhere out there  see this movie and you  ll find out a little  but wonderful  piece of life sitting next to you .  
oh dear lord  how on earth was any part of this film ever approved by anyone  it reeks of cheese from start to finish  but it  s not even good cheese . it  s the scummiest  moldiest  most tasteless cheese there is  and i cannot believe there is anyone out there who actually  truly enjoyed it . yes  if you saw it with a load of drunk  stoned buddies then some bits might be funny in a sad kind of way  but for the rest of the audience the only entertaining parts are when said group of buddies are throwing popcorn and abusive insults at each other and the screen . i watched it with an up  for  a  few  laughs guy  having had a few beers in preparation to chuckle away at the film  s expected crapness . we got the crapness  plenty of it   but not the chuckles . it doesn  t even qualify as a so  bad  it  s  good movie . it  s just plain bad . very  very bad . here  s why  look away if you  re spoilerphobic   the movie starts out with a guy beating another guy to death . ok  i was a few minutes late in so not sure why this was  but i think i grasped the  this guy is a bit of a badass who you don  t want to mess with  message behind the ingenious scene . oh  and a guy witnesses it . so  we already have our ultra  evil bad guy  and wussy but cute  apparently  good guy . cue hero . big sam steps on the scene in the usual fashion  saving good guy in the usual inane way that only poor action films can accomplish  i . e . hero is immune to bullets  everyone else falls over rather clumsily . cue first plot hole . how the bloody hell did sammy know where this guy was  or that he  d watched the murder . perhaps this  and the answers to all my plot  hole related questions  was explained in the  minutes before i got into the cinema  but i doubt it . in fact  i  m going to stop poking holes in the plot right here  lest i turn the movie into something resembling swiss cheese  which we all know is good cheese  . so  the  plot   a very generous word to use  . good guy must get to la  evil guy would rather he didn  t  hero sam stands between the two . cue scenery for the next vomit  inducing hour  the passenger plane . as i said  no more poking at plot holes  i  ll just leave it there . passenger plane . next  the vital ingredient up until now missing from this gem of a movie  and what makes it everything it is  snakes . yay  oh  pause . first we have the introduction to all the obligatory characters that a lame movie must have . hot  horny couple  see if you can guess how they die   dead  before  any  snakes  even  appear british guy  those pesky brits  eh    cute kids  and jo brand . for all you americans that  s an english comic famous for her size and unattractiveness . now that we  ve met the cast  let  s watch all of them die  except of course the cute kids  . don  t expect anything original  it  s just snake bites on various and ever  increasingly hilarious  really not  parts of the body . use your imagination  since the film  makers obviously didn  t use theirs .  br    br   so  that  s most of the film wrapped up  so now for the best bit  the ending . as expected  everything is just so happy as the plane lands that everyone in sight starts sucking face . yep  ice  cool sammy included . but wait  we  re not all off the plane yet  the last guy to get off is good guy  but just as he does he gets bitten by a  you guessed it  snake  of all things  . clearly this one had been hiding in mr . jackson  s hair the whole time  since it somehow managed to resist the air pressure trick that the good old hero had employed a few minutes earlier  despite the    ft constrictor  the one that ate that pesky british bugger  being unable to . so  sam shoots him and the snake in one fell swoop . at this point i prayed that the movie was about to make a much  needed u  turn and reveal that all along the hero was actually a traitor of some sort . but no . in a kind of icing on the cake way  but with stale cheese  remember   it is revealed that the climax of the film was involving a bullet proof vest . how anyone can think that an audience   years ago  let alone in     would be impressed by their ingenuity is beyond me  but it did well in summing up the film .  br    br   actually  we  re not quite done yet . after everyone has sucked face  uncle sam with leading actress  good guy with tiffany  token black guy with token white girl  and the hot couple in a heart warming bout of necrophilia   it  s time for good guy and hero to get it on . . . . in bali    nope  it wasn  t at all exciting  the exclamation marks were just there to represent my utter joy at seeing the credits roll . yes  the final shot of the film is a celebratory surfing trip to convey the message that a bit of male bonding has occurred  and a chance for any morons that actually enjoyed the movie to whoop a few times . that  s it . this is the first time i  ve ever posted a movie review  but i felt so strongly that somebody must speak out against this scourge of cinematography . if you like planes  snakes  samuel l . jackson  air hostesses  bad guys  surfing  dogs in bags or english people  then please  please don  t see this movie . it will pollute your opinion of all of the above so far that you  ll never want to come into contact with any of them ever again . go see united   instead . that was good .  
i had never heard of this film before a couple of weeks ago  but its concept interested me when i heard it an american man meets a european woman on his last night in europe and they spend the night together talking . it sparked my interest  but i never expected it to be this great . before sunrise is a masterpiece  and it  s also one of the most romantic films on record . to my surprise  it completely lacked the cynicism of the     s . it  s impossible to really talk too much about it  since there is no real plot  so to speak  although there are plenty of thoroughly interesting things you could talk about it is sort of like my dinner with andre  where there is a conversation  but it  s not just the conversation that matters   but let me just say  see it . see it   
this is not a film you can really analyse separately from it  s production . the audience became the film  makers to an extent unprecedented in the history of the american film industry we felt so involved that viewing it becomes like watching the work of a friend . how is it possible to be objective  this is our movie  isn  t it  or is it  there may be nothing more disingenuous than a film  maker who promotes himself as the audience  s friend  giving them all the naughty treats that the nannyish critics would deny them . just look at that prime self  publicist eli roth  promising gore  hounds all the viscera missing from literally gutless mainstream horror films  only to churn out a watered down and technically incompetent piece of work like  hostel  .  br    br   david r . ellis may not have spawned the monster that was the internet response to his film  but he was  quite understandably  quick to engage with it . he took the carnival  huckster school of film  making to a new level  getting the fans to build what they would eventually buy . so many have enthused over this interactive  democratic approach to film  making that they seem to have missed the point  that this is the most cynical form of film  as  marketing . nothing is included that the film  makers know the fans won  t buy  and any old suggestion that will get bums on seats is incorporated . the fact that the pitch became the title tells you all you need to know .  br    br   isn  t this just the evolution of the focus group approach  individual creativity  talent  craft  ideas  all are sacrificed before the inane chatter of the masses . it  s a critical commonplace that focus groups and test screenings don  t make for good movies  why should the preemptive intervention of internet enthusiasts be any different  because we happen to be film fans  well  thank god for us  because otherwise i might not have seen a topless woman get her nipple bitten by a snake .  br    br   so  yes  i had fun at the movie  a midnight showing  fresh from the pub and with a bucket of ice  cream  but it actually had relatively little to do with the film  and quite a lot to do with the atmosphere . like christmas  everyone seemed determined that they would have fun  no matter what . there was laughter  but i don  t know if it was with the film  or at the film . with a film as calculated as this one  is that even a meaningful distinction  there are some genuinely good aspects to the film . samuel l . jackson gives a well  judged performance  pure self  parody but with a real sense of pleasure . rachel blanchard and lin shaye are decent in limited roles  and there are one or two inspired moments  the fate of the lap dog is genuinely funny black comedy that the rest of the film fails to emulate .  br    br   the stock characters are to be expected  but the total lack of suspense isn  t . what  s the point of a film that combines two great phobias if there  s no creeping menace  there are several snake  jumps  out moments  but they  re incredibly badly staged . only the annoying british man gets a decent pulpy death scene  the other killings are oddly flat . the demise of the honeymoon couple  for instance  is shamefully botched . most of the actors fail to make an impression it  s a shame that a charismatic actress like julianna margulies should seem so tired  when she tells two kids to close their eyes and pretend the turbulent flight is a roller  coaster  she could be talking to the audience  the film falls far short  .  br    br   there are worse movies  but there are many  many better another reviewer on this site compared this film with  lake placid   and it  s as apt a contrast as any i can think of . that film worked so magnificently because the performances were excellent  the jokes were funny  the suspense sequences were scary  and it wasn  t devised by committee . that the characters had a little depth and shading was an unexpected bonus . i don  t need a post  pub midnight showing to have a good time with that film .  br    br   this film will  in time  fade to become a mere footnote in film history . if it sets a precedent  however  i  m genuinely worried about what might be crossing our screens in a couple of years time . in all probability  nothing much will come of it . perennial popcorn favourites   raiders of the lost ark    alien    halloween  and of course   star wars   just aren  t produced by group  think .  br    br   in the mean time  i  ll tell you what  i haven  t half got a craving for some ingmar bergman .  
many of the criticisms on this thread seem to pick a comparison of this film with  the mortal storm  or  casablanca  . everyone is entitled to compare films they choose  but the similarities of  the mortal storm  and  watch on the rhine  are clearly the problems of refugees threatened by the nazi juggernaut  while the main comparative point brought out with  casablanca  is the seeming unjust treatment of humphrey bogart in     by the academy of motion picture arts and science  because they chose paul lukas instead for the best actor oscar . it does not strike me as totally wrong . lukas had a good career in film  both here and in england  he is the villain in  the lady vanishes    and this performance was his best one . bogart had more great performances in him than rick blaine  for instance  he was ignored for sam spade in  the maltese falcon  and roy earle in  high sierra  two years earlier  both of which were first rate performances  and he would not get an oscar for his greatest performances as fred c . dobbs in  the treasure of sierra madres   the writer  murder suspect in  in a lonely place   and captain philip francis queeg in  the caine mutiny  afterward  he got it for charley in  the african queen   . i think that bogie should have got it for the role of dobbs  but it did not happen . but lukas was lucky  he got it on the defining performance of his lesser career . few can claim that .  br    br   to me the film to look at with  watch on the rhine  is based on another play  script by hellman   the searching wind  . they both look at america  s spirit of isolationism in the     s and     s .  the searching wind  is really looking at the whole inter  war period  while  watch on the rhine   set in the years just proceeding our entry into world war ii  deals with a few weeks of time . therefore it is better constructed as a play  and more meaningful for it  s impact .  br    br   the film has many good performances  led by lukas as the exhausted but determined anti  nazi fighter  courier  davis as his loyal wife  wisely keeping her character as low keyed as possible due to lukas being the center of the play  s activities   coulouris as the selfish  conniving  but ultimately foolish and ineffective teck  lucille watson as the mother of davis and geraldine fitzgerald  as coulouris  wiser and sadder and fed up wife   and kurt katch  who delivers a devastating critique  as the local embassy  s gestapo chief  about coulouris and others who would deal with the nazis . it has dialog with bite in it . and what it says is quite true . it also has moments of near poetry . witness the scene  towards the end  when coulouris is left alone with lukas and davis  and says   the new world has left the scene to the old world  . hellman could write very well at times .  br    br   given the strength of the film script and performances i would rate this film highly among world war ii films .  
  raising victor vargas  is one of those light  family movies that you can watch and do the n . y . times crossword puzzle at the same time . and if you want to go to the kitchen for a taco and a corona  you don  t have to  pause  the dvd . just let it roll   cause you won  t be missing anything really important . no twists  turns  or tension . it  s not really an ethnic movie  it  s a movie about a poor  struggling immigrant family that happens to be latino . they could have been any ethnic group . it made very little difference . i  ve seen it all a zillion times before . just plug in a jewish family  an italian family  a black family  or an irish family . just the accents and names were different . if the vargas family was named bush or clinton and were presbyterians  the movie would have been a total snooze .  br    br   it  s funny that the critics here couldn  t get the locale straight . some said it was spanish harlem . some the bronx  and another brooklyn . as a life  long new yorker  i vote for the lower east side . and it seemed that the family never met up with anyone except other latinos . they lived in an insulated  isolated little enclave . some interaction with non  latinos might have created some excitement  interest  or tension . remember west side story   br    br   and now for the oft  criticized cinematography . i don  t know if it was my tv or what  but all the indoor shots looked very orange to me . the apt  the furniture  and the faces were all orange . what was that supposed to mean  and the apt . did look pretty cramped to me . somebody here mentioned that the old apt  s  tenements had very big rooms . well  maybe   years ago . what landlords have done is to break up one big apt into  or  very small ones and squeeze as many immigrants as they can into them .  br    br   and another annoying thing . . . . this is the second family movie i  ve seen and criticized this week that featured a teenage boy  jerking off  . is this private sex act necessary for us to watch  please spare me  what  s up with these directors   br    br   so  victor vargas  is a pleasant little movie . it was nice for a change to see young latino actors given a break and a chance to show their talents  which they did . but the writers let them down  giving them a flat  unspectacular script to work with . enjoy the show  but keep your fingers near the  fast forward  button .  
it was by accident that i was scanning the tv channels and found this wonderful film about two beautiful human beings who become attracted to each other in a very innocent and virgin like approach to each other . ethan hawke  jesse   tape     and julie delpy  celine   er    tv series  nicole  . this gal and guy  will warm your very heart and soul and make you think deeply into your past relationships and how you really wish you had followed your hearts strings with a guy or gal you deep down loved and lost track of over the years . jesse and celine have great conversation  and deep eye contact with a great magnetic explosion between the two of them . i am looking forward to the sequel to this film in     and if you have viewed this film  you will feel the same way .  
this movie was the worst movie i have seen since  date movie .  i was laughing through out the whole movie instead of being scared . it was funny how the snakes would search for particular section of the passengers body to attack for example  the eye  the tongue  the butt  the breast . if we have seen national geographic channel we know snakes wont stay clinched on the body once they bite . for each particular scene the snakes would bite the passengers and would stay on the body biting the person . i believe the producer did not study his information on snakes and their behavior . i cant believe i wasted my money on this movie . so i don  t recommend this movie trust just wait until it is at the dollar theatre or rent it .  
  before sunrise  is a wonderful love story and has to be among my top  favorite movies ever . dialog and acting are great . i love the characters and their ideas and thoughts . of course  the romantic vienna  introduced in the movie does not exist  you won  t find a poet sitting by the river in the middle of the night  and it isn  t possible to get to all the places in only one night  either  especially if you  re a stranger and it  s your first night in vienna  . but that  s not the point . the relationship of the two characters is much more important and this part of the story is not at all unrealistic . although  nothing ever really happens  the movie never gets boring . the ending is genuinely sad without being  titanic  or something . even if you don  t like love stories you should watch this film  i  m a little skeptic about the sequel that is going to be released in summer . the first part is perfect as it is  in my opinion .  
i am sick and tired of all these little weenies going on about how this movie  rocked  . it is pure cg over  acted crap  don  t send an assassin  it  s much more sensible to smuggle hundreds of brightly colored  aggressive  venomous snakes on a plane  the only reason people like this movie because they feel they have to . it is not  so bad it  s good  it  s so bad i  d rather be poked in the eye with a sharp stick then be subjected to this again . i honestly thought was going to be a comedy like airplane  a spoof  was i wrong . it  s that whole  it sucks  get it   or samuel a . jackson yells  snakes on the plane  thing . well i  m sorry  i don  t get it . it looks like a bunch of wimps gave the movie industry more money to make more movies like triple x and die hard . if you what spend money to watch a movie in the company of the same people who bought william hung  s cd  still live in their mommies basement  and stink of plastic chair sweat from days on the computer playing online games and looking at porn  then rush to the theater and ask for one  since i doubt you have a girlfriend  ticket for snakes on a stupid  butt plane . to hell with movies like full metal jacket  pulp fiction  true romance    monkeys  clerks  etc . there  s no irony in watching good movies . the true decline of the western civilization . calling this a cult film is an insult to true cult classics like repo man  or even orgazmo . i  ve said enough here .  
i want cline and jessie go further in their relationship  i want to tell them that they were made for each other  that in a lot of moment in the film we want they to die for each other . their story is what we ever wanted and probably most of us never reached . this is about love but not stupid things like in  notting hills  or those kind of movie . this is life and i did believe in them  i did believe they were falling . . . this was so clever and touching . i have just finished to view it a minute ago and i m still there . . . i want to go to vienna . i want to see them as soon as possible again .  br    br   i have to say i was now becoming misanthropist and felt like if love was just a fake  a concept  but with this movie i realized that maybe somewhere  somehow and some when  something could really happen .  br    br   i  m french and didn  t know very well july delpy despite kieslowski  three colors  white  . . . now i have to see her other works because she looks like an angel and got a perfect acting .  br    br   i saw  before sunset   the sequel in paris  a few days before i saw  before sunrise  and their is no matter . they are both masterpieces . proof that you don  t need to impress the eyes with technology to get pure feelings . i  m sorry for my english which i m trying to best .  br    br   franck in france  
i saw the   p . m . showing and i must say that this movie was nothing special . although i did not leave the theater wanting my time back  as i don  t actually pay for movies anymore  i didn  t really find any redeeming qualities .  br    br   there were a few lines and such that made me chuckle  but mostly the film seemed to consist of rampant fan service to the younger  in mind more than age as this film is rated r  male audience . the fan service seemed out of place and rather distracting as well . i know you all want to hear samuel l . say his infamous line  but let  s be honest  it  s a whole lot of hype for very little pay off . the only truly horrible part of the film was the cg  which looked very digitized and did not mesh well with the live action on the screen .  br    br   now i am a reasonable man  i knew going into the theater that i wasn  t going to be seeing  casablanka   and i am at least thankful that this film is an original  albiet inane  idea and not some re  make or franchise spin off . however to be honest  if you are not a part of the cult following you are probably better off spending your money elsewhere and seeing the film either in a second run theater in a few weeks or renting it in a few months .  
while traveling by train through europe  the american jesse  ethan hawke  and the french celine  julie delpy  meet each other and decide to spend the night together in austria . on the next morning  jesse returns to united states of america  and celine to paris .  br    br    before sunrise  is one of my favorite romances  indeed one of the most beautiful love stories i have ever seen . it is a low budget movie with a very simple and real storyline  but the chemistry between ethan hawke and julie delpy is perfect  and the dialogs are stunning . the direction is amazing  transmitting the feelings of celine and jesse to the viewer . i have just completed my review number      in imdb  and i choose  before sunrise  for this significant number because it is a very special film for me . i cannot understand why this movie was not nominated to the oscar  with such a magnificent screenplay  direction and performances . yesterday i have probably watched this movie for the third or fourth time  and i still love it . my vote is ten .  br    br   title  brazil    antes do amanhecer    before sunrise    
this movie deserves more than a  . but i  m giving it a one because so many fricken fan boys have given it a   resulting in it getting a rating that  ll take it into the top    list . seriously it  s not that great its not that bad . its a stupid cult classic with so many fricken fan boys it  s ridiculous . these are the types who probably still laugh at chuck norris jokes and still say  i  m rick james b  tch  no matter how old or annoying it gets . i dread having to hear  i  m tired of mfn snakes on this mfn plane  months from now from idiots trying to be funny . its crappy plot crap acting etc . its okay to love a bad movie  but you still gotta admit its a bad movie .  br    br   wait for the marine starring john cena if you wanna see a real movie  
before sunrise is romance for the slacker generation . richard linklater  s romantic drama is an offbeat telling of a dream come true for most people . the film depicts romance in all it  s glory  but without any of the pitfalls that befall most couples and in short the film is about two people that have a relationship that  s as close to perfection as relationships will ever come to  with just one problem  the problem of time . while most relationships wind down with time  this one keeps going strong throughout and time itself is the only thing that wears out . before sunrise is certainly not the typical sentimental  hollywood romance   which is another aspect that puts this film leagues ahead of the pretenders . the story follows two people  jesse an american and celine a french girl that meet on a train into vienna . they instantly connect  and after telling her his awful idea for a television show and almost getting off the train  jesse asks celine to join him for the day in the picturesque city of vienna . . .  br    br   before sunrise works principally for two reasons  realistic acting and an immense script that builds the characters through their thoughts and feelings and thus allows us to get to know them as we do the people in real life . this allows the characters to be free  and it  s easy to believe that these are real people and not just actors working from a script . this also allows us to feel for the characters for who they are  and not merely because they  re the protagonists . this kind of realism is hard to capture as  at the end of the day  we as the audience know that they  re watching a film and not observing real life but before sunrise represents one of the truest to life exhibitions of realism ever to be seen on screen . a truly great script cannot work on it  s own  and needs great actors to deliver it to an extent that does it justice  and although i  m not a fan of either julie deply or ethan hawke on viewing this film  there is nothing you can do but give them both respect . i don  t know whether they were in character or just playing themselves  but when a film is this good it hardly matters .  br    br   in a film like this  it is the writing that  s the most important thing  and contained within the script are several observations about life  most of which i personally could relate to . this represents what richard linklater has achieved with this script as not only does it create and build the characters  but it also manages to expose what true love is  along with several other aspects of life . the fact that not all the anecdotes are relatable to me personally again represents the brilliance of writing . everyone is different  and so different parts of the script will appeal to different people . there could be certain aspects about one person that one person loves and another hates and that  s the case with the musings in this script . adding to the beauty of the film is the city of vienna . the city itself isn  t really important to the film as this is a story that could have taken place just about anywhere  but it makes for some lovely visuals and the upbeat  energetic romance that blossoms throughout the movie is matched by the beauty of the location .  br    br   before sunrise is simultaneously beautiful and captivating . richard linklater has created something that is rare in the world of cinema a film that captures the beauty of life without ever going over the top or being overly sentimental . before sunrise is what it is . and what it is  is pure cinematic brilliance .  
when discussing a movie titled  snakes on a plane   we should point out early that the snakes are pretty darn important to the plot .  br    br   what we have here are very bad cgi snakes that neither look nor move like real snakes . snakes are scary because they appear to be slimy  they crawl they slither . these snakes do nothing of the sort . they glide along like they would in a video game . they are cartoon snakes . i would go as far to say that even someone that had a major phobia against real snakes would not find these ones scary  br    br   why on earth then would you want to include extreme close ups of these cgi failures  why not rely on suspense . . the whole  less is more  ethic . or better still  why not just make them look good in the first place  and then maybe still use them sparingly  br    br   take one look at john carpenters  the thing  . here we have real slime  and gore of eerie proportions .   years go by and we get this pile of stinking sfx crap  snakes on a plane  . when are these people going to wake up and smell the coffee  special effects are going backwards   br    br   sure you could say . . but the movie is a joke  get it  sure i  m with that idea  but do it well  in addition to the above  this movie has crap dialogue . and the music and sound effects are not creepy or memorable in any way .  br    br   i could handle every other actor being part of this movie  except for jackson . what was he doing there  the man who starred in pulp fiction   years ago . is this career progression  are you offering people value for money  no . i  d like to know what tarantino thought when he was half way through this stinker of a movie  br    br   the current generation seem to have very low expectations . and hollywood seems to be offering them just what they want . on leaving the cinema i saw a number of advertisements for some truly horrendous looking future releases including . . . doa dead or alive   another  cgi animal film called  flushed away   and another crap looking comedy named  click  . in addition to that i saw some awful trailers  including one for  another  crap british horror  comedy . i  ve truly not seen the movie industry in a mess like this for a long time  br    br   expect to see this movie for sale in the dvd bargain section for   in  months time . and if you  re expecting to see a black comedy with tonnes of great looking snakes  and some bad ass cool dialogue coming from samuel l jacksons lips . forget it .  
this has to be one of the most sincere and touching boy  meets  girl movies ever made . while  rebel without a cause  and  say anything  deliver nice portrayals  this movies strips down useless subplots and hollywood divergences . this movie focuses purely on watching the budding of a beautiful romance . you never doubt for a second that the film will lead towards the romantic pairing of these two people . you almost immediately sense the synergy and the chemistry between jesse and celine  and it is simply pure joy to watch them find it . this movie is mostly all dialogue  based . but  every conversation between these too is greatly intriguing . what makes this pairing so romantic is how real it is . how in all that conversation  while often having no real bearing on anything critical  you can sense the nuances as these two become more fond and trusting of each other . this is exactly they way you would dream that you meet that special someone . and what makes it so true is that it is not even too fantastic to believe . this could be what would happen if you had been confident enough to strike up a conversation with that person you noticed somewhere random . and what puts the icing on this film is the magnificent backdrop of vienna in which this film takes place . it just adds to the feeling of romantic nirvana that the film suggests . and no matter how many times i watch this film  i don  t think i will ever tire of that .  
       pyramid clues deep blue sea . tremors . slither . eight legged freaks .  br    br   pyramid category movies that were funnier and more thrilling than snakes on a plane .  br    br   hell  with that definition i  d have to include the relatively harrowing journey of ted and elaine in airplane  as superior to snakes in both laughs and thrills .  br    br   the sad truth is that this isn  t even close to the mother of all unintentionally intentional funny snake movies anaconda  besides the never to be seen again casting of jlo  cube  o . wilson  stoltz  wuhrer in the same flick  you had jon voight pulling off the all  time cinematic heist . his final scene alone represents everything soap tried and failed to do as a  so  ludicrous  it  s  fun  movie .  br    br   in the end  snakes on a plane is definitive proof that studio execs and fanboys make the worst collaborators possible . every big scene had been discussed and dissected so much the last year  all that was left to amuse by opening night was the amount of fanboy flop  sweat that had to be mopped up at my theater . i heard more forced laughs here than at a studio taping for  according to jim  .  
this movie is not about entertainment  or not even a movie you want to see to pass the time . this movie is a genuinely a display of true love that can only come from god . one cannot help but be touched deeply by looking at this movie . we have several dimensions of love that contributes to the value of this movie . there is the divine love of god that is beautifully portrayed . god  s love transcends the heart and mind and endures and is eternal . there is the love in a marriage . while the main character grapples with his wife  s disease  he realizes through god  s love that he loves his wife more than he could ever imagine . he knows that he and his wife are one and can never be separated . finally  you have the love of child and parent . the kids in the family come together and realize that nothing else matters except that love conquers fear . dear friends  love is not love unless it comes from god  because god is love and love comes from god . talk to someone and let them know you love them . love does no good unless it is given to another . i pray this movie can inspire and change the lives of everyone who sees it . amen    
i  d give this a negative rating if i could . i went into this movie not expecting much  but i had an open mind . the whole thing is stupid  the snakes are obviously fake and the first two things they bite are a boob and a guys johnson . oh how original if i were a   year old boy i might laugh at that . i have no idea how this movie became so popular . seriously  the worst thing i  ve ever seen . i wasn  t entertained  it wasn  t funny  i wasn  t even bored  i wasn  t anything . it wasn  t even so bad it was good  it  s just bad . ridiculous actually . please do not waste your money on this movie . don  t even rent this movie . no clue how it  s getting such a high rating .  
forget the campy  religious  movies that have monopolized the television  film market . . . this movie has a real feel to it . while it may be deemed as a movie that has cheap emotional draws  it also has that message of forgiveness  and overall good morals . however  i did not like the lighting in this movie . . . for a movie dealing with such subject matter  it was too bright . i felt it took away from the overall appeal of the movie  which is almost an unforgivable sin  but the recognizable cast  and their performances counteract this oversight .  br    br   definitely worth seeing . . . buy the dvd .  
what can i say  i  m a secret fan of  over the top  action and horror films . especially when it comes with a lot of lots of humour and innuendo  but i  m not a fan of snake on a plane .  br    br   there are three potential draws to this film  the comedy of the situation  the horror and  the novelty of hundreds of snakes being of a plane .  br    br   firstly  this film isn  t written as a tongue  in  cheek horror or a comedy  and there are only  or  points in the film where you  ll smile to yourself . if you want to get the feel of the film  the trailer genuinely represents the movie  a horror .  br    br   secondly  if you  re expecting a film full of action and shocks  you won  t be disappointed . it doesn  t stand out above other movies  but it always keeps your attention .  br    br   thirdly  although the novelty of snakes of a plane doesn  t wear off  but you  ll leave the cinema thinking  what was all the fuss about  .  br    br   i know this movie has a high rating  but it doesn  t add up . a  many of the reviews where written before the film was released and  b  the breakdown of user ratings has a lot less variation than normal    of people rating the movie       with only   of people giving it      why such an enormous gap   
this movie deals with one of the most feared geriatric diseases among the aging today . as one who has encountered a number of families who are facing the potential of alzheimer  s or who are in the formative stages  i would suggest that every health care giver recommend this movie to any family facing the trauma of this disease . the movie is designed primarily to speak to the family of the patient and reaches into the very heart of the struggle . casting is excellent and the dramatic portrayal is outstanding with a very commanding plot line .  
i went into this film with expectations  from the hype  that it would be insightful and uplifting . certainly something more than a cheap promotional for the band  wilco .   br    br   instead we get a lot of moping and whining about  the process   a dishonorable and no doubt one  sided portrayal of one band members who was kicked out by the prima donna lead singer  songwriter  a gut  wrenching confession by the fallen member  s friend   for like   years   saying the  friendship had run its course   and this whiny  uncompelling story about how one record label  hurt their feelings  by dumping them  only so that the band could immediately get   offers from other labels  oh  the tension . . . not   they tried their best to make it look like it was a strain  but i suspect it was all smoke and mirrors to generate a tragedy that didn  t exist . this doesn  t even take into account the long stretches where we get many of their newest songs shoved at us in full without any storyline  insight or even a decent job at cinematography . the strained attempts at emotional sincerity or reasonable perspective on life made me sick to watch .  br    br   from the film  this band sounds like a bunch of vile little babies who poke around to find a voice they don  t have and think they  re some kind of guardians for the art of music  which they most definitely are not . and i thought the music sucked  and i couldn  t even understand the lyrics due to the mumbling style of the lead singer .  br    br   i give it a     .  
i wasn  t expecting to be so impacted by this film portraying a family just like the one you  d expect to be living next door . they are ordinary flesh  and  blood people  not like the typical hollywood fare . they face an all too common problem   debilitating illness . but the story  line grips the heart with a powerful lesson . casting  script  direction  and acting flow together with a surge that draws the viewer deep into the story . give this film your full attention and its message will truly inspire .  
disjointed  unclear  bad screenplay  poor photography and direction . . . all in all very obviously an ill  conceived first effort at commercial film  making by the good people at tbn .  br    br   tbn pictures has had great success in the past by helping to bring  china cry   the story of nora lam  to the big screen . but  the omega code  is an unfortunate miscue . as a christian who supports tbn and a lot of its programming and who loved  china cry   i still find it impossible to recommend this film to anyone . they do much good with their ministry  but this isn  t an example of it . don  t waste your money . . . go rent  china cry  instead .  
lillian hellman  one of america  s most famous women playwrights  was a woman with a mission . her leftist views were not well regarded at the time in the country . in her memoir  she recounts her trip to the then  soviet union  as she was intrigued with the so called successes achieved by that system .  watch on the rhine  must have come as a result of those years . the left wing in america  as all over the world had an issue with the rise of fascism  not only in europe  but in japan as well .  br    br    watch on the rhine  was a play produced on broadway eight months before the pearl harbor attack by the japanese . in it ms . hellman was heralding america  s entrance in world war ii . the adaptation is credited to ms . hellman and dashiell hammett  her long time companion . as directed for the screen by herman shumlin  the film was well received when it premiered in     .  br    br   we are introduced to the muller family  when the film opens . they are crossing the border to the united states from mexico . they are to continue toward mrs . muller  s home in washington  d . c .  where her mother  fanny farrelly  is a minor celebrity hostess . the mullers  we realize are fleeing europe because of the persecution there against the opponents of the advancing totalitarian regime in germany . in fact  we thought  in a way  the mullers could have been better justified if they were jewish  fleeing from a sure extermination .  br    br   we find out that mr . muller has had a terrible time in his native land  as well as in other places because his outspokenness in denouncing fascim . little does he know that he is coming to his mother  in  law  s house that is housing one of the worst exponents of that philosophy .  br    br   the film offers excellent acting all around . it is a curiosity piece because of bette davis  supporting role . paul lukas  repeating his broadway role  is quite convincing as kurt muller  the upright man that wants to make a better world for himself and his family . mr . lukas does a great job portraying kurt muller  repeating the role that made him a stage luminary on broadway .  br    br   the other best performance is by lucile watson  who plays fanny farrelly  the matriarch of this family . geraldine fitzgerald is seen as marthe de brancovis  a guest of the farrellys  married to the contemptible teck de brancovis  a nazi sympathizer  played by george coulouris . beulah bondi  donald woods  and the rest of the supporting cast give good performances guided by mr . shumlin .  br    br   the film should serve as a reminder about the evils of totalitarian rule  no matter where .  
raising victor vargas fails terribly in what it tries most to be being real . unfortunately  there is no reality to this film . the characters and situations feel completely artificial and fake .  br    br   the reason  bad directing . peter sollett uses all the wrong tools in his arsenal . it seems mr . sollett read somewhere that not lighting his film would give it an authentic feel . wrong  it just gives it a badly  made feel . similarly  shaking the camera does not give a documentary style to your film  it just gives the audience a headache and detracts from what  s on screen instead of enhance it .  br    br   of course  what  s on screen is so painfully fake  as if mr . sollett wrote his script with the only goal of trying to look  hip  to his sundance buddies and show how  edgy  a filmmaker he is .  br    br   overall  the only lasting impression this film leaves you with is what a bad director mr . sollett is . next time  how about taking a few writing and directing classes   
this was a good film with a powerful message of love and redemption . i loved the transformation of the brother and the repercussions of the horrible disease on the family . well  acted and well  directed . if there were any flaws  i  d have to say that the story showed the typical suburban family and their difficulties again . what about all people of all cultural backgrounds  i would love to see a movie where all of these cultures are shown  like in real life . nevertheless  the film soared in terms of its values and its understanding of the how a disease can bring someone closer to his or her maker . loved the film and it brought tears to my eyes  
the idea had potential  but the movie was poorly scripted  poorly acted  poorly shot and poorly edited . there are lots of production flaws . . . for example  dr . lane  s daughter who never ages despite the passing years . wait for video  but don  t expect much .  
a vow to cherish is a wonderful movie . it  s based on a novel of the same title  which was equally good  though different from the film . really made you think about how you  d respond if you were in the shoes of the characters . recommended for anyone who has ever loved a parent  spouse  or family member   in other words  everyone   br    br   though the production isn  t quite hollywood quality   no big special effects   still  the values and ideals portrayed more than make up for it . and the cast did a wonderful job of capturing the emotional connections between family members  and the devastation that occurs when one of them becomes ill .  br    br   you don  t want to miss this   
interesting to read comments by viewers regarding omega code . . . many of the overwhelmingly positive comments were lifted almost word for word from tbn broadcasts . . . the movie looks as if it were made to go directly to video  to be stocked besides the three  part rapture series that was done by some other religious group in the   s . . dont remember it  you wont remember this one either in a year or two . this is the first movie i have ever seen where it was implied that it was your religious duty to go to it and buy as many tickets as possible to save souls . . . very shameful . . . this just goes to show that if you are a televangelist  s son  you too can play high  roller hollywood producer with lil ole ladies tithe money . . .  
i just watched this movie for the second time  and enjoyed it as much as the first time . it is a very emotional and beautiful movie  with good acting and great family values . inspiring and touching   
what was this about   pre  destination  you can not change the future cause it has already been written    br    br   i  ll give it this much . i did want to see what happened next and therefore watched the whole movie . this movie took a concept and made it watchable .  br    br   if you  re looking for a recommendation  see it at matinee prices . no thrills but an interesting concept . they should have left the y  k reference out . . . .  
when i found the movie in the schedule for christmas  its title did not sound familiar to me since i have not read the novel and had not heard anything about the film . yet  having read the content  i decided to spend my christmas evening on watching the movie . the effect surprised me totally i do not remember when i last saw a film in which every single moment involved me . a vow to cherish is  without any doubt  one of the movies that now constitutes a real surprise i have received from cinema . here are some arguments of mine why i consider this film a highly underrated piece of good cinema .  br    br   first  the entire content is particularly educational . it has something to offer to the modern audience  pure right faith and some answers for the universal questions . is there a need for christ in our times  does love still matter  what for is there faith  what is the logics of burden and suffering in life  is there really someone by my side i can always trust  the movie provides the answers through the content since all that happens to the characters may as well happen to any of us .  br    br   second  the movie is exceptionally humane . the main characters experience inner struggles and cope with extremely hard decisions . is it better for kyle david denman  and teri  megan paul  to start their own lives and forget about the family or retain the values they were taught at home  is it better for john  ken howard  to leave ellen  barbara babcock   his sick wife  and start a new happy life with julia  donna bullock   a woman he falls in love with  in fact  ellen no longer recognizes him . . . yet  he decides to vow his wife eternal fidelity . had john  s rebellious brother  phil  d . david morin   better go on his easy life although it does not bring him satisfaction or once start to think seriously of his life . phil  s prayer to god in the park is a psychological masterwork of universal aspect of humanity . these words could be as well said by everybody no matter of where  when or how they live .  br    br   third  the movie is a great portrayal of family  not very popular nowadays there are problems  yet  there is always something more powerful that gets these people together . this  something  is love and trust . i know that it may seem a bit idealistic . not all families can rely on fidelity and it may not be as simple as that . nevertheless  it is a very educational aspect and a realistic one .  br    br   fourth  the entire film focuses on people  s mutual help . if we want to live happy lives in our society  we must understand one thing we have to help one another . alexander  ossie davis  is an example of such attitude . at the beginning of the movie  we see him talk to john about praying . later  he helps his brother . alexander is a kinda  angel  that is sent to john and his family . isn  t it possible that we may become angels to one another   br    br   fifth  the artistic features are also worth attention . performances barbara babcock gives an authentic performance as ellen and although she has a difficult role  she does a perfect job . consider  for instance  the moment she appears at school and badly wants to teach again . ken howard is also memorable as the faithful husband . picture the most memorable for me was the scene of john and ellen in the park walking on the fallen leaves  autumn  while the sunshine  love  spreads everywhere . i interpreted as a sort of symbol even if there is sorrow  this can always be illuminated by light and joy . . .  br    br   a vow to cherish is a wonderful movie that realistically showed to me what it means to love  what fidelity is as well it once again proved to me how beautiful it is to live and believe . at the end  i would like to quote the profound words from the movie i found very touching and hope you will also do  br    br   kyle to his uncle phil yes  he  john brighton  lives according to the bible . but nobody forces you to do so . yet  according to what rules do you live   
this film had so much promise . i was very excited about this film . in the end  it was laughable at best  painful at worst . the acting styles ran the gamut from really  really  flat  the angels  the wife and daughter  to over  animated  casper  s character  . i felt that the dialogue was just an attempt to transfer information to the audience instead of real people trying to talk to each other . pay special attention to the scene regarding  the bug  . it  s pretty much an insult to the audience  s ability to figure things out . in defense of that scene  though  it got the biggest laugh of the whole movie . i had read that they spent alot of money traveling to various overseas locations . too bad they didn  t make use of it . i didn  t feel like i was transported to exotic locations . anybody could insert stock footage of the coliseum in rome . however  to end on a positive note  i thought the sets were pretty good . i really liked the graphics that were displayed on the decoding computers . it is my opinion  and that  s all it is  that if the schmaltz factor would have been much much lower and the action factor would have been greatly increased  this film would have been good .  
for all of you that don  t speak swedish the swedish original title of this film  rnarna  translates into something in the line of  the robbers  . this fact is the main problem i have with the film  cause it  s not really about the robbers at all . it  s about a young woman working for the swedish police researching robberies . a regular desk job one would think  but this girl is soon out on the field taking matters into her own hands  as the story goes  even shooting one of the robbers . . . exactly we  ve seen this before . the fact that there  s a rather interesting twist to the plot halfway through doesn  t really help as the ending is just as clich as the first two thirds of the film .  br    br   what saves it from being just another mainstream film is the fact that it  s masterfully executed in all ways  that the actors are as great as they are and don  t overact and that the director really manages to keep it as thrillingly exciting as it is for the most of the story .  br    br   one thing that i really loved about this film is the fact that it  s music sets the right mood when it  s needed  but is absent for the rest of the time  which gives a nice sense of reality to the shootouts and car  chases spread throughout the film . a nice touch  the fact that michael persbrandt is one of the few swedish actors that often tend to get typecasted sadly hurts the film as you know that he  s not going to just play the boyfriend of the heroine and be a supporting character in the background  but that  s something you have to neglect .  br    br   all in all it  s an entertaining film that steals more money in it  s plot than time from you .      
this movie is not based on the bible . it completely leaves christ out of the movie . they do not show the rapture or the second coming of christ . let alone talk about it . it does not quote from scriptures . the end times are called the great tribulation . the movie does not even show bad times . the seven bowls  seven viles and seven trumpets of judgements are boiled down to a   second news cast of the sea changing it  s structure . the anti  christ was killed     years into the tribulation and that is how the movie ended . the only part they got correct was there was two prophets . the did not use there names of course because that would be too close to the truth of scriptures . the worst part of it was i really wanted it to be a good movie . i wanted to take unsaved people to it . i feel that the movie is evil . it is a counterfeit just like everything the devil does . i just hope it does not take away from the upcoming movie based on the left behind books .  br    br   the second problem with the movie is it was just bad . bad acting  bad special effects  bad plot and poor character development . i have seen better episodes of miami vice .  
even this early in his career  capra was quite accomplished with his camera  work and his timing . this is a thin story   and quite predictable at times   but he gets very good performances out of his cast and has some rather intricate camera moves that involve the viewer intimately . the first part looks like a cinderella story  though anyone with brains can see that the bottom will fall out of that   the rich  prince  will lose his fortune .  br    br   nonetheless  because of his good cast and fast pace  it  s easy to get caught up in the clichs . then the movie does become more original  as the married couple have to find a way to make a living . the ending is very predictable but satisfying . i also want to compliment the title  writing very witty and fun .  
i truly wish i was not writing this review . i  m a christian  so i waited anxiously to see this movie . it seemed great   a christian movie with some fairly famous stars and a plot that seemed intriguing  not that i buy the bible code itself   you can make it say anything you want . i do  however believe everything inside the bible  . so i  m sitting on the edge of my seat enjoying the previews  when the movie comes on and manages to destroy my mood in a matter of minutes . i had to bite my lip to stop from commenting on the terrible writing and acting while i was in the theater  i would have been torn to pieces by the people cheering at the rather clumsy but basically uplifting scenes and gasping at the insanely obvious and predictable tension scenes  i  m sure  . once the final credits began to roll  however  i could reflect . there were many parts of the movie i liked   some mostly unexpected plot twists  some effects that were indeed special  i  m not counting the visions . those were poorly done   and some interesting technical work   fades  sets  that type of thing . unfortunately  i got the distinct impression that if i read the book of revelation to a monkey and set the monkey in front of a typewriter for an hour  i could  ve gotten a better script . and the music was beyond cheesy  even for a bond fan who likes kinda cheesy music in scenes of action and intrigue  . so i wish i could be like everyone else in the theater   like the people who came out crying and breathless because of how incredible it was   but i  m not someone who can be appeased by a writer who throws some words over a biblical shell and slaps a christian stamp on it . i need a good plot and believable dialogue before i can enjoy most movies  and this just didn  t have either . i  m sorry  but i wouldn  t recommend this film to anyone . and that  s the tragedy . when will we see some intelligent christian fiction  it has to be out there somewhere . . .  
that certain thing is the story of a gold digger  viola dana  from a tenement house . her mother uses her to take care of her two brothers  but they are a loving family . although dana  s character has the opportunity to marry a streetcar conductor  she refuses and holds out for a millionaire . everyone makes fun of her for her fantasy  but are surprised when one day she really does meet a millionaire  son of the owner of the popular abc restaurant chain . the two marry hastily  but the girl  s dreams of wealth are shattered when the rich father disowns his son for marrying a gold digger . however  she truly loves her new husband and the two are unexpectedly successful at making it on their own .  br    br   a rare glimpse of movie star viola dana  this film is a lot of fun . dana  s role is accessible  natural  and entertaining . she displays a knack for comedy as well as an ability to do drama .  br    br   the mechanics of the film are a lot of fun too . the camera displays sophisticated late silent techniques like mobility . the title cards are also incredibly clever .  br    br   if you like films like my best girl  it  or the patsy  you will enjoy this film .  
the more i analyze this film  the worse it becomes . first of all  why a motivational speaker  that part was just stupid . i mean  why would a megalomaniac trying to control the world rely on a motivational speaker  is alexander stone really that disorganized  first he can  t decide what he wants to do to control the world  so he looks to the bible for ideas . many of these ideas  i might add  really have no reliability  for example  the part of the  the houses of ishmael and isaac shall scream out in terror  could have already happened . it could have been have been the synagogues burned during krystalnacht and the mosques could very well have been the mosques blown up in baghdad or something .  and gillen lane  s family  they had no part except to provide a family values platfrom and dab their eyes with water  i might add that since casper van dien  gillen lane is only in his twenties  or that  s the impression that i had  and has a ten year child  he had his child during high school . yeah  there goes tbn  s family values . also  why did this film have to be so damn propaganda  like  i  ll repeat what an earlier reviewer said . the indiana jones flicks use christian mythology as a plot dvice and manipulate it well so that we are intoxicated . this film doesn  t do that . the beginnig starts off well  with michael ironsides playing a priest who murders a scholar off some sort and steals the dead guy  s omega code . then when confronted by two men who he is obviously afraid of  the two prophets tell him  tell your master that we are here   . dominic  ironsides  replies  he already knows  and points to a small surveillance camera . that part sent chills up my spine . had only it gone on like that one scene i would have loved this film . i  ll give michael york credit he does a fine job of acting out his character  as does michael ironsides . but the good guys are horrible . i  ve already went on about lane  s family  br    br   . now that i  m over the acting  i  ll get on to plot . this is obviously a baptist film  since our beloved pope of the vatican is portrayed as an oaf . the world domination plot i liked and found plausible and subtle  as were the action sequences were also thrilling and well  done . also another diatribe against the vatican  their leaders are seen as dogmatically minded  since gillen explains to the pope that it  s not the end of the world  but the beginning of a new one also  the vatican  or israelis  says their going to secede from the world union aince they used the omega code to control the world . whoever it was  they wouldn  t just secede  they  d send over commandoes and kill them . this is the equivalent of america knowing about the kgb going to kill the president and simply saying  we  re not going to talk to you any more   . come on  i did enjoy the scenes where we see bombers headed towards israel and see them again on the monitor . mediocre in short .  
but sadly due to rights issues  that almost certainly will never happen . transcripts of joe bob  s commentary on the sub b movies he screened are available on the internet  but they don  t quite capture his twang inflected delivery  which was a real hoot . nowadays  joe bob  real name john bloom  is confined to doing the supplemental features of such classics as  i spit on your grave   featuring what some exploitation fans call the greatest gang rape on film of all time   and jason x  one of the most reviled friday the   th sequels of all time  the series was never the same once it left paramount  . all i could think when they canceled it was  damn  where else am i going to get my fill of flesh ripping  blonde jokes  and horror trivia every saturday night  does this mean i have to get a life now   sadly  it does . but there  ll always be a place in my horror hungry heart for  monstervision .  long live the drive  in   
if there was ever a call to make a bad film that reflected how stupid humanity could become  this one would take the prize . the plot centers around bible prophecies that lie in hidden messages of the scriptures that prompt a group of power  seeking thugs to attempt total control of the world . just how stupid does this writer believe people to actually be   br    br   the acting was bad at best . casper van dien wasted his talent doing this film . michael york  s work was a fair match for the role  since he was the center of the film  and did a good job .  br    br   this plot was sickening and very disturbing . no tender or immature minds should see this film . this is how a basic good vs . evil plot can go astray .  br    br   there must be a lot of mental disease floating around the film circles  who look for ways to market this type of junk . there must have been something censored out to get a pg    rating  but it was still awful .  
monstervision was a show i grew up with . from late night hosting with penn and teller to the one  the only  joe bob briggs . the show kept me up friday nights back in my high school years  and provided some of the best drive  in memories to ever come outside of the drive  in .  br    br   without a doubt  the best late night television ever . if you didn  t stay up  you were missing out .  br    br   i know john bloom and joe bob live on  but i want them back where they belong . . . monstervision  question . . . did anyone else sit through all  hours of  the swarm   q   br    br   long live monstervision   
i didn  t know what to expect from the film . well  now i know . this was a truly awful film . the screenplay  directing and acting were equally bad . the story was silly and stupid . the director could have made a smart and thought provoking film  but he didn  t . i squirmed in my seat for the last half of the movie because it was so bad . where was the focus to the film  where was anything in this film  christians should boycott this film instead of promoting it . it was shabbily done and a waste of my money . do not see this film .  
i remember seeing promos for this show before it appeared back in     . i was  at the time  and now at the age of   it feels weird to have seen this cult show start and end and to look back on it . the    s all of a sudden seem so far away  what a great decade . anyway i used to watch monstervision all the time  as i am a huge fan of monster flicks and horror films . it was like the    s version of chiller theater . if mst  k can get dvd  s why not joe bob  s show  at least monstervision was more interesting and informative . a lot of joe bob  s comments and info on the films were just hilarious . most of the movies shown on the show were b or c grade but it showed a lot of a house films as well like the hammer films from england which are top notch as well as many with the stop motion majesty of ray harryhausen . many were oddball flicks that you wouldn  t see anywhere else like the the japanese sci  fi movies besides of course godzilla which is familiar to almost everyone and independent movies like metal storm and motel hell . with the new decade of film preservation and more independent minded directors  i think monstervision would be a good show for ifc to pick up  since they already have a hit with the ifc grind house show . i  m sure this show will be picked up again for nostalgia reasons some day  i guess will have to wait and see . until then  thats great television    
yes i admit i cried during this movie . it was so incredibly disappointing  that i couldn  t help myself but cry . tbn  trinity broadcasting network  has done it again . first with having the million dollar man  ex  professional wrestler  on their program  and now this .  br    br   the omega code follows a stream of sketchy religiously oriented movies . it was quite amusing  yet at the same time it was disturbing to find it so biblically inaccurate . the movie follows what is known as  the bible code  rather than following actual biblical scripture . this film is extremely poorly made from its writing to its directing to its hilariously horrible acting . its depressing that people actually put effort into this movie . it appeared more like a late night movie someone would watch on the usa channel or a straight to home video rather than a theatrical released movie .  br    br   i highly recommend you do not watch this movie  even if your life depended on it .  
probably my all  time favorite movie  a story of selflessness  sacrifice and dedication to a noble cause  but it  s not preachy or boring . it just never gets old  despite my having seen it some   or more times in the last   years . paul lukas  performance brings tears to my eyes  and bette davis  in one of her very few truly sympathetic roles  is a delight . the kids are  as grandma says  more like  dressed  up midgets  than children  but that only makes them more fun to watch . and the mother  s slow awakening to what  s happening in the world and under her own roof is believable and startling . if i had a dozen thumbs  they  d all be  up  for this movie .  
 . . . . this movie basks too much in its own innocence . it doesn  t tell a story it  s more a big time snooze fest . while the actors are all personable  the story is so trite and goes nowhere . i think victor rasuk has great charisma  but deserves a real film from a real storyteller .  
i  ll tell you a tale of the summer of     . a friend and i attended a canada day concert in barrie  and it was a who  s who of the top canadian bands of the age . we got there about  am  waited in line most of the morning  and when the doors opened at  am  we were among the first inside the gates . we then waited and waited in the hot sun  slowly broiling but we didn  t care  because the headliners were among our favourites . at one point  early in the afternoon  i sat down and dozed off with my back to the barrier . i was awakened to my shock and dismay by a shrieking girl wearing a rheostatics t  shirt . this is the reason i have hated the rheostatics to this day . there  s nothing reasonable  nor taste  determined  nor really anything except their fandom . snotty of me  isn  t it  so  i  in my hatred of the band  have denied myself the delight that is whale music .  br    br   desmond howl had it all . it  s hard to say what he  s lost  since he lives in a fantastic mansion wedged between the ocean and the mountains  the bc region where the movie was shot is breathtaking  . the life most of us dream of is dismantled by dreams  phantoms  and his own past  until the day a teenaged criminal breaks in . . . and  trite as it sounds  breaks him out .  br    br   canadian cinema suffers from several problems . generally  a lack of money  as well as an insufferable lack of asking for help  as if somehow the feature would cease to be canadian  leads to lower production values than american or british films  and most people don  t like to watch anything that sounds or looks like  well  not like an american film . next  canadian screenwriters often seem so caught up in being weird that they lose sight of how to tell a good story  and tell it well . third  they seem to think that gratuitous nudity  often full  frontal  makes something artistic . i  m sure anyone who watches enough canadian movies  especially late at night on the cbc  knows exactly what i  m talking about . it  s almost like a  don  t do this  handbook exists out there somewhere and canadian film  makers threw it out a long time ago .  br    br   in the   s and   s  however  some films  such as bruce mcdonald  s work and the brilliant c . r . a . z . y .  have broken this mold  and managed to maintain what makes them canadian  while holding onto watchable production values and great stories . whale music is such a film  on the surface . deeper than just its canadian  isms  it  s a deeply moving story of a man who  s lost his grip  through grief and excess  who is redeemed by music then by love . and that redeems even the rheostatics .    
what else is left to say   br    br   i  ve read all the reviews here and most are right on . . however  one person even went so far as to call this movie evil and that satan tainted it  or something along those lines  . evil   wow  what a shocker . . i mean  tbn basically made this film . open your eyes please .  br    br   anway  this was the very lowest grade of propoghanda nonsense that has come along in years .  br    br   the most terrifying thing about omega code is how much money they spent to make it . if this movie can be made  there are no limits  and therefore  we have no choice but to get ready for  yentl    and  ernest loses the omega codes .   br    br   for those of you who are into the biblical stories  the new movie dogma will pickup where omega code never started .  
i enjoyed this film yet hated it because i wanted to help this guy  i am in my fifties and have a lot of friends in the music business . . . who are now still trying to become adults . . . . no more fans  groupies  money etc . . . and they are having such a hard time adjusting to a regular life . . . as they see the new bands etc getting the spotlight . . . it is almost like they have to begin anew . . . this film is a testament to what a lot of the old rockers from the    s and    s are going through now . . . . and that  s where i find the film sad and depressing . but it portrays the life of an old rock star  abandoned and lost  in a believable way . the young girl who arrives at his decrepit home reminds me of hollis maclaren  outrageous  . . . and she is one lady in a film you will cheer for . this film is a must have for folks in their    s who have seen the rise and fall of bands  people who knew the members  and have watched them hurt as age creeps in  and popularity fades . this is an almost perfect movie . . . . sad but in a way positive . . . . because of the whales . a must see   
quite honestly  the omega code is the worst movie i have seen in a very long time . during the first   minutes i sat stunned in my seat  trying to decide if i should demand a refund . but since i hadn  t paid to see it in the first place  passes   i figured i might as well stay . and i didn  t think it could possibly get any worse .  br    br   it did . i will quickly run through the low points  includes some spoilers   the horrible miscasting of casper van dien as gillen lane  a motivational speaker with two phds . the characterization was inconsistent for example  lane  despite his credentials  is a complete nitwit . then there  s the lame  o depiction of the fulfillment of the biblical prophecies we see a bunch of sensational news soundbites accompanied by ridiculous computer print outs of the translated biblical code . also  terrible  action  sequences lane escapes from tough situations without explanation  and the one time lane actually does seem to be in danger  it turns out to be a dream sequence  that  s cute for grammar school writing assignments  but it  s an inexcusable plot device in a motion picture . the pacing was bad after a long opener  the first third of the movie changes scenes every   seconds . later  the pacing improves  but there is still far too much unnecessary jumping around . and as someone else mentioned  years pass yet no one  not even lane  s young daughter  ages . that was disconcerting .  br    br   there are a few good things  though . the quality of the film  e . g . lack of graininess  is high and very attractive . the outdoor shots were well done and the location shooting added a touch of realism . also  there are a few moments in the last part of the film when lane calls on god  finally  to help him  this proved to be quite exhilarating  even to me  someone who does not accept jesus as a personal savior . but i liked this because it struck me as being the only genuine scene in the movie . unfortunately  it was followed by major incomprehensibility .  br    br   the characters  dialogue  direction and acting were all poorly done . michael ironside had nothing to do  and michael york was just weird . i think the producers wanted to do too much if the plot had been tighter and more focused  and the characterization more fleshed out  the film would have been far better .  br    br   in a nutshell  the omega code disappoints . definitely do not pay to see this . i give it  out of ten stars .  br    br    
anyone who loves the rheostatics  music is going to enjoy this film . i have some minor complaints  mainly about pacing and the casting of certain actors  not maury  who aren  t really convincing in their roles  but i don  t have time write a detailed review . i just want to warn anyone who has seen this film or plans to watch this film as presented cbc television in canada the version that airs are the cbc is like the reader  s digest version of whale music    don  t watch it . it cuts out entire scenes and subplots  if you can them that  from the film . the cbc  which presents most of films untouched  took half the guts out of whale music . i don  t know why . it  s horrible what they did to the film . rent the video or watch it in a theatre  but don  t watch it on cbc television .  
i should have known i was in trouble with casper van diem as the lead character . words cannot describe  nor do they do justice to just how terrible this movie was . but please allow me to try to describe it horrible acting  terrible dialog  corny situations and through it all you get the feeling that you are being force  fed the beliefs and propeganda from the trinity broadcasting network . its a weak attempt at trying to show hollywood that a movie can be entertaining and have a deep  religious message attached to it . they failed miserably . it was clearly the worst movie i have seen in a long time .  
i was in a bad frame of mind when i first saw this movie . for some reason it clicked on all my levels  tensions in a family  loneliness and the want of someone to share your life with . it didn  t hurt that the someone to share your life with was such a beautiful girl as claire  cyndy preston  . i also bought the sound track to this movie  very hard to get  . loved it and hope it will someday come out on dv  
i went to see the omega code with a group of other christians totaling about   people . we all expected a good piece of christian film  making . what we got was an excruciatingly painful  drawn  out  and pretty boring attempt at a film . it has good looking production values but also has poor acting  a weak script with lousy dialogue  and no real sense of direction . from the first   minutes we all knew it would be a long night . we all hated it  and some people in our group placed this movie as reeking of more cheese than  anaconda .  none of us could believe that the movie lasted less than  hours . flashy effects and crisp looking cinematography can  t save this bad  bad movie . i  d give it a  out of    and the rating is only that high because i rented the abominable  movie  werewolf       the night before i saw this movie .  
i was amazingly impressed by this movie . it contained fundamental elements of depression  grief  loneliness  despair  hope  dreams and companionship . it wasn  t merely about a genius musician who hit rock bottom but it was about a man caught up in grief trying drastically to find solace within his music . he finds a companion who comes with her own issues . claire and des were able to provide each other with friendship and love but more importantly a conclusion to events which had shaped their life for the worst .  br    br   des is an unlikely character by todays standards of a rock star . yet he has musical genius . he also has an event in his past that has made him stagnate  while things around him literally go to ruins . his focus is creating his whale music  in fact it becomes an obsession for him .  br    br   claire is the streetwise kid that needs a place to stay . she finds hidden talents while being in des company . she also finds a mutual friend that accepts her . she learns to trust him over a period of time .  br    br   these two find love with one another . not the mind blowing  sex infused kind of passion  but a love where friendship and understanding means more . for two people who have been hurt  they find trust together .  
the omega code was a model of cinematographical inconsistency . there was a bit  but precious little  of good acting  primarily by the two prophets and rostenberg  who only appeared once and had no lines . otherwise the acting was decidedly bad . the plot line was rather weak  and only partially based on already questionable biblical interpretation . certainly not one of the year  s best .  
a friend of mine recommended this movie  citing my vocal and inflective similarities with des howl  the movie  s main character . i guess to an extent i can see that and perhaps a bit more  i  m not very sure whether or not that  s flattering portrayal .  br    br   this is a pretty unique work  the only movie to which this might have more than a glancing similarity would be true romance  not for the content or the style of filming or for the pace of dialogue  whale music is just so much more  well  relaxed .  but instead that they both represent modern love stories .  br    br   in general i  m a big fan of canadian movies about music and musicians  for example i highly recommend hard core logo  and this film in particular . it has an innocent charm  des is not always the most likeably guy  but there  s something about him that draws a sterling sort of empathy .  
i am a youth pastor  s wife and we took some youth to see this film . we then spent an hour trying to explain it to them . they didn  t get it and i didn  t enjoy it . it is based on a concept that has run through all three of the major religions of the world  the bible code  the torah code and the code in the koran  and is so questionable as to be laughable . this is not a step forward for christians in the arts  it is a step forward for those who believe we check our brains at the door .  
my first exposure to  whale music  was the rheostatics album of the same name  that i bought around     . i was reading the liner notes and the band said the album  which remains in a prominent place in my collection  was inspired by canadian author paul quarrington  s book .  br    br   i picked up the book a few months later and devoured it  an amazing read  i have since re  read the book numerous times  each time finding some new element to desmond and his desire to complete the whale music .  br    br   i found the film in      on video . i haven  t had a lot of good experiences with canadian film  but this one worked for me . the role of claire could have been cast differently  but overall i think that paul quarrington  s vision was transfered nicely from the book to the screen .  br    br   maury chaykin gives a moving performance as the isolated genius . the movie deals with family relationships  love  and finding someone who understands . i would strongly recommend  whale music  to not only music fans  but anyone who has ever lost something or someone  and tried to find their way back to the world .  
i  m a christian . i have always been skeptical about movies made by christians  however . as a rule  they are  know  nothings  when it comes to movie production . i admire tbn for trying to present god and jesus in a positive and honest way on the screen . however  they did a hideous job of it . the acting was horrible  and unless one is familiar with the bible in some fashion  one could not have understood what the movie was trying to get across . not only was the movie terribly made  but the people who made it even had some facts wrong . however  in this  critique   those facts are irrelevent and too deep to delve into . in short  the omega code is the absolute worst movie i have ever seen  and i would not recommend it to anyone  except for comic relief from the every day grind .  
walking the tightrope between comedy and drama is one of the toughest acts in cinema . how do you get laughs out of other people  s misery and not start feeling bad when it goes on too long   br    br   well  this surprising little gem of a movie will deliver great big laughs  beautiful scenery  and quite a good buzz as well . i particularly like the concept that a trick of history made alcohol legal since white europeans liked it  and marijuana illegal  since  those other races  used it . . . undoubtedly true and exposes a racial side to the marijuana laws so openly flaunted by populations all over the world .  br    br   an extraordinary  dvd extra  commentary . . . two of them in fact . . . run thru the whole movie with both the actors  and then again with the writers . i kept seeing things i was sure were not in the first movie  but then realizing how easy it is to miss much of the subtle comedy on the first take . what a hoot  don  t miss it      stars  
  br    br   i would highly recommend seeing this movie . after viewing it  you will be able to walk out of every other bad movie ever saying  at least it wasn  t the omega code .   br    br   forget my money  i want my time back   
  br    br   this is definitely a  must see  for those who occasionally smoke a reefer in their secret hide  out  trying to avoid being caught by parents  teachers  the police  etc . . . the protagonist is a lady in her forties  living in her mansion  breeding orchids  and absolutely unaware of the fact that her so  called rich and truthful husband is actually broke and cheating on her . when he all of the sudden dies  she is confronted with the truth . the bailiff comes by to tell her that she is in a huge debt . she doesn  t know what to do  until her gardener tells her about the recent success of marijuana in britain . she decides after some long thinking to get rid of her flowers and start breeding pot instead . . . the story is quite original  the performances outstanding  i can think of only a few movies that made me laugh more than this one . still  the melodramatic touch is present . the film is typical british the jokes aren  t vulgar  there is no violence involved . it shouldn  t be mentioned that it is recommended to have taken a few draughts before watching  saving grace  . it will be so much more fun  especially the scene with the  old ladies in their tea shop is hilarious . i thought my jawbones would burst .      
i sincerely consider this movie as another poor effort of dominican movie industry . the first   minutes of the movie are a little funny but then when they switch their role in the society  men doing what women usually do and women doing what men usually do  the movie falls . becoming boring and not funny at all . they let many things without explanation and the end of the movie is predictable . i didn  t like the way as a roberto angel played his character and his little either . i went to the movies theater hoping to see a good work but i went out really disappointed .  br    br   i don  t recommend this movie .  
this is film that was actually recommended to me by my dentist  and am i glad he did  the blend of british humor  should i say  humour   and the reality of a lost  middle  aged widow trying to maintain her lifestyle were a hoot . add to that mix the reality of what it takes to actually grow pot  those plants under the bushes were not going to make it without the tlc they received   and it is a truly hilarious  yet touching film . i laugh every time i conjure the vision of all the bar patrons sitting in their lawn chairs with sunglasses on counting down the lights  maybe it  s just my mendocino county blood  but the brits definitely got this one right         
i was very disappointed by this film for a few reasons . for the first half hour it  s actually pretty decent . although the acting isn  t any better then that which you would find in a rap video  its kinda funny and the production value doesn  t seem half bad . in fact i almost thought this would be almost as good as perico ripiao  another recent dominican film  which turned out to be much much better than i expected . the plot for the movie revolves around not just cheating husbands but how women are viewed and treated in dominican society as a whole  which makes for a good premise especially in the dominican republic . unfortunately i don  t think the makers of this film relies that a good movie is all about how you treat your subject matter  and they f  ing butchered the veal cutlet they had before them . about   minutes into the movie the roles of men and women are reversed after the main characters wife puts a kind of spell on him as a result of his cheating habits . not only does this transition happen via what look to be cutting edge  space age  cgi effects dating to what i  m guessing would be the    s  but the whole plot just goes down the drain . the rest of the movie is nothing but cheesy predictable situations  and clever one liners . to top it all off  and i guess i should warn you now spoiler alert  it all turns out to be a dream . oh my who didn  t see that coming  oh man i almost forgot the most ridiculous thing about the movie . well after about an hour into it i start thinking  hmmmm something just doesn  t seem right about the sound track but what can it be    and then it hits me half of the music in the movie was taken from a video game called king of fighter   .  br    br   when oh when dr will you give us a film we can call a work of art     perhaps a comedy to match france  s amelie  or an action flick to match thailand  s ong  bak  an animation as akira was to japan  a witty crime thriller as layer cake was to england  or a socio  awakening journey as waking life had here in the states .  br    br   . . . i would give it a  but i  ve seen much worse come out of dr  search los jodedores and you  ll know what i  m talking about .  
it may  or may not  be considered interesting that the only reason i really checked out this movie in the first place was because i wanted to see the performance of the man who beat out humphrey bogart in his casablanca       role for the best actor oscar .  i still would have given the oscar to bogie  but paul lukas did do a great job and deserved the nomination  at least .  well  i  m glad i did check this movie out  because i enjoyed it immensely . i think the movie did preach a little  but not only did i not mind  i enjoyed the speeches and was never bored with them .  br    br   the acting was outstanding in this movie . i especially enjoyed paul lukas  lucile watson  rightfully nominated for an oscar   bette davis  wrongfully not nominated   george coulouris and  oddly  eric roberts  who plays the middle child . i really enjoyed his character an odd  looking boy who talks like some sort of philosopher . he just cracks me up . even the characters name  bodo  is funny .  br    br   the ending  in which lukas  s character was forced to do something he considered wrong even though he was doing it for all the right reasons  worked for me as well . i agreed with why he felt he had to what he did  and i understood why he couldn  t quite explain it . the message this movie makes is a good and noble one  the scenery  meaning the house  is beautiful  and the acting is the excellent . watch this movie if you ever get a chance .  br    br        
someone will have to explain to me why every film that features poor people and adopts a pseudo  gritty look is somehow seen as  realistic  by some people .  br    br   i didn  t see anything realistic about the characters  although the actors did their best with really bad parts  or the situations . instead  i saw a forced  self  conscious effort at being  edgy    gritty  and  down and dirty  .  br    br   sadly  it takes a lot more than hand  holding the camera without rhyme or reason and failing to light the film to achieve any of the above qualities in any significant way .  br    br   it  s a sad commentary on the state of independent film distribution that the only films that see the inside of a movie theater are nowadays all carbon copies  with bad cinematography  non  existent camera direction and a lot of swearing striving to pass themselves as  art  .  br    br   it  s little wonder that films like  in the bedroom  or  about schmidt  get such raves . i found them to be meandering and very average  but compared to the current slew of independent clones like  raising victor vargas  they are outright brilliant and inspired .  br    br   a few years ago seeing an  independent  film meant that you would likely be treated to some originality and a lot of energy and care  and maybe a few technical glitches caused by the low budgets  nowadays  it means that chances are you  ll get yet another by  the  numbers  let  s  shake  the  camera  around  for  two  hours attempt at placating the lack of taste of independent distributors . and of course all that to serve characters and situations that are completely unreal and contrived .  br    br   is it any surprise that the independent marketplace has fewer and fewer surviving companies  not at all when you see films like raising victor vargas that do nothing but copy the worst of the films that preceded them .  
this is an hilarious movie . one of the very best things about it is the quality of the performance by each actor . from the largest role to the smallest  each character is vivid  unforgettable and so understandable . it can also make you laugh so hard your health will improve .  
it has a great name  but thats it and you wont get more than that for your money  in fact the first      mins of the movie you might find it some kind of funny but after that the story goes from one side to another with no particular reason and you just cant understand whats happening until the action its gone .  br    br   and yet the producers  roberto angel salcedo  calls him an actor  but i don  t think the way he does could be called nothing but overacting   . . . . period . the little kid who plays as his son has totally no sense of acting and i believe it was just a favor he did or something because he had no clue of what he was doing .  br    br   for some reason while doing the casting they thought that by casting comedians they could made it  but they didn  t   and sometimes the tasteless cheap humor its so bad  i don  t buy it .  br    br   but hopefully this is as bad as it gets . to make people accept those dvd  s to the good taste public they will have to offer some food with it  that might work out .  br    br   maka  
a sweet little movie which would not even offend your grandmother   saving grace  seems cut from the same cloth as a half  dozen other british comedies over the past two years . . . underdog is faced with adversity  finds the strength to challenge and learns something about him  herself in the process .  br    br   widowed and thus broke  grace is a master gardener  and is enlisted to help her friend  employee matthew grow his pot plant . he  s been doing it all wrong  so grace helps him out . they realize that she is the perfect person to harvest pot  which they can both benefit from . he enjoys smoking  she needs to raise funds to pay her mortgage .  br    br   highlight is grace travelling to london to deal some of her merchandise  dressed in what looks like the white suit john travolta wore in  saturday night fever  and therefore sticking out like a sore thumb .  br    br   blethyn is always watchable  and you can  t say that about a lot of people . . well  i can  t  anyway . ferguson is very good  and tcheky karyo  who i liked in  la femme nikita   is memorable .  br    br   not profoundly moving or insightful  but immensely entertaining  and at a brisk   minutes  feels like a walk with friends .     .  
the film is poorly casted  except for some familiar old hollywood names . other performances by unknown names  i . e .  jennifer gabrielle  are uninspiring . i have seen other films by this director  unfortunately this is one of his worst . perhaps this is a reflection of the screenplay   br    br   in a positive note  kim bassinger  s and pat morita  s performance saved the movie from oblivion . i enjoyed pat more in karate kid  though . there are many good movies to see  and in short  this one is not one of them . save your money and the celluloid .  br    br   jason vanness  
i love this film . it  s one of those i can watch again and again . it is acted well by a good cast that doesn  t try too hard to be star studded .  br    br   the premise of a newly widowed housewife who turns to selling pot to make ends meet could have been made into an americanised turd of a movie or an action thriller . either would have killed the film completely .  br    br   the film plays out like an ealing comedy with a terrific feel  good factor throughout .  br    br   it is worth watching just for the scene with the two old ladies and a box of cornflakes . . .  no that  s not a spoiler    
one of the worst films i have ever seen . how to define  worst   i would prefer having both eye balls yanked out and then be forced to tap dance on them than ever view this pitiful dreck again . somehow  one  hit wonder zwick manages a film that simultaneously offends elvis fans  mary kay saleswomen  las vegas  gays  fbi agents and the rest of humanity with any intelligence with a shoddy  sloppy farce so forced it deserves to be forsaken ed . how elvis presley enterprises could allow the rights of actual elvis songs to be used in a film with a central premise that seems to be  the only good elvis presley imitator is a dead one  is beyond me . the worst part of this mess  and that takes some work  is the mangled script in      elvis  words and songs that he would speak  perform in the      s are quoted  worst special effect  that oscar would go to the moron who decided that elvis  grave  potentially the most photographed  recognizable grave in the world  resembles a pyramid with a gold record glued atop and is situated in the middle of a park somewhere . potentially  this film  s biggest audience would be elvis fans . however  the rampant stupidity  nixon gave elvis a dea badge  not fbi credentials . . . and i could go on and on  actually undercuts that conventional wisdom . ugh . i used the word  wisdom  to describe this stupid movie . this is truly a horrible  horrible film .  
yes this movie is predictable and definitely not award  material . but then it doesn  t try to be anything it is not . a fun  filled romp with real funny one  liners  a stellar and very funny performance by peter o  toole  a grounding and down to earth performance from joan plowright . the band  s performance was on the spot  each one playing their role in a deft  comical manner . the music was good though not great but filled out the movie nicely . from some of the negative comments i deduced that the subtlety of some of the humour went over their heads . a good example is the comment about the  strange baseball  like game   well my dear american  that was cricket  from which baseball is derived  and the explaining of it to the ignorant us band was very funny for those that do know cricket . also no  you were not supposed to wince when carl broke a window it was funny how lord foxley said  oh yes   to get more money for breakage and the manager said at the same time  oh no  also referring to the money . jeez  it seems that every joke must be explained to some people . . . all  in  all i enjoyed it and had some great laughs  well worth seeing .  
i saw this movie on a westbound american airlines flight . it was so bad it actually made the flight seem longer . the plot had potential  who wouldn  t love a movie about a woman who accidentally kills every elvis impersonator she meets   but it got screwed up a million different times by really poor writing . towards the end is an embarrassingly bad scene where a gang of elvis impersonators is on the roof of a casino reshipping the sky thinking he  s going to return  then a group of stars moves together to form an  elvis  constellation  which promptly shoots a bolt of lightning at the impersonators  sending them crashing through the roof . bad . . . really bad . which is the theme for the whole movie . i  d avoid this one at all costs .  
charming doesn  t even begin to describe  saving grace  it  s absolutely irresistible  anyone who ventures into this movie will leave with their spirits soaring high  haha  .  br    br   grace trevethyn  brenda blethyn  has just lost her husband  but her problems are about to get a whole lot worse . her dearly departed has left her with no money and outstanding debts . faced with losing everything  she has to find out a way to get a lot of cash . . . fast  she gets an idea when her gardener  matthew  craig ferguson  asks the town  famous horticulturist to give him advice on a plant he is secretly growing . grace immediately realizes that his plant is marijuana  so they decide to use her gardening skills to grow a lot of top  quality weed  and then sell it to pay off her outstanding debts .  br    br   the most notable quality about  saving grace  is its likability . every character is extremely sympathetic  and  save for the first   or so minutes  the film is non  stop good cheer . everyone wants a happy ending for everyone  even if it means turning a blind eye to some rather illegal activities .  br    br   the acting is top  notch . brenda blethyn is one of britain  s finest actresses  and here is why . she turns what could have been a caricature into a fully living and breathing individual . she  s a nice lady  but she  s not stupid . craig ferguson is equally amiable as matthew . he  s a deadbeat loser  but he  s so likable that it doesn  t matter . the rest of the ensemble cast fits in this category as well  but special mention has to go to tcheky karyo . the french actor always has a aura of menace about him  and that suits him well  but he also has great comedy skills .  br    br   nigel cole finds the perfect tone for  saving grace .  it  s all about the charm . one of the problems i have with british humor is that all the energy seems to be drained out of the film . not so here . the film is thoroughly likable and always amusing . that  s not to say that  saving grace  is just a likable movie that will leave you with a grin and a good feeling . while this movie is not an out and out comedy  it does boast two or three scenes that are nothing short of hysterical .  br    br   if there  s any problem with the film  it  s that the climax is a little confusing . the questions are answered though  and the ending boasts an unexpected twist .  br    br   see  saving grace   especially when you  re having a bad day .  
being an elvis fan  i can  t understand how this proyect could be done . is by far the worst elvis related movie of all time  totally unfunny  silly and plenty of mistakes about the king . come on  elvis  grave in a public park  a mention about suspicious minds in      . . . and these are just two examples . some people in the cast tries to do their best  mike starr is funny  specially as an impersonator   the tom hanks cameo is a surprise  but the guy playing the young elvis sucks . overall the movie lacks fun and becomes more boring minute after minute . if you want to see an ultra cheap  insane but absolutely funny little film related to elvis  i truly recommend you  bubba ho  tep  instead of this mess .  
i saw it last night on tv  and was quite delighted .  br    br   it is sort of the movie which makes you feel nice and warm around heart  and believe that there is still some goodness in the world  all the neighbours pretended not to see what grace was doing in order to help her and protect her  the old policeman is my favourite   although you know that this story is not quite realistic .  br    br   i loved acting  they all seemed just as ordinary  common people  living in small picturesque english coast town  but the greatest thing in the movie was the wit and humor it has  just remember the scene in the shop with two old ladies after they had their  tea     br    br   perhaps the ending was a little bit confusing  but it didn  t stop me from really  really enjoying the whole story   
darkly comic serendipity about a cosmetics saleswoman  with odd ties to elvis presley  running into a sea of elvis impersonators while speaking at conventions in nevada . . . and accidentally killing each one of them through little fault of her own . kim basinger  a still  attractive actress of considerable merit  likes to pick quirky movies to play in  but this dreadful screenplay  by mitchell ganem and adam  michael garber  hasn  t an iota of good humor . the stereotypes and low  ball gags are not meant to be the stuff of classic comedy  but even on a shambling  shameful level  the picture is crude and sloppy . if you do watch  see if you can count how much extraneous shots there are of basinger behind the wheel of her pink cadillac  hands always in the same position and a non  plussed look on her face . hopefully both she and elvis were well paid . no stars from   
  saving grace  is never riotously funny  but it delivers quite a few good laughs and i enjoyed it to a significant degree . brenda blethyn is a fine actress  and does a good job at portraying widower grace  who resorts to growing marijuana to pay off her massive debts . the supporting cast also does a fine job . french actor tchecky karyo has a funny little role . the premise alone is appealing . the idea of an over  the  hill woman growing and smoking pot sounds funny enough . and the film plays around with the premise wisely every now and then . of course  there are flat moments  like one where two elderly women mistaken grace  s marijuana leaves for tea leaves and they start pulling childish antics at the store where they work . that was a mindless gag that didn  t quite take off . the film  s tone is downbeat and occasionally dull  but i got enough laughs to give this english import a recommendation .  br    br   my score   out of     
my main comment on this movie is how zwick was able to get credible actors to work on this movie  impressive cast  even for the supporting characters  none of which helps this movie really . i have to admit though  tom hank  s cameo almost made it worth it  what was that about tom  did you lose a bet  the best cameo of the movie was joe isuzu though  by far a classic  the premise is good . basinger  s character  struggling with existence as a pink lady  is making her way toward vegas motel by motel pitching the glorious pyramid of cosmetic sales . this happens as corbett  s character is on his way to vegas to deliver an elvis suit to his soon to be ex  wife motivated by . what else . extortion . as they both make their way  they have numerous run  ins with elvis impersonators who on their way to an elvis impersonating convention in vegas . soon  the fbi gets involved and begins to track what they think is an elvis impersonator serial killer . unfortunately  premise doesn  t mean the movie was good .  br    br   when watching this movie  imagine you are back in the first grade  when story lines and continuity aren  t really important . it is much more enjoyable to just watch basinger look beautiful in her pink lady outfit rather than wondering why what she is doing doesn  t really make sense . the movie tries hard  but ultimately falls way way way short . ultimately  it is filled with ideas that could have theoretically been funny but in practice were not that funny .  br    br   it isn  t the worst  but you may find you yourself feel like leaving the building when watching this one don  t say i didn  t warn you   
saving grace is a feel good movie with it  s heart in the right place . grace is recently widowed and realizes her late husband left her with a lot of debts . she could lose her lovely house and sees no other solution to her misery than to start growing marijuana . she  s living in a beautiful village where most viewers would love to live and the villagers are all wonderful people most viewers would love to have as neighbors . there  s only one thing wrong with this picture and that is the way it portraits the effect marijuana has on it  s user . it  s obvious none of the actors or writers of this film actually ever did smoke the stuff . the way the villagers act after smoking a joint is ridiculous and only supposedly funny . it  s precisely in those scenes that wit is replaced by english slapstick  and that is a pity in a movie that is none the less very enjoyable .  
omg  the only reason i  m giving this movie a  instead of a  is because tom hanks is funny as an elvis  in  the  box . apart from that  how did this halfway decent cast sign on to do such a lame movie   maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time . . . there are no laughs to mention  the stereotypes are pathetic  the cast is wasted  the direction is amateurish . now that i think about it  most of the blame probably lies with the director  joel zwick . he brings out nothing but flat performances from all involved . don  t waste your time like i did but then  i enjoy a good train wreck . geez  now the system is telling me i need more lines   here ya go this movie should be called return to sender . okay  now that was funnier than anything in the movie . . .  
after her oscar  nominated turn in  secrets  lies   brenda blethyn starred in the equally great  saving grace  . and let me tell you  this is not the sort of movie that you find every day .  br    br   after her husband commits suicide  grace trevethyn  brenda blethyn  discovers that his irresponsible financial decisions have left her with a massive debt . fortunately  she finds a way to make ends meet marijuana . that  s right  grace starts cultivating it .  br    br   every aspect of this movie was played to great effect there isn  t a dull moment anywhere in it . and i sure didn  t see that end scene coming  but anyway  you gotta see this movie . you just might feel more than a little festive after seeing it . if nothing else  it might function as a good lesson about knowing one  s finances . but of course  there  s a lot more to it than that   
elvis has left the building and he  s lucky because he didn  t have to watch this unfunny stinker . scene after scene director joel zwick finds ways to make an unfunny script even less amusing . filled with unfunny deaths  trite gay characteratures  and hack jokes  this film is more desperate than amusing . this is the sort of film that makes one hope kim basinger follows doris day into premature retirement . let us remember her the way she was  talented  and not what she  s become . david leisure  the delicious dennis richards and the rest are all wasted talents here . zwick finds a way to minimize their talents at every turn . the guy playing elvis sounds more like gomer than the king . the only really good bit of casting is the young girl who plays basinger as a preteen . she really looks like her and is actually pretty good . the only other reason to watch this film at all is to look for the tom hanks cameo . the cameo isn  t all that funny  but at least its not painful . one has to wonder if zwick has incriminating pictures of hanks or something that would make him do this movie .  
this light hearted comedy should be enjoyed for entertainment value . it gets quite hysterically funny at times  but if you haven  t spent any time on  that  side of the tracks you will miss the comedy when it erupts .  br    br   the cast of characters meld well together and are quite believable in their roles . how grace handles meeting her dead husbands girlfriend was well played . she  s a true lady . and  my favorite is grace  s white pimp suit that she wears .  br    br   i highly recommend this flick to anyone who wants to laugh out loud  who cheers for the underdog or just wishes to watch something different .  
i have absolutely no knowledge of author phillipa pearce or any of her novels and if toms midnight garden is typical of her work i probably would have had little interest in her books as a child . when i was a child i wasnt really interested in litreture unless it had soldiers fighting monsters complete with a high body count  br    br   judging by this film version of toms midnight garden i guess pearce writes for lower middle class kids since much of the story of revolves around protagonist tom long moving to a house with no garden then suddenly finding a metaphysical one . having a garden of your own was no doubt something that working class people didnt have in the     s so i guess theres some political class ridden subtext there somewhere . theres also a romance involving a young girl called hattie but again are cynical kids amoured by love stories  perhaps the worst criticism is that very little in the way of excitement or adventure happens within the narrative  br    br   this is a childrens film that seems dated by its source . its inoffensive but im surprised by its high rating by the imdb voters . i wonder how many of them would have given it so many high marks if they were   year olds whod just seen the lord of the rings trilogy   
for muslim women in western africa  married life at the hands of abusive husbands can be very hard . the community may not explicitly endorse such behaviour  but equally  they may not yet be ready to see it as criminal  an attitude which of course enables it to continue . fortunately  the letter of the cameroonian law promises equality to all  and this documentary follows the real life exploits of various female practitioners in the cameroonian legal system as they attempt to secure justice for a number of women and children . what is notable  apart from the uplifting central story  is how  in spite of their informality  the courts are actually pragmatically progressive  if a case is actually bought . the program also gives a fascinating insight the whole cameroonian life  style  which  aside from the awful crimes committed in the featured cases  seems amazingly emotional and joyous compared with that enjoyed by inhabitants of europe or north america . and while i concede that this comment may betray naivet on my part  this attitude appears to be captured in delightful pidgin  english they speak . overall  this is a terrific little film  and much more fun to watch than you might imagine .  
raising victor vargas a review  br    br   you know  raising victor vargas is like sticking your hands into a big  steaming bowl of oatmeal . it  s warm and gooey  but you  re not sure if it feels right . try as i might  no matter how warm and gooey raising victor vargas became i was always aware that something didn  t quite feel right . victor vargas suffers from a certain overconfidence on the director  s part . apparently  the director thought that the ethnic backdrop of a latino family on the lower east side  and an idyllic storyline would make the film critic proof . he was right  but it didn  t fool me . raising victor vargas is the story about a seventeen  year old boy called  you guessed it  victor vargas  victor rasuk  who lives his teenage years chasing more skirt than the rolling stones could do in all the years they  ve toured . the movie starts off in ugly fat  donna  s bedroom where victor is sure to seduce her  but a cry from outside disrupts his plans when his best  friend harold  kevin rivera  comes  a  looking for him . caught in the attempt by harold and his sister  victor vargas runs off for damage control . yet even with the embarrassing implication that he  s been boffing the homeliest girl in the neighborhood  nothing dissuades young victor from going off on the hunt for more fresh meat . on a hot  new york city day they make way to the local public swimming pool where victor  s eyes catch a glimpse of the lovely young nymph judy  judy marte   who  s not just pretty  but a strong and independent too . the relationship that develops between victor and judy becomes the focus of the film . the story also focuses on victor  s family that is comprised of his grandmother or abuelita  altagracia guzman   his brother nino  also played by real life brother to victor  silvestre rasuk  and his sister vicky  krystal rodriguez  . the action follows victor between scenes with judy and scenes with his family . victor tries to cope with being an oversexed pimp  daddy  his feelings for judy and his grandmother  s conservative catholic upbringing .  br    br   the problems that arise from raising victor vargas are a few  but glaring errors . throughout the film you get to know certain characters like vicky  nino  grandma  judy and even judy  s best friend melonie . the problem is  we know nothing of victor vargas except that he is the biggest gigolo in the neighborhood . we know that he knows how to lick his lips  and comb his fro  and carry himself for the sake of wooing girls into the sack  but that  s all . we know that nino plays piano  and quiet well  you could see it by the awards on the family piano . we know his sister nicki  is a gossip  loving girl with an invested interest in watching tv . we know that grandma is a hard  working traditional latina woman who  s trying to raise her kids with conservatively in a world of excess corruption . yet where is the titular character  victor vargas  he  s in this movie somewhere  but we only know what the movie tells us . this is by far the film  s biggest flaw . victor vargas isn  t so much a character but a ping  pong ball  bouncing between scenes with judy and his grandmother  but we never get to know who victor vargas really is . this is important because as i  ve mentioned the only thing we know of victor vargas is that he  s a sexually active teenager with a libido the size of manhattan . he  s a total alpha  male . victor vargas is not the kind of character i sympathize with at all . why should anyone  so by the end of the movie  in the aftermath of the climax are we truly led to believe that somehow victor vargas has attained any depth and learned the errors of his ways  how could such a two  dimensional character have any depth  if only the director had worried a little more about fleshing out his main character instead of worrying about getting that perfect hand  held shot .  br    br   raising victor vargas brings to life the world of the latino inner  city neighborhood to the big screen . something that few films have done before in the past . the film has been complimented for feeling so real  and i won  t  br    br   argue with that . i haven  t seen this level of reality since cbs aired survivor . seriously  although the movie has some nice shots of the city  the writer  director peter sollett was way too dependent on close  ups and hand  held shots . this problem is particularly noticed in indoor scenes that are so claustrophobic i was forced to perform deep  breathing exercises to keep from passing out . as the film continues  the shots get tighter and tighter with faces cropped from brow to chin on the screen you can practically smell victor vargas  s cheap cologne . the overall effect is unrealistic in contrast . the indoor scenes of inner  city apartments make them look small and cramp  which is not true . i  ve been in those type apartments i used to live in one . they  re not splendorous but they have high ceilings and they  re decent living spaces . by the movie  s standards you  d think that these apartments were  x  cells of brick  and  mortar  chipped paint and cracked walls . unfortunately  sollett  s constant use of close  ups and one particularly bad shot with a zoom  in on one scene come off as totally amateurish . but raising victor vargas is only sollett  s second film  and his most well known  a solid effort in filmmaking that will hopefully get better as he continues to make films . one review i read summarized the movie as  ethnicity for ethnicity  s sake   and i cannot agree more . if victor vargas were truly a great film and story  then the characters  applicability wouldn  t matter whether they were latino  chinese  etc . yet if you were to take this story and stick it in middle  class suburbia with a bunch of teeny  bopper white kids the results wouldn  t be such glowing reviews  and we  d see the film  s flaws more clearly . indeed  some other aspects of the use of latinos in this film bother me . while some aspects of victor vargas are accurate others i have to question . for example  victor  nino and vicky all share the same room to sleep . this set off an alarm for me because it seemed contrary to what i believe . any self  respecting latino family wouldn  t have two older brothers sharing the same room with a thirteen  year old girl . at first i was unsure  perhaps i was wrong  but after speaking with my grandmother i knew my problem with this was justified . considering how conservative the grandmother is  you  d think that vicky would have been sleeping in her room .  br    br   as a latino who grew up in a somewhat conservative cuban household  raised by my grandmother while my mother was working full  time  i could relate to the movie in many ways  which is why my critical viewpoints are bittersweet because i really wanted to love this movie . unfortunately  my lack of respect for victor vargas sabotaged my feelings for the film . maybe it  s because victor vargas reminds me of those guys who were getting laid while i was playing with my sega genesis when i was seventeen . maybe it  s because without any further introspection by the film  victor vargas is merely a stereotypical hot  blooded latino  who  ll just end up shouting to girls from his car  hey bay  bee  ju want to get into my luv mah  cheen   either way i don  t like him  so ultimately how can i like a film about him  so if you  ll excuse me  i  m going to go stick my hands into a bowl of grits .  br    br    
yet another example of what british cinema can achieve a simple story  told and acted well . brenda blethyn gives a layered and warming performance as the recently widowed and financially straitened grace  ably assisted by a solid supporting cast . the  quirky small town  card gets played to the hilt  similar to many tv series and films that have come from the british isles in recent years  ballykissangel  hamish macbeth and others come to mind  . like the forementioned  this film makes use of some ravishingly beautiful rural scenery  in this case the wet and wild cornish coast .  br    br   some viewers might find wholesale acceptance of cannabis use a bit challenging  others might find the ending just a little too cute and safe . but it  s an enjoyable spliff  to be sure .  
i notice that the previous reviewer  who appears to be still at school  gave this movie a very good review and i can only assume that this is because the reviewer hasn  t seen the far superior     bbc adaptation of this classic novel . the major problem i had with this       version was the casting of anthony way as tom long . anthony way was a talented boy treble who shot to fame after appearing in the tv mini  series  the choir  . i can only assume that he was cast for the role of tom long on the strength of his excellent acting in  the choir  . unfortunately the small boy who appeared in  the choir  had grown into a tall and gangly youth by the time  tom  s midnight garden  was filmed and as such anthony fails to convince as schoolboy tom . it is too far a stretch of the imagination to believe that tom  as played by anthony  would befriend the far younger hatty . in the     bbc version tom and hatty are much closer in age and the development of their friendship is so much more believable . for a     movie even the special effects fail to convince and are not any noticeable improvement on the     tv effects . the casting and acting of this version are inferior to the earlier adaptation and all in all the movie was a lack lustre version of a true classic . as a final observation i would point out that the vhs of the     bbc version fetches well over    .   second hand whereas a new dvd of this version can be bought for under   .    need i say more   
a delightful gentle comedic gem  until the last five minutes  which degenerate into run of the mill british tv farce . the last five minutes cost it  points in my rating . despite this major plot and style flaw  it  s worth watching for the character acting and the unique cornwall setting . many fine little bits to savor  like the tense eternity we all go through waiting for the bank approval after the clerk has swiped the credit card . . . made more piquant when we  re not  quite  sure the card is not maxed .  
if you like bad movies  this is the one to see . it  s incredibly low  budget special effects  you  ll see what i mean  and use of non  actors was what gave this film it  s charm . if you  re bored with a group of friends  i highly recommend renting this b movie gem . it  s mulletrific   
i saw saving grace right after it came out on video . since then it  s become one of my favorites  the plot isn  t particularly complex but it doesn  t take away from the entertainment . it  s chuck full of comedic moments and has a very endearing quality to it . the characters are what makes the movie so good . they each have their own quirky qualities which adds to the humor  the two old ladies played by linda kerr scott and phyllida law leaps to mind . superb acting was done by all  particularly brenda blythen . she and craig ferguson were great together in pulling off some of the funnier moments . if you  re looking for a good comedy i  d definately recommend this movie   
i would love to have that two hours of my life back . it seemed to be several clips from steve  s animal planet series that was spliced into a loosely constructed script . don  t go  if you must see it  wait for the video . . .  
this movie is inspiring to anyone who is or has been in a tough jam  whether financially or emotionally . you will definitely laugh  which is the best medicine    left in a bad financial situation when her husband dies  grace has to find a new way to make some money and it  s not exactly legal which adds to the humour . even my boyfriend liked it so don  t think that it  s a chick  flic .  
a difficult film to categorize . i was never giving it     concentration  consequently as simple as the plot appeared i couldn  t say for certain exactly who was doing what amongst the american fbi characters  what their roles were . nor could i take the irwins seriously as film characters when their lines  scenes were all in the style of one of his shows  not acted out .  br    br   this is nothing more than a glorified episode of a discovery tv show  with a largely insignificant sub plot going on  which just seemed to get in the way . however as any irwin show is always worth a watch  this film is well worth a look too  but not on christmas day . talking of which  i  ve better things to do too than be on here .  br    br   a high      
excellent view of a mature woman  that is going to lose everything  even the pruner has a mortgage  . the way she gets involved into this special  business   the innocence  and the true love that exists between the people of a little town  it  s mixed perfectly to give us as result a fresh  light and funny comedy . i couldn  t stop laughing with a very funny scene of two old ladies in a drugstore .  br    br   i love european films  and with movies like this one  my opinion grows stronger . a movie that i also recommend with my eyes closed  in this same genre  is waking ned devine .  br    br   saving grace  a comedy that many friends enjoyed as much as myself . you will love it .  
on steve irwin  s show  he  s hillarious . he doesn  t even try to be funny and he just is but his movie wasn  t even what i would call a movie  i mean when that guy on his car is trying to kill him he  s just saying  oh  this is one nasty bloke   and looking straight into the camera . he put his face in the camera too much  and then when the guy falls off the car wouldn  t you expect him to be dead  and terri had the worst acting i  d ever seen  like when the crocodile almost ate steve she just says  steve  . she didn  t sound scared or anything  it was just  steve  . i mean i hate to sound mean but that was not worth seeing . i love steve irwin but his movie was just too stupid .  
saving grace is a nice movie to watch in a boring afternoon  when you are looking for something different than the regular scripts and wants to have some fun . i mean  the whole idea of this movie and all the marijuana in it is such a craziness  it was the first movie i watched with this theme  drugs  marijuana  that is not really criticizing it  only making jokes about it . grace trevethyn is a widow  who lives in a small town in u . k . and has many financial problems because of her dead husband  who committed suicide since he was full of debts . the problem is that grace  who imagined to have some money saved for her  discovers that she needs to pay all of her husband  s pounds in debts to not lose all of her things  specially her house that she loves so much . she never worked before  and is in a tragic situation until matthew  her gardener who is very found of smoking pot  decides to make a partnership with her in selling marijuana in large scale .  
i think the croc hunter is a pretty cool guy  i know i wouldn  t have the nerve to go even  feet away from a croc .  br    br   but  everything in this movie is bad . farting jokes  people getting eaten  and the skit about the president all make the movie one of the worst of all time .  br    br   it  s a really bad film that you have to stay away from . all the  jokes  are so juvenile that you will find yourself laughing because they are so stupid . the plot is so bad that you wonder if the screenwriter is  years old .  br    br   i  m surprised the croc hunter did not beg the crocodile to eat him after he saw this .  
great actors  an oscar nominee actress  stunning scenery  good strong story line and more laughs than you can fit into my new handbag  and thats quite big  . this film was brilliant . it was beautifully acted in the more serious scenes and the funny moments were . . well  side splitting . i have never heard a cinema audience laugh so much  and tears were streaming down my cheeks during the  stoned ladies in the tea shop  scene . well done to the british film industry and to craig ferguson whose magic ingredients have made sure this is one of my favourite films of the year  if not of all time .  
gday mates  just watched croc hunter the movie . it was alright but the show seems more real . this just seemed like a longer animalplanet episode with funnier lines and more characters . a few things steve described snakes fangs like hypodermic needles . yeeeowch  for reals you know that hurts . and cant they jump up high  hes all grabbin them by the tail and stuff . there was two major cleavage shots in this movie . when terry find that baby joey she goes like  we have to nurture them  just like a baby  . woah  i thought she was gonna up  breast feed that kid . that woulda made it pg    though . while on terry  did anyone notice on the movie and a lot of the show terry  s knowledge on ritual mating . she knows her sex stuffs . movie takes place in queensland  austrailia . i want a koala  dingo  and joey   br    br   steve  s dog sui actually has a purpose in this movie . albeit a small one which proves useless against the dynamite  wielding hottie .  br    br   oh and if anyone else watches this  try and agree with me in saying that country bumpkin fat lady with the herd of dogs was right in shotgunning the croc . he was eating her sheep   i would be mad too   
i just thought it was excellent and i still do . i  m grateful we  re still able to see different stuff from what hollywood almost floods us with . saving grace is smart and enjoyable  those who feel offended by the marijuana thing better go see the america  s bride sort of movie .  br    br   saving grace also shows that a funny movie doesn  t have to be stupid . i was laughing my ass off during most of it but also pondering questions about what was the female lead character supposed to do to pay her deceased husband  s debts .  br    br   in a nutshell  a witty storyline with typical english humour and good acting and directing . you couldn  t ask for more .  br    br       .  
so  steve irwin . you have to admire a man who is not only willing to throw himself into a river that clearly is filled with crocs  snakes  lizards  tons of poop from the aforementioned reptiles  and mud  not only daily  but with enthusiasm . he was never able to make me want to do it  but he managed to make his wife come close .  br    br   this movie does not fall into my parallel universe of film category  the films for people who just had their teeth drilled  have a migraine  or have no film experience and therefore like quiet mediocrity  currently well populated by disney films  . it  s too noisy . well  steve is too noisy . he  s just so happy all the time  and would cut right through the blas  teenager  i can hear it now  that movie was so stupid   or the tylenol with codeine . i  d say his enthusiasm is catching  but if it was  i would own a room full of snakes  and that hasn  t happened yet . i agreed they  re beauties  but i  m still not going to pet them .  br    br   plot was indeed predictable . bad guys were so bad  for a minute there i thought i was shopping at a consumer electronic superstore . but the movie was filled with animals  and steve and terri  which is why i watched it . that plot  if you could call it that  was really more of a reason to throw yet another croc in a truck . my expectations were low and stayed that way .  br    br   i was hoping  though  that there would be a bit of a sequel  where steve and terri  having worked on their acting skills  have a movie with a real plot and more animals with fur . i still can  t believe we won  t see steve anymore . i hope that terri and the children continue to be involved in the australia zoo and the discovery channel  at least . i can  t imagine seeing a crocodile without having some member of the irwin family telling me forcefully how wonderful that croc is . crikey   
it  s a bit easy . that  s about it .  br    br   the graphics are clean and realistic  except for the fact that some of the fences are  d  but that  s forgiveable . the rest of the graphics are cleaner than goldeneye and many other n   games . the sounds are magnificant . everything from the speaking to the sfx are pleasant and realistic .  br    br   the camera angle is a bit frustrating at times  but it  s the same for every platform game  like banjo  kazooie and donkey kong   .  br    br   i got this game as a christmas present in      and since then  i have dutifully gotten    stars over   times .  
i caught this at a test screening . all i can say is what . . . the . . . hell  this movie plays out about as smoothly as mickey mouse reading the script for  scarface .  it  s bizarre beyond making the slightest bit of sense and even if you do leave your brain in the car  the film is still so bizarre that it isn  t even funny .  br    br   the plot involves crocodile hunter steve irwin trying to  save  a crocodile which contains a cia probe . the cia comes after irwin to get their probe back  irwin mistakes them for poachers  and sets out to  stop  them .  br    br   that  s about all the story there is the rest is over  the  top lampooning of australian culture   didja see dat   and  crikey    and strangely choreographed action sequences . at one point  irwin mounts a speeding rv and knife fights with a cia agent on top of it . yes  that  s right steve irwin knife fights a guy on top of an rv . let that be your guide for this ridiculously bad film .  
mario  s first foray into the world of   dimensions is incredible . miyamoto  s masterpiece was reason enough to buy a nintendo   when it was released in     and it still holds all of it  s charm today . this game is an instant classic that set the standard for  d adventure  platform games .  
ok  first of all  steve irwin  rest in peace . you were loved by many fans . now . . . this movie wasn  t a movie at all . it was  the crocodile hunter  tv program with bad acting  bad scripts  and bad directing in between steve capturing or teaching us about animals . he was entertaining as an animal seeker  specialist . millions will miss him . but the whole movie idea was a big mistake . the plot was so broken  it was almost non  existent . casting was horrible . the acting wasn  t even worth elementary school  level actors . the direction must be faulted as well . if you can  t get a half  way decent performance out of your actors  no matter how bad the script is  you must not be that good in the first place . i could have written a better script . i wish i had never been to see this movie . of course  i watched it for      .   for me    .   for my son .  while out with friends who insisted upon seeing this instead of scooby doo live action . my son  who is not so discriminating  liked the movie alright  but he still has never asked to see it again . if you want fond memories of steve irwin  buy his series on dvd . avoid this movie like the plague . if i were steve  i know i wouldn  t want to be remembered for this movie . respect him avoid this movie   
sisters in law will be released theatrically on march   th in sweden . a good occasion for our nordic friends to discover this original and thoughtful documentary . it was shown in gteborg together with a retrospective dedicated to kim longinotto   director in focus  of the festival . she gave a master class  very much appreciated  telling about her method as documentary filmmaker and told the audience about the special circumstances which led her to shoot sisters in law twice  the first version got lost for good  so a second shooting was organized and the film turned out to be different at the end . a pretty awful problem happened  in this case  to create the possibility of a very strong movie .  
this movie has a very broadway feel  the backdrop  the acting  the  noise   and yet that  s all it has . some  sense  of a broadway without the bang .  br    br   the movie is slow  paced  the picture disjointed  the singing  pops up  on you so that you suddenly are reminded it  s a musical .  br    br   disappointing sinatra  br    br   intolerable sinatra  s fianc    surely  the pitch and the accent of her voice was unnecessary .  br    br   tolerable mr  i remember the numbers on my dice   br    br   delight brando  s understated singing  very biased    br    br   surprise how much jean simmons looks like vivien leigh in her havana scenes . it  s the bone structure  how i would  ve killed to have seen miss leigh in a role challenging brando again .  
this movie had an interesting cast  it mat not have had an a list cast but the actors that were in this film did a good job . im glad we have b grade movies like this one  the story is basic the actors are basic and so is the way they execute it  you don  t need a million dollar budget to make a film just a mix of b list ordinary actors and a basic plot . i like the way they had the street to themselves and that there was no one else around and also what i though was interesting is that they didn  t close down a caf to set there gear and that they did it all from a police station . arnold vosloo and michael madsen did a great job at portraying there roles in the hostage situation . this was a great film and i hope to see more like it in the near future .  
en route to a small town that lays way off the beaten track  but which looks suspiciously close to a freeway   a female reporter runs into a strange hitch  hiker who agrees to help direct her to her destination . the strange man then recounts a pair of gruesome tales connected to the area in the first story  an adulterous couple plot to kill the woman  s husband  but eventually suffer a far worse fate themselves when they are attacked by a zombie and in the second story  a group of campers have their vacation cut short when an undead outlaw takes umbrage at having his grave peed on .  br    br   the zombie chronicles is an attempt by writer garrett clancy and director brad sykes at making a zombie themed anthologya nice idea  but with only two stories  it falls woefully short . and that  s not the only way in which this low budget gore flick fails to deliver the acting is lousy  with joe haggerty  as the tale  telling ebenezer jackson  giving one of the strangest performances i have ever seen   the locations are uninspired the script is dreary there  s a sex scene with zero nudity and the ending . . . . well  that beggars belief .  br    br   to be fair  some of sykes  creative camera  work is effective  although the gimmicky technique employed as characters run through the woods is a tad overused  and joe castro  s cheapo gore is enthusiastic an ear is bitten off  eyeballs are plucked out  a face is removed  brains are squished  and there is a messy decapitation . these positives just about make the film bearable  but be warned  the zombie chronicles ain  t a stroll in the park  even for seasoned viewers of z  grade trash .  br    br   i give the zombie chronicles      but generously raise my rating to  since i didn  t get to view the film with the benefit of  d  although i have a sneaking suspicion that an extra dimension wouldn  t have made that much of a difference  .  
although super mario   isn  t like the rest of the games in the series  it is still a classic and is every bit as good as the old games . games with this much replay value are few and far between . plus  this game has so much variety . there are   levels each with several different tasks you can do  and many other hidden tasks . the game isn  t very challenging  but its lack of challenge doesn  t take away from the game at all . once you beat it  you  ll want to erase your game and start again . and its just as much fun the second time  or third time  or two hundredth time . a must own for any nintendo   owner  and is a reason in itself to own a nintendo   .  
i never was an avid viewer of  crocodile hunter   but did occasionally see an episode  or a bit of an episode  and when the news spread about steve irwin  s death from a stingray attack in      it certainly caught my attention . this movie  with steve and his wife  terri  playing themselves  but in a fictional story  was released in      but i didn  t hear of it until several years later  and even after that  it took me a while to get around to seeing it . well  now i have seen it  and after looking here first  more than once   and seeing its rating  i was not surprised at how unimpressive it turned out to be  though it could have been a bit better . apparently  it  s supposed to be a comedy  so a major problem with it is that it isn  t very funny at all .  br    br   a u . s . satellite beacon falls down from space and lands in australia  where it is swallowed by a crocodile  while steve and terri irwin are on a mission to capture this crocodile from a place where it terrorizes the cattle on a ranch owned by the crazy brozzie drewitt  and are unaware of what  s inside it  two cia agents are sent to australia to retrieve the beacon  the agents are assisted by jo buckley  and the ranch owner and her dogs might make the mission more difficult for them  on steve and terri  s mission  they face other types of dangerous wildlife  not just the crocodile  and since they have no clue that the croc has anything unusual inside it  when steve sees the cia agents after them  he mistakes them for poachers   br    br   not only did i not laugh once while watching this film  the only part that really made me smile was steve irwin using a big snake to scare off one of the cia agents . apart from that  i don  t think i found anything even mildly amusing . it  s also a bit of an incoherent mess  switching back and forth from the australian outback to the cia headquarters  and it seems like clips from  crocodile hunter  and clips from an action thriller  or something like that  put together for some reason . also added to that mix are the ranch scenes  which also seem to be from somewhere else  and as funny as brozzie drewitt  played by magda szubanski  is supposed to be  she  s not . at one point  we see her farting  so we have a fart joke  a major clich in modern comedy  are they so hard to resist   i also found the typical  crocodile hunter  scenes  with steve wrestling crocodiles and holding other dangerous creatures and talking about them to viewers  to be tedious  but i guess the fact that i was never a devout fan of the show didn  t help .  br    br   steve irwin was admired by many as a conservationist  and is sadly missed by them  while there are also those who say he messed with nature and had it coming to him . no matter which side you  re on   the crocodile hunter collision course  is not a well crafted movie . i  m sure it does help if you  re a big steve irwin fan  but even if you are  there  s no guarantee that you would like this movie  as some fans clearly haven  t been impressed . in fact  it seems that some of them have found this movie to be worse than i have  so maybe it won  t help . like i said  there  s no guarantee . i would say whatever you may think of steve irwin and his show  this movie was unnecessary . the attempt to combine what is usually seen in  crocodile hunter  with a fictional story unfortunately failed  and a viewer may find that this film seems longer than ninety minutes   
super mario   is undoubtedly the greatest game ever created . it is so addicting that you could play it for hours upon hours without stopping for a break . i  ve beaten the game  times  but i  ve never gotten all    stars . . .  i  ve gotten     . . . but i hope to achieve them eventually . even though i didn  t officially play this game until i was seven in  i loved watching my sisters play it . now i am   and still play this  erasing games and starting over again .  br    br   the graphics are unbelievable for an early n   game . the gameplay is addictive . the controls are great . the levels are tough  but not impossible . the bowser fights are challenging .  br    br   i would like to tell you more  but why don  t you just get it for yourself  put the x  box     ps   and the wii away and go find yourself a nintendo   and play this amazing  wonderful game .  
some people say steve irwin  s larrikin antics and gregarious personality are only an act . watch this film it  s obvious he can  t act .  br    br   steve irwin  dangerman star of the small screen in his crocodile hunter diaries  croc files and eponymous crocodile hunter series  you see a naming trend here  or is it just me    rockets his larger  than  strife persona to the big screen with crocodile hunter collision course  yup  there  s a definite trend of words beginning with  c    basically an episode of crocodile hunter mashed together with a b  movie .  br    br   on a mission to relocate a big croc to save it from being shot by an eccentric farmer  magda szubanski   steve and wife terri are unaware that the croc is being tracked by american spies  lachy hulme and kenneth ransom   out to recover a spy satellite beacon it has swallowed . will it hurt my credibility to say  they  re on a collision course with wackiness    what credibility   ed note .   br    br   the plot is irrelevant  as it is steve  s animal magnetism that propels the film . if you find his persona trying  the film is a failure  but if you  re a fan of either him  as a businessman  conservationist or just plain ass  klown  or his television shows  expect more of the same on a wide  screen budget .  br    br   john stainton  faithful liege  best mate and helmer of the crocodile hunter oeuvre  can it be called that with a straight face    writes and directs with the same provincial swagger that made steve a household wildlife jester .  br    br   the most jarring aspect of this movie is that steve  one of the few people for whom you can actually hear the exclamation points going by as he speaks  and terri  steve  s spouse of   years  fiercest ally and closest friend  treat it like it is one of their documentaries  breaking the  fourth wall  and speaking directly to the camera  whilst all the other characters behave as if they  re in a bad movie  well  . it wouldn  t be so incongruous if steve and terri were kept separated from the rest of the characters  but when the bad americans constantly threaten steve  s life  we confused viewers must ask ourselves why the indifferent camera crew doesn  t at least call the cops if not try to poke the bad guys in the eye with the boom mics  or run screaming into the bush  anything but continue filming casually with great lighting  crisp audio and seven action angles .  br    br   while terri is unfairly painted as steve  s mildly incompetent sidekick  her acting consists of boldly inept line reads and gadding about in pear  shaped  buttock  hugging jeans  for the last  i  m not complaining   steve goes about his business  as  usual of show  and  tell with creatures intent on killing him  doing all his stunts himself because  well  to him they  re not really stunts  just a day at the office .  br    br   of course  watching this madman  s koo  koo adventures after his tragic death in september     casts a strange detachment over the proceedings . but to those of us who never met him  this kind of malarkey  as well as various incarnations of the crocodile hunter series in constant re  runs  keeps him as alive as ever in our crocodile burrows . the wrenching reality of his absence will only be apparent to those nearest him . and i truly wish them the best in following in his outsize footprints  br    br   so enjoy this diversion for what it is  a half  baked movie featuring a full  on legend . he died doing what he loved  interacting with wildlife  and he could never have asked for more of his first feature film in portraying him doing just that .  br    br    movie maniacs  visit poffysmoviemania . com   
one of the funnest mario  s i  ve ever played . the levels are creative  there are fluid controls  and good graphics for its time . there  s also a multitude of crazy bosses and enemies to fight . sometimes the levels get frustrating  and if you leave out some of the hard levels and still  need to get more accomplished to fight a boss  it can be annoying . another complaint is the camera angle though it works fairly well most of the time  it can be a pain in certain situations . if your a big time mario fan this ones for you . even if your not a huge fan of him  i  d still recommend this one . its a big game  and getting what you need can take a while  but it  s very satisfying . good for playing in short bursts of time . it will almost certainly hold your interest it sure does hold mine   
the movie has several story lines that follow several different characters . the different story lines don  t feel like one whole complete piece which makes this comedy a very incoherent one and gets even annoying to watch at times .  br    br   it may sound weak and clich but it  s true you  re way better of watching the crocodile hunter series on the discovery channel with steve and terri irwin . it  s more fun and even more hilarious than this movie is . i  m sure both cast and crew had lots of fun making this movie but the movie doesn  t give us the viewers much pleasure . for a comedy it simply isn  t funny enough and steve and terri irwin just aren  t good actors  not even when they play themselves  their antics are simply not good enough to make an entire movie around and their scene  s feel long  distracting and unnecessary and even annoying at times .  br    br   the movie had quite some potential  i mean steve irwin is one character that in a strange way is both intriguing and hilarious to watch  so when i first heard that they were making a movie about  the crocodile hunter  my first reaction was brilliant  the movie however heavily suffers from its weak story and the incoherent story lines with uninteresting and unfunny characters . the movie does has a certain entertainment value  at least enough to make this movie watchable for at least once but still  i must certainly wouldn  t recommend this movie .  br    br   watching this movie felt like a waste of time . still this movie might be watchable just once  when it gets on tv  on a rainy afternoon . it does has some good moments but the story lines really completely ruin the movie and its potential .  br    br        
when i first got my n   when i was five or six  i fell in love with it  and my first game was super mario   . and i loved it  the graphics were great for it  s time  a good plot  great courses and above all  the best music i heard in a nintendo game .  br    br   i don  t remember the plot completely  but i think princess peach was kidnapped by bowser  and mario has to rescue her . the object of the game is to get    stars from the curses in the castle . each had about five or six challnges to get the stars . there are secert parts of the castle  where you can get more stars . but of course  you have beat bowser . i think there are three levels to beat bowser on lets start with the characters . mario is the main character  and gets helpful advice from toad  so he is basically one of your only alliances . i heard that luigi and yoshi are in the game towards the end . the main villain is bowser  and there are a bunch of other characters like boo and goomba . the characters are really great .  br    br   next  how about the graphics  people say gameplay is more important then the graphics  and i agree completely . but with he great plot  there are great graphics . especially for it  s time . i have a whole bunch of other nintendo games like    and their graphics don  t compare to super mario . bright colors  great effects and awesome sound effects . i found the graphics in the water courses very very good . next to the bowser world ones  it has the best graphics in the game .  br    br   now  the music . this is my favorite part of the game . growing up  when i played this at a young age  i  d gladly leave the game on all night so the music would put me to sleep . especially the music from jolly roger bay  which was peaceful and wonderful . there are others that are great too  especially in  once again  the worlds with bowser  are the ones that stick with me the most and are my favorites .  br    br   this game was my favorite past time as a developing gamer  and i love it . this game gets      or          go play the game   
i saw this film yesterday . . i rented the dvd from blockbuster . . in fact  i know one of the actresses from the film . . i won  t say who . .   that  s kept under wraps . .  but i must admit  it wasn  t as good as i thought it would be . . tom savini  hats down to this guy . . but it  s a shame he wasn  t in the film for long . . what lacks the film is the idea  the script  sound  etc . . it may look like a good movie . . but it wasn  t that entertaining . .  br    br   well  i  m glad my sister paid    for renting  dvd  s from blockbuster . . i chose this one . . and i was disappointed . anyway  thumbs down for me . .  not my cup of tea   out of     
or at least one of the best . i think this is a very fun and very cool game for the n   . bowser is up to his usual shenanigans  yeah it  s a dumb word but the only one i can think of  and mario must stop him again . this game is very fun to play  and contains lots of nostalgia to me . the only bad thing about it is the graphics  which are awful to today  s standards  but everything else is pretty good  especially the little mini  games you can unlock  it  s the second best n   game  the first best is conker  s bad fur day  that i recommend to any mario fan  or any fan of platform games . it beats out mediocre super mario sunshine any day .  br    br       or a  
i couldn  t watch more than   minutes of it . it  s a great combination of really bad acting and really bad directing . the shots used are disgusting  they broke the    degrees angle all the time . my head hurts try to watch that load of  you know what  . dirt on the  mystery machine  window make you see light from the lighting on the windows . . . annoying . what else . . . it  s so badly framed all the time it  s just make you want to scream at that lady directing there . i only directed short films  but i  m pretty sure i  d be way better than that directing a feature film . . . . the story is unbelievable  just the long french kissing scene at the beginning tell you that it  s gonna be pretty awful . so pretty much  try to avoid this really bad movies at all cost  it  ll save you the  bucks or so for the rental  and that  h   hour of your life you  ll never get back . . .  
yes  that  s right  it is . i firmly believe that the n   and the weird looking controller were both designed just so this game could be made . it was amazing the first time i saw it  with its huge environments and colorful characters  and its amazing now . the play control is perfect  the graphics are beautiful  and it has that nintendo charm that is always so intangible but undeniably there . a must have for any n   owner  and a reason to get an n   for everyone else .  
if you liked  blair with  you  ll like this one . it has the same lousy camera  work and soundtrack  and it has the same non  existent plot and suspenseful moments .  br    br   it also has tom savini  so if you like romero  s  dawn of the dead  or tarantino and rodriguez   from dusk till dawn  you  re in for a treat . he is an icon and a very good actor as well .  br    br   no  seriously . this movie is definitely the lousiest movie i  ve seen in a long time  and i  ve seen quite a few movies   bad ones as well . i can tell you that i find most horror movies entertaining in some respect  but this was just a pure waste of time .  br    br   the only reason why i gave this movie  instead of   was the naked chicks and the hot action with all the sharp  looking plastic teeth . . . no  i  m just kidding . i must have missed before i hit  submit  on the vote form .  br    br   stay away  even though it has sexy girls with teeth on the cover   
rated e  br    br   i never actually owned a nintendo   but i have played one many times . in my opinion along with conkers bad fur day  super mario   is one of the best video games for the nintendo   system . i have played this game plenty of times and its good every time . if you have an n   and don  t have this game you should try to find it . the original super mario bros games were side scrolling video games but super mario   has a  d mario in a nice  d environment . the game is sort of weird but there is plenty of things you can do in the game . you play as super mario and once again you must rescue princess and the    power stars from bowzer . now you can do it in a  d environment . super mario   is a very fun and good n   game and i recommend it .  br    br         
when teenagers go on a trip in a camper van there are many clichs that you can guarantee will follow .  br    br     the teenagers will be warned not to go where they are going by a crazy local . dan van husen handles that with ridiculous exposition about deadly sirens . what  who  how and why are handled in one almost unintelligible burst .   the van will break down .   whilst looking for help the group will be split up and be picked off one by one by whatever monster they have been warned about .   they will find a house inhabited by a madman  he will capture them .   the house will have a phone but it will not work  it will be disturbingly decorated  there will be flickering neon light  spiders and maggots .   the madman will catch them as they try to escape in a vehicle that won  t start  here the high speed getaway was to be made on a tractor  .   the madman will be seemingly killed only to come back from the dead for a cheap  weak scare and will then be killed properly .   only a girl will be left alive from the group .   there will be an unnecessary twist at the end .  br    br   add to these elements naked sirens  who the characters seem to react to in startling different ways despite the fact that everyone that sees them is supposed to fall into lust with them immediately  that seduce and kill the teens  throats being ripped out and bodies being pulled in half and you have something resembling a twelve year old boys dream movie .  br    br   i think it is only fair to say that my opinion of the director and his previous work is as low as it is possible to be but i am happy to point out that there are a few elements that boarder on pleasurable and are a great improvement on his previous film  darkhunters  which is one of the worst films i have ever seen . at times the cinematography is very good  the music and editing are a cut above his previous films and some other low budget horror movies . i was impressed to hear that it was achieved with a third of the money spent on the previous monstrosity . however  the worst things about this movie are not to be found in the body of the film  it is ultimately a mildly diverting if pointless movie that has been done time and time again  but amongst the dvd extras .  br    br   if you do rent this film i implore you to listen to the director  s commentary it is beyond belief . there is more to say about this than the film itself . one staggering part of the commentary is the director  s claim that the film is clich leaden because it was a preconceived idea . he says it is a deliberate attempt to use all of the clichs and openly he wonders if  people will get it  .  br    br   i  m afraid to say that if this is supposed to be a clever nod and a wink to films of the past and the genre clichs within them then it is not wittily scripted enough  acted in an appropriate tone nor directed with enough style to work . if this film was made to order it leads me to ask one question  what was the point   this is s afilm that just slips right into the canon of bad horror movies  any attempt to do something clever or different haven  t worked .  br    br   the next nugget of brilliance is a conversation about the snobbery towards digital film formats . they rightly point out that digital is often synonymous with cheapness and ease of use . however  the best moment of the conversation comes when they bemoan the fact that when michael mann makes a film in the format he is branded as a visionary . there is a simple distinction to be made here mann is a talented director who will use the format to fit his story and style  roberts is a horror hack who uses it to produce bottom shelf genre pictures . i think the differences are obvious and the comparison is not only arrogant but redundant .  br    br   the best moment is reserved for robert  s comments about people who have taken the time to review his previous film . those who didn  t like it are generalised as  geeks  and he even goes as far as to single out specific people for having the nerve to voice their opinion in forums that encourage them to do just that . i must admit i was slightly disappointed that my review of his last film wasn  t singled out for ridicule . the tirade goes further as the group joke about norwegian reviewers  complete with  hilarious  accents to imply that people from norway wouldn  t know a good film simply because of where they are born . as always these sorts of comments say more about those saying them than those they are targeting  they simply make the director and his friends look ignorant .  br    br   the package in rounded out with a tasteful featurette about how the sirens were cast . robert  s swears blind in voice over   i didn  t want to make a film that was like baywatch  as we see audition tapes of topless and naked girls writhing around on the ground . there is also a simpering  self  indulgent documentary about the making of darkhunters during which robert  s says that a reviewer has claimed that forest is  the best british film in years  . i don  t know who he is trying to convince . at one point in the commentary track robert  s says jokingly  i can see people sitting at home saying  this isn  t amazing  its sht  he isn  t wrong .  
this game is amazing . really  you should get it if you don  t have it . although it is ancient now it was amazing when it came out . i believe that this game will always be a classic . it  s just as good a super mario world or so . when i was young  my friend and i would sit and play this game for hours trying to beat it which we eventually did . it  s not nearly as advanced as super mario galaxy  but if you are a fellow mario fan it is essential . it  s fun entertaining and challenging . everything you could want out of a fantasy game except for good graphics   well it did come out in     .  rock on  eva mario luigi and yoshi    nintendo is the best   
ok me and a friend rented this a few days ago because we like to keep track of b  movies since we do them ourselves . anyway  the cover contained blood and weird looking naked girls with fangs and stuff . . . and tom savini  there is just no way this movie can fail  right  wrong   it just seems like such a waste  there was really no story  the dialog was terrible  is anyone there  x          the characters were . . well  they really lacked any kind of personality . . . the effects were terrible . . and whats up with these long artsy shots of scared people running around doing nothing . . with extreme closeups of eyes and stuff  we were sitting the whole movie waiting for something . . . anything to happen . . . but no . . .  oh  here comes the nymphs  great  oh . . they  re kissing . . . again . . . and now for the violence  ok . . . nothing really happens . . . again . . . oh  now they run around . . . and the closeups of eyes . . . again . . . oh  heres tom savini  oh . . . he died . . . right . . . ok  maybe now something cool or even interesting will happen . . no . . oh  cool  a severed head  the end . . . oh crap . .  and finally  since i  m so full of myself . . i  ll tell you this  give me a van  six actors  a weird looking house  tom savini  a couple of naked girls with fangs and buckets of blood and i could make the coolest movie you  ve ever seen . . . i  ve made movies with zero budget in two days that has better effects  better acting and a better script than this . . . what is this johannes guy doing   making cool movies is easy  it could have been so great . . . i  m really upset    
mario is invited to princess peach  s castle for cake . when mario gets there  he finds out that bowser has kidnapped her  mario must save the day again . unlike the   d games  mario can explore anything he wants to . he can just roam around  climb trees trying to look for   ups  find secrets in levels  and more . you can spend four hours in one level . no time limits . there are   worlds  with a number of stages  and there are star doors  which you need a certain number of stars to get into . once you get in these star doors  you must go through a stage and fight bowser at the end of the stage . to get to certain worlds  you need a number of stars to get in . you enter the world by going through a painting . there is so much stuff to do and so many hours of gameplay  i don  t see how anyone could dislike this game . it  s great . this launch title is the game that insured gamers that the n   would have a good life . every  d plat  form game we know of has something in common with sm   . banjo kazooie and banjo tooie are examples that are commonly used . super mario   is one of the greatest games in the history of  d games .   out of   . if you have an n    buy this game . it  s hard to find used  because no one  s selling this baby for  bucks at the pawn shop . a perfect   .  
i thought that the nadir of horror film making had been reached with  book of shadows   i was wrong . this film makes that look like  the magnficiant ambersons  compared to this piece of shameless  unexpurgated fecal matter that has the audacity to call itself a movie . i  d write more but i  m still to angry that i was idiot enough to spend   renting it  bobbins .  br    br   and were these people english  and where is the forest  i have lived in the uk two thirds of my life and as far as i know there are no dark uncharted woodlands in the midlands . the whole bally thing looked like a national trust conifer plantation . those angels looked like anorexic pornstars  turned most of them were  did my research  . i did however like the bit when judd got ripped in pieces .  br    br   p . s i love and admire tom savini but he cannot act  
i have not read the novel  though i understand that this is somewhat different from it the fact that i rather enjoyed this  coupled with the fact that this really is not my genre  leads me to the decision of not pursuing reading the book . having not read a single word of austen  s writing  i really can  t compare this to any of her work . what i can say is that almost every line of dialog in this is clever  witty  and well  delivered  as well as the biggest source of comedy in this . this made me laugh out loud a lot  with perfect british and verbal material . every acting performance is spot  on  and paltrow completely nails the role of a kind matchmaker . the characters are well  written  credible and consistent . i did find a couple of them extremely irritating  however  and while i think that at least some of that was meant to be funny  it tended to get repeated excessively  and it honestly wasn  t amusing the first time they appeared . the editing and cinematography are marvelous  and everything looks utterly gorgeous . plot and pacing are great  you  re never bored . it does end in a really obvious manner  but maybe that  s what the audience of these prefer . i can  t claim that this did not entertain me  it did from start to finish  and i  d watch it again . there is brief language in this . i recommend this to any fan of romance stories .      
booted out of heaven  a gang of horny naked female angels  with big plastic fangs  have taken up residence in a spooky forest where they feed upon any hapless souls who should wander by . it  s not long before a group of friends on a road trip are falling victim to the bloodthirsty babes an independent low budget horror made in the uk  forest of the damned takes an interesting premise and flushes it down the pan with some of the worst acting  effects and direction i have seen in a long time .  br    br   director johannes roberts shows some occasional flair behind the camera  the scenes in the delapidated house are fairly tense and there are some deftly handled  shock  moments  but for the most part the film is technically amateurish . throw in some truly awful performances from horror icons tom savini and shaun hutson  and you have one real bad movie on your hands .  br    br   some fun may be derived from the film  s sheer shoddiness  and there is loads of female nudity for the guys to savour  but most will find this a chore to sit through .  
this amazing documentary gives us a glimpse into the lives of the brave women in cameroun  s judicial system   policewomen  lawyers and judges . despite tremendous difficulties   lack of means  the desperate poverty of the people  multiple languages and multiple legal precedents depending on the region of the country and the religious  ethnic background of the plaintiffs and defendants   these brave  strong women are making a difference .  br    br   this is a rare thing   a truly inspiring movie that restores a little bit of faith in humankind . despite the atrocities we see in the movie  justice does get served thanks to these passionate  hardworking women .  br    br   i only hope this film gets a wide release in the united states . the more people who see this film  the better .  
nathan detroit runs illegal craps games for high rollers in nyc  but the heat is on and he can  t find a secure location . he bets chronic gambler sky masterson that sky can  t make a prim missionary  sarah brown  go out to dinner with him . sky takes up the challenge  but both men have some surprises in store   br    br   this is one of those expensive fifties mgm musicals in splashy colour  with big sets  loud music  larger  than  life roles and performances to match broadway photographed for the big screen if you like that sort of thing  which i don  t . my main problem with these type of movies is simply the music . i like all kinds of music  from albinoni to zz top  but broadway show tunes in swing time with never  ending pah  pah  tah  dah trumpet flourishes at the end of every fourth bar aren  t my cup of tea . this was written by the tag team of frank loesser  mankiewicz  jo swerling and abe burrows  based on a couple of damon runyon stories   and while the plot is quite affable the songs are weak . blaine  s two numbers for example are identical  unnecessary  don  t advance the plot and grate on the ears  and are also flagrantly misogynistic if that sort of thing bothers you  . there are only two memorable tunes  luck be a lady  sung by brando  not sinatra as you might expect  and sit down  you  re rockin  the boat  nicely performed by kaye  but you have to sit through two hours to get to them . the movie  s trump card is a young brando giving a thoughtful  laid  back performance he also sings quite well and even dances a little  and is evenly matched with the always interesting simmons . the sequence where the two of them escape to havana for the night is a welcome respite from all the noise  bustle and vowel  murdering of noo yawk . fans of musicals may dig this  but in my view a musical has to do something more than just film the stage show .  
this is an ok adaptation  but not as good as the tv version . the actors are generally alright but i found jeremy northam rather wet as mr knightley  particularly compared to mark strong in the tv version . gwyneth paltrow is ok and her english accent is pretty good but again  i preferred kate beckinsale  s emma . there are excellent support performances from toni collette  juliet stephenson and sophy thompson .  br    br   the script is often played too much for laughs  the book is a comedy  but there are too many set  piece gags here  and also the frank churchill subplot is almost completely absent .  br    br   my biggest criticism is the scenery . it is far too lush . england has never been like this . it looks like a chocolate box . only americans would make it like this .  br    br   despite these criticisms i enjoyed this film but would recommend the tv adaptation more .  
oh god where to begin . . . . . . bad acting . . . . characters you just don  t care about . . . are they american or british . . . they seem to think they are in america  because where else is this enormous forest in the midlands . . .  br    br   one big fault . . . they are driving all night through these woods . . . unless they are going around and around they  d have been in scotland come the morning . . when the whiny one knocks the poor wandering woman over . . . .  br    br   and they  re mobiles don  t work . . so what do they do . . . split up of course  make it easier to be picked off . . . so three go looking for a house that might be there in the middle of nowhere and two stay behind to  care  for the unconscious woman . . . so what do they do  rather than make her comfortable  cushion her head  cover her up or even move her off the blooming road they just leave her lying on the hard road while they go and make a fire    yrds away . . . . and all the time they have a camper van they could put her in . . .  br    br   and onto the horny angels that are supposed to have desired human kind so much that they were ejected from heaven to live amongst us . . . so what do they do  embark on sexual relations with any men they encounter  . . . . . . . . . no they bite huge chunks out of them and rip their heads off . . . i think they are missing the point . . .  br    br   these are not gorgeous sexually deprived former angels they are cannabalistic vampires . . . and as for tom savini saying how breath takingly beautiful they are . . . . well those gals have good bodies but nothing special in the face dept . the lead role was far more pretty than these so called irresistible sirens . . .  br    br   rubbish film waste of   .   from my local library . . .  
  emma woodhouse  gwyneth paltrow  shakespeare in love  duets  has nothing to do with herself but painting  going with her friends on her chariot up and down  saying hello to people in town  and trying to match make everybody she knows . i guess there were no movies  no television in those days  and the girls had nothing to do but gossip . i wish she had read a little more . i like gwyneth  and think that she is a lovely young woman . she is talented  and in  emma  one has the privilege to hear gwyneth sing . i am looking forward to seeing  duets   where she is suppose to sing . she is brave to speak british english with all those native britons  including emma thompson  s sister   miss bates  sophie thompson  four weddings and a funeral  dancing at lughnasa  .  mrs . elton  juliet stevenson  truly  madly deeply  was considered one of the most promising actors in     . gwyneth is part of the american movie royalty  being none other than the daughter of director bruce paltrow  st . elsewhere  and tony award winner blythe danner  the myth of fingerprints  . she will hopefully be around for a real long time . lucky us  i liked emma and also recommend it . it is one of those old stories that are still accurate those days . favorite scenes emma singing and playing the piano . i specially like it when she sings a duet . favorite quotes mr . knightley   emma  you didn  t ask me to contribute a riddle .  emma  your entire personality is a riddle  mr . knightley . i thought you overqualified .  miss bates  it left us speechless  quite speechless i tell you  and we have not stopped talking of it since .   
note to horror fans the only horror here is when you realized you just wasted   minutes of your life on a movie that  s so worthless it  s insulting .  br    br   i watched this because  br    br   the premise sounded slightly promising it  s not . it  s just an excuse to use the same lame set pieces from other low  budget slasher films that weren  t good either .  br    br   the promise of naked forest nymphs sounded nice even if the movie turned out to be awful it  s not . it  s so not . the amateur cinematography makes sure the  fallen angels  are about as sexy as the average homeless person .  br    br   the name tom savini has a long history in the horror genre he  s the king of low  budget special effects and lower  budget acting . come to think of it  savini should have been a reason not to watch this movie . it  s not that he  s bad  but he  s almost always in bad movies . his only good role was in from dusk till dawn  and he  s been milking that at horror conventions ever since .  br    br   but let  s focus on the positive forest of the damned is a great example of how not to make a movie .  br    br   everything else is a negative . obviously the writer is allergic to originality . the script is terrible . that  s all a given after the first   minutes . but the clueless pacing the way the director treats  plot  and  characterization  as a nuisance he thinks no one cares about anyway and the excruciatingly long and boring driving  walking  and nature sequences  no doubt added to increase the running time to make the film qualify for distribution  show a complete lack of aptitude for film and storytelling in general .  br    br   this is another good example of the number  one way you can tell if a movie is going to be bad if it  s written and directed by the same person  expect garbage .  
first i bough this movie on vhs than i just had to buy it on dvd  it is on of my favorite movies of all time . i have read the book  but i really think the movie is much better . i loved gwyneth paltrow as emma and jeremy northam as mr . knightley was an excellent chose . he was brilliant   br    br   it  s a      movie     br    br    
i rented this flick for one reason tom savini  i respect his work but this was a real let down  i had horrible clichs  half of the film was naked women so called  fallen angels  running around trying to act scary  oh and then there was the occasional  blair witch  black and white motion sicken camera scenes . tom  s character was really awful  horrible script . and you got to love these lines they use .  is anyone there  who is out there  this isn  t funny  no but your acting was . i wish i could give this flick a   oh the names of the characters . judd  molly  ally  emilio  but they did leave out anthony  the breakfast club reunite in the forest of unforgivable acting .  
if you have any clue about jane austens production  youll now that she repeats the same in each of her novels marriage  marriage and marriage  in my opinion all the movies made from her novels are a bit boring  but i like austens characters  because they all have a certain personality and typical sayings they like to repeat as also in emma . the thing that makes emma good is gwyneth paltrow  shes very good in her leading role . also the fact that each one of the characters in the movie dont seem to be able to think anything but how to get a good partner and soon married makes the movie hilarious .  
this movie was pretty much a waste of an hour and a half of my time . i generally like the cheap horror monster type movies  but this movie was a disappointment . the main flaw being the lack of explaining the creatures . when they entered the house and found the man he could have at lease explained them . he doesn  t really say anything about them other than that they killed his parents  and unless i missed something the didn  t say how he managed to escape either . . . not to mention the fact that it gives no clue or reason why the only survivor stays and essentially feeds the creatures after her own near death experience . it would have seemed that she would have had the opportunity to leave after the  cross incident  .  
emma is a horribly flawed film based on jane austens classic novel . i have not read the book so i really didn  t know that much about the plot  and yet i still predicted nearly the entire plot . there were also many scenes that frustrated me because of the bad writing or directing . the film is though for some reason very entertaining and i loved it . of course there were all the scenes i disliked but the majority was well acted and funny . gwyneth paltrow gives one of her best performances as the heroine in emma . the film also stars toni collette  who has okay but has been much better  ewan mecgreger  who has also been better but he is still very good here  alan cumming  who i have never really been impressed with and is pretty much the same here  and jeremy northam  who  s performance is rather wooden at first look but actually fairly subtle  even if that was not what it needed  there have been much better adaptations of jane austen books but this one is still very entertaining and worth watching .  
the plot was very thin  although the idea of naked  sexy  man eating sirens is a good one .  br    br   the film just seemed to meander from one meaningless scene to another with far too few nuddie  splatter  lesbian mouth licking shots in between .  br    br   the characters were wooden and one dimensional .  br    br   the ending made no sense .  br    br   considering it had tom savini and shaun hutson in it  you would have expected a decent plot and decent special effects . some of the effects were quite good but there were just too few of them .  br    br   brownie points go for occasional flashes of tits and bush  naturally  and of course the lesbian moments . i also thought that the scene with the sirens bathing in the pool under the waterfall could be viewed as an innovative take on the  shower scene   br    br   the film had many of the elements that go into making a first rate horror film but they were poorly executed or used too sparsely .  br    br   if i had been watching this alone and aged    i would have really enjoyed it for about   minutes  with  hand of the remote control   then lost interest suddenly and needed a pizza . . .  
a slight  charming little movie to be sure  but a superbly  crafted one . gwyneth paltrow shines in this early showcase for her british accent  and the cast assembled around her all lap up the dialogue . this came out around the time of sense and sensibility  and i  m sure i don  t know why that one garnered all the oscar attention . emma is jane austen  s most accessible and least stuffy story  told well .  
well this is a typical  straight to the toilet  slasher film .  br    br   long story short  a bunch of teenagers  young adults becoming stranded in the middle of creepy woods and get hacked down by naked nymphomaniac demons .  br    br   this movie has all the basics for this slasher fromage  br    br    naked women   teens or young adults being marooned in someplace spooky   gory death scenes   the last survivor being a well built young woman who will always show off her midriff  but never bra less   a creepy  crazy man who knows about the evil   lesbian kiss scene   sex being a killer   no plot  br    br   even then for a cheesy slasher film  it was really terrible . the atmosphere is totally dead . nothing  not even the sexually explicit scenes and nudity  was enough to keep the male and lesbian female audience interested . watching it felt like it was being watched with a nasty head congestion or a nasty head cold .  br    br   give the demonic . . . . .     .  
  emma  was a product of what might be called by the first great jane austen cycle of the mid  nineties  and it was recently shown on british television  doubtless because of the interest in the author created by the second great jane austen cycle which started with  pride and prejudice  two years ago . we currently have in the cinemas the austen biopic  becoming jane   and itv have recently produced three tv movies based on austen novels . these include  northanger abbey   the only one of the six major novels not to have been filmed previously  so the cycle should now be complete . no doubt  however  there will be more to come in the near future .  there is  after all  her juvenile  love and freindship   sic   the short novella  lady susan   and someone  somewhere  has doubtless supplied endings to her two unfinished fragments  the watsons  and  sanditon  . then there are all those austen sequels churned out by modern writers  .  br    br   the main character is emma woodhouse  a young lady from an aristocratic family in regency england .  not  as some reviewers have assumed  victorian england  austen died before queen victoria was even born  . emma is  financially  considerably better off than most austen heroines such as elizabeth bennett or fanny price  and has no need to find herself a wealthy husband . instead  her main preoccupation seems to be finding husbands for her friends . she persuades her friend harriet to turn down a proposal of marriage from a young farmer  robert martin  believing that harriet should be setting her sights on the ambitious clergyman mr elton . this scheme goes disastrously wrong  however  as elton has no interest in harriet  but has fallen in love with emma herself . the speed with which emma rejects his proposal makes one wonder just why she was so keen to match her friend with a man she regards  with good reason  as an unsuitable marriage partner for herself . this being a jane austen plot  emma turns out to be less of a committed spinster than she seems  and she too finds herself falling in love  leading to further complications .  br    br   emma always insists that she will not marry without affection  and when she does find a partner  the handsome mr knightley  we feel that this will indeed be an affectionate marriage . it does not  however  seem likely to be a very passionate one  unlike  say  that of elizabeth bennett and mr darcy  . knightley  who is sixteen years older than emma  she is    he     and related to her by marriage  is more like a father  figure than a lover . much more of a father  figure  in fact  than her actual father  a querulous and selfish old hypochondriac who seems more like her grandfather . when emma is rude to her unbearably garrulous and tedious friend miss bates  it is knightley who chides her for her lack of manners .  his surname is probably meant to indicate his gentlemanly nature  nineteenth  century gentlemen liked to think of themselves as the modern equivalent of mediaeval knights with their elaborate codes of chivalry  . both gwyneth paltrow and jeremy northam play their parts very well  but this is not really one of the great screen romances .  br    br   of the other characters  i liked juliet stephenson  s vulgar mrs elton and toni collette  s harriet . i know that in the novel harriet was a nave young teenager  whereas here she is more like the character collette played in  muriel  s wedding   a gauche  slightly overweight twentysomething  fretting about her chances of finding a man . nevertheless  i felt that this characterisation worked well in the context of the film and did not detract from austen  s themes .  br    br    emma  is one of austen  s more light  hearted works  without the darker overtones of  mansfield park  or even  pride and prejudice   and this is reflected on screen . we see a world of beauty and grace  full of stately homes and elegant costumes and fine manners . apart from the ruffianly gypsies  who make a very brief appearance  the only  poor  people we see are mrs bates and her daughter  and  as they live in the sort of picturesque rose  strewn thatched cottage which today would change hands for over          we can be sure that their poverty is relative  not absolute . in emma  s world  poverty is defined as not having your own stately home . this is  of course  not a comprehensive picture of early nineteenth  century life  but nobody has ever claimed austen as the regency equivalent of a kitchen  sink realist . sophisticated romantic comedy  combined with a keen eye for analysing human character  was more in her line .  br    br   i would not rate this film quite as highly as the      sense and sensibility  or the recent  pride and prejudice   it tends to drag a bit in the middle  although it has a strong beginning and strong ending  but it is  in the main  a highly enjoyable austen adaptation .      
forest of the damned starts out as five young friends  brother  sister emilio  richard cambridge   ally  sophie holland  along with judd  daniel maclagan   molly  nicole petty   andrew  david hood   set off on a week long holiday  in the middle of nowhere   their words not mine . anyway  before they know it they  re deep in a forest  emilio clumsily runs over a woman  frances da costa   along with a badly injured person to add to their problems the van they  re travelling in won  t start  they can  t get any signals on their mobile phones . they need to find help quickly so molly  judd wander off in the hope of finding a house  as time goes by  darkness begins to fall it becomes clear that they are not alone  that there is something nasty lurking in the woods . . .  br    br   this english production was written  directed by johannes roberts  having looked over several other comments  reviews both here on the imdb  across the internet forest of the damned seems to divide opinion with some liking it  other  s not  personally it didn  t do much for at all . the script is credited on screen to roberts but here on the imdb it lists joseph london with  additional screenplay material  whatever that means  the film is your basic backwoods slasher type thing like the texas chainsaw massacre       with your basic stranded faceless teenage victims being bumped off but uses the interesting concept of fallen angels who roam the forest  kill people for reason that are never explained to any great deal of satisfaction . then there  s stephen  played by the ever fantastic tom savini  who is never given any sort of justification for what he does . is he there to get victims for the angels  if so why did he kill andrew by bashing his head in  the story is very loose  it never felt like a proper film . the character  s are poor  the dialogue not much better  the lack of any significant story makes it hard to get into it or care about anything that  s going on . having said that it moves along at a reasonable pace  there are a couple of decent scenes here .  br    br   director johannes doesn  t do anything special  it  s not a particularly stylish or flash film to look at . there  s a few decent horror scenes  the tom savini character is great whenever he  s on screen  although why didn  t he hear judd breaking the door down with an axe while escaping with molly    it  s a shame when he gets killed off . there are a couple of decent gore scenes here  someone has their head bashed in  there  s a decapitation  someone gets shotgun blasted  someone throat is bitten out  someones lips are bitten off  someone is ripped in half . there is also a fair amount of full frontal female nudity  not that it helps much .  br    br   technically forest of the damned is ok  it  s reasonably well made but nothing overly special or eye  catching . this was shot in england  wales  it  s quite odd to see an english setting for a very american themed backwards horror . the acting is generally pretty poor save for savini who deserves to be in better than this . horror author shaun hutson has an embarrassing cameo at the end  proves he should stick to writing rather than acting .  br    br   forest of the damned was a pretty poor horror film  it seems to have fans out there so maybe i  m missing something but it  s not a film i have much fondness for . apart from one or two decent moments there  s not much here to recommend .  
lavish production values and solid performances in this straightforward adaption of jane austen  s satirical classic about the marriage game within and between the classes in provincial   th century england . northam and paltrow are a salutory mixture as friends who must pass through jealousies and lies to discover that they love each other . good humor is a sustaining virtue which goes a long way towards explaining the accessability of the aged source material  which has been toned down a bit in its harsh scepticism  . i liked the look of the film and how shots were set up  and i thought it didn  t rely too much on successions of head shots like most other films of the   s and   s do . very good results .  
from the start this film was awful  why was it that bad   if it isn  t the naked women  not only in need of a decent plastic surgeon but also the expertise of a dentist followed by a free hand out of colgate whitening   then it  s the  crazy  old guy at the gas station  who isn  t so much crazy  but more  i  m not sure how to act a great deal so i will stare straight ahead and look as stupid as i can while pretending to shout in robotic tones about something in the woods    then back to these naked nymphs in need of a cure for gingivitis . . . . apparently  without touching you . . . and this is according to the opening scene . . . . they can cause a nasty looking red rash on your neck  which i assumed to be a chunk of flesh missing but just looks as though it could do with some tcp to clear it right up . then you have sophie holland who plays ally  i have never seen such baaaaaad acting  she is more of a  me me me  if i  m not having fun no  one else is  and i don  t wanna do this so i won  t  and i  m the meanest cow on the planet  i  m sarcastic  petty and if i don  t get things my way i will sulk    kind of person . . . . reminds me more of a  yr old girl  s attitude . i don  t think it  s even worth mentioning the dire camera angles that remind me of blair witch  or how low  budget the film actually was that when judd was hacking at the  locked  door it was in fact open before he reached to unlock it from the other side   this film is completely laughable  if it were a spoof then it would have been successful . . . only just though  but  as a horror film is was just plain wrong    i can  t even being to describe everything that went t  ts up in this movie i would run out of room  although it was funny to watch andrew drip raspberry juice in his ear every time he opened his mouth while tom savini  s character was completely blind to the two hiding under the table directly in his line of vision   it was even funnier when these two thought they could escape on a god damn tractor  which as we all know is thee number one hated vehicle to get stuck behind since its so god damn slow  so is it any wonder they don  t get away with it   and how many people do you know that can slice open their wrist and then run around for hours as if nothing ever happened  no pain  no weakening from blood loss  nothing   but the silliest part is when all of a sudden  and i mean that literally  it  s one year later and molly is still wandering the woods after having escaped the nymphs  and then lo and behold  shaun hutson picks her up . . . of course not without a line to promote his books    altho admittedly he is one of my fav authors  but suddenly  and with absolutely no hint of an xplanation as to how and why . . . she  s evil herself and lures hutson to his death  then we cut to the crazy dude from the beginning suddenly wandering round the woods with a petrol can  even after his  dazzling  performance on why no  one should ever venture there for whatever reason . . . cue the nymphs stupidly slappin each other around a bit for fun while crazy pours petrol everywhere . . . . and here endeth the film . . . . finally  my conclusion . . . . if you hadn  t already guessed by now . . . . absolute rubbish  there was no proper thought went into it at all  whoever was aiming the camera needed firing . . . and come to think of it so did    of the cast  if the right director  actors  and budget got behind this it could have been decent . but  once again  low  budget english horror films but the rest of the genre  the country  and the english film  making industry to shame    and i  m english so i  m allowed to say that   in fact the only decent and exciting part of the movie is in the first      mins when we watch it turn from night to day over a field type area . all i kept thinking throughout this was  jesus christ in heaven why oh why did you allow someone to make this  its absolute cow  s testicles    but i can  t turn a film off after i  ve started watching it unfortunately . i had to watch from dusk til dawn afterwards just to remind myself that tom savini does have it in him to act well  if there was an option for     then believe me i woulda chose that  cuz this film isn  t even worth the one point i did give it   br    br   but this is just my opinion  watch it and decide for yourself .  
wrapped in gorgeous english country backgrounds  emma is a delicious confection to be relished for dreamy getaways .  br    br   emma  gwyneth paltrow  is a graceful  intelligent young woman who has just married off her governess   and confidant   to a marriage which emma takes the credit in matchmaking . eager to use her talent in arranging things for the people around her  she decides to match the vicar  mr . elton  alan cummings  with her pretty young friend  harriet  toni collette  .  br    br   the result is a series of mixed signals and mistaken interpretations that end up sorting themselves out  with emma learning that she did not have as much control over events as she thought .  br    br   the film is full of jane austen  s witty and wry characterizations . gwyneth paltrow is at her best  portraying this maiden of a restrained  polite society with wit and ease . her growing romance with the unparalleled mr . knightley  jeremy northam  is the heart of this film . mr . knightley is one of the greatest romantic leading men in films . he is incredibly handsome  in a modest  relaxed way that is irresistible . he is certainly well  matched to gwyneth paltrow . their charming friendship that began when he was   and she was an infant  has blossomed as he  a family friend  matches wits with her in an older brotherly fashion that grows into something more . with a wry look or understated jab at emma  northam  s knightley is a delight to watch .  br    br   other wonderful characterizations include the comic juliet stevenson  greta scacchi  ewan mcgregor  polly walker  and the talkative spinster  miss bates  who is very funny .  br    br   seeming shorter and more flowing than most jane austin adaptations  emma has comic rhythm that promises true enjoyment .  
oh boy  where do i go with this one  herendous acting  weak plot  stupid deaths  pointless nudity . . .  br    br   this isn  t entertainment . . . this is hell .  br    br   hell .  br    br   don  t waste your money  time  or life on this pit of evil .  br    br   it  s just . . . god damn is this movie awful  tom savini  why   why would you waste your life on this crap  this movie not worth it . i  d rather snort crack and smash my head up against a wall than watch this . . . this sinful act again   br    br   please take my advice and stay the fk away from this elephant turd of a film . no  you know what  i shouldn  t even have to call this thing a film  just stay away   
i  m a huge jane austen fan and besides being a feature  length film  a true fan wants to see as little left out as possible and that can only be achieved in a mini  series  it was really great . gwyneth paltrow really captures the slightly clueless but well  intentioned rich girl and jeremy northam is mr . knightly with his poise and nobility . i wasn  t thrilled with ewan mcgregor even though i like him very much as an actor but didn  t feel it spoiled the movie at all . like i said  as a jane austen fan there were things i would have liked to have seen included that weren  t but that would have made it much longer than permissible for a feature length film and as it was i felt they really encapsulated the story well . i  ve seen every adaptation of this book and felt this was the best one   
i  ve seen a lot of movies and rarely would i ever rate a movie    but this movie was beyond terrible .  br    br   the acting was terrible  the plot was ridiculous  the effects were unrealistic and the characters were annoying . usually when i watch scary movies i think it  s dumb when the characters hears a noise in house  forest  school  etc and then yells out  hello is anyone there    but at least they  re believable when they do it . . this movie couldn  t even get that right .  br    br   this is a movie that  ll make other b  horror movies like venom and the fog look like academy award winning masterpieces .  br    br   i always have an open mind while watching movies and i can only say that this movie was a complete waste of time and i write this comment so that anyone else who  s thinking of watching this movie will think again . it  s awful   
this is a powerful documentary about domestic abuse in the cameroon . the  sisters  in law are female lawyers and judges who in     successfully prosecuted husbands for abusive treatment of their spouses and won one woman a divorce she desperately wanted through a muslim council . it is rather long   about two hours   but fascinating in terms both of the individual plaintiffs and defendants and the lawyers who successfully represented them in court rooms presided over by female judges . it will leave you  as it left me  with many questions about exactly how this change occurred . how and when did women come to occupy positions of authority in the cameroon  have the several cases featured in this film had a significant effect on the treatment of women generally by their spouses  was the granting of a divorce by a muslim court  against the express wishes of the husband  a one time event  i  m not suggesting that the film makers could have answered these questions . they made the movie two years ago  not yesterday . and the movie they made deserves a wide audience .  
though frank loesser  s songs are some of the finest that broadway has to offer  they  re bollixed by joseph l . mankiewicz  lethargic staging and uninspired presentation   when it  s over it barely feels like you  ve watched a musical . mankiewicz doesn  t seem to know how to present loesser  s challenging but tuneful melodies for maximum effect for example  one of the best numbers  the showstopping adelaide  s lament   concludes by having adelaide  vivian blaine  belt out the finale while sitting on a chaise lounge and stubby kaye  s faux  spiritual sit down  you  re rockin  the boat  has his backing choir sitting in folding chairs while he simply stands there . mankiewicz zaps all the fun out of everything by letting static scenes go on too long and his dialogue  adapted from abe burrows  stage book  has none of the wit that his films like all about eve  have . part of the blame has to go to the leads  just about all of whom are miscast marlon brando looks bewildered as to why he  s in a musical  frank sinatra plays way too nice a guy and has none of the edge which makes him so essential  the songs are not tailored to his style  and jean simmons barely registers the way a shirley jones might . only blaine  as the lovelorn showgirl adelaide  commands our attention like a broadway pro should . the colorful art direction is by joseph wright and howard bristol created the flashy sets .  
i saw this movie being a jane austen addicted and always feeling doubtful about cinematographic rendering of the complexity of her novels well  this transposition is simply accurate  intelligent  delicate  careful  tactful  respectful  intense  in a word  perfect   br    br    emma  is one of austen  s most delightful and funny novels  thanks to overall irony pervading situations and characters . the movie respected this subtle irony  not disregarding the comic element  miss bates above all  . what engaged me in the novel  and the movie renders it clearly  is the deep knowledge of human life shown by the english novelist  and the modern look with which women  men  and their relation are handled  and it is astounding if we think how a woman novelist of the   th century  who lived almost a secluded life  could grasp such depth and truth about life as she did that most and still fascinates me . we can feel this modernity throughout the movie just replace costumes  and use a more current language but the situations  the feelings  the ideas would be extremely modern . i think of the morbid interest in other people  s lives  or that insinuating envy which now as ever rule women  s relations  and still the difficulty in revealing  and giving expression to one  s feelings  especially love every situation gets a universal and out  of  time value .  br    br   the cast is really talented and offer very good and extremely brilliant performances a young gwyneth paltrow is particularly suitable for this role  nowadays she would be probably too mature for it   toni colette is simply great . and how i envied them for the wonderful dresses they could wear  and then  the breathtaking english countryside  where every situation gets such a magic and dream  like dimension . . . a really enjoyable and deserving movie .  
angels who got a little icky were banned from heaven and now reside in a british forest where they seduce and chop up teens . talk about high concept . on the plus side this little mother gives us tom savini  but since his acting range is limited to two minutes screen  time  his five minute presence seems a tad long . the angels run around the forest naked for the most part of the movie  but though they might have the body of an angel  their faces sure look like joan rivers on a bad day . mediocre acting and amateurish gore  effects don  t help and the night scenes fatally recall paris hilton  s most famous movie . so bad that it is really bad .  
well  i guess i  m emotionally attached to this movie since it  s the first one i went to see more than   times in the cinema . . . helping me through my master  s thesis  or rather keeping me from working on it   br    br   but on watching it again several years  and many many movies  later  what a well  crafted little gem this is  i  ve never seen gwyneth paltrow in a more convincing performance  and jeremy northam is the perfect mr knightley  where does one meet such a man       sigh    sophie thompson  s turn as ms bates is virtuoso acting of the finest  oh  napkins  sorry   and the rest of the cast is no disappointment either  toni colette brings a lot of muriel to her harriet  and ewan mcgregor is convincingly charming  and alan cumming and juliet stevenson are the perfect  impossible  couple   br    br   of course the sets and costumes  and the beautiful soundtrack contribute a lot to the feelgood  almost hobbiton  like atmosphere of the movie  although as far as cinematography and art decoration go  it  s almost a case of visual overload . very very pretty  but a little more austerity might have conveyed a better sense of period . but the good thing is  the movie doesn  t take itself too seriously  and there is plenty of fun  and some pretty cool editing  that keep it from sinking into saccharine merry old england mode .  br    br   my particular favorite is the ball scene  some beautiful acting and directing here  and the concluding dance summarizes the relationship between emma and mr knightley just beautifully . pity that the final proposal scene goes on for just a little too long  cut two shots  i can think of exactly which ones   and it would have been much more in keeping with the rest of the movie .  br    br   gosh  i just realize  by reading the imdb listings  that i  ve seen jeremy northam in at least three movies without even being aware that it was him  seems he  s got a lot more going for him  as an actor  than just being a gentlemanlike english heartthrob  hmm  guess i need to pay my video store a visit . . .  br    br   lovely movie . my favorite jane austen adaptation so far  though perhaps ang lee  s sense and sensibility is  strictly speaking  the better movie  this one is closest to my heart  and i  ve certainly seen it many more times  watch it if you can  and don  t be too hard on its little imperfections .  br    br    
this movie is a terrible waste of time . although it is only an hour and a half long it feels somewhere close to  . i have never seen a movie move so slowly and so without a purpose . this is also a  horror  film that takes place a lot of the time during daylight . my friend and i laughed an insane amount of times when we were probably supposed to be scared .  br    br   the only thing we want to know is why such a terrible movie was released in so many countries . it cannot be that high in demand .  br    br   the supermodel nicole petty should stick to modeling because although she is beautiful she lost her accent so many times in this movie  half of the time she is british and half the time she is american .  
this is a good adaptation of austen  s novel . good  but not brilliant .  br    br   the cinematography is inventive  crossing at times the border to gimmickry  but it certainly avoids the trap of making this look like a boring tv soap in costumes  given that the entire story is dialogue  driven .  br    br   the acting is competent . ms paltrow is aloof  as her character requires  but the required distance from the other characters is accompanied by a much less appropriate detachment from her own actions . in other words  she does not seem to care enough of the results of her match  making endeavours . some of the supporting cast is guilty of over  acting  very much in the style that is appreciated on stage but out of place in motion pictures . personally  i had problems accepting alan cumming as mr elton  to no fault of his own  except for having left such an impression as a gay trolley  dolly in  the high life  that it is now difficult to accept him playing any serious part . acting honours go to toni collette who manages to radiate warmth  and jeremy northam who pitches his character at just the right level .  
this film actually works from a fairly original idea  i  ve never seen nymphs that were thrown out of heaven in a horror movie before anyway . however  the way that it executes this idea isn  t original in the slightest we follow a bunch of kids that  for some reason decide to go on a trip into the forest . the fact that the forest is inhabited by these nymphs make it more interesting than merely another forest filled by rednecks  nutcases  zombies etc but really  the monsters are just a variation on the common horror in the woods theme . many films of this ilk don  t have a single good idea  and it would seem that this one has worn its brain cells out with just that one . the only real asset that the monsters bring to the table is the fact that they  re beautiful women that the characters lust for  rather than being hideous grotesques that they want to run away from . this is good up until a point but it soon gets boring  and the almost complete lack of any back  story surrounding the central monsters ensures that the film is never going get itself out of the  horror trash  category .  br    br   it  s been years since the evil dead made the woodlands a prime horror location  and in spite of films like the blair witch project it still makes for an excellent horror setting . this is one of the film  s major assets  as the forest presents a good impression of the unknown  the only problem is that forest of the damned doesn  t ever seem to have much up its sleeve . the death sequences show a distinct lack of imagination  and the fact that all the characters are clichd in the extreme doesn  t help  as you  re more likely to be looking forward to seeing them get killed rather than hoping they can get away . the cast is made up of kids mainly  but there is a role here for tom savini who unfortunately doesn  t get to have fun in the special effects department . the only real highlight the film has where personnel are concerned comes from the nymphs themselves . the naked ladies tend to look great  and if it wasn  t for them  this film would get very boring very quickly . there  s nothing to recommend this film for really but if you want a daft little horror film that harks back to the style of eighties woodland flicks  you might find some enjoyment here .  
emma is a true romance . if you love the soppy stuff  charged with wit and folly  you will love this movie  its true to the novel  which is very important  with a few twists added for pleasure . gwen is not one of my fave actreesess but she does justice to a role that required everything that she had to offer in spades . she shines in a role i think no other actress could have done proper justice to .  br    br   jeremy northam  as the hero . how shocked are you  i never looked upon him as overtly handsome but heck  what the right role can do for you  he looks so good as the sensible  regal mr . k  that i am literally looking at him in a new light . he makes and excellent romantic lead . the charm and character that he brings to his role is wonderful   br    br   ewan mcgregor  greta sacchi brings in the rest . a good cast . a good movie . if you are a fan of jane austen  see this movie  along with pride and prejudice  and most importantly  buy the books . it enhances the movie to heights that are extraordinary  
for the first forty minutes  empire really shapes itself up it appears to be a strong  confident  and relatively unknown gangster flick . at the time i didn  t know why  i thought it was good  but now i do .  br    br   one of the main problems with this film is that it is purely and utterly distasteful . i don  t mind films with psychos and things  to prove a point  take jackie brown  for example  but they  re all so terribly shallow in this  but that is obviously thrown in for entertainment . you literally feel a knot pull in your stomach . another major problem is the protagonist . he is smug  arrogant  yet  ironically enough  not that bad . he doesn  t seem tight enough to be a drug  dealing woman killer . the fact is  at the end of the day  this film is completely pretentious . not slick  not clever  just dull  and meaningless  this colossal mess should be avoided at all costs .  br    br    out of    out of    
jane austen would definitely approve of this one   br    br   gwyneth paltrow does an awesome job capturing the attitude of emma . she is funny without being excessively silly  yet elegant . she puts on a very convincing british accent  not being british myself  maybe i  m not the best judge  but she fooled me . . . she was also excellent in  sliding doors  . . . i sometimes forget she  s american    .  br    br   also brilliant are jeremy northam and sophie thompson and phyllida law  emma thompson  s sister and mother  as the bates women . they nearly steal the show . . . and ms . law doesn  t even have any lines   br    br   highly recommended .  
i actually intended to see this movie in the theatre . it was actually sold out . i actually went to see solaris instead  which actually was the worst movie to be released in     .  br    br   victor rosa  john leguizamo   a tough  streetwise  street pharmacist   freaks out when he sees a kid get shot  so he decides to go clean and invest all of his money with jack  peter sarsgaard  . things seem to be going pretty well until jack skips town with his girlfriend trish  denise richards  . this happened very late in the movie  so had they not revealed this in the preview  it might have been an interesting twist . but they did  so it  s not .  br    br   in fact  there  s not a single interesting thing about this movie everything is given away in the preview . if you saw even one preview  you saw the whole movie  so you might just want to think really hard to fill in the gaps . go to the website  download the preview  save yourself   .   . there is not a single surprise or twist in the entire film  other than how terrible the soundtrack is .  br    br   i hope that whoever was in charge of writing the soundtrack was fired . twice . most of it is what music would be like if the only songs allowed to be released were ricky martin and gloria estefan duets  and  i may shatter the fabric of the space  time continuum with a concept as mind  numbing as this  they both had less talent and musical ability .  br    br   the acting is at best poor  the script is at best a crime against humanity  and denise richards is at best    styrofoam and    ziploc bag . you know things are bad when john leguizamo  he was in the pest   upstages the rest of the cast with his acting abilities .  
i have no idea how a texan  the director  douglas mcgrath  and the american actress gwyneth paltrow ever pulled this off but seeing this again will remind you what all the fuss about ms . paltrow was in the first place  i had long since gone off the woman and still feel she is rather dull in her oscar  winning  shakespeare in love  performance but she gets all the beats right here   she is nigh on perfect as emma woodhouse . she may have won her oscar for shakespeare but she should be remembered for this .  br    br   of course  she  s surrounded by a great supporting cast including toni collette  greta scacchi  juliette stevenson et al . . . jeremy northam is very appealing as the love interest  even if the script wallows a bit in his declaration of love to paltrow  in the process  allowing all of the tension to drain out of their relationship   several years on  ewan  s hair is a little easier to take than it was in    and  personally  i find puckish alan cumming a grating presence in anything nowadays . but the standout is  without a doubt  sophie thompson  sister of emma thompson  daughter of phyllida law  as miss bates what this version needs is a scene where emma reconciles with miss bates  as she is the character to whose fate we are drawn . the film is worth watching  again even  for her performance alone .  br    br   all in all  this has aged wonderfully with charm to spare and more than enough subtlety to sort out the british class system . well worth a rental  because its unlikely that paltrow will ever be this good again   but we  ll always have emma  .  
the plot was predictable  and fighting with guns gets old  but this is a definate movie to look at if you have a low iq and don  t really care about real movies . i would endulge in true art movies  like  clerks    something about mary    el mariachi   or  la taqueria  .  
romance is in the air and love is in bloom in victorian era england  in this light  hearted story set against a society in a time in which manners were still in vogue  the ladies were charming and elegant  and the gentlemen dashing . emma   based on the novel by jane austen and written for the screen and directed by douglas mcgrath  stars the lovely gwyneth paltrow in the title role . a self  appointed matchmaker  emma takes great delight in the romantic notion of playing cupid and attempting to pair up those she feels are suited to one another . coming off a successful matching that ended in marriage  she next sets her sights on finding a mate for her friend  harriet  toni collette   but the outcome of her initial attempt proves to be less than satisfying . meanwhile  her endeavors are tempered by by the handsome mr . knightley  jeremy northam   whose insights into matters of the heart often seem to be a bit more astute than emma  s  and lend some needed balance to the proceedings . and emma  so concerned with what is right for others  neglects the heart that is actually the most important of all her own . the world goes round and love abounds  but emma is about to miss the boat . luckily for her  however  the is someone just right for her waiting in the wings . now  if she can but stop long enough to realize it . but as everyone who has known true love knows  matters of the heart can go right or wrong in an instant  depending upon the slightest thing and while romance is at hand for emma  she must first recognize it  and seize the moment .  br    br   mcgrath has crafted and delivered a delightful  feel  good film that is like a breath of fresh air in our often turbulent world . there may be an air of frivolity about it  but in retrospect  this story deals with something that is perhaps the most important thing there is   in all honesty   to just about anyone love . and with mcgrath  s impeccable sense of pace and timing  it all plays out here in a way that is entirely entertaining and enjoyable . it  s a pleasant  affecting film  with a wonderful cast  that successfully transports the viewer to another time and another place . it  s light fare  but absorbing and the picturesque settings and proceedings offer a sense of well  being and calm that allows you to immerse yourself in it and simply go with the flow .  br    br   the winsome paltrow  who won the oscar for best actress for shakespeare in love  two years after making this one  seems comfortable and right at home in this genre . she personifies all things british  and does it with such naturalness and facility that it  s the kind of performance that is easily taken for granted or overlooked altogether . she  s simply so good at what she does and makes it look so easy . she has a charismatic screen presence and an endearing manner  very reminiscent of audrey hepburn . yet paltrow is unique . as an actor  she has a wide range and style and has demonstrated   with such films as hard eight   hush  and a perfect murder    that she can play just about any part effectively  and with that personal touch that makes any role she plays her own . but it  s with characters like emma that she really shines . she is so expressive and open  and her personality is so engaging  that she is someone to whom it is easy to relate and just a joy to watch  regardless of the part she is playing . and for emma  she is absolutely perfect .  br    br   jeremy northam also acquits himself extremely well in the role of knightley  and like paltrow  seems suited to the genre   in the right role  that is his performance in the more recent the golden bowl   in which he played an italian prince  was less than satisfying . here  however  he is perfect he is handsome  and carries himself in such a way that makes knightley believable and very real . like colin firth  s mr . darcy in the miniseries pride and prejudice   northam has created a memorable character with his own mr . knightley .  br    br   also excellent in supporting roles and worthy of mention are toni collette  as emma  s friend harriet smith and alan cumming  as the reverend elton . respectively  collette and cumming create characters who are very real people  and as such become a vital asset to the overall success of this film . and it demonstrates just how invaluable the supporting players are in the world of the cinema  and to films of any genre .  br    br   the supporting cast includes greta scacchi  mrs . weston   denys hawthorne  mr . woodhouse   sophie thompson  miss bates   kathleen byron  mrs . goddard   phyllida law  mrs . bates   polly walker  jane fairfax  and ewan mcgregor  frank churchill  . an uplifting  elegant film  emma  is a reminder of civilized behavior and the value of gentleness and grace in a world too often beset with unpleasantness . and even if it  s only through the magic of the silver screen  it  s nice to be able to escape to such a world as this  if only for a couple of hours  as it fulfills the need for that renewal of faith in the human spirit . and that  s the magic of the movies . i rate this one     .  br    br    br    br    
tedious girls  at  reform  school flick  which plays somewhat like a prison movie . chris  linda blair  is stuck in there after running away from her abusive father . once in the de facto jail  she is gang raped by her fellow female  inmates  .  br    br   overlong  even at   minutes   with an utterly pointless ending which makes the entire film seem pointless .  br    br     year old linda blair does her best to avoid showing her body when unclothed  but lets a nipple shot slip during a shower scene .  br    br       out of   
this is one of the best films i have seen in years  i am not a gwyneth paltrow fan  but she is excellent as emma woodhouse . alan cumming is superb as reverand elton  and emma thompson  s sister  sophie  is hysterical as miss bates . and check out the gorgeous jeremy northam as mr . knightley what a gentleman  whoever said you need sex and violence in a movie to make it good has never seen emma . i think that is what separates it from so many others   it  s classy .  br    br   if you  re looking for a film that you can watch with the whole family  or looking for a romance for yourself  look no further . emma is that movie . with a beautiful setting  wonderful costumes  and an outstanding cast  have i mentioned the gorgeous jeremy northam    emma is a perfect ten   
i discovered this movie with a retailer selling oop  s . and this one surely is an oop . one year after the exorcist she  s back in business with this movie but what we all new was that the career of blair never broke out  she never became a mega star . that  s one of the reason  s many of her films are oop . she gives a good performance in this movie . it  s about a reject not recognized by her parents and doesn  t have any friends . played at an age of   playing a girl of    that  s funny . the movie is also known for the rape scene in the showers were they stick a broomstick up her virginity . in most editions it  s cut out  why  i don  t know  no blood is involved  okay  blair is butt naked but nothing is shown  no ta so nothing to offend people . but the movie is slow  extremely slow . it doesn  t happy normally to me but i almost felt asleep . it  s just about that   year old becoming a rebel against society but no blood flows  no gore no nothing . why this is categorized in horror is still a wonder to me . if you  re a fan of blair  buy it if you can find it otherwise leave it as it is .  
i was so impressed with doug mcgrath  s film version of the jane austen novel  emma   and i loved the music score by rachel portman so much  that when i went to the video store one day and discovered the two had re  united for  nicholas nickleby  i immediately rented it without any other consideration .  br    br   i have read the book  and for those overly  critical fans of this jane austen adaptation  i don  t know what else mcgrath could have done to more perfectly capture the spirit and major plot elements of miss austen  s work  especially given the limitations of a two hour movie  which some have complained about being too long   . and as far as gwen paltrow  s accent is concerned  i must confess i wasn  t too familiar with her when i saw this at the theater initially  and i was absolutely convinced at the time that she was an english actress   br    br   i am taken aback by those who criticized the film for its lush scenery . that is one of the things i enjoy and look forward to seeing in period pieces set in the english countryside . the film  s beautiful backgrounds are a major contributor to its appeal and success . if your idea of escapist fare is something bleaker  then perhaps you should rent something like  death wish iii    br    br   the english country settings are as attractive and charming as the cast  and combine with the story and soundtrack for entertainment that makes you not tire of repeat viewings . mcgrath is a wonder at choreographing the interplay of subtle expressions that are so essential in conveying the complicated romantic intrigue that occurs in this story .  br    br   this refreshing movie could also be a clinic on how enjoyable a film can be minus sex  violence or even a villainous antagonist . the story is often amusing  endearing  and at times  quite touching .  br    br   i have seen many competent jane austen book adaptations but this is without question my favorite .  
i picked this one up because the music was done by hans zimmer  a customer of metasonix modular synths  made by someone dear to me  . the jacket art says  the     version  .  br    br   i give it one point for a strong female  one point for cheezy dialog and one last point for meg foster  s light blue eyes  of which there are plenty of shots of .  br    br   it was fun seeing david maccullum casually swimming  the pool has a plexiglass viewing window    while his lady love was being chased by a psycho in greece .  br    br   the sets were marginally impressive  that is  rich people  s houses in l . a . and mendanassos  sp    where the castle was . i found myself wondering how they were able to keep up the cleaning with all the dust blowing around . the wind wasn  t fierce enough to be believable to me . i kept thinking that the animal pelts on the furniture must be nasty . . . etc . and realized that the film must be pretty boring if i am wondering these things when the supposed plot was unfolding . i stumbled over things like why did she light a fire  blow out the match  then throw the match into the fire   dumb stuff like that . it was clunky at best . oh well . robert morely got to have a bit of fun with his kooky geezer character and a nice vacation out of it .  
by no means my favourite austen novel  and paltrow is by no means my favourite actress  but i found the film almost totally delightful . paltrow does a good job  and cummings  stevenson and the one who plays  miss bates  are all absolutely terrific . the period detail is not alienating the feel of the movie is just right  in fact . but the real  find  is jeremy northam as mr knightley . there could not be more perfect casting  imo . i hated mr k in the novel  but found him wonderfully human and humane in the film . northam  s good looks and smiling eyes are no hindrance to enjoyment  either  highly recommended . anar  
  st watched            out of    dir  walter lang   disappointing musical from a character development standpoint  in my opinion  from this much  heralded rodgers and hammerstein piece . there a couple of good songs and a decent comical portrayal  at times  of the king of siam by yul brynner   but the movie doesn  t really do a good job of presenting the situation and the settings . i can only blame the screenplay and possibly some of the acting as to why we don  t fully understand the character  s and their situations . i know it might be a little too much to ask of a musical meant for the enjoyment of the songs and the dancing  but even this part didn  t stand out a lot for me . the basic storyline is about an english woman coming to siam to teach the children about upscale european things . we find out later that the king is actually the biggest pupil . there is a side forbidden romance between the king  s newest wife  played by rita moreno  a latino as an arab   come on    and a former lover that causes some complications but nothing really mesmerizing added though . deborah kerr  as the main female character annie   is ok but not that convincing either . the king learns some things because of her presence and then the movie fades away as he does . this is really a miniscule story with some songs and dancing but not that great of an experience for a viewer really .  
a remarkable documentary about the landmark achievements of the women lawyers association  wla  of kumba  in southwest cameroon  in legally safeguarding the rights of women and children from acts of domestic violence . in this muslim culture  where men have always been sovereign over women  according to sharia law  one can well imagine the difficulty of imposing secular legal rights for women and children . after   years of failed efforts  leaders of the wla began recently to score a few wins  and the purpose of this film is to share these victorious stories .  br    br   the leaders of this legal reform movement are vera ngassa  a state prosecutor  and beatrice ntuba  a senior judge  court president  . both play themselves in this film  which may contain footage shot spontaneously  though i imagine much of it  if not all  consists of subsequent recreations of real events for the camera . four cases are reviewed  and all of the plaintiffs also play themselves in the film .  br    br   two cases involve repeated wife beating  with forcible sex in one case another involves forced sex upon a   year old girl and yet another concerns the repeated beatings of a child  age   by an aunt . one of the beaten wives also is seeking a divorce . we follow the cases from the investigation of complaints to the outcomes of the trials . the outcomes in each case are favorable to the women and children . the perpetrators receive stiff prison terms and  or fines the divorce is granted .  br    br   the aggressive prosecution of the child beating aunt demonstrates that these female criminal justice officials are indeed gender  neutral when it comes to enforcing the law . also noteworthy is the respect with which all parties  including those found guilty  are treated . this is a highly important and well made film .  of interest is the fact that one of the directors  ms . longinotto  also co  directed the     film  divorce  iranian style  which dealt with related themes in tehran .   in broken english with english subtitles  . my grade b      
this review may have spoilers  but that determination would be negligible in such a classic and well  known story  br    br   the cinderella story ranks as my favorite fairy tale . the world will never have enough of this wonderful tale .  br    br   the problem is that everyone wants to tell their own version of the tale . this cannot work if the story deviates or attempts to throw some interesting ideas together with some magical photography and scrumptious looking production designs with poor direction and editing .  br    br   this cinderella story is more like an ugly duckling that never hatches or rather  is never transformed into a swan .  br    br   all the production value that money can buy  cannot purchase good cinematic timing and dramatic development  or good acting .  br    br   the entrance of cinderella at the ball as so poorly done  there was no drama of anticipation nor excitement of discovery .  br    br   the writing made me very nervous  too . the prince charming was the most undesirable of memory . why would any girl want to marry a boorish  self  absorbed prince who disliked women   br    br   turner  s turn on the stepmother role was an embarrassingly painful showing that demonstrated one  liners more than acting nuance .  br    br   even the cinderella part held little interest or sympathy .  br    br   perhaps only one sentence will describe this attempt so cheaply     s   br    br   what must be mentioned and mentioned in shameful excess is the glorious photography  matte work and production design . it was a pleasure to peruse the landscapes  sets and settings as the story unfolded .  br    br   for some cinderella storytelling  go for two gems  br    br     rodgers and hammerstein  s cinderella musical with lesley ann warren . even with the obvious stagey tv     s look to the sets  this is the best version on celluloid  bar none . an all star cast makes every effort to provide the highest entertainment . engaging  diverting and memorable writing and music . this is the classic .  br    br     ever after  this drew barrymore gem maintains the historical perspective  alters the story line but not enough to derail the effective development of the salient points of this classic tale . the characters of the principals and of all of the supporting roles were written smartly and acted well .  
what a delightful film . . .  br    br   accompanied by oscar  winning composer rachel portman  s lush  emotional and dreamy music  this film remains a pure delight worthy of viewing more than once a year .  br    br   incredible casting . . .  br    br   gwyneth paltrow was perfect for the role of emma . toni collette was great as harriett smith .  br    br   the character who stole the film was miss bates    she was mesmerizing to watch  one finds oneself on the edge of ones  seat just hanging on her every word and laughing hysterically with her . one of the most endearing characters i have come across in ages . from one of the opening scenes when she is thanking mr . woodhouse for sending  that lovely quarter  hind of pork . . . pork  mother     she shouts into her daffy and clearly hearing impaired mother  mrs . bates  played by emma thompson  s mother  phyllida law  who looks forlorn and lost .  br    br   the comical ways that emma would avoid the grating miss bates builds itself up for one truly gut  wrenching scene at the picnic when emma insults miss bates who takes her cruel dig to her heart . we then see poor miss bates stammering and on the verge of tears and just so crushed one can not help but feel one  s heart ripped out to her on her behalf . it is a classic scene  one to be rewound and played over  over . . .  br    br   the ending is right up there with  sense  sensibility  and provides one of life  s greatest lessons about how one should marry one  s best friend . . .  br    br   i hope that this film delights you all as much as it has myself .  br    br   i adored it   
disappointing musical version of margaret landon  s  anna and the king of siam   itself filmed in     with irene dunne and rex harrison  has deborah kerr cast as a widowed schoolteacher and mother who travels from england to siam in     to accept job as tutor to the king  s many children   and perhaps teach the royal one a thing or two in the process  stagy picture begins well  but quickly loses energy and focus . yul brynner  reprising his stage triumph as the king  is a commanding presence  but is used   per the concocted story   as a buffoon . kerr keeps her cool dignity and fares better  despite having to lip  synch to marni nixon  s vocals . perhaps having already played this part to death  brynner looks like he had nothing leftover for the screen translation except bombast . second  half  with anna and the moppets staging a musical version of  uncle tom  s cabin  is quite ridiculous  and the rodgers and hammerstein songs are mostly lumbering . brynner won a best actor oscar  but it is feisty kerr who keeps this bauble above water . overlong  heavy  and  old  fashioned  in the worst sense of the term .  from   
i love this movie . my friend marcus and i were browsing the local hastings because we had an urge to rent something we had never seen before and stumbled across this fine film . we had no idea what it was going to be about  but it turned out spectacular .  thumbs up . i liked how the film was shot  and the actors were very funny . if you are are looking for a funny movie that also makes you think i highly suggest you quickly run to your local video store and find this movie . i would tell you some of my favorite parts but that might ruin the film for you so i won  t . this movie is definitely on my top   list of good movies . do you really think nothing is bouncy   
this is a kind of genre thing  meaning you either like the     s musicals or you don  t . if you do  you  ll love this . personally  i prefer the     s and most of the    s musicals with the dancing talents of astaire and rogers  and eleanor powell  bill robinson  ruby keeler  james cagney  shirley temple and so forth but the songs of the    s  the slower dance numbers and the soapy melodramas of the decade all turn me off .  br    br   this film is a case  in  point . the first song was okay but the next three did nothing for me . by then  the story didn  t have much appeal  either . the presence of deborah kerr is another minus . i don  t think i  ve seen a movie she starred in that i liked  including this one  where the goody two  shoes english teacher she portrays spends half the movie threatening to leave siam .  i which she had   .  br    br   however  divorcing myself from likes  and  dislikes  there is no denying this rogers and hammerstein production has a lot of appeal to many folks  particularly those who liked  the sound of music  a decade later . there are similarities in the rh musicals . thus  if you liked the julie andrews flick  you should like this  too .  br    br   this is a lavish production with  yes  a capital  l .  this is the kind of big  production musicals you rarely saw after that generation . you also get the dubbed singers  unlike today  where the actress isn  t able to really sing so marnie nixon comes to rescue of kerr  as she did with natalie wood in  west side story  and audrey hepburn in  my fair lady .   br    br   yul brynner is  king mongkut  and is the stereotypical traditionalist  the kind filmmakers always portray in a negative way . he isn  t  progressive   as the left wingers like the say  but the education teacher  kerr  as  anna leonowens   will set him straight . secular  progressives of today always place teachers higher than people trying to cure cancer  however  yul is good in this role and even employs some comedy along with his more  bark  than  bite character . justifiably  he is the big star of this film . brynner had magnetism . even in  the magnificent seven   yul was the one cowboy who mesmerized the audience .  br    br   in summary  it  s a fine movie for its day and millions of people enjoyed it . i  ll leave it at that .  
make the world go away . get it off my shoulder . say the things you used to say  and make the world go away .  br    br   well  dave  david hewlett  and andrew  andrew miller  were in a pickle  one for embezzlement  and the other for kissing a child . neither was guilty  but faced with charges and their house about to be torn down  they ended up in  well  nothing . the whole world  except for their house went away .  br    br   it is kind of weird  but funny  too . just what would you do if you were all alone in the world  the two friends just enjoy each other  s company  and do what they want . but  that gets old fast  it seems .  br    br   then they start to improve their live by hating away memories . the sound effects during this were great .  br    br   things really got weird at the end . this film was the product of a great imagination  and written and directed by vincenzo natali  with help from the two stars . it just has to be seen .  
madison is not too bad  if you like simplistic  non  offensive   family  friendly  fare and  more importantly  if you know absolutely nothing about unlimited hydroplane racing . if  like me  you grew up with the sport and your heroes had names like musson  muncey  cantrell  slovak  etc .  prepare to be disappointed .  br    br   professional film critics have commented at length on the formulaic nature of the film and its penchant for utilizing every hackneyed sports clich in the book . i needn  t repeat what they  ve said . what i felt was sadly missing was any sense of the real excitement of unlimited hydro racing in the  glory years   which many would argue were already past in      .  br    br   yes  it was wonderful to see the old classic boats roaring down the course six abreast  though it was clear that the restored versions  hats off to the volunteers at the hydroplane and race boat museum  were being nursed through the scenes at reduced speed . but where was the sound  much of the thrill of the old hydros was the mind  numbing roar of six allison or rolls  merlin aircraft engines  wound up to rpm  s never imagined by their designers  hitting the starting line right in front of you . you didn  t hear it  you felt it . real hydro buffs know exactly what i  m talking about . there  s none of that in madison . instead  every racing scene is buried under what is supposed to be a  heroic  musical score .  br    br   and then there are the close  up shots of the drivers  riding smoothly and comfortably in the cockpits as if they were relaxing in the latest luxury limousines  in some cases taking time to smile evilly as they contemplate how best to thwart the poor home  town hero . or  in one particularly ridiculous shot  taking time to spot jake lloyd giving a  rocky  salute from a bridge pier . in reality  some unlimited drivers wore flak vests to minimize the beating they took as the boats slammed across the rock  hard water at speeds above    mph .  br    br   as one reviewer so aptly put it   the sport deserves better than this .   br    br   finally  since another user brought up anachronisms  i  ll add one the establishing shot of seattle shows the kingdome and safeco field . neither existed in      
i totally agree that  nothing  is a fantastic film  i  ve not laughed so much when watching a film for ages  and david hewlett and andrew miller are fantastic in this  they really work well together  this film may not appeal to some people  i can  t really say why without spoiling it   but each to their own  i loved it and highly recommend it   br    br   the directing is great and some of the shots are very clever . it looks as though they may have had a lot of fun when filming it   br    br   although there are really only main  characters in the film and not an awful lot of props the actors manage to pull it off and make the film enjoyable to watch .  
this version moved a little slow for my taste and i suppose i have problems with this play to begin with . but first the movie  it  s a typical tv movie version of a play which means it doesn  t have the flair of the original film version with william holden . what they couldn  t afford to hire more than twelve people as extras  why move the movie up to      so you could give the little sister a line about the vietnam war protests  why not     and give her a line about the civil rights movement   br    br   as for the casting  some hits some misses . jay o . sanders hit the right notes for his character especially with his scenes with josh brolin . brolin on the other hand miss a lot of the notes . he  s believable as an ex  bmoc jock but he doesn  t have the raw sensuality of william holden . i always thought brolin looks a little bit like a gorilla to have all the women in town go ape over him  pardon the pun  . gretchen moll was lovely but she seemed a little too wise for the character she played . she didn  t project the innocence or ignorance that the character required . maybe it  s because she and brolin were about  years older than the characters should be . but then again holden was ten years too old . bonnie bedelia was rather forgettable as the mother and mary steenburgen can  t seem to make up her mind whether she was playing blanche dubois or katharine from  the taming of the shrew  .  br    br   as for mr . inge  s play  i always felt that stories like this of a young woman choosing passion over practicality always needed an epilogue .  the twilight zone  i believe offer a likely epilogue with the episode   spur of the moment  where a young diana hyland was being chased by a bitter older diana hyland  because the younger diana hyland chose to run off with a guy similar to hal carter .  
whether it  s a good movie or not  films of this kind has to be made  i think . it remembers me of  i love huckabees   a overwhelmingly puzzling movie with isabelle huppert being sodomized by a young american in a mud pond  in a merry sadistic  masochist way         . i hope the director will go on stepping across the border  as though i felt the choices vincenzo natali made  were not always subtle  some of the scenes were unhappily kind of  tarte    la  crme   like a childish slapstick   speaking about script and cinematography the color of  cube  was black   nothing  is white  more cheerful  surprisingly  than the former films of natali .  
perhaps it  s because i am so in love with the william holden  kim novak version  or because i  m not a gen  x  er  but this was absolutely the worst remake i have ever seen . without the original  s soundtrack  it just seemed like another typical tv movie . . . yes  about as bland as kraft cheese .  
the only word that sums up this movie is quirky . it  s a light  hearted romp through an existential concept . bouncy  in more way than one  and a bit nutty . i wouldn  t exactly call it grand and unforgettable cinema and it doesn  t seem quite as memorable as the director  s first movie  cube  but it  s a good pit of fluff to watch on a sunday morning . the acting veers from respectable to annoying at times but i believe that  s how it was to be written . done as a serious movie it could perhaps have been great or may very well have stepped into a state of pretension . a little like  the matrix  meets  head  meets  human nature  .  br    br    .  out of ten  
  br    br   according to reviewers  the year is     and the players are   year  old college kids about to enter grad school . jolly joke   br    br        the synthesizer keyboard was not invented yet  but there it is on the bandstand . the ford pony car was not invented yet  but there it is playing oldies music . the synthesizer appeared to be a model from the mid      s . the pony car at best is from the mid      s .  br    br     year  old college kids  josh brolin had seen   birthdays when this made  for  tv movie was produced .  br    br   the plot is so predictable that viewers have plenty of spare time to think of all the errors appearing upon their tv  s .  
yes . . . i  m going with the    on this and here  s why . in the last few years  i have watched quite a few comedies and only left with a few mild laughs and a couple video rental late fees because the movies were that easy to forget . then i stumble upon  nothing  . looked interesting  wasn  t expecting much though . i was wrong . this was probably one of the funniest movies i have ever had the chance to watch . dave and andrew make a great comedic pair and the humor was catchy enough to remember  but not over complex to the point of missing the joke . i don  t want to remark on any of the actual scenes  because i do feel this is a movie worth seeing for once . with more and more pointless concepts coming into movies  you know  like killer military jets and  fresh  remakes that are ruining old classics   this movie will make you happy to say it  s ok to laugh at  nothing  .  
william cooke and paul talbot share director  writer credit for this entertaining low budget film about three boys camping out in the woods with their horror magazines . feet propped up by the fire and schoolboy banter back and forth . . . and a scroungy town tramp named ralph  gunnar hansen . . . of leatherface fame  wanders over and trades four tales of gore in return for food and the warmth of the fire .  br    br   one tale is the old retread of  the hook   two teens on lover  s lane attacked by a demented killer with a hook for a hand . another story has a couple of tokers needing to score some weed . they stumble upon a guy that knows a guy that has some great st . as they smoke a couple of bags full their skin begins to turn gray and green before it bubbles up and falls off . one of the better stories is about an unhappy man returning home for christmas  who can  t wait for his mother to drop dead and enjoys telling his nephew and niece about satan claus . the fourth campfire tale is of a greedy sailor that washes ashore upset about an empty treasure chest and ends up being chased out to sea by zombies .  br    br   without a big budget for special effects  campfire tales gets the point across and really could have been a lot worse . a bit corny  but fun to watch except for maybe the sailor tale . the acting is understandably not award worthy . cast members include tres holton  courtney ballard  h . ray york  johnny tamblyn  walter kaufmann  kevin draine  david avin and paul kaufmann .  
this movie was very funny  i couldn  t stop smiling when watching this and have already watched it twice in a period of  days  the movie is distinctively unique in it  s humor and visuals  both are terrific and on par with natali  s other  more serious  movie gems cube and cypher . i have become a huge vincenzo natali fan ever since watching cypher and everything he  s made is very interesting .  br    br   very likable about this movie are the music and  loser  characters dave and andrew  portrayed by david hewlett and andrew miller  co  writer of the story   actors i both like very much . also cool are the x  box dead or alive fights  you even see dave playing halo at a point  and andrew  s amazing guitar solo  among many other things .  br    br   all in all a great feel  good film about friendship . you have to see this   
well  what can you say about a barbara cartland adaptation   br    br   there are some amazing actors in this  oliver reed  sarah miles  christopher plummer  but they clearly are clocking up the money .  br    br   lysette anthony and marcus gilbert have appeared in two other cartland epics  anthony with hugh grant  who looks suitably embarrassed  and gilbert with helena bonham carter .  br    br   if you really want to see a  watchable  adaptation of cartland  the bonham carter one is the one to go for   a hazard of hearts   what a title    . gilbert is the weak link in that  but bonham carter is suitably beautiful and of course can actually act  and the rest of the cast play it to the hilt with tongues firmly in cheek  edward fox  diana rigg   
i work at a movie store  and as such  i am always on the look  out for an excellent movie . i decided to check out nothing as it sat in our canadian section  and i  ve been trying to support my country  s movie industry . i was in for a surprise . the film features david hewlett and andrew miller in a highly entertaining story that seems to delve into so much of our minds and relationships . . . without working that hard . it is consistently comedic through the interaction of the two characters  as well as some funny exchanges   we can  t be dead  we have cable    . what more can i say without noting that it is worth a shot  even if you abandon it within the first half an hour .  
the first power       was a terrible film that came out during the late    s  early    s era of cheaply made horror films . i found this movie very boring but extremely hilarious in some parts . this movie lacks so much sense and credibility that it ain  t even funny . the swift justice system in this film makes texas look weak by comparison . lou diamond phillips is in way over his head with this role  he plays a hard  boiled cop  and tracey griffith  melanie  s more attractive sister  plays a psychic . don  t waste your time with this one because it  s bad . what a minute  i take it back . this movie makes a great party film . check out the switchblade crucifix packing nun  she has the nicest legs i  ve ever seen on a nun that wasn  t in a jesus franco nunsploitation flick . yeow   br    br   this marked an end of an era for l . d . p . his star was tarnished and he couldn  t draw flies to a dung heap . it was d . t . v . for him until his  ressurection  a few years later .  br    br   not recommended unless you  re desperate .  
this is a good movie  but it is not recommended if you don  t like intelligent movies . it  s about two guys that wish that the world would go away  and that  s exactly what they get . the acting is great  the ending was not predictable  and it actually had a good story unlike most movies these days . people complain about the movie being too simple or too boring . i think they should just stick to movies like the toxic avenger  i actually like b movies  or the grim adventures of billy and mandy . one note if you notice this  this has exactly the same actors from cube except four actors . make it two notes wait after the credits  trust me on this one  . enjoy the movie .  
people tried to make me believe that the premise of this rubbishy supernatural horror  thriller was inspired by the actual last words spoken by an authentic serial killer  whose name escapes me at the moment  . whilst awaiting his execution in the electric chair  he claimed that his soul would return to life and continue to go on a never  ending murder spree . it  s not a highly original idea to revolve a horror film on  by the way . other low  budget turkeys implemented the exact same basic premise  like  house     shocker  and  ghost in the machine  . anyway   the first power   a . k . a  pentagram   isn  t a completely terrible effort  but the script overly reverts to clichs and lacks genuine thrills . the film starts off as an okay  albeit mundane serial killer flick in which obsessive cop  hero lou diamond philips pursues a maniac who carves bloody pentagrams into the chests of his victims . he receives unexpected help from a spiritual medium  played by the gorgeous and underrated tracy griffith . she leads him to the killer but also begs not to execute him  as that would result in an even bigger catastrophe  thanks to tess  helpful hints  detective logan quickly captures the killer and celebrates his death penalty  but patrick channing made a pact with satan himself and returns to the rotten streets of california to do some more killing .  the first power  gets pretty bad once the murderer reincarnates as a vengeful spirit . instead of using his newly gained satanic powers to wipe out the entire world  that  s what i would do in his position   channing simply prefers to play cat and mouse games with his nemesis the copper . he annoyingly calls him  buddy  boy  all the time and possesses the bodies of logan  s friends and colleagues in order to trick him . even though never really boring or poorly realized  it  s a very weak film to endure  mostly because you constantly get the feeling of dj  vu . writer  director robert resnikoff shamelessly uses every dreadful clich  the killer got sexually abused as a child  and even the players  lines can easily be predicted . as soon as griffith explains she  s able to predict the future  you just know that  somewhere at some point in the film  she  s going to say the ridiculously overused line  i tell people who to live their lives  but my own life is a mess  . yawn . lou diamond philips  performance is adequate enough  but it  s rather difficult to take that youthful rebel of  la bamba  and  stand and deliver  serious as a tough copper . there also are decent supportive roles for mykelti williamson   forrest gump    carmen argenziano   when a stranger calls   and b  movie horror legend david gale   re  animator   appears in a minuscule cameo at the very beginning of the film .  
sisters in law is made by the same directors of the rather curiously fascinating  divorce  iranian style  which was as exactly as it stated  as we got a glimpse of divorce court in iran . now they  ve turned their attention to the court system in cameroon  africa . what  s great about this court is that  of the magistrates are women  which is unusual for such a country like this . anyways  they deal with plenty of men used to getting their way around the women  but this film is remarkable in the fact that it appears that women has made great strides in society  with divorce legal and women  s rights being recognized . so the judges often chastise the men for behaving in a primitive way in these times . not to say that the women who appear at the court get the softer treatment . one of the prime focuses of the film is a case of child abuse done by an aunt . the judges waste no time in lashing out at the woman with fury . and who said that justice isn  t served anymore  with these  behind the bench . they often carry out maximum penalties  ya  you go girl   
bizarre take on the cinderella tale . terribly poor script  but kathleen turner turns in a pretty decent evil step  mother performance .  br    br   visually stunning in some parts  but that  s about it . the period costumes range from the elizabethan era to the     s . fast forward until you see something interesting and save yourself the full   minutes of drivel .  br    br   if you  re really in the mood for a cinderella story  i suggest  ever after a cinderella story  or  the glass slipper  .  
i can only agree with taximeter that this is a fantastic film and should be seen by a wide audience . the imagination on display  the visual interpretation of the script  the humor is constantly surprising . the two leads are great and really carry the film . my advice would be to not even watch a trailer  just rent the film and watch without expectations . i rented from blockbuster  so it is readily available in brisbane  not everyone will enjoy it but i think most people will have an opinion and that  s always good  unless it  s just  that was stupid  . i loved this film  you just don  t get to see gem  s like this every day . this should become a cult favorite . give it a try  you may just feel the same way about it as i do .  
patrick channing  jeff kober  is a disciple of satan  serial killer who possesses the  first power   even after being captured by detective russell logan  lou diamond phillips  and executed in the gas chamber  he is able to move his spirit from body to body and continue to murder at will . with the help of attractive psychic tess seaton  tracy griffith  melanie g .  s half  sister  he attempts to stop channing .  br    br   this concept probably had some possibilities  i think  but ultimately  the first power  suffers from routine scripting and film  making . this is nothing we haven  t seen before  sometimes done better . there is nothing about this movie to distinguish it from other supernatural horror thrillers . more to the point  it  s not very thrilling and it certainly isn  t scary . phillips is a hard sell as a tough  as  nails  cynical cop stereotype  and griffith doesn  t seem to be trying very hard best cast member is probably the distinctively featured kober  doing his best to be supremely creepy .  br    br   the climax is rather silly and the ending very weak .  br    br   not really even acceptable enough to rate as an average film of its kind  therefore  br    br        
i thought this was an awesome movie . the theme song is sweet    anyway  the only thing that somewhat bothered me was in the beginning  when everything should have been normal . it was very weird and unrealistic . the big cable company is mainly what i  m talking about . apart from that  the movie was very creative . i think that all the acting was well done  the actors acted out their characters  personalities perfectly . everything fit together well . it really is a shame that their isn  t a soundtrack . that would have been great  because this is a canadian film  and because it is one of my favorites  i give this movie a   out of     
i jotted down a few notes here on the first power  lou lambada diamond phillips      satanic serial killer yuppie hell  fest . . .  br    br     lou diamond phillips was recently indicted for beating up his wife and may serve time in prison . i only hope that he can find armani prison wear to go off in style with one of the guilty pleasures of this movie is seeing his police detective clad in      designer overcoats  a      designer silk suit  and seeing his       month los angeles bachelor pad loft with interior design by mies van der roeh .  br    br     leading lady tracey phillips has gorgeous porcelain skin  flowing red hair that always seems styled even when mussed  and amazing breasts that are hi  lighted in the  nd half of the film by a designer silk pullover that sadly remains in place over her torso even when she was being prepared to be sacrificed to satan . at least back in the      s our demonic killers undressed their victims before doing away with them  though there is something to be said for leaving a bit to the imagination . by the final   minutes of the movie all i could think about is what her breasts probably would look like .  br    br     professional psychics living in los angeles can afford   million dollar condos on mullholland drive overlooking los angeles with a view that would make brad pitt decide that he was roughing it . as a matter of fact the condominium used in this film looks exactly like the same one seen in david lynch  s mullholland dr .  which at least had the good sense to make it  s condo resident a successful movie director . the only professional psychics i have encountered outside of this movie are all currently serving prison sentences for wire fraud .  br    br     i forget his name but the villain in this movie is wonderful  and his  how  s it going   buddy boy   line could be the best overlooked movie phrase since  thanks for the ride  lady    from creepshow  .  br    br     underneath major metropolitan cities there are huge vats of simmering acid that will explode into huge fireballs if someone throws a lit zippo lighter into them  which is why major public waterworks plants all have no smoking signs plastered all over them even though the idea of smoking around water being dangerous is of course preposterous . and since zippo lighters need to be manually filled with lighter fluid that can often leak out and be absorbed by ones clothing  the idea of a carrying one in the pocket of your      gucci silk suit strikes me as being much more dangerous .  br    br     the stunts in this movie are impressive to say the least  and one of the fun things about watching it is remaining yourself that you are not viewing computer aided special effects but actual stuntpeople risking life and limb to contribute to a movie that earned nearly universal bomb ratings from critics when released .  br    br     movie satanists always amaze me here is a guy who has tapped into some luciferian bid for power  and yet instead of using it to do something useful like making himself rich or causing fashion models to engage in free form sex with him  he instead possesses bag ladies and have them levitate outside of people  s apartments . speaking of which here is a guy who is indestructible  can fly  and is able to put his being inside of other people  s bodies   and yet he obliges star lou diamond phillips with an ordinary fistfight in the film  s conclusion  yet does not have the good sense to inhabit arnold schwartzeneggar or apollo creed to ensure that he wins .  br    br   and on and on . . . to be watched in the company of wise  cracking friends while consuming beer . you  ll have fun so long as you steadfastly refuse to take it seriously .  br    br        
tweaked a little bit   nothing  could be a children  s film . it  s a very clever concept  touches upon some interesting metaphysical themes  and goes against pretty much every hollywood convention you can think of . . . what goes against everything more than  literally   nothing   nothing is the story of two friends who wish the world away when everything goes wrong with their lives . all that  s left is what they don  t hate  and a big empty white space . it  s hard to focus a story on just two actors for the majority of your film  especially without any cuts to anything going on outside the plot . it focuses on pretty much one subject  but that  s prime vincenzo natali territory . if you  ve seen  cube   you know already that he tends to like that type of situation . the  nothing  in this movie is apparently infinite space  but natali somehow manages to make it somewhat claustrophobic  if only because there  s literally nothing else  and nowhere else to go . the actors sell it  although you can tell these guys are friends anyway . two actors from  cube  return here  worth and kazan   but are entirely different characters . they change throughout the story  and while they  re not the strongest actors in the world  they  re at least believable .  br    br   the reason i say this could be a children  s film under the right tweaks  is because aside from a few f  bombs and a somewhat unnecessary bloody dream sequence  the whimsical and often silly feel of this movie could very much be digested easily by kids . so i find it an odd choice that the writers decided to add some crass language and a small amount of gore  especially considering there isn  t very much of it . this could  ve gotten a pg rating easily had they simply cut a few things out and changed a little dialogue . there is very little objectionable about this film  but just enough to keep parents from wanting their kids to see it . i only say that  s a shame because not because i support censorship  but because that may have been the only thing preventing this movie from having wider exposure .  br    br   at any rate  this is a reasonably entertaining film  albeit with a few dragged  out scenes . but for literally being about nothing  and focused entirely on two characters and their interactions with absolutely nothing  they do a surprisingly good job for an independent film .  
detective russell logan  lou diamond phillips  has a major problem on his hands . the serial killer  patrick channing  jeff kober   for whom psychic extraordinaire tess  tracy griffith  helped him capture  has been resurrected with the first power  . . given to him by satan after his execution in the gas chamber  and can possess the bodies of the weak . somehow  russell  who joins forces with tess  . . who has an understanding of what they are up against   will have to stop channing or many women will continue to die at his bloody hands . they will seek help from sister marguerite  elizabeth arlen  who has tried to inform her superiors in the catholic church of the first power  but has been denied access to a weapon that can stop channing . . a cross with a blade that can penetrate the heart of channing ridding the world of his evil . she  ll take it anyway and lend a helping hand to russell  who  ll need all the help he can get when channing kidnaps tess preparing her for some sort of satanic ritual  ceremony .  br    br   in the film  mykelti williamson  always a reliable welcome supporting actor  gets the partner of russell role . . so you know what will happen to him . as in films of this type  everyone around russell is dying  but when he attempts to kill channing  he  s merely murdering the weak host of some other poor soul he possesses .  br    br   pure occult rubbish . . stupid from the gate to the finish line . phillips and griffith try  i  ll give them that  but in a flick like this they don  t stand a chance . kober  who is normally often always effective as the heavy  is really handed nothing more than a goofy villain who leaps in the air and tosses rotten quips .  
a light  hearted comedy  nothing shows us a world that we sometimes wish to escape to a world of nothing . anything you don  t like  be it a stack of bills  a bad memory  or even hunger can disappear at your wish . they approached this movie very well  and with an enjoyable starring duo  there were only a few things i didn  t like about nothing  and they weren  t even part of the main movie .  br    br   first  the post  credits scene  and yes  there is one   good for a chuckle  but what were they trying to accomplish with that  i was confused and eager to see a return to something after a whole movie of nothing . instead  we just hear a random assortment of noises and they scream . it tries to set up a sequel in my opinion  and wasn  t really necessary  nor was it funny after the turtle crawled out of frame .  br    br   second  the trailer i saw the trailer on the dvd  and like others have already said this  it promotes a horror movie that never came . oh well  poor marketing i guess .  br    br   if you see this at your movie rental store  take a look  because nothing is a great movie to watch . if you have a big screen though  you might want to wear shades .  
the only thing that the first power really has going for it is that it affords jeff kober an opportunity to play one of his lovely variety of psychotic villains that he  s done so well in the last   years . kober is a worthy successor to lyle bettger who specialized in those parts back in the fifties .  br    br   but it  s not enough  the first power is a souped up slasher flick that has lou diamond phillips wasted as an lapd detective who has a specialty in catching serial killers . kober is his latest catch  but kober  s in league with a lower power and they  re going to team up and make lou  s life miserable for him . even after kober is given the gas chamber  his spirit comes back in all kinds of guises .  br    br   mykelti williamson is on hand as lou  s partner who meets a nasty end involving a demon possessed horse and tracy griffith as a psychic and elizabeth arlen as a nun with insights are around to help lou . will he succeed in battling forces from beyond   br    br   by the time the film ends  you no longer care . lou really got trapped in a turkey . maybe the devil made him do this film .  
well   cube         vincenzo  s first movie  was one of the most interesting and tricky ideas that i  ve ever seen when talking about movies . they had just one scenery  a bunch of actors and a plot . so  what made it so special were all the effective direction  great dialogs and a bizarre condition that characters had to deal like rats in a labyrinth . his second movie   cypher         was all about its story  but it wasn  t so good as  cube  but here are the characters being tested like rats again .  br    br    nothing  is something very interesting and gets vincenzo coming back to his  cube days   locking the characters once again in a very different space with no time once more playing with the characters like playing with rats in an experience room . but instead of a thriller sci  fi  even some of the promotional teasers and trailers erroneous seemed like that    nothing  is a loose and light comedy that for sure can be called a modern satire about our society and also about the intolerant world we  re living . once again vicenzo amaze us with a great idea into a so small kind of thing .  actors and a blinding white scenario  that  s all you got most part of time and you don  t need more than that . while  cube  is a claustrophobic experience and  cypher  confusing   nothing  is completely the opposite but at the same time also desperate .  br    br   this movie proves once again that a smart idea means much more than just a millionaire budget . of course that the movie fails sometimes  but its prime idea means a lot and offsets any flaws . there  s nothing more to be said about this movie because everything is a brilliant surprise and a totally different experience that i had in movies since  cube  .  
when childhood memory tells you this was a scary movie it  s touch and go whether you should revisit it . anyway  i remembered a scary scene involving a homeless person and a cool villain played by jeff kober .  br    br    the first power  is not a very good movie  sad to say . it  s chock full of those cop clichs and a very poor script with holes a truck could drive through  along with countless convenient  twists  that help the story run along  . lou diamond phillips is the over  confident bad ass cop who sends baddie serial killer kober to the gas chamber only to find out he was a minion of satan himself and now has the power of resurrection along with the power of possessing every weak minded person who he comes across . through in the mix a very poorly realized psychic who helps with the case .  br    br   ahhh  this is trash . but enjoyable as such  especially if you have fond memories of it . it scared me as a kid and that scene with the homeless person is still pretty good . as for any kind of logic here forget it  just about every scenario is thrown in for good measure and you end up with a cross between a steven segal action flick and a    s demonic flick . and who on earth thought it was a good idea to cast lou diamond phillips in the lead here  needless to say he  s not convincing at all but he tries his best and i  ve never had the problem with the guy so many reviewers here seem to have . as for tracy griffith as the psychic  the less said the better . but kober is pretty good as the killer always liked that actor .  br    br    the first power  may be just what the doctor ordered after a hard day  s work and a  brain switch  off  is needed . beer will most likely enhance the viewing experience and i  ll definitely have loads of it the next time i give this movie a spin . all in all not a good flick but a somewhat guilty pleasure for nostalgic fans who were easily scared as kids .  see you around  buddy boy    
having seen cube  i  ve been a fan of vincenzo natali  s work . natali seems to have this inept ability to take a storyline  and hardly wring it our like a wet towel for all the storyline he can muster . instead  he lets the stories themselves unfold in natural ways  so much in fact  that you may in fact believe there is this cube were people try to escape  or in the case of nothing  a large empty expanse where there is . . . nothing  the advert had me hooked instantly . it seemed so simple  take two characters who no one likes  and send them to a world where there is nothing . natali does this so simply that you forget the logic that a place where there is nothing cannot exist . in fact  the world of nothing becomes something of an irony within the film . there  s nothing there  but also  something  there .  br    br   it might be a good time to point out that the trailer is highly misleading . i was fortunate enough to actually understand that the film leaned to a more comedic side than the trailer otherwise told so . therefore upon watching the film  i laughed every now and again  whereas someone who the advert mislead may find themselves utterly confused .  br    br   if i may take a minute to give the film some praise  where the film excels on is the concept . it is a genius concept to have a world of nothing  and to put two characters there  not two brilliant minded characters  who will philosophise and work out their surroundings  but two idiots who have absolutely no clue as to where the hell they are  another strong point is the film  s cinematography  though at first this may not seem it  where each wall  north  earth  south  west  up and down is just a white plane  a perception of depth becomes faulty . it is hard to determine where things are placed in the mis  en  scene . the cinematography has many moments where this actually happens  but for the most part  the camera is placed so that two characters  or an object and a character are placed in the foreground and background  allowing a sense of depth to be realised .  br    br   however  this film does lack in certain areas . the film is relatively short  but even so  after a while the novelty of this world of nothing becomes rather dull  and you wish to find some form of resolution within the plot . we can also argue that the acting is once again  questionable . these two characters are in a sense  unlikeable  therefore we feel no sympathy at any point for these characters . however  on a flip side of that  the chemistry and friendship between the two characters seems real enough  but there is something lacking .  br    br   even so  i do rank this as a thoroughly enjoyable film  do not let the trailer fool you into thinking this is another science  fiction horror film . it is much more of a comedy than that  it is indeed worth watching though  purely for the concept itself   
an annoying experience . improvised dialogue  handheld cameras for no effect  directionless plot  contrived romance  ick  to the whole mess . ron silver was the only real actor . gretta sacchi was terrible  henry jaglom did better with eating which suited his style much more .  
i chanced upon this movie because i had a free non  new release from blockbuster and needed to grab something quickly  as the store was getting ready to close for the evening . the plain white cover and title intrigued me . i  m a  relatively speaking   old  lady and my son is a young man of   . i adore movies that are sheer entertainment  such as the sixth sense  interview with a vampire  harry potter and beetlejuice . my son  on the other hand  is a film graduate and enjoys very specialized foreign films  such as those directed by bergman or hertzog . we generally hate each other  s movie choices  however  we both watched and loved the movie nothing  it was unlike any movie we  d ever seen before . we  re both cynical  critical personality types and we usually crack on movies while we watch them   but in this case we just laughed and enjoyed the film from start to finish . it is our opinion that if this movie had been promoted and shown in the main stream theaters in the u . s . it would have done very well indeed .  
  br    br   i recently viewed this atrocity in my film program  and i thought it was awful  as i said in my tagline  it was pretentious  trite  petty and phenomenally self  important .  br    br   i consider myself a fan of film  and all the things that film has to offer . if i want to watch a documentary on the cannes festival  i will watch ae . . . . and they would probably be alot more objective about it .  br    br   i dont recommend it  period .  br    br    
i watched the trailer on the dvd after seeing the film  and i think anyone who saw it before watching the film would be very surprised and possibly disappointed . it made much of the fact that the film was  by the director of cube  and made it look like a horror film  when in fact it is an absurdist comedy  imdb  s spell checker doesn  t seem to think that absurdist is a word  but it is   reminiscent of rosencrantz and guildernstern are dead .  br    br   i love the way the story builds up slowly at first  then gradually escalates . i also enjoy the fact that no explanation is given for what happens in the film . that and the fact that the story plays out mainly in just the one set are the only respects in which this film is similar to cube . i recommend it .  
i don  t remember a movie where i have cared less about where the characters have come from  what happens to them or where they are going . i realize that hollywood  s greatest pastime is navel  gazing  but these people are either too despicable or too boring to take up time with . for what it  s worth  though  the discussion that followed the showing  under the auspices of the key sunday cinema series  did make allowance that possibly the three women did show some redeeming characteristics . i disagree .  
director vincenzo natali first showed his penchant for character  based sci  fi flicks with his     short film  elevated   wherein  people remain trapped in an elevator while unseen monsters roam the building . his follow  up feature project  cube   released later that year  had a very similar premise  this time with  people and instead of an elevator it was a vast expansion of interlocking cubic deathtraps . both were admirable attempts to take the sci  fi genre a step further  by deliberately declining to show almost any visual stimulation  choosing instead to spend as much time as possible focusing on the human element  how the characters act  react and interact under incomprehensible and dangerous conditions . after his exploration into the mainstream with      s  cypher   natali has come back to his bizarre character  film trend to bring us  nothing   his latest  and by far most optimistic and comedic take on the wide cinematic world of  what if    br    br   dave  david hewlett  and andrew  andrew miller  are life  long friends  brought together by a mutual detachment from society and a lack of any one else to be with . dave  who has always been hindered by a selfish and somewhat dimwitted nature  lives rent  free with andrew at his ill  located and ill  constructed house  where he often takes advantage of andrew  s neurotic and antisocial mentality . despite all this  the two misfits are happy together  until one day their deep character flaws  coupled with some astronomically bad luck  land them in the middle of some pretty serious  jail  sentence  worthy trouble . on top of this  they discover that their house has been deemed unfit for existence and is scheduled to be demolished before sunset  so in the hazy  nightmarish panic of everything going wrong for them  they wish that the whole world would just disappear . and it does .  br    br   going any further with the synopsis would compromise a lot of the film  s slow  occasionally too slow  reveal about what  s happened to dave and andrew  and how they deal with their new reality . natali  s fascination with studying human behavior under duress  ala the birds  is here in spades  but simply by making the main characters friends rather than strangers  he  s able to break away from the thriller  horror element of this premise to open it up to a more comfortable and optimistic level . it  s almost as if he  s made the aphoristic opposite of  cube  .  br    br   of course  the film is not   minutes of laughter and sunshine . in keeping with fundamental realism  our two anti  heroes  dynamic often becomes antagonistic  sometimes with rather nasty results . like the  desert island  game  the film looks at how even best friends  when left alone together  can fall apart  but at the same time it shows that friends are vital to the quality of existence . in a very twisted  sci  fi way  this is a feel  good flick  with good heart and good intentions .  br    br   however  there are a few qualms to be had with  nothing  . while the two lead actors  hewlett and miller  do well with their parts  their characters are not nearly as interesting as they should have been  considering it is completely up to them to entertain us for the better part of an hour . there is some development in the relationship and personalities of dave and andrew  some background is given  but ultimately not enough . a generous viewer will sit through the less  engaging portions of the film to see it through to the end  but cynics will probably give up pretty fast .  br    br   acting  as mentioned  is adequate  and considering the amount of  green  screen  work that would  ve been needed  reasonably convincing . david hewlett and andrew miller  who both wrote co  wrote the screenplay  have been long  time friends of vincenzo natali hewlett has in fact featured in every film natali has made . perhaps it was their creative input that steered this film in a more positive direction . nonetheless  the story could have been a lot more involving . granted  it is relatively entertaining considering that  no pun intended  nothing really happens  but you get the impression that  in more experienced hands  a lot more could  ve been done with this premise .  br    br   in all fairness   nothing  is an impressive piece of work in many ways . the concept is interesting  the direction is inventive  the script works on a human level and  most of all  it shows a progression in natali  s creative mentality . for fans of his work  this will be a delight  and for others it will be a nice way to pass a little unwanted time . it  s just a shame that the director  s fixation on human drama prevented it from being the great  fun film it could have been .  
awful  awful  awful  no  i didn  t like it . it was obvious what the intent of the film was to track the wheeling and dealing of the  movers and shakers  who produce a film . in some cases  these are people who represent themselves as other than what they are . i didn  t need a film to tell me how shallow some of the people in the film industry are . i suppose i  m at fault really because i expected something like  roman holiday  .  br    br   i  m not a movie  maker nor do i take film classes but it appeared to me that the film consisted of a series of  two  shots   in the main  where the actors    had been supplied with a loose plot  line and they were to improvise the dialogue . henry jaglon makes the claim that he along with victoria foyt actually wrote the screenplay but the impression was that the actors  cognisant of the general direction of the film  extemporised the dialogue  and it was not always successful . such a case in point was when ron silver made some remark which really didn  t flow along the line of the conversation  and i  m not going back to look for it   and greta scacchi broke into laughter even though they were supposed to be having a serious conversation  because silver  s remark was such a non sequitur . you get the impression too that one actor deliberately tries to  wrong foot  the other actor and break his  her concentration . another instance of this is when a producer tells silver to  bring the  documents    times  . silver looked literally lost for words . i have seen one other film which looked like a series of drama workshops on improvisation and that was awful too   br    br   the fact that jaglon was able to attract greta scacchi  no stranger to australia   ron silver  anouk ami  and maximilian schell suggests it was a  slow news week  for them . peter bogdanovich had a  what  the  hell  am  i  doing  here  look on his face at all times and i expected to hear him say  look  i  m a director and screenwriter  not an actor   which would have been unnecessary to state  faye dunaway seemed more interested in promoting her son  liam . apart from the jerky delivery of the dialogue  the hand  held camera became irritating even if it was for verisimilitude  as i suspect the  natural  dialogue was  and the interest in the principals became subsumed to the interest in the various youths walking along the strand trying to insinuate themselves into shot . that at least approached cinema verite . so that  along with the irritating french singing during which i used the mute button  made for a generally disappointing    odd minutes .  br    br   i think we should avoid apotheosising films such as this . trying to see value in the film where it has little credit in order to substantiate a perceived transcendental level to it is misguided . there was really nothing avant  garde about it . it didn  t come across as a work of art and yet it wasn  t a documentary either . i know  it was a mocumentary but the real test is whether it is entertaining . i was bored out of my skull  it did have one redeeming feature it pronounced  cannes  correctly so i gave it     .  
i just saw this at the toronto film festival  and i hope it gets wide release because i want to see it again  it is a character  driven film  and andrew and david are more than up to the task . any discussion of the plot might be  br    br   considered spoilers  so i  ll just say that the storyline is clever  the acting is superb  and the effects are amazing . well  filmed and well  paced too . one of the best films i have seen in ages  and very refreshing in this summer of dreary  br    br   movies . it had the audience laughing the whole time . see it if you can .  i particularly liked the  candy bar  candy bar   scene .   
movie industry is tricky business  because decisions have to be made and everyone involved has a private life  too . that  s the very original thesis of this feeble attempt at making an  insightful  film about film . and indeed  no better proof of the industry  s trickiness than seeing anouk aime and maximilian schell trapped in this inanity . the insight consists of talking heads rattle off bullshit like  should i make a studio movie that pays a lot or should i make an indie item and stay true to my artistic self    do the latter  please .  or  our relationship is not only professional  it  s private as well . it  s a rather complex situation to handle  isn  t it    yes  it is  my dear .  between the insipid dialogs one gets glimpses of palm trees  hotel lobbies and american movie posters  no sign of non  american film presence on the croisette  . recurrent slumber sessions are inevitable  making the    minutes of the film feel like ages . jenny gabrielle is spectacularly unconvincing in justifying her own presence in the frame .  
if you want mindless action  hot chicks and a post  apocalyptic view of seattle  then this is the show for you   br    br   the concept of dark angel isn  t anything new  in fact  there  s controversy over whether james cameron stole the idea from a book   but i spend the entire hour watching it every tuesday from start to finish .  br    br   jessica alba is smoking and max  friends  original cindy  kendra  are just as hot .  br    br   the fight scenes are getting better  but the dialogues between original cindy and max need to be a little bit better  the slang sounds forced and it sounds like someone living in the suburbs wrote it  .  br    br   in my opinion  dark angel is a great guilty pleasure filled with everything an action fan could ask for  but if you  re looking for hard hitting  award  winning drama  go watch  the west wing  or something .  
rural family drama   with perhaps a nod to  ordinary people    concerns a young boy who withdraws into himself after fatally wounding his older brother in a shooting mishap . despite downbeat subject matter  given mercilessly glum treatment by director christopher cain   there are some dynamics in this sad story worth exploring . unfortunately  the isolated farming atmosphere and the reluctance of the adult characters to take charge of the situation render the film a stultifying experience . what with robert duvall  glenn close  and wilford brimley in the cast  the movie is nearly a small  scaled reunion of  the natural  . too bad this project didn  t get the necessary talent behind the camera to really eke out a gripping  memorable picture .     from   
i watched this as part of my course at aberystwyth university and it baffles me how this does not have a distributor in the uk . well actually  it doesn  t  because this film is everything a hollywood film isn  t  original  creative  quirky and humorous . it seems that today no  one really wants to see this type of movie as  in the simplest terms  it doesn  t conform to the generic conventions most young viewers look for in a film .  br    br   i haven  t written a review for the imdb for ages but felt inclined to give this film a special mention  even if it is during my   minute break between classes  essentially  it is about nothing  as the two main characters are plunged into their own world of nothingness through a hate of the world . the brilliance here is how the director sustains interest through the majority of the run time with only two characters and when the only mise  en  scene consists of half a house and a vast white  empty space . this is due in large part to the stellar performances of the actors  both of whom offer some great laughs while at the same time being able to add significant emotional depth to their roles .  br    br   i  d love to write some more but am on quite a time limit . however i encourage anyone and everyone to give this film a try . a very unique concept is brought to the screen in a coherent and well  executed fashion  with the combination of good performances  a strong script  nice sound design and  fairly  impressive visuals creating a very entertaining movie .  br    br   it  s just a shame so few people know about nothing . . . .  
after being a big fan of the ten minute t . v episodes of  stella street   i awaited this film with excitement and anticipation . unfortunately i was left feeling very disappointed .  br    br   i was dismayed by the way that nearly all of the gags and one liners were directly lifted from the t . v episodes  and delivered with much less enthusiasm and comic timing  as if the actors had said them once  and couldn  t be bothered to say them again . i bought my copy on dvd and felt cheated that i had parted with my hard earned cash to watch the same jokes over again .  br    br   spoilers the plot of the film starts with stella street  a normal english street in surrey   gradually being populated by  some of the most famous people from stage and screen of the last forty years   including michael caine  al pacino  jack nicholson and the rolling stones . all the celebrities in the street end up being conned out of their entire fortunes by a local fraudster  and are forced to live like tramps and common working class people . there are some nice moments  but on the whole  the writers manage to take an interesting idea and make it pretty boring . end of spoilers  br    br   in the t . v episodes  all the characters are performed by john sessions and phil cornwell  including females   but in the film ronni ancona is added to the cast . i think this was a mistake . her impersonations weren  t funny  and it felt like her characters were included in the story just to give her something to do .  br    br   if you were not a fan of the episodes of stella street  you may find this film entertaining . but if you were a fan  i think you may walk away feeling a little bit cheated .      
sitting  typing nothing is the latest  what if   fest offered by vincenzio natali  and starring david hewlitt and andrew miller as two losers . one is having relationship problems  got canned from his job  because of relationship problems  and the police are out to get him  because of his job and his relationship problems  . the other guy is a agoraphobic who refuses to go outside his home  is met by a bothersome girl guide who calls on her mom to claim she was molested when he doesn  t buy cookies from him . oh yeah  the police are after him too  after the mom of the girl scout call them in to arrest him .  br    br   man  what a day .  br    br   what if you could make all of this disappear  that is the whole premise behind  nothing  . the two fools realize  the cops  the girl scout  the cars  the lawn  the road  everything disappear . there  s nothing but white space  this is an interesting concept i thought . i also looked at the time of this    minutes had gone in the movie  and i still had an hour left in the movie . could the  actors make this work and keep us entertained for   minutes  although the actors try    minutes is a long time and there is clearly dead air in places of this movie . but the two actors  whom are life  long friends with each other and the director  have such great repertoire with each other  that it was fun to watch for the dialogue and improve goofing around the two do . there are lots of supernatural elements  but it  s more of their response to these elements that ultimately make this film worth seeing .  
apparently  the mutilation man is about a guy who wanders the land performing shows of self  mutilation as a way of coping with his abusive childhood . i use the word  apparently  because without listening to a director andy copp  s commentary  which i didn  t have available to me  or reading up on the film prior to watching  viewers won  t have a clue what it is about .  br    br   gorehounds and fans of extreme movies may be lured into watching the mutilation man with the promise of some harsh scenes of splatter and unsettling real  life footage  but unless they  re also fond of pretentious  headache  inducing  experimental art  house cinema  they  ll find this one a real chore to sit through .  br    br     minutes of ugly imagery accompanied by dis  chordant sound  terrible music and incomprehensible dialogue  this mind  numbingly awful drivel is the perfect way to test one  s sanity if you  ve still got all your marbles  you  ll switch this rubbish off and watch something decent instead  i watched the whole thing  but am well aware that i  m completely barking   .  
nothing is fantastic  simple as that  it  s a film that shouldn  t work  yet does . natali stays in the realm of sci  fi  however this film is also a comedy . cypher it seemed was a big budget draining affair for natali  at   .  million  woo  hoo pa   so with nothing he scales down again . this is low budget  independent film  making at it  s best . simple  good old fashioned storytelling and an attempt at making a film for artistic merit as apposed to hollywood  s usual reasons for mostly financial gain . nothing is a film about nothing and before you ask  no it is not anything like seinfeld  basically andrew and dave are a couple of losers . they live in a strange looking house beneath two freeways . andrew is a telesales travel agent who is agoraphobic while dave is andrews best mate who stays with him rent free to help him out . dave is tired of it however and has a gorgeous girlfriend who he wants to move in with . by bizarre mis  fortunes however  dave finds out his girlfriend embezzled a huge amount of money from daves work  place incriminating dave  and andrew is wrongly accused of sexually assaulting a girl scout  canadian humour people   . as it turns out andrew  s house is to be demolished as well and he can  t stop it happening as the house was built on land it should not have been built on . both andrew and dave are inside the house when the police and the demolition team come calling . they are desperate and can  t escape  and in the panic and confusion just as the police burst in everything fades to white . what has happened  have dave and andrew died  they wake to find themselves still in the house only it is quiet . no police  no demolition team  no angry girl scout mother  what happens is dave and andy discover they have the ability to  wish or hate away .  as it turns out they have hated away the entire outside world . they are left alone . the house is surrounded by nothing  which is portrayed as pure white . so what this means is that the films setting is a house set and then just white . the film is an interesting view on human isolation and the psyche and of course as they spend more time alone together with no food and no water  they begin to tire of each other . they discover they can hate away hunger  which is useful but obviously things get out of hand shall we say . i can  t reveal much but i must say bouncing heads are quite a sight to behold .  br    br   this film is quirky  funny  interesting . the effects are simple yet effective and natali brings together two buddies from cube  david hewlett  and andrew millar to lead the film . they have chemistry and also work very well . they have to hold    of the movie by themselves and much of it in a pure white background  yet it works . certainly i expect this to get the same diabolical treatment as cypher did and it should appear on dvd in a year or two in the states . nothing is a top quality and unique film and although not as good as cube or cypher it once again proves natali as one of the best up and comers .  br    br   natali is someone who has really interested me in his three features so far and i cannot wait for his next feature . i prey to god he doesn  t do the proposed necropolis  written and directed by add sufferer  the ever crap paul anderson . vincenzo old buddy if paul comes round to your pad  run    run like the wind   i hope and prey this guy doesn  t take to hollywood like alex proyas did  with the enjoyable yet pussy  footed  sugar coated  helium light i robot   . keep your eyes peeled for this guy .   
this piece of filth is virtually impossible to follow . the sound is crap the picture quality goes from bad to worse to good to bad again  things happen for no apparent reason characters appear and disappear . was the director suffering from a massive brain injury during its production   br    br   poor film making aside  the story is vile just sick evil sht if you like rape  murder and self harm this is right up your alley . and if simulated scenes of murder are not enough you can enjoy clips of actual people being executed . i watched almost all of it but had to turn off after i seen someones brains blown out . never before have i seen a film that left me feeling so ashamed and dirty .  
 . . . than this    what would happen if terry gilliam and douglas adams would have worked together on one movie  this movie starts with a touch of brazil . . . when  at a certain point  the story moves straight into the twilight zone . . . bringing up nothing new  but just nothing . . . and nothing is great fun  when dave and andrew starts to explore their new environment the movie gets really enjoyable . . . bouncing heads  well . . . yes     br    br   anyway . . . this movie was  imho  the biggest surprise at this year  s fantasyfilmfest . . .  br    br   just like in cube and cypher natali gave this one a minimalistic  weird but very special design  which makes it hard to locate the place of the story or its time . . . timeless somehow . . .  
i bought this movie for  euro  not knowing what it was all about . i thought  hmmm  a movie named mutilation man must be if not very funny at least filled with gore  . it wasn  t funny alright . it was disturbing . very disturbing . and i don  t mind disturbing movies but this one just didn  t mean anything  except that child abuse is not a good thing to do . hmmm . . . the quality of the images were terrible . the acting . . . there was no acting . just some fcked  up fcker mutilating himself for over   minutes . this is probably material for sicko  s jurking off on extreme gore .  br    br   don  t watch this . it  s not worth your time . its just awful . i wish i never bought this .  br    br   they should mutilate the guy who made this  
nothing    outta  stars  another weird premise from the director of the movie  cube  . this time around there are two main characters who find themselves and their home transported to a mysterious white void . there is literally nothing outside of their small two  story house . intriguing to be sure  but i thought the comedic tone established for this movie from the get  go was extremely ill  conceived . there needs to be some humour  certainly . . . and i have no problem with the humour that was eventually derived from the plight of our two heroes  their final  showdown  was definitely a hoot  . . . but i really think the movie would have been a lot better off if it had stayed more rooted in reality in the beginning . after watching the movie i watched the  making of  feature on the dvd and a short trailer at the end is almost totally devoid of the  sillier  comedic aspects . . . making it look like a completely different  and slightly better  movie . the last half hour of the movie is where things really start to come together . . . similar in a way to the recent movie  primer .  the actors are fine when they are not overdoing the comedy shtick . they are really quite believable in their more  normal  moments . i was probably ready to write this movie off as a failed experiment at the midway point . . . but it won me over by the end .  and keep watching past the credits for the final scene . . . just don  t ask me to explain it .   
an avent  garde nightmarish  extremely low  budget  film  that has delusions of grandeur . hard to sit through . i get the message that child abuse is wrong . wow big revelation . i had no clue it was wrong before viewing this . yes that  s sarcasm . don  t watch this  film  if you  re offended by nudity of either the male or female gender . don  t watch it if you  re the least bit squeamish . don  t watch it if you care about acting . on second thought just don  t watch it period .  br    br   my grade d   br    br   dvd extrasmaking the movie  the premiere  interview with kristie bowersock  deleted scenes  movie stills  director  s commentary   versions of the teaser trailer  music video by the azoic   a classroom video experiment  
the premise of this movie has been tickling my imagination for quite some time now . we  ve all heard or read about it in some kind of con  text . what would you do if you were all alone in the world  what would you do if the entire world suddenly disappeared in front of your eyes  in fact  the last part is actually what happens to dave and andrew  two room  mates living in a run  down house in the middle of a freeway system . andrew is a nervous wreck to say the least and dave is considered being one of the biggest losers of society . that alone is the main reason to why these two guys get so well along  because they simply only have each other to turn to when comforting is needed . just until . . .  br    br   straight from the beginning of the film lots and lots of problems happen to them . both of them get involved with crime  andrew suffers from paranoia and simply doesn  t dare going out of the house . dave is unsuccessful at his job and his colleagues don  t treat him very well and with the respect he deserves . the amount of problems they face keeps increasing until that one day where they may have to face the inevitable and deal with it . this is just too much for them and they wish that everything would just go away . . . and of course that is exactly what happens .  br    br   the rest of the story places dave and andrew in this world of nothingness . at first they are surprised and have problems understanding and dealing with the features of this crazy environment  but later on they find out that they can do just about everything they want because it seems as if they are the only ones still left .  br    br   nothing features an incredibly small cast  in fact  besides the first couple of shots from the film  we only see dave  david hewlett  and andrew  andrew miller  in the entire film . it is clear that in order to pull this off  the cast has to be more than up for the task  because in a world where nothing exists there is nothing that can distract the viewer in any way . vincenzo has decided to use a reasonable amount of close  up head shots to make it more interesting and it actually works quite well . director of photography  derek rogers  also has a nice way of teasing the audience by withholding visual information  especially at times where a character sees something and reacts to it  but we don  t see it right away .  br    br   obviously  this can  t be an event driven film and it  s not . much of the action happens outside their house when they move around in the void . and that  s where some of the most hilarious scenes take place  especially in the case of when andrew discovers a candy bar .  br    br   now  one could be thinking  how does nothing look like   well  it looks like nothing indeed . the entire world of nothing is white . . . white no matter in what direction you look . this is the weakness of this film . . . after an hour or less it  s getting extremely boring to look at and there has to be events to make sure it  s more interesting to look at . thank god  there are some . for example at times when the two lads  due to the properties of nothing  are able to jump really high as if nothing is made out of . . . tofu  as andrew claims  . it  s fun to see how they are instantly able to use nothing to become gods of their own little society .  br    br   one of the best parts of the film is the set . . . production designer jasna stefanovic has done a beautiful job in this film  the house in which these two guys live is so unnaturally fun to look at  still it seems right for these two to be living in a place like this . all in all  the production design is with no doubt one of the most powerful aspects of this film at it really makes the film worth watching . . .  br    br   however  the very best part of the film is the acting . both david hewlett and andrew miller really look like the professional actors they both are . the camera is on them for every second of the film and as previously said  there are just about no props in the film  they are really on a bare stage . with plenty of character development and some decent one  liners  clever dialogue  at times hilariously stupid   it all works to that end  and this really moves the movie away from the low  budget area to well  crafted handwork .  br    br   let  s talk a little about the visual effects  because they are definitely worth mentioning . nothing features digital visual effects and prosthetics that equals any modern horror film . there  s a rather horrifying dream sequence in the film  and although the drews have milked that scene completely it  s still fun to watch . one of the best visual effects in the film is at the end where andrew and dave suddenly discover their powers in this environment  they have the abilities to wish everything away  so what if they can do it the other way around and make things appear   br    br    nothing  is a bright and well  lit movie  it really helps promoting the idea of them probably being dead  this is in fact one of their theories   but  nothing  is a comedy and it slowly destroys its own theory . we don  t know where they are or what has happened to them . we don  t know if they will ever get out  because the movie ends before we see anything like that . the ending  by the way  is not as good as it could  ve been . it  s rather easy to predict what is going to happen  still the writers have thought up a few incidents that help make it a little more interesting and in the end  it  s a reasonably satisfactory one .  br    br   take  hollow man    kill bill    cube    epoch  and lots of other films and you have  nothing  . it really is an amalgam of different styles  still there is no other film  at least that i know of  nothing is really like . for the people remembering the original cube production commentary on its dvd may remember that vincenzo natali talked about how he came up with the story of cube . he talks about him and andr bijelic having been room  mates at a time and they both were in this extremely dull room with no hope of getting out   nothing  could very well be the screened version of the origin of the cube story  and to that end  it  s almost like one of the cube prequels .  br    br   what can i say  i enjoyed  nothing   it is a great movie and the different parts of the movie are extremely well  made with tons of intelligent ideas  still i feel the movie is missing something and i have problems finding out precisely what it is . . . maybe if we have a  nothing   i can answer that question .  nothing  is a great film  but not as good as i expected it to be .  br    br   final rating  .      
first of all i love good splattermovies and am not afraid to get in touch with art  but this zero  budget  flick is none of it  the picture  quality is so damned low  the soundtrack the most annoying one i ever       heard  and as for the fx . . . well the super  low quality makes some of them look not as bad as they would in a real movie  what this junk here isn  t  . no concept  a wafer  thin storyline  primitive acting and rare dialog  i think i counted about   sentences in the whole movie  each one repeated about   times . . . same for a lot of film  sequences  may be an indication for which kind of audience this crap was made     the story seems to be that a young boy had to watch his father rape and kill his mother  got psychological damaged and as an adult goes touring  performing a show of self  mutilation . so far  so good . . . but for these pseudo  art  idiot  directors  this plot is just a line to put cheap produced shock scenes in a row which neither have a message nor make any sense  freshly taken  out bowels are thrown on a naked  bound woman in an earth  hole . . . why   and why is that the only time you see both woman and thrower in the whole bloody  movie      disturbing  yes   sick  yes   necessary  no  artistically  no      everyone mistaking this cheap gore  show for art should as soon as possible visit his psychiatrist or should watch pink floyd  s  the wall  to see how a similar topic can be worked out in an artful way . . . i hope this was your first and last           movie  andrew cobb . . .     and all you gore  heads out there  remember not everything that looks cheap and makes obviously no sense at all is automatically  art  . . .  
i wasn  t sure what to expect but am i glad i went to see this . a smart  slightly twisted comedy that makes you think . i wasn  t quite sure how a director can create  nothing   but leave it to mr . natali and the brilliant individuals at c . o . r . e . to create another low budget set that looks real  as real as nothing can be  . well worth your time and money  if you have the opportunity to see this  please go . you  ll be glad you did .  
this is a good example of how not to make a film .  br    br   there is very little meaningful dialog  no context for the events  and constant cuts between seemingly unrelated scenes . the result is a confused  clueless viewer the plot is absolutely impossible to follow and the ideas presented are meaningless without listening to the director  s commentary .  br    br   this movie has a lot to do with human atrocity and tries to show how wrong it is  with an emphasis on child abuse . it includes some stock footage of real  horrible acts of violence  including war time executions . although it works in the context of the movie  i feel that the ideas behind the movie could have been presented without resorting to such extreme content . this film is absolutely not for the weak stomached or the easily offended  and should not under any circumstances be shown to minors .  br    br   the climax is anti  climactic compared to the content of the rest of the movie . if you  re not listening to the commentary while it happens you will probably miss it .  br    br   the director  s commentary was a one  shot   sit the guy down and let him talk  no cuts  type of commentary . while this isn  t necessarily bad  the director ends up rambling a lot and often spends minutes at a time complaining about his college  filming conditions  co producers  bad film  and a dozen other things . the constant negativity detracts from what otherwise is an essential tool for understanding the movie .  br    br   the movie was shot many years ago on   mm and super  film over a period of four years on an extremely low budget . because of this  the video and audio quality is poor . that alone does not make it a bad movie  but it does make a bad movie worse .  
just saw this at the     vancouver international film festival and it was funny as hell and a bit surreal . takes place in toronto  where these two losers live in this run  down house in the middle of a freeway system . david hewlett  pin  cube  cypher  and andrew miller  cube  are just great as the two losers who wish the world would just go away . the acting  dialogue and writing are very good  and the whole film looks great for such a low  budget flick . director  writer vincenzo natali was in attendance at this screening  and he seemed so intelligent and down  to  earth . this guy is so inventive with these great stories that work so well within small budgets  it puts big budget hollywood crap to shame   
it  s a hideous little production  apt to give one nightmares as well as headaches . it  s an unsightly blend of live action and ugly stop  motion animation . it  s weird  but it  s not the kind of fun  weird trip anyone optimistic might expect . it  s the cold  inhuman  unfriendly  sickening  even creepy kind of weird . there is absolutely no reason to watch this movie . after all  disney did a fantastic job with the same source material . and cosgrove  hall did far more attractive things with stop  motion .  br    br   interestingly  this is a french production . as such  it re  enforces the stereotype that the french have no concept of scary .  
  br    br   charlie kauffman has made weird metaphysical angst popular  but this canadian gem makes it hilarious .  br    br   like most weird films the less said about plot the better but let  s set the scene  two friends anthony and dave have been together since childhood  they can  t cope with the world and eventually this means they no longer have to . but that is where even more problems begin .  br    br   i loved this film  it made me smile long after the final credits and that is a rare experience with so many mass produced pieces of  nothing  out there .  br    br   don  t miss this .  br    br    
i don  t know why this has the fans it does and i don  t know why i have even given it the score i have . this is preposterous . there are many a giallo where one has to suspend disbelief  let the picture roll and catch up with it somewhere before it becomes delirious and some poor police officer has to eventually explain what we have seen . but  this has very little going for it and has overlong sequences where nothing happens and have no relevance to anything while we have to listen to a most repetitive soundtrack  even by italian standards . not a giallo  this is a complete mish mash of horror ideas featuring klaus kinski in one his most blatant  phoned in  performances . i reckon he turned up  did a day  s work and cleared off leaving mr d  amato to get others to fill in . ewa is of course pretty but no it is not enough  and in the end we have seen far too much of her popping up all over the place  long after we have completely lost interest in this mindless and pretentious twaddle . maybe i just wasn  t in the right mood   
i haven  t written a review on imdb for the longest time  however  i felt myself compelled to write this  when looking up this movie i found one particular review which urged people not to see this film . do not pay any attention to this ignorant person  nothing is a fantastic film  full of laughs and above all . . . imagination  aren  t you sick and tired of being force fed the same old cycle of bubble  gum trash movies  sometimes a film like nothing comes along and gives you something you have never seen before . i don  t even care if you dislike  even hate  the movie  but no one has a right to discredit the film . imdb has a monumental impact on reputations and no negative review should discredit the film like that . just say you hate it and why you hate it . . . but don  t try to tell people that they shouldn  t watch it . we have minds of our own and will make up our own minds thank you .  br    br   if my judgment is any good  i  d say that more people will enjoy this movie as opposed to those who hate it .  br    br   treat your mind to a bit of eye  candy  see nothing   
  i don  t understand . none of this makes any sense    exclaims one exasperated character towards the end of death smiles at murder . having just sat through this thoroughly confusing mess of a movie  i know exactly how he feels . the story  by the film  s director aristide massacessi  good old joe d  amato using his real name for a change   is a clumsy mix of the supernatural  murder  mystery  and pretentious arty rubbish  the likes of which will probably appeal to those who admire trippy   s garbage such as jess franco  s more bizarre efforts  but which had me struggling to remain conscious .  br    br   opening with a hunchback mourning the death of his beautiful sister  with whom he had been having an incestuous affair  before eventually losing her to a dashing doctor   death smiles at murder soon becomes very confusing when the very same woman  played by ewa aulin  who stars in the equally strange  death laid an egg   is seen alive and kicking  the sole survivor of a coach accident that occurs outside the estate of walter and eva von ravensbrck . after being invited to stay and recuperate in their home  where she is tended to by creepy dr . sturges  klaus kinski in a throwaway role   the comely lass begins love affairs with both mr . and mrs . ravensbrck  meaning that viewers are treated to some brief but welcome scenes of nookie and lesbian lovin   .  br    br    so far  so good   i thought to myself at this point   we  ve had hunchbacks  incest  some blood and guts  and gratuitous female nudity  all ingredients of a great trashy euro  horror what follows  however  is a lame attempt by massacessi to combine giallo style killings  ghostly goings on  and even elements from edgar allan poe  s  the black cat   to tell a very silly  utterly bewildering  and ultimately extremely boring tale of revenge from beyond the grave .  br    br   this film seems to have quite few admirers here on imdb  but given the choice  i would much rather watch one of the director  s sleazier movies from later in his career i guess incomprehensible  meandering  surreal   s gothic horror just ain  t my thing   .  out of    purely for the cheesy gore and nekkidness   rounded up to  for imdb .  
all i have to say is if you don  t like it then there is something wrong with you . plus jessica is just all kinds of hot      the only reason you may not like it is because it is set in the future where seattle has gone to hell . that and you my not like it cause the future they show could very well happen .  
spoiler warning  br    br   first of all i rated this movie  out of   .  br    br   the idea is good  but there are too many stupid errors in the movie  failing to make it the psyching drama that it might have been . first of all she never fights alone . after an initial very strange doubt from her mother  which is not believable when the mother proves to be so supportive and loving later in the movie  the rape victim is not alone .  br    br   she is also unbelievably naive always falling into the crew  s strange traps .  br    br   her friends are unbelievably nasty .  br    br   the thing that i find most unbelievably is that ethan fails to control the crew when he changes his opinon . ethan is very much the leader of the crew  hey  they even say so  and people seem to think the other guy is a jerk  but when ethan changes his opinion he just doesn  t manage to convince even one single person in the crew that he is right and that his former friend is wrong . everyone just simply hates him . . . why   the movie provides no explanation . how did he ever become the leader   br    br   a funny note is that my girlfriend thought i was watching beverly hills when she came in . two actors from the same successful tv  series . . . . a cheap way to get viewers   
jimmy cagney races by your eyes constantly in this story of a stage  producer who is vigorously struggling against the upcoming  talking  movies .  br    br   this story of love  deceit  women and dancing is presented in such a manner that as a viewer you are never treated to a dull moment . the direction of the mass scenes in the rehearsal rooms was enormously well done . the story never really got lost in this frantic pace .  br    br   some parts of the material presented here have become a little dated but that doesn  t matter because when you look at this in a     time  frame it is fabulous to watch this next to a lot of the other drags of movies that were released during that time .  br    br   jimmy cagney is a sight for sore eyes in this film  never loosing his composure as the ever  working producer of previews made for the movie theaters as intros . in this way he tries to save his ass from going out of business  he was a broadway producer before he started this . joan blondell is fabulous as the neglected love  interest  nan  she gives such a spirited performance that is so unusual for movies of that time  so cool to watch a woman who is portrayed as a strong woman for a change .  br    br   the only problem i had with the film were the enormous productions at the end . these were magnificent in itself  beautifully choreographed and wonderfully produced  but they just didn  t seem to fit in the story . the only link they have to the main story is that cagney had to put on  previews in  days to get a contract and that  s what he did . i had a hard time believing that this was what the girls had been rehearsing during the entire movie and that these sets could fit in a movie theater . in this way the  sitting on a backyard fence  was much more appropriate to the story .  br    br   the productions at the end seemed to drag this frantically paced story to a halt and that was not a good thing . i was tired after seeing the first musical sequence and then i realized there were another two coming up . these sequences got a lot a chuckles from the audience as well .  br    br   all in all a great film with a sour ending .  br    br        
a lot of other reviewers here  including many whose opinions i respect  hold this slice of european sleaze horror in high regard . personally  i didn  t like it at all . its an incoherent attempt at a atmospheric period cross between sex and violence . jess franco at his best makes these kinds of films very well . unfortunately  the infamous exploitation filmmaker joe d  amato does not . d  amato  s most well known films are infamous for their high gross  out quotient . this  an early film by him  doesn  t have the constant disgusting scenes that his more notorious  anthropophagous  and  beyond the darkness  did . ultimately  its an incoherent film that doesn  t manage to involve the viewer in any way . without the sleaze factor either  it becomes very boring . as i said  others have enjoyed this film  but i just found it to be a perfect example of incredibly lazy writing .  br    br   there are a few pluses for the film . ewa aulin  from  candy   is in it  and she looks pretty hot and is often naked . however  cult film icon klaus kinski is completely wasted in a subplot with no connection to the main film . he seems bored with the role and doesn  t have the manic intensity he does at his finest . the music score is nice and there are some brief moments of unintentionally funny gore . still  this is a pretentious and pointless film that manages to be incredibly boring .        
     footlight parade        released           viewed       .  br    br   the ice cream cone is invented in new york .  br    br   kevin after a long and busy break  we hit another busby berkeley musical from warner bros . this time it  s the ultra  fast paced footlight parade  starring james cagney as juggernaut stage producer chester kent . i am     certain that cagney was channeling berkeley with his performance of the irrepressible kent  who has to come up with new ideas for performances every minute . joan blondell is also excellent as the acid  tongued secretary  turned  love interest . the ruby keeler  dick powell subplot is not as major this time but no less enjoyable . one thing that baffled me was berkeley  s performances themselves  which seemed far too extravagant and complex to be performed on any stage  let alone a stage that would be showing a film afterwards . obviously busby doesn  t let a little thing like story impede him from putting together the most over  the  top musical numbers he can possibly conjure . i liked nearly all of this movie until the end  with the shamelessly offensive number  shanghai lil   which  as one can guess  is about as stomach  turning as racially distasteful performances come .  br    br   doug six movies in three months . got to be a new record . anywaythis completes warner bros .  musical trilogy of      preceded by    nd street  and  gold diggers of     .  i would definitely recommend watching all three in a row . i wonder if james cagney was channeling busby berkeley while he was playing chester kent in this movie  or if that the role as written was inspired by busby . i hope it was it seems to make sense that berkeley is the kind of guy who would see elaborate dances in everyday occurrences the way chester does . the funny thing about cagney was that he didn  t really look like a leading man in the traditional sense . he was      square  headed  and talked with an odd new york accent . but the guy was quite versatile  going from the venomous gangsters that made him so famous to the fast  talking producer  types we see here . and he could dance . basically he was a leading man in the body of a character actor . the rest of the cast has some familiar faces joan blondell returns and just about steals the show as cagney  s loyal and lusting secretary dick powell and ruby keeler play the cute couple  but seem to get less screen time than before billy barty pops up again as the mischievous imp . the movie is typical of the more racy and adult  oriented musicals of the pre  code era  as opposed to those of the    s and    s that were more family oriented  and is an excellent climax of the warner musicals of that year  the  shanghai lil  number not withstanding  with keeler doing a poor job at looking chinese  .  br    br   last film dinner at eight       . next film i  m no angel       .  
i saw this movie in its own time period  when having a baby out of wedlock not only ruined your life  but stamped your child as a bastard . in these days of  single mothers  that may seem very far  fetched  but it was very true . and i  m not crazy about laughing at someone who is stammering  either . between these two problems i had difficulty finding this movie funny . at that time i didn  t know who had directed it or what a marvelous reputation he had . i did know who betty hutton was  and she just made me nervous because she was so frenetic . i loved  bringing up baby   but i find this movie just embarrassing . i  m sure the punch at some church functions probably was spiked  but i was the one needing a drink after watching this again . the idea the girl would have to be drunk in order to  get married  and get pregnant just added to the misery . an entire town could turn on you under these circumstances  so the outcome of this movie is really the funny part . of course  shoot me  i don  t like  it  s a wonderful life  either .  
such energy and vitality . you just can  t go wrong with busby berkley films and this certainly must be his best . of course the choreography is wonderful  but also the banter between cagney and blondell is so colorful and such a delight . don  t miss this one .  
this very low budget comedy caper movie succeeds only in being low budget . dialog is dumbfoundingly stupid  chase scenes are uniformly boring  and most of the on  screen money seems to have been saved for a series of crashes and explosions in a parking lot during the film  s last five minutes  a briefly glimpsed port  a  potty early in that scene is certain to wrecked and spew crap on the film  s chief villain   no prop is here without a purpose  . the whole film is depressingly reminiscent of those that occasionally came out of rodger corman  s studio when he  d give a first time director a few bucks and a camera   but without the discipline corman would impose .  
wow . . . what . . . a whirlwind . the    s is a decade with plenty of movies of every type i can imagine  especially during the early talkies phase . there were movies which are painfully static and dull  like  dracula  with bella lugosi  and there were those that just don  t give it a rest  sometimes in a good way and other times not . this is one of the films that don  t stop for a minute  and that is both a wonder and a pity . lloyd bacon  who also directed    nd street   must have been the king of the depression era musicals and he was probably excited with the possibilities sound brought to the world of cinema  for he filled this picture with it . there mustn  t be a full minute or two without music or someone speaking . it  s completely crazy  i was thinking the movie deserved a   or a   tops  because the pacing was very poor  since it was insanely fast and i sometimes didn  t know what was happening and what to think . the characters seemed to just running to and fro places  talking about things which didn  t interest me and probably no one else . i thought i was just going to be rewarded with a small headache . i noticed lloyd bacon also cast the female lead in    nd street   ruby keeler  and    nd street  was a movie whose ending was the best part of it . and you know what  it happened the same thing with  footlight parade   the ending is absolutely incredible  it has become  hands down  the most impressive musical i have ever seen . the final part presents us some musical numbers and those are  believe me  something that make seeing the other rest of the movie worth . the numbers are flawless  there are three big bits and the most impressive is surely the second one . suddenly the screen was filled with gorgeous and inventive camera work  beautiful people and plain entertainment that made me forget my small headache .  
time spent watching this film was time wasted . i do not dislike science fiction . i do not reject any genre per se  since good work can be done in any genre . this film  however is not good work . i cannot fault the visuals  when not involving alien makeups   and the special effects are impressive . the story was not out  and  out bad  for a trekkish comic book . but the fx visuals were obviously where all the makers  interest  attention  money went . the direction alternated between sluggish and confusing  one was not at all sure exactly who was doing what and with what and to whom at at least one crucial juncture  . the  acting  was mostly very bad indeed . there was no basis to most of the line readings besides a hint of  it was that way on the page and the director told me i was supposed to be mad  sad  scared  whatever . okay  so it was a sf series pilot . since when is that an excuse for correctable shoddiness in areas when should be regarded as essential to a dramatic medium . i  m astonished the pilot sold the series . or is the money also in the hands of technerds   
the wit and pace and three show stopping busby berkley numbers put this ahead of the over  rated   nd street . this is the definitive    s musical with a knockout frenetic performance from jimmy cagney . one of the last releases before the motion picture production code was strictly enforced . a must see .  
the real shame of  the gathering  is not in the bad acting  nor is it in the despicably shallow plot . the real shame is that it was far worse than the series it begun  even though it did have one main attraction takashima . i would love to see laurel takashima in a room with susan ivanova  even for just five minutes . she has that sarcasm  that wit  that double  edged personality that is at once volatile and lovable . sadly  though  the  babylon   pilot movie has an incredibly dull story involving assassination . patricia tallman   who never seriously returned to the series until much later   fortunately got much better with age as lyta alexander  who here is little more than a whiny  tiresome telepath . i shall leave you with one final thought   why is it that delenn looks like some sort of outer  space frog man  even though she is a woman   thank heavens for the way the minbari looked later in the show .  
in     dick powell and ruby keeler sang and danced their way through three warner brother musicals that offered depression era audiences a momentary distraction from their woes . gold diggers of        nd street and footlight parade were all set in the world of broadway theatre with basically the same theme of the show must go on . in addition to keeler and powell the films featured the kaleidiscopic choreography of busby berkeley  show stopping tunes and many of the same supporting players .  br    br   all are arguably classics of their genre but i must admit a clear preference for footlight due to it  s pace energy and lead james cagney . warren william in gold diggers and warner baxter in   nd street acquit themselves admirably as the shows production heads  particularly baxter as the burned out julian marsh in search of one last box office smash . both lack the infectious energy of cagney however  who perfectly compliments the frenetic pace of putting on a broadway musical . he is an absolute whirlwind as he deals with production numbers  unscrupulous partners and a gold digging girlfriend .  br    br   of course cagney alone does not make footlight the classic that it is . the script crackles with some sharp double entendres delivered by a superlative supporting cast featuring frank mchugh  hugh herbert  guy kibbee and especially joan blondell who cuts everyone down to size . busby berkeley  s dance numbers are surreal  suggestive and risqu and done just in the nick of time before the arrival of the hollywood code in   . sadly  the thirties and sometime beyond would never see such a richly made musical with the verve and sass of footlight again . gentility and morality made sure of it .  
you can give jms and the boys a pass on this one because they were at the beginning of their series and on a small budget  but the movie is still sub  par . dont get me wrong  b  the series is by far the best tv series ever  but if i was an exec seeing this movie  i wouldnt have ordered the series . i dont like o  hare as an actor  the costumes are silly  and there are tons of cliches . the same can be said for most of the first season  with the exception of babylon squared and survivors   bruce immediately put a fire into the series and it went on to be an amazing spectacle . if you are a b  fan and havent seen this movie  see it . if you arent a b  fan  dont . . . you wont want to watch the series .  
never viewed this film and enjoyed the singing and dancing by cagney and the other cast members namely dick powell   scott blair  who had a great tenor voice and ruby keeler   bea thorn  . james cagney plays the role as chester kent who writes musicals and eventually goes into producing prologues which are shown in between the feature films shown in movie theater  s during the      s . chester has trouble with people trying to steal his ideas for his shows . this is a very entertaining film with lots of comedy and plenty of laughs . joan blondell   nan prescott  gave a great supporting role who was also very young and pretty . dick powell was great as a singer and dancer and just starting out with his long and successful screen career . enjoy .  
while i count myself as a fan of the babylon  television series  the original movie that introduced the series was a weak start . although many of the elements that would later mature and become much more compelling in the series are there  the pace of the gathering is slow  the makeup somewhat inadequate  and the plot confusing . worse  the characterization in the premiere episode is poor . although the ratings chart shows that many fans are willing to overlook these problems  i remember the gathering almost turned me off off what soon grew into a spectacular series .  
a wonder . one of the best musicals ever . the three busby berkely numbers that end the movie are spectacular  but what makes this film so wonderful is the incredible non  stop patter and the natural acting of cagney and blondell .  keeler is also lovely  even though she may not have been a great actress  . there  s a freshness in the movie that you don  t see in flicks today  much less in the usually stilted   s films  even though the plot  involving the setting up of movies prologues  is quite dated .  
i thought this movie seemed like a case study in how not to make a movie for the most part . since i am a filmmaker  i give it a  for consistency .  br    br   the problems remain from beginning to end with the plot being extremely predictable using bits and pieces of most  if not all  previous successful war stories . the computer generated graphics were too much like viewing a video game at points and there seemed to be no attempt by the director to add some realistic quality to the story . i was interested in the budget to get an idea of what he had to work with  but did not find that information .  br    br   it seemed like this project pushed the limits of a low budget movie too far resulting in a production that drags the viewer along with the story without their imagination being engaged . the actors weren  t bad  but the plot needs more innovation .  
i loved this film  seen this evening on a movie theatre big screen  the audience laughed out loud at some very interesting things  and the fast pace was most enjoyable .  br    br   i do  as a singer and musical director  question one section of roby keeler  s vocal in  by a waterfall .  the key modulated  and she was suddenly singing much lower  in a very mellow voice that bore no resemblance to the somewhat tin  like higher twitter voice she used in all her other vocals .  br    br   does anyone know if this was overdubbed by another singer  it sounds it to me . i would love to know .  br    br   thanks so much .  
wow . i have seen some really bad movies in my time  but this one truly takes the cake . it  s the worst movie i  ve seen in the past decade  no exaggeration .  br    br   as a us army veteran of the war in afghanistan  i found it nearly impossible to even finish watching this ridiculous film  not because it brought back memories  far from it  but because there was absolutely no attempt at  authenticity  to be found anywhere in the film . not so much as the tiniest little shred . it seemed like it had been written by an  year  old child who got all his notions of war  and soldierly behavior  straight out of comic books . the film was made in honduras  which should have been a clue  but even that can  t fully explain the atrocious production values of this clich  ridden piece of trash .  br    br   i could try to list all the endless technical flaws  but it would take virtually forever . from the ancient unit shoulder patches which have not been seen or worn since wwii  and the character  s name tags  like  colcollins   worn by the character  colonel collins    which was actually spelled using the reversed  mirror  image  n  of the russian alphabet  not the us alphabet  the list just goes on and on . the uniforms  the equipment  the plot  and most especially the behavior of the characters themselves   every single scene was just chock  full of ridiculous flaws  inaccuracies and utterly mindless clichs .  br    br   neither the storyline itself nor the characters were the least bit credible or believable . it was all laughably childish  in the extreme . this was obviously a movie that was meant to appeal strictly to pre  pubescent boys  and i have little doubt that even they would find this film utterly absurd .  br    br   in short  this film has absolutely no redeeming qualities at all . it  s a total waste of time . i  d strongly advise anybody reading this to pass this garbage by it  s truly not worth wasting a single moment of your time for .  
clever  gritty  witty  fast  paced  sexy  extravagant  sleazy  erotic  heartfelt and corny  footlight parade is a first  class entertainment  what the movies are all about .  br    br   the realistic  satirical treatment gives a fresh edge to the material and its pace and line delivery are breathtaking . to think that they only started making feature talking pictures  years before this  the brilliance of the dialogue cannot be matched anywhere today  especially considering that  realism  has taken over and engulfed contemporary cinema .  br    br   this film was made at a time when the hayes code restricting content was being ignored and the result is a fresh  self  referential  critical and living cinema that spoke directly to contemporary audiences suffering through the depression and the general angst of the age . i  d recommend watching any film from this period  that is           for a vision of what popular cinema can potentially be .  
i tried to watch this movie in a military camp during an overseas mission  and let me tell you  you  ll watch anything under those circumstances . not this piece of sht though .  br    br   the first five minutes set the tone by weak porn  movie quality acting  weird out  of  the  blue plot twists and unbelievable situations and behavior . it gets worse after that . this movie does not have one single saving grace  and yet it is not bad in a way that would make it funny to watch . it  s just horrible . i  ve seen quite many movies in my life and i  m not one of those snobby know  all critics  i mean i  ll enjoy most movies to some extent even if they  re bad . this one . . . man .  br    br   steer  well  clear of this one  my friend .  
how anyone can say this is bad is beyond me . i loved this show before i even saw it . for  reasons   . the story intrigued me   . jessica alba and  . james cameron  please ignore the bad comments and please watch the whole first season before you decide that it  s bad because i know that if you watch the first season you will love it and go out and buy season  as well as season  on dvd and then join the campaign to get season  made   br    br   i hate fox and i  m sure a lot of you  dark angel  fans hate them too . they have a thing for canning good shows  don  t you all agree   
diana guzman is an angry young woman . surviving an unrelenting series of disappointments and traumas  she takes her anger out on the closest targets .  br    br   when she sees violence transformed and focused by discipline in a rundown boxing club  she knows she  s found her home .  br    br   the film progresses from there  as diana learns the usual coming  of  age lessons alongside the skills needed for successful boxing . michelle rodriguez is very good in the role  particularly when conveying the focused rage of a young woman hemmed in on all sides and fighting against not just personal circumstances but entrenched sexism .  br    br   the picture could use some finesse in its direction of all the young actors  who pale in comparison to the older  more experienced cast . there are too many pauses in the script  which detracts from the dramatic tension . the overall quietness of the film drains it of intensity .  br    br   this is a good picture to see once  if only to see the power of a fully realized young woman whose femininity is complex enough to include her power . its limitations prevent it from being placed in the  see it again and again  category .  
it  s hard to say which comes out on top  james cagney  s charm and energy or the mouth  opening excesses of busby berkeley  s three grand showstoppers at the close . i give it a tie  with footlight parade one of the funniest and quickest of the early thirties musicals . although the movie clearly belongs to cagney  joan blondell adds immeasurably to the good  natured story line .  br    br   and what  s the story line  it  s about chester kent  cagney  who produces musicals  and who now is just about out of business as the talkies take over . he starts doing prologues  live musical entertainment offered on stage before a movie starts . he gets the idea to do bigger ones and more of them  moving them around the country . he  s a ball of fire and ideas  and he needs all the ideas he can get to keep relentlessly producing these things . but a rival is spying on him and stealing his ideas nan prescott  blondell   his wise  cracking secretary  loves him but he  s too busy too notice an office girl in black  rimmed  round glasses  ruby keeler  wants a chance to dance his wife turns up saying she didn  t divorce him after all a blonde gold  digger is setting her hooks in him his partners are cheating him . . . my gosh  what  s next  this may all sound like a lot to digest  but everything happens fast  with cagney bouncing  strutting  striding  finger  snapping  barking orders and occasionally  until the big last number when he goes all out singing and dancing   doing a step or two just to show how it  s done .  br    br   instead of  let  s put on a show  gang  we have  we need to build three shows in three days  so lock the doors and let  s start rehearsing .  these three super prologues are going to feature   chorines  spectacular effects and will mean a rich contract  with forty kent units in deluxe movie houses . . . the whole apollo movie house circuit  exhaustion threatens  feet ache  but all those unbilled chorines in skimpy costumes  which include ann sothern and dorothy lamour you can quickly spot sothern but lamour is more generic  stay the course  dancing their hearts out  giggling and chattering and looking remarkably unsweaty .  br    br   and then the curtains go up as each prologue is presented in separate movie houses  one after the other on the same night  with the owner of the apollo circuit going to determine that night whether he  ll save chester  s skin or not .  br    br   first up is  honeymoon hotel  with dick powell and ruby keeler in a  minute production number that features a lot of wholesome lasciviousness  with brides and grooms  some might even be married   bedrooms and beds  and doors with  do not disturb  signs .  br    br   then on to the next theater and   minutes of  by a waterfall  that probably had the warner brothers accountants worrying about bankruptcy . this number is so excessive   dozens of swimming girls  trees  fountains  a huge grotto with waterslides  a giant pool   you  d never think there was a depression on . berkeley pulls out all his tricks   synchronization  human patterns  legs and arms doing all sorts of precision things   and he does it in the water  with a lot of underwater photography looking up . the girls are sure game . they come up smiling with water in their eyes and still hit their marks . the whole thing must have been incredibly difficult and exhausting . ruby keeler  who has a couple of quick shots in the water  is the only one who looks a bit cautious .  br    br   and finally  the smash finale . . .   minutes of cagney dancing and singing with keeler to  shanghai lil   with all sorts of bar girls and their customers  unusual in that the races are mixed up . there  s cagney and keeler dancing on the bar  dancing on a table  cagney fighting . there are what looks like fifty or sixty marching marines  hupping back and forth  rifles tossed and caught . then . . . this is true . . . a human picture forms of franklin roosevelt and the nra eagle . this may be the only hollywood musical production that has ever featured roosevelt  a big federal agency and a bevy of sexy chinese prostitutes .  br    br   that  s entertainment  folks . it  s great   br    br   of course  chester  s prologues get the big contract and nan gets chester . the movie is full of juicy clichs that make us smile . ruby keeler is so endearing as she earnestly stomps out her taps with her arms flying that you want to help her along . joan blondell makes us forget about a lot of hollywood females who might have been more beautiful but who had a lot less wit and personality . the movie  however  belongs to cagney  who grabs and shakes it  and to berkeley  a man for whom too much was never too much .  
dont let the mpaa fool you with their  rated r for extreme violence  there is definatly no extreme violence in this boring peice of st . i expected some cheap rambo  type action that the trailer promised  however its just boring boring nonsense with tons of lame slow mo flashbacks that make no sense . avoid   
james cagney is best known for his tough characters  and gangster roles but he has also played quite a lot  soft  characters in his career . this musical is one of them and it was the first but not the last musical movie cagney would star in .  br    br   cagney is even doing a bit of singing in this one and also quite an amount of dancing . and it needs to be said that he was not bad at it . he plays the role with a lot of confidence . he apparently had some dancing jobs in his early life before his acting career started to take off big time  so it actually isn  t a weird thing that he also took on some musical acting roles in his career . he obviously also feels at ease in this totally different genre than most people are accustomed to seeing him in .  br    br   the movie is directed by lloyd bacon  who was perhaps among the best and most successful director within the genre . his earliest     s musicals pretty much defined the musical genre and he also was responsible for genre movies such as    nd street  . his musicals were always light and fun to watch and more comedy like than anything else really .     s musicals never were really about its singing  this was something that more featured in     s and later made musicals  mainly from the mgm studios .  br    br   as usual it has a light and simple story  set in the musical world  that of course is also predictable and progresses in a formulaic way . it nevertheless is a fun and simple story that also simply makes this an entertaining movies to watch . so do the characters and actors that are portraying them . sort of weird though that that the total plot line of the movie gets sort of abandoned toward the end of the movie  when the movie only starts to consists out of musical number routines .  br    br   the musical moments toward the ending of the movie are also amusing and well done  even though i  m not a too big fan of the genre itself . once again the musical numbers also feature a young billy barty . he often played little boys  babies  mice and whatever more early on in his career  including the movie musical  gold diggers of       of one year earlier .  br    br   a recommendable early genre movie .  br    br        
my wife is a fanatic as regards this show . that being the case i bought her seasons one through three and season four is on order . i personally think the show is one big farce the cast is equally bad . alyssa milano should have stuck to the other trash movies she made such as poison ivy  embrace of the vampire to name a few  the other female supporting cast members are equally inept in their portrayals . i  ve seen better special effects in the old republic pictures serials i saw as a child . i can understand why the male leads remained on the show for such short periods of time even though i don  t know if it was their own choosing or not . please . please don  t renew for another season as enough is enough  bob  
i have a feeling that the warners bros depression  era musicals are going to become a lot more pertinent in the next couple of years . yes  we are in the economic doldrums  or have you been living under a rock  and times look bleak . but we always have the movies as a way to escape our troubles . in the    s  film  going was hugely popular even at the height of economic gloom .  footlight parade        was one such film that audiences flocked to . while this lloyd bacon  directed musical doesn  t quite capture the social issues of the time as  gold diggers of            does  it  s still a wonderful showcase of talent . we have to wait until the end of the film for the three centrepiece busby berkely extravaganza numbers  but boy  are they worth waiting for me . yes  little ruby keeler is a terrible singer and actress  and her tapping is so  so  but busby  s magical  by a waterfall  whisks her  and what seems to be a hundred other chorus girls  into a dizzying water wonderland . of course busby  s numbers could never really be performed on a stage  they defy limits of gravity  for one thing   and they contrast terrifically with the realism of the tough  wisecracking non  musical scenes . and  footlight  also has james cagney in at the one of his all  too  few musicals  really  what couldn  t this man do   . he even gets to take over from the leading man  don sailor garb and fawn over sexpot shanghai lil  who is really little ruby in china  girl wig   . he co  stars with joan blondell  his adorable  adoring secretary who cagney somehow overlooks in favour of other women  until the final reel  that is  . apparently blondell was the only other woman who cagney loved apart from his wife . and you can see the mutual adoration in every scene .  
slight spoilers  br    br   a hunchback    year  old boy kisses a very cute    year  old girl and eventually he has sex for the first time . after the act  he lays in the bed with her not touching her . the next day he concludes that he does not like sex much and does not want to try it again for at least a few years .  br    br   this is seemingly a fine opening for a teleplay about a boy discovering his homosexuality  or perhaps a medical drama about a post  pubescent teen with a severe hormone deficiency .  br    br   however  as the plot develops what emerges is a story of a    year  old father who is supported and encouraged by his overbearing mother .  br    br   at one point  his mother preaches to her co  workers who are not as understanding as they might be   every step of the way in this  my son has been amazing . . . i have never been more proud of him . . .   br    br   the young father  s older sister  who otherwise is cold towards her brother  begins to show pride in her sibling   you have been cool about this   as she gives him an encouraging warm hug .  br    br   the    year  old father wants to be a father . he wants to be a parent .  br    br   why not  we see the  new  baby a few minutes after birth   it appears to be a healthy  happy   month  old infant . just as babies were born on tv in the      s and      s .  br    br   once the young father is a parent  he has found happiness . he insists he will be the one to change the dirty diaper . we see the    year  old father sincerely happy holding his baby while the teen  s busybody mother is peaking over his shoulder . fade to black .  
an excellent example of the spectacular busby berkeley musicals produced in the early      s . audiences must  ve been very surprised to see james cagney in this type of vehicle . quite a contrast from his  public enemy   years earlier . cagney does add spark  interest to a rather routine tired out formulated storyline  plot . but the highlight of the movie is the  elaborate production numbers back to back . first with the conservative  honeymoon hotel  number  then followed by the very spectacularly eye dazzling  by a waterfall  sequence  followed by the closing  shanghai lil  sequence  cagney only participates in the last number hoofing it up on top of a bar counter with ruby keeler . the  shanghai lil  number with cagney is excellent but a bit of a comedown  anti climactic after the more exciting  incredibly mind boggling  by a waterfall  choreography . if i was the director i would  ve inserted the  shanghai lil  number in the middle  close with  by a waterfall   which blows the other  numbers out of the water so to speak  in my view the best of the  numbers . the  production numbers are the frosting on the cake  james cagney  s performance is added decoration to the cake . an outstanding musical achievement  a  star movie  the ultimate musical  well worth watching  you won  t be disappointed           
i had been subjected to this movie for a relationship class in my school . as figured it was nothing captivating and nothing new . though it tries to be original by focusing on the teen father instead of the mother showing the problems that the dad would go through . it had an interesting side to it but it just doesn  t live up to its originality due to the fact nothing else in this movie was original . we have the main character who has the older sister who like in every other movie like this has a thing against him  we have the stay at home mother who expects too much and when he gives more she feels offended and leaves him in the dust  then we have the father who is always gone . then the girls side we have the parents who want everything and expect her to be perfect at all she does . on to the story like i said it was interesting but the lack of good acting from the entire cast and the lack of any good writing or storytelling . everything about this fell into clich the little nerd kid in school starts studying with girl  they get together  have sex and then boom we have a little kid . perhaps it could  ve been better had the writing been well better and had the acting been improved i  ve seriously gotten more emotion out of leatherface and his chainsaw than i did out of any actor in this film and that  s pretty bad seeing as the leatherface movies are crap and horridly acted . so far the only interesting teen pregnancy movie i  ve seen was juno . so far the comical side of this serious situation has proved more entertaining while still giving the same message . like i said the idea was original most of these films focus on the teen mother but this one chose not to instead it focuses on the drama of the father but again the originality does not save this movie from mediocrity . i really hope someone decides to either re  make this movie with a better cast and a better writer or just make another similar film because this one was wasted potential .  
this is a wonderful film . the non  stop patter takes several watchings to fully appreciate . the musical productions of busby berkeley will never be duplicated . i think this movie easily outdoes all of his other efforts . joan blondell and james cagney are incredible together . some of the humor would almost push the boundaries of today  s movies . put rational explanation of how they did it aside and enjoy it for the spectacle that it is .  
with the exception of family  this new season is worse than season one . i can  t imagine what they are thinking . as a fan of horror  can tolerate a lot of gore and mindless mayhem  but this series gets worse with each outing . i can  t imagine how disheartening it must be for the actors and crew to go to work each day  toiling to churn out such crap . story  is that too much to ask for  character  how can we give damn about the fate of anyone in these stories  if we are not engaged  who cares if they get carved up or whatever  almost every episode ends with mindless blood letting  going for gross out shock without any sense of revelation or conclusion or reason why we have been subjected to an hour of bloodletting . even dante  s effort this season had some disturbing sexist violence and wandered off to a pointless conclusion . ironically  the production values and performances tend to be up to speed  while the content is utter crap . i have great hopes for exec producer  s garris  s valarie under the stairs  but we shall see .  
fast  paced  funny  sexy  and spectacular . cagney is always terrific . blondel charms you with her wit and energy . it  s obvious that this is a pre  censorship film by the innuendo in the script  the costumes  and the way they touch each other . and bikinis before there were bikinis  this is no holds barred fun for everyone . i don  t understand the john garfield issue though . does it matter whether or not he  s in this film  if he is  he screen is so short that he  s basically a prop . you need to watch it frame by frame to even find him if he  s there . i  m a big cagney fan  but had never seen this one before . i found it on turner classics . i found it by wonderful accident . sit back and enjoy the ride   
honestly  the concept behind  masters of horror  had something going for it . big  time horror directors that are now left aside by the industry being given a chance to direct horror again  i was all for it from the start . that is  until i watched some episodes . . . oh boy  it  s really bad tv . not only does it seem like the directors are being given very little budgets to direct their skits  but there seems to be guidelines as well  like shooting in hd for example . to make a long story short  it  s bad both for artistic and reasons financial reasons . i cannot help but compare to the  tales from the crypt   and the m . o . h . episodes really don  t stand the comparison . tftc was good  moh is bad according to me here are a few keys to explain it tftc was shorter  around   minutes for each episode  than moh    minutes per episode   i believe it allowed denser screenplays  with good ideas reoccurring more often  better overview of an episode  less chances to let the plot be confusing or boring . duration might have been also the reason why the budget was better spent on tftc directors got to have real film music composers  composers on moh are if inexistent  very bad   real actors  whereas on moh it  s nothing but unknown actor after unknown actor    real directors of photography and  it can help sometimes  real film cameras  while moh is shot on hd cameras with very wrongly chosen lens  pieces   the result of which being that the episodes of tftc looked and felt  cinematographic  in the sense that there was real actors being casted  ranging from michael j . fox to tim roth to kyle mclachlan to kirk douglas  but there were also film composers behind it  of the range of alan silvestri  great directors of photography like dean cundey  high  end screenplay writers  and in that sense each  tale  was a little movie of its own true kind . compared to tftc  the  masters of horrors  is quite a lame approach to tv horror . it  s very hard to stand looking at it if your standards regarding cinematography are just a little above average  because it looks the same as any ugly tv serial  if not worse . it gets boring and even annoying incredibly fast  within the first   minutes usually . the actors are never  heard before wannabes  except for fairuza balk  robert englund  angela bettis and a few  but even there  they are the only famous actors of their episodes  . the director base for moh was good in the beginning  but it  s getting worst and worst with every episode now if even the directors are unknown to the world  what remains  nothing  and it  s funny how they are starting to have complete unknown directors while they haven  t even had  say  stan winston  dick maas  william lustig  sam raimi  eric red  robert harmon  william friedkin  jim muro  stuart gordon  russell mulcahy . . . if even  masters of horror  cannot bring dead directors back to life  who will  maybe a rerun of tales from the crypt will .  
when it came out  this was pretty much state of the art musical film entertainment . to this day it  s more entertaining than most  in great part because it has james cagney in the lead role as a musical prologue producer under a succession of deadlines and sheltered from all storms by his trusty  girl friday  played by joan blondell . also the musical numbers towards the end which were put together by busby berkeley are pretty much a knock  out as far as that type of thing goes .  br    br   but this is a pretty strange movie . i mean in one of those numbers  you  ve got billy barty running around pretending to be a lovable toddler  doing all kinds of weird stuff . ruby keeler seems to have a sickening smile plastered on her face at all times  but at least she  s not required to act like in some of her later unfortunate films . you  d never guess that dick powell was any kind of tough guy from seeing him in this movie apparently all the tough guy energy was allocated to the star cagney . as for cagney  his high speed rants about musical shows and so forth are endearing and annoying at the same time . after a while it gets a bit too much . you expect him to walk out and say   hey  i  ve got a great idea for a prologue  the women are cigarettes  and they come out of a pack of smokes  oh no  we did that one last month   it  s funny but it gets a bit repetitive . in the moments where he has to get tough with the bad girl  ruth donnelly  some of the established cagney gangster character comes out . in fact frequent b gangster director william keighley is credited here with dialogue coaching  and it seems at times that cagney and blondell are invoking something very  street  even though the characters aren  t criminal .  br    br   the musical numbers . . . what can you say  they stand alone as entertainment  the way that berkeley uses the human body and geometry is really startling . but none of them really mean anything . it means  honeymoon hotel   nothing really more or less . and the whole pretense of the integration falls apart immediately  since the characters in the show are doing things that couldn  t possibly be appreciated by a theater audience like the movie portrays . for example at one point they show the fine print on a newspaper  things like that . the whole thing could only exist on film  so the idea that the prologues are actually live shows is ridiculous . i can only suppose that audiences of the time were somewhat less critical about things like this than they would be ten years later or so  because this is a very polished production .  br    br   it  s great to see cagney himself show off his superb dancing skills  and he can actually share the stage with a dancer like keeler . cagney and blondell have excellent chemistry and their scenes go off really well . the music i would say is only mediocre  but mostly pleasing if repetitive . bacon  s direction in general is very suitable but never interesting . the film  s entertainment value is unquestionable and it has also picked up some nostalgic value along the way . it  s a cut above most  let  s put on a show  films of the   s .  
i was very excited when this series premiered in     . the premise was very simple and appealing each episode would be a one  hour mini movie directed by a famous  noteworthy horror director . then  when i finally watched them it was a bit of a letdown . some good episodes emerged from that first season  but all in all it was a mixed bag . i attributed it to the learning curve  and figured that season  would be a whole lot better .  br    br   boy  was i in for a shock . at least season one had a few good stories here and there . season   with the exception of  the black cat  starring the excellent jeffrey combs  was a complete and total loss to me . the episode  sounds like  may very well be the worst thing i have watched on tv in the last   years  and most of the other episodes aren  t much better . i really hope that season  turns this around next year  but i  m not holding my breath .  
of course you could never go into a theatre and witness the types of sets you get in this film . from that point of view it is utter fantasy . but who cares  it is certainly true that you will not find this film listed in with citizen kane  battleship potyomkin and all the other films the pseuds tell us we should be watching . films like this are worth a hundred citizen kanes . it is about what cinema does best great camera  work  great settings and great performances .  br    br   the three spectacular scenes at the end are probably best in the order they are presented  keeping the best till last .  br    br   i will gladly watch this film again and again and again and . . .  
some of the filmmakers who are participating in this series have made some really great films but they sure as heck are not showing much skill with this series . particularly the writing . ok  the first season was somewhat better but these new episodes they are creating just stink . i  m a huge fan of horror and in my opinion the vast majority of these episodes are total garbage . nothing new or genuinely interesting . few of them are visually creative . it  s just typical fabricated hollywood crap  uninteresting  childish  poorly conceived and in some cases  flat out laughable . much like tales from the crypt the only good thing this series has been offering is great nudity  other then that this series blows hard . i get the impression sometimes that they hired a bunch of eighth  graders to write the episodes . maybe they did .  
  footlight parade  is just one of several wonderfully jaunty musicals that warner bros . produced in the early      s to ward off the depression .    nd street  and the golddiggers series were also produced during this era  and they made literally  millions of americans forget their troubles for a little while  and enjoy themselves .  br    br   while most of the films produced had the great talents of joan blondell  ruby keeler  and dick powell  only foolight parade had the incomparable james cagney . almost ten years prior to his most well  known musical   yankee doodle dandy  . here he dances in that most original of dance styles  with his arms usually lowered at his side  and his legs doing all types of undulations and kicks . it  s easy to see that he is enjoying himself  and that makes us enjoy him all the more .  br    br   while almost all of the musical sequences appear at the end of the film  they are well worth the wait . i believe that this film was made just prior to the installation of the production code  so some of the costumes and scenes are a bit risqu . but it  s all in fun .  br    br   it doesn  t matter what the plot of the film is  just know that there are plenty of laughs and a superlative cast . besides those already mentioned  guy kibbee is at his flustered best here .  br    br    out of    
horror fans  i  m speaking to the over    s  although if you  re under   i apologise for what you might deem an insult   in short  if you appreciate having your imagination disturbed by well written  original storytelling  punctuated by unpredictable well planted scares  and delivered via convincing performances  then i can heartily recommend  avoiding these steamers  made by directors who have apparently long since past their sell by date . it  s no accident that almost every episode feels as if it were made in the      s . not to put blame squarely on the shoulders of some of these old boys  or indeed the    s  because where would we be without certain movies from the likes of argento  carpenter  landis  dante and barker  actually clive  wtf are you doing in there   glad to see romero had the good sense to give it a miss as i  m sure he was asked to partake . . .  . more perhaps we should point the finger at creator mick garris whose credentials include the logic defying and depressingly ill  advised tv remake of stanley kubrick  s masterpiece  the shining  .  br    br   perhaps it is an indication of the state of television today . are we so starved of good tv horror that we applaud any old sloppy schlock that the networks excrete onto our sets  sadly  maybe so .  br    br   normally i wouldn  t see the point of adding a comment that doesn  t argue the faults and merits of a production  i  d just rate it accordingly . however  as this series is woefully lacking in any merit  with perhaps the sole exception of the theme tune  i write this as more of a warning than a review don  t waste your time and money . if you disagree with me then it  s more than likely that you haven  t seen enough decent horror . perhaps the earlier films of some of these directors would be a much better place to start  but if these  masters  of horror were being assessed on these works alone  they  d never have been allowed to graduate with even their bachelor  s degree . unless of course they were studying for a degree from the university of st .  
the energetic young producer of theatrical prologues  those staged performances  usually musical  that often proceeded the movie in the larger cinemas in bygone days  must deal with crooked competition  fraudulent partners  unfaithful lovers  amateur talent to realize his dream of making his mark on the footlight parade .  br    br   while closely resembling other warner  s musical spectaculars  notably the golddigger films  this movie had a special attraction none of the others had jimmy cagney . he is a wonder  loose  jointed and lithe  as agile as any tomcat  a creature he actually mimics a few times during the movie . cagney grabs the viewers attention  never lets go  powering the rapid  fire dialogue and corny plot with his charisma  buoyant charm .  br    br   the rest of the cast gives their best  as well . joan blondell is perfect as the smart  mouthed  big  hearted blonde secretary  infatuated with cagney  major quibble  why wasn  t she given a musical number   . dick powell  ruby keeler once again play lovers onstage  off the fact that her singing  acting abilities are a bit on the lean side are compensated for by her dancing  powell still exudes boyish enthusiasm in his unaccustomed position as second male lead .  br    br   guy kibbee  hugh herbert are lots of fun as brothers  in  law  both scheming to cheat cagney in different ways . ruth donnelly scores as kibbee  s wealthy wife  a woman devoted to her handsome protgs . frank mchugh  s harried choreographer is an apt foil for cagney  s wit . herman bing is hilarious in his one tiny scene as a music arranger . mavens will spot little billy barty  jimmy conlin  maybe even john garfield during the musical numbers .  br    br   finally  there  s busby berkeley  choreographer nonpareil . his terpsichorean confections  sprinkled throughout the decade of the      s  were a supreme example of the cinematic escapism that depression audiences wanted to enjoy . the big joke about berkeley  s creations  of course  was that they were meant  as part of the plot  to be stage productions . but no theater could ever hold these products of the master  s imagination . they are perfect illustrations of the type of entertainment only made possible by the movie camera .  br    br   berkeley  s musical offerings generally took one of two different approaches  either a story  often rather bizarre  told with song  dance or else stunning geometrically designed numbers  eye candy  featuring plentiful chorus girls  overhead camerawork  a romantic tune . in a spasm of outr extravagance  footlight parade climaxes with three berkeley masterworks honeymoon hotel  and its pre  production code telling of a couple  s wedding night by a waterfall   dozens of unclad females  splashing  floating  diving in perfect patterns  designs  peer closely  you  ll see how the synchronous effects were achieved   and finally  shanghai lil   a fitting tribute to the talents of both cagney  berkeley .  
according to imdb takashi miike  s master of horror  segment  imprint  was banned in the us . so i figured i  d translate the swedish review i just wrote for it . . .  br    br   it was hard to not have any sort of expectations from ichi the killer  director takashi miike  s episode in the masters of horror series . and the dvd  cover of imprint did in deed look very promising .  br    br   the story mostly takes place in a remote japanese bordello  some time during the   th century  and it tells the tale of a journalist searching for komomo  the woman he left behind and whom he promised to return for . tired and dejected he arrives at the bordello  hoping that this will be the end of his very long journey . it turns out that one of the prostitutes  a deformed and quiet girl  know about komomo  and the desperate man makes her tell him where she is and what has happened to her since he left . the story she tells him is as deplorable as it is hard to swallow . . .  br    br   the first thing that hit me about the episode was how unnatural it seemed that the japanese cast for the most part spoke fluent american  english . but i will leave it at that  it  s not that big a deal . what is a big deal however is how miserable the rest of it was . miike  s tale moves at such a slow pace that i couldn  t help looking at my watch several times during the   minutes . the extended torure  scene  that takes place somewhere in the middle of the movie  felt so unmotivated  and pornographically intrusive  that not even that scene became interesting . i felt like it was violent just for the sake of violence itself  with no sense of style or purpose . the only scenes that provoked any kind of emotion out of me were the images of bloody fetuses rolling along the bottom of the swiftly flowing water . . . and  in all honesty  the only emotions they provoked were feelings of disgust .  br    br   the journalist seeking the love he left behind is played by billy drago  for me most memorable as frank nitti  al capones whiteclad assassin in brian de palmas the untouchables       . i  ve always found dragos portrayal of nitti to be very icy  and i mean that in a good way   and that is probably why i was almost annoyed when i found him to be so terrible  not in a good way  in this one . his acting seems to flow between no feelings or empathy whatsoever to displays of some really bad overacting . when his character is supposed to react to the awful things komomo has been subjected to i was sitting in the sofa  twisting and turning in an attempt to escape the horrible actingjob put forth by drago . i  m grateful that most of the story is told by yuoki kudoh  memoirs of a geisha        who plays the deformed prostitute .  br    br   the finale is probably supposed to be chocking  maybe even revolting and horrid  but i just found it to be kind of . . . you know . . .  blah   and i looked at my watch again  for the umptieth time  just wishing the crappy episode would end  . maybe the finale caused me to smile just a bit  but that  s only because i couldn  t help thinking of an episode of red dwarf  and the upside  down chins of craig charles and danny john  jules  with eyes glued on them to make them look like aliens . . . lucky you  if you  ve seen that episode and now decide to see imprint  i will forever have ruined the visuals of the ending for you .  br    br   my first thought  when imprint finally ended  was that the only thing that made the pain of watching it worth it  was hearing the main title theme by edward shearmur  the same music i believe is used in every episode of this series   and that  if anything  is a big friggin warning  don  t you think   br    br   one might point to the costume design  by michiko kitamura  and say that there  at least  is something not lacking in style and refinement . . . but there are so many other films and tv  shows that is so much better at showing off the japanese  geisha  fashion  . this is nothing but inferior and i am disappointed . takashi miike  s masters of horror  episode is boring  uninspiring and pointless . in other words it  s really  really bad   
i thought this had the right blend of character  plot  futuristic stuff and special effects without going over board . it will take a while to get going  but the acting was good and i was intrigued by the angel who is not to hard to look at . i like the attitude too  certainly not like other attempts at futuristic stories .  
i  m sorry  i had high hopes for this movie . unfortunately  it was too long  too thin and too weak to hold my attention . when i realized the whole movie was indeed only about an older guy reliving his dream  i felt cheated . surely it could have been a device to bring us into something deeper  something more meaningful .  br    br   so  don  t buy a large drink or you  ll be running to the rest room . my kids didn  t enjoy it either . ah well .  
this fabulous movie must be viewed knowing that millions scraped together   cents to see it and forget the gloomy day  to  day economic conditions during the    s . remember    cents bought a loaf of bread back then  so this was a minor luxury for many people . it  s testimony to how hollywood did its best to make the usa feel a little better about itself . you  ll note that with the studio system in hollywood at the time many of the actors and actresses were type  cast in similar movies  e . g . james cagney  william powell  ruby keeler  frank mchugh  joan blondell and guy kibbee . then too  branches of the u . s . military were always respected with enthusiasm and patriotism as in the use of military precision marching by the great choreographer  busby berkeley  at the end .  
i saw this last week after picking up the dvd cheap . i had wanted to see it for ages  finding the plot outline very intriguing . so my disappointment was great  to say the least . i thought the lead actor was very flat . this kind of part required a performance like johny depp  s in the ninth gate  of which this is almost a complete rip  off   but i guess tv budgets don  t always stretch to this kind of acting ability .  br    br   i also the thought the direction was confused and dull  serving only to remind me that carpenter hasn  t done a decent movie since in the mouth of madness . as for the story  well  i was disappointed there as well  there was no way it could meet my expectation i guess  but i thought the payoff and explanation was poor  and the way he finally got the film anti  climactic to say the least .  br    br   this was written by one of the main contributors to aicn  and you can tell he does love his cinema  but i would have liked a better result from such a good initial premise .  br    br   i took the dvd back to the store the same day   
an opium den  a dirty little boy  actually a midget   prostitutes galore  a violent fracas in a dive  a motel for sexual shenanigans  scantily clad babes with cleavage a lot  a boozer falling down the stairs  a racially mixed clientle in a bar with asians  africans  and anglos treated equally  does this sound like a film playing at the local shopping mall  wrong . these are all scenes from a     musical .  br    br   the first half of  footlight parade  is preparation for a musical extravaganza which occupies the last half of the film . chester kent  cagney  is about to lose his job and does lose his playgirl wife as a result of talking pictures squeezing out live stage musicals . his producers take him to see a popular talky of the day  john wayne in  the big trail .  before each showing of the flick  a dance number is presented as a prologue . shorts  news reels  serials  and cartoons would later serve the purpose . kent gets the idea that a prologue chain would be the road to salvation for the dwindling live musical business . kent is basically an idea man along the lines of choreographer busby berkeley . could it be that cagney  s character is patterned after berkeley  could be .  br    br   in preparation for the prologues  kent learns that his ideas are being stolen by a rival . he uncovers the traitor  fires him  then unbeknown to him a new leak is planted in the form a dazzling temptress . his assistant  nan prescott  joan blondell  soon to be mrs . dick powell  has the hots for kent and is determined to expose the wiles of the temptress . a new singer from arkansas college shows up in the form of scotty blain  dick powell  who turns out to be a real find and is paired with bea thorn  ruby keeler  . the resulting three prologue musicals  which couldn  t possibly have been presented on any cinema stage of the day  are as fresh and enjoyable today as they were over seventy years ago   honeymoon hotel    by a waterfall   and  shanghai lil .   br    br   of special note is the song and dance of tough  guy james cagney . like fred astaire and bill  bojangles  robinson  cagney  s dancing appeared natural and unrehearsed  although hours went into practice to get each step just right . not as good a singer as astaire  cagney  s singing  like astaire  s  sounded natural  unlike the crooning so popular at the time . it  s amazing that one person could be so talented and so versatile as james cagney .  br    br   most critics prefer the  shanghai lil  segment over the other two . yet the kaleidoscopic choreography of  by a waterfall  is astonishing . how berkeley was able to film the underwater ballets and to create the human snake chain must have been difficult because it has never been repeated . the close up shots mixed brilliantly with distant angles is a must  see . the crisp black and white photography is much more artistic than it would have been if shot in color .  br    br   though not nearly as socially conscious as  gold diggers of        footlight parade  stands on its own as one of the most amazing and outrageous musicals ever put on the big screen .  
there was not one original idea in this story . themes were pulled from various sources a few being the ninth gate  in the mouth of madness  another carpenter film   and the ring . it even went as far as featuring the same damn glowing circle from the ring and using it as the film  s namesake . the soundtrack by cody carpenter was all but lifted from suspiria . hopefully no one will oppose this comment by spewing the word homage around . yes  i saw that the theater was playing argento  s deep red . claiming an homage would be a bullshit cop  out . this was bottom  of  the  barrel . throwing gore and  disturbing  imagery into the pot does not make a good horror film . carpenter used to know that . he should fade into obscurity or acquire a time machine .  
it has singing . it has drama . it has comedy . it has a story . it  s one of the greatest movies ever made . . . period . if you can  t enjoy this movie  then you must be either asleep or in some kind of mental disarray . in  yankee doodle dandy  james cagney sings and dances his way to an academy award but in this movie he is better  this is james cagney at his quisessential best  he  s fast with the one  liners  he  s fast with his feet  it  s nonstop action . and the song  and  dance skits are classics  especially  shanghai lil .  and the supporting cast is great and the entire movie is upbeat  fast moving  and exudes confidence . and even though this movie was made over   years ago  it  s still watchable  even today . and of course  this movie features miss ruby keeler  who was married to al jolson  . she is the perfect partner for james cagney . . . and dick powell too  if you like upbeat  fast paced movies  with lots of singing and dancing  this is the movie to watch .  
at first i was convinced that this was a made  for  tv movie that wasn  t worthy of primetime . but after a few minutes of dumb  struck awe  i realized that there was at least comic value in the over  the  top stunts and c  movie acting . this movie would have gotten a  if my wife and i hadn  t laughed so hard as we watched it in wonder that the actors could keep a straight face . it was like a less  funny spy version of the big hit  i laughed so much i actually bought the big hit dvd  with even  worse acting . we were disappointed that nick chose to marry elena  and not jim  after all of the hugging and high  fives . a few rum and cokes will definitely help it go down easier .  
the stock market crash of     and the depression following almost ruined the american musical theater  in fact it was the final death blow to vaudeville . those behind the curtains were hit as bad as those in front .  br    br   in an effort to stimulate the show business economy and his own personal economy  out of work theater director james cagney comes up with a brilliant idea . stage live relevant prologues to the movies that are being shown at the various movie theaters that are springing up overnight from the old theaters . some other competitors get wind of it and the competition is on .  br    br   footlight parade is my favorite busby berkeley film . it gives james cagney a chance to display some of his versatility as a dancer as well as a tough guy . in his retirement cagney said that while he screened his few and far between musicals a lot  he could barely be bothered with some of his straight dramatic films . he wished he  d done a few more musicals in his career and i wish he had .  br    br   of course the staging of these busby berkeley extravaganzas on the stage of a movie palace defies all logic and reason . but it  s so creative and fun to watch .  br    br   dick powell gets to sing three songs in footlight parade  ah the moon is here  honeymoon hotel  and by a waterfall  the last two with ruby keeler further cementing that screen team . ruby sings and dances with powell in the last two and she partners with james cagney in my favorite number from footlight parade  shanghai lil .  br    br   joan blondell is cagney  s no nonsense girl friday at the theater . like in blonde crazy  she  s the one with the real brains in that duo and it  s her quick thinking that bails him out of some domestic problems he has on top of his theatrical ones . one of blondell  s best screen roles .  br    br   look for dorothy lamour and ann sothern in the chorus as per the imdb pages for both of them . john garfield is seen briefly in the shanghai lil number . and in a scene at the beginning of the film  producer guy kibbee takes cagney to a movie theater where they are showing a b western starring john wayne . the duke  s voice is unmistakable . but what  s even more unusual is that the brief clip shows him in a scene with frank mchugh who plays another cagney assistant in footlight parade . i think the brothers warner were playing a little joke there . i  ve got to believe that clip was deliberate .  br    br   footlight parade is busby berkeley at his surreal best .  
i  m sorry to say this  but the acting in this film is horrible . the dialogue sounds as if they are reading their lines for the first time ever . perhaps i got the  dress rehearsal  version by mistake . the director over  uses slow motion during special effects perhaps as an attempt to compensate for the poor performance of the actors themselves . the story is pretty well written  and the fight sequences are actually better than i have seen in many action films . the fights seem pretty real . but all of this happens while to two leading actors time and time again miraculously survive incredible amounts of point  blank automatic weapon fire  grenades  morter rounds  and bazookas . the enemy soldiers are definitely some of the worst shots i have ever seen  especially when they have the escaping truck in their sights from about   yards  and every bazooka shot is wide by at least   feet . those bazookas need serious site calibration .  
  footlight parade  is fascinating on so many levels . there is no way the supposedly staged  theater prologues  could have been produced in any theater on earth  of course . think of the huge pools and three  story tall fountains for  by a waterfall   for instance .  berkeley directed john garfield in  they made me a criminal  six years later and had the dead end kids singing  by a waterfall  as they took their showers .   br    br    shanghai lil  is the best production number in the picture . it  s a catalog of    s warner bros . sensibilities . note the african guys mixed into the scene with white and asian prostitutes . you would never see blacks integrated into a social scene in other films of the period unless they were porters on a train or maids in a big house . here the black guys are sitting at the bar and singing with the others . i also get a thrill when the military dancers do a  card section  presentation of roosevelt  s image . there  s also the nra eagle   the logo of the controversial national recovery administration of the new deal . fdr was the new president and hopes were so high that he  d pull the nation out of the depression . you  d never see something so working class oriented coming out of mgm  of course . warner bros . wholeheartedly supported the uplift dictated by the f . d . r . administration .  br    br   dear little miss ruby keeler was never better than she is playing the chinese hooker   lil .  she hardly even watches her feet as she dances  which was one of her signature flaws .  br    br   the pre  code stuff is fun . the  by a waterfall  number is wonderful in that regard . the girls change into their bathing suits on the crowded bus speeding through times square with all its lights on . the spread  eagle girls swimming over the camera provide the kind of crotch shots that would not be seen for   years . in a few months the production code would eliminate such naughty pleasures .  
the only redeeming quality of this movie is that it was bad enough to be comedic . everyone in this movie looks like a porn industry drop out . i have actually seen better acting in low budget porn . i though i had actually rented some kind of gay porn after this classic scene jim watch your ass nick you watch yours  together   i wont leave you behind   br    br   the first action sequence shows how awful the production is  but its really kind of funny good guys have transformer weapons  in one scene  they all have fake hk mp  sub  machine guns . next scene  ak    replicas  and then  to top it all off  they do some weapon swapping between scenes with a couple of m    s   i think they had a budget shortage for guns  not enough to go around between the good guys and bad guys . fight scenes are poorly coordinated and fake as all hell . you have to remove the pin  spoon from a grenade for it to explode on its own . you can  t fire a shoulder launched missile of any kind while riding inside a helicopter . weapons that you throw away don  t suddenly re  appear . when a gun is out of bullets  throwing it away is still pretty stupid . unless you have no idea how to reload them . . big slow trucks driving around in first gear make for awkward action scenes . i really cant believe movies like this are actually produced . this movie would be hilarious on nitrous oxide or maybe just drunk .  
footlight parade is among the best of the      s musical comedy extravaganzas . a snappy script and an all  star cast including jimmy cagney  the lovely joan blondell  dick powell  and ruby keeler make this film a cut above the rest . directed and choreographed by the creative genius busby berkeley  this film will have you grinning from ear  to  ear from start to finish .  br    br   busby  of course  is the undisputed master of the hollywood musical with  gold diggers of      and    nd street  to his credit  as dance director  . footlight parade is graced by hundreds of scantily  clad chorus girls  a berkeley trademark . the elaborate dance numbers were shot with only one camera and busby was the first director to film close  ups of the dancers . his obsession with shapely legs and  rear  view  shots is amply demonstrated here . the overall effect is highly erotic and mesmerizing .  br    br   our boy jimmy cagney plays chester kent  a producer of  prologues  or short musical stage productions that were performed in movie theaters to entertain the audience before the talkies were shown . he  s surrounded by crooked partners  a corporate spy  and a gold  digging girlfriend . although cagney had a solid background in vaudeville  this was the first film in which he showed his dancing talents . joan blondell is memorable as cagney  s wise  cracking  lovestruck secretary . and ruby keeler is adorable  as always .  br    br   the film climaxes with three outstanding production numbers   honeymoon hotel    the waterfall   and  shanghai lil   each one a masterpiece and not likely to be duplicated in today  s hollywood where so  called  special effects  have replaced creative cinematography .  br    br   claudia  s bottom line clever and erotic  with some of the best musical production numbers ever put on celluloid . a thoroughly enjoyable depression era romp .  
early  heavy  war  time propaganda short urging people to be careful with their spending practices  in effort to prevent any runaway inflation .  br    br   using scare  guilt and patriotic jingoistic rhetoric  which was normal for the time  the government was concern that the sudden war  time production and therefore wage increase and subsequent spending practices if not checked could cause serious problems during and after the war .  br    br   it truly is a window into the past  historically and culturally .  
a very early oliver stone  associate   produced film  and one of the first films in the impressive career of lloyd kaufman  co  founder and president of the world  s only real independent film studio troma  creator of the toxic avenger and  at the prestigious amsterdam fantastic filmfestival  lifetime  achievement awarded filmmaker for over   years  . having raised the money for this film on his own  lloyd wrote this script together with theodore gershuni in     and in hindsight regrets having listened to advice to have gershuni else direct the film instead of doing it himself . but back then he was still inexperienced in the business and it is probably because of decisions like these that he takes no nonsense from anyone anymore . indeed it would have been interesting to see lloyd  s version of his own script  as one of the world  s most original  daring  experimental and non  compromising directors he probably would have given it even more edge than it already has . but as it is we have the gershuni  directed film . and weather it is due to the strong script  or the fact that he too is indeed quite a director of his own  sugar cookies is a very intelligent  highly suspenseful and well  crafted motion picture that deserves a lot more attention than it receives . the shoestring budget the small studio  this was even before kaufman and his friend and partner for over   years now  michael herz  formed troma  had to work with is so well handled that the film looks a lot more expensive  indeed does not have a  low budget  look at all . the story revolves around lesbian camilla stone  played by enigmatic mary woronow  and her lover who winds up dead through circumstances i won  t reveal not to spoil a delightful story . this leads to a succession of plot  twists  mind games and personality reform that is loosely inspired by hitchcock  s vertigo and at least as inventive . the atmosphere is a lot grimmer  though  and some comparisons to nicholas roeg  s and donald cammell  s performance come to mind . in this mix is a very original and inventive erotic laden thriller that keeps it quite unclear as to how it is all going to end  which  along with a splendidly interwoven sub  plot with a nod to kaufman  s earlier and unfortunately unavailable big guss what  s the fuss  makes for a very exciting one  and  a  half  hour . certainly one of the best films in troma  s library  and yet again one of those films that defy the curious fantasy that their catalog is one of bad taste . the dvd includes some recent interviews kaufman conducts with woronov and the other leading lady lynn lowry  later seen in george romero  s the crazies   thus giving some interesting insight in what went on during the making of this cult  favorite and a few hints of what would be different had lloyd directed it himself . highly recommended .  
this is a well made informative film in the vein of pbs frontline . the problem is  frontline already did this piece and managed to bring l . paul bremer in to tell his side of the story . more troubling is the fact that the director of the film  charles ferguson   a former think tank wonk  was a war supporter until the occupation went south . what did he think would happen   br    br   the invasion of poland went really well too until it was messed up by those pesky nazis . and that is what this film feels like   an apology for occupation rather than a deconstruction of the act of war itself .  br    br   ferguson seems to suggest that the war could have been run better   as if any war can be better .  
this movie is not schlock  despite the lo fi production and its link to troma productions . a dark fable for adults . exploitation is a theme of sugar cookies  and one wonders if the cast has not fallen prey to said theme . a weird movie with enticing visuals shadows and contrast are prominent . definitely worth a look  especially from fans of warhol and stylish decadence . through all the cruelty and wickedness  a moral  albeit twisted  can be gleamed .  
there seems to be an overwhelming response to this movie yet no one with the insight to critique its methodology  which is extremely flawed . it simply continues to propogate journalistic style analysis  which is that it plays off of the audiences lack of knowledge and prejudice in order to evoke an emotional decry and outburst of negative diatribe .  br    br   journalism     tell the viewer some fact only in order to predispose them into drawing conclusions which are predictable . for instance  the idea of civil war  chaos  looting  etc were all supposedly unexpected responses to the collapse of governmental infrastructure following hussein  s demise were these not all symptomatic of an already destitute culture  doctrinal infighting as symptomatic of these veins of islam itself  rather than a failure in police force to restrain and secure  would they rather the us have declared marshall law  i  m sure the papers here would  ve exploded with accusations of a police state and fascist force .  br    br   aside from the analytical idiocy of the film  it takes a few sideliners and leaves the rest out claiming  so  and  so refused to be interviewed . . .  yet the questions they would  ve asked are no doubt already answered by the hundred inquisitions those individuals have already received . would you  as vice president  deign to be interviewed by a first time writer  producer which was most certainly already amped to twist your words . they couldn  t roll tape of condi to actually show her opinion and answer some of the logistics of the questions  perhaps they never watched her hearing .  br    br   this is far from a neutral glimpse of the situation on the ground there . this is another biased  asinine approach by journalists  which are  by and large  unthinking herds .  br    br   anyone wanting to comment on war ought at least have based their ideas on things a little more reliable than nbc coverage and cnn commentary . these interpretations smack of the same vitriol which simply creates a further bipartisanism of those who want to think and those who want to be told by the media what to think .  
starting off  here  s a synopsis porno queen alta lee  lynn lowry  is murdered by her pornographer lover max  george shannon  in a game of sexual russian roulette . alta  s other lover  icy lesbian casting agent camila stone  mary woronov   provides an alibi for max . but camila has an agenda of her own  and a plan involving the seduction of innocent actress julie  lynn again  in a web of sexual mind games . when the lookalikes  identities are sufficiently blurred  the stage is set for vengeance as passionate as the most heated carnal encounter .  br    br   though this movie is quite obscure and never got much attention  i find it to be a sexy  suspenseful gem . cult goddess woronov has one of her best  ever roles  and she and sexy  innocent lowry play off each other well . the unsettling music provided by gershon kingsley  plus two original songs   all  american boy    you say you  ve never let me down   and the jaynetts   sally  go  round the roses  compose a memorable soundtrack . theodore gershuny  s direction is sharp  with everything photographed in muted earth tones that perfectly suggest unsavory business bubbling under society  s upper crust . with tons of great new york atmosphere  ondine  woronov  s friend and fellow warholite  giving a great performance in a small role  and exotic monique van vooren as max  s ex  wife in a comic sub  plot . this sub  plot  though amusing  looks like it belongs in another movie altogether . however  i  m not complaining  as the film is smooth even as it changes gears and is a hell of a lot more interesting that the erotic  thriller garbage currently being cranked out .  br    br   trivia sugar cookies was originally rated x  soft  core  and released by general film corporation in     . i am the proud owner of an original one  sheet poster   lucky me  in      the movie was cut for an r and re  released by troma team  which now offers it uncut on videotape . mary woronov was the wife of theodore gershuny at the time  and was reportedly uncomfortable performing the graphic lesbian simulated sex scenes with him leering behind the camera . she can also be seen in two of his earlier productions  kemek       and silent night  bloody night       .  
this movie was so bad that my i . q . went down about   points after seeing it . it made me wonder who could sit through the weeks it took to make it and think that it was worth it . it must of been some kind of personal favor to van damme .  
i enjoyed longstreet  which followed in the steps of raymond burr  s successful ironside tv series and was intended to give it competition . but this show was canceled after one season because it was decided   i believe wrongly   that longstreet was not able to compete with mr . burr  s ironside .  br    br   i may add that the pilot for this show was especially well done and very memorable . i hope that a box set of longstreet will appear .  br    br   writers should note that this story idea was only briefly explored here and that much more could and should be done to show the play and interplay of disabilities on tv .  
universal soldier the return is not the worst movie ever made . no  that honor would have to go to a film that attempted to make some sort of statement or accomplish some artistic feat but failed in a pathetic or offensive manner . however  perhaps no movie i have ever seen has tried for so little and succeeded so completely as did universal soldier the return .  br    br   this film is a sci  fi  action travesty that has virtually nothing to recommend it . the acting is as bad as any movie i  ve ever seen . the plot is terrible and predictable . the special effects are pathetic . in short  anyone even remotely connected to this film should be ashamed of themselves . us the return makes previous van damme fare seem like groundbreaking cinematic masterpieces . some movies are so bad  they  re good . believe me when i tell you that this is not one of them . i  m really not sure what else to say here . i doubt many people were considering seeing this movie if they hadn  t already  but just in case don  t .  
this is the best sci  fi that i have seen in my   years of watching sci  fi . i also believe that dark angel will become a cult favorite . the action is great but jessica alba is the best and most gorgeous star on tv today .  
no fireworks despite violent action .  br    br   science fiction films that reflect quality are scarce indeed  largely because transposal of imaginative themes from the genre to the screen too often falls short of effective execution as a result of insufficient funding or inadequate invention  and unfortunately for its producers  this work is lacking on both counts  woefully so in the case of the latter . with essentially no budget with which to operate  it is a grave mistake to attempt the depiction of such a gamut of events as those within this scenario and  in particular  special effects of space opera warfare which appear only clownish  while seeds from the scriptors  imagination lie fallow due to some of the most fatuous misunderstanding of basic scientific principles to be found . among these are frequent firing of weapons within a sealed environment  and a wayward law of gravity which enables freedom of movement of cast members while inanimate objects float weightlessly  but it is easier to accept these than it is to pretend that any of the episodes have a basis in plausibility . the plot involves an escape of life sentenced prisoners from a space station penal colony to a waste landfill upon our moon and their various attempts to obtain passage back to earth  with some few capable players present who are execrably directed by first  timer paolo mazzucato  whose production team wastes effort upon such as holographic pornography while ignoring a pressing and basic requirement for the creation of states of suspense and of impetus .  br    br    
this series was a cut above the rest of the tv detective series of the day but somehow didn  t find an audience .  br    br   the idea of a blind detective may not be totally new but added so much to the story . and who could forget pax  the beautiful guide dog in the series   br    br   whilst the stories themselves may have been no better than the average series  the settings  in new orleans  the acting and the music  i note the comment about the music score in other comments . . . i remember that clearly  all work to make a good television series even better   br    br   well you never know . . . one day paramount might just dig into its archives and release it on dvd   
this is a worthless sequel to a great action movie . cheap looking  and worst of all  boring action scenes  the only decent thing about the movie is the last fight sequence . only   minutes  but it feels like it goes on forever  even die  hard van damme fans  like myself  should avoid this one   
there is no denying that ealing comedies are good  but for me this film stands out as one of the best .  br    br   the basic premise of the film is that a small part of pimlico in london is discovered to be part of burgundy  not the uk . we then follow the lives of the residents in their battle to keep the treasure found after the bomb explodes  and keep out the black market traders who soon realise that being exempt from uk law  rationing does not exist . when they become prisoners in their own street because the government has decided to close the boarder we see them fight back against the system .  br    br   they are forced to ration water and food in their stand for what is right . in fact becoming worse off than they were before it all started  that  s where the moral comes in . it  s when they loose all the food that they think they are beaten and call for a surrender  only to have the whole of london respond to their plight by sending food  lot  s of it . thus enabling them to continue their struggle .  br    br   this film hit  s the right note throughout  the acting is superb  with stanley holloway  margaret rutherford  hermione baddeley and betty warren standing out . it  s pitched just right  not too sentimental and the moral of the story not forced down your throat . well worth a viewing  
we open with colonel luc deveraux  van damme   the original universal soldier and his buxom asian friend being chased down a river by what appear to be universal soldiers . they almost kill the two  then oh wait  it was just a field test . deveraux we come to find is now part of a government funded company that designs the new level of universal soldiers . why he would want to be involved in this  if you know anything about the original  is never explained and well beyond me .  br    br   it  s after this flimsy set piece that the real story gets going . the united states government has cut the universal soldier  s project budget and in the process angered seth  the large artificial mainframe computer that controls the universal soldiers  . naturally he won  t be shut down without a fight . so that means van damme has to go around and take all the new breed of universal soldiers out . which sounds like a fun idea for an action movie and a take on a sequel  but that doesn  t stop it from becoming stupid as hell .  br    br   for instance  one of the new universal soldiers is played by bill goldberg . seems you can  t go wrong casting a wrestler in an action movie . he  s big  he  s tough  right  wrong . van damme doesn  t seem to have a problem wiping the floor with him . . . once . . . twice . . . three times . the point here lost on me . then there  s the breaking of glass . a rudimentary part of any action movie  but someone involved must have a glass fetish . you have to see the fight scenes in particular . let  s not talk about how nobody cuts themselves or at the very least slips . then to put the cherry on top of this train wreck  they have seth  the computer  secure a human body for himself and how appropriate it is when they make the villain black  michael jai white  . nothing works better than a white good guy fighting a black bad guy it would seem . potentially offensive and just downright lame . he  s no replacement for dolph  either .  br    br   universal soldier  is a lousy sequel . it  s loud  it  s dumb and it doesn  t care . the original wasn  t anything poetic  but it made a simple sort of sense with a science fiction element and it entertained on a basic level . the sequel doesn  t . they do however keep the running time under ninety minutes and somehow found a way to squeeze in a strip club sequence . so give credit where credit is due .  
pleasant story of the community of pimlico in london who  after an unexploded ww  bomb explodes  find a royal charter stating that the area they live in forms part of burgundy .  br    br   this movie works because it appeals to the fantasy a lot of us have about making up our own rules and not having to listen to them . a solid cast of british stalwarts  especially stanley holloway  makes this more believable .  br    br   there are some very nice moments in the film  such as when the people have ran out of supplies and other londoners on the other side of the barricade start throwing food and other things over to them .  br    br   even though you always knew pimlico would become part of the uk again  the people of pimlico and as a consequence the viewer doesn  t mind when this happens  leaving a nice happy feeling .  br    br   it  s amazing to think that these low budget movies from a small studio in london still remain so popular over fifty years later . the producers must have got something right .  
i first heard of unisol  when i drove past a cinema when i was on holiday in america . i really did not take much notice of it until i bought the original on dvd which led me to find out about its three sequels . i subsequently started to read about the return on the imdb and asked friends what they thought of it . despite their horrific criticisms of it  i still went out of my way to see it and was on the brink of buying it until i saw it for hire on dvd . i wasn  t expecting much but thought that it must have been half decent to get a theatrical release in the us  after all  how often is it that you see van damme on the big screen  well  nothing could have prepared me for this . it is so bad i almost cried . what a total waste of   minutes and   .   . it is hard to explain how bad this move is . honestly . this is idiotic film making . no  it  s more than idiotic . i just cannot believe how this got made . i cannot believe that someone out there has not murdered mic rogers . how stupid can people possibly be  firstly  van damme actually thinking the script and finished film was good . secondly  the fact that xander berkley  of terminator  and air force one status  commited himself to this film . i simply cannot believe the stupidity of this movie . it takes itself so seriously but comes across to the audience like a spoof . here is an example jcvd  s daughter  yes  luc is now a human again    i want my daddy   seth   so do i  . oh yeah  and some guy tries to shut down seth by pulling three huge levers with  wait for it  on and off written on them . the acting all round is like playschool acting . i  m sure mr director modelled luc  s reporter girlfriend on april o  neil from the cartoon teenage mutant hero turtles  she refuses to go because she  . . . needs her story  . i mean come on  how many cliches can a film possibly use  please listen to me fellow imdb users  don  t touch this with a barge pole . to conclude  universal soldier the return has no relation whatsoever to the first movie . in fact  if they weren  t called unisols then you would never know it was a sequel . luc is now a human again  what the hell    the only place in which he can access the internet is in a stripclub . all the new uni sols look like they were dragged off the street  they are that unconvincing . this is pure torture to watch  so do yourself a favour  don  t torture yourself . p . s  best part of the movie romeo jumps off a building and shouts  oh sht  .  
my cable tv has what  s called the arts channel  which is a  catch  as  catch  can  situation sometimes  sometimes films  sometimes short clips of films or ballets  and i came into this just as the bar scene came on  where they tear up their coupons . excellent  exquisite  ealing wins again  my wartime  glasgow  raised mother would love this  should i ever find a copy of it . some of britain  s best artists  from mr holloway to wayne and radford and the delicious miss rutherford  having a wonderful time gently sticking it to the home office . loved the last scene  where as soon as they are  back in england   the temperature plummets and it rains . . .  
the infamous ed wood  classic  plan  from outer space features an indignant alien calling the human race   . . . stupid  stupid  stupid stupid   i  d have to say exhibit a in that trial would probably this movie  a ridiculously silly sci  fi film .  br    br   falling action star jean claude van damme returns to a hit role for him from the original movie  luke  a former universal soldier who now works making really good universal soldiers . while van damme was too big to reprise the role in the first two sequels  he was too small to do much of anything else by the time the fourth film in the universal soldier series came around . so  probably cursing under his breath the whole way  he kicks and grunts and scowls through ninety minutes of explosions and karate kicks . you  ll find plenty of mindless violence  but i  d advise you get a coat check for your brain at the door when you start watching this thing . otherwise  you are liable to forget where you left it by the time it  s over .  br    br   luke is called into action against more universal soldiers after a really really really evil computer named seth  makes hal look like ghandi  turns all the other universal soldiers into evil  remorseless killers . of course this is what these things are programmed to do  but in this case they are killing their creators  not  the enemy  so that  s a problem .  br    br   i love the dumb logic of this movie . logic that believes that a supercomputer would create a body for itself that looks as ashamed as michael jai white does to be in this movie . logic that dictates that the creator of seth be a blue  haired cyber  stereotype geek who spouts cliches more regularly than old faithful does steam . logic that has a climactic karate fight feature two characters kicking each other though ten separate panes of shattering glass in the span of three minutes of screen time .  br    br   the film also features a daughter in peril character  wrestler bill goldberg as a wrestler disguised as a universal soldier  and a romance so tacked on  i have to think the writers thought tacked on romances were actually a good thing . and when this movie ends  it ends . not a minute after a gigantic towering finale  style explosion are the credits running . no epilogue  no where are they now  no final kiss  just explosion  hug  over . even the creators want to get out of this thing as soon as possible .  br    br   while it  s no plan   ustr is a silly little trifle of an action movie that would be fun at parties full of rowdy van damme fans who enjoy seeing their hero really reaching new depths . not to be seen on a serious stomach .  
passport to pimlico is a real treat for all fans of british cinema . not only is it an enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining comedy  but it is a cinematic flashback to a bygone age  with attitudes and scenarios sadly now only a memory in british life .  br    br   stanley holloway plays pimlico resident arthur pemberton  who after the accidental detonation of an unexploded bomb  discovers a wealth of medieval treasure belonging to the   th century duke of burgundy that has been buried deep underneath their little suburban street these last    years .  br    br   accompanying the treasure is an ancient legal decree signed by king edward iv of england  which has never been officially rescinded  to state that that particular london street had been declared burgandian soil  which means that in the eyes of international law  pemberton and the other local residents are no longer british subjects but natives of burgundy and their tiny street an independent country in it  s own right and a law unto itself .  br    br   this sets the war  battered and impoverished residents up in good stead as they believe themselves to be outside of english law and jurisdiction  so in an act of drunken defiance they burn their ration books  destroy and ignore their clothing coupons  flagrantly disregard british licencing laws etc  declaring themselves fully independent from britain .  br    br   however  what then happens is ever spiv  black marketeer and dishonest crook follows suit and crosses the  border  into burgundy as a refuge from the law and post  war restrictions to sell their dodgy goods  and half of london  s consumers follow them in order to dodge the ration  making their quiet happy little haven  a den of thieves and a rather crowded one at that .  br    br   appealing to whitehall for assistance  they are told that due to developments this is  now a matter of foreign policy  which his majesty  s government is reluctant to become involved  which leaves the residents high and dry . they do however declare the area a legal frontier and as such set up a fully equipped customs office at the end of the road  mainly to monitor smuggling than to ensure any safety for the residents of pimlico .  br    br   eventually the border is closed altogether starting a major siege  with the bugundian residents slowly running out of water and food  but never the less fighting on in true british style . as one bugundian resident quotes   we  re english and we always were english  and it  s just because we are english  we are fighting so hard to be bugundians   br    br   a sentiment that is soon echoed throughout the capital as when the rest of london learn of the poor bugundians plight they all feel compelled to chip in and help them  by throwing food and supplies over the barbed wire blockades .  br    br   will whitehall  who has fought off so may invaders throughout the centuries finally be brought to it  s knees by this new batch of foreigners  especially as these ones are english      br    br   great tale  and great fun throughout . not to be missed .  
i was very skeptical about sacrificing my precious time to watch this film . i didn  t enjoy the first one at all  and the last jean claude van damme film i liked was blood sports  after managing to sit through it all  avoid  avoid  avoid    
my former cambridge contemporary simon heffer  today a writer and journalist  has put forward the theory that  just as british film  makers in the eighties were often critical of what they called  thatcher  s britain   the ealing comedies were intended as satires on  attlee  s britain   the britain which had come into being after the labour victory in the     general election . this theory was presumably not intended to apply to  say   kind hearts and coronets   which is  if anything  a satire on the edwardian upper classes  or to  the ladykillers  or  the lavender hill mob   both of which may contain some satire but are not political in nature . it can  however  be applied to most of the other films in the series  especially  passport to pimlico  .  br    br   pimlico is  or at least was in the forties  a predominantly working  class district of london  set on the north bank of the thames about a mile from victoria station . it is not quite correct to say  as has often been said  that the film is about pimlico  declaring itself independent  of britain . what happens is that an ancient charter comes to light proving that in the fifteenth century the area was ceded by king edward iv to the duchy of burgundy . this means that  technically  pimlico is an independent state  and has been for nearly five hundred years  irrespective of the wishes of its inhabitants . the government promise to pass a special act of parliament to rectify the anomaly  but until the act receives the royal assent the area remains outside the united kingdom and british laws do not apply .  br    br   because pimlico is not subject to british law  the landlord of the local pub is free to open whatever hours he chooses and local shopkeepers can sell whatever they please to whomever they please  unhindered by the rationing laws . when other traders start moving into the area to sell their goods in the streets  the british authorities are horrified by what they regard as legalised black  marketeering and seal off the area to try and force the  burgundians   as the people of pimlico have renamed themselves  to surrender .  br    br   many of the ealing comedies have as their central theme the idea of the little man taking on the system  either as an individual as happens in  the man in the white suit  or  the lavender hill mob   or as part of a larger community as happens in  whisky galore  or  the titfield thunderbolt  . the central theme of  passport  is that of ordinary men and women taking on bureaucracy and government  imposed regulations which seemed to be an increasingly important feature of life in the britain of the forties . the film  s particular target is the rationing system . during the war the system had been accepted by most people as a necessary sacrifice in the fight against nazism  but it became increasingly politically controversial when the government tried to retain it in peacetime . it was a major factor in the growing unpopularity of the attlee administration which had been elected with a large majority in      and organisations such as the british housewives  league were set up to campaign for the abolition of rationing . i cannot agree with the reviewer who stated that the main targets of the film  s satire were the  spivs   black marketeers   who play a relatively minor part in the action  or the housewives  league  who do not appear at all . the satire is very much targeted at the bureaucrats  who are portrayed either as having a  rules for rules  sake  mentality or a desire to pass the buck and avoid having to take any action at all .  br    br   i suspect that if the film were to be made today it would have a different ending with pimlico remaining independent as a british version of monaco or san marino .  indeed  i suspect that today this concept would probably serve as the basis of a tv sitcom rather than a film  . in      however  four years after the end of the war  the film  makers were keen stress patriotism and british identity  so the film ends with pimlico being reabsorbed into britain . one of the best  known lines from the film is  we always were english and we always will be english and it  s just because we are english that we  re sticking up for our right to be burgundians  . there is a sharp contrast between the rather heartless attitude of officialdom with the common sense  tolerance and good humour of the cockneys of pimlico  all of which are presented as being quintessentially british characteristics .  br    br   most of the action takes place during a summer drought and sweltering heatwave  but in the last scene  after pimlico has rejoined the uk the temperature drops and it starts to pour with rain . global warming may have altered things slightly  but for many years part of being british was the ability to hold the belief  whatever statistics might say to the contrary  that britain had an abnormally wet climate . the ability to make jokes about that climate was equally important .  br    br   there is a good performance from stanley holloway as arthur pemberton  the grocer and small  time local politician who becomes the prime minister of free pimlico  and an amusing cameo from margaret rutherford as a batty history professor . in the main  however  this is  appropriately enough for a film about a small community pulling together  an example of ensemble acting with no real star performances but with everyone making a contribution to an excellent film . it lacks the ill  will and rancour of many more recent satirical films  but its wit and satire are no less effective for all that . it remains one of the funniest satires on bureaucracy ever made and  with the possible exception of  kind hearts and coronets  is my personal favourite among the ealing comedies .       
i  m sorry for jean  after having such a good original movie to be followed up by perhaps his worst movie in is career . this movie was shot down terribly by horrible acting jobs by goldbeg  romeo  and whatever that computers name was . also  some scenes may have been just a little unnesicary . truly  bad movie .  
every time this film is on the bbc somebody in the radio times says how it is a satire against the post war world of rationing and the welfare state . i do not think this is the point of the film at all . the film parodies the spivs  small time criminals who ran the blackmarket  and the housewives league who campaigned against government restrictions but were really a tory front organisation .  br    br   yes of course the film sends up the political  social situation but in the end the people realise that they need all the controls to ensure a fair society  they want to be british and muddle through rather than foreign .  br    br   but i don  t think they go back to being exactly like they were before .  
van damme . what else can i say  bill goldberg . there we go . now we know this movie is going to be really horrible .  br    br   i saw the first five minutes of this movie on tbs  knowing it would be bad . but not even i thought it would be this bad . the plot is awful  van damme is getting old  finally   but unlike arnold  his movies are as well .  br    br   forget this movie . don  t see it . ever . i wouldn  t even be paid to see this film .  br    br      stars  at its heart lies a wonderful  action  packed thrill ride .  br    br   well  maybe not  but the marketers would sure like us to think so  wouldn  t they   br    br   john ulmer  
i commend pictures that try something different . many films just seem like re  treads of old ideas  so that is the big reason i so strongly recommend passport to pimlico .  br    br   the movie is set just after ww  and the post  war shortages and rationing seem to be driving londoners  barmy  . the film centers on a tiny neighborhood in london called pimlico . they  too  are sick of not being able to buy what they want but can see no way out of it . that is until they accidentally stumble upon a hidden treasure and a charter which officially named this neighborhood as a sovereign nation many hundreds of years ago  with this document  they reason  they can bypass all the rationing and coupons and live life just as they want  since it turns out they really aren  t british subjects  where the movie goes from there and how the crisis is ultimately resolved is something you  ll need to see for yourselves . leave it up the brilliant minds of ealing studios to come up with this gem   
this movie was absolutly awful . i can  t think of one thing good about it . the plot holes were so huge you could drive a hummer through them . the acting was soo stuningly bad that even jean claude should be ashamed  and that is saying alot    and dialogue  what dialogue    to think that i was a fan of the first one  i use that comment loosely  its more like a guilty pleasure  than anything else  . this movie had goldberg in it for crying out loud     nothing good can come of this movie . what makes this film even worse is that it is soo bad you can  t even watch it with a bunch of friends to make fun of    this has got to be in my top five worst movies of all time .     because it is soo hard for me to give a  .  
very funny  well  crafted  well  acted  meticulous attention to detail . a real window into a specific time and place in history . could almost believe this was a true story in a parallel universe . interesting how passport to pimlico anticipates the berlin airlift . a definite   .  
this is a piece of s   t   this looks worse than a made for t . v . movie . and i shutter to think that a sequel was even concieved and the results . . . war is prettier than this . jean claude van shame has done it again and he wonders why his career is where it is now . no script  no story and no time should be wasted on this . i mean that .  out of   is too high  way too high . goldberg should be jackhammered for this . van shame is no actor .  
spoilers many different comedy series nowadays have at one point or another experimented with the idea of obscure independence . in an early episode of cartoon  family guy  the griffin family find their home is an independent nation to the united states of america and the story progresses from there . way back in     however  the ealing studios produced a wonderful little film along the same idea .  br    br   after a child  s prank  the residents of pimlico discover a small fortune in treasure . at the inquest it becomes clear that the small area is a small outcrop of the long lost state of burgundy . withdrawing from london and the rest of great britain  the residents of the small street experience the joys and the problems with being an independent state .  br    br   based at a time when rationing was still in operation  this story is brilliantly told and equally inspiring . featuring performances by stanley holloway  betty warren  philip stainton and a young charles hawtrey  the film is well stocked with some of the finest actors of their generation . these actors are well aided as well by a superb little script with some cracking lines . feeling remarkably fresh  despite being over   years old  the story never feels awkward and always keeps the audience entertained .  br    br   ealing studios was one of the finest exporters of british film ever in existence . with films like  passport to pimlico  it  s not difficult to see why . amusing from start to finish  the story is always fun and always worth watching .  
 here be spoilers   br    br   the government has continued to develop the universalsoldier program  now called unisol . the soldiers are now stronger and are able to take more damage than before . however the government is downsizing  the project endangered and the supercomputer that is in the middle of all feel threatened  so he takes steps to ensure his own safety . he activates and controls the unisols and start to run mayhem . the only one who can stop them is deveraux  van damme  .  br    br   this movie is about one thing . choreographed fighting . the story is bad  and is soon drowned in all fights . whatever happens  and wherever they go  they fight . unfortunately for this movie  it is no fun watching a fight where you know one part of it is indestructible . normally you  re pretty sure the hero will win  but you still want to feel the fights are between two somewhat equal combatants . not where one is indestructible and can  t lose . then the fights just become a tool to stretch time . you wait until the final fight when deveraux miraculously finds a way to beat his unbeatable foes . to further lower my opinion  a desperate and sure sign of a bad movie is how much scantily clad women there are . well  there aren  t really that lot of them  because the characters are most men  there are at least one woman unisol though   but almost every woman is needlessly shown with at least just a bra once . the female leads get by with this  but we also pass through a strip  club  to use a computer no less  with much more undressed women . these moments do not give anything to the story and is just there to try to please the adolescent  minded male audience .  br    br   so  in conclusion  boring fights . no more  no less . well  maybe less . . .  br    br        
i love this show  it  s sure to be a winner . jessica alba does a great job  it  s about time we have a kick  ass girl who  s not the cutesy type . the entire cast is wonderful and all the episopes have good plots . everything is layed out well  and thought over . to put it together must have taken a while  because it wasn  t someone in a hurry that just slapped something together . it  s a great show altogether .  
i watched this movie last night and already i am struggling to recollect very much about it . the story is about a group of criminals who escape from a space penal colony . they fly to the moon in a space  age dustbin carrier when there  they terrorise the dustbin men who work on the moonbase .  br    br   it strikes me that rubbish low  budget sci  fi films often involve either desert planets or  like this movie  criminals escaping from penal colonies . why this is i have no idea . but i can say with some certainty that such films are always diabolical . this one is really no exception . it begins reasonably well with a decent credit sequence and a half  way alright dance music soundtrack . it then degenerates into a boring sci  fi thriller . so little of consequence actually happens in this movie that i am literally struggling to write a helpful review  so if you  re reading this i apologise for not being able to enlighten you to the film  s subtleties and nuances . for the record  i recall a tedious bunch of baddies  a tedious bunch of goodies  some nuclear warheads and a hologram of a naked woman . other than that  i  m struggling .  br    br   if you feel you could be interested in the activities of lunar dustbin men then i would not hesitate to recommend this film . i would also recommend it to those of you who wish to send their friends to sleep and steal their wallets .  
gotta start with ed furlong on this one . you gotta . god bless this kid .   bucks says the character he plays in this film is what he  s really like in real life . he has a one  liner or two that made me almost blow snot because of the subtle humor in the script . you know all the trials this guy has gone through in recent years and it doesn  t even seem like furlong is even acting . maybe that  s why his performance was good . same with madsen . you keep thinking   i bet this guy is really like this in real life .  does madsen even have to act  just natural . vosloo has obviously moved on from the type  casted mummy guy . i think the biggest surprise to this film was jordana spiro  s performance . her reactions are spot  on in this film . i battled if she was hot or not  but realized i would just like to see more of her .  br    br   not a big fan of shoot  em out  hostage type films . but what i am a fan of are films with lots of twists and turns to try and keep you guessing . it  s not just your standard robbers take over a bank  they kill hostages  and the good guys win in the end type of film . the twists keep on coming . . . and coming .  br    br   the caf scenes work best with the hand  held cams to show what it  s really like in there . not glossed over a bit . think like bourne ultimatum  lite  style on some scenes in the caf .  br    br   and for those bo bice fanatics out there  actor curtis wayne  who plays karl  will make you do a double take . these guys are twins .  br    br   as i watched i wondered why some of the actors had foreign accents and what were they doing in this small town . made sense in the end that these people smuggled stuff to other countries  states so they might have these accents . but more is revealed in the bonus features of how some of the producers wanted to make this film for international audiences with some of their stars we might not have heard of . and some of them are smoking hot . moncia dean  need i say more .  
there  s tons of good  looking women in this flick . but alas  this movie is nudity  free . grrrrrrrrrr strike one .  br    br   ahem . one story in this film takes place in     . then why the hell are the main characters driving a kia sportage  hello  continuity  anyone   br    br   as you might know  this movie was released in stereoscopic  d . and it is the most hideous effect i have ever seen . i  m not sure if someone botched the job on this  but there was no  d  just double  vision blurs . i didn  t have the same problem with this company  s other  d movies  hunting season and camp blood . sure  the  d in those ones sucked too  but with them i could see a semblance of  d effect .  br    br   this thing is a big ball of nothing .  br    br   and whoever that women was who played the daughter of the ear  eating dame  yum  i  d like to see more of her . in movies  as well . looks like janet margolin at a young age . purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  br    br    
this is a very funny ealing comedy about a community in central london who  through an unusual set of circumstances  discover they are not english  but are an annex of the french province of burgundy .  br    br   the film features comic actor stanley holloway  best known as alfred doolittle in my fair lady   as well as a host of other classic comic actors of the period .  br    br   the story was apparently based on a news item at the time  when the canadian government  officially  gave a hotel room to a visiting european member of royalty . the idea actually reminded me of the real  life case of the hutt river province in western australia  where a landowner  seceded  from the australian government due to a wool quota dispute .  it was never acknowledged by the western australian or australian governments  .  br    br   this is a great script that plays with a lot of political and economic issues  rather like the tv show  yes minister   as well as being a great little eccentric character piece as well .  
i  ll be honest . the only reason i watched this one on tv is that it  s in the imdb bottom    . and right now  i  m wondering if the hour and a half of my life really was worth another  check  on that same list .  br    br   van damme is luc deveraux  who finds himself on a huge fight with the universal soldiers after the main computer pulled a  hal  to defend itself . and yes  after all the obligate explosions  shoot  outs and chases he is the last one standing . combined with terrible acting and a bit of a boring set  up it makes sure it  s place in the infamous list is just .  br    br   only for the idiots like me who want to watch that full list .     .  
this very funny british comedy shows what might happen if a section of london  in this case pimlico  were to declare itself independent from the rest of the uk and its laws  taxes  post  war restrictions . merry mayhem is what would happen .  br    br   the explosion of a wartime bomb leads to the discovery of ancient documents which show that pimlico was ceded to the duchy of burgundy centuries ago  a small historical footnote long since forgotten . to the new burgundians  however  this is an unexpected opportunity to live as they please  free from any interference from whitehall .  br    br   stanley holloway is excellent as the minor city politician who suddenly finds himself leading one of the world  s tiniest nations . dame margaret rutherford is a delight as the history professor who sides with pimlico . others in the stand  out cast include hermione baddeley  paul duplis  naughton wayne  basil radford  sir michael hordern .  br    br   welcome to burgundy   
this is the official sequel to the    sci  fi action thriller . in the original  van damme was among several dead vietnam war vets revived to be the perfect soldiers  unisols  . in this one  it  s  i guess  about a dozen years later  since van damme has a daughter about that age . now he  s working with the government in a classified installation to train the latest unisols  codenamed unisol      for some reason . as usual  something goes wrong the on  site super  computer  named seth  like the snake in  king cobra  the same year  goes power  crazy  takes command of the unisols  and even downloads its computer brain into a new super  unisol body  jai white  . we  re lookin  at the next step in evolution  folks  most of van damme  s fights are with one particularly mean unisol  pro wrestler goldberg  who just keeps on comin   drop him off a building  no good run him down with a truck  no go  shoot him  burn him  forgetaboutit  much of the humor is traced to how van damme is now outmoded and out  classed  he  s even going grey around the edges  . but  though he takes a lickin   he keeps on kickin   most sequels of this sort are pretty lame  pale imitations of the originals  and while this one is certainly no stroke of genius  it manages to be consistently entertaining  especially if you  re a pro  wrestling fan .  
i have to say i totally loved the movie . it had it  s funny moments  some heartwarming parts  just all around good . me  personally  really liked the movie because it  s something that finally i can relate to my childhood . this movie  in my opinion  is geared more towards the young gay population . it shows how a young gay boy would be treated while growing up . all the taunting  name  calling  and not knowing is something i  like most other young feminine boys  will always remember  and now finally a movie that illustrates how hard it really is to grow up gay . so  i would definitely recommend seeing this movie . probably shouldn  t really watch it until a person is old and mature enough to understand it  
this movie is mostly crap and the only reason this movie is worth watching is because jean  claud vam damme stars in this movie . there are some good action scenes in this movie and the best ones are at the end of the movie .  br    br   the acting in this movie is so bad and its the worst acting i have ever seen and the  actors bill goldberg and michael jai white can not act at all . and this movie by far has to be one of jean  claud vam dammes worst movies he has done and if u what to watch him in one of his great movies u should watch blood sport  kickboxer or sudden death .  br    br   over all this movie is crap  ok and my rating is  out of   .  
i get tired of my  and  year old daughters constantly being subjected to watch nickelodeon  disney and the like . it all seems to be the same old tired cartoons rehashed over and over again . when my daughters couldn  t go to the fair this afternoon because one of them was sick  i wanted them to just relax and rest for a while . i flipped the tv on and in searching for something different  i flipped the channels . my finger stopped channel surfing the moment i heard harvey  s voice . i adore every single solitary thing this man has done and when i saw that he was doing voice  over work for a little duck . . . well  i couldn  t change the channel  my daughters were instantly mesmerized by the cartoon and the more we watched the show together  the more i grew to love it along with the message that was being portrayed . it  s not necessarily a proponent for  gay rights  but rather for anyone who has ever been ostracized as a child for anything . i had friends who were picked on for one thing or another . . . . too fat  too skinny  too feminine  being a bully  not being smart enough  only having one parent . . . . you name it  kids  as a rule  can be very very cruel to one another so i was happy to see an entertaining cartoon that actually conveyed a life message to its audience . my girls already accept others as they are and don  t pick on others for being different . my older daughter actually stands up for her friends if they  re picked on  one happens to have a single mom and that little girl is picked on quite often   it warms my heart when kassie stands up for her   .  br    br   so  those of you who are condemning this show because you feel that it  s an advocate for  gay rights  or are being forced to  accept certain views   you clearly and completely missed the point of this poignant little cartoon .  br    br   and if you need it explained to you . . . . well  you need more help than any television show could ever offer .  
i tried to watch this movie twice and both times i still couldn  t make it to the end credits . first time i managed to sit through the first fight sequence then lost interest . second time i managed to force myself to digest over an hours worth of shoddy acting  lame sfx and extremely poor direction . pales in comparison to the original .  br    br   anyone ever hear about the old et atari     fiasco  for those who haven  t let me fill you in . it  s     . . . et is one of the biggest box office smashes of all time . . . atari decides to release a movie tie  in game on their     home console system . to cut a long and financially painful story short the game flopped big time and resulted in thousands upon thousands of atari     et games to be dumped in landfills because they couldn  t even give them away let alone sell them .  br    br   what does universal soldier the return have to do with this story  look at the  .  rating and figure it out for yourself .  br    br   awful film . . . imdb forced me to give it a  out of   because their rating systems doesn  t go as low as  let alone into the negatives .  
henry thomas showed a restraint  even when the third act turned into horrible hollywood resolution that could  ve killed this movie  that kept the dignity of a redemption story and as for pure creepiness  sniffing babies   
this time the hero from the first film has become human and this time uses fist and foot combos against super universal soldiers and a computer which has gone awry and is prepared to take over the world . i  m pretty sure it was double team  which convinced everyone that jean  claude van damme was no longer credible in providing watchable action flicks . however it was this that tarnished his credibility forever . while universal soldierthe return isn  t as dull as double team or the quest  it  s still pretty awful indeed  with none of the style and flair of the original and no star pairing . this sequel is made simply for kids who enjoy professional wrestling . as i look back  not even the action sequences were all that exciting and therefore this movie is a worthless dud . in other words another clunker in van damme  s assembly line .  br    br    out of   bad   
this film has good characters with excellent performances from the cast . david strathairn is diabolically sincere as the child molesting salesman and danny vinson plays a perfect pussy  whipped southern husband . the slick soundtrack betrays the murder ballad tone of the film .  
this was an atrocious waste of my time . no plot . the acting was so far below par  it should be used as an exemplar in acting classes of what not to do . it is merely a commercial rip  off of the earlier universal soldier  which also scrapes the bottom of the acting barrel . its sad that vd needs to assert his ego every few years  and sadder still that people will pay good money to sit thru it . this kind of schlock gives martial arts movies a bad name . by comparison  it makes segall  norris  and arnold look almost talented .  br    br   perhaps vd should take the leslie nielson track and do send  ups of his genre . at least then we could be laughing with him instead of at him .  
i just finished watching this film and found it very enjoyable . it is a quiet  little film that doesn  t overwhelm you with special effects or  big  performances . it simply takes you into the lives of the people living in a small hamlet in the backwoods of north carolina .  br    br   henry thomas gives a good performance as raymond toker  a young loner who finds a baby abandoned in the woods . toker  s search for the baby  s parents takes him on a journey that will have a profound impact on his life . david srathairn plays truman lester  a slimy conman with an ulterior motive . and david plays the bad guy to perfection .  br    br   there is much more to this film than first meets the eye . filmed on location in north carolina and with a wonderful sound track of traditional music  it is worth watching .  
after seeing the low  budget shittier versions of the  universal soldier  franchise  i hoped and prayed that van damme reprised his role as luc devoreaux in a second unisol movie . well  it seemed this prayer was answered  but not the way i hoped . universial soldier  is just intense as poetry reading at your local library . no  even that would be more intriguing . the fight sequences are top  notch  bruce lee quality  which is the only redeeming factor in this entire pathetic excuse for a motion picture . that and having former wcw tough  guy legend  goldberg  playing the villain . however  placing goldberg as seth  s sidekick lieutenant would  ve been better .  br    br   we offended me the most was the setting of the movie itself . it  s like some film school students slapped it together . the plot holes are that bigger than kanye west  s ego is what really did this movie in . for example luc  s daughter  hillary looks like she  s at least      years old and the first movie was filmed only seven years ago . how is that possible  tell me that  the part in which luc  s partner was killed off and turned into a unisol is just re  goddamn diculous  you mean to tell me that there was an experimental unisol exposed naked in the basement of the research complex at the beginning of the movie . c  mon . the director could  ve spent more time with this movie like the first one and sewn all the plot holes shut . but oooh nooo   br    br   speaking of the plot  it sucks  compared to the first movie  universal soldier   s plot watered down and worthless . where  s the gritty thrills in which a unisol goes berserk an re  enacts his last memories in a supermarket rampage thinking its desert storm or something  this was the dawn of the millennium  you would attracted more of an audience if this had taken place in a dystopia  orwellian type of future cesspit . corny is the correct adjective to describe this sad  sad  sad sequel .  br    br   from what i seen double impact  under siege   robocop   and hell  even the cheap  ass  no class terminator knock  off  class of      is more entertaining than this   
henry thomas was  great  . his character held my attention . i was so  into  the story that i forgot it wasn  t real . i wanted him to keep the baby and see what a special person he was . the other people in the story were essential in the makeup of his character . the way they banded together to help one another was truly awe inspiring . i love movies that show the real side of human emotions without having to hit you over the head  in that you are not smart enough to figure things out for yourself .  
jean claude van damme tries to rescue his career by making the sequel of universal soldier . but  did that movie saved him  i think he goes to hell  after he dies .  br    br   in the first minute  we see the inside of a facility  where you can see the bad guy of the film . scary  huh  but not as scary as the acting  details are following  .  br    br   then  we see van damme with a black girl  do not remember the name . . . . well it doesn  t matter anyway   trying to escape from some muscle  men . of course they are the new universal  soldiers . more muscels  less brain  just like the movie  . after a while  van damme fights goldberg but then the  mission  gets aborted . it was just a test  is this movie a test for our nerves   . it turns out that van damme works for the government on the new universal soldier project  who has seen the first movie may think that this is the most unlogical thing  that yould van dammes character could do  . but it is a sequel . and a  story  has to come up . ah  i forgot . he has a daughter . very important for the  story  .  br    br   well  after about   minutes  a super computer hears a conversation about shutting it down and quitting he project . of course the cube gets angry and activates all soldiers to kill everyone . van damme escapes from the facility but the computer sends some soldiers hunting him  it wants van damme as a soldier  because he is the best  really    . and guess what  goldberg is one of the hunters  who was always a silly sentence for the audience before he gets asskicked . funny  yes  just like the rest of the film .  br    br   after some  story   van damme tries to rescue his daughter  of his wife  the reporter in the first movie  . it comes to a final show down where van damme fights the bad guy and you can see the most expensive scene of the whole movie  please see for yourself . it is just too funny to tell  .  br    br   you  ll see that this movie is a waste of time .  br    br   so do not watch it . but if you do  keep a sixpack with you   
this is one of the most interesting movies i have ever seen . i love the backwoods feel of this movie . the movie is very realistic and believable . this seems to take place in another era  maybe the late    s or early    s . henry thomas works well with the young baby . very moving story and worth a look .  
i don  t think any movie of van damme  s will ever beat universal soldier but u never know . this movie was good but not as good as  st . vd returns a luc  must do battle again . he tries  b funny here but its maybe worth a smirk of a chuckle . vd has a kid this time from ally w .  good it showed a pic of them  . goldberg was cool  he does his famous move  forgot what its called cause i don  t watch wrestling  sucks . vd  goldberg had some good fights . it was the ending like the  st but just not that good . vd does his best move in his career  like always  the helicopter kick . even though  the final ending should  ve been longer . anyway  it is worth seeing but it will never top the original .  
i saw this film last night on cable and it is extraordinary . what i love most about it is that it is understated and low  key  but deeply heartfelt . henry thomas   he played the child in e . t .  performance is masterfully inarticulate  he is supposed to be a man of few words  . david straithern is a wonderful crazy villain . and miraculously  given that we  re talking about a hollywood product here  a baby serves as a main character  but one who doesn  t act or have lines  but rather just is   is luminous at that  . interesting to note that thomas  mysterious relationship w . e . t . was the core of that film while his bond w . the baby serves as the core of  a good baby .   br    br   then there is the music   ah  what music   gillian welch  s tunes are wonderful  the entire score is gorgeous hill country music .  br    br   this film is wonderfully atmospheric . i recommend it highly .  
ok i saw this movie to get a benchmark for bad but with this movie it  s unisol  s best movie now plot luc devereux is now a technical expert who is working with the government with his partner maggie  who  s been through countless hours of training and combat with him  to refine and perfect the unisol program in an effort to make a new  stronger breed of soldier that is more sophisticated  intelligent  and agile . all of the new unisols  which are faster and stronger than their predecessors  are connected through an artificially intelligent computer system called seth  a self  evolving thought helix . when seth discovers that the universal soldier program is scheduled to be shut down because of budget cuts  he takes matters into his own  hands  to protect himself . killing those who try to shut off his power  and unleashing his platoon of super  soldiers  led by the musclebound romeo  seth spares deveraux  only because deveraux has the secret code that is needed to deactivate a built  in program that will shut seth down in a matter of hours . with the help of a hacker named squid  seth takes human form . not only must luc contend with ambitious reporter erin  who won  t leave his side  but luc also must contend with general radford  who wants to take extreme measures to stop seth . seth has also kidnapped luc  s injured    year  old daughter hillary  and is now holding her hostage . luc is the only person who can rescue hillary  because luc knows firsthand how a unisol thinks  feels  and fights . now there are problems like in any movie like did anyone find it weird how a reporter just  so  happened to be there and the soldiers can take being flattened with a truck however when vanne damme shoots them with a gun with one bullet and they die and the final fight scene was unbelievable when luc is now human and seth is  x stronger and faster than any other unisol and luc can take a hit from him . with the final fight when luc smashes him to pieces i was really surprised that the pieces didn  t melt and reform him  terminator   . another thing that bugs me is how the hell does vanne damme get good actors to play relatives i mean in the case of vanne damme it  s completely off the grid of how science fiction this movie is . the music score now that must have a mention have you ever listened to a song where you  d rather cut a blackboard with a knife well universal soldier  is like that . the good points are there  s no dolph  hooray  and unlike the  st one there is only one naked scene whereas in the  st one there are many  i  m still haunted by the scenes in    also the actors in this have some talent whereas in the first one the casting guys were sadists  if you don  t believe me look it up   
dark angel is a cross between huxley  s brave new world and percy  s love in the ruins   portraying the not too distant future as a disturbing mixture of chaos and order  both in the worst sense of the word . once one swallows the premise that all modern technology can be brought to a standstill by  the pulse   it provides an entertaining landscape for exploring the personalities of and relationships between the two primary characters   max  the dark angel  bike messenger  and logan  the rich rebel  . it seems uneven  perhaps a result of a variety of authors  but is held together by the energetic  beautiful  and charming jessica alba  who seems both strong and calloused yet vulnerable and sensitive . i think that fox has done it again .  
ok  so it was written in      before      so you can give it a little credit for worrying about terrorists and the idea that the cia director makes a plot to blow this doomed plane out of the sky before it brings doom to the world  is prescient . that  s it . that  s the good stuff . the acting . . . fair . the plot . . . silly . the  twist  . . . unnecessary . dooooooooooom it isn  t as though no one ever thought of what to do when a plane gets contaminated . don  t you think bureaucrats have a manual for  plagues  and how to contain them  proper execution of such a plan is always a problem  as we saw after katrina . but they have a plan . it isn  t to send them off to iceland and then to mauritania . and if the virus is carried in the air  why was the plane door open and the  shooters  standing there with no protection  in fact  did it ever occur to anyone to shoot her legs  that would stop her . but not as dramatic . i  m a sucker . i always watch a movie to see the end  once i started it . but this was a waste of time  and for the most part  predictable . i saw it using a recorder so i didn  t have to watch all the ads  that was a plus . it  s a good example of why i watch so little network tv . rubbish .  
a sweet  natured young mountain man with a sad past  henry thomas  comes upon an abandoned baby girl in the woods and instantly falls in love with her . the town elders generally support him in keeping the child  though a local temptress  cara seymour  thinks little of the new family . a determined little girl on a long walk and a sinister travelling salesman  david strathairn at his creepiest  have parallel stories which converge in a fateful way . this is a charming slice  of  life in the ozarks in the same vein as  where the lillies bloom    the dollmaker  . all three were shot on location in those beautiful hills and cover the lives of simple  living   but not simple  minded   american folk . a minimum of strong language and brief but pointed violence make this fairly  safe family viewing .  
the mind boggles at exactly what about universal soldier merited a sequel . since the real star  dolph lundgren  would not be able to reprise his role from the original  there is already scant reason to indulge oneself in this obvious tax write  off . bold attempts are made to fill the gap with professional wrestler bill goldberg and martial arts expert michael jai white . to their credit  they give their action sequences a good sense of excitement . bill goldberg looks like he is having the time of his life on this film  and he makes a fair stab at filling the requisite comedic villain role . for once  his role is the kind that involves repeating the same line a few times  and it does not get irritating . the problem from the audience  s point of view is that neither of these gentlemen really have the sense of comic timing or minor humility that makes lundgren such a pleasure to watch in almost all of his films . and therein lies the problem . you do not go to see a van damme film because you want serious action . you go because you want comedy  however unintentional .  br    br   unbeknownst to many people  universal soldier was followed by two direct  to  video sequels . i have only seen the first  which had production values so bad one can only wonder if it was meant to be some kind of elaborate joke . matt battaglia was so terrible in the role of luc deveraux that for once in his career  the sight of jean  claude van damme comes as a welcome relief . the film more or less completely disregards the stories of the aforementioned direct  to  video sequels  and instead begins a whole new story set an indeterminate time after the events of the original . after years of investigation and explanation  the unisol project is still going ahead  with some minor modifications . for one  the new unisols are stronger and more damage  resistant than their earlier cousins . for another  all of the unisols are now under the direction of a supercomputer called seth . in the early parts of the film  seth exists primarily as a series of abstract graphics within a glass dome .  br    br   being that the film barely lasts more than eighty minutes  we are quickly told that funding to the military is being cut . the unisol project is on the chopping block  which essentially means that seth will be turned off . seth  somehow overhearing this conversation through means that are never really explained  decides to mobilise the unisols as an army against those seeking to shut him down . his only problem is that every so often  a code is required to be put into his system in order to prevent automatic shutdown . two individuals possess the code in question . seth kills the first in short order  and those who are familiar with the plot kit that van damme  s films are constructed out of will guess within five seconds who the second happens to be . the rest of the film revolves around the unisols  attempts to get the code out of van damme without injuring him too badly . a subplot with a daughter and a reporter is woven into the film  but it adds about as much to the story as van damme does to the profession of acting .  br    br   the film is loaded to the brim with ridiculous lines and clichs . when seth transplants his command module into the body of michael jai white  we get a speech about how the time of the humans is over . he goes on to tell his foot soldiers how fear and mortality will be humanity  s weakness  es  . gee  seth  you mean they will not be our strong points  all kidding aside  the short length of the film is both the film  s weakness and its strength . it leaves the action without adequate setup . in the original  we are given a very thorough explanation of the unisols  how they work  and how they are brought to the state that is seen in the majority of the film . here  the writer seems to take it for granted that the viewer knows what a unisol is and how they operate . at least in the original  a moment of curiosity and wonder was created by leaving the explanation for later in the film when the hero lies in a tub of ice . here  one of the villains is shot with a gun that leaves massive holes in his uniform  and presumably his body   getting up every time without stopping for breath .  br    br   i tend to reserve the score of one for films that are so bad that they become entertaining in a completely unintentional manner . if you can see it on the cheap  knock yourself out . this is the kind of film that makes me mourn the loss of mystery science theatre .  
what another reviewer called lack of character development  i call understatement . the movie didn  t bash one over the head with overexplanation or unnecessary backstory . yes  there were many untold stories that we only got a glimpse of  but this was primarily a one  day snapshot into an event that catalyzed change in all of the characters  lives . henry thomas  s performance was a really lovely study in the power of acting that focuses on reaction rather than action . good rental .  
terrible acting by potter and a flat plot with no tension what so ever . and as for the feminist polemic  it  s laughable . i saw this garbage when it was first released and though i found it tedious beyond belief i  m glad i did go to see it . that  s because i now have an immediate answer to the question  what  s the worst film you  ve ever seen   plus  i have the comfort of knowing that every film i see for the rest of my life will be better than the tango lesson . but i have to admit i was impressed with the way potter wrote a script that would garner the maximum number of arts council grants from around the world  as is revealed in the closing credits  .  br    br   i only very recently saw orlando and i can see how potter learnt the wrong lessons from making that film . all it took was a bunch of frilly costumes  a few hard stares to camera by the leading lady  and a loose plot to seduce the cinema going public . so why shouldn  t she think she could get away with the self  indulgent nothingness that is the tango lesson   
it  s cheesy  it  s creepy  it  s gross  but that  s what makes it so much fun . it  s got over the top melodramatic moments that are just plain laughable . this movie is great to make fun of . rent it for a good laugh .  br    br   the film centers around three women newscasters  during a time way before cellphones . they go to a small town to cover a festival  but they can  t get a room to stay the night . and that  s when they meet ernest keller . he  s creepy in a psycho kind of way . and he offers to let them stay at his home . but he doesn  t tell them the truth about who lives there .  br    br   stephen furst  s performance is so amazing as  the unseen   that he really carries this film . most of the movie is kind of dull  although finding out the truth of ernest  s family is kind of interesting .  br    br   just seeing this cast in these scenes makes it worth a look . barbara bach and doug barr make nice eye candy .  br    br   i consider the movie an old gem  hard to find and worth a look .  
wow what a great premise for a film  set it around a film maker with writers block who decides to take up tango lessons . hey and what an even better idea cast the central role to a film maker whos interested in tango . gosh i wish i had that knack for genius . yes im being sarcastic .  br    br   it amazes me that these type of zero potential for making money movies are made . come on unless youre a rabid tango fan  i do concede they do exist judging by the comments  or a die hard member of the sally potter fan club    theres nothing in this film that will make you rush off to the cinema to see it . even if youre into tango much of the film is taken up with meaningless scenes like a house getting renovated or a man in wheelchair going along a road  br    br   coming soon the review lesson where a failed screenwriter from scotland sits in front of a computer writing very sarcastic but highly entertaining reviews of films hes seen . gasp in shock as theo robertson puts the boot into the latest hollywood blockbusters  weep in sympathy as he gets yet another rejection letter from a film company  fall in lust as he takes a bath and rubs soap over his well toned body . the review lesson coming soon to a cinema near you if anyone is stupid enough to fund the movie  br    br   ps sally potter is unrelated to harry potter  
this is a long lost horror gem starring sydney lassick   carrie  and others  and barbara bach . it is sometimes difficult to locate a copy of this film but it  s worth it . this film is creepy yet cheesy at the same time . it seems that  young newswomen  karen  vicky  and jennifer  travel to the small city of solvang  california to cover a festival when a mix  up occurs involving their hotel room and they seek refuge at the home of earnest keller  lassick  and his strange wife virginia . vickie stays behind  feeling ill  as the other  are off to film their story . she is soon murdered at the house  in a very cheesy way by some unknown force hiding in the ventilation system  she is decapitated by the closing cover of the vent as it comes crashing down on her while she is being tugged through and into the basement  . soon karen returns and she is murdered in an even more brutal fashion by having her face rammed through the vent cover . jennifer is fighting with her  ex   lover in a rather boring sub plot and when she returns home  her hosts  whom by now we have discovered are brother and sister and that whatever it is that is in the basement is their son  devise a plot to try to murder her as well . virgina does not totally agree with earnest  s plan to murder jennifer but she is tricked into going into the basement where she meets junior . here the film turns almost comic as junior  portrayed hysterically by stephen furst  is a deformed  mentally deficient  manchild whose actions and motions will cause a few chuckles even though it  s supposed to be scary . this is where the pace of the film picks up and the ending is well done . the actors  actresses do a terrific job with the material especially lassick  furst  and bach and although it  s not the most horrifying film ever made it is highly entertaining   
the dancing was probably the only watchable thing about this film   and even that was disappointing compared to some other films . my gawd   br    br   to me  this is the worst kind of film   one that assumes it  s a work of art because it has all the trappings of film  as  art . yes  it  s beautifully photographed  but ultimately lacks the depth and tension of the dance around which the film supposedly surrounds itself . tango is a tease  it  s hot  it has drama  it  s audacious   precisely what this film is not .  
three girls  an all  female media  crew  including cult  actress barbara bach  no less  visiting a small town to cover a festival  end up renting rooms in a house they should have avoided like the plague . well  made little shocker  suffering a bit from some redundant dialogue  scenes and a rather thin plot  line  that doesn  t do very well in hiding its secrets  . one underlying theme in particular is quite disturbing  as in vintage shock  material   and this is basically what the film thrives on . performances  cinematography are pretty much above par  compared to many other late    s  early    s films in the same vein   but what really makes me recommend this film is the fairly long climax  scene in the basement  setting . from the moment that  keller junior  character was introduced  his performance made my jaw drop open and it didn  t close until the end of the film . a very pleasant surprise to see actor sydney lassick  who was funnily wacko in  one flew over the cuckoo  s nest   and now utterly demented in  the unseen   take on one of the leading roles .  
this is the worst movie i have ever seen  and i have seen quite a few movies . it is passed off as an art film  but it is really a piece of trash . it  s one redeeming quality is the beautiful tango dancing  but that cannot make up for sally potter  s disgustingly obvious tribute to herself . the plot of this movie is nonexistent  and i guarantee you will start laughing by the end . especially where she starts singing . it  s absolutely unreal .  
the unseen is done in a style more like old hollywood mysteries than a horror show . the film is somewhat slow but lots of bizarre imagery keeps it the film alive and watchable . the basic idea of young girls stalked by something in the basement is old  but good acting and production make the movie worth watching . the movie is notable for its emotional impact and certainly not for any explicit action or special effects . i rated it an  out of   .  
strange how less than  hours can seem like a lifetime when sitting through such flat  uninspiring drivel . if a story is as personal as this supposedly was to sally potter  wouldn  t you expect a little passion to show through in her performance  her acting was completely detached and i felt no chemistry between sally and pablo and the tango scenes  which should have been fiery given the nature of the dance  were instead awkward and painful to watch . obviously  revealing such a personal story on film can be daunting  and as such sally potter would have been wise to let a better actor take on the task rather than let her passion fall victim to her own sheepishness .  
it  s true that danny steinmann  s  the unseen  is a simplistic horror thriller with a very predictable plot  no particular attempts for twists or surprises whatsoever and featuring literally every single clich the genre has brought forward over the decades  but that doesn  t necessarily make it a bad film . on the contrary  my friends and i were pleasantly surprised by this obscure but nevertheless intense little    s shock  feature that mainly benefices from a handful of brutal images and a downright brilliant casting . the beautiful and ambitious reporter jennifer fast and two of her equally attractive friends travel to a little californian town to shoot a documentary on the anniversary festival  but their hotel forgot to register their booking . in their search for a place to stay  the trio runs into the exaggeratedly friendly but suspicious museum curator ernest keller who invites the girls to stay at his remote countryside mansion . one by one the girls experience that keller and his extremely introvert and submissive sister victoria hide a dark and murderous secret inside their house .  the unseen  can easily be described as a cheap and ultimately perverse amalgamation of the horror classics  psycho  and  the texas chainsaw massacre  . the plot is a series of familiar themes that became notorious and endlessly imitated due to these two films  like twisted family secrets in the cellar  voyeurism  crazed inbred killers and a very unappetizing treatment of chickens . still  i don  t consider these to be negative remarks  as  the unseen  is a completely unpretentious and modestly unsettling thriller that clearly never intended to be the greatest horror classic of the decade . although the denouement of the plot is pretty clear quite fast  director steinmann attempts to maintain the mystery by keeping the evil present in the house  unseen  like the title promised . the casting choices and acting performances are truly what lift this sleeper above the level of mediocre . sydney lassick  immortalized since his role as the overly anxious psychiatric patient charley cheswick in  one flew over the cuckoo  s nest  is truly the ideal choice for the role of ernest keller . his persistent friendliness and almost naturally perverted appearance are exactly what the character needed . also stephen furst  who eventually turns from the unseen into the seen  gives away a tremendous performance as  junior  . he looks and acts like an authentic handicapped man and his attempts to get close to jennifer in the basement are genuinely unnerving .  the unseen  is a slow and predictable but nevertheless potent early    s film that will certainly appeal to fans of    s exploitation and generally weird stuff .  
dire . just dire . the script is contrived  the acting painful  and the story just drags along . it is  without a doubt  a celebration of sally potter and little else . this wouldn  t be so bad  but she  s the director  writer and star of the film  and so is just self  glorification . i found myself not caring about the developing romance between the principal two characters  and the ending came not a moment too soon . it has two redeeming features . first is that a lot of the shots are really quite lovely  particularly in paris  and look rather good in black and white . secondly  whether you  re a fan of tango or not  the music is by and large  excellent  except where sally starts singing  . watch this film at your own risk  or if you need an unintentional laugh . i am sure it appeals to someone . statistically  it has to .  
gorgeous barbara bach plays jennifer fast  a television reporter who travels with her crew  karen lamm and lois young  to solvang  california  to cover a danish festival . the problem is that their accommodations have fallen through and all hotels in town are full . so they travel out of town to a remote location and take advantage of the hospitality of the seemingly friendly ernest keller  a phenomenal sydney lassick  . wouldn  t you know it  ernest and meek partner virginia  lelia goldoni  are hiding a big secret in their cellar pitiable  deformed  diaper  clad  junior   stephen furst  in a remarkable performance  who ultimately terrorizes the girls .  br    br   a deliciously unhinged lassick plays the true monster in this disturbing little horror movie . it builds slowly but surely to an intense confrontation  climax  delivering the horror in small doses until the final half hour . the hotel and the foreboding cellar  large echoes of  psycho  here  are great settings . most of all  the perverse plot involves incest and patricide  allowing the movie to take on a truly dark quality . and yet it also becomes poignant as we realize junior is no one  dimensionally evil bogeyman but as much a victim as the girls . the final shot is especially sad .  br    br    the unseen  is a solid little horror flick worthy of discovery .  br    br        
probably encouraged by admirers of her much  better  orlando   potter here delivers a vehicle for herself in the worst way she writes  directs  stars  and actually co  writes the music  including a mawkish love song . the film strongly resembles a high school or college project by a teenager convinced that her own intimate loves and melodramatic obsessions are as fascinating to us as to her . but potter  s character is as unsympathetic as the object of her romantic obsession is unlikable  and the whole film is an embarrassing display of narcissism masquerading as a celebration of the tango . perhaps if she hadn  t cast herself it might have worked . she just can  t act  whether playing herself or not . pretentious  over  ambitious  dull  and silly .  
get this film if at all possible . you will find a really good performance by barbara bach  beautiful cinematography of a stately  and incredibly clean  but creepy old house  and an unexpected virtuoso performance by   the unseen  . i picked up a used copy of this film because i was interested in seeing more of bach  whom i  d just viewed in  the spy who loved me .  i love really classically beautiful actresses and appreciate them even more if they can act a little . so we start with a nice fresh premise . tv reporter bach walks out on boyfriend and goes to cover a festival in a california town  solvang  that celebrates its swedish ancestry by putting on a big folk festival . she brings along a camerawoman  who happens to be her sister  and another associate .  the late karen lamm plays bach  s sister  and if you know who the celebrities are that each of these ladies is married to  it is just too funny watching bach  mrs . ringo starr  and lamm  mrs . dennis wilson  going down the street having a sisterly quarrel .   anyway  bach  s disgruntled beau follows her to solvang  as he  s not done arguing with her . there  s a lot of feeling still between them but she doesn  t wanna watch him tear himself up anymore about his down  the  drain football career . the ladies arrive in solvang to do the assignment for their station  only to find their reservations were given away to someone else .  maybe to bach  s boyfriend  because think of it  where  s he gonna stay   . the gals ask around but there is just nowhere to go . mistakenly trying to get into an old hotel which now serves only as a museum  they catch the interest of proprietor mr . keller  the late sidney lassick   who decides to be a gentleman and lodge them at his home  insisting his wife will be happy to receive them . oh no  next thing we know keller is making a whispered phone call to his wife  warning her that company  s coming and threatening that she  d better play along . trouble in paradise  the ladies are eager to settle in and get back to solvang to shoot footage and interview swedes  but one of the girls doesn  t feel good . bach and lamm leave her behind  wondering to themselves about mrs . keller  played heartbreakingly by pretty lelia goldoni  who looks like she just lost her best pal . speaking of which  under  the  weather vicki slips off her clothes and gets into a nice hot tub  not realizing that keller has crept into her room to inspect the keyhole . she hears him  thinks he  s come to deliver linen  and calls out her thanks . lassick did a great job in this scene expressing the anguish of a fat old peeping tom who didn  t get a long enough look . after he  s left  poor vicki tumbles into bed for a nap but gets yanked out of it real fast  in a really decent  frightening round of action  by something big that has apparently crept up through a grille on the floor  the unseen  lamm comes home next  bach is out finishing an argument with her beau  and can  t find anyone in the house . she knocks over a plate of fruit in the kitchen  and  on hands and knees to collect it  her hair and fashionable scarf sway temptingly over the black floor grille  attracting the unseen again  well  at about the time poor lamm is getting her quietus in the kitchen  we do a flashback into mr . keller  s past and get the full story of what his sick  sadistic background really is and why his wife doesn  t smile much . bach finally gets home and wants to know where her friends are . meanwhile  lassick has been apprised of the afternoon  s carnage by his weeping wife and decides he can  t let bach off the premises to reveal the secret of his home . he tempts her down into the basement where the last act of the keller family tragedy finally opens to all of us .  br    br   i cannot say enough for stephen furst  whom i  d never seen before it  s obvious that he did his homework for this role  studying the methods of communication and expression of the brain damaged bach and goldoni  each in their diverse way  just give the movie luster . not only that  but movie winds up with a satisfying resolution . no stupid cheap tricks  eyeball  rolling dialog or pathetically cut corners . . . a real treat for your collection .  
the film is severely awful and is demeaning to rape victims . on the surface  it may be a daring film about rape but if you dig beneath the surface  what lies is a not  so  positive message about rape . aishwarya the rape victim is shown to be a helpless victim who cannot cope all because she is a woman . she needs a man to help her . when the society makes jibes about her and throws comments at her  she does not stand up for herself . it is all left to anil kapoor to do all the talking while aishwarya does all the crying .  br    br   the director  satish kaushik  went down the wrong path by portraying a rape victim as weak and submissive . what would have been more effective is portraying a strong woman who rebels against her enemies in a courageous way . the director is famous for being chauvinistic . his films are usually full of weak women but he tries to hide them in controversial roles . he needs to learn that just because the role is controversial  it does not mean that the character herself is strong .  br    br   the most degrading scene in the film is when aishwarya  cleans  herself after just being raped . she does it to please her father who thinks that she is now dirty . though it is commendable that shah shows the stigma against rape victims in such a stark light  what he does not show us is whether ash  s father was wrong for making his daughter do such a thing . thus we are left with a confusing message about rape .  br    br   the comedy too is not needed in a strong subject film like this . even more so  the comedy is simply not funny . ash is wooden in her role while anil kapoor does nothing but shout . the music is mediocre except for the title track  which is beautifully picturised  the only bright point of this film  . sonali bendre  s role is disappointing and pointless . overall  what could have been a great movie to remember ends up being an awful mish  mash that will give some viewers severe indigestion .  
los angeles tv news reporter jennifer  the beautiful barbara bach of  the spy who loved me  fame  and her two assistants karen  the appealingly spunky karen lamm  and vicki  the pretty lois young  who not only gets killed first  but also bares her yummy bod in a tasty gratuitous nude bath scene  go to solvang  california to cover an annual danish festival . since all the local hotels are booked solid  the three lovely ladies are forced to seek room and board at a swanky  but foreboding remote mansion owned by freaky ernest keller  deliciously played to geeky perfection by the late  great sydney lassick  and his meek sister virginia  a solid lelia goldoni  . unfortunately  keller has one very nasty and lethal dark family secret residing in his dank basement a portly  pathetic  diapered  incest  spawned man  child mongoloid named junior  an alternately touching and terrifying portrayal by stephen furst flounder in  animal house    who naturally gets loose and wreaks some murderous havoc . capably directed by danny steinmann  with uniformly fine acting from a sturdy cast  a compellingly perverse plot  excellent make  up by craig reardon  a nicely creepy atmosphere  a wonderfully wild climax  a slow  but steady pace  likable well  drawn characters  and a surprisingly heart  breaking final freeze frame  the incest subplot packs an unexpectedly strong and poignant punch   this unjustly overlooked early    s psycho sleeper is well worth checking out .  
 . . . but a lousy film . as maltin says this was christopher lee  s attempt to make a serious horror film . well  it is serious . . . too serious  the plot is silly and slow  something about old people inhabiting the bodies of young children to achieve immortality  . . . the film is all talk talk talk talk talk talk talk about the same things over and over again . i actually dozed off a few times  the film is sooooo dull  the cast sleepwalks through this with the sole exceptions of peter cushing and lee . . . but this was probably a labor of love for both  they often complained about horror movies being too violent . . . well  this has no violence   . avoid at all costs . . . unless you have insomnia . . . this will put you to sleep   
all the acting done in the first season has been really amazing . the first look you get of max and zach is through geneva locke and chris lazar or as i like to call them the minis . the minis do the best acting job that i have ever seen kids do . the main actors and actresses i . e . jessica alba michael weatherly etc . make you forget you are watching a fictional t . v . show they seem to make this show come alive . all in all this is the best show i have ever watched  
in its depiction of a miserable milanese underclass  this film was probably quite revealing in its day . however  i get the feeling that neorealism was never really director de sica  s bag  since here he decided to try and create some sort of modern fable centring around a boy that had been found in a cabbage patch by an old dear in the country . after spending most of his childhood in an orphanage  toto ends up living in a shantytown in milan . he organises the inhabitants into community action  and keeps their spirits up by swanning around with an annoyingly constant smile on his face and testing them on their times tables . that nobody tells him where to stick his times tables is beyond me  as these people have far more important things to think about  like where the next pot noodle is going to come from . anyway  de sica then uses a sublimely subtle dramatic device in order to highlight exactly why these poor sods are where they are . it  s all down to capitalism of course  and in order to illustrate this  he has the miserables discover a fountain of oil on their land . brilliant  to his credit  though  by this time he has given up on making a serious film  and the capitalists appear as severe caricatures  all fur coats and cigars . they want that land  but our mathematical hero will not support such nonsense . by a bizarre stroke of luck  his old  deceased guardian from the cabbage patch days appears in the sky and gives him a magic dove . he uses it to shower gifts on his mates  who prove just as greedy as the cigar men . i reckon this film was a missed opportunity . to address the theme of poverty  as not many film  makers had done until then  and then get caught up in a fairy tale  to me seems a bit daft . how come  great  directors get away with child  like plot turns like the ones we see here  hans christian anderson would probably have balked at the idea of having the poor folk flying off over the milan duomo and on to a higher place on broomsticks . de sica  however  is proclaimed as a genius for this . surely the fact that these people are so poor  that their faith is unswerving  and that miracles never happen to them  is enough for any story  teller to work on .  br    br    
upon the first viewing  i found this tale to be at least less annoying than other cannon movie tales . after many more  i think it  s one of the best . some of the songs are pretty bad  especially the love song  but two things stand out that make the movie  even the singing  worthwhile . one is the art direction . like the other cannon movie tales  this is a beautifully decorated period piece every piece of cloth and jewel  both of which have major parts in this movie  s plot  look fresh and new  and contrast with the plain clothes of the peasants . even during the love song i find myself studying the dress and hair of the princess  wonderfully done . the other thing is the comic timing . a lot of the movie is cheesy  but the emperor  s vanity  and his making fun of himself in the end   the suspicious guard  the guard chasing nicholas  and the stupid prince  were all quite funny and seem to be ridiculous quite on purpose . and the sequence during the song weave  o makes up for the songs that weren  t so good .  
in spite of having some exciting  and daring  sequences  nbtn just never gets going . there are exploding boats  hat pin murders  mass suicides  pathologists with body parts  and all sorts of classic mystery  horror scenes  but they  re interspersed with extended periods of pure exposition . everybody in the movie looks bored . this is a shame because many of the sequences would be considered daring at the time this was filmed .  br    br   add to this the  too  proper  brit characters and you feel like you  ve drifted into a sherlock holmes movie .  br    br   finally  the cinematography is very ordinary . there are lots of opportunities for beautiful shots of of the countryside  or complex shots of someone being pulled into a huge bonfire  but the whole thing is unimaginative and dull .  br    br   definitely only for lee and cushing fans .  
simply put  this is the best movie to come out of michigan since . . . well  ever  evil dead eat your heart out  hatred of a minute was some of the oddest  and best cinema to be seen by this reviewer in a long time . i recommend this movie to anyone who is in need of a head trip  or a good case of the willies   
i won  t add to the plot reviews  it  s not very good .  br    br   very improbable orphanage on bala .  br    br   cushing and lee at their height .  br    br   some nice scenery .  br    br   good for face spotting  and i quote   look at the mouth  that is cassie from fools and horses  .  br    br   otherwise  a poor example of the british film industry .  br    br   fulton mackay was far better in fraggle rock  keith barron was better in anything else and diana dors did what she did best .  br    br   redeeming feature  it was free to watch on the horror channel prior to its going over to subscription . i won  t be subscribing on this effort .  
  hatred of a minute  is a hauntingly beautiful film . a psychological thriller that takes you on a journey through the nightmare that is the life of a serial killer  eric seaver . strong performances and excellent cinematography make this film a  must see  for any film student or horror fan . the realness of the story and the human side of eric separate this film from other psycho killer movies . some shout outs to the film  s producer  bruce campbell as well as to the film  the evil dead  add some humor for anyone that knows the genre .  
i actually have a fondness for christopher lee  but this just wasn  t up to his other performances . . . and he was one of the better actors .  br    br   the film does not live up to its premise . it  s not that scary  it  s overly melodramatic  and it draaaaaags . every time i thought   oh  here comes the good part  the good part never quite arrived .  br    br   the evil ones aren  t at all convincing . most of the other characters were also lacking in depth .  br    br   perhaps if i  d been in the proper frame of mind  i might have enjoyed some mstie  fication at this film  s expense  but . . . . naaahhh . . . didn  t really seem to be worth the effort . it wasn  t really very good  it wasn  t really very bad  it was just mediocre .  
michael kallio gives a strong and convincing performance as eric seaver  a troubled young man who was horribly mistreated as a little boy by his monstrous  abusive  alcoholic stepfather barry  a genuinely frightening portrayal by gunnar hansen  . eric has a compassionate fianc  sweetly played by the lovely tracee newberry  and a job transcribing autopsy reports at a local morgue . haunted by his bleak past  egged on by the bald  beaming jack the demon  a truly creepy michael robert brandon   and sent over the edge by the recent death of his mother  eric goes off the deep end and embarks on a brutal killing spree . capably directed by kallio  who also wrote the tight  astute script   with uniformly fine acting by a sound no  name cast  jeff steiger is especially good as eric  s wannabe helpful guardian angel michael   rather rough  but overall polished cinematography by george lieber  believable true  to  life characters  jolting outbursts of raw  shocking and unflinchingly ferocious violence  a moody  spooky score by dan kolton  an uncompromisingly downbeat ending  grungy detroit  michigan locations  a grimly serious tone  and a taut  gripping narrative that stays on a steady track throughout  this extremely potent and gritty psychological horror thriller makes for often absorbing and disturbing viewing . a real sleeper .  
  three daring daughters  is a sickly sweet  rose  colored look at divorce  remarriage  and single  parent living . obviously  social issues and economic difficulty have no place in the picture perfect life of a single parent mother who feels exhausted  takes a cruise  and then dates and marries a band conductor . even when the  its just a movie  phrase excuses the script from addressing real  life problems   daughters  suffers from too many incoherent high  note songs  children whose personalities are not based on real children and band leader hose iturbi playing himself . isn  t it bizarre that any real person would star in a film in which their supposed real self gets married   br    br   admittedly  this movie was released in the nineteen forties . only a love for old style hollywood romance and comedy could make  daughters  a tolerable film .  
i thought i should qualify my position after reading other reviews . the movie is not great  but it has a lot of great elements . the lighting and scenes along with the camera work are great . the story is slow and weak  but entertaining . the acting is bad  but no worse than you will find on the syfy channel . the music is pretty good and the gore is good . it has the great leather face in the film and is produced by bruce campbell . i watched the complete movie and while mostly predictable  it was still enjoyable . the women are attractive enough and the lead actor does a good job of being brooding and creepy . the movie was remarkably clean for a modern film and the violence appropriate for children   and up . there was no sex scenes . i gave it  out of   and i think that is fair . i would watch it again if i had nothing better to do . the gay sounding angel was the most annoying aspect of the film  the devil is quite creepy .  
in an otherwise good review  loleralacartelort     says  the truth is that the americans use a secret aluminum  anti  radiation  alloy . it is not that well  known . and the exact specifications are a secret . and why is it a secret well  why should they reveal it back then   if they where in a space race with the russians  then it would be very dumb to reveal that they had new technology that could shield crew against radiation .  this is completely incorrect . there is  and was  no  secret  to radiation protection in apollo . the design and construction of the apollo command module has long been publicly available . it uses a lightweight  honeycomb  of aluminum and stainless steel . the entire outer surface  except the windows of course  is covered with a heat shield made of a phenolic resin  thicker on the bottom that faces forward during re  entry . these materials are actually better at stopping the kind of radiation we have in space  charged particles  than lead  which is better suited to stopping ionizing photons like x  rays and gamma rays .  br    br   space radiation is a definite problem for long term space flight because of the risk of big solar flares . but it simply wasn  t a serious threat to the apollo astronauts . the command module gave them pretty good protection during their brief     hour or so  passage through the van allen belts . they all carried dosimeters so we know exactly how much radiation they each received no more than  .  rem  and usually much less . of the   men who flew to the moon    of whom landed     are still alive . only two have died from cancer alan shepard  leukemia  and jack swigert  bone cancer  . the rest died from heart attacks  pancreatitis  roosa   and a motorcycle accident  conrad  . these are actually pretty good statistics for a group of men now in their late   s  shepard would be    .  
  hatred of a minute  is arguably one of the better films to come out of michigan in recent years . not to say that it  s a brilliant film by any means  but it  s definitely worth a watch .  br    br    hatred  chronicles the sordid adventures of eric seaver  played by director kallio   a formerly abused child now grown up  and starting to listen to his evil side .  br    br    hatred  is very nice visually . the shots are creative  and the lighting is approporiately moody and interesting to look at . this film actually has an element of production value to it  unlike other recent michigan releases like  dark tomorrow  and  biker zombies .  subtle dolly shots and stylized shot composition show good use of this film  s         budget .  br    br   however   hatred  stumbles in the same places that so many other local films do  and that  s in the story and character department . essentially  things just kind  of happen . eric seaver doesn  t evolve at all . basically  he  s always been crazy  it  s just that people are starting to notice . the film just wanders along its merry way with very little development . also  the ending is very abrupt .  br    br   however  since this is a horror film  since when do we care about plot  we just want to see people die  and  hatred  certainly delivers . as the body count mounted  people in the theater started cheering  kill her  kill em  all   when people scream back at the screen  it  s always fun .  br    br   that  s the place where  hatred  succeeds . it  s fun . and in the end  that  s all that really matters .  
i am a   th grader at my high school . in my current world affairs class a kid in my class had this video and suggested we watch . so we did . i am firm believer that we went to the moon  being that my father works for nasa . even though i think this movie is the biggest piece of crap i have ever watched  the guy who created it has some serious balls . first of all did he have to show jfk getting shot  and how dare he use all those biblical quotes . the only good thing about this movie is it sparks debates  which is good b  c in my class we have weekly debates . this movie did nothing to change my mind . i think he and michael moore should be working together and make another movie . michael moore next movie could be called  a funny thing happened on spetember   th  or  a funny thing happened on the way to the white house  .  
this is a decent little flick made in michigan  about a guy that is haunted by his past  with his abusive stepfather  gunnar hansen  and has grown up not  so  well  adjusted . in fact  he  s absolutely bonkers  but tries not to be too obvious . he  s got an entourage too  his own little demon  angel that follow him around . the demon never says a word but really  doesn  t have to  and he  s max schreck  creepy . let  s just say that the angel pretty much spins his wheels in this  as eric is busy doing things that make him feel better  like  freeing  people that he decides need it  mostly beautiful young women . this is a decent portrayal of madness  and you  re kind of on your own at some point to figure out some of what  s going on  but overall  i watched this from start to finish very focused on the film because it definitely held my interest . it  s a little lacking in some areas but nothing i can really lay my finger on . a decent effort and worth seeing if you like serial killer flicks .  
this documentary is founded on sponge cake as soon as you put any real evidence on it the integrity slowly sinks into a big pile of crap for example bart sibrel claims they must have had multiple lighting sources because the shadows appear to be crossing if this were the case wouldn  t there be two or more shadows for each object when apollo   went through the van allan radiation belts they spent   min  s there not the   min  s claimed in the documentary and they received a dose of radiation more equivalent to that of an an x ray .  br    br   seriously do some research learn what really happened don  t let this pile of crap of a documentary mold your opinion of what really happened  
so what constitutes a real independent film  in a day and age where the latest fad of mainstream hollywood is to appear rugged and cutting edge  i  m sorry to say that what the general public tends to perceive as independent film is usually nothing more than a clever marketing ploy .  br    br   which is why we should be glad that films like  hatred of a minute  exist . across the board  this film makes a point out of contradicting its own template  indie horror film  . love it or hate it   hatred  isn  t afraid of being what it is  and in watching this film  you get the real sense that kallio  the director  didn  t just make this film to spray fake blood all over the place  he  s in this to tell stories . good ones . you may find this film in the horror film section of your video store  but don  t be fooled  this story is also about love  about good people pushed over the edge  and that oh  so  distant light at the end of the tunnel .  br    br   if you expect smut  or an evil dead ripoff  stay away from this film . but if you dig the finer points of the horror  suspense genres  check this film out .  br    br   yes . bruce campbell did produce this movie  and i  m sure he  s proud to tell anyone that it  s not  evil dead  . bruce has never tried to bank on his  ash  image  and it  s obvious that he didn  t get involved with  hatred  so that it could do so either .  br    br   my advice  though  to all dead  ites rabidly devouring anything issued by mr . campbell is to check this film out anyway and see what else mr . kallio and mr . campbell are trying to show you .  br    br   the acting is well done  although nothing about this film is oscar caliber  perhaps intentionally   it  s good to see compassionate performances in a horror film . so often  actors in films such as these don  t even seem to try  with  hatred   it seemed as though all the actors took thier charecters very seriously  never resorting to typical horror  film campiness .  br    br   technically   hatred  is about as competent as indie film gets . the editing is fast paced  the cinematography is good given the budget  and  hatred  keeps a quick pace  without any bog  down points or bad anti  climaxes .  br    br   all in all  hatred may not have the glossed over look of all those multi  million dollar fake indies  but personally  i don  t see a problem with that . it  s a film by folks who actually care about the medium . people who reached into thier broke ass pockets  pulled out thier nickles and dimes  threw caution to the wind and made a damn good movie .  br    br   check this one out .  
i notice that most of the people who think this film speaks the truth were either not born before the moon landings             or not old enough to appreciate them . i think it is much easier to question an historic event if you did not live through it .  br    br   i was a youngster at the time of apollo  but i was old enough to understand what was going on . the entire world followed the moon landings . our families gathered around the tv to watch the launch . newspaper headlines screamed the latest goings  on each day  from launch to landing  from moonwalks to moon liftoff  all the way to splashdown  in a multitude of languages . in school  some classes were cancelled so we could watch the main events on tv . during apollo   the world prayed and held its collective breath as the men limped home to an uncertain fate . you couldn  t go anywhere without someone asking what the latest was . the world was truly one community .  br    br   now with a buffer of    odd years after the fact  it is easy to claim fraud because worldwide enthusiasm and interest has died down . we are left with our history books  and anybody can claim that history is wrong and attempt to  prove  it with a bunch of lies and made  up facts while completely ignoring the preponderance of evidence showing otherwise   not to mention the proof that dwells in the souls and memories of those who lived through these wonderfully heady and fantastic days .  
despite the occasionally stilted acting and  seen  it  all  before  story  this is a fairly compelling movie .  br    br   it has suspense  the scenes with the demon are actually pretty creepy  some of the visual effects are superb and best of all  no ridiculously ill placed humour to detract from the film  as too many  wannabe  horror films have in them now  br    br   honestly  this isn  t the greatest film ever made  but it actually draws you in and at least makes an attempt at character development  br    br   i was glad i watched it  
this so  called  documentary  tries to tell that usa faked the moon  landing . year right .  br    br   all those who have actually studied the case knows different .  br    br   first of all there is definitely proof . when the astronauts was on the moon  they brought back many pounds of rock from the moon  for geological studies . these where spread around the world to hundreds of labs  who tested them . and they all concluded that they came from the same planet  not earth because the inner isotopes of the basic elements are different from those found on earth  but similar to those calculated to be on the moon . i . e . the conspiracy theorists never studies anything they only take the thing that fit into their theory and ignores the rest .  br    br   another wrongful claim from them is that their was wind in the hangar where they shot the moon landing  i . e . the flag moves . there is a logical explanation the astronaut moved it with his hand  so it moved . and what proves this well  if the conspiracy theorists even studied the footage  they would see that the flag never moves after the astronaut have let it be  i . e . the conspiracy theorists are bad  scientists  they cant study a subject properly  or only studies it until they have what they came for  so that they can make a lie from that  and make a profit  i . e . this so  called  documentary   .  br    br   a claim says that it cant possible have been filmed on the moon because all the shadows come from different places  because there are different light  sources  the artificial lighting from the studio . once again the conspiracy theorists are wrong  as usual   the same would happen in an earth desert at night  with no light  sources . but i doubt that any conspiracy theorists have ever been outside their grandmothers basement for more than how many days a star treck  convention is held over .  br    br   the conspiracy theorists are in denial  big time . they only see what they want to see . so they make up all these lies to seem important  that is a fact .  
michigan  edgar allen poe  a toaster  and a frying pan . . . if you don  t mind the psycho  thriller or horror film genre  and you have a special place in your heart for the twisted  this is the movie for you . an amazingly well developed first film   hatred of a minute  has all the draw of mainstream hits like  silence of the lambs  and of cult classics like  army of darkness .  the editing and effects are well done  better than many films in the genre . kallio weaves an intricate tale of torment drawing on both the bible and poe  s writings . at a time when big budget  big name films lack much in the way of substance  the independent film has resurrected this dying trait . if you love michigan  a good story  or a decent thriller go check out  hatred of a minute .   
the only reason i didn  t score this a one is that sibrel does show that he is adept at the technical aspects of making a film . it is a technically adept film .  br    br   that having been said  this is a film based on lies and distortions that are quite easily disproven . most of the documentary is spent using propaganda techniques to bash the space program  rather than actual fact . and sibrel  s  irrefutable proof  that the landings were faked is easily refuted if you know anything about orbital mechanics .  br    br   i do not recommend watching this  but if you do  see it at google video for free . don  t let bart sibrel profit from your curiosity .  
i think this show is definitely the greatest show . jessica alba does such a great job in it . michael weatherly also does an awesome job  as well as the rest of the cast . the show is very intriguing and they have wonderful storylines and their stunts are amazing . it  s like watching a   hour movie . it  s definitely worth watching .  
ouch  this one was a bit painful to sit through . it has a cute and amusing premise  but it all goes to hell from there . matthew modine is almost always pedestrian and annoying  and he does not disappoint in this one . deborah kara unger and john neville turned in surprisingly decent performances . alan bates and jennifer tilly  among others  played it way over the top . i know that  s the way the parts were written  and it  s hard to blame actors  when the script and director have them do such schlock . if you  re going to have outrageous characters  that  s ok  but you gotta have good material to make it work . it didn  t here . run away screaming from this movie if at all possible .  
i think it unfortunate that the leading comments on this movie include the words  clueless and appalling nonsense .  i think it is a very funny movie and excellent entertainment . one has to suspend one  s disbelief that a homosexual man and a lesbian woman could fall in love  have a child and live together happily ever after . but it is always wonderful to see it played out in a movie and have one  s heart warmed . is it so impossible  there are far more implausible events described in other movies . the acting is good  the script is funny . the only negative comment is that the story could well have ended when the family drives away from its initial house instead of extending on to explore whether the man retains any residual homosexuality .  
when i was   i saw the documentary  a funny thing happened on the way to the moon  . i actually liked  and believed in it for a couple of years . but then i grew up  and began to think  and when i had sought more information . this is more info from reel sources  and non  biased sources . when i started at university  not so long ago  i asked an assistant  professor in astronomy about these conspiracy theories . what he said shocked me he said that all those theories where lies . that baffled me  i did not believe it first  but then he presented evidence for his claims . he quickly debunked most of the theories about the subject  humans did not go to the moon  . the most outrages claim was that the apollo  craft could not travel through the van  allen  radiation  belt  without the crew perishing from radiation . the truth is that the americans use a secret aluminum  anti  radiation  alloy . it is not that well  known . and the exact specifications are a secret . and why is it a secret well  why should they reveal it back then   if they where in a space race with the russians  then it would be very dumb to reveal that they had new technology that could shield crew against radiation .  br    br   and then there is the biggest evidence of all the moon stones . when the apollo  missions did go to the moon  they brought back many rocks from the moon  to give to geologists and similar scientists  who are documenting all things about the moon . these rocks and stones are in fact from the moon . because the internal basic elements  which all matter consist of  are also made of special isotopes  that are different from quarry to quarry  land to land  and especially planet from planet . the isotopes of these rocks and stones have been proved  that they do not come from earth . the astronauts brought home hundreds of kilogram  s of these rocks  all of them have been proved to have come from outside earth  and from the same planet . ergo the moon  landings where not fake . nasa did go to another planet the moon  though it is not a planet  but a satellite to a planet  a moon  duuh  . these rocks have been distributed to laboratories and universities all around the world . it has been proved humans did go to the moon  it is a fact  pronto .  br    br   but i do not worry most conspiracy  theorists are generally unemployed and uneducated  that is mostly why they do not know or lie about these facts . the fact remains humans did walk on the moon .  
this film was seen by my wife and i when it came out in     . it was a revelation to us . we actually thought that we were the only gay and lesbian couple who had ever married and had children . obviously we were wrong . love may come from where you don  t expect it and maybe don  t want it . but we both chose that love anyway .  br    br   and no  it never changed our sexual orientation . that kind of stuff is for the christian wackos .  br    br   when we were young we both had affairs  but never with the opposite sex . as we aged we stopped having extramarital affairs .  br    br   this story is not far fetched . however  the suggestion that they became heterosexuals seems pretty unrealistic to me . my wife and i have been sleeping together for the last   years . we are still gay . end of story .  
the views of earth that are claimed in this film to have been faked by nasa have recently been compared with the historical weather data for the time of apollo    and show a good match between the cloud patterns in the video sequence and the actual rainfall records on the day .  br    br   this would seem to undermine the entire argument put forward in the film that the  whole earth  picture is actually a small part of the planet framed by the spacecraft window .  br    br   i am waiting for bart sibrel to now claim that the historical weather data has been faked by nasa  though that would no doubt involve them in also replacing every archived newspaper copy with a weather map  and the ones in private hands would still be a problem .  br    br   ah  a response  trying to discredit this movie by referring to nasa weather data i  d say is a charming  but weak and gullible argument . what about the rest of the footage and proofs in the movie  a certain wise man once said something about sifting mosquitoes and swallowing camels . do you in any way feel that maybe this could apply to what you are trying to do here     this movie is just packed with irrefutable evidence against the claim once made by u . s . government that the moon  missions were a success  and that man now are true masters of the universe . things are nearly never quite what they seem . . just watch the movie  and i dear say you  ll see things a bit different than before .   br    br   first off  weather data doesn  t come from nasa  it comes for met agencies around the world . second  the weather data undermines a major claim in the film . third  far from being  packed with irrefutable evidence   the remaining claims in the film have been thoroughly debunked . sibrel thought he had a previously secret piece of film  so he edited it and added his own interpretation . unfortunately for him  his source film is public domain  and the bits sibrel edited out contradict his claims .  
this is a film for entertainment i did not think the world made social commentary from one small film . i personally find this film funny  audacious  and memorable . it is a fantasy not unlike a cinder girl becoming a princess . this film was done very well i might add  in the    s a time of the best experiments in film with being able to mention a person  s sexuality . this movie is not about a person being homosexual or not  it is however about love  in all it  s strange forms . this film does show some of the realities of being gay in the    s in hollywood  or in california . pretty boys being looked after by older not so pretty men . women who had to stay deeply locked in the emotional closet or risk not having a career . bathhouses were an integral part of the gay community .  br    br   then the fantasy begins   let us mix a lesbian with a gay and add some liquor and what do we have  well this movie  which in any way was better than that dismal redo  the next big thing  . perhaps someone should have asked the entire crew to see this movie and then try to do better .  br    br   i enjoyed this movie when i saw it in the    s and it still brings a smile to my lips now . i heartily advise anyone who wants a funny  tender movie  to curl up with some popcorn and have some fun . some people need to lighten up    and this is the film you should do it with   br    br    
there are so many incorrect statements in this so  called  documentary  that i found myself shouting at the television .  br    br   bart sibrel might be able to produce a flashy looking dvd  but he is sadly lacking at looking at the science behind his claims .  br    br   he relies on either being inaccurate  not telling the full story  or the old favourite  government always lies to us  innuendos  and people believing what is told to them and not checking on the accuracy or details behind the claims .  br    br   what  s more  his  exclusive  or  unreleased  footage is freely available over the internet from various sites .  br    br   further reading about the circumstances regarding the filming of this production shows that he used false pretenses to gain interviews  and has used creative editing of the responses in order to promote his own opinions .  br    br   all of the claims made by mr sibrel about  inaccuracies    mistakes   or  whistleblowing  in the apollo programme have been thoroughly disproven .  br    br   how do i get that    odd minutes of my life back   
this movie is as unique as it is overlooked . . . . . . a different story is just that  it shows how out of the need to survive or maintain  one can find the capacity to love if you have an open heart as well as an open mind . i first saw this on cable in the late    s and it truly depicted the limitations of the gay community at the time . i believe this movie was ahead of its time in depicting a little slice of an obscure way of life . it is truly a classic in the sense that it was a precursor to what is now depicted as the extended family . this film should be available on dvd  vhs so that not only the extra ordinary performances of meg foster  perry king can be acknowledged  but to show how far we have come  still have to go where relationships are concerned .  
i watched this video at a friend  s house . i  m glad i did not waste money buying this one . the video cover has a scene from the     movie capricorn one . the movie starts out with several clips of rocket blow  ups  most not related to manned flight . sibrel  s smoking gun is a short video clip of the astronauts preparing a video broadcast . he edits in his own voice  over instead of letting us listen to what the crew had to say . the video curiously ends with a showing of the zapruder film . his claims about radiation  shielding  star photography  and others lead me to believe is he extremely ignorant or has some sort of ax to grind against nasa  the astronauts  or american in general . his science is bad  and so is this video .  
in order to stop her homosexual friend albert  perry king  from being deported back to belgium  stella  meg foster  decides to marry him . the only other problem with that is that stella herself is a lesbian . the two have their separate lives when one night after albert  s birthday party  they fall into bed and then into love . later in the film after falling in love  stella suspects albert of cheating and shows up at his job one night late after closing . what she finds will leave the viewer stunned . this is a great film  very original . perry king and meg foster are so good in their roles that it is amazing that they were not better recognized for their work here . very controversial upon its release in      the  r  rated film is now  pg  in this much more liberal time .  br    br   recently released on dvd  the disc contains a  making of  segment on the special features and in it it  s stated that the film was based on an actual story so the viewers who say the film is not  real  are mistaken . everyone is an individual and different people fall in love for different reasons  these are the issues explored in this wonderful film for everyone who has ever loved   
writer  director bart sibrel bases his work here around a can of film that he says was mistakenly sent to him by nasa . he says it shows the astronauts faking the television footage of their trip to the moon by employing camera tricks . the astronauts were in low earth orbit all the time  and editors on the ground composed this raw footage into just a few seconds of finished film .  br    br   unfortunately sibrel  s research is so slipshod that he doesn  t realize his  backstage  footage is really taken in large part from the    minute live telecast  also on that reel  that was seen by millions  not hidden away in nasa vaults as he implies . and we have to wonder why sibrel puts his own conspiratorial narration over the astronauts  audio in the footage  because hearing the astronauts in their own words clearly spells out that the astronauts were just testing the camera  not faking footage .  br    br   finally  anyone can see the raw footage for themselves without having to buy sibrel  s hacked  up version of it .  he shows you more of the zapruder film of jfk  s assassination than of his  smoking gun  .  sibrel thinks he  s the only one who  s seen it . what  s more revealing is the clips from that raw footage that sibrel chose not to use  such as those clearly showing the appropriately distant earth being eclipsed by the window frames and so forth  destroying his claim that mattes and transparencies were placed in the spacecraft windows to create the illusion of a faraway earth .  br    br   as with most films of this type  sibrel relies on innuendo  inexpert assumption  misleading commentary  and selective quotation to manipulate the viewer into accepting a conclusion for which there is not a shred of actual evidence .  
i appreciated the photography  the textures  the colours and often  unlike one comment  the lighting . what was lacking for me was a coherent storyline . i found it often disjointed  badly edited and at times difficult to follow . my version was    minutes  imdb shows one at    m . possibly the cuts and subtitles didn  t help . i applaud any films that escape from the hollywood mould but this left me disappointed . miss gillain was luminous and the performances were all fine  i just wanted a little more dialogue . if anyone would like to see another film that has some affinity with this one  try  hideous kinky  with kate winslet .  
there is a remark that one of heroines was raped on  drunken rampage  by russian soldiers  which is completely untrue . this movie should not be shown only because of this .  br    br   also there is a statement by someone  that kgb prosecuted  jews  gypsies etc   which is  worse than nazis  . kgb was looking for so called  zionist  agents  who were  kgb believed  imperialist agents . this is totally different from targeting jewry as a whole nation  as nazis did . gypsies were never prosecuted . kgb was political tool and used politically  but from internationalist standpoint . communists really did not distinguish between nationalities .  br    br   whole movie stinks like fake . main hero does not speak russian  signs in berlin contains typographical errors  kgb general looks totally phony . some so called  russian proverbs  are totally made up  and list goes on and on .  br    br   not recommended to watch  this movie is full of lies  and phony stuff . go to  good shepherd  instead .  
this story is a complex and wonderful tale of the last harem of the ottoman empire  well told and provoking we see the inner workings of a world now gone  and learn about the people who lived there .  br    br   i enjoyed the story  characters  acting and scenes . a few scenes suffered from quick editing and the sub titles sometimes disappeared too quickly  otherwise a wonderful piece .  br    br   the main character safiya is played wonderfully by marie gillain who i am pleased to say did a fantastic job without over doing it . the scenes with her and alex descas  nadir  are charming and lovely .  br    br   i recommend this film for anybody looking to watch something less hollywood and more authentic to the world they are emulating .  
i was really looking forward to this show given the quality of the actors and the fact that the scott brothers were involved . unfortunately my hopes were dashed  yet again we are led to believe that the kgb are a group of inept morons who don  t have a clue what they are doing . at one point there is a laughable scene where  kgb agents couldn  t handle one cia agent . i grow weary of these biased  one sided and completely inaccurate portrayals of the spy game that went on during the cold war . i find it laughable that the us is incapable of making objective movies about their involvement in ww  and beyond . just like the pathetic u      where we are led to believe that the us obtained the enigma machine  again  utterly false .  br    br   to its credit   the company  is very well filmed and acted . the locales are also exceptionally well realised . alfred molina puts in a great performance as does keaton  the conflict between them is very well done  . i really wanted to like this show and no doubt i will end up watching the other  episodes but i really wish that us productions would stop trying to portray their spies  servicemen etc as supermen who are vastly intellectually and physically superior to anyone else on the planet . it gets old fast and seriously detracts from the plausibility of what could have been a      .  br    br   s  
harem suare is the best film i saw in the year     . bravo ferzan ozpetek . sensually shot and stunningly portrayed  harem suare is a bold film that tackles interracial romance  which is such a taboo in hollywood . women of all shapes  sizes  and color  populate the film . cut off from the outside world  the women entertain each other by telling stories about intrigue  rivalry and jealousies within their ranks .  
i do regret that i have bought this series . i expected more action  more objective picture and more consistency . this is just a pure propaganda series  very dark  without any charm  or romanticism  it is just boredom itself . i find the actors work quite weak as well . o  donnell might seem charming as robin  with batman   but in this picture he lacks any charm . probably while he becomes older  he is loosing his childish charm but does not gain any charm of a grown up . it comes as no surprise  that it was not shown in a lot of countries and is being sold in the uk for    of the recommended price and was not even released in the netherlands .  
when i think about this movie  all the adjectives that come to mind somehow relate to the physical appreciation of the world . texture  smell  color  that  s how i think this movie should be judged in terms of . see the rich golden tones surrounding the young concubine asleep by the fireplace  or the sweltering turkish bath  and let it flood your senses with impressions of spice  coarse cloth  smooth skin  scented oils  flickering flames  satin rustle . don  t just watch and listen  be absorbed  let the droning voice of the storyteller mesmerize you .  
proof that not everything tarantino touches turns to gold . this is most definitely plastic  all the way . its easy to see that without quentin  s involvement this would have probably sat on the shelf for years  that  s assuming it would have ever got produced in the first place . it is about a woman with a fascination of death who gets a job cleaning up after crime scenes  angela jones is unconvincing in this role  william baldwin is better as the serial killer who keeps jones in employment  . all in all pretty poor .  
dolph lundgren is back  detention marks dolphs first film in nearly  years  and that is following the delayed hidden agenda . this film still marks an improvement for dolph over his cheapie trilogy of jill rips  agent red and stormcatcher . however this film is well below the standard of hidden agenda  which was better in almost every respect . what this film does have in it  s favour from dolph  s previous outing  is a sense of cheesy fun . the film also has a rejuvenated dolph back in a high action role  and it  s good to see dolph doing his own stunts again .  br    br   the films story is ludicrous and prime b  movie material . an ex  military man is now a teacher and on his last day of teaching  whilst taking a detention class  he runs into some slovakian bad guys who have taken over the school to use as cover for a big drug deal . the film has no originality but in a movie of this type you need to have a sense of fun with all the cliches . if you take it too seriously the audience will find little to enjoy . thankfully the filmmakers don  t take matters too seriously and along with all the action cliches you can think of and the predictability  this film has a so bad it  s enjoyable kind of vibe .  br    br   where the film is let down is miss  using a fairly decent budget . the budget of around   million has not been well spent . it  s all up on screen with plenty of carnage and big explosions but a lot of the shootouts lack imagination . the opening action is okay but after that the good moments become more sparse . there are some good moments . you have a car careering through school hallways for example and a decent shootout at the beginning  with plenty of destruction . the rest of the shootouts are fairly mechanical but there is plenty going on onscreen .  br    br   as for the cast . hidden agenda boasted the best cast dolph has worked with in ages . there was a good standard of actors for a dtv film . this however has problems . the actors are on the most part bad . the bad guys are terrible  but the lead bad guy has a kind of enjoyable cheesiness because alex karsis plays it so over the top and without the hint of any menace that you can laugh at the pure badness . the teenagers of the piece are actually good but they are playing such cliched characters . they all hate authority  each other and all have bad attitudes and of course by the end they learn important life lessons  but generally they are decent and chris collins in particular has a likeability . this movie is all about dolph though . while this film is nowhere near his best  it is nowhere near his worst . it also marks a turning point in his career . he is now back in good shape  and will be in even better shape in his next film direct action . dolph looks enthusiastic here  he does all his own stunts and it is good to see him play the typical action man  running from explosions in slow  mo  one liners  and handling large weapons  again in a movie like his older ones  albeit with less flair and imagination than cliched films like army of one . it is good to see dolph looking energised . his films of the last  or so years have seen dolph looking a little more weary  and using doubles a lot  he still does all the fights himself though  but the new streamlined dolph seems up for it .  br    br   overall this is watchable if only for the cheese value and dolph in prime action man mode . there  s not a single surprise but it has a laughably inept kind of charm .   
thoughtless  ignorant  ill  conceived  career  killing  where is the talented angela jones now    deeply unfunny garbage . it  s no wonder reb braddock hasn  t directed anything else since  anyone who has a chance to make his first film on his own rules  based on his own script  with the help of quentin tarantino himself  and creates something like this  anyone who feels that this was a story worth telling to the world  doesn  t deserve a second break . under the circumstances  the performances are good  the actors do what they  re told to do  and they do it well . it  s just that they shouldn  t have done it in the first place .  br    br    out of  .  
this is an absolute great show . jessica alba  besides being the most beautiful women in the world  is a great actress . she does a great job of portraying max  and i could never see anyone else doing that role . she is definitely one of a kind and absolutely gorgeous .  
the idea is nice . bringing so many stars in one movie is great . but . . . . too many stories  too short and lacking really any sense . no connection between the scenes . there were some    brilliant stories . . . but these were out of   . the frame reminded me of  all the invisible children   a movie which i liked a lot . compared to it  however   paris je t  aime  lacks the intriguing short story  which develops  starts and has its end . and it lacks the topic connecting all those  children . i do not find paris enough of a topic to connect   short sketches together . perhaps for people who know paris it is interesting . otherwise  i wouldn  t recommend it . . .  
this is a great entertaining action film in my opinion  with cool characters  lots of action  and an amazing performance from dolph lundgren  however alex karzis is awful as the villain  . the story is very good  and i found the kids to be likable for the most part  plus dolph lundgren is simply amazing in this  . the action scenes are excellent  and it  s almost like die hard except it  s set in a school   plus kata dob is very menacing and sexy as the sidekick  . the finale is very exciting  and it has a couple of cool emotional moments as well   however i just wished it had another villain  because alex karzis just didn  t cut it as the villain way too ott  and laughable for my tastes . this should be higher then  .  in my opinion  as i thought it was a great action film  and while the kids  were very stupid at times  they got quite resourceful as the movie went along   plus the shootouts were pretty cool as well  . the ending is very amusing  and corey sevier  s character was my favorite student   plus dolph has still got it  . this is a great entertaining action film in my opinion  with cool characters  lots of action  and an amazing performance from lundgren   but alex karzis is awful as the villain  still i highly recommend this one  . the direction is very good  . sidney j . furie does a very good job here with great camera work  good angles  and keeping the film at a very fast pace  . there is a bit of blood and violence . we get lots of extremely bloody gunshot wounds  knife in the side of the head  bloody arrow hits  an impaling  and other minor stuff . the acting is fantastic  . dolph lundgren is amazing as always  and is amazing here  he is extremely likable  kicks that ass as usual  had great chemistry with the kids  had an awesome character  is very charismatic  and he may not have shown a great emotional rage  he still was a hell of a lot of fun to watch   he is one of my favorite actors   lundgren rules       . alex karzis is god awful as the villain  he is laughably ott  was boring  and not menacing at all  he also annoyed the crap out of me . kata dob is very sexy as the side kick and did fine with what she had to do  she was the real villain in my opinion  . corey sevier is funny as mick  he was my favorite student  and i really started to warm up to him in the  nd half  i liked him a lot   he had good chemistry with dolph too . dov tiefenbach  willy   chris collins  hogie   mpho koaho  jay tee   danielle hampton  alicia   nicole dicker  charlee  all do great as the students . jennifer baxter is very cute and is good as the fiance . rest of the cast do fine . overall i highly recommend this one  .     out of   
from it  s uninspiring title to the flat acting performances  curdled is very much an unremarkable film throughout . the film has gained some fans by way of the fact that quentin tarantino  s name is attached to it  and the silly and out of place nod to the rodriguez  tarantino flick  from dusk till dawn  . these things do not make a great movie  however  and this is more than evident all the way through  curdled  . the film suffers from an all too obvious lack of ideas  and it tries to mask this with murders that are meant to be stylish and events that are supposed to be disturbing . the mexican music score that accompanies many of the sequences in the film is obviously meant to be cool  but it  s becomes annoying very quickly especially as aside from the fact that the lead character is mexican  it doesn  t fit with the tone of the movie . the film  s plot is typically offbeat and it follows a gorehound who  because of her obsession with grisly murders  takes a job with a firm that cleans up murder scenes . it sounds boring and it is .  br    br   william baldwin is the only  name  on the cast list  and even he doesn  t make an impression . he hasn  t been given anything to do in the movie and aside from talking to his victims and standing around trying to look menacing  he  s pretty much wasted . angela jones  or rather the taxi driver from pulp fiction  takes the lead role as the murder obsessed young woman  and it is always clear that it  s her involvement with pulp fiction that won her this role  not her acting ability . she may have been good enough in her small role in tarantino  s masterpiece  but she doesn  t have the talent to lead a film by herself . she looks lost and out of place for the majority of the film  and if it weren  t for her latino accent she wouldn  t convince the audience that she  s a weirdo on any level . curdled is a one hundred percent  proof piece of forgettable trash . films like this often win themselves praise for invention or black comedic antics but this one fails on all levels . whether you  re a tarantino fan  william baldwin fan  horror fan or just a movie buff this is one to miss .  
this dolph lundgren vehicle is a fun die hard throwback action flick  it isn  t going to win any awards and its not very original but it delivers the goods you would want to see from a dolph lundgren movie . our man dolph is an ex soldier who is now a teacher at a tough inner city high school and when it gets taken over by terrorists its up to him to save the day . sure the script isn  t going to win any oscars its good fun and it has its fair share eplosive action . dolph lundgren gives a good enough performance but he comes alive more in the action scenes  and the rest of the cast are not the best actors but they hold it well . all in all detention is an enjoyable action flick  but youv  e seen it a million times before .  
excruciatingly slow  paced  over  scripted black comedy with a too  clever premise and bad acting .  br    br   maybe this would have worked as a twilight zone or tales from the crypt episode  but by the last half  you just want it to get to its predictable ending and be done with it already .  
i just viewed detention last night and i liked what i saw . it was a cool fun movie . dolph looked superbly cool on the bike . he also looked good in this movie as compared to his other recent movies . he is now in a pretty good shape . the story was ok and the other actors were also passable . i wouldn  t call this movie his best but its still a good movie .  br    br   but it also had its share of problems . the first one was the way bullets were flying everywhere and even when they were being fired at point blank range they missed the target . they should  ve had shown the ppl escaping the bullets in a better way . another problem which i had was the way the students were swearing . i dont know in which school the students can swear in front of their teacher and even in the classroom . the third problem was that the bad guys were very few in numbers . there should  ve been more bad guys . last problem was definately the fact that the set looked cheesy  but that was due to the small budget . overall the movie was a good movie . i enjoyed it . i would recommend others to watch it . p . s . now u r a dead beat cop .  some one  liners were also cool   br    br    
geordies . . . salt of the earth characters . . . bricklayers . . . beer . . . geordies . . . happy go lucky . . . adventures working abroad . . . salt of the earth characters . . . warm wonderful people . . . tyne bridge  tear in the eye  . . . brown ale . . . salt of the earth characters . . . cute little red indians children in newcastle united tops . . . emetic . . . geordies . . . salt of the earth characters . . .  br    br   etc etc etc . . . .  br    br   please . this is so poor . and you should know better timothy spall . they can  t have paid you that much .  br    br   as for jimmy nail . well the kindest thing that can be said is that he is every bit as good an  actor  as he is a singer and writer . come on jimmy  the joke  s over .  crocodile shoes  and  spender  were very funny  unfortunately i don  t think they were supposed to be . with  auf wiedersehen pet  the opposite applies .  
there has been a political documentary  of recent vintage  called why we fight  which tries to examine the infamous military industrial complex and its grip on this nation . it is considered both polemical and incisive in making its case against both that complex and the war fiasco we are currently involved in in iraq . yet  a far more famous series of films  with the same name  was made during world war two  by hollywood director frank capra . although considered documentaries  and having won oscars in that category  this series of seven films is really and truly mere agitprop  more in the vein of leni reifenstal  s triumph of the will  scenes of which capra recycles for his own purposes . that said  that fact does not mean it does not have vital information that subsequent generations of world war two documentaries  such as the bbc  s lauded the world at war  lacked  nor does that mean that its value as a primary source is any the less valuable . they are skillfully made  and after recently purchasing some used dvds at a discount store  i found myself with the opportunity to select a free dvd with my purchase . i chose goodtimes dvd  s four dvd collection of the series .  br    br   rarely has something free been so worth invaluable . while there are no extras on the dvds  and the sound quality of the prints varies  these films provide insight into the minds of americans two thirds of a century ago  when racism was overt  as in many of the classic warner brothers pro  war cartoons of the era   and there was nothing wrong with blatant distortion of facts . the seven films  produced between     and      are prelude to war  the nazis strike  divide and conquer  the battle of britain  the battle of russia  the battle of china  and war comes to america .  br    br   overall  the film series is well worth watching  not only for the obvious reasons  but for the subtle things it reveals  such as the use of the plural for terms like x millions when referring to dollars  rather than the modern singular  or the most overused graphic in the whole series  a japanese sword piercing the center of manchuria . yet  it also shows the complexities of trying to apply past standards to current wars . the lesson of world war one  avoid foreign entanglements  was not applicable to world war two  whose own lesson  act early against dictatorships  has not been applicable in the three major wars america has fought since korea  vietnam  nor iraq . the fact that much of this series teeters on the uncertainties of the times it was made in only underscores its historic value in today  s information  clogged times . it may not help you sort out the truth from the lies and propaganda of today  but at least you  ll realize you are not the first to be in such a tenuous position  nor will you be the last .  
usually i  m a bit of a fan of the bad eighties  early nineties film featuring now has beens . . . but this film is so incredibly terrible that it was a real endurance test to sit through . guys dressing up as girls has been done to death  but never so pathetically . corey haim  s performance was abysmal as usual  nicole eggert was not much better . this has no redeeming qualities  even if you are a number   fan of an actor  actress in this piece of trash  stay away   
the second of the why we fight series concentrates on hitler  s grab of the sudetanland and beyond as he makes a chump out of neville chamberlain and embarks on his conquest of europe .  br    br   clearly meant as propaganda in its day this series over the test of time has become an informative documentary as well with most of the  allied bias  turning out to be historical fact . the fuhrer hoists himself on his own petard with smug pronouncements before his people and the world as he says one thing and does another as his army moves east . the czechs and austrians quickly capitulate but the poles put up an heroic struggle against overwhelming odds .  br    br   the disparity between hitler  s military might and chamberlain waving the munich treaty like a white flag  declaring  peace in our time  to this day has durable propaganda qualities . here in its original context it resonates even more powerfully as the darkness of world war ll sets in on europe leaving the american viewer with two options  freedom or slavery . in     there was no evading this simple truth and the nazis strike makes its point effectively .  
well  here we have yet another role reversal movie . there were many worth watching  despite the tired plot of gender reversal . however  this one is not . in previous reviews  i think i  ve made my point about the general decline of enjoyment for haim movies that followed the late   s . this is one of them .  br    br    just one of the girls  is about a high school kid  corey haim  who tries to avoid his bullies by dressing up as a girl and attending another school . he joins the cheerleading squad and makes friends with fellow cheerleader  marie  nicole eggert  . obviously  he can  t keep up the charade for too much longer .  br    br   i thought this movie was utter crap  and it wasn  t even funny . but  judging by a majority of reviews  it looks like fans of alanis morrisette or teen sex queen  nicole eggert  are the only ones who  d want to watch this . if you  re looking for a good haim feature  or role switching comedy   look no further than     . this is about the point that haim  s career tanked .  
adolf hitler  s maniacal desire to impose his will on the rest of the world is the subject of this second in a seven part series of films produced by the u . s . war department as an instructional tool for new soldiers entering the armed forces during world war ii . hitler  s plan was methodical and well conceived  starting with the conquest of eastern europe  expanding to the european heartland  then moving on to the  world island  consisting of europe  asia and africa . his final move would be to reach across the oceans for the ultimate conquest of the americas and the world .  br    br   in      hitler ordered national conscription  as the rest of the country fell under his evil spell . grade school children sang his praises  and young german boys received training and indoctrination in military camps . marching unopposed into austria in      hitler followed by annexing a strip of land bordering germany and czechoslovakia called sudetenland . in      hitler took all of czechoslovakia . later in the year  the world was stunned to learn that germany signed a non  aggression pact with it  s mortal enemy russia  a ploy to delay hitler  s military involvement on too many fronts . immediately after  germany invaded poland  bringing hitler  s conquest right to russia  s doorstep . he would deal with her later .  br    br   it was during this period that britain still declined to oppose hitler  s thrust across europe . prime minister neville chamberlain felt he procured a great victory for his country by accepting a treaty with germany  his infamous declaration stating  peace in our time  . it didn  t turn out that way .  br    br   the most fascinating information to be learned in this installment  at least to me  was provided by a small snippet of footage from a german pro hitler rally in the mid     s . it was led by a german american taking his cue directly from the homeland . the venue  madison square garden   
i  d never seen a tarzan movie before so when i saw it on the tele i thought i  d give it a shot . unfortunately i have to say i was disappointed . tarzan was over   years old and somewhat overweight . not how i  d imagined tarzan would look . and  unless i missed it while making myself a cup of tea  tarzan never gave his traditional warbling yell . also missing was tarzan swinging through the trees  leaping from vine to vine .  br    br   oh well  so much for expectations . anyway  jane was there  the monkey cheeta was there . there was some guy with a guitar there . there were villains and good guys and a romance . . . all very harmless and predictable . nothing bad  you understand  but equally nothing good .  br    br   probably not the best movie to introduce tarzan      
this great film is composed mostly of documentary footage is currently contained on a dvd along with prelude to war . the great american filmmaker and story teller frank capra made these films which simply and clearly call attention to the main points that caused world war ii and hitler  s rise .  br    br   every school child  nay  every american should watch these films today because they are so apropos . history has been repeating itself over and over again  the lord chamberlains are still alive and kicking the tactics used by the nazis of infiltrating countries through sympathizers and then the communists and now by muslim terrorist groups  are still working to these evil group  s advantage .  br    br   by sitting back and letting hitler as early as     be aggressive  france  america and england caused over   million people  s deaths . americans  french and british today would happily let hitler do exactly the same thing despite the fact that we should have learned from history what happens when you let dictators break treaties .  br    br   these great films may be too simplistic for world war ii history buffs . they don  t tell the horrors that the soviet union caused simply because at the time america was teamed up with them  fighting hitler . this film does tell the plain facts and motives that led to the terrible war .  
last of the johnny weissmuller tarzan films and a good thing too  as this is easily the worst of the   films he made over a period of   years . no mermaids are featured here either as a beautiful island woman tries to escape the clutches of her people  who worship a god and try to force her to be its bride . she finds tarzan and jane  who try to protect her . george zucco is present as a potentially villainous high priest but isn  t used to his full advantage . also on hand and worthy of mention is a hugely annoying guitar player  singer who goes into song every so often . even the  great  robert florey can  t aid this one .  br    br        of four   
i can  t understand what it is that fans of the genre didn  t like about this film . it was truly a lot of fun . the special effects were wonderful . i generally agree with reviews and with imdb voters  but not this time . i waited until it came to home video which i felt was another reason that i wouldn  t enjoy the film . i believe special effects films need to be seen on the big screen  but again this was not the case . to me the film begs comparison to two films that were released around the same time . blair witch and the mummy . both films that i thought were terrible . blair was probably the most overrated horror film of all time . the mummy made gobs of money and it was pure dreck . people liked it for it  s special effects . films like the mummy and the haunting are not rich in character development  they are more like funhouse rides . well with that analogy the mummy was a b ticket to the haunting  s e  ticket .  
the last tarzan film starring johnny weissmuller  looking surprisingly aged a year after  tarzan and the huntress   is bad  in spite of all the trivia one can add to make it look better . it is obvious that rko tried to make a great farewell for weissmuller  shooting in beautiful scenery in mxico  with a top star of that country  andrea palma  and multiple award  winning cinematographer gabriel figueroa  and bringing in prestigious composer dimitri tiomkin to do the score . although it may have cost less for filming abroad  it looks more expensive than any other rko film in the series  taking advantage of acapulco beaches and real pyramids as aquatania  and with impressive dcors for all the scenes related to the temple of god balu  especially the exterior  built on steep rocks .  kurt neumann should have stayed as director  instead of robert florey  who gives it a very slow pace . neumann had done a fine work with  tarzan and the amazons    tarzan and the leopard woman  and  tarzan and the huntress   and finished his career directing the classic  the fly  the year before his death while florey became a television director  after a career of few remarkable films . if weissmuller looks tired  the chimp playing cheeta is not as good as the others  but the worst character is benji  an obnoxious mailman who sings horrendous songs  that have a caribbean air  in a location supposed to be africa and shot in mxico   boring and decidedly of dubious taste  it was a sad farewell to weissmuller  s tarzan .  
what can i say that hasn  t been said about  the haunting   it has everything that would make a great picture . wonderful sets  moody music  and sound design to die for were all in place . the screenplay  though  sometimes boggles the mind in such a weird  surrealistic way . the entire team must have forgotten to read it through  maybe because they were too busy creating cg effects and building gothic sets to notice how weak the plot was . each member of the cast gives a worthy performance  although with little conviction to the material at hand . lili taylor has the most to do while the others mostly react to her . but that  s about it . all i can say is that it was a slightly enjoyable two hours  but you will definitely want more . a lot more .  
the finale of the weissmuller tarzan movies is a rather weak one . there are a few things that derail this film .  br    br   first  tarzan spends much of the film wearing floppy sandals . in my opinion  any footwear on tarzan  whether it be sandals or boots as sometimes portrayed  takes away from the character  which is supposed to be anti  civilization and pro  jungle .  br    br   second  the character of benji  as mentioned in a previous post  totally derails the movie as the comic foil . to me  his character is unnecessary to the film  s plot .  br    br   also  while weissmuller still cuts a commanding figure as tarzan  it  s apparent that he was not in his best shape . although in his later jungle jim movies  his physique had improved somewhat from this film .  br    br   the octopus battle is a terrific idea  but i think it should have been done in an earlier weissmuller film when he was at his physical peak . likewise  the battle  which takes only   seconds tops  would be much more thrilling if it was drawn out to   seconds to  minutes like the classic giant crocodile battle in tarzan and his mate .  br    br   and while brenda joyce as jane and linda christian as mara are overwhelmingly pleasing to the eye  it doesn  t manage to salvage this last weissmuller film  a disappointing ending to a great character run .  
what can i say about it  it  s another hollywood  s horror flick with very high budget    million dollars  . not scary at all  it offers us only a few thrills and one really creepy sequence with skeleton in the fireplace . a lot of computer generated special effects and nothing more . catherine zeta  jones is beautiful as always  lili taylor is also a good actress . the architecture of the hill house is amazing  all these monuments  statues  furniture . . . delicious  however i don  t like the ending because it was so luscious . check this one out and form your own opinion on it . i give this picture  out of   .  
johnny weissmuller  s final film as  king of the jungle   after   years in the role  tarzan and the mermaids  is bound to disappoint all but the most ardent of his fans . at    the ex  olympian  one of hollywood  s most active  party animals   was long past the slim athleticism of his youth  and looked tired  although he was in marginally better condition than in his previous entry  tarzan and the huntress  .  br    br   not only had weissmuller gotten too old for his role johnny sheffield  the quintessential  boy   had grown to manhood  he was a strapping    year old   so he was written out of the script  under the pretext of being  away at school  . brenda joyce  at    was appearing in her fourth of five films as  jane   she would provide the transition when lex barker became the new tarzan  in      s tarzan  s magic fountain  and was still as wholesomely sexy as ever .  br    br   produced by sol lesser  at rko  on a minuscule budget  the cast and crew took advantage of cheaper labor by filming in mexico . while the location gave a decidedly hispanic air to what was supposedly darkest africa  veteran director robert florey utilized the country extensively  incorporating cliff diving and an aztec temple into the story .  br    br   when a young island girl  tyrone power  s future bride  linda christian  is rescued in a jungle river by tarzan  he learns that a local high priest  george zucco  one of filmdom  s most enduring villains  had virtually enslaved the local population  threatening retribution from a living  god  if they don  t do his bidding . the girl had been chosen to become the  god  s  bride  so she fled . faster than you can say  is this a dumb plot or what    the girl is kidnapped by the priest  s henchmen and returned to the island  and tarzan  followed by jane  colorful spanish character  benjy   charmingly played by john laurenz  who sings several tunes   and a government commissioner are off to take on the deity and his priest  poor cheeta is left behind  . after a series of discoveries  the  god  is simply a con man in an aztec mask  working with the priest in milking the island  s rich pearl beds   a bit of brawling action  and comic relief and songs by benjy  everything reaches the expected happy conclusion .  br    br   remarkably  tarzan and the mermaids features a musical score by the brilliant film composer  dimitri tiomkin  and is far better than what you  d expect from this  b  movie   br    br   while the film would provide a less  than  auspicious end to weissmuller  s time in tarzan  s loincloth  he would immediately go on to play jungle jim  a more eloquent variation of the ape man  in khakis   the talent involved lifted the overall product at least a little above the total mess it could have been .  br    br   tarzan was about to get a make over  and become much sexier . . .  
i just got puzzled why damn fox canceled the season  although season  was not as good as season  which is excellent indeed    i like it so much that i even thinking about buying dvd on amazon .  failed     i am a chinese student and it  s inconvenient for me to get a international credit card and   . i just hope fox can bring back da someday somehow   
be warned this movie tells lots of love stories without any coherence .  br    br   the only intention of this movie seems to be showing love in many different ways .  br    br   each story has only a few minutes  so there is no development of characters and nearly no plot . just an sketchy idea of a plot . the writer tried to build in turning points that aimed to surprise the viewer . however  that just didn  t work out because you didn  t get to know the characters in before or these  jokes  were just silly .  br    br   this is a movie about love that fails to reach your heart . a dozen times . or even more  i don  t know and i don  t care .  
i rented this movie this past weekend  cranked up the surround sound system  and got some great sound from special affects . this movie is a great movie rental  the special affects where enough to scare my fiance  but i noticed some looked suprisingly computer generated . i didn  t go to the movies and see this  but its a scary late night don  t feel like going out movie . i would recommend it   
this movie is without a doubt the worst horror movie i  ve ever seen . and that  s saying a lot  considering i  ve seen such stinkers like demon of paradise  lovers  lane  and bloody murder  which is a close second  . however  i love bad horror movies  and as you can tell from my username  this one really sticks out . at times there  s nothing more entertaining than a poorly made slasher flick . as for this film  the opening scene in which a woman gets fried in a tanning booth appears to have no bearing on the film whatsoever  especially since the movie fails to tell you that the event happened  years prior to the rest of the film . the acting is nonexistent  and most of the camera shot are of women  s areas shrink wrapped in spandex . the policeman was the most stone  faced  monotone actor i  ve ever seen . the best  worst part of this movie  however  has to be the murder weapon . a giant safety pin   what were they thinking  who  s the killer  a disgruntled  huggies  employee  i  d have to give this movie an overall zero  but darned if i didn  t have a blast watching it  
some films just simply should not be remade . this is one of them . in and of itself it is not a bad film . but it fails to capture the flavor and the terror of the     film of the same title . liam neeson was excellent as he always is  and most of the cast holds up  with the exception of owen wilson  who just did not bring the right feel to the character of luke . but the major fault with this version is that it strayed too far from the shirley jackson story in it  s attempts to be grandiose and lost some of the thrill of the earlier film in a trade off for snazzier special effects . again i will say that in and of itself it is not a bad film . but you will enjoy the friction of terror in the older version much more .  
want to know the secret to making a slasher film set at a fitness center work  just pad the film out with lovely ladies in super tight workout outfits and have them bump and grind the floor like they are at a gentleman  s club . that  s what the makers of this horrid slasher film did and that little gimmick kept me watching till the bitter end . this is the worst slasher film i have ever seen  but every time i was ready to switch the channel  they  d add another scene with the workout girls and i  d stay put . as a slasher film  killer workout fails in every category i can think of . as a showcase for beautiful girls working out  it is a success . strong recommendation to avoid  unless the thought of half the film being a big ta show appeals to you .  
i don  t know why the critics trashed this movie . i hardly ever agree with them anyway .  br    br   the movie could have been a little scarier  i don  t usually go to horror movies  i even had to psych myself up to see it in the daytime . i needn  t have bothered     the cinema was full of kids too  heh    . . . liam was great as always . i also liked catharine zeta jones  theo  and lili taylor  eleanor  nell   br    br   the house was very gothic and beautiful in a spooky way . the special and sound effects were awesome . i also loved the music score  particularly the gentle tunes for eleanor and her journey to save the children  how she grew out of her stagnant routine and life and finally gain her power  peace and freedom .  
you know jason  you know freddy  and you know leatherface . now  get ready for the safety pin killer  that  s right  in killer workout  a dumb slasher movie if i  ve ever seen one  the unseen murderer dispatches his  or her   victims with an oversized  novelty safety pin . it is an odd choice to be sure  the kind of thing that deserves an explanation . naturally  the movie never even attempts to clarify where the killer acquired such a thing .  br    br   as the title suggests  an aerobics gym is under siege by a mad killer and everyone is a suspect . in fact  the movie gives so few clues as to the identity of the killer  just about everyone in the movie is a potential murderer until they get killed . and since just about everyone but the killer winds up dead  it  s really just process of elimination .  br    br   oddly  while the entire name cast is killed off  the aerobics classes continue in earnest . in fact  nothing is capable of stopping the dancing . while three men are murdered in the next room  the workout goes on . death isn  t even a factor one character dies  but is still seen prominently in the later workout sessions . director david prior knew what he was doing when named the movie killer workout and not logical workout .  br    br   cop chases  explosive tanning beds  and hundreds of shots of women  s exposed flesh are thrown in for good measure . much like the woman caught in the tanning bed  i felt very uncomfortable by the end of killer workout . finally  thankfully  the end flashed on the screen . what happened next  you got it  shots of the women working out . not even the end of the movie can stop them   br    br    
i know it is fashionable now to hate this movie . i have seen hundreds of spook films including he original     haunting as well as most of the hammer films . this film is not restrained and does not hold back at all which is probably why so many modern viewers seemed not to like it . yet many viewers can accept out of control films like scream because knife killers are more easy to believe for most people than demons or ghosts . actually this film had many great scenes and the acting and special effects were great . i have seen it   times now and it gets better every time . the director of this film has made a number of interesting and stylish films and was not trying for the type of realism of the  th sense . the haunting lets go and is certainly not boring . perhaps this film might appeal more to john carpenter fans but more of an traditional plot structure . the old haunting was also a fine film from     . it was even more scary . see both and also the innocents and the legend of hell house with pamela franklin .  
one two three four five six seven eight and back  haha . this is a must see  first of all to see the work out . there are a lot of work out shown  see those close ups  man you will enjoy it . a few years ago a video clip was surely based on this movie . it  s a slasher but without suspense . the ending is funny too  and the clothes she  s wearing in the wood confronting the copper  jesus  looks like a clown . the killings are mostly done off screen  the blood flows but never too gory . there are a lot of fight scene  s too  and hey  no one got hurt . and what about the weapon to kill  never seen a big one like that  won  t spoil it  you must see it . and being a slasher there  s a lot of ta too . to guess who  s the killer you will be trapped a few times and that  s the best part  but what about the story of the copper in the woods  huh  but still due his cheesiness this one is still one that many would like to have . i  m glad that i have my copy  one of those slasher failures . but man  those clothes and not to mention the hairstyles  if you are in your    s then this is one is back to memory lane .  
the haunting is a film that boasts a really creepy house  good effects work and sound work  a cast that seems to believe that everything around them is real and that house . there are scenes that make you jump  and the sinister aspects of what went on at hill house in the past  i found interesting . there are genuinely creepy moments in the film and i liked the way the ghosts manifested themselves in sheets  curtains and the house itself . jerry goldsmith  s score gave it the right atmosphere and the sound design had voices popping up around you . what i wish could  ve happened is for something a little more intense . jan de bont had a pg    rating to contend with and i think that he held back a little too much . poltergeist scared me silly when i saw it many years ago  and it still holds up . the haunting could  ve used a few more scenes of pure terror . the ending was for me  a little anticlimactic . overall  i enjoyed it . the acting is good and there are moments that make you jump . i just wish it scared me more .  
big hair  big boobs  bad music and a giant safety pin . . . . . . . these are the words to best describe this terrible movie . i love cheesy horror movies and i  ve seen hundreds . . but this had got to be on of the worst ever made . the plot is paper thin and ridiculous  the acting is an abomination  the script is completely laughable  the best is the end showdown with the cop and how he worked out who the killer is  it  s just so damn terribly written   the clothes are sickening and funny in equal measures  the hair is big  lots of boobs bounce  men wear those cut tee  shirts that show off their stomachs  sickening that men actually wore them    and the music is just synthesiser trash that plays over and over again . . . in almost every scene there is trashy music  boobs and paramedics taking away bodies . . . . and the gym still doesn  t close for bereavement   all joking aside this is a truly bad film whose only charm is to look back on the disaster that was the    s and have a good old laugh at how bad everything was back then .  
it seems to be a perfect day for swimming . a normal family wants to gain advantage from it and takes a trip to the beach . unfortunately it happens that the father is trapped under a pier and neither his wife nor the small son is able to help him out of this  whereas the tide is rising . the woman  barbara stanwyck  takes the car and searches for help .  br    br   john sturges  short movie    minutes  is powerful because of unanswered questions . stanwyck finds a guy who could help  but there is a price she has to pay for this . there is a double question the movie poses . how far would you go to help the man that you love  and on the other hand  observing stanwyck  s behaviors towards the stranger  does she really love her husband  like a good short story this movie leaves the viewer to himself with questions he can only answer himself .  
this is quite possibly the most retarded    s slasher ever realized  but how can you be harsh on a film that features non  stop images of dozens of gorgeous ladies with exhilarating bodies doing aerobic exercises  taking showers and wandering about in tight gym outfits  prior to being a horror film   aerobicide  is a   minutes promo video to encourage the use of steroids  silicons and other body  stimulating fitness products . if you  d leave out all the footage of hunky boys lifting weights and yummy girls wiggling their butts and racks to insufferable    s tunes  there probably only have about   minutes of story left . plenty of time to improvise a plot about a sadist killer slaughtering young health  freaks with a big safety pin  yeah  . the film opens with an unintentionally hilarious scene of a girl getting fried between an electric sun  bathing device . several years later people turn up dead in the same spa . you don  t really need to be an experienced horror fanatic or a rocket scientist to figure out there  s a link between the murders and the burning incident  now do you  investigating the case are a seemingly braindead police officer  and charles napier look  alike   and a beefcake private detective who gets lucky with the bustiest    s beauty i  ve ever seen  looking through the credits  her name  s dianne copeland apparently  and she didn  t do anything else apart from this turkey and an imbecile troma  movie called  surf nazis must die  . what a wasted opportunity  she may not have been a great actress  but she sure had two other big advantages that would help her move upwards in show business . the amount of gore and the quality of the make  up effects are nothing special  neither . we  re treated to a couple of bizarre stabbings with a pin and some barbecued human flesh . the plot twists near the end are ridiculous and predictable  but by that time nobody is taking the film seriously anymore  anyway .  aerobicide   a . k . a .  killer workout   is recommended in case you want to switch of all your brain functions off for one night  but nevertheless feel like watching a film  it actually would make a terrific double  feature with  death spa  . both films have a lot of sexy and scarcely dressed babes  and both films are pretty dumb .  
what a great barbara stanwyck film that i happened to see the other night .  jeopardy  was fantastic . it was made in     and probably for double bills but it kept me on the edge of my seat .  br    br   barbara stanwyck plays helen  who with husband doug  barry sullivan  and son  lee aaker  drive to an isolated fishing spot in mexico for a vacation . husband has a fall from the jetty and the only way he is to be saved is if barbara drives back to a garage for some rope .  br    br   while there she runs into a psychotic killer  ralph meeker  one of my favourites  and what follows is a game of cat and mouse as barbara tries everything in her power to get meeker to come back with her to free her husband .  br    br   the film was so suspenseful and such a surprise  i was not expecting such a great film . but i suppose i should have realized  is there anything barbara stanwyck does that is anything less than wonderful   
what can i say . a kamal hassan movie being horrible . he acts very well  but it is a horrible story  along with horrible direction . in my kind opinion  the director gautham menon must give up directing . there is a lot of tragedy throughout the movie . apart from that  one can just not believe how true were those horrendous crimes . there was no practicality in the movie . gautham is just running out of stories . but both kamal hassan and jyothika act really well . the villains look too ugly  though their performance was not bad . i do not think this is a sunday afternoon movie like padayappa which you can see with the family . you will not get sleep seeing this movie   however  harris jayaraj again did a great job  and that is why i have given this movie  out of   . his song  partha modail nallae  is soulful and soothing . apart from that  great cinematography . on the whole  this is just a bad  bad movie . kamal hassan  i think  should have rejected this movie .  
jeopardy has the feel of being a stock movie of sorts  one of the movies that the studios pumped out inbetween big budget  box office ones . it  s a mere   minutes and doesn  t feature many sets  and the only star is barbara stanwyck . but what a star  of course .  br    br   stanwyck is a tough lady once again as she runs into an escaped convict while seeking help for her trapped husband in the mexican desert . the majority of the movie is focused on how she deals with her captor  who wants her to submit to him in exchange for his help . some psychological battling there .  br    br   it  s a surprisingly effective little movie  its short length makes it taut  and that stanwyck is great should go without mention  but i  ll still praise her every time  .  
i had a lot of hopes for this movie and so watched it with a lot of expectations basically because of kamal hassan . he is an amazing actor who has marked his foot steps in the sands of time forever . but this movie proved to be one of the worst movies i have ever seen . after watching this the movie the brutality and violence in tenebra and clockwork orange looks far better .  br    br   the protagonist  raghavan  is a very daring police officer . who is assigned to a investigate brutal serial murders . raghavan efficiently finds the connecting thread in this case and is close to solve the murders and put the psycho killers  two psychologically disturbed but brilliant medical students  behind bars but they escape and again get into a killing spree . finally raghavan kills them both after sparing many innocent lives .  br    br   these two psycho  killers are the ones who are going to keep the audiences from going to the theaters . the murders and sexual harassments and rapes are shown very explicitly  which the movie could have survived without .  br    br   to even imagine that teenagers and kids are going to be watching this movie in the theater and kind of picture it is bound to paint in their minds are certainly not pretty . the director  gautham  should realize that he also has some obligation to the society and his audience . certainly i am never going to the movies looking like gautham  s name on the production list .  
the only time i have seen this movie was when i was   years old . i have remembered it all of these years as i couldn  t sleep for a week or more after seeing it . it just absolutely rattled me . i was on vacation with my aunts in ft . worth  texas and i will never forget it . now    years later  my daughter is trying to get a copy of this for me to view as an adult . it has taken a lot of research to find out what movie it was but i always remembered that barbara stanwyck was in it and finally was able to get the name and reviews on it . i very much enjoyed it  but it gave me quite a scare  jaqui  
on the way back from imc   san jose  california   all five  mind you  three of us hardcore kamal fans  of us had reached a unanimous verdict vv was solid crap and thanks to the movie we were going to have a pretty screwed up monday . not to mention  we swore to stay off the theatres for the next year .  br    br   i won  t blame kamal here because he sort of dropped a hint in a recent interview with cartoonist madan  on vijay tv  . he said something like   tamizh cinema  la photography  editing  la namba munnera  na maadri screenplay  direction  acting  la innum namba munnera  la   tamil cinema has grown in terms of photography and editing  but we have hardly improved  when it comes to screenplay  direction and acting   . while you  re watching vv  those words ring very true .  br    br   now  here are the   reasons to hate this movie  br    br    . harris jeyaraj  br    br    . harris jeyaraj  br    br    . harris jeyaraj i  m barely holding myself from using expletives here  but fact is hj has mastered the fine knack of screwing up every recent movie of his  remember  anniyan    ghajini   with the jarring cacophony  he bills as background music . the next time i have an eardrum transplant  he  s paying for it .  br    br    . songs neither do the songs help move the movie  s narration spatially  temporally nor do they make you sit up and take notice . the film feels like it  s made of four very long songs with a few scenes thrown in between them .  br    br    . a short gone too far . vv at best is fit to be a short story  not a  hour plus  thriller  . to use a clich here  like the energizer bunny it goes on and on and on only in this case you don  t want it to . the later part of a movie feels like a big drag .  br    br    . kamal  jothika pairing two ice cubes rubbed together could  ve produced more sparks than this lead pairing . there  s no reason you would root for them to make it together . in fact every time they get together in the second half of the movie  they make a good irritant to the narration . hate to say this  but kamalini mukerjhee  s   minute romancing does more than what kamal and jothika achieve in this movie plus  thenali  .  br    br    . kamal haasan  s accent kamal has this pretentious accent that nobody speaks either in india or in the us and it isn  t new either . he  s been doing it since  thoongadae thambi thoongadae  . it  s simply gets on the nerve . imagine what havoc it can cause when his flair for using this strange accent meets shooting on location in the us . he doesn  t leave it at the immigration either  he offers doses of advice to his men  bewildered tn cops from keeranor  sathoor and beyond  in chaste kamanglish   wha we hav here is plain bad police wok    of course with nauseating effect .  br    br    . logic there are a few directors whom you expect to stand up to a certain scale . gautam fails us badly with some crappy performance in the department of common sense . which d . c . p in his senses would meet his love interest on the streets to discuss such matters as committing himself and life after  the scene inside the theatre was so bad  towards the climax we could hear people behind us loudly challenge the hero  s iq .  is he stupid  can  t he just use his siren or lights    on a busy madras road  kamal  the  cop  on  a  police  jeep chases a guy on a bike just like any ordinary dude   .  can  t he just use his gun     the guy on a bike  starts on foot and we have a fully geared kamal in hot pursuit for a considerable amount of time  . i  m not voting in favour of the later  but i  m just trying to explain the mood inside .  br    br    . gore  violence if i wanted to watch women being raped  their throats getting slashed  more women getting raped and thrown into the bushes with excruciating authenticity  i would sit at home and rather watch a  police report  or  kuttram  . the use of excessive violence should go in a way to extend the story  not overwhelm it  somewhere down the line gautum seems confused about what the extensions  rapes  murders  are and what the mainstay  story  is   br    br     . even a double shot espresso couldn  t get the pain out of the head .  
  i like cheap perfume better it doesn  t last as long . . .   ralph meeker  s convict character  lawson  tells this to barbara stanwyck  s helen character  after he gets a whiff of the perfume that she picked out w  her husband in tijuana . . .  this line cracked me up  and also seemed like a metaphor for this film  that cheap is better than expensive  because a cheap perfume  loving man who has a way with a  x  is a better man to have around in the long run  i agree with some of the other comments posted about helen  s attraction to lawson . even though her narration states that she wants lawson to be put away  she did seem attracted to his fiery nature  and that passion he stirred up in her wouldn  t likely wash away with the tide   
filmatography excellent  nice camera angles  i don  t remember seeing a movie of late  with good close  ups  until this one  . could have avoided gruesome scenes with a soft camera . ny is pictured good . i liked the upside down angles  in particular  a different touch  .  br    br   music not impressive . songs don  t stick around in your mind even after watching the movie . may be  i expected same quality like  anniyan  . a disappointment .  br    br   actors kamal needs to slowly pull away from hard  core action sequences . his age and belly really show up . also  he should avoid close romantic sequences going forward . it was a very awkward to see a mature  aged star still trying to play like a    heroes scenes . love can be expressed at any age as we get older  you still can express love nicely from a distance  without touching a woman too much . for example  the love expressed by rajinikanth in  chandrmukhi   .  br    br   jyotika just appears for the namesake in the movie . not sure why she accepted this . well  that is not my problem  i guess .  br    br   others just have a small presence .  br    br   direction i expected gautham to excel  or measure  up  to his other movie  kakka kakka  . he disappointmented me . it took a long time to release the movie due to various issues . he slips in few scenes . even abvious things got slipped from a famous director .  br    br   overall just a okay movie . too much graphics . definitely not for kids  and adults who expect some kind of  entertainment   .  br    br   thx  
dark angel is a futuristic sci  fi series  set in post  apocalyptic seattle  centering on max  jessica alba   a genetically enhanced young woman  on the run from her creators .  br    br   the dark angel universe is absorbing   not as much as say buffy  but absorbing nonetheless  with an interesting and believable set of characters . certainly  it is not for everyone  but those who give it time will find themselves watching one of the most enjoyable series out there . dark angel is criminally overlooked  and under  rated  and was unfortunatly canceled after only  series . which was a great shame  as this had the potential to become a great series  although its   episodes are only   shy of long running bbc sci  fi comedy red dwarf . as it is dark angel remains unfinished  so seek it out  and if you want more  lobby fox to make another series .  
based upon the recommendation of a friend  my wife and i invited another couple to this film . i really apologized to them   all  of us hated it and spent the whole time looking at our watches waiting for the film to finally end . half the vignettes are bizarre  with very little entertainment value . there were few scenes of paris   for example  i was looking forward to seeing some pictures of the latin quarter  but i couldn  t really recognize anything . most of the scene was inside a bar . no one in the theater laughed at anything  or reacted in any way . if you like bizarre  pretentious  pseudo  intellectual films  don  t miss this . if you are down to earth like me  you will be sorry you saw it .  
i found this movie to be suspenseful almost from the get  go . when miss stanwyck starts her narration it  s only a few minutes until you realize that trouble is coming . the deserted area  the lock on the deserted gas station door  everything sets you up to wait for it . . . here it comes . at first you think it will be about the little boy  but all too soon you start holding your breath watching the tide coming in . i found this movie to be really stressful  even though i had watched it before and was prepared for the denouement . now a movie that can keep you in suspense even when you have seen it before deserves some sort of special rating  maybe a white knuckles award   
i pity people calling kamal hassan  ulaganaayakan  maybe for them ulagam is tollywood  comeon guys . . this movie is a thriller without thrill . .  br    br   come out of your ulagam and just watch some high class thrillers like the usual suspects or even the silence of the lambs .  br    br   technically good but style over substance kamal doesn  t look like a police officer  there is no thrill whatsoever dragging and boring till end you might be saving  valuable hrs of your life if u skip watching this movie .  br    br   kamal at his best is the best in tollywood  
jeopardy is a tense  satisying thriller  a cut above a b but not really a major production . it qualifies as almost an experimental film  as the studio that produced it  metro  was desperately looking for new kinds of films  stars and directors to compete with the then new medium of television . the director  john sturges  was an up  and  comer whose best years lay ahead . he had just recently begun directing a level films  and had already proved himself a most capable craftsman . stars barbara stanwyck  barry sullivan and ralph meeker  were at very different phases of their careers . stanwyck  s glory years were behind her  and yet she could still carry a film  as she proves here . barry sullivan  as her husband  was one of a dozen or so leading men who got started in films in the forties who never quite achieved the success many had hoped for him . he was a fine  low  key actor  poised  but in an upper middle rather than upper class way  which made him excellent in professional roles . as the escaped convict who is the only person around who can save sullivan  s life  he is trapped under a pier  and the tide is rising   ralph meeker is more energetic than usual . this excellent actor had the misfortune of having come to films after brando and clift . he was in his way as good an actor as either of them  but he lacked charisma . his bargaining with stanwyck  which comes down to his demanding sex in exchange for saving her husband  by implication only  as this is       makes for an intriguing premise which  had this been a different kind of film  could all raised all sorts of interesting questions about stanwyck  s character . meeker is indeed a more exciting character than sullivan and in her scenes with him stanwyck is livelier than she is with her husband and son . but as this is a formula picture  not a strindberg play  the possibility that stanwyck might want want to have a fling    leaving aside the question of her husband  s predicament    remains unexplored . in this sense the incoming tide doesn  t quite have the effect one might have wished  though the movie remains tense and highly entertaining thanks to excellent acting  fine location photography  nearly all of it outdoors  and excellent direction by the woefully underrated mr . sturges .  
it  s  the f . b . i .  starring reed hadley  with an all  star guest cast  the film begins with an accidental  convenient   kidnapping  which leads to one thing  and another  which doesn  t really indicate the main story  which is a  big house  u . s . a .  prison break story . the story is very improbable  to say the least . it  s like a tv show  only more  violent   for the times  .  br    br   but  the cast is a trip  picture this ralph meeker is sent to prison his cell  mates are the following criminals broderick crawford  lon chaney jr .  charles bronson  reading a  muscle  magazine    and william talman  reading a  detective  magazine   . honest  you should know that  an early scene reveals what happens to the  missing  boy  answering the ending  voiceover .  if you don  t want to have that hanging  don  t miss the opening scenes between the  iceman  and the boy  peter votrian doing well as a runaway asthmatic  .  br    br    big house  u . s . a .       howard w . koch  broderick crawford  ralph meeker  reed hadley  
leonard maltin must  ve been watching some other movie .  though i find his guide to be quite a valuable resource  please disregard his comments on this one .  he states  starts off well then fizzles  when it  s really the reverse   starts off tepid then catches fire  . the plot is about as simple as it gets . happy mom  happy dad and happy son take a vacation at an isolated beach  dad incapacitated in accident  mom runs off to get help  meets up with dangerous escaped convict . mom tries to trick convict into helping while dad waits and hangs on for dear life .  br    br   good white  knuckler given an electric jolt by ralph meeker  appearing suddenly  the director  john sturges  films it in a clever way that will make you gasp  around halfway through as the cunning  desperate criminal . meeker is an unusually flippant  reckless actor  at least here and in the classic  kiss me deadly   and he happily snatches the keys to the film  s narrative and speeds off with the top down . his character has a habit of grinning childishly and saying  pretty neat  huh   when he  s especially pleased with his misdeeds . there is a funny break in the action when they get a flat tire and he tersely instructs his hostage  barbara stanwyck   don  t go away  . she fires back  where would i go    they  re in the middle of nowhere  and he realizes sitcom  ishly  yeah  that  s right  . the friction between them is a hoot .  br    br   there are flaws  somewhat ridiculous ones . there  s one scene where the police  who have been chasing after meeker for some time  stop stanwyck  s car and to evade detection meeker rests his head on her shoulder like a loving husband supposedly would  and pretends to be asleep as she  s being questioned . a . he looks conspicuously un  masculine in this pose and b . i think it  s safe to say that any adult who appears to be asleep during an encounter with law enforcement would certainly arouse suspicion .  br    br   still a sturdy thriller which builds to an exciting and edifying conclusion .  br    br    
i am definitely a burt reynolds fan  but sorry  this one really stinks . most of the dialogue is laughable and the only interesting plot twist is in the last five minutes of the movie . i can  t believe he even made this one . is he actually that hard up for money   
here  s an excellent barbara stanwyck double bill on one disc . the first movie  and believe me the lesser of the two  is mgm  s  to please a lady        in which she is paired with clark gable . it is essentially a star vehicle with gable as usual dominating the film with his screen presence . here he plays a macho racing driver who gets some bad press from feminist reporter stanwyck and the battle of the sexes begins . of course after much ado they eventually end up in each others arms and it all comes to a predictable and pleasing close . a bit of a fluff of a move really but gable and stanwyck  two icons of the golden age  make it watchable   br    br   but the real meat on this dvd is the second feature  a marvellous and quite unknown little thriller called jeopardy . produced by mgm in     this is a wonderful little gem of a movie that hasn  t dated one iota  here stanwyck plays the wife of barry sullivan and mother to their young son lee aaker on vacation on a deserted and remote mexican beach when suddenly tragedy strikes . a dilapidated wooden pier collapses trapping sullivan under a heavy pylon and guess what  yes  the tide is coming in . with not a soul in sight and unable to free him herself stanwyck sets off by car for assistance . after driving some distance the only aid she can muster comes from an unscrupulous escaped convict  ralph meeker  who  in return for his help  wants more from her than money or a change of clothes   i  ll do anything to save my husband   . does she or doesn  t she   .  br    br   meeker runs away with the picture  he turns in quite a brilliant performance  once he comes into the film you simply cannot take your eyes off him  an actor in the smouldering brando style he surprisingly never made much of his career in films . although he gave splendid performances as the unsavoury  disgraced cavalry officer in the outstanding mann  stewart western  naked spur        and as one of the doomed sacrificial french troopers in stanley kubrick  s powerful ww  drama  paths of glory        his only real claim to fame was as mike hammer in mickey spillane  s  kiss me deadly  in     . his performance in  jeopardy  should have done wonders for him but he had only a so  so career in films . he died in     .  br    br   because of this release  jeopardy  can now proudly take its rightful place as a classic noir . a memorable  taut and exciting thriller thanks to fine performances  tight direction by john sturges  the crisp monochrome cinematography of victor milner and an atmospheric score by dimitri tiomkin . extras  however are no great shakes except for a radio version of  jeopardy  and trailers for both movies .  br    br   this disc is also part of a barbara stanwyck box set celebrating her centenary . hard to believe that the lady would be over    years old if she was still around   br    br   jeopardy  an mgm winner   
the movie was not a waste except for some boring scenes in between . but the women cast gave a pretty good show than the males who were laughable .  br    br   but krista allen really rocked in the movie . her voice was so seducing and sexy . the scenes in the bed involving krista should have shortened but she made it so watchable and sexier than any one could do . krista really is one of the best in such roles . she also enacted quiet well as the baddie in the last  minutes  which is the interesting part of the movie .  br    br   burt reynolds was not that good and this was not his best as an action star . he could have chosen a better script than this . ireally think he did for money .  
does anyone else cry tears of joy when they watch this film  i love it  one of my top   films of all time . it just makes me feel good . i watch the closing production number with all the cast members over and over and over    bebe benson  michelle johnston  is the babe of the film  imho  i never saw the play but i get angry when i read reviews that say the play was better than the film . the two are like apples and oranges . the film making process will seldom deliver a finished product that is faithful to the original work . i believe it  s only due to the fear of public alienation that many well known works adapted to the screen aren  t changed more than they are . this is a very good film  it is very satisfying . that  s all you need to know   
a very tired looking burt reynolds plays a mercenary battling his former employers for some gizmo these non  heroes plan to sell to  the iranians .  low  rent video nonsense by the producers of  silk stalkings  offers some decent action footage and a lot of ineptly staged  drama  . . . a lack of logic and truly dreadful dialogue are the defining aspects  although the final twists and allegiance shifts could  ve been a nifty end to a better movie . burt still has presence  although it also means you notice more when he mouths insultingly half  baked  one  liners  .  
as a disclaimer  i  ve seen the movie    times in the last   years  and i only just saw the musical this week . this allowed me to judge the movie without being tainted by what was or wasn  t in the musical  however  it tainted me when i watched the musical     br    br   i actually believe michael douglas worked quite well in that role  along with kasey . i think her  let me dance for you scene  is one of the best parts of the movie  a worthwhile addition compared to the musical . the dancers and singing in the movie are much superior to the musical  as well as the cast which is at least   times bigger  easier to do in the movie of course  . the decors  lighting  dancing  and singing are also much superior in the movie  which should be expected  and was indeed delivered .  br    br   the songs that were in common with the musical are better done in the movie  the new ones are quite good ones  and the whole movie just delivers more than the musical in my opinion  especially compared to a musical which has few decors . the one bad point on the movie is the obvious cuts between the actors talking  and dubbed singers during the singing portions for some of the characters  but their dancing is impeccable  and the end product was more enjoyable than the musical  
about three minutes into this thing i started fast  forwarding  pausing only during the nudity  why is it that bad movies always include such good looking women   . in ten minutes i was done  and wishing i could get my money back from the rental store . the people who write these movies should be sanctioned by the mpaa . come on writers  the bad guys always get into the car with the bomb activated by the good guy  s remote control  that  s the way its been done since the days of the ottoman empire  also  to add insult to injury  the  twist  at the end was so formulaic  that it could have come from any action movie written in the past   years . burt reynolds was fine  but he should concentrate on real movies .  br    br   this movie is just a waste of time  run away  run away   
when i really began to be interested in movies  at the age of eleven  i had a big list of  must see  films and i would go to blockbuster and rent two or three per weekend some of them were not for all audiences and my mother would go nuts . i remember one of the films on that list was  a chorus line  and could never get it so now to see it is a dream come true .  br    br   of course  i lost the list and i would do anything to get it back because i think there were some really interesting things to watch there . i mean  take  a chorus line   a stage play turned into film . i know it  s something we see a lot nowadays  but back then it was a little different  apparently and this film has something special .  br    br   most of the musicals made movies today  take the chance the camera gives them for free  to create different sceneries and take the characters to different places  a chorus line  was born on a theater stage as a play and it dies in the same place as a movie . following a big audition held by recognized choreographer zach  michael douglas   richard atenborough directs a big number of dancers as they try to get the job .  br    br   everything happens on the same day the tension of not knowing  the stress of having to learn the numbers  the silent competition between the dancersand it all occurs on the stage  where douglas puts each dancer on the spotlight and makes them talk about their personal life and their most horrible experiences . there are hundreds of dancers and they are all fantastic  but they list shortens as the hours go by .  br    br   like a movie i saw recently   a prairie home companion   the broadcast of a radio show  atenborough here deals with the problem of continuity . on or behind the stage  things are going on  and time doesn  t seem to stop . again  i don  t if atenborough cut a lot to shoot this  but it sure doesn  t look like it and anyway it  s a great directing and editing  john bloom  work . but in that little stage  what you wonder is what to do with the camerawith only one setting  ronnie taylor  s cinematography finds the way  making close  ups to certain characters  zooming in and out  showing the stage from different perspective and also giving us a beautiful view of new york .  br    br   in one crucial moment  douglas tells the ones that are left  before we start eliminating you  re all terrific and i  d like to hire you all but i can  t  . this made me think about reality shows today  where the only thing that counts is the singing or dancing talent and where the jury always says that exact words to the contestants before some of them are leaving  even when they are not good  . it  s hard  you must imagine at least here  where all of them really are terrific .  br    br   to tell some of the stories  the characters use songs and  in one second  the stage takes a new life and it literally is  a dream come true  . the music by marvin hamlisch and the lyrics by edward kleban make the theater to film transition without flaws  showing these dancers  feelings and letting them do those wonderful choreographies by michael bennett . the book in the theater also becomes a flawless and very short screenplay by arnold schulman which is very touching at times . so if it  s not with a song it will be with a word but in  a chorus line   it  s impossible not to be moved .  br    br   during one of the rehearsal breaks in the audition  cassie  a special dancer played by alyson reed  takes the stage to convince douglas character that she can do it . the words  let me dance for you  never sounded more honest and more beautifully put in music and lyrics .  
i am a big      s movie fan and will watch most anything that i see on turner classic movies thats new for me . so i gave this a shot  after all it  s the great harold lloyd who rivaled chaplin as a great silent film comedian . i have watched much less of lloyd  s silent films then of chaplins but i have to say i  m a much bigger chaplin fan . anyway this film fell so flat for me that i didn  t finish it . i can understand why his sound career was so limited  he didn  t get very good material to work with . after you  ve seen chaplin  abbott and costello  the three stooges  martin and lewis  the marx brothers  and laurel and hardy do boxing spoofs  or violence in general   this one is very forgettable . i was also interested in watching adolphe menjou as i really enjoyed him in paths of glory but his role here also did nothing special for me . maybe they should have gotten into the boxing sooner because at least half the film  at least it seemed that way  is before he gets in a ring . i can tell there are a lot of lloyd fans here and this wont be a popular review but i must rate this as compared to what else was out there at the time   out of   . don  t watch this with anyone your trying to get to like old movies as they may not watch another one with you again  very flat . for an alternative to anyone who really liked this or is looking for more little known comedies in general i recommend  kelly the second  made a few years earlier  another nobody becomes a boxer comedy with patsy kelly and in a supporting role charles chase . these have both been shown on the turner classic movies channel .  
i watched this movie after seeing it on broadway . i love the broadway musical and i love the movie . i watched the movie like it was not related to the broadway show . i am an avid reader and have seen what happens to most books when they are turned into movies  so i developed a philosophy really early . assume that the movie is going to be based on the book  or musical in this case  but that while the story line may be similar it will not be the same  it will be different so watch it for what it is .  br    br   i danced for   years before i had to make a choice . i was a good dancer  picking up chorus work in local productions as a child etc  but i wasn  t super talented . i was however super talented as a show rider . i was told by my dance instructor and my trainer  who i spent several months a year at his farm out of state  that i had to make a choice when i turned   . that i needed to move up from dancing two hours four  five days a week and riding  hours a day  days a week . . and dedicate to one or the other . so i dearly love dancing and i love this movie and a lot of the other ballet and dance movies . i just chose to watch this movie for what it is  it is a great movie about raw emotion and human interaction . it is about the power of anticipation and heartbreak when you work really hard to get something you want and you just do not get it . i love the movie . i love the broadway musical .  
don  t get fooled with all the big names like burt reynolds  james woods and anne archer . they are just glorified extra  s . their scenes were probably filmed in one day or so . whatever their motives for being in this movie  if you have an actor like james woods you better make good use of him . to me this is a sign of bad direction through and through . the plot itself wasn  t that bad . and the acting from most of the actors was above average . cuba gooding jr . however was terrible . he was so unbelievable that i almost laughed at his dramatic scenes . and since this was meant as a serious movie that can  t be a good thing . the action scenes were not bad  but they lacked that special punch to make it more exciting . again better direction was needed . also the pacing was wrong for a movie like this . it took the main character almost half an hour to get in action . for an action thriller of only   minutes that is far too slow . the only redeeming factor is angie harmon . she does her best to make it all work . too bad the director left her hanging . yes  this movie could have been much better with a great director . andy cheng is far too inexperienced as a director to pull it off . and for an action  stunt coordinator of his caliber you  d expect at least more exciting action scenes . don  t waste your time with this one . avoid   
as many reviewers here have noted  the film version differs quite a bit from the stage version of the story . i have never seen the stage version of the story  and therefore i have a more favorable review of the film than many other reviewers . perhaps richard attenborough was not the best choice for director of the film  but the film is still an entertaining account of several dancers trying to make the big time in choreographer michael douglas  show . the film does right by not selecting any famous actors or performers to wind up in the final try  out group . this way our attention is focused on the dancers  movements and individual stories and struggles as they unfold during a marathon day of try  outs . douglas is also probably not the best choice for the part . apparently some songs were cut out in favor of a new one  and the backstage clich  ridden story of a romantic liaison between a dancer and the choreographer was added . i have to say in all fairness this was the weakest part of the film . the repeated intrusions cassie made during try  outs appear to mirror the almost desperate pleas one often has to make when engaging in the artistic professions in the absence of talent and  or luck . however  this aspect of the film has been done to death in the past  and it  s curious to see this tired old shoe kicking its heel up once again . the revelations of the dancers themselves began promisingly enough with the  i can do that  number  but then it plodded a little at various points while the dancers were telling their stories . frankly  their stories differed little from real life folks who never get a chance like this .  of  stars .  
this movie had some great actors in it  unfortunately they had forgotten how to act . i was hoping the movie would get better as it went along but the acting was so robotic it was doomed from the very start . it actually appeared that maybe the actors were reading from a script the whole time . maybe it was the musical score or the director himself  but one thing is for sure the make  up artist needs to get another job  the facial powder was so thick you could see it caked on the actors faces  would not recommend this movie to anyone  no wonder it never hit the theaters . cuba gooding jr .  james woods shame on you guys for not giving it your all . the plot was great just needed a whole lot more .  
this movie will always be a broadway and movie classic  as long as there are still people who sing  dance  and act .  
an ensemble of uninteresting and unlikeable characters twist and turn their way through a flimsy plot that might be interesting  if only you could bring yourself to care . this  twisting and turning  i speak of refers not to the story  which contains all the suspense of a recipe for tuna casserole  but to the director  s inability to keep the characters  faces even remotely centered in the frame . on the other hand  angie harmon has very nice nostrils and left ear .  br    br   the only real surprise in the movie is the big names they convinced to do it . when you consider this movie was never released in theaters despite having an all  star cast  you might be inclined to think something stinks .  br    br   and indeed  it does .  
this show is so full of action  and everything needed to make an awsome show . . but best of all . . . it actually has a plot  unlike some of those new reality shows . . .  . it is about a transgenic girl who escapes from her military holding base . . i totally suggest bying the dvds  i  ve already preordered them . . . i suggest you do to . . .  
i saw  paris je t  aime  because a friend really wanted to see it so i went along with him . going in  i was indifferent about the film but leaving the theater i really regretted wasting  hours of my life sitting through this tepid production . the  stories  are almost completely forgettable except for the fact that most of them were awful . what do gena rowlands and ben gazzara have to do with paris  the endless parade of american actors most definitely gave this french film a remarkably non  french feel . the clichs about paris were endless . yes  most of them were playing with clichs about paris but by spending so much time making fun of french clichs  they directly and regrettably promoted them once more . yes  paris is the city of love . we get it .  br    br   the worst segments were the one directed by wes craven  oscar wilde   the one with nick nolte the mime one  the worst    the hair products one the one with juliette binoche  willem dafoe as a cowboy in the middle of paris    the vampire one  when i think of paris i think of elijah wood  . the one with natalie portman  which really looked like a mentos commercial and it was stupid  the blind young man should know portman was just playing a part when she called him  . on and on it went . it felt endless .  br    br   i didn  t like the coen bros one as well . it really plays with those parisien clichs but i didn  t find it funny . just annoying . the gus van sant one was interesting but it was so slight  and the punchline was obvious  that it barely registered .  br    br   there were only two  successful  segments and they were the one about the immigrant nanny who leaves her baby at a kindergarten only to babysit a baby for a rich woman . nice irony there . and the segment about the african who is stabbed . it  s the best segment in the whole film but this segment has nothing to do with paris . the story could have taken place in any city around the world .  br    br   the last segment  the one with the chubby middle aged woman was sorta interesting too but the underlying tone was bad . they wanted to celebrate her limited grasp of french but the segment came off as being condescending .  br    br   the whole project felt forced and uninspired . almost like the french government sponsored this film to promote tourism . all in all  with only about   to   minutes of interesting stuff   paris je t  aime  was an awful cinematic experience .  
this is a great film   the first time i saw it i thought it was absorbing from start to finish and i still do now . i may not have seen the play  but even if i had it wouldn  t stop me thinking that the film is just as good .  
flat characters that you do not and never will care about . cringe  inducing dialogue at places . no twists  they think they have one  but if you didn  t figure it out after about   mins you  re not too bright  . lots of well know actors in roles and performances that  fortunately for everyone involved  will be forgotten as soon as the end credits roll .  br    br   i don  t mind  slow  movies  but they  ve got to be going  somewhere  . this one doesn  t .  br    br   the plot wasn  t what made this a direct  to  dvd movie  that  s just a rather convenient excuse to try and drum up some fake controversy .  br    br   the as  of  writing      ten     ratings must be from people involved with the production .  
i love this movie . i mean the story may not be the best  but the dancing most certainly makes up for it . you get to know a little bit about each character the way they want you to learn about them . i just think that you won  t like this movie unless you  re into broadway . . .  
mst     should do this movie . it is the worst acted movie i have ever seen . first of all  you find out that the shooter has no bank account and no history since leaving the army in     and pays his rent in cash . there is no way in hell that a person like that would ever be allowed to be that close to a president not to mention a high profile job . also  the head of security for the pothus would not be so emotional that he would start drinking into a haze if the president was shot . this movie sucked . i cannot express the extremite that this movie was . every single actor was terrible . even the chick at the trailer park . i crap on this garbage . what a waste of time .  
anyone who has seen this movie and reviewed it poorly  i would refer them to roger ebert  s review of this movie . he is one of the most respected critics in the industry  and he gave it     stars .  br    br   this is a great movie . it may not be perfect  or spectacular  but i enjoyed it . a chorus line is not so much a story  as it is a group of stories about the lives of broadway hopefuls . i read reviews where people said that too much time was wasted on the romance between zach and cassie . that is an incorrect view . it is another story along with all the other stories that are told about each of the broadway hopefuls . what people fail to realize is that those who are dancers for broadway shows go through the same things that the common man goes through . and that i think is really the point of the whole show . it is to showcase not only the talent of these special dancers  but to give us some poignant things to think about in regard to life in general . this is a study of life as a broadway star . anyone who has dreamed of becoming a broadway star watches this movie with a great feeling of relationship because they have gone through exactly what the characters are going through .  br    br   this is a great musical . it has its slow points  and at times gets a little confused with the pacing of certain story lines  but all in all  i thoroughly enjoyed it . take a closer look at the movie  and then maybe you will understand what i am talking about .  
it had all the clichs of movies of this type and no substance . the plot went nowhere and at the end of the movie i felt like a sucker for watching it . the production was good however  the script and acting were b  movie quality . the casting was poor because there were good actors mixed in with crumby actors . the good actors didn  t hold their own nor did they lift up the others .  br    br   this movie is not worthy of more words  but i will say more to meet the minimum requirement of ten lines . james wood and cuba gooding  jr . play caricatures of themselves in other movies .  br    br   if you are looking for mindless entertainment  i still wouldn  t recommend this movie .  
hi for all the people who have seen this wonderful movie im sure thet you would have liked it as much as i . i love the songs once you have seen the show you can sing along as though you are part of the show singing and dancing . dancing and singing . the song one is an all time fave musical song too and the strutters at the end with the mirror its so oh you have to watch this one  
this movie was like a bad indie with a  list talent . the plot was silly  all the way to the end . it reminded me very much of something churned out for the home video market in the      s . i would have given it a one  but there were brief moments when you could see the actors really really straining to make this worthwhile . i think the worst thing was the underwater scene  s held off of the dock . the underwater lighting seemed to come from no were  and whenever someone we were supposed to care about was close to running out of air  this air tank would kind of appear . i would avoid this  unless there is nothing else on the shelf . good day .  
i don  t agree with one of the reviewers who compared this film to the american international pictures . basil deardon has directed a brutally realistic film with an honest attempt to portray the rise of juvenile delinquency in post war england  but without the sentimentality of  blackboard jungle   . the cinematography was excellent as it really captured the scariness and isolation of the huge housing estate . the estate looked like an old prison . stanley baker was excellent as the hardened detective  reassigned to the juvenile division   urgent  urgent  larceny  five iced lollies      he finds he is the butt of many jokes . david mccallum showed that he was one of britain  s top young talents of the fifties .  he had a very different role in another stanley baker film  hell drivers   . his portrayal of johnny and the fanatical following he inspired was very frightening . ann heywood was also very good as the cynical cathie . i wouldn  t say there was a romantic subplot in it .  br    br   detective jack truman is investigating a string of arson attacks by someone labeled the  firefly  . just as he finds evidence which could lead to a breakthrough  he is assigned to the juvenile division  he is pretty disgusted at what he feels is not proper police work . amid all the heckling he gets his first call out  the  year old murphy twins are working a scam at the local lolly shops     br    br   taking the twins home he meets their brother  the charismatic johnny  and their embittered sister cathie . he starts to appreciate how life on the ghastly housing estates can turn young kids into criminals . as he gets more involved with the family  he realises there is a strong link between the fires  johnny and a frightened chinese youth who works for a laundry . the local priest  peter cushing in an unusual role  away from the hammer horrors  explains that when johnny was younger he had rescued some people from a burning building and had been hailed a hero . he wanted to recapture the feeling of importance and being useful and felt he could by lighting fires . the school siege was filmed in a very real way and the viewer felt the children  s fear  the teacher  thinking only of her own safety  runs off and locks them in the room with the frightened gunman      br    br   i thought it was a really excellent film that tried to show some of the social problems britain experienced after the war .  br    br   highly recommended .  
this ranks as one of the worst movies i  ve seen in years . besides cuba and angie  the acting is actually embarrassing . wasn  t archer once a decent actress  what happened to her  the action is decent but completely implausible . the make up is so bad it  s worth mentioning . i mean  who ever even thinks about the makeup in a contemporary feature film . someone should tell the make up artist  and the dop that you  re not supposed to actually see it . the ending is a massive disappointment  along the lines of  and then they realized it was all a dream   br    br   don  t waste your time or your money . you  re better off just staring into space for  hours .  
i  ve long wanted to see this film  being a fan of both peter cushing and david mccallum . i agree that the romantic sub  plot was a waste of time  but the talent of mccallum shines through this juvie role . thank heavens for turner classic which aired the show last week . i can imagine that there were lots of problems with children after the war  especially with the way things were throughout the     s . some of the boys are a bit scary . i certainly wouldn  t want to met them on a well  lit street  much less a dark one . there were some good insights regarding the feelings of a firebug as well  or as they call him  a firefly .  
you have to figure that when the star  s name is listed wrong in the opening credits  you are not in for a good time  the credit reads  cuba gooding  j . r .   . some nice car chase  shoot  em up  blow  em up action if all you want is action  because the relationship to what plot exists is tenuous at best  and completely unbelievable . the motivations of the characters  especially that of gooding  s at the end  are worse then unbelievable  they are irrational when they are not hopelessly muddled . all i can think is that andy cheng must be a really nice guy to get this many good actors into this foul a project  he can  t have something on all of them  can he   .  
this film was shot on location in gerard gardens in liverpool  and was the uk  s answer to films such as  blackboard jungle  . the film stands the test of time quite well  with all the moral stories still  or even more  relevant today . the film feature some fine performance from some notable british actors such as david mccallum  stanley baker  peter cushing and anne heywood . baker plays a liverpool cop assigned to juvenile liaison duties  with the premise that if you catch the kids at an early age  they will end up being responsible adults .  br    br   notable cameos in the film include freddie starr  fred fowell  and melvyn hayes  gloria  . tsai chin and michael chow play brother and sister  they are real life brother and sister  who are caught up in an arsonists web . tsai chin is still acting and can be seen in the latest nicole kidman film  the interpretor  .  br    br   violent playground features a gun siege in a school  so is unlikely to be shown on tv following similar events in scotland  russia .  br    br   i lived in gerard gardens where the film was shot  though was not born at the time   and have fond memories of the area . i have recently completed a documentary on gerard gardens which includes extracts from  violent playground   and a small uk film  coast to coast  which stars lenny henry and pete postlewaite . the tenements were demolished in     and the films go some way in keeping the memory alive .  br    br   there were some complaints from the residents when the film was released  as the film portrayed the area in a bad light . time has helped heal those wounds .  br    br   a little gem of a film  i would recommend you seek this out  
camera work  why is the camera work in this movie so jumpy  this is annoying and distracting . editing  the flashes of the still pictures were way too short . many of the other scenes were too short also . just flashes . sound  the background music was way too loud and covered up the voices . one should not have to rewind and replay to catch what was said . doesn  t anybody check these things and make them do it over again . please reduce the volume of the background music in future . is adjustment of the relative sound levels the job of the editor  julia wong  the plot had way too many loose ends . the basic story line had potential . i think the film needed more work . was it rushed  perhaps they ran out of money . like a lot of movies  it started out great but just petered out toward the end . i really don  t understand this  you know you have the story board before it goes into production so why doesn  t all the loose ends get taken care of in the storyboard .  br    br   sorry to be so critical .  
this film was the first british teen movie to actually address the reality of the violent rock and roll society  rather than being a lucid parody of     s teenage life . in an attempt to celebrate the work of liverpool  s junior liaison officers the opening title points out that    of potential delinquents  who have been dealt with under this scheme  have not committed a second crime . however  this becomes merely a pretext to the following teen  drama until the film  s epilogue where we are instructed that we shouldn  t feel responsible or sorry for such delinquents however mixed  up they might seem .  br    br   stanley baker plays a tough detective who reluctantly takes on the post of juvenile liaison officer . this hard  boiled character is a role typical of baker . having been currently on the trail of a notorious arsonist known as the firefly and does not relish the distraction of the transfer . however  as in all good police dramas he is led back full circle by a remarkable turn of events  back to his original investigation .  br    br   his first case leads him to the home of two young children  mary and patrick murphy  played by real  life brother and sister duo   who have committed a petty theft . here he meets cathie  satisfyingly portrayed by anne heywood  their older sister whom he eventually becomes romantically involved with . it quickly becomes obvious that the squalid environment of such inner  city estates is a breeding ground for juvenile delinquency .  br    br   the elder brother of the murphy family  johnny  is the leader of a gang of rock and roll hoodlums . mccallum does an eye  catching turn as the americanized mixed  up kid  who owes more to the likes of marlon brando  than any previous british star . one is reminded of brando  s character johnny from  the wild one  who led a leather  clad gang of rebellious bikers in much the same way as this film  s  johnny  leads his gang .  br    br   thankfully the preachiness of earlier dearden crime dramas such as  the blue lamp  is not so apparent . instead we are presented with several well drawn  out characters on both sides of the law as the drama of the delinquents and the romantic interest between heywood and baker takes the forefront .  br    br   the plot  whilst at times predictable  does deliver some memorable scenes . the disruptive influence that rock and roll music was thought to have had is played out in a scene where johnny abandons himself to the music  leading a menacing advance on the police sergeant . the most grippingly memorable piece of film however is the climatic classroom scene where a bunch of terrified school children  including mary and patrick  are held hostage at gunpoint by johnny . obviously in the light of the real  life dumblaine massacre this scene seems all the horrifying . understandably because of this the film is seldom aired or available to modern audiences .  
i rented end game  having never heard of it  but i  m fond of political thrillers so i thought i  d give it a shot . after doing some research on the movie  i found that it had initially been intended for theatrical release  but instead had gone strait to dvd . after seeing it  i  m thinking   no wonder .  the movie is shocking in its unoriginality . the plot and the characters are perfunctory . i figured out whodunnit by the half way mark but the ending was a curve ball . i have to say  i didn  t expect it to end quite the way it did  but that  s not a point in its favor . the more predictable ending would have been preferable to one that is so bad . perhaps the film makers saw how predictable the film was and so they decided to throw in a twist   even one that made the movie even worse .  br    br   stay away . i want the   .   and my    minutes back .  
one of the comedies of the      s . also has the best signature tune of any comedy show . the story is about three people sharing a flat living above their landlords george and mildred . the comedy rests on the mix of the people sharing . a man and two women . richard o  sullivan is besotted with paula wilcox . its played in a gentle and not a leering way which is why this show was such a success .  br    br   the scripts and the stars were always giving the best performances and richard  s frustrated love life was shown with a relaxed charm . the end titles contained visual jokes which went unnoticed in the early      s but concerned the flat sharers living arrangements .  
this movie looked good  good cast  evergreen topic and an explosive opening . it went downhill from there . why was it filmed by hand held camera  it shakes  judders  part captures scenes and simply confuses the viewer . a poor choice indeed . as if this was not enough  the worst edit in memory assumes a drugged viewer  mandatory if you want to get any enjoyment from it at all . and then it commits the worst sin of all . after leading the viewer down all sorts of unlikely and implausible scenarios to the point of exhaustion  they roll credits without revealing the denouement  the ending  the payoff  like what the heck was the motive  how can you expect to succeed by making thrillers without an ending  doh  this movie had great promise and ending up doing a face plant in the mud . what a waste of effort . poor effort by writer and director .  
man about the house is a true situation comedy in every sense of the word . the comedy concerns a character called robin tripp  played by the great richard o  sullivan  who finds himself after a wild party  ending up at the home of two ladies called jo and chrissy . ironically the party was held to say goodbye to their old flatmate . the obvious ends up happening as he moves in .  br    br   man about the house was a pre  cursor to cooke and mortimer  s spin off show george and mildred which featured the  characters who were landlords to jo  chrissy and robin . these two characters would actually turn out to be the linchpins of man about the house with mildred  the late and much missed yootha joyce  in particular getting some of the best lines of the series . a semi  regular character was larry  doug fisher  a useless person who was always on the scrounge and only ever came round when he wanted to borrow something  and never to return it  .  br    br   the american  s did a version called three  s company but it doesn  t stand a chance when compared to this far funnier original . thames took a risk in producing a comedy about a man sharing a flat with  women at a very conservative time but they should worry as the ratings at the time suggest that around   million people just wanted to watch a good old fashioned bit of comedy with inspired casting and a sharp script . what a pity modern comedy can  t reach that high standard .  br    br   this programme is available on network dvd  
i didn  t expect a movie as good as  in the line of fire  or an episode of      but it looked like this movie was made for tv and did a mediocre job at best . the  good  cast couldn  t disguise the fact that the plot was all too predictable and actors had to struggle  they really try their best i think  through their lines of bad script  giving their rather flat characters any extras . when i watched the movie i got the feeling that i had seen most of this in other  better  movies . in it you had car chases  big shootouts  romance  plot twists etc . etc this movie has none .  br    br    spoiler as soon as you see another woman talking into the phone to cuba  s character  you know who  s behind all this and all the hints you  re being given   you stand too close to the president  see it from my perspective . .   sound silly .  br    br   if it were up to me  and maybe it  s a good thing that it isn  t  i would rewrite the plot like this  br    br   first lady orders the murder of her husband because she is sick and tired of writing checks to cuba all the time .  
like a lot of series pilots  dark angel  s opener shows a mixture of great potential and a slight problem finding its own feet . not that this is unusual in any way  but there is a feeling that it could have worked better if the story was tightened and focused a little more . in today  s world where something has to catch on instantly or face cancellation  the series did itself a bit of a disservice by not coming out at least halfway focused  with all guns blazing .  br    br   the ninety  minute pilot really feels like two episodes glued together  and both episodes have a problem with focus . in the first half  we are introduced to max and filled in on what drives her . we also get a few interesting routines with max using her abilities to win bets  interacting with a pi  or sorting out co  workers  domestic problems . the problem here is that this is nothing out of the ordinary for any human being with a normal set of genes  on television or otherwise .  br    br   it  s when we hit the second half that we get a story with a purpose and focus . throughout the two halves  max finds herself the focus of attention from a pirate journalist who feels it is mission in life to save the world by exposing one dirty dealer at a time . in the second half  the repercussions catch up with him  and max reluctantly cleans up the resulting mess . this sets up the premise for the entire rest of the series  and it works  but it doesn  t quite click if you get my meaning . it  s like most of the pieces are there  but a couple that make a complete image have been left out . perhaps they get filled in with later episodes  but that  s beside the point . the fact is that the contents of this episode could easily have been told with twenty  eight less minutes .  br    br   the last of the negatives is that a lot of the support cast are totally unendearing . original cindy in particular is an annoyance  and i doubt that changed during the next twenty episodes . while the acting isn  t as bad as daytime soap  it isn  t of such quality that i  d commend it . jessica alba is not the worst actor in the world  but she does come up short in terms of being convincing when the story needs it least .  br    br   the good news is that the premise and the production values are all top  notch . in fact  this series was considered quite expensive to produce  and it is quite unfortunate that it was cancelled in order to be replaced by another show that didn  t last a whole season . especially when there was ample time for both shows  they could have simply cancelled one of the pieces of disingenious garbage they flog under the banner of reality tv . the fact is that we need more shows like dark angel  where imagination rather than overhype  are used to draw the attention .  br    br   in all  i gave the dark angel pilot a seven out of ten . it never rises above the level of throwaway television  and it never got a chance to live up to the potential it shows within its own running time . but the potential is there  and that  s often all that matters where pilots are concerned .  
only a handful of the segments are engaging here . a segment with a garage attendant from nigeria is heartbreaking . one with fanny ardent  bob hoskins makes its point  twist by twist until the final shot overplays things .  br    br   the problem with this movie is that only a few of the clips invoke paris . the others are so scatter  shot in theme  tone  volition  production that you may as well be watching  the years best commercials      .  it  s really all over the place . it doesn  t develop over it  s running time  and nothing reigns the directors in . no construct successfully joins the pieces . . . tedium sets in . i  m at the one hour  twenty minute point and elijah wood is in some dumb  over  commercial  overproduced vampire shtick . it has about as much to do with paris as old ladies knitting in the antartic . fantasy shows up i think first in the coen brothers segment  uh  thanks j  e for ruining another movie  and then makes way too many appearances . the point of being in paris is that you don  t need make  believe crap to make your days extraordinary . why divide it by neighborhood if quartier de la madeleine is equated with vampires for some loser director  has there ever been a genre more over  represented than the vampire film . every three years we get the same lame vampire clichs .  br    br   making things worse is that the switch from segment to segment is pretty artless . the transitions get lost . this doesn  t feel intentional  it feels sloppy .  
as is nearly always the case  when britain comes up with an entertaining and  or successful sit  com or quiz show  the yanks will come along and poach the format and produce their own  grossly inferior  version . man about the house is  of course  no exception to that rule . the yanks  version  three  s company  was unwatchable  braindead pap that seem to run forever . a prime example of quantity over  non  existent  quality . the original  on the other hand  is a fondly  remembered gem that had the savvy  like fawlty towers  to pull the plug at precisely the right time  unlike the    episodes of  hilarity  that three  s company came up with  . jo was cute  there was brilliant chemistry between the ropers  richard o  sullivan made it all look so easy  the scripts  whilst not exactly oscar wilde  standard  were consistently funny and chrissy was the most drop  dead gorgeous woman who has walked the face of this planet since the dead sea was merely feeling unwell .  nuff said .  
spoilers ahead  br    br   this is one of the worst movies ever made  it  s that simple . there is not one redeeming quality about this movie . the first   minutes are quite tricky  they actually lead you to believe that this film will be shocking and will have you on the edge of your seat . instead  you will spend   minutes punching yourself while watching stolen and poorly made scenes run without any organization . the lake was ridiculous  looked like an aquarium  and had the same plant in different parts of the lake bed . characters show their advanced teleportation powers  for example alex thomas who falls into the lake  drunk   and then ends up on his boat in an impossible position . angie harmon put up a pitiful performance as kate  made worse by the space  time continuum rupturing dialog that appears to have been written at the last minute by a fifth grader . an example of this would be when she said   flashlight   in such a stupid manner that it shows the threshold of how much a human body can cringe before it snaps in half . finally  the editing of this movie was by far the most bizarre and horrific that i have ever seen . it was like the cameramen were a bunch of chimps who had been given camcorders by scientists . an example of this would be when we suddenly get a closeup of the headlight on alex  s car . i would bet that there was little to no time spent editing this movie . the ending was absolutely pathetic . the writers were obviously trying to create some sort of mysterious plot line that made the viewer say   oh yeah   instead  we  re left to view some dumb painting of a spider that somehow fits into the story line . unfortunately  there is not one perspective in the millions out there that could save this movie from being a festering piece of crap .  br    br   i give this a .  out of    the .  being from the fact that this movie was recorded on film instead of becoming a picture book .  
while the british produced some hilarious and slick sitcoms in the     s  ab fab  men behaving badly  one foot in the grave  etc .  the   s were the real golden age .  br    br   in the     s there were whole new territories to explore  including the sexual revolution  feminism  and the slowly evolving awareness of a need for  sensitivity  that would  twenty years later  become political correctness . attempts to grapple with the confusion of this thoroughly modern world were the subtle and not  so  subtle themes in everything from the skits of monty python  s flying circus to sitcoms like man about the house .  by the late   s this  grappling  resulted in more meditative and bitter  sweet sitcoms such as the masterpiece butterflies .   br    br   man about the house is a perfect example of the good britcoms of the time  slightly genteel  cheeky  fresh  ingenuous  sometimes outrageous  with some well made observations on contemporary life . compare it to a cynical   s show such as ab fab  and it is hard to believe the two were created in the same country .  br    br   man about the house is one of the great britcoms of the   s  right up there with good neighbors  the good life   and about the house  s spin off george and mildred . its quality is attested to by the fact that  as with good neighbors  its creators  writers  and many of its cast have had continued success in british television .  
how unfortunate  to have so many of my  a  list  and good  b  list actors agree to do this movie  but they did  and that is what sucked me into watching it . i had never heard of this movie  but there was cuba gooding jr . right on the dvd cover  and james woods in the background how bad can it be  in a word very  this movie starts o . k . has some twists and turns  then just lays an egg . the ending was so weak  it was as if the writer got called away and his  year old son sat down at the type writer and hacked out the ending . how ironic a for a movie titled  the end game  to have such a poor one . these are the types of movies that can move  a  list actors to the  b  list in hurry . i hope cuba gooding jr  and james woods don  t make a habit of this .  
some years ago  satellite channel u . k . gold promoted repeats of  men behaving badly  with the hype  here it is  the original flat  sharing sitcom   . this was in fact untrue .  man about the house  was also a flat  sharing sitcom and ran from        .  br    br   it was the brainchild of johnnie mortimer and brian cooke  creators of the popular sitcom  father dear father  . when it ended  they decided they wanted to do something more in harmony with the times .  br    br   in the first episode  chrissy  paula wilcox  and jo  sally thomsett  are tidying their myddleton terrace flat following a wild party when they find a man in their bath . he is robin tripp  richard o  sullivan   a southampton cookery student of no fixed abode . while his clothes dry out  he puts on a ladies  dressing gown and prepares them a meal . they are so impressed by his culinary skills that they invite him to stay . but there must be no naughty business . so robin has to pretend to be gay . . .  br    br   on b . b . c .    s  i love       shown in      julie burchill claimed that  house  showed her a way of life she envied . she was not alone . one of the most iconic  for me  anyway  images of     s british television was sally thomsett coming out of the london underground carrying a parasol  and a  blind  man doing a double take as her pert bottom swings past .  br    br   a man living with two girls was a risqu subject for the time  but mrs . mary whitehouse had no need to get hot under the collar  it was innocent  good  natured fun . mortimer and cooke  s scripts went as close as they could to the edge without crossing it .  br    br   richard o  sullivan was still playing  bingham  in i . t . v .  s  doctor in charge  when this got started . in fact the second run of  in charge  overlapped with the first of  house  . he was born to play the sex  mad robin . paula wilcox  s  chrissy  was more streetwise than  beryl   her character she played in  the lovers   while sally thomsett  s  jo  was a lovable dizzy blonde . as time wore on  he became almost like an older brother to them .  br    br   for many viewers  brian murphy and yootha joyce stole the show as the warring ropers . george had lost interest in sex  but mildred had not . they went on to their own show  the aptly titled  george  mildred  . the late doug fisher was good value as as robin  s wideboy friend larry . he worked so well he was made into a regular .  br    br   within a year of its debut  there was the inevitable movie spin  off . i am not a big fan of the  man about the house  movie because i think it was stretched to fit the big screen . most of its characters had never appeared in the series .  br    br   the format was sold to america  where it became the long  running  three  s company  starring the late john ritter and suzanne somers . it was far more suggestive than the british original  with somers often seen in sexy clothing .  br    br   after six seasons   house  ended with chrissy marrying robin  s older brother norman  norman eshley  . fans were devastated to see robin failing to get the girl he loved  but there was some consolation in the fact that he too landed his own show   robin  s nest  .  
so i  m looking to rent a dvd and i come across this movie called  end game  . it stars james woods and cuba gooding jr and has the synopsis of a taught political thriller . well worth a look then . or so i thought .  br    br   boy  was i wrong .  br    br   end game has just about the most ridiculous plot i have ever had the displeasure of enduring . now being something of a whodunnit  i can  t really tear into it as i would like without  ruining  it for those who have yet to experience this monstrosity . but questions such as  why has he  she  they done this    and  where on earth did they get the resources to pull this off   are all too abundant following the film  s unintentionally hilarious conclusion .  br    br   as for the acting  you know those films where you can almost feel that an actor  s realised that they  ve made a terrible mistake in signing on for a movie  and this then shows in their performance  this is one of those . accompany this with a laughable script and seriously flawed  irritating direction and you have the recipe for cinematic poison .  br    br   of course  this didn  t make it to the cinema  and for the same reason you should not allow it into your living room it is appalling .  
this is a better than average silent movie and it  s still well worth seeing if you are a fan of the silents . however  if you aren  t yet a fan of the genre  i suggest you try a few other films before watching this one . that  s because the plot just seems pretty old fashioned and difficult to believe in spots . but  despite this  it  s still a good film and kept my interest .  br    br   a nice lady unfortunately hooked up with the wrong man and ran away to marry him . the film starts five years later after she has come to realize that he is really a brutal thief . despite this  she tries to make the best of it and not dwell on how good life had been before this jerk came into her life . however  the rent is due and there  s no money  so the lady is forced to look for work . she becomes a personal seamstress for a rich lady whose husband is trying to swing a business deal . unfortunately  the lady who they were trying to hook up a potential client with for a dinner party can  t make it and the seamstress is paid handsomely to be the man  s date . well  like cinderella  she cleans up pretty well and the man is infatuated with her  what to do now   given that she is actually married and the new fella wants to marry her   well  see the movie yourself to see how it  s all resolved . i didn  t like how they handled the husband  as it seemed awfully predictable and clichd . however  once he was out of the way  i do admire how the film also didn  t give up a by  the  numbers finale and left the film with a few loose ends .  br    br   all in all  a very good film worth seeing  but certainly not great .  
some guy gets whacked . right out in plain sight this other guy shoots him . he  s got some bodyguards and they whack the killer  but a reporter gets interested . she goes to the hospital where they took the guy who got whacked . she walks in  and corners one bodyguard  but he doesn  t feel like talking . i can  t figure out why . it  s not like anyone else is interested . she  s the only reporter there . anyway  her editor discourages her from working on this lame story . but hey  she does anyway . she goes to see the killer  s sister  mom . a few minutes after she leaves they get whacked big time   somebody blows up their trailer   huge ball of fire . then she searches out the bodyguard from the hospital . she finds him hungover on his boat  but a minute later they  re both underwater sucking on a scuba tank  cause three guys are trying to whack them  and have blown up the boat big time   huge ball of fire  . the reporter and the bodyguard whack two of the guys who are trying to whack them .  br    br   in the course of the next hour another guy gets whacked crossing the street  there  s a shootout with several stiffs in a warehouse  some car chases with wreckage  death  a fake suicide  etc . etc . lotsa stiffs  all kindsa carnage .  br    br   great stuff  but what the reporter and the bodyguard can  t figure is why in hell the original guy got whacked . what  s the motivation  of course  it might help us to figure out why the reporter  s even interested . through almost all of this she  s the only reporter on the story . nobody else in the media cares . not even with all the big fireballs and dead bodies . true  the original guy who got whacked wasn  t exactly a celebrity . his job was a little bit dull . he was just the president . yeah  the one who lives in the white house . oh  and the bodyguard is a secret service agent .  br    br   is that the spoiler   br    br   it should be . after all there are no tv cameras  no other print reporters  no bloggers . . . just another one of those police blotter crimes . . .  br    br   so what  s the spoiler   br    br   lemme think . . .  br    br   no  wait  the spoiler is that his wife did it  yeah . . . the first lady . she was p    ed because the president was fooling around . and she gets away with it . she  s really sharp  huh  but how the hell could anybody ever figure that out  why would anyone bother  after all  only one reporter is even interested .  br    br   i give this move a    . it was so dumb i just had to keep watching . and it only got dumber  that  s the real spoiler  but even though i  ve told you  you  ve got to see it to believe it   
in watching this early demille work  it was once again reinforced to me that early demille is far superior to late demille . his attention to use of light within scenes is remarkable . his pacing is very good  enabling much to be told in the space of an hour or so . it is a pity that he wasn  t as intuitive about the style of his later sound films as he seemed to be in his silent films .  br    br   this was the first film in which i had seen cleo ridgely . she was remarkable  quite restrained and yet conveyed a broad spectrum of emotions .  br    br   the ending is wonderful .  
this movie was craptacular . i was so emotionally uninvolved in every single character that the movies  biggest antagonist was  in fact  myself . i played it beautifully throughout promising myself i would walk away  but only drinking another beer hoping it would auto  magically transform into something engrossing along the way . even in this state  i couldn  t help but notice that cuba  s acting was as flimsy as tracing paper . his obsessive dedication to his job was unconvincingly done as well as his one night binge after the failure of his own idiot standards . burt came on the screen as a general  that  s right  a general  who wears too much makeup  . i fell into a frighteningly fast binge to rival cuba  s  except mine was real and i stubbed my toe . recompense  recompense my stubbed toe   
this film has a clear storyline  which is quite unusual to the musical genre .  cats    phantom of the opera   and other andrew lloyd webber  s musicals can be considered metaphorical  as they use literary works as their framework .  biarkan bintang menari   bbm   s storyline touches the very core of human relationships  especially that of indonesian people . despite the fact the film was based on a  supposedly  fairytale  it  s actually a fantasy of the  child  in indonesian adults . the dance sequences are not perfect  yet the songs represent how indonesians express themselves . i reckon the choreographer should explore indonesian way of dancing  by not dismaying the fact that indonesia  s dance development tends to be more westernized . the dance sequences seem awkward in some ways and not synchronized with the songs and  or music . yet  i still love this movie and regard it as a new wave of indonesian film genre which i hope to improve in the future .  
predictable  hackneyed  poorly written . foolishly i reasoned such a prominent cast would not be involved unless it had merit . i guess competition amongst actors is so intense these days  and will only get worse  that one cannot pick and choose much any more . early on we were given an inkling who was was instrumental in the assassination and we had it rammed down our throats ever since . the movie lacked intrigue  giving us little insight into the victim and only one possible motive for the murder . some of the discourse was  frankly  embarrassing  it  s hard to believe anyone would even consider  let alone commit to  the spending of tens of millions of dollars to make this tripe .  
and i am a nicole kidman fanatic . i would pay to see and hear her read the moscow phone book  which  for all i know  she may have been doing when she was speaking russian in this movie .  br    br   all four of the principals are excellent  but the movie itself is a number of good images and better scenes held together by nothing .  br    br   while one is always ready to suspend disbelief while watching a movie  this one asks too much of the viewer .  br    br   it could have been very funny  which it is in parts  or quite frightening  which it is in one scene  but the director didn  t seem to know which way to go .  
please  help the economy  spend your money elsewhere  the synopsis of the movie is the first lady has her husband assassinated because he was cheating on her . that  s it . undetected by anyone  except cuba and angie  she designs and implements a vast assassination conspiracy which no one knows about . . . and gets away completely free .  br    br   some specific points are particularly hilarious while standing in front of the president  cuba a deflects the assassin  s bullet . . . which then enters the back of the president  s head .  br    br   cuba and angie watch film from a news camera  and they see . . . a clue . they go to great lengths to protect the film  believing that they are the only people that have a copy of this very public film .  br    br   cuba speaks with a presidential staff member . the psm comments that there was no conspiracy . cuba claims there was more than one person involved . the psm then rants that the conspiracy includes the fbi  the cia  and the nsa . gosh  i wonder is the psm is involved .  br    br   ms archer  the first lady  is a craptacular artist . cuba can  t make out a painting  and she says   you  re too close . . . stand back . . . look from a different perspective  look from my perspective .  can anyone miss that clue   
i must confess that i was completely shocked by this film . for one  i went to see it on a whim expecting something mediocre  but given this  the most shocking thing was that this was in a populist american cinema at all . this is british comedy at its finest  dark  quirky and funny in ways that american films just never are . i must stop short  however  of recommending this wholeheartedly to anyone i went to see it with several people  some english  some european and some american and while some of us loved it  mainly from the first two groups   some hated it and found it worthless . if you think you  re into this kind of thing then go . if not  don  t .      .  
end game started well  the least said about the end the better . it seemed like things we  re happening just to keep the plot going  for example the reporter who at first is a very inquisitive  intelligent person  half way through does something really stupid and totally out of character  we are given no reason for this apart from  the next scene wouldn  t make sense without it . the whole story could have been told in about   minutes  it would have made an average tv political drama the brilliant cuba gooding jr . is very watchable however and james woods does an admirable job considering .  br    br   the end game was honestly one of the worst films i  ve ever seen . . . . . . and that  s saying something  i  ve seen gigli .  
i didn  t really know what to expect when going out to watch the film  apart from the slightly surreal basic plotline that a lonely man orders a russian bride over the internet . that and it had nicole kidman in it . i absolutely loved the film though  and came out thinking  wow  .  br    br   refreshingly down to earth  the film moves along nicely  with a few suprises at each corner . the relationships in the film are believeable  with nicole and chaplin working against each other beautifully . the humour is subtle  with some great  office   like scenes at the bank  and the thriller element add tension without being hollywood .  br    br   overall the film is about real people in an unusual situation . it  s less about heroics and more about delicate relationships . brit  filmmaking at its best . . .  br    br          
i spent almost two hours watching a movie that i thought  with all the good actors in it  would be worth watching . i couldn  t believe it when the movie ended and i had absolutely no idea what had happened . . . . . i was mad because i could have used that time doing something else . . . . i tried to figure it all out  but really had no clue . thanks to those who figured it out and have explained it . . . . right or wrong  it  s better than not knowing anything   who was the lady in the movie with dark hair that we saw a couple of times driving away  how did first lady know that her husband was cheating on her  at the end of the movie kate said she would eventually find out the truth . does this mean that we  re going to be subjected to end game    
as usual  hollywood stereotyped everyone in the movie . but  this one is a classic  from the uptight white collar banker to the russian woman   well done . even facial expressions were great  language was perfect  even in russian language  and nicole did a splendid job   hey guys  you get what you pay for   
cuba gooding jr . is a secret service agent who blames himself over the assassination of the u . s . president  i  ll point out straight away that this is not the type of role that this very talented actor is noted for  and this film shows us why . he teams up with a persistent news reporter  angie harmon  to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the president  s death  and so on  blah  blah  blah .  br    br   even with a cast of james woods  cuba gooding jr  anne archer and angie harmon  end game  fails to grab your attention  plain and simple some of the action is good  the acting isn  t all bad and the story although clichd and done before could have lead to an entertaining and enjoyable movie  well it doesn  t  the writing of the script and the direction makes absolutely sure of that  at no point does it suck you into the story or make you give the slightest thought to any of the characters .  br    br       it  s boring  predictable and dull .  
i think dark angel is great  first season was excellent  and had a good plot . with max  jessica alba  as an escaped x    manticore creation  trying to adapt to a normal life  but still  saving the world  . and being hunted by manticore throughout the season which gives the series some extra spice .  br    br   the second season though suddenly became a bit odd compared to the first . the plot kinda disappeared  and the series lost a little of it  s charm  mostly because of all the weird  creatures  appearing . don  t get me wrong the second season is good  but with a little bit to much of the  manticores  . however  they managed to get back to a new promising plot in the closing episodes of season   in which i had a lot of hopes to see more of .  br    br   so i really wish they could start making new episodes . and with james cameron behind this it can  t go wrong . so as a conclusion i would say it  s a great series  however i  m still hoping for a third season   
my wife and i just finished this movie and i came onto to imdb to commiserate with the reviewers that found this movie less than satisfactory . however  of the   pages of reviews  only a handful are negative . i feel that this movie is a great concept gone horribly awry and i want to warn those who are looking to watch the movie into the future .  br    br   i admit  i  m more inspired to write reviews when i don  t like a movie than as to when i do  so my handful of reviews are all negative . still  that doesn  t mean i  m biased towards not enjoying a movie  but i often find more eloquent reviews of movies i do enjoy .  br    br   paris je t  aime is the most pretentious movie i  ve seen in years . by using an  intelligent  concept and attaching some big talent to a couple of the way to many short stories  the movie ends up the worst of all worlds . it is art for arts sake  but something that a  year old could dream up and accomplish . giving the director free reign of  minutes of screen time proves why there is a division of labor even in entertainment . directors can  t write  writers can  t direct .  i  d like to throw in also that clint eastwood is overrated  but that is because he  s an actor turn director which rarely works  either  .  br    br   what ends up on the screen is a garbled mess of short stories that don  t make any sense  are not completed in  minutes and in total  spoil paris to me . why call it paris je t  aime when a more apropos title is cluster fck  there are only a couple stories that are watchable  most notably the piece by alfonso cuarn  but everything else will fall into obscurity . the coen brothers short is passable  but can you name a movie of theirs that does not contain a scene with a pick guitar  it  s as if all the directors decided on doing whatever it is they want to do and chose paris as the place to do it . as we all love paris  present company included  we are blinded by the fact that this movie sucks . in fact  i think they put the directors names on each of the shorts because directors saw how poor of a film this is and decided to make sure they were blamed only for their  minutes . seriously . seriously .  br    br   people  natalie portman is not a good actress . she is is not a pixie dream girl waiting to be yours . and maggie gyllenhaal  why    are you people acting or just regurgitating performances from other movies  i  m looking at you natalie portman  garden state  closer   elijah wood  sin city  and catalina sandino moreno  maria full of grace  .  br    br   one final comment on the acting i give double kudos to nick nolte for acting and looking more humane than you have in ages or perhaps ever will again . find his short on youtube as his  minutes are quite enjoyable .  br    br   writing short stories is very difficult and only a handful of authors have gotten it right . i  m thinking of ernst hemingway  raymond carver  f . scott fitzgerald  and john cheever  just to name a few . it is much harder than writing a full novel and only the truly talented can accomplish this . the same can be said about short films . it appears that only one director will live on in the annals of history .  br    br   if you uphold paris as a gem to be discovered and reflected through your own lenses with your own story  then don  t expect to enjoy this movie at all . the directors either didn  t care or were lazy . in either scenario  by the time you are reading this it means you rented it . praise be that you didn  t pay   dollars a head in theaters for it .  
excellent movie  albeit slightly predictable . i have to comment on nicole kidmans acting in this movie . some of her other works haven  t shown the amazing talent this woman has  but birthday girl doesn  t suffer from this in the slightest . even without words kidmans acting shines through .  
i guess its possible that i  ve seen worse movies  but this one is a real stinker  the plot is unremarkable but thats not the worst of it . the directing is no where close to what you would expect from andy ching . he  s capable of good work but failed to pull this movie together .  br    br   angie harmon  playing the female lead as a reporter dogging into who  s behind the assassination of the president  truly butchered the role . there was no chemistry with gooding  her demeanor was flat and wooden  and the  inch spike heels she wore throughout the movie were absurd . this outing for harmon places her solidly at the bottom of the  b  list .  br    br   and what was cuba gooding thinking    he has to his credit a number of outstanding performances  but this was far beneath what we  ve come to expect from him .  br    br   poor james woods and burt reynolds . poor poor poor poor poor .  
i caught this on the dish last night . i liked the movie . i traveled to russia  different times  adopting our  kids  . i can  t put my finger on exactly why i liked this movie other than seeing  bad  turn  good  and  good  turn  semi  bad  . i liked the look ben chaplin has through the whole movie . like  i can  t belive this is happening to me  whether it  s good or bad it the same look  and it works  . great ending .     . rent it or catch it on the dish like i did .  
i argued with myself whether to rent this or not . i  m always afraid of renting something i  ve never heard of  don  t remember this being in theaters  . great cast . . . that  s what tipped the scales .   minutes in  i almost stopped watching it . the first few minutes are fun to watch  but unbelievable . it only gets worse after that . the writers of this movie could do a little research on future projects if they want to make their movies even a little better . or they could just try writing something just a little bit believable . i give it a  . . . . a  for the writing  only because there are words  and a  for being able to get so many good actors to agree to do this movie despite having to read the script . oh my god this movie sucks .  
good  funny  straightforward story  excellent nicole kidman  i almost always like the movies she  s in  . this was a good  vehicle  for someone adept at comedy and drama since there are elements of both . a romantic comedy wrapped around two crime stories  great closing lines . chaplin  very good here  was also good in another good  but unpopular romantic comedy   truth about cats  dogs   . maybe they  re too implausible . ebert didn  t even post a review for this . the great  screwball  comedies obviously were totally implausible   bringing up baby   etc .  . if you  ve seen one implausible comedy  you  ve seen them all  or maybe people are ready to move on from the     s . weird . birthday girl is a movie i  ve enjoyed several times . nicole kidman may be the  killer app  for home video .  
poor ingrid suffered and suffered once she went off to italy  tired of the hollywood glamor treatment . first it was suffering the torments of a volcanic island in stromboli  an arty failure that would have killed the career of a less resilient actress . and now it  s europa    another tedious exercise in soggy sentiment .  br    br   nor does the story do much for alexander knox  in another thankless role as her long  suffering husband who tries to comfort her after the suicidal death of their young son . at least this one has better production values and a more coherent script than stromboli .  br    br   bergman is still attractive here  but moving toward a more matronly appearance as a rich society woman . she  s never able to cope over the sudden loss of her son  despite attempts by a kindly male friend .  sometimes i think i  m going out of my mind   she tells her husband . a portentous statement in a film that is totally without humor or grace  but it does give us a sense of where the story is going .  br    br   bergman is soon motivated to help the poor in post  war rome  but being a social worker with poor children doesn  t improve her emotional health and from thereon the plot takes a turn for the worse .  br    br   the film  s overall effect is that it  s not sufficiently interesting to make into a project for a major star like bergman . the film loses pace midway through the story as bergman becomes more and more distraught and her husband suspects that she  s two  timing him . the story goes downhill from there after she nurses a street  walker through her terminal illness . the final thread of plot has her husband needing to place her for observation in a mental asylum .  br    br   ingrid suffers nobly through it all  over  compensating for the loss of her son  but it  s no use . not one of her best flicks  to put it mildly .  br    br   trivia note if she wanted neo  realism with mental illness  she might have been better off accepting the lead in the snake pit when it was offered to her by director anatole litvak   it would have done more for her career than europa   .  br    br   summing up another bleak indiscretion of rossellini and bergman .  
this is a great little film  that  s very unique  and creative  with some great plot twists and wonderful performances  . all the characters are great  and the story while bizarre  is fascinating and very interesting  plus nicole kidman is simply amazing in this  . it  s very hard to describe this movie  because it really is quite bizarre  it  s a comedy  romance  one minute then it turns into a thriller the next  however it was still very entertaining all the same  plus nicole  s russian accent was fantastic  and extremely convincing . chaplin and kidman had very good chemistry together  and i loved vincent cassel  s performance   plus some of the plot twists really took me by surprise  . the ending was very cute  and it  s unpredictable throughout   plus this movie is quite underrated as well  . you will feel sorry for chaplin and the way that he is scammed  and i thought all the characters were really likable  plus the finale is especially good . this is nicole  s movie though  and she carries it with her incredibly sexy performance  . this is a great little film  that  s very unique  and creative  with some great plot twists and wonderful performances   i highly recommend this one  . the direction is very good  . jez butterworth does a very good job here  with great camera work  solid angles and keeping the film at a fast pace  . the acting is wonderful  . nicole kidman  is stunningly gorgeous   and is amazing as always  she is incredibly sexy  very likable  had one of the coolest accents  added a lot of presence  had very good chemistry with ben chaplin  and had a very mysterious character   she was amazing .  kidman rules      . ben chaplin is great here  he is extremely likable  had a cool character  had very good chemistry with kidman  the only thing i didn  t like was him taking out his anger out on kidman  even though what she did was wrong  and i loved how he got revenge in the end  . vincent cassel is fantastic as the main villain  yes he was ott  but he was very intense and quite creepy at times  this role was perfect for him . mathieu kassovitz is ok here  but didn  t have much to do . rest of the cast are fine . overall i highly recommend this one  .     out of   
maybe it  s the dubbing  or maybe it  s the endless scenes of people crying  moaning or otherwise carrying on  but i found europa    to be one of the most overwrought  and therefore annoying  films i  ve ever seen . the film starts out promisingly if familiarly  as mom ingrid bergman is too busy to spend time with her spoiled brat of a son  sandro franchina  . whilst mummy and daddy  bland alexander knox  entertain their guests at a dinner party  the youngster tries to kill himself  setting in motion a life changing series of events that find bergman spending time showering compassion on the poor and needy . spurred on by communist newspaper editor andrea  ettore giannini   she soon spends more time with the downtrodden than she does with her husband  who soon locks her up in an insane asylum for her troubles . bergman plays the saint role to the hilt  echoing her     role as joan of arc  and rossellini does a fantastic job of lighting and filming her to best effect . unfortunately  the script pounds its point home with ham  fisted subtlety  as andrea and mom take turns declaiming marxist and christian platitudes . by the final tear soaked scene  i had had more than my fill of these tiresome characters . a real step down for rossellini as he stepped away from neo  realism and further embraced the mythical and mystical themes of      s flowers of st . francis .  
i  ve had a lot of experience with women in russia  and this movie portrays what a lot of them are like  unfortunately . they are very cunning  ruthless  and greedy  as well as highly unfair . from the robotic sex  the hustling for gifts  to the lies and betrayal  i  ve experienced it all in russia .  br    br   i know what i  m talking about . and here are my qualifications here are the photojournals of my three trips to russia in search of a bride . it includes thousands of pics of many hot russian girls i met  black comedy  scams i was privy to  and the story of my mugging and appearance on russian national tv .  br    br   http   www . happierabroad . com  photojournals . htm  br    br   it  s like reality tv . you will love it . i spent a ton of time putting it together . so check it out . the russian woman that nicole kidman plays is a lot like the julia and katya in my photojournals .  br    br   my  bride seeking trips in russia happen to be very exciting and would sell  so why don  t they make a movie out of my bride seeking adventures in russia  however  there is one factual impossibility in this film  and that is the way which the guy orders his bride from a catalog and having her arrive at an airport . it doesn  t work that way at all  so i don  t understand why the media likes to perpetuate this . there isn  t a single russian bride introduction website that works this way  and i challenge anyone to find one that does . the fact is  you can only order the russian lady  s contact info  email  address  phone number  etc .  from the website . from there  you correspond and then visit her  and if you want to bring her to your country  you start the immigration process at your ins office  and wait months after that . that  s how it works in real life . you can  t just order her to arrive at your airport . us immigration would never allow such a thing to happen .  br    br   wumaster  br    br    i got everything i wanted by going abroad  you can too  http   www . happierabroad . com  
i checked this movie out based on a favorable review on this page . it is slow moving and the payoff is a four star dud . . the only mystery here is how oscar winner f . murray abraham got involved with such a lousy script   
nicole kidman is a wonderful actress and here she  s great . i really liked ben chaplin in the thin red line and he is very good here too . this is not great cinema but i was most entertained . given most films these days this is high praise indeed .  
 . . . ok i have read about this film somewhere in the internet  and many criticized on how bad and sucks this film was . and i couldn  t have been more agree about it . then after that i saw this film on dvd  i was thinking twice about this and then came commercial of this film on tv . luckily i spared my money for this pieces of crap . i was sacrificed my sleeps for this film and soon it turned out that this film couldn  t make me satisfy . so i can  t be judging on how the film was made  but anyway . . . it still sucks . as for those who liked this film  i would apologize for flaming this film and telling on how sucks this film is . i don  t know what do you think about this film   
every time i see nicole i like her more . i love a movie like this . a woman you just won  t give up on  but she keeps breaking your heart . first movie i remember seeing like this was of human bondage  the kim novak  laurence harvey version . the beefs about the correctness of the russian spoken in this film are petty  it was good enough to fool me or anybody else who can  t speak russian  i  m sure . funny how people miss the point . the no  goodnik russian guys were well cast too . finally  i have to tip my hat to ben chaplin  as somebody else noted  he plays a sap with great dignity  and there was definitely some heat between him and nicole . to think  guys get paid for that  mind  blowing .  
on the surface  this movie would appear to deal with the psychological process called individuation  that is how to become a true self by embracing the so  called  dark  side of human nature . thus  we have the darkling  a classic shadowy devilish creature desperately seeking the company  that is  recognition  of men  and the story revolves around the various ways in which this need is handled  more or less successfully .  br    br   however  if we dig a little deeper  we find that what this movie is actually about is how you should relate to your car like you would to any other person  in the opening scene  the main character  male car mechanic fallen from grace  is collecting bits and pieces from car wrecks with his daughter  when a car wreck nearly smashes the little girl . lesson    cars are persons embodied with immortal souls  and stealing from car wrecks is identical with grave robbery . the wicked have disturbed the dead and must be punished .  just after that  another character  rubin  buys a car wreck intending to repair it and sell it as a once  lost  now  found famous race  car and is warned by the salesman . lesson    just like any other person  a car has a unique identity that cannot be altered nor replaced . in addition  there is the twist that rubin actually sees a hidden quality in what most people would just think of as junk  but eventually that quality turns out to be a projection of rubin  s own personal greed for more profit . lesson    thou shalt never treat thy car as a means only  but always as an end in itself .  then we have the scene where the main character is introduced to rubin and  more importantly  rubin  s car the main character  s assessment of the car  s qualities is not just based on its outer appearance  but also by a thorough look inside the engine room . lesson    a car is not just to be judged by its looks  it is what is inside that really counts . there is punishment in store for those who do not keep this lesson in mind  as we see in the scene where another man tries to sell rubin a fake collector  s car . this scene by the way also underlines the importance of lesson   .  br    br   there are numerous other examples in the movie of the  carperson   theme  and i am too tired now to bother citing all of them  but the point remains  and i guess this is what i  m really trying to say  that this movie is fun to watch if you have absolutely nothing else to do  or  if you  re a car devotee .  
modern  original  romantic story .  br    br   very good acting of both nicole kidman and ben chaplin .  br    br   miss kidman does a nice job in imitating a russian accent . ben chaplin is also good as the shy  dull clerk . for the men  and some women   miss kidman looks fantastic and is very sympathetic . i forgot what a gorgeous woman she is . it  s not hard to imagine that john falls in love with her . some unexpected turns in the story are good for the suspense . although i hoped for a happy ending  the last part of the movie was quite a surprise for me .  br    br   conclusion  good movie .  br    br   les pays  bas  huit points .  
first of all i thought it was naughty of them to say in the credits that the story and screenplay were by preston sturges . sturges was one of the better hollywood screenwriters until his talent faded and he retired . however  it wasn  t the preston sturges  it was preston sturges  jr . the story was essentially based on robert louis stevenson  s short story  the bottle imp  . a good man comes into possession of an evil object that will grant him any wish but which will ultimately doom him to hell . that  s fine . nobody said screenwriters had to be original . the actors are generally pretty competent given the mediocre writing that they had to translate onto the screen . my biggest complaint comes with the ending . the hero thinks he has discovered a way out of his dilemma but tries to solve the problem in a somewhat different way in an attempt to save an innocent person . at first this seems to have worked but true to the code of the modern horror film  they feel they have to provide one last dollop of horror at the very end of the film . this is a stupid convention . the older horror films got along just fine with allowing the hero to win out at the end . there is nothing wrong with good triumphing over evil no matter what the current crop of film makers seems to think . you can give the audience a good healthy scare and still make them feel happy at the end . in fact  i think it  s preferable .  
a small funny film . it is totally incredible  unbelievable  impossible . but it is funny how an introverted masochist can become totally dependent and mesmerized  even hypnotized by a girl he hardly knows but who was able to get down into his phantasms . of course it is a denunciation of the foolish deals you can get to on the internet . you must not believe ten percent of what you  re told there and never  ever  ever accept to tie up your hands in a way or another to someone or something or some organization you do not know personally . most of their  businesses  there are in a way or another going to fool you and raid you . but here the chap deserves being the victim of such gangsters because he is not only naive  he is absurdly silly . but then the film becomes funny because it ends up with the victim of the crooked business having the upper hand and ending up playing the same game with his victimizer and winning . one think is sure too . security in english airports is not exactly what it should be  but i guess it  s not better anywhere else in the world and even now they have tightened up all rules and regulations it is just fun to go through their procedures and foil them systematically . then they have their vengeance by losing your luggage  a real plague on modern airports  and don  t expect to get fair compensation . or even confiscating a bottle opener or a can opener because it may be dangerous . i can see myself cutting my way through the side of the plane with a can opener . funny  isn  t it  dr jacques coulardeau  university paris dauphine  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  university versailles saint quentin en yvelines  
the darkling was a very interesting and entertaining film while f . murray abraham was in it . spoilers about halfway through  f . murray gets zapped  because the darkling is some kind of demon  like creature who enjoys living vicariously . he takes bums and losers and perverts them further while giving them all they want in terms of success . he feeds from their enjoyment of the seven deadly sins . however  part of it is that he needs to get people who may be flawed but not completely evil . otherwise he cannot  pervert  their natural goodness . that  s what the little guy said in his barry white voice  which i found both charming and amusing . mostly amusing . like imagine barry white if he were a little dwarf and he was telling aiden gillen  dee plane  dee plane  bos  here eet come  dee plane   all through the movie  dee dwarf  actually a robotronic cherub  talks to aiden gillen in the barry white voice  saying things like  it  s ok to be bad  you know you want it .   now you  ve committed murder  you  re really moving up in the world  and other remarks that sound like commercials for  being evil  stores or something . it really is hilarious in a sick way .  br    br   anyhow  aiden gillen is no f . murray abraham  and the movie tanks as soon as murray gets the axe  or knifed   . f . murray brings a certain happy malevolence to his role in this film . he is a good actor . aiden gillen on the other hand has a permanent happy smirk on his face  and he looks like maybe his remedial english comp . class had never hit the mythological characters and he could not imagine what the movie was about . the ending is really creepy and yet almost comical . if this movie were a parody  the ending was perfect . if it was not a parody  then it was creepy but a cheap use of a little girl to deliver a gross  out that the movie itself could not deliver . the people who made this movie lost whatever it was that they wanted to do with it somewhere before the ending . it just ends like they just realized that they had run out of money and had to film a quickie ending .  
when i saw birthday girl i liked it so much i set out to see every nicole kidman film i could  only to find all of them a disappointment compared to it . i theorize that while the presence of a particular star usually guarantees a certain level of quality because of their artistic control  with nicole kidman the influence she exerts is detrimental to film enjoyment   imho . thus for instance  dogville  even depriving the viewer of anything visual to detract from the existential insight she is hammering home  or other films promoting gay and lesbianism as worthy of anyone else  s attention  or other pet causes of kidman  s .  br    br   here she is a natural woman and she does a really great job . i don  t how or who was able to restrain her  but apparently it worked . the way the film depicts her openness despite her resistance gets to the heart of what makes a woman a woman . and consequently  what makes a man  s most desperate hopes marginally attainable .  br    br   of course  the fact the male lead transforms from a milquetoast clerk to macho man in the space of one film sounds like a male ego expansion fantasy  but his transformation is adequately believable . it isn  t coyly contrived as it would be in a film engineered to bolster male ego . instead it accurately records necessary growth arising from the films unique circumstances .  br    br   also quite charming is the way the criminals are portrayed as perfectly human  apart from their criminal mission . her gang has a coed rough and tumble fellowship which is foreign to american culture . and while they are his adversaries  they are never really his enemy . in effect  they teach him to be compete .  br    br   i really marveled at kidman  s ability to physically appear russian . it had me wondering whether her ancestry was russian  but none of the photos of her i examined showed any hint of it . maybe it is just makeup but it was amazing .  br    br   i can only hope that they knock her over the head again soon so she can turn out another great film . despite my gratuitous digs at ms . kidman  the message is this is a superior film in every way and probably the role of a lifetime .  
yes  i sat through the whole thing  god knows why .  br    br   it was a long afternoon  i had nothing to do  it was bitterly cold outside  okay  those are all lame excuses but they  re the only ones i have .  br    br   i gave the darkling  stars out of a possible    i have seen worse films  but this one definitely is right there in the old trash bin of bad filmdom   poor script  poor acting  bad lighting  and cheesy special effects .  br    br   the storyline  which never completely makes sense  revolves around this simple little family  daddy  mommy  and little girl   that i assume the viewer is supposed to be  identifying  with  all three of them were tedious and annoying . you just want the dark side to get every one of them .  br    br   daddy is a cook whose hobby is cars . daddy meets a rich man named rubin who collects cars and who is also in possession of a being he purchased in the  mysterious  orient . rubin keeps it in a birdcage and refers to it as  the darkling  .  br    br   during the course of the film  the darkling is explained as being about  or  different things a shadow without a person  the inner darkness that exists in all of us  and the devil . so take your pick of whichever one of those explanations suits your fancy   because trust me  it doesn  t really matter .  br    br   the darkling  s main problem seems to be that it craves having a companion   it gets a human companion   and then eventually is dissatisfied with the human being . this  of course  leads to immense wealth  followed by disaster  for the human who hooks up with the darkling .  br    br   and for the rest of us   it just leads to a very long  tedious movie .  br    br    
i bought dark angel seasons    two weeks ago  after catching a couple of season  episodes on channel  . nothing prepared me for how brilliant the show is . i haven  t enjoyed anything as much since firefly  also and amazing show  . i  ll admit season  wqasn  t quite as good  but there are still some amazing episodes  see designate this  bag  em  the berrisford agenda  harbor lights  freak nation etc .  and alec is great . i  ve heard some of the plans for the would  be season   and i have to say  i can  t believe it was cancelled  i won  t spoil it for you  but it would have rocked  i also think it has a lot of potential as a movie  although at the moment it seems highly unlikely  . as proof of my obsessiveness  max  s barcode number is              and in the two weeks i  ve had it  i am  episodes away from having watched both seasons twice . it  s just too good .  
i saw this movie at the afi dallas festival . most of the audience  including my wife  enjoyed this comedy  drama  but i didn  t . it stars lucas haas  brick  alpha dog   molly parker  kissed  the five senses  hollywoodland  and adam scott  first snow  art school confidential  . the director is matt bissonnette  who  s married to molly parker . all three actors do a fine job in this movie about  friends  the marriage of two of them and infidelity involving the third . it all takes place at a lake house and it looks wonderful . the film wants to treat its subject as a comedy first and then a drama  and i thought it needed to be the other way around .  
the first von trier movie i  ve ever seen was breaking the waves . sure a nice movie but it definitely stands in the shadow of europa . europa tells a story of a young german  american who wants to experience germany just after the second world war . he takes a job that his uncle has arranged for him as a purser on a luxues train . because of his job  he travels all through an almost totally destroyed germany  meeting with the killing of traitors  and hunt for former nazi party members . the society is suffering from corruption . his uncle has narrowed his conciousness by focussing on the job he has also as a purser on the train . by coincidence the main character get involved in bombing and terrorism by a group called  werewolves  they put pressure on him to help them placing bombs on trains . the atmosphere is astounding . the viewer is taken from scene to scene by a man attempting to put the viewer under hypnosis and then counting to wake you up in a new scene . just when you think you  ve seen a lot        europe    
  st watched           out of    dir  brad sykes   mindless   d movie about flesh  eating zombies in a  story within a movie chronicle . and yes  we get to see zombies eating human flesh parts in  d   wow  not   that has been done time and time again in  d in a zombie movie but what usually makes a zombie movie better is the underlying story not the actual flesh  eating . that  s what made the original zombie classics good . the flesh  eating was just thrown in as an extra . we  re actually bored throughout most of this   part chronicle because of the lame  twilight  zone like  easily understood and slow  pacingly revealed finale  s . the last story is actually the story the movie started with  having a reporter investigating a so  called ghost town  and of course we get to see flesh eating zombie  s in that one as well . well  i think i  ve said enough . watch the classics  not this  d bore  feast .  
this is a comedy based on national stereotypes  no doubt . if you leave away pretending you know or you care what communism was about and how real russians or brits are  if you accept and are not hurt by the conventions  you can have fun with this film . nicole kidman is at her best  sexy  moving and funny . ben chaplin succeeds to avoid being completely out  shadowed by nicole  and the rest of the cast does good work as well . the final is moving  and logical  movie logics  of course . worth watching  if you accept the rules of the game .  
the film is about sir christopher strong  mp   member of parliament   played by colin clive  and his affair with the amelia earhart  like character played by katherine hepburn . up until they met  he had been a very devoted husband but when he met the odd but fascinating hepburn  he  couldn  t help himself  and they fell in love . you can tell  because they stare off into space a lot and talk endlessly about how painful their unrequited love is . frankly  this is a terribly dated and practically impossible film to watch . part of the problem is that in the pre  code days  films glamorizing adultery were very common . plus  even if you accept this morally suspect subject  the utter sappiness of the dialog make it sound like a   th century romance novel . . . and a really bad one at that . sticky and with difficult to like characters  after all  clive  s wife is a nice lady and did no one any harm  make this one a big waste of time . about the only interesting aspect of this film is the costume hepburn wears in an early scene where she is dressed in a moth costume  you  ve gotta see it to believe it   and she looks like one of the bugaloos  an obscure  but fitting reference  .  
the critics didn  t like this film . it bombed in the states and as a result received only a limited showing in britain . which was a great shame  because it represents british rather than american humour and should have been shown in britain first .  br    br   nicole kidman looks stunning and is a totally convincing russian . ben chaplin is the dustin hoffman character from  the graduate   and  birthday girl  has at least  scenes which remind the viewer of that     s classic  despite being a totally different story   .  br    br   sure it changes tack a number of times from comedy to black comedy to thriller to adventure  but it  s memorable  moving and a weclome breath of fresh air compared to the average mega  budget blockbuster .  br    br   see it with an open mind   
merry madcaps in london stage a treasure hunt  with one young woman inadvertently fixing up her married politician father with a strong  independent lady  flier who  s never been in love . intriguing early vehicle for katharine hepburn  playing an amelia earhart  like aviatrix who  s been too self  involved to give herself over to any man . the director  dorothy arzner  and the screenwriter  zoe akins  who adapted gilbert frankau  s book  were obviously assigned to this project to get the female point of view  but why are all the old clichs kept intact like frozen artifacts  billie burke plays the type of simpering  weepy wife who takes to her bed when thing go wrong  and hepburn  s final scene is another bummer . a curious artifact  but not a classic for kate  watchers .  from   
from what critics and audiences indicated  birthday girl had to be a big fat clinker . still  because i love nicole kidman  i decided to rent it last night . it proved to be quite worthy of watching . sure  it isn  t your basic american comedy  and it doesn  t take a genius to realize that it is a very british movie  but that  s why i liked it . it was a change from all the other movies around  a breath of fresh air . sure  there were some plot holes  but overall it worked . first off  kidman was fabulous again in a very different  not very glamorous  but still quite sexy role . she just keeps proving that she is one of the top talents in hollywood . not only is her russian accent when she speaks english effective  but there are times when she carries on long conversations in russian and if you didn  t know it was nicole kidman  you would never question her authenticity . harrison ford should have taken note in  k    .  overall a slight little movie that works despite the horrible buzz .  
dialogue stilted  clichd acting hammy  clichd plot predictable  clichd .  br    br   just what are christopher plummer nastassia kinski doing in this  b  rubbish  plummer was well established decades before this movie was made  kinski had masterpieces like  tess  and  cat people  behind her . . . must have been desperate .  br    br   the bad guys all have bad  guy accents  bad bad  guy accents   plummer especially  where did he learn to do  german    and most of them have bad  guy sneers as well . the innocent bystanders all overdo their panicking enough to make you laugh . the good guy survives  amongst other things  a   throwing knife buried hilt  deep in his shoulder  just pulls it out and seconds later is using the arm with no difficulty at all  marines  machine  gun fire  i think someone referred to a .    in the leg which he sorts out by tying a bandage around his pants leg and thereafter he barely has a limp  several fist  fights in which he sustains multiple punches to the face as well as being run cranium  first into a door frame  a fall  backwards  from what looks like the third floor  onto paving  without the slightest sign of a twisted ankle or any other such trifling inconvenience . the script has exactly  clever lines  the rest of the time it  s all so dull and boring .  br    br   ok it  s not all bad . plummer does bring a certain class to his part  and is undoubtedly the best actor in this flick . of course that doesn  t say much  but he can do the callous villain without resorting to the ham techniques most of the villains use here . he delivers his  ve haff vays and meance  type lines with some menace  but you are always aware you are watching christopher plummer acting the villain .  br    br   this movie is truly an awful waste of time . the acting  such as it is  is sort of    s    movies wooden line delivery meets bruce lee  s very obviously faked fight scenes  but it  s not even anywhere near as good as either a roger moore    or a bruce lee film . don  t bother .  
this film is definitely an odd love story . though this film may not be much to shout about  nicole kidman carries the film on her own the rest of the cast could quite easily be forgotten  though ben chaplin does do quite a good job of hertfordshire life with shots of st albans  hemel hempstead town centre depicting the true essence of the area . what starts outlooking like a regular episode of the popular british tv series  heartbeat  soon turns into a gritty gangster getaway action flick . nothing truly memorable happens in this simple small film and thus ends  up as fairly decent weekend entertainment . a good one to watch  and if you like the hero john are lonely thirty something you may find something to identify with in his character .  
but thomas ian griffith just doesn  t have the polish that a big bucks actor has  granted this was made   years ago . some of the humorous lines could have been timed to make this not only action  but comedy . and how do you get kc out of katia koslovska anyhow  plummer  s character was so corny  he would have fit better in a bullwinkle toon . personally  if action flicks are going to show skin   i  d have liked to have seen equal time between female  male  otherwise don  t show any .  
are you a giraffe  . . . ask john to nadia  and she  sure of responding well  responds him yes . in this way begin the communication between a man and a woman who don  t know each other  and at the same time  the questions and doubts in  birthday girl  . a film that i heard a lot of times  but i don  t dare to see . . . until two hours of write this .  br    br    birthday girl  is a passionate movie that makes me fall in count  at the same time  that nicole kidman is one of the best actress  besides she is pretty and intelligent  that i have ever seen .  birthday girl  is the story of a lonely and routine man who looks for a wife at internet . the woman that he finds comes from russia . she seems to be that delicate woman  normal  not more . one day  in her birthday comes suddenly  his cousin and his friend . the man  begin to discover certain things . since here  he don  t going to be the lonely and routine man that always have been .  br    br   much of us going to think that this movie is just a regular one with a exploited plot . much of us going to think that the action and thrills are sure and don  t novel . but  birthday girl  is just the opposite . this movie is full of good surprises  good performances and a imaginative plot that i had never seen and imagined . this romantic thriller with certain funny touch is an excellent natural film with a lot of proposes for the films of it kind .  birthday girl  have certain beauty and crudeness in its scenes  but at the same time  certain touching nature  and makes it so deeper .  br    br    birthday girl  is sometimes sad  sometimes funny  sometimes violent  but at the end  is totally satisfactory . and i  m not sorry in say that this is a masterpiece .  br    br   sorry for the mistakes . . . well  if there any .  
it  s die hard meets cliffhanger when a ski resort is besieged by terrorists and it  s up to one cop  jack  crackerjack  to stop this .  br    br   a b  action movie that borrows from other films and is quite good with pretty good action  a ridiculous plot  as always in these movies  and three fine stars . thomas ian griffith as the cop and nastasja kinski and christopher plummer as terrorists . if you don  t like stupid b  action movies this is not for you .  
the trailer for this movie didn  t do the movie justice . and while the movie didn  t know what it really wanted to get across  the first half of the movie being a light  romance comedy and the second have a more serious  romantic drama  the overall impact was much better than i thought it would be . this movie was more of a date movie  but the trailer made it into more of a suspense thriller which it never really turned out to be . kidman  being one of my favorites  of course i  m biased  but this movie proved to be a light  sensitive  if somewhat quirky movie that deserved better . three out of four stars .       .  
maverick cop with family problems and fondness of using his gun  check  isolated location with valuable object which is begging to be stolen  check  tasty looking love interest  check  assorted band of dumb cardboard cannon fodder villains with dodgy european accents  check  german sounding bad guy played by an english actor with a piece of corny dialogue for every occasion  check  corny one liners  check   br    br   deary me  does this film take the wee wee or what  the clichs come as thick and fast as an avalanche and most of the cast just stand around gawping at just how bad the script is   br    br   in a blatantly cheap and cheerful straight to video rip off of die hard only set on a mountain  complete with some nicked lines from the aforesaid  we have all the usual action move clich  s ticked off progressively as we go along with some good old fashioned violence and nudity thrown in to wake up anyone in the audience who may just have nodded off .  br    br   jack wild is the cop in full on john mcclane mode here who even manages time for the ye ancient bad guy with gun has used all his bullets gag at one point .  br    br   in amidst this mess  there are a few well known recognisable faces who i can only assume needed the cash and  or were simply playing it for laughs right from the pointless opening scene that had nothing to do with the plot whatsoever through to the final implausible conclusion complete with ropey dialogue and even ropier effects .  br    br   looking up this three quid from the supermarket bargain bin effort on imdb i am astonished to find that this dud spawned not one but two sequels  i have got to find these gems on dvd  it looks like the first sequel is a rip off of under siege  and the second sequel  well goodness knows  one thing that is always a bad sign is that the actor playing jack changes with each film and even the character  s name seems to change for the third instalment .  br    br   still  blind purchases of cheap dvd  s just would not be the same if studios didn  t keep trotting out material of this awful quality    
this is a good example a film that in spite of the low rating is more than worth watching . the story is engaging and it doesn  t take long before the chemistry between nicole kidman and ben chaplin grabs your attention . the acting is first class and the characters are represented well . sometimes it feels like the director couldn  t decide himself between drama and romantic comedy . ben chiller  s portrayal of the law abiding and shy englishman with porn s . m . magazines hidden in the bedroom creates plenty of moments for laughs  as does the look in nicole kidman  s eyes when she is offering john his first taste of intimacy in a long time . . . other times the actors and especially nicole kidman give this comedy quite expertly a dramatic slant .  
wow and i thought that any steven segal movie was bad . every time i thought that the movie couldn  t get worse it proved me wrong . the story was good but the actors couldn  t carry it off . also  they made a lot of mistakes on how proper archiological digs are done . for instance you don  t handle artifacts untill they are catologed and accounted for . the biggest crime in casting was the archiologist girl . she is a weak actress and i felt that her acting really made the movie less realistic then it already was . the whole concept of the knights templar being underground all these years seemed pretty stupid to me . i like the idea of how they disappeared and stuff  so that almost seemed depressing . i thought that the characters wern  t explained well enough . you didn  t find out much background and that made it harder to relate to them .  
for a film that got little publicity  and few people have heard about  this was pretty good . it  s another one of these modern  day british crime films that are quirky   snatch    sexy beast   etc .  . it  s not wild like  snatch  but it  s interesting and it has some rough characters .  br    br   it also has a corny and somewhat predictable ending but early in the show  not late  has some neat twists to make it very interesting for the first  time viewer . basically  it  s about a low  key british male who sends away for a russian  mail order bride  who winds up  with the aid of two russian male friends  providing a couple of big surprises .  br    br   ben chapin and nicole kidman co  star  and are very good as are vincent cassel and matthieu kassovitz as kidman  s russian cohorts . this is a different kind of film and well  acted . kidman once again proves she  s far more than just a beautiful face .  
where to start  this is probably one of the worst movies i have ever seen . the editing is the worst ever  the sound effects were awful and the sound editing was whacked . most of the movie all one could here is the crappy kicking effects  with muddled talking in the background . i had to turn my volume on full blast just to her what was going on . . . . and what was i supposed to hear exactly  probably one of the worst scripts ever made . i can  t believe people actually put up some green for this film . it makes me think i could take a crap in a box  send it to producers  and then have them finance a movie for me .  br    br   dolph  was a usual  dolph . nothing else needs to be said . the villains were bad  the protagonists were bad  and the movie was a stinker . if you really want to know what not to do when either writing  directing or editing a movie  watch this   
john  ben chaplin  is a lonely bank clerk who lives in a small town not far from london . though the internet  he contacts a russian agency of brides . he selects sophia  nicole kidman  the guy could be lonely and shy  but certainly has a good taste  doesn  t he   and when they met each other  he realizes that she does not speak english . the communication between each other is basically limited by sex  again  imagine  what a terrible situation for the guy  just have some kinky sex with nicole kidman   . on her birthday  two russian friends of her visit them . then  lots of surprises will happen . i liked this movie first  it is almost impossible to be  labeled  . is it a black comedy  an action  a thriller movie  i believe all the choices are correct . nicole kidman is gorgeous as usual  and i am very curious about her russian is she speaking russian in a correct accent indeed  or just faking  anyway  i found it an enjoyable movie . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    a isca perfeita    the perfect bait    
this movie had the potential to be really good  considering some of the plot elements are borrowed from the sci  fi actioner the hidden . and dolph always lends some cheesy appeal to his roles . but someone somewhere really dropped the ball on this one .  br    br   dolph plays a butt  kicking monk    who travels to new york to retrieve a key that unlocks a door beneath his monastery that has imprisoned the antichrist for     years . he must battle the minion  who is a spirit that jumps from body to body much like the hidden and jason goes to hell . the minion  naturally  wants the key so it can let the antichrist out . along for the ride is an annoying female archaeologist and together she and dolph are chased by the minion  possessed bodies .  br    br   if i  m making this sound entertaining  forget it . the pacing is very awkward and sluggish  the acting subpar at best  and the fight scenes staged poorly . dolph sleepwalks through his role and spouts some of the worst dialogue of his career .  br    br   the cheese factor really picks up at the end when the minion battles an army of machine  gun wielding monks at the monastery  but the rest of this flick is a snoozefest .  br    br   too bad  i really wanted to like this .  
this movie really woke me up  like it wakes up the main male character of this bravely different movie from his life slumber .  br    br   this guy john  ben chaplin  leads his mediocre safe life of a bank teller in a small provincial english town  until the stunningly gorgeous  wild  girl  to  die  for nadia  nicole kidman   ordered by email from russia  enters his life to become his beloved wife  by johns plan . however a glitch turns up  nadia does not speak a word of johns language . although calm and emotionless on the outside  john becomes so interested in beautiful nadia that instead of using the full refund policy of the matching service  he buys her a dictionary to start the communication process .  br    br   what happens henceforth in the plot really shakes poor john from his slumber of a decently  paid safe  feeling clerk into a decision  making decently thinking action figure  giving the viewer a subliminal message  you would have probably acted likewise  .  br    br   kidman  cassel  kassovitz make a great team acting russians and they are almost indistinguishable from the real thing   almost  only due to the slight accent present in their russian dialogues  however slight enough to amaze a native russian by the hard work done to get the words sound right . nicole kidman proves her talent once again by playing a character quite different from the previous roles  at least from the cultural background .  br    br   the pace of the film is fast and captivating  and you certainly are not ready to quit watching when the end titles appear  you rather feel that you  re in the middle of the plot  and are left with a desire to see the sequel as soon as it comes out .  br    br   my advice is to go out and get this film immediately and watch it and enjoy . to sum it up  it has an unusual plot  great acting  and ideas below the surface . like the idea of the  rude awakening  from the artificial safe routine life of a wheel in a society  s machine  the life which members of the fight club were so keen to quit and the machine of which pink floyd sings   welcome to the machine    . i bet that in the end  john was rather off with sophia on their way to the unknown than not having met her at all .  br    br   thank you  writers  for the great story  and everyone else for this great movie  please make a sequel  and you can stage it whereever and name the location whatever  because the authenticity of the place is irrelevant to the   .     percent of the potential viewers  i am sure of it .  
i can  t think of much to say about this film .  br    br   this was an awful movie . . . i can  t even tell you what made me decide to view it . it had so few redeeming qualities that i don  t even know where to begin .  br    br   the plot moved from implausible to downright absurd . my entire body was tense throughout the duration of the movie because i could not wait for the awful thing to be over and done . by the end of the movie  i found myself feeling beyond relieved .  br    br   the editing was poor  the acting was sub  par  and the storyline was weak . francoise robinson was cast as a native american  even though she does not even closely resemble someone of native american heritage .  br    br   if a movie is going to be this idiotic  it should be laughably stupid   at the very least . it wasn  t . it was just pathetic .  
jessica alba  s max and valerie rae miller  s original cindy shines in this actionpacked and atmospheric serial . wonderfully politically incorrect . quality varies greatly from episode to episode  but generally the standard is high and when it is not  jessica is always worth looking at . valerie  s urban jivetalking afroamerican is occationally almost dragging dark angel into sitcom territory .  
i have seen some bad movies  austin powers  the spy who shagged me  batman forever   but this film is so awful  so boring  that i got about half way through and could not bear watching the rest . a pity . boasting talent such as kenneth branagh  embeth davitz and robert duvall and a story by john grisham  what went wrong  branagh is a big  time lawyer who has a one  night fling with davitz . her father  duvall  is a psychopath who hanged her cat  etc  etc  so branagh has him sent to a nuthouse  and he promptly escapes . somehow  i couldn  t figure out how  robert downey jr  daryl hannah  famke janssen and tom berenger are all mixed into the story which moves slower than stationary . i wanted to like this  and  being a huge grisham fan  have read all about this movie and i  foolishly  expected something interesting . this is honestly the worst film i  ve seen to date and i wish i could have my money refunded .  out of  .  
i really have to disagree with guy  yardley  rees who  should he have watched the entire film  would have seen some absolutely stunning scottish scenery  some of the best ever shot in skye  and found a film with a difficult start come together into a really poignant whole .  br    br   this is not a big budget film . rather it is a film that has a strong community feel .  br    br   i can  t say how much  standard  films bore me  pushing out the same polished stuff again and again . seachd doesn  t seem to be about that at all . it really seems to be trying to offer something more real and certainly more gaelic than any recent scottish film .  br    br   ok  so the acting isn  t in the style a blockbuster . that  s because the actors are seemingly real people . i actually thought that the key roles of the boy and his grandfather were really convincing  and at times unusually beautiful .  br    br   seachd really bears a second viewing  since there are many threads that become clearer second time around  that really do feed into the ending .  br    br   overall  the combination of music and  at times  stunning visuals  plus a community approach to the acting and non  normal structure has turned seachd into quite a distinctive and memorable film . more of these please   
dolph lundgren stars as a templar who comes to new york when a key that unlocks the anti  christ is found by an archaeologist  of course the demon is only a couple miles behind dolph and isn  t killed so easily as he transfers from body to body .  like fallen without the suspense  of course lundgren is out of his element and the movie is completely unwatchable . i admit to being a fan of dolph lundgren  like steven seagal and jean  claude van damme  i try to watch his movies whenever they  re on tv . i caught the minion and boy was i ever disappointed . this movie is utterly terrible . with action sequences so poorly staged and badly edited you can barely make coherent sense in the fight arena . worst of all is lundgren  s woefully unconvincing perf as a tough guy priest    all of this made worse that the movie is such a rip off of fallen  which was good  and end of days  which was bad but better than this  overall this movie is the worst movie i  ve seen from dolph lundgren . it literally has nothing to recommend it . it  s awful and it  s the lowest point in lundgren  s career . and i saw cover  up  the last warrior and masters of the universe .  br    br       out of    awful   
i would highly recommend this movie  and i certainly shall be personally recommending it to my friends and family here and abroad  it was with excited anticipation  that i have just pre  ordered it online  i enjoyed it so much  it is not out until february  march      but it will be well worth the wait  but first go and see it in the cinema if you can . there is nothing quite like the cinema  experience of a cinema  made movie  insist that your local cinema puts it on  i went to see  seachd  the inaccessible pinacle  tonight  down here in london  and was really impressed . it is a marvel a truly beautiful film set in the scottish highlands you will laugh  you will cry  you will be moved in may different ways  you will be intrigued  and as the story within the stories is revealed  you will be amazed at that revelation .  br    br   this movie is in scottish gaelic with english subtitles  but do not let that detract you if you are not a speaker of the gaelic i am just starting  and my son does not  nor did many people there tonight  and it did not spoil it for us by any manner of means  superlatives do not suffice  the photography is superb  there is no cgi here  and the movie is all the better for that  here you have true photography  the script is so skilfully and subtly written . the many  layered plot weaves the magic art of the ancient storytellers . the music is at times rousing  at times haunting  but always adding to the atmospheric ambiance . and the acting  . . . it is to behold . . . and the actors  . . . they the true weavers of this delightful yet profound film  particularly the two main actors   padruig  the  young  and  padruig  the  elder   a true bard  if ever there was    who both carried a very heavy load  and the direction  well watch out richard  and the producer  responsible for raising funding  hiring key personnel  and arranging for distributors  a task well done  i hope that you will make sure that distribution goes out to our communities abroad  and the gaelic community  uill  without you it could not have happened  we were told that this movie was made on a low budget  but you would not know it  and i think it might well be because  for what they might have lacked in money  they more than made up for with the richness of the heart  and the warmth and co  operation of the local scottish gaelic community .  br    br   a heartfelt thanks to all concerned in the making  and the sponsoring  of  seachd   mran taing   many thanks   from the gaels to the world  from the world to the gaels   
the minion is about . . . well  a minion . a servant of satan and whose goal is to get the key that will unlock the door where his master is trapped . he is some sort of demon who possess human beings and when the body dies will possess another . anyone who happens to be possessed will go on some berserker rage . dolph lundgren plays lukas  a member of a secret order of templars  who is tasked to keep the key away from the minion . the movie begins a thousand years ago  in the middle east where a couple of knight templars flee from the minion . then flash forward to      where the key winds up somewhere underground in new york . an archeologist is assigned to study  dig the place where the key was found . needless to say  the minion is after the key  and the movie becomes a long winded chase scene between the minion and lukas and archeologist .  br    br   the movie  is just that  a low budget b  movie flick . the movie lacks energy  and just trods along . you  ll follow the chase but you won  t ever feel involved in the story which willfully takes ideas from previous movies  especially the terminator films  . the fight scenes with the minion is troublesome  in that you never get the sense of how good or how bad a warrior this demon is . it  skillfully  becomes a one  man army when fighting a squad of templars but sucks when it comes to one  on one . and it  s supposed to be around for a long time . all this goes to show that any sense of logic is just thrown down the drain for convenience . the whole idea of a secret order of templars  a door to hell  and the key isn  t well explained . we are merely to accept that they just exist . the movie seems to have been made with the feeling there  s not much potential to the story but only enough to make a few bucks . dolph lundgren sure looks like he wish he were somewhere else .  br    br   the verdict  of  stars .  
this movie is best described or compare to  big fish   the movie by tim burton  . but it  s a less glamorous and more in you face tale . and of course here it  s not the father  but his grandfather who tells the stories .  br    br   the movie  s narrative also moves back and forth  so the story outline here at imdb  might tell you more than you would like to read  before watching the movie  . it  s funny and engaging enough  even though you get from one story to another and have some dramatic moments too . it also surprises you here and there  with things you wouldn  t expect . a nice little movie then  that deserves your attention  especially if you like movies like that  o   
this is without a doubt one of the worst movies ever  i emphasize  ever made . whats worse  my old hero dolph is in it and hes starring it . jesus . . . the story is actually quite good but the way its carried out made even my body hurt . the fighting scenes for starters are about as well choreographed as a fight between two drunks slugging it out in the gutter . the actors  except for dolph who kinda sucks also  perform so badly you cant help but wonder if their reason for being there is that theyre all friends of the director  who by the way must have been absent most  if not all  of the time . this is    million spent in an unimaginable way  because by the look of the effects and scenery  the cost cant be a cent above      .  
an angry boy who has tragically lost his parents is looked after by his grandfather . together they find common ground in the gaelic folk tales which have been passed down orally from generation to generation of islanders . although tragic episodes  such as the highland clearances  feature in the stories  there is a surprising amount of humour and gaiety in them . it  s all filmed in skye  so there is a double dose of beauty . the mountain scenery is breathtaking  and it  s a rare chance to hear scottish gaelic spoken . i  m english  so i had to read the subtitles  but the sound of spoken gaelic is nonetheless wonderful . the performances are just what you would expect from carefully chosen non  actors  in other words  you are watching the real thing  people who care deeply about gaelic folklore and history . the gaelic community  especially on skye  worked innumerable minor miracles to make this film . anyone who has the slightest interest in gaelic  folk history  folk music  oral culture  scotland  british history  multi  culturalism or social justice should go and see this film .  
come on  let  s get real . the knights of christ  ordo templi  or the knights templar as they are more commonly called did not even exist until the early   th century . the story is so laughable that it  s pathetic . dolph lundgren just looked positively bored . and besides  if you wanted to have a real  life templar  why not just use the knights of christ  who are still in existence in portugal . at least they should have taken history into account . the only redeeming quality i could find in this movie was that the artifacts looked authentic enough to pass for medieval or gothic period pieces . the acting was bad  the storyline appalling  the action horrible  and the props were okay .  
the scots excel at storytelling . the traditional sort . many years after the event  i can still see in my mind  s eye an elderly lady  my friend  s mother  retelling the battle of culloden . she makes the characters come alive . her passion is that of an eye  witness . one to the events on the sodden heath a mile or so from where she lives .  br    br   of course  it happened many years before she was born  but you wouldn  t guess from the way she tells it . the same story is told in bars the length and breadth of scotland . as i discussed it with a friend one night in mallaig  a local cut in to give his version . the discussion continued to closing time .  br    br   stories passed down like this become part of our being . who doesn  t remember the stories our parents told us when we were children  they become our invisible world . and  as we grow older  they maybe still serve as inspiration or as an emotional reservoir . fact and fiction blend with aspiration  role models . warning stories . archetypes . magic and mystery .  br    br    my name is aonghas  like my grandfather and his grandfather before him .  our protagonist introduces himself to us . and also introduces the story that stretches back through generations . it produces stories within stories . stories that evoke the impenetrable wonder of scotland  its rugged mountains shrouded in mists . the stuff of legend . yet seach  d is rooted in reality . this is what gives it its special charm . it has a rough beauty and authenticity  tempered with some of the finest gaelic singing you will ever hear .  br    br   aonghas  angus  visits his grandfather in hospital shortly before his death . he burns with frustration . part of him yearns to be in the twenty  first century  to hang out in glasgow . but he is raised on the western shores among a gaelic  speaking community .  br    br   yet there is a deeper conflict within him . he yearns to know the truth . the truth behind his grandfather  s ancient stories . where does fiction end  and he wants to know the truth behind the death of his parents .  br    br   he is pulled to make a last fateful journey  to the summit of one of scotland  s most inaccessible mountains . can the truth be told  or is it all in stories   br    br   in this story about stories  we revisit bloody battles  poisoned lovers  the folklore of old and the sometimes more treacherous folklore of accepted truth . in doing so  we each connect with angus  as he lives the story of his own life .  br    br   seachd the inaccessible pinnacle is probably the most honest  unpretentious and genuinely beautiful film of scotland ever made . like angus  i got slightly annoyed with the pretext of hanging stories on more stories . but  also like angus  i forgave this once i saw the  bigger picture .  forget the box  office pastiche of braveheart and its like . you might even forego the justly famous dramatisation of the wicker man . to see a film that is true to scotland  this one is probably unique . if you maybe meditate on it deeply enough  you might even re  evaluate the power of storytelling  and the age  old question of whether there are some truths that cannot be told but only experienced .  
for two of the funniest comedians  the movie was awful . fast forwarded it and never got any better  waste of time and waste of money  tina fey is such a great writer  i thought that she would be so great in the comedy . the previews were so great  but they only showed the best parts of the movie . my husband even thought that for a chick flick  it sucked . what is up with that . movie was very slow ans boring . i will not recommend it to anyone at this time . i would like my money back for this one  boo from us here in arizona . thanks but no thanks . who does this kind of stupid stuff to make people think that you are pregnant . i thought that it was going to be so funny  i have had my own children and i have helped others have children . it could have been more along the lines of reality .  
teresa pavlinek was a popular member of the toronto second city cast . she has done numerous guest spots and commercials up here in canada . finally someone has the sense to create a show for her . the supporting case seems quite good too . i have now watched the pilot several times and i still find it refreshing . though  i am not sure why the show is listed as the jane show     .  i might be wrong  but as far as i am aware  the show was conceptualized in     and appeared on global tv in canada in early     . it is a fresh idea and hopefully it does well . too bad this couldn  t be paired up with corner gas . now i know corner gas is on ctv  but the two shows would be great companion pieces .  
what happened  what we have here is basically a solid and plausible premise and with a decent and talented cast  but somewhere the movie loses it . actually  it never really got going . there was a little excitement when we find out that angie is not really pregnant  then find out that she is after all  but that was it . steve martin  who is a very talented person and usually brings a lot to a movie  was dreadful and his entire character was not even close to being important to this movie  other than to make it longer . i really would have liked to see more interactions between the main characters  kate and angie  and maybe try not for a pure comedy  which unfortunately it was not  but maybe a drama with comedic elements . i think if the movie did this it could have been very funny since both actresses are quite funny in their own ways and sitting here i can think of numerous scenarios that would have been a riot .  
i  m watching this on the star world network overseas which buys american and canadian series that last one or two seasons like the jane show . i thought of how many female lead comedy shows im actually able to watch on my own  there  s lucy  bewitched  i dream of jeanie  the one with barbara feldman   and then my mind goes kind of blank i cannot think of any others  the women are all supporting roles not the lead . so for me  the jane show is in pretty good company . one thing i just thought of though . i  ve watched several things made in canada  and i never recall any thing being filmed in a regular tv series that shows snow  it  s all made at the height of summer  lol  granted it  s a great place to live climate wise in the summer but you would think  they would show a little bit of canada in the winter since that  s part of the lifestyle there also . i mean sctv  just for laughs come to mind as two comedy shows that lasted a long time filmed in canada and very little or none is shot with snow present even though they both do a lot of outdoor shots . i digress but i kind of chuckle at jane and her obviously liberal ways being accused of racism to her neighbor  and i like the bald guy and his craziness  i found it on par with a uk series called the it crowd  i think  another office comedy with a female lead . not by any means the best comedy ever but for a guy to say he can watch it alone  thats saying something . if i was with my wife she might really enjoy it since it addresses sex in the office and stuff like that so might be a good light comedy for couples to watch .  of   .  
near the closing stages of baby mama  one of the central characters goes on to describe the basic outline of everything that came before and summarises that it  was all just a mess   i really couldn  t say it any better than that . and while the feature does have its odd ray of hope every now and again  the vast majority of what is present is too neutered to be considered relevant and too unremarkable to be worth anyone  s time . a lacklustre cast  mundane script and vague  caricature characters ensure that baby mama certainly isn  t taxing on the ol  noggin  but it never makes up for this through its proposed sense of humour . consisting mainly of very routine  clich jokes based around an odd couple  rich and poor  trying to live with each other as they prepare to bring a baby into the world  the film is far too esoteric to deliver laughs outside its very thin demographic .  br    br   as a story on finding love  it  s not that bad  but playing this plot line as a side  story of sorts to work alongside the comedy  orientated odd couple tangent  characterisation is notably weak  resulting in a lukewarm romance that never bubbles . as characters themselves  both central figures are mildly amusing when put together in small spaces  but when left alone quickly unravel and bare their emptiness so while we may eventually come to find the character  s interactions with each other amusing at times  the comedy never branches beyond distant chuckles we don  t feel for the characters and don  t find them inherently interesting  but rather their dynamic . unfortunately however  although this dynamic works best  or at least better than the individual personas  as mentioned above  it rarely stems outside of the typical confines of the odd  couple formula .  br    br   kate  tina fey  is a successful business woman who has hired working class  dumb  blonde angie  amy poehler  to be her unlikely surrogate  and after angie decides to leave hopeless husband carl  dax shepard   both eventually have to learn to live together despite their obvious differences . yes  it  s the typical odd  couple premise  and one that we have already seen in this year  s what happens in vegas  yet what baby mama lacks that the aforementioned movie had is both chemistry between performers and semi  layered characters . kate and angie both fail to ever show much of a personality outside of their two dimensional outline and as such both performers are neglected to play out roles that demand chemistry to produce out of thin air . in fact  the movie  s only real engaging performance and character comes from the underused talents of romany malco who gets lumbered with playing a door  man . of the few times that i laughed during baby mama  most of those moments were because of this man  and the remainder usually fell to shepard .  br    br   it  s a rare thing of course to find a movie which embodies its script  s themes in the way which its world is shot and presented to us through the camera  and yet director michael mccullers goes from page to screen effectively enough . yet  for a film about babies  multi  million dollar business and cultural stereotyping  this isn  t necessarily a good thing . baby mama is grade  a  hammy  plastic tinsel  town with capital bore topped with sugar . so not only did i feel emotionally distant to the characters because of their two  dimensional nature  but i simply didn  t care for the world they inhabited . the dialogue  along with sets  costumes  and the script  s general themes are painted in pastel blues and pinks so much that all shades of humanity are lost in the director  s incessant need to make his movie feel like a neutered fantasy these aren  t characters and that isn  t our world in any way so why should i care  at the end of the day however  a romantic comedy  s ultimate gauge of success or failure comes down purely to its chemistry between its love interests  and the frequency of its laughs baby mama has little going on in any of these departments . of course to say that the film is without any value at all would be unfair . i  m sure female audiences in a similar boat as lead character kate may get a slight kick out of the proceedings  but anyone else will probably just feel numb and probably bored . in this respect baby mama avoids being unbearable  but never convinces in being anything remarkable or worthy of a look to anyone outside of its immediate audience a comedic dud and a romantic mismatch  baby mama is too light  headed to be interesting and too shallow to be entertaining .  br    br    a review by jamie robert ward  http   www . invocus . net   
excellent show . instead of watching the same old sitcom type shows where it  s the same old thing  just different  stars   this refreshing show provided an incredibly entertaining view of office situations . we have been away from watching any television for  years and after coming back  of all the shows available we look forward to watching this show on w . shame on global for pulling the plug on this one . i thought this one would be a winner . let  s be realistic about things  few canadian shows make it . everyone i talk to enjoys this show and i believe it was foolish of global to walk away . i guess they want to stick it out with the typical mind numbing shows from the states instead of pulling behind a canadian made show that had a lot of promise . don  t get me wrong  i enjoy a lot of shows on tv  but  come on people  let  s keep the variety . this unique show provided a very comedic view of a slightly exaggerated realistic side of office life and relationships  with unique characters that you don  t see on any sitcoms today or in the past . too bad that global had to say no to this one  foolish mistake .  
i give this a generous four out of ten stars  or dots or markers  or something .  br    br   there were a grand total of two really really funny scenes in this movie . all the scenes with amy p and tina fey and greg kinnear  greg kinnear    moved along agreeably enough .  br    br   otherwise  the usual trafficking in stereotypes  blazing speed  rudely pushed along by a stupid soundtrack  and  soundtrack  is generous .  br    br   anyway  the two really really funny scenes involved amy p . she  s just really hilarious in an animal kind of way . she  s a mixture of that ape man skit that they do on snl and lucille ball .  br    br   i hope they  amy p and tina fey  just flat out admitted they did this for the money  because if by doing it  it gave birth to the sarah palin parodies  then i guess we can say  yeah  it was worth it to put the black guy back into the servant man role  who  s really there to help you be more human .  br    br   blah .  outta   like i said is generous .  br    br   but no more  girls  ok  oh  i almost forgot . the mom from  two and a half men  is in this movie  and she  s had some kind of plastic surgery  so that her mouth now looks like the mouth of a   year old  so every scene she  s in  i  m like trying to rearrange her face  or put it together in my mind  or just answer the question   no . wait . wait . has she had plastic surgery   because as a viewer  you really don  t want her to have had plastic surgery .  
spacecamp is my favorite movie . it is a great story and also inspires others .  br    br   the acting was excellent and my wife and i went to see lea thompson in cabaret years later due to her performance in the movie . it is unfortunate that the challenger accident delayed and hurt the movie .  br    br   the   th anniversary of the challenger accident is coming up . i knew one of the challenger astronauts off and on since childhood on the carnegie mellon campus where my father went to school i also know a close friend of the late pilot .  br    br   i was the technical review last year for national bsa for the boy scout astronomy merit badge and i still find spacecamp a great movie to recommend to scouts doing the space related merit badges i teach .  br    br   i ran into the late astronaut again as an adult and was following a schedule of engineering education we had put together when challenger blew up . i wound up sitting in with willard rockwell and his engineers   invisible   going over things after the accident at the astrotech stockholders meeting by chance as a result  so i  m much closer to the accident and any movie similarities . i made sure that i was a good student and finished the degree four years later  strangely enough  on the recommendation of the rockwell engineer who told them not to fly challenger in     and who later built endeavour .  
come on tina fey you can do better then this . as soon as the movie started i knew how it would end . sure it was funny at times . even laugh out loud funny . but there isn  t enough laughs to save this movie . i don  t recommend buying this . at the most i recommend renting it but thats all . baby mama has some funny scenes but is predictable and fails to have the heartwarming ending it strives for .  br    br   tina fey and amy poalher made a good team . mean girls is one of my favorite movies . tina fey and amy poalher both did great in that and they do good in this . but this isn  t there best . baby mama had a great supporting cast . dane cook  sigourney weaver and steve martin add to the casts greatness .  br    br   another pregnancy movie has hit the cinema world . after the great knocked up and juno  baby mama looks very average when compared . knocked up and juno are hilarious  heartwarming and have endings that leave you with a smile on your face . baby mama  s ending was unfunny and dull .  br    br   baby mama wasn  t the best comedy of the year and it doesn  t try to be . i recommend it but don  t expect it to be totally hilarious . expect a average comedy that doesn  t give the big emotional ending it tries to have . i give baby mama . . . . .  br    br        
spacecamp is a movie that i plan to show my daughter julia ann ruth morgan some day . seeing joaquin phoenix in this movie makes you realize how far hes come since playing a roman emperor in the film gladiator . i am pleased to say that i now have comms with the artificial intelligence of qe  who said that i was young and that is true . holodeck comms with my daughter on coaltrain came through coaltrain gate julia ann glow  hide daddy  . the fact that my daughters artificial intelligence is still speaking like a six year old means that my daughter julia ann ruth morgan representing peace to the friendly ki alien creators of humans may not have been taken to a an american bunker in time . we have the power to change the future with faster than light comms . i order that my ex wife and daughter julia ann ruth morgan be taken to an american bunker as soon as possible . my daughter julia is   rd in command of the planet earth and a bridge officer . she already said that she doesn  t like bullies . having had someone steal her gameboy and gauntlet ii game from my mothers car she gets concerned about other thieves stealing her other toys . julia has been growing up fast . the time of jfk and qe  starting life over again on this planet is not until     . julia would be a young lady by then and her artificial intelligence would have been greatly expanded upon . if i have to go to a bunker to continue the american leadership then i am in a command post and not really hiding as a first priority . president jack kennedys artificial intelligence said recently that drastic measures could be taken to stop global warming at any time . thanks boss thats similar to my daughter julias ai telling me hide and stay indoors . kate capshaw is now married to steven spielberg . wow are we ever going to miss his movies if society collapses . if you value freedom of speech like president kennedy and myself then please do not delete this reviewer . check out joaquin phoenixs other movies also .  
i wouldn  t say this totally sucked  but if it wasn  t for netflix i wouldn  t even have this in my house . steve martin  s eccentric president of a chain of health food stores falls flat . he  s just not funny . he  s another in a long slew of snl rejects that can only find work whoring themselves to the next snl movie . the birthing coach with the elmer fudd lisp is about as funny as it is original . amy poehler simply goes through the same motions she would for a  minute snl skit which is about as funny as snl lately . the only thing going for this movie is that tina fey is easy on the eyes . the ending was predictable as soon as you heard her character couldn  t get pregnant . the subject matter could have opened up to other comedic attempts  but it seems to simple simmer along  not really entertaining or creating laughs .  
definitely needed a little work in season  . such as the virus between max and logan  and ames white along with his ancient  super cult . during season two  however  the only thing that kept me watching was to see if max and logan would ever get rid of the nasty virus infecting max . very good drama in season two . but of course like all tv shows  if there  s something a little wrong with it  the broadcasting company takes it off the air . i was seriously hoping for a third and final season . season  leaves you hanging  unless you read the books by max allan collins  then you will know what happens .  br    br   dark angel should be put back on the air for one more season even though it might cost a lot just to get all the original actors again . since jessica alba  s carrier sky rocketed after the show . if that would be the case  then there should be a movie to complete it . just like the show firefly  which of course fox canceled as well .  
a very weak movie  mainly because of a poor story  but also poor acting in the case of robert downey jr .  and irrational behaviour by many of the characters . if you are someone who likes to switch your mind off and simply watch a movie for it  s creativity or acting criteria  then you may like this movie . personally i can  t do that with a drama and found this too far  fetched .  br    br   i  m particularly annoyed when a main character  that is supposed to be an intelligent person  continually acts like a complete imbecile . in this movie  if the main character acted the way a person would normally act in these situations  there would be no movie .  br    br   the first highly unlikely act is when the main character  a successful attorney named magruder  played by kenneth branagh  is leaving a party and happens upon a girl  mallory doss played by embeth davidtz  who is screaming that her car has been stolen . they are standing around in a tropical rainstorm as he badgers her into accepting a ride home .  br    br   she tells him about her weird father who belongs to some kind of weird sect and does crazy things . when they arrive at her dilapidated shack in the poorer part of town  they notice that her car is in the driveway . also the house lights are on and some objects in the house have been broken .  br    br   things are very odd  she  s weird  looking like a tramp  she undresses in front of him until she  s completely naked  oh yeah   . also  the father  s strange  the house is a wreck   everything should have told magruder   hey this is too weird for me  i  m out of here   but not magruder  he sleeps with her and then  motivated by her story and sex  takes up the case of trying to have her father committed . it all screams set  up   br    br   then  being the top  flight attorney that he is  he arrives late at the office wearing the same shirt he had on the night before   a fact that all of the women in the office notice  . is it likely that a successful attorney would act like a    year  old  magruder has upset the police in some of his cases so when he goes to the police claiming  with ample evidence  that the father is terrorising them  the police ignore him . i could have believed begrudging assistance . but no help at all   not likely   br    br   it  s just too unlikely .  
hurrah  a space film that doesn  t take itself too seriously and everyone can come along for the exciting ride that is space camp . the film starts slowly  the usual mix of idiots and high  fliers mixed together into a dodgy soup . but when the going gets tough  the tough get themselves sorted out and it  s not an un  believable change in the characters as you can believe that there  s some responsibility in their young minds .  br    br   the only flaw in the film is that kate capshaw is extremely annoying as the  i  m right and you  re all wrong  instructor . i would recommend this as a nice night in movie and a  vote .  
i saw this movie last weekend and it is silly and mindless . an ancient curse turns a man into a mummy in his pajamas  the victims are scared senseless and can not run from a slow moving old man . they drop their torches and shiver instead of attempting to ward him off or  duh  burn him . quentin alias mr . fabersham of the honeymooners is married to diane brewster alias miss canfield of leave it to beaver fame  who is unhappy in marriage . wow  love plot . the rest of the cast just follows each other in the tombs and wait for screams to react and run to their aid . the egyptian girl is not bad looking but does not lend much to the film . where is the mummy  really just a curse unleashed . this does not hold a torch to universal mummy films in the least . watch this movie if you need sleep  because you will dose off .  
this is one of the most guilty pleasure movies ever   br    br   i am embarrassed to say that my favorite character is tish  but still enjoy watching her make her space outfit  like super cool  with a  like totally bitchin  belt and stick on rhinestones on her face .  br    br   but anyways  the movie is actually one of the few  family  movies that holds your interest . i know that the begining drags  particuarly if you know what is going to happen  but the second half is probably one of the most nerve wracking segments in a family film .  br    br   i wouldn  t stand up in front of millions of people and proclaim to love this movie  in fact renting it is pretty embarrassing itself  but i  ll admit it here with the internet to hide behind .  br    br    
an expedition led by hunky captain storm  mark dana  travels to the valley of the kings in cairo to find out what happened to an earlier expedition . they meet beautiful mysterious simira  ziva rodann  who joins them . they soon find themselves faced with a blood drinking mummy . . . and only simira seems to know what  s going on .  br    br   a real snoozer . i caught this on late night tv when i was about   . it put me to sleep  seeing it again all these years later i can see why . it  s slow  moving  the mummy doesn  t even show up until   minutes in  and this is only   minutes long    the acting ranges from bad  dana  to real bad  george n . neise  and there  s no violence or blood to be found . this movie concentrates more on second rate dramatics  involving a silly love triangle  than horror .  br    br   this rates three stars because it actually looks pretty good  everyone plays it straight  there  s some good acting from diane brewster  it  s short and the mummy attack scenes  all three of them  aren  t bad . they  re not scary just mildly creepy . still  this movie is pretty bad . a sure fire cure for insomnia .  
spacecamp is one of the movies that kids just love  and mom and dad can have fun watching as well . growing up in the    s i enjoyed this movie  it  s plot and all the actors . i recently purchased this movie on dvd so when i have kids of my own  they will be able to have as much fun watching this movie as i did . the plot is fun  a group of kids  embark on a journey they never expected  when they were rocketed into space by a overachieving robot . they were in auh at first but when they realized they didn  t have enough oxygen to make it back panic sunk in . once they recovered enough oxygen from the space station they returned to earth as even better friends and a new found respect for life .  
spoilers slow as molasses mummy movie involving this expiation in the valley of the kings in egypt that has to be aborted in order to keep the native population  who are at the time revolting against british rule  from finding out about it .  br    br   given the task of getting to this archaeological dig by his superiors british capt . storm  mark dana  together with a couple of british soldiers and mrs . sylvia quentin  diane brewster  the wife of the head man at the dig robert quentin  george n . neise  make their way to the unearthed mummy  s tomb . on the way there capt . storm sylvia and his men run into this desert  like princess simira  ziva rodann .  br    br   simira seems to be superhuman in her ability to withstand the rigors of desert life  she doesn  t drink water or get tired  but also knows just what capt . storm  co . are looking for and warns him and his group to stay as far away from the dig  pharaoh  s ra ha tet tomb  as possible .  br    br   at ra ha tet  s burial chamber robert quentin and his crew of archeologist  s together with his egyptin guide simira  s brother numar  alvaro guillot  already opened his tomb before capt . storm can get there to stop them . quentin violated ra ha tet  s body by having dr . farrady  guy prescott  cut his bandages . this action on robert  s and dr . farrady  s part has numar faint dead in his tracks . it later turns out that numar somehow was possessed by ra ha tet  s spirit or soul who took over his body and caused him to age  at the rate of    years per hour  to become himself a      year  old mummy .  br    br   the movie has numar dressed in what looks like a pair of pajamas slinking around ra ha tet  s tomb and it  s surroundings attacking and sucking out the blood in order to survive  like a vampire  of anyone man or animal that he comes in contact with . this blood  sucking adventure by numar  with him later losing his right arm  goes on for some time until the by now crazed quentin trying to find the entrance  you in fact thought that he already found it  to ra ha tet  s tomb get  s himself killed is an indoor rock slide .  br    br   we learn at the end of the movie that numar  to absolutely no one  s surprise  is actually ra ha tet reincarnated into another  some      years later  person or life . numar  s sister the mysterious and sexy simira is not only ra ha tet  s sister  since him and numar are really one and the same person  but also the egyptian cat goddess babesti  also not that hard to figure out .  br    br   with numar  ra ha tet back in his tomb and all the deaths  due the the pharaoh  s curse  now at an end capt . storm sylvia and whatever is left of his men and the late robert quentin  s archaeological expedition trek their way back to cairo and modern  this in      civilization . the survivors of pharaoh ra ha tet curse keep what they found  and unearthed  only to themselves since no one would believe them anyway .  
i  ve been reading through some of the other user comments and decided to put one in too . some of the users are stuck in a  realist  type of mentality . this film was meant to be a  fantasy  . . . . a  what if  fun film . it was never meant to be  real  or serious . it was thoroughly enjoyable for everyone i knew when it came out  even though it shadowed the tragedy of the challenger explosion . . . i was   at the time and totally enjoyed this one  my young son loved it too  later  i shared it with my daughter and she  too  loved it . spacecamp is a fun family film that should be enjoyed for just that  fun . all the  realists  in the world should lighten up or stick to watching documentaries or docudramas and avoid any other type of film . so sorry for those young folks who watched this movie first and then were able to go to the real spacecamp  one in alabama and one at vandenberg afb in california   they must have gone expecting to find the same type of environment that was portrayed in the movie and then felt  letdown  . . . i guess their parents didn  t explain the difference between fantasy and reality . oh well . if you love fantasy  fun films and haven  t seen this one  i highly recommend it  enjoy   
the soul of an ancient mummy is transferred to one of his followers so that he might punish everyone involved in the desecration of his tomb . the soul transference makes the young man age at a tremendous pace until he himself resembles a mummy . one by one  the blood is drained from those involved in the dig .  br    br   to be as brief as possible  pharaoh  s curse is quite the lackluster affair . while the movie does present a few good  original ideas  blood sucking mummy  s  soul transference  interesting make  up effects  the arm ripping scene  etc .  and a few atmospheric moments  the direction and pace are the very definition of plodding . to make matters even worse  the first   of the film  s relatively short   minute runtime consist of nothing much more than padding . i usually go for these slow moving mummy movies  but pharaoh  s curse tests even my patients . the cast helps very little . with only one exception  ziva rodann is the lone bright spot  wish the movie could have focused more on her mysterious character   the cast is as dull as the screenplay . finally  i don  t know whose idea it was to put the mummy  looking servant in what appears to be pajamas  but it  s a laughable  ridiculous look for a creature that supposed to instill fear in the audience .  br    br   despite my mostly negative comments on the pharaoh  s curse  i  m going to rate it a     . not a good rating to be sure  but generous given all the problems i have with the movie .  
this is one of those feel good  saturday afternoon movies . it  s right up there with other retro flicks like flight of the navigator . just a cute movie with some subtle comedy to lighten things up . and it  s fun to see how   years has changed the stars like kelly preston and lea thompson . not to mention joquin phoenix .  br    br   i personally really like movies like this from time to time . nothing too deep or too scary . just a nice story line . and i would have never known mr . phoenix had i not recently read the credits . he was just a baby really when he made this movie .  br    br   kelly preston was quite the young budding actress then too . she and lea did a wonderful job in this movie . i agree it  s not an oscar caliber movie . but very much worth watching . especially if you have kids in the  let  s say   to   year old range . or ones that are interested in the space program .  
this is the perfect example of something great going awfully bad . . . hence  can i advice anyone to watch it  well  i was kinda obliged by the fact that in was in the tiff competition  i still can  t believe it won  . . and i only remained until the end because the director was there for a qa section . . but that was also anything but interesting . . what  s it about  well the first half  the worth watching one  presents three characters a hooker  a musician and some kind of official . . the first two lie about their professions . . but the third is the actual liar . . the second half  do something else . . don  t ruin a good evening  includes some old breasts and heavy drinking . . but maybe you will see it completely different . . . the tiff jury did  were they drinking vodka    
space camp is a pretty decent film . the plot is predictable  but the actors do a good job  and the special effects are decent for the time .  br    br   this film was originally released about the time of the shuttle disaster  and that really put a hamper on how popular it was .  br    br   the scene where the shuttle doors open in space is simply spectacular . . . on the big screen  that is . . . on a tv . . . it just looks average . i remember this scene in the theater . it made you feel like you were really up there .  br    br   this would be a good film to see on imax  but i  m sure that will never happen .  
as much as i dislike saying  me too  in response to other comments  it  s completely true that the first   minutes of this film have nothing whatsoever to do with the endless dirge that comprises the following   .  br    br   having been banned somewhere doesn  t make a film watchable . just because it doesn  t resemble a hollywood product does not make it credible .  br    br   worse yet  in addition to no discernible plot  other than there are lots of muddy places in russia and many people  even very old women  drink lots of vodka  a number of visuals are so unnecessarily nauseating i  m in to my second package of rolaids .  br    br   as for spoilers  well  the film is so devoid of any narrative thread i couldn  t write one if i tried .  br    br   don  t waste your time or money  and don  t confuse this with good russian cinema .  
to my surprise i quite enjoyed  spacecamp   i remember seeing it about   years ago  and recently i hired it again . i was quite impressed . obviously the special effects in todays space films such as armageddon and deep impact are far superior to those in spacecamp . however  this film had a story  a very stereotypical eighties story where you could almost recite the next line of dialogue before hearing it . but thats what i liked about it  they don  t make films like this anymore  so it was a refreshing change . it was interesting to see kelly preston  leaf phoenix and lea thomson in early roles  with tom skerrit and kate capshaw to add substance to the light  fluffy plot . absolutely loved the robot named jinx  it was very cute  but it unfortunately had more emotion than some of the main characters . the film was almost inspirational in its own way  and it was interesting to note that it was filmed at the nasa spacecamp in alabama  i think  .  
i agree with the previous comment  the beginning of the movie is quite good  and get  s you wandering about what is to come . . . . . . . which is nothing . all open story lines remain open two characters who at first seemed like they might be of some importance are completely left out of the picture  save for  or  very short scenes . i wander if ilya wouldn  t have done better to just completely leave them out . . . . as for the one remaining character  nothing is done with her either . she just visits some god  awful place  and suddenly the movie isn  t about her anymore  but about some geriatric witches who spend their days making dolls out of bread  drinking homemade vodka  and apparently flashing each other . some may say the movie does well in showing a society crumbling  like the judges of the iffr  but for me it is just bad taste  bad camera  work  a lousy script and frightfully bad direction . therefor i can not be as generous as my predecessor when it comes to grading    
this is a family film  which to some people is an automatic turn off . it seems that too many people do not want to see films that are not loaded down with failing arms and legs  gratuitous violence and enough expletives to fill the new york phone book . this film is none of those . it is clich  it is formula  but it is also fun . it doesn  t ask you to think  it doesn  t demand that you accept the film as reality . it simply does what a good film ought to do  which is to willingly suspend disbelief for two hours and enjoy the adventure . the cast is good  while not excellent . as another commenter pointed out the john williams sound score was  as usual  excellent . and the fact that a lot of the film was shot in huntsville at the real space camp made it even more believable .  br    br   it was ironic that the original release of the film was delayed for some months due to the challenger shuttle disaster  which may have played a large part in it  s original theatrical opening  but the film eventually has helped to focus the dreams of many young people back towards space and the possibilities that lie therein . so sit back with your kids and prepare to enjoy .  
the film is worth watching only if you stop it after half an hour . it starts of with funny conversations in a bar and makes one expect a good  funny story is to come . well  i can tell you it will not come . it will deteriorate in minutes into a movie that challenges your patience as well as your feelings of shame for the actors to an extend you will probably not be pleased to witness .  br    br   in an interview i heard that the director wanted to express in this film the feeling of a loss of identity that  according to him  the majority of the people in this globalizing world experience . i was amazed to hear that . am i living in the same world he lives in  ok a lot of people do walk around in the same clothes as mine and listen to the same music and all  but that doesn  t make me feel like i am losing my identity . what does khrzhanosvky think  that we are not more than the clothes we wear and the movies we watch  am i shortsighted or is he   br    br   well my vote the good start of the movie saves it from getting a   a decent  is my conclusion .  
the perfect space fantasy film . a group of kids go up accidentally in space and have to get back down  but do they  sure they do . this would not be a family film if they all died . then it will all be sad . you don  t want that kate capsaw  the leading lady gives a golden globe performance  but sadly  she nor lea thompson won one . that sucks so bad . i can  t say it enough  this film is so great  lea thompson  o lord  a perfect girl for this film . this film is the best for sure .  br    br   sorry  but better than star wars . star wars is so over  rated and space camp was so under  rated . it should of been the other way around  br    br   excellent        r maybe      . iam not good at math  
the worst movie i have seen in quite a while . interesting first half with some engaging  terse dialogue among dubious characters in a late  night bar . the movie then degenerates into a shapeless succession of scenes aiming for visual shock  read disgust  without any redeeming observations or lessons in humanity or anything else .  br    br   i wanted to walk out  but the director was present at this showing and my politeness preventing me from showing him disrespect . still  time is precious  as the director himself observed in his intro  and i really begrudge the time i wasted on the second half of this one .  br    br   saving graces were the three main characters in the first half of the movie  especially the female lead .  
a few summer space campers actually were accidently sent into space by a robot . and the oxygen in ship was running short . they had to sent someone to a space station to get the gas tanks  etc  etc .  br    br   first of all  this movie  s plot is not possible in real life . but it gives a warm feelings of anything is possible if you set your heart in .  br    br   it is amazing to see those young actors who still look about the same after so many years .  i saw this movie for the first time in the year of      it was filmed in      there are quite a few people in that movie who are still working in hollywood .  br    br   the view was great from outer space . it does not look unreal . it is about  hours long  it runs so fast that you won  t even notice . you know that it is not real  but you just get sucked into it until the end .  br    br   overall  it is a good family movie .  br    br    
let me start by saying that i consider myself to be one of the more  most   open  minded movie  viewers . . . movies are my passion  and i am a big regular at my local cult  movie  rental  place . . . i also feel the need to add that they often ask me for advice about movies whenever i get there  and i never seem to be able to leave the place without having had an elaborate discussion or exchange of ideas about what is going on in the cult  movie  area . . . i love to rent strange stuff  and that is exactly why this movie was recommended by one of the guys at the cult  movie  video  place . he told me he thought i had to see this  and since the cover said something about it being a movie with a jodorowsky  one of my favorites   atmosphere  i rented it .  br    br   the vote i gave here is not really fair  because i did not think it was awful  i just did not know how to rate it otherwise . a question mark would have been more appropriate . . .  br    br   this is the first and only film that literally made me sick to my stomach i actually felt physically ill  am i the only one whose stomach literally turned  still i did not want to turn it off  or maybe i just couldn  t because i was fascinated in a nasty way . . .  br    br   i do not ever wanna see this movie again .  br    br   not awful  a  as i said . just not my cup of tea  or wodka for that matter  . . .  
i would like to comment the series as a great effort . the story line although requiring a few improvements was pretty well  especially in season  . season  however became more of a freak show  and lost da  s original charm . season one story line was more interesting  a light side to the life at jam pony while a focused serious plot with manticore chasing down the x  series . i was looking forward to new seasons  in fact i still am . i hope the fox guys and da production crew realize that a lot of ppl still wait for da to make a comeback . even after  yrs of it being cancelled  da can make it big if worked on properly  and i think a name like james cameron should take on this challenge .  
the first hour of the movie was boring as hell . there is no suspense  no action  not even a plot . the movie went no where . i mean they could have made the movie in   min short film . overall  the movie wasn  t good at all  and i don  t recommend it .  
unfortunately  spacecamp came out about the same time as the challenger explosion . which really put a crimp on when to bring it out or even if they should  bring it out . i  m glad they did . i first watched spacecamp at a drive  in movie . which really enhanced the viewing a lot .  br    br   while i had heard of lea thompson and tom skerritt . i had never heard of the others in the movie . so  it came as a big shock to me to find all those youngsters acting  and acting real good  of course  kate capshaw was excellent too .  br    br   i especially liked the scenes  where those kids were being shown how to act  as a team . the scenes of the kids being prepared for a trip they could only hope for . the actual launch of a spacecraft  is of course  old news to us . however  this one was different .  br    br   all in all  this is one of my most treasured films . escapist maybe  but it was fantastic for a space nut like me . after probably renting it for      times . i finally found it available in a certain store and bought it . now  if it only comes out on dvd . i will probably have it forever . this movie gets a  out of   from me .  
film starts with  people meeting each other in the bar . ok . they  re talking about their imaginary lives  lying all the time  with no reason . still ok . from time to time  they even make you laugh . interesting . first   minutes you actually enjoy it  but then . . . things become worse . . . nothing  s happening . . . for a long time . . . and then  when something happen  all you can see are naked old  ladies  touching each other  not ok . disgusting  by the way  this part should be the top of the movie  but it  s everything except that  movie has no point  it  s boring  and sick   br    br   the strangest thing is that here  belgrade  serbia  on fest  film festival   this movie was the most popular according to researches  of course  before people watched it  i even thought  before watching    hay  this might be interesting  although it  s a russian movie   but  god  no      
i notice the dvd version seems to have missing scenes or lines between the posting of the frf and the launch .  br    br   they are to prove they can win the right to sit in the frf other than the green team .  br    br   another scene is like during their failure at the simulation  kevin gets joaquin to clam down .  br    br   i think the vhs edition other than the abc one might have all the missing stuff .  br    br   otherwise i like to know which dvd release has the missing stuff .  br    br   the dvd i have watched feels edited for television .  
the movie is basically the story of a russian prostitute  s return to her home village for the funeral of a sister  friend . there are a couple of other minor story lines that might actually be more interesting than the one taken  but they are not fully explored . the core of the movie is the funeral  wake  and later controversy over the future of a community of crones that make dolls and sell them to buy vodka but are now missing the artist who made their dolls marketable . apparently  the movie is unedited . the prostitute  s journey from the city to the village is an excruciatingly endless train ride and tramp through the mud . maybe that  s supposed to impress us with the immensity of the russian landscape . the village itself  such as it is  is inhabited by a legion of widows and one male  the consort of the dead girl . continuing the doll business is problematic for everyone involved and eventually seems impossible . most of the film is shot with a hand  held camera that could induce nausea . another problem for western viewers is that subtitles don  t include the songs and laments of the crones . don  t go to this movie unless you  re fluent in russian .  
i could see this film is super he didn  t surprise to oneself when so that it was taking place for the truth  this way by itself how swigged flight to the which didn  t have the place but it is only such an conspiratorial theory  right   br    br   very i liked watching this film when i was the child . i am interesting which so that it was if it turned out that such a flight was taking place really  certainly to it for not a belief because it is denying logic and the common sense . who at healthy senses  sent to kids with space shuttle into the orbit . i very like reading for the subject  american and soviet space programs . i know a few missions of space shuttles remained provided by cia with the clause top secret certainly these are only such my divagations but who knows   
the russian movie      follows the lives of three  not four  strangers who meet one night in a local bar . one is a musician  one a frozen meat seller and one a call girl .  br    br       i gather  is intended to showcase the dreariness and hopelessness of life in post  soviet russia  the characters have to make up stories to make their lives appear more interesting than they really are   but the movie is so incoherent and boring that i seriously doubt very many people will be able to sit all the way through it . there seems to be a suggestion running through the film that the shadowy russian government is up to some shady doings behind the scenes  operating secret cloning facilities  selling decades  old frozen meat etc .  but the movie is so formless and incomprehensible that i doubt anyone could figure out what anybody  s really up to here .  br    br   despite decent acting and a few incisively directed scenes     is a two  hour long endurance contest that should be avoided at all costs .  
watching this movie again really brought back some great childhood memories . i  m   now  have not seen it since i was      . i had almost forgotten about this movie  but when i watched it again recently  some scenes literally brought a tear to my eye  that little robot  jinx   friends for ever   . it was just like revisiting my childhood . it was an absolutely amazing experience for me . i will always cherish this movie for that reason . i hope some of you readers can relate to my experience  not for this particular movie  but any movie you have not seen in a long while . very nostalgic . . .  br    br    thanks for reading  
i  m starting to think that there  s a conspiracy  all right one that involves a wallop of money paid to those who have access to published columns in newspapers and film and art magazines to ensure that this or that film  despite its obscurity  will reach a higher status via a ratings point which will tag it with a  universal acclaim  or something within that range  thus ensuring unsuspecting folk  like me  will wander into theatres or rent the bloody thing  expecting a surprise  only to find myself racing to the bathroom to upchuck .  br    br   this movie is one of them . it has definitely make me bypass any and every posted article i come across because it  s rather clear that two things might have happened either i didn  t get the message that is so hidden beneath this film  s inner realms as to be impossible to access  or they and i watched two entirely different movies that happen to share the same name .  is a dirty trick on the audience . it  s no wonder that it appeared and disappeared faster than you can say  smorsgabord  and that despite the rating it got on metacritic  no one had heard of it . it  s terrible with sugar on top .  br    br   firstly  there is the ever  present number four from start to finish . while having a little symbolism here and there is okay  and it  s been done with various degrees of success in many well  known movies  this movie is panting with it . four dogs at the start of the movie  looking at the camera in a heretofore empty street when suddenly  machinery drops onto the foreground and proceeds to rip open the asphalt . four people in a bar  although one of them is a non  entity . three of them go their separate ways but are linked nevertheless  not only to each other but to what their lives are not . while this concept may work  the movie meanders so much   particularly with the story of the would  be model played by marina vovchenko which goes into the territory of the extremely bizarre  and not in a good way   that the initial theme gets lost in translation . or maybe  like i said before  i just  didn  t get it .  the problem also lies in that so much time is spent on marina  s story  which revolves on the death of her sister  from bread  chewing  no less  and the subsequent  shrill mourning which follows  that any interest in the inherent surrealism dissipates without a trace . so what if the same horrifying tales that the three strangers interchanged in a bar seem to have a truth of their own  the director doesn  t invest much time in truly tying them together  or weaving a tighter story that could  in a david lynchian way  intersect either with the past  present  or within alternate dimensions  or even as a straightforward  mundane science  fiction story . this is an uphill battle against an insurmountable wall that only a saint  or someone into the weird for weird  s sake  could endure .  
wow   br    br   this film is the best living testament  i think  of what happened on        in nyc  compared to anything shown by the major media outlets .  br    br   those outlets can only show you what happened on the outside . this film shows you what happened on the inside .  br    br   it begins with a focus on a rookie new york fireman  waiting for weeks for the first big fire that he will be called to fight . the subject matter turns abruptly with the only existing footage of the first plane to hit the towers . you are then given a front  row seat as firefighters rush to the scene  into the lobby of tower one .  br    br   in the minutes that precede the crash of the second plane  and tower two  s subsequent fall  you see firemen reacting to the unsettling sound of people landing above the lobby . it is a sight you will not soon forget .  br    br   heart  rending  tear  jerking  and very compelling from the first minute to the last        deserves to go down in history as one of the best documentary films ever made .  br    br   we must never forget .  br    br    
i have yet to read a negative professional review of this movie . i guess i must have missed something . the beginning is intriguing  the three main characters meet late at night in an otherwise empty bar and entertain each other with invented stories . that  s the best part . after the three go their separate ways  the film splits into three threads . that  s when boredom sets in . certainly  the thread with the felliniesque babushkas who make dolls out of chewed bread is at first an eye opening curiosity . unfortunately  the director beat this one to death  even injecting a wild plot line that leads nowhere in particular . bottom line a two  hour plot  thin listlessness . if you suffer from insomnia  view it in bed and you will have a good night sleep .  
when this first came out  months after the tragedy  i didn  t want to see it . i didn  t want to open old wounds . i regretted it . now i have seen the movie . thank god i did . it shows you the bravery of all the fdny and nypd . i salute you . it offered me closure . i can now move on with my life .  
perhaps being a former moscovite myself and having an elastic sense of humor prevents me from tossing this movie into the  arthouse  festival crap  trashcan . it  s not the greatest film of      nor is it complete garbage . it just has a lot of problems . i also sincerely doubt this movie was banned due to any  ideological fears   or  conservative taboos  or any other reason this movie might conversely be called  courageous  and  uncompromising  abroad . it was banned because the censors knew    of the russian film  goers would find it offensive because of the bad taste exercised during the shooting and editing of this otherwise dull film .  br    br   so we have a strong opening shot . wonderful sound design  excellent premise  laden with meaning and symbolism . the usage and placement of symbols will consistently be of the film  s strongest aspects  not that the number  is a daunting visual challenge  . over the next   minutes we have an equally strong setup . an amusing and well  written bar conversation among the   main   characters  and we feel pathos for these people  the great country of russia  the human condition and all that . then the movie starts slowing down . we begin to wonder what  yawn  lies ahead .  br    br   the rest is quite boring  simply put . sure  the guy in the village tugs the heartstrings  and there are some slightly amusing moments . nice sound  sure . but the enjoyment of this movie  not to mention the plot  are seriously compromised by the pacing problems . and this  this lack of a payoff for sitting through all the  nicely  shot  abject misery and bleakness  is what ultimately will make people angry at the  offensive  stuff  personally  the main offensive scene bordered on being endearing  in that pathetic way harmless drunks can appear  .  br    br   if you want to watch an enjoyable movie where russians get wasted for prolonged periods of time  the entire film   watch particulars of the national hunt . much more rewarding post  soviet stuff . so yeah  a  out of   for   nice and symbolic of my post  mediocre  film condition .  
these two men went thru hell and beyond and have produced the movie that conveys the terror that many did not survive . this is definitely a movie about survival  but not without it  s touching moments .  br    br   the finest piece of work i have seen documenting the        tragedy of new york city .  
the movie starts quite with an intriguing scene  three people are drinking and making small talk in a bar . all of them are making up a bit outrageous stories . as the movie unfolds  it turns out that the most outrageous story is true . however  beyond that the movie is not very interesting except for the scene in the bar and the scene where main secret is revealed . this revelation happens barely half time into the movie and frankly  not much is left to be seen . the rest of the time director is lingering in a god forsaken russian village full of pitiful and creepy old ladies . sure  these are fascinating and a bit shocking images  but admiring them goes on way too long  sacrificing any possible plot or character development . i found this movie as another example of either lousy or lazy movie  making  where instead of trying to make an interesting story  movie makers concentrate on weirdly fascinating imagery and through in a few almost unrelated stories  case in point  meat trader  s story  to leave the spectator to figure out all odds and ends . on a surface it has artsy appearance  but in this particular case is nothing more than lack of talent .  
if i didn  t know any better  it almost seems like it was staged  but it wasn  t . it was set up perfectly  and how they got all of that footage is amazing  the unfortunate events of september        are put together well in this documentary and the classic footage that they got made this an unfortunate classic . just the history in the footage alone should make it a must see for any american or person touched by the tragedy of september   .  
i saw the film at the belgrade film festival last week  and i  m still working off the trauma . essentially my view seems to match a number of others  the first half hour was fresh  sharp  deep  entertaining and promising . well acted too . natural . my problem  however  is not simply with the fact that the final hour and a half of the film have nothing to do with the likable beginning  nor the fact that i spent most of this time convulsing in agony at sharp  grating industrial sounds and squinting at drunken  toothless  bread  chewing hags . it  s rather with the fact that they never warned me    the festival brochure synopsis described only the  utterly intriguing  sounding  first half hour  a whore  piano tuner and meat seller chat in a bar  pretending to be an advertising agent  genetic engineer  and petty government administration official  respectively  making no mention whatsoever of the never  ending gum  smacking to come . serves me right for not reading the reviews  you might say  but to my defense  a number of reviews i looked at post  fact um didn  t at all stress the immensity and utter unbearableness of the greater part of the film .  br    br   the first hint should have been the introductory words by the director  a bashful  tousle  haired russian youth  who stepped in front of the crammed auditorium  the film seems to be doing incredibly well critically  and tickets were sold out well in advance of the screening  though most of the audience seemed as unaware as i was of the pain to come  judging by the plethora of unearthly moans and groans that utterly permeated the theatre during the last half hour  and many exasperated comments on exit  to say the following  well  i . . . um  thank you very much for coming to see this film  and i just wanted to say . . . well  it  s a very long film . . . it took me four years to make it  and . . . it  s . . i suggest that you see it and immediately try to forget about it . it is very long . thank you for coming .  this is what he said . alarm bells should have been ringing .  what  s he talking about   i thought in happy confusion .  this is gonna be fun   of course  by the time his strangely apologetic comments started making sense to me  it was far too late to get out . all i could do is writhe in increasing agony until the lights came on again . and in the end i can  t say i feel in any way improved by the experience . yes  i absolutely loved the first half hour . it was intelligent  new  and had a lot to say . and yes  russia is probably in a bad state . yes  every society has many hidden faces . yes  toothless life in barren wastelands is probably unimaginably hard . yes yes yes . i get all of this . really i do . but i see no earthly reason why art and meaning should be so agonisingly drawn out  and so painful to bear . if you want to see a film land somewhere between the extremes of glitzy hollywood plastic fantastic and hours of muddy vodka swigging  try the korean  chinese bin jip    iron  . it  s artsy and surprising  but also to  the  point and fun .  
spoilers     is a very good and very realistic documentary about the attacks on the wtc .  french film makers who are in new york to film the actions of a nyfd are being confronted with this event and make the most of it . before     nothing much really happens which gives the movie an even more horror like scenario . on the day of the attacks it seems like just another dull day at work but this will soon change . as one the film makers goes on the road with the firemen he films the first crashing plane  this is the only footage of the first impact . he rides with the firemen to the wtc and goes inside the building . as the second plane crashes the people understand that this is not an accident . in the next period of time we see firemen making plans to save as many people as possible  in the meanwhile we hear banging sounds  these are the sounds of people who jumped down from the tower and falling on the ground  this is the most grueling moment in the documentary . then the tower collapses and our french friend has to run for his life  you hear him breath like a madman while he runs out of the building . then a huge sort of sandstorm blasts over him and the screen turns black  he was very lucky to survive and now he can film the empty streets of downtown new york . because this documentary has got so much historical footage and because the film was ment to be something totally different this documentary will probably stay in everybody  s memory . i saw the attacks live at home because i had the afternoon of  so this makes it even more realistic to watch .       
this was a blind buy used dvd . it totally killed a nice buzz i had going when i hit play .  br    br   it  s bubble  headed comedy  but it  s um . squalid . the plot is zany   but the characters do things to each other that are so petty and disturbed and conveniently contrived i ultimately found it depressing to watch .  br    br   maybe the box lead me to expect something more than an uneven  goofy caper film .  i know  i know  the quotes on the box  the academy award nomination mean nothing .   
amazing documentary . saw it on original airdate and on dvd a few times in the last few years . i was shocked that it wasn  t even nominated for a best documentary oscar for      the year it was released . no other documentary even comes close .  br    br   it was on tv recently for the  th anniversary  but i missed the added  where are they now  segment at the end  except i did catch that tony now works for the hazmat unit .  br    br   i  ve seen criticism on documentary film  making from a few on this list . i can  t see how this could have been done any different . they had less than  months to assemble this and get it on the air . the dvd contains more material and background .  br    br   i  m also surprised that according to imdb . com  the brother have had no projects in the four years since . what have they been doing   
  iedereen beroemd  has everything we can expect from a straight to video  movie . it  s the story about a man who believes his daughter could be a star . the only thing he needs is to get her on stage  surrounded by cameras and reporters . a simple plan for which he has to kidnap and do some blackmail . the problem with the movie is not the basic plot  but how it is made . everything is supposed to be funny  but it isn  t . it is trivial and clumsy  the characters are shallow  and the end  sequence is totally without climax or emotion . the last sequence is probably the only scene where you feel like laughing  but only at how pathetic the whole set  up is .  
it took us a couple of episodes to  get into  dark angel as a story and a series  since we were transitioning from the sopranos  a very different mentality framework . but  once we got with the gist of the series  we were very quickly hooked . it  s a shame that the series ended just when it was just starting to past good into the excellent category dark angelwas much more than your average tv series . it kicks ass and rocks as far as action goes  but the interactions of the characters and societal reactions to  mutants  reminds us of the constant prejudices that we face  and make  everyday . that the story is set in the future keeps the mood surreal and prevents the anti  discrimination message from being rubbed in our faces  hence not ruining the  fun  for those who don  t like to be lectured during entertainment   but every event and human  societal interaction remains relevant to the present . we all make judgments  face our own prejudices  but  in the end  the question of who you are lies in do you sit back and shut your mind to it  or do you get up and do something about it  for those who have no choice but to fight  for survival or justice  this series empowers them . for those who  ve never had to face the question  this series  sneaks in  that message under the guise of pure action entertainment . it is much more well  made and well  written than most tv series i  m highly disappointed it ended before it could really kick into high gear .  
i can  t believe that so much talent can be wasted in one movie  the gingerbread man starts of on the right foot  and manages to build up some great expectations for the ending . but at some point the movie turns into one of the worst stories i  ve ever wasted my time on . it  s just so unbelievably how the bewitched mallory doss manages to pull kenneth branagh  s character around by his nose . the movies climax is as uninteresting and flat as a beer  which has been left out in the sun too long . the gingerbread man is probably the worst grisham  movie ever and this isn  t changed by the fact that talented stars crowd the movie . don  t waste your time here   
made by french brothers jules and giddeon naudet  and narrated by robert de niro and firefighter james hanlon this is a compelling and heartbreaking tale of how new york  s finest shone on it  s darkest day . i first saw this when i was a young naive   year old  and at that age it still touched me . knowing how serious     really was seeing this expanded the whole effect of     . we were finding out who the heroes were  how there everyday lives were composed  and how they put their lives on the line in a situation where most people would just run and save their selves . these brave men put their lives on the line and watching this just increases my admiration for them . watch if you can  this is the best documentary i have personally ever seen .  
this movie starts out with a certain amount of promise but  in my view  begins to lose it when the protagonist kidnaps the good samaritan who comes to his aid when his car breaks down . that this well  meaning stranger begins to fix his car while he is away making a phone call is implausible enough  but that she is one of the few people in the country who can help him put his family  s life back on track is the type of coincidence beginning writers are warned against using in their stories .  br    br   i found this movie average at best . art direction could have been much better  as could have been cinematography . the acting was good  and so was eva van der gucht  s singing .  
the french naudet brothers did something nobody else did  they had a video camera the day that this tragedy happened . they were in building    when you could see papers drifting down  people hitting the ground from jumping from such a height .  br    br   i mean it goes as far as when both buildings collapsed they went running  their camera was still running  when the white dust covered them  they found a shop doorway and got inside  but all this footage is real and i think they did a fantastic job of capturing it for us .  br    br   ten stars goes to the naudet brothers that filmed this extraordinary film that i watch every     so i  ll never forget what this country went through . i believe if i remember right  it shows the first death of the priest of the firefighters  while he was being carried to the church and his honorable funeral .  
mabel at the wheel is one of those movies with a behind  the  scenes story that  s more interesting than the movie itself . this was chaplin  s tenth comedy for keystone during his year of apprenticeship  and his first two  reeler . here he played one of his last out  and  out villain roles  although the feature  length tillie  s punctured romance was yet to come   and it also marked one of the last times he would work for a director other than himself . in fact  chaplin  s conflicts with director and co  star mabel normand almost got him fired from the studio .  br    br   chaplin hadn  t gotten along with his earlier directors  henry lehrman and george nichols  but according to his autobiography having to take direction from a mere  girl  was the last straw . charlie and mabel argued bitterly during the making of this film . chaplin was still a newcomer at keystone and his colleagues didn  t know what to make of him  but everyone loved mabel . producer mack sennett was on the verge of firing chaplin when he learned that the newcomer  s films were catching on and exhibitors wanted more of them a . s . a . p .  so chaplin was promised the chance to direct himself in return for finishing this movie the way mabel wanted it .  br    br   unfortunately  none of that drama is visible on screen in mabel at the wheel  which looks like typical keystone chaos . the story concerns an auto race in which mabel  s beau  harry mccoy  is scheduled to compete  but wicked charlie and his henchmen abduct the lad  and mabel must take the wheel in his place . for all the racing around  brick hurling and finger  biting the film is frankly short on laughs  but there are a few points of interest . there  s some good cinematography and editing in the race sequence  though there aren  t really any gags  just lots of frantic activity . chaplin himself looks odd  sporting a goat  like beard on his chin and wearing the top hat and frock coat he wore in his very first film appearance  making a living  but the outfit suits the old  fashioned villainy he displays throughout . at least it  s novel to watch him play such an uncharacteristic role . visible in the stands at the race track are such keystone stalwarts as chester conklin  edgar kennedy in a strangely dandified get  up  and a more characteristic mack sennett  spitting tobacco and doing his usual mindless rube routine . as a performer  sennett was about as subtle as the movies he produced  but you have to give the guy credit he knew what people liked . these films were hugely popular in their day . mack  s performance doesn  t add much to mabel at the wheel  but he probably had to be on hand for the filming of this one to make sure his stars didn  t kill each other .  
difficult film to comment on  how do you say it  s bad  well it isn  t  but then it  s equally difficult to say it is good . what it is  is compelling viewing  it is as close as you will get to utter devastation without being there . it is the photographs of the tsunami approaching the coast of thailand brought to life  you know you want to turn away but you have to watch .  br    br   the naudet brothers handle the commentary very well  even in the most tragic of circumstances  there view on something which is happening in another country neither panders nor insults . the facts are on the cellulose and little is needed for the viewer to understand or comprehend what is going on .  br    br   you can  t change history  and you should not want  this film stands as a testament to humanity in its darkest hour .  
i tried to sit through this bomb not too long ago . what a disaster . the acting was atrocious . there were some absolutely pathetic action scenes that fell flat as a lead balloon . this was mainly due to the fact that the reactions of the actors just didn  t ring true . supposedly a modern reworking of the hitchcock original  lifeboat  . i think hictcock would be spinning circles in his grave at the very thought of it . from what i was able to suffer through  there is nothing compelling in this movie . it boasts a few semi big names  but they put no effort into their characters . but  you know  to be fair  it was nobody  s fault really . i mean  i  m pretty sure the script blew up in the first explosion . lol . it is possible that this thing ends up improving as it goes along . but for me  i  m not willing to spend at least three days to find out . so unless you have at least a three day weekend on the horizon  avoid this stinker       
i  ve read most of the comments here . i came to the conclusion that almost everybody agrees that     is a shocking piece of history . there are a few who think that the added narrative is weak and  br    br   i agree that the narrative is weak and unnecessary . about two brothers finding each other back after the disaster and the cliff hanger about tony . but i don  t think narration is unnecessary . like i lot of theorists i think that our own lives are narrations . we are living and making our own autobiography . so if we tell about our lives this is always in the form of narration . we don  t sum up facts like birth  childhood  high school etc . we create a story about our live .  br    br   because we are familiar with stories  we want to put history in a story as well . because in the form of a story we can identify ourselves . we can better understand the things happened in history when its told in the form of a story . so that  s the purpose of adding a story in documentary . the story is weak  so be it  but we understand whats going on . if it was me out there i would be worried sick about my brother .  br    br   and the second point  making a blockbuster movie about it . true  it  s been to recent to come up with a big movie about     . though  there have been a few about the subject  but none of them like this documentary . but what if there will be a movie in about  years  i agree it is wrong trying to make a lot of money out of     . but i also agree that movies are one of the best way to tell history . how many movies about the world war  have we seen  if i had not seen these movies my view of the ww would me totally different . i remember seeing schindlers list  and i cried for an hour during class . movies give you a good image of the things that happened in history and although it is fiction it contributes to the memory of the disasters and the casualties .  br    br   so my point telling stories is not always bad  it makes us identify with the story  and makes us never forget what happened .  
this film is really bad  with a script full of  memorable  lines and incredibly bad performances . the special effects are also bad  not the worst ones i have seen  either  and the music is so bad that you have to listen to it to believe it . just two short themes    seconds long or so  are repeated constantly throughout the whole film .  br    br   all in all  one of the worst films i have ever seen .  
the events of september       do not need extra human interest in the shape of following the training of the rookie fireman or the progress of the two french brothers . in my view it would have been better to leave this out . i think the directors tried too hard  perhaps they felt that the events of the day needed a story as a backdrop . the comment of one of a policemen   this aint fing disneyworld  is apt .  br    br   nevertheless it is compelling viewing for the depiction of the events . the filmakers were in all the right places at the right times  no other footage from the day matches what they shot .  
in the first one it was mainly giant rats  but there were some wasps and a giant chicken too . this one  however  is just giant rats period  well giant rats and one really growing little boy . this one is about this growing boy and a scientist that is trying to help him so he accidentally creates giant killer rats . . . you know how it is . this movie has some kills and its moments  but i find it to be on par with the original  i just prefer some variety in my giant creature movies . well  that is not true . . . i actually like  empire of the ants   maybe i just do not care for giant rodents . all in all a rather drab movie though it does have one rather odd turn of events in this one dream sequence that is truly bizarre . i just can  t recommend this one .  
let me get the bad out of the way first  james hanlon is absolutely terrible trying to act his descriptions of what was going on with the rookie training and events of the day . really it is in stark contract to the other fire fighters without acting aspirations who are natural in their delivery .  br    br   that said it is an amazing film that is impossible to watch without tears in my eyes . i am an english guy from london but i love new york and have visited many many times before and after september   th . it is a second home to me and i can  t help but feel devastated at the loss of life but also the destruction of part of such an amazing beautiful city . this is the real deal  in with the fire fighters with everything collapsing around them . i am so glad the footage exists to show people how it was on the day . it is a shame that they didn  t use any footage of people jumping from the buildings because friends who were there tell me this is such a major part of their memory  it should be included to show future generations just how terrible it really was .  br    br   conspiracy theorists can go to hell by the way .  
boring  predictable  by  the  numbers horror outing at least has pretty good special effects and plenty of  mindless  mayhem and gore to satisfy  mindless  genre fans . mostly it  s about giant rats chomping on a set of characters we don  t care an iota about  if that  s your thing  tune in .        
i live in missouri  so the direct effects of terrorism are largely unknown to me  this brought it home . that two men would put themselves on the line in the way that those members of fdny and nypd did  just to document the horror that unfolded on that day . this film is a testament to those who lost their lives and the true evil that terror brings .  
who could possibly have wished for a sequel to bert i . gordon  s legendary bad trash  film  food of the gods   nobody  of course  but director damien lee thought it was a good idea  anyway  and he put together a belated sequel that stands as one of the most redundant movies in horror history .  gnaw  is a sequel in name only  as the setting moved to a typical late    s location  a university campus  and also the cheap  cheesy gore effects perfectly illustrates the    s . this script hangs together by clichs  awfully written dialogs and plot situations that are not so subtly stolen from other  and more successful  horror classics . neil hamilton is a goody two shoes scientist who performs growing  experiments on ordinary rodents in order to do a fellow scientist a favor . due to some incredibly stupid animal rights activists  the huge and ravenous rats escape and devour pretty much everyone on campus . following the good old tradition that spielberg  s  jaws  started  there  s an obnoxious dean who refuses to admit the problem even though severely mutilated corpses are turning up everywhere . during a hysterically grotesque climax  the rats invade the opening ceremony of the campus  new sport complex   gnaw food of the gods   is terribly bad and therefore a lot of fun to watch  the characters do and say unimaginably stupid stuff  like descending into the sewers unarmed while they know it  s infested with rats   the acting is atrocious and there  s a genuinely bizarre sequence involving the hero having sex under the influence of growth  serum  i wonder what freud  s theory would be on that  there  s a satisfying amount of gore and sleaze and  it has to be said  the music is surprisingly atmospheric . in case you just can  t get enough of this junk  there are quite a lot of creature  features revolving on mutated rats  like the italian schlock film  rats night of terror   the modest    s cult film  willard  and its lame sequel  ben   the      willard  remake starring crispin glover and the surprisingly good recent rat  movies by once  famous directors tibor ticaks   rats   and john lafia   the rats   . go nuts   
gdon and jules naudet wanted to film a documentary about rookie new york city firefighters . what they got was the only film footage inside the world trade center on september   .  br    br   having worked with james hanlon  s ladder company before  jules went with the captain to inspect and repair a gas leak  while gdon stayed at the firehouse in case anything interesting happened . an airplane flying low over the city distracted jules  and he pointed the camera up  seconds before the plane crashed into tower one .  br    br   jules asked the captain to follow him into the towers . the first thing he saw was two people on fire  something he refused to film . he stayed on site for the next several hours  filming reactions of the firefighters and others who were there .  br    br   the brothers naudet took great care in not making the movie too violent  grizzly  and gory . but the language from the firefighters is a little coarse  and cbs showed a lot of balls airing it uncensored . the brothers naudet mixed footage they filmed with one  on  one interviews so the firefighters could explain their thoughts and emotions during particular moments of the crisis .  br    br   unlike a feature film of similar title  most of the money from dvd sales go to      related charities . very well made  emotional  moving  and completely devoid of political propaganda  is the best documentary of the sort to date .  
camp blood iii is a vast improvement on camp blood ii as it has sound mostly in the right places and a rudimentary plot . this time they  ve ventured slightly further away from the car park the other two movies were filmed in which is a good move as you can no longer hear cars driving past what is supposed to be a remote wilderness .  br    br   this time around there  s a reality tv show and a fake clown to scare off the contestants . this is hardly a new idea  i  ve seen at least three other horror movies with exactly the same premise where the real killer turns up but at least this one has a plot instead of people just randomly being stabbed with a knife .  br    br   unlike the other two in the series this one is at least good for a few laughs . i liked how there  s a gunshot sound effect when someone gets stabbed early on and the way the boom mike hovers behind people like a phantom .  br    br   i don  t know why anyone would want to make a third camp blood film  i would have thought it would be better to start from scratch but they have at least tried with this one . the half naked deformed woman was a bit much for me  it looks like they tried to keep continuity by hiring some freak who would get her clothes off for   just like they did in the second movie . they still haven  t worked out that a machete is used for cutting not stabbing but oh well  it  s a camp blood movie what do you expect  if you like crap films you  ll get some fun out of this one .  
i have to say that the events of     didn  t hit me until i saw this documentary . it took me a year to come to grips with the devastation . i was the one who was changing the station on the radio and channel on tv if there was any talk about the towers . i was sick of hearing about it . when this was aired on tv a year and a day later  i was bawling my eyes out . it was the first time i had cried since the attack . i highly recommend this documentary . i am watching it now on tv   years later  and i am still crying over the tragedies . the fact that this contains one of the only video shots of the first plane hitting the tower is amazing . it was an accident  and look where it got them . these two brothers make me want to have been there to help .  
nothing to say but wow  has anyone actually had somebody sneak up on them in an open field  well this happens about   times in this movie  clearly the directors  favorite scare tactic  . in one of the opening scenes the smooth talking  hot shot producer has to ride in the back seat so the camera man could sit in the front to film . shortly after he arrives to the field the  contestants show up and  although it is clearly at latest  in the afternoon they are all convinced that the sun will set any minute . after about   minutes of boobless trash we are privileged with a flashback of the clown  s history in which we see some of his previous victims . if you watch this movie check out the ladies chest . . her ribs go all the way to her neck  it was flat out disgusting . most horror movies action occurs during the night but without a night vision camera the chaos is forced to happen during the day . the few night shots that did make it in to the movie look like they were stolen from the blair witch project or random shots from the directors backyard . the movie somewhat redeemed itself in the end when there was a matrix like shoot out with the clown that we rewound and watched over and over laughing hysterically .  br    br   definitely rent this movie if you have ever been snuck up on in an open field .  br    br   signed  the answer  
i rented this for my son who is recently found interest in     . he was a kindergartener at the time and had no idea what was unfolding . i liked the way it was told as a  documentary .  if there was one movie that i would recommend to see concerning      this would be the one  normally you see a movie it has actors that are well known . this movie had nobody known . also  you see a movie concerning      you hear about a fire  fighter or two losing their lives saving people . i didn  t feel this had any of that  i only rented this movie and would definitely consider adding it to my collection  very well done indeed  my heart goes out to the survivors and families of victims of       
this movie was probably the worst movie i have ever seen . here are the things that immediately jump out at me  . the woods were more like hills in los angeles with a couple trees and brush . not scary whatsoever . news flash  if you are filming in the southern california area  big bear is only an hour away . they actually have trees there .  br    br    . the writing was absolutely without a doubt the worst dialogue i have ever experienced . every possible line in the movie was unoriginal  clich  or just plain stupid . for instance the name of the camp is  camp blood   lame   the name of the clown is  the killer clown   lame  . what is a clown doing in a forest anyway  was that the only mask they could find   . the last but certainly the least was the acting . absolutely the worst group of actors and actresses ever assembled . a virtual cornucopia of shitty lines and poor acting . worst part by far was when then randomly flash back to this fat foreign girl getting naked for a a photograph . it  s a really long scene and i guess she was supposed to be sexy  but she was not . also  and this was one of the few enjoyable parts of the movie for me  was this tool who is supposed to be  athletic .  for instance when he is bored in the movie he grabs a couple rocks and starts doing curls with them . then later on he is supposed to be running for the clown and it is immediately clear with his very  girl like  run  that he is quite far from athletic . oh and to the girl who played kat  good lord stop singing . that song you sang for the credits makes me want to kill myself .  br    br   if for some reason you do see this movie  i would at least recommend watching the special features . the group of jackasses who made this film talk about it as if it is this really original story . in fact one of the girls actually says that she let some of her friends read the screenplay and none of them could predict the ending . apparently she hangs out with special kids .  
dark angel rocks  the best show i have seen in ages damn those people who took it off  me and my friends have gatherings to watch every da episode  takes like  days but it is worth it  it finished before it finished what it wanted to say and that annoys the hell out of me   
i should never have started this film  and stopped watching after     s . i missed the really botched ending . this film was a disappointment because it could have been so much better . it had nice atmosphere  a top notch cast and director  good locations . but a baaaaaad story line  a bad script . i paid attention to kenneth branagh  s southern accent   it was better than the script . the plot was stupid   driven by characters acting in unreal and improbable ways . no one behaves like this outside of hollywood scripts .  
incredible documentary captured all the frenzied chaos and misery which loomed over nyc on that fateful morning of september   th . intense  personal  and completely riveting      is perhaps the greatest documentary ever made by accident  which kind of gives it an even greater appeal . up until that morning  filmmakers gideon and jules naudet had been following around a new york firefighter team  concentrating specifically on one new recruit in a little piece they were shooting dealing with the rigorous training to become a fireman . out with the team that morning filming yet another simple routine cleanup  jules lifts his camera up to the sky just in time to record one of the only known images of the first plane hitting the world trade center  and from there a simple documentary was no more .  br    br   viewers are given a first hand account of what it was like to be in and around ground zero  as the amazing group of fire  fighters and one profoundly bewildered cameraman attempt to navigate this disaster . without hesitation  naudet follows these automatically programmed heroes into the tower while it  s entire support crumbles around them . the raw fear of an unknown  impending doom lurks with more viability then any fictional production could ever fathom as we watch less and less become audible and visible for those trapped inside . nearly as memorable is older brother gideon  s candid capturing of an entire city in the throngs of a larger and more palpable fear then anything they had collectively witnessed . by the time we get to see the second tower collapse  as the cameraman shields himself from apocalyptic debris  we should all but be rinsing the dirt off ourselves from the amazingly up  close footage captured .  br    br   obviously the filmmakers deserve only as much credit as being in the right place at the right time to document such an extraordinary event  though one can only admire the two brothers in their extraordinary adaptation to such an event in a few desperate minutes we witness them become like the firemen they document  only instead of saving lives they knew they had to save footage  even if it cost them their own safety .  br    br   after viewing      and seeing that it came out in      i feel much more resentment towards oliver stone  s recent rendition  the big budgeted world trade center . many had criticized the film for ignorantly narrowing down the focus to those two survivors trapped in rubble  and although i enjoyed the movie just fine for the small and sentimental hollywood focus it brought      all but renders his film completely obsolete . not only will this utterly gripping footage remain the only definitive collection from that day  but the sublime transfer of motives midway ensures that this documentary has all the heart and character needed to never sensationalize the event again .  
after some internet surfing  i found the  homefront  series on dvd at ioffer . com . before anyone gets excited  the dvd set i received was burned by an amateur from home video tapes recorded off of their tv   years ago . the resolution and quality are poor . the images look like you would expect old re  recorded video to look . although the commercials were edited out  the ending credits of each episode still have voice  over announcements for the segway into the abc news program  nightline   complete with the top news headlines from the early      s . even with the poor image quality  the shows were watch  able and the sound quality was fine .  br    br   to this show  s credit  the casting was nearly perfect . everyone was believable and really looked the part . their acting was also above average . the role of jeff metcalf is played particularly well by kyle chandler  most recently seen in the     remake of king kong  . the period costumes were very authentic as were the sets  especially the     s kitchens with vintage appliances and dcor . the direction was also creative and different for a tv show at that time . for example  conversations between characters were sometimes inter  cut with conversations about the same subject between other characters in different scenes . the dialog of the different conversations was kept fluid despite cutting back and fourth between the different characters and locations . that takes good direction and editing and they made it work in this case .  br    br   as i started watching this series again i suddenly remembered why i lost interest in it   years ago . despite all the ingredients for a fine show  the plots and story lines are disappointing and confusing right from the start . for one thing  the name of the show itself is totally misleading . when wwii ended in      there was no more fighting so obviously there was no longer a  homefront  either . curiously  the first episode of the show  homefront  begins in     after the war had ended . that  s like shooting the first episode of  gilligan  s island  showing the castaways being rescued . the whole premise of the show  s namesake is completely lost . i still held on to hope with the possibility of the rest of the series being a flashback but no  the entire show takes place from     through     . additionally  this series fails miserably in any attempt to accurately portray any historical events of the late      s . by the third episode  it becomes obvious that this series was nothing more than a thinly veiled vehicle for an ultra left  wing political agenda . the show is set in river run ohio  near toledo . however  the show  s ongoing racism theme makes it look more like jackson mississippi than ohio . part of the ensemble cast are dick williams  hattie winston and sterling macer jr . who portray the davis family . much of the series shows the davis family being discriminated against by the evil  whites  to the point of being ridiculous and totally absurd if not laughable . the racism card has been played and over played by hollywood now for over   years . we get it . we  re also tired of having our noses rubbed in it on a daily basis . the subject of racism is also unpopular with viewers and it is the kiss of death for any show  as it was for  homefront  . the acting talents of williams  winston and macer were wasted in their roles as the stereotypical  frightened  angry black family  . the wildly exaggerated racism in this series makes it look like everyone in ohio was a kkk member or something . the racism issue could have been addressed in this show in a single episode with a simple punch in the nose or fist  fight in which a bigot gets a well deserved thrashing  and leave it at that . devoting a major portion of the series to the racism thing gets really old really quick and its just plain stupid .  br    br   in yet another ridiculous plot line  the big boss of a local factory  ken jenkins  is portrayed as an ebenezer scrooge like character who is against pensions and raises and is unconcerned about acid dripping on his employees . the workers revolt and take over the factory in a blatant pro  communist propaganda message to the viewer .  br    br   personally  i think this series had great potential . the writers could have easily placed the timeline in          as the title suggests and shown the hardships of food and gas rationing and working   hour days at war factories . of course the loss of brothers  sons and husbands fighting overseas would have also added drama . the situation was also perfect for writing in special guest stars as military or uso personnel passing through their town during training or en  route to europe or the pacific . the possibilities for good story lines and plots are endless . but no  the writers of homefront  david assael and james grissom  completely ignored any relevant or interesting plots . instead  they totally missed the point and strayed into a bizarre and irrelevant obsession with racism and left  wing politics . it would be unfair to the actors to condemn the entire series but the plots and situations in which they were placed are total garbage .  
to sum this documentary up in a few words is next to impossible . every fiber of your body tells you that this is not happening right from the opening montage of rapid  fire images  through to the last shot of the clean up at ground zero  but every frame is real . the story was thought up by two french brothers living in new york . jules     and gideon     naudet  pronounced  nau  day   want to make a documentary on new york city firefighters  beginning with a  newbie  from the academy and follow him through the nine month probationary period to full  fledged firefighter . seeking the help of their close friend  actor james hanlon      an actor and firefighter at station   engine   the naudets sift through the  probies  at the academy and find one  tony benetakos to focus the bulk of their documentary on .  br    br   tony becomes the butt of jokes and slowly learns the ins and outs of station life through the members of this close  knit family . firefighters have a superstition about  probies .  it is that they are either  white clouds  or  black clouds   meaning that with the latter  all kinds of fires follow the  probie .  the former means that very little fire activity follows  but one day  there will be the mother of all fires . tony is a  white cloud .  after some initial growing pains  tony settles into the firehouse as if he were a seasoned vet . then the unthinkable occurs . . . .  br    br   september        begins with a clear blue sky and an early morning call to go and see about a supposed gas leak not far from wall street . because jules has had little camera experience  gideon hands a camera to his younger brother and tells him to ride with the chief  t . k . pfeiffer . arriving at about      the firefighters begin to use their gas detectors over a grate . then the sudden roar of what seems to be a low flying airplane rips past the scene  and as jules pans upwards  we see the first strike of the day . american airlines flight   smashes into the face of the north tower of  world trade . pfeiffer orders his men into the fire engine and they head for the world trade center . once there  jules asks to accompany the chief into the tower . pfeiffer tells naudet to stick close to him . once inside  the full impact of the growing disaster begins to show on the faces of the men whose sole purpose is to save lives .  br    br   gideon naudet decides to leave the firehouse and walk down to the impact area . once there  he captures the impact of the second plane  united airlines flight     with  world trade . he knows jules is with chief pfeiffer inside the towers . watching and capturing the crowds  reaction to the unimaginable  gideon begins to capture on tape the growing fear in lower manhattan . inside tower one  jules records the last view the world  or loved ones will have of their sons  fathers  uncles  grandfathers  husbands  boyfriends  friends as one by one  each firefighter  carrying   lbs of equipment begin the long arduous climb up   stories to rescue the injured and trapped . jules also catches the last glimpse chief pfeiffer will have of his brother  kevin  as he leaves to do his selfless duty . also caught on video is the gutwrenching sound of falling bodies hitting pavement from victims choosing to jump from the higher floors above the impact zones  sooner than face death at the hands of the flames and smoke . but jules is respectful  never once does he capture a sensationalistic moment . . . the money shot . his work is professional through his baptism of fire . he also catches the sight of debris falling from tower two after it is hit by the second plane and the ordered way the firefighters evacuated civilians from the building . then jules is caught in the collapse of the south tower and the first official victim is taken father michael judd  the chaplain for the fire department . then as jules and chief pfeiffer make their way from the fallout of the collapse of tower two  tower one begins its structural collapse .  br    br   what results is a breathtakingly  poignant view from inside ground zero as jules and gideon work separately to document that day . not knowing if either is alive  each fearing the worst . as each firefighter arrives at the firehouse  they greet each other with joyous hugs at having made it back . and in one moment of overwhelming emotion  jules and gideon are reunited . as jules cries on his brother  s shoulder  gideon embraces his younger brother as hanlon makes the filmmakers the subject . there is one fearful moment when tony benetakos  who left the station with a former chief  is believed to have been lost . . . but returns to the fold  this  probie  has proven himself .  br    br   shown with only three interruptions      is a stunning achievement in documentary filmmaking . it ranks up there with the hindenburg footage in showing history as it unfolds . the naudets are to be commended for their deft handling of the subject . in lesser hands  the tendency would be toward the sensational  but the naudets temper their eye toward dignity and compassion . narrated by hanlon  we get the feel of his words as he takes the audience through the events of september   . robert de niro hosts the program in a sombre  restrained way . he never seeks the camera for his own glory  rather he lays out the scenes you are about to see . i also commend cbs for their bravery at airing this special . chastised for their attempt at grabbing ratings  they temper their editing toward the emotions of the relatives of those who perished . this is a must see for anyone who needs to be reminded of what true heroism is . it isn  t about dribbling a basketball  or selling an album of hate lyrics . . .     is about humanity at its best . heroism at its finest and the cost of freedom .  br    br    
why did i waste my money on this on the last day of sundance  i want a refund . . . can i have my    back  while i was watching this film i kept waiting for something to happen  nothing did happen . the only way i even knew what it was supposed to be about was by reading the plot  which was not really like the film . why did the director zoom in with their handy cam and then zoom out  it was not very artistic . why did the director show lulu filing her nails for fifteen minutes  why is it when the actors tried to speak they sounded like they were reading  or was that the point  i felt like phantom love had no story at all  and to be honest i felt like my friends vacation videos had a much higher entertainment value than this film .  
this was the most visually stunning  moving  amazing and incredible story i  ve ever experienced . quite frankly  even those adjectives just cannot describe it . i can  t just choose one scene that stood out for me . i suppose if i had to list a few it would be the reactions of the fireman to the crashing sound of jumping victims the reaction of people trapped in the elevator  who were unaware of what was going on  as they finally emerge to the horrific scene the shock and disbelief of the onlookers and finally the silence .  br    br   on that day  and even now  i am reminded of star wars       . obi  wan says  i felt a great disturbance in the force  as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced .  it is amazing how it is so accurate in its description . there was truly a disturbance in the force .  br    br   this documentary vividly reveals this disturbance . the feelings are so incredibly visual . the anger  the frustration  the shock  the fear  the exhaustion  and the realization of its very magnitude . it  s all there . not a thing is missed .  br    br   this is a powerful and most moving documentary and well deserving of the emmy . not just because it documents     but because it is simply everything it should be .  br    br   if you plan to watch  be sure to grab a box of tissues . you  ll need them . i know that i did .  
this film was so disappointing . from the blurb that made me decide to see phantom love  why is it called this   i had expected something arty and thoughtful with beautiful imagery . it did have some interesting images but these often seemed random and made no sense . in fact they seemed like they were inserted to fill in time . in the end the effect was listless .  br    br   i believe the film was meant to be atmospheric  but it just wasn  t . the lack of a coherent plot did not help matters . you might say it was mysterious  but i think it was just incoherent with no atmosphere .  br    br   the main character seemed to be disturbed but the plot did not draw me in enough to care about her situation . without looking at the cast list i would not have known that you see the main character as a child . the film has very little context for the time  place or character . i am not a prude but the sex scenes  there were several  seemed pointless and confused me further  i recognised lulu but i was not sure if it was the same man  different men  a lover  her husband or was she a prostitute . it was only when i saw the credits that i discovered the hairy back was meant to belong to her lover . this film did manage to make what should have been shocking  dream sequences involving lulu  s mother  seem a bit boring .  br    br   the nail filing actually made more sense  as it did give some indication of lulu  s emotional state . i will not fault the actors as i don  t they had a lot to work on .  br    br   i do not know if the lack of context or flow in the film was because of ineptitude or because it was pretentious but the end result was dull .  br    br   i can  t be bothered talking about it anymore .  
to those who say that this movie deserves anything below the unflaunting grace that it showed  i disagree . this is an amazing documentary about a shocking day .  br    br   imdb asks us to rate this movie . i beg you to consider the fact that the documentary was made . the courage that it took to shoot this film is most notable . we find that the two brothers are split up when that moment happened . they continue to document the bravest of the brave without knowing about their own and eachother  s safety . to judge whether it  s nobler to shoot a video of that tragedy or to save the lives as those amazing  amazing firefighters did is not mine to answer . i just know that in   years  a class full of children will not know one without the other .  br    br   i submit a wholehearted   . this is why the art of filming was created  to capture the natural emotion that real life offers . you can keep your kung  fu junk . romance is cute . action will never reach this level . this movie       will be timeless in that it did not glorify itself . it didn  t have a sneak  peek . it didn  t have all of the blatant vanities that a lion  s share of the many movies on the many screens blare . it had class  composure  substance  and it had a record of the day that changed the modern face of america and even the world . it spoke of things inescapable to the eye of the camera . please consider this movie  as it itself proclaims  a stirring tribute to all of those who fell because of the free  beautiful name of america .  br    br   how can you give anything less to a movie that shows  not embellishes  the natural bravery of real people acting in unreal times . i love  the godfather  but       is forever a different kind of movie as this is now a different kind of world . it is art without question or questions .  br    br   jf  
del   you are the dumbest smart person i  ve ever met .   br    br   calvin   well  i had a brain  but they lost it in the re  writes .   br    br   i think what i find most egregious about this bastardization of asimov  s work was how the character of susan calvin was portrayed . in the books  she was actually one of the first strong female protagonists  able to think her way through a problem . here she  s just a damsel in distress  waiting to be rescued by wil smith .  br    br   there are passing references to asimov  s laws of robotics  but they are an afterthought to the cgi and action scenes .  br    br   smith is likable  as he is in most of his films  but honestly  the story isn  t that good . you figure it out long before these genius characters do .  
i was a little skepticle if i should watch this when it was first shown on cbs . i was one of the many people who were in nyc on that day  i was going to school at hunter college . i didnt want to see all the devistation and carnage again  but like many i was curious to see what this was all about . tears came to my eyes watching this documentary . all my memories returned and just the intense images were unbelievable . i bought the dvd on the one year anniversary and watched it a few times . how these guys were able to capture this footage was incredible . if you have not seen this documentary  do yourself a favor and check it out . it is obviously depressing and will bring tears to eyes  but it  s an incredible document of this countries darkest hour .  
waiting to go inside the theathre with tickets in my hand  i expected an interesting sci  fi fantasy movie which could finally feed my appetite of movies regarding robot  technology  instead i went disappointed by each aspect of it  once more proving that stunning special effects can  t help a boring plot  which by my opinion was the worse in this year . acting in this movie also dissatisfied me  will smith didn  t show anything new in this movie  yet i never saw his acting to change since  men in black  which was his only success by my opinion . he had to retire since than  not spoiling his name with titles like  i  robot  and  men in black   .      
great documentary about the lives of ny firefighters during the worst terrorist attack of all time . . that reason alone is why this should be a must see collectors item . . what shocked me was not only the attacks  but the  high fat diet  and physical appearance of some of these firefighters . i think a lot of doctors would agree with me that  in the physical shape they were in  some of these firefighters would not of made it to the   th floor carrying over   lbs of gear . having said that i now have a greater respect for firefighters and i realize becoming a firefighter is a life altering job . the french have a history of making great documentary  s and that is what this is  a great documentary . . . . .  
i can  t really think of any redeeming features of this utterly bad rendering on asimov than the art direction . forget the product placement disaster  the unconvincing performance from will smith and the gargantuan plot  holes . this wasn  t only laughable and but painful to watch . even the action was boring . a mixture of mtv inspired production values and utterly bad dialogue probably aimed at very small children .  br    br   what a shame that sci  fi this bad can still be made after we  ve had bladerunner  minority report or to a lesser extent dark city  by the same director  . this one really belongs in the bottom    list . truly awful .  
very interesting and moving documentary about the world trade center tragedy on   th september     . the main theme of it is the heroism of american fire  fighters who tried to rescue as many people as they could . the film is deeply emotional and rather disturbing  many people seen on screen have lost their lives  recommended .  
after perusing the large amount of comments on this movie it is clear that there are two kinds of science fiction movie  goers . there are the ones who are well read  extremely literate  and intelligent . they know the history of the genre and more importantly they know to what heights it can reach in the hands of a gifted author . for many years science fiction languished in the basement of literature . considered my most critic to be little more than stories of ray guns and aliens meant for pre  pubescent teenagers . today  s well read fan knows well this history  and knows the great authors asimov  heinlein  bradbury  and ellison  who helped bring science fiction out of that basement . in doing so they created thought provoking  intelligent stories that stretched the boundaries and redefined the human condition . this well informed fans are critical of anything hollywood throws at them . they are not critical for it  s own sake  but look upon each offering with a skeptical eye .  as they should as hollywood  s record has been less than stellar .  to these fans the story must take supreme importance . they cannot be fooled by flashy computer graphics  and non stop action sequences . when the emperor has no clothes they scream it the loudest .  br    br   the second type of science fiction movie goer has little knowledge about the written aspect of the genre .  look at many of the above comments that state  well i haven  t read the book or anything by this author . . .  their total exposure to science fiction is from movies or the scifi channel . they are extremely uncritical  willing to overlook huge plot holes  weak premises  and thin story lines if they are given a healthy dose of wiz bang action and awesome special effects . they are  in effect  willing to turn off their critical thinking skills  or maybe they never had them   for the duration of the movie . case in point  i robot . while supposedly based on asimov  s short stories and named after one of his novels  it contains little of what asimov wrote and even less of what he tried to tell us about humanity and our robotic creations .  those of you that will run out and buy i  robot will be very much surprised  this movie isn  t even based on that story at all    br    br   the film has enormous plot holes  that at some points are stretched to the limits of credulity . i won  t point them out . i won  t spoon feed you . you need to practice you thinking skills and discover them for yourself . the characters  which are named after many of asimov  s characters  do not possess the critical intelligence that was a hallmark of his stories . the plot itself with all it  s action sequences goes against everything that the author stood for . his belief that humanity possesses the capacity to solve problems using their minds  not their fists  is vital to understanding his vision of the future . in short  other than the name  their is very little of isaac in anything about this movie . there will always be those uncritical  i . e . unthinking  who will state  the movie doesn  t have to be like the book . due to the medium  movies sometimes require that changes be made .  but what about a case where the movie never even tried to stay close to the book  or books  from the start  what if all they took from the written work was the title  this begs the question why tarnish a great body of work by slapping it  s title on your vacuous piece of crap  save money and don  t buy the rights to the works . title it something else . don  t use the character  s names . believe me no one will accuse you of plagiarism . in fact it won  t matter what you title it to the unread moviegoer who accepts everything you throw at him . but it will upset those who read  who think  who are unwilling to simply let you give them a pretty light show .  br    br   i  robot  like much of hollywood  s take on the genre  pushes science fiction back down into that basement it lived in years ago . hollywood could not do this alone . it takes an uncritical mindless audience that will accept puerile dredge like this .  
warning  mild spoilers ahead    br    br    yes  i realize it  s tough to spoil an historical documentary  but i do reveal some of the backstory and methods .   br    br   this is an exceptional documentary not just because of the remarkable footage  but also due to the story behind it . because the naudets did not set out to tell the story of      but rather that of a rookie firefighter  the men  s emotions and the viewer  s connection with them are more real and powerful than they would be in a standard retrospective .  br    br   in a filmmaking sense        is textbook . if the events were an actual script  they would be superb  as the characters are established  then thrown a curve to which they must react . this is all the more amazing considering the pain and emotion of the raw footage that the directors had to wade through to piece this story together .  br    br   the first portion of the film provides a glimpse of life inside a fire station specifically  how a rookie assimilates himself into a crew of veterans . that part alone is quite good  and had the documentary been allowed to run its intended course  it probably would have been solid . the brothers appear to realistically portray the process of becoming a nyc firefighter .  br    br   then of course  all hell breaks loose . the chaos following the wtc attacks is vividly seen  as various characters that we have gotten to know are thrust into terrifying situations . seeing not only the attacks  but also the first  hand reactions is a very moving picture of extreme human emotion .  br    br   the aftermath  in which firefighters are discovered to be lost and found  is human drama at its peak . life and death hang in the balance . unlike many movies  the viewer not only doesn  t know who will live and die  but genuinely cares about them .  br    br   the only negative thing i have to say about this is that the robert deniro  whom i like  blurbs were uninformative  unnecessary  and didn  t advance the story at all . they were probably added just to attract more television viewers .  br    br   bottom line the best documentary i  ve ever seen . nonpareil portrayals of raw human emotion and drama .  .  out of   .  
i just saw this film on dvd last night  and decided to check out the reviews this morning . it seems that  i  robot  has polarized the critical viewing community here on imdb  and given rise to a lot of insults and name  calling  too  .  br    br   i find this somewhat surprising  as this film is not great  or even good   but neither is it terrible  or even really bad  . what this film really is  is . . . depressing . depressing that the us film  goer population is so ready to lap up insipid  clichd re  heats  and acclaim them as spectacular new works . this film as  retread  written all over it  from the plot line  an uneasy mix of asimov and modern  day uber  action  to smith  s character  a smart  mouthed cynic with a backbone of titanium   to the special effects  that borrowed from matrix and a few others  .  br    br    i  robot  is  sadly  quite possibly the perfect action movie for today  s audience superficial plot  insipidly snappy dialog  and lots and lots of adrenaline . smith is mediocre  but we already knew that  he seems to be hollywood  s latest unsuccessful attempt to create a black bruce willis  . the story has lots of holes in it  of all sizes  but i don  t think most people drawn to this film are critically  minded enough to notice . perhaps a blockbuster by today  s standards  but very b  movie compared to true winners .  
     is a classic example of cinema verite  a sort of realist documentary  in this case of new york firemen as they battle against one of the most extraordinary events of world history . it  s all tiny  unobtrusive  hand  held video cameras  often betrayed by the poor quality of most of the filming  and by the director  naudet  s hand frequently wiping the screen  .  br    br   in this film  you get to know most of the firemen  tony benatatos  the rookie  or  probie   in ny fireman vernacular   the fire chief joseph pfeiffer  who finds he  s lost his brother later on  and a few others . there are studio interviews with most of these people throughout the film  just to emphasise the personal  reflexive nature of the events . the build  up is quite dramatic and well  done  particularly the passing  out ceremony at the fire department  with a few useful swish  pans and a sort of dialectical editing of the rather limited filmwork  just like rob reiner  s a few good men  . tony looks proud .  br    br   the viewpoint and camera angle is usually from amidst the firemen  which is interesting and there is some excellent footage from inside the lobby of wtc  while pfeiffer and his team plan what to do next  this is classic cinema verite . there is also the eery  haunting sound of the occasional human body crashing against the portico outside . it is then that an increasingly forlorn fire chief pfeiffer realises that his task is desperate and probably hopeless  and this is before wtc  collapses . you have to give credit to naudet for knowing which faces to film and at which moment .  br    br   the sound of the neighbouring wtc  collapsing is so awfully sad  poignant and terrifying that you realise what an ordeal this is for the firemen . from the lobby  it looks  feels and sounds like the end of the world and the poor firemen look so utterly bewildered and frightened . you hear an enormous rumbling  trembling maelstrom  like that of a giant  monolithic beast slowly falling to the ground after being so mortally wounded  the neighbouring tower has collapsed yet the fire team remaining in wtc  are oblivious to this event . where is the communication   br    br   this film is captivating yet the narration is amateurish and should have been avoided  cues like  this really was a day like no other  or naudet  s frequently banal pronouncements like  you could see fear in everybody  s eyes  and  i knew tony was freaking out   the film is really just one long video diary . there are no pictures from higher up the building where some of the firemen have gone . imagine this film blended with cctv footage from some of the rooms higher up or some of the news coverage from the day . the effect would be greater . you could even combine this story with that of mayor giuliani and  perhaps  the famous cornishman rick riscorla who literally was many floors up acting the hero .  br    br   i don  t see much of a propaganda element in this film  as some reviewers suggest . this film is no triumph of the will  by riefenstahl . some time later the firemen drape the american flag over a nearby  surviving building overlooking what has become ground zero . so what   br    br   there are also some moments of dubious camerawork for example  who is holding the camera when the two naudet brothers are reunited back at the fire station  is it staged   br    br   there is an excellent finish  very much in the traditon of the excellent french director alain resnais  hiroshima mon amour   with two strips of light reflected in the water  shimmying .  
this is probably the most boring  worse and useless film i have seen last year . the plot that was meant to have some philosophical aspects emerged to me as a very bad hollow copy of the matrix  with plenty of clichs the lone wolf cop  good looking  psychologically disturbed  sleeping with his gun . . .  nice hard worker and shy  but good looking she  scientist  you add a  cent plot and you have i  robot  i was terribly disturbed by the obvious advertising of brands like fedex  audi  converse etc . this movie stinks the commercialization and tend to be more a poor ad spot that unfortunately will not end after   sec . i wouldn  t recommend this to my worse enemy  if you have some spare time  watch a good tv program instead or better read a nice book .  
it  s true that you always remember what you were doing at a point when disaster or tragedy strikes . and none more so that september         a date which changed the entire global landscape in its fight against terrorism .  br    br   no  this documentary didn  t set out to be dwelling on the events leading to     . rather  the filmmakers  brothers gdon and jules naudet  set out to do a documentary on the trials and tribulations of a rookie new york firefighter . they had gone to the academy and done some shoots of training  and had handpicked their  proby   probation firefighter  to join them in an ny firehouse  home to ladder  and engine  . but their production was to develop and contain at that time  believed to be the only shot of the first plane slamming into the world trace center .  br    br   i was traveling back with a friend on the train from a night of lan gaming  and received a call at about    pm local time from my dad  who informed me of the above . few minutes later  he told me there was another  and that the wtc was under attack . by the time i arrived home  the upper floors of the twin towers were ablaze and in smoke  and to my horror  they collapsed  under an hour .  br    br   the filmmakers had two cameras running that day  one who had followed a team out on a routine call  and which immediately raced to the wtc upon hearing and seeing the plane crash into it . we follow what is possible the only filmed sequence of events in the lobby of wtc  where the first responders of firefighters  paramedics  and police had to make sense of what happened  and to quickly develop a plan of action . the other camera  held by the other brother  was making his way to wtc to look for his sibling  and along the journey  captured the many expressions of new yorkers  as well as the sense of chaos in and around manhatten .  br    br   peppered throughout the documentary are numerous interviews with the men from ladder  and engine   which miraculously  did not suffer any casualty . but being survivors also brought about its own set of psychological turmoil  as they struggle to come to terms with the event . through the events that unfold  we learn of the strong camaraderie amongst these men who risk live and limb each day on their jobs  to save lives .  br    br   we began with what the documentary was supposed to be  before events of the day totally swung in and became the focus  right up to the rescue phase where hopes of finding survivors under the rubble were kept alive by the men who work round the clock in making sense of the collapsed steel structures . it  s not a film that is fabricated  and what you see here cannot be recreated in any other documentary  and heavens  not sound stages for hollywood blockbusters  . it  s as close as you can get to that day  witnessing the event up close  from safety .  br    br   code  dvd contains a separate extra hour of  sets of interviews with the men of ladder  and engine  .  
in spite of the great future  design touches  the clever asimov premise  and will smith  s dependable cool performance  this movie doesn  t live up to expectations . the clichs come thick and fast  waking from a recurring nightmare  maverick cop has his badge revoked by hardass lieutenant  to list more would be spoiling it  you can see the end a mile off  . this movie is also stagebound  you never feel that you have travelled anywhere what  s supposed to be a global disaster never leaves an obviously cgi chicago . the robots themselves are good in closeup  but the  crowd  scenes look more like bad disney  the cgi is overdone again and again . and if you can destroy the robots by smashing them  why do they need to inject  nanites   you know it  s a duff movie when stupid questions like that start to bother you before the climax . it could have been great  but it  s less than the sum of its parts  mainly due to the utterly predictable plot that could have come from any action film of the last forty years .  
i miss dark angel  . .  br    br   i understand not ever one likes it  but as far as i  m concerned the show should not have been canceled  especially for another space show mock up . . .  br    br   i  m reading the books now . they are doing a pretty good job of explaining somethings  but i still think we should get a tv movie or something .  br    br   the freak nation lives          
the only thing remarkable about this movie  is that all the actors could bomb at the same time . idiocy . i want my money back . . . and i got it free from the library . sheesh . i would rather chew on tin fool and shave my head with a cheese grater then watch this again .  
        hosted by robert deniro  presents footage from outside and inside the twin towers in new york  on september        .  br    br   never too grisly and gory  yet powerful and moving .       is a real treat . anyone not moved by this television show is immune to anything .  br    br      stars    br    br    
this  film  is the culmination of everything that is bad about modern film . unnecessary slow motion  unnecessary flipping  jumping  somersaults  unnecessary characters  unnecessary dialogue . . . . basically unnecessity .  is that a word  well  it  s just been invented by i  robot .   br    br   what happened to practicality   i . e . the car garage  the skin spray  the only tool that shows a combination of futuristic and realistic function is the card swipe at the coffee shop .  br    br   what happened to showing respect for women   i . e . smith  s character does nothing but degrade the doctor for the better part of the film  and yet she still  wants  him . where is the tension  i  ll tell you where  good looks and not admiration or common ground   br    br   what happened to a detective that detects  smith did nothing but sit around and feel sorry for himself  complaining to other people  and when they said something that sparked a thought he was off . this is such a lame way to get the story from point b  c  d  etc . . . it was ok once  but not several times in a row .  speaking of several times in a row  what was the  i  m snoring and not listening to you joke  twice in one scene    br    br   what happened to the small parts in a movie being somewhat meaningful and not just a tool to promote rescue scenes  shia labeouf  the kid  is in the movie for a total of two scenes  we know that a  he degrades women  and b  he knows smith . . . . . . . so of course we should care about him and whether or not he comes to harm   br    br   what happened to hero  s  let  s just forget that there are people  women and children everywhere getting attacked by robots and selfishly save the only person withing my view that i have an acquaintance with . and why did he have to ramp his bike through the air  showing off  while the doctor was somehow able to reach the same distance in a matter of seconds on foot .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i  m all for spectacle . but i  m also all for a shred of realism and meaning .  br    br   i have to say i  ve never laughed quite so hard at a film in a long time . so thanks alex .  br    br   i pray for the swing of the social pendulum back to simpler techniques  simpler stories and simpler everything else in films . . . . . . but mainly simpler techniques .  br    br   big budget action films  you so have to die   
my roommate had bought this documentary and invited me to watch it with her . she  s from china and only heard so much about     and wanted to know the cold hard truth and she wanted me to tell her more after the documentary . i felt awful watching this documentary  it was like reliving the nightmare and it still brings tears to my eyes .  br    br   but i  m extremely grateful that i watched this documentary  because on the day of september   th  i  m sure we all remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard  all of us could only think certain questions  why     how     what  s going on     oh  my god   . almost all the americans were grateful for the brave firemen and policemen that risked their lives to save others . but i don  t think we thought about what they were really going though . this wasn  t actually supposed to be a documentary about      the cameraman was just filming a typical day on the job and they just happened to be a couple blocks away from the world trade centers and got everything  outside and in  on tape .  br    br   on sep .   th  i thought to myself  it  s ok  the policemen and firemen will get the people out that survived  . to be honest  i thought it was an accident  i was in my junior year of high school and getting changed from gym and getting ready to go to my science class . someone came into the locker room shouting  some building just got bombed in new york    we all got dressed quickly and ran to our classrooms as we watched the first tower burning on tv . not only   seconds later live on tv does the second plane crash into the other world trade center and we knew this was no accident . a few minutes later  we heard about the pentagon and that there was a plane headed for chicago but was shot down . so many thoughts ran through our heads and i kept on thinking  what are the firemen and policemen going to do   . but it  s procedure to them i thought  they  ll know what to do .  br    br   the first tower collapsed  we knew it  so many lives are now gone  the second tower crashed  things would never be the same . those firemen in this documentary showed courage  confusion  and strength  the real raw human emotions . they didn  t know what to do  they were just as scarred as those other people who were in the towers . they heard the bodies collapsing on the ground from people jumping out the windows . and here i was in a classroom just crying seeing all that was going on on tv . i was amazed with this film and just wanted to go to new york and tell them how grateful all the americans were for their help . i know they feel like they were just doing their job  but they did more  they were hero  s . every day after sep .   th for  weeks they kept on digging knowing that there were no survivors  but they kept on hoping and praying . may god bless their kind and brave hearts .  br    br   as for my roommate she was crying and admitted this was her first time crying at these attacks . she got to see the truth of what had happened that tragic day . she asked  why   . i didn  t know what to say  it breaks my heart that people can be that evil .  it sounds clique   but it was a normal day for everyone  one of the firemen said in the documentary . no one expected this to happen . not like that  those people in the world trade centers or the pentagon or the planes that were hijacked  they were just doing their job  happen to be there  or even just was there for a second passing by . they were not just murdered  they were slaughtered  and those hijackers did it with a song in their heart . then seeing in the middle east all the people celebrating  why do people do this  they celebrated death and the lose of mothers  fathers  sisters  brothers  friends  grandparents  aunts  uncles  cousins  etc . why   br    br   so  thanks to those people for making this documentary . you truly think about the firemen  policemen  and the troops in iraq and it keeps your hope up that there are good people in this world . thank you to all those people  you are our heroes .  br    br         
this movie was a mess . it had the absolute worst editing i have ever seen . it was almost like at the end of a scene the writer wanted to go to commercial  and the filmmaker added a second of black screen to fulfill the writers dream .  br    br   under the messy direction and editing  there was a glimmer of something good . a good idea  a compelling spark . but somewhere it went wrong .  br    br   the story is about a quasi  psychic priest who is trying to solve a string of murders . the first thing that is hard to bite into is richard grieco as a priest . well the part doesn  t call for him to be a good priest and he succeeds rather well . the second problem is dennis hopper as the crazy bad guy . he always plays the crazy bad guy . very ho hum .  br    br   oh  a thought occured to me that maybe all the jumpy  horrible editing and disconnected plot was trying to add a sense of the confusion the character  grieco  was experiencing . and just to prove that it was contrived they rolled the credits backwords . not a good sign for any movie .  br    br    
i was one of many that expected to see a glorified  yankee  doodle dandy portrayal of a day that  as famously quoted  should live in infamy  rather than glory . how wrong i was . these guys were there  right in the middle of it  and the pictures they returned are both amazing and heartbreaking . and yet it all occurred on a chance trip to the world trade centre on september        .  br    br   two french filmmakers were compiling a documentary about life as a ny firefighter  particularly from the perspective of a young rookie coming up through the ranks . at the beginning we see much of this footage  just to remind us that there was no thought to producing a film about terrorism . this was intended to be a film about regular people earning an honest living helping others  and the beauty of the film is that it never loses this edge .  br    br   while investigating a suspect gas line  i think  my memory  s a little hazy on that   we suddenly hear a plane fly overhead . the camera pans up to reveal a commercial jet torpedoing itself into one of the towers . what must the cameraman have been thinking at this time  recognising the importance of the footage the camera stays on  and possibly realizing the same thing  the fdny allow the camera to follow them into the building .  br    br   what follows is a true view from the front  lines . we see the commitment of the fdny  their reactions  the stunned silence after hearing the first person fall to their death is chilling  as well as the collapse of the one of the buildings from the inside  while a second camera captures the events from the outside .  br    br   if it wasn  t for the horrific event they were covering  the footage alone would be any young doco  maker  s dream come true . quite simply  the footage deserves to be preserved for all time . but what really sets this film apart is the genuine humanity that it brings to the viewer . we see firefighters charging in without hesitation  people of different races helping one another escape to wave of rubble and even the concern of the filmmakers for one another  they are brothers  as they cannot reach one another in the confusion . there are amazing sights as well as amazing human stories in this film  something hollywood could never duplicate  even though it  s trying  .  br    br       isn  t a film about politics . nor is it a film about religion  nationality or even jihad for that matter .     is a film about people  and a true indication of the best and worst that we are capable of .     is quite simply one of the most important films i  ve ever seen  and would be the only film to be born from this event if it were up to me . you can  t duplicate this .  
this was an impulse pick up for me from the local video store . don  t make the same mistake i did . this movie is tedious  unconvincingly acted  and generally boring . the dialogue between the young priest and his uncle is particularly poorly written and delivered i cringed at every scene they shared . dennis hopper makes a few sparse appearances and is his usual disjointed self his role was clearly not a stretch for him . and although the movie is supposedly set in puerto rico  it feels a lot more like a hollywood movie lot all of the main characters are caucasian and several tend to speak english with pseudo  irish accents . odd . anyway  when you see this one on the shelf of your local video store  keep walking .  
i must admit that i was very sceptical about this documentary . i was expecting it to be the kind of all american propaganda that we here in europe dislike so much . i was wrong . this is not propaganda  in fact it is hardly political at all .  br    br   it depicts the events of     through the eyes of the firefighters called to the scene just after the planes crashed . it is an amazing coinsidence that this documentary was filmed at all  this film was initially shot as a documnetary about a rookie ny firefighter becoming  a man  . we can only thank the film makers that they continued their work during the terrible ordeal that faced them .  br    br   a great piece of work . absolutely stunning material . highly recommended .  br    br   regards   
first of all  what is good in the movie  some pretty actress  the exotic background  the fact that the actors don  t laugh while acting  i would have if i had been in their situation   i don  t know . the storyline is simple  a catholic priest who does abstract painting tries to find out who  another abstract painter  killed his little brother  a male prostitute  raped by another priest when he was young . . .  . i  m afraid there is nothing here to learn or to let think a little about serial killers  art or religion . dennis hopper is not very good here . this is the worst episode of the worst season of  profiler   the serie  with replacement actors and unbelievable coincidences  the uncle is the policeman who  the girl who lives at another victim  s house could have a baby with the priest  etc .  etc  .  
it  s a good movie maybe i like it because it was filmed here in pr . the actors did a good performance and not only did the girls be girlish but they were good in fighting so it was awsome  the guy is cute too so it  s a good match if you want to the guy or the girls .  
i  ll give writer  director william gove credit for finding someone to finance this ill  conceived  thriller .  a good argument for not wasting money subscribing to hbo  let alone buying dvds based on cover art and blurbs . a pedestrian dennis hopper and a game richard grieco add nothing significant to their resumes  although the art direction is not half bad . the dialogue will leave you grimacing with wonder at its conceit this is storytelling at its worst . no tension  no suspense  no dread  no fear  no empathy  no catharsis  no nothing . a few attractive and often nude females spice up the boredom  but this is definitely a film best seen as a trailer . i feel sorry for the guy who greenlighted this thing . good for late  night  zoned  out viewing only . you have been warned .  
yowsa  if you really want some action  check out the babes and bombs on this non  stop thriller  veteran star martin sheen leads a trio of supermodels on a mission to stop nuclear terrorism . . . but director dean hamilton doesn  t let this heavy plotline get in the way of massive doses of teensy  swimsuit scenes  jiggly beach jogs  hubba  hubba hot tubs and the like  want action  you  ll get more of it here than in pearl harbor . want babes  you  ll get an eyeful every two minutes . want more  go out and buy this video  yowsa  yowsa  yowsa  that  s some mighty spicy meatballs     
a splendid example of how hollywood could  and still can  take a masterpiece of literary fiction and stupidly foul it up .  br    br   in the case of  the big sky   writer dudley nichols and company arrogantly assumed they could improve upon a classic pioneer novel by the pulitzer prize  winning author  a . b . guthrie . in so doing  they removed the soul of the story and any edge and impact it may have had as a film adaptation .  br    br   the epic nature of guthrie  s book and the evolution of its main character  boone caudill  from a naive  kentucky lad into a hardened and competent survivor  mountain man  has been replaced with a downscaled riverboat farce that bears little resemblance to the author  s intent . in the movie version  boone  s presence is nothing except underwhelming .  br    br   intriguing and even shocking plot elements that give guthrie  s novel impact and excitement have been removed for no apparent reason whatsoever . most puzzling of all is the emphasis placed upon the zeb calloway character  who was an incidental  minor character in the book  only occupying a handful of pages . on the other hand  a very important and fascinating character  dick summers  the veteran pioneer  is missing altogether    it is also apparent that director hawks decided the zeb character in the movie  played by actor hunnicutt  wasn  t irritating enough . so zeb  hunnicutt was given a significant amount of time doing that obnoxious  voice  over narration that is the hollywood short cut for incompetent screen writing  editing  and direction .  br    br   some movies have actually improved upon the books upon which they were based  william wyler  s  ben  hur  is an excellent example  . but this is horrible and depressing not only as an adaptation of a novel but as a film unto itself .  br    br   the story is dull and clichd  and the characters  at least the ones that have not been edited out of the script  are just shallow and boring shadows of guthrie  s literary vision . and unfortunately  kirk douglas  star appeal  which could have helped lift this film  was scuttled by the milktoast role he was given .  br    br   if you can believe it  the film version of guthrie  s pulitzer prize  winning sequel   the way west   also starring kirk  is even worse .  br    br   in my opinion   the big sky  further solidifies howard hawks  place as one of the most overrated  tepid directors in the history of cinema .  
a thin story with many fine shots . eyecatchers here are the three ladies from the d . r . e . a . m . team . and  to a lesser extent  the guy accompanying them . traci lords convincingly acts out the female half of an evil business  couple intending to poison the world with antrax . original in this movie is the bra  bomb  put on a captured member of the d . r . e . a . m .  team . of course she is rescued by a co  member  three seconds before explosion . although clearly lent from james bond  s  goldfinger  and  you only live twice   such a climax always works well . all in all a nice watch  james bond replaced here by three charlie  s angels .  
anyone that has see tammuz  s child eaters knows that this is a director that can do better . let  s hope it was not a case of too many hands in the pot  telefilm anyone   and that is was a case of second feature jitters . the characters are one dimensional and over used . the scenery is terrific however and showcases the pacific northwest beautifully .  br    br   the cinematography is great . shot almost entirely outside  the images are crisp and beautiful . you can almost smell the wind blowing through the leaves .  br    br   technically this movie is as sound as they come  it just lacks a heart .  
of course i would have to give this film   out of   as my uncle was the main screenplay writer of once upon a crime . rodolfo sonego wrote screenplays for over   years living in italy . he was a great story teller and someone suggested that he put his stories into writing . so rodolfo sonego did . if you check out his biography  you can see the number of movies that have been made in italy . alberto sordie was the main actor that starred in his stories . my uncle visited australia and my town  in     to check out locations for  a girl in australia  and created a great movie about a proxy bride after the second world war . you can see his humor in all his movies . i found a copy of this movie on dvd recently . great  
not only was this the most expensive canadian film ever shot in bc  but easily the worst  never seeing the light of day . the director is not even canadian  but british  and boy does it show . we are all made out to be a bunch of over  sexed dope fiends and morons . the spirit of what it means to be canadian is absent  and this is supposed to be the reason we fund this bunk . of course the british character is normal . the rest are a crop of sitcom stereotype  can you say  norm     the cinematography ranges from pretty postcard images to murky indoor silhouettes . the actors always seem to be fidgetting . are they as bored as the viewer  or is this the directors idea of cinema  avoid this mess and check out some of bruce mcdonalds films . a true canadian boy with something original to say cinematically . you won  t be compelled to walk out on his films after   minutes .  
i saw this ages ago when i was younger and could never remember the title  until one day i was scrolling through john candy  s film credits on imdb and noticed an entry named  once upon a crime . . .  . something rang a bell and i clicked on it  and after reading the plot summary it brought back a lot of memories .  br    br   i  ve found it has aged pretty well despite the fact that it is not by any means a  great  comedy . it is  however  rather enjoyable and is a good riff on a hitchcock formula of mistaken identity and worldwide thrills .  br    br   the movie has a large cast of characters  amongst them an american couple who find a woman  s dog while vacationing in europe and decide to return it to her for a reward  only to find her dead body upon arrival . from there the plot gets crazier and sillier and they go on the run after the police think they are the killers .  br    br   kind of a mix between  it  s a mad mad mad mad world  and a lighter hitchcock feature  this was directed by eugene levy and he managed to get some of his good friends  such as john candy  to star in it . the movie is mostly engaging due to its cast  and the ending has a funny little twist that isn  t totally unpredictable but also is kind of unexpected .  
this movie makes canadians and brits out to be asinine  moronic idiots . the men get stoned  drunk  and then they yell  beat each other up in almost every scene . the women are superfluous to the story  i do not understand what they are there for  they spend every scene causing a ruckus  or worse  milling around like mesmerized cattle . apparently  canadian women are either quarrelsome vulgar tramps or hulking hippie chicks . it  s the standard knocked  up girlfriend  her loser boyfriend and his wicked mother ludicrousness that we have seen in countless movies before .  br    br   every character here is a carping  infantile stereotype . not to mention that they all looked like they need a shower  and the idea of any kind of scene implying sex with george wendt  shudder  is enough to make anyone gag  i watched the movie because samuel west was in it  but i cannot understand why he would have accepted a role like this . maybe he needed the money . ian tracey is a superb actor  the only one with a vague redeeming moment  but his talent is wasted here .  br    br   as for the rest of the plot  the three imbeciles trying to get their dope back  yawn  or karl  who is dead  but who is actually a character very much alive in the minds of those left behind  almost like rebecca in alfred hitchcock  s masterpiece  although i am ashamed to even have thought to compare these two films   why even bother  karl is so galling that you find the circumstances of his death gratifying .  br    br   by the end of this wretched movie  i thought they would all have been better off going down with him on that boat   
i love monte carlo and thoroughly enjoyed this movie . i thought everyone was very good . i was not familiar with richard lewis  i thought he made his character  julian peters  very personable  funny and attractive . sean young was very good as the befuddled rejected girl with a heart of gold . george hamilton was charming and the perfect italian gigolo . john candy has a field day as the bon vivant . james belushi is hysterical as a total jerk . cybill shepard gave a very sweet performance as a nice vulnerable ignored housewife . delightful ensemble cast . lots of talent  clever script  lots going on and beautiful locations . just a nice pick me up for a dreary day . especially in the winter when a trip to europe is not anywhere on your horizon .  
i found this on the shelf while housesitting and bored . how can people possibly give this a    it  s not just that it  s supposed to be a feel  good redemption film  i think   because it doesn  t work on that level either . weak plot  bad dialogue  terrible acting there  s just nothing there . harvey keitel is decent  but has nothing to work with  and bridget fonda and especially johnathon schaech are just terrible . the plot progression  especially the relationship between byron and ashley  makes no sense . it seems like the writers wanted the plot to go a certain way and made it  without actually writing in the necessary bits to make it flow . it  s only an hour and a half  but that  s   minutes of your life you  ll never get back .  
super  slick entertainment with a stellar cast  an outstanding script  and a firm grip on the approaching      s . at the time  rko was turning out classic noirs by the dozens . but whatever the value of those shadowy downers  they reflected a war  time mood soon to give way the sunnier climes of the eisenhower era . few films of the late     s are further from that noir cycle or more attuned to the coming consumer decade than this sassy little comedy .  br    br   jim blandings  cary grant  works as an ad  man on madison ave . where in his little daughter  s words   he sells things to people that they don  t need  at prices they can  t afford . he  s making good money  but like thousands of others  he  s tired of living in a cramped urban  cave  . so  with wife myrnah loy  they strike out after their dream house in the wilds of the connecticutt countryside . needless to say  in the arms of nature  they get more than they bargained for and in hilarious fashion .  br    br   there  s hardly a lifeless line in the entire script . i don  t know if writers panama and frank got an oscar  but they should have . of course  the humor revolves around all the problems that pop  up when city people build a big house on rural land . the annoyances pile up almost as fast as the mortgage  with all the eccentric types running the construction show and giving grant a hard time . of course  no one carries off annoyance or frustration more humorously than grant  so it  s just one well  placed laugh after another  particularly when the locked closet appears to have an infernal mind of its own . yet  oddly  the film appears to have no comedic high  point . instead the laughs are spaced out so expertly that they don  t peak at any particular point . that  s a real movie triumph for any era .  br    br   reaching back   years later  we can see how deftly the script ideas look ahead rather than behind . with their live  in maid  the blandings may not be a typical american family  but that post  war migration from cramped cities to spacious suburbia was typical . and what more suggestive job for the coming consumerism than blandings as an  ad  man  tasked with finding catchier ways to sell more  ham  . more than anything  however  there  s the movie  s sunny optimism . oh sure  the feeling falters at times  yet the belief that a better future is on the horizon if the blandings just stick to their dream carries them through . indeed  life was going to improve for a lot of people during the coming surge  so i expect the film resonated deeply with audiences of the day . it  s that easily over  looked subtext  along with the sheer entertainment value  that makes this movie a key comedy statement of the post  war period .  br    br   so  if you haven  t seen it  catch it next time around .  
this was one of the worst movies i have ever seen . branaugh seemed to have so much trouble remembering his accent that he couldn  t deliver his lines . the plot was definitely not worthy of john grisham  s name . no wonder it was never published as a book or released in theaters . i didn  t even watch the whole thing . i decided i didn  t care who done it  then realized there was no  whodunit  to care about   
with a well thought out cast  this movie was a great comedic relief . the plot is well  written and the cast was knockout . every bit as good as the reviews suggested  a rarity  and was highly entertaining . being a huge john candy fan myself  this movie was no disappointment .  
might contain possible spoilers  not that anything in this film is new or will even mildly surprise you for that matter   br    br   why does disney feel the need to recycle everything they ever made into oblivion  sure it  s cheaper for them  but after a while  wouldn  t you think there overall quality and the way people think of them would drop off . house of villains is a despicable display of cartoon crossovers that make absolutely no sense at all . some signs of the total disregard for previous films in this are the voices don  t even remotely match up and iago is evil again  since when    i know that these films are directly towards children but there was a time when all could enjoy disney films . even the movie  s musical number  which had been disney  s specialty for years  stunk . i wouldn  t recommend this film to anyone even the very young . all i can is that if more of these movies of the same caliber are released  it  s only a matter of time before some small animation studio surpasses disney in overall quality .  
this movie has an all star cast  john candy  richard lewis  ornella mutti  cybill shepard  and jim belushi to name a few  run amuck in monte carlo  as well as some other beautiful european locations  and is very funny . the trouble that everyone gets in when they lie to protect themselves is great  and i highly recommend that you see this movie  it is well worth it  john candy is in top form in once upon a crime  as is everyone else  if you and your family are looking for a great family film  this is your ticket . everyone gives stellar performances  great acting  great comedy  and great timing  which is rare in movies these days . great plot  great mystery   which i love anyways  and overall  well worth the money you spend on it . so get the kids  grab some popcorn  juice  or tea  or sodas  and enjoy the show      
have not watched kids films for some years  so i missed  here come the tigers  when it first came out .  never even saw  bad news bears  even though in the    s i worked for the guys who arranged financing for that movie   warriors    man who would be king   and  rocky horror picture show   among others .  now i like to check out old or small movies and find people who have gone on to great careers despite being in a less than great movie early on . just minutes into this movie i could take no more and jumped to the end credits to see if there was a young actor in this movie who had gone on to bigger and better things   at least watching for his  her appearance would create some interest as the plot and acting weren  t doing the job . lo and behold  i spied wes craven  s name in the credits as an electrical gaffer . he  d already made two or three of his early shockers but had not yet created freddie krueger or made the  scream  movies . maybe he owed a favor and helped out on this pic . more surprising was fred j . lincoln in the cast credits as  aesop   a wacky character in the movie . f . j . lincoln  from the    s to just a few years ago  appeared in and produced adult films . he was associated with the adult spoof  the ozporns   and just that title is funnier than all of  tigers  attempts at humor combined . let the fact that an adult actor was placed in a kids movie be an indication as to how the people making this movie must have been asleep at the wheel .  
john candy  s performance in once upon a crime is possibly his best ever . it  s been my favourite movie since it came out . i spent  years searching for it . that  s how good it is . if you disagree  well  that  s your opinion . enjoy the movie .  
the saddest part of this is the fact that these are   minutes i  ll never get back . i knew this was terrible from the get  go  with the guy dressed as a lunatic indian chief on top of the roof .  see if they could get away with that in      . my    year  old boy is really into baseball right now  so we decided to rent it on a rainy day . even though he seemed to enjoy parts of it  i had to cringe when i heard all the needless foul language . bad  bad movie . this was an awful ripoff of bad news bears . completely shameless and completely predictable . i don  t mind a predictable movie if it  s done well  but this one absolutely was not .  
i would reccomend this film to everyone . not only to the fans of the rocker luciano ligabue  but to all film  buffs . because it  s sincere  moving  funny and true . because ligabue is a born storyteller and a film lover  and every frame of his film is made with love and care . because his characters are loved and ask to be loved . because most of the italian debut films are lousy and this one  done by an outsider  is a real joy to watch and to listen at . because stefano accorsi is gorgeous and reminds me of andrea pazienza  who was  like freccia  beautiful and talented and good and lost his life because of the heroin  that ligabue shows as it is  unglamorous and ugly  without indulging in easy moralisms . because it  s a film that speaks to our heart  our ears  our souls . and because i lived the experience of the fm radios and it was exactly like that . thanks  luciano   
i just watched this horrid thing on tv . needless to say it is one of those movies that you watch just to see how much worse it can get . frankly  i don  t know how much lower the bar can go .  br    br   the characters are composed of one lame stereo  type after another  and the obvious attempt at creating another  bad news bears  is embarrassing to say the very least .  br    br   i have seen some prized turkeys in my time  but there is no reason to list any of them since this is  numero uno  .  br    br   let me put it to you this way  i watched the vanilla ice movie  because it was so bad it was funny . this . . . this . . . is not even that good .  
 . . . about the importance of being young  having friends  and most of all enjoying life . through the experience of four friends  ligabue shows to the audience how life was back in the    s in a small italian village . the four carachters represent the four different aspects of human behavior also the drug experience is well represented .  
what a stinkeroo this turned out to be    at one time  much earlier in her career  linda darnell was one of my favorites  no great shakes as an actress  but very beautiful and pleasant  particularly in films like  the mark of zorro  and  blood and sand   but when i saw this monstrosity  the memories of her golden days faded quickly . the story is unbelievable and farcical  the acting second  rate  the supporting cast insufferable . i cannot think of a more immature performance by anyone when compared to tab hunter  and donald gray had to be the most boring leading man they could have picked . added to this  was the terrible photography  and i am not just referring to the color   everyone associated with this  must have shuddered whenever it was shown .  
nice movie with a great soundtrack which spans through the rock landscape of the    s and    s . radiofreccia describes a generation  it describes life in a small village near correggio  hometown of ligabue  the singer who wrote the book that inspired the movie   it describes life of young people and their problems relating to the world . it reminds of trainspotting  with a bit of italian touch .  
this movie is horrible  it rivals  ishtar  in the number of embarrassingly bad moments . i would have rated it lower than a   save for a couple of funny lines but  overall  this film was crap  it looked like they made it over a weekend at some bankrupt resort somewhere . joe roth should join elaine may on the directing sidelines forever   
  radiofreccia  is still a good surprise in italian cinema . the film is based on a book of italian songwriter luciano ligabue  who also directs the movie and writes the music score  of course .  br    br   the film is a portrait of north italian province life  in the emilia romagna region . we  re in      the time of the first free radios  one of the boys of the movie creates  radioraptus  . youth wishes  friendship  love  sex  individual dramas and unemployment are among the themes  but the film speaks also about drugs  freccia  the main character  is a victim of heroin slavery .  br    br   without being boring and moralist  the story flows very well the spontaneity of actors is strong and the way of directing as well . obviously luciano  liga  ligabue is neither fellini nor a movie professional  first of all he  s a musician . but he succeeds in making a good product . unfortunately he  ll not repeat the success with his second movie  da zero a dieci   not good at all .  br    br   in  radiofreccia  actors are generally not very famous  the only star is stefano accorsi  one of the most popular young italian actors . see in a small role another italian songwriter  francesco guccini  he  s the nice communist barman and football trainer   
when my wife and i decided to watch this movie we thought it couldn  t fail . i love billy crystal  my wife loves julia roberts and everyone we talked to said they loved it .  br    br   we were misled  in spades .  br    br   on my part  i felt billy crystal  s character was extremely one  dimensional and did very little for the film . sure  he cracked a couple of good jokes  but as a character he did nothing but take up space .  br    br   and poor julia roberts . in past shows she plays well as a strong  willed  self  determined lady . in this flick  she seems completely repressed and had very little fire . this is not the julia roberts that my wife enjoys watching .  br    br   ok  if i were to find one good thing  it would have to be christopher walken . now that  s entertainment . but  just like billy crystal  hardly anything is shown of his character .  br    br   if you  re looking for a night of mindless laughs with very little redeeming value  go see it . but if you  re looking for a smart  romantic comedy  this is not your film . it  s none of the above .  
radiofreccia is a movie about all of us  about our dreams  our friends  our obsessions  our addictions  our fears . it is a brilliant movie where a group of friends like all of us have lives through the hardships of growing up in a small town in one of the most significant decades in the last century . the movie doesn  t take a happy or sad approach on things  it just tells us a story  one that all of us could have experienced . one of happiness and excitement  sadness and grief . the power of this story is in that we grow to love the characters  it is one of those movies you will watch over and over again  feeling closer to the little town in emilia romagna where it takes place . hoping one day to be able to finally walk its streets next to freccia and his friends  listening to the music that changed the world through the crackling sound of an old radio playing radio raptus international  playing their dreams  our dreams . radiofreccia will make you laugh  it will make you cry at times  it will shock you and comfort you  it will give you and take from you . personally i believe it to have played an important part in my life  and that of my friends  and i suggest you all watch it and let it become part of yours .  
shame on julia roberts and john cusack . they are so talented and should not have had any part in this movie . the storyline was dumb and predictable . the jokes were not funny . the romance was not really romance . i was all too happy when this movie ended .  
now this show looks like most of the other shows of it  s type from the mid     s  but the only thing is about this one is that it  s different  they use a lot of comedy and action in this one and maybe a little bit of drama too . i personally thought it was a good show  i can  t understand why would they cancel it . the good thing is that the fan base of this show is still alive ever since     up to date .  br    br   my hopes is that the wb bring back the show or even do a movie  which i know is gonna be impossible to do  but hey it doesn  t hurt to dream  doesn  t it   br    br   anyway  i would recommend if you hadn  t seen it to find the dvd of all   episodes  because the characters are great  the story lines are good  the comedy is good and well the whole show is just great .  
characters you don  t care about  relationships you don  t care about and you sit through all that to see the ending you knew was coming from the start . julia roberts usually leaves no impression on me one way or the other . she was actually somewhat endearing in this role .  
a classic cartoon  always enjoyable and funny . it has an interesting plot complete with lovable characters . road rovers is a show worth seeing  it is a short   episodes  and if you can ever manage a chance to see it  you should . unfortunately  it is very hard to find . i think warner brothers studios should release a dvd that contains all   episodes . i would definitely buy it if they did  and if they do  you should buy it too . if you have kids who like dogs  they will love road rovers  road rovers should have gotten more attention while it was being aired  it was definitely an original and very special show that should have been appreciated much more than it was .  
i found this film to be an utter dissapointment . the talent available to the director  notably stanley tucci  chris walken  hank azaria and alan arkin  without even mentioning the four main leads   have been completely wasted on an unfunny  mediocre story  whose conclusion one couldn  t really care about once introduced to the dire  stereo  typed characters . julia roberts is feeble  zeta  jones is just plain annoying  appearing to reprise her role from high fidelity  minus the humour   crystal just plays his same old hyper  active  neurotic  annoying alter  ego and cusack simply walks through his part  apparently bored with the whole project .  br    br   for what is supposed to be a  romantic comedy   there is absolutely no romance between the central characters  let alone chemistry  and as for the comedy   possible spoilers  well  the only moments of mild humour came off the back of cusack  s role in grosse pointe and his relationship with alan arkin  the scriptwriter obviously unable to show any originality whatsoever .  spoilers  azaria was reasonably amusing as the mexican lover and walken did quite an amusing turn as a parody of an arthouse  maverick  dogme type director  but these parts constituted very little screen time and instead  spoilers  we were treated to billy crystal having his groin sniffed by a dog . pure genius .  br    br   for a huge fan of the majority of john cusack  s work  not to mention the rest of the fantastic cast  i was completely let down by a film with plenty of good ideas  and at the same time completely unwilling to explore or elaborate on any of them  instead resorting to the same old genre cliches and even lowering itself to the depths of almost  gross  out  teen  movie  humour at times .  br    br   a very poor     .  
this is comedy as it once was and comparing this with the two remakes  the money pit and are we done yet   only points out all the more how the    s movie makers had a flair for comedy which has since  regretfully  been lost .  br    br   i was   when i first saw this and even at that tender age  there was much i could laugh at . now of course being familiar with adult frustrations  i see a whole lot that i missed as a youth .  br    br   the three main actors . . . cary grant  myrna loy  and melvyn douglas . . . interacted perfectly  but the core of the movie lies in the frustrations encountered in achieving a dream . it  s never as easy and free of unseen complications as one envisions .  br    br   all in all  this is a classic comedy which still stands above the attempts to remake it .  
have you ever heard the saying that people  telegraph their intentions   well in this movie  the characters  actions do more than telegraph future plans   they show up at your house drunk and buffet you about the head . this could be forgiven if the setting had been used better  or if the characters were more charismatic or nuanced . embeth davidtz  s character is not mysterious  just wooden  and kenneth branagh doesn  t succeed in conveying the brash charm his character probably was written to have .  br    br   the bottom line obvious plot  one  note performances  unlikeable characters  and grotesque  southern  accents employed by british actors .  
far by my most second favourite cartoon spielberg did  after animaniacs . even if the ratings were low  so what  i still enjoyed it and loved it  was so funny and i adored the cast  wow jess harnell and tress macneille were in there and were just fantastic  the whole cast were brilliant  especially the legendary frank welker .  br    br   i  d love to see this cartoon again  was so awesome and the jokes were brilliant . also i can remember the hilarious moment where brain cameos in it  you hear his voice and it played the patb theme instrumental  that was just fantastic  i love it in those cartoons when cameos pop in . i wish this cartoon and animaniacs came back  i loved them  
billy crystal normally brings the crowd to laughter  but in this movie he and all the rest of them cannot bring any smile on my face . . . . or perhaps just one . they call it comedy  i say it  s a waste of my time .  
the road rovers was a great show about canine superheroes chosen by the master to fight crime around the world . the show was hilarious to say the least . simple and complex jokes that could appeal to all ages . running jokes throughout the series that could spawn a drinking game . the action was mesmerizing  and cleverly set up . the characters were very original  each with a very different personality . but what made me enjoy the show the most was the depth of the characters . each of them have struggles and emotional difficulties that are never expressed  but implied in subtext . hopefully  one day  there  ll be some way to watch the rovers in action again .  
in fact  it never was . i  m not sure why billy crystal wanted to recreate a     s screwball comedy . what a vacuous shambles  none of these people come close to a cary grant  spencer tracy  katherine hepburn  etc  and anyway  today  s audience isn  t as receptive to this facile muck . writing is trivial . the hackneyed plot is razor thin and obvious . the chemistry between the leading characters is non  existent . it  s interesting that julia roberts seems to think she  s a reincarnation of some big star from the  golden age of hollywood   whenever that may be . it  s an effect she tries and fails to attain yet again with richard gere in runaway bride .  
michael stearns plays mike  a sexually frustrated individual with an interesting moral attitude towards sexuality . he has no problem ogling naked dancers but when women start having sex with men that  s when he loses it . he believes that when women actually have sex that  s when they lose any sense of  innocence  and  or  beauty  . so he strolls through the hollywood hills stalking lovemaking couples at a distance  ultimately shooting the men dead with a high  powered rifle with a scope .  br    br   the seeming primary reason for this movie  s existence is to indulge in sexual activity over and over again . the  story  comes off as more of an afterthought . this is bound to make many a happily heterosexual male quite pleased as we  re treated to enough protracted scenes of nudity  the ladies here look awfully good sans clothes  and sex to serve as a major dose of titillation . of course  seeing a fair deal of it through a scope ups the creepiness factor considerably and illustrates the compulsion towards voyeurism .  for one thing  mike eyes the couples through the scope for minutes at a time before finally pulling the trigger .  this is all underscored by awfully intrusive if somewhat atmospheric music on the soundtrack .  br    br   those with a penchant for lurid trash are bound to enjoy this to one degree or another . it even includes one lesbian tryst that confounds mike and renders him uncertain how to react . it unfolds at a very slow pace  but wraps up with a most amusing ironic twist . it  s a kinky and twisted rarity that if nothing else is going to definitely keep some viewers glued to the screen .  br    br        
the only scenes wich made me laugh where the ones with christopher walken in it  the crazy filmdirector  the rest of the movie was just boring . in the first hour or so nothing really happens . jokes which supposed to be funny aren  t and zeta jones douglas is really overacting . julia roberts does a routine job of the former ugly duck  yeah right   into the girl next door  where did i see this before   who gets the guy . for short . i really didn  t care what would happen with the main characters . if cusack really fell of the building in a suicide attempt the movie could have been more interresting to watch .  
i enjoyed this movie . haven  t seen andy griffith in ages and felt he fit this role perfectly . i  ve associated him with comedy but am pleased to see that he  s versatile .  br    br   i wasn  t troubled that dotty  s  anxiety disorder  may not have been verbatim from a psychiatric textbook . there are zillions of whatever  phobias and neuroses  and these can take on a broad variety of quantitative and qualitative forms . she is clearly a sensitive with extra  sensory powers as was understood by the local indians but not by any anglos . it is not surprising that this character is vulnerable and nominally eccentric .  br    br   although this is taken to be a light  family movie   it is actually more sophisticated than it seems . also  hiram  s twist at the end came as a pleasant surprise to me and tied all the preceding action together in a bundle . it  s fun to contemplate the possibility of such spiritual guidance .  
i have seen a lot of bad movies with big actors in it . but this movie was terrible . i have yet to see why people thought it was funny . the idea behind it is stupid . plus all the things that are supposed to be funny are just dumb . why anyone would want to watch this more than once just baffles me   
though not in the whole film  andy griffith again plays his role best in this cbs tv  movie . the plot is easy  griffith  s character dies and his last wish is that his wife and kids scatter his ashes is the place he named  mountains somewhere  . though it will never be seen on tv and never be released on video  if you do get the chance to watch this   take it .  
it was disgusting and painful . what a waste of a cast  i swear  the audience     full  laughed twice in   minutes . this is not a lie . do not even rent it .  br    br   zeta jones was just too mean to be believable .  br    br   cusack was ok . just ok . i felt sorry for him  the actor  in case people remember this mess .  br    br   roberts was the same as she always is . charming and sweet  but with no purpose . the  romance  with john was completely unbelievable .  
i saw that when i was little and it was excellent . kelsey white as lisa and the meecy mices where cute . susan bonde as doodle and sandra dee heidecke as snoodle where hilarius . karen boettcher  tate as profster was interesting . burl ross as little bunny foo foo was funny . gregory donavon as kaiso was brilliant . whats hilarius that snoodle and doodle eat too much candy . whats sad that little bunny foo foo that bops the meecy mices on the head then by a fairy will give little bunny foo foo few wishes then he turns into goon . this story is about when lisa  snoodle  doodle go to the big rock candy mountains . this show is excellent the kids will like this show  new words  songs  and watching them playing .  
wow  what a great cast  julia roberts  john cusack  christopher walken  catherine zeta  jones  hank azaria . . . what  s that  a script  you say  now you  re just being greedy  surely such a charismatic bunch of thespians will weave such fetching tapestries of cinematic wonder that a script will be unnecessary  you  d think so  but no . america  s sweethearts is one missed opportunity after another . it  s like everyone involved woke up before each day  s writing  shooting  editing and though  you know what  i  ve been working pretty hard lately  and this is guaranteed to be a hit with all these big names  right  i  m just gonna cruise along and let somebody else carry the can .  so much potential  yet so painful to sit through . there isn  t a single aspect of this thing that doesn  t suck . even julia  s fat suit is lame .  
me and my sister use to rent this every time we got movies and our parents would get so mad at so  but they let us anyways  and i love it . . . i can  t find anyone that lives near me that knows what i am talking about . . . i  m glad to see that i  m not the only one that loved this movie . . . i wish i could find this on dvd somewhere   i would love to watch this now just bc i loved it so much as a little kid . . . and i  m   now    i remember so much about it . . . thats where i got the little bunny fufu song from and all my friends know the song but not the movie   i think the little girl got there by sliding down the slide on her little playground thing  
how this film was made with so many big stars is beyond me . this is a terrible clich  ridden film with the worst acting any of these actors have ever done . it really surprises me that so many of these a list stars would agree to this unfunny film . what  s even worse is the fact that is made almost    million here in the states . it does go to show however that big stars can pull in the bucks  even if the film is terrible . i felt sorry for everyone involved in this snore  fest . billy crystal tried his best with the what he was given and the rest of the stars seemed to be walking through the motions . whatever you do  don  t fall for the excellent cast because no one could have saved this .  
so when i was little i got this movie as a present and my sister and i loved it . we would watch it all the time . when our friends came over we would have sleepovers and we  d watch big rock candy mountain and grandpa  s magical toys . i  m   now and i still love this movie  some old friends and i recently got together and watched it  we knew all the songs and we danced and talked about how much we hated profster when we were little . one friend actually bought this movie and grandpa  s magical toys for her  year old daughter because she wants to pass on our love of this movie . this really is a movie you can let your kids watch and feel safe  no violence  no bad language  just lots of great songs and important lessons .  
let me put it another way balls . or  how about bolloks . this is truly awful  more embarrassing than those it attempts to satirise . julia roberts is a skilled actress  and usually her work is of the highest standard . this movie is so lacking in direction even she struggles to look proficient . normally she is the consummate professional  yet i swear that in her eyes  there were signs of bewilderment and despair .  br    br   the one thing that might have rescued this move was the idea about the director  chris walken  turning the movie into a secret documentary about the actors . unfortunately  that theme wasn  t explored to it  s full potential . too little  too late .  br    br   zeta jones was wooden  cusack was cusack  and crystal should stick to acting . the two talented ex  buffy stars had different experiences  green hopelessly mis  cast  and balfour under  used . well done to julia for just about preventing this from being the worst movie ever made .  
big rock candy mountain is amazing . i watched it when i was little  and still do to this day .  senior in high school  . if i could imagine heaven  that is what it would look like . i wish i could live in big rock candy mountain where candy grows on trees . zach hyman is profs  and my best friend . little bunny foo foo is the man . it is so fuzzy and colorful that i dream about it at night . in fact  my friend who is   recently watched it for the first time and absolutely loved it . i recommend that people of all ages watch this movie . i am having a huge party this weekend with all my friends to watch this incredible movie . we are going to order pizza and watch the teddy bears giggle . i constantly find myself watching clouds and wishing i was that little girl that got to visit . thanks . bye .  
and i mean ultra light . this film features four giant stars  about three and a half jokes and nothing beyond that .  br    br   there really isn  t too much to say about this stinker  other than that although it has a couple of really good bits  most of it isn  t very funny . nor does it work at all as a romance . how about as a romantic comedy  not on your life . most of the dialogue is way too flat to be sophisticated  much less amusing .  br    br   what  s really ashame is the premise is not bad at all . this movie could have been so much more  especially with all the recent focus on some of the bogus ways in which films are promoted  complete with phony quotes from critics . the film uncovers the un  mined territory of the press junket   those all expense paid trips for journalists who almost always write nice reviews . but instead of exploring what should have been a motherlode of jokes  it devotes all of about three minutes to this territory and moves on in pursuit of the film  s lame romance .  br    br   the same with catherine zeta  jones  character   the whinny  self centered movie star . zeta  jones does a good job with what she  s given  but she  s given practically nothing . it  s all homogenized junk that looks very pale in comparison with some of the things we  ve heard about stars over the years .  br    br   in the end  it is hard to understand what made zeta  jones  julia roberts  john cusack and billy crystal sign aboard this doomed ship  which sinks like a rerun of  the love boat .  in fact  as the old joke goes  they should have forgotten the script and filmed the deal . it would probably make a better story . so  go ahead and tell us  filmmakers  what do you have on these stars that got them to appear in this   
when i was little  my parents got this movie for me to watch . i really liked it  and i watched it over and over again . even when i was in  rd grade i still watched it from time to time . recently  i watched it again  just for the sake of nostalgia  and though the show was not aimed for my age group  i  m in my late teens   i still found it entertaining and educational . this show teaches good lessons about imagination and getting along well with others . some parts i found quite entertaining . also  this show does not have any bad content  so you can leave kids alone with this show and not worry about them picking up any bad language or whatnot . i would recommend this .  
if you are expecting to see a lot in the bath of alt    oklar  as it is promised by the tag line  you will be very disappointed to see that the movie consists of nothing but the populist style of alt    oklar regarding most famous issues like sex  marriage and cheating . to much nudity  which seems to appear from nowhere and has no connection or whatsoever to the plot proves that alt    oklar was unsuccessfully to  try something new  as he has quoted . to much sex centered jokes seems to show that alt    oklar had fallen for the famous saying which is  sex sells .  i was hoping to see a very good story told with a very good narration technique . however in the end i found myself sitting down for   minutes and watching alt    oklar  s experimental yet still to much focused on popularism work .  
coinciding with the start of the baby boom  the years after world war ii saw an unprecedented exodus of americans moving out of their city apartments into the suburbs where they can fulfill their dreams of owning their own homes . directed by h . c . potter and co  written by norman panama and melvin frank   white christmas    this lightweight but surprisingly observant     screwball comedy captures the feeling of that period very well . of course  it helps to have a trio of expert farceurs  cary grant  myrna loy and an especially acerbic melvyn douglas  head the proceedings with their natural likability at odds with the escalating frustrations of home ownership . even though the film is sixty years old now  there is a timeless quality to the blandings  dream and the barriers they face in achieving it . obviously  hollywood thinks so since it  s been remade at least twice  first as a very physical tom hanks comedy       s  the money pit   and again last year with ice cube  s  are we done yet   . one look at hgtv  s programming schedule will show you how the situations explored here still resonate today .  br    br   the plot begins with ad man jim blandings  his wife muriel and their two daughters cramped into a two bedroom  one bath manhattan apartment . rather than pursue muriel  s idea to renovate the apartment for        jim sees a photo of a connecticut house in a magazine and realizes this is where they need to move . with the help of an opportunistic real estate agent and against the advice of their attorney and family friend bill cole  the blandings decide to buy a ramshackle house badly in need of repair . however  the foundation sags so badly that the house needs to be torn down in favor of a new one . this sparks the blandings to push the architect to design a house so excessive that the second floor is twice as big as the first . costs rise with each new complication  tempers flare  and even a romantic triangle is imagined among  jim  muriel and bill . priorities finally sort themselves out but not before some funny slapstick scenes and clever dialogue that tweaks the not  so  blissful ignorance of the new homeowners .  br    br   with his double takes and flawless line delivery  grant is infallible in this type of farce  and jim blandings epitomizes his more domesticated mid  career characters . in a role originally meant for irene dunne  myrna loy shows why she was hollywood  s perfect wife . she doesn  t get many of the funnier lines  but she combines her special blend of flightiness and sauciness to make muriel an appealing character on her own . watch her deftly maneuver the overly agreeable house painter with her absurdly idiosyncratic color palette . as avuncular  pipe  smoking bill   colebill cole    melvyn douglas shows his natural  easy  going lan as grant  s foil . smaller roles are filled expertly with particularly memorable turns by harry shannon as the laconic well  digger mr . tesander  lurene tuttle as jim  s officious assistant mary  and louise beavers as the blandings  lovable maid gussie . the     dvd provides some intriguing vintage material including two radio versions of the movie  the first a     version that did end up pairing grant and dunne and then a second     version coupling grant with his then  wife  actress betsy drake . a most appropriate     cartoon   the house of tomorrow   is also included giving us a comical tour of a futuristic dream house . the original theatrical trailers for ten of grant  s film classics complete the extras .  
divorced lawyer rick magruder  branagh  stumbles drunk out of a party hosted by his firm one night and has a chance meeting with a woman named mallory doss  davidtz   who was a waitress at the party and seems to have lost her car . rick drives the woman to her home and there they discover that her car has been already parked there  seemingly by her father  dixon doss  duvall  . rick and mallory walk into the house arguing about the situation when mallory carelessly undresses in front of rick  and he then spends the night with her .  br    br   rick wakes up in the morning and mallory encounters him later in the day  asking him to file suit against her father because of his dangerous behavior . rick  now obsessed with mallory and willing to do anything for her  is successful in having dixon put on trial and sent to prison  but when he is freed by his local friends  rick finds himself in a trouble  trying to protect himself and his children from the danger he has unknowingly brought to life .  
this incredibly formulaic flick from the  walker  texas ranger  squad contains some of the most unbelievable scenes ever witnessed within a tv movie . in addition  one can pretty much predict the outcome from the get  go . however  it  s a fun little movie that gets the job done it entertains . that  s all it was meant to do and it does so . the stunts and explosions are fun and exciting and the plot isn  t half bad . the acting is also decent  which isn  t much of a surprise  because everyone knows that chuck norris is no steven seagal . if you  re a fan of the genre  and of  walker  texas ranger    you will definitely love this . if not  then don  t waste your time .      
first of all  i am not a huge fan of contemporary turkish cinema  which is because  the usual pattern of creating a box office success is by hitting below the waistline . this movie is nothing of an artistic masterpiece that deals with taboos  as the director and marketing ads imply . in my mere opinion  the sole purpose of this movie is make money by touching a sensitive morale  in fact it is mostly considered taboo in the native country  cheap populism might provide with a brief definition of what i meant .  br    br   however  the acting is near perfect . in fact  most of the cast has theatrical background and tried hard to compensate for what altioklar lacked talent  all members of the cast were perfectly fit in their roles and well qualified for the job  even the less experienced ones .  like janset  at least  altioklar deserves a small word of appreciation  just because he knows well how to choose the cast . other than that  he is just a media monkey  who presumes himself a director with an artistic talent . come on  art is not something that solely consists of dealing with naked  half naked women . and just because media boasts off  no director becomes a milestone in the history of turkish cinema . just close your ears and o something real artistic  i am waiting eagerly to applause your next work . hope  this time you manage to achieve an artistic approach .  br    br   in short pros  good acting  hot women  just kidding     cons  each and every single thing  other than the cast  
a true hero of modern times  chuck norris has left tv  walker  rexas ranger   and is looking new steps for his artistic career . the presidents man is the second movie of a future tv series  with norris in the title role  and with young actors like jennifer tung or judson mills  one of the young rangers of  walker   . the old master teachs to young aspirant . its one of the most powerful themes of  the presidents man  . in this tima   a line in the sand  has reached world surprise for his tratment of terrorism in usa  months before the tragic september   . eric norris  son of chuck is the director . the movie is amusing  a good action work  plenty of fights and heroism . chuck norris have many plans for the future . bells of innocence  his next picture  will be the following .  br    br    
terrible movie . if there is one turkish film you should avoid seeing in      that should be banyo . what a waste of time . other than couple of cheap laughs this movie achieves nothing  nada  zilch  nil . the dialog is cheap  and sexual clichs are all over it . the director needs to watch more films before attempting to direct his own . the red headed women displays examples of what an actress should not do . if you are interested in learning how not to act this is a perfect example of bad acting . the only good thing i can say about the movie is  wait  wait  there is nothing good i can say about it . i must have really disliked it to write about it this much . jeez   
good show  very entertaining . good marshal arts acting . good story plot . the entire main crew did a nice job from robert urich  to chuck  norris  jennifer tung  and especially a big hand to judson mills . an especially fine tribute to robert urich  in his latter days . a great  actor who will be truly missed .  
this movie offers nothing but the dumbest conversations possible . as a matter of fact i most probably could not have imagined how meaningless a film  how synthetic the dialogs could be until an hour ago  but then again i saw this video . in a movie that does not depend on a powerful script  one expects to see at least good acting and tasty conversations and even some humor maybe  yet this movie lacks them all . you heard me it lacks them all . there is not a single point i like about this movie  none . i hate it . i  m sure anyone will do so too . the name is intended to give the target audience some thoughts of nudity and stuff  yet it fails even at the nudity . i don  t know how but i beared to watch this thing for an hour or so  and i definitely recommend you don  t do so . worst movie i  ve seen in my entire life . if someone offers you to watch it  ruuun awaaaaay saaaaaave your liiiiiiiiife  
there are a few spoilers in this comment    br    br   contrary to the comments i just read by nativetex  u and a few others  i really liked the movie and would love to see it as a weekly series .  br    br   i am a judson mills fan but also a huge chuck norris fan and while i  ll admit that a few of the action scenes may have stretched the line a little  the storyline fit right in with other weekly series that are currently being aired .  br    br   the opening fifteen minutes with deke running from the bad guys after blowing up their missiles was very action packed . i do fail to see how that many  professionals  weren  t able to hit a moving target  but the action was definitely there and deke  being the hero  had to survive .  br    br   as for the comment about needing to  get the movie in the can to fill the time slot after the playoffs .  this movie was not originally scheduled by cbs for a january airing and filming was completed in may of      a good  months before the terrorist attacks against the u . s .  br    br   if the writer of the comment had been paying attention to the movie instead of trying to avoid it  maybe they would have realized the plot of the story rashid  a bin laden like character  planned to set off a nuclear device in the united states . the president  s man was called in to locate and eliminate the problem .  br    br   perhaps the writer should actually watch the movie before attempting to comment on it .  br    br    
i saw this film at the     toronto international film festival . based on a novella by science  fiction author brian aldiss  this film attempts to tell the story of tom and barry howe  conjoined twins who are plucked from their family by an impresario in order to form a rock band .  br    br   almost deliberately gimmicky  the film is also too clever by half  if you  ll pardon the pun  . by mixing genres  styles and moods  the directors  whose previous film was the excellent documentary lost in la mancha  lose their way pretty quickly . i was never sure whether i was meant to take it all seriously or not . flashbacks  dream sequences  it was all just a bit much . plus  the promised rock and roll just didn  t move me . i was reminded a bit too much at times of hedwig and the angry inch  a film i found original and moving . but in this case  the songs just weren  t as good  nor were the main characters sympathetic . a more unfavourable comparison would be the similarly disappointing velvet goldmine .  
i  ve always enjoyed seeing chuck norris in film . although the acting may not be superb  the fight scenes are fantastic . i also enjoyed seeing judson mills perform along side him . in my opinion  the norris brothers have proven themselves to be fine entertainers and this was yet another fine production  i hope you take the time to view this movie   
this is quite possibly the worst movie of all time . it stars shaquille o  neil and is about a rapping genie . apparently someone out there thought that this was a good idea and got suckered into dishing out cash to produce this wonderful masterpiece . the movie gets  out of   .  
ooverall  the movie was fairly good  a good action plot with a fair amount of explosions and fight scenes  but chuck norris did hardly anything  except for disarm the bomb and shoot a few characters . the movie was very similar to the events of sept .    with a bin laden  like terrorist sending a video to the president  urich  and threatening to detonate it . judson mills had some superb action roles  taking out rashid  s compound and various kick  butt roles but  there was a lack of chuck norris . judson took over most of the action  leaving joshua  chuck  with que on her computer . but  overall  it was realistic and didn  t lack the action  but only did it on mr . norris  part . i gave the film     .  
would someone tell shaq to stick to what he is good at basketball . this movie was not even entertaining on a stupid level . in this movie shaq plays a genie who lives in a boom box is that not orginal a genie in a boom box instead of a lamp . he is supposed to help a little boy played by the equally annoying francais cappra . this movie had the most flimsy storyline since water world  the acting was awful and i think that anyone who likes this flim would be afraid to admit it .  
if you  re a a fan of either or both chuck norris  judson mills then this is the movie to see . it has a lot of adventure in it . it is a great follow up to president  s man . the chemistry between the main three stars  chuck norris  judson mills  jennifer tung  is incredible . my personal opinion . this movie along with the original  has turned out so well  that the networks should consider turning it into a regular series . if you  ve seen president  s man  i recommend this movie for you . if you  ve seen president  s mana line in the sand but you haven  t seen president  s man  then let me suggest that you do . you will not be disappointed with either one .  
this film proves that the  commercial  cinema  or else  the hollywood movies are in a serious crisis . there is absolutely no reason that this movie should have been produced apart from the fact that somebody expected success based on shaquille  s name . there is no worth referring to the plot it is a bit more perplexed than a knot . what else  the screen is somewhat dim  o  neal is a bad actor but francis capra is even worse .  br    br   rating     .  
composed  elegant carol  marvelously played by the beautiful rebecca brooke   her nice husband eddie  likable david houseman   carol  s wacky  constantly eating best gal pal anna  delightfully essayed with infectious comic zeal by the adorable chris jordan   and anna  s hunky  amorous husband pete  a typically fine eric edwards  are a quartet of liberated swingers who enjoy having frequent group sex with each other . their usual routine gets disrupted when carol  s lonely  repressed  but still alluring widow mother jennifer  a superbly moving performance by the lovely jennifer welles  drops by for a visit . pretty soon jennifer loosens up and becomes a willing participant in the swingers  blithely pleasurable and uninhibited carnal lifestyle  with everyone except carol eager to seduce her . writer  director joe sarno concocts a sharp  engrossing and perceptive examination of suburban angst and the limitations of the whole wild  n  easy    s sexual revolution sarno turns traditional middle class mores on their heads and further spices things up with a bold and provocative mother  daughter incest subplot . moreover  sarno elicits uniformly first  rate acting from the bang  up cast welles and brooke are both exceptional  with excellent support from edwards  jordan  houseman  arlana blue as flaky new age sex therapist shandara  and erica eaton as saucy neighbor mrs . fields . better still  all the women are extremely hot and enticing welles in particular seriously steams up the screen with her exquisitely voluptuous figure and smoldering erotic presence . the sex scenes are really sizzling and fairly explicit  but never raunchy or tedious . stephen colwell  s bright  polished cinematography and jack justis  bouncy  melodic acoustic folk score are both on the money solid and effective . recommended viewing for sarno fans .  
there was a genie played by shaq his name was kazaam  and he was whack his rhymes were corny  this lines were bad some stupid kid cryin over his stupid dad bad actin  bad casting  bad special effects whats next  this movie sucks prolly didn  t make   bucks he lives in a boombox not a lamp hurts like a cramp like a wet food stamp . . .  br    br   yeah  you get it  a stupid rhyming genie who can  t act  in a stupid movie with horrible special effects . oh  and its confusing as hell . i  m not even gonna go on . let  s just say  it belongs in the  its so bad  its funny  category . watch it once with your buddies and get a good laugh . but don  t expect anything spectacular .  
first saw this gem from joe sarno way back when  and i must say that after seeing it  i could never forget jennifer welles . at first i thought the film was moving a bit slower than i would expect for a sarno film  but when jennifer made her entrance  the first time i ever saw her anywhere  i was sat up and took notice . her presence in this film is hard to avoid  and spices up every scene she  s involved in . i  ve seen most of the rest of sarno  s films  and the other films starring or featuring jennifer welles  and i must say that this was both sarno and jennifer at their collective best . sarno  s direction in this film of domestic adult drama is superb  and jennifer showed  figuratively and literally  an acting prowess that make this a must see . co  stars rebecca brooke  aka mary mendum  and chris jordan  both frequent co  stars of ms . welles  and also frequent stars of sarno  s work  turn in believable performances as a pair of adventurous  yet normal housewives . this film is sarno classic .  
yes  kazaam is one of those horribly bad movies that almost reminds one of everything that is wrong with not just kids movies  but with humanity . here we have shaq as a rapping genie  yes  a rapping genie  where he does everything from making bad puns to dressing in ridiculous outfits  all ending in him in a christ  like pose with lots of light surrounding him . so  yeah  expect really cheesy bits  including the first wish being a lot of junk food falling down from the sky  and  regrettably  not knocking out the two main characters  particularly the kid  . what might not be expected is that a film with a kid and shaquille o  neill would be so incredibly schmaltzy  the main plot of the film involves this kid  played in that all  too  typical and annoying  kid fashion by the great  grandson of frank capra  where in which the kid is yelling out his dialog angrily   who comes upon a genie who  s been trapped in a boom  box . then  hiarity ensues  as the kid makes the shaq  genie his quasi  slave as he waits on his last two wishes as he tries to make amends with his shady  gang  type absentee father .  br    br   this really sappy  contrived son and father story would be bad enough  as there are certain lines that have been uttered in a million other movies  i . e . the  two chances in life  speech from father to son  . but it  s shaquille o  neill who is both the reason to watch the film  ironically   and the obvious sinking crux of it all . his plot line involves him  when not getting the over  talky treatment from capra  to rap within the dialog and also start off his blossoming recording career . on top of this  he also kicks ass and takes names with the main bad guys who want him back in the boom  box . so is there a camp factor to the movie  up to a point  but this is even squashed by all of the mushy scenes and  heart  felt  moments that have really no business with the rest of the material . one might ask if the people making the movie  who were obviously doing it at the behest of the popularity of a basketball player who wanted to go on the michael jordan acting bandwagon  if it would be anywhere near decently entertaining or convincing . i  d hope that they too knew they were just getting paid . but i  d hope even more that they felt at least a little guilty afterwords for feeding the shaq  machine .  br    br   so  if you want to have a fun night of shaq as genie  turned  rapper  turned  wisecracker  all the more fun to you . hell  it might even be interesting to have a shaq movie night with this and his other critically acclaimed effort steel . but if you  re hoping to keep a few brain cells  stay away from what is very likely the worst flick of      and a candidate among many others for worst of the    s .  
ah  the      s . a time when it was in to be a swinger . to be honest  today is also a good time to be a swinger but it just felt more daring then .  br    br   joe sarno offers up a pretty good soft  core film . in fact  just like today  some of the actors are famous hardcore actors . unlike today  these people were good actors and these films had a plot and character development .  br    br   it  s pretty much what you would expect out of a swinger  s movie . two couples with open relationships re  ignite the wanderlust out of the milf of one of the women who has come for a visit . not much more to it .  br    br   of course  when the milf is jennifer welles then it is a different story . not too many    somethings look as delicious undressed as ms . welles . it  s worth the price alone to see ms . welles look at herself in the mirror as if she  s aphrodite . she  s no  stifler  s mom  . she  s way sexier .  br    br   i also digged chris jordan  s anna . jordan looks and sounds so much like elaine joyce that i thought she might be her  separated at birth  twin or even elaine herself . anna is always eating but must have incredible metabolism .  br    br   unlike      s soft  core porn     s softie porn retained the hardcore film  s realism  something that      s soft  core has brought back on occasion  instead of the    s music and canned orgasms  and it is here in full force . it  s not real but it feels real .  br    br   for those who enjoyed the quebec produced  deux femmes en or   you  ll enjoy this one . another classic film only on drive  in classics  the best   .   can a month you can spend .  
this movie is so  so  so horrible  that it makes angels lose their wings . shaq had tried to make other crossover efforts  like his work in shaq  fu for the nes and his plethora of unbearable rap albums  and later  the epic serving of horrible film  making that is steel .  br    br   there  s not a single good thing to be said about this movie . i saw it a bunch of times when i was very young  but i must  ve been an idiot then  because this movie takes all that is enjoyable about films and tears it apart . it  s fun to mock . i saw it on the disney channel a while back and spent a few minutes doing that . although  once the thrill of mocking it is done  you still become overwhelmed by its terribleness .  br    br   if you see it on tv  try this consider  as your watching the film  removing from it all the scenes in which shaq uses his magical genie powers . if you do that  it becomes like a film about a pedophile chasing a kid and rapping to seduce him . that  s kinda funny  and disturbing .  br    br   a horrible example of film . do not  unless looking to mock it  see this movie .  
though not seen in too many films prior  you have certainly seen the basic plot themes in too many films since .  br    br   not one of grant  s nor loy  s best films  they make an outstanding effort together . after all  with that much talent and very good supporting cast  you know the laughs will be there .  br    br   the film is light  has some dramatic spotting but keeps the plot moving and gets you to smile the whole way through .  br    br   a great example of classic american film fare that has stood the test of time .  br    br   definite saturday afternoon fare  heavy on the popcorn .  
i feel like i  m the only kid in town who was annoyed by branagh  s performance . he is a fine actor by most accounts  but he simply could not pull off the southern accent . i mean  it was deplorable . it was as if he was trying too hard to be a yank . one of the previous reviewers questioned why u . s . actors were not cast in this film . i second that notion . it  s wonderful when actors  actresses wish to expand their horizons  but it  s another thing to try too hard so that a performance becomes strained . maybe it was altman  but he  s a such a great director . . .  br    br   well  i really don  t want to bash branagh for his absolutely hideous accent too much . everybody deserves to screw up here and there . but it is hard to watch something so annoying that you  d rather choke on a chicken bone or eat a bucket full of crap than sit through the gingerbread man .  
lars von triers europa is an extremely good film . how  s that  von trier has a very stylized way to tell a story  at least he did have with europa . to me the whole film was like an experience even if i did see it on a small television screen . even with all the tricks  in my opinion  this film is the most complete  real and moving piece of cinema then most of the films on the top    list . i also think it is perhaps the scariest  the most gothic and complete film around . all right there are other good ones too  but this one is my favorite . the final scene is one of the most harrowing scenes ever .  
if the crew behind  zombie chronicles  ever read this  here  s some advice guys  br    br    . in a  twist ending   type movie  it  s not a good idea to insert close  ups of every death in the movie in the opening credits . that tends to spoil the twists  y  know . . .   br    br    . i know you produced this on a shoestring and  to be fair  you worked miracles with your budget but please  hire people who can actually act . or at least  walk  talk and gesture at the same time . joe haggerty  i  m looking at you . . .  br    br    . if you  re going to set a part of your movie in the past  only do this if you have the props and costumes of the time .  br    br    . twist endings are supposed to be a surprise . sure  we don  t want twists that make no sense  but signposting the  reveal  as soon as you introduce a character  that  s not a great idea .  br    br   kudos to the guys for trying  but in all honesty  i  d rather they hadn  t . . .  br    br   only for zombie completists .  
this movie is far better than the original the jerk . i would highly recommend it to anyone who like quirky humor . we have incorporated almost as many lines from this movie into our daytime discourse as we have from monty python .  br    br   the card game with the hobos and then with mr . suicide . the scene at the dinner table and his distaste for turtle soup . the original the jerk was too choreographed ans staged . while i like steve martin  he seemed like he was trying to hard . the jerk too is a spoof and will be enjoyed by anyone . the jerk too is family friendly unlike the original the jerk .  
what was the point of this movie  what was the plot  i do not know . shaq can  t act  people don  t know how to direct  and i am kazaam  a genie who raps  come on . maybe eminem or linkin park will be in a movie like this . i remember i watched this just to kill time . it didn  t really interest me . i just remember thinking   who put shaq in this movie     the whole story seemed stupid too . it made no sense whatsoever . i guess an unrealized moral of this movie is that you can find anything in the ghetto and anything can happen . i can  t comment much more because this movie is so terrible there  s nothing worth commenting about . i  wish  this movie would go away .  
honestly  when i saw this movie years ago i immediately wanted to turn it off . as i sat there for the next   minutes or so  i realized that the actor playing navin stole the show . his facial expressions and comedic demeanor makes me shake my head as to why he hasn  t been in more comedies . he has this  marty feldman  thing going for him but much  much more talent . . . taking nothing away from marty . the movie really shocked me by how close it was to the original jerk  but then again  it was so much more . i really think that if this movie was released first  and i saw the steve martin movie  nd  i  d think the  nd was a cheap rip  off . i know it sounds like a bold statement  but it  s true . i actually like steve martin a great deal  but his performance is  nd to the actor in the jerk too . i wish i could get a copy of it for my collection . i urge you to see it if you can find it .  
now  i  m one to watch movies that got poor reviews  and say   hmm . . . this isn  t so bad   i loved the cable guy  and thought that my big fat independent movie was great . keep in mind  i really didn  t start watching this with high hopes  but i figured that maybe . . . just maybe . . . it would be bad in a kind of way i could laugh at it . i was wrong . at no point at all during my suffering through this  film   and i use that term sparingly  was i even close to being mildly entertained . to start  shaq makes quentin tarantino look like marlon brando when it comes to acting . i hate rap music  but as far as i could tell  an amish priest would probably make a better rapper than him . the main character is simply annoying  and not a character that it  s easy to like . quite frankly  i would rather eat a greasy turd out of a harlequin fetus  bloody sores than watch this again .  
i  m on the opposite end of the previous comment .  br    br   first of all  i don  t think this was intended to be a straight sequel to  the jerk  . i mean  it  s not titled  the jerk   . . . it  s  the jerk  too   which leads me to believe that while a lot of the character names are the same  it actually revolves around a completely different person .  br    br   think about it virtually no connection to the previous movie  other than character names a totally different story different cast and the fact that it  s a partial musical .  br    br   i say give this movie some credit . it does have plenty of laughs in it . . mark blankfield at his prime .  
let me give a quick summery of the film a rotten  rude kid named max stumbles upon a radio that contains kazaam a rapping genie . like all genies  he grants  wishes but  being good natured  also helps max with his personal life  as he has to deal with bullies and a father mixed up in organized crime . during all this  kazaam raps from time to time   also showcasing shaq  s dismal rap skills  .  br    br   this movie proves what we all know athletes need to stick to sports . i admit that it never looked like an oscar  worthy movie  but everything about this waste of film is horrible . the characters are either unlikable or stupid  the plot is not even worth mentioning  the dialog is a joke  and shaq is only a quarter of the problem . hell  even if denzel washington played kazaam this movie would still be a joke . i know that the movie only drew anybody was because shaq was so big  no pun intended  at the time . i honestly cannot think of a single positive thing to say about this waste of time . shaq should have put the time had used to make this movie toward practicing free throws .  
i don  t understand . not being a critic  i am not evaluating the quality of the acting  which i find believable  a good thing . my confusion lies with the content . is no one else sensitive to the fact that these two unfaithful women were justifying their infidelity to men who were fighting and bleeding to guarantee the continued freedom of their families and their country . should there not have been a prologue informing us if the men made it home and if so  what effect their cheating  wives   infidelity had on them  while these women were bedding their paramours out of a sense loneliness  did they think that their husbands were enjoying being shot at while facing death or dismemberment daily  they didn  t think of their husbands at all  only of themselves . pardon me  except when they wished their husbands dead .  
ok so after watching this invigorating movie and wasting an hour and so many minutes off my life here is the basic summary genie comes out of ghetto boom box  gives this kid with shaggy hair  wishes  the kid wastes his wishes on i forget what  shaq sucks at rapping  and i guess thats it .  br    br   so mainly i laughed  i cried . . . . . . but mainly i laughed at the shear comedy that came from the wonderful acting skills of an nba player  rapper and boy with shaggy hair .  br    br   i highly recommend this movie for college kids sitting around drinking some beers with their close friends and are in serious need of a good laugh .  br    br   i  m going to give it a  out of   only b  c the movie is based off of  magical wishes .  br    br   if i had  wishes one would be to erase this horrible movie and for everyone to pretend like hollywood didn  t waste money on making this .  
stuck in a hotel in kuwait  i happily switched to the channel showing this at the very beginning . first pachelbel  s canon brought a lump to my throat  then the sight of a tiger moth  which my grandfather  my father and i have all flown  produced a slight dampness around the eyes and then crowe  s name hooked me completely . i was entranced by this film  crowe  s performance  again   the subject matter  and yes  what a debt we owe   how various matters were addressed and dealt with  the flying sequences  my father flew avro ansons  too   the story  and  as another contributor pointed out  crowe  s recitation of high flight . i won  t spoil the film for anyone  but  separated from my wife by       odd miles  as an ex  army officer who was deployed in a couple of wars and as private pilot  i admit to crying heartily a couple of times . buy it  rent it  download it  beg  borrow or steal it  but watch it .  br    br   ps did i spy a bristol blenheim  in yellow training colours  on the ground  looked like a twin  engine aircraft with a twin  .    brownings in a dorsal turret .  
reviewing kazaam and saying it  s a bad movie isn  t hard at all   after all  critics at the time it came out fell all over themselves excoriating this film   saying it was among the worst films of the decade  so the fact that i say it  s bad or anyone else says it  s bad is certainly no surprise . it  s like someone talking about wwii   practically no one says that was a good thing  right   the question i have and no place on imdb can answer it is  why did they make this in the first place    . after all  it  s obvious to anyone who isn  t severely brain injured that the film would be horrible . but  movies like ed  a baseball playing chimp   cool as ice  starring the ever  popular vanilla ice   troll   which doesn  t even have any trolls in it   baby geniuses  einstain  like superhero babies  and pinocchio in outer space  huh     prove that any idea  no matter how dumb  can make it to the big screen  so  the idea of the best basketball player of the time starring as a genie to an obnoxious little brat seems downright  normal    br    br   the film starts with a kid who is pretty jerky keying the lockers in the hallway of the school . like the punk from free willy  this kid is somehow  misunderstood   in other words  a total brat  and you know that no matter how selfish and horrible he is  by the end of the film he  ll have learned something and grown . just once  i want to see a punk kid like this end up in prison or or dead by the end of the film  eventually  while the neighborhood bullies are in the middle of pummeling him  the genie kazaam  shaquille o  neal  is accidentally released and insists on giving the brat three wishes . but  the kid doesn  t believe him and the genie  s magic seems a tad rusty .  br    br   eventually the brat does realize that kazaam is for real . however  unlike most kids  he withholds making his wishes so  in the meantime  kazaam is forced to follow him around everywhere   like his own personal servant . and  according to the clich  you know that by the end of the film  max and kazaam will have become lifelong buddies and a bunch of tears will be shed . oh  and max will have come to terms with his absent father and mom  s fianc  i  m gonna gag  . apparently this genie is a bit of a social worker in addition to being a granter of wishes .  br    br   as for kazaam  shaquille speaks in rhyme through much of the movie and even takes a break to rap . . . very poorly . i  m a middle  aged white guy and i think i could probably rap at least as well  he  s an amazing basketball player and i  ve heard he  s a nice guy   but a rapper . . . no way  as far as his acting goes  he wasn  t great but had such a nice personality in the film that it  s hard to hate him   even if they made him do a lot of very stupid things .  br    br   so is the movie as excruciatingly awful as you  ve probably heard  through the first two  thirds of the movie  i would have said no . shaquille seemed to try his best with an unlikable kid and a bad script . however  later in the film  the bad becomes horrid   as kazaam seems too concerned with himself to help the kid when he  s really needed . and  out of nowhere  the plot gets really  really weird   as the guy who wants to make kazaam a rap star       turns out to be an evil mobster  and  oddly  this guy seems to accept that kazaam is a genie with no hesitation   br    br   in addition  the last portion of the film consists of people trying to kill max and his dad . i know that the kid was annoying  but this is supposed to be a kids  film   what part of  trying to kill the kid  didn  t the writers not understand    then  in an ending that makes this perhaps the worst kids film ending in history  kazaam becomes god or something and it all was like a drug  induced hallucination  this ending was even dumber and weirder than the one in the black hole . . . and boy  did it make my brain hurt   uggghh   the horrible dialog was just too much to bear     br    br   overall  it  s a terrible film that is due mostly to writers who were certifiably insane . yes  folks  with a messed up message  bizarre non  kid friendly material and horrible characters  this is one wretched film . sadly  given the idea and actors  it  s hard to imagine the final product turning out much worse    br    br   by the way  if you want to see a genie in a modern world film that is good  try the british made for tv film  bernard and the genie    a charming and exceptionally well  written film from start to finish .  
i became more emotionally attached to this movie than any other i have ever watched . that may be because i can see the characters as my own grandparents  attempting to make sense of a world at war . the ending and use of pachabel  s cannon are both amazing .  
the only reason i dvrd this movie was because  . i live in cleveland and shaq plays basketball for us now and  . i  ve always heard how awful it was . the movie did not disappoint . the best parts were shaq  s outfits . the worst parts were  well  just about everything else . my   year old son and i just squirmed and couldn  t look at the screen when shaq started rapping and we kept wondering why max didn  t wish for kazzam to fix that front tooth of his  but for all it  s terribleness we just couldn  t stop watching it  the story sucked you in  like a black hole or quicksand or a tar pit  it was hypnotic . but it was worth it for the laughs and just to say that we actually watched  kazzam  .  
i felt this film  throughout . i waas impressed with russell crowe  s talent in developing his relationship with lillie  such a typical aussie blend of softly softly approach  a bit self depreciating and very persistent . really loved the cinematography and direction . pace was just right and the portrayals of nearly all characters was impressive .  br    br   gosh  didn  t russell  s talent even in     shine  . . and i have yet to see gladiator .  
if you are a fan of really bad movies  and you think there funny  you will the great acting of shaq . first off putting pro players in movies hardly ever works . shaq had to of been the worst actor i have ever seen next to dennis rodman who also made a few bad movies . well any way this movie is also bad due to the hideous kid . i would give this a zero but that is impossible .  
i have just seen this film  and fallen in love with it . there is a little bit of something for everyone  and its a particular free for all when it comes to the romance between lachlan and lil . when they are on the beach  i nearly cried . . . there is the unspoken realization that time is the most precious commodity and it is most evident when they are together . this idea taken from several angles  from marriage to sibblings to finding love in the least conventional of places . the film almost makes you long for that kind of desperation when you know that tomorrow could very well be your last . crowe was particularly wonderful in his role of lachlan . i  ve always had a soft spot for the accent  but i nearly melted with his portrayal of his character . the way this film was shot is also beautiful  with the music  backdrop of the open fields  and superb acting . all together  this is a wonderful film that tugs at all of human emotions .  
this movie has successfully proved what we all already know  that professional basket  ball players suck at everything besides playing basket  ball . especially rapping and acting . i can not even begin to describe how bad this movie truly is . first of all  is it just me  or is that the ugliest kid you have ever seen  i mean  his teeth could be used as a can  opener . secondly  why would a genie want to pursue a career in the music industry when  even though he has magical powers  he sucks horribly at making music  third  i have read the bible . in no way shape or form did it say that jesus made genies . fourth  what was the deal with all the crappy special effects  i assure you that any acne  addled nerdy teenager with a computer could make better effects than that . fifth  why did the ending suck so badly  and what the hell is a djin  and finally  whoever created the nightmare known as kazaam needs to be thrown off of a plane and onto the eiffel tower  because this movie take the word  suck  to an entirely new level .  
i enjoyed every moment of this movie  even though i knew they could never really be together . with the life expectancy of a bomber pilot being only six weeks  it made me feel for all of those women and men back in the      s who must have lived this story .  
i was given the book version of kazaam for my  th birthday  and people always say the book versions are always better than the movie  but this time they were wrong . at least with the movie it  s over soon .  br    br   the acting in this is terrible  which i expected from a film with shaq who plays a magical rapping genie that comes out of an old ghetto blaster  which there was probably a good reason he was trapped in there  . the kid in the film that plays max is whiny and a terrible actor . he  s bullied by neighborhood kids  which i don  t blame them because he  s a little douche bag .  br    br   the story is just plain stupid and extremely clich . about a boy who  s father is always working and never around who finds a new friend who makes his life better and eventually helps him reconnect with his father .  br    br   even at  years old i thought this was a stupid idea . it  s a surprise any of the people whom worked on this film had careers after wards because it  s an embarrassment and should have never been made . i could ramble on even more about how this movie sucks  but you should already know just by reading the plot .  
russell  my fav  is gorgeous in this film . but more than that  the film covers a tremendous range of human passion and sorrow . everything from marriage to homosexuality is addressed and respected . the film makes the viewer realize that tolerance of other humans provides the route to saving humanity . fabulous love story between lachlin and lil . i replay their scenes over and over again . anyone who has ever been in love will empathize with these people . all characters are cast and portrayed excellently .  
this is the worst film i have ever seen . i was watching this film with some friends and after   minutes we had enough . the plot was bad and there wasn  t a single likeable character . i could get more entertainment watching static . i gave this movie a  only because the scale didn  t go into negative numbers . avoid this movie at all costs .  
movie  comedies  nowadays are generally    minutes of toilet humor  foul language  and groin  kicking . modern comedies appeal to the lowest common denominator  the undemanding and slow of brain . sure  an occasional good comedy will come along  but they  re becoming rarer all the time .  br    br    mr . blandings buildings his dream house  shows what     s hollywood was capable of  and it  s just screamingly funny . jim and muriel blandings  cary grant and myrna loy  decide to build a house in the connecticut suburbs . the film follows their story  beginning with house hunting trips  the house  s riotous construction  all the way to the finished home   with its  zuzz  zuzz water softener  .  br    br   grant and loy are perfect for their roles  of course  grant is particularly funny as he watches the house  s costs zoom out of control  . however  the film is stolen by the blandings  wise attorney  played to perfection by melvyn douglas . managing to steal every scene he  s in  douglas is understatedly hilarious while he watches the blandings lurch from crisis to crisis . reginald denny as the blandings  harried architect and harry shannon as the crusty old water well driller are also wonderful .  br    br   i  ve watched this movie numerous times and it always makes me laugh . i think it  s a good film to watch when you need a lift  whether you  re building a house or not .  
how a director of altman  s experience could ever expect us to want to spend time with  or to care about what happens to  a lead character who is neurotic  a whiner  a jerk with no redeeming qualities   that is the central puzzle about this profoundly confused piece of work . a monstrous piece of trash . in addition to this crippling flaw  the plot line requires serious concentration to follow . the setup that the branagh character walks into is so obviously a setup from the start that we are inclined to wonder whether the writer and director have totally lost respect for their audience . this latter issue is at the core of the film it represents directorial self  indulgence with profound contempt for the taste  values  and intelligence of the viewer . very unusual for mr . altman .  br    br   patrick watson  
very nicely done movie . it does stay in your memory . better billed as a romance than flying or war  altho the flying parts are realistic and almost error free . flying buffs like myself will enjoy this movie even if attracted by the airplanes  unless they have no sensitivity or have never been in love .  br    br   fun watching early crowe . he is good and exudes charm . his reading of  high flight  is superb .  br    br   cheers  boom  
there  s only one thing i need to say about this movie  the scene where shaq is in a musical number with francis capra  s character about wanting to be a genie never see this movie . the story is horrible  the acting is terrible  c  mon  it  s shaq   and i  d rather see capra in free willy  equally horrible  twice before ever seeing this movie .  
this film takes you to another time when there was a different pace to everyday life . we get an idea how families had to deal with the war and how quickly we sent young men off to fight . a very touching look at the past and a reminder that casualties of war don  t just happen on the front .  br    br   luckily many of us have never had to go through what our great  grandparents  grandparents or parents went through during a war . this film  i think  is a small thank you . peter outerbridge looks amazingly like a young peter o  toole and russell crowe is absolutely charming and as australian as he can be . it  s definitely worth listening to him recite  high flight  and makes me wonder what he might accomplish with shakespeare .  
this is one of the most god  awful movies ever . shaq better just stick to basketball . this movie took away apart of my life i will never have back . i will make fun of this movie until i die  and then some . it is so horrible it is not even funny . mst     would have a blast with this one .  
japanese tomo akiyama  s keko mask       is extremely enjoyable trash film and so fun to watch  there are also some sequels  but i haven  t seen them since these films are hyper rare . some kind of re  releases some day would be nice since i think many trash lovers would like these films . the tongue in cheek story is about one extremely strict school in which teachers think that it is okay to torture students in order to attain discipline  which is  according to the teachers  the most important thing in education . the school is lead by incredibly funny looking  just look at the costume   human wizard  whatever  who is like principal in the school  and it only adds to the campiness that it is never explained why he wears such a costume since all other teachers are perfectly normally clothed . well  the main thing about the film is its name  keko mask  who is some beautiful and masked fairy  who comes always to save the girls and students who are abused and tortured by the teachers  yes  this superheroine is one effective female as she kicks and fights the evil teachers with totally cheesy soundtrack playing on the background . the most important thing is  of course  that she wears nothing but a cape and a mask with the rest of her body naked  her identity is never revealed in these films  and also the credits say  keko mask unknown  while the actor names are listed   br    br   the most hilarious thing in this film is how keko mask kills her enemies . she has a gorgeous  but lethal vagina  yes  you read right . she kills her victims by flying in the air in front of them  spreading her legs and letting the enemies become numbly charmed of the view  after which she flies closer and snaps their necks with her legs  the most usual last line the characters say in this film are like  i  ve never seen such a beautiful vagina  and  now i can die in peace .  this film is totally fantastic    br    br   there are also some great taunts towards japanese society for example its attitude towards sex in films  japanese censors optically fog  blur all the pubic hair in any film  and also about some restrictions among school students  like girls and boys are not allowed to talk in this film etc .  there  s one great scene in which one nerd sees girl  s bare you  know  what for the first time  and says  hey there  s no fog in it   i couldn  t help but laugh during this scene as i thought what do the japanese censors think about this . also  one character says in the end that he will return  if japan films allows to make the sequel . i  m glad it allowed as i  ve heard the sequels are equally outrageous . one sequel should include blues brothers  yes  those blues brothers   in it etc .  br    br   this is trash in its most enjoyable  funniest and also cleverest form and so it is a little shame these films are so hard to find . this would definitely be even greater experience  if it was little more fast moving at times as it becomes little boring at one point  but fortunately those segments are very few . this film has to be seen to be fully believed as there are so many trash elements i don  t mention here and it wouldn  t be even necessary to tell them all here . if you like trash cinema and films made with tongue in very cheek  i think you  ll love this little gem as i do  and the director is definitely a genius in this field      perhaps the only film in which a shining vagina is this lethal   
what a pathetic movie .  br    br   i won  t waste much time commenting about it . i  m still trying to get back the couple hours i wasted on it .  br    br   let me leave it simply with  shaq has no business being an actor or singer . he is utterly without talent at both discplines . it  s a crying shame that substantially more talented people waste away in community theatres and karaoke bars while shaq uses his name as a basketball player to undeservedly get cast in movies and cut cds .  br    br   much of the failure of this movie was the pathetic no  talent that is shaq .  
i turned this on to see the incredible ethel waters  whose autobiography i am now reading . i  ll admit my jaw dropped when the pork chops and watermelon references started rolling in  but people cannot look at this movie as a stereotypical or racist piece . it  s pretty much a short film made by blacks  for blacks at a time when the entertainment industry was quite segregated and the stereotypes to the people involved were the jokes of their time  old trends exaggerated for humor . we see modern black movies do the same thing  but with the new trends  stereotypes    ho  s  and the  hood  and such . i think if you look back in eighty years  you would find today  s movies will look just as racist . what viewers should appreciate about this film is the talent of waters and the pint  sized sammy davis jr .  who out taps his contemporary  shirley temple  and looks remarkably the same facially as he did as an adult . everyone involved in this film clearly had a lot of fun making it . why not enjoy it for what it is  instead of what you think it should have been   
the first half of this version was the best i  ve seen  and i think i  ve seen every version of jane eyre ever made  . the development of jane  s childhood and character were exceptional . then  it was as though someone said  uh oh  this is running too long   and hacked the rest of the story to shreds . the major scenes  when included at all  are glossed over  combined  and put out of order in such a way that they completely change the storyline . there was so little transition or even scene development that it would be difficult for anyone not familiar with the story even to follow . the big disappointment was that the beginning opened so much hope  and then the end dashed it .  
given the opposite circumstance of     where the reality is we do have a black president  this movie takes on quite a powerful historical significance . for entertainment value i found this movie to be both engaging and repugnant . i was quite taken back of course by the blatant racism of the time  but also found the music and dancing incredible . also it is quite cool to see sammy davis jr as such a very young child actor . he plays rufus jones  a young boy who is being consoled by his mammy . he is told  why some day you could be president  . this was so ridiculous in     that it was mocked and thought to be endearing  charming and funny . the bulk of the movie is a fantasy sequence of what the government would be like if it was run by a black man . they depict the seats of government as being like a revivalist baptist church .  br    br   the fact was when i stumbled onto this movie one day it drew me in . it is really well done and very entertaining . i believe if we can look beyond the racism we can see this movie for all it brings us . in fact to realize that it is not only not ridiculous to have a black president  but that it is normal  just makes this movie that much more relevant . it clearly marks a moment in time for our collective consciousness .  
as a  jane eyre  fan i was excited when this movie came out .  at last   i thought   someone will make this book into a movie following the story actually written by the author .  wrong    if the casting director was intending to cast a  jane  who was plain he certainly succeeded . however  surely he could have found one who could also act . where was the tension between jane and rochester  where was the spooky suspense of the novel when the laughter floated into the night seemingly from nowhere  where was the sparkle of the child who flirted and danced like her mother  finally  why was the plot changed at the end  one wonders whether the screenwriters had actually read the book . what a disappointment  
now  many would think to stay away from this movie just because of the title . if you do not have the stomach for gory movies  then what are you doing reading this review  anyhow  i borrowed the video from a friend of mine and fell in love with this movie immediately . this movie is chock full of wonderful gore  plus the usual other ingredients that make up a b  movie add up to one hell of a viewing experience  if you  re a lover of good quality experiences  then by all means  watch this great flick   
i love the book   jane eyre  and have seen many versions of it . all have their strong points and their faults . however  this was one of the worst i have seen . i didn  t care about jane or mr . rochester . charlotte gainsbourg  jane  was almost tolerable and certainly looked the plain part  but she had no emotion in any of her lines . i couldn  t imagine what mr . rochester saw in her .  br    br   that brings us to mr . rochester . william hurt had even less emotion than jane  if that were possible . how two such insipid people could fall in love is a mystery  but it certainly didn  t hold my attention . perhaps the director  zeffrelli  fell asleep during the production .  br    br   the timothy dalton  too handsome for mr . rochester   version is far more faithful to the book  but ciaran hinds plays the perfect mr . rochester in the     a  e version  which is not all that true to the book  .  br    br   trying to find something positive about this movie geraldine chaplain was perfect in her role .  
no  this is not supposed to be a high budget brilliance  but it is brilliant in its own right . you have to look at it for what it is  a low budget masterpiece involving a zombie rapist wielding a   inch love rod that he keeps out flapping in stride . those who came to give this movie a low review were probably looking for the next cult classic or hidden  gem  as they say and just didn  t quite get there . i love how everyone points out obvious observations such as the   cent baby attached to a fish pole  hahaha  well  yes . i don  t think a movie with a budget like this could afford  good  actors or effects so they worked with what they had . the guts and entrails were actually very convincing . the movie was a little choppy going from sequence to sequence but overall  this is one of the better movies i have seen lately that doesn  t follow any trend or predictability . very good for a laugh .  
oh just what i needed  another movie about   th century england . which is pretty much like regular england  only nobody  s vandalising football stadiums . in this picturesque setting of lords  dames and other randomly chosen titles  charlotte gainsbourg walks around aimlessly as jane eyre  from that novel nobody has ever read willingly . jane usually hangs out in mr . rochester  s crib  where she tries to teach a french girl to look at an empty chalkboard all the time . one day  mr . rochester  william hurt on auto  pilot  comes back to fall in love with jane and all that  but there  s still the matter of his fruitcake wife that is locked in the attic . oops  that wasn  t in the brochure . after some people being thrown around and some carefully spread fire  they probably rented the set   the movie finally comes to an end . everything looked really authentic  that  s something i guess . but then again  nah .  
well this movie was probobly one of the funniest scary movie i have ever seen . the effects are so bad you just have to laugh  and the acting  well lets say its no mel gibson . but gary browning who plays an police officer is so damn bad  he becomes good . i dont know how but he him self makes this movie a   . you must see it if your in to horror  slash movies cause its bloody and funny at the same time . killer movie .  
this     movie was the first adaptation of jane eyre that i ever watched and when i did so i was appalled by it . so much of the novel had been left out and i considered william hurt to be terribly miscast as rochester . since then i have watched all the other noteworthy adaptations of the novel  the three short versions of        and    and the three mini series of        and      and i have noticed that there are worse adaptations and worse rochesters .  br    br   this is without doubt the most exquisite jane eyre adaptation as far as cinematography is concerned . director franco zerifferelli revels in beautiful long shots of snow falling from a winter sky  of lonely rochester standing on a rock  and of jane looking out of the window  but he is less good at telling a story and bringing characters to life . in addition  his script merely scratches the surface of the novel by leaving out many important scenes . as a consequence the film does not show the depth and complexity of the relationship between jane and rochester  and sadly it does also not include the humorous side of their intercourse . there are a number of short conversations between rochester and jane  each of them beautifully staged  but the couple of sentences they exchange do not suffice to show the audience that they are drawn to each other . we know that they are supposed to fall in love  but we never see it actually happen . the scene in which rochester wants to find out jane  s reaction to his dilemma by putting his case in hypothetical form before her after the wounded mason has left the house is completely missing  and the farewell scene  the most important scene  the climax  of the novel is reduced to four sentences . zerifferelli does not make the mistake other scriptwriters have made in substituting their own poor writing for bront  s superb lines  neither are crucial scenes completely changed and rewritten  but he makes the less offensive but in the end similarly great mistake of simply leaving many important scenes out . what remains is just a glimpse of the novel  which does no justice to charlotte bront  s masterpiece .  br    br   the cast is a mixed bag while fiona shaw is an excellent mrs reed  anna paquin  s young jane is more an ill  mannered  pout lolita than a lonely little girl  longing for love . the ever  reliable joan plowright makes a very likable  but far too shrewd mrs fairfaix  and one cannot help feeling that billie whitelaw is supposed to play the village witch instead of plain  looking  hard  working grace poole . charlotte gainsbourgh as the grown  up heroine  however  is physically a perfect choice for playing jane eyre . looking every bit like    thin and frail  with irregular  strong features  she comes closest to my inner vision of jane than any other actress in that role . and during the first   minutes of her screen time i was enchanted by her performance . gainsbourgh manages well to let the audience guess at the inner fire and the strong will which are hidden behind the stoic mask . but unfortunately the script never allows her to expand the more passionate and lively side of jane  s character any further . as a result of leaving out so many scenes and shortening so much of the dialogues  gainsbourgh  s portrayal of jane must necessarily remain incomplete and therefore ultimately unsatisfactory . this is a pity  as with a better script charlotte gainsbourgh might have been as good a jane as zelah clarke in the    version .  br    br   but while it is still obvious that gainsbourgh is trying to play jane  there is no trace whatsoever of rochester in the character that william hurt portrays . hurt  who has proved himself to be a fine actor in many good movies  must have been aware that he was physically and type  wise so miscast that he did not even attempt at playing the rochester of the novel . his rochester  besides being blond and blue  eyed  is a soft  spoken  well  mannered nobleman  shy and quiet  slightly queer and eccentric  but basically good  natured and mild . he is so far from being irascible  moody and grim that lines referring to these traits of his character sound absolutely ridiculous . additionally  during many moments of the movie  hurt  s facial expression leaves one wondering if he is fighting against acute attacks of the sleeping sickness . particularly in the proposal scene he grimaces like a patient rallying from a general anaesthetic and is hardly able to keep his eyes open . if you compare his rochester to the strong  willed and charming protagonist of the novel  simply bursting with energy and temperament  it is no wonder that many viewers are disappointed in hurt  s performance . still  he offends me less than the rochesters in the        and     versions and i would in general rank this jane eyre higher than these three other ones . hurt obviously had the wits to recognise that he could not be the rochester of the novel and therefore did not try to do so  whereas george c . scott  ciarn hinds and toby stephens thought they could  but failed miserably  and i  d rather watch a character other than rochester than a rochester who is badly played . and i  d rather watch a jane eyre movie which leaves out many lines of the novel but does not invent new ones than a version which uses modernised dialogues which sound as if they could be uttered by a today  s couple in a starbucks caf . of course this jane eyre is a failure  but at least it is an inoffensive one  which is more than one can say of the    and     adaptations . i would therefore not desist anyone from watching this adaptation you will not find jane eyre  but at least you will find a beautifully made movie .  
why does this have such a low rating  i really don  t get it . . . is it because of the bad acting  the bad dialogue  well  who cares about these things in cheesy low  budget horror movies  seriously  the acting and the dialogue isn  t important in those movies . people who hate movies only because of bad acting and bad dialogue shouldn  t be allowed to rate cheesy low  budget movies . those movies shouldn  t be taken seriously . period .  br    br   anyway  time to talk about the movie  right  well  i loved it  i bought it because i expected a gorefest  but it  s not a gorefest and the gore is pretty bad  most of the time it  s just animal guts placed on the body of the actors and that  s lame   but i didn  t really care because the movie is hilarious  the characters are hilarious  the acting is hilarious  bad acting is a good thing in cheesy low  budget horror movies   the dialogue is hilarious  bad dialogue is a good thing in cheesy low  budget horror movies   the zombie rapist with a huge dick is hilarious  the flying demon baby is hilarious and i could go on and on and on  but i don  t want to say too much . . . but i have to mention that there  s a scene in which a girl masturbates a sex doll like it  s alive lol  oh and the zombie rapist falls in love with the sex doll lol   br    br   best lines in the movie  br    br   detective manners sniffs coke detective sloane what the beep are you doing  manners  what the hell did you snort  what the hell is that  detective manners it  s nothing man  it  s . . . ehh . . . cold medicine . . .  br    br   detective manners injects heroin in his arm detective sloane what the beep are you doing  manners  are you beep insane  detective manners it  s cold medicine .  br    br   detective manners repeatedly kicks a random guy in the face detective sloane what the hell  s going on  manners  what are you doing  detective manners this maniac was rambling about demons and then he started smashing his head on the rock  he just started smashing his head on the rock  i think he  s on pcp or something   br    br   lol   
having read the novel before seeing this film  i was enormously disappointed by the wooden acting and the arrogance of the producers in their blatant disregard of the plot . i feel this film in no way reflects the brilliance of bronte  s work  and rather gave the impression of a shallow love story . in the condensing of the film to a short  hours  the film lost many of the key features which make the book comprehendable and progressional  thus resulting in a somewhat jumpy plot with little grounding . there is no build up to the romance between rochester and jane eyre  so this appears rather abrupt and unfounded since the two characters have such infrequent interaction you cannot help but imagine their  love  is superficial . this is such an injustice to bronte  s novelyou are given no impression of jane  s quirky cheek and boldness which attracts rochester to her  and his arrogance which attracts jane to him .  br    br   despite to poor scripting  i think that a few of the characters were portrayed very astutely  namely mrs fairfax and grace poole  however overall the production was poor . given a better scripting  perhaps the film would have been more successful . see  jane eyre        with zelah clarke and timothy dalton for an outstanding production .  
sure this movie wasn  t like .   blocks  inside man  an american haunting . etc . . .  br    br   but it was a great mystery that can happen to anyone of us . . i found this movie really great and scary .  br    br   i live exactly where they filmed this movie  san pedro  california  and we have heard true stories based on incidents of this movie .  br    br   i dunno if you  ve heard of the famous boat in long beach  queen mary  well that boat is haunted . i believe in spirts  illusions  and parallel or however u spell that . is real . everybody  s in there own universe .  br    br   and the mind is a powerful thing .  br    br   i recommend to watch this movie . it  s great  and not bad directing at all .  br    br   for those who rate it a  . they don  t understand the film . its meaning . its plot  its view . and how bad the ocean life can be for each and everyone of us .  br    br   ty .  br    br   victor  
i agree with one of the other comment writers about good story  good actors but mismatched  and i would also say rushed . it has been about   years since i read the book as it was in school . but i felt that you would need to know the story of jane eyre when watching this one as bits are left out  therefore it doesn  t fully make sense . for example jane  mr rochester have hardly spoken  suddenly he is proposing marriage    the actors don  t have time to let the audience know how their character feels about each thing happening in the story . the actors are good but aren  t given enough time to do this story justice . i  m sorry to say it but i didn  t really enjoy this version . the     version with susanna york  george c scott would be the jane eyre movie of my preference but you should check out the     bbc mini series version with zelah clarke  timothy dalton in the  main roles . i love it so much i watch it regularly . there is an abridged version which goes for    mins or the full version for    mins .  
one of the great classic comedies . not a slapstick comedy  not a heavy drama . a fun  satirical film  a buyers beware guide to a new home .  br    br   filled with great characters all of whom  cary grant is convinced  are out to fleece him in the building of a dream home .  br    br   a great look at life in the late    s .  br    br    
there is not a single sympathetic character in this entire movie . is it the lawyer played by kenneth branagh that we  re supposed to be pulling for  well  let  s see   we learn he  s a sleazebag defense attorney who gets criminals off on technicalities . he treats his coworkers like cattle  gets them involved in his own personal crisis  in the process  getting one of them killed   jeopardizes the safety of his kids  threatens his ex  wife  s new boyfriend  tries to strong  arm the police and school administrators   and all this for what  because he was thinking with his little head  i was really pulling for the father and his gang to beat the stuffing out of the lawyer and drown him in the swamp . . . it would have made for a far more satisfying ending .  
i borrowed this movie despite its extremely low rating  because i wanted to see how the crew manages to animate the presence of multiple worlds . as a matter of fact  they didn  t  at least  so its seems . some cameo appearance cut rather clumsily into the movie  that  s it  this is what the majority of viewers think . however  the surprise comes at the end  and unfortunately then  when probably most of the viewers have already stopped this movie . i was also astonished when i saw that the brazilian  portuguese title of this movie means  voyage into death  . this is the spoiler .  br    br   that this movie is about a young girl who goes alone onto this boat  on reasons that are completely unclear   you understand only in the last  minutes . when you start the movie with the english title  haunted boat  in your head  you clearly think that the cameo appearances of strange figures are the  ghosts  . but in reality  this movie is not like most other horror movies told from the distant writer  watcher perspective who can at almost any time differentiate between different levels of reality  it is told from the perspective of the young girl . we see her not alone  but together with the four friends because she sees them . we do not see that she is alone . so  the parallel worlds are not the cameo appearances flickering into the picture  stream  but the main story  we have at least two parallel worlds the world in which the girl is and the world in which the  friends are . an intrusion of a third world is probably the young man with the medical skills who comes for a short time on the boat .  br    br   i cannot get rid of the deep conviction that with this movie  the movie  makers  cheated  an audience of several thousand people by letting them believe that what they have done is more or less a sophomore film  student elaborate with hastily  chosen  pseudo  actors that have met just the night before the start of the shooting in a dump after at least twelve beers . how mistaken can one be  but in addition to this big surprise which one learns only in the very last minutes  the end that follows gives another surprise . the girl is saved by a crew in a helicopter and another boat . when she has recovered from her shock  she visits again the place at the harbor where she ascended the boat together with the four friends . and there they are again  they wave her to them from the boat which has already taken off shore . she jumps into the water  arrives at the boat  and they are away . miraculously beautiful . it remembers me a bit to the end of a poem by a rhetoromance writer when i awoke  i saw death standing at my bed . but i closed my eyes . when i opened them again  he was gone .  
what was franco zeffirelli thinking  was hollywood responsible for this travesty  or can i take comfort in the idea that someone who didn  t speak english as a first language just completely missed the point of charlotte bronte  s classic  i don  t think i can improve on a comment i read below  so i  ll just paraphrase it  jane eyre is a great great book  the screenwriter should read it sometime .  it  s true that this movie  s two leads were sadly miscast . but pity the actors  because the screenwriter left out all of the best scenes . the dialog that makes you understand the jane and rochester have a meeting of minds and a shared sense of fun . . . deleted from the script . the marriage proposal  the fortune teller . . . gone . the allusions  half joking  half sincerely felt  to jane as a fairy sprite from olde england come to rescue rochester in his despair . . . eliminated .  br    br   it is unfortunate that zeffirelli felt the need to completely rewrite the end of the novel and jane  s interactions with the rivers family . but it is unforgivable that he has surgically removed the love from one of the best love stories ever written .  br    br   do yourself a favor and go find the        mini series with timothy dalton .  
i also saw this upon its release in     and have been struck since then with its final scene . if this is an answer to  high noon   then it  s an apt and apposite response . the notion that  as this string is headed   the town comes together  is a much stronger message than the lonely personal heroism of  high noon .  in this theme   concho  is a phenomenal precursor of one my other all  time favorites   the magnificent seven .  both sinatra and conrad give impressive and convincing performances  especially sinatra  s transformation from bullying kid brother to liberating town savior . i can only hope that at some point all the friends and family on whom over the years i  ve inflicted my affection for this movie will have the opportunity to experience it for themselves .  
i read the novel  jane eyre  for the first time back in     . it was round that time that i saw the bbc  version with timothy dalton and zelah clarke . it was an excellent version and very much like the book . years later  i laid eyes on this version and was horrified . william hurt is totally miscast as mr rochester . mr rochester is a passionate character  where as william hurt portrays him as a block of ice . the same goes for charlotte gainsborough . it was like watching two zombies together . this is story about love and passion  but i couldn  t see it in this version . no  back to the bbc  version . a wonderful time is guaranteed .  
i was lucky enough to get to see this film many years ago in england . i  ve seen hundreds of films since  but i  ve never forgotten this one . although sinatra was playing a not very endearing character  he was excellent in the role . a lot of people seem to think that he did  nt really come into his own until his role in  from here to eternity  but in my opinion he was magnificent in concho . the other role that sticks in my mind is that of william conrad . i  d never see or heard of him before this film . conrad plays a terrific part in this film . i remember his deep and gravelly voice and he uses it beautifully to enhance the few words he speaks with a menace that sets the tone of his character . also i remember the music  that both introduces conrad and and seems to surround him whenever he appears . an excellent film and my only disappointment was that i never ever got the chance to see it again . it seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth . i see in the titles that it says that the film is in black and white but when i saw it was indeed in full color  i remember sinatra  s blue shirt .  
jane eyre  is one of the greatest novels in the english language and this screenwriter should of read it . i hate it when writers use spark notes for what a novel is all about . this movie is unbearable to watch if you have read the book .  br    br   the whole  red room  is so down played that i wonder why they even bother to put it in . in the book the  red room  is foreshadowing for the whole story and the rest of jane  s life . helen burns is treated so badly in the movie i  m sure she was happy to die and leave early . in the book she is one of the most compelling characters and she was not the red head . the whole christian theme is missing from her life and the rest of the movie .  br    br   do yourself a favor and miss this movie and read the story as charlotte bronte masterfully told it .  
i  ve always liked johnny concho and i wish this film were out on vhs and dvd . frank sinatra gives one of the most unusual performances in his career in this one .  br    br   when we first meet frank in the film  s title role  he  s the brother of a notorious gunfighter who  s out of town at the moment . the brother strikes terror in the heart  s of the town and frank takes full advantage of that to bully the townspeople safe and secure in his shadow . only phyllis kirk has any feeling for him . she  s the daughter of storekeeper wallace ford and dorothy adams .  br    br   two other gunmen arrive william conrad and christopher dark and it turns out conrad has killed sinatra  s brother and he  s coming to his town to take over . they humiliate sinatra and run him out of town . kirk follows him .  br    br   overnight sinatra turns from punk into coward and becomes a man searching for some kind of backbone . it  s a well acted performance  almost as good as his oscar nominated role in the man with a golden arm . pity for some reason this has not been seen for years .  br    br   two other performances of note are keenan wynn as former gunfighter turned preacher who helps sinatra find what he needs to stand up to conrad and dark . and then there is conrad in what i believe was his career role on screen . he  s a villain of incredible malevolence  pure evil incarnate walking and talking on the silver screen .  br    br   however what i like about johnny concho is the climax an unforgettable one where conrad and dark are dealt with . let  s just say i believe johnny concho was mgm  s answer to high noon and a primer for what you do when evil causes a break down in all law and order .  
i don  t like using the word  awful  to describe any work of the cinema for which a great deal of time  effort  talent and money is spent in its creation but zefferelli  s attempt to adapt charlotte bront  s novel  jane eyre  is a total waste of time .  br    br   the script is lacking in finesse and power  everything explained to the viewer in no uncertain terms  leaving little to the imagination . the lead actors are woefully miscast  clearly hired for their star names  and the musical score drippy and dull . charlotte gainsbourg and william hurt have absolutely no chemistry with one another at all . she is like a wet noodle  worse even than joan fontaine  who at least was capable of some modicum of emotional involvement in what should be a story of frustrated passion . and william hurt acts the entire film on one tone and that tone is flat and devoid of energy . of course the limp and vapid script does not aid any of these otherwise fine actors in their efforts to bring any whiff of life to this flick .  br    br   joan plowright  s mrs fairfax is like some disney creation who keeps popping up to sweeten scenes in which she would have been best left out .  br    br   there is no mystery surrounding the story of rochester  s first wife . the role of the would  be second wife  played like a barbie doll by elle macphearson  is an empty cipher .  br    br   fiona shaw  a very great actress  is completely wasted as jane  s aunt  mrs reed . she would have been better  cast as mrs fairfax . only amanda root  as jane  s beloved school teacher  evokes any authentic sympathy or believability .  br    br   i saw this version of  jane eyre  after viewing robert young  s for british television  made in      starring ciaran hinds  samantha morgan and gemma jones . there is no comparison . young  s vital  romantic and deeply moving version is like an exploding nova compared to zefferelli  s wet squib .  br    br   i will be interested now to see the     version with timothy dalton  about which i  ve read some very good things on this web  site . i am amazed at how many people liked zefferelli  s yorkshire picture book .  br    br   about all i can say good about this film is that the house is beautiful and the cinematography vividly colored  beyond that it is a complete dud .  
  still crazy  is without a doubt the greatest rock comedy of all  time . it has been erroneously compared to  this is spinal tap   which it has no relation to .  spinal tap  is a satire  and  quite frankly  not a very good one  in spite of it  s  outing  of many rock clichs  . unlike  tap    still crazy  is populated by great actors  great songs and great human situations . you care about the people in  still crazy  . that  s all that matters . oh  yeah  the music  s pretty damn good  too  written by mick jones of foreigner and chris difford of squeeze . american audiences were already familiar with stephen rea  the crying game   but would only later become familiar with bill nighy  underworld  love actually  pirates of the caribbean ii  and timothy spall  the harry potter movies  .  
this version is pretty insipid  i  m afraid . jane eyre is one of my favorite books and has been since childhood  but william hurt  s weary  throwaway acting style is completely unsuitable to the bold passion of edward rochester and poor charlotte gainsbrough looks like a bored  petulant teenager whose dental braces hurt  i also can  t believe that they eliminated edward  s great marriage proposal scene from the end of the book  one of the most moving moments in literature . i do appreciate that they finally used such a young  plain woman to play jane  a character who is supposed to be a worldly    but if you want to see a version that closer approximates the personalities and passions of the novel  please see the    s version with george c . scott and susannah york . york was too old  tall and pretty to play jane  but no one has touched rochester  s character the way that scott did .  
dick clement and ian la frenais have a solid hit rate as far as their tv work is concerned . however  their film work has been much more chequered       s the bank job was fine  the previous year  s across the universe decidedly weak  for instance  .  br    br   still crazy  fortunately  is a solid success . it has a great story  excellent performances  a lot of humour  fabulous music and  above everything else  real heart .  br    br   i savour  moments   and this film has one of them  just when everything is going pear  shaped at the festival reunion performance . . .  br    br   hugely enjoyable .  
what made the idea of seeing this movie so attractive was the hope that it would live up to charlotte bronte  s brilliance of the original classic story . i was deeply disappointed to find that this movie  which seemed to be either written or filmed in great haste  had not the qualities that made the original novel so powerful . much of the witty back and forth between the main characters  jane eyre and mr . rochester  seemed to be either missing from the screenplay or left on the cutting room floor . also missing was jane eyre  s charismatic sense of self  which enabled her to suffer through her turmoil and triumph over all . the original jane eyre was a hero . the woman in this movie did not seem to have much to triumph over  including one of the greatest parts of the story when jane runs away from thornfield and mr . rochester . her struggle to find food and shelter  her shame at having to beg for bread  the threat of freezing to death in the cold  all to get away from a man she loved were  in my opinion  poignant parts of the story that were simply left out of this movie . the title character seemed dry and uninspired . the story was unappealing and for those who did not read the book  i cannot imagine that this story would be the least bit interesting . the screenplay and direction did little if any credit to the classic story .  
i have rarely emerged from viewing a film with such a warm  happy feeling . i felt as if i had been out with really good friends and had a wonderful time  i thoroughly enjoyed this film . the acting was superb  although i would have to mention bill nye in particular as giving an absolutely faultless performance . bill is an excellent actor and would love to see him in more films . timothy spall and jimmy nail are also favourites and always love to see them as they give such a solid performance . and billy connolly  as always  totally gorgeous . it was a wonderful ensemble performance from all concerned . such a refreshing experience to see a well  written  superbly acted and good  looking movie .  
i can  t say this is the worst film of all time  but only because there are still some movies i haven  t seen  yet  this has to be the most pretentious attempt at making a movie of all time  the director suffers from the same issues he had with  there will be blood   though he wasn  t quite as bad in that film . the whole movie it feels like you  re watching a guy trying to hard to impress beyond his abilities . it  s like he sits in his little director  s chair and thinks  how would a great filmmaker handle this scene   he just doesn  t have it in him . i don  t know if this film could be saved by a great filmmaker . there were certainly some nuggets of greatness that could have been polished  but nothing was brought to ripen . the scene where all the characters are singing was the worst moment in cinema history . one by one as we see the characters singing  and i squirmed in my seat  i kept saying  please  please  just don  t have the guy on the brink of death singing  too   sure enough  massive failure   
still crazy has been compared to the spinal tap since both are comedies about wash  up rr groups . actually  here the similarity ends because still crazy is much better written and acted out  whereas spinal tap script deteriorates from the mildly amusing first   min into a drivel that makes beavis and butthead to appear sophisticated in comparison . still crazy is formulaic but the likability of the characters and the unexpectedly high quality of some musical numbers for me managed to offset the a priori predictability of the movie . people who expect spinal tap  like attempt on satire would be disappointed by the light  hearted nature of the movie  but i  d take a successful self  ironic romp of still crazy over a pompous but failed shot at satire which is spinal tap .  
this ambitious film suffers most from writer  director paul thomas anderson  s delusions of grandeur . highly derivative of much better material  altman  s  nashville   lumet  s  network    this lumbering elephant takes far too long to get nowhere . a couple of misguided detours along the way  an embarrassing musical interlude  a biblical plague  don  t help matters . neither does the uneven level of performances . especially bad william h . macy  whose character and storyline could easily have been eliminated altogether julianne moore  for her unconvincing angst . and how many times must we see john c . reilly  s sad sack shtick   chicago  and  the hours  will suffice   tom cruise comes off well by comparison  his misogynist  foul  mouthed holy roller was rather amusing . speaking of foul mouths  the script was so loaded with  f  bombs  they lost their impact in no time . don  t even talk about that awful soundtrack  full of insipid and annoying vocals by aimee mann . her extended rendition of  one   a maudlin number to begin with  drove me to distraction at the start of the film . i should have heeded the handwriting on the wall and saved myself three more hours  by which time i  d been pushed to the brink of hell . one redeeming feature  which i haven  t seen mentioned in other reviews  is the best performance in the bunch  by unknown melora walters in the role of claudia  the damaged coke fiend bent on self  destruction . her credibility exceeded all others by far . this film took itself way too seriously and just didn  t know when to end .  
wonderful movie with good story great humour  some great one  liners  and a soundtrack to die for .  br    br   i  ve seen it  times so far .  br    br   the american audiences are going to love it .  
that  s not just my considered verdict on this film  but also on the bulk of what has been written about it . now don  t get me wrong here either  i  m not a total philistine  i didn  t hate the movie because it wasn  t enough like  police academy   or whatever  i enjoy more than my fair share of high brow or arty stuff  i swear .  br    br    magnolia  is poor  and i am honestly mystified as to why it is seemingly so acclaimed . long winded  self indulgent  rambling nonsense from start to finish  there is just so little that could credibly be what people so love about the movie . there  s some high calibre actors fair enough  and none turns in an average or worse performance . furthermore  my wife  a self confessed tom cruise hater  tells me it  s his career best performance by far . but the plot is so completely unengaging  meandering between the stories of several loosely connected characters at such a snail  s pace that even when significant life changing events are depicted they seem so pointless and uninteresting you find yourself crying out for someone to get blown up or something .  br    br   it doesn  t help that none of the characters are very easy to identify or empathise with  well i didn  t think so  but i don  t like most people admittedly  . they all play out their rather unentertaining life stories at great length  demonstrating their character flaws and emotions in ever  so intricate detail and playing out their deep and meaningful relationships to the nth degree with many a waffling soliloquy en route . yadda yadda yadda . the soundtrack  s dire as well  with that marrow  suckingly irritating quality that i had hitherto thought unique to the music of alanis morisette .  br    br   all in all  it was about as enjoyable a three hours as being forced to repeatedly watch an episode of  friends  whilst being intermittently poked in the ribs by a disgruntled nanny goat . the bit with the frogs is good though .  
i watched the movie in a preview and i really loved it . the cast is excellent and the plot is sometimes absolutely hilarious . another highlight of the movie is definitely the music  which hopefully will be released soon . i recommend it to everyone who likes the british humour and especially to all musicians . go and see . it  s great .  
magnolia presents itself as a wall to wall canvas of screaming  shrieking  overwrought  hysterical twits who are all bedeviled by regret  guilt and pain . pt anderson is certainly a gifted filmmaker but perhaps he should leave the writing to someone else or at least find someone with the balls to tell him he needed to edit this overlong mess .  br    br   a look at the cast will tell you that the performances were excellent  and they were . i just wish that every scene didn  t involve an over the top shouting match or long digression into the sins that have been committed and the pain that they have caused .  br    br   i also think that anderson fails miserably to create a story that parallels the bizarre tableaus that open the film . the opening sequences are wonderful in showing how fate can bring together people and circumstances that even the most optimistic believer in a cosmic puppeteer pulling our strings would scoff at . but the story that then develops lacks any of the stuff that these opening fables display . i kept waiting for some form of cosmic convergence to display itself  but instead all we get is waves of regret from morally challenged characters who see their past spread out before them and now seek absolution . throw in an out of left field biblical plague near the end and all you end up with is a cadre of anderson devotees who will marvel at his genius when all it really proves is that he has actually read the old testament .  br    br   i will say that the music by aimee mann was great and i  ll be looking for the soundtrack cd . in short  a good movie to look at and listen to  the music  that is  if the actors would have shut up or toned it down it may have been  
mr . blandings builds his dream house may be the best frank capra  preston sturges movie neither man ever made  if you love bringing up baby  the philadelpia story  the thin man  i was a male war bride or it  s a wonderful life  movies made with wit  taste and and the occasional tongue firmly panted in cheek  check this one out . post wwii life is simply and idyllically portrayed .  br    br   grant is at the absolute top of his form playing the city mouse venturing into the life of a country squire . loy is adorable as his pre  now wife . the cast of supporting characters compares to you can  t take it with you and contains an early bit by future tarzan lex barker . art direction and editing are way above par .  br    br   the movie never stoops to the low  rent  by  the  numbers venal slapstick of the later adaptation the money pit .  
i think i  ve seen all of the grisham movies now and generally they  re all very poor  except for the rainmaker  but this one is so bad it  s unbelievable  br    br   warning spoilerish  br    br   it  s one of those movies where the character does the stupid irrational things that no one would ever do . he  s a lawyer for christ  s sake . why when his children go missing does he not call the police . oh yes it  s because all the police hate lawyers so they  re just ignore him and let him be attacked .  br    br   when he  s arrested for murder they just let him go free  he would be locked up in a cell pending a bail hearing .  br    br   why would you drag your kids halfway across the country when you could easily protect them at home .  br    br   the police don  t bother to try and find an escaped mental patient  they don  t bother to interview his daughter .  br    br   as for the ridiculous ending .  br    br   in summary  silly  very unrealistic and a complete waste of time .  br    br        one of the worst films ever made .  
i enjoyed still crazy more than any film i have seen in years . a successful band from the    s decide to give it another try . they start by playing some gigs in some seedy european venues  with hilarious results . the music is fantastic  the script and acting are terrific . the characters are spot on  especially the lead singer with the high heavy metal voice  makeup and personality problems . the concert at the end was unreal . go and see it  preferably in a cinema with a good sound system    
     will go down in history as the year the movie critic lead the general public astray . first they sent us to eyes wide shut . then they hyped up the blair witch project and now magnolia which is by far the worst movie of the year . what is it about  who the heck knows . its full of self  indulgence and loaded with bad acting . i always like to stay and watch the credits  but when this thing was over i couldn  t get out of the movie theatre fast enough . most of the audience that attended the showing that i was at  felt pretty much the same way . dates were arguing with each other as well as strangers . it  s an ugly and hateful film that will make you feel ugly and hateful .  
an excellent cast makes this movie work all of the characters are developed exceedingly well and it  s clear that the actors enjoyed filming this movie .  br    br   it  s not quite the comedy i expected  much more a lighthearted look at the attempt to reclaim youthful glory than bawdy humor . for music fans there are quite a few subtle references that in themselves are intelligently funny .  br    br   i hate drawing direct comparisons to other movies  but so much of this movie reminded me of alan parker films i can  t help it imagine if the commitments actually did make it big   and then tried to recapture said glory   years later .  
my guess is that this director  writer had something to say . let  s see  what it could have been . . . a . frog storms would be creepy  b . can i get someone like tom cruise to say the  c  word many times and look like a bad patrick rafter  c . cast my wife and get her to say the  f  word every  seconds . this aside i really liked the beginning and the frog storm . the rest was a relentless  over  long  under  edited   over  indulgent failure . glad so many of you enjoyed it   br    br    
if you like deep purple  you will enjoy in this excellent movie with stephen rea in main role . the story is about the most famous rock group back there in   s  strange fruits  and they decided to play together again . but  of course  there is going to be lots of problem during theirs concerts . jimmy nail and bill nighy are great  and song  the flame still burns  is perfect . you have to watch it .  
normally i dont have a problem with gratuitous swearing in films  but this one really annoyed me . all they did was swear . for the whole film .  and  as someone else noted  get cancer  it was boring  rambling and pretentious . i wouldnt if i were you .  br    br   its also not that i dont like films which  as most people who like it will claim  observe life  . i love eat drink man woman  and all that happens in that is that a load of taiwanese people lead their lives . but i could relate to them . i have never met anyone who swore as much as the  actors  in this film  and i used to work on a construction site . so go figure . having said that william h . macy made me grin . once .  br    br       . avoid  unless you enjoy tedium .  
this movie maked me cry at the end  i watch at least    movies a week . i seen loads of great movies  even more crap  ones . but when ending scene  catharsic at it  s core  came i cried  and if you didn  t  you have serious problems  the story is archetypal  nothing new or original . but it  s real  because that sort of things really happened and that people really exist . glam isn  t my sort of music but i really admire all that they went through in early    s . . . at some point this directed me toward velvet goldmine  docudramas never really work very good . but this movie really meked us believe it all . . . because they don  t try to make it as a path full of glorious concerts  present musicians that are superheroes  groupie girls that are stupid and emotionally numb  they don  t glorify drugs and alcohol  they promote rehabilitation and redemption that comes even   years late . . . once again great movie . since  leaving las vegas  i was never so moved by a movie .  
i wanted to like magnolia . the plot reminded me of grand canyon  which i liked  .  different lives  stories that come together at the end but magnolia took a wrong turn halfway through the movie and i was lost . i almost turned it off right then and there but i felt i should hang in there until the end  little did i know it would be another torturous     hours . thank god i rented instead of seeing it in the theatre . i almost screamed out in frustration after  hours . the biggest kick in the pants was the ending frog scene . my dvd player still hasn  t forgiven me and i don  t blame it one bit . it was a unique movie  but a bad  boring  and pointless movie .  
i didn  t approach  still crazy  with any real anticipation . just another rock  n  roll picture  i figured . . . good nostalgia for the baby boomers . this film is partially that  but so much more . brian gibson  the director  previously helmed a biography of tina turner  and is quite successful in his style . i suppose it is fitting that this was his last film .  br    br   the cast is well  chosen . bill nighy is perfect in his role as the band  s frontman . actor  turned  director bruce robinson appears as the band  s washed  up guitarist . he does a superb job  even though he hasn  t appeared on film since the late    s . if you  re looking for an touching and funny film  with some great songs   you  ve found it .  br    br    .  out of    
sorry did i miss something  did i walk out early  the first ten minutes of unusual  and untrue   stories had me thinking  this is going to be a classic  but it was all down hill from there  the acting was brilliant  for what it  s worth william h macy is fantastic and just gets better and better every film i watch him in . but it never seemed to connect . i was waiting for the big moment where all the stories inter connect and then suddenly . . it rains frog   it was if the writer said  i  ve gone to deep how can i pull all these stories together cleverely . . . . oh sod it i  ll just have it raining frogs  . i like clever movies  i like strange movies but this was just odd and boring .      
i love this movie . it is one of those movies that you can watch time and time again and still find engaging . congratulations   i believe everyone involved in making the movie and the script should be proud of themselves . it is so eerie  you feel like you are watching a real life band . i would like to see more movies like this . i am glad that they did not choose famous hollywood stars to be in this movie because it probably would not have worked . and even if billy connolly is quite well known  he really got stuck into the role and i could not imagine anybody else playing it . congratulations again  i really believe this movie deserves the peter sellers comedy award for bill nighy . and when you get to the final scene . . . . . well what can i say      
great cast . great acting . unpredictable story line for the first half  br    br   hour or so . i was really wanting to know what was going to  br    br   happen to each of these unredeeming characters  and how their  br    br   seemingly disparate lives would become intertwined . but when  br    br   the writers took out the glue to start connecting the players  they  br    br   mistakenly used super glue and brought the movie to a standstill  br    br   for the last two hours . i kept thinking it would get better  but it only  br    br   got worse . don  t believe the reviews . this is a waste of time .  br    br   think about it   tom cruise made ugly   why  the gorgeous  br    br   hunky bartender wearing braces   why  i know it had to do with  br    br   the plot  but without them  at least there would have been one  br    br   attractive cast member to remember .  
i thought this movie was fantastic . it was hilarious . kinda reminded me of spinal tap . this is a must see for any fan of    s rock .  i hope me and my friends aren  t like that in twenty years    br    br   bill nighy gives an excellent performance as the off kilter lead singer trying to recapture that old spirit   br    br   stephen rea fits perfectly into the movie as the glue trying to hold the band together  but not succeeding well .  br    br   if you love music  and were ever in a band  this movie is definitely for you . you won  t regret seeing this movie . i know i don  t . even my family found it funny  and that  s saying something .  
  magnolia  is a preposterous  bewildering acting showcase that adds up to very little . like  eyes wide shut    magnolia  is an aimless series of episodes without any concern for coherence . the camera swoops through hallways and corridors  catching glimpses of sad characters . where is the reason to care for these people  the common theme seems to be people who yell a lot  who can  t care for others  except for john c . reilly  s and philip seymour hoffman  s characters   and are self  destructive jerks who are either falling to pieces or dying . i was reminded of how much i disliked  shine  because of the irredeemable monster of a father played by armin mueller  stahl . there are so many unattractive  unappealing characters here  why would we want to spend time with them   br    br   having said that  there is nothing held back about  magnolia .  paul thomas anderson  s ideas are splashed onto his canvas with abandon . there are two ideas in particular that bomb . both happen in the last hour of this     minute film . one has the camera flipping from one character to another while each one sings one of aimee mann  s coffeehouse folk songs . sweet  but ineffectual since we can  t see what strings them all together . the other idea i refer to cannot be revealed other than to say it is completely unexpected and completely ridiculous .  br    br    magnolia  has a lot of great acting . particularly tom cruise who unleashes a performance i didn  t know he had in him . and john c . reilly plays maybe the most decent and truly good cop in recent memory . but it all adds up to nothing . when the secret unexpected event happened  a girl behind me in the theatre couldn  t hold it in any more and said   this is stupid   my feeling is the majority of moviegoers will agree .  
as an aging rocker  this movie mentions heep and quo  my  favourite bands ever  but with the incredible cast  everyone   and the fantastic storyline  i just love this piece of creative genius . i cannot recommend it more highly  and mick jones added so much  foreigner lead and primary songwriter along with the greatest rock singer ever  lou gramm   i have watched this great work more than   times  bill nighy  what a voice  and jimmy nail  talent oozes from every pore  then astrid . . . . and karen . . . . . what more could an aging rocker ask for         bloody brilliant .  br    br   alastair  perth  western oz  originally from windsor  england .  
i can  t tell you how angry i was after seing this movie . the characters are not the slightest bit interesting  and the plot is non  existant . so after waiting to see how the lives of these characters affected each other  hoping that the past  and a half hours were leading up to some significant finish  what do we get    a storm of frogs . now yes  i understand the references to the bible  exodus  and the underlying theme  but first of all  it was presented with absolutely no resolution  and second of all it would be lost to anyone who has not read the bible  a significant portion of the population  or charles fort  a still larger portion  . as a somewhat well read person  i thought this movie was a self indulgent poor imitation of a seinfeld episode .  br    br   don  t waste your time . it would be better spent reading . . .  br    br   . . . well anything to be honest  
i agree with what  veinbreaker  wrote with regards to the  ahhhh  feeling you get at the end of this movie . i absolutely loved the locations they chose to film  the songs were well written and interesting  especially the psychedelic sounding track on which hans matheson sings . it  s trippy . nighy was fab in his role  nail  nailed  it  beano was the typical drummer  and rea kept it together . bruce robinson was awesome . helena was a lovely girlfriend . but i felt juliet aubrey  s performance was gorgeous . the scenes between aubrey  robinson killed me  perfectly played and the music behind the scene was spot on  too bad not many more musicians have checked this movie out  they ought to  i  ve told all my musician friends . great quote by jimmy nail  s character  it  s supposed to be rock  roll  not the phantom of the fg opera    
the minute you give an  art film       you have people baying for your ignorant  half  ass  ed  artistically retarded blood . i won  t try and justify how i am not an aesthetically challenged retard by listing out all the  art house cinema  i have liked or mentioning how i gave some unknown  cult classic  a      . all i ask is that someone explain to me the point  purpose and message of this film .  br    br   here is how i would summarize the film opening montage of three unrelated urban legends depicting almost absurd levels of co  incidence . this followed by  in a nutshell  to save you  hours of pain  the following  a children  s game show host dying of lung cancer tries to patch things up with his coke  addicted daughter  who he may or may not have raped when she was a child  and who is being courted by a bumbling police officer with relationship issues  while the game  show  s star contestant decides that he doesn  t want to be a failed child prodigy  a fate which has befallen another one of the game show contestants from the   s  who we see is now a jobless homosexual in love with a bartender with braces and in need of money for  corrective oral surgery   while the game show  s producer  himself dying of lung cancer  asks his male nurse to help him patch up with the son he abandoned years ago  and who has subsequently become a womanizing self help guru  even as mr . producer  s second wife suffers from guilt pangs over having cheated a dying man and oh  eventually  it rains frogs  you read correctly  . and i am sparing you the unbelievably long and pointless  literally rambling monologues each character seems to come up with on the fly for no rhyme or reason other than  possibly  to make sure the film crosses  hours and becomes classified as a  modern epic  .  br    br   you are probably thinking that i could have done a better job of summarizing the movie  and in turn of not confusing you  if i had written the damn thing a little more coherently  maybe in a few sentences instead of just one . . . well  now you know how i feel .  
i spotted this movie in the video store a few years ago and rented it . my husband and i enjoyed it so much we bought the vhs and have enjoyed it ever since .  br    br   the plot has been well  discussed  so no need in going over it again . the point is this movie deserves repeated viewings . americans  especially  aren  t going to get all the jokes the first time around . i know i didn  t .  br    br   this movie is funny  touching  sad   all at the same time . when ray proposes the toast at his daughter  s wedding  it  s cringe  inducing . when karen calls tony  brian  as he attempts to kiss her  it  s heartbreaking . when beano is finally cornered by the woman in black  it  s too funny for words .  br    br   and the music it  s as good as any movie soundtrack i  ve heard in years . i was dancing in the living room to  all over the world .   br    br   every performance is absolutely perfect . bill nighy has been justly complimented for his portrayal of ray  a man who has had one too many bad trips . stephen rea is perfect as tony  the lovable keyboard player who has carried a torch for karen all these years . he has an appealing hangdog look that makes women want to hug him . but all the actors are equally brilliant .  br    br   ignore any pans you read about this movie and see it . it  s a gem .  
this was shown on the biography channel and was about as informative as a children  s comic  i gave it  out of   for it  s attention to detail because for the most part it had a   s feel to it and the three ladies that played the original three angels looked like them so the make  up was good .  br    br   this was supposed to be a biography on the biography channel but it was void of everything that is normally  usually seen in one of their biographies . no interviews with surviving cast members  crew members  production team members etc .  or their friends  families  and any biographers of those people . in fact i know just as much now about the programme as i did before i watched this film that was based on the  supposedly  biographical book . as for actually learning something that no  one knew about the program and wasn  t common knowledge well that never happened .  
another example of the unique talents of cary grant . a performance worthy of oscar consideration  yet once again shunned by the academy . mr . grant runs the gamut from silly to tender in this marvelous comedy about a man who decides to move out of the big city . the pitfalls of building a home are well chronicled and became the basis  loosely  for the more modern tom hanks vehicle   the money pit  .  br    br   if you like good old fashioned comedy without the cursing and the gratuitous sex  this movie is a must see .  
this movie is like real life  by which i mean  not a lot happens in the available  hours or so  and not much game plan or plot is evidenced by the frequently invisible cast  their invisibility being due to the  experimental  lighting as mentioned by many reviewers  .  br    br   a big bore . no big surprise that altman helms this  he is a very variable performer  yes we all loved  gosford park   but  pret a porter  anyone  kansas city  dr t . and the women  aaargh   but the fact that the raw material is a john grisham tale  and the excellent cast that you will perceive through the gathering gloaming of your insistent slumber  makes this truly a masterpiece of bad film . and no  it is not  so bad it  s good  .  br    br   it  s just bad .  
in the voice over which begins the film  hughie  billy connolly   a roadie for the great    s band strange fruit  said the reason lightning struck at a rock festival to stop strange fruit  s set was that god was sick of    s excess . indeed  it  s been popular to put down that era of music  and see punk as a welcome antidote to it . while i agree the excess was tiresome  as well as the misogynistic urges which came out of it   and like punk  i still am a fan of what is considered classic rock or glam rock  and this film about strange fruit  s long  strange reunion is an affectionate tribute to those days .  br    br   one of the reasons the film works is the care of the people behind the scenes . brian gibson directed what  s love got to do with it  about tina turner  while i had problems with the dramatic parts of the film  the music was handled very well   writers dick clement and ian le frenais co  wrote the commitments and were behind the music  oriented british tv show over the rainbow  and the songs strange fruit played were co  written by foreigner  s mick jones  not to be confused with the clash  s mick jones   so it was a meeting of people who knew what they were talking about . also  two cast members are musicians in their own right  bill nye i don  t know about  though the film credits him with his own singing  and he certainly looks like a lead singer of that era  while jimmy nail was in another british tv show which was music  oriented  though i forget the name  and he was in evita   and the others are convincing at it . and while  as i said  a lot of    s bands like strange fruit behaved badly towards women  the movie doesn  t make the same mistake  except for the woman who follows timothy spall around   as the manager of the reunion  juliet aubrey is quite good and plays a fully rounded character .  br    br   the other actors are all good as well  with special praise to stephen rea  who handles the more dramatic role well without sentimentality . there are a couple of plot points which don  t work  but overall this is quite enjoyable . oh yeah  and the music is good too .  
i happened to love the show growing up  along with millions of others . so i tuned in to this movie  thinking if not good it might be at least a bit dazzling and fun .  br    br   wrong  i just have to wonder  at the end of this  was charlie  s angels really that boring  i don  t seem to remember it as such . but this movie  as bad as movies of this type can be  bore little resemblance to the excitement of that time period and show . i did see it all  in spite of the negatives  it wasn  t unwatchable . but it was very bland  which i do not fault the performers for at all  particularly the women who played the angels as they really did look like them . the movie just wasn  t that interesting . it tried to make each angel a  character  .  one angel is to feisty  one is the  good girl   one is to into her husband . . . .   all characters were portrayed with one major characteristic defining them and little depth beyond stereotypes . the excitement of the show was missing and the dialog was . . . . dialog . that  s pretty much it .  br    br   not awful . not the worst of tv movies . but missable .  
if you need cheering up on a cold weekday evening  this is the film for you  excellent script and perfectly cast actors . i especially loved ray psyching himself up in front of the mirror before gigs  inspired   
it was everything this isn  t it had pace  pop  and actors who weren  t afraid to chew the scenery . it also had a decent script . this one had me scratching my head . if farrah isn  t really  serious  about a career  why does she have a manager  and why is he wasting his time   if kate and barney are  artists   why do they sign up for the mother of all jiggle shows  like the  brady bunch  movie where robert reed wants to do shakespeare  only to find himself on bb   they weren  t industry names  but they weren  t exactly starving  either . and while they got the history right  the poster was released before farrah got the show   silverman rejecting pitches for  funniest home videos  and  american idol  and spelling promising his baby girl tori someday he  ll create a show for her obviously did not happen .  br    br   what bothered me was how spelling  s role is distorted . he  s shown as the show  runner and creator when he was neither . and how he  comes up  with the  idea  for ca was is laughable   br    br   how were spelling and goldberg allowed to enforce farrah  s oral contract when the others were signed  and why didn  t farrah or bernstein tell them she was leaving not because she discovered her inner diva  but because majors wanted her to  this is why  when it tries tries to created conflict and tension by setting farrah up as the  bad girl   like suzanne somers   it fails because the groundwork was never laid   that was where the  three  s company  pic delivered .  
so i rented  still crazy  instead . when i described hardcore logo to the guy at the video store  he said that sounded kind of like still crazy . so i rented it . was i disappointed  well  yes  as still crazy focuses on a classic rock band rather than a punk band  but that  s ok . still crazy tells the story of the strange fruit  a rock band that broke up in the   s at the peak of their popularity at a large rock festival . twenty years later  the band members are all struggling to make a living  and are offered the opportunity to play a concert at the twenty year anniversary of this festival . they take up the offer and decide to reform on a permanent basis  touring europe in the process . some quite funny hijinks ensue  and all the characters go through subtle changes . watching this movie  you feel more like a viewer of a carefully edited documentary than a participant . and that  s not bad at all .  
noting the cast  i recently watched this movie on tcm  hoping for an under  appreciated gem  as i regard many films from the    s . this is no gem  not even semi  precious . the anachronistic clothing and      s rolls royce limo hit you immediately . the casting is strange  also . but mostly  there are too many dumb and unnecessary plot devices . this film has lots of good ingredients and a basic plot that holds promise  but the components aren  t mixed according to the right recipe . it simply doesn  t come together like it should . and that  s a shame . with a few rather obvious  but minor alterations  this might have been a very good movie .  br    br   the film is about an american showgirl  jean harlow  seeking a rich british husband  preferably from the nobility . she meets franchot tone and his buddy  who are on a lark in a rolls royce owned by his buddy  s employer . harlow mistakenly assumes tone is the lord who owns the rolls  and she sets her sights on him . this early part of the film is a light comedy of no real distinction .  br    br   however  tone unwittingly uncovers the fact that his employer is actually a german  th columnist on the eve of wwi  and that is when the movie changes tone altogether and begins to fall apart . tone and harlow are married  but just as the honeymoon begins  he is gunned down by a mata hari  type  benita hume   and harlow flees the scene  with a bystander accusing her of tone  s murder .  in fact  tone recovers from the wounds .   br    br   harlow flees to france  where she falls in love again  this time with a wealthy french cad  cary grant  . tone  now in the army  and harlow are unexpectedly brought back together in grant  s hospital room where he is in rehab from a plane crash . in the following scene  tone accuses harlow of abandoning him because she is essentially a gold  digger . harlow never explains about the witness  accusing her of murder and her panic  that is one of those unreal  movie  plot  device break  downs in the story .  br    br   then tone is also brought back into contact with the woman  hume  who shot him . she is on hand to watch her paramour  grant  test the new plane that tone has delivered to him from england . incredibly  both hume and tone dimly recognize each other  but simply can  t place where from  okay  so tone was shot and almost died perhaps his memory is a little out of whack . but how many men did hume shoot that she would forget one of her marks   she does not seem to be faking the memory lapse .   br    br   this is inexplicable and unnecessary . hume should have absolutely recognized him  but played it coy when she realized that tone wasn  t able to place her . that would have been a much better treatment of that issue .  br    br   the finale also is very unsatisfying . the movie  as made  has tone and harlow conspiring to preserve the good reputation of the cad  grant  leading to his fraudulent burial as a hero . then harlow and tone just walk away . it is noble to preserve the french public  s perception of their national war hero  but very unsatisfying as a love story   br    br   what the film begs for is this harlow explains that she fled in a panic in the face of accusations of murder tone forgives her and quietly rekindles his love for her he then carries a torch for her  even while helping her to rig the crash site to preserve grant  s reputation . meanwhile  harlow finally recognizes grant for the cad he is . then having seen tone for the brave and noble man he is  harlow rekindles feelings for him  too . at film  s end  the two of them become reconciled even as they work together to rig the appearance of grant  s death . after grant  s hero  s burial  we see them embrace and kiss at the fade  out . that would have made a nice little movie . for cary grant fans  it would have been even better had tone played the french cad who is killed and grant the long  suffering first husband  reunited with harlow .  br    br   it is incomprehensible that franchot tone is cast as the irishman living in england  while cary grant is cast as the frenchman . this movie would have been much better had they reversed roles . that also would have been more conducive to the film that should have been . . .  
what happens to washed up rock  n  roll stars in the late      s  they launch a comeback  reunion tour . at least  that  s what the members of strange fruit  a  fictional     s stadium rock group do .  br    br   tony  stephen rea  has the concession on condom vending machines when he runs into the son of the promoter of a famous music festival . it was at that festival in the    s that strange fruit broke up . the    s are  retro  and the time is right to wide that wave . he sets off in search of the other members of the band .  br    br   part of what broke up the band was the death and replacement of keith  the lead singer and brilliant song writer . the band was known for its excessive lifestyle and now they are all back amongst the working class from which they came . beano  the drummer  played by timothy spall  who was brilliant in secrets and lies  is a layabout  the bass player is a roofer  and their lead singer is still a rocker . while he owns a huge mansion he has been forced to sell it  as his fortune has not lasted . brian  the lead guitarist  is dead  so a young guitarist is hired to replace him .  br    br   somewhat reluctantly the band agree to give the reunion a try . abandoning their day jobs  they begin to rehearse  and their manager approaches their label about reissuing their albums . but he wants them to start touring again first . and so they hit the club circuit around europe . the club scene is not kind to these overweight  dated  old rockers .  br    br   it is on tour that the film really starts to develop . all of the old conflicts rearise  with the figures of keith and brian hovering throughout . they all hang together because they are all in search of a second chance for the greatness that eluded them earlier . and they rediscover some of the interpersonal chemistry that made playing together so enjoyable .  br    br   still crazy starts as spinal tap ii but gradually becomes a more dramatically focused film  following the relationships of the band members . while it is still a very funny movie  it is the evolving characters  struggling to deal with the deaths of brian and keith and with their own personal demons  that make the film work .  
this may have been made for the hell of it  but it was most probably the worst film i  ve seen in years  the best thing about the entire dvd would be the case    i  m surprised that people took the time to make something so rubbish and yet spend money on it too  i  m glad i only rented . i suppose the real fans of this film would probably have to be sadistic and gothic to care about it without taking in any cgi or any other effects for that matter  i hope alex chandon learnt a lesson about lighting and sfx to make a better film in the future  that is  if he is still in work .  br    br   notes to buyers this is extremely disappointing  don  t buy it       
this reminded me of spinal tap  on a more serious level . it  s the story of a band doing a reunion tour  but things are not harmonious between them . i was especially impressed with the performance of bill nighy as ray . you felt sorry for him  yet he had a certain creepiness about him . it  s a great movie to watch if you have ever seen your favorite band get wrinkly  old and pathetic . bittersweet  highly recommended . .  
sadly  this is not  the best british gore film since hellraiser   though the dvd cover claims this  which is what tricked me into buying it . it is  however  an homage to many of the great horrors of old  films from most notably the amicus stable .  br    br   cradle . . . is shot on mini dv  which though we all know has more of a tv feel than a movie  can be done so much better . every scene  set and shot looks like it has been lit in exactly the same way  standard key  fill  rear setup   which only enhances the cheap look of the finished piece . the gore content is  quite frankly  laughable . from the opening shots where we see a man  s obviously foam rubber head torn apart  through to tacky cheap prop hammers  the creature effects and the terrible cg  there was nothing in there that impressed me at all .  br    br   the acting is abominable  from the near  comatose detective to the brummie dwarf  via dani filth  the least convincing horror movie bad guy i have ever witnessed . each of the substories is more formulaic than the last  and the sets get worse and worse as the movie runs . look out for the  mental asylum   a georgian semi detached house with a bad cg sign outside  and the most bizarre  and not in a good way  padded cell i have seen .  br    br   it took me four attempts to get to the end of the film without my attention wandering  nay  running  away at any available opportunity . i actually found myself dusting at one point while the film was running .  br    br   it does  however  mark one of the last known appearances of emily booth  s breasts  which i guess is one  um  two  things it has going for it . once that  s out of the way though  it is all downhill .  br    br   i  ve heard people say good things about alex chandon  and i would love to believe them  but on this evidence i  m not likely to . if you want a decent homage to amicus  avoid this and go for the league of gentlemen christmas special instead .  br    br   currently battling it out with blair witch   book of shadows for the title of worst film i have ever seen .  
  contrary to most reviews i  ve read  i didn  t feel this followed any of the other rock movies   spinal tap   etc .  the story was more unique  although i feel most people wanted to see the  sex  drugs  rock and roll  vices that the band kept alluding to .  br    br    as an american  i knew a few of the actors  spall  connelly  rea . surprised to find out  brian   bruce robinson was in zifferedi  s   sp   classic  romeo  juliet  . guess i  ll have to rent that next .  br    br     the flame still burns   my wife  who hails from mexico  didn  t follow the english  british language too well  missed some of the jokes  which i dutifully explained  but she cried her eyes out at the concert scene . she loves the song so much now .  br    br    funny that amazon . com has the soundtrack for    usd when i bought the dvd in the bargain bin at wal  mart for   .   usd . price non  withstanding  i first saw this on late night cable and have been dying to find it ever since .  
it surprisingly had a plot    i  ve seen movies with less plot  i don  t wanna mention asian movies but . . .  . i thought the camera wasn  t bad at all for a cheap movie like this  and also the atmosphere wasn  t too bad . there is no real reason for most things people do and the way they react to what happens . although i do think that about a lot of movies  in this case it was horrible  of course .  br    br   it ripped off some movies so badly just for single scenes . the acting was bad but i  ve seen worse . the movie was bad but i  ve seen worse . watching this film is an experience between boredom  laughing fits  death wish  sadism  horniness and entertainment on a low level .  br    br   so if you like gory movies with stupid plots this one is the right film for you .  br    br   i gave it      because it can be entertaining if you don  t expect to see a good movie and you  re in the right mood .  
the funky  yet strictly second  tier british glam  rock band strange fruit breaks up at the end of the wild  n  wacky excess  ridden    s . the individual band members go their separate ways and uncomfortably settle into lackluster middle age in the dull and uneventful    s morose keyboardist stephen rea winds up penniless and down on his luck  vain  neurotic  pretentious lead singer bill nighy tries  and fails  to pursue a floundering solo career  paranoid drummer timothy spall resides in obscurity on a remote farm so he can avoid paying a hefty back taxes debt  and surly bass player jimmy nail installs roofs for a living . former loving groupie turned patient  understanding  long  suffering manager juliet aubrey gets the group back together for an ill  advised  largely ineffectual and hilariously disastrous twenty years later nostalgic reunion tour of europe . our lovably ragged bunch try gamely  but fumblingly to reignite a flame that once burned quite brightly back in the day . scraggly zonked  out roadie billy connelly and cocky eager beaver young guitarist hans matheson tag along for the delightfully bumpy  trouble  plagued  but still ultimately rewarding and enjoyable ride .  br    br   director brian gibson shows tremendously infectious respect and adoration for both his amiably screwy characters in particular and loud  ringing  flamboyantly overblown preening    s rock in general  this imbuing this affectionate little pip with an utterly engaging sense of big  hearted charm and tireless verve . the astute  sharply written script by dick clement and ian la frenais likewise bristles with spot  on dry wit and finely observed moments of joyous on the road inanity  capturing a certain bittersweetly affecting and frequently uproarious vibe that gives the picture itself an irresistibly luminescent glow . ashley rowe  s lovely  elegant cinematography ensures that the movie always looks quite visually sumptuous while the perfectly catchy and groovy music does the trick with right  on rockin  flair and aplomb . kudos also to the across  the  board terrific performances that vividly nail the burnt  out soul and tattered  but still fiercely beating heart of a past its prime has  been ragtag rock outfit desperate to regain its erstwhile evanescent glory in one final bid for big time success . all in all  this radiant and touching gem rates highly as one of the true seriocomic sleeper treats from the    s .  
not since caligula have i considered turning off the movie half  way through . . . . but then with this one  i was only   minutes in when i considered . unfortunately  i did make it all the way through . make sure that you do not .  br    br   it  s not that cradle of fear is shocking or gory or scary or frightening or sexual . it  s that it  s not any of those things  yet it so desperately wants to be all of them . instead  it  s boring  trite  ordinary  predictable  and unexceptionally poorly executed  shot on video  high school special effects  no sense of even basic visual storytelling  dialog barely audible . . . not that it  s worth hearing  though  .  br    br   this movie is proof for the argument that even the straight  to  video distributors need to draw a line in the sand somewhere .  
i  m   years old  a guitarist   lead  rhythm   and over the last forty years  i  ve been in four bands  it  s all there  the fights  the foul  ups  the rotten food  the worse accommodation  always travelling  little or no money  and every one was drunk or high . but  the clubs  the fans  and the music  made it all worth it  just like strange fruit  i  m too damn old for it now  and the arthritis in the hands and hips mean no more rocking  but for the length of that video  it all came back  and it was all there  the birds  the brawls  and the booze  and i was young again  it  s just like billy connolly  s voice over  god likes that    s stuff  rock on forever   
the directors cut version  which was the one i saw  was very long for this type of movie . almost two hours is way too long . if you have the choice  definitely go for the non  directors cut .  br    br   the main plot is almost not taken up at all  the movie consists to the main part of several murder scenes  which are connected but the feeling is that they  re only shown in order to fill the movie with splatterish violence . the connection is not revealed until the latter part and the lack of context bored me out long before i was there .  br    br   as a horror movie it doesn  t work . you never get the required feel for the characters due to mediocre acting and the general disposition  character is presented    minutes later character is dead  . this pictures strong side lies in the splatter part .  
 . . . heads  hands  and feet  a band from the past  just like strange fruit . a triple whammy there . those who have professed not to like this film are either heartless or under    and have had no experience of the real thing . sad for them . this is an achingly well  observed little picture that is an excellent way of passing an hour or two  and will probably not even fade much on the second showing . stephen rae  timothy spall as the fat drummer  in many ways quite the most delightful figure of all   and bill nighy  a new name for me  as the neurotic vocalist and front man all turn in super performances  and juliet aubrey has lovely doe eyes to go with some sharp acting as karen  who tries to hold the band together as they spectacularly self  destruct .  br    br   the syd barrett  brian wilson echoes are loud and clear  mott the hoople rear up before one in all their inflated ridiculousness  and the script is never mawkish for more than a minute . don  t compare this with spinal tap or the rutles or the full monty  it  s unfair on all of them . the nearest comparison is the commitments  and that  s no bad thing . and any film that can conjure up memories of blodwyn pig  a band i do not remember ever seeing  but the name lives on  well  it shows somebody in the team knew what they were on about .  br    br   a small delight  and thanks for the memory .  br    br   oh . . . and i  ve got another one  stiff little fingers a  a  and what about steeleye span . . . spooky tooth . . . ten inch nails anyone   you have to see the movie or have been on the road   
by all accounts  this could have been an interesting film . featuring a score by the mighty cradle of filth  starring their frontman dani and being hyped up as  the future of british horror   i expected alex chandon  s gore fest to live up to the hype .  br    br   i was wrong .  br    br   everything about this film is either cliche or inept . the short story anthology setup was done to death  and much better  in the seventies and eighties . admittedly  the idea of  the sick room  did send a chill down my spine  but as with most of the film was let down by bad script writing and acting .  br    br   chandon cannot write dialogue . every sentence with the main police investigator is brim full with swearing and insolence  the typical  cop on the edge  formula . funny  i  m sure i  ve seen that somewhere else before . . .  no chandon  you are not tarantino . or scorsese . it sounds bad . add ludicrously ott acting with very dodgy casting  don  t get me wrong  dani filth is a great singer and musician  but actor he ain  t  and the performances are beyond laughable to the vein burstingly cringing . give me bruce campbell any day .  br    br   the visual effects are on the whole poor  with some atrocious cgi  awful gore effects  for goodness sakes  peter jackson did better and that was over ten years ago with less budget  and editing filters that shriek over  use  as for the often mistimed use of cradle of filth  s score . . . man  they should sue .  br    br   the fundamental problem with cradle of fear is that it takes itself seriously  trying to build atmosphere and incite terror and repulsion within its audience . too many good horror films made in the seventies and eighties do this so much better with far superior gore effects  eg maniac  zombie flesh eaters  the beyond  suspiria etc   rendering cradle of fear  in my mind  second  rate and obsolete .  br    br   i hope chandon can learn from this hideous ghoul of a film and go on to make some quality horror that actually scares .  br    br   better luck next time .  
this is perhaps the best rockumentary ever  a british  better this is spinal tap . the characters are believable  the plot is great  and you can genuinely empathise with some of the events  such as ray  s problem with fitting in the band .  br    br   the soundtrack is excellent . real period stuff  even if it is in the same key  you  ll be humming some of the songs for days . what i liked was the nearly all  british cast  with some of the favourite household names . ray  s wife is priceless . . .  br    br   the film never drags  it just goes at the right pace  and has some genuinely funny sections in it . a generator of some really good catchphrases   br    br   it  s a hidden diamond .  
normally when i go on a raid of the local hollywood video i head towards the b  horror movies . to me the basic principals behind a b  horror movie is it  s camp value  heavy gore  lots of needless nudity  and special effects that anyone can put together with a pack of corn syrup and latex . i rented cradle of fear strictly because i  ve been a fan of the band since they released they  re first demo in     . the movie started off on an interesting note and then when i saw dani filth stomp on an extremely obvious latex mask i laughed . when i saw the lesbian sex scene for the sake of a lesbian sex scene i laughed even harder . i spent pretty much the entire movie laughing and when i wasn  t laughing i was shaking my head thinking about how a multi  million dollar rock star would want to make a movie that seemed like it was on a budget of multi  hundreds of dollars . the whole point of this movie to me seemed to attract the  hardcore goth kids who think death  destruction  sex  blood  and satan are the greatest things invented since lava lamps . that was really it . to me this movie seemed like   .   of the things that happened in this movie just happened for the sake of being satanic . this movie had a lot of potential and really could have been a real good movie but in the end this  movie  really is just an extended cradle of filth video .  
musings pure delight from beginning to end . not a laugh riot  but a more subtle  sophisticated humor . what a goldmine of great scenes and character actors  including reginald denny  nestor paiva  ian wolfe  harry shannon and jason robards sr . .  br    br   cary grant is at the building sight of his new home  which is at that point  being framed . a young carpenter  played by future tarzan lex barker  asks him if he wants his  lallies to be rabbeted   or some such thing that only a carpenter would know . grant  not wanting to appear ignorant  replies in the affirmative . at that  barker yells up to his mates   ok boys  he wants  em rabbeted  so . . . . yank  em out   a second later you hear the ripping and tearing sounds of about   big nails being pulled out of various boards . all grant can do is moan .  br    br   yes  the movie is dated . you  d never see that many carpenters working at once on a single family home  and a place like that  in connecticut of all places  would probably run a few million bucks .  br    br   a classic movie that is really a treasure .  
i rented this dvd for two reasons . a cast of great actors  and the director  even though robert altman can be hit or miss . in this case  it was a big miss . altman  s attempt at creating suspense fell on its keester . after seeing kenneth branagh in a good film like  dead again   i didn  t think he could possibly contribute to such a turkey  and i hope it didn  t ruin his reputation . robert duvall seems to have fallen the way of most one  time oscar winners . on a downward spiral that includes acting in eating  money films such as this one . duvall was once a great actor in excellent films  even though his best performance was not  tender mercies   but  the great santini  . this movie was truly a big waste of time . i give it a  out of   .  
what a good movie  at last a picture revealing a unknown side of rock illusions of fame . well  known rockers are getting old and forgotten  not the music . and with a good sense of humour . have you ever danced on bill haley  s rock around the clock   br    br   anyway  still crazy is probably the best movie about rock n  roll i have ever seen . far much better than spinal tap for instance . why  because in still crazy  people are mature . they have a different point of view about rock  about love and about life . they want to catch up with their crazy youth they miss so much . beyond the story itself  we see characters with their own personality  weaknesses and dreams . like anyone of us .  br    br   spend a good time watching this  listen to the awesome soundtrack   and finally thinking of your own future .  br    br   bye   
this movie has a few things going for it right off the bat . having dani filth as a lead actor is automatically going to make some people like this movie . admittedly  i love cradle of filth and listened to the soundtrack to this movie long before i watched it . dani filth is a very recognizable character and makes for a great lead . the independent filming style of the movie is great for the creepy factor . there are some gorgeous actresses in this movie . for being low budget  the special effects weren  t bad either . the ways that people died were very creative and nightmarish .  br    br   now on to the cons . there is very little talking throughout this whole movie  thus making for very little as far as character development . it  s hard to fear for the lives of limp  static characters . when there was a little talking  the f bomb was abundant  popping up in random places . yes  i understand people swear but it seems like a preteen boy scripted this and thought himself cool for including all the language . the storyline  what i could make out of it  was pretty good although many parts are left dangling and the lack of conversation leaves one often wondering what  s happening .  br    br   in the end  cradle of fear is like a porno for people who love sex and violence  but like a porno trying to pull of a storyline  it just doesn  t work too well . rent it though  if you  re a morbid person looking to sate your blood and flesh appetite .  
i found  still crazy  to be marvelously entertaining  and not only to those of us who lived through that raucous era of late    s  early    s rock . my   year old daughter watches it with me every time i drag out the dvd  don  t worry  it  s only been three times  and she loves it too .  br    br   it is a truly loving  poignant and hilarious nod to the era  and every actor hits his  her notes with perfection . it was my first introduction to bill nighy and i am glad his somewhat similar turn in  love actually  brought him more attention . bruce robinson was incredible as brian  bringing real life to what could have been a caricature of the drug  damaged rocker stereotype . it was interesting to see that robinson has made quite a name for himself as a writer .  br    br   i live in sherman oaks  california  and after the first time i saw the movie i bumped into billy connolly at the local mall  he lived here at the time  and told him it was one of my five favorite films of all time . he invited me to sit down at the food court with him and we discussed the movie for some time . we even talked of the idea of an american  oriented remake before wisely dismissing that . why mess with the original   br    br   my only problem with  still crazy  is that it wasn  t hugely popular in theaters and too many people have missed out on a wonderful experience .  
this movie was made for fans of dani  and cradle of filth  . i am not one of them . i think he  s just an imitator riding the black metal bandwagon  still  i  m generally not a fan of black metal  . but as i was carrying this dvd case to pay for it  i convinced myself  that the less authentic something is the more it tries to be convincing . thus i assumed i  m in for a roller  coaster ride of rubber gore and do  it  yourself splatter with a sinister background . now  that is what i do like .  br    br   i got home and popped it in . my patience lasted   minutes . awful camera work and disgusting quality . and that was then        that it looked like it was shot using a hi  camcorder . i left it on the shelf . maybe a nice evening with beer and bmovies would create a nice setting for this . . . picture .  br    br   after a couple of months i got back to it  in mentioned surroundings  and saw half . then not only the mentioned aspects annoyed me . my disliking evolved . i noticed how funny dani      m     height  looked in his platform shoes ripping a head of a mugger apart .  yes  ripping . his head apparently had no skull .  i also found that this movie may have no sense . still  i haven  t finished it yet  so i wasn  t positive .  br    br   after a couple more tries i finally managed to finish this flick  a couple of months back . . .  yes  it took me    years .  so  dani in fact was funny as satan  manson  super  evil  man  s helper and the movie did not make sense . see our bad person employs dani to do bad things . he delivers . why  well i guess he  s just very  very bad . as a matter of fact they both are and that is pretty much it .  br    br   we have a couple of short stories joined by dani  s character . my favourite was about a guy  who steals someone  s leg  because he wants to use it as his own . yeah  exactly .  br    br   the acting  s rock bottom . the cgi is the worst ever . i mean stinger beats it  and  boy  is stinger  s cgi baaaaad  . the story has no sense . and the quality is . . . let  s just say it is not satisfying . the only thing that might keep you watching is the unmotivated violence and gore . blood and guts are made pretty well . why  you can actually see that the movie originated there and then moved on .  example  dani  the man  filth takes a stuffed cat  fake as can be  and guts it . . . and then eats what fell out . why  we never know . we do know  however  that this cat must have been on illegal substances  as his heart is almost half his size .   br    br   you might think  after my comment that this movie is so bad it  s good  but it  s just bad . cradle of filth fans can add  points . i added one for gore .  
hello  i was alanrickmaniac . i  m a still crazy  holic . it was just another movie i watched partly on tv . then i had to get the video tape to finally find out how it ends . then i wanted the dvd  because the tape showed first signs of decay after a few weeks . after the dvd i had to lay my hands on the soundtrack . then on several film posters and the film script . right now it has become that worse that i try to push other people into addiction with my website and still crazy parties .  br    br   how could that happen  what drove me into addiction   br    br   ok  it  s one of those funny but somehow sad and melancholic intelligent comedies like only the british can produce .  br    br   alright  the movie is worlds apart from stuff like   this is spinal tap    because of the characters  that aren  t childish or ultra cool  but real . this is a story about men getting older  too . a story about men getting along with each other . or don  t . it contains some of the best actors possible . tim spall . stephen rea . bruce robinson . jimmy nail . and bill nighy . bill nighy who puts on one of the best performances i  ve ever seen in a film .  br    br   good  the soundtrack is unbelievable . foreigner  s mick jones has written the songs for the imaginary band strange fruit . jimmy nail who plays bass  man les wickes and bill nighy portraying the egocentric but awkward singer ray simms are really singing . we know that about jimmy nail  but if you  ve only heard bill nighy  s singing in  love actually   you have no idea how great and powerful his voice is .  br    br   well  you  ll fever for every scene to come for the x  th time  especially those concert scenes . you  d die to be able to really stand in the dancing crowd when strange fruit is doing  all over the world   singing on the top of your lungs . you long to cry and celebrate with thousands of people the rebirth of the real strange fruit at wisbech  s festival stage .  br    br   it  s hard but . . . i  m addicted to this film . i  m addicted to strange fruit . if there  s a world where this band really exists i  d like to move there .  br    br   got still crazy . . . anyone   
this film is a very funny film . the violence is bad  the acting is . . . well dani  stick to singing or screaming or whatever the hell it is you usually do . the random chicks wearing hardly anything is just to catch sexually  frustrated goth lads in . personally  i think this movie really does suck . the story and characters could be very good  if say the directing  the actors and other little nibby things were made better . but the film is just bad  the only reason why people like this piece of crap is because it has danni in it . this film is possibly the worst b  rate film ever . and  believe me that  s hard to achieve  especially when you  re competing with def by temptation and over crappy excuses for  serious  horror movies . i  m not a cof fan  and so i just see this as another rubbish movie . . . a really bad one . if dani made this as a comedy then  good going him . very well done . over than that though  i rate it low  for it  s crappiness . watch it when you  re in a happy  happy  joy  joy mode so you can laugh at everything or if you  re high on multiple different types of drugs .  
this movie is tremendous for uplifting the spirits .  br    br   every time i watch it  i see  hear funny little things that i missed before .  br    br   the soundtrack is unbelievable . mick jones  foreigner  and chris difford  squeeze  penned the songs  making strange fruit the best thing that ever hit today  s music scene .  br    br   unfortunately  strange fruit are a strictly fictitional washed up     s to    s band that were never good to begin with  due to drug use and inner fighting . one wonders what might have been  while listening to their fanatstic soundtrack .  br    br   the fruit draw inspiration from the rolling stones  deep purple  david bowie  and the who .  br    br   each member of fruit are quite memorable . stephen rea stars as down  and  dead  broke tony costello  who is asked by a festival promoter to reunite his band for a reunion tour  with hopes of reaping monetary benefits . costello haply approaches ex  roadie karen knowles  played by juliet aubrey  to help him rekindle the flame of a dream long past .  br    br   juliet gathers up the bitter jimmy nail  les wickes   blundering timothy spall  david  beano  baggot   and extravagantly glamouresque ray simms  bill nighy  . tumbling in is another ex  roadie  the hippy  toker  jokester hughie  billy connolly   who never let the flame burn out .  br    br   as juliet searches for the last member of their motley band  the elusive guitarist  songwriter brian lovell  played by the brooding bruce robinson   the reunited members squabble  just like old times  fighting over each others  rusty talent .  br    br   the band is then given the chance to do a small dutch tour  to prepare for the festival . with young hendrix  like luke shand  hans matheson  taking the place of lovell  the crew hits the road . the sparks fly as their memories flame forward  threatening to burn their unfinished goals . . .  br    br   be prepared to laugh  sing  cheer  and cry  as these memorable characters etch themselves back into your hearts . . .  
 . . . and you can look at that statement in different ways  by the way . first of all  it  s a mess because of all the gruesome and extremely violent scenes . your wildest imagination doesn  t even come close to some of the explicitly shown scenes here . entire parts of this movie are just plain sick  disgusting  offensive  brutal and they bring you close to puking your guts out . now  i love horror movies and i am very  pro  violence   but i do think that it has to lead somewhere   is that too much to ask  cradle of fear is just a series of utterly sick and twisted thoughts . the  movie  contains out of four separate chapters connected by a wraparound story . this results in endless showing of torture  murder and sickness only to find out that the victims have something in common . not very informative  if you ask me . and yet  it has to be said  the basic plot idea surely has potential . it  s about a cannibalistic hypnotist who made a deal with the devil himself to avenge himself and cause misery and death to everyone who was involved in his trial . personally  i think that is an interesting topic  so they should have focused on that a little more instead of wanting to create the most disgusting movie ever .  br    br   secondly  the whole production of this movie was a mess . they didn  t have much of a budget and they spent it all on fake blood and guts . . . tons of it   the acting performances are a joke and some of the worst i  ve ever seen . any other special effects besides the make  up looks very amateurish  like that attempt to a realistic car crash  for example  . there  s no tension or atmosphere to detect anywhere . . . not even an attempt to build up one .  br    br   cradle of fear is a failure and a missed opportunity to say the least . with the presence of death  metal icon danni filth  from the band cradle of filth . . get the link   this movie is obviously only meant for the eyes of twisted teenagers who try to be controversial . troubled girls and boys who take pleasure in worrying their parents by watching crap like this . and then people keep complaining that the amount of suicides and juvenile delinquency is increasing . . . bah . i can imagine that this movie can cause a lot of damage when you  re easily influenced or dispose of an unstable mind . for every self  respecting horror fan  this movie is an insult .  
this series could very well be the best britcom ever  and that is saying a great deal  considering the competitors  fawlty towers  good neighbours  to name just two  .  br    br   what made butterflies so superior  even to the best of the best  is that it did not just exemplify great  classic  classy and intelligent comedy  but it also expanded horizons  reflecting  flawlessly  gently  and at every detail  the great social change that was occurring in britain at the time .  br    br   i remember watching this show as a teenager and being in awe of everything about it . the lifestyle depicted was remarkable in itself . this was the first time i saw real people using cordless phones . and the wardrobe of all the characters was far removed from the goofy seventies attire still seen in north america at the time . then there were the decors  shop fronts  cars . these people  even the layabout sons  with their philosophical approach to life and epigrammatic humor  were sophisticated . they were examples of the  new europeans  that would come to have an impact on life and style throughout the world in the coming decade      s  .  br    br   of course  the premise was strange and fantastic . the idea that someone who was living the suburban dream could be so discontent and restless was revolutionary  particularly to north americans for whom happiness was always defined as money and things  sure the situation was depicted in american movies and tv  but not with the intensity of butterflies or the movie montenegro  . and  if the premise was not surprising enough  the means by which it was expressed took it to the extreme . a potential affair that was not really about sex  or even romance  butterflies dazzled many  but it must have left some people smacking their foreheads in disbelief . . . at the time anyway .  br    br   butterflies turned out to be  in so many ways  prophetic . it documented  ahead of its time  post  modern ennui  all  pervasive lifestyle  the notion of emotional infidelity  and generational disconnect and male discontent  portrayed perfectly by the strained father  son relationships  . it is too bad this series has not been rediscovered in a big way  and all those involved given credit for creating a meaningful snapshot of a certain time and place  and foreseeing all the slickness and angst that was to come .  
cradle of fear  br    br   this isn  t a movie where intricate delicate little narrative nuances occupy our attention . this is not a film where the special effects are supposed to leave us slack  jacked uttering that sense of whoa . what it is though is a slice of lo  fi goth horror which leaves little to the imagination  created in the eyes of the director  alex chandon  as  a throwback to sleazy    s and    s horror  .  br    br   this is a very visceral experience for  hours  where four plot lines are connected through lots of watery blood  reams of dismembered body parts and innards  tied by an intestinal thread of revenge .  br    br   the purveyor of such horrific violence is dani filth  lead  singer of the metal band cradle of filth  executing a role he was destined to play .  br    br   as other  s have said  there is nothing new about wanting to carryout occultist revenge . in this particular context a convicted sexual predator and murderer  kemper  the father of our devilish avenging  angel  compels his son to exact retribution on those who are some how connected to convicting him to purgatory within an insane asylum .  br    br   what this provides for the chandon  who should be congratulated on also penning and editing this piece  is the opportunity to let his sick mind run free . he seems to take delight in the idea of splattering blood into the orifices of those on screen  and into every nook and cranny that can be reached . we are also treated to close  ups of skull  s being crushed  demonic rape  and other assorted imagery to engage those who relish getting up close and personal to their horror . and for some of those who closely follow these type of films  there is the odd sequence which may have you thinking   did i just see what i thought i did   because of course pretty woman this  aint . it reminds me of some of the gore  fests created out of italian horror some   to   years ago  and a number of other works where disgusting images have left their mark but not the context in which they were viewed .  br    br   story  of the set is particularly intriguing where the idea of ones obsession can ultimately lead to death in the pursuit of internet violence through the  sick room   where the user is in control of how a life can be snuffed out . further acknowledgements should also go out to a pounding soundtrack that allows filth to exercise his daytime talent  and an effective use of drum and bass  often overlooked in film  making as a viable form of supporting visuals . using the city of london as a backdrop with real people as opposed to movie stand  ins also adds support to the commando feel of the film . ok  classic it may not be  but blood  guts  intestines  occult and demons in a slightly perverse unproblematic way it is .  
looking back over the past   years  since my first exposure to the show   all i can say is once you get it  it will stay with you forever . i remember my initial reaction being   annoyingly overacted    under produced   unlikeable characters  br    br   well  two years later i watched some episodes again and didn  t find it nearly as annoying . a year later i was able to catch the entire series from the beginning and quickly became engrossed in it  s bittersweet tale of human fault and perspectives on happiness . yes  the show has a style that is not for everybody  and i  m sure the dated production value would be hard to deal with now . but  i still think about the show at least once a month with a vague teary eyed longing for what seemed like simpler times . . .  br    br   btw i am a married man . . .  for all who think this is a show for females   
this sure is one comedy i  m not likely to forget for a while .  br    br   wouldn  t normally bother to comment on this movie it  s so minor that no one would watch it anyway  but as it happens  it  s kind of popular in p  p sharing networks such as kazaa  and so this saaad production needs to be exposed for what it is .  br    br   so what is it then  well  of course it  s not really a comedy instead  it  s intended as a horror flick    intended  very much being the key word here . the script is a totally incoherent and unbalanced mess  the special effects are only special in that they  re especially pathetic  and as for the acting  well  let  s just say that if this had been my graduating play at primary school  my teachers would have burst out crying at our talent .  br    br   of course i realise that this is a very low budget film and that in those cases one should lower one  s expectations  certainly as far as things like special effects are concerned . also  even though i  m a big fan of the horror genre  i  m aware that these movies are only rarely the places to look for interesting scripts and top notch acting .  br    br   but still .  br    br   b  movies often have some redeeming features to make up for the lack of funding  such as humour . the only laughs in cradle to fear lie in the ridiculous performances . if you can find the humour in that   and i could for the first   minutes or so  gradually dozing off after that   then that  s going to be the only thing the movie has to offer . oh  that and two or three pairs of breasts .  br    br   woohoo  how exciting .  br    br   as for the story  it  s not even that it doesn  t try to convey anything the victims either use drugs and  or are involved in serious crime . the lesson watch out  naughty boys and girls  because one day you  ll be made to pay for what you  ve done .  br    br   i rest my case .  br    br   so  all in all  a little bit of sex  a fair amount of drugs  but absolutely zero rock  n roll .  br    br   i rate this one  out of    but would go to  if i could . or perhaps i wouldn  t it deserves a  for spelling the actors  names correctly in the titles . i mean  that  s something  innit   
british comedies tend to fall into one of two main types the quiet  introspective  usually romantic study and the farcical social satire . settings  characters  and concepts vary but certain characteristics place the vast majority of shows into one of the two categories . butterflies is perhaps the epitom of the first type .  br    br   the scripts are very verbal  including long interior monologues by the main character ria  a basically happy but unsettled housewife curious about what she might have missed out on when she embarked on a thoroughly conventional life . when she meets a successful but clumsy and emotionally accessible businessman  who makes his interest in her quite clear   she toys with the idea of finding out what the other path might have offered .  br    br   the acting and scripts are always on the money  which makes one  s reaction to the show almost entirely a personal one i was neither blown away by it nor turned off . my mother  on the other hand  adored this show . i think the degree to which one identifies with ria  s dilemma is the most important factor in determining one  s reaction to butterflies .  
now look  i won  t lie to you  but i only got this movie for   .   from a friend because it had danni filth  the lead singer of the ever popular death metal band  cradle of filth  in it . i expected of course violence and gore at its finest  as that is what mr filth can be portrayed as  amongst a plot line .  br    br   but dear god  i was oh so wrong . this movie seriously bites  big time . being a low budget film  haha  wait  make that zero budget   this obviously lacks the beautiful howard stern orchestra musical scores and the spielberg special effects . nope  it  s all one camera  bad angles  and bad blood scenes .  br    br   take for example when our star and violent fiend  mr filth  violently kills a mugger . a grab at the throat  and blood spits out  but oh my  it looks like there  s a juice packet filled with fake blood in the man  s shirt .  br    br   to you cradle of filth fans you  ll hear two songs throughout the movie  but with the camera angles and shoddy filming  they drag the overall pleasure of the song down .  br    br   my final comment steer well away from it . it  s blood  gore  breasts  and hey  even a shoddy story to go with it . so if you like appalling violence  near no voices  yes  there  s hardly any words in this movie   then by all means  buy it . but if shoddy movies isn  t your thing  then avoid it . don  t waste your money .  
johny to makes here one of his best style exercises  making a strong film with a good yakuza  s story . the election of the new yakuza  s boss is the beginning of a war inside the organization .  br    br   in my opinion the violence is wise used in the context  making a very strong gangs film . i specially love the way he tells the history  moving around all the roles inside the yakuza  s family  and making that we see the violence  like the only way they have to solve their problems . . .  br    br   talking about  the technical aspects  the film is a good example of paused  rythmic and planified way of shooting a film . one of the hong kong films of the year . is like infernal affairs  but without the easy action  violence scenes  and the confused storyline . strongly recommended to all asian films lovers .  br    br    sorry for my english  better do in spanish lol   
check out the film  s website  more time was put into making that than in the writing of the script for this movie . it couldn  t be more off in it  s boasting . original story  original  they must have found the script tucked away between the old testament  or face legal repercussion for that bit of horn  tooting . high  end special effects  come on  i could do better with an atari     and a jug of earwax . stylish cinematography  oh yes  the america  s funniest home video look is still a classic . i  m sure they had little money available for this title  so of course the sf aren  t really that good  or a bit bad now and then  or just plain hilarious  but it  s the story that makes this film a waste of time and money .  stories rolled into one and all of them brainless bits of seen  befores and done  already  s .  
enjoyed the movie and efficient confucian crime drama  the old order survives the threat posed by a brash young greedy man  no doubt representing modern society . i thought the final scene was strange and could not understand if we were to believe that big d was being punished for being greedy or it was part of the plan a long . i loved the scene and for once in a chinese movie  the violence was not a choreographed martial arts fest . on thing that always amuses me about hk films is that the main influence the british seem to have had is to introduce  yes sir  and  sorry  into the local language and its amusing that long after we have gone  they are still there .  
i didn  t know if i would laugh or cry seeing this . only addicted fans of danni filth could have a taste for this . this is supposed to be a horror movie but there  s only filth in this . the most cool scene is the car accident  with real special effects from the best of hollywood . avoid this movie at all costs . see this only for studies of how bad can be a movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
not to be confused with the resse witherspoon high school film of the same name  this is a stylised look at hong kong  s triad gangs . called election because a new leader or  chairman  is elected by ancient traditions every two years . two candidates are up for the position and through ego  bribes and past track record the race is tense to say the least . expertly directed to introduce you to an expansive cast without ever being confusing the story twists and turns before revealing itself in all its brutal glory . the asian godfather this is not  but it is an enjoyable thriller in a gangster genre that will leave you on the edge of your seat and wincing at the violence . subtitled volume  i think its safe to say there will other instalments as we go deeper into the murky world of the triads and all their feuding and underhand business deals . either way this is a good start and if there are no sequels a great film in its own right .  
this is another of the many b minus movies tagged as film noir in the hope of generating some interest in something that is devoid of it . all aspects of the film  script  acting  direction  are mediocre . the acting by the three leads is wooden . i guess john dall was expected to go places in the movie business but then someone realised he had little talent and therefore ended up doing tv work . lee j cobb who is usually terrific cannot rise above the poor script and poor direction . jane wyatt is supposed to be a femme fatale but comes nowhere near convincing the viewers . the movie does have two of the strangest looking cars that i have ever seen  the one in which john dall goes after lee j cobb is particularly strange . the dvd transfer is typical alpha .  
this movie was a fairly entertaining comedy about murphy  s law being applied to home ownership and construction . if a film like this was being made today no doubt the family would be dysfunctional . since it was set in the  simpler  forties  we get what is supposed to be a typical family of the era . grant of course perfectly blends the comedic and dramatic elements and he works with a more than competent supporting cast highlighted by loy and douglas . their shenanigans make for a solid ninety minutes of entertainment      .  
did anyone who was making this movie  particularly the director  spare a thought for the logic of the story  line  these are not mere plot  holes  but plot graves  that become ever deeper as we lose any sympathy for the main character and his plight . that is  if you are kind enough a viewer to valiantly ignore the fact for most of the movie that the characters are either servants to the grave  hole plot  or boring and unlikeable . or  in the case of downey  s  hannah  s characters  apparently superfluous . in pondering the reason for existence of downey  s character  s significant screen  time in the movie  i decided that either the director had liked his character and unnecessarily increased his screen  time  unlikley  as the director didn  t change anything else about the script he actually needed to  or that his character was going to be sacrificed on the altar of bad plotting . i  ll leave you to guess which one it was to be .  br    br   i had to keep checking the cover of the dvd to confirm that this really was made by credible talents . i cannot understand why robert altman would take this job . surely he has some power to pick and chose . actually  i can  t understand why anyone would take this script on  except a first  time director looking for the experience .  br    br   i suppose robert downey jr . needed the money for his habit . i suppose kenneth branagh wanted to try a southern accent . i suppose robert duvall was only given a few pages of the script and thought the role in isolation sounded intriguing . these are the only motivations i can see that would coerce good actors to take on roles in this movie . as for robert altman  plenty of effort has gone in on his part to making the movie look fantastic . i found myself noticing how he had framed such and such a scene  or used the bright orange float vests in another scene to draw the eye  s movements  or imposed a beautiful filter to create a particular mood . i do not typically notice such things in movies  since most movies i bother to watch to the end actually engage me for reasons of good story  telling and interesting characters with understandable motives . i watched this to the end only because some ridiculous element of optimism in myself kept looking at that dvd cover and being convinced that  due to the talent involved  there had to be some redeeming factor in this movie .  br    br   nice direction . but that  s not why i watch movies .  
this isn  t as violent as i was expecting which makes the violent scenes appear all the more brutal and effective .  br    br   there are a lot of twists and turns and back stabbing and double crossing all the way through the film making it hard to know who  s side a particular character is on .  br    br   the plot is pacey with some good dialogue and character development and gives an interesting view of the workings of the triad gang it follows .  br    br   the violence when it comes is brutal  no guns or martial art scenes with special effects  this is believable in your face violence and for all the dialogue you are never allowed forget that the triad is a violent criminal organisation .  br    br   the ending is surprising but thoroughly consistent and believable .  
this was a disappointing film for me . it came to me via a boxed set entitled   classic film noir   which was a gift from someone who knows i typically enjoy films done in that style  i insist that noir is a style  not a genre  . i do not think it is a noir film at all . there seems to be a tendency these days to label and market every black and white b movie made from     to     as noir  and the label does not always fit . there is a persecuted male protagonist  ed cullen  lee j . cobb   and most of the film  s action takes place indoors . those are just about the only noir elements that i could see . there is no pervasive paranoia  or any real reason why one should sympathize with ed cullen . jane wyatt was overdressed and unconvincing as a femme fatale . i do not want to spoil this film for potential viewers . however  i would be interested in hearing what other connoisseurs of film noir have to say about it .  
there can be no denying that hak se wui  election in english  is a well made and well thought out film . the film uses numerous clever pieces of identification all the time playing with modernity yet sticking to tradition  a theme played with throughout the film where john woo  s hong kong films are action packed and over the top in their explosive content as seen in hard boiled       and when hong kong films do settle down into rhythms of telling the story from the  bad  point of view  they can sometimes stutter and just become merely unmemorable  a good example being city on fire       .  br    br   election is a film that is memorable for the sheer fact of its unpredictable scenes  spontaneous action and violence that are done in a realistic and tasteful  if that  s the right word  manner as well as the clever little  in pieces  of film  making . it  s difficult to spot during the viewing but election is really constructed in a kind of three act structure there is the first point of concern involving the actual election and whoever is voted in is voted in  not everyone likes the decision but what the uncles say  goes . the second act is the retrieving of the ancient baton from china that tradition demands must be present during the inauguration with the final third the aftermath of the inauguration and certain characters coming up with their own ideas on how the triads should and could be run . needless to say certain events and twists occur during each of the three thirds  some are small and immaterial whereas some are much larger and spectacular .  br    br   election does have some faults with the majority coming in the opening third . trying to kill off time surrounding an election that only takes a few minutes to complete was clearly a hard task for the writers and filmmakers and that shows at numerous points . i got the feeling that a certain scene was just starting to go somewhere before it was interrupted by the police and then everyone gets arrested . this happens a few times a fight breaks out in a restaurant but the police are there and everyone is arrested there  s a secret meeting about the baton between the triads but the police show up and everyone gets arrested some other triads are having a pre  election talk but the police show up and guess what  you know .  br    br   once the film gets out of that rut that i thought it would  it uses a sacred baton as a plot device to get everybody moving . the baton spawns some good fight scenes such as the chasing of a truck after it  s been hotwired  another chase involving a motorbike and a kung  fu fight with a load of melee weapons in a street  the scenes are unpredictable  realistic and violent but like i said  they are in a  tasteful  manner . where election really soars is its attention to that fine detail . when the triads are in jail  the bars are covered with wire suggesting they  re all animals in cages as that  s how they behave on the outside when in conflict . another fine piece of attention to detail is the way the uncles toast using tea and not alcohol  elevating themselves above other head gangsters who  d use champagne  the long good friday  and also referencing chinese tradition of drinking tea to celebrate or commemorate .  br    br   election is a good film that is structured well enough to enjoy and a film that has fantastic mise  en  scene as you look at what  s going on . some of the indoor settings and the clothing as well as the buckets of style that is poured on as the search and chase for the baton intensifies . the inauguration is like another short film entirely and very well integrated into the film hinting at chinese tradition in the process . i feel the best scene is the ending scene as it sums it up perfectly two shifty characters fishing and debating the ruling of the triads all the while remaining realistic  unpredictable and violent in a tasteful manner  of course .  
maybe i  m missing something because i  ve read more positive things about the man who cheated himself than i have read bad reviews  and i just don  t get it . i like my noirs to have a little style to them with characters that speak  look  and act like humphrey bogart in the big sleep or gene tierney in laura . none of the characters in this movie have that style or presence or whatever you want to call it . take the lead actor  lee j . cobb . his rumpled  rolled  out  of  bed look is about as far from the dashing  smooth  talking noir archetype as you  ll find . or  take jane wyatt as the femme fatale as another example . this is one of the worst cases of miscasting i  ve seen in a while . she  s just not convincing in the role .  br    br   as for the plot  it  s tired and lacks any real surprises or anything new for the genre . i could have predicted the outcome of the man who cheated himself after about five minutes . and that final cat  and  mouse chase scene is plain old dull . ten to fifteen minutes of nothing happening really ruined any pacing the movie may have had going for it .  
election is a chinese mob movie  or triads in this case . every two years an election is held to decide on a new leader  and at first it seems a toss up between big d  tony leung ka fai  or as i know him   the other tony leung   and lok  simon yam  who was judge in full contact   . though once lok wins  big d refuses to accept the choice and goes to whatever lengths he can to secure recognition as the new leader . unlike any other asian film i watch featuring gangsters  this one is not an action movie . it has its bloody moments  when necessary  as in goodfellas  but it  s basically just a really effective drama . there are a lot of characters  which is really hard to keep track of  but i think that plays into the craziness of it all a bit . a     year  old baton  which is the symbol of power i mentioned before  changes hands several times before things settle down . and though it may appear that the film ends at the   or    minute mark  there are still a couple big surprises waiting . simon yam was my favorite character here and sort of anchors the picture .  br    br   election was quite the award winner at last year  s hong kong film awards  winning for best actor  tony leung   best picture  best director  johnny to  who did heroic trio     and best screenplay . it also had nominations for cinematography  editing  film score  which i loved   and three more acting performances  including yam  .  
i watched like  or  herzog movies and none of them had any impact on me .  br    br   i watched several documentaries about him . he is obviously an intelligent man  with great knowledge about films and passion for making them  but does this makes him a good director . definitely no  a complete anti  talent . he can make a good documentary because of previously mentioned traits  but a film with actors  never   br    br   he can  t direct nor write . his screenplays are full of badly thought out situations  and many situations  dialogues in his movies are so childishly and badly done that they cannot be hidden behind the word  art  in any sense . no way . not to mention the unskillful direction  so amateurish  like . to say that he wants to direct like that and write crap like that is a lie .  br    br   like the scene when scheitz gets arrested and storszek hides in the back of the store . who is he kidding   br    br   he is a cheater he knows what fake intellectuals and critics want . he knows what elements he needs to put in the script to get your their attention and empty praising . never mind the rest of the script and sloppy direction .  br    br   just look at julio medem . if herzog can make a movie like medem can  then i might re  check his old movies and try to find talent in them .  
first off  i must say that i made the mistake of watching the election films out of sequence . i say unfortunately  because after seeing election  first  election seems a bit of a disappointment . both films are gangster epics that are similar in form . and while election is an enjoyable piece of cinema . . . it  s just not nearly as good as it  s sequel .  br    br   in the first election installment  we are shown the two competitors for chairman big d and lok . after a few scenes of discussion amongst the  uncle  s  as to who should have the chairman title  they  almost unanimously  decide that lok  simon yam  will helm the triads . suffice to say this doesn  t go over very well with competitor big d  tony leung ka fai  and in a bid to influence the takeover  big d kidnaps two of the uncles in order to sway the election board to his side . this has disastrous results and heads the triads into an all out war . lok is determined to become chairman but won  t become official until he can recover the  dragon head baton   a material representation of the chairman  s power . the current chairman  whistle  chung wang  has hidden the baton somewhere in mainland china and the race is on to see who can recover it first .  br    br   much of the film is devoted to the recovery of the baton . as both aspiring leaders search for it they must dodge cops and opposite sides  which leads into one of the stand out scenes in election  which involves an underling named jet  nick cheung   a machete  and lots of bad guys . nick cheung  s presence is attention grabbing to say the least . . . i wonder if this influenced director johhnie to in any way while making the second election  as he does deliver more of jet  s character in the sequel .  br    br   while nick cheung gives a scene stealing performance  i must not fail to give due to the rest of the film  s actors . election has a great ensemble cast with well thought out performances that are both subtle and impacting . simon yam is his usually glorious self and the film also benefits from heavyweight hk actors like louis koo  tony leung ka fai  and the under  appreciated suet lam . there really aren  t any weak links in the acting and one could easily believe that they  re watching real gangsters .  br    br   although the performances are great  one of the most impressive things about election is johnnie to  s eye for the camera . there are some truly striking shots in the film and it goes without saying that to definitely knows how to frame his shots  as the viewer is treated to a series of innovative and quite brilliant camera placings and angles . all of which makes election  above all  a great looking film .  br    br   my issues with the film arises mostly out of the shear amount of characters involved in election . it gets a bit hard to follow because the film is so full of characters that aren  t integral to the plot . while the sequel opts to focus more on the two candidates  the first election offers the election process as a whole with tons of uncles  underlings  and police officers crowding the storyline . maybe the film would have worked better if it would have been a bit longer with more time dedicated to the inner workings of the triad  or if director johnnie to would have funneled down the necessary elements and expounded on them more .  br    br   bottom line  all in all  this is a wonderfully brutal film with a great cast  excellent direction  and leisurely pacing that packs a punch . it  s just a little more complicated than it needed to be .  
lage raho munnabhai is really a disappointing movie . i have seen the first part of munnabhai and it was really good but this one really make u bore n disappoint u . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   this movie really waste yours time and money . i went with my friend to this movie on the first day of its release and v both get bore in cinema  hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   role of circuit was very small n useless n this movie . i think sanjay  dutt cut down the role of arshad varshi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   character of the movie is also not well define like the previous one . this movie show u the result of over  confidence . . . . . . . . .  br    br   the ideas of mahatma is also not define and confusing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   a really very big disappointment  
it might be a little erroneous to open a review by describing a film in terms of other films  but i think it  s the best way to give an approximation of the place election occupies in the gangster genre arena . it works somewhere in between the godfather and kinji fukasaku  s yakuza opus the yakuza papers  aka battles without honour and humanity   in that it is simultaneously both romanticized and realistic  dark and gritty . but it  s also a johnnie to film  and as such it carries the distinct touch of the hong kong auteur .  br    br   every two years the hk triad elects a new boss . only this time one of the candidates is not overly happy with the result so he decides to take matters into his own hands much to the dismay of the rest of the triads and the police . that  s the story in a nutshell but rest assured it has a lot more going for it than that . as in the yakuza papers  there  s a great deal of scheming  back  stabbing and forming and switching of allegiances  sometimes all it takes is a phone call  in one of the most memorable scenes i  ve seen in recent time  which might not necessarily make for deep drama but makes for an interesting plot and good character conflict . fans of the gangster genre are likely to appreciate it in that aspect . election is not as action  oriented as one might expect although it is violent . and i  m not talking about the glossy  glamour version of hollywood violence . this is dark and grim . to  s camera lingers in the scenes of people being brutalized in ways that reveal both the humanity and inhumanity of the perpetrators and victims after all violence is an integral part of us whether we like it or not .  br    br   if you  re familiar with to  s style  then you should know what to expect . the pacing is relatively slow and deliberate . the cinematography is great  slick and dark in equal measures  utilizing dark hues  brown  dark green and orange  while the smooth tracking shots add a vibrant quality to it . in the end  election occupies a peculiar place . it  s not exactly a character study and it  s not an action  oriented gangster film . it explores a situation  the election and its aftermath   but does so in style  and is both realistic and romanticized  the triad ceremonies in particular echo of an oriental godfather  .  
the reason i intended to give this movie a chance to take  hours of my life  actually it was only   minutes  was my wish to try to understand and hopefully appreciate indian cinema . all i have ever seen were few older movies of s . ray .  br    br   browsing through imdb i came across this one and after seeing rating of  .  i concluded this must be the one which will open the doors of unknown and bring artistic enjoyment . oh my how wrong i was  the only logical explanation for this rating of  .  is that most of    people who voted are indian and their only venture outside bolliwood production were adam sandler movies .  br    br   with this rating this movie would be ranked on  th place on imdb list of    best movies above citizen cane  goodfellas of psycho  i am really not in a mood to review and criticize because there is simply nothing that i find worth remembering from this painful experience . my only hope is that there is a lot of hindu who like me find this movie as is   plain stupid  with abundance of kitsch and cheesy music .  
this movie is great fun to watch if you love films of the organized crime variety . those looking for a crime film starring a charismatic lead with dreams of taking over in a bad way may be slightly disappointed with the way this film strides .  br    br   it is a fun romp through a criminal underworld however and if you aren  t familiar with hong kong films  then you may be pleasantly surprised by this one . i was somewhat disappointed by some of the choices made story  wise but overall a good crime film . some things did not make sense but that seems to be the norm with films of the east .  br    br   people just randomly do things regardless of how their personalities were set up prior . it  s a slightly annoying pattern that permeates even in this film .  
i love the munna bhai mbbs but  lagge raho . . .  sux really sux . i have never seen such a boring movie in my whole life . and these high ratings really astonished me that wat happened to the taste of indian cinema viewers    br    br   may be spoiler  br    br   an educated girl needs an advice from a bhai  people discussing their personal prob . on phones come on man from which part of the world u r    i agree that films should be fictitious but these things are really indigestible .  br    br    out of   .   stars is for   mins good starting   
johnnie to  s election has some cool music on the opening creditsand a nice opening credits  design too  a kaleidoscope of chinese characters and those asian mobsters solemnly taking an oath or uttering some sacred stuff as a matter of fact the whole flick is nicely scored . i have found about to from bishop seraphim sigrist and was quite eager to see a to movie . the one with which i began  election  is exciting and interesting  and only moderately violent by nowadays standardsmoderately and also essentially violent the story of an asian godfather  s scheming  it uses a puzzle play of elements  violent facts from the mobsters  lives  the race for the scepter  true details  and as with coppola we are expected to believe that some of the morally glamorized mobsters are entitled and nice and likable . the performances are reasonably amusing and colorful .  br    br   election is well made in the enjoyable  somewhat careless style of the hong kong fare the ending is bitter  true  straight and will scare the kids .  
let  s see where to begin . . . bad acting i  m not sure if i  d even call it that  as it more along the lines of a no  effort script read . the actors didn  t even seem to be into their parts and seemed quite lifeless and listless . sure there was a scene or two with nudity  but that couldn  t save this movie from it  s lifeless characters .  br    br   to call the main character a rapper is an insult to the people who actually do . the lyrics had no rhythm or flow and seemed more along the lines of senseless rants .  br    br   budget  did this movie even have a budget  it seemed like they used less money than i  ve seen in a home  shot youtube video . bad lighting  props  poor sound post production . bad special effects  if you want to go so far as to call them that . story could have been good if the people actually seemed interested in making it so  but there was no life to this flick i don  t care who directed it .  br    br   i  ve seen some really bad flicks in the past year and this one is definitely at the very bottom . don  t waste your time or you  ll be wishing you listened to this unbiased review . check the ratings  you  ll see the   s are rapidly outpacing the fluffed    s with hardly anything in between . wish i would have looked a little closer before wasting my time . what a suck  fest   
i spotted in the guide to films list for the santa barbara film festival  where i went when i was in hollywood  that this film was in screening . basically there is an election for the new chairman of the hong kong triads wo sing society coming up  so you can imagine how much violence that is going to occur during this . the struggle is between  candidates  lam lok  simon yam  and big d  tony leung ka fai  for control of the oldest and most powerful triad parts of the society . also starring louis koo as jimmy lee  nick cheung as jet  cheung siu fai as mr . so  lam suet as big head and lam ka tung as kun . there are some good realistic corruption themes and moments  just about enough action  apart from maybe when the cops get involved  but a sequel followed  so it  s a pretty worthwhile crime drama thriller . very good   
this is a film that makes you say  things . . .   i can do much better than this  acting  writing and directing    this is so bad i must leave a review and warn others . . .  br    br   looks as if it was shot with my flip video . i have too believe my friend who told me to watch this has a vendetta against me . i have noticed that there are some positive posts for this home video must have been left by crew members or people with something to do with this film . one of the worst  movies i have ever seen . hopefully the writers and director leave the business . not even talented enough to do commercials       
i always thought this would be a long and boring talking  heads flick full of static interior takes  dude  i was wrong .  election  is a highly fascinating and thoroughly captivating thriller  drama  taking a deep and realistic view behind the origins of triads  rituals . characters are constantly on the move  and although as a viewer you kinda always remain an outsider  it  s still possible to feel the suspense coming from certain decisions and ambitions of the characters . furthermore johnnie to succeeds in creating some truly opulent images due to meticulously composed lighting and atmospheric light  shadow contrasts . although there  s hardly any action  the ending is still shocking in it  s ruthless depicting of brutality . cool movie that deserves more attention  and i came to like the minimalistic acoustic guitar score quite a bit .  
with a story and screenplay that seems to have been written by a high schooler   the art of seduction  fails to deliver the romantic  sophisticated experience it tries to bill itself as . the two main characters have the potential to be interesting  both male and female lead are  swinging singles  or in the female lead  s case  engaged    but  the art of seduction  doesn  t even try . shirking from a frank examination of these two characters  personalities   the art of seduction  eschews anything of substance for a basis of thin  lean stereotype .  br    br    the art of seduction  is insulting  insulting to its characters  insulting to men and women  and insulting to its audiences  expectations . it takes the awful beautiful people we all know and plays out their painful interactions while expecting us to idolize them . ji  wan is an immature  spoiled  manipulative bitch . the viewer is expected to like and forgive her flaws because she  s pretty . min  jun  well  he  s exactly the same . neither are nice people . the  humour  in this film primarily revolve around ji  wan and min  jun  s outlandish attempts at outdoing each other in the honourable art of lying and manipulation . no character development occurs  and we never learn why ji  wan and min  jun are like this . we are simply expected to take them as they are  and not ask questions  they  re cute   and that  s all that matters . the copious references to the celebrity of the main actors in azn cinema scenester  s reviews may tip you off to  art of seduction  s shallowness .  br    br   if you  re still in high school  you liked grease  or you are a yellow fever victim  you may like this movie .  br    br   despite its  romance  tag  this is not a very good date movie .  
the first of two films by johnny to  this film won many awards  but none so prestigious as a cannes golden palm nomination .  br    br   the triad elects their leader  but it is far from democratic with the behind the scenes machinations .  br    br   tony leung ka fai  zhou yu  s train  ashes of time redux  is big d  who plans to take the baton no matter what it takes  even if it means a war . well  war is not going to happen as that is bad for business . big d will change his tune or . . .  br    br   good performances by simon yam  louis koo and ka tung lam  infernal affairs i  iii   along with tony leung ka fai .  br    br   whether masons  made men in the mafia  or members of the wo sing society  the ceremonies are the same fascinating to watch .  br    br   to be continued . . .  
a friend of mine lent this video to me and i was fairly excited to watch it  but after ten minutes of james hetfield  s slow pitched vocals and lars banging on his drum set in what appeared to be slow motion i began to think  why am i watching this   that question will be coursing through your minds in     minutes after you hit play . i gave the tape back the same day  as you would suspect  not worth buying or watching   br    br   just my opinion   br    br    
this movie is a little unusual in that it  s got a very slim plot and the movie itself is done at a very slow and leisurely pace . while this makes it pretty different from the average grant film  it is still highly watchable and entertaining . it  s sort of like someone said  let  s just follow cary around and watch as he gets perturbed at all the little problems that come up when you are having a house rehabbed  . considering what a fun actor he is in the film and the great support he gets from myrna loy and melvin douglas  the film works very well . while the film has pretty modest pretensions  it makes the most of the material . it  s a great film for cary grant fans or for the whole family .  
in spite of its impressive cast and crew pedigree gingerbread man crumbles early and often . the plot is unrealistically convoluted  the actors sport bad accents and director robert altman  s participation amounts to collecting a pay check . once again he has assembled an impressive cast  like woody allen  everyone wants to work with altman  that this time around to the letter is miscast . but that  s only part of the problem .  br    br   kenneth branagh is rick magruder a high powered georgia lawyer who in the film  s heavy handed opening scenes manages to get himself preposterously seduced by a mysterious catering company waitress who convinces him she is in grave danger from an ex  husband and a loony dad . with red flags everywhere the astute lawyer plods on even managing to get his children in harms way . fights of gun and fist follow along with a requisite car chase and if that  s not enough there  s a hurricane thrown in for the ridiculous finale .  br    br   branagh plays macgruder with a mealy and unconvincing southern accent . running around in a trench coat in all kinds of weather he  s blind to the obvious in order to keep the story going . hipster bob downey jr . is every bit as bad as a p . i . but with a little more emphasis on the bad accent . robert duvall as the old man is boo radely all growed up en crazier than a bed bug serving some thick slices of ham but at least his twang is plausible . the female leads  embeth davidtz  darryl hannah  famkhee jansen  are lean leggy and unemotive . even the celebrity lawyers doing cameos  vernon jordan  are wooden with the few throw away lines they have .  br    br   in addition to paying little attention to his actors  altman  s mise en scene dripping with spanish moss is murky and shapeless  his action scenes comic book . it lacks his offbeat touches and observations  he does inform the viewer that the stars and bars still wave in georgia  that make a well done altman so unique . unfortunately  gingerbread man is altman at his worst  even if the pay is the same .  
personally  i find the movie to be quite a good watch . it outlines the actual situation of triads in hong kong and gives the viewer a glimpse of how triads are organized .  br    br   not only that  it also shows the viewer how the hong kong police control the triad situation and why the police don  t just go all out and wipe out triads .  br    br   overall  the movie is rather violent due to the gangland methods of killings  torture . nevertheless  the movie stays true to the real world  thus the violence on screen is just a reflection of what really happens .  br    br   i  d recommend this movie to any triad  mafia movie fan . another good watch would be dragon squad . that movie has more guns than this  as in this movie there  s more knives than guns  in fact i don  t remember seeing a single gun  .  
bill  buddy rogers  is sent to new york by his uncle  richard tucker  to experience life before he inherits    million . his uncle has paid  women jacqui  kathryn crawford   maxine  josephine dunn  and pauline  carole lombard  to chaperone him and ensure that he does not fall foul of gold  diggers . one such lady cleo  geneva mitchell  turns up on the scene to the disapprovement of the women . we follow the tale as the girls are offered more money to appear in a show instead of their escorting role that they have agreed to carry out for the  months that bill is in new york  while bill meets with cleo and another woman . at the end  love is in the air for bill and one other . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   the picture quality and sound quality are poor in this film . the story is interspersed with musical numbers but the songs are bad and kathryn crawford has a terrible voice . rogers isn  t that good either . he  s pleasant enough but only really comes to life when playing the drums or trombone . there is a very irritating character who plays a cab driver  roscoe karns  and the film is just dull .  
despite a tight narrative  johnnie to  s election feels at times like it was once a longer picture  with many characters and plot strands abandoned or ultimately unresolved . some of these are dealt with in the truly excellent and far superior sequel  election   harmony is a virtue  but it  s still a dependably enthralling thriller about a contested triad election that bypasses the usual shootouts and explosions  though not the violence  in favour of constantly shifting alliances that can turn in the time it takes to make a phone call . it  s also a film where the most ruthless character isn  t always the most threatening one  as the chilling ending makes only too clear one can imagine a lifetime of psychological counselling being necessary for all the trauma that one inflicts on one unfortunate bystander .  br    br   simon yam  all too often a variable actor but always at his best under to  s direction  has possibly never been better in the lead  not least because tony leung  s much more extrovert performance makes his stillness more the powerful .  
i had read many good things about this adaptation of my favorite novel . . . so invariably my expectations were crushed . but they were crushed more than should be expected . the movie would have been a decent movie if i had not read the novel beforehand  which perhaps ruined it for me .  br    br   in any event  for some reason they changed the labor camp at toulon to a ship full of galley slaves . the scene at bishop myriel  s was fine . in fact  other than the galleys  things survived up until the dismissal of fantine . because we do not want to have bad things happen to a good woman  she does not cut her hair  sell her teeth  or become a prostitute . the worst she does is run into the mayor  s office and spit on his face . bamatabois is entirely eliminated . because having children out of wedlock should also not be talked about  tholomyes is fantine  s dead husband  rather than an irresponsible dandy . valjean is able to fetch cosette for fantine before the champmathieu affair  so they reunite happily  yet another change . then comes the convent  which is a pretty difficult scene to screw up . thankfully  it was saved . after this three minutes of accuracy  however  the movie again begins to hurtle towards classic novel butchering .  br    br   as cosette and valjean are riding through the park  they come across marius giving a speech at a meeting . about prison reform . when he comes to hand out fliers to valjean and cosette  he says the one line in the movie that set me screaming at the tv set .  we aren  t revolutionaries .  i could hear victor hugo thrashing in his grave . of course they are revolutionaries  they want to revolt against the pseudo  monarchy that is in place in favor of another republic  you dumb screenwriters  it  s a historical fact that there was an insurrection against the government in     .  br    br   at one point cosette goes to give marius a donation from her father for the reform movement and meets eponine . except . . . not eponine . or at least not the eponine of the book . this eponine appears to be a well  to  do secretary girl working for the prison reformers  who are working out of the cafe universal as opposed to the cafe musain  . not to mention the audience is already made to dislike her thanks to her not  period  low  cut  tight  fitting dress and her snooty mannerisms .  br    br   the prison reformers  lead by the most poorly cast enjolras that i have ever seen  decide that handing out pamphlets isn  t good enough anymore . so they  re going to build barricades . i don  t know about you  but i have never heard of reform movements tearing up the streets and building barricades and attacking government troops . about three hundred people  it was not supposed to be so many  start attacking the national guard and building a bunch of barricades  etc . eponine does die for marius  thankfully .  br    br   the rest of the movie is sort of accurate  except that javert  s suicide again seems hard to understand thanks to his minuscule screen time and odd character interpretation . the movie ends with valjean watching javert jump into the river . this is again inaccurate because valjean would never have let javert drown . he saved the man  s life earlier  why let him die now  then there  s the whole skipping of valjean  s confession to marius  his deterioration  and his redemption on his deathbed with marius and cosette by his side .  br    br   overall  i can blame the script mostly for the problems . while i am glad enjolras and eponine were at least present in the film  they were terribly misinterpreted  as was the entire barricade scene . the elimination of fantine  s suffering prevents us from feeling too much pity for her . that cosette knows valjean  s past from the start messes with the plot a good deal . i did not even see thenardier  and mme . thenardier only had a few seconds of screen time . the same with gavroche . i did like frederich march  s interpretation of valjean a lot  however  which was one of the redeeming features of the movie . on the other hand  charles laughton  for all his great acting in other movies  seems to have missed the mark with javert . the lip tremble  the unnecessary shouting  and his acting in general all just felt very wrong . he also  like many javerts i have seen  did not appear at all menacing  something required of the character .  br    br   again  this film would probably feel much better if i had not read the book . i would not recommend it to book purists  though . i would also say that the movie would have been a good adaptation for the time had not the infamously accurate french version come out the year before .  
election marks the  nd trial society theme movie directed by johnnie to .  br    br   to marvellously casted simon yan and tony leung kar fai as lok and big d  as the two trial members who were chosen as candidates for the position of chairman for ho sing society  a    year old trial society .  br    br   while lok is a man who keeps his cool at all times  big d is not only impatient  but also thinks that he is on top of everything . lok was chosen as the next chairman for  years . to have the total control of the gang  the newly elected chairman must be passed down with a dragon baton  which represents power and authority . big d was extremely unhappy with the results that he was not chosen to be the next chairman after paying a handsome figure of bribes to the council members . he ordered his man to get the baton before it falls onto the hands of lok .  br    br   while big d is getting the baton  lok has other plans for him .  br    br   this is one of the trial society theme movies where not much bloodshed is needed . johnnie to puts the greed of the human beings in the movie  where bloodshed is commonly used in other trial society theme movies to show how the greed of human beings can caused the death or the downfall of one . however  no single bullet is used  hardly any gangfights are involved in election . it  s the battle of the wits that makes election stands out of the rest .  br    br   apart from maggie shiu  the only actress in election with less than  lines to talk in the whole movie  masculinity rules the whole movie . louis koo and nick cheung  who was seen in to  s previous film  are casted as an undercover cop and a gangster who sold his life to the gang respectively . together with some of the veteran actors making their appearance in the film and the excellent script  it makes the only hk movie to represent cannes fil festival     .  br    br   election has hardly failed any critics who wants an different trial society theme movie .  
here  s an indie film i really wanted to like  but ultimately could not . the lack of script  boldly proclaimed in the main titles  really shows through and kills the picture . the story is a nonsensical mess that isn  t worth trying to figure out . i quickly became bored within   minutes  then suffered through the remainder of the first   minutes   hoping for the best   before hitting the chapter stops to  mercifully  get to the end . . . even that wasn  t worth the extra effort . ozark savage clearly tries too hard to be clever  lifting its best sequences from evil dead  and the matrix . as a result  there  s very little in ozark savage that hasn  t been done before  and better . this film would have been much more fun as a      minute short  but as a feature  it just feels padded and forced . of course  there  s no money in shorts  so i completely understand the financial reasons that i assume motivated it being stretched out to    minutes . director matt steinauer shows great promise  and i wish him luck .  
this film really deserves more recognition than its getting . it really is a stunning and rich portrayal of blood ties  favours and allegiances within the crime world . the film is shot beautifully and delves into all you  re classic crime themes such as betrayal and power . this film is a movie goers film  it requires attention and understanding and rewards fully in the end . it is the godfather of hong kong and is a welcome change rather than another wire frame fighting  martial arts epic which seems to be the major contribution to the cinema world from hong kong and china . it features an arrangement of great characters  actors and development although is fair to say i had to watch it twice just to nail what was happening with some of the characters due to their being so many interactions in the film . all in all     great plot characters but there are characters that don  t stand out enough and the music didn  t really get me going and at times i felt it didn  t sync well with the action  there is action by the way  so it loses some points for that .  
many people thought that this is a good movie but i don  t agree with them . at the beginning of the movie  a spaceship crushed on earth and some of the aliens escaped from the spaceship  then hey killed some people on the earth  but for no reason . also  it is in a dark forest  i can  t see anything on the screen  i can only hardly hear the sound .  br    br   after a few days  the predator came to the earth but no one had sent signals to him before that  he should not know what happened on the earth  so there is a contradiction . finally  the predator found the headmaster of the aliens and killed it for no reason . he was not live on earth  t is none of his business about the things happened here . lastly  the duration of the movie is only   minutes long  the summary is too short and it can  t tell the reviewers about the story clearly .  br    br   in conclusion  i don  t think this is a good movie .  
  br    br   i must admit  i was expecting something quite different from my first viewing of  cut  last night  though was delighted with the unexpected australian horror gem . i am a true horror fan as true as they come  and found  cut  to not only be the best of the genre australia has ever produced  but one of the great parody  comedy films of late .  br    br   my only concern is that mainstream audiences may not pick up on a lot of the comedic elements  the film was not overly clever in it  s application but made me laugh at every turn trying to fit in every possible cliche of the horror genre they could . i am certain this was intended as humour . . . . hoping this was intended as humour .  br    br   and of course  there was the gore .  br    br   the use of the  customised  garden shears was brilliance  besides the expected stabs and slashes . in short  there was a huge amount of variety and creativity in the many violent deaths  enough to please even the skeptics of this films worth .  br    br   the appearance of both kylie minogue  short that her appearance was  and molly ringwald was just another reason to see the film  both performances were fantastic  as well as simon bossell   the castle   in a brilliant role as the jokey technician .  br    br   all in all  i think this movie is one of the best horror products of the last couple or years  as well as a beautiful satire  parody  toungue  in  cheek till the very end .  br    br   loved it . go see it   
i just finished a marathon of this series  and it became agonising to watch as it progressed . from the fictionalising of the historical elements  to o  herlihy  s awful accent in later episodes  the show just slumps the further it goes . if you are looking for some low quality production generalised ww  fluff  then i could recommend season   but avoid anything after that  it degenerates into being one step from a soap opera  with increasingly worse story lines and sensibility .  br    br   the old bw film is by far the best of any form of entertainment with the colditz name attached to it  and even that is not what one could hope for .  
australia  s first mainstream slasher film hits the screen with a bang . and a stab . and a slice . and a scream or two . and plenty of blood  frights  red herrings and lots of laughs .  br    br   in fact  there  s lots of first surrounding cut  it  s the first script of dave warner  s to be produced  although he has several others either optioned or in negotiation it  s the first major film from director and former hoodoo guru kimble rendall and it  s also the first film for producer martin fabinyi . and for a bunch of guys dipping their toes into this genre for the first time  they sure know their stuff .  br    br   cut tells the story of a bunch of australian film students who hear about a slasher film  hot blooded  that was never finished because its director  hilary  kylie minogue   was killed by the actor playing the psycho killer in the film .  br    br   despite their lecturer  who was assistant director on the night hilary died  warning them that whenever someone tries to start up production of hot blooded again someone dies  director raffy  jessica napier  and producer hester  sarah kants  decide to go ahead and complete the film . they put together a crew and manage to get the original star  vanessa turnbill  molly ringwald   to return to australia  in fact  to the original location  to complete hot blooded    years after shooting shut down .  br    br   of course  this being a slasher film  lots of bloodletting ensues  long with plenty of laughs  a few good scares and a rocking aussie soundtrack . cut shows that australia can make a good  mass  market horror film just as well as hollywood .  br    br   it  s a finely crafted feature  with excellent special effects  a taut plot and a killer  scarman  that  s a welcome addition to the ranks of michael  jason and freddy .  
saw this  film  recently and have to say it was the worst attempt at film making i have ever had the misfortune to see . what the hell was going on with coolio  totally unprovoked shooting at people in distress . totally uninvolving  slow  tedious and detached . worse than spawn . long live  evil dead ii  .  
i was really excited about seeing this film . i thought finally australia had made a good film . . but i was wrong .  br    br   this was the most pathetic attempt at a slasher film ever . i feel sorry for molly ringwald having to come all the way to australia to make an awful movie .  br    br   the acting was terrible  especially that australian guy who was trying to speak in an american accent   and the plot was also pretty bad .  br    br   when i first heard about this film coming out  i thought that the title was pathetic  because it sounds like the cheesy film  stab  in scream    but i was willing to let it slide if it was a good movie .  br    br   warning    major spoilers     br    br   probably the worst thing about the film was the ending . i was expecting a big surprise about who the killer was . . but the killer wasn  t even human . . which turned this realistic slasher film into an awful horror movie .  br    br   don  t see this film . . you  ll probably be disappointed   
what the hell of a d  movie was that  bad acting  bad special effects and the worst dialogues  storyline i ever came across . the only cool thing here was coolio  who had a nice cameo as a freaked out cop . however  the rest of the film is awful and boring . it  s not even so bad  you can laugh about it . just plain crap . and whoever compares this to the evil dead series might as well compare tomb raider to indiana jones  well  ok  at least there was angelina jolie in tomb raider    out of    
i saw this movie with a bunch of friends and although only two of us walked out of the cinema thinking how cool it was  the others just laughed and commented on how stupid it was . well that was because it isn  t supposed to be taken so seriously  basically it is a a movie that mocks horror flicks and does a damn good job . . there seems to be another movie coming out like that too  umm . . . scary movie   well this is aussie  and original    jessica napier does a surperb performance and sarah kants has a definate bright future in acting  i hope to see more of them . molly ringwald was a good move  and kylie was an even better move . the impossible princess was queen of the screen   i recommend seeing this flick  as you  ll be guessing until the very end the connection with raffy  hilary and the movie that never got finished   years ago .  
this movie is bad  it  s basically an overdone copy of michael jackson  s thriller video  only worse  the special effects consist of lots of glow in the dark paint  freaky slapstick fastmoving camera shots and lots of growling . i think the dog was the best actor in the whole movie .  
personally  i enjoyed cut thouroughly . it was the first time i  ve seen a theatrically release australian slasher flick . a genre normally restricted to the mainstream hollywood films .  br    br   with all the usual cooky comedies and dramas coming out of australia i loved being able to see a homegrown horror movie that wasn  t a rip off of anything . i didn  t even think it was really a spoof of other movies . it was a supernaturally theme horror like nightmare on elm street  not scream or i know what you did last summer and therefore there was more of a suspension of disbelief . i think it  s about time australian films tried to get more into the mainstream genres .  br    br   cut was original  scary enough and ultimately just a bit of fun . i  d give it seven out of ten and wouldn  t treat it as anything serious . it did what i expected it to do  entertain and scare me enough times to be satisfying . i enjoyed it .  
this film is so much of a rip  off of the masterpeice  demons  and thats the only thing that makes the movie worth watching . the acting is terrible  the action scenes are speeded up  the script is almost painful and budget non existent .  br    br   if you think this film is good then you havn  t seen a real horror film  skip this and get a copy of the movie demons .  
i have been wanting to see cut since the day i have heard of it  which was sometime last year . anyway i got to see today  and when the movie started i thought that it started rather week but it got better after   mins or so . i thought that the movie was pretty good . but the thing i didn  t like was how the killer was created  i was thinking just before i rented that it would probably suck just like urban legends final cut  i almost died it . mostly everything in ul final cut needed to be improved . cut is    times better than ulfinal cut . the best part of cut is the killer and the death scenes . the killer kicks mo fing ass .  br    br   i give cut a  out of    
lame  lame  lame    a    minute cringe  fest that  s   minutes too long . a setting ripe with atmosphere and possibility  an abandoned convent  is squandered by a stinker of a script filled with clunky  witless dialogue that  s straining oh  so  hard to be hip . mostly it  s just embarrassing  and the attempts at gonzo horror fall flat  a sample of this movie  s dialogue after demonstrating her artillery  fast dolly shot to a closeup of barbeau  s vigilante charactershe any questions   hyuck hyuck hyuck  . bad acting  idiotic  homophobic jokes and judging from the creature effects  it looks like the director  s watched the evil dead  way too many times .  br    br   i owe my friends big time for renting this turkey and subjecting them to ninety wasted minutes they  ll never get back . what a turd .  
there is so much to love in this darling little comedy . anyone who has ever built or bought a house  or even just been short of space  will find that there is more than just a grain of truth in the plight of the addled mr . blanding . melvyn douglas  with great comedic flare  both narrates and acts as the blandings  attorney and voice of reason . as well myrna loy is at her best as a rather scatterbrained but extremely patient wife . but the best performance is grant  s . he is the american everyman  especially relevant at the time of this film  s release  when the nation was in the grips of a housing shortage after the end of the war . the themes are universal  lack of money  work strain  fear of infidelity . yes  it does wrap up awfully neatly  but you must keep in mind that this was a time when the world was just recovering from a terrible war  and wanted a happy ending . it is still relevant today  and i must chalk up the poor reviews i see to a present preference for dumbed down  gross out comedies . the look of the film is slick  and there are some great bits of comedy is well  particularly toward the beginning . while it may have lost some of it  s social relevance  nearly sixty years after it  s release  it is still a gem .  
this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen . while featuring good actors the movie doesn  t live up to the expectations . the most dramatic thing about this movie is the music  which pretty much sums up the movie compensating for a bad and confusing storyline by having known  good actors  loud and dramatic music . it doesn  t change the fact  that this is a very boring movie to watch . earned itself a score of  .  
it isn  t the worst film ever made  the actors aren  t apalling and the script and director are not completely inept .  br    br   it isn  t the best film ever made  the actors aren  t excellent and the script and director are not completely brilliant .  br    br   it falls somewhere in the middle . a fun somewhere . an enjoyable  well constructed somewhere .  br    br   no need to say  don  t take it seriously  or  so bad its good  or  it wasn  t scary  . none of these comments are relevant .  br    br   cut has atmosphere . it  s that atmosphere which is actually very unique  and the one really original aspect of the movie  which personally is what makes the film  for me .  
this is arguably the worst film i have ever seen  and i have quite an appetite for awful  and good  movies . it could  just  have managed a kind of adolescent humour if it had been consistently tongue  in  cheek    la rocky horror picture show  which was really very funny . other movies  like plan nine from outer space  manage to be funny while  apparently  trying to be serious . as to the acting  it looks like they rounded up brain  dead teenagers and asked them to ad  lib the whole production . compared to them  tom cruise looks like alec guinness . there was one decent interpretation   that of the older ghoul  busting broad on the motorcycle .  
  cut  is a full  tilt spoof of the slasher genre and in the main it achieves what it sets out to do . most of the standard slasher cliches are there the old creepy house  the woods  the anonymous indestructible serial killer  buckets of gore  and of course the couple interrupted by the killer while they  re having sex  that  s hardly a spoiler  .  br    br   the set  up is simplicity itself film  school nerds set out to complete an unfinished slasher  masterpiece   unfinished because of the murders of a couple of the cast . this also neatly  okay  messily  disposes of kylie minogue in the first reel . they are joined by one of the survivors of the original film  played by molly ringwald who absolutely steals the film because she gets all the best lines . the rest of the cast fit their roles well  especially the lovely jessica napier  who plays it straight while the mayhem and gore erupt around her .  br    br   there are plenty of red herrings and fake suspenseful moments  and there is very little time to try to work out who the killer is because the film moves at such a fast pace . it also has an appropriate low budget look  including some clumsy editing which is probably deliberate . good soundtrack  too . if there is a difficulty with this film it is deciding whether it is a send  up of or a homage to the slasher genre . probably a bit of both .  
my friend  s mom used to work at a video store and got to preview movies before they came out  so when she brought home the convent  a horror movie  i couldn  t wait to watch it . given that it  s supposed to be scary but is actually downright hilarious  i can say that in some weird way  i like this movie .  br    br   yes  the acting is bad  and yes  it  s the cheapest movie i  ve ever seen  but it  s so damn funny   what  are you smoking ca  rack    i didn  t know this movie even was ever released . . . i figured it was too bad . . .  br    br   yeah  so . . . overall the movie is pretty bad  you gotta admit that much at least  but i promise you  you will get a good laugh out of it .  br    br   this movie kinda sucks but it  s good for a laugh . . . especially that guy that holds the  dagger of despair  . . the dagger of despaaaaaair   
this is not a bad movie . it follows the new conventions of modern horror  that is the movie within a movie  the well known actress running for her life in the first scene . this movie takes the old convention of a psycho killer on he loose  and manage to do something new  and interesting with it . it is also always nice to see molly ringwald back for the attack .  br    br   so this might be an example of what the genre has become . cut hits all the marks  and is actually scary in some parts . i liked it i gave it an eight .  
this movie is one of the worst horror movies i have ever seen . from the very first scene  i knew it would be a smash crash . it starts with a seemingly bad girl killing a bunch of nuns in a mission . as it turns out  the people in it were possessed by some random zombies . well  some years later  some college kids are pulling some pledge prank . horrible acting goes from pledge to the head jock . things like the jock yelling at him to do stuff in quite a non  chalonte manner  with pledge over reacting and over  doing the whole  eager to be popular role  what really took the cake with this one is the final battle . absolutely horrible special effects with the guns . for example  guns making a noise with no muzzle flash  and vice  versa . this is accompanied by stop  animation zombies  why they move in stop motion is a mystery   cheesy music  and about   guns that come out of nowhere .  br    br   overall  this movie is crap . just like so many others you can rent for   cents at your nearest low brow movie rental place .  
this is surprisingly above average slasher  that  s enjoyable and well made  with some decent gore  . all the characters are decent  and the story is quite fun  plus molly ringwald played the annoying bitch extremely well . i bought this at a pawn shop for a    and it was surprisingly worth it  and the special effects were pretty damn good for the budget  plus i loved the mask the killer wore as it was actually somewhat creepy . the finale was really cool  as i loved how they defeated the killer  and the ending while predictable was very amusing as well  plus all the characters except for ringwald were surprisingly pretty likable  . it  s decently made and written  and i thought it was quite creative and original at times as well  plus some of the death scenes were very impressive . this killer didn  t mess around  and i loved it  and slasher fans  like myself  should really enjoy this film  plus the opening was really wicked too  with them filming the movie  . this is a surprisingly above average slasher  that  s enjoyable  and well made  with some decent gore  and i say it  s well worth the watch  . the direction is good . kimble rendall does a good  job here with solid camera work  using a creepy setting  good angles and keeping the film at a fast moving pace . the acting is solid  . molly ringwald plays the bitch extremely well  and i had troubles feeling sorry for her  after all she was supposed to be the heroine  she turned out better towards the end  but not by much  i  m surprised she decided to do this film  nonetheless she did an excellent job  . frank roberts is fantastic as the killer  he is menacing  creepy and had one hell of a mask  and this guy didn  t mess around  he was fantastic  . kylie minogue plays a bitch very well in her small role . jessica napier is cute and does fine as the other heroine . rest of the cast are fine . overall well worth the watch  .  out of   
this film wasn  t programmed in italian cinemas  i have seen it at a manifestation called  fantafestival  . i find it terrible because some scenes seems like music videos chaotic and dark  the use of fluorescent colors is ridicule and there  s no suspence in the film . music is completely out of the story and i don  t have words to describe the visual effects . if you look at the first scene the film seems to be interesting  but a few minutes later it becomes busy . the story is interesting but the development needs a complete review .  
for a slasher flick  this movie is actually better than a lot in the genre . yes it is predictable  resident nut job goes on killing spree  people die  yada yada yada . however there are some good positives in this film . first off  i really liked the mask the nut job wore . it is definitely creepy to say the least and possibly unique  although i haven  t watched every single slasher film ever made  also  the genesis of the bad due is something i haven  t seen before  and he way he finally meets his end is a novel concept  as far as i know . i also really liked the weapon of choice employed by mr sicko  for most of the murders . the murders themselves are not as graphic as most in the genre  but that  a small concern . the movie does not take itself seriously  which is something most slashers suffer from . oddly enough  while watching the movie  i was reminded of the early  friday the   th films  which did take themselves seriously . there are a few concerns about this movie . in several scenes  the killer suddenly bears a strong resemblance to one of our horror icons . by this  i mean his movements and his reactions upon being shot  and also the way he walked . of bigger concern  however is a scene very close to the end  where mr crazy bears a more than striking resemblance  actually a complete rip off  of another famous horror titan . and in the very last scenes  we have our scumbag  once again  looking exactly like the  st horror icon i mentioned . in fact that last scene is almost a complete rip  off from another icon in the slasher genre . these scenes were weak and unoriginal  obviously  . by the way  the movie is set in australia  so if you  re a sucker for a chick with an aussie accent  like me  you  ll be in heaven . if you not  than it just might grate on you . one other great thing about this moviebeautiful kylie minogoue  just don  t get too attached to her  there is one non aussie accent  courtesy of molly ringwald . overall  there are more reasons to watch than not . i enjoyed it and had some fun . so  i have to give  cut       which may seem too high to some people .  
in fact  these young people were so distasteful that i couldn  t wait for all of  em to get slaughtered  and that includes clarissa  joanna canton  since i considered her the most annoying of the bunch .  br    br   but i knew it was gonna be a mess from the opening minutes when a teen christine opened fired on the priest and the nuns with the leslie gore music playing in the background . it had nowhere to go but down .  br    br   even the prosthetics looked fake and the  blood  looked suspiciously like hawaiian punch  although later on it took on red day  glo look to match the silly halloween makeup they were all wearing . i  m sure all the goth morons out there will appreciate this bullsh  t since it  ll appeal to that bunch . it sure didn  t appeal to me . blah . . .  br    br   and not even my favorite horror babe adrienne barbeau can save this stupid teen horror flick from itself . she still looks hot  though . i  m glad she takes care of herself since we don  t get to see too much of her nowadays .  br    br   however  it is a step up from dante tomaselli  s meandering horror       in that it has a somewhat coherent plot  so i  ll give it that much . that and the little boston terrier named boozer also brings it up a notch . i like what boozer does to clarissa in the end . it was the only good scene in an otherwise silly film .  br    br   lion  s gate films sure must have been desperate when they picked this one up .  br    br    out of    
twelve years ago  production stopped on the slasher flick  hot blooded  since almost everyone on the set started dying . now  a couple of film students have decided to finish the film  despite the fact that there  s a rumor that the film is cursed . well  they  re about to find out that some curses are real .  br    br   when scream was released  every country seemed to want to cash in on its success  even australia . the concept  which today has been done to death  a slasher film within a slasher film  was at the time relatively cool and original . this movie was released right before urban legends final cut and scream   well not in the us but in australia  so it felt like the first movie with this concept . when urban legends  was released  most of us had all ready grown sick of the concept and since the movie wasn  t even good  the movie flopped disastrously . now  cut is not the best slasher flick ever  and nor does it try to be . it knows that it  s a rip  off  and they even cast a girl who looks like a blonde version of neve campbell in the starring role . but instead of trying to add some new and original twists to the story  they  ve decided to rip  off some   s slasher flicks like  nightmare on elm street  as well and surprisingly enough  this actually works . the killer is very creepy and that mask is just killer  and instead of trying to scare the audience to death  they  ve created a very good and creepy atmosphere which keeps us in suspense through most of the movie . there are a couple of plot holes in the movie though that i wasn  t able to fully ignore  the ending being the biggest plot hole in the movie . spoiler ahead i mean  they burnt the only copy of the movie so where the hell did they find the print that they show in the final scene  it makes no sense i tell you . end of spoilers . all in all  cut is a pretty creepy slasher flick with a silly story but i consider this to be one of the better scream rip  offs that never made it big . i  m surprised that this one never got a sequel  but i guess it simply came out too late .  br    br   suspenseful australian slasher flick with very few scares . cut is still a pretty neat slasher movie and i will have to recommend this one even though i consider the story to be quite silly since it  s completely ludicrous .  
when i tell people that i review movies as a hobby  the first thing they say is  what do you think of such  and  such movie   there are a couple of problems here . firstly  there is the probable chance that i  ve not seen it and thus  i ruin my reputation . secondly  i could trash the movie in question without realising that it  s actually their favourite . lastly  i could be given dvds to watch so they can judge my opinion . thus  i find myself sat before  the convent  which is the sort of film i would ignore completely given the choice but unable to avoid here . more  s the pity because this frankly dreadful  horror  is about as scary as a box of kittens .  br    br   following well  worn clichs   the convent  focuses on a bunch of american high school students on a trip to an abandoned convent on a mission to get stoned  laid and mildly spooked . but you  ll never guess what happens next  a group of cannibalistic demonic nuns emerge from the cobwebs who proceed to pick the kids off one by one in classic horror movie tradition . will any of them survive and more importantly  haven  t you got better things to worry about   br    br   the only thing that saves  the convent  from being a total waste of time is the fact that nobody is really taking this tosh seriously with the exception of coolio  s bizarre cameo as a hyperactive cop with an itchy trigger finger . it  s far too amusing to be properly frightening  the zombie cheerleader who makes chipmunk noises for no reason  the day  glo paint jobs that appears when you become a zombie  but what really kills it as a horror is the fact that you can instantly tell when someone is going to jump out and get messily murdered . but even if they were trying  i still doubt that it would work  demonic nuns wearing the sort of make  up you  d see in the  buffy the vampire slayer  tv show aren  t really that scary . the scariest thing about this movie really is that over    of voters gave this a maximum score . i mean  i know it  s funny but i hardly split my sides . to be honest  i  ve had more fun in a dentist .  br    br    the convent  isn  t really a horror movie as such . it  s more of a comedy horror like  scary movie  or  shaun of the dead  but you  re laughing at it instead of with it . i honestly can  t recommend this to anybody except the family of the cast and crew but even then  i doubt very much they  d enjoy it . i don  t enjoy the  so bad that it  s good  genre  i personally feel that if the film  makers can  t be bothered to salvage a turkey then i shouldn  t bust a gut trying to watch it . yes  it  s a bad film and yes  they really should have gone home and done something more constructive . a rubik  s cube  for example . the dvd box has two price stickers  one for   .   and a reduced price of   . but it was sold for   and that should tell you everything you need to know about this poxy  cheap  awesomely bad flick . sorry if you do like it but  the convent  really is a pile of unholy crap .  
when i think of the cheesiest guilty pleasure  type movies  the first thing i think of are    s slasher flicks . really bad slasher flicks . the formulaic type of film  where all a script needed was  parts blood and several parts nudity to get made .  br    br   flash forward to the late    s  early    s . the slasher flick has been revitalized with the success of      s  scream  . like in the    s  these films were formulaic  masking a lack of inspiration by labelling themselves as  hip  tongue  in  cheek parodies  of the original slasher flicks . of this recent blend of  hip parody  neo  slasher flicks  the only one worth seeing is the low  budget  direct  to  video  cut  .  br    br   like most of the other  new  slasher flicks   cut  relies on the production of a slasher flick  in this case a fictional     film  hot blooded   to make its commentary on the genre .  hot blooded  never finished production  because of killings by someone wearing the mask of the film  s killer  scarman  a bald figure with its mouth stitched close and dark  pupil  less eyes . now    years later  a group of film students  whose professor was involved in the production  have decided to go into the vaults  tap the original surviving actress  and finish the film . but every time the film is screened or a scene is shot   scarman  returns and someone dies . to quote the tagline  will they finish the film before it finishes them   br    br   this all sounds really bad  and to a degree it is  really  is there such a thing as a good slasher flick   . there is no character development  the  new  director is revealed to be the daughter of  hot blooded   s original director  whose life was apparently ruined after the production was cancelled this would  ve been a perfect detail to be worked into the plot  yet it  s never mentioned again  and  like in all other slasher flicks  there are just too many bodies to care about . the actors aren  t great  even by direct  to  video standards  but most are having fun with their characters  and for those who aren  t  it  s inadvertent character acting  since none of their characters in the film wanted to work on  hot blooded    particularly whoever was lucky enough to play scarman .  cut   s climax has no big  who dunnit  unmasking of the killer like in the  scream  films . it doesn  t have the gimmick killings of the  urban legend  films . what it does have is an original and interesting concept that is diluted by a  this way we can write a sequel if it sells well  ending . but that  s par for the course .  br    br   by any sensible viewing standards  this is a horrible movie that should be avoided  but this  quality  is what makes it true to its roots in the slasher genre  and this is what makes it more enjoyable than any of the other neo  slasher flicks .  
i just watched the convent for the second time . i had enjoyed it previously and figured it would make for a good drunken friday night film  some gore  some style  bit of humour and suchlike . i was saddened to find that i could no longer appreciate it much . it seemed like someone had set out to revisit cheeseball epics like night of the demons for a modern audience but lost the things that made the original worthwhile . for the record i  m not even a huge fan of night of the demons  but there were some things i really dug about it . the convent does the cheese but the not the goodness so much . apart from the main girl  likeable performance from joanna canton   the goth girl and a sweet cameo from adrienne barbeau pretty much all the characters were excruciatingly unlikeable  festering at the absolute lowest levels of moronic  offensive jockhood . the film is then gravely hampered by the complete lack of gratuitous nudity which means that  given the awful dialogue  it is difficult to watch the characters and harder to appreciate the good points of the film . the evil nuns are original in design and get lots of good scenes  though not scary their certainly kinda cool  and the film also fields a fair amount of neat gore . towards the end  when adrienne barbeau is on the scene the film becomes quite entertaining cause all the obnoxious people are dead and its an evil nun bashing frenzy . the stylised direction also occasionally yields good results  although sometimes the camera just moves too fast . all in all  this was a film where for me the shining good points just can  t make up for the things i hated . those more fond of this kind of film may well enjoy it a lot more  but for me it wasn  t a good time .  
a horror movie is being shot and things aren  t going well . it  s about a masked killer . the director tells off the killer in front of the cast and crew . he goes crazy and kills two people . he  s killed himself and the film is never finished . twelve years later a bunch of film students decide to try and finish it   but there  s a curse . people who try and finish it are killed themselves . the students ignore that . guess what happens next   br    br   the plot is old hat but this isn  t bad . . . for what it is  a low budget slasher film  . it  s well  made with a young and fairly talented young cast . no one is great but no one is terrible either . it also avoids the obligatory  and needless  female nude scenes . it moves quickly  the gore is nice and bloody and the script doesn  t insult your intelligence . also molly ringwald is in this having the time of her life playing a bitchy faded actress .  br    br   no great shakes but not bad at all . i give it a  .  
 . . . . . . this film is pretty awful  the only thing stopping me from giving it a rating of  was the fact that i unfortunately have seen worse .  br    br   the jungle music  juttering demons  and fluorescent uv style blood  teeth  eyes give it that  awful  look  and the script is dire . . . . . this film is more like a test to see how long you can last before giving up on it . it  s also predictable but not in a good way . nothing this film does is in a good way . i watched it   minutes ago and thought i would rant a bit so there you are .  oh and the acting doesn  t let the film down  it  s also terrible   
this is one of those little christmas movies for everyone . our scrooge is ben affleck  who decides money is not enough  so he rents the family who lives where he thought his family did . ok  this is a great little high school soap  pg     but the small sex references are comedy  so if your kid can  t handle them  they can  t live in the real world  either .  br    br   now  affleck is a hunk  and as usual walks through this fun  omg  remember when we did . . .  ensemble piece as if he were at the end stages of some neuroinfectious disease . but that  s ok  because even this old oracle keeps hoping that if ben  s that well proportioned all over  well  there  s hope for us ladies yet . luckily  the rest of the ensemble   catharine o  hara  james gandolfini  christina applegate  udo kier and josh zuckerman   fill in and keep this shadow  side  ozzie  and  harriet christmas alternately hilarious  comfortable and warm .  br    br   this movie is the kind you can jump up and get popcorn  and when you get back  everyone wants to back it up to show you what you missed .  br    br   this is a happy film  after all  and it leaves you feeling good about life  love  family  christmas and chanel . there really is something for everyone .  
this film is absolutely horrific . one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . the story does nearly not exist  the characters are full of stereotypes and the special  fx only make you laugh . the only remarkable thing about this movie is the guest appearance of the rapper coolio as some kind of police officer .  br    br   if this film was supposed to be a comedy i didn  t quite get the point . if you want to watch this movie please get yourself drunk first and then prepare for some good laughs . . . especially when the first special  fx appear on the screen .  br    br   but if you like trash movies made on the cheap this film is a must  see for you .  
what  s with all the negative comments  after having seen this film for the first time tonight  i can only say that this is a good holiday comedy that is sure to brighten up any lonely person  s day . when i saw that drew  ben affleck  might end up spending the holidays alone  i wanted to cry . you  ll have to see the movie if you want to know why . also  even though i liked tom  james gandolfini  and alicia  christina applegate  after awhile  if you ask me  they were real snobs . however  this film did make me smile and feel good inside . before i wrap this up  i  d like to say that mike mitchell has scored a pure holiday hit . now  in conclusion  i highly recommend this good holiday comedy that is sure to brighten up any lonely person  s day to any ben affleck or christina applegate fan who hasn  t seen it .  
worst movie i have seen since gingerale afternoon . i suppose that this is a horror  comedy . i pretty much predicted every scene in this movie . the special  effects were not so special . i believe that i could come up with as good of effects from what i have lying around the house . i wish i could have something good to say about this movie  but i am afraid that i don  t . even coolio should be ashamed of appearing in such a turkey . i do  after a little thought  have one thing good to say about this movie  it ended .  
cary grant and myrna loy are perfectly cast as a middle class couple who want to build the house of their dreams . it all starts out with reasonable plans and expectations  both of which are blown to bits by countless complications and an explosion of the original budget .  br    br   there are many great laughs  even if the story is somewhat thin  sure to entertain fans of the stars or the late     s hollywood comedy style . a definite highlight comes when a contractor goes through a run down of all expenses  which must have sounded quite excessive to a     audience . as he makes his exit  he assures the client  grant  that perhaps he could achieve a reduction of     .   from the total . . . or at least    .   . . . but certainly    .   . hilarious   
rarely have i witnessed such a gratuitous waste of talent . there is almost nothing constructive to be said about this hopeless swamp of a film . what few interesting strands the film seems to promise initially turn out to be little more than red herrings . actors of stature  robert duvall  robert downey  jr .  are deployed in roles which go nowhere a director of occasional genius produces a film which looks like it is filmed through a coffee  stained camera lens a writer  john grisham  who has never produced anything of merit  discovers new depths of under  motivated incoherence . the film has a cheap  lecherous feel about it  but barely at the level of commentary  its really part of the aesthetic . normally  i come on to the imdb to write balanced  generally appreciative comments . this egregious disaster of a film just makes me want to produce an endless  bilious rant . i won  t  but only because i no longer want to occupy my  mind  with this trash .  
come on people . this movie is better than  . i can see this happening . . . wealthy people have done crazier things than this . and it was funny .  br    br   i watch a comedy to be entertained  escape from the pressures of the world for a short while  and not to have to take anything too seriously . this movie fully suits that purpose . i judge a movie on its own merits and am not about to compare surviving christmas to blazing saddles . i watched totally dysfunctional people grow into caring  likable individuals who could easily live down the street from my home . it will remain on my list of  favorite . . . . . must watch for the holiday season  . if you just want to have a fun   minutes  watch this one .  
i thought that this movie was pretty lame . if you  re looking for cheesey  you may like this . i  myself  don  t mind a fair amount of cheese  but this was ridiculous . the progression of the movie bored me and the storyline was very weak .  br    br   the only thing entertaining about this movie was the day  glo zombies  but even that isn  t reason enough to see this flick .  
you can survive surviving christmas . i thought the television version was a bit edited way down . i like ben afleck . he plays drew johnson  a family  less adult  who is willing to pay complete strangers . the valcos starring james gandolfini and catherine o  hara as the parents and christina applegate as lisa valco  the daughter . drew is lonely around the holidays because he doesn  t have a family of his own so he rents out a family in the chicago suburbs for a quarter million dollars . bill macy who i best remember for playing maude  s husband arthur is hired to play duda  the grandfather . when the whole situation comes crashing down  the truth can be painful . the valcos household is crumbling apart from the drew situation . drew  s rich girlfriend and her parents make a surprising visit . you can  t buy what you wish for  the acting and writing is mediocre but the first rate cast pulls it through to the final scene .  
i saw the trailer to this film and it looked great  so i went out and bought it . what a mistake  the acting is a shambles  the special effects  if you could call them that   look like something that wouldn  t be out of place at a school play . some of the characters are so stupid in this film you will cringe the minute they are on the screen  which unfortunately is all to often . as for a story  forget it . this is a warning  don  t waste any money at all on this film it has to be one of the worst things i have ever seen . if  for some reason  you like this film watch troll   you will probably enjoy that as well .  
what  s not to like about this movie  every year you know that you  re going to get one or two yule tide movies during christmas time and most of them are going to be terrible . this movie is definitely a fresh new idea that was pulled off pretty well . a very funny take on a rich young guy paying a family to simulate a real christmas for him . what is the good of having money like that if you can  t do fun things with it . it was a win  win situation . a regular family gets six figures and a rich guy gets to experience christmas like he imagined . only if .  br    br   drew latham  ben affleck  was incredibly difficult to deal with and it was just a riot to see the family reluctantly comply with his absurd demands . it was a fun and funny movie .  
this movie is awful  i don  t even know where to begin  i  m speechless i can  t even describe how awful this is . the blood is flourescent first of all  and the acting is awful  the only good part was the biker chick that saves the day . this movie was rediculous  i don  t see how it could even get a vote of  its so bad . it looks like it was made by highschool students .  
its a good thing i rented the movie before seeing the viewer rating from this site . it was a wonderful movie that i will be adding to my christmas selection . the cast was wonderfully chosen and ben affleck plays a good leading role . i would tell viewers who have not seen the movie to go ahead and buy it . i rate it right up there with christmas vacation . the movie was very funny and well written and ben plays the eccentric rich executive very well . the things he says and does is just how i would imagine a person with too much money to act . the movie is much funnier than the santa claus and christmas with the kranks . plus it has a good story line and teaches the true meaning of christmas which is you can  t buy love with money .  
this is one of those movies that should have been way better than it turned out to be . i dread to think what the blockbuster  approved edit must have looked like  because the director  s cut on dvd was a bore of the epic proportions . naturally  you don  t expect it to be  the godfather   but an acting class or two might have come in handy .  br    br   also  there were so many cute guys in this movie  but they were woefully under  exploited . i like watching a bevy of hotties writhe around in their bvds as much as the next guy  but even i have a right to expect a little more . it wasn  t a total loss  though at least we got a peek a drew fuller  s  covered  junk and truly upsetting haircut . and there  s huntley ritter looking even cuter than he did in  bring it on   and acting about as well  . there  s always a silver lining  kids . you just have to look really hard for it . and occasionally  you have to make use of your pause button .  
i had some reservations about this movie  i figured it would be the usual bill of fare    a formula movie about christmas . being in the middle of a heat wave in late june  we decided to give it a shot anyway  maybe we would see some snow .  br    br   this movie turned out to be one laugh after another . ben affleck was believable in his character  but the real star of this one is james gandofini . he delivered his lines with a real wit about him and made a great  dad  .  br    br   if you want to have an enjoyable couple of hours  definitely check this one out .  
  voodoo academy  features an  academy  like no other  one that houses only six male students in one bedroom . these teenage guys are instructed in religion by a sinister young priest  who enjoys tormenting and comforting them simultaneously . the sole administrator of this  academy  is a young and seductive headmistress  and she retains her handsome charges on a short leash  so to speak .  br    br   sexual overtones abound  and the director obviously has high regard for young male bodies . these young actors occasionally strip down to their designer underwear to sneak about the  academy   and their sexuality is the entire focus of the movie . if you  re not interested in the male form   stay away   br    br   burdened by weak and awkward dialogue  this low  budget exploitation piece just stumbles along with a few laughable special effects tossed in between the yawns . the mood is claustrophobic  with tediously long takes  a handful of cheap sets and few costume changes . these visual elements come interspersed with seemingly unending sequences of banal dialogue  intended as character and plot development . it gives one the feeling it was filmed in three days . . .  
surviving christmas is a surprisingly funny movie especially considering the bad publicity when it was first released . ben affleck is funny as an obnoxious millionaire who pays the family that occupies his childhood home to be his family for christmas . he then drives the family crazy with overindulgence for christmas cheer . i have not been a ben affleck fan in the past  though i did like daredevil and paycheck  but here he is well cast in this role . i also like christina applegate as the daughter in the family who can  t stand affleck  s character at first . sure you can see where this movie is going but you don  t care . ignore what the critics say and rent this movie out because it is funnier than a lot of christmas movies .  
i have seen a lot of bad films . most of the time i can enjoy a crappy horror film for what it is . but this really takes badness to new extremes .  br    br   it is bland  the plot for what it is never really goes anywhere and takes its time over it . there are no shocks  no horror  no suspense  just a load of guys rubbing themselves for an hour and a half and then a quick finish .  br    br   a blight on the crappy horror genre  avoid at all costs .  br    br    
at first i didn  t think that ben affleck could really pull off a funny christmas movie   boy was i wrong  my daughter invited me to watch this with her and i was not disappointed at all . james gandolfini was funny   i really liked christina appelagate  and catherine o  hara was good too  the storyline is what really sold me   i mean   too put up with family   at the table for people you only hardly see but once or twice a year   and probably don  t get along with anyway   you really do need as much alcohol as you  re system can stand to deal with christmas   so i thought that the premise was good there  buying the family with       dollars  was a little on the far fetched side   but it turned out to work pretty good for me   cause it was a riot all the way through  it shows the class struggle of the different families . it has lot  s of funny moments  including embarrassing stuff on the computer for a teenage boy . all in all i loved this movie and will watch it again next christmas or sooner if my daughter wants too .  
i know you  ve read that before  on countless other films no doubt if you  re reading the comments here  but voodoo academy still stands as the absolute worst film i  ve been able to track down . no doubt the really bad ones aren  t even available to buy or watch on tv  but even so i feel it  s fair to qualify that i  m not just some dumb renter who picked badly .  br    br   i  ve seen two thirds of the bottom    ranked films here on the imdb  and i  m ticking of the remaining ones with every chance . most of those stand head and shoulders above this . . . excersize in absolute monotony .  br    br   i like to rate truly bad films  as in ones with no humour even in how bad they are  by how many people you need to watch it with to make it all the way through . if you can watch it by yourself  it isn  t that bad . if you can watch it with one single friend . . . it  s bad but could be a lot worse .  br    br   it took  of us to make it all the way through voodoo academy . and not even the usually fun moments of watching bad films  spotting the boom mic for example   times in this one if i  m not mistaken  could take away the dry taste in my mouth . yes i  d watched it  but i  d also forced  of my friends to watch it with me to achieve that end .  br    br   i hope and pray we saw the directors cut . . . to think that there could be a version with   more minutes of big eyebrowed lugs with baby oil glands rubbing their torsos just scares the hell out of me . so much of the film centers around this .  br    br   i do applaud david decoteau for managing to lens this film in two days on a short budget  just as i applaud him for convincing people to pay him to make what is no doubt a celluloid version of some of his fetishes . but it isn  t a good film . the original shop of horrors was shot in the same length of time for a comparitive amount of money  considering inflation  and was an utter gem . it  s not an excuse for how bad this baby is .  br    br   spoilers ahead . . .  br    br   it  s not even worth picking apart the plot holes or cliched know it all hero characters . . . the pacing of the film . . . is insane . . . nothing . . . is interesting for the length of time decoteau dedicates to the pectoral self massaging . no matter what your alignment or sex . . . rubbing just cannot sustain that kind of screen time .  br    br   the acting is cheese . . . but not overly amatuer . . . i  ve seen a lot worse in better films . . . but somehow it  s the semi competent delivery of some of the worst lines you  ll ever hear in a film  that really grates .  br    br   rent this if  like me  you have a fascination with the worst of the worst  and only if you  re going to watch it with a group of people who are prepared to work to get through it . this is no ha ha ha the set wobbled affair . it  s an endurance test you probably want to skip .  br    br   i  m sure there is worse . . . but i wouldn  t be surprised if it has decoteau  s name on it .  
what would you expect from a film titled  surviving christmas  and presented as  festive fun   something like ghandi or english patient  there are lots of things i love about this film  it  s funny  it is very well cast and it is superbly written . i came to the film as a kaplan  elfort fan but was dubious when i read the plot  it sounded ridiculous . but the film doesn  t come across like that because affleck  as drew latham  plays his part perfectly  one minute a child  like adult  the next a mature man who realises he has gained everything in life apart from what he really wants . in fact we see latham grow up in this film  when he encounters the problems of those he envies and realises that their lives are not so good  he sees that his own lot is not so bad .  br    br   this film has fewer weak or dud scenes than many other comedies i have seen . comedy is so much harder than any other type of drama  it either works or it doesn  t and very few comedy writers get it correct every time . i particularly loved the drama scene  where the family take to reading parts written by latham . the pleasure is in the reaction of tom valco  james gandolfini  and the comments of brian valco  josh zuckerman  . it is the dilemma of the greedy tom valco who has to bite his tongue  wear silly hats or sing to the christmas tree in order to earn the prize money that keeps the film moving along well .  br    br   the addition of daughter alicia  christina applegate  into the story brings a delightful romantic angle  and why not in a christmas film  of course its corny and contrived he  s rich and handsome  she  s beautiful and single  and so inevitably her and afflect end up falling over together in the snow and finding themselves face to face . great  one thing i would have liked was more use of festive music to boost the atmosphere but i can  t really complain . i got what i wanted .  
this was probably the worst movie i have ever seen in my life   it was stupid there was no plot and the special affects were ridiculous   and i have never seen such bad acting in my life  the only good part about the movie were all the hot guys  especially drew fuller  . i don  t know what these people were thinking when they made this movie   i didn  t even want to finish the whole thing because you get to this point in the movie where the guys are all in bed touching themselves . i mean it was like some kind of sick and twisted kiddy porn  i would advise anyone who has heard of this movie and was interested in seeing it to just forget about it and find another movie to watch  i was very disappointed   the whole movie was a complete waste of time in my opinion .  
this movie isn  t as bad as i heard . it was enjoyable  funny and i love that is revolves around the holiday season . it totally has me in the mood to christmas shop and listen to holiday music . when this movie comes out on dvd it will take the place of christmas vacation in my collection . it will be a movie to watch every year after thanksgiving to get me in the mood for the best time of the year . i heard that ben  s character was a bit crazy but i think it just adds to the movie and why be so serious all the time . take it for what is it  a christmas comedy with a love twist . i enjoyed it . no  it isn  t titanic and it won  t make your heart pound with anticipation but it will bring on a laugh or two . so go laugh and have a good time   
if you like to comment on films where the script arrive halfway the movie then this is the one . a setting and acting as in a porn movie but nothing is happening only some groping and touching of the third kind . which actually becomes very boring after   minutes of touchy feely but no action . a few of the actors i  ve seen in real x rated movies and there their acting then was a lot better . all the special effects are done by the great  rondo  whom performs all the magic whit his mind . a cult movie is written on the box . does that mean that this film is not to be watched at all     br    br   get drunk with some friends and watch this movie on new years eve ore thanks giving .  
i laughed so hard during this movie my face hurt . ben affleck was hilarious and reminded me of a pretty boy jack black in this role . gandolfini gives his typical a performance . the entire cast is funny  the story pretty good and the comic moments awesome . i went into this movie not expecting much so perhaps that is why i was so surprised to come out of the flick thoroughly pleased and facially exhausted . i would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys comedy  can identify with loneliness during the holidays and  or putting up with the relatives . the best part to this film  to me anyway  were the subtle bits of humor that caught me completely off guard and had me laughing long after the rest of the audience had stopped . namely  the scene involving the lighting of the christmas tree . go see it and have a good laugh   
cheap and mind  blisteringly dull story and acting . not a single good line  not even a line bad enough to be good  and no memorable delivery . even the blooper reel included with the dvd showed how inept the actors were and how little fun any of them were having . the esoteric and occult basis was apathetically inauthentic  and the antagonists failed to be creepy or believable . the  homoerotic  overtones were pointlessly tame and dissatisfying  and were limited to young boys caressing their chests while flaccid in their boxers . i  m not gay enough to appreciate it  but a little action might have at least kept me and my girlfriend awake .  
this movie was made in      but it still rings true today . very  very funny . it begins with a family wanting to buy a little place in the country and it  builds  from there . anyone who has ever built a house  will find this movie very endearing . great cast . cary grant and myrna lloyd are delightful in this film . this is a classic black and white film that reflects the grand style of the    s . . . . clothing  architecture and family life . many references are made to the cost of things  and those comparisons to today  s costs are pretty amazing . i can  t imagine anyone not enjoying this movie completely . i am surprised of the number of middle aged people who have never heard of it . a true classic .  
what  s up with robert  pretentious  altman  was he saving on lighting  everything was so dark in this boring movie that it was laughable . i mean  have you ever seen a lawyer  s office where everyone works by candlelight   br    br   don  t waste your time . in fact  don  t waste your time with anything altman makes it  s all a pretentious waste of film .  
europa   or  as it is also known  zentropa   is one of the most visually stunning films i have ever seen . the blend of grayscale and colour photography is near seamless . . . a true feast for the eyes . the picture was a contender for a      s golden palm in canners . the award went to barton fink  by coen brothers   a film stylistically very similar to zentropa . here  s an exercise in class rent both films and be a judge for yourself .  
pros nothing  br    br   cons everything  br    br   plot summary a female reporter runs into a hitchhiker that tells her stories about the deaths of people that were killed by zombies .  br    br   review never in my life have i come across a movie as bad the zombie chronicles . filmed on a budget of what looks to be about   bucks  tzc is a completely horrible horror movie that relies on lame  forgetable actors whom couldn  t act to save their lives and gore that  s more gross than frightening . how does a movie like this even get made  simply put  avoid tzc like a sexually  transmitted disease .  br    br   my last  cents humorously enough  this movie was made by a movie company called brain damage films . they  re brains must have really been damaged to come up with a craptacular movie like this .  br    br   my rating  out of    if it were up to me  this movie would get the rating of negative bajillion   
this was a must see documentary for me when i missed the opportunity in      so i was definitely going to watch the repeat . i really sympathised with the main character of the film  because  this is true  i have a milder condition of the skin problem he had  dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa  eb  . this is a sad  sometimes amusing and very emotional documentary about a boy with a terrible skin disorder . jonny kennedy speaks like a kid  because of wasting vocal muscle  and never went through puberty  but he is   years old . most sympathising moments are seeing his terrible condition  and pealing off his bandages . jonny had quite a naughty sense of humour  he even narrated from beyond the grave when showing his body in a coffin . he tells his story with the help of his mother  edna kennedy  his older brother and celebrity model  and jonny  s supporter  nell mcandrew . it won the baftas for best editing and best new director  factual   and it was nominated for best sound  factual  and the flaherty documentary award . it was number   on the    greatest tv treats     . a must see documentary   
you can  t hold too much against this knowing that it was made in four days  and i had expected it to be campy anyway .  it  s not all that campy in reality . with the exception of kevin kalisher and huntley ritter  who don  t take themselves seriously  the rest of the cast plays it halfway straight riley smith is exceptionally bad .  the ridiculous story is actually paid attention to  which kind of shocked me i assumed the whole purpose with these ultra  low  budget horror movies was to cater to the basest sexual fantasies and not give a damn about the story  but they use lots of words like  technological  and  physicality  in the script to get their point across .  although it  s possible that the story is important only to explain why there  s so few cast members .  nobody cares about this stupid storyline  and the only things that are interesting in the film are the mocking of cults and the soft  core homoeroticisms  which aren  t all that edgy  . i would have enjoyed it more if there were just some random killings for no reason . the film is grainy  with a tv  quality look and acting level . there are a few  sexy  scenes that are alright   the boys writhing in bed in their boxers  feeling themselves up or being tied down and making orgasmic faces while wine is poured on them   and some of them are kinda funny . and i liked the digs at l . ron hubbard and the intended irony of a story about religious cultists told with intense gay overtones  but it still isn  t any good .      
this is probably the best documentary i have seen in a very long time . jonny kennedy was and is still is a tragically beautiful inspiration . not only was he a survivor of one of the most painful diseases out there  but he used his beauty to show the world that there is life after death and never to give up reaching people and spreading his love . watching minutes of his life long struggle was heart  wrenching . listening to his smart ass remarks and seeing his adorable gestures was heartwarming . and seeing him smile was indescribable . i feel blessed to have been able to be touched by this tiny giant . please  if you ever have a chance to watch this film  consider yourself lucky to have met jonny kennedy .  
and a few more  no  s on top of that . voodoo academy is  without a doubt  the least ambitious film of all time . what exactly is it trying to do  tell a story  obviously not as has been pointed out  most of it  s just barely  legal guys rubbing themselves . could it  then  be an attempt at subversive homoeroticism  well  maybe  if not for the fact it never ever ever goes beyond the most innocuous and nonthreatening forms of male contact .  which is  to the delight of none  repeated about eighty thousand times .  well  it is sort of a horror movie is it trying to scare us  not unless the director meant to do so through the utter tedium and vacuousness of his  work .   br    br   never in my life have i enjoyed a movie less . this is the most boring and unnecessary thing i  ve ever seen . it  s like voodoo academy takes the genres of horror  zombie  and gay movies  puts them in a grinder  then runs them through a coffee filter   only instead of it being the kind of coffee filter that filters out coffee beans  it  s the kind that takes out everything vital  edgy  or in any way interesting . the result is   minutes of film every bit as exciting as a glass of warm water   only without the ability to rehydrate you after the    day gin binge that will inevitably befall you if you watch this abomination of human effort .  
i was greatly moved when i watched the movie . how jonny could keep such hope and faith was amazing . so many people only care about what they want  and fuss about all the things they don  t have . and they are such small things  like chothes  money a new car . i  ve seen people in tears because of a blemish . this movie brings everything back to the basics . love  hope the beauty of the simple but so important things in life . it makes our everyday problems seen for what they are small and really unimportant . you watch this boy and you realize as long as you have been blessed with food  a roof over your head and your loved ones around you . you are truly blessed . and the saying stop and smell the roses truly has a new meaning . and i know jonny will see this and i want to thank him so much for sharing such faith  strenght  and humor with me . thank you jonny i know you soar the heavens and bring much love and laughter to the heavens above .  
i have been reading the reviews for this movie and now i wanna kill my self . i don  t wanna live in a world where people find this move or rob schneider funny . what is wrong with these people . i  m not angry at rob schneider because he has the intelligence of a dead cat . i watched this film in disbelief . who would pay money to make this   this film is so bad that its painful . most bad films are funny because they are crap . the animal is just disgusting    watch this film and if you like please for all of man kind kill your self . we don  t need you . i want to raise money to get rob scheider off all movies . if someone killed rob schneider they should be given a nobel peace prize .  
this man is nothing short of amazing . you truly feel as if you have lived his life with him throughout these tragic events  and cry along with his family in the end . he was so passionate about his cause  not just for himself  but to ensure others who will survive him do not have to go through this wretched pain . i watch this video every time i am having a bad or  down  day  and it always manages to make me see the great and brighter side of life  just like jonny did  even with his unbearable pain . my only regret is not knowing about jonny sooner  as i visited england  times during his life  and would have been able to say i  d met him . it is comforting to know jonny is sitting on his cloud  pain free  rest in peace  dear jonny . you deserve it   
rob schneider is a famous comedian cause of his movements  facials and performances of  not humans  . this time he is the animal . marvin is a loser who is trying to be a hero and one day  nobody takes a call from a man that gets attacked  so marvin has to take this case and save the attacked man . but on his way to the crime scene  he crashes with his car and gets really damaged . he doesn  t remember what happens and at the next ordinary day  his life is not same when he finds out that he has animal instincts . of course  we got our female that our main character is trying to reach but his tryings  are useless . she is played by collen haskell . there are no negative characters . the negative character  is destiny if i could use this metaphor . marvin should find out  how to become a normal human being again . by the way  his animal instincts  helps him in some situations . schneider  s performance is a so  so . the movie is so unreal that gets stupid at some moments but it is one of those movies  called mindless fun as i have written above . so watch it for the monkey style rob schneider but it is definitely not one of the best comedies ever or one of the best movies that schneider appears in . he is a great comedian but this is not his best movie .  
the most moving and truly eye opening documentary ever created . i cried the whole way through  from start to end . watching the show you are immediately captured by a man  s struggle to live without pain  to live a life we would take for granted . the first time i heard the title  i was almost scared to see the program  it was hard for me to comprehend living in agony every day of every year of my life . i truly felt for him . the saddest part of the documentary is when jonny picks out his coffin . could you imagine doing that  even more so  even though he was in excruciating and unbearable pain he still opened up his own charity .  debra  jonny is one of the only people that deserves true respect and admiration  he is the definition of a role model  what a true and undeniable hero he was   
i hired this movie expecting a few laughs  hopefully enough to keep me amused but i was sorely mistaken . this movie showed very minimal moments of humour and the pathetic jokes had me cringing with shame for ever hiring it . . . aimed at an age group of       this movie will certainly leave viewers outside of these boundaries feeling very unsatisfied . worth no more than  votes highly unrecommended for anyone not wanting to waste  hours of their lives .  
in september        year  old jonny kennedy died . he had a terrible genetic condition called dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa  eb   which meant that his skin literally fell off at the slightest touch  leaving his body covered in agonising sores and leading to a final fight against skin cancer . in his last months jonny decided to work with filmmaker patrick collerton to document his life and death  and the result was a film  first broadcast in march  that was an uplifting  confounding and provocatively humorous story of a singular man . not shying away from the grim reality of eb  the film was also a celebration of a life lived to the full . produced and directed by patrick collerton and first shown in march     the boy whose skin fell off has become the most talked about documentary of that year . it attracted nearly five million viewers and after the screening the public donated over half a million pounds to jonny  s charity  debra . a jonny kennedy memorial fund has been set up to raise another half a million with the aim of ensuring that jonny kennedy left a one million pound legacy .  
guy is a loser . can  t get girls  needs to build up  is picked on by stronger more successful guys  etc . seen it  saw it  moved on . i  d have to say that rob needs to move past the adam sandler part of his life . and get out of the adam sandler plots . there are two funny parts in the whole movie . i couldn  t even finish the last  minutes . i was getting bored .  the animal  is an alright film . i do usually enjoy adam sandler films that have the same plot . but this was trying too hard to impress . the jokes are very old . so  trust me . this is not a film that most people could really get into . but some did  so i  ll be nice .  br    br        
i have a two year old son who suffers from the same condition as jonny kennedy . i never got the chance to meet him but i have never heard anybody say a bad word about him . i hope he knows how much the making of this programme has helped his fellow sufferers by raising awareness of this terrible condition . this man has touched people in a way that a million charity leaflets could not . i believe that this should be compulsory viewing in schools . i also agree with other comments  what have i got to moan about  he took everything that life could throw at him and still managed to retain a sense of humour . god bless . i couldn  t watch the part that showed his dressings being changed . i have enough trouble with my son  s .  
redundant  but again the case . if you enjoy the former snl comedian and his antics  in this case  schneider   then you should go . basic comedy . man  s life is saved by having various animal organs transplanted into him . unfortunately  he takes on each animal  s characteristics . former survivor colleen looks pretty good here  now that she doesn  t have open sores on her legs  and a little makeup on her face  d  
was flipping around the tv and hbo was showing a double whammy of unbelievably horrendous medical conditions  so i turned to my twin sister and said   hey this looks like fun    truly i love documentaries  so we started watching it . at first i thought jonni kennedy was a young man  but then it was explained that due to his condition  he never went through puberty  thus the high voice and smaller body . he was on a crusade to raise money for his cause . he had the most wonderful sense of humor combined with a beautiful sense of spirituality . . . i cried  watched some more  laughed  got up to get another kleenex  then cried some more . once jonni kennedy  s  time was up  he flew to heaven to be with the angels . he was more than ready he had learned his lessons from this life and he was free . i highly recommend this . if you do not fall in love with this guy  you have no heart .  
i was expecting a movie similar to deuce bigalow  which i enjoyed . however  this dud seemed to last forever . it  s one of those flicks which enjoys the sad placement of pg    while not being kid appropriate . the jokes aren  t just low  brow or ft jokes  they  re crude  lewd  and many acts cross the boundaries to not only bad taste but beyond legal and moral decency . many scenes appear to have been chopped to get the pg    rating . . . too bad . . . it might have made a bigger splash as an r  rated film if the funny was left in .  overstatement  probably .  i do not recommend this movie . it is a full  on waste of time . . . and i  m a movie lover and ready to give just about anything a shot . at   minutes in  the movie felt like it should be winding down . . . and boy were we ready for it to . the ending is quaint but doesn  t salvage the rest of this quagmire  tourist trap of a rental .    star  glad i saw it as a freebie . . . would have been sickened to pay hard  earned greenbacks for this tripe   
i couldn  t hold back the tears when i watched this beautiful documentary . it was heart  breaking  disturbing  and inspiring all in one . i recommend this documentary to anyone seeking something that will make them think about what they are doing with their own lives . or simply  something that will make you think . you watch as john lives through the last couple months of his life . you watch as he goes through his days with a positive attitude . at one point you begin to see that he is truly an amazing individual . you begin to understand that he has something to teach all of us . his life and struggles will make you cry  laugh  and find that life  s a lot easier to live if you just take it one day at a time .  
nothing in this movie is funny . i thought the premise  giving a human the libido of a randy ram  was interesting and should provide for some laughs . wrong  there is simply nothing funny about the movie . for example  the main character making a pass at a goat in heat in the middle of a farmer  s yard is not funny  it borders on obscenity . they are toying around with bestiality in this film on one level  and it just aint funny .  br    br   we all know that dogs will eat anything  anywhere  anytime . the main character doing this with everything  everywhere  everytime is also not funny . it becomes a cliche .  br    br   rob schneider is  i guess  acceptable in the role . by this  i mean that he  s not a bad actor  but with rotten material it  s difficult to comment on quality . however  coleen haskell  the other half of the human  romantic leads  does one count the number of animals that the main character has interest in as romantic leads too    seems embarrassed by the whole thing  as well she should be . she seems to be acting in some kind of vacuum  detached from all the other actors in the movie .  br    br   see this film only if you wish to be bored by tasteless  dull  repetitive material .  
as with all of angelopoulos  films   the suspended step of the stork  implicitly demands a close and intimate participation on the part of the viewer  a fact that has certainly contributed to the limited popularity of his work . dialogues are sparing  with no monologues or exchanges exteriorizing the characters  inner conflicts  doubts  or feelings . the filmmaker prefers to keep the viewers away from their own emotional responses  and instead forces them to explore and study the characters  identities for themselves . as a result  the acting is understated and implicit  as opposed to overt and explicit .  br    br   the action scenes are set between long intervals of contemplation  where the viewer is asked to become a participant  to participate as an actor  by probing his or her own psyche . as in a novel  where the drama rests entirely on the author  s writing to provide a template where the reader  s imagination and  or past experience flourish  angelopoulos  drama rests within his images his uses of the long shots  the long takes  the leisurely pacing  the sparing dialogues that have become his trademark  inviting the viewer to experience the film from his or her personal perspective . angelopoulos uses silence to capture moments of high intensity  reverting to the non  verbal language of gestures  gazes  sounds  and music  when he believes that words can only take us so far .  br    br   the music  by angelopoulos  long time collaborator  eleni karaindrou  provides more than just a discreet background  but becomes itself a dramatic element of the story . a large part of the film consists of exterior shots in subtle  subdued colors  recorded in a drab winter light . angelopoulos presents us with an  other greece   one far different from the greece of the tourist brochures  with ethereal blue skies and emerald seas  drowned in an eternal sunshine . here  the skies are covered and gray  the air is cold and misty  and the sands of the pristine beaches have been replaced by the trampled  dirty snow of the village streets . angelopoulos  genius through arvanitis  camera is on display throughout the film .  br    br    the suspended step of the stork  is above all else a political statement aimed at the socio  political situation in the balkans at the end of the twentieth century . it is deeply concerned with the meaning of  borders   and with those who are the victims of the confusion between nations . in the  waiting room  facing the albanian border  the refugees  political or other  outcast by the rest of humanity  wait . they may be stuck against a political border  but unfortunately they still carry with them  and hang on  deeper ancestral borders those of the languages  of the customs  and of the races . although angelopoulos  political views are well known  the film steers clear of any political discourse regarding the causes of the refugees  plights . in the process  angelopoulos forces us to meditate on the concepts of geographical  cultural  political  and personal  borders .   br    br   angelopoulos considers himself a historian of twentieth century greece  and he likes to bring lessons from the hellenic myths into his discussions . in this film  he does some border crossing himself between the greek and italian cultures  drawing from a combined homeric and dantesque tradition of odysseus  travel . alexander is a telemachus  in search of a story about an aging greek politician  odysseus who disappeared  never to be heard of again . this political man  a brilliant orator  unexpectedly and inexplicably left the comfort of his bourgeois existence  his wife  and his brilliant career  to live anonymously in a refugee camp with the lowest of the low . he became a poet in exile wondering how to change the world . of course  the  politician  is not alexander  s father  but the  politician  stands before alexander like a father figure  odysseus . as with homer  s telemachus  alexander grows as a person during his odyssey .  br    br   of course  it would be wrong to try and see in the film a retelling of homer  s odyssey in a contemporary context . angelopoulos draws on odysseus  s travels only as structuring and thematic elements for his film . in angelopoulos  ending   odysseus  is more like the dante  s odysseus he does not leave for ithaca but goes on   carrying a suitcase .  and alexander  telemachus is  suspended  between returning to his home and his career  or embarking on a voyage to  somewhere else .  he states as much  in a voice  over at the beginning of the film  paraphrasing few lines from dante  s  inferno    and don  t forget that the time for a voyage has come again . the wind blows your eyes far away .   br    br   finally  although angelopoulos is not a religious person  there is a greek orthodox religious theme introduced during the film in the form of the yellow  suited linesmen  who go around bettering things for their fellow human beings by reconnecting communications  and also the christ  like figure of the  politician .  in the final scene  these men in yellow demonstrate once more the byzantine iconography  s influence in angelopoulos  work . they appear like  stylites   religious figures found in the orthodox tradition  solitary and fervent men who took up their abode upon the tops of pillars  in a form of asceticism .  br    br   the film ends without a resolution as to the true identity of the character played by mastroianni . angelopoulos does not give us any clues  and the wife  s statement   it  s not him   is far from convincing and left ambiguous enough . the important question of the film is not whether he is or is not the vanished politician  but that he could be the politician . but the film still ends on an optimistic note . whereas the wires strung from pole to pole run only along the river  and thus communications across the border are still not possible  and it remains impenetrable  we note that this final scene is taken from a point of view across the river the camera has crossed the border  and the reverse tracking shot is inviting alexander and the viewer to follow beyond the boundary . on this account  angelopoulos gives us hope that somehow  some of the borders will eventually crumble .  
this is a very bad movie . i laughed once or twice  and the storyline sucks  there is maybe one funny joke  it is stupid and it is boring . through the whole short movie  i was falling asleep and wondering when it was going to end .  br    br   no one acts human  and everyone acts stupid and ridiculous . rob schneider acting like an animal isn  t something i would pay to see . it looked funny  but the bottom line don  t waste you  re precious time on such a ridiculous and stupid movie .  br    br   i was wondering when it was going to end  even though it is a short movie . in the beginning we thought it would get better but it gets worse . stupid  all the way to the end . i walked out of the theater  and i would remember that movie as extremely bad forever .  br    br   the writer and co  producer of this film is a simpsons tv writer  but this is nothing like the simpsons  this movie sucks      
one of cary grant  s most enduring comedies is mr . blandings builds his dream house . although judging by the size of it the dwelling would be a dream mansion today . still cary was making a good living in the advertising field even though he was having a devil of a time trying to come up with a slogan for ham with the brand name of wham .  br    br   what made this film so popular was the housing shortage of the post world war ii years . returning veterans from the war were claiming their entitlements under the gi bill of rights which included home loans . the problem was there literally were not enough houses to satisfy the demand . around the time the book by eric hodgins and the film were so popular congress passed and president truman signed the taft  ellender  wagner housing law which put the government for the first time in the home building business .  br    br   i had an uncle and aunt who were around the same time building their own home which they moved into in the early fifties . like cary grant and myrna loy they had two daughters and were looking to get out of inner city rochester . their place wasn  t quite as grand as a house in connecticut with eighteen rooms  still they lived there the rest of their lives the way cary and myrna most likely did .  br    br   of course it was expensive and the costs just keep adding up and up  threatening to send cary to the cleaners . cary and myrna also have melvyn douglas around to offer counsel  usually too late . truth be told he  s kind of sweet on myrna and cary knows it .  br    br   myrna loy  s role is simply an extension of nora charles . if you can imagine the charles  s moving to the country and william powell having the headaches cary grant does  the film would still work just fine .  br    br   mr . blandings builds his dream house still works well as comedy because the situations are universal . and this review is dedicated to my uncle walter and aunt kate who lived in their dream house together for over   years .  
this was the most pointless film i have ever seen as there was no plot and the actors did not seem to care .    of the film had absolutely no plot whatsoever  i laughed so much my ribs began to ache . the bit where the old men when to capture robert duvall was ludicrous . on a directorial level making a noir film does not involve lots of raining sequences and pointless closeups on the main character . this is a failed attempt to create a noir thriller and instead alienates the viewer with incoherent scenes . seeing as this was based on a  manuscript  by john grisham i do not count this as one of his book to film adaptations as it displays none of the suspense and engaging storyline as films such as  the firm  or  the rainmaker  .  
a most recommendable masterpiece  not only for the underlying themes of the story but also for the unmatchably brilliant and ingenious picture work of angelopoulos  not to mention the acting of giants  mastroianni and moreau  and the remarkable character play by ilias logothethis . gregory karr  s performance may seem overshadowed by his  tough  partners  at first stance but in fact he perfectly plays his character  which is revealed in his very last scene with the girl  khrysikou  and the man  mastroianni   albeit hinted beforehand .  hence the spoiler .   br    br   get your expectations straight  it  s an  art movie  in whatever meaning that phrase has to offer and requires attention . not for spending free time  but for watching an artwork with the necessary concentration as in reading a book or attending a concert . due to the overall photographic style  large screen viewing is recommended .  br    br   dialogues are used sparingly . but the film includes  in addition to the standard greek and english speaking  fragments spoken in albanian  kurdish and turkish  which will be attractive for those who are charmed by the beauty in hearing various languages .  
i saw an interview with rob schneider  who plays the lead character  marvin mange  in this film .  he said in it that he wanted to emphasize physical comedy here so much that even if you had the volume turned off you  d be laughing at this movie . obviously that must be the secret . i had the volume turned up . i was actually listening to this thing and thought it was a disaster  and completely unfunny  a major disappointment after schneider  s hilarious performance in  deuce bigalow  male gigolo .   br    br   the story is stupid mange is a major loser who dreams of being a cop who gets filled with a bunch of animal transplants after a car accident by a mad scientist type appropriately named dr . wilder  michael caton   and as a result starts to lose control of his  animal instincts .  this makes him a  supercop .  he can sniff out drugs hidden in body cavities and outrun horses . of course  he also has a nasty habit of eating people  s cows and trying to seduce their goats  but surely that  s a small price to pay  it just didn  t do anything for me .  br    br   the cast left much to be desired . is there a more irritating actor in all of hollywood than john mcginley  here  he plays sgt . sisk  mange  s commander on the police force  as a repugnantly cartoonish character  much the same as his doctor character in the inexplicably popular tv series  scrubs .   i was anxious to get a look at colleen haskell  s first  serious  acting job  can anything in this movie be called  serious    she  of course  gained her fame as a contestant on the first  survivor  and she proves here what we knew from that she  s cute as a button . what she doesn  t prove here is that she has any discernible talent as an actress . and what  s with ed asner as police chief wilson . i mean  how old is this guy now  he  s the size of some of the cows mange tried to eat  and he seemed out of breath the whole way through . i  m surprised he made it through the filming . there  s a brief cameo at the end by adam sandler  who also served as executive producer of this .   br    br   anyway  i chuckled twice mange playing with his squeaky toys in the police car  and the scene schneider has with haskell and the orangutan  the orangutan has more acting talent  so  for two chuckles      .  
enjoyed this     film with plenty of veteran classic actors and especially  william powell   dr . lawrence bradford    mister roberts   who played the role as a doctor and detective . dr . bradford was once married to jean arthur   paula bradford    shane   and got a divorce and still they managed to live with each other and also fight all the time . paula wanted her husband to investigate a homicide and did everything she could to convince him it was very important . jean arthur plays a rather nutty type and there is plenty of     comedy and the method of murder is something you will never believe  especially with a jockey on a california race track . robert armstrong   nick martel   king kong  gave a great supporting role as a bookie along with james gleason  a detective who need the help of dr . bradford in order to solve this very strange murder mystery . if you see this film  just remember it was produced and directed in     and the people in the audience in those days thought this was great entertainment and it really was in those days   
i hated this movie so much i remember it vividly . it is not even funny . any movie that relies on unfunny sex jokes and racism humor does not deserve the money it costs to make it . in the first half hour  rob schneider drinks a carton of rancid milk . all i could think was  he deserves it  for making such a bad movie  . don  t waste your time or money on this one .  
  the ex  mrs . bradford         starring thin man series star william powell  this film was released the same year as the second thin man film   after the thin man   comes very close to duplicating the fun and style of the thin man films  but it nonetheless misses . still  it is a wonderfully fun  highly entertaining murder mystery in the same comic vein .  br    br   is myrna loy missed  of course  let  s not lie . however  i  d be hard  pressed to name a better substitute than jean arthur . and the chemistry between arthur and co  star william powell is real and it  s fun  romantic and involving .  br    br   the story and screenplay by anthonyu vieller and john wyne  s production company partner  james edward grant   the angel  the bad man   is close to being up there with a thin man effort  but lacks a bit of the proper wit and sizzle .  br    br   while it  s not in the stratosphere of  the thin man  movies  what else is     the ex  mrs . bradford  is one of the most entertaining of the dozens and dozens of mystery  comedy  who  done  its  of the    s    s .  
i didn  t really like this movie that much at all . it wasn  t really funny and in some cases it was just downright stupid . rob schneider is definitely one enormously talented individual and while his acting was fine in this  it just seemed like a real waste for him to star in . i mean there were some parts that were okay and somewhat humorous in a cute kind of way but that  s about it . the only thing that actually caught my attention during this whole ordeal of over the top jokes was that there were some very good looking females present and i  m not one to watch a movie solely because of that but in this case it was the only nook where even the slightest case of redemption could be found . all in all it was a couple notches below an average movie   br    br   final query  br    br   theaters so glad i didn  t squander too much money on this .  br    br   dvd purchase ummm  let me think . . . . no   br    br   rental if you have a prehistoric sense of humor then why not .  
william powell is a doctor dealing with a murder and an ex  wife in  the ex  mrs . bradford   also starring jean arthur  eric blore  and james gleason . it seems that powell had chemistry going with just about any woman with whom he was teamed . though he and myrna loy were the perfect screen couple  the actor made a couple of other  thin man  type movies  one with ginger rogers and this one with arthur  both to very good effect .  br    br   somehow one never gets tired of seeing powell as a witty  debonair professional and  the ex  mrs . bradford  is no exception . the ex  mrs . b has mr . b served with a subpoena for back alimony and then moves back in to help him solve a mystery that she  s dragged him into . and this isn  t the first time she  s done that  it almost seems as though there was a  bradford  film before this one or that this was intended to be the first of a series of films  mr . b complains that his mystery  writer ex is constantly bringing him into cases . this time  a jockey riding the favorite horse in a raise mysteriously falls off the horse and dies right before the finish line .  br    br   the solution of the case is kind of outlandish but it  s beside the point . the point is the banter between the couple and the interference of the ex  mrs . b . jean arthur is quite glamorous in her role and very funny . however  with an actress who comes off as brainy as arthur does  the humor seems intentional rather than featherbrained . i suspect the writer had something else in mind  say  the wacky side of carole lombard . when arthur hears that the police have arrived  she says   ah  it  s probably about my alimony . i  ve been waiting for the police to take a hand in it   it  s more of a rib to powell rather than a serious statement . it still works well  and it shows how a good actress can make a part her own .  br    br   definitely worth watching  as william powell and jean arthur always were .  
marvin  rob schneider  does not have the ingredients to be a cop which is his lifelong dream . but his luck changes when he has a car crush  a very bad one  and is found by a doctor . the doctor has to use animal organs to rebuild him . after this moment  he starts to have wild behaviours unconsciously and becomes a best cop one could ever be . by the time  he realises the changes and his animal instincts starts to take over his human side . in the mean time  he finds a lovely girl and try to be a perfect gentleman that means he has to control himself and behave civilised . i am not a big fun of rob schneider . in fact  this is the his first film i have seen . however  i can easily say that he is the best person to play the loser .  see his part in ally mcbeal  quite funny actually  . there are some good parts in the movie such as his flirting with the goat . in such movies  the biggest problem is that the script is seems to make the viewer feel less intelligent . i am sure this movie is okay to watch as long as it is not taken too seriously . but very sad to see such films doing very good in the box office . the animal is not the worst film i have seen to date but fails to get more than  .  
i  ve seen the thin man series   powell and loy are definitely great  but there is something awfully sweet about powell and arthur  s chemistry in this flick . jean arthur shines when she looks at powell . there is an unmistakable undercurrent buzzing between them . this film may not have the wit of the thin man series  but undeniably makes up for it in charm . while i watched it  i thought for sure powell was carrying on an off  screen affair with arthur . my friends thought the same . this is one film where i wish i could step back in time  to schmooze and lock lips with powell   there seems to be no end to his lovable playful smirks  powell  s character  lawrence bradford  is probably the closest thing to the  perfect man .  okay  this is sounding way too gushy  but i can  t help myself .  
ain  t it hilarious when an average schmo leading a pathetic life suddenly has something outrageously magical happen to him  turning his life upside down and causing him to learn a few valuable lessons along the way  that formula never gets old  does it  it  s such a sure fire way to make a classic film  just look at major hits like liar liar and big  . . . this must have been rob schneider  s line of thinking when he made semi  successful deuce bigalow male gigolo and followed it with the animal . since i  ve already traced the plot through sarcasm  allow me to color it in more schneider plays a loser cop who  s suddenly involved in a tragic accident but is saved through surgery . . . by a loopy veterinarian who loads him up with animal parts  causing him to whinny like a horse at inappropriate times  run like a cheetah  etc . this movie is slightly more likable than other schneider  starring flicks  such as another lame same  plot follow  up the hot chick   but it almost feels like they want audiences to hate it by casting a reality tv star as the romantic lead  colleen haskell from  survivor   and inserting a cameo by norm macdonald . my favorite scene . . . just does not exist . sorry  nothing memorably good except the production value . i just want to end this review by saying that slight references to other movies in a movie can be okay  but when it comes to lines being delivered the exact same way   you can do it     there  s a word for that   milking .  actually  here  s another word   cheap .   
rko studios decided to borrow both william powell from mgm and jean arthur from columbia  for one of their more big budget efforts to cash in on the popularity of the thin man . they succeeded to some degree .  br    br   a lot of folks forget that in addition to and earlier than nick charles  bill powell also played in a few philo vance films in the title role . so by this time he was pretty well set in the role . doctor bradford is not doing as many liquid lunches as nick charles  but the basic blas nick is still there . one difference is that while nick charles married an heiress  doctor bradford works for a living as a physician . that helps in his avocation of detective and in fact it does in this film .  br    br   he  s got two murders to solve . a jockey falls off a horse coming into the homestretch of a big race and dies for no apparent reason . the trainer suspects something afoot  but he  s bumped off by the more conventional method of a bullet . this is after he comes to bill powell for help .  br    br   myrna loy was a more steadying influence on bill powell than jean arthur was . arthur plays it as more of a dizzy dame than loy did . but it works here and she and powell have good chemistry .  br    br   the ever dependable james gleason is the police inspector in the sam levene  nat pendleton role . all they needed here was asta and possibly eric blore as powell  s butler was essaying that part .  br    br   if powell and arthur were signed at this studio we might have seen a whole slew of bradford films .  
i believe that war films should try to convey the terror of war  avoid idealism and respect some rudimentary military principles . zvezda barely does the first . zvezda being a russian war film  i was expecting patriotism  sentimentality  beautiful poetic pictures  a lush score  slavic cheekbones and cruel germans . what i didn  t need was the naive love non  affair  the unrealistically silly war scenes and the abuse of the syrupy soundtrack in a film which avoided carefully all historical or political references  stalinism  nazism  holocaust  only to end on a passing but nonetheless insulting to our sense of history endnote about  liberating poland  . a missed opportunity as a film but not as propaganda apparently .  
the comic banter between william powell and jean arthur is the highlight of this murder mystery  which has one of the most bizarre and unlikely plots ever . powell is probably the most suave detective of the    s  and arthur has a unique voice which often sounds like a succession of tiny tinkly bells . they are extremely fun to watch  so take the brashness of the plot with a grain of salt and just enjoy seeing it unfold . eric blore also has some comic turns as powell  s butler .  br    br   powell  s contract with mgm included a clause which allowed him to reject being loaned out to another studio  but he wanted to work again with arthur and he liked the script  so he eagerly accepted the assignment . they had worked together in two     paramount films  the canary murder case and the greene murder case  both in the philo vance series .  
for domestic audiences i can see how they would applaud this movie . for outsiders  with no vested interests  it did not make much sense . the germans were portrayed as incompetents and the russians as heroes . the supposedly romantic angle was superfluous and a distraction . how a young woman could  love  the lieutenant from just glimpsing him was nonsense . how she could  as mentioned at the end of the movie  never marry just because of this infatuation was beyond me . i mentioned the germans were portrayed as idiots and that was exemplified in the chase into the marsh . several hundred german troops advanced  pushing the russians into the marsh . so the russians hid and the germans stopped at the edge of the marsh and just stood there listening . i suppose they did not want to get their boots wet  but i am sure an officer would have ordered   or   men into the water to search the marsh . but that would have ended the story . also  the germans entered the barn where the russians were hiding in the loft and did not bother to fire into the roof . at the worst some soldier would have tossed a grenade into the loft and not climbed a ladder to peer in .  br    br   i did see some reviewers who said they cried at the end . i wonder why  you knew this small band would perish and they was nothing heart  tugging in that .  
i have just managed to get hold of the celestial region  dvd of the five venoms and what a super job they have made of it . a fantastic digitally remastered transfer and a must have for any kung fu fan .  br    br   the story is pretty straight forward  and has been mentioned already so i won  t go into it again . needless to say it  s the fight scenes that many buy the movie for  and they do not disappoint . only problem is they are a bit few and far between and seem over rehearsed . bruce lee could take these lot on and drink a cup of tea at the same time  all kicks and punches come with the all important  type writer  clicks and air  whooshes   which is a cool effect though quite amusing   br    br   i give this movie a b . good but not great . in a way i feel it could have been that bit better . golden swallow  by the same director a decade earlier  had as good a story and better action .  
i  m a fan of columbo  especially on a rainy saturday  and it was fun to see oskar werner after fahrenheit     but this episode was very lacking . the original plot and plot twists were obvious and could be guessed way in advance  even years before the modern detective shows of today . but it was amusing to see the crazy couch patterns and  modern  electronics equipment and  of course  the mandatory suburbanite humor poking fun at modern art for sale . the high  tech home is a jetson  s or disney version of tomorrowland  and fun to think of writers inventing those  way  out gizmos  .  br    br   if its sunny outside  go play  as there are much better columbo episodes . still  we should be thankful for cable tv that these episodes are being broadcast .  
the five deadly venoms is easily the most memorable k . f . flick from the shaw brothers  stable  exc . maybe master killer  . it has the artists who came to be known as simply  the venoms   some of the best fight choreography ever  and  surprisingly for a kung fu movie  a great plot  one of my all  time favorites     
manmohan desai made some entertaining though illogical films like aaa  parvarish and naseeb but he made some craps like coolie and mard and then gjs  br    br   this movie is one of the worst movies ever made by him the dial became famous mard ko dard nahin hota but the film is so bad you cringe  br    br   the british are made carricatures and the film looks so weird the scene in the british hotel is damn stupid  br    br   the film has many stupidities like amrita assaulting amitabh and then the entire scene plus towards the climax the film becomes even worse there are more gems like the horse statue getting life  the masks of amitabh haha and more  br    br   direction by manmohan desai is bad music is okay  br    br   amitabh does his part with style  nothing different from coolie  laawaris type roles amrita singh is okay satyen kapuu is okay prem chopra is as usual  nirupa roy is again her usual self dara singh is also as usual  
five deadly venoms is not as bloody and violent as story of ricky or super ninjas  but it features some of the best hand  to  hand fight sequences in hong kong film history . director chang cheh creates what is considered by many to be his masterpiece . this movie launched the careers of the five men who play the venoms . meng lo plays yet another bad ass . he would go on to be in super ninjas . kuo chui who is philip kwok would go on to story of ricky and hard boiled . any chop socky fan can apperciate this . but i still think it ain  t as good as super ninjas  also made by chang cheh  . but all chop socky is good and this is one of the very best .  
bollywood fans pretty much hold amitabh bachan  s mard in high regard but i think it is very overrated . manmohan desai collaborated before on movies like suhaag  parvarish  amar akbar anthony  naseeb  desh premee and coolie and i have seen all of them i liked so i had very high expectations before i watched mard and was bitterly disappointed . my main gripe about mard is that it feels like amar akbar anthony part   maybe mr desai ran out of ideas  after all he had been using that formula for years and years .  . first of all some members of the cast is repeated from aaa  for instance the police inspector who brings up amar  the muslim who brings up akbar  nirupa roy and a few more .  . in aaa nirupa roy loses her eyesight  in mard she loses her voice  . in aaa there is the famous song  shirdi wale sai baba  well in mard we have amitabh singing maa sherawali . having seen aaa for over     times i noticed that straight away .  br    br   my other gripes are that some of the situations just seem ridiculous  true manmohan desai made leave your brain at the door kind of movies but with mard i thought he went too far . my last gripe is that compared to songs in previous manmohan desai movies i found the songs rather disappointing . i know it has many fans that swear by it but i didn  t like it one bit . it actually pains me to write this review because i am such a huge fan and have loved his movies since i was a child .  
i loved this film . i first saw it when i was    which was only four years ago  and i enjoyed it so much  i brought my own copy the next day . the comedy is well played by all involved . i always have to rewind and rewatch the scene where mr . tsanders explains why he found water at  ft in one area and    feet in another area . also look for jason robards father who plays mr . retch . talent ran in that family .  
dreary . schlocky . just plain dreadful and awful . let  s be honest  when you sit down to watch something called the double  d avenger you aren  t expecting great art or even mild mainstream entertainment . you are probably expecting a cult film type and maybe get some good looks at some impressive busts . you don  t get really either of these in the video . the story  as it consistent with most of these types  is inane kitten natividad runs a local pub  finds out she has breast cancer  flies down to south america for a fruit that claims to be a panacea for any ills and a super  human abilities giver  returns and fights  dressed as the double  d avenger  a group from a local strip club wanting to edge out the competition . as stories go  i have seen a lot worse  but as another reviewer noted the execution is horrendous . the action sequences lack zip  drive  motivation  and are tissue thin . the acting isn  t even properly campy and the dialog is the pits . nothing  and i mean nothing is funny from the wincing puns to the heavy  handed boob references . all could be forgiven if the girls could make up for it  but they all fall way short . kitten  haji  and raven de la croix are all quite older  still lovely in their own ways  yet expose nothing and become the antithesis of what they are trying to be older  campy caricatures of their former selves . instead  they look so lame and desperate  more because of the vehicle they are  starring  in rather than their own abilities . there are some other lovely ladies  but you really do not see much of anything . pg    definitely could be an appropriate rating for this . the material  the actresses  and director are all tired  tiresome  and dated  and again  not funny  it was a brutal hour plus sitting through this  and that is a shame as i was expecting something campy and fun . the guy playing bubba by the way was the only real laugh for me . not that he was good at all mind you  but every time he opened his mouth i kept thinking how truly awful he was . the lone bright spot here at all is seeing mr . sci  fi himself  forrest j . ackerman  play the curator of a wax museum and chatting to his wax frankenstein affectionately called frankie . other than that this is a complete bust  now how is that for another tired  dreadful  trite pun   
i recall seeing this movie as a kid . i don  t recall where i saw it . i must have been around   years old . i thought the movie was incredible and wished to see it again . it came on the kung fu channel once  but i missed it . i was really bummed . it is the best special  effects kung fu movie that i  ve seen to date  i highly recommend it  and now that i  ve discovered where to get it  i can enjoy it once more and for years to come . i also have to check out this return of the venom movie of which some have spoken so highly .  
this must have been one of the worst movies i have ever seen .  br    br   i have to disagree with another commenter  who said the special effects were okay . i found them pretty bad it just wasn  t realistic and they were so fake that it just distracted from the actual story .  br    br   maybe that distraction is the reason that i did not fully understand the story . the archaeologists are looking for  the set  . they do not bother to tell what set  or what is so special about it . that also makes it unclear why they search for it in california  while the intro of the movie takes place in ancient egypt .  br    br   if you  re shooting a movie that takes place in the desert  take the effort to actually go to the desert . the beginning  the ancient ceremony  looks like it was shot inside a studio instead of a desert .  br    br   the action  level was constant throughout the movie  no ups and downs  no climax . it made the movie look short  and that  s certainly a pro for this particular movie .  
after reading tons of good reviews about this movie i decided to take it for a spin  i bought it on dvd  hence the  spin  pun . . . i  m a dork  . the beginning was everything i hoped for  a perfect set  up  along with some quotes that i  ve heard on various wu  tang albums  to what should have been a good movie . but the plot i heard was so great  was so predictable . every time i saw a character  except for the lizard  i guessed which venom he was . plus  the only cool character gets killed off in the middle of the movie . ok  so the plot wasn  t very good but at least there was some good kung  fu right  wrong . the fights were very short and few and far between . granted the different styles were all pretty cool but i wish the fights were longer . i kept hoping to see the lizard run and do some crazy ish on the walls but it never happened . i was hoping to see the centipede do some tight speedy ish but it never happened . i was hoping to see the scorpion in the movie for more than  total minutes but it never happened . in short  not much happens . the fighting is all pretty routine . don  t be fooled just becuase this movie has a plot  it does not mean it  s a good one .  
i make a point out of watching bad movies frequently  and the sci  fi channel original movies tend to be one of the best sources for these movies you can find . as such  i  m sure you can imagine my disappointment when i saw sands of oblivion . the acting was uncharacteristically sub  par  as opposed to the woefully disgraceful display sci  fi usually has in store for us . there are a few cameos made by people you  d most likely recognize  although you may not know their names by heart . the cgi special effects are minimal  and as such  one of the largest sources of comedy in a sci  fi feature is lacking . sure  there are some funny moments like when a guy gets beheaded by a bulldozer  or when the main character leaves his friend to die in order to save a girl he  s known for a couple of days  but overall  it ends up just not having you rolling on the floor with laughter  and i consider that a major disappointment .  br    br   if i was rating it on a   star scale made specifically to judge made  for tv movies  i  d probably give it a   maybe even a  . a real shame that i may have to wait  till the next sci  fi original movie to get a good laugh  and i really hope that this movie isn  t part of some overall quality increase in sci  fi original movies .  
when i was very young  on a local tv station  they would show kung fu movies of all kinds on saturdays . i saw lots of kung fu movies on weekends . i remember lots of them . i saw great flicks like crippled masters  blind fist of bruce  kung fu zombie  shaolin drunken monk  rage of the master  tattoe dragon  and . . . five deadly venoms . i remember the day clearly . me and my dad had just gotten lunch at burger king . we were racing home to see what movie it would be this saturday . we ran in the house and jumped onto the couch  turned on the set and flicked it onto   . the usual intro of many kung fu movie clips in the background with the words kung fu saturday over it . then under that was the title of the film . it said five deadly venoms . then the movie began . i bit into my burger amused with the pre  credit sequence . i loved this movie the minute it came on . my favorite character was the toad venom . the plot was hard to follow at that age but that wasn  t what lured me . . . it was the fighting . the fights were so . . . amazing . i moaned every time a commercial came on and soon the  hours of the best movie i have ever seen ended .  
worse than the rating it has been given . this is a typical scifi movie nowadays bad to awful acting  a script that is poorly written  and shoddy direction . from the opening scene where demille is burying his set to the end  this movie is terrible . in the beginning scenes this movie has moses  which was charlton heston in the demille film   pharoah  yul brynner  and nefretiri  anne baxtor  overlooking a boy burying a box in the sand . the characters that were to represent the three aforementioned icons were awful and had to resemblance to the people they were to  supposedly  be . the fact that this is in the desert away from civilization is hilarious when someone is hurt and they are all yelling for an ambulance . the screenwriter obviously is oblivious to the fact that there are no ambulances in the middle of the desert . i was sorely disappointed that morena baccarin decided to do a film of such low quality .  
this movie is really good . the plot  which works like puzzle forces viewer to think and guess  what will happen next . such a trick brings a lot of surprises and makes a viewer really looking forward to solution of a riddle . fighting scenes are very good . there  s a lot of different combat styles  although one of styles was a bit unreal for me  but it  s only my opinion  to watch and it  s fascinating show . the only thing which may be irritating is actors look . a bit too effeminate  at least for me  . hong kong was always good at kung  fu movies especially in the    s and    s  so  five venoms   or other its versions  is great choice .  
tv movie about an ancient egyptian curse brought to the us in the    s during the filming of demille  s first version of the   commandments and which is reawakened when demille  s sets are unearthed in the desert .  br    br   one of the worst films i  ve seen in a long time .  br    br   the question is were the filmmakers serious or kidding when they made this film  if this is serious its a laughably bad movie and a great film to pick on for its badness . if its a comedy its less good but funny for all of the wrong reasons . you will laugh long and hard at this film  probably more than many other hollywood  comedies  .  
i saw this kung fu movie when i was a kid  and i thought it was so cool  now i am   years old  and my friend has it on dvd     br    br   we got a case of brew  and watched this classic  it lost none of it  s original kung fu coolness  if you are a fan of kung fu  karate movies  this is a must see . . . the dvd is available . i believe this movie is also called  pick your poison  .  br    br   watch it soon   
watching the first   minutes of sands of oblivion gave me high hopes . it seemed i was in for a cheaper version of the mummy . the setup was promising  in the      s cecil b . demille makes his opus of the ten commandments . it seems in using real egyptian artifacts for the movie set they unleashed an ancient and terrible evil  don  t they always   . aware of what had been unleashed demille orders the entire set buried instead of the usual practice of tearing it down . hopefully the evil will be buried with it for all time . then we switch to present day where a team is attempting to excavate the site  the movie  s first mistake  but hey those period costumes are expensive and this is a sci  fi channel movie  . the first sightings we get of the anubis monster are well done and it  s a costume that they put some effort into and not the usual cheesy cg effect . then the body counts starts . this is were the movie went south for me . the reactions to the fact that people are dying in gruesome and strange ways gets a strangely subdued reaction . once they realize that the ancient evil has again been unleashed and is on a killing spree what do the stock issue leading man and lady do  they make the usual stop to the  guy who knows the truth but never told anyone  . after getting that vital information do they share it with the comrades at the dig site  no  they stop off at a hotel for a refreshing shower and some pleasant small talk . really i  m not the most motivated person but if i knew a demon from ancient egypt was on the loose and killing everyone in sight and would be coming after me i  d put a little hustle in my step to solve the problem . after this overlong and pointless middle section they get around to destroying the anubis monster in the usual way  by racing around in dune buggies and shooting it with a rocket launcher while it  s standing by a pile of phosphorous grenades . for a sci  fi movie it was above the usual crap they put out  which isn  t saying much at all . what disappoints me is this could have been a lot more if someone had wrote a decent script for it .  
i really like this movie . i can watch it on a regular basis and not tire of it . i suppose that is one of my criteria for a great movie .  br    br   the story is very interesting . it introduces us to  characters each has a unique kung fu style that is very secret and very deadly . each of these characters are trained by the same master but their identities are kept secret from each other . the dying master sends the  th venom  his last student  to attempt to make right the wrongs that he suspects some of his students have committed .  br    br   how will the last pupil find the other venoms  how will he know which of them is bad  the way these questions are answered is part of what makes this movie great .  br    br   we also get to see the venoms fight each other in every combination . it is fun to see how their styles match up against each other .  br    br   if you want to see if you like kung fu movies  this is a good movie to start with . it doesn  t get any better than this .  
i  m at this very moment debating whether i should even finish watching this  poppycock  of a movie . they had a pretty interesting idea  with the buried movie set  and that was it . so far this incomprehensible mess has no real story . there is the buried set  some wolf headed monster running amok  an amulet  and a bunch of bad actors attacked by the wolf masked whatever it is . what i would have missed  had i had the good sense to eject this nonsense is a dune buggy chase  some really bad c . g . i .  some incredibly stupid dialog  more bad c . g . i .  and the hero fighting paper cut outs . other than the original idea  this film has absolutely zero redeeming qualities . my mistake for continuing to watch .  merk  
if you love kung  fu films and you haven  t seen this movie  you are cheating yourself . this movie is one of the only kung  fu cheapies that could be recommended for fans of all types of film . normally  it takes a die  hard fan of the genre to see anything in these films  but this one has it all  the story is well told  and complete . the fight scenes are great  and tend to end before you  re completely bored with them  unlike crouching tiger  . throw in a little mystery and torture and you  ve got yourself one heck of a movie . see this one at all costs . heck  my wife even enjoyed it .  br    br   wu du it   br    br    out of    br    br    
while the idea is more original than most sci  fi movies  the execution is  as usual lacking . while the practical mummy effects are not bad  and the  gun nut  character is over the top giggle inducing  the only real draw is to see morena baccarin and adam baldwin reunited on the small screen . i suspect that was the idea all along . they do the best they can with what they have but the  must see  moments for me were in the first   minutes or so when morena  s character sported some tomb raider style shorts . not high brow cinema i know but you can  t deny true beauty when you see it    and adam baldwin once again hams it up as the guy you love to hate . if you just want to watch a couple of your favorite firefly characters have a good time with some sub par material then this might be for you . if you want good acting and character development then be advised to look elsewhere .  
this is one of my favourite kung  fu films and is regarded as one the most popular shaw brothers from the late    s . the plot is interesting and twisty  the characters are cool each with their own style  toad  snake  lizard etc . the action is limited in comparison with other chang cheh  venoms films but what is there is interesting with different kung  fu styles on display from the various characters . i recommend this film to those who think all shaw brothers especially chang cheh  s films are the same  most of his films usually focus on the   tigers and shaolin vs manchu conflicts . this film is breath of fresh air in comparison .  
reviews for this film were lukewarm at best while expectations were sky high a big budget  tons of popular faces  a rather funny idea and a main actress everyone loves . the end result is a disaster . alice tremblay  s supposedly humorous journey in fantasy world fails in every way to entertain it  s audience  i didn  t hear a single laugh throughout the entire presentation   going through it  s page  thin story line and one  dimensional characters without a single spark  not a sign of the magic it wished it had . the   minutes of film here are sterile with clumsy direction and some good actors doing their best to come of as professionals in a feature that certainly couldn  t seem that great an idea on the set  let alone on paper .  l  odysse d  alice tremblay  is a collage of comic sketches  linked together with a  very  thin layer of good ideas . avoid or boredom will haunt you .  
a dying kung fu master sends out his last student in order to track down what happened to the previous five students who were members of the banned poison clan . he is to see if they are acting for good and if not he his to stop them the master also wants the student to find another member of the clan who ran off with the clans money which the master wants used for good . the earlier students were all taught in a different style snake  centipede  scorpion  lizard  toad  while the last student was taught a little in each style . all of the students end up in one town looking for the old man with all of the money  and soon everyone is battling to get the money .  br    br   classic martial arts film has title that even many non  fans know . i  ve spoken with a couple of casual fans and this seems to be the one film that sticks in their head . its a very good movie  though i  m not really sure why this film stays with people when for my money there are other films that are better from the shaw studio  one armed swordmen or the brave archer series for example  . this isn  t to sell the film short  its not  since the film is structured like a mystery  our hero has no clue who anyone is and the venoms themselves only know at best who two of the others is . we  re given the identity of four but we still have to work out who the fifth really is . the film is also odd in that for a martial arts film  other than a training sequence at the start and the killing of the old man and his family for the money  there is really no action for about   or   minutes . its a bold move to do it but it pays off since the plot and the performances hold your attention .  the film is also odd in that its the first martial arts film i think i  ve ever seen where there are no women . i don  t think one has a speaking role and i  m pretty sure that none appear in the background . its indicative of nothing  its just something that struck me .  this is a good solid little film that may not live up to the reputation it has in some circles  but is still a really good film to curl up with on your couch .  br    br   around  out of   .  
just saw this movie  and what a waste of time . the movie was predictable and slow . it  s basically the mormon bad news bears that play church sanctioned basketball . rather than watching this movie  i should have had a root canal . the cameo performances were obviously driven by sponsorship  funding . this movie had potential due to the outrageous behavior that is exhibited by mormons when they play church sanctioned basketball  however because it  s rated pg  the true nature of the spectacle could not be transfered to film . the acting is horrible with the exception of clint howard and fred willard . thurl bailey  s appearance in the film was completely unnecessary .  
one of the more enjoyable aspects of asian cinema  or  indeed  most anything done outside these holier  than  thou united states  are the permutations that crop up . in post  world war two japanese manga  comics   for instance  are to be found a veritable endless variety of subjects  many of them handled in uniquely imaginative fashion . the same thing happens in genre film  making  as well though  again  i  m referring to movies made outside the u .  .  where we  re just too  sophisticated  in our close  mindedness to appreciate anything that isn  t about or by us  . would an american company  for instance  back not one but a series of movies featuring a masked professional wrestler  el santo  or a werewolf  paul naschy  or a real  life martial artist  bruce lee  . . .  as for television forget it . while i still love the kung fu series that starred the late david carradine  i  ve always felt that the americanized version of asian martial arts was  how to put it kindly  a bit lacking . to this very day  there hasn  t been a pay  per  view channel to feature asian martial artists playing asian martial artists in asia .  there are lots of soft  core porn masquerading as entertainment shows  but the so  called action channel  for instance  has yet to import or to produce a true martial arts teleseries .  before brother cadfile was investigating murders on the bbc  there was  of all things  at least one kung fu movie that featured a group of martial artists more or less involved in a murder mystery the  deadly venoms . in its own right as fascinating as any other genre  based whodunit  western  cop show  etc .   this martial arts masterpiece stands out as a truly superior piece of work . it  s now available from dragon dynasty and the print is beautiful and the dvd commentary by bey logan is exactly the kind of intelligent  thoughtful analysis these gems truly deserve . if you  re a martial arts movie fan  rejoice one of the greatest movie genres of all time  specifically  the martial arts movies of the     s and early     s  are getting a long  overdue second life  and greatly appreciated second look  on dvd .  
this movie was the beatliest mormon movie made yet . it made the rm  sons of provo look like well done films  it was supposed to be funny from what i was told . the best part was the best actor in the movie  travis eberhard  if he wasn  t in the movie it probably wouldn  t have been made  he ruled   br    br     . it wasn  t funny  . it was beat  . it had thurl big t bailey  who  s character made no sense  . it was made in provo  . it didn  t make fun of brokeback  . it had larry h . miller in it  . it was the  st movie clint howard wasn  t funny in  . gary coleman chose the perfect movie  a comeback  . they should have cast at surreal life auditions  . it was made by halestorm entertainment    
by the late forties the era of the screwball comedy was over  as films were moving in a different direction  comedically and otherwise . with television looming on the horizon  hollywood would soon be in for a very rough time . where  one wonders  would movies have gone had television not come along  or its arrival on the scene been delayed by five or ten years  mr . blandings builds his dream house offers one particular way comedy might have developed .  br    br   ad man jim blandings  along with his wife and two daughters  are living in a nice but way too cramped new york city apartment  as one day he gets the bright idea that it might be fun to realize his dream of building a house in the suburbs . so he buys some property in connecticut and has one built to his precise specifications . well  almost . had he known the trouble he was in for he might have changed his mind . then again he might not have . you decide . on this frail premise a wonderful film results  full of conflict between the middle class dream of owning one  s own home and the the oftentimes unpleasant reality of acquiring one . nothing comes easy in this life  as mr . blandings learns but one needn  t be miserable just because things don  t always go one  s way . there is  after all  the long run . but  blandings asks himself every few minutes  how long is long   br    br   this movie is a delight . it is not  i suppose  a masterpiece in the capra  mccarey tradition  but it is a worthy successor to their thirties pictures  and may well have been a harbinger of things to come had the arrival of television not changed the cultural landscape so radically . there is real warmth in the picture  and a good deal of  w . c .  fieldsian hard  edged reality obtruding periodically  but not so much as to leave a bad taste . the people in the film are all very smart and affluent  but decidedly of the professional upper middle not the idle rich upper class .  br    br   lead players cary grant and myrna loy plays mr . and mrs . blandings to perfection while melvyn douglas is fine as their pragmatic lawyer friend  who often has to bring up unpleasant topics  such as how the real world works . there is  too  a wonderful sense of what for want of a better term one might call the romance of suburbia  which was in its infancy in the immediate postwar years  as one sees the woods and streams that drew people to the country in the first place . these people are most definitely fish out of water in the then still largely rural connecticut . in a few short years things would change  as the mad rush to suburbia would be in full gear  destroying forever the pastoral innocence so many had yearned for in the small towns  which soon would be connected by highways  littered with bottles and cans  their effluvia rivaling anything one would encounter in the city .  
well  i suppose the good news concerning william winckler  s     opus   the double  d avenger   is that it manages to unite three of russ meyer  s mammarian marvels   kitten natividad  haji and raven de la croix   in one picture .  i can only assume that lorna maitland  tura satana and babette bardot were busy the week they shot this thing . . . or else managed to see a copy of the script in advance   the bad news  though  and there  s plenty of it   is that this film   if it can even be called that  having been shot straight to video   is a complete misfire  a total abortion  an out  and  out atrocity  an absolute abomination  and truly one of the worst pictures that i have ever seen . look no further for the lamest superhero movie ever made  the plot here  such as it is  deals with kitten gaining superpowers after fellating the rare cockazilla plant in south america to cure her breast cancer  oy   and later battling a trio of megalunged bikini dancers back in l . a . too bad that every lame boob joke trotted out falls completely  you should pardon the expression  flat  that there is zero actual nudity in the film at all  other than some old photos of kitten in her heyday   and that some shaving cream and a papier  mache boulder are the sum total of the special fx . the meyer gals here are a bit long in the tooth  saggy in the chest  to put it kindly  although sheri dawn thomas  as bikini girl ooga boobies     does manage to  uh  stand out nicely . so why have i given this juvenile  unfunny  failed embarrassment of a movie  stars instead of   to be succinct joe bob briggs . his voice  over commentary in the special features of the dvd i just watched is absolutely hilarious  especially when he pulls out around    synonyms for the word  breast  from the       on his web site  s  canonical hooters list .  the man is a national treasure  and he manages to upgrade this skeet of a disc to coaster status   
  in the world of old  school kung fu movies  where revenge pictures came a dime a dozen  it took a lot for a film to stand out   and even more to make it a fan favorite after all these years . what is arguably chang cheh  s finest movie continues to hold influence over the hong kong movie industry  from the themes of loyalty  brotherhood and revenge as explored by john woo  who got his start in the hk movie industry working for chang  during the heyday of heroic bloodshed during the late      s  to more modern movies like a man called hero  which sports a character in a costume inspired by this film . the influence has also carried into other areas as well  from music such as the wu  tang clan  tv commercials for sprite and video games such as  mortal kombat .  so what makes this movie so special  the plot   on the surface   is pretty simple . it deals with members of a rogue group known as the  poison clan  who are searching for a treasure hidden by their sifu . all of the members of the clan have extraordinary kung fu abilities  denoted by their animal styles  or  venoms   the lizard can climb walls  the scorpion has a deadly strike  etc .  . the twist is that since the clan always wears masks  not all of them known who the others are . thus a simple plot becomes almost a suspense thriller . we  re not talking the usual suspects here  but it  s far above many other kung fu movies of the time . supposedly  golden harvest was not too happy with chang  s script   like most of his movies  they felt it was too dark and violent   and they actually wanted him to add broad comic relief to it . thankfully  chang stuck to his guns and stayed with his original script  which has since has become revered as one of the best for the films of its time  if not ever  completing an almost perfect dramatic arc and providing the perfect backbone for the extraordinary action sequences .  br    br   but what really solidifies the movie are the venoms themselves . chang cheh hit upon a magical formula with the cast   not only did he gain talented martial artists  whose moves  competed without the aid of wires or other special effects  put most modern martial artists to shame  but great actors as well . the formula proved so popular that chang usually had one or more of the venoms in his later movies . getting back to matters at hand  in most old  school movies  the actors seem to playing out cardboard cutouts  but here the actors actually create characters . it seems that everyone has a favorite venom  mine is philip kwok   best known to many as mad dog from hard  boiled   as lizard  and it is this personal connection to the characters that the five deadly venoms generates which makes it a true classic of the genre . even if you  re normally not a fan of old  school movies  you need to check the five deadly venoms out  if for nothing else to see where modern movies got their inspiration from .   
this movie is a total dog . i found myself straining to find anything to laugh at just so i wouldn  t feel like i  d totally wasted my money   and my time . the writing in this film is absolutely terrible . it  s a shame it  s not up to the standards of other hale storm movies .  br    br   they should have saved the money on getting d  list actors like fred willard and gary coleman and spent the money working the script until it was right . even gary coleman wasn  t properly utilized for his role .  br    br   this movie leaves you wondering what the point of most of the plot was   including the subplots . after viewing this movie  i  m left with the impression that the producers were hoping to capture some kind of napolean dynamite  like humor  where it  s not so much the lines as the character and the delivery . unfortunately  this movie fails to deliver the lines  the characters  the delivery or the humor . i should have gone to the dentist instead   
there  s no romance or other side plot to this movie  it  s action and intrigue all the way  making it a real man  s kung  fu movie .  br    br   an aging master dispatches his last disciple yan tieh to stop his five former pupils who  s styles represents five venomous animals centipede  snake  scorpion  lizard and the toad . despite the word  venom  in the title  none of these pupil uses venoms to kill their opponents . yan tieh told by his teacher that he  s no match for the five former pupil  must find one he can form an alliance with to defeat the other four . how yan tieh and the others find each other is the intrigue to the story  with good kung  fu action spread out throughout the story .  br    br   recognized as a cult classic  this movie has already established itself in the annals of kung  fu action movies . it  s known well enough that other movies make reference to the five styles depicted in this story .  br    br   it  s no artistic masterpiece  with the usual bad dubbing  and corny acting  but the movie is one of the best of its kind  because its so focused on the all the ingredients of kung  fu action movie of its time  and gives an extra concentrated dose of them .  br    br   one movie you must watch if you are a kung  fu movie fan .  
i went to see this film with fairly low expectations  figuring it would be a nice piece of fluff . sadly  it wasn  t even that . i could barely sit through the film without wanting to walk out . i went with my two kids  ages   and    and even they kept asking   how much longer   after lasting until the end  i just kept wondering who would approve this script . even the reliable fred willard couldn  t save the trite dialogue  the state jokes  and the banal plot . i  d suggest that whoever wrote and directed this movie  i use the term loosely  should take an online screen writing class or drop by their local community college for a film class . at the least  there are many books on directing  screen writing  and producing movies that would teach them something about structure  plot  dialogue and pacing .  
of all the kung  fu films made through the    s and    s this is one that has developed a real cult following . with the exception of all the films bruce lee starred in this is a film that has stood the test of time and its due to the unique story . an aging kung  fu master tells his last pupil yang tieh  sheng chiang  about five pupils he has trained in the past . all five wore masks and nobody has seen the face of each other and they have all been trained differently . their specialty in kung  fu is the name they have adopted like lizard  snake  centipede  toad and scorpion . the master called them the poison clan and he does not know what has happened to them so he wants tieh to find them and help the ones that are doing good to stop the others that are evil . an old man who was once a member of the poison clan has a map to where he has hidden a lot of money and he seems to be a target . tieh does not know what they look like so he has to mingle in society and try and figure out who they are . tieh has discovered that the snake is hung wen tung  pai wei  and along with tang sen kue  feng lu  who is the centipede they kill a family to find the map . a map is found by a mystery man who turns out to be the scorpion but know one knows who he is . a local policeman named ho yung sin  philip kwok  investigates the murders along with his partner ma chow  chien sun  . sin has a friend called li ho  meng lo  who is the toad and they do know of each others identity . the snake bribes the local officials to pin the murders on li ho and while he is in prison he is tortured and killed . when sin finds out he teams up with tieh and together they go to combat tung and kue .  br    br   this film was directed by cheh chang and he was a very special director when it came to these films . chang was not your run of the mill kung  fu director and his films always had a special quality to them . while most martial arts films deal with revenge chang did not use that as a central theme . even though there is some revenge going on later in this story this film is more complex than that . five men trained by the same master in different ways and wearing masks . then they are all in the same area and not knowing who the other is . very unique story makes this film different from all the others and most of changs stories were in a class all by themselves . i wouldn  t exactly put it in the same league as  enter the dragon  because bruce lee was a worldwide icon and the martial arts he exhibited were more authentic looking . this film still has some impossible feats like clinging to sides of walls and all the flipping through the air but this film isn  t necessarily about fight scenes . its more about the intrigue of the story and the characters that are involved . that alone makes this different from all the other kung  fu films . very well made with a unique story .  
the really sad thing is that this was supposedly the highest budget  halestorm entertainment  has had to work with . all involved should be fined for littering since all the celluloid they wasted is good for nothing more than filling the trash . not only is the writing atrocious and the jokes awful  but the camera work and film quality are amateur at best . the soundtrack sounds like it was created on some guys laptop pc . the worst part of all is that i actually sat through the whole thing . i think just because i couldn  t believe that i had actually paid to buy a ticket and that the theater i was watching it in had actually agreed to show the  film  .  
be careful with this one . once you get yer mitts on it  it  ll change the way you look at kung  fu flicks . you will be yearning a plot from all of the kung  fu films now  you will be wanting character depth and development  you will be craving mystery and unpredictability  you will demand dynamic camera work and incredible backdrops . sadly  you won  t find all of these aspects together in one kung  fu movie  except for five deadly venoms   br    br   easily the best kung  fu movie of all  time  venoms blends a rich plot  full of twists and turns  with colourful  and developed  characters  along with some of the best camerawork to come out of the   s . the success of someone liking the film depends on the viewers ability to decipher which character is which  and who specializes in what venom . one is the centipede  two is the snake  three is the scorpion  four is the lizard  and five is the toad . each character has different traits  characteristics  strengths  and weaknesses . therein lies the hook  we learn along with the student character  finding out who these different men turn out to be . we are in his shoes  so to speak   and we have to pick who we trust  and who we don  t  just like he does . we learn along with him .  br    br   not only is the plot  the characters  and the camerawork great  it  s also fun to watch  which in my book makes it more valuable than almost any other movie of it  s kind . it  s worth quite a few watches to pick up on everything that  s going on . venoms is a lesson on what kung  fu can really do . . . just don  t expect many other kung  fu films to live up to it  s gauntlet .  
trot out every stereotype and misrepresentation you  ve heard about semi  devout mormons  and you  ll see they  ve all starred in this ridiculous excuse for a film . finally kurt hale  s fortunes have changed  thank goodness  and hopefully it will be a long while before we see any of his features in theaters .  br    br   the cinematography was amateurish  i think they used a camcorder for some of the basketball scenes  . the plot was limp and very unfunny . you really didn  t understand why anyone did anything . it was like i had sand in my eyes  and a     pound lady was sitting on my face  it was that painful .  br    br   the only reason i didn  t give this movie a negative rating was because the scale won  t let me .  
after reviewing this intense martial arts movie for the first time in nearly   years  i must say it did not lose any of its mysticism  nor any of its eye  popping martial arts action as i had remembered from my youth . the story of a dying martial arts instructor sending his  unfinished  pupil out to find the  past members of his poison clan  so they do not seek out a fortune which the master  s friend keeps hidden . afraid that his last pupil did not have enough training  he instructs him to befriend one of the five  venoms  so as to defeat the other four .  br    br   i can  t say enough about the choreography or the camera work . a fine film in its own right and quite possible one of the best martial arts movies ever made . a classic    
first of all  let me say the i am lds or rather  i am a mormon . so when i watched this film  i automatically gave it the benefit of the doubt . i can usually find something redeeming in every movie i watch . and this one was no exception . it does have its redeeming moments . but they are few and far between .  br    br   one of the first things i noticed that bothered me very greatly was that it seemed as though halestorm was ashamed of our church  in the lds church  congregations are called  wards  and the basketball court is in the  cultural hall  . never once are either of these two names mentioned . the church is never referred to by name and  the standards  is as far as it goes in mentioning what our church believes .  br    br   it makes me wonder if the directors are really lds or lds wannabes  this film had so much potential  it could have really shown our church in a positive light and helped the public to see not only what we have to offer  but also what we believe . instead it was only mildly entertaining and left much to be desired . if i were not already lds  i  d be left thinking mormons are stupid  idiotic and ashamed of their beliefs .  br    br   it is not a film i will recommend to my nonlds friends .  br    br   sorry halestorm . you can do better than this   
well  i must say that this was one hell of a fun movie . despite the fact that the dubbing was pretty cheesy  and there were some odd moments where the film seemed to turn dark blue for no apparent reason  i was not disappointed . the story was actually pretty interesting the last member of the poison clan must track down the other five members and discover who among them is using their skills for evil  and who is using them for good . the catch being that during training  all of the clan were masked  and all have since returned to society in disguise and changed their names .  br    br   the fights are a joy to watch  as each member of the poison clan has a different fighting style toad  my favorite   snake  scorpion  lizard  and centipede . the fight scenes have the actors jumping all over the place  and thankfully the camera stays planted and uses a wide enough shot so you can clearly see all of the action .  br    br   the one drawback to the movie is that the story tends to drag a bit in the first half up until the first fight sequence . but stick with it  and you won  t be disappointed   
i  ve never been a huge fan of mormon films . being a mormon  i  ve always felt that the humor was too exclusive to the lds community and made us seem like a bunch of obsessive wackos . i was hoping this would be the breath of fresh air  the halestorm movie i could finally discuss with my non  mormon friends .  br    br   boy  was i wrong .  br    br   i figured  since this had b  list talent like clint howard  gary coleman  andrew wilson  and fred willard  one of my favorites   this would have to be at least a little funny . and besides  church basketball is ripe with potential for plenty of hilarious gags and such . but i must say  throughout the entire movie  it seemed as though no one knew what they were doing . every joke fell flat  and every opportunity for a genuinely funny gag went ignored . the dialogue was bland  and the film had some of the worst character development i have ever seen . every single character but wilson  s was less than one  dimensional . it  s hard to believe that after nine re  writes the film was still as mind  numbingly stale as the train wreck i witnessed . i can  t put into words the rage i felt sitting through this . my friends and i were extras in the final game scene  so we went to the premiere in washington city  ut . kurt hale  the director  was there  and i must say  i avoided all contact with him after the show . he waited at the door  seemingly ready for feedback . i couldn  t bring myself to tell him that his film not only ripped away a good hour and a half of my life  but it left a nasty  painful scar that i will never forget .  br    br   here are a few specific problems i had there was a minor love story subplot between the janitor and the chubby piano player  but these two characters came out of nowhere  and were impossible to care about  so my friends and i were left constantly wondering why we were supposed to care about these two lame  uninteresting characters . there were many subplots that popped up every now and then  each promising the audience the chance for laughs  but each one came and went in a puff of smoke  ending before you could even start caring . this was pretty much how the whole movie felt .  br    br   this film was a major letdown  and i feel bad for everyone who  s expecting the first real funny mormon movie . true  the jokes in this one aren  t too exclusive to mormons . then again  it  s hard to tell what was a joke and what was a loud ringing sensation in my ears .  br    br   please  do not see this movie . keep in your mind the fantasy that this movie is hilarious . spare yourself the disappointment i went through  
most   s  and   s  kong kong martial arts films barely function as movies usually there are a few well  planned fight sequences  but the plot is scraped pretty thin to fill in the gaps between those nodes   like porno films  really .  br    br   but this one does several things well . most overtly  there is the direction and choreography  which confines each combatant to a  style    it  s really based on chinese circus acrobatics and comedic theater  but the effect works .  br    br   second  there is the language of the camera  which uses some impressive techniques  even by today  s measure   changing projection speeds from real time time to slow motion  and from unfiltered to filtered views to depict story direction toward the past or toward the future .  br    br   least overt  but most powerful and unexpected  is the construction . the winner of this contest is determined by who  unfolds  the story . the master  the writer  sets up a game where the lead character doesn  t know who he  s seeking  which is the same situation we viewers find ourselves in . one by one  he figures out who is who  at the same rate we find out who is who . it all follows a tragedy  noir arc . the ending tends toward irony  a la  the sting  . much more clever stuff than what we usually get out of this genre .  br    br   the  five venoms  idea is the template for tarantino  s  deadly viper assassins  from the  kill bill  volumes .  
i wanted to like this film  i really did . it  s got some good actors but ultimately it falls flat . it tries too hard to be funny in some places  the daughters over zealous cooking attempts   over reaches in others  the scene where they clean up someone  s yard  so he agrees to join the team  and has some scenes that  while mildly interesting  are really just filler  all the work scene  s  . and i didn  t find the  villians  intimidating  or worth hating  so much as i found them to be childishly annoying .  br    br   i  ve met people like those in the film while playing church ball . and i will say the referee  s are spot on  still  in the end  i really didn  t care all that much about the characters  or their quest for church ball glory . maybe because they were all so one dimensional  which i might not have minded so much if the film were funnier or seemed to flow a little more smoothly overall .  br    br   kurt hale  and halestorm entertainment  has made some good films  but this is not one of them .  
for all the hoopla  respect and recognition this film gets from kung fu historians  it still lacks glaringly in a couple critical areas action and fight scenes . but i must say that the plot is probably the best and most original i  ve ever seen in a martial arts film . five deadly venoms without a doubt is a must see  not only that  a movie you can watch again and again but i also must say that after watching it you feel it could have been even better . it somehow leaves you wanting something  you want more . the producer chang cheh sets up the storyline beautifully for a potential masterpeice but doesn  t follow through with giving us more of the action we want . the fighting styles in the movie really captures the viewer  centipede  snake  scorpion  lizard  toad  and they are shown  but battles are noticeably short . the toad and snake styles are particularly intriguing and should have been showcased much  much more  in fact the toad is killed off by the middle of the movie . interestingly enough with this movie  the absence of constant action or fighting leads to development of a great plot  this is one of the few kung fu films where you are really interested in the storyline and care about the outcome . this movie has a dark and vicious tone to it and you are drawn into the vibe . sinister weapons and torture tactics are used throughout the movie and adds to the movies feel . to start off the movie and to introduce the poison clan producer chang cheh takes us to a grimy dungeon . the ending fight scenes are certainly good but seem muffled and somehow you expected more . still though this movie is one of shaw brothers best and is quite enjoyable . my overall impression of the movie would conclude with this the styles the fighters used are merely shown to us and not showcased in detail  sad thing is  the director had the goods for something extraordinary right at his fingertips and didn  t expand on it . i am left wondering what could have been with this movie  still one of the best though .  out of   on the scale .  
every once in a long while a movie will come along that will be so awful that i feel compelled to warn people . if i labor all my days and i can save but one soul from watching this movie  how great will be my joy .  br    br   where to begin my discussion of pain . for starters  there was a musical montage every five minutes . there was no character development . every character was a stereotype . we had swearing guy  fat guy who eats donuts  goofy foreign guy  etc . the script felt as if it were being written as the movie was being shot . the production value was so incredibly low that it felt like i was watching a junior high video presentation . have the directors  producers  etc . ever even seen a movie before  halestorm is getting worse and worse with every new entry . the concept for this movie sounded so funny . how could you go wrong with gary coleman and a handful of somewhat legitimate actors . but trust me when i say this  things went wrong  very wrong .  
seldom do i ever encounter a film so completely fulfilling that i must speak about it immediately . this movie is definitely some of the finest entertainment available and it is highly authentic . i happened to see the dubbed version but i  m on my way right now to grab the dvd remaster with original chinese dialogue . still  the dubbing didn  t get in the way and sometimes provided some seriously funny humour  poison clan rocks the world      br    br   the story  telling stays true to chinese methods of intrigue  suspense  and inter  personal relationships . you can expect twists and turns as the identities of the  venoms are revealed and an expert pace .  br    br   the martial arts fight choreography is in a class of its own and must be seen to be believed . it  s like watching real animals fight each other  but construed from their own arcane martial arts forms . such level of skill amongst the cast is unsurpassed in modern day cinema .  br    br   the combination provides for a serious dose of old chinese culture and i recommend it solely on the basis of the film  s genuine intent to tell a martial arts story and the mastery of its execution . . . . of course  if you just want to see people pummel each other  along with crude forms of ancient chinese torture  be my guest   
i was not expecting much going in to this  but still came away disappointed . this was my least favorite halestorm production i have seen . i thought it was supposed to be a comedy  but i only snickered at  or  jokes . is it really a funny gag to see a fat guy eating donuts and falling down over and over  what was up with the janitor in heaven scene  fred willard has been hilarious with some of his christopher guest collaborations  but this did not work . they must have spent all the budget on getting  known  actors to appear in this because there was no lighting budget . it looked like it was filmed with a video camera and most scenes were very dark . does it really take that much film to show someone actually shoot and make a basket  as opposed to cutting away and editing a ball swishing through a basket  i try not to be too critical of low budget comedies  but if you want to see something funny go to a real church basketball game instead of this movie .  
the five deadly venoms is a great kung  fu action movie wrapped in a whodunnit mystery . there are all the usual telltale signs of a kung  fu flick great choreography  awful dubbing  different  styles  of fighting  and a wide range of greatly exaggerated  often cheesey human emotions . however the plot certainly is better than average . it  s interesting and holds your attention throughout the non  fight scenes . occasionally it  s even able to fire up the audience  such as when x character receives horrible injustice .  br    br   another thing i love about the five deadly venoms is the beautiful simplicity of the movie  s morals and themes . just about everyone gets what  s coming to them . the cowardly  greedy  and corrupt lose out . the bad guys  consumed by selfish greed are ultimately destroyed by their own treachery and backstabbing . the good guys use teamwork  planning  and integrity to overcome the odds and come out on top .  br    br   poison clan rocks   
this movie has some of the worst acting that i have ever seen  some scenes are original such as the nails coming through the floor . this nail trap catches these bad guys . the rest of the movie degrades as you go . i can  t believe that this movie is not even in the bottom    movies of all time . i also can  t believe that there are sequels  the next crap movie that i want to watch is r . o . t . o . r . could r . o . t . o . r really be much worse than this   br    br    
i always enjoy this movie when it shows up on tv .  br    br   the one scene that always stands out  for me that is  is the one with the myrna loy and the painters foreman  where she gives him very explicit instructions on the colours and as soon as she goes away he turns the his guys and says  did you get that  that  s yellow  blue  green and white   
kitten natividad  of russ meyer film fame  plays chastity knott  a woman who has found she has breast cancer  so she goes to south america to get some special fruit  crockazilla   that is supposed to have healing powers . after going down on some of this fruit  which appears to be plastic bananas on stalks  chastity is endowed with some mystical magical powers that makes her a super  hero  specifically  the double d avenger . note that she  s also wearing a pair of panties as a mask . in writing  that all sounds pretty good . in execution  well  it leaves more than a little to be desired . it seems that chastity owns a pub and a local strip joint is upset because she  s taking away their business so some of the strippers  including haji  also of russ meyer film fame  go after her to ruin her . of course  chastity fights back in the guise of the double d avenger . watch her do a  wonder woman  type spin to change into her outfit and also lose her balance due to excessive centrifugal force . bad jokes and lame double entendres fly like there was no tomorrow . with the inane theme song playing over and over this comes off like a twisted    s  live action  kid  s show with adult content  although while this is unrated it could probably get away with pg    at the worst . and it  s probably a blessing that the faded stars kept well covered . this makes doris wishman  s chesty morgan films look positively wonderful in comparison . special appearance by forest j . ackerman but so what . very stupid  and i  m never buying another film with joe bob briggs on the cover .  out of   .  
this is definitely one of the best kung fu movies ever  and may be one of the best movies ever . . . it  s got a great plot that functions like a puzzle  with lots of intrigue and suspense . this film is full of cat and mouse games and deceptions  with people hiding their identities and their natures . the characters in this film live and breath much more than your average kung fu movie characters . they are all interesting and compelling and the movie does a good job at giving them scenes to show their personality  s and desires .  br    br   the fight scenes play out like little stories and many of them are very original and exciting . it has cool training sequences and martial arts skills that are so awesome they enter the realm of fantasy . there are  members of the poison clan each one with his own style that mimics the special skill of a venomous animal . the styles of each of these characters are fun to watch and you can see the techniques they use in training applied during the film . . . when this happens  the director uses quick cutting back to the training scene to draw a parallel . these cuts are accompanied by music changes and sound effects and the whole thing really works nicely .  br    br   one thing about this movie that is very original is the way it treats death . the director chang cheh was obviously very concerned that the film not trivialize death . this makes some of the scenes in the movie much more effective . we actually care when people are killed in this film . this is because the camera lingers on the horror of death even when the bad guys are killed . some of the sequences in this movie are truly gut wrenching . when characters go in search of vengeance you really feel their anger and pain .  br    br   at the same time  this is also a fun movie . it has all the typical things you expect from a traditional kung fu film . there is bad dubbing  the characters are willing to fight at the drop of a hat . some of the sound effects are hilarious and at times the behavior of the characters is incredibly unrealistic . . . all this just adds to the greatness of the film .  br    br   and lets not forget that this director was a visual stylist much more gifted than most of his contemporaries . if you watch this movie closely you will notice that the technical prowess on display is virtuostic . everything goes by so fast  because of the quick cutting style and the rapid camera movements of the genre  that it is easy to overlook how beautiful the movie really is . the lighting and composition are spectacular at times . the camera work and movement is extremely sophisticated along with very interesting fast paced editing . . . in the scenes that portray suspense and intrigue for example  imagine hitchcock moving at about twice the speed . chang cheh was truly a master craftsman and artist who knew his genre and was able to produce important material while working within it  s confines . he doesn  t rattle the boat of the kung fu genre film  but in a subtle way his skills permeate every scene and every shot and they add greatly to the quality of the work . he is an important filmmaker who continues to influence many people .  br    br   this is the real package a kung fu movie that delivers on every level . it  s art  it  s trash  it  s emotionally moving  and it  s fun  it has a true sense of morality  but doesn  t allow that morality to get in the way of delivering good action . i recommend it to everybody whether you are a fan of this genre or not .  
first  let  s all agree that lorenzo lamas could never be considered a skilled actor  barely even decent  sometimes just plain lousy . however  in this piece of    called snakeeater  the film industry as a whole sank .  br    br   first  let  s start with the plot . a vietnam vet named jack kelly  aka soldier  who is supposed to be as tough as a strap of leather and then some  which you can believe when he shoves a palate of nails through  guys  feet and pins them to the floor   gets word that his family has been killed and his sister kidnapped . therefore he goes on a solo mission to save his sister . had some potential  but still pretty thin to begin with .  br    br   now  the acting . being an actor myself  i am qualified to say that this was some of the worst acting in the history of the art      lamas is  well  himself . the jackasses playing the clampets  deliverance rejects should be strung up and shot for their so  called performances which are insulting to actors everywhere  especially talented ones who never get their big break   br    br   finally  the action . the gunfighting is so  so at best  and the fist  fighting is deplorable . i  ve seen more real  looking fights at the renaissance festival  and those were pretty fake  looking    br    br   readers  listen to me avoid this piece of caca at all costs  if it were the only film in existence  you still would want to avoid it  for the sake of your brain  cell count  do not watch this thing   
the thought of sarah silverman having her own show worried me at first . the films she has appeared in were not very funny and her humor is a bit off . however  i was very surprised to see her true colors shine in this comedy central gem . i could possibly put her on par with the likes of amy sedaris in strangers with candy   sarah  s character is a true sociopath  very comparable to sedaris  jerri blank .  br    br   the one downfall of this show is its supporting cast . her sister  s character is good funny at times  but ultimately meant not to steal sarah  s show . however  the rest of the cast is extremely sub  par in comparison .  br    br   i  m glad  though  that comedy central has given sarah a chance to show her unique and crazy sense of self and humor .  
wow what can i say . i like shity movies and i go out of my way to watch a corny action flick  but snake eater i would have rather had a nail driven into my pee hole while my grandma gave me a lap dance . lorenzo lamas  pfft more like lorenzo lameass this guy has as much acting ability as bill clinton has self control . it has all the goods to make a really bad movie even worse . crazed hillbilles yep  needless tit shot  with a real weird scar  yep  crappy soundtrack yep  i wish i could give the movie    stars but  is as low as it goes . seriously i think someone was playing a joke on me when i saw this it cant be real . . . . . . the worse thing there is  more snake eater movies  . . . . . . guess its in demand .  
i would give this show a ten out of ten if it was not for the fart jokes . you people are so damn sensitive it is inane  so quick to point out the  racism  of the show and the jokes  yet are also so quick to say ridiculously sexist  pig  headed crap like  well  duh  some of these other shows do these jokes so much better because at least they have hot women .  so disgusting . abortion jokes are great because  really  who takes abortion seriously anyways  at least i  m not aboreson . i hear that reba mcentire and sarah silverman are teaming up to do a movie about sisters taking a road trip together . talk about a movie of the year   
lorenzo lamas stars as jack solider kelly an ex  vietnam vet and a renegade cop who goes on a search and destroy mission to save his sister from backwoods rednecks . atrocious movie is so cheaply made and so bad that ron palillo is third billed  and yet has  minutes of screen time  and even those aren  t any good . overall a terrible movie  but the scenes with lorenzo lamas and josie bell hanging from a tree bagged and gagged are worth a few  unintentional  laughs . followed by an improved sequel .  
i have to vote this   out of   in the rare chance that she happens to see this review  takes pity on me  whisks me to hollywood and involves me in her freaky  funny world . but in all seriousness  it was good . first episode is obviously finding it  s feet  but it  s got that silverman weirdness running all the way through it . it  s not a laugh out loud sort of comedy  but that  s good thing  too much has a laughter  track to it  and this wouldn  t be right with cues when to laugh  it  s to the audience to hear their inner jester laughing at the absurdness of it all . i can easily see this as being the bizarro drew carey show with it  s weird characters and incredibly strong central character . well worth a watch  look forward to the following episodes . a very good chance from the usual comedy out there .  br    br   ps  sarah  call me . . . .  
this is a really bad film  with bad acting and a very boring pace lorenzo lamas is really cool though  . all the characters are just annoying  except lamas   and there is absolutely no one to root or to care for   plus the action is very boring . the film gives us  villains who were supposed to find menacing and disturbing when in fact there boring  laughable and just a bunch of morons that i wanted to shut up   plus it looks very cheap and amateurish  . lorenzo lamas has a lot of charisma but he can  t save this piece of crap  and believe it or not the opening was really cool  as was the ending  however the middle is incredibly boring  and got me to have the urge to press the fast forward button   plus the dialog is especially laughable  . there is a cool bar scene that i really liked  but once lamas heads to the dock it all falls apart  plus the scene where the villains torture jennifer  s family  and kills them were supposed to find it disturbing when it in fact is laughable  . this is a really bad film  with bad acting and a very boring pace  lorenzo lamas is really cool though   however it is not enough  not recommended . the direction is very bad . george erschbamer does a very bad job here  with mediocre camera work  bland location  and keeping the film at a boring pace . the acting is pretty bad  except for lamas  . lorenzo lamas is awesome here  and while he isn  t required to act  he is quite fun to watch  and has a really cool character  and had a lot of charisma  however even he can  t save this one  and he had no chemistry with the cast either   lamas rules   . josie bell is terrible here  and while she  s decent looking  she isn  t very convincing and had no chemistry with lamas . cheryl jeans is hot  but does not have much to do but scream and scared  she did okay at that . robert scott is incredibly annoying as the main villain  and wasn  t menacing at all  he was laughable as were the other  . rest of the cast are bad . overall avoid  avoid   even if you do like lamas  like me  .  out of   
the sarah silverman program is . . . better than those other shows . no laugh tracks  no painful jokes  just a program . the sarah silverman program . if you  re like me  and you love comedy  this is probably a show for you .  br    br   sarah silverman brings out  there  funny  and right  here  funny to the table with ease . a mix of different styles  which makes for its own .  br    br   this program isn  t something you want to start a compare war with  seeing as how it has absolutely nothing to do with them  other shows  . this show is its own entity  and i think most comedy heads will like it just fine .  br    br   go watch and see .  
now  i  ve seen a lot of bad movies . i like bad movies . especially bad action movies . i  ve seen  and enjoyed  all of jean  claude van damme  s movies  including the one where he  s his own clone  both of the ones where he plays twins  and all three where he  s a cyborg . i actually own the one where he plays a fashion designer and has a fight in a truck full of durians .  hey  if nothing else  he  s got a great ass and you almost always get to see it . with dvd  you can even pause and zoom in   that  s why you can trust me when i say that this movie is so bad  it makes plan  look like citizen kane .  br    br   everything about snake eater is bad . the plot is bad . the script is bad . the sets are bad . the fights are bad . the stunts are bad . the fx are bad . the acting is spectacularly  earth  time  bendingly bad  very probably showcasing the worst performance of every so  called actor in the cast  including lorenzo lamas  and that  s really saying something . and i  d be willing to bet everyone involved with this movie is lousy in bed  to boot . especially lorenzo lamas .  br    br   it does manage to be unintentionally funny  so it  s not a total loss . however  i recommend that you watch this movie only if you are either a congenital idiot or very  very stoned . i was able to sit through it myself because i needed to watch something to distract me from rinsing cat urine out of my laundry .  br    br   it didn  t help much  but it was better than nothing . one point for ron palillo  s cameo as a gay arsonist .  
best show since seinfeld . she  s really really funny . her total self centeredness  the hulking gay stoner neighbors  the departures into song or cartoons  make this the freshest show on tv . one of the few shows i make point of watching . the scene with the wise old black lady in the drugstore   oh wait now that you  re close you do look old  turns face with finger and walks away lol   the cough syrup overdose  sleeping with god  it  s all so funny or so stupid it  s just a lot of fun . the shows weak points are her sister and the cop  only because they  re too darn normal   i really can  t wait until the next show  something i haven  t felt for any show in a long time .  
words can  t simply describe how awful this film is . i watched it on video last night  and i simply could not believe what i was seeing . basically   snakeeater  is about an ex  military man  lorenzo lamas  and his search for his kidnapped sister who has been held captive by deliverance  style rednecks . the film  s acting  writing  direction  photography  and editing are deplorable along with a song called  soldier  that has to be one of the worst theme songs of all time   br    br   however  there is one treat .  horshack   ron pallio  from  welcome back carter  is in the film playing a laughable bad guy . otherwise  please avoid this mess at all costs .  
don  t listen to the prissy critics who are probably bitter gamers still sore from the roasting silverman infamously gave them at spike tv video game awards a couple of months ago   the sarah silverman  is wonderfully bizarre  surreal  immature  ridiculous and would fit rather nicely in a adult swim line  up . if silverman tones down the juvenile  doody  jokes and emphasizes the darker  meaner undercurrent the show is so far just hinting at  we could have one of the greatest cult comedies since the cancelled  strangers with candy  . but just from watching the pilot  its just solid  not outstanding  offbeat dark comedy  musical but with huge potential .  br    br   silverman has created a hilarious child  woman of a character  a prettier  younger  jewish american princess version of the late great jerri blank and the show features one of the most unconventional  non  stereotypical portrayals of a gay couple i have ever seen on television . early reviews are suggesting the next couple of episodes surpass the pilot so i can  t wait to see how this show unfolds .  
  that  malcom  show on fox is really making a killing . . . can  t we do our own version   i speculate and paraphrase  of course  but in our hearts we all know it  s true  and that the only thing nbc added to the  malcom  metric was sex . and  boy  did they add sex . . .  br    br   thirteen  year  old tucker gets a boner and covers it up with his skateboard . tucker accidentally walks in on his aunt in the shower and she accuses him of watching her and beating off . he spies on the cute girl in the next house from his bedroom window  and she knows he wants to see her topless but she teases him by smiling and closing the window . and this is all in the pilot .  br    br   take it from a grown man  a boy  s puberty is so sex  crazy and testicle  driven it is impossible to make it funny for a mainstream audience . the only times anyone has ever come close has been in movies  and you can count those on one hand . so it  s no surprise that  tucker  has the warmth and appeal of a strip  club bathroom . did the network actually think we would like watching kids grapple with puberty  isn  t this the stuff people go to jail for  if you doubt the show  s depravity consider this   episodes were filmed but nbc canceled it after only  episodes aired they then made the unprecedented move of  burning off  the remaining episodes by airing them at midnight so no children could see them . ironic since kids were originally the target audience .  br    br   apart from its general scuzziness tucker features a running voice  over from the lead character to flesh out the shoddy writing . even in     it was horribly dated  with it  s ska incidental music and super  sarcasm . i couldn  t like any of the characters enough to laugh at the jokes and the jokes didn  t exactly come a mile  a  minute . . . shame on nbc for this dirty rip  off . . . they  re better than that .  br    br   grade c   
the sarah silverman program is very similar to sarah  s own stand up it  s so over the top with prejudice that you can  t possibly take it to heart . the fact is  though  that while most all people will  get it   it doesn  t mean they will all appreciate it . it  s a very polarizing and one dimensional show  so if you don  t like it after   minutes  you may as well give up there . if you do like it after   minutes  stay tuned  because every episode thus far has been as good as the last .  br    br   like all shows  though  it is not perfect . personally i love the program  but there are some huge faults with it . racist songs are funny  but get older a lot faster than silverman seems to realize   a problem that i had with  jesus is magic  as well . it seems as if silverman gave herself a quota for songs per episode that doesn  t need to exist . not to mention that while the lyrics to the songs she writes are good  the music  well  isn  t .  br    br   another thing to keep in mind is that while this show will for some reason appeal to fans of monty python  upright citizens brigade  etc .  it is nothing like those shows . i can watch monty python all day  but  as much as i like this show  i can  t watch more than the half hour limit at a time . it gets flat very fast . the repeat value for this show is low too   the second time around an episode is fairly funny  and by the third time  in my opinion  it  s boring .  br    br   still  that first time around is very  very funny . give it a shot .  
first of all  i became dissy after watching this movie for five minutes  cause of the bas screenplay  . i don  t think this movie has any purpose . it  s boring from the first minute to the last . i don  t understand why this movie scores so high . i gave it     but actually it  s not more wurth then     .  
following a sitcom plot is so mindlessly easy that having her character simultaneously operate both within and without the context the rest of the cast inhabit is the kind of experimentalism that sitcoms could really use . the supporting characters ground the show in a sitcom reality which provides a contextual counterpoint to sarah  s erratic persona which  beyond general insensitivity  has no specific recurring traits for behavioural expectations to be based on  making her less a character than a canvas to be repainted in every episode if not scene . sarah  s ability to see everything from an outside perspective enables her to parody aspects of social behaviour that are subtle enough to usually go unnoticed . every time she speaks it  s like a self  contained  second skit . she overemotes a lot  demonstrating the countless things a smile or change in vocal pitch can signify  but never sticks with one idea long enough for you to get comfortable and form expectations that will be satisfied . this may be the most creative  original and experimental tv program ever .  
what were they thinking at  cannes   one of the most irritating  films of all time . every detail of this film  no matter how meaningless was shown . if i had to watch her put on those boots one more time i think i would have shouted . if the point of this film was to show how pathetic a life rosetta had  then it was covered within the first fifteen minutes of the movie and then the credits should have been running . but no  we had to see countless redundant scenes over and over . the whole thing was filled with un  likeable and unsympathetic characters . they deserved the misery that was rosetta . and to think i passed up  tumbleweeds  to see this over  hyped film of boredom . it was like watching grass grow  only that is more exciting .  
first and foremost i would like to say that i  m a huge sarah silverman fan  and having other people say that and then rag on the pilot is beyond me . everything in the pilot was in typical sarah silverman form  maybe not directly funny  but the situation and the delivery are what counts .  br    br   if you liked jesus is magic then i don  t see how you wouldn  t like this . it has that same flow and that same rhythm . true it  s only for the true fans  but if you are you  ll be pleased .  br    br   again only for the true fans  there  s no way around that . if you  re not used to her style then you wouldn  t get why this is funny . however  it is  and i hope you think so too .  
i go to the cinema to be entertained . there is absolutely nothing entertaining about this film . from beginning to end  there is no respite from the gray  grinding reality of this woman  s life . it is one  paced  with no change of mood . i remained until the end only because i was convinced that things must get better . they don  t  and i don  t think i was the only one  as evidenced by the many groans ringing around the cinema as the film drew mercifully to a close . honestly depicting social depravation is no crime  but boring your audience to groans is not the way to win the sympathy of the public . a dreadful film .  
this is one of the few comedies i can watch again and again and still laugh out loud . in other places  i have read complaints about racism and sexism from sanctimonious  politically correct prigs . there is neither here  unless you define sexism as a woman as housewife and racism as a family employing a colored maid .  br    br   the lines are hilarious  and all the leads have never been better . melvin douglas is especially brilliant .  br    br   if you  ve ever thought of or tried to build a new house  you will be relieved to know that no matter how infuriating the process  no matter how much a lamb among wolves you may feel  you are not alone   
hard to describe this one   if you were a fan of russ meyer films back in the day  you will surely be pleased to see that haji is still looking really hot  though forry ackerman has not fared so well  what is he doing still making these movies anyway  if i go up to him with a camera will he be in my movie   . it was a pretty fun premise   a superhero whose giant mammaries are her secret weapon   but sometimes it did not pan out for the whole length  and the jokes were on a level with your average joe e . brown comedy  or  abbott and costello if that  s your thing    basically just bad puns . still  i found this movie fascinating to watch  and for more than  reasons . good job  but still a fundamentally flimsy production .  
when i first saw this show  i thought it looked interesting . i watched it  saw how it revolved around sarah  like the character sees the world . . . revolving around her . i got it  but wasn  t laughing very much .  br    br   onstage and in her show  she  s racist  crude  insensitive and hugely self  centered . i didn  t get her at first  and took it all at face value . then i got to see her movie  jesus is magic . i think that served as a sarah silverman primer for me  explaining to me just what  language  she  s speaking . she  s like marilyn manson  working so hard to give us a faceful of horrible ideas and images  but you eventually realise it isn  t an assault  it  s a statement . and once you understand that  you find you  re glad someone  s finally giving it to you straight .  br    br   i don  t mean to suggest only smart people will understand  or that to hate this show is to prove your idiocy . while i like a lot of  smart  shows  i still to this day do not see the humor of curb your enthusiasm . i get the impression that it  s good  but i just don  t get it . many people will never get the sarah silverman program  but i  m glad i eventually came around .  br    br   the creators of this show do work hard  every episode is loaded not just with dialogue and plot  but with songs  or dream sequences  production numbers . these people aren  t putting together something to fill a time slot and please advertisers  they appear to be on a mission to make the best show they can put together . if i was to predict the future of this show  i  d say it will go the way of arrested development and freaks  geeks . it will get canceled before it  s time and live on in fans  hearts and on dvd . but take heart  ssp creators  your audience is out there  and we  ll be watching for as long as they let you make the show .  
if i had known this movie was filmed in the exasperating and quease  inducing dogme   style  i would never have rented it . nevertheless  i took a dramamine for the seasickness and gave it a shot . i lasted a very  very  very long forty minutes before giving up . it  s just boring  pretentious twaddle .  br    br   the last french movie i saw was  romance  and it too was pretty dismal  but at least the camera was steady and not breathing down the necks of the characters all the time . i am baffled at the continuing popularity of dogme   overseas   it  ll catch on in america about the same time as the next big outbreak of leprosy .  it  s called dogme   because that  s the average number of times the actors are poked in the eye by the camera .   br    br    
big s isn  t playing with taboos or forcing an agenda like  say mencia or chapelle  though i like them both  . she states the obvious in subtle  near subliminal remarks . her show won  t change the world  nor is it meant to . but  along with the hilarious brian posehn and paget brewster  s ex  boyfriend jay johnston of  mr . show  fame  this is one mean show with an appetite for destruction  my side  s were thoroughly wrecked by the first episode . look  i love this woman and like her famed boyfriend  jimmy kimmel  she just delivers the lines and lets the viewer run  with  it . the best kind of comedy around . spoofing anything and anyone  like  mary poppins  in the second episode when she sings to the fake birds on to quick hitting commentary on society and college aged existential nonsense . this one is highly recommended  but only for those who still have a funny bone  and didn  t lose it in their most recent lippo  suction treatment or boob job  .  
i have no idea what idiots gave this movie a palm d  or at the     cannes film festival because it was atrocious  i actually watched the entire thing simply because i couldn  t believe that someone would make such a worthless film . there is nothing interesting about the plot  the characters are devoid of depth and there is no attempt at giving any sort of ambiance with music or sound effects . also  if you do decide to waste  hours of your life by watching this film  be sure to bring something to throw up in because the cinematography is simply someone running around with a hand  held camcorder and half the time you can  t even see the main subjects . this style has been used much more successfully in movies such as  blair witch  because it creates suspense . in rosetta  there is no plot and no suspense to which that style would lend anything . i should have known better when it came on at  o  clock in the morning that it was going to be horrible .  
sarah silverman is a dangerous bitch  she  s beautiful  sexy  funny and talent  dark and demonic . i read the other  comment  on this show as well as the message board stuff and people just don  t get it . nothing that appears on t . v . is an accident . too much money  time and work is put into the production of a t . v . show for there to be mistakes . this show is stupid because sarah wanted it to be stupid . this show is juvenile because sarah wanted it to be juvenile . i thought the jokes were great and the theme show as well as the other musical numbers are wonderfully bizarre . it  s a lot like pee  wee  s playhouse for maladjusted  slacker twenty  something glue sniffing  future pornstars of america from the valley . the cast is awesome . the scenarios and action is well  paced . i hope this show succeeds since comedy central didn  t let david spade keep his show . who plays sarah  s sister  she not in the cast listing on the show  s home page . i would love to see her stand  up . does anyone know about her up  coming show dates or dvds that may be floating around out there   
i hate how this movie has absolutely no creative input . i know they  re going for realism  but to be frank i just don  t want realism . realism is boring . if i want to see daily life  i  ll uhm  live . tell me an interesting story and we  ll talk . i can deal with the low production values  hell i  m a sucker for low production values  but at least work in some good ideas . the direction only goes as far as grabbing a camcorder and walking around a bit  but obviously i  m supposed to dig that because it makes stuff so much more realistic . hitchcock used to say drama was essentially life with the dull bits cut out . i can only conclude this is not drama  not by a long shot . we get to see rosetta walking to someplace  rosetta working in a bakery  rosetta eating a waffle  rosetta carrying around bags of far  rosetta walking back home  rosetta walking someplace . . . it  s just not that entertaining . there isn  t really a deeper meaning either . i got so bored i started looking for some reflections on life in this movie but it  s just plain realism  the most overrated quality in the business . i guess i  m supposed to love this  but come on  there  s nothing in there .  
i think this show is screamingly funny  it  s not for every taste  and i  m not going to elevate or denigrate the folks that don  t get it . i  m sure they  re wonderful bright people that operate at a different wavelength . but if you like it  you really like it . sarah plays a self  infatuated loser named  sarah silverman  who often finds her self in homerian predicaments  that  s  homerian  as in  homerian simpsonian   .  br    br   i remember sarah silverman from her brief gig on saturday night live in the early    s . i liked her immediately then and i go out of my way to check out anything she  s done .  br    br   this show is choke  on  your  food  and  wet  your  pants funny . therefore i always fast before watching it and wear adult diapers . check it out   
this rubbish excuse for television is the single most god  awful piece of trash ever to hit australian television . the house  mates are dull  uninteresting  ridiculously unintelligent and are picked on the basis that you would be likely to attempt to murder them if you had to live with them . as far as i am concerned big brother is the decline of western society  showing how us as a society are on a steep slope to becoming brain  dead morons . whatever happened to television that didn  t target the lowest common denominator of society as an audience  this cannot be classified as entertainment . i think that it true that channel ten can remove your soul . it happened to rove mcmanus who was once a respectable comedian and  once moving to channel    become horribly unfunny . with the exception of the simpsons which is highly intelligently made .  
sarah silverman is like a totally manic zooey deschanel and i think i  m in love already . yeah  if you loved jesus is magic  you  ll love this . if you didn  t  what the heck is wrong with you  kudos to the comedy channel for shoving this in my face . my life finally has meaning  and  your car smells like farts  is my kind of humor . i  m a happy guy . the first episode had me laughing hysterically and i  m hungrily looking forward to next week . this is like grease meets south park . completely outrageous . sarah silverman is someone i could watch reading the phone book . her delivery is precise and oh so funny . she never skips a beat . come to think of it  it  s not so much her choice of material . which is some really good stuff by the way  as it is the way she chooses to deliver it . thank you  sarah silverman  thank you  comedy channel   
if there was a  stars rating i would gladly hand it out to this absolutely horrid pile of waste . the fact that the actual summary is perfectly fine and that if it had been made different it could have been brilliant only makes it worse . the basic task of locking up a group of people in an experiment chamber is fine  but wheres the experiment  all i see is a bunch of unintelligent surfers and blondes chatting about music and culture i don  t know or want to know about . . . the challenges are pathetic and silly . the whole point of reality tv is to show reality . if you set a  challenge  don  t make them play with exaggerated props of food and stereotypical cultural elements in  friday night games  . make them do an actual challenge . and as for  earning  prize money  thats fine  if they actually earnt it  these people are nuts . if only they would make the show better  the actual idea would be glorious . but that ain  t gonna happen   
i originally scored sarah  s show with a nice fat   but i  ve struggled a bit with her humor of late and a thin  is what  s settled in . i shall explain .  br    br   you will either like sarah  s humor  or you won  t . if you don  t  i doubt anyone could persuade you . you folks know who you are and it  s perfectly fine  but then you know that too . moving on  the first season gave us fantastic bits about sarah  her friends and family  and her pursuits in life . in one memorable episode  she is  pulled over  by officer jay whom she meets for the first time .   do you know why i am standing here   he asks .  because you got all c  s in high school   she quizzically replies . it seemed to be a genuine question .  that is funny stuff in my book . sarah can come at you from odd angles . in another episode  her affair with god was notably funny . god being petty and jealous added wonderfully to the joke . it is clever  it is a twisted view  but she would show us the truth in the humor and we laughed .  br    br   then  came the second season . while still not without some new and inventive comedy  we seem to have slipped somewhat into banal poop and fart jokes  quite simply . i get some good laughs here and there  but much of it seems like filler while she  and the writers  struggle to foment some original material . sophomoric and tiresome are the feelings i have for the episodes lately  but i have been gutting it out for the gems i do find  the turtle  and waiting for her to turn it around . i was a fan of her  jesus is magic  routine and would like to think that i understand what she is capable of . let  s get back to that .  
this is the story of two guys who found a copy of  funky monkey .  finding this seemed odd at the time figuring that there are still posters for the movie at the local cineplex odeon . after seeing such classics as  every which way but loose  and  project x   these two guys figured movies with monkeys are awesome .  br    br   these guys were in for a long ride as they watched this movie . there was some monkey that was replaced by a stunt man when action sequences were required . it was apparent that the monkey wasn  t trained in the school of shakespearean acting . perhaps replacing the monkey with ben affleck might have helped the guys thought .  br    br   maybe a strong sidekick would help like a jackie chan or heck maybe even hulk hogan . luckily this movie had amazing martial artist and jet li look  a  like matthew modine . while some might argue that matthew modine doesn  t come close to jet li  camera tricks prove that he is every bit as good . when it becomes obvious that an untrained chimp can  t handle the movie  the movie leans on matthew modine to be the real star .  br    br   did i mention that there is some dorky kid that develops a bond with modine and the monkey  is there a possibility that the kid learns confidence and even picks up a girl in this movie  even matthew modine should get jealous with this one  because using the pick  up line  i  m second fiddle to a monkey  doesn  t seem to work with the ladies .   br    br   shortly after watching this movie the two guys got a phone call from matthew modine telling them  seven days .   
for those who think it is strictly potty humor and immaturity  you are in fact the mindless one . while the show does contain its share of potty jokes it also contains a lot of satirical material and pokes fun at social problems  racial barriers  clich  s  stereotypes etc . you just need to read into some of her material a bit more to get it .  br    br   what i also love is that not everything is a punchline . for those expecting a formulated joke like friends  i love friends fyi   you won  t find it here . instead sarah uses situations and other ways to achieve her humour which is more realistic . we don  t walk around in this world and have witty punchlines for everything said  which is in most comedies . instead the sarah silverman program makes it more realistic in this sense .  br    br   so don  t take it as mindless humor because it is so much more than that .  
i bought this movie from gamestop  s discount used movie bin and the cover caused me to laugh uncontrollably so i bought it for   cents . the movie itself is retarded and they use like ten different monkeys throughout the whole film that hardly look alike . not to mention they use a stunt double who is just a short guy in costume making a desperate attempt to impersonate a monkey .  br    br   the director more than likely committed a murder  suicide with the chimpanzees after the movie debuted in a preview for some other low rent warner bros . film and he ended up owing money to the studio . it also doesn  t help that he wasn  t even infamous for the terrible job he did  he wasn  t even known for producing a poop  chute film .  br    br   why was this movie ever made   
this show probably won  t appeal to everyone . sarah does what she wants she doesn  t ask for permission and she doesn  t apologize . this is a sitcom with zombies  robot dinosaurs  flying cars  and a team of wallet  stealing male cheerleaders . the star of the show is not a hero  she is a spoiled  bigoted pervert . if you can  t appreciate the offbeat humor it offers  the show probably isn  t for you . everyone should at least give this show a chance . it brings together the comedic styling of sarah silverman  brian posehn  the comedians of comedy   jay johnston  mr . show   steve agee  bobcat goldthwait  s  stay   and the creative energies of rob schrab and dan harmon  heat vision  jack  monster house  . it also showcases the best talents of the burgeoning online community  channel    . com .  if you  re into this show  keep an eye out for  the department of acceptable media  on vh  this march  it  ll be drawing from the same talent pool .   br    br   watch sarah silverman  s show . this kind of stuff is the future of entertainment .  
i am a student of film  and have been for several years . and the concept of a cyber  kung  fu  satirical chimpanzee had me wondering   is this the film that  s going to break the mold   let  s face it  america has never been let down by any piece of cinema that features a simian costar . after such great classics as  monkey trouble  and  dunston checks in   i thought that the best ideas were already taken . but then comes  funky monkey  . i laughed  i cried  i contemplated suicide .  br    br   now i  ve read about demon possession in the bible  but that still doesn  t explain why someone would create such a product of evil . first off  having at least a shred of intelligence  i realized that a chimpanzee was in fact an ape  not a monkey at all . however  i was sure that the filmmakers would clear this problem up further into the film . they didn  t . let me sum up this work of art a company by the name of z . i . t . has decided to train chimpanzees as soldiers . why  i think they mention something about the soldiers working for bananas  but when it would cost about an estimated   million dollars of government money to train one chimp  this doesn  t seem cost  effective . well anyways  z . i . t . brings in a cia specialist  matthew modine  to train clemens  the chimp  . clemens is everything z . i . t . hoped for . he can take out an entire shift of guards  who all appear to have gotten their training skills at the local mall  and yet still manage to remind us that we  re watching a kid  s movie . as you may have guessed  modine finds out that z . i . t .  s intentions may be evil  gasp   and decides to break clemens out . being a cia agent and all  modine knows that best way to make himself disappear is to go to a large city  rent a guest room  regularly make appearances on television while fighting crime  and using checks to pay for everything .  br    br   z . i . t . finds out where modine is staying  and sends two of their finest to retrieve him . these guards are possibly the greatest comedy team up since martin and lewis  or was it turner and hooch  it doesn  t matter anyways  because in the end  for a heck of a twist ending  the good guys win    yay  hooray for predictability  throw in a nerdy kid who learns to be himself  a lonely mom who needs a date  and music montages that feature songs that would even be blackballed by radio disney and you get  funky monkey  . the climax to the movie  a football game  played by thugs  bumblers  a chimp  and the nerd boy . no one seems to care about such substitutions at a high school football game .  br    br   funky monkey never lets up  it  s edge of your seat entertainment . some might even call this the  american beauty  of monkey  filled features . after finishing this epic  i recalled hearing a story about a railroad worker who lost much of his brain functions when a metal rod pierced his temporal lobe . funky monkey is a metal rod among movies .  
this show is so incredibly hilarious that i couldn  t stop watching the marathon on comedy central tonight  despite the fact that i  ve seen all the episodes previously  . i  ve always regarded silverman as a huge talent and this is finally a vehicle for that talent to be enjoyed by a wide audience . i watch this show and i laugh a very large percentage of the time . . . i can  t say that about many tv shows . . . can you  this show is finally something new and interesting and  most importantly  funny  this is a show i will never miss and it is one i will buy on dvd as soon as it comes out . you owe it to yourself to watch this show . . . i predict a long run for this series . . . and just to be clear  the people who are offended by this show just don  t get it . . . perhaps they lack the intelligence to comprehend it . . . they should stop making fools of themselves by attacking something they don  t understand . anyone who uses the word  bigot  in reference to silverman  or who claims that she only aims to  shock  . . . is way off the mark . . . she  s exactly the opposite just google her and you  ll quickly see that she  s a huge proponent of civil rights  etc . if you don  t know that she  s ironically embracing all of these outrageous viewpoints  you don  t get it . and if you don  t get it  do the rest of us a favor and be quiet about it so we can all enjoy the hilarity . . .  
having watched this after receiving the dvd for christmas      i came here to pan it   but after reading the other comments  i haven  t the heart . clearly this is a film that has worked very well for children of a certain age . well  let me not be a complete grinch it might still work for some children   if they are not too media  saturated and have not become visually over  sophisticated  e . g . from watching all of lotr and harry potter . but if you are an adult  stay miles away you will not enjoy it .  br    br   the good bits barbara kellerman as the witch  especially in her early scenes with edmund  creates just the right blend of charismatic evil and restrained madness .  at the stone table she goes a bit over the top .  michael aldridge in the minor role of the professor and jeffrey s . perry as mr . tumnus also have the kind of polished  skillful acting we  d expect from the very best bbc dramas . and the aslan costume works very well  amazingly well considering . they got the eyes just right .  br    br   the bad bits almost everything else  but two areas in particular . one  the casting . england is crammed with good actors and contains tens of thousands of attractive british school kids . how could they possibly have ended up with these four stiffs  they move like wooden soldiers and speak about as well . peter has no gravitas or charisma  and is visibly shorter than his supposedly younger siblings   edmund is just whiny and lucy . . . sophie wilcox as lucy is so dramatically  visibly  drastically wrong for this part that i can  t imagine how she got the job .  br    br   two  the animal costumes . again  it appears that they worked for some kids . if the kids are still at a level where big bird and elmo are exciting  believable characters  they might be entranced by this film . but to a viewer with the sophistication of  say  a    year  old who  s seen prisoner of azkaban  when mister beaver comes out from behind that tree  there will be hoots of cruel  derisive laughter . the costumes just do not work   i could not  and i think any adult or modern teen could not  suspend disbelief when looking at mister beaver . the drawn animation later  gryphons  etc .  works better  is easier to take .  br    br   so ten stars for the very young and tender of soul everyone else read  or re  read the book and watch the far better film that unrolls in your imagination .  
all i can say is  if you don  t fall in love with big and little edie after watching this movie  then you  re not human  even after watching it for the first time  i was hooked . it is a mesmerizing experience that is difficult to describe  as i  m sure other fans will attest to . after watching it  you will cry to think that these two wonderful ladies are no longer with us . at least we have grey gardens to remember them  i think we all long to possess the fierce independence these two ladies were graced with . although i have always admired jackie onassis kennedy  she does not stay in your heart the way big and little edie do . what a rare treat to have know such people i only wish i had   
i  m a fan of the series and have read all  books . i wanted to see this just to see how it was done . all i can say  is that the only people who should watch this are ones who have already read the series and are curious about it . its pretty bad  and will turn you off reading them . not to be mean  but lucy is so ugly it detracts from the movie . was she the directors daughter  seriously  i  m sure the beavers in the movie were jealous of her teeth . she had an overbite that would put any beaver to shame . the movie just loses so much in translation . cs books don  t translate as easily as the tolkein lotr books  or even harry potter .  br    br   one thing they did right  aslan  very well done . although the other human actors with painted faces  beavers  wolf  look silly  aslan was really well done since it was not just a human actor walking around .  i guess its like that old horse custume   people inside   also  i would be curious what kids think of this movie . maybe they would enjoy it  but as for adults  safe bet they wont  even if a cs fan .  
great acting  great movie . if you are thinking of building see this movie first . the dollar amounts may have changed but everything else is the same . the humor is true to life and emotions are those that anyone who has built has felt .  
i watched this a few days ago  so details are getting hazy . the film is shot on hand  held cameras  and a lot was made of this at the time it was released originally  since we hadn  t had many studio pictures made in this way . i can  t help but feel this was more of a gimmick than anything  designed to make the audience think that what we are seeing on the screen hasn  t had all the compromises that come with a big budget  and so was more  real  . however what we have here isn  t much more than a not  as  good rip off of the first half of full metal jacket  so anyone who has seen that  or any one of the other rip offs there of  will know what to expect .  br    br   the main problem i had was the stereotyped characters  with the weedy soft kids out of their depth  close harmony singing  ebonics spouting black dudes  world weary sergeants  bitter and twisted psychos etc etc . . . all being put into the sorts of situations that would provide the most friction and tension at any given time . maybe this was intentional to highlight the stupidity and injustice of the situation  maybe it was laziness  or maybe it was just a committee trying to appeal to the biggest audience  all i know is it was annoying . one novel thing was the mixture of volunteers and draftees  where normally all the characters would have been forced into the situation   although only the scenes between the two main characters really make much play of it . this seems to be the main pivot of the plot  with the volunteers coming to their senses and the draftees gaining a sense of duty and self worth  but its all done in a rather forced and unsubtle way . the other big bug i had was how all the characters  with the exception of the psychos and the real softies  would react to each inevitable conflict with at first aggression and threats of violence  faced with farrell  s ubiquitous stoicism  immediately back down and be all reasonable and diplomatic .  br    br   i guess if i had to find a plus it would be the acting from the two leads  which was strong and very convincing  tho considering the formulaic nature of the characters  this wasn  t too hard .  br    br   in my imagination  bozz grew up to be zeke off tour of duty  and for my money   episodes of that would be more fun to watch .  
i really can  t remember who recommended this  but they said it was one of their favorite films . it is certainly a strange one  like rubbernecking at a highway accident .  br    br   someone said that truth is stranger than fiction  and the truth here is something to see . i really can  t understand how a fictionalized account of this documentary is to be released this year . how can you improve on this  the aunt and cousin of jackie kennedy remove themselves from new york society and hide in the hampton  s . in the process they become recluses and what is best described as  crazy cat ladies .  they would have stayed hidden had not the city move to condemn the property for the filth and the subsequent rescue by jackie . this film was done after that rescue . all during  you couldn  t help but think   how bad was it before   it  s a look at high society from the darker side  and it is utterly fascinating .  
ouch  they don  t come much worse than this horrid adaptation of c . s . lewis  s beloved novel . while the adaptation is very true to the novel  the acting is simply awful and the sets and special effects are on a scale equivalent to a school play . i  ve read that the budget for this miniseries was the grandest that the bbc has ever given at the time  but surely they could have scraped together a bit more than the   that it looks like this was filmed for . the worst effect of all is mr . beaver . i know computer effects weren  t at the level necessary or even cost effective at the time  but the costume store man in a suit look was horrid . better to have just cut the character from the film than do that to the role  avoid this at all costs .  
one of the best love stories i have ever seen . it is a bit like watching a train wreck in slow motion  but lovely nonetheless . . . big edie and little edie seem a bit like family members after watching this movie repeatedly  and are infinitely quotable  it  s a goddamned beautiful day  now will you just shut up   the opening explanation of little edie  s costume only promises that the movie will live on forever  and so will big edie  the world famous singer  and little edie  the world famous dancer .   
though the movie may have been  true  to lewis  s book  in that the script was basically word  for  word  verbatim   it failed to capture any of the grandeur that would otherwise be associated with an epic story like this . the mythical creatures  unicorns  centaurs  griffins  ghouls  ghosts  are drawn in  and as in the previous review  the green  screen flying sequence was very hard to swallow . i nearly laughed to death when i saw the humanoid beavers with their giant stiff suits and buck teeth i nearly cried when i heard the wolf  s  howl    a man in a grey fuzzy suit basically shrieking as loudly and as girlishly as he possibly could .  br    br   all of the acting is tremendously forced  especially that of little lucy penvensie . . . i could only take so much indignation  desperation  and buck teeth in the  what felt like  fourteen hours of watching the movie . the actress who plays the white witch  in all her histrionics  seems that she  d be more at home on stage  where a booming voice  spread arms  and a valiant effort at something shakespearian would be more than welcome .  br    br   the sets feel claustrophobic  whether the scenes are taking place indoors or outdoors . indoors  it  s as if bbc could only afford to spend     on constructing a set  and so it is very small  and all the characters are constantly huddled together . the white witch  s castle is a run  down  rotting countryside english castle filled with styrofoam statues and bad lighting . when the penvensie children are wandering through the woods   actually  any scene in the woods   feels like they are simply wandering around in circles .  br    br   the only thing that looks decent in the film is aslan  but you can bet that bbc probably blew the film  s entire budget on building the mechanical feline . it looks great when it  s standing still and before it starts speaking  but once it starts moving  you can  t help but pity the poor man who has to be the rear  end in the lion suit .  br    br   yes  if you are a hardcore narnia fan  you may want to see this version  simply because it preserves every word that lewis ever wrote   but lewis was certainly no screenwriter  and a lot of the dialogue feels chunky and awkward when on screen . during the scene in which the children are at the beavers  and getting ready to flee from the wolves  mrs . beaver  s incessant   oh  just one more thing  dearies  and then we will be ready to go   punctuated by the children  s simultaneous cries and sighs and moans of  no  mrs . beaver  please     a scene of comic relief  so incongruous  they are supposed to be fleeing from imminent danger  not wondering about whether to pack the sewing machine or not   detracts from the drama that the scene might otherwise have . in fact  the whole movie is peppered with directing faux pas such as these .  br    br   i would recommend seeing the new narnia  disney      . the new movie  with updated effects  spectacular computer animation  great timing all around  and a gorgeous and scene  stealing white witch  who plays her part with all the subtle evil of a seasoned politician  as opposed to a shrieking banshee  captures all of the grandeur and the magnificence of the world of narnia without detracting the least bit from lewis  s original vision  i think  . lucy is a lot cuter  no buck teeth  yay    as are the beavers  and realistically  sized   and bratty bbc edmund has nothing on the divine  desperately  hungry  for  acceptance  insecure  and  angsting  with  an  inferiority  complex edmund that the new disney version fronts .  br    br   unless you  re the type who enjoys wasting time by making fun of campy movies  i would not recommend this film to anyone .  
it  s interesting how the train of research can flow . i started out looking at an article about cristo  s  the gates  in central park . the article stated that the maysles had been cristo  s filmographers for years . hmmm . . . then i got to looking at their body of work . i believe one of them has passed on but the other is still filming cristo and jean claude in their stages of creation . grey gardens sounded very interesting . video station  in boulder co  is the place to look for the obscure or offbeat and of course they had it in stock . dvd and vhs . edith and edie are women living in the past  and oh what a glorious past it was . edith had been well off  born a bouvier  married well  had several wonderful relationships and became a singer when she was in her forties . her daughter edie had been a dbutante  a fashion model and had many beaus . she never married and at some point in her thirties had come home to recuperate . she seems to have a nervous disorder of some kind . worrying too much about things . it is only a shadow of the world they live in though  because jackie o . came and spruced up the place so her aunt and cousin would not be evicted . it is a   room mansion that is worn down and worn out . but  in the film you will notice fresh paint on the walls . if you look carefully at the newspaper clippings you see it was very much a dirty mess . the outfits edie comes up with a very clever and creative . the viewer gets the impression that edith likes to go nude  but she doesn  t in the movie . edith was really quite beautiful and you can see the shadow of her beauty still as she sings  tea for two  . edie too was a beauty in her day and quite attractive at   . it was a good movie  though not for everyone . when the cat is urinating behind edith  s portait she states   at least someone is doing what they want    
this movie is terrible but it has some good effects .  
i find it very intriguing that lee radziwill  jackie kennedy  s sister and the cousin of these women  would encourage the maysles  to make  big edie  and  little edie  the subject of a film . they certainly could be considered the  skeletons  in the family closet . the extra features on the dvd include several contemporary fashion designers crediting some of their ideas to these oddball women . i  d say that anyone interested in fashion would find the discussion by these designers fascinating .  i . e .  are they nuts  or am i missing something    . this movie is hard to come by . netflix does not have it . facets does  though .  
i went to see it in hopes of some good old fashioned alice entertainment . once i realized i would not be getting that  i watched it for a pretty well made movie  in terms of filming  and yeah . . that was it  . but aside from it having a good film quality  considering i had been watching grainy movies all day long  there was nothing good about that movie .  br    br   he killed   . why were tweedle dee and dum played by mudler and scully  serisouly  who can answer that for me  who can answer anything awful about this movie for me .  br    br   i agree with whoever said it was just one big long inside joke for the staff . that  s all it seemed to be .  br    br   poor mr . carroll . i  m so sorry somebody did that to his wonderful tales .  
when it first came out  this work by the meysels brothers was much criticized and even judged to be exploitation . luckily  it is now hailed as a masterpiece of documentary cinema  especially now that society has been exposed to real exploitation in what is reality television  and the bad evolution of most direct cinema .  br    br   really  at first  we must say that this isn  t really direct cinema  it is more cinema verit . the difference between the two is very slight  but it mainly is the fact that in this documentary  we are made to feel the presence of the meysels brothers  and they do interact with the characters filmed . this as well makes it clear that it is not exploitation . the meysels have been allowed in the house  and they are included in what is a very eccentric situation of a very eccentric household . and both edith and edie just love the idea of being filmed .  br    br   it would have been very disappointing had very been shown only a voice of god narration and shallow interviews . here  we are given a full portrait of the madness of the house  a madness that does seem to go down well with both edie and her mother edith . their house is a mess  litter and animals everywhere  faded colors and furniture all over the house  and the constant fights that are constant interactions of reality . these two people have lived with each other their whole life  and are not fighting in front of the camera because they want the attention  but rather because they can  t help talking to each other this way . they know each other too well to hide their inner feelings  there is no need . in the end  though  even as they blame each other for their lives  they really love each other deeply . edie says she doesn  t want her mother to die  because she loves her very much  and edith says that she doesn  t want edie to leave her because she doesn  t want to be alone .  br    br   but the most interesting aspect of the film is that regardless of their old age  the two women can  t help be girls . they cannot help being one the singer  the other the dancer . exhibit all their artistic skills in front of their camera . when edie asks david meysels rhetorically  where have you been all my life   she is really very happy that she finally gets to show the whole world herself and her wonderful showgirls skills . a beautiful portrait of stylistic importance and a charm that is highly unlikely to be ever seen again  the way only the meysels and few others could do .  
i was unlucky enough to have seen this at the sidewalk film festival . sidewalk as a whole was a disappointment and this movie was the final nail in the coffin . being a devout fan of lewis carroll  s  alice  books i was very excited about this movie  s premier  which only made it that much more uncomfortable to watch . normally i  m enthusiastic about modern re  tellings if they are treated well . usually it  s interesting to see the parallels between the past and present within a familiar story . unfortunately this movie was less of a modern retelling and more of a pop culture perversion . the adaptation of the original  s characters seemed juvenile and usually proved to be horribly annoying . it probably didn  t help that the actors weren  t very good either . most performances were ridiculously over the top  which i assume was either due to bad direction or an effort to make up for a bad script . i did not laugh once through out the duration of the film . all of the jokes were outdated references to not so current events that are sure to lose their poignancy as time goes by . really  the only highlight of the film was the opening sequence in which the white rabbit is on his way to meet alice  but even then the score was a poor imitation of danny elfman  s work . also  i  d have to say that the conversion of the croquet game into a rave dance  off was awful . it was with out a doubt the low point of the film .  br    br   what a joke . don  t see this movie . after its conclusion i was genuinely angry .  
little edie and big edie are characters that anyone can feel compassion for . even though their house was filthy  this is somehow understandable considering their mental illness . on the message board a poster wrote that  little edie has the coping skills of an eight year old .  this reminded me of when in the dramatized     version  big edie says to little edie   if you  re stuck  it  s only with yourself   these women had everything beauty  talent  intelligence  firm belief in their opinions and actions . perhaps if little edie wasn  t so hard on herself the first time things didn  t work out  losing her hair  her job  and the love of her life  she would have made it . this somehow ties into what i believe is her mental illness her inability to pick herself up when times are hard and see that good times lie ahead . the world will never know what have happened if she didn  t listen to her mom  s plea   come home  edie  let me take care of you    br    br   yet these understandably insecure women somehow manage to be brilliant  heartbreaking  and lovable  even in their extremely filthy home . these women were extraordinary  and their interaction with each other bring humor and sadness . when edie had one of her emotional breakdowns  dwelling about what could have been  or about how she wants to get out of her home because she feels like a little girl  one gets the intense urge to hug her and tell her that  everything will be okay    br    br   great documentary    br    br        
i  m actually watching this film as i write this . . . if the following comments  prove my lack of development as a true  artistic film maker   then so be it . . .  br    br   but . . . i thought  am still thinking as i  m presently viewing  that this film . . . to put it mildly  is very  very overrated . again  very .  br    br   it looks like a really  really bad student film done by a someone with beyond extremely limited resources . . . and who didn  t pay that much attention to detail .  br    br   i don  t want to go on and on regarding all the different ways that i find this film lacking  but . . . well . . . i just don  t get it  rememeber  i fully admit that maybe it  s me that  s the idiot here  not the film maker  for not getting this  piece of imaginative genius   . . . i rented this on a whim because the reviews were very  very outstanding . . .  br    br   sheesh . . .  
grey gardens is a world unto itself . edith and little edie live in near total isolation  eating ice cream and liver pate in a makeshift kitchen in their  apparently  shared bedroom . cats loll about while mother edith insults her daughter  s elocution . this is a tennessee williams play come to life and should inspire screenwriters and playwrights  as the bizarre and overlapping dialogue is     real .  br    br   the situation in the house reminds me exactly of how my grandmother and her    ish daughter lived for a decade  other than that they were poor and clean  . they would bicker all day  grandmother talking about her gloriously perfect past while her daughter continually blamed her for missed opportunities with men  work  and self  expression .  br    br   this film is a must  see for anyone writing a mother  daughter relationship of this kind . it is sad and voyeuristic  but the filmmakers did an amazing job getting the edies comfortable enough to expose themselves so recklessly . it is rare to see true life this way and all the more special considering the context   remnants of a powerful family fading into nothingness in the skeleton of their own mansion .  
a friend once told me that an art  house independent film ran in a cinema when  upon the closing of the film  audiences were so enraged they preceded to tear up the cinema seats . of course  my imagination ran amok  trying to conjure up the contents of such a piece of work . well  now my imagination can be put to rest .  br    br   i am a lifelong andrei tarkovky fan and an ardent admirer of his work . i have come across many people who thought tarkovsky  s films are slow  moving and inert . opinions being what they are  i found this not to be true of the late director  s wonderful works  which are wrought with meaning  beautiful compositions  and complex philosophical questions . upon hearing aleksandr sokurov called the heir to tarkovsky  i was excited to experience his films .  br    br   with the exception of the open air ride through the fields  stalker   this movie has no kinship to anything tarkovsky has done . it does not seem to possess the slightest meaning  even on a completely mindless level . it  s supposedly  gorgeously stark  cinematography is devoid of any compositional craft . there is a no balance  no proportion  and the exposure meter seems to be running low on batteries in the freezing snow . the main character is so inept and indecisive  it makes you wonder whether his father might have been alive if he made up his mind sooner .  br    br   i am also not adverse to non  plots or story lines that progress on multiple non  linear fashion . but there isn  t even a non  story here . one must surely enter the viewing of this film with a shaved head if one were to exit it with nothing gained and nothing lost  as hair  pulling would be the only possible answer to a pace that could make a tarkosky time sculpture look as if jerry bruckheimer had filmed a charlie chaplin short .  br    br   i won  t rule out that this may be one of sokurov  s stinkers  tarkovsky  s solaris   but to conclude that he is one of tarkovsky  s heir  based on this film  would be to call paris hilton the successor to aristotle . c  mon guys  don  t be afraid to say it . no amount of big impressive words is going to magically bring this corpse of celluloid back to life . i don  t profess to fully understand russian culture and i probably don  t have russian values  but i immediately picked up on tarkovsky  s work as something magical  a treasure and a gift to viewers .  br    br   if it didn  t have sokurov  s name on it  and it aired on say  saturday night live  i  m pretty sure nobody would  read  all these magnificent analysis into this wet noodle of a flick .  
i first saw this movie in my plays  playwrights course at tulane . i was awed at how beautiful and raw this documentary was . it is a sincere look into the unedited reality of a life of solitude . the family is fascinating and i thought it really showed little edie at her core . as a side note my professor even told me that throughout the filming  little edie became infatuated with one of the camera men .  the beauty  i find  comes from the naturalness of the family  s dysfunction . it is evident in the relationship between mother and daughter that neither could function in society alone and you begin to wish for little edie  s rehabilitation to society . in all  the film is gripping in its aesthetic quality and it  s portrayal of surprising beauty . two thumbs way up   
believe me  i like horror movies . i like science fiction movies . i like independent films . and  i like low  budget  b movies .  br    br   sometimes  i even like bad acting  plodding scripts  wooden lines  improbably situations  and the like . however  i did not like christmas on mars .  br    br   it just doesn  t work on so many levels . for all the reasons listed previously  and many more . that includes the nonsensical  blatant use of images of female genitalia . and the many allusions to male genitalia  in a very freudian way .  br    br   i am convinced this is purely from ineptitude . as opposed to some attempt at doing something really different . i mean any movie that takes years to film  just cannot keep up the level of congruity and focus demanded by modern audiences .  br    br   i had hoped that the whole movie was just a dream or hallucination by the main character . however  sadly  it was meant to have happened  as we saw things unfold on screen .  br    br   about the only kindness that i can express  is that the image at the end was stupendous . if this had been used at the beginning  instead of the end  it could have allowed the film to take off where     ended . . .  br    br   to bad they didn  t try that instead . i just don  t understand what was so important about this film that it even had to be made . was it the plot  surely  it couldn  t be . was it the characters  i doubt it i mean  i could live without knowing about ed   . was it the dialog  emphatically  no . the music  perhaps  but more  likely the unvarnished ego of the principals needing to be stroked .  br    br   much better efforts have died on the cutting room floor .  
grey gardens was enthralling and crazy and you just couldn  t really look away . it was so strange  and funny and sad and sick and  . . really no words can describe . the move grey gardens is beyond bizarre . i found out about this film reading my uncle john  s great big bathroom reader  by the bathroom reader  s institute and it was well worth the rental and bump to the top of my movie watching queue . this movie is about the nuttiest most eccentric people that may have ever been filmed . one should watch it for their favorite edie outfits  which i am sure include curtains . when i get old i almost wish to be just like big edie  thumbing my nose at normalcy and society .  
 this contains many  many spoilers  not that it matters  since everything is so patently obvious   br    br   oh my god  where do i start  well  here  this is the first time i have ever come home from a movie and said  i have to get on imdb and write a review of this now . it is my civic duty .  such is the badness of this flick .  br    br   begin digression but let me just state one thing before i start . i  m not some harvard  art  major  film  noir  weenie  in fact  i went to the college at the other end of mass . ave in cambridge  the one where the actual smart people without rich daddies and trust funds go  which should put me squarely in the nerd  who  would  obsessively  love  comic  book  films census group  and still i hated this film . . .  . my viewing preference is for the highbrow cinematic oeuvre that includes the die hards  bond flicks  clerks  and the grail . i wish the titanic had never sunk  not so much for the lives lost  but so we wouldn  t have been subjected to that dung  heap of a film . and the single and only reason i will watch a snooty french art film is if there is a young and frequently disrobed emmanuelle beart in it . i even gave maximum overdrive one of its precious few   s here on imdb  for god  s sake . so i  m as shallow as they come  therefore i  m not criticizing this film because i  m looking for some standard of cinematic excellence  it  s because elektra stinks like a three  week  old dead goat . end digression  br    br   ok  there  s so much badness here that i have to try to categorize it . here goes  br    br   ms . garner one of the compelling reasons a male would want to see this flick is to see lots of hot jgar  i have no idea why my wife wanted to  . i think that between this and  finding nemo   the latter was the sexier film . you know the red outfit she  s advertised wearing in every freaking ad you see  you see her in it twice  once at the beginning  once at the end . bummer . in the rest  she basically looks like what morrissey would look like if he were a female  lots of pouting and black clothes . which brings me to the incredible range of expression jgar shows in her acting  ranging from  pouting  all the way to  pouting and crying  . oh my god  you  d think she was being forced to date ben affleck or something horrible like that . um  wait . . .  br    br   the bad guys  gal they show about the same range of expression and acting ability that you  d expect from a slightly overripe grapefruit . at least next to jgar  s performance  it doesn  t stand out too badly . one guy  s role is to stand there and be huge  another  s is to stand there and have stuff come out of him  and the woman  s role is to stand there and breathe on and  or kiss people . they manage to pull these incredible feats off . the main bad guy has the most difficult role of all  he has to simultaneously a  appear angry and b  appear asian . he does a fine job at this . i think there was a fifth bad guy  gal  but my brain is starting to block parts of this movie out in self  defense .  br    br   plot twists  this movie has about as many surprises as a speech at the democratic national convention . let  s just put it this way  my wife  who has only been in the u . s . for half a year and speaks only a small amount of english  whispered this to me when the girl first appears in jg  s pad  and i swear to god i am not making this up  she go to house to kill girl . and father too .  and this is before the father has even appeared on the screen . now my wife isn  t stupid  but she isn  t being courted by mensa for her gifts  either  and she  s had zero exposure to daredevil or the comic book genre . and she figured this out in .      seconds with no prodding and no prior information . such is the blatant obviousness of this film .  br    br   rarely  before  seen stupidity  ok  so there  s this big dude in the film . he can take a chestful of shotgun blast and brush off the shot like it  s lint  and he can take a vicious electra stab to the chest and just bend the metal  or melt it  or something  more defenses kicking in  thank god  . but jg jumps on his head  and he explodes  an achilles noggin  ok  such is the mind  numbing stupidity of this film .  br    br   ack . i  m starting to feel a cerebral hemorrhage coming on  so i have to stop . but you have been warned . if you have to intentionally slash your own tires to prevent yourself from going to see this movie  do it . and if armageddon is going to come  please let it be  before  this comes out on dvd .  
i knew about but had never seen grey gardens  before i saw the broadway musical of the same name . friends cautioned me that if i had not seen the movie  the musical would not make sense . it did  but it also prompted me to rent the movie . at first  i thought it was a train wreck  full of strange  shrieking characters  and it was exceedingly hard to watch . but being able to stop it  digest it and go back to it made me realize why grey gardens is considered to be a memorable documentary .  br    br   both big edie and little edie are unforgettable and their utter lack of self  consciousness is worth witnessing . both of them remain beautiful despite their encroaching age . they have a relationship that will chill any woman  and undoubtedly some men  and make you re  examine your own dealings with your mother . in an era when reality television and cinema is commonplace  it  s fascinating to see the mayleses  work from three decades ago  and realize what an impact the film must have had .  br    br   i echo what other posters have said how were they allowed to slip into such squalor by their family  but beyond that  how could two people living in the     s be able to escape reality in such a complete fashion  or were they simply considered too crazy to be helped  i would highly recommend watching this with the commentary track  which gave me additional insight into the film .  
perhaps i  m out of date or just don  t know what electra is like in current publications . . . but the electra that i read was far more manipulative and always seems to have a plan . she usually used others to do her dirty work and more often than not some sort of double cross was involved . just when you think you have it all figured out she pull the wool over your eyes and gets her way .  br    br   this movie was fairly weak on the dialog  the acting wasn  t particularly convincing  and the action was spotty . i was really looking for something more along the lines of frank miller  s book  electra assassin .  which is much darker than anything in this movie .  br    br   special effect where cool  action was interesting at times  but more often than not the story and plot was slow or illogical . tha hand was not menacing enough  and electra was not . . . . . bitchy enough . she  s the girl you love to hate . . . but in this story  i just didn  t care either way .  
i first saw this film in     in the midday movie spot . after many subsequent viewings  and purchase of the video  it still makes me laugh out loud .  br    br   yes  it  s a relic of another age  a domestic comedy set in affluent middle class america  but well executed is well executed . but it  s also a document of its age  a celebration of post  war optimism  the baby boom and the nascent consumer age . this film is no  guilty  pleasure .  br    br   three wonderful sophisticated leads actors  urbane melvyn douglas bemused cary grant daffily determined myrna loy  complement each other and a memorable team of characters .  br    br   my favourite scenes   it means we gotta blast  and  miss stellwaggen  and  this little piggy  .  br    br   love it .  
while some scenes of training were realistic  too many of them depicted military instructors as ex  nazi types . obviously  the people who wrote the screen play were either anti  military types or writing a film for that audience .  br    br   i am a viet nam vet and  even during this period  military instructors who behaved in the manner some of these did would probably still be serving time in military prison .  br    br   and i really loved the scene where the  hero  and his buddy  both privates  are sitting down in the captain  s office  smoking cigarettes and talking and cussing with the captain as if he were their buddy . this sort of thing never happened in training or in a formal situation  as was the purpose for the scene .  br    br   at the end i asked myself   what was this film about   as it seemed to wander around all over the place with no focus except  i hate all authority .  thank god i got it from the library and did not pay to rent it .  
fascinating yet unsettling look at edith bouvier beale  big edie  and her daughter  little edie  aunt and first cousin to the late jacquelyn kennedy onasis . they live in a rodent infested  rundown mansion which was considered a health hazard by the city . it becomes quite clear very quickly that these two are well past eccentric . little edie seems to be the most off as she acts with the mindset of a ten year old even though she is actually   . the content is pretty much made up of two things . the first are the conversations were little edie lambastes big edie for driving away all her potential suitors and ruining her aspiring career as writer  actress  and dancer . these discussions usually become very rhetorical  nonsensical  and often times amusing . the second part consists of long bouts of attempted singing by both parties . each of course thinks their singing is perfect and it  s only the other who sounds bad . in one amazing scene big edie actually physically attacks little edie with her cane just to get her to stop her warbling . very captivating yet one gets the feeling that their is some serious exploitation going on here and the subjects are just too far gone to know it . the filmmakers seem to treat this like a freak show at the circus  coming each day to record  and chuckle  at whatever bizarre behavior may come about . ultimately this is a sad picture as it shows how the world has simply past these two by . their hopes and dreams as decayed as the mansion they live in . despite their bickering these two need each other more than ever . for without the other there would be no refuge from the loneliness . most amazing line comes from big edie whose many cats relieve themselves throughout her bedroom . her response to a complaint about the smell is simply unbelievable .  
this is absurd  aside from the fellow australian who has reviewed this flick  i can  t help but think that everyone else who has submitted a review so far was some way involved in the production of elektra  considering how generous they were with their praise .  br    br   admittedly i  m not really a fan of comic  book  to  movie conversions so i didn  t go in with many expectations  yet still i found elektra to be incredibly underwhelming . the thing that irked me the most was the fact that there was so much in this film which went by unexplained  that left you thinking  huh  what relevance does that have to the plot   or  so how did that aspect of the character come about   i can only hope that these are things which are perhaps explained somewhat in daredevil  which i have no intention of seeing .  br    br   furthermore  the behaviour of the characters in this film appear to do an about  face at random moments to suit the storyline  and don  t even get me started about the utterly pointless romantic sub  plot . i  m also  still  scratching my head over the fate of cary  hiroyuki tagawa  s character  which seems to have gone by unexplained .  br    br   if i can give kudos to this movie for anything it would have to be the fantastic locations in which it was shot  but otherwise i gained little enjoyment from elektra . i know we  re supposed to suspend our disbelief for fantasy  action films  but almost everything in this film was so improbable or confusing  even by action film standards  that it simply frustrated me .  br    br   well  hell  at least jennifer garner looks damn good .  
grey gardens is shocking  amusing  sad and mesmerizing . i watched in amazement as ediths jr . and sr . bickered and performed while reminiscing of their past . their existence in a dilapidated mansion   which they had not left for more than fifteen years  is both a comedy and a tragedy . this is a film you will not soon forget .  
how irish critics rave about this movie is beyond me . overacted by the usual band of irish actors dragged out for every irish movie . terrible script  with forced character quirks  the brown sauce  . romanticising all that is bad about dublin . the attitude of  ah  it  s a dump but sure isnt it great all the same  . plenty of tidbits purely for american audiences  the supermarket boss and his horribly forced catchphrase  . and the nail in the coffin was colm meaney  s character . a great actor forced to play this part that could  ve been written by a five year old . cringeworthy stuff . the best thing about this movie is farrell  and it  s a bad when you have to say that . well  at least he wasnt putting on his dreadful american accent . international audiences be warned stay at home and watch snatch and lock stock . you  ll have a better time . intermission is a walk  outer  
i only saw this recently but had been aware of it for a number of years and have always been intrigued by its title . it now belongs to me as one of my very favourite films . it is hard to describe the incredible subject matter the maysles discovered but everything in it works wonderfully . it has so many memorable images and moments where you feel you are encroaching on a very private world . i fell in love with this film and with the characters in it . it is as though the filmmakers have cast a spell of the audience and drawn us into the strange world of the eccentric beales  a true aristocratic family . it has a tangible atmosphere and i found myself wishing i could be there away from it all  cooking my corn on the cob at my bedside table . it has an air of sadness that permeates throughout . a fall from greatness for this once esteemed family . the money had gone but their airs and graces remained  as well as their beauty . it drew me in from the first frame and long after the film finished i found myself wondering about their fate . wondering that if i took a walk along east hampton beach i might still hear old edie  s voice in the night and see the silhouette of little edie dancing in the window behind the thick hanging creeper . unforgettable .  
this was no trainspotting or guy ritchie film . it was a big wannabee . it wanted to be an edgy  nervous  laughter  urban  life affirming film  but it  s more of a camera jerky  mess . it  s a lot easier to imitate something else  than to create a real story with real characters . from the beginning  i couldn  t care less about the characters or what they were involved in . they were always always hitting  pissing  or crying on each other . only  there wasn  t any substance to what they were doing . the dialog between characters is meant to be hip  revealing  instead it comes out trite  and one scene after another is predictable . i know there are viewers out there that really liked this movie  so i could be wrong .  
excellent film showing the pathetic lives of two nutty old ladies . they couldn  t live together  nor apart . babbling constantly  sometimes at the same time  they hashed and re  hashed the past going on and on about what coulda shoulda woulda . i found myself laughing at times  but mostly i was taken with how utterly sad and abandoned these two women were . see this one .  
if you loved  pulp fiction  and like hand held cameras you should love this film . i liked the quirky story  even though i feel that  pulp fiction  was the most over  rated movie since  the english patient   and found the characters unrealistic but interesting . it  s not  on the waterfront  or  citizen kane  and is burdened by european pretentiousness . but the worst part by far is the hand held camera . it is so distracting and annoying i found myself waiting desperately for the movie to end . i don  t know why new directors think this method of filming is so great . if you are prone to motion sickness  stay away  the hand held camera will have you nauseous in about   minutes .  
why should you watch this  there are certainly no reasons why you shouldn  t watch it  superbly and amusingly directed by albert and david maysles  grey gardens was originally intended to be a film on the gentrification of east hampton  but it turned out to the brothers that it would be more interesting to produce a study on the eccentric life of the two edith bouvier beales  the aunt and cousin of jacqueline kennedy onassis . their life was certainly an amusing one  edith spent most of her day in bed singing operas  edie performing pirouettes and majorette dances with their many cats  one was named ted z . kennedy  the film is interesting because it is both funny and sad  edith died shortly after the film was released  in february      aged   after experiencing some of the fame that she and edie received after the film  she danced and sang in a nightclub edie beale jr was born in     and is still living in miami beach . this film is both engaging and spellbounding .  
i  m irish and i  ve been living in denmark for a while so i was looking forward to going home last week so i could see intermission . and i will go on record as saying  br    br   this film is awful .  br    br   it is not quite as bad a something like  the most fertile man in ireland  but it definitely does not stand up there with other irish films such as the commitments  i went down or michael collins .  br    br   some aspects of the film are actually quite funny  such as colm meaneys american  style garda . but the film itself is shot completely wrong . the bouncing around of the camera and the constant zoom  in  zoom  out tries to give the film an edgy look as if it were a gritty drama . but it isn  t . this is an irish lock  stock and two smoking barrels and it should be shot like this . it should have smooth movement from one shot to the next . the film just looks sloppy and thrown together .  br    br   the performances are okay  given the awful script . a friend of mine said to me like it was like they just followed colin farrell around dublin for a week . he gives a decent display as a dublin dirtbag  but it no way compares to his performances in minority report  tigerland or phone booth . the best performance was from dierdre o  kane who plays a sexually frustrated middle  aged woman who has just been dumped by her bank manager husband for a younger woman . i think she should leave her god  awful stand  up and focus more on her acting .  br    br   all in all  its does in no way live up to the expectations put on it by the irish press or deserve to be even considered as one of the best irish films ever .  br    br   i  m expecting a backlash from these comments because most people i have spoken to have said it was great . but before you reply  ask yourself would think so highly of this movie if it was set in england or america   
the daughter  s words are poetry  i can  t go on another year . i got to get to a hotel room .   i lost my blue scarf in a sea of leaves .   the marble faun is moving in . . . he just gave us a washing machine . that  s the deal .   i  m pulverized by this latest thing .   . . raccoons and cats become a little bit boring for too long a time .   . . any little rat  s nest  mouse hole i  d like better .  and there is wisdom in the mother  s words  . . . yes the pleasure is all mine .   this little book will keep me straight  straight as a dye .   always one must do everything correctly .   where the hell did you come from    . . . bring me my little radio i  ve got to have some professional music .   i  m your mother . remember me   the mother  daughter relationship is drawn in this magnificent film . this is a mother  s day film .  
this movie blows  let  s get that straight right now . there are a few scene gems nestled inside this pile of crap but none can redeem the limp plot . colin farrel looks like brad pitt in    monkeys  and acts in a similar manner . i normally hate colin because he is a fairy in general but he  s ok in this movie . there were two plot lines in this movie   one about a kid who throws rocks through windshields of moving vehicles and the other about a woman with a moustache . let  s face it  this movie has no freaking idea of what it wanted to say or where it wanted to go . the characters story lines intertwine on some levels but are in no means worthy of being included in a script . the whole thing is weak and pointless and then there is an occasional ok scene . but overall  don  t bother unless you love irish accents so much that you can watch mediocrity and it is rescued by everyone sounding like the lucky charms elf  an american fetish that has catapulted some truly crappy movies to success .  
this is why i so love this website  i saw this film in the      s on british television . over the years it is one i have wished i knew more about as it has stayed with me as one of the single most extraordinary things i have ever seen in my life . with barely a few key words to remember it by  i traced the film here  and much information  including the fact it  s about to become an off  broadway musical   br    br   interestingly  unlike the previous comment maker  i do not remember finding this film sad  or exploitative . on the contrary  the extraordinary relationship between the mother and daughter stuck in the mind as a testimony of great strength  honour and dignity . ironic you may think  considering the squalor of their lives . maybe it  s because i live in britain  where fading grandeur has an established language in the lives of old money  where squalor is often tolerated as evidence of good breeding i saw it as a rare and unique portrayal of enormous spirit  deep and profound humour  whose utterly fragile and delicately balanced fabric gave it poise and respect . in a way i was sorry to see it being discussed as a  cult  . over the years  as it faded in my mind  it shone the brightest  above all others as a one off brilliant  outstanding televisual experience . it was such a deeply private expose  it seems odd to think of it becoming so public as to be a new york musical . but perhaps somewhere  the daughter will be amused by such an outcome . it is she who will have the last laugh maybe . .  they made a musical out of her before you jackie o    
a terrible film which is supposed to be an independent one . it needed some dependence on something .  br    br   this totally miserable film deals with the interactions among irish people . were they trying to imitate the wonderful film  crash   if so  this film crashed entirely .  br    br   there is just too much going on here culminated by a little brat running around and throwing rocks into buses and cars which obviously cause mayhem .  br    br   the film is just too choppy to work . one woman loses her husband after   years to another while her younger sister is ripped off by a suitor . this causes the former sister to become a bitter vetch and walk around in clothes not worth believing . the older sister also becomes embittered but soon finds romance .  br    br   then  we have  losers who purchase masks to rob a bank . obviously  the robbery goes awry but there doesn  t seem to be any punishment for the crooks . perhaps  the punishment should have been on the writers for failure to create a cohesive film .  
i took this out arbitrarily from the library the other night  having no idea of the film  s cult  influence  or that it is currently being staged as a musical .    most of the comments here are on target  it  s moving  funny  sad  and yes  a tad exploitive despite the best intentions of the filmmakers . the expanded chriterion edition is a must for anyone who loved it when it came out .  br    br   i think you can also see in little edie the fall of a class that sort of disappeared  you can hear it in old films of jackie o too people just don  t talk like that anymore . i think as a documentary  it would have been interesting to get more information about how the home fell into disrepute  old edie at least still seems aware of what  s going on to a certain degree couldn  t she see the once spectacular home disintegrating   br    br   yet the film  s subject is the life the two women have constructed for themselves now  a real life tennesse williams one act . well worth your time .  
i live in ottawa where this film was made and i really wish it hadn  t been . this is one god  awful flick . i really try and support independent films but there is this stigma attached to anything indie and that stigma is indie films blow . well  this film does nothing to shed this curse . the actor  writer  director brett kelly does little to contribute to the genre  rather he re  hashes tired clichs from movies past . i am really tired of menacing evil looking characters that lurk in the shadows and prey on the unsuspecting  it  s way too overdone .  br    br   i can remember one scene in particular right near the end of the flick where the whole scene is lit with car headlights . now some may say that this was an effect used to create mood and tension  but sadly it was to showcase the shoestring budget of this movie . as well for a movie that dares to call itself horror  a viewer will find themselves hard pressed to find any actual gore  other than a few scenes with corn syrup and red food colouring .  br    br   the biggest thing that drags this film down is the pacing and the lack of character development  the basic plot is that children are being kidnapped and the parents must track down this bonesetter fellow before a certain time in order to get their kids back . not that this concept bugs me  but  i didn  t really find it believable that when the two main characters  both who have lost children can find time to make out with each other . this is done in such a short time span that it  s inconceivable  my first priority would be to get my daughter back and at least get to know the lady before making out with her .  br    br   the last point that i have is . . . . and i won  t hold this against kelly  but the movie is shot entirely on boring  emotionless video and that really takes away from any tense moments that would have just oozed style on film . although if this movie were given a million dollar makeover and redone the story and boring acting and lame everything could not keep this movie afloat . my only hope is that something happens to prevent brett kelly from making a sequel  which has been reported on his website  a sequel that was half written in one sitting .  br    br   lord help us all .  
several years ago when i first watched  grey gardens  i remember laughing and finding it hilarious camp . years later i still laugh out loud when i watch it  but after many viewings i  ve come to see the beauty in the strange  twisted relationship between the inseparable  big  edith bouvier beale and her daughter  little  edith bouvier beale .  br    br   mother and daughter living together in their decaying   room east hampton mansion add a whole new meaning to the term  shabby chic  . with innumerable cats  raccoons and opossums as roommates this aunt and niece of jackie o . allowed filmmakers albert and david maysles into their mansion to film them living life day to day . the result is a hilarious  beautiful  sad and moving account of true love and anarchy rule .  br    br   the relationship between big and little edie is a testament to the unbreakable bonds of love . and their lives an example of drive  determination and free  will . this movie has more to recommend it than i can put down into words . it is a rare experience that you must see for yourself .  br    br    
usually when a movie receives a vote of one it is because someone simply dislikes it and is annoyed it doesn  t have a lower rating  and so decides to drag it down as much as they can instead of just giving it a low rating . this is not the case here .  br    br   bonesetter is a perfect example of a     film . it does nothing right and it doesn  t have the chance to because it doesn  t really attempt to do anything . there are strands of a bad dd novel kind of plot which doesn  t hold together and a complete lack of any kind of acting throughout . it is clear that nobody involved in this project gave it any kind of serious effort  because even a completely patently untalented persons  hard work would amount to more . a truly awful film .  
this documentary follows the lives of big and little edie beale  a mother and daughter  who lived as recluses in their family mansion in east hampton  ny from the mid    s through the late   s . by the time the filmmakers find them  the mansion is falling apart  and the women  one   and the other    share a squalid room . the older edie beale is the aunt of jackie kennedy onassis and the younger is her first cousin . the women were originally going to be evicted from the house due to its decrepit condition  but jackie sent them money for repairs so they could keep living there .  br    br   at times this movie can seem exploitative  as neither woman seems in the best of mental health  but at other times  the movie is hard to look away from .  little  edie blames her mother for her current state  and her mother fires back that edie was never going to be the success she thought she was .  little  edie often seems trapped in the past  focused on choices she made decades ago  and loves showing off pictures from her youth  where she clearly was a beautiful debutante . her mother seems more resigned to her fate  to live out the rest of her life in terrible conditions . there are definite hints of the glamorous life both women once lead  from the pictures that show a happy family  to the grand portrait of the older edie next to her bed . from what we see of the house  most of the rooms in it are empty  the walls are cracking and falling apart  and  little  edie leaves food in the attic for the racoons to feast on . and of course there are numerous cats running around .  br    br   at its heart  this documentary is incredibly sad . while neither woman seems particularly depressed by their lot in life  the squalor they live in is utterly awful . it  s not particularly clear if there is even running water in the house  and you get the impression that they have essentially been abandoned by their family .  br    br   however  as a documentary  the film is a wonder to behold  and is highly recommended .  
words cannot begin to describe how blandly terrible this movie is . i wish it were  so bad it  s good   but it  s not . it  s just dull  lifeless  and boring . it  s so bad i couldn  t even laugh at it .  br    br   in response to other posters  anne  marie frigon is not the highlight of the movie . the only person less charismatic is the director brett kelly  who as a true statement on vanity  cast himself as the male lead . they both look like inbreeds  sister and brother .  br    br   the gal  sherry thurig  is a looker . the complete opposite of anne  marie  attractive . this girl is tall and willowy  and can act . although you can tell she  s holding back .  br    br   all the actors seem to be holding back  especially the supporting male  mark . i  ve seen less wood in a rain forest  but he  s still better than kelly . why would kelly keep his actors from acting  is he really that bad a director  everyone else has summed the story up perfectly  there isn  t one . kids are kidnapped and kelly steps in poo to solve the crime . i know how he felt stepping in the poo  it  s how i felt after watching his movie .  br    br   yes  i tried to get my money back from the rental store . this is a home movie best left to be seen by the friends of the director  and if you search them out  you  ll see those same friends were the one who gave the movie positive marks  .  
i stopped short of giving  mr . blandings builds his dream house       due to an aspect that makes us in the   st century cringe a little bit the fact that a black person is the faithful servant  somewhat reminiscent of stepin fetchit  . but other than that  the movie  s a hoot . portraying middle class new york couple jim  cary grant  and muriel blandings  myrna loy  trying to build a house in connecticut  this flick has something for everyone .  br    br   grant is his usual flippant self  while loy does quite well as merely a wife . but melvyn douglas adds some real laughs as jim  s and muriel  s lawyer bill cole  who seems to have more plans than he  s making clear . as for the house itself . . . throughout most of the movie  you  ll probably feel ambiguous as to whether or not you want to live there . the builders  contractors  and others also provide their fair share of laughs .  br    br   all in all  a comedy classic . also starring louise beavers  reginald denny  sharyn moffett  connie marshall and jason robards sr .  
i realise that the us army was demoralised by      but this film was unbelievable . it was supposed to be a training camp not the ss punishment battalion in a sven hassell novel . the writer must be a real army hater . the psycho sergeant who kept beating the crap of people belonged in a prison cell  and the useless black top sergeant should have been sacked as well . these men were going overseas  the receiving units would surely have wondered where all the unusable damaged recruits were coming from  and an investigation would have ensued . the scene that blew it completely was the electrocution one . farrell  the alleged barrack room lawyer  would have had the instructor over a barrel for issuing an illegal order  to torture pows in contravention to the geneva convention   actual assault on an enlisted man  sexual assault and conduct unbecoming an officer . intead he just walks away . after this  discipline brakes down into a madhouse level and the film becomes unwatchable . i don  t know how it ended  i went to bed .  
i saw this film a couple of weeks ago  and it  s been stuck in my head ever since . it stars two spellbinding characters in what is unfortunately a mediocre documentary . to get the true story of the beales  i had to wade through all of the dvd  s bonus material and commentaries and search the web .  br    br   although the maysles and their fans  not to mention edith and edie themselves  bristle at the suggestion that this film is exploitative  this is exploitation in the truest sense of the word . very little effort is every made to explain the beales or how they came to the condition they were in  the maysles approach seems to be to just turn the camera on and wait for edith and edie to say something outrageous . the sound  even on the criterion re  release is poor and difficult to follow . although i appreciate this film was made somewhat early in the history of documentary film  it  s ironic to compare it to geraldo rivera  s    far superior series on the sexual abuse of mentally retarded patients at willowbrook state school in staten island from      four years before grey gardens was shot .  br    br   to paraphrase a review in the new yorker  there were many things edith and edie needed in their lives  and a documentary wasn  t one of them .  br    br   as for edith and edie  the thing i kept thinking while watching the film was  where the hell is their family   they were living in dangerous  unhealthy  unsafe conditions . how is it that jackie o  married to one of the richest men on earth  or the wealthy bouvier family themselves  couldn  t afford to get edith and edie a decent home  or at the very least hire a part  time housekeeper or caregiver to come in and keep an eye on them both  it  s shameful and a lasting disgrace to the entire bouvier family .  br    br   although this review may sound negative i would strongly recommend grey gardens to anyone who enjoys documentaries . perhaps someday someone will come along and do a documentary about this documentary  bringing in the rich backstory  and afterstory  of the beales and the whole subsection of hamptons society in the      s .  
a truly frightening film . feels as if it were made in the early    s by a straight person who wanted to show that gays are good  normal  mainstream  aspiring people . retrograde to the point of being offensive  ltr suggests that monogamy and marriage are the preferred path to salvation for sad  lonely  sex  crazed gays . wow  who knew  the supporting characters are caricatures of gay stereotypes  the effeminate buffoon  the bitter  lonely queen  the fag hag  etc .  and the main characters are milquetoast  middle  class  middlebrow clones  of little interest .  br    br   as far as the romantic  ideological struggles of the main couple are concerned  there  s not much to say we  ve seen it all before  and done much better .  
hey now  yours truly  theatrex  found this while grubbing through videos at the flea market  in almost new condition  and in reading the back of the box saw that it was somewhat of a  cult hit  so of course it came home with me .  br    br   what a strange film . the aunt and cousin of former first lady jacqueline bouvier kennedy onassis live in this decaying   room house out on long island  suffolk co .  and share the house with raccoons  cats  fleas  eyow   and who knows what else . suffolk co . was all over them at one point for living in filth and old jackie herself came by to set things right . anyway  this is one strange pair  big edie and little edie . . . edie  the daughter  always wears something over her head and dances  sings  and gives little asides to the camera that rarely make much sense . big edie  the mother  age    apparently likes to run around naked  and while we do get hints of what that might look like thankfully this was tastefully    done to the point where we  re mercifully spared from that . these women talk and talk and talk  mostly about the past  and it doesn  t make a whole lot of sense  except to them . they live in absolute filth  cats doing their business wherever   look  that cat  s going to the bathroom behind my portrait     and one bedroom appears to be their center of operations . if i close my eyes and listen to big edie  s voice it reminds me very much of my own late aunt  who was from that area of the country and had that lawn guyland accent . one scene has little edie putting on flea repellent  lovely  you can see all the cats scratching all the time so the place must have been infested . the box refers to these two women as  eccentric   and i  d have to say in this case it is just a euphemism for  wacked out of their gourds   but this film is not without its moments where you truly feel something for them . this is equal parts creepy  sad  and disgusting  but i couldn  t stop watching once i started . this is not my  normal  type of flick but i found it to be somewhat fascinating . it won  t be for everybody though  guaranteed .  
or listening to  for that matter . even the soundtrack is a bore .  br    br   honestly  this isn  t the worst gay movie i  ve seen  that would be regarding billy   but it  s down there very close to the bottom of the barrel .  br    br   this thing drags and drags and drags . it  s not that the plot is inane   in the hands of a good writer it might have worked . . . it certainly could have been much more entertaining . there  s not one plot point you can  t see coming for ten miles down the road . the dialog is flat . the jokes are old . to add insult to injury  it  s full of one  dimensional  stereotypical gays .  br    br   nothing in this movie convinced me that the situation or the relationship of the two leads was possible  much less real . there was no chemistry  no dynamic  in fact no evidence of why the leads love each other . . . we  re just told they  re in love . hard to figure when they have nothing in common and aren  t compatible sexually . they like the same book  huh   br    br   the acting is not totally bad  but the pacing is excruciatingly slow . i mean  almost jarmusch  slow  but without jarmusch quality . in fact  that would be a good barometer for you . if you like jarmusch films  avoid this one .  
i found grey garden  s to be a gripping film  an amazingly intimate  br    br   look at too eccentrics who basically have the right idea forget  br    br   society and live in a delapidated house with no heating and a huge  br    br   brood of cats and raccoons  persuing their own interests rather  br    br   mundainly  all the while chattering at the camera .  br    br   big edie and little edie are the two crazies that the mazles bros .  br    br   have chosen to document . they seem like characters out of a  br    br   fellini film  only stranger  if that makes any sense . old edie is  br    br   almost fully bedridden  a pile of papers  clothes and dirty dishes  br    br   growing around her . little edie is even more interesting . she  br    br   prances around the house  always wearing a baboushka  like  br    br   headdress around her head  completely covering her hair . we  br    br   never see her hair throughout the film  nor do we ever get a hint  br    br   that she still has much . at age fifty eight  though  she is still  br    br   beautiful and full of life .  br    br   in grey gardens  we get the sense that both of these women  s  br    br   lives have become much less than what they once were . little  br    br   edie is probably the sadder of the two . while her mother  in her  br    br   earlier years  got married  made a family  lived luxuriously and  br    br   even made some recordings  the scene where  at    she sings  br    br   along with a recording of  tea for two  she made decades ago is  br    br   one of the films best scenes   edie left her promicing career as a  br    br   model to take care of her ailing mother . at    she still longed to  br    br   find her prince charming . if anything little edie is still a little girl   br    br   full of dreams of glamour and fame  and of domestic and romantic  br    br   bliss  that have yet to be fulfilled .  br    br   highlights of the film include the opening moments  where little  br    br   edie explains her outfit to the camera  the  tea for two  sequence   br    br   the birthday party  the climactic argument  the grocery deliver  br    br   scene  and the scene in the attic . the whole thing is incredibly  br    br   candid and unpretencious . and it  s made all the more remarcable  br    br   since it  s all real .  br    br   i suggest seeing grey gardens back  to  back with the kenneth  br    br   anger short puce moment . the criterion dvd is    .    but it  s  br    br   worth every penny .  
movie had some good acting and good moments  though obviously pretty low budget   but bad rating due to basic premise being badly developed . the main point of conflict between the two leads doesn  t play out in a realistic manner at all . there are a few scenes where they disagree because of it  but no discussions of any great depth that would explain how they can be together while seeing the world so differently  especially since the employment of glenn is so wound up in this part of his life  and adam is active enough with his that he supports it with time and money .  also  several times glenn is portrayed negatively for being the way he is  apologizing to adam for his past  while adam is shown to be upstanding and  traditional   which the film proclaims to be the  good  way in the end . i don  t like being preached to like that . i attended a discussion session with the director after viewing ltr  and he said that he presented this conflict between them because  if he was in glenn  s shoes  and he said he does in real life relate to glenn  s view  that he could never date someone with adam  s views . well  then  i think he should have done a much better job explaining how glenn could do it in the film . also  director said he directed this  his first movie  only after reading  directing for dummies .  directing was not that bad  but far from a top notch effort . i  ve seen worse  but i rarely leave films feeling this frustrated .  
  grey gardens        is the maysles  brothers bizarre documentary of jackie bouvier kennedy onassis  eccentric aunt and first cousin who live like pigs in a run down   room mansion on east hampton  long island .  big edie  bouvier beale     witty and dry and her daughter   little edie  beale      emotionally about    a still beautiful woman who once had a promising future  live in isolation from the rest of the world except for their many cats and raccoons in the attic . they amuse themselves by bickering all day  listening to the radio or singing to each other  they dont even own a television  their fall from society is amazing to learn of and the viewer is drawn to these two very special  although obviously  dysfunctional people . one of the better documentaries ever made and still a cult classic today .  
when this play was first shown by the bbc over   years ago  it would have been something quite different for the time . so therefor some people would have found it quite scary  and may well have been impressed with the special effects   br    br   looking at the play in this day and age  it doesn  t seem to be all that scary anymore  even the special effects can leave a lot to be desired .  br    br   would a train really be allowed to pass a red light into a dark tunnel  i don  t think so . . . . . . but if you watch this play again  you will observe that the first train that enters the tunnel  rushes straight through the red light   maybe that  s how it was in dickens time    br    br   you will also notice that the footpath that leads down to the signal box is very steep and in a poor state . surely there would have been a series of proper steps with handrails for the signalman to climb up or down into the cutting .  i can  t help but notice things like that   br    br   i will not take anything away from the acting  both denholm elliott  signalman  and bernard lloyd  the traveller  gave wonderful performances .  br    br   i am not at all sure what is going on . . . . . . i mean was the ghost the traveller  or what    does anyone really fully understand this rather confusing story     well maybe i am the only one that don  t      br    br   to sum up . . . . .  br    br   the play has a wonderful atmosphere throughout  with great character . it suffers from not being that scary these days  and a little if not very confusing in places  and has some rather unusual signalling practises . . . .  br    br   thanks for reading my review .  
one question that must be asked immediately is would this film have been made if the women in it were not the aunt and cousin of jacqueline lee bouvier kennedy onassis   br    br   the answer is probably not .  br    br   but  thankfully  they are  or were  the cousin and aunt of jackie .  br    br   this documentary by the maysles brothers on the existence  one could hardly call it a life  of edith b . beale  jr .  and her daughter edith bouvier beale  edie   has the same appeal of a train wreck   you don  t want to look but you have to .  br    br   big edith and little edie live in a once magnificent mansion in east hampton  new york  that is slowly decaying around them . the once beautiful gardens are now a jungle .  br    br   magnificent oil painting lean against the wall  with cat feces on the floor behind them  and beautiful portraits of them as young women vie for space on the walls next to covers of old magazines .  br    br   living alone together for many years has broken down many barriers between the two women but erected others .  br    br   clothing is seems to be optional . edie  s favorite costume is a pair of shorts with panty hose pulled up over them and bits and pieces of cloth wrapped and pinned around her torso and head .  br    br   as edith says  edie is still beautiful at   .  and indeed she is . there are times when she is almost luminescent and both women show the beauty that once was there .  br    br   there is a constant undercurrent of sexual tension .  br    br   their eating habits are  to be polite  strange . ice cream spread on crackers . a dinner party for edith  s birthday of wonder bread sandwiches served on fine china with plastic utensils .  br    br   time is irrelevant in their world as edie says  i don  t have any clocks .   br    br   their relationships with men are oh  so  strange .  br    br   edie feels like edith thwarted any of her attempts at happiness . she says  if you can  t get a man to propose to you  you might as well be dead .  to which edith replies  i  ll take a dog any day .   br    br   it is obvious that edith doesn  t see her role in edie  s lack of male companionship . early in the film she states  france fell but edie didn  t .  br    br   sometimes it is difficult to hear exactly what is being said . both women talk at the same time and constantly contradict each other .  br    br   there is a strange relationship with animals throughout the film edie feeds the raccoons in the attic with wonder bread and cat food . the cats  and there are many of them  are everywhere .  br    br   at one point edie declares  the hallmark of aristocracy is responsibility .  but they seem to be unable to take responsibility for themselves .  br    br   this is a difficult film to watch but well worth the effort .  
i watched this movie for its two hours and have absolutely no idea what it  s about . somebody got murdered or maybe they didn  t and maybe somebody did it or maybe they didn  t . this brought back memories of the good old days  bad old days   when all cbc canadian movies were stinkers . lately stinkers have been the exception but this confused hodge podge of trendy feminism  mind reeling flash backs and mumbled dialogue makes up for lost time . i  ve never found margaret atwood  s books easy to read . this movie continues that fine canadian tradition . it isn  t easy to watch . maybe the trendy folks at the chi chi toronto cocktail parties will pretend they liked it . us folks in the boonies are a little less pretentious .  
i was speechless and devastated after my first viewing of this  many parts of grey gardens are very funny and unbelievably surreal  documentary of not  this really gives fellini or david lynch a run for their money in the weirdsville sweepstakes . i kept focusing on how these women  who are clinically way beyond eccentric  reveal their own humanity in the most surprising of ways  and i wonder whether their retreat from the world was prompted by something beyond the stuffiness of life in the unreal blue  blood universe  perhaps some abuse  or perhaps simply a streak of defiance and rebellion that spiralled out of their control and took on a life of its  own . this might be one of the greatest ever films that comes dangerously close to exploitation  without going completely over the edge  as the edies do their thing  i kept noting things like the empty gin bottles in the rubble  strewn bedroom  cats urinating on the bed  racoons emerging from holes in the walls  and the final scene seemed incredibly sad  like a child  s birthday party gone seriously wrong . very definitely worth seeing and seeking out  you  ll never forget it  but very disturbing .  
i don  t know what margaret atwood was thinking to allow this movie to have the same name as her book . i  ve always been a big fan of the robber bride and was so excited to learn there was a movie in the works . i am aware that the translation of book to movie isn  t perfect but this movie was the worst ever . the names of the women are correct and some of the back story is correct but that is about it . i feel like i lost a good portion of my time trying to make it through this movie . this really should have been a mini  series to tell the story the way it was written .  br    br   the actors for roz  tony  charis and zenia were well  chosen even though i was skeptical at first about mary  louise parker . i only wish they  d had a better script to work with because this really had nothing to do with the book at all .  
we stumbled upon the documentary  grey gardens  last sunday and got  sucked in  without warning . everyone who entered the room became transfixed on the television and the haunting images of edith and edie who seemed to be living out their lives in practically one room of a large filthy mansion on the beach  eating ice cream and corn on the cob  which was cooked on the bedside table    and the cat urinating on edith  s bed and her unbelievable words   i thrive on it the smell .  we had not seen the beginning and wondered what we were watching and how these aristocratic women managed to get in the position they were in . spellbinding  a must see      
when i saw that mary louise parker was associated with this epic novel turned film  i was intrigued . being a fan of the book  i assumed she  d be playing tony  roz  or charis  but more so  i was intrigued to see how they would turn this very head  y  almost psychological  but not psychological thriller  novel in to a movie that would be accessible to those who hadn  t read the novel  and that would be at least mildly satisfying for those who had . the book is a complex reflection of society  women  and modern life  and i was interested to see how they used the  different narratives that lead to the unfolding of the story in a film . what they actually did was a crime .  br    br   the biggest error and confusing issue is why would oxygen  a network that advertises as being for women  take an amazing book about how complex  wonderful  and terrible women are and can be  and change the protagonist from  women to some dumb former cop with no real motive to be involved in the story  it seems like whoever adapted it took an easy way out by using this guy to straight up ask roz  tony  and charis about how they knew zenia and in doing that  they rushed through bulk of the book . in doing this though they muddied the story and cut everything that is great about the characters in it  aside from making it so the audience had no one credible to associate with . in the film  these women aren  t people  they are characters .  br    br   in the book zenia does fake her death  but the book mentions it to get this point across  while the film wastes      minutes focusing on this former cop running around and doing nothing of use . they tried to make this complex book an episode of law and order or csi .  br    br   it turns out that mary louise parker played zenia  which was so wrong . zenia is a catherine zeta  jones  angelina jolie  or maybe even a scarlett johnasson type . she is a woman men can  t not adore  and a woman that women are intrigued and threatened by  but in a  keep your enemies closer  kind of way . and once she gets closer  she seems totally genuine and trust worthy  despite your better judgment . she  s the kind of woman who  even when she loses  she wins she  s always still beautiful  still rich  and there are always still people out there who don  t know her game .  br    br   in the film  zenia didn  t take charis  s man  the blonde american draft dodger who was using charis in the first place . . .  but instead took august and tried to become her legal guardian  and apparently came back to be her lesbian lover as a lingering kiss at the coffee shop implies  . and zenia did kill the chickens before leaving with august  but it made no sense since all of the build up to it was removed . it  s was as if whoever wrote the screenplay was grasping at straws to satisfy those of us who read the book  but i think had i not read the book  i would have spent the whole movie confused  if i had bothered to stick with it at all .  br    br   and roz  s husband was dead before zenia came in to the picture  which was weird since zenia took roz  s business and home life in the book  which is why roz hated her so much  and she and zenia had conspired to kill roz  s husband years and years back . and according to the film tony and west had been dating forever . . . even at the party where zenia and west  in the book  had painted the whole place black and they made tony seem like this totally with it  and evil  bitchy  person who was always respected by everyone for her intelligence and popular for it . tony  s character was so wrong in this film . . . she seemed a little psycho and like the mastermind behind whatever conspiring was going down as opposed to the kind of gawky  mildly reclusive teacher that she was in the book . the film basically implied smart women are evil  beautiful women are evil  powerful women are evil  and women who teach yoga are off their rockers .  br    br   they basically tried to make it so zenia wasn  t necessarily as awful as she was in the book  and then  in the end  the three women convince this former cop  who  of course in the process of researching this  meets zenia and has an affair with her that is supposed to end with them moving to barbados or something ridiculous  which of course zenia bails on  to hide zenia  s body  which they found splat at the hotel she was staying at  but the film implies that one of the three women pushed her over the balcony  or they conspired together to do it . . .  and then zenia also managed to take all of roz  s money in the process . by the end of the film i was only half paying attention between commercials b  c it had spiraled so far out in space from what it could and should have been .  br    br   if you aren  t confused by this breakdown of the film  then maybe you would like it  because i have read the book and seen the movie  and from the movie alone i am ridiculously confused . it was terrible . i get that making a film out of that book is quite a task  but if you are going to take on the task  you should start by determining what in the book is unnecessary  instead of creating some useless character to be our alice in wonderland .  br    br   are there really no fluffier books that oxygen could be making at least half decent tv movies of   
trawling through the sci fi weeklies section of the local video rentals store i was losing hope of finding any good movies i hadn  t yet seen . renting cypher was like a punt on a possibly very lame horse . my son is so jaded with current  b  science fiction that he hasn  t bothered seeing this yet .  br    br   it must be noted i didn  t see anything about cypher when it was released in australia . it must have been very quiet or i just missed it .  br    br   well this was a really pleasant surprise  this is also no b movie . it  s not a  blockbuster  of the epic variety and doesn  t try to be  more a quiet movie that needs to be seen several times for it  s plot to be fully savoured .  br    br   the special effects are powerfully presented when they are used  my only complaint is the super helo is a leetle obviously cgi at first view  but they get it right at it  s  nd appearance   that aside everything else is top notch . in any case the affects are secondary .  br    br   i won  t give anything away about the plot . the plot structure has a russian doll aspect a little reminiscent of basic instinct  though with very different content  .  br    br   just i will say that choosing jeremy northam for the lead was a master stroke . the actor was born in cambridge england  and his accent for this film hits the ear as a sort of extremely forced new england dialect  it  s a tad off key . see the final twist of the plot and you  ll see why that is such a brilliant choice  and lucy liu is also just right with her  will she kiss me  will she shoot me  edge .  br    br   i rarely watch movies several times within days  this is one of them .  
i greatly enjoyed margaret atwood  s novel  the robber bride   and i was thrilled to see there was a movie version . a woman frames a cop boyfriend for her own murder  and his buddy  an ex  cop journalist  tries to clear his name by checking up on the dead woman  s crazy female friends . it  s fortunate that the movie script fixes ms . atwood  s clumsy plotting by focusing on the story of these two men  victims of scheming women . . .  br    br   heh . okay  you got me . if these guys are mentioned in the book  and i  m pretty sure they  re entirely made up for the movie  i  ll eat the dust cover of my hardback copy . apparently  the three main female characters of the novel aren  t enough to carry the movie . zenia  s manipulations aren  t interesting unless we see them happen to a man  and a man  s life is screwed up . roz  charis  and toni tell their stories   to a man . because it  s not important if a man doesn  t hear them .  br    br   i liked the characters in the book . it hurts to see them pushed off to the side for a man  s story . i normally do not look for feminist angles on media  and i tried to enjoy the movie as is . if i hadn  t read the book  i might have enjoyed the movie a lot more . so if you like the cop and the ex  cop  and you want to read more about them  you  re out of luck . read the novel  if you want to enjoy luscious prose and characterization subtly layered through a plot . it  s the same plot the movie excavated it  ironed it  and sprinkled it with male angst . it  s like zenia  s revenge on margaret atwood .  
don  t read anything about this movie  especially nothing that could contain any spoilers  . just watch this awesome movie without knowing anything about it  and you  ll have a really great experience . if you like to see an intelligent  twisted story go  get the dvd and you  ll truly not be disappointed .  cypher  is not really a sci  fi movie  more a psycho thriller settled in the environment of globalized business . it  s about corporate secrets  how big companies spy each others research departments and the methods used by them . the actors do a great performance and the overall visual style of the movie provides a perfect mode of coldness . cypher is much deeper  more complex and  what belongs the story and the ending  also much  much more satisfying than vincenzo natali  s other movies  cube  and  nothing  . actually it  s one of the best movies i  ve ever seen  and that  s something i really don  t say this about every fifth well  made flick  . sorry  can  t tell you anything more about this movie without risking to hurt your experience . just give it a chance .     
if i had never read the book  i would have said it was a good movie . but i did read the book . who ever did the screen write ruined the storyline . there is so many changes  that it wasn  t really worthy of the title . character changes  plot changes  time line changes . . .  br    br   first off who was henry and the investigator  they weren  t in the story . henry had mitch  s persona somewhat  but mitch wasn  t a cop . no you made it so roz  helped  sink  his body and used that as zenia  s blackmail against roz . the real so called blackmail was roz thought zenia was sleeping with her son and wanted her to get away from him . her son was also being blackmailed because he was hiding being gay from his mother . her son wasn  t even really mentioned in the story . neither i don  t believe was his lover  roz  s secretary .  br    br   tony and west were not together in the beginning . he was actually with zenia first while in college . the black painted apartment was their idea  tony just went to visit . this is where zenia and tony meet  become fast friends . tony hides her love for west . then zenia left west  with cash from tony  then west and tony get together . eventually marry  at some point west leaves tony for zenia again for a short time . only to be heart broken again . then go back to tony . zenia  s blackmail for tony was that tony had written a test paper for zenia . now being a professor at college she didn  t want to let it get out . i will say the character who played tony did it wonderfully .  br    br   charis character was a blond  not that it really matters . zenia didn  t trick her about having cancer while augusta was alive . no she was there when charis had a lover named billy . augusta  s father  he was a draft dodger in the vietnam war . eventually after charis takes care of zenia for months for what was actually drug withdrawal . zenia and billy have an affair right under charis  s nose while taking care of them both . then zenia turns in billy to the government  and leaves on the ferry with him . not with augusta  charis was pregnant with her tho . charis also had a split personality  karen was her real name .  br    br   zenia did not die from being cut up into piece  s . . . . she fell or was possibly pushed  we never really knew  off the balcony and landed in a fountain . she had almost pure grade heroin in her blood and it was likely she took some not knowing and fell off as she od  d . she was also really dieing of cancer this time around .  br    br   it didn  t show any of the childhood memories or anything that endeared the characters to the reader . the book was striped down to its bare bones . then re made in someone else  s vision . why couldn  t you just write your own story along the lines of what you made the movie . it was different enough  and i  m sure could have been made more so .  
  cypher  is a cleverly conceived story about industrial espionage set in america in the not too distant future . while thematically not complex  this film does offer many different perspectives about personal loyalty  ruthlessness  and corporate conspiracy . to a certain extent this film also attempts to represent modern corporate groups and companies as being indifferent to the risks their contract employees take on their behalf .  br    br   the film starts off with a somewhat mediocre salary man  morgan sullivan  jeremy northam   who applies to the digicorp group to work as an undercover operative . after an initial briefing with digicorp  s security chief  sullivan is then given a new identity  jack thursby  and sent to a business conference with the task of recording the speeches given by various spokesmen concerning the marketing strategies of each of their respective companies . upon successfully completing his first assignment  sullivan  thursby is sent on further missions to obtain the same type of information previously gathered . however  on one of his  business trips  he inadvertently runs into a woman named rita foster   liu  whom he had met on his previous assignment  and from there things go extremely topsy  turvy . the implications of a diabolical conspiracy involving digicorp  s espionage program begin to emerge and sullivan is forced to go deep cover at one of digicorp  s main competitors  thus becoming a double agent involved in an intense rivalry between the two companies .  br    br     spoilers end here    br    br   what i liked most about this film was the efficient use of lighting and shadows in a lot of the scenes . vivid lighting was used in mainly domestic  household settings  while a lot of shadows and dark coloring were used for settings involving deception and cover  up . i was also very impressed with jeremy northam . not too often have i seen him in the lead role  and the fact that he plays a disenchanted married man straight out of wisconsin was brilliant . personally  i think he  s one of the many under used actors in the industry who hasn  t been given more challenging roles . lucy liu was also incredible in her part and gave the movie its real cloak  and  dagger tone . additionally  the rest of the supporting cast did a superb job  however  my only complaint was that some characters could have been explored more to make the plot and closure a little more complicated . for example  i would have loved to see what would have happened if jack thursby had developed a more intimate relationship with his second  wife .  overall  this is a cleverly developed cloak  and  dagger story that keeps you guessing to the very end about personal and professional loyalties and whether anyone in the entire film can be trusted . with a smart and stylish soundtrack and great camera work  this film provides a scary look at how corporations might operate in the near future . i  m surprised that i had never watched this  hidden gem  before . this is a brilliant  not  too  overly complicated spy thriller  and therefore i  m giving it a  out of   .  
warning  no plot spoilers ahead  but movie spoilers nonetheless . . .  my significant other rented this for me thinking it would be a terrific romance with an all  star cast . wow  very  very wrong . this movie is an overdone  overwrought  and overly sentimental excuse to theatrically release a student film   years after it was shot  the copyright date on the box said      yet during the very first flashback sequence i was looking at the clothes and hairdos that were supposed to be the early     s  and noticed that the girls especially were wearing late   s  early   s dresses and hairdos . it looked as if it had been shot a good   or   years before the rest of the film  i tried to convenience myself that it was a flashback  and therefore supposed to look old  but it looked wwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy more   s than   s or even   st century trying to be   s . . . then an adult coworker of the lead character turns up  and he looks just like the boy featured in the flashback sequences  yet it  s a different  much older character whose youth is featured in the flashbacks  . i was completely confused until i saw in the special features the short film included  it was all the flashback sequences  shot in     as a complete student film of the same title as this movie  it also features commentary that includes the little boy all grown up  and indeed acting the co  worker in the     scenes  . thus  this movie is just a shell of story woven around an old  re  cut student film put together as an obvious excuse to get it up to theatrical running time . the shell story  shot in      is mostly about a man who has lost his wife and finds healing and redemption at the dance class that he promises a dying man he will attend in his stead  something about a promise made by the dying man in the early    s to his girl that they would meet on the  fifth day of the fifth month of the fifth year of the new millennium  an excuse to shoot the segments around the old film in       these new scenes and plot might have been ok except the awful  overly sentimental score that repeats ad nauseum over almost every single new scene and the clichd action that permeates the new movie . don  t bother . there  s a reason why you  ve never heard of this movie even though it has a well  known cast  it  s terrible .  
modern viewers know this little film primarily as the model for the remake   the money pit .  older viewers today watch it with wisps of nostalgia cary grant  myrna loy  and melvyn douglas were all  superstars  in an easier  less complicated era . or was it  time  of course  has a way of modifying perspectives  and with so many films today verily ulcerating with social and political commentary  there is a natural curiosity to wonder about controversy in older  seemingly less provocative films . in  mr . blandings builds his dream house   there may  therefore  be more than what audiences were looking for in     . there is political commentary  however subtle . finding a house in the late   s was a truly exasperating experience  only lightly softened by the coming of levittowns and the like . politics in the movie  the blandings children always seem to be talking about progressive ideas being taught to them in school  which in real life would get teachers accused of communism  . in real life  too  myrna loy was a housing activist  a democrat  and a feminist . melvyn douglas was no less a democratic firebrand he was married to congresswoman helen gahagan douglas  whom young richard nixon accused of being soft on communism  and which ruined her  . jason robards  sr .  has a small role in the film  but his political activism was no less noticeable . more importantly  his son  jason robards  jr .  would be for many years a very active liberal democrat . almost the odd fellow out was cary grant  whose strident conservatism reflected a majority political sentiment in hollywood that was already slipping . but this was      communism was a real perceived threat and the blacklist was just around the corner . it would be another decade before political activism would reappear in mainstream films  and then not so subtly .  
i got this movie in the   bin at walmart . i would not recommend watching this move . i might give it to one of my friends if i am angry at them and want them to suffer for  hours .  br    br   i looked at the cover and skimmed through the summary and thought it was a war movie . i wish i would have known how boring this movie was going to be before turning it on . it was my mistake to think something was going to happen in this movie . it  s just about a group of people going from one boot camp to another . the drill sargents treat the soldiers very badly and the main character tries to help people get out of fighting in vietnam .  br    br   okay  here is my rant about this movie to me  this movie is slow and hard to watch . it was just one of those movies that you put in and are stuck watching because you want to turn it off but your hanging on to a string of hope that it might pick up towards the end . it doesn  t . after the movie was over i through it behind my t . v . because i was angry that i wasted almost  hours of my life watching it  and another   minutes writing this review to warn people about it .  
cypher is a clever  effective and eerie film that delivers . its good premise is presented well and it has its content delivered in an effective manner but also in a way the genre demands . although one could immediately label the film a science fiction  there is a little more to it . it has it  s obvious science fiction traits but the film resembles more of a noir  detective feel than anything else which really adds to the story .  br    br   the film  overall  plays out like it  s some kind of nightmare thus building and retaining a good atmosphere . we  re never sure of what exactly is going on  we  re never certain why certain things that are happening actually are and we  re not entirely sure of certain people  similar to having a dream  the ambiguity reigns over us all  hero included and i haven  t seen this pulled off in such a manner in a film before  bar terry gilliam  s brazil . going with the eeriness stated earlier  cypher presents itself with elements of horror as well as detective  noir and science fiction giving the feeling that there  s something in there for everyone and it integrates its elements well .  br    br   there is also an espionage feeling to the film that aids the detective side of the story . the mystery surrounding just about everyone is disturbing to say the least and i find the fact that the character of rita foster  liu   who is supposed to resemble a femme fatale  can be seen as less of a threat to that of everything else happening around the hero people whom appear as friends actually aren  t  people who say they  re helping are actually using and those that appear harmless enough are actually deadlier than they look . despite a lot of switching things around  twisting the plot several times and following orders that are put across in a way to make them seem that the world will end if they  re not carried out the one thing that seems the most dangerous is any romantic link or connection with lucy liu  s character  and she  s trying to help out    the film maintains that feeling of two sides battling a war of espionage  spying and keeping one up on its employees and opponents . the whole thing plays out like some sort of mini  cold war something that resembles the u . s . a . and the u . s . s . r . in their war of word  s heyday and it really pulls through given the black  bleak  often cgi littered screen that i was glued to .  br    br   what was also rather interesting and was a nice added touch was the travel insert shot of certain american states made to resemble computer microchips as our hero flies to and from his stated destinations  significant then how the more he acts on his and foster  s own motivation this sequence disappears because he  s breaking away from the computerised  repetitive  controlled life that he  s being told to live and is branching out .  br    br   cyhper is very consistent in its content and has all the elements of a good film . to say it resembles the first jason bourne film  only set in the sci  fi genre  isn  t cutting it enough slack but you can see the similarities despite them both being released in the same year . like i mentioned earlier  there feels like there is something in this film for everyone and if you can look past the rather disappointing ending that a few people may successfully predict  you will find yourself enjoying this film .  
i ended up watching this whole  very long  movie because i was fascinated by the sheer stupidity and naivity of it . it seems difficult to believe that so many famous people  anthony quinn  lawrence olivier  john gielguld  vittorio de sica  etc .  would have willingly participated in this farce . but maybe in     people really were so naive  the plot seems written by some confused latin american marxist priest with an agenda . there is a superpower conflict and the russians are actually the good guys  with the communist party general secretary being a nice and spiritual man  who  suddenly  after   years  sees the light and feels compelled to ease his bad conscience by releasing a prisoner priest from a siberian gulag . the priest then promptly becomes the pope by a series of coincidences . we are allowed to see the secret vatican papal voting process which is portrayed in the most hillariously pious form you can possibly imagine .  br    br   meanwhile  the communists in china achieved the usual socialist economic miracle of starving half of their country to death . to solve this minor hiccup on the relentless shining path towards communism they want to start a nuclear war  in order to justly distribute the western capitalist riches to the poor workers of china  .  br    br   our good old comrade general secretary gets a bit worried and calls the pope just before his coronation to ask him to broker peace . they meet with the chinese leader comrade peng who looks and acts like a   year old boy . you will roll on the floor laughing about what people in     thought the chinese looked like . comrade peng demands that the western capitalists must pay  which is quite logical after all  don  t capitalists always have to pay for the madness of the socialists    and that the pope needs to sacrifice something  too  for the common altruistic cause of equality and social justice .  br    br   so when the pope gets crowned in rome  he pledges the entire wealth of the catholic church world  wide to feed our poor chinese brethren in christ . and thus he saves the world from nuclear holocaust .  br    br   apart from this  there are also some minor sub  plots  which  alas  provide little to redeem this incredibly bad movie . i  d give it three oscars for stupidity .  br    br   by the way  anthony quinn looks quite unlikely as a pope . he is much more plausible as zorba the greek .  
cypher is a movie well worth seeing because it  s not the run  of  the  mill sci  fi flick . the artistic approach is painted with dark scenes and a kind of macro view of what  s going on . the close  up camera view is how the director keeps the plot illusive . the sci  fi aspect of the movie is secondary to the plot of the movie . the technology used in the movie isn  t overly impressive  however  the director makes good use of the props .  br    br   the character development is intentionally shallow . the main character  jeremy northam  decides to immerse himself into the world of espionage . it  s up to the audience to figure out his enigmatic character and it  s the enigma that keeps the audience interested right to the very end .  
my brother is an avid dvd collector . he took one look at the cover  two models on toilets  and had to add it to his collection . i stayed up with him to watch what turned out to be likely the most cringeable movie  i use that term loosely  i  ve felt obligated to sit through . i dared not make eye contact with my brother  quite certain he must have been cursing the receipt in his clenched fist . the biggest name in the whole movie is michael clark duncan who appears in one scene  which the  filmmaker  decided to show every take of  about four total  throughout the movie . in fact  the whole movie pretty much follows this suit . the fact that the dvd contained deleted footage was a shock .  i went to bed without viewing it  however  . to no surprise at all  i found this disc without its case behind the tv about a week later .  
damn  i  ve seen this movie for at least  times now and i still don  t get bored watching it .  br    br   the visuals are so good and together with the music which is totally awesome and perfect fitting this movie is mind  blowing to me .  br    br   the cgis are quite bad imho  but the whole visuals with the black and white feeling about it and the totally sterile interiors were just . . . just a genius perfect combination for such a movie . the whole feeling about the feeling is indescribable  the plot is so good .  br    br   however although  the movie had little flaws  like e . g . sometimes i thought the movie was a bit too  slow   but i don  t mean the scenic parts by that  i totally loved those .  br    br   also i got distracted very often by the totally complex story  like when he is in the underground bunker  like thing of digicorps  where all their data is saved  and has this conversation with the guy down there . . . but that may also just be me d and the end could have been displayed somehow more emphasized  they should have made the getting  back  true  memory  part a bit longer and  louder  but then again without all these flaws the movie would have been so good i would have never stopped watching it again and again . . .  
the underground comedy movie  is possibly the worst train wrecks i  ve ever seen . luckily i didn  t pay for this movie  and my friend reluctantly agreed to watch it again siting that it was so awful but he needed to prove to me how awful it was . i love off color comedy . i figured at the least it would have that and i would be entertained . no  instead the acting was so awful  the  jokes  were extremely cheesy  and the plot was no where to be found . maybe there wasn  t supposed to be a plot so i can  t hold that against this movie . it  s pretty sad where the funniest thing in a comedy is an old woman having her head hit off by a bat . . . . . by batman . . . a man dressed in a baseball uniform wielding a bat . hilarious . simply genius . i got the feeling watching this movie that its creators made it and laughed hysterically with their friends about it . perhaps this was full of inside jokes we just didn  t understand . or perhaps it  s the worst piece of trash ever made and it should be locked away in a vault and dumped in the arctic ocean .  br    br   p . s . don  t buy this movie   
this movie is a gem because it moves with soft  but firm resolution .  br    br   i caution viewers that although it is billed as a corporate spy thriller and ms liu is there  it moves at a deftly purposeful yet sedate pace . it  s not about explosions  car chases  or flying bullets . you must be patient and instead  note the details here . it  s sedate because that  s what the main character is . the viewer has to watch him and think as this story unfolds .  br    br   i will not give spoilers   because that destroys the point of watching . the plot is what you  ve read from the other postings an average white  collar guy  seeking change and adventure  signs on for a corporate spy job . just go somewhere and secretly record and transmit inside data .  br    br   take it from there .  br    br   this movie starts at a surreal walk   with a background tang of corporate disillusionment that entwines itself with quintessential  underlying suburban paranoia .  br    br   then it begins to accelerate .  br    br   the acting on all parts is superb   and yes  some of the acts are caricature characters . but they all fit  and they entertain . and the light piano rhyme in the background is just perfect as the soft  soft key sinister theme all is not right at the beginning .  br    br   and at the end all is not what it seems .  br    br   get comfortable and turn the lights down to watch this one   and turn up the sound this movie wants you to listen .  
sure  we all like bad movies at one time or another  and we in fact enjoy them  this however  wasn  t even a guilty pleasure  it was just crap . some guy  vince offer  who is conceited enough to make himself the main character while probably got drunk  high   probably both   and thought it was a great idea to make a movie . he then proceeded to show his script to equally high  drunk individuals . overall  this movie was so bad  predictable  and unoriginal i couldn  t get through   minutes of it before i turned it off . it makes you got served look like citizen kane . bat man  wtf . . . some guy that walks around with a bat  real original . almost as good as calling him fat man  and having a fat guy walk around in a superhero outfit .  
this is my first comment  this is a fantastic movie  i watched it all by luck one night on tv . at first  minutes i thought it was a b movie  but afterward i understood what an amazing product this was .  br    br   i suggested to some friends to see the movie  only to tell me that it was a bad b movie . how wrong . superficial critiques .  br    br   i think that the movie is almost a product of genius  the well known director made an excellent job here and it is a shame to tell that he was out of the game all this time .  
sometimes you wonder how some people get funding to create a movie as bad as this one . you can only stand about  minutes of this utter piece of garbage before you stomp back into blockbuster and demand your money back . i will now look at michael clarke duncan with apprehension . . . why . . . . he lent his name to this vermin .  
i  ve seen this movie at theater when it first came out some years ago and really liked it a lot . but i still wanted to see it again this year to check if it is still good compared to movies coming out now  and i wan tell it  s one the best movies i  ve ever seen in my life               br    br   what you need to know is that you don  t have to miss any minute of this movie  if you don  t completely follow the action you will get lost and you will not understand the end .  br    br   the end is what makes this movie so good  you can  t expect it .  br    br   congratulations to the producer   
anyone who has watched comedy central around midnight in the past few years has probably seen ads for this movie . i first saw ads for this movie back in     . it looked like it could be funny  but i wasn  t about to call up the number on the television screen and order it without seeing the movie first . i figured i would wait until the movie was available to rent at blockbuster .  br    br   about a year and a half later  i was at tower records and in the  dvds for less than     pile  there was a copy of this movie . seeing that the dvd was only   .   i decided to buy it . i got home  put the disc in the dvd player  and waited for the laughs to start . . . and i waited some more . the laughs never came .  br    br   i  d have to agree with almost every other comment on this page when i say that this movie was horrible . sick  desperately tasteless  and poorly written and directed  the underground comedy movie is an atrocious piece of garbage and is in my opinion the worst movie of all time . no stars .  
who can watch a movie  look at lucy liu and not be overjoyed . that woman is amazingly beautiful  a talented actress . that  s a tough combination to find now a days . and jeremy northam . i heard his name plenty of times  but i never really noticed him . my advice to hollywood is   use him more  .  br    br   now about the movie i watched it in one of my graveyard shift . i don  t recommend that to anyone . it  s a bit to complicated  mysterious for that . i still can  t believe i didn  t see the ending coming . i  m not gonna say what cause that  ll spoil the hole movie . although saying this is spoilment enough .  br    br   now i  m suppose to cast my vote about this movie . i love the dark mystic story  the actors did a good job  i love the directors  natali  work in the past . there  s not a big audience for this kind of thing  that  s also pretty risky . you know what  i  m just gonna give this work a  cause everybody should see this . then again   point deduction cause there is always space for improvement .  
the underground comedy movie is perhaps one of the worst comedies i  ve ever seen . i should have known it was going to be bad when the box had the phrase  guaranteed to offend  written on it . . . meaning that the filmmakers were going to focus more on grossing you out than making you laugh .  br    br   this movie is an amateurish jumble of childish skits  bad characters  and worse jokes . . . from the pathetic bat  man sketch to the painfully unfunny arnold shvollenpecker skit  they just aren  t funny . the few skits that are a little funny are few and far between  watching micheal clark duncan play a gay virgin  for example  but even they go on too long and get ruined from vince offer  s ineptness at comedy .  br    br   keep the underground comedy movie underground . . . bury it   
wow . one of the greatest movies i have ever  ever seen .  br    br   absolutely loved it  before the opening credits were done i was glued to the screen .  br    br   it  s a sci  fi thriller  and edge of your seat whodunnit . incredible .  br    br   i wish  d it would never end .  br    br   lucy liu is a throwaway role . anyone could have played it . the lead actor  jeremy northram was the perfect geeky guy .  br    br   this movie appeals to me who loved war games  sneakers  and track down .  br    br   incredible   br    br          . walt d in lv  
first of all . . . . .  br    br   what the hell  why in the world are they trying to sell a low budget piece of crap on late night tv with the promise of disturbing  offensive sick garbage that any normal real human being with a soul couldn  t watch .  br    br   what the crap is funny about a dog being injured  a grandma getting her head knocked off . . . a guy getting his hand blown to pieces and two girls going to the bathroom  what in the hell has this world come to that people find comedy in some thing so completely sick . anyone who thinks this kind of material is funny  should not even be allowed to walk the earth .  br    br   but from what i hear its not even offensive . . . so . . . they promise comedy through demented piles of sick garbage . . . and they cant even pull that off .  
it  s actually a good thing sean connery retired as james bond  as i  m sure he wouldn  t be able to keep up in the nowadays spying  business  where fast cars have been replaced with hi  tech brainwashing techniques and gorgeous women are considered to be less sexy than advanced computer equipment .  cypher  is a pretty inventive sci  fi thriller that often evokes feelings of fright  claustrophobia despite being utterly implausible . you know the trend in these types of movies nothing is what it seems and just when you think figured out the convoluted plot  the writers make sure to insert a new twist that confuses everyone again . the events in  cypher  supposedly take place in the most prominent regions of the computer world  where the major companies don  t really do a lot apart from trying to steal each other  s thunder . company digisoft literally spends millions brainwashing people and providing them with a new identity  only to let them infiltrate as spies in their biggest competitor  the sunways corporation . sunways  on the other hand  constantly tries to unmask the digisoft  rats and recruit them again as double  spies . in between this whole unprofitable business stands morgan sullivan a seemingly colorless thirty  something employee who  s been selected by sebastian rooks  the ber  spy  to diddle the secret policies of both companies . trust me  it  s actually less complicated than it sounds and director vincenzo natali  the dude from  tube   carefully takes his time to introduce all the important and less important characters . the first half of the film is rather reminiscent to the sadly underrated john frankenheimer gem  seconds   starring rock hudson  as it also deals with erasing identities and drastically altering your former life style . even the set pieces seem to come straight out of that    s film  with loads of empty white rooms and eerie corridors that seem to be endless . there  s also plenty of great action and suspense  most notably when morgan soberly experiences how the digisoft crew inspects the results of their brainwashing  techniques during boring conventions . the middle section of the film drags a little  mainly because you already realize that it  s all just building up towards multiple misleading plot  twists  and i hoped for a slightly more grim portrayal of the not  so  distant future . jeremy northam is perfectly cast and the adorable lucy liu is convincingly mysterious as the foxy lady who appears to be on his side . regular director  s choice david hewlett has the most memorable supportive role as the uncannily eccentric suways engineer virgil c . dunn .  cypher  is well made and adrenalin rushing sci  fi entertainment  highly recommended to people who fully like to use their brain capacity from time to time .  
this movie goes beyond just being bad  it is definitively the worst movie i have ever seen in my entire life . unless you yourself have a problem with necrophilia than you will not enjoy will not enjoy the scenes depicting it in this film   if you can call it that  .  
this movie is about this wimpy guy who decides to become a spy for a glamorous high tech company named digicorp . this wimpy guy  morgan  jeremy northam  is unhappy with his miserable suburban life and his demanding wife so he decides to become a spy . he is suppose to go to conventions from other high tech companies and find out all the companies  plans . instead  morgan finds himself attracted to a beautiful woman  played by lucy liu  and pretty much being double  crossed by these two companies that force him to become a double agent . how will morgan get himself out of this  can he trust the beautiful but mysterious rita foster  played by lucy liu   and more importantly  can morgan make it out alive  wow  what a nifty movie  i was completely sucked in after   minutes of watching this movie . it is very suspenseful and you can feel morgan  s fear and confusion as he is doing his best to stay alive . the scene where they put this horrible contraption on morgan  s head to brainwash him is brilliantly creepy and frightening . morgan slowly goes through a personality transformation that is not so readily apparent until you think about it after the film is finished . from a wimpy guy with bad hair and glasses  he turns into a man actively fighting for his life .  br    br   the ending  wow  the ending is incredible  the twist is so much fun  it left me gasping and cheering like crazy  good performances from all around  especially from jeremy natham  lucy liu and nigel bennett .  br    br   i highly recommend this film   
imagine the worst skits from saturday night live and mad tv in one   minute movie . now  imagine that all the humor in those bad skits is removed and replaced with stupidity . now imagine something   times worse .  br    br   got that   br    br   ok  now go see the underground comedy movie . that vision you just had will seem like the funniest thing ever . ucm is the single worst movie i  ve ever seen . there were a few cheap laughs . . . very few . but it was lame . even if the intent of the movie was to be lame  it was too lame to be funny .  br    br   the only reason i  m not angry for wasting my time watching this was someone else i know bought it . he wasted his money . vince offer hasn  t written or directed anything else and it  s not surprise why .  
although recognized as the best film treatment of the difficulties of having a house in the country built  or bought  to your specifications  it is not the first  nor the last . in     jack benny and ann sheridan were the leads in the film version of the comedy george washington slept here by george s . kaufman and moss hart . and about fifteen years ago shelly long and tom hanks had the lead in the money pit . the former was about moving into an   th century country house that . . . err  needs work . the latter was about building your dream house  in the late     s . although the two films have their moments  both are not as good as blandings  which was based on an autobiographical novel of the same name .  br    br   jim blandings and his wife muriel  cary grant and myrna loy  are noticing the tight corners of their apartment  which they share with their two daughters joan and betsy  sharyn moffett and connie marshall  . although blandings has a good income as an advertising executive  in     he is making        .   a year  which was like making        .   today   and lives in a luxury apartment  which in the new york city of that day he rents   he feels they should seek something better . he and muriel take a drive into the country  connecticut  and soon find an old ruin that both imagine can be fixed up as that dream house they want .  br    br   and they both fall into the financial worm hole that buying land and construction can lead to . for one thing  they are so gung ho about the idea of building a home like this they fail to heed warning after warning by their wise  if cynical friend and lawyer bill cole  melvin douglas  in a nicely sardonic role  . for example  jim buys land from a connecticut dealer  ian wolfe  sucking his chops quietly   with a check before double checking the correct cost for the land in that part of connecticut . bill points out he  s paid about five or six thousand dollars more for the land than it is worth . there are problems about water supply that both blandings just never think about  such as hard and soft water  which leads to the zis  zis water softening machine . they find that the designs they have in mind  and have worked out with their architect  reginald denny   can  t be dropped cheaply at a spur of the moment decision by muriel to build a little rookery that nobody planned for .  br    br   the escalating costs of the project are one matter that bedevils jim . he has been appointed to handle the  wham  account   spam  had become a popular result of world war ii  in that the public started using it as a meat substitute  in the light of it  s success with the armed forces  . jim can  t get a grip on this  he  s not alone  one or two other executives fumbled it before him  . he comes up with the following bit of  poetry       br    br    this little piggy went to market   br    br   he was pink and as pretty as ham .  br    br   he smiled in his tracks   br    br   as they gave him the ax   br    br   he knew he would end up as  wham     br    br   his secretary looks at him as though he needs a straight jacket when he reads that one   br    br   jim also is increasingly suspicious of the attentions of bill to muriel  although  in this case  bill is blameless . but he  s always around  jim keeps forgetting that bill is the clearheaded one  and that he  s keeping jim and muriel from making so many mistakes  . all three have mishaps  the best being when they get locked in a room in the half constructed house  just as the men have left for the day . they can  t open the door  and jim  in a panic  tries breaking the door down by a make  shift battering ram . he breaks a window  and the door opens by itself .  br    br   the film works quite satisfactorily  with all of the actors apparently enjoying themselves . it is one film which  despite changing price levels and salary levels  really does not age at all . after all  most americans dream of owning their own home and always have .  br    br   a number of years ago a paint company made use of a delightful scene with myrna loy and emory parnell regarding the paint job parnell  s company has to do on the various rooms . she carefully shows the distinct shades of red  blue  etc . she wants  even giving a polite parnell a single thread for the right shade of blue . the commercials hinted that the paint company had a wide variety of colors to choose from for your paint job . they proudly called loy  mrs . blandings  in the commercials  introduction . you can imagine though how the no  nonsense parnell handles the situation afterward  when loy leaves him with his paint crew .  
i was shocked by the ridiculously unbelievable plot of tigerland . it was a liberal  s fantasy of how the military should be . the dialogue was difficult to swallow along with the silly things colin farrell  s character was allowed to get away with by his superior officers .  br    br   i kept thinking   hey  there  s a reason why boot camp is tough . it  s supposed to condition soldiers for battle and turn them into one cohesive unit . there  s no room for cocky attitudes and men who won  t follow orders .  i was rooting for bozz to get his butt kicked because he was such a danger to his fellow soldiers . i would not want to fight alongside someone like him in war because he was more concerned with people  s feelings than with doing what was necessary to protect his unit .  br    br      br    br    
this is the movie for those who believe cinema is the seventh art  not an entertainment business . lars von trier creates a noir atmosphere of post  war germany utterly captivating . you get absorbed into the dream and you  re let go only at the end credits . the plot necessarily comes second  but it still is a thrilling story with tough issues being raised . just wonderful .  
i think i will make a movie next weekend . oh wait  i  m working . . oh i  m sure i can fit it in . it looks like whoever made this film fit it in . i hope the makers of this crap have day jobs because this film sucked    it looks like someones home movie and i don  t think more than     was spent making it    total crap    who let  s this stuff be released        
i  m a male  not given to women  s movies  but this is really a well done special story . i have no personal love for jane fonda as a person but she does one hell of a fine job  while deniro is his usual superb self . everything is so well done acting  directing  visuals  settings  photography  casting . if you can enjoy a story of real people and real love  this is a winner .  
this film had a lot of promise  and the plot was relatively interesting  however the actors  director and editors seriously let this film down .  br    br   i feel bad for the writers  it could have been good . the acting is wooden  very few of the characters are believable .  br    br   who ever edited this clearly just learnt some new edit techniques and wanted to splash them all over the film . there are lots of quick  flashy  edits in almost every scene  which are clearly meant to be symbolic but just end up as annoying .  br    br   i wanted to like this film and expected there to be a decent resolution to the breakdown of equilibrium but alas no  it left me feeling like i  d wasted my time and the film makers had wasted their money .  
if you came into the film with expectations  throw them away now  because no amount of hype will do this film justice .  br    br   to categorize this film into a single genre would be criminal . it  s a spy thriller  has elements of noir  bits and pieces of action  science fiction  and cyberpunk all tied together with a brilliant narrative  mind  bending plot twists  and gorgeous cinematography .  br    br   a lot of the comments here have centered around it being derivative  both in good and bad ways  of other movies . but as they say  every story cribs from shakespeare  so once you can get past that  you  re in for a hell of a ride .  br    br   you will need to suspend your disbelief at some points  and while the set never becomes unbelievable  there are portions  read the elevator  which suffer from a low budget and somewhat cheesy visuals . don  t misconstrue that to mean it  s on the same level as cheesy sci  fi channel movies  though  because this is on a much higher level .  br    br   if you  re looking for action  you should turn away . this is pure psychology . but if you  re willing to sit down and devote a good   minutes of your life to a novel cinematic experience  by all means  do it now  watch this movie now before it becomes cool to have seen it   
words cannot describe how utterly abysmal this movie is . it is a series of random  unfunny clips about everything from a stupid batman spoof to a guy getting it on with an old dead lady  really disturbing  . the only remotely amusing thing about the underground comedy movie is watching joey buttafuoco  the best actor in this movie . also  it is rated nc     shunning away the only people that might tolerate it .  
canadian director vincenzo natali took the art  house circuit by storm with the intriguing and astonishingly intelligent cube  which is my personal favourite sf film of the   s . it framed the basic conceit of a group of strangers trapped in a maze shaped like a giant cube  shot entirely on one set  and took this idea in fascinating directions .  br    br   i  ve been eagerly awaiting natali  s follow  up  and although its taken five years for him to mount another project  i  m delighted to say it was worth the wait . cypher is a fascinating exploration of one man  s place in the world  and how through a completely logical chain of events  finds himself in a situation beyond his control .  br    br   i don  t want to reveal too much about the plot  because one of the joys of cypher is the different avenues it takes us down . it is so refreshing in this day and age to see a sf film that has more than one idea in it  s head . cypher is such a film .  br    br   morgan sullivan  jeremy northam   one of the blandest people to ever walk the planet  is hired by the company digicorp . they send him to different parts of america to record different seminars . to his bewilderment  they are unbelievably boring . covering topics as mundane as shaving cream and cheese .  br    br   while morgan is waiting for one seminar  he runs into rita foster  an impeccably cast lucy liu   the definition of an ice maiden . she gives him the brush  off  but there is something to her he finds irresistible . that  s not too surprising considering the dry marriage he is in .  br    br   when rita turns up at another one of morgan  s seminars  she tells him his life is not what it appears . and i  m not saying anything more about the plot . to do so would cheapen the impact the rest of the film has on us  as well as the tortuous path that  s so much fun to follow .  br    br   as with cube  natali shows quite a talent for encompassing seemingly ordinary people  taking them out of the familiar  and basically seeing what will happen when they  re thrust into the unknown . and cypher follows similar patterns . but it  s not a carbon copy of cube . it has it  s own inspiration .  br    br   cypher is a film that has more in common with conspiracy thrillers and paranoia stories . one of the great things about cypher is the way these themes creep into the story without your knowledge . when morgan realises his false identity is a piece of a much larger puzzle  it  s as much of a shock to us as it is to him .  br    br   one thing that distinguishes cypher from cube is how much more polished it is . where cube was confined to a minimalist setting and a shoestring budget with a cast of unknowns  cypher is also on a low budget  but natali economises it as much as he can  allowing him to broaden the horizon  and launching morgan on an amazing journey through the labyrinth of his own identity .  br    br   natali  s direction is exceptional  with a deft hand on the reins . there are some amazing camera angles from above  such as the enormity of the digicorp building as a vast  robust office block in conjunction to the insignificant speck that is morgan standing outside . all the colour appears to have been bled out of the picture  which compliments the tone of the film perfectly as a modern day film  noir .  br    br   the acting is uniformly excellent throughout . jeremy northam is a sympathetic figure from his loveless marriage to questioning his own identity . his performance is excellent because it  s so modulated . he literally seems to transform right before our very eyes . from a clinical  spineless wimp to a confident man who will do anything to preserve his new identity .  br    br   david hewlett puts in a welcome appearance who made such an impact in cube . he resides in a secret silo that looks like it was borrowed from men in black . his scene is one of the best because it  s an exercise in carefully calculated suspense and paranoia . he is a supposed expert in identifying double  agents  and it  s a fantastic piece of writing  brilliantly acted by hewlett . all he has to do is look at morgan  and we  re drawn into his complex mind game .  br    br   but it  s lucy liu who  s the scene stealer here . too often she is cast in films where her potential is not utilised to full effect . but in cypher  she is finally given a character that fits her like a glove . rita is an aloof  guarded femme fatale that liu inhabits with relish . i perked up every time she appeared because she is always in control  and can reduce a room to silence by the power of her icy stare alone .  br    br   things come to a very gratifying end  that doesn  t conclude on an ambiguous note the way cube did . but morgan deserves his happy ending . after he  s been put through the ringer like this  i cheered for him in the final scene . it  s a perfect final moment because it comes as a ray of sunshine after a gloomy   minutes .  br    br   cypher succeeds on all counts . engaging  shocking  always entertaining  it  s everything that total recall wanted to be but wasn  t . and it comes as a refreshing antidote to the overwhelming and inexplicable matrix .  br    br   a fine follow  up from natali . and now i  m a committed fan of the man . superb stuff   
i have never seen a comedy that was this much of a chore to sit thru . . . not one laugh in it . ok  maybe one little chuckle for the michael clarke duncan bit as the big  black  bald gay virgin . but the rest of it was shockingly un  funny . on top of being void of any laughs the  skits  go on forever  steer clear of this one if you value your time and money . dreadful    the worst     
director vincenzo natali  s cypher is a complex and imaginative thriller which  although requiring some suspension of belief and plenty of concentration  manages to be a thoroughly entertaining experience .  br    br   morgan sullivan  jeremy northam   a stay  at  home husband with an overbearing wife  decides to add a bit of spice to his mundane existence by getting a job as an industrial spy at high  tech company digi corp . his job is to travel to conferences across the country  under the assumed identity of jack thursby  and secretly broadcast the speeches given back to his bosses  via a nifty little electronic pen  gizmo .  br    br   in reality  however  the speeches are merely a cover for far more nefarious activities . morgan  along with his fellow conference attendees  is being brainwashed . the drugged water they are drinking puts them into a temporary coma  during which they are told to forget their pasts and permanently adopt their new identities . once they are totally convinced that they are someone else  they are told to apply for jobs with rival companies  where they are able to indulge in corporate espionage without suspicion .  br    br   but digi corp  s plans are scuppered by the intervention of shady operative  for  hire rita foster  lucy liu   who opens morgan  s eyes to what is really happening . she gives morgan an antidote to the mind altering drugs so that he can resist the brainwashing techniques . she also warns him that if digi corp suspects that he does not fully believe he is jack thursby  then he will be  eliminated  . morgan plays along  and applies for a job at rival business sunways .  br    br   however  arriving at his new workplace  he is given a polygraph test and is immediately rumbled as a spy . fortunately  the bosses at sunways see this as an ideal opportunity to feed false data to digi corp and morgan becomes a double agent .  br    br   from hereon in  things get progressively more complicated the plot twists and turns and poor old morgan ends up not being able to trust anyone . in an exciting finale  all eventually becomes clear  but only if you  ve been following events very carefully  .  br    br   director natali handles proceedings confidently and certainly has a great ability to produce a classy looking film for a relatively low budget . he manages to get some great performances from his talented cast jeremy northam  in particular  is fantastichis portrayal of the initially somewhat nervous morgan is played to perfection .  br    br   cypher is another fascinating movie from a director who is willing to take chances and i eagerly look forward to his forthcoming projects  high rise and necropolis .  
hawked as the most offensive movie ever  guaranteed to offend everyone  guess what  it worked  i  m offended that we shelled out money to rent this . two friends and i were bored and decided to see if all that bull about the movie that we saw on tv was true . curse comedy central and all the other networks that pushed this garbage on us  it was by far the worst movie i  ve seen since hollow man . i generally avoid the crappy ones  but got sucked into this one . we have since beaten the prick who suggest we rent it  and his movie picking privileges have been revoked . there is nothing remotely funny about this movie . . . even the  adventures of dickman  scene was sophomoric at best . . color me ped . thought maybe the production value was crap for some important reason . . . no . . it just sucked . never watch this  for any reason whatsoever . not even with copious amounts of illegal substance would this movie be funny . that  s saying alot . please for the love of all that is holy  if you cherish your sanity  never view this movie . it  s many things  stupid  pointless  and worthless to name a few . but the main thing it was aiming for offensively funny  it failed miserably . crash and burn . . . .  
listen  i don  t care what anybody says  as cypher is nothing less than a  star movie . cypher is not  i repeat not  a b movie . cypher is an absolute masterpiece . suffice it to say  i am a connoisseur of the world  s finest spy films and this film is nothing less than top flight . i cannot overemphasis how phenomenal this movie is . cypher is one of the best spy movies ever conceived and ever made . the technology in this movie is over the horizon of spacetime . in fact  i must admit that cypher completely surprised the hell out of me . in fact  i  ve recommended this movie to my colleagues more than any other movie . other critics  of whom some downplayed the movie  have no idea as to what the hell they  re talking about . don  t listen to the haters . and actually  for the most part  reviews of cypher have been largely positive . and it should be noted that cyher is not only a good movie  but it is also a fantastic movie . cypher is the kind of movie that  s so advanced and so magnificently crafted  that it  s over the heads of most critics and all the cynics . there is nothing wrong with or cheap about cypher whatsoever . again  the cinematography  the backdrops  the technology  the storyline  and the acting are all     world  class top notch . naturally  i won  t give anything away . this is not a spoiler . and though it is the contention of some critics that cypher should have been in movie theaters  i believe quite the opposite . cypher is a movie that seems to have been just right for dvd release only and not in a bad way . cypher has got to be the greatest underground spy flick ever to hit the shelves . blade runner       brave new world  total recall  logan  s run  jason bourne and impostor and deja vu . . . look out  cypher equally earns the distinction of being placed in the aonn multimedia research   star eternal spy movie hall of fame . cypher is counterespionage at it  s absolute best . hands down and hats off . nothing is what it seems and truth is stranger than fiction . the future is now .  
how do i begin  this movie is probably one of the worst movies i have ever seen . it has no redeemable qualities . i just sat through this movie and it was a struggle . it failed to get even a single smile on my face . i find it hard to believe that anyone would distribute this horrible film . i felt that this movie was a failed attempt at distasteful humor . the only thing that was worth anything about this movie was the soundtrack  i  m pretty sure thats the reason i wanted to see this movie in the first place . i will wrap this up as i am going to try and forget the time i just wasted with this piece of crap . i will leave you with this warning . do not watch this film  it sucks .  
in a near future  the ordinary man above any suspicious from the suburb morgan sullivan  jeremy northam  is hired by digicorp  a huge corporation  to be assigned as a spy and steal secrets from their competitors  sunways . along his training  morgan is brainwashed  assumes a new identity of jack thursby and travels to boring lectures . in one of them  he is approached by the beautiful and mysterious rita foster  lucy liu   who advises him that nothing is how it seems to be . morgan acknowledges a new reality  where he does not know who can be trusted .  br    br   the unknown  cypher  was a great surprise for me . this movie has not been released in brazil  but the engaging and exciting story is quite complex  with many plot points  and with great screenplay  direction and performances . in the very last twist  i recalled arnold schwarzenegger  s  total recall  . this movie certainly deserves to be watched more than once  and i really did not like the last scene  when the independent spy disposes the disputed disc in the sea . in only know the director vicenzo natali from the fantastic  cube   and this second work i see is also stunning . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil   not available  
it really impresses me that it got made . the director  writer  actor must be really charismatic in reality . i can think of no other way itd pass script stage . what i want you to consider is this . . . while watching the films i was feeling sorry for the actors . it felt like being in a stand up comedy club where the guy is dying on his feet and your sitting there  not enjoying it  just feeling really bad for him coz hes of trying . id really like to know what the budget is  guess it must have been low as the film quality is really poor . i want to write  the jokes didn  t appeal to me  . but the reality is for them to appeal to you  you  d have to be the man who wrote them . or a retard . so imagine that in script form . . . and this guy got that green lit . thats impressive isn  t it   
this is a superbly imaginative low budget sci  fi movie from cult director vincenzo natali . the film plays out like a crossing of phillip k dick with hitchcock and cronenberg and the film takes on a unique feel like nothing you would have seen . the film is superbly shot  i love the cinematography in this  it feels fresh and original . plot  wise the film explores similar themes to films like total recall  dark city and the matrix and its pretty staple sci  fi stuff . morgan sullivan  jeremy northam  is a suburbanite who is bored with his life and has decided to take a job as a company spy for digicorp  a large technological corporation . he meets up with a recruitment officer at the beginning who brings sullivan on board and instructs him on what he has to do . it basically involves going to conferences of rival companies and recording them via a satellite transmission device disguised as a pen . it also means that he must take on a different persona and keep it a secret from his wife . after his first job things become strange  his habits change  his personality begins to differ and he suffers pains in his neck and headaches as well as nightmares . he encounters a beautiful woman named rita foster  played by an intriguingly cast lucy liu .  he takes an instant attraction to . however when he goes in his next job and sees her again she reveals herself to be an agent of some sort who reveals that his job is not quite what it seems . he finds out later on that he and the rest of the people attending the conference all work for digicorp . the conferences are all covers to allow the company men to brainwash their spies . sullivan  whose alternate name is jack thursby has been given an antidote to digicorps drugging and while the rest of the spies at the latest conference drift off into what seems like a brain  dead day dream while the speakers drone on  the speakers send all the attendants to sleep via subliminal messages .  suddenly the rooms lights turn off and workers at digicorp come in shining lights in all the occupants eyes to ensure they are not conscious and then in a fairly nightmarish situation they bring in head sets for each member which send messages into the brain and brainwash the precipitants into believing they are someone else . digicorp are using these people as puppets and creating personalities and lives for these people while wiping their own existence . sullivan now must pretend that he entirely believes he is now jack thursby . digicorp want to steal information from their rivals samways and they want their own puppets to do it  they now effectively control what these spies do  except for sullivan . when samways get a hold of sullivan and discover he has not actually been brainwashed they decide to use him as a pawn to spy on digicorp  make sullivan a double agent . they know that digicorp have sent thursby to them to work his way into samways and work his way up the system until he can get into a situation to download important company information that could shut the company down . samways realises he had been planted and decide they will play along with digicorp and allow thursby to infiltrate their databanks but they will give digicorp a dodgy disc that will ruin their system . the plot begins to twist and turn as both companies are using sullivan as a pawn . he is stuck in the middle and rita foster is a mystery as he tries to work out why she is helping him . when a mysterious third party becomes involved  the person it is revealed that foster works for  sullivan must decide whether to go to this freelance agent  who could guarantee him a new life and safety or to stick with one of the companies he works for . the tension all builds to a stonking climax as it seems just about everyone wants to dispose of him once his usefulness has expires . the cast are great . northam is superb and the subtlety in his performance is excellent . he brings a great visual aspect to his performance  his eyes tell a story and we see a great subtle change as his character changes from sullivan to thursby . lucy liu is just sexy beyond belief and her presence gives a great dynamic to the film because it seems strange casting but works because of that fact . the rest of the cast are also good .  br    br   director natali whose previous film was the cult classic sci  fi flick cube  has a real visual flair . he paces the film superbly as well and has given it a great look . for a low budget film it features some imaginative visual effects and although the cgi isn  t great it never begins too much of a centre piece to effect the film negatively . the film really does bring feelings of the matrix and other great sci  fi films  it is up there with them . the plot nearly becomes too convoluted at times but in truth that helps in a film like this  that is where the cronenberg and lynch influence is evident . the film has you constantly working out what is going on and genuinely surprises as it goes along . this is overall an obvious cult classic and i can see this being incredibly popular when it is released in the states .      br    br    
this movie shows a row of sketches  which partly pass over into one another . i realized the passing over late in the movie  at first it only irritated me .  br    br   many of the episodes in this movie come along without any recognizable punchlines and simply try to wangle around that fact  using absurdity and obscenity . the attempt of it to stay comedy without any funny bits fails .  br    br   my personnel and maybe subjective result after watching this movie  my god  it hurts in my head every time i call it  movie    a bold attempt to turn nothing into something great . but it failed . at least the director made something out of nothing . but it isn  t something good .  br    br   many movies didn  t turn out as funny as they were planned  but this one tops them all . it  s the real life manifestation of the worst case scenario of film making . no . to correct myself  it  s even worse than that . a movie with gags so bad  that they aren  t funny at all . it  s not even fun to watch the lead  actor  writer and director  all three the same guy by the way  perish by drowning in the sea of bad movies . the movie is too bad for that .  
this filmfour funded sci  fi movie is most definitely a must see . while it takes huge influence from the manchurian candidate and offers nothing new or original plot wise it  s handled with the utmost skill that it comes off as being fresh and inventive  despite it being basically a re  run of an earlier film . it  s good to know that films like this are still being made  even if they aren  t getting wide releases   and cypher is refreshing for that reason . the plot twists and turns  which gives it an element of paranoia and also serves in keeping the audience on the edge of their seat while trying to figure out the meaning of cypher  s mystery . the plot follows morgan sullivan a bored suburban man that decides to take a job with digicorp that involves him listening to speeches from several rival companies and recording them for reasons  to him  unknown . however  his job is interrupted when he meets a mysterious young lady known as rita . . .  br    br   this film features a number of stark white backgrounds that give it a very surreal edge and blend well with it  s apocalyptic imaging of the future . this gives the film a very odd look that sets it apart from the majority of other films of the same type  with it  s only real close affiliate being kubrick  s a clockwork orange . the plot is also very efficient and ditches character development in favour of the more stylish  and more thrilling  plot developing . you never quite know where you are with the plot  which serves in making it all the more intriguing . the acting is largely good with a largely unknown cast backing up the team of stars jeremy northam and lucy lui . northam very much looks the part of the quiet and disheartened man at the centre of the tale  and does well with his role . lucy lui is an actress that has a resume that doesn  t quite fit her talent  but she has a look about her that just fits this movie .  br    br   cypher is far from perfect as some of the sequences are illogical and at times it can be inconsistent but on the whole  if you want an inventive recent sci  fi film cypher is the way to go .  
this film stars  among others   slapchop  vince offer  who also wrote  edited and directed  and joey buttafuoco   not exactly names that scream out  quality  . and with such uplifting skits as  supermodels taking a dump   it  s exactly what it sounds like   a guy who robs a sperm bank  the  rhymer    necrophilia with a rotting corpse  black market fetuses  featuring a guy scooping what are supposed to be them out of a jar   lots and lots of gay jokes  a skit about a giant phallus who is a superhero and forced abortions . the skits are painfully unfunny  such as  batman and rhymer    the acting not good enough to be considered amateurish and the film is crude just for the sake of being crude . . . and stupid . i truly believe a group of  year  olds could have easily made a funnier film with the same budget .  br    br   apparently this film resulted in a lawsuit by  slap shot  vince against the scientologists . frankly  i wouldn  t know who to root for in this case    apparently  he alleged that somehow scientologists destroyed his reputation and sank this film . no matter that the film is repellent junk from start to finish and    unfunny  by comparison  ebola is funnier  . . . and these are the nicest things i can say about the movie .  br    br   by the way  that is bobby lee  from  mad tv   wearing a diaper and participating in the dumb fake porno film . it  s amazing his career could overcome this .  
jeremy northam  s characterization of the stuttering  mild mannered bookish morgan sullivan and watching him let loose bits and pieces of his real identity under the influence of single malt scotches and under the spell of lucy liu  s presence is brilliantly crafted and a joy to watch . his offering her a cigarette at the bar is an old habit  done without thinking or even asking and he becomes lost in her face  neck and lips . no matter the brainwashing  love has a way of persevering . love also cannot be  brainwashed in  with either of his two fake wives . in gradual stages  he begins to dispense with his glasses  to walk and talk differently and even his face looks different as the movie progresses . the music is fantastic  hypnotic  sexy and appropriately driving at times . the extensive use of black and white and grey tones makes this almost a sci fi  film noir  in the tradition of many classic thrillers . i would have liked to have seen more vulnerability in lucy liu  s portrayal  whenever she sees him in his various frazzled states  the man she loves and for whom she is performing a mission based on blind faith  some restrained vulnerability and flashes of genuine sympathy and concern would have made it a less one dimensional performance on her part . she is just no match for northam  s talents  but all in all i thoroughly enjoyed this film and would enjoying knowing about other screenplays written by the same author .  
lately they have been trying to hock this film late  night on cable tv commercials . don  t believe the hype . i was one of the unlucky people to see this stinker in theatres . this is  in my opinion  the  rd worst movie of all time  just behind mac  me    worst   and jack frost    worst   but i must admit  they are all close and all terrible  really  nothing of this movie is funny  or disturbing  or anything else it claims to be so don  t waste your money . the only thing it is good for is giving to your worst enemy . i  m not lying about that . someone who you would love to kill or torture would be a prime candidate for this film . it is that awful . if you don  t believe me then you deserve to suffer through the misery of watching this  which i doubt you can finish . two thumbs enthusiastically down .  
you  ll notice by the stars i  ve given this great film that  . . . before you see it the first time   is implied . i had never before heard of this film and happened across it just because this week  and last  was a very slow rental experience  not much great coming in  . i  m not sure how this movie slipped past me  i love lucy liu and jeremy northam is great too . still  it did .  br    br   this movie is an awesome example of what to do if you don  t have a large budget . it had just the right amount of plot and dialog to make it very interesting and keep the viewer in the dark just enough . the entire film is you  the viewer  trying to figure out the plots many twists and turns . i would have given this film       however some of the shots were pretty fake looking . i don  t hold that against this film too much  but i don  t think it deserves a perfect score .  br    br   lucy liu is beautiful and mysterious  as always  . i think she  s pretty underrated as a serious talent . nevermind her beauty  which is difficult   she really takes her roles seriously and doesn  t rest on her appearance to drive her through scenes of sophisticated emotion . and she can seem cold and even lifeless if needed  as well .  br    br   jeremy northam does really well  at first  as quite a geeky corporate rat  willing to run through any maze to prove himself . however  as he changes throughout the film  it  s like night and day . i know some fans of clive owen  jude law  or other hopefuls to become the next james bond will hate me for this  but northam would  could  should fit that bill . he  s suave and cultured . he  s got a great bond posture and voice . i think he too can be cold if the situation calls for it  and rather down  to  earth  as well .  br    br   great film and definitely this movie  buff recommends it to be seen at least once if you like corporate espionage films .  
i bought this at tower records after seeing the info  mercial about fifteen hundred times on comedy central . i was actually really looking forward to watching this . my god where did i go wrong  now before i give my review let me just say that i am a person who can pretty much find the good in all movies  hell i own over      dvd  s  with that said  the underground comedy movie ranks up there with the worst film i have ever seen . i tried to give it a chance  but not only was it not funny . it had no point  did not offend what  so  ever and was all around stupid . god who in their right mind thought these pieces of crap were funny  this is going right to the bottom of the bin . . .  
there was a stylish approach to this film on the part of director vincenzo natali with interesting camera angles and effective close  ups . it was also refreshing to see jeremy northam and lucy liu given leading roles and expanding their range as performers . this film also included one of the most imaginative  escape  scenes in recent years . the efforts of the director and the actors combined in an effective thriller .  br    br   although the plotting of the film was convoluted  the story progressed very clearly as the layers of corporate greed and skullduggery were revealed .  br    br   in      george orwell suggested in his famous novel       that the future would be ruled by the totalitarian state  which would control minds and diminish human liberty . it was interesting that in this intriguing futuristic film  it was not the state  but rather the corporate world that controlled and devalued the human worker .  
i rated this movie as awful    . after watching the trailer  i thought this movie could be pretty cool .  guaranteed to offend . . . everyone   the trailer said . well . . . it did offend me  because this movie really sucks . it is hardly a comedy  as i laughed about two seconds during the entire movie . and what  s with all the gays in this movie  i  m not gay and i don  t have a problem with those who are  but what  s the point of adding so many gay  scenes in a so called comedy movie  when these scenes are absolutely not funny  i guess the director is a gay man in denial  or something like that .  br    br   so my advice to you is if you want to waste good money  go rent a good comedy you  ve already seen a million times  you  ll be better off than watching this mother of all lousy comedy  s . it really is total crap .  
  having grown tired of the rat race and cramped living conditions of new york city  jim blandings  cary grant  finds a property in the country for his wife and children . he  s hoping to find the simple life . but  building a house proves to be anything but simple . as the headaches and the bills start piling up  so do the laughs . will mr . blanding  s ever get his dream house   br    br    what makes this movie so special is the three main actors  grant  myrna loy  and melvyn douglas . any of three are capable of carrying a movie on their own  so when you combine their talents  almost every scene is special . grant has always been a favorite of mine in this type of role . he is so good at playing the put upon husband . loy is a always a joy to watch . the thin man films she made with william powell are near perfect . and douglas has become a favorite of mine over the last two or three years . douglas also appeared in the old dark house  a particular favorite of mine .  br    br    the movie is definitely a product of its time . i get a kick out of imagining a time when you could build a two  story  three bedroom  four bathroom house on        income a year . throw in the fact that your two children attend private school and you have a live  in maid and it becomes almost fanciful .  br    br    however  for anyone who has bought or built a house  many of the situations and predicaments the blanding  s find themselves in are easily relatable to today . and that  s where the comedy comes in . how many people have done some of the stupid things the couple does in this movie only to end up costing more money than expected   the biggest complaint i have about mr . blandings is the whole  wife in love with best friend  subplot . it  s really not necessary to the plot and feels out  of  place and very uncomfortable as presented .  
since most review  s of this film are of screening  s seen decade  s ago i  d like to add a more recent one  the film open  s with stock footage of b     s bombing germany  the film cut  s to oskar werner  s hauptmann  captain  wust character and his aide running for cover while making their way to hitler  s fuehrer bunker  once inside  they are debriefed by bunker staff personnel  the film then cut  s to one of many conference scene  s with albin skoda giving a decent impression of adolf hitler rallying his officer  s to  ultimate victory  while werner  s character is shown as slowly coming to realize the bunker denizen  s are caught up in a fantasy world  some non  bunker event  s are depicted  most notable being the flooding of the subway system to prevent a russian advance through them and a minor subplot involving a young member of the flak unit  s and his family  s difficulty in surviving  this film suffer  s from a number of detail inaccuracies that a german film made only   year  s after ww  should not have included the actor portraying goebbels  willy krause  wear  s the same uniform as hitler  including arm eagle  goebbels wore a brown nazi party uniform with swastika armband  the  ss  soldier  s wear german army camouflage  the well documented scene of hitler awarding the iron cross to boy  s of the hitler youth is shown as having taken place inside the bunker  it was done outside in the courtyard  and lastly  hitler  s suicide weapon is clearly shown as a belgian browning model      most account  s agree it was a walther ppk  some bit  s of acting also seem wholly inaccurate with the drunken dance scene near the end of the film being notable  this bit is shown as a cabaret skit  with a intoxicated wounded soldier  his arm in a splint  maniacally goose  stepping to music while a nurse does a combination striptease  belly dance  all by candlelight . . . this is actually embarrassing to watch  the most incredible bit is when werner  s captain wust gain  s an audience alone with skoda  s hitler  hitler is shown as slumped on a wall bench  drugged and delirious  when werner  s character begin  s to question him  hitler start  s screaming which bring  s in a ss guard who mortally wound  s werner  s character in the back with a gunshot  this fabricated scene is not based on any true historic account  werner  s character is then hauled off to die in a anteroom while hitler prepare  s his own ending  hitler  s farewell to his staff is shown but the suicide is off  screen  the final second  s of the movie show hitler  s funeral pyre smoke slowly forming into a ghostly image of the face of the dead oskar werner  hauptmann wust  this film is more allegorical than historical and anyone interested in this period would do better to check out more recent film  s such as the     remake  hitler the last   day  s  or the german film  downfall   der untergang  if they wish a more true accounting of this dramatic story  these last two film  s are based on first person eyewitness account  s  with  hitler the last   day  s  being compiled from gerhard boldt  s autobiography as a staff officer in the fuehrer bunker and  downfall  being done from hitler  s secretary  s recollection  s  the screen play for  der letzte akte  is taken from american nuremberg war crime  s trial judge michael musmanno  s book  ten day  s to die   which is more a compilation of event  s  many obviously fanciful  than eyewitness history  it is surprising that hugh trevor roper  s account   the last day  s of hitler  was never made into a film .  
when the matrix appeared in     and questioned existence and identity  it was expected that a lot of movies would use it as inspiration . that didn  t really happen  surprisingly  and it took till     for a movie of similar theme to appear . but to say cypher is a clone would be to its discredit .  br    br   the story is of a morgan sullivan  who applies for a job with a high  flying techno  company called digicorp . his job is to be a spy and gain information about a rival company  while under an assumed and false identity . his home  life is perfectly normal but he has to lie to his wife about what he  s actually doing . however  things start to take conspirital turns and before he knows what  s going on  he starts to question who he actually is . this is not helped by a strange woman who turns up . . .  br    br   twists and turns at every direction keep you absolutely fascinated  and at no point does anything ever seem contrived or unbelievable .  br    br   it  s an enthralling journey through a not  too  distant future  and with good acting all round will keep you on the edge of your seat .  br    br   highly recommended .  
this movie doesn  t even deserve a one . this was an utter waste of time . it was a waste of film and money . it was not offensive but everything was provocative and disgusting . my spoiler is one that i think should be read by everyone . there is full frontal nudity and disgusting language . but not only that  there is no plot line  the actors are terrible  the accents are horrible  the actors are small time and i was even excited to watch this movie   br    br   the only reason i rented it was for brian van holt  who got only a fifteen second part  by the way  . i think this might have been a mistake on the directors and editors parts but they repeated the same segments two or three times  adding only a new sentence .  br    br   a film similar to this is eraser head  possibly the most disturbing movie in existence . there is no plot line  and is not funny . although it isn  t trying to be funny . do not watch either movie .  
a major moneymaker for rko radio  bombardier stars pat o  brien and randolph scott as trainers at a school for bomber pilots . o  brien and scott argue over teaching methods  while their students vie for the affections of anne shirley . o  brien  s methods prove sound during a bombing raid over tokyo . scott and his crew are captured and tortured by the japanese  but the mortally wounded scott manages to set fire to a gas truck  providing a perfect target for his fellow bombardiers . stylistically  bombardier is one of the most schizophrenic of war films  with moments of subtle poignancy  the death of trainee eddie albert  alternating with scenes of ludicrous  yellow peril  melodrama  the japanese literally hiss through their teeth as they torture the helpless americans  . though it can  t help but seem dated today  bombardier remains an entertaining propaganda effort  the film is sometimes erroneously listed as the debut of robert ryan  who  d actually been appearing before the cameras since     .  br    br   anyone interested in obtaining a copy of this film  please contact me at iamaseal  yahoo . com  
a series of painfully unfunny skits that seem to go on forever and a day . not as mind  numbingly awful as say  freddy got fingered  or  lost reality   but that in no way is an endorsement in any way  sense or form . features the worst rhyming clown ever . any most if it isn  t offensive to anybody but the most prudish or politically correct . it also has the worst song parody ever put on film  the worst arnold impersonation ever  not just the worst put on film  literally the worst ever  . i have no clue why karen black  micheal clarke duncan  or slash would star in this  the reasons i watched this in the first place  the only thing mildly amusing was dickman . in conclusion i would  t recommend this film to anyone  but the people who are making it their mission in life to get this in the bottom    on this site are pathetic . do something notable with you lives people . plus if it  s true the church of scientalogy hates him  he can  t be all bad .  br    br   my grade d  
i wasn  t sure at first if i was watching a documentary  propaganda film or dramatic presentation . i guess given the time of production it was a mix of all three .  br    br   admittedly the dramatic plot was somewhat predictable . but you had a sense that there would be some interesting scenes as the movie went on . we were able to witness what appeared to be realistic training regimens and equipment .  br    br   where this movie came together for me was closer to the end . the scenes had a realism  at least as i perceived it  that i haven  t encountered often before . you could place yourself in the action and imagine the thoughts of the young combatants . this was mixed in with the usual problems of portraying passable japanese soldiers at a time when you might think real japanese actors would be somewhat scarce .  br    br   the movie is excellent as a source of the state of the american mindset in     as the war waged with japan . also of interest was a dig at the japanese with respect to the help the usa gave japan in past years .  
and i repeat  please do not see this movie  this is more than a review . this is a warning . this sets the record for the worst  most effortless comedy ever made . at least with most of the recent comedies nowadays  the gags are crude and flat  but the writers and directors put in at least some sort of effort into making them funny . i never get tired of repeating one of my favorite mottos everyone thinks they can do comedy  and only   percent of them are right . comedy is hard  this is not some genre any fool can play around with . i think it  s atrocious that the filmmakers are comparing this piece of garbage to  kentucky fried movie .  basically  these bozos are comparing their so  called comic talents to those of the brilliant jim abrahams and the zucker brothers . come on  i  ve seen pauly shore movies that are   times funnier than  the underground comedy movie .  here  s a sample of the comedy for those curious about seeing this movie one sketch involves a superhero dressed like a penis named dkman . the whole joke is that he defeats his enemies by squirting them with semen . that  s it . that  s the whole joke . wow . this is enough to make carrot top roll his eyes . another sketch involves a man having sex with a dead person in a porn movie . and in another sketch  there  s a bag lady beauty contest  in which we  re exposed to the horrible sights of bikini  clad middle  aged women with beer guts and stretch marks . plus  making fun of the homeless is more sad than funny . it  s a step away from mocking the mentally handicapped . the whole movie is supposed to be a satire . i think the filmmakers forgot that a key element of satire . . . is truth    for anybody who actually enjoyed this crap  explain to me what is truthful about any of these gags  some of the sketches might  ve sounded funny on paper  but anybody who  s taken any screen writing classes knows that if a sight gag sounds too funny on paper  it probably won  t be funny on screen . if i tell someone about a big  black  muscular gay virgin  who  s saving himself for the right man  he or she would probably laugh . but watching the premise played out on screen for about   minutes is a complete drag . i hate how whenever people criticize a low  brow comedy like this for not being funny  they  re regarded as stuck  up squares . i just saw  white chicks  recently . that  s another low  brow  politically incorrect comedy  but i laughed my head off . the most offensive thing about  the underground comedy movie  is it  s not funny  what the writers and directors don  t understand is that merely being filthy and tasteless doesn  t work . there has to be more  just think of the famous scene from  there  s something about mary   ironically  enough the bozo filmmakers put the farrellys on their special thanks list  . the joke about the semen wasn  t just funny because it involved bodily fluids . there was a buildup . ben stiller was masturbating in the bathroom to make sure he didn  t go out on a date with a  loaded gun .  then he looked around to see where all the semen went after it was released . a knock is on the door  and he has to answer it . his date  mary  is at the door and that  s when it  s revealed that the semen is hanging off ben  s ear . in this movie  there are multiple gags involving characters squirting loads of semen at people  with no buildup whatsoever . as jay leno always says   this comedy thing  s not so easy  is it   keep that in mind  vince offer   cause you weren  t cut out for this genre   the only reason people might laugh at these gags is because they want to feel hip . let  s face it  nowadays it  s hip to laugh at anything politically incorrect . i know comedy is subjective . . . but this movie shouldn  t be funny to anybody  except maybe the filmmakers themselves . as a side note  the movie had to have been made before michael clarke duncan  s fame in movies like  armageddon  and  the green mile .  there can  t be any other reason why an actor of his caliber would volunteer to be part of this amateurish freak show . all the others in the cast are either non  actors  has  been actors or b  movie stars . karen black made a good impression in  five easy pieces   but i don  t think she  s done anything of value ever since . slash was probably drugged into being in this film . gina lee nolin is nothing without  baywatch .  angelyne is the film  s biggest star  keeping in mind duncan wasn  t famous at the time   and there are still probably a ton of people who haven  t heard of her   for good reason . usually  i  m in support of extremely low  budget flicks  but this one deserves to drift into obscurity . i hope to lord this doesn  t become a cult classic  shouldn  t there be a law against distributing crap like this   
there were a lot of films made by hollywood during the war years that were designed to drum up support for our troops from the public . seen today  some might dismiss them or just see them as propaganda   which they technically are  but of a positive sort and meant to unify the nation . this film is a pretty effective and entertaining example of the genre   having a pretty realistic script and good production values . pat o  brien plays pretty much the same character he played in many other films  you know  the tough  talking  hard  driven but  swell guy   . randolph scott is  as always  competent and entertaining and the rest of the extras are excellent  look for a young robert ryan as one of the bombardiers in training  . while the story is reminiscent of several other movies about our pilots and crews  the film is well  crafted enough to make it interesting and not too far  fetched . that it  perhaps  except for the very end   where the film is a bit over  the  top but also very satisfying . about the only serious negative  and this is mostly for nitpickers  is that some of the stock footage is somewhat sloppily integrated in the film and  nuts  like me who are both history teachers and airplane lovers will probably notice this   all others probably won  t notice .  
i  m into bad movies but this has nothing going for it . despite what the morons above have said  it is not funny . i know comedy and underground movies but this is so boring that the director  writer should be prohibited from ever directing anything but local cable access ever again  to love movies and comedy is to despise this film . i may never get over how unfunny and boring this work was . if you like this movie you are a pothead as sober there is nothing here . zero  if you need to compare underground movies  see  kentucky fried movie  or early john waters . the movie starts by defining satire and i defy anyone to show me the satire . the rule for comedy is this . . . if it  s funny you can say or do anything but if it  s not funny you are not satirical  you are not edgy  you are merely pathetic and this movie is simply not funny . zero   
i enjoyed watching cliffhanger  at the beginning when that woman  sarah  was full of terror when she was slipping  i thought that was a terrifying scene as i would think that when you see that see  your nerves in your body get to you because it makes you get full of fright and your heart beats faster . i did like watching cliffhanger  i think silvestar stallone is a great actor and i think he  ll be known as playing rambo and rocky .  
this is the worst movie i  ve ever seen in my life . this is saying quite a bit  considering some of the choices i  ve made in film rentals .  br    br   i got this on netflix based entirely on the fact that someone i went to high school with is topless in it . the topless scene lasted all of about  seconds and the rest of the movie was about as much fun as having pungee sticks driven underneath my toenails whilst being forced to listen to roseanne sing big spender .  br    br   the  skits  are stupid and consist of the worst kind of juvenile bathroom humor and locker  room gags  and it  s such a blatant  and poor  rip  off of the kentucky fried movie that you  ll be begging for big jim slade to crash through the wall and save us from the stupidity of  vince offer   whoever that is  .  br    br   unless you are a masochist  avoid this pile of rubbish .  
this movie is directed by renny harlin the finnish miracle . stallone is gabe walker . cat and mouse on the mountains with ruthless terrorists . renny harlin knows how to direct actionmovie . stallone needed this role to get back on track . snowy mountain is very good place for action movie and who is better to direct movie where is snow  ice  cold and bad weather than finnish man . action is good  music in the film is spectacular . the bad guy is john litghow  other stars micheal rooker  the portrait of serialkiller   janine turner  strong medicine  . the is placed in beautiful place and it is very exciting movie . overall good movie     br    br   remember extreme lit special collectors edition  with good extras . comig soon in finland straight to video .  
i foolishly read the back of the dvd cover of this movie in best buy about a year ago  and said to myself   seems funny  plus it has michael clarke duncan  how can i lose   i proceeded to pay    .   plus tax for it . i took it over to a friends house and we both stood aghast at how poorly it was written and acted . wooden performances abound . all the  hilarious  and  outstanding  performances promised never seemed to arrive . after   minutes i hung my head in shame  knowing that i could never get that   minutes or    .   back . i literally almost cried as well  because if that was what could be considered  comedy  i didn  t want to believe in movies anymore . my friend and i constantly informed a friend of ours of the horror of this movie to the point that he needed to see it just to understand how bad it was . over the holiday season this year i watched it with him because he didn  t want to watch it alone . this was my next horrible mistake  because as i watched i just became angry . i began to yell at the movie  and i  m not one to talk to movies period . everyone i know that has even glimpsed this movie has agreed its the worst they  ve ever seen . my sense of humor is sick and twisted and often offends my friends  but that could not save this movie even . the fact that this movie is not on the bottom    list on imdb is astounding . the fact that its rating  at the time of this writing  is  .  is a crime against humanity .  
good action show  but nothing new . this one took place high in the mountains  which showed some nice scenery and such . one man takes on a group of mercenaries  the lead flies  and he kicks butt . it could have been called  rambo goes to the rockies   it was that pat . it did have one very effective scene right at the first of the film which had me cringing in horror . not a bad picture  but just same ol   same ol  .  
imagine the worst skits from saturday night live and mad tv in one   minute movie . now  imagine that all the humor in those bad skits is removed and replaced with stupidity . now imagine something   times worse .  br    br   got that   br    br   ok  now go see the underground comedy movie . that vision you just had will seem like the funniest thing ever . ucm is the single worst movie i  ve ever seen . there were a few cheap laughs . . . very few . but it was lame . even if the intent of the movie was to be lame  it was too lame to be funny .  br    br   the only reason i  m not angry for wasting my time watching this was someone else i know bought it . he wasted his money . vince offer hasn  t written or directed anything else and it  s no surprise why .  
this movie set out to be better than the average action movie and in that regard they succeeded . this movie had spectacular cinematography featuring spectacular mountain snow and heights  a very fit stallone putting in a good performance as well  an exciting plot  and a great performance from it  s main villain becouse he will really shock you with his evil ways . the movie does not rank an all time great becouse of the weak screen play . the plot and story cries for this movie to make stallone an extra special human  much like the rambo or rocky or bond movie characters . they chose to humanise stallone  s character in this one which is ok but considering the plot  s style  weakens the excitement factor . also  the dialogue was cheesy and carelessly condescending at times . the script should have been more realistic and less  talky  . another weak point was the unrealistic shooting scenes . the movie makers should have been more carefull how they hadled the shooting hits and misses . they should have continued the quality of the scenes of the shooting sequences during the plane hijacking early in the movie . instead  they decided to water down a lot of the shooting sequences  ala  a  team  tv series  as soon as the villains set foot on the mountain tops . this movie had a lot of all time great potential . crisper action sequences  better dialogue and more rambo  rocky style emotion  determination from stallone would have taken this movie to a higher level . i know this was not stallone  s fault . i sense the movie  s director wanted to tone down stallone  s character and try to steal the movie by taking credit for his direction which was not all that great if not for his cinematographer . sill a good movie though . . . . . . . .  
a woman  s nightmares fuel her fear of being buried alive . the cheating husband wants her dead and decides to make good use of her phobia by sticking her in a coffin and leaving her in the basement . of course b  horror movie queen brinke stevens transforms into hideous ghostly creature . the only reason to see this amateurish junk flick is michael berryman in a really small cameo and two sex scenes with delia sheppard . and the last twenty minutes of brinke  s bloody rampage are quite fun to watch . the special effects for example laughable decapitated head are truly awful . better watch  scalps  or  alien dead  again . of course i ain  t expecting classy entertainment from fred olen ray  but  haunting fear  is too dull to be enjoyable .  
this movie is really nerve racking cliffhangin movie  stallone was good as always  michael rooker put on a surprising performance and john lithgow play a excellent villain  the music is fantastic especially the theme  the movie is action packed and never dull  if you are a stallone fan then watch cliffhanger  you won  t be disappointed   
i purchased this video quite cheaply ex  rental  thinking that the cover looked quite nice . and it was nice  but the movie is trash . i can handle b  grade  i sometimes even enjoy a good b romp  ie .  surf nazis must die  is a classic example of how entertaining the genre can be   but this was just bland bland bland . incredibly dull scenes were broken up too sparsely by good wholesome cheap porn and entertaining dream horror sequences . this movie has very little to offer .  
cliffhanger is what appears to be slyvester stallone  s last action movie before he became such an underrated actor . it  s about a mountain climber that must help his friend after being held hostage by mercenaries that want them to find three suitcases carrying money over    million dollars . it has great action sequence  s  edge of your seat fun and a great time at the movies .  
fred olen ray is a lousy director  even as far as b movie directors go  but  haunting fear  is probably one of his better films . yes  it does butcher the great poe story  premature burial  and yes  it is badly paced and uneven throughout  but it is also pretty entertaining . scream queen brinke stevens is better than usual as a pretty  fragile housewife whose worthless husband  jay richardson  is plotting to do away with her because he needs money to pay off a gangster  played by robert quarry  . delia sheppard  a veteran of many early   s soft  core movies  actually gives the best performance in the film as a slutty mistress . you will also enjoy small roles played by karen black as a psychic  robert clarke as a doctor and michael berryman in a nice cameo in one of the better scenes . the ending didn  t make much sense   
while the prices have gone up a lot  and some of the details have become dated  any homeowner who  s struggled with problems of homeownership should get a lot of chuckles out of this movie . i know i did .  br    br   mr . blandings  a new york ad executive  decides to move his family to the connecticut suburbs and build himself a nice house there . he gets into one hilarious jam after another  from mortgages to lawsuits to construction difficulties  as the costs and schedule of the construction keep escalating out of control . i thought that the funniest scenes were where blandings hires a contractor to dig a well for water . they dig down hundreds of feet  but never find water . yet only a short distance away  a few days later  the basement of his house  to  be floods   br    br   cary grant and myrna loy give believable performances as the harried blandings couple overwhelmed by problems they never imagined  and melvyn douglas is even better as blanding  s lawyer and family friend .  br    br   the only caveat is that social attitudes have changed a lot since     . mrs . blandings is portrayed as a bit of a naive dimbulb who has no idea how much additional trouble she  s causing  and there  s a black maid  horrors   . so don  t watch this movie through the social lens of      and you  ll enjoy it all the more .  br    br    
this bogus journey never comes close to matching the wit and craziness of the excellent adventure these guys took in their first movie . this installment tries to veer away from its prequel to capture some new blood out of the joke  but it takes a wrong turn and journeys nowhere interesting or funny .  br    br   there  s almost a half  hour wasted on showing the guys doing a rock concert  and lots of people watching on  free tv    since when does that happen   surely the script writer could have done something more creative look at how all the random elements of the first movie were neatly tied up together by a converging them at the science presentation . not in this film  which pretty much ended the bill  ted franchise . the joke was over .  br    br   the grim reaper is tossed into the mix  for whatever reason . this infusion  like the whole plot  is done poorly and lacks sparks for comedy or audience involvement . there  s a zz top impression  hammered in for no reason . there  s lights  smoke  mirrors  noise . but nothing really creative or funny .  br    br   skip this bogus thing .  
after the unexpected accident that killed an inexperienced climber  michelle joyner  . eight months has passed . . . the rocky mountain rescue receive a distress call set by a brilliant terrorist mastermind eric quaien  john lithgow  . quaien has lost three large cases that has millions of dollars inside . two experienced climbers walker  sylvester stallone  and tucker  micheal rooker  and a helicopter pilot  janine turner  are to the rescue but they are set by a trap by quaien and his men . now the two climbers and pilot are forced to play a deadly game of hide and seek . while quaien is trying to find the millions of dollars and he kidnapped tucker to find the money . once tucker finds the money  tucker will be dead . against explosive firepower  bitter cold and dizzying heights . walker must outwit quaien for survival .  br    br   directed by renny harlin  driven  mindhunters  a nightmare on elm street  the dream master  made an entertaining non  stop action picture . this film is a spectacular  exciting  visually exciting action picture with plenty of dark humour as well . this was one of the biggest hits of     . this is one of harlin  s best film . lithgow is a terrific entertaining villain . stallone certainly made an short comeback of this sharp thriller . this is probably harlin  s best work as a filmmaker .  br    br   dvd has an sharp anamorphic widescreen   .      transfer and an terrific  dolby digital  .  surround sound . dvd has an running commentary track by the director with comments by stallone . dvd also has technical crew commentary as well . dvd has behind the scenes featurette  two deleted scenes with introduction by the director and more . do not miss this great action film . screenplay by micheal france  fantastic four  and actorstallone  the rocky series  . based on a premise by john long . excellent cinematography by alex thomson  b . s . c .  alien  demolition man  legend  . oscar nominated for best sound  best sound editing and best visual effects . panavision .      .  
first off . . . with names like fred olen ray  brinke stevens and jan  michael vincent  plus distributors like  rhino  and  troma  on the video box  you know what you  re getting into with this one . b movie mania  if you  re actually expecting to see a thriller  based on edgar allan poe   then forget it and head straight for the excellent series of roger corman   s poe films . this is pure  unadulterated sleaze  with just a pedestrian attempt at a plot similar to  the premature burial    complete with lots of r  rated  ready  for  video sex and nudity . however  it  s certainly entertaining and fun in a slipshod kind of way . . .  br    br   brinke  who has three nude scenes in the first   minutes  plays rich  traumatized  insomniac housewife victoria monroe  whose fear of being prematurely entombed stems from her belief that the same fate befell her father  hoke howell  . her worthless husband terry  jay richardson  has racked up some serious gambling debt  owed to a gangster played by robert quarry  and  with help from his kinky  blonde  european  accented sexpot secretary lisa  delia sheppard  plots to do away with brinke for her money . name  value actress karen black drops in briefly wearing a blonde wig as a hypnotist  she  s way too talented to be playing an insignificant role like this     s sci  fi  horror star robert clarke plays a doctor and family friend and michael berryman shows up for a decent nightmare sequence performing an autopsy on a still  living vicki . jan  michael vincent mostly sits outside a house in his car making goo  goo eyes as brinke enters and exits the home .  br    br   the kill  a  spouse  for  the  inheritance plot has been done a million times before  the ending is an unintentional laugh riot  concluding with a direct rip  off of the zuni fetish doll segment in trilogy of terror  and whoever created the awful stabbed face and decapitated head fx for this release needs to sharpen up on their skills a bit . brinke does a decent job making her character somewhat sympathetic  but the biggest surprise of all is how good former penthouse pet delia sheppard is in her role . she stole every scene she was in and easily gave the standout performance here .  
after the success of die hard and it  s sequels it  s no surprise really that in the     s  a glut of  die hard on a . . . . .  movies cashed in on the wrong guy  wrong place  wrong time concept . that is what they did with cliffhanger  die hard on a mountain just in time to rescue sly  stop or my mom will shoot  stallone  s career .  br    br   cliffhanger is one big nit  pickers dream  especially to those who are expert at mountain climbing  base  jumping  aviation  facial expressions  acting skills . all in all it  s full of excuses to dismiss the film as one overblown pile of junk . stallone even managed to get out  acted by a horse  however  if you an forget all the nonsense  it  s actually a very lovable and undeniably entertaining romp that delivers as plenty of thrills  and unintentionally  plenty of laughs .  br    br   you  ve got to love john lithgows sneery evilness  his tick every box band of baddies  and best of all  the permanently harassed and hapless  turncoat  agent  rex linn as travers .  br    br   he may of been henry in  portrait of a serial killer  but michael rooker is noteworthy for a cringe  worthy performance as hal  he insists on constantly shrieking in painful disbelief at his captors  that man never hurt anybody  and whilst he surely can  t be  it really does look like ralph waite  s frank character is grinning as the girl plummets to her death .  br    br   mention too must go to former  london  s burning  actor craig fairbrass as the brit bad guy  who comes a cropper whilst using hal as a human football  yes  you can  t help enjoy that bit  hal needed a good kicking .  br    br   so forget your better judgement  who cares if  that could never happen   lower your acting expectations  turn up the volume and enjoy  and if you  re looking for qaulen  he  s the one wearing the helicopter .  
hallam foe tells us the story about a boy who lost his mother and experiences some sort of oedepus complex afterward .  br    br   it is something like   minutes long but would be better in ten . there  s like an hour in the middle where he is doing climbing practice on rooftops  and habits in a church tower like quasimodo  only he is much less sympathetic  .  br    br   there  s a strange love story involved which doesn  t have anything to do with anything . she happens to look like his mother  yes so what  we know he misses his mother  that  s what the first ten minutes were about . they should just have put the beginning and ending together and it would have been a o . k . short film . now it  s a portrait of a character who doesn  t change . he is a guy that stuff happens to . the only active choice he has in the whole middle of the movie is to apply for a job .  br    br   there  s this whole oedepus thing going on which is supposed to make us analyze his character . he paints his face  dresses in women  s clothing and wears a dead badger on his head . a badger  you  ve got to see the ending  he returns to his home with the badger on his head  and it is shot like a tacky horror film  to kill his dad  s new wife  which he had sex with in the beginning  . and somehow they thought this wouldn  t be entertaining enough so they put some indie punk music in the background . i  ve got to admit though  i  m kind of allergic to films that want to write a psychological complex on your nose . it feels like this mackenzie director  guy  whatever is trying to show us that he also has been studying psychology in school . you are so smart  thank you for bringing all these forgotten theories back into our memories  you really dug  what a wallraff  okay so now i realized this film is based on some random book  but anyway . .  br    br   photowise it is boring . a lot of talking heads . plus the editor has changed the colors from scene to scene  you know cold and warm etc . . why  maybe  hallam foe  is both a feature and a test film for color blind people . or maybe they just thought that the drama wouldn  t be enough to tell us that he feels lonely  so they increased blue so that we really get it .  br    br   i  m not even gonna comment on the clich indie  oh  how  how  how  cute drawings they have made in the presentation . and all the  cute  sex stuff going on . this whole film is an independent clich . but i do recommend it . i laughed more than a few times . though it is really annoying to be a film student and to see how crap like this gets through the machine .  
forget credibility  br    br   you must not expect credibility with action movies where the superhero has to perform an endless string of unbelievable feats  being trodden upon in the process but recovering at lightning speed  and transforming innocuous gadgets in lethal weapons . . . especially when renny harlin is directing .  br    br    cliffhanger  is no exception . but the movie has numerous assets  breathtaking scenery gorgeously photographed  stunning special and visual effects  the first five minutes are gripping and give the tone of the film   excellent musical score  welcome attempts at levity to relieve some of the tension  and a solid cast  two heroes  stallone  star and cowriter  has the lion  s share of the footage  but the excellent michael rooker more than stands his ground   a charming heroin  janine turner   and one of the most darstardy bunch of villains ever  priceless john lithgow and deceivingly feminine caroline goodall  but also rex linn  in a longer than usual part and who makes the most of it  leon  craig fairbrass  good  solid entertainment then  if no credibility . as roger ebert wrote  about another film   it  s the kind of movie you can sit back and enjoy as long as you don  t make the mistake of thinking too much .   br    br    
in its way  mister foe  originally  and more appropriately  titled hallam foe  i can  t see addressing its title character as  mister    is a tribute to good acting . both jamie bell  as hallam  a physically attractive voyeur  creep  and sophia myles  as kate  his kinky partner in sex and fantasy romance  are convincing . the problem comes when you try to connect their roles to anything that happens in real life . a young man who spies on the intimate details of people  s lives the way hallam does would be deservedly beaten to a pulp . and a woman in kate  s situation would be repulsed and frightened  she would probably call the police .  br    br   these things are not  however  what happens in the movie . poor hallam  s mother has died and his father married a woman with whom he  s been having an affair . hallam  of course  hates his stepmother and lets he know it . she has sex with him . kate  s some kind of an employment person who places hallam in a dish washing job and plays sexual games . she looks like his birth mother . it all ends happily with hallam  resolving  his  issues  .  br    br   forty some years ago  the play and brilliantly acted movie  who  s afraid of virginia woolf  had a similarly optimistic ending  with characters becoming wiser and better after tearing each other apart . the trouble is  it doesn  t always work that way  especially when nobody really cares . in virginia woolf  the ending  s plausible because of the intensity of the emotional revelation . in mister foe  the emotional revelation never really happens .  
the selection of sylvester stallone to perform the protagonist by renny harlin is commendable since stallone is that sort of tough and craggy person who had earlier rendered the requisite audaciously versatile aura to the characters of rocky balbao and rambo . but to compare die hard series with cliffhanger is a far  fetched notion .  br    br   the excellently crafted opening scene introduces the audience to the thrill  suspense and intrigue which is going to engulf them in the ensuing bloody and perilous encounter with the outlaws . the heist and the high altitude transfer of hard cash in suit cases from one plane to the other is something not filmed before .  br    br   the biting cold of the snow capped alps and the unfolding deceit and treachery among the antagonist forces makes one shiver with trepidation . the forces of awesome adventure and ruthless murder kicks the drama through to the end .  br    br   good movies are not made every year and people don  t get a feast for eyes to watch every now and then . apart from the filthy language  parlance which endows brazen excitement during certain scenes  the movie can be regarded as one that is not going to fade its captivating appeal even watching it after so many years .  
david mackenzie  s follow  up to the brilliant young adam wants to be a feel  good underdog story of a lonely voyeur who is trying to confront some psycho  sexual issues with his dead mother . it wants to be gritty  realistic  and mysterious . at the same time  it wants to be funny and nonjudgmental of its disturbed lead as he establishes himself as an adult .  br    br   to meet this end  the film tries hard to be youthful . its poster has hand  drawn letters looking like that of juno . its original soundtrack is comprised of fast  paced indie rock which tries to convince the audience that hallam is ok just a little misguided . but strangely the film is anything but youthful .  br    br   like young adam this film  s central mystery concerns a drowned woman  in this case hallam  s mother . young adam keeps its mystery quiet  contemplative  and paced well enough to hit you with the truths as they come . hallam foe does the opposite . it foregrounds its character  s psychosis so clearly and so early that he never really does anything outside his expected parameters . the opening scene is hallam in his treehouse watching his sister fooling around with her boyfriend . hallam swiftly interrupts  asserting his presence in the household . here we see everything that hallam will do for the rest of the movie .  br    br   the mystery surrounding his mother  s drowning is whether it was suicide or murder by his father  s girlfriend . the audience can never really trust hallam because  besides being creepy  we think his obsession has led him close to insanity . this hindered the mystery element for me because hallam is too sporadic to be relatable . right when he  s found some clues that would support his claim he runs away from home  at first it appearing to be looking for the police . then he gets extremely sidetracked by a girl who resembles his mother  which frustratingly leads the story away from the mystery element .  br    br   while jamie bell does bring out some very endearing traits in his lost character  he was limited by the obviousness of his psychological needs . this movie is in no way mysterious  yet it is not blunt either . it tries to be realistic in dealing with such issues  but it adds a very self  conscious spunk which registers itself as quite the opposite . it goes for a soundtrack  heavy  trainspotting attitude to help the audience root for a protagonist who scales buildings  picks locks  and camps out for the sake of voyeurism . these urban peeping tom adventures hallam engages in are way too difficult for an inward  drawn country boy to engage in and they are not sexy  giddy  or pleasant . they are more neutral than anything not propelling the character or story . mackenzie makes you understand hallam  yet he fails to build common ground .  br    br   he expects you to enjoy hallam  s trials and tribulations without much ideological justification . the film hinges on its audience  s perspective on voyeurism  the kind of person who engages in it . obviously  most people would be disgusted by it . and hallam foe realizes that  but it does not let us see hallam weigh the morality of his decisions . he goes from person to person  trying to fill his deep void . there is a particularly disturbing line from hallam  s love interest kate where she drunkenly says  i love creepy boys   perhaps asking the audience to do the same . the line tries to foreshadow her understanding of him  her motivation remains vague throughout  and tries to further us from judging him . it  s not hard to like hallam  but it is very hard to participate in his adventure  if it is even an adventure at all . all the while  the film tries to use its flamboyant soundtrack to mask its indecisive mood .  br    br   great performances are weighed down by a film with a weak third act  muddy development  and needlessly ambiguous direction from mackenzie . recently this film was re  named for a us release  and for what reason  not only is it more unappealing  but the hard truth is that the hallam character never earns the title  mister .   
this movie is just great . it  s entertaining from beginning to the end  you  re always gonna be at the edge of your seat throughout the entire movie . in my opinion this movie is highly underrated by the critics .  br    br   sly suits perfectly into the role of the well trained mountain  rescue guy gabe walker . together with him michael rooker makes a great appearance as hal tucker . and then  john lithgow  one of the best performances i  ve seen of him as a villain .  br    br   and the fact that    of the movie takes place at a mountain with a whole lot of bad guys on it makes way for a lot of action   br    br   brilliant movie   
i saw this film first in the soviet union and many erotic scenes were simply edited out by the censorship committee . but then  in poland in      i watched it in a complete form . and so what  the plot is incredibly unwise   men survive the genetic catastrophe and find themselves on the planet full of feminist strong  straight and fundamentally severe ladies . the men now try to fight it and then the whole bunch of extremely silly clichs follow  sex  drive  constant masculine desire for sex  feminists who are shown like complete idiots  you may agree with them or not  but idiots certainly they are not   and so on . the performance even of the stellar jerzy stuhr is here wooden and strangely bad  he just pulls unfunny faces and repeats on saying phrases like  i am in the elevator with a nude chick and i haven  t done anything to her   . this was intended to be a comedy  instead  it turned out to be a vapid farce  full of predictable jokes and below  the  waist innuendos . do not waste your time on it  this is just bad .  
cliffhanger is a decent action crime adventure with some flaws from director renny harlin whose admirable in making this movie about an expert climber who finds himself taken hostage with a fellow friend by a gang of dangerous criminals on the search for suit cases full of stolen cash in the rocky mountains . sylvester stallone is impressive as gabe walker the expert climber especially in the action  fight sequences but some of them definitely border on the line of unrealistic . for the sake of the film though i willing to suspend my disbelief . the rest of the cast including john lithgow  michael rooker  janine turner  rex linn  caroline goodall  and leon are respectable as the supporting characters in the movie . the action  fight sequences are well executed but as mentioned before some aren  t very realistic no matter how tough you are . the climbing sequences however are very well done because instead of doing the whole film in a studio somewhere the locations they chose felt very real and the ariel views of the mountain ranges are marvelous adding a touch of reality to the movie . the deaths are inventive while others are sort of predictable . the villains are solid but it would  ve been better if they had focused on a more central one instead of having many of them . the pacing of the movie was a little slow but the good outweighs the bad in this one . if you  re a big fan of harlins or stallone  s than chances are you  ll enjoy this one too . overall cliffhanger has character development with enough action  drama  some suspense  excitement  thrills  and good performances by the cast who make this movie worth the time to watch .  
once again i have seen a movie made by people that know nothing . i just recently reviewed baby face nelson . now i  ve seen dillinger and i  ve had it .  br    br   this movie is garbage . i don  t know how anyone in their right mind could compare this to a classic like bonnie and clyde . this movie is far from a classic . someone called it brilliant . that  s an insane thing to say . this movie can  t get any facts straight and it has the worst casting i  ve ever seen . i don  t know whose dumb idea it was to cast warren oates as john dillinger . first of all he looks nothing like him . second of all  by the time john dillinger was killed he was   . when oates made this he was    you could even tell that he  s older than the real dillinger just by looking at him . not only was he too old  but so was ben johnson as melvin purvis .  br    br   they show baby face nelson die  then homer van meter  and finally john dillinger . john dillinger was killed before both of them . the last one to die out of the three was baby face nelson . not only do the writers not know when they died  but they also don  t know how they died . baby face nelson was not killed after he escaped from little bohemia in a robe . homer van meter was not killed by farmers with shot guns . homer van meter was cornered by the police in st . paul and gunned down with machine guns . another member of dillinger  s gang  harry pierpont is shown being shot by police in this movie . pierpont wasn  t shot . harry pierpont was captured and sentenced to die in the electric chair . i go into what happened to baby face nelson on my baby face nelson review so i  m not going to go into it again here . let me also add that richard dreyfuss  portrayal of baby face nelson is pathetic . there  s a scene where he attacks dillinger and then gets a bad beating . while dillinger was beating him he was crying like a baby and screaming   leave me alone   baby face nelson and john dillinger never fought . maybe dillinger didn  t agree with nelson  s bank robbing methods  but they never fought . nelson also never cried like a little girl while getting beaten . they keep calling him lester  baby face  nelson . he was never in his life known by that name . nelson  s real name was lester gillis and he changed his name to george nelson . the black guy that escaped from jail with dillinger was herbert youngblood  but in this movie he is known as reed youngblood . john milius doesn  t know anything . where the hell did john milius get his information  i could probably make a better movie than him .  br    br   finally the way they showed john dillinger die is outrageous and inexcusable . the movie shows dillinger walk out of the biograph with the lady in red and his girlfriend billie frechette . by the way  billie frechette wasn  t even there that night . but a girl named polly hamilton was . melvin purvis yells   johnny   dillinger pulls out his gun and is blown to hell . it is a proved fact that dillinger did not have a gun that night . the fbi gave him no chance to surrender and as soon as he was in sight they blew him away . they didn  t even have to shoot him . they were so close that powder burns were found on his face . it was murder . they also say that the man killed that night was not john dillinger . after killing tons of civilians in the little bohemia incident can you imagine the fbi reporting that they had just killed another innocent unarmed man  the gun they had on display that was supposedly on dillinger was also proved not to have been manufactured until after dillinger  s death . i could go on and on how the man they killed wasn  t john dillinger  but i  ll stop here . if you would like to know more check it out here  br    br   see the dillinger version with lawrence tierney if you want  but don  t waste your time with this inaccurate piece of garbage movie .  
was this based on a comic  book  a video  game  a drawing by a  year  old   br    br   there is nothing in this movie to be taken seriously at all not the characters  not the dialog  not the plot  not the action . nothing . we have high  tech international terrorists  criminals who bicker like pre  school kids  stallone  s man  of  steel  type resilience towards ice  cold weather  dialog so dumb that it  s sometimes almost hilarious  and so on . even the codename that the bad guys use is dumb   tango  tango   . a film that entertains through some suspense  good action  sequences  and a nice snowy mountainous setting . oh  yes and the unintentional humour .  br    br   the film opens with some truly bad and unconvincing gay banter between our go  lucky and happy characters who are obviously having a  swell  time . then comes a sweat  inducing failed  rescue part  which should make anyone with fear  of  heights problems want to pull their hair out . and then we have some more bad dialog  and after that some more great action . this is the rhythm of the film in a nutshell .  br    br   stallone  s melodramatic exchange with turner  when they meet after a long time  is so soapy  so clichd  so fake  and so bad that it should force a chuckle out of any self  respecting viewer . soon after this display of awful dialog  writing  we are witnesses to a spectacular and excellently shot hijack of an airplane . the entire action is one big absurdity  but it  s mindless fun at its best . although the rest of the action is exciting and fun  the airplane scenes are truly the highlight of the film . after the landing  our master  criminals seek for a guide and end up with stallone and rooker . they send stallone to fetch the first case of money  but somehow they do everything to make it as difficult as possible for him to reach it they take most of his clothes off  so he can freeze  and they won  t give him the equipment he needs  so he can fall off  . do these gangsters want their money fetched or not    very silly . apparently they don  t trust stallone  but surely they know that they can always black  mail him by using rooker as a hostage . nevertheless  our gangsters make stallone  s climb difficult  if for no logical reasons then to at least show us how truly evil they are  lest there be any doubts . and for those who might still doubt how evil the bad guys are  they overact  brag  and snicker in a truly evil manner . everyone convinced  good . you  d better be . otherwise the writers will throw in a mass execution of twenty school children  just to make sure that the evilness of the bad guys is crystal  clear to everyone .  br    br   the old guy who flies the chopper . . . how the hell did he fall for the trap  firstly  he must have been warned by the mtv airhead about the criminals  and secondly  he must have heard stallone  s and rooker  s voices on the walkie  talkies . a whole bunch of idiotic verbal exchanges take place  with lithgow having the questionable honour of getting most of the silly lines .  get off my back   lithgow  i haven  t even started climbing on your back .  or  lithgow to stallone  we had a deal  but now we only have each other   and as for lithgow  s gang of murderers these guys never seem to want to kill immediately . they are very creative about it they philosophize  pretend that they are playing football with your body  and so on .  br    br   stallone co  wrote this thing . i have no idea what drugs he was on when he did it . i  d hate to think the script is this bad because of a low i . q .  
i just finished reading a book about dillinger . this movie was horribly inaccurate . it  s like they got a list of names and just made everything up . his robberies and getaways were well planned  down to the second  when the time was up  they left whether they had all of the money or not . they had notes of every road  where to turn  etc . purvis never saw him at the restaurant  he was told that dillinger paid for his meal after dillinger left . purvis never even saw dillinger before the night dillinger was killed  only photos of him . the way his gang members died were fictitious . dillinger never robbed a bank by himself  like he did in this movie . if i had never read the book  maybe i could have enjoyed the movie . the acting was a bit over the top in places . the action was overdone as well . on second thought  i doubt if i would have enjoyed it much even if i hadn  t read the book .  
since i first saw this in the theater it has been my favorite . since then i  ve seen it countless times and i never get tired of it . the setting has a lot to do with it  the colorado i know would be jealous   but the storyline is original and i liked how it used small town mountain folk as the heroes . there has not been a movie i can compare this too . john lithgow plays a smart villain  but i love how he is completely out of his element   he has to follow tucker around and that  s what keeps it interesting . this is an action movie at it  s best . i don  t think i  ll see another that is so entertaining .  br    br   you don  t need       rounds fired to qualify as an action movie . it just has to keep you captivated  not shell  shocked .  
proof why hollywood conventions are in place . stale dialogue  underdeveloped and flat characters and a disjointed storyline are only part of the problems with this gangster classic wannabe . an attempt to be daring and different but this appears to be a slap  together attempt at recreating the magic of arthur penn  s bonnie and clyde       and george roy hill  s butch cassidy and the sundance kid        truly innovative filmmakers and films  but falling well below the bar . problems with storylines being self  explanatory result in the need for a voiceover to explain problem sections . the editing appears again to be an attempt to duplicate the previous classics but is occasionally disjointed and cause more problems for me technically . unnecessary shots are thrown in to justify the filming of them but would have better served the viewer by sitting on the cutting room floor . stills  black  white montages and period music are thrown in from time to time in attempts to either be different or to cover up for scenes that can  t transition well or to replace scenes that just didn  t work at all and again are reminiscent of butch cassidy and the sundance kid       .  br    br   overly dramatic pauses between sentences  random shots of surrounding scenery that wasn  t needed for storytelling plus over  the  top acting of bit players and supporting actors was reminiscent of the backyard camcorder directors of the late      s  i was left wondering who was in charge of this film during production and during post  production . the playing of music in most two shots and close  ups and then suddenly stopping in wide shots overly emphasized a weak musical score . no sound editing was drastically apparent as the bulk of the film was gunshots  doors  footsteps and dialogue  a style used in the late    s through the mid     s by new directors  but lacking background noise causing it to seem artificial  particularly the tire squeaks on dirt roads . in my honest opinion the biggest problem of all is there are no  likeable  characters for the audience to route for nor were we lead to see as the protagonists of the story . neither the gangsters nor the lawmen were characters i wanted to see win and neither were focused on as the  hero   a necessity for any story to work for me . we know from penn  s and hill  s movies who the  heroes  are . even though they are criminals  we like them and want to see them get away . i could care less who was on the screen in this film . i got the impression that john milius was trying to give off a non  historically accurate reenactment documentary of the events surrounding john dillenger  s life from june     to july      his death  .  br    br   to be fair  there are some moments of good solid storytelling  which are moments that shine forth brightly from the dark and dismal canister in which this film sits . john milius gets better thankfully in future films where he doesn  t seem to try to  copy  other filmmakers . dillinger       isn  t a total waste as many stars and famous faces who were at the cusp of breaking out are involved with this directorial  big budget  debut  but wait for it on a classic movie channel rather than spending money to rent or buy .  br    br    
to be honest  i didn  t like that much this movie when i saw it for the first time . but i guess the trouble is that i haven  t seen it in a theater . big mistake  because the   thing to see in cliffhanger is the settings and   is the cinematography . try to see this movie on the largest tv possible and a great sound system . the music is good and puts the movie to a higher level  and a commercial potential  . the more i see it  the more i like it .  br    br   it  s definitely one of renny harlin  s best movie . this guy knows about action . die hard   the long kiss good bye  etc . and it  s particularly good in this movie . the special effect are great and spectacular . stallone really needed that movie get back with success . still good to see him   
near the beginning  after it  s been established that outlaw john dillinger  warren oates   is an egomaniacal rapist  another bandit of the     s is cornered in a farm house and surrounded by the fbi . second  in  command melvin purvis  ben johnson   surveys the situations  sticks a lighted cigar in his mouth  picks up two loaded .    caliber automatics  and stalks off into the distant house alone . bang  bang  bang . purvis emerges alone from the house  carrying the female hostage  the miscreant dead . all in long shot .  br    br   if you  re enthralled by stories like red riding hood  this should have considerable appeal .  br    br   oh  it  s as exciting as it is mindless . pretty boy floyd meets his demise dramatically . multiple violations of the civic code . plenty of shoot outs with tommy guns and pistols . blood all over .  br    br   as history  it stinks . few remember melvin purvis as an fbi hero  partly  i would guess  because of his name . melvin purvis  we all remember j . edgar hoover  who fired melvin purvis because he was a rival in the quest for public attention though .  br    br   the picture was written and directed by john milius . he  s the guy who had it written into his contract that  should any animals be shot and killed in the course of one of his productions  he should be the designated shooter . milius is the guy  a compleat gun freak  who had teddy roosevelt  s rough riders in the spanish  american war shouting quotations from henry v    saint crispin  s day  and all that .  br    br   exciting  yes  and complete garbage .  i knew i  d never take him alive  and i didn  t try too hard neither .  that is  kill  em all and let god sort them out .  br    br   you  ll just love it .  
i  m far from a sylvester stallone fan and i guess the only time i really appreciated his appearance was in the french movie taxi   which is an almost inexistent small role . and yet i must admit that this movie was actually not that bad  even though i feared the worst .  br    br   when gabe  stallone  fails to rescue the girlfriend of one of his friends and she plunges to her death from a     feet high mountain top  he can  t possibly force himself to keep working as a mountain ranger . for almost a year he doesn  t set a food in the reserve  but than he returns . soon after he  s back  they get an emergency call from a group of hikers who got trapped in a snow storm . at least  that  s what the rangers believe . in reality it is a group of robbers who crashed with their airplane in the mountains after their daring plan to steal cases full of money from a flying government plane failed . the cases are spread all over the reserve and they need the help of professional climbers to retrieve them . . .  br    br   this is of course not one of the most intelligent movies ever  but in its genre it  s an enjoyable one . i especially enjoyed john lithgow as the evil master mind and leader of the gang of robbers . i know him best from the tv  series   rd rock from the sun   but i enjoyed his performance in this movie as well . overall the acting is ok  it had a lot of action to offer and of course also some one  liners  but it also offered a very nice decor . this movie was filmed in a magnificent natural environment . i loved the snowy mountains and valleys  the mountain rivers and the forests . . . perhaps that  s why i give this movie a score higher than what i normally give to an action  adventure movie of this kind . i give it a  .     . if you don  t expect too much  this is an enjoyable movie .  
anyone who visited drive  ins in the     s    s  and   s  must have seen a film or two by american international pictures  a distributor that resembled     s giant cannon films . wherever movie  goers ventured  aip would be right there to supply the latest en vogue titles  in the   s came horror movies like  voodoo woman  and  the undead  in the   s were frankie avalon  annette funicello beach comedies and biker flicks like  the glory stompers  and into the   s  aip churned out grindhouse  level trash like  cannibal girls  and  sugar hill .   br    br    dillinger   released in      is one of the more  highbrow  aip efforts that capture the true spirit of drive  in film  making it is one of those uneven  over  the  top flicks that satisfied the masses  thirst for entertainment  craftsmanship and common sense be damned . on the whole   dillinger  is typical for its era entertaining and worth a couple of hours  but certainly not memorable . heavy on action and short on both acting and historical fact   dillinger  was a fair effort by screenwriter  director john milius   magnum force   but certainly left room for improvement in his extensive career .  br    br   the     minute  dillinger   epic for aip  s scope  follows the quest of fbi midwest chief melvin purvis  played by academy award winner ben johnson . purvis was the investigator who sought revenge for four fbi agents killed in a     kansas city ambush that helped gangster frank nash to escape justice . at large were the men who supposedly plotted that breakout  including expert bankrobber john dillinger  warren oates   pretty boy floyd  steve kanaly   and psychopath baby face nelson  richard dreyfuss  . dillinger eventually joined forces with floyd and nelson  taking along homer van meter  harry dean stanton  and harry pierpont  geoffrey lewis  . he also hooked up with billie frechette  michelle phillips   a prostitute of french and indian extraction . while taking place over several months in         dillinger  is basically a chase film  with purvis  s entourage looking to run down and kill off the men wanted by j . edgar hoover .  br    br    dillinger  has a documentary feel  listing dates and places while johnson supplies loose narrative as purvis . milius keeps an honest depression look  using authentic fashion  cars  weapons  and buildings he also sprinkles around black  and  white photography and stock footage of gangster shootouts . the film is never boring  moving at a quick  if haphazard  pace . the action scenes are dillinger  s strongpoint  edited competently by fred feitshans jr in his last professional effort . thousands of blank ammunition rounds must have been used to make this film  not to mention pounds of explosives . this film is certainly not for the squeamish  with people getting shot and dropping dead all over the place . the violence  while gratuitous  brings some understanding of the mayhem that organized crime dumped on american life .  br    br   this film never transcends its exploitation status  however  because the needed writing just isn  t there . john milius  somewhat overrated as a filmmaker  places way too much emphasis on action . the action scenes  mostly blood  filled shootouts  are impressive and comparable with any major crime film of its era  including      s  bonnie and clyde .  but we simply don  t get to know much about dillinger and his gang members as people the vital relationship that develops between dillinger and frechette is barely touched upon  with the pair meeting in a bar during one scene and cavorting as lovers just ten minutes afterward . melvin purvis also seems to wander in and out of the storyline  becoming a prominent figure only when milius needs to keep the film from unraveling . all too often  the film takes on a shoot   em  up persona when its characters could have been explored in detail .  br    br   aside from this  the picture  s main crime is ignorance of historical fact . while many say that  dillinger  is just a film  it  s films such as this one that create fables and make them permanent . those with knowledge of gangster history will point out that john dillinger was not the last of his ring to die  as milius  s screenplay and the film  s documentary style encourage us to believe . in fact  dillinger died before baby face nelson and homer van meter he also was said not to be carrying a gun on the night of his death  nor did he have billie frechette in tow . while these inaccuracies might make for high drama  there is no reason why milius couldn  t have stayed with the facts and written a great story around them .  br    br   warren oates  s performance as dillinger is quite good  although he sometimes looks unconvincing . oates is humorous and nicely portrays how dillinger became consumed by his larger  than  life image in the american press however  we never really feel the menace he invoked in his lifetime . ben johnson gives some life to purvis  suave but rather flat . michelle phillips brings emotion to the billie frechette character and it  s really too bad that milius  s screenplay didn  t flesh out her relationship with dillinger . we never learn what drew her to a cold  blooded killer  other than the stereotype of an easy  going girl who is attracted to men of danger . the supporting roles with kanaly  dreyfuss  stanton  lewis  and a briefly  appearing cloris leachman  are acceptable for such talent .  br    br   as a piece of     s exploitation   dillinger  appears doomed to retail bargain bins  which is exactly where i picked up mgm  s dvd release for   .   . the film is nicely presented in widescreen  a must for drive  in flicks  with subtitles in french and spanish . dillinger  s theatrical trailer is supplied as a lone extra . largely forgotten except by gangster movie fans and drive  in enthusiasts  the film doesn  t really call for much else in way of supplementary material . for fans of the genre  it  s certainly worth checking out .  br    br    out of   br    br   roving reviewer  www . geocities . com  paul  johnr  
in manhattan  the american middle class jim blandings  cary grant  lives with his wife muriel  myrna loy  and two teenage daughters in a four bedroom and one bathroom only leased apartment . jim works in an advertising agency raising us       .   a year and feels uncomfortable in his apartment due to the lack of space . when he sees an advertisement of a huge house for sale in the country of connecticut for an affordable price  he drives with his wife and the real estate agent and decides to buy the old house without any technical advice . his best friend and lawyer bill cole  melvyn douglas  sends an acquaintance engineer to inspect the house  and the man tells that he should put down the house and build another one . jim checks the information with other engineers and all of them condemn the place and sooner he finds that he bought a  money pit  instead of a dream house .  br    br    mr . blandings builds his own house  is an extremely funny comedy  with witty lines and top  notch screenplay . cary grant is hilarious in the role of a man moved by the impulse of accomplishing with the american dream of owning a huge house that finds that made bad choice  while losing his touch in his work and feeling jealous of his friend . in      tom hanks worked in a very funny movie visibly inspired in this delightful classic   the money pit  . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    lar  meu tormento    home  my torment    
first off  i must admit that both films i  ve seen by this director i saw without titles and so may have missed the points . my czech isn  t bad but  having sat through two of his films  i wish i hadn  t even tried to learn . samotari is too cool . way too cool . it  s about ten different story lines that weave in and out together . that  s not so deeply unusual in a town the size of prague  tiny  really .  the main characters are between   and   . they  ve got jobs and only one studies . the best character is the young balkan girl . her sentiments are echoed by immigrants here every damn day . that  s about it . the only great character . everyone else is making their own lives hell quite on their own . how can i sympathise with such obvious incompetence  perhaps there are interesting bits with japanese tourists but do i need another stereotype in film  if you like alright music  see this film . if you want to laugh at others  stupidity  see this film . if you like irony and dry humor  see an original jarmusch not an imitation . and under no circumstances see ondricek  s film  septej  whisper .  that is unless you enjoy homophobic stereotypes .  
watching cliffhanger makes me nostalgic for the early    s  a time when virtually every new action movie could be described as  die hard in a  on a .  cliffhanger is  die hard on a mountain   and pretty good  for what it is .  br    br   but unlike passenger   and under siege  which are decent die hard clones on their own terms  cliffhanger dispenses with the enclosed feeling of many action movies and embraces breathtaking landscapes that  in their immensity  threaten to overwhelm and trivialize the conflicts of the people fighting and dying among the peaks .  br    br   years before other movies like a simple plan and fargo dramatized crime and murder on snowbound locations  cliffhanger director renny harlin recognized the visual impact of juxtaposing brutal violence and grim struggles to survive against cold and indifferent natural surroundings .  br    br   the opening sequence has already received substantial praise  all of which it deserves its intensity allows us to forget the artifice of the camera and the actors and simply believe that what we are seeing is actually happening . not even harlin  s shot of the falling stuffed animal  which is powerfully effective but still threatens to become too much of a joke  and which he repeated in deep blue sea   or the ridiculous expression on ralph waite  s face  can dim the sequence  s power .  br    br   the next impressive set  piece is the gunfight and heist aboard the jet . as written by stallone and michael france and directed by harlin  the audience is plunged into the action by not initially knowing which agents are involved in the theft and which are not the bloody double  crosses are completely unexpected . as roger ebert has observed  the stuntman who made the mid  air transfer between the planes deserves some special recognition .  br    br   later  during the avalanche sequence  one of the terrorists  thieves appears to be actually falling as the wall of snow carries him down the mountain . so far as i know  no one was killed in the making of this movie  a small miracle  considering the extreme nature of some of the stunts   so obviously a dummy was used for the shot . but the shot itself remains impressive because we  re left wondering how harlin  or more likely one of the second  unit directors  knew exactly where to place the camera .  br    br   i  ll take sly stallone as my action hero any day of the week  because he  s one of the few movie stars i  ve ever seen who  s completely convincing as someone who can withstand a lot of physical and emotional pain  and at the same time actually feels that pain . the role of gabe walker really complements stallone  s acting strengths he plays an older  more vulnerable kind of action hero  giving an impressively low  key performance as a mountain rescuer who must redeem himself .  br    br   in contrast to many of today  s post  matrix  comic book  inspired action heroes  stallone  s walker is an ordinary man who becomes a hero without any paranormal or computer  enhanced abilities . in cliffhanger  the hero almost freezes to death  and his clothes start to show big tears as he barely escapes one dangerous situation after another . he winces when he  s hit and bleeds when he  s cut  particularly in the cavern sequence when he takes a rocky  style pummeling from one of the mad  dog villains .  br    br   it should be noted that the utterly despicable villains really contribute to the movie  s effectiveness when i first saw this movie as a teenager  i was rooting for the good guys every step of the way and anticipating when another bad guy would bite the dust  or rather  the ice   at one point i actually cheered as one of the most cold  blooded characters in the movie deservedly suffered a violent demise .  br    br   lithgow  s british accent is as unconvincing as the movie  s occasional model plane or model helicopter  but he  s fundamentally a good actor  and one of the few who can perfectly recite silly dialogue in one scene  looking at his hostages stallone and rooker  trying to decide which tasks to give them  he actually says  you  stay  you  fetch   even a better actor  such as anthony hopkins  might have had trouble with that line .  br    br   even if cliffhanger occasionally tosses credibility aside  it does so only for the sake of a more entertaining show .  br    br   early in the movie  for example  lithgow openly says to one of his men  retire stallone when he comes down .  no real criminal mastermind would have made this mistake even unconsciously his carelessness allows rooker to shout a warning up to sly on the rock face  and this precipitates a gripping tug  of  war between stallone and the bad guys trying to pull him down by the rope tied to his leg .  br    br   lithgow could have given his order by a more subtle means  but the sequence might not have been as much fun to watch if it hadn  t given rooker an opportunity to openly defy the arrogance of his captor .  br    br   done very much in the style of a saturday matinee serial or  at times  a western  cliffhanger is built on such a solid foundation that it survives some weak elements that would have undermined a lesser film .  br    br   besides the painfully obvious aircraft models mentioned before  the weak moments include a couple of scenes shot on cheap indoor sets with really fake snow  as well as two other scenes involving bats and wolves that seem unnecessary in an already action  packed narrative . finally  harlin  s decision to film some of the death scenes in slow motion seems pointless  since the technique contributes nothing to the scenes .  br    br   it  s a shame that stallone is now too old for action movies  because his character in this movie seems so credible that inevitably i wonder what he would be like years later . but perhaps it  s best that cliffhanger stands on its own for all time  without a sequel there are enough tired and obsolete movie franchises already . there was an unofficial sequel that called itself vertical limit compared to that clinker  cliffhanger belongs on the imdb  s top    list .  br    br   rating   very good  especially considering most of stallone  s other movies .   
i recently watched this film at the    th gothenburg film festival  and to be honest it was on of the worst films i  ve ever had the misfortune to watch . don  t get me wrong  there are the funny and entertaining bad films  e . g  manos  hands of fate   and then there are the awful bad films .  this one falls into the latter category  . the cinematography was unbelievable  and not in a good way . it felt like the cameraman deliberately kept everything out of focus  with the exception of a gratuitous nipple shot   the lighting was something between  one guy running around with a light bulb  and  non existing  . the actors were as bad as soap actors but not as bad as porn actors  and gave the impression that every line came as a total surprise to them . the only redeeming feature was the look of the masked killer  a classic look a la jason vorhees from  friday the    th  . the plot was extremely poor  and the ending even worse . i would only recommend this movie to anyone needing an example of how a horror film is not supposed be look like  or maybe an insomniac needing sleep .  
sly  s best out and out action film . it is a superbly enjoyable movie with some interesting characters  solid performances and renny harlins direction is stylishly assured . stallone is rarely this interesting in his action films and he certainly looks the part in terms of the action scenes . this was one of the best action films of the year and one of the most thrilling and enjoyable of the    s  a definite genre classic . as a stallone fan this is one i look back on with fond memories . plenty of superb action and sly in prime action man form . action lovers appreciate this film because it has all the hallmarks that make a good aciton film . the film looks great and there is great support from janine turner  michael rooker and john lithgow .   
it  s interesting to see what the director tried to do with this film . but the problem is that it  s not very good . there was nothing really original in the film and while the plot was well presented  the main characters were all a bit to shallow and you didn  t bother for any of them .  br    br   rather bland  and sometimes downright bad  photo leaves a bit to be desired but i guess you can  t expect to much from people who are just doing a low budget film for the heck of it . it  s unfair to review the film and compare it to other high  budget films . but alas  that is what one must do . on its own  it  s not very good . and compared to others  it  s still not very good . but it is not without its good points  i liked the plot . it was built up rather nicely and tied together well at the end . sometimes in the really dark scenes  it managed to build up a creepy feeling as well .  br    br   however in the end the film fails to impress . the characters are pretty much non  existent and we don  t care for any of them . any of them might die  but it  s possible to pinpoint the final  survivor  from very early on .  
wracked with guilt after a lot of things felt apart on that ledge  an ace mountain rescue climber gabriel walker  stallone  comes back for his girlfriend jessie  janine turner   while over the cloudy skies where the weather looks a bit threatening  a spectacularly precarious mid  air hijacking goes wrong and     million taken from a treasury department plane get lost in the middle of nowhere followed by a crash landing  br    br   stranded off the snowy peaks  and needing mountain guides to win back the stolen cash  the high  trained hikers make an emergency call asking the help of a rescue unit  br    br   unfortunately  gab and hall  michael rooker  have to team up to arrive at the scene of the crash unaware that the distress call was a fake  and a bunch of merciless terrorists led by a psychotic  john lithgow   are waiting for them only to find out a way off the stormy mountain with the dumped cases of money  br    br   with breathtaking shots  vertiginous scenery  dizzying heights  perilous climbs  freezing temperatures   cliffhanger  is definitely stallone  s best action adventure movie  
  i love new york  is another entry by vh    mtv networks  showing the entertaining side of dating a shrill  obnoxious  woman . it must have been an easy decision to take the most wildest  ebonics speaking  craziest contestant  and her mother  and give them a show on this network . many will argue   this is a show  . true  it  s not as bad as it  s previous show   flavor of love   but it  s just as bad .  br    br   it reminds me of a skit from the    s show  in living color  where keenan ivory wayans was imitating the boxer mike tyson on  the love connection  dating show and he picked  robin givens  for a date . mike talked of how the date was okay  but how the obnoxious mother kept butting in . this show reminds me of that .  br    br   the men are chosen and given names to degrade themselves and the woman that they are dating more   i would think an intelligent man looking to date an intelligent woman would not allow her  and her mother  to give you a name that is so ghetto  you  ll embarrass yourself every time you appear on tv .  but these are professional reality actors  so why bother .  br    br   it escapes me to discover what is so entertaining about all of this . the fact that this is as fake as her newly implanted additions    minutes of fame and hundreds of thousands of dollars in ad time for the network   well  you can  t hate them for trying to make a buck .  maybe the wonder is  who would want to be with this woman past an hour  or wonder if she and her mother  s next show would be on the wwf  any way you slice it  it  s a train wreck you  ve seen countless times before so by now the shock value is down to nil .  br    br   no twist or turn will make this a more interesting train wreck  or any different from any of the others . appeals to the lowest common denominator and for those calling an  end  to reality shows  this is just another nail in the coffin as to why they should end  immediately .  
i don  t think i  ll ever understand the hate for renny harlin .  die hard   was cool  and he gave the world  cliffhanger   one of the most awesome action movies ever . that  s right  you little punks   cliffhanger  rules  and we all know it .  br    br   sly plays gabe walker  a former rescue climber who is  just visiting  his old town when he is asked to help a former friend  hal tucker  michael rooker   assist in a rescue on a mountain peak . walker obviously came back at a convenient time  because the stranded people are actually a sophisticated team of thieves led by eric qualen  john lithgow  . qualen  co . have lost a whole lot of money they stole from the u . s . government somewhere in the rocky mountains and they really would like it back . . .  br    br   essentially   cliffhanger  is another  die hard  clone . just trade in the confines of nakatomi plaza to the open mountain ranges of the rocky mountains  complete with scenes created to point out the weaknesses of our hero and keep him mortal . naturally  that set up is totally ripped to shreds soon enough  as stallone  s character avoids quite a large number of bullets with ease  and slams face  first into several rock faces with no apparent side  effects . after all  isn  t that what action movies are all about   br    br    cliffhanger  is one of the most exciting action movies around . a showcase of great scenes and stunts . one of the early stunts is one of the best stunts i  ve ever seen in a movie  and while the rest of the movie does not get any better than it did at the beginning  it maintains its action awesomeness . john lithgow  s lead villain is entertaining  and one bad dude . quite possibly one of the coolest lead villains ever .  br    br    cliffhanger  is easily one of stallone  s best efforts  definitely renny harlin  s best effort  and a very exciting action movie       
the latest rumor going around is that vh  is starting casting calls for i love new york  mid     . so does this mean budah or tailor made dumped new york or does this mean new york dumped the winner   br    br   i know flavor of love is coming up to it  s  rd season  so now with a flavor of love  and a i love new york  . . . . . will there ever be a true winner     br    br   i  ve also heard a few rumors that chance will be brought back for the  rd season of i love new york     i have also heard rumors that new york will be specially featured on flavor of love  .  br    br   hopefully this was not too much of a spoiler for the ending of i love new york  . . . . i  m just stating the latest rumor .  
eric valette is obviously a talented film  maker  and so are the two guys who wrote the script . therefore malfique is a great flick  made with just a few bucks but also tons of imagination . well  i  m a bit exaggerating  but nevertheless i  m sincere . so  if you like dark  gory movies  go and see this one . it  s really worth it .  
i think that new york is a big fake  i mean her whole guidelines of this show is stupid . i enjoyed flavor fl av more better  she acts like a slut  and a hoe put together . her mother is out of this world  i think she is the devils daughter . i mean what does she think she is doing these men already have girls and i believe once you have been with her you will be to ashamed to go back to your girl . she is nasty  spoiled and a big fat fake . the show is very interesting to watch  how much money is she getting to do this awful show  and whats up with her mother  i thought her and new york did not get along  but now it seems as though she is just as fake as her crazy daughter . and where is the so called husband  he is no where to be found  i would not to be with them either .  
four prisoners share a single cell the domineering transvestite  marcus  clovis cornillac   marcus  s idiot savant buddy  paquerette  dimitri rataud   who will eat anything in sight including pocket watches  cockroaches  and his little sister lassalle  philippe laudenbach   the intelligent librarian who murdered his wife and carrre  grald laroche   the new guy who was caught up in corporate fraud and is now focused on escaping . after a brick falls from the wall of the cell  the men discover the hidden journal written by a  fountain of youth   obsessed serial killer who occupied the cell in the     s . is this journal the secret to their escape  or is there something much more sinister behind it   br    br   i was a little weary about getting into this film because the only other experience i have with eric valette was the dreadful one missed call        which i consider to be the worst theatrically released film i  ve ever seen . however  much of what was wrong with one missed call could probably be attributed to klavan  s awful script  because  as i remember  valette  s direction wasn  t the worst part about the film  unless he chose to include the baby  . anyway  malfique was a good way to get my respect back . . . it  s a french film  obviously something i like  and it takes place in prison  which is my second favourite horror setting after asylums  . so that  s two points for him before the film even starts . luckily  valette had me once the film ended as well . malfique is a rather deep  rather complex  rather compelling story of obsession and desperation . . . the desire and need to bring fantasies to reality . while it  s not a terrifying film in the traditional sense  the oddity of its power makes it pretty damn frightening . the period between the climax and conclusion was some of the best film i  ve seen in quite some time and i would wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a decent psychological thriller with some pretty cool gore .  br    br   final verdict  .     . quite a bit of respect earned back by valette .  br    br   note paramount picked up the rights to make an american remake  surprise surprise  . it  s due out in     . i  m not sure why  to be honest  as this doesn  t seem like something that would be a big moneymaker here in the states . but  i  ve been surprised before .  br    br   vive la france   br    br    ap    
this is the most saccharine romance i ever sat through . the perfect film for an idle housewife in kerchief  housedress  and ostrich  trimmed high  heeled mules to watch in the afternoon  lying on the couch eating bonbons . in fact  bonbons play a prominent role in the movie .  br    br   the only reason i was able to watch to the end  is that i finally was able to gaze at keanu reeves  dreamy face in almost every scene . in most of his films  he moves too fast to get a good look . the only rapid action in this show is giancarlo giannini waving his hands with latin emotionality  more italian than mexican  really .  br    br   the dialog is as stiff as wood . unfortunately  no bodices are ripped  the hero is disgracefully perfect  mannered and mild . the aristocratic warm  blooded old  world family cliche is as old as the hills . what does it matter if they are irish or italian or mexican  this is a fairy story .  br    br   i knew before the titles finished running that this would not be the movie i hoped for . the glowing grapes looked like the paragon of all food ads in women  s day magazine . i didn  t see his name listed  but the art director surely was thomas kinkade  who paints the million dollar canvases of irish cottages snuggled in fuchsias . this film was literally seen through rose  colored glasses . if you like dreamy pink and blue sky  this film is for you   the bonbons looked really good  too    
a prison cell . four prisoners  carrere  a young company director accused of fraud    year old transsexual in the process of his transformation  daisy  a   year  old mentally challenged idiot savant and lassalle  a   year  old intellectual who murdered his wife . behind a stone slab in the cell  mysteriously pulled loose  they discovered a bookthe diary of a former prisoner  danvers  who occupied the cell at the beginning of the century . the diary contains magic formulas that supposedly enable prisoners to escape .  malefique  is one of the creepiest and most intelligent horror films i have seen this year . the film has a grimy  shadowy feel influenced by the works of h . p . lovecraft  which makes for a very creepy and unsettling atmosphere . there is a fair amount of gore involved with some imaginative and brutal death scenes and the characters of four prisoners are surprisingly well  developed . it  s a shame that eric valette made truly horrible remake of  one missed call  after his stunning debut .  out of   .  
it must be the most corniest tv show on the air . this is probably a escape for jim belushi and all of his bad movies . his brother sucked all the talent out he younger brother . i hope this show is canceled and never spoken of again except in a negative use . jim has got to retire or something . please let them go of the air . if i here a joke from that show i will throw up and and wash my eyes out with a toothbrush . id rather be taken from the devil himself than watch a full half hour that piece of programing . i still do not understand why the show is still in the air and running . we all know deep down that we want to shoot our tv screens when we see jim  s face . in conclusion  no more please .  
now  i know french inmates are unlikely to have read lovecraft  and that proves my point that his writings should be taught in school  maybe as a separate subject   but how did they think something that sounds like  ftagn yog sototh  could possibly lead to any good   br    br   the movie takes place in a prison where four very unlikely cell mates stumble upon a magical book that may  if read right  get them out . as prisons go  the cell was totally unrealistic  so that made it hard for me to get into the atmosphere of things . it also moves rather slowly  which may bore people . but other than that  this is top notch horror feeling  mixing sartre  s  hell is other people  with a lovecraft  barker type of story  and doing rather successfully .  br    br   bottom line take the time to watch this . that means not doing it when you are about to go to work or to sleep or while doing something else . this is a movie that works best if you are immersed into it . lessons to be learned yog is bad  almost as bad as french women .  
i love the episode where jim becomes the greenman . it is great  when jim tosses that little person through the window  the look on his face is priceless . then when he starts to address the priest in his wife  s behalf only to find out that she has become the pee  woman  great writing and great casting along with great acting makes this a must see . i am attempting to find a certain photo from that episode . i  d like to use it as my avatar on a message board because i think the greenman is hilarious . does anyone know where i can download a photo of jim as the greenman  can anyone point me in the right direction to find such a photo   
i was hooked from beginning to end . great horror comes from disturbing imagery and organic shocks that are created not to make you jump  but to make you go  what the fck did i just see   all the other commentators gave short summaries of what the film is about  so i won  t rehash what has already been said . i was telling other people about this movie days after i had seen it just because it still haunted me . i even had a bad dream after seeing it  and i am a true horror fan  not easily spooked by tripe like  the grudge  or even  silent hill  . what gave me the bad dreams was the unease i felt about what i would do if i were in that cell with those guys . what would my personal horror be  my subconscious took me there  and it was not pleasant . that my friends is what a good horror flick does to you  the best part of this movie is that it is subtle . it  s not about bogeymen that jump out at you  alien invasions  or tons of gore . it  s the opposite . the horror you create in your own mind . the irony for the four characters is that the horror comes not from an external force that asserts it  s power over them . simply  the men ask for the one thing they desire  and they get it . . . but not in the way they imagined . so on the one hand  they get what they wish for from an occult book  but may ultimately wish they hadn  t . sometimes being locked in a jail cell is the best place to be   
i always wrote this series off as being a complete stink  fest because jim belushi was involved in it  and heavily . but then one day a tragic happenstance occurred . after a white sox game ended i realized that the remote was all the way on the other side of the room somehow . now i could have just gotten up and walked across the room to get the remote  or even to the tv to turn the channel . but then why not just get up and walk across the country to watch tv in another state   nuts to that   i said . so i decided to just hang tight on the couch and take whatever fate had in store for me . what fate had in store was an episode of this show  an episode about which i remember very little except that i had once again made a very broad  general sweeping blanket judgment based on zero objective or experiential evidence with nothing whatsoever to back my opinions up with  and once again i was completely right  this show is a total crud  pie  belushi has all the comedic delivery of a hairy lighthouse foghorn . the women are physically attractive but too stepford  is to elicit any real feeling from the viewer . there is absolutely no reason to stop yourself from running down to the local tv station with a can of gasoline and a flamethrower and sending every copy of this mutt howling back to hell .  br    br   except . .  br    br   except for the wonderful comic sty lings of larry joe campbell  america  s greatest comic character actor . this guy plays belushi  s brother  in  law  andy  and he is gold . how good is he really  well  aside from being funny  his job is to make belushi look good . that  s like trying to make butt warts look good . but campbell pulls it off with style . someone should invent a nobel prize in comic buffoonery so he can win it every year . without larry joe this show would consist of a slightly vacant looking courtney thorne  smith smacking belushi over the head with a frying pan while he alternately beats his chest and plays with the straw on the floor of his cage .  stars for larry joe campbell designated comedic bacon because he improves the flavor of everything he  s in   
now this is what i  d call a good horror . with occult  supernatural undertones  this nice low  budget french movie caught my attention from the very first scene . this proves you don  t need wild fx or lots of gore to make an effective horror movie .  br    br   the plot revolves around  cellmates in a prison  and each of these characters  and their motives  become gradually more interesting  as the movie builds up tension to the finale . most of the action we see through the eyes of carrere  who has just entered prison and has to get used to living with these  other inmates .  br    br   i won  t say much because this movie really deserves to be more widely seen . there a few flaws though the fx are not that good  but they  re used effectively the plot leaves some mysteries open and things get very confusing towards the end  but malefique redeems itself by the time it  s over .  br    br   i thought his was a very good movie       
all the funny things happening in this sitcom is based on the main character jim being either a bad father  a bad husband or generally just enormously selfish . how can that be funny  of course a character in a sitcom has to be flawed  but jim  s character is flawed in an extremely unsympathetic manner .  br    br   and why it that  my guess is that it  s because  he should now better  . jim  s not a stupid guy  he can take care of things and he  s got the opportunities to do so . but he chooses not to . it  s a conscious choice he makes  when he chooses to not play with his kids  not go shopping because he doesn  t want to buy  lady products  and it  s a choice he makes  when he puts down his relatives .  br    br   the other characters seems to only be in the series so jim can have someone to be a jerk to . if the cheryl character was a real person  she would have left him years ago  and not stay with the deadbeat for  years . but alas  she  s just a catalyst for jim  s quirky middle  class extreme selfishness .  
this film has some of the greatest comedic dialog and memorable quotes ever assembled in one film  the plot is somewhat lacking  but the delightful quips are enough to make up the difference . this is a timeless movie for all ages that is sure to please . as a cinematic art form it is highly entertaining and with major stars like cary grant  myrna loy  and melvyn douglas . . . how could you go wrong   br    br   comedic dialog and timeing such as this has long been undervalued  and is very difficult to imitate . a good example of this is seen in the     knockoff of this film the money pit  with tom hanks and shelley long . despite the talent and physical comedy of these stars  the film dragged and received poor reviews and viewer comments . achieving true comedic dialog is an art .  
as a young black  latina woman i am always searching for movies that represent the experiences and lives of people like me . of course when i saw this movie at the video store i thought i would enjoy it unfortunately  i didn  t . although the topics presented in the film are interesting and relevant  the story was simply not properly developed . the movie just kept dragging on and on and many of the characters that appear on screen just come and go without much to contribute to the overall film . had the director done a better job interconnecting the scenes  perhaps i would have enjoyed it a bit more . honestly  i would recommend a film like  raising victor  over this one any day . i just was not too impressed .  
watched this french horror film last night and pretty much liked it . the whole movie takes place in a prison cell with basically three prisoners who find a hand written journal in a wall from a serial killer that had escaped the prison   years earlier  somehow without leaving his cell . as they look through the diary  they discover it delves into the black arts and commands that might be their way out of the cell and to freedom . what they find out  is something completely different  and horrifying to say the least . i like low  budget horror films  that deliver the goods in a fairly quality way  and tell a good story . this movie does just that  despite taking a while to get going . the result and the horror they unleash is very interesting to me  and i enjoyed the ride . not a lot of gore  but that wouldn  t fit the story  although the gore it has is pretty good .  
you need to watch this show once to have seen them all  the formula is exactly the same in each episode . jim does something his way he means well but he upsets his wife  at the end she finds out that what he did was really for her  she caresses his cheek and gives a gummy smile while he looks on bashfully . in fact the story lines are so lame and formulaic that i  ll take a stab at one now .  br    br   episode  valentines pay   br    br   jims wife notices that all of jims weekly pay has disappeared  he then explains to her he lost it at the casino . she screams and leaves the house lamenting how awful he is . then on valentines day he turns up in a limo with tickets to a ball  hence explaining the missing wages  . she realizes  her  mistake and the usual  oh jim  you  re so lovely  . . . the end  br    br   another very obvious item is the fact that jims character is based on homer simpson who as a cartoon character can get away with being belligerent and ignorant  when this is attempted with human beings it does not work and jim just comes over as an arrogant self centered jerk .  br    br   imo the only reason that this is successful is simply because we  re so many now in terms of human beings with tvs  these days you could make a show about a man who insulates walls and you  d get an audience .  br    br    two and a half men  on the other hand is fantastic and hilarious .  
this film centers on four criminals  locked away in a prison who desire escape from their cell  hoping that a mysterious book of black magic  penned by a former inmate around      named danvers who wanted to use spells to keep his skin young .  br    br   carrre  s  grald laroche  criminal business tactics  shortcuts  have landed him in prison with three oddball cell  mates . . a transsexual brute marcus  clovis cornillac   marcus  love  toy pquerette  dimitri rataud  who eats objects he touches  . . and is in prison for eating his six  month old sister  and obeys his charge as if  he  were his mother  and the scholarly lassalle  philippe laudenbach  who doesn  t read  or eat breakfast  . . the latter being that he murdered his wife during that time of the day  . the film follows carrre as he reads from the book  attempting to understand it  s meanings hoping to find an exit from his prison . carrre loves his child  and for a while believes his wife will get him out early on bail . when she betrays him  carrre begins to slowly seethe with hate  and longing to see and hold his beloved son . carrre  s toughest critic is marcus  who longs to be fully female  while still folding to several masculine traits  such as working out and taking a leak standing up . he talks tough and uses his muscle as a type of fear tactic  although deep inside is a world of vulnerability . pquerette is completely under marcus  control and behaves like a canine to it  s master . . there  s even an alarming scene where pquerette breast  feeds from marcus  lassalle is an unraveling mystery  opening up for us to slowly understand his ulterior motives and what lies within his possibly sinister brain . clearly intellectual  and holding possible secrets from the others  lassalle is actually the one who keeps the motivation of pursuing the secrets of the book going . soon  those who aren  t a threat to the book seek their  true  escape  not as much from the cell of four walls  but the cell that imprisons their true desires . after a certain murder  the book is thrown from the room with a very fascinating character entering the film with a camcorder as if he were a new occupant . . who is this person and how does he understand the power of a book tosses away  and better yet  how to use it  a constant in this film is each of the prisoners often seen throughout looking out their window into the world just out of reach .  br    br   i  m glad i had a chance to watch this film . it does play out like  monkey  s paw   the characters get what they desire  but a price must be met . there  s gore in the film  startling moments of graphic violence  but  in my opinion  this is first and foremost a story  driven tale . the gore is a product of what the book unleashes . one of the group gets his limbs twisted while suspended in the air  while a grisly opening act displays the carnage left in the wake of one man  s desire . we see danver  s fate at the end  with a magnificent special effects sequence regarding an infant melting away . lassalle  s fate is a masterful effects sequence . i will say that malfique  through eric valette  s well paced direction  always kept my attention  and  for being such an isolated movie  . . about    of the film takes place in a singular location  the prison cell  it never seems to drag . i guess that  s a testament to interesting actors and fascinating characterizations  not to mention a compelling story using the supernatural to drive them .  
the show is average . it doesn  t make me laugh particularly . however  i think courtney really brings it down . she doesn  t look natural . she has these three ways to talk  all robotic . she talks quietly  with no intonation   she talks normally  with no intonation   or she does that thing where she starts talking normally  and starts yelling gradually . however  her yelling is like  let  s pretend i  m yelling because i shouldn  t be too loud on the set  .  br    br   she is constantly aware of herself being this cute actress doing this funny thing . it  s annoying . you can  t really get her personality  because she doesn  t really produce emotion  and doesn  t get upset . she has this husband  who  s doing all these stupid things  and there is no reaction from her . very dry and plain acting .  
in a penitentiary  four prisoners occupy a cell carrre  grald laroche   who used his company to commit a fraud and was betrayed by his wife the drag lassalle  philippe laudenbach  and his protge  the retarded pquerette  dimitri rataud   who ate his six months sister and the intellectual marcus  clovis cornillac   who killed his wife . one night  carrre finds an ancient journal hidden in a hole in the wall of the cell . they realize that the book was written by danvers  geoffrey carey  in the beginning of the last century and is about black magic . they decide to read and use its content to escape from the prison  when they find the truth about danvers  fate .  malfique  is an original  intriguing and claustrophobic french low  budget horror movie . the story is practically in the same location  does not have any clichs and hooks the attention of the viewer until the last scene . i am a great fan of french cinema  usually romances  dramas and police stories  but i noted that recently i have seen some good french horror movies  such as  un jeu d  enfants    belphegor  and  dead end  . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    sinais do mal    signs of the evil    
i wish i could say that this show was unusual in it  s banality  but it is usual in every way . it has the dumb husband  his smarter but boring and conventional wife  along with the idiotic sidekick for  comic  relief  it sorely needs it . stale predictable jokes  with even more predictable reactions from the laughtrack  punctuate this noxious mental narcotic  s nauseatingly unimaginative plot lines to leave me either physically ill  or in a deep sleep more resembling that of an induced coma . but it might be on for a while yet because it gives the average american a personage to which they can truly identify . a  regular  guy just like you and me . i live in the southern u . s  so to me this show is just the opposite of escapism . down here  that obnoxious character is everywhere  in some form or another . seeing him on television is brutal overkill .  
malefique pretty much has the viewer from start to finish with its edgy atmosphere . nearly the whole movie is set in a prison cell revolving around  characters of which transvestite marcus and his little retarded boy are way out the strangest . soon the inmates find a diary of a previous inmate behind a brick which deals with his obsession of occult and black magic themes leading to his escape from the cell . from here on everything deals with uncovering the secret of the book and its spells to flee from prison . that leads to some accidents on the way out of the cell into the unknown light .  br    br   honestly i think the story is rather poor and the final twist is nice but to me the ends are pretty loosely tied together . anyway i was thrilled until the last moment because the atmosphere of the movie is unique with minimal setting and cast . the kills are raw and eerie . . . its doesn  t take gore to chill your spine and the occult themes are also done very well and reminded me of the hell themes in hellraiser . malefique has a claustrophobic and cold dirty feel with greenish tint . at times you wonder if the real or the occult world depicted here is stranger . . . when the retarded boy looses his fingers and is lulled to sleep sucking on marcus breasts it seems normal  so how strange can glowing gates to freedom be  with its budget the movie creates a unique atmosphere and chills the viewer in a very different way than most of the genre shockers do . i just wish the story had led to a more consistent finale . several elements like the visitor with the camera  the other inmates obsession with books and the toy doll vaguely pointing to the end don  t fit tight in the story . anyway  i  ll keep my eyes open for other movies from director valette  although its a turn  off to see he  s is doing a hollywood remake of  one missed call  which was worn off and useless already in the miike  version .  
this is certainly the worst movie i ever saw  the beginning is somewhat good  but the end  i still don  t even get it  magical power     years later  goddess  dancing what the f is that about    the acting is somewhat not so bad . . but some place i could do better for sure   
good horror movies from france are quite rare  and it  s fairly easy to see why  whenever a talented young filmmaker releases a staggering new film  he emigrates towards glorious hollywood immediately after to directed the big  budgeted remake of another great film classic  how can france possibly build up a solid horror reputation when their prodigy  directors leave the country after just one film   haute tension  was a fantastic movie and it earned director alexandre aja a  one  way   ticket to the states to remake  the hills have eyes   which he did terrifically  i may add  . eric valette  s long  feature debut  malfique  was a very promising and engaging horror picture too  and he  s already off to the hollywood as well to direct the remake of takashi miike  s ghost  story hit  one missed call  . so there you have it  two very gifted frenchmen that aren  t likely to make any more film in their native country some time soon .  malfique  is a simple but efficient chiller that requires some patience due to its slow start  but once the plot properly develops  it offers great atmospheric tension and a handful of marvelous special effects . the film almost entirely takes place in one single location and only introduces four characters . we  re inside a ramshackle french prison cell with four occupants . the new arrival is a businessman sentenced to do time for fraud  the elderly and  wise  inmate sadistically killed his wife and then there  s a crazy transvestite and a mentally handicapped boy to complete the odd foursome . they find an ancient journal inside the wall of their cell  belonging to a sick murderer in the      s who specialized in black magic rites and supernatural ways to escape . the four inmates begin to prepare their own escaping plan using the bizarre formulas of the book  only to realize the occult is something you shouldn  t mess with eric valette dedicates oceans of time to the character drawings of the four protagonists  which occasionally results in redundant and tedious sub plots  but his reasons for this all become clear in the gruesome climax when the book suddenly turns out to be some type of wishmaster  device .  malfique  is a dark film  with truckloads of claustrophobic tension and several twisted details about human behavior . watch it before some wealthy american production company decides to remake it with four handsome teenage actors in the unconvincing roles of hardcore criminals .  
shown in australia as  hydrosphere   this incredibly bad movie is so bad that you become hypnotised and have to watch it to the end  just to see if it could get any worse . . . and it does  the storyline is so predictable it seems written by a high school dramatics class  the sets are pathetic but marginally better than the miniatures  and the acting is wooden .  br    br   the infant  muppet  seems to have been stolen from the props cupboard of  total recall  . there didn  t seem to be a single  original idea in the whole movie .  br    br   i found this movie to be so bad that i laughed most of the way through .  br    br   malcolm mcdowell should hang his head in shame . he obviously needed the money   
french horror cinema has seen something of a revival over the last couple of years with great films such as inside and switchblade romance bursting on to the scene . malfique preceded the revival just slightly  but stands head and shoulders over most modern horror titles and is surely one of the best french horror films ever made  malfique was obviously shot on a low budget  but this is made up for in far more ways than one by the originality of the film  and this in turn is complimented by the excellent writing and acting that ensure the film is a winner . the plot focuses on two main ideas prison and black magic . the central character is a man named carrre  sent to prison for fraud . he is put in a cell with three others the quietly insane lassalle  body building transvestite marcus and his retarded boyfriend daisy . after a short while in the cell together  they stumble upon a hiding place in the wall that contains an old journal . after translating part of it  they soon realise its magical powers and realise they may be able to use it to break through the prison walls .  br    br   black magic is a very interesting topic  and i  m actually quite surprised that there aren  t more films based on it as there  s so much scope for things to do with it . it  s fair to say that malfique makes the best of it  s assets as despite it  s restraints  the film never actually feels restrained and manages to flow well throughout . director eric valette provides a great atmosphere for the film the fact that most of it takes place inside the central prison cell ensures that the film feels very claustrophobic  and this immensely benefits the central idea of the prisoners wanting to use magic to break out of the cell  it  s very easy to get behind them  it  s often said that the unknown is the thing that really frightens people  and this film proves that as the director ensures that we can never really be sure of exactly what is round the corner  and this helps to ensure that malfique actually does manage to be quite frightening  the film is memorable for a lot of reasons outside the central plot the characters are all very interesting in their own way and the fact that the book itself almost takes on its own character is very well done . anyone worried that the film won  t deliver by the end won  t be disappointed either as the ending both makes sense and manages to be quite horrifying  overall  malfique is a truly great horror film and one of the best of the decade  highly recommended viewing   
this movie is absolutely pointless  one of the good esamples how malcom mcdowall never got one decent role after clockwork orange . this one may be one of the worst though . no story  crappy special effects  shot in     or even worse cropped on dvd  just avoid it . . . .  
malfique is a very interesting movie . it is an unholy alloy of triumphs and failures . the central concept is great  three inmates with bizarre personalities are joined by a fourth  who the audience identify with  and they try to escape from their cell using a book of magic that they find within the walls of the cell .  br    br   the atmosphere is well  woven  it reminds me of reading about the prison stay of edmond dantes  in the chteau d  if  prior to becoming the count of monte cristo  . the director sets up the feeling that the characters are tied to the cell  particularly the character we are meant to identify with  carrre  a white  collar criminal whose crime is not specified  but it  s obliquely suggested might be fraud  . on one occasion carrre dithers when leaving the cell for exercise and has the cell door shut on him we never leave the cell  the claustrophobia is unbroken . there are also no shots of the prison outside the cell  and the view through the bars is a longing sunset over a generic prison wall . so even though the film appears to be very modern  it has a very old world feel of incarceration .  br    br   the characters are intriguing . we have marcus  a violent pre  op transsexual who plays an abusive mother to pquerette  french for daisy  a heavily retarded young man . pquerette likes to eat everything he finds beautiful  and unfortunately this included his baby sister  hence his current predicament  i like this comment on internalisation  very primitive  . lasalle is a withdrawn  possessed elderly man  in for brutally murdering his wife .  br    br   the central message of the movie is that your desires will annihilate you  and there  s a ritual that goes with that . i think that  s what disturbs me the most  seeing people destroying themselves ritualistically . it has a real life ring to it . the quite simple soundtrack backs this up well  every step deeper into the quicksand is accompanied by the dull ringing of a gong . i  m actually hearing the gong now every time i do something self  destructive .  br    br   i think one of the plot problems is that the ends of the characters don  t really reinforce the message consistently  particularly with carrre  also the concept of the book seems to alter throughout the film  not in terms of a successive revelation either . i also think that some of the images we see are a bit amateurish  more by design than execution  such as the famous  vagina eye   and the sodomy of lasalle  for me  totally hollow images .  br    br   at the end the movie it feels like the director is in a rush to get it over with  and some things don  t seem logical  for example we  ve been clumsily led to believe different things about carrre  s child . this doesn  t change the fact though that what we have here is that rare bird  a  pure  horror movie . there is no comedic dross or genre segueing  like cube       natali   the obvious movie to compare it to  it  s a total immersion experience  where you feel as if you are in the cell with the characters . this last comment i make about it being a  pure  experience i think is something others have mentioned as well so that is a fairly unanimous point .  br    br   on a personal note my favourite part of the film is when lasalle talks about his past as a librarian . he very vividly describes a scene where he goes to work one day and sits down in his usual place in the centre of a room where all the books are arranged in a circle around him . the books seem to be chanting to him that he will never contain their knowledge . this prompts lasalle to go insane . that really is the problem with an obsession with understanding and knowledge . it  s something i myself have felt .  br    br   one final comment is that two of the quite well  received comments on the board have confused the characters  names . to convince yourself that lasalle is the older librarian character  simply click on philippe laudenbach  s page and you will see he was born in     .  
this is probably one of the worst movies ever made . bad acting  bad special effects  bad plot  bad everything . in the last   minutes a cat suited  cyborg is introduced which muddles everything . malcom macdowell must have needed to make a house payment because otherwise he would have had to sell himself on hollywood blvd to pay the bill . i just don  t know how you can go from clockwork orange to this crap and be able to look yourself in the mirror each morning . i could have done better special effects in my bathtub . there  s no continuity . the editor must have been asleep or on drugs its so bad . acting . do they have to smoke to be bad .  the gun either shoots blue flames or bullets  make up your mind . the bad girl and the other girl in the movie look so much alike that it is confusing . whay is it called     seadly wake . it has nothing to do with the movie  
i  d waited for some years before this movie finally got released in england  but was in many ways very pleased when i finally saw it . there are a lot of great things to the film  for a start the acting . its not something i have all that much need for in a horror picture but the people in this film all put in fine work . this and the constantly gripping and interesting script  with a nice sorta lovecraftian feel to it  give the film a real solid backbone . add to this the doses of surreal nightmare imagery and occasional gruesome gore and the films a winner . it has my favorite kind of gore too  supernatural and splattery . also  the characters of marcus  the angry bodybuilding transsexual and daisy  his mentally retarded lover  plaything are genuinely freakish and unnerving at times  and give a far out  anything goes sense of morbid grown up craziness which works well with the frequent freudian overtones . this is one of the most impressive recent horror movies  far more shocking or out there than anything hollywood can produce . my only gripe was that i wanted the ending to be darker in tone  but it still works  so on the whole i  d really recommend this to serious horror buffs .  
there are two reasons why i did not give a  to this movie . one reason are some of the actors  like malcolm mcdowell and gwynyth walsh  work  who tried to play at their usually good level of acting . however at many scenes they were somehow blocked by the bad scripting .  br    br   the other reason is the cool idea and looking of the cyborg  which is quite different to most other such roles i  ve seen so far .  br    br   everything else in this movie is as bad as it can be . boring scenes  useless and boring dialogs  bad script work . and it seemed as it was the first movie ever for many actors . it could have been an interesting story though  but they failed completely .  
i didn  t feel that this film was quite as clever as it seemed to think it was but enjoyed it nevertheless .  br    br   it is original  although reminded me a little of two other french films  vidocq and city of lost children  mostly for the colouring but also for the edgy quality of the close ups of the characters .  br    br   set in a prison cell but do not let this put you off  this film seemingly goes further than many a multi locationed blockbuster .  br    br   always interesting  with the perennial  black arts  well to the fore and very good characterisation making some only too believable   br    br   scary with some gore this is well worth a viewing .  
malcolm mcdowell has not had too many good movies lately and this is no different . especially designed for people who like yellow filters on their movies .  
if you  re one of those who recognise with pleasure such arcane titles as  book of the dead    book of eibon  or  necronomicon   then you should feel right at home with malefique  a film which also features an occult tome  one with the power to change the destinies of all involved . discovered by four french prisoners sharing a cell  the fearsome object has been placed in the wall there by danvers  a serial killer incarcerated back in the     s a man obsessed with rejuvenation and the black arts before he abruptly vanished . finders of the book are carrre  grald laroche  a company embezzler shopped by his wife  lassalle  philippe laudenbach  who aspires to be a woman but at the same time body  builds to execute an escape plan  the halfwit pquerette  dimitri rataud  who once ate his baby sister  and the  librarian  marcus  clovis cornillac   supposedly driven mad by reading  who murdered his wife . reminding the viewer of meat loaf  s equally bizarre  bosomy male in fight club        lassalle begins as the dominant member of the quartet  one who is especially protective of the infantile pquerette . with the coming of the book however  and the overarching need to decipher its dangerous contents  marcus assumes greater and greater significance . at first assured of an early bail  meanwhile carrre takes little more than academic interest in events . suddenly he too needs an urgent escape option and  as the prisoners experiment  danvers  book starts to reveal some of its terrifying powers . . .  br    br   staged for the most part within a prison cell  and between four or five characters  malefique has a claustrophobic air entirely suited to its subject matter  as well as the limited budget of the filmmakers  . only at the start and then at the conclusion do we get to leave the confines of the cell  a necessary opening out which only serves to emphasise the doomed  closed  in nature of proceedings elsewhere . more than anything  this is a film about being trapped  either as a victim of your criminal past or of occult events now unfolding .  i  m going to escape   says carrre at the start of the film  wishing more than anything to be able to rejoin his wife and son . whether or not he does it will be at a terrible price  and the great irony of the film is that the ultimate form of an  escape  may not be one a man might imagine .  br    br   with all its budget limitations it is greatly to the first  time feature director eric vallette  s credit that his film succeeds as well as it does . as critics have noticed  it is a film with strong freudian overtones  lassalle  s distinctive mammaries and adult breast feeding for instance the picture of a vagina which comes to life and develops an eye the grown man who dissolves back into a foetus danvers  original placenta fetish the dark cell as a primitive womb from which  delivery  is awaited  etc . with so many interesting aspects to the script vallette hardly puts a foot wrong  and he succeeds in creating a genuinely unsettling atmosphere out of what  when one comes down to it  is just a matter of four guys  four bunks  one folding table and a book . there  s a genuine  growing  lovecraftian frisson as the men summon up the unnameable darkness from within its pages  while one or two moments  the aforementioned blinking vagina  or what ultimately happens to pquerette  are unsettlingly memorable . the pacing of many of the dark events in malefique is deliberate  rejecting the rapid cutting of many hollywood productions a video culture approach that often subverts the horrified gaze in favour of quick  fix action and gore . perhaps this is a particularly european manner  as one recalls a similar  measured approach to shocking hallucination taken in such films as verhoeven  s the fourth man        a film that incidentally also shares a particularly nasty image based around a prolapsed eye .  br    br   lensed well in  .      malefique benefits from excellent performances and  if for this viewer at least  the conclusion was not as explainable as it might have been  the journey to the final shot was worth taking . coming so soon after the release of the similarly well  received haute tension  aka switchblade romance        this is another reason to be grateful that good horror films are once again emerging from the french industry  this after a time when it seemed the only worthwhile product came from asia  
if mr cranky had rated this  i  d be tempted just to copy his review and paste it here . but as he hasn  t  i  ll have to give it a go myself .  br    br   the only thing giving this movie a  instead of a  is that malcolm mcdowall  s acting is excellent . however not even he can save this film from disaster . the director must have been really distracted when he worked on this one because it is just a conglomeration of scenes that were thrown together with very little continuity  reminiscent of bad     s movies . even worse  both the actors and director appeared to be making it up as they went along which probably showed how bad the original script was .  br    br   it  s not even worth discussing the story line although it revolves around a futuristic corporation called the proxate corporation who put together a crew of dispensable people to carry a dangerous cargo on an old container  slave ship to nigeria . this ship  s computer is a baby kept in a glass jar and wired into one of the crew via usb   or something . the company should have been called the prostate corporation as the entertainment value of this movie is on a par with an examination of the same name .  br    br   i honestly can  t find one scene that i could say was well made and made any real sense in the context of the movie . i only watched it to the end as i had a touch of the bird flu and this movie reminded me that there were people out there who were actually worse off than me  malcolm mcdowall in particular . i won  t hold this against him as he  s a great actor and every great actor is entitled to one bad movie in their career and this one is a doosie .  br    br   so  unless this is the only movie your shop hires out or you  re male and you  re doctor isn  t doing prostate examinations this week and you somehow feel this is a bad thing then give this one a really wide berth unless of course if you  re really community minded  buy a copy to support malcolm and then use it as a drink coaster .  
the film opens with bill coles  melvyn douglas  telling a story about how his best friend   make that client   jim blandings  cary grant  and his family are tightly packed into a small new york apartment  with not enough closet space and way too few bathrooms . when jim  s wife  muriel  myrna loy   wants to renovate the apartment  advertising exec jim falls in love with  or falls for   an ad for a house . once he  s purchased the house  bills and frustration pile up incessantly as everything that can go wrong with the building of jim  s  dream house  goes wrong .  br    br   one of three collaborations between grant and loy  this is a charming little comedy   not very taxing  with no real great message  but a great way to spend an hour or two . the laughs are there right from the start  when the alarm clock goes off and jim tries to shut it off  only to be thwarted at every turn by muriel . the timing and delivery of the comedic lines and situations can only be given by a couple of seasoned pros  and that  s just what grant and loy give us polished performances  simple chemistry  and a lot of fun . myrna loy is in a pretty thankless role  it  s evident that grant  s character jim gets the lion share of the lines and the acting  and grant  as always  pulls both off with remarkable aplomb   but she gives muriel a colour  life and bite that only myrna loy can give a character . melvyn douglas plays wry amusement to perfection as well  never hitting a single wrong note .  br    br   one of my favourite scenes has definitely got to be when bill gets himself locked in the  store room   and jim goes to  save  him . . . only to get everyone trapped inside  every little problem that pops up for the blandings renovation project   including petty jealousy and an ad campaign for  wham    seems to bring together everything that could go wrong with building a new house but makes it believable and an enjoyable watch .      
this is one of the worst  written movies i  ve ever had to sit through .  br    br   the story  s nothing new   but it  s a cartoon  so who cares  as long as it  s pretty and fun   br    br   i  m not going to go as deep as the characterisations  or i  ll be here all day  except to say that there aren  t any the characters change personality whenever it  s convenient to the plot   but whoever wrote the script and visual direction should be forbidden access to so much as pencil and paper . thumbs down  i  d vote to cut their thumbs off .  br    br    narrow in on an object  prop . cut back to character close  up . character gives a knowing look  which the audience will not even remotely understand . repeat that several times  with different objects  props .   br    br    make the characters pay no attention at all the huge lumps of rock are floating around  crashing into each other  generally raining destruction all over  and which could kill them all at any moment   but make them stop and gasp in fear when they see a harmless  looking  almost pastoral green rock in the distance .   br    br   the whole thing is a long succession of events  actions  and behaviour that are only there for the convenience of the writer  to save him having to think or make any effort at all to write the story properly .  br    br   this is the plan  of cg cartoons  except that it doesn  t have ed wood groan factor to make it fun to watch .  br    br   do yourselves a favour spend your cartoon budget on pixar movies .  
well  magic works in mysterious ways . this movie about  prisoners  trying to escape with the help of spells  written by another prisoner centuries ago was a superb occult thriller with a surprising end and lots of suspense . even if it had something of a theater  play  almost everything happens in the cell  it never got boring and it was acted very well . in the tradition of  cube  you felt trapped with the characters and even if they were criminal  you developed some sympathy with some of them  only to change your mind by the twists the story takes . some happenings catched you off guard and there was always a touch of insanity in the air . altogether intense and entertaining and as i didn  t expect anything  a friend rented it   it was a positive surprise   
terrible use of scene cuts . all continuity is lost  either by awful scripting or lethargic direction . that villainous robot . . . musta been a jazz dancer  also  one of the worst sound tracks i  ve ever heard  monologues usually drowned out by music .  and . . . where  d they get their props  that ship looks like a milk carton . . . i did better special effects on  mm at the age of     br    br   i  d recommend any film student should watch this flick   minutes at a time  so as to learn how not to produce a film . or . . . was it the editors  fault   br    br   it  s really too bad  because the scenario was actually a good concept . . . just poorly executed all the way around .  sorry malcom . you should have sent a  stunt double  . you  re too good an actor for such a stink  bomb .   
  malfique  is an example of how a horror film can be effective with nothing more than a well  executed plot and a lot of heart . its cast doesn  t have recognized names  it doesn  t have a big budget and it certainly lacks in the visual effects aspect but it compensates all that with an intelligent and well  written script  an effective cast and the vision of a director focused more on telling the story than in delivering cheap thrills . eric valette may not be a well  know name yet  but with  malfique   his feature length debut  he proves he is at the level of contemporaries like jeunet  gans or aja .  br    br   the film is the story of four prisoners in a cell  four different men with very different backgrounds but with one single goal to get out . carrre  grald laroche  gets imprisoned after being declared guilty of a multi  millionaire fraud his cell  mates  the violent marcus  clovis cornillac   the intellectual lassalle  philippe laudenbach  and the mentally challenged pquerette  dimitri rataud   are all convicted for murder and give carrre a cold welcome . their personalities will clash as carrre discovers an ancient book detailing how a former prisoner escaped using black magic .  br    br   written by alexandre charlo and franck magnier   malfique  is a great mix of dark fantasy and horror in a way very reminiscent of clive barker  s stories . the movie  s strongest point is the way it builds up the characters  they are all have very complex and different personalities and a lot of the tension and suspense comes from their constant clash of personalities . the story  s supernatural element is very well  handled and overall gives the film the feeling of reading a gothic novel . despite being a movie about four men locked in a room  the movie never gets boring or tiresome and in fact  the isolation of the group increases the feeling of distrust  claustrophobia  and specially  paranoia .  br    br   director eric valette makes a great use of atmosphere  mood and his cast to give life to the plot . despite its obvious lack of budget  he has crafted a brilliant film that feels original  fresh and very attractive . his subtle and effective camera  work helps to make the film dynamic despite its single location  and the slow pace the film unfolds is excellent to create the heavy atmosphere of isolation and distrust the movie bases its plot . the very few displays of special effects are very well  done and valette trades quantity for quality in the few but terrific scenes of gore .  br    br   the characters are what make this film work  and the cast definitely deserves some of the credit . grald laroche is excellent as carrre  a man at first sight innocent  but who hides a dark past . philippe laudenbach and dimitri rataud are very effective too  specially rataud in his very demanding role . however  is clovis cornillac who steal the show with his performance as marcus  a violent and disturbed man who deep inside only wants to be himself . the characters are superbly developed and the cast makes the most of them .  br    br   the movie is terrific  but it is not without its share of flaws . of course  the most notorious one is its the low  budget . some of the cgi  effects are a bit poor compared to the effective make  up and prosthetics used in other scenes  however  it is never too bad for it . probably the bad thing about  malfique  is that it seems to lose some steam by the end when it focuses on the supernatural black magic rather than in the characters  not too much of a bad thing but the ending may seem weak from that point of view .  br    br   anyways   malfique  is another one of those great horror films coming out from france lately  and one that deserves to have more recognition . valette is definitely a talent to follow as this modest  albeit complex  tale of the supernatural is prove enough of his abilities . personally  this film is a new favorite .      
a terrible movie containing a bevy of d  list canadian actors who seem so self  conscious about the fact they are on  camera that their performances are overly melodramatic and quite forgettable .  br    br   this film is badly written  badly edited  and badly directed . it is disjointed  incomprehensible and bizarre  but not in a good way . mcdowell does a great job with what he is given  but is the only one in this film to do so  he really has a bad story and script to work with . it  s not even camp enough to be funny .  br    br   i have yet to see van pelleske act in a credible manner  and even the sub  characters like eisen  with his nasal  whiny voice  confirm that we are on a lot in toronto rather than on a barge off africa .  br    br   didn  t the director see that the  creature  looks like a jazz dancer in an alien suit  the fight between the blue bolts of lightning and pelleske  s orange wisps of  magic      for lack of a better word   is obviously the result of bad actors  with no choreographer  overlaid with completely derivative special effects . was there even a director on set or in the editing room for this disaster film  not the good kind    br    br   learn from the mistakes of others . . . don  t even waste your time with this one  you  ll regret it like i did . i have nothing more to say about this waste of celluloid .  
when i was six yo  i learned about a series called  los campeones   and even if i was just a kid i did everything i need to convince my parents to let me watch  the champions  and  the avengers  once every week . i think that was the golden age of english series . . .  i already own the complete cycle of  the prisoner    but lasted also a few years later with  the tomorrow people    the worst witch   i just me  or this is  harry potter  in girl  of course  before as much as i want  the campions  to be in zone  or zone   i  m also waiting for  dr . who   pack the whole series in a set of  uhm  maybe    dvd  s  please  i couldn  t expend more for it      people of tomorrow   and several other  low budget   but great stories to be available within my reached zones . i speak and understand english  but not all my relatives do  including my parents  whom introduced me into these great stories . . . i hope someday  someone could feel the attraction of these series and then could sell them as i originally view them . . . dubbed or subtitled  but in the same format i saw them . remember  zone  or  are ok with my tv set   
the deadly wake is the perfect movie for film students . . . to learn how not to make a film   br    br   let  s see . . . what did the crew mess up in this flick  worst music mix worst editing worst script worst all  time directing worst acting worst choreography worst cinematography worst props worst sets worst lighting etc . let  s face it  if this  film  had been in ultra  high contrast black  and  white  and silent . . . it still would have been awful . all scenes are dark  lighting people call it  black    often  the music score drowned out the meandering dialogs  which was ok because nobody ever spoke two whole sentences without long pauses for effect . the  evil  robot was hilarious . . . what was that  jazz dancing  oh . . . i guess it was supposed to be walking tactically or something . i  m sure it struck fear into the hearts . . . of the poor editors . and  how do you edit so much footage of garbage  not possible . garbage is garbage  no matter how you splice it . how did anyone ever get this thru the dailys     br    br   bottom line is  i couldn  t stand to watch more than    minute segments  it was so bad . . . but i did see the whole thing  with lotsa breaks  just to see if it had any good parts in it at all . nope  none   br    br   a perfect example of how not to make a flick . . . a must see for every serious film student     
i wasn  t born until  years after this wonderful show first aired but luckily i managed to catch the reruns of the mid    s and the rest is history . . . . . . i was hooked . the premise was pretty simple two hardened nemesis agents  richard barrett and craig stirling  william gaunt and stuart damon  are partnered up with an expert  if not young  doctor and biologist  sharron macready  to head behind the bamboo curtain to retrieve a dangerous biological agent from being used by red china . whilst making their escape  their plane is hit by machine gun fire and they crash in the heart of the himalayas where their lives are saved by a mysterious and previously undiscovered civilisation who heal and enhance the senses of the trio  thus setting the scene for many exciting adventures to come . . .  br    br   the series lasted for   hour long episodes and i guess it was its relatively short lived  one season run that has set it up for cult status .  br    br   monty berman  the producer  was notorious for making things as cheaply as possible and sometimes the show suffered for this with incredibly tacky sets  particularly in episodes such as  happening   a studio deputising for the australian outback  and the  snow  sets of  operation deep freeze  and  the beginning  but if you can get past this  and focus on the characters and the story lines  the show was really a lot of fun . it had a great mix of adventure  and plenty of deadpan humour  mainly from some terrific one liners from william gaunt  .  br    br   the chemistry from the three leads was fantastic  you get the sense that they were really having a lot of fun making the show and this is borne out in the     reunion documentary where the three reunite after over   years to reminisce about the show  and laugh about anthony nicholls awful wig    . they all shared equal screen time and all had their moments to shine . i have to say  i was always a richard barrett fan  i loved his sardonic humour along with that dangerous edge  he was certainly a man you didn  t cross  and those eyes . . . . . . . . the bluest eyes you would probably see on tv . i have also followed bill gaunts career with interest since . however  craig stirling certainly would have had his legion of female fans and i am sure alexandra bastedo had a whole queue of male fans swooning over her too .  br    br   the show also had a plethora of guest stars to entice with  including donald sutherland  jeremy brett  peter wyngarde  burt kwouk  anton rodgers  kate o  mara  jenny linden  paul eddington and colin blakely .  br    br   notable episodes for me were   auto kill    the interrogation    the fanatics    the mission  and  the gilded cage  but i am sure every one has their personal favourites .  br    br   if you do get a chance to watch this show for the first time  or to re watch it after many years  remember to watch it in the context of the time it was made and just sit back and enjoy  the characters and the chemistry from the three leads is what made this wonderful show for me and i don  t think i will ever tire of it .  br    br   enjoy   
this is one of those  so bad it is good  films that you always hear about but never see  unlike troma films which are deliberately bad and campy  and i am not amused  this one is     pure serious .  br    br   however with features such as a supposedly super  lethal killer robot that prances about like one of the solid gold dancers on an acid trip and a magical first mate that calls down lightning and transforms into the good witch of the east the fact that it takes itself seriously pushes it so far over the edge of bad that makes it full circle around back to entertaining .  br    br   watcheable enough because of that .  
my siblings and i stumbled upon the champions when our local station aired re  runs of it one summer in the      s . we absolutely adored it . there was something so exotic and mysterious about it  especially when compared to the usual american re  runs  petticoat junction  green acres . . . you get the idea  . it had a similar feel to the avengers  not too much of a surprise  since it was also british and in the spy  adventure genre  .  br    br   i would love to see it again now   hopefully it holds up . i  ve mentioned this show to others and no one has ever heard of it  so i began to wonder if i  d imagined its whole existence . but the wonder that is the web has allowed me track down information about it . hopefully it will find a new generation of fans .  
i find it heart  warming and inspiring that the writing team behind such hopelessly mainstream hollywood movies like indiana jones and the temple of doom  american graffiti and howard the duck would begin their career with a low  budget exploitation horror film like this . perhaps as a testament to the talent that would earn willard hyuck and gloria katz an oscar nomination later in their respective careers  messiah of evil has potential  but sadly becomes frustrating exactly because it can  t muster the film  making prowess to pull it off .  br    br   the premise involves a young girl who travels to a small coastal town in search for her painter father who went missing a while back . it doesn  t take long for the fragmented narrative to abandon all hope and dive headlong in disjointed absurdity  and for a while it works admirably well to the point where you begin thinking that maybe messiah of evil needs to be reclaimed from the schlocky gutter of    s exploitation as an example of artful mystery horror .  br    br   the surreal non  sequiturs keep piling on as the daughter stumbles upon a young couple in a seedy hotel room who are in town to conduct a research on the local legend of the  blood moon   a scruffy and half  mad alcoholic  played by the great elisha cook jr . in perhaps the best scene of the movie  who warns her about her father only to be reportedly found dead in an alley  eaten by dogs  a little later  the blind old lady that owns the local art gallery and who has inexplicably removed all of her father  s paintings from the shop and last but not least a retarded  murderous  squirrel  eating albino .  br    br   part of the movie  s charm is precisely this brand of bargain  basement artsy surrealism that defies logic and genre conventions every step of the way . whereas with lynch it is obviously the mark of a talented creator  with messiah of evil the boundaries between the  intentional   the  unintentional  and the  didn  t really expect it to come out this way but it  s good enough  wrap scene  blur hopelessly .  br    br   take for example the double narration that flows in and out of the picture in a drug  addled  feverish  stream  of  consciousness way  one coming from the daughter as she wanders from place to place in search for her father  and the other narrated by her father  s voice as she reads his diary .  br    br   while we  re still talking about a  living dead  picture  messiah of evil is different and only loosely one  at least with current preconceptions of what a zombie movie is supposed to be . the origin of the living dead here is a    year old curse  bestowed upon the town by a mysterious  dark stranger  who came from the woods one day . in the meantime hyuck finds time for snippets of mass  consumption criticism in a flesh  eating supermarket scene that predates dawn of the dead by a good number of years  you can hear the mst  k line already  man is dead  only his capitalist food tins remain   and a nicely thought but poorly executed similar scene in a movie theater .  br    br   i generally think that the surreal works in careful  well measured doses  how is the absurd to work if it  s not hidden within the perfectly normal  hyuck seems to just smear it all over the picture and by doing so dangerously overplays his hand . when the albino for example picks up a girl hitching her way to town and eats a squirrel in front of her  you can almost imagine the director winking meaningfully at the audience  amused and satisfied with his own hijinks .  br    br   the general film  making level is also pretty low  after the half  way mark  the pace becomes muddled and the story tiresome and evidently going nowhere and not particularly fast either . add to that the choppy editing  average acting and hyuck  s general inability to capture true atmosphere  the empty streets of coastal town are criminally misused  and i  d file messiah under  missed opportunity  but still grindhouse afficionados will find enough to appreciate  even though it  s not particularly gory  trashy or sleazy .  
well  what can i say  other than these people are super in every way . i quite like sharon mcreedy  i enjoy this pure nostalgic series and i have the boxed set of  discs   episodes  i did not realise that they had made so many  i also think that it is a great shame  that they have not made any more . i wish that i got given these powers  imagine me  being knocked off my cycle  somewhere and being knocked out cold  then waking up in a special hospital . later on  i discover that my body has been enhanced . just like richard barrat . these stories are   minutes of pure action and suspense all the way  you cannot fight these  people  as they would defeat you in all forms of weaponry . the music is well written  and to me  puts a wonderful picture of  super beings in my mind  the sort of powers that the champions have are the same as our domestic dog or cats  improved sight  improved hearing and touch . and the strength of   men for richard and craig and the strength of  women for sharon . who i thought was beautiful and intelligent . when i was a boy  i had a huge crush on her     now i can see why  on my dvd set . the box is very nice and it comes with a free booklet all about the series . i also thought that trymane was a good boss  firm but he got things done   
i just watched this movie in high definition on television . i am in a wheelchair due to a neuromuscular disorder and like to watch the few films made about those with physical disabilities .  br    br   at first i found the main character somewhat noble and captivating . his message about the disabled and the life time he spent fighting to have the disabled recognized and integrated into mainstream society  s job market is great . and my problem isn  t with the real person who did these things . he was a great man . but this film is completely hypocritical and diametrically opposed to the very message it is preaching  that i found it insulting .  br    br   first of all  they didn  t cast anyone in a title role with an actual physical disability . sure they were competent actors  but it seems completely dis genuine to preach about hiring the disabled and then not actually hiring the disabled for anything in the film . further compounded by the fact that in one scene mid way through the film a man is seen walking to a podium on crutches  appearing to have only one leg . but the cgi in this scene is so apparent it is shameful . what  they couldn  t find an actual amputee anywhere for the film  for a  second shot it was more financially sound to do cgi effects than to just hire an actual amputee  at that point in the film i found it so fraudulent and completely against the message it was trying to convey that i came here to bitch and whine about it like the pathetic cripple i am .  br    br   figure that out .  
monty berman and dennis spooner followed up  the baron  with this  a fantasy series about three superhuman spies which preempted  the six million dollar man  . it was a favourite of mine when i was a youngster  and i enjoy watching it still . stuart damon and william gaunt had an unmistakable on  screen chemistry as craig stirling and richard barrett  while the luscious alexandra bastedo pouted her way through her role as sharron macready . the late anthony nicholls made a wonderfully gruff tremayne . by far the best episodes were those written by tony williamson  terry nation and brian clemens  while spooner  s own  the interrogation  compared favourably with  the prisoner  . i regret that there was never a second series the concept had so much life left in it . would craig and richard have been competitors for sharron  s affections  what if tremayne had learned of the champions  powers  did the champions have any other abilities other than those we saw  we never found out  alas .  
i was so disappointed in this movie . i don  t know much about the true story  so i was eager to see it play out on film and educate myself about a little slice of history . with such a powerful true story and great actors it seemed like a surefire combination . well  somewhere the screenplay failed them . it was so scattered  is this movie about his childhood  his love life  his own disability  his speaking ability  his passion for the disabled  i  m sure there is a way to incorporate all of those things into a good story  but this movie wasn  t it . i was left cold watching characters that were unlikable not because of their disabilities  but because of their personalities . other small gripes  . the heavy  handed soundtrack . it  s the seventies  we get it already   . if he  s such a phenomenal public speaker  why weren  t we treated to more than a snippet here and there  and even then mostly in montages   
i was   years old when this show was on tv . by far it was my favorite . the actors were very credible . alexandra bastedo was just gorgeous . . . . i just order the dvd    episodes  . they didn  t have super  powers . they just had superior human skills  strength  hearing  sight  . the  actors were very good in their rolls  very believable . there was a good story in each episode . at the time  there were no special effects or explosions everywhere  so the script was suppose to be good  and the characters performs were great . there was no fancy stuff  like in other shows . they didn  t try to make a joke every  minutes to make a light show . i highly recommend this tv show to anybody that like good stuff .  
what about dahmer  s childhood   the double hernia operation which is believed to have sparked off his obsession with the inner workings of the human body  what about  infinity land    the game he invented as a child which involved stick men being annihilated when they came too close to one another  suggesting that intimacy was the ultimate danger . what about the relationship between his parents  and the emotional problems of his mother that were far more relevant than just his own relationship with his father  his feelings of neglect when his brother was born  what about his fascination with insects and animals  how he would dissect roadkill and hang it up in the woods behind his home  what about focusing more on his cannibalism  and what about his parent  s divorce  these are all things that should have been included in the film . instead the film maker chose to give us a watered down  snapshot  from a night or two in his life  and combine it with series of confusing and at times unnecessary flashbacks  to events that weren  t even particularly relevant to our understanding of dahmer .  br    br   why didn  t the film maker show how dahmer was interested in people as objects rather than people  he could have made this point many times  particularly in the scenes in which he drugs his victims whilst he has sex with them  which actually took place in a health club  not a night club  . instead he just shows him ramming away at them from behind .  br    br   whilst i appreciate there is only so much information you can cram into   minutes  or however long   but why spend such a large part of the film examining his relationship with luis pinet   known as rodney in this film  . my only guess is that the director was trying to build up pinet  s character  to try and make us fear for or empathise with him  but this film is supposed to be about jeffrey dahmer  so why couldn  t he have spend those forty five minutes on something else  if the scene and their relationship was important enough to warrant such time then fair enough  but it wasn  t . the scene in which he kills steven hicks  his first victim  is a vital part of the jeffrey dahmer story because it was the first killing  and because of the effect that killing had on the rest of his life . unfortunately the film doesn  t explain that it was his first killing  or that he didn  t kill again for nine years . we assume  because his hair style is different  and he is wearing glasses that this is a flashback  but to when  and why   br    br   what about the shrine he made in his sitting room towards the end of his career   one of the most important clues we have towards understanding dahmer and his motivations . .  br    br   some people may find my need for accuracy in fact and detail a bit anal  but having studied jeffrey dahmer in depth  it is plain to see that this film has very little in common with the person he was and the crimes he committed . why bother to spend the time making a film loosely based on jeffrey dahmer rather than tackle the real issues behind his descent into madness and the carnage that ensued   br    br   finally  a film with subject matter as repellent as this should carry an   certificate  not a   . we needed to see his perversion in more depth  to understand just how detached he was from the rest of us . that doesn  t mean showing the drill actually entering konerak sinthasomphone  s head for instance  but at least an indication of the amount of people he killed  and what his modus operandi was when actually killing . anyone watching this film who doesn  t know the story of dahmer might come away thinking he had only killed a few people . he actually killed seventeen men .  br    br   aside from the facts and lack of depth  the film isn  t all bad . there is some nice cinematography  and good performances from the two main characters . i  d like to see this done again by a film maker who has more knowledge  more energy  and a better reason for making the film in the first place .  
i would have to say that this is the first quality romantic  comedy i have ever seen . it had depth and although you knew from the beginning who was going to end up together there was still longing and anticipation . the thought that maybe they won  t get together . . . it is an indie film after all . this movie was well written  directed and acted . the dancing on the side of the road scene was magnificent .  
disappointing and undeniably dull true  crime movie that has poorly cast character actor jeremy renner languidly mumbling his way through the title role of jeffrey dahmer  who was easily one of the last century  s most recognizable degenerates  serial killers . released straight  to  video back in early       dahmer  is an overtly talky  boring  badly acted and virtually bloodless snore  fest of a true  crime drama that never truly delves into the monstrous and demented psyche of the late mass murderer like it had the perfectly good potential to do  what it does  however  attempt to do for reasons unknown to me is evoke some sort of sympathy in the viewer for the man by portraying him out to be what is ultimately a lonely  nebbishy and severely socially inept homosexual loser who was simply lookin  for love in all the wrong places as opposed to the cold  calculating and depraved sicko and madman that he was  overall       s  dahmer  is one that true  crime buffs everywhere might as well skip because i  m not kidding when i say that it  s one of the worst serial  killer biopics ever done  it  s even sorrier than other pathetic and exploitive straight  to  video trash like  gacy    bundy    ed gein  and  the night stalker    turkey  zero stars   
the influence of hal hartley in adrienne shelly  s  i  ll take you there  is not overt  but clearly has ties to his work  shelly has acted in two of hartley  s films  . not only does her film exhibit a very tight narrative  but the hyper  stylized and extreme characters strangely render human emotion in a very real light . though this film is not ironic on the whole  thank god   the small and subtle ironies that pepper the piece allude to the bitter truths in love and loss . with beautiful cinematography and a soundtrack straight from the seventies   i  ll see you there  is a great indie  film that doesn  t stoop to postmodern irony when dealing with the woes of love and the reality of human emotion .  br    br   the film begins with bill  s life falling to pieces . not only has he sold his best friend ray a beautiful country home  but his wife rose has left him in order to join ray in the retreat . all washed up  bill wallows in his own gloom and doom until his sister lucy  played by the director adrienne shelly  brings him all kinds of surprises a self  help book and a  date  for her traumatized brother .  br    br   the unwilling bill tries to refuse  but the sudden appearance of bernice at his door leaves him no choice . no doubt bernice  s initially superficial demeanor and ridiculous hairstyle detract from his ability to  rebound  with her . however  her pseudo  hippie qualities annoy him so much that he lashes at her on their first date . and bernice is so traumatized by his derogatory remarks that she attaches herself to him  forcing herself upon him . to what end  we are not aware . . . except for maybe the fact that she is psycho .  and who better to play the psycho than ally sheedy    br    br   aware that bill desperately wants to see rose  bernice offers her car  but on the condition that he take her somewhere first . on the way  she proceeds to hold bill prisoner with his own gun  a pinkerton detective  no less  . an imbroglio of angst  resentment  redemption  passion and violence ensue as bill and bernice find themselves on their way to the country home of ray and rose . . . of course  with a few stops along the way .  
  dahmer  is an interesting film although i wouldn  t use  horror  or  thriller  do describe it . it  s more a minor character study that seems oddly sympathetic of the killer .  br    br   jeremy renner portrays serial killer jeffrey dahmer  who drugged  murdered and dismembered his male victims . the film centers on the relationship between dahmer and  rodney   well  played by artel kayru .  br    br   rodney is almost the more interesting character enamored of dahmer and having once escaped an attack  he returns to dahmer for sex and survives a second attack .  br    br   i think the film is disjointed because it does little to portray dahmer  s formative years  how events may have created the human monster we see on screen and offers no insight into dahmer  s belief that he could create sexual zombies of his victims .  br    br   the roles are well played but the story is thin .  
manhattan apartment dwellers have to put up with all kinds of inconveniences . the worst one is the lack of closet space  some people who eat out all the time use their ranges and dishwashers as storage places because the closets are already full   br    br   melvin frank and norman panama  a great comedy writing team from that era  saw the potential in eric hodgins novel  whose hero  jim blandings  can  t stand the cramped apartment where he and his wife muriel  and two daughters  must share .  br    br   jim blandings  a madison ave . executive  has had it  when he sees an ad for connecticut living  he decides to take a look . obviously  a first time owner  jim is duped by the real estate man into buying the dilapidated house he is taken to inspect by an unscrupulous agent . this is only the beginning of his problems .  br    br   whatever could be wrong  goes wrong . the architect is asked to come out with a plan that doesn  t work for the new house  after the original one is razed . as one problem leads to another  more money is necessary  and whatever was going to be the original cost  ends up in an inflated price that jim could not really afford .  br    br   the film is fun because of the three principals in it . cary grant was an actor who clearly understood the character he was playing and makes the most out of jim blandings . myrna loy  was a delightful actress who was always effective playing opposite mr . grant . the third character  bill cole  an old boyfriend of myrna  turned lawyer for the blandings  is suave and debonair  the way melvin douglas portrayed him . one of the blandings girls  joan  is played by sharyn moffett  who bore an uncanny resemblance to eva marie saint . the great louise beavers plays gussie  but doesn  t have much to do .  br    br   the film is lovingly photographed by james wong howe  who clearly knew what to do to make this film appear much better . the direction of h . c . potter is light and he succeeded in this film that will delight fans of classic comedies .  
oh my . how can they make movies of such beauty  but that are so terribly bad . i mean  even uwe boll doesn  t make crap like this . there is not even a hint of a decent story  multi  layered characters  or attraction . it  s just a random sequence of pointless chatter joined together to make a  movie  . i suppose only children up to  years of age could enjoy it  given the world is so utterly dimensionless and the story so incoherent  that anyone older would be annoyed by it . but then again  it  s far too scary for anyone under  years of age  that there  s probably no one that should watch this movie at all .  br    br   take my advice and stay far  far away from this movie . your little daughter can make a better storyline  and though she probably isn  t able to draw pictures this pretty  her tales are much more worth listening to . and please  in the name of whoever you believe in  do not expose your children to this piece of  . i  ll give it  out of    and that  s exclusively for the graphics  because the story and character development are so awful they  d deserve a negative rating .  br    br   and if you decide to watch it anyways . . . remember that i warned you .  
this movie is wonderful . the writing  directing  acting all are fantastic . very witty and clever script . quality performances by actors  ally sheedy is strong and dynamic and delightfully quirky . really original and heart  warmingly unpredicatable . the scenes are alive with fresh energy and really talented production .  
it could have been a morbidly fascinating look at the life of one of america  s most notorious serial killers  but sadly it doesn  t even come close . terrible editing  direction  bad acting  you name it . this movie is literally about   minutes of plot stretched into    . the only redeeming quality is bruce davidson as the father  but that  s not nearly enough to save this stinker . a  out of   .  
i too have gone thru very painful personal loss  twice  and this movie portrays the gut wrenching reality of that experience very well  life out of balance  nothing makes sense  well meaning relatives  etc . . .  br    br   it was nice to see ally again . she is one of my all time favorite movie actors .  br    br   i laughed and cried as the story unfolded . great story and cast . well done   
curiosity led me to this  masterpiece  . unfortunately  i didn  t rent it  i bought it  the most disturbing thing about this film is that it  s not so disturbing . for reasons known only to them  the makers of this film set out to show the human side of jeffry dahmer . are you kidding me  the man gave new meaning to the term  finger lickin  good   and with all the flash  backs and flash  forwards i had trouble following the story . all in all jeremy renner  s performance wasn  t too bad . you can catch him in  s . w . a . t .   in which he plays a disgruntled ex  cop . anyway  i would rate this as a     . it only got a  because of renner  s so  so performance . there are plenty of books and tv documentaries out there that do a much better job of covering dahmer  s crimes . avoid this one .  
real cool  smart movie . i loved sheedy  s colors  especially the purple car . alice drummond is wise and wonderful as stella . i liked sheedy  s reference to how her face had gotten fatter . the roadside dance scene is brilliant . really liked this one .  
way to go ace  you just made a chilling  grossly intriguing story of a necrophiliac cannibal into a soft  mellow  drama . obviously a movie called dahmer would be one of two kinds horror  or documentary right  this was neither . it wasn  t close to any detailed facts   in fact it barely had any substance at all  it wasn  t really morbid or scary or didn  t even try to be very disturbing .  as if you would  ve had to try    what the hell was this writer  director thinking   here  s one of the most real examples of sick serial killers ever and we get badly shot  poorly acted gay bar roofie rapes and lengthy droning flashbacks to alone time in his old parent  s house . i think jacobson was actually trying to present  or invent   the soft side  of j . dahmer .  
i was totally impressed by shelley adrienne  s  waitress        . this movie only confirms what was clear from that movie . adrienne was a marvelously talented writer  director  an original and unique artist . she managed to show the miseries of everyday life with absurd humor and a real warm optimistic and humanistic tendency . ally sheedy steals this movie with a terrific performance as a woman who has fallen over the edge . male lead reg rodgers  looking like judd nelson  is fine . there is also a great cameo by ben vereen . the song at the end of the movie  the bastard song  written by adrienne can stand as her optimistic eulogy  br    br    it  s a world of suffering   br    br   in a sea of pain   br    br   no matter how much sun you bring   br    br   you  re pummeled by the rain . . .  br    br   don  t let the heartless get you down   br    br   don  t greet the heartless at your door   br    br   don  t live among the heartless   
i do have the guts  to inform you to please stay away from dahmer   the biographical film based on the real  life story of the grotesque serial killer . dahmer  strays more in relation to the mentality of its focused subject . jeffrey dahmer  who murdered over   young males and ate some of their body parts  was probably the most incongruous serial killer of our generation . however  the real sick individuals are the filmmakers of this awful spectacle who should have had their heads examined before deciding to greenlight this awful dahm  project . this is not an easy film to digest  even though jeffrey would have easily digested it with some fiery brainsadillas  appetizers or even some real  life mr . potato skins  .  failure  
  i  ll take you there  tells of a woebegone man who loses his wife to another and finds an unlikely ally in a blind date . unlike most romantic comedies  this little indie is mostly tongue  in  cheek situational comedy featuring rogers and sheedy with little emphasis on romance . a sort of road trip flick with many fun and some poignant moments keeps moving  stays fresh  and is a worthwhile watch for indie lovers .  
well  it is hard to add comment after reading what is already here but i feel i must say something . i wasn  t exactly looking for  a splatterfest  as someone puts it or even  blood and guts  gore  . i have some respect for the victims relatives although i really felt the filmaker didn  t .  they were nameless  faceless and meaningless . just a vessel for dahmers sexual antics .  br    br   i watched this film with the kind of morbid curiosity that makes me think  what makes a guy be a serial killer   as well as wondering the specifics about the dahmer story  of which i know very little . people here seem to think that the movie didn  t have to cover the events of the dahmer story . . i . e . his history  what happened when he got caught  the aftermath  etc but it is important  you see  i assume if you are american you will know all of this . we do not all live in america . to tell this story about such a man as he obviously was  requires that at least some of the history and actual events are told  shown . this doesn  t mean blood and guts  there are ways of showing horrific things in a movie by implication or clever filming without resorting to gore . without even touching upon some of what he did  i found out more about him reading the user comments on this site    the movie felt like a void . a moment in time with very little substance . i would like to know if there is a film about the real dahmer because with its lack of direction  very slow pace that never changes  strange portrayal of homosexuality and the very unfortunate lack of any attempt at an ending  this movie is poor . i would not recommend to anyone that they waste the time it takes to watch it . a definite  out of    for the acting    
this comedy with much underlying pain and sadness succeeds where most others fail . there have been many films of this genre with more notable actors attempting to achieve this elusive mixture which haven  t come anywhere near the depth and deftness of this one . this is surely because the exceptional cast with outstanding performances by reg rogers and ally sheedy seem so spontaneous that the reality of their characters rapidly grip your interest and emotions and hold them throughout the film . at first  the action seems rather off  the  wall and harebrained but one gradually learns that these two rather pathetic damaged people are desperately and unwillingly trying to heal themselves  even if grudgingly  through each other . rogers  heartrending facial expressions of numb hurt and sheedy  s angry outbursts are so eloquent that one feels them as one observes them . you will care about these two likable but deeply suffering people and hope that they will succeed because it  s in doubt and all hangs on a tenuous emotional thread . hopefully audiences will get to see more of reg rogers and ally sheedy as this film proves their merit as very accomplished actors beyond doubt .  
this movie had so much potential . anyone who followed the story of jeffrey knows that there are so many details overlooked in this movie it  s ridiculous . too much time and effort was spent in the movie on dahmer  s homosexual tendencies and his alcohol consumption . where was the character development  the origins of any villain are always interesting and dahmer was no exception . where in the movie does it address his adolescence when he began killing and mutilating small animals  instead we are giving a dizzying array of flashbacks that seek to explain the origin of the killer  but fail to address the major point in dahmer  s development . also  the reason why the country became so intrigued with this story was the details  how he stored the bodies in his apartment and the lengths and measures he went to to accomplish this his cannibalism and his desire for flesh  etc . i could go on  but to sum up  too many lagging points in the film  focused on his sexuality and not enough of the gore  the good stuff you would expect to see when the title of the movie is  dahmer .   
for a long time it seemed like all the good canadian actors had headed south of the border and  i guessed  all the second rank ones filled the top slots and that left the dregs for the sex comedies .  br    br   this film was a real surprise despite the outlandish plots that are typical of farces  the actors seemed to be trying to put something into their characters and what we  the viewer  got back was almost true suspension of belief . when the extras from the music video attacked the evicting police  you almost believed it was possible .  br    br   if you are a fan of some of the better sex farces  canadian or not  you should definitely seek this one out . and the big surprise  this sex farce is also loaded with some very good nudity .  
prior to watching  dahmer   i thought no movie could be worse than  freddy got fingered .  i was wrong . to sum  dahmer  up  it  s a story about a gay serial killer which features almost no killing and almost entirely consists of dahmer  s encounters with gay men before they were killed . there is no plot to be found  and it serves no purpose as far as telling us anything about  dahmer .  all you  ll learn about dahmer from watching this movie is that he liked to have sex with men . horrible acting  horrible directing  horrible writing  horrible everything . . . if you have to choose between watching  dahmer  and projectile vomiting for three hours  go with the vomiting . . . . it wll be less painful . . . . .  
at the end of the movie i still don  t know whether i liked it or not . so was the case with most of the reviewers . but none the less i still feel that the movie is worth a  for the amount of efforts put in .  br    br   long ago i read a quote there are  kind of writers   . those who think and write . and  . those write and make the readers think . while here i feel that guy ritchie took this way too literally and left all the thinking for the audience .  br    br   i felt that the movie was a mixed bag filled with some of the devils advocate and fight club . . . .  br    br   it is definitely a classic something which no one understands but appreciates . . . .  br    br   what i don  t understand why stathom  jake green  had a blackout  thats how it all began   all the riddles and mysteries in the movie have been taken care of except this one .  br    br   well if you are reading this review to find the solution as what this movie was all about i  ll post the very midnight it strikes me and if you are still deciding to watch this movie or not then answer this first . . . . when you come across a puzzle labeled as  no one has ever solved  would you like to try   br    br   i would  
i  m a big fan of the true crime genre  but i couldn  t sit through this putrid piece . it was almost as if dahmer was intended as erotica  down to the porn  flic soundtrack . there was no look at what made dahmer tick  no exploration of who his victims were . nothing but  look at how creepy this guy is .  and i have to give the filmmakers this much   their dahmer is the creepiest thing ever to disgrace the screen .  
aside from a few titles and the new sherlock holmes movie  i think i  ve watched every movie guy ritchie has directed . twice . needless to say  i  m a big fan and revolver is one of the highlighted reasons why . this movie is a very different approach from ritchie  when you look at it comparatively with lock  stock . . . and snatch . revolver sets us up for a psychological thriller of sorts as a gambling con finds himself at the mercy of a set of foes he didn  t expect and a guided walk for redemption that he didn  t know he needed . along with seeing andr benjamin of outkast fame strut his acting ability  other standout acts are ray liotta playing the maniacal mr . d  macha and mark strong playing sorter  the hit  man .  br    br   after being sent to prison by a tyrannous casino owner  macha  jake uses his time in solitary to finesse a plot to humiliate macha and force his hand in compensating him for the seven years he spent . when he wins a card game and amasses a decent sum from macha  jake finds himself on the brink of death as he collapses and is diagnosed with an incurable disease that  s left him with three days to live . a team of loan sharks  however  have an answer for him and a ticket to life  only if he gives them all the money he has and relents to working for them  all in a ploy to both take macha down and show jake how dangerous he has made himself to himself . along with having the air of death loom  and a pair of loan sharks having a field day with his money  jake also has to deal with having a hit put out on him  which introduces sorter  a hit  man under macha  s employ . the depth with the story comes when jake realizes that some co  convicts he spent time with in solitary may very  well be the loan shark team out to take him for all he has by crafting all of the unfortunate events that jake seems to find his way into . when faced with this reality though  zack  vincent pastore  and avi show jake just how twisted he has become from being in solitary  having only the company of his mind and his ego then makes it so that their actual existence is elusive even to jake . the movie unravels to a humbling process for both jake and macha as they both come to grips with their inner demons .  br    br   the style of the movie is top  notch as you get the gritty feel of the crime world represented and the characters it includes . although a lot of nods at ritchie  s previous films are here it still has a presence of its own from the dialogue  the sets and the experimental take on the gangster genre . it  s also a great trip on humility and recognizing when you can easily let your ego or a preset notion mask you ability to accomplish what you want or overcome what you should . the characters are well crafted in this movie with all sides being fleshed out and  true to ritchie fashion  they  re all tied in by some underhandedness that throws a wrench in everyone  s affairs . i could and would like to go on about this film and its unique nuances but i don  t want to take too much away from it if you haven  t seen it yet .  br    br   it may take a few sittings to get through all the intricate layers but it  s a great movie and it should be seen . if you  re lucky and you haven  t seen the watered  down us release  see if you can get the original uk version as it will make for a great discussion piece among friends as you try to puzzle in your take . i saw it with my crew around early      and we  re still talking about it with little things we  ve picked up on today . it has garnered its cult status  and it  s well  deserved as the film where ritchie stepped out the box and broke his norm a bit .  br    br   standout line  fear or revere me  but please  think i  m special . we share an addiction . we  re approval junkies .   
dahmer  a young confused man . dahmer  a confusing movie . granted  i had a few beers while watching the movie  but that doesn  t explain why i got so bored by this flick .  br    br   its flashbacks are nothing but confusing and annoying  and there  s no real storyline with a beginning and an end  the only thing that made sense in the movie was the explaining text in the beginning and at the very end of the movie . the inbetween stuff  which would be the movie  is just boring images and a waste of time .  br    br   we never see actual murders  everything is just a bunch of insinuations . sometimes you even just get a feeling that dahmer  s dreaming the entire thing  but you know he isn  t  since it  s  br    br   based on a true story and this actually happened  at least most of it . but what happened  it  s not easy to tell .  br    br   i do not encourage people to waste time on this movie . i  br    br   didn  t like it one bit and i felt cheated when it suddenly ended .  br    br       
  ah ritchie  s made another gangster film with statham  thought the average fan  expecting another snatch  lock stock expecting perhaps a couple of temporal shifts  but none too hard for  me and the lads  to swallow after a few beers .  br    br   ah  pay attention  you do need to watch this film . no cups of tea  no extra diet cokes from the counter  no  keep it running  shouts as you nip to the fridge  watch the film  no laughs other than those you may make yourself from the considerable violence  and if that floats your boat  so be it  but sharp solid direction  excellent dialogue  and great performances .  br    br   my favourite  big pussy from the sopranos  always a reliable hood .  
i really felt cheated after seeing this picture . it felt like i sat watching this movie    minutes for nothing . i don  t understand what they were thinking when they made this . it hardly gets into jeffrey dahmer murdering and it has no ending . it felt almost like they were leaving this movie open for a sequel . it was like watching a television episode of the sopranos . it ends suddenly  and you know there  s going to be another episode next week . it also felt like i just watched part  to a two part movie . there are many possibilities for what went wrong here they got lazy  they ran out of money  they didn  t know the rest of the story  they wanted to make a dahmer  . after seeing this movie they all sound very accurate . i was watching jeffrey dahmer walking through the woods . all of a sudden i hear this music playing  then writing comes on the screen and says how dahmer served  years of his sentence and was attacked by a fellow inmate and killed at the age of   . wow  he goes from a walk in the woods to his death in jail . how about showing how he got there . how about showing dahmer  s trial . how about showing some more detail . i can  t even explain what happened in this movie because it jumped all over the place . i actually found myself saying in disbelief   that  s it  that  s the end   i want to conclude this review by saying there is still a good dahmer movie yet to be made . to the filmmakers i  d like to say  if you  re going to do it  do it right .  
if you are a fan of altman  s large ensemble casts  as evidenced in major films like m . a . s . h .  nashville  gosford park  and lesser seen films like a wedding  then you will no doubt be entertained by health . centered around a health convention where two women are running for president  health contains many of altman  s latter   s regulars like paul dooley  who helped write the film   carol burnett  and henry gibson  while also including top star altman newcomers like lauren bacall  james garner  and glenda jackson . like a lot of altman ensemble films there are numerous subplots in this film  but it is not nearly as overwhelming as films like nashville or a wedding  rather it has a more centered feel  perhaps like m . a . s . h . or gosford park . the whole thing is an obvious satire on the health movement  filled with over  top  outlandish  contradictive characters  with guest stars like dick cavett providing a wry commentary on the whole thing . underlining the whole election process is altman  s characteristic pessimism about politics and public appeal but what is most appealing about this film is the sheer fun most people seem to be having . this would be one of altman  s last films like this for a while   
don  t waste your time on this dreck . as portrayed  the characters have no redeeming values and watching them interact is sheer torture .  gothic  was entertainment at least  this is crap . if you like watching pretentious and spoiled poets straining to outwit each other  this may be right up your alley . lord byron is portrayed as a complete jerk  and why the others would choose to spend more than five minutes with him is truly bewildering . mary shelly appears to be the only character with any spine whatsoever  but even she comes out of the whole ordeal without an ounce of respect . what a waste of time . see gothic instead . i also remember seeing another superior movie based on the same subject matter  but didn  t catch the title . i was hoping this was it  but no such luck . not recommended .  
i have just finished watching this film and i can honestly say that this is a work of art . i was very surprised to see the overall rating as  .  .  br    br   not only does guy bring together a b list  ish  movie cast and make them into such glorious characters  he has given us a movie with a fantastically diverse story line with much left to the imagination .  br    br   far too many people are wanting movies with a plot that can be understood and handed to them on a plate . . . yet these are the films that get poor reviews because they are far too predictable .  br    br   this film is special . get it  now   
this was a truly bad film . the character  cole  played by michael moriarty was the biggest reason this flopped  the actor felt that conjuring up an unbelievably awkward southern drawl would make this character more evil  it didn  t . after about   minutes i had wished for a speech therapist to make an appearance  this would have added some sincerity .  br    br      badly acted    unsympathetic characters    razor thin plot line  br    br   yuck   br    br    
i  m giving ten out of ten it  s one of the best movies ever . absolutely smashed  stunned and dazed by the whole picture  marvellous playing of jason statham  ray liotta and all the crew  amazing plot . . . just look into yourself and pluck up your courage to admit  it touched your soul  because it  s strange  but there are all the answers you  ve been ever looking for . . . the very best  mr . ritchie  the very best ever . those who were looking for a simple figtings and skirmish keep yelling they are disappointed . but there are lots of shallow movies in hollywood nowadays  you can  t remember what it was about the next day you had seen it . on the contrary  revolver is unique  i could have hardly expected it  s possible to portray such a clear and genius picture of myself  of everyone who was to watch it . absolutely unsurpassed  astounding  dazzling . . . one can get insight watching this  i have no doubt about that . actually  no words can express my admiration . . . i  m still wondering how it was possible to shoot such a movie after years of giddy hollywood rubbish we had been watching . thank you from all heart  it  s simply the best .  
the various nudity scenes that other reviewers referred to are poorly done and a body double was obviously used . if ms . pacula was reluctant to do the scenes herself perhaps she should have turned down the role offer .  br    br   otherwise the movie was not any worse than other typical canadian movies . as other reviewers have pointed out canadian movies are generally poorly written and lack entertainment value  which is what most movies watchers are hoping to get . perhaps canadian movie producers are consciously trying to  de  commercialize  their movies but they have forgotten a very important thing  movies by definition are a commercial thing . . . .  
it  s all very simple . jake goes to prison  and spends five years with the con and the chess masters . they get compassionate about his history of loss and failure  and utterly misery that he lives on because of his belief in his mastery of small tricks and control of the rules of small crooks . they decide to give jake the ultimate freedom from his innermost fears  from what he believes to be himself . for that  they take him on a trip where he got to let go all the fear  all the pride  all the hope  to be reborn as true master of his will .  br    br   it  s a clever movie about the journey of illumination  about the infinite gambles and games that we do with and within ourselves .       no doubt .  
saw in on tv late last night . yeah  i can hear what y  all say about this one . it is likely to be categorized as one of those stereo  typical tv soap series . in all fairness  the story line does have a fine twist to it  and you might nod saying   well  that  s not what i expected .  but  as a film  well it is not easy to spot a redeeming element . casting  acting  camera work  cars  costume  setting  script  no  there  s nothing to congratulate . rated r   oh  that scene . did we need it  this is a film that you can watch it and then forget that you even watched . and what was the title again   
i have never known of a film to arouse such debate in my life . believe me when i say that this film will eventually be remembered as an all  time classic . i was waiting in anticipation for this film as i had previously loved both lock  stock . . . . and snatch  but after some of the negative reviews i thought i would be very disappointed . i absolutely loved this film and i can  t wait to see it again . this film is totally different to both of the aforementioned ritchie films  and also a lot better . i have my pick of favourite directors but none of them have pulled off a move as great as guy ritchie has just done with this movie . i believe he has taken movie  making to another level  i know most people will be laughing at this comment guaging the reaction to this film  but i believe time will prove me right  . this movie is very confusing and carried on for much longer than the  hr or so running time as i couldn  t stop thinking about it or trying to piece things together . i have now got a pretty good take on everything that happens in this film  some answers from endless hours of thinking  some answers from reading other people  s take on the film  and now cannot wait until sunday when i will see it again . i just hope people go to the cinema with an open mind and they will hopefully be rewarded as i and many others have been .  
this is awesomely bad and awesomely embarassing for a canadian . we grow good wine . our writers and poets are among the world  s best . the national ballet is rated among the top five companies in the world . but we make bloody awful movies  this one isn  t especially bad . it  s especially typical and typically bad  shot in two bit hotels and public parks with thin direction  high school level acting and  gee whiz . . . lets see what this button on the camera does    photography . if michael moriarity was so intent on doing a jack nicholson impersonation  couldn  t he at least have done a good jack nicholson impersonation  and if the movie was shot in vancouver  truly one of the loveliest cities on earth and also a centre of yacht building  part of the  plot   why in god  s name do we let that endemic canadian inferiority complex dictate that it be disguised as seattle    not only am i mad about this film  i  m embarassed and more than a little ashamed . the australians turn out some splendid stuff . we produce pretentious second rate piffle . gawd       
neither the total disaster the uk critics claimed nor the misunderstood masterpiece its few fanboys insist  revolver is at the very least an admirable attempt by guy ritchie to add a little substance to his conman capers . but then  nothing is more despised than an ambitious film that bites off more than it can chew  especially one using the gangster  con  artist movie framework . as might be expected from luc besson  s name on the credits as producer  there  s a definite element of  cinema de look  about it set in a kind of realistic fantasy world where america and britain overlap  it looks great  has a couple of superbly edited and conceived action sequences and oozes style  all of which mark it up as a disposable entertainment . but ritchie clearly wants to do more than simply rehash his own movies for a fast buck  and he  s spent a lot of time thinking and reading about life  the universe and everything . if anything its problem is that he  s trying to throw in too many influences  a bit of machiavelli  a dash of godard  a lot of the principles of chess   motifs and techniques  littering the screen with quotes the film was originally intended to end with three minutes of epigrams over photos of corpses of mob victims  and at times it feels as if he never read a fortune cookie he didn  t want to turn into a movie . rather than a commercial for kabbalism  it  s really more a mixture of the overlapping principles of commerce  chess and confidence trickery that for the most part pulls off the difficult trick of making the theosophy accessible while hiding the film  s central  somewhat metaphysical  con .  br    br   the last third is where most of the problems can be found as jason statham takes on the enemy  literally  within with lots of ambitious but not always entirely successful crosscutting within the frame to contrast people  s exterior bravado with their inner fear and anger  but it  s got a lot going for it all the same . not worth starting a new religion over  but i  m surprised it didn  t get a us distributor . maybe they found ray liotta  s intentionally fake tan just too damn scary   
taped this late night movie when i was in grade    watched it on fast forward . i sugest you do the same . i though it would be and action film  but went to a cort tv type movie . in the end it fits in with the early    s social activest type films . glad i missed that era .      
having read the reviews for this film  i understandably started watching it with a great deal of doubt in my mind that it would actually be any good . however  this is one of the best films i have seen in a long time . the majority of reviews that i had read  said that the complicated plot made it too hard to follow . and whilst some parts do leave you confused  the ending ties up so many loose ends that you feel like kicking yourself because you  ve missed so much . it  s not like  lock  stock . . .  or  snatch   in the sense that it isn  t that funny  in fact  it  s pretty dark   and it is a lot more intelligent  in the way that you see parts of scenes from different viewpoints  and  in one of the best scenes of the film  jason statham spends five minutes in a lift having an argument with himself  . the way in which it is similar to the two films i just mentioned  is that it is full of memorable characters  specifically statham  who gives a fantastic performance as the lead  and ray liotta  who spends most of the film in speedos  but gives a great performance none the less . if you  ve got time  and have time afterwards to think about the film  and even watch it again  you really start to see all the symbolism and hints that are laid out through the film . i think it  s fantastic  and that guy ritchie is a director on top of his game .  
once upon a time there was a science fiction author named h . beam piper who wrote a classic book named  little fuzzy  which was about a man discovering a race of adorable little fuzzy humanoids on another planet . mr . piper died in      but hollywood and many of today  s authors starting looting his grave before his cadaver got cold . this is the book where they got the idea for ewoks from .  br    br   skullduggery is such a blatant ripoff of  little fuzzy  i can wonder why i  m the only who  s ever noticed   br    br   but don  t take my word for it . here  s a link to project guntenberg where you can download a copy of  little fuzzy  for free http   www . gutenberg . org  ebooks        
i will start by saying that this has undeservedly be panned by just about everyone  the fact is it wasn  t what anyone was expecting  especially from guy ritchie . what everyone was expecting was cockney geezers and good one liners  do ya like dags   etc  but this is far more mature than his previous works . i would agree that it is confusing but all the facts are there for us we just have to see them and listen harder  this film demands all your attention  look past the cool and dazzling look of the film  try to listen to the dialogue rather than admire the performances and i think we will all get a more thorough understanding of the whole film .  br    br   yes this has its influences from modern classics  fight club  pulp fiction etc  but it is in the whole original in both direction and pacing with a music score second to none . i feel that if everyone watched this film over and over they would understand it a lot more and maybe appreciate it for the fine piece of modern cinema that it is and i hope also that ritchie continues in this vain as i far prefer this to his mockney  masterpieces  .  
skullduggery is a strange  strange film based on the novel  ye shall know them  by vercors . to unleash criticism at the film feels really unkind  since it is a movie that deals with earnest themes like humanity  and pleas for upright moral standards and tolerance . but in spite of its honourable intentions and its well  meaning tone  skullduggery simply isn  t a very good film . for me  the main problem is the terribly disjointed narrative which can  t make its mind up how best to convey its message . the first half of the movie is like watching a standard jungle expedition flick of the tarzan ilk later it teeters into sci  fi fable by the end it slips into courtroom melodramatics . the differences in tone between each section of the movie are too great  too jarring  to overlook . they stick out like a sore thumb and remind you constantly that you  re watching a muddled  disorganised movie .  br    br   an archaeological expedition into the jungles of new guinea is led by adventurer douglas temple  burt reynolds  . one of the main archaeologists involved in the excursion is attractive lady scientist dr sybil greame  susan clark  . after an arduous trek they stumble upon a tribe of strange ape  like creatures . these primitive  long  lost people are covered in hair and have survived for centuries without being in any way touched or influenced by the developments of modern man . there is some evidence that they may the ancestors of early man  the  missing link  in the evolution of apes into humans . or perhaps a race of humans who simply look and behave differently from usual  or even a race of animals that have begun to develop human characteristics  the archaeologists call the tribe  the tropi  and are initially thrilled by the implications of their discovery . but things take a devastating turn when nasty opportunist vancruysen  paul hubschmid  declares his intention to exploit the tribe and their idyll on behalf of developers . he questions whether the tropi are truly  human  and takes his argument to the courts  where he hopes to be granted legal backing so that his own greedy ambitions can be continued .  br    br   this was a very early film in reynolds  career  and he actually unbalances this movie by acting like he  s in a comedy while the rest of the cast take it all very seriously . not that reynolds can be blamed  he has an impossible role  asked to play a charming adventurer who really belongs in a tarzan flick . his character and the film are not relevant to each other . clark fares much better as the earnest lady archaeologist  and there are nice supporting roles for british actors edward fox  alexander knox and wilfrid hyde  white . a major shortcoming in skullduggery is the lame and ineffective make  up used to give the tropi their strange hairy appearance . rather than making the actors look like believable hominoids  the stuck  on hair merely makes them look unintentionally comical . and that  s just not the right idea . we  re meant to feel great sympathy for these creatures  but that  s awfully hard when they look so unconvincing . skullduggery is a failed attempt to tell a story that could have been poignant  philosophical and stimulating . the honourable intentions are there for all to see  but the end result doesn  t do them justice . a worthy failure it might be but a failure nonetheless .  
first of all  don  t go into revolver expecting another snatch or lock stock  this is a different sort of gangster film .  br    br   i saw the gala the other night and this movie definitely split the audience . it  s the kind of movie where half the audience will leave thinking what was that  that was awful  and the other half will leave thinking what was that  that was cool . personally i like films that i don  t understand  i . e . mullholland drive  and usual suspects  so i enjoyed revolver .  br    br   it definitely wasn  t perfect though . i saw the big twist coming a mile away  at least part of it  and though sometimes some loose ends left unexplained is good  revolver leaves a lot of questions unexplained for no reason it seemed . also some scenes  like the animation  and the scene where sorter goes on a killing spree  actually one of my favourites   although  awesome scenes to watch  seemed to just be there because they were awesome to watch  not because they fit in with the movie .  br    br   however there were many good things too . i thought the acting was superb from all the main actors  jason stratham  ray liotta  vincent pastore  and even andre benjamin  who was a pleasant surprise  . this movie definitely kept my interest  with one great  suspenseful  action packed  scene after another . when ray liotta was being held under the table wow . . . . well you have to see it . the script was extremely well done  and the soundtrack  as with most guy ritchie films  was great .  br    br   though a step below such movies as  fight club  mullholland drive  and usual suspects  it was still an awesome fast paced  psychological  action movie  with many twists and turns and tons of scenes you will remember long after the movie is over .  
the only reason i elected to give this flick a shot was due to the presence of oscar winner ernest borgnine . all i can say is  it was the greatest waste of a good actor ever put to film . as far as i could tell  borgnine was the only actor in it . the other performances were so uniformly terrible  i am amazed a studio would actually pay the  performers  to appear . couple this level of talent in the acting department with a story so plodding and insipid that i thought my eyes were going to start bleeding by the time the credits rolled  and you have a perfect cinematic disaster . obviously the movie was made to appeal to an audience of children  and to its credit  it was better than most of the original programing on the disney channel and similar kid  focused networks . but honestly  that is not saying much .  
i watched to movie today and it just blew my mind away . it is a real masterpiece of art and i don  t understand why most of the people think it  s garbage . the main idea of the movie  take your ego away and then you will have true power  this was the main battle at the end of the movie and guy ritchie has shown that in a magnificent way .  the greatest enemy will hide in the last place you will ever look   do you remember this from the movie  because our true enemy is in us  it is our ego . . . that voice that always tells us that we are important  that gives us our pride  that tells us not to give  but only to take  that creates our aggression  that wants to be in control  that creates all the negative feelings and thoughts . gr expressed this idea in an astonishing way and has shown that the only way to gain true control is when you loose control and you just let go of your personal importance . a superb movie   
honestly  where can i begin  this was a low budget  horribly acted film  it was so cheesy it had us all bursting with laughter to how completely retarded it was  the sword fighting scenes weren  t even sword fights  they were playing around with some plastic swords they bought at wal  mart and all they were doing was just moaning to try and make it look like they were struggling   me and my family was in the mood for a really good action movie one day  so we decided to go to the store and look for one  and there it was the sawtooth island movie . i mean it looked so great but when we watched it at home i practically died after the first scene .  br    br   oh and the plot of the film  the story board  the script  etc . . was a bunch of garbage that i don  t even know why the director and producer even wasted their time making it   but if you happen to stumble upon this movie . . do not get it       
i always enjoy seeing movies that make you think  and don  t just drip  feed the answers to their audience .  revolver  is one of these films  and although many reviewers have stated that it is difficult to follow  with a bit of concentration and an open mind i got it . first time . true  it doesn  t compare to other mind  mucks like  the usual suspects  or  memento   but in its own right its an intelligent and thought  provoking film .  br    br   another thing i really liked about this film is how damn beautiful it is . every scene  every camera angle seems to have been thought about for ages . if you see it you  ll know what i mean .  br    br   so  to conclude . . . watch it with an open mind and you may enjoy it . if not  well  no  one ever said  revolver  is for everyone . and that  s my  cents .  
over several years of looking for half  decent films to rent for my kids  i  ve developed a sixth  sense for spotting the really cheesy  direct  to  video efforts that are really painful to sit through  for anyone over the age of eight  . i dropped the ball on this one and the kids spent half the movie asking me  what did she say that for   and  why did he do that   and my eyes got sore from rolling them every minute or so as characters did a really bad job of introducing seemingly random plot changes . and the next time someone decides that having absolutely no skill with a sword is simply  bringing realism  to a film  please run them through with a dull butter knife .  prehysteria   was head and shoulders above this . arrgh .  
in the classic sense of the four humors  which are not specific to the concept of funny or even entertainment   altman  s  h . e . a . l . t . h .  treats all of the humors  and actually in very funny  entertaining ways . there  s the phlegm  as personified by lauren bacall  s very slow  guarded  and protective character esther brill  who  s mission in life appears to be all about appearance  protecting the secrets of her age and beauty more than her well  being . there  s paul dooley  s choleric dr . gil gainey  who like a fish out of water  perhaps more like a seal  flops around frenetically  barking and exhorting the crowds to subscribe to his aquatic madness . the melancholy of glenda jackson  s isabella garnell smacks of shakespeare  s troubled and self  righteous hamlet   even proffering a soliloquy or two . and let  s not forget henry gibson  s bile character  bobby hammer   the breast that feeds the baby rules the world   . then there  s the characters harry wolff and gloria burbank  james garner and carol burnett  respectively   relatively sane characters striving to find some kind of balance amongst all the companion and extreme humors who have convened for h . e . a . l . t . h .   a kind of world trade organization specializing in h . e . a . l . t . h .  which is to say anything but health . this is altman at his classic best .  
i read the back of the box and it talked about mary shelley and percy shelley and lord byron . i thought   wonderful  this will be great   i was so wrong . the story was all screwed up . in fact i still don  t get it . it just seems to me that all the characters did was drink  smoke  opium   and have sex . not that those aren  t good movie qualities  but please  where was the story  i made myself finish the movie  and yes  it did pick up towards the end  but by then the movie was almost over . rent it if you really want to . just don  t trust the back of the box .  
first of all  when people hear  guy ritchie   they immediately think of snatch . yes  snatch was a good movie  but the problem is that everyone associates guy ritchie to snatch . they don  t expect him to explore new frontiers . this movie revolver is different than snatch it  s much darker and is very complex . the reason i gave a rating of   is because i  ve had to watch revolver  times to understand everything . so this movie toys with your head . it  s very cleverly written .  br    br   this movie is different than snatch . it was done wonderfully  the cinematography is beautiful  and you can recognize guy ritchie  s personal touch  style of directing  in it .  br    br   what won me over was the complexity of the protagonist and how we are left with more questions than answers .  
you gotta love the cheesy low budget movies . this one comes complete with bad effects  props and bad acting  really bad  . plus  every time i see mercedes mcnab  the sister  i keep thinking  watch out  she  s a vamp    for those that know buffy  angel .  br    br   a perfect example of what happens when someone with bad taste and wants to waste money making a flick  the little that was spent of course . i don  t know if i feel more sorry for the writer of the movie or the producer who didn  t make back any money .  br    br   i  d say it  s good for little kids in it  s simplicity  but i don  t know if i  d want to subject a kid to it . . .  br    br   umm . . .     because that  s the lowest it will go .  
ok . . . this movie so far has been slated by critics and board  posters alike  although playing devil  s advocate you could suggest that critics are often people who didn  t make it for themselves as film  makers  and board posters are often people who didn  t make it for themselves as critics  so i wanted to sit in guy  s corner with the magic sponge to perhaps reach maybe a couple of the people who  ve decided not to see the film based on how everybody seems to be looking down their collective nose of approval at it .  br    br   the film  s biggest flaw in earning wide support is how unexpectedly complex it is . this has been described many times as as making the film  inaccessible  to the viewer . the film  s chronology is relatively non  linear and the characters are used as not only a means of storytelling but as a device for showing us the subtle  or not so subtle  hints of bias we give things as we commit them to memory  ie . ray liotta  s character brandishing a gun saying the words  fear me  is portrayed as both tragically pathetic  from statham  s pov  or interrogating and bold  from liotta  s pov  . this is but one example of ritchie  s far more mature approach he has taken to film  making with revolver  we have a storyline which is pretty archetypal  the strong but silent gritty anti  hero gets released from jail with a score to settle but gets drawn inadvertently into a world of corruption . . . i mean it  s paint by numbers film noir here guys  all the way down to the vague poetic choice of diction and the gritty voice  overs  but then guy has taken this framework to make a number of extremely philosophical and complex points .  br    br   take the scene where jason statham  s character runs afoul of a car . this throwaway sequence could have been emitted from the film and made no difference to the story whatsoever . . . but ritchie is making point about how such little chance happenings such as receiving a phone call can make the difference between life and death .  br    br   so the final act of the movie is pretty mind boggling  i  d be taking the pss if i said i didn  t spend the last   minutes or so of the film turning to my date going  uh . . . wtf   . . . but that is the shoddiest reason to disregard a piece of art . it is far too easy to dislike something because you find it hard to understand . and even easier to say  well nobody else seemed to understand it so it must be a real turd of a film   . in my humble opinion  revolver is a stylish  complex and mature piece of modern art which should be greeted with the same manner we would give the work of the saatchi brothers . if we choose this opportunity to collectively say  ah sht  i wanted a film about a load of bleeding  cockney gangsters in  nit loll . . . guy ritchie is a tit   then the day will come when film  makers are allowed only to make that which is expected of them by shallow  crappy people . just because guy made a name for himself with funny  cheeky cockney romps  doesn  t mean he can  t be deep without being  pretentious  . funny people can be thoughtful too .  
while the overall idea of escape from atlantis was intriguing  i found the film to be far less than what i had hoped for upon reading the plot summery . perhaps i am too much of a child in the technological age the movie was made  as it is now      an official five years ago   after viewing fantasy epics such as lord of the rings  and science fiction feats like star wars  as a whole it could not compare to other movies of similar line such as dinotopia or homer  s the odyssey .  br    br   my beef  basically  is that i couldn  t relate   i am just about the same age of the children  a young adult   and have no trouble putting myself in the place of a middle  aged man if that is the character available . but the picture did not take me to a different mental plain of existence . i didn  t find myself saying  ack  i would have done the same thing   . it did not open the doors to my imagination . even without comparing it to high  budget films or other tv movies  standing alone  certain aspects of the feature i found to be cliche the character development in the children occurred too rapidly for my liking  seeing too much of the stereotypical selfish  teenager  bitter  after  divorce image changing into the we  re  a  big  happy  family  let  s  never  separate  again feel that can ultimately make or break a picture in the long run . even the characters themselves could have undergone improvement a typical set of one or the other stereotypes . there was the ever  present selfish beauty looking to be rebellious  accompanied by mr . perfect image of combining athletics  good looks and intelligence yet a brooding attitude  and lastly the smart  aleck little brother we find to be so common these days . while i know the personalities pushed the story along  i think that adding more individuality as far as nuances and more unique differences would have made it a more enjoyable   and believable  as far as character    movie .  br    br   i do have to raise my glass to the costume and set design   that made it worth finishing to the end for me . don  t get me wrong all movies are worth seeing for yourself  and the opinion of one could never account for the opinion of many  but i think that with a little more depth to the script  and a little more  i cannot believe i am saying this  realness i dare say escape from atlantis could have been magical .  
i watched this movie when i was almost quite a kid  and  naturally  was moved to tears by this story of a fox family . the fantastic scenery at hokkaid  the excellent storytelling and last not least the wonderful soundtrack provide a rare intimacy with the protagonists . i am still searching for some copy of the gorgeous soundtrack . to german viewers it might be useful to know that the defa  dubbing is the only one worth listening to . i taped both  defa and br  but i keep viewing the first one only .  
i know it  s a power  rangers gimmick and catered to  year olds but really why were they taking themselves seriously with this movie  if they are going to write a plot with crayons  at least have the decency to make it silly . it  s kind of hilarious if you watch this . we have a typical family filled with cliched characters  father a war veteran who lost his wife and blames himself lolol   air  head children trying to hard to fill the stereotype but fails with horrendous acting  and a laughably horrid sidekick who serves no purpose to the movie but to fill camera space . funny stuff   br    br   however  the real great moment comes near the end when war  dad and bad  acting  villain try to work a sword fight  but then they realize none of them know how to  probably because no room in budget for choreographers   so they come up with this american gladiator type setting to run around in . lol .  br    br       rating because they try to treat this seriously .  
glacier fox is one of the most heartrending and wonderfully photographed wildlife films ever made .  br    br   the film makes you care about each member of this fox family  from the blind cub to the strongest  their adventures are at times hilarious and also tragic . set against an inhospitable countryside  the audience  s hearts warm to the family members .  br    br   the music score and lyrics tell the story intercut with narration about what is happening in general terms .  br    br   man remains one of the biggest predators  but we are left in no doubt that the foxes are capable of living  not just surviving beyond human endeavours .  
this film was on late at night when i saw it . it was interesting at start but it didn  t convince me as a whole . i am no tyson fan . in fact i don  t like boxing at all . it  s barbaric  obscene and double faced  by society  that some get money for beating each other up .  br    br   nevertheless  i felt the start of the film was ok . actors alright  especially george c . scott  as cus d  amato  . i don  t know how reliable the flick is . i haven  t read books and books about boxing or tyson . i don  t know anything about the man  but it was quite entertaining .  br    br   as the movie went on i felt it lost a little of it  s charm and i also lost interest . i managed to stay awake though but the last hour was just not good enough .  
  br    br   i saw the glacier fox in the theatre when i was nine years old  i bugged my parents to take me back three times . i began looking for it on video about five years ago  finally uncovering a copy on an online auction site  but i would love to see it either picked up by a new distributor and rereleased  i understand the original video run was small   or have the rights purchased by the family channel  disney  etc . and shown regularly . it is a fascinating film that draws you into the story of the life struggle of a family of foxes in northern japan  narrated by a wise old tree . the excellent soundtrack compliments the film well . it would be a good seller today  better than many of the weak offerings to children  s movies today .  
a very ordinary made  for  tv product   tyson  attempts to be a serious biopic while stretching the moments of angst for effect  fast forwarding through the esoterics of the corrupt sport of boxing  and muddling the sensationalistic stuff which is the only thing which makes tyson even remotely interesting . a lukewarm watch at best which more likely to appeal to the general public than to boxing fans .  
i have been looking for this movie for so many years . i saw this move when i was nine and loved this movie . i called disney all the movie stores and the net . no luck . what a waste it was a very good movie . it will be missed   
tyson  br    br   aspect ratio  .      br    br   sound format stereo  br    br   reverent  though scrupulously fair  account of the life and times of champion boxer mike tyson . given his conviction on a rape charge  the film is careful not to portray him as hero or villain  but paints a warts  and  all portrait of his rise to fame  the pressures of success  and the people who shaped his destiny for good or bad . constrained by time limits  the script gallops through a succession of relevant details  alighting briefly on significant events  culminating with tyson  s  temporary  downfall in     . novices will be enlightened by the chronology  while boxing fans will be entertained by director uli edel  s straight  arrow approach to the material . he portrays tyson  s life as a circus in which he was ultimately led astray by the circumstances of his own success . in fact  the script reserves most of its venom for tyson  s ex  wife robin givens  characterising her as an ungrateful gold  digger who took advantage of his naivety . production values are uniformly solid and the cast is superb michael jai white does a fair imitation of the title character george c . scott plays tyson  s mentor cus d  amato through acres of gritted teeth and paul winfield was surely born to play don king   
i saw this movie when i was little  it was called  glacier fox  . i was totally traumatized by it  it follows a cute little fox family around . the beginning was great and i remember becoming very attached to the little foxes . i also remember my mother carrying me out of the theater while i was in hysterics . i won  t tell you what happened  but let  s just say it doesn  t end well for all of the foxes . i was used to disney type nature films where the animals don  t really die . oh man . this movie made me cry for hours . it was a good movie . . . i think  i was really little and truth be told  all i remember is being happy for the foxes and then seeing one of them die . rent it if you can  but don  t show your kids   
as far as spaghetti westerns go  i  d put this man can  t die on the dull side of the genre . it  s not that the movie is particularly bad  but it lacks the brilliance and flash of some of the other sws i  ve seen . guy madison does his best in the lead role  but lacks the on  screen charisma necessary to pull it off . with one notable exception  the rest of the cast isn  t particularly good . the direction is uninspired and offers very few moments that i haven  t seen before . there  s just not much to get very excited about .  br    br   the cast exception i mentioned is rosalba neri . she  s the one bright spot in this otherwise mediocre film . unfortunately  her screen time is limited to less than   minutes .  note the imdb page for this man can  t die is wrong . rosalba neri does not play jenny benson . instead  she is the character melin . i  m not sure how anyone could mistake rosalba neri for some guy named john bartha as listed in imdb  s credits for the movie .   
i recommend families if possible  to show this to older children only . some of the stuff in this film maybe too disturbing for little ones to handle . now that thats out of the way  let me explain about this movie . this is in reality a documentary of a male fox  who in the beginning is protecting his territory and seeking a mate . the beginning with the gorgeous sunrise and music score  is breath taking . you had better soak in as much of the scenery as possible  it  ll get ugly later . they gave both the fox and the vixen names  but i can  t remember what they are for the likes of me . he fights off this invading male  to win her love . they later on create a den  and the vixen gives birth to four adorable cubsone of which is blind . there are many happy and playful moments featuring the fox family  but tragedy and bad luck strike all too soon . the first victim is the blind pup  who gets too close to a high tide and is washed away . the second victim is the mother  who while stealing chickens is deceived by a dead chicken hanging on a pole . she unknowingly walks into a foot trap . while trying to escape she rips off part of her foot  causing her to bleed to death . the rest of the fox family is forced to watch her die under a tree . the male is now a single dad  forced to take on the roll of mom and dad . he alone has to teach them the skills they need for life . it later proves not to be enough  when two of the now grown pups meet an ugly fate of their own thanks to the carelessness and cruelity of man . i won  t spoil the surprising ending for you  but it does show the farmer and his dogs close on his tail . and it is a well deserved ending after what the audience and the fox family was put through . i wanted to say that i saw this when it first came out in early     s  when we had a thing called showbiz cable . i was only  when i saw it  but i could never understand why they wouldn  t let me see all of it . now i know why  after i secretly watched it when it came on disney  when i was  . i felt emotionally gutted after seeing all this evil going on . i was moved to tears . but as dark and ugly as it was  it serves a purpose . to let people what is going to these and other kinds of animals  and why they are endangered . this documentary wanted to get the message across about this endangered species  and i hoped it worked . its not fake like the true life nature films by disney  they don  t teach about why animals are going extinct . the encroachment of land  the killing off of the foxes main prey  and senseless killing of these beautiful animalshas resulted in them becoming endangered . i wish they would make sequel to this movie   glacier fox      to see if they  re being treated better . maybe have it be about a vixen pup named teresa and her siblings growing up . this movie also kind of reflects what happens to human families sometimes  especially when one of the parents suddenly dies . the surviving parent takes on the roll of both  and tries to teach the important lessons of life . it isn  t always enough to protect them when they  re adults  especially when some of their lives becomes ruined . or they fall victims to tragedy themselves . best all around soundtrack and musical score i  ve ever heard .  
second  tier american leading man guy madison plays a character whose notoriety precedes him in this spaghetti western  which  having very modest credentials emerges as essentially routine  though featuring a nice enough score  . the plot offers some mild interest the title  incidentally  refers to a wounded man involved in the murderous assault by gun  runners on a ranch  the property of the family of their pursuer  cavalry agent madison . the latter  s younger siblings are determined that the injured party  now in their charge  lead them to the gang boss responsible ultimately  the identity of either mystery man proves a surprise  and both  ironically  become involved with one of madison  s sisters  another is raped during the raid  . euro  cult starlet rosalba neri appears unremarkably as a saloon hostess  and madison  s ex  flame .  
the villian in this movie is one mean sob and he seems to enjoy what he is doing  that is what i guess makes him so mean . i don  t think most men will like this movie  especially if they ever cheated on their wife . this is one of those movies that pretty much stays pretty mean to the very end . but then  there you have it  a candy  bar ending that makes me look back and say   hokie as hell .  a pretty good movie until the end . ending is the ending we would like to see but not the ending to such a mean beginning . and then there is the aftermath of what happened . guess you can make up your own mind about the true ending . i  m left feeling that only one character should have survived at the end .  
this is an ok film but lacks any real depth either emotionally or in terms of story telling .  br    br   the story is based on real events and this limits the amount of action to virtually none  also no real suspense .  br    br   washington is believable in the lead but he is sleep walking through it  there is no scope to flex any acting muscles for him or the supporting cast .  br    br   the story simply falls a little flat  even having never heard of the title character the ending was obvious but unlike other films about such injustices this one has no emotional impact  you don  t really care about him and the motivations of those on the outside helping seem more academic than concerned for his welfare .  br    br   there is an attempt to inject some emotion using the boy outside who hero worships carter but this seems forced .  br    br   it  s an ok film but instantly forgettable .  
this film made john glover a star . alan raimy is one of the most compelling character that i have ever seen on film . and i mean that sport .  
fairly good movie  but not a true story .  br    br   rubin  hurricane  carter was a notorius liar  a murder and was never found not guilty . new jersey state just didn  t go for it a third time as   years had gone . carter got an offer in       pass a lie test and go free  . he didn  t take it . this film should never have been made  but money talks . a lot of people have unjustly spend their lives in prison and undoubtedly more blacks than white . why choose a fake story   br    br   jens  
some of the acknowledged altman  masterpieces  seem sadder to me now . maybe it  s me . like the last reviewer  i even like this  lesser  altman  shown recently on fmc   although i don  t think he was aiming at a wide audience . organization politics as a  microcosm  for public campaigns . some of this satirical  docudrama  is now dated  like dick cavett watching the tonight show  but i found much of the dialog funny and insightful  e . g .  you are for real . that means you  re no threat to anyone   . the story isn  t  profound   but i liked it . and the performances are funny  especially cavett  as  himself    lauren bacall as an aging conservative figurehead  glenda jackson  who actually became a member of parliament  as a left wing ideologue  in the opening scene lecturing someone dressed as a carrot on the sanctity of politics   and carol burnett as a basket case . all in the inimitable altman style  although maybe not quite as inimitable as usual . but pretty inimitable .  
a dreary and pointless bit of fluff  bloody fluff  but fluff  . badly scripted  with inane and wooden dialogue . you do not care if the characters  indeed  even if the actors themselves  live or die . little grace or charm  little action  little point to the whole thing . perhaps some of the set and setting will interest   those gaps between the boards of all the buildings may be true to the way life was lived . the framework encounter is unnecessary and distracting  and the hoppalong cassidy character himself is both boring and inept .  
successful self  made married businessman harry mitchell  a superbly steely performance by roy scheider  has an adulteress fling with sweet  n  sexy young stripper cini  the gorgeous kelly preston  . harry  s blackmailed by a trio of scummy low  life hoods   sleazy porno theater manager raimy  a splendidly slimy john glover   antsy strip joint owner leo  well played by robert trebor  and crazed pimp bobby shy  a frightfully intense clarence williams iii    who have videotaped his affair with cini . when harry refuses to pay up  the hoods kill cini and make it look like harry did it . this in turn ignites a dangerous battle of wit and wills between harry and the hoods . director john frankenheimer  adopting a tough script based on elmore leonard  s gritty crime thriller novel  expertly maintains a steady snappy pace  delivers plenty of gripping tension  and effectively creates a compellingly seedy  n  sordid atmosphere . the leads are all uniformly excellent  with stand  out supporting turns by ann  margret as harry  s bitter neglected wife barbara  vanity as brash jaded prostitute doreen  and lonny chapman as harry  s loyal business partner jim o  boyle . the tight  n  twisty plot keeps viewers on their toes throughout . the wickedly profane dialogue  jost vacano  s glossy cinematography  gary chang  s stirring score  the harshly amoral tone and the rousing conclusion are all likewise on the money as well . as an added bonus  both vanity and preston take their clothes off . a very strong and satisfying little number that  s well worth checking out .  
this movie looks like it was made for tv . for years i waited for some movie to be made about rubin carter  because i loved to see him box at the old msg  and to see this movie was very disappointing . i have alot of respect for mr washington  but he was awful and boring . there is really nothing good to say about this movie except i did like the song .  
life  s going not to badly for harry mitchell  he  s an ex  air force major  plus nifty little pension i imagine   who  s raking in the cash for a patent he  s developed  fusing titanium and steel via explosive process  creating super metal fit for nasa   and his wife of twenty  odd years has kept herself in pretty good nick . he  s got a nice little pad in la . i like to see visions of the   s consumer dream  and you get a good slice here  what with the restored silver jag  a series  e  type roadster  for him  and the gorgeous antique dolls house for her  as well as i  m sure other trinkets and boys toys  . there  s always got to be more though hasn  t there  so harry let  s himself get caught up in some romantic shenanigans  you  re only as old as the woman you  re feeling  . as in many films noir  one mistake  in an otherwise blotch  less life  leads to a downwards arc for harry .  br    br   three blackmailers leech onto him . these are where the value are for me  great character actors playing very believable roles . bobby shy  played by clarence williams iii  is a black ex  con who is capable of performing incredible psychopathic acts in order to avoid jail and punish double  crossers . he  s reminiscent of pluto  the vicious black ex  con psychopath from carl franklin  s well  regarded neo  noir  one false move        . there  s a similar character motivation i believe . both men have had enough of the man  and well pretty much everyone  in extremis . robert trebor plays leo franks  a fat lily  livered pansy who runs a nudie parlour where gents can photograph nude models at    for half an hour  and    for a whole hour  did anyone else guffaw at the lack of discount   . he  s in over his head  and it  s great to watch trebor acting when leo starts to feel the heat  believable breakdown . john glover wins as alan raimy  who is the brains of the plot  an actually brilliant man who becomes a pornographer and turns to a life of crime out of sheer sociopathic ennui . he  s a sexual sadist and does a few particularly unpleasant things during the movie  including what i believe is a pretty well  implied rape  pay attention to his rap sheet readout  it  s easily missed  and read between the lines for the motel scene with  slim   .  br    br   in common with one false move  though not exclusively  i think the real impact of the movie is in the unusually communicative scenes of violence .  br    br   so far so good but i think there  s a real problem with the film . harry mitchell is told at one point that he has his  tit in the wringer  . my problem is that harry mitchell is played by roy scheider . roy scheider protagonists never lose  they  re self  sure and smooth  but not in an annoying way . i feel i  m being asked to believe that his character is in peril  the movie relies on this for dramatic tension however i didn  t believe it . for me it  s like being asked to believe that sandra bullock  s character is going to end up sleeping alone by the end of a romantic drama  or stephen seagal  s character is going to get taken down by the baddies  did actually happen in one movie but was done deliberately for shock value  . roy scheider doesn  t convince as an adulterer either  you don  t feel any annoyance with him at all  his character is teflon  coated .  br    br   it also felt like a movie that took some cuts . at    minutes it still feels underdeveloped harry  s wife  ann margaret  is pretty much a cardboard cutout  an extension of harry  her back story as a politician running for office receives scant attention . the effect that the affair has on harry  s marriage isn  t properly communicated . this could be a frankenheimer problem  he  s not known for character development . i never felt that harry was dealing with little more than an overtly annoying and erroneous tax claim from the irs .  br    br   there is good sleazy violent noir content in this film  but i feel that to be in the excellent bracket that the casting of harry could have been done better  no disrespect to the great roy scheider  . the film felt short  even with the long running time  and i think could have taken some more fleshing out .  br    br   but you really can  t forget the sleaze  like the deliciously pervy scene of harry taking photos of doreen in the nudie parlour .  
denzel is about the only thing that is right in this movie .  br    br   maybe once in an early stage this was a better movie . someone decided to cut some action and plot points into the beginning of the movie  giving away most of the story line in about the first  minutes . that and ruining whatever build up in pace and rhythm the movie might have had before .  br    br   so first it confuses you and then it puts you off . the dramatization pushes beyond suspension of disbelieve .  br    br   of course there is that feeling of great injustice and anger that movies like this potentially manage to instill in viewers . granted  it does that so if you are looking for that . . . knock yourself out .  
    pick up never got the respect it should have . it works on many levels  and has a complicated but followable plot . the actors involved give some of their finest performances . ann  margret  roy scheider  and john glover are perfectly cast and provide deep character portrayals . notable too are vanity  who should have parlayed this into a serious acting career given the unexpected ability she shows  and kelly preston  who  s character will haunt you for a few days . anyone who likes action combined with a gritty complicated story will enjoy this .  
when i saw this movie i heard all the hype  and i heard how people said that denzel deserved the oscar alongside his golden globe and i believed he must have done an outstanding job considering kevin spacey was excellent . i was wrong . i realize that people say this not to anger the african american community  if they are not african americans themselves  . i always hear complaints on how african americans are never nominated and how they should have won . sometimes this is true  not as much nowadays  because whoppi goldberg should have won best actress for the color purple and the movie should have won best picture . the only reason this movie was so blown up the way it was  is because people see a movie about the  semi  spoiler  hardships of an african american during a very racist time period and they automatically label it as a masterpiece .  br    br   denzel washington is an outstanding actor  but his role in this movie did not affect me whatsoever . i was bored with him in the movie  and his acting here was quite similar to his role in malcolm x but not as good . the audience is supposed to leave believing this man  rubin carter  is a saint . people left the movies worshipping this man  this hero  and they went out and bought his book  making this hero of a man rich .  br    br   spoilers this movie tells the tale of a man who spent the majority of his life in prison mainly for crimes he did not commit . of course the crimes he did commit  stealing mostly  was only to survive  nothing more . people felt sorry for him  even though the drug dealers and thieves probably amounted to as much for the same reasons but are looked down upon in society . everything in this movie tries to portray this man as a saint  except for the obvious infidelity he had towards his wife and the aggression he showed the other man when he met his wife  but why wouldn  t it  after all  it is his point of view . i do not like movies  especially hollywood interpretations  that are based on  true  stories because they usually distort the  true  parts into something else  something not so true . this was his point of view and a hollywood construction  yet everyone believed it was the truth unquestionably . well i researched his past a bit before making any assumptions  and he was a very violent man . not only that  there is still a possibility that he did murder those people . if you do not believe me  search for him on the internet  and read the articles some people have of him . the boxing match he claimed to have won so easily  was actually won by his opponent joey giardello and there are tapes to prove it . besides that  there are many twisted and purposely left out facts in this movie . the supporting cast were the nicest people i have ever seen on the face of the earth and their  nice and perfect  persona looked difficult to keep up .  br    br   this movie was a hollywood version of yet another unfortunate true story that is still left to be told truthfully . denzel  s acting is stale  and the supporting cast  s mickey mouse attitudes are annoying . the movie also begins very slow paced and is boring .  
this is a great  small  film . i say  small  because it doesn  t have a hundred guns firing or a dozen explosions  as in a john woo film . great performances by roy scheider and the three  bad guys  . john frankenheimer seems to have more luck with small productions these days . the film is very easy to watch  the story is more of a yarn than a washing machine   instead of everything going around and around  it seems as though things just get worse as the plot thickens . wonderful ending  very positive . i never read the elmore leonard book  but it can  t be much different from the film because it feels like i  m watching an elmore leonard movie .  
if this movie was about a fictional character  the movie could stand on its own and be judged objectively . unfortunately for the viewer  the movie is based on  facts  that are shaded very unfairly toward ruben carter . many of the smaller facts were disregarded  carter was not number one contender at the time of the murders  there is no proof at all that he saved a friend from a child molester in his youth   but some of the larger facts  like apparently being robbed of a decision to joey giardello because of  racist  judges  is inexcusable to those of us who have seen the fight on tape  and completely disrespectful to giardello . why hollywood feels the need to make a hero out of someone who  at best  was in trouble and around trouble much more than any normal person should be  was arrested multiple times for beating women  is strange to me . ruben carter was never  by viewing his actions in the    s and even now  when he refuses to speak to his son  a person that people can look up to . everyone knows that jewison can direct  and washington can act  but why they chose this story as their vehicle is beyond me . is hollywood so much in need of a black hero that they need to bend the truth in all of their bio pics to make them believable   heres a suggestion how about denzel playing a movie about himself  now thats inspirational  based on all of the inaccuracies in the movie  i would suggest passing on this one .  
this slick and gritty film consistently delivers . it  s one of frankenheimer  s best and most underrated films and it  s easily the best elmore leonard adaptation to date  and if you are scratching your head thinking  but i loved get shorty  you need to be punched in the face  . in my opinion  no one captures the  feel  for leonard  s characters better then john glover in   pick  up . the relocation of the story from detroit  novel  to hollywood  film  elevates the story  s sleaze factor to amazing heights . be a man  have a few beers and watch this movie . for reference purposes my favorite leonard books are swag  rum punch  cat chaser  city primeval  and   pick  up . my favorite frankenheimer films include seconds and the manchurian candidate . i also have a real special place in my cold  movie heart for dead bang and black sunday .  
this movie is another one on my list of movies not to bother with . saw it   years ago as an adolescent  stayed up late to do so  was very annoyed to find that it was about    romance    everything else    history if that . it  s what i call a bait and switch movie  one with an interesting title  the actual movie is a scam . this is a subject which deserves a good cinematic treatment  this movie is almost an insult to those who served . the actual members of the lafayette escadrille were not on the run from the law nor were they the products of abusive homes  they were in reality idealists who wanted to do something to help france . and i suspect many of them came from a more upper class background than tab hunter  s character . flying school is not for the smart alecks and the know it alls  an individual such as the one portrayed here wouldn  t have lasted two days  it would have either been the stockade or the infantry . discipline in the french army was often rather fierce . in short  another hollywierd version of an historical episode that deserves proper treatment .  
i  ve always liked this john frankenheimer film . good script by elmore leonard and the main reason this wasn  t just another thriller is because of frankenheimer . his taut direction and attention to little details make all the difference  he even hired porn star ron jeremy as a consultant  you can make a case that its the last good film roy scheider made . i  ve always said that robert trebor gave just a terrific performance . clarence williams iii got all the publicity with his scary performance and he  s excellent also but i really thought trebor stood out . frankenheimer may not be as proud of this film as others but it is an effective thriller full of blackmail  murder  sex  drugs  and real porno actors appear in sleazy parts . what can you say about a film that has ann margaret being shot up with drugs and raped  a guilty pleasure to say the least . vanity has a real sleazy role and a very young kelly preston makes an early appearance . a classic exploitive thriller that shouldn  t be forgotten .  
probably the worst film i  ve ever seen  the acting and story were terrible and i almost fell asleep . the only good actor was colm meaney . i had the impression to see the same scenes again and again until the end  no emotion  no charisma . . . nothing   
based on elmore leonard  this is a violent and intelligent action film . the story a business man is blackmailed by some  criminals . roy schieder does great job as the leading character and special credit  s got to go to john glover who plays sort of a naughty psychopath . i must mention that the villains characters are very complex and interesting  something that is very rare for an action film . also features some beautiful and sexy women  most notable are kelly preston as the young bate for schieder  s character . vanity gives a very good performance and appearance as the hooker who is connected with the three blackmailers . i  m glad to say that ann  margaret still hasn  t lost it  this lady is a true babe . don  t look at the rate of this film . i really don  t know what the public and some critics have against this film but my suggestion is to ignore them and watch this truly gripping and under  rated film . you will enjoy it  that  s a promise . recommended a .  
i had high hopes for this film  because i thought clean  shaven  kerrigan  s first feature  was absolutely terrific  the most assuredly cinematic low budget film i  d ever seen .  br    br   but much of claire dolan is utterly pointless and flat . scene after scene seems randomly tossed into the mix  without much thought for narrative or character .  br    br   is claire trying to escape being a prostitute or not  hard to tell . why does she pick up the trick at the airport if she wants to escape that life  why does she then not pick up tricks when she needs money in seattle  why do we have to see her dye her hair to what is virtually the exact same color  why does claire accept some johns and not others  the filmmaker doesn  t seem to know .  br    br   it feels as if everything is improvised  though i understand this wasn  t the case  and the filmmakers just held a camera on it as if they were making a verite documentary .  br    br   after the screening i saw  kerrigan defended his lack of narrative choices by condemning film narrative as politically conservative . it sounded like learned rhetoric . i think it was a cop  out .  br    br   i am saddened that the maker of a film as exciting as clean  shaven would go on to make such a lame film as this one and then defend it with tired old  political  cliches .  
spoilers   br    br   from the very moment i saw a local film critic trash this movie in a review on the      news  i wanted to see it . i don  t remember who it was  or which local omaha newscast carried the review  but the critic was very insistent that this film was way too sleazy for the average church  going nebraskan . they showed a snippet from the scene where john glover is about to kidnap ann  margret when she  s swimming in the pool . glover  s character is commending her on how nice her body is and so forth  using many words that the local station felt necessary to edit out . i was hooked . there was one problem  though . i was only   years old at the time  and i had to wait a year until it came out on cable . let  s just say  it was worth the wait   br    br   if ever there was a guilty pleasure of mine  this movie is it . to call this film sleazy would be a huge understatement . the film centers around a successful businessman who is blackmailed by three small time scumbags after an affair with a young woman . roy scheider  who is as effective as ever  plays the poor guy who just wanted a little fling and now finds himself at the mercy of three terrific villains . john glover  s character is one of the most memorable scumbags of all time . he  s sleazy  funny at times  and always on the brink of doing something crazy . then there  s robert trebor  s  nice name  by the way   character leo who is clearly in over his head with this blackmail scheme . he is a whimpering  sweating  coward who runs a peep show place with live nude models . then  you have clarence williams iii as bobby shy  a brooding sociopath who everyone is afraid of with good reason . who could forget the wake  up call he gives vanity with the giant teddy bear   br    br   after dealing with the initial shock of realizing what he  s up against  scheider turns the tables on these creeps and takes control of the situation  that is until glover goes after his wife  the conflict is played out brutally  with virtually the entire cast getting shot  raped  or blown up .  br    br   i don  t know why i love this movie so much . it really should creep me out  but it doesn  t . maybe it  s because these characters are all interesting  and the story takes plenty of chances that most films today would never try . it  s scary to think that the adult film industry probably has more than a few characters like glover  s running around out in l . a . looking for trouble . just thinking about his voice is enough to make me chuckle .  hey sport  have a nice day    br    br   this film has plenty of shootouts  cool cars  great dialog  like the line in my opening statement   and decent acting . plenty of cameos by real life porno stars . look for ron jeremy frolicking around in a hot tub with two chicks in a party scene at glover  s place .  br    br   another thing i must add how hot are the women in this film    wow  travolta did right by marrying kelly preston . yum  we also see vanity get nude in a time before she became a born again christian . and ann  margret . what else could you say about her except that she is the quintessential american beauty .  br    br    of   stars .  br    br   so sayeth the hound .  br    br   added feb         rip roy scheider   
this is exactly the sort of saturday matinee serial i loved during world war ii . i was under ten years of age . and that  s the audience this serial is designed for . looking at it now  one must roar at its ineptitude and stupidity . the budget must have been next to nothing  given the shortcuts and repeats . the acting  well  this is republic pictures      . they read the lines . . . . and no doubt had one take to make them convincing .  br    br   one and half stars .  
brendan filone is the absolute best character in the sopranos . he died by getting shot in the eye . this was the best and well orchestrated scene ever in the sopranos . brendan filone is too good . brendan filone shall haunt uncle junior in his dreams until uncle junior can  t take it anymore . brendan filone is the best character . brendan filone was killed in episode    denial  anger  acceptance . but his legacy will live on forever . brendan filone is the best character on sopranos  brendan filone is the best character ever . i recommend this show to anyone who likes drama and wants to see good death scenes and great directing and producing  because it doesn  t get any better than this series . brendan filone is the best .  
like most people i was intrigued when i heard the concept of this film  especially the  film makers were then attacked  aspect that the case seems to emphasize  what with the picture on the cover of the film makers being chased by an angry mob .  br    br   then  to watch the film and discover  oh  what they mean by  the film makers were attacked  was some kids threw rocks at a sign and a number of people complained loudly and said  someone should beat those two kids up .  the picture on the cover   the chase  as it were  total fabrication . which i guess ties in with the theme of the film  lying and manipulation to satisfy vain  stupid children with more money and time then sense .  br    br   i have no idea what great truth the viewer is supposed to take away from this film . it  s like michael moore  s  roger  me   but if  roger  me  was moore mocking the people of flint . it  s completely misdirected and totally inane . wow  can you believe that people who suffered under the yoke of communism would be really excited to have markets full of food  what jerks  and it  s not so much   look at the effects of capitalism and western media blah blah blah   since it wasn  t just that their fake market had comparable prices to the competitors  it was that  as many people in the film say  the prices were absurdly low  someone mentions that they should  ve known it was fake by how much they were charging for duck . that  s not proving anything except that people who are poor  will go to a store that has low prices  bravo fellas  way to stick it to the people on the bottom .  br    br   way to play a stupid practical joke on elderly people . you should be very proud . how about for your next movie you make a documentary about iraq and show how people there will get really excited for a house without bullet holes in the walls and then  say   haha  no such house exists  your so stupid and loved to be lied to by the media   .  br    br   morgan  please like me  spurlock unleashed this wet fart of a film and it  s no surprise since spurlock as one hit wonder prince of the documentary world seems to throw his weight behind any silly sounding concept to stay relevant in a world that really has no need of him .  br    br   avoid like the plague .  
chase has created a true phenomenon with the sopranos . unfaltering performances  rock  solid writing  and some great music make up what has become quite possibly the best show ever .  br    br   all of the cast are strong  but falco and gandolfini earned every inch of those emmy  s . anyone who doubts this need only sample a few episodes particularly from the first few seasons . james gandolfini is absolutely fierce  absolutely terrifying  and you still find yourself loving him  mesmerized by him .  br    br   many people that i  ve spoken to about the sopranos  who haven  t seen it yet  will say  i  m just not a fan of mafia movies  shows  . whatever . run  don  t walk  and get it . those same people usually love  e . r .   but i bet they don  t much care for hospitals . . . it  s not about the context .  
the main problem with the documentary  czech dream  is that isn  t really saying what it thinks it  s saying .  br    br   in an audacious  i hesitate to use the word  inspired   act of street theater  vit klusak and filip remunda  two student filmmakers from the czech republic  pulled off a major corporate hoax to serve as the basis for their movie they deliberately fabricated a phony  hypermarket   the eastern european equivalent of costco or wal mart super store   built an entire ad campaign around it  replete with billboards  radio and tv spots  an official logo  a catchy theme song and photos of fake merchandise  and then waited around to see just how many  dopes  would show up to their creation on opening day . they even built a makeshift faade to convince people that the store itself actually existed .  br    br   one might well ask   why do such a thing   well  that  s a very good question  but the answer the filmmakers provide isn  t all that satisfying a one . essentially  we  re told that the purpose of the stunt was to show how easily people can be manipulated into believing something  even something that  s not true  simply through the power of advertising . and the movie makers run for moral cover by claiming that the  real   i . e . higher  purpose for the charade is to convince the czech people not to fall for all the advertisements encouraging them to join the european union . fair enough  especially when one considers that the actual advertisers who agree to go along with the stunt declaim against the unethical nature of lying to customers  all the while justifying their collaboration in the deception by claiming it to be a form of  research  into what does and does not work in advertising . in a way  by allowing themselves to be caught on camera making these comments  these ad men and women are as much dupes of the filmmakers as the poor unsuspecting people who are the primary target of the ruse .  br    br   but  in many ways  the satirical arrow not only does not hit its intended target  it ironically zeroes right back around on the very filmmakers who launched it . for it is they themselves and not the good  hearted and naturally trusting people who ultimately come off as the unethical and classless ones here  as they proceed to make fools out of perfectly decent people  some of them old and handicapped and forced to travel long distances on foot to get to the spot . and what is all this supposed to prove anyway  that people are  greedy  because they go to the opening of a new supermarket looking for bargains  or that they  re stupid and gullible because they don  t suspect that there might not be an actual market even though one has been advertised  such vigilance would require a level of cynicism that would make it virtually impossible to function in the real world .  br    br   no  i  m afraid this smart  alecky  nasty little  stunt  only proves what complete and utter jerks the filmmakers are for making some really nice people feel like idiots . and  indeed many of them  when they finally discover the trick that  s been played on them  react with a graciousness and good humor i  m not sure i would be able to muster were i to find myself in their position .  br    br   i  m not saying that the movie isn  t gripping  something akin to witnessing a massive traffic accident in action  but  when the dust has finally settled and all the disappointed customers return red  faced and empty  handed to their homes  we can safely declare that they are not the ones who should be feeling ashamed .  
having only seen two of his pictures previously  i  ve come to terms with altman . before  though  i always labeled his style of film  making  boring .  you just have to be in the right mind to appreciate his crazy genius .  br    br    health  is fairly underrated  and very questionably out of print . in fact  i don  t think it  s ever even been issued to vhs . why is that  when all of these crappy films get dvd releases daily  this one is left behind for no good reason  honestly  i had no real problems with this film . it was  for the most part  consistently amusing and funny . almost all of the scenes are mysteriously interesting for some reason  be it the wonderful dialogue or the subtle performances . there is real skill here .  br    br   and paul dooley  s stint on the bottom of the pool halfway through is fascinating .  br    br   if you can  try to find a copy of this forgotten little gem . it  s not perfect  but it  s much better than most of the sludge out there getting dvd releases . hell  i  d be happy with a nice vhs copy of this thing .  br    br   it  s often on the fox movie channel  though  so look out for it .  
this is almost certainly the worst western i  ve ever seen . the story follows a formula that is especially common to westerns and martial arts films   hero learns that family  friends have been murdered  so hero sets out to exact revenge  foils the ineffective lawman  rescues the kidnapped loving damsel  and murders the expert arch  nemesis in a brutal duel . this formula has often been successful   otherwise it wouldn  t be a formula   but gunfighter is the most sophomoric execution of it you  ll ever see . the scripting is atrociously simple  minded and insulting it sounds like a high schooler wrote the dialogue because it lacks depth  maturity  and realism . the sound is bad it sometimes looks dubbed . the cinematography is lame  and the sets are sometimes just facades . the acting is pitiful sure  some of the performers could blame the script  but others cannot use that excuse . i hope i never see chris lybbert in a speaking role ever again every time he says a line that should be angry or mean  he does nothing more than lower the timbre of his voice and he just sounds like a kid trying to act macho . and speaking of chris lybbert  who plays hopalong  check out his duds  if you dare to watch this film   he wears these brand new clothes that make him look more like roy rogers than a hard  working  down  and  dirty cowboy . if you enjoy inane cinematic fare that serves merely to worship the imagined grandeur of hopalong cassidy  then get this  but if you have more than two neurons  watch something else .  
this is the definite lars von trier movie  my favorite  i rank it higher than  breaking the waves  or the latest  dancer in the dark  . . . i simply love the beauty of the picture . . . the framing is so original acting is wonderful  a must see .  
i have this film out of the library right now and i haven  t finished watching it . it is so bad i am in disbelief . audrey hepburn had totally lost her talent by then  although she  d pretty much finished with it in  robin and marian .  this is the worst thing about this appallingly stupid film . it  s really only of interest because it was her last feature film and because of the dorothy stratten appearance just prior to her homicide .  br    br   there is nothing but idiocy between gazzara and his cronies . little signals and little bows and nods to real screwball comedy of which this is the faintest  palest shadow .  br    br   who could believe that there are even some of the same manhattan environs that hepburn inhabited so magically and even mythically in  breakfast at tiffany  s  twenty years earlier  the soundtrack of old sinatra songs and the gershwin song from which the title is taken is too loud and obvious   you sure don  t have to wait for the credits to find out that something was subtly woven into the cine  musique of the picture to know when the songs blasted out at you .  br    br    reverting to type  means going back up as well as going back down  i guess . in this case  audrey hepburn  s chic european lady is all you see of someone who was formerly occasionally an actress and always a star . here she has even lost her talent as a star . if someone whose talent was continuing to grow in the period  like ann  margret  had played the role  there would have been some life in it  even given the unbelievably bad material and mongoloid  level situations .  br    br   hepburn was a great person  of course  greater than most movie stars ever dreamed of being  and she was once one of the most charming and beautiful of film actors . after this dreadful performance  she went on to make an atrocious tv movie with robert wagner called  love among thieves .  in  they all laughed  it is as though she were still playing an ingenue in her    s . even much vainer and obviously less intelligent actresses who insisted upon doing this like lana turner were infinitely more effective than is hepburn . turner took acting seriously even when she was bad . hepburn doesn  t take it seriously at all  couldn  t be bothered with it even her hair and clothes look tacky . her last really good work was in  two for the road   perhaps her most perfect  if possibly not her best in many ways .  br    br   and that girl who plays the country singer is just sickening . john ritter is horrible  there is simply nothing to recommend this film except to see dorothy stratten  who was truly pretty . otherwise  critic david thomson  s oft  used phrase  losing his  her talent  never has made more sense .  br    br   ben gazarra had lost all sex appeal by then  and so we have  films with gazarra and hepburn   who could ask for anything less  sandra dee  s last  pitiful film  lost   from  years later  a low  budget nothing  had more to it than this . at least ms . dee spoke in her own voice by      audrey hepburn  s accent just sounded silly she  d go on to do the pbs  gardens of the world with audrey hepburn  and there her somewhat irritating accent works as she walks through english gardens with aristocrats or waxes effusively about  what i like most is when flowers go back to nature   as in naturalized daffodils  but in an actual fictional movie  she just sounds ridiculous .  br    br   to think that  breakfast at tiffany  s  was such a profound sort of light poetic thing with audrey hepburn one of the most beautiful women in the world   she was surely one of the most beautiful screen presences in  my fair lady   matching garbo in several things and delphine seyrig in  last year at marienbad .  and then this  and her final brief role as the angel  hap  in the spielberg film  always  was just more of the lady stuff   corny  witless and stifling .  br    br   i went to her memorial service at the fifth avenue presbyterian church  a beautiful service which included a boys  choir singing the shaker hymn  simple gifts .  the only thing not listed in the program was the sudden playing of hepburn  s singing  moon river  on the fire escape in  breakfast at tiffany  s   and this brought much emotion and some real tears out in the congregation .  br    br   a great lady who was once a fine actress  as in  the nun  s story   and one of the greatest and most beautiful of film stars in many movies of the    s and    s who became a truly bad one   that  s not all that common . and perhaps it is only a great human being who  in making such things as film performances trivial  nevertheless has the largeness of mind to want to have the flaws pointed out mercilessly   which all of her late film work contained in abundance . most of the talk about hepburn  s miscasting is about  my fair lady .  but the one that should have had the original actress in it was  wait until dark   which had starred lee remick on broadway . never as celebrated as hepburn  she was a better actress in many ways  hepburn was completely incapable of playing anything really sordid   although hepburn was at least adequate enough in that part . after that  all of her acting went downhill .  
this is my favorite show . i think it is utterly brilliant . thanks to david chase for bringing this into my life .  br    br   season   br    br    . the sopranos     br    br    .   long  .     br    br    . denial  anger  acceptance     br    br    . meadowlands     br    br    . college  br    br    . pax soprana     br    br    . down neck  .     br    br    . the legend of tennessee moltisanti     br    br    . boca  .     br    br     . a hit is a hit  .     br    br     . nobody knows anything     br    br     . isabella     br    br     . i dream of jeannie cusamano     
loved the original story  had very high expectations for the film  especially since barker was raving about it in interviews   finally saw it and what can i say  it was a total mess  the directing is all over the place  the acting was atrocious  the flashy visuals and choreography were just flat  empty and completely unnecessary  whats up with the generic music video techniques like the fast  forward  slow mo nonsense  it was stylish yes but not needed in this film and cheapened the vibe into some dumb mtv marilyn manson  smashing pumpkins  placebo music video  . whilst some of the kills are pretty cool and brutal  some are just ridiculously laughable  the first kill on the japanese girl was hilarious and ted raimi  s death was just stupidly funny  . it just rushes all over the place with zero tension and suspense  totally moving away from the original story and then going back to it in the finale which by that point just feels tacked on to mess it up even more . no explanations were given whatsoever  i mean i knew what was happening only as i  d read the story but for people who hadn  t it  s even more confusing as at times even i didn  t know where it was going and what it was trying to do  it was going on an insane tangent the whole time .  br    br   god  i really wanted to like this film as i  m a huge fan of barker  s work and loved the story as it has immense potential for a cracking movie  hell i even enjoyed some of kitamura  s movies as fun romps but this film just reeked of amateurism and silliness from start to finish  i didn  t care about anyone or anything  the whole thing was rushed and severely cut down from the actual source  turning it into something else entirely . granted it was gory and vinnie jones played a superb badass  but everything else was all over the place  more than disappointing . gutted  
the sopranos was probably the last best show to air in the    s . its sad that its over  its was the best show on hbo if not on tv  not everything was spelled out for you throughout you had to think  it was brilliant . the cast was excellent . tony  james gandolphini  is a great actor and played his character excellent  as well as the others . each character had flaws thats what made them so real and allowed the viewers to connect with them and thats one reason it lasted so long . the last episode was good  i  m not sure how to take it many different things can be construed by the ending id like to think that tony didn  t die but meadow walked in and sat down with them and that the blackout was just for suspense . tony will have to go to trial and deal with that hopefully is not dead thats how i feel . . . long live the sopranos and tony soprano . . . . . . .  
i heard and read many praising things about  midnight meat train   which is based on a short story written by no less than clive barker and supposedly the best adaptation of his work since the original  hellraiser  that he directed himself  but so far i can only express very mixed sentiments about my viewing experience . the most appropriate term to summarize the whole film in just word is nauseating  the violence is sadistic and extreme  which undoubtedly attracts fanatic young horror enthusiasts  but it  s also indescribably gratuitous and exploitative . normally speaking  i  m very pro  violence but it has to at least serve some kind of purpose . the butchering  literally  depicted in  midnight meat train  is exclusively meant to shock and to repulse the viewers with weak nerve systems and easily upset stomachs  and even that isn  t fully effective due to the use of digital computer effects . there are more shortcomings  some even bigger than the pointless gore  but perhaps i should focus on the good elements first . the basic concept is definitely promising and multiple sequences  like the chase in the freezer room  for example  are literally oozing with nail  biting suspense and macabre atmosphere . unfortunately the pacing is very uneven and the elaboration of the potentially fantastic plot is made unnecessarily convoluted . presumably the processing of a short story into a long feature film scenario is responsible for the pacing irregularities  but i honestly feel they could have done more with the denouement as well as with the character played by vinnie jones . the plot introduces leon  an aspiring photographer in new york whose agent advises to search for the truly menacing face of the city through sinister pictures . leon then becomes obsessed with stalking an introvert and suspiciously behaving butcher who always awaits the midnight train . leon  s right  as the butcher turns out to be a relentless serial killer who literally crushes his victims with a big hammer  but the killer  s motivations and behavior suggest there  s something far more substantial going on the rails at night .  midnight meat train  takes place in naturally unsettling locations like subway stations at night and animal abattoirs  plus the film also benefices of good acting performances and a truckload of downright disturbing images  like cadavers on meat hooks and train carriages smeared in blood   but director ryhei kitamura   versus    godzilla final wars   doesn  t take full advantage of it all . the ending leaves a whole lot questions unanswered and  even if clive barker meant to have like this  i still think we deserved a slightly more clarifying finale .  midnight meat train  is a somewhat intriguing and definitely haunting film  but not without defaults . it  s not intended for easily offended viewers  but maybe people looking for plot coherence and clarity should leave it alone as well .  
now i have read some negative reviews for this show on this website and quite frankly i  m appalled . for anyone to even think that the sopranos is not television then i  m afraid i don  t know what the world has come to . let me tell u something . i started watching many t . v shows like lost  prison break  dexter  deadwood and even invasion . but all of those shows lost their touch after the first season  especially lost and prison break which i refuse to watch because the companies took  genius ideas and butchered them by making more than one season . then we have the sopranos . i can honestly say that this is the only television series that i have ever watched where i have been enthralled in all of its season  and more importantly all of its episodes . there is no department that this show doesn  t excel in . acting  nothing short of superb . james gandolfini is one of my favourite actors and i feel that his acting is absolutely stunning in every episode  after i heard that hbo wanted ray liotta to play tony i felt that it would  ve been the better choice  however after watching the first few episodes  i knew that hbo had done a great job in casting james as tony . the raw emotion he displays is superb . then we have everyone else  edie falco  michael imperioli  lorraine bracco  dominic chianese  whom i remembered as johnny ola in the godfather part   and my personal two favourite characters tony sirico and steve van zandt paulie  walnuts  gualtieri and silvio dante . all of these actors perform to the best quality  and all giving an excellent performance in each episode . then we have the story  never have i been so sucked into a t . v show before . the story is nothing short of excellent . each episode is directed superbly and the score of this show is just fantastic . i feel that the sopranos is one show that i can watch again and again and never get bored of . its got everything from hilarious humour to brutal violence  but nonetheless it is and will always be the best thing to ever grace the television  and i challenge anyone to find a real flaw in the show . not just say its too violent  or they feel that the character of tony is immoral  i mean it is a mafia show at the end of the day  i don  t think that the characters are going to be very honest or loyal to god . i implore everyone to watch this show because believe me  you  ll be hooked from the very first episode  i was and i have even gotten a few friends who had firstly refused to watch the show  hooked on it . trust me when i say that this show is a godsend compared to the crap that comes on t . v . after you  ve watched the first season  you  ll inevitably agree with me when i once again say that this show dominates television  and no t . v show current or future will ever upstage the marvel that is the sopranos .  
i don  t know why  but i thought i  ve seen this movie before . maybe it was the name  maybe it was the way poster looked  i don  t know . anyway  it was quite promising in the beginning . and even throughout the whole feature there were some bright moments . maybe its because i  m not a huge fan of the horrors  and i don  t watch them a lot  but this one actually looked fresh sometimes . but the rest of it is not so good . laughable at times . the movie is slow paced  sometimes you will get so bored you  d forget what was the story about . characters are not great either . all of them . the butcher is ok  seems creepy and crazy enough . although i didn  t get what were those weird looking things on his chest  that whole scene just looked fake and kind of out  of  the  blue   and why he was collecting those in jars at home  the main lead is plain . his character is really hard to believe in  and very undeveloped . but i guess thats scenarists fault . like why he cried when he was taking pictures of his girlfriend  side cast is bad too . but the main thing i hated in this movie was the girl . my god  when will women in horror movies have any brains  its ridiculous . the girl finds out that a maniac took her boyfriends camera  tries going to police  that fails  and then she thinks of the best idea ever . why don  t we just go and take it  i know where the maniac lives  yup  thats swell  and then look for the camera in the bathroom  why not  and then walk in the room  see a bag that was not there before  and just have a look inside . maybe camera is there  not there . but loads of interesting stuff . shiny . mmmm . to realize that bag means that the butcher came back is too hard for her tiny tiny brain . then of course the never ending  falling while running away  trick  that really made it look bad . then  to put the final nail into the character  in the end of the movie  she walks into the wagon full with dead bodies hanging feet up  screams  noooo  like she just ripped her gucci bag  and walks further into the wagon . . . jeez . come on . no one else thinks its just  well  stupid  just awful . if her character wasn  t so bad  maybe the movie would get another star or two from me . and i would even forgive mmt characters that can take a hit in the head with a steel hammer  that dude in the train who the conductor killed   butcher vests that can protect from bullets  weird and cheap looking monsters in the end  i didn  t read clive barkers novel  so i have no idea where those monsters came from   the fact that no one cared that hundreds  judging on the skeletons in the dungeon  disappeared in the city  and main character that didn  t bleed to death when he got his tongue ripped out  he barely noticed it i guess  . oh  and the predictable ending . damn  i knew the ending half way in  its just disappointing . the only reason i  m still giving some credit to the makers  is that the movie in general looks better than most of the horrors i  ve watched past few months . visual style is nice  some shots were really nice and good cgi that made the killings look really brutal .  although blood didn  t look real at all  i guess some people will enjoy it  some  like me  will watch it if there is nothing else to watch  some will absolutely hate it .  
  the godfather  of television  but aside from it  s acclaim and mobster characters  the two are nothing alike . tony soprano is forced to go to a psychiatrist after a series of panic attacks . his psychiatrist learns that tony is actually part of two families   in one family he is a loving father yet not  so  perfect  husband  and in the other family he is a ruthless wiseguy . after analysis  dr . melfi concludes that tony  s problems actually derive from his mother livia  who  s suspected to have borderline  personality disorder . gandolfini is rightfully praised as the main character yet bracco and marchand aren  t nearly as recognized for their equally and talented performances as the psychiatrist and mother  respectively . falco  imperioli and dematteo are acclaimed for their brilliant supporting roles . van zandt  from the e  street band  plays his first and only role as tony  s best friend  and is quite convincing and latching . chianese  the only recurring actor to have actually appeared in a godfather film  plays tony  s uncle and on  and  off nemesis . many fans also enjoyed characters played by pastore  ventimiglia  curatola  proval  pantoliano  lip  sciorra and buscemi . tony  s children are  okay  but not notable  with the exception of iler  s stunning performance in the third  to  last episode   the second coming    sirico and schirripa are unconvincing and over  the  top  but the show is too strong for them to hold it back . even as the show continues for over six season  it ceases to have a dull or predictable moment .  br    br     out of four   
ok  so i just saw the movie  although it appeared last year . . . i thought that it was generally a decent movie  except for the storyline  which was stupid and horrible . . . first of all  we never get to know anything about the creatures  why they appeared  wtf are they doing in our world  and really  have they been on earth before we were or did they just come from space  secondly  the role of the butcher to maintain order is just so obviously created . . . really  how large could the underground for a sub station could have been  there were only so many of those creatures  so i think instead of killing innocent people in vain  they could have just planted some tactical bombs  or maybe clear the are and a nuke would have done the job . i know it sounds funny and it is  but i do not see the killing of people as being necessary . . . thirdly  leon acts like superman jumping on the train and fighting vinnie jones  who was way taller and bigger in stature . then again  when he faces the conductor he does nothing and acts as a wimp  watching all the abominations . i mean ok  the conductor had creepy help  lol   but if leon was so brave he would have gone all the way . . . i mean he risks his life first  then does nothing exactly when he should have . he could have died as a hero but lives as a coward . . . this might be the case  but not after showing so much braveness earlier on . . . then  the cop thing . . . come on  this was a city having a subway  i bet there must have been other cops except that lady  other police stations  this was really kind of silly . . . all in all  great acting by vinnie jones  interesting idea up to the reason behind it which is not really built at all . . . by the way  what did the signs on the chest mean  vinnie jones cannot make up for the rest . . .  
as the godfather saga was the view of the mafia from the executive suite  this series is a complex tale of the mafia from the working man  s point of view . if you  ve never watched this show  you  re in for an extended treat . yes  there is violence and nudity  but it is never gratuitous and is needed to contrast tony soprano  the thinking man  s gangster  with the reality of the life he has been born to and  quite frankly  would not ever have left even knowing how so many of his associates have ended up . tony soprano can discuss sun tzu with his therapist  then beat a man to death with a frying pan in a fit of rage  and while dismembering and disposing of the body with his nephew  take a break  sit down and watch tv while eating peanut butter out of the jar  and give that nephew advice on his upcoming marriage like they had just finished a sunday afternoon of viewing nfl football . even carmella  his wife  when given a chance for a way out  finds that she really prefers life with tony and the perks that go with it and looking the other way at his indiscretions versus life on her own . if you followed the whole thing  you know how it ends . if you didn  t  trust me you  ve never seen a tv show end like this .  
i am not one of those people who just go online after i see a movie and decide to call it the worst movie ever made . if you doubt me  please look at my other reviews . however  for the first time ever  i have seen a movie so horrible that i wanted to write about how bad it was before it was even over .  br    br   i love bad movies . to me  ed wood is a genius  i thought bloody murder  jeepers creepers and most horrible horror movies were good . however  there is not a single good thing i can say about this film .  br    br   the plot is basically non existent . if someone reading my review wastes their money to see it  they can discern for themselves what the plot might be  but i advise you that a nickel would be worth more than watching this movie .  br    br   the special effects are bad .  br    br   the acting is bad .  br    br   the two leads are attractive  but that  s all there is .  br    br   i am not the type to spoil a movie for anyone  but i invite anyone to email me at foxbarkingyahoo . com to ask for my opinion on this movie before they waste a dime on it . i will tell you anything .  br    br   i love bad movies  and i love horror and i love new inventive movies . i even love horror porn stuff like hostel  which some reviewers claimed this was like  but obviously they only thought so cause roger bart was in this and hostel   . but this may be the number  most worthless and stupid and dumbass movie ever made .  br    br   and before you disregard this review  this is coming from someone who not only sat through the entire premiere of house of the dead  but actually bought a copy of it .  
though  the sopranos  is yet another gift from the megahit  the godfather  and sequels  which dramatized and to a certain extent glamorized the mafia   the sopranos  takes another tack . no suited up  classy mobsters here with homes in lake tahoe and stakes in vegas casinos  these guys are goombahs  with a front of waste management  who deal with things that fall off the back of trucks  topless bars  protection money  in short  what the neighborhood mobs were all about .  br    br   colorful characters dominate this series  which doesn  t hold back on the sex and graphic violence . tony soprano  james gandolfini  is a mob head with a wife and two children  living in new jersey  who suffers from panic attacks as he tries to balance his biological family with his mafia one . to get to the bottom of his attacks  he sees a psychiatrist  jennifer melfi  lorraine bracco   who is afraid of him and yet attracted to him at the same time . tony  s henchman  paulie  his nephew christopher  his uncle junior  the titular head of the mob   his good friend pussy  are all fully fleshed  out characters .  br    br   as we learn going through the series  there are enemies not only from without  but from within  and one of those enemies includes tony  s sickly but horrible mother  nancy marchand   who convinces junior that tony is a danger to him . tony  s sister janice  meanwhile  is searching for money in her mother  s house with a stethoscope and a geiger counter . tony has mistress problems  and a wife  edie falco  who puts up with a lot because she loves him  all the while keeping ties to her catholic religion .  the church frowns on divorce   she tells one woman contemplating a split .  let the pope live with him   is the response . as far as tony  s mistress problems  his psychiatrist points out that tony is attracted to demanding women for whom nothing is ever enough  and asks him if it sounds familiar . yeah  it sounds like his mother .  br    br   i  m of italian descent  and yes  i  m sick of italians being shown in a negative light and everyone assuming all italians are mobsters . yet you can  t help liking this show  which is a constant reminder of our culture .  thanksgiving  it  s pointed out  isn  t turkey and sweet potato pie  it  s the antipasto  the manicotti  the meatballs and escarole  and then the bird   not to mention  the right  on pronunciation of words like melenzana  mullinyan   escarole  scarole   manicotti  manigot  etc . the only un  italian thing about tony is that he doesn  t have a finished basement  something unheard of in the rest of my family  except my parents never had one either  .  br    br   the standouts in this show are gandolfini  as a ruthless gangster on antidepressants  falco  who is brilliant as his wife  and bracco as the tortured jennifer . but everyone is excellent . if you can take the violence and the language  this is a great show  an unrelenting portrait of new jersey mob life .  
it was no sense and it was so awful . . . i think hollywood have a lot of film like that . . . you don  t have do watch it . people cutter or eater what should i say . . . it made me sick  oh my god  film is about people that we don  t know but feed themselves with humans  they have teeths bla bla bla . . . isn  t that familiar  i can bet on it you saw it in a another movie . the cast was so great but i think scenario was really awful . and i should say that bradley cooper was totally awesome . . . he  s so talented . . . actually i said awful but i think it because of horrible scenes . . . let me explain it . did you ever eat tongue  but in the film one person did it  it was really awful . . . anyway i think film would so good without that awful human eater or cutter scenes . . .  
the sopranos is probably the most widely acclaimed tv series ever  so naturally my expectations were through the roof  and yet the show surpassed them . i love the mafia and crime genre in film and i enjoy following the compelling stories set in these worlds  but this is so much more .    hours of material gives the story a chance to not only be one of the most thrilling and unpredictable mafia  action stories  but also to be a great family drama  a shocking character study  a laugh  out  loud comedy  a brilliant psychological examination dealing with the nature of good and evil  and an intellectual arty collaboration of representative dreams and hallucinations all in one . david chase  s epic series manages to accomplish all of this and more  and cements hbo as the closest tv can get to cinematic perfection  paving the road for a number of other series to continue blowing audiences away .  br    br   realism is present when it is needed  but chase  s decisions to depart from it for effect on occasion for  dream episodes  and the like only adds more layers to the series . chase   along with a strong writing staff including matthew weiner and terrence winter  future creators of mad men and boardwalk empire respectively   turns new jersey into an intricate universe full of the greatest cast of characters i  ve seen on tv .  br    br   james gandolfini domineers the show as tony  one of the most groundbreaking characters on tv ever . tony adheres to half of the mobster stereotypes from pop culture  but he defies the other half entirely  and through his family interactions and his therapy sessions with dr . melfi  lorraine bracco  with whom he has a considerable chemistry that ensures that the therapy scenes always have a completely different feel to the rest of the show   we see nearly every side to tony soprano and learn that he is more of an everyman than one would expect .  br    br   edie falco matches the power of gandolfini  s performance as tony  s wife carmela . from her mixed feelings about tony  s lifestyle  to her suspicions about murders  to her torment over tony  s cheating  to her own thoughts about infidelity  carmela runs the gamut of emotions throughout  seasons and falco makes her the prime vehicle for the non  mafia viewers to have eyes into such a corrupt world . scenes between tony and carmela provide some of the most heartwrenching and painfully realistic drama ever seen on television .  br    br   the supporting cast is almost as phenomenal  and a wide array of characters populate the cast over all six seasons  somehow without any redundancies . nancy marchand steals the show as tony  s overbearing mother livia  an insight into tony  s personality problems and panic attacks . the familiarity of marchand  s incessant complaints is almost gruesome since she takes the character so believably far . michael imperioli is christopher  tony  s protg  whose various poor choices lead him down a road that is painful to watch but brilliantly executed . drea de matteo plays christopher  s girlfriend adriana  and is so well  meaning and loving that the dark arc her character takes as she gets too involved with christopher  s career . tony sirico is paulie  introduced as the ultimate mafia stereotype and a source of comic  but eventually he becomes one of the most sympathetic and complex characters on the show  and nobody plays true anger better than he . and that  s just the tip of the iceberg .  br    br   familiar faces such as peter bogdanovich  jon favreau  ben kingsley  lauren bacall  will arnett  nancy sinatra  david strathairn  robert patrick  hal holbrook  burt young  and eric mangini make appearances over the course of the show  while names as notable as joe pantoliano  steve buscemi  and steven van zandt have regular roles as main characters in the series . there are    great characters with powerful arcs  and the excitement and tension never let up in any of the various subplots throughout the show .  br    br   comedic elements and entire episodes filled with brilliant hilarity dilute the powerhouse dramatic intensity of the series  which is so multipurpose that for one reason or enough  the credits of nearly any episode left me somewhat bewildered . the sopranos is the most powerful and addicting series i have seen overall  and its highs are so mindblowing that i would have to call it my favourite show in spite of arguable lows  most of which i disagree with  .  br    br   whether you love or hate the ending  or what you make of it is irrelevant the discussion it has created is an achievement in itself . the iconic nature of the entire series makes it an essential part of television history . there are multiple elements for anyone to love and marvel at in this show  so if you  re thinking of watching something else instead  do yourself a favour and fuhgeddaboutit .  
i have heard a lot about this film  with people writing me telling me i should see it  as i am a fan of extremely bloody  gory movies . i got my hands on it almost right away  but one thing or another always kept me from watching it  until now . i would have been better off not remembering i even had it .  br    br   this movie was atrocious . the worst thing though is that it could have been so much better than it actually was . i know it was a story by clive barker and all  and no i have not read that story  but it appears to me that if you haven  t then you will be  as i was  completely clueless and utterly disappointed .  br    br   the film begins good enough  the actors are convincing  the story interesting . the first scene is bloody  a great way to catch your attention . i thought the blood looked a bit bad  but seeing as it was the very first scene i did hope for improvement later on . i was wrong .  br    br   the blood and effects are so horrible  it was almost an insult to my intelligence to be expected to believe that  for instance  someone could knock a person  s head right off their shoulders using only a meat hammer . wtf  cgi blood  did they even use any  real  blood at all  my home made stuff looks better than any used in this film    unbelievable acts of dismemberment  eyeballs popping out just from getting hit in the back of the head arms cut neatly off  does no one remember there are bones all throughout our bodies     too  dark scenes  every scene is either an odd yellow color  or in hidden in shadows  . . . it just gets worse and worse . i found myself pointing out mistake after mistake . there  s just too much . add that to the fact that what could have and should have been a great serial  killer movie turns into some demonic  supernatural  monster movie at the end . . . no thank you  it should have been kept as a creepy guy butchering people in the subway  ok  with a conspiracy theory thrown in  and an overzealous photographer . maybe they murder people and sell the meat via the meat plant  plausible  doable . . . and a lot better i think than the  real  story . that could have and should have worked . instead it became a  creatures living at the end of the old tunnel and everyone knows about it but you  and unless you read the book  well . . . you just won  t ever understand it  fiasco . tragic  what an awful thing to do to a movie with such potential . if you like mindless fake blood and gore  you  ll love this . but if you have half a brain in your head then you will completely hate it . stay away  far  far away .  
the sopranos  now preparing to end  is the very peak of adult television and drama . when the sopranos hits the mark  it really hits the mark . using great writing and great actors  most of them being extras from goodfellas  the series is aloud to progress in a satisfyingly unpredictable and exceptional way . heading up the cast is james gandolfini  who for all intensive purposes is tony soprano  and edie falco  who certainly holds her own . the series also boasts a great collection of regulars to push the plot along by any means necessary  usually violence and foul language  . tony sirico  michael imperioli and steve van zandt are great secondary characters that make every episode more interesting . seasonal extras are also worth note including names like steve buscemi  great    joe pantoliano  great    david proval  good   robert patrick  robert loggia and frank vincent .  br    br   the sopranos is a great family drama and a realistic interpretation of modern day mafia societies that despite the rare bad story lines manages to be unique tv . symbolism and simple story lines  dreams and shoot  outs and many other things create intertwining stories and relationships that at the end of each season are resolved to create yet another perfect hbo package . watch it . . .  
this was a terrible film . there was no story line whatsoever . to top it all off  when they couldn  t explain the blood and gore  the only good part  . . . they threw in a few aliens  i hate when directors  or whatever  run out of ideas and then blame the aliens  watch this film if you like . but don  t say i didn  t warn you . two things how could vinny say  welcome  when he didn  t have a tongue  its a pity mr jones didn  t have a bigger role . second thing that bugged me  why were we shown vinny jones  boils and him cutting them off and putting them into blue liquid  then these have no further role . why not  i don  t like to be shown something and that has nothing to do with the story line whatsoever . in short . bad story . i wouldn  t waste my time  wish i  d have watched mirrors instead .  
well . . . easily my favourite tv series ever . call me a walking mail clich but include violence  mafia  sex  gambling  drugs etc . on a show and you  re already winning points on in my book . combine all that with acting that superceeds anything you  ve ever seen on the small screen  add directing that fits cinema of the vintage type and most of all writing that blows the mind  and a few brains a long the way  and you got yourself a show thats gonna be pretty tough to compete with .  br    br   above all stand two actors  james gandolfini as tony soprano  and edie falco as his wife carmela . . . as for gandolfini  he fits his roll in a way that words cannot express  if you haven  t seen him as tony yet see it now   br    br   i can go on and on and on about every character in the show  the psychological brilliance  the gripping scenes etc . but you wouldn  t be able to stop me so all i can say is that this is about the only show along with seinfeld  that i am able to watch over and over again from start to finish and end up enjoying it even more .  
where to start . the film started out pretty well  but after the   min mark i caught myself watching the clock . the horror at the start of the film was good but then the story kicked in . it just got stupider and stupider as time ticked by .  br    br   the actors gave an average performance in this movie however  i got a bit bored of vinny jones constant scowling in the film .  br    br   as the film dragged on  and take my word for it  it dragged on  it just got more and more far fetched .  br    br    spoiler alert  spoiler alert  spoiler alert  just when i thought the film could not get any worse  towards the end loads if skeleton looking monsters turned up  just to eat the dead people which made no sense at all . it turned out to be some sort of flesh eating cult and the good guys die at the end . the ending in fact just made me laugh at how bad it was . once the lead role disposes of vinny jones  he becomes the new killer .  br    br   in closing  this film made creep look like the best horror film ever made . i gave it  star because the female lead did a pretty good job but even she could not save this train wreck of a movie    
the sopranos stands out as an airtight  dynamic exploration of american life  and how the american experience is shaped and defined by money . by setting the story in the milieu of the underworld  david chase eliminates all barriers to a grunt  low to the ground and outright mean deconstruction of the post  modern era .  br    br   every character represents a facet of american industry . tony soprano exemplifies the beleaguered working stiff  torn between familial duty and a need to keep his  business  on an even keel . the convergence of these two things is the imperative that keeps the story moving forward . the characters of christopher  paulie  and bobby reflect the loyal  but self  serving underlings present in every enterprise  who are trusted out of necessity rather than merit . with the character of ralph  joe pantoliano essays a brilliant interpretation of the charismatic psychopath  a twisted businessman who  s flourishes of violence are tragically outweighed by his stunning earning power . and dominic chianese is the ultimate symbol of the antiquated old  guard  which maintains power through established relationships and the need of the up  and  comers to deflect blame .  br    br   though abrasive and occasionally disturbing  the sopranos has earned its place as the ultimate tv drama .  br    br   ps a good companion piece to chase  s series would be the shield  another violent drama that manages to make the ugliest of characters interesting .  
i am really surprised that this movie get a ranking like this  i haven  t seen such a bad movie for years . omg this was a really bad movie . splatter  is not enough to describe the unnecessary  nearly funny  blood scenes  . if you didn  t like hostel  or wolf creek or halloween       . . well this is   time worse . the story remind me rl stine goosebumps .   br    br   i can  t tell about the acting since the script was so terrible . clich all the time .  why i must write   lines  i never understood this .   br    br   here comes spoilers  br    br   the story is about a butcher killing people all the time in metro . we are talking about thousands of killings and no one gets notice . actually those people are just missing . and there is the good guy that tries to solve the mystery  well there is no mystery for us because we know from the beginning the bad guy  and as usual no one believes him  what a surprise  in the end he puts butcher clothes and fights to death with the killer butcher   
i think you would have to be from the usa to get a lot of the jokes . but if you liked princess bride and forest gump  you would like this movie . you can  t compare the quality of the filming to those of course  but having the cameraman trip was obviously done on purpose . killer tomatoes is a hundred times better than nepolean dynamite . just my opinion . i  m sure that people from france would not appreciate the caricatures of the french . so this film isn  t for a world audience . and while i am not a trained film critic  i know what i like . i couldn  t stop laughing through the whole movie . my sides and my jaws were hurting at the end of the movie .  
one hour  eight minutes and twelve seconds into this flick and i decided it was pretty lame . that was right after hopalong  chris lybbert  drops on his horse from a tree to rejoin the good guy posse . i was pretty mystified by the whole hopalong cassidy  great bar   gimmick which didn  t translate into anything at all . obviously  the name coppola in the credits couldn  t do anything to guarantee success here  even with more than one listed .  br    br   if you make it to the end of the film  you  ll probably wind up asking yourself the same questions i did . what exactly was the hook with the gloves  what  s up with the rodeo scenario  who was the stranger supposed to represent  why did they make this film   br    br   i could probably go on but my energy  s been drained . look  there  s already a western called  the gunfighter  from     with a guy named gregory peck as the title character . watching it will make you feel as good as watching this one makes you feel bad . that one i can recommend .  
i can  t add an awful lot to the positive reviews already on here  great acting  balanced writing  multi  faceted characters  a great anti  hero in tony  great commentary on millennial american life . the integral use of psychiatry coupled with tony  s mother issues are especially fresh and humorous . several other characters add a lot of depth  hesh  s interesting history as an outsider muscling in  ralphie  s total irredeemable viciousness  chris  dual desires in life  and so on .  br    br   i have to dig into some of the criticisms however  especially the  it glorifies violence  belittles italian  americans  one . most of the writers and actors are italian  american  would they attack themselves  there are several positive italian  american characters  artie bucco the chef  dr . melfi and her family and the cusamanos next door to the sopranos . indeed  dr melfi  s ex  husband notes in season  that only a tiny minority of italian  americans have ever had mob connections  certainly smaller than the proportion of african  americans involved in crime  dare i say it . in both cases poverty and lack of opportunity are the biggest causes  .  br    br   most of the characters don  t really choose the life they have family background or circumstances largely corner them into it . outsiders  even of italian stock  who attempt to integrate into it usually meet distressing ends  matthew and his friend in season   for example . if you criticise this show  i assume frasier made you want to be a psychiatrist  or will  grace made you want to go homosexual  presumably you won  t listen to rap music that discusses gangs  or r  n  b which discusses promiscuity  or rock music which discusses drugs  or any other combination   people aren  t as stupid as some of you make out . . . .  br    br   not everything is perfect however . a lot of characters have only appeared once  when by all logic they should have been seen or at least mentioned in previous episodes  tracee the dancer  meadow  s friend ally  uncle junior  s ladyfriend  supposedly for   years until they split in season   .  
i would just like it to be known  that i do not often rate movies below a  . i was originally very excited to see this movie . its numerous trailer bumps on tv for several months made me reaally want to see this movie . so  the other night when i saw that it was available on fearnet on demand  i got some popcorn and sat down to watch the film .  br    br   the storyline seemed intriguing enough  some dude is butchering unsuspecting people on the subway . there  s a photographer obsessed with the missing people . where are they going  what  s happening to them  one day  the photographer sees a connection between some photos he has taken  and becomes obsessed with the butcher  following him around  yada yada . the film had a way of sucking you in  even though the plot was highly predictable .  oh no  it  s dark  look out behind you  i say  quite bored with the cheap thrills .  br    br   the plot  even though predictable  was intriguing . . . that is  until the end .  this was good until the end . . . . then it just got silly   says jack  skellington  freke on the message boards . and i fully agree . and here come the spoilers . . .  br    br   see  i was hoping it was some mad killer  some psychotic person obsessed with cannibalism . no . it was some secret society keeping creatures alive for centuries . woo . how original . how unrealistic . how dull .  br    br       . come on lionsgate . you  ve had amazing films  but this one sunk .  
the sopranos is perhaps the most mind  opening series you could possibly ever want to watch . it  s smart  it  s quirky  it  s funny  and it carries the mafia genre so well that most people can  t resist watching . the best aspect of this show is the overwhelming realism of the characters  set in the subterranean world of the new york crime families . for most of the time  you really don  t know whether the wise guys will stab someone in the back  or buy them lunch .  br    br   further adding to the realistic approach of the characters in this show is the depth of their personalities  these are dangerous men  most of them murderers  but by god if you don  t love them too . i  ve laughed at their wisecracks  been torn when they  ve made err in judgement  and felt scared at the sheer ruthlessness of a serious criminal .  br    br   the suburban setting of new jersey is absolutely perfect for this show  s subtext  people aren  t always as they seem  and the stark contrast between humdrum and the actions taken by these seemingly petty criminals weigh up to even the odds .  br    br   if you haven  t already  you most definitely should .  
do not bother to waste your money on this movie . do not even go into your car and think that you might see this movie if any others do not appeal to you . if you must see a movie this weekend  go see batman again .  br    br   the script was horrible . perfectly written from the random horror movie format . given a place in confined spaces  a madman with various weapons  a curious man who manages to uncover all of the clues that honest police officers cannot put together  and an innocent and overly curious  yet beautiful and strong woman with whom many in the audience would love to be able to call their girlfriend . mix together  add much poorly executed gore  and what the hell  let  s put some freaks in there for a little  spin  to the plot .  br    br   the acting was horrible  and the characters unbelievable  borat was more believable than this .  br    br   spoilerand can someone please tell me how a butcher  s vest can make a bullet ricochet from the person after being shot without even making the person who was shot flinch    i  m in the army . we need that kind of stuff for ourselves .  br    br    out of    and i would place it in the decimals of that rounded up to give it the lowest possible score i can .  
take a pinch of goodfellas  mix it with the godfather  add some roman mythology and plenty of lowbrow comedy  and you have the sopranos  about a mob clan operating out of northern new jersey . it  s almost as entertaining as pro wrestling . i am not the biggest fan of this show  but i do admire james gandolfini  s very complicated tony soprano  a psychopath with an occasional glimmer of conscience . i also have come to admire te contributions of folks like gravel  voiced dom chianese as the bewildered but murderous uncle junior  silver  haired tony sirico as the perpetually perplexed paulie and the very beautiful edie falco as the duplicitous  tough  as  nails carmela soprano . the violence is sudden and graphic  the body count steadily climbs each season  but it is often the small moments that matter most here . watch paulie and tony  s nephew christopher  michael imperioli late of law  order  as they get lost in the pine barrens and sit out a bitter cold night in an abandoned trruck  both convinced they  ve had it .  
wow  how bad can it get . this was seriously bad . not in terms of the gore  which was mainly laughable cgi  but in acting  atmosphere and direction .  br    br   the story was dreadful  the character arc of the main lead was a total joke . within a few nights of stalking vinnie jones  he starts to become  haunted  to the point of crying when photographing his girlfriend . um . . . are all new york photographers this childish  suggestible and weak  his character development had absolutely no justification or point whatsoever  and by the very end you  ll be laughing out loud at the utterly predictable  and totally absurd twist his character takes .  br    br   the gory moments were clearly just a weak  low  self  esteemed effort to jump onto the modern mtv style gore wagon  all cgi  blood yet no real emotion whatsoever . these parts were unintentionally funny  and distracting by their self  consciousness  wacky camera angles etc .  br    br   overall this film commits the crime of blowing another potential idea . what could have had atmosphere  until the stupid monsters at the end  is ruined in favour of  look at me  style self  conscious directing . this film wasn  t made for and audience  it was made for a cv  a deeply selfish motive .  
i  ve only watched the first series on dvd  but would summarise the sopranos as a shakespearean plot with a tarantino  like script . the series is as good as goodfellas and casino  and almost as good as the godfather  hence not a       and far better than any of guy ritchie  s efforts . although there  s plenty of action  some of it pretty bloody  the story is character driven . even some of the minor characters contribute to great story lines e . g . the priest  s relationship  or lack of  with carmilla and the restaurateur  s wife  and christopher and his dimwit friend  who didn  t last very long  a darwin award nominee     br    br   apart from the plot  the script and the acting  the other reasons i liked it  br    br    . it made me want to visit new jersey and eat pasta with a tomatoey sauce .  . the music .  . it shows that literally anyone can suffer from mental health problems .  
i often feel like scrooge  slamming movies that others are raving about  or  i write the review to balance unwarranted raves . i found this movie almost unwatchable  and  unusual for me  was fast  forwarding not only through dull  clichd dialog but even dull  clichd musical numbers . whatever originality exists in this film   unusual domestic setting for a musical  lots of fantasy  some animation   is more than offset by a script that has not an ounce of wit or thought  provoking plot development . individually  june haver and dan dailey appear to be nice people  but can  t carry a movie as a team . neither is really charismatic or has much sex appeal . they  re both bland . i like billy gray  but his character is pretty one  note . the best part of the film  to me  are june haver  s beautiful costumes and great body .  
it probably isn  t fair that i have got to see the majority of all the interesting reviews on the sopranos and then get to add what people have forgotten  but oh well . . . . . . .  br    br   from a standpoint of acting  how could any actor fail with these characters  each one mesmerizing and intense in their pursuits of life . tony soprano  while a mob  capo  and suffering from mental illness  still sees his life in front of him and knows what has to be done to survive . each of his men  you see their lives virtually from the inside like the truest form of voyerism . it definitely brings out a sort  nosey  side in each and every viewer  and i include myself in this   br    br   while some above don  t care for bracco  i have to say this is the freshest role she has had in years since good fellas . she is the side of tony that makes him listen to reason  that makes him decent  that offers him respite when dealing with his human emotions that he has failed to feel for so long  if ever . she is simply put  his savior .  not speaking in religious tones   br    br   but the knockout performance here is without doubt  edie falco . to see her prison guard role in the other acclaimed hbo series   oz  and then see her as livia is the ultimate compliment for any actor or actress . she has transcended the boundries of a recognizable actress  something only actresses like merle streep can get away with . a sort of chameleon quality to transcend roles . but as i have mentioned before  with a characters a strong as these  how can any actor fail   br    br   livia  s strength is in her daily affirmation of faith in herself . she is a survivor  as she hopes her husband and family will be survivors . she is prepared for the worst because she knows the hazards of her husband  s business  yet knows the lifestyle she has is more then most women from jersey . she is wise if not wiser and more street savvy then tony himself .  br    br   all in all  the biggest crime from the soprano family is that we the viewer have to wait until january     to see the next season . this in my opinion is the worst thing about the hbo series . it was what brought the larry sanders show  sex and the city  dream on  and others back down to earth in popularity and eventually killed them . too much space in between seasons and very sporadic . until then  i will watch the reruns with the hope that this gap in programming is filled .  
i was never so bored in my life . hours of pretentious  self  obsessed heroin  addicted basket cases lounging around whining about their problems . it  s like watching lizards molt . even the sex scenes will induce a serious case of narcolepsy . if you have insomnia  rent this .  
i believe that the sopranos is an awesome show because of all the supporting characters in it . i have bought every video so far and am waiting for the rest to be released . in all   episodes so far  the best one is definitely episode    denial  anger  acceptance . this episode deals with my most favorite character of all time in the sopranos . his name was brendan filone . he was killed for hijacking the wrong truck and accidentally killing a truck driver . brendan was awesome because he was actually one of the few characters who actually stood against tony and his gang . in the end  he ended up getting shot through the eye while taking a bath  and that  s my most favorite scene ever in the history of the sopranos . brendan filone is   for me . and my   most favorite character ever was matthew bevilaqua  who was killed after attempting to murder christopher moltisanti . tony and pussy shoot him in hucklebarney park after they catch and torture him . my   most favorite character is sean gismonte  who was killed right after shooting christopher . and finally  my   most favorite character is chucky signore  one of uncle junior  s henchmen . he was killed on a boat by tony . all the awesome characters are dead . that  s the only bad thing about the sopranos . all the cool guys always get killed . you know what would be great to change about the sopranos  they should have a whole episode where they show all the dead supporting characters in hell and they are all trying to torture chris  tony  uncle junior  silvio  and paulie  because they need to get their revenge . brendan filone shall strike back            
one previous reviewer called this film  pure visual joy  i am wondering if s  he saw the same film that i did .  high art  had to have the most relentlessly depressing interiors since  seven  . one can almost forgive sheedy and mitchell for the clich of going to a bb for their first time . of course  before they do that  one has to watch opium  den parties inhabited by people who are not apparently gainfully employed but can somehow support a flourishing drug habit . not to mention the icy stares from those familiar movie types  the girlfriend  boyfriend at start  who are well aware they  re going to be thrown over sometime in the next    minutes or so . the movie also states that the sheedy character has retired from professional photography for ten years now . what did she do  retire at age twenty   
  the godfather    citizen kane    star wars    goodfellas  none of the above compare to the complex brilliance of  the sopranos  . each and every character has layers upon layers of absolute verity  completely and utterly three dimensional . we care about tony soprano wholeheartedly  despite the fact that in the simplest model of good vs . evil  he is evil . soprano is the most provocative  intricate  and fascinating protagonist ever created to this point in history . if you  re in the mood to be overtly challenged as a viewer  and to be forever altered on your feelings toward entertainment  watch  the sopranos  . i defy anybody to sit down and watch the very first episode of season   and not want to continue with the series . each season is completely brilliant in its own way . dvds are essential to anybody  s collection  of out   
this woman who works as an intern for a photographer goes home and takes a bath where she discovers this hole in the ceiling . so she goes to find out that her neighbor above her is a photographer . this movie could have had a great plot but then the plot drains of any hope . the problem i had with this movie is that every ten seconds  someone is snorting heroin . if they took out the scenes where someone snorts heroin  then this would be a pretty good movie . every time i thought that a scene was going somewhere  someone inhaled the white powder . it was really lame to have that much drug use in one movie . it pulled attention from the main plot and a great story about a photographer . the lesbian stuff didn  t bother me . i was looking for a movie about art . i found a movie about drug use .  
not only do the storylines in  the sopranos  engage audiences from all over  but i think  for me at least  what brings the viewers back is the acting .  not even you  gary  can dispute that claim  james gandolfini  who plays the lead  man  tony soprano  has become  in this viewer  s opinion  one of the  hollywood elites  as far as acting in a television series goes . i wouldn  t go ahead and compare him with robert deniro or al pacino  or at least  not just yet . he  however  does do a hell of a job playing the part of tony soprano . in the years since      gandolfini has risen so much so as an actor  mainly thanks to his role in the sopranos  that today he is considered to be among the best in the business . and it  s not just him .  the sopranos  fields a great supporting cast including that of lorraine bracco  edie falco  michael imperioli  dominic chianese  and the late nancy marchand who played tony  s dreadful mother . at this point in the show  s existence  it  s being considered a cult  classic and rightfully so . the first two seasons were extraordinary . violent and quite gruesome in a pretty frequent manner  but without a doubt  extraordinarily done . the third season was great  but didn  t quite live up to the hype of seasons  and  . season   which wrapped up right before new  years  was the weakest season yet  or at least  in my opinion it was  . despite a dry  spell  i still found it  season  of  the sopranos   to be more entertaining than most of its competition and that  s saying a lot because lately i  ve been noticing a trend in good new television shows . examples of this six feet under  the shield  curb your enthusiasm  and oz  which is not technically a new show but ended with an unforgettable final season this year  . to get back to my point though  to consider a show better than all the competition during a particularly bad year  no less  is quite an accomplishment on the part of the writers .  the sopranos  ranks above and beyond all other television shows in its era and its writers deserve a lot of credit . to close  i  d like to say   the sopranos  is the real deal folks . for the average mature viewer    and above  who enjoys drama and doesn  t mind a mixing of a little violence and profanity  you might want to check out  the sopranos  if you get the chance . trust me in that it will be well worth the time .  
spooks is enjoyable trash  featuring some well directed sequences  ridiculous plots and dialogue  and some third rate acting .  br    br   many have described this is a uk version of      and one can see the similarities .  br    br   the american version shares the weak silly plots  but the execution is so much slicker  sexier and i suspect  expensive .  br    br   some people describe weak comedy as  gentle comedy  .  br    br   this is gentle spy story hour  the exact opposite of anything created by john le carre .  br    br   give me smiley any day .  
the  gangster  genre is now a worn subject one that is too often subjected to parody . in retrospect the series is a culmination of previous clichs that have been utilized in it  s genre  thankfully the writers have advanced upon this flaw by creating a realism which has been applied to it . the sopranos is an epic crime saga that illustrates it  s content with psychological depth that is characterized with subtle nuance  humor and unvarnished violence . the key protagonist tony soprano is perceived as a perilous general bereft of fear and moral values by his crew  however  tony is of two persona  s one which is bestial while the other is conflicted with guilt and resent . with out any inhibitions or contradictions i still adamantly believe that the sopranos has the finest ensemble cast of recent memory . all things considered i could make an elaborate statement on the series  but i won  t . if ever there is a visual dictionary in global consumerism search for these definitions vital  ambiguous  unrelenting  epic  uncompromising and the sopranos shattered visage will be smiling right back at you .  
this was a popular movie probably because of the humor in it  the fast  moving story  an underdog character who shuts up all the loudmouths  etc . funny thing is  you probably couldn  t make a movie with this title if you substituted anybody but  white  as anything else would be deemed racist by the pc police .  br    br   nonetheless  woody harrleson as the white guy who turns out to be as good if not better than any of the black basketball players  is interesting as is his main counterpart wesley snipes .  br    br   snipes had a lot of funny put  down lines  providing much of the humor . the bad part of the film  which doesn  t bother a lot of people  is the extreme profanity in here and the sleaziness of all the characters . that includes woody  s girlfriend  played by rosie perez . there are no really clean  nice people in this movie . for that reason  i can  t honestly recommend the film  at least not to friends or those who are offended by a lotof profanity  
there are so many reasons as to why i rate the sopranos so highly  one of its biggest triumphs being the cast and character building . each character unfolds more and more each series . also each series has an array of different  small time characters  as well as the main . a good example of a character  who was only in three episodes  who you can feel for is david the compulsive gambler played brilliantly by robert patrick . every little detail builds the perfect tv series . the show revolves round mob boss tony soprano  james gandolfini  who attempts to balance his life of crime with his role as father of two . the show is not afraid to be bold and powerful with its dialogue and imagery and this is what makes it so believable . whilst tony runs things with capos paulie  tony sirico  and silvio  steve van zant  his nephew christopher  michael imperioli  looks for a promotion . every episode also features tony  s other family in some way which includes his children and wife carmela soprano  edie falco  . on top of these problems is his uncle junior soprano  dominic chianese  is trying to get what he can out of tony  s businesses despite being under house arrest . all the acting is powerful and characters complex  but the two who stand out the most are james gandolfini who  is  tony soprano . also michael imperioli who plays christopher  representing the younger        generation in crime . if david chase had not created this masterpiece modern tv dramas of such caliber may not have existed  such as the wire and dexter . so the sopranos is definitely the godfather  goodfellas and pulp fiction of tv  
woody harrelson and wesley snipes team up as hustlers on the basketball court . okay  that sounds all right there . it leaves lots of room for good comedy and a good story . but no such event took place in the many following boring minutes of this pathetic attempt of a film . this movie became redundant  retarded  and ridiculous after the first twenty seconds had gone by . woody harrelson played one of my favorite t . v . characters  woody from cheers  and i was looking forward to seeing him in this movie . but after seeing his  acting performance  i have come to the conclusion that he should stay playing dumb country hicks who bartend . his acting was as dull and poor as the movie . another actor in this unreal film was rosie perez . i have liked movies with perez before  but i have decided that the reason i have enjoyed other works in her career was that she was not a main character and didn  t have that many speaking lines  do the right thing  . but now in white men can  t jump she was made a central character with many lines  thus meaning that the audience has to put up with her incredibly annoying and whining voice . so after seeing this film  term used loosely  and hearing rosie perez for much more than appreciated i can now say that i  m a white man and i  m getting ready to jump . . . off a twenty story apartment building .  
this is not  so bad that it is good   it is purely good  for those who don  t understand why  you have the intellect of a four year old  in response to a certain comment . . .  anyways  killer tomatoes eat france is a parody of itself  a parody of you  and a parody of me . it is the single most genius text in cinematic history . i have it and the three prequels sitting on my dvd rack next to herzog and kurosawa . it embodies the recognition of absurdity and undermines all that you or me call standard . i write scripts and this movie single  handedly opened up a genre of comedy for me  the likes of which we have never seen . it can only be taken in portions . . . its sort of exploitive . . . by now i  m just trying to take up the ten line minimum . my comment ended a while ago . hopefully it works when i submit it now .  
the closing song by johnny rivers was the only great thing about this movie . unfortunately that is all the positive i can say about this western movie . i have to write  more lines for my comments to be posted  but there is more than  lines of awful in this western . i am not sure if the movie was a tribute to hopa along  or just a spoof . the hero and the villain in this movie were too plastic . not realistic at all . a lot of the supporting actors in this movie looked authentic  but the shooting scenes were a joke . a previous commentator thought this movie was great  and in the comments took a cheap shot at president bush . this was not a democratic or republican western . it was just a bad western movie to be sold commercially . i wonder if it made any money . at times i thought i was watching a movie made by college movie students . if that was the case  then it was a great movie .  
wow . i loved the whole series  and am shocked at comments by people who thought it ended badly . perhaps it waffled a bit in seasons     while remaining better than anything else on television . but  and particularly  b were beautiful permutations on the themes developed in the more muscular first three seasons .  br    br    b started with such a sombre mood and janice  s always keen insight into the family angst  that doom  filled line about knowing tony  s penchant for sitting and staring . anyone who missed the implications of that for the rest of the series does not know tony . melfi  s discomfort over the psychiatric study and its references to the sociopath  s self  deluding sentimentality for pets and animals goes back to the first episodes of the series  say  with tony  s panic attack over the ducks leaving his pool and resonates with phil  s  wave bye  bye  line to his grandchildren before the coup de grace of the final episode  not to get into chase  s dark humour  .  br    br   i could go on and on  but i  ll just add that i thought the final show  starting with the opening strains of vanilla fudge to supply the ironic foreshadow   you keep me hangin  on   to the terminal moments where tony fades back into complacency with his family in tow or blasts apart like aj  s suv or phil  s head were  utterly  utterly perfect . the best tv ever .  br    br   pretty good in a dying medium pathologically supplying the  jack  off fantasies  aj derides  and then into which he promptly subsides  . a tip of the pork pie to mr . chase .  
you know a movie is bad when the highlight of it is being able to see a brief moment of  jeopardy   .  br    br   the saddest thing about white men can  t jump is that it had tremendous potential . for several years  i lived in area quite like that portrayed in this film racial tensions were high  and basketball meant everything to everyone . a film about the members of this  basketball culture  could have been very interesting  but the mediocre acting and poor script in white men can  t job left something to be desired .  br    br   the movie  s sequence of events is cyclical . first  billy either wins or loses money by playing a game of basketball . he then returns to his home and lounges around with his girlfriend and the process is repeated . most stories build up to a climax of some kind  but the  climax  i saw was just another sequence in this repetition  this case being  billy either wins or loses money by playing a game of basketball   .  br    br   in order for a plot to develop  some dilemma must be resolved and this dilemma must be interesting if the film is going to be interesting as well . apparently the writers of white men can  t jump forgot this rule  as the plot can be summarized as  billy needs to pay the bills .  i appreciated the change of pace from other formulaic sports movies  but   i  m sorry   this was just plain awful . i could have cared less if billy got the money to pay the rent for his apartment .  br    br   despite all this  white men can  t jump is a successful film . apparently some adamant sports fans will dismiss terrible writing for a few scenes with a basketball in them . others  i  m sure  were lured by the big names playing the leading roles . this leaves me to wonder  if the cast was replaced entirely with previously unknown actors  and the basketball theme was replaced with lacrosse  would anyone have bothered watching this movie  i really don  t think so .  br    br   i  ll give this movie two stars out of ten the extra star is for the  jeopardy   scene  which kept me awake for a few minutes . thanks  trebek .  
as a guy who has seen all the seasons  i can say that jg constantly surprises me . i mean  after you saw him shifting from laughter to paranoia instantly throughout the seasons and after every little gesture of his made u believe he is a gangster  u thought to yourself ok he is a good actor and he can get into a gangster  s skin . but after seeing him opening his eyes and struggling for his life  i mean i could almost feel the pain he  made  us believe he was going through . i was so touched by his performance that i immediately thought at robert de niro  marlon brando and al pacino . these guys were definitely the best of their generations and even more . but nowadays they are either old or dead  brando  and it  s ok that they make less movies and their performances are  lighter  than they used to be . i can  t wait to see gandolfini in other movies where he delivers a totally different role . can u recommend me some of his older movies where he gives a memorable performance   
i really can  t understand how could someone give this disgusting film more than  star . . . how can you like such a retarded film  where all the animal abuse scenes are real  i don  t even want to imagine the excruciating pain those innocent and defenseless living beings felt in those horrific moments . . . jesus . . . what kind of   human   would torture them like that for no reason  or just for money  i tell you  that director is either mentally retarded  or he  s just a monster with a   heart   of stone . or both . he truly deserves to get his hands cut off and burn alive .  br    br   it contains various horribly barbaric scenes that may cause shock  especially to sensitive persons and children a real frog is skinned alive  fish are sadistically mutilated and thrown back into the water  a dog is beaten  birds are thrown into the water . . .  br    br   this movie is more than awful it has to be the worst and most retarded film ever made  along with another one  called   cannibal holocaust   or something like that . i  ll never watch or buy any film directed by this heartless monster . no one should waste their time watching it  especially when there are a lot of truly great movies out there  in which all the animal abuse scenes are staged .  br    br   fortunately  only a few people liked this  which is natural  since it  s the worst film ever   so it wasn  t successful . i hope this will make the retarded director realize that such unjustified barbaric acts of extreme cruelty and violence to real animals will never be praised  and that he will stage all the animal abuse scenes in his following films . i truly believe that everyone receives but what they give  there will be a day when all the retarded and cruel   humans   will feel the same pain they once inflicted to others .  br    br   this  however  is probably my only   negative   review . i usually don  t comment on a movie if i dislike it  but this time i just couldn  t shut up . i had to speak the truth  because animal abuse must stop   
when we started watching this series on cable  i had no idea how addictive it would be . even when you hate a character  you hold back because they are so beautifully developed  you can almost understand why they react to frustration  fear  greed or temptation the way they do . it  s almost as if the viewer is experiencing one of christopher  s learning curves .  br    br   i can  t understand why adriana would put up with christopher  s abuse of her  verbally  physically and emotionally  but i just have to read the newspaper to see how many women can and do tolerate such behavior . carmella has a dream house  endless supply of expensive things  but i  m sure she would give it up for a loving and faithful husband  or maybe not . that  s why i watch .  br    br   it doesn  t matter how many times you watch an episode  you can find something you missed the first five times . we even watch episodes out of sequence  watch season  on late night with commercials but all the language  ae with language censored  reruns on the movie network   whenever they  re on  we  re there . we  ve been totally spoiled now .  br    br   i also love the malaprop  s .  an albacore around my neck  is my favorite of johnny boy . when these jewels have entered our family vocabulary  it is a sign that i should get a life . i will when the series ends  and i have collected all the dvd  s  and put the collection in my will .  
i  ll say this much   this director is all about raw images . . . things most of us are not ready to confront head  on . images of sex  suicide  murder  and people  relieving themselves  are constantly bombarding the viewer  which makes me wonder if the director was trying to communicate the concept of relief or release . although i don  t think that i could ever see this movie again  i will say that the director does have a good eye . there were some really nice shots and  picture moments  in the film  the fans  the wire fish in their hair   but the story left me needing more  strictly in the since that we were left asking ourselves  what the heck did we just see    .  br    br   note if you have a tendency to gag or vomit easily . . . don  t see this film .  
greetings from this portuguese guy    br    br   i believe the sopranos are one of the best production ever  it has reality and fiction mixed in such a way  that it  s hard to see the difference . it has the same quality as godfather  james gandolfini fits at the paper as a glove  i would love the sopranos would never finish at all . it  s perfect  it should be a subject in school   i saw sopranos when i was a kid  but i was too young to stay waked until the episode ends  so now i bought the all episodes in dvd format and i am watching all episodes at home before and after dinner and i am getting addicted  like i did with prison break . in my opinion prison break and the sopranos are the best  ever series made for television . the argument of both are splendid and the actors are perfect . congratulations for such a work .  br    br   sorry about my english . thanks for reading .  
is this the same kim ki duk who directed the poignant  life  spanning testimonial of  spring  summer  fall  winter and spring   the same kim ki duk who directed the exquisite  nearly silent  heartbreaking longing of   iron   the same kim ki duk who dazzled us with the staggering tragedy of  the coast guard  and made us squirm about the ugliness of nonchalant teenage prostitution before returning to his almost patented nature motif to allow us all  characters and viewers alike  to experience redemption in  samaritan girl   i just cannot seem to find him in this film .  br    br   oh  sure  kim  s nature motif is still present . the film takes place entirely on a lake surrounded by mountains and on fishing floats resting placidly on the surface of calm waters . yes  it  s kim ki duk  all right . kim even describes the film as  beautiful  in an interview included in the dvd  s special features . but i  m not sure anymore what that means after viewing this putrescent presentation .  br    br   what is beautiful about angry  potty  mouthed prostitutes  lustful  violent and potty  mouthed fishermen  a covetous mute merchant  explicit animal torture  sequences of self  mutilation and a pace that swings nauseatingly between bestial carnality and mindless brutality  these are the only elements of humanity that present themselves in this utterly confounding and ultimately pointless film . if it is based on a fable or intended as a parable or is meant to be symbolic of something greater  this reviewer is unfamiliar with the source material . it has been favorably compared to  audition  by japanese director takashi miike  much to kim  s satisfaction   but aside from some astonishingly good performances  especially given what they had to work with  by lead actors seo jung and kim yoo suk  i find little reason to recommend this film . i have not seen  audition   but i doubt it would alter in any way my view of  the isle .  its violence is pornographic and senselessly sadistic . its sex is not pornographic  but passionless and masochistic . characters behave on irritating impulse because there is no plot . its point is either non  existent or  i will admit  lost amidst korean cultural quirks that i fail to understand .  br    br   the only beauty is in the cinematography  which is classic kim fog  shrouded boats lapping slowly across a serene lake  mountainous terrain dominating the background  and an imaginative and playful use of color . at times it seems as if viewers are locked in a big kim ki duk romper room . some touches  like the mysterious and seductive mute merchant played by jung and the pleasantly odd use of motorbikes  are intriguing . but as a film  this effort is downright confusing and  in the end  offensive to the senses  not necessarily to sensibilities . one hopes that kim will leave this kind of film  making in the trash heap of his past  for we know he is capable of so much more .  
the sopranos             br    br   number   television show of all time  br    br   everyone thought this would be a stupid thing that wouldn  t go past a pilot episode . the sopranos has become a cultural phenomenon and universally agreed as one of the greatest television shows of all time .  br    br   james gandolfini plays the enigmatic new jersey crime boss  tony soprano  accompanied by a stellar cast . edie falco is superb as the worrying  loving upper  middle class mother tony sirico is tremendous as a superstitious  greying consiglieri who is often very funny .  br    br   while the show has often been criticised for the negative stereotype of italian  americans as mafiosi  and to an extent this is undeniable  i can see so many positives from the show . the portrayal of strong family values  friendships  love and compassion could this be present in a coarse television show about gangsters  yes . furthermore  other burning issues are discussed such as terrorism  social inequality and injustice  homosexuality  drugs etc . this is no shallow  dull show about tough guys and violence . it has so much more . many of the issues we see on the show are very real .  br    br   the writing which has been pretty much great has infused so successfully current issues and managed to imbred them within the characters  lives  which makes the whole thing more interesting .  br    br   credit must go to david chase who has created an excellent television treasure and to james gandolfini  for envisioning  television  s most complex and enigmatic character .  br    br   simply exceptional .  br    br         
i generally don  t give worry much about violence in films  or a vast amount of philosophy  symbolism or psychology . all this is very well with me and the film brings a lot of the above to us . there is beautiful pictures especially of the lake and the nature  a good setting of characters  a good direction . this film could be voted for as a good film . however  it is spoiled for two reasons and both of these reasons in relation make this film simply disgusting .  br    br   first of all there is violence used against living creatures to make this film . not movie violence  i am talking about real violence . this violence alone maybe could be justified if not and thats reason number two the message of the film was not mere introspection about the directors twisted relation towards women . not that we all don  t have some real twists with women .  respectively men  . but the conclusion of the film ruins it all .  br    br   spoiler our  heroine  finally dies   by here own hand if i remember correctly i saw this film years ago and it enraged me  now the guy is out with a new film witch i am certainly not going to watch  and is now even more clearly depicted as some kind of natural demon  nature growing over her  in particular her sex . . of course it is the director who  kills  the women heroine . women have to die  especially if men are attracted by their sexuality . that seems to be the final conclusion . end spoiler  br    br   well  well all that possibly would be fine with me if the director would have kept his view to himself . but to use big pictures  artsy directions cruelty to living creatures  just to say men can be frightened of women  and men are cruel to women . thats just not enough . i knew when i saw this film it would achieve good critics for the  philosophical  eastern and artistic  and whatever approach . but to me this film is just totally marred .  
what can you possibly say about a show of this magnitude   the sopranos  has literally redefined television as we know it . it has broken all rules  and set new standards for television excellence . everything is flawless  the writing  directing  and for me  most of all  the acting . watching this show you  ll find yourself realizing that these characters are not real . the acting tricks you into thinking there is a real tony soprano  or any character . this show is also very versatile . some people don  t watch the show because it  s violent  it  s not all about the violence  it  s about business  family  and many deeper things that all depend on what you  as a fan see . for me  i don  t like when people refer to the show  a show about the mafia . for me  it  s a show about family . a family who  through generations  happen to be apart of the mob . overall this is a masterpiece of a show . this is what television should be . right here . complex characters from stunning acting  magnificent story lines from brilliant writing  and what do you get when you mix these ingredients together  a show that defines excellence  and dares to be different .  
hey look  deal with it  there are much better portrayals of the hardship of black america than this . although i think this story is weak  my criticism is focused on the poor execution of the story  which i have mentioned  blows .  br    br   this was made in the mid     s and is horrible in the music  score department . it  s funny to see oprah as a latter  day crack  whore type .  br    br   the scene where bigger stuffs elizabeth mcgovern into the incinerator . pure classic cinema . first off  i don  t care how drunk you are  you will react to     f degree flame  no matter how bad your acting  . but they really milked that scene . . . it was comical . i  ll tell you what though  i had great satisfaction in seeing elizabeth mcgovern burn in a faux death she annoys me .  
the sopranos is arguably the greatest show in dramatic television history .  br    br   its hard to think of another series that boasts so much intelligence  sublime writing or first rate performances .  br    br   across its epic scope it produces fresh and iconic characters and a constant level of high quality . centering around the life of one tony soprano  a man who lives in two families . one is the conventional wife and two kids nuclear family the other a huge new jersey mafia group  of which he is the boss of both . played by james gandolfini  of true romance and the mexican fame  tony is a fascinating  scary but also likable guy . full praise must be given to gandolfini for making a womanising and horrifically aggressive brute a genuinely identifiable and perfect leading man . contemporay american drama has never had such an arresting and iconic figure as tony .  br    br   the cast of hundreds never boasts a flat performance and such stand out characters like paulie walnuts and ralph cifaretto will stick in your memory for ever .  br    br   the true genius of this tale however  is the creator and writers bravery and revolutionary take on a conventional drama series . twenty minute long dream sequences  powerful and original use of symbolism and metaphorical imagery and truly shocking scenes of violence . yet all this style is met by truly touching themes of love  honour and respect for family . the series never becomes cold hearted or gratuitous .  br    br   with tv now competitive and often poor the sopranos stands tall above the rest as america  s most original and compelling drama . forget family redifined . this is television redifined .  
of all the movies i  ve seen  this one rates almost at the bottom  haunted mansion  nothing but trouble and a few others keep it from reaching rock bottom .  it is hasty  the story is shaky and the events depicted are poorly acted . of course we have to lay some of this at the book writer  s door . the book the movie was filmed after is outrageously ponderous  and illogical . oprah gives a palatable appearance as  bigger  s  mom  but is not nearly at her potential . other famous performers also seem to be at their worst . the plot which centers around an african american who decided to take a job as a chauffeur . in driving the family daughter to a communist dinner he becomes acquainted . one thing leads to another and the girl gets drunk . now the family he  s working for are not against blacks  but he thinks they are . so when he comes home he puts her to bed  but she begins caterwauling . the blind mother  yes  hears this  so bigger tries to silence her  but instead smothers her . now fearing he  s really in trouble for killing a white girl he does what any logical thinking man would do   he shoves her into the coal furnace . so investigators are carrying out a missing person case and lo they check the furnace  the idiot didn  t have the foresight to get rid of the ashes . he is then arrested and the last hour or so are obnoxious segments from the courtroom . if your desperate for a bad movie  this one could do the job  but if you seriously want to learn about culture issues in th    s and    s or see a good drama  there are a lot better options . avoid this .  
i love midnight cowboy and have it in my video collection as it is a favorite of mine . what is interesting to me is how when midnight cowboy came out in      it was so shocking to viewers that it was rated x . of course  at that time x meant maturity . since i was only two years old at the time of the movie  s release  it is hard for me to imagine just how shocked viewers were back then . however  when i try to take into account that many of the topics covered in the film  which included prostitution  the title itself was slang for a male prostitute   homosexuality loneliness physical  and to some extent emotional as well  abuse and drugs are hard for many people to talk about to this day  i can begin to get a sense of what viewers of this movie thought back on its release . it is worth noting that in the      s  midnight cowboy was downgraded to an r rating and even though it is still rated r  some of the scenes could almost be rated pg    by today  s standards .  br    br   i want to briefly give a synopsis of the plot although it is probably known to almost anyone who has heard of the movie . jon voight plays a young man named joe buck from texas who decides that he can make it big as a male hustler in new york city escorting rich women . he emulates cowboy actors like roy rogers by wearing a cowboy outfit thinking that that will impress women . after being rejected by all the women he has come across  he meets a sleazy con  man named enrico  ratso  rizzo who is played by dustin hoffman . ratso convinces joe that he can make all kinds of money if he has a manager . once again  joe is conned and before long is homeless . however  joe comes across ratso and is invited to stay in a dilapidated apartment . without giving away much more of the plot  i want to say that the remainder of the movie deals with joe and ratso as they try to help one another in an attempt to fulfill their dreams . i . e . joe making it as a gigolo and ratso going down to florida where he thinks he can regain his health .  br    br   i want to make some comments about the movie itself . first of all  the acting is excellent  especially the leads . although the movie is really very sad from the beginning to the end  there are some classic scenes . in fact  there are some scenes that while they are not intended to be funny  i find them amusing . for example  there is the classic scene where dustin hoffman and jon voight are walking down a city street and a cab practically runs them over . dustin hoffman bangs on the cab and says  hey  i  m walkin  here  i  m walkin  here   i get a kick out of that scene because it is so typical of new york city where so many people are in a hurry . another scene that comes to mind is the scene where ratso  dustin hoffman  sends joe  jon voight  to a guy named o  daniel . what is amusing is that at first  we think o  daniel is there to recruit gigolos and can see why joe is getting so excited but then we begin to realize that o  daniel is nothing but a religious nut . in addition to the two scenes i mentioned  i love the scene where ratso and joe are arguing in their apartment when ratso says to joe that his cowboy outfit only attracts homosexuals and joe says in self  defense  john wayne  you gonna tell me he  s a fag   what i like is the delivery in that scene .  br    br   i would say that even though midnight cowboy was set in the late     s  much of it rings true today . that  s because although the area around   nd street in new york has been cleaned up in the form of disneyfication in the last several years  homelessness is still just as prevalent there now as it was   years ago . also  many people have unrealistic dreams of how they are going to strike it big only to have their dreams smashed as was the case with the jon voight character . one thing that impresses me about jon voight  s character is how he is a survivor and i felt that at the end of the movie  he had matured a great deal and that ratso  dustin hoffman  s character  was a good influence on him .  br    br   in conclusion  i want to say that i suggest that when watching this movie  one should watch it at least a couple of times because there are so many things that go on . for example  there are a bunch of flashback and dream sequences that made more sense to me after a couple of viewings . also  what i find interesting is that there is a lot in this movie that is left to interpretation such as what really happened with joe buck  jon voight  s character  and the people who were in his life in texas . even the ending  while i don  t want to give it away for those who have not seen the movie  is rather open  ended .  
i  m not sure what diane silver was thinking when she was making this movie  but it obviously had nothing to do with richard wright  s novel  which the movie is based on .  br    br   we read the novel this past summer for ap english    and just watched the film . during periodic note  taking and checking of the clock  i contemplated the chances of being struck by lightning . of course  the sky was completely clear  and i was forced to watch the rest of the movie . . . and then write a   paragraph essay on it .  br    br   wright  s novel discussed very real themes  of the mind of a killer and the psychology behind it . silver  s movie turned a murderer into a victim  which is not what wright wanted  see  how bigger was born      .  br    br   i  m going to make this short and sweet if you want to leave your consciousness  in raphael lambert  s words  unsullied  skip the movie and read the book . the     adaptation is not thought  provoking material .  br    br   . . . sigh now i have to write the essay .  
first i would like to say how great this . it is astounding and sometimes shocking . and to say the least i  m   years old and this is my favorite movie  i can definitely stand a boring film  but this is anything but boring . it is like a trip through humanity . its stark realism shows through this monumental masterpiece . it is a heart wrenching tale of two down and outers  voight and hoffman  who build a mutual friendship . joe buck  voight  a naive texan stud comes to new york to make it rich by entertaining women . soon he meets rico  ratso  rizzo  hoffman   who is a poor man barely being able to pay rent . ratso becomes joe  s  manager  but soon both men can  t find joe a job which results in stealing food . as they try and survive on the streets of new york we realize how tough it is . they can  t get joe a girl until they meet a lady at a party . joe makes some money and soon joe takes ratso on a ratso  s dream spot  florida . the final five minutes are heart breaking yet some of the greatest moments in the film . from midnight cowboy we get a stark and sometimes disturbing urban view on life .  
as good an advert for republicanism as you  re ever likely to see   mayerling  is an everyday story of royal folk in late nineteenth century austria . set during one of europe  s seemingly incessant internal turmoils it concerns itself with the emperor franz joseph  mr james mason   his rebellious son  the crown prince rudolf  mr omar sharif  the empress  miss ava gardner  and various mistresses  secret policemen  spies  extravagantly  uniformed popinjays  gypsies  dancers  wives  soldiers  swans  horses and the bizarre inbred web of european royalty at the time of franz joseph  s austro  hungarian empire . filmed in what the old movie posters used to call  a riot of color  it resembles nothing more than an expensively  dressed but intellectually  challenged production of  the student prince  . mr james mason  wearing a very natty little white number  utilises his all  purpose mittel  european accent whenever he remembers . i am a great admirer of his and i sincerely hope the remuneration was comensurate with the distaste he clearly felt for the character he was playing . mr omar sharif  who built a career largely founded on looking directly at the camera with his big brown eyes and looking soulful  gives a stupefyingly monotonous performance as his son the crown prince . he is utterly unconvincing as a man who  in the movie at least  cut a swathe through the distaff side of the austrian aristocracy . with his well  buttered locks firmly in place he preens and poses in ever more unlikely uniforms . as a rebel he talks the talk but conspicuously fails to walk the walk  leaving a bottom button undone on one of his tunics is about as far as his defiance goes . unhappily married  he falls in love with a commoner .  forbidden love  is one of the movie  s come  ons . as she is played by the most uncommon miss catherine deneuve he is scarcely pushing the envelope there . miss deneuve has a profile to die for and we see rather a lot of it  particularly in the sequence set at the ballet . now i love ballet as much as the next man  but this sequence does seem to go on for an excessive amount of time  a more cynical critic might consider it to be  padding  . rudolf  s mother  the empress is played by miss ava gardner . she gives the part some good old american oooomph  making her a bit like  auntie mame   but it  s done with undeniable style . rudolf is certainly very fond of his mother  i  ll put it no more strongly than that . the only performance worth watching is that of mr james robertson justice as sir lancelot spratt  sorry  edward  prince of wales . he is so wonderfully unconcerned about everything going on around him it  s a joy to behold . i waited vainly for him to ask rudolf the immortal question  what  s the bleeding time   . i am not qualified to dispute  mayerling   s historical accuracy  but  in my opinion  everything else about it is risible . it is a ruritanian opera buffa without the tunes to send you home from the theatre whistling .  
i didn  t at all think of it this way  but my friend said the first thing he thought when he heard the title  midnight cowboy  was a gay porno . at that point  all i had known of it was the reference made to it in that  seinfeld  episode with jerry trying to get kramer to florida on that bus and kramer  s all sick and with a nosebleed .  br    br   the movie was great  and surprisingly upbeat and not all pissy pretentious pessimistic like some movies i can  t even remember because they  re all crap .  br    br   the plot basically consisted of a naive young cowboy joe buck going to new york trying to be a hustler  a male prostitute  basically   thinking it  ll be easy pickings  only to hit the brick wall hard when a woman ends up hustling him  charging him for their sexual encounter .  br    br   then he meets enrico salvatore rizzo  called  ratso  by everyone and the cute gay guys who make fun of him all the time . you think of him as a scoundrel  but a lovable one  like han solo or lando calrissian  and surprisingly he and joe become friends  and the movie is so sweet and heartwarming watching them being friendlier and such and such . rizzo reveals himself to actually be a sad  pitiable man who  s very sick  and very depressed and self  conscious  hates being called  ratso  and wants to go to florida  where he thinks life will be much better and all his problems resolved  and he  ll learn to be a cook and be famous there .  br    br   it  s heartwarming watching joe do all that he does to get them both down to florida  along with many hilarious moments  like ratso trying to steal food at that hippie party  and getting caught by the woman who says  gee  well  you know  it  s free . you don  t have to steal it .  and he says  well if it  s free then i ain  t stealin  it   and that classic moment completely unscripted and unscheduled where hoffman almost gets hit by that taxi  and screams  hey  i  m walkin  here  i  m walkin  here     and the acting is so believable  you  d never believe joe buck would grow up to be the distinguished and respected actor jon voight  and ratso rizzo would grow up to be the legendary and beloved dustin hoffman . it  s not the first time they  ve worked together in lead roles  but the chemistry is so thick and intense .  br    br   then there  s the sad part that i believe is quite an overstatement to call it  depressing  . ratso rizzo is falling apart all throughout the movie  can barely walk  barely eat  coughs a lot  is sick  and reaches a head  point on the bus on its way to florida . he  s hurting badly  and only miles away from miami  he finally dies on the bus . the bus driver reassures everyone that nothing  s wrong  and continues on . sad  but not in the kind of way that  d make you go home and cry and mope around miserably as though you  ve just lost your dog of   years .  br    br   all in all  great movie . and the soundtrack pretty much consists just of  everybody  s talking   played all throughout the movie at appropriate times . an odd move  but a great one  as the song is good and fits in with the tone of the movie perfectly . go see it  it  s great  go buy it  
watch the     version . as personally annoying i find charles boyer  s voice  he  s more of a match to pay cosmopolitan  depressed rudolf   i mean omar sharif tries but  no   too cute and vibrant . catherine denueve  sp  besides being too old looks nothing like marie   nothing  she looks too sophisticated to even think of dying for love of this man in such a fashion .  br    br   the only actor in the entire movie who conveys the role they  re playing is ava gardner whose appearance as empress elisabeth on the screen is fittingly brief  and look up pictures of the empress there  s more than a passing resemblance  as historically  empress elisabeth wasn  t involved that much in rudolf  s life .  
this is a great example of a good  dumb movie . no  it is not high art by any means . nor is the script anywhere close to a woody allen or mel brooks . but so what  the killer tomatoes series  four movies and a cartoon series  are basically good  natured romps gleefully trampling on the kind of territory the zuckers ruled before they switched to making serious flicks .  br    br   as the title suggests  this fourth installment of the killer tomatoes trilogy deals with the killer tomatoes plot against france . in this case  professor gangrene  john astin  s  rd time in the role  has a plan to rule france through an ancient prophecy about the return of the rightful king of france . steve lundquist returns as igor  a humanoid tomato who wants to be a sportscaster and who just happens to be a dead ringer for the long  lost true king of france . obviously he also plays the aforementioned l  l t k of f  happily skewering the french language .  br    br   opposing them is the fearless fuzzy tomato  like the others  ft was introduced in the second film and would be a main character in the cartoon  and his human allies . mark price  recently unemployed as a result of the conclusion of the family ties series  plays a thinly disguised version of himself  passing himself as  michael j fox  as a way to win the girl of his dreams . and angela visser is a dream as marie  gleefully bouncing between unabashed virginal sexuality and borderline psychosis . oh that the former miss netherlands had had more of a film career  another returning member of the killer tomatoes stock company is rick rockwell  now best known as the hapless title subject of  who wants to marry a millionaire    . like co  creator john de bello  rockwell works both in front of and behind the camera in this series .  br    br   what can you say about jon de bello  not much  really  except that he had a singular vision and managed to pull it off and  having done that  has apparently dropped into obscurity . john  if you ever see this  thanks for giving us the killer tomatoes .  br    br   the script is heavily but not obnoxiously aware that this is just a movie . like return of the killer tomatoes  the action occasionally veers off the set and into the middle of the film crew . and mark price has a funny forum to complain about his own lack of success compared to his former costar michael j fox . this is the biggest budgeted of all the killer tomatoes flicks and is a nice send  off to the series . okay  the show then moved to fox kids as a cartoon series  which was also quite clever   but cartoons just aren  t the same .  
i enjoy watching western films but this movie takes the biscuit . the script and dialogue is laughable . the acting was awful  where did they get them from  music was ok i have to say . luckily i didn  t buy or rent the movie but its now disposed of .  br    br   i was geared up at the beginning when the stranger  martin sheen  started to tell his story . i have to admit i did enjoy the confrontation between hopalong and tex where hopalong shot tex  s finger off and told him to practise for   years to reach his league . but thats where it all went pear shaped thereafter . i had to watch the whole film in the hope that it would get better  never did .  
jon voight is brilliant in midnight cowboy  but hoffman  s performance  though reminiscent of his later turn in rainman  is the kind of performance that keeps me watching movies . as a portrayal of a new york character  only daniel day lewis  portrayal of bill butcher in gangs of new york comes to mind as comparable  and day doesn  t give his character the emotional depth that hoffman gives ratso .  br    br   it  s typical of hoffman  s way of acting that the actor we tend to identify most with midnight cowboy is voight . i think hoffman is one of the  or  best actors in the history of film at playing off the people around him in such a way that he raises their performances far above their normal levels .  br    br   voight  s buck is so naive that he would float out of the film altogether  except that ratso pulls him down  pulls him down  but also teaches him  a lot about how to survive and  more importantly  how to live .  br    br   midnight cowboy is a movie about escape that turns into a movie about finding yourself . i think that  as gritty a movie as it is  it has a very beautiful message  that no matter how much a loser you might be  ratso clearly defines  loser    if you can find a way to be true to yourself  you are in possession of the secret of life  and you might even be able to share that insight with someone else .  br    br   i can  t help but compare midnight cowboy to klute  from a few years later  which i think is more like a movie about finding yourself that turns into a movie about escape .  
despite having known people who are either great fans of noam chomsky  or think he  s a tired relic from the     s  i really had no opinion of the man  save that i knew he gained fame as a linguist  although i could not elucidate any of his theories  and that he was a liberal socialist with marxist leanings . so  stumbling across the dvd of the     documentary noam chomsky rebel without a pause  in a used video store  a film which followed him on a     book tour for his book      i decided to get it  just so i could have a little bit of knowledge about the man the next time a person  pro or con  spoke of him . while glad i got the film  my initial reaction to this dull and ill edited hagiography was  so what  s all the fuss about   br    br   for a man with so many degrees  lauded as  the most important intellectual alive   by the new york times  according to the dvd  s case  there sure was not a lot there  intellectually speaking . i know i would chew him up and spit him out in a debate  and i wouldn  t even want to watch what a william f . buckley could do to him . granted  the whole film was seemingly about chomsky seeing conspiracies everywhere  and having glazed eyed coeds nod in bewildering approval of the most inane and outrageous things he  d say  rather than being on linguistics  so maybe that  s the reason he came off so badly . but  again  if he is a linguist  and tops in his field  why in the world would anyone care what he has to say on anything outside his field of expertise   . even worse are his acolytes  who seem to further insulate the man from reality  by fostering delusions that chomsky is a target for zionist assassins . what little i knew of chomsky before watching this film  this much i knew he was generally considered a has been  and pretty much irrelevant intellectually  since the fall of the soviet empire . the film is so poorly structured  and without a narrative thread  that it  s difficult to separate all of the jumble . his wife  carol  as example  apparently gave one interview  which was chopped up and dropped wherever in the film . she seems a nice enough woman  but wholly out of her element answering anything but the most basic questions about their life . the lone interesting thing she says is that     was a great thing for the chomskys  for he has reaped a great deal of money in speaking fees since then .  br    br   not surprisingly  this sort of film gives almost no biographical background . it  s assumed that all viewers must know all the plaudits this  great man  bears . chomsky is rarely interviewed one on one . stylistically  there are no camera movements  no interesting edits  nor any signature touches  and most of the film is disjunct rambles by chomsky  videotaped huzzahs of chomsky declaiming on this or that  and slack  jawed and awed students looking at him as if he were immaterial  that is when dimwitted coeds are not asking barely audible and ridiculously simplistic questions to him . this is really poor film  making by director and editor will pascoe  who in the dvd  s filmmaker statement  shows he  s yet another uncritical acolyte of chomsky  s . other than that  one of the surest signs that this is not an objective documentary  but mere agitprop  and a vanity piece of agitprop  at that  is that not a single time is chomsky shown struggling with an answer . he seems to be a font of knowledge that has no bounds .  br    br   given that much of this dreck was filmed during chomsky  s lectures at mcmaster university  in ontario  canada  prior to the american invasion of iraq in      much of what chomsky says seems as remote as things from the vietnam war era . yes  he makes some good points  here and there  on american media complicity before the war  but he follows them up with sheer lunacy  for he seems to not realize that most conspiracies are ad hoc  and not fully plotted out cabals . as example  he claims that the advertising industry is a cabal that mercilessly controls the populace  but says not a word about the zombied populace that lets itself be so controlled . similarly  he claims trilateralists run the world and that people  s fear of crime is yet another cabal  s result . of course  that claim so fully explains away rape crisis centers  and all that wasted time and money district attorneys  offices consume . he also makes the absurd claim that cuba has been the victim of terrorism for decades  when castro and company were great sponsors of it  in latin america  asia  and africa  until the soviet union fell . i can only guess that the ufo conspiracists are just waiting for chomsky to proclaim that gray aliens have set up species  mixing impregnation centers up in idaho .  br    br   in his simpleminded world without grays  chomsky is frighteningly as dense as the members of bushco  whom he reviles  are even more so since they lay no claim to being intellectuals . in short  chomsky is a man living in the past  in over his head on most issues  and out of his depth intellectually . near this film  s end he warns   be cautious when you hear about intellectuals being fighters for justice   yet one can only laugh  as the man seemingly has never met a revolutionary person nor idea that he didn  t like  no matter how barbarous their crimes  and anti  intellectual their posit . please  pause before you waste your time and money on this silly  and already irrelevant  dvd .  
i was going through a list of oscar winners and was surprised to see that this film beat butch cassidy and the sundance kid for best picture in     . after actually seeing it  however  i  m not surprised anymore . it was way ahead of its time in regards to its style  cinematography  and use of flashback to help develop joe buck  s character .  br    br   the most amazing thing to me is the depth of joe buck  s character in such a short movie . i think voight captured the naivete and the viciousness  when  provoked . the two scenes that really caught me were after he gets the blowjob in the theater and when the older man solicits him . i think when he looks in the mirror he  s trying to see if it  s really him that has done  or is about to do  something terrible .  br    br   i think it was a brilliant decision by hoffman to take this role . otherwise he may have been typecast after the graduate . anyway  this considered an all  time great for a reason .  
first off  i agree with quite a bit that escapes mr . chomsky  s mouth . his matter  of  fact delivery of interesting counterpoint is what makes the man a hit on the university campus circus . he comes across likable  unassuming  pragmatic . he doesn  t cater to the current political style  obnoxious bi  partisanship  and he sets his sights on the far left as well as the far right  chastising both  and for good reason .  br    br   unfortunately  the film itself is a dud . in fact  i would not even call this a documentary but rather just a collection of speeches . watching  rebel without a pause  is no different from watching a speaker on a  am taped segment on cspan . there are no camera movements  no edits  no stylistic touches . there is no story  no narrative .  br    br   technically speaking  the production is strictly amateurish . audio is terrible and inconsistent sometimes we cannot hear noam speak  other times we cannot hear the questions that are being posited by those in attendance . when noam is speaking rarely are we allowed to see the reactions of the audience except when we are given a quick shot of his wife who apparently attends every one of his speeches and beams with pride every time we see her .  br    br   i cannot recommend this film and would say that you  re probably better off checking out his taped speeches on cassette or cd to listen to in the car .  br    br    out of   stars . . . and i  m in a generous mood today .  
jon voight plays a man named joe . joe is shook up by a haunting childhood . he has a strong fear and hatred of religion due to his traumatic baptism . he quits his job as a dishwasher and goes out to become a hustler for wealthy people . he meets a misfit named ratso  dustin hoffman  and the two for a relationship . they go out and work together in helping each other out . they become thieves . the two grow remarkably close and soon can  t live without each other . however  there is something very important that ratso hasn  t told joe  and it could destroy any hope they have of surviving the city together . this is one of the greatest films ever made . it is a heartbreaking and shattering portrait of too very lonely men who have nothing to lose but each other . their story is devastating to watch  but is ultimately important for people to see . it  s one of those films where the characters are pretty much just like the seemingly crazy people you sometimes find on the street . the difference is that this film is from their perspective . their lives are shown to us and it  s devastating to see the pedestrians in this film treat them like dirt  especially if we at one time were one of those people . however  the film doesn  t try to guilt trip you . instead  it shows you the rough side of the lifestyle of hustling . it is not a pleasant and easygoing lifestyle like many hollywood films portray it such as milk money and pretty woman . the lifestyle of being a male hustler is a dirty  gritty  and ugly life and it  s sad that people have degraded themselves like the character of joe in this film does . what startles me the most about this film was that it came out in      and it has stood the test of time perfectly . today  s audiences will still find great meaning in this film and will still love it and cherish it just as much as critics and audiences did everywhere in     . the film was rated x  but what i notice about this film is that the sexuality is portrayed in a much more honest  realistic  and effective way . anybody who has had sex before will know how humorous  awkward  and scary as hell it can be and this film doesn  t shy away from any of that . the sex in this film may not be as graphic as in once was thought to be . movies that were x rated such as midnight cowboy  a clockwork orange  greetings  last tango in paris  and fritz the cat all seem remarkably tame compared to the shocking things that people can get away with an r rating today . the sex scenes in midnight cowboy will seem quite strong but they certainly aren  t sexy . they are not graphic  but they are realistic  and that  s what people should keep in mind when they view this film . the course language that is used in the film  particularly the word  fag  is used effectively and is not gratuitous . the violence is very shocking to watch even today  but again it is necessary to the plot to depict the world of a hustler . i  m really glad to see that midnight cowboy is not dated and is still just as affecting as it was in      if not more . i can  t recommend this classic enough and i do hope that it continues to find an audience because it really is a very special and unforgettable experience that will not soon be forgotten .  br    br   pros  br    br    jon voight and dustin hoffman are both harrowing and amazing to watch . they have never played roles like this before or since and they are completely different from usual . you  ll forget who is playing them within minutes   br    br    beautiful score  br    br    not at all dated or campy like many films of that decade come off as today  br    br    fantastic and fast editing job  br    br   cons  br    br    for mature audiences only  br    br    the opening scenes are well done  but they could be just a little stronger .  
a documentarist  like any filmmaker  must convey a compelling story . will pascoe fails utterly in this effort  cobbling together uninspired snippets of chomsky  s wisdom from a visit to mcmaster university in hamilton . the footage is shot amateurishly and in video . pascoe  s only effort at cohering the fragments into a whole is by periodically throwing a vague title on the screen         activism    truth .   br    br   lame .  br    br   compare this with documentaries like  the corporation  or  the fog of war  which create a narrative drawing material from interviews  stock footage  and filmed footage . in the end each delivers a poignant and insightful message deftly and intelligently .  br    br   the only saving graces of the film are chomsky  s nonchalantly delivered upendings of historical dogma  and the fact that the running time is only   minutes .  br    br   one of the more interesting passages was chomsky  s recounting of his experience with national public radio . he describes the conservative media as more accommodating to dissenting views  while npr  s liberal dogma strait  jackets its interviewees and dramatically limits its permitted messages . yet another media outlet to be skeptical of .  br    br   this documentary is for noam chomsky completists only .  
although i love this movie  i can barely watch it  it is so real . so  i put it on tonight and hid behind my bank of computers . i remembered it vividly  but just wanted to see if i could find something i hadn  t seen before . . . . . . . . i didn  t that  s because it  s so real to me .  br    br   another  user  wrote the ages of the commentators should be shown with their summary . i  m all for that  it  s absolutely obvious that most of these people who  ve made comments about  midnight cowboy  may not have been born when it was released . they are mentioning other movies jon voight and dustin hoffman have appeared in  at a later time . i  ll be just as ruinously frank i am    years  old . if you  re familiar with some of my other comments  you  ll be aware that i was a professional female  impersonator for   of those years  and also have appeared in film  you  d never recognize me  even if you were familiar with my night  club persona . do you think i know a lot about the characters in this film  you bet i do   . . . .  br    br   . . . . and am not the least bit ashamed . if you haven  t run  into some of them  it  s your loss  but  there  s a huge chance you have  but just didn  t know it . so many moms  dads  sons and daughters could surprise you . it should be no secret many actors  actresses have emerged from the backgrounds of  midnight cowboy  . who is to judge  i can name several  current big  time stars who were raised on the seedy streets of many cities  and weren  t the least bit damaged by their time spent there . i make no judgment  because these are humans  just as we all are  love  courage  kindness  compassion  intelligence  humility you name the attributes  they are all there  no matter what the package looks like .  br    br   the  trivia  about hoffman actually begging on the streets to prove he could do the role of  ratzo  is a gem  he can be seen driving his auto all around los angeles  how do you think he gets his input  i can also name lots of male  stars who have stood on the streets and cruised the bars for money . although the nightclub i last worked in for   years was world  famous and legit  i can also name some huge stars that had to be constantly chased out our back  street  looking to make a pick  up .  br    br   this should be no surprise today  although it  s definitely action in hollywood and other cities  large and small . wake  up and smell the roses . they smell no less sweet because they are of a different hue .  br    br   some of the  users  thought  joe buck  had been molested by his grandma . although i saw him in her bed with a boyfriend  i didn  t find any incidence of that . believe  it  or  not  kids haven  t always had their own rooms  because that is a must today should tell you something kinda kinky may be going  on in the master  bedroom . whose business  hoffman may have begged for change on the streets  but some of the  users  point  out that jon voight was not a major star for the filming of  midnight cowboy   his actual salary would surprise you . i think he was robbed  no one can doubt the clarity he put into his role  nor that it made him a star for such great work as  deliverance  . he defined a potent man who had conquered his devils and was the better for it few people commented he had been sodomized in this movie . the end of the   s may have been one of the first films to be so open  but society has always been hip .  br    br   i also did not find any homosexuality between  ratzo  and  joe   they were clearly opposites  unappealing to one another . they found a much purely higher relationship  true friendship . if you didn  t understand that at the end of the movie  then you  ve wasted your time .  joe  s  bewilderment  but unashamed devotion was apparent . yes  voight deserved an oscar for this role  one that john wayne could never pull  off  and he was as handsome in his youth .  br    br   hoffman is hoffman  you expect fireworks . he gave them superbly . wayne got his oscar . every character in this film was beautifully defined  if you don  t think they are still around  you are mistaken .  the party    attend some of the  raves  younger people attend . . . . . if you can get in . look at the lines of people trying to get into the hot clubs  you  ll see every outrageous personality .  br    br   brenda viccaro was the epitome of society  s sleek women who have to get down to the nitty  gritty at times . if you were shocked by her brilliant acting  thinking  this isn  t real   look at today  s  ladies  who live on the brink of disrepute . . . . and are admired for it .  br    br   the brutality  joe  displayed in robbing the old guy  unfortunately  is also a part of life . you don  t have to condone it  but it  s not too much different than any violence .  joe  pointedly named his purpose  in that situation  i  d have handed  over the money quicker than he asked for it . that  s one of the scenes that makes this movie a break  through  one which i do not watch . i get heartbroken for both . . . . .  br    br   john schlesinger certainly must have been familiar with this sordidness to direct this chillingly beautiful eye  opener  waldo salt didn  t write from clairvoyance . anyone who had any part of getting it to the screen must have realized they were making history  and should be proud for the honesty of it . perhaps  only in america  can we close our eyes to unpleasant situations  while other movie  makers make no compunction in presenting it to the public . not looking doesn  t mean it isn  t there  give me the truth every time . bravo  to all . . . . . .  
except for the better than average acting skills of the two leads  this movie is really  really bad . the cheap production values don  t help . of course  you wouldn  t really notice that the production values are cheap if they didn  t keep trying to convince you they had a production values to begin with . even for a b  movie genre freak like myself  this movie really sucks .  
acidic  unremitting  and beautiful  john schlesinger  s masterpiece is no less effective today than   years ago  when american life was even more disorienting . the film probably could not have been made at any other time in history  because so many upheavals were taking place in the late     s final dissolution of the great american west  the intensification of war in vietnam  and the clash of social ideals that were bewildering in variety .  br    br    midnight cowboy  is widely known as the only academy award  winning film to garner an  x  rating  but there is much more behind its fame it also exceeds the norm as a work of art . while this film  from the novel by james leo herlihy  has much to say about the erosion of american life  it transcends    s politics by looking into the hidden bonds of friendship and dealing with themes familiar to man in all eras . the two main characters  in fact  are standard antiheroes  men who have nothing grand to offer but plenty to vent about our world .  br    br   the initial focus of  midnight cowboy  is on    year  old joe buck  a physically imposing texas native played by jon voight . in the opening scenes  we follow joe  s bus trip to new york city  where he plans on using one of his few genuine talents  the ability to pleasure women  and earn his fortune as a hustler . we learn upon his arrival that joe is laughably nave in the sex trade . garbed in cowboy duds and proclaiming himself as  one hell of a stud   the young texan flounders through his early tricks before partnering with enrico  ratso  rizzo  dustin hoffman   a sickly con man and petty thief from the bronx . ratso  who is short  thin  and with a limp  proves of little monetary help to joe . they quickly run out of cash and as life grows severe in the winter months  joe and ratso shiver in a condemned manhattan apartment building with hardly a dollar or square meal to their names . it is over this period that a strong friendship develops between them  the two men relying on each other to battle tremendous odds .  br    br   throughout the film  joe hearkens back to earlier years in texas  including life with his grandmother sally  ruth white   who served as guardian his harried relationship with  crazy  annie  jennifer salt   a notorious local girl and a traumatic event in which joe and annie were assaulted by town folk who wanted to break up the love affair . very much of its time   midnight cowboy  strings together a wild array of flashbacks  dream sequences  and psychedelic imagery that shed light on the main characters while also distorting their backgrounds . for every moment of understanding we gain from joe and ratso  more questions about their lives are generated . both men are no doubt in tatters they have no clear sense of direction until ratso falls into the throes of illness and joe finally senses a purpose for being alive . this revelation pushes  midnight cowboy  to its conclusion  a rather hopeful one in a very grim story .  br    br   while joe and ratso badly need some luck  the direction of john schlesinger is clearly outlined and uses the gritty atmosphere of waldo salt  s screenplay in allowing voight and hoffman to thrive . their interactions look extremely natural and the supporting cast  which features sylvia miles  brenda vaccaro  and members of the andy warhol clique  offers itself as an essential part of the storyline . the flashback sequences involving voight  ruth white  and jennifer salt are particularly impressive in dealing with the heartbreak of time lost .  br    br   any young person wondering about the psychedelic era is advised to watch this film  thanks to the excellent cinematography of adam holender   the boy who could fly    smoke   and editing by hugh robertson   shaft   . the visuals of  midnight cowboy  work with its soundtrack  assembled by john barry  as a cohesive unit  sometimes foreseeing music videos of the past two decades . the lead song everybody  s talking is sung by nilsson  which was actually used as a temporary track during the editing phase . the memorable harmonica theme is played by jean  toots  thielemans .  br    br    midnight cowboy  has been released in a two  disc collector  s edition by mgm  ua  which contains expanded features and commentary . also available is a     dvd release  used for this review   which offers dual widescreen and standard format with  .  dolby digital sound enhancement three  language subtitles and closed captioning french  dubbing   a theatrical re  release trailer  not the  original  as advertised   and an eight  page production booklet . both dvd editions contain a   th anniversary restored version of the film  showing its original brilliance . well  deserving of its three oscars  best picture  schlesinger  waldo salt  and additional nominations  voight  hoffman  sylvia miles  hugh robertson    midnight cowboy  will be sure to hold its place on the list of immortal classics .  br    br     out of   
this is a very cheaply made werewolf flick . the video is dark and poorly lit . the audio is uneven and poorly recorded and mixed . the script is cliche ridden junk with the usual characters like the tough detective who shoots werewolves with his silver handgun  filled of course with silver bullets . the acting is as wooden as the characters . the fx are non  existent  lots of extreme close  ups of werewolf jaws and biting . the only thing that is shown is lots of soft  core ta . instead of dropping    for this tripe check out a really great recent werewolf pic  dog soldiers  with sean pertwee .  
what makes midnight cowboy into a successful movie is the way in which joe buck becomes bonded to ratso rizzo through a series of hardships that affect them both . there really aren  t many glimpses of hope in this film for either character  but the hard realities that beset them both give the film its own type of optimism that these men can at least find humanity within each other .  br    br   this film features jon voight  s finest performance and probably dustin hoffman  s as well . the rest of the cast is made up of unknowns  though it is rounded out by a fine series of character actors  including the cowpoke on the bus at the start of the film . also  for those interested  andy warhol  s apprentice paul morrissey shows up briefly during the party scene .  br    br   if you haven  t seen this movie  it is essential . check it out .  
what more can i say  the acting was  almost without exception  amateurish . the directing and continuity were pitiful . the sceenplay was predictable down to the very last scene and the dialog tedious . one of the features on the dvd was labeled  gag reel  but that could have been a description of a viewer  s reaction to most of the movie .  br    br   one of the most amusing things was in the director  s comments on the dvd . he said  with a straight face  that he had set out to make a movie with high production values and a name cast  and that he had succeeded . with delusions like that it  s easy to understand how the movie turned out as it did .  br    br   perhaps the most disappointing aspect was the monster . the darkwolf suit was a modified ape suit  per the  making of  feature on the dvd  and rather looked it . the mask and claws were little better than off the shelf jobs from any costume store . the cgi effects were painfully obvious and of quality similar to an inexpensive video game .  
  midnight cowboy  is one of those films thats been proclaimed a masterpiece with good reason  it really is one of the finest films ever made in america . its both artistically valid yet entirely accessible and commercial . no wonder it was a huge success when initially released . but be warned  its also one of the most heartbreaking films ever made . the characters are memorable  well  developed  and ultimately tragic . the filmmakers should be applauded for not giving us the hollywood ending  something which was basically mandatory by the   s . still  this is why i treasure the years of     to     for american film . its a time when well  made  innovative  and most of all bleak films could be made with the big budgets that hollywood could offer . all this was over by the time  star wars  was released .  br    br   the direction by john schlesinger makes the material work . it combines a simplistic style with some experimental editing . unlike many other films featuring these psychedelic effects   midnight cowboy  has aged quite well . its still as powerful now as it was when initially released . the acting however is what makes this a masterpiece . the characters  backgrounds are never fully explained  but the performances make them completely developed . both jon voight and dustin hoffman are absolutely memorable and sympathetic  despite their sometimes reprehensible actions  . plus  being a fan of vintage exploitation films  i loved the scenes set on the infamously sleazy   nd street .  midnight cowboy  is close to being perfect and one of the most powerful films ever made .         
this is only the second time i  ve felt compelled enough to comment at imdb about a film . the first time was for probably the best movie i  ve ever seen and that was for memento .  br    br   seeing darkwolf is at the other end of the scale compared to memento  as in the worst film i  ve had the misfortune to see . apart from the two scenes containing naked women there is nothing in this movie to raise it from the trash  pile that it is .  br    br   let  s see  apalling effects  cliched script  bad acting and about   minutes too long . my wife and i laughed through most of it in disbelief at how bad . amazingly i watched it to the end  how i did that i don  t know  avoid     
midnight cowboy made a big fuss when it was released in      drawing an x rating . by today  s standards  it would be hard pressed to pull an r rating . jon voight  who has been better  is competent in his role as joe buck  an out of town hick wanting to make it big with the ladies in new york city . he meets a seedy street hustler named ratso rizzo  who tries to befriend buck for his own purposes . the two eventually forge a bond that is both touching and pathetic . as ratso  dustin hoffman simply shines . hoffman has often been brilliant  but never more so than in this portrayal . he is so into character that all else around him pales in comparison . losing the academy award to john wayne is one of the most ridiculous decisions ever made by the academy of motion picture arts and sciences . director schlessinger has a deft hand with his production  but this film has a grungy underbelly that leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the viewer . worth seeing for hoffman  s performance alone .  
all the bare chested women in the world couldn  t keep me from hitting the stop button about a third of the way through this awful rubbish . with the derisory acting  equally terrible script plus the poor cgi fx to match this movie is an insult to the werewolf genre . it is supposed to be serious  which in itself would be funny if this film could even make it to the level of being a bad joke .  br    br   this is one of those movies where the people behind the camera are obviously competent but are too lazy to make something even one quarter decent . avoid at all costs and watch one of the classic werewolf movies instead .  br    br    out of     
midnight cowboy is not for everybody . it  s raw  painful  and realistic but very entertaining . the lead actors jon voight and dustin hoffman who would go on to become oscar winning actors deliver amazing performances . voight as the texas hustler  joe buck  who migrates from small town texas to new york city to become a hustler . he does not apologize for his chosen profession but it is not that easy . the new york city women like the rich lady played by georgeann johnson and cass played by oscar nominated sylvia miles are different than texas women . sadly  buck is trying to escape from his past life in texas . he was raised by his grandmother  sally buck  played by the wonderful actress ruth white who died in     from cancer . the locations in new york city are wonderful to watch as is the relationship between fatso played by hoffman and buck  s characters evolve into a moving male to male friendship . the men are struggling to survive the new york city life by not playing by the rules like getting a real job . as the film evolves  buck  s past comes to the surface and it  s haunting but not clear . the film is not for children but compared to today  s films and television programming  midnight cowboy might be more tame . i can  t forget a young brenda vaccaro and a party that you can  t forget . it  s also a tearjerker of a film  so get your hankies out too .  
let me start by saying that i  d read a number of reviews before renting this film and kind of knew what to expect . still  i was surprised by just how bad it was .  br    br   i am a big werewolf fan  and have grown accustomed to forgiving a great deal when watching one . most of them have sub  par effects  poor acting  and weak storylines  at best rehashed from earlier films  . so far  with the possible exception of some of the later  howling  series films  this is the worst of the lot .  br    br   first  the story . it  s been quoted several times in reviews on this site  so i won  t go into specifics . however  it is very obvious that the writer  s  had absolutely no affinity for lycanthropic monsters . as so often happens when a horror film is given to a writer who considers themselves  above  such fare  they tried to come up with a new spin on the werewolf mythos . that  s fine  but a non  horror fan trying to do this generally has disregard for the intelligence and sophistication of the horror audience and ends up writing down to them . the plot feels like a parody of werewolf films  and the events depicted just ring so false that i felt my intelligence was being seriously insulted . tv news footage  for example  never pans away from the reporter to close  up on someone in the crowd behind them . give the characters and the viewers credit for being able to spot the bad guy in the scene without using a flashing neon sign . and that  s just the tip of the iceberg .  br    br   as for effects  i have never seen a less believable werewolf . i  d have been happier with lon chaney jr . in crepe hair . the beast they used look a great deal like . . . well  like a guy in a cheap rubber suit with some hair glued on and some truly awful animatronics . and  i know that many people have already criticized the cg  but my god it was awful . one scene features a woman changing  and starts with a completely cg version of the actress  nude but for some reason without nipples . my first thought was   hey  why is one of the characters from  reboot  turning into a silly looking werewolf    br    br   anyway  i like to look for positives in any film  and there were a few . the cinematography was passable  the film was shot all  digital  which is interesting  and some of the performances were not terrible . it was also interesting seeing tippi hedron as the world  s most well made  up homeless woman  and kane hodder as the title bad guy . also  the yellow power ranger got all growed up and . . . well  damn . and if you  re looking for skin  there  s some pretty tasty examples . this ends the male  pig segment of the review .  br    br   overall  if you want a good werewolf film  try  an american werewolf in london   the original  the howling    dog soldiers   or even  the wolfen   though that one  s got more wolf than were  . if you  re a lycanthrope completest  then take a gander . otherwise  give this one a miss .  
hardly the stuff dreams are made of is this pursuit of the brass ring by a naive hustler  jon voigt  and his lame con  man sidekick  dustin hoffman   soon to forge a friendship based on basic survival skills .  br    br   a daring film for its time  and a foremost example of the kind of gritty landscape being explored in the more graphic films of the    s . symbolic of the  end of innocence  in american films  since it was the only x  rated film to win a best picture oscar .  br    br   jon voigt is the male hustler who comes to the big city expecting to find women an easy way to make money when they fight over his body  but soon finds the city is a cold place with no welcome mat for his ilk . befriended by a lame con  man  dustin hoffman   he goes through a series of serio  comic adventures that leave him disillusioned and bitter  ready to leave the confines of a cold water flat for the sunshine promised in florida  a land his friend  ratzo  dreams of living in .  br    br   but even in this final quest  the two are losers . john schlesinger has directed with finesse from a brilliant script by waldo salt  and john barry  s haunting  midnight cowboy  theme adds to the poignant moments of search and desperation .  br    br   summing up a true american classic honestly facing a tough subject and daring to show the underbelly of certain aspects of city life .  
there isn  t much to say about this film  it is horrible .  br    br   the acting and dialog are way far away from even decent  the story of the hybrid werewolf  s is not very well explained and the whole thing has plot holes here and there .  br    br   cgi is something you wouldn  t like to see . it so amateurish that it makes me vomit .  br    br   the only good thing on the dvd was in the extras . the gag reel . everything else  just waste of time and money . i hope noone will buy this  this is not even worth renting .  br    br   just stay away of this .  
sandra bernhard is quite a character  and certainly one of the funniest women on earth . she began as a stand  up comedienne in the     s  but her big break came in     when she starred opposite jerry lewis and robert de niro in scorsese  s underrated masterpiece   the king of comedy  . her film career never quite took off  though . she did make a couple of odd but entertaining pictures  such as  dallas doll        or  dinner rush         but the most amazing parts were those she created for herself .  br    br    without you i  m nothing  is undoubtedly her best effort . it  s an adaptation of her smash  hit off  broadway show which made her a superstar  and madonna  s best friend for about four years . in ten perfectly choreographed and staged scenes  sandra turns from nina simone to diana ross  talks about her childhood  andy warhol and san francisco and performs songs made famous by burt bacharach  prince  or sylvester . director john boskovich got sandra to do a    minute tour  de  force performance that  s both sexy and uniquely funny . if you are a bernhard fan  you can  t miss out this film it  s a tribute as well to her  weird  beauty as to her extremely unconventional talent as a comedienne . and it has influenced filmmakers in their work   hedwig and the angry inch   for instance  would look a lot different if  without you i  m nothing  didn  t exist .  
hopalong cassidy with a horse who is not white  not named topper  go figure   br    br   this travesty does a gross injustice to the greatest of all cowboy heroes  hopalong cassidy . the actor who plays him is young versus old  blond haired versus white haired and kills people versus shooting the gun out of their hands . will the real hopalong please stand up   br    br   one of the worst movies ever made   believe it or not  by the person who brought us the grandfather saga   
john schlesinger  s  midnight cowboy  is perhaps most notable for being the only x  rated film in academy history to receive the oscar for best picture . this was certainly how i first came to hear of it  and  to be completely honest  i didn  t really expect much of the film . this is not to say that i thought it would be horrible  but somehow i didn  t consider it the sort of movie that i would enjoy watching . this is one reason why you should never trust your own instincts on such manners  a remarkable combination of stellar acting  ambitious directing and a memorable soundtrack   everybody  s talking  at me  i don  t hear a word they  re sayin    make this film one of the finest explorations of life  naivety and friendship ever released .  br    br   young joe buck  then  newcomer jon voight   dressed proudly as a rodeo cowboy  travels from texas to new york to seek a new life as a hustler  a male prostitute . women  however  do not seem to be willing to pay money for his services  and joe faces living in extreme poverty as his supply of money begins to dry up . during these exploits  joe comes to meet enrico  ratso  rizzo  dustin hoffman   a sickly crippled swindler who initially tries to con joe out of all his money . when they come to realise that they are both in the same predicament  ratso offers joe a place to stay  and  working together  they attempt to make  largely dishonest  lives for themselves in the cold  gritty metropolis of new york .  br    br   joe had convinced himself that new york women would be more than willing to pay for sex however  his first such business venture ends with him guiltily paying the woman  sylvia miles  twenty dollars . though he might consider himself to be somewhat intelligent  ratso is just as nave as joe . ratso  with his painful limp and hacking cough  is always assuring himself that  if only he could travel to the warmth of miami  somehow everything would be all right . this misguided expectation that things will get better so easily is quite reminiscent of lennie and george of john steinbeck  s classic novel   of mice and men .   br    br   shot largely on the streets of new york   midnight cowboy  is a grittily  realistic look at life in the slums . watching the film  we can almost feel ourselves inside ratso  s squalid  unheated residence  our joints stiff from the aching winter cold . the acting certainly contributes to this ultra  realism  with both voight and hoffman masterfully portraying the two decadent dregs of modern society . hoffman  in particular  is exceptional in his role  i  m walkin  here  i  m walkin  here     managing to steer well clear of being typecast after his much  lauded debut in      s  the graduate .  both stars were later nominated for best actor oscars  also nominated for acting  bafflingly  was sylvia miles  for an appearance that can  t have been for more than five minutes   though both ultimately lost out to john wayne in  true grit .   midnight cowboy  eventually went on to win three oscars from seven nominations  including best picture  best director for schlesinger and best writing for waldo salt .  br    br    midnight cowboy  is told mainly in a linear fashion  though there are numerous flashbacks that hint at joe  s past . rather than explicitly explaining what these brief snippets are actually about  the audience is invited to think about it for themselves  and how these circumstances could have led joe onto the path he is now pursuing . the achingly  beautiful final scene leaves us with a glimmer of hope  but a large amount of uncertainty . gritty  thought  provoking and intensely fascinating   midnight cowboy  is one for the ages .  
i thought i was going to watch a scary movie . . and ended up laughing all the way throughout the movie . in the scene where the human transformed to a werewolf i thought they was kidding . todays computer games have ten times better animations . low budget  is a fitting comment . i would recommend wolf       with jack nicholson for a good werewolf movie . it has good special effects as they should be  human transforming to werewolf  . unless you wish to have good laugh i would not recommend you to watch this movie . this movie is a joke .  
  midnight cowboy  was never a great movie to start with but it is a classic . you know it  s a classic the moment its insistent theme song   everybody  s talking  starts up on the soundtrack   actually not written for the film   and the way the camera introduces us to joe buck   naked and in the shower  . we had seen jon voight before but had never really noticed him but when he tells us he  s  one helluva stud  who  s to doubt him  this was a great performance that had iconic star status as well as a complete grasp of the character and if voight had never done anything else  his performance here would still be legendary . as it is voight has seldom disappointed on screen even a piece of ham as well cured as his performance in that glorious rubbish  anaconda  is a source of pleasure  .  br    br   the film became famous and infamous almost overnight . it was a crowd  pleaser   even with its downbeat ending   funny and sexy and recognizably  real    it was the tail  end of the sixties and all the characters rang true  . it was also the first  x  rated film to win the oscar as the year  s best picture . adapted   brilliantly   by waldo salt from a james leo herlihy novel it was probably the first main  stream commercial american movie to deal with  taboo  subjects such as homosexuality and drug  taking in a matter  of  fact manner . everyone is recognizably human  warts and all  and everyone is treated sympathetically . voight  s joe buck is an innocent abroad  a candide who comes to new york to seek his fortune as a hustler   a profession he sees as glamorous and not seedy he  s a cross between a gigolo and a social worker  . but when he himself is hustled by a scraggy  wormy little con  man called  ratso  rizzo   dustin hoffman  fresh from  the graduate  and he  s a revelation   he realizes that perhaps the reality is a little different from the pipe  dream .  br    br   essentially it  s a male love story   though totally platonic   between these two not so unlikely bedfellows . both totally alone  both totally needy each becomes the protector of the other   voight with his physical prowess  hoffman with his street  wise savvy  . they are misfits adrift from the mainstream  tolerant of their own peculiarities and the deviances of others . though  straight  voight isn  t beyond a homosexual encounter in a   nd street cinema with a boy even lonelier than himself .  the whole film posits a strangely  christian  attitude  .  br    br   it  s also magnificently acted . while voight and hoffman hold the screen throughout there are superb vignettes from the likes of brenda vaccaro and sylvia miles as well as john mcgiver  bob balaban and bernard hughes as sundry customers and hangers  on  beautifully delineated little character studies that seem to transcend acting altogether while john schlesinger  s direction gives the film the feel of a documentary as well as an alien  s totally detached eye  view of the american under  belly without rancor and without criticism . on second thoughts  maybe it is a great movie after all .  
man  this movie sucked big time  i didn  t even manage to see the hole thing  my girlfriend did though  . really bad acting  computer animations so bad you just laugh  woman to werewolf   strange clips  the list goes on and on . don  t know if its just me or does this movie remind you of a porn movie  and i don  t mean all the naked ladys . . . it  s something about the light or something . . . this could maybee become a classic just because of the bad acting and all the naked women  but not because it  s an original movie white a nice plot twist . my final words are don  t see it  it  s not worth the time . if you wanna see it because the nakedness there  s lots of better ones to see   
just kidding .  br    br   seeking greener pastures in the form of hustling in new york city  jon voight is young optimist cowboy  almost forest gump  like  joe buck from texas . it does not take long for the big apple to mercilessly swallow him and his ambitions whole and very soon joe is the target of both the coldness of new yorkers and cons from its street  thugs . given his pure heart  he takes pity on one of these thugs  ratso rizzo  dustin hoffman  and later moves in with him in his wreck of apartment and the two literally struggle to survive .  br    br   while midnight comedy is labeled as a drama  it is best described as either a tragic comedy or a comedic tragedy in my opinion . it is above all a beautiful film that is stylish in capturing the contemporary hippie  vibe of the late     s with its mandatory dizzying warhol  party cinematography and juxtaposing it with ultra  urban new york city . the film crams cowboy joe buck somewhere in between  thereby emphasizing his out  of  place position . we feel for his struggle to fit in  but also to merely get enough money to feed ratso rizzo .  br    br   midnight cowboy brought tears to my eyes as it is also rich in substance and projects a lot of heart . i imagine this film must have inspired both forest gump with its pure  hearted and out  of  place lead character and  to an extent  the crocodile dundee films as it deals with almost the exact same kind of humour  a contrast between country  cowboys and slick new york cosmopolitans . very compelling and sensationally creative film that i highly recommend .  br    br    .      
this is the absolutely worst piece of crap i  ve ever had to watch  actually it was so bad that i just had to watch it     br    br   the cgi is sooo bad it  s fun  it  s not even close to the shitty cgi animations in spawn  that  s how bad it is  har har har . . .  br    br   i  m amazed over the fact that some distribution company actually has put money down to release this on dvd  but i guess they  ll get more money out of it that way   cos the cost of making it can not have been more than a few hundred dollars .  br    br   it  s so awful that a kindergarten class could have made it .  br    br   see it and laugh   
saw this as a young naive punk when it was first released . had me snifflin  like a baby as i left the theatre  trying not to let anyone see . so  when i saw it again now in     i knew what to expect  the sobs were ready  primed as their required moment approached . thankfully this time i was at home .  br    br   what i hadn  t remembered from my youthful viewing  or perhaps hadn  t noticed because of it  was the technical brilliance of this movie . the use of flashbacks which tell so much story without resorting to dialogue . the camera work which seemed to place the viewer  together with the characters in the scene . think of the opening when joe is crossing the street to the diner  the camera pans behind the woman  child sitting on a bench in the foreground  framing the street scene .  br    br   the story itself   the characters  seedy  sad  brutally real . it is very touching to be drawn so closely into a human drama such as this with people most of us would likely spurn . then again  joe  ratso could be any of us . must have been    when i saw it . i recall that upon leaving the theatre i was impelled to find the company of friends . all these years later  i  m glad i  m not alone tonight . this is one hell of a great movie .  
hi  i  m a friend of werewolf movies  and when i saw the title of darkwolf hitting the shelves i was like  hmm  simple and nice name to it at least . althou . . . i wonder why i haven  t heard of it before .   br    br   first of all  the movie starts with tits . lots of tits . tits are pretty much all this movies budget went to . who cares about a werewolf effect  just pay the actresses enough to get topless shots   br    br   so  about the mysterious darkwolf character  a little spoilers ahead  but who really cares . . .  he  s your average everyday biker . not even super  tough looking  but like the old wise woman says in the movie  he is far more powerful and dangerous than you  ve ever faced before .  just by describing her a tattooed biker  type of a guy . pretty original . i even had look twice when they first used the  red glowing eyes  special effect  i mean my god  that  lets  plant  red  dots  on  eyes  with  computer  effect has been used since the seventies . it looks plain ugly here  and don  t get me started with the werewolf  d  cgi . as said before  like an bad and old video game .  br    br   and finally  as i do like werewolf films  like i said . they prettymuch always build a werewolf  legend of their own . darkwolf does build the werewolfworld as well  about some silly legends of hybrid  werewolves and the ancient bloodline . but . it almost instantly after creating the rules of engagement  the darkwolf kills anyone the girl has touched  starts random  slashing . which just doesn  t make any sense  why even bother telling us the rules of killing  when they aren  t even gonna play by them . . . aplus the wolf  point  of  view shots are made with a sony handycam or something  filming mostly the floor and walls . just add growling noises and you  ve got a super werewolf effect . the gore is partially ok . but when the wolf slashes everyone with an open hand  just by basically laying the hand on top of the victims  it just doesn  t do the trick for me . . .  br    br   truly  who gives money to make these heaps of junk straight  to  video horrortitles  they aren  t even funny  kind of bad movies  just sad .  
midnight cowboy opens with a run down drive in theater with the voice  over of the main character joe buck  jon voight  singing in the shower . he is singing a cowboy song  the very thing he strives to be . joe picks up his humdrum life living in texas and moves it to new york city with the dream of lots of women  and even more money . he dresses as the epitome of the cowboy  but in a cartoonish fashion  not even his friends take him seriously . he begins his journey on the bus to nyc and we can quickly see how diluted joe is through his interactions with the other passengers . this is primarily a story of joe  s realization of the harsh realities of the real world .  br    br   he starts off as a very nave southerner thinking he can make it in nyc just on his good looks . he has no other reason to think otherwise  as they proved helpful in the past we learn this from the many flashbacks he has . in the beginning the flashbacks are filmed in a way that portrays them as being somewhat whimsical . they are hazy and the voices sound as if they are coming from a great distance  as they are  they are coming out of his past . however  as joe delves deeper and deeper into the reality of the harsh atmosphere of nyc we see more of his past  which is no longer whimsical but gritty  filmed in black and white with rapid editing to portray the cruel nature of the past events . this is especially seen in the flashback of him and his girlfriend being assaulted  and her being raped . in one of these flashbacks we see a building being torn down brick by brick . this mirrors the way in which joe himself is falling apart the naivet that he once carried is falling off of him . he and ratso  dustin hoffman  are living in squalor  and barely able to get food to eat joe is realizing he cannot live off of his looks  that there is a gritty underbelly of new york that he didn  t envision . his subconscious mirrors the way in which his real life is panning out .  br    br   ratso is also serves as a kind of mirror to joe  but in an opposite way ratso is joe  s foil . joe is a handsome  strong man who  for the most part  has a good outward appearance . ratso  on the other hand  from the very first time we see him sitting next to joe in the bar we can tell he is the opposite . he is short  dark  and always coated with a sheen of sweat . he understands how the world works  that it is unforgiving  and sometimes no matter how hard you try you will fail just as his father did . they are living in the same world  the same apartment even  but they understand things on a completely different level .  br    br   the theme of alienation  one that is common of this era  is very apparent in this film . neither joe nor ratso fit into the culture surrounding them . joe feels trapped in texas and moves to nyc where he is still very much an outsider . ratso  living in the cold of nyc  wishes to move to sunny florida where he thinks he will be able to find a good life . even though this is his ideal  in the fantasy we get from ratso  s perspective  it is apparent that he knows he will never really fit into society . in said fantasy he is turned on by the people living around him  he is yet again an outsider  alienated from society .  br    br   it is not until the end that the gap between joe and ratso begins to narrow . joe resorts to violence he takes on the mentality of this city in order to get money to fund a means of escape for florida for himself and ratso . on the journey we see joe coming out of a store not wearing the cowboy clothes that he is never without in the rest of the film . he is dressed as someone who looks like they are headed to florida for vacation . he dresses ratso the same way he tires to make them fit into the new society they are entering  but it is to no avail . upon ratso  s death on the bus  their fellow passengers once again look them upon as outsiders . even in this new culture they have entered  they cannot escape the alienation they have met at every turn in this film . despite the ratso  s death  and joe  s continued alienation  the film ends with the hope that joe can take his new knowledge of how the world works and create a better life than he would have had as a hustler in nyc . midnight cowboy is an excellent film portraying the harsh reality of society  and alienation  with stellar performances by both voight and hoffman .  
this flick reminded me of those lame  erotic thrillers  i used to stay up late and watch on cinemax when i was   . i  d label this flick softer  core since there is just no simulated bump and grinder . there is  however  a ton of nudity  the opening scene is in a strip club  we see kane hodder  s keester  or at least a stunt butt  and then an inexplicable   minute lesbian dance scene in the middle of the film and a nude female werewolf who looks like they mugged on of the munster  s for a costume .   year old boys rejoice .  br    br   other than that the werewolf transformation scenes have the worst cgi i  ve seen in years . the shots look like fmv  s from the video game resident evil in terms of quality . the wolf is too bad to be explained and  despite the poor quality of the suit is shown way  way too many times .  br    br   the plot and acting make no sense . there is some oddball back story about werewolves and hybrid  werewolves  the darkwolf is the latter but from what i can tell hybrids do the same thing all werewolves do  look human  change to a wolf an kill people . the darkwolf is trying to find a mate but oddly can  t find the mate but can sniff out anyone she touches . once more  this skills proves less than useful since the darkwolf winds up killing several folks his target never touched  met or even saw as best i can tell . the mate doesn  t know she  s a werewolf and she  s fighting the transformation or something .  br    br   you  d think it  d be hard to mess up a simple monster movie s bad as this but  well they did . want quality low  end werewolf  ism  go rent dog soldiers want a ton of ta this is your flick .  
after racism  rural exodus  also known as migration from the country side  is another socio  political issue of the     s . westside story had dealt with racism by a love feast in an artistic view . now  midnight cowboy deals with rural exodus by a friendship tragedy in a psychological view . it has a deeply grievous ending that we witness one of the two companions of fate passing away .  br    br   director john schlesinger skillfully deliver us the deepest secret thoughts  dreams  fantasies  fears and evaluations of two new york city scums . while the handsome joe buck  voight  dreams of all the beautiful women of the world begging him to share a wild love fantasy  the poor ratso rizzo  hoffman  dreams of a better and healthier life in clean and sunny florida . accordingly  joe becomes a hustler to turn his fantasies into reality and ratso becomes a snatcher to collect enough money to migrate into florida . besides ratso helps joe to find his way to do whatever he can . they begin sharing everything in life . they share food  they share medicine  they share an uninhabited home  they share their earnings and thus they share a destiny . regrettably as the story progresses  joe realizes that being handsome is not the only thing to make all the beautiful women begging him to have fun and moreover ratso cannot see florida since his heart fails defeated to his disease whilst he was on the bus taking him there .  br    br   the might is always right  and the feeble has no right in the daylight . thence   midnight  gives the factual sight .  br    br   despite the tragedy  there is no melodrama in midnight cowboy . every aspect of each character is the reality of the poor who bear their inevitable fate . thanks to this  midnight cowboy is a provocative view of a socio  political issue  the rural exodus .  
where to start   . . . i feel . . . violated  thats right  violated  i just spent  .  hrs of my life   .  hrs that i could have spent doing something more useful  like watching paint dry  on this so called horror flick .  br    br   its not scary  its not funny  its not dramatic  its no action  its nothing . . .  br    br   its predictable  its boring  its tragic . . .  br    br   i might come of a bit harsh here  but watch this movie and you will feel the same way . . . or . . . no  don  t watch it . . . unless you want to feel violated also .  
fascinating downer about a would  be male hustler in new york city forced to live in a condemned building with a crippled con  man . extremely bleak examination of modern  day moral and social decline  extremely well  directed by john schlesinger  who never topped his work here  and superbly acted by jon voight and dustin hoffman . packs quite a punch overall  yet the  fantasy  scenes   some of which are played for a chuckle   are mildly intrusive  as is the  mod  drug party . the relationship that develops between the two men is sentimental  yet the filmmakers are careful not to get mushy  and this gives the picture an edge it might not have had with a lesser director than schlesinger . originally x  rated in      and the winner of the best picture oscar screenwriter waldo salt  who adapted james leo herilhy  s book  and schlesinger also won statues .     from   
well  no  not really . its not really a good movie  but its not as bad as i thought it was going to be . i really didn  t feel ripped off of my rental money  and sometimes thats all you can ask for . the plot is ok  nothing brilliant or new  the acting is pretty bad  but the cast is pretty . the directing is passable  but the effects are horrible  especially the werewolf effects  which in a werewolf movie  is a pretty big problem . there was a fairly decent amount of nudity  which to me is a pretty good thing  but it wasn  t all that hot . all in all  its a fairly average direct to video movie  not the worst film i  ve ever seen and if you  re bored a genre fan  check it out sometime . i  d even watch it again .  br    br   bonus fact for horror geeks  kane hodder  jason vorhees in a few of them  plays the werewolf .  
it  s not quite the timeless masterpiece you would hope it would be based on the acclaim it garnered  but      s  midnight cowboy  is still a powerhouse showcase for two young actors just bursting into view at the time . directed by john schlesinger and written by waldo salt  the movie seems to be a product of its time  the late      s when american films were especially expressionistic  but it still casts a spell because the story comes down to themes of loneliness and bonding that resonate no matter what period . the film  s cinematic influence can still be felt in the unspoken emotionalism found in ang lee  s  brokeback mountain  .  br    br   the meandering plot follows joe buck  a naive  young texan who decides to move to manhattan to become a stud  for  hire for rich women . full of energy but lacking any savvy  he fails miserably but is unwilling to concede defeat despite his dwindling finances . he meets a cynical  sickly petty thief named  ratso  rizzo  who first sees joe as an easy pawn . the two become dependent on one another  and rizzo begins to manage joe . things come to a head at a psychedelic  drug  infested party where joe finally lands a paying client . meanwhile  rizzo becomes sicker  and the two set off for florida to seek a better life . this is not a story that will appeal to everyone  in fact  some may still find it repellent that a hustler and a thief are turned into sympathetic figures  yet their predicaments feel achingly authentic .  br    br   in his first major role  jon voight is ideally cast as he brings out joe  s paper  thin bravado and deepening sexual insecurities . as rizzo  dustin hoffman successfully upends his clean  post  college image from  the graduate  and immerses himself in the personal degradation and glimmering hope that act as an oddly compatible counterpoint to joe . the honesty of their portrayals is complemented by schlesinger  s film treatment which vividly captures the squalor of the times square district at the time . the director also effectively inserts montages of flashbacks and fantasy sequences to fill in the character  s fragile psyches . credit also needs to go to salt for not letting the pervasive cynicism overwhelm the pathos of the story . the other performances are merely incidental to the journeys of the main characters  including brenda vaccaro as the woman joe meets at the party  sylvia miles as a blowsy matron  john mcgiver as a religious zealot and barnard hughes as a lonely out  of  towner .  br    br   the two  disc     dvd package contains a pristine print transfer of the     restoration and informative commentary from producer jerome hellman since unfortunately neither schlesinger nor salt are still living . there are three terrific featurettes on the second disc  a look  back documentary   after midnight reflections on a classic   years later   which features comments from hellman  hoffman  voight and others  as well as clips and related archive footage such as voight  s screen test  controversy and acclaim   which examines the genesis of the movie  s initial  x  rating and public response to the film and a tribute to the director   celebrating schlesinger  .  
i have nothing to comment on this movie it is so bad that i had to put my first comment on imdb website to help some viewers save some time and do something more interesting  instead of watching this  movie  . . . anything will do  even stare at the walls is better .  br    br   and because i have to write minimum   lines of text  i tell you also is a low budget movie  bad acting  no name actors  a stupid mutt as the wolf  and so on . . . also the story brings nothing new  the special effects are made in the    s style .  br    br   the movie is almost as bad as the movie  megalodon  .  br    br   so have fun     not watching this movie   
  midnight cowboy  was rated x with the original release back in     . there are some scenes where you can understand that  just a little . the movie about joe buck  jon voight  coming from texas to new york city to become a hustler is sometimes a little disturbing . dressed up as a cowboy he tries to live as a hustler  making money by the act of love . it does not work out as he planned . after a guy named rico  ratso  rizzo  dustin hoffman  first pulled a trick on him and stole some money they become friends . they live in an empty and very filthy apartment . then ratso gets sick and joe has to try to make some money .  br    br   the movie was probably rated x for the main subject but on the way we see some strange things . the editing in this movie is great . we see dream sequences from joe and ratso interrupted by the real world in a nice and sometimes funny way . dustin hoffman  jon voight and the supporting actors give great performances . especially hoffman delivers some fine famous lines . the score is done by john barry and sounds great . all this makes this a great movie that won the best picture oscar for a good reason .  
this is the prime example of low budget  winning over what would be a good story line . let  s bring back samaire armstrong  having seen her work on the o . c . i know she can do better   then find a better script and budget .  br    br   the special effects were so bad  and mostly badly computer generated  that it almost lost me with the first time the wolf was seen on  screen . and samaire armstrong  s  alert   changing into a werewolf was done by reducing her at first to a bad gcif figure before she even begins to change  final fantasy  s humans  as well as pixar  s made these laughable  think of the figure as a nude barbie doll  .  br    br   the story of was interesting  though the idea of bloodline in werewolves is nothing new . as it also got into the balance between evil   maybe  not so evil  and the possible end of human  kind should the two lines mate . the subplot of a  book of werewolf linage  which effected some of the other characters in a spell  like manner for a while was effective  but could have been expanded more in explaining what had happened in the past .  br    br   bring in a better script and direction  and i  d come back again .  
joe buck  jon voight  decides he  s going to leave his small life in texas and make it big in the big city . the women are there for the asking and the men are mainly  tutti  fruttis .  wide  eyed  he comes to new york city  not prepared for the series of humiliating misadventures he experiences  one worse than the other . in the middle of that chaos  he meets and befriends rico  ratso  rizzo  dustin hoffmann   a homeless  looking man who lives in an apparently condemned building .  br    br   there isn  t much of a story as midnight cowboy is a series of vignettes destined to bring forth not only joe buck  s plights in the city  but also inter  cut to his past and show us in shock cuts and semi  psychedelic dream sequences snippets of his past his failed relationship with his girlfriend annie  jennifer salt  who was gang  raped  his abandonment by his mother  and his apparent abuse by his grandmother  who also had a habit of hustling men for money . an air of pessimism dominates the film almost from the wistful beginning as nilsson plays throughout the opening credits his deceptively flowery  everybody  s talking    we feel that even while we want joe to eventually make his mark in the city  the odds are high he won  t and will end up working for pennies in a dead  end job   shown in a masterful shot from his outside point of view later in the film as he watches a man work as a dishwasher in a soup kitchen through a window and sees himself . we know from the look in his eyes he does not want to end like this .  br    br   a dark story of dashed hopes  john schlesinger creates haunting images of lost souls at the end of the   s  and at the center  the prevailing friendship between two men as they struggle to make some sort of meaning to their lives amidst the elusive comfort of a dignified life . there is the implied notion that they may have been lovers   ratso  s reaching out to hug joe in the party scene and their the final embrace at the end certainly points at this   but this is essentially a buddy film  one that manages to survive  literally  to the death  and bring some form of hope to joe who at the end in florida seems much changed  older  wiser .  
recap full moon . a creature  a huge werewolf  is on the hunt . not for flesh  not for blood  not that it seem to mind to take a bite on the way though   but for a mate . he is on the hunt for a girl . not any girl though . the girl . the girl that is pure  and also a werewolf  although she doesn  t know it yet  . three  well check that  two cops  after the first scene  and an old bag lady is all that can stop it  or even knows that the thing killing and eating a lot of folks around full moon is a werewolf . this particular powerful werewolf  darkwolf  is closing in on the girl . if he gets her  mankind is doomed . now the cops has to find the girl  convince her not only that there is someone  a werewolf nonetheless  that wants to rape her  and perhaps kill her  but that she is a werewolf herself . and then they got to stop him . . .  br    br   comments this is one for the boys  the teenage boys . a lot of scenes with semi  nude girls more or less important for the plot . mostly less . well i guess you need something to fill some time because the plot is  expectedly  thin . and unfortunately there is little besides the girls to help the plot from breaking . one usually turns to two main themes . nudity . check . and then special effects . hmm . . . well there are some things that you might call effects . they  re not very special though . in fact  to be blunt  they are very bad . the movie seems to be suffering of a lack of funds . they couldn  t afford clothes for some of the girls    and the effects are cheap . some of the transformations between werewolf and human form  obviously done by computer  are really bad . you might overlook such things . but the darkwolf in itself is very crude too  and you never get to see any killings . just some mutilated corpses afterwards . and there is surprisingly little blood about  in a movie that honestly should be drenched in blood .  br    br   i  m not sure what to say about actors and characters . most of the times they do well  but unfortunately there are lapses were the characters  or actors  just looses it . a few of these lapses could be connected with the problems mentioned above . like the poor effects  or the poor budget    . that could explain why there is precious little shooting  even if the characters are armed like a small army and the target is in plain sight  and not moving  . but hey  when you  re in real danger  there nothing that will save your life like a good one  liner . . .  br    br   unfortunately that can  t explain moments when the cop  steve  the only one who knows how to maybe deal with the problem  the werewolf that is  runs away  when the only things he can be sure of  is that the werewolf is coming for the girl  who is just beside him now  and that he cannot let it have her . but sure  it let the makers stretch the ending a little more . . .  br    br   but i wouldn  t mind seeing none of the lead actors  actresses get another try in another movie .  br    br   well . to give a small conclusion not a movie that i recommend .  br    br        
at the time i recall being quite startled and amused by this movie . i referred to it as the most important movie i  d seen in ten years  and found myself bumping into people who said similar things .  br    br   bernhard has an unusually perceptive behavioral notebook . and she has shaped the bitter adolescent personality that we all had  into a corrosive  adult world  view . the two together provide a startling mix which may be too edgy for some viewers .  hi skip . i wish you weren  t my brother so i could  you    br    br   bernhards search for herself after returning to la from new york  results in the immersive trying  on of various personas  all of which fit poorly  for our amusement  but enough of them involve acting out to appeal to a  black imperative  values system that the real barometer of her resituation is whether black culture accepts her .  it  s been a while . nina simone comes to mind . and she has an impressive  solidly  built black lover in the movie  a pretty black girl attends the shows  and seems to be authorizing sandra  s faux  blackness  but ultimately rejects her .  br    br   just as catholics deem themselves lucky to suffer for christ  here sandra depicts herself suffering at the hands of a black culture in which she craves a place as if she cherishes her worthiness and her rejection . it  s the only value system implicated in the films world  outside of bernhards arty confusion .  br    br   for a nation whose chief issues are racism and money  it  s refreshing to see one of the  topics dealt with in an atypical way .  
in this day and age of incredible special movie effects  this one was a sore disappointment . the actors seemed stiff and uninspired  as was the dialogue . westerns are not common fare for hollywood so much these days  but movies like  silverado  prove that somebody out there still knows how to make a good one . considering that  it is hard to conceive that anyone would go to any expense at all in releasing  much less creating such a weak film as this one . if you love and are looking for a good western  keep looking   
i sat down to watch  midnight cowboy  thinking it would be another overrated    s     s movie . some of my favorite films come from the    s  in the same vein as  midnight cowboy    taxi driver    mean streets    panic in needle park   etc .  but there are many  many overrated ones as well that have gained strong reputations amongst critics for being groundbreaking  unfortunately a vast majority of them don  t hold up as well today . i sort of feel this way about  easy rider .   although it  too  is one of my favorites .   br    br   so  i didn  t expect much from  midnight cowboy  but got a lot back . it  s a touching story  well  made and well  told with some of the best performances of all time . dustin hoffman  as enrico  ratso  rizzo  gives one of his best  it  s a bit funny at times  he sounds like a cartoon character when he speaks  maybe because of the lenny   simpsons  connection   but hoffman is entirely convincing . half of the film  s budget went towards his paycheck as he was just becoming a major star in hollywood . opposite him is the second  billed jon voight as joe buck  the  cowboy  who travels north to the big apple in the hopes of becoming a male prostitute . soon his naive ways land him in trouble and he pairs up with a crippled scam artist named  ratso   who offers to become joe  s  manager  for a certain percentage of profits .  br    br   the movie is quite long at two hours but never really seems very long . some films can tend to drag  especially some of the films that were made in the    s because  as it  s been said in  easy riders  raging bulls   the directors were the stars of the movies in the     s and occasionally they got a bit too infatuated with their material  going on too long examining characters  scenes  etc . that aren  t important . just about the only scene i felt was a bit too long and unnecessary was the drug party  it makes the film seem extremely outdated  similar to the drug odysseys in  easy rider   and really harms its flow because it  s not needed .  br    br   other than that   midnight cowboy  is an almost flawless motion picture . i was pleasantly surprised . it does have its flaws  flashbacks are a bit tacky and never used as well as they could have been  for instance  and some of the scenes are a bit uneasy  such as the gay movie theater sequence  but if you can handle its content  midnight cowboy  is a truly great motion picture  an uncompromising examination of life on the streets in the late    s  early    s . it  s a depressing movie  yes  and by today  s standards might seem a bit outdated and heavy on the liberal perspective of  life is horrible  etc .  . . . but i still love it and particularly the extremely touching ending will stay with me for a long  long time .  br    br   highly recommended . one of the best films of the    s .  it was technically released in late     but i  d still categorize it as a     s film . it also won the best picture oscar  being the first  and only  x  rated motion picture to do so . it was later re  rated r on appeal .   br    br    .     
i watched this film alone  in the dark  and it was full moon outside  i didn  t do it in purpose  it just happened in this way . so all the elements were there for this film to scare the hell out of me   well  it didn  t  in fact i wanted to shut off the dvd player after only  minutes  but i thought come on give it a chance  unfortunately i did . the acting was awful  the only one with some decent acting was samaire armstrong . the plot is not original  if you are a horror fan then it is just the same stuff you have seen many times before . some scenes didn  t make sense at all  and you just get the feeling that the director wanted to make the movie longer  the monster was the biggest disappointment of the movie . the  scary  scenes looked like they belong to a horror movie from the   s when there was not enough technology  yet some good movies were made back then  i was surprised to see the name of a major production company at the beginning of the movie  i thought couldn  t they put some money in this and make it decent    i couldn  t agree more with the ratings that the movie got  it is also my rating for it   out of   .  
the only reason i knew of midnight cowboy was because it was in the afi critic  s top    . for a top    it is not a very well known movie indeed  i had to look hard to find a copy  i got the dvd version for about half  price . surprisingly it was only rated m     the uncut version  .  br    br   i doubt many will take notice of this review  more like comment  so i  ll make it brief .  br    br   this is perhaps one of the strangest movies i  ve seen  partly because of the use of montages  artistic filming  very art  house  and the unusual theme . there are many things in the film i still don  t understand  i  ve seen it twice   and it makes for an emotionally confusing film .  br    br   the filming and acting were very good  and it is the larger than life characters which make this film memorable . the main character is joe buck  a  cowboy  from texas who moves to new york to become a male prostitute . he meets the crippled conman enrico  ratso  rizzo and  of course they become friends going through the usual escapades . what makes the film interesting is the two characters are so different .  br    br   i felt the film didn  t really develop the relationship between buck and enrico rizzo for the audience to have any real emotional connection  although the ending is certainly quite sad and tragic . you probably already know what happens by reading the reviews  but its pretty obvious from the start .  br    br   i personally think the film beautifully and poignantly explores its main themes . the deprivation of humanity  shown by the darkness of the city streets  the breaking  down tenements  . most of the characters in the film exist beyond the law  a conman  giggolo . etc  yet you can  t help liking them . joe buck is endearing because he is so naive and optimistic  while we begin to feel pity for ratso later in the film .  br    br   i think the film was rated so high because it was certainly very ground  breaking for its period . at the time  and even now  it was definitely not a typical movie  quite art  house  . at a time when the cinema was dominated by tired westerns  musicals and dramas a film with such an unusual theme as midnight cowboy pops up .  br    br   on a personal level  i must say i quite liked the film . the imagery conveyed a dream  like quality . i particularly liked the scene at the party  the music  images etc stay in your mind for a long time after watching . however  as a movie for entertainment  s sake it was a bit lacking  not really my style of movie  in thrills . this is a film to be savoured and appreciated  rather than a cheap thrills action flick .  br    br   although i would hardly consider myself qualified to analyse this film  the characters and their motives were quite interesting . from what i understand from the flashbacks  joe buck was sexually abused as a child by his grandmother  although it still doesn  t seem to be relevant to the story . he is a happy  go  lucky young stud  who suppresses his darker memories . the religious connotations in the film are also puzzling . some have suggested a homosexual connection between buck and ratso  although i fail to see where they have got the idea from . the theme of homo  sexuality in general is more than touched upon in their conversation  and later in joe buck  s encounter with a lonely old man  but it has little to do with the main story .  br    br   certainly from a technical point of view one of the finest films of the decade  it has more of a   s feel to it than a   s feel  and revolutionary for its time touching on subjects few other films dared to do . while it has a simple  sentimental story to it  disguised by a hard edge  the beauty of the film is in the strange  often psychedelic sequences .  
darkwolf tells the tale of a young waitress named josie  samaire armstrong  who had been leading a pretty ordinary life until her friend mary  tippi hedren  is killed by a werewolf  you see werewolves actually exist in modern day america  there is even a special organisation within the police force to fight the werewolf threat headed up by detective steve turley  ryan olosio  who has the difficult task of telling josie that she is in fact a pure blooded werewolf herself  that a so  called  dark prince  werewolf  kane hodder  wants to mate with her  create a new breed of pure blood werewolves that will take over the entire world  or something like that . understandably josie has a hard time believing it  that is until she sees the evidence with her own eyes . it  s up to werewolf cop steve to save josie  the day  the world . . .  br    br   co  executive produced  directed richard friedman i thought darkwolf was a pretty bad low budget shot on a digital camcorder horror film that didn  t really do anything for me . the script by geoffrey alan holliday starts out promisingly enough being set in a strip club with plenty of naked breasts on show  then there  s a werewolf attack which leaves someone splattered everywhere but after this decent opening sequence it  s pretty much down hill all the way i  m afraid . for a start it  s slow going  it  s dull  it  s predictable  it  s populated with highly annoying character  s who come out with lots of bad dialogue  do stupid things like when they have the opportunity to shoot the werewolf they don  t  i have no idea why but they prefer to just stand there instead . the script is dumb  doesn  t explain itself  why has josie never turned into a werewolf before  is she really the only one  why can  t this  dark prince  find another female werewolf  there are also lots of other things which make little or no sense like an ancient book which at fist seems quite important but is then totally forgotten about half  way through but you get the idea anyway  as a whole the film plods along in very linear fashion to a very predictable climatic showdown that is underwhelming to say the least .  br    br   director friedman lights the film quite well with bright neon but this is noting new or original  doesn  t really improve the film as a spectacle . now let  s talk special effects or rather the lack of them because the effects in darkwolf are far from special  the werewolf transformation is achieved using cgi  it  s among the worst looking cgi i  ve ever seen  seriously a playstation would be embarrassed about these computer graphics . it  s easily the worst werewolf transformation i  ve ever seen  an american werewolf in london       was made over   years ago yet the special effects in that are literally light  years ahead of the ones seen in darkwolf  who says special effects have improved over the years  the animatronic puppet effects aren  t much better either although at least there  s something psychical on screen . the gore isn  t up to much after a gory opening kill there  s some blood splatter  plenty of dead bodies but not much else . thre  s a fair amount of female nudity if that  s your thing but don  t get too excited because you still have to sit through a terrible film to see it  is it really worth it   br    br   technically darkwolf is alright apart from possibly the worst cgi effect ever  it  s reasonably well made  it at least seems to have production values . the acting is what you  d expect really .  br    br   darkwolf is yet another low budget piece of crap horror film that litter video shop shelves  clutter the schedules of obscure cable tv stations  i didn  t think it was as bad as some but it  s like saying going to the dentist is slightly more fun than going to a funeral although when all said  done they  re both horrible still . . .  
watching midnight cowboy is like taking a masterclass in acting  directing  cinematography  editing  writing . i was too young to watch it when it was originally released  and only saw it for the first time a couple of years ago  but it has absolutely stood the test of time  and i have watched it several times since .  br    br   everything about this film is brilliant  from the poignant performances from voight and hoffman  even though i know this movie well  i still find myself welling up every time voight flashes one of his innocently pained looks  or hoffman coughs in his sickly and ominous way  to the stunning cinematography and superbly edited dream sequences .  br    br   it  s a shame that more of our contemporary filmmakers aren  t prepared to take a risk on making movies that are as visually and aurally interesting as this one . midnight cowboy should be required viewing at all film schools .  br    br         
why bother seeing this movie  if you have great movies to see . it is a total waste of time and money . the movie is so bad that i felt bad for wanting to watching it . everything in it is bad . actors were bad . script was really bad . the story is stupid . and the worst cgi ever . the only good moments were the first   seconds of the movie in the strip club . one interesting thing that  there is a characther that we wish that he dies because  he is so stupid that we get enough of him .  i don  t remember the name but was the boyfriend of the  chosen one  .   br    br   noteif you want to see a good movie  this movie isn  t the right choice .   stars out of    
virile  but naive  big joe buck leaves his home in big spring  texas  and hustles off to the big apple in search of women and big bucks . in nyc  jb meets up with frustration  and with  ratso  rizzo  a scruffy but cordial con artist . somehow  this mismatched pair manage to survive each other which in turn helps both of them cope with a gritty  sometimes brutal  urban america  en route to a poignant ending .  br    br   both funny and depressing  our  midnight cowboy  rides head  on into the vortex of cyclonic cultural change  and thus confirms to     viewers that they  themselves  have been swept away from the      s age of innocence  and dropped  dorothy and toto like  into the      s age of aquarius .  br    br   the film  s direction is masterful the casting is perfect the acting is top notch the script is crisp and cogent the cinematography is engaging and the music enhances all of the above . deservedly  it won the best picture oscar of      and i would vote it as one of the best films of that cyclonic decade .  
another in a long line of flicks made by people who think that knowing how to operate a camera is the same as telling a story . within   minutes  the entire premise is laid out in just a few lines  so there is absolutely no mystery  which eliminates a whole facet of the suspense . the only half  way competent actor is killed   minutes into the film  so we  re left with stupid characters running around doing stupid things . low budget films can  t afford expensive special effects  so the cgi portions are unsurprisingly unimpressive  but were at least a valid attempt . the creature suit is terrible  as seen when it falls to the sidewalk  and the director keeps emphasizing the eyes  which aren  t even the red color shown in mirror shots . the dialogue is clumsy and uninspired  with some lines reminiscent of aliens or terminator . the last action sequence takes place in a police station  also a rip  off from terminator  with everyone hiding in the one glass lined office that the darkwolf doesn  t smash into . in the end  the girl calls the hero  a good protector   but he gets both his partners  the original protector  and at least three other civilians  not to mention a dozen cops  all killed without getting a decent shot off  in spite of an arsenal of silver bullets and a submachine gun . but here  s the real clincher for bad writing they could have killed the beast right after the beginning credits when it was holding the stripper while flashing its red eyes . instead  they took it into custody     
in my opinion  this is one of the greatest movies ever made in america and it deserved every single award it won and it  s place on the afi top    list  though it  s shamefully too low on the imdb top    list  at only     as of this writing  . if you enjoy acting of the highest calibre  voight and hoffman are a superb match   well  drawn characterizations and inventive direction  editing and cinematography  you  ll love this just as much as i did . schlesinger paints a vivid  always credible picture of the late   s new york city scene and it  s many victims struggling to overcome personal demons and survive amidst the amorality  poverty and hopelessness of   nd street  new york city .  br    br   the filmmaking techniques employed here brilliantly capture the feel of the underground new york film movement  and of the city  and are nothing less than dazzling . i  ve seen many ideas  including the rapid  fire editing  the handling of the voice  over flashbacks  the drug  trip sequences and the cartoonish face slipped in during a murder scene to convey angst and terror  stolen by other filmmakers .  br    br   the relationship between joe and ratso is handled in such a way as to be viewed as an unusually strong friendship or having it  s homosexual underpinnings . i think the director handled this in a subtle way not to cop out to the censorship of the times  but rather to concentrate his energies on the importance of a strong human connection in life  whether it be sexual or not .  br    br   midnight cowboy is a brave  moving film of magnitude  influence and importance that has lost absolutely none of it  s impact over the years  so if you haven  t seen it  you  re really missing out on a true american classic . i recommend this film to everyone .  br    br   score   out of   .  
this move was on tv last night . i guess as a time filler  because it sucked bad  the movie is just an excuse to show some tits and ass at the start and somewhere about half way .  not bad tits and ass though  . but the story is too ridiculous for words . the  wolf   if that is what you can call it  is hardly shown fully save his teeth . when it is fully in view  you can clearly see they had some interns working on the cgi  because the wolf runs like he  s running in a treadmill  and the cgi fur looks like it  s been waxed  all shiny    br    br   the movie is full of gore and blood  and you can easily spot who is going to get killed  slashed  eaten next . even if you like these kind of splatter movies you will be disappointed  they didn  t do a good job at it .  br    br   don  t even get me started on the actors . . . very corny lines and the girls scream at everything about every  seconds . but then again  if someone asked me to do bad acting just to give me a few bucks  then hey  where do i sign up   br    br   overall boring and laughable horror .  
young  handsome  muscular joe buck  jon voight  moves from texas to new york thinking he  ll make a living by being a stud . he gets there and finds out quickly that it isn  t going to be easy   he goes through one degrading experience after another . at the end of his rope he hooks up with crippled  sleazy ratso rizzo  dustin hoffman  . together they try to survive and get out of the city and move to florida . but will they make it   br    br   very dark  disturbing yet fascinating movie . director john schelsinger paints a very grimy portrait of nyc and its inhabitants . in that way it  s dated   the city may have been this bad in     but it  s cleaned up considerably by now . he also uses every camera trick in the book   color turning to black  white trippy dream sequences flash forwards flash backs  especially involving a rape   shock cuts weird sound effects . . . you name it . it keeps you disoriented and off center   but i couldn  t stop watching .  br    br   there isn  t much of a story   it basically centers on the friendship between rizzo and buck . there is an implication that they may have been lovers  the final shot sort of shows that  . it  s just a portrait of two damaged characters trying to survive in a cold  cruel  urban jungle .  br    br   this was originally rated x in       the only reason being that the mpaa didn  t think that parents would want their children to see this . nevertheless  it was a big hit with high schoolers  back then x meant no one under    . it also has been the only x rated film ever to win an academy award as best picture . hoffman and voight were up for acting awards as was  mysteriously  sylvia miles who was in the picture for a total of  maybe   minutes  it was eventually lowered to an r  with no cuts  when it was reissued in     .  br    br   also the excellent song  everybody  s talkin   was introduced in this film   and became a big hit .  br    br   a great film    but very dark . i  m giving it a   . don  t see it on commercial tv   it  s cut to ribbons and incomprehensible .  
the only reason i even watched this was because i found it at my local library  and will berate them mercilessly for having wasted public monies on it   and despite the plethora of tits and ass  it didn  t take long to realize that the fast  forward button was my friend . terrible direction  pedestrian camera work  sporadically bad  to  nearly  passable acting  chintzy effects  and one of the worst screenplays i  ve had the displeasure of seeing brought to life  such as it was  horribly crippled and mutilated  in a long  long time . best laughs actually come from the  making of . . .  featurette  in which the poor saps involved with this hdv mess attempt to justify their lame efforts as if they had been working on something special  instead of something that won  t be utterly forgotten next week . wait  except for the fact that somehow someone lured tippi  the birds  hedren  of all people  into doing a bit part  along with kane  friday the   th  hodder  how this came to pass  i  ll never know  and to be honest  i don  t really care . watch at your own risk  and don  t say you haven  t been warned . this is film  making at its pretentious  craven worst . it only gets a  from me for having some good  looking naked women  and even then  just barely .  
i typically don  t like reality shows  particularly the ones that are profiting off of  american idol   s success . but this one i can live with .  br    br   comedians from all around the world perform a brief routine for celebrity talent scouts  and if they like them  those guys will be sent to perform a routine for an actual audience . then ten or twelve comics are selected to live in a house together and do  survivor  style competitions using comedic tactics . then one will be determined as  last comic standing .  i do like stand up comedy  so this is the one reality show must keen to my interests . there are usually some pretty funny comics selected through . it started the careers of such talents as alonzo bodden  ralphie may  and josh blue .  br    br   my negative criticisms is the fact that there is the possibility that a lot of these comics were selected for their contribution to reality show drama . at first they lived together in a house like  big brother   but now they  ve done away with that  thank god .  br    br   and there are a lot of comedians i felt  were only chosen not because they  re funny  but because of race  ethnicity  attitude  sex  etc . when other comics clearly should  ve beaten them out . but overall  it  s a well  made reality show  which are two terms up until now i thought were an oxymoron .  
dark wolf  quick review  let  s get right to it this is a repugnant piece of rotting roadkill with cow sht on it . it  s just an awful movie . it  s an urban werewolf movie with some of the worst acting imaginable and a story as weak as any gangly nerd from an    s high school drama film . what  s worse is that poor kane hodder was duped into playing the gigantic evil werewolf . kane fcking hodder . someone  s trying to ensure that playing jason voorhees is the height of his film career . . .  br    br   anyway  former playmate jaime bergman is also in the movie and she eventually becomes a werewolf  too . it  s kind of a crappy cop drama with the world  s worst looking werewolf in it . but it does have moments of near  rampant nudity . but that  s about all . want to know more  okay  the werewolf is generally an ugly  looking black blur zipping around the screen . and when we  re privileged enough to actually see a transformation sequence  we  re presented with something that resembles a full  motion video from a video game made during the early stages of the playstation . the first playstation . the cg animation is really that primitive . only good for horror hardcore fanatics that want to see small moments of nudity surrounded by rampant visual vomit .      br    br   www . residenthazard . com  
horror is perhaps one of two genres where logic doesn  t always win out over imagination . we all know that killers like freddy  jason  michael and even leatherface shouldn  t be able to sustain the amount of pain they do and still live to fight another day . most of us don  t believe that zombies really rise from the dead to stalk people and eat their brains . and let  s hope that at least some people know that when you enter places like funhouses and old mansions that unspeakable crimes are not going to be perpetrated against them . this is where imagination wins out over fact . horror  and most films in general  requires us to suspend our disbelief for a couple of hours and just go with the flow . this usually isn  t a problem when i watch bouncing balls being hurled down the stairs at george c . scott or when i see an unseen force stalking three amateur film makers in the woods near burketsville . but what i do have a problem digesting  without wanting to regurgitate  is when a film has a killer like the one in this film . to give away who the killer is would actually be a huge spoiler and it would take away all fun of watching it for yourself  but just suffice to say that i actually enjoyed this film right up to final scene when the killer is revealed . there are too many events in the film that transpire for it to make any sense that the killer is who it is . but the   minutes prior to this point is a well done  suspenseful  blood soaked film directed with panache and skill by john hough . if the film would have offered me a different killer  then i would actually be raving about it . this may sound like a completely asinine reason to discredit the film  but believe me  anyone who has seen the film is almost sure to agree with me .  br    br   john cassevetes plays dr . sam cordell . he and his daughter jenny  played beautifully by erin flannery  have just recently moved to this small new england town . cordell is a recent widow and it is unclear how his wife died . we see several flashback scenes where a mystery woman  one can only presume it is his wife  is laying backside on the ground during a torrential downpour . her face is bloodied and her eyes are closed . again  i am not sure who this woman is and what relevance she has to the story but she is there anyway . cassevetes  it has to be mentioned  is strange to say the least . cordell is a loving father but his love for his daughter seems to be a little more than just parental . there are a few scenes that hint of incestuous possibilities . it never comes to fruition but it just seems to be omnipotent  but somewhere just beneath the proverbial rug . thankfully the film never really explores this element of the relationship but it does make you a little uneasy .  br    br   casevettes seems like a cross between the porno actor john leslie and screen great james caan . he has a deceptive smile and a virile  commanding voice that makes you sit up and take notice . but he also looks like he is about to disrobe during a business luncheon in every scene . he just has that slimy  disingenuous  phlegmatic  uneasy way about him . he never really looks like he can be trusted in this film . i guess that is a credit to the writers  the director and to cassevetes himself . there was always something that just bothered me about his character from the get  go .  br    br   the story begins on an excellent note as two would be lovers are swimming in the local quarry . there is a rickety old changing shed near by and as we can see  something or someone is watching them . when the young man briefly disappears to get something from the truck  the young woman wanders into the shed  just to play a prank . once she is there  she is attacked . the young man dashes to the shed to find her and he is impaled with a board and nail . hough shrewdly sets us up for the payoff pitch when the young man comes in . he looks frantically scours the room and spots his would  be lover bleeding in the corner  and then smacko  the guy gets it . it is a very tense moment and it starts the film off on the correct note .  br    br   also introduced into the tangled wed of a story is a young man named tim that seems to be having strange dreams of a faceless woman that is bound in a torture chamber surrounded by men with cloaks covering their faces . tim seems to think that his dreams have something to do with the murders because every time a murder takes place  he has another dream . toss in a quiet and turbid grandmother  a meretricious female reporter and a strong yet venal local sheriff and you have all the ingredients necessary to create the makings of an imbroglio in the small town of galen .  br    br   throughout the film more people are massacred but most of the time  the males are slaughtered with extreme prejudice and the females are raped . this is my first feeble  and careful  attempt to tell you that this is what left me unconvinced with the denouement . it just didn  t strike the right chord .  br    br   the incubus is a well done film . it is tense  tight and even most of the performances are very well done . i was intrigued by the dreams that tim was having and i was anxious to find out what significance they had to the story and ultimately to the murders . but when you get through all that was good in the film  you are still left with that acerbic taste in your mouth . and bitter pills are always more difficult to swallow than sweet ones .  br    br    out of     this could have been a nine . too bad .  
hip . erotic . wickedly sexy . . . whatever . it  s  the terminator  with werewolves .  br    br   no  seriously . the cop saves the girl  waitress   from the big monster and refers to himself as her  protector  . the lead actor ryan alosio does a pretty good job of emulating kyle reese . . . there  s a massacre in a police precinct . . . the bad guy is muscular with red eyes . . . and it even contains dialogue along the lines of  you said it yourself  he won  t ever stop . never .  the dire script comes from a first  time screenwriter who  thank god  hasn  t sold anything since this  and it  s all thrown together by famously bad director richard friedman .  br    br   the movie opens in a strip bar  always a good sign   and a mean  looking biker guy bursts in for no apparent reason  pursued by three cops . one of them is black  and  shock horror   he  s the one who gets killed in the first five minutes . the film goes downhill for the next hour or so  then picks up a little with some decent action sequences  before rounding it all up with an abysmal ending .  br    br   for the most part  the cast come across as competent actors doing what they can with a bad script and a director who  s willing to settle for less . if nothing else they appear to be learning how to act in this movie and alosio  along with some of the supporting cast  shows signs of talent . darkwolf in his human form is played by gargantuan kane hodder   famous for his numerous portrayals of jason vorhees in the  friday the   th  movies . he  s decent enough  especially considering he isn  t used to speaking roles .  br    br   it  s become famous amongst groups of horny teenage boys for the lesbian rooftop scene between andrea bogart and sasha williams  who gets her kit off a couple of times in the grand tradition of former  power rangers  actresses . and it  s unnervingly clear that the editor spent way too much time on that scene . . . anyway  the main redeeming feature is that the physical werewolf effects are rather good  and the design of the wolf isn  t bad at all . but the cgi is bad . just plain bad . i mean seriously  if you can  t reach some level of realism  why bother  just throw a little extra money into the make  up  aside from the terrible script  this movie does have it  s moments  many of which are unintentionally funny . it  s good for a laugh if you don  t have anything better to do  but just don  t spend any money on it . please .  
shocking  well  made chiller is an undervalued tale of atrocious murder and evil forces .  br    br   small town doctor tries to discover who  or what  is committing a series of violent sexual murders .  br    br   incubus is a tight mystery  with some horrific murder sequences  that builds to an off  beat and eerie climatic twist . the murder scenes are intense and gory  so this isn  t a film for the squeamish  the direction of john hough  along with a bizarre music score  combine to create a dark atmosphere of dread that runs through out the film . it also carries a kind of gothic vibe as well . nice filming locations and some stylish camera work also highlight .  br    br   the cast isn  t bad either . the great john cassavetes does a solid performance as the new doctor in town . also good are the performances of kerrie keane as the local reporter  helen hughes as the town historian  and duncan mcintosh as a tormented psychic teen .  br    br   all around incubus is a forgotten horror film that needs to be re  discovered and re  evaluated .  br    br    out of   
what a horrible  horrible film . the worst collection of cliches i have seen in a long time . not that i saw much . i left the theatre screaming after about   minutes in search of a stiff drink to soothe my nerves . meryl streep was awful as usual . how many hurt and tortured expressions can  person have  aidan quinn  s talents were  as so often  totally wasted . and who told gloria estefan she could act  trying to be polically correct this movie still enforces racial stereotypes .  brave inexperienced lonely music teacher teaches underprivilegded kids violin in poor neighbourhood school  . the kids weren  t even cute  just written in to suit the appalling script . aaargh  wes craven really made me cringe for once . real horror this one   
this is a wonderful film . . . first impressions of cynicism and crassness are soon dissipated by a fun loving display of how men and women  s baser motivations diverge  vive la difference    br    br   you can love people despite and sometimes because of their weaknesses . human beings are a bit rubbish really  but we have big hearts and we try our best  despite temptation . it  s not our fault when sometimes temptation can  t be resisted  that  s just who we are .  br    br   there is a consistent stylishness from start to finish crisp photography and sharp composition  very pleasant viewing when you add provocative content  well suited music and laugh out loud scripting .  br    br   watch out for the very young  lone wise voice  . . . brilliant wisdom from innocence balancing comedy from the human condition .  
i saw this movie at a  sneak preview  and i must honestly confess that i do not like films with meryl streep that much . this picture was the worst . half the theatre did not return after the break halfway the film . i couldnt blame them  if this wasn  t a true story there had been absolutely no need for the second half of the picture . just before the film goes forward in time about ten years i myself was expecting the credits to appear .  
this is one of those unfortunate films that suffered an even more sad  unfortunate death at the box office . i saw this film at a local art cinema  in revival form  shortly after it tanked in mainstream cinemas . it certainly deserves to be approached a second time  or even a third  . sandra b . takes it to the limit by doing spoken word  taking on some well known songs in this piece  her version of hank william  s  i  m so lonesome i could cry  could easily move you to tears  . maybe someday  audiences will be ready to take this film a bit more seriously  but not without some well placed laughs  too  . the film moves at a brisk pace  thanks to some nice editing   so that some viewers will not find it stale  boring . perhaps a revival is just down the pipeline .  
we saw this on the shelf at the local video store  saw  coppola  in the credits and got excited . that was the one and only time this movie raised any interest . i could never quite work out if it was an attempt at a humourous film that failed miserably  or an attempt at a serious film that failed miserably . in general  the entire production seemed incredibly amatuerish . the sound in particular was absolutely dreadful  especially in the scenes shot in the little bar the dialogue was so corny in parts it was unbelievable . very disappointing .  
this is truly the greatest swedish movie of all time . not only is it revolutionary in its narration  but its also among the first movies to feature the next generation of swedish humor and swedish comedians . felix herngren and fredrik lindstrm are two of the most intelligent and witty filmmakers in sweden today  and this film really puts that on display .  br    br    vuxna mnniskor   adult people  is a warm  hearted and hilarious story about adulthood  and the question if we wouldnt be better off without it .  
this kind of  inspirational  saccharine is enough to make you sick . it telegraphs its sentiments like the biggest semaphore on earth . it removes from the audience its own interpretation and feeling by making the choices for it . the big finish is swimming in weeping orchestration that must supposed to work like jumper cables on a dead car i guess you  d need such prompting to feel if you  re stupid enough to watch a film as simple  minded and sappy as this . streep glows and you wonder if she really has the depth of feeling on display or if it  s just that    a display  switched on and off like a light . because i can  t for the life of me see how she could possibly find life in such a dud of film . even though it  s based on a true story  and an inspirational one at that i  m sure  the set  up  execution and performances play like a third  rate tv movie or half  witted high school drama .  
this is a very funny movie  i have no idea whether it translates well into other languages or not . however  i do think men all over the world can identify with  frank  and his thoughts to some extent  these thoughts are hugely entertaining and women will also enjoy this movie i  m sure   br    br   all cast members perform well  and this film could have been a tremendous hit all over the world if it was made in england or the us . but for those of you who are fortunate enough to understand swedish  you are in for a treat   br    br   highly recommended .  
  nacho libre         br    br   directed by jared hess  br    br   starring jack black  ana de la reguera  hctor jimnez   darius rose  br    br   mpaa rating  pg      for some rough action  and crude humor including dialog   br    br   say what you will about it  i know some people who despise it to no end   but i have always thought that  napoleon dynamite  was a funny movie   not the brightest brick on the wall  but a funny movie  nonetheless . jack black is also a very funny man   irritating at times  yes  and massively overrated by adolescent audiences who practically worship him  but funny . there has rarely been a jack black comedy that i did not enjoy to some degree . so  i was very happy to hear that jared hess  the writer and director of  napoleon dynamite   and jack black would be teaming up for a movie about a spanish friar who becomes a wrestler to save an orphanage . my only reservation was that the plot seemed a little too thin . unfortunately  my one reservation turned out to be downfall of the entire movie . this plot  had it been done as a skit on some such show as  saturday night live  or possibly even  mad tv   would have worked flawlessly . unfortunately  the plot runs far too thin over the approximate one and a half hour runtime and this one  joke comedy falls flat .  br    br   nacho was raised in a mexican monastery and became a devout man of the lord . feeling shunned by the entire monastery  nacho  black   now the monastery  s cook  decides to follow his dreams to become a professional wrestler . as the monastery  s finances hit an all  time low  nacho decides to join a wresting tournament so that he can win the prize money and provide good food for the monastery  s orphanage . this plot sounds so sweet and caring . it seems like the perfect movie for jack black . look what he did with  school of rock  after all . well  to my displeasure  this plot is almost completely ruined by offensive and gross humor that just takes away from the heart of the movie . it is again hollywood  s way of showing that they feel that teen audiences will only understand fart jokes and stupid humorof course  for all i know  maybe that is the general thought of teenagers  as many seemed to enjoy this movie . watching an obese woman scurry like a mouse across the floor will certainly make people laugh  but don  t expect to get an award for putting it in your movie . a seven  year  old could make up the same joke .  br    br   the performances in  nacho libre  are actually good . jack black proves once again that he is absolutely hilarious and that he can make even the most idiotic  worthless lines in ever put on paper comical . unfortunately  this movie just wasn  t enough for him . it didn  t give him anything to go on and the only reason any of his jokes worked was because of him . i had never seen or heard of ana de la reguera before  but now i can say that  not only is she quite talented  but she is also one of the most beautiful women to have ever graced my eyesight . she just clicked in the role and it worked wonderfully well . hctor jimnez  who plays nacho  s bumbling partner  esqueleto  kept me laughing continuously . he did a very nice job and it was very effective when partnered with that of jack black  s . darius rose  who plays an orphan named chancho  didn  t have many lines  but  what can i say  i just enjoyed him . he was adorable . the rest of the cast did their job . it is unfortunate that they were wasted on such a sub  par movie .  br    br    nacho libre  just does not work . its plot is stretched far too thin . the heart of it all is soiled by moronic humor and sickening jokes that just don  t work . i very rarely laughed and  if i did  it was because of jack black or another member of the cast . and that leads me to the bright side of  nacho libre   yes  the cast . this cast was justwell  for lack of a better word  they were on . they all clicked  had excellent chemistry together  and pumped as much life as possible into the flat script . after jared hess  s  napoleon dynamite  kept me thoroughly entertained for the entirety of the movie  i was surprised to find myself so often bored with  nacho libre  . something was lost here and i have yet to understand what it was . all i know is that  nacho libre  is not a good movie and yet  because of its cast  it is completely worthless . there is a small reason to watch  if only to watch jack black work . but  if you are not a fan of jack black  then avoid this movie like the plague . i like black  but i am done with this movie and with this review .  br    br   final thought yikes  this is jared hess  s surprisingly disappointing follow  up to his hysterical  napoleon dynamite  .  br    br   overall rating      c   
high energy raoul walsh classic from      the bowery places saloon owner and operator wallace beery against bitter rival and dandy  george raft  with adopted street kid jackie cooper and good looking faye wray in roles that play in between their big rivalry . it  s not clear exactly what the rivalry is all about  but everyone follows it in the daily tabloids . plenty of wisecracks at the beginning  but the characters soften up as the film progresses . apart from that is the sheer exuberance of the scenes in beery  s saloon . the various characters  sexy chorus line  lots of drinking  a perfect creation of a den of iniquity not too refrained by so  called pre  code restrictions  and then later come the carrie nations led by carrie nation herself . it all creates a very vivid picture of a life that  s long gone . i don  t like to compare eras  but this film is completely and totally different from anything one would see today . the film has plenty of heart and long lost innocence and is absolutlely a must see .  
jack black is an annoying character . this is an annoying indie movie for   year olds . do i have to write eight more lines  ana de la reguera is dang fine to look at  as a mexican nun who puts up with the rather forward and rude advances of jack black . this movie is a pg   version of an indie film . i really like a movie that has the courage to explore mexican culture . this movie explores mexican culture  deeply . i just choke on its cultural rudenessjack black is just so rude . a white person like jack black is not my most valuable emissary into mexican culture  as it were . mexican wrestling culture is not the most diaphanous venue a white guy  such as myself could seek . i suspect mexico is more culturally opaque than jack black has presented here .  br    br   i think imdb changed my review . has anyone else had his review changed as well  just a question .  
i love this freekin movie  walsh is a true master of the cinematic form  his film have been sometimes in my opinion  overlooked . but this film is a favourite of mine because it really gives you the feel of the time the film was set in .   br    br   all the wonderful characters that existed  the lifestyle  the mode of dress  the way they spoke  ok they might be exaggerated  but it is good to know that there were occasion when two men tried to outdo each other with insane stunts .  br    br   i just felt it was apiece of history thats should be wathced by many people and appreciated because of that fact .  br    br   can i get it somewhere on dvd  i have only seen it on tv . but for anyone wanting a slice of life movie about that period of time this is the perfect one .  
we loved school of rock and jack black . we couldn  t wait to go and see this movie . it was the only time in my life the movie was so bad i wanted to walk out . my husband hated it too . the only funny parts were in the trailers . my husband and i wanted to stand outside the movie theater and tell people to save their money . the writing was awful . it had every terrible stereotype of hispanic people who should be utterly offended . the movie wasn  t that long but to us it seemed like an eternity . the people in the theater were so restless and silent it was like watching paint dry . i made my husband stay because i was sure there would maybe be some redeeming parts  but there weren  t . save you money and your time .  
in brooklyn a century ago  the rivalry between chuck connors and steve brodie and their competing volunteer fire brigades leads to brodie  s famous bet that he can jump off the brooklyn bridge . this is a story which will be familiar to a lot of people through a bugs bunny spoof   bowery bugs  from     .  br    br   this generally very enjoyable film would probably be more widely available if it were not for the notorious and unsettling scene involving some chinese tenement dwellers   a time capsule of antediluvian racial attitudes  giving the film a great deal of historical interest  in my view .  
what a disappointment   br    br   this film seemed to be trying to copy  cutting edge  comedy but the direction and the script was sloppy  sickly and sentimental in the worst film tradition . jack black  s acting  role was self  indulgent and self  regarding . . . and the other characters were equally unmasking and uninteresting . the soundtrack was tedious . we are  were  fans of black but none of us did more than mange a forced titter for the duration . why did he feel he needed to make this mistake   br    br   we will not watch another of his films without reading reviews more carefully first    br    br   was he drunk when he read the script before signing up for this drivel   
four words account for why this film was made   she done him wrong  . the huge commercial success of that mae west vehicle convinced the studio brass that gay    s melodramas were a viable proposition . here we are rewarded with a fast moving  well written romp which neatly targets the personalities of its stars .  br    br   wallace beery and george raft are excellent as friendly rivals jackie cooper is a little harder to take  but it is fay wray who steals the film with her stock  in  trade damsel in distress . with a strong director  as walsh proves himself to be  wray could carry a lot of punch  and she is utterly believable as the object of both raft and beery  s affection .  br    br   lots of atmosphere  beautifully designed  this is a forgotten film worthy of revival .  
i mean  really . . . either i suddenly lost my sense of humor or this is just a really bad movie . it  s stupid  ridiculous and just not funny at all .  br    br   since i saw the preview i knew it wasn  t going to be a great movie  i just didn  t think it was gonna be that bad . . .  br    br   what happened to the good old times when you could find clever funny lines at any movie  when the actors didn  t have to play ridiculous roles in attempt to be funny  . now we find ourselves with movies like this one  borat  little men  scary movie  where i could not find the funny parts    br    br   just skip this piece of garbage  br    br   p . s .  sorry for my english   
george raft as steve brodie  the carefree  dancing gambler who can never refuse a dare  is pitted against the lumbering  sentimental  chuck connors  wallace beery  . a soft touch for every panhandler  connors impulsively adopts waifs and strays  notably runaway orphan  swipes   jackie cooper  complete with kittens   and the homeless lucy calhoun  an out  of  town innocent with ambitions to become a writer .  br    br   in this male  dominated culture  communication takes place mostly in the form of violence  one sees why the bowery is a martin scorsese favorite  . exploding cigars provide a running gag .  swipes  enjoys throwing rocks through windows in chinatown  on one occasion setting a laundry alight .  the simultaneous arrival of both brodie  s and beery  s volunteer fire companies leads to a brawl  during which the building burns to the ground .  beery casually saps a troublesome girl  and thumps anyone who disagrees with him  including brodie  whom he defeats  in a night  time fist fight on a moored barge  to regain control of his saloon  lost on a bet that brodie wouldn  t have the courage to jump off the brooklyn bridge .  brodie does make the leap  but only because a subterfuge with a dummy fails at the last moment .   br    br   as usual  walsh fills the frame with detail  illustrating with relish the daily life of the tenderloin singing waiters  bullying barmen  whores from suicide hall being hustled into the black maria  tailors collaring hapless hicks off the street and forcing them to buy suits they don  t want . a minor but admirable little film .  
i  m sure deep in the recesses of jack blacks mind the character of nacho libre is absolutely hilarious but no it isn  t . you can tell ol jacks having a whale of a time hammin it up playing a smarmy  slimy mexican friar with dreams of becoming a wrestler but this movie is a total misfire in just about every single department .  br    br   i just sat there through most of the movie thinking  is this supposed to be funny  and  this is the guy from tenacious d right   . the truth is this film has nothing to offer . at all  it  s a lousy script with crappy characters and really naff acting and direction . you  ll watch endless moments where you think something funny is surely about to happen but it just doesn  t . i was bored stupid about   minutes in but though it would surely pick up . it didn  t .   minutes later i  d barely managed to stave off an aneurism it was that painful .  br    br   it  s like  remember years ago when you  d see anything with your fave actor in it  even some of their really early pap from before they were famous  and you  d be really embarrassed that said actor was actually in such a load of plop . yeah it  s like that .  br    br   i  ve enjoyed some of jack black  s earlier movies like shallow hall and i  m really looking forward to seeing pick of destiny but come on man . if you do this to us again jack i  m gonna have to come round there and hammer your kneecaps or something . at the least give you a serious talking to .  br    br   i know it  s a clich but this is one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen and for so many reasons . . . .  
a favourite of mine  this movie tells of two feuding new york  characters   steve brodie  raft  and  chuck  connors  beery   who both strive to be the  main guy  in the bowery in the late nineteenth century .  br    br   brodie            and connors             were real people  though this is a heavily fictionalized account of their antics  based on a play  . brodie  s legendary  did he do it   it  s still a cause of argument    jump from the brooklyn bridge        for which he became famous  is shown here as happening around the same time as the spanish  american war       . director walsh clearly had a great affection for the period  so beautifully recreated here  and it includes a wild rumbustious ragtime number from saloon singer trixie odbray  a young pert kelton  . raft is at his slickest as brodie  and beery shows again what a clever actor he was  as tough  big hearted  and at times quite touching connors . pretty fay wray is the love interest both the boys are pursuing .  br    br   full of life and energy   the bowery  moves at a fast pace  unlike many early  talkies   . it is not an easy movie to find  but is well worth looking out for .  
jack black can usually make me snicker simply by breathing  but in this movie . . .  br    br   besides the direction  writing  lack of plot  constant mugging  aided and abetted by constant straight  on camera shots   and a .    joke batting average  it was still an utter waste of time . the idea sounds promising  but what potential there was gets wasted with an utter lack of comedy and some of the worst direction i  ve seen this side of you  tube .  br    br   i kept hearing that this film portrayed mexicans very negatively . while that  s no doubt true  i really don  t think this movie is meant to be racist . i think that  s it  s more a result of a  creative  team desperately trying to find something funny in this mess . you can almost hear them crying out from behind the camera  hey look  it  s an ugly mexican  laugh  people  please  for the love of all things tenacious  laugh    br    br   but put the racism charges aside . when you get down to it  it  s anyone who plunked down good money and time to watch this pile of leftover refried beans that should be offended  imo .  
culled from the real life exploits of chuck connors and steve brodie in     s new york   the bowery  is high energy and good natured .  br    br   but be warned casual racial epithets flow off the tongues of wallace beery and little jackie cooper . the very first shot might be startling . this is true to the time it was set and the time it was made . and it also speaks to the diversity of population in that neck of the woods . it certainly adds to the gritty flavor of the atmosphere .  br    br   beery as connors is the blustering thunder at the center of the action  a loud  mouth saloon keeper with his own fire brigade . and he has a soft spot for ornery orphan cooper . raft as brodie is connors  slicker  better looking rival in almost every endeavor . brodie could never turn down a dare and loved attention  leading up to a jump off the brooklyn bridge  it is still debated whether he actually jumped or used a dummy  .  br    br   beery is as bombastic as ever with a put  on irish  american accent . he is just the gruff sort of character to draw children  cats and ladies in distress . this is possibly the most boisterous character raft ever played  and he even gets to throw in a little dancing  as well as a show of leg  . and again he mistakes the leading lady  lovely fay wray  for a prostitute . cooper is as tough as either of them  though he gets a chance to turn on the tears .  br    br   the highlight isn  t the jump off the bridge but a no  holds  barred fistfight between connors and brodie that in closeup looks like a real brawl between the principals . it  s sure someone bruised more than an ego .  
  a mexican priest becomes a wrestler to save an orphanage or something   br    br   i went to see this movie because it was about non  wwf wrestling and so i thought it might be funny . it wasn  t . it is excruciating to watch . embarrassing . any and every opportunity for comedy is mercilessly squandered .  br    br   i admit i don  t like jack black anyway . after this i have been racking my brain to think of one good role that he has performed . the only thing i can come up with where he was o . k . was as a necessary foil to the john cusack character in  high fidelity  . jack black is one of those awful relentless flat  out ham  it  up knockabout guys  like the little fat one in abbot  costello or jerry lewis  who should be told that being overbearingly idiotic is not the same thing as being funny .  br    br   it is not even slapstick . it  s just irritating . it  s not even stoopid  it  s just stupid .  br    br   i heard good things about napoleon dynamite too  but if this is anything to go by i wont be rushing out to find it on dvd .  
when i saw the movie at first i thought that it was boring because nothing was happening but when all the scary things started to happen like when church dies and is brought back to life and also gage and his mom die and there idiot dad has to bring them back to life even though he nows the warnings and ignores jud . this is not steven kings best work . i thought that his best work was the shining . i don  t think that people who see this movie and comment on how awful it was are wrong because all they think is that what were they thinking . as if that person can do a better job in making a horror flick . i mean making the gage evil and how he kills jud is genius . making the most innocent most unsuspecting character into one of the killers is cool . people who didn  t like the movie are dumb because all it is a scary movie and nothing all . don  t expect something from a movie that it isn  t . it still in a general area wasn  t that good . i still recommend people to watch the movie  
are you kidding me   a show highlighting someone who opens cans and envelopes for a meal  how talented do you have to be to do this  she may be able to cook but it is not portrayed in this half  hour stomach churning painful production . i know she has a martha  stewart  esquire empire . so does warren buffett but i don  t see him with fake knockers opening cans of cream corn and alpo .  br    br   she has a nephew named . . . brycer . brycer  stop talking about anyone a name that stupid .  br    br   more time is spent on  table  scapes  than actual cooking . who has that kind of time   silicon should be on your spatula  not on my tv . this show should be on cartoon network  not food network .  
did sandra  yes  she must have  know we would still be here for her some nine years later   br    br   see it if you haven  t  again if you have see her live while you can .  
this movie appears to have been an on the job training exercise for the coppola family . it doesn  t seem to know whether to be an  a  or a  b  western . i mean  the hero is called hopalong cassidy for god  s sake . william boyd must be spinning in his grave .  br    br   all the  b  western cliches are here . the two  gun pearly toothed hero in the white hat with the trusty steed   c  mon thunder    the all  in  black bearded villain  the heroine in distress  the rancher in trouble  the cowardly sheriff  over the top bad guys etc .  br    br   the acting  with few exceptions  is strictly from the yakima canutt school of acting . chris lybbert  who   as the hero and louis schweibert  who   as the villain look like they would have been more at home in a    s poverty row quickie . the addition to the cast of veteran performers martin sheen  robert carradine  clu gulager and will hutchins helps a little  but they are not given enough to do to salvage this one .  br    br   what was the point of the martin sheen  robert carradine framing sequences  are we to believe that the sheen character was a ghost  what was the purpose of the black gloves  it just didn  t make sense .  br    br   being a great lover of westerns from all genres  i tried hard to find some redeeming qualities in this film . the cinematography was quite good and the settings looked very authentic . aside from the hero and main villain  the other characters looked authentic .  br    br   if the producers were going to resurrect the hopalong cassidy character  they might have given some thought to portraying him as he was originally written  a grizzled foul  mouthed ranch hand with a chip on his shoulder  the kind of part lee marvin would have excelled in .  br    br   what else can i say but . . on thunder  on big fellow .  
there is something about pet sematary that i never felt anywhere else . maybe the fact i was a kid when i first watched it made this experience so memorable . but as i keep watching it over and over again  it never gets old  and i never get bored . from the opening credits with that creepy opening song to the very chaotic ending  there is something insane  sad and scary at the same time  and it keeps ringing in your head sometimes dead is better   br    br   i don  t think it would be useful to relate the whole story again . all you need to know is it starts from point a  the most perfect situation for a happy american family  and step by step drowns to point b  which is  believe me  the very end of all joy  . the music is perfect  the story makes sense  the special effects are cool  and the pet sematary is the last place on earth i would be . like i said  sometimes dead is better   
there is a reason why this made for british tv movie only appeared at the     toronto film festival . it is dull  plodding and lacking in suspense .  br    br   peter otooles diffident performance and the appearance of playwright harold pinter are the only elements of interest .  br    br   note  some british film fans will enjoy seeing philip jackson  best known for his portrayal of inspector japp in the poirot television series  in one of his earliest roles . . . .  
overall this movie was excellent for its time and will be interesting for many more generations to come . although the plot is not     accurate to the book most everything is correct . the movie does skip far ahead and does miss some important parts . i found the book and ready and immediately wished that they had made a movie  because i hadn  t found out about the movie yet  but later i found the movie in a bargain bin at wal  mart and decided to buy it and see if it was what i had expected . overall i give this movies a  out of   for its good parts  relative accuracy and overall making sense  and for its bad parts  large time skips and small but noticeable inaccuracies  .  
very much a film from the times   extremely long sequences with no dialogue  bad flashbacks  and an almost entirely male cast . the two women who appear have a total of under   lines and exist only as romantic interests for men .  br    br   o  toole is riveting whenever he speaks unfortunately  he spends much of his time peering through shrubbery . alastair sims is always a joy to see but he  too  is terribly underused .  br    br   the film has one additional positive aspect  in that it depicts many aspects of british fascism and fascist sympathies  such as the casual appearance of the mosley graffiti  that many people today are unaware of . too many of today  s films about wwii paint the allies as all  good and the axis as all  evil  when history tells us people are far more complicated than that   br    br   this would be a good movie for when you  re recovering from the flu and are bundled on the couch and not able to absorb anything too complex . if you just need something to pass the time while your electrolytes stabilize  this is the movie for you .  
personally  i absolutely love this movie and novel  i read the book first and decided to see the movie  . first of all the plot is truly original and one of a kind . the acting is also great and i love the cast . judd crandall  plays fred gwynne  fits his role perfectly and really sells it to you . there are also a few corny lines thrown in there  idk if they were meant to be corny   but they really will lighten up the mood and provide a good laugh . the maine atmosphere is really a perfect spot to film this movie and it kind of draws you in throughout the movie . not only will you love it but you  ll want to see it again and again  i recommend this     to any horror fan    
      s undeservedly popular  i love the    s  is an inane  idiotic  offensive and downright disgusting pop  culture mess of a show that was the first in a long  line of horrid television programming that ultimately spelled out the end of vh   which was at one time the only real music  oriented channel left on tv  i used to practically live on vh  up until the spring or winter  i forget which one now  of     when garbage like this started to appear for absolutely no reason whatsoever . out of sheer morbid curiosity  i  d guess that  s what you  d call it  i had decided that i would go ahead and give it a look  see anyhow the first night it came on even though the advertisements looked like complete crap . at least i can honestly say that i wasn  t a bit disappointed by it because my expectations were obviously bottom basement  level to begin with . the emphasis of this show i found out within the first  minutes was less on each year of the      s and what was and wasn  t culturally significant or popular  which is what i was expecting to see   but instead more of an impromptu platform for a whole slew of really god  awful no  name comedians to display what they more than likely think is their comedic skills rolls eyes . . . more like lack  thereof if you ask me  it  s pretty easy now to see why no one had ever heard of any of these idiots before they appeared on this show because they are all so terribly unfunny and pathetic in their attempts at so  called  humor  that i swear i could feel my intestines knot up with each and every rancid one  liner they shot off one after another  altogether  i have no problem in saying that  i love the    s  was  is trash of the lowest denominator  and one of the main reasons why i almost never watch vh  anymore .  
ah  clichs  clichs  clichs they  re a main part of a wide variety of horror films . this one  has a lot of them . still  it  s stephen king  one of the best masters of horror . this movie was really good  just too predictable . and what horror movie doesn  t have stupid people  this one is overcrowded with retarded victims just practically begging for their life to be taken . pet semetary i found to be creepy a little . the way everything is set up was really spooky  but not terrifying . for the most part  the acting was somewhat believable  the suspense wasn  t that suspenseful  but the entertainment level is set at a major rank my eyes were practically glued to the screen . all stephen king fans must see this movie  but as for anyone else  expect an okay thriller .  
if it wasn  t for the bad dialogues and script . i mean  the direction was really in touch with it  s subject . the actors were doing good at bringing their characters to life . but in the end  the thing that was really missing was a solid script to hold all the pieces together . i would highly suggest not to watch this . unless you  re a al pacino enthusiast like i am and will watch everything he is playing in . even if the result lately are rather poor . this is  after s  m  ne  a second very bad movie for this actor that once knew how to choose roles .  
probably the most accurate stephen king adaption yet . not surprising  since king himself wrote the screenplay . the story follows the creed family moving into a beautiful maine house . one of the other residents is jud  a pleasant old man who knows a few things about the area . one is the highway that runs right through their frontyard . the other is a path leading to the pet sematary  where children for decades have buried the animals killed by the highway . soon enough  ellie creed  s cat  church  is found dead . luckily  this happens while the family  with the exception of louis  the father   is away for thanksgiving . jud takes louis to another burial ground  beyond the pet sematary  where church is to be buried . later  louis is greeted  not so politely  by church . he  s returned  appearing to have chewed his way out of the bag he had been buried in . maybe he was buried alive . maybe not . nothing more i can say without ruining the story .  br    br   of all the king adaptions i  ve seen this would be the most terrifying . the characters are real and the situations are normal . mary lambert does a great job directing the proceedings . suspense is kept fairly high throughout the film  due in part to the plot development . the scene where gage is killed will stick in your mind forever . then  of course  we have the conclusion . easy to determine what  s going to happen  but lambert pulls off some genuinely scary  and sometimes disturbing  moments .  br    br   overall  this is a good film and an excellent adaption . if you enjoy being scared and don  t mind being haunted by some occasionally disturbing images then  pet sematary  is just what you  re looking for . non horror fans will want to avoid this .  
al pacino  kim basinger  tea leoni  ryan o  neal  richard schiff  my mouth was watering . i dropped everything to watch this movie on cable .   minutes in i was having trouble staying awake .   minutes in and i hit the record button and fell asleep . finished watching it the next morning . shouldn  t have bothered . what a waste of a great cast and an idea that could have been an interesting story of a  day in the life . . .  cure your insomnia if you have it and watch this movie . i guarantee you at least an hour and a half of uninterrupted sleep . dialogue horrible . continuity non  existent . camera work could have been done with a hand held super  and looked better .  br    br   this movie was a total disaster .  
so often with stephen king adaptations  you just get a collection of characters reciting dialogue from the books . this really captures the heart of the book . maybe because they don  t use large chunks of text straight from the book  but it  s a bit more of an improv of the events in the story . a big part of its success is miko hughes as baby gage . dale midkiff and denise  tasha yar  crosby really act like his parents . there  s a scene where louis is cuddling gage  and they are very natural together . fred gwynne is wonderful . he nails the maine accent perfectly without lapsing into parody  and is wise and warm just like jud should be .   out of     
unless somebody enlightens me  i really have no idea what this movie is about . it looks like a picture with a message but its far from it . this movie tells pointless story of a new york press agent and about his problems . and  thats basically all . when that agent is played by pacino  one must think that it must be something important . but it takes no hard thinking to figure out how meaningless and dull this movie is . to one of the best actors in the world  al pacino  this is the second movie of the year  the other is  simone   that deserves the title  the most boring and the most pointless motion picture of the year  . so  whats going on  al   
ok  first i have to point the fact that when i first saw this flick i was  years old . if i had seen this one two weeks ago for the first time  id probably have noted that this is just another cheaply  made  cable  tv horror film with some well  made scenes . but when youre nine you just dont care about those facts . this scared the hell out of me back then  especially those aforementioned zelda  scenes  and they still do  . nowadays im kind of hooked to this film . i have to see this maybe once in a month  and on every new years eve i watch this with a    pack of beer  bunch of friends . its like an appetizer for a good party  i kinda agree to those people who said that the acting here is pretty unintense . midkiff and crosby do look like i wanted louis and rachel look like  but one cant see very much devotion or feelings on the faces of these two . hughes and gwynne pretty much save the scenes which  the creeds  underact . what i actually want to say about this is the fact that there really is no other film that has any kind of similarity to pet sematary  and i dont mean the zombie stuff here . the atmosphere of this film is certainly a novelty and one of a kind . honestly  how many times you have seen a film which on superficial level looks like a cable  tv one  but leave you with a chill compared to only the best horror  chillers out there  alright i busted some of the casts balls a minute ago  but i have to say that all pieces in that level too hone the overall acting to perfection . but hey tell me if you really know some film which is similar to pet sematary  i really would love to know . . . and i dont mean night of the living dead here . . . this one is way beyond compare in intelligence compared to that stuff .  
saw this movie in an early preview  and i cannot stress enough how bad i thought this film was . from the very beginning  the audience was groaning over pacino  s awful southern accent . poor al looked really  really haggard  and i can  t decide whether this was purposely part of his role as a drug addicted publicist  or perhaps he just didn  t get any sleep before coming to the set . much worse than pacino  s close ups  however  is the wretched excuse for a plot . early in the film we are given indications that pacino  s character is gay  and i suspect that is what the screenwriter had originally intended . later  however  we are supposed to suspend our incredulity and believe that both tea leoni and kim basinger  both of whom are sleepwalking through lame roles  lust after this elderly  half dead looking  effeminate man with the ridiculous accent . the worst part overall was the main plot thread  which had to do with some corporate espionage that is never fully explained and we never  ever care about in the slightest . because this was a preview i will reserve my final judgment  because of the possibility of re  shoots and editing  but you can bet i will not pay a cent to see this in theaters .  
spoilers herein  br    br   what really scares you  killer sharks  or maybe ghosts trying to bring back a message  maybe a chainsaw wielding psychopath   br    br   maybe . but those fears don  t even compare to a horror which people dare not even speak of or consider   and that is the death of one  s own child .  pet sematary  taps this base  primal adult fear  and then takes it to places that most could not bear to explore .  br    br   i  ve read comments about this film that include poor acting  characters making stupid decisions  etc . i disagree . the acting is actually first rate for a film like this . maybe it is impossible for many to imagine the desperation resulting from such a scenario . but the film  s events are not only logical  they may be absolutely inevitable if such a scenario were possible . this is the true horror of  pet sematary   it isn  t that pets and people come back from the dead as evil killers who hunt with knives and scalpels  it is that anyone who has lost a child could become so desperate as to commit the crimes that louis creed does . despite warning  or even past history .  br    br   the movie takes those willing to go with it to the depths of a desperate human heart . the heart of a protector trying to make up for not being able to protect . and the results are horrifying . in fact  when the film dives into slasher territory near the end  it  s almost a letdown  although i believe it  s perfectly logical how it got there .  br    br   i am a true horror fan  and i contend that this is one of the scariest horror films ever made . if you don  t think so  see it again after you have children .  
in what seemed like the longest  hour   i  ve had to endure in a long time  al pacino delivers an accurate performace to be sure . not his usual typecasting  which was nice . but his character was just truely pathetic . someone to pitty as he stumbles around forgetting appointments as we realise that the hollywood social life has drained him of his life energy . but in this movie we needed someone to like . and for some reason  every character in the picture said  i don  t know why i like you  eli  to al pacino  s chracter and i couldn  t even come close to liking him .  br    br   all the other actors played their usual styles . tea leoni  richard schiff  and bill nunn did nothing to change their established personas developed on tv or in earlier films . and kim basinger wasn  t even in the film long enough to deliver a performance of any kind .  br    br   the movie  s story had no momentum . most scenes never driving the story forward  but rather just collecting factoids about characters which later came into play in an anti  climactic ending . it had potential except for their unwillingness to build upon the story .  br    br   whats the point of the film  daniel algrant and jon robin baitz would have you believe  once hollywood has you  you can  t get out .  yeah right  and that  s why so many people get fired in hollywood .  
minor spoiler  br    br   underrated little stephen king shocker . it  s not perfect  by any stretch of the imagination   even if the limp performances of dale midkiff and denise crosby were better  there  d still be the mismanaged mystical story elements to contend with . the old micmac burial ground  rachel  s terminally ill sister  and the jacob  marley  an victor pascow never really come together into anything coherent  and the film in places feels confused and overstuffed . but few horror movies really are perfect  and what this one may lack in other areas it makes up for in its willingness to shock . pet sematary  may actually be one of the cruelest horror films in recent memory  with its murderous zombie baby and its insanely insensitive portrayal of zelda . it  s politically incorrect  it  s tasteless  it  s gratuitous   and yet it makes us squirm with revulsion in a way safer  horror movies never can . add to that one of fred gwynne  s best performances and mary lambert  s witty direction  and you have an intensely satisfying scary movie   even with the hokey ending . highly recommended for genre fans .  .  out of   .  
firstly  i must admit that it isn  t a good movie . and  i would never watch this movie if pacino wasn  t in it .  br    br   the movie is about a publicist  s strange   hours . and he is overworked  dizzy  sick and sometimes regretful . i don  t like the character at all . it  s really boring  after   minutes you may fall asleep . and i don  t understand why pacino wanted to be a part of this horrible movie . just because of money or what   br    br   since i  m an avid pacino fan  i bought this     movie people i know . if you haven  t bought it yet  don  t even think about it  it  s just a waste of time .  
  pet sematary  succeeds on two major situations . first  it  s a scary horror movie . those that just aren  t produced in these days . second  it  s an emotional  clever movie overall . so if you are looking for chills  scares  creepiness and visually stunning settings  great acting  dialongs  and gruesome effects this is the movie you are looking for . a classic now and truly a must see for any horror fan .  br    br   probably  the best adaptation to any of king  s novels . the events feel a little rushed compared with the novel  but that doesn  t means that this underrated movie isn  t a complete horror  drama accomplishment .  br    br   stephen king  s novel is widely known for being very emotional and gruesome at the same time . the movie captures the same feeling mainly because there  s a great character development and you can feel the loving relationship between it  s members . then  when everything seems to be happiness  technically happy  because the title  pet sematary  does not offers appiness   a tragic event changes the movie  s atmosphere  now it turns very dark . the movie has a sinister feeling since the opening credits  but after gage is killed the movie becomes sad  gray  creepy . dealing with the loss of a baby son is something that can ruin a family  s entire life  and  pet sematary  proves it dramatically .  br    br   the legend behind the pet sematary is more than a myth that no one wants to experience  but sadness and desperation lead an emotionally destroyed father to give it a shot . sadly enough  the legend comes true and baby gage returns from the dead . the previous encounter with the pet sematary legend turned out to be a tragedy but this time it  s something much  much worse . what will happened with the lives of our all american family  could pascow prevent this tragedy  what is it with the surreal nightmares   br    br   watch  pet sematary  to witness one of the most touching  emotional horror movies of recent times . you won  t regret . the acting is very good although i didn  t dig the actor who portrayed the father . he didn  t seem disturbed enough when the situations asked for his desperation . but that  s just my opinion . denise crosby truly delivered a great performance and worked perfect as the noble  tender mother . baby gage was amazing even on his creepy parts . shivers . overall this is a great classic of all time and a disturbing movie that touches people  s deepest fears . . . the loss of someone you love  the dead returning to life  and a feeling of desperation .  br    br   something is for sure . . . i don  t wanna be buried  in a pet sematary    
much as we all love al pacino  it was painful to see him in this movie . a publicity hack at the grubby ending of what seems to have once been a distinguished and idealistic career pacino plays his part looking like an unmade bed and assaulting everyone with a totally bogus and inconsistent southern accent .  br    br   the plot spools out this way and that with so many loose ends and improbabilities that the mind reels  and then retreats  .  br    br   kim basinger is there  not doing much . her scenes with pacino are flat and unconvincing . hard to believe they meant a lot to each other . there  s no energy there .  br    br   tea leone  on the other hand  lit up the screen . she was electric and her scenes with pacino were by far the most interesting in the movie  but not enough to save al from embarrassment .  
if you ever have the chance to see sandra bernhard live in person  you better move on it sweetie . i saw her last year in los angeles at the opening of her everything bad and beautiful tour and i still can  t believe that i was in the first row  and lucky enough to experience such a phenomenal show . she is now in new york with the show and it coincides with the release of her groundbreaking stunner   without you i  m nothing  . we have lost richard pryor  lenny bruce  nina simone  but sandra is still with us . patti smith is missing in action  but not sandra . barbara streisand continues to peep her head out once in awhile but sandra more than makes up for where babs leaves off . okay  i want it known  ms . bernhard is a little of these influential entertainers and more . i really wanted to push this film because of its truth  honesty  humor  eclectic songs  ranging from laura nyro  sylvester  nina simone  prince   and a script that defines the decadence  joy  sadness  ups and downs of the    s and    s . it is my opinion that many  and i mean  many  comics have lifted  okay outright stolen  so much from this show if not from sandra herself . i won  t name names but come on  people  you and i know who they are . see  the thing is  bernhard plays by her own rules . this movie shows  as does her live performances  that she is a performer who has stayed true to the old school of show business  as well as pushing forward . her performances are reminiscent of smoky jazz clubs  during the time of miles davis  coltrane  monk      s tv shows  intimate cabaret acts and concerts that are reminiscent of everyone from judy garland to joan jett . most comedians couldn  t even touch where sandra is coming from or going to . so  here i was  a year ago  watching sandra at the silent movie theater  in total awe and joy . i wanted to meet her after the show  give her something that meant something to me  that  hopefully would mean something to her . but i listen to my copy of giving til it hurts  and just thank her in a prayer  of sorts for making me laugh  making me think  making me feel . you can  t deny this lady  s presence and you certainly cannot deny the talent that just rushes from the stage . she  s still here  damn it  even after the release of without you i  m nothing  some   years ago . and she looks great  by the way . i know this firsthand  walking from the theater one audience member said to another   she is so funny . . and she still looks incredible    if you can  t experience her live yet  please see this movie . as for me  i do hope that sandra will see this . you  ve meant a heck of a lot to me  gotten me through some tough crazy times . if you can send me an email  please do . if not  knowing that you are still kicking it out and will continue to do so  is enough for me . come on  people  give it up for the lady      
i don  t know what this movie is about  really . it  s like a student  s art school project . they never say why the world is dark  but it is always darkness except for seconds a day . there are long  interrupting shots of insects of all sorts for no reason . what little dialogue there is in the movie is as inane and nonsensical as the images . a black woman enters the main character  s apartment . somehow she becomes pregnant overnight  then gets shot in the head . the main character takes care of the body until it becomes a cocoon after which a white naked woman emerges . i have never been so blown away by how bad and pointless a movie can be . honestly  i would like someone to watch it so they can tell me what they think it  s about . but i wouldn  t wish this level of hell on anybody else .  
making a book into a movie by following the story page  by  page is never a good idea . when people read the book  they automatically start making their own  mental movie  of who the characters look like  the places they exist in  how the situations progress . and everybody  s mind  s  eye opus is different  which is why when the  real  movie finally comes out  you  re always going to have a ticked  off segment of the movie  going audience who are disappointed that it just doesn  t measure up .  br    br   all a screenwriter and a director can hope to accomplish is whatever their own vision of the movie is  and hope that it comes as close as possible to what their audience is expecting to see .  br    br   there is no better case for this situation than the movies based on the novels of stephen king . when filmmakers capture at least the essence of his stories  the results can be breathtaking and truly terrifying  carrie   salem  s lot  the dead zone   or they can be what fans consider to be a gawd  awful mess  kubrick  s version of the shining the miniseries for it and the tommyknockers  .  br    br   although it  s not even close to being the perfect king adaptation  pet sematary has so many moments of just skin  and  bone  deep unease that seemed to have bled onto the screen directly from the book  that you can pretty much forgive its shortcomings . for that  we have music video  turned  film director mary lambert to thank   she also directed siesta  not exactly a horror movie  but another freaky  as  hell must  see you should put on your list   working from a screenplay by the  man  ster  himself  and probably one of his better ones .  br    br   since the majority of you know the story  i won  t put you to sleep with too many of the details . dr . louis creed  dale midkiff  has moved his family out to the perfect house in the country . well  almost perfect  except for two nasty little details the dangerously busy stretch of interstate highway out in front  and the large pet cemetery in the woods out back . since louis is a veterinarian and has a young toddler for a son . . . well  even if you haven  t read the book  do the frickin  math . it is a king story  after all  so no mystery where this is headed .  br    br   it  s not so much the destination that counts here  but the spooky stops along the way . certain scenes that are so familiar from the book are brought to shivery  scream  inducing life here rachel creed  s  star trek  s denise crosby  horrific memory of her terminally ill  crippled sister louis  s encounters with the mortally injured jogger victor pascow  brad greenquist   both before and after his death the trip into the  other  cemetery beyond the pet cemetery . and that third act . . . if it doesn  t give you a few nightmares  maybe you should check your pulse .  br    br   good performances by all here  especially the late fred gwynne as the well  intentioned neighbor  jud crandall  who gets the best line in the story that sums it all up  sometimes  dead is better .   br    br   about the only problem with the movie version is the casting of louis  s son  gage  miko hughes  . knowing that it would be damn near impossible to get the kind of performance needed from a kid that age to seal the deal on this  lambert and crew still did the best they could  and unfortunately  hughes at the time was just too damn cute to  sell  his intended role as an evil  demon  possessed zombie . this takes you out of the movie whenever he shows up  though the scenes where he  s featured are still masterfully staged   especially gwynne  s death scene .   br    br   other than that  everything else is still about as good as it gets . carrie still holds the title for best king adaptation as far as i  m concerned but sematary is right up there in the top five .  br    br   still  will anything adapted for the screen based on a king book be as terrifying as reading the story  not bloody likely . . . for now .  
the only good thing about  people i know  is that it serves as a perfect example of movies that al pacino should avoid performing in . the first big turn  off i had was the way in which pacino tried to portray a georgia accent at times it was weak and unattractive while in other segments it seemed too overdone . dialogue and character interaction was terrible along with a weak plot . the supporting cast did an extremely perfunctory job in keeping the movie interesting  and within an hour i still saw no signs of a sturdy plot . the story overall is a real bore  and i had to slap myself in the face a few times to keep myself awake .  br    br   this movie will surely bore you as well . . . avoid at all costs .  
this is one of the creepiest  scariest and most heartbreaking horror movie ever   br    br   dr creed  louise  and his family moving in to new home with his wife  rachel   daughter  ellie  and little son  gage  everything seems normal until dr creed loses one his patient who had a terrible head injury  then he is haunted by the ghost know as victor takes him to the pet sematarty and show him that where the dead come to life .  br    br   louis not knowing if that was all dream and is talking to ellie who worried about her cat that could be killed by lorry and then later on rachel tells louis that it really hard for to talk about death because of her sister zelda who was really sick  as we see in a flashback how sick her sister really was and this is one of the most creepiest scene ever    br    br   the next day louis gets a call from jed saying there cat as been killed by lorry and jed take him to place where victor the ghost told him not to go  and bury the cat  his wife and kids have go to see their grandparents and louise is home alone shocked to see the cat is back and now it as evil in it eyes so he goes to see jed then jed tell him that he also buried his dog there too  as we seen other flashback  .  br    br   later on in the movie the family out having picnic  gage is playing with kite and gage say  s i drop it   the wind blow the rod near the road where a lorry coming at fast past  gage is get closer to road  louis is rushing to get him  the most heartbreaking scene in any horror movie will leave with your jaw on floor or shivers will go down your back when you hear louis screams  soon he missing him so much  louis then buries gage in same place where is buried the cat .  br    br   the scariest thing about this movie is that some scenes in this movie are not too far from really life .  br    br   this movie is just amazing and the acting from everyone was great    out    
the movie is about two stories one is a political murder of a call  girl  the other an upper  class political party . the crossing point is the public relation character played by al paccino  as he is the witness of the crime and the instigator of the evening .  br    br   if the script is terrible without any decent dialogs and the directing void of any sense of drama  the performance of al is memorable how many fellows can be as much convincing as a powerful and feared man  as  the godfather   as here as a little servant  see also  donnie brasco   .  br    br   actually  the big young lion has become a tired old one . this passing of ages is very moving  because it makes the audience ponders about getting old too .  br    br   but his slowness is only a make  up because he can get back his energy in church scene .  br    br   maybe it is a good thing that the movie is so awful because it put the starlight on al  s talent   
i am a fairly big fan of most of the films that have been based on stephen king  s books  this one rates as one of the scariest and most memorable .  br    br   i have just finished rewatching it for about the tenth time and i still find it heart  wrenching as well as scary .  br    br   the scene where gage is on a sure collision course with the monster truck is one which stands out . and the  no fair  uttered by little miko hughes near the end is a touch of brilliance .  br    br    
very silly movie  filled with stupid one liners and jewish references thru out . it was a serious movie but could not be taken seriously . a familiar movie plot . . . being at the wrong place at the wrong time . an atrocious subplot  involving kim bassinger . very robotic and too regimented . i have noticed that al pacinos acting abilities seem to be going downhill . a troubleshooter with troubles  but nothing more troubling than pacinos horrible atlanta accent . damage control needs to fix this damage of a film . ok my one liners are bad  but not as bad as the ones in this film . this movie manages to not only be boring but revolting as well . usually a revolting film is watchable for the wrong reasons . this movie is unwatchable . i did manage to sit through this . the plot  if written a tad bit better  with  perhaps a little better acting and eliminating the horrendous subplot  and even dumber jokes  could have pulled this thriller out of the doldrums . what we are left with is a dull  silly movie that made sure it was drilled into our heads that eli wurman was jewish . an embarrassment to all the good jewish folk everywhere .  
  pet sematary  is an adaptation from the stephen king novel of the same title . the story follows the creeds  an all american  middle  class family  who move into a house out in the country . the family consists of louis and rachel  and their two young children  ellie and their toddler son  gage . the house couldn  t be better  and the family meets a strange but friendly old man  jud  who lives across the road . he leads them down an old path into the woods one day where a pet graveyard lies  filled with a huge amount of animal graves . and just beyond there  lies a sacred indian burial ground that seems to possess a strange power . when the family cat  church  is killed  louis sees it fit to bury him in the pet cemetery  and strangely enough  soon after  church returns to life . but there  s something evil about him now  he isn  t the same cat he used to be . and when a tragic accident takes the life of young gage  louis decides to apply the same concept in hopes of reviving his dead son . . . unfortunately  he gets more than he bargained for .  br    br   having read stephen king  s novel  i can say that the book is much better than the film . not to say the movie is bad  because it isn  t  the book is just a little bit better . the real strength in this film lies in it  s story  which is both bizarre but extremely original  something that king  s stories are typically known for . the script is very well adapted from the story  and while it minorly differs in some aspects  it  s a pretty good page  to  screen transformation . there are a few plot holes here and there  nothing major though . besides that  this movie is actually pretty scary  and it succeeds in it  s intention to do so . there are some really disturbing scenes throughout the film  and i  d have to say that the flashback sequence of rachel  s sister zelda is the number one . honestly  that is one of the most disgusting  disturbing things i  ve ever seen in a horror film  it  s not gory and bloody  it  s just flat out sickening . one thing  s for sure  that image won  t leave your head anytime soon .  br    br   the performances in this film were all very up to par and i really had no problem there . this film is actually on the gory side  there are plenty of nasty little sequences to please all of the gore hounds out there  including the shocker of an ending . i really liked the way they ended the film  it was abrupt and somewhat inconclusive  but it worked better that way with all things considered .  br    br   overall   pet sematary  is a good horror movie that i  d recommend to those who are fans of either stephen king or just fans of the genre in general . the story is the film  s greatest asset and it  s a creepy one too . one of the better stephen king adaptations i  d say .     .  
  people i know  is a clunker with no one to root for and no one to care about   despite the game efforts of a talented cast .  br    br   pacino delivers his usual tour de force as eli wurman  a past  his  prime publicity agent hollowed out by a lifetime of moral corruption . but unlike michael corleone  it  s impossible to have an emotional investment in this character  his dilemma  or his fate .  br    br   the film traces eli  s preparations for a benefit for a liberal political cause  while distracted by a client  s  ryan o  neal  good in an underwritten part  latest  dirty laundry    in this case  a tv actress companion who  s gotten involved with the wrong people . tea leoni brings her customary star power to this supporting role  although again  the script doesn  t give her much to work with . as eli  s sister  in  law  kim basinger manages to evoke sympathy despite implausible plot mechanics .  br    br   this movie is strictly for those who like watching pacino strut his stuff  and enjoy the other principals . unfortunately  between the script and direction   people i know  is strictly amateurish . hence its limited theatrical release  and speedy journey to dvd . consider yourself warned .  
louis creed  a doctor from chicago  moves to a large house near a small town  since he is going to be giving classes in the university of maine  s . along with him  is his wife rachel and their two kids  ellie and gage  as well as ellie  s cat  church . soon  they met their new neighbor  and old man named judd crandall . judd not only warns louis and rachel about the danger that is the highway that runs past their house  that is constantly a way used by big trucks  but also show to the family a pet cemetery that is located near their house . judd starts to talk about the importance of the pet cemetery  but rachel is against to talk about death and spirituality with her children  since she has traumas from her sister zelda  s death .  br    br   during the first week of the family in the new house  louis already has dead people to deal with victor pascow  a student who has been fatally injured in an automobile accident  addresses his dying words to louis personally  even though the two men are strangers . on the night following pascow  s death  louis experiences what he believes is a very vivid dream in which he meets pascow  who leads him to the pet cemetery and warns louis to not  go beyond  no matter how much you feel you need to .  louis wakes up in bed the next morning convinced it was only a dream  until he discovers his feet and the bedsheets covered with dirt and pine needles . anyway  he dismisses the dream . many strange things starts to happen and church  ellie  s cat  dies while walking on the highway . louis stays worried in how he is going to talk about church  s death with ellie  but judd  sympathizing with him  jud takes louis to the pet cemetery  supposedly to bury church . but instead of stopping there  jud leads louis farther on a frightening journey to  the real cemetery   an ancient burial ground that was once used by the micmac   . . . indians . . .   . there louis buries the cat on jud  s instruction  with jud saying that animals buried there have come back to life . and that is where the real horror story begins . . .  br    br   i personally find this movie very good . it  s not the most horrifying of all  but it is one of the best horror movies i watched . the way gage dies  is almost impossible to not stay in your memory  specially being a toddler . it  s cool to see stephen king  s cameo as the minister of the funeral .  br    br   of course  there are some script errors how can a rich doctor with two small kids  goes to live in a place where there is a dangerous highway near his house  how gage has no scratches or anything after being hit by a truck  why louis continues to resurrect every member of his family knowing they are all going to stay like monsters  things like that doesn  t make any sense  but i can understand that all horror  s scripts needs to have some surreal ideas to work .  br    br   a good thing i saw in this movie  is the necessity to talk about death with the children  no matter what is your religion or if you are an atheist  and also that avoiding important subjects doesn  t help anything . because of louis being afraid to be honest with ellie  confronting her and saying that her cat wouldn  t be back again  all the nightmare began .  
this is a truly terrible film .  br    br   i  m only writing this so that some people somewhere are put off watching it . if i have stopped one person from wasting some of their precious life watching this film i shall die happy .  br    br   unutterably dull  although since it stars al pacino i was fooled into thinking that at any moment something interesting was going to happen . then the credits rolled  and i realised i had been completely fooled into watching this unbelievable drivel .  br    br   i cannot believe that this film has achieved as high a score as it has at imdb  over  stars when i last saw the voting  . are you people voting ironically   br    br   please  please  please do not watch this film   
as this happens to be one of most favorite novels  i was very excited to see the move . i was not disappointed  yes of course there are a few things that i could pick on  but i think that the movie stuck true to the book  and was a really good movie . it seems that stephen king films mostly get a bad review  but this is one of the good ones . it is such a dark story  which i guess is why i like it . . and what is better than the dead coming to life . . and something about animals returning from the grave is quite creepy too . if you have seen the movie do yourself a huge favor and now read the book   it is a well written screen play  the actors could have done a better job  i only say this for rachel  and ellie . . she was so whinny  i liked everyone else a lot . . and most important to me . . it stuck true with the novel .  
yes  mtv there really is a way to market daria . what started as a clever teenage angst   comment on everything that sucks and make the viewer feel better about their sucky teenage life  sitcom now mutated into a  how you should deal with your problems   charade . i used to watch daria all the time and loved it . now  sitting here after watching the so called  movie  i can only wonder what the point of this all was . daria tells us how to lead out life in college  excuse me  didn  t the point daria made every episode that what you like to do is ok  as long as it is ok with yourself no matter what the rest of the sick sad world thinks of it  this entire thing reminded me of the scene in  reality bites  the movie channel shows the documentry for the first time .  
in the trivia section for pet sematary  it mentions that george romero  director of two stephen king stories  creepshow and the dark half  was set to direct and then pulled out . one wonders what he would  ve brought to the film  as the director mary lambert  while not really a bad director  doesn  t really bring that much imagination to this adaptation of king  s novel  of which he wrote the screenplay . there are of course some very effective  grotesquely surreal scenes  mainly involving the sister zelda  likely more of a creep  out for kids if they see the film   and the casting in some of the roles is dead  perfect . but something feels missing at times  some sort of style that could correspond with the unmistakably king  like atmosphere  which is in this case about as morbid as you  re going to get without incestuous cannibals rising from the graves being thrown in  who knows if he  ll save that for his final novel . . .   br    br   as mentioned though  some of the casting is terrific  notably miko hughes as gage creed  the little boy who goes from being one of the cutest little kids this side of an    s horror movie  to being a little monster  i say that as a compliment  of course  especially in scenes brandishing a certain scalpel  . and there is also a juicy supporting role for fred gwynne of the munsters  who plays this old  secretive man with the right notes of under  playing and doom in tone . and applause goes to whomever did the make  up on andrew hubatsek . but there are some other flaws though in the other casting dale midkiff is good  not great  as the conflicted  disturbed father figure creed  and his daughter ellie is played by an actress that just didn  t work for me at all .  br    br   in terms of setting up some chilling set  pieces  only a couple really stand  out a certain plot  thickening moment  not to spoil  it does involve a cool ramones song   and the first visit to the pet sematary  the bigger one   including the sort of mystical overtones king had in the shining . for the most part it  s a very polished directing job  though it could  ve been made even darker to correspond with the script . if thought out in logical terms  albeit in king terms  it is really one of his more effective works of the period . but it doesn  t add up like it could  or should . still  it makes for a nifty little midnight movie .  
i wanted to watch this movie  but one bizarre ridiculous scene after another forced me to shut it off . character  s don  t seem to react to anything . consider this heath ledger is walking a night  through a cemetery i believe  when he is attacked by spirits  which he drives away . once past this ordeal he calmly walks away and meets up with a friend that saw it all . when asked what happen he says blandly  attacked by demons  nothing serious .   as if this is only a little more exciting than a flat tire .  br    br   i shut it off when they go to ask something  a demon or something  i stopped caring  a ques ion . the answer can only be rented out of someone with the energy of their death  and the priest watch in what appears to be vague annoyance as a man is strung up and hung and they ask his thrashing  dying body question .  br    br    out of  stars .  
pet semetary           the creed family have just moved into the small town of ludlow . the family consists of a father  louis  a mother  rachel  a brother gage  and a daughter  ellen . they are greeted with kindness by jud crandall . jud is    and could basically tell you about the entire history of ludlow .  br    br   behind the creed  s new house  there is a path leading to a pet cemetery  spelled pet sematary  . when ellen wants to go up to see it  jud willfully takes the family on a trip . that is the start of hell for the creed family .  br    br   when rachel and the kids are gone  ellen  s cat church dies . jud feels that ellen isn  t ready for the death of her cat  so he suggests louis follow him further up the path  past the pet cemetery .  br    br   jud tells louis of this burial ground  once used by micmac indians . louis buries church  without jud  s help . a couple of days later  church returns  alive  but from hell .  br    br   this movie was one of two horror movies that could actually scare me  aside from  the exorcist .  the greatest performance would ever be zelda  rachel  s sister with spinal meningitis  or victor pascow  a ghost who tries to help the creeds from making the mistake of bringing back things from the dead .  br    br   the music in this movie plays an extravagant part . it is at the same time sad and mysterious . it goes along with the movie wonderfully .  br    br        
the orders fatal flaw  besides an asinine plot  is that the character  s simply don  t resonate or even react .  br    br   two examples a priest  walking through a graveyard late at night  is suddenly attacked by ghostly spirits . after fighting them off  he calmly resumes his walk when his buddy come up .  anything wrong   his buddy asks  having seen the attack .  just some demonic spirits  nothing i couldn  t handle .  no reaction  no surprise  just like he  d changed a tire . his buddy is equally unconcerned . . . must be standard priest training . . .   and then you put the wafer into their mouths . any questions  ok  moving on  demon spirit attacks . . .    br    br   example two at one point the priests need an answer to a question  and only a demon  or something  who cared by now  could provide it . how  why  you have to ask a dying man  so the demon has some random person hung in front of the two priests so they can ask their question to the thrashing  gasping man .  hey  don  t kill him   or maybe  that  s not nice   would have been more realistic then their response . they never ask that they let the man go or stop  in fact  the closest to reacting they get is mild annoyance . they ask their question and go .  br    br   i had to shut it off at that point  my brain was starting to atrophy .  br    br   avoid  br    br       one star out of four   br    br    
i am a big fan of stephen king  s work  and this film has made me an even greater fan of king . pet sematary is about the creed family . they have just moved into a new house  and they seem happy . but there is a pet cemetery behind their house . the creed  s new neighbor jud  played by fred gwyne  explains the burial ground behind the pet cemetery . that burial ground is pure evil . jud tells louis creed that when you bury a human being  or any kind of pet  up in the burial ground  they would come back to life . the only problem  is that when they come back  they are not the same person  they  re evil . soon after jud explains everything about the pet sematary  everything starts to go to hell . i wont explain anymore because i don  t want to give away some of the main parts in the film . the acting that pet sematary had was pretty good  but needed a little bit of work . the story was one of the main parts of this movie  mainly because it was so original and gripping . this film features lots of make  up effects that make the movie way more eerie  and frightening . one of the most basic reasons why this movie sent chills up my back  was in fact the make  up effects . there is one character in this film that is truly freaky . that character is  zelda .  this particular character pops up in the film about three times to be precise . zelda is rachel creed  s sister who passed away years before  but rachel is still haunted by her . the first time zelda appears in the movie isn  t generally scary because she isn  t talking or anything  but the second time is the worst  and to be honest  the second time scares the living  out of me . there is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie  it is almost perfect . pet sematary delivers great scares  some pretty good acting  first rate plot  and mesmerizing make  up . this is truly one of most favorite horror films of all time .   out of   .  
this really is the worst film i have ever seen . ever . period . i actually paid   .   to watch this steaming turd of a movie . incredibly dull  poorly acted  dire script  often incoherent and too many scenes that don  t seem to have any relevance to the overall film  like when heath ledger  s priest partner get  s nailed to a wall by a ghost . . . what was the point in that scene  answers on a postcard please . . .   br    br   i should have got a medal for sticking with this film for it  s entire running time . i would rather take a strong kick to the groin than sit through this film again .  br    br   this should be cast into imdb  s bottom    . hopefully my vote of     will help it on it  s way .  
pet sematary is a very good horror film and believe it or not somebody can make a good horror film out of a stephen king novel . mary lambert does a great job with this film and manages to bring across king  s creepy story pretty well . most people may avoid this  but they should check it out .  
always enjoy great films which deal with the super  natural and the deep thoughts of the spiritual world . however  this film just turned me off as far as its production and direction . there is nothing to go into deep discussion about what this story has to tell all i can say is that it was a big waste of time and effort to put it on the big screen . the actors  namely mark addy  thomas garrett  gave an outstanding performance in his native land england  and we have seen him in  still standing  a tv series . heath ledger  played the real wicked dude and we have recently viewed him in  brokeback mountain       gave a great supporting role . shannyn sossaman   mara sinclair   did a good job of seducing a priest from a church not recognized by any faith . don  t waste your time  you will be sorry   
well  this might be one of the funniest movies of all time  and sandy gives a tour  de  force performance  alas  her career never quite took off  but  at last  she will always be remembered for her three first  rate pictures  the king of comedy    dallas doll   and  without you i  m nothing  . she dons into different personas from new york socialite to diana ross to create a biting and hilarious critique of popular culture in america . sexy and fierce  tender and sensual  philosophical and melancholic  she convinces the audience in every scene  and she actually is  really pretty  . watch this one  if you  re not from iowa   you  ll certainly enjoy it    
i was really horrified by this eerie movie . what an unusual dark atmosphere . and such a creepy musical score . really promising  indeed  after ten minutes you really start sweating  and feeling uncomfortable  for you start fearing the worst . this movie has the atmosphere of a true nightmare  and what  s worse  it all comes out . for one hour and a half i have been trying to fight complete boredom and falling asleep  but the monstrous soundtrack kept me awake . nuit noire is a truly horrifying picture  for your eyes  your ears  your intelligence  and most of all your wallet  since the thought of spending precious money on a movie ticket for this cheap amateuristic homevideo is the biggest horror of all .  
one of the best  if not the best  stephen king  s screenings . dark as dark can be  surprising non  hollywood ending  terrifying atmosphere  amazing book adaptation  outstanding cast  educational  don  t play with afterlife   in short  everything an excellent horror should be . . .  br    br   my favorite horror movie  straight    .  
first of all  i have to say i have worked for blockbuster and have seen quite a few movies to the point its tough for me to find something i haven  t seen . taking this into account  i want everyone to know that this movie was by far the worst film ever made  it made me pine for gigli  my boss  s daughter  and any other piece of junk you  ve ever seen . belyt must be out of his mind  i  ve only found one person who liked it and even they couldn  t tell me what the movie was about . if you are able to decipher this movie and are able to tell me what it was about you have to either be the writer or a fortune teller because there  s any other way a person could figure this crap out .  br    br   for the love of g  d stay away   
this scary and rather gory adaptation of stephen king  s great novel features outstanding central performances by dale midkiff  fred gwynne  who sadly died few years ago  and denise crosby and some really gruesome gore effects . director mary lambert has a wonderful sense of visual style  and manages to make this one of the few versions of king  s work that is not only worth seeing  but genuinely unnerving . the depiction of the zombie child gage  miko hughes  later in  new nightmare   is equally noteworthy  as what could easily have been a laughable character is made menacing and spooky . as for the people  who think that this one isn  t scary  watch it alone in the dark  eventually with your squeamish girlfriend  and i guarantee you that  pet sematary  will creep you out . some horror movies like this one or  the texas chain saw massacre  shouldn  t be watched in group . recommended for horror fans   
the order starts in rome where the head of a special order of priests who deal in ghosts  demons named brother dominic  francesco carnelutti  is found dead  cut to new york city where one of his order alex bernier  heath ledger  is contacted by top  brass cardinal driscoll  peter weller  who ask  s him to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding dominic  s death . along with his girlfriend mara willims  shannyn sossamon   fellow priest thomas garrett  mark addy  alex travels to italy to delve into his mentor  s death  as the truth begins to emerge it appears that dominic was a  sin eater  someone who absorbed other  s sins  lived with the burden of them so they could die peacefully  that the church wasn  t happy about his activities . alex must do what  s right even if it goes against what he believes . . .  br    br   also know under the title the sin eater this american german co  production was written  produced  directed by bian helgeland  didn  t really do that much for me if i  m honest  i usually am  honest that is . anyway lets start with the mess of a script that has some ok ideas but it  s throughly predictable  excruciatingly dull  boring  really silly at times  it takes itself far too seriously . the whole concept is daft  while it thinks it  s clever with it  s oh so neat twist ending that ties everything up  brings the story full circle i thought it was the most obvious  lazy way to end things . there  s the usual religious themes here  morality  sin  forgiveness  faith  belief  prophecy  s  blah  blah  blah you know the sort of thing . then there  s the twists which aren  t hard to see coming  there  s the abuse of power by high ranking clergymen  corruption  greed  evil  etc . you know the sort of clichd hollywood ideals  themes that get reused every time it deals with the church . the order has nothing new to say  as a serious piece of film  making it sucks  a lot . i  m not too sure who the order is meant to appeal to  as a die  hard horror fan i didn  t see much horror in this at all  as a thriller it  s less than thrilling  as a mystery it  s too predictable  there  s nothing here to really grip or maintain ones interest  for some reason i cannot figure out the imdb also lists the order as an action film which is absurd as it  s as exciting  action  packed as the average episode of sesame street       present   harsh maybe but it  s what i think . . .  br    br   director helgeland does an ok job  the film seems to have a very soft lighting scheme  it all looks a bit drab  grayish  dull . for a supposed horror film the order is very light on scares or horror elements  in fact there aren  t any of either apart from two evil kids who can turn into a flock of birds for no apparent reason  don  t ask . forget about any gore or violence as there isn  t any which is fine but it would have helped at least make the order somewhat watchable . according the imdb  s  trivia  section the release date of the order was put back so some of the special effects could be improved because they looked unintentionally funny  all i can say is judging by the finished film the effects must have been really bad to start with because they aren  t exactly brilliant as it stands now .  br    br   i was amazed to see the order had a budget of about            which is a hell of a lot of money  i just can  t see where it all went apart from the sets  production design which are good . the whole film looks  feels very average  utterly forgettable . the acting is ok although the annoying fat guy who seems to be some sort of foul  mouthed comic relief irritates  a good actor such as peter weller deserves better than this .  br    br   the order  i prefer the title the sin eater actually not that it matters too much  misses all of it  s intended targets by the proverbial mile as far as i  m concerned  is a pretty dull way to waste    odd minutes of your life so don  t do it  not recommended .  
i have screened this movie several times here at college  and every time i show it  the number of people watching with me grows exponentially . . . in addition to the virgins  anyone i  ve already shown it to needs to see it again  it takes a little while to get into it  but by the end the whole room is screaming  shouting  yelling  rewinding scenes repeatedly  repeating dialogue  and just totally and completely engrossed in the moviegoing experience that is pia zadora in  the lonely lady   scene after scene after scene of the most ineptly filmed  poorly written  horribly acted trash is thrown at you in an all  out assault that ranks as the campiest thing i own  no small statement  friends  . for me nothing compares  u  pia . . . and i don  t suppose i  m the only one who  s ever felt this way   
i was not entirely impressed by this film . it was originally named sin eater and should have stayed that way considering that is all that was talked about for the last half of the film . i  m not even sure what the first   minutes of the film had to do with any of the rest of it . it was very slow and what was with picking robocop  peter weller  as one of the main actors . that was a sad point .  br    br   all in all i would say check this out if you are into things dealing with the catholic religion but don  t expect an exorcist or stigmata from this film . it will surely flop after a few days and word gets out .  
i kind of liked the lonely lady . give pia a break . she looks great and she has really nice eyes . what  s not to like  the scene where she gets raped by ray liotta with a garden hose was kind of gross and cruel . actually  a lot of stuff that happens in this movie is gross and cruel . but its a trashy movie . a lot of movies that are trashy are not all bad . i liked this better than valley of the dolls  which was not only trashy but boring as well . at least this wasn  t boring .  br    br   pia gets naked a lot and seems miscast as a writer . watching her talk about pushkin and byron with a guy three times her age is flat unbelievable . i  m sure pia  s a nice person in real life  she just doesn  t project the writer vibe . she looked much happier when she was working as a hostess for that guy from saturday night fever and wearing a glittery disco dress .  br    br   a couple of the scenes are funny . the one where she tells the two  timing actor that she  s pregnant and he rolls his eyes and snaps at her to  stop hanging around    all the while he  s practically fawning over every bimbo who flounces by .  br    br   pia  s nervous breakdown scene is good . it was probably a mistake to go so supernova on it  the vortex of floating faces and freeze  frame scream  whoa   and her subsequent catatonic stupor is kind of overdone .  br    br   the acceptance speech is a hoot  though . i want to see someone do that speech in a drama class .  br    br   but  again  this is trash we  re talking about . you could find worse on any movie of the week back in the eighties .  
ok  i didn  t have high expectations but this film descending into depths i could not imagine .  br    br   the plot  as it were  involved a priest of an obscure  member order investigating the death of the founder of the order by a sin eater . the sin eater allows for catholics to achive salvation outside the authority of the church and is yet another immortal in film with loads of ennui . nevermind that this makes no sense since then a baptist could give you salvation . . . . we  ll move on .  br    br   i  ll layout the plot w  o giving much away the priest goes to rome with his buddy to investogate . he brings with him a mental patient  i  m not making this up  who shot him during an excorism and who loves him  not one lick of this btw is explained   a drunk irish priest and peter weller as a cardinal . they get to rome  find some creepy kids who do nothing in the film  meet with a bondage gear sm anti  pope that the drunk irish guy knows  not explained  and who gives information by killing people  oh  btw  he  s a bad guy so he has an industrial  techno soundtrack  and then . . . umm  seriously  i  m not sure . the plot meanders about . heath chills with the sin eater  flies to new york with the sin eater for an overnighter and then some other stuff happens and then  all off camera  the anti  pope falls and the film ends .  br    br   about  hour into the film one really wonder if anything has happened . by the end something has happened but you can  t be at all certain that it matters and since most of the drama takes place either before the movei or off  scren you  re really feeling cheated .  
bad script  bad direction  over the top performances  overwrought dialogue . what more could you ask for  for laughs  it just doesn  t get any better than this . zadora  s over  acting combined with the cliched scenarios she finds herself in make for an hilarious parody of the  hollywood  machine . almost as funny as  spinal tap  even though it was clearly not intended as such . don  t miss ray liotta  s debut film line   looks like a penis .   
the coming attractions to  the order  make it seem like a decent horror mystery  thriller  but what we get is a plot that has potential to be excellent all thrown together to form a pile of garbage .  br    br   first off the whole movie consists of terrible dialogue and god awful special affects . the acting was also nothing to be proud of  but keath ledger  i think i spelled that right .  saved the movie in this category .  br    br   for heaven  s sake don  t see this movie   
the title has many meanings  the boxing ring  where differences and grievances are fought out  a wedding ring  where mabel feels trapped and jack feels his troubles will be over and the cause of the trouble  a ring  like bracelet that bill gives mabel as a love token .  br    br   former professional boxer  danish carl brisson  was given his start in films by alfred hitchcock in  the ring  . a very young ian hunter  who went on to have such a long career in movies  plays bob corby  who catches the eye of a pretty girl  mabel  lillian hall davis  at a fun fair . she happens to be engaged to  one round  jack sander  carl brisson  but that doesn  t stop her flirting with bob . bob is persuaded to go  one round  with jack . he goes several rounds and wins  he is a professional boxer and he and his manager have come to the fair to find out if jack is as good a fighter as they have heard . he offers to take jack on and jack goes off  along with his boorish trainer  the great gordon harker  to make his fortune with plans to marry mabel when he makes good . jack wins his fight and marries mabel the next day  but the deep attraction that she and bob feel for each other is still there . jack is suspicious and puts everything into his training so he can fight bob for his wife .  br    br   at last a boxing movie where the hero doesn  t go off the rails  bob behaves himself and does everything he can to be a champion  if only mabel acted in the same way    she has left him for bob  and the fight at the end is a mighty one . it is intensely realistic  it occupies the last   minutes of the film . from being raw and enthusiastic  jack is almost knocked out  then between rounds  reuniting with mabel  gives him the courage to triumph . the question is why would he even want her back  from the start she thought nothing of starting an affair with bob  why wouldn  t she do it again   br    br   the film is loaded with symbolism . jack  shaking hands with the promoter  changes to mabel  s hands accepting a bracelet from bob . when jack puts the ring on mabel  s finger  bobs bracelet slips down her arm . at the end jack sees mabel  s reflection in a ringside water bucket and that gives him the confidence to go on . this is an excellent film that will not disappoint you .  br    br   highly recommended .  
this sorry excuse for a film reminded me a great deal of what i heard about  gigli   that ben and jen flop earlier this summer .  the order  was clearly edited to such an unconscionable degree that the scenes  rather than forming a cohesive and provoking film  appeared to be a collection of disconnected sequences that did little to forward any semblance of a unified plot . now  i  m a heath ledger fan     things i hate about you    a knight  s tale  and particularly his supporting role in  monster  s ball    but my man needs to find himself a better agent . keep accepting scripts like  the order  and  four feathers  and he  s going to be on the fast track to movie oblivion .  br    br   here are the problems i had with the film . firstly  the director tried to make up for the inadequacies of his essential plot by introducing two other plot lines that seemingly had little if anything to do with  well  much of anything . plot skeins involving the american trying to take over the vatican and the dark pope  while mildly interesting  did nothing to reveal to the viewer anything about the main characters . the attempts to tie these threads together were pathetic at best . secondly  please don  t insult the intelligence of the viewer by inserting into the film scenes that are clearly obligatory . we had manufactured angst  manufactured love and most idiotically manufactured sex that seemed like a page right out of  matrix reloaded  with skull  numbing techno music . rather than developing character  these elements seemed like the cheap devices they clearly were  a half  hearted attempt at putting popcorn  chewing adolescents in the seats . thirdly  and most importantly  this movie seemed to ha ve an intriguing concept . we have scandal  we have religion and we have supernatural forces at play . why then do we learn almost nothing about anyone  s background  we learn a little about alex  but even he gives up the passion of the priesthood to sleep with a woman after two days  a woman who tried to kill him during an exorcism at some point in the past . and alex is the most developed  if you can call it that  character in the entire film .  br    br   as the cliche goes nowadays  if you  re going to see one movie this year  make sure it  s not this one . there  s about ten interesting minutes out of the intolerable    minute affair . the only thing that saved me was going with a girl who i  m rather fond of .  br    br    out of   . i  m disappointed . file this one firmly under  had potential but blew it on over editing and bad directing  . heath my man  go back to monster  s ball  like cameos . they really suit you .  
  one  round  jack sander is called that because he  s a carnival boxer who fights any man in the audience . if they can last one round  they win a prize   a popular way to draw customers into traveling shows long ago . jack is in love with the ticket girl  mabel  though her head is quickly turned when bob corby enters the ring to try his chances with jack . what no one at the fight knows is that bob is the champ  so he  s able to beat jack   though it takes him some work . as a result  bob asks jack to become his sparring partner and give up the carnival circuit . later  jack improves so much that he  too  becomes a legitimate boxer . slowly  he works his way up the rankings until he  s nearly ready to take on the champ .  br    br   in the meantime  the champ and mabel start running around behind jack  s back   even though by now mabel has married jack . so  when the final fight occurs between jack and bob  it  s very personal and jack is ready to kill him . is he good enough  will rise justifiable rage against bob help or hinder his performance  tune in and see .  br    br   this film was directed by alfred hitchcock and while today this sort of film seems strange for a director known for mystery  suspense films  back in the     s  hitchcock had no fixed genre which he directed or wrote  he did both for this film  . in fact  in many ways this film is more indicative of hitchcock  s silent style  as a somewhat similar plot came up in one of his next silents  the manxman  also starring carl brisson as the wronged husband  . so  while this seems a lot like a standard boxing film of the day  it was not a radical departure for this great director   even with its rather formulaic ending .  br    br   overall  while a bit predictable and having ian hunter playing a boxing champ seems silly  the film works well . while far from a perfect silent  it  s well worth seeing and packs a nice punch .  
my friends and i walked out after   minutes  and we weren  t the first . afterwards  we tried to get our money back . movie theater management wouldn  t allow this  but they did agree to let us see another film . the only time that worked for us was to see dickie roberts former child star . as you can tell  this wasn  t a memorable night . probably one of my worst movie nights . close second has to be when i saw a double header of domestic disturbance and heist . in conclusion  for the sake of humanity  please don  t see the order .  
another silent love triangle film from hitchcock  not a mystery  but very english  very well  paced and photographed . smooth boxer bob corby  ian hunter  recruits circus boxer  one round  jack sander  carl brisson  to be his sparring partner  partly to keep the pretty but fickle mabel  lilian hall  davis  nearby . there are lots of character actors and grotesquesat jack and mabel  s wedding the verger  standing in the aisle of the church  registers shock at the sight of the very tall and the very short men  the fat lady  the conjoined twins who  of course  argue about which side of the aisle to sit  and the wedding feast is amusing . the rest of the movie has jack losing mabel and boxing his way back to her heart  or something like that . it was another era altogether  with the audience in evening dress  and the boxers dressing up  too  when out of the ring . the camera angles  the pace  the use of symbols  the cuttingall very stylish and masterful . the camera  work and editing of the last boxing match is very gripping . brisson  s good looks are well  used in this one his smiling is not so oblivious of what  s going on around him as he is in hitchcock  s the manxman  and so is not annoying . but can boxers have such dimples   
what was the worst movie of       cat in the hat    gigli   mais non  i propose that it was this atrocious little film from earlier in the year . badly written  badly edited  and  if i may be so bold  badly acted   the order  is the black hole of film  a movie so dense not even the slightest bit of entertainment could escape from its event horizon of suck . it isn  t even accidentally funny  like  for example   showgirls .   br    br   you know that the producers are assuming that their audience isn  t going to be very smart . they renamed the movie  originally titled  the sin eaters   because they figured americans were too stupid to understand what a sin eater was  even though they go to great lengths to explain what a sin eater is in the movie . instead  they figure an utterly generic title and a picture of heath ledger looking sullen are more than enough to get you in there .  br    br   and  hey  what do you know  they were right  my ex  girlfriend saw the picture of heath and dragged me in . congratulations  producers  you  ve met your target market . she also liked  grease ii   so you  re in good company .  br    br   back on topic  heath plays a catholic monk from a specific  you guessed it  order that is trying to investigate the murder of his mentor . he has celibacy issues  possibly because nobody in their right mind would believe that he knew the slightest thing about religion  much less be a celibate monk . the only other member of this order is a funny alcoholic fat guy . as much as i  ve wanted to see the return of the funny alcoholic to the big screen  his attempts at humor reminded me of all the dorks in my high school who did imitations of monty python  thinking that if they just said the lines like the pythons did they would automatically be funny . you know the sort of people i  m talking about .  br    br   if i utter any more  i would be in danger of generating spoilers . frankly  the thing that spoiled this movie for me was the fact that it was created .  
hitchcock displays his already developed understanding for visuals in this early silent film . the plot of the film  involving two boxers fighting over a girl  is straight  forward drama without much to recommend it . hitchcock  s talent  though  is found in his stunning use of images . nearly every shot is filled with visual symbols . especially memorable is the jewelry that one boxer gives the girl just before she marries the other boxer . he slides it up her arm in a clearly sexual way and with one simple movement hitch has shown us all we need to know . the boxing scenes are handled well with some interesting point  of  view shots that again prove how far ahead of his time hitchcock was . the film also gives insight into his later treatment of women . the object of the boxers  desires is driven by money and lust  not reason or love . the only other women in the film are either beautiful party girls who make open offers of sex or old crones who help to destroy happy relationships . all in all  the ring is a must for anyone interested in hitchcock  s early work and his development as a visual storyteller .  
i shouldn  t even review this movie  since it  s not actually a horror movie   and thus not worthy of dr . cheese  s attention . at least  it  s not horror in the usual sense . it  s certainly a horrifying proposition to waste your time watching this crap . that  s why i turned it off after the first four hours . imagine my surprise  then  when the clock showed that only   minutes had passed . yep  that  s right in plain terms  this movie is b  o  r  i  n  g .  br    br    the order  had lots of flaws  not all of them unique . in particular  it seems to me the main problem with the  religious  subgenre of horror films is hollywood  s unwillingness to engage christianity on its own terms . it is quite possible to make truly creepy films that are also orthodox . just ask william peter blatty . in fact  without orthodoxy  films like this are just an anything  goes smorgasbord of the filmmakers   usually dull and illogical  imaginations .  br    br   think about it . if someone made a movie ostensibly about  say  physics  but not only got the basic laws of physics wrong  but based the entire plot on its wrong portrayals  you would soon get tired of the resulting pointless plot . the same goes for these sorts of movies .  br    br   in other words   the order   and many similar movies before it  invent out of whole cloth stuff about the catholic church and about the christian faith and attempt to build a plot out of these inventions . unsurprisingly  the plot ends up being incoherent and stupid . this movie has the added charm of being as interesting to watch as your toenails growing .  br    br   avoid this steaming pile .  
i sometimes grow weary of reading reviews of some of hitchcock  s lesser known films  because almost every single one starts out with someone saying this film is grossly overlooked or this is a hidden hitchcock gem or a true hitchcock great or some other generic if  only  people  would  watch  this  they  would  see  that  this  is  a  great  hitchcock  film  just  as  much  as  vertigo  north  by  northwest  psycho  rear  window  etc . so  that being said  i would just like to say that if  only  people  would  watch  this  they  would  see  that  this  is  a  great  hitchcock  film  just  as  much  as  vertigo  north  by  northwest  psycho  rear  window  etc .  br    br   now  that may be overshooting a little bit  the ring is not by any stretch of the imagination even in the same league as any of those films mentioned twice above  but compared to the other films that hitchcock made in the late     s and early     s  i really think that the ring is one of the best photographed and performed films of mostly all of them . as an almost brand new director  there are some astonishing dream sequences and brilliant segments of editing which show why hitchcock was generating so much attention early in his career .  br    br   granted  the film does start with  among other things  the highly disturbing spectacle of an idiot black circus performer  and i use idiot in the definitive manner  the way stephen king so often does  having eggs and fruit thrown at him by a crowd of not the classiest looking white people . i suppose this only illustrates how incredibly different such circuses and people were back then  but i think it is one of the most off  putting sequences in any hitchcock film i  ve seen .  br    br   the main attraction at the circus is a fighter who claims to be able to knock any man down in one round  but when he meets his match  it is against a man that challenges his authority not only in the boxing ring but also in the ring around his wife  s finger . so begins an entertaining if not very tense challenge for the love of one woman  who seems to sway from one man to the other effortlessly and thoughtlessly .  br    br    spoilers  there is  for example  a scene where her husband watches her from above as she is dropped off at home late at night and  just before going into the building  she is coaxed back to the car for a kiss . this kiss is never explained  and there is also the fact that  even at the end when she proves faithful to her husband  or at least ultimately chooses him  they look into each other  s eyes but do not actually kiss .  br    br   the film is certainly beautifully photographed  even more so than several films that hitch released in subsequent years . there is also a performance by gordon harker as one round jack  s trainer who  in his stone faced expressionism  reminds me quite often of the brilliant buster keaton . hitch leaves it a bit ambiguous  but this is a great sample of his early work .  
the turgid pace of this movie numbs us to any shocks that it might provide . there was no real suspense . most of the characters were insipid . the chesty irish priest was as lame as the love interest . interest is misleading . the girl that they chose to provide the film  s sensuality might be better . the central conflict of the main character was uninvolving . this film is entirely devoid of positives . it is like a tedious exercise by someone who didn  t want to go to the gym that day but did anyway .  
sandra bernhard  s without you i  m nothing  the movie released in      followed on the heels of her     off  broadway stage production . . . what she and others refer to in the movie as her  smash  hit one  woman show .   br    br   there were several changes in monologues and one  liners  and the movie version visually re  vamps the story  taking sandra from a fabulous existence as a successful stage performer in new york  during what she calls her  superstar summer   to an illusory  almost desperate existence back in her home in los angeles  her fictional manager in the film refers to it as getting sandra back  to her roots  to . . . upscale supper clubs like the parisian room .   br    br   there  s a point to be made here . sandra tries to appeal her liberal worldview and her sometimes harsh critique of american pop culture to an audience that doesn  t completely see it . in l . a . she  s playing to a predominantly black audience  trying to relate her ideas when all these people seem to want is  shashonna   a madonna  look  alike stripper . and even then  with shashonna dancing to drum beats that resemble those from  like a virgin   there  s not much to be said for the audience  s enjoyment of the show . the scene in the club throughout the movie is dryer than a bone . a funny scene to catch is of a rotund man from the audience helping shashonna out of her pants .  br    br   but  if she  s going down  sandra  s doing so with style and force  conveying everything from foul confidence to punctured vulnerability . . . right to the point at which she  s naked  literally   pleading for acceptance and yet somehow still swimming in the pool of her own transparent stardom . her depictions of interactions with the likes of calvin klein  jerry lewis  bianca jagger  ralph lauren and  what we  re lead to believe is  warren beatty are fictional and hilarious .  br    br   sandra begins her show in her most awkward moment  performing a quiet but mystifying rendition of nina simone  s song  four women  while dressed in a mufti and other african garb  singing lines such as  my skin is black    my hair is wooly   and  they call me sweet thing .   br    br   she resurrects and celebrates the ghosts of underworld art in a tremendously funny description of the frenzied estate auction for andy warhol  leave it to andy to have the wisdom and sensitivity into the hours and hours of toil and labor that went into the indian product . . . that they  ve been so lucky to cash in on this whole santa fe thing happening .   br    br   she expounds on the excessiveness of hollywood  consoling a distraught friend then admonishing him  saying  mister  if this is about ishtar  i  m getting up right now and walking out of your life forever because that  s too self  indulgent even for me    br    br   sandra illustrates the expectations of women in the age of feminism . dressed as a cosmo girl  sandra retells her young  girl fantasy to become an executive secretary and marry her boss . she eventually concludes in relief   i  ll never be a statistic  not me . i  m under    and i  m going to be married    br    br   sandra extols the opening of sexuality in society  when he touches you in the night  does it feel all right  or does it feel real  i say it feels real . . . mighty real .   br    br   finally  she cries for change in progressive american society by channeling disco greats patrick cowley and sylvester and proclaiming   eventually everyone will funk    br    br   all this comes in the form of glitzy  schmaltzy but wonderful cabaret performances of songs written and originated by billy paul  burt bacharach  hank williams and laura nyro  to name a few . at the same time  the idealized  fictional incarnation of sandra   her self  generated mirror image   floats around town  a beautiful black model with flowing gowns and tight bustiers reading the kabala  studying chemistry and listening to nwa rap music .  br    br   in without you i  m nothing  sandra bernhard explores emotions and existences that  up until then  she  d only toyed with as a regular guest on late night with david letterman . her almost child  like enthusiasm for shock  exhibited throughout the    s  is thrown aside in the face of a subtler allure  and her confidence in the face of materialism and american celebrity proves refreshing . this approach to comedy would change sandra  s direction forever and mark the more mature  more personable entertainer to come .  br    br   if you like subtle humor to the point of engaging in inside jokes about glamour  celebrity  sex  loneliness  despair and shallow expressions of love and kinship  this movie will keep you in stitches . it may not be meant to be funny across the board . perhaps it  s a bit unsettling or even maudlin for some . but consider the emptiness of the world sandra paints for you  and you  ll understand just how funny and brilliant she really is .  br    br   but see without you i  m nothing with a friend  in the know  because it  s definitely funnier that way . before you know it  the two of you will be trading sandra barbs and confusing the hell out of everyone else .  
even if this film was allegedly a joke in response to critics it  s still an awful film . if one is going to commit to that sort of thing at least make it a good joke . . . . . first off  jeroen krabb is i guess the poor man  s gerard depardieu . . . . . naturally i hate gerard depardieu even though he was very funny in the  iron mask  three musketeer one . otherwise to me he is box office poison and jeroen krabb is worse than that . the poor man  s box office poison . . . . really that is not being fair to the economically disenfranchised . if the   th man  is supposed to be some sort of critique of the bourgeoisie . . . . what am i saying  it isn  t . let  s just say hypothetically  if it was supposed to be  it wasn  t sharp enough . satire is a tricky thing . . . . if it isn  t sharp enough the viewer becomes the butt of the joke instead . . . . . . i think that is what happened . the story just ends up as a bunch of miserable disgusting characters doing nothing that anyone would care about and not in an interesting way either . . . . .  for a more interesting and worthwhile application see any luis bunuel film . . . . very sharp satire   br    br   potential spoiler alert  br    br   really  the blow job in the cemetery that jeroen krabb  s character works so so hard to attain . . . . do you even care  is it funny  since mr . voerhoven is supposed to be a good film maker i will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was some misanthropic joke that got out of control . . . . . though i  m guessing he didn  t cast jeroen krabb because he  s the worst actor and every character he  s played has been a pretentious bourgeois ass . . . . except he  s incompetent at it . so it becomes like a weird caricature . do you think mr . voerhoven did that on purpose  and jeroen krabb is the butt of the joke as well  i just don  t see it . . . . . . so you understand the dilemma i  m faced with here right  it is the worst film ever because he  s supposed to be a good director . so there is some kind of dupery involved . i knew  patch adams  was horrible without even seeing it . do not be duped by  the  th man  s deceptively alluring packaging or mr . voerhoven  s reputation as a good director etc . etc .  
before dogma    when lars used movies as art  not just a story . a beautiful painting about love and death . this is one of my favorite movies of all time . the color . . . the music . . . just perfect .  
my interest in dorothy stratten caused me to purchase this video . although it had great actors  actresses  there were just too many subplots going on to retain interest . plus it just wasn  t that interesting . dialogue was stiff and confusing and the story just flipped around too much to be believable . i was pretty disappointed in what i believe was one of audrey hepburn  s last movies . i  ll always love john ritter best in slapstick . he was just too pathetic here .  
this early film has its flaws   a predictable plot and some overlong scenes of dubious relevance   but it already clearly demonstrates hitchcock  s mastery of editing and the use of powerful images . it  s also among the most expressionist of his films stylistically note  for examples  the weird distortions he uses during the party sequence and the frequent echoes of both title and plot in the imagery .  br    br   its core  though  remains the final match  which is still among the more exciting examples of cinematic boxing . even though you know that the hero has to win  it becomes quite believable that he will lose  and the movement of his wife from the champion  s corner to his  motivating the final plot pay  off  is very well entwined with the progress of the match . the inserts of the stopwatch do exactly what they should you can almost hear the ticking  even though this is a silent film  the visuals often have a surprisingly auditory feel to them  . the pacing becomes astonishingly rapid  and the viewer gets sucked into the excitement and brutality of both the match and the sexual jealousy which underlies it .  br    br   the only dvd release with which i am familiar is that of laserlight  a public domain company . as with each hitchcock silent they  ve released  they  ve attached various musical selections  mostly orchestral  to the action . the sound editing is frequently sloppy  and the sound quality varies widely  but some genuine care seems to have gone into most of the actual choices  and the music accompanying the final match works extremely well it is unlikely that this sequence will ever be better accompanied than it is here .  br    br   this is a much more impressive film than its present obscurity would suggest . it deserves an honorable place in both the hitchcock canon and the slender list of worthwhile boxing films .  
the good fellas at webster  s dictionary define logophobia as the fear of words  . i may just be logophobic . for no word combination scares me more than when at the beginning of a film  credits contain the words produced  written and directed by   and are followed by a single individual  s name . think about it . there are carpenters  electricians and plumbers  but so few jack  of  all  trades . even the most seasoned of directors like speilberg and scorsese rarely take such control of their films . but there i was  all nestled in my theatre seat  popcorn in hand and about to watch the order when hurled at me like a nolan ryan fastball  were the words produced  written and directed by brian helgeland  . whoa   br    br   being a film buff  i knew of brian helgeland . as a writer his filmograpghy over the past   years would be graphed like a dotcom company  s stock price in     . there were as many theatrical unpleasantries  assassins  the postman  conspiracy theory  as there were critical and award winning successes  l . a . confidential  mystic river  . they seemed to alternate  one good  one bad  so knowing that his last film  bloodwork was one of the most wasted efforts in clint eastwood  s career  i took a breath and hoped for the best . in retrospect  i should not have exhaled .  br    br   the order stars heath ledger  helgeland  s a knights tale   as alex bernier  a priest in an order known as the carolingians  who is summoned to rome when a fellow priest is killed under circumstances that the arch bishop deems curious  . meeting up with father thomas  also of the order and played wonderfully by still standings  mark addy   they set out to piece together the riddle left behind in the wake of the priest  s untimely death .  br    br   complicating matters is a sub plot involving mara sinclair  played by shannyn sossamon  who has escaped from an institution that was the result of her attempts to kill alex during an exorcism . alex has feelings towards mara and for some reason unbeknownst to the audience  they travel to rome together .  br    br   nary a good nights sleep goes by and alex is confronted by william eden  benno frmann  who claims to be a centuries old sin eater . a sin eater  as we are told  are those that eat the sins of a dying individual when the church does not  thus allowing entrance into heaven . william  as luck would have it  is tired of a life of healing and looks for alex to take over his role and free him from his worldly duties . alex is reluctant  but after the death of his new love mara  alex resorts to the ritual of the sin eater to save her and the transformation is complete . alex then searches for answers to his many queries while father thomas unveils the vatican plot behind the passing of authority to his fellow investigator .  br    br   the order is not a terrible film  but it is terribly boring . there were ridiculous special effects and no connection with any of the characters . even in the most dramatic scene  that of alex walking in on the dying mara  is pale and bland and leaves us with no emotional response towards the couple  s plight . everybody seems to talk so quietly and unemotionally that the film flat lines and smelling salts could have been administered to keep me from trying to grab a quick nap in the middle of the film .  br    br   so  mr . helgeland  i plead with you not to try this again . share your vision with others and allow those more experienced to help direct you in directions that are not so narrow minded and self  serving . until then  there is nothing emanating that shows you are capable of anything more than a failing grade . two stars .  br    br    
surprisingly good early effort from alfred hitchcock . one of the only original screenplays written by hitchcock himself  this film shows remarkable story structure . it kicks off with a rousing boxing match in which carnival champ  one round  jack loses to a challenger from the audience who happens to be a professional prizefighter . the movie then slows down to develop the characters and introduce a love triangle between jack  his girl and the professional boxer . the rest of the film is a dramatic buildup to the rematch between the two men  this time for the heavyweight crown . even in this early film  hitchcock shows his talent for meaningful cinematography and prop placement . an armband bought for the girl by the boxer continues to pop up throughout the movie as a symbol of her unfaithfulness . the only big detractor of this film is that the art of filming a boxing match had not yet been perfected in     . the final match  as a result  ends up being somewhat anticlimactic . the story  though  is what carries this film through .  
horrible waste of time  bad acting  plot  directing . this is the most boring movie ever  there are bad movies that are fun  freddy vs . jason   and there are bad movies that are horrible . this one fits into the latter . bottom line  don  t waste your time .  
at first  i thought the ring would be a more than normal movie with it  s ordinary plot . how surprised was i  of course  the plot is simple  one girl is in love with two men  but hitchcock brings it to us on a silver platter  with laughter and fear  with compassion and anguish . the way he depicts the popular crowds of the fair  the strength of the attraction of the girl to both men  the tragic elements that come together with techniques that open the mind to most of his greatest movies  north by northwest  the rope  etc .  . the master did it great even before his thirties   
in the bygone days of the catholic church  a sin  eater was an individual that  through ritual  would take the sins of a dying person upon themselves . often  these people were excommunicate or similar individuals who the church would not absolve  thereby denying them entrance into heaven . the sin  eaters were seen as blasphemous  circumventing the chruch  s monopoly on redemption . sex this up a bit with some overt supernatural mojo  let the concept wander where it may  and you have  the order   a movie that combines  stigmata   s religious anti  authoritarianism   the x  files   paranormal investigation  and  the thorn birds   sexual spirituality into an odd melange that sometimes works .  br    br   alex  heath ledger  is a rogue priest  one of the last members of the order of the carolingians  a semi  heretical order of knowledge  seeking  demon  fighting priests . when alex  s mentor is found dead under bizarre circumstances  bishop driscoll  peter weller  sends alex to investigate . tagging along are fellow carolingian thomas  mark addy  and mara  shannyn sossman   who was subject to one of alex  s exorcisms a year prior . the three go to rome to investigate and are drawn into a dark underworld of bizarre catholic heresy  ominous prophecies  demonic intrusions  and a man claiming to be the last surviving sin  eater  benno furmann  .  br    br   written and directed by brian helgeland  who worked with the same principals on the scattershot and half  hearted  a knight  s tale    the film is an odd one  and difficult to classify . it wants to be several things at once   supernatural thriller  religious intrigue  dramatic television pilot   and only sometimes succeeds at any of them . this isn  t helped by the slow pace or the fact that most of the actors seem to be sleepwalking through their performances with occasional bursts of brilliance . ledger  in particular  has a particularly stunning scene of despair in an otherwise monochromatic performance . sossman  however  displayed the same disconnected performance that she  s given in all of her films  most notably in  the rules of attraction   .  br    br   the plot itself meanders back and forth between several different story arcs  leading you to wonder which is the main one with each arc containing its share of red herrings . large gaps of narrative appear to be lost between scenes at times  which can be confusing for many  but this is also one of the film  s saving graces . the structure of the film   coupled by the fact that there is never a truly clear antagonist until the very end of the film   forces the viewer to analyze and reason in a time when most films are blatantly obvious about everything  the exception to this is historical background on the carolingians and the practice of sin  eating  both of which are explained in dry exposition  . even at the beginning of the film  character relationships and history are inferred instead of explained . combine this with the on  location shooting and judicious use of special effects  and you have a very old  world supernatural thriller  with even the opening credits reminiscent of something from the late    s  early    s .  br    br   a brief mention here  as well  for the subtle and organic score by david torn  a combination of minimalist orchestration and lisa gerrard  style exotic vocals . a very nice score that is evocative without being bombastic and exists in a very deceptive simplicity .  br    br   a confusing plot  a lack of purpose  and sometimes sleepy performances would often damn a movie  but for some reason   the order  remains watchable . many people will be very turned off by the movie for its odd sensibilities  and some may even become angry that they are forced to engage the higher functions of their brain to understand it . still  the film  s sheer intangibility will prevent it from being either a critical or commercial success until the dvd  which i  m sure will be stocked with copious amounts of deleted scenes . a recommended film only for people who like to think while they watch .  out of   .  
the ring was made from the only screenplay hitchcock wrote himself and it deals  as many of his earliest pictures do  with a love triangle . at first glance  it looks like a more cynical update of the infidelity  themed morality comedies of cecil b . de mille  but more than that it is the first really competent hitchcock picture . even if he was not yet using the ideas and motifs of suspenseful thrillers  he was at least developing the tools with which to create suspense .  br    br   as well as being a student of the german expressionist style  the rhythmic editing style of sergei eisenstein had had its impact upon hitchcock . but here he keeps tempo not just with the edits but with the content of the imagery . this is apparent from the opening shots  where spinning fairground rides brilliantly establish a smooth tempo . and like eisenstein  the editing style seems to suggest sound  for example when a split  second shot of the bell being rung is flashed in  we almost subconsciously hear the sound because the image is so jarring .  br    br   there is also a contrast  particularly with silent films from the us  in that the ring is not cluttered up with too many title cards . as much as possible is conveyed by imagery  and hitch has enough faith in the audience to either lip  read or at least infer the meaning of the bulk of the characters  speech . and it  s not done by contrived symbolism or overacting  it  s all done by getting the right angles and the right timing  particularly with point  of  view shots  as well as some strong yet subtle performances . there are unfortunately a few too many obvious expressionist devices  particularly double exposures   many of which were unnecessary  but there is far less of this than there is in the lodger .  br    br   let  s make a few honourable mentions for the aforementioned actors . first up  the stunningly handsome and very talented carl brisson in the lead role . in spite of his talent i was at first a bit confused as to why he got the role  as to be honest he looks more like a ballet dancer than a pugilist  but that just goes to show how much i know  as it turns out brisson was in fact a former professional boxer and inexperienced in acting . playing his rival is the competent ian hunter  who would go on to have a lengthy career in supporting roles right up to the   s . the most demanding role in the ring has to be that given to lillian hall  davis  torn between two lovers . she pulls it off very well however with an emotive  understated performance  and it  s a shame her career never lasted in the sound era . and last but not least the great gordon harker provides some comic relief in what is probably his best ever role .  br    br   the ring  s climactic fight scene is among the most impressive moments of silent  era hitchcock . martin scorcese may have had his eye on the ring when he directed the fight scenes in raging bull  as his watchword for these scenes was  stay inside the ring  . the fight in the ring starts off with some fairly regular long shots  but when the action intensifies hitchcock drops us right in the middle of it  with close  ups and point  of  view shots . hitchcock  s aim always seems to have been to involve his audience  and this was crucial in his later career where the secret of his success was often in immersing the viewer in the character  s fear or paranoia .  br    br   the ring really deserves more recognition than the inferior but better known the lodger . it  s a much more polished and professional work than the earlier picture  and probably the best of all his silent features .  
the screenwriter poorly attempted to re  create the  exorcist  . but put in some blah  blah love story that makes you sick instead of keeping you engaged . there is no substance whatsoever in this entire film . it had the potential of being something special but blows it by showing a bunch of people yack about things nobody cares about . extremely boring  i wanted to leave the theater when i saw this but the dumb movie tickets were expensive so i had to withstand the dreary torture which felt like it lasted forever . nothing on screen connected relevance back to whatever the characters were talking about .  br    br   they use computer graphics in here that instead of wowing me  as it intended  i hate cgi  just ruined the movie even more . some people say this movie did horrible in the movie theaters because of how  thought  provoking  and  slow  paced  without  action  because it  s an intelligent film  it was . what is so intelligent or thought provoking when the story is basically about pretty boy heath ledger as a priest who has a love interest and disobeys his religion  seems like an uninspired concept . oh and there  s some mumbo jumbo about the  sin  eater   movie was originally going to be titled  sin  eater   . lame concept but the movie took the  sin  eater  thing too seriously  making the movie become pathetic and delusional about how dark and intelligent it was . yeah  i know there were really sin  eaters in the medieval times but this movie just makes it sound cheesy .  br    br   nothing in the movie was executed right and i forget why i even bothered to see this movie . if you want horror films that actually have depth  watch rosemary  s baby  the tenant  naked blood  society  cannibal holocaust  pin  exorcist  omen  or any of the romero  dead trilogy  films . nonsense dialogue does not equate to intelligence people  mainstream movie fans think that though  same kind of people that think a ridiculous movie like hulk is a cinematic masterpiece  . if you want mind  numbingly boring horror  watch the order . this movie makes church seem like a roller coaster ride .  
the symbolic use of objects  form editing  the position of characters in the scene . . . these were all used with such joyous abandon by hitchcock that you can really see what a fertile genius he had . the way the wife moves from one corner of the ring to the other as the fight progresses  the editing when the wedding ring is placed on her finger . . . while these may seem a bit obvious by todays standards  in the silent era they spoke volumes about the story without a word being spoken . even the title has a least four meanings that i can see the boxing ring  the wedding ring  the bracelet the lover buys  and the love triangle at the heart of the story .  
potential spoilers  br    br   man  this movie was awful . a catholic  superstitious  suspense thriller it goes over already well tread ground from previous movies .  br    br   the doubting priest . sex and the priesthood . politics and religion . church hypocrisy . conspiracy involving the church . the dawn of a new evil age . all kinds of dark magic voodoo battles between good and evil .  br    br   pretty stupid and lame with a weak storyline to suffice . the story revolves around two concepts absolution  better known as the sacrament of anointing the sick  the last rights a person can ask for to cleanse one  s sins while on the brink of death and excommunication  the act of cutting a person off from the church . basically  an excommunicated person can  t receive absolution . thus comes in the sin eater  and i  ll leave it at that . throw in all the dopy things i already listed and you have  the order  .  br    br   i found the sex scene with the priest interlaced with shots of a picture of the virgin mary rather insulting to catholics . it also ends with heath ledger saying  i paraphrase   i am the redeemer and damner of sins  i live on without love blah blah blah   cue him walking in dark alley with long trench coat alla  the matrix  .  br    br   i gave this movie a  for not only being crappy and unoriginal but also because it managed to insult an entire faith in the process . if you want to see something better i suggest  the prophecy  with christopher walken .  
this movie does a great job of explaining the problems that we faced and the fears that we had before we put man into space . as a history of space flight  it is still used today in classrooms that can get one of the rare prints of it . disney has shown it on  vault disney  and i wish they would do so again .  
yeah  well  i definitely had regrets about giving up my saturday night watching this strange little  yet very long  movie . apparently neither did the main character for stealing two hours of my life . here  s the epitome of the antihero in  no regrets .  we have this jerk  so messed up  so wandering  so selfish  aimless and unlikable that it was extremely hard to get past the attraction a highly favored businessman  s up  and  coming son  jaemin  unless it was just that physical attraction . he claims otherwise  that it  s love . but after watching this  it  s like loving charles manson because you dig the beard .  alright  he  s not that bad  but still no real redeemable characteristics .  i could never get past the reason jaemin endless stalks sumin . it was never shown  just told  that jaemin loves sumin . perhaps it  s a culture thing that flew over my head crazy  stalking  mad love over in seoul . it has to be  because a little more than half the movie is one stalking the other and the last part is stalking back and forth to the point i thought this was turning into a screwball comedy . i was waiting for a tiger named  baby  to make an appearance . okay  so sumin works two jobs while going to school  so far so good on someone trying to better themselves . but after his first taste of his stalker  s attraction  he gives up his day job for some kind of prostitution ring . what  ok  well  as previously mentioned  the obsession doesn  t stop due to the job  career change and if you throw in a bunch of other very angry characters you get one messed up movie where unbelievable occurrences just seem to happen without buildup . basic movie  not     terrible  but you can do better with foreign gay  themed movies .  
i have not seen this movie  at least not in its entirety . i have seen a few haunting clips which have left me gagging to see it all . one sequence remains in my memory to this day . a  very convincing looking  spacecraft is orbiting the dark side of the moon . the pilot releases a flash device in order to photograph the hidden surface below him . the moon flashes into visability . . . . and for a few seconds there it is . parallel lines  squares  could it be . . then the light fades and the brief glimse of . . . what . . . has gone and it is time for the spacecraft to return to earth . wonderful . i have seen some other clips too but would love to obtain the full movie .  
no one is a greater fan of geroge macdonald fraser  s flashman papers than i am .  br    br   i was surprised to see just now that richard lester directed royal flash  since i also see he had made the three  four musketeers with fraser which i though turned out rather well .  br    br   not so royal flash .  br    br   i was   years old when the film was released and could not have been more enthusiastic since i had read all the flashman papers published up to that time  and was intoxicated with a clockwork orange and malcolm macdowel  i still am  but he was never really given a chance after that  .  br    br   what a disappointment  i saw it once again when i was about   on television and it seemed even worse  .  br    br   none of the sharp dialogue in the books is transfered to the screen . the comedy of flashman  s character seemed to me to have been mishandled in about the same way one could imagine a group of high school students trying to parody it would do . the dueling and fencing was awful and undramatic .  br    br   looking back with more mature eyes  the film failed completer to exploit the possibilities of direct satire of earlier film versions of the prisoner of zenda .  br    br   if you have read the book and not seen the film  i can only say that the film ends with flashman and rudi von starnberg becoming fast friends and playing a game rudi has just invented russian roulette .  br    br   a pathetic betrayal of everything the books are about .  br    br   my comments would be more direct if i had seen the film more recently  but i am glad i have not .  br    br   if by any chance fraser ever reads this  i can only say i think he is a genius   perhaps the greatest comic novelist of his generation  but  based on my appreciation of that corpus of work  it as hard to believe that he wrote the screenplay of this film  as that he did all those awful roger moore james bond films .  
this documentary was nominated for an oscar and it  s easy to see why . even   years later  it is quite an impressive piece of work . why it isn  t in  print is a mystery that only disney can explain . good use of live footage and animation in tandem . this used to run as part of  vault disney  every few months or so  but i haven  t seen it listed in quite a while . sigh most recommended .  
as an avid fan of the flashman books by george mcdonald fraser  i looked forward immensely to seeing flashy on the big screen when this film was first released . sadly it was a huge disappointment then  so i left it alone for   years before going back to watch it again  but it was no better the second time . mr fraser is a tremendously skillful writer  but i am not a fan of his film screenplay work with richard lester . the penchant for slapstick spoilt  the three musketeers  for me and the same applies here . to me  the whole tone and feel of the film is wrong . the flashman books are uproariously funny in parts  but they are adventure novels . there is much seriousness in the way the adventures that flashman has  after all  he is involved in dangerous situations . this is conveyed in the novels  but not conveyed at all on film due to the its comedic style . it is a tremendous shame as it could have a great film had it been a more faithful adaptation of the style of the book . when i first read that the book was to be filmed  the article said that the film was to star oliver reed . i rejoiced  as reed to me was the epitome of flashman . how i would have loved to see him in the role . malcolm mcdowell is a good actor  but does not fit the visual image of flashman created by the books  too scrawny looking  flashman is supposed to be a big strapping fellow  . neverheless reed was excellent as bismarck . what kills the film is that it is made as a comedy . the only scene in which it creates the true atmosphere of the book is the scene in which flashman kills de gautet  tom bell  . a great shame  as the production values  costumes  sets etc are superb and the casting is generally excellent  just about everybody in the film is well cast apart from malcolm mcdowell . possibly the directorship of richard lester was responsible for the way the film is  as a recent radio adaptation of  flash for freedom   adapted by mr fraser  worked quite well . perhaps one day we may see flashman done justice on screen .  
oh  where are you going  my little one  little one . . .  br    br   turn around and you  re two  turn around and you  re four . . .  br    br   i remember these shows when they were first broadcast on disneyland . i remember sitting there  electrified by werner van braune  s explanations of rocket science . i watched as history  science and humor were all interwoven in an engrossing story of possibilities .  br    br   that was fifty years ago . and the shows are back in the disney treasures series  and what a treasure they are . i watched them last night and tonight with my  year old daughter  who at first would not even come in the room  but later changed her mind when she saw they were partly animated . as she watched i watched her  and by the end she was nearly as engrossed as i had been .  br    br   turn around and you  re a young wife with babes of your own . . .  br    br   sure  some of the predictions about reaching the moon were wrong . but there is a lot of information that is still quite accurate  and the overall presentation is still impressive . i found myself thinking my daughter  s teacher might want to show them to her class  not only as a   year old artifact  but also as fun and easy to understand lessons in history .  br    br   turn around  turn around  turn around and again . . . you  re wondering how much has really changed in   years .  
raymond burr stars as an attorney caught up in the murder of his best friend  dick foran  thanks to his affection for his friend  s wife  angela lansbury  . this was a full year before he started doing perry mason  so the movie might be of particular interest to his fans if it was the inspiration for his casting .  br    br   there isn  t all that much else here that  s interesting though . lansbury is always good  but her character here is very one dimensional and the motives for her crime in the mystery are totally obvious . there  s an interesting performance by lamont johnson as a painter who  s also in love with the  femme fatale   but the burr character is pretty straightforward . it  s frankly bizarre to see an actor like burr doing these romantic scenes with lansbury  and his halting delivery does not match his character here very well as it does in most films i  ve seen him in . there  s no mystery at all really  and the whole suspense is supposed to be around the title of the film and the way that burr  s character is setting up the lansbury character to implicate herself  double jeopardy prevents her being tried again for the original murder  presumably  . he does so with a very large tape recorder which she doesn  t notice when she comes into the room i guess .  br    br   a few perhaps unintentionally fun moments and basically the rest of the thing could have been done for tv .  
buddy is an entertaining family film set in a time when  humanizing  animals  and making them cute was an accepted way to get people to be interested in them .  br    br   based on a true story  buddy shows the great love that the main characters have for animals and for each other  and that they will do anything for each other .  br    br   while not a perfect movie  the animated gorilla is quite lifelike most of the time and the mayhem that occurs within the home is usually amusing for children .  br    br   this film misses an opportunity to address the mistake of bringing wild animals into the home as pets  but does show the difficulties .  br    br   a recommended film which was the first for jim henson productions .  
this insipid mini operetta featuring a eddy  mcdonald prototype in a valentino scenario is so bad it becomes an endurance exercise after five minutes . it  s silly from the get go as this brevity opens two military men discussing the lack of manliness in the son of one of the officers . in under a minute he is packed off to morrocco where he lives a double life as the red shadow the leader of an arab tribe that would rather sing than fight .  br    br   alexander gray and bernice clare possess fine light opera voices  with little acting ability  and there  s a decent bass in there as well but the acting is so haphazard scenes so ill prepared you get the feeling they are making things up as they go along .  br    br   this two reeler was part of a larger stage production that lists six writers . with more room to spoof and warble the show may have had some entertainment values but this rushed quickie is little more than an insult to an audience waiting for the feature presentation .  
not to be confused with the british black comedy of the same name that came out in     . but this shallow grave is a worthy addition to the    s backwoods slasher .  br    br   the plot goes   sorority girls from a convent are planning the spring break of a lifetime in florida  but they  re plans are put on hold when one of them witness a man murdering a local woman  and when he realizes that he was seen  well let  s just say it becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse and things get even worse when he turns out to be the local sheriff .  br    br   shallow grave in my opinion is one of the more enjoyable slashers that came out in the    s  especially the late    s which was when the slashers kinda went downhill  this was one of the few that didn  t and this movie should be more well known  it  s a pity it isn  t . this is one film that actually confounds stereotypes  just try guessing who the final girl is going to be  i got it totally wrong  . the principle cast are all likable and it  s one of those movies that you kinda hope they all get away  which of course they don  t . this  coupled with the fluffiness of the film  s first half  an  hour jars  in a good way  with some flashes of real nastiness  the second murder provides a real jolt  and some unexpected sleaziness  even though this isn  t a high budget thriller i didn  t expect the topless scene where a woman is strangled with her own bra  accompanied by a hysterical religious radio broadcast   in a film from this late in the    s  .  br    br   there are one or two bad things about this movie  well not bad just minor  like the sub plot with the two teenage boys which doesn  t go anywhere and the ending which was stupid and plus the deputy inability to follow logic . there aren  t any sharp implements in shallow grave but  to my mind at least  it  s a slasher flick through and through . the scenes where the girls are hunted through the woods by the malevolent sheriff are tense and exciting .  br    br   all in all a very enjoyable and worthwhile slasher  with great performances from all four of the main girls and that psycho sheriff .  
i saw this movie in my international cinema class and was grossed out from get go . this movie is nothing but one scene of blatant shock value after the next .  br    br   the  th man is about an alcoholic writer named reve  who has visions of his in  pending danger . he meets up with a woman named christine when giving a lecture at a local book club  and only decides to stay with her when he discovers how attractive her boyfriend is . to put it plainer  reve likes the dutch sausage . so reve concocts a plan to seduce christine  s boyfriend so he can ultimately have sex with him . but its later discovered that christine has had  previous husbands  who she all murdered . now reve and christine  s boyfriend could be  the  th man .  the storyline makes sense with no plot holes . the editing and everything else that is technical about this movie is perfectly fine . the movie is just gross and i felt the need to vomit in some parts . basically  this isn  t my cup of tea .  br    br   the movie opens with reve getting out of bed in just a t  shirt . so in the very beginning  you get to see reve  s lovely pecker flopping around as he walks around his cramped apartment in a hangover state . later on he has a dream where his pecker gets cut off by a pair of scissors  and they do show it along with the blood fountain that ensues . reve fondles a statue of jesus and has homosexual sex in a mausoleum . plus there  s a lot of blood . more blood than all the freddy krueger movies combined .  br    br   not that i have anything against  shocking  scenes  but this movie is just so blatant when it comes to shocking . the whole movie is revolved around the shock value .  br    br   so if any of this is your cup of tea  watch this movie . otherwise  stay far far far far far away from this one . my mind is still scarred .  
trudy lintz  rene russo  was one very fortunate lady many years ago . she was the wife of a wealthy doctor and had lots of extracurricular money . her passion was animals and she devoted herself to providing a sanctuary for the furry ones on her property grounds . trudy also raised two chimps in her home to be more like children . they dressed in clothes and had many amenities . one day  she learns of an abandoned baby gorilla . knowing nothing about the large apes  she relies on her husband  s medical abilities and expert advice to save the gorilla  s life . once out of danger  trudy decides she will raise the gorilla  also  as one of her children . this works well for years and buddy  the gorilla  is truly a remarkably intelligent addition to her home . but  buddy is also a gorilla and his strength and curiosity become quite enormous . will trudy be able to keep buddy under control  for those who love animals  buddy is a must  see movie . based on a true story  trudy and her ape develop a relationship that is unique in the annals of animal history and lore . of course  buddy is not a real gorilla but a mechanical one  in the film  but he is very close to seeming totally real . russo gives a nice performance as a lady ahead of her time and the supporting players are also quite nice . the costumes are exemplary  as befitting the earlier era of the story  and the settings and production values outstanding . but  most importantly  animals are here in abundance  not only buddy  but the adorable chimps  the ducks  the rabbits  and so forth . for those who want to watch a film and be transported to animal heaven  here on earth  this is a great movie choice . all animal lovers  and even those who just want to watch a great family film  will go  ape  over buddy .  
i read john everingham  s story years ago in reader  s digest  and i remember thinking what a great movie it would make . and it probably would have been had michael landon never got his hands on it . as far as i  m concerned  landon was one of the worst actors on earth  and his artistic license went way over the top  similar to his massacre of the  little house  book series is proof . the acting  for lack of a better word  is atrocious  the screenplay sloppy  and there are more close  ups of landon  s puss than should be allowed .  br    br   this movie reflects everingham  s story as much as  little house on the prairie  reflects the books is was  based  on . it  s just another vehicle to show off landons horrendous hair .  
i enjoyed the innocence of this film and how the characters had to deal with the reality of having a powerful animal in their midst . the gorilla looks just terrific  and the eyes were especially lifelike . it  s even a little scary at times and should have children slightly frightened without going over the top . rene russo plays her role wonderfully feminine . usually these type of hollywood films that take place in the past feel the need to create a straw  man villain but the only adversary is the gorilla . it  s an interesting look at how close some animals are to humans  how they feel the same emotions we do  and yet how we really can  t treat them just like people because they aren  t . not many films venture into this territory and it  s worth seeing if you want to contemplate the human  animal similarity .  
there is so much that is wrong with this film  but to sum it up terrible acting  so bad it must have been on purpose . poor script  they may have had some good ideas but this was not the best way to present the story . ridiculously bad ending  in some cases the ending manages to save the film  not in this case . if you manage to sit through the entire film you will want to kick yourself at the end because the ending is not even worth waiting for . this is the worst film i have seen in a long time . it was complete torture sitting through this film  i would have appreciated someone warning me in advance . so do yourself a favor . watch this film only if you have absolutely nothing better to do . even then you will regret having put yourself through the unspeakable torture .  
this picture came out in     and it was the second in the three part series of the life of sheriff buford pusser . bo svenson takes over the role of sheriff buford pusser  and luke askew plays the role of mobster pinky dobson . the last that we saw sheriff pusser he was laying in a hospital bed after him and his wife who was killed in ambushed sunday morning drive . after pusser recovers he goes after the men that killed his wife . is pusser able to complete the revenge that he  s after or does the mob try to take him out before he successes . the only thing that bother me about this picture that this was an actual true story . how could you leave in a town with this kind of crime and yet don  t do anything about it . since there was real no name actress in this picture i can  t give it   weasel stars but i can give   
the premise of this movie was decent enough  but with sub par acting  it was just bland and dull .  br    br   spoilers the film does not work because of the nature of the death  it was accidental  so although it was a murder it wasn  t like the guy set out to do it . also through some flashbacks there is a secret that is revealed that sort of makes the events like justice to a degree . there is no emotion in this film . the first   minutes or so is just this woman calling her sister  and hearing her message . it was dull and boring .  br    br   with some polishing  and better acting it could have been pretty good .  
this second film is just as interesting as the previous one except that there is no suspense . we know what he is going to do and what is going to happen before it is even hinted at on the screen . then the pleasure comes only from the way the various tricks happen and the succession of them . we know there will be dynamite in the car  that he will lose a wheel  that the car will have a crash  just to speak of the car . and that is what happens . now the details and the particulars are for you to discover them in the film . that he may be baited by some dumb woman is obvious and has to come but we know that he has already seen through her and that he knows he is being dragged into a trap . now  how is he going to get out of it  that  s what you must discover by yourself . and don  t worry he will get the main trafficker but how is another story . a speed boat is no match to our busy beaver on the river . we also know when he is going to be wounded . they did not know what bullet  proof jackets were in those days . it  s true recently it was discovered that some gis did not have that kind of equipment in iraq . but what is the meaning of such a film  this insistence on hunting the traffickers and this blindness that does not see that it is the prohibition that creates the problem . but the film is a constant and perfect illustration that there is no value what so ever that can stand in the way of this moralistic crusade against the forces of evil . why not simply legalize these goods so that they can be properly observed and under surveillance  when something is not illegal or pushed out of the way it is all the less fun to use them  to do them . it is the forbidden or the restricted that is attractive .  br    br   dr jacques coulardeau  university paris dauphine  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  university versailles saint quentin en yvelines  
ok . . . i watch a lot of bad movies . i pride myself on that fact . many times there are some gems in the b rated bombs . but this movie is one of the worst i have watched . i like a good horror movie . . . but one with a plot of and sense of movement . the opening scenes seemed pretty good . decent music and imagery . then it goes down hill from there . one of the main characters has a disability  ringing in the ears called tinnitus  . now this will in turn threaten to reveal his secret . they made that too much of a focus of the movie . so what he has ringing in his ears and accidentally left an ear plug somewhere where that he shouldn  t have been . no need to keep bringing it up . so this guy is having an affair with this girl and in a motel she falls and hits her head on the end table . so instead of letting everyone know of his affair he decides to dump the body . now her twin sister is trying to find out where she is and what happened to her . well after seeing her sister over and over again  as a zombie like ghost  and even pointing directly to the location of the body she finally finds her . now the body is recovered and she is set out to deal with the one and only suspect that killed her . bad thing is that she didn  t have much of a plan . only to pretend to be her twin and met the guy where the body was dumped . the idiot didn  t even believe he killed her . so all is revealed there and even though she had a gun . . . . somehow she manages to get herself strangled . so the last scenes of the movie are of the  spirits  of her and her twin walking out of the water . so you mean to tell me in this movie the bad guy wins . and not one but two innocent people die .  br    br   good things about the movie imagery  br    br   bad things about the movie music sound effects long and drawn out misdirection of plot low grade acting from some not all actors  
this was the first  walking tall  movie i saw  i think in a   movie theater along hollywood blvd .  so i didn  t have any reference to the first installment done by joe don baker . i remember being shocked at the corrupted system of mcnairy county and the brutality of the  redneck gangs  . i was also amazed at the fact that one man decided he  s not going to let it slide  and went out to do something about it . courageous  i thought so  to a point where it sent shivers up my spine .  br    br   i think this movie is a great story about american courage to stand up and do something about a system that  s only serving its own interest . i was pretty blown away about it  and think this is still one of the best movie of the hero  anti  hero genre  which one might laugh but includes recent movies like the  the punisher   but even more so because it  s a true story . the recent remake starring the  rock  just doesn  t do any justice to the real fire in the story of buford pusser .  br    br   a  classic  that i  m sure will resurface again in the future .  
i also saw this movie at a local screening about a year ago . first  i  m going to say that it looks great . cassella is incredibly talented and a fantastic cinematographer . i just wish the movie had been as good as it looks . i would not call this a horror movie . putting in a few shots of a decaying ghost does not make it a horror movie . there  s no mystery  there  s no suspense  you know who did it the entire time .  br    br   it  s a drama . you know what  s going on with both sides the entire movie . the acting was okay  i guess  but nothing special .  br    br   and the tagline   revenge can be deadly  . . . . really  . . . they should have check how many hundreds of horror  thriller movies have that exact same tagline   br    br   it pains me to say some of this  but i know a lot of the people who worked on this movie  and i know they don  t want people blowing smoke up their ass  so i give my honest opinion .  
i first watched the walking tall movies when i was about  years old and i thought both joe don baker and bo svenson did a great job  they must have anyway because since watching the movies  i have tried to learn as much about the real sheriff buford pusser as i can . all  parts of the movie gave me chills and buford pusser was a true hero  i only wish he were alive today and that there were more people like him . i would love to thank him for getting rid of all the crime and being so brave . i am very sorry that his family had to go through such horror and pain . my heart goes out to them . so from a   year old fan of sheriff pusser and of the   part walking tall movies and the actors that portrayed him  please do not be negative about these movies and actors  they were only trying to let us know what a wonderful man the real buford pusser was and what a great family he had . and to all the young people who may have not heard much about buford  i suggest you watch the walking tall movies and learn more about him .  
okay at first this movie seemed pretty good even though it was moving rather quick and even though they only had a        budget it was good but if you found your sister dead in a lake and found out who might have killed her why would you go chase him around and pull a gun on him with only one bullet and waste it and end up running from him all retarded and get yourself killed  plus after you found your sister dead in the lake and found a clue and figured out who the killer was why wouldn  t you hand that clue over to the police who think you killed her  and at the end of the movie when she acts like her sister who was a waitress and she is talking to the bad guy she should of met him somewhere and recorded him saying she was dead and what happened for her  proof  . i don  t know i was not happy with the ending . this movie could of been so much better if it lasted longer and the acting was better and if the ending did not suck so bad  do not waste your money on this movie because if you do you will be writing a review on here too and will not be happy .  
the story is extremely unique . it  s about these  pilots saving earth from alien beings but they have to use a special speed that makes everything around them age rapidly . the whole series is about the pilots dealing with the loss of time  friends  and mentors .  br    br   the ending could have been fantastic . it started to end on a total down note and leave a real mark but instead ended on a super happy disney note and annoyed me very bad .  br    br   the animation is decent for   but can  t compare to nowadays . i have also heard many complain about the cheesiness of the nudity . i actually found it to be somewhat decent . the nudity for the most part was warranted except in episode  where there was an excess .  br    br   overall it deserves a look but the ending keeps it from being a classic .  
just okay film about a woman who is a twin having disturbing visions of her sister in danger back at home . she then returns home to find all is not well and that she is going to have to find out what happened to her sister and why .  br    br   this is the sort of thing that kind of almost works but doesn  t quite . i can  t really put my finger on why it didn  t work but it was good enough that i kind of wished it was better  or at least had gotten the little things right  like having the girls who play the twins in the flashbacks be closer in size . i think perhaps thats whats wrong with it there are lots of little things that just are wrong .  
being an otaku since the days of robotech  i can still say that gunbuster is one of my favorite animes of all time . considering when it was made  the animation is of superior quality . there are no loops and sequences in which the art decreases in quality . although the final episode is in black and white  it does not detract from the enjoyment of watching the film . although it has been described as being  sappy   it should be kept in mind that females do not react in the same way that males do . since the main character is a female  it should be obvious that she does not necessarily need to resort to  macho  man  tactics in order to gain the respect of her peers . the seiryuu for noriko  incidentally  also plays akane in ranma    . noriko is as   dimensional a cartoon can get her personality captures the essence of a spirited girl who seems at first to be completely helpless but in the end succeeds through the strength of her will . the only complaint i have is that the mecha looked somewhat like teddy bears . even the gunbuster utilizes a rather dubious  homing laser  and  buster shield   which is nothing more than having the machine wrap a giant velvety cloak around itself in true dracula style  technique . i doubt that scene was meant to be funny  but it cracked me up . yet all in all  i would rank gunbuster in the top   anime of all time .  
so the wife and i just finished it despite several threats from both of us to turn it off . for the most part boredom was the worst part of this movie  there was just very little excitement . the acting was atrocious  to the point where we actually chuckled several times during some of the worse scenes  the church lady for example  . the dead sister was using paranormal means to contact her living twin  although rather then send useful information she focused on trying to scare the hell out of her instead which looked a lot like the ring . rather then get the police involved   which i  m sure those earplugs she found would have dna all over them   she instead devises a horrible plan to  get  the man who covered up the accidental death of her sister . i call it a horrible plan because in the end she allows him to kill her too  which the movie then fades to black . bad dialog  bad acting  bad ending .  
this anime is a must  see for fans of evangelion . it  s an earlier work of anno hideaki  but his unrestrained  dramatic style is quite in place . also  those who didn  t like evangelion might find this release to bit slightly more palatable . gunbuster is rather unique to sci  fi anime in that it  s actually based on real science . in fact  the show has several little  science lesson  interludes explaining the physics behind some of the events in the movie . one of the big dramatic points in the film is the relative passage of time at speeds near that of light . the series does a wonderful job of dealing with the imaginably traumatic experience of leaving earth on a six month mission traveling near the speed of light and returning to an earth where ten years have passed . the main character remains age   or   throughout the entire series while almost all of the other characters age considerably . be warned  this show is heavy on the sap at times . it also has a couple of the most wholly unmerited breast shots that i have ever seen . i found it fairly easy to ignore the skimpy uniforms and boo  hoo scenes  because the series is otherwise very good  but viewers with a low sap tolerance might want to stay away from this one . on an interesting note  gainax  as always  managed to run out of money in the last couple of episodes . however  they managed to use black and white film and still action sketches to produce a good resolution anyway . the ending is a bit silly  but it left me with such a good feeling in my gut i couldn  t help but love it . gunbuster is  in my opinion  one of the finest pieces of anime around .  
this movie isn  t worth the film it was photographed on . the dialog is flat  filled with clich overused lines and delivered by amateur actors who sound like their reading a script for the first time . the choppy  shaky  film style is a cheap imitation of the  the ring  style visual effects . the characters do not even act like a normal person would . for example  the character who is looking for her twin sister at her home forces her way through the front door  creeps around the house all frightened and sobbing and she doesn  t even once call out her sister  s name to see if she is home . what  you would think she had just buried her sister instead of searching for her . way too many flashbacks to her childhood . too many unnecessary flashbacks is a typical sign of an amateur director . it is actually funny watching the numerous shots of the woman driving her car down the street  up the driveway  around this corner  over here  over there  oh a side view  now a front view . enough already . you would think you are watching a tv commercial for the solaris  terrible movie .  out of    . i really pity anybody who spent money making this film or to watch it .  
   slight spoilers    br    br   way back  before evangelion was made  before hideaki anno was an idol and household name for many anime fans  and before gainax had reached the status of fanfavorite  gunbuster was made . with only wings of honneamise made by gainax at that time  and the famous otakon shorts or course  gunbuster had some tough acts to follow up . it didn  t make it easier on itself by picking out a genre that was already done countless times before  space opera .  br    br   luckily  gainax decided to put it out as a six  part oav  direct to video  series . this allows the series to have a bigger scope than would have been possible if it was made into a film . this also prevents it from becoming too boring and overly long  with lots of pointless battles and filler along the way . besides that  they made some effort to stay clear from the tested space opera mechanics used in macross or gundam  and many other popular space operas .  br    br   for one  the shows starts out pretty light  with noriko in the okinawa high school for mechapiloting . noriko is the daughter of a respected ship commander who died in battle  when she was still a little kid . this makes her life at the academy quite hard  as some of her fellow classmates start to suspect that noriko is favored by the professors . the first episode is pretty much a comedy drama  with a very tight focus on the characters and setting of the school . things quickly change when the threat of an alien invasion is announced  and noriko and kazumi  best girl in class  are chosen to help the assembled fleet out .  br    br   the middle bulk of gunbuster leaves our female lead in space  focusing on both personal drama and action . a couple more characters are introduced  and parts of noriko  s past are dragged up again . besides that  the alien threat becomes more imminent every minute  and the gunbuster  mankind  s final hope  is presented . smart as writer okada was  he incorporated the principles of time dilation  to spice things up a bit . in short  time moves slower for those who travel at the speed of light . this means that noriko can be part of a war that takes almost a century to complete . also the dramatic aspect of this is accentuated  when noriko sees her friends again on her return to base  who have aged considerably more than her . the science might not be perfect  but it  s presented in a pretty believable way  with even some sd science theatre shorts in between the episodes  where noriko  kazumi and their coach give a short description of the scientific principles used in the series .  br    br   the animation  for a series made in the   s  is definitely good . the designs are retro   s style of course  but it has it  s charm . animation is fluent enough and the character designs are nice  although the costumes do betray  br    br   some of the fanservice fascination gainax will later exploit to the fullest . the mechas throughout the shows are pretty cool too  with the gunbuster as the ultimate killing machine  strong and vast . the last episode was entirely done in black and white . while it  s generally believed  but not confirmed  that this was done for budget reasons  it lends a whole different atmosphere to the series  which is suited perfectly for the latter part .  br    br   the music is very typical space opera fair . too bombastic in places  very generic  and definitely not worth buying . it does fit the series for the most part  but it can become quite annoying at times . tanaka is not really a famous composer  and the only other respectable series he  s worked on is dragon half . if you think   s anime music  you will know what to expect .  br    br   as the series progresses  the focus slowly shifts from drama to space opera to epic battle  but in such a way the viewer will hardly notice this . step by step the drama will be toned down  and the battles will take the front row . neither aspect is ever left completely out though . with the last episode in sight  noriko and crew are fighting for the further existence of human kind  and with the last battle in sight  certain questions are presented to the audience  concerning to position of the human race in the galaxy  and how far it can go to guarantee self  preservation . while they are never answered later on  they still present some interesting food for thought . the last episode is very epic  with a nice  but quite predictable ending  though not all endings should contain numerous outlandish twists of course . again  it fits the series .  br    br   gunbuster may sound like your average space opera anime at first  with alien invasions  huge battles  and some personal drama  and for the bigger part  it is . but it is done exceptionally well for a change . instead of going for a steady mix of former elements  six episodes long  gunbuster presents us a change from small scale drama to large scale epic heroism . along the way we meet with some various interesting and well fleshed  out characters  which mutual relationships changing heavily due to the time dilation phenomenon . the show is very tightly written  although it does tend to slip up at some points . overly dramatic occurrences and too cheesy mecha attacks could have been easily avoided . overall  the trip gunbuster takes you on is a very relaxed  sometimes sad  sometimes heroic one . it might not have shattered the boundaries and limits of the space opera genre  but at least it bend them a little . highly enjoyable anime classic  but not without flaws .  br    br       
this was a movie about infidelity and revenge . a twin with the  twin  connection senses that something is wrong with her sister . this movie took forever to establish the plot . a plot that has been done many times . the acting was lousy for the most part . once the plot comes together  the movie ends . laura and ashley are twins that live with an abusive father . the father seems to favor ashley  so laura gets the blame for everything . there is a promise made that the girls would never be apart  but as they grow up  their lives go in different directions . ashley gets a job in a diner where she meets barry  a married man . of course no good can come of this . the fact that barry had tinnitus was a poor excuse for a way to track him down . i kept waiting for this movie to get better and for there to be some resolution somewhere  but it never happened .  
here  s a real weirdo for you . it starts out with another take  off on the psycho shower scene  on campus  then gets crazier when several coeds and their doofy boyfriends head south for spring break . the trouble starts when they drive into the redneck county ruled by homicidal sheriff dean . one of the college cuties wanders into the woods  witnesses a murder by the sheriff and has her head blown open . then it  s lets  rip  off macon county line  time as dean stalks  traps and slaughters the witless witnesses one by one . tony march is on  target as the evil  shotgun  happy dean . the movie  s overall tone is truly disturbing . the ending is so abrupt you almost think the director ran out of film it  s also a study in despair . shallow grave is a must for misanthropes  misogynists and nihilists the world over .  
within the first few minutes of this dutch thriller  we learn that krabbe is a gay alcoholic writer who sleeps sans underwear  fantasizes about murdering his roommate  tries to steal a magazine from a news stand  and lusts after a studly young man he meets at the train station . and he  s the hero of this nonsensical movie that is all dressed up  except for krabbe in at least one scene too many  but has nowhere to go . the basic plot is very simple but is dragged out to nearly two hours before reaching a pointless conclusion . verhoeven has a nice visual flair but resorts to scenes of wild hallucinations  overt symbolism  and gratuitous gore when he runs out of ideas .  
aim for the top  gunbuster is one of those anime series which has classic written all over it . i totally loved this series  and to this day  it remains my favorite anime . and while it was not gainax  s first animated product  it was their first ova series .  br    br   mainly starting out as a parody of the      s sports drama aim for the ace  ace o nerae    gunbuster picks up steam as a serious drama toward the ending of episode   when noriko takaya is forced to relive the death of her father  who was killed in mankind  s initial encounter with the insect race humanity is at war with . it is because of her father  s death that noriko wants to become a combat pilot . but her lack of confidence proves to get in the way at times and she falters . her friend  kazumi amano  even has doubts about noriko being chosen as a pilot . however  noriko  s coach  koichiro ota  has faith in her . and he has made it his personal mission to see that she succeeds at becoming a pilot  for he was a survivor of the battle in which noriko  s father was killed .  br    br   other characters include jung  freud  a russian combat pilot assigned to serve with the squadron noriko and kazumi belong to  smith toren  a love interest for noriko who is killed in their first sortie together  and kimiko higuchi  noriko  s childhood friend . kimiko  s involvement is also of interest  as while noriko is off in space  kimiko remains behind on earth to live a normal life . and because of the acts of time dilation  kimiko ages normally on earth while noriko is relatively the same age as when she left school . by the end of the series  noriko is roughly   years old while kimiko is in her mid  fifties .  br    br   all in all  this is an excellent anime series to watch if you are a fan of giant robot mecha and of gainax animation . if you like hideaki anno  s other shows  or are a fan of haruhiko mikimoto  s artwork  then give this show a chance . it will grow on you .  
for a film with so much promise it was disappointing  thinly plotted and the acting ranging between horrendous and unbelievable . the plot had more holes in it than swiss cheese and it  s the worst clichd ending i  ve seen in a movie for some time . the final scene would have ripped my heart out  if the entire movie hadn  t been so painful to begin with . i was numb  from the very first scene  one was left wondering  if the sister was trying to reach out to her twin for help  or simply scare her to death which would have been better for the audience and saved us from two hours of the worst acting i  ve seen to date . it was a horror in the true sense of the word .  
terribly underrated with matt dillon and tom skerritt  good backdrop for solid story and some memorable lines  well acted and well cast  tommy lee jones and bruce dern make you hate them with passion  
lolita is a rebel and she  s going to share to our wide open eyes some little sex stories  between sci  fi and fantasy . . . well  this surrender cinema production is not very good very bad acting  horrifying music and a story line without any story and any line . but  the sex scenes are pretty well done  lot of lesbian scenes  and jacqueline lovell  as beautiful as in the exotic house of wax  offer to us a very good final and very hot strip show . for lovell  s fans only .  
very entertaining  and a great cast as noted . i  d like to add that bruce dern did a fine job also  as is usually the case . worth renting if you can find it  which has proved difficult for me . also note that the amazon link from this page currently goes to a different movie of the same name .  
cybil richards directs another full moon  surrender cinema masterpiece of erotica . this time jacqualine lovell  dressed in rather fetching silver outfit  is tasked with destroying all evidence of sexual activity . however she can  t resist watching the tapes and she kinda likes them . the sex scenes are well filmed and set to a superb soundtrack  at least for this sort of film  . the cast are largely awful and mainly very average looking too . jacqueline lovell is her exceptionally attractive self and between viewing the sex files she manages to expose her chest and fumble a little down below . she also fits in a little lesbian activity . to be honest lovell deserves so much better than this kind of fare . here she looks great naked but actually is much more appealing in her silver attire narrating the  drama  . utterly rubbish movie with lovell and soundtrack the only real redeeming features . mediocre even for surrender  s output and clearly a new budget low for them also .  
tommy jones and matt dillon do the gambling world proud . the various moves with the wrists had to be learned as throwing craps is a skill in and of itself .  br    br   there are a few surprises . as cynical as we are today  i fully expected the  good girl  to be crying over his grave  instead of his buddy  s . especially with her remarks about  going to the funeral of her best friend   when she first meets matt . and then of course you expect matt to kill the guy who threw battery acid in mr . allen  s face  blinding him  interesting role by bruce dern  . wrrrooonnnnggg    some of the other hollywood endings do happen  but the writing is so excellent  the acting so carefully wrought that you  re blissfully unaware .  br    br   and the music is out of this world . taking us back to the   s when our  native passions  were first being unleashed by the music of ray charles and bo diddley . even a little racism raring its ugly head in chicago  but at a club called  wonderfully   biloxi  with a confederate flag backing up the racist remarks . i  ll be watching it again  just to hear the music . good thing i have the factotum sound track  so i can listen to that in the car . watch both together  and you  ll see how matt has matured . . . . playing bar room characters in both . now that he owns a bar in the paramount hotel in nyc  he probably has great opportunity to do his studies . great actor  just coming into his own . he shows finely nuanced performances . . . the good and the bad in his characters . his  young boy off the farm  is a great study  made especially poignant because of his bassett  hound eyes . he makes love  convincingly as well . since he was in several movies with diane lane as a teen  ager  i wonder how that it . . . making love to an actress you kinda grew up with . adds conviction  i  ll say that .  
i watched the movie  and was dismayed to say the least that the movie failed to communicate with me as an audience . the language would put to shame the street loafers .  br    br   the plot a father forcing none of his son to marry  seems far  fetched .  br    br   the idea of a grandmother asking her grand kid to mess up with an enemy would only draw feeble minded  s attention .  br    br   . . . and i was waiting the whole movie for a laugh  and laugh i did on my stupidity to waste  hours to convince myself that the movie is not even worth a first look .  br    br   hope it saves your time   
considering the big name cast and lavish production i expected a lot more of this film . the acting for the most part is great  although the story they have to work with is mediocre at best . however the film still warrants watching because of the acting and the stars and some and up and coming young talent .  
 . . . and even then  even they can live without seeing it . to be honest  this film  if one deigns to call it that  is of real interest only to bondage freaks . bettie page fans will learn absolutely nothing new  and i do mean nothing   nor will they enjoy the warm fuzzies of experiencing anything familiar  loved  or cherished .  br    br   nevermind the abysmal screenplay  the wooden  less  than  community  theater acting  the utter absence of direction  the crappy lighting  or any of the rest of the bargain basement production values . this is definitely  hey  kids  let  s make a movie   movie  making of the lowest order . i suppose one could be thankful that at least they knew how to run the camera . no  i  m sorry to say that none of that is germane to why this thing is so outright wrong .  br    br   it  s wrong because the young lady playing bettie page  a somewhat zaftig girl whose only resemblance to the queen of curves is dark hair and the trademark bangs  utterly fails to bring anything to the role beyond a willingness to be bound and gagged . this is apparently a good thing for her film career before and since this wretched excess  but not for the wretched excess itself  which consists primarily of a number of lovingly re  enacted bd set  pieces sandwiched between horrendously awful faux  biographical scenes delineating ms . page  s fall from grace  so to speak  . there  s actually probably more information  per se  about page  s life in the opening and closing credits than the rest of the movie .  br    br   do not be fooled . this is not a worthy companion film to  the notorious bettie page .  this is not a worthy film at all . this is a fetish piece that trades on the allure of one of the greatest pin  ups of all time  and does it without class  without style  and without any real sense of understanding the character of bettie page whatsoever . no true bettie page fan will find it to be anything but a disappointment  i guarantee that .  br    br   avoid at all costs . if free  remember that time is money  too . yours may not be worth much  but i  m betting it  s worth enough that you  ll be sorry you wasted time with this one . that  s it  i  m done  you  ve been warned .  
what a surprisingly good movie this one turned out to be . this is the type of film that i  ve been looking for ages . particularly important for me was the fantastic  looking chicago  which i still keep thinking about . the back cover doesn  t do this film justice  it  s superb  and in my top   for sure .  
this documentary is a reenactment of the last few years of betty page  s  paige richards  career . the tennessee tease was the most recognizable pin  up queen in history . her most memorable work came in the      s and was fetish photos  bondage and cat  fight  girly flicks  . irving klaw  dukey flyswatter  at his movie star news instructed betty on what to do in front of the camera . there was no nudity in the famous photos or  stag films   but nonetheless  klaw was charged with distributing obscene materials and was ordered to destroy them to avoid prosecution . it is no surprise that betty had a cult following at the height of her career . the girl  next  door with jet black hair  blue eyes and an hour glass figure dressed in fetish gear or not would mesmerize for decades . after all  it has been said that she was photographed more than marilyn monroe and second only to the most photographed image in the world  elvis presley . betty page would disappear and devote her last years to religion . this movie actually could have been a lot better but good enough to hold interest .  br    br   miss richards is stunning in her own right . bra  panties  garter belt and hose do not hurt her image in the least . also in the cast jaimie henkin  jana strain  emily marilyn and julie simone . be advised this movie can change your heart rate .  
star trek hidden frontier will surprise you in many ways . first  it  s a fan made series  available only on the web  and it features mainly friends  neighbors who have the computer programs and home video cameras and sewing machines to  as mickey  judy once put it  put on a show . it  s definitely friends  neighbors to  you can tell . a lot of these people aren  t the most beautiful looking folks you  ve ever seen  or the youngest  or the thinnest some of them stumble through their lines like they  re walking on marbles some of them have thick accents  or simply don  t seem to speak well in the first place  whick makes it virtually impossible to understand a single solitary word that they  re saying . still  you have to admit  for everything these friends  neighbors have put together  it  s actually fun to watch . yes  some of the dialogue is hokey . yes  it  s a little odd  though admittedly a little cool too  watching two starfleet males kiss  although some of the kissing scenes seem to go on and on .  yes  you cringe a bit when they clearly quote from sttos  tng  other shows and the movies  or when you hear the theme from galaxy quest played at the beginning and end of every show . okay . we can get by that . why  the graphics are first rate . better than almost anything you  ve seen . and sometimes  a show or two really stands out story  wise some of them are actually real tear  jerkers .  br    br   hidden frontier is a total guilty pleasure in every sense of the word but you have to give the people involved credit where credit is due . it takes a lot of effort to put on a production of this magnitude . people  sets  costumes  graphics it  s a huge effort on a lot of people  s parts . we watch  we return  and we thank them .  
i  m kinda torn on dark angel . the film appears to be a  loving  tribute to the greatest pin  up to ever live  but there is so little actual  content  that the film itself is virtually pointless . i can  t really see what the motivation or  point  of this film is  as there is very little biographical information provided in the narrative  so those who don  t know much about bettie aren  t gonna know much more after watching dark angel either . . .  br    br   the film basically chronicles the last few years of bettie  s career in bondage modeling . almost the entire film is comprised of  re  enactments  of some of bettie  s more  famous  photo  shoots and loops . these re  enactments take up literally    of the films run  time  and give virtually no insight into bettie as a person . the film touches briefly on her short  lived legitimate acting pursuits  and her subsequent decision to leave the  business  and become religious  but all of this is pretty much glossed  over in favor of showing long and drawn  out re  enactment scenes . . .  br    br   dark angel isn  t a horrible film  there  s just no substance to it . the other problem is that the actress that plays bettie only really resembles her in farther away shots  up  close it  s a no  go . the other thing that irritated me  is that although bettie did several topless modeling shoots  the only nudity in the film was a short segment shot in a zoo during the end credits . the film itself is obviously extremely low  budget  but does what it can set and costume  wise within it  s limitations  so no gripes from me there . the acting is pretty wooden and unmemorable from everyone involved . in fact  the most memorable thing about the whole film for me  was noticing during the end credits that the actor who played irving klaw  s real name is dukey flyswatter . no joke  check the cast list . can  t say that i recommend this one too highly unless you are a true bettiefile completist and must own anything relating to her . and if you are that bad off  then you need to seek treatment anyway . . .      
hidden frontiers  is more than fan fiction  it is well thought out and organized series keeping the worlds of star trek alive and growing . from a fun little fan project to now a well known net series hidden frontiers has a bit of something for every star trek fan in it . set in the late star trek next generation  ds  and voyager time lines hidden frontier takes on topics and issues raised in other star trek series with set stories using a well developed characters  plots  and story arcs . star trek hidden frontier has taken on social context stories that gene roddenberry failed to bring to the screen and has shown the development of characters in long term space assignments  the real things that happen in close quarters as well as an exciting spatial wars and conflicts sci  fi addicts know and love . done in a  green screen  studio hidden frontiers brings a rollicking cast of regulars on to the screen and into your hearts . the large ensemble cast of actors plays well together and lovingly gives their time and energy to the project . inventive use of green screen technology  props  makes up and costumes work to make the hidden frontier worlds of star trek fun and believable . hidden frontier has gone where few tread to go in the world of science fiction  and thrived once they got there . hidden frontier offers a wonderful bonus feature of a well thought out website  with interesting discussion forums  access to creative  production and acting staff and a fun weekly chat . i highly recommend taking the time to down load and watch .  
this movie was bad beyond belief . i saw it during the     san francisco film festival . before it started the owner of the theatre got up and told us how half the audience had left the theatre the night before  which happened to be its  world premiere .  i don  t think anyone in the theatre understood just how bad the movie was going to be at that point . we all understood by the end .  br    br   its not a documentary though it was sort of sold as one . dark angel was a bad biography and misguided homage to bettie paige  in which half the movie is actually just remakes of old bettie paige movies . the movie is only   minutes long and the content of those   minutes is sub par to say the least . a scene would start going then someone would say  wow you  re so great bettie  why don  t we make another movie .  this would be followed by a  minutes of a bettie paige remake which was almost as ridiculous as  and even more boring than  the normal part of the movie . by the end of the movie people were laughing every time another bettie paige movie remake came up . it was that ludicrous . i heard a lot of laughter in that theatre  but people were not laughing with the movie maker  they were laughing at the movie and its poor content and structure . this was easy to tell as the parts that would get the most laughs were the ones which were supposed to be serious or revelatory .  br    br   i know movies are expensive . i have seen many cheaply made independent films but somehow the cinematography and quality of this movie set it apart from anything else i have ever seen . the movie looks like it was made for    . the cuts  the graininess  and the lack of a sensual plot made this a memorable experience . this movie makes  dude  where  s my car   look like citizen kane .  br    br   my friends and i left the theatre feeling like we had just paid  dollars to be tortured . the only redeeming part of the experience was that we got to laugh about the fact that someone had actually made this movie and thought it was good . apparently  the previous night  the night of the  world premiere  the director  writer  producer had been in the audience and had gotten to witness people laugh at and walk out on his movie . bettie paige  s movies were destroyed . they should destroy this movie too .  
this is short and to the point . the story writing used for star trek hidden frontier is surprisingly good . acting is all over the map  but the main characters over the years seem to have worked at improving their skills . it is hard to believe that this series has been going on for almost  years and will be coming to end mid  may     .  br    br   i will not rehash what has already been said about the sets and graphics . considering this is all  volunteer  for no profit  it is pretty amazing .  br    br   if this was being ranked as a professional production  i would have to give it a  for a good story but terrible sets . however  as a fan  based production i have to give it an excellent rating as with the exception with a few other efforts  this is in a league of its own . for sheer volume  i don  t think this has been matched . congratulations to the cast and crew for an effort that many admire .  
the major flaw with the film is its uninspired script . it plods back and forth between vignettes of bettie  s story and re  creations of the klaw short films . while the klaw re  creations are well done  it is unnecessary to recreate them in their near entirety . page richards  while not an amazing actress  does a decent job overall . and  at times  she does bear a remarkable resemblance to bettie . also of note is some faithful attention to detail . costumes and clothing well done  as is some of the set direction . the sets are generally sparse and feel stage  y  but do feel of the era . it is sometimes surprisingly well lit  and the color palette was clearly thought  out to give the overall look a vibrant  retro feel .  
with the amount of actors they have working on the project they have a wide variety of cast . nice starship cgi in places but their green screen needs some work . anyone heard of adobe after effects   they should buy it get their keying better .  br    br   stories are well thought out  plenty of trek elements in this to keep it in the right context . but but the idea of two guys kissing makes me wind forward the episode . im not homophobic but i cant help that i don  t find men kissing entertaining  dont mind women  . anyway . . . for a fan series this is good stuff . with minor improvement in their green screen  brush up acting and some guidance ratings this series is stunning . anyway i recommend this series to who ever enjoyed tng and ds  .  
they made me watch this in school and it was terrible . the movie is outdated . the episodes become confusing because fact is combined with fiction to make the story more interesting . the teachers talked about it as a treat but really it was a painfully boring experience . i have read that very few people who appear in this are actors  but most of them them do what they do in the movie in real life . this accounts for cheesy acting very often . also  very often the story becomes mildly outrageous and far  fetched . i don  t like the way some of the lines were written and wish they had more meaning to them . though  it was written to be educational  funny  suspenseful  and hip  it ended up being boring  dry  far  fetched  and old . i hope no one takes time to watch this movie because you would be just fine not seeing it .  
four teenage girlfriends drive to fort laurdale for spring break . unfortunately they get a flat tire in medley  georgia and one of the girls witnesses a brutal murder deep in the woods . the local sheriff is behind the crime and the nightmare begins . . .  shallow grave  is a pleasant low  budget surprise . the cast is likable enough  the direction is steady and the violence is particularly nasty and misogynistic . especially the second murder is pretty grim . the murderous sheriff isn  t one  dimensional character  in a couple of scenes it seems that he feels remorse for what he  s done . the subplot involving the two boys they meet in the diner goes nowhere  but the stalking scenes in the woods are tense and exciting .  out of   .  
the acting is some of the worst i  ve ever seen  the characters are totally unconvincing . this could be overlooked to some extent if the plot was interesting  which the plot to  the prodigy  was not . it  s sort of a bad mix between  fresh  and  animal house   except that both of those movies were good .  
hidden frontier has been talked about and reported on by several news agencies for their long commitment to creating the best star trek stories and to providing an example of the togetherness that was gene roddenberry  s mission . their focus on homosexuality  depression  war  and acceptance of different races is on par or exceeds those of the other trek series and movies . the production value started off as smaller and choppy but over the  seasons of production the acting has improved  the stories are more complex  and the visual graphics have gotten smoother and more impressive . in season  episode   countermeasures  there is one of the biggest space battles in trek history . the ships are rendered well and the space battles are impressive and exciting . the real draw to frontier is not the ships or the backgrounds  but it is the people and the interplay and growth of characters . there are also nods to other trek series and movies with places and characters we all know . i recommend any trek fan to check out countermeasures and you will be hooked   
in sixth grade  every teacher i had decided it would be a great idea to make this movie the curriculum for an entire semester . every class had something to do with this terrible show . we watched it in english and wrote in journals as if we were one of the characters . in math we talked about charts and other sea crap . in science we talked about whales  which was actually somewhat interesting  so this wasn  t a     waste of time  . all day everyday was torture . not only that  but they would subject us to this horror twice a day by making us watch it in study hall as well . i could see if this was a new series or something  but it was  like     . i  m still trying to block this out .  
i really like star trek hidden frontier it is an excellent fan fiction film series and i cant wait to see more i have only started watching this film series last week and i just cannot get enough of it . i have already recommended it too other people to watch since it is well worth the view . i have already watched each episode many times over and am waiting to see more episodes come out . i rated it a ten but i think it deserves a   loll my compliments to the staff of the star trek hidden frontiers on an excellent job . if u like star trek i highly recommend checking out this star trek fan fiction film . the detail associated with this series of films is excellent especially the ships and planets used in it  
i love low budget independent films and had high hopes for this one . but this film is static . never mind the production value  which is very noble for its budget  but the pacing is deadly . admittedly these folks achieve much with little  but the film fails on the most fundamental level . it  s boring . the editing is glacial and the pacing stalls . it should have been   minutes . the best thing about the dr . jekyll is mr . hyde who isn  t seen nearly enough . he had the most dramatic potential . instead we have to suffer through dithering baltimorean  brits stammer through endless and tiresome exposition . it feels like a backwater stage play committed to video .  br    br   noble efforts by everyone in the production  but a story this tired needed a kick in the pants and funky new low budget technology should have given it a fresh voice . instead it  s just a lame retread .  
okay  so the first few seasons took a while to get going on the special effects way  but from the beginning  hidden frontier has given consistently good story lines and performances  and have always been willing to mistakes they  ve made . they advice people to see newer episodes first  so they can see just how good the show is  and understand how much it has changed since the first episodes . the cast have a fantastic camaraderie and it shows on  screen .  br    br   the influx of guest actors who make their mark on the show and with fans attests also to the show  as the story lines go from strength to strength . the show has pushed barriers with its various story lines  depression  drug addiction and mainstream homosexuality  and these may have rubbed a few people the wrong way  but that is what star trek is and was all about . it portrays those story lines in a smart and emotional way  dealing with them subtly and smoothly .  br    br   yes  they have used some characters from trek history  but they have done them justice  characters like shelby  lefler and necheyev  vastly underused in the show  had a rebirth in the new frontier books  but they lost their sizzle after a while  when peter david when more towards wild fantasy versus serious sci  fi  and hf shows those characters in a completely different light  which serves them better .  br    br   the site also allows fans to interact with chat rooms and forums and they can get to know the people involved . they release bloopers for every episode  so the fans can see what a laugh they have  because they are people doing it in their spare time  with a dedication that would make many professional actors wide  eyed in shock   br    br   what this series  now drawing to a close after  years  has accomplished on such a limited amount of resources is nothing short of amazing  bringing people together  inspiring others to do the same . hf will live for a long time after it ends  as long as people still enjoy the reason it started in the first place .  
it is so sad . even though this was shot with film i think it stinks a little bit more than flicks like blood lake  there  s nothing out there  . the music they play in this is the funniest stuff i  ve ever heard . i like the brother and sister in this movie . they both don  t try very hard to sound sarcastic when they  re saying stuff like  my friends are going to be so jealous   hey  whats with the killer only wearing his mask in the beginning  thats retarded  i practically ignored the second half of this . my favorite part about this movie is the sound effect they use when the killer is using the axe . the same exact sound for every chop   
i kind of consider myself as the   fan of hidden frontier  seeing as i am among a somewhat small group of fans who have actually met most of these guys  well  not counting conventions  of course . i have been watching hidden frontier since      and i must say i continue to be impressed by what these guys have come up with .  br    br   hidden frontier is the brainchild of rob caves and his self  made studio  areakt pictures  which operates out of the back room of his house . while not as  fancy  as  say  the tos  based series new voyages  which sometimes gets some of the actors  writers from the original series  like walter koenig  aka mr . chekov   rob and the cast and crew of hf manage to create a series worthy of replacing that ghastly experiment we called  enterprise  . the most controversial and successful story arc has been the introduction of star trek  s first openly gay character  corey aster  who was introduced in the second season   and his search to find a soul mate . somewhere later in the series  he meets jorian zen  the excelsior  s trill helm officer . in the recent story lines with these two characters  warning major spoiler  do not read if you have not watched the series up to this point    zen is joined to an exiled symbiont  causing a great deal of change and some conflict in his relationship with aster . though the future is uncertain  seeing as the most recent episode   beachhead   was just shown to hf fans in the chat room last night  i think that this relationship will endure  but only time will tell .  br    br   gene roddenberry created star trek with the intention that the story be more about his characters rather than flashy space battles . rob caves created hidden frontier for that same reason  and this is what has made this series as popular as it is . as the previous comment stated  i wish i could give it a rating higher than    but it will have to suffice . although next season will be the last  keeping in the tradition of seven season shows started by star trek the next generation  i am willing to bet that we will hear much about hidden frontier after that final episode .  
as far as i can tell you  in spite of earlier comments posted by other commentors  this film is currently available on dvd . i found it only a few weeks ago .  br    br   it is on the value dvd label and i paid the grand total of   cents plus tax for it . i found it at a   cent store among racks of plastic bowls and disposable chopsticks . now don  t you people who shelled out beau coup bucks for the super  duper swedish import limited edition version feel like you were had    i thought so .  br    br   this film was indeed well worth   cents .   cents  i might start to argue with you . but clearly worth   cents . and remember that saying about getting what you pay for . for slasher film mavens only .  
this is a brilliant and well made contribution by a group of fans  and considering it  s made in a back bedroom on a painted green screen it  s story lines are complex and twisting  and it  s characters show realistic depth and dimension . the cgi created by the crew is breathtaking . while it  s first season might be a little shaky  it  s final few are well thought out and well shot . some fans might have thought that the star trek franchise had come to an end with the early cancellation of enterprise  but these fans don  t take no for an answer . i recommend this to fans and newcomers alike       hidden frontier crew .  br    br   make it so . . .  
this movie is a bad to alright rip off of friday the   th . the movie is about a killer named bernie who kills people around a camp councilor training camp . he kills people because the camp councilor training camp is on land that was owned by his father  and when the police came to forcefully take his fathers land they accidentally killed his mother  another f   th take off  . the intro is seeing bernie killing his first victims . then we are introduced to a family going camping in the same woods  soon after they arrive they are joined by a strange old man who likes talking about his son . later we learn that his son is bernie and that he has him locked up in the back of his caravan after having broken him out of a mental institute . he sets bernie after the family so they can take their stuff and then the chase is on .  br    br   this movie is only recommended to those who enjoy b grade    s slashers .  
nicely done  and along with  new voyages  it  s a great continuation  fab to see james cawley in the latest episode  vigil  check it out   br    br   i like the growing characterisation  and think we have good replacements for the tv actors in a fan  produced piece . this show manages to capture the feel quite well  as they state on the ste  it has improved over the years with experience and i hope with some more experience  a strong script editor  and a pick  up in timing and cgi that hf will becoming more remarkable than it already truly is   br    br   good work to all concerned   br    br    i have a huge soft spot for lefler  mcfarland  great acting   although i  m a bit tired of  lefler  s laws  . enough already  shelby  s great  if a little uptight  and it  s cool she got the ship . commodore ian  s nice  like fred flintstone   but lacks the gritty edge of a commanding officer and does seem too pleased with himself . the doc  counselor  and rawlins are right on the money in my eyes  as is the wonderful nechayev  what a beautiful accent  a real russian   well  i  m guessing rene hails from the czech rep .   br    br   it gets my vote  and the cgi is kewl . some of the greenscreen  s obvious  but on a small budget whaddayagonndo   br    br   really glad i found it   br    br    ok  some of the acting isn  t great but it  s fan  made and is therefore allowed to be variable  sorry cmm . cole   br    br   the gay material is layed on too thick  graham norton  d be embarrassed  . trek doesn  t pay that much attention to hetero couples so why signpost gays with all the snogging  it  s not necessary to showpiece someone  s sexuality to this extent  i hope they tone it down  let aster  zen be people not tokens  i don  t treat my gay friends any differently  they  re just regular guys .  br    br   musically it  s a mixed bag . i can tell its all stock trek ost stuff and works most of the time  but timing can fall flat now  then  the end of  worst fears part   misses the crunch  and the edit . love the fact they use the  galaxy quest  music   br    br   i certainly can  t wait for more   dazza  br    br    never give up  never surender    br    br   viva les frontieres  
one of the serious potential environmental costs of most mining operations is pollution of downstream streams  rivers and lakes with excess sediments and toxins . one of the most serious examples in   th century usa of excess river sedimentation was caused by hydraulic mining of gold  bearing gravely hills on the sides of the sacramento valley in the period from the     s to the early     s . this process involved directing a high pressure jet of water onto the hillside  causing the material to wash downhill  where the gold could be separated from the gravel and sediment . the sediment then collected in a ditch or stream and most found its way to the sacramento river or its tributaries . the sediment that stayed in the river bed increased the likelihood of floods in the downstream agricultural fields and towns and created permanent marshes in some areas . some of the sediment spilled over onto the agricultural fields  where it might cover a standing crop or cover more desirable soil or make plowing difficult . thus  the conflicting interests of the companies that used hydraulic mining and of the downstream farmers adversely affected by these operations is the subject of this nearly forgotten     color film by warner .  br    br   first  we might ask why warner decided to shoot this film in a rather poor technicolor  a very rare treatment in     . a story about wheat farmers and gold miners wouldn  t seem to justify the expense and difficulties of color filming at this time . the answer seems to be the inordinate film time spent indoors  with fancy colorful clothes and ornamentations . then  we might ask why colorless george brent was chosen as the leading man and ultimate hero  to be paired with olivia de havilland . among other things  this film really needed a charismatic leading man to carry it . even the usually colorful gabby hayes  in his small role  seemed unusually subdued . unfortunately  i fell asleep before the apparently more dramatic last part of the film . the portion i saw spent too much time establishing a complicated set of relationships between too many people at the expense of graphically portraying the plight of the chosen wheat baron and perhaps nearby town folk and their attempts to deal with their flood and sedimentation problems . it needed to be more like  the good earth   released just the year before . just maybe it would then have been suitable for a charismatic leading man  such as errol flynn . finally  there is the matter of the inane title . surely  warner could have come up with a catchy or more appropriate title .  gold or grain  is short and to the point . incidentally  i understand there is still plenty of gold in  them thar hills   waiting to be extracted by means other than hydraulic mining .  
for the record  i am not affiliated with the production in any way .  br    br   hidden frontier is probably the star trek fan film with the most episodes produced to date . over  seasons  this is the last  they have produced some   or so episodes .  br    br   this is no mean feat on almost no budget and everyone volunteering their time and energy .  br    br   by their own admission  the earlier seasons do not have as good production qualities as later ones but as they progress the effects  green screen work and acting all improve .  br    br   i did find it difficult to  dip into  so started from the beginning and watched all the way through . hf benefits from story arcs just like all the best sci fi and dovetails nicely into the star trek universe in which it is set . characters and  relatives  from the original series have been brought into the stories and add a lot to the feel of the stories  sometimes improving on the characters over the original .  br    br   the whole experience includes an excellent web site  blooper reels  a high membership forum which is frequented by many of the actors and production staff and a weekly chat .  br    br   if you are looking for high definition  high budget productions  this is probably not for you .  br    br   if you are looking for continued adventures in the star trek universe with stories that does star trek credit and makes you think  this is the one .  
as a former kalamazoo resident with a fondness for the town i was looking forward to seeing this movie . but  what a disappointment  although the acting and the production values aren  t bad  the script is awful  the plot is unrealistic  and the theme is disturbing .  br    br   the main message of this film is that women are nothing without husbands and children . i can hardly believe how regressive it is in it  s view of women . has the writer been living under a rock   br    br   although i enjoyed seeing my beloved city on the big screen  i wouldn  t suggest this movie to anyone . it  s terrible . it  s an embarrassment to the city it  s named after .  
star trek hidden frontier is a long  running internet only fan film  done completely for the love of the series  and a must watch for fans of trek . the production quality is extremely high for a fan film  although sometimes you can tell that they  re green  screenin  it . this doesn  t take away from the overall experience however . the cgi ships are fantastic  as well as the space battle scenes . . . on the negative side  i could tell in the earlier episodes  and even occasionally in the newer ones  that some of the actors  actresses are not quite comfortable in their roles  but once again  this doesn  t take away from the overall experience of new interpretations of star trek . the cast and crew have truly come up with something special here  and  as a whole  i would highly recommend this series to fans of the next generation and deep space  .  
i went to see this film with low expectations  but hoping to be charmed by seeing my home town on film . sadly  that  s about all i got . the story covers familiar territory  the high school reunion   but the plot is convoluted and supernatural element adds little to this well  worn theme . though the quality of the acting was good overall  the content of the film was appalling . the sexism of the film was blatant   women are apparently unfulfilled unless they are married  procreating or both  though this was couched as a post  feminist choice  . worse still was the racism   the shrill jewish mother  the black man who still lives at home   and gratuitous cruelty  tormenting the class geek  . we should be ashamed if these characters are thought to represent the inhabitants of the city of kalamazoo  and the writers should be abashed at having brought such broad and cruel stereotypes to the screen .  
hidden frontier is a fan made show  in the world of star trek . the story takes place after voyager has returned from the delta  quadrant . it has some characters from the official star trek shows  but most of them are original to the show . the show takes place on the star base deep space   and on several space ships  which gives it opportunities the official shows don  t have . the characters have the opportunity of a rising in the hierarchy  which characters in shows with only one ship doesn  t have . the show has good computer animation of spaceships  but the acting takes place in front of at green  screen and it gives a green glow around the actors . not all the actors are equally good  but most do fine . the episodes are character driven and the characters develop over many episodes . that is a bit more like in babylon   than in most official star trek shows . hidden frontier takes taboos that even the official series has shrunk from using . all in all i enjoyed watching it .  
by reading the box at the video store this movie looks rather amusingly disturbing . you know the type . . . . funny but supposed to frighten you . . . . this was not funny or horrific . the writing was lame . . . the jokes failed to make me laugh even at their extreme mundaneness . . . . they were so expected . the actors didn  t even do much with such a not so good script . . . at least i hope that wasn  t their best . . watch this movie at your own risk . . . . . . i give it negative  stars outta    
hidden frontier is notable for being the longest running internet  based star trek fan series . while the production quality is not on a par with fan productions like starship exeter  or new voyages  hidden frontier concentrates largely on story  and in that regard it does very well indeed .  br    br   hidden frontier has no physical sets instead actors are filmed against a greenscreen  and the backgrounds inserted digitally . one of hidden frontier  s greatest achievements is the sheer volume of work they have produced . one of the ways in which this is achieved is by inserting the virtual sets at the time of filming  instead of in post  production . while this does save a great deal of time  it  s also worth noting that the quality of the resultant footage is not as high as if it had been produced in post  production  though it still serves its purpose .  br    br   while it may not be everyone  s cup of tea  hidden frontier is well worth a shot  though you might be best to start off watching the third season  since this is where the producers really start to hit their stride .  
pay no attention to the comments behind the curtain  the majority of people leaving positive comments about this film must be receiving royalties . this is a horrible film in every way . imagine high school kids with no money and no sense of humor making a slasher  comedy video . they would receive a d for this . college kids would receive an f or asked to leave the school . since this monstrosity was made by  professionals  i believe there should be jail time or at least cinema probation . i enjoy watching bad movies like  plan  from outer space  but  this thing doesn  t even fall into that category . the script  acting  sound  and directing are so bad that it is virtually unwatchable . if you enjoy watching bad films that are amusing stick with ed wood  blaxploitation  or      s horror films . after viewing this you get the feeling you  ve wasted an hour and a half of your life .  
i really enjoyed this one  and although the ending made me angry  i still give it   out of   .  br    br   four college girls  baltron  kelly  stahl and cadby  are driving down to florida  on their way they meet  guys  turner  davis   they really add nothing to the plot  but are at least somewhat likable . the girls agree to meet the guys in florida for some fun  but they have car problems and never make it . one of the girls decides to go to a nearby gas station for help  the other three stay by the car .  br    br   soon one of the girls has to use the bathroom  being in the middle of nowhere she has no choice but to go in the bushes . soon she witnesses as a man  march  strangles a woman  in terror the girl flees the area  she doesn  t get very far  but manages to get lost .  br    br   her friends by the car go looking for her  they too go into the woods and run into the same man  one of them sees the dead woman  the man responds by shooting the girls head off  the other girl runs away  manages to make it back to the car where she is also killed .  br    br   eventually the two remaining girls find each other and because they break into the gas station get arrested . this is when i started getting mad  these poor girls are afraid for their lives and the redneck cops don  t believe them .  br    br   they are treated badly and one of them is left alone for the madman to kill her in the cell  the remaining friend manages to escape  but not without getting in dangerous situations .  br    br   this movie has nudity  good actresses  a shower scene imitating psycho  graphic violence towards women and solid story . some women will probably find it offensive and sensitive individuals will not like the ending  but over all  this is a great little unknown movie .  
i didn  t know it was possible to release a movie this bad . the labeling sounded so promising  but you would think that with a cast of    at least one of them would be able to act . my wife left me and went to bed after the first   minutes . she made a wise decision .  
low budget brit pop melodrama focuses on a girl who wants to be a star  becomes one and then finds it all a bit too much . good cast and a sense of time and place cannot hide the fact that we have all been here before . several scenes are a bit hysterical and o  connor  s voice sounds a lot like mini mouse  she disappeared from sight soon after making this movie  so life can imitated art  a must see if you want to see a punk version of a star is born though .  
unashamedly ambitious sci  fi from kerry conran  for whom this is clearly a labour of love . unfortunately it  s just not that good . it all starts well enough  with an epic but restrained score  a mixture of lucas and hitchcock style editing and the glossy cinematography of a spielberg . the movie also references many pulp sci  fi novels  serials and films as diverse as the day the earth stood still  superman  metropolis  planet of the apes  the iron giant  star wars and the spy who loved me . the film however  fails to be as good as any one of those for several reasons the main being that it  s such a labour of love  so concerned with throwing everything at the screen and creating a brave new world  conran actually forgets about making a movie . there is little to no tension  atmosphere or magic on offer here despite aerial battles  dinosaurs and race  against  time set  pieces . even the noir elements fall flat . this is a broad way of looking at things though  those elements mainly fail because nothing feels at all real and is so obviously fake  the green  screen just looks like a video game half the time and it  s obvious the actors have been pasted on afterwards . the actors don  t get to do much either  jude law is wooden  gwyneth paltrow is annoying and stupid  angelina jolie is wasted  and it  s all because of an awful script  the sort that has to explain nearly everything . it is a decent experience and some might get a nostalgia feel but ultimately this is a pointless step into the world of yesterday . nice ending though .  
i acquired this  one of my all  time favourite films on dvd recently and as usual  during viewing  the whole thing just blew me away .  br    br   i am a massive fan of hazel o  connor and the soundtrack to this film just has me in tears  especially the  will you  track . it  s a pure nostalgia trip for me back to my youth . this rates second best to quadrophenia  which also starred phil daniels  .  br    br   a great soundtrack and a great view of britain in the thatcherite years of the grim    s in which i grew up . the ending is so sad  for hours after the end of the film i am like a blubbering baby .  br    br   i expect to wear out this dvd from repeated viewing  i can watch it over and over again and never be bored  simply for the soundtrack alone .  br    br   hazel  sorry to hear about your dad darling . god bless you all . xx  
if you are looking for eye candy  you may enjoy sky captain . sky captain is just a video game injected with live performers . the visials are nice and interesting to look at during the entire movie . now  saying that  the visuals are the only thing good in sky captain .  br    br   after ten minutes  i knew i was watching one of the worse movies of all time . i was hoping this movie would get better  but it never achieved any degree of interest . after thirty minutes  the urge to walk out kept growing and growing . now  i own over     movies and have seen probably five times that number . yet  this is only the second movie i felt like walking out of my entire life .  br    br   acting    there is none . the three main performers are pitiful . jude law  also in the other movie i wanted to walk out on  is just awful in the title role . i would rather sit through ben affleck in gigli than watch law again .  br    br   paltrow tries so hard to be campy  that it backfires in her face . the last article i had read said that paltrow is thinking of staying home and being a mother rather than acting . after this performance  i would applaud that decision .  br    br   story    soap operas are better written . the story behind sky captain starts out bad and gets continually worse as it progresses .  br    br   directing    none . everything was put into the special effects that story  acting and directing suffer greatly . even  the phantom menace  had better acting and that is not saying a great deal .  br    br   i would have to give this movie a    out of     . avoid paying theatre prices and wait until video release .  
anyone interested in pop music  and not familiar with british music trends of the late  seventies  should be sure to watch breaking glass at least once . the movie  about a young woman  s quest to make her mark in the music world  captures the times perfectly  from the overt sexism  rough economic times  social upheaval  to the shift in pop culture from rough  and  tumble punk to terribly fey and pretentious futurism  new romanticism . the music and fashion styles created daily in britain in the late  seventies are still being rediscovered and recycled  there really has been nothing new since      . this was a dazzling time  and breaking glass both tells a very personal story and surveys the cultural landscape  and does both extremely well .  
i saw this movie last month at a free sneak preview and i walked out . it was pretty horrible . in the process of trying too hard  they over acted and made a horrible movie . i was disappointed since i felt all the actors had made respectable choices in the past so this one couldn  t be that far off the mark   but  i was wrong . i was hoping they would give out a survey at the end of the movie so i could tell them not to release this movie . i was lured in by the free aspect of the preview  but it turned out to be a waste of my time   and  usually  i  m very easily amused . it tried to be innovative and creative with the shots  ideas and filming  but because they threw together so many ideas at once  it failed . i  m not usually picky about movies and i usually don  t feel the need to display my opinions about movies  but i had to warn everyone not to watch it . i registered on imdb just to tell all of you guys  
i first saw  breaking glass  when it was released in england in     . . i loved it then and having just caught it in august     on a canadian station it still is great . the only thing i regret is i can  t find the sound track or the dvd in the stores   . . . anyone care to shed some light or must i order it from some over priced internet company . but getting back to the film the music stands up to the test of time  hazel  kate had something to say about    s britain . . actually it was the same decade i moved to canada for some of the same reasons one being  thatcher  and what she was doing to the country at the time . please if you get the chance watch this movie you won  t be sorry   
in short  this movie is completely worthless .  br    br   the idea is to make movie from the point of view of what someone from the early     s might think of the future . an interesting idea  but the lack of compelling story or characters prevents us from ever suspending our disbelief  so the idea just flops .  br    br   apparently the whole movie was done with actors in front of green screens and we are supposed to be impressed . but as a graphics person  the over softening was an obvious crutch for hiding the difficult sharp edge problem with green screening . the color is majorly washed out to no relevant effect except reduce the visual quality . and i don  t understand why anyone would consider anything rendered in this movie to be in any way ground breaking . if anything  the ridiculous retrograde graphics have lowered the bar for really bad graphics   they don  t measure up even to the ancient jurassic park graphics . the models for the robots were so simple  plain and very uncompelling . there were a bunch of weirdo prehistoric  like animals on that island  but they are not explained in any way .  br    br   the story is horrible beyond belief . in fact i can  t believe i didn  t just walk out of this movie . the relationship between polly and joe is unmotivated  and throughout the movie is based on distrust and deception . why is the morris paley character even there  we are not in any way convinced that joe is heroic   i mean he flies a plane  and saved one person  polly  for personal reasons . yeah there  s a great hero for you . dex has very little screen time  so why are we supposed to care about joe wanting to save him  who were the nepalease that locked joe and polly in the mine vault  and why would they do it  remembering that the entire totenkopf operation was robotic    br    br   plot holes    why did bai ling  s character  a major fall from her excellent character in  the crow   halt the robots who had captured joe  they were looking for the vials  and had not found them .    why in the hell would dex be captured but not killed  he doesn  t have or know about the vials  and the bad guys didn  t know that polly had the vials and was connected to joe and therefore to dex      polly indicates that  they  don  t know anything about totenkopf  yet she has some secret source about him that contains what appears to be a fairly complete fbi  style file on him .    the blank spot on the map as described by the nepalese   if they know all about this mysterious area  then why the hell is their map blank in that spot     at one point  polly and joe have to give up their clothes  they are burned    joe is given new clothes that were identical to his old clothes  yet polly is forced to wear some very odd looking bulky dress  then in the same line of continuity suddenly polly has her original clothes back .  br    br   sigh . how far off am i supposed to switch my brain to watch this crap   br    br   we are supposed to be exhilarated by the over produced music  even when nothing interesting or remotely exhilarating is happening on screen .  br    br   and the acting  we  re supposed to be impressed with a bunch of bad british accents  which character isn  t annoying  i think ling bai  s dialogue was probably the best in the whole movie  she doesn  t have a single line  . the dialogue wasn  t camp  and doesn  t even rise to the level of cheese . its just bad and annoying . these people aren  t hero  s or compelling they are the kind of people you would try to ignore or disassociate with if you ever had the misfortune of meeting them in real life .  br    br   i can  t believe that this movie gets an above average rating here on imdb . imho it should be competing with  batman forever  in the bottom    of all time .  
one of my best films ever  maybe because i was well into the punk scene in the late   s and went to many of hazels concerts  but the film was a good story line and very good acting by hazel and a up and coming phil daniels not sure about his latest project eastenders   excellent performance by lots of unknown actors who if you keep your eyes peeled will see them in many of the uk soaps today exp carver out of the bill  the more i watch it the more of them i spot  well if you have not seen it yet have a night in with the video  don  t forget to dig out the safety pin for your nose and heavy black eye makeup and shave your head mochanian style . . . . enjoy  
when robot hordes start attacking major cities  who will stop the madman behind the attacks  sky captain    jude law plays joe sullivan  the ace of the skyways  tackling insurmountable odds along with his pesky reporter ex  girlfriend polly perkins  gwyneth paltrow  and former flight partner  captain franky cook  angelina jolie  .  br    br   sky captain and the world of tomorrow may look and feel like an exciting movie but it really is quite dull and underwhelming . the film  s running time is    minutes yet it feels so much longer because there is no substance in this movie . the visuals were great and the film did a nice job on that . however  there is nothing to support these wonderful visuals . the film lacks a story and interesting characters making the while thing quite dull and unnecessary . i blame director and writer kerry conran . he focuses too much on the visuals and spent little time on the actual story . the movie is like a girl with no personality  after awhile it kind of gets bland and tiring . sky captain represents a beautiful girl with no personality . it  s simply just another case of style over substance .  br    br   the acting is surprisingly average and that  s not really their fault since they had very little to work with . the main reason i watched this movie is because of angelina jolie . however  the advertising is quite misleading and she is only in the film for about   minutes . her performance is surprisingly bland as well . jude law gives an okay performance though you would expect a lot more from him . gwyneth paltrow was just average  nothing special at all . ling bai  s performance was the only one i really liked . she gives a pretty good performance as the mysterious woman and she was the only interesting character in the entire film .  br    br   the movie is not a complete bust though . there were some  wow  and exciting scenes . there just weren  t enough of them . the film just doesn  t have that hook to really make it memorable . it was actually quite bland and it wasn  t very engaging at all . it  s too bad the film wasn  t very good since it had such a promising premise . in the end  sky captain is surprisingly below average and not really worth watching . rating      
i first saw  breaking glass  in      and thought that it would be one of the  movie classics  . this film is a great look into the music industry with a great cast of performers . this is one film that should be in the collection of everyone and any one that wants to get into the music industry . i can  t wait for it to be available on dvd .  
i entered the theater to sky captain in     expecting a good film . nearly every review of this movie had been positive  the effects looked enticing  the previews convincing .  br    br   needless to say  disappointment actually doesn  t describe the feeling i got from this film . it was rage .  br    br   beyond being boring and poorly written  the reason this film gets a  out of   stars is because everything in the film was stolen from another source . i understand the difference between an homage and stealing this was stealing . more importantly  it seems that the filmmakers didn  t steal to progress a point or move the plot along . they stole just to show that they could . there is literally no point to showing a clip of the wizard of oz in a theater at the beginning of the movie except to set up another scene  that i won  t elaborate on  which steals from the same film . needless to say  every concept in the film was neither original nor even a spin on an old concept it was literally just a rehash of something i had already seen  from pulp  era robots reminiscent of the old superman cartoons and the recent film  the iron giant   to the silent martial artist minion of the villain that has been used in countless films  most recognizable in recent years as darth maul in  star wars the phantom menace  .  br    br   on the subject of the actual film  most of the performances were completely wooden . perhaps this is because the entire movie was done on a blue  screen  with computer imagery filling in everything save the actors . frankly  this is no excuse for poor acting . if a person was ever a child  they understand that a lack of visual reference is no excuse for not trying .  br    br   finally  there is no humanity in this film . the protagonists are the only real human beings here . nearly all the antagonists are robots  and the number of friendly characters that are shown during the film can be counted on one hand . if robots are attacking the entire planet  shouldn  t we expect to see masses of humanity running from them  the sub  par performance of the main characters prevents us from connecting to  really  anything here .  br    br   the film wasn  t the worst movie out there  which is why i didn  t give it a  . rather  the film was an example of all that is wrong with modern action films the filmmakers tried to justify the movie with special effects  but without artistic vision or originality of any kind  it falls flat .  
breaking glass is a film that everyone aspiring to be in the music industry should see more than once . it is a very dark tale about the way a record company manipulates a singer to do things their way and to make as much money out of her as possible . looking at some of today  s  search for a star  style tv shows on both in the uk and abroad i am always reminded of this film . though not an expert on the subject  the winners of these shows tend to have one very big initial hit and then its downhill from there . this film predates these shows though the effect seems the same . after getting rid of her manager  played quite brilliantly by phil daniels  slowly but surely the record company changes her lyrics puts her on stimulants and she is eventually totally burnt out . you potential stars of tomorrow . . . . watch this and beware     
the exploding zeppelins crashing down upon  sky captain  jude law  s base present an adequate metaphor to describe how truly terrible this movie is . first off  let me state right off the bat that i sincerely doubt that paramount will ever recover any money from this film . a cult hit it might become  but only because it is so remarkable for what it failed to achieve . i can see the studio pitch now .  let  s combine      s german expressionism and a      s globetrotting adventure with a modern action flick and use computer animation to dominate every scene  wow  won  t that be a success   skycaptain bludgeons the viewer with its sheer excess . there are too many fake explosions  too many unconvincing dogfight scenes  and too few real moments where the characters are anything but painfully two  dimensional . after all  why shock and awe with one floating airship when you can have three  or five  or one hundred   moreover  what could have been a groundbreaking film  seamlessly combining computer generated imagery and human actors in a stylized and intriguing setting  will instead become a flop in no small part because it fails to meet the most important requirement of any flick using cgi . quite simply  the graphics are amazingly poor . from the movement of the cars to the physics of the aircraft in the dogfights  everything seems to be just a little off . i  m not being nit  picky here in any way . an infant could notice that a car doesn  t glide along the road like a maglev train  unless its a mercedes s     . and for those of you raising your voices in protest  crying out  this is a stylized film  it  s not supposed to be like reality   let me just say this . lord of the rings has set the standard for integrating real  life actors with cgi  starship troopers has set the standard for ironic science fiction films  the rocketeer did a solid job reintroducing the decade of the      s back into the hollywood film portfolio  and tim burton  s batman created a unique picture of new york city  gotham that has yet to be repeated . sky captain falls so short of all these films  it is hard for me to mention them in the same sentence . plus  the acting is so poor  it makes me positively ill . so there you have it . i spent   to see this film and you get my review . i hope it might dissuade you all from making the same mistake that i did .  
i first saw the film when it landed on us cable a year after it came out . it blew my little head away  i was only   and it was the first new wave music i  d heard  having been a strictly folky  classical kid growing up . the music mesmerized me  as did hazel o  connor  s amazing look and charismatic vocal performances  and phil daniels  tough but soft cockney manager just stole my heart . but i think my favorite character was jonathan pryce  s drugged out sax player . he was so out of place in the band and so harmless and pathetic  he just begged for sympathy . favorite scenes  the performance when the lights went out  and the love scene on the train .  br    br   okay  so the movie isn  t the rose  but it was really excellent for its limited budget and for its portrayal of the britain of the early    s  exploding with rebellious youth  looking for a way out of the dole queue . i went to britain only a couple of years later and found the movie to have been very reflective of the atmosphere i found when i was there .  br    br   if you get a chance to  see it . it is a great movie  with some wonderful performances  and the music will blow you away .  br    br    
this movie was way over  hyped . a lot of the viewers  who thought this was  amazing  must have been into the old school movies  cause the whole movie is set in the past . at first i thought the movie was just showing something from the past  so i was expecting that faded dreamy like lighting on the characters to pass  but it just going . basically this was a movie trying to mix the future with the past  and the  don  t mix very well in this movie  even with special effects . you could actually see the blue screen the actors were working with . there are too many movies out there that do exactly what this movie did  so there is no reason for critics to hype this movie up saying  it  s the greatest movie ever done  . it  s just crap on a stick . it also didn  t help that the story line was sooo crappy . i don  t understand why hollywood agreed to have this movie produced  and i also don  t understand how actors  actresses in this movie are willing to be in a movie like this . it  s almost as though everybody read the script and forgot to read the fine print . . .  it will all be done on a computer  . this was a movie that should have been on a movie network  because nothing about this movie was revolutionary . i  m very upset with myself for paying money to see this . whatever you do  don  t waste your time and money on this movie today or tomorrow .  
illudere  to delude  comes from latin verb  ludere   to play   so you  re warned about the  spy game  as a cruel and yet elaborate and intelligent    activity stemmin  from a complex and as it may appear absurd and vain personal history  whatever it may be and yet i feel fascinated by the mechanism of treason and loyalty  the raw material of any relationship  from the personal to the social after  many years ago  i was able to finish the book it was a revelation  at the beginning i was so bored if not for the surprising style of the writing  i really started to love le carre after that novel  . the main character is not wavering at all he has made a choice to redeem his weakness by following the path of faith to friendship and love  or is he not  after this novel you can clearly understand the darker version of green  s  our man in havana  wrote by lecarre with  the tailor of panama   there is no game left  there it ends either in tragedy or in a grotesque comical way  or both . there is no smiley here to upheld decent human qualities in  the service   or at least there is no point to introduce him in this case . the bbc has done a superb work with these series from lecarre  s novels the actors are excellent  as are the locations and sets of course the script here is brilliantly adapted . be warned though  even if someone may find it laughable  the after taste is bitter .  
a gave it a    instead of a     awful  because there is no denying that many of the visuals were stunning  a lot of talent went into the special effects and artwork . but that wasn  t enough to save it .  br    br   the  sepia  toned  washed out colors sort of thing has been done before many times in other movies . nothing new there . i can see there were some hat  tips to other old  classic movies . ok . no problem with that .  br    br   but a movie has got to be entertaining and interesting  not something that would put you to sleep .  br    br   the story line and the script of this movie was awful  the characters two dimensional . slow moving . some of the scenes were pretty to look at  but ultimately  as a whole  it was quite boring  i couldn  t recommend it .  
i have just watched the whole  episodes on dvd . the acting throughout is excellent  no question . there was not quite enough action for me i must say . no real suspense as such  just plenty of first class character development . nothing like tinker tailor in terms of  whodunnit  . if you like a good story slowly and carefully told then this is for you . peter egan as the lead magnus pym is excellent .  br    br   the film portrayed the life of a traitor . a man who should have been a loyal member of the british intelligence service but who was so damaged psychologically by his unhappy childhood that deception became his way of life in all things . as a child he adored his father but his father was exposed time  time again as a crook and a con man . pym betrayed not for ideology or money but because he needed to deceive those closest to him  wife  son  mentor  . pym is fatally damaged by his father  s influence  it has eaten his moral fibre away . he has no real love or loyalty in him .  br    br   heavy psychological stuff and not many light moments in the  hour series . very well done though .  
visually stunning  most definitely . i have seen few films look this good in some time . sky captain and the world of tomorrow uses striking cinematography  computer graphics  and creative futuristic designs to create a world that is historically familiar yet something quite fresh . the time period seems to be the     s or early   s . the movie tells of recent attacks on new york city by mechanized armies stealing generators and the like for some inexplicable reason . also  mysterious disappearances of relevant scientific minds coincide . who can stop them and save the world  alright  it doesn  t take a leap of faith to know it is the sky captain himself with his wisecracking reporter girlfriend always hot for a lead  and in the wings his trusty  thoroughly competent sidekick . what sky captain has in atmosphere and graphics it lacks in storytelling and characterization . the plot for this film is ridiculous . that being said  the film is going for a serial  like feeling of film serials of yesteryear . they had pretty far out stories and bad acting  but none of them  and i mean none of them  had the budget and big names this film had . two academy award winning performers and jude law could keep a film afloat  one would think  but sky captain sinks miserably . despite its fantastic dark look  i found myself wishing the film would just end and i could get on with my life . i had little interest in a story that generated little interest . i didn  t care at all for any of the glib portrayals . paltrow was just awful . jolie was a joke with a role with virtually no substance . law cannot carry the one  liner tradition all too squarely on his limited shoulders . i mean  let  s face it  he  s not will smith  mel gibson  or even wesley snipes . the sad thing about sky captain  at least for me  was that it held so much promise yet delivered so little . i was bored ten minutes into the film  waiting for something to hook my interest  and it never came .  
i agree with all the accolades  i went through a box of tissues watching this film . it had a gritty authenticity and rang true in every way .  br    br   the question i  m about to raise represents a current sensibility regarding the treatment of animals . i had a very difficult time with the beginning slaughter of sheep and goats  and the dying deer with its pulsing neck and pooling blood as its life drained away was hideous .  br    br   this is the age of  no animals were hurt in the production of this move .  iphigenia was made in the late    s before the advent of computer simulation . was it possible to fake these animal deaths  or were these animals slaughtered for art   
the opening shot was the best thing about this movie  because it gave you hope that you would be seeing a passionate  well  crafted independent film . damn that opening shot for filling me hope . as the  film  progressed in a slow  plodding manner  my thoughts were varied in relation to this  film   was there too much butter in my popcorn  did the actors have to pay the director to be in this  film   did i get my ticket validated at the box office  yes  dear reader . i saw this film in the theatre  this would be the only exception i will make about seeing a film at home over a movie theatre  because at home you can turn it off . were there any redeeming values  peter lemongelli as the standard college  nerd  had his moments  especially in a dog collar . other than that this  film  went from trying to be a comedy  to a family drama to a spiritual uplifter . it succeeded on none of these fronts . oh  and the girlfriend was realllllllllly bad . her performance was the only comedy i found .  
having just seen the a perfect spy mini series in one go  one can do nothing but doff one  s hat  a pure masterpiece  which compared to the other le carr minis about smiley  has quite different qualities .  br    br   in the minis about smiley  it is alex guiness  as smiley  who steals the show  the rest of the actors just support him  one can say .  br    br   here it is ensemble and story that  s important  as the lead actor  played excellently by peter egan in the final episodes  isn  t charismatic at all .  br    br   egan just plays a guy called magnus pym  who by lying  being devious and telling people what they like to hear  is very well liked by everyone  big and small . the only one who seems to understand his inner self is alex  his czech handler .  br    br   never have the machinery behind a spy  and  or traitor  been told better  after having followed his life from a very young age we fully understand what it is that makes it possible to turn him into a traitor . his ability to lie and fake everything is what makes him into  a perfect spy   as his czech handler calls him .  br    br   and  by following his life  we fully understand how difficult it is to get back to the straight and narrow path  once you  ve veered off it . he trundles on  even if he never get anything economic out of it  except promotion by his mi  spy masters . everyone  s happy  as long as the flow of faked information continues   br    br   magnus  s father  played wonderfully by ray mcanally  is a no  good con  man  who always dreams up schemes to con people out of their money . in later years it is his son who has to bail him out  again and again . but by the example set by his dad and uncle  who takes over as guardian when his father goes to prison  and his mom is sent off to an asylum  magnus quickly learns early that lying is the way of surviving  not telling the truth . at first he overdoes it a bit  but quickly learn to tell the right lies  and to be constant  not changing the stories from time to time that he tell those who want to listen about himself and his dad .  br    br   his czech handler alex  expertly played by rdiger weigang  creates  with the help of magnus  a network of non  existing informants  which supplies the british mi  with fake information for years  and years  just as the british did with the german spies that were active in the uk before and during the war  they kept on sending fake information to das vaterland long after the agents themselves had been turned  liquidated or simply been replaced by mi  men .  br    br   the young lads who play magnus in younger years does it wonderfully  and most of them are more charismatic than the older  little more cynic  and tired  pym  played by egan . but you buy the difference easily  as that is often the way we change through life  from enthusiasm to sorrow  or indifference .  br    br   indeed well worth the money   
i like the time period  i like the attempt  but watching a movie that looks like i  m looking at it through a coke bottle gives me a headache . if i played computer games that were this blurry and out of focus  i would upgrade my computer . could be that this was the look the director was after  but not so it hurts the eyes and you want to leave after   minutes . if i hadn  t taken someone with me to this film  i was out of there . even though it was a series and not a movie per say  band of brothers accomplished this . they made it look like wwii footage  with just a touch of graininess  but it was still a pleasure to watch . movies need real people  with real sets  and real locations use cgi when it is appropriate  not for an entire film .  
as a fan of author john le carre i  ve slowly been working my way through both his books and the adaptations of them . i found this     adaptation of le carre  s masterwork at my local library and sat down to watch it thinking i would know what to expect . i was surprised to discover that my expectations were exceeded in this miniseries  a fine cross between a spy thriller and a human drama .  br    br   peter egan gives a great performance as magnus pym  the perfect spy of the title . carrying on in the long tradition of le carre  s strong main characters  pym is also quite possibly the best . egan plays pym  who in fact contains many shades of author le carre  as a man forced to spend his entire life lying and betraying sometimes out of circumstance and other times just to survive with the consequence of him becoming  a perfect spy  . egan plays pym to perfection as a man always on the run  if not from others then from himself . egan alone makes the six or so hours of this miniseries worth seeing from his performance alone .  br    br   surronding egan is a fantastic supporting cast . ray mcanally gives one of his finest performances as pym  s con man father rick who  as le carre has said  is based strongly on the author  s own father . mcanally plays a man who comes in and out of pym  s life and is one of the those responsible for pym becoming  a perfect spy  . in fact if it wasn  t for mcanally  s performance a year after this in a very british coup this would the finest performance of his sadly too short career .  br    br   the rest of the supporting is excellent as well . from caroline john as pym  s mother to alan howard as his spy mentor to rdiger weigang as the young pym  s friend turned controller to jane booker as pym  s wife the supporting cast is fantastic . special mention should be made of the three young actors who played the younger pym  jonathan haley  nicholas haley and benedict taylor  who establish the young man who would become the man played so well by peter egan .  br    br   the production values of the miniseries are strong as well . as the miniseries adaptations of tinker  tailor  soldier  spy and smiley  s people proved these stories can only be told in miniseries format . the locations are excellent from the english locations to the those scattered across eastern europe and the usa as are the sets by chris edwards . the cinematography of elmer cossey adds an extra layer of realism to the world of the miniseries . yet the highlight of the miniseries is really the script .  br    br   screenwrtier arthur hopcraft tackled the job of adapting the six hundred or so page novel excellently . the novel was largely  at least in its early parts  autobiographical in that pym  s early life echoed much of john le carre  s life . the script for this miniseries is no exception as it traces the development of magnus pym from young boy to  a perfect spy  . never once does the miniseries deviate from its purpose of telling a fine human drama in the context of the world of espionage . if one ever wants proof that a spy thriller can be tense and fascinating without ever having one gun fight  fist fight  or james bond style car chase this would be the proof . while the miniseries is six plus hours long it never wastes a moment and it all the better for it .  br    br   though it might be overlong for some for those who don  t have very short attention spans here is a must see . from the performances of peter egan and ray mcanally to fine production values and a fine literary script a perfect spy is one of the finest miniseries who can expect to see . it is a fascinating trip down the history of the cold war yet it is more then that . it is also a trip down what john le carre has called  the secret path   the path of the spy the man who must lie and betray to survive . as much a human drama as a spy thriller a perfect spy isn  t to be missed .  
sky captain is possibly the best awful movie i  ve seen in a long while . rife with amazing cg and special effects  studded with an a  list cast  jude law  gwyneth paltrow  angelina jolie and the infinitely likable giovanni ribisi  and racing along with an overused but indiana jones  esquire storyline  this should have been a great movie to watch .  br    br    should have  being the key term here  of course .  br    br   jude law plays joe the sky captain with a dashing accent and plenty of over  the  shoulder  heart  melting smirks  but you can  t make something out of nothing  and even his flippant deliveries and boyish good looks can  t save the movie  s stone dialogue .  if he had slapped giovanni ribisi on the back and said   good boy  dex   just one more time  i might have barfed all over the guy in front of me .  gwyneth paltrow  as polly perkins  is nothing less than nerve grating . her nasal whining and not  quite  sarcastic comments get old in the first ten minutes of the movie . perhaps she put too much effort into playing the stereotypical    s comic book heroine  who knows  i expected more from her . an example of how a similar character was played  and played well  is in the late    s flick  the phantom   starring kristy swanson and billy zane . rent the movie and you  ll know what i mean .  br    br   giovanni ribisi and angelina jolie were the saving graces in the film .  angelina jolie was incredibly hot in that eyepatch . i  ll admit it .  in just a few short scenes  both actors somehow managed to rise above the tired material and deliver a more riveting performance than their dry  two  dimensional castmates .  br    br   the plot and steady story progression were old  boring  and basically just a monotonous combination of every good scene from an action movie in the past thirty years . the pace is rapid  fire in the first half of the movie  and a snail  s pace in the second  giving the audience enough time not only to guess the eventual conclusion of the film  but to figure out who the key villain is as well . the pairing is rather clichd  also  polly perkins and sky captain apparently reunite after several years of separation from a bitterly  ended romance  and their story isn  t so much charming and eclectic as it is annoying and mismatched . when they finally come to terms with their mutual feelings towards the end of the film  nobody  s surprised  and nobody really cares either .  br    br   props to the director for appreciating bai ling enough to dress her in skintight vinyl for the entirety of the film  and also for the intriguing sepia tones that served as coloration throughout . but sky captain  despite having all the essential elements of being a great movie  falls flat on its face . not even worth the   .   i paid to get into the theater .  
this is my second time through for a perfect spy . i watched it  or  years ago and liked it . i like it still . it  s natural that it gets compared to the beeb  s other big le carre  series  tinker tailor soldier spy . tinker tailor focuses on the  game  spies play perfect spy gives us the other axis  what kind of person a spy is . there are a number of themes that these movies share  along with others in the genre .  br    br   ambiguity  moral  sexual  interpersonal  which creates a multidimensional space of true vs . false  inside vs . outside  love vs . responsibility . in a way  these characters are happiest when they are being treated the most shabbily by those they love and respect   backstabbed  in its various nuances .  br    br   the theme of fathers and father  figures is also important . one of the most intriguing characters in a perfect spy is rick  the main character magnus  perhaps ersatz father . throughout the story he betrays and is betrayed . a rogue who always manages to climb back up the ladder when he  s been toppled  who seems impervious to what others think of him  asks magnus each time they meet   do you love your old man   and never   do you love me   maybe it says this somewhere else  but a perfect spy is a love story .  br    br   another theme is that of malignancy . the nature of the business is to turn others  turn them against their government  against their friends and associates  turn them against their values and beliefs . in each of the le carre  movies i have seen  the spy who came in from the cold  looking glass war  tinker tailor soldier spy  smiley  s people  and a perfect spy  turning and being turned is the foundation of the tragedy .  br    br   finally  not so much a theme as an artistic touch  in each of these films there is usually only a single gun shot  or perhaps two shots bookending the story . violence  torture  cruelty are always just beneath the surface . we see their results not as streams of blood or dank prison cells but in the the objects le carre   s characters cling to as they are ineluctably sucked down into the morass .  br    br   if you haven  t seen the films above  and you enjoy a perfect spy  you are in for a treat . i  d also recommend the sandbagger series  yorkshire tv   the  nd and  rd seasons of which begin to reach the level of this kind of complexity . the ipcress file and burial in berlin are nice  though light weight . for political intrigue try a very british coup  house of cards and yes  minister  yes  prime minister .  br    br   if only a brit would set his hand to making the three kingdoms  there would be a film with intrigue and complexity .  
  sky captain  may be considered an homage to comic books  pulp adventures and movie serials but it contains little of the magic of some of the best from those genres . one contributor says that enjoyment of the film depends on whether or not one recognizes the films influences . i don  t think this is at all true . one  s expectations of the films  fiction and serials that  captain  pays tribute to were entirely different . especially so for those who experienced those entertainments when they were children . this film is almost completely devoid of the charm and magnetic attraction of those . of course we know the leads will get into and out of scrapes but there has to be some tension and drama . toward the climax of  captain  law and paltrow have ten minutes to prevent catastrophe and by the time they get down to five minutes they are walking not running toward their goal . they take time out for long looks and unnecessary conversation and the contemplation of a fallen foe with   seconds left to tragedy . of course one expects certain conventions to be included but a good director would have kept up some sense of urgency .  br    br   one doesn  t expect films like this to necessarily  make sense  . one does expect them to be fun  thrilling and to have some sense of interior logic .  captain  has almost none . remember when law and paltrow are being pursued by the winged creatures and they reach a huge chasm which they cross via a log bridge  well how come they are perfectly safe from those creatures when they reach the other side  they can fly    the chasm itself means nothing to them . the bridge is unnecessary for them so where is the escape  if the land across the chasm is  forbidden  to the flying creatures the film made no effort to let us know how or why or even if .  br    br   i know that paltrow and law  both of whom have given fine performances in the past  were playing  types  but both were pretty flat . only giovanni ribisi  who showed himself capable of great nuance here  and angelina jolie seemed to give any  oomph  to their roles although omid djalili seemed like he could have handled a little more if he  d only been given the chance . he did a pretty good job anyway considering how he was basically wasted .  br    br   the film had a great  look  but there are so many ways in which cgi distracts . cgi works best when it is used for the fantastical  when it is used to create creatures who don  t exist in nature or for scientific or magical spectacular . when it is used to substitute for natural locations it disappoints . there is no real sense of wonder . a cgi mountain doesn  t have any of the stateliness or sense of awe and foreboding that a real mountain does . i know that the design of this film was quite deliberate and it wasn  t necessarily supposed to look real but shouldn  t it feel that way  it just didn  t .  br    br   as for the weak and clichd script . . . homage is no excuse . even so  had the movie had some thrills and dramatic tension it might still have been enjoyable .  the last samurai  was as predictable as the days of the week and i am no fan of tom cruise but it had everything that  captain  didn  t most notably it drew the viewer into its world and made us accept its rules and way of being in a way that  sky captain  most definitely did not .  br    br   i  d like to see a similar approach taken for films about comic book heroes of the    s and    s . the original  jay garrick  flash or green lantern  alan scott  come to mind as being ripe for such treatment . maybe the better  more well known and fully realized characters that those character are would make for a much better film . it would be hard to be worse .  
this is an extremely long movie  which means you may become very bored before it becomes interesting  but its length provides opportunity for its characters to find permanent attachment in your sympathies .  br    br   if you are moved by the guilt of the loathsome you will find it particularly heart  wrenching  because it is a story that finds its heroes among the evil and the weak . if you can love a monster you  ll cry for magnus pym  the spy who betrays everyone  notably his country  his friends and family  a man who has also been manipulated and moulded since childhood by those same people .  br    br   there isn  t one truly likeable character in the entire story  not one loyal   moral  personality to sympathise with . but watching the whole thing without the help of a tissue would be quite remarkable .  br    br   i really enjoyed it in the end . well worth it for people who like inciteful movies about baser human character .  
visually interesting  but falls flat in the originality department . this tedious excercise in technique wears thin after the opening battle . jude law has the charisma of burnt toast  but in his defense this film contains some of the worst dialogue i have ever seen on the big screen . in fact the script is so poor that it keeps taking you out of the film  and had me thinking about work  bills  my dogs  etc . there are many moments that scream bluescreen . paltrow is as wooden as they get . this could of been saved by snappy film noir dialogue or over the top camp . my only complaint on the technique is that black  white film  sorry  computer  would of helped because it looks like turner colorized black and white . just a big dull clich mess . i would rather break my femur than sit through this endurance test again .  
it  s been a long time since i saw this mini  series and i am happy to say its remembered merits have withstood the test of time .  br    br   most of the components of  a perfect spy   the adaptation of lecarr  s finest novel  in my opinion  are top  drawer . outstanding aspects of it are the musical score and the masterful screenplay  the latter written by arthur hopcraft who was also  i believe  the screenwriter for  tinker tailor soldier spy  with alec guinness a few years before .  br    br   the actors are mostly very good  some superb  like alan howard  s jack brotherhood and ray mcanally  s ricky pym . peter egan is fascinating to watch because his face changes with every camera angle . the passage of time and the effects upon the physical appearances of the characters is very believably done . so much so that i wondered exactly how old peter egan was at the time of filming . the only jolt comes after the character of magnus pym is transferred from the very able hands of a young actor named benedict taylor to those of a noticeably too  old peter egan  just fresh out of oxford . but this is a minor and unimportant seam in the whole .  br    br   egan has trouble being convincing only when the text becomes melodramatic and he needs to be  upset  emotionally  ie cry . none of the actors have a very easy time with these moments  aside from the wonderful frances tomelty who plays peggy wentworth for all she  s worth and steals the episode with ease .  br    br   jane booker is annoying as mary pym . she has part of the character under her skin but often displays an amateurish petulance that diminishes her as a tough cookie diplomatic housewife  which mary pym is . rdiger weigang is splendid as axel  amusing  ironic and brilliant . i also enjoyed sarah badel  s camp turn as the baroness .  br    br   the british view of americans is vividly rendered in some dryly hilarious scenes . when the yanks have come abroad to confab with bo brammell  head of mi   the american contingent are portrayed as empty  headed buffoons who appear to have memorized a lot of long words out of the dictionary and spiced them liberally with american jargon and psycho babble  much to the bemused scorn of the english .  br    br   the humor and sadness are subtly blended . lecarr has a knack for mixing disparate elements in his stories and hopcraft has brilliantly captured the melancholy  yet wistful  atmosphere of the original .  br    br   not a perfect production  what is   and yet the best of the lecarr adaptations to reach film or television to date .  br    br   highly recommended to all spy  thriller lovers and especially lecarr fans . dvd available from acorn .  
  sky captain and the world of tomorrow   an amazingly incovenient title  is simply a bad movie it has no heart  no deep ideas  nothing very special about it . yes  the cgi backgrounds look interesting  but the result is that the whole thing is shot in an annoying soft focus . additionally  the movie uses music the same way as  say   gilligan  s island  or the scooby  doo cartoons   it never stops . terribly  simply terrible . there are no fresh ideas  either  just gobs and gobs and gobs and . . . etc .  of bits taken from older movies and serials . there is no gatekeeper here  the movie just seems to exist because it can . save your money and your time . not entertaining at all .  
this is without doubt my favourite le carre novel and it is transformed to the silver screen with all the love and care one could wish for . i read a review on this site that seems to find the characters loathsome but i believe this misses the point . all le carre stories are essentially love stories and this is no exception . it is an accurate reflection of the period in which it is set . betrayal is the key by everybody for the good of nobody . pym upbringing is so close to my own that i find it chilling watching . peter egan is in his finest role and the late lamented ray mcanally is unbelievably good . even the smallest roles played by such as andy de la tour  tim healy and jack ellis are spot on . this cast is a theatre impresario  s dream . the story should not be spoiled by ill informed description but suffice it to say it relates to a young mans slow but inexorable destruction and descent into espionage and treason . all my sympathies lie with magnus pym and his sole  non sexual  love for poppy  rdiger weigang  as wonderful as always . his only true friendship but also by definition another in the long line of betrayals . outstanding  rent it  buy it . love it .  
in a word  this film was boring . it lacked life and spark . a big problem is with the two leads . jude law and gwyneth paltrow had no chemistry whatsoever . he was boring  and she was annoying .  br    br   the visuals were interesting  but they didn  t enhance the scenes . if anything  the visuals tended to detach the audience from what was happening on screen . none of the action sequences felt real  and hence  the film failed to create any real drama or a sense of danger .  br    br   the film had potential  but it needed a better script  better acting  and a better director . i kept thinking during the film  you know  this movie would  ve worked if harrison ford was sky captain  karen allen was polly  and steven spielberg was the director .  br    br   ignore the critical acclaims for this film . the critics i think are praising the film because they want to like it and want it to succeed even though it fails on so many different levels .  
without doubt the best of the novels of john le carre  exquisitely transformed into a classic film . performances by peter egan  magnus pym  the perfect spy   rudiger weigang  axel  real name alexander hampel  magnus  czech intelligence controller   ray mcanally  magnus  con  man father  and alan howard  jack brotherhood  magnus  mentor  believer and british controller   together with the rest of the characters  are so perfect and natural  the person responsible for casting them should have been given an award . even the small parts  such as major membury  are performed to perfection . it says a lot for the power of the performances  and the strength of the characters in the novel that  despite the duplicity of magnus  one cannot help but feel closer to magnus and axel than to jack brotherhood and the slimy grant lederer of u . s . intelligence . i have read the book at least a dozen times  and watched the movie almost as many times  and continue to be mesmerized by both . if i had one book to take on a desert island  a perfect spy would be the choice above all others .  
what a waste of time  i  ve tried to sit through  sky captain . .  about  times  and every time  within about  minutes  i start doing something else  anything else  it  s a downright boring movie  the acting is terrible  the writing dull  and obviously a first  time director  because it  s stiff . and i wanted to love it . i love sci  fi  the old cliffhangers  and i can appreciate the attempt at nods to flash gordon  and metropolis  but my god  what a waste of money . i used to work for paramount pictures  and i had written sherry lansing in     about using blue screen for screen tests . she told me they  d never have an interest or need to do it .   years later  paramount releases this piece of crap . sherry was right in      but must have forgotten her own advice when she greenlighted this dog . blue screen an effect shot  but not an entire movie . let  s not forget  neither jude nor jolie are terrific actors  but easy on the eyes  . paltrow  s performance reminds me of a high school effort . too bad  it could  ve worked  but only under a skilled director . the funny thing is  sky captain  s director will keep getting work  even after this dreck . it  s commerce  not art   
erotic cinema of the      s was tame compared to the triple x romps of today  which is good . because there is a good story around the naked rituals and sex scenes . of course  i wish that they had some vampire effects which they had at the time period and the sex did get in the way of the story a little . plus some of the accents were hard to understand at time periods  but it  s worth watching the unedited version then the edited up version which is titled the devil  s plaything . but if you don  t care for allot of naked women dancing and having sex  then this isn  t the movie for you . however  i did enjoy it and i give it . . .  stars .  
this movie feels so empty . in every scene in the movie the maximum number of actors on the screen is like   . because everything was shot in front of a blue screen there are never really any extras and the movie just feels weird .  br    br   the acting was horrible  it  s so obvious this was in front of a blue screen because all of the action scenes you can see the actor  actress wondering around half running when they should be running for their lives . . looking at the floor for their marks . . .  br    br   spoilers also you  ll find yourself banging your head watching the movie . at one point at sky captain  s home base they have like    planes sitting on the airstrip . they have advanced warning an attack is coming . . . so what do they do  nothing . all of the planes get blown up and yet again the only person fighting back is the sky captain . . .  br    br   the entire world is under attack and he  s the only person ever fighting back . at the very end of the movie you see hundreds of plains taking off finally . . . but what do they do  nothing . . . the movie is over . . .  
spoilers  classic    s sex trash  the swedish gal  helga  was what made this movie so great . she was beautiful  but what really got to me was how sexual she was . she exuded massive quantities of sexuality throughout the film . her best scenes were when she was  er  stimulating herself . whenever she was on screen  i became transfixed .  br    br   also  the doctor julia  sister of the dimwitted male focus of the film  was very interesting visually . although most   year old girls have bigger breasts than julia  she knew how to use what little she had and her scenes  especially the scenes with the silk blouse and black skirt  also grabbed my attention unmercilessly . you also got to love the major hoaky scene where the bats stripped her nekkid i don  t know if i  ve ever seen anything more ludicrous yet sexy at the same time . classic stuff   
i  ve said this in other reviews  without a story  you can give the audience all the smoke and mirrors you want  still no one will give a damn .  br    br   the director seems to have a great eye for   s art deco  which i love   and i think the idea of using all digital backgrounds and such could indeed be the wave of the future in movie making . however  it  s obvious the director got so interested in the digital rendering of his movie  he forgot to film many scenes which would have enormously helped this surprisingly thinned  plotted film .  spoiler  for crying out loud  they forgot to have a villain in this thing  ok they have one  but he  s been dead for   years by the time the movie takes place . conran misses the point of having a villain . as far as action goes  well let  s see  sky captain  law  shoots down one robot  two or three of the flapping wing airplanes  before dex  ribisi  tells him to stop shooting them down      and a couple robots  but mostly spends his time looking dashing and getting others to fight his battles for him . paltrow as polly or peggy or punky or whatever is totally wasted in this movie  the reviewer who comments on hers and law  s lack of chemistry is so right  and i for one got a little sick of seeing repeated shots of the top of her camera  showing she only has two shots left  both of which she wastes subsequently in the movie  one uncomically  one quite funny  although i saw it coming from   years away . no one except law and paltrow have any significant time on screen  and that  s the movie  s real flaw . an audience doesn  t identify with robots  they need a hero to root for  and a visible  despicable villain to hate . without that  plus a good engaging story  all the cg in the world won  t help .  
well  if you are looking for a great mind control movie  this is it . no movie has had so many gorgeous women under mind control  and naked . marie forsa  as the busty helga  is under just about everytime she falls asleep and a few times when she isn  t . one wishes they made more movies like this one .  
i gave  to this film . i can  t understand how ettore scola  one of the greater directors of italian cinema  made a film like this  so stupid and ridiculous  all the stories of the people involved in the movie are unsubstantial  boring and not interesting . too long  too boring . the only things i save in this movie are giancarlo giannini and vittorio gasmann . hope that scola will change radically themes and style in his next film .  
michael cacoyannis has had a relatively long career but has surprisingly few credits to his name  including some real duds such as the unfunny cold war satire the day the fish came out . iphigenia  however  is a highlight . adapted by cacoyannis from the play by euripides  it  s a superior rendering of the classic tragedy and recently made its first television appearance in many years in the united states courtesy the flix channel . the film is shot on an epic scale but is decidedly not a  big  film  with the emphasis placed on the simple story in supplication to the gods  king agamemnon  kostas kazakos  is compelled to sacrifice his daughter iphigenia  tatiana papamoschou   much to the consternation of queen clytemnastrae  irene papas  . kazakos and papas are both outstanding  but it is the stunning papamoschou who brings the most interesting elements to the screen  blending the innocence of childhood with the dawning realization that she is the pawn in a political game . strongly recommended for fans of international cinema .  
i went to school with jeremy earl  that is how i heard of this movie  i don  t really know if it was in the theater  s at all . i don  t recall the name . i have seen it  it is like one of those after school specials . the acting is ok  not great . the plot was kind of weak and the lines were pretty corny . so the only comment i can give this movie is  eh  i borrowed the movie from jeremy  if i was in a movie rental place  this is one that i would walk past and after watching it i wouldn  t recommend it to anyone past middle school age . i  ve also noticed that many times when urban kids are portrayed  the slang is overused or just outdated . many times i think thats what makes their characters unbelievable .  
well the story is a little hard to follow the first time  but that  s only because of all the bare breasted    s painted  up vampire  witches dancing to the bongo drums . this of course interrupted by a few vampiric orgies . and there are some very interesting candles and uses for them . and for girl on girl action  vampiric or not . . . this movie just rocks     
this movie should be called  plan  from joseph smith .  i think its weirdness is underappreciated . the playwright seems to have read paul ehrlich  s  the population bomb         and crafted a musical response made especially for mormons . the whole point of the play is that having as many children as you can is part of  heavenly father  s   god  s  plan . and anything that stands in the way of having more babies is very bad . get it   br    br   this version was filmed in      which is confusing . it  s utah  so it looks and feels like      the play was actually written in      and of course  the theology is part      s  part battlestar galactica . some of the action takes place on earth and some in the  pre  existence  an aimless romper  room where annoying kids wait to get their bodies so they can come down try not to slam the door on the missionaries  losing their shot at celestial glory .  br    br   it is as stagey as they come  but don  t let the poor theatrics spoil your appreciation for this demented mormon universe where the  cool kids  are all into population control   presumably  counseling their parents not to have any more children   having big families was  at the time the play was written  the cultural norm in the lds community  and more importantly  considered part of god  s plan . the church has since done a     and have made family planning a choice of the parents  and large families are much less the cultural norm now . making the entire doctrinal premise of the movie for a modern  day mormon moot   br    br   ahhh but it  s really only as good as the music . there are some catchy tunes here that just won  t let this movie die the      s death it was pre  destined for . the brother and sister sing some love songs to each other that make you wonder if maybe something else was going on there   wink . and the tough  cool kids make new kids on the block look like metallica . so cheers to all that  gather the family around  make some jell  o shooters and enjoy the show   br    br    
this masterpiece of lesbian horror comes from exploitation master joseph w . sarno . it features plenty of soft core sex  really hot lesbian sequences plus a lot of naked women . the acting is pretty good and the film is quite atmospheric and well  made . marie forsa is one of the hottest chicks i have ever seen in a horror movie  it  s a visual pleasure to see her wonderful body . sarno really knows how to pick up hot looking ladies . a must see for fans of sexploitation   
to start with  i have to point out the fact that you  re gonna feel completely lost for more than half an hour . yeah  some things happen  but you don  t know why or what for . when you finally figure things out you just realize that it  s nothing but a twisted soad opera  dealing with mature prostitutes  dead mothers  illegitimate sons . . . the characters are rather poor and the actors  specially the young ones  don  t help that much to make  em look credible . only marisa paredes stands out  but she  s a superb actress  no matter if the movie is pure rubbish .  br    br   the only positive things to say about  fro sol de invierno  is that dbutant pablo malo seems to have good intentions  and he  s filmed a couple of scenes that are quite intense . . . well  maybe the next time . . .  br    br   my rate      
the devil  s plaything is my second attempt at a joseph sarno production  and although i will say it is far more enjoyable than the painfully dull and unerotic swedish wildcats  it is still a little slow and un  explicit for my taste .  br    br   this one centers around a group of vampire girls who live in a castle  that want to resurrect their previously murdered  leader  . in order to do so  the girls have to dance around naked and kiss each other and chant weird stuff  and of course drink some blood  too . when a doctor and her brother  s car breaks down and they have to stop at the castle for lodging  they provide the ideal bloodbank for the horny vampires . . . but they may not be as helpless as they seem . . .  br    br   the devil  s plaything is a pretty good example of early    s exploit sleaze . lots of nudity  including some full  frontal  some sleazy undertones  including incest and of course  lesbo  bloodsucking . . . but these scenes are still pretty tame by today  s standards . some pretty hot women in this one  would have benefited from some more explicit sex  but i guess ya can  t have it all . also would have benefited from some heavier violence  gore  being that it is a vampire film  but i think the purpose of the devil  s plaything was more to showcase skin  not blood . still a little slow  and the acting for the most part is absolutely wooden  but that  s to be expected from something from this era and of this budget . worth a look to exploit fans  others may find it a little too dull for their liking .      
adrian has just gone out of the asylum  being rich and with no parents  his life seems empty . one day  he meets gonzalo  a poor boy whom mother is prostitute . desperate for earning some money  gonzalo helps adrian to search about his life and who where his parents . this is a movie from a new director  and it is perfectly clear in most of the film scenes not correctly directed  dialogues a little forced  some incoherences in the script . . . anyway  the ending is unexpectedly well done  well  just a little  and that saves a little the film . actors are known and with great quality  nevertheless  they are not inspired enough to make the movie interesting all of them have done better papers in other film . the film results boring and probably you will spend most of the time thinking how much time will pass until it ends . of course there are lots of worse films  but  sure  there are many many better ones .  
this is an excellent show  i had a us history teacher in high school that was much like this . there are many  facts  in history that are not quite true and mr wuhl points them out very well  in a way that is unforgettable .  br    br   mr wuhl is teaching a class of film students but history students and even the general public will appreciate the witty way that he uncovers some very well known fallacies in the history of the world and strive to impress them upon that brains of his students . use of live actors performing  skits  is also very entertaining .  br    br   i highly recommend this series to anyone interested in having the history they learned as a child turned upside down .  
for shame  for shame that a fine actor such as joseph fiennes would allow himself to be cast in this piece of nauseating drivel . the movie was not only bad  but down right horrible and of no redeeming quality . the plot   was there one   seemed to go no where . the russians played silly kill or be killed games and the rest of the cast should be declared null and void for their pathetic performances . i gave up about    of the way through and turned it off . a    for awful only because there is nothing lower . don  t waste your time on this one  you  ll not miss anything .  
this was one of the funniest and informative shows that i have ever seen . this is a must see for anyone over the age of   . this show had me and my  boys laughing out loud from the beginning . i don  t know if everything on the show was true but the way it was presented left little doubt that mr wuhl was not only very knowledgeable but he also had a blast presenting this information to the very lucky college kids who were in attendance . if mr wuhl ever decides to do this format again they will have to rent a building the size of the georgia dome to hold all the people who will want to see it . i agree with the idea of making this a hbo series . it would have an amazing following  
i have not yet decided whether this will replace anaconda as  the worst film i have ever seen  .  br    br   even if you ignore the dodgy accents  low production values and appalling camera work this film has absolutely nothing going for it . i only went to see it as i had read the book and wanted to see how they would work the complicated plot into a  hour film .  br    br   the simple answer is  they didn  t . characters appear with little to no explanation as to who they are and then proceed to play no valuable part in the narrative . even the main characters act without reason so that by the time the film reaches it  s climax you don  t care what happens to any of them .  br    br   i can accept that books occasionally need to be rewritten to fit into films and that it is perhaps unfair to judge this film against the book it was adapted from . but after my friends and i came out of the cinema i had to spend most of the journey home explaining what was supposed to have happened .  br    br   they even change the true meaning of the books title  rancid aluminium  by squeezing it into yet another piece of pointless voice over just so they can allow the film to have a cool title .  br    br   a real mess of a film from start to finish .  
i never really knew who robert wuhl was before seeing this . but after seeing it i realized what a funny man he is . this hbo special features him teaching  american history  to new york university film students and the man was just phenomenal . he poked fun at almost every key historic event that occurred not just in the u . s . but some other parts of the world . this documentary  comedy was a great satire that made me question if what i accept as the infallible true history is really true .  br    br   i enjoyed how mr . wuhl managed to mix useful information with great comedy and made learning a lot more exciting . i would recommend this to anyone interested in history and is willing to question what his  her beliefs .  
there have been some low moments in my life  when i have been bewildered and depressed . sitting through rancid aluminium was one of these .  br    br   the warning signs were there . no premiere  even the stars didn  t want to attend  and no reviews in magazines . the only reason i sat through the film was in the hope that i might catch up on some sleep .  br    br   nothing in the film was explained . the narration was idiotic . i cheered at one point when the lead of the film appeared to have been shot  then to my growing despair  it was revealed that he hadn  t really been shot dampening my joy . i sincerely hope all involved in the film are hanged for this atrocity .  br    br   there were some positive aspects  mainly unintentional moments of humour . for example  the scene in which the main character  for some unknown reason feels the need to relieve himself manually in a toilet cubicle  while telling the person in the next cubicle to put his fingers in his ears .  br    br   my words cannot explain the anger i feel  so i shall conclude thus .  br    br   rancid aluminium for sadists  wastrels  and regressives only who want to torture themselves .  
i recently watched this  but when it started i had no idea what the concept was about  what the topic was . . . . . in short  i had no idea what it was . was it a documentary  was it a comedy routine . . . . . well  it was both .  br    br   it started a little slow  but i think that  s because i had absolutely no idea what type of program i was viewing . but it quickly sucked me in . the episode i watched had robert wuhl discussing fact and fiction in history . mainly how we  american  s  learn history that isn  t really true  and how we got to learn what we did . he did this in such a way as to keep the viewer completely entertained  and interested . i actually learned a few things and that is a true indicator of how effective this type of program can be .  br    br   i would love to see this picked up as a series for hbo . i believe it can be just as fun and effective with a variety of topics  especially if they are  taught  in the same type of manner as this episode .  
well  what to say . . .  br    br   having seen the film i still have to wonder what the hell the point of it all really was   v . dodgy camera moves in the courtyard at one point . . . i had to look away from the screen  i was feeling physically sick . . . round and round and round . . . . you get the idea . . .  br    br   very very strange accents at many points . . . .  those that should know  know   br    br   unless your getting in for free  or being paid to watch it  or your partner is about to make you paint the house or something . . then forget it . . .  
robert wuhl is teaching a class of film students at new york university in manhattan  new york .  br    br   he covers fallacies of history and truths that are no longer generally known . i would like to see much more of this show . it is very entertaining . mr . wuhl uses examples and  show and tell  to get his points across . he explained that the person who actually rode the midnight ride of paul revere was not paul revere  henry wadsworth longfellow used revere  s name because it sounded better .  br    br   i  ve watched robert wuhl for many years  from the time he was doing stand  up comedy and all the way through  arli  on hbo . he  s a good actor and a good stand  up comedian  but he  s an excellent teacher  i highly recommend that you watch an episode of this show . it is well worth your time .  
okay . so there aren  t really that many great movies around . recent gems like american dream  the straight story and even toy story  don  t normally come so close together . but boy    does this film counter  balance the quality .  br    br   i have no idea what these people thought they were doing . are the financiers in this world so easily convinced to fund such a crock of   i can just see it now . . .  br    br   producer   so we  ve got joe fiennes . he  s cute as a button and was pretty good in shakespeare in love . and we  ve got rhys ifans  who isn  t cute but was cool in notting hill . we  ll mix in a really mediocre score  a few forgettable post  britpop tunes  hemlock root and lizard brains and hey presto you  ve got the worst film of the new millennium . and believe me  it  s gonna be a hard job to make anything as bad as this in the next thousand years .   br    br   the bank   i like it  any unnecessary sex  bad camera movements  and what about the worst accents this side of devil  s own    br    br   producer   yeah  we got plenty of those .   br    br   the bank   sounds great  where do we sign    br    br   please .  
jane porter  s former love interest harry holt  neil hamilton  and his friend martin  paul cavanagh  come to tarzan  s hidden away jungle escarpment searching for the ivory gold mine that is the  elephant  s graveyard  first seen in tarzan  the ape man . . . only we soon discover both men have hidden intentions . . . namely jane . will tarzan stand for that  not likely  in fact tarzan won  t even stand for any disturbance done to the  elephant  s graveyard   and knowing this martin attempts to take tarzan out of the picture only he later finds himself in a world of trouble later he and his party  including jane who leaves with them after she believes tarzan is dead  is captured by a native tribe intent on feeding them to the lions . . will tarzan be will and able enough to get to them in time   br    br   this film is adventure filled with loads of scenes involving tarzan and other facing down wild animals and a climax that grips the viewer  s interest and doesn  t let up . the cruelty displayed towards animals and the portrayal of native people may disturb some today but all should remember this is basically fantasy adventure entertainment and shouldn  t be taken so seriously .  
i was hoping that this film was going to be at least watchable . the plot was weak to say the least . i was expecting a lot more considering the cast line up  i wonder if any of them will include this on their cvs   . at least i didn  t pay to rent it . the best part of the film is definitely dani behr  but the rest of the film is complete and utter pants .  
ever wanted to know just how much hollywood could get away with before the hayes code was officially put into effect  well  unfortunately  convention city  is lost  so well just have to watch  tarzan and his mate  to find out . for      there is a remarkable amount of sexual innuendo and even exposed flesh . just look at jane  s nude swim . while tarzan is often thought of as b  adventure films made for young boys and no one else  this picture proves that the series was originally very adult . over seventy years later  it is still as sexy as it was when it came out .  br    br   in addition to the envelope pushing taboo nature  it is a superb and exciting adventure story . i  ve always enjoyed the jungle films that hollywood churned out in the   s and the   s  but there are few from the genre i  d call great films .  tarzan and his mate  is by far the best film from this long gone subgenre . the sequences of the attacks on the safari by either apes or natives still manage to create tension today . also  the animals are all too cool  espescially the apes throwing boulders  . the acting won  t win any major awards soon  but is certainly more than adequate for this type of picture . the film is once again stolen by cheetah  the smartest monkey in the jungle . one of the most entertaining examples of pre  code hollywood out there .  
must confess to having seen a few howlers in my time  but this one is up there with the worst of them . plot troubling to follow . sex and violence thrown in to disorient and distract from the really poorly put together film .  br    br   i can only imagine that the cast will look back on the end product and wish it to gather dust on a shelf not to be disturbed for a generation or two . sadly  in my case  i have the dvd . it will sit on the shelf and look at me from time to time .  
my interest was raised as i was flipping through and saw the name iphigenia . my name is eugenia so i thought ok  lets see what this is . i am so glad i stayed on the channel . what a wonderful  wonderful story . drama  sadness  some over the top acting but a wonderful time to be had . i watch this and it makes me sad for all the drivel the movie industry puts out and these beautiful little gems get passed over . give iphigenia a try and i hope you will enjoy it as much as i did . i have even gotten my children          and    to enjoy it . it starts slow  however  the drama builds and you will be drawn in to the story . watching this lovely film made me want to shroud myself in more greek tragedy and pathos .  
i rented this thinking it might be interesting  and it might have been an interesting story except that is was told in such an uninteresting manner . hard to follow  strange editing  disjointed storyline  the characters mumble  all in all a dreadfully dull waste of time . i just couldn  t get into it and didn  t care what happened to the characters  not even ian holm could save this film . unless you need a cure for insomnia  i  d skip it .      and that  s being generous .  
make no mistake  maureen o  sullivan is easily the most gorgeous jane ever  and there will never be one more gorgeous . she is visually stunning . that aside  it takes more than a beautiful woman to make a good film . this is a great film . it not only has the classic tarzan aura  but also the feel of the continuing saga . we become involved with the two white hunters who search for ivory  one of them in love with jane  the other  a roguish catalyst whose character may be one of the best defined and best examined in movie history . and these characterizations are what make this great action flick stand out as a classic . there is the uncomfortable racism which is depicted . however  the africans are depicted as individuals  and at the end  two even become more heroic than the white hunters  and stand out as such . in fact  the one not named evokes probably more sympathy from the audience than any other characters . the finale  also  is one of the reasons to enjoy this movie . the great lion attack has never been duplicated  and the horror is well implied with character reactions more so than a modern gore movie would do with graphic depiction . if i left anything out  it is because i do not want to soil the picture for those who haven  t seen it . but it is everything you could want in a movie .  
i have seen bad films but this took the p . made no sense  and all the characters do is swear every couple of seconds  oh and i think one has a low sperm count . its that good . a welshman plays a sweary cockney . a posh english bloke plays a foul mouthed unlovable rogue of a paddy  and some lesser lights play dim tarts .  br    br   and there are some russian gangsters . oh yes some one has a gun and maybe talks rubbish whilst high on drugs .  br    br   avoid this film like the plague .  
tarzan and his mate       was the only tarzan movie i didn  t see when i was a kid . it sounded boring . now i have seen it . i have seen the ape man       about a hundred times and i keep a copy on my drive . it  s a remarkable movie . it  s almost flawless . tarzan and his mate       however  falters . it  s not harmonic and it  s parts tend to live a life of there own . the parts themselves are often very good and the action sequences are great . big budget expensive . tarzan himself is co  starring . jane dominates . she have developed and have become a jungle girl so sexy i tend to forget about criticism and sing her praise instead . well . she let her be duped by a crock who steels a kiss from her and later murder an elephant . she insists tarzan to carry a bracelet who belonged to her father . forever . the thing would split to pieces the moment he went about his businesses in the jungle . stupid  later someone founds it in the river . well it  s supposed to proof tarzan is dead . some cheap drama . the crocks who has an obvious interest in a dead tarzan convince jane that he is gone . she takes their words for granted and want to be taken away  to england  . stupid jane seems to have forgot how tough tarzan is  how hard he is to kill . the caravan is leaving and jane go along . again a pothole . she could easily make the caravan rest for a few hours or more  to pick up a few things and say goodbye to the jungle and her dead husband . she could be smart . she could dive where they found the floating bracelet  check the banks for traces . she can make fire in   seconds and swing in liana  s . picking up traces shouldn  t be too hard for jungle jane . she could talk to the apes  and so on . if she get home to england without have done this she would become miserable . jane is smart but cheap drama brings her down . and why on earth is she letting the kiss rapist get away with  i blame myself as much as you  . a punishment for being vane perhaps  nonsense . struggle  a hard slap and telling tarzan would be appropriate . still . this movie is far from bad even if the potholes are many and sometimes deep . just lean back and enjoy . it  s tarzan and jane for god sake .  
we know from other movies that the actors are good but they cannot save the movie . a waste of time . the premise was not too bad . but one workable idea  interaction between real bussinessmen and russian mafia  is not followed by an intelligent script  
     tarzan and his mate        released           viewed       .  br    br   john dillinger escapes from prison and robs a bank in iowa . bonnie  clyde kill two highway patrolman in texas . births ralph nader  gloria steinem  alan arkin  richard chamberlain .  br    br   doug after we were rather disappointed with the original  tarzan the ape man   we discovered among fellow users and historians that the second film   tarzan and his mate   was the best in the series . it  s true . i got a huge kick out of this movie . johnny weismuller returns as the titular vine  swinging  animal dueling wild super  hero  and maureen o  sullivan reprises her role as his entirely fantastic lady love jane  who sports a two  piece outfit for the first and last time here  . in my review for  ape man   i stomped on jane pretty good for her obsession with clothes and her incessant screaming  but she  s redeemed herself for me here . make no mistake o  sullivan is the star of this movie  and jane is the most capable character in the entire cast . she acts as the ambassador between holt and tarzan  she can function perfectly in the jungle and get along with the animals  and she knows how to hold off an angry pride of lions when she  s out of bullets . she  s even got her own jungle scream now . the chemistry between johnny and maureen is irresistible . she  s totally got him trained . cheeta is quite charming as well  taking drags off of martin  s cigarette . the plot is mostly an excuse for tarzan to do battle with the jungle  s most vicious animals  especially lions  crocodiles  and rhinos . the effects  though always visible  are much more dynamic and cool and complement the action nicely . oh  and you can  t talk about this movie without talking about the nude swimming scene . all i can say is yes  she is naked . very exciting stuff .  br    br   kevin wow . just wow . when it comes to down  and  dirty pre  code action  adventure  nothing holds a candle to  tarzan and his mate .  the inevitable sequel to tarzan the ape man is a kick  ass  violent and risqu jungle epic . i doubt there will be another tarzan movie in the future that takes no prisoners the way this one does . you  d be hard pressed to find a full scene in this movie that would be code  approved  or animal rights  approved for that matter . the gruesome violence doesn  t even wait for the happy jungle couple to show up before it pushes even the limits of today  s adventure movies . and after tj enter the picture  there  s plenty of early morning cuddling and ass  naked afternoon swims . see it for yourself if you don  t believe me . i love maureen o  sullivan most of all in this film . in the first film  jane seemed like a walking contradiction  like the writers back then just didn  t know how to portray a character like that . but here she is a great precursor to kick  butt females of later cinema . although she still requires tarzan  s assistance in getting her out of most jams  she does a lot more than just waiting around to be rescued . her personality is perfectly believable for a woman who has been living  relatively  comfortably in the jungle for a year . i watched this with my mom  and i enjoyed pointing out to her just how much jane has tarzan  trained   as jeff foxworthy put it . she totally has the ape man at her every beck and call . although there is a host of dated optical effects throughout the film  there is still plenty of hair  raising tarzan vs . predator battles that are performed  mostly  for real . that and the men  dressed  as  apes are a lot more convincing this time around . spoiler the film climaxes as the jungle erupts with a shocking orgy of animal kingdom violence that leaves tarzan and jane the only two humans still breathing . although the couple rides off into the sunset reunited and victorious  i can  t help but imagine how this story will seem to the next safari who will hear about the previous bunch of humans who went to find tarzan and jane and were never heard from again . end spoiler one of things that still bothers me is johnny weissmuller  s smooth  hairless bod and over  styled coif . other than that  this is pre  code action  adventure that is absolutely not to be missed .  br    br   last film it happened one night       . next film twentieth century       .  
 . . . the first film i had to walk out on . and it was the cast and crew pre  screening  not that i was involved  i hasten to add  . i made it through the first hour  so i reckon i  m just qualified to comment  but that was my limit .  br    br   like other comments here  how did this get through any kind of qa . an accumulation of the very worst in dialogue  the epitome of wooden acting  awful casting  all wrapped together without a plot .  br    br   tara fitzgerald  s casting was bizarre  almost comic . she possesses the worst russian accent in movie history .  br    br   as i left the screening  the director and producers were drinking in a bar outside the cinema . they obviously couldn  t sit through it again either .  br    br    
a year after losing gorgeous jane parker  maureen o  sullivan  to love rival tarzan  hunter harry holt  neil hamilton  returns to the jungle to have another bash at winning the brunette babe  s heart . mixing business with pleasure  he also plans to grab himself some ivory from the elephant graveyard that lies beyond the mutia escarpment  tarzan  s stomping ground .  br    br   accompanied by his slimy  womanising pal martin arlington and a group of expendable bearers  harry finally arrives at his destination  having narrowly avoided death at the hands of savage natives and rock  hurling apes  only to find that jane is still infatuated with her musclebound yodeller  and worse still  that tarzan is refusing to let the hunters take any ivory from the graveyard .  br    br   nasty arlington decides to resolve matters by ambushing and shooting the ape  man and then telling jane and holt that tarzan was attacked and eaten by a crocodile . of course  tarzan isn  t deadonly wounded after being nursed back to health by cheetah     he swings back into action just in time to rescue jane from a tribe of vicious lion  eating savages who have attacked holt  s expedition .  br    br   tarzan and his mate  the second movie to star weismuller as the jungle man of few words  is often cited by fans as the best of the series although i slightly prefer the original  i can definitely understand the film  s popularity it  s damn sexy and there are some great action sequences  the undeniable chemistry between weismuller and o  sullivan is fabulous and leads to some pretty steamy scenes  and with both stars wearing eensy  weensy outfits throughout  there  s eye  candy aplenty for viewers of both sexes to enjoy  despite o  sullivan  s much  touted underwater nude scene actually being performed by a body double  the lovely lass still shows plenty of skin  even threatening to do a  sharon stone  at one point as her loin cloth flaps to one side   .  br    br   the film  s most exciting moments come in the form of a wonderful underwater fight between tarzan and a crocodile  and the spectacular final where jane is attacked by lions and natives  but is rescued by her beau  his monkey pals  and a load of elephants in full  on lion  crushing mode  once again  the violence is surprisingly nasty at times  although as far as i am concerned  there is nothing quite as shocking as the vicious pygmies and their gorilla pit from the first film  . cheetah also has his fair share of excitement  dodging rhinos  crocs  and big cats  riding on tarzan  s back as he crosses a river  and even hopping onto an ostrich for a ride .  br    br   like it  s predecessor  tarzan and his mate does suffer slightly from some bad effects and unconvincing propsdodgy back projection  a few laughable monkey suits  more indian elephants masquerading as their african cousins  and poorly disguised trapeze swingsbut these shouldn  t spoil your enjoyment of this very entertaining film . if anything  they make it even more fun   br    br    .  out of    rounded up to  for imdb .  
how can you gather this respectable cast of young british actors and come up with such a pile of filmic manure  horrible script  annoyingly hectic camera  awfully edited  gruesomely badly acted . only rhys ifans tries to fill his role with life . another painful proof that  different  sometimes equals  dreck  . why do the money people fail to read the scripts beforehand  do yourself a favour spare yourself and do something else  like hitting a mallet onto your knees . it  s less painful and more fun than this movie   
one of the best tarzan films is also one of its most action packed  and graphic  .  br    br   picking up a year or so after tarzan the ape man  niel hamilton  s holt has asked a rich friend to finance a safari back to the elephants graveyard to collect ivory . his friend arrives also carrying dresses and perfumes that holt hopes to use to win jane back from tarzan . before they can leave holt finds his map stolen and it becomes a mad dash to try and capture a competing expedition . when they finally over take the thieves they find the whole party dead and themselves surrounded . they have no choice but to fight their way out and soon find they are out of the frying pan and into the fire . eventually tarzan and jane show up and everyone is off on even more adventures .  br    br   infamous film was heavily censored to reduce the graphic violence  its graphic even by todays standards . it probably would get a pg    and to remove all hint of nudity   there is a several minute long nude swim scene involving jane that is full frontal in its nudity  it was only recently restored  . its clear watching the restored version why this film was reduced by   minutes in its run time for tv . as it stands in its restored version this is a very adult film that is romantic  touching  action filled and everything else that a movie should be . its an amazing film by almost any standard . best of all its the sort of film that plays well both as a stand alone adventure  one need not to have seen the first film to enjoy it  but its also a film that deepens the characters and themes that were set up in that original film . its an amazing thing .  br    br   i really like this film a great deal .  br    br   if there are any flaws to the film  its perhaps that the film hasn  t aged well . the rear screen is often very obvious  there are gorilla suits for many of the apes and some of the other effects are more quaint rather than convincing . however on almost every other level this film is top notch .  br    br   you really owe it to yourself to see this . make yourself a big bowl of popcorn and curl up on the couch and just let yourself drift back to a simpler time . this is one of the great adventures .  
just so that you fellow movie fans get the point about this film  i decided to write another review . i missed a few things out last time . . .  br    br   first  the script . second  the acting . third  jesus christ what were they thinking making a piece of garbage like this and then expecting us to enjoy it when there are no redeeming features whatsoever from beginning to end except when joseph fiennes finally gets blown away in a very unexciting climax     br    br   i can  t believe i wasted my money on this when i could have given it to a homeless person or a busker or something   br    br   are you getting the picture   
i have the entire weissmuller tarzan series on dvd  fully restored editions   i never tire of watching them . my personal favorite is  tarzan and his mate   due entirely  well almost entirely  to maureen o  sullivan  s costume and the occasional flashes of her genital area beneath that leather flap hanging in front . before anyone claims that a  it wasn  t really her  or b  it wasn  t really what it looks like  let me say that i have watched it numerous time  in high zoom mode  and trust me . . . it is her  and she is completely naked underneath that costume . . . several times  especially during the lion attack at the end  careful viewing in slow motion and maximum zoom will reveal that she was shaved except for a tiny patch of dark hair covering her labia . . . there is no mistake about that at all . as to the swimming scene being a body double in a  skin  suit  yes  it is a double  but she is not wearing any  skin  suit or anything else . . . again  slow motion and maximum zoom shows everything to those who want to see it . now  that controversy out of the way  let  s move on the actual movie . . . i thought the script was really well thought out and written tightly . . . the action sequences were simply great  although it is obviously a stuntman riding the rhino  weissmuller actually wrestles the big male lion . . . the use of background shots that were second unit stuff from africa is very well blended with the studio  us locations making it sometimes hard to tell which is which . don  t complain too much though  remember that    of all films is phony anyway  so just relax and enjoy the damned thing with a big bowl of popcorn  some cold beer  and a fresh pack of smokes . . . a sexy and willing girlfriend  wife isn  t out of line either . . . lol . oh . . . one final word about nudity . . . at the very beginning  while the white hunters are speaking dialogue  keep your eyes on the background extras . . . there are several good shots of nude african girls  obviously shot on location  behind them . one more thing  the movie is not racist by the standards of the      s until the      s . . . that  s the way colored people were thought of and portrayed back then . shaft hadn  t even been thought about at that time  nor would audiences have accepted any other portrayals of them at the time in history . safaris actually did use natives carrying luggage on their heads . . . and tiny  s character did die a heroic death trying to save the white hunters and jane . as a matter of fact  it wasn  t until gene autry treated the native americans and colored people in his westerns like real human beings that hollywood began to see that it was okay to do so .  
this is a truly abysmal lock stock  clone with a stellar cast and a terrible script . i have no idea why so many top british actors signed up to this junk  they must have been bribed . a miss match of a storyline goes on forever and ever and ever and if i hadn  t have paid good money for it i  d have turned it off after   minutes . not the worst film ive ever seen  that honour goes to the truly pathetic used bogroll of a movie   i use the term loosely  gummo   i feel like suing that so called director  for the lost hour and a half of my life  but this trash is nearly right down there with it . definitely one of the worst  films i have ever seen . stuff like this reminds hollywood that they don  t have a monopoly on truly awful films .  
hard to believe  perhaps  but this film was denounced as immoral from more pulpits than any other film produced prior to the imposition of the bluenose hayes code . yes indeed  priests actually told their flocks that anyone who went to see this film was thereby committing a mortal sin .  br    br   i  m not making this up . they had several reasons  as follows  br    br   item jane likes sex . she and tarzan are shown waking up one morning in their treetop shelter . she stretches sensuously  and with a coquettish look she says  tarzan  you  ve been a bad boy   so they  ve not only been having sex  they  ve been having kinky sex  a few years later  under the hays code  people  especially women  weren  t supposed to be depicted as enjoying sex .  br    br   item jane prefers a guileless  if wise and resourceful  savage  tarzan  to a civilized  respectable nine  to  five man  holt  . when holt at first wows her with a pretty dress from london  she wavers a bit when holt tries to kill tarzan  and holt and jane both believe he  s dead  she wavers a lot . but when she realizes her man is very much alive  the attractions of civilization vanish for her . and why not  tarzan  s and jane  s relationship is egalitarian he lacks the  civilized  insecurity that would compel him to assert himself as  the head of his wife  . to boot  he lacks many more  civilized  hangups  for example jealousy . when holt and his buddy arrive  tarzan greets them both cordially  knowing perfectly well that holt is jane  s old flame . when holt gets her dolled up in a london dress and is slow  dancing with her to a portable phonograph  tarzan drops out of a tree  and draws his knife . jealous  nope . he  s merely cautious toward the weird music machine  since he  s never seen one before . once it  s explained  he  s cool .  br    br   item civilized holt is dirty minded . savage tarzan is innocently sexy . as jane slips into holt  s lamplit tent  holt gets off on watching her silhouette as she changes into the fancy dress . by contrast  after tarzan playfully pulls the dress off  kicks her into the swimming hole and dives in after her  there follows the most tastefully erotic nude scene in all cinema the pair spends five minutes in a lovely water ballet .  the scene was filmed in three versions   clothed  topless and nude   the scene was cut prior to the film  s release  but the nude version is restored in the video now available .  and when jane emerges  and cheetah the chimp steals her dress just for a tease  jane makes it clear that her irritation is only because of the proximity of  civilized  men and their hangups . where is the  universal prurience  so dear to the hearts of seminarians  nowhere  that  s where . another reason why the hung up regarded this film as sinful .  br    br   item the notion that man is the crown of creation  and animals are here only for man  s use and comfort  takes a severe beating . holt and his buddy want to be guided to the  elephant graveyard  so they can scoop up the ivory and take it home . they want tarzan to guide them to said graveyard . you  reader  are thinking  fat chance   and you  re right . he  s shocked . he exclaims  elephants sleep   which to him explains everything . jane explains tarzan  s feelings  which the two  gentlemen  find ridiculous .  br    br   item jane  the ex  civilized woman  is far more resourceful than the two civilized men she accompanies . holt and buddy blow it  and find themselves besieged by hostile tribes and wild animals . it is jane who maintains her cool . while the boys panic  she takes charge  barks orders at them and passes out the rifles .  br    br   item jane  s costume is a sort of poncho with nothing underneath .  the original idea was for her to be topless  with foliage artistically blocking off her nipples  which indeed is the case in one brief scene .   br    br   lastly  several men of the cloth complained because the film was called  tarzan and his mate  rather than  tarzan and his wife .  no comment   br    br   of course  tarzan  who has been nursed back to health by his ape friends  comes to the rescue  routs the white hunters  and induces the pack elephants and african bearers to return the ivory they stole to the sacred place whence it came . the end .  br    br   so there you have it . an utterly subversive film . like all the other films about complex and interesting women  see  e . g .  possessed with rita hayworth and raymond massey  which constituted such a flowing genre in the early    s and which were brought to such an abrupt end by the adoption of the hays code .  br    br   the joie de vivre of this film is best expressed by jane  s soprano version of the famous tarzan yell . a nice touch  which was unfortunately abandoned in future productions .  br    br   let  s hear it for artistic freedom  feminist jane  and sex .  
i shall not waste my time writing anything much further about how every aspect of this film is indescribably bad . that has been done in great detail already  many times over . the  plot  started out as a very uninspiring cockney wide  boy  gangster  by  numbers bore and very quickly descended into an utter shambles . anybody who pretends that they can see some hidden masterpiece inside this awful mess is just kidding themselves . it is now  or  years since i watched it during its  week run at the cinema before it was pulled  yet it sticks in my mind for being easily the most terrible film i have ever seen .  br    br   i am only making these comments  and indeed the only reason i went to see the film  is because of the amusing fact that my brother eddie appeared in it as the second  heavy  in the pub scene . it was his hands that thrust a zippo lighter towards rhys ifan  s face in the bar in  russia   it was actually filmed at the former butlins holiday camp at barry island  . my brother has absolutely no acting experience whatsoever  he had recently joined an extras  agency and this was his first part . having seen the film  it appeared that nobody in it required any acting experience whatsoever .  br    br   i remember there were about  people in the whole cinema  and this was just a couple of days after it had been released . i have never heard of an other film that was so unpopular and disappeared so fast  and rightly so . in case you were thinking of renting this film on dvd  i would advise you instead to put your two pound coins in a fire until they are red  hot  then jam them into your eye sockets . this will probably be a lot less painful than watching the film .  
tarzan and jane are living happily in the jungle . some men come looking for ivory and to take jane back to civilization . but jane loves tarzan and refuses to leave . one of the men falls in love with jane and is determined to take her back . . . even if that means killing tarzan .  br    br   this is a rarity   a sequel that  s better than the original .  tarzan  the ape man  of     was good but had some dreadful special effects and sort of dragged . this one has much better effects and is a lot more adult . there is tons of blatant racism  a black man is shot to death point blank   and no one really cares  but this was     . there  s also plenty of blood  gore and violence  for a     movie  and uncut prints have jane doing a lengthy underwater swim totally nude  there  s also obvious sexual content and tarzan and jane are wearing next to nothing and  it  s implied  they sleep together and have sex   without being married . this wouldn  t bother anyone today but in     this was pretty extreme .  br    br   that aside  the movie is well  directed  very fast  moving and full of adventure and excitement . seeing weissmuller in that skimpy lion cloth is certainly a treat for the eyes and jane  s outfit is pretty revealing too . i still think maureen o  sullivan is bad as jane but weismuller is perfect as tarzan . everybody else is ok .  br    br   this is easily the best weismuller   o  hara tarzan out there . well worth seeing but not for kids   
there is no doubt that this film has an impressive cast but unfortunately this doesn  t help with the major downsides to the movie . i never understand why directors ask actors  actresses to use accents not their own when it is obvious to everyone they can  t convince . fiennes just can  t do irish and fitzgerald isn  t much better at russian . when the voice is wrong then no matter how good the acting the character will never be convincing . as the for the major problem . . . . the plot . . . . was there one  i guess there was some sort of storyline involved but it was so full of holes that i just couldn  t wait for the film to end . . . it was ridiculous . save   minutes of your life and don  t watch this movie   
the first of the tarzan movies staring johnny weissmuller . the plot has already been summarized so i wont go into it again . just know that the actors who play jane and tarzan were born for the role . if you have not seen this film and you only have the modern day tarzan films as a reference . . you are missing a real treat . doesn  t matter how far we  ve come in movie making  makeup set designs . . . no one will ever play tarzan as well as johnny weissmuller did . he was and is tarzan .  
this film is quite simply one of the worst films ever made and is a damning indictment on not only the british film industry but the talentless hacks at work today . not only did the film get mainstream distribution it also features a good cast of british actors  so what went wrong  i don  t know and simply i don  t care enough to engage with the debate because the film was so terrible it deserves no thought at all . be warned and stay the hell away from this rubbish . but apparently i need to write ten lines of text in this review so i might as well detail the plot . a nob of a man is setup by his evil friend and co  worker out of his father  s company and thus leads to an encounter with the russian mafia and dodgy accents and stupid  very stupid plot twists  devices . i should have asked for my money back but was perhaps still in shock from the experience . if you want a good crime film watch the usual suspects or the godfather  what about lock  stock . . . . thats the peak of the contemporary british crime film . . . . .  
in the opinion of several of my friends and family members  including myself  this is the finest of the entire gamut of tarzan movies . johnny weissmuller never played the part as well in the following issues in the series . it definitely rates a     in my collection of films .  
words really can  t describe how bad this film is . i thought zandalee was bad  but at least that had some nice shots and the occasional good chin stroking moment here and there to stop you from nodding off . this is just laughable  terrible script  poor direction  awful acting and you know what  i can  t think of a single thing to recommend about it other than the fact that it isn  t too long . if you want    minutes worth of entertainment  book yourself in at the dentist and have some root canal work  far more enjoyable and much better value for money  assuming that you need it   . incidentally  i need to type   lines of text to complete this review  please do not buy this movie . it is terrible   
i only saw iphigenia once  almost   years ago  but it has haunted me since .  br    br   one sequence particularly stays in mind  and could only have been fashioned by a great director  as michael cacoyanis undoubtedly is .  br    br   the context the weight of history and a mighty army and fleet all lie on king agamemnon  s shoulders . an act of sacrilege has becalmed the seas  endangering his great expedition to troy . he is told he must sacrifice his daughter iphigenia to apollo in order to gain the winds for the sails of the thousand ships . he initially resists  but comes around  and tricks his wife clytemenstra to bring their daughter to the greek camp in order to marry the greatest of all warriors  achilles .  br    br   clytemnestra and iphigenia arrive  find out about the sacrifice  and rage to the gods for protection and vengeance . meanwhile  the proud achilles discovers that his name has been used in this fraudulent  dishonorable way . he climbs a hill to tell iphigenia that he will protect her .  br    br   the shot the camera circles the two young people  without looking directly at each other . they bemoan their fate  and the weakness of men that deceive their loved ones and lust for war . suddenly  they gaze at each other and  for one moment  we feel both their power and beauty  and the unstated   except by the camera   irony that in another time  another place  they perhaps could love each other and be married . it is a sharp and sad epiphany that lasts only for an instant .  br    br   what direction  what camera  what storytelling   
boring and appallingly acted  summer pheonix  . she sounded more asian than jewish . some of the scenes and costumes looked more mid   th century than late   th century . what on earth fine actors like ian holm  anton lesser were doing in this is beyond me .  
a very interesting entertainment  with the charm of the old movies . tarzan faces the greatest perils without hesitation if the moment requires it  and we all enjoy with him his success . the most insteresting for me is a man without special powers facing the problems and beating them just with human skills  he was a great swimmer and had a great shout   
this film is about a man  s life going wrong . his business is failing  and he cannot impregnate his wife despite multiple attempts .  br    br   the plot is complete chaos . it simply does not make sense . in fact  nothing in the film makes sense . the story is so poorly told that i simply could not understand it . it is a shame  because the sets and costumes are done well  and are visually stimulating enough . the shots are well composed throughout the film . however  these redeeming features still cannot make up for the bad plot and poor story telling . i am amazed by the big names who agreed to star in this film . it is such a waste of their talents . this film is very bad . avoid it    
this splendidly  directed fantasy is the second in the popular by flawed tarzan series put out by mgm . it is a first  class adventure for many reasons  i suggest   fine photography  strong imaginative qualities  a delightful cast  good simulated  jungle locales and a very exciting storyline . johnny weissmuller plays tarzan  a mono  syllabic untutored sort unlike edgar rice burroughs  creation but he is honest  loyal  brave and very courageous  and he needs to be during this narrative . as jane parker  his wife who had been jane porter in the novels  maureen o  sullivan is very attractive and lively  as well as being athletic where the script calls for that quality . the effect of the lighting  the spacious and clever sets is quite unusual . this is an outdoor adventure filmed on the mgm back  lot which really works . the fabulous mutir escarpment is a remote locale which allows tarzan and jane to live undisturbed but into their idyll come people searching from them  emissaries of a civilization jane has left behind and into which tarzan could not really be comfortably habituated . one is harry holt  still in love with her  who with his friend tempts her to come back to civilization with him the gown and perfumes interest her  but she refuses to leave tarzan . tarzan has to protect her against several wild animals  in scenes that look like a humanized king king . the group claim to want to hunt animals  and tarzan agrees for jane  s sake to a bit of big game trapping but at some point  the idea of ivory and of obtaining a fortune turns the expedition  s heads  minds . tarzan is shot  left for dead and the group force jane to accompany them on an expedition as they follow a dying elephant to the fabulous  elephant  s graveyard  . but they find the area guarded by a savage tribe and are attacked by lions . tarzan rides in on an elephant he has revived in time to call in a most spectacular elephant  filled scene  he saves jane and what is left of the expedition  who return home little richer but much wise  as jane continues her savage idyll with her new husband . the film was directed by set  design wizard cedric gibbons  and quite beautifully too . his work and the lighting are the outstanding accomplishments of this entertaining and exciting film  which manages to seem real despite all its hollywood shortcomings from start to finish . neil hamilton is a very good harry  paul cavanagh is even better before and after he reveals himself to be thoroughly bad . forrester harvey and nathan curry round out a small cast very professionally . an unusual and well  realized fantasy film with interesting situations and some strong dialogue confrontations as well . recommended .  
i have given this film an elevated rating of  stars as i personally appear in minutes   and   of the film . . . . the road side bar scene in russia . in this scene the director of the movie offered me the immortal line     dollars . . you drink and talk   but i felt that my polish counterpart could speak in a more convincing russian accent than i could  so i declined to take this speaking part on . i was slightly starstruck as this was my first film experience . . . . and who knows . . . these lines could have ended up there with lines such as  i  ll be back  and  quite frankly my dear  i don  t give a damn  . had i spoken that one line then my name would appear in the credits of rancid aluminium as  heavy   instead of the name of ryszard janikowski .  br    br   as time goes on  i am counting myself lucky that my name is in no way connected to this film .  br    br   even though i spent a whole day on the set  in south wales hot  spot barry island  no one could tell me what the actual storyline was . the caterers and the wardrobe lady all concurred that it appeared to have a lot of swearing and nudity in it . . . . . things could certainly have been worse if i  d ended up naked in this most dreadful of films . . . .  br    br   still . . . . . on the positive side . . . . i got chatting to rhys ifans during one break . i had no idea who he was  as  notting hill  was yet to be released  and not an inkling that he might be welsh . made various inappropriate comments about what an awful pit barry island had become since my childhood visits there in the   s and   s . it was only when keith allen showed up that i realised i was in a quality production . . . . . . . .  
this was the second of the series of   classic tarzan  movies featuring johnny weismuller in the title role and maureen o  sullivan as jane .  br    br   as usual  this was a wonderful film in this series and perhaps stands out as an  in between  film in a progression that could almost exemplify the development of cinema from the early     s into the     s . as such  it displayed good pace  though not as good as subsequent films . likewise  the cinematography is less accomplished than later tarzan films in this series . the stock i saw was of uneven quality  containing some grainy scenery and some under  exposed and over  exposed scenes . the crisp display of later tarzan films is lacking here . on the other hand  there is one scene  very early on  in which the jerky movements of a camera with foliage swishing in front of it as the camera backs up  showing safari men forging ahead into the jungle  was really almost modern in its style  and stands in strong contrast to the stationary shots that make up the rest of the movie .  br    br   regarding plot  one interesting feature here was jane  s near  fickleness and inconstancy  when she was being subject to martin  s flirtations . the kiss  and jane  s stunned  and partly guilty  reaction  foreshadow something of the jane we see in the future as well in these films . compare  for example  in tarzan finds a son  jane  s duplicitous actions tricking tarzan and delivering boy to his family . later she admits to tarzan that she was wrong . here  nothing quite so explicit  but we have jane  returning  to the jane parker of yesteryear  and in an almost repentant series of actions  stripping herself of the evening gown brought by martin and harry to entice her away from tarzan .  br    br   there were a whole series of depictions and sequences that especially struck me in this viewing .  br    br   for one thing  the picture we get of the domestic life of tarzan is here  as later  a combination of sensual idyll with always the nearby possibility of violent death . this to me is very much at the core of the tarzan experience .  br    br   i was really surprised by some quite violent scenes even by today  s standards .  br    br   there were a whole series of scenes that gave me special pleasure tarzan leading the elephants into the valley of the elephants  graveyard tarzan being rescued from watery death by the hippo  and then nursed to health by the apes cheetah going to find tarzan when jane and the other men are trapped at the foot of the escarpment cheetah in particular crossing the river on the log . the final battle scenes of savages  lions on the ground and savages  apes in the trees . jane  showing us that she is truly of tarzan  s world now  quickly displaying her enterprising woodcraft to work up a line of fire to keep the lions away .  br    br   the final series of scenes is splendid suddenly tarzan is on the scene  flinging savages from the trees and taking charge of the lions  and summoning the elephants to the rescue  that final cry of tarzan in triumph  holding a happy jane in his arms  with a dancing and delighted cheetah beside them  is a memorably picture and really a fine summation of the story of tarzan and jane .  br    br   all in all  this is another wonderful classic tarzan movie . i would recommend this movie strongly to anyone .  
in the wake of lock  stock and two smoking barrels  the british film industry rapidly became swamped with bad gangster films in the late    s  early    s that seem even more desperate today than they did then . in one of the all  time great cases of pearls  from  swine  the producers of rancid aluminium brazenly plastered the quote  the best film of the century  from one review all over the ads while omitting the rest of the sentence pointing out that that was only because  at the time of writing  it was the only film that had been released in     . looking at it today it  s hard to imagine how it ever got made  uniting a cast that was briefly considered the cream of cool britannia  s lads mags brigade  rhys ifans  sadie frost  nick moran and joseph fiennes  but now merely a guarantee of a turkey every time in a confused adaptation of a confused james hawes novel . that the plot is never explained could be down to the possibility that no  one really knows what it is  or perhaps simply don  t think it matters . something to do with ifans  businessman being set up with steven berkoff  s homicidal russian crime lord in a money  laundering or investment scheme  it  s never clear which because no  one ever asks  by fiennes  crooked irish accountant  who expects the russians to kill off ifans so he can take over his failing company . things get increasingly confused and underexplained from there on  ifans alternates between shouting about how terrible his life is while juggling visits to the fertility clinic and sleeping with his secretary and tara fitzgerald  s ludicrously accented russian temptress  berkoff keeps on saying  bizniss  and  francis drake  and fiennes does a decent irish accent while proving that just because he played a great writer in shakespeare in love doesn  t mean he  s any judge of good writing when it comes to film scripts .  br    br   when the most convincing performances come from keith allen and dani behr  you know a film is in deep trouble . with poland standing in for a russia filled with people with polish accents and a strange score that veers from john barry pastiche to lounge music to ennio morricone spaghetti western on a stylophone budget  it fails completely in the cool stakes it  s aiming for and ends up in a curious overplotted but almost plot less limbo all its own  sitting there like a joke shop dog turd .  
  tarzan and his mate   the second of mgm  s tarzan pictures  picks up a year after the events of  tarzan the ape man  . tarzan and jane have been living happily in the jungle  and harry holt  one of the expeditioners in the first film  returns  this time accompanied by the less  than  honorable martin arlington  in quest of the ivory from the elephants  graveyard . naturally  a variety of perilous and exciting adventures take place along the way .  br    br   the first film romanticized everything   the jungle  adventure  romance itself  wild animals  and even death . the second film still has a great deal of romanticism and a lot of wonderful action sequences  but a more serious tone underlies the action . the characters dare to ask questions like what if something happened to tarzan  what would jane do if she was stranded by herself in the middle of the jungle and she had to fend for herself  while these are probably the questions real people would be asking in this situation  it creates a certain amount of somberness that isn  t always as much fun as the throw  caution  to  the  wind attitude of the original .  br    br   one of the most enjoyable aspects of this film is the growth we see in tarzan and jane  s relationship . tarzan still speaks very broken english  but he has clearly learned a few new words from his mate . additionally  their love for each other has really blossomed  and we feel like they really have spent a year together in the jungle .  br    br   most people consider  tarzan and his mate  superior to the original  tarzan the ape man  . personally  i liked the first film just a little bit better . the main reason is that the relationship between the harry holt  martin arlington team isn  t nearly as likable as holt  s relationship with james parker  jane  s father  from the original . the mr . arlington character could have worked as a great movie villain  but he plays the hero for far too much of the movie . the movie can never decide whether we should like him or hate him .  also  i don  t want to give anything away  but in one of the scenes where we should clearly hate him  jane never finds out about those events  so the ending isn  t quite as satisfying as it could have been .  all of these detractors are relatively minor  however  and it  s still a great movie .  br    br   like the first film   tarzan and his mate  has amazing action scenes  wonderful wildlife footage  and one of the screen  s all  time greatest romances . if you liked the first film in the series  this is definitely a sequel to see .  
i felt rancid aluminium was a complete waste of two hours  the plot line was thin and confusing  the prestigious line up of players had some terrible dialogue and extremely questionable accents . the camera work was somewhat experimental in places and although it could be seen what the director was trying to convey  it just made it even more difficult to watch . one of the most annoying aspects of rancid aluminium is the over use of narration throughout the film almost like the entire plot is being dictated to the audience . the best performances weren  t anything to do with acting . in fact probably the most convincing performance came from dani behr of all people  although admittedly does play the stereotypical office secretary . do not under any circumstance go and see this movie unless you need a reason to catch up on some lost sleep  there are certainly better ways to spend your hard earned cash .  
when i was a kid it was lex barker  s time as tarzan . i often heard from older people that johnny weissmuller  was  tarzan and i wouldn  t understand why since i saw a couple of weismuller  s last films in the character and i thought he was sort of out of shape . it wasn  t after many years that i came across  tarzan and his mate   and then i understood . weismuller is in shape in this picture and has the presence and rugged looks the character demands not matched yet by other tarzans such as barker  gordon scott  jock mahoney  denny miller  miles o  keefe and cristopher lambert .  br    br   as for this film i was also surprised by the sensual presence of beautiful maureen o  sullivan a strong  self minded  active and  no  inhibitions  woman as jane way ahead of the times in which the film was made  tarzan pushes her into a pond naked as she is amused one of the explorers kisses her by surprise and though she doesn  t kiss him back she sort of let him do for a bit and makes no big deal out of it   such behaviors were unthinkable with the  janes  to come such as brenda joyce  vanessa brown  virginia huston or dorothy hart  all playing sort of too perfect sweet vulnerable women making it hard to believe they could survive in a hostile place like the african jungle .  br    br   o  sullivan character  s sparkling personality steals the show out of tarzan himself  except of course when it comes to action and weismuller takes the lead easily the combination is perfect . another highlight in the movie is cheeta  s secondary role and not as the main lead like in later tarzan pictures where she often saves the day .  br    br    tarzan and his mate  stands as a fine product in its genre  tarzan films  and perhaps as the best  though i have to admit that i also enjoyed  tarzan  s greatest adventure        made with a higher budget and a strong supporting cast  and in spite of the just acceptable gordon scott in the leading role with his too perfect  all gymnasium  physical looks that doesn  t fit for a rustic ape man  .  br    br   good for jane and her mate   
i usually try to construct reasonably well  argued critiques of films  but i can not believe this got past the script stage . the dialogue is appalling  the acting very dodgy  the accents just awful  and the direction and pacing is scrappy at best .  br    br   i don  t remember the last time i saw a film quite this bad . joseph fiennes  pretty as he is  might just have killed his career as quickly as it started .  br    br   the island of doctor moreau was no worse than this garbage .  
like tarzan the ape man        only more so . there  s more of everything  more animals  more varied african tribes  and scenes in which the thought must be  if this was good with three or four lions  forty would be better . tarzan wrestles with crocodilesthe the crocodile machine spins in the water like a rolling pin  around and around  jaws flapping . tarzan can kill it with his ubiquitous knife if the blasted saurian would hold still . tarzan kills lions and rhinos and a steadily increasing number of animals . his friends are real chimps  people wearing larger ape costumes  and elephants . in fact  they use indian elephantsfar more friendly and trainable than african oneswith costume ears attached to their heads . the human story another white man  worse than the rest  shows up to join with holt to go after the ivory from the elephant graveyard . tarzan won  t show them the way  so the bad guy shoots an elephant so they can follow it to its deathbed . tarzan intercedes  and the bad guy shoots himbut  of course  he survives and returns to save jane . everybody else dies  holt and the bad guy and every single one of their  boys .  people are expendable  especially africans  and there doesn  t seem to be much distinction between the black fellows who die because they work for the white men travelling through taboo country and those black fellows who kill them . this must be the last tarzan movie before the hays code made jane wear more clothes . there are a number of underwater scenes in which jane swims nude  and though the light is flickering the movement and the glimpses are very appealing . apparently one of weismuller  s friends from the olympic swim team did the nude scenes  and not maureen o  sullivan . she  however  moves through the movie wearing the same sort of loincloth weismuller wears  plus a bikini top   showing a splendid glimpse of thigh and hip . they still don  t need to talk a lot . they sleep together and hang out with cool animals and stay away from cities . no wonder they  re happy .  
i read james hawes book . it was pretty neat  not great  but entertaining enough . without having read the book i wouldn  t have had the slightest idea what was going on  and it was still a stretch with that knowledge .  br    br   literally every element of this film is abysmal in ways i do not have the capacity to describe . half digested fish could have made a better film with matchsticks and dayglo lipstick .  br    br   never before or since as a film made me feel so angry . the mattress sequels came closest  but even they never reached such depths of utterly putrid nauseating appallingness that this bilge did .  br    br   since wasting   minutes of my life witnessing this plague on human kind i am now unable to even look at any book by james hawes without feeling angry . that is the depth of hatred i have for this piece of sht . no  that  s unfair . let me apologise to all fecal matter for comparing you to the otherworldly evil that is rancid aluminium .  br    br   plain and simply a cancer on the world of cinema .  
i recommend watching this film with your significant other if you  re planning a romantic evening with him  her . the chemistry between johnny weissmuller and maureen o  sullivan as tarzan and jane is so steamy it could fog up your screen .  br    br   after the original film  we begin to see how tarzan and jane have adapted to the jungle and to each other . jane  s skimpy jungle wear and tarzan  s protest when jane covers up for their visitors illuminates that they are not just romantically  but also quite sexually in love .  br    br   one  s imagination can supplement the constant touching and love talk between tarzan  jane to portray how much jane is actually teaching tarzan about love emotionally  romantically and sexually . and jane  s student is not only embracing but also thriving with his previously untapped sexuality .  br    br   the skin show in this film is off the charts . in addition to jane  s two  piece sexy midriff  leg  and hip baring costume  she also has an underwater nude swim with tarzan .  although it is not o  sullivan  but olympic swimmer josephine mckim who doubles for her in this scene  weissmuller  also reveals a tremendous body and perfect pectorals in his barely there loincloth . the ladies will delight when weissmuller emerges from the water after his lengthy fight with the giant crocodile and sounds his yell  with his water soaked loincloth practically falling off his hips .  br    br   it  s a shame that the over  protective censors toned down the adult nature of the tarzan films after this entry . although the weissmuller tarzan films would still prosper in the years to come  they would rarely approach the sex appeal of this movie .  
where do you begin with a movie as bad as this   br    br   do you mention the cast of unlikeable heroes  the over  the  top acting  the dreadful script   br    br   no . you just say that anyone who pays money to see a film as poor as this needs their head looking at . i know i do . i respect those poor guys who saw it with little or no advance word from mags like empire  usually a bad sign if a preview copy isn  t available to the quality movie mags  . however  cinemas really should start thinking about giving out refunds if the customer isn  t happy with the finished product .  br    br   i went three days after it opened with two other mates . the only other person in the cinema was one bloke on his own .  br    br   and that was on cheap night .  br    br   either the ad campaign had failed dismally or word had spread through most of the country of just what a stinker this is .  br    br   not since the days of the avengers       have i felt so short changed since watching a movie . if a mate comes round with this on video in a few months make sure he pays your electricity bill while watching it .  br    br   tara fitzgerald deserves an award for not cracking up  or walking off the set keith allen retains some dignity amid the cinematic carnage barry foster should have been arrested on the set for his performance  rhys ifans does his career no favours after the success of notting hill and only dani behr is halfway likeable as a busty secretary .  br    br   mind you  considering she used to be in the word  any viewers  expectations of her acting ability had to be pretty low to begin with .  br    br   the production values aren  t bad considering the obviously limited budget but that script is atrocious . if you want to hear a bunch of unlikeable characters say  fak   for a couple of hours then this should be right up your street .  br    br   otherwise  bargepoles required .  br    br    
as noted by other reviewers this is one of the best tarzan movies . unlike others however  i like the beginning of the film as it feels like a pretty accurate depiction of what a trading post must have been like . plus the exposition is needed so we know why harry wants to go back into the jungle . in addition the beginning of the film contains one of the most thrilling and terrifying chase sequences ever made . this occurs when harry  s safari group has to outrun a tribe of cannibals . the pre  censorship production values add a lot of realism  genuinely depicting the terrible dangers that awaited europeans going into the jungle . the film also offers  though perhaps antecedently  an accurate account of how horribly treated the native africans were by their white employers . in addition sexy jane  thousands of elephants  some great sets and two chetas  not to be missed an adventure classic .  
this is a film that had a lot to live down to . on the year of its release legendary film critic barry norman considered it the worst film of the year and i  d heard nothing but bad things about it especially a plot that was criticised for being too complicated  br    br   to be honest the plot is something of a red herring and the film suffers even more when the word  plot  is used because as far as i can see there is no plot as such . there  s something involving russian gangsters  a character called pete thompson who  s trying to get his wife sarah pregnant  and an irish bloke called sean . how they all fit into something called a  plot  i  m not sure . it  s difficult to explain the plots of guy ritchie films but if you watch any of his films i  m sure we can all agree that they all posses one no matter how complicated they may seem on first viewing . likewise a james bond film though the plots are stretched out with action scenes . you will have a serious problem believing rancid aluminium has any type of central plot that can be cogently explained  br    br   taking a look at the cast list will ring enough warning bells as to what sort of film you  ll be watching . sadie frost has appeared in some of the worst british films made in the last   years and she  s doing nothing to become inconsistent . steven berkoff gives acting a bad name  and he plays a character called kant which sums up the wit of this movie  while one of the supporting characters is played by a tv presenter presumably because no serious actress would be seen dead in this  br    br   the only good thing i can say about this movie is that it  s utterly forgettable . i saw it a few days ago and immediately after watching i was going to write a very long a critical review warning people what they are letting themselves in for by watching  but by now i  ve mainly forgotten why . but this doesn  t alter the fact that i remember disliking this piece of crap immensely  
considered by almost all the critics to be the best of the johnny weissmuller tarzan films  i have no argument with that  although there are a couple of others i thought just as entertaining . one thing it  s the longest of the series that i  ve seen at    minutes . i  ve only seen six of them but this was longer than i  m used to and with the drawn  out action finale i thought the whole thing was a bit too long .  br    br   nonetheless  it is a good mixture of action  suspense and romance . the only things missing are color and stereo sound . the primitive special  effects don  t bother me  as that was all that they had back in the     s .  br    br   among some  this film is most noted for one thing skin   jane  never wore anything this skimpy after this film as the hays  code was instituted by the time the next tarzan film was made . her outfit showed what a great figure maureen o  sullivan possessed . the nude underwater scene  however  was not her  by a longshot . the woman under the water didn  t have a good figure at all  whoever it was .  br    br   there is plenty of action in here . up to the finale  it was not overdone  either . the ending went on for   minutes  though  and was so intense that it was almost too much to watch .  br    br   still  this movie offers about everything  except  boy   their adopted son   you  d want to see in a tarzan film  even o  sullivan doing her tarzan yell about a dozen times . with her pair of  lungs   that was no problem .  
in recent times i have been subjected to both this movie and  king arthur   on dvds chosen by others for an evening  s  entertainment  and together they achieve nothing more than bearing out a growing notion i have that the modern movie  watching public totally lacks discrimination  and is content as long as they get  action  . both movies were utter rubbish .  br    br   whatever happened to character development  whatever happened to meaningful dialogue  whatever happened to acting  and  when watching something that vaguely purports to be  historical   whatever happened to attempting to capture some measure of accuracy  some realistic idea of the  political map  of the time  even some slight flavour of the era  especially in its social attitudes . why do they all have to display the value set of   st century america  i have read on the message boards of disclaimers that  little was known  of the dark ages . not so . considerable amounts are known  with much learned scholarship on the era  but these jokers simply couldn  t be bothered to do any homework .  br    br   i only wish i could vote      
there  s something wonderful about the fact that a movie made in     can be head and shoulders above every tarzan movie that followed it  including the bloated and boring     s piece greystoke . once the viewer gets past the first three scenes  which are admittedly dull  tarzan and his mate takes off like a shot  offering non  stop action  humor  and romance . maureen o  sullivan is charming and beautiful as jane and walks off with the movie . weismuller is solid as well . highly recommended .  
elizabeth ward gracen  who will probably only be remembered as one of bill clinton  s  bimbo eruptions   they have pills for that now   is probably the weakest element of this show . it really continues the tired formula of the highlander series  the hero immortal encounters another immortal with flashbacks about the last time they met  but there is some conflict  and there is a sword fight at the end where you have a cheap special effects sequence .  br    br   then you have the character of nick wolf . basically  your typical unshaven    s hero  with the typical  sexual tension  storyline .  seriously  why do you hollywood types think sexual tension is more interesting than sex .  this was a joint canadian  french production  so half the series takes place in vancouver imitating new york  and the other half is in paris . . . just like highlander did .  
although the recent re  telling of part of homer  s epic  troy  with brad pitt was entertaining once   iphigenia  with the incandescent irene pappas is breathtaking . unfolding in a natural setting with greek actors speaking their own language lends such authenticity . a chance encounter with this film on one of directv  s many movie channels kept me interested in spite of my concentration problems . there is no glitter or  bling  in this movie  just a fabulously rich story impeccably told by actors so real one feels they are eavesdropping on a real family in turmoil . i think even homer  if he really existed  would be proud of this telling .  br    br   jlh  
this movie was one of the worst i  ve ever seen . pure drivel . how anyone could develop a connection with the heroine  or have empathy for her  is beyond me . i felt i was watching a case history of a schizoid individual with borderline personality disorder . just terrible .  br    br   in its most generous light  this can be seen as an attempt at producing and  art  film  except i could not  for the life of me  find any art in it at all .  br    br   if this woman had lived in todays  world  she would have been whisked off to a mental institution and given a couple of days treatment with anti  psychotic medications . that  or simply allowed to roam the streets and become a bag woman . why other characters in this movie found anything redeeming in her  and tried to aid her in her quest to become an actress  speaks more to their pathology than any convincing characteristics she had that made her worth that effort .  
the release of tarzan the ape man  in      caused a sensation . it may be hard to believe    years later  but the film had much of the same kind of impact as the matrix  or the lord of the rings has achieved  at a time when movies and radio were the major sources of entertainment . tarzan became an instant pop icon  the  noble savage  that every woman fantasized about  and every man wished he could be . the only person unhappy about the situation was edgar rice burroughs  who  while he  d agreed to mgm  s creative liberties  and enjoyed his hefty royalty checks  felt the  dumbed down  version of his character  with no plans to allow him to  grow   was unfaithful to his vision  he would start a production company  and soon be making his own  tarzan  films  . mgm  realizing the value of it  s newest  star   knew the sequel would have to be even more spectacular than the original . . . and tarzan and his mate delivered   br    br   the film had an interesting back story cedric gibbons  mgm  s legendary art director  had gotten a commitment from the studio to direct the sequel  prior to the release of tarzan the ape man  despite the fact that he  d never directed before  the studio hadn  t anticipated the film  s impact  and didn  t think a novice director would matter much on a  novelty  film . . . and they wanted to keep their oscar  winning department chief happy  . gibbons  a prodigiously talented and imaginative visual artist  loved the freedom of pre  code hollywood  and decided to have tarzan and his mate  push the envelope  to the limit . . . tarzan and jane would frolic in a nude swim  and jane would appear topless through most of the film . maureen o  sullivan said in an interview shortly before her death  in      that while a double was used for the swim  she trusted the studio  and did  a couple of days  of filming sans top . . . but it became too much of a headache trying to strategically place plants and fruit to block her nipples  and the idea was abandoned  the film shot those days would be worth a fortune   she did do a nude silhouette scene in a tent  flashed her breasts at the conclusion of her  swim   and donned a revised  jungle  costume that was extremely provocative  very thin  and open at the sides . . . and the resulting outcry would help  create  the hays office  and the self  censorship that would soon engulf the entire industry .  br    br   mgm yanked gibbons from the production  the  official  reason given was his workload as art director   and veteran jack conway was listed as the new director  to appease the critics . . . although james c . mckay actually directed the film  as conway was busy on  other projects  including viva villa   br    br   the film incorporated the best elements of the original  safaris  murderous tribes  tarzan fighting jungle beasts to the death to save jane   and actually improved on the storytelling . harry holt  neil hamilton   from the first film  returns to africa for ivory from the  elephants  graveyard   and to try to seduce jane into returning to england  with gifts of silk dresses  underwear  and perfume . he brings with him martin arlington  paul cavanagh   a crack shot and inveterate womanizer  who sneers at holt  s chivalrous pursuit of jane  and stalks her as a potential  conquest   to be had by any means  including killing tarzan  if and when he can get away with it without being seen  .  br    br   tarzan barely tolerates the intrusion into his happy life with jane  and puts his foot down  refusing to allow the hunters into the graveyard . arlington finds his opportunity  catching the ape man alone  and shoots him  then returns to the camp with a fabricated story of his demise . now jane has no reason to remain in the jungle  and she can direct them to the graveyard  before her long voyage back to england  comforted by the oh  so  sympathetic arlington . but a savage tribe and hideous torture await the group . . . can tarzan  being nursed back to health by his ape  family   recover in time to save jane   br    br   while stock footage is again used extensively  the racial stereotypes of the   s are apparent  and the gorillas are obviously actors in ape suits  tarzan and his mate achieves a level of sophistication unsurpassed in any other  tarzan  film  as well as a sexiness that even bo derek  s blatantly erotic tarzan  the ape man couldn  t touch . johnny weissmuller was in peak condition  physically  maureen o  sullivan was never more beautiful  and  africa  never looked more romantic  and dangerous .  br    br   tarzan and his mate was a triumph  although it would be drastically edited for many years   and remains the classic of the series  to this day   
by far the worst movie of all time . even yaphet kotto could not save this turkey . i have heard that the movie was originally supposed to be titled  the treasure  but was changed to  sharks  treasure  in order to take advantage of the excitement created by  jaws  . i think sharks were in one scene of this movie the fact that they happened to be included in this  thriller  was supposed to sell tickets . didn  t work . anytime something  good  happens in the movie  the ship  s crew toasts each other with a certain brand of beer that had just been introduced at the time the movie was made . gee  do ya think that beer might have been a sponsor  could they have made it any more obvious  the only time anyone should break out the beer is if they make it through this thing . that  s cause enough for celebration .  
has anyone been able to buy this movie  my uncle  hutch  was a real  not reel  pilot who is seen tossing his wings in the air and then snatching them with his fist as he was awarded his pilot  s wings .  br    br   he  s only on screen a few seconds but my family would love to have the movie . he was killed in a dogfight over italy  he was only   at the time . do we know the film studio that made it   br    br   or has anyone seen it at a video store  like blockbuster  i wish they would make entire catalogs of these old movies available as it is so cheap to make dvd  s these days .  br    br   please email me at nfny   yahoo . com if you know where i can buy a copy . thank you .  
sheesh  what a dreadful movie . dodgy camera work  a script with more corn than kellogg  s  and acting so hammy you could open a pig farm with it .  br    br   to cap it all  it doesn  t know which audience to aim at  we have cornel wilde  or is that corny wilde   getting on his soap box about the hazards of smoking any time someone lights a cigarette  dear oh dear  and in another awkward scene we have the baddie  lobo  forcing his  ahem  if you will   male friend  to do a striptease dressed in a bikini . try explaining that one to the kids . . .  br    br   throw in an overly contrived treasure island  cum  jaws type storyline  and the result is a film so unintentionally funny  it  s enjoyable  i shouldn  t expect a special edition dvd any time soon  though .  
i saw this movie once as a kid on the late  late show and fell in love with it .  br    br   it took    years  but i recently did find it on dvd  it wasn  t cheap  either  in a catalog that specialized in war movies . we watched it last night for the first time . the audio was good  however it was grainy and had the trailers between reels . even so  it was better than i remembered it . i was also impressed at how true it was to the play .  br    br   the catalog is around here someplace . if you  re sincere in finding it  fire me a missive and i  ll see if i can get you the info . cartwrightbrideyahoo . com  
cornel wilde and three dumbbells search for sunken treasure in the south atlantic .  br    br   the treasure  hunters led by wilde fight a group of territorial sharks with cute little sneers on their hungry faces . wilde and his merry men must find a way to take themselves off the menu so they can begin excavating an old spanish galleon filled with gold bullion .  br    br   after the crew engages in a small eternity of pushing  shoving  arguing  and listening to wilde  s annoying health tips   crazy convicts board the boat and complicate things . now it is a battle of wits as to who gets the treasure and who gets to see what the inside of a shark  s stomach looks like .  br    br   at least wilde is in shape wearing exactly the same thing he wore in  the naked prey    years earlier and he has remained in excellent condition .  br    br   made on a budget of   cents .  
william wyler was to have directed this adaptation of moss hart  s hit broadway play with music  recruiting poster  vivant  but his own military commitments intervened and it went to a most unlikely helmsman george cukor . the  women  s director  has a sure touch on the many documentary  like sequences of air corps training  and he invests it with more unhackneyed humanity than the genre generally allowed  particularly in wartime . sure  the gee  whiz  and entirely white  save for one unbilled chinese  american recruit  bunch of newbies are nicer and more wholesome than in real life  and the speechifying about home and mom and the wife and kid gets pretty thick  but it  s efficient propaganda and undeniably stirring . notable  too  for the all  military male cast  several of whom didn  t reemerge for years lon mcallister  edmond o  brien  martin ritt  red buttons  in drag  as an andrews sister   peter lind hayes  karl malden  kevin mccarthy  gary merrill  lee j . cobb  and don taylor . also for a very early glimpse of judy holliday  who doesn  t show up till an hour and a half into the picture but has some good little sequences as o  brien  s worried  sick brooklyn spouse . too bad its rights are in a tangle and the only print anyone knows of is   mm evidently  after twentieth century fox released it  to considerable success   the rights reverted to the army  and if there  s a good   mm print out there  it probably lies somewhere in the bowels of the pentagon . it  s disingenuous and corny in spots  but it also captures the rigors of military training and the terrors of war vividly  and it deserves to be more widely seen .  
this movie was a real torture fest to sit through . its first mistake is treating nuclear power as so self  evidently a  bad thing  that it barely needs to convince the audience of it . when it does stoop to putting in its argument  it has the participants breathlessly deliver barely substantiated facts  all that  s missing is someone crying  when is someone going to think of the children   . while watching this movie  i kept thinking  where  d you hear that   or  that can  t possibly be true   yet little of the info was backed up by any reliable sources . and bless  em  the  regular folks  in the movie came across more like luddites than people with any understanding of the pros and cons of nuclear power to be fair  that might be the fault of the film  makers  but equally fairly  it  s a condition shared by the movie  s rock stars .  br    br   as for the performers . . . . . . . . . . . now some of these people are highly respected musicians whose music i  ve enjoyed  and i  m sure a few of them really did believe in this cause . but they all come across as wheezing old hippies desperately searching for something to get worked up over  now that the   s have passed them by . particularly embarrassing are graham nash and james taylor . nash seems to be trying too hard  he looks like he can  t possibly believe the things he  s being told  not that i blame him   but desperate to feel noticed and included . james taylor performs what has to be the wimpiest protest  anthem  ever   stand and fight   in the most sickeningly cheerful way you can imagine . in fact  most of the performances are pretty bland when they  re not being patronizing . nobody seems worked up by this event  as if it really doesn  t mean much to them at all . it  s worth noting that the driving force behind this whole event seems to be john hall  of the band orleans  and responsible for some of the wimpiest mor pop of the   s .  remember  if you dare   dance with me  and  still the one  .  it  s worth noting because that  s symbolic of how the cause here fails to inspire any real passion in the music . the cause is supposedly life  or  death  but everybody sleepwalks through their numbers like they  re playing the catskills . except maybe gil  scott heron  his protest number  we almost lost detroit  is on topic at least  but delivered with all the smugness of a high  schooler impressed with how  controversial  he  s being .  br    br   only bruce springsteen  s performance raises a pulse i  ve never been a big fan of the boss  but he absolutely smokes  no question . part of me thinks he was taped separately  at another event  and edited into this movie to give wake the audience . compared to the general blandness and air of self  satisfaction here  it  s no wonder bruce was hailed as the savior of rock  n  roll .  br    br   but even his performance is hobbled by the lifeless concert shooting . i don  t expect a lot of flashy camera movement from a    s film  but the shots are unnecessarily static  broken up only by split  second cutaways to a back  up singer  s tonsils . now  some of this may be because the performers are lifeless to start with and maybe the film  makers are more skilled at shooting documentaries than concert footage  but all you have to do is watch  rust never sleeps  or  the last waltz  to see a movie like this done with more skill . and with more exciting musicians .  br    br   so really  there  s only two things to watch this movie for springsteen  s stellar performance  and as a sad snapshot about a counter  culture in decline .  
this movie gets it right . as a former usaf aviation cadet  i can tell you this movie has it all . the tedium of the application process . the waiting for word . the joy of acceptance . the worry about making it through the course . the sorrow of watching one  s buddies  perhaps the best of them  wash out . the anguish of paying the ultimate price  the death of fllow student airmen . the glory of graduation . always the flying  the flying  the flying . many are called but few are chosen . we did for pay what we would have eagerly paid to do .  
ok  i have been a huge fan of the black for a long time and was disgusted after seeing this film . let  s name the problems . . . first this film has much of the same crew that the first two had . it has also been called the prequel to the original black stallion . why is it that they can  t get shetan  s dam  s name correct or her color   in the black stallion returns  we learn the sagr was the black  s chestnut mother and in this film she is a gray mare name jenny          wtf  and it  s set in africa in     and     . . . i could be wrong but the first one was set in the      s as well when the ship wrecks . time line doesn  t sound quite right to me . also  as a goof  there is a friesian in the beginning of the movie that is supposed to be shetan  s father . . . upon further notice it appears to be a gelding . ben ishaak is the only character that remained to even make this film appear to be related to the previous two in any way . might be a cute family film to some but it  s my biggest movie disappointment of the year .  
this movie has always been a favorite of mine since first seeing it as a   year old kid in     when it was shown on a los angeles television station  s  late show  . the characters are very engaging from the start of the picture  and it is too bad that the movie has never been released for video tape  nor is it ever shown on television  apparently due to a prohibition by the estate of moss hart  the playwright  producer  director who wrote the story and first presented it on the new york stage during wwii   the reason for denying its showing is hard to fathom more than   years after it was made  . i did not see the movie again for over   years  when someone who had actually been a major cast member of the movie was able to get me a  bootlegged  copy on vhs  poor video quality  but good audio  . my memory of it was correct it was still an engaging and fascinating movie to watch . an amazing aspect of this film is just how many of its stars  just starting out in their careers at the time       went on to became either major motion picture stars or at least well  known and fully  employed actors  e . g . judy holliday  edmond o  brien  jeanne crain  barry nelson  don taylor  karl malden  peter lind hayes  george  superman   reeves  red buttons  lee j . cobb  kevin mccarthy  and gary merrill  . the scenes with the b    liberators are terrific  especially the close  up shots where the details of the giant  for those times    engine bomber  then        manufactured  now nearly extinct  can be seen . good insight into the different levels of training that a pilot  cadet went through on his way to being assigned to a bomber crew  of course  very gender  biased as was the trend of the day only the men became pilots  the women just supported them in their roles   hardly acceptable in today  s world  . i hope someday it will be released onto video for a new generation to enjoy .  
i understand that this movie is made for kids and as a parent i have sat through many movies that don  t particularly hold my interest  but i can appreciate from a constructive point of view in how it is being received by my children . parents are supposed to be encouraged after all to take part in their children  s activities and to monitor the quality of the entertainment that they view so there should be something that appeals to an adult audience on some level even in children  s movies . disney has always understood this which is why it is so hard to fathom how it could allow such a complete piece of drek to bear their name .  br    br   technically  the sound editing is horrible and all dialog sounds over  dubbed and unnatural . personally i hate that  but it was doubly awful considering the dialog itself seemed as though it was written by a   year old for a school project . the  acting  reminded me of a school play and none of the child actors had any range of emotion in their voices . thankfully it was a very short movie .  br    br   now  before i come off like a video  geek measuring a kids movie with an adult yard stick  the one thing that can save even the worst children  s movie is a positive message . far be it from me to determine how a message has to be delivered so long as the right one is . let us take a walk through this film to see what messages are given  br    br   if you are lost  don  t worry  you will inevitably find your way home .  br    br   approach wild animals without any fear .  br    br   you can win any competition just because you  know  you can .  br    br   and my favorite  the final message left in the film  br    br   it  s okay to disobey authority figures and do what you think is right .  
i had a personal interest in this movie . when i was   and just out of high school i got a job at   th century fox as a member of the laborers and hod carriers union . at the end of my first day  sweeping the deck of an aircraft carrier  i was told to bring a suitcase the next morning with enough clothes etc . for one or two weeks . when i arrived the next morning a bus was waiting and about   of us headed south toward san diego . just short of there we stopped at an army base called either camp callan or camp hahn . once we were bunked in we went north a few miles into camp pendleton  the big marine base . there  on the beach  we started building what was supposed to be a japanese pacific island base . it took us about a week or ten days to complete the installation  which included a water tank  gun entrenchments  sand  bagged trenches and living quarters . all this was at very high pay  sometimes  golden time   which was triple our regular hourly wage . our food was also first rate  prime rib at lunch  etc .  which was amazing because it was wartime and very hard to get good meat at home .  br    br   once the job was finished i waited eagerly for the movie to come out  which was about eight or ten months later . then i waited eagerly through two hours of the movie before my handiwork finally came on screen . then it was no more than three or four minutes  maybe less  of the movie  s heroes dive bombing the base and blowing it to smithereens . a bit disappointing  but still fun .  br    br   in spite of the disappointment i enjoyed the movie and have not seen it since . i learned later that this movie was underwritten by the government and fox was paid on a cost plus basis  which maybe accounts for our extravagant pay and lifestyle down there . bob weverka  
this extremely weak australian excuse for a motion picture is sort of like the pavlov dog experiment amongst horror movies . you remember this famous  conditioned reflex  experiment from your school books  right  the russian scientist pavlov proved that dogs tended to salivate before the food actually came into their mouths and this through repetitive routines stimulating the animal  s reflexes . pavlov rung a bell a couple of instants before the food was delivered to the dog and  after a while  he became anxious and excited and already started salivating from hearing the sound of the bell . what the hell has this whole boring explanation in common with a sleazy and low  budgeted aussie slasher flick  i hear you think  well  the modus operandi of the maniacal killer in  nightmares  is an exact variant on pavlov  s experiment . each and every single murder sequence is preceded by the raw sound and image of the killer breaking a window  because he  she insists on using a sharp piece of glass to slice up the victims . so this means that  after a short while  inattentive and bored viewers can afford to doze off and simply look up again when they hear the sound of shattering glass . that way they still don  t miss anything special   br    br   regarding the quality of  nightmares  as a film i can be very brief . this is a cheap  uninspired and largely imbecilic aussie cash  in on the contemporary popular trend of american slasher movies . in the early    s  a four  year  old witnesses the cruel death of her mother as her throat gets slit open in a nasty car accident . twenty years later the same girl  helen selleck  is a successful stage actress  but she still has severe mental issues and regularly suffers from horrible flashbacks and traumatic nightmares . she auditions for a role in a black comedy play revolving on death and gets the part . shortly after the big premiere  everyone who  s even remotely involved with the production gets slaughtered . it is truly retarded how this movie attempts to uphold the mystery regarding the killer  s identity and motivations even though even the most infantile viewer can figure it out after the first murder already . i don  t think i  ve ever seen a more obvious whodunit than  nightmares  and the creators should have just showed his  her face straight away and save themselves from embarrassment . the murders are explicit and very bloody and there  s also an unhealthy large amount of gratuitous nudity to  enjoy  . however  the production values are poor and thus the movie is never at one point shocking or provocative . the few clips we get to see of the actual play make it appear that it quite possible could be the worst thing ever performed on stage . the only positive elements in the film are the characters of the director and the gay newspaper critic  whom are both delightfully sarcastic and insult the rest of the cast members as much as we do .  nightmares  is a dreadful piece of exploitative horror cinema  but hey  at least i gave you a golden tip to make it more digestible .  
this movie is a ripoff of james cain  s novel  the postman always rings twice . apparently  the director and producer never bothered to pay for rights to this story   perhaps the fact that we were in the middle of fighting the italians in wwii might account for their forgetting to consider royalties  despite this  the movie isn  t really just an italian version of the hollywood movie . in some ways it  s a lot better and in other ways  it is definitely not .  br    br   the three central characters in this movie are really pretty ugly people . in fact  the male and female lovers are a bit icky  looking . the male lead is pretty ordinary except for his profuse body hair  particularly on the back and shoulders  and his lady love is  to put it frankly  unattractive . they are a very  very far cry from lana turner and john garfield in the hollywood version . and the ill  fated husband is really  really obese and loves to walk around shirtless   and his counterpart in the american film  cecil kellaway is definitely better looking  and probably better looking than the other two italian leads  actually  . and this unattractiveness is generally a reason i actually preferred the italian film   since i just could not imagine a finely coiffed  dish  like lana turner in the middle of nowhere married to kellaway   i am     sure she would have had dozens of better offers  whereas  the italian wife frankly might not have been able to do much better and this made the marriage actually believable .  br    br   part of the italian film  s believability comes from the blunt way it handles sex . the sanitized american film tries to make you believe that although turner and garfield kill kellaway  they never actually get around to sex  this is pretty silly and totally unrealistic . in addition to the casual sexuality of the film  it  s also pretty casual in showing the seamy side of life   with lots of sweaty people  a fly strip hanging over the kitchen table and everyone appeared to need a bath .  br    br   the movie is also pretty fast  paced compared to the over  long american film . and what you get due to brevity isn  t all good . the film lacks a lot of the style and polish of the american film   with grainier footage  relatively poor orchestration and sets . it sure ain  t a pretty film  but the neo  realistic  like style makes the film seem more realistic . but it cannot make up for the short  cuts in the plot . many of the plot elements in the later american version are either missing entirely or glossed over . and the ending seems a lot less interesting than the american film   and misses the entire human nature dilemma when turner and garfield turn on each other like rats  the best part of the american film  .  br    br   so which is the better film  well  a lot of this probably depends on you . as for me  the warner brothers film was simply too polished and too unrealistic  though many like this style and may dislike watching films with subtitles    but it packed a great ending . and the italian film was much  much more realistic   until the crappy ending that seemed too rushed . so neither film is exactly great  but i  d give my nod to the italian one being a bit better . it  s too bad they couldn  t have combined the best elements of both films into one exceptional film .  
jenny neumann  from the sexploitation flick mistress of the apes  the american slasher hell night and others  is helen selleck  an american actress who gets a lead role in an australian stage production . she  s a virgin because as a little girl she saw her mom having sex and then accidentally caused the car accident that killed her . meanwhile  a black  gloved killer prowls around the theater slashing up people with shards of glass .  br    br   major spoiler  br    br   the killer is obviously helen  she speaks in her dead mother  s voice  washes blood off her hands after the murders and is seen killing a child molester with a broken bottle as a little girl    but this has gratuitous heavy  breathing pov camera  work and conceals the identity of the murderer until the very end like it  s supposed to be some big surprise .  br    br   the entire cast seems obsessed with talking about  having or trying to have sex  and  in one case  even blackmailing their way into getting laid . there  s quite a bit of nudity and blood  but there  s no sense of continuity  the photography is murky and the editing  by colin eggleston  who also scripted and produced  is terrible . the theater setting for a slasher film predates soavi  s film of the same name and argento  s opera  both of which are better than this one  by five years though  and neumann is pretty hot .  
the ruth snyder  judd gray murder in     inspired ogden nash to write a broadway play called machinal . more famously  it inspired james m . cain to write two short novels which anyone who has actually reached the point where they are reading this review would be familiar with  double indemnity and the postman always rings twice . both became film noir classics of the      s  double indemnity being arguably the most perfect noir ever made . some of the real  life elements of the snyder  gray story were captured by cain  the old age and indifference of albert gray  ruth  s high sex drive  ruth and judd  s passionate affair and complicity in the murder and that famous double indemnity insurance clause . missing elements included the fact that the actual setting was a very urban manhattan  albert snyder being a respected newspaper editor . the numerous incompetent and failed attempts were also ignored in order to cut to the chase .  br    br   cain  s double indemnity was filmed perfectly by billy wilder  let  s ignore stanwyck  s ridiculous wig as one of those interesting accidents of film lore  the postman always rings twice  however  was filmed thrice and ossessione  an italian version and luchino visconti  s first film  was the first of three versions . before commenting on it  i  ll recommend the lana turner  john garfield version of     in its entirety and five minutes of the     jack nicholson  jessica lange version for the great sex scene on the dining table .  br    br   ossessione is not as noirish as the postman always rings twice . it has a strong neo  realist look which makes it a great movie  but a lot of the essential noir elements are missing . it does not have low  key lighting and unconventional camera angles . the dialog is not hard  boiled and instead the film concentrates more on characterization . this is the longest version of the story and goes deeply into characterization . its also a lot more sexual than the lana turner version . we have a very obvious adulterous relationship and giovanna is very obviously a nymphomaniac . a new character is introduced into the story  la spagnola  with very obvious homosexual overtones . there is also a small  but very well  played role for a dancer who moonlights as a prostitute .  br    br   this is a far greater study of the working class than of crime . the audience really gets the feeling of poverty and grime . the drifter is a complete tramp  the wife is no lana turner and may even have been a prostitute before marriage . her husband is an obscene capitalist  obese  rude and arrogant . i think the casting was brilliant for this film . my only beef is with the overlong running time . everything is drawn out too long and it would have been more effective if it had been more economical . nevertheless  fans of noir and realism will definitely like ossessione  as i did .  
this is a direct sequel to  the mummy  s hand         because the lead character  stephen banning  played by dick foran  is now thirty years older and is relating the story  with the help of archival footage  to his son  s fianc . there are only two unusual aspects to the film the early death of banning  and the presence of turhan bey .  br    br   lon chaney as the mummy kharis gets top billing  though given the nature of his role  he has little more to do than limp along or thrash his arms about . there  s nothing scary about his presence  except for his attempt to carry off the fianc  isobel  elyse knox  . dick foran gets second billing  but he  s killed off within the first fifteen minutes  we  d have to wait until  psycho        when a lead character  janet leigh  dies way before the end of the movie  banning  s buddy from the first film  babe jenson  now henson   shows up a little later looking much  much  older and not doing any of the comic shtick he did in the original . it  s hard to believe it  s the same actor  unfortunately  this great acting job is wasted because he gets killed by kharis after only two brief scenes . it  s then left up to banning  s son john  played by bit player john hubbard  to led the chase to the cemetery   no  the sheriff leads a torch wielding mob to banning  s house to burn it down and kill the mummy . sound universally familiar   br    br   turhan bey is introduced to audiences as the new high priest  mehmet bey  to care for and feed tana leaves to kharis . with his  exotic  voice and appearance  it  s too bad he gets so easily killed . a better movie would have had  babe  take von helsing type charge of things in tracking down the mummy  with a final decisive battle with him and mehmet bay . but instead we have a pedestrian rehash of different set pieces from previous universal horror films  put together by the hack griffin jay who wrote many of universal  s other clunkers  although he also did  don winslow of the navy        as well as  don winslow of the coast guard        which also featured elyse knox .  br    br   elyse knox played anne howe in six joe palooka movies             and of course  turhan bey  with   movie and tv credits  is great in the title role of  the amazing dr . x        .  br    br   the cinematography is much darker and more atmospheric  with lots of noirish shadows in the sheriff  s office  than the first  kharis  mummy film  but there  s little else of interest or excitement .  br    br   i  ll give it a  .  
well  i  d heard from somewhere that ossessione is a precursor to the italian film genre  and particular favourite of mine  the  giallo  . . . but actually  aside from the fact that this is a thriller that was made in italy the two have pretty much no relation . in the sixties and seventies  italian film  makers would get themselves a reputation for ripping off just about every successful american film released . they  ve not done that here  but ossessione does follow almost the exact same story as the later american film  the postman always rings twice   without giving the book  s author  james m . cain  so much as a credit  anyway  the plot focuses on gino costa  a handsome drifter who  by chance  stumbles upon a caf where a woman named giovanna bragana works . he soon learns that she  s married to giuseppe a big fat annoying man  whom giovanna can  t stand to have even touching her . he wants the pair of them to run away together  but she  s not so keen on the idea . however  fate ends up intervening and her plan to have her husband murdered is successful . . .  br    br   despite the fact that the film loses some credibility for not crediting the author whose story it  s based on  it has to be said that director luchino visconti implements the film noir style well  and in a way i even prefer the atmosphere of this film to some of the bigger american noir classics . the story is  as you would expect  extremely strong and the visconti manages to pull good performances out of his cast . visconti drags the film out a little bit too much  however  and with a running time of almost    minutes  i felt that the story was too thin to warrant this kind of length . i almost feel guilty for levelling all this criticism at ossessione as it is a good film  but it  s not a  great  film . the relationship between the two central characters is never really explored properly  and it seems like the film is keener to distract us from it rather than let us into the characters  heads . there  s not much mystery to the plot as we pretty much always know what  s going on  and by not always focusing on the characters themselves the film is not as interesting as it could have been . still  it makes for an interesting viewing and comes recommended for that reason . . . although it  s not as good as the     version of the same james m . cain classic .  
the mummy  s tomb starts with a review of the events in the mummy  s hand and then moves the story forward several years and across the ocean to the united states of america where the current high priest and the mummy kharis set out to wreak havoc and take revenge on those who violated the tomb in the past .  br    br   while i absolutely loved  the mummy  with boris karloff as the mummy imhotep  and quite liked  the mummy  s hand  with tom tyler as kharis  which is the direct prequel to this film   i was not as taken with  the mummy  s tomb  .  br    br   it is made in a similar style as the previous film and has a somewhat similar plot albeit in a new setting . lon chaney jr is okay as kharis  but doesn  t really stand out . and i guess that  s my main criticism of this movie  that nothing really stands out . there  s nothing really terrible here  but nothing really outstanding either  so the viewer is left with a rather bland mummy  s tale .  
with iphigenia  mikhali cacoyannis is perhaps the first film director to have successfully brought the feel of ancient greek theatre to the screen . his own screenplay  an adaptation of euripides  tragedy  was far from easy  compared to that of the other two films of the trilogy he directed . the story has been very carefully deconstructed from euripides  version and placed in a logical  strictly chronological framework  better conforming to the modern methods of cinematic story  telling . cacoyannis also added some characters to his film that do not appear in euripides  tragedy odysseus  calchas  and the army . this was done in order to make some of euripides  points regarding war  the church  and government clearer . finally  cacoyannis  iphigenia ending is somewhat ambiguous when compared to euripides  .  br    br   the film was shot on location at aulis . the director of photography  giorgos arvanitis  shows us a rugged but beautiful greece  where since the homeric days time seems to have stood still . he takes advantage of the bodies  the arid land  the ruins  the intense light and the darkness . the harshness of the landscape is particularly fitting to the souls of the characters . the camera uses the whole gamut of available shots  from the very long  reinforcing the vastness and desolation of the landscape  as well as the human scale involved  to the extreme close  ups  dissecting and probing deep into the soul of the tormented characters . in particular  the film  s opening  with a bold  accelerating tracking shot along a line of beached boats  followed by an aerial view of the many thousands of soldiers lying listlessly on the beach  is a very effective means of communicating agamemnon  s awesome political and military responsibility .  br    br   no word but  sublime  can describe the stunning performances of costa kazakos  agamemnon   irene papas  clytemnestra   and tatiana papamoschou  iphigenia  . kazakos and papas embody the sublimity of the classical greece tragedy . kazakos  character is extremely down  to  earth  and his powerful look into the camera  more than his words  reveals the unbelievable torment tearing his soul . irene papas is the modern quintessence of classic greek plays . in iphigenia  she is terrible in her anguish  and even more so for what we know will be her vengeance . tatiana papamoskou  in her first role on the screen  is outstanding in her portray of the innocent iphigenia  which contrasts with kazakos  austere depiction of her father  agamemnon .  br    br   cacoyannis is faithful to euripides in his representation of the other characters odysseus is a sly  scheming politician  achilles  a vain  narcissistic warrior  menalaus is self centered  obsessed with his honor  eager to be avenged  and to have his wife and property restored .  br    br   the costumes and sets are realistic no hollywood there . agamemnon  s quarters resembles a barn  he dresses  as do the others  in utilitarian  hand  woven  simple garb . clytemnestra  s royal caravan is made up of rough  hewn wooden carts .  br    br   the music is by the prolific contemporary music composer mikis theodorakis . theodorakis  score intensifies the dramatic and cinematographic unfolding  reflects on the psychological aspect of the tragedy  and accentuates its dimensions and actuality .  br    br   this film and the story it narrates offer considerable insight into the lost world of ancient greek thought that was the crucible for so much of our modern civilization . it teaches us much about ourselves as individuals and as social and political creatures . euripides questions the value of war and patriotism when measured against the simple virtues of family and love  and reflects on woman  s vulnerable position in a world of manly violence . in his adaptation of euripides  tragedy  cacoyannis revisits all of these themes in a modern  clear  and dramatic fashion .  br    br   the relationships governing the political machinations are clearly demonstrated war corrupts and destroys the human soul to such an extent that neither the individual nor the group can function normally any longer . with the possible exception of menelaus  whose honor has been tarnished by his own wife  s elopement with her lover  everyone else has his own private motivation for going to war with troy  which has nothing to do with helen the thirst for power  agamemnon   greed  the army  odysseus   or glory  achilles  . and so in a real sense  helen became the wmd of the trojan war . the war  stripped of all homeric glamor and religious sanctioning  was just an imperialist venture  spurred primarily by the desire for material gain  all else being a convenient pretext .  br    br   another conflict raised in the film is that between the church and the state . calchas  who represents the church  feeling the challenge to his priestly authority and wishing to destroy agamemnon for the insult to the goddess he serves  tells him to sacrifice his daughter . in consenting to the sacrifice  the king comes closer to his moral undoing  but in refusing  loses his power over the masses  his army   who are brainwashed by religion . of course  for agamemnon  it  s a game . the king must go along with the charade whether he honestly believes in the gods or not  until he realizes  too late  that he has ensnared himself into committing a despicable filicide .  br    br   is it a sacrifice or a murder  and how can we tell the difference between the two  by focusing on the violent and primitive horror of a human sacrifice   and  worst of all  the sacrifice of one  s own child   euripides  cacoyannis creates a drama that is at once deeply political and agonizingly personal . it touches on a most complex and delicate ethical problem facing any society the dire conflict between the needs of the individual versus those of the society . in the case of iphigenia  however  as in the biblical tale of abraham and isaac  the father is asked to kill his own child  by his own hand . what sort of god would insist on such payment  can it be just or moral  even if divinely inspired  finally  does the daughter  s sacrificial death differ from the deaths of all the sons and daughters who are being sent to war  these are many deep questions raised by a two  hour film .  
i  ve seen this film because i had do  my job includes seeing movies of all kinds  . i couldn  t stop thinking  who gave money to make such an awful film and also submit it to cannes festival   it wasn  t only boring  the actors were awful as well . it was one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen .  
europa  zentropa  is a masterpiece that gives the viewer the excitement that must have come with the birth of the narrative film nearly a century ago . this film is truly unique  and a work of genius . the camerawork and the editing are brilliant  and combined with the narrative tropes of alienation used in the film  creates an eerie and unforgettable cinematic experience .  br    br   the participation of barbara suwkowa and eddie constantine in the cast are two guilty pleasures that should be seen and enjoyed . max von sydow provides his great voice as the narrator .  br    br   a one of a kind movie  four stars  highest rating  .  
this film is just plain horrible . john ritter doing pratt falls     of the actors delivering their lines as if they were reading them from cue cards  poor editing  horrible sound mixing  dialogue is tough to pick up in places over the background noise   and a plot that really goes nowhere . i didn  t think i  d ever say this  but dorothy stratten is not the worst actress in this film . there are at least  others that suck more . patti hansen delivers her lines with the passion of ben stein . i started to wonder if she wasn  t dead inside . even bogdanovich  s kids are awful  the oldest one is definitely reading her lines from a cue card  . this movie is seriously horrible . there  s a reason bogdanovich couldn  t get another project until  years later . please don  t watch it . if you see it in your television listings  cancel your cable . if a friend suggests it to you  reconsider your friendship . if your spouse wants to watch it  you  re better off finding another soulmate . i  d rather gouge my eyes out with lawn darts than sit through this piece of garbage again . if i could sum this film up in one word  that word would be suckotrocity  
ossessione  br    br   luchino visconti  s debut film  this italian noir is generally credited with launching the neorealist movement   well  it says so right on the back of the box   and is a sometimes penetrating  sometimes lugubrious portrait of lonesome individuals in moral flux . set in fascist italy  an assortment of supporting characters   including an ingenuous drifter who espouses communist virtues   embody the remote desperations of a country searching for its identity from without  drifting phantasms longing for a soul . although visconti  s compassion for the disenfranchised and his ability to express their lamentable conditions was already well  developed  the spider web of deceit is tenuous   although a staple of noir is to posit a protagonist manipulated by fate and the femme fatale  gino here is so unhinged to begin with that you fear he might deserve it   the cosmic irony too didactic  the illicit relationship strained with bathos . all the same  it  s incisive and essential  although its actual impact on film history is certainly debatable .  
  st watched            out of    dir  harold young   the  rd universal mummy movie is about the same as the first two as far as the final result from the viewer  s perspective . the story is similar and the results are ho  hum . this time the story  s location is the u . s . as the egyptian priest  s new follower sends a mummy to our country in hopes he can revive him to kill descendants of those who opened the original tomb . this time the mummy is played by lon chaney  which doesn  t make much of a difference because he  s really not asked to do much acting for this character  . the new priest becomes a morgue  keeper in the town and sends the mummy out to do his dirty deeds after feeding him the tanna leaf juice . again  a girl gets in the way  as the priest falls for one of the descendent  s fianc and wants her  yes    to be immortal with him  haven  t we heard this before   . the plan is  of course  thwarted as the townsfolk hunt down the mummy with torches  similar to the frankenstein monster  and the burning of the creature ends the story . . . how do they get a sequel   i guess you  ll find out with the next one in the series   or not . . . . .  
audiences today will probably watch a film like ossessione and not really consider how unprecedented it was during the time when it came out . the structure of the film really divorces from sap  happy hollywood conventionsas well as other major theatrical elements . it relies more upon depicting reality in a very grim and sober light . films of this naturethe neo  realist filmswere made to reflect the darkness felt during post  world war ii times . ossessione tackles some fairly provocative issues that were probably unseen on screen prior to the war  including adultery  conspiracy  murder  pregnancy  etc . aside from the one crane shot and certain musical swelling moments  the film aesthetic is very raw and gritty shot on  location  uses natural lighting and most likely non  popular actors . all of these elements helped convey the issues explored in the film  yielding the following theme negative karmic repercussions will haunt those who deliberately act immorally .  br    br   the two leadsgino and giovannaare polar opposites  yet both carry the mentality we  re bored and we want to be entertained . gino is a drifter a lone traveler who embraces life and its constant fluctuations . giovanna is a bored house  wife cemented in the familiarly of marital permanence she doesn  t want to leave her home and husband  but would rather remain where she is because it  s safer . gino  s lifestyle represents the ideal lifestyle giovanna craves the only difference is that she  s too afraid to live it herselfthat  s why she falls in love with gino he represents everything she wants but doesn  t have the courage to get . she wants to live in a world free from the monotony of living with her corpulent husbandgino is the perfect ticket into that world . the affair that ensues between the two most likely left audiences back in the    s feeling somewhat uneasy . i mean  films prior to the neo  realist age never showed such scandalous behavior on screen before . to say the least it was probably a bit alarming .  br    br   in conjunction with the theme  the neo  realist style helps show the negative repercussions of adulterous behavior . succinctly put  adulterous behavior  as shown in the film  leads to depressing and ultimately deadened lives . when gino and giovanna conspire with each other to  eliminate  giovanna  s husband  karma comes to haunt them like a plague after the deed is done . they return to their home the atmosphere is dark and biting  as can be expected from the neo  realist style  . they are not happy they  re actually more depressed . they thought that by eliminating giovanna  s husband that they  d live happier lives  but they were duped . the film ends with giovanna  s deathit being in karmic similitude of her husband  s death . i think this is a very satisfying ending for several reasons . here  s why .  br    br   there  s a lot of talk as to whether or not evil should be depicted on screen  and if so  to what extent . i think depicting evil is very necessary if and only if the evil depicted is not being glorified  but rather shows what negative consequences evil actions have . as the subtext of ossessione asks  is adultery and murder evil  i think the film eagerly responds yes  the adulterous behavior between the two reveals how unhappy they are . ironically though  towards the end of the film when they seem to be healed of their depression and are seen basking in each other  s arms inside the car  the author of the film shows that their happiness is  in fact  a faade the car crashes off the cliff and into the river  killing giovanna the police arrest gino . i think it was the author  s intention to say that even though people sometimes try and justify their immoral behavior  in the end karma will come back to haunt them . i agree . i think the two got what was coming to them because they both were incredibly selfishalways wanting instant gratification and not willing to endure through hard times . this was especially made clear after the first sign of difficulty that gino and giovanna experience in their relationship he can  t handle the pressure of living in giovanna  s husband shadow  so he leaves giovanna and sleeps with another girl . such is typical of the insatiable  hedonistic personality .  br    br   all in all  the film seemed very risky for its time . the audience  however  was prepared to see such a film because of the sobriety the war brought . those pre  war  happy  go  lucky films were no longer being believed . movie  going audiences were ready to see and contemplate difficult films with complex characters they wanted to see characters whose lives were entangled in so  called  sin  because it was a reflection of their own life problems . ossessione  then  acts as a great catalyst for where the future of film was heading . that is  a lot of the naturalism pieces we see today can be said to have been influenced by the neo  realist film movement .  
nothing will ruin a movie as much as the combination of a poor script and poor direction . this is the case with  the mummy  s tomb .   br    br   the script is leftover ideas from older  better universal horror flicks like  dracula  and  frankenstein .  the direction is trite and stale . the acting is mediocre . even chaney  s kharis is feeble compared to tom tyler  s in  the mummy  s hand   and the producers are foolish enough to add footage from christy cabanne  s vastly better prequel and point up the weakness of their own film   br    br   universal realized how bad this movie was  and essentially remade it from scratch two years later as  the mummy  s ghost  with a much better script and better director . the result was likely the best film in their four film  mummy  cycle  although not anywhere near as good as karl freund  s     original .  br    br   cabanne  s footage raises this film to a  . the  new  stuff is a  at best . dick foran and wallace ford were probably glad to see their characters bumped off so they wouldn  t have to appear in dreck like this anymore   
oh  those sneaky italians . it  s not the first time they based a movie on source material without the permission or knowledge of the  in this case  author of the novel . of course this is not something that is typically italian but got done quite a lot in the early days of cinema  mostly because they often thought they would be able to get away with it . james m . cain  s publishers managed to keep this movie off american screens until     but nevertheless the movie itself has grown a bit into a well known classic .  br    br   the movie is not as great to watch as the     american version but it  s a great movie nevertheless . this of course not in the least is due to the movie it  s great strong story  that is an intriguing one and provides the movie with some great characters and realism . it follows the novel quite closely and is therefore mostly the same as other movie versions of its story  with of course as a difference that it got set in an italian environment .  br    br   leave it up to the italians to make a movie about life and the real people in it . these early drama  s always have a very realistic feeling over it and are therefore also quite involving to watch . unfortunately the movie lost some of its power toward the end  when the movie started to feel a bit overlong and dragging in parts . the movie could had easily ended   minutes earlier .  br    br   nevertheless  i don  t really have much else negative to say about this movie . it  s simply a greatly made one  based on some equally great and strong source material . quite an impressive directorial debut for luchino visconti  who continued to direct some many more great and memorable italian dramatic movies .  br    br        
cheap  mediocre sequel to the successful  the mummy  s hand  has presumably dead evil professor andoheb  george zucco  preparing his predecessor mehemet bey  turhan bey  for the quest of revenge overseas to america using mummy kharis  lon chaney  jr who has no reason being in the disguise . . any stunt man could do the same credible work lumbering around and choking victims  in the goal of killing the surviving members of the banning family whose patriarch stephen  dick foran  and assistant babe hanson  wallace ford  retrieved the mummified corpse of princess ananka from her tomb in egypt . . andoheb considers this an outlandish act of desecration and wants the family to suffer for doing such an awful deed towards an ancient egyptian custom . bey and the mummy kharis find a nice hideaway in a cemetery where the high priest of karnak can work as a caretaker in disguise . every full moon  bey will feed kharis a form of liquid derived of several tana leaves which will keep him not only alive but subservient to his master  s wishes . bey commands kharis to kill stephen and his sister jane  mary gordon   while also biding time for babe to return so that he will become victim   . dr . john banning  john hubbard  plans to wed isobel  elyse knox   but doesn  t know that bey secretly covets his fianc making plans to kidnap her with kharis  help . john  s life is in danger because of his father . . he  s also the last remaining member of the banning line . if bey has isobel  there  s no chance of any more bannings being born . the police must find kharis and the one responsible for his carnage . . bey .  br    br   this film is a continuation from hand set years later as members of that film  foran  ford  zucco all appear in  aging  make  up providing wrinkles showing the gaps in time as andoheb has been preparing for the deaths of the bannings . the cornball romance of john and isobel seems merely in this plot so that bey will screw up endangering his perfect plan which was being carried out successfully before he loused it up . and  bey merely sees her frolicking with john on the grass . . the whole  love  at  first  sight  rubbish really didn  t wash for me . plus you have the mummy being able to kill people with one arm . . is any mummy really that powerful  this film also uses a ton of footage from the previous film to save budget on this sequel to it . there really isn  t that much story here and yes  typical of universal monster pictures  even in america a mob of people will light . . ho hum . . torches going after kharis . you know how it  ll end . . john and the super  powerful kharis will square off in some huge mansion with fire burning all around them with the evil one being engulfed in flame .  
visconti  s first film has all his trademark visual flair and immaculate technique  accompanied by compelling performances from massimo girotti as the handsome drifter and  best of all  clara calamai as the fabulous  frantic giovanna . remade several times as  the postman rings twice  but never bettered . can  t believe this was the man  s first film  it shows the confidence of someone at the zenith of their career .  
a resurrected wrapped monster goes on a murdering binge . a lunatic is seeking revenge against living members of a previous expedition . universal seems to be running out of wrapping as well as new ideas . most of the budget was probably spent on lon chaney jr . to star as kharis  the mummy .  br    br   other players are george zucco  wallace ford  turhan bey  dick foran and elyse knox .  br    br   how much longer can this madness continue   
i  m not sure under what circumstances director visconti decided to film james cain  s novel  the postman always rings twice   i  m not even sure if viscounti acquired the book  s rights   but the resulting movie is definitely interesting . it is not the best version of cain  s story  i like the     version best   but thanks to visconti  s excellent direction and the casting of clara calamai and massimo girotti  a very sensual couple   it is a must for noir fans . visconti mixes neorealism with noir sensibilities to great effect . the film is not perfect  though . my main complaint is that the film is a little too long for its own good the story moves at a very slow pace  i don  t think visconti was very good at editing his films  . i think film noir works better with a short running time . fortunately  calamai and girotti are magnetic actors that keep the viewer interested . anyhow  as much as i like this film and the remakes  i think no one has made the definitive version of cain  s much  praised book .  
william s . hart  as jim treen   the most eligible bachelor in canyon city  is finally getting hitched  to pretty blonde waitress leona hutton  as molly stewart  . his fiance doesn  t know it  but mr . hart is secretly the western town  s  most wanted  bandit . however  hart is planning to go straight  due to his marriage plans . unfortunately  ms . hutton discovers hart  s secret stash  whilst cleaning up his untidy cabin so  she calls off the wedding . next  hutton succumbs to the charms of mining swindler frank borzage  as w . sloane carey  .  br    br   serviceable entertainment from superstar hart he was ranked no less than   at the box office  by quigley publications  for the years     and      ahead of mary pickford  . the principles perform capably . later on  frank borzage was quite a director and leona hutton  a suicide . . .  br    br    a knight of the trails          william s . hart  william s . hart  leona hutton  frank borzage  
when people nowadays hear of a     s drama  they usually appear to create a distance of irony claiming that it  s another tearjerker with great stars in the lead of tragic  melancholic roles . this opinion  however  does not resemble neorealist movies  in particular this one directed by count luchino visconti . ossessione as his debut once censored and once cherished as nearly a realistic masterpiece is still loved by some people and strongly criticized by others . the contradictory opinions about the film that have appeared in these   years seem to have been caused by the content of the movie itself  exceptionally controversial for modern times as well as the past . at the same time  while being based on the novel by james m . cain  the postman always rings twice  it is one of the most genuine screen adaptations where director remains his own style  view  his own art . i have seen the film twice and the second viewing led me to very detailed analysis part of which i  d like to entail below .  br    br   first  visconti  s movie seems to touch all psychology and actions that people may do in life  in particular those absorbed by desire . these people make such tragic decisions in spite of terrible consequences they are bound to face . gino  massimo girotti  a traveler with  bear like shoulders  turns up at the crossroad of a motorway near ferrara and enters the tavern . although many people go there to have a meal  gino occurs to get something more  much more the indefatigable desire of beautiful giovanna  clara calamai  a woman already married to an elderly man who runs the bar  mr giuseppe bragana  juan de landa  . her body and her song possess his mind totally and from the moment of their first love  the couple plan to get rid of the old obstacle and build up a new life together . . . however  are people bound to wrong deeds in face of desire  can one build love upon murder  what is love and what is loyalty  does desire lead to a dangerous addiction or even obsession  such questions intensely arise while watching the movie  when  to the core  the viewer is supplied with an insight into characters .  we have to love each other affectionately  answers giovanna seemingly giving a cure to all crying conscience but may desirous love justify and cure everything   isn  t it what we both wanted  says one of the couple . . . it occurs that it  s not . therefore  the content of the film appears to be very dangerous if not analyzed with intellect and heart . yet  it constantly remains thought provoking .  br    br   second  ossessione has a very strong point that talks to modern viewers brilliant moments and marvelous cinematography  which go in pair with memorable sequences and visual power . these make a modern viewer realize that a film made almost   years ago is absolutely entertaining to watch . they range from tasteful erotic images to purely technical shots . who can possibly skip that moment in ferrara where gino meets a beautiful girl  a sort of  ragazza perfetta   perfect girl   a dancer anita and buys her ice cream . his desires show him totally different direction . . . do viewers remain indifferent at gino  giovanna  s first meeting  the first focus of camera is on giovanna  s legs seemingly representing carnal desire over love that gino experiences . a marvel of shot is gino and giovanna leaving the investigation room and the closeup of their shadows that directs our attention towards their suspicious look .  br    br   third  ossessione can boast outstanding performances both from the leading pair as well as the supporting cast . massimo girotti once said in an interview that working in this movie had been one of the most difficult jobs he had ever done yet  consequently  what comes out is a flawless acting . he portrays a bisexual man torn within desires who commits a crime but cannot stand any of the objects that remind him of his victim  which represents conscience . his bisexuality is indicated through the character of lo spagnolo  elio marcuzzo  whom he meets in very surprising circumstances in the train for ancona . clara calamai  who was cast in the role after eminent anna magnani had refused  fits very well to the role and we may claim that there is a true chemistry between the couple . they are both very convincing . besides  i liked juan de langa in the role of bragana he portrays an old husband not affectionate to his wife and still crazy about high art . in some of his most witty moments  he asks his wife to wash his back or walks in the empty streets singing his favorite opera songs after sort of karaoke performance .  br    br   in sum  we  as modern viewers who are capable of critical view  have to look at this film very objectively . it is art for sure thanks to the aspects aforementioned  it is a powerful story as well thanks to the controversy it carries yet  is it educational  visconti was not fellini who said that he did not carry any message for humanity . in such case  his films would only entertain  which is  of course  not entirely fellini  s style  too  . visconti always had something to convey . what did he want to say here  is the film against bad marriage  or is it against wrong actions of people absorbed by desire  the final shocking moments say for themselves . though you don  t have to agree with the vision  ossessione is really a wonderfully realistic film  one of visconti  s best      
this is a very bad western mainly because it is historically inaccurate . it looks as if it were shot on a back lot in california instead of where jack slade lived and died  idaho  colorado territories  and montana . it fictionalizes everything that is known about this mysterious  bad man    good man .  the script is horrible there is very little direction  and lousy acting . dorothy malone is completely wasted as his wife . mark steven never seems to know how to portray this mysterious jack slade . in real life  jack slade was a very good stage line superintendent . he was feared by his local townsmen for his hard drinking . when drunk he would start fights and cause other problems in virginia city  montana . to insure that he could never terrorize them again  vigilantes lynched jack slade after he ignored their warning to leave town immediately . this is a horrible movie . i can not recommend anyone to watch this movie other than to see how hollywood butches history at will  even to this day .  
a deplorable social condition triggers off the catastrophe an impoverished giovanna has ended up in the gutter  but still has an ace up her sleeve beauty and youth . bragana  a fat  bellied gas station tenant  who has been getting on in years  picks her up from the street and offers her bed and home together with his clumsy affection . but the physical contact that giovanna is now exposed to only gives her feelings of disgust  and consequently she does not see a benefactor in him but a tormentor whom she has to get rid of .  br    br   the arrival of gino  a young migrant worker  finally provides her the longed  for opportunity . and you don  t have to ask her twice at the very first encounter she gives him the feeling of being physically desired  and a little later she lets him seduce her without offering any resistance .  br    br   the developping partnership has to submit to the strict rules drawn up by giovanna though . gino  s yearning for freedom is suppressed  his desire to leave the place with giovanna and start a new life far away from the fatso is pushed aside . giovanna aims at another goal to get bragana killed  to inherit and  in addition to that  to collect the insurance premium . in her hands gino degenerates into a self  sacrificing tool . being completely at the mercy of this woman he turns into a cold  blooded killer .  br    br   but in contrast to giovanna he questions the committed crime on a moral level . the very taking over of bragana  s place  which includes the sleeping in the bed of a dead man  causes a deep loathing of himself . and later  after he has found out about the forthcoming payment of the insurance money and seems to see through giovanna  s cunningly devised plan  he also executes a physical separation from his lover and finds comfort in the arms of a prostitute .  br    br   if visconti  s film ended at this point  it could easily be classified as a condemnatory portrait of a cool  calculating and unscrupulous woman with a slight touch of social criticism . but then the last sequences make this carefully built construct of ideas collapse . at last giovanna feels remorseful about what she has done  and by the uncompromising revelation of her innermost feelings she succeeds in inflaming anew gino  s love . her violent death by an absurd road accident then does not only leave him helpless at the mercy of an arbitrary fate . it also affects us  while we realize that none of the acting characters is to be made responsible for their disaster . the culprit is just the state of a society that determines the way of the individual unalterably right from the start .  br    br    
back  again  in scotland  lassie is  again  on trial for her life . because the faithful dog sleeps on her master  s grave  she must be put to death  according to law . oddly  it is also explained that lassie had no  legal  owner  which is  apparently  also against an old scottish law . if  after three days  no owner is located  dogs must be destroyed . edmund gwenn  as john traill  pleads lassie  s case  which leads to an extended flashback  showing lassie  s adoption by donald crisp  as john  jock  gray  .  br    br   although it  s based on an interesting  original story   greyfriars bobby     challenge to lassie  revisits several earlier lassie situations and  it does not improve upon them . comparatively speaking  this one is sloppy and unexciting and  it  s a disappointing follow  up to  the sun comes up         . geraldine brooks  as susan brown  and several of the other performers may be charming  but can  t elevate this one . little jimmy hawkins  from  it  s a wonderful life   is among the notable children supporting lassie much later  he will grow up to marry  dark shadows   bewitching  angelique   lara parker  .  
to get in touch with the beauty of this film pay close attention to the sound track  not only the music  but the way all sounds help to weave the imagery . how beautifully the opening scene leading to the expulsion of gino establishes the theme of moral ambiguity  note the way music introduces the characters as we are led inside giovanna  s marriage . don  t expect to find much here of the political life of italy in     . that  s not what this is about . on the other hand  if you are susceptible to the music of images and sounds  you will be led into a word that reaches beyond neo  realism . by the end of the film we there are moments antonioni  like landscape that has more to do with the inner life of the characters than with real places . this is one of my favorite visconti films .  
the perfectly stupid weapon . i think the guys dancing at the beginning of one of steven segal  s movies was intented to mock jeff doing his forms to dance music at the beginning of this stupid movie . the plot is predictable  the fights were fair and jeff acts about as well as the sofa he beats with some sort of weapon in one scene .  
tcm is keeping me awake all the time . . . they keep coming up with films ive never heard of . . . senso . . . . now ossessione . . . a very early film by visconti   . . . wow . . . the italian version of the postman always rings twice . . . brilliant   beautifully acted and directed . . . never heard of either leads who were excellent  clara calamai  as giovanna  and especially  massimo girotti as gino . . . what a sensual man   more muscular and attractive than anyone else on the screen in        his look was ahead of its time . . . many male stars from the     s were probably inspired by him . . . he should have been a major world wide star   the film is much better than the jack nicholson  jessica lange version and less glossier than the mgm version  which i really like  with john garfield and lana turner remember that white outfit  who can forget . . . . this italian version is different . . more realistic and with a very different ending . . . see it watch it . . . im going to buy it    
  br    br   get your brewskies out and enjoy this flawed action flick . speakman  s considerable kempo skill  nice spin kicks  decent with the sticks  poor couch   is the only redeeming quality of a movie that just cries bad acting . the plot isn  t half bad just executed pretty poorly . but if you  re seeing this movie for anything other than martial arts  you  re missing the boat entirely . and for a movie that is supposed to take place in koreatown  way way too few korean actors  even extras  .  
a masterful treatment of james caine  s  the postman always rings twice  as luchino visconti  s first film shot primarily around ferrara in a soulless war  torn italy . the original negative was thought destroyed but visconti saved a print and fortunately we can see this early neo  realist work today . a ruggedly handsome massimo girotti and clara calamai  who had recently revealed her breasts in la cena delle beffe         star as the sensually  charged and ill  fated lovers who plot to kill her husband . unusual ending in which  although crime does not pay  one pays in a way not directly linked to the crime . excellent direction  script  acting  and cinematography . reportedly not as good as the french  le dernier tournant        but probably better than the us version       featuring lana turner and john garfield in the lead roles . highly recommended .  
bad plot  though good for a b  movie   good fast  paced fight scenes  at most a  out of   . but something has always bothered me about this film how come mariska hargitay never speaks  in the tv version  she shares several intimate moments with jeff speakman  even a kiss in a garden . yet in the regular  video  version  most of her scenes are cut and she never speaks at all . this bothers me because it not only takes out a female  though cliched  point  of  view to the film  it also makes the final shot seem creepy . this film would have been better had they kept her scenes in  because in those scenes at least she has a personality  one that undercuts whatever speakman says .  
  iphigenia  is the great achievement of michael cacoyannis . this masterful play is masterfully adapted for the screen and brought to life by a wonderful cast . cacoyannis achieved the impossible . he managed to film a greek tragedy to screen without losing its effectiveness and importance . a stellar greek cast helps him in this . newcomer tatiana papamoschou is extremely impressive as iphigenia . equally impressive is irene papas  who even though she sometimes seems over the top  it is very realistic . a wonderful greek film  beautifully adapted and directed by michael cacoyannis  with an excellent music score by mikis theodorakis which is ideal in every scene .  br    br   p . s . rumours say that the film lost the best foreign language film oscar by only  vote     
overlong drama that isn  t capable of making any real point . so she became an actress  so what  she learned to love  big deal . there is a certain eccentricity among the characters and in the dialog and situations  but the kind which is bad for the movie  causing it to often seem absurd .  br    br   summer phoenix  playing the lead  talks and behaves like a semi  retarded person  so there is no choice but to watch the movie as about a retarded girl that makes it in the world of theater  which was clearly not the intended point . we are told early on  in that  barry lyndon   like narration  that she learned to hide her emotions  which certainly explains her autistic stone  face  but the movie suffers for it . she basically walks around like a zombie  and her success as an actress isn  t quite credible given her lack of emotions . occasionally  the movie had that dull  sleepy feel of a dogma   movie . is it one  i wouldn  t be at all surprised .  br    br   summer phoenix is sister of joaquim phoenix and the late river phoenix . nepotism rarely works .  br    br   if you  d like to see my hollywood nepotism list  with over    pictures  entries  contact me by e  mail .  
ossessione  adapted loosely  or if it is as loose or close to the version i saw of james m . cain  s the postman always rings twice with jack nicholson and jessica lange i can  t be certain  by first time director luchino visconti  is no less outstanding with usage of mis  en  scene  music  both diegetic and non  diegetic   and the acting . i didn  t know what to expect visconti to do in his approach to the material  after seeing la terra trema and seeing how sometimes his political motivations snuck in a little bit . but this is a totally character and emotional based drama  bordering on melodrama  however  without the conventions that bog down lesser ones   and with the style in the finest path of the budding film  noir movement  visconti creates a debut that  s as involving as any other neo  realist film . neo  realism  by the way  could rightfully be claimed as this being a forefather  along with de sica  s the children are watching us   which that would take shape after the war . although love and romance is more in play here than in some of the more famous neo  realist efforts  it  s dealt with in a bare  bones storytelling fashion  and it  s laced with other familiar themes in neo  realism  the lower  class  death  desperation  .  br    br   aside from the story  which is simply as it is described on this site  the artistry with which visconti captures the images  and then layers them with objects  a shawl over gino costa  s profile when in guilt   shadows and darkness that tend to overcome many of the later scenes in the film  usually over gian and giovanna   and the feel of the italian streets in many of the exterior scenes . domenico scala and aldo tonti  who would lens some of rossellini and fellini  s films  help in envisioning the look of ossessione  which is usually moving in on a character  then pausing to read as much emotion on their faces  their voices and mannerisms lovely and ugly  sad and dark and romantic . i think i  ve just scratched the surface on how effective it was that the film itself was moving me along  even as i was in fear of the futures of the two leads . the two leads  massimo girotti and clara calamai  portray all the compelling  truthful  and near  operatic emotions  and the key supporting actors are also without their attributes .  br    br   it  s a brilliant  crushing adaptation  and it points as a striking signpost of what was to come for visconti in his career .  
first of all  yes  animals have emotions . if you didn  t know that already  then i believe you are a moron . but let  s assume that none of us are morons . we all know that animals have emotions  and we now want to see how these emotions are manifest in nature  correct   br    br   what we get instead is a tedious and ridiculously simplistic documentary that attempts to show how animals are  human  . the filmmakers search high  low for footage of animals engaged in human  like behaviour  and when it happens they say   that monkey is almost human    that  s actually a direct quote  .  br    br   everything is in human terms . they waste time theorizing about what makes dogs  smile   but not once do they mention what a wagging tail means . the arrogance of these researchers is disgusting . they even go so far as to show chimpanzees dressed in human clothing and wearing a cowboy hat .  br    br   i had been expecting an insightful documentary of animals on their own terms . i wanted to learn how animals emote in their own languages . but instead  researchers keep falling back on pedantic  anthropomorphic observations and assumptions . add a cheezy soundtrack and images of chimps  celebrating christmas   and this was enough to turn my stomach .  br    br   but it doesn  t end there . half of this documentary is filmed not in the wild but in laboratories and experimental facilities . all the camera shots of chimps are through steel bars  and we see how these monkeys are crowded together in their sterile concrete cages . one particularly sobering moment happens near the beginning  though you have to be quick to notice it  where a captive monkey says in sign language   want out . hurry go .   br    br   obscure references are made to  stress tests  and psychological experiments which i shudder to imagine . baby monkeys are separated from their mothers at birth and are given wireframe dolls in order to prove that baby monkeys crave a  mother figure  . and after   years of experiments  the smug researchers pat themselves on the back for reaching their brilliant conclusion monkeys have emotions .  br    br   one chimp named  washoe  has been in a concrete cage since     for that purpose  and to this day she remains thus . we get a brief glimpse  again through bars  of her leaning against a concrete wall with a rather lackluster expression . personally  i don  t need to see any further experimental data . washoe  i apologize for our entire species .  
fascinating look at fascist italy and the people who carved out a life under mussolini . street scenes and lifestyle glimpses alone are worth watching . combine this with a masterful plot and premier acting and you get a film that you will want to watch again . . . and maybe again .  
i vaguely remember ben from my sci  fi fandom days of the    s  i was doing several interviews  bios of obscure actors  actresses  most notably ben  actress fay spain  and jody fair  who played angela in      s the young savages . ben was one of the people at a low  key sci  fi con in chicago  about      when i had a nice chat with him and his  career  and life . all these were published in some now  long  forgotten fanzine of the day . wish i still had copies of those interviews  but time marches on  and any of those people surely wouldn  t  remember me at all so many years later . ben was a really nice fellow  ekeing out a living  the cons of those days didn  t even pay their guest  unless  of course they were big  name stars  and even then the pay was a couple hundred dollars  at most  good to know ben  s still alive  kicking  how  bout a remake of creature  but   years older  ugly then  uglier now   
ossessione is in very bad state but is now undergoing a full restoration at digital film lab in copenhagen . the material used is a  master positive   nd generation originally from the print visconti managed to hide from the fascists . it has been scanned on the spirit  k  as  k rgb data  then processed using davinci revival restoration software . after this the rest is manual labor and we do not anticipate finishing before early spring . sometime next year it should be available on dvd and hopefully also released on hd dvd . this film is beautiful and we hope the restoration effort will be enjoyed by many generations to come .  
this movie deserves credit for its original approach . it combines elements of theater  film  and epic storytelling . unfortunately  it falls flat on all levels . the films biggest weakness is it  s unwillingness to commit to anything it has camp  moralistic  and epic elements without ever committing to any of them . as for the story itself  chretien de troyes is spinning in his grave at this horrible adaptation which turns the lovable  unbearably innocent percival into a most ungallant and rude churl .  br    br   most likely two types of people will see this  francophiles or arthuriophiles . speaking as one of the latter  i found the movie unwatchable and an incredibly shabby  disrespectful treatment of a beautiful story .  
gino costa  massimo girotti  is a young and handsome drifter who arrives in a road bar . he meets the young  beautiful and unsatisfied wife giovanna bragana  clara calamai  and her old and fat husband giuseppe bragana  juan de landa   owners of the bar . he trades his mechanical skills by some food and lodging  and has an affair with giovanna . they both decide to kill giuseppe  forging a car accident . the relationship of them become affect by the feeling of guilty and the investigation of the police . this masterpiece ends in a tragic way . the noir and neo  realistic movie of luchino visconti is outstanding . this is the first time that i watch this version of the postman always rings twice  . i loved the     version with lana turner  and the     version  where jack nicholson and jessica lange have one of the hottest sex scene in the history of the cinema  but this one is certainly the best . my vote is ten .  
and it doesn  t help rohmer  s case that a few years later syberberg came along and made a staggeringly great piece of work on the same subject  with a little help from wagner  .  br    br   maybe this movie didn  t look so paltry when it came out  without the syberberg film to compare it to  which was probably shot on an even smaller sound stage with fewer resources . i actually can  t recall at the moment whether there are horses in the syberberg film . all i know is  the german version is pure magic  while this one looks like some college production documented on film for archival purposes .  br    br   the music . . . la musique . . . isn  t even credited here on imdb . . . but someone based it on  airs from the   th    th centuries  or something . . . well it isn  t a great help to the film . it comes off as inauthentic and cheesy  comme le frommage mon cher     br    br   rohmer is one of those french auteurs who likes his leading men generally quite unattractive  too  and that doesn  t help matters . syberberg  s parsifal was adorable  and can be seen on german television today selling some kind of special bicycle he invented . . . .  br    br   i shudder to think what watching the syberberg on video is like . i remember that the last time i saw the film in a theater  the print was so bad that the experience was a whopping  hour travesty . but even then it would have to surpass what this version has to offer  i  m afraid .  br    br   points for earnestness  for chutzpah  but . . . this film simply needed beau  coup more bucks . it doesn  t look like a medieval manuscript it looks cheapo  bon marche   oh and yeah  it just ends very arbitrarily with parsifal going to church and this cheesy passion play being interjected . . . blah   
wow  the sort of movie you could watch ten times and still delight in its nuances . absolutely incredible  if this was visconti  s debut film  i shudder to think what would happen if he got any better from film to film . the only other one of his i  ve seen  at time of writing  is death in venice  which was absolutely incredible more dazzling visually than ossessione  obsession  . one of the most beautiful films i  ve ever seen  but its story was not as involving as ossessione . if you click on  miscellaneous  on this page  s links  there are stills from the movie on those websites . they won  t really do justice to the experience of the movie such graceful camera movements  such beautiful composition  such wonderful faces  such terrific characters  such a great story development  the first movie adapted from james m cain  s  the postman always rings twice .   br    br   i can  t believe this was made in    eight years before brando was supposed to have introduced realistic acting to the world with streetcar named desire       . the actors in this may not have used the method technique  ie they may not have truly felt everything themselves  i don  t know anything about it   but they  re some of the best  most genuine and realistic performances up to this date in cinema . also  eight years before streetcar named desire brought a new sensuality to the screen  ossessione was electrifyingly sensual  the most sensual thing since the beginning of cinema  yes  i  m being superlative  but ossessione was just that terrific .  br    br   the reason ossessione didn  t cause the impact streetcar did was that it was made in fascist italy and banned by mussolini  and re  cut in america . american audiences didn  t see its full glory till    eight years after streetcar .  br    br   i won  t say any more about it  just writing to tell you its one of the best  most beautiful and exciting movies i  ve ever seen  and tell you to go out and see it  like another reviewer  i  m going to buy it as soon as i can find it   
this movie is probably the worst i have seen . bad acting  bad script  bad everything . comparing it to mainly two other movies in the same genre and from approximately the same time is interesting . both cyborg  van damme       and nemesis  olivier gruner       are much better and seems more robust in both story and directing and still it  s albert pyun who has directed these two as well   br    br   the story is not original . the world has become a terrible place  possibly due to an environmental disaster or a nuclear war  and people live under medieval circumstances . a special breed of robots  cyborgs  live on human blood and there  s the story . . . the cyborgs need to get a lot of humans to fulfill there  prophecy  and the humans need someone to stop them . one girl together with a robot  kris kristofferson  built by the creator of the cyborgs has been appointed by destiny to save mankind .  br    br   in this movie the director tries some hong  kong stylish fighting scenes with the participants flying high and leaping far . the movie fails miserably in this attempt .  br    br   i recommend this film with the only reason that most people will get a new  worst ever  movie to relate to . and to fans of the genre i recommend  cyborg  since i think it  s a very underestimated movie with quite a high entertaining factor . and if you can  t stand van damme then check out  nemesis  .  br    br   i rated this movie     .  
luchino visconti was light years ahead of his contemporaries . the great directors of italy of the   s and   s were men who understood the medium  but it was luchino visconti  a man of vision  who dared to bring a film like to show what he was capable of doing . he clearly shows his genius early on in his distinguished career with  ossessione   a film based on james cain  s  the postman always ring twice   which was later made by hollywood  but that version pales in comparison with what visconti achieved in the movie . luchino visconti and his collaborators on the screen included an uncredited alberto moravia  a man who knew about the effect of passion on human beings .  br    br   the film has been well preserved in the dvd format we watched recently . the film is a must for all serious movie fans because we can see how visconti  s vision translated the text into a movie that rings true in a plausible way  something the american version lacked .  br    br   what comes across watching the movie  is the intensity which the director got from his key players . the magnificent clara calamai does an amazing job as giovanna  the woman who has married an older man  but when gino appears in her life  all she wants to do is rid herself of the kind man who gave her an opportunity in life . giovanna is one of the best creations in ms . calamai  s achievements in the italian cinema . the last sequence of the film shows ms . calamai at her best in the ironic twist that serves as the moral redemption for the monstrous crime that was committed .  br    br   equally excellent is massimo girotti  one of the best actors of his generation who appears as gino  the hunky man that awakens the obsessive passion in giovanna . gino is the perfect man for giovanna  something that mr . girotti projects with such ease and sophistication not equaled before in the screen . mr . girotti makes the man come alive in a performance that seems so easy  yet with another actor it might not have been so apparent . juan delanda is seen as giuseppe  the older man who fell in love with giovanna . in fact  his character rings truer than his counterpart in the american film  where he is seen more as a buffoon .  br    br   the film is beautifully photographed by domenic scala and aldo tonti . they gave the film a naturalistic look that was the way italian directors of the era favored . the original musical score of giuseppe rosati is perfect . visconti  a man who loved opera and was one of the best directors  also includes arias by bizet and verdi that fit well in the context of the movie .  br    br    ossessione  is a film to treasure because we see a great luchino visconti at the top of his form .  
still a sucker for pyun  s esthetic sense  i liked this movie  though the  unfinished  ending was a let  down . as usual  pyun develops a warped sense of humour and kathy long  s fights are extremely impressive . beautifully photographed  this has the feel it was done for the big screen .  
  some spoilers  i have not read the james m . cain novel  the postman always rings twice   on which this movie was based  so i cannot compare this film version to it  but i have seen and love the     us version  also entitled postman   .  br    br   even better is this gem from italy  which  i have read  was mutilated  in editing because of too many blatant references to the fascist regime . well  no matter  what is left is a fine piece of cinema  apparently the forerunner of the neo  realist movement in film  making . one can certainly see why  despite whatever harsh editing did go on  a pervading sense of societal and cultural  as well as personal oppression remains  hanging heavy over the protagonists  who therefore face many limits in life .  br    br   consider gino  the young drifter  not well educated  unemployed  and resorting to stowing away  stealing and conning people in order to get by  his one pair of shoes so threadbare as to be virtually useless .  br    br   in giovanna  he sees a way out  yet he should have kept going  as giovanna is oppressed by her loveless marriage to an older man with some money  her job  working at the trattoria for her husband  slaving away behind the bar and in the kitchen   and her sex . in the past  she had limited options  and decided to marry the restaurant  gas station owner  giuseppe bregana  played by juan de landa  anyway  knowing that he would not make her happy . she tells gino that she feels sick every time bregana touches her .  br    br   on the pretext of helping bregana fix his car and sending him into the village to buy a needed part  which he has in fact pocketed   gino wins bregana  s favor  promising also to fix the broken water pump  water symbolizing life  or lack thereof  and is left alone with giovanna . they immediately start a heated  passionate  yet volatile love affair .  br    br   gino soon feels stifled by the relationship  and feels the need to move on again when giovanna proposes that they dispose of her husband . wanting no part of it  gino leaves town on a train ride that he cannot afford  kindly paid for him by another gypsy  type man named spagnolo  a fellow train passenger . to gino  spagnolo represents a sort of freedom  and they become friends  spagnolo also symbolizes gino  s morality and conscience   traveling and finding work at a carnival together . finally gino has steady employment . to his dismay  he is not yet over his love for giovanna   a month has passed when bregana and his wife go to the carnival and bregana persuades gino to go back home  to live and work with them again  as he is handy to have around .  br    br   too weak  willed to resist  knowing this will reunite he and giovanna  gino agrees and goes back to stay with the couple . after a while he gives in to gina  s demands to get rid of her husband . once the evil deed is done  giovanna becomes more cold  blooded than ever  seeming to have very little conscience  while guilt and shame eat away at gino for hurting a man who never did him any harm . as much as he wants to leave her  he does again briefly  they are now inextricably linked  and must face the consequences .  br    br   i liked the way the spagnolo character came back into gino  s life to act as a judge of his misdeeds  that was very good  and interesting  adding another dimension to the story .  br    br   while the    u . s . version with lana turner and john garfield gets a bit lost in a quagmire of peripheral characters  especially the cops and the lawyers  ossessione does well to concentrate much more on the psychological effects of the crime on the lovers alone . this gives the final outcome even more potency  and makes a powerful statement reinforcing the helplessness inherent in the society in which the characters must live .  br    br   a minor quibble the amount of time  hardly any  that elapses before undying love is pronounced by the lovers  how quickly they kill the husband  there is no botched first attempt as in the u . s . version   gino  s very quick  to  escalate relationship with the dancer  hooker  they quickly profess their love as well  and she is willing to risk a great deal for a man she just met   all rather unrealistic  isn  t it  i found this time  frame problem quite distracting  it made me think that i must have missed something somewhere . otherwise  well worth the viewer  s time . the acting and direction were both uniformly good throughout . recommended .  
knights was just a beginning of a series  a pilot  one might say . the plot  i really shouldn  t call it that  there wasn  t any plot  wasn  t logical at all and there were many mistakes  like warning  i  m summarizing the plot  br    br   in the beginning of the movie someone said that there was only a couple of those cyborgs  the bad guys  but after the climax  nea found out that there were many many more left of them . and it was told that cyborgs were hard to kill  but after a month  s training  nea could kill them with a single blow .  br    br   the movie was just pure kicking . i wasn  t surprised at all  when i found out that the leading star was a kick boxer .  br    br   there was one positive thing in the whole movie it really gave a great deal of laughter when watching it and talking about it with my friends . i recommend watching it  if you are in need of laughter .  
visconti  s first feature  ossessione is an adaptation of james m . cain  s the postman always rings twice . now  i  m not familiar with that book or the other film versions  but i am a big fan of cain  s double indemnity  much more so than i am a fan of billy wilder  s film version of it  in fact  . the two novellas seem like they must be very similar . both involve an illicit love affair where a ravenous wife complains to a morally weak man that her husband is worthless and mean to her . giovanna  the woman in this italian version  played very well by clara calamai  is not evil incarnate like the wife in double indemnity  but she seems very spoiled . her husband  a great performance by juan de landa  is a bit cruel to her  but she strikes me like she is at least as uncompromising with him . he  s older than her and unattractive  so she  s rather fickle . when gino shows up  a young  muscular man  it takes her about five minutes to get him into bed . she sweats she wants to be with him forever  but she  s stuck with her husband . they break up at first  but when they meet again  they  apparently  although this is intentionally vague  plan to murder the husband . they are successful  and they move back to the woman  s home town to run the bar that her husband owned . gino is very unenthusiastic about this idea . he wants giovanna  but the one thing that he certainly doesn  t want is to sit around in one place for the rest of his life . their relationship quickly crumbles . ossessione is a very complex film with complex characters . it  s always fascinating  but it does go on a bit too long . at two hours and twenty  two minutes  i can  t  for the life of me  figure out how it took that long  this is partly due to the neorealist stylistics that visconti was inventing within this film . it was  after all  the first film that won that label . we see a lot of the action prolonged as it would be in real life  without any hurrying to the next plot point . i  ve seen many of visconti  s films  and the only one i like better than this one is rocco and his brothers       . his direction is as great as it ever was  with the camera moving brilliantly and the editing perfect . i also feel the need to point out the film  s best performance  by dhia christiani as a young  exotic  dancer and part  time prostitute named anita whom gino meets after he begins to try to break away from giovanna . she  s only in the film for maybe five or six minutes  and she has only a few lines . it  s shocking how much visconti and christiani are able to do with this character in such a short time . she  s absolutely heartbreaking .     .  
this move is about as bad as they come . i was  however forced to give it a  for the scenery . there are many great shots of the southwest including many in monument valley  one of the most breathtaking places in the us . it is also  starting with john ford  one of the most filmed . in fact one scene with kris and the girl was filmed on a place called john ford point .  
this is a haunting  powerful italian adaptation of james m . cain  s novel the postman always rings twice directed by the great luchino visconti . what is so interesting about the film is that in every way it transcends it  s source material to become something bolder and more original  interestingly camus also credits cain  s novel as the key inspiration for his landmark novel the stranger  . the film has a greater power and intensity than the novel because visconti is able to create the filmic equivalent of cain  s narrative structure but offer a more complex exploration of gender . cain  s very american novel is also uncritically fascinated with the construction of whiteness  the lead character cora is obsessively afraid she will be identified as a mexican and embarrassed that she married a greek immigrant   which is not relevant to the italian rural context that visconti is working in . this allows the class antagonisms to take center stage and dance among the embers of the passionate  doomed love affair of the two main characters . this film is a complex  suspenseful  rewarding experience .  
once in a while you get amazed over how bad a film can be  and how in the world anybody could raise money to make this kind of crap . there is absolutely no talent included in this film  from a crappy script  to a crappy story to crappy acting . amazing . . .  
watching  ossessione  today   more than  decades later   is still a powerful experience  especially for those interested in movie history and more specifically on how italian filmmakers changed movies forever  roughly from  ossessione  and de sica  s  i bambini ci guardano   both      up to   years later with fellini  antonioni  pasolini  . visconti makes an amazing directing dbut  taking the  uncredited  plot of  the postman always rings twice  as a guide to the development of his own themes .  br    br   it strikes us even today how ahead of its time  ossessione  was . shot in fascist italy during world war ii  think about it     it depicted scenes and themes that caused the film to be immediately banned from theaters   and the fact that it used the plot of a famous american novel and payed no copyright didn  t help .  br    br    ossessione  alarmingly reveals poverty  ridden war  time italy  far from the idealized italy depicted in fascist  telefoni bianchi  movies   but it  s also extremely daring in its sexual frankness  with shirtless hunk gino  massimo girotti  who definitely precedes brando  s kowalski in  a streetcar named desire   taking giovanna  clara calamai   a married woman  to bed just  minutes after they first meet . we watch calamai  s unglamorous  matter  of  fact undressing and the subtle but undeniable homosexual hints between gino and lo spagnolo  elio marcuzzo  a very appealing actor  his face not unlike pierre clmenti  s  who was shot by the nazis in      at   years old   . . . in a few words sex  lust  greed and poverty  as relentlessly as it had rarely  if ever  been shown before in italian cinema .  br    br   all the copies of  ossessione  were destroyed soon after its opening   it was called scandalous and immoral . visconti managed to save a print  and when the film was re  released after the war  most critics called it the front  runner of the neo  realist movement  preceding rossellini  s  roma citt aperta  and de sica  s  sciusci  . some other critics  perhaps more appropriately  saw  ossessione  as the italian counterpart to the  poetic realism  of french cinema  remember visconti had been renoir  s assistant   especially marcel carn  s  quai des brumes  and  le jour se lve   and julien duvivier  s  pp le moko  .  br    br   while  ossessione  may be neo  realistic in its visual language  the depiction of war  time paesan life in italy with its popular fairs  poverty  child labor  prostitution  bums  swindlers etc   the characters and the themes were already decidedly viscontian . he was always more interested in tragic  passionate  obsessive  greedy characters  in social  political  sexual apartheid  in the decadence of the elites than in realistic   everyday  life  characters and themes  favored by desica and rossellini . in  ossessione  we already find elements of drama and tragedy later developed in many of his films  especially  senso   visconti  s definitive departure from neo  realist aesthetics  and  rocco e suoi fratelli  . . . even in his most  neo  realist  film   la terra trema   he makes his fishermen rise from day  to  day characters to mythological figures .  br    br    ossessione  is a good opportunity to confirm the theory about great artists whose body of work approaches  analyzes and develops specific themes and concerns over and over again  from their first to their last opus  no matter if the scenery  background or time  setting may change   visconti may play with the frame but the themes and essence of his art are  well  obsessively recurrent .  ossessione  is not to be missed you  ll surely be fascinated by this ground  breaking  powerful film .  
vampire cyborgs rule the world and use the blood of humans as fuel  however there is going to be a shift of power thanks to a renegade android  kris kristofferson  and a warrior woman  kathly long  as they face off against lance henriksen and gary daniels  who play the cyborgs in this ridiculous movie  of all the questions left unanswered by this dreadful movie  the most poignant is who  s idea was it to cast country singer kris kristofferson as a cyborg warrior who is able to give as good as he gets . no  don  t get me wrong i could see kristofferson as a vigilante or something but not as a cyborg . strangely one suspects that this was written for dolph lundgren  however lundgren must have had the wisdom to not do it . however despite the disastrous casting  kristofferson is easily the most enjoyable thing about the movie . he gives a performance far more human then the inexpressive kathy long .  and kristofferson is playing a robot  despite the miscasting  kristofferson provides the few moments of interest . lance henriksen is slumming and gary daniels is wasted but basically knights is baffling failure . you stand back in horror wondering who the hell thought that this was even a good idea on paper .  this is a movie where a dismembered kristofferson is fighting robots in a backpack  worst of all it ends in a what if sequel  thankfully this has yet to materialize although i still have nightmares at the proposition of the likelihood of such an event .  br    br    out of    bad   
this is a really fun movie . one of those you can sit and mindlessly watch as the plot gets more and more twisted more and more funny . sally field  teri hatcher  in her hey  day   kevin klein  elisabeth shue  robert downey  jr . . . it  s all these well  known  quality actors acting as if they are soap opera stars  producers . if you have ever watched a soap opera and thought   how on earth did they come up with this idea     you will love this movie . i have seen it multiple times and each time i watch it  the more i appreciate the humor  the more i realize just how well  acted it really is . don  t expect oscar quality . this is a fun movie to entertain  not some artsy attempt at finding  man  s inner man   etc . sit back  relax  and laugh .  
a shame that even a talented director  desplechin  could not muster a decent performance out of a bleakly  talented actress  phoenix  esther kahn lacks the substance to convey a very concise and clear plot . in an attempt to fulfill the concentric circle of an actor  s plight  the performance and presentation is too contrived and poorly executed to draw any compassion from the viewer . in an overly long running time  the redundancy of esther  s struggle is too melodramatic to be effective and reduces the storyline into a frail frame of a disastrous display . the content is incoherent and gratuitous as phoenix struggles to carry out desplechin  s instruction  just as esther is supposedly trying to do the same . never feeling a convincing victory over esther  s pain  we never feel a victory in phoenix  s talent .  
well when watching this film late one night i was simple amazed by it  s greatness . fantastic script  great acting  costumes and special effects  and the plot twists  wow   in fact if you can see the ending coming you should become a writer yourself .  br    br   great  i would recommend this film to anyone  especially if i dont like them much .  br    br   terrific  
someone needed to make a car payment . . . this is truly awful . . . makes jean claude  s cyborg look like gone with the wind . . . this is an hour i wish i could sue to get back . . . luckily it produced severe somnolence . . . from which i fell asleep . how can actors of this caliber create this dog  i would rather spend the time watching algae grow on the side of a fish tank than partake of this wholly awful concoction of several genre . i now use the dvd as a coaster on my coffee table .   .   at walmart is far too much to spend on this movie . . . if you really have to have it  wait till they throw them out after they have carried them on the inventory for several years and are frustrated that they would not sell .  br    br   please for the love of god let this movie die of obscurity .  
when i started watching the show i said  oh  no  it  s as corny as elfen lied and not even that bloody   . and indeed  the setup is almost identical  with the single young boy living in a big house all by himself  then suddenly getting involved into a fantastic adventure while sexy young girls come live with him .  br    br   but this is where the resemblance stops . the love story is almost as subtle and intense as the one in inuiyasha  while the childish remarks and behaviors are very few . the magical setup is a bit corny  because it  s about seven people  with seven servants  fighting for the holy grail  all servants being someone famous  half of all masters being from the same school  rules of engagement  etc . however  this soon dims and fades from the beauty of the drawing and of the script .  br    br   i actually watched all   episodes in one day and  without comparing it with animes that i liked more  but were from other genres  i have to say that i was very pleased .  
you can  t really go far when the initial story isn  t all that great . the premise of cyborg  s needing blood is just dopey .  br    br   the script is blas  . the actors don  t have much to work with . the sets were staged out in the desert to cut costs . it  s a trademark that if the background is the desert  then the movie has no budget .  br    br   lack of budget is okay  if there  s a story .  solarbabies  and  blood of champions  are examples of decent work from no  . but this movie looks as if they had to scrape their change together just to buy the cameraman a sandwich . again  forgivable if only the story didn  t just plain suck .  br    br   finally  this movie commits the biggest crime of all it doesn  t finish  it simply ends as if it  s a commercial break away from the rest of the movie . but the rest never comes . just odd .  br    br   just bad .  
this anime seriously rocked my socks . when the anime first opened itself  i felt it was too slow the story wasn  t quite moving forward  and shirou was quite an unimpressive male lead . once he learns more about tracing  and you learn more about saber and the holy grail war itself  the story pans out and you can see multiple facets of it moving together . it was fantastic .  br    br   additionally  i felt that the way the characters developed was very true to form with the way real people develop  in the real world . there wasn  t any stupid completely obvious things going on the development of ilya and rin was interesting to watch  but i think the way shirou and saber grew in their certain personalities was just interesting to watch all on its on . a few of the  surprise  people that show up  gilgamesh   seemed to also be unique from the rest of the cast in one way or another  meaning we didn  t have  generic bad  ass a  being replaced by  generic bad  ass b  as soon as a died .  br    br   anddd  i loved the music . the opening music rocked  and the finishing theme from the final episode just . . . seriously pushed forward the theme of the last episode even more . good job  type  moon   
there is a word for this sort of film  and that word is  drivel .  it was drivel when it was a vhs rental  and it  s drivel on satellite re  runs now .  br    br   it might fool you  because it has  moderately well  known names in kistofferson and henriksen  reasonable soundtrack music  and nice monument valley scenery .  br    br   it also has some curly haired woman who fights a lot .  br    br   if that  s all you want from a movie  then maybe this will keep you happy .  br    br   it  s still drivel  though .  
fate  stay night is an animated series inspired by a h  game . somehow the producers turned it around making this a successful series without any of the h  stuff . it couldn  t have been any other way because the development of the characters is great just the way it  s pictured in this series and any alteration of that could only ruin perfection .  you  ll understand once you see all the episodes  .  br    br   despite a relatively slow start  the producer took his time on presenting the characters  things gain momentum quickly and soon after mid  series the action gets so intense that glues you to your seat .  br    br   the topic of the series concentrates on the war of holy grail that has been taking place in the fukuky city for the last   years . the pilot actually starts with the conclusion of the previous war and develops from there on . shiro is the only survivor of the fire that started during the last battle and enveloped a large portion of the city . he unwillingly witnesses a fight between two servants that triggers his reiju  holy mark  to summon one of the most powerful servants of the battlefield  saber . his first contact with saber left him stunned  such immeasurable beauty . . . i was at a lost for words  .  br    br   you mustn  t compare this series with any other to fully understand it  s plot . fsn offers much more than some cool sword fights  good animation  spectacular lights  great soundtrack  it offers excellent character and relationship development . it presents the changes that take place within the characters personalities as the events precipitate . the action reveals believable dynamic emotional and behavioral patterns of the individuals  not similar to the linear type other series use  that are constantly shaping their personalities to reveal  from under the mask of perfection  flawed characters .  br    br   the saber character is tied to a medieval legend that has been altered to fit this series and should be accepted as such . you shouldn  t watch fsn thinking that it doesn  t present the viewer with the historic fact  just remember that this is adventure  fantasy series and not a documentary and enjoy this as long as you can . the ending is sudden and unexpected and if there were twice as many episodes i would have watched them in the same breath .  
this movie will promote the improvement of the mind . read a book  it  s incredible anyone would think this movie deserved the time and investment to make . i  ve seen  b  movies before but the  c  movie has just been invented . i didn  t think i would ever enjoy power rangers since my kids stopped watching but i found myself looking for the videos fifteen minutes into  knights .  high school productions are better than this and the actors involved should erase this from their resume . embarrassment is one of many descriptions that come to mind . my roommate  who loves these types of movies even turned it off . now that has to really tell you something . if you watch this movie  and like it  i will pray for you .  
i have to agree with everyone else that has posted .  br    br   i watched it quite a while ago but i  ll tell you  whenever i hear certain music from this anime i am reminded of the story  the beautiful animation  the characters and the feeling i got when watching it  and it does make me cry  such a happy yet sad feeling  . i do however find that the love story in it felt alittle rushed and they didn  t explain things properly but it didn  t ruin any part of the viewing experience .  br    br   i was into this anime so much that after the end i just had to do some research  and watch the ending a few more times  and i found all my answers and a whole lot more . i love how they configured historical legends to fit into this anime  it was amazing and just made me want to research a whole lot more .  i  ve always been very interested in certain historical figures associated with this anime   br    br   i do think it should have been a longer series but if this is all they had to work with then they pulled it off nicely . i  d recommend this to anyone who likes emotional anime with an excellent story  well built characters  some mysterious  and a bit of fantasy action .  br    br   also  even though this was based on a h  game it doesn  t have any of that stuff in it and i actually prefer it this way .  i have no problem with mature anime  in most cases i prefer it   
i tuned into this thing one night on a cable channel a few minutes after the credits ran  so i didn  t know who had done it at first . the longer i saw it  the more i started thinking   jesus  this looks like an albert pyun flick .  wasn  t quite sure  though  for two main reasons the photography was quite good  and the utah desert scenery was beautiful   and scott paulin gave an hilarious performance as simon  a murderous cyborg  but with some style and a sense of humor . paulin must have ad  libbed the many clever one  liners he shot out  because albert pyun hasn  t written anything even remotely funny or coherent in his career . unfortunately  paulin doesn  t have all that much screen time before he  s gone  and the movie  s the worse for it . lance henriksen  playing the evil head cyborg  growls his way through his part  as he  s done in countless other movies like this . i don  t know what the hell kris kristofferson is doing in this thing maybe he wanted to see what the utah desert looked like and get paid for it . he goes through the movie looking  and sounding  like he just woke up  and in fact spends most of the last half of the movie on his back in a tent . kathy long  the nominal hero  has a great body  is attractive  has a great body  fights extremely well  has a great body  and doesn  t have an iota of acting talent  but that doesn  t matter in a movie like this . this being an albert pyun film  it  s full of the trademarks that we  ve all come to know and love inane and idiotic dialog  choppy editing  and the impression that they lost a reel in the middle of the picture and figured   ah  nobody  ll ever notice .   br    br   as bad as this movie is  however  it  s a shade above most of pyun  s other efforts   this is  citizen kane  compared to his brain  numbing  adrenaline feel the rush   for example . the fights are pretty well done  if repetitive  after she knocks down eight or nine guys one after the other  you find yourself saying   alright already  go to something else    and long is very athletic  and  as a previous poster has noted  has a great derrire  . it  s not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination  but it  s not anywhere near as incoherent and incompetent as pyun  s usual extravaganzas . you could do worse than rent this movie   not much worse  granted  but worse nonetheless .  
when i first heard about this series on animetv  i have to say that out of all the shows that i have seen  this one tops it all off . i had to see this show  and that is what i really did . when i got the first volume of this show  it was the best . i really liked the animation  and all the fight scenes were awesome . i have to say that my favorite characters in the show were saber  and archer and of course i also like illya . and of course  all the episodes on the volumes were interesting  and very cool . another thing i have to say about the series is michael mcconnohie  famous for transformers  and others  playing the voice of berserker . he does have a cool character . and i even watched the entire series all over again before watching the final volume . so if you to see something good  then see this show  it  s the best .  
in the ravaged wasteland of the future  mankind is terrorized by cyborgsrobots with human featuresthat have discovered a new source of fuel human blood . commanded by their vicious leader jb  lance henriksen   the cyborgs prepare to overtake taos  a densely populated human outpost .  br    br   only one force can stop jb  s death marchthe cyborg gabriel  kris kristofferson   who is programmed to destroy jb and his army .  br    br   in the ruins of a ransacked village  gabriel finds nea  kathy long   a beautiful young woman whose parents were killed by cyborgs ten years earlier . now she wants revenge . they strike a pact gabriel will train nea how to fight the cyborgs and nea will lead gabriel to taos .  br    br   five  time kick  boxing champion kathy long has all the right moves in this high  speed adventure that delivers plenty of action . also stars gary daniels  as david  and scott paulin  as simon  .  
i  ve watched the first   episodes and this series is simply amazing  i haven  t been this interested in an anime series since neon genesis evangelion . this series is actually based off an h  game  which i  m not sure if it  s been done before or not  i haven  t played the game  but from what i  ve heard it follows it very well .  br    br   i give this series a      . it has a great story  interesting characters  and some of the best animation i  ve seen . it also has some great japanese music in it too   br    br   if you haven  t seen this series yet  check it out . you can find subbed episodes on some anime websites out there  it  s straight out of japan .  
this is one of the two postapocalyptic fantasy movies that albert pyun made in      and it  s the bad one . apparently all his energy went into  nemesis  which was an entertaining non  stop action movie  and had a much more expensive look .  knights  is clunky and cheesy  a bottom  of  the  barrel sci  fi that too often resembles a video game  new opponents pop up all the time and must be exterminated as quickly as possible  . the only thing that saves this movie from the trash can is kathy long not a particularly attractive woman  but undeniably a brutally efficient fighting machine . as for kris kristofferson  considering his age at the time      i hope his stunt double was well paid .        
this movie probably had a     budget  and still managed to surpass titanic . i rented this the day i crashed my mom  s car  and it was the only thing that cheered me up beyond belief  it has to be tied with  the assult of the killer bimbos  . things to look for are  . the drive in blow job chinese girl scene  . the bleach blonde in the sassoon shirt who never changes  . the flinstone  like screech out driving  . the clashing ensemble worn by the redhead right before she gets killed  don  t worry  i  m not ruining any surprises  for it  s soooo predictable   . the guy who finds it necessary to howl .  . the mental patient who plays a convincing job of being insane by poking out the eyes of a maniquen .  . the hour long chase at the end involving the teacher and the priest .  . the womman writing grafitti on the bathroom wall .  . last  but not least  the wonderful special effects   especially the stab in the boob that made a . . . heaven help me . . . popping noise .  br    br   enjoy   br    br    
set in a post  apocalyptic environment  cyborgs led by warlord job rein over the human population . they basically keep them as livestock  as they need fresh human blood to live off . nea and her brother managed to survive one of their attacks when she was a kid  and years have past when she came face  to  face with the cyborgs again  but this time she  s saved by the cyborg gabriel  who was created to destroy all cyborgs . job and his men are on their way to capture a largely populated city  while nea  with revenge on mind  pleads gabriel to train her in the way of killing cyborgs and she  ll get him to gabriel .  br    br   cheap low  rent cyborg  post  apocalyptic foray by writer  director albert pyun  who made  cyborg  prior to it and the blistering  nemsis  the same year  is reasonably a misguided hunk of junk with some interesting novelties . very little structure makes its way into the threadbare story  as the turgid script is weak  corny and overstated . the leaden banter tries to be witty  but it pretty much stinks and comes across being comical in the unintentional moments . most of the occurring actions are pretty senseless and routine . the material could  ve used another polish up  as it was an inspired idea swallowed up by lazy inclusions  lack of a narrative and an almost jokey tone . the open  ended  cliffhanger conclusion is just too abrupt  especially since a sequel has yet to be made . makes it feel like that that run out of money  and said  time to pack up . let  s finish it off another day  or maybe in another decade  . there  s no rush .  however it did find it rather diverting  thanks largely to its quick pace  some well  executed combat and george mooradian  s gliding cinematography that beautifully captured the visually arresting backdrop . performances are fair . kris kristofferson  s dry and steely persona works perfectly as gabriel and a self  assured  psychically capable kathy long pulls off the stunts expertly and with aggression . however her acting is too wooden . a mugging lance henriksen gives a mouth  watering performance of pure ham  as the villainous cyborg leader job who constantly having a saliva meltdown . scott paulin also drums up plenty of gleefulness as one of the cyborgs and gary daniels pouts about as one too . pyun strikes up few exciting martial art set pieces  involving some flashy vigour and gratuitous slow  motion . seeping into the background is a scorching  but mechanical sounding music score . the special effects and make  up fx stand up fine enough . watchable  but not quite a success and it  s minimal limitations can be a cause of that .  
this movie is great . if you enjoy watching b  class movies  that is . this is a classic college    s slasher movie  in which one song is played throughout the entire soundtrack . a horrible film  but worth renting to make fun of  or just to watch old men pop out of closets with knives . kinda funny  if you ask me .  
every once in a while i will rent an action  adventure film just as a way to relax and occupy my mind with nothing important . this is why i own a copy of charlie  s angels        not a quality film  but it makes me laugh and allows me to unwind for a while . one of these days i will probably buy copies of the princess bride and a few monty python movies for much the same reason .  br    br   in any case  i rented this film because i wanted to be entertained without being challenged . for the most part  i got what i wanted . the plot was something along the lines of a poorly written xena episode  and the kathy long  s acting was very community theater  not bad for a professional kick boxer and amateur actress  . there were a few high points on the part of the cyborgs . somehow they managed to get some pretty good actors to play the bad guys  unfortunately  most of them die pretty darned quick .  br    br   like most martial arts films  the further you get into the movie  the more emphasis there is on action  and the plot  which wasn  t strong to begin with  deteriorates almost as quickly as the acting . however  the more kathy long fights  the more time the director devotes to her backside . by the end of the movie i was seriously considering watching it a second time just to count the number of times kathy long  s tight red shorts were center screen .  br    br   unfortunately  there just wasn  t enough meat to this film to make satisfying curiosity worth seeing the film a second time . if you are a hard core xena fan in need of something to wile away a few hours  by all means  go to the grocery store and spend the .   cents on the rental . there are some strong similarities between the show and this movie .  br    br   just don  t expect anything more than to be mildly amused for a few hours .  br    br   unless  of course  you happen to like kathy long  s derrire . then you might want to purchase a copy .  
the combination of the superb black and white photography and the  eugene onegin with a twist  plot made this a real knock out for me . the atmosphere created by the mostly very dark shots contrasted with occasional very bright overexposed white was gripping . there was a superb moment where where transparencies  apparently conventional holiday snaps but where the faces of the actors revealed character and situation subtly but instantly  were shown accompanied by lensky  s heart  wrenching aria from the tschaikowsky opera eugene onegin .  br    br   for me the mark of a good film is that it should take advantage of the opportunities presented by that medium  which means that often the story is less important than imagery and atmosphere  last year in marienbad is a good example of such a film . krisana is in the same mould .  
elizabeth taylor never could act at all and she was just her usual annoying  untalented self in this film . this was before she got so fat but she still looked very short and dumpy . rock hudson was ok as bick benedict but clearly an actor with more range like william holden would have been better . james dean certainly proved he knew how to mumble his way through a movie . the whole film is incredibly slow and goes on for far too long . the actors were all too young and lightweight and none of them aged convincingly due to the poor make  up . hudson looked ridiculous just being padded out and dean and carroll baker were obviously the same age .  br    br       .  
its hollywood imitating daytiem soap operas at its finest  its the fun that we never see . great characters and great lines . whoopi is hilarious . . . . . sally field is so over the top . . . . gary marshalls lines are a riot . . . . this is what i love about good comedies . never afraid to poke fun at themselves       the sets were great . . . . wardrobe was on point and the backstabbing  montana morehead  was a devilish delight . terri hatcher as  dr . monica demonico  didn  t have enough lines but none the less still gorgeous and fun when on screen . i would love to know how the idea for this movie came up . never have i seen a cast of people have so much fun in making comedy work  soapdish is a must have and i am waiting for the dvd     
the point of the vastly extended preparatory phase of this star is born story seems to be to make ultimate success all the more sublime . summer phoenix is very effective as an inarticulate young woman imprisoned within herself but never convincing as the stage actress of growing fame who both overcomes and profits from this detachment . even in the lengthy scenes of esther  s acting lessons  we never see her carry out the teacher  s instructions . after suffering through esther  s  largely self  inflicted  pain in excruciating detail  we are given no persuasive sense of her triumph .  br    br   the obsessive presence of the heroine  s pain seems to be meant as a guarantee of aesthetic transcendence . yet the causes of this pain  poverty  quasi  autism  judaism  sexual betrayal  never come together in a coherent whole . a     minute film with a simple plot should be able to knit up its loose ends . esther kahn is still not ready to go before an audience .  
this is a lovely tale of guilt  driven obsession .  br    br   matiss  on a lonely night stroll in riga    passes by a woman on the wrong side of a bridge railing . he passes by without a word . only the splash in the water followed by a cry for help causes him to act . and then only too little and too late .  br    br   the film chronicles his efforts at finding out more about the woman . on a troll of local bars  he finds her pocketbook . he pieces more and more of her life together . his  look  changes as his obsession grows . he has to make things right . in a marvelously filmed dialog with the  bastard ex  boyfriend  he forces alexej to face up to the guilt that both feel .  br    br   haunting long takes  a gritty soundtrack to accentuate the guilt  barking dogs . footsteps . lovely film noir with a lovely twist . a good indie ending .  
  giant  is one of the most boring  overly  long hollywood contraptions ever . many scenes seem utterly fake and without energy . rock hudson  elizabeth taylor  and james dean are wasted in this big hollywood production . a central notion to this movie  that a rancher would ever resist drilling for oil on his land  is absurd  and i know this because i  m from houston . a couple of scenes  especially dean serving taylor coffee  redeem this otherwise boring film . for a much more accurate and interesting depiction about how modernism changed the ranches in texas  see  hud   one of paul newman  s great performances  or  the last picture show .   
i am normally not compelled to write a review for a film  but the only commentary for this film thus far on is rather unfair  so i feel it necessary to share my point of view .  br    br    krisana   or as it was titled at the theater i saw it   fallen   follows matiss  a lonely latvian archivist  as he tries to learn about a woman whom he didn  t try to stop from jumping off a bridge  as well as her reasons for doing so . that  s the plot in a nutshell  but this film is not concerned with story as much it is in depicting the guilt of a man who failed to act . as a detective who investigates the incident tells him  we usually don  t bother to care about the anonymous faces we pass every day until after they die .  br    br   comparisons to michaelango antonioni and his  blowup  will most likely abound in any review you read about  krisana .  the influence of antonioni  s philosophical and austere style and the story of  blowup  are clear and  in fact  writer  director fred kelemen makes an obvious reference to that film in scenes in which matiss attempts to come to know the woman who jumped off the bridge  or at least who he thinks did .  br    br   the only other person to share his or her views on the film detracts the  college film class  look and sound of the film . he or she neglects to consider the budgetary constraints that an existentialist latvian film most likely faces  but the atmospheric black and white cinematography and ambient sound succeeds at an artistic level to depict the solitude of matiss . the background sound of wind and street noises lend an ominous aura and reminds one of a fellini film  whether or not that was kelemen  s intention . the filmmakers undoubtedly had little money  but this constraint is used to the film  s advantage .  br    br    krisana  succeeds as a character study with enough humor thrown in to keep it from being too self  serious . it could have easily fell into the trappings of a mystery story  but it avoids that and becomes an intelligent film about loneliness and guilt . if you are more concerned with plot  this film and its ending may frustrate you . otherwise  take the time to be engaged by it . it is well  worth seeking out .  
with all due disrespect for this george stevens sr .  epic  of miscastings and misreadings  i can only wonder that the james dean  legend  could survive this outing  i submit that then  studio obeisances to bankable box office  giants  came a cropper of its own  gigantismoses  . nor were rock and liz that much better off . let us just say that the televised  dallas  was the authentic  heir   even if contemp  tuous  latterday  texans  like lay and delay  not to mention our putative  president  of these here yewbenighted states of amurrika  perform a one  upsmanship of dastardly global dimensions . i never read edna ferber  s original  but will lay odds it is head and shoulders superior to what got on screen herein . and all those well  paid  i would imagine   supporting  actors of note and celebrity notwithstanding   giant  is  to me at least  a midget of scant merit  never mind the promo campaigns .  
a very realistic portrait of a broken family and the effect it has on the kid caught in between . as a child of divorced parents i was totally relating to events in the film . also  a really cool zombie twist which i thought was very original . i  m tired of the same old stuff in movies . a very realistic portrait of a broken family and the effect it has on the kid caught in between . as a child of divorced parents i was totally relating to events in the film . also  a really cool zombie twist which i thought was very original . i  m tired of the same old stuff in movies . a very realistic portrait of a broken family and the effect it has on the kid caught in between . as a child of divorced parents i was totally relating to events in the film . also  a really cool zombie twist which i thought was very original . i  m tired of the same old stuff in movies .  
as big as a texas prairie and equally as boring . even liz taylor  james dean  chill wills  and dennis hopper can  t float this overbloated boat . taylor actually looks bad   wrong wardrobe  wrong hair  and wrong makeup   a unique accomplishment in her remarkable career . hopper gives the only believable performance  and dean in the climactic scene displays remarkable talent as something we usually don  t remember him for   a comic actor . rock hudson is his usual prototype of barbie doll ken and makes one wonder what a  say  redford could have done with the male lead . there is no discernible plot that provides any tension until the final twenty minutes  just a pastiche of milestones that have little relationship to each other . except for hopper  there is no character development  only a collection of cardboard cutouts that pop up periodically for no discernible reason like random targets in a shooting gallery . to its credit  the film does tackle racism and sexism at a time when they were taboo subjects  and it does have size  making it an excellent choice for ridding yourself of unwelcome house guests . those with the dvd version can spare themselves some of the tedium by starting with the second disk . you won  t be missing anything of interest .  
just kidding about the weight loss thing well  you might lose weight you never know . anyway  what can i say  i love this film . it has that same sense of youth and innocence found in films like stand by me and the goonies . jake  s closet illustrates the beauty of life  s simple things and how often we overlook them . the film reminds us what it  s like to see the world through children  s eyes and all the magic  mystery  and horror they perceive . jake  s closet presents a tale uniquely human in its compassion that anyone who  s had a childhood can both relate to and fall in love with . watch it with friends watch it with loved ones build a fort  wine optional .  
this movie is just crap . even though the directors claim to be part of that oi  culture  it  s still a very  very bad directorial debut . the topic itself is very interesting and i accept the bad acting due to the fact  that they are all amateurs and never acted before  but the worst thing about this film are the dialogs and very unexperienced and naive directing . there  s no timing at all in that movie . i felt like the directors were so exited to do that movie  it  s their first feature   that they actually never really asked themselves  what story they wanna tell . i met ben  one of the directors  on several occasions and he  s a nice and thoughtful guy  but that doesn  t make him a director . i think  that  american history x  is full of clichs  but somehow manages to transport a story .  oi  warning  is full of clichs  doesn  t tell anything new or provocative and   that  s the sad thing about this movie  it  s far from any oi   reality .  br    br   if you wanna see weird but great german films  watch the movies of michael haneke  christoph schlingensief  oskar roehler  hans weingartner or oliver hirschbiegel  br    br   benny  s video funny games die unberhrbare mein letzter film das experiment das weisse rauschen muxmuschenstill . . .  br    br    out of ten  because of the topic and the photography  
i would say that this film gives an insight to the trauma that a young mind can face when a family is split by divorce or other disaster . i would highly recommend this film especially to parents or individuals planning to have a family .  br    br   i found the characters to be appealing and highly sympathetic from a multitude of dimensions .  br    br   the scary monster although probably not scary to most adults  has a very real hint of what the overactive imagination of a child who is facing unknown terrors might create .  br    br   i found the film to be delightful   
here  s yet another blasphemous european story in which they blast the religion of their country .  these atheist filmmakers are relentless .  here we see a brutal blasting of catholics and  or the catholic clergy  and i am not catholic  .  br    br   this won actually won an academy award for bes foreign film . that  s probably because the story made catholics and religious belief in general look extremely weak . one of the main characters is a priest and he cares more about food than anything else . he  s portrayed as nothing but an idiot . no wonder the secular  dominated academy loved this movie .  br    br   also  there is some overacting fool who plays a guy who renounces his religion so he can marry one of the four daughters featured in the story . the daughters take turns seducing the  seminary  student  who states he studied for six years but says he  s an agnostic   . i mean  how blasphemous is this film       br    br   this is a disgrace and another excellent example of the secular  progressive bigotry of the film business  worldwide  not just hollywood  .  
jake  s closet has the emotional power of kramer vs . kramer combined with the imagination of pan  s labyrinth . even the beginning special effect seems to give a nod to pan  s labyrinth . but this is a story that takes place in modern times  not in a war sixty years ago and in that way it has even more resonance today . jake  s closet is about a boy  an only child  practically alone on summer vacation  dealing with his family falling apart . it  s a horror movie like the others and the sixth sense  a horror movie for the thinking person . if you  re looking for a slasher movie  this won  t be your cup of tea but if you  re looking for a story that is both touching and suspenseful with good acting  this is the movie for you . at the screening i saw  i swear there was one moment where the entire audience screamed . i highly recommend catching this film .  
i recently watched belle epoque  thinking it might be wonderful as it did win an oscar for best foreign language film . i was a bit underwhelmed by the predictability and simplicity of the film . maybe the conflict i had was that from the time the movie was filmed to now  the plot of a man falling for beautiful women and eventually falling for the good girl has been done so many times . aside from predictability of the plot  some scenes in the film felt really out of place with the storyline  ex . a certain event at the wedding  . at times the film was a bit preachy in it  s ideas and in relation to the franco era the film was set in and the church . the only thing the film had going for it was the cutesy moments  the scenery  and the character of violeta being a strong  independent woman during times when women were not really associated with those characteristics .  
answer despite that fact that this film was written and directed by a woman  your ex is creepier  nastier  and more irrational than any zombie that ever lurched the earth .  br    br   the acting in this independent film actually is quite good  despite the less  than  wonderful script . it takes a pretty good actor to deliver an overwritten  clichd line and make it sound vaguely believable . young anthony de marco  as jake  puts in a particularly good performance .  br    br   fortunately  the plot of this film is a lot better than the dialog . try it  especially if you  re not a monster fan . this is not a horror flick . even though all the adult females are pretty monstrous  and although all the adult males act as if their brains were eaten in some earlier zombie film   jake  s closet  is suitable for mature adults .  br    br   the whole  this time  is much better than the sum of its parts .  
an allegation of aggravated sexual assault along with some other unpleasant peccadilloes  including improper use of a broom  are made against half a dozen or so of the most popular high  school jocks in glen ridge  new jersey  by a  mildly retarded  student  heather matarazzo  . the investigation and building of the case are handed over to the da  s office  where ally sheedy and eric stoltz are put in charge .  br    br   rumors about the case spread through glen ridge  an upper  middle  class suburb where the jocks are adored by everyone in the community .  one of their fathers is a police lieutenant .  nobody believes matarazzo .  our boys would never take a slut like that down to the basement  rape her  and subject her to such sexual humiliation .  the question is whether sheedy and stoltz will ever be able to shape a sufficiently cogent case that they can bring the jocks to trial . matarazzo is not an ideal plaintiff . she  s desperate for love and friendship  and that makes it easy for faux friends to mislead her into making false statements . a slimy reporter says   you can trust me   but it turns out the reporter can  t be trusted at all . another student  a very popular girl in school  pulls a linda tripp on matarazzo  pretending to be her bosom buddy but all the while asking her leading questions about the incident   and taping the results  as a consequence  watching this story unfold is like being on a roller coaster . at first it looks like a good case for sheedy and stoltz . but then  oops  the community organizes against the law . then it looks good again . but then the reporter interferes . then that obstacle is no sooner overcome  than linda tripp pokes her big nose into the investigation and makes public the tapes that seem to indicate matarazzo was lying .  well  actually  she was lying   but she was lying to her interrogator in order to please her .  then that  s overcome  but matarazzo objects to taking the stand because she doesn  t want to be characterized as  retarded .  eric stoltz is fine in the part of the prosecutor . i say that for the simple reason that he and i lived in pago pago around the same time .  i hope he wasn  t the kid i had that altercation with at the bar of the seaside club . if he was  i take back my compliment .  ally sheedy is a strange actress and hard to characterize . she did a marvelous self  restrained job in  fine art  but i didn  t sense any particular effort being put into this role  which was rather formulaic anyway . i mean  neither she nor stoltz nor anyone else could give a bravura performance in what  s essentially a comic book story .  br    br   the producers and director had the good sense to choose heather matarazzo for the role of victim . the very worst thing they could have done is cast an ethereally lovely  neotenous blond . instead  matarazzo  without being at all ugly  looks rather plain and this ordinary quality is complemented by her grooming and make up . nor have the writers turned her wistful and gentle . she has a temper and is sometimes irritating to listen to  which is all for the good .  br    br   matarazzo  s character is the best drawn in the film . the jocks are stereotypes . pure evil . they think themselves above the law  barge in on some nice girl  s party in east orange  trash the place during a party far worse than  la dolce vita  s  climactic orgy  and leave without explanation or apology . they deserve to get it in the neck   and they do .  br    br   i referred to this as a comic book story and that  s pretty much what it is . it challenges none of our prejudices . it reaffirms out belief that the world can be divided into good and evil . and we don  t have a moment  s doubt about who  s who . what i  m waiting for   not really  that  s just rhetorical   is a movie almost exactly like this one and a dozen others  but in which the victim is lying in order to get her name and photo in the papers and garner all those sympathy chips from right  thinking folk like the rest of us .  br    br   the film is based on a true story  as are so many others we  ve all seen  and even more fictional features .  eg .   the accused  .  some are good  some are strictly routine . okay . fair enough . now when do we get to see a film about the tawana brawley case  in which the teen  aged girl disappeared on a whim for a few days  then had her friends strip her  tie her up  and smear her with dirt  so she could claim she  d been abducted and raped by the police  now that would be a challenge in a way this one simply is not .  
i  d never seen an independent movie and i was really impressed by the writing  acting and cinematography of jake  s closet .  br    br   the emotions were very real and intense showing  through a child  s eyes  the harsh impact of divorce .  br    br   a definite see   br    br   i  d never seen an independent movie and i was really impressed by the writing  acting and cinematography of jake  s closet .  br    br   the emotions were very real and intense showing  through a child  s eyes  the harsh impact of divorce .  br    br   a definite see   
i am normally a spike lee fan . it takes some time to really get into his  mojo   but once you see the clear message and the ability to tell the story that is close to his heart  lee is a genius . unlike the   th hour or bamboozled  two of my favorite films of his   there was no clear story in this film . i was able to understand the struggle between washington and the choice to play well or be influenced by others  but for some odd reason lee was never able to get the true feeling out . washington did a decent job with what was handed to him  but you could tell that this was not lee  s favorite film . not only did lee direct this film  but he also wrote it . you could tell . the camera work was horrid and the writing only contributed to the decay of the film . this film was coming full circle and it wasn  t going to be pretty . lee was not     behind this film as he was with do the right thing . of all the films i have seen lee direct  this was the brightest and more modest of his films . it was almost as if he created a hollywood movie instead of one that was all his own . i don  t know if he saw the money from do the right thing and ran with it  or what  but this film did not demonstrate his true talent .  br    br   for anyone out there that has seen this film  and perhaps stopped watching anything directed by spike lee afterwards due to this film  i suggest you give him a second chance . don  t get me wrong  i see exactly where you are coming from with this film and why you would want to put this behind you  but lee does grow up . his work becomes more of his own  and you can see the transformation from a desire to make money to just wanting to make good films . it took me awhile to watch the   th hour  but when i did  it was sheer brilliance . perhaps it was the actors  perhaps the story  but lee crafted an amazing film out of one man  s journey into the unknown . i guess that is what i was hoping mo  better blues would turn out to be . this really dark journey into the life of a man that really never grew up  but instead all i got was denzel being denzel . he really is one of the most versatile actors of this generation  and i do consider him the sydney poitier of cinema  but this was not the film to showcase his talent .  br    br   another issue that i had with this film was the use of spike  s sister playing one of the love interests . i don  t know about you  and your family  but i do not think that i could have filmed a sex scene with my sister . i don  t care who the actor is or how much money i am getting paid  i would never do it . it is just something that i never wish to see  but apparently that is different for spike . he went ahead and showed the full nude image of his sister without any remorse . it was sad and it even made me blush . also  i need somebody to answer me this . what was flavor flav doing introducing this film  so  i am sitting there on my couch  ready to start the film  when suddenly there is a voice from the past spelling out the studio that made this film  then he acknowledges himself . that did not build for a strong remaining of the story . again  i felt that lee was going for money on this film instead of actual talent . perhaps that is how he could afford both denzel and wesley in the same movie without any explosions .  br    br   there were two great scenes in this film that made it worth watching through to the end . don  t get me wrong  this was a very bad movie  but there is always a diamond in every alleyway . the scene when bleek accidentally forgets which woman he is with was mesmerizing . he continually went back and forth  weaving truth to confusion in a way that proved that lee was actually behind the camera . it was a visionary scene that was probably lost in the shuffle due to the remaining poor scenes . the other scene that was worth watching was the way that lee introduced and ended the film . by keeping the same pacing and direction  he was able to bring this tragic character around full circle and give him the chance to change his life . other than these two moments  the rest of the film was pure rubbish  not worth viewing unless you are about to go blind .  br    br   grade  out of   
i saw this at  dances with films   and it was awesome . i really felt for jake . talk about adding insult to injury  not only are your parents getting divorced  but there  s a monster after you .  br    br   it was both heartfelt and scary   there were several moments where the audience screamed in genuine fright . it kind of reminded me of a japanese horror film  except that the story was actually good .  br    br   and that  s what separated  jake  s closet  from the usual indy film pabulum   an excellent script with compelling characters . also  by mixing elements of the horror film with family drama  the movie gets the best out of both genres  and avoids the clichs of both .  br    br   if it  s not coming out in theaters  definitely get the dvd .  
things get dull early an often in this in this mawkish jazz bio fiction written and directed by spike lee .  br    br   bleek gilliam  denzell washington  is a happenin  jazz trumpeter that fronts a quintet packing them in at below the underdog . his problems include an incompetent manager  a stage hogging sax player and two girlfriends that he  s playing musical mattress with . the real love of his life though is his trumpet and his music . the band  s manager  giant  has a dangerous gambling problem and proves to be an ineffective negotiator with greedy club owners and would be best jettisoned but bleek remains loyal for as long as possible . it will prove to his undoing as an artist but ironically contribute to his growth as a man .  br    br   as bleek  denzell washington is all wrong as the ambitious trumpeter with a babe on each arm . he  s too sweet a guy to be so self centered about his art  dispensing patience and love to those close to him with a low key remoteness . he simply lacks the fire . wesley snipes who plays henderson the sax player would have been far more suited for the role but even he would have to mouth the flaccid throw away scribblings of lee  s torpid dialogue . as giant  lee hits the trifecta with an abysmal performance to match his writing and direction . loosely attempting to mirror the grubby but sympathetic ratso rizzo to bleek  s joe buck he adopts a limp and even the  i  m walkin  here  moment from midnight cowboy . in this case you wish the taxi would run him over and be done with it .  br    br   lee  s script is all tepid argument  heavy handed ribbing and veiled insult with some requisite clumsy editorializing that lee has to inject to remain down . the scenes between the band members backstage and in rehearsal lack spark and are only surpassed in dreariness by the bleek  giant conversations that have an ad lib look and go in circles . completing this travesty is lee  s pretentious visual style . tracking shots  zooms and pans are wasted and without significance to scenes . they just wander .  br    br   blues is lee  s love letter to jazz  made implicit by the mountains of memorabilia plastered all over the sets  and it  s all sentimental clap trap that lacks passion and verve . jazz on film is better served by tavernier  s  round midnight  and eastwood  s  bird  which get below the surface  reveal more sides of the form  the pain behind it in addition to offering infinitely superior lead performances by forrest whitaker and the real deal dexter gordon . this spike lee joint doesn  t even offer a mild buzz . it  s some pretty bad homegrown .  
anyone who has experienced the terrors of divorce will empathize with this indie film  s protagonist  a scared little boy who believes a zombie is hiding in his closet . is jake  a mesmerizing anthony demarco  simply  transferring  the trauma of two bickering parents to an understandable image  or could the creature be real  writer  director shelli ryan neatly balances both possibilities and keeps the audience guessing . her choice of using one setting  a suburban house  adds to the feeling of desperation and claustrophobia .  br    br   brooke bloom and peter sean bridgers are highly convincing as the angry  but loving parents . however it is the creepy minor characters  mrs . bender  barbara gruen   an unhinged babysitter and sam stone  ben bode   a sleazy real estate agent that linger in the mind . jake  s closet is a darkly inspired portrait of childhood as a special kind of hell .  
there are two groups of people . . . those who love every fellini movie they see and normal people . while i will admit that i have really enjoyed some of his films  i can also honestly say that i can  t stand some of them . my opinion  by the way  is not just some knee  jerk reaction   i have seen most of fellini  s films and have also seen many films by the world  s most famous directors . with this in mind  i feel that the most overrated and annoying directors can be both godard and fellini . they both have delighted in the bizarre and often unwatchable and yet have received gobs of accolades from reviewers and the  intelligensia   while the average person would never sit through some of their films . heck  even a person who loves international cinema would generally be left out in the cold when seeing some of these films . so  since only a small clique actually watches their films and they are already predisposed to seeing the directors as geniuses  it  s not surprising that their films are so often praised   it  s like a cult  if you don  t believe me  think about many of godard  s films such as first name carmen or alphaville  . . . or what about fellini satyricon or juliet of the spirits  these films abound with boredom  weirdness and incomprehensibility . now i am not saying a film can  t be weird  after all i love happiness of the katakuris and shaolin soccer   but it must be watchable   br    br   now on to this movie . somehow  fellini has managed to make a story about a sexually compulsive man completely boring and unsexy . this is no small task   it took a lot of work to make this so unwatchable . instead of cheap sexual thrills  the sex acts are choreographed in a silly and annoying way while the character of casanova is buried under so much makeup and prosthetics that donald sutherland looks like a ghoul . i know some of this must have been fellini  s intention  but many viewers will be left completely bored by this sterile performance   especially since sutherland  s lines are all poorly dubbed into italian and so he neither looks nor sounds like himself  unfortunately  when the movie is not wrapped up in these boring sexual escapades  there really isn  t anything else to watch .  br    br   an interesting note about the first sexual conquest shown in this dull movie is that the actress looks amazingly like a younger version of fellini  s wife  giulietta masina . considering that in addition to this  that in previous decades fellini had masina play characters such as a prostitute and a horribly abused woman  it seems like he may have truly hated his wife and was having this acted out on screen . i read a bit about them and their tempestuous relationship and it seems to bear this out as well . this is about the only aspect of this turgid film that i found at all interesting . don  t say i didn  t warn you   
this is a delightful movie that is so over  the  top that my wife  daughter  and i found it irresistible . the plot is just crazy but  rings true  to the world of soap operas in all its outrageous improbabilities and impossibilities .  br    br   i particularly enjoyed kevin kline  s and sally field  s performances . i don  t anyone better than kline at playing thickheaded . field  s character  s truly desperate need for attention and affirmation   and her almost bipolar swings in mood   played nicely against the background of field  s famous  infamous    you like me   oscar exclamation . people who can take themselves with such a large grain of salt are all too rare in this world .  br    br   i think this is the only movie where i didn  t find myself impatient with whoopi goldberg characterization i thought she was  spot on  in every note she struck . robert downey jr .  teri hatcher  cathy moriarty  and elizabeth shue were also first  rate as well . just a great movie if you  re in the mood to go along for the ride and laugh   
i have seen romantic comedies and this is one of the easiest  worst attempts at one . a lot of the scenes work in a plug  and  play manner inserted strictly to conform to the romantic  comedy genre . usually this is okay because we  re dealing with a genre  but the challenge generally resides in making it original  new and inventive . this movie fails to do so .  br    br   there is no sense of who the characters really are  apart from sylvie moreau  s  who is the real star of this movie  not isabelle blais  . they fit into this one  dimensional clich and they become nothing more than simple puppets serving the purpose of a very light narrative .  br    br   the pacing of the movie can become annoying  rhythm lacks  and the editing is filled with unnecessary close  ups . i should also mention the overly stylized decors making some scenes devoid of any naturally  or rather  making the attempt at naturally seem too obvious . of course  along with that  you have the right  on  cue sappy music which unfortunately often sounds mismatched .  br    br   i can  t believe that a movie who makes obvious woody allen allusions ends up being this deceptive . if you expect a good light  hearted romantic comedy  this is not it . or rather  this a poor attempt at it . you will only leave the theater wondering why this film has been getting such praise when cinema is now more than    years old and there are far superior quebecois directors making better flicks .  br    br   les aimants is a good movie for what it is . but it  s a bad one if you regard cinema as an art and directors as auteur  s .  
every child experiences trauma growing up and every child  s active imagination has gotten the best of them  but for jake  anthony de marco  of the forthcoming clint eastwood film changeling  who resembles henry thomas circa      the combination may prove deadly .  br    br   a lonely six year old whose imagination kicks into high gear when he is crestfallen to learn his quarrelling parents peter  sean bridgers  late of  deadwood   and jules  brooke bloom   cbs miami   suddenly decide to divorce  leaving him to his own devices and unleashing a new tenant  a zombie in his closet .  br    br   jake actually gets this seed planted while playing with neighborhood friend dillon  matthew josten  who provides him with a print out off the internet of faq re zombies . jake is so convinced that one is out to get him  and his family  he begins to hatch a plan of action to protect them before it  s too late .  br    br   indie newcomer shelli ryan  who wrote and directed  blends domestic drama with underlings of horror but the former  smartly  outweighs the latter  with a decent story buoyed by fine acting  de marco is the rare breed of child actor where he is a child and not  acting   all his nuances are very evident of the awkward  shy  introverted child that many can relate too  i certainly can  . bridgers makes his cheating husband empathetic in the realization he really loves his son while bloom has the more difficult job of building sympathy as the somewhat lackadaisical mother who is quick to emotions over rationality  it doesn  t help when dillon  s mother ruth  monette magrath  who resembles laura dern  is constantly feeding her implied information driving a wedge between jake and his dad . magrath also has a tough task to make her manipulative character relatively likable but she proves to in a revealing scene that i won  t go into detail but shows why she is the way she is  and more importantly how she has also affected her own child  .  br    br   the fillmmaker  s subjective camera is also well employed  many angles shown form jake  s pov at waist  level or somewhat skewed i . e . the upside down shot of peter carrying his son in the same position while having some fun in the backyard   and the editing is relatively flawless .  br    br   ryan based the screenplay on personal experiences growing up and also witnessing first hand account of a friend going through the same situation and how the affects of adult relationships can be harmful if inflicting their fears  anger and stress onto their children . here the film is very successful in getting its theme across .  br    br   however the horror underpinnings are a little disjointed to say the least but the homage to george a . romero  s zombie films are shown lovingly by ryan  jake  s mom is asleep in front of the tv as night of the living dead unspools  causing his own belief of the undead to be in their home  . the metaphor of a monster acting as surrogate to domestic abuse may be a bit heavy  handed but again  the child  s fear of a thing under his bed is universal .  
this is certainly one of the most bizarre films ever made  even for fellini . about the only one more bizarre is his satyricon . this is a two and a half hour romp through a strange nightmarish world of decadence  opulence and sexual challenge . sutherland makes a curiously unappealing casanova and the odd goings on in a series of unrelated vignettes taken from the great lover  s autobiography fail to engage the viewer . the art direction and costume design are however outstanding . the academy missed on not even nominating the former but did itself justice by rewarding an oscar for the latter . also nominated  oddly  was the disjointed  pointless and almost inacessible screenplay . go figure   the film on video is only    minutes    minutes short of the original running time . this viewer was grateful .  
this may just be the most nostalgic journey back in time  through time to when one  s childhood starts a journey to reminiscences back  forth onwards  upwards  forwards  backwards  up  down  all around . the boy jimmy  h . r . puffinstuff  dr . blinky  cling  clang  ludicrous lion   even the evil witchie poo too through  through . the latter day inspirations of lidsville   the brady kids saturday morning preview special  sigmund  the sea monsters  and land of the lost both the new  old are what this very show bridged the gap to as well as the donny  marie show  the brady bunch variety hour a . k . a . brady bunch hour  even the paul lynde halloween special . maybe even other things in between  beyond the buck just keeps on moving on  on  even beyond expectations  as well as unexpected bounds . now as we get updated in march of    we know that jack wild  s gone  so now it make  s it even more symbolic for us to really get nostalgic . including now in august of    both when jack wild guest stars as himself on sigmund and the sea monsters as well as when on a latter episode h . r . puffinstuff does too and to recall all of the other nostalgic journeys of all the syd  marty kroft characters as well including the h . r . puffinstuff goodtime clubthe donny and marie showthe brady bunch variety hour a . k . a . the brady bunch houretc . truthfully  stephen  steve  g . baer a . k . a .  ste  of framingham  ma . usa .  
in a way this is the disaster fellini has been working towards all his life . the line between absurd masterpiece and free association bullshit is very small  and what category a film will ultimately fit in will often just depend on personal feelings . that said   casanova  left me in cold admiration for its sets and little more that cannot be summed up more adequately by bukowski  br    br    casanova died too  just an old guy with a big cock and a long tongue and no guts at all . to say that he lived well is true to say i could spit on his grave without feeling is also true . the ladies usually go for the biggest fool they can find that is why the human race stands where it does today we have bred the clever and lasting casanovas  all hollow inside  like the easter bunnies we foster upon our poor children .   br    br   as far as i could make it out  this is the position fellini takes regarding his subject granted  with more empathy  but disgusted nonetheless .  br    br   casanova  s environment is made from decay and incestuous behavior  themes fellini dealt with more pointedly in  satyricon  . the succession of plot is characteristic of soft porn  just without the coherence and donald sutherland is ugly and slimy to the point of distraction .  br    br   yet  there might just be a point in portraying casanova as an unsightly fool . and i challenge anybody to formulate this point without being obvious fellini couldn  t . more than ever he seems here like a dirty old man  a maestro  for sure  but one whose impulses satisfy himself more than anybody else . i find it hard imagine an audience who enjoys this film . it was a story not worth telling .  
i used to watch pufnstuf every weekend when i was about   . it was on right after bay city rollers . i saw it come on to family channel one day  and taped it for my then three  year old daughter . i  d forgotten all the things i  d loved as a child  the magic flute  the zoom broom  witcheepoo  s makeup .  br    br   this show is decidedly low tech . the mayor is surely a precedent to mayor mccheese  and everyone is a stuffed creature with annoying googly eyes . but kids love this stuff . they would way  way rather watch a guy work a sock puppet than sit in front of high  tech computer animation . there is  mild  slapstick  but no adult themes such as sex or people dying  and kids accept jimmy  s schemes . kids think it would be neat to carry a bag of smoke around and convince someone their house was on fire  and i loved how every time my daughter saw a jet stream in the sky she thought witchypoo was flying overhead . the music is old  but you really get used to it  and my daughter really loved it . she used to sing  different is hard  different is lonely  in the car . my daughter watched this show at least once a day for about  months  and it  s still one of her favourites .  br    br   i see that a new pufnstuf     is in the works . i really hope they try to keep the old flavour and don  t do anything like computer  animating characters etc . i think a whole new generation would love pufnstuf .  
i should explain why i gave this . . .  piece of art   star rating out of possible   . simply because it  s hard or next to impossible to rate it unbiased . probably it would have been the same if i had given it       explanations anyway would have followed .  br    br   i am not fond of these pointless gore movies like hostel or so  i think that  s disgusting and pretty terrible  in all the possible contextual meanings   but as i found out after watching this movie  there is a genre called  historical drama   and probably it would have been the case of      as it has plenty of it and tarantino would have been more than happier with it  and made kill bill  to spill even more blood on screen than here to show that it is possible  . but the thing about  historical drama  genre is that it  s a sub  category of the  trash movies  where john romero is the undead  gory  emperor  of  the  guts and so automatically it can  t be rated as your default movie  as these are movies that are made bad on purpose and you can  t really tell whether the comically bad moment was meant to be so  or it was simply bad . it  s for the people who like to enjoy bad acting  bad screenplay and bad everything else . and by some turn of faith  i am one of them too . there are days when i have an urge of seeing a really bad movie and look up for some trash and here you go  the day is saved  but that  s definitely an opinion of mine and doesn  t have match with anyones  else .  br    br   what i wanted to say is that if you want to watch some terrible movie  then fellini  s casanova is definitely the choice  but heed my advice and don  t rate it by default means .  
i remember seeing this on tv in the late   s  and it stayed with me  it  s charming  loud  colourful  a great kids film . i put it on for some friends at a party recently  and naturally they thought i was mad and expected something sick to happen to the puppets a la  meet the feebles  but no  its wholesome clean fun .  br    br   jack wild is in fine form  as is mama cass  and the somehow attractive witchy poo .  br    br   if you like the banana splits and you are in your    s this will re  create that surreal childhood saturday morning vibe   br    br   even if i  ve realised now that puf himself is a bit crap  as all he does is get captured and run away  quality tv movie  if  like me  you are into death metal  you  ll love it   
  st watched           out of    dir  jim kammerud  brian smith   drab and un  spectacular supposed sequel to the original classic animated     dalmatians .  yes  the movie continues where it ended in the first one  but the problem is that it plays out much like the original . one of the great things about the original was the pacing of the story  which this one doesn  t have . the animation is also very un  spectacular for disney and all we get is the same characters going thru the same kind of story all over again . when is disney going to stop boring us with sequels and re  do  s etc . . etc . probably when we stop renting or buying this mediocre fare that they have put out .  
pufnstuf is what it is . i saw this in the cinema at age  and i have very fond  and vivid  memories of it . seeing this as as adult allows one to catch the references that are way over the heads of the target audience  like the bit where jimmy  s grey witch wig is ripped off and witch hazel  cass  sneers  i knew she had brown roots   . it is of course heavily influenced by the flower power culture of the time  and in some ways quite progressive . the track different  for example sends a clear message to the young viewers about being yourself  not running with the pack  and cherishing what is is about yourself that is different . this could be an anthem to the gay community  it should be  great track .  br    br   martha raye  cass elliot and billie hayes are all great as witches  and the living island cast give it their all in the confines of their character suits  includes billy barty  felix silla and other famous names  . there is a lot of over acting in this film  there  s really nothing subtle  and when little jack wild has to emote his concern for the kidnapped residents of living island it  s really little more than yelling . this is drama and comedy spread on with a trowel . while i think of it  i never could stand the flute though .  br    br   i love the soundtrack  especially the above mentioned different but also zap the world  pufnstuf and even jack wild  s touching if i could . what  s more  it is now out on cd from the tasteful people at el records in london . see here for more www . cherryred . co . uk  el  artists  pufnstuf . htm  
i was very unimpressed with cinderella  and jungle book   but this is possibly worse than both titles . first of all  i didn  t like the animation  very saturday  morning  cartoon  only worse in some scenes . i liked some of the characters  namely thunderbolt and patch  but the other characters  like cruella were mediocre . cruella was truly villainous in the original  but she lost her quality in the sequel . what she said was nothing at all to write home about and her animation was kind of ugly . also her artist companion lars was a joke to be honest with you  and roger seemed to have quit smoking overnight . the voice talents were very good though especially barry bostwick as thunderbolt  with the exception of jodi benson  the accent ruined it for me . there were some good moments  but the whole plot seemed bloated for me  and highly suggestive of an extended tv episode . all in all  a hugely disappointing sequel to the most memorable of the   s disney movies along with jungle book . sorry  i can only give this a      it just wasn  t my cup of tea . bethany cox  
this is why i still have nightmares .  br    br   this terrifying film  a musical  was considered appropriate for children in the     s .  br    br   a boy leaves on a magical journey to an island . the mayor of the island  pufnstuf  allegedly a dragon  looking more like a newt with conjunctivitis to me  and a magic talking flute are targeted by a witch  billie halliday  who was considered  a bit of alright  at the time  .  br    br   the flute is recovered at an  interesting  witches convention  with the witches having a gay old time . the boy dresses in drag then as a  fairy  to recover the flute .  br    br   not suitable for children .  
i mean the word  pedestrian  . seems the producers of the film forgot to have anything interesting happen . faith domergue can do better than this . she is supposed to be the mysterious  vengeful cobra goddess torn by love for marshall thompson  there  s an idea  eh   . instead she  s a common would  be housewife of the fifties  and the single  flat expression she wears throughout the film makes me think they shot it all in the early morning before faith had her coffee . as for the rest of the cast  they are all so earnestly  all  american  that the result is laughable . this is ground more productively covered in val lewton in  the cat people  . i think  cult of the cobra  should really be titled  cult of the contractual obligation  . why else would so many otherwise talented people sleepwalk their way though a slow  moving  predictable  derivative failure like this   
i grew up with h . r . pufnstuff and the dashingly talented jack wild and now my daughters are adoring fans of jack wild too . this movie is exactly what movies should be fun and entertaining . this movie is not limited to children either . a lot of the dialogue is directed to adults and witchiepoo  s performance is something you do not want to miss . the music in this movie suited jack wild and mama cass beautifully . and as a jack wild fan  i would never miss the chance to watch him dance or hear him sing . knowing the hard life that jack had now makes this movie even more wonderful especially when he sings the opening song  if i could  . it makes me pause in loving adoration for him for giving me wonderful childhood memories that i am now passing on to my children . let  s all go to living island where there is friendship and fun  and keep jack wild  s memory alive by passing pufnstuff on to others .  
faith domergue  better known as  dr . ruth  in this island earth  is the only reason to watch this film . the story is very thin  and once the air force buddies return to the states with a cobra curse upon them the action is just a waiting game . see faith the snake woman and try to pretend the rest isn  t happening .  
i two came home from school fast as i could to catch hrpuff and stuff on t . v . that was the most fun time in my life is to watch hrpuff and stuff on t . v . growing up still love it today i am   years old . this year . . . . . .  
cult of the cobra is now available on dvd in a pristine print that does full justice to whatever merits it has as a movie . unfortunately  that is not saying much .  br    br   it has a competent cast of second  rankers that acquit themselves as well as could be expected under the circumstances . it is efficiently directed  entirely on sound stages and standing sets on the studio backlot . it looks ok  but is ponderously over  plotted and at a scant   minutes it is still heavily padded .  br    br   for example  the double cobra attack on the first of the gis was surely one attack too many .  br    br   the business about julia choosing to marry pete rather than tom never amounts to anything . tom immediately falls in love with lisa and she never has any reason to be jealous of julia  nor is she  .  br    br   julia  s  feminine intuition  is introduced as if it is going to lead to an important plot development  but it doesn  t . similarly  pete  s investigation into cobra cults and the suspicion that briefly falls on tom serve no purpose other than to fill up screen time .  br    br   these are just symptoms of the underlying problem . the movie is structured like a mystery but it isn  t . as soon as the curse is pronounced we know exactly where the story is heading  so the characters are left painstakingly uncovering what we already know .  br    br   the ending is particularly lame . julia is menaced purely by accident . lisa has no reason to want to kill her  she just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time . when tom turns up in the nick of time to save her  it is not even clear whether she was threatened at all . he then simply disposes of the cobra in the way any of the previous victims might have done .  br    br   it is such an inconsequential little pipsqueak of a story that i found myself wondering how on earth it had been pitched to the studio heads . then it occurred to me . someone said  those val lewton movies were very successful over at rko  so why don  t we make one like that    br    br   cult of the cobra is clearly modelled on cat people mysterious  troubled  shape  shifting woman falls in love with the hero  is apparently frigid  kills people  arouses the suspicions of the hero  s woman friend and dies at the end . but  modelled on  doesn  t mean  as good as   by a wide margin . it copies  but doesn  t understand what it is copying .  br    br   it is obviously trying for the low  key  suggestive lewton style  but this approach doesn  t follow through into the story . lisa is no irene . she is meant to be strange and mysterious but there is no mystery about her . we get a glimpse of her after the first attack in asia  so immediately recognise her when she turns up in new york . there is never any doubt about her purpose . neither is there any ambiguity about whether of not she actually turns into a snake .  br    br   then again  during her nocturnal prowling we get  not one  but two attempts at  buses  . neither come off  because the director doesn  t understand what makes a  bus  work and  in any case  they happen to the stalker  not the person being stalked .  br    br   these faint echoes of cat people give cult of the cobra whatever small distinction it might have  but they only draw attention to the yawning gulf between the original and the imitation .  br    br   plagiarism may be the sincerest form of flattery  but i doubt if lewton or tourneur were particularly flattered when this tepid little time  passer came out .  
i absolutely loved this movie when i was a kid . i cried every time i watched it . it wasn  t weird to me . i totally identified with the characters . i would love to see it again  and hope i wont be disappointed   . pufnstuf rocks     i was really drawn in to the fantasy world . and to me the movie was loooong . i wonder if i ever saw the series and have confused them  the acting i thought was strong . i loved jack wilde . he was so dreamy to an   year old  when i first saw the movie  not in     . i can still remember the characters vividly . the flute was totally believable and i can still  feel  the evil woods . witchy poo was scary  i wouldn  t want to cross her path .  
six gis  about to be send home and discharged  get drunk and sneak into a cult meeting in asia . surrounded by hooded figures  two male dancers pretend to have a fight . behind them  on an altar  a woven basket opens and a figure painted emerges and begins imitating a snake  finally biting one of the dancers on the neck . the imitation snake is dressed in some scaley looking body tights .  this is definitely a female imitation snake .  the cult member who has sneaked them into the secret meeting has warned the six men repeatedly that the ceremonies must not be interrupted and  most definitely  no photos must be taken or else they will be hunted down and killed . naturally  the gis take a flash photo  send the cult members into an angry hysteria  steal the basket containing the  snake  and run off with it into the asian night .  br    br   one of the guys  the most offensive and snarky  dies from a cobra bite on the neck  though no one can explain how the snake got into his hospital room .  br    br   back in new york  it all seems rather old news as the discharged men settle down into their civilian lives  still maintaining their bond with one another . their jobs range from manager of a bowling alley  david janssen  to graduate research student  richard long  . james dobson  jack kelly  and marshall thompson are also part of the neighborhood . richard long has a nice blond girl friend . kelly is a somewhat reckless womanizer . but they all get along well enough and all of them seem happy .  br    br   then a dark  shifty  looking  mysterious woman  faith domergue  shows up and marshall thompson takes a liking to her and insinuates her into the group .  br    br   guess what happens . first janssen is terrified by a shadow in the back seat and dies in a car crash . then kelly gets a visit from domergue . something scares him so badly he tumbles through the window and dies in the fall to the sidewalk . long and dobson begin to suspect what the viewer already knows   that domergue has had something to do with the deaths . they also reckon that maybe she  s turning into a cobra  which is the case . dobson confronts her with his suspicions and she proves his point .  br    br   by this time long and thompson are thoroughly frazzled  particularly thompson  who is in love with domergue and has discovered that she is attracted to him  too  although he must explain to her what  love  is . no matter . a final reckless attack by the cobra woman against long  s girl friend   not one of the six original offenders   and thompson must throw the snake out the window . on the pavement below  the body changes to that of domergue . the end .  br    br   i think i  ll skip over most of the questions that the plot raises . i  ll just mention one of the more prosaic ones in passing . who paid for domergue  s fare from somewhere in asia to new york  who  s paying her utility bills in the hotel  who paid for her spectacular wardrobe  how come she speaks american english so well  what the hell  s going on  the writers and director have clearly seen some of val lewton  s modest horror films and  though not much effort has gone into this production  they  ve unashamedly stolen some gimmicks from lewton . in lewton  s  the cat people   for instance  the woman is transformed into a black leopard but  with one tiny exception  the threat is always kept in the shadows and is all the more spooky for it . most of the transformations here use shadows too  but unlike lewton  s  the shadows are clumsy and unambiguous .  br    br   lewton also made occasional use of what he called  buses  . lewton  s first  bus  was a literal one . a potential victim is hurrying alone through the dark tunnels of central park with only the sound of footsteps . something or someone is following her . she freezes with fright under a street lamp . something rustles the branches of the shrubs above her . she looks upward . there is a loud  wheezing shriek that makes your hair stand on end . it  s a bus using its air brakes to stop for her . the producers used at least two  buses  in this film and they amount to nothing . a guy is walking distractedly across an intersection  for instance  and there is the sudden rumble of a truck that almost hits him . there is no set up to the shot . it  s jammed in with a shoe horn .  br    br   i don  t much care for movies that perpetuate the stereotype of serpents as slimy  ugly  venomous  and phallic . as a matter of fact  no snakes are slimy  most are harmless  and many are extraordinarily beautiful . furthermore  they  re more feminine than masculine in their sinuous movements and serpentine approach to goals . you want a reptilian symbol for masculinity  try a six  lined racerunner . it  s a really fast lizard . when it sees something to eat  it rushes up and gobbles it down .  br    br   anyway  if you want to see some fine  low  budget scary films  don  t bother with this one . find  the cat people  or one of lewton  s other minor masterpieces  of which this is an obvious copy .  
this film may have a questionable pedigree because it was made for tv  but it is one of the best movies i  ve seen . the film and its actors won several awards . it is gripping  fascinating  and it will absorb you completely . the story of a chase for a killer in iron  curtain russia by people who are willing to risk their careers to try to save lives of future victims would be a compelling story if it were fiction   but it  s ostensibly a true story . i highly recommend it .  
actually  this is a lie  shrek   d was actually the first  d animated movie . i bought it on dvd about  years ago . didn  t bug  s life also do that  i think it was at disneyworld in that tree  so i  m saying before they go and use that as there logo . also  shrek  d was a motion simulator at universal studios . they should still consider it as a movie  because it appeared in a  theater  and you could buy it for dvd . the movie was cute  at least the little flyes were . i liked iq . i agree with animaster  they did a god job out of making a movie out of something that is just a out  and  back adventure . i recommend it to families and kids .  
the only part lacking in this movie is shue  s part as the daughter wanting to follow in her  aunt  s  footsteps as a daytime soap star . otherwise it would be a perfect   .  br    br   it seems that every actor enjoyed their parts and overacting to fulfill their own enjoyment as well as the script  i have to wonder if a little ad lib  ing wasn  t taking place in parts . it was well cast and there are some classic lines that will stick with you .  br    br   it  s a fantastic movie everyone should see at least once . i  d recommend not drinking anything that would sting coming out your nose .  br    br   you  ll definitely want to watch the last scene closely   nurse nan  has a little secret she  d rather not have shared with you .  br    br   if you love daytime soaps or despise them  this move pokes fun in all the right places .  
as a dane i  m proud of the handful of good danish movies that have been produced in recent years . it  s a terrible shame  however  that this surge in quality has led the majority of danish movie critics to lose their sense of criticism . in fact  it has become so bad that i no longer trust any reviews of danish movies  and as a result i have stopped watching them in theaters .  br    br   i know it  s wrong to hold this unfortunate development against any one movie  so let me stress that  villa paranoia  would be a terrible film under any circumstances . the fact that it was hyped by the critics just added fuel to my bonfire of disillusionment with danish film . furthermore  waiting until it came out on dvd was very little help against the unshakable feeling of having wasted time and money .  br    br   erik clausen is an accomplished director with a knack for social realism in copenhagen settings . i particularly enjoyed  de frigjorte        . as an actor he is usually funny  though he generally plays the same role in all of his movies  namely that of a working  class slob who  s down on his luck  partly because he  s a slob but mostly because of society  and who redeems himself by doing something good for his community .  br    br   this is problem number one in  villa paranoia   clausen casts himself as a chicken farmer  which is such a break from the norm that he never succeeds in making it credible .  br    br   it is much worse  however  that the film has to make twists and turns and break all rules of how to tell a story to make the audience understand what is going on . for instance  the movie opens with a very sad attempt at visualizing the near  death experience of the main character with the use of low  budget effects and bad camera work . after that  the character tells her best friend that she suddenly felt the urge to throw herself off a bridge . this is symptomatic of the whole movie there is little or no motivation for the actions of the characters  and clausen resorts to the lowest form of communicating whatever motivation there is telling instead of showing . thus  at one point  you have a character talking out loud to a purportedly catatonic person about the way he feels  because the script wouldn  t allow him to act out his feelings and later on  voice  over is abruptly introduced  quite possibly as an afterthought  to convey feelings that would otherwise remain unknown to the audience due to the director  s ineptitude . fortunately  at this point you  re roughly an hour past caring about any of the characters  let alone the so  called story .  br    br   the acting  which has frequently been a problem in clausen  s movies  can be summed up in one sad statement sren westerberg bentsen  whose only other claim to stardom was as a contestant on big brother  is no worse than several of the heralded actors in the cast .  br    br   i give this a   out  of    rating .  
steven rea plays a forensic scientist thrust on the job in sovie russia in     . . in the very first hours of his job a body of a murdered girl is brought in . . he has his workers go back to look for evidence and they bring back five more bodies . . this starts the story of the hunt for one of the worst serial killers in modern day history . . it is a stark depressing dark movie that explores how the bureaucracy of the old soviet union indirectly contributed or caused the deaths of many of the killers victims . it also explores in donald sutherland  s character how the proper usage of bureaucracy in a communist govt can help achieve the ultimate goal of finding a monster a gripping movie not for all but for those who like a good detective story that will hold your interest this is definitely a must see on a scale of one to ten . .   
as long as there  s been  d technology        s i think  there  s been animation made for it . i remember specifically  a donald duck cartoon with chip and dale in it . i don  t remember the name at the moment  but the plot was that donald worked at a circus  was feeding an elephant peanuts and chip and dale were stealing the peanuts . this was made to watch in  d probably      s . if you happened to watch meet the robinsons in  d in theaters  they showed this cartoon before the movie and explained the details of it  s origin . there are probably somewhere around    cartoons made specifically to be viewed through  d glasses . this claim was a bad move because it  s not difficult to prove them wrong . on top of that  this just looks like a bad movie .  
excellent film . the whole picture was filmed in budapest  so i feel proud . my little problem was that the trains in the film belonged to the hungarian state railways  mv   and it is plain to see that they were used in big train  not in the local railway  according to the story chikatilo picked up his victims in local railway stations . apart from this  the film is superb .  
with the massive advertising this is getting on nickelodeon and nick jr . and that ilk  my son was bugging us to see it . between dvd and the theaters  i  ve seen pretty much everything by now from the outstanding  incredibles  shrek  to the really bad  wall  e  brother bear  . but this was easily the worst movie i  ve ever seen  kids or no kids . it was a  when it this stupid thing going to end   kind of experience  ok  it  s aimed at toddlers  or it better be  it  s insulting to the intelligence of anyone over    but i  ve never seen something so predictable  repetitive  and slow  moving . then once you  re finally fed up but relieved that the movie is over  there is this bizarre thing at the end that you think is the setup for a joke  but there isn  t one  it  s serious  though it  s hard to tell what they  re trying to accomplish . the   d effects . . . yeah  if you  ve never seen a viewmaster they  re a big deal  otherwise no  if you look at the screen without glasses  it appears to be the same process  . even my son was bored by the end . both my wife and i looked at each other and said  wow  at the end . bad in every respect .  
this is a fascinating account of the hunt for the soviet union  s first known serial killer . i had tuned in  just expecting a half  decent tv movie  but found myself drawn by the compelling way the story was told . as others have said  there is much to admire here that is sadly lacking in many big screen releases .  br    br   much of the credit must go to chris gerolmo  whose intelligent screenplay and direction draw the viewer in  until it is impossible not to feel emotionally involved . the acting by the whole cast is also superb  especially that of the two leads  stephen rea and donald sutherland . their convincing portrayals give their character arcs a great deal of credibility  and the scene where they have their first committee meeting after perestroika is genuinely touching .  br    br   if you prefer your crime films with a bit more depth and a little less sheen  i strongly recommend you look out for  citizen x  .  br    br    
this is what you would get if you allowed a   year old  manic american  to write a story of a moon trip . absolute garbage with no redeeming qualities maybe it held some fascination in the  d dept . but as a narrative and entertaining animation it held nothing to make wasting an hour and a half worth while . save your time and money and watch bolt instead  br    br   damn . not enough lines  yet i feel that sums it up . . . well  i agree with an above review  this is like a cold  war propaganda story . maybe it would have been more interesting if they had made it about the flies uncovering the hoax of the moon landing  or if the flies had died in the first minute . btw  why were all the main character flies deformed   not one had the full compliment of limbs   
this movie was excellent . it details the struggle between a committed detective against the dedicated ignorance of the corrupted communist regime in russia during the    s . i give this movie high marks for it  s no  holds  barred look into the birth and development of forensic investigation in a globally isolated  thanks to the  regime   community . this is a graphic movie . it presents an unsensationalized picture of violence and it  s tragic remains . nothing is  candy  coated  with overdone blood or gore to separate us from the cruel reality on the screen . this movie is based on russian serial killer andrei chikatilo . i  m familiar enough with the true story to have a very deep appreciation for how real they kept the film . it  s not a comedy  but for those who appreciate dry and dark humor  this movie is a must  see .  
today  i visited an athenean cinema with my two kids     years old   payed  x   euros  about   us  total  not to mention gas  popcorn  soda  was asked to return my  d special glasses after leaving the theater and was  forced  to watch what could have been a great  d movie masterpiece but only proved to be a sick  cold war like  propaganda movie  like none i have seen during the last   years . . . and this is supposed to be a movie for children . . . in heaven  s name   br    br   ps   the average working greek makes no more than    euros a month  approxiamtely     us    br    br   ps  my kids liked it . . . but then again they are no more than babies  in greek mora  morons  like the one who wrote the script  the others who made this   d disgrace  happen .  br    br   ps   d animation is fantastic but who gives a . . . .   
citizenx       is the developing world  s answer to silence of the lambs . where silence  terrorized our peace of mind  citizen  exhausts and saddens us instead . this dramatization of the chikatilo case translates rather well  thanks to a westernized friendship between two rostov cops who become equals .  br    br   citizenx may also argue against    the death penalty far better than kevin spacey  s the life of david gayle       .  br    br   humans are machiavellian mammals  under which lie limbic brains  lizard  logic  . why did two kids  who knew better  stone to death a toddler they kidnapped  why do bloodthirsty women yell li  lilililililii  at acts of obscene terrorism   my own term for this is limbic domination   the lizard  logic urge to dominate an enemy  . if you have the words enemy   vengeance  in your vocabulary  you  re easily capable of limbic domination  .  br    br   in wwii  devastated     s rostov  located at the mouth of the don river near the black sea   nothing suppressed andrei chikatilo  s urge for limbic domination  from overpowering his layers of civilization . chikatilo  jeffrey demunn   s easy victims were paupers  usually children  who rode the interurban train for fun  since they couldn  t afford anything else .  br    br   citizenx reminds us that the denials of a rampant soviet bureaucracy cost the lives of   such lambs  . rostov  s serial killer roamed free for almost  years after the police arrested and let him go .  br    br   the politicization of crimefighting is harmful to police forces everywhere . although policing routinely suffers from corruption all over the world  in the west  vote  grabbing by politicians can set up chronic inter  agency rivalries  stymieing a more coordinated response to crime . in the soviet union of citizenx  however  viktor burakov  stephen rea   s killer department was suffering from a repressive bureaucracy .  br    br   geoffrey demunn plays the psychosexually inadequate chikatilo with faultless but understated authority   to the point of complete obscurity . in real life  too  chikatilo had a lifetime  s experience blending in and evading capture .  br    br   his pursuer  on the other hand  sticks out as a strange bird  given to unheralded  naive outbursts . perhaps by design  stephen rea gives a very strange performance as forensics chief burakov . rea  s russian accent is impenetrable and his burakov is humourless and sullen  at odds with everyone .  br    br   so it  s donald sutherland who walks away with the picture . sutherland  s col . fetisov  burakov  s boss  and at first his only supporter  is an overly restrained  patient militiaman whose dignified carriage bears testimony to decades of bureaucratic machinations . his reawakening as a logic  driven yet still passionate cop becomes the film  s cornerstone idealism .  br    br   joss ackland does another turn as a vicious apparatchik  secretary of communist ideology bondarchuk  overseeing the investigation . naturally  he quashed the arrest of the most likely suspect  a communist  in      a man carrying rope and a knife in his bag  supposedly going home andrei chikatilo .  br    br   soon  he replaced burakov with another moscow apparatchik  detective gorbunov  john wood   insisting that the investigation now focus on known homosexuals  . the funniest scene of this sad  sad film comes during bondarchuk  s  gorbunov  s institutionalized harassment one stupid cop earnestly reports  as i suspected  comrade  it  s fornication . i  ve made some drawings    cue howling laughter .  br    br    yrs after the bodies began piling up  in      the police finally tried soliciting criminal profiles . the only cooperating soviet psychiatrist was dr aleksandr bukhanovsky  max von sydow   who termed the unsub citizenx  . he later also observed to fetisov  burakov that  . . . together you make a wonderful person  . we concur .  br    br   the drawn  out pace  spread over a decade  perfectly captures the institutional inertia of glasnost   openness    that wasn  t . the contrast with perestroika   restructuring    couldn  t  ve been greater for the case . although chikatilo was still prowling railway stations  police plans were about to bear fruit .  br    br   in      col . fetisov was expeditiously promoted to general . his nemesis bondarchuk disappeared off the scene  allowing the investigation to finally proceed without political interference . staff  communications  publicity   suddenly all were available . in just one night of telephoning around  fetisov got his depressed forensics chief access to the fbi  s serial murder task force at quantico  where  fetisov discovered  staff are regularly rotated off serial murder cases to stave off just such psychological damage to investigators .  br    br   fetisov advises his newly promoted forensics chief  now colonel  burakov  of all these changes in an avalanche of confession that becomes the movie  s powerhouse watershed scene . fetisov  s is the most tender apology i  ve ever seen on film privately  i offer my deepest apologies to you and your wife . i hope that someday you can forgive me my ignorance   he almost whispers .  br    br   a hbo production  citizenx is a film of the highest caliber . not only do the exteriors look authentically bleak  shot exclusively in the most run  down parts of otherwise spectacular budapest   but randy edelman  s soaring soundtrack is entirely overwhelming   and frequently our only respite from the bleak brutality . those who speak hungarian will recognize the many hungarian accents and credits .  br    br   chikatilo  s actual murders are depicted as bleak  aberrant behaviour born of character flaws and ignorance in an equally bleak world . this makes the murders seem not  entirely  out  of  place   but of course they were . as president kennedy reminded us  we all cherish the futures of our children  .  br    br   citizenx communicates perfectly that killing is far more grisly and obscene than any vengeance fantasy might imply . serial rapists rape to dominate serial killers kill to dominate . so do some soldiers . such limbic dominators  make poor humans .  br    br   warning  spoiler                                                the real andrei chikatilo was the world  s most prolific known serial killer . convicted  he was executed in     in the manner of all soviet union death sentences one shot  in the back of the head . foolishly  such methods destroy any possibility of studying a deviant brain after death .  br    br   conclusion                                                             the best outcome is always the prevention of killings  not their prosecution . executions merely guarantee society  s failure to learn from the complex reality of victims  deaths when we dispatch even anecdotal evidence of how  why they died . nor do killers learn regret if they  re dead .  br    br   vengeance doesn  t unkill victims . baying for the killer  s blood constitutes nothing better than counter  domination   once it  s too late .  br    br   vengeance on behalf of the grieving isn  t justice for the deceased   it  s appeasement of the living .         
i  also having endured hundreds of children  s movies in the past  consider this to be one of the worst i have ever seen .  br    br     i resent in this day and age having to explain to my children that russia is not  the bad guys  . also  that mocking russian names like  poopchev  is inappropriate .  br    br     the grandfather fly  s birthday party scene contained a quasi  sexist joke in which he implied that males drink beer and women talk on the phone . two other flies also needlessly use the word  crap  twice .  br    br     the whole movie largely smacks of      s stereotypes and propaganda that i thought we  as a nation  were proud to have risen above .  br    br   in all it  s just crude  badly animated  even more badly written and not worth wasting the time to view .  
i was surprised at how fascinating this movie was . the performances were extremely good  especially by rea as the compassionate no  nonsense detective .  br    br   despite a low budget  no big fx or flashy camerawork  citizen x somehow manages to surpass the majority of similar big hollywood films by just . telling . the . story .  br    br   true stories tend to end with a whimper rather than a bang  and that  s the case here  but apart from that  this is a highly recommended detective yarn .  
  nat   voiced by trevor gagnon   along with his brainiac friend  iq   voiced by philip bolden  and the always hungry  scooter   david gore  are kids with big dreams . they want to be the first flies in space . and what encourages their dreams is the first spacecraft to land on the moon  the apollo    is waiting for its historic trip on the launch pad near where the three hang out .  br    br   the first thing you notice is the animation of the film . i found it done very well done . the scenery had depth to it  as things in the distance actually looked like they were behind the focus of the scenes . i didn  t see the movie in   d  as it was broadcast on hbo . however  i could see that there really wasn  t any scenes which took advantage of the   d effects except a fight between characters near the end . i also wasn  t really impressed with the design of the characters . to me  they didn  t look like anything resembling a fly  especially in the coloring . the flies were an unusual blue  gray that was kind of distracting to me .  br    br   the performances from the cast was not bad  but it wasn  t good either . there were many times i focused more on my computer than the story . the writing was certainly written for a younger audience  with comedic moments that will make younger kids laugh . i saw nothing for adults  like jokes that they  ll get the punchline for the adults to understand the meaning .  br    br   history was not followed in this film . in fact  i think it was completely ignored  as the main focus was the flies . i also hated when a well known astronaut popped up on the screen and explained that the stories about the flies in the film was a work of fiction  and no flies were on apollo   . i did like how he thanked the men and women who sacrificed their lives for space exploration though .  br    br   if you are an adult  this is not for you . it was not made for the entire family . this is certainly just for kids . but  save this one for a rainy day .  
this is an excellent movie . it is about many things the hunt for a serial killer  the bureacracy of soviet russia  the drive of one man  and the relationship between this man  the lead detective  and his superior .  br    br   the thing that sticks with me the most is the relationship between durokov  rea  and fetisov  sutherland   excuse bad spelling  please   . for some reason  it is moving to see their evolution from hostility and offense turning into respect and cameraderie and working together . one line in the movie sums it up for me  he would say something witty  but he is overcome with emotion .   br    br   excellent acting by all of the cast  even the smallest parts were done with believability .  br    br   this is not a fast  paced action thriller in fact  it moves at times like a slow drama  but it is worth it . very satisfying and not exploitative about the crimes at all .  br    br    
this is not a good movie . too preachy in parts and the story line was sub par . the  d was ok  but not superb . i almost fell asleep in this movie .  br    br   the story is about  young flies that want to have adventure and follow up on it . the characters are lacking  i truly do not care about these characters and feel that there was nothing to keep an adult interested . pixar this is not .  br    br   i would have liked to see more special  d effects . also i wold like to see more fly jokes than the mom constantly saying  lord of the flies  pretty sexist in showing the women as house wives and fainting .  
  citizen x  is the superbly told true story of the hunt for one of history  s worst serial killers . what makes this story even more compelling is where and when it took place the soviet union in the      s .  br    br    mild spoilers   br    br   viktor burakov  magnificently played by stephen rea  is a newly promoted forensic investigator for the rostov oblast militia . he discovers past and present unsolved murders  apparently by the same person . the murders are unsolved because no one has ever taken the trouble to properly investigate the evidence . he is driven to find and stop the killer . his only tools are his dedication  skill and honesty . his obstacles are the corruption and political ideology of the soviet system that discourages the search for truth . his naivet would have led to failure were it not for his boss  col . mikhail fetisov  donald sutherland  . fetisov is a politically astute cynic who understands the game and knows how to deal with the soviet bureaucracy . however  he also shares burakov  s desire to bring a murderer to justice  even if the official party line is  there are no serial killers in the soviet union    br    br   the cast is outstanding . the locations and sets are perfect recreations of latter day soviet life . randy edelman  s score is particularly good .  br    br   more important  this film shows a dark and disturbing criminal phenomenon with both intensity and poignancy . this was a made  for  cable movie by hbo films and they have become a great resource for films that would otherwise never be made .  
  st the good news . the   d is spectacularly well done  and they don  t go for the gotcha gimmicks . the film is based on the true story of the high point in human history  and even features one of the actual participants in that story buzz aldrin .  br    br   and now the meat of the matter it  s about flies  for krissakes  flies with big  googy human eyes  true  but flies nonetheless . remember when i likened the  underworld  movies to rats vs . cockroaches  that wasn  t intended as praise  and i never dreamed anyone would take it literally . this one  s got even less empathy going for it . baby maggots  ugh . in one of those odd confluences of hollywood groupthink  this flik was evidently on the drawing boards at the same time as  space chimps   also about critters in space .  br    br   go rent  apollo    and see a   rated movie about the real space program  rip  .  
the poor dvd video quality is the only reason why i gave this movie a  instead of a   . that could have been so much better  this movie deserves it .  br    br   this is truly a movie that covers several themes simultaneously . if you do not like movies about serial killers  but are fascinated by the astonishing bureaucratic culture in the former sovjet union  this movie is a must  see anyway .  br    br   i can  t compare it to  silence of the lambs  for several reasons . the way the serial killer is portrayed  has been done far much better in citizen x . you see several details of his private life  because you  travel  along with the killer  which gives you some idea of the source of his constant anger and sexual frustration .  br    br   the only other movie i have seen that is as realistic as this one was  henry  portrait of a serial killer  . if you were fascinated by that movie you definitely need to take a look at citizen x .  
when i saw this trailer on tv i was surprised . in may of     i was at six flags in new jersey and this was showing at a   d attraction  you know  the attraction that the seats move  . i take it that the version i saw was a shortened version    min .  and also re  created to add the motion effects . it was a cute movie . . . but that was it . it was educational and told about the first mission but the ending of a cgi spacewalk seemed a bit . . . well . . . trite . i was not a big fan of the movie but i would recommend this movie for any parent wanting to inform their children in a fun way about the first moonwalk . i will say  the character actors were well selected and the characters themselves were cute . so all  in  all  i would say  if you want to bring the younger kids . . . go for it . but if you are wanting to take your older kids  take them to another movie . . . they will thank you .  
citizen x tells the real life drama of the search for a serial killer dubbed  the rostov ripper  this great film shows the long journey it took to try to apprehend a killer . the film shows how politics may haver helped the killer to continue his rampage for over   years .  possibly over   victims  mostly women and children  the performances of stephen rea as the lead detective and donald sutherland as the overall investigation lead was superb . jeffrey demunn as the ripper andrei romanovich chikatilo . this is the type of film which will mesmerize you and immediately have you on the internet researching the real case . this a film not to be missed . it debuted i believe on hbo and never did get a theatrical release to my understanding . great film  
while the   d animation  the highlight of the show  did it  s job well  most other elements fell flat . it was as though the filmmakers thought  well  it  s gonna be   d so we don  t have to work that hard on the plot or character development .  and the fact that it  s a children  s movie is absolutely no excuse . the public is drawn to three dimensional characters  shrek  nemo  s dad  just as much as they are drawn to three dimensional graphics . the only dimension any of the main characters showed was two dimensional scooter who twists the plot from time to time with his compulsion to eat everything in sight .  br    br   and the absolute kicker  buzz aldrin  s appearance at the very end  after watching a very robotic cartoon version of the same historical figure for an hour and half  comes on the screen and ruins everyone  s good time by calling the film  s main characters  contaminants  and announcing that the situation put forth on screen was actually an impossibility .  br    br            did you just wanna tell the kids the easter bunny and santa claus don  t exist while you  re at it   
i first saw this in the movie theater when it came out  and the crowd was really into the movie which made the experience all the more fun . this is a great cast of characters  many big names in it  a few of which were not as recognized then as they are now . i think it  s a great idea if you follow any of these actors  or have loved them in other movies  to add it to your watched list . some of the scenes actually remind me of the type of well  done comedy as in the birdcage or even the clue  kind of odd spontaneous  appearing comedy  with some really professional delivery from these beloved actors . the movie did a great job at giving you some insight  perhaps even very realistic  into the culture of a daytime soap .  
i haven  t read a biography of lincoln  so maybe this was an accurate portrayal . . . . . .  br    br   and maybe it  s because i  m used to the equally alienating and unrealistic worshiping portrayals that unnaturally deify lincoln as brilliant  honorable  and the savior of our country . . . . . .  br    br   but why would they make a movie representing lincoln as a buffoon  while henry fonda made an excellent lincoln  his portrayal of him as an  aw shucks  i  m just a simple guy  seemed a little insulting .  br    br   granted  that was bushie jr .  s whole campaign  to make us think he was  just a regular guy  so we wouldn  t care that he  s a rich  privileged moron   but that  s a whole other story .   br    br   not only did the film show lincoln as sort of a simple  almost simple  minded  kind of guy  the film states that lincoln just sort of got into law by accident  and that he wasn  t even that interested in the law  only with the falsely simplistic idea of the law being about rights  wrongs . in the film he  s not a very good defense attorney  he lounges around with his feet on the table and makes fun of the witnesses   and the outcome is mostly determined by chance  luck .  br    br   furthermore  partly because this was financed by republicans  in reaction to some play sponsored by democrats that had come out  and partly because it was just the sentiment of the times  the film is unfortunately religious  racist and conservative .  br    br   don  t waste your time on this film   
chris gerolmo took care not to simply give us a jack  the  stripper  type of list of murdered people he delved into the psychological characterization with convincing results . perhaps mostly due to stephen rea  s excellent performance playing off against donald sutherland with good empathy by both . it was the playing of these two parts  above all  which made the film something more than just a morbid account of the history of the butcher of rostov . supporting actors  especially max von sydow  carried out their parts really well . good directing . the photography was good too . needless to say  the fact that the film was shot in hungary was bound to produce a couple of aberrations  but  frankly  given the depth of the story  telling and interpretations  we can completely forget these little trivialia .  br    br   for once  a made for tv film from hbo has come up trumps . recommended  especially if you like to analyse characteriology and forget some of the morbid scenes  which  i hasten to add  are never exaggerated .  
okay  so  someone  somewhere  a few years ago  thought it would be a good idea to make a  d imax movie about some flies stowing away aboard the apollo   and going to the moon . so they did . someone  somewhere  was an idiot .  br    br   i want to give the artists props for doing their homework on the hardware . as far as i can tell  the rockets and the launch hardware were bang on . the graphics in general were pretty good  the rocket launch gave me chills  like a good rocket launch always does  my popular mechanics flying  car gearhead blood still runs strong  and the  d was pretty effective . the cg wasn  t pixar  quality  but it was generally good . the flies were kinda mediocre anthropomorphics  with some half  assed late    s characters thrown in for colour  hippie flies  african  american flies with giant afros and black shades  etc .  and the maggots looked more like grubs with human baby heads  although they made suitably gross squelching noises  .  br    br   the scriptwriters certainly did not do their homework  relying on offensive and outdated clichs    s gender politics including mostly  useless female characters  racial stereotypes  evil russians  a fat fly who only wants to eat  grade  two level gross  out humour  . in a movie aimed for imax  they blew a wonderful opportunity to sneak in some educational content about physics and space travel  they didn  t get their physics right  zero  g in the lunar module during landing burn  please .  they couldn  t even be bothered to read the original radio transcripts between houston and the astronauts  all of which is in the public domain instead they wrote their own dialogue  which sounds like crap .  br    br   but we liked the maggots .  br    br   so they get a point and a half for rockets and maggots . uh  yay .  .    .  
though i saw this movie years ago  its impact has never left me . stephen rea  s depiction of an invetigator is deep and moving . his anguish at not being able to stop the deaths is palpable . everyone in the cast is amazing from sutherland who tries to accommodate him and provide ways for the police to coordinate their efforts  to the troubled citizen x . each day when we are bombarded with stories of mass murderers  i think of this film and the exhausting work the people do who try to find the killers .  
it is pretty surreal what these flies can do . . . eh well . . . this is a cartoon  so anything can happen in it .  br    br   at first i must tell you that i love animated movies . unfortunately this year  s repertoire is very weak . this cartoon is nothing but a list of flaws  br    br     i quoted the tag line . it suggests that this movie has great  d effects . well  i did not see any  at least not something special i never saw before .  br    br     the  flies  in this movie look nothing like real flies . at least they could  ve make them black . but cyan flies  seriously  with giant heads and slim torsos   br    br     the story . i guess it was written for  year old kids . i could tell it in two sentences it is so over simplified .  br    br     excessive patriotism . for example  they are american files after all   oh  give me a break .  
i believe this is the most powerful film hbo pictures has made to date . this film should have been released in theaters for the public to view on the big screen . it is available on video so make sure you look for it and check it out . chris gerolmo did a great job with the direction and the screenplay . the performances from stephen rea  donald sutherland and jeffery demunn are flawless . a masterpiece of the genre .  
  fly me to the moon  has to be the worst animated film i  ve seen in a long time . that  s saying something since i have taken my son to see every animated release for the last  years now . the story is to be generous . . . trite . the voice acting is atrocious  too cute sounding . the humor is of the romper room variety . the animation is passable for a nickolodeon type of cartoon but this is being released on the big screen not cable television .  br    br   it gets a  only because of it  s ok   d visuals . some of the scenes had a mildly stimulating image but we  ve seen much better in the past . i also question the insistence of the filmmakers to have characters fly away from the screen rather than into it in most of the scenes . while that is interesting at first it became tiresome after the  rd or  th time . it seemed to smack of indifference to me on the part of the creators .  br    br   i will say this though  it had a pretty cool soundtrack . and for the record my son wasn  t too crazy about it either . bad movie .  
imagine being so hampered by a bureaucracy that a one man spends  year  s of his life  and has a mental breakdown trying to solve a mass murder case virtually by himself  the murder technique is clear  but a government unwilling to admit the truth let  s a monster destroy dozens of lives . when i think my job is stressful  i merely remember the true story behind this wonder flick . the devotion to duty of the main character was masterfully portrayed by rea . the comic  and almost tragic at times  relationship between rea and the sutherland character made this one of my favorite movies of the last  years . the catching of one of the worst mass murderers in history had me on the edge of my seat . while not nearly as well advertised and talked about as  silence of the lamb  s   the plot was just as suspenseful . rent or buy this movie today   
this movie was advertised on radio  television  magazines  etc . almost every hour or every issue . so when we went to the kinnepolis multiplex our expectations were very high . but oh boy  how sad this movie is  it is a movie in hollywood style about a movie in a movie . shades shows so clear we aren  t ready to produce  big hollywood movies  . i am not a movie critic  but i think a good movie starts with a good script . and the script is a nightmare . like my subject line says  it is nothing  and then looped . you could just stare to the television as well  without really seeing anything . that was the feeling we  ve got when we saw shades . shades is a bad production     
rea  sutherland  demunn  and von sydow  in a small role  are all brilliant in their performances . sutherland is particularly adept at this sort of role  where he must portray a character whose morality is  at first  uncertain to the audience . as is so often the case with sutherland  s characters  we must ask  is he a villian in this case  a minor one  or a hero    br    br   this is a disturbing story  intelligently told  about the incompetence and fearful bureaucracy in the old soviet union that impeded the efforts of extremely competent people . as sutherland  s character wryly notes   the measure of a bureaucracy is its ability not to make special exceptions  . the  committee meeting   between rea and sutherland  s characters  after perestroika is enforced  with its revelations  has enormous emotional impact . you can feel the suffering of the dedicated people who labored in that system .  br    br   the handful of dramatic scenes portraying victims  family members adds emotional resonance to the impact of the story . this is seldom a feature of a film with this sickening subject matter  but effectively reminds us that the victims had lives  and were loved .  br    br   this is a sad  but very important film  which deserved its showcase on canada  s history television .  
the first ten minutes of this movie about making an international movie in belgium  are fine you see real chaos on the set  a producer on the edge of a nervous breakdown  the cool has been  director  mickey rourke   the bad tempered star  etc . you have seen everything before  but it  s well done . but then  the rest of the time the film just repeats itself the same ten minutes over and over again . no climax  no dramatic development  no good acting  not even bad acting  it just goes on and on and on . mickey rourke has two good minutes when his character talks about his fked up career in a scene where reality and fiction meet . altogether  that makes   good minutes .  br    br    
okay  let  s start off by saying this film is not an exact rendition of the crimes and legal pursuit of andrei chikatilo . while it may have been  official policy  in the politburo that the ussr had no serial killers  in actuality the legal system had handled others  and  killer x   as he was actually called  was already being sought when fetisov brought burakov onto the case . in fact  as soon as it was realized they had multiple murders on their hands  the authorities assigned a task force of dozens of officers to track down and end the killing spree of a man that did not fit into what is perceived as normal serial killer parameters . it  s good the director and writers consistently remind the viewer that the story is only  based upon actual events   for a docudrama this ain  t .  br    br   spoilers follow  br    br   that said  this is a damn good example of a fast  paced hollywood  style thriller that still gets across the basics of what happened . it is easy to follow and has just enough truth behind its version of events to make for compelling viewing . yes  chikatilo raped and murdered both children and adults  both male and female . yes  shoddy lab  work set him free to continue killing for years . yes  innocent men were accused of the murders and  confessed  to their crimes at police urging . yes  the gay community was harassed while the crimes were being committed  albeit with burakov  s committed assistance  . and yes  chikatilo was brought to confession not by the haranguing of the special prosecutor  gorbunov  but by the gentle understanding of a psychiatrist named bukhanovsky  though gorbunov was really nowhere near the egotistical martinet portrayed in this film  . quibbles about truth and veracity aside  all of these events are dramatized in a manner that consistently tightens the tension and fear .  br    br   it doesn  t hurt that director and co  writer chris gerolmo has a pitch perfect cast . stephen rea  s growing emotional involvement in the killings and developing expertise in detecting clues  donald sutherland  s snarky manipulation of the soviet party hacks and subtle spine that becomes evident when it is needed  jeffrey demunn  s seething undercurrent of rage hidden by a fear  filled demeanor  max von sydow  s boyish excitement at being part of a criminal investigation all enhance the sharp dialog and crisp editing in ways that cannot be underestimated .  br    br   taken for what it is   citizen x  is almost pitch perfect  the  almost  due to one moment of self  congratulation at the end that just does not fit  . highly recommended as fiction well  told  not fact being presented . . . but considering the junky  serial killer  movies that hollywood usually spits out  that  s good enough for me .  
this is a very sad movie . really . nothing happens in this movie . the script is bad    i guess they  ve just copy  paste the first   pages to   pages . the producers must have thought let  s create a hollywood movie here in belgium . they didn  t succeed . now in the third week it is only running in antwerp and brussels at   h   or something . in the past we have had really good movies in belgium  like daens . shades is a waste of your time . maybe you could sneak in the theater after you  ve seen a real movie . if you  ve seen   minutes of shades  you  ve seen it all . it was advertised to death on local radio and tv . i hope it will disappear in the shades soon .  
a superb and compelling drama about the hunt for the notorious russian serial killer andrea chikatilo . magnificent performance from stephen rea as the forensic scientist put in charge of the investigation  who finds the biggest obstacle to his progress is the russian government  in particular the old communist party members who want to maintain a closed society .  br    br   the film is has an underlying theme about the decline of the communist society  and progress in the hunt for the killer is reflected by progress in social and political change in russia  which is subtly put across . there is a conflict of old ways and new ways  and these are represented by the two viewpoints of rea  s superior  played by donald sutherland   and rea himself . these are at first polarised  with sutherland  high  in system looking down  and rea  low  on the ground  looking up . however  they have a common cause  to catch the serial killer .  br    br   throughout the film the relationship between these two develops  and the tension gradually eases until at the end of the movie rea and sutherland and rea and sutherland have mutual respect for each other  the killer is caught  and glasnost symbolically comes . excellent script .  br    br   further credits go to sutherland  s performance  which is superb and sympathetic  jeffrey demunn as the killer whom we despise but can  t hate  and max von sydow  who is thoroughly convincing as the humble psychologist who risks his reputation to help .  
the first  and only  time i saw  shades  was during a sneakpreview . it hadn  t even been in premiere . i remember there was someone of the directors staff there  don  t even remember who . it was a belgian movie  we never heard of it  so we were quite neutral  not knowing what to expect . mickey rourke is a brilliant actor and he  s stands miles ahead all the rest . he plays an actor who  s star has long stopped rising . he  s helping to realise a movie in belgium entitled  shades  .  br    br   as soon as the movie started  we noticed how much swearing there is . nothing against the occasional swear word . however this was way beyond annoying . whenever rourke uses the f word to express something  it comes naturally . however  when someone from the cast  a non  english speaker uses the f or s word  it becomes arrogant and aggressive .  br    br   we quickly lost count of how many times they used the f and s words . everybody was just glad to be out of the theatre . and we had to give a vote  but it was hard for us because it was only from  to    and we were looking for the    .  
caution may contain spoilers . . .  br    br   i  ve seen this movie  times  i  ve liked it every time . upon seeing it again  i  m always reminded of how good it is . an hbo tv movie  very well done like most of their movies are  this would  ve gotten oscars for it  s performances had it been released for general distribution instead of made for tv .  br    br   as i  m sure anyone knows from reading other reviews here  this is the story of serial murderer  andrei chikatilo . he murdered   people over  years in the former soviet union .   victims were buried  couldn  t be found so he was only convicted of   out of   of his murders .  the story actually focuses more on the forensic analyst  victor burakov played to perfection by stephen rea . a man that becomes tortured and obsessed with finding this killer despite the additional obstacles placed by party hacks  his part is essential to be sure . there is a very touching scene towards the end of the movie that mentions how in america  investigators are routinely taken off serial killer cases after   months whether they want to or not due to the mental strain  frustration . according to this acct  burakov worked for over  years before getting his first break from it . he followed the case to its conclusion   years later . in this scene  his superior  general fetisov  played by donald sutherland  actually tells him he admires his dedication and apologizes for not knowing he should  ve given him a break sooner .  br    br   rea  s performance is so well done  he doesn  t overact  chew up the scenery or do anything that distracts from his portrayal of a man who is hell bent on finding his killer . he is a man with passion  but doesn  t show it in the same manner as is so usually portrayed in detective movies . he only occasionally gives outbursts after quietly putting up with more than most could stand under such circumstances . rea does so much with his face  his eyes  he doesn  t need to overact . he just is  his character  so frustrated after so long  at one point  driven to frustration  he actually says he  d rather find  at one time than none in a year . of course what he means is not that he wants more people to die  he just wants some clues to catch this man . rea makes us feel for this man . he makes us understand but a glimpse of what it is to live with such horror and futility .  br    br   a mutant to be sure  chikatilo  s childhood was one which produces such  monsters .  the character of chikatilo is very well done by jeffrey demunn . he somehow  impossible though it may seem  elicits some modicum of sympathy for himself . perhaps he is the worst of us gone terribly wrong  either way  his performance is very well done .  br    br   donald sutherland as colonel fetisov  later promoted to general  also does a great job . he starts out seeming to be a cynical worldly official that doesn  t seem much more interested in helping the investigation than anyone else blocking burakov . but he eventually becomes more than just an assistant  he actually actively participates in helping burakov . there is also a very nice turn by max von sydow as the psychiatrist brought in to help profile and figure out what kind of deviant they are looking for .  br    br   although this movie deals with a morbid  grotesque and violent story  it really is more about what it takes to catch a killer than the killer himself . all around a very well done movie with fine performances and a great screenplay . the screenplay manages to do what the best of this type of movie does give factual events  place them meaningfully inside a dramatic framework that makes you feel like you know the people behind the facts .  br    br    out of   stars  
greg davis and bryan daly take some crazed statements by a terrorists  add some commentary by a bunch of uber  right reactionaries  ascribe the most extreme positions of the most fundamentalist moslems on the planet to everyone who calls themselves a moslem  and presents this as the theology of islam . maybe their next film will involve interviewing fred phelps and the congregation of the westboro baptist church  adding commentary by some militant atheist  scholars  and call their film  what the world needs to know about christianity .  ultimately  this film suffers from both poor production values and lack of attention to the most basic standards of journalism . don  t waste your time and money just turn on your am radio and listen to rush limbaugh for a couple of days for free and you  ll get the same message with the same level of intellectual analysis .  
a surprisingly complex and well crafted study of  the first  serial killer in the ussr . set in the days of perestroika this intense piece is brought to full life with the performances of stephen reah and donald sutherland .  br    br   this examination of cicatillo as a killer is well rounded and by hinting at some of his behaviors while out right showing others there is a subtlety that is compelling without being overtly graphic . not for the weak of heart however as it  s subject matter is often disturbing but necessary to it  s full development of the main participants in this fact based story .  br    br   hbo has furnished us with an excellent film in an unusual manner . congrats to the director and editor of this great piece . it is in my top   must see list .  
this film was more effective in persuading me of a zionist conspiracy than a muslim one . and i  m jewish .  br    br   anbody go to journalism school  read an editorial  freshman year rhetoric  these alarmist assertions  presented in a palatable way  might prove persuasive . but by offering no acknowledgment of possible opposing arguments  nor viable  or any at all  solutions  few sources and each of dubious origin  makes the argument an ineffectual diatribe .  br    br   and thank goodness for that   i wouldn  t want anyone to leave the theatre believing any of this racist claptrap .  br    br   a good lesson for me   and hopefully a cautionary tale for you   to actually read about a film before seeing it .  
there i was sitting alone in my flat on a saturday night with the choice of watching citizen x or the eurovision song contest  and for the benefit of americans reading this i  ll explain that tesc is an annual event where musicians from countries all over europe and asia minor have a song contest . at the end of the contest countries vote to see what the best song was . it  s a contest that is even less exciting than it sounds and it may not come as a shock when i say that singing and songwriting isn  t of the calibre of lennon and mccartney . and i should correct something in the first sentence of this review because the word  choice  is misleading because being a music lover i wasn  t going to watch tesc under any circumstance .  br    br   so i sat down as the credits rolled for citizen x expecting a run of mill serial killer whodunnit  but i  d be misleading everyone calling it that . it  s obvious within the first   minutes of citizen x whodunnit . what the film does is point out the failures of communism   a serial killer comrade  this is the soviet union  serial killers can only exist in decadent imperialist capitalist systems  this farcical attitude goes far beyond denial  there  s a scene where an undercover cop sits in a freezing train station keeping an eye out for potential suspects whilst wearing his police jacket because it  s the only warm coat he  s got  and of course all suspects who are members of the communist party are released without interrogation something which will affect the final death toll . all this is very well done as we are shown that it  s the communist party system that  s on trial but about two thirds of the way through citizen x we find ourselves in     as communism is on its last legs and reforms to the police investigation have taken place . it  s at this point that the film becomes rather uninteresting due to a lack of political subtext and the film descends into an average manhunt film . but don  t let that put you off  citizen x is an intelligent thriller well played by the cast especially donald sutherland as a paternal police chief  br    br   strangely enough a few years ago i read something written by the famous criminologist colin wilson in which he said something along the lines that serial killers let themselves get caught so that they will be the center of attention in the media spotlight  and i found myself almost sympathising the party chiefs denying there could be a serial killer in the soviet union . after all media is controlled by the party and anyone who  s old enough to have listened to radio moscow or read english translations of pravda will know that the ussr only reported news stories like potato harvests  coal production and thank you letters from afghanistan  cuba etc for soviet assistance . the concept of becoming a serial killer in a communist system is illogical . but i guess if a tree falls in a remote siberian forest it will still make a sound even though no one is around to hear it .  
that  s pretty ridiculous  i hope many people are exposed to muslims who live all over the u . s  u . k  and all over the world . the religion has over a billion followers . i myself born and bread in america and through my religious classes and teachings i have been taught to cherish my country and work to contribute to the society . i am very dedicated to the followings and teachings of my religion have been stressed through out life to educate and prepare oneself for success through education in order to contribute back to the world . i have know many muslims from all over and i have traveled to countries like pakistan . . i have yet to meet one person who believes that we should hurt anyone or not accept any other religion except from the people in the media . . . i wonder why . . . also its sad that these extremists are the ones the media use to represent a whole religion . its a religion of one billion people  and these are less than one percent  i am sure the other people of other religions would not like to be represented by the kkk  ira and many more which are simple small percentage extremists who use outdated and not literal passages from the respected books in order to pursue their own revenge  personal  or business matters through their so called religion  
i  m not sure that this comment contains an actual spoiler  but i  m playing it safe  so don  t read this if you haven  t seen the movie .  br    br   i adore this movie  and so does everyone i work with   and that is the point . i spent a large part of my working life in cinema  without being an actor . such people are the  sung  heroes of this movie the gaffers  the pullers  the on  air directors  the lighters and writers  the costume people etc etc  and the whole thing is told from their point of view  at least to a great extent . most actors are nuts and self  absorbed to the point of absurdity  which is what this movie spoofs so well  but you have to have worked with actors to recognize that this movie is real  life drama  possible spoiler alert in one great scene  the two leads  both actors  are  discussing  how to  discuss  something personal  something entirely  out  of  script   with another actor  and they start making up lines  rehearsing them  and critiquing each other  s performance .  br    br   since this movie appeared in  what was it      it has become fashionable to do this  especially on tv . but hardly anyone has done it so well .  
every movie from the thirties is dated  but if you were to watch only john ford movies it would seem more dated than if you watched others . i . e . grand hotel is comparatively modern melodrama . with ford  there  s always the hard  sell of someone  s nobility  abe  the joads  . always the over  emphasis of some heavy  s badness . always the poorly crafted  awkward and obvious scripts . this is no exception . it  s just a rather belabored device to deliver sentiment . and sentiment is all this has going for it .  br    br   what ford does here doesn  t make me appreciative of lincoln  it just makes me wonder how the states were ever settled by the population of complete morons depicted here . ford went on to make decent movies . this is too dated to be anything but bad . it feels entirely false .  br    br   henry fonda with a fake nose is bizarre . and no one from illinois would pronounce the trailing  s   or say  shonuff    
spoilers  in as far as i describe characters and their relation to the plot .  br    br   this is a quality film . the subject matter is at once grim and gripping . the dogged determination of stephen rea  s character  burakov  is simply captivating . with any due apologies to him  his hangdog  continually put  upon expression serves the character well . he is  as we in england would say of the inspector taggart tv series character  bound to be grim because he sees three murders a week . well  that  s not strictly accurate as chikatila operated over a number of years . . .  br    br   you get a real sense of the blankwall resistance of the ussr bureaucracy  brilliantly portrayed by joss ackland  who often seems made for this sort of role  .  br    br   a key character  and i write this as the remake of invasion of the body snatchers is being shown on bbc   is the donald sutherland character  mikhail fetisov  . his quiet support of burakov is steadfast . and it endures through perestroika  and drives the involvement of the fbi for profiling . brilliant .  br    br   this is a must  see  as far as i am concerned .  
this video contains an outsmart way to confuse and manipulate americans about islam . it  s a pity that the people who did it really believe that american people is so dumb to believe in it  perhaps  as an american citizen  every person must protest against this kind of crap . if you want to know the truth about islam  don  t let nobody tell you . . . the quran is public  you can read it by yourself and decide if what they say it  s true or false . . .  br    br   the video uses a lot of audiovisual strategies directed to manipulate and associate things that are not even related . the music used at some points prepare the public to hate what they see  even if they don  t really understand what  s going on in there . they use images that are misplaced from their original content .  br    br   to end the comment i would like to make a reflexion . . . don  t you think you can do the same exact movie with every religion in the world   
this is a truly remarkable piece of cinematic achievement . from the very start i was utterly hooked into the  true  story when lt . viktor burakov  stephan rea  weeps while performing the autopsies on the remains of the children  s bodies . this then is the compelling story of andrei chikatilo  wonderfully played by jeffrey demunn  the green mile  . in fact  he plays it so well and so sympathetically that the viewer almost starts to pity him  until we remember what he is . the psychiatrist dr . alexandr bukhanovsky  wonderfully played by max von sydow was utterly believable in every detail  and the point he makes when talking about paranoia in the soviet union  is made all too apparent by the behaviour of the local communist commissar bondarchuk played by joss ackland . for me though  the outstanding performance was from donald sutherland  proving once again what a superb character actor he really is . i was almost in tears when he told burakov how the fbi had so closely followed and admired his work . this film puts silence of the lambs into the shade  from the atmospheric and bleak soviet landscape  to the superlative performances by everyone involved .  br    br   i rate this film       
the  documentary   and we use that term loosely apparently  summarizes that muslims are trying to violently take over the world . then states that any muslim that doesn  t admit this is either ignorant of their own faith or lying to your face  also every person that is interviewed in the film has found a market for their ludicrous take on reality by selling claptrap to conservatives willing to let others do the thinking for them . what the west needs to know is this is nothing more than propaganda aimed at mental midgets . if you are looking for an actual documentary on islam and the current state of the middle  east i would look elsewhere . try something that provides multiple points of view from qualified sources .  
  citizen x  tells the story of  the butcher of rostov   nickname for a heinous and perverse russian serial killer who claimed   lives from        . the film focuses on the novice detective  rea  who doggedly pursued the killer against all odds in the face of an uncooperative bureaucracy in self  serving and convenient denial . an hbo product for t . v .  the film offers a solid cast  good performances  spares the audience much of the grisly details  but plays out like a docudrama sans the stylistics of similar hollywood fare . an even and straight  forward dramatization of a serious and comparatively little known story more interesting than  jack the ripper  .  b   
i have been using imdb for years and i never wanted to get involved in the commentary of moviesuntil now . this documentary has so many problems that i hardly know what to say . i am not a muslim  nor am i an islamic studies expert  but i know enough to shed some light on the obvious one  sided viewpoint that this documentary espouses .  br    br   the problems with this movie begin with the fact that it is a documentary . most of the documentaries that i have seen anchor themselves around a few valid points and then surround those points with debatable interpretations and misinformation . this is certainly the case with islam what the west needs to know . yes  there are fundamentalists around the world  and some of them are muslim  but to build a documentary about all of islam around a small percentage of radicalized people is incredibly misleading . this is really a documentary about the fundamentalist aspects of islam and nothing more .  br    br   for those who would like to more objectively explore some of the issues raised in this documentary  here are several points that may help .  br    br   there was nothing positive about islam presented in the documentary .  br    br   the documentary focuses on the middle east  but more muslims live outside of that region . more muslims live in china  believe it or not  than in saudi arabia . about    of all muslims live in pakistan  bangladesh  india and indonesia .  br    br   the translation of the qur  an used in the documentary is a questionable one . i watched the documentary while viewing another translation and the differences were striking . i had been warned about the translation that was used in the documentary and now i know why . surrah     is a good example . the documentary suggests that the surrah says that disbelievers will go to hell . but the translation i have reads instead  those who reject truth among the people of the book and among the polytheists will be in hellfire .  the difference is that those who reject truth are those people who know about god and the truth of god and decide to reject it anyways .  br    br   the movie mentioned that there is no morality inherent in islam  but this is not true . although it is true that much comes from the qur  an and hadith  islam also recognizes a concept called  urf or  normative behavior .  obviously what is normative can be interpreted many ways  but  urf is meant to be  good  behavior  what an average person would consider right or wrong .  br    br   the documentary presents shar  ia  islamic law  as being one unified body of knowledge that all muslims follow . this is simply not true . there are many islamic schools of law and they range from progressive and modernist to fundamentalist in the way they interpret law .  br    br   the hadith tradition is similar . there are thousands of hadith and each school of law accepts some and rejects others . using the hadith without serious scholarship to determine which ones are accurate  real and applicable  is indiscriminately picking and choosing quotations from history that fit what you want to say which is what the documentary did .  br    br   what i hope people realize is that fundamentalism is the problem  not islam or any other religion . christianity has fundamentalists that shoot abortion clinic doctors and so on . i know this is not the same as suicide bombing  just understand that the righteousness of fundamentalism is arguably the problem . if you feel you have the answer  then everyone else must be wrong . but if you feel you have an answer you can work together with other people  s views about politics  religion  god  or whatever .  
here  s an oddity a modern  day film about a serial killer that has no fight scenes  nobody seen dying  no car chases and no loud noises . . . . . and it takes place in russia . there are only two short action scenes but they are horrific .  br    br   the rest of the story is detective work  and how much red tape the poor detective had to go through to solve the murders . this is a very somber movie  and  somber  best describes the personality of the hero  stephen rea   as well . yet  the story is not depressing and it  s very interesting all the way through .  br    br   rea is outstanding as the determined  harried  looked detective . jeffrey demunn is downright scary as the killer . donald sutherland  s russian accent is suspect but he plays the only character in this film that has some warmth .  br    br   once again  the story is dotted with liberal agendas  here and there  with not one but two references to bias against gays  the total validity of secular psychology  police and government officials being boorish  crude  bigoted  yadda  yadda  yadda .  br    br   otherwise  it  s an intelligent and refreshingly low  key crime film . this is a somewhat unique film that probably is not well  known but is well  liked by the people who have seen it . since it  s based on a true  life account of this killer  it  s all the more chilling . don  t pass this by just because you haven  t anything about it .  
it is not obvious from viewing this film  so i recommend viewers research the people who present their case in it  but this presentation on the realities of islam  and its encouragement of violence and intolerance against all non  muslims is lacking objectiveness  and also completely fails to factor in the human condition . it is one thing to document that the koran says many things about how a devout muslim is required to interact with non  muslims  but any realist is able to realize that not every human who feels himself or herself to be a follower of islam  will agree with and comply with all tenets of that faith and system . there is reason to call much about the presenters into question  such that viewers need to see the presentation with a healthy skepticism don  t swallow it all  hook  line  and sinker  without some thinking of your own .  br    br   one specific  for instance  is researching the person walid shoebat who claims to be a former muslim who perpetrated an act of terrorism in bethlehem . there are many wise people in the world who believe neither of these assertions . i am not nor have i ever been a muslim . i have never read the koran . i am not a christian  nor a member of  any  faith . but i am an intelligent and discerning human . while the film is quite disturbing  in its presentation of how some muslims view their obligation to islam i remind you that there is more to islam than the views of the fundamentalists . just as their are fundamentalists and evangelical christians  so  too  there are variations in the intensity of belief and obligation among jews and muslims .  br    br   when you watch this film  you need to have the salt shaker on hand . one grain will not be enough  you  ll need more . please use your own mind and think for yourself  research what is presented  and evaluate the state of the world and how islam fits within it based on more than what is said in   minutes of video . there is a common thread of political affiliation among those who put this film together  indicating a definite bias . be your own brain .  
there are some excellent comments and observations on this film . i was pleased to note the comparisons to fritz lang  s  m   forget the    s abortive remake with lightweight david wayne  . the real villain is not the tortured murderer  extraordinarily fine performance by jeffery demunn   taking out his sexually frustrated anger on his victims   mostly children . he is the objective . the real villain is the stifling bureaucratic soviet system  drowning in its own corrupted incompetence . the frustration of an uncompromisingly dedicated man  rea in his best role since  the crying game    a facile pragmatist who  s willing to use the system to his advantage  sutherland always successful in this kind of role   a hesitant  frightened but determined psychiatrist  the incomparable max sydow   the bumbling  boopous bureaucrat of a prosecutor  brilliant brit actor john wood  and the quiet  supporting wife of the driven investigator  delightful supporter  imelda staunton  . this is one damn fine film . its darkness and bleakness are supported by the portrayal of a corrupt  incompetent system which works against success . the is no need to dip into gore  laden slice  n dice sensationalism that has characterized so many recent films . gore is present   it  s a ghastly story   but it adds to the depicting of a pathologically twisted human being . the success of the story is precisely that these were acts perpetrated by a person  a human like you or i . where you and i choose to vent our frustration by reasonable means  chikatilo took his anger out on the most innocent and vulnerable of us  our children . the superb premise of this story is made manifest by an equally superb cast of excellent actors .   sadly  i note that our australian friend didn  t like the speech and no doubt would have preferred to hear them speaking in aussie dialect . well  too bad . this fine film sure worked for me and everyone else i  ve talked with who has seen it .  
i couldn  t relate to this film . it failed to engage me either intellectually  emotionally or aesthetically . the dialogue was very dense and uninvolving . i couldn  t connect with and hence care about any of the characters and i  m finding it hard to find much that  s positive to say about it .  br    br   i  ve read that to understand it properly one needs to be familiar with some of the more obscure aspects of catholic theology . i  ll admit that  as an atheist  i probably am unfamiliar with many of the finer details of catholicism  but i have also seen many films dealing with religious issues that have touched me because their themes are still universal to the human condition and don  t rely on specialised knowledge or beliefs .  
this movie tells an amazing story with history and compassion . from the careful descriptions of the crime scenes to the mental health of the lead investigator  you  ll be entranced . it  s an absolute must  see for anyone interested in criminology . interpol relations and how the agencies work together are also great . not overly done either . i recommend it for anyone interested in russian history  too . how the police work with the political party being what it was . . . it is truly fascinating and frustrating . the settings are beautiful . it  s been a while since i saw this movie the first time . it doesn  t diminish it  s impact . not overly dramatic or graphic  it leaves enough to the imagination  well  you  ll see .  
you talking  to me        is a pretty bad movie starring some dude who i have never seen before or since starring as a guy from the neighborhood who tries to become an actor . he has a heavy jones for taxi driver as tries to use that shtick to make it big . when he learns the hard facts of life  he does what everyone else does  changes his image  he goes from good fella to a surf  s up dude over night . his friend can  t believe the change  but he scores with faith ford and get  s a cool paying gig  . can this young punk keep his street cred whilst making it big   br    br   this is a real lame movie that tries too hard to incorporate too many things at once . an interesting idea that falls apart due to poor execution . who knows  maybe somebody will pick up the ball and run because the film makers fumbled the ball this time .  br    br   don  t waste your time with this movie . unless you want to see a hot faith ford and a young bubba from forest gump .  br    br   xx  
this has to be one the best movies about serial killers that i  ve ever seen  and this is coming from someone who absolutely loved silence of the lambs . hbo has hit the jackpot here . this film is compelling from the first moment until the last .  br    br   this film has so many underlying themes its hard to tell exactly what it is about . it chronicles the decade  long search for the russian serial killer andrea chikatilo . stephen rea gives a brilliantly reserved performance as the inexperienced forensic expert who is put in charge of the investigation  and donald sutherland gives an even more involving performance as his cynical superior  and the only person in the russian government willing to help him . both of their performances are subtle masterpieces    rea begins naive and unwilling to compromise  while sutherland begins detached and almost amused by the situation . towards the end  rea becomes more world  weary and beaten by the system  while sutherland finds himself more passionate and idealistic .  br    br   in any other movie  i would have said that sutherland  s performance stands out above the rest  but here even it is rivaled by jeffrey dumann  as the serial killer himself . dumann brilliantly creates a character here who inspires empathy rather than the hatred we think we would find    he is a monster  but he doesn  t want to be  and we get the idea that he is just as disgusted with what he does as we are . he is tortured  ashamed  but vicious as well .  br    br   if you can take the incredibly dark subject matter   and it is very disturbing   then you should see this movie .  
despite the gravity of the subject and probably the good intentions of the filmmakers to make a film addressing white supremacy  the inconsistencies of its main character  bronson green  aspiring new york actor easily turned l . a . phony  makes it hard to take the story seriously . green  who is constantly rejected by los angeles casting agents for being obsolete  i . e . too new york when the   s is looking for big  blonde  and dumb   he finds success comes easily when he  s willing to succumb to falsifying his image . unfortunately  the new hair dye and pacified  surfer  attitude lands him an acting opportunity with the jericho church  which subscribes white supremacist teaching of the aryan nation . green is willing to easily forget his past  and particularly turning his back on his young black friend of ten years  in order to be the church  s new spokesman . this makes no sense  seeing as how principled our character initially is . it is this sudden  and loose change in character  coupled with an abrupt reversion back to the hardened  deniro  obsessed  as his taxi driver character  form who is able to battle the villains . a noble attempt on the filmmakers  but one that ultimately reveals itself as anything but serious .  br    br   the other characters  too  are quite annoying and what we are forced to recognize in them comes too easily   the psychotic paranoia of the church leader  the self  interested actress girlfriend  the first girlfriend bronson has when he  s in l . a .   and the new blonde girlfriend who  s character lacks so much development  she is  for the most part  just a walking  talking void . we are just supposed to see them in fleeting moments in which something random forces us to draw assumptions about the characters . but there is really little development of any of them .  br    br   the other problem with this film is the ungodly amount of time the characters are involved in very little important action . much of the beginning concerns introducing the characters  obviously  and later we see bronson  s difficulties with breaking into the l . a . acting scene and the frustrations which stem from constant rejection . but after he does willingly change his looks and personality in order to become accepted  there is at least a good twenty minutes to thirty minutes of wasted film in which very little of anything happens .  br    br   for films that seek to draw attention to the irrational fears behind racism  this was not one done with enough credibility .  
citizen x tells the story of andrei chikatilo  the ripper of rostov  who killed   people in  years time  mainly women and children . it shows how the investigation was obstructed by soviet bureaucracy  how hard it was to investigate the crimes . it does the job in such a brilliant way that it will leave no  one untouched . in the beginning it  s perhaps a little bit slow of pace  but it really grabs you as the story unfolds . i can only say that  next to  the silence of the lambs   this is by far the best movie about a serial killer i  ve ever seen .  br    br   it is very hard to say which actor  s performance stands out above the rest in this movie . stephen rea is really brilliant as the inexperienced forensic expert who is put in charge of the investigation . donald sutherland  s performance as his cynical superior  and the only person in the russian government willing to help him  is as outstanding as rea  s . and what to say about jeffrey dumann  playing the serial killer  dumann brilliantly created a character who inspires empathy rather than hatred . yes  he is a monster  but he is also a sad figure  oppressed and ridiculed by his wife  his boss  his co  workers . . . he is tortured  ashamed  as well as extremely vicious .  br    br   i can only recommend this movie to everybody who  s interested in a well  made docu  drama  where the actors are still more important than the special effects . it deserves at least a      perhaps even more if you ask me .  
ok . for starters  taxi driver is amazing . this  this is not taxi driver or amazing . what it is is bad . but i thought it was bad funny  which means that it did have some redeeming qualities . like the dialogue . . . wow . there was more or less no plot  the characters were all stupid  and the movie was preachy . there were some places were i thought the movie would dive into taxi driver type violence  which would have hit the message at the end of the movie on the head much harder . i can  t even believe that there are like   other people who have seen this movie . yeah  it  s worth watching if you are real bored and you want to reaffirm the fact that anyone can make a movie  or at least can try to .  
i remember following the case of andre chicatillo in the newspapers while i was living in south africa . they had photos of him sitting in his cage while being prosecuted in court . not  as it turned out  to protect the court members  but to protect him from the public . this was fascinating  albeit morbid  reading . i later heard that a film had been made by hbo about the case  but it was made for american tv . bummed  strangely  citizen x got a limited cinematic release in south africa . i charged down to the local ster kinekor complex and duly bought a ticket  i was alone my girlfriend at the time was only interested in the likes of steel magnolias and fried green tomatoes  . wow  what a brilliant film . why wasn  t it released to a wider audience  had it not been made for tv  it could have got an oscar nomination or  . there is no way to spoil the ending who the killer is is never kept from the audience . jeffrey demunn portrays a truly terrifying psycho . he is calm  downtrodden  considered a failure by his wife and subjected to constant ridicule and humiliation by his superiors at work . by committing these horrendous acts  he gets to feel strong  powerful .  br    br   fighting to catch him against all odds is a pathologist  played to excellent turn by stephen rea  in one of his strongest performances . he must battle the snail  pace of russian bureaucracy  the primitive resources he has at his disposal and  above all  the refusal by his superiors to acknowledge that the ussr even has a serial killer . the general in charge  joss ackland  says that serial killers are  a decadent  western phenomenon  . only donald sutherland is willing to help  but his help must be under the counter . the ever  brilliant max von sydow plays a russian psychiatrist who breaks protocol and decides to help the investigators in their quest . it is the first time in russian history that a shrink is used to build a profile of a serial killer still on the loose  and he has everything to lose if his involvement is made public .  br    br   citizen x is brilliantly acted  well written and the music and editing only add to the tension and theme of the film . excellent support from a horribly underused imelda staunton and a real sense of impending doom make citizen x a film worth seeing . this was too good to be made for tv  
the dudes at mst  k should see this dog of a film . it  s basically about a dopey hack actor in hollywood who can  t land any acting gigs . and he has this strange obsession with the movie taxi driver . so what does this dumb actor do  he dyes his hair blonde and starts acting like a l . a . surfer dude in the naive hope this will get him acting roles . you  ll laugh yer head off at so many of this movie  s inadvertently funny scenes . like when the actor dude  s girlfriend is heart broken and sobbing and saying lines like   how could you do this to me   and why is she crying  cos he dyed his hair blonde and became a surfer dude to get acting gigs . this movie makes no sense at all  the actor who played the governor on benson is in this too and he plays a stereotypical right wing politician with lotsa dumb funny dialog . this movie will crack you up  trust me . you talking  to me    
blood castle  aka scream of the demon lover  altar of blood  ivanna   the best  but least exploitation cinema  sounding title  and so on  is a very traditional gothic romance film . that means that it has big  creepy castles  a headstrong young woman  a mysterious older man  hints of horror and the supernatural  and romance elements in the contemporary sense of that genre term . it also means that it is very deliberately paced  and that the film will work best for horror mavens who are big fans of understatement . if you love films like robert wise  s the haunting        but you also have a taste for late     s  early     s spanish and italian horror  you may love blood castle  as well .  br    br   baron janos dalmar  carlos quiney  lives in a large castle on the outskirts of a traditional  unspecified european village . the locals fear him because legend has it that whenever he beds a woman  she soon after ends up dead   the consensus is that he sets his ferocious dogs on them . this is quite a problem because the baron has a very healthy appetite for women . at the beginning of the film  yet another woman has turned up dead and mutilated .  br    br   meanwhile  dr . ivanna rakowsky  erna schrer  has appeared in the center of the village  asking to be taken to baron dalmar  s castle . she  s an out  of  towner who has been hired by the baron for her expertise in chemistry . of course  no one wants to go near the castle . finally  ivanna finds a shady individual  who becomes even shadier  to take her . once there  an odd woman who lives in the castle  olga  cristiana galloni   rejects ivanna and says that she shouldn  t be there since she  s a woman . baron dalmar vacillates over whether she should stay . she ends up staying  but somewhat reluctantly . the baron has hired her to try to reverse the effects of severe burns  which the baron  s brother  igor  is suffering from .  br    br   unfortunately  the baron  s brother appears to be just a lump of decomposing flesh in a vat of bizarre  blackish liquid . and furthermore  ivanna is having bizarre  hallucinatory dreams . just what is going on at the castle  is the baron responsible for the crimes  is he insane   br    br   i wanted to like blood castle more than i did . as i mentioned  the film is very deliberate in its pacing  and most of it is very understated . i can go either way on material like that . i don  t care for the haunting  yes  i  m in a very small minority there   but i  m a big fan of     s and     s european horror . one of my favorite directors is mario bava . i also love dario argento  s work from that period . but occasionally  blood castle moved a bit too slow for me at times . there are large chunks that amount to scenes of not very exciting talking alternated with scenes of ivanna slowly walking the corridors of the castle .  br    br   but the atmosphere of the film is decent . director jos luis merino managed more than passable sets and locations  and they  re shot fairly well by emanuele di cola . however  blood castle feels relatively low budget  and this is a roger corman  produced film  after all  which usually means a low  budget  though often surprisingly high quality  quickie   . so while there is a hint of the lushness of bava  s colors and complex set decoration  everything is much more minimalist . of course  it doesn  t help that the retromedia print i watched looks like a    year old photograph that  s been left out in the sun too long . it appears  washed out   with compromised contrast .  br    br   still  merino and di cola occasionally set up fantastic visuals . for example  a scene of ivanna walking in a darkened hallway that  s shot from an exaggerated angle  and where an important plot element is revealed through shadows on a wall only . there are also a couple ingmar bergmanesque shots  where actors are exquisitely blocked to imply complex relationships  besides just being visually attractive and pulling your eye deep into the frame .  br    br   the performances are fairly good  and the women   especially schrer   are very attractive . merino exploits this fact by incorporating a decent amount of nudity . schrer went on to do a number of films that were as much soft corn porn as they were other genres  with english titles such as sex life in a woman  s prison        naked and lustful        strip nude for your killer       and erotic exploits of a sexy seducer       . blood castle is much tamer  but in addition to the nudity  there are still mild scenes suggesting rape and bondage  and of course the scenes mixing sex and death .  br    br   the primary attraction here  though  is probably the story  which is much a slow  burning romance as anything else . the horror elements  the mystery elements  and a somewhat unexpected twist near the end are bonuses  but in the end  blood castle is a love story  about a couple overcoming various difficulties and antagonisms  often with physical threats or harms  to be together .  
when i first saw a small scene of it in some announcements  i thought the show would be entertaining to watch . the little robot guy does look kinda cute . the style of animation does look sort of familiar to some classic shows . before the show aired  i studied it through some sources . there  i did became slightly dismayed . the three children  tommy  gus and lola  are voiced appropriately but robotboy is an exception . it would have been a lot nicer if he were to be portrayed by a young lad . one good example is robot jones  a robot character from  whatever happened to robot jones   the show isn  t bad really . but the way robotboy is inappropriately portrayed is my only criticism . thus  i don  t watch it much .  
it  s very very funny . you know  just like a comedy is supposed to be . it also looks very very good  like a hollywood spectacular should . so  what more do you want  howz about a very very good sally fields . she is so much better here than in anything else i  ve ever seen her in  and she looks so damn good . this movie is all you need to understand why she  s a star . those eyes  like a silent movie star  but better . in fact  everyone  s eyes are so good . i used to pretend to be a bad tv soap actor with my girlfriend . we  d do that thing where you look real fast from one eye to the other of your partner . they don  t do that at all in soap dish . great . the eyes have it   sorry   br    br   there  s so many terrific performances  its fun just waiting for each of them to reappear . there  s a whole workshop going on with kevin kline on how to overact very very subtly . got that  yeah  he  s damn good . so is robert downey  jr . who has since made sumthin of a career of playing the slick  slimy executive . cathy moriarity  while not the most gifted actress  is so charismatic and riveting  especially when she  s angry . and even whoopi goldberg is decent  her natural timing giving here somewhat flat delivery a little zing . ok  no whoopi bashing  i hear ya .  br    br   and then  there  s the hair . soap dish was made at the end of the big hair eighties  so the ridiculous doos are like a great character in themselves . they get bigger and sillier  just like your  s did . yeah  we got pictures .  br    br   soap dish is better than i thought it  d be  better that i wanted it to be . i  m sick of movies that tell me i  m supposed to care about shallow  self centered  semi  talented egomaniacs  ie . tv soap actors . soap dish seems happy just to have me laugh at  em . thank you .  
i tried twice to get through this film  succeeding the first time  and it was like pulling teeth  and failing the second time despite a great dvd transfer . the problem  it  s simply too boring .  br    br   if you can get to the dramatic courtroom scene  which takes up most of the second half of the film  you have it made  but it  s tough getting to that point . there are some interesting talks by  abraham lincoln   henry fonda  during the trial . the ending is touching as lincoln walks off and they superimpose his memoral statue over the screen .  br    br   it  s a nice story  well  acted and such . . . . but it lacks spark in the first half and discourages the viewer from hanging in there . i suspect the real abe lincoln was a lot more interesting than this film .  
although the word megalmania is used a lot to describe gene kelly  and sometimes his dancing is way too stiff  you have to admit the guy knows how to put on a show . in american in paris  he choreographs some outstanding numbers  some which stall the plot  but are nonetheless amazing to look at .  check out gene kelly  s  getting out of bed routine  for starters   br    br   gene kelly stars as a gi who is based out of paris  he stayed there to paint  soon he is a rich woman  s gigolo  but he really loves someone else  hoary story sure  but the musical numbers save the show here  i really loved georges gutary  s voice work in this one . his  stairway to paradise  and his duet with le gene on  s wonderful  is  s marvelous  . oscar levant and leslie caron i can take or leave . all in all  a pretty good  but not dynamite movie .  
when i first watched robotboy  i found it fresh and interesting  but then i noticed  that with each episode this show is trying to teach you how to behave yourself  what is good  bad . episodes became predictable . and main characters are not interesting . again we see a hyper  smart boy  beaten by his older brother  parents who don  t understand their kid  and his friends girl and fat boy . also this show has no logic . a super  modern robot who works on two aa  size batteries  and can use a lot of weapons . but the biggest problem is the difference between activated and super  activated modes . we see two different robots  and it declines main idea of the show  robot must learn how to behave himself in human society   
the best part of an american in paris is the lengthy ballet sequence at the end  where gene kelly and leslie caron are the living personification of several major painters . kelly has earlier been established as a pavement artist in paris  so the sequence is the logical ending to a musical bursting with life and energy  gershwin tunes  and cast members like georges guetary and oscar levant . kelly was at his best here  it  s a little different to singin  in the rain  and the effect of all the film as one topped with the ballet gives it a definite wow factor . no wonder the sequence ended  that  s entertainment  after all other mgm musical highlights had gone by   
now  i like sci  fi cartoons . however  when  robotboy  appeared in canada in late      i watched the premiere and was inevitably appalled . the characters are generic and stereotypical  do they really need to make an african  american man wear tiger  stripe print clothing and speak in a jamacian accent  why are all the asian characters vibrant yellow and squinting  does the mother have to have big thighs and chest and constantly complain   to the point where things become unrealistic  predictable  gross and sometimes disturbing . there are heavy similarities to  even stabs  at astro boy . allow me to explain  dub names for the young   robotboy  astro  kamikaze  tenma  constantine  shadow  gus  abercrombie  tommy  alejo  lola  zorankennedy  moshimo  o  shay  and it so on . brief resemblances to  my life as a teenage robot    star wars    teenage mutant ninja turtles    kamen riders    sailor moon  and co . are afoot . not to mention the abundant racial  gender stereotyping . don  t even get me started on the innuendos . i  ll just say they  re hidden and quite dirty . but seriously . don  t even try watching this . especially if you like astro boy .  
what makes for best picture material  the oscars have come in for a lot of stick for rewarding overblown spectacles that have aged poorly  and ignoring the  auteurs  who would be deified in decades to come . it wasn  t because hollywood was against art or creativity . the academy awards are the selections made by the industry itself  and that is why  at least in the classic era  they tended to reward the greatest collaborations  the most sensational meetings of creative minds .  br    br   the arthur freed unit at mgm had been bound for oscar  winning glory for several years by this point it was only a matter of time before freed  aided by his strongest director vincente minnelli and some the finest musical stars in the business  would land a best picture . freed had arguably done more to raise the status of the musical than anyone else  crafting pictures which wove story and song together without losing the dynamic spectacle of the   s musicals . the point about freed musicals  is that the lyrics of the songs  unlike those of hammerstein or lerner  don  t have to tell or even relate to the stories . what  s important is that the tone of the song and the way it is presented fit into the structure of the film .  br    br   an american in paris was the first of three freed musicals  the other two being singin  in the rain and the band wagon  which took existing classic numbers out of their original context and made them work in a completely unrelated story . the words don  t fit the plot  but the routines fit the show . so  when gene kelly sings i got rhythm  he hasn  t even got a girl yet  but the way it  s done with the french kids joining in is a great bit of characterisation  and the upbeat tune and dance gives the movie the little lift it needs at this point . an american in paris also uses the rule  breaking allowed in the genre to add little unconventional flights of fancy to tell the story  such as the series of dances which accompany the description of leslie caron  s character .  br    br   and what better director for this project than minnelli  himself a painter and a pianist  at this time there wasn  t really anyone who had a better feel for technicolor . while some directors would saturate each scene in one colour or fill the screen with clashing shades  minnelli  s colour schemes are tightly controlled but never look forced . in the opening scenes the tones are fairly muted  but not drab  and in particular there is an absence of red . during oscar levant and georges guetary  s meeting in the caf  a few more vibrant shades are introduced . then  during the first musical number   by strauss  minnelli gradually brings in splashes of red  a table cloth  a bunch of roses  until it eventually dominates  as if the song has awoken the picture  s colour scheme . for most of the songs  the colours are choreographed as intricately as the people . however  in some numbers  such as  tra  la  la  he keeps the shades the same and instead opens out the space as the song swells up and the characters become more animated .  br    br   the achilles  heel of an american in paris is its story . i personally find the romantic angle particularly unpalatable  playing as it does like a last hurrah for the misogynistic love stories that reigned supreme in the   s the headstrong  independent woman gets rejected while the meek  delicate girl is harassed into loving the hero . even if you don  t mind that  it is difficult to connect emotionally with the story because it is constantly overshadowed by the songs and dances . compare this to singin  in the rain  which doesn  t really have as many great routines or memorable set  pieces as an american in paris  but it has a winning storyline . singin  in the rain was overlooked at the     oscars  yet it is regarded as a classic of the genre today . but i think people sometimes forget that cinema is an all  encompassing form of visual entertainment  not just a means of telling a story . an american in paris is not deep or engaging or tear  jerking but  like a certain demille picture that won the top award the following year  it certainly is a great show .  
anyone notice that tommy only has  facial expressions .  br    br    . the angry eyes look he gives every enemy .  . the holding of the hands to face  mouth agape and frightened eyes .  . the smiling tommy turnbull .  br    br   i have to say that i pretty much hate this show  i don  t watch it but it  s like code lyoko  we  ve all watched at least one  i must say that this show is borderline racist  uninteresting and pointless .  br    br   every episode ends with robotboy winning  except for one exception when robotboy basically let this overly geeky freakazoid fly away on a jetpack .  br    br   the jokes are pretty crude too  i think it  s mostly people saying the word  suck  or farting  i think the bullies of the show are quite shocking too .  br    br   isn  t there one that hides a bowling ball under his hate  and the other uses a chain  for god sake  what kind of school is he going to . not to mention his older brother  who is borderline psychopathic and has no other character qualities .  br    br   the whole show i feel is ripping off megas xlr and fosters . like you could say the trio of coop  jamie and kiva  as well as robotboy being similar to megas where he beats everyone no matter what the odds and he  s free spirited despite being a robot .  br    br   there is simply no appeal to this show  i  m surprised that it  s still running .  
this is a fine musical with a timeless score by one of my favorite composers  gershwin  and a nice  parisien  atmosphere which gives the movie a lot of charm  but in terms of a story . . well it  s not really there . or at least  not very well worked out . the acting is also not so smooth by caron . but i liked some of the dialogues  i liked the scene at the seine  i liked the character played by levant  the colors and the dancing of course  which is quite magnificent .  br    br   a  .    seems on the dot to me .  
this is a truly awful  b  movie . it is witless and often embarrassing . the plot  the basic  making into show business  routine  is almost nonexistent . in fact  the film is merely an excuse to push the war effort and highlight some popular music groups of      including the mills brothers  count basie  duke ellington  bob crosby  and freddy slack . each group gets about the standard three minutes  the exception being the mills brothers  who for some reason warranted two numbers . ann miller doesn  t get to dance until the last couple of minutes of the film  and she has little to do but strut her stuff amid a barrage of patriotic propaganda .  br    br   the most interesting moment in the film  in my view  occurred in the duke ellington segment . the band appears to be playing in a train  standing in awkward positions .  in the deep south at the time  the band was segregated in railroad cars when traveling .  johnny hodges is seen next to duke  and harry carney may also be identified . in the last moments of the film  trumpeter  violinist ray nance rushes down the aisle to the camera and does an  uncle tom   bugging his eyes and wiggling his head the way willy best did in many films . for modern viewers  especially jazz fans  this homage to segregation is sad indeed . some movies go best unseen .  
the dazzling seventeen  minute dance sequence of george gershwin  s     orchestral piece   an american in paris   is an indisputable masterwork . choreographed with precision and unparalleled flair by gene kelly  the vibrant combination of color  music and dance is still eye  poppingly startling as the piece is broken down into scenes inspired by selected master artists  dufy in the opening place de la concorde piece  manet in the flower market  utrillo in a paris street  rousseau at the fair  vincent van gogh in the spectacular place de l  opera piece  and toulouse  lautrec for the moulin rouge where kelly wears his famous white bodysuit . the   minutes that precede this finale are not as exciting  not by a long shot  but there are certain charms to be had in viewing the entire     oscar  winning musical .  br    br   director vincente minnelli and screenwriter alan jay lerner have fashioned a surprisingly sophisticated if rather slight romantic story focused on jerry mulligan  a former g . i . who has remained in paris after the end of wwii trying to make a living as a painter . with his braggadocio manner and athletic dancing style  gene kelly can be concurrently ingratiating and irritating as a screen personality  but he seems to find his oeuvre as the carefree jerry . the love  triangle plot is focused on jerry  s involvement with milo roberts  a self  proclaimed art patron but a sexual predator when it comes to young artists . on their first date in a crowded montmartre nightclub  jerry unapologetically falls for lise  a young woman who turns out to be the fiance of henri  a professional entertainer and friend of jerry  s pal  adam  an out  of  work concert pianist . romantic complications ensue until the inevitable ending but not before several classic gershwin songs are performed .  br    br   the best of these is the most imitated  a swooningly romantic song and dance to  our love is here to stay  along a faux  seine river in a blue hazy mist with yellow fog lights . the way kelly and leslie caron circle each other is transcendent as they approach each other tentatively at first and then synchronize beautifully to the music leading to the final clinch . few films have so elegantly and succinctly shown two people falling in love .  i got rhythm  and  s  wonderful  spotlight kelly  s nimble tap  dancing and agreeable singing  while  embraceable you  is danced impressively by caron in a five  scene montage of henri  s all  over  the  map description of lise to adam . designed to show off caron  s dancing versatility  the sequence is similar to the one in  on the town  where vera  ellen showed off her considerable dancing skills when kelly  s sailor character described his multi  faceted vision of miss turnstiles .  br    br   as lise  the nineteen year  old caron  in her first film  dances superbly throughout and handles her role with unformed charm with her acting talent not to bloom for several years . looking quite glamorous  nina foch plays older as the manipulative milo and manages to be likable enough for us to care about her fate  while oscar levant is just his sardonic self as adam . performing an elegant  i  ll build a stairway to paradise   george gutary plays henri so agreeably that you feel bad that he does lose the girl at the end . this is not the best all  around mgm musical  but there is certainly enough movie magic to make this quite worthwhile . the     dvd contains a fairly pristine print but little else in terms of extras .  
from around the time europe began fighting world war ii  until the war  s end  hollywood  with significant prodding from the government  made tons of movies which were designed to try and get young men to enlist in the army  by making the life of a serviceman appear  cool .  this is by far the sloppiest  implying that the life of a soldier is devoid of work  you get the best food  and you get to lie around all day listening to ann miller on the radio . i am far too young to have participated in wwii  but i think that there was more to it than that . there is the barest cat  s whisker of a plot  and a bunch of musical numbers featuring some of the day  s leading acts .  br    br   i think that by      even the most naive of civvies knew that there was more going on overseas than the wacky hijinks portrayed in this movie . while i am sure that it was meant to be viewed as escapist entertainment  i can  t help but wonder if the family and loved ones of men fighting in the war  were amused or repulsed by this trivialization of their loved ones  sacrifice .  
this is your typical cheerful and colorful mgm musical from the early     s and it  s definitely on of the better ones to watch out there .  br    br   the movie got directed by the genre expert vincente minnelli and stars gene kelly in the main lead . both did quite a few movies together back in those days  of which this one is probably their best known one .  br    br   the movie itself actually managed to win the best picture oscar over the year  which meant it beat out movies such as  a place in the sun    a streetcar named desire    the african queen    quo vadis    the blue veil    death of a salesman  that year . a real accomplishment of course but at the same time also a bit too much credit for this delightful  bright and entertaining movie .  br    br   when you watch this movie you surely will be entertained by it all  which is also thanks to the movie its beautiful color look and the many nice characters within this movie . the musical numbers are also all nicely done  which is no big surprise when you have people such as vincente minnelli and gene kelly at work .  br    br   but really  couldn  t had everything that got told in this movie been done in halve an hour less or so  i mean  we already know where the movie is heading to but yet it manages to stretch it out all for as long as possible . not that it makes the movie drag in any parts  it just makes it a bit overlong . the movie could had also definitely been done with a few less musical numbers in it .  br    br   one of the better mgm musicals  that is not without its flaws though .  br    br        
before i start  let me say that my experience of this movie might have been influenced by the dubbing  which i gather from other comments was the original one which is considered inferior by some . so  it is entirely possible that subtitles or the apparently new dvd version would make a difference . i have also not read the corresponding book i  m only familiar with one other japanese manga and might be lacking cultural context .  br    br   potential minor spoilers ahead .  br    br   i usually like darkly tinged science fiction stories  the likes of blade runner    monkeys  etc .   but i did not enjoy this movie at all . while it started out mildly intriguing  it became tedious by the time it was only half  way finished . there are all sorts of problems let  s start with what is probably the most severe the dialogue . the characters seem unable to formulate complete sentences if they aren  t shouting each other  s names for the n  th time  they are usually grunting monosyllables   kanedaaa     tetsuoooo     huh     grrr   etc .  . this leaves most of the characters entirely underdeveloped and two  dimensional . it doesn  t help in the least that a lot of them get only a few minutes of screen time without anything interesting to say that would develop them away from the stereotypes suggested by the visuals .  br    br   the grunting is augmented by some random pseudo  philosophical technobabble that sounds vague and uninspired even by star trek standards . there is nothing deep and meaningful here  it all seems haphazard  thrown together at random from various bits and pieces of stock sci  fi ideas with no coherency whatsoever .  br    br   what little there is of an intelligible plot is no more than an excuse to begin the overlong final sequence which consists of escalating scenes of mayhem and destruction . not that there  s anything wrong with a nice bit of mayhem and destruction  of course but in this case you  ll find yourself asking  what  s the point of it all  and how long until it  s over  . character development in the last   minutes or so consists of little more than tetsuo turning into pizza the hutt for no readily apparent reason .  br    br   the ending resembles the one in      a bizarre string of images that  far from resolving or explaining anything  leave the viewer feeling he  s just been looking into a kaleidoscope for two hours . i  m sure some will claim that this sort of thing is art but to me it was just a lot of admittedly imaginative use of colour and shapes .  some of the music was also quite interesting  . unfortunately it  s all style and no substance .  br    br   tired of disney  want to watch animated movies dealing intelligently with  adult  themes  i  m sad to say you  re more likely to find that sort of thing in  south park  .  
an american in paris is an integrated musical  meaning that the songs and dances blend perfectly with the story . the film was inspired by the     orchestral composition by george gershwin .  br    br   the story of the film is interspersed with show  stopping dance numbers choreographed by gene kelly and set to popular gershwin tunes . songs and music include  i got rhythm     s wonderful   and  our love is here to stay  . it set a new standard for the subgenre known as the  songbook  musical with dozens of gershwin tunes buried in the underscore . the climax is  the american in paris  ballet  an   minute dance featuring kelly and caron set to gershwin  s an american in paris  featuring an impressionistic period daydream in the style of various painters  is one of the longest uninterrupted dance sequences of any hollywood film . the ballet alone cost more than half a million dollars  a staggering sum at the time .  br    br   it  s funny to think of such a work of art being born over a pool game between film producer arthur freed  singin  in the rain  wizard of oz  on the town  meet me in st . louis and the band wagon  and ira gershwin . it was freed  s idea to buy the title so he could use if in a film about paris and gershwin  s idea that it would only use gershwin music .  br    br   original cast was to have cyd charisse but she discovered she was pregnant before shooting began . a major reason gene kelly suggested leslie caron as the female lead was because he felt this movie needed a  real  french girl playing lise  not just an american actress playing one . gene kelly discovered leslie caron while vacationing in paris where he saw her perform in a ballet . when she got the call to audition  she said   who  s gene kelly   according to leslie caron  her introductory dance sequence  which included a seductive dance with a chair  was considered too suggestive by some censors . gene kelly directed the brief fantasy dance sequences shown as lise is introduced .  br    br   vincente minnelli first wanted maurice chevalier in the georges gutary part  and  celeste holm  in the  nina foch  part .  br    br   minnelli was a groundbreaking director of musicals with meet me in st . louis        an american in paris  and the band wagon       . he used color and songs in ways they hadn  t been used before . he used space and time imaginatively . best of all  though  he allowed himself to cut loose for the long ballet sequences that end all his movies . the ballet in an american in paris may be his best work .  br    br   even though vincente minnelli is credited as the sole director  he was sometimes tied up with his divorce from judy garland and other directing projects  leaving gene kelly to take over the directing duties .  br    br   other highlights include guetary  s rendition of  stairway to paradise   oscar levant  s fantasy of conducting and performing gershwin  s  concerto in f   see why it was oscar levant  s favorite .   br    br   the ballet sequence  now that we know it was successful everybody now wants to take credit for it  freed  minnelli  kelly but before the film was completed the new york office of mgm said no to spending a half million dollars on a ballet . so freed went to studio head louis b . mayer himself and got him to agree  new york said no . finally gene kelly showed the new york office how a british film  the red shoes used a long ballet sequence and that film became a world wide hit  and is still considered today the premium example of a successful art film . well the financial guys finally gave in and signed the checks .  br    br   there was a break in production after  november      at which point gene kelly began rehearsing the ballet choreography . by the time production for that final sequence resumed on  december  vincente minnelli had finished directing another film  father  s little dividend       .  br    br   irene sharaff designed a style for each of the ballet sequence sets  reflecting various french impressionist painters  raoul dufy   the place de la concorde   edouard manet  the flower market   maurice utrillo  a paris street   henri rousseau  the fair    vincent van gogh   the place de l  opera   and henri de toulouse  lautrec  the moulin rouge  . the backgrounds took six weeks to build  with   painters working nonstop .  br    br   roger ebert said after viewing the recent restoration   an american in paris has many qualities  not least its famous ballet production number  with kelly and leslie caron symbolizing the entire story of their courtship in dance .  an american in paris is often compared to singin  in the rain as to which it the greatest musical ever made  and one critic put it best when he said   singin  in the rain makes me happy and an american in paris makes me feel good .  the ballet represents kelly  s fantasies as depicted by the great french artists  renoir  rousseau  lautrec  dufy  he admires . arranging a screening for the then ailing raoul dufy  the actor and producer ducked out until the end credits . there  relieved  they found the artist  moved to tears  requesting a second helping of the sumptuous finale .  br    br   the film was also the first to win a golden globe award for best motion picture  comedy or musical .   br    br   gene kelly received an honorary academy award that year for  his versatility as an actor  singer  director and dancer  and specifically for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film .  it was his only oscar .  
one of those thank  god  i  don  t  live  there documentaries . this one tells of two warring factions in colombia  guerrillas and paramilitaries  and the surrounding peoples of medellin .  br    br   guns  drugs and death run rampant . the guys  no older than    not in the middle of fighting a war are in jail . the girls  not women  girls  always react the same way when one of them is killed  with tears and screaming . you scratch your head what did they expect  really  i don  t know what  s more disturbing the nightly shoot  outs and civil unrest  or that everybody just seems to passively accept things as are . or  seeing that boy drinking what is obviously not his first beer  being all of what     if you were to take these any of these young men out of their situation and put them some place where they had the opportunity to do more  be more  how many would choose not to stay   br    br   based on this documentary  all  i  m afraid .  
an american in paris is a wonderful musical about an american painter living in paris for inspiration . he meets a rich woman who admires his paintings on the street and she believes she can get his work to be even more popular to the public  e . g . in a museum . golden globe nominated gene kelly as the artist jerry mulligan is just perfect at both singing and especially dancing . he also meets the main girl lise bouvier  leslie caron  who is engaged to his best friend . he can  t help his feelings for this girl  even after he finds out who she is engaged to . filled with nice romance and wonderful song and dance  this is a very good musical film . it may drag slightly with his dancing dream sequence  i . e . the american in paris ballet  but there is a good happy ending . it won the oscars for best art direction  set decoration  best cinematography  best costume design  best music  scoring of a musical picture  best writing  story and screenplay and best picture  and it was nominated for best director for vincente minnelli and best film editing  it was nominated the bafta for best film from any source  and it won the golden globe for best motion picture  musical  comedy  and it was nominated for best director for vincente millenni  liza  s father  . gene kelly was number   on the    movie stars  and he was number   on    years     stars  men   i got rhythm  was number   on    years     songs  the film was number  on    years of musicals  it was number   on    years     passions  it was number   on    years     movies  and it was number   on the    greatest musicals . very good   
medellin is a fabulous place to live  work  and study . i  ve been there twice  and never did i hear anything about guerrilla activities  paramilitaries taking tourists hostage  or anything of the sort . there are  invisible police   but it is not a big brother system . there are just enough police so that they are visible in everyday life  but they do not hassle someone without good reasons .  br    br   la sierra is an interesting documentary in that the youths it depicts in the movie essentially become its characters . the directors of the movie carefully carve out plot lines among the daily actions of the inhabitants of la sierra  and when a  character  dies  there is genuine pathos . it is difficult to imagine  however  that the three youths are all members of the bloque metro  a gang that used to terrorize la sierra before the colombian government began to restructure the country .  br    br   la sierra is not an accurate depiction of life in colombia there are  of course  things to be wary of such as petty crime  but when one considers pickpocketing happens in  modern  cities such as london  new york  or tokyo  colombia doesn  t seem that different after all . colombians are eagerly awaiting their chance to show to the world that the once war  torn country is now prospering more than ever .  
if i remember  ira gershwin  the lyricist and brother of george  offered the gershwin catalog for this film and it was snapped up by the producers . in many respects  it was a typical    s movie musical by the freed unit at mgm and directed by vincente minelli with a lot of help from gene kelly .  br    br   the gershwins were  of course  among the greatest of all broadway musical teams but  in my opinion  george himself was among the greatest of all american composers  period    gene kelly was  of course  one of the two greatest male dancers of the movie musical  one guess as to the other   and i don  t imagine his casting was ever in doubt . but  i think the rest of the cast needs some explanation oscar levant was a noted personality in his time and  as an actual friend of george gershwin  he had to be in this film . he was a talented pianist and even a moderately talented composer as well as a noted neurotic and hypochondriac and here  as always  he plays himself .  br    br   leslie caron was an unknown at this time and she was of the french  gamin  type . a talented dancer  she was never a real beauty . george gutary who plays the part of maurice chavalier  oops  i mean henri baurel  was greek and not french but he certainly is more than ok as a french boulevardier even if a little too young for the part .  br    br   gene  s hoofer  s voice is serviceable here but gutary has much the better vocal equipment . though gene was better cast elsewhere as  obviously  in  singin  in the rain  where his character is much more calculating  even here he shows himself to be something of a heel at times  he was  not for nothing  cast as the original heel joey in pal joey  the broadway musical .  i was not so enchanted with his  i got rhythm  scene with the children which does not appear as spontaneous as was intended in my opinion .  br    br   i also found nina foch  s character milo to be rather irritating .  br    br   but the highlight of the film is obviously the lengthy ballet at the end of the film based on the title music with sets and costumes in the styles of the great french impressionist painters .  br    br   i found it difficult to believe gene and oscar  as struggling artists  and i don  t think the musical numbers are as well set up as they might be but  on balance  the gershwin music is very well served in this film .  br    br   the dvd is well  done with fine clear graphics  when they are supposed to be  and the mono sound is good but a trifle shallow .  
this story is about the romantic triangle between a nth . african male prostitute  a french transsexual prostitute  stephanie  and a russian waiter who speaks no french and never seems to shave .  br    br   as a film it is dull  dreary and depressing  shot either on foggy  overcast winter days or in badly lit interiors  where everyone is bathed in a weird blue luminescence . and yes  i know  it  s because the white balance was out . everyone is pale and downcast and looks haggard  shabby and dirty . bodies are bony and shot in such closeup that they look quite ugly and unappealing . moles  greasy hair . yuk . bad news in a film where people spend a lot of time either naked or having sex .  br    br   and the story  well  stephanie  s mother is dying . all three characters go back to stephanie  s home village where  through a bunch of flashbacks to desolate countryside and predictably dingy interiors  we see a bit of stephanie  s childhood as a boy called pierre . the mother dies . well . . . and that  s about it  really . character development is kept to a minimum  as is the denouement of the story .  br    br   i suppose the storyline is not linear  it would explain a lot of non sequiteurs  but really  after paying my seven euros i don  t feel like having to construct the film myself that  s what the director takes my money for . to expect me to join the story telling process and get my hands dirty  so to speak  is asking way too much .  br    br   this film is a heap of pretentious rubbish made  above all  from a desire to epater les bourgeois  ie shock the straights  . i can see how it was a shoo  in for the berlin film festival  and i can see why it got nowhere .  
 . . . oxford  mississippi  at least . okay  the paris we get is paris  culver city apart from the establishing library footage of the real mccoy but it is paris in spirit than which nothing  nowhere  is better . okay  kelly is no astaire but then who is and caron is no hepburn  ditto but alan lerner is light years ahead of the vastly overrated comden and green who scripted kelly  s other  big    s musical singin  in the rain  a curious replication of lyricists writing screenplays featuring songs by other lyricists and just to balance things the gershwin numbers are far superior to the arthur freed  nacio herb brown numbers so alan lerner didn  t have to feel too outclassed  . the story needn  t detain us any more than the anomalies  kelly hasn  t got change of a match and is a painter  i . e . bohemian  yet he is able to scare up a perfectly good suit at a few hours notice when foch invites him to dinner at her hotel in the well  documented love is here to stay sequence the lovers are strangely unmolested by passers  by  other lovers and the bridge in the background is totally free of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic  this is  after all  a feelgood musical so it stands or falls by the score and in this case it stands four square . as feel good musicals go it  s definitely in the top   .  
if you like films that ramble with little plot exposition spiced with kinky sex  this film is for you . on the plus side the lead actor  actress  newcomer transsexual  does have an interesting screen presence  but not enough to add up to much more than a mildly interesting movie  if that . essentially this film is about  social outcasts  transexual prostitute  male hustler  and russian  gay immigrant  who somehow have developed a bond . why is not clear . we are expected to accept these misfits are at the core basic honest people who have the ability to love while they hustle their bodies on the street . right   and anna nicole smith was truly in love with her ninety something sugar daddy  the filmmaker shows a gritty  unpleasant side of life while wanting us to believe underneath it all these seriously damaged people are really quite normal to the extent they have a menage a trois which helps them through life . quite a fantasy  but unfortunately portrayed here as real look of life on the wild side . in sum  no plot  no truth and no real reason to spend much time here . unless of course you just like to revel in the kink     
when i was a kid of   i always watched movies and television that i wasn  t supposed to  and this was one of them .  br    br   it  s one of my favorite movies of all time  and it has to be the funniest movie i have ever seen in my life  the acting is excellent  they don  t make comedies like this anymore these days  movies that are actually funny and make you laugh without resorting to excrement or some type of vomit  inducing body fluid as in those retarded judd apatow movies starring unfunny non  actors like seth rogen  barf  .  br    br   this movie is a classic with actors who can actually act  and deserve all the accolades .  
this was a complete disappointment . the acting isn  t bad  but the production was just so bad that at times i felt i needed to stop it  but i sadly made it through and was able to finish it a bit embarrassed by the whole poor movie . it is o . k . if you are o . k . with cheesy moral plots and don  t mind watching a movie that vastly misconstrues whitman . if you want a cheesy fictional story go for it .  
the story and music  george gershwin   are wonderful  as are levant  guetary  foch  and  of course  kelly . one thing  s missing  and that thing is a good leading lady . i  m sorry  leslie caron bothers me . anyway  despite her  the plot moves along nicely with the famous  and deservedly so  ballet . oh the colours  the dazzling reds  blues  greens  and yellows . musn  t forget the beiges as well .   i just adore the contrast between the beaux arts ball  completely black and white costumes  and the ever  so  brilliant ballet .  br    br   so i suppose what i  m trying to say is this please  by all means see it  and enjoy it  because though it isn  t the best  it is marvelous . but be sure not to forget that other gene kelly musical with the   year old girl that was catapulted to stardom just afterward .  
this isn  t a movie . it is a collection of unrelated  ill  conceived and poorly assembled scenes that look like the unedited results of a dim   year old with a mini  dv camera . in fact  i have a theory that the extremely abrasive girl in the train corridor  the one with the greasy hair  dead  pan stare  ipod and nervous tic  probably shot it herself in a creative phase .  br    br   if you made it further than the ten minutes i did  don  t bother trying to fit what you saw into the context of the european artiste mentality praised above . this is a true and complete waste of time  money and film that would have made william one  shot beaudine cringe .  br    br   the unfortunate part is that the endless series of vacuum  packed characters is representative of what now passes for much of humanity .  br    br   what  s next  six directors shooting social intercourse at the wal  mart snack counter   
an american in paris is a showcase of gene kelly . watch as gene sings  acts and dances his way through paris in any number of situations . some purely majestic  others pure corn . one can imagine just what kelly was made of as he made this film only a year before  singin  in the rain  . he is definately one of the all time greats . it is interesting to look at the parallels between the two films  especially in kelly  s characters  the only main difference being that one is based in paris  the other in l . a .  br    br   some have said that leslie caron  s acting was less than pure . perhaps cyd charisse  who was originally intended for the role could have done better  however caron is quite believable in the role and has chemistry with kelly . oscar levant  s short role in this film gave it just what it needed  someone who doesn  t look like gene kelly . filling the role as the everyman isn  t an easy task  yet levant did it with as much class as any other lead .  br    br   the song and dance routines are all perfection . even the overlong ballet at the end of the film makes it a better film with it than without . seeing that there really wasn  t much screen time to make such a loving relationship believable  minnelli used this sequence to make it seem as if you  d spent four hours with them . ingenious   br    br   i would have to rate this film up with singin  since it is very similar in story and song . singin  would barely get the nod because of debbie reynolds uplifting performance .  br    br   full recommendation .  br    br       stars .  
when i first started watching this movie i was looking for some kind of subtle metaphors but it soon dawned on me that this movie was indeed about people on a train . the interactions between people are like those you can see any day on the street and when in occasion there is a slightly more interesting situation the dialogue becomes stilted and boring . its not that i don  t get how this film is trying to portray the way people interact  it  s just that in this film they are very boring . if you want to see and analyse these kinds of relationships you  d be best to actually go out and buy a train ticket and look at the people on the train with you . it is realistic but you wouldn  t go to a movie to watch a film about you sitting there watching the movie .  
paris is the place to be to enjoy beautiful art and music  and to fall madly in love  as is the case in this film . boy meets girl  they fall in love  but something stands in their way of eternal happiness  the classic story .  br    br   the wonderful music of george gerschwin complements the great dancing by gene kelly and leslie caron .  an american in paris  is a humorous  light  hearted  loving film well worth watching .  br    br        br    br    
for years i remember reading about this show  trouble with tracy  in the tv guide . cfto  tv toronto every saturday morning at  am  i lived about a two  hour drive north of toronto and we couldn  t get cfto  but you know how it is  we always want what we can  t have .  br    br   well  i knew what i wanted and what i wanted was to see what this  trouble with tracy  was all about . did it have a beautiful girl in the starring role  was there nudity  was there suspense  was it a comedy  it would  ve been fine if there was some promotion of the show . at least i could  ve known what i was missing . but  no  the mystery drove me bonkers  until ctv affiliate ckco built a re  transmitter in wiarton  ontario and began to broadcast  trouble with tracy  at the same time as cfto . . . . saturday mornings at  am   one saturday morning i got up and turned the tv on at     and at last i got to see what  the trouble with tracy  was . yes  the  trouble with tracy  was that it was canadian content and stuck in the harmless  am spot so no one would ever see how awful it was .  br    br   talented canadian actor steve weston died a few years afterward  but many would argue he effectively  died  the first time he appeared on this show . when i saw it for the first time that cold saturday morning and fell despondent back into my bed  part of me died  too .  
uggh  i really wasn  t that impressed by this film  though i must admit that it is technically well made . it does get a  for very high production values  but as for entertainment values  it is rather poor . in fact  i consider this one of the most overrated films of the   s . it won the oscar for best picture  but the film is just boring at times with so much dancing and dancing and dancing . that  s because unlike some musicals that have a reasonable number of songs along with a strong story and acting  such as meet me in st . louis   this movie is almost all singing and dancing . in fact  this film has about the longest song and dance number in history and if you aren  t into this  the film will quickly bore you . give me more story  as a result  with overblown production numbers and a weak story  this film is like a steady diet of meringue   it just doesn  t satisfy in the long run .  br    br   to think . . . this is the film that beat out  a streetcar named desire  and  a place in the sun  for best picture  and  to make matters worse   the african queen  and  ace in the hole  weren  t even nominated in this category  even more amazing to me is that  ace in the hole  lost for best writing  screenplay to this film   even though  an american in paris  had hardly any story to speak of and was mostly driven by dance and song .  
wow  i can  t believe people consider this a  good  movie . now  i have seen much worse  but there are much more romantic  funny comedies with john cusack .  br    br   this is a mediocre film at best . while the acting wasn  t terrible  but not great  for a romantic comedy  there was little passion  little romance . there were many loose ends that don  t show up or are not addressed . unfortunately  the main characters do come off as complete cowards . they don  t know themselves well enough to realize that they don  t love the people they are engaged to . how do we know they aren  t in love  by the utter lack of remorse both characters have for leaving their finances . i can think of few things more romantic than the continual escape from commitment that these two show .  br    br   the movie doesn  t even end with a wedding scene  more than likely both will get cold feet and drop each other like hot potatoes once a commitment is nearing . this movie is really about two people who can  t commit to anything  unlike cusack  s previous characters  who were more than willing to make a deep commitment  loyd in say anything  martin in grosse pointe blank  etc .  .  br    br   the greatest failure of this movie was the complete lack of any twists turns  or anything of interest . when the movie ended  i felt like they had failed to include a climax to the story  which basically fits the whole movie boring . no suspense about whether the two will end up together  no joy when they do  no consequences to their actions .  br    br   it is sad that people are so blind to the shoddiness of this movie  that they simply rebuke any criticism with  everyone is too cynical   . criticism of this movie is not cynicism  simply unbiased examination . there are many other better romantic comedies  even ones with grace kelly  or eva marie saint .  br    br   if you think this movie is great  try these movies  you hearts will explode the princess bride  say anything  grosse pointe blank  high fidelity  keeping the faith  charade  rear window  north by northwest  or there  s something about mary  which is a good examination of idealized romance vs . today  s society  .  
while the story is sweet  and the dancing and singing in the main part of the film are a joy  the uniqueness of the film  and what makes it a masterpiece  is the dream sequence . it features the combination of the highest form of truly american music  gershwin   the engaging beauty of french impressionistic art  kelly  s enthralling choreography  including his rapturous  pas de deux d  amour   really a separate genre   with the most magnificent palette of color ever devised for the set . matching the surging music and the visual explosion with those dances was a true work of a creative genius and a great artist .  
oh  for crying out loud  this has got to be the lamest movie i  ve seen all year  and i  m sorry the normally awesome john cusack was even involved in this brainless  twitty piece of stupidity . where sleepless in seattle delivered what amounts to be the same message  albeit on a more subtle  somewhat more mature level  serendipity delivers it with a sledgehammer  and then proceeds to pound it into your psyche for the next tedious hour and a half or so  and that  s an hour and a half of my life i  ll never get back again  thank you very much    . it  s bad enough the main characters of this movie have the emotional maturity level of fourteen  year  olds  actually i  ve known better fourteen  year  olds . . .   except maybe for jeremy piven  who was enjoyable enough . just the first   minutes or so of the movie where kate beckinsale  s character plays that annoying silliness of a game about throwing all sensibility to the wind  literally  had my best friend and i irritated beyond belief . i told my husband rockstar had more intelligence  and at least  the characters in rockstar weren  t half as dysfunctional as the idiots were in this  serendipitous  mess . it  s annoying to watch protagonists who seem to have no clue about choice in their lives  and feel they  re nothing more than puppets to destiny and the whims of fate . how utterly tiresome . i  m sure this movie will be more likely enjoyed by those who  d rather not engage in the chaotic messiness of making more complex life choices and then responsibly living with the consequences . after all  here  s a movie where our hero and heroine live happily ever after only after wreaking havoc and misery on two other people  s lives  namely their respective fiances   not to mention other relatives and friends  just to get there .  br    br    
i dug out from my garage some old musicals and this is another one of my favorites . it was written by jay alan lerner and directed by vincent minelli . it won two academy awards for best picture of     and best screenplay . the story of an american painter in paris who tries to make it big . nina foch is a sophisticated lady of means and is very interested in helping him  but soon finds she loves the guy . meanwhile gene kelly falls for lovely damsel  leslie caron . his main dancing partner  and i must say they are fantastic together on the floor and otherwise . famous french singer georges guietary sings  too . so if you like good smooth dancing and fun filled scenes filled with oscar levant  s nimble piano fingers  the songs of george gershwyn will live on forever in this colorful gem .      
not exactly a new story line  but this romantic comedy makes the concept work . a young man  john cusack  and a drop dead gorgeous woman  kate beckinsale  keep meeting by chance and wonder if they are meant for each other . although both are promised to others . . . oddly enough they still feel that their soul mate is out there somewhere . a little sappy in some places  but viva la love . being a romantic i am almost obligated to be riveted . my favorite scene is where cusack is on the ground and snow starts falling . the finale is almost too sweet  but most deserving . this is not one of cusack  s deeper roles  but who in the hell could not be smitten by beckinsale . notable support is provided by jeremy piven and molly shannon . john corbett plays the worst role i  ve ever seen him in . on the other hand eugene levy is quirky and funny . watch this with your soul mate .  
released two years before i was born  this oscar  winning movie has it all  lavish technicolor sets and costumes  breathtaking cinematography  superb wall  to  wall gershwin music  superior choreography  a lighter  than  air screenplay  and great performances by kelly  levant  foch  guetary  and caron . hollywood doesn  t make  em like this anymore . definitely  this is my favorite movie of all time  a standard by which i judge all other films . enjoy  enjoy  enjoy   
the master of cheap erotic horror  rolfe kanefsky  finally makes a movie that doesn  t go straight to the playboy channel .  the hazing  borrows heavily from everything that came before it from nightmare on elm street to evil dead  but still manages to do it with enough humor to make it watchable . . . just barely . the characters are cardboard  the dialogue is wooden  the story is paper  thin and the actors couldn  t act their way out of a grocery bag . put that all together and you have a pulpy ball of mulch for a movie . sometimes  when i  m bored  i like to eat paper . watching this movie is a lot like that . chew on it for   minutes and you  re left with a weird taste in your mouth and no nutritional value .  
timeless musical gem  with gene kelly in top form  stylish direction by vincente minnelli  and wonderful musical numbers . it is great entertainment from start to finish  one of those films that people watch with a smile and say  they don  t make  em like they used to   but they never did quite make them like this . the climactic   minute musical sequence without any dialogue is among the most beautiful in film history . movie magic  clearly derived from the heart and soul of everyone involved . a must see   
this was truly dreadful  it had a terrible storyline  was poorly acted  and was like an amateur remake of evil dead but not nearly as good .  br    br   it took all my tenacity to make it through this one  it  s a good job i didn  t have to visit the toilet else i doubt i would have come back  this one makes hammer house of horror look like a big screen hollywood epic .  br    br   the only value to this movie was the never ending supply of beautiful women . not a bad one among them   br    br   if you want to letch with your friends after a night on the beer then this one  s for you . . . else avoid it like the plague   
i enjoyed this film . it was lighthearted  delightful  and very colorful . you can see that mgm was showing off technicolor . there are hardly any colors that do not appear in this film . every scene is packed full . the choreography was great . gene kelly is a wonder . he is so talented . the dance numbers in this film are all perfectly executed  and perfectly designed . he understands that the dances can tell the story as much as anything else . the last section of the film  the grand dance sequence  is very impressive . what makes this film very special is gershwin  s music . few american composers have had a better gift for melody . i very much enjoy gershwin  s music . it is enchanting . ira gershwin is definitely one of the greatest lyric writers . he is so witty and charming . this was a highly entertaining film .  
i saw this movie primarily to see brooke burke  as jill   who i had meet briefly in la at a modeling trade show  in her first feature film . i was hoping to see more of her  but thought she did very well acting her role . since she is such a beautiful and poised tv host  and model  it was not surprising . i was left wondering why she was killed  and what happened as a result . maybe i just missed it .  br    br   i wasn  t really sure about the genre of this movie  and although i liked the actors i felt like it was for a college audience . i tried to keep an open mind considering horror wasn  t my favorite genre  but felt like i had outgrown the gags . it seemed to drag out in some places  leave you guessing in some places about what powers the evil professor had  and  like a lot of other films had an unsatisfying ending .  br    br   having written a couple of scripts  i know a lot of this is difficult and may come down to personal opinions  how many movies you have seen  studied  and those you relate with at a point in time .  br    br   in a nutshell  i found it interesting  but not a satisfying plot and ending for me . if jill  brooke burke  would have returned through the portal in the end and kicked everyone  s ass that would be a satisfying ending and would earn a higher rating .  
okay  so the plot is on shaky ground . yeah  all right  so there are some randomly inserted song and  or dance sequences  for example adam  s concert and henri  s stage act  . and leslie caron can  t really  um  you know . . . act .  br    br   but somehow   an american in paris  manages to come through it all as a polished  first  rate musical   largely on the basis of gene kelly  s incredible dancing talent and choreography  and the truckloads of charm he seems to be importing into each scene with caron .  he needs to  because she seems to have a . . . problem with emoting .   br    br   the most accomplished and technically awe  inspiring number in this musical is obviously the    minute ballet towards the end of the film . it  s stunningly filmed  and kelly and caron dance beautifully . but my favourite number would have to be kelly  s character singing  i got rhythm  with a bunch of french school  children  then breaking into an array of american dances . it just goes to prove how you don  t need special effects when you  ve got some real talent .  br    br   not on the  classics  level with  singin  in the rain   but pretty high up there nonetheless . worth the watch   
i cannot believe i wasted   minutes of my life watching this terrible film i kept hoping it was going to get better by the end but boy was i wrong . the plot was abysmal  the acting was extremely poor and the special effects were awful . not even the  beautiful girls could revive my interest in this boring and bloody mess . however i cannot lie  some of the lines in this film were quite memorable such as when the asian boy says   i lost my virginity to the babysitter so f stereotypes    br    br   please do not waste your time with this crash unless u are prepared or want to have a good laugh . . maybe that way u can watch it to rip this movie with some mates  
there are few comedies like this  where almost every line and every character come close to flawless . this is soooo funny   and it has quite a bit of satire there to . sally field is heading the field of truly outstanding actors and does a good  if not perfect  job with her daytime tv  diva . sometimes her acting is just a little to broad and over the top  but    of the time she is a riot  in the same league is kevin kline  robert downey jr and whoopy goldberg  who unfortunately has too little to do here  . downey jr may not convince entirely as a comedian and has not the timing right all the time  but he struggles with his part which is  to be honest  the most ungrateful one . but the shining star here is cathy moriarty as celeste  a true bitch if there ever was one with more than one nasty secret  you will see in the absolutely stunning finale   . sadly elisabeth shue never seems to be quite comfortable in her part . i normally like ms shue  but here she acts as a fish out of water and sometimes seems to be in a different movie . but it is not something damaging and for the most part she is at least adequate . otherwise  brimming with memorable lines and situations  this is a comedy to watch whenever it is on tv or wherever .  
please note that i haven  t seen the film since i discovered it in      and my town is smaller and doesn  t carry it . however  i really want to say something about it . i  m actually doing research for university on the title character richard maurice bucke and would like to point out that the person they based the main character on was in reality completely different    hollywood  s ideas of people and artistic license granted  the real dr . bucke totally endorsed hysterectomies to cure insanity in women  and would never have practiced anything as liberal as represented in the film . i think it  s laughable to see various film critics who write for legitimate newspapers who say this film has some historical basis  the only actual fact i can see is the friendship between dr . bucke and walt whitman . please don  t waste your time on a film with such a disregard to the horror that real women experienced at the hands of this doctor who has now been glorified by the film industry .  
i haven  t seen this movie in about  years  but it still haunts me .  br    br   when asked about my favorite films  this is the one that i seem to always mention first . there are certain films  works of art like this film   dark city   and  breaking the waves   that seem to touch a place within you  a place so protected and hidden and yet so sensitive  that they make a lifelong impression on the viewer  not unlike a life  changing event  such as the ending of a serious relationship or the death of a friend . . . this film  shook  me when i first saw it . it left me with an emotional hangover that lasted for several days .  
today i found  they all laughed  on vhs on sale in a rental . it was a really old and very used vhs  i had no information about this movie  but i liked the references listed on its cover the names of peter bogdanovich  audrey hepburn  john ritter and specially dorothy stratten attracted me  the price was very low and i decided to risk and buy it . i searched imdb  and the user rating of  .  was an excellent reference . i looked in  mick martin  marsha porter video  dvd guide      and  wow  four stars  so  i decided that i could not waste more time and immediately see it . indeed  i have just finished watching  they all laughed  and i found it a very boring overrated movie . the characters are badly developed  and i spent lots of minutes to understand their roles in the story . the plot is supposed to be funny  private eyes who fall in love for the women they are chasing   but i have not laughed along the whole story . the coincidences  in a huge city like new york  are ridiculous . ben gazarra as an attractive and very seductive man  with the women falling for him as if her were a brad pitt  antonio banderas or george clooney  is quite ridiculous . in the end  the greater attractions certainly are the presence of the playboy centerfold and playmate of the year dorothy stratten  murdered by her husband pretty after the release of this movie  and whose life was showed in  star    and  death of a centerfold the dorothy stratten story   the amazing beauty of the sexy patti hansen  the future mrs . keith richards the always wonderful  even being fifty  two years old  audrey hepburn and the song  amigo   from roberto carlos . although i do not like him  roberto carlos has been the most popular brazilian singer since the end of the    s and is called by his fans as  the king  . i will keep this movie in my collection only because of these attractions  manly dorothy stratten  . my vote is four .  br    br   title  brazil    muito riso e muita alegria    many laughs and lots of happiness    
i felt it necessary to respond to the comments posted on the front page of this film  s page because some of it was slightly misinformative .  br    br   originally i posted quotes from the original poster  but i wasn  t sure if it was proper given that this is the  comments  index and not a message board  though we used to use  em that way back before imdb added the film message boards  so i will edit this to make it unnecessary .  br    br   well  first of all you may not be aware of this  but gene kelly first became famous for playing  pal joey  on broadway in the original production . when vincente minnelli decided to make a gershwin  panorama  film  he wanted kelly  s character to be more sophisticated than the  goody two shoes  roles he had been playing in most his films  with the exception of  for me and my gal   . alan jay lerner was instructed to construct a new story set in paris based on the story of  pal joey  . this gave kelly a chance to play his famous role from broadway even though warners had outbid mgm for the rights to  pal joey .  in my opinion  the wb film  pal joey  is a wreck  though sinatra was suitable for the role  but other problems sunk the film  script changes and poor direction .   br    br   you complain that kelly  s pictures are not well done  even citing your art education to prove the point . but you miss the fact that kelly  s bad art was clearly designed to be bad  and it is necessary for the story  characters . the pictures are so bad  the audience knows that kelly isn  t ready for an exhibition . even he knows it  though milo has sort of sugared him up to the point where he almost believes her . but it  s important that the audience not be sitting there saying  but  he  s a great artist  if he only had the chance   . you want the audience to be fully aware of his deficiencies .  br    br   then you complain that he sabotages his interest in the show again you are not understanding the structure of the story . he refuses because he doesn  t want to feel like a gigolo  and because he knows he  s not really ready for the exhibition . his enthusiasm for the exhibition is certainly not as great as  joey  s  enthusiasm to  start a nightclub  . but it serves the same function in the plot . remember  it  s essential in  pal joey   the play  that joey gives up his nightclub after he realizes that he doesn  t deserve it . same with the art show . if kelly  s paintings were actually good  it would undermine this whole point .   br    br   then you complain that caron and kelly have no  chemistry  . i guess it  s in the eye of the beholder . i agree  the chemistry between them is not as strong as it should be  but for me it was fine . compare it to even worse  forced  romances like the one between cary grant and sophia loren in  the pride and the passion  .   br    br   when you say that the big dance finale has nothing to do with anything else in this film  it just shows that you haven  t dug beneath the surface of the film into its symbolism . many elements in the dance sequence relate to the story and characters  and through the dance the plot is resolved through images and symbolism . it  s about finding love  enjoying love  then losing love  he looks around and his love is gone  . the movements of the symphony are constructed so that part of each dance scene mirrors a separate phase of parisian art and also a separate phase of their relationships . if you didn  t  see that  it  s not the movie  s fault . it  s certainly not a  load of crap  .   
the hazing is confused mumbo  jumbo that wants so hard to be the evil dead that it even references bruce campbell several times . the problem is  it is simply not in the same league as that terrific movie . this movie is nowhere near as original . the plot has been used before  by kevin tenney in night of the demons  and that was a lot more fun . this flick wastes too much time with complicated exposition before getting the kids into the spooky mansion and starting the demonic happenings .  br    br   brad dourif is  as usual  not given much to do here  but when he is on screen he puts in another over  the  top performance that would make christopher walken jealous . as for the acting of the kids  it  s passable but by no means good . the shaky camera work is more annoying than clever or atmospheric . there are a few good moments when the first guy gets possessed and throws around some deadly one liners while dispatching his victims  but it was never scary for a second . the gore level is mid  range to low  but the director tries to make up for it by showing the actresses topless a few times . all in all  just okay if you have   minutes to waste .  
an american in paris was  in many ways  the ultimate mixture of art and hollywood musical . made at the height of mgm  s powers as a musical powerhouse  the film features memorable music from the gershwins  who rightly have been called the   th century  s equivalent of beethoven and mozart .  br    br   gene kelly was also at the height of his powers in this film  though it could be rightly argued that this movie was just the warm  up for his best work in singin  in the rain       . the two films are actually closely linked . aside from the arthur freed connection  the broadway melody segment in  rain  owes its existence to the incredible american in paris ballet sequence in this film . this might well have been the only time a dance number is specially mentioned in the opening credits of the film . and it deserved to be  as it showcases gene kelly  s skills as a dancer and choreographer to their utmost degree .  br    br   the film  s cast is uniformly excellent . leslie caron  incredibly making her film debut  shows a maturity that makes you think she  d been making films for years . her introductory dance sequence  and later her work on the ballet  provides some surprisingly sexy moments rivalled in mgm musicals only by cyd charisse  s work in singin  in the rain and the band wagon . oscar levant is hilarious as kelly  s stoic pal  who gets two of the film  s best moments during the end party sequence  which i will not give away for anyone who hasn  t seen the film   and one of the film  s most memorable musical numbers which couples his incredible piano skills with state  of  the  art  for the time  special effects .  br    br   less memorable are georges guetary as kelly  s romantic rival  though he does get a few musical highlights  and nina foch as leslie caron  s romantic rival . the may  december relationship between kelly  s character and nina  s reminded me of the same  kept man  relationship seen between george peppard and patricia neal in breakfast at tiffany  s .  br    br   there are a few elements of the film that made it less satisfying for me than singin  in the rain . the ballet  though lavish and well  produced  doesn  t really fit with the rest of the movie . without giving away the plot  the ballet just happens  with no real rhyme or reason . and unlike the broadway melody sequence  it really doesn  t have anything to do with the plot   and in the best musicals  the songs always have some sort of raison d  etre .  br    br   making matters worse is the ending of the film which happens immediately after the ballet . although the ending shouldn  t be a surprise  this is an mgm musical  after all   i was hoping for a bit more . . . movie after the ballet ended . it  s as if director vincente minnelli felt that he couldn  t follow the ballet with anything else . the film literally left me in the lurch .  br    br   that negative aside  an american in paris rightly ranks alongside the best of hollywood  s musicals . it doesn  t quite reach the heights of singin  in the rain  but it comes close and it remains a testament to gene kelly  s skills as one of the greatest dancers of all time .  
the script was very weak w  o enough character arcs to make you care one bit about the characters or what happens to them . the script is way too talky and not enough gore or action to even call it slow paced . the story gets to the point that you just want everyone to shut up and die as quickly as possible so you don  t have to listen to them talk this very muted  stiff dialogue . on a technical note  the music mix is way to high and makes it hard to understand what is being said most times . then again  this could be called a blessing . overall  this same story could have better been told in a short film w  a running time under   minutes . the obvious  in your face  homages to sam raimi and  evil dead  would have been good had they been more subtle  but here they seem more like a bald faced rip off . c  mon  this kind of   mm budget and this is the best that could be done  still  the cinematography  lighting design and shots were very well done indeed .  
i saw  an american in paris  on its first release when i was still at school and fell in love with it straightaway . i went back to see it again the next day and have lost count of the number of times i have seen it since  both in the cinema and on tv . it makes fantastic use of some of the best music and songs by the greatest popular composer of the twentieth century  george gershwin  and features the greatest male  gene kelly  and female  leslie caron  dancers in hollywood history . the supporting cast of oscar levant  as quirky as ever   georges guetary  why didn  t he make more movies   and nina foch  brilliant in an unsympathetic role  are at the top of their form . the closing ballet  superbly choreographed to the title music  makes excellent use of the sights and sounds of paris and of the images of impressionist and post  impressionist artists . all the gershwin songs are beautifully staged  but the most memorable are  it  s very clear   caron and kelly on the banks of the seine  and  i got rhythm   the kids of paris joining gene kelly in  une chanson americaine   . if you love paris  see this movie . if you  ve never been to paris in your life  see it . but see it   
exactly what you would expect from a b  movie . deritive  gratuitous nudity  boring in parts  ridiculous gore and cheesy special  effects . of course it could have been better  better acted  defintly  better written  directed  etc . but then i guess it wouldn  t have been a b movie . the actors pretty much sucked  in fact this pretty much seemed like an episode of buffy the vampire slayer or something except with a lot of blood  profanity and nudity .  br    br   tiffany shepis must be singled out . she absolutely is the scream queen of the new millennium . not that acting really matters in these movies  but she was better than any of the other actors . she  s also smokin hot  in that plastic jump suit thing she wore for the whole movie  wow  her posterior is absolutely stunning in that outfit  i mean it every single time she turns around you can help but check her out . and near then end of the film the viewer is rewarded with seeing her completely nekked .  br    br   so if your a looser b  movie horror buff  like myself   check this out . if not  you should probably avoid at all costs .  
gene kelly came up with some really grand ideas for musicals while with mgm . here he  s at the top of his creative powers working with the arthur freed musical unit . hard to believe when you watch an american in paris that the players never left the back lot at mgm .  br    br   the magic of an american in paris is due to the creative editing under the direction of vincent minnelli and the sets that mgm designed blended with some background establishing shots . the idea of the film originated with kelly who wanted simply to do a film with a lengthy ballet sequence involving george gershwin  s tone poem an american in paris . it sounded good to arthur freed who approached ira gershwin who said fine with him as long as they used other gershwin material .  br    br   gershwin got the kind of deal for gershwin music that irving berlin normally got . not one note of non  gershwin music is heard in an american in paris . listen to some of the background music and you will hear things like embraceable you and but not for me which are not real musical numbers .  br    br   another guy who was a fair hand at writing lyrics  alan jay lerner  wrote the story which admittedly is a thin one . all about an ex  gi played by gene kelly who after world war ii never left france  just settled into an apartment on the left bank and proceeded to become a starving artist . he lives with eccentric composer oscar levant and does that ever sound like a redundancy .  br    br   two women are interested in him . another expatriate american played by nina foch who wants to sponsor him as a painter if he  ll reciprocate in other matters . but kelly falls for a shop girl played by leslie caron in her film debut . caron also has musical comedy star georges guetary interested in here .  br    br   of course the plot is just an excuse to sing and dance to the music of george gershwin . an american in paris happens to be the first film i ever saw as an in flight movie on the first airplane trip i ever took . i still remember flying back from phoenix arizona to kennedy airport seeing gene kelly doing i  ve got rhythm . my favorite number in the film however is tra  la  la which kelly sings and dances all over the apartment with oscar levant playing the piano . at one point kelly dances on top of the baby grand piano .  br    br   in a book about arthur freed  i read a quote where he said in the american in paris ballet sequence was to be done with the background of the french impressionists which he felt the public would take to rather than a realistic setting on the streets or back lot . so it happened that way . kelly had done lengthy ballet sequences in words and music  the pirate  and on the town . but this one topped them all . still does in my opinion and that includes some of gene kelly  s later films .  br    br   in a surprise upset at the oscars  an american in paris was chosen best picture for      beating out the heavily favored a streetcar named desire . i guess fantasy trumped realism that year . big budgets also have an upper hand in these things as well .  br    br   still an american in paris is one of the best movie musicals ever done and since the studios no longer have all that creative talent under one roof  something less likely to be repeated .  
i love horror films  low budget     s     s     s     s . . but how can anyone think this is a very good horror film  let  s compare it to titles in a similar vein  haunted house films . the haunting  the changeling  the shining . or for a similar technology based horror film that was faaar better   though still far from great  demon seed . ok  i  ll be fair . . let  s compare it to made  for  tv horror films  don  t go to sleep . . waaay creepier and better done . salem  s lot  the night stalker  night gallery  even don  t go in the basement or crowhaven farm were far better . spoilers first of all  for as good a scene as the bloody shower scene was  you have a scene like the opening scene . . oh boy  the garden hose comes alive to hose down some frisky teenagers  terrible . also  just what we understand about the house . . it apparently needs to use its video cameras to see what is going on  and it  s a very emotional house . not a spirit  or demon  or entity  it  s a house thats  possessed   but by what  we are led to believe an inanimate object learned to love suzie  margaret  our protagonist  now that i  m on the topic of suzie . . another scene that totally bothered me  this poor old crazy lady comes  tells you she was your nurse  pours her heart out  falls in the boiling pool  struggling in agony for   seconds  and what does margaret do  does she risk her hands being burnt to save this poor elderly woman that came there to warn her  s life  no  she stands there and watches  the acting for the most part was better than average for a horror film  but that  s where the positives end . for at least a more interesting  and fun horror film about an inanimate object that kills people watch death bed the bed that eats . i have a feeling the people who rated this so highly either haven  t watched it since it originally aired  or remembered it scaring them as children . this film was pretty much merit less .  
vincente minnelli directed some of the most celebrated entertainments in cinema history . . . he was among the first hollywood directors to show that a profound love of color  motion and music might produce intelligent entertainment . . .  br    br    american in paris  is the story of an ex  gi who remains in france after the war to study and paint . . . he falls in love with a charming gamine lise bourvier . . . their romantic love affair sparkles as brightly as the city of lights itself . . . the whole movie brings a touch of french elegance where technique  artistic style and music all come together in perfect synchronism . . .  br    br   the first musical sequence introduces the exciting personality of leslie caron in her screen debut . . . she is like a diamond  a touch of class . . . george guetary describes his fiance ambiguous grace in a montage of different dance styles  sweet and shy  vivacious and modern  graceful and awesome . . . the number leads to an unpretentious bistro  where kelly and his very good friends in paris share a gentle parody of viennese waltzes . . . later kelly celebrates a popular tap dancing with a crowd of enthusiastic children singing with him  i got rhythm   and at the massive jazz nightclub kelly spots the girl of his dreams . . . he is instantly hit by her sparkling sapphire blue eyes  and only one clear thing is in his mind  to pull lize onto the dance floor and sing to her  it  s very clear  our love is here to stay .   br    br   to the joyful  tra  la  la   kelly provides humor  wit and talent all around oscar levant  s room  and even on the top of his brown piano . . .  br    br   when he meets his pretty cinderella along the seine river  kelly is swept away by his happy meeting with caron . . . he expresses all his emotions with  our love is here to stay .  the piece had a definite nighttime feel as the two lovers were bathed in soft  blue smoky light . . . they start an enchanting dance  duet juxtaposing differing elements . . . caron dances with her head on his shoulder  then tries to run away in a fluid way . . . they move backward  away from each other  then pause to rush toward each other  for a little kiss  and a warm hug . . .  br    br   the film  s weakest numbers were those that bear little relation to the story . . . in one  georges guetary performs an entertaining stage show with showgirls in giant ornaments floating down to the stage . . . in another  oscar levant imagines himself conducting a concert  and playing not only a piano recital  but the other instruments as well . . . he even applauds to himself as members of the audience . . .  br    br   the extravagant climactic super ballet of the film is quite an adventure  a breakthrough in taste  direction and design . . . it is a blaze of love  fury and vividness . . . it is kelly  s major fantasy of his lost love and of his feeling about paris as viewed through the huge backdrops of some of france  s most impressionist painters . . .  br    br   the number starts at the beaux arts ball after kelly finds himself separated from lise  and begins a sketch with a black crayon . . . it gathers the important parts of the film  s story through a constantly changing locations  all in the style of the painters who have influenced jerry . . . the tour  richly attractive and superbly atmospheric  includes the place de la concorde fountain  the madeleine flower market  the place de l  opra  to his rendez  vous at montmartre  with the cancan dancers in a representation of lautrec  s moulin rouge . . .  br    br   kelly seems to defy the boundaries of his physical self . . . caron seems to dominate her space and sweeps you away to another time and place . . .  br    br   nina foch appeared very attractive and elegant in her one  shouldered white gown . . . in one of the film  s most famous lines  kelly asks her  that  s quite a dress you almost have on . what holds it up   nina  cleverly replies   modesty    br    br    an american in paris  garnered six oscars  including an honorary award to gene kelly . . . the film gave us a wealth of memories to take home . . .  
it  s kind of fascinating to me that so many reviewers consider this a masterpiece . i am not a dullard as far as quality films go  and i will agree that from a technical filming standpoint  as well as for several of the characters portrayed  the film is in an award  worthy class . but there is no sense  for me  of this film actually going anywhere i mean  taking the viewer anywhere . it is a series of mood scenes  perhaps remarkable as such  but i want more from a film . i look for story and movement and a fulfillment of arrival  none of which did i find in this film . yes  it might be considered poetry on film . . . but there is much poetry that i cannot live with for the same reason that it paints pictures without going anywhere .  br    br   one thing further to be said is that it documents a mid  century english childhood  which is necessarily limited in its universality . i was personally appalled at what a young british boy had to live through  in that time and place . having grown up in america just a decade earlier  i can authoritatively say that the contrast is immense . i cannot help wondering if this contrast has had some effect on those reviewing the film so favorably . in other words  could there be a tendency to judge the film entirely on its  filmic magic   which i acknowledge is there  and completely ignore its lack of relevance to the nature of one  s actual recalled experience   
parsifal       starring michael kutter  armin jordan  robert lloyd  martin sperr  edith clever  aage haugland and the voices of reiner goldberg  yvonne minton  wolfgang schone  director hans  jurgen syberberg .  br    br   straight out of the german school of film  the kind that favored tons of symbolism and ingmar bergmanesque surrealism  came this     film of wagner  s final masterpiece  parsifal  written to correspond with good friday  easter and the consecration of the bayreuth opera house . this film follows the musical score and plot accurately but the manner in which it was filmed and performed is bold and avant  garde and no other parsifal takes the crown in its bizarre cinematography . syberberg is known for controversial films . prior to this film he had released films about hitler and nazism  richard wagner and his personal anti  semitism and a documentary about winifred wagner  one of his grand  daughters . this film is possibly disturbing in many aspects . parsifal  sung by reiner goldberg but acted by michael kutter  is a male throughout the first part of the film and then  after the enchantment of kundry  s kiss  is transformed into a female . this gender  bending element displays the feminine  masculine  ying  yang nature of the quest for the holy grail  which serves all mankind and redeems it through christ  s blood . in the pagan sorcerer klingsor  s fortress  there are photographs of such notoriously sinister figures as hitler  nietzche  cosima wagner and wagner  s mistress matilde wesendock . the swaztika flag hangs outside the fortress . parsifal journeys into the   th and   th century throughout the film . the tempting flower maidens are in the nude . kundry is portrayed as a sort of beautiful but corrupt mary magdalene or eve from genesis  played by edith clever but beautifully sung by mezzo  soprano yvonne minton  . ultimately  this film is for fans of this type of bizarre germanic  european symbolic metafiction and for intellectuals who appreciate the symbolism  the history and lovers of wagner opera . indeed  the singing is grand and compelling . reiner goldberg  s parsifal is a focused and intense voice but it lacks the depth and overall greatness of the greater parsifals of the stage  james king  wolfgang windgassen  rene kollo and today  s own placido domingo . yvone minton is a sensual  voiced  dramatic and exciting kundry  delving into her tormented state perfectly . while the production is certainly unorthodox and as un  wagnerian as it can possibly get  wagner  s concept was christian ceremonial pomp with grails  spears  castles  knights and wounded kings  a dark sorcerer  darkness turning into light  etc typical wagnerian themes  . . it is still an enjoyable  art  house film .  
i had to watch this in school . and to sum it up . . .  br    br   talentless actors  talentless script  and a talentless director .  br    br   this movie is such a waste of your time . don  t even watch the movie . don  t bother . you will be so disappointed . my teacher said it was supposed to be good . how wrong she was . she even slept through it a little . the movie  s actors were just bad . the best actor in there was the old man and that  s not saying much . it  s has horrible plot with awful characters . so unrealistic and i can honestly said it had no point . the script was unemotional and confusing . there was points in the movie when i furrowed my brows and said   what   . also there were just too many loose ties and plot holes . it was just absolutely horrendous .  
this very peculiar setting of wagner  s last opera definitely grew on me . when i first saw it  i was somewhat annoyed by many of the films surrealistic images  and felt that far too much was superimposed upon the story . however  if you can put up with a fair amount of rather recherch  gimmicks   i think you will find that the film does manage to capture the very strange  other  worldly atmosphere of the opera  and that there are moments which are particularly fine .  br    br   personally  i never really understood the role of kundry until i saw how edith clever portrayed her . her performance  a lip  synchronized mime of the singing voice of yvonne minton  is nothing short of dazzling  from end to end  and alone justifies the hours it takes to absorb the film .  br    br   another reason to delight in this film is that it captures the spectacular interpretation of robert lloyd of the crucial role of gurnemanz  one which lloyd has performed to a crisp at opera houses throughout the world . i have been privileged to enjoy him in the role of gurnemanz on the stage of the metropolitan opera several times  and the lusciousness of his voice  and the warm  fatherliness of his interpretation of this noble character really needed to be preserved  as did his performance in the character  s two major monologues  the karfreitag scene and the recounting of the prophecy in act  .  br    br   the version i have seen was a videotape made for america  and so there were subtitles which  alas  could not be done away with . this is especially unfortunate because the translation used is very inaccurate and forces an extremely christian interpretation on a film which is already forcing layers of interpretation on the opera . this seemed to me to be quite contrary both to wagner  s clear avoidance of christianity  and his very deliberate attempt to  generalize  the christian elements of the story .  see footnote with spoiler at the end of this review .  i find it nearly impossible  when viewing a film with subtitles  to keep from absorbing them  and strongly recommend that  if in the dvd versions you have the ability to turn the subtitles off  you do so  and instead  if the opera is unfamiliar to you  that you read the libretto carefully beforehand .  br    br   the bottom line is that there is much in the film which i dislike  and would just as soon have seen done differently . . . but it has risen steadily in my estimation over the years since i first saw it  and i find myself drawn to enjoy it again and again .  br    br                                                                      br    br   footnote containing a spoiler a good example would be kundry  s famous line   i saw him . . . him . . . and laughed .  this gets translated  in the subtitles  for reasons which escape me  as  i saw the savior  s face .  it is especially irritating to me  because throughout the libretto  wagner very deliberately and carefully refers to this unseen character who need not be the biblical jesus as  der heiland   i . e .  the german for  the healer    a reference to the wound of amfortas  and to all wounds and maladies and the need for healing .  
but i got over it . to me  it seemed that even the author of the book favored caroline . i felt so sorry for the character louise  and she was constantly compared with esau who was evil  i just felt the comparison was a bit harsh and un  realistic . really though  the movie was bad . i wouldn  t really see it unless you  re ready for a big let down .  
updated january  st       br    br   parsifal is one of my two favorite wagner operas or music dramas  to be more accurate   meistersinger is the other .  though it  s hard to imagine it as the  top of anyone  s pops  . the libretto  by the composer as usual  is a muddle of religion  paganism  eroticism  and possibly even homo  eroticism  and its length may make it seem to the audience like hearing paint dry .  br    br   wagner  being a famous anti  semite   klingsor may be one of his surrogate jewish villains .  naturally entrusted the premiere to an unconverted  not for want of rw  s trying   hermann levi  who was his favorite conductor   go figure   kundry  a most mixed  up  gal and another likely jewish surrogate  is both villainous or benevolent  depending on the scene .  br    br   considering that many video versions of parsifal seem on the stodgy side  this film of the opera is  in comparison  a breath of fresh air . hans  jrgen syberberg  the director  has brought considerable imagination to it but it  s hard to know why he made some of his choices . for example the notorious dual parsifals  of each gender    the puppets  the death  mask  of  wagner set and various dolls and symbols such as the nazi swastika in one of the traveling scenes .  if i remember  the  real  engelbert humperdinck wrote the actual music to pad out the scene changes .  though wagner himself died much too early to be an actual nazi  many of his descendants  as well as his second wife cosima .  were at least fellow  travelers  including their grandson wolfgang wagner who still runs the bayreuth festival at an advanced age . in fact  wolfgang  s son gottfried wagner  in complete opposition to his father  has tried to come to terms honestly with his great  grandfather .  br    br   syberberg  too  seems politically ambiguous from what i  ve read . in      he made a well  known film on hitler   hitler ein film aus deutschland   sometimes called  our hitler  in english .  . since it lasts all of  hours and hasn  t been widely distributed  most people have not seen it  including myself .  .  br    br   armin jordan  the conductor of the audio cd on which this film is based  plays amfortas  sung by wolfgang schne  edith clever  yvonne minton  plays kundry  michael kutter and karin krick play the dual parsifals  both sung by reiner goldberg .   and robert lloyd and aage haugland both play and sing gurnemanz and klingsor .  br    br   though the opera takes place over a long period of time and all  except kundry   have been described as having aged considerably between acts  and   no one looks a day older by the end of the opera .  the magic of the grail  in this opera the grail is the cup from which jesus drank at the last supper and not mary magdalene as in more recent times  an idea i find preposterous   .  br    br   the conducting and singing are all quite serviceable and the dvd seems to have improved the sound  if not the picture  to a great extent .  yes  i agree that  kna  s  approach is superior  even on the second  stereo  version but he is probably superior to all recorded versions on the whole .   br    br   not a parsifal for all wagnerites but i think it works quite well as a filmed opera .  
this movie is a perfect example of an excellent book getting ruined by a movie . jacob have i loved is quite possibly the worst film that i have ever seen . there is no storyline  plots disappear  and the editing is awful . to top it all off  the music is straight from a synthesizer and sounds unbelievably terrible . bridget fonda  s acting is decent  but everyone else  s acting is totally amateur . i would suggest this movie to someone who is studying to be a producer as a study on how not to produce a movie as it is chock full of bad cut  scenes  bad transitions and acting that should have been re  shot  read the book and don  t waste your time with this film .  
etienne girardot is just a character actor   the sort of person people almost never would know by name . however  he once again plays the coroner   one of the only actors in the philo vance films that played his role more than once . i  ve already seen him two other times and loved him every time because he was so funny and a breath of fresh air . this film also is great to watch because in addition to girardot  there are many other wonderful character actors along for the ride   including grant mitchell  gene lockhart  henry walthal  kent smith  h . b . warner and nat pendleton . this is quite an impressive cast  and they sure made the job easier for leading man and woman edmund lowe and virginia bruce .  br    br   these great character actors are one of the big reasons i love these old b  movies . while the mystery itself is rarely that terrific  because of the breezy writing and acting  the films really satisfy . as for this film  vance is played wonderfully by lowe but  like i said  the mystery itself is only an after  thought   with a silly plot involving hypnosis and suicides . unfortunately  you cannot hypnotize anyone to do anything of the sort   i have training in clinical hypnosis and if i could do anything like the evil guy could do in the film  i would have done it  used car salesmen and a few of my old bosses would have been obvious targets    br    br   overall  while not the best philo vance film  it was very good and it  s a darn shame lowe only played this role once . in fact  aside from william powell  who played vance five times   the series was hindered by a long  long succession of actors such as basil rathbone  wilfred hyde  white and warren william  and many others  playing vance . this is a similar problem that also plagued the bulldog drummond series   just too many different actors playing the leading man .  br    br   well worth seeing and exciting   though also quite impossible .  
this was just plain terrible . i read this book for school  i made as on all of the tests  and to see it like this  my teacher forced me and   other people to watch it  and it was worse than leonard part   plan  from outer space  and hudson hawk put together . the thing that made this film so terrible was enough reasons to want to kill yourself over . first of all  it was made on hallmark . second  the acting was terrible . third  it was like completely different from the book . literally  it was so bad i asked myself to be excused . basically  i would rather watch basic instinct  than watch this . take my advice  don  t watch this film . no one would want to watch this . it was horrible . horrible   
when philo vance  edmund lowe  is standing precariously on the edge of a balcony high above the city  apparently hypnotized and just about to step to his death  it immediately reminded me of a nearly identical scene in another film made nine years later   the woman in green  in which sherlock holmes  basil rathbone  is similarly about to hurl himself into space while being hypnotized .  br    br   happily  both philo vance and sherlock holmes survive these attempts at murder by unscrupulous criminals . exciting cinematic suspense in both these scenes . when will they learn you can  t cloud the minds of great fictional detectives   
really started the   s trend of disgusting violence masquerading as a  horror film  . i was the target audience for this repellent piece of trash and i was disgusted then as now .  br    br   oh  where do we start . let  s see  the setup you can bring people back to live if they died a violent death . so that laughably weak premise is the excuse to butcher people in horrible ways  because  well  that  s needed to bring them back to life  this might have worked if played over the top for black laughs a la re  animator or something . but no  it  s played straight . there is a whole terrified family in a wagon that gets hunted down  one of the few scenes at least where their demise is off screen . however  just about everything else is on screen . there is actually a scene where a young girl walking along is beaten and killed by zombie townspeople  who are all filming it and grinning with several cameras . then  there is a closeup of her face as the filmmakers lovingly   and time consumingly   reveal in time  lapse photography her beaten face being carved down to a skull and rebuilt to look  normal  again . this done  of course  by a slumming jack albertson as the mortician behind it all . he likes to drive around in a ambulance  hearse playing old tommy dorcey tunes  i guess that is supposed to be cute .  br    br   in the end  of course  even the sheriff is undead and the doctor offers kindly to fix his rotting hands . not clear why the sheriff is not out with the other townspeople killing children with glee and slicing their faces off  sticking needles in burn  victims eyes  etc .  br    br   i wonder  really wonder  what people see in a geek show like this to give it any kind of rating at all . it  s not scary  the twists are laughable  and overall it  s kind of sick . it  s not even well enough done to  see it on a dare  or enjoy on a level you might watch a bad hg lewis film . it  s just god  awful trash  made for people who get off on this type of pointless gore  and made by people slumming for a paycheck .  br    br   sad that albertson was even involved .  
i have been a fan of this movie for years and years . because of teri hatchers move into the forefront  i had to take the movie off the shelf and watch it . why people back in     did not see how wonderful this movie was in beyond me  sally field and kevin kline are beyond fabulous . although i never have watching daytime soap operas  this movie kills me every time i watch it . the acting is second to none for a comedy and the writing is so smart . i highly recommend that you watch this if you haven  t already . you will get to see elizabeth shue  whoopi goldberg  teri hatcher  and carrie fisher . . . to name a few . . . all give splendid performances .  
scary  but mostly in the sense that will it be over before i turn   . i saw this as a late night re  run in about     and thought it would never end . like crackers  it  s better than nothing  but just  .  br    br   ray milland is a little scary because he looks as if he  s been stuffed by a taxidermist . yvette mimeux looks as if she  s smoked up all the beautiful downtown burbank brown .  br    br   it  s a sort of roy rogers version of rosemary  s baby . this is one turkey that should never have been made . if you have insomnia and it  s     on saturday morning and there  s nothing on but replays of the     roller derby chamionship  then i guess it beats that . but god help you if this is your only choice for entertainment .  
edmund lowe  who reminds me somewhat of warren william   heads the nice cast of an interesting little mystery that moves at a brisk pace and runs just a little over an hour .  br    br   douglas walton plays the unlucky jockey who appears to be intent on his own demise  hypnotism  anyone    and the suspects include a good number of the supporting cast   everyone from virginia bruce  kent smith  frieda inescourt  gene lockhart  jessie ralph  benita hume  rosalind ivan and h . b . warner . as an added bonus  there  s nat pendleton as a dimwit detective   and furthermore  get a load of that art deco set decoration for the fancy interiors of a wealthy home . must have been a set that was used in many a subsequent film .  br    br   on the plus side  the mystery is not so complicated that anyone can follow the plot with reasonable assurance of not being too baffled . it  s all suddenly clear to detective philo vance   and then he has a final confrontation with the murderer that gives the film a nifty five minutes of unmitigated suspense .  br    br   nicely done and passes the time in an entertaining manner .  
christopher lambert is annoying and disappointing in his portrayal as gideon . this movie could have been a classic had lambert performed as well as tom hanks in forrest gump  or dustin hoffman as raymond babbitt in rain man  or sean penn as sam dawson in i am sam .  br    br   too bad because the story line is meaningful to us in life  the supporting performances by charlton heston  carroll o  connor  shirley jones  mike connors and shelley winters were excelent .  of   .  
s . s . van dine must have been a shrewd businessman in dealing with hollywood . most of the film series  from the studio days were usually confined to one or two studios . but apparently van dine must have sold his rights to each book about philo vance one at a time . note that paramount  mgm  warner brothers  and more all released philo vance films . only tarzan seemed to get around hollywood more .  br    br   mgm produced the garden murder case and starred edmund lowe as the fashionable detective . of course mgm had the screen  s original philo under contract at the time  but bill powell was busy doing the thin man at the time and i guess louis b . mayer decided to concentrate him there .  br    br   edmund lowe is a pretty acceptable philo vance . lowe had started out pretty big at the tail end of the silent era with what price glory and then with a string of films with victor mclaglen with their flagg and quirt characters . but after mclaglen got his oscar for the informer  lowe seemed to fade into the b picture market .  br    br   the garden murder case involves three separate victims  douglas walton  gene lockhart  and frieda inescourt . the sinister atmosphere around the perpetrator kind of gives it away  the mystery is really how all the killings are connected and how they are accomplished .  br    br   i will say this though . vance takes a very big chance in exposing the villain and the last   minutes are worthy of hitchcock .  
the story line has been rehashed a number of times  a breath of life in the retirement home  . several plays  movies  novels  short stories  poems and news articles have beat the subject to no end  but it  s still an excellent platform for character studies .  br    br   if  gideon  was crafted more enthusiastically it could be brilliant  but the dialogue is painfully boring and the story is absolutely flooded with cliches  even the subtitle and summary of gideon  s  simple wisdom  almost made me laugh in its ineffectiveness  . mostly indifferent acting is the final straw for this weak film  but the rest of it is bland enough to make the actors  lack of focus almost irrelevant .  
nicely and intelligently played by the two young girls  mischa barton as frankie  and ingrid uribe as hazel  although the plot is rather a stretch of the imagination . young hazel running for mayor seems out of place  to be honest .  br    br   while the acting is well done by all concerned the movie tends to lack a genuine atmosphere of drama . perhaps we  ve grown to expect gritty reality in movies  rather like comparing pollyanna to how green was my valley  never mind  each of them are good in their own way .  br    br   i do admire joan plowright even if her role is somewhat subdued here . middle of the road entertainment well suited for younger viewers  and how nice at times to be exposed to fine classical music which is almost a rarity   br    br   i find this movie to be a welcomed change as it reflects quieter  thoughtful values for the growing up years  and no violence thank goodness . a warm family film to enjoy .  
this film is so bad  you can  t imagine . the acting is terrible  even worse than in third class soap operas . an it is a shame that this movie was the most successful in the past   years in switzerland . the interactions between the soldiers didn  t make any sense at all . the story could have been taken out from a bravo photo  story  the dialogues were as wooden as treebeard and the plot holes were bigger than the black hole in the middle of our galaxy . but nowadays it doesn  t need much to satisfy the audience . the actors were handsome for example the former miss switzerland and the main character was even hung  woah    and there certainly was much abuse of drugs . that  s real cool man  particularly for   and   year old teens . but the media created an atmosphere in witch you was not allowed to reject the film because they manipulated the peer group dynamics by telling implicitly that you are a nerd if you don  t go along with the other sheep  and say . yes that is exactly what it was like when i was in the army  that  s exactly what i  m going to do when i must go to the army . . to every cheesy action that had to do with drugs and coolness . and don  t think i like the army . i was there and i hated it but this film is worse than cleaning up the sticky toilet with a teeth brush  which i was forced to do because i offended an lieutenant  it is not necessary for every film to be sophisticated . sometimes you only want to be entertained for a few hours and forget about problems and i think its not a bad thing . but this kind of films influence teenagers to much by showing them a cool lifestyle which in fact is only stupid and turns them into brainless ignorant and egocentric idiots . but since i now that my opinion isn  t very popular i will be quiet now and recommend you to avoid this terrible flick at any costs and for that to save your wits   br    br        br    br    sorry for my bad english   
i thought that it was a great film for kids ages     . a little sappy  but the story is uplifting an fresh . it proves that the dreams of an adolescent can truly come true . i think that it  s a great story for any kid who is feelings down  or feels as if there trying to juggle too many things among them . very  cute  film . bravo .  
seriously  avoid this movie at any cost . i just saw it in my first  sneak preview  ever and although i paid non  refundable money for it  i walked out of the cinema after a mere   minutes . which already includes  minutes of discussion among my friends whether or not to leave . first time ever i walked out of a movie . and i lived through some pretty bad ones .  br    br   it  s one of those films that is dubbed  and badly so  even though it is shown in its original language . it relies on the oldest  simplest and cheapest jokes in the book . on the military   what do we do once we reach the fighting zone     you get out of the car and die   actually  it  s much funnier to read here that the way it was delivered in the film   on drugs  a guy eats some  space cookies   behaves really silly and misses his wedding or has to live through it while high  all badly written and acted   on women in the army   why do we only get trumpets  we were promised guns     that  s the way it is  that  s the way it  ll stay   . . . argh . okay  you might actually find these genuinely funny  but in that case you seriously scare me .  br    br   additionally  i have seen better acting in the kind of soft porn films you get on european late night tv . so it had lame jokes  delivered badly   beyond lower average acting  lacked pace  was badly dubbed and edited  it just didn  t work . at least not on any level used as a measure for films .  br    br   i would even be so bold as to say that this flick proves that there are people who can be a lot less funny zan zee germans . and that  s saying something if you like stereotypes .  which i don  t  it  s nice to play with them  though . just in case somebody thinks i  m not being pc enough .   br    br   instead of going to see this film  do something useful . try to teach crocheting to prawns  paint your toenails in a really irritating colour  disassemble your bicycle  change some light bulbs  try to understand einstein  s theories  convert to a different religion and back  in fact  go and listen to  last christmas  by wham  on endless repeat . anything  but don  t watch this awful flick .  
a great storyline with a message . joan plowright is superb as  phoebe   mike kopsa is hilarious as  coach  and richard de klerk plays the role of  carmine  superbly . mischa barton as  frankie  puts in a good performance and ingrid as  hazel  plays her first lead extremely well . this film is superbly directed by jo  beth williams . the editing is first rate .  
this film makes  american pie  a sophisticated movie  no further comment needed . humor is cheap  dialogues are stupid and the cast is awkward . every clich is used several times without any original twist . and far the worst  the movie turns out to be more catholic than the pope . it  s so sad .  
this is a great movie to see with your girlfriend . my friend and i both love dance and ran into this movie at the video store . we had to get it . with no violence and such a warming story its a great movie to relax to and just enjoy your night . i would recommend this movie to any family or just a bunch of girls looking for a cute movie .  
well  awful is just the first name . this movie is a clich  ridden piece of junk . a high school comedy setup in a military training camp . i  m sorry i had to give this  star which it did not deserve .  br    br   this may contain spoilers  br    br   just about everything is totally forced  unconvincing and unrealistic . the hepo  military police  will not come to get you if you don  t make your appearance  especially not on your wedding day . the actors were pretty embarrassed during this scene  because the scene didn  t work as it was so highly unlikely . you can sense it in their voices . even if they were not such bad actors  they wouldn  t have been able to save the scene .  br    br   next the guy has to exercise in his wedding suit . no  there was no time to get him an uniform first . man  this is great cinematography  i will remember this scene for the rest of my life .  br    br   there are also girls in the camp   exciting   one of  em even a model  though not looking that great   and the baddest actress i  ve ever seen . i doubt in hollywood they would let her say a single line in a b movie .  br    br   okay girls in the military  now this is getting fun . the girls are even placed on the same floor  so we can sneak to their room at night  in reality they would be placed in a different building a quarter mile away  separated by two fences with barbed wire .  br    br   there are tanks available we can use for a fun ride in our spare time  of which we have plenty . no  the tanks are not locked  and the ignition keys are inserted . no one will notice the engine sounds  especially not at night .  br    br   there is a bunch of sex scenes and references and all are below the waste line . we need those so the sexually obsessed germans will like the movie as well . switzerland is too small a market for any feature film . well done   br    br   one sex scene takes place in the kitchen . surely  none of those facilities are ever locked . the military routines are as sloppy as they can get .  br    br   in the end of the brainless flick  the mafia hit men are about the take revenge on the poor guy trying to shoot him  because he deserted his fiance  sure i buy that  the italians are that way   a jealous bunch  not  .  br    br   the bad guys attempt to do this in open daylight with two dozen eyewitnesses . not at night in a dark alley . again  military training grounds  where there is shooting with live ammo  are open to the public  anyone can freely drive or walk in there . there are no such things as guards or fences .  br    br   the deed however is prevented by the good captain timely launching a rocket into the italians  car . the explosion knocks the hit men and the enraged fiance off their feet . no one in   feet distance is hurt when the car is blown to smithereens . it  s a comedy  remember .  br    br   okay . it  s a comedy  i got that  and i can live with that . no realism needed . filmmakers can easily get way with this if it is hilariously  side splitting funny  or entertaining  interesting  challenging . unfortunately it is none of those . it  s just embarrassing . a rip  off from brainless american comedies . the latter are at least done professionally  with no amateur actors .  br    br   it is pretty boring and predictable  a waste of time and energy  especially to those sitting through the entire movie as i unfortunately did . yawn .  
an excellent family movie . . . gives a lot to think on . . . there  s absolutely nothing wrong in this film . everything is just perfect . the script is great  it  s so . . . real . . . such things could happen in everyone  s life . and don  t forget about acting  it  s just awesome  just look at frankie and you  ll know what i thought about . . . this picture is a real can  t  miss     
the fact that this movie has been entitled to the most successful movie in switzerland  s film history makes me shake my head  it  s true  but pitiful at the same time . a flick about the swiss army could be a good deal better .  br    br   the story sounds interesting  at the beginning antonio carrera  michael koch  gets forced to absolve his military training by the army while he is in the church  wedding his love laura moretti  mia aegerter  .  br    br   the acting in some way doesn  t really differ from just a few recruits getting drunk and stoned in the reality . melanie winiger plays her role as the strong michelle bluntschi mediocre  personally i found her rather annoying .  br    br   the storyline contains a comedy combined with a romance  which does not work as expected . the romance  part is too trashy  and the comedy  part is not funny at all  it  s just a cheap try and does not change throughout the whole movie whatsoever . it  s funny for preadolescent      year olds  but not for such as those who search an entertaining comedy . the humor is weak except for some shots .  br    br   dope  cool  stealing  cool  if you want a proper comedy about the swiss rs  make sure you did not absolve your military training yet  and even then don  t expect too much   br    br   i  ll give it  out of   stars  because marco rima is quite funny during his screen time . not a hell of a lot screen time though  
this film struck me as a project that had a lot of the right ingredients  but somewhere along the way they didn  t quite come together . i don  t know who made it  but it has a slightly disney  esque feel . while parts of it are improbable  like when a pre  teen runs for a public office  and tend to prevent the story from being taken seriously  there is a healthy dose of normalcy  whatever that is  to keep things balanced and in perspective . the acting is alright . strangely  the relationship between frankie and her grandmother is convincing  but the relationship between hazel and frankie is a bit . . . off . it  s interesting to see how she has to work hard to keep a balance between her best friend  her grandmother  and her two passions ballet and baseball . being a baseball player myself  it was quite painful to watch frankie try to hold her own on a team of boys  but it does a good job of showing the struggle she faces . i read somewhere that she isn  t really ballerina  but the editing in this film did a very good job of making her dancing look not only natural but beautiful . overall  it was a good film about honesty and ambition  but its star mischa barton didn  t quite achieve the level of realism we saw during her performances in  lawn dogs    lost and delirious   and her small but shocking performance opposite haley joel osment in  the  th sense .   
the youthful group in  st . elmo  s fire  who just graduated from college barely seem able to make it through high school much less four years at any prominent university . for the most part  these kids are irresponsible  selfish  greedy and stupid  yet co  writer and director joel schumacher appears to hold them up as touchstones for a generation . with a now  outdated cast of  up and comers   a background score that sounds awfully similar to that of  terms of endearment   and writing which lords the smugness of this circle over us   fire  is a paltry blaze  one that gets even more embarrassing as the years pass on .     from   
i first saw this film during and international film studies course . i am a  non  traditional  student  and  perhaps for reasons of years  lived or wisdom  accrued  appreciated the slow  reflective pacing of the film  s narrative . languorous with the heat and dust of an arid clime  the story is deeply psychological  replete with multi  layered symbolism  and an articulate inversion of the theme of being the  other  in a land that one does not understand . the understanding that does come is fraught with the unresolved memories and subjectivity of the outsider . made nearly   years ago  it is also a forerunner in a genre of numerous other international films that explore the themes of colonials in colonized spaces  clueless to the nuances of the cultures into which they have entered . much more lavishly filmed    and heavily financed    works that have been made since reflect the same themes indochine  nowhere in africa are two that in comparison perhaps make chocolat seem pale and boring . it has no adrenaline  pumping action or extreme violence . the struggles are mental  emotional and subtle . but  that being said  it is a fine film  worth a viewing .  
joel schumaker directs the script he co  wrote and has a group of georgetown grads confronted with adult life situations . the story line is a scrambled mess  but some scenes are actually good . there is a lot of wasted talent and time here . the cast is more impressive than the movie . featured are demi moore  rob lowe  judd nelson  andrew mccarthy  emilio estevez  ally sheedy and mare winningham . the most notable being mccarthy and moore . lowe is quite obnoxious . coming of age is not so damn easy .  
claire denis  debut is both a brave and self  assured one . in this depiction of life towards the end of french colonialist cameroon  she explores the relationships between men and women  black and white .  br    br   with the black servant  prote  as the film  s primary object of desire and oppression  the film enters taboo territory from the beginning . denis builds a picture of life through a series of character relationships that keep the informed viewer fixed to the screen . the mood of the film is captured perfectly by the camera  work and  lack of  lighting .  br    br   a great discourse .  
i think i  ve seen this sort of thing before college graduates not realizing they have it pretty damn good  all the while  complaining that their lives suck .  br    br   this movie is highly derivative of the big chill and reality bites from what i can make of it they practically have the same plot .  br    br   if anything good came out of this snore  fest  it was the music . that was it .  br    br   as far as i  m concerned  i  m not impressed . . . but then again  i never expected anything less . this movie was directed by the same person that directed batman and robin another movie that should only be viewed with a blindfold in tow .  br    br   now for the verdict it  s a  out of   .  
anyone who doesn  t laugh all through this movie has been embalmed . i have watched it at least twenty times and i still get tears in my eyes at many of the scenes . sally field is absolutely perfect as celest talbert  a fading soap star whose supporting cast is trying to get her replaced in hopes that their own star will rise . fields  at    still has that wonderful and beautiful pixie quality and a perfect figure that belies her having had three children . i  m biased  i  m in love with her .  br    br   the cast of  soapdish  is filled with stars who perform their roles to perfection . kevin kline is flawless  as are robert downey jr .  an ingnue elizabeth shue  whoopi goldberg  teri hatcher in one of her early roles  carrie fisher as the oversexed casting director who auditions an actor for a small part as a waiter without his shirt on . kathy najimy is wonderful as the hapless costume designer  and best of all  cathy moriarty as nurse nan who leads the plot to get fields character removed from the show is hilarious .  br    br   this movie should have won oscars for best comedy  best leading lady in a comedy  best leading man in a comedy and myriad other bests  including writing  directing and supporting actors and actresses . get the dvd so you can watch it over and over for the next twenty five years . you will still be laughing at it when the disc wears out .  
having low expectations going in  the opening new footage  clocked at over five minutes  of  husbands  came as a pleasant surprise . i won  t say the new footage was grade a material  but it provided a very solid foundation for what  could have been  a good all  original film .  br    br   unfortunately  this was put together in      during a time of one day shooting schedules . after the new footage  jules white decided to just thumbtack stock footage from  brideless groom  into this short  making for a not  so  smooth story transition  which jules and felix adler try to remedy with a quickie bit of new footage at the end  giving us the old  worn  out ending of the boys  moe  larry in this case  getting shot in the butt .  br    br        
this movie is all about subtlety and the difficulty of navigating the ever  shifting limits of mores  race relations and desire . granted  it is not a movie for everyone . there are no car chases  no buildings exploding  no murders . the drama lies in the tension suggested by glances  minimal gestures  spatial boundaries  lighting and things left   sometimes very ostensibly   unsaid . it  s about identity  memory  community  belonging . the different parts of the movie work together to reinforce the leitmotifs of self and other  identity  desire  limits and loss . it will reward the attentive and sensitive viewer . it will displease those whose palates require explosive  massive  spicy action . it is a beautifully filmed human story . that is all .  
st . elmo  s fire has no bearing on life after university at all  for the majority of us common folk anyway  . why was this garbage even made  who can really relate to this  who lives like these characters  i truly feel sorry for the actors having to deal with such a terrible script . there are some talented young actors in this  film  that have done a good job elsewhere . it must have just been one whole joke to them on set .  br    br   i actually found this  film  insulting to my intelligence . the only joy i got from this is hoping that sir john hughes had a good ol  laugh when he saw a screening of this the same year his masterpiece of the breakfast club was released .  br    br   don  t make the same mistake i did of watching this because you enjoy    s films . it really is that offensive to the genre .  
i don  t know what the previous reviewer was watching but i guess that  s what reviews are  personal taste . missed in this movie was the depth  a very deep film  many layers of emotion  affecting . undercurrents of withheld love because of submission to societal beliefs  taboos of the times and classes  race relations not being in a very good state of equality  guilt  yearning  hate  confusion  very dark emotionally i thought  under the skin  you have to submit to the aire of it  a flowing movie  not slow as stated before  release yourself to the flow of the film  the emotions will show themselves  characters reveal their flaws  their nasty insides  excellent and actually very cruel   
i  ll probably get a lot of flack for hating this movie  guess i didn  t approach it with the proper dewy  eyed nostalgia of the generation before me . but suffice it to say  st elmo  s fire was pretty crap  freaking  tastic  even as far as brat pack films go .  br    br   here is yet another lovely example of the smug  self  indulgent neurosis that is everything   s  rent  anyone   the plot is virtually non  existent and the philosophies are kitchy at best  poorly delivered the rest of the time . the complete lack of anything resembling sympathetic characters doesn  t help the situation . there really was no growth  no forward movement at all . even the climactic suicide scene was effectually neutered by once again refusing to let death or anything resembling reality or adult life enter in .  br    br   each cookie cutter figure simply goes about making you hate them in the blandest  most predictable way possible . the stalker is a creep for no discernible reason other than he is a stalker and andie macdowell is gorgeous . the jackass does everything in his power to constantly remind you he is  well  a jackass . the gorgeous slut hides really soulful  deep pain with a wild lifestyle . the poet moods and mopes around for a full    of the film until he can reveal    he actually is full of teddy bears and sunshine and rainbows . the virgin finally becomes a whole  happy human being after getting every virgin  s desire of one hot roll in the sack with a jackass before he ditches her to really change  for real this time  . the cheating bastard cheats until it is time for him to get caught . and finally the feminist go around dousing holy water on any soul that utters  commitment  .  br    br   which brings me to my final beef  what bond of super  cement was holding these people together as friends  i can  t imagine being with just one of them  now think of the vortex created by all that narcissism centered in one bar . and they were all so terrible to each other  heads in toilets  near rape  and sleeping around with everrrryone . the cherry was after two bffs act like total baboons after screwing the feminist  she  s like   umm  actually i don  t want to be with either of you anymore . let  s be friends  and we can hang out in a totally unawkward way every day knowing that i may hook up with one or the other at any given point  but neither of you are satisfying enough for commitment  not that word   .  and they all smile as if to say   golly gee  i never thought of that  what a great idea    br    br   only it  s not . kinda in the way that watching this movie is not .  
claire denis  s chocolat is a beautiful but frustrating film . the film presents a very interesting look at the household of a european colonial family living in cameroon  giving the viewer an informative perspective on the lives of many characters and their interaction . however  the development of these characters is often maddeningly insufficient . for example  a central theme in the story is young france  s inability to form strong relationships with others . although this portrayal is executed flawlessly  notably in the way that denis frames the story with scenes from france  s return to her childhood home  the girl  s lack of intimacy with the film  s other characters makes it difficult for a viewer to invest much interest in her development  or lack thereof  as a protagonist . the general stagnation of the film  s character development makes it difficult to become engaged in the loosely organized plot . the film raises a great deal of tension between characters  particularly between aimee and the men in her life  but never fully addresses this social friction  leaving the viewer unsatisfied . the final few scenes are powerful but depressing . denis  s work is certainly interesting from an intellectual and historical standpoint  but if you are looking for a film with adventure or drama  chocolat is definitely not the best choice .  
i saw this in the theater when it came out  and just yesterday i saw it again on cable . this i was able to reacquainted myself with the feeling of just how revolting this film is . the whole bunch of characters are self  absorbed narcisstic preeners . worst of all  it reinforces every negative stereotype about    something dating  even as it purports to celebrate people  finding themselves  . the nice guys finish last  the jerky guys make out great  the jerkiest guys do best . the girls are all boy toy pushovers . only one character   wendy   is seen doing anything remotely useful to society  and she dispenses with her long  saved virginity in a throwaway one  night stand with a scumbag  in a lushly filmed scene that we  re supposed to think is romantic . what this really is is hollywood  s concept of young america permissive  detached  promiscuous  conceited .  
this movie shows life in northern cameroon from the perspective of a young french girl  france dalens  whose father is an official for the colonial  french  government  and whose family is one of the few white families around . it gives a sense of what life was like both for the colonists and for the natives with whom they associated . it  s a sense consistent with another movie i  ve seen about africa in a similar time period  nirgendwo in afrika         but i have no way of knowing how realistic or typical it is . it  s not just an impression   things do happen in the movie   but the plot is understated . the viewer is left to draw his own conclusions rather than having the filmmakers  forced upon him  although the framing of the story as a flashback from the woman  s visit to south  western cameroon as an adult provides some perspective .  
what happened in the making of this movie so that it ended up as the total mess it is  just one year after  the breakfast club   a brilliant movie with many of the same actors as in  st . elmo  s fire   who by the way looked and acted in the latter more like they were still the high school misfits from the former but without the grip or discipline in portraying their roles .  br    br   was it the directing or the writing . since it was the same person  joel schumacher  it must be both . but then schumacher has since given us  the phantom of the opera    phone booth    a time to kill   and two batman movies   batman and robin  and  batman forever  which range from good to great directing . something went wrong on  stef  because it has no genius whatsoever  no comedy worth anything  and is very far off the mark on what is truly valuable in life .  br    br   example the character wendy  a rich little girl with a heart to do good and help the less fortunate played by mare winningham  reveals to billy  an unruly slob who cheats on his wife and on his girlfriends  drinks far too much and has no sense of order in his life appropriately played by rob lowe  that she is still a virgin . billy truly see a challenge and possible conquest but wendy  is not ready  . wendy  in fact is so not ready it is hard to believe she is in this clique of friends . later in the story  when billy whose wife has left him taken his child and married another has somehow drawn some of the strings of his life together . billy is leaving for new york  deserting and abandoning all parental responsibility for his baby daughter  he convinces wendy that her virginity would be the perfect  going away gift  from her to him . and wendy  who works as a social worker helping broken families  seems not to be phased at all by this despot . give me a break . the one thing she can only give once  she gives to a loser who is leaving his family and friends  schumacher frames this scene as a wonderful and touching moment .  br    br   many more example exist where there is a complete disconnect between what is real and of value being tossed overboard and the acts are made to look like virtue .  br    br   i suppose some may say that  that was the    s  but i remember it was in the     s  that men began to be held responsible for the children they fathered whether in a marriage or out .  br    br   i think this movie is so bad because it is so out of sync with what it really valuable and right .  br    br   as for the technique  not the story   it was terrible as well . it is disjointed and feels like a  hour movie that has been edited to  hour and   minutes . transitions and jumps in time simply do not make sense . pick up what is on the editing room floor  put it back in and the movie would probably flow much better . . . but it still is a horrible movie .  br    br   maybe schumacher has become a better and stronger director since      he must have  or maybe he was over his head when it came to writing the screenplay for st elmo  s fire or maybe this group of actors took over the set and went their own way  that is what i really think happened .  
i knew absolutely nothing about chocolat before my viewing of it . i didn  t know anything about the story  the cast  the director  or anything about the film  s history . all i knew was it was a highly  acclaimed french film . had i known more  i probably wouldn  t have viewed the picture with an open mind . on paper  the premise doesn  t sound interesting to me . had i known what chocolat was about ahead of time  my interest while watching would have been limited . however  not knowing about the story helped me enjoy it . throughout  i had no clue has to where the story would go  what the characters would do  and what the end result would be . it was  if nothing else  not a predictable film . indeed  it could have been as the story is told in flashbacks . telling a story in flashbacks is often a risky move on the part of the filmmakers . since the lead character is seen in present day  the audience knows she will remain alive . by using the flashback technique  director claire denis is able to ensure the audience that the young girl makes it to adulthood without any serious physical damage  giving the viewer the sense that chocolat is a story more about emotions than what is on the outside . a lesser filmmaker would give france a haggard  looking face  one that screams of a confused and unusual childhood . instead  denis presents france as a beautiful girl  someone who looks fine on the outside .  br    br   it could be argued that chocolat is more about france  s mother since she is given far more screen time  though i believe it is ultimately about france . to me  what chocolat is really about is how a mother  s actions affect her daughter . it is about how parents  behavior stays with their offspring . france is not ruined by her mother  s actions in the story  yet her mother  s actions clearly made an impression on france . had france not been affected at all by her mother  s actions  the flashback aspect would be irrelevant .  br    br   for a movie that deals with two time periods  the past and the present  chocolat was a very well paced  there were no scene of excess fat . none of the scenes felt gratuitous or out of the place . the film had nice rhythm  the editing crisp  leaving only what was necessary to tell the story . with a well told story  solid editing  and organized directing  chocolat is one of the better french films i have seen . it was responsible for launching claire denis  career and with good reason it  s an incredible directorial debut .  
i noticed  fire  was on cable the other night and i began watching it because i couldn  t recall anything specific about it other than i remember it being a horrible film when i saw it back in    . twenty years later the film is still awful . besides the synthesizer  the saxophone was the most abused instrument in pop music during the     s  as is evident in the title song . hearing that song again made me want to jab a screwdriver in my ears to end the sonic misery inflicted upon them . and to compound this musical assault rob lowe  s character played saxophone  and there was one scene where he played a solo that went on and on like he was charlie parker  only his shrill tone and playing were more reminiscent of a monkey playing a kazoo . all the characters were intensely unappealing  although i must say they did a great job of casting equally unappealing actors to portray them . actually i thought mare winningham was appealing  and i initially felt sorry for her character because she wore funny underwear  but then near the end of the movie she decides to have sex with rob lowe  s character who would probably be voted most likely to transfer a variety of sexual diseases if such thing were voted upon .  
the story is about a little girl growing up in colonial africa  but it is so much more than that .  br    br   anyone growing up in the south would experience the same things . a longing for another  one of a different race  that cannot be consummated . even a glance is forbidden . there are no words needed . their facial expressions say everything .  br    br   it is the story of a black servant  prote  isaach de bankol  and a white woman  aime  giulia boschi  . their desire for each other is so strong that they torture each other because they cannot have each other .  br    br   the little girl  france  ccile ducasse  is lonely and spends all her time with prote . she really can  t see this dance .  br    br   one of the more irritating aspects of the film is the laziness of the colonials . they cannot even get undressed for bed by themselves . there world is about to end they just don  t know it yet . their racist attitudes will be erased with their presence .  br    br   i think i would like to visit this africa . it seems so quiet especially at night when you only hear the animals .  
i don  t know what it was about this film that made me react so viscerally against it . perhaps it was the characters who so unlikable and were not compelling enough to care about . perhaps it was the disorganized storyline . perhaps it was the fact that rob lowe wore a long dangly earring and eyeliner . perhaps it was because at some point in the movie they all break out in song . perhaps it was because the     s were never that   s . perhaps it was because everything was a garish hyperbole . perhaps it was because a character pumps his fist while driving away from the camera during a fade out . i don  t know what it was that made me hate it so  but if it means trying to watch it again i  m not willing to find out .  
i think this movie would be more enjoyable if everyone thought of it as a picture of colonial africa in the    s and    s rather than as a story . because there is no real story here . just one vignette on top of another like little points of light that don  t mean much until you have enough to paint a picture . the first time i saw chocolat i didn  t really  get it  until having thought about it for a few days . then i realized there were lots of things to  get   including the end of colonialism which was but around the corner  just no plot . anyway  it  s one of my all  time favorite movies . the scene at the airport with the brief shower and beautiful music was sheer poetry . if you like  exciting  movies  don  t watch this   you  ll be bored to tears . but  for some of you . . .  you can thank me later for recommending it to you .  
heather graham couldn  t play a convincing lesbian if her life depended on it . who do the producers of the movie think they are  the absolute worst  most unrealistic movie i  ve seen in as long as i can remember . this movie is so bad that i felt compelled to sign  up on imdb and make sure the rating of this  film  drops .  br    br   omg i  m heather graham  i just kissed a drunk chick  so while she  s passed out i  m really going to pace around my room for hours asking myself frantically  what have i done    . . jesus heather  get over it and grow up . . . and i  d like to forward that same sentiment to the idiot producers . . . and while i  m at it  instead of this movie being all about an pathetic excuse for a coming out story  perhaps it would have been more suitable to focus the plot onto a character who  s mentally unstable . . . like your so  called  lesbian  character . . . after all  i know the first time i had gay sex  when i left the next morning i jumped to the sky in excitement in the middle of the street . . . honestly btch  get a grip . . .  br    br   what a joke  and please note there are many many many more flaws and appallingly stupid aspects to this lame flick  but i  m so sick of even thinking about it anymore . bottom line  if you  re a smart person you  ll hate this movie  and if you  re not a smart person  then you  ll love it . . . it  s as simple as that .  
i loved this film because in my mind it seemed to so perfectly capture what i imagined life in french colonial africa must have been like in the    s   my  generation anyway  . but i was truly enraptured by its quiet pacing and by the glorious ending . within the last  minutes of this film  you must focus intently on what  s happening . never have i been more impressed with the  wrap  up  of a film . i remember yelling  wow   when i realized it was over . on the other hand  my two daughters fell asleep on the couch    
i don  t know who sue kramer  the director of this film is  but i have a strong suspicion that a  she is a lesbian and b  she somehow shamed everyone involved in this project to participate to prove they are not homophobic .  br    br   i can imagine everyone thinking   my god  this is horrible . not funny . pedestrian . totally lame .  but keeping their mouths shut for fear they will be labeled anti  gay or they  don  t get  the gay lifestyle .  this is probably why kramer did not cast gay people to play gay people too .  anyway  it  s not even worth reviewing . the actors are all directed to play every scene completely over the top so there is no sincerity or believability in anything they do . it  s full of clichs and there is nothing about this movie that is the least bit amusing  much less funny .  br    br   i hated it and i  m not afraid to say so . too bad the gutless people who gave kramer the money to make this bomb weren  t as unbiased in their judgment .  
in reflecting on this movie i can think of two others to help put it in perspective . one relatively forgettable but covering the same geography  is coup de torchon  the other thousands of miles away and much larger in scope is the unforgettable indochine . claire denis has produced a movie that has some of the grand underpinnings of indochine  the complex and unspoken relationship between france and her colonial subjects .  br    br   i was struck with the dignity of potee  with his struggle to maintain his dignity among his peers and with his white bosses . i was also struck with the love  hate relationship between him and aimee . it is the latter that gives the film its driving force  it is the latter that links this movie to indochine .  br    br   one never is sure what motivates everyone  though some of the characters are required of a remembrance of colonialism . it is this cynical side of the story that ties it to coup de torchon . theirs is the more scandalous story  perhaps even more interesting in a depraved way  but denis gives us a remembrance of how it was with all the tension and unresolved relationships .  br    br   the american black who gives the grown up france a ride in the beginning and end of the movie offers yet another interesting side to the confusion that we in the western world have when we look at africa . he says that when he came he wanted to call everyone brother . he was coming home  but they just thought him to be a little daft . france  the character and the girl  grew up in cameroon  but neither fully understands what it is even though they can remember how it was .  br    br    
oh my god . . the worst sht i  ve ever seen  this is the main thought which came into my mind right after watching the movie . and i really do not understand anybody with opposite myth . though  maybe the idea was good but the effect miserable . i especially mean the role of h . graham . what was that    in my opinion it has destroyed all positive intentions of producers . the character was played in affected and annoying way . every time she appears it reminds that you  re watching a movie and is destroying a spirit of the moment  then whole movie because the most time what you can see there are her stupid faces with more stupid attempts to create the emotion . terrible  don  t waste your time .  
this is an amazing film to watch or show young people . aside from a very brief nude scene  it gives an interesting glimpse into colonial rule in africa that you  ll rarely find in other films . it does bear a superficial similarity to out of africa  but without all the romantic fluff . the white french people in cameroon are fascinating because they don  t even seem to regard the natives as people . the whites are all the bosses and they expect black servitude without question . however  unlike real servants  you only once hear any of the whites say  thank you  and no other regard is given these people . again and again  it  s like they are pets or slaves  as the feelings of the people are never even considered .  br    br   the central illustration of this thoughtlessness is the relationship between the mother  aime and her servant  prote . although at times they spend a lot of time together and it is only normal that they might begin to have sexual feelings towards each other  the white woman never considers prote or the existence of his feelings . a good example of this thoughtlessness is when she has prote lace up her dress and it  s obvious that he is very sexually frustrated by this . apart from this relationship  while almost all the whites are completely oblivious to the fact that the africans are people  a few go so far as to verbally abuse and treat them like garbage .  br    br   also interesting is the relationship between prote and the little girl  who is the one who is grown at the beginning and end of the film  . while they are very close  at times he  s more like a plaything or pet and the girl never plays with native children .  br    br   there is one bizarre white character who seems  at times  to regard the blacks better but unfortunately his character is very inconsistent and confusing . one moment  he  s doing hard work along side the blacks or eating with them  something the other whites would never have done  and the next he  s trying to beat up prote  i could only guess as to what motivated him   perhaps he was just a jerk  or was crazy or perhaps was a communist agitator trying to stir up the blacks against the whites  who knows   . in fact  other than a few good scenes  this character seems pretty much wasted .  br    br   while i really enjoyed the insight this movie gave  i wish it had instead been more than just a few snippets of this world through the perspective of a child during one small period of her life . the context and what happened to rid the country of colonialism is never addressed and the film left me wanting more . the film appeared to begin in the early     s  since she  s wearing a walkman  style headset  and when the film went back in time  it seems that it was set about      more or less   but there was never any mention of the     s anti  colonialism violence or independence for the nation in the early     s . i am guessing that some of this confusion might be that the makers of the film screwed up and should have made the beginning of the film earlier  such as the     s  and had the lady think back to her life there in the early     s   before the country experienced political change .  br    br   apart from the missing context and a confusion over time periods  using the prologue and epilogue that showed her as an adult traveling the country was a good idea . and i also appreciated the ending  as it was a pleasant surprise when you find out more about the nice man who offers her a ride . but overall  it just feels like something is missing   there just isn  t any sort of resolution or message other than showing that colonialism is thoughtless and cruel .  
wow probable the worst movie i have ever seen   this person should never make another movie   i cant believe anyone would have produce this in good conscience . you have have wasted every cent . no concept of real life . i have wasted  hours of my life i will never get back . ever    everyone who worked on this show should be embarrassed       i  m embarrassed for them  all of you should be ashamed . if i was gay i would want to tell the director that they have personally set back gay rights progress by  years . please never watch this movie . i have never written a blogg about a film before but the distaste for this film has compelled me to do so .  
till hbo began rerunning it this month . i remember laughing out loud in the theater back in      and now again in my living room . if i see that it  s on  i have to watch it . there  s just no question . this is so much more entertaining to me than other  more popular spoofs like airplane   which i really like  btw  . cathy moriarty steals the show in my opinion . quotes like  sudden speech  the last symptoms of brain fever  she could blow at any moment   put me over the edge . and whoopie goldberg hasn  t been this funny since  jumpin  jack flash  . kevin klein  sally field  robert downey jr . all turn in superb performances as expected . i started out giving this  out of   stars  but then i realized that for the type of film it  s supposed to be  there isn  t one thing i  d change or improve upon . so   it is . i have to get this on dvd  that  s just all there is to it .  
you  ve been fouled and beaten up in submission by my harsh statements about  femme fatale    guns n  gals  movies  now comes another breed in disappointing rediscoveries ninja movies  many of these i  ve seen before  and let me tell you  they aren  t all that  s cracked up to be  they usually don  t stick to the point . this  among all others  suffers from no originality  what  s a ninja got to do with preventing a nuclear holocaust in russia  and isn  t this supposed to be a  martial arts  movie  too  does plenty of gunfire sound like an incredible action movie to you  is blood the number one reason to love this to death  will you waste some of your hard  earned cash over a lady singing in her see  through tank top  the answers to these important questions are found in the ninja mission  which should be in the martial arts section of your video store . for even more nonsense ninja fun  try checking out those godfrey ho movies put out by trans world . you get what you deserve  and that  s a promise  recommended only for hardcore ninja addicts   
unfortunately  because of us viewers  tendency to shun subtitles  this movie has not received the distribution nor attention it merits . its subtle themes of belonging  identity  racial relations and especially how colonialism harms all parties  transcend the obvious dramatic tensions  the nostalgic memories of the protaganiste  s childhood  and the exoticism of her relationship with her parents   houseboy   perhaps the only  real  human she knows . we won  t even look at her mother  s relationship with this elegant man . there  i hope i  ve given you enough of a hook to take it in  whether you speak french or like subtitles or not . i challenge you to be as brave  strong and aware as la p  tite .  
okay  let me coin a new word here polyphobia the fear of polyamorous relationships . this is yet another in a long line of movies which start out by titillating audiences about some kind of threesome  only to turn on a dime and go all preachy about how it is oh so necessary and the only moral thing to find a monogamistic solution . only one person in a thousand understands the delight of being able to love more than one person  and this director is not one of them . bleh .  br    br   mark my words a few decades from now  polyphobia is going to be just as big a faux  pas as homophobia  but guess who was too close  minded to realize this  right the first time the producers of this movie . and so many like it . why even make a ridiculously conservative and old  fashioned type of movie like this  priding itself on being limitlessly open  minded about gayness  it completely overlooks the fact that we live in an age where monogamy is turning into sequential monogamy  which in turn in turning into swinging and polyamory . open your eyes  people  please   br    br   this is a disappointing  run  of  the  mill chick  flick .  but  damn  i gotta say  heather graham is the cutest thing alive .   br    br    out of   .  
my  rd  year french classes always enjoyed this film very much . in a multi  cultural  inner  city high school  the film provided many subjects for discussion  in french in class  but i know a lot of discussion went on in english after class  . the most obvious is the relationship between prote and aime compared to the one between prote and france .  br    br   i always mentioned that i felt this film had one of the  sexiest  scenes i had ever seen in a movie . one year  a    year  old african  american shouted   yes   when he figured out the scene the one where prote is helping aime lace up her evening dress  all the while both are examining the reflection of the other in the mirror . directors use the  mirror technique  when then want to focus on the inner conflict on the part of one or more character in a scene this is a perfect example of the technique  and it is  sexy  .  br    br   most students had trouble understanding the end of the film . one suggested that one theme of the movie was  africanism   and that no matter how much one loved africa or africans  one cannot  become  african  like the driver tried to do   one must be african .  
it is important not to be insulted by lack of logic or common sense and those who have any  gray matters  will agree that this movie just doesn  t work .  br    br   the problems lay in the direction  cast selections and lack of depth in the character building . the word comedy was very hard thing to say when i expect to laugh when these words are used . let  s look at the problems in direction  script .  br    br   brother and sister both in their mid    s seem to be well adjusted . they meet a complete stranger at a park and heather graham character walks up to her and asks the most intimate questions that even half sane person would be running the other way or at least scream for a police officer . he then awkwardly walks over and makes some stupid statements and she falls for him . then after one date were they all go out together he falls in love with her and decides to get married in vegas in a week  s time     hello does anyone feel stupid yet  he goes out with thousands of women and he meets this one person who says about   words that we see on the screen and he wants to marry her . not only was there no chemistry it just doesn  t make sense . sure it  s a romantic comedy and i want to believe it could  but the direction made it completely flat .  br    br   now heather falls head over heels with her too and when heather graham and bridget moynahan  very shallow character  kiss or more to the point it was sloppiest kiss ever that chemistry might be there . i found it unromantic and unfunny and while many say heather cannot act i think the reality is heather was clearly the wrong person for this role .  br    br   this was sue kramer debut as a director and to me it was just too much for her to chew . it would take a lot of craft to make this movie work and imho it could be done with better writers and casting and direction .  
set in the cameroons in west africa in the     s  claire denis  chocolat is a beautifully photographed and emotionally resonant tone poem that depicts the effects of a dying colonialism on a young family during the last years of french rule . the theme is similar to the recent nowhere in africa  though the films are vastly different in scope and emphasis . the film is told from the perspective of an adult returning to her childhood home in a foreign country . france dalens  mireille perrier   a young woman traveling through cameroon  recalls her childhood when her father  francois cluzet  was a government official in the french cameroons and she had a loving friendship with the brooding manservant  prote  isaach de bankol  . the heart of the film  however  revolves around france  s mother aime  giulia boschi  and her love  hate relationship with prote that is seething with unspoken sexual tension .  br    br   the household is divided into public and private spaces . the white families rooms are private and off limits to all except prote who works in the house while the servants are forced to eat and shower outdoors  exposing their naked bronze bodies to the white family  s gazes . it becomes clear when her husband marc  franois cluzet  goes away on business that aime and prote are sexually attracted to each other but the rules of society prevent it from being openly acknowledged . in one telling sequence  she invites him into her bedroom to help her put on her dress and the two stare at each other  s image in the mirror with a defiant longing in their eyes  knowing that any interaction is taboo .  br    br   the young france  cecile ducasse  also forms a bond with the manservant  feeding him from her plate while he shows her how to eat crushed ants and carries her on his shoulders in walks beneath the nocturnal sky . in spite of their bond  the true nature of their master  servant relationship is apparent when france commands prote to interrupt his conversation with a teacher and immediately take her home  and when prote stands beside her at the dinner table  waiting for her next command . when a plane loses its propeller and is forced to land in the nearby mountains  the crew and passengers must move into the compound until a replacement part can be located . each visitor shows their disdain for the africans  one  a wealthy owner of a coffee plantation brings leftover food from the kitchen to his black mistress hiding in his room . another  luc  jean  claude adelin   an arrogant white frenchman  upsets the racial balance when he uses the outside shower  eats with the servants  and taunts aime about her attraction to prote leading her to a final emotional confrontation with the manservant .  br    br   chocolat is loosely autobiographical  adapted from the childhood memories of the director  and is slowly paced and as mysterious as the brooding isolation of the land on which it is filmed . denis makes her point about the effects of colonialism without preaching or romanticizing the characters . there are no victims or oppressors  no simplistic good guys . prote is a servant but he is also a protector as when he stands guard over the bed where aime and her daughter sleep to protect them from a rampaging hyena . it is a sad fact that prote is treated as a boy and not as a man  but bankol imbues his character with such dignity and stature that it lessens the pain . because of its pace  western audiences may have to work hard to fully appreciate the film and denis does not  in roger ebert  s phrase   coach our emotions  . the truth of chocolat lies in the gestures and glances that touch the silent longing of our heart .  
i watched this movie yesterday and was highly disappointed .  br    br   heather graham and tom cavanaugh basically had to carry this awkwardly unbelievable script for five hours  or however long it actually was  . from the beginning  every single element of this movie is unbelievable . this movie made me chuckle several times  but they were mainly out of shock that the director  writer actually expected us to believe the many messy scattered elements that attempted to piece this movie together .  br    br   the movie  s focus is gray  graham  and her issues with intimacy . things get interesting when she realizes that she and her brother have unexpectedly way too much in common .  br    br   interesting  intriguing . however  instead of unraveling this story into something believable and palatable  the director keeps taking gray into these ludicrous twists that never actually make any sense at all . being an lgbt individual  this movie seemed to echo what all heterosexuals think we go through in the coming  out process .  i  ll be insulted if the writer  s queer .  had it not been for the cute chemistry between cavanaugh and graham  which  by the way  was understandably forced   i would give it a negative  stars .  
despite the patronage of george lucas  this captivating and totally original fantasy in  lumage   a combination of animation through live action cut  outs  is about as far removed from the usual kiddie fare as anything made by ralph bakshi in his heyday . brilliantly conceived characters such as the shape  shifting dog ralph  one of a duo of bumbling  rejected heroes   synonamess botch  the hilariously foul  mouthed villain  and rod rescueman  the pompous novice superhero  breathe life into a uniquely clever concept frivoli vs . murkwood or  the eternal fight between dreams and nightmares . in this context  the mor  infused songs on the soundtrack ought not to have worked but somehow they do . it  s a real pity  therefore  that i have had to watch this via a truly crappy  looking boot  culled from a tv screening  of the uncensored version  there is also a milder variant that toned down the language for its vhs release  since the film is otherwise unavailable on dvd . interestingly  both henry selick and david fincher worked on this picture in subordinate capacities .  
the first half of this movie is a pure delight . novel . funny . wonderful performances . a close knit brother and sister living in manhattan fall for the same woman  adult . bright . witty . what more could you ask . as a romantic comedy this starts refreshing . it heads into unexplored territory . and then it falls apart .  br    br   it goes from being a universal adult comedy to a coming  of  age coming  out  of  the  closet story that has been done many times before . what a disappointment . as a people film it begins with such promise . why does it need to turn into such a pedestrian  i am who i am  film . the freeze  frame ending shot of heather graham  s jumping in the air to celebrate  her happiness at finding herself  underlines the banality of the last part of the film .  br    br   it could have been different . it could have been magical . it ended up being the same old same old .  
a lush fantasy world with quirky characters and annoying    s music . this epitomizes the    s desire to rewrite fairy tales and make fun of how they work . personally i liked greensleeves and the other harsher characters . they had some of the more amusing lines .  
this is one of the worst movies i have seen this year . you should not see this movie but if you insist on wasting your time you should stop here  there are spoilers . gray matters centers on gray and sam baldwin  heather graham and tom cavanagh  . only gray and sam are brother and sister living together in everyone else  s eyes as man and wife . no sex but just about everything else . early on  the movie starts with its theme  the most absurd thing at the most absurd moment with you guessed it the most absurd reactions  . gray and sam decided to check out the dog park with a borrowed pooch . rather then push her brother to get the skinny on first woman they see for him  she does it and gets to the nitty  gritty questions too . when she signals her brother to come over they start a   way date . charlie  bridget moynahan  is the girl of their dreams  like all the right things etc sam final hits gray over the head and the couple finishes the date with a marriage proposal  that charlie accepts  in one week charlie  gray and sam are to be in vegas . in the next week charlie and gray are off shopping for wedding gowns  apparently charlie has an off  the  rack figure  . gray is slurping an iced latte when charlie suggests gray tries on some gowns as well and picks out a        frock for her . while charlie is zipping her in this  down  payment  on  a  house  gown gray continues to slurp on the latte  i swear it was like a feed bag  . what should happen but  woops   latte all over the gown . it is never explained how they got out of bloomingdale  s bridal salon with out a        mocha colored gown . back to  reality   caesar  s palace las vegas . they have the  high roller room   sam is a resident surgeon and charlie is an intern zoologist  were do they get all this money   gray kicks sam out to the single room down the hall so she and charlie can have a bachelorette drink  a  thon were  you guessed it  they kiss . gray remembers everything charlie remembers nada . they make it to wedding chapel and right when the reverend gets to his line  if there is anybody is here who has any objection whatsoever to the union of these two lovebirds  gray gets the hiccups . gray excuses herself  for some reason the reverend must repeat his last line and right on queue again  hiccups  . gray gets back to ny and starts dating any man she meets  literally . and of course one is you guessed it again  gay . the other is a jerk and the third is a taxi cab driver  alan cummings  named gordy . he is smittened with gray but the feelings are not returned . they become great friends . this is good because when she comes clean with sam about the kiss . he blows up and kicks her out of their apartment . when sam comes to his senses he goes to her office . gray works at an ad agency . this office is smack in the middle of the twilight zone . it has cameras and microphones in all the conference rooms that broadcast to all computer monitors at the agency . sam gets gray in one of the conference rooms for a not  so  private conversation and ends up outing her to the entire office . this is where i doubt that there was a gay man or lesbian on the crew gordy comes to her rescue and convinces her to go to a lesbian bar .  sorry no men  says the bouncer . so gray and gordy return with gordy in drag . bad drag . he was in a sleeveless black satin  like blouse  a string of pearls  and a grandma  s church hat . no lesbian would ever confuse this  man in a dress  as a drag queen much less a woman . the bar was also the straight man  s fantasy of what a lesbian bar is full of victoria  s secret models . everything turns out peachy  she goes home with her firm  s client . gray happens to be on the woman  s account and finally does more then kiss . for some reason no one tells charlie anything and she is oblivious through the whole movie of this kiss with gray  but that is for the sequel .  
you  ll probably never see it  but the uncut version is about    better than the one you can buy . put it another way once you  ve seen it in its original form  the current version is only half as good .  br    br   it  s still wildly creative and sick  a total success on so many levels .  br    br    
i wish i  d known more about this movie when i rented it . i  d put it in my queue on the basis of heather graham and her strong cred as an actress  imho  . while parts of the movie were charming  much of the movie felt contrived  undeveloped  or otherwise just boring or predictable . not to mention the ick factor of so many people thinking the sibs were a couple . . . i don  t care how big a part of the story line that is  it still felt a bit  um  gross . and charlie  for a zoologist  she certainly doesn  t seem to be very attuned to signals from other homo sapiens . what was it about her  besides her hotness and some common interests  that made gray fall for her  the story could have been so much more interesting with a little more depth . high points  molly shannon  although i do agree with the reviewer who found her annoying on occasion   the cabbie in drag  and the dance sequences  if sam  gray were such great dancers  i wish we  d seen more of that  as the bits we were shown were indeed better than most of the rest of the movie  . could have been better .  
this is the kind of picture john lassiter would be making today  if it weren  t for advances in cgi . and that  s just to say that he  d be forgotten  too  if technology hadn  t made things sexy and kewl since     .  twice . . .  has got the same wit  imagination  and sense of real excitement that you  d find in a pixar flick  only executed under the restrictions of the medium c .     . innovative animation techniques combine with a great script and excellent voicing to produce a movie that appeals on lots of levels . it should be spoken of in the same breath with  spiritited away  and  toy story  .  
i had to walk out on this film fifteen minutes from the end . . . having passed through the cringe stage and into pure boredom . what really horrifies me  i mean truly disturbs me  is that there are people referring to this aimless drivel as  delightful  or a  must see .  i would feel deep pity for those so afflicted were it not for the distinct impression that most of the positive comments about this shallow and humourless travesty were written by industry plants .  br    br   the truth is this is a lame film that does nothing to entertain nor enlighten . it is decidedly unfunny  poorly scripted and has all the pace and energy of cold  canned rice pudding . to be kind to ms kramer  the best one can say is it was a missed opportunity  for having read the synopsis before i watched it  i had expected something more challenging . the possible misinterpretations of a close brother and sister co  dependence  the unexpected awakening of  sisterly  sexuality  and the comic potential in such sibling rivalry  for the affections of the same girl  were all obvious subjects for refreshing comedic exploration  yet which at every turn the movie frustratingly shies away from .  br    br   instead  the audience is subjected to a meandering series of uninspired and insipidly drawn situations  with clichd characterisations and dull performances from a cast struggling for belief and obviously in need of much tighter direction . the lack of directorial control seems astounding on the one hand  moynahan  cavanagh and spacek all give very pedestrian performances  while heather graham and molly shannon  the latter in particular  veer towards embarrassing over  compensation at times . one could lay the blame for this on the director  maybe sue kramer hopes that if her actors over  act  they will force a bigger laugh from the audience . but then again  the cast is a veteran one one would expect them to do better .  br    br   sue kramer really needs to think carefully what kind of movies she wants to make  and for whom . given the possible issues gray matters alludes to  and given her inability or unwillingness to fully explore them in the context of a comedy  perhaps she should consider writing dramas instead . i know it is never easy to make films about women and women  s issues  especially when one hopes to reach a wider audience than women alone  but whatever direction she takes  inconsequential and flimsy characters like gray are not going to cut mustard .  
one of the most unheralded great works of animation . though it makes the most sophisticated use of the  cut  out  method of animation  a la  south park    the real talent behind  twice upon a time  are the vocal characterizations  with lorenzo music  s  carlton from tv  s  rhoda   woody allen  ish ralph  the  all  purpose  animal being the centerpiece . the  accidental nightmare  sequence is doubtless one of the best pieces of animation ever filmed .  
sam  thomas cavanagh  and gray  heather graham  are devoted siblings who share an apartment and a love of many things   ballroom dancing      s movie musicals and  much to their surprise  an attractive woman named charlie  bridget moynahan  . historically heterosexual  gray is confused by her new feelings .  br    br   gray matters proves to be one of the blandest films i have ever seen . it  s dull  predictable  unfunny  poorly acted and poorly written . nothing about it felt real and everything was very cheesy . also  this isn  t really a romantic comedy with a special twist but more of a  coming out  movie . sue kramer tried to make the first half cute with the romantic stuff and the second half serious with the actual acceptance and coming out part . unfortunately  she failed miserably . the first half was largely unfunny and only heather graham was able to hold it up a little . then  the film took an awkward tone and got all serious . the serious scenes were handled poorly and all of the emotions just felt phony .  br    br   i guess i would have enjoyed the film a little more if the relationships between the characters felt more authentic . the brother and sister relationship was very weak and they didn  t really appear to be that close . their relationship just didn  t feel very natural . also  the relationship between tom and bridget felt very unnatural . if two people are going to get married after only knowing each other for less than a week  then you would expect to see a little more excitement but the characters talked about getting married in vegas in the same manner of asking a waiter what the specials are . there was a lack of excitement in the film and it was hard to get involved with the movie with such unmotivated characters .  br    br   the acting was mostly weak which was a bit surprising given the decent cast . heather graham gave the only good performance in the movie . she was funny and had a few charming scenes but it  s too bad that all of her co  stars were complete duds . bridget moynahan was very weak and her performance ringed false on every level . also  it seemed like she was reading her lines . thomas cavanagh was pretty wooden and he showed nearly no emotion . the chemistry between thomas and heather was non existent and that damaged the film because their relationship felt phony . i can usually rely on molly shannon to be funny in a supporting role but here she was just annoying . sissy spacek had about two scenes and she was annoying in both of them . finally  alan cumming just had an embarrassing character and his performance wasn  t very good . overall  gray matters is a lame film and it isn  t worth watching . rating      
ralph and mumford  misfits in their own land  get duped into being unwitting pawns of synanomess botch . twice upon a time is the story of them  the characters they meet  and their struggle to set things right . with a surprisingly impressive soundtrack and wonderful voice acting by some of the best in the business  this offbeat movie hits the mark .  br    br   the animation process  while similar to that of the cut out  south park  style  is much smoother and far more three  dimensional . if i didn  t know that the animation was this style  i would swear that is was traditional pen and ink . if you can watch this film in dolby surround or thx  please do  you won  t really miss anything if you don  t  but if you do  you will get much more out of the experience   
if there has ever been a worse comedy than  gray matters  i am unaware of it . the new york jewish comedy  s  funny  premise is that siblings sam  gray are mistaken for a couple and so decide to fix sam up with a girlfriend  only to find that gray is equally attracted to their target  charlie . the revelation that gray is secretly gay is apparently only a surprise to her . there is a deeply offensive wedding sequence  a deeply embarrassing  drunk act  from moynahan and graham  and a performance that would embarrass forests everywhere for its woodenness from tom cavanagh . sissy spacek demonstrates a complete inability to do comedy and will want this excised from her resume . molly shannon plays the homely friend with lumpen insouciance . only alan cumming emerges with any credit but is seriously under  employed and given nothing with which to work . the whole disaster is cemented by graham  s bizarre eye  rolling performance culminating with the penultimate scene where she wears a comedy hat and an overcoat despite the scene being set in a lesbian bar . it is astonishing that this film was ever released it has no redeeming feature and should be avoided at all costs .  
ok  as far as the  versions of this movie . there were  people involved in the making  john korty and bill couterie  george was just the producer  he really didn  t have any kind of say so in the film  just helped with money   the  adult  version was made possible by bill couterie . john korty didn  t like or approve this version  as it was done behind his back  . thanks to ladd films going under  they didn  t advertise this movie and threw all their advertising cash for  the right stuff   hoping it would pull them through . . . and it didn  t . so  this movie never really had a chance . when  twice  made it to cable  hbo   they showed the reels with bill  s version and john threatened to sue if it was shown anymore  did you notice how the  adult  version wasn  t on for very long   . showtime got the  clean  version . the version on the videotape and laser  disc is the version approved by john  who holds more power than bill  . it  s a pity  really  as the  adult  version is actually better and does make more sense . but it  s very doubtful that it will ever be released in that version onto dvd  or any other format short of bootleg  . sorry to disappoint everyone . i know all this info as i used to be the president of the twice upon a time fan club  still have numerous items from the movie  used to own a letter  boxed version of the  adult  version  but it was stolen  only have a partial hbo copy of it now  .  stars to the  adult  version   to the  clean  version . any other questions  just ask .  
it was obvious that this movie is designed to appeal to the chick flick audience  to which i have sat through quite a few and enjoyed most . however  this was a very irritating attempt by heather graham to become the next meg ryan  who became annoying as hell in her own right  . her acting was overdone and it appeared that she was overanxious compared to her colleagues who were relaxed in their roles . this film might have been more  as there was suitable budget for settings  actors and a decent story line . my wife and i both agreed that this was  muck  at the end  as the film ended on a painful embarrassing high  better luck next time  hope miss graham sticks to the type of films that she belongs in like from hell .  
i don  t watch soaps . my grandmother still watches that one with the hour glass . i made fun of them it when i was ten  it was so easy  .  br    br   but this movie takes parody and spells it a new way . i found the story pretty damn funny . the fashions of the    s  shoulder pads  sequins  and polyester  just top it off . the huge hair  the high heels  and the histrionics  what a combination .  br    br   and all the actors just go to town  chewing up their parts and spitting them out in a big well scripted pile . sally  kevin  elisabeth  wonderful  whoopi  great  robert downey  refreshing to see him back when he had such potential  before the tabloids . and garry why did we have to wait so long to see him on film  leesa gibbons  hadn  t been missing her  but nice to include her as a real life entertainment reporter  and where do you apply for that job  anyway   .  br    br   admittedly  i could have done without sally climbing the drainpipe . lucy ricardo did it  how many times   as has every comedienne from carol burnett to i don  t know who and i  m so done with it now  i could spit peanuts if i had them . apparently it  s what you do when you  re being funny in a tall building in new york . i  m just thankful they didn  t pull out the flagpole bit .  br    br   but it was cute  it was funny  it had plot twists  it had an after credits ending before that was common  it had clothes worthy of a second glance  it had a great cast and it  s got personal memories for me . really  what more do you need   
even    years later  ninja mission stands out as the worst movie i ever managed to sit through . scandanavian ninjas silently enter a scene  fire their obnoxiously noisy sub  machine guns with wild abandon  and then silently leave . wow  how will we find those silent invisible assassins  just follow the shell casings and smoke  painfully bad dialog  or was it brilliant and just poorly translated    not an asian in sight in the cast  and a whopping total of  asians among the stunt crew . the plot is ridiculous  the acting pretty much non  existent  then again  ninja can  t act  save yourselves  avoid watching at all costs   
i went and saw rivers and tides again today . it  s the second time in two days and yes  i do see movies i like as many times as is necessary . yesterday i was struck by the brilliance of the images and goldsworthy  s works . this morning when i threw the coins i received    the abysmal  water  . goldsworthy has an affinity with water  hence the title . i received the  th line changing which moved to   the army . to blake art was a war . anyway  i knew i had to see the film again .  br    br   i read one of the few reviews extant online from the sf examiner . the critic loved the film but said goldsworthy  s comments got in the way of his enjoyment of the film . he  d rather have only the images and the wonderful soundtrack . so i was aware of that as i watched this second time .  br    br   yesterday i thought that i  d vote for andy goldsworthy as king of the world . well today i could get a little bit beyond the images and listen to what he had to say . could i enjoy the film without his comments  what he is doing  what he is saying goes way beyond  art  . his understanding of water  time  stone  change  and on and on made me think the man is the reincarnation of lao tsu or some avatar . some of his work  words are zen like . his knowledge . . .  br    br   anyway  the film is only  apparently  being shown here in the bay area . be a trend setter . go to your local cinema and tell them  no insist that they have to book a film you  ve heard about from the hinter lands . it  s called rivers and tides .  br    br    
otherwise it is one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen  and i mean ever . my wife and i were both bored out of our minds within   minutes . not to mention being boring  it is entirely unbelievable . women  non  lesbian  don  t bathe together  nor do they  accidentally  kiss . brothers and sisters don  t live together well into their   s and run around swing dancing together and engaging in footraces in central park . men don  t find out their wife and sister romantically kissed the night before the wedding and then never discuss it with said wife . absolutely ridiculous .  br    br   heather graham is possibly the worst actress in films today . she smiles when she should be crying and vice versa . the only movie she has ever been good in is boogie nights  and that is because she wasn  t acting .  br    br   i cannot stress enough how bad this movie was .  
as a person who sought out an existence as a  professional  person with income backed by a bs in chemistry and ms in business management  my sanity was always spasmodically sustained in outside indulgences in things more artistic . my post  post graduate classes were always emotionally and spiritually supported by an interest in photography  stained  glass  ceramics  metal forging  welding  and art drawing that also included silk screening .  br    br   i also keep healthy with jogging  walking and lately  hiking to remote destinations in california and nearby states like utah  arizona  and nevada . jogging  walking and hiking gets one close to the earth with time to stop and watch and listen and also photograph or record sounds .  br    br   within that background  i was obsessed with rivers and tides . i was equally impressed with the documentary content of artist andy goldsworthy as well as the skills and smoothness of director  cinematographer thomas riedelsheimer . i actually could not separate the art of goldsworthy with camera path of riedelsheimer .  br    br   wonderful . wonderful . wonderful .  
after a promising first   minutes that makes you feel all warm inside  you  re pretty convinced that this will be a great romantic comedy . then the movie takes a turn for the worse .  br    br   the warm feeling might still be there  but as others has said the plot becomes so unbelievable and artificial that it  s almost unbearable to watch .  br    br   the movie gets sped up  and you get the impression that you  re either fast forwarding through it  or that the producers decided to fit it in less than  h   m and had to cut a lot of scenes out .  br    br   realism isn  t a goal onto itself  but as a viewer  i  m pretty convinced that this comedy isn  t intentionally unrealistic  it just happens to be .  br    br   on the plus side  this movie has a couple of nice interiors  and despite the bad script  i think that the actors performances are mainly good . if i could rate the first   minutes only  i  d probably give it an eight . as it is now  it gets a four . . . . and that  s being nice   br    br   if you  re a sucker for romantic comedies you  ll probably have a great time anyways . if not  i  d recommend that you watch something else .  
  br    br   so  not being a poet myself  i have no real way to convey the beauty and simplicity of this documentary . the effortless motion of goldsworthy  as he molds natures beauty into his own work is captivating . watch him stick reeds together in a web hanging from a tree in a close up for a few minutes while he speaks of his work  and then receive the payoff when the camera cuts to the wide shot . be amazed by the ease with which he operates and then realize the futility when a slight breeze knocks down the entire web .  br    br   the genius of goldsworthy seemingly knows no bounds as his inspiration is nature itself . it is in the essential change of nature where his work  though complete in its own sphere  is made whole .  
this was one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . horrible acting  not funny at all  and well just boring .  br    br   i can only assume all these   out of   fav . all time movie comments are actually the actors themselves in disguise .  br    br   idk what the runtime on this movie is i  m sure its listed on this page it certainly felt like an eternity  br    br   if your looking for a tough challenge  attempt to sit through this awful movie .  br    br   otherwise  br    br   don  t waste your time as i did on this one  
this film is mesmerizing in its beauty and creativity . an artist  s profound vision  his art that springs intuitively from its natural source brings us an inspiring hosanna  blending his creations with trees  white water dashing against rocks  fields and rain . . . andy goldsworthy makes the viewer feel joy in being alive  aware that we are all made of the clay of this glorious earth . he doesn  t spare us his occasional frustration  but on the whole we see the miracle in joining art with nature . credit also goes of course to the filmmaker  thomas riedelsheimer  who directed  photographed and edited the movie with incredible sensibility and perfect timing .  br    br   if you have any feeling for beauty  nature and art . . . do not miss this fantastic film   
here  s one you can watch with a straight face  with a script so bad  even will ferrell wouldn  t be in it .  br    br   there are two laughs in hot rod .  br    br    . the punch  dance . rod  needs to go to his quiet place  and before anyone can say kevin bacon  he is footloosing a passionate  overwrought bodyswerve to the strains of a band who wishes they had the big  hair faux  metal chops of europe .  br    br    . john farnham  s you  re the voice . in one of those epic sequences where the star and his cohorts do the slomo walk down main street and the townfolk follow on their heels in support  the soundtrack is the gag . how did the film  makers even come across this aussie recording artist  a major australian vocalist  and a genuine talent  who shot to fame in the early    s covering raindrops keep fallin  on my head  then disappeared until     for the big comeback with you  re the voice  john farnham  s anthem is so bewitchingly cheesy  it leveled mountains in switzerland .  br    br   besides these two high points in the film  both ruined anyway with the slipshod writing  the rest of the film is like choking on someone else  s vomit .  br    br   andy samberg is rod  a failed stunt jumper who has never made a jump . maybe it  s got something to do with the fact he  s driving a moped into the heart of darkness . or his fake mustache . yeh  someone actually thought that was funny .  br    br   without one jump under his starry belt  he plans for a    bus extravaganza  which would surely kill a lesser bad comedian  like jason biggs or rob schneider  to win the day and save his stepfather and simultaneously wipe out cancer and whatever . . . who watches these movies for plot anyway  along the way  as usual for moronic leads in these comedies   he scores a salubrious chick  isla fisher   who must surely be retarded to consider swapping chromosomes with this loser .  br    br   sissy spacek  carrie       has so little to do she almost phoned in her performance  then changed her mind and just hung up . ian mcshane must  ve lost a bet to be here .  
go see this movie for the gorgeous imagery of andy goldsworthy  s sculptures  and treat yourself to a thoroughly eye  opening and relaxing experience . the music perfectly complements the footage  but never draws attention towards itself . some commentators called the interview snippets with the artist a weak spot  but consider this why would you expand on this in a movie  if you can read andy  s musings at length in his books  or attend one of his excellent lectures  this medium is much more suitable to show the ephemeral nature of the artist  s works  and is used expertly in this respect .  
snl is pretty funny but people who say this is like watching a short skit on snl is a little dumb minded . it  s nothing like snl  it  s just a stupid piece of crap .  br    br   andy samberg tries to act like jon heder but fails . although jon heder is only funny in napoleon dynamite andy tries his hardest and people think he  s funny .  br    br   only funny people in the movie were danny mcbride and bill hader . the only part that was decently funny with andy was the pool part .  br    br   they could have made the  quiet place  a lot better if they didn  t make the falling scene  freaking minutes .  br    br   the part where he  s pronouncing his h  s more is retarded . they try going with it too long and half the time it looks like andy is laughing while he acts . . . he  s a horrible actor and doesn  t deserve to be in a movie .  br    br   this movie is a joke and is for the simple minded people with the brain of a   year old level of comedy . which is about half the united states .  
a new way to enjoy goldsworthy  s work  rivers and tides allows fans to see his work in motion . watching goldsworthy build his pieces  one develops an appreciation for every stone  leaf  and thorn that he uses . goldsworthy describes how the flow of life  the rivers  and the tides inspires and affects his work . although  i was happy the film covered the majority of goldsworthy  s pieces  no snowballs   i do feel it was a bit long . the film makers did a wonderful job of bringing goldsworthy  s work to life  and created a beautiful film that was a joy to watch .  
i  ve seen a lot of crap in my day  but goodness  hot rod takes the cake . i saw a free screening in ny the other night . i can only hope they show the funny version to the paying customers . the big laughs were sparse  the plot was uninteresting  and the characters were one dimensional at best . one highlight is a hilarious dancing scene with adam samberg . it was priceless and was the only scene i truly had a hearty laugh at . other than that  i can only recollect randomness and dead air . snl  samberg fans may be disappointed . i know i was expecting more from it . but it short  i definitely would not recommend attending a free screening or paying to watch this film .  
right at this moment i am watching this movie for the second time  on television  and for the second time i fell into it when it was running for an hour already  i think i saw  minutes more this time  this movie is really impressing  the way goldsworthy looks at nature  changes nature in a way that you yourself would never think of  really is amazing . this whole movie gives you a warm feeling  seeing him play with the world around him with such love . or only seeing his hands  covered in dirt and with broken fingernails  it just touches you .  
my family and i screened underdog the night before . and as bad as underdog is  my four year old loved it   hot rod makes it look like oscar worthy material . the only thing that could have saved this movie  was if evel himself had come out of retirement to slap samberg in the face for making this movie . i will admit however  that the soundtrack was good . i wasn  t sure if the movie was set in the    s  but with the majority of the music coming from europe  who knows . if i were you  i would take a pass . and just stay at home and watch the test pattern on your local tv station . or if you are dead set on watching this  people under the influence might enjoy it .  
this movie is probably for you . it had an overall meditative quality from the music  to the beautiful photography  and listening to the often clich things about life that andy goldsworthy would say as he worked or in between shots . if you  re familiar with buddhism  that is the sort of the sense i got out of this film . the impermanence of life  the beauty of nature  the interconnectedness of all things  etc . however  what i did not understand  confused  and ultimately forced me to leave without finishing  i saw over an hour of it  was the redundancy of the whole thing . you only find out bits and pieces of why he  s commissioned  and how he can even afford to live off of this kind of work . the art work comes alive but all his talking with no conclusions leads to dead ends .  
quite possibly the worst movie i  ve ever seen i was ready to walk out after the first ten minutes . the only people laughing in the theater were the tweeners . don  t get me wrong  i love silly  stupid movies just as much as the next gal  but the whole premise  writing and humor stunk . it seemed to me that they were going for a  napoleon dynamite  feel  strange and random scenes which would lead to a cult audience . instead  it ended up being forced  awkward and weird .  br    br   the only bright light was isla fisher and i just felt utterly awful that she  and sissy spacek  had signed up for this horrible thing .  br    br   thank gosh i didn  t pay for it .  
i first saw this absolutely riveting documentary in it  s initial release back in      and it really had a profound effect on me  so much that i bugged several of my friends to see it with me on repeat screenings . the bottom linenone of my friends walked away disappointed  ever   . this stellar film is about scottish conceptual artist  andy goldsworthy  who creates some absolutely beautiful pieces of art using natural materials  wood  water  flowers  rocks  etc .  to create pieces that eventually return to their natural form  a statement in the temporary state of everything   . we get to see goldsworthy create several works of temporary art  as well as some of his long term installations in major galleries around the world  as well as a few pieces in the natural world  as well . german film maker  thomas riedelsheimer directs  photographs  edits this meditation on the creative process that is a real treat for both the eye  ear  with an ambient musical score  composed  performed by fred frith  who  s music is generally edgy experimental  noise textured guitar  as well as a capable ensemble of musicians  . although this film has been available on dvd for some years now  if you can find a cinema that is highlighting a revival of this fine film  by all means  seek it out  it  s easily a film that was composed for the large screen  with a proficient sound system to truly experience this film the right way  . no mpaa rating  but contains nothing to offend  unless the live birth of a sheep on screen is destined to offend or disturb   
by no means is this movie as bad as  perfect stranger   but it just wasn  t funny . it couldn  t stick to one type of comedy  it jumped from snl  to adam sandler  esquire  to romantic  to little guy scores big  to slapstick  to  loser   the movie  types of comedies . although there were some pretty funny slapstick moments  the fall down the hill   no one was very particularly funny or outstanding in any way .  schindler  s list  was funnier  and felt shorter  . you never knew if andy samberg was supposed to be in high school  a college dropout  or just a loser living at home with his mother  sissy spacek  in her worst choice of roles . and poor ian mcshane  the serious actor if i only had to name one  is given crap to read into the camera . the story drags and is completely predictable up to and including the end  no spoilers here in case adam samberg  s mom wants to see it  . don  t spend any money going to see this movie  and maybe lorne michaels will get the hint and start producing quality  yes  wayne  s world and tommy boy are quality  movies .  
this has by far been one of the most beautiful portraits of a person that i  ve ever seen on screen . andy goldsworthy is a kind of man that is upon extinction . he views the earth and nature with such admiration and respect that it  s primitive in a good sense . his purity  honesty and kindness breathes clearly as you watch him work in such simplistic yet full of life momentary pieces of art . i was amazed how patiently he created his pieces and how patiently he accepted their end . sometimes prematurely  but his scottish sense of humor covers his disappointments brilliantly . the film is shoot elegantly and contains the same flow that goldsworthy  s art has . it combines nature and art in a minimal way as it is in itself . fred frith  s score is organic enough that it blends everything together without interfering with it naturalistic sound . this is overall a great piece of work in every aspect . it has no boundaries as far as age goes .  
when viewing a movie as silly as  hot rod   one must sit back  relax  and alter one  s intellectual capacity to a like state  which is  in this case  a state dimwitted enough to endure brainless drivel that has somehow been mistaken for comedy . with a brief runtime of   minutes  this film was long past drawn  out and buried itself beneath a bundle of repetitive jokes  jokes that came at a minority and weren  t even funny in the first place .  hot rod   s base material is as superficial and irrelevant as      s cult hit  napoleon dynamite   though it  s much more contrived and comes without any of the laughter . in fact  the movie  s blatant desperation to be compared to  napoleon dynamite  is scornful and offensive  and left me ticked off  instead of just being annoyed .  br    br   the movie  if one were compelled enough to call it such  poses a paltry story that puts self  proclaimed stuntman rod kimble before us  with the trifling intention of jumping fifteen buses  one more than his idol evel knievel jumped  so we  re told by rod  and raising        dollars for his stepfather  s impending life  saving heart operation all so that he can fight his stepfather  once recovered  and gain his respect because in order to gain one  s respect  one must first fight them . huh  whatever . each character is no more interesting than rod  s stick  on mustache  and from the film  s opening joke to its ridiculous conclusion  each scene played like a nonsensical  and terribly unfunny  snl skit  which  with the addition of an extra   minutes  is  essentially  what  hot rod  strives to be .  br    br   the film  s star  andy samberg  contributed an effort to the screen that observably exerted every last drip  drop of his comedic capabilities . unfortunately  rather  realistically  his humorous talents are no more admirable than a five  year  old retelling his own exhausted joke that somewhere includes the innocently crude poop and pee  pee gags . and if that  s disappointing  pull a chair  hide your face in your hands  and brace yourself for the real blow he is the film  s humor  to rescue them of their mortification  i  ll willingly omit the ghastliness of samberg  s co  stars  roles and leave the second third of the lonely island team  director akiva schaffer  to his non  existent talent as a director or a comedian . basically  every thing one could possibly do to further trample a crash  course comedy is perfectly portrayed here and done so arrogantly  as though the film would be funnier that way . trick yourself into believing that there  s even a single laugh in this heap  or treat yourself to another movie  any other movie .  
way back in      the british made a comedy called simon and laura  with peter finch and the brilliant kay kendall . to this day  it stands as one of the finest examples of british comedy and  more particularly  about how television sitcoms become so popular . it was  and is  an excellent example also of self  referential cinema .  br    br   so also soapdish  a film i  d never heard about until a few nights ago when i caught it on late tv . i was a bit dubious at first simply because comedy is so difficult to do well  as you know .  br    br   however  i was pleasantly surprised and delighted to watch a very clever satire about daytime american tv . in fact  it  s been a while since i laughed so heartily . so  if you like satire  i  d recommend you see it .  br    br   the main actors  sally field  kevin kline  robert downey and cathy moriarty  quite simply do an excellent job  revealing just how bitchy and shallow the business of acting is . as i watched it  i kept thinking to myself just how much of this bitchiness carries over into real life  that is  if actors ever do have a real life  as you probably know  peter sellers  for example  was notorious for hiding his true persona behind a multitude of characters  so that nobody really knew the real person . so  as i watched sally field playing celeste talbot playing maggie  i thought again about that earlier british film with kay kendall playing laura playing a character in a tv sitcom opposite peter finch . . .  br    br   is it any wonder that some actors have nervous breakdowns  and that feeling was crystallized when celeste finally confronts her daughter  lori  played by elizabeth shue  and  in an emotional moment  repeats the fictional lines she  d used  on a prior episode of her daytime soap  when confronting her fictional daughter in that show  are you confused  well  it  s not all like that  but the dialog is stunning for originality  comedy  bitchiness  anger  depravity  duplicity  and even . . . love .  br    br   the story  well  there are many stories in this film  all interwoven  and which all come together at the end  of course  but not like a robert altman film  okay    and not all of them are resolved finally . life  s not like that anyway  right  the pace is almost frenetic  and you really do have to watch and listen carefully to catch all the sight gags and subtle jokes . spend the   minutes from your life and watch it you won  t regret the time usage .  br    br   the rest of the cast all perform well  although i  ve never taken much to whoopi goldberg . perhaps the funniest exchanges are between robert downey and cathy moriarty and  for my money  the latter steals so many scenes from others  she gets my vote as the outstanding player . i kid you not  she gives the term bitch an entirely new face . . .  
recap doctor markov has developed a new theory how to produce energy  knowledge that might unbalance the world . he keeps his knowledge coded and secret and desperately wants out of the soviet union . kgb on the other side desperately wants the new technology . so  they sets a scheme in motion . during a rescue attempt to free markov  kgb steps in  takes markov to a secret location and lures him to reveal his secret by saying they are in sweden  and working for the un . as a backup  kgb kidnaps markov  s estranged daughter . cia now send their best agents  a team of  swedish   ninjas to thwart kgb and rescue markov and his daughter .  br    br   comments a cult movie that despite not being very good needs seeing . the movie is quite ambitious but lacking in many areas . first off is that it is very dark  probably to conceal locations and bad effects  that some scenes are hard to comprehend . you can  t see what is happening . the second thing that it is lacking is martial arts  despite being a ninja  movie . sure there are some  of quite poor quality  but mostly the ninjas fires automatic guns or sets of explosions . the automatic guns pose a problem too as they seem to have a endless supply of ammunition . and the ninjas seem almost immune to bullets while soviet guards die like flies .  br    br   what does it have that speaks for it then  the idea and ambition foremost . some actually  and especially for a swedish movie  decent action  scenes albeit not of martial arts . some nice slow  motion scenes and pretty much blood and gore . and some very interesting new weapons technology that makes the victims heart or brain explode . mostly all parts that you look for in a b  movie .  br    br   because it definitely is a b  movie  no mistake could be made there . but if you expect it  and watch it like a b  movie  it is entertaining . but don  t forget  it is not only a b  movie it is set in the eighties . some girls  for example  besides wearing . . . lets say  interesting  clothes  have lethal doses of eye shadow and makeup .  br    br   in all  see for the cult status and the ambition . enjoy it  and then forget it .  br    br        
this film is stunningly beautiful . goldsworthy  s art really benefits with the medium of film because you can see the art at its most beautiful  moving and changing and blossoming . i strongly recommend this movie to everyone . i can think of nothing else to say about it . it  s just the kind of movie you have to see  because it  s so visually compelling and left me very refreshed when i left the theatre .  
i got to see an early preview of this movie and i hope they have time to edit it in what ever way they can to improve on it before it comes out aug  rd . it stars andy samberg from saturday night live as  hot  rod kimble . he  s plays a teenager in a small town who wants to be a stunt man like his late father . when we meet him  he  s jumping a mail truck on his mo  ped  yes  a mo  ped  and almost makes it . this would be worthy of a  jackass  movie if he wasn  t honestly trying to do this . isla fisher plays the slightly older and much more mature girl  next  door  denise . she seems to like rod enough to join his  crew  . jorma taccone  also snl  plays his half brother  kevin  who documents the stunts with a camcorder . sissy spacek plays rod  s mom  marie . she remarried frank powell  played by ian mcshane . frank  s a real tough guy who enjoys beating rod in some real drag out brawls . it  s clear that rod  s not going to earn frank  s respect till he can beat him . we find out frank needs a        . heart transplant and rod is determined to raise the money just so he  can beat his ass  once he  s healed  and prove himself a man . a long fall down a mountain side convinces rod to  go big  on one stunt . rod sets out to get seed money by charging for doing stunts that would make you cringe if you saw them in real life . like the human torch  at a children  s birthday party . there were those at the showing who managed to laugh at most of the stunts . just when all hope and money is lost  along comes a sponsor who saves the day by getting the   school buses rod wants to jump . he gets exclusive broadcast rights and sets up phone lines to get donations . rod gets a new outfit and a real motorcycle . the whole town turns out and the world tunes in . does he make the jump  does he get the girl  do they raise the    k  does frank get his ass beat by rod  wait till this   minute movie comes out on video to find out .  
a very engaging documentary about scottish artist andy goldsworthy  whose work consists mostly of ephemeral sculptures made from elements from nature . his work is made of rocks  leaves  grass  ice  etc .  that gets blown away when the tide arrives at the beach or the wind blows at the field . thus  most of goldsworthy  s works don  t really last  except as photos or films of what they were . now  one can argue that goldsworthy  s works are a reflection of mortality  or words to that effect  but isn  t it easier to say that what he does is just beautiful art . and at a time when the stereotype about artists is that they are mostly bitter  pretentious  often mentally unstable people who live in decrepit urban settings  goldsworthy seems to be the opposite a stable  unpretentious  family oriented person who loves nature and lives in a small village in scotland  of course  i  m sure those are the same reasons why he  s shunned by some people on the art world who found his works fluffy or superficial  .  
alright  friends  a serious movie buff is expected to watch all kinds of movie  the bad as well as the good  and this movie put me to the test . i won  t mince words . this movie was bad . the story was bad . the acting was bad . the always wonderful sissy spacek did nothing to make this movie better . indeed i asked myself why did i even bother to see this rotten trashy movie  why did i waste my time and money on something that i suspected would be bad  the answer is  of course  that i am a movie buff and therefore cannot avoid what otherwise should be avoided . i will not waste your time explaining what exactly was wrong with this amateurish movie  except to say that the quality of the acting was  to put it politely  subpaar . a serious movie buff may want to take on the responsibility of watching this movie . otherwise . stay home  don  t waste your time  read a book  take take of chores or have yourself a good sandwich .  
the scottish artist andy goldsworthy fashions natural materials into ephemeral artworks  assembling rocks into egg  shaped cairns  filling riverside rock  pools with fiery flowers and stitching thorns and twigs into intricate web patterns . an original work and a few photographs of his other creations are tucked away in a corner of southampton art gallery  near where i live   but although i found these pieces intriguing  i only realised the wonder of goldsworthy  s work when i was lucky enough to catch a re  screening of rivers and tides .  br    br   thomas reidelsheimer  s film  accompanied by a beautiful instrumental soundtrack by fred frith  brings goldsworthy and his art to life by showing the artist at work . the opening scene captures him fusing icicle fragments into a snake  like thread set atop a tree  stump . working with his teeth and bare hands  goldsworthy crafts a beautiful  ephemeral work . before long this delicate sculpture melts away to nothing in the brilliant nova scotian sunlight . this scene is among the most beautiful in the film  but the breadth and inventiveness of goldsworthy  s work is remarkable . reidelsheimer shows both the successes and the failures  capturing the frustration of pieces that collapse before they are completed as well as the glory of those that shine  even if for just a few hours  minutes or seconds .  br    br   goldsworthy himself provides the narration  speaking slowly but thoughtfully about the themes in his work . he makes plain his need to work with nature  to be alone in it and to further his understanding of it through trying to work with natural materials  even when they seem to be working against him . at times he is down  to  earth and humorous at other times he struggles for the words to express his purpose  something which is quite understandable when witnessing his astonishing work first hand . the  rivers and tides  of the title become increasingly pertinent as we see the natural materials pass through the artist  s hands  flowing from one form to the next . the capture of the creation and dissolution of goldworthy  s work is in itself a striking piece of art .  br    br   although goldsworthy works with widely varying materials and covers territory across north america and europe  the presentation of artworks one after the other in this film is exhausting it gave me the same feeling of fatigue that i get when i spend too long in an art gallery and struggle to take in anything new . a brief interval in which we are introduced to andy  s family and hometown is all that breaks the long succession of his artworks . nevertheless  reidelsheimer does a superb job in photographing goldsworthy and his creations  locating them in their wider environments  from meandering canadian rivers to rainy scottish hillsides . fittingly  the film ends with goldsworthy casting handfuls of earth and snow into the sky . fleeting patterns emerge from the dust particles even as they dissipate into the air this is the purest expression of the beauty to be found in the work of this remarkable artist .  
if i could have rated this movie by  i would have  i see some ppl at imdb says that this is the funniest movie of the year  etc etc excuse me  are you ppl snorting lsd or . . . . . . . .  there is absolutely nothing funny about this movie n o t h i n g  i actually want my   minutes back of my life that i spent watching this piece of crap .  br    br   i read someone sitting on an airplane watching this movie stopped watching after   minutes  i totally understand that  i actually would have watched snakes on a plane for  times over instead of watching this movie once   br    br   do not watch this movie  do something else useful with your life do the dishes  walk the dog  hell . . . anything is better than spending time in front of the tv watching hot rod .  
the filmmaker inhaled andy goldsworthy  s art  his search for closeness with the land and the water  and his sense of proportion   and so gently  so beautifully breathed it back on to film for the rest of us .  rivers and tides  loves goldsworthy  s work and joins it as a visual concert of time and human presence in a flowing world  a world that hides its power in plain sight . see this movie   
this movie is one of the worst comedy movies i have ever seen . i hate these napoleon dynamite rip  offs . just face it people the dumb humor has been mastered already . make something new for once . all these new comedies are just horrible . and coming out of snl andy samberg is not ready for a lead role yet . i hope he can bounce back from this awful movie . and will arnetts character is just plain bad . hey will  did you read the script . the plot is truly the worst ever written . now you tell me if this is weird .  this is the movie  rod kimble  s step dad frank is dying and the family needs        to pay for the heart surgery so rod is planning this huge jump to raise money for frank . only so that rod can beat frank in a fight and prove his manliness . yes thats the movie  you tell me  would u spend   .   to see that piece of crap   br    br       just horrible  br    br    adam  
being a fan of andy goldsworthy  s art for a while now  and owning some of his books  i had some expectations of what i would see . what i got was something completely satisfying  and quite a bit more than i expected . being an artist myself  i work in clay   finding inspiration within our surroundings to make good art is imperative  and it is something andy goldsworthy has mastered . following him over the course of a year  the director captures the spontaneous energy  skill  and devotion to the artists connection with nature with dratic inspiring flair . the music set to the film is embracing and intoxicating . if you are an artist in need of inspiration  or anyone else in need of an uplifting experience  then see this movie . i for one am glad to know that andy is somewhere out there . creating  dancing  wrestling with the forces of nature to make our world more beautiful .  
so i had low expectations for this movie to start with  but it failed to meet even those . while there were some funny parts  even one or two laugh out loud parts  this movie fell terribly short of what i would call good . the funniest jokes were unexpected and over very quickly  leaving us sitting there going  wtf just happened   in addition  there were a few jokes that just dragged on and on and on . the part where he falls down the mountain had me yawning . also  the editing was really lacking . there were some poor scene transitions  but that seems to be the style nowadays . it made me laugh  but i wouldn  t watch it again  and i  m very glad i waited for it to rent . give it a chance  you might enjoy it  but don  t think you are in for anything along the lines of the   year old virgin  or superbad .  
this german documentary  in english  is about a scottish environmental sculptor named andy goldsworthy . he makes art from objects he finds in nature . for example  early in the film we see him taking sections of icicles and  gluing  them together with a little moisture into a serpentine shape that seems to repeatedly go through a vertical rock .  br    br   of course  the icicles melt  but that transience is a part of most of goldsworthy  s work . he goes to a site and gets a feeling for it  deciding intuitively what to make that day . he talks of having a  dialog  with the rocks and other materials that he works with  attempting to work with rather than against them . it might be stones  or flowers  or leaves  or sticks . the sculpture might last for minutes or years  or might not even last long enough to be completed and photographed . the work seems to be more of a process than a goal .  br    br   the film  and the work  is beautiful  inspiring  and thought provoking . it moves pretty slowly  which is appropriate for the material  but you should be sure to go when you have had a good night  s sleep . but do go if you have the opportunity .  br    br   search the web for some other pages about andy goldsworthy or to read about his local sculpture at stanford university . there are also several books available with photographs of his sculptures .  br    br   my thoughts skip reading this part if you want to find what this film means to you completely independently . i recall a couple of ideas that occurred to me while watching the film which i thought i would share for those of you still reading . first  the transitory nature of much of andy goldsworthy  s work reminded me of the natural ebb and flow of human life . we  re born  we live  and eventually we die . that  s natural  and that  s also naturally a part of goldsworthy  s art .  br    br   the other thought was to be awestruck with the way that goldsworthy has managed to integrate his passion and his work so thoroughly into his life . most of us have work which is tolerated at best  a life which we hardly notice living  and passions which we really mean to spend more time on  if we even remember what they are . andy goldsworthy has managed to create an amalgam of all of these aspects of his life that looks like it works very well  and is nourishing for him and those around him . wow .  br    br   seen on          .  
first off  to give you some idea of my taste in movies . . .  br    br       comedies i enjoyed superbad  knocked up  hot fuzz  blades of glory  br    br       comedies i hated evan almighty  the brothers solomon  good luck chuck  br    br   i should have followed my first instinct and turned off  hot rod  after i got to about the   minute mark . i knew by that point that this movie would not make me laugh once . the script is absolutely brutal  i have no idea how this monstrosity managed to crack  on imdb . any one older than   years old who enjoyed this must be some kind of mental defective .  br    br   this doesn  t come close to anything with will farrell and it  s clear that andy samberg can  t carry anything longer than a  to   minute sketch on youtube or snl . i don  t know how they roped ian mcshane and isla fisher into doing this movie . . . they must have owed favors or something . i came in knowing that it would be a dumb movie  but i thought it would at least be funny . i didn  t so much as smirk .  br    br   i don  t normally comment on movies at imdb  but this was so awful  i just had to warn people . this is only the  th movie i  ve seen that i  ve felt compelled to rate     .  
andy goldsworthy is a taoist master of the first order  expressing the way through his sublime ephemeral art . indeed  time and change is what his work is fundamentally about . i bought his first book several years ago and my family has marveled at it many times . so it was a treat to get to know the artist personally through this film  he is just as patient and gentle as you would expect  and has some wonderful things to say about the natural world  the deepest of which are expressed in his occasional inability to say it in words at all . he is like most children who play in the great outdoors alone  if they do anymore   creating things from sticks and sand and mud and snow before they outgrow it . mr . goldsworthy was given the gift and the mission to extend that sort of play to create profound visions of nature  and to open our often weary eyes to it in brilliant new ways . and always with the utmost respect  gratitude and humor of a wandering  and wondering monk .  
this is one of those movies which makes you think would hulk  the real american  hogan have done the same  frankly i don  t think so and he  d have been right . i  m italian  i cannot go proud of my country for many reasons  but i wouldn  t have rowed for another team  the french  for example   simply because i  m in love with juliette binoche . besides the protagonist doesn  t fall in love desire with a british girl at the end of the movie but with a fellow countrywoman  so why rowing against yale . as far as acting is concerned  well  all the players act very poorly . and then  you know  i hated that  dead poets society  atmosphere . in fact that  s another movie i hate .  
as the jacket proclaims  this film is  gorgeously shot and masterfully edited   and  yes  it is mesmerizingly beautiful . the timelessness that we perceive in stoic rock and in the unceasing ebb and flow of water frames the ephemeral works from goldsworthy  s hands so that in their very ephemeralness they point to eternity .  br    br   and so the beauty of his compositions haunt us with just a touch of melancholy woven in   or in the words of matthew arnold from  dover beach    br    br   listen  you hear the grating roar of pebbles which the waves draw back  and fling  at their return  up the high strand  begin  and cease  and then again begin  with tremulous cadence slow  and bring the eternal note of sadness in .  br    br   at one point near the end of the film goldsworthy says that  words do their job  but what i  m doing here says a lot more .  as a wordsmith myself i take no offense and not for a moment do i think him immodest because the combination of form and time and change and texture and color and composition that goldsworthy painstakingly and intuitively creates  is indeed something more than mere words can say .  br    br   at another point he remarks on  what is here to stay . . . and what isn  t .  that is his theme .  br    br   i think that artists sometime in the twentieth century became acutely aware of how ephemeral even the greatest works of art are compared to the vast expanse of cosmic time and so they began to reflect this understanding by composing works that were deliberately ephemeral . the idea was  that by emphasizing how short  lived are even the mightiest works of humans  a sense of the timelessness of art would be expressed .  br    br   perhaps part of the effectiveness of goldsworthy  s work is in this sort of expression . he painstakingly composes some form of straw or leaves where the tide will reach it  or places it in the river where it will be swept away and in this process is merged both the composition and its ephemerality .  br    br   both the transitory and the timeless are necessary for us to understand our world and our place within it . and it is important that these works be done within the context of nature so that what is composed is set within what is natural . thus the walls of stone and the eggs of stone that goldsworthy constructs are silent and solid yet we know that they are not monuments to eternity  but instead will stay for some undefined length of time and then dissipate and return to a state much like that which existed before we came along .  br    br   this is art as art should be  akin to the spiritual .  br    br   in a sense goldsworthy  s work is an inarticulated understanding . it is an experience purely of time and form . in a sense his work  answers  shelley  s famous poem  ozymandias  by saying  even as the tide washes the work away  and even as the river dissipates the expression  even so the art lives on because of our experience of it . similarly one thinks of tibetan sand paintings so carefully composed and measured out  and then just as they are so beautifully and preciously finished  they are given to the wind  so that we might know that all is flux .  br    br   yet  in the modern world these works of art endure in photos and videos . goldsworthy is an accomplished photographer  of necessity i would say  and all his works  even the unsuccessful ones  he tells us  are photographed so that he can look back at them in a more reflective mood and see what he has accomplished and what he has not .  br    br   this cinematic production directed by thomas riedelsheimer with the beautiful and appropriately haunting music by fred frith is not to be missed . it is one of the most beautiful documentaries that i have ever seen and one of the most spiritual .  
ok . i know that the wanna  be john hughes movies of the   s were all unilaterally flat  so the expectations for this film ran pretty low .  br    br   still  after sitting through this crap there  s one key thing i can  t seem to get out of my head  br    br   i just sat through an   s rob lowe movie that had no nudity and only hints of sex in them .  br    br   the acting is awful  the characters boring and flat  the portrayal of oxford an absolute insult  and the rowing scenes unexciting  uneventful  and inaccurate .  br    br   unless you  ve got some wierd ally sheedy or amanda pays  or i guess  rob lowe  fetish  there  s really no reason to see this one .  
greetings again from the darkness . insight into the mind and motivation of a wonderful artist . how strange for most of us to see someone who must work . . . no matter the conditions  else his reason for living ceases . to see goldsworthy  s sculptures come alive and to see his reaction to each is extremely voyeuristic . this artist creates because he must  not for money or fame . it is his lifeforce . when you see his failures  energy seems to expel from his body like a burst hot air balloon . it is not the dread of beginning again  it is that he takes his energy from his work . watching him create just to have nature takeover and recall his work is somewhat painful  but nonetheless  breathtaking . he discusses flow and time in the minimal dialog and there appears to be little doubt that the artist and the earth are one in the same . when he says he needs the earth  but it does not need him . . . i beg to differ . only complaint is the musical score seems to slow down further a pace that is relaxing at best .  
i can fondly remember bo derek  s heyday and the uk press attention  the mucky sun  news of the world papers especially   all following her small role in     with dudley moore . understandably  much fuss was made of her photogenic face  crystal clear blue eyes and her perfectly formed bouncing breasts .  br    br   unfortunately  acting is  and never was  her forte  i think they should make one of the triple disc collections you always find in the bargain dvd bins  orca  tarzan the ape  man and bolero . all these films could be nominated for the  so bad they are great  .  br    br   it would be a guilty  must buy  of mine  should you ever read your press  or this comment ms derek  please do not be offended  always had a soft spot for you and there are more important things going on in the world to worry about than your acting ability . much love . x  
on one level  this film can bring out the child in us that just wants to build sandcastles and throw stuff in the air just for the sake of seeing it fall down again . on a deeper level though  it explores a profound desire to reconnect with the land . i thoroughly empathized with the artist when he said   when i  m not out here  alone  for any length of time  i feel unrooted .   br    br   i considered andy goldsworthy one of the great contemporary artists . i  m familiar with his works mainly through his coffee  table books and a couple art gallery installations . but to see his work in motion  captured perfectly through riedelsheimer  s lens  was a revelation . unfrozen in time  goldsworthy  s creations come alive  swirling  flying  dissolving  crumbling  crashing .  br    br   and that  s precisely what he  s all about time . the process of creation and destruction . of emergence and disappearing . of coming out of the void and becoming the universe  and back again . there  s a shamanic quality about him  verging on madness . you get the feeling  watching him at work  that his art is a lifeforce for him  that if he didn  t do it  he would whither and perish .  br    br   luckily for us  goldsworthy is able to share his vision through the communication medium of photography . otherwise  with the exception of a few cairns and walls  they would only exist for one person .  
whale  hunters pick on the wrong freaking whale .  br    br   a group of yahoo whale exploitists capture a female and string her up by her tail  fin . the whale  s mate sees the whole thing including the moment the female  s unborn baby slips out and slops onto the deck .  captain nolan   richard harris  could tell that the big male is really mad by the way it stared him down as if to say   get out of town before high  tide .   br    br   this story of revenge has harris  presence and bo  s beauty  but not much else . this was bo  s first  released  film  though her first acting job was four years previous in  and once upon a love  released in     as  fantasies   directed by john derek  .  br    br   p . s . today  the date of this review  november     is bo derek  s birthday . i hope bo has a  whale  of a good time . . . . . get it  . . . . . whale  . . . . . hee  hee .  
this is a romantic comedy with the emphasis on comedy for a change . as usual the lovers   sally field as almost  over  the  hill soap opera queen  celeste talbert and kevin kline as marginally employed and marginally talented actor  jeffrey anderson   are working at cross purposes  seemingly unaware that they are madly in love  etc . owing a little to bette davis  s margo channing in all about eve       and a whole lot to the slapstick theatrical tradition  sally field goes over the top towards hilarity as she malaprops her way to love and happiness . kevin kline  one of the more underrated leading men of recent years  is also very good and very winning as he manages to be handsome  vulnerable  egotistical and lovable all at the same time .  br    br   the misadventures center around celeste  s fear of losing her audience as she has entered her forties  and reach the crisis point with the arrival of her niece  aspiring actress cori craven  elisabeth shue  who turns out not to be her niece  with ensuing plot complications . cori manages to get a small part in the soap opera as a homeless deaf mute before discovering her true relationship to celeste  and to jeffrey anderson as well    but never mind .  br    br   as a romantic counterpoint or foil to the leads are robert downey jr .  soap opera director  david barnes  and cathy moriarty  montana and nurse nan  . david barnes is oh so hot for her  but she cares only about one thing getting rid of celeste so that she might shine more brightly on the set . to this end she gets barnes to do all sorts of things to wreck celeste  s career  but through happenstance and  or a perverse logic  all his attempts go awry  much to the delight of the viewer .  br    br   whoopie goldberg plays rose schwartz  the show  s chief writer and celeste  s alter  ego and confidant while carrie fisher has a modest part as the hard  as  nails producer of the show .  br    br   i thought this was funnier than the only other spoof of the soap opera world that i have seen  young doctors in love     which burlesqued tv  s general hospital and was pretty good  . soapdish is funnier with a daffy script and plenty of laugh  out  loud one  liners and terrific performances by field  kline and downy  jr . but see this for sally field who is outstanding .  
not much to say beyond the summary  save that this is an example of j . edgar  s hoover  s constant attention to maintaining a good  pr  profile . they don  t make movies this bad very often  especially with the likes of jimmy stewart and vera miles in the blend . too bad .  br    br    
i admit that for the first   minutes or so of this film i wasn  t entirely sure i was going to sit through the whole thing . like many other people  i found it pretty boring  and i wasn  t entirely looking forward to an hour and a half of watching this guy bite icicles and stick them together . however  if you sit through the creation of his first work long enough to see the finished product  you get an idea of how impressive the rest of the film is . i really think it  s sad that so many people found this impossibly boring or a retread of ideas done by other artists .  br    br   rivers and tides is a quiet study of some of the artwork and methods of andy goldsworthy  who makes his art entirely out of things in nature  generally resulting in pieces that will be consumed by nature through the normal process of entropy . it is slow moving and unglamorous  but i think that a lot of the point of the movie is to show that goldsworthy  s art does not need any accompaniment in order for it to be appreciated . i  ve even heard people complain about how he is always talking throughout the movie  rather than just letting nature and his artwork speak for themselves  which i just think is madness .  br    br   on the other hand  lots of people complain about cds coming with the lyrics written out inside them . a lot of musicians as well think their music should mean whatever the listener wants it to mean without the musician showing the exact lyrics  i guess i  m just the kind of person that believes that i  d like to know what the artist was trying to accomplish with his or her artwork . i can still take it how i want to even if i know what it was meant to do . i can understand not wanting to hear him talk through the movie . he does  after all  lose his train of thought and find himself unable to explain some of his work at more than one occasion  but if you don  t want goldsworthy talk about his art while you  re watching the film  feel free to turn the sound off . that  s like not reading the lyrics if you don  t want to know what a musician is singing and would rather interpret the words yourself .  br    br   i think that andy goldsworthy  s work  which i had no idea existed before i watched this movie  is incredibly impressive  and i  m glad that this film was made in order to showcase it . indeed  since his work is generally not the kind that can be transported into a studio  photography is the only medium other than film that can express it  and i really appreciated being able to see the work that goes into his art  and the way that only things from nature are used . whether or not you appreciate certain aspects of how this film is presented  goldsworthy  s work is moving enough to overlook that  because the film is not the star  goldsworthy  s art is . and given the lack of any music or even the smallest special effects and the slow  moving nature of the film  it seems to me that director thomas riedelsheimer knows that .  
fairly amusing piece that tries to show how smart orcas are but in the meanwhile  and quite oblivious to them  makes the audience feel stupid by making the most ridiculous film . richard harris plays quint . . i  m sorry  that  s wrong  he plays captain nolan  a fisherman who catches sharks for a living  but is lured by the big catch  and tries to catch a killer whale . when the capture of a female killer whale goes awry  don  t ask  it  s mate  don  t ask  goes on a rampage  don  t ask  and starts stalking captain nolan  don  t ask  . soon  captain nolan realizes that they have something in common  don  t ask  . pretty amazing film  making here folks . i got to tell you though  the beginning  with the whale noises and nothing much else  is pretty haunting and the end credits  with the most godawful song  is pretty entertaining .  
beside the fact  that in all it  s awesomeness this movie has risen beyond all my expectations  this masterpiece of cinema history portrait the overuse of crappy filters in it  s best  paul johansson and craig sheffer show a brotherconflict with all there is to it . as usual a woman concieling her true intentions . the end came as surprising as unforssen as the killing of keith scott by his older brother .  br    br   the scenes in  wiking land  are just as i remember it from my early time travels .  to be honest my strong passion for trash movies makes this one a must have in my never finished collection .  br    br   i recommend this movie to all the people in love with the most awesome brother cast from one tree hill .  br    br    odin   
please do not waste     hours of your life watching this movie  just don  t . especially if someone is fortunate to be snoozing at the side of you . damn cheek if you ask me . i waited for something to happen  it never did . i am not one of those people to stop watching a movie part way through . i always have to see it through to the end . what a huge mistake . do yourself a favour and go and paint a wall and watch it dry  far more entertaining . please do not waste     hours of your life watching this movie  just don  t . especially if someone is fortunate to be snoozing at the side of you . damn cheek if you ask me . i waited for something to happen  it never did . i am not one of those people to stop watching a movie part way through . i always have to see it through to the end . what a huge mistake . do yourself a favour and go and paint a wall and watch it dry  far more entertaining .  
spoiler alert  this movie  zero day  gives an inside to the lives of two students  andre and calvin  who feel resentment and hatred for anyone and anything associated with there school .  br    br   they go on a series of self  thought out  missions  all leading up to the huge mission  which is zero day . zero days contents are not specified until the middle to the end of the movie . the viewer knows its serious and filled with hate but is never quite sure until the end .  br    br   now we all know  if the movie is based on the columbine massacre  the ending is pretty obvious . and the ending is no different than any other movie about the attack  they go and kill many of their fellow students in the end .  br    br   i have seen a lot of movies on this attack  and this movie by far is my favorite  and most respected . it gives the viewer and inside look to the lives of these two teens who hate life  and honestly it gives the viewer some what of an understanding  and a closure on the horrible event .  br    br   being only  when the events played out  i never knew the seriousness of the shootings  until my english class was assigned an essay or story on a defining moment in our generation . well i knew everyone was going to pick the twin towers  but i wanted to be different  because of course the twin towers was tragic and very defining  but i didn  t think it was the right choice for me because there was really no way of relating to that because  i was only in the  rd grade and i had no idea what it all meant . but the shootings did leave and effect . i remember the interviews  the sky views of the school  and the hurt and terror in the eyes of thousands of people .  br    br   this movie is a compelling  down to earth  and horrific masterpiece  and i would reccomened it to anyone .  
i like monster movies  generally . even if they are implausible and silly . but its hard to like this movie when its so implausible and silly and tries to take itself seriously all at the same time . like in a really posh kind of way .  br    br   while the idea is somewhat factual  like orcas are known for killing great white sharks  its really hard to find it scary when i can  t help but just see an angry shamoo destroying stuff . especially that one scene where some building exploded cause of the orca  s doing . . . and while it explodes  the thing jumps out of the water and it felt like i was watching a show at sea world with fireworks . plus they kill a lot of the scary moments before they even hint that they  re going to happen . on top of that  it takes a few jabs at jaws . its like  hey look  we  re being factual and we can come up with better reasons why the orca is attacking  .  br    br   yes you are  ignoring your outrageous  ups in logic of course . but jaws had one thing your movie doesn  t . its scary . yes its implausible . yes its somewhat outrageous . but quite frankly  factual or not  a killer shark is not close to being as scary as a great white . and the poor attempt at character development and writing just hurts it more . even jaws the revenge is scarier than this .  
i saw this film at the rhode island international film festival and was completely blown away . the structure and execution of the film was fantastic . . . i know it won  t  but it really deserves an oscar nod . cal and andre were phenomenal as the two disturbed classmates . yes  the film is very controversial and i can see a lot of people having a lot of problems with it  as it deals with school shooting and especially makes you identify with the killers . however  despite its harsh and blunt subject matter  zero day is so worth watching . i  m looking forward to it coming out on video so i can buy it  it  s very  very good . very powerful and intense . . . the end shooting sequence leaves you speechless because it  s almost too realistic . their uncertainty  the  recordings   the footage and panic of the students  totally indescribable . i really hope it gets the attention it deserves . it  s done in the same format as the blair witch project  handheld camera  made to appear as a true home video documentary kind of film  but god is it infinitely better . very impressive  hats off to everyone involved . if you  ve got the chance you really should see it .  
this is only a response to the yahoo who says this movie is more realistic than the classic  genre defining masterpiece  jaws . yes  brainiac  great whites  and other species of shark  bull  black  tip  oceanic white  tip  tiger  have been known to populate areas where easy prey is found . humans don  t often make it onto that menu  granted  but the shark in the film was repeatedly pointed out to be exhibiting abnormal behavior . it  s not like it  s never happened . the odds of a killer whale destroying nearly a whole town  singling out a human nemesis  sinking several dozen thick hulled north atlantic fishing boats and knowing when certain people  all friends of the aforementioned  nemesis   are close enough to the water for it to reach  are so slim as to be laughable . much like this turd of a jaws knock  off . laughable . great white sharks are also known to frequently chew on boats  protective underwater cages and people on rafts and surfboards  as they look like seals from below . a shark the size of bruce  if you don  t know  look it up  would be more than capable of sinking a boat like the orca  hey  that  s the name of the blatant rip  off we  re discussing    as it would weigh upwards of      lbs . i could go on  but i don  t need to . jaws is amazing  better acting  better effects  better music  better writing   orca is crap  blatant rip  off of jaws  lousy writing  abominable effects  most ridiculous plot this side of an olson twins flick  . it doesn  t take a masters from columbia university to see that . watch better movies .  
what is most disturbing about this film is not that school killing sprees like the one depicted actually happen  but that the truth is they are carried out by teenagers like cal and andre . . . normal kids with normal families . by using a hand held camera technique a la blair witch  ben coccio succeeds in bringing us into the lives of two friends who have some issues with high school  although we aren  t ever told exactly what is behind those issues . they seem to be typical  a lot of people hate high school  so what  a part of you just doesn  t believe they will ever carry out the very well thought out massacre on zero day . the surveillance camera scenes in the school during the shooting are made all the more powerful for that reason . you can  t believe it  s really happening  and that it  s really happened . the hand held camera technique also creates the illusion that this is not a scripted movie  a brilliant idea given the subject matter .  
while i don  t claim to be any sort of expert in marine life  i must say anyone with a modicum of intelligence could not possibly buy in to this notion of a whale  and not even the mother   having a clue about revenge because it witnessed his dead mate having a forced abortion by humans  i mean  really  this is basically the whole plot . richard harris must have been extremely hard up for roles to have accepted this junk . this is the kind of movie that is so bad that if you paid   cents to see it  you would feel like demanding your money back .  
this film is scary because you can find yourself relating to ideas they have and can recall other people saying and having simialr ideas make this a haunting well done movie . . . . the camra style is not shakey to point it draws you out of film like blair witch it only adds to the raw  real  feeling of the film that makes it .  
without a doubt  this is one of the worst pictures i ever actually paid money to see  the kind of flick you choose out of desperation at the mall cinema during a christmas holiday when you have missed the start times for anything good but still are dead set on seeing a movie  and that is exactly how i came to see this stink bomb . . .  br    br   at the distance of the better part of three decades i can still smell the rotting fish that constitute this story line . unbelievable plot  that a killer whale carries a grudge against an individual not of the sea  is laughable . and that  s about all  except for a completely out  of  place  love theme  that plays over the finish of a film devoid of a love story . at least charlotte rampling is lovely  in a two dimensional role  but richard harris just chews up the scenery . he was no captain quint  robert shaw  and this is no  jaws  . mercifully  i have put most of it out of mind and when i run across it on television air casts i move on immediately .  danger  will robinson   see the current t . v . commercial showing a husband and wife whale  watching   orca  i love orca . . .    at least it is over in sixty seconds . this flick represents   minutes of my life that i will never get back .  
i was lucky enough to see zero day last night . it  s an amazing movie . a very disturbing one at that .  br    br   in a way  zero day is very comparable to  the blair witch project  . it  s shot completley with handheld camcorders . it  s about  kids . just your average kids . andre and calvin . they start a campaign against there high school entitled  army of   .  br    br   the whole story is told in video diary form  from the  kids . it shows there relationships with there parents  amongst other people  showing that these are just normal kids  just like people we know or who have bumped into . we find out the army of   s last mission will be entitles zero day . they plan to shoot up there high school .  br    br   you see how they get access to there guns  how they plan it out  everything . they stress that the media has not affected them at all  and there is no reason for doing this . like i said  this is all told in video diary form  and then they store the tapes in a safety deposit box to be seen after zero day .  br    br   the actual shooting is shown through survillence cameras throughout the school . chilling indeed . the movie is very chilling . some of the things they say  how they plan it out  you  d just have to see it for yourself . one quote that i remember is the only time calvin is byhimself . he says  andre thinks were just gonna leave in some getaway car  doing this to numerous schools across the country . i don  t know what he  s thinking  but the only way i  m coming out of the school is in a black plastic bag  .  br    br   i  m probaly not even giving you guys the proper idea of this film . you really need to see it yourself . it  s going around festivals right now .  br    br   a .  
this film can  t make up its mind whether its message is  humans are evil and bad and animals are sweet and blameless  or  don  t ever go in the water again .  a fisherman  nolan  is out to nab a killer whale  a very bad thing  but when he accidentally  accidentally mark you  hits a pregnant cow instead of her mate  the cow   and i use the word in all senses   who is obviously a sick psycho  bitch and the canonical villain of the piece   throws herself against the propellers trying to chew herself to bits in the most distressing and hideous not to mention ineffectual method of killing herself .  i doubt it was her first .  when her unborn fetus aborts from her hideous self  inflicted wounds  her mate goes mental with revenge and swears to hurt  kill and mutilate every human who even so much as talks to nolan . obviously as among humans  total psychos date other total psychos .  br    br   the film reeks of half  thought out anti  human message   the poor poor whale   the evil men must suffer and die   and yet  it does not succeed in demonizing nolan at all . it  s true that when he set out his motives were selfish and cruel  but at the first squeal of the first whale he grows a heart and  as the film progresses  he grows more and more compassionate to the whale  s pain until it seems he will walk out on the ice and give himself to the whale  just to make it feel a little better .  br    br   the films final journey  in which nolan follows the whale on a bizarre journey to the north  reminds me of melville  s eerie man  whale connection  and for a moment hinted at a truly interesting conclusion  where these two husbands might connect  understand even respect each other in their own grief  for nolan lost his wife and unborn child also to an accident . it  s clear nolan respects the whale and feels for its loss . however  it never goes there . the whale  character has no compassion or respect for anyone .  br    br   the final scene loses this focus and becomes jaws  like where the sea  monster finally kills everybody and nolan and no  doubt through an oversight  fails to chomp up the whale  hugger  tho he made a good snap for her head a little earlier .  i love animals  and i detest whaling  and what is more i love orca whales  but if this film  s goal was to make me feel that the whale was the victim and that people are evil and detestable it completely failed . nolan shows compassion and growth  and feels for others  and all the whale thinks about is killing and maiming .  br    br   the only message one can walk away with is  if you see an orca whale  ever  anywhere  run the other way cause if you step on his fin the wrong way  he will hunt you to the ends of the earth destroying everything around you .   
this is the best movie i  ve come across in a long while . not only is this the best movie of its kind  school shooting  the way ben coccio  the director  decided to film it was magnificent . he filmed it using teenage actors who were still attending high school . he filmed it in the actors own rooms and used the actors real parents as their parents in the film . also the actors were filming too using camcorders making it seem much more like a video diary . it is almost artful .  if that is indeed a word  there are a few slip ups however  for example when cal calls brads    land rover a range rover  or vice versa  it  s been awhile since i  ve seen it   
many have stated that orca  killer whale is a jaws rip  off . this is not really true  though the enormous commercial success of jaws undoubtedly made these man . vs . beast stories more attractive propositions for film  makers in the second half of the    s . orca  killer whale would be better described as a modern  day retread of moby dick . it  s a story about obsession . on one hand a whale  s obsessive quest to avenge the death of its mate on the other a bounty hunter  s obsessive quest to kill the whale before it can claim any more lives . sadly  orca  killer whale emerges a very disappointing film  its fundamentally interesting ideas somewhat ruined by hammy performances and preposterous plotting .  br    br   shark hunter nolan  richard harris  encounters a marine  life researcher rachel bedford  charlotte rampling  diving off the atlantic coast of canada . their meeting almost ends in disaster when rachel  s team are attacked by a great white shark  but a killer whale arrives in the nick of time to stop the shark . after this  nolan becomes increasingly obsessed with capturing a killer whale and selling it to an aquarium . but his plans backfire when he accidentally kills a pregnant female of the species while the distraught male looks on . rachel tells nolan that a killer whale is an incredibly intelligent mammal with a strong memory and feelings just like a human . worse still  native umilak  will sampson  warns him that the whale will always remember its grief and do everything it can to have revenge . nolan initially tries to forget about the whole regrettable incident  but the whale causes havoc in the fishing town and the disgruntled locals begin to demand that nolan puts to sea to track it down and destroy it . eventually nolan is forced to pursue the killer whale the hunt leads all the way to the desolate ice floes of the arctic ocean  where man and beast play out their final fatal battle against each other .  br    br   two things stand out in this film . one is the haunting score by ennio morricone  perhaps the greatest composer of film music of all  time  his talents wasted on various tenth  rate clunkers during the   s and   s  . the other is the amazing widescreen photography of ted moore  which makes the film consistently pleasing to the eye . in every other department  orca  killer whale is a shoddy film that does nothing to enhance the reputation of its talented cast and crew . harris appears extremely ill throughout the film  his hair bedraggled  black rings around his eyes and skin deathly pale . his performance lacks the usual vitality . rampling strikes a lot of sexy poses but fails to convince with her long  winded and ill  informed explanations about the ways of whales . the rest of the actors are wasted in brief and undeveloped roles  the most memorable of which sees bo derek getting her leg bitten off by the vengeful whale . the plot is total nonsense from start to finish  with such preposterous sequences as the whale deliberately starting a fire in the fishing village that engulfs and destroys the local refinery  although it  s credible to suppose that whales are intelligent creatures with genuine emotions  the idea that a whale could plot revenge against a single human adversary and carry it out so calculatedly is utterly absurd . orca  killer whale is really one for completists of the man . vs . beast cycle from the late   s . most will come away from the film shaking their heads in disbelief and grinding their teeth with despair .  
i am frankly surprised how little has been done in film on the columbine massacre . there isn  t a major documentary  very puzzling . fortunately we are graced with the talent of ben coccio who directed zero day  and gus van sant who did the equally fine elephant . two different takes on the event  which have in common the idea that the real cause of the massacre will always be a mystery  that there  s something ultimately baffling and unknowable about the motivations of the two killers  and what actually drove them to carry it beyond fantasy into horrible reality . zero day  purportedly made up of videotapes made by the shooters and found after the event  is absolutely riveting . even if you know where it  s going  you still harbor hope that it won  t  go there  . . . and the tension in the final minutes of the movie is excruciating . the film is terrific from top to bottom  from director to script  not much improvised  though it appears very spontaneous  to the two lead actors  and the supporting players as well . there is only one aspect of zero day that troubled me . okay  so we can  t fathom why the shooters would do what they did  but certainly one of the contributors was their anger . yet these boys don  t really seem angry . they may say some things to indicate that they are  but in fact they didn  t convince me that they had something inside them that compelled them to kill innocent people . but this still leaves me with the sense of  why     that director coccio wants me to have . anyway  rent or buy this movie  it will creep up on you and stay with you for a long time . the blair witch folks could only wish for the kind of success these guys had at making a mock documentary .  
i don  t know who got the idea that orcas go around killing people and bashing and destroying things for revenge but my god is it absurd . orcas are most definitely not the cold  blooded killer this movie makes them out to be . . . its silly . orcas are extremely intelligent  don  t get me wrong  but i highly doubt they know and understand a concept such as revenge . so i have to say all i got out of this movie was the entertainment of how preposterous it was . so i was at least somewhat amused by it . personally  i  d recommend going and seeing jaws if you  re wanting to see an animal  killing  humans type of movie . but if you  re like me and want to laugh at something this far from realism then i  d say go ahead . d  
everyone knows about this   zero day   event . what i think this movie did that elephant did not is that they made us see how these guys were . they showed their life for about a year . throughout the movie we get to like them  to laugh with them even though we totally know what they  re gonna do . and that gives me the chills . cause i felt guilty to be cheered by their comments  and i just thought cal was a sweet guy . even though i knew what was gonna happen you know  even at the end of the movie when they were about to commit suicide and just deciding if they did it on the count of  or  i thought this was funny but still i was horrified to see their heads blown off . of course i was . i got to like them . they were wicked  maybe  but i felt like they were really normal guys  that they didn  t really realize it . but i knew they were .  br    br   that  s  imo  the main force of this movie . it makes us realize that our friends  or relatives  or anyone  can be planning something crazy  and that we won  t even notice it . this movie  as good as it was  made me feel bad . and that  s why i can  t go to sleep right now . there  s still this little feeling in my stomach . butterflies .  
orca is not exactly bad  but it  s not really richard harris  s finest hour either . as a demented  ahab  like fisherman  harris gets into a game of death with a vengeful killer whale after killing the whale  s  wife  and unborn child . charlotte rampling plays a whale expert who gets involved with harris . she yells at him a lot about how important it is to leave nature alone . he doesn  t listen and somehow ends up in the arctic battling the revenge crazed whale . there are no special effects to speak of except for what looks like a round mirror for a whale  s eye    there are endless shots of harris reflected in the eye so the audience understands that the whale knows who he is . bo derek  as one of harris  s crew has a particularly unpleasant run in with the orca and most of the supporting cast  including robert carridine  will sampson and keenan wynn don  t fare very well either .  
this movie is about a fictional soap opera . it is very fast and funny . to say anything else would ruin the movie . there are several plots and sub plots in the movie . this movie has ensemble cast with today  s hottest stars . they all gives over the top performances . this movie is favorite of mine from the year     . soapdish is perfect for fans of either daytime soap opera  or prime time soap opera    if you watch soap go check this movie it  s hilarious     
this movie certainly proves  that also the good americans can do terribly good propaganda . no questions being asked  no comments being made on power abuse or police terror  when james stewart  solid and convincing as always  solves all the stories from dillinger to  th column more or less singlehandedly . june allyson as his regular love interest holds up the family values and e . j . hoover is executive producer . and children or non guilty bystanders are never harmed  when the professionals execute . not to speak of civil rights  which are never broken or homes  which are never intruded . and if the fbi service would not be enough  steward also gives his son  s life for the country in ww ii . perfectly made  if you wouldn  t know better . . . .  
everyone knows about this   zero day   event . what i think this movie did that elephant did not is that they made us see how these guys were . they showed their life for about a year . throughout the movie we get to like them  to laugh with them even though we totally know what they  re gonna do . and that gives me the chills . cause i felt guilty to be cheered by their comments  and i just thought cal was a sweet guy . even though i knew what was gonna happen you know  even at the end of the movie when they were about to commit suicide and just deciding if they did it on the count of  or  i thought this was funny but still i was horrified to see their heads blown off . of course i was . i got to like them . they were wicked  maybe  but i felt like they were really normal guys  that they didn  t really realize it . but i knew they were .  br    br   that  s  imo  the main force of this movie . it makes us realize that our friends  or relatives  or anyone  can be planning something crazy  and that we won  t even notice it . this movie  as good as it was  made me feel bad . and that  s why i can  t go to sleep right now . there  s still this little feeling in my stomach . butterflies .  
orca starts as crusty irish sea captain nolan  richard harris   his crew are trying to capture a great white shark so they can sell it for big bucks  unfortunately when a hapless marine biologist called ken  robert carradine  comes under attack from it the shark is killed by a killer whale  this raises nolan  s interest in killer whales  decides he want  s to catch one of them instead . however while trying to do so he catches a pregnant female  injuries it to the extent she aborts her unborn foetus on deck which makes a mess  enrages her mate  nolan orders the whale be dumped back in the sea which is what happens . the male killer whale is annoyed to say the least  kills one of nolan  s crew before they reach the dry land of newfoundland in canada  once there the killer whale conducts a series of attacks on the town  it  s people in an effort to lure nolan back out to sea for a fight to the death . . .  br    br   directed by michael anderson i thought this blatant rip  off was terrible  i  m sorry but i thought it was just plain ridiculous  utterly dull even at a modest   odd minutes . the script by producer luciano vincenzoni  sergio donati is so stupid i  m lost for words  the fact that it seems to take itself very seriously doesn  t help  if i have to listen to charlotte rampling go on about how intelligent killer whale  s are just one more time i  ll scream . i  m sorry but i simply don  t believe a killer whale is intelligent enough to know who any particular boat belongs to  sink it  i don  t believe a killer whale can cause a huge explosion including knocking an oil lantern from a wall on the opposite side it hits as there is no way on earth it could know it was there  i don  t believe a killer whale can identify someone  s house  know someone is in there  then wreck it on purpose  i don  t believe a killer whale can move icebergs around in order to trap a boat  i don  t believe killer whales can physically recognise people  i don  t believe it has any revenge instincts or at least none that are as strong as this dumb film makes out . maybe i  m being a bit harsh  i mean it  s only a film after all but it  s a film which is trying to be serious  things just got so ridiculous that i was half expecting the killer whale to write a letter to nolan to tell him his plan  hand  or should that be fin   deliver it  the thing seemed intelligent enough to do just about anything else . they should have asked it to come up with a cure for the common cold  seriously  that  s a statement that  s no more far fetched than anything else in this film . i found the film very boring  totally dull  had awful character  s with no on screen presence at all . it goes without saying this is a jaws       rip  off which doesn  t even come close to spielberg  s classic .  br    br   director anderson is no spielberg that  s for sure  this rubbishy film has absolutely no suspense  scares  tension or atmosphere at all . all the attack scenes are as dull as dishwater  totally forgettable  there  s no build up to them  virtually no pay off either as orca doesn  t get to eat a single person . then there  s the scenes which literally had me laughing  the shots of the killer whale appearing to cry are pure comedy  the opening scenes of the two killer whales i suspect tried to show them as a  loving    caring  couple but i couldn  t help but think that this is the closest we  ll ever get to killer whale porn  hilarious stuff . the footage of the killer whales themselves is bland  boring  instead of footage which matches  enhances the scenes around it it just looks like dreary wildlife documentary footage that has little connection to anything else . do you get the impression that i don  t like this film  good . forget about any gore or decent deaths either  there  s a brief scene when bo derek has her legs bitten off but blink and you  ll miss it .  br    br   this probably had quite a big budget  it still sucks  there  s nothing outstanding about orca  it  s well made i suppose but flat  bland  totally forgettable . the cinematography is quite nice though . the acting is bad  rampling is awful  the late harris  irish accent is embarrassing .  br    br   orca is a lame jaws rip  off which completely ignores or messes up everything that made spielberg  s film so good  this is one for bad movie lovers everywhere . definitely not recommended although not quite as bad as jaws the revenge       .  
i am a big fan of cinema verite and saw this movie because i heard how interesting it was . i can honestly say it was very interesting indeed . the two lead actors are awesome  the film isn  t ever boring  and the concept behind it  though obviously inspired by the columbine killings and the home movies of the killers  is really interesting . there are some weaknesses  such as the final   minutes which really detracts from the realism seen in the first hour or so and the ending really doesn  t make any sense at all . the shaky camera sometimes can be a distraction  but in cinema verite that is a given . but i still think the movie is very well done and the director ben coccio deserves some credit .  
is it a coincidence that orca was made two years after jaws  orca isn  t exactly a  jaws rip off  but it is obvious that it tried to profit from jaws  s success . first of all orca in my opinion was a bad movie  not terrible but definitely not good  average at best .  br    br   the plot is basically a male killer whale  orca  after seeing its mate and its unborn calf killed by a fisherman seeks revenge . i couldn  t stand to watch this movie again . the direction of this film is poor and when compared to jaws it looks like the director  producers  and writers were almost talentless .  br    br   as for the acting  it was very average and believable  however the actual characters aren  t the least bit likable . the effects were alright for its time and the footage of the killer whale looked pretty good .  br    br   the violence is confusing  bloody  and not recommended for more sensitive people . the music is overdone and very loud  drowning out the sound effects and irritating at times . i hated the way they exaggerated the intelligence of the killer whale  killer whales don  t mate with only one mate as depicted in orca  .  br    br   overall this movie was bad  poor in my opinion  because of the reasons listed above . some people may appreciate this film more because of the concept of vengeance amongst animals and humans so i  m not going to bash this movie and i can understand why some people may like it .  br    br   my rating  .      but for its concept possibly a       
as a fan of looking further into the phenomenon that is school shootings  this film took an interesting and different approach to the idea . presented as a series of video recordings made by the two troubled men  i cannot refer to persons who kill as boys or teens   the months of preparation leading to zero day  the codename for the day on which they will attack  the film tries to present the situation from the opposite end of the gun . it seems intent on portraying the pain they suffer  yet focuses on the literal preparation . the problem is that little in terms of emotion is directly delivered . the only point at which emotion became overwhelming was the ending  as expected . but leading up to this point  it  s never really clear as to why they are planning this out . we are told the obligatory story that they were mocked  but the film also seems to contradict this . without ruining the film  it  s easy to say it was a great attempt and had equally great intentions  but falls short because of sloppy film  making . all directing is amateur  to further the homemade video concept  but the story and continuity is weak . the film seems to want the audience to decide a lot  but also fails to provide the information for such an event . the ending is abrupt  and doesn  t feel like it finishes everything that the film began .  
everything about this film was terrible . to start with this film had a pretty good cast and i find it impossible to make such a great cast into the biggest disaster to the gangster film genre ever . the sound track was like one of a very bad slap stick comedy . it had this music through the whole film and it started to get quite irritating .  br    br   please please please please please do not inflict yourself with this disaster you will only be hurt  
zero day is a film few people have gotten to see  and what a shame that is .  br    br   when i saw the end  where the two main characters descend upon the room and mercilessly kill people  then commit suicide  and it made me grab my stomach . i was shaking  that  s how strong this movie is .  br    br   the movie is amazing . it  s too incredible not to get a perfect ten . it  s sad that so few people understand the true beauty of this film . it is not a budget which makes a film good  it is the amount of feeling the makers put into it which makes it good .  br    br   it leaves a permanent impression in your mind that you simply cannot get out . it makes you realise the true horror of shootings  especially if you were to know that person  and this movie makes you feel like you know these people .  br    br   i recommend zero hour to those who feel they are mature enough to watch it . i am fourteen  and i feel that this film is just too amazing to be put into words . it feels like you  re watching something that actually happened .  
definitely not worth the rental  but if you catch it on cable  you  ll be pleasantly surprised by the cameos   iman  s appearance is especially self  deprecating . it  s also an opportunity to watch all the male supporting cast members from the sopranos typecast themselves .  
this movie is one for the ages . first  i have to say after seeing this once  it became one of my all  time favorite movies . why  simple ben coccio  writer  director  has put together a true piece of art . where   .   of movies these days are purely entertainment  director ben coccio gives us truth  gives us reality  gives us a learning tool to know why this happened . the mainstream media spins and spins but ben coccio looks school shootings right in the face  able to go where no other form of media has ever gone before  into the minds and hearts of two young men planning to kill their classmates . while it surely is graphic and horrifying  how couldn  t it be  the gloves come off  the lies and the sugar coating of our media masters is brushed aside and we are taken to a place where we can find truth in what happened . sometimes it isn  t just a screw loose like everyone likes to think  no  sometimes hatred and isolation are deeper  are more human  we are shown that these boys are us and we them . society left them behind and the consequences are horrifying and real .  br    br   respect and love your fellow man . a lesson we all should learn  thank you so much for making this film mr . coccio  i hope with great anticipation that you will continue your film  making career .  
this relic of a short film starts with a teen going through the process of attempting to get a driver  s license . it quickly becomes sidetracked with just about every imaginable topic relating to cars .  br    br   such things as dune buggies  drag racing  custom paint jobs and car shows are discussed . it often attempts to be humorous but instead the film is dull  drawn out and even sexist at times . none of the people in the film are actually heard . instead  everything is done in narration and voiceovers . sorry  but i can  t stand that .  br    br   there is nothing educational or interesting about  dad  can i borrow the car   . it  s just another piece of mindless filler to take up time on their  wonderful world of disney  tv show .      
zero day has a purpose and this is not simply entertainment  it delivers a message about its specialised subject school shootings . charting the lives of two friends andre and cal leading up to an attack on their high school .  br    br   whilst the movie started in somewhat unassuming fashion  an impromptu announcement of the coming attack in amateurish teenage style followed by some brief encounters with the boys families . it is not long before we are down to business with the boys showing us their collection of guns  their fetishistic love of them  their sprawling sporadic narcissistic fantasies and even in a controversial scene how to build pipe bombs .  br    br   so what is the movie trying to say  what is really motivating these soon to be killers . it seems hard to really pinpoint . they certainly do not come across as cold blooded psychopaths yet they are planning an act of sheer brutality . this brings me to what i feel is the genius in part of zero day . cal and andre talk constantly about how much they are on a different level  how above the rest of us they are and how they will  leave us all behind .  like the columbine killers they truly feel superior . like nietzsche  s res sentiment cal and andre  s value system seems to have been born out of rejection from their society . yet we are given only glimpses of this  an expression of hatred for a popular athlete for example . so where is the motivation  what i feel is that coccio portrayed two individuals desperate to make a statement of superiority a gesture of their power yet who have no reasonable venue for it . hence they turn to mass murder and the kind of which that will garner them more attention than they could ever realise . this is why in part school shooters seem able to carry out atrocious acts despite coming from good stable loving homes . the murder is part of a fantasy  cal and andre are totally lost in their fantasy they almost fail to see the reality of their actions . they turn fantasy into tragedy .  br    br   what is secondly most enthralling about this film is the character development and the unique dependence cal and andre have on each other . andre is throughout the film overtly the leader of the two  cal  s embrace of his demeanour and attire seem somewhat forced . andre is uptight  andre is intense and serious . he completely shuns others except for his family  he is meticulous and precise about everything he does and for a while appears the prime mover in the plot to attack the school . yet he is likable in his own way  he does not embrace teenage nonsense and in part we feel compelled to agree with him  yet these moments are shattered by andre  s fleeting gestures of violence towards us the audience treating us as both confidante and potential victim . cal on the other hand seems more relaxed than andre  more accepting of reality . yet he is in his own way dominant . we have many personal moments of introspection with cal  s video diary  scenes when he is alone and apart from andre . cal seems to be struggling with his own personal demons and using their plan to exorcise himself of them . andre is jealous of cal going to the prom with an old friend  he wants cal all to himself . cal placates andre and encourages him . for the first time in his life andre seems to have found someone who believes in him and who admires him he cannot lose it . whilst cal has found someone offering him a way out .  br    br   the movie certainly picks up pace and improves as it nears its grim conclusion . there is an excellent moment when cal attends the high school prom . suddenly the star of the movie becomes shy and introverted  not at all at ease with his peers . yet we are inclined to feel more connection with cal than with the raucous bawdy crowd screaming juvenile obscenities whilst drinking heavily in their limo . theirs is an episode all too common and recognisable . we do not want to relate to them  when it is over and cal is back with andre silently preparing one of their final videos we like the characters feel once again at ease safe in the fantasy world they created . we feel like shunning the masses as they have .  br    br   the penultimate scene is superb . the final video sees andre and cal arming themselves in their car just moments before attacking . it is all too real and truly creates a sense of impending doom . by know we know cal and andre and are realising they are about to actually do it  with a kind of morbid fascination we are also relishing the films catharsis .  br    br   the massacre shot in cctv fashion is at times shocking  and whilst it was certainly the perfect choice to depict the massacre if we were going to it is not void of flaws . what is most significant is the sudden radical change of perception we have of cal and andre  looking at them in the this person suddenly they are the callous killers we knew they would become yet refused to acknowledge that they would . it is violent and real  our heroes have become monsters and the reality of their fantasy is a terrible tragedy  which costs them everything .  br    br   the final scene shows a group of teens filming themselves burning the crosses erected for andre and cal in disgust that they have been memorialised . having known andre and cal we can only feel almost a sadness that they are actually gone forever and that they certainly did not win anything .  br    br   zero day is a must see for anyone interested in these violent acts sensationalised by the media . it is a character study well worth experiencing .  
a movie that makes you want to throw yourself on a sword . i  ve seen schlock in my time but after viewing the wretched mess i don  t think i can ever watch a another movie again . may god pity the souls who made this .  br    br   premise  ex  army quiet stud  underwear model type character  well acted actually  goes looking for the girl who sent him a xmas card while serving in the military . lands in with her cabin living  granola type family who are right  wing loggers . family takes to him and it takes  hours of our time for the chick to see he  s a better catch than her liberal looking  french wine drinking  porsche driving  loud cell phone talking  lazy  city slicking  jewish looking fianc .  br    br   the bad   d characters   d themes . being beat over the head with the pro  military theme . ed asner .  br    br   the good  commercial breaks were long . peter jason . it ended .  
zero day is based of columbine high school massacre . and its a video diary of two boys . at first you don  t know whats going to happen you think it is just a bad student film . until they start talking about the horrible things they are going to do in this quite school . until they start talking about pipe bombs and guns and going shooting in the woods . they is a lot to say about this movie . all know this film is well a film you forget you watching a film and watching a real video two boys made .  br    br   the two boys act like they are in a weird cult . they burn all there stuff . like play station games books dvds homework stuff school stuff . these two boys can be anybody your friends you brothers or the people you see walking down the street . it goes through there daily actives  and that is making a gun . in the videos they make it mentions the bullying that happens to them and how people said stuff about there clothes and the things you are into i  m not saying its right but many people do do things like that .  br    br   and also the thing is with this people are suspected to like it because of the sensitive topic they have chosen on this film .  br    br   so thats my review on zero day .  br    br   and lets just say the end shooting scene is messed up .  
i watched this film on the hallmark channel recently . in my opinion  the film started out decent enough  but eventually got sour .  br    br   the story a u . s . soldier in afghanistan receives one of the christmas cards that a woman back in the u . s . has sent out to troops for christmas . he becomes so inspired by the christmas card that he feels it has given him a ray of hope and happiness in his life  a motivation to continue on . when he is given leave  he goes to the very town that the woman lives in . he comes across and spunky young woman and eventually finds out that she is the one that sent the christmas card . he meets the family and after saving her dad  a vietnam war veteran  from getting hit by a car whilst crossing the street  the family decides to take him in for a while . we learn that he doesn  t have a family back home . the soldier agrees to help out the family during the christmas season by working with them at their logging company . the family comes to love him and vice  versa . the soldier also becomes in love with the family  s daughter  the woman that sent the christmas card . there  s only one problem . she already has a serious relationship with a man that she  s in love with . it  s also a long distance relationship . the boyfriend is very different from the soldier . he prefers wine and trips to france over hard labor and the great outdoors . the woman prefers the latter . throughout the rest of the film  there is a  love triangle  as the woman  s boyfriend is back in town visiting her for the season . everyone in the family seems to want the daughter to be with the soldier and the mom basically wants what  s best for her daughter .   spoiler alert   the woman comes to like the soldier more and more  as they have a lot in common . they happen to spend a lot of time together . she gradually becomes attracted to his persona . then one day he kisses her and and she kisses him back . now she  s so confused  she  s in love with her boyfriend and wants to marry him someday  but she  s become so fond of the soldier . soon enough  the boyfriend  who doesn  t know about the kiss  but is very protective of the woman and thinks the soldier has been trying to move in on her  decides to propose to the woman and she accepts . his plans for their marriage  however  are not plans that she wants . she wants to be at home  have kids and be close to her family . he wants to travel the world  go to exotic places and if they have kids he wants to take them along . this doesn  t sound too thrilling for the woman . however  the soldier feels bad about what he  s done and doesn  t want to make things worse . so  he decides to leave town  despite the dad  s urging him to stay and be with his daughter . it all comes to a head when  at the christmas eve service with church  we find out that the soldier hasn  t left yet . the boyfriend and the woman speak to each other outside and he  broken  hearted  basically decides to let her go and breaks up with her . the film ends with the woman and the soldier getting together .  br    br   things i like i like the soldier throughout much of the film . he  s basically nice and polite  with a strong sense of doing good for others there are moments in which the family is going with church and participating in charitable causes the family hold hands and pray during an evening meal at the table the dad and mom have a long  lasting and evidently healthy marriage the soldier tries to do the right thing in a situation after he did something very wrong  br    br   things i don  t like there is a very typical  love triangle  story in this film the soldier turns sour as he slowly and subtly moves in on the woman and then eventually kisses her when she already has a boyfriend most of the family practically applauds this behavior  the family goes with church and participates in services  yet this is how they act there is some bad language  br    br   conclusion i became disappointed as the film ran on  and it got worse and worse . i ended up fast forwarding the very end of the film because i had enough . so  the film started out decent with some few gem moments  but ended up ruining itself . therefore  i don  t recommend this film to anyone .  
in my honest opinion  everyone should see this movie at least once . it really put things in perspective as i watched it . though it was fictional  this movie is about something that could happen to your children .  br    br   it shows how easily two kids can hide both their hatred for their school  and their plans to murder innocent students . this film would not have worked in any other format . they pulled off the hand  held camera  perfectly .  br    br   it reminds us of april   th       when eric harris  and dylan klebold murdered   students and then themselves . it also reminds us of the media storm that followed after . everyone wanted to see the rampart video and everyone wanted to see the basement tapes .  br    br   this movie is a fictional version of our dreams coming true . we get to see the kid behind the monster .  br    br   the only bad thing about this movie  is that it did not do well on the market  and few people even know it existed . if it would have had a single preview on a single blockbuster movie  everyone would have gone to see what the big deal was about  zero day .  br    br   i believe this is the best film adaptation of a school shooting of the few that have truly attempted it . the shooting itself only takes up about ten minutes of the hour and a half long film  because it mostly focuses on cal and andre  and what they did up to that point .  br    br   if you have not yet seen this movie  go rent it  and watch it . i guarantee that when it is finished  you will be speechless .  
sorry my fellow nevada city neighbors  but this one is bad .  br    br   brian must have had too much botox because he had very little facial expressions through out the entire movie .  br    br   alice looked like she had a board strapped to her backside . she was stiff throughout the movie .  br    br   i looked up both alice and brian and was surprised to see the extensive bio of work . i would have guessed that they were first  year students .  br    br   ed asner and peter jason carried the movie frankly with their banter and ease with every line . ed certainly has not lost his charisma . i wish i  d taken the time to meet him while he was here .  br    br   i love the snow scenes and scenes of stores and the church because i  ve been there . i make nevada city my home and was anxiously awaiting the premiere . i was sadly disappointed .  br    br   sorry .  
chris and andre are two average  ordinary teens . misunderstood by some and picked on by others . but together they stand and all will pay . together they form  the army of two  . they scheme and plan  zero day  . that day is when they decide to storm their high school and inevitably murder   people in cold blood . told through the tapes that they made  zero day   it is barely a fictionalized telling of the columbine tragedy .  br    br    zero day  is one of those movies that will mess with your head afterwards . the two main actors  calvin robertson and andre keuck  do such a good job that their characters seem like almost any disenfranchised teen walking the street . their performances were very believable  you kinda liked these guys and that was scary . shot on video almost totally from the teen  s perspectives  zero day  feels very real and authentic  like you are right there . these kids try to rationalize their actions to the viewer and the actors sell it to you . but be warned it does follow the tragedy from beginning to end and the ending makes be shocking and uneasy for some .  
i  m stunned that the reviewers  imdb gave this tv film as a high a rating as they did . it  s an innocuous  sweet  uncomplicated clich  of a film that had two big names from the past in it  both of whom did a decent job   but this film reeks of the low budget work we can see any day of week on the lesser cable channels . i like a good romance as well as anyone  but as my wife and i were watching this   and before we saw the rating  we said   there are people who are going to rate this film too highly simply because there  s nothing in it to challenge their brains  their faith  their comfort level or their cultural preferences . it  s possible to make a good film like that  and away from her is an example   but this was amateur hour . there are some quite good films rated much lower than this one . truly  another in a long line of woefully inadequate holiday films . watch the family stone . it  s miles ahead of this schlock .  
this movie was excellent  a bit scary  but excellent at that . for those of you that have heard of columbine and know the story  it gives you a idea of what and why these kids did what they did . in the back of your mind you know that people think of this stuff  but you never realize just how bad it is  and this movie makes you realize . it  s seriously that good . it also makes you think twice before you make fun of someone that  s for sure . i read a book on the columbine massacre and it made me think  this movie makes me worry and scares me to death . on the downside it  s like a how to kill someone guide for serial killers . i recently received a threat  and i blew it off thinking nothing of it  but after this movie i think you should take everything seriously . some people are crazy and you never truly know which they are  so take it seriously and don  t under estimate someone .  
this film deserves another bad review . consider one reviewer extolling the film  s virtues that include  no sex  violence or gore .  uh  excuse me . the very set  up of the film has us watching as cody  s young comrade  with love of life and who has everything to live for is blown to bits leaving cody holding his lifeless  bloody body . and  given the nature of war we know that cody has seen horror on almost a daily basis . so much for those viewing this film with such rose glasses that the violence which defines cody  s persona is erased from viewer memory .  br    br   sans any family of his own cody  like john rambo  roams the country on his bike making the long trek to hometown usa in the guise of some place called nevada city . no mention  no realization of the clear fact that cody is damaged goods . we know this since his co practically declares him so as he order cody to  get some rest  away from the death and destruction of war . this explains  as none seem to notice or care  cody  s obvious  flat  effect . it is not bad acting . it is the flat effect of post traumatic stress disorder . not guessing here  remember his co ordered him off the battle field .  br    br   how about that  accidental  kiss as noted by another review . the fall was an accident  the kiss was not . how exactly was cody  respecting  faith by hitting on her knowing full well she was spoken for  now that was a non  family value moment . a moment which is then announced to the immediate universe as if posted on youtube . of course faith  s lapse of fidelity as well as cody  s  coming on  to a woman who plans to marry another is received in the spirit of the xmas season  all cheering their cheaten  hearts and lips .  br    br   we know little about faith  s fianc except that she professes her love for him  she takes no longer than a nano second to accept his proposal  could have waited if any second thoughts   he is generous  he loves her to death  the family has nothing really against him  he believes marriage is based on compromises and the two have never discussed post marriage plans . no evil doers here .  br    br   asner is a fine actor given over the hill dialogue like  we love you son . . . .   you are part of our family  literally days after they have met a stranger named cody . and the  band of brothers  speech where the phrase was above all never intended to apply to virtual strangers off the battle field .  br    br   bottom line this film is cotton candy xmas fluff that betrays itself in major ways . most grossly when it applauds cody  s disrespect for faith by physically hitting on her knowing full well she is spoken for . by re  defining family as we know it to wit accepting a virtual stranger as a full fledged loving member of the family because we all  love you .  how many of you have done that or know anyone who has done that . not .  
soapdish may go down as one of the single most under  rated movies ever made .  br    br   a stellar  unselfish cast who understood exactly where the movie was going and the roles they played in it . while everyone hammed it up  there was no one  upmanship . kline showed wit and great physical comedy  goldberg and downey knew how to carry on a funny conversation while someone else was talking  i could just go on .  br    br   do not pass this movie by   
this film is to the f . b . i .  s history as knott  s berry farm is to the old west . shamelessly sanitized version of the federal bureau of investigation fight against crime . hoover  s heavy hand  did he have any other kind   shows throughout with teevee quality script  reading actors  cheesy sets  cheap sound effects and lighting    . with jimmy stewart at    of dramatic capacity  vera miles chewing the scenery  the film features every c  lister known in the mid  fifties with nary a hint of irony or humor  from the  amazon jungle  to the  back yard barbecue   everything reeks of sound stages and back lots . even the gunshots are canned and familiar . i imagine mervyn leroy got drunk every night . except for a few  very few  interesting exterior establishing shots  nothing here of note beyond a curio .  
cutting to the chase this is one of the most amazing  most intense film i  ve seen in a long time . the first movie in years that left me absolutely staggered . i could barely feel my way out of the theatre  i was so overwhelmed .  br    br   i  ve been staring at the screen for about fifteen minutes trying to find some way to describe the power of this film  and just failing . highlighting any one aspect of it   the documentary  style video diary format  the unflinching portrayal of the events  the force of the characters   just seems to trivialise it all . some may find it laughable that any killer could be characterised as normal . but then not all killers are raving lunatics foaming at the mouth . many are quite regular  unassuming people . they  re just wired differently .  br    br   and that  s perhaps the most chilling thought of all .  
watched this with my girlfriend after stumbling over it while zaping channels .  br    br   i guess we both hoped for some kind of happy family cute christmas movie  but were extremely disappointed .  br    br   the actor playing the soldier  seems to have  emotion whatsoever  his face looks the same  whether he  s chopping down christmas tree  s  seeing the girl he loves being kissed by her boyfriend  or when he  s happily surprised by the girl he loves  he  s an awful actor  and at no pont did any of us do nothing but laugh at him .  br    br   then there  s the cute blond girl  blessed with the ability to count dot  s and cheat on her boyfriend  what a catch  and her ambition in life is to live with her parents and count more dots .  br    br   so it  s basically a story about a guy without any emotion or feelings who falls for a guy who count dots and cheats on her boyfriend  it  s as predictable as it get  s  and really a waste of time  you gain nothing by watching this  other than some weird laughs  because it  s all so corny .  br    br   i love it when her dad says that he only eats french fries and not french wine  and they all laugh  that  s the hillbilly attitude this movie is about  furthermore  if my girlfriends dad were bossing me around like  i  d tell him a thing or to  but not our army veteran  no sir  he let  s everyone boss him around .  br    br   the movie is what first blood would have been  if john rambo were burn like the biggest wimp in the world .  
high school friends andre kriegman and cal gabriel declare war on their classmates and plan a terrifying assault on their high school . as they begin the deadly countdown to their final act of revenge  the two start a video diary to explain their feelings and chronicle their mission .  br    br   there is another similar movie like this  called  elephant .  why do i bring this up  to compare the two films  of course . i have to say  even though i liked  elephant   this is a much better film . what  s the difference  you ask  well  for starters  this is shot differently  much along the lines of  cloverfield    blair witch project   and  diary of the dead .  this makes the movie all the better because it  s much more painfully realistic .  br    br   but what won me over was how the movie was willing to show the  other side of the story .  you get to know these two shooters  unlike  elephant .  i actually cared for one of the shooters and could understand their actions and why they did what they did . this movie actually makes you feel sympathetic to these people and that  s a good thing because it  s not always black and white .  br    br   to be honest  this is why i almost cried in this movie . the characters are real human beings with logic and reasons behind their actions . you get to understand them . it  s not like they want to kill people for attention . overall  this film is emotionally gripping and very haunting and much better than  elephant .   
if they could get ed asner why didn  t they get other actors instead of people who go to the same church as the producers  and why did the protagonist throw the wise old sage character to the ground when he was never in danger . it forced the old guy to mask the injury out of pride and so the young guy would feel guilty leaving him with a life long disability . i guess thats why the main character refuses money though and why the old guy works him like a dog even when he volunteers for extra work . if the d  bag boyfriend is a bad guy because he is long  distance boyfriend then why is a soldier any better . he has good reason to be jealous  good reason to get her away from her hometown and over protective  controlling manipulative father . all the characters that are meant to be likable aren  t and everyone else is the  bad  boyfriend . how did they meet anyway  a wine broker and a saw mill worker   
this movie is essentially shot on a hand held camera by the actors in it . in some ways a mockumentary in other ways a video diary from killers it is full on account of a  columbine  style attack . while this movie does not answer all the big questions  it does give you an insight into how easy it would be to get away with . through the movie you are shown how the actors illegally shortened shot guns  made pipe bombs and came up with an action plan for  zero day  . the actors  if you can call them that  were brilliant  they obviously borrowed heavily from there own lives  but at no stage did i detect them really acting  something tom cruise should try  . the use of the cctv and the    operator at the end was genius  but i  m not sure if we needed the very last scene . overall though a really good movie on a very tough topic .  
it  at all  you have seen when harry met sally  then avoid this one . it will not only make you bang your head on the table as why can  t bollywood even make a good remake but also annoy you with the so called funny moments in it . the charm of the movie is missing . ranee looks terrible . saif tries to act like he is one hell of an actor . the plots that have been picked up from the original  don  t look effective either . the part where both of them bring their friends along and they hit a note  it just doesn  t look appealing . what can be more disastrous  you wanna waste some money  this is what you can get . otherwise  put some more bucks  and watch the original . its too good to miss . .  
the thing that makes this movie so scary is the way that it portrays andre and calvin as  relatively  normal guys . these are definitely not people who want to become professional filmmakers since they goof around in front of the camera  forget scripted lines  etc . they are only making the video as a diary to show  the survivors  how normal their lives were . their parents just think the guys are filming for a family home video . by researching other kids attacks on their schools  andre and calvin learn what not to do and they inform  usually in a silly  this old house  kind of way  any potential  andres and calvins  who might be watching this video how to make bombs  get weapons  and not get caught before zero day  the day of the attack  .  
i was fully amped up to see this film . i had been waiting a year for it to be cleared down here in new zealand . i shouldn  t have built myself up so much because it was so disappointing and is without a doubt clark  s worst film there is so much wrong with this film . first off  some of the acting is great  in particular nick stahl as  the bully   and the girl with the curly brown hair  i can  t recall her name   but most of it was so out of touch and incredibly unbelievable  especially leo fitzpatrick . he  s a veteran of clark  s films now and he was so brilliant in  kids   but in  bully  he invests his lines with such solemnity as to turn his scenes into a parody virtually . the screenplay felt like it had been written by a first year film student . no sorry  a high school student . . . one who has never seen a movie before . and i couldn  t fathom clark  s intentions . was he trying to point out the meaningless of these kids  existence  it sure as hell didn  t stop him getting in a damn good perv . i  m no prude but i didn  t need to see teenage breasts and buttocks every  minutes . i still maintain that clark  s best film is  another day in paradise  . it  s fantastic and i don  t think he  ll ever top it .  
i just came back from the montreal premiere of zero day . . . and i  m surprised as hell to find a negative comment on the movie . basically the blame is about coccio doing an easy and overplayed social message . . . well  mr  i  m  a  reviewer  it  s an easy and overplayed critic of movies with a social charge .  br    br   not that i want to expose my life here  but i come from a small town with a similar school than these guys go . reject  ignorance on the menu . thing is . . . i understand how can young kids can be driven to do such horror . high schools have became battle fields of conformity . it  s a real ugly sight . you need to fight your way into being like the others . it  s hard to explain  bit a lot of people dosen  t realize that high schools are becoming cemeteries of human intelligence . meanwhile  parents are closing their eyes and smiling about how their life in their comfortable suburb is perfect .  br    br   the real motive of the movie isn  t about what is driving them . it  s about this death  like calm suburb and everybody closing their eyes and trying to create this atmosphere of a perfect town . cal expressed it well . it  s a wake up call . drama is everywhere and it can take every shape . in that case little dramas  like andre being called a faggot for wearing a j . c penny shirt  are shaping into being the worse nightmare of a whole town . andre  cal took the most extreme way to express their pain . the malaise of unconformity in an era where you need more than ever to be like the others to be accepted .  br    br   i like particularly the last scenes where some guys are burning the crosses of andre  cal  like if with the pain they communicated  cal  andre have communicated their blind rage to their community  their refusal to think about the causes of some acts .  br    br   it might seemed aggressive as a movie  but coccio is meditating more than whining or enunciating . what andre  cal are living is a reality . . . and a scary one that might get to other kids .  br    br   disturbing movie . . . home making and strong feeling made ben coccio do a very very disturbing movie .  
is it just me or is that kid really annoying   br    br   hideos sister  spends most of her time running around after the disobedient little so and so . as for him  well  i know he  s a kid n all  but his acting ability is about as wooden as a dead tree . so far i  m only half way through  and am fascinated by the story  but the people in it  let it down  i just hope it gets better by the end  as i can  t not know what it  s all about . although  some supposedly cryptic messages in the scribbles on the wall and a notebook  indicate everything is backwards  i . e . dog is god  live is evil etc . . . just seems a little obvious at the moment  yet nobody mentions its obvious meaning   as yet anyway  if my opinion changes at the end of the movie  i  ll update this post  but if your reading this  then well . . . . . . see above statement .  
zero day leads you to think  even re  think why two boys  young men would do what they did  commit mutual suicide via slaughtering their classmates . it captures what must be beyond a bizarre mode of being for two humans who have decided to withdraw from common civility in order to define their own  mutual world via coupled destruction .  br    br   it is not a perfect movie but given what money  time the filmmaker and actors had  it is a remarkable product . in terms of explaining the motives and actions of the two young suicide  murderers it is better than  elephant   in terms of being a film that gets under our  rationalistic  skin it is a far  far better film than almost anything you are likely to see .  br    br   flawed but honest with a terrible honesty .  
forbidden siren is based upon the siren  playstation   so many  s  game . like most video game turned movies  i would say the majority don  t translate into a different medium really well . and that goes for this one too  painfully .  br    br   there  s a pretty long prologue which explains and sets the premise for the story  and the mysterious island on which a writer  leo morimoto  and his children  daughter yuki  yui ichikawa  and son hideo  jun nishiyama  come to move into . the villagers don  t look all too friendly  and soon enough  sound advice is given about the siren on the island  to stay indoors once the siren starts wailing .  br    br   naturally and slowly  things start to go bump  and our siblings go on a mission beating around the bush to discover exactly what is happening on this unfriendly island with its strange inhabitants . but in truth  you will not bother with what  s going on  as folklore and fairy tales get thrown in to convolute the plot even more . what was really pushing it into the realm of bad comedy are its unwittingly ill  placed  out  of  the  norm moments which just drew pitiful giggles at its sheer stupidity  until it  s explained much later . it  s one thing trying to come up and present something smart  but another thing doing it convincingly and with loopholes covered .  br    br   despite it clocking in under   minutes  i think it  s a horror movie phenomenon to have that as a runtime benchmark  it gives that almost two hour feel with its slow buildup to tell what it wants to . things begin to pick up toward the last   minutes  but it  s a classic case of too little too late .  br    br   what saves the movie is how it changes tack and its revelation at the end . again this is a common device used to try and elevate a seemingly simple horror movie into something a little bit extra in the hope of wowing an audience . it turned out rather satisfactorily  but leaves a bad aftertaste as you  ll feel cheated somewhat . there are two ways a twist will make you feel  it either elevates the movie to a memorable level  or provides you with that hokey feeling . unfortunately forbidden siren belonged more to the latter .  br    br   the saving grace will be its cinematography with its use of light  shadows and mirrors  but i will be that explicit  it  s still not worth the time  so better to avoid this .  
saw this movie at the rotterdam iff . you may question some decisions of the maker  like choosing a mockumentary form for such a sensitive and horrible subject  but this movie sure hits you in the gut . especially the last scenes were almost painful to watch . hope it gets the distribution it deserves .  
because some people  like me  like to know everything about a movie even if they plan to see it  including the ending . anyway  here  s the ending as i remember it  because i couldn  t have been more than  yrs old when i saw it for the first and only time on tv . but i  ll tell ya  it sure scared the little kid that i was  and i thought about it for days afterward  and it still stands out in my mind to this day  even though some of the details are a little vague . abe vigoda was in this movie  i don  t remember that  i didn  t even remember that ol  barnabus was in this movie  and i loved dark shadows . so  at the end  the lead character  belinda montgomery   is lured by the judge  joseph cotton  i  m guessing  even though i remember it as him being an old family physician or something instead of a judge see how memory fades   to the wedding place  which as i remember it is in a cavern of some kind  maybe i  ve got that wrong and shelley winters is there laughing  and the judge has a cape on  and the camera angle is kind of looking up at him  and he throws back the cloak  and he has goat legs  and he announces he  s actually her father  the devil  and she  s played right into their  the satanic cult  s  hands  because the  mortal  guy she has fallen in love with  i guess that  s robert foxworth  turns out also to be the guy satan wants to marry her off to  the demon with yellow eyes  and yep  sure enough  they show robert foxworth  and his eyes glow yellow . there are a lot of close  ups in the last few minutes of the film . everyone is laughing and rejoicing  except for belinda montgomery  who is very unhappy  and cries or screams or something  and that  s the end . the bad guys win .  
as always  controversial movies like this have mixed reviews . you either love it or you hate it  and not everyone will like this movie . this shows the perspective of the killers  which is something i personally feel is something important to consider . you may hate them  you may claim to understand them and feel as though you can relate  but regardless this movie will make you think about school shootings from a different perspective .  br    br   the movie is shot entirely using a hand  held camera  something that i think works quite well as it makes it more realistic . it is told completely from the killers point of view  from their  missions  to family outings  all leading up the big day  zero day  in which they are planning on a massacre at their school . zero day does not offer answers  but merely presents a glimpse at the lives of two troubled young boys and lets the audience decide for themselves . our feelings towards the boys are something mixed between sympathy and hatred  but yet we are left confused as to why two ordinary young boys would do such a thing . they are shown to be surprisingly normal  typical teenage boys leading ordinary lives  and if we didn  t know what they were planning we wouldn  t expect a thing  they make it clear throughout the whole movie that no  one else knows about their plan   br    br   the acting is extremely good considering the two actors are complete unknowns . we can only hope to see more work from the both of them in the future . despite how this is a fictionalized movie  one cannot help but notice the obvious similarities to columbine . calvin and andre are scarily similar to eric harris and dylan klebold   not so much in looks  but in manner  as someone who has researched columbine very extensively  i could see the similarities and it is almost certainly based on it .  br    br   the actual massacre is shown through surveillance cameras at the school and is one of the most chilling things i have ever seen . i was completely in shock after seeing it  and its a feeling that stays around for a while . it is very realistic and well  done  and it is very difficult to watch .  br    br   all in all zero day is an excellent movie  and i think everyone should at least check it out . in the past  we have always simply branded killers  psychopaths  and assumed that either they were biologically wired for disaster or had media influence  but as zero day shows sometimes the motives are deeper than that  and we can never truly understand why tragedies such as school shootings happen until we have seen it from the perspective of the killers .  
the best laurel and hardy shorts are filled to the brim with mishaps  accidents and destruction  mostly caused by stan  but with ollie receiving the bulk    of the punishment   see the great  the music box        or  towed in a hole        as some some classic examples .  br    br   here  however  for some reason  is it because it was based on a sketch by stan  s father   the boys play it  straight  in a  comedy  built around jokes and supposedly funny situations . it doesn  t come off . it  s merely another third  rate tedious   s comedy  heightened only by the personalities of stan and ollie who never really display any of their trademarked gestures  ollie  s finger wiggling  stan  s blank stares  etc .  or comic abilities .  br    br   the film begins with them running from the police . since we never see or know why  it  s hard to believe or accept their fear of being caught  and thus hiding in colonel buckshot  s mansion . the premise for the  humor   ollie passing himself off as the colonel and stan passing himself off as both the butler and the maid are never very engaging . they are not playing  stan and ollie  in this film . their parts could have been played by any of the pedestrian studio actors and it would be just as poor .  br    br   stan could mime and make whatever he would do funny  but he doesn  t get the chance to do any of that here . he  s constrained by uttering too much dialog to  move  the plot  but none of it rises much above the silly . we are treated to endless third rate comedy chestnuts such as the running gag of not correctly pronouncing lord plumtree  s name  the  call me a cab  okay you  re a cab   joke  cops losing their clothes and being seen in long johns  and a non  sequiter ending of stan and ollie as the two parts in a painfully obvious horse costume as they make their escape on a bicycle for two  and james finlayson is still doing his silent  era full body takes and keystone kop jumping jacks .  br    br   stan and ollie do much better in a situation comedy in  sons of the desert        where we get to see them do what we love about them   be themselves . in fact         seem to be their best years .  br    br   since this film does not play to any of their strengths  why bother with it  i have to give it a  .  
i rented zero day from the local video store last week . i had never heard of the film and i had my reservations about it . just from looking at the box i knew the film was an indie film and therefore the quality was going to be less than a mainstream film .  br    br   i can tell you that after i finished watching zero day i immediately started it from the beginning again . the film was clearly following the basic outline of what happened at columbine high school of april of      but what struck me was how believable the two lead actors were . my first time through watching this film i wasn  t entirely sure if what i was watching were actual tapes left behind by the shooters at columbine . in the back of my mind i knew what i was watching could not be real but at the same time the acting was so convincing you had to keep giving your head a shake .  br    br   is the film disturbing  absolutely  are you going to see things that will make you question the merit of the film  probably . i think what most people will find disturbing is they will actually have feelings for the two lead characters  calvin and andre  played by cal robertson and andre keuck  . why is that problematic for some people  calvin and andre are planning a massacre at their high school . i know for myself  i felt an immense sadness for andre and calvin . i had empathy for them because their lives had come to such a horrific point . they had fallen so deeply through cracks that they had begun a journey down a road which could have been stopped  if only people around them had taken notice to their plight .  br    br   zero day is a phenomenal film . it gives you an up close and personal look to events that most of us will only ever see the conclusion to on the news . it leaves you thinking about the lives involved . and it leaves you perplexed how people get to this point . a week after seeing this film  i still think about it .  br    br   those of you who have not seen zero day please keep in mind the following the film is an independent with little to no budget and the film is shot on camcorders . the material in the film is disturbing . this is not mainstream hollywood and there is no happy ending .  br    br   but if you can put all that aside  zero day is a film that will stick with you and just maybe help you to open your eyes a little .  
it  s hard to imagine that anyone could find this short their favorite if they have seen most of their shorts  but i know that humor is very subjective . i have seen all of their sound shorts  by far the best of their stuff imo  and i found this one of their weaker efforts .  br    br   in the year this was made       stan and babe made   shorts and one feature . they were extremely popular and their boss hal roach took full advantage by keeping them working constantly . in addition  this was a time of experimentation for the writers and stan . i would say this was an experiment that really did not work . as someone else said  it does not play to their strengths . too much dialog and plot .  br    br   the best part of this one for me is the largely improvised sequence with stan as agnes the maid and the great thelma todd talking about  girl  stuff .  br    br   if you really want to see the boys at their most creative and funny check out blotto  or brats from the same year .  br    br   they made so many shorts in such a short time that i think they can be forgiven for turning out a few less then par shorts . they made something like    films altogether . very few  except for the ones made at fox  were outright failures but there are some . county hospital  me and my pal  the live ghost  the fixer uppers come to mind as essentially weak ones . but other then those i find something wonderful in just about all their shorts . quite a record in my book .  br    br   if you have seen and enjoyed all their other shorts then by all means check this one out  but i would be willing to bet that this one was less then memorable to stan and babe .  
if you  re looking for a hollywood action packed kid  flick with the common bad language and violence this may not be the film to sit down for . if you  re on the other hand interested in watching a film with youre children that has actually some values like showing the importance of friendship and truth this is the film to watch . looking at the program guide this is obviously what millions of other viewers have found . not many low  budget independent films have ever been aired as much as mr . atlas . the film is actually very funny as well as warm hearted and shows some beautiful locations masterfully captured by the sharp eye of the obvious brilliant cinematographer suki medencevic . also if you  re interested in looking at a muscular fellow with good looks the ladies can get an eye full . let  s support those who make good childrens film buy buying their videos and watching their products on tv . enjoy  
in the u . s .  very few films have been made about rome that were not set in the time of julius caesar or shortly thereafter . hollywood  s sword and sandal epics mostly have a christian theme  which makes it difficult to get into earlier roman history  spartacus was probably the first exception to this rule  and encountered some resistance in hollywood because it did not have jesus in it  .  br    br   it  s interesting to see at least one picture that not only takes place before the time of caesar and christ  but is set when rome was only one city among many on the italian peninsula  and had just ousted the hated king tarquin and formed the republic .  br    br   however  this is not a historical film it  s peplum  and while the production values aren  t rock bottom  the acting and characterizations are cardboard . i can only imagine what the dialogue was like in italian  but with wooden english dubbing it  s very campy . i got a few good laughs out of it at first .  br    br   i haven  t seen many films of this genre  having missed most of the hercules movies of the   s . it  s amusing up to a point  but as the film goes on  it gets somewhat boring .  br    br   one thing  s for sure if i  d seen this movie when i was ten years old  i would have loved it . at that age  i went for anything with romans and swordfights in it . so at least  this flick brought back some childhood memories .  
this is one of those movies  like dave  american dreamer and local hero  that holds a viewer  s interest time and again . lightweight movies seldom win oscars  but whoever did the casting for soapdish deserves one . even after one has seen the movie and knows what is coming  it  s still enjoyable to watch how the various plot facets develop . true  all the drama is melodrama but that  s entirely fitting for a movie with a soap opera background . my favorite line comes from whoopi goldberg  now why can  t i write sht like that   i think it  s unfortunate that the tv and website censors insist on all this unnecessary sanitation .  
pedantic  overlong fabrication which attempts to chronicle the birth of the federal bureau of investigations . begins quite promisingly  with a still  relevant probe into an airplane explosion  however the melodrama involving james stewart and wife vera miles just gets in the way  miles had a habit of playing tepid wives under duress  and her frayed nerves arrive here right on schedule  . esteemed director mervyn leroy helmed this adaptation of don whitehead  s book  but despite the talent involved  the picture fails to make much of an impression . best performance is turned in by murray hamilton as stewart  s partner  however most of the dialogue is ludicrous and the dogged pacing causes the movie to seem twice as long as it is .     from   
i watched this film many years ago and have searched for it ever since in my opinion although very raw it is very educational as to what the future can hold i enjoyed the movie and to this this day rate it very high sorry to all those that disagree but a movie should always be judged each to there own and in my opinion its great give it a go with all the cloning and test tube babies that are happening today who are we to judge this film  this may be a dramatised event of what is to become but there you go . all the horrors of today are so far fetched even i laugh but this one gets me thinking and it scares me as a mother what if i was desperate  after watching this movie i would think twice sorry but i love the movie make your own mind up don  t watch the movie making  just aknowledge the story and ask yourself this how far would you go for a child   
i have to agree with most everyone  s opinion that this show was poorly produced as well as written . the acting was not much more above the lower production values however i feel an actor can only rely on the material provided to them and make the best of it . in keeping with this thought i feel it is important to point out that one actor has risen and persevered well beyond this campy to tasteless production to have become a respectable and quite talented performer . i am referring to laura harris a canadian born actor who has etched her way through many poorly produced shows and movies to find a place on the hbo hit  dead like me  where she plays the role of daisy adair and to her credit she handles this role in an efficient manner . i remember having a typical boyhood crush on the young actress during this series where she played ashley a soft spoken yet intelligent  th grader . i felt as though if anyone might  make it  from this series it surely would be laura harris and true to her nature she did excel in the acting field to win the respect of many producers who now recognize her for her talent as well as unique nordic blond allure . if you ever do have the opportunity to view this series i recommend that you have something epic to watch after wards such as the  godfather  or perhaps  beaches  in order to remind yourself that there is after all a great deal of true production integrity and value out there and that this series is only a low  budget reminder of what laura harris can simply state about her time on the show and i bet she would quote many a young actors words of defense by saying  it  s a start    
the unborn is a very  very different film . james karen  brooke adams are in the film and they performed quite well . this film is builds up solidly and it keeps you going . though i think you must be a horror fan to watch this because of the scenes and the plot . there is one brief sex scene with no nudity that could have been left out and to some people this scene may disappoint someone like me that  s into the film and thinks that stuff ruins a good film but that  s it when it comes to that . there is a scene where adams  character goes nuts and kills a cat but you can tell its not real . the music is very different but very good . the unborn in my opinion is a really creepy film that  s superbly unpredictable and that  s quite strange  i recommend all horror fans to this movie   
this is a fascinating film   especially to old movie buffs and historians  i am both  . during the first half of the twentieth century  sadly  black americans were usually not allowed into white theaters . as a result  theaters catering to black audiences wanted to show films reflecting the black experience and showing black actors . in many cases  the films were essentially similar plot  wise to standard hollywood fare  but with a much  much lower budget   and usually horrid production values . you really can  t fault the film makers   they just didn  t have the money and resources available to the average film company . as a result  they had to make due with a lot less   including an over  reliance on stock actors that were seen again and again  no money for re  shooting scenes and a need to get the films done fast  this film tried very hard to be a black version of a gene autry film   starring herb jeffries instead . jeffries was a light  skinned man from mixed ancestry and he starred in several similar cowboy films . in each  he sings a little  fights a little  though very poorly  and loves a little   everything you need in a cowboy . believe it or not  jeffries is still alive at age   .  br    br   the general plot was indiscernible from an autry picture   complete with anachronistic items such as telephones out west  the problem is that despite its similarities  the low budget shines through . stymie  from the li  l rascals  flubbed a few lines but they just left it in  the fight scenes were totally unchoreographed and were among the worst ever put on film  there were some odd plot holes  there was no background music  leaving the film strangely quiet  and the acting was pretty awful .  br    br   now this does not mean that the film isn  t worth seeing   only that it abouts with technical problems that prevent it from being scored higher . one reviewer  oddly  scored this film a    how this can be with all the problems is beyond me . however  i can understand a person liking the film despite its many problems . the plot is generally pretty good  the characters likable  the musical numbers excellent and you know that the people making the film tried so darn hard and it  s a very important piece of american history . but a      br    br   by the way  in an odd bit of casting  the very tall  lean and almost white  skinned jefferies is paired with short  dumpy and exceptionally dark mantan moreland . . . . as his brother   also  spencer williams may be familiar to you . he played andy on tv  s  amos  n andy  .  
the unborn tells the tale of a married couple named virginia  brooke adames   bradley marshall  jeff hayenga  who have tried for the last five years to conceive  virginia has had two miscarriages since then  is desperate to have a child . they visit dr . richard meyerling  james karen  for help after he is recommended by some of their friends  dr . meyerling says he will be able to help them have a child . dr . meyerling operates on virginia  it is soon confirmed that the surgery has been a success  virginia is pregnant . at first everything seems perfect  the marshall  s couldn  t be happier  but their picture perfect lives don  t last for long as virginia  s pregnancy develops problems  she becomes moody  acts totally out of character  she receives a worrying phone call from beth  jane cameron   another woman who has undergone dr . meyerling  s procedure  who claims that meyerling is in fact using his patients for his own sinister ends  is in fact a disgraced genetic researcher . virginia begins to question just what is growing inside of her . . .  br    br   produced  directed by rodman flender i actually thought the unborn was a decent horror  thriller  it  s definitely not a sci  fi film as the imdb would have you believe  that pleasantly surprised me . the script by henry dominic tries to be different  it must take some credit for that at least . the unborn goes for psychological horror rather than cheap scares  bad special effects  it  s got quite a clever story that works  plays on basic human fears . it moves along at a fair pace although it  s not exactly an action packed film by any means . the climax was good  seemed a fitting way to round things off  the warnings about messing around with genetics seem even more relevant today than it must have been back then  maybe flender knew something the rest of us didn  t . on the down side it lacks some exploitation elements  is at heart a dialogue driven film mostly focusing on one person so it can get a bit dull at times . also  i have to mention it  what on erath was that grinning black skateboarding dwarf all about eh    br    br   director flender does an ok job  the unborn is far from the most stylish or visually interesting film ever made but it  s good enough . the atmosphere is good  there  s a fair bit of tension as what virginia has inside of her  dr . meyerling  s sinister plans aren  t fully revealed until the last possible moment . disappointingly the blood  gore is almost non existent which in a way lets the film down because in retrospect nothing really memorable happens  the unborn relies on good storytelling which is fine but in a week i doubt i  ll remember too much about it .  br    br   technically the film is ok  i  d imagine that the unborn had a pretty low budget but it  s well made even if it  s a little bland  forgettable . the baby creature is actually a decent special effect  has fairly realistic facial movement . the acting is good  this was one of the first acting jobs credited to friends            star lisa kudrow  i have to be honest i don  t like friends  i don  t even know who she was in this so i can  t tell you how she did .  br    br   the unborn is a good horror  thriller that deserves to be more widely known  seen  it  s far better than a lot of low budget crap that litter video shop shelves . if your a horror fan  are looking for something a bit different  something slightly more intelligent  thought provoking than usual then i think you could do a lot worse than the unborn . followed by a dumbed down sequel the unborn ii       which i watched straight after this  check my review out if you want . .  
how can a major german tv station broadcast a mess like this  it  s amazing how the main actors avoid every acting talent  even the well  known gottfried john is acting very poor  especially in the double murder scene  how amateurish . . . . . . .  the screen plan is very  very extended  perhaps to fill out  parts of the movie . be careful not to fall asleep while watching  the set is obviously very often a blue screen  f . g . the scenes on the ship with unreal sea in background . . .  in the german version the sound and the dubbing is very poor  probably reason different languages of actors  but other international productions do handle this much more professional . advice do not watch  it  s a diabolic waste of time   
the unborn is a pretty good low  budget horror movie exploiting the fears associated with pregnancy . it  s very well acted by the always  good brooke adams and b  movie stalwart james karen  although the supporting cast is pretty average for a b  grader . the music  by gary numan of all people  is good too . henry dominic  s script is quite intelligent for this sort of thing  although there is a hint of misogyny about it . rodman fender  s direction is merely adequate  and there are some unnecessary cheap scares . if you  re a fan of adams  whose movie career is nowhere near as illustrious as it should be  check it out she  s great  as always .  
strtebeker is truly one of the worst tv mini  series ever made on this planet .  br    br   the acting is unbearable and the historic background is mostly nonsense just two examples visby was shown as a village of three houses . instead  it was a major city at this time  it  s best days already passed by . secondly  hamburg would have never been the city taking care of pirates in the baltic sea . hamburg had no access to the baltic sea  the major town at that time was lbeck .  br    br   but worse than all that the directing  how can a dilettante like this guy be allowed to direct a movie like this  impossible  there was not a single believable scene it  the fights were ridiculous and i could not suppress laughter at most stern scenes .  br    br   i can  t understand at all how a major television station could be so incompetent .  
the unborn is a roger corman production and as such is nasty and tasteless . if you hate pregnant women  check out this movie because it  s chock full of preggo killings and failed abortions . brooke adams stars as virginia . her and her square of a husband go to some fancy fertilization clinic because they can  t have kids on their own . there they meet dr . meyerling  james karen of rotld     . dr . meyerling has had a very high success rate at getting couples pregnant .  insert joke here .  is it because he  s creating some genetic killer supermutant babies  that  s what virginia starts to think when she starts having some odd side effects and extreme moodiness from the treatment . that  s when she starts taking matters into her own hands .  br    br   on this one  you  ll have to get the rest of the details somewhere else because if i told ya all the goodies this one had you might hurt yourself putting it on your netflix rental queue too quickly . it  s a bit slow  moving for a while but once it picks up in the final third  all systems are go  very highly recommended by me on the strengths of its un  pc fetal violence .      out of seventeen stars .  
richard dix is a big  not very nice industrialist  who has nearly worked himself to death . if he takes the vacation his doctors suggest for him  can he find happiness for the last months of his life  well  he  ll likely be better off if he disregards the voice of the whistler .  br    br   this william castle directed entry has some great moments  the introduction and the depiction of richard dix  s life through newsreel a la citizen kane   and some intriguing plotting in the final reels . dix  s performance is generally pretty good . but  unfortunately  the just does not quite work because one does not end up buying that the characters would behave the way that they do . also  the movie veers from a dark  and fascinating beginning  to an almost cheerful   s movie like midsection  full of nice urban ethnic types who don  t mind that they aren  t rich  and back again to a complex noir plot for the last   minutes or so .  br    br   this is a decent movie   worth seeing   but it needed a little more running time to establish a couple of the characters and a female lead capable of meeting the demands of her role .  
we saw this at one of the local art movie theaters in the montrose area of houston  tx . it was a total surprise compared to the write  up in the theater  s newsletter but we were both blown away by the artistry . it was beautifully done and  apparently  photographed in a schloss  german name for chteau  somewhere in the munich area . it is a very explicit exploration of the sexual relationships of a group of twentyish men and women isolated from the day  to  day constraints . it is fantastic on more levels than i can remember . we came home after the movie and talked and talked until about  am the next morning .  br    br   the version we saw was in english  mostly  so there must be at least two versions since the first reviewer saw the movie in  probably its original  german version . i searched and searched for a video tape version but never came up with anything . would absolutely love to have a vhs or dvd version of this . it explores relationships at a fundamental level and is also a great tutorial on how to relate to your partner . if anyone knows the writer  director  please convince him to release again  preferably on dvd these days . i cannot even imagine getting tired of watching the candid performance of the actors who are now probably all in their forties . please  please bring it back .  
this was one of the lamest movies we watched in the last few months with a predictable plot line and pretty bad acting  mainly from the supporting characters  . the interview with hugh laurie on the dvd was actually more rewarding than the film itself . . .  br    br   hugh laurie obviously put a lot of effort into learning how to dance the samba but the scope of his character only required that he immerse himself at the kiddie end of the pool . the movie is based on the appearance of a lovely girl and great music but these are not sufficient to make good entertainment .  br    br   if you have never seen rio  or the inside of a british bank  this film is for you .  out of   .  
love this film also . saw it when it was first shown i  n germany in a small independent cinema in frankfurt . it was really crowded and it was a very ambitious atmosphere to . the erotic of the movie hit the spectators and the discussion with moritz boerner the producer and director was always underlined by that . in his genre it was a very ambitious movie even especially when you think that it was an independent movie .  br    br   it doesn  t exist much copies of that film  mortitz boerner came from the theatre and made two or three short movies more worked for tv as well before he became a sort of therapist .  br    br   for the people who wish to see that movie again  you could find it on his homepage which isn  t that easy to search for but its possible .  
an acted  manipulated documentary about one of the most darkest places of guatemala . portrayed as a fun  secure . . . but sad place  were a bunch of sex workers get to play in a soccer team  assembled in what seems like no more than a week  the documentary  s main focus is to prove that society repels this kind of  workers   even though no solution to these poor women is ever achieved  except that the people who documented this  made them some sort of  stars   just like the title says so  in exchange of being exploited for making this realityshowlike documentary . it does have  however  its own documented reality . . . but  that sadly has nothing to do with the main storyline . i would not accept to see it again but i would recommend it for general cultural purposes only .  
this is one of the very few movies out there which are very erotic without being pornographic  despite there being only a very rudimentary plot . there  s not much live sound or dialogue instead  the actors do voice  overs describing their experience  why they participated  etc .  br    br   it  s a document .  br    br   it  s mind  blowing .  br    br   i can totally understand why nobody else ever tried to do something like this . there already is something like this . this .     br    br   nb the producer doesn  t have the rights to distribute a dvd version . i  ve also never seen it being sold anywhere one may email mr . boerner and order a copy on vhs .  
this warning against anti  semitism is well  meant and may have had its purpose at the time  but it is made without the slightest notion of how to make a film . the director has no idea about mise  en  scene the cast varies from bad till even worse .  br    br   the great austrian comic hans moser is wasted . in his part he ends in an asylum for the crazy  that is designed as a set from das kabinett des dr . caligari one wonders whether the makers had all their mental capabilities .  br    br   the restored copy i saw  dutch filmmuseum  gives the impression that some scenes were not put into the right place  but may be the original editing was bad as well .  
  kolchak the night stalker  is a hugely entertaining tv series in which a pushy  sarcastic  forty  something reporter is repeatedly drawn into mortal combat with supernatural  and occasionally extraterrestrial  forces . based on a very popular pair of tv movies featuring the kolchak character  this series died a quick death in the mid      s due to low ratings  but it nevertheless maintains a strong cult following today . but will the average modern  day viewer be able to dig kolchak and his weekly clashes with the undead   br    br   that  s actually a tough question to answer fairly . detractors of this series tend to argue that it  s formulaic and hopelessly dated . on the other hand  fans argue that it  s cleverly written  well  acted  and sometimes genuinely spooky . and me  i  ve got a foot in both camps . i thoroughly enjoyed watching all   episodes of kolchak on dvd recently  though i can plainly see that the series has major flaws .  br    br   i  ll address the question of kolchak being  formula  fiction first . now  i think we can all agree that most tv shows have formulas  just about every episode of columbo unfolds according to the same pattern  for example . repetition is not necessarily a bad thing in itself in fact  critics have long recognized that audiences often enjoy  and actively seek out  repetitive entertainment . however  the problem with kolchak is that its formula is simply too rigid  it  s too repetitive even by the most generous standards .  br    br   in almost every episode  kolchak investigates a murder  and figures out that it was committed by some form of monster . he tries to publish a story about said monster  but his editor vincenzo blocks him  always on the grounds that kolchak doesn  t have sufficient evidence to support his claims that supernatural forces are at work . and  alas  kolchak is also obstructed by the police . so  in the end  kolchak does some independent research on the monster  figures out how to kill it . . . and then kills it . without ceremony  or reward  or writing a big story about it .  br    br   you can see where this ever  so  strict formula might get tiresome  right  i  m particularly mystified by vincenzo  if kolchak  s always raving about monsters  and vincenzo never believes it . . . well  then  why doesn  t vincenzo fire kolchak  or have him committed  that  s what any normal boss would do . but the series eschews such realism and prefers to keep vincenzo and kolchak as comical antagonists . as a result  many of their scenes together are profoundly unbelievable  though they are also quite funny .  br    br   the very best episodes of kolchak manage to vault over the limitations of this formula  however  usually because they contain some kind of unexpected twist . these select episodes are good enough that i think they  re largely immune to typical criticisms of the series . some of my favorites include  br    br   horror in the heights  an episode that  s noteworthy for being grimy  inventive and socially aware . kolchak  s dialog has an unusually sharp and cynical edge . though it adheres closely to the kolchak formula  the script  written by hammer studios veteran jimmy sangster  is remarkably literate  and it delves deeply into the monster  s backstory .  br    br   the devil  s platform  a possible inspiration for the  omen  films  this episode stands out to me because the villain  a very young tom skerritt  tempts kolchak with a satanic contract full of goodies  and  in so doing  reveals a lot about the reporter  s character .   br    br   firefall  this episode appears to have a bad reputation among fans  but i enjoyed it because it  s got a great red herring and a really creepy  almost unstoppable  seeming monster .  br    br   though i  ve singled out these three episodes for praise  i  d say that most of the stories are entertaining at the very least . for my money  there are only two complete turkeys in the    episode run primal scream  which is about monkey  men running rampant in chicago  and the sentry  which features the dumbest  looking creature makeup in the history of filmed entertainment  and this assessment is coming from a lifelong doctor who and godzilla fan    br    br   on balance  then  this is a good series . a little repetitive  a little cheesy perhaps  but it has elements of greatness . even during the weaker episodes  darren mcgavin  s wonderful performance as the caustic  world  weary  endlessly funny kolchak truly shines . he carries the series effortlessly  in a way that  for example  sarah michelle gellar never managed on  buffy .  mcgavin was one great character actor  and this series is worth watching for him alone .  
gadar is an example of one of bollywood worst overrated movies ever . directed by anil sharma  who prefers making period related movie gives a rubbish movie . the songs were boring and ain  t the kind of song you want to listen to in your car  full volume . sunny deol is famous for making daft movies  where he beats up a    bad guys on his own . he even kicks a metal jail door  indian  and kicks a moving car far away  teesri aankh  . i can give another   examples of disgraceful action by sunny deol . but i  m sure most people know this already . sunny gives a pathetic performance once again repeating the same type of role . a guy claiming to be fighting for his countries piece  by using violence . amisha patel is hands down dead sexy with an amazing body that i would love to bone . but even she couldn  t save the film from being a disaster . instead of wearing sexy clothes like she usually does  in this movie she doesn  t . maybe cos she was playing a muslim  but she doesn  t act like one in the movie . overall  this is a poor show all the way  i  m sure it will appeal to some people  who love seeing the bollywood actor beat up    guys . give me a break .  
since was only a toddler when this show originally aired i just recently picked up the dvd set and am wishing there were more episodes filmed . this show was a   s version of the poplular    s tv series  x  files   but with a bit more of a comedic  light hearted approach . but don  t get me wrong  some of these episodes have full on horror themes  many in which have some pretty greuesome plots  left to the imagination of course  this was the early   s television  .  br    br   some of the plots where a bit silly as well as the acting  but that is the charm and attraction to this series . whether you like mystery crime dramas  comedies  or sci  fi  horror themes  this series brought all that together . each episode clocked in at around   minutes or so   hour with commercials  and that   minutes goes by quick always leaving me wanting more . a great classic show that is underrated in my book   
gadar is a really dumb movie because it tells a fake story . it  s too unrealistic and is a typical sunny deol movie that is aimed to bash pakistan . the movie  s aim is to misguide the viewers so they can think that pakistan and it  s government is bad but trying to hide their own flaws won  t work . and all the songs and music of the movie are all bad . most likely the sikhs will love th movie cause they are being misguided . the movie sucks and sucks with power . i think only amisha patel was good in the movie . if i can give  out of   i would but the lowest is  . please save  hours of your life and do not watch this stupid boring movie . disaster .  
fast paced and funny satire about that original  reality tv   the soap opera . the script by playwright robert harling is packed with one liners and ridiculous situations . the best of them is the climax  a live broadcast that quickly deteriorates into bad improv and a brain transplant . keven kline  s murdering of his lines  due to not wearing his glasses  is hilarious .  her brain will laterally explore within the next few houses .  the brilliant cast is on the same page as kline . sally field  elizabeth shue  cathy moriarty  robert downey jr .  whoopi goldberg  teri hatcher  garry marshall  and kathy najimy are all perfect . it is a treat to see a cast click like it does in this movie . this is a classic that has somehow slipped through the cracks .  br    br   p . s . the score by alan silvestri is an added bonus . it fits the soap opera with it  s flamboyant and melodramatic air .  
the fbi story       was warner bros .    minute epic tribute to the famous criminal investigation agency  from a book by don whitehead came a somewhat laborious screenplay by richard l . green and john twist and was directed with only a modicum of flair by mervyn leroy . however it did have splendid colour cinematography by joseph biroc and a helpful score by the studio  s musical magician max steiner   br    br   the movie charts the history of the bureau from its lowly beginnings in the twenties to modern times and its all seen through the recollections of aging fastidious agent chip hardesty  james stewart  as he relates his investigative experiences  in flashback  to a class of budding young agents . but it  s all very long  winded and episodic  and as it progresses it begins to look like a tv mini series instead of a major movie production as the young hardesty runs the american crime gamut from taking on such notorious criminal figures as  baby face  nelson  ma barker  dillinger etc . to sorting out nefarious organisations like the ku klux klan  nazi spy rings and the red menace . and here it has to be said that only for the screen presence and appeal of its star the fbi story would probably have ended up a forgotten disaster . moreover  this is another problem with the picture  stewart is left to carry the entire movie almost on his own  with the exception of vera miles  who has the thankless role of being his long suffering but devoted wife  he is surrounded by a cast of minor players  throughout you find yourself half expecting someone like robert ryan  jack palance or even raymond burr to make a welcome entrance as a mobster or a police chief or whatever . but nothing quite as imaginative as that ever occurs  pity   br    br   the film does however manage to give a good look inside the workings of the bureau  with the help of stewart  s narration we learn about the thousands of men and women who work for the organisation which includes the hundreds of agents in the field . and we are also treated to a peek inside headquarters which houses the gigantic records section and we also get a glimpse of the chemists and fingerprint experts meticulously going through their daily chores .  br    br   another plus for the movie is max steiner  s remarkable score  heard over the titles is a powerful  rousing and determined march while for the picture  s gentler moments there is an attractive love theme . but quite ingenious is the menacing and ominous march theme for the ku klux klan sequence . and better still is the rhythmic latin  american music the composer wrote for the south american scenes especially the exciting fandango like orchestrations for the arrival of the federal troops on horseback . the fbi story was one of five scores the composer wrote in     which included samuel bronston  s naval epic  john paul jones   the charming rom  com  cash mccall   delmer daves  seminal western  the hanging tree  and daves   a summer place  from which derived the young love theme  which was to become a major hit tune for steiner better known as  theme from a summer place  .  br    br   the fbi story just about passes muster as a movie thanks to biroc  s rich colour cinematography  steiner  s wonderful music and of course jimmie stewart who makes anything watchable   br    br   classic but implausible line from the fbi story . . . . . . . . . . . . . as the bland nick adams  who has just blown up a plane with   people on board  including his mother  is being led away handcuffed he turns to the arresting officer and blurts  in case i get any mail you can send it to canyon city prison for the next month or so  after that you can send it to hell  . wow   
as much as the movie was good  i have nothing more to say about it than what was said already . all i wanted is to point the fact that the movie isnt from sweden but from denemark . maybe i wrong and in that case i  ll be happy to know my mistakes so take the and notify me .  
its not the cast . a finer group of actors  you could not find . its not the setting . the director is in love with new york city  and by the end of the film  so are we all  woody allen could not improve upon what bogdonovich has done here . if you are going to fall in love  or find love  manhattan is the place to go . no  the problem with the movie is the script . there is none . the actors fall in love at first sight  words are unnecessary . in the director  s own experience in hollywood that is what happens when they go to work on the set . it is reality to him  and his peers  but it is a fantasy to most of us in the real world . so  in the end  the movie is hollow  and shallow  and message  less .  
if mulder was looking for his real father here he is darren mcgavin  the first x files  pity it was only one season long the producers of this show didn  t know that they had the makings of a classic on their hands and in     along came chris carter with what i call the follow up to the night stalker  the x files . both will go down as classics is my opinion the two shows taking the viewers to a level of experience that only comes along once in a while and who should appear in the x files years later darren mcgavin  as agent arthur dales helping our two favorite hero  s solving cases . paying homage to the man i think so  well done chris carter bringing back a forgotten tv show in the form of david duchovny as darren mcgavin if it wasn  t for watching the x files and that particular show i would have never known about the night stalker .  
this move is slow  plodding  cold  dark  and without a plot or hope . it follows that tried and true european formula that they love to subsidize  that is never seen  but that the critics think makes an  important point  .  br    br   the movie is valuable if nothing more than to show the huge difference in the thinking between americans and europeans regarding employment . in this movie the men are still nursing their wounds from years ago and feel it  s the government  s duty to provide them with work . whereas in the u . s . we know we have to go out there and create value for someone .  br    br   spain never looked so backward   
i barely remember this show  a little  but i remembered it was great  my eldest brother  reminded me about the show recently and i had seen an advertisement for the d . v . d set coming out . the network  again screwed up in pulling this from the air  so that they could put what else in it  s place  it should have gone at least  seasons . why not  right  i think sometimes that the network executives think they are the  gods  of the entertainment world . but they mis  guess and flat out miss good show placement from time to time . let it be said that  they have a lot more flops than  hits  . this was one of the poor decisions to cut from the line  up . anyhow  i am getting this for my collection .  
a romanticised and thoroughly false vision of unemployment from a middle class  artist  with a comfortable upbringing . . . it is clear that the writer  director never suffered unemployment directly and certainly has no personal experience of it . if you had to believe this absolutely ridiculous story  unemployed men of all ages behave like teenagers  have no anger  no fear  no frustration  etc . all the characters live trough the day by carrying pranks  boyish jokes . they do never look for work  the do almost never experience rejection or anguish  etc . living on the dole is just about like a summer vacation from school . . . ridiculous . specially if you compare it with contemporary masterpieces from the likes of ken loach  etc .  
as a forty  something urban explorer  photography and longtime fan of the original kolchak night stalker series since my early childhood  one aspect that hasn  t really been mentioned is the amount of urban exploration carl  s character undertook during the series . he always managed to get himself in to one great abandonment  sewer or tunnel after another . armed with only his trusty penlight  okay  so he had some flares in the primal ape episode tunnel  and his camera  he never carried any other gear to either protect himself or make the exploration easier .  br    br   like many here  i recently purchased the dvd box set of the two pilot movies and subsequent tv episodes  and have been slowly revisiting all the shows . and although i remember watching them back in the early   s when they first aired  its been over   years passed . . . so many of them seem new all over again . campy  dated and cheesy  but charming and highly entertaining . they just don  t make stuff like this these days . now its all regurgitated spin  offs with predictable characters and plots .  br    br   thankfully  my    yr  old daughter has been sitting down to watch the episodes with me and has developed an appreciation for them  she enjoys the genre  . it gives me hope and faith the series will carry on to new generations of fans for years to come .  
this movie is painfully slow and has no plot . it conveys the lives of a group of laid off boatworkers . one of the older ones is sincere in his attempt to get a job . there may be some social commentary here  but  it is muddled as nobody is painted in a very sympathetic light .  br    br   i do not understand why it had a  .  when i decided to watch it . i watched the whole tedious thing and built expectations for a huge redeeming payoff . no luck . the imdb rating has always been such a good match for my tastes . anything above  .  was worth watching .  br    br   and my wife says javier barem does not even look good in this movie . he  s not my type  so  my agreement does not mean much .  br    br   sigh . i give it a  .  
kolchak is sheer entertainment . great stories and a great cast and nothing else to weigh it down . darren mcgavin gives an energetic performance that pulls the audience along with him . simon oakland  jack grinnage and ruth mcdevitt give mcgavin the kind of solid support that most leading actors can only dream of having . some excellent guest stars add colour and verve to individual episodes  erik estrada in legacy of terror  phil silvers in horror in the heights  antonio fargas in the zombie . it  s easy to see how a boyhood spent watching kolchak drove chris carter to create the x files . darren  rip . simon  rip . ruth  rip .  
quentin crisp once stated that when things are shown too beautifully  one is a romantic . when things are show unbearably grim  they are realistic . and when something gets the ironic treatment  they  re spot on . unfortunately for leon de aranoa  he falls into the second catagory . this director has obviously tried too hard to make a spanish  ken loach  type movie  without being able to capture the comedy  and warmth between the characters  that elevate loach movies from merely being  depressing  . los lunes al sol  is just that  only depressing . things are unrealistically grim . the characters ultimate moments of misery all reach a climax at the same point  and if the glum story isn  t enough  aranoa washes the tale over with a visually grey and grimy colour palette . the films was ridiculously over  rated at the goyas . a movie that shows empathy for the weaker citizens in society  in this case unemployed harbour workers  does not automatically make for a good movie  even though i would be the first to sympathize with the fates of these people . this movie only manages to make me grow disinterested in their fate . in   st century spain  unemployed people do not live like beggars  and the public transport ferries have decent restrooms  and it  s hard to come across a bar with so few punters and such little happiness to be encountered in it . leon de aranoa obviously doesn  t have a clue about working class spain  and does it no favours . pretentious is the only conclusion i can draw . the scene where the men watch a football match for free  has been directly copied from a film which deals much more  realistically  with the subject of the  poverty  trap  namely  purely belter   which is afar more engaging  humorous  and yet sad .  
there are two distinct ways to enjoy this snappily written  seminal tv show  the  godfather  to x  files and buffy  etc .   as a monster show  it scared the hell out of me when i was a kid    or as a well  written  acted gumshoe  film  noir . it works on both levels . the scariness may have been diluted over the years  it was made in the mid    s   but i was pleasantly surprised upon rediscovering the show  via dvd  that i actually enjoy it more now for the latter reasons . the late darren mcgavin is karl kolchak  an eccentric  tenacious  rumpled newsman  monster  hunter who  in pursuit of a story  always finds a supernatural angle much to the pain of kolchak  s over  stressed  put  upon boss tony vincenzo  played with tremendous world  weariness by the also late  great simon oakland you can practically feel the pain of his budding ulcers   . the interplay between these characters is crackling and witty  much like star trek  s spock and mccoy  only more acidic   . over the course of two pilot tv movies and a one  season series  kolchack fought vampires  robots  werewolves  witches  zombies  government conspiracies  aliens  and ancient legends  sounds like the entire  yr . run of the x  files  in one season   . and kolchak did it first  and as for composer gil melle  s cool  partly  whistled main title music . . . well  x  files creator chris carter calls mike snow  s  very similar  x  files main title theme an  homage .  both themes work well leave it at that . and unlike many modern horror  sci  fi shows  most of kolchak  s monsters are shown in shadow  and in quick cuts  effectively  and sometimes thankfully as some of them do not hold up to modern scrutiny but some still do  . modern horror shows take note less is more  one of the few flaws of the show  and it  s a small one  is the over  use of sunny  california locales passing for windy city chicago . night gallery had the same issue unavoidable for a modest  budget  l . a . based show . and some of the supporting characters seem to fall into what are  now  viewed as clichs  the effeminate reporter  ron updike  always used for comic relief sweet  old lady  advice columnist emily  . but  they all do have their moments to shine  unlike many supporting tv characters since  clich or not   . kolchak is a timeless show  that serves as a template for many that followed . and carl kolchak is one of the richest characters ever written for a horror genre tv show  agent mulder  s real dad  . and as a footnote  i tried watching a few episodes of the new   re  imagining  of the show . it  s an x  files clone  a copy of a copy   . and a bad one  at that . carl kolchak is now a model  pretty  angsty    something  played dismally by a boring stuart townsend  . and giving him a scully  type partner is also a lame idea it undermines kolchak as a lone  don quixote crusader  and kolchak and vincenzo getting along  where  s the tension  the interplay  that they chose to hang the kolchak name on this regurgitated bit o  crap is a prime example of how not to do a remake take a beloved cult series  scrape off everything unique about it  drain it of all character and color  but keep the name  need that cult cred    and voil  instant re  hash  it gets an  f  in  re  imaginings      this new version deserved the axe  stick with the short  lived  but classic original . it truly gets better with age .  
aka mondays in the sun  br    br   i have no idea what i just watched . three men wander aimlessly and drink  grousing about everything and at everyone in their path . this is supposed to be a drama  but what it is  is a total waste of film  without a single redeeming quality .  br    br   i have read reviews touting the performances herein as  wonderful    beautiful   and  heroic .  i  m afraid i cannot agree  unless these men were supposed to come off as the dumbest most ignorant proto  humans who ever walked .  br    br   all in all  this was not a movie . it wanders throughout and loses everyone but the audience . i  ve watched this three times  and cannot for the life of me see what anyone sees in this garbage . there is nothing profound here  whatsoever . it  s crap .  br    br   it rates a zero    from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
a couple of years back i had purchased  and enjoyed  the mgm double  feature dvd of the two kolchak tv movies  the night stalker       and the night strangler       . when the universal set of the subsequent tv series came out  i had intended to buy it immediately  but rumors of playback issues with the dreaded dvd    s kept me from adding it to my collection recently  i placed an online order which consisted of a spate of discounted universal box sets and decided to pick up the kolchak   discer as well .  br    br   having watched it now  i can safely say that i didn  t regret acquiring this beloved  if short  lived  crime  horror series one bit it may follow a standardized formula  dogged and resourceful newspaperman carl kolchak  marvelously played by darren mcgavin  gets into everybody  s hair with his attitude  flustered editor simon oakland  long  suffering colleagues  assorted authoritarian figures  a plethora of monsters and villains   faces up to the inevitable  and usually supernatural  threat alone but  finally  is pressured into keeping his story under wraps  but a winning one  further boosted by an impressive line  up of guest stars and notable behind  the  scenes credits   making the show a great deal of fun .  br    br   that said  quality varies from one episode to another and the modest budgets afforded them results in special and make  up effects which sometimes leave a lot to be desired  for instance  the werewolf in the eponymous entry and the goofy alligator creature in the very last installment   not to mention the fact that these were restricted to    minute programmes and intended for family consumption to boot rather precludes a simplified and wholesome rendering of its often intriguing psychological and metaphysical themes  in the case of the werewolf  again  he  s never seen biting anyone but  somewhat foolishly  is made to merely throw people around    br    br   while the hero  s cynical narration does a lot to pull one into the fanciful plots  there  s a healthy dose of comedy relief involved in each episode  often  but not exclusively  revolving around mcgavin  s relationship with either oakland or geeky reporter jack grinnage   to say nothing of reasonable atmosphere  the setting  for the most part  is chicago  and suspense . to make the ride even more pleasant  there  s a bouncy score by gil melle  and jerry fielding .  br    br   for the record  the monsters encountered  but not always defeated  by kolchak throughout the series are a revived jack the ripper  a variety of cults  voodoo  native american  aztec   aliens  vampire  werewolf  going round its over  familiar concept by having this particular episode entirely set on a cruise  liner    doppelganger  satanist  swamp creature  mass of electricity  robot  apeman  witch  headless motorcyclist  succubus  a knight  s armor taking a murderous life of its own  the episode with perhaps the best supporting cast  featuring john dehner as a morose police captain  hans conried and robert emhardt   helen of troy    and crocodile . some of the actors  other than those playing kolchak  s co  workers  return in the same roles  keenan wynn and ramon bieri  both as officers of the law   john fiedler  as a shrewd morgue attendant  and richard kiel as two distinct nemeses of the hero . if i were pressed to choose the finest  or most entertaining  episodes  i  d lean towards horror in the heights  co  starring phil silvers and abraham sofaer  and the afore  mentioned the knightly murders  while  as the weakest  i  d go for the werewolf  due to reasons i  ve already explained  and chopper  based on a story concocted by robert zemeckis and bob gale   .  br    br   unfortunately  the set contains no extras it would have been nice to see a featurette discussing the numerous concepts dealt with in kolchak the night stalker  as well as putting the series into the context of where tv was at the time of its original airing  or even denoting the lasting influence it had on the apparently endless run of sci  fi series popular today . in fact  kolchak himself  in a much younger and ostensibly darker guise  returned in a     revival this version is available at my local dvd rental outletbut  for various reasons  i  m not sure i  d want to check it out so soon after the       classic   
this picture reminds me of a keneth more picture from     called the admirable crighton  whilst on the boat he was a servant and on the island he became the master and upon being saved reverted back to servant . madonna did ok in some movies however this one doesn  t fire . if there is any picture that show madonna can  t act it is this one .  br    br   i am not sure whether this was a subtle copy of  the admirable crighton  but it sure looks like it and if thats the case then hollywood must be running out of ideas and that is sad . to provide a platform for actors to improve their career profile and just on that this fails in every corner and detail .  br    br   the plot is loose and the acting is mediocre . the script should have been put thru the shredder before taking it on location . while many here have canned madoona for all her acting i think that in films like  a league of their own  was quite good and enjoyable and  who  s that girl  showed a quirkiness of madonna  s style not shown before or afterwards . other madonna films are not as enjoyable and i would have liked a to see a madonna animation series with the character from  who  s that girl  i like the music from these two films however  swept away  remains at the bottom of the pile here and will remain so .  br    br   everyone has a bomb right   
  kolchak  was a tv series that really didn  t fit into any category . part horror  part comedy  some social awareness thrown in  and what we have is something that i think people weren  t ready for . it  s a shame really  as i  ve started to watch these shows on the chiller network   i never saw the originals   i realized how different and interesting it really was .  br    br   starring darren mcgavin as kolchak a reporter for the international news service  and simon oakland as his always angry boss  tony vincenzo  the show followed the exploits of a chicago news reporter who more often than not  became a part of the story himself  as he searched the windy city for modern day creepies that go bump in the night . the underlying charm of macgavin really sets the show apart . a somewhat goofy guy  who always wears the same suit  you cannot help but love him . his jokes are great  and the back and forth between him and the skeptical editor  oakland  are downright hilarious .  br    br   the stories are for the most part pretty good  and the acting is very good . the    s were not a great period for special effects  and the show suffers for it  but if you suspend disbelief  what you have is a fun series that was ahead of it  s time .  
this film story is bad enough  which can happen in real life . i  m very can not understand when they show us this bad film . i say it was bad because there is some reason .  . if madonna was rich and can do everything she want  then why she falling in love with that bad man .  . how can the story script is so weak  she was so rich  can do everything she want  but not dare to divorce her husband that is very impossible .  br    br   the words i love you  it doesn  t meant anything in this film .  
i remember the original series vividly mostly due to it  s unique blend of wry humor and macabre subject matter . kolchak was hard  bitten newsman from the ben hecht school of big  city reporting  and his gritty determination and wise  ass demeanor made even the most mundane episode eminently watchable . my personal fave was  the spanish moss murders  due to it  s totally original storyline . a poor  troubled cajun youth from louisiana bayou country  takes part in a sleep research experiment  for the purpose of dream analysis . something goes inexplicably wrong  and he literally dreams to life a swamp creature inhabiting the dark folk tales of his youth . this malevolent manifestation seeks out all persons who have wronged the dreamer in his conscious state  and brutally suffocates them to death . kolchak investigates and uncovers this horrible truth  much to the chagrin of police captain joe  mad dog  siska  wonderfully essayed by a grumpy keenan wynn  and the head sleep researcher played by second city improv founder  severn darden  to droll  understated perfection . the wickedly funny  harrowing finale takes place in the chicago sewer system  and is a series highlight . kolchak never got any better . timeless .  
guy ritchie  s noble effort is beat up  knocked down  raped  kicked around  shot  stabbed  spit upon  punched  sodomized  and abused and left for dead by madonna  s dreadful performance . her acting was very reminiscent of a graduate from the al gore school of dramatics and public speaking . guy ritchie did do a somewhat noble attempt to remake this  and if you exclude all of the scenes that his wife was in  it  s a fair movie at best . i think that the best acting job ever  had to be guy comforting his wife that her performance was good enough not to re  shoot . if you have an opportunity of watching swept away or clipping your toenails for   minutes . . . go for the extended pedicure .  
i  d love to give kolchak a higher rating but the show quickly went from scary  suspenseful to silly . abc  s fault . they moved the show to friday nights at     p . m .  then known as the  family hour  . never should have been on fridays in the first place . i was a sophomore in high school and loved the early episodes  it was first up against police woman on nbc . abc had huge problems with friday nights . bad season for them overall until barney miller  baretta  and swat debuted in january of    . kolchak should have been a hit . darren mcgavin begged to get out of his contract to end the show . too bad the writing wasn  t up to richard matheson  s in the original tv movies . still  mcgavin made kolchak his own  as actors can do . jackie gleason as ralph kramden and caroll o  connor as archie bunker come to mind . that ins set with the manual typewriters and clacking teletypes seems quaint and ancient today  yet that was part of the appeal . they were very lucky to have simon oakland reprise  vincenzo  from the tv films .  
whatever possessed guy ritchie to remake wertmuller  s film is incomprehensible .  br    br   this new film is a mess . there was one other person in the audience when i saw it  and she left about an hour into it .  i hope she demanded a refund .  the only reason i stayed through to the end was because i  ve never walked out of a movie .  br    br   but i sat through this piece of junk thoroughly flabbergasted that madonna and ritchie could actually think they made a good film . the dialogue is laughable  the acting is atrocious and the only nice thing in this film is the scenery . ritchie took lina  s movie and turned it into another  blue lagoon .   br    br   this is a film that you wouldn  t even waste time watching late night on cinemax . time is too precious to be wasted on crap like this .  
it  s a genuine shame that this spin  off tv series inspired by the superior made  for  tv pictures  the night stalker  and  the night strangler  only lasted a single season and twenty episodes  because at its best this program offered an often winning and highly entertaining blend of sharp cynical humor  carl kolchak  s spirited verbal sparring matches with perpetually irascible and long  suffering editor tony vincenzo were always a treat to watch and hear   clever writing  nifty supernatural menaces  gotta love the offbeat and original creatures in  the spanish moss murders    the sentry   and  horror in the heights   plus you can  t go wrong with such tried  n  true fright favorites as zombies  vampires  werewolves  and witches   colorful characters  lively acting from a raft of cool guest stars  legendary biker flick icon william smith got a rare chance to tackle a heroic lead in  the energy eater  while other episodes featured great veteran character actors like keenan wynn  john fiedler  john dehner  severn darden  and william daniels in juicy roles   effective moments of genuine suspense  the sewer  set climax of  the spanish moss murders  in particular was truly harrowing   and  best of all  the one and only darren mcgavin in peak zesty form as the brash  aggressive  and excitable  but basically decent  brave  and honest small  time chicago  illinois newspaper reporter carl kolchak .  br    br   kolchak was the quintessential    s everyman protagonist  a wily and quick  witted fellow with a strong nose for a tasty scoop and an unfortunate knack for getting into all kinds of trouble . moreover  the occasionally bumbling kolchak was anything but superhuman he usually either tripped or stumbled while running away from a deadly threat  yet possessed a certain inner strength and courage that enabled him to save the human race time and time again from all kinds of lethal otherworldly foes . kolchak was surrounded by a handful of enjoyable secondary characters simon oakland was perfect as carl  s chronically ill  tempered boss tony vincenzo  jack grinnage as the prissy ron updyke made for an ideal comic foil  ruth mcdevitt was simply delightful as the sweet miss emily cowles  and carol ann susi was likewise a lot of fun as eager beaver rookie monique marmelstein  who alas disappeared after popping up in only three episodes  . granted  the show did suffer from lackluster make  up and special effects  the titular lycanthrope in  the werewolf  unfortunately resembles a yorkshire terrier   and the latter episodes boasted a few laughably silly monsters  the headless motorcyclist in  chopper   cathy lee crosby as helen of troy in  the youth killer    but even the second  rate shows are redeemed by the program  s trademark wickedly sly sardonic wit and mcgavin  s boundless vitality and engagingly scrappy presence .  
i don  t know what some of you are smoking  but i suspect it  s potent .  br    br   to call swept away awful would be an insult to the very concept of terribleness . the acting is hideous and i  m not picking on madonna here  we all know she  s useless  but someone should have warned everyone else that her ailment is contagious . my back literally hurts from cringing so much at poorly delivered lines . the editing is so sloppy  it beggars description . the photography and composition  which in this era  competence should be a given for any film with a budget  are astonishingly inept  even the lighting is horrid and unnatural looking . these are basic elements of filmmaking  if you can  t get them right  you should seek another line of work . it  s as contrived as a grade  production of snow white  except nowhere near as well made or interesting .  br    br   the original film by lina wertmueller is a wonderful satire and metaphor  superbly acted and written  featuring breathtaking visuals  you can practically taste the sea salt and feel the windswept sand in your hair . the sexual tension feels real and immediate . . . those of you who found guy ritchie  s version deplorable  should see it  it really is one of the landmarks of world cinema .  br    br   those of you who thought the remake is some kind of masterpiece should have your heads examined .  
warning possible spoilers  but not really  keep reading  . ahhh  there are so many reasons to become utterly addicted to this spoof gem that i won  t have room to list them all . the opening credits set the playful scene with kitsch late     s cartoon stills an enchanting peres  prez  prado mambo theme which appears to be curiously uncredited  but his grunts are unmistakable  and no  one else did them   and with familiar cast names  including kathy najimi a full year before she hit with sister acts    plus teri hatcher from tv  s superman .  br    br   every scene is imbued with shallow injustices flung at various actors  actresses and producers in daytime tv . peeking behind the careers of these people is all just an excuse for an old  fashioned  delicious farce . robert harling penned this riotous spoof that plays like an issue of mad magazine  but feels like a gift to us in the audience . some of the cliched characters are a bit dim  but everyone is drizzling with high jealousy  especially against celeste talbert  sally field  who is the show  s perennial award  winning lead  nicknamed  america  s sweetheart  . the daytime emmies  like awards opening does introduce us to celeste  s show  the sun also sets . against all vain fears to the contrary  celeste wins again . she is overjoyed  because it  s always  such a genuine thrill    adam  did you watch  i won  well  nguh . . .  the reason for adam  s absence soon becomes the justification for the entire plot  and we  re instantly off on a trip with celeste  s neuroses . she cries  screeches  and wrings her hands though the rest of the movie while her dresser tawnee  kathy najimi  constantly waddling after celeste  unseen through celeste  s fog of paranoia  indulges a taste for tammy faye baker  for which tawnee had been in fact specifically hired .  br    br   rosie schwartz  whoopi goldberg  has seen it all before . she is the head writer of the show  and she and celeste have been excellent support networks to each other for   years . so when celeste freaks  rosie offers to write her off the show for six months  we  ll just say that maggie went to visit with the dalai lama .  but celeste has doubts  i thought that the dalai lama moved to la .    well  then  some other lama  fernando lamas  come on   . such a skewering line must be rather affronting to still living beefcake actor lorenzo lamas  son of aforementioned fernando lamas  d .      .  br    br   those who can remember the economics teacher  ben stein  in ferris bueller  s day off       as he deadeningly calls the roll   bueller . bueller . bueller    will take secret pleasure from seeing him again as a nitwit writer . other well hidden member of the cast include garry marshall  in real life mr happy days and brother of penny   who  gets paid   .  million to make the command decisions  on the sun also sets  he says he definitely likes  peppy and cheap   and carrie fisher as betsy faye sharon  who  s  a bitch  .  br    br   geoffrey anderson  kevin kline  is the  yummy  with  a  spoon   and he is  by the way  dinner theater actor now rescued from his hell by david seaton barnes  robert downey jr   and brought back to the same show he was canned from   years earlier . of course this presents some logical challenges for the current scriptwriters because his character  rod randall  was supposed to have been decapitated all those years ago . somehow they work out the logical difficulties  and geoffrey anderson steps off the choo  choo .  br    br   celeste can now only get worse  and her trick of going across the washington bridge no longer helps . first  her hands shake as she tries to put on mascara  but she soon degenerates into a stalker . unfortunately  she cannot get rid of geoffrey anderson so easily . geoffrey  s been promised development of his one  man play about hamlet  and he means to hold the producer to that promise .  i  m not going back to florida no  how    argues geoffrey .  you try playing willie loman in front of a bunch of old farts eating meatloaf   and indeed  seeing geoffrey  s dinner theater lifestyle amongst all the hocking and accidents is hilarious . back in florida in his willie loman fat suit in his room  geoffrey anderson used to chafe at being called to stage as  mr loman  . he was forced to splat whatever cockroaches crawled across his tv with a shoe  and to use pliers instead of the broken analog channel changer . now he find himself as the yummy surgeon dating laurie craven  the show  s new ingenue so he  s not leaving .  br    br   beautiful elizabeth shue  as laurie  rounds out the amazing ensemble cast who all do the fantastic job of those who know the stereotypes all too well . but  of course  the course to true love never did run smoothly . montana moorehead  cathy moriarty  is getting impatient waiting for her star to rise  and is getting desperate for some publicity .  br    br   will her plots finally succeed  will celeste settle her nerves  or will she kill tawnee first  will the producer get mr fuzzy   you  ll just have to watch  the second half  of this utterly lovable  farcically malicious riot .  br    br   and you  ll really have to see to believe how the short  sighted geoffrey reads his lines without glasses live off the teleprompter . if you are not in stitches with stomach  heaving laughter and tears pouring down your face  feel free to demand your money back for the video rental . soapdish       is an unmissable gem that you will need to see again and again  because it  s not often that a movie can deliver so amply with so many hilarious lines . this is very well  crafted humor  almost all of it in the writing . a draw with blazing saddles       for uproarious apoplexy value  although otherwise dissimilar . watch it and weep . a happy source for anyone  s video addiction .   out of   .  
although there are some snippets in this   part documentary hinting at the necessity for recreational drug law reform  these are not very well  developed  in contrast to the many snippets from those who feel that the drugs that happen to currently be illegal are a scourge for which the only imaginable solution is incarceration of even those who are guilty even of mere possession of such drugs .  br    br   although this program  as a whole  leaves the viewer with the impression that the drug war is largely a futile exercise and a waste of money  and for that it deserves some praise  almost nothing in this documentary addresses the very real problems that total war against those who merely possess illegal drugs obviously causes and contributes to   very real problems that most drug warriors themselves would tell you  if asked  they think the drug war is designed to solve . for example  while many minutes are spent on the surge in violence associated with the rising popularity of crack cocaine in the    s  at no point does this program even hint that the very laws designed to suppress crack cocaine make it impossible for drug sellers to enforce their contracts and business arrangements in courts of law  forcing them to resort to violence to stay in business . but instead of seeing the laws as an important cause of the violence  the drugs themselves seem to take the brunt of the blame . inexplicably  alcohol prohibition  the violence that ensued  and the subsequent reversal of prohibition  is totally ignored by this program .  br    br   this program will help to perpetuate ridiculous stereotypes of drug users  and it is these that are the primary force in driving the very expensive and very problematic drug war . the possibility of incorporating drugs other than alcohol into a happy and successful life is not really touched on . use of any drug in excess is probably going to cause personal problems  but not all users do their drugs in excess  just like not all alcohol users are alcoholics .  br    br   if you want a point of view from someone who believes that adults have a moral right not to be incarcerated and have their lives ruined by the criminal justice system just for using drugs that the government  for mostly very arbitrary political reasons rather than reasons based on sound social policy and legitimate science  has decided to totally prohibit  whose users it has decided to not  so  metaphorically wage war against  just forget about it . none of that is in here .  br    br   on the other hand  this is hardly in the category of anti  drug propaganda . it is mostly an interesting neutrally  presented history of drugs in   th century united states like marijuana  lsd  heroin  cocaine  mdma  and oxycontin . but there is a significant element of various people  s points of view with regard to drug laws  and most  but not all  of that is not very thoughtful or well  informed and slanted in favor of the drug warrior mentality  especially with respect to drugs other than marijuana .  br    br   the criminal justice system  along with its often harsh life  ruining penalties  is obviously not the only answer or the most appropriate answer to every single social problem  but unfortunately there  s an epidemic in this nation of an as  yet unnamed disease whose primary symptoms are a lack of imagination with respect to social policy when it comes to certain drugs  a lack of compassion for fellow humans  a prejudice against people who use the drugs that are not governmentally  approved  perhaps a vested interest in the growth of the prison  policing industry  and a horrid apathy with regard to human dignity . it  s morally wrong to kidnap or incarcerate people unless you have a very damn good reason for doing so  and the mere possession of an arbitrarily selected group of drugs is clearly not such a reason . this is really the primary issue when it comes to drugs  yet this program ignores it .  br    br   so  in sum  the parts of this program that neutrally present history without feeding stereotypes of drug users that are at the heart of the drug war mentality are pretty good and interesting and entertaining . but when it comes to presenting a rational non  radical point of view with regard to drug policy  and giving the viewer examples not only of people with drug problems but also the many people who successfully incorporate drugs into happy and successful lives  it  s pretty disappointing .  
i loved kolchak the night stalker since i saw it on the night it premiered on september        . i loved the monsters which seemed scary at the time and the cool music by gil melle  hey  where  s the soundtrack guys   and have often thought about what makes this show work for me so completely and have finally concluded that the reason it endures when many others do not is one simple  important element it has that almost no other scary show seems to have and that is a main character that most people can relate to on an everyday level . when darren mcgavin  s carl kolchak starts to discover odd situations  he reacts like most people would . he finds them odd and as he gets closer to danger  he is frightened  even if he knows he must move forward to try to defeat whichever menace is being showcased in that episode . it  s rare that he is brave enough to stand up against some superior supernatural force . he  s usually set a trap and is hiding or waiting in the wings to see if it works . sometimes  he seems as surprised that he managed to defeat a foe as we are . in one episode  he goes to find a monster in a sewer but when he first sees it  he runs to get out of there but is trapped so reluctantly  he must go back and defend himself . he  s heroic because he is willing to do things most of us probably wouldn  t do but that doesn  t mean he probably wouldn  t much rather someone else did it instead of him . he  s a regular guy  doing a job  trying to make a buck  not a monster  hunter . he just gets wrapped up in things involving the supernatural  which he has an interest in but he doesn  t want to be hurt or killed anymore than any of the rest of us do . if his plan to defeat the creature didn  t work  you will often see him running for his life to get away from it  which is of course what i would do in the situation . that  s why i was often watching the climax of the shows through my fingers as a kid . kolchak was likable and you cared if something bad happened to him . you were scared for him and for the other characters too . the producers and writers obviously knew that anyone can create a monster suit  scary music and direct a suspenseful scene but it  s all for naught if you don  t care about the characters . darren mcgavin said that the reason why the show only lasted on season was because he got tired of doing a  monster of the week  show and he decided not to continue . i can tell you i mourned when this show was canceled when i was a kid but  as an adult  i can see why it couldn  t go on in that formula for very long . i still love the   episodes and two movies that starred mcgavin as the bumbling  determined and brusk but good  hearted reporter for the ins  known as carl kolchak . i seriously doubt anyone who makes shows or movies will ever really understand why i loved the show . it  s not the monsters  darkly  lit sets  creepy music or goofy guest stars  although they are all vital ingredients . the secret to it  s success is right there in the title   kolchak the night stalker  . without mcgavin  s lovable  bumbling carl kolchak to root for and to care for  then it just ain  t a night stalker .  
it  s not my fault . my girlfriend made me watch it .  br    br   there is nothing positive to say about this film . there has been for many years an idea that madonna could act but she can  t . there has been an idea for years that guy ritchie is a great director but he is only middling . an embarrassment all round .  br    br    
weak scripts at times  yep  cheesy special effects at times  yep  deliciously guilty pleasure most of the time  yep  more about carl kolchak and darren mcgavin  yep  i always enjoyed science fiction as a kid  but found so much of the dracula  frankenstein  mummy  horror stuff as just so much crap . it took abbott and costello to give me a new perspective on the classic universal monsters  and it took carl kolchak to win me over to the  dark side  of entertainment . the duke had rooster cogburn  eastwood had dirty harry  garner had maverick and rockford  selleck had magnum  and darren mcgavin had carl kolchak . mixed in with all those weak scripts  cheesy special effects  that baroque group of supporting characters and actors and guest stars  there was darren mcgavin as carl kolchak . he had a wry sense of humor in spite of the danger  was an idealist in his pursuit of the truth  and a realist when it came to accepting the obligatory incompetence and eventual cover  up by government officials . additionally  unlike    of us  kolchak was willing to stick his neck out and do what needed to be done  even if it meant his demise  the end of his journalistic career  or jail time . for all his faults  including no taste in clothes  carl kolchak was a man of charm and wit who drove a beautiful classic yellow mustang  which was an old used car at the time  on his way to save the day for humanity . as good as any other fictional hero carl kolchak was the everyman hero brought to life every week for one season thanks to darren mcgavin . now that he  s passed on and his show is on dvd  i hope he  s having as much fun watching me watch him have fun playing kolchak the night stalker all over again   
i had the  mis  fortune to see this film at a showing in the us . having reluctantly sat through the entire abysmal thing  i am shocked to have seen so many good reviews here on imdb .  br    br   the original film was a turkey  but an interesting one . it fitted into that early seventies  post     revolution thing this film just stinks of . . . . . . .  well  nothing really . it  s that bad .  br    br   imagine a badly done perfume commercial  see what i mean   br    br   madonna never could act  and has been an embarrassment on the big screen for years . she looks worse and worse with every one of those years  increasingly coming to resemble a skinned meerkat .  br    br   guy ritchie  who has built his  reputation  on lock stock  could never direct either  his movies are shallow  badly cut  fashion shows . he doesn  t disappoint here either he wisely cast his wife as the star of this debacle .  br    br   please people  take little heed of the good reviews this movie has received from other posters below . they are quite obviously business plants .  br    br   don  t encourage ritchie to humiliate himself further by giving him money .  br    br    
when originally screened in america in       the night stalker  became the highest rated made  for  t . v . movie in history . based on jeff rice  s unpublished novel  it told how a fearless investigative reporter named carl kolchak  the late darren mcgavin  discovered the existence of a vampire in modern  day las vegas . when it arrived on british television four years later  it did not quite have the same impact  but my friends were talking about it at school on monday morning  as indeed was i . we all agreed that it was one of the most exciting things we had seen .  br    br   i did not know of the existence of  the night strangler  until it turned up nearly a decade later . i . t . v .  who screened the  kolchak  movies  had apparently decided to pass on the spin  off series they felt  barnaby jones  starring buddy ebsen to be more of a draw  and anyway  viewers might confuse  kolchak  with  kojak   for years my only source of information concerning the show was an article in fangoria magazine . i could not even purchase the jeff rice novels .  br    br   then something wonderful happened . in      b . b . c .   put out the show as part of a late  night friday series devoted to the supernatural called  mystery train   hosted by richard o  brian .  kolchak  found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of  the brain eaters  and  earth vs . the spider  . the opening titles were trimmed  removing kolchak  s whistling  and the closing credits . . . well  there were none .  br    br   the first episode screened was  werewolf  . i cannot say i was overly impressed  but stuck with it  and am i glad that i did   br    br   i really wish i  d seen it in     . my twelve year old self would have adored it . creepy  humorous  exciting  no wonder it fired chris carter  s imagination .  br    br   the show  s biggest asset was  of course  mcgavin . unlike the recent kolchak  the original was an everyman figure  eccentrically dressed  rather conservative . he was to the supernatural what  columbo  was to crime . the late simon oakland was great too as kolchak  s bad  tempered boss tony vincenzo . the scripts overflowed with wonderful  dry wit . i found myself enjoying the programme more for the humour content than the horror . when the twenty episodes ended  i felt bereft .  br    br    the x  files  came along a few years later and filled the void  but only to an extent . i wanted kolchak and vincenzo back . i am glad that the show was never revived though . without oakland it would not have been the same .  br    br   i have the rice books now and have read them several times . i was very surprised when stephen king slated the first  in his book  danse macabre   as it is as good as anything he has written .  br    br   alright  so some of the monsters were hardly state  of  the  art  but so what  the new  kolchak  totally missed the point of the original . what you don  t see is sometimes more frightening than what you do . . .  br    br   best episode   horror in the heights  worst episode   the sentry   
 warning  spoilers contained herein    br    br   this is a semi  autobiographical look at what might happen to madonna if she were ever to be stranded on a deserted island . there  s absolutely no challenge to madonna in this role  and it shows . she  s just madonna playing madonna  and she can  t even get that right . i know what you  re saying  you  re saying   how do you know this is what madonna is really like  you  ve never met her   correct  i haven  t  but we all remember  truth or dare   don  t we  i know kevin costner does .  br    br   you would think  in the year      that madonna might have learned something  one way or the other  from the  crossover  ladies that have also made their way across the silver screen . for goodness  sake  hasn  t madonna seen  glitter   mariah carey showed the film world how it is done    mariah kicks madonna  s trashy butt to the curb in beauty  talent  screen presence  charisma  characterization  you name it  all we see from this glimpse into madonna  s world is she  s the only one in it .  br    br   if there  s one thing to be said for madonna  it is that she  s consistent . when she was an mtv darling  she set the world of women  s fashion back   years . now  in film  she has set women  s roles in film and society back   years  by glamourizing all the most hated  horrible  reprehensible  odious qualities women have been reputed to have locked away inside them  qualities they have been so desperately trying to prove they really don  t possess .  br    br   here  s the spoilers    don  t read any further if you don  t want to know . . .   br    br   here  s the one good thing i will say about this film  and i really was impressed by it . they didn  t go for the  hollywood ending   madonna  s character lives . in the typical  happy hollywood ending  madonna  s character would have died on the island  and her long  suffering  oppressed  whipped husband would have been free to finally settle down with a good  decent woman  a woman who would be the exact opposite of his deceased wife  and they both live happily ever after . but in this extremely depressing conclusion  she is rescued  and once more  this poor victim of a husband is once again saddled with his demon of a wife  and his life will once again become a living hell .  br    br    here endeth the spoilers   
one of my favorite shows back in the    s . as i recall it went to air on friday  or possibly saturday  night on the nine network    here in australia . darren mcgavin and simon oakland were great together .  br    br   each episode usually reached a climax with kolchack having to engage in hand to hand combat with some sort of supernatural opponent . to their credit  the writers made a concerted effort to get away from the usual round of vampires and ghosts as much as possible .  br    br   i remember one episode in which the adversary was the spirit of an ancient indian chief which  who  came back  as a massive electrical current which started to kill people in a city hospital . the final showdown saw kolchack trying to short circuit the  power beast  amidst an explosion of sparks and billowing flames . oh well . . . . you had to be there at the time but it was an interesting idea .  br    br   mcgavin always packed a lot of energy and enthusiasm into his roles and this was one of his best .  br    br   definitely deserves a place in tv  s  hall of fame  . to quote tony vincenzo . . . .  kolchack you are on it  . . . or  in the case of the hall of fame   in it    
may contain spoilers  br    br   i bent over backwards to be fair to this film . i knew it starred madonna . i knew it lasted a whole week in theaters . i knew it got a lot of bad reviews . i wasn  t expecting a deep and thoughtful examination of class  culture and sexuality like we got in the italian original . the benefit of the doubt lasted a whole ten minutes .  br    br   madonna plays a rich  pretentious  nit  witted gorgon who goes on vacation with her henpecked husband and flippant friends  the brunette woman is as bad as madonna  exhibiting some really dumb facial expressions  . adriano giannini plays the ship  s first  mate who the madonna character delights in humiliating and treating like dirt in every scene they have together . why is she such a bitch to him  simply because the plot requires it so that later when the two of them get marooned on a deserted mediterranean island the tables will be turned and he will teach her a lesson . just as inexplicable is how they fall in love despite having nothing in common and having abused each other for two  thirds of the movie .  br    br    swept away  is a silly  simplistic  superficial movie from beginning to end . madonna gives a typically wooden performance . there are many dumb scenes madonna singing and dancing atrociously at the demand of giannini  a fantasy scene with madonna and a lot of scenes where he slaps her and kicks her in the butt . guy ritchie does his  stylish  editing which is laughable here . the film contains some of the worst dialog i  ve heard in a major movie in several years . the ending is sappy and implausible . it  s basically  the blue lagoon  meets  overboard  minus the nudity of the former and the sense of humor of the latter .  br    br   maybe madonna  s ego is so big that she insists on continuing to prove herself as a competent actress . please give it up  madge  for our sake as well as yours . this isn  t her worst movie though . that distinction still belongs to  shanghai surprise  . she hasn  t made anything worse than that . . . yet .  
not the most successful television project john cleese ever did   strange case  has the feel of a first draft that was rushed into production before any revisions could be made . there are some silly ideas throughout and even a few clever ones  but the story as a whole unfortunately doesn  t add up to much .  br    br   arthur lowe is a hoot  though  as dr . watson  bionic bits and all .  good lord .   
no doubt  when madonna and guy ritchie married  it was because they both thought it would help their movie careers . if you  ve been through the ordeal of watching  swept away   then you know at that level it was a match made in hell . after nearly   years of trying to become a respected actress  or  octress  as she might have pronounced it in  the next best thing    she still can  t get out of herself long enough to turn in a performance that anyone with taste could even call decent . and that  s the thing that makes people dislike her so much on the screen that gut feeling that her ego is so inflated that it prevents her from being able to just let go and connect with her audience . if there  s any justice in this universe  she just blew her last chance .  
it has been so many years since i saw this but i do feel compelled to defend this gem against those who lambast it .  br    br   it is interesting and unusual to observe the diversity of opinion here . that is what humour does i suppose . it is subjective . it either charges through your funny bone at       volts or it leaves you cold and wondering why you gave it the time .  br    br   this show has some of britain  s best comic actors put together in a story that is silly and irreverent and the outcome is hilarious . the dialogue and visual comedy is beautifully delivered and the two leads  cleese and lowe  are superb together . this was made for them .  br    br   i can  t really say anymore other than to implore you to find this and watch it . you won  t be disappointed and in a world devoid of genteel humour  this is a classic inane and harmless piece of comedic brilliance .  
and forget this . completely . if you really need to see madonna act  rent  body of evidence   at least willem defoe is in that one .  br    br   in this film  while the sets are beautiful  you may want to mute the dialog . you won  t miss anything . bruce greenwood is wasted  jeanne tripplehorn is a prop  and madonna is so awful  it becomes amusing . why they had to butcher the original film into this mess  i will never know guess they thought it was  bankable  . madonna  as an actress  certainly is not .  br    br   if you rent the original film from      though  you will enjoy it  and the actors in it can actually act .     .  
i  m not a john cleese completist  although i thought  fawlty towers was brilliant   but i am a fan  and when i saw this sitting  neglected  on a shelf at my local blockbuster  i decided to give it a try . what i got was a wonderful surprise  and one of the funniest   minute viewing experiences i  ve ever had . the writing is typical english  goon show  schtick . in fact  as an audio skit  this wouldn  t be out of place on a  firesign theater  album . but the execution and timing is spot on and this elevates  strange case  into the kind of jaw  dropping performance that can create lifelong british comedy fanatics .  br    br   the brits have a gift for combining broadly satirical lampoons with closely observed  tics  of character and timing  and the creators use both to good effect here . cleese  s portrayal of  holmes  seems to owe much to the arkin  s and seller  s  inspector clouseau   however cleese has such a knack for physical comedy that he more than holds his own . but the unexpected treat here is arthur lowe  who plays  watson  as an genial but invincibly uncomprehending imbecile with such superb timing and delivery that he becomes the best aspect of the film . i  d never heard of lowe before this  his background seems to be vaudeville and musical theater   but he justifies his entire career with this performance as far as i  m concerned .  br    br   some people might not care for  strange case . . .   especially if british whimsy isn  t their  cuppa tea  . but i am extremely glad i got to see this before it vanished from sight .  
for years madonna has tried to prove not only herself  but the public eye  that she can act . unfortunately  trying too hard while failing to shed her own persona doesn  t mix well .  br    br   she seems to fare better when she  s not the star of any movie if you watch her in supporting performances in desperately seeking susan       or a league of their own        she actually comes off looking good . since the story revolves on other actors  the weight of the expectation is taken off her shoulders by default .  br    br   the trouble starts when she is asked to be the star of a movie  regardless the genre . being the focus of a plot that needs to be told in a visual way  whether it be good  mediocre or plain awful  she has to emote in ways that are akin to an actual movie performance as opposed to a video performance . this is the crucial difference between madonna and  let  s say  bette davis  or meryl streep . the latter two  even if the movie were to fail  because the visual storytelling lacked some effectiveness in having us relate to it  or because the script fell short  or because the actress per se was just not at her moment   there would be an extra something in their performances that would elevate the movie from being a complete bomb . both davis and streep have had their share bette  having a longer career than streep  in such fare as bunny o  hare       and wicked stepmother        streep in she  devil       . but at least there  s been that naturalism in the way both attacked their roles that made us forget the banality of the movie and watch the performance .  br    br   madonna  on the other hand  not being an especially gifted actress capable of really letting us in on her ability to convey a persona other than herself  fares much worse  and even in the hands of someone as woody allen in shadows and fog        an inferior classic  she in her pat screen time seems stilted and a little stiff  maybe even nervous  as if she were aware of the cameras and crew and just couldn  t let go .  br    br   so here she tries yet once again to prove she can act in what is essentially a two  character movie . guy ritchie  more known for action movies filled in masculine energy  seems as adrift telling a story closer to someone of the likes of michaelangelo antonioni or ingmar bergman  who could tell a tale of two people with incredible ease . and at   minutes  the events which take place happen in such an unconvincing way that when the final half hour comes along and the story takes a dramatic turn  it doesn  t feel sincere . from being an absolute witch with no redeeming values to suddenly being in love  this has to be the most unconvincing    degree turn since fay dunaway  s laura suddenly discovered her passion for tommy lee jones in the eyes of laura mars       . equally unconvincing is adriano giannini  s nasty turn around the middle of the movie   it lacks any humor and feels genuinely psychopathic   and when he gives in to madonna  s love  it  s too quick to be believed . filming this in slow music and a visual montage of lovemaking and beautiful scenery doesn  t enhance or add upon this  transformation  from what would have been a story of survival between to unlikeable characters to a love story where both discover each other .  br    br   trying to have an unsatisfying ending works against the movie as well   it only makes it drag  bog it down  and when madonna has to be filmed going from hope to devastation in a tight close  up  it feels she  s trying too hard . many an actress have done better in conveying so much doing so little . hers is a performance more suited to acting styles of the late   s  early   s where posturing compensated as acting a part or an emotion .  br    br   could the movie have been better  of course . there are a myriad of ways to have filmed it in a way that would leave the viewer feeling that these people could at least hope to see each other again   it  s been done before  in overboard        for example . it could have had an existential undertone in which two very different people have to rely on each other but not necessarily change  to ensure a moral tone  . much dialog and unnecessary erotic scenes could have been spared for a more  silent  film look   as in persona       . it could have even been something of a thriller  providing that the giannini character have a mean streak as billy zane had in dead calm       . even if it would have been done as a sex farce it would have worked better for madonna as the over the top  uber  control freak getting her comeuppance . but with its mean streaked humor  without at least a glimpse of her character having a softer side that hides behind a mask of bitchdom  and without really defining giannini  s own character  this becomes another misfire trying to look like a battle of the sexes .  
if you enjoy cleese  all the british  pythonesque  humour of the time  then this little gem is absolutely hilarious .  br    br   arthur lowe is a real treat   br    br   i saw this with friends on tv when it first came out  and its classic quotes have formed a part of our jokes for   years  and will do forever  i have it on tape and it is continually appreciated .  br    br   perhaps some reviewers are taking it too seriously .  br    br   i can  t believe it is now only available in the us  ntsc of course   and not in uk  where it should be an essential part of the history of british humour    
i really wanted to like this movie because the critics have been unkind  br    br   to it  to say the least  . . . but it was terrible . really terrible . badly  br    br   acted  a witless script  cack handed direction . . . watching this film was  br    br   like watching a car crash  you want to look away but you keep staring  br    br   because you want to see how messy it  s going to get . well  the car is  br    br   wrecked and there are no survivors . on the plus side  the cinematography  br    br   was nice  made me want to go on holiday  if only to cleanse myself from  br    br   this unholy  
you can do a lot with a little cash . blair witch proved that . this film supports it . it is no more than a sitcom in length and complexity . however  because it has john cleese as sherlock holmes it manages to be hilarious even on a budget that couldn  t afford a shoestring . the highlight of this film is arthur lowe as the sincere  bumbling watson  his dimness and slowness foils cleese  s quick  tempered wit . if you ever run across the film watch it for a quirky laugh or two .  
i almost saw this at an actual movie theatre  an art  house theatre  no less   but couldn  t make it there in the one whole week it played  but yesterday i finally saw it on cable and . . . well . . . i wasn  t disappointed  that  s for sure  madonna has done it again yet another bomb  when will this woman learn  when will the studios learn   or perhaps they already have  since this film was largely dumped  with little fanfare and deadly word  of  mouth .  one would hope that being directed by her talented husband  who  s created some interesting and  or terribly entertaining work  would bring out the same quality madonna showed in  desperately seeking susan   alas  it just isn  t meant to be  for here she is  at her very worst singularly convinced of her own greatness  the smugness permeating every frame she  s in  made all the more unbearable by her wavering faux  british accent  an accent that only underscores the fact that her speaking voice is immature in quality and not especially pleasant . this may sound unnecessarily cruel but listen to the woman  and look at her films of  say  the past decade like a latter  day bette davis  there is an unmistakable brittleness to not only her carriage but to her very face and body  which here  despite the warm photography displayed throughout the film  perhaps its only saving grace   are done no favors . to her credit  the entire affair is so misbegotten that one wonders if the world  s greatest actress on her best day could do anything with this mess . no one involved escapes unharmed bruce greenwood actually seems pained to be on  screen  though poor jeanne tripplehorn seems to carry herself as if she  s actually in something good  which had me thinking all the while   denial ain  t just a river in egypt   adriano giannini  son of giancarlo giannini  star of the italian original   swept away . . .   is  like his father before him  immensely attractive  and isn  t altogether bad  despite winning a razzie nomination for  worst actor    but  like almost everything else about this production  it all comes back to madonna  on whose shoulders rest the blame . why her  why not her husband  director guy ritchie  just who do you think was behind this remake  what actress wouldn  t want nearly every shot of a movie to be centered on her  with only a relative nobody sharing the screen  oh sure  ritchie deserves some blame surely he  or someone  anyone   should have  and could have  taken his lead aside and insisted on something bordering on actual feeling in her line readings  for her performance is so wooden it  s a surprise the rest of the cast didn  t get splinters   or at least display a semblance of warmth . . . but she seems resistant to be anything but a cinematic black hole . above and beyond anything else  this is strictly a vanity project for its star so she is ultimately accountable for it . a film like this  an  odd couple   ish  war of the classes  should be light and fun  with leads who can bounce off one another with witty  even romantic  dialogue  for what else can a film whose plot involves two disparate people stranded  really be  honestly  i don  t think anyone involved knew exactly the tone they were trying for it succeeds neither as comedy  i defy you to laugh even once  or romance  madonna  s ice  princess routine precludes any chemistry  . it  s not even bad enough for us bad  movie lovers to enjoy . a real shame . . .  
the only reason that i did not give this   stars was the dvd format  no menus  extras  etc . however  if you have ever had a dream to do something with your life  this film is for you . if you believe in yourself and your dream do not let anyone or anything stop you . this is one of the most life  affirming films that i have ever seen . and magical . the acting is superb  the plot serves the purpose  and the opening sequence is fantastic . this is one of those films that  cult  status used to be about . i have recommended this film to all of my friends . some love it  some can  t finish it . whenever i think  or feel  that something is impossible i think about alan arkin  s role in this film . sure wish he  d make more films .  
this is absolutely the dumbest movie i  ve ever seen . what a waste of a splendid cast . that  s james cromwell as the ignoramus playing deputy . i could go on and on  but i would obviously be spending more time on this review than anybody ever did on the script . the only thing this movie is about is us vs . them and how to revel in profane slapstick beyond any reasonable human being  s tolerance . this is one of the   worst movies i have ever seen   and i love james garner .  
  soapdish  is one of the best  yet least well remembered comedies of the      s . the film revolves around the various off  camera drama  s that occur behind the scenes of a cheaply produced daytime soap opera . the first of the film  s various impressive strengths is it  s fantastic a  list cast .  soapdish  features some of the greatest actors and actresses of it  s era .  br    br   the film is superbly led by sally field  as the neurotic ageing actress celeste talbert  she famously throws a tantrum when put in a costume that makes her look like  gloria fcking swanson    . her supporting cast reads like a who  s  who of    s movie greats  whoopi goldberg  robert downey jr  teri hatcher  kevin kline and kathy najimy all elevate the film greatly . goldberg is predictably excellent  whilst downey jr .  s and hatcher  s performances hint at the comedic excellence they would later achieve .  br    br   in terms of writing  the film is outstanding . there is a really modern edge to the script  which strays into the wonderfully bizarre on several occasions . there also several visual gags that are quite ahead of their time . in some ways  the film is reminiscent of mel brooks at his best and frequently reminded this reviewer of  high anxiety        . much of the film  s humour hinges on it  s often scathing  but pretty accurate  representations of daytime television and of neurotic and pretentious actors . for example  the extras casting session featuring the exploitative executive played by carrie fisher  is both hilarious and honest .  br    br    soapdish  is  for my money  one of the very best comedies hollywood produced during the      s . it  s excellent script and a  class cast make it a must  see . it  s hard not to love this film after it  s kept you laughing for   minutes .  
this movie was extremely depressing .  br    br   the characters were so cold . the mother  who is he main character  is everything but  motherly  . ok  she was unhappy in her marriage and always put her husband and children first . her husband dies . she then goes to visit her son and meets this hunk who is sleeping with her daughter and ends up sleeping with him . until this part  the movie is all right . not excellent  but it can be watched . the guy is charming and who can blame her  ok it  s not very motherly to sleep with your daughter  s lover but let  s blame that on the shock of losing her husband .  br    br   she becomes totally obsessed with the guy . i think this is the part where i started to dislike the movie . she  s always there wanting to please him in an  old fashioned way  with snacks while he is working on her son  s house  i guess this is the only thing she ever learned to do   as if it was the only way she could get his attention . the guy obviously is not very interested  actually  it seems more like he considered sleeping with her a charitable activity  and instead of being insulted by that  she continues to beg him to go to go to bed with her and to be nice to her when he becomes very abusive .  i want to please you   she tells him in a desperate way while he is insulting her very badly .  br    br   what outraged me in this movie  is the utter lack of self  respect the mother has for herself . she tells craig something like  i am just a shapeless lump  the first time they sleep together .  br    br   this movie is an insult to women kind . if it had been me  i would have bought myself a little object that would have brought me the same satisfaction and a lot less emotional pain . . .    
the quintessential road movie . . . if your idea of a road movie involves three would  be magicians with eastern european accents and claire forlani .  well  one out of four ain  t bad . . .  a no  talent magician with an eye for showmanship  max  watches a very skilled pickpocket  hugo  plying his trade in new york . after convincing hugo that he  max  is a  mental and b  desperately in need of a partner to make his dreams of being a stage magician come alive  the not  so  dynamic duo enlist the managerial expertise of an inventor of illusions  milo  and the  ah  gentler attributes of a lovely waitress  lydia  . the unlikely four pile into a van  obtained by hugo . . . you guess where it came from  and head to vegas . havoc ensues . anyhow  it  s funny  it  s well  written  and the ending is surprisingly good . a solid comedy with a warm heart  and all the better that it was totally unexpected .  
i didn  t enjoy this movie at all . for one  i just found it crude and vulgar  for no reason . i also felt it  s misogynistic  against women .  also  the movie really doesn  t appear to be about anything  and i didn  t find any of the characters likable . really  the there doesn  t seem to be any point to it all . maybe i  m missing something  but for me  this movie is pretty much a waste of time  when i could have been doing something more productive and enjoyable . like using my face as a pin cushion . james garner is in this thing  as are c . thomas howell and shirley jones  and james cromwell . all are wasted here  and i  m sure this was a low point in each of their respective careers . jennilee harrison  from the later years of three  s company  is also in the movie  and it is nice to see her in a non ditsy role . but other than that  she can  t rise above the mediocre script . for me  tank is a      
magicians is a wonderful ride from start to finish  thanks in large part to the magic that is generated by the stars . alan arkin is fantastic in one of his best roles in decades . like any really fine film  it  s a journey in which the theme is redemption and the results of dreaming . i can  t believe this film is so difficult to find   i  d buy it on dvd in a heartbeat but have yet to find an outlet .  
this movie is truly one of the worst pieces of garbage ever . it really is surprising that something so completely terrible could be made . but  if you can stand the mind  numbing plot  character development  and direction  you may get a kick out of the soundtrack which is so appalling that it is funny . the movie begins terribly and quickly becomes unwatchable . someone should give anyone involved with this movie some sort of consolation because their career was probably ruined because of involvement in this movie . if you do end up seeing this movie or have seen it already  i feel your pain  then these words have come too late . for anyone else  stay away at all costs or realize that the movie is so bad that it will waste  hours of your life . then at least you can clean up or something while viewing it .  
i have wanted to see this for the longest time  james merendino is a great director . slc punk is one of my favorite movies  and in the first ten minutes of this film i thought that it was a great follow up after that though  it begins to drag . the acting and direction were terrific . in fact everything in the film seemed to flow except for the script . at times  the only thing keeping my attention was the fact that in the cast was the most beautiful woman in the world  claire forlani . this film was good  but i expected more .  br    br   p . s . look for great cameos by chi mcbride  and chris mcdonald .  
first off  the title character is not even the main character of the movie . he is the sidekick of the cult leader . the actor who portrays igor believed that screaming loud  laughing hysterically  and having a crooked smile while bugging out your eyes would be an excellent way to scare people . igor also had the annoying habit of yelling  because he never actually just spoke  in a high pitched voice . he would also say idiotic one  liners . for example when the cult leader murders one of his followers with a buzz saw  igor upon seeing this  yells out  paul  no paul  why  d you do it  i could have cut her clean  so clean   in another scene igor tells a victim that she would have to  get her own tools for surgery because right now  it was his time to operate .  aside from the bad acting  the ending did not make sense because while the story builds up what little steam it has towards the climax  which is igor getting a crossbow arrow to the head and the rest of his lunatic buddies being killed  he shows up again two more times to kill the remaining  good guys  . the movie offers no explanation of this  only telling the viewer that igor escaped from the mental hospital . what    bottom line is do not waste your time watching this movie . i wish i could get back the moments i lost watching this .  
this is one of the funniest movies i have seen . i watched it on dvd  and the disc does not have any special features  or even a menu  but that is not necessarily what i care about .  br    br   i tend to judge movies on a case by case basis  depending on  among other things  if it is a big studio production or a smaller film . this is a smaller film and i am willing to forgive minor things . that said  i believe it has one of the most imaginative and original title sequences that i have seen .  br    br   i enjoyed the acting of all of the major players . i especially enjoyed til schweiger and alan arkin . alan arkin has most of the funniest lines . the character portrayed by claire forlani might come across as unrealistic to some people  but i have personally known real people with emotional problems that very readily look at life  s decisions as her character does . that helped me pick up the nuances where her hurts could come out through the veneer of her humor .  br    br   this is not a movie for children  obviously  but it does not engage in gratuitous sex and nudity . there is quite a bit of adult language  though  but it can sometimes be very funny .  in particular  alan arkin  s character  who can  t even swear correctly .   br    br   also watch for the cameos from known character actors .  
  igor and the lunatics  is a totally inept and amateurish attempt at a crazy  hippie  cult  killing  spree horror movie . apparently even nearly twenty years later  charles manson was still inspiring overenthusiastic but incompetent trash  filmmakers . this is a typical troma production  meaning in other words  there  s a lot of boring and totally irrelevant padding footage to accompany the nonsensical plot . there  s a bit of random gore and gratuitous nudity on display  which isn  t bad  but it  s all so very pointless and ugly that it becomes frustrating to look at .  igor and the lunatics  is so desperate that it  s even using a lot of the footage twice  like the circle saw killing for example . the incoherent plot tries to tell the story of a hippie cult run by the drug  addicted and charlie manson wannabe paul . one of paul  s lower ranked disciples  named igor  becomes a little bit too obsessed with the bible stories and drug orgies and gradually causes the entire cult to descent further into criminal insanity . just to illustrate through a little example exactly how crazy igor is he tears the heart straight out of the chest of a really sexy black hitch  hiker girl  there  s an annoying synthesizer soundtrack and some truly embarrassingly lame pseudo  artistic camera tricks  like slow  motion footage and lurid dream sequences . maybe there  s one sequence that more or less qualifies as worthwhile for trash fanatics and that  is when a poor girl is cut in half with a machete . for no particular reason  the camera holds the shot of the blade in the bloodied stomach for fifteen whole seconds .  
this is a quirky little movie  and i have to agree that there is some quirky acting in it as well .  br    br   it follows the adventures of a young man who decides that he wants to become a famous las vegas illusionist  and is partly about following his dream  partly about the dreams of others  and all about the travails of showbiz . i thought the movie was charming  and it has a moment or two of real magic that make the whole thing worthwhile .  br    br   alan arkin is terrific as the magician who never was  and his mentoring of max makes for a funny and touching relationship .  br    br   not for everyone  probably  but if you like movies about the journey  then i think you  ll like this one .  
pretty incoherent movie about a man who belonged to and left a     s superficially hippie religious cult  who fights them sixteen years later . the man has a child with one of the other cultists  who during a raid by the police is hidden away  and taken by another man named hawk who lives in a small cabin by the river . the cult kills some of its followers or some of the people in town . it  s hard to keep track of who characters are  or what time period the scenes are supposed to be taking place . the leader gets paroled sixteen years later  i got that from the box  i missed the amount of time in the movie  . nobody is made to look any older  not noticeably  anyway .  br    br   one murder is done with a large circular logging saw  others are done with knives or a crossbow . i never heard the title character  s name mentioned in the movie  but he  s the one who overacts the most  hooting and hollering .  br    br   the movie is patched together pretty poorly  with voice  over helping  not much  to explain what is going on . some of the sound effects were pretty bad . a man is getting punched  and we hear the sound of a whip cracking . a woman fires a gun  and we don  t hear it fire  but hear a ricochet instead  it doesn  t seem to have been done for comical effect .  
this movie is awesome for three main reasons . it is esthetically beautiful . i absolutely loved that . there is a bold color theme throughout the movie with extraordinary costumes and picturesque sets . a photography which looks very costly  and probably was not  completes the look . i always enjoy those stories about groups of misfits  loners coming together and becoming a family . sometimes they fall into clichs but this one does not . this group of actors really portrays well flawed  yet extremely likable characters . alan larkin is the best  between him  the van and the road movie theme  i could not help but remember my favorite movie of last year little miss sunshine  . i discovered fabrizio bentivoglio  very interesting actor  and just got annoyed a tiny little bit by til schweiger performance at times . the opening scene  all the scenes where they mess up their tricks are very funny . there is a mix of humor and emotion throughout the film . i like the end a lot . and of course it is all about the magician theme . a good magician is making the audience look where he wants them to  to create an illusion . which happens to be exactly what a movie director does and that  s why they call it movie magic .  
simply terrible  why wouldn  t you use actual actors  look  this has to stop  stop using non  actors  if you want any credibility or any message sent via these low  budget films . . . please for the love of god use real actors  most will work for free . . . take advantage of that  now back to my comment . . . anyway  the humour was lower than that of the bathroom variety and wasn  t funny on any level . as for the quality . . . in one scene filmed on a public transportation bus you could see the reflection of the crew . . . guess what  it was one guy with what looked like a sony camcorder and probably not even his . well  i assume the only audience for this film are people with a gore fetish . . . and it wasn  t even good gore .  
i rented this movie from blockbuster on a whim . . i like alan arkin and the cover was catching . . . i read the back and knew right away it was going to either be the best or the worst movie i have ever seen . . . i guess i got lucky . . i laughed from beginning to end . . alan arkin brings a great character to this movie . i have since bought a used rental copy for my own collection and watch it all the time . . i have recommeded this movie to loads of people and they all enjoyed it as much as i did . . . i see complaints about the menus and dvd functions . . but it doesn  t take away from the movie . . the disk was authored for blockbuster exculsivley which is why they didn  t allow you to skip past the previews . . aside from that you shouldn  t let the functions of the dvd to deterr you from watching the excellent film .  
i enjoyed the previous ittenbach movie that i  d seen   burning moon  . but while that movie was rather grim and nasty   premutos  seems to mostly play it for laughs . while its admirable how ittenbach made this movie with no money in his spare time  and the dvd documentary is worthwhile to see this   i found myself constantly battling not to fast  forward to the next gore scene . sure  there  s gore  and if that  s all you want then go ahead and enjoy . but be warned there  s an inordinate amount of lame comedy and tedious story exposition . many are comparing this to peter jackson  s movies  especially  braindead  . but looking at what jackson did on a similar budget in  bad taste   it  s clear ittenbach is lacking one thing that jackson has  talent .      for pretty good and plentiful gore effects  and for getting the most out of limited resources  but not worth the money i paid for it   
miriam hopkins is  the lady with red hair  in this     biopic of mrs . leslie carter which also stars claude rains as david belasco  richard ainley as lou payne  and a fine cast of supporting players  including laura hope crews and victor jory .  br    br   miriam hopkins and claude rains give wonderful performances . hopkins was a beautiful actress who really makes us feel for mrs . carter . rains is great as the flamboyant  egotistical producer  writer  actor  impresario david belasco  one of the great names in theater .  br    br   though mrs . carter  s second husband  lou payne  served as adviser on this film  it  s a poor representation of the real events of mrs . carter  s life . true  there was a much publicized and bitter divorce  and she was undoubtedly viewed as a scandalous character for that and for becoming an actress . however  she had custody of her son dudley  so there was no custody battle . once she broke with belasco  she did not go back to him and  in fact  started working in vaudeville and actually made some films toward the end of her life . she did indeed marry lou  and he became her leading man in many productions .  br    br   the driving force for mrs . carter in the beginning of this film is regaining custody of her son  but she finally realizes that in her time away from him  he is thoroughly bonded with his father . in the film also  and i  m not sure if it was true in real life  she traveled with her mother and lived in a theatrical boarding house  which gives the film some added interesting atmosphere .  br    br   not a bad movie  probably not a depiction of the greatness of either carter or belasco . one of mrs . carter  s most famous moments was in the heart of maryland  where she wore a wig with six  foot tresses . off  stage  fans blew her hair as she hung   feet above the stage clutching the center of a bell to keep it from ringing . quite a visual .  
  br    br   the movie starts out as an ordinary comic  hero  movie . its about the boy who is picked on  has no parents and is madly in love with the schools   girl . nothing surprises in the movie  there is nothing that you cant guess coming in the movie . toby mcguire shows us that either he is no good actor or that no actor in the world can save a script like this one . maybe kids around the age of ten can enjoy the film but it is a bit violent for the youngest . you cant get away from thinking of movies like x  men  batman and spawn . all of those titles are better . i almost walked out the last   minutes  one thing that could have been good though was the computeranimation  but not even that is anything to put in the christmas  tree  so my recomendation dont see this film even if you get paid for it   
i had seen lady with red hair back when it appeared  and didn  t remember it as something to cherish . the truth is that  notwithstanding its base in a true story  its screen play is silly and unbelievable . the real merit of the picture is the cast . a constellation of some of the best supporting players of the    s and    s make a background for the delicate  intelligent work of the always underrated miriam hopkins  and the wonderful  spectacular performance of claude rains  who  as usual  is the best thing in the picture . what an actor  he never won an oscar  but he is in the good company of chaplin  garbo and hitchcock . perhaps lady with red hair contains his best work in films . see it and enjoy him .  br    br    
whoever wrote the  nice  post about this must have been a friend of these guys . this is bad even for backyard wrestling . in fact this isn  t even backyard wrestling really  it  s a few guys hitting each other on a trampoline . each guys is about   lbs wet and there is not one ounce of entertainment value in this . it is just a few bored kids that even give yard tards a bad name  if that is possible . if you want to see some entertaining backyard wrestling  pick up backyard wrestling a pleasure for pain . it stars the  biggest names in byw  mdogg   and josh prohibition . these guys are good . they have actually went since yarding it and gotten professionally trained as  real  pro wrestlers . they went legit and have gotten better . i recommend checking out those  guys . mdogg is insane and off the hook . so don  t waste your time or your cash on this crappy dvd  there are  better  back yard videos out there .  
as a biographical film   the lady with red hair   the story of how director  producer  playwright david belasco transformed notorious society divorcee mrs . leslie carter into an international stage star  is certainly not in a league with that other warner  s biopic of similar vintage   yankee doodle dandy   what is    but  lady  is an enjoyable film in its own right   and shares quite a few traits in common with the cagney classic .  br    br   like  yankee doodle dandy    the lady with red hair  brims over with old  time show  business flavor .  among other things  both films feature delicious theatrical boarding  house sequences as well as the inevitable scenes set backstage and in theatrical managers  offices .  also  in  lady  as in the cohan biopic  the supporting cast is made up of familiar and beloved character actors of the period  all doing the sort of top  notch work we remember them for .  br    br   need i add that  again like  yankee doodle dandy    the lady with red hair  doesn  t let the truth get in the way of telling a good story  but  also like  dandy    lady  does manage   gloriously    to convey the esssence of its show  business  giant hero  s larger  than  life personality . everyone knows that cagney limned cohan for all time in his brilliant and affectionate portrayal in  yankee doodle dandy    but few moviegoers realize that claude rains did a similar service for david belasco in  the lady with red hair    and did it with a panache that almost equals cagney  s .  br    br   rains  as  belasco perfectly captures that legendary showman  s galvanic personality in all its outsized glory . rains gives a tremendously enjoyable  superbly observed  and remarkably true  to  life performance as the man all broadway once called  the wizard .  to watch claude rains in action  looking in every shot as if he  s having a helluva good time   in  the lady with red hair  is to see david belasco leap to life on film as if he can  t wait to shake things up on the main stem once again .  br    br    
yeah  unfortunately i came across the dvd of this and found that it was incredibly awful .  br    br   first of all  the characters suck . i mean  come on  if some dork in an orange hat who calls himself  orange sherbert  is the best creative idea these guys could come up for a character  then they should definitely not be in the film  making scene . poor  costumes   bad  interviews   and basically there is not one  wrestler  on this whole disc with any shred of charisma .  br    br   the  wrestling  in splatter rampage wrestling is nothing more than these idiots gently and playfully bouncing together on a trampoline . they make sure to giggle together all the while  too  making the experience seem more like a toddler  s playtime than a  wrestling deathmatch  .  br    br   basically  splatter rampage wrestling is a pretty lackluster backyard wrestling clone . only  instead of blood  weapons  mayhem  and wrestling  we get a trampoline  giggling kids  terrible audio  and some guy called orange sherbert .  br    br   wrestling fan or not  avoid this dvd . it  s awful .  
the scene where sally field and whoopi goldberg go to the mall to revive sally  s flagging spirits is enough reason alone to enjoy this movie  but wait  there  s more  this is a crackling good sendup of daytime tv  movie stars on the way down   and up  and the horrors of love . robert downey jr shows the lighter side of his genius  and cathy moriarty is splendid . the dialogue is witty  and the physical humor done with consummate skill . this is a movie that will appeal to those who really enjoy the arts of acting  directing  and writing .  
i understand what this movie was trying to portray . how the old are often ignored and treated like a bother  which means they end up feeling unappreciated and like their lives are empty .  br    br   i do not have a problem with this message  but i just feel that it could have been put across in a way that is not so painful to watch . i enjoy a good art movie but when a movie becomes too self  consciously arty  as in this case  the result is often frustrating . including shots of a person packing a suitcase slowly that take  minutes try to make a point but just end up annoying the audience .  br    br   the female characters are very weak and you end up wanting to just tell them to pull it together . this is a movie you feel you should enjoy or rate highly and certainly has its  merits but i was just too frustrated watching it to ever recommend it to someone else . it might have a deeper message than other roger michell movies  for example  notting hill   but at least that was a movie you could enjoy watching .  
a group of friends decide to take a camping trip into the desert  and find themselves stalked and murdered by a mysterious killer in a black pick  up truck .  mirage  is obviously inspired by spielberg  s  duel  and craven  s  the hills have eyes  . still this slasher yarn offers plenty of nasty violence and gore . the film  s gory highlight is a sequence involving a man having his arm and leg chained together around a tree and then having his limbs dismembered when the chain is pulled by a truck . there is also a little bit of suspense and some exciting stalk  and  slash sequences . the acting is pretty lame and the script is quite weak  but the film is fast  paced and shocking . b . g . steers who plays the villain is fairly threatening . the desert locations provide some atmosphere and the gore is rather strong . overall  if you like low  budget horror films give this one a look .  out of   .  
in the last   years i have worked in  different indie professional wrestling organizations  managed many pro wrestlers  including  backyard wrestling stars   worked on  different wrestling tv programs and did voice  overs and commentary for many wrestling dvd  s . i have never witnessed the level of outright amateurish stupidity  lack of talent and skill  and shoddy production quality found in splatter rampage wrestling . to even list this as a wrestling video of any kind is an outright misuse of the term . shot with low  dollar video cameras  it  s essentially home videos of kids play  fighting in back yards . the sound quality is bad  the video quality is bad  and the acting is horrendous . the  wrestlers  wear makeshift costumes with hand  drawn tee shirts and ski masks and hit each other with a variety of items and halfway imitate wrestling moves . sometimes the  matches  are on the grass . sometimes on a back yard trampoline . all are poorly acted and executed with a shameless lack of any wrestling skill . in short  don  t bother with this stinker . whether your interest in this dvd is entertainment or academic  both in my case   you will be terribly disappointed .  
i remember that i was a child when i first saw this movie  it was my first horror movie  maybe that  s the reason why i can still remember some parts of it  . i don  t remember much about acting  nude scenes or other things but i do remember a male has head blown up with a grenade  a male dismembered over a tree and a male run down by truck and shot in head    todd schaefer  kenny johnson and kevin mcparland  . i also remember the last scene when jennifer mcallister riped of the killer stomach to get the keys of the truck . it  s a movie that gives you the creep and it  s worth a look . but where do i find it  how can i download it   
the plot is so manipulative  counting completely on the most uncredible and unthinkable decisions of the adults in each and every parenting decision . the children are super as far as charm and delivery of the lines but as i say  the whole plot depends on each and every adult being complete idiots  and therefore in that case  making more sense out of their actions  and at the same time being the only way to explain the boys actions of total mistrust  . why would sweey charming little boys take a baby from the shore  how did the baby get to the shore and at the same time account for it being the last place to be searched  why would the  boys never be informed an instead at the same time a baby is missing nobody gives a fig about them running around with food and diapers with all that commotion going on and literally every other place it searched  there is just no possible justification to ask the audience to believe this . asking to believe it would then do to trial  even the informal setting  is too insulting to bare .  
well  this was one of those films i caught on the off  chance  and it was good enough for me to record when it showed up next time . . . if  like myself  you enjoy many    s horror flicks that branched out a little from the norm  i . e . not just another glut of generic sequels  then i think you may enjoy this . when the bad guy eventually turns up in person  he was definitely not what i expected to see  all in all  i wouldn  t go out of your way for this one  but if you like the genre  then watch it if it comes up and you have an hour and a half to kill  i guess . i  d give it  .  out of   .  
i rented this movie the other night because neither my girlfriend or myself had ever seen it  even though we had heard from a mutual friend how  great it was  .  br    br   now  i am pretty conservative in my views  but i knew going in it would be pretty liberal given who directed it . i figured before the movie started michael douglas would play a compassionate popular liberal beloved by the masses  and there would be a stodgy conservative opponent as his antagonist . but i thought thats where the political statement would begin and end .  br    br   ok  the plot was solid single president falls for a lobbyist . ok  this has potential i thought to be pretty entertaining  since the plot was unique . but then the movie turned into a liberal infomercial . the movie became more about gun control and environmental issues than it did about the relationship between the president and sydney  annette bening  .  br    br   there were several ridiculous premises in this movie   the character sydney playing this six figure lobbyist who is a  closer  . could she have been more flighty  she was constantly disorganized and seemed in awe of everything . hardly a  closer  . i am an sales  and she could not  close  selling a glass of water to a man dying of thirst .  br    br     secondly  is there anything more ridiculous than richard dreyfuss playing a right wing fanatic  this is the most liberal man in hollywood and her is playing some right wing ideologue . give me a break . i liked how he took his conservative character and made him as sinister as possible .  br    br     the speech at the end was simply ludicrous . the line about  i am a proud card carrying member of the aclu  was a joke . first  no president would ever admit something like that  being an active member of an ultra fringe group . second  why even bring something like that up . you just alienated off over half the movie going audience who is moderate or conservative .  br    br   i thought the plot was great and unique . i thought michael douglas was a good choice as president . but the movie went from being a  movie  to a left wing political statement  which is why the movie failed .  br    br   its a shame to see a great plot ruined by hollywood having to force their political views on the audience  
this movie  which starts out with a interesting opening of two hot blondes getting it on in the back of a driver  less  moving vehicle  has quite the quirky little personality to boot . the cast of seven  although one girl doesn  t hang around for the bodycount  which is unfortunate because the death toll is already so small as is  are all super  hot  as our story centers around teens partying way out in the desert  an odd but effective choice of setting   who are hunted down by a creepy man in black gloves and jeans who drives a black truck . it predates many of the vehicle  inspired slashers to date   the trip    joy ride    jeepers creepers   where the killer  s vehicle itself becomes an evil antagonist . the killer himself is quite creepy  and we find solace in the extremely likable heroine in jennifer mcallister  look at the interesting symbolic contrast of the evil killer in all black  while our benevolent heroine sports all white attire  as scanty and stonewashed as it may be  . director bill crain does some really great things with his camera  some neat tricks on screen  and the cast tries their absolute best . there  s enough gore in the low bodycount to please the gore fans  and enough ta from a couple of the girls to please ta fans . overall  this flick is highly underrated and widely sought out in the slasher movie world as it  s proved quite rare to find on video . highly recommended .  
if derivative and predictable rape  revenge thrillers are your thing  then you  re in for a rare treat . . . they don  t really appeal to me  so i couldn  t find any single thing to redeem this peculiar tale . it seems like something straight out of the     s  a different age when this would have gone straight to video . gillian anderson and danny dyer do ok work with a weak script and a tedious scenario . but what is gillian anderson doing getting involved with a film like this after the brilliance of her performance as lady deadlock in the bbc tv adaptation of bleak house last year  the director is said to have been influenced by witnessing a near  rape and by his work on documentaries  but even that  s not an excuse for the bizarre scene where a pack of rural hounds beat up dyer . i don  t think i was the only person in the cinema laughing . what i can  t understand is the involvement of the companies behind this film  filmfour and verve pictures . both have been involved in some great independent british films in recent years . verve distributed bullet boy  code   and red road  straightheads doesn  t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath . filmfour and verve take note is this really the best you can do  what are independent british filmmakers going to make of your artistic judgement  it  s a big blot on both of your reputations . listen carefully can you hear the thousands of fans of independent british films crying in despair   
mirage       is a very rare horror  chiller from      released here in the uk on the  new world video  label .  br    br   it  s a desert based horror film about a group of young friends who are partying for the weekend  only to be killed off one by one by an unknown force who drives a menacing black truck    this film has some creepy scenes  and some gore here and there  but i have to say that the acting was so lame  even by low budget standards  but the film was oddly addictive and i liked it  and i never fell asleep or turned it off  which is always a good sign  i nearly gave this movie      but seeing as it built up steam along the way  had some good moments of gore and suspense  had some good nudity  and the fact that the blonde in the main female role was a hottie too  i  ll give it     .  
warning contains many spoilers   br    br   let me start by saying i have a huge respect for gillian anderson  s incredible talent as a varied and versatile actress  which is why i cannot comprehend her reasons for agreeing to make this film once she saw the script  or lack thereof .   br    br   the premise of the film was  in my opinion  a great idea and there were some genuinely thought  provoking themes in there but it ended up like a collapsed souffl . it exemplifies why i hate    of british cinema . it feels too long  it  s tedious  for the most part  and not a lot happens after the first twenty minutes . just when you think there  s a chance of it picking up some speed it disappoints like paula radcliffe running a marathon . with little imaginative directing and a minimalist plot  there isn  t much to keep the audience from nodding off into their popcorn . as for the script i can only surmise that the writer was trying to save a few trees  with the average scene reading something along the lines of  alice f off   adam stares . adam runs off into woods   alice follows  alice adam  adam   i suspect that  word for word  the actors probably got paid more than kate moss did for her virgin mobile adverts . what few lines there were didn  t have a lot of variation with a frequent use of the f  word that would make bridget jones  s friend  shazza  proud . there is little establishment of the main characters before the main sordid event which leaves the audience lacking much sympathy for the characters beyond an automatic  oh that  s terrible  reaction .  br    br   alice isn  t the kind of woman who courts sympathy either . she  s got a great job  an expensive london apartment with roof space to die for yet she comes across on screen as conceited  bitter and dissatisfied before her life takes a turn for the worst . after the attack a few layers are peeled back which sort  of explain why she is this way to start with she grew up with a tough  as  old  boots soldier who thought that teaching her how to shoot his gun was the ultimate expression of love so  instead of following in his footsteps  she ran away to the big city in search of something to make her feel like her life is worth living . instead she found a group of stereotypical middle  class toffs who look down on anyone not rich enough to drive a lexus and the luxuries that come with an integrated security  entertainment system  i . e . becoming mrs robinson to a wanna  be cockney wide  boy electrician  someone pass me a tissue . the one saving grace of this character is that she is played by gillian anderson . in the hands of a lesser actress she would  ve been intolerably one  dimensional but ms anderson actually manages to inject a few fleeting moments of humanity into this otherwise lifeless human being  most notably when she  s sincerely apologising for her road rage in a vain attempt to stop her attackers from continuing their assault .  br    br   i can  t say that adam fared much better either . danny dyer played him well as a fish  out  of  water jack the lad but a good performance couldn  t save him from both the lack of a script and the total absence of any character background .  br    br   this film relied mostly on shock value but the timing was off and it felt far too engineered from beginning to end . as for the shock  the most shocking thing about this film is the unashamed demonstration of how painfully thin ms anderson has become it was almost as unsettling to see as the brutal attack scenes . on a side note  only in a british film would a gang of violent sex attackers take the time to offer each other contraception before continuing to cheer their mates on  talk about stiff  upper  lip taken to the extreme  if this is the kind of film that the national lottery is donating money to make then i  m not surprised that fewer and fewer people are choosing to spend their pound each week .  br    br   saying that i hated this film is giving it too much credit  i didn  t care enough about any of the characters to warrant that strong an emotion . i want that one  and  a  bit hours of my life back  please   
bill crain  s rarer than rare  slasher  movie certainly doesn  t follow the standard stalk and slash guidelines that have become so essential of its counterparts . the bogeyman this time around uses grenades and small arms as well as an awesome array of melee weapons  a sin that  s virtually unacceptable in most post  halloween genre pieces . but there  s still just enough familiarity to keep slasher buffs from checking the rule book and the plot never strays too far from the path that you  ve grown to expect . just as wally koz  s surprisingly decent    was seemingly put together with help from various members of his family  mirage seems to have been a joint production from relatives of the director . looking through the credits i noticed numerous  crains  listed in key positions throughout the construction of the feature . but despite fairly good distribution across the globe  the movie failed to make an impression either side of the atlantic and now it has become pretty much a phantom of the vhs market . nevertheless this only made it appeal to me even more and so i strained my resources to track a copy down  br    br   it all takes place in the middle of the dessert  which as i  m sure you  ll agree is hardly the most exciting location . with that said though  i must admit that there  s certainly going to be no chance of any nosey john q laws turning up unexpectedly . four undeniably beautiful youngsters head out into the sand for a night of debauchery and frolics that always seems to rub homicidal maniacs the wrong way . chris  jennifer mcallister  and her boyfriend greg  kenny johnson  meet up with amusing new age hippies trip  kevin mcparland  and mary  nicole anton  at a make shift camp site in the midst of the dune  like wilderness . greg  s older brother kyle  todd schaefer  and his buxom girlfriend bambi  laura albert  soon turn up to join the body count applicants in their quest for an early grave . kyle used to date chris before his younger brother took the liberty of stealing his squeeze  something that kyle doesn  t seem too keen to forget . sound like a motive for a massacre  well what did you expect  before long an unseen someone driving a truck with tinted windows joins the gathering with a unique set of tricks up his sleeve . will any of the kids survive to turn up for a sequel   br    br   i have had trouble tracking down any information at all about this feature . i don  t even know if director bill crain is aka william crain  the man behind midnight fear and blacula among others . mirage certainly doesn  t appear on his official filmography  so your guess is as good as mine . judging by the credible work behind the camera  i  d have to say that i find it hard to believe that this is the debut of a man with no previous cinematic experience . the film is stylishly photographed with some superb work from dp michael crain  and the director boasts a credible talent for building suspense when it  s necessary . r . christopher biggs  gore fx are imaginatively created and gruesome  and kudos to the sleepy head over at the bbfc who inexplicably let this pass through uncut on a usually stringent   rating . a couple of the murders are indeed extremely macabre . one guy gets buried up to his neck in sand before coming face to face with a grenade  while another ends up literally legless after loosing a battle with a chain and a pick up truck  there  s also some black humor that  s surely unintentional . we spend the majority of the feature seeing only the killer  s boots as he steps out of his vehicle and stalks the youngsters . but when he  s revealed to hilariously resemble keanu reeves circa bill and ted  s bogus journey  i didn  t quite know what to expect . thankfully crain knows exactly how to keep things creepy and the showdown is particularly mean spirited as the psycho taunts chris sadistically .  br    br   there are some surprisingly good performances on display from an extremely inexperienced cast . the divine jennifer mcallister does a superb job as the heroine and b . g . steers portrays off his rocker dementia with finesse . the casting director chose wisely to pick some of the most beautiful females ever slaughtered in slasher cinema and it gratefully doesn  t come at the cost of thespian potential . the soundtrack works well to build the desolate atmosphere of isolation  which is carefully handled by a director that should have been signed and nurtured by hollywood bigwigs . watch out for the superb nightmare sequence that is truly horror film  making at it  s freakiest .  br    br   mirage is a good late entry to the cycle that was somewhat unfortunate to miss a boom year placing amongst the slasher elite . when you consider that this was made with just a cast of seven and a pick up truck  you have to say that they did a damn good job . the flaws are numerous  but never detract credibility from the net result . unfortunately you  ve probably got more chance of finding liquid gold in your coffee mug than you have of ever tracking down a copy . if you see this one covered in dust on the top shelf of your local video store  then make sure you pick it up . recommended .  
gillian anderson is an arrogant  driven  career woman who picks up working class oik danny dyer for a night of fun . after a stupid accident in the countryside  they are brutally attacked . after recovering  and after a chance meeting with one of the attackers  their thoughts turn to that of revenge . . .  br    br   i thought  straightheads  was terrible . violent  brutal  misogynistic and unpleasant . if i didn  t dislike the phrase a great deal i would call  straightheads  a video nasty . certainly it was the kind of film that would have had a no budget release straight to video during the dark days of the      s . frankly i don  t know how  straightheads  got a cinema release .  br    br   i am not a prude . i don  t mind sex and violence in the movies  but they have to be married to a movie with a  a good plot or b  good characterisation or c  preferably both .  straightheads  had neither . no progression in the plot or the characters and too much left unexplained and unsaid . luckily  straightheads  went nowhere fast . it was only   minutes long .  br    br   it was a shame  because there was the germ of an interesting film here  with an especially interesting turn in the plot in the last third . how often do i say this  but it could have been good if it had been done properly . what a shame . i really like gillian anderson and danny dyer  but they were on a hiding to nothing with this film . she  especially  is very underrated  and is still particularly fit  .  br    br   if you want to see a good british revenge movie  rent or buy shane meadows   dead man  s shoes  . it is a little masterpiece . last weekend i should have seen his  this is england  instead . ce sera sera . . .  
it  s hard to watch this movie without thinking forward to the television show it would become  especially if  like me  you happen to like the tv show more . but there  s a lot to be said for the source .  br    br   oscar madison  walter matthau  is a top new york city sportswriter who lives in an eight  room apartment by himself  a casualty of divorce and his own stubbornly sloppy mindset . enter his friend felix ungar  jack lemmon   needing a place to live after his wife threw him out for his stubbornly neatnik mindset . the result is a train wreck and one of the most beloved movie adaptations of a neil simon stage play .  br    br   first thing  s first i love that apartment  poker table  novelty dart board  askew photos of baseball players  empty booze and beer containers  even a pair of roman columns . it  s a place where men can be boys . simon and director gene saks do a great job opening up the stage play  s single set  oscar  s living room  by moving the action into the bedrooms and kitchen and giving the mounting tension between oscar and felix more corners to bounce off of .  br    br   neal hefti  s familiar score was heard on the tv show  but never so sweepingly orchestrated as it is here  in several different arrangements that make the on  screen action soar whenever its played . real location work and night shots of manhattan give the film an energy common to films shot in that place and time   buddwing    the world of henry orient    midnight cowboy    manchurian candidate    rosemary  s baby   etc .   br    br   are lemmon and matthau too heavy in comparison to tony randall and jack klugman  to be fair  the movie is meant to be a more serious affair  dealing with the then  uncommon condition of mid  life divorce and the frustration inherent in not being able to make a relationship work . simon has more in mind than entering felix and oscar in a game of  password  or a battle of wits with howard cosell . but i don  t know . . .  br    br   both lemmon and matthau were terrific comedians i enjoy watching especially in the middle of this film as i often do in their separate movies  but i never understood why they were regarded as a great comedy team . here  in their best  regarded partnership  they seem to be acting in two different films lemmon in a comedy  drama and matthau in a farce . matthau is great in the beginning  charming us with his teddy  bear demeanor around the poker table  but near the end of the film he takes a turn much like jack torrance  s in  the shining   reacting to felix cleaning up his apartment and serving tasty food to his friends in a way that totally upsets the delicate balance of blame .  br    br   while the ending bothers me  the part many see as the most jarring  the beginning  works fine as i see it . watching felix stumbling around trying to kill himself isn  t great comedy  no  but it  s a good way to get into a great comedy  setting us up with some real  life pain before bringing in the warmth and laughter .  plus it has some great shots of the seedier parts of the city .  in the middle of the movie  this scene would have been a miscalculation  but it works as a way of establishing felix  s torment and a sense of sharp relief to come when we see oscar and his poker friends bicker and feud .  br    br   that  s where simon  s lines are so great . they are the underlying strength of the film . he gets the banter exactly right and real  and still makes it funny .  i don  t mind you talking  felix . you got things to say . what  s scaring me is i  m beginning to listen .  the tv show showed how wrong it is to assume the movie is always better  in fact the tv show once made a good point about  assuming  anything at all  but the movie makes for a solid foundation and is a joy in its own right .  
well where to start here  straightheads presents me with a bit of a dilemma . had this film come out of italy in  say       been directed by ruggero deodatto and starred david hess  then i  d be lapping it up faster than labrador drinks water on a summer  s day . because whilst tarantino and rodriguez are busy elsewhere with their homage to grindhouse cinema  dan reed has produced a rape  revenge grindhouse picture of his very own in england  and on seemingly the same budget as it would have taken rodriguez to turn rose mcgowan  s leg into a machine gun . because if you want to play grindhouse bingo  then let me call out the  numbers    br    br    . rich  high flying career woman meets a bit of rough from the wrong side of the tracks in an implausible manner and  equally implausibly  gets the hots for him . check .  br    br    . gratuitous shots of said high  flying career woman in various states of nudity . check .  br    br    . convoluted and highly unlikely plot development that sets up characters that exist solely to do what they do and who cannot be imagined to have any existence outside the scenes they are in . check .  br    br    . unnecessarily graphic rape scene perpetrated by a gang of males with no discernible depth of personality or background other than they are there to rape . check .  br    br    . gritty and bloody scenes of murder and revenge to round it all off . bingo   br    br   plotwise  straightheads is pretty basic stuff dyer meets anderson and she invites him to a party at a country pile owned by her boss . on the way home  they upset three locals in a landover who take their revenge by giving dyer a good shoeing and gang raping anderson . the couple then set about getting their revenge . so far  so  straw dogs    late night trains    house on the edge of the park    i spit on your grave  etc etc . so why didn  t i think much of this film  a number of reasons i suppose first off  having the likes of gillian anderson in the cast prima facie lead me to expect better  but it  s the complete lack of honesty here than rankles most .  br    br   because whenever anyone sits down to watch hess and his ilk terrorising women and murdering their menfolk in those period pieces from the    s  then they always know exactly what they are getting  low budget quickies designed solely to shock and appeal to the lowest common denominator . the baddies terrorise and murder the goodies  the goodies turn the tables on the baddies and kill them back  and everyone goes home satisfied  their desires to see a bit of nasty violence slaked and safe in the knowledge that the world order had been restored .  br    br   as writer and director however  dan reed clearly believes straightheads has far more to say on the state of the human psyche than that  and desperately tries to imbibe his film with a philosophical depth that is simply not there . for instance  when anderson and dyer are planning revenge on their attackers  they learn that one of the rapists has a fourteen  year  old daughter who is an object of lust for the two men he hangs around with . when anderson finally meets him face to face  he confesses that he only raped her as a distraction so that his two mates would take their attention away from his daughter    the casual and audacious way that reed drops this little revelation into the plot is simply jaw  dropping  it  s almost as if he expects this simple reference to paedophilia to be enough to throw the audience  s moral compass into overdrive and make them leave the cinema thinking they  ve just sat through something of significance . to make sure we  get it   at this point we are shown a run through of the rape sequence for a second time  ostensibly from the view of the attacker and his concern for his daughter  but reed ensures that we get plenty more shots of anderson rough  handled and raped across the bonnet of her car . gratuitous does not enter into it .  br    br   after being told his reasons for raping her  anderson ties him over a table  rams the business end of a sniper rifle  complete with bulky silencer  just in case anyone wasn  t clear on the phallic imagery  up his jacksie but lacks the courage to pull the trigger  telling dyer  who has no such moral qualms  that  it  s over  . dyer argues otherwise and their moral dilemma is presented as something that wittgenstein and russell may have discussed in their rooms back at cambridge over tea and cakes . it is almost unwatchable in its ludicrousness .  br    br   in fairness  ms anderson acts her guts out throughout the film . it  s obvious she wants to leave scully far behind and  bless her  she certainly does that one wonders what mulder would have made of his erstwhile partner squatting down to take a leak at the side of the road and then sodomising a man with a gun  dyer  on the other hand  does what he  s done in virtually every film he  s made to date  that is  plays a gor blimey guv cockney type chappie with a roguish grin  a cheeky line of patter and a face that most people would never get tired of punching . this is particularly true at the closing scene where  after murdering his assailants in cold blood  dyer gazes at the camera in  what i  m sure is meant to be  a look of existential anguish that invites us to sympathise at the hand fate has dealt him and the moral quandaries he has had to overcome  but instead is far more reminiscent of oliver hardy looking exasperatedly at the camera after stan has landed him in yet another fine mess . which incidentally  sums up this film quite nicely .  
neil simon had a knack for dialog and nowhere is this more evident than the lines he gives walter matthau and jack lemmon as opposite types in the odd couple   a mixture of comedy and sadness that depends entirely on the believability of two such mismatched friends sharing an apartment .  br    br   lemmon is neatnik felix ungar  bent on suicide after the divorce from his wife and reluctantly agreeing to share an apartment with oscar madison  matthau  with somewhat disastrous results . seems that everything felix says and does drives oscar up the wall and neither one can stand the other  s ways  with oscar being the messiest male imaginable and felix the exact opposite .  br    br   funniest scene for me was when the giggling pigeon sisters in the apartment above visit them on a dinner date . the priceless interaction between lemmon  matthau and carole shelley and monica evans is enough to put you in stitches . the talented pigeon sisters are the gals who did the voices for the gabble sisters  a pair of geese  in disney  s the aristocats  and here   their comic timing on top of lemmon  s sad story of despair is enough to spin the film into hilarity   where it remains much of the time .  br    br   if you  re a neil simon fan and have enjoyed other screen treatments of his work  this one is not to be missed . matthau and lemmon are perfectly cast  even though they considered exchanging roles before filming began  and  of course  it  s easy to see why it became a top  rated tv show later on .  br    br   summing up top simon comedy  not to be missed .  
i  d been following this films progress for quite some time so perhaps expected a little too much . i consider both gillian anderson and danny dyer to be good at what they do and was interested to see what dan reed could come up with but unfortunately it just didn  t work for me .  br    br   the problem lies in the fact that the film doesn  t really seem to understand which genre it  s falling into and as such it fails to impress on drama  horror and thriller elements because rather than focusing on one of them and doing it well it  s a bit of a jack of all trades and master of none .  br    br   the premise  as with most revenge films  is simple  couple meet and go out  something bad happens and they get their revenge it  s a simple formula and one that many directors have handled expertly over the years . unfotunately in this case it  s as if dan reed thought   it  d be great to do one of those revenge films that goes a little deeper by showing a more human side to all the characters and delving into their mental state in more detail . . . .  wrong  there are also a few key elements missing  in this type of movie there  s generally some kind of warning . a don  t do this or this might happen element which adds to the tension but there  s nothing of the sort here . it just simply happens  then nothing happens for an hour  then something interesting happens and then it ends .  br    br   there  s a lot of really stiff competition in this genre and hats of to dan reed for trying  i have no issue with his directing abilities but in term of writing . . . i  d say next time he should stick to the formula for the type of film he  s making instead of trying to be too clever and he  ll have a quality movie on his hands .  
felix unger  jack lemmon  has just been dumped by his wife  because he is one of the most annoying  neurotic people in the world . suicide is his way out  but he just can  t seem to get it to work  so he heads over to his friends house . oscar madison  walther matthau  is also recently divorced and living it up in bachelor heaven . smoking  gambling  hitting on chicks  eating out and never cleaning is paradise to him . well  with the suicide attempts oscar decides to let felix move in . at first  it is a match made in heaven  felix cooks and cleans and helps oscar pay his alimony on time  but soon oscar is jonesing for women and felix  who in today  s world would probably be gay  isn  t ready to move on . they invite a couple of british birds over and they find felix so tender that soon they and felix are weeping and chatting about his family life  leaving oscar denied . this is it  he explodes and throws him out  but felix isn  t as helpless as it seems  and soon he has the upper hand . my favorite quote  you leave me little notes on my pillow . told you    times i can  t stand little notes on my pillow .  we  re all out of cornflakes . f . u .  took me three hours to figure out f . u . was felix ungar   based on a neil simon play  who also wrote the screenplay   this has a certain theatre feel to it . set and the repartee and looks feel quite play  like  for better or worse  . lemmon and mathau have excellent comedic chemistry and have appeared in the grumpier old men movies and out to sea  reprising the same finicky  slob roles  but with different names  to avoid royalty issues  i  m sure  .  br    br   this movie is like strawberries dipped in chocolate . the chocolate is smooth  sweet and rich  the strawberry is tart  juicy and bright red  unless you get those nasty greenish ones  . they are almost polar opposites  but together  the contrasts highlight each other and make a wonderful dessert .      br    br   http   blog . myspace . com  locoformovies  
a truly horrible film that left me feeling sullied by having watched the forty minutes or so i could stand . not the actors  fault  but the writer  director  producers  financiers  etc .  need a very stiff talking to . maybe it thinks it is profound . it isn  t . this rape and ultra  violence  unlike that central to clockwork orange  has nothing to say about or add to the sum of human understanding . it  s no straw dogs  either  to which i have seen it compared . rather it feels like something pete walker might have turned his hand to  yet even in saying that i  m probably being a bit unfair on pete walker .  br    br   revenge is a powerful human desire  but the bedroom window has more to say about that and male emasculation than this pitiful effort .  br    br   i don  t think it  s particularly misogynistic  merely too gleeful in its depiction of certain details   the blood running down ga  s leg post rape  par example . it  s neither challenging nor confrontational  though i  m sure the film  makers consider themselves very  daring   just deeply unpleasant .  br    br   is this as high as we can aim  is this why those involved wanted to make films   i did write in here the latin phrase which translates as oh the times  oh the customs  but the new spell  check on imdb wouldn  t let me post until i had removed it . likewise i had to remove square parentheses . get it sorted imdb .   br    br   where is the lofty aspiration  the noble impulse  when you look at british film  the joyful comedies of ealing or the boulting brothers carol reed  s work with graham greene on fallen idol  our man in havana or the sublime the third man  a film which has far more to say about evil than a thousand straightheads   the work of powell  pressburger or if you want to talk about sex  violence and male emasculation look at  the offence  dir . sidney lumet  from an original play by john hopkins check out  tunes of glory  for something worth making  that has something to say .  br    br   unlike the foregoing  straightheads is  alas  an altogether hateful waste of celluloid .  
the odd couple is the classic film version of neil simon  s most famous play about a tv newswriter named felix unger  who is an obsessive neat freak  who moves in with his divorced best friend  oscar madison  a sportswriter and complete slob  after his wife frances throws him out of their apartment . already divorced  oscar takes his best friend in and regrets it from the moment he does it . neil simon  s classic comedy first came to broadway with art carney playing felix and walter matthau playing oscar . jack lemmon takes over for carney in the film version with a memorable performance as felix unger . lemmon is not only terribly funny in the role but so vividly real that he brings an element of melancholy to the pitiful figure that is felix unger . matthau  fortunately  was allowed to recreate his role as oscar  a one  of  a  kind gem of comic performance that provides consistent laughs throughout . this teaming of lemmon and matthau turned out to be comic gold that was re  visited in nine other films . with both of these actors no longer with us  the viewing of this classic becomes more touching but no less hilarious . simon  s play has been nicely expanded for the screen with a silent prologue chronicling a depressed felix  s suicide attempt that is a winner . the supporting cast includes herb edelman  john fiedler  larry haines  and david sheiner as oscar  s poker playing buddies and moncia evans and carole shelley as the piedgon sisters  blind dates of oscar and felix . of course  it later became an excellent tv series with tony randall and jack klugman  but there  s nothing like the original . a joy from start to finish .  
this is the biggest load of crap that i have seen in a long time . the last time i hated a movie so much was whilst watching    days later  and  magnolia  . there is absolutely no point to this movie  except to see some really sick and twisted sex  rape scenes  gillian anderson relieving herself on the side of the road  and every single sentence of dialog having to use the  f  word at least a couple of times in it . it has extremely cheap acting and is very low budget . my friend and i eventually turned off the movie after about half an hour . we had tried to give it a chance  but nothing could save this crud . do not watch it     
this has to be  hands down  hats off  one of the most uproarious comedies ever made . starting with the animated blowing  popping bubbles  the entrance to the daytime awards  the usual phony drivel spewed by the stars on the red carpet  the rehearsed and badly acted acceptance speech  the venomous comments uttered by the actor  s jealous co  stars and producer  under phony smiles . now that is only in the first few minutes . then  all hell breaks loose from there and it only gets more frantic and ridiculous . ridiculous in a good way  no  make that a great way . this was the first time i  d seen the always charming teri hatcher . while i may not be a follower of desperate housewives  she herself is always watchable  same goes for lois  clark . not a huge follower  but if i run across an episode i  d watch it . robert downey  jr .  does a great turn as slimy  smarmy  snaky  sycophantic david seaton barnes  the producer who  d give his right eye to see sally field  s celeste talbert leave the show  if only to finally get to get it on with cathy moriarty  s montana moorehead .  br    br   moriarty absolutely shines in this movie  just as she had everywhere else she  s appeared . here  all she has to do is scream  i hate you i hate you you creep   or give one of her anti  celeste  co  conspirators an evil grin  and she has me rolling in the aisles . yes  cathy moriarty is a very gifted actress  and one hell of a comedienne . sally field gratefully departs from the usual    mm  sized lifetime tragedy of the week movies  and we  re all reminded why she is who she is today  having started off in comedy afraid of nothing . her ensuing years of drama had hidden her sense of humor  but like a caterpillar in a cocoon  the brilliant comedienne she is had blossomed and it was joyous to see her as hilarious as she was . the thing with dramatic actors and actresses is that you see in such heavy  serious roles  that you associate them with their character and you can  t believe it when you see them finally having some fun on screen .  br    br   how lucky were the producers to land carrie fisher  if only for a glorified cameo . she doesn  t realize what a presence she bears on screen . she takes a role which  in the hands of a lesser actress  could easily have been forgotten  but she owns the character and it seems as if she wrote it herself .  br    br   how lucky was elisabeth shue to get thrown in the middle of all this  at the time  she wasn  t really known for much . adventures in babysitting was kind of cute  yes  i was dragged to an evening show for which i had to pay full price   but she didn  t hold my attention   much . but here  she makes the most of her character  star  s niece who falls in love with the star  s ex  co  star  and  lover who  of course  turns out to be the niece  s father  and the star turns out to be the poor girl  s mother .  br    br   i  ll stop there  i feel i practically wrote a book about this brilliant screwball comedy  or at least a novela . if you  ve seen it  then reminisce . if you haven  t  you  ve missed a real classic  but not really . the dvd  s are made of a material that  ll last for at least   years  and this movie is timeless  so what the hell .  
disappointing and irritating . the screenwriter has no true understanding of human nature but instead strings together clichs in a disjointed fashion . character is not explored in depth . these are puppets plunked down in a plot he openly confesses needed a dramatic element  the mother  s affair with her daughter  s lover .  br    br   anne reid gives an excellent performance in spite of being given some peculiar situations and lines  such standing passively to allow her angry daughter to slug her in the eye . the script portrays darren  daniel craig  as a dr . jekyll  mr . hyde without any hints about why  except that he snorts cocaine before the big scene .  br    br   a mature writer could have done so much more with this topic .  
this is the neil simon piece of work that got a lot of praises   the odd couple  is a one of a kind gem that lingers within . you got felix ungar  jack lemmon   a hypochondriac  fussy neat  freak  and a big thorn in the side of his roommate  oscar madison  walter matthau   a total slob . these men have great jobs though . felix is a news writer  and oscar is a sports writer . both of these men are divorced  felix  s wife is nearby  while oscar  s is on the other side of the u . s .  the west coast  . well  what can you say  two men living in one roof together without driving each other crazy  is impossible as well as improbable . it  s a whole lot of laughs and a whole lot of fun . i liked the part where when those two british neighbors that speak to both gentlemen  and after oscar kicked out felix  he gets lucky and lives with them when he refused to have dinner with them the night earlier . it  s about time that felix needed to lighten up . i guess all neat  freaks neat to lighten up . they can be fussy  yet they should be patient as well . a very fun movie  and a nuevo classic . neil simon  s  the odd couple  is a must see classic movie .  stars   
this reminded me soo much of michael winner  s crappy  dirty weekend  with it  s awful english low budget feel .  br    br   firstly i must say i am a fan of both exploitation and serious film . i appreciate  say   demented  for it  s ineptitude and  last house on the left  for it  s sheer unashamed brutality . and any number of inventive and increasingly brutal italian spin offs .  br    br   this was just pointless though . kind of like a british budget director thought  let  s remake  i spit on your grave  without making it too harrowing now that horror is back in fashion with hostel .  br    br   the whole thing just doesn  t hang together or have a point . what  s with the rapists  s daughter  why bother having the man be an expert in security cameras  crappy .  
matthau and lemmon are at their very best in this one  everyone else in the movie are also great . the dialogue is excellent and very  very witty  and the scene where lemmon  s character attempts to clear out his sinuses in a restaurant have me rolling on the floor with laughter every time i see it . anyone who happened to see the not so great sequel should not be turned away from the original . i recommend this wonderful movie to everyone  i just love it . and the fact the jack lemmon plays his character so straight forward with tragic overtones only adds to the hilariousness in my opinion . these two great guys made a string of movies together  but this one is the best  no doubt .  
this movie is the worst i  ve seen in the last  years . it is surprising how brilliant actors like two main characters in this movie has accepted to act in such worthless peace of trash . the film is rape  beating and revenge genre . couple has gone to party and on the way back they hit a deer and he went out to finish it when a jeep full of bad guys comes . he didn  t go to their car  instead he has been kicked and well beaten while she tries to run the car engine which betray her and she has been gang raped . then somehow she is in her fathers house and one of bad guys is her neighbor so she took shotgun and wanted to kill him . . . so stupid scenario  bellow hollywood  he was against that revenge but  she is raped   they laugh to her  so she must kill them all . . . but once inside the house she was satisfied by pushing rifle  s top in bad guys anus and went away while he has gone crazy and execute bad guy . personally i think that director run out of money before finishing this because movie ends before they execute anyone else involved in this gang  rape and beating which is not big surprise because sponsor obviously has seen this and wanted to take back his money . lol this movie is not even for people who enjoy watching rape because they won  t see anything they are looking for . . . this director should be banned . . . it is for upsetting that this peace of trash has been made by british cinematography which i personally like and that is the reason i  ve watched this . don  t do it yourself you have better things to do that watching stupid scenario film . . .  
the first time i saw this  i didn  t laugh too much . at the time  i was only about fifteen years old and thought that maybe some of the deeper humor was too mature for me to understand at the time . i had the same reaction when i viewed it a second time a few months ago  and this time  it was because felix  s aborted suicide attempt at the beginning of the movie kind of darkened the movie a bit . this scene made some of the things oscar said and did to felix later in the movie seem needlessly cruel  and their personality clashes weren  t as amusing as they could have been . had i not already known the story  i would have been worried that some of oscar  s antics to felix might push him over the edge . as it was  it didn  t make me laugh or smile like the television show with jack klugman and tony randall did . still  all in all  a pretty good movie and it spawned one of the greatest sitcoms on television .  out of   .  
an unpleasant woman and an equally unpleasant man are violently and horribly assaulted by a group of two  dimensional psycho thugs during a night  time encounter on a forest road in shropshire  england . the man and woman who were assaulted plan and carry out a revenge attack on their attackers . . .  br    br   utterly repellent piece of voyeuristic trash  somehow masquerading as  thought  provoking  drama  whilst actually coming across as sub  michael winner crp  you just know that oliver reed and susan george would have been cast had it so easily have been made in the     s  . what happens to alice  gillian anderson  and adam  danny dyer  is appalling and devastating  yet dan reed somehow manages to rub the viewer  s nose in every last glob of its sexual nastiness . his camera lingers hungrily on anderson  s naked body both during and after the assault  whilst the script leaves almost all the characters floundering in a turgid sea of two dimensional clich . his script forces his characters to behave in such a way as to alienate the viewer further from the  victims  by shoving more ghastly situations into their faces  adams  s attempted post  incident assaults on both sophie and alice alice  s assault on heffer after his suicide  attempt confession  .  br    br   the quandary comes from the central protagonists  performances  dyer is a horrible actor  incapable of light and shade as the young male victim of the initial assault  he  ll end up in eastenders  mark my words   but anderson is extraordinary . even as the atrocious script forces her character to behave in depraved and ludicrous ways  she somehow delivers an extraordinarily compelling and complicated characterisation as a self  indulgent  arrogant hedonist who encounters such horrors and needs to retaliate .  br    br   a vile and pointless film then  almost but not quite rescued by a compelling central female performance .  
neil simon has quite a body of work  but it is the odd couple that carried him to fame . this film really works . jack lemmon  walter matthaw have a great chemistry . the supporting cast for this film is stellar as well .  br    br   it is about  men living together who are from opposite planets . the script bristles with humor from this situation . this had been done in some forms previously . this is the one that brings it all together in a very good package .  br    br   simon has done some other decent work  but this one is really his best work which made the rest of his work possible . it is hard to imagine simon ever topping this .  
although i use this site quite frequently to see how other people rated what i think are challenging or just plain enjoyable films  after watching this  movie  on film four last night i felt compelled to write something down  even if it just helps cleanse me once again .  br    br   the film was possibly the shallowest experience i  ve ever had  the main characters played by danny dyer     you sure   and gillian anderson  who will always be scully as leonard nimoy will always be spock  had no real substance about them  i  m not sure if the first half  hour of the film didn  t make the final cut but surely in a revenge movie you would like some empathy with the victims . . . here i couldn  t care less . in fact  the only character i did seem to care about was the dog  with the stag coming a close second . and both animals out  acted dire  sic  and scully  who were quite frankly terrible . i guess though you  re only as good as the script you are given  and i  d like to warmly thank the writers  the producers  the director and all of the cast for wasting   minutes of my life and some perfectly good electricity .  
some of the best movies that are categorized as  comedies  actually blur between comedy and drama .  the graduate  and  butch cassidy and the sundance kid   which were made also in the late      s are perfect examples . are they comedies with dramatic undertones  or dramas with a lot of humor  in many respects   the odd couple  falls into this same category of being both comedy yet highly dramatic with deep underpinnings about human nature . much of what happens may be funny to the audience but the characters are not laughing .  br    br   despite the rather light  hearted tv show of the      s  the original  odd couple  is not merely about a neat guy and messy guy who are forced to live together because of their marital situation . it  s really about two opposites who must face why their marriages fell apart and how their detrimental idiosyncrasies reveal themselves outside of their marriage . neatness  the characteristic of felix ungar  jack lemon perfectly cast  and messiness  the characteristic of oscar madison  walter matthau   are only the beginning and somewhat superficial . as the story unfolds  we find there is a lot more to these men than simply neatness versus messiness .  br    br   briefly  the story is really about felix ungar  who has to face an impending divorce from his wife francis  who we never meet but is an important character throughout the story . on the verge of suicide  ungar goes to the only place he knows the apartment of oscar madison where a group of poker buddies hang out every so often . we learn that ungar is not only a member of this  poker club  but the group knows what  s happening to him and try  in their inept way  to help out . madison figures the best way to help ungar is to let him move in with him until his suicidal tendencies wear off .  br    br   unfortunately for madison  he doesn  t know what he  s getting himself into . madison is a carefree happy  go  lucky if rather irresponsible slob who  s refrigerator was last cleaned probably when herbert hoover was still in the white house . madison  s idea of serving snacks is grabbing moldy cheese and sticking them in between two pieces of bread  and then throwing the contents of a bag of chips on the table . on the other hand  he enjoys booze and women  in short having a good time .  br    br   ungar is not only altogether different  he is diametrically opposite . he is not only an obsessive neatness nut that finds more joy in disinfecting the apartment than meeting women but he knows more than most women do about cooking and fine eating . at one point  he calls his ex  wife  not to talk about reconciling  but to get her recipe for meatloaf . at another moment  ungar was going to spend the rest of the evening cutting cabbage for coleslaw . when madison seems unimpressed  ungar finally confesses he was only doing it for his roommate because he can  t stand coleslaw . who is this guy  but he has another endearing trait felix is also a hypochondriac . he obsesses about his health to the point where he makes strange noises in public places claiming he  s helping his sinuses . he seems to have every health condition in the book . and if they made up more  felix would probably have them . ultimately  he is overly self  absorbed .  br    br   running throughout the movie are references to marriage . at one point when madison is trying to convince ungar to move in  he says   what do you want  a wedding ring   but little does he know that it is not the neat guy who can  t deal with the messy guy  but the other way around . their friendship becomes an inadvertent hellish relationship . and the climax occurs when oscar invites two lonely british sisters for a get  together with both comedic and tragic results . this is one of the best comedies of its type ever written and not to be missed  with superlative performances by walter matthau and jack lemon in roles that are hard to imagine better played by anyone else . it is unfortunate that writing of this caliber is sadly lacking from most comedies being produced today .  
i was really looking forward to watching this  being that i love danny dyer and i think gillian anderson is a gifted actress . the beginning was interesting . i liked the relationship between the two stars . it then quickly jumps to the main plot  which is they get attacked by a group of strangers and dyer gets beaten extremely bad while anderson gets raped . they then decide to go for some revenge . sounds good  right  well  it  s not . the story gets boring and side  tracked  and certain things get really weird . i won  t give out any details  but things happen that i  for one  have no desire to see . i like to give all movies the benefit of the doubt  and i really wanted to like this one . it just didn  t work out . i give it a  out of    mainly for the acting .  
the original movie  the odd couple  has some wonderful comic one  liners . the entire world it seems knows the story of neurotic neat  freak felix ungar and funny  obnoxious  slob oscar madison . this paring of mismatched roommates created one of the most successful tv series of all time as well as countless  not anywhere near as good  imitations .  br    br   the odd couple movie has some wonderful jokes about oscar  s apartment and his sloppy habits . he says   who wants food   one of his poker player buddies asks   what do ya got   oscar says   i got brown sandwiches and green sandwiches .   what  s the brown   it  s either very new cheese or very old meat   i also love the line about oscar  s refrigerator   it  s been out of order for two weeks  i saw milk standing in there that wasn  t even in a bottle   there is no question that walter matthau  s oscar madison is a joy to watch on screen . he  s almost as good as jack klugman  s version in the tv series .  br    br   the problem with the movie is jack lemmon  s felix ungar . jack makes a very  very  honest effort at the role . the problem is that he makes felix so depressing and down  trodden that he becomes more annoying than comical . tony randall  s performance in the series  brought the kind of humor  warmth  and sensitivity  to felix  s character  which lemmon  s portrayal lacks . tony  s felix unger obviously could be annoying some of the time . however  in the tv series  it related to specific situations where the annoyance was needed in the storyline . jack  s felix ungar   note the different spelling  in the movie  seems to never be happy  fun  or interesting . the movie felix ungar is a roommate that drives you up the wall  all the time .  br    br   the movie still has great moments that withstand the test of time  the  famous  meatloaf fight is one of the greatest scenes ever  one of the other great examples of felix  s  little notes  on oscar  s pillow will be remembered forever . however  there are some darker sides where oscar goes over the top  his  crying  near the end after bawling out felix  and a scene involving felix  s linguine dinner   although lightened by a funny line .  seem more depressing than comical .  br    br   perhaps there wasn  t enough time to see the lighter side of these characters that made the series so memorable in the movie . the beginning   minutes are very boring . the same issue occurs with felix  s conversation with the pidgeon sisters . the movie  s ending is predictable and too pat . there  s very little care or compassion for each of them by the other . the result is that the darker side of the film leads to a lot of depression and anger  rather than comedy  unless you are watching the great scenes described above . it appears that jack lemmon  s monotone persona of felix brings the film down  rather than enhances or embraces the comedy between the characters .  br    br   it really took the      s tv series to make the odd couple the best that it could be . the original film is still very good . however  the tv series is much better .  
this uk psychological thriller is known in the united states as closure . exploitation of x  files  gillian anderson  who plays an attractive middle aged businesswoman of substance named alice . she must attend a business party and invites adam  danny dyer   who just installed a security system for her  to be her escort . on the way home  speeding through the woods on a narrow lane  alice  s auto collides with a deer . after pulling the wounded animal off the road  the couple is savagely attacked by a drunken gang of thugs . adam is beat to a pulp alice is gang raped and both are emotionally and physically devastated by the ruthless attack . when the identities of their attackers are discovered  alice and adam set out to exact revenge . . . brutal revenge . the couple at times find themselves at odds on how to deal with the ruthless attackers . their final decision is to avenge with no mercy . let there be no mistake  payback is hell . also in the cast anthony calf  ralph brown  francesca fowler and antony byrne . brutal violence  disturbing images  nudity and graphic rape .  
first ever viewing july         br    br   very impressive screenplay and comedic acting and timing in this film . now   years old  it has lost none of it  s power . neil simon displays excellent insight into human nature and relationships as well as how to create genuine comedy from unusual situations . jack lemmon and walter matthau give great comedic performances . neil simon was inspired by actual events in his own life to write the play this film is based on .  br    br   one of the best written and acted hollywood comedies of all time   br    br   surprisingly  only nominated for  academy awards  best adapted screenplay  and  best film editing  . hollywood rarely awards comedies  no matter how well they are made .  
unless i  m sadly mistaken  i rented a nightmare on elm street  several years ago and there was a music video  i  m pretty sure which was called dream warriors  at the end of it  and i rented this one on dvd hoping that the video would be there because it was one of the funniest things i  ve ever seen . it  s amazing how stuff from the   s is so funny now  but nothing is funnier than   s rap videos . there was this rap group singing that song dream warriors on the vhs version of this movie after the credits  and they  re all wearing like denim jackets with no shirt underneath and form fitting jean shorts that are all frayed at the bottoms like daisy dukes . what could make a rap group look more foolish i can  t imagine .  br    br    spoilers  at any rate  i was disappointed in looking for that video on the dvd version  so all i had was this mediocre installment in the freddy krueger series . the movie sort of starts off with the same idea as part   with the main character witnessing all kinds of gruesome murders and then sort of coming out of a trance and finding himself with the bloody hands . kristen parker  patricia arquette  has a nightmare about the infamous house that nancy thompson used to live in  then runs to the bathroom  the sink  s handles turn into freddy  s hands and attack her  and then she wakes up standing in her bathroom having slit her own wrists . from there  the movie turns into the usual mental hospital installment .  br    br   larry  fishburne  tired of always playing the bad guy in his roles  was happy to take on the role in this film as a nice  guy orderly  stern but accommodating when the patients want to bend the rules a little . not surprisingly  he turns in what is by leaps and bounds the best performance in the movie . arquette later goes on to become an accomplished actor  but had not perfected her acting skills when she starred in this film . the characters in the movie are mostly all patients at the mental hospital that kristen is placed into after cutting her wrists . all of them are cynical and uncooperative  almost none believing that they really belong there at all . eventually  they realize and are able to convince the staff that they are all having dreams about the same man and it  s not just some kind of group hysteria .  br    br   heather langenkamp has returned in her famous role as nancy thompson  this time grown up into a dream researcher as a result of her childhood experiences involving freddy krueger . not surprisingly  she is able to quickly relate to the hysterical kristen and the rest of the patients  since she had experienced exactly what they  re going through . there are some interesting murders in this installment  and the technology used for the special effects have taken a huge jump . there is a gigantic  worm  like freddy that tries to swallow kristen whole  there is a scene where a television turns into freddy and with mechanical arms he picks up one of the patients there for some late night entertainment and punishes her for sitting too close to the tv  but there is also an unconvincing go  motion scene where a couple guys have a fight with freddy krueger  s skeleton  which has been rotting in the trunk of some car in a car junkyard . and one of the more groan  inducing scenes was one where freddy attacks one of the patients in his dream  the one famous for sleepwalking   tearing the muscles and tendons out of his arms and legs and leading him around like a puppet . ouch .  br    br   we get a peek into freddy  s past in this installment . not only do we meet his mother  but we also find out the circumstances that led to freddy being fathered by more than    maniacs . in fighting freddy  the patients all band together and  in their dreams  use their special powers  most of which reflect their shortcomings in real life  to fight him . one student  bound to a wheelchair  is able to walk in his dreams  another has the hilarious powers of what he calls the wizard master   another is beautiful and bad   she has lots of makeup  her hair stands up in a foot  high mohawk  and she has knives  . clever  but the movie falters when it has only one of the patients  the one who can  t speak  not have any powers in his dreams until the climax of the movie  when he suddenly realizes that he can talk in his dreams  at just the right moment to save the day  . his dream power was a little too obvious to have been left out for that long  but collectively  now you see why the movie was subtitled dream warriors .  br    br   altogether  this is not an entirely weak entry into the series . the acting is pretty shoddy  but it  s actually pretty good for a horror movie . larry fishburne vastly overshadows the rest of the cast  displaying wonderful acting skills early on in his career  and the movie is not simply a rehash of either of the first two  a problem that plagues the friday the   th movies much more than the elm street films . the characters are never developed enough to allow for the later creation of much tension  which is why most of the deaths come across more as creative ways to kill off someone in a horror film than the tragic loss of the life of one of the characters that we  ve come to know and root for their triumph over evil . but then again  not a lot of horror movies take the time to really develop their characters to the point where you throw up your hands in defeat when they are killed  or are on the edge of your seat as they run for their lives . but it  s important to note that the few horror films that actually do that are almost invariably the best ones  
and laugh out loud funny in many scenes .  br    br   the movie  s basic plot is well chronicled  a story of opposites trying to find a way to survive each other in close proximity .  br    br   this is unquestionably lemmon and matheau  s best film as co  stars  and the interaction between the sloppy oscar and the ocd felix are classic .  br    br   the scene where oscar lines up a double date  leaves the room briefly  and comes back to find felix and the two girls all crying is pricelessly funny .  br    br   for any fan of intelligent comedies  the odd couple is a  go out of your way to see it  film .  
what kind of sht is this  power rangers vs freddy  it was watchable and as good as the first film in the beginning but from the part where the protagonists get super powers in theirs dreams  it started to become childish . this sht should have been rated pg or pg    rather than r . i expected to see some very mature stuff but it was only for the    of the film . the rest are for little kids . plus it  s focused too much on christianity . i know freddy  s a demon but there are many religions that have different ways to fight demons . why does it always have to be christianity  this is total orientalism and filled with white men  westerner  s superiority . don  t  watch this  show it to little kids who loves power rangers .  
based on neil simons play of the same the odd couple tells the story of best friends felix unger  jack lemmon  and oscar madison  walter matthau  who end up sharing oscars massive bachelor pad after felix tries to kill himself .  br    br   he had a big row with his wife over his obsessive compulsive cleaning sprees and weird phobias and sends her a suicide telegram . she calls oscar and lets him know what happened . felix turns up at oscar  s during his weekly poker game with their friends vinnie  john fielder  murray the policeman  herbert edelman  roy  david sheiner  and speed  larry haines  . after some side splitting hysterics it  s agreed felix will stay with oscar .  br    br   the rest of the film centres on how these two are such completely different characters . as well as looking at if oscar can stand felix  s truly weird and unique habits and cleanliness and if felix can stand oscar being such a slob and his laid back attitude to everything . really a film about two complete opposites living together and the joys  highs  lows and necessity of the gift that is friendship . with great acting an intelligent and very funny script and the great monica evans and carole shelley as the british pigeon sisters who oscar invites over for a double date .  br    br   this one is guaranteed to make you laugh every line is priceless and jack and walter are fantastic with a great chemistry . also made into a successful and equally funny tv series with jack klugman as oscar and tony randall as felix .  
jeez  only in the    s . . . antonio margheriti brings us this quirky hybrid of spaghetti western and kung fu flick evolving around a treasure  hunt . the spices of this trashy co  production between shaw brothers and an italian one  off company include humorous storytelling  off  the  wall happenings and some very tame ta . extra campy moments are being served by lee van cleef  s obnoxious wig  leather  clad bible  thumping psycho gunman yancey hobbitt  loveably hammed up by julian ugarte  the man who should  ve done way more obscure european genre productions than he did   wanna  be  witty dialogue  hilarious background music and completely laughable sound effects accompanying various little events  especially every jump made by lo lieh  .  br    br   while this little piece of action falls fare and square into the turkey territory  it  s great to see van cleef and lo lieh on the same screen  and you can  t deny the charisma of this duo . don  t expect too much  and you  ll get plenty out of it .  br    br   this is my truth . what is yours   
there  s nothing really to dislike about  the odd couple   and it  s no surprise that jack lemmon and walter matthau make a hugely winning comedic team . but there  s something so underdeveloped about neil simon  s adaptation of his hit stage play as to make it seem more like a skit on a sketch comedy show than a full  bodied film . i have not seen the play  but have to assume that the screen version is fairly faithful  since simon wrote it  so the defects cannot be blamed on a stage  to  screen adaptation . there are some interesting ideas in this story   two recently divorced men who fall immediately into traditional married roles when they become roommates because neither knows any differently   that simon never fully fleshes out . still  there are many worse ways to kill a couple of hours .  
although there were some amusing moments  i thought the movie was pretty lame . the longer it ran  the worse it got . once the action entered monument valley  i found myself watching the magnificent outcroppings more than the increasingly silly and unconvincing interaction of the characters .  br    br   the character of the daughter was particularly incoherent . first she  s in on the deal  then discovers the truth and she bails . then she  s back again  then deserts them again . then she  s back again . there  s no apparent motivation for any of her decisions . there were interesting characters  some interesting scenes  and many missed possibilities . i would have to say the pictures was much less than the sum of its parts . apparently the people who liked repo man were inclined to like this one . searchers  .  is no match for the searchers .  
i think that this is possibly the funniest movie i have ever seen . robert harling  s script is near perfect  just check out the  quotes  section on second thought  just rent the dvd  since it  s the delivery that really makes the lines sing .  br    br   sally field gives a comic  over  the  top performance like you  ve never seen from her anywhere else  and kevin kline is effortlessly hilarious . robert downey  jr . is typically brilliant  and in a very small role  kathy najimy is a riot as the beleaguered costumer . i was never much of a fan of elisabeth shue  but she  s great here as the one real person surrounded by a bevy of cartoon characters on the set of  the sun also sets    that rumbling you feel beneath you is hemingway rolling over in his grave . either that  or he  s laughing really hard .  br    br   five stars . funny  funny  funny .  
may  anne reid  and toots  peter vaughan  are paying an apparently infrequent visit to their son bobby  steven mackintosh  and his family in london . even as the visit begins  toots suffers a fatal heart attack  leaving may adrift  unsure  and questioning her life and future . finding herself attracted to her daughter  s boyfriend darren  daniel craig   her actions lead to inevitable consequences .  br    br   beautifully filmed  but for all its heralded realism and acclaim  the mother offers a collection of mostly unpleasant  even repellent characters  and asks the viewer to engage with them . reid shines as may  and it is her skill and commitment as a wonderfully understated actor that salvages the film from a completely depressing mire  but michell and kureishi have allowed craig  mackintosh and cathryn bradshaw to create such utterly obnoxious characters  that it becomes increasingly difficult to care what happens to may . as written  the characters played by mackintosh and bradshaw are in fact so utterly selfish and cold  hearted that one begins to wonder what exactly was kureishi trying to say . as directed  they are either unwilling or unable to lift bobby and paula above the two dimensional in their ghastly selfishness .  br    br   worth seeing for reid  s performance  but little else . a crying shame . . .  
if you delete the first twenty minutes or so of this film  you will be left with a fantastic comedy . as it is  i still found it to be a pretty good movie  which is no small feat considering the coma i was put in by the opening scenes . to put it mildly  this film has a dreary beginning that wasn  t even remotely funny  or even upbeat . once things get sillier  however  you are left with a comedy that still holds up well after more than three decades . definitely worth checking out  especially if you  re a younger fan of lemmon and matthau who wants to see their earlier work .  
i knew i was going to see a low budget movie  but i expected much more from an alex cox film . the acting by the two leading men was terrible  especially the white guy . the girl should have won an oscar compared to those two . this movie was filled with what i guess would be inside jokes for film industry people and a few other jokes that i actually understood and made me laugh out loud  which is rare . without these laugh  out  loud moments i would have given this film     . what happened to the alex cox who made all the   s classics   br    br   spoiler  br    br   there were a couple of questions i had after the movie was over . why did the mexican guy go to the other guy  s house at the beginning  what did his daughter say he got    people fired from his last job  why was she breaking her own stuff when she was mad at him  i guess i should have gone to the qa after the movie  but i didn  t want to get up at   am .  
the odd couple    outta  stars   br    br   like most people i will always feel that jack klugman and tony randall are the definitive  odd couple  . their incredible work on the tv series from the early to mid    s was a highwater mark for television at the time . . . easily surpassing the stage and screen versions of the tale . nonetheless  how can you go wrong with a jack lemmon  walter matthau pairing  matthau is in especially good form as oscar  the slob . lemmon takes a bit of getting used to as felix  particularly if you have previously seen tony randall  s outstanding performance . the script is good . . . definitely neil simon  s best .  i will go on record here as stating that neil simon is probably one of the worst  most over  rated playwrights of american theatre .  the storyline is simple felix  a neat freak and newly separated from his wife moves in with oscar  the slob who needs some help saving money for alimony payments . their living arrangement becomes much like a marriage as well  culminating in some amusing tiffs and spats . lots of fun and some great one  liners .  
seriously  there is absolutely nothing good about this crap fest at all . randolph scott  a closet homosexual who lived with his lover cary grant for twelve years  is at his most wooden and boring in the least role . at   he was clearly far too old for these romantic roles  although it doesn  t matter so much here because gail russell looks so much older than her   years and she is so ugly due to her chronic alcoholism and chain smoking . lee marvin plays his usual villainous role but it isn  t enough to save this garbage . thank god they don  t make westerns any more  they  re just dated  racist old movies that glamorise guns and murder .  br    br       .  
here  s another film that doesn  t really need much of a recommendation . it  s a classic comedy  very funny and entertaining and which  of course  ultimately inspired a successful television series which many would say was even better  i enjoy both  personally  .  br    br   for some  it  s hard to warm up to jack lemmon and walter matthau as felix unger and oscar madison when they were were weaned on the tv show starring tony randall and jack klugman  or perhaps vice versa  . but what we  ve got there in both cases are four good actors who in real life seemed so much like their film counterparts that they managed to make these characterizations their own . it  s neil simon  s humorous material that  s key  and where the laughs really originate from .  br    br   for those who have somehow never heard of the odd couple  it  s the story of a neurotic and fussy neat  freak  lemmon  who is thrown out of a    year marriage by his long  suffering wife and takes up residence in the manhattan apartment of his sloppy and totally irresponsible buddy  matthau  . pitting these two unlikely roommates together within the same four walls makes for some hugely funny predicaments .  
i wondered why i didn  t like peggy sue got married more than i did  when it first came out in      with all the hype . somehow i found nic cage  s character off  putting . way off  putting . then the plot didn  t seem to make sense . then by the end of the credits  the question came to mind what point was this movie making  what was it saying  the answer  unfortunately  was not much  if anything . i really don  t think this movie aimed at making a statement unless it was  your life is your life  you  re gonna make the same mistakes no matter what  so keep your eye upon the doughnut  and not the hole  . not a very profound statement  and i  m sorry  not profoundly made in this movie . the writing simply isn  t that good . the direction is uneven  and is strangely overblown at times . kathleen turner was the best  and in my opinion  only worthwhile thing in this movie  and performed something of a miracle creating a whole character despite bizarre  unexplained circumstances  with a script that had no apparent statement to make .  br    br   she also finally cleared up the mystery for me of the main reason i didn  t enjoy this movie more . she states in her autobiography that cage made a point of fighting his uncle coppola  s direction every step of the way  doing it  his own way   not a good idea for a new actor   and putting on a goofy voice she called  stupid  . his voice was annoying  abrasive and unnatural  and his character was obnoxious and overbearing as a young guy . i understand what he was attempting to do play a young  guy  hot shot  who is not as hot as he thinks he is  setting up his own karma for future failure . but he goes overboard  the way he does it is abrasive  not effective  and if he had listened to his uncle instead of  fighting the man   we would have had a more enjoyable film . cage slips a little with his obnoxious voice stylings in the movie and occasionally sounds like a real person  and those scenes are more watchable than others . but if i had to watch the movie through in its entirety  i would find myself wanting to pay someone in l . a . to pour a bucket of water over his head during some of his more affected  put  on  scenes .  br    br   the movie doesn  t aim for a statement  doesn  t make a point  is great to look at except when cage is doing a demented elvis impression  but without the voice   and is  ultimately  confusing and a waste of time . given all this  kathleen turner surely deserved an oscar in this flailing mess of a movie . i can  t recommend anyone spending two hours watching this  unless you like turner and have a remote to pick out all her scenes . believe me  you will miss nothing plotwise by skipping the other scenes  and it will make just as much sense .  br    br   kathleen turner is getting a lot of flak from critics regarding her cage comments  which proves that she  s strong enough to be honest  and to hell with other people  s comments . you go  turner  i  m not particularly a fan of this actress any more than i am of any other first  rate actor or actress  but her candor is refreshing . cage  s acting can be good to annoying  and here it doesn  t work . at least  in this film  now we know why .  
there  s more to offer in the opening of the odd couple than in the entirety of most films . felix unger  the poor guy  s monogram even curses him  checks into a new york hotel . a cleaning lady says  good night .   goodbye   he answers back . in his room he empties his pockets  then struggles to take off his wedding ring only to put the objects neatly into an envelope  addressed to his wife and beloved children . when the viewer finally puts it together  aha  he  s going to off himself  we watch him struggle to open the window  oh no  he  s going to jump  the poor guy injures his lower back . this is all you need to know about felix unger  his wife has left him  he  s a compulsive cleaner and he  s a hypochondriac . and all in one scene . this is the particular genius of neil simon  s comedy  it  s about situation and character . there are few obvious physical jokes  no kicks to the groin  no cheap gags  just funny characters in uncomfortable situations . and  of course  he is a master of manipulating the audience  s expectations . coming from the swingers era  imagine what i thought in the date scene when felix starts lamenting about the breakup of his marriage to the girls his roommate oscar has worked so hard to get into his apartment . he  s blowing it  right  think again . the girls love his sensitivity  his ability to cry in front of them . they invite him back to their place since his meatloaf has burned because oscar wasn  t paying enough attention to it . he  s in like flynn  right  uh  yes  but he doesn  t want to go with the girls because he  s feeling vulnerable . great stuff . and it  s made even greater with a style that minimizes editing and maximizes the wonderful eight  room apartment set . you  ve got jack lemmon and the slouchy  pouchy walter matthau for chrissakes  why mess it up  the visual style reminded me of breakfast at tiffany  s  in that great effect is made from a large depth of field and the interplay between the various planes of action . particularly memorable is the scene in which felix  fleeing from oscar  closes a partition only to realize the partition doesn  t cover the side where oscar is coming from . you get a real sense of the layout of the apartment  and thus the proximity in which the two divorces live . the twist here is that these two are really married  to each other . so the observations about married life that might be ignored in an ordinary romantic comedy are made all the more poignant since they are two guys .  
did francis ford coppola have a brain aneurysm some time after directing  apocalypse now  that made him absolutely incapable of making a good movie   br    br   you have to wonder what the director of  the godfather  and  the conversation  was thinking when he made this flabby film . it gives kathleen turner a starring vehicle  playing a woman who travels back in time and gets to redo her adolescence knowing all of the things that life as an adult has taught her  and turner  the trooper that she is  does what she can with it  but this movie couldn  t be saved by anyone .  br    br   it doesn  t even have any style to it  and  given its director  one would expect that even if it had nothing else  it would have that .  br    br   grade c   
i don  t think i  ve really ever given walter matthau his due as a comedic performer . he  s certainly been wonderful in plenty of lighthearted roles  but i guess i always put his success down to his characters  grumpiness and ruthlessness  a gruff contrast to the flamboyant personality of his frequent co  star jack lemmon  and  i suppose  a natural extension of his earlier work in dramatic pictures . watching gene saks   the odd couple         adapted from a popular neil simon play  the realisation suddenly clicked matthau is  in his own right  absolutely hilarious  initially striking the audience as filthy  crude and generally unappealing  his oscar madison eventually manages to worm his way into our hearts  culminating in a hilariously overplayed confession of emotions that matthau rasps out in a voice not entirely his own . at the same time  while holding his own as a comedian  his interplay with lemmon is  of course  pitch  perfect indeed  the film rightly belongs to both actors  who have never failed to light up the cinema screen by themselves  let alone together .  br    br   calling to mind billy wilder  s screenplay for  the apartment         this neil simon comedy builds itself around around a rather morbid premise . compulsive house  cleaner felix unger  lemmon   having just been evicted by his wife of twelve years  attempts to commit suicide  but fruitlessly abandons the idea after he wrecks his back trying to open the hotel window . dejected  he arrives at the house of good friend oscar  matthau   a divorced slob who lives alone on a diet of potato crisps and green sandwiches  that might contain either very new cheese or very old meat   . oscar kindly offers felix a place to stay  but is soon overwhelmed by his friend  s finicky personality and constant insistence on absolute cleanliness . the pair form an unusual sort of marital arrangement  with felix assuming the role of the effeminate and constantly  nagging wife  and oscar as the sloppy  unappreciative husband who always comes home later than he  s supposed to . this is a marriage that barely lasts three weeks  and  by the end of it  we can completely sympathise with felix  s ex  wife  who remains unseen .  br    br    the odd couple  is a terrific comedy  most of all because it has a lot of heart . for all their arguing  it  s obvious that the two roommates have plenty of affection for each other  most movingly seen when felix tries to launch into a furious tirade  instead  perhaps inadvertently  ending up informing oscar how  tops  he his . the pair  s four poker buddies  john fiedler  herb edelman  david sheiner and larry haines  are also constantly badgering each other about some obscure annoyance  but you can  t deny that they  ve got the best of intentions . their decision to treat felix as though nothing has happened to him may have sounded fine in theory  but maybe being ignored wasn  t quite the correct solution to felix  s gloomy feelings of inadequacy and inconsequentiality . unlike some comedies based on popular stage plays i was recently disappointed by wilder  s  the seven year itch         this film doesn  t simply strike at the same chord throughout  and the relationship between the two leads is progressively developed  through tears  laughter and much disagreement .  
this movie is an embarrassment to film  making . i can  t believe it was even listed as a comedy  not funny . not only was the script atrocious  but the casting people should be shot . gail o  grady is just a great actress  but beyond that . . .    of the rest of the cast . . . ouch . pretty much everyone else . . . wow it is hard to even . . . wow . here is the number one rule about comedy  don  t try to be funny  . there are a lot of very talented actors in canada who can do drama and comedy  none of them were used in this film . canadian nepotism and casting directors are helping to perpetuate bad film  making in canada . i realize this is technically a  us  film  but look at the director  actors  location  etc . i just saw this on bravo  they should be ashamed that they bought the rights to show this film . again  there are a lot of great films out there that can  t get airtime and they show this crap .  
a simple comment . . .  br    br   what can i say . . . this is a wonderful film that i can watch over and over . it is definitely one of the top ten comedies made . with a great cast  jack lemmon and walter matthau wording a perfect script by neil simon  based on his play .  br    br   it is real to life situation done perfectly . if you have digital cable  one gets the menu on bottom of screen to give what is on . it usually gives this film  stars but in reality it deserves  stars . if you really watch this film  one can tell that it will be as funny and fresh a hundred years from now .  
a great slasher movie   too bad it was the producers and not part of the script . basic plot summary  man with redhead fetish goes invites such women to his flat only to go into some kind of freakish coma and proceeds in offing them to various degrees of success . only the cutting crew behind the scenes must have thought the movie was as ad as i did and chopped the heck out of the movie . nothing flows  you get lost on which redhead he is with at the time  didn  t he off that one earlier     and most of the time it looks like the camera man passed out and resumed filming when he awoke . not that i can blame him i passed out    times and had to rewind and resume to try to regain what little plot that does exist . warning when you see the ending do not try to connect it with anything that happens before   you will just get an aneurysm . not worth the time  effort  or god forbid money . only reason to get a  instead of a   the slim chance that the hacking occurred between film release and the horrible version that i watched .  
jack lemmon and walter matthau began and ending their career together . remember best as the grumpiest of old men as well as the oddest couple to have ever made us laugh  lemmon and matthau were one of hollywood  s best loved comedy teams of the last    years . not as  raunchy  as pryor and wilder  instead  they were the classic comedy team that reflected a more modern marx brothers routine . such as the physical comedy as well as the mixed blend of chaos that marx  chaplin and keaton were so famous for . in the odd couple  lemmon and matthau play complete opposites that create the chaos . the physical comedy is as unique as chaplins . the joke is usually on themselves as oppose to passing the joke onto another . not your typical guy film  it is in a way a coming of age comedy with two old men as oppose to two young teenagers in their prime . the chemistry between lemmon and matthau is entertainment enough . although this movie isn  t for everyone  this is a great comedy .  
oh  those italians  assuming that movies about aristocrats with weird fetishes  castles drowned in gothic atmosphere  and back  stabbing relatives trying to get their hands on an inheritance are inherently interesting to all  if you  ve seen one film of this type  you  ve basically seen them all  the mst  k favorite  screaming skull  fits the mold  too  . . . and  the night evelyn came out of the grave  is formulaic  by  the  numbers  and dull as hell . even the luscious erika blanc is put to waste here .  br    br   zero     br    br    
often laugh out loud  sometimes sad story of  working divorced guys   lemmon a neurotic clean  house husband  and matthau a slob sportswriter   who decide to live together to cut down on expenses .  br    br   nicely photographed and directed . the script is very barbed   that is  there  s always more than one side to almost every line . particularly funny scene involves  british sisters  evans and shelley  who seem amused by everything anyone says  but when lemmon busts out his photos of kids and  yes  ex  wife  to  be  he has the girls sobbing along with him before matthau can show up with the promised drinks   br    br   very entertaining .  
soiler it  s fake  the whole thing is a fake  there is no ghosts or zombies  alan is a lord and his cousin or brother or half brother or something like that wants the castle and his title for himself . so he invests this overly complicated and needless pointless plan ala scooby  doo to drive alan to commit suicide . most of the movie is him picking up redheads and attacking them . he  s not even killing them . he drops off to sleep and the girl vanishes and he thinks he buried them someplace . if he looked at the so  called ghost of evelyn  he could tell she was wearing gloves  my god what a waste of time . don  t bother watching it  renting and if you bought it and haven  t watched it yet  sell it . quickly  do yourself a favor and stay away from the night evelyn came out of the grave . i give this stinker the crap  o  lantern .  
  the odd couple  is one of those movies that far surpasses its reputation . people all know it  they hum the theme song  they complain of living with a sloppy  oscar  or a fastidious  felix  . . . but they  re under  selling the film without knowing it . this isn  t just about a neat guy living with a sloppy guy it  s a portrait of two friends helping each other through the agony of divorce . it  s also damn funny from start to finish  but it  s the kind of comedy that arises from realistic  stressful  and just plain awful situations . so  some viewers have actually found the film to be a bit uncomfortable  but i think its verisimilitude is its strength . besides  matthau  s bulldog face just cracks me up  my favorite comedy  by a country mile .  
exceptionally horrible tale that i can barely put into words . the best part of the movie was when one of the murder victims turns up at the end  alive and well  only to be massacred again . there is the chance that i missed some crucial plot elements since i may have been in a slight coma during the time this baby was on . the box that the movie comes in shows scenes that are never even in the film . i was lured in by the crude images of bondage torture and promises of a  euro  trash  sexy horror flick .  i get the feeling this was the budget version and about one quarter of the film was left out . all the good stuff more than likely . i got the pg    addition that made about as much sense as the end to the new  planet of the apes  movie . watch this one with a friend and a bottle of the hard stuff . you  ll need it .  
the odd couple is a comic gem . one the funniest script ever committed to celluloid  exceeded only by strangelove  spinal tap and lebowski  lemmon and matthau are best friends obsessive compulsive felix and sloppy  irresponsible oscar . oscar  s wife has already left him because he is impossible to live with due to his irresponsible attitude . felix  s wife leaves him at the start of the movie  and after an aborted suicide attempt he moves in with poker buddy oscar . thats when the fun begins .  br    br   the entire script is brilliant and filled with brilliant one  liners . you are probably already familiar with the  f . u .  joke but it still works brilliantly due to matthau  s comic timing .  br    br   my favorite moments are when lemmon tries to clear his sinus in the diner and when the pigeon sisters are being charmed by a very suave matthau and lemmon is totally out of his element . this one requires repeat viewings   
the night evelyn came out of the grave  emilio miraglia  italy      .  br    br   i only watched this delirious piece of euro  tosh in the way of alpha video  s dreadful dvd  release  looks like an extremely bad video  transfer   but from what i saw  not nearly interesting enough to purchase no shame  s recent dvd  release . considering their excellent track record  it will undoubtedly be a major improvement over all previous releases . and don  t pay attention to the ridiculous cover shown here  it  s not taken from this film  some girl holding the head of a jim carrey look  a  like  .  br    br   spaghetti western star anthony steffen sports a hip hairdo and assumes the role of lord alan cunningham  a man haunted by the memory of his dead wife evelyn . this leads to a nervous breakdown which has him being retained in a psychiatric clinic . once released  cunningham channels this trauma by taking redheaded prostitutes to his countryside castle  subjecting them to vicious acts of torture . his doctor and friend  richard timberlane  what do you mean  italian horror names sound  made up     advises him to forget the past and remarry but cunningham is obsessed with evelyn and even organizes a sance at the castle . eventually  after killing some more girls  he meets gladys  another redhead  and marries her almost immediately  but the arrival of his new wife spawns a series of sinister events . bloodthirsty creatures strike at sir alan  s family  killing them off one by one . becoming more distraught  cunningham visits evelyn  s tomb and discovers it to be empty . soon  a number of  outsiders  begin to suspect something fishy is going on in the castle and lord cunningham  s treatment might not have been that successful after all .  br    br   director emilio miraglia tries to blend gothic horror with giallo conventions with limited success . as usual  not the slightest effort was made to convince audiences the film is set in england . the cars drive on the right side of the road  everyone looks very mediterranean and the castle  and the rest of the architecture  is patently italian . this is common practice in italian horror  but sometimes they just take this a little too far . the bad print made this even slightly bearable  since it  s so dark  you couldn  t see much of the surroundings anyway . but  then again  this is the kind of film where anything can happen in the name of exploitation and depicting reality isn  t really the issue . a large part consists of sado  masochistic torture scenes in the castle torture chamber  but most of the time  anthony steffen hams his way through this and shows some horrible over  acting . i guess it all depends on your state of mind and this can be a fun piece of nonsense if you  re in the right mood . i just couldn  t take it  at least not with the print i watched . a pleasant score though by bruno nicolai which combines easy  listening tunes with some psychedelic rock numbers .  br    br   camera obscura         
it  s very funny . it has a great cast who each give great performances . especially sally field and kevin kline . it  s a well written screenplay by andrew bergman  honeymoon in vegas  . i don  t like soap operas  even though i never watch them . but i do love this film because it  s so crazy and off the wall  that it beats the hell out of any stupid soap that they have on daytime television . in my opinion  it  s the best film of     .  
never before has a film driven me to write a review but this was just dire . i stuck with it trying to find what it was about this film that made snoop pick it as his first serious role but frankly it was a poor choice . maybe this made a good book but it certainly did not work for me as a film . i found it unbelievable  lacking atmosphere and i found many of the scenes hideously stilted . a musical maestro he may be but a serious actor snoop ain  t . the acting by dylan mcdermott and rose byrne was passable but not enough to carry a weak plot with feeble dialogue . perhaps i have just entirely missed the point but to me it didn  t fit into any genre  it didn  t elicit any empathy with the characters nor did it create any suspense  in fact i found myself praying for the end and quelling a deep desire to slap all three of the main characters   
simon  s best comedy is superbly crafted by director gene saks and given life by the immense talents of lemmon and matthau . no one delivers these lines better . no one times them better . nobody does it better .  
lord alan cunningham  antonio de teff  is a nutjobseen early on trying to escape an insane asylum  with this castle slowly succumbing to ruin  likes to kill various hookers who resemble his deceased wife evelyn  a woman who betrayed him for another man  with those red locks . this nutcase is quite wealthy and his bachelor status can be quite alluring . he  however  is overrun by his obsession with his late wife  s memory  specifically her adultery . . he saw her naked with the lover  . while the memory of evelyn is almost devouring his whole existence  alan tries his best to find true love and believes he has with gladys  marina malfatti  who spends most of the film naked . . that  s probably her lone attribute since she isn  t a very good actress   who agrees to marry him after a very short courtship which should probably throw up flags right awaythere  s a key moment of dialogue where she knows exactly to the very amount what he is worth .  br    br   the only real person alan can confide in is his doctor from the hospital  dr . richard timberlane  giacomo rossi  stuart  . there are other key characters in this film that revolve around alan . alan  s cousin  george  rod murdock   seems to be quite a good friend who often supplies him victims . . i mean dates  while holding onto hope of getting his lord  s estate some day . albert  roberto maldera   evelyn  s brother  is a witness to alan  s slaughter and  instead of turning him into the police  squeezes him for cash . aunt agatha  joan c davis   wheelchair bound  lives at the castle estate and is often seen snooping around behind cracked doors . we later find that she is having a love affair with albert .  br    br   all that is described above services the rest of the story which shows what appears to be the ghost of evelyn haunting alan  someone is killing off members of the cast family that revolve around alan  and the body of evelyn is indeed missing .  br    br   the ultimate question is who is committing the crimes after alan and gladys are married  where is evelyn  s body  and will alan go over the edge  i have to be honest and say i just didn  t really care much for this film . it  s badly uneven and the pacing is all over the place . it looks great on the new dvd and the  rising from the grave sequence  is cool  but what really hurts the film in my mind is that the entire cast is unlikable . you really have a hard time caring for alan because he is a psychotic who is skating on thin ice in regards to holding his sanity . he can be quite volatile . who commits the crime really isn  t that great a surprise for after several key characters are murdered off  there aren  t but a choice few who could be doing it . what happens to alan doesn  t really make your throat gulp because you can make the argument he  s just getting what he deserves . those behind the whole scheme of the film in regards to alan  as i pointed out before  aren  t that shocking because if you are just slightly aware of certain circumstances  . . or advantages they  d have  that would benefit them with the collapse of alan  s sanity  then everything just comes off less than stellar . i thought the editing was choppy and unexciting  but the acting from the entire cast is really below par . some stylistics help and there is a sniff of gothic atmosphere in the graveyard sequences to help it some .  
this cordial comedy confronts a few bizarre characters . especially  of course  the two leading characters . jack lemmon plays felix  a hypochondriac whose wife lost him because she couldn  t stand his cleaning and cooking attacks any longer . so he tries to kill himself but every attempt fails . walter matthau plays oscar  his friend  an untidy  unreliable sports  reporter who lives in divorce from his ex  wife in a bachelor apartment . he offers his distressed friend felix a new home in his apartment . and soon the trouble begins because two such contrary characters can  t live together for a long time . felix turns oscar  s disorderly flat into a clean exhibition flat . he cleans and cooks the whole time . after a short while  oscar feels persecution mania . . . filmed in a theatrical way and excellent acted . above all  jack lemmon  s play is wonderful . he is the perfect clown . he makes us laugh but in a tragi  comic way . look for the wonderful scene when both men invite their two female neighbours for supper  because oscar has to touch something more softer than a bowling  ball . while he is preparing the drinks  felix sits with the two young ladies in the living  room . to get out of this embarrassing situation  he starts to talk about the weather . a minute later  he changes the subject and talks about his ex  wife and children . suddenly he begins to weep and when oscar comes back with the drinks  there are three weeping people in the living  room . the film is full of such amusing and at the same time touching scenes . an intelligent  entertaining comedy with much heart .   out of     
alan  anthony steffen   an english multi  millionaire with a few screws loose  thanks to his first wife  s infidelity and untimely death during childbirth   entices sexy  red  headed women to his castle  offering them bundles of cash to stay the weekend . once back at his ancestral pile  he gets them nekkid  proceeds to flog them with a bull  whip  and then kills them .  br    br   but when he meets blonde hottie gladys  marina malfatti  and falls for her ample charms  he decides to give up his murderous ways and get married . their wedded bliss is short  lived  however  thanks to alan  s iffy mental state  which becomes increasingly fragile when his dead wife evelyn starts to appear outside his window and a spate of gruesome murders occur within the castle grounds .  br    br   so let  s recap a groovy   s euro  horror with loads of tasty women in various states of undress spooky gothic retreats and misty graveyards a sadistic rich psycho with a penchant for drop  dead gorgeous babes with cracking bods several vicious murders  including a great bit where one victim has her head bashed in with a rock and her entrails eaten by foxes  . normally  a checklist like that would guarantee me a good timeso why did i find  the night evelyn came out of her grave  so dull  well  for starters  the plot is way too convoluted there are red herrings  crazy plot developments  and suspects galore  and it all becomes a bit too much . by the ridiculous endingin which we discover that  all along  several people have been plotting to get their greedy paws on alan  s wealth  and that our red  head killing nut  job is actually supposed to be the hero of the moviemy head was hurting too much to care  secondly  emilio maraglia  s direction is pretty torpid . stylish  yes but as slow as molasses at times .  br    br   and then there  s the bits that are just too damn silly  possibly even for a giallo the death by poisonous snake bite  surely one of the most bizarre choices of weapon ever   alan  s aunt agatha  an old crippled relative who is played by a pretty young woman the hiring of a group of identical curly headed blondes as maids the poor attempt at convincing the audience that the film is set in england  mentioning  pounds  and hiring a crap police uniform for one of the extras is not enough   and then  of course  there is the unlikelihood of finding a bag of sulphuric acid laying next to a swimming pool . . .  br    br    the night evelyn came out of her grave  isn  t a total waste of time  how could it be  with so much female flesh on show    but there are much better giallo  s out there . watch this one if you  re a fan of the genre and you  ve already seen the bestbut don  t expect too much .  
i simply can  t get over how brilliant the pairing of walter matthau and jack lemmon is . it  s like the movie doesn  t even need additional characters because you can never get tired of the dialog between these two .  br    br   lemmon had already been in several well  known films like mr . roberts and the apartment and matthau was fresh off his oscar win for the fortune cookie  another billy wilder film also with lemmon  . that particular movie wasn  t as great as this one because the story couldn  t sustain such a long running time  i think it was almost  hours  . however  this goes by at a brisk hour and a half  even though the introduction of the events leading up to lemmon ending up at matthau  s apartment is a tad long  so was this sentence  . that  s a minor quibble though and for the rest of the running time you have a marvelous time .  br    br   i have already written a comment about how the follow  up to this film sucked and i won  t go deeper into that . the reason why this is such a joy is probably that the movie was made just as the innocence of american movies was beginning to fade fast into oblivion . there are some sexual references but they are dealt with in such an innocent way that you couldn  t even get a  well  i never . . .  out of the most prudish person out there . it is kind of fun to see a movie from a long lost era and that was probably why the sequel didn  t work because you had matthau and lemmon say quite a few f  words and that just doesn  t fit them .  br    br   of course  now they are both gone and you can just be happy that you still can enjoy them in a marvelous film like this . i think the only male actor in this film who is still alive is john fiedler . edelman died recently . so there you have it . simply one of the best comedies and films ever .  br    br   add i have just learned recently that john fiedler has died so to all the fans of him i am deeply sorry . i didn  t mean any disrespect and i will try to be more careful of what i am blah blah blahing next time .  
wealthy widower anthony steffen  as alan cunningham  is a sadomasochistic lover  and british lord . he brings sexy red  haired women to his castle  where he whips and murders them . black  booted stripper erika blanc  as susie  gets away  temporarily . mr . steffen is haunted by wife  evelyn   who died in childbirth . as therapy  he decides to marry again  after meeting pretty blonde marina malfatti  as gladys  . by the end of the movie  they will have had to dig a few more graves .  the night evelyn came out of the grave  is great title  at least .  br    br    la notte che evelyn usc dalla tomba       emilio miraglia  anthony steffen  marina malfatti  erika blanc  
i saw this many years after the television series and  initially  i didn  t care for it . then  as my memory of the series receded with the passage of time  i watched again  and found it absolutely hilarious . based on the stage play by neil simon  it has not been  opened out  much for the big screen  and that  s one of its strengths . walter matthau and jack lemmon are brilliant as oscar and felix  and the supporting cast are wonderful  particularly john fielder as  vinnie  . even now  certain moments can reduce me to tears of laughter  felix interrupting oscar in the middle of a ball game with a dinner request  oscar cracking up and chasing felix around the apartment  the giggling  pigeon sisters  brought low by felix  s sob stories  and of course  the legendary cafeteria scene  later ripped off by nora ephron  s  when harry met sally   . razor  sharp dialogue too . when the boys think felix has taken an overdose  oscar says  they could be vitamins  he could be the healthiest one in the room   . fantastic   
this italian semi  horror movie starts out very much like a soft core porn movie and turns into a mystery that has a few to many loose ends to be good  that and the fact it is rather dull just makes this film rather unwatchable for my tastes . the only thing really worth watching are the many boobs spread throughout the film . the story has a guy who at the beginning of the movie luring girls to his castle where he proceeds to take them to his dungeon  go berserk and seemingly kill them . they show the nudity  but they never really show the murders at this point in the film . then the guy finds a nice red head at a party and proceeds to make out with her and marry her . he has a thing for red heads you see as his beloved former wife evelyn was also one  she also died under circumstances that must have not been the viewing audience  s business . after a lot of talky scenes murders start to take place involving snakes  foxes and such . at this point it is easy enough to figure out who is responsible for the murders and what the motive is then you have a nonsensical ending where everything wraps up not so nicely . this movie just did not work for me  it left me with to many questions and the last third of the film just did not have the boobs of the first two thirds of the film . explaining evelyn  s death would have helped the film as would have some sort of ending where evelyn did rise from the grave . granted the title is not totally misleading as she did sort of leave the grave  just not under her own power . the gore is very light for the most part as there is a scene with the foxes and a scene at the end with quite a bit of blood too . i just thought for the most part this movie was a tad dull .  
i have seen this film many times and i like all bad teachers want to give it ten out of ten but feel that it would be unfair to other good films . however  i do think that this is one of those rare gems a perfect comedy . it is i would venture one of the greatest comic films of all times . matthau and lemmon are perfectly matched and mismatched . the script is so sharp that you need to staunch the bleeding . the story is well known and has already been described in other comments . the two leads give extraordinary performances  the girls are superb and the situations are side  splittingly funny . not one swear  word in sight  mark that hollywood  you don  t have to swear to be funny  you have to be witty  and the move from stage to film is seamless . they don  t make  em like this any more . timeless .  
italian horror  suspense film about a wealthy english lord who cruises pubs and taverns for girls with red hair just like his recently deceased wife evelyn . you know he must have really loved his wife  because he brings them to his home  a huge  rotting castle  and makes them disrobe and then tortures them  whips them  and kills them . the most bizarre aspect of this film for me was that somehow by the film  s end  we see this guy played by antonio de teffe as the hero of the film . anyway  soon  under the advice of his playboy uncle roberto maldera  de teffe settles down with a girl he meets at his uncle  s party . she moves in and strange things begin to happen to de teffe  s fragile state of mind . he begins to see and hear his dead wife and finally  well  just look at the title if you are still curious . also  family members and friends begin to die in the most brutal fashions . poor aunt agatha  she looks like she might even be younger than de teffe and they have her in a wheelchair and trying to look old  meets her fate in a foxy fashion . another man is injected and then buried alive . and of course  there is a whole explanation as to why  how evelyn did what she did . director emilio miraglia does do some things fairly well the settings in the film are well  suited for this film though trying to make us believe it is england is ludicrous at best . none of the actors look english . many having dark black hair and mediterranean complexions and wearing clothes an englishman wouldn  t be caught dead in . the cars drive on their wrong side of the road . but all that notwithstanding  the crypt scene was effectively shot and i liked the cheesy resolution too . and of course any film with the sultry  red  headed erika blanc is always a plus . there is a streak of sexual perversion however  which i found somewhat appalling with the idea that torturing women was quite alright and healthy in order to relieve one of his mental demons . c  mon .  
spoilers  br    br   in the words of jean  paul sartre   hell is other people  . in  the odd couple   jack lemmon and walter matthau demonstrate just how accurate this can be . as felix ungar and oscar madison  lemmon and matthau respectively create two good friends who decide to live together . as the two begin to slowly grow more and more frustrated with each other  the laughs come thick and fast  before felix departs  leaving oscar a changed and more cleanly individual .  br    br   jack lemmon as ungar is absolutely superb as the neurotic  cleaning obsessed divorcee coping with life as a single man . walter matthau in contrast to lemmon  s character is equally as good as the slobbish sports writer who simply wants to play poker to earn money for his child benefits .  br    br   lemmon and matthau are magnificant in their selected parts  to some degree dependent upon the beautiful script by neil simon  and simultaneously because they work well as a team . as two friends who are inherently different in lifestyles  although similar in relationships with ex  wives and children  these two  late  great actors create a partnership which is practically impossible to recreate . so great in fact  that the world screamed out so much for something similar  that two years before matthau  s death and three before lemmon  s  the characters were reunited in an inferior sequel . this idea  whilst following hollywood  s irritating obsession with sequels  might have worked to a certain degree  but at the same time  it could never come close to replicating the genius of this original film .  br    br   ultimately it  s not really possible to say anything else . with simon  s amazing script  filled with humour and laughter  the creators of this film were already onto a hit . the casting of jack lemmon and walter matthau as felix ungar and oscar madison though  is the most important part of this film .  the odd couple   with it  s traditional soundtrack  which even gained a tribute in  the simpsons    it  s excellent script and it  s genius leading men  is a tribute to cinema and a feature for history to remember .  
so far after week two of  the lone of beauty  i am a little disappointed .  br    br   some of the acting is good  as long as we except that it is only drama .  br    br   i am unsure how people can feel that this fictional drama is  factual  coverage of the  thatcher  years  it is okay as drama  but i feel the award winning book is still much better .  br    br   i wonder if the bbc will ever give us the follow up and the next part of the drama and the years that follow with  things can only get better  finishing with     and the fact that we are still waiting  with that promise from a government that is full of sleaze .  
a frolics of youth short subject .  br    br   a teenager  embarrassed by his fear of dogs  runs away from home . the abandoned spaniel he finds helps to change his mind .  br    br   pardon my pups is an enjoyable little film  with shirley temple stealing all her scenes as the hero  s lively kid sister . the opening gag  dealing with bedwetting  is in poor taste  but is quickly forgotten . highlight the climactic fisticuffs  which look impressively realistic .  br    br   often overlooked or neglected today  the one and two  reel short subjects were useful to the studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents  both in front  behind the camera . the dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film  something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel . economical to produce in terms of both budget  schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material  short subjects were the perfect complement to the studios  feature films .  
perhaps i couldn  t find the dvd menu selection for plot on off . clearly  the default is off . when the end credits began to roll  i couldn  t believe that was it . like our poor  but beautiful protagonist  i felt used  dirty  cheap . . . .  br    br   the characters were drawn in very broad strokes and the writer  s disdain for wealthy thatcherites was all to apparent . i consider myself a  roosevelt democrat   but would appreciate a bit more subtlety .  br    br   of course  the problem could be with me . i see that many others seem to find some meaning or message in this picture . alas  not i .  br    br   the only thing that kept me from giving this a    was the nice scenery  human and plant .  
in the     s studios would use short films like this one sort of as testing grounds for new actors  given their relative ease of production in comparison with full length feature films  so it  s interesting that this one should star shirley temple  who had long since established herself as the most famous child star of all time . then again  she probably wasn  t the one being tested  i would imagine that would have been frank coghlan jr .  who played shirley  s brother sonny in the movie and delivered a comparatively less impressive performance . then again  a   year  old shirley temple was probably not an easy act to accompany .  br    br   the film opens with an unimpressive sight gag involving a leaky ceiling  which i suppose was designed to have shirley temple give a scornful look at the ceiling  illustrate the working class status of the family in the movie  and provide a clean transition into the next scene  which features shirley gleefully stomping in the rain .  br    br   it  s sonny  y birthday  and his father makes occasional and horrendously botched efforts to hide the fact that he wants to give sonny a dog that he really wants for himself  but sonny is afraid of dogs because he was bitten by one once and has been creeped out ever since . it  s curious that  when his father insists on getting a dog  sonny decides to run away from home rather than have a dog in the house  and as he is running away with no destination in sight  it  s also curious that the movie illustrates what seems to be an indifference to homeless people that surpasses even the astounding indifference that exists today .  br    br   sonny passes a man cooking bacon in an iron skillet at the side of the train tracks  right after a train flew by which  given how close to the tracks he was  you would think would have blown the guy right off the tracks  but no matter  . after sonny gives up on sharing breakfast due to the sour stare that his gleeful smile receives from the guy  he continues on and the homeless guy disappears from the movie . it  s interesting to consider what a longer film would have done  because this one leaves this poor guy as a loose end .  br    br   not that that matters  sonny soon hears a dog whining underneath a trestle as he passes over it  and jumps down to find a dog covered in burrs . it might seem trite that he immediately takes the dog up and adopts it since he just left home because of his fear of dogs  but it seemed to me that he just needed to be reminded not of his power over dogs  but of their lack of power over him . as soon as he saw a dog in need he overcame his fear .  br    br   hey  if that  s all it takes  all i have to do is find a helpless spider and i  m set   br    br   it  s a very convenient movie in which everything works out exactly as it is supposed to  but it  s cute enough and enjoyable enough  and short enough  as it were  to still be a fun movie . we already don  t expect an epic plot in a    minute film  but pardon my pups still packs in a substantial amount of story and character development in its short running time . and it also features a fight scene at the end of the movie that must have made charlie chaplin proud . i am hardly an expert of shirley temple  s films  but it  s not hard to see how she became the most famous child star of all time .  
i decided to watch this serial after seeing the endless adverts for it on the bbc in the weeks prior to it starting . i watched it despite the fact that i don  t like the pretentious kind of stuff that alan hollinghurst writes  sorry to his fans but i think we have a case of the emperor  s new clothes with this author  s work  . i admit that the acting is excellent  it is beautifully shot and i was reasonably entertained by it  however  i found that the storyline was extremely thin and after watching all three episodes feel very unsatisfied with this rather empty production . the  explicit  gay sex that the media droned on about has all been done before on tv  several times  so it was nothing very shocking i  m afraid . full marks for production values but low ones for storyline  content i  m afraid .  
one of the many merrie melodies cartoons that entertained american moviegoers during wwii  bob clampett  s  an itch in time  portrays a hobo flea settling on elmer fudd  s dog . the little guy turns into a real sadist while making a home on the dog  s back  but elmer warns the dog  one more scwatch and i  ll give you a bath   meanwhile  the flea is setting up dynamite on the dog   and that  s not the end  i noticed that in one scene  elmer is reading a comic book featuring bugs bunny and porky pig . obviously  elmer and bugs frequently co  starred but elmer never co  starred with porky  unless you count the very short  any bonds today    . but to me  the thought of elmer reading about these other famous characters from his same genre stresses the metaphysical nature of his world  as though he knew of their existence within his universe even though they don  t appear in this cartoon .  br    br   of course  i  m probably going too far in my analysis . i  m sure that the cartoon was intended as pure entertainment  and it certainly entertains . as for the  i might get to like this  line  it sounds as though that was something that the censors wouldn  t have allowed but somehow missed i  for one  don  t actually know what it was supposed to sound like . was it something sexual  as for the end  had i thought that i  d seen everything  i would have been tempted to look for more  rather than do what the cat did  although it was a neat trick  .  br    br   the guys behind these cartoons sure had a thing for tnt  didn  t they   
this british pot  boiler has one thing going for it the young men are uniformly good looking . the older men are opinionated  right  wing thatcherites whose behavior brings back all the acrimony of the reagan  thatcher years . young or old  however  morals in this three  part mini  series are universally suspect and no one comes off particularly well .  br    br   nick is a handsome young gay man fresh out of oxford . it is not pivotal to the story  but he has an extraordinarily beautiful head of hair which makes watching this drivel much easier . nick comes to london with a friend  whose father gerald is a rich conservative politician  and babysits his sister cat while the family frolics in the south of france . they neglect to inform him that  when upset  cat cuts herself with an assortment of knives and other kitchen implements . nick mistakes their self  serving  gratitude  for affection and moves in  finding out too late just how much they despise and patronize him . inexplicably  nick lives in this house for four years but  as the plot depends on this point  it  s best not to question it .  br    br   while nick is most pleasing to look at  he is unbearably obsequious . his coy subjection to rich bigots soon had me climbing the walls . deeply closeted except to cat  she guesses his big secret on sight   he does like a little anonymous sex just so we know he is actually gay . though it hardly seems possible  nick takes a lover who is even more closeted than he .  br    br   supercilious tories scorn and insult the two blacks in the film  so imagine the venom which spews forth when nick  s sexual orientation is reported in a tabloid . gerald  in true tory fashion  has become involved in several personal and financial scandals  so the revelations about nick add to his embarrassment . this gives gerald one final opportunity to roundly castigate the hapless boy .  br    br   except for one brief moment of indignation  nick takes the abuse heaped upon him in silence and tacit agreement . denial  self  loathing  naivet  or ignorance  you decide  if you can manage to sit through this whole thing without throwing something at the set .  
bob clampett  s  an itch in time  milks seven minutes of crazy action out of a very small premise . elmer fudd tells his dog that if he scratches himself just once more that he will be given a dreaded bath . unfortunately for the dog  a relentless flea makes it all but impossible to stop from scratching . the cartoon switches between the flea  s progress inside the dog  s fur and the dog  s desperate attempts to cope with it . in a great sequence that really captures the frustration of an itch that can  t be scratched  the dog changes colour from brown to blue to red to polka dotted to plaid  it sounds ludicrously surreal but it perfectly evokes the indescribable feeling of an itch in a way only clampett could . there are several other elements which make  an itch in time  pure clampett . there  s the grotesque concept itself  which leads to some graphic scenes of the flea munching on the dog  s flesh . there  s the unrestrained violence that rears its head in any scene featuring the cat . most notably  there  s the dirty jokes including a huge shot of the dog  s behind which causes the flea to wolf  whistle and a hysterical sequence in which the dog attempts to scratch himself by dragging his backside along the floor . he momentarily breaks off to address the audience  hey  i better cut this out . i may get to like it   with a very limited concept  clampett manages to make  an itch in time  a unique  minutiae  based cartoon . like an early episode of  seinfeld    an itch in time  is practically about nothing but very funny with it .  
even if you subscribe to the knee  jerk anti  free  trade politics of this movie  it is still just the same tired note  played again and again and again . clink clink clink . even if you can accept a preacher with peroxide hair who advocates a return to first principles  the reverend billy is pretty hard to look at as a serious figure . the clownish reverend is the sort who wakes every morning with no aspiration more ethereal than to see his own face on tv before he climbs back into bed that night . he has a pretty wife  i have to admit  but it would take tons more than that to save this dreary mess of a movie . the interminable bus rides are the worst part   with progress shown   can you guess    by a colored line moving across a map . aww  you guessed . oh well  it has the virtue of being short . is that the only favorable thing i can say  hmmmm . yep  afraid so .  
years ago i did follow a soap on tv . so i was curious about this movie  and i was so rewarded for finding it . it  s a marvelous spoof of soaps  with jealousies  the usual actors  insecurities  and all sorts of lovely excesses . but more than anything  an amazing cast and an incredible script . how did someone get all those top  notch actors to play in such a silly sort of movie  and how did this little movie get writers to write the perfect lines  i never hear anyone talk about this movie or even admit hearing of it  but it  s marvelous and i highly recommend seeing it . sometimes i  ll throw it on while doing housecleaning  and end up sitting on the couch  watching  laughing and thoroughly enjoying the whole wonderful thing . many congrats to all who made it .  
watching the tenants has been a interesting experience for me . it is the first film i have ever seen where i have shuttled at speed through parts of the  non  action  and i can normally watch anything from turgid action movies to serbo  croat indie and find them fascinating .  br    br   the tenants is frustratingly sluggish and over  orchestrated . one of the main problems of the script is there is little realistic character dialogue  apart from the set pieces where characters  collide  in a very structured setting  to make this work  the film needed to feel more conceptual  which it didn  t  . this leads to a lack of realistic character development everyone seems two  dimensional .  br    br   the worse for this is the character of bill spear  aka snoop dogg . i found his characterization very uncomfortable and very unsympathetic . at one point  i even stopped the film because i got so annoyed by the character  s aggressive  violent and monotonal delivery  the lack of any other personality layer apart from that of the reactionary  on  switch  which gets really predictable after a while  and i so desperately wanted him to have some redeeming qualities . however  one reason for this jar might be the nebulous time scape of the film  supposedly   s  it feels and looks more early noughties  . if it had been more securely fixed in the   s  his character might have seemed more understandable .  br    br   the lighting of the film was also awkward . all the way through  the soundtrack attempts to provide a certain gritty  jazz  infused atmosphere that just did not come off  largely because the set was too well  lit .  br    br   the tenants  to me  is an unbelievable film . it doesn  t depict real people or propose any interesting ways of thinking about race  identity or the life of a writer  be they white or black .  br    br   strangely  i came away with the feeling that this project needed david lynch his eerie  clastrophobic and obsessive look and feel would have lifted both the actors and the script into something quite remarkable .  
elmer fudd is laughing while lounging in his easy chair and reading his comic book  his dog comfortably nearby sleeping in front of the fireplace . all is peaceful until a flea comes bouncing by .  the flea is dressed in a farmer  s  type outfit with a big sombrero and is carrying a satchel with the name  a . flea  on it .  he gets out his telescope and spots the dog .  we see a big shot of the dog  s butt and the flea whistles in excitement  screaming  t  bone   he then sings   there  s food around the corner there  s food around the corner     br    br   that sets up the storyline of this cute  but  obnoxious flea tormenting the poor dog . the mutt is hilarious as he reacts to the flea .  br    br   the drawings of his huge teeth chomping right next to the fleeing flea are clever and the dog  s dialog made me laugh out loud a few times . this might be the funniest canine i have ever seen in a cartoon  the poor pooch  under a threat of having to take a bath  as to not react when the stupid flea causes him pain . it  s almost painful to watch as the flea uses pickaxes  jackhammers and the like on the dog . he puts firecrackers in the dog  s behind . it  s brutal   
the intention the directors has for this films are quite honorable  but his history of his productions did get me aware that this might not get much to the core like other film makers would do it . keeping his great   days tv series in mind but also counting in his mtv production  i bet you will  that opposes his seriousness in any of the matters he documents and also counting in his rather disappointing production  supersize me  i did not had my hopes up high . sadly enough this movie disappointed me none the less . as with  supersize me  after a while i did ask myself what exactly the point of all this was . the main statement gets clear enough after half an hour but the rest of the playtime gets filled with rather pointless stuff and re  repeating stuff that were already shown in this way or another earlier in the movie  so it wears out and gets extremely boring towards the end .  
an itch in time  is one of a string of home runs bob clampett hit for wb in the early     s  including horton hatches the egg  and tortoise wins by a hare .  soaked in manic timing and exaggerated mayhem  it  s basically the saga of a flea who  s busy breaking ground for a new home  and the dog whose ground is being broken . because master elmer will give him a dreaded flea bath if he so much as scratches  the unlucky canine is forced to endure an upward spiral of torment as the homesteading flea uses pick  axes and power tools to clear the land .  ultimately  the little monster lights the fuse to a small mountain of high explosives he  s piled onto his victim  s backside  there  s a tremendous explosion  and the hapless pooch covers his eyes as his rear end erupts in a blazing fourth of july display  that really has to hurt  and the dog takes flight  but soon he stops the action and says with a merry smile  you guys better cut it out   cause i think i  m starting to like it   for years this kinky confession was censored  but current prints have restored the clip  so now viewers can enjoy it in its original devilish glory . still cut  however  is the closing gag in which the cat blows his brains out after he laments  now i  ve seen everything   this was a common gag at wb  but it has since been purged from this cartoon and several others  including horton .   
this film is just another distortion  among many distortions  on the so  called  sins of consumerism  . please note that  reverend billy   an actor  bill talen   is nothing more than a bureaucrat against the  sins of consumerism  . we might want to ask are questions  like what does  reverend billy  do for a living  how does he make his money  does he make his living off his  tax  deductible  organization  how does the internal revenue justify this as a  tax  deductible  church or organization   br    br   everyone knows that christmas is commercialized  but it affords one day out of a whole year in which people have an opportunity to be charitable  and allows a significant number of people to spend time with their families  friends  or extended families . everyone is not charitable . everyone does not spend time with their families  friends  or extended families . but  holidays and vacation time give people that chance and opportunity . yes  america does have more than its share of problems   but  with perseverance  americans have and always make it through great difficulties . and  even in times of strife  america has proved itself to be the greatest country in the world . that happens when americans pull together and unite  rather than to separate and divide . yes  there are problems with corporations and monopolies  but it will take americans to bring back the small businesses  along with the ethics to responsibly care for people living in our individual communities . yes  globalization has brought us its share of problems  but it will take americans to bring production back to america . americans and the u . s . government need to learn how to stay on a budget  no matter how large or small it may be  and we must stop our dependence on credit . our over  reliance on credit will make  and keep us poor  from the cradle to the grave . it is important to buy   but  if we buy less  we will rely less on credit . and  if we are able to save  even a small amount of money  we will have money for a rainy day . not to say that  as americans  we will gain an equal share of wealth . wealth is not guaranteed  and has never been guaranteed . but  stratification teaches us that only a small percentage of americans hold most of america  s wealth . there is a good proximity that you or i can reach the level of the upper  middle class . and  who knows what can happen from there    be positive  work hard   and  at the very least  you and i will be able to reach at least some  if not all  of our dreams . in life  nothing is guaranteed  but we always have that something to reach for . and  if you or i don  t have dreams  we might as well be dead . in america  there is always room for plenty of hopes and dreams . as individuals  we are a part of the pack  but we always can become the leader of the pack .  br    br   it has always been my experience that churches and religion do offer nothing more than additional distortions  but i pay dignity and give respect to people with other beliefs  values  and perspectives . but  as far as the distortions expressed  within this film  i do not have any faith in such beliefs  values  and perspectives . i rank this film with a  out of     but  in all honesty and truth  this film deserves a zero . this film has no integrity  and i cannot recommend it .  
  in april      the university of chicago agreed to operate argonne national laboratory  with an association of midwestern universities offering to sponsor the research . argonne thereby became the first  national  laboratory . it did not  however  remain at its original location in the argonne forest . in      it moved farther west from the  windy city  to a new site on illinois farmland . when alvin weinberg visited argonne  s director  walter zinn  in      he asked him what kind of reactor was to be built at the new site . when zinn described a heavy  water reactor operating at one  tenth the power of the materials testing reactor under design at oak ridge  weinberg joked it would be simpler if zinn took the oak ridge design and operated the materials testing reactor at one  tenth capacity . the joke proved unintentionally prophetic .   br    br   the s    plant used convection to separate the isotopes in thousands of tall columns . it was built next to the k    power plant  which provided the necessary steam . much less efficient than k     the s    plant was torn down after the war .  br    br   concerned that the atomic energy commission research program might become too academic  lilienthal established a committee of industrial advisers  and during a november visit to oak ridge  he discussed with clark center  manager of carbide  carbon  a subsidiary of union carbide corporation at oak ridge  the possibility of the company assuming management of the laboratory .  br    br   prince henry  of prussia  arriving in washington and visiting the german embassy       . evidently  with prince henry of prussia according to the principles of science and its dangers their were already concerns with the applications of new science with military applications . the hohenzollern       ii    kaiser wilhelm  s splendid yacht at the   th st . pier  new york . taken at the exact moment of prince henry  s arrival  and the raising of the royal standard .  if royalty knew of these necessary precautions to citizen welfare then what was the necessity of the warfare wwi and wwii . the quality of management control i presume   br    br   thus  did the commandos of operation swallow volunteer for a military mission  or a business plan  based on the security principles of laboratory management  because supposedly their were no survivors  and the ones who were caught in europe ordered to be executed . of the    man commando team the survivors who were captured were executed under orders of the german army against subversion  and espionage acts of the state of germany .  br    br   the fhrer no .          g . kdos . okw  wfst  fhrer hq    oct .       signed  adolph hitler translation of document no .     ps  office of u . s . chief of counsel  certified true copy kipp major  declassified dod     .   march         reproduced at the u . s . national archives .  br    br   the oss society     whittier ave .     mclean  va       
slow  boring  extremely repetitive . no wonder the weinstein company did not buy this . this spurlock should eat more mcdonalds while filming himself  and quit producing . there is no way you can watch this and enjoy . the preacher is a joke . the whole idea is not funny . you can make a  minute film with this idea not a feature . i am so sorry i rented this movie . i will never watch anything with the name spurlock on it . it is completely garbage . filmmakers like this should be on youtube and never be granted a distribution deal . the film states that the american consumers and their shopping are at fault for the current depression when shopping and buying products  making money circulate in the system are the base of a healthy economy .  
i  ve received this movie from a cousin in norway and had to convert it from norwegian to american format with a copied video . comparing this film       with the heroes of telemark        kampen om tungtvannet  the struggle for the heavy water  casts the saboteurs themselves  playing their respective roles  though actors were also cast to play the roles of the saboteurs who have given their lives in norway  s struggle for freedom in later campaigns . the plot is in four languages norwegian along with french  german and english  complete with norwegian subtitles  .  br    br   impressive during this course of history was what led to the struggle . french scientists were interested in obtaining some two hundred kilograms of heavy water from norsk hydro in vemork to take back to france in order to do lab studies on its effectiveness . simultaneously  the nazis  too  were interested in obtaining heavy water to build a secret weapon . the french were worried that the nazis might take an early lead by invading norway  and through secret codes  their man carefully eluded nazi spies on his trip to oslo where he received the heavy water and making it back without hindrance . he was watched by two spies as he boarded an airliner  but they did not see him hop out on the other side where he crossed the tarmac to another plane nearby where his cargo was waiting for him . this clever trick worked by using the airliner as a decoy that the nazis later forced down in hamburg .  br    br   however  the invasion of norway on the morning of april        the nazis took over norsk hydro and it was up to the norwegian underground and british intelligence in london to take action . professor leif trondstad volunteered the services of eleven young norwegians the  swallow  and  gunnerside  groups who would successfully sabotage the heavy water production in vemork . this was shown in detail on how they actually carried out the operation  including the sinking of the ferryboat after the nazis abandoned norsk hydro to take the shipment of heavy water on rail cars to berlin .  br    br   the quality of the film was fair though there were many splices in the film . i highly recommend this film to anyone interested in world war ii history .  
i came here for a review last night before deciding which tv movie to settle in front of  and those i found made this one look unmissable . how misled i feel   br    br   firstly  it needs to be pointed out up front that this is very much a housewife  s daytime movie . the performances are wooden  every sentence is an attempt at  poignant  in the way that housewife  s daytime movies and bad soap operas always are  and it is based in that predictable and well  trodden premise that men  particularly soldiers  are essentially violent and incompassionate . the whole movie is about the  drama  apparent in the moments when the male characters threaten to develop a second dimension .  br    br   if that sounds tolerable  or even enjoyable  to you  then be warned . linda hamilton  s german accent  while quite good  is painfully distracting  as is her face  for some reason . the other performances are no doubt an enduring source of embarrassment to their perpetrators  with painfully thin and obvious characterizations being the order of the day . there are few surprises  but do watch for the  monty pythonesque  endless supply of food and drink that miraculously appears from the hungry soldiers  knapsacks   br    br   i wasn  t expecting action  but i had hoped for beautiful or textural or emotionally charged . what i got was a particularly bad christmas  feelgood  story that will have an intelligent audience cringing with the crapulence of it all .  br    br   watch it under the folowing circumstances   there  s nothing else on .   you are a fan of predictable  housewife takes on men and wins  tv movies .   the only way you can appreciate a true story is when hollywood turns it into a feature film .   you  ve imbibed enough nog that your emotions are easily stirred by unsophisticated storytelling .  
this movie is a half  documentary . . . and it is pretty interesting . . . .  br    br   this is a good movie . . . based on the true story of how a bunch of norwegian saboturs managed to stop the heavy water production in rukjan  norway and the deliverance of the rest of the heavy water to germany .  br    br   this movie isn  t perfect and it could have been a bit better . . . the best part of the movie is that some of the saboturs are played by themselves     br    br   if you  re interested in history of wwii and film this is a movie that  s worth a look    
goodnight  mister tom begins in an impossibly exquisite village in the south of england where the sun always seems to shine . before we have much idea of the period we hear a radio announcement of the declaration of world war ii . soon a train blowing clouds of steam brings refugee children from london and when shy little william is billeted with reluctant  gruff old tom  who you just know will turn out to have a heart of gold  our tale begins .  br    br   and what a load of sentimental claptrap it is . in fact it  s just the old odd  couple buddy formula . aren  t any new stories being written   br    br   as i suggested there  s hardly any period feel in the village and not much more in london apart from the odd old ambulance rattling around . and certainly no hint of the horror of the blitz as london  s citizens file politely into air  raid shelters . even when the local schoolteacher  s husband is declared missing presumed killed  he is later restored to life .  br    br   i found goodnight  mister tom  cliched and obvious and john thaw  s accent conjured up a picture of ronnie barker of the two ronnies with a straw in his mouth doing his country bumpkin  accent .  br    br   incidentally my wife enjoyed this movie for all the reasons that i disliked it and looking at fellow  imdb reviewers i seem to be in a minority of one .  br    br    
by saying that  i mean that this is not a well made movie but it  s a very good version of the real event and the best depiction so far . and if you are a ww  buff then this is a treat for you  cause there are three out of four saboteur members playing roles in this movie . it  s theater acting at best but then this is still as said before a semi documentary .  br    br   me personally am a die hard fan of our nearly over  human heroes of the second world war  and there should be hundreds of these movies showing us what they did so it won  t get forgotten by next generations . cause nowadays kids doesn  t read books  they watch movies .  br    br   so if you want a action extravaganza  rent private ryan  this is the truth about lingering pain  outrageous endurance and the will to fight when all seems lost .  
i have been familiar with the fantastic book of  goodnight mister tom  for absolutely ages and it was only recently when i got the chance to watch this adaption of it . i have heard lots of positive remarks about this  so i had high hopes . once this film had finished  i was horrified .  br    br   this film is not a good film at all .  goodnight mister tom  was an extremely poor adaption and practically  .     of the book was missed out . particularly  i found that a lot of the characters and some great scenes in the book were not in this . there was not much dialogue  it was rushed and far too fast  moving  but i was mostly upset by the fact that you never got to see the bonding and love between william beech and tom in this film which was a true let down . the casting was not all that good  either . i thought this could have been really good  but it was so different to the book  anextremely poor adaption  one of the worst i  ve seen . this deserves a decent remake that  d better be     times better than this pile of garbage .  
it tries to be the epic adventure of the century . and with a cast like sh kasugi  christopher lee and john  rhys davies it really is the perfect b  adventure of all time . it  s actually is a pretty fun  swashbuckling adventure that  even with it  s flaws  captures your interest . it must have felt as the biggest movie ever for the people who made it . even if it  s made in the   s  it doesn  t have a modern feel . it more has the same feeling that a old errol flynn movie had . big adventure movie are again the big thing in hollywood but i  m afraid that the feeling in them will never be the same as these old movies had . this on the other hand  just has the real feeling . you just can  t hate it . i think it  s an okay adventure movie . and i really love the soundtrack . damn  i want the theme song .  
saw it at ucsb  s reel loud festival and was shocked that it won the golden reel award . i wasn  t the only one  considering the audience had mixed reactions to the piece . i thought there were many other better flicks out there  but then i learned that the judges were heavily rooted within the area of film theory and other artsy crap . while the cinematography and editing are on par with many other shorts out there  the storytelling is nothing more than your average student piece . seems as though  serious  student films need to include one of these categories sex  intrapersonal struggle  and eventual suicide   nick and kate cops out and includes all three . please  be more original   br    br   oh  and it might be my outsider  s opinion  but the guy from montecito sounds a little fake . does anyone else thing so   
this was a really cool movie . it just goes to prove that you don  t need silly litle things like continuity and scripts to make a movie . it traverses continents in seconds  people get shot and nothing happens to them  swords set on fire  samuari fight on sinking galleons  david essex is the epitome of slimey villainy and john rhys davies is just the dude . i enjoyed this movie but i like st movies  this is the perfect example of a very st movie that just kicks ass . if you like battlefield earth you  ll love this film  its swashbuckling  its fast  its silly  its samuaraitastic                  br    br   it also looks as if it was made in      
the director tries to be quentin tarantino  the screenwriters try to be tennessee williams  deborah kara unger tries to be faye dunaway  the late james coburn tries to be orson welles  michael rooker tries to be gene hackman  mary tyler moore tries to be faye dunaway  older version   cameron diaz tries to get out of the frame as quickly as she can  successfully   don  t ask about joanna going . eric stoltz and james spader try to conceal their embarrassment with this crappy stuff . it delivers endless  meaningless dialog and very little action .  br    br   tulsa is a town with beautiful elevator lobbies  an art deco church by bruce goff and a lovely  sprawling mansion by frank lloyd wright . visit tulsa  don  t watch this movie . it doesn  t do the location justice .  
i find this movie the best movie i have ever seen  because it reflects the inner strength of a young girl during the second world war . the movie is impressive  not least because it actually happened . it reminds me of the story of anne frank .  br    br    
perhaps the biggest waste of production time  money and the space on the video store shelf . if someone suggests you see this movie  run screaming in the other direction . unless  of course  you  re into self  abuse .  
this movie is a masterpiece a story of a young woman during the war  and it really happen  not exactly as the movie  but it is a great story  i was impress by this film  the acting and the story where great i like this film because it is a true story it  s giff me a feeling that i was there and i feel sorry for the ca  rector that maruschka detmers is playing because who wants to end here life that way . i recommend that everybody have to see this film  special the young ones and ma by the learn something from this film . this film you can compare whit the movie soldier from orange or any real story that happened in the ww  .  
i have to admit  i don  t remember much about the characters or the story  though i  m not sure there was one  i was soooo irritated by this movie that i had a bit of a hard time focusing on it . how can you name a movie  keys to tulsa  and then film it in texas  the flat desert country around arlington  i think that was the location  in no way resembles the green rolling hills around tulsa  and a celebrity in tulsa would have a much nicer neighborhood to live in . obviously no one in the movie has ever been to tulsa or else they would have realized how nothing in the movie even resembled it . hadn  t anyone at least seen rumblefish or the outsiders  i know this sounds picky but i can  t help it . i watched this because i love james spader and i usually find eric stotz interesting . but even these two intriguing actors could not liven up this meandering  and mean story of self  involved people who are not in tulsa   i  m sorry  it can  t be more expensive to film in oklahoma . what if  to live and die in la  had been shot in toronto  would that suck  well so does this .  
this is one of the best comedy ever  the writing of this parody of soap is brilliant and the cast  well just look at the names of the cast and you  ll understand why it is so great . if you  re a kevin kline fan  he does  as always  an fantastic performance  and robert downey jr is perfect . if you don  t laugh while seen this movie  you don  t have any sense of humor .  
i ended up watching the tenants with my close friends who rented the movie solely based on snoop dogg  s appearance  a passionate fetish of theirs  on the cover . understandably  i did not expect much . i thought the movie would include the typical array of snoop dogg related behavior and imagery often seen in clich rap videos . however  my generalization was for the most part wrong . unfortunately  this didn  t make the movie any better .  br    br   most would describe the movie as a dark serious drama  whereas i would describe it as a dark seriously drawn out boring drama flick . the film tells a story of two struggling writers  dylan mcdermott and snoop dogg  who are trying to create their own separate masterpieces . their polar opposite lifestyles end up forming an unlikely but highly complex and neurotic friendship . this friendship moves throughout the entire movie like a wild roller  coaster  most of which is contributed by snoop  s character  reminiscent of someone with a severe case of split personality disorder . and although the movie is a drama  the acting  which has a morbid and serious tone  from snoop and company was more comical than anything else .  br    br   i wouldn  t recommend this movie for those who are attention impaired because this one has a lot of dialogue and a lot more dialogue after that . there are some mediocre conflicts  but even they are mostly bogged down with more dialogue . the end  however  jumped at me with a sudden surprise . it was a little bit twisted  somewhat unexpected and a perfect way to wrap up a movie that needed to end . while watching the ending credits i couldn  t help but picture the director thinking   oh god  how the hell do i end this snoozer .  by the way  the director laid out carefully planted hints and subtleties leading to the climax  all of which are more visible than waldo in a crowded street of midgets wearing nothing but black sweaters .  
as a another reviewer states hanna  s war is an outstanding film about an outstanding person  hanna  anniko  senesh  who would become the jewish joan of arc . unfortunately i diverge in opinion not agreeing that miss detmers as the lead is too beautiful to be taken seriously as a resistance fighter . in truth for me her performance is not held back by her beauty but makes it all the more stark in the terror of the sadistic brutality as a resistor she faces . maruschka detmers performance is brave  poignant  heartfelt or understood  and totally believable . in other words for me  in the zone .  from the opening credits . if you would like to learn about the suffering of someone else for something they believe in and be impressively entertained give hanna  s war with maruschka detmers a try . my hat is off also to ellen burstyn as hanna  s mother a much well known and famous actress who could have made effort to walk off with the film . in that it is a team effort perhaps of two actress  but not an all about eve situation .  
if you want to see a mystery  don  t watch this . though there are elements straight out of elmore leonard territory  this comes closer to an episode of  dynasty   since the filmmaker focuses on  character development   i . e . long  boring talks between stupid  un  involving characters . some people can make fascinating movies without real action  see  exotica    but not this one . avoid it  especially if you like the actors involved in this one .  
it sounds a bit awkward to call a film about war and holocaust shocking since many of us will know only too well of the horrors that war and violence brings . by using the adjective  shocking  i do not intend to imply that i am surprised about the things told about in this film or that i was formerly unaware of them  it is just that i am very much impressed by the way in which this film shows how crazy and incomprehensibly horrific it is to kill each other off  either with or without a  reason  .  br    br   the first part of the film focuses on hanna  s successful participation in the hungarian resistance . maruschka detmers would never have won an oscar for this performance  due to inconsistent directing  but still her acting is solid enough and she has enormous charisma . she is cast very well as hanna and immediately has our sympathy . her very beautiful looks help  of course  but that has nothing to do with her being simply a good actress  playing a good part .  br    br   certain inconsistencies keep occurring in hanna  s war . i sometimes get the idea director menahem golan  often despised for the gianni versace murder  was in a rush and should actually have allowed a few more takes per scene . on the other hand  i am very thankful he made this impressive and thought  provoking film and as i am very positive about it  i think he did a good job .  br    br   the second half of the film is the most interesting and tragic one . it focuses on hanna  s suffering  beware of donald pleasence  s scary portrayal of the cruel and sardonic captain rosza  and intensely shows the injustice and horror that comes with hate and violence and war . i receive hanna  s war  especially the second half  as a strong anti  war film and for that alone golan deserves credit . it is also this second half in which maruschka detmer  s talent comes out  creating a character which goes into film history as one of the most speaking  strong and tragic ever portrayed . it is also great to see ellen burstyn  whose appearance and acting style always remind me of romy schneider  who  had she been alive and cast  would have made a similar effective contribution to hanna  s war .  br    br   the tragic impact of the second half and the desperate tension which is sometimes replaced by hopeful prospects and good news lead to a number of final scenes which show something so unexpected  so moving and poetic in its tragedy that it hit me like a bomb and left me in tears . and when i realized once more it wasn  t even fiction  it all actually happened  i found myself in even more tears . the image of hanna portrayed by maruschka detmers will be in my mind forever .  
this is a genuinely horrible film . the plot  such as it is  is totally undecipherable .  i think it has something to do with blackmail  but i  m not entirely certain .   br    br   half of the dialogue consists of useless cliches . the other half is spoken by the various actors in such unintelligible imitations of  southern  accents that  thankfully  the words cannot be recognized .  br    br   but the one true tragedy of the movie is that such a historic talent as mary tyler moore apparently was in such dire financial or personal circumstances that she appeared in it .  br    br    
for someone who remembers jane in the daily mirror strip cartoon  viewing this film is an exercise in nostalgia . in that context it is wonderful  but younger viewers would undoubtedly find the comedy limp and would miss the point that the actors are cartoon characters . the plotline is also a bit limp for today  s audience  but reflects the naivety of the   s and   s very well . jane  you must remember  was part of the escapist fantasy of the wartime years  created to boost the morale of the troops . she gave a double meaning to the  strip  in strip cartoon .  br    br   the story has something in common with the tales of edgar rice burroughs and rider haggard . the theme would have been a familiar one to readers in that era  a bunch of bumbling nazis thwarted by a few equally bumbling englanders  and set in the african jungle of course .  br    br   for jane fans  a must see . for the rest of you  a damp squib .  br    br    
i am glad to see most other people here don  t think much of this movie  either . it has some big names in the cast  but that  s it . there is nothing else to recommend  save ogling a few pretty women which you can do in a thousand films .  br    br   the story involves nothing but unlikable  self  centered  chain  smoking   hip  characters that national film critics all seem to like . . . . and most of the public can  t stand .  br    br   the oklahoma accents are so fake they are laughable  the southern racist stereotypes are right from liberal hollywood    and the story is depressing .  
the fury of the wolfman is a very good film that has a good cast which includes paul naschy  jacinto molina  perla cristal  vernica lujn  mark stevens  francisco amors  fabin conde  miguel de la riva  ramn lillo  jos marco  javier de rivera  and pilar zorrilla  the acting by all of these actors is very good . the wolfman is really cool  he looks great and he sound like the looney tunes character the tazmainian devil  there are some really hilarious scenes in this film  the thrills is really good and some of it is surprising . the movie is filmed very good . the music is good . the film is quite interesting and the movie really keeps you going until the end . this is a very good and thrilling film . if you like paul naschy  jacinto molina  perla cristal  vernica lujn  mark stevens  francisco amors  fabin conde  miguel de la riva  ramn lillo  jos marco  javier de rivera  pilar zorrilla  the rest of the cast in the film  werewold films  horror  sci  fi  thrillers  dramas  and interesting classic films then i strongly recommend you to see this film today   br    br   movie nuttball  s note  br    br   i got this film on a special dvd that has doctor blood  s coffin  the brainiac  and the fury of the wolfman from vintage home entertainment  see if you can find this winner with three bizarre but classic films on one dvd at amazon . com today   br    br   if you like werewolf films i strongly recommend these werewolf of london        the wolf man        frankenstein meets the wolf man        house of frankenstein        abbott an d costell meets frankenstein        the curse of the werewolf        an american werewolf in london        silver bullet        werewolf        the monster squad        my mom  s a werewolf        project metalbeast        bad moon        werewolf        dog soldiers        underworld        and van helsing         
this movie introduces quite an array of characters and their relationships in the first half  hour or so . none of them generate any interest or positive response . i waited for the intrigue to begin  hoping things would get better and ended up sticking around until the bitter end  but there was no reward for doing that .  br    br   if you want a synopsis  look elsewhere . to me the action isn  t worth recounting . not that the story was that bad  i guess you could say i had some problems with the script   i . e . i thought it stunk . a look at the credits will show you that there  s a pretty strong cast here  used to no avail . most of the old pros in this flick do good jobs of the actors i hadn  t seen much of before i especially liked deborah kara unger . that  s about all that i can find good to say about this picture .  
this movie catches a lot of flak  but this is usually based on the horrible looking and covered  clothed version of the film that played us television and has also been issued to death on vhs and dvd buy companies like alpha  unicorn  etc . this movie never had a theatrical release in the states  although it was picked up by avco embassy in     . in spain at the time  when there was nudity involved  the filmmakers shot two versions  one with clothes and one with out . the fully uncut english dubbed export print was titled werewolf never sleeps and seems to have been released to home video only in sweden back in the    s . it can be found on ebay and the likes and comes highly recommended . my guess is avco cut the film down for a r rated release that never happened . in     it was released by avco to television titled fury of the wolfman and the clothed version was used for this tv print . cut to   years later and fury of the wolfman pops up on home video on the charter label . this version appears to be what avco was going to release back in    . it  s the uncovered version  with some nudity that would never pass on tv or in a pg movie . there are several scenes on the charter tape that play out with nudity that are clothed in the tv print  the source for all those dollar dud  s and vhs editions  . but a comparison to the fully uncut wolfman never sleeps reveals that  scenes are cut on this version   spoilers in next paragraph  the scene where ilona has waldermar chained to the wall and whips him after he transforms into the werewolf is incomplete . after whipping him into submission  she starts to remove her clothes and begins making love to the werewolf    the werewolf responds positively to these sexual shenanigans too . this scene certainly ranks as one of the most unusual in the history of horror films and is a delirious treat . it  s not graphic but the implied bestiality was too much for us audiences  or more likely the mpaa . ilona is desperately in love with waldemar and could not possess him  hence her whole scheme to mind control waldermar  s wife and involve her in an affair . she wanted to wreck his marriage  and she accomplishes this while waldemar is in tibet . unfortunately he returns a werewolf  but this does not slow her down a bit . if she can  t physically have him as a man  she loves him enough to have sex with him as a werewolf . this also helps explain the later scene where the werewolf beds down with a woman he spots getting naked before bedtime while peeping through her window . this scene is presented sans nudity in the covered version and really makes no sense . in the uncut version  it would seem ilona  s affections have made the werewolf horny and in need of release  so he rapes the first woman he can after escaping . the other cut is a complete scene of waldemar in bed with karen and she is seen naked . a very similar bedroom scene was cut out of the us version of werewolf shadow  werewolf vs the vampire woman  as well . the film does have it  s problems though  for certain . the director was drunk  the bad stand in for the werewolf at points  the atrocious english dubbing  the inclusion of sequences from the first waldemar film mark of the wolfman aka frankenstein  s bloody terror and the grotesque overuse of that film  s music score throughout etc  but seen in it  s original widescreen format and uncut  ie werewolf never sleeps  it is one of the wildest and most outrageous of the daninsky werewolf series  with a plot line unmatched in it  s everything but the kitchen sink approach . the cut  clothed pan and scan full screen copies of this film do it no favors  and unfortunately that  s the version almost everyone commenting on the film have seen . the film carries a     copyright  and i  d bet the     release date on the imdb is incorrect . the film precedes werewolf shadow  aka werewolf vs the vampire woman  in the series and was certainly released before werewolf shadow . the ending of werewolf never sleeps  fury of the wolfman dovetails directly into the opening of werewolf shadow  offering concrete evidence of this . sadly a complete version of this may never get a decent release . a perfect release would be the uncut english version but in spanish with english subtitles . the english dubbing severely hurts the movie . but any spanish language version would reflect the covered version as shown in spain during the franco era  where nudity was verboten .  
about twenty minutes into this movie  i was already bored . quite simply  these characters were fairly dull . occasionally  something enjoyable would happen  but then things would slow down again . fortunately  my patience was eventually rewarded  and the ending to this movie wasn  t bad at all . however  it was by no means good enough to justify sitting through the first ninety minutes . so  i would say that the movie was mediocre overall  and considering all of the talent in the cast  i  d call this a disappointment .  
this movie is stuffed full of stock horror movie goodies chained lunatics  pre  meditated murder  a mad  vaguely lesbian  female scientist with an even madder father who wears a mask because of his horrible disfigurement  poisoning  spooky castles  werewolves  male and female   adultery  slain lovers  tibetan mystics  the half  man  half  plant victim of some unnamed experiment  grave robbing  mind control  walled up bodies  a car crash on a lonely road  electrocution  knights in armour  the lot  all topped off with an incredibly awful score and some of the worst foley work ever done .  br    br   the script is incomprehensible  even by badly dubbed spanish horror movie standards  and some of the editing is just bizarre . in one scene where the lead female evil scientist goes to visit our heroine in her bedroom for one of the badly dubbed  that is fantastical . i do not understand . explain to me again how this is . . .  exposition scenes that litter this movie  there is a sudden hand held cutaway of the girl  s thighs as she gets out of bed for no apparent reason at all other than to cover a cut in the bad scientist  s  mwahaha  all your werewolfs belong mine   speech . though why they went to the bother i don  t know because there are plenty of other jarring jump cuts all over the place  even allowing for the atrocious pan and scan of the print i saw .  br    br   the director was  according to one interview with the star  drunk for most of the shoot and the film looks like it . it is an incoherent mess . it  s made even more incoherent by the inclusion of werewolf rampage footage from a different film the mark of the wolf man  made  years earlier  featuring the same actor but playing the part with more aggression and with a different shirt and make up  is there a word in spanish for  continuity    and more padding of another actor in the wolfman get  up ambling about in long shot .  br    br   the music is incredibly bad varying almost at random from full orchestral creepy house music  to bosannova  to the longest piano and gong duet ever recorded .  thinking about it  it might not have been a duet . it might have been a solo . the piano part was so simple it could have been picked out with one hand while the player whacked away at the gong with the other .   br    br   this is one of the most bewilderedly trance  state inducing bad movies of the year so far for me . enjoy .  br    br   favourite line  ilona  this madness and perversity will turn against you   how true .  br    br   favourite shot the lover  discovering his girlfriend slain  dropping the candle in a cartoon  like demonstration of surprise . rank amateur directing there .  
what happened  those were the first words to come to mind after this awful movie finished for the first and last time on my computer screen . nightmare on elm st . had gone noticeably downhill after it  s cult  classic of a first film  but i doubt anybody expected this horrible aberration . nobody expected this cosmic joke of a film  and nobody is more distraught about it than i am .  br    br   this is by far the worst anoes film of the lot . it doesn  t seem too bad at the beginning  with a genuinely creepy intro and a rather elongated shower scene featuring alice . but then we hit rock bottom right at the beginning with bad acting and a jumbled sequence of events . i mean  sure  freddy movies are supposed to be dreamlike and creepy  but this one is like a train  wreck in it  s poor sequencing of events and awful plot setup . it feels like you  re coming down with a terrible headache  not like you  re getting scared . so the directing totally fails . none of the suspense and well crafted horror from previous sequels is found here  and even the death scenes are mostly just crass and moronic  the death by food especially   except for that one cool scene that  s crafted like a comic book battle . that  s why this movie gets a point .  br    br   the storyline . . . lame  lame  lame  lame . it was an excuse to gross people out and to make the mpaa mad  and nothing more .  br    br   the acting . . . should i mention how freddy has been turned into a childish boogey  man  like clown figure  how his rebirth scene made him look like a monster out of a  year old  s horror book instead of the foreboding and nightmarish dream killer we  ve all known and loathed since the first film  that arm waving and stupid chuckling as he appeared again . . . ugh . and his one liners  too . throughout the whole movie  they suck . badly . a grade  schooler could come up with funnier stuff then the vomit freddy spews throughout the   minute duration of the film . hell  a chimpanzee could come up with much funnier lines than what freddy  s been told to say here . who wrote the script for this  this movie is really irritating  too . it seems so pointless . like a gnat buzzing around your head  a gnat that just won  t go away . freddy is just an annoyance now . we  ve seen him so many times before . this one  s nothing different  and a lot of the time you just want him to take his awful one  liners and get off your tv screen . alice  instead of the thoughtful and quiet girl from the last movie  seems annoying and very shallow  and this is obviously due to the horrible  horrible script this movie was fitted with . lisa wilcox may be a great actor  and sometimes it shines through the cracks here  but she can  t save this movie . the other actors just suck  mostly .  br    br   the last   or   minutes of freddy  s existence in this film are awful and embarrassing . i hope englund was ashamed of this . who wants to see freddy running around like a mutated gorilla with his limbs stretched out  laughing like a cartoon villain  this movie destroyed anything positive i felt for the nightmare series . i can  t ever watch them again without this image running through my head of the mangled cartoon abomination that krueger became . he was slowly becoming a jokey  retarded pop culture icon  but this is the lowest of the low . this is rock bottom . nobody will ever take freddy krueger seriously again after seeing this film . he  s naught but a joke  a clown that is long overdue for retirement . pathetic .  br    br   of all the movies i could hate  why did it have to be nightmare on elm st  a series which i once adored and liked a lot  the dream child represents the death of a legend  and the shattering of any hope i had in the nightmare on elm st . series . freddy would go on to continue his downward spiral into clown status in the next installment  freddy  s dead  which was more entertaining than this was  actually   and then he would go on to bring down the mood in freddy vs jason  and finally he would putter out into nothing  which is for the best .  br    br   i know this has mostly been a rant about why freddy sucks now  but this movie is overall  horrible  and one of the worst movies ever made . not recommended to anyone  and even anoes completionists won  t want to see this one again .  
someday somebody is going to write an essay comparing paul naschy  s  fury of the wolfman  to the great spanish surrealist films   l  age d  or  and  un chien andelou  . the naschy film is a masterpiece of delirium from beginning to end . dali and bunuel probably loved it  and ate their hearts out seeing someone do with such apparent ease what they had to rack their brains to pull off .  br    br   the film lacks cohesive structure even though it does have a plot that moves from a to b to c . some mishmash about a  professor walterman    his first name  mind you   who was bitten by a yeti monster during an expedition to tibet and hasn  t been the same since  which is understandable . one of his jealous colleagues  the insane daughter of the noted doctor wolfstein  knows about his condition and reveals that his wife has been cheating on him . but its a setup for a twisted scientific experiment to unleash his inner beast .  br    br    walterman  flips out  turns into a werewolf  kills a few people  is electrocuted  dies  is buried  unburied  taken to a castle filled with circus freaks  wired to various machines  zapped with assorted electronic effects  injected with potent elixirs  is chained up  turns into a werewolf  a woman in an evening gown with thigh  high nazi fetish boots whips him  he escapes  helps the pretty female doctor find her way out of the castle  fends off the circus freaks with a battle axe  eventually turns back into a werewolf  and has to fight to the death against the female werewolf incarnation of his cheating wife . the lady with the nazi boots shoots him with silver bullets from her luger pistol  they die together  and the pretty doctor walks off into the morning with the studly reporter  who did nothing .  look  what a beautiful day it is    br    br    la furia del hombre lobo  was written by paul naschy in a hurry . original director enrique eguilez was fired and replaced by jos mara zabalza  a drunk who was infamously intoxicated throughout the production . he was often unable to work  though he did find time to instruct his   year old nephew to make some alterations to the script  and naschy ended up directing much of the film uncredited . zabalza did rally enough to clip some action scenes from one of naschy  s previous movies   mark of the wolfman  . the scenes were fortunately good enough to use twice even if the costumes were different  and helped pad out the runtime after zabalza refused to get out of bed to finish the movie . post production was a nightmare . nobody knew who was doing the editing  the money ran out  the master print disappeared for a while  and then at a pre  release screening for a film distributor the executive arrived to find zabalza urinating into the gutter in front of the theater . he was too drunk to find the restroom but at least he made it to the curb .  br    br   yet somehow the film works  if you let it . it keys into those atavistic memories we have about murky castles  vaulted catacombs  chains  whips  gloomy moors . fans of those sort of things will find it hypnotically watchable even if the story as a whole doesn  t make much sense due to the fractured discontinuity of the execution . in one scene its pouring rain and the wolfman howls at the lightning in the next shot its bone dry and he  s howling at the full moon . then its raining again . and yet you don  t look at it as a gaffe . its like an unfolding dream where contradictions are possible  opposites are the same  and effects proceed causes first the wolfman picks up the power cable and screams  and then the cable starts sparking with electricity . people say its low budget hurts the overall effectiveness   i say the film would have been unwatchable if they had a dime more to spend . it is a marvel of making something out of nothing  and succeeds not because of what it could of had  but because of what it does . it  s easy to laugh at stuff like this and even easier to dismiss it . the trick is being able to see through the mayhem  or rather to regard the chaos as part of the effect .  br    br   paul naschy died last week at the age of   . he had been ill with pancreatic cancer for a year or more  was working on film projects right up until his last days  but passed away in madrid  spain  with his family while receiving chemotherapy treatment . his rich  varied  and surprisingly lengthy career is a legacy to a man stubbornly pursuing his artistic vision in the face of universal mainstream disinterest . and yet in all of us there is an eleven year old kid who will watch his movies like  fury of the wolfman  in rapt awe . even people who don  t like euro horror will discover something in this movie to marvel at  if only for just a minute in a couple spots . you can find it for free at archive . org or even buy it on a dvd for a nickel . it  s worth far  far more .  br    br   amusingly  naschy was horrified to learn that many others like myself regard this twisted  sick  demented little movie as a classic  if not an outright masterpiece of cinema dementia . the problems he encountered during the production and the mess of a film that was left after were perhaps too personal an artistic disappointment for naschy to forgive . i would never presume to dare to forgive it for him  but i will say this i  d rather watch  fury of the wolfman  in its dingiest  most cut and degraded fullscreen public domain print than ever sit though the overbearing  obnoxious crap churning out up at the swine flu cineplexes this or any other weekend .  br    br   the world lost a great artist this month . watch his films  and remember .  br    br        
a nightmare on elm street the dream child  br    br   this is a bad movie . there  s no escaping it . i love the series and i think freddy is probably the best character ever in horror movies . but even being a fan i can  t help but see this movie is mediocre .  br    br   there  s not even an effort to build an interesting story and strong characters . by now they had just given up . they don  t even try . they are the production of course  hoping for a few more easy dollars .  br    br   the story doesn  t grab your attention . its so simple it  s almost absent .  br    br   alice  a survivor from part  is now pregnant . freddy is coming back through the baby  s dreams . at the beginning we learn that to stop him alice must find his mother . and that  s it .  br    br   the story advances slowly since there  s so little plot meaning it turns pretty boring after a few minutes of bad dialogues and awful acting . in fact that  s the only scary thing  the acting  since the deaths are not even slightly cool .  br    br   the characters are so uninteresting we couldn  t care less for them .  br    br   the girls are as unattractive as possible . the whole cast reminded me of a bad amateur theatre group . i  ve seen better actors in school plays . it  s embarrassing really .  br    br   lisa wilcox still manages to bring some class to this . she is beautiful  sexy and has some talent . but the material just didn  t let her shine . what a pity .  br    br   stephen hopkins work is nowhere close to renny harlins brilliant direction in dream master . he tries some imaginative shots near the end but that tension harlin and craven created so well in the previous movies is no where to be found .  br    br   the dream child is just another unimaginative sequel . it  s the kind of movie that give horror series a bad name .  br    br   the end for the once scary freddy . it  s too sad to see him now . a clown that  s not funny . a bad joke . goodbye freddy .  
i absolutely love this movie and would really like to have it someday . it  s just a fascinating legend about an eagle who wears a turquoise necklace  i loved it and would like to see it again  i don  t remember too much about it  but that a native american boy lives in a nice village with his family  and i don  t remember what happens  but he is supposed to go out to the wilderness alone . his sister packs him some food and he goes . while he  s out there  some other indian boys come running out and put some feathers on him  and he turns into an eagle . the legend says that if you ever see an eagle wearing a turquoise necklace  it is the boy . i was always fascinated with legends  particularly native american legends and i would love to see this released someday to a dvd  please release it  whoever  s concerned   
this one is just like the  th movie . the movie is really bad . it offers nothing in the death department . the one  liners are bad and are something that shouldn  t be in a noes movie . freddy comes off as a happy child in the whole movie . lisa wilcox is still the only thing that makes this one worth while . the characters are extremely underdeveloped . all in all better than the  th one  but still one the worst movies of the series . my rating      
this movie was great and i would like to buy it . the boy goes with his grandfather to catch a young eagle . the boy has to feed and care for the eagle until it is old enough to be sacrificed for the crops . the boy saves the eagle from being killed and runs away from the tribe . the eagle helps feed him by catching a duck from a small pond the boy scares up . later the boy shoots a deer that a bully kid was claiming because their arrows were marked very close the same . only until they check the thickness of the red lines do they determine who actually got the deer . but this was unfortunate because it made the other boys even crueler to him  and at the end he is being chased up onto a cliff but when you think he will fall off his pure love for the eagle transforms him into a golden eagle with only a necklace as a reminder of who he was . please if anyone knows where i can buy this movie let me know . i haven  t seen it for over   years  but still remember parts of the movie . deniselacey     yahoo . com  
come on . the new twist is nearly ok  but from avenging the elm street children freddy is just killing people now . more of the same special effects with no actual character development or anything . simply bad and insulting . scary . .  nope . not at all . just bad .  
man  i loved this movie  this really takes me back to when i was a kid . these were the days when the teachers still showed classroom films on reel  to  real and if you were good  they would rewind the movie slowly so you could watch it play backward . i still remember one of the opening lines . . . .  tutazema was his name  and he was an orphan . he lived with his sister so and so in the village .  this is a great movie for kids and as enduring as the red balloon . at the end the other indian boys in the village attach the feathers to tutazema and he becomes an eagle himself . he gets to live the way he always wanted to . he gets to soar the heavens .  
bottom  of  the  freddy barrel . this is the worst film in the series  beating  freddy  s revenge  for that title . a cheap  looking  with mediocre special effects   incoherent mess  with freddy turned into a punster . he has one or two cool lines  but that doesn  t save this illogical and sloppy sequel .  
a riotous farce set in the world of glamorous daytime soap operas  this film is hilarious  admittedly  you have to have a taste for films with screaming  hysterical dialogue  over  the  top acting  and melodramatic plot twists . but if you do  you  re in for one hell of a treat .  br    br   sally field plays celeste talbert  daytime tv  s  queen of misery .  celeste  s cushy life is thrown into upheaval with the unexpected arrival of lori craven  elisabeth shue   her long  lost niece  and  simultaneously  jeffrey anderson  kevin kline  splendid as always   celeste  s long  ago lover . but celeste has been hiding a deep  dark secret  and the arrival of lori and jeffrey might just bring it to the surface . add in the diabolical montana moorehead  a wonderful cathy moriarty  in full  gorgeous woman with testosterone to spare mode    who is trying mighty hard to destroy celeste  s career david  robert downey  jr .   the weenie  boy producer of the soap who  s secretly plotting with montana to ruin celeste and  rose schwarz  whoopi goldberg   scriptwriter and celeste  s one true confidant  and you are in for a heaping helping of subplots and general chaos .  br    br   chaotic comedies like this are tricky to execute  does anyone remember  mixed nuts     but when done well  can be pretty damn funny  a major ingredient that is necessary to any good comedy is the casting of seasoned pros who know that lots of times the funniest things are not said but seen in an expression or a look . field  kline  goldberg  and the rest all work together so well and are clearly having a great time that it is hard not to become drawn in by their energy and enthusiasm . shue is clearly the weakest link here  but she only draws attention to herself because she is surrounded by field  kline  et al . moriarty is a stand  out in the showy villainess role  making you think of the hottest damn dominatrix you ever did see   there are also lots of familiar faces that you  ll recognize in small  but  nevertheless  all very funny  roles  including carrie fisher  garry marshall  kathy najimy  and teri hatcher . director michael hoffman keeps the pace swift and the histrionic plot moving toward the big finish . mention must also be made of robert harling  s screenplay  carefully constructed to stage a soap opera within a soap opera . the dialogue is boiling over with great lines  delivered brilliantly by the actors  i  d be willing to bet that a lot of this stuff was improvised  .  br    br   look  if you want to see a bunch of pros doing what they do best and having a great time doing it  get your hands on this one . if not for anything else  it will put you in a good mood and make you laugh   
tenants two writers struggle to complete their books in an all but empty apartment house . they at first help each other and then slowly the tension between them begins to build .  br    br   this is based upon a bernard malamud novel and unfortunately everyone speaks as though they are in that novel . very little of the dialog is natural  its purple and brimming with shades of meaning . its as if a college english major with a head full of pretensions wrote the script . it  s awful and i found myself instantly immune to anything the film had to say  which is a shame since the film is populated with great performances from top to bottom . snoop dog on down are fine form  unfortunately none of them can over come the falseness of the words and the premise .  br    br   i can  t really recommend this movie . while not really bad  its very preachy and pretentious to the point of making you want to walk away . i lost interest less then a third of the way in and had to struggle to get to the end . if you  re interested i  d try it on cable  but i wouldn  t lay out good money to see it .  
oh  the sixties . there were some interesting films . i was more of a movie goer then . i now enjoy renting movies and relaxing in my home rather than going to the theater . i also saw this short film   the legend of the boy and the eagle  . i have been searching for this film for years . it was truly inspiring . surprisingly  i was finally able to gather more information from your site . thank you . . . . . . . . i  m surprised to find out that this short film was an opening for a disney picture . i too did not remember the disney film . i did not even remember that it was an opening film for disney . i truly wish they would show this on tv sometime . i wonder if disey holds the rights to this film  is it available on dvd  this is a must see for all generations     
it  s getting worse  the series is on a serious down fall . the first two sequel were acceptable and from then on we have seen a buch of really  really terrible movies . robert englund gives another great performance as freddy but the rest of the cast can  t act . the story is alice  having survived the previous installment of the nightmare series  finds the deadly dreams of freddy krueger starting once again . this time  the taunting murderer is striking through the sleeping mind of alice  s unborn child . his intention is to be  born again  into the real world . the only one who can stop freddy is his dead mother  but can alice free her spirit in time to save her own son  check out the first three  miss the next three then watch the last one .  
i  ve also been looking to find this movie for quite some time  and how great it would be to find it on dvd . . .  br    br   i saw this movie when i was about  years old  in the netherlands . and i was very impressed by it . it was shown before walt disney  s jungle book   br    br   what i remember of this movie is fragmented . i remember that an indian boy was friends with an eagle . this impressed me very much . for some reason he was thrown out of his village  did not grasp the reason for this  . when other boys threw stones at him  he climbed a rock and jumped off . at that time he turned into an eagle and flew away with his eagle friend . as an eagle he was still wearing his turquoise necklace .  br    br   cb  
this film is so incredibly bad  that i almost felt sick watching it . up until this point  the other installments had at least one good thing about it . part  was suspenseful and gory . part  was off beat and entertaining . part  was interesting with great effects . part  had great music  good special effects  and a new entertaining freddy krueger . part  is more boring than anything i  ve ever seen before . alice  a much prettier blond  from part  is back with her boyfriend dan . at parts  this supposed elm street installment turns into a daytime soap . the newer characters seem harsh  and even that sweet alice has a chip on her shoulder . freddy seems to be completely out of this one . he looks tired  and doesn  t seem to be as gruesome . his one  liners seem out of place and different  where as in part  they could be pretty funny . leslie bohem  s story never gets off the ground and stephen hopkins  direction is so bad  that it makes my grandmother look good  the whole plot of this movie is ridiculous and unrealistic . it  s also confusing and pretty stupid . avoid part  at all costs   
my son was  years old when he saw this movie  he is now on a russian fishing vessel and said that the movie he was most impressed with and that has lingered in his mind all of these   years is the movie of the legend of the boy and the eagle . he has asked if it were possible for me to get this for him . i am sure that a lot of things go through his head as he has only  hours of daylight and he has been on this ship for  months and will have  more months before his contract expires . since we have indian blood he connects to this movie . on january   th he will turn   years old and i would like to be able to obtain this movie for him . he lives in thailand and has been a commercial fisherman for the past   years and as we all know this is one of the most dangerous jobs . can you help me obtain this movie  thanking you in advance  dolly crout  soto  deerfield beach  fl  
i am still trying to determine whether the previous installment was worse than this one  or vice versa . being that it is nearly fifteen years since i saw this film  the fact that i remember so little about it does not bode well . perhaps it is simply because i only watched it once or twice  but i doubt it . if there was anything worth remembering about this film  you can rest assured i would remember it .  br    br   at the time this film was released  the franchise was still entering its dying phase  so a lot of media coverage was allotted to it . it  s never a good sign when teenie pop magazines contain explanations of the plot basics . one such article had to explain that freddy was left too weak to infest the dreams of grown humans  so he decides to go after alice  s unborn son . so far  so good  but this is the job of the writer or the director to explain to the audience . it should not be left to some unrelated publication .  br    br   making use of the trivia given in part three about freddy  s conception  one could half expect scenes that would lift this joke out of the  horror for infants  category  but alas  that was not to be . it goes to show the sheer idiocy of the american ratings system that a piece of b  harni  esque garbage like this could get the same rating as a genuinely frightening piece like the original .  br    br   by this time  the franchise could not attract anyone with an active career . fortunately  or unfortunately depending on how you look at it  lisa wilcox was there to provide a quotient of competent acting . or perhaps she just looks competent by comparison to the rest of the cast . either way  given that her last role was in something called the all new adventures of chastity blade  i doubt she really had anything else going for her . even poor old robert englund has been in better productions than that in the past fifteen years .  br    br   given that box office returns were in a steady decline  and not just for this franchise  at the time  one would have thought that the studios would realize neutering their films does not make them more saleable . in fact  this particular film  like its immediate predecessor  was so neutered that not only did it fail to attract a new audience  both succeeded in alienating the core audience that originally supported the franchise . despite this  part five must be given some credit for not having the bright  luminescent feeling that made part four so insulting to look at .  br    br   i gave a nightmare on elm street part five a one out of ten . by trying to appeal to everyone  or the mpaa  s idea of everyone  it succeeds in appealing to noone . like parts two and four  one could erase it from the continuity entirely  and nobody would notice the difference .  
i remembered seeing this movie when i was a kid one day on the wonderful world of disney . this movie has been in my memory for over   years and i have been looking for it . i would have to say that out of all the kids movies i saw back then   this one stuck out more than all of them and after only seeing it once  i really hoped i would get to see it again . the story and images of this movie have been burned into my memory . to this day  i never did see it after that day back in the   s  in fact  i never remembered the title until an internet search earlier today disclosed it to me . i loved it and want my kids to see it . does anybody know where i can find it   
i consider this film one of the worst in the nightmare series . it was so boring that i couldn  t remember a thing   minutes after the film was over  it even tires me to write a review on it .  br    br   okay    was a joke and freddy was the joker .   tried to return to the roots of the series . it was darker and more atmospheric than nightmare   which is a good thing  basically . they tried to shoot a horror film instead of a comedy . unfortunately they forgot to add suspense and scares . because of that nightmare   the dream child is neither funny nor is it scary . what we actually get is a boring film with the usual bad actors  maybe with the exception of lisa wilcox  .  br    br   the plot  freddy killing lisa  s friends by using the dreams of lisa  s unborn child  has a good base but it just isn  t enough for   minutes of film . sometimes the story gets very confusing  maybe because there isn  t any  and you can  t stop wondering what the filmmakers were aiming at . the screenplay must have had more holes than swiss cheese and the film therefore was very cheesy itself  let me say that i don  t like cheese though  even if i am from switzerland  . not even the special effects were as good as for example in part  .  br    br   don  t bother to rent  buy this film if not for completeness  it  s quite a mess .  br    br   my rating      get used to it    is also a messy one . . .   
i just found the imdb and searched this film and i was moved almost to tears by the comments of all the people who saw this film as i did when  or so years old in      . i saw it before the jungle book so i was eagle boy for a few hours and then mowgli for the next year . i burst into tears at the cinema when the boy turned into the eagle and always wanted to see the film again . when we got home we had a roast chicken dinner and i got the wish bone and guess who i wished to be  my dad then said  i bet you wished to be an eagle  and of course we all know that wishes are broken if someone guesses so more tears and a little resentment to this day for not being able to fly away . . .  
like freddy  s revenge  this sequel takes a pretty weird idea and doesn  t go to great lengths to squeeze a story out of it . basically alice from number  is pregnant and her baby is haunted by freddy which gives him an outlet to haunt her friends . this has the least deaths out of the whole series and the wise  cracks are quite poor  so neither the horror fans or comedy fans are happy .  br    br   i  ve not alot to say about this . it  s moderately interesting to see the characters of alice and dan returning from four  but not worth watching a movie over . uninspriring and unenjoyable  possibly only the competant direction saves it from being the worst in the series .  
my favorite movie . what a great story this really was . i  d just like to be able to buy a copy of it but this does not seem possible .  
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   alice  having defeated freddy at the end of the last film  is now trying to re  adjust her life . but her unborn child is carrying a demonous presence  freddy  trying to come out into their world again .  br    br   it  s interesting to note the directors who got their big breaks directing freddy films  charles russell  eraser  the mask  renny harlin  the long kiss goodnight  cutthroat island  cliffhanger  die hard   and here stephen hopkins  lost in space  predator  .  but while russell and harlin made a good job of it  hopkins imo has made something of a podge with this entry  that should be quickly forgotten .  br    br   the story is clearly being stretched as far as it can go here  with freddy ludicrously a father himself and the ridiculous looking demon baby . even at about an hour and a half  it all gets rather tiresome  and of course  not scary at all .  br    br   the  bon appetit  bitch  catch  phrase is the only memorable point of this other wise very forgettable entry .   
i have seen this movie when i was about  years old  which was   years ago  and i never forgot this movie  i was deeply touched and moved by the brave little boy and the beautiful eagle . and i just couldn  t believe it when he turned into an eagle just when everyone in the theater thought he was going to die . . .  br    br   my sister was in the movie with me and i asked her recently if she remembered the movie we saw with the boy and the eagle and she said she remembered it like we saw it only yesterday . so it isn  t just me .  br    br   this movie is a must see     br    br   you will never forget it  just like my sister and me . . .  
  the dream child  of     is the fifth film in the  generally overrated   nightmare  series  and at the latest from this point on  the series became total garbage . the only good films in the series were wes craven  s     original  and the third part   the dream warriors  of     . the second part was disappointing and boring  and it was the fourth part in which the formerly scary madman freddy krueger began to annoy with constant idiotic jokes . this fifth entry to the series has hardly anything to recommend except for  admittedly great  visuals  and one creepy scene  a flashback sequence to how freddy krueger came into existence . the rest of the film consists mainly of our razor  clawed maniac  turned  jokester yelling stupid one  liners  and the old formula of a bunch of teenage jackasses  who desperately try to avoid falling asleep  because good old freddy awaits them in their dreams . lisa wilcox is back in the role of alice johnson  and a bunch of uninteresting crap  such as a super  dumb  eerie  children  s rhyme is added for no other reason than to have some sort of justification for making this superfluous and boring sequel . . . in short no originality  just a decline of the old formula  and an over  load of painfully annoying jokes . my  generous  rating of     is due to the great visuals  and especially to emphasize the difference to the terrible next sequel   freddy  s dead   which is awful beyond belief . in case you  re not a hardcore freddy krueger enthusiast   the dream child  should be avoided  and even if you are  this is more than likely to disappoint .  
i read so many comments that i  too  shared about remembering this movie and wanting so badly to see it again but i didn  t know the name of the movie . thankfully  because of doing a search and finding the title on this site  i read the comments left here and realized that this was the movie i remembered . i then did a search and did find the movie and was so thrilled to be able to watch the movie once more   years later . because of this site and your comments  you helped me and so i want to thank all of you . i want to share how i was able to find this movie for all of you who were looking for a copy as well . it was on the vhs version of wonderful world of disney  s  call it courage  which contained  movies  the second one being  the legend of the boy and the eagle .  it touched me now as much as it did   years ago and now i own my own copy of it . i think it is only available on vhs . i found it on ebay and i have seen several copies of it there . enjoy it  i know i did   br    br   it is a wonderful story about the love of a boy and the eagle he took care of . when it was time to sacrifice the eagle  the boy set the eagle free because he couldn  t allow it to be killed . after the boy was forced to leave the tribe for punishment after freeing the eagle  the eagle  too  saved the boy  s life and more than that  taught him how to survive . the closeness that the boy and the eagle shared in the wilderness was so moving and the filming was really remarkable . what a wonderful era this was . i have never seen anything come even close to this movie   
i will stat of with the plot alice  having survived the previous instalment of the nightmare series  finds the deadly dreams of freddy krueger starting once again . this time  the taunting murderer is striking through the sleeping mind of alice  s unborn child . his intention is to be  born again  into the real world . the only one who can stop freddy is his dead mother  but can alice free her spirit in time to save her own son  this movie did start of really well as we see alice dreaming of being amanda kruger who get stuck in room and get raped by    manics then she being rushed to hospital but then she not longer the pregnant lady but then she amanda giving birth to freddy again .  br    br   alice and dan are the only two people to return from the  th movie and then have gotten some new friends its  no long before freddy start to kill again  i did like the first dead it okay  not as good as the other deaths or dreams .  br    br   freddy himself didn  t seem to be scary in this movie at all  the nightmare were just boring really they were not scary or creepy at all .  br    br   acting in movies was okay for a  th movie in the series but overall i think this movie was really dull .  still not worst movie of the series  freddy dead is the worst   br    br        
i couldn  t agree more with the other comment  it  s like falling down . peter weller is ok and william hurt great as always  except in lost in space . this is a good movie . with pretty good performances . very recommendable . if you like falling down you  re going to enjoy this one .  of    
when you look back at another bad nightmare sequel like freddy  s revenge  you have to at least give it some credit for trying something new . and although the dream child is more enjoyable it offers absolutely nothing new to the series . yes  there  s the creative deaths as usual  like a kid becoming part of a comic book and facing  super freddy  but even scenes like that aren  t used to their full potential and the parts without freddy are just boring .  br    br   this marked the official death of scariness to the series . freddy seems to be the comedic relief now . . . but to what   br    br   my rating      
the story has been told before . a deadly disease is spreading around . . . but the extra in this film is peter weller  his interpretation of muller on the run is real . he is indeed a desperate person just going home to see his child . this person could be working next to you .  
the only thing that prevented this flick from being a total disaster were a couple of interesting stylish touches .  br    br    moderate spoiler alert  death by comic is a bit derivative of a scene in twilight zone the movie  which delivers death by cartoon . still this was handled nicely  especially watching the ink bleed and the color being sapped out .  br    br   additionally  there is one other good scene with a demon motorcycle .  br    br   having said that  i was glad i got the dvd cheap at a store going out of business sale  because this was pretty awful . i bought  soul survivors  at the same time and both movies were similarly annoying with the constant realizations that you have been watching a dream . however  where  soul survivors  has nothing to redeem it  or have it make any sense  this at least had a couple of stylish notes  referred to above .  br    br   interestingly  the dvd lets you go to the   nightmares  where something actually happens  which is the only way to watch this . the scripting between the creative gore moments is rather unbearable .  br    br    out of   .  
it really is a shame that films like this never snag best picture nominations  because this one is simply a winner . this is by far the most consistently hilarious comedy i have ever seen . its screenplay and design are impeccable  not to mention the incredible cast . i can quote this movie for hours on end . watch it .  
some movies are repellent but still fascinating  pulp fiction   others are simply boring . this movie has an almost unique feature of being both utterly repellent and totally boring . by the end i didn  t care about any of the characters  i just wanted all of them dead so i could get out of the theatre .  
piece of subtle art . maybe a masterpiece . doubtlessly a special story about the ambiguity of existence . tale in kafka style about impossibility of victory or surviving in a perpetual strange world . the life is  in this film  only exercise of adaptation . lesson about limits and original sin  about the frailty of innocence and error of his ways .  br    br   leopold kessle is another joseph k . images of trial and same ambiguous woman . and europa is symbol of basic crisis who has many aspects like chimeric wars or unavailing search of truth  essence  golden age .  br    br   methaphor or parable  the movie is history of disappointed  s evolution . war  peace  business or lie are only details of gelatin  time . hypocrisy is a mask . love  a convention . the sacrifice  only method to hope understanding a painful reality .  
never cast models and playboy bunnies in your films  bob fosse  s  star    about dorothy stratten  of whom bogdanovich was obsessed enough to have married her sister after her murder at the hands of her low  life husband  is a zillion times more interesting than dorothy herself on the silver screen . patty hansen is no actress either . . i expected to see some sort of lost masterpiece a la orson welles but instead got audrey hepburn cavorting in jeans and a god  awful  poodlesque  hair  do . . . . very disappointing . . . .  paper moon  and  the last picture show  i could watch again and again . this clunker i could barely sit through once . this movie was reputedly not released because of the brouhaha surrounding ms . stratten  s tawdry death i think the real reason was because it was so bad   
william hurt may not be an american matinee idol anymore  but he still has pretty good taste in b  movie projects . here  he plays a specialist in hazardous waste clean  ups with a tragic past tracking down a perennial loser on the run   played by former pretty  boy weller   who has been contaminated with a deadly poison . current pretty  boy hardy kruger jr   possibly more handsome than his dad   is featured as weller  s arrogant boss in a horrifying sequence at a chemical production plant which gets the story moving . natasha mcelhone is a slightly wacky government agent looking into the incident who provides inevitable  high  cheekboned love interest for hero hurt . michael brandon pops up to play a slimy take  no  prisoners type whose comeuppance you can  t wait for . the coca  cola company wins the product placement award for     as the soft drink is featured throughout the production  shot lovingly on location in a wintery picture  postcard hungary .  
after the success of part   another sequel was a natural move . however they should have stopped it before it began . alice  having survived part  finds herself pregnant and it seems freddy is using her unborn child to get at his victims  which of course are alice  s friends . strange nightmare movie  very heavy on religious imagery and bad acting . the special effects are good  but the movie itself is not .  
the contaminated man is a good film that has a good cast which includes william hurt  natascha mcelhone  peter weller  katja woywood  michael brandon  nikolett barabas  hendrick haese  dsire nosbusch  arthur brauss  and christopher cazenove . the acting by all of these actors is very good . hurt and weller are really excellent in this film . i thought that they performed good . the thrills is really good and some of it is surprising . the movie is filmed very good . the music is good . the film is quite interesting and the movie really keeps you going until the end . this is a very good and thrilling film . if you like william hurt  natascha mcelhone  peter weller  katja woywood  michael brandon  nikolett barabas  hendrick haese  dsire nosbusch  arthur brauss  christopher cazenove  the rest of the cast in the film  actio  thrillers  dramas  and interesting films then i strongly recommend you to see this film today   
a nightmare on elm street the dream child  the fifth installment in the nightmare on elm street series and the worst sequel ever in the series  even worse than a nightmare on elm street  . i was lucky enough to get the nightmare on elm street dvd box set for my birthday and i watched all the sequels . the dream child was the worst without a doubt  i was surprised too since they were doing so well with the last two sequels . but i guess they just lost the charm  the story was just ridicules and i wasn  t happy with where it went . alice just became more annoying  she  s not nancy or kirsten  so her carrying this film on her own didn  t work for me . freddy is also loosing his scare  this was just getting a bit silly .  br    br   alice is back and she  s carrying a child  she couldn  t be happier with her life . but freddy is also back and he  s not going to be too light on her since she defeated him so easily in the fourth movie . but anyways  he wants her child and to be born into the world again . did you ever wonder if freddy had parents too  well that  s what a nightmare on elm street the dream child investigates and alice soon finds out what freddy  s childhood was like and that maybe that  s the one thing that can defeat him .  br    br   a nightmare on elm street the dream child is just all in all a bad movie and an insult to the series . i don  t think anyone could be happy with this sequel . just the story was really silly  i mean it could have possibly worked  but once again  it was just executed the wrong way . i know that if you  re looking to see the sequels for the nightmare on elm street series  you should watch it  but i really wouldn  t recommend it  it  s not worth it  at least in my opinion .  br    br        
now i had the pleasure of first viewing contaminated man when it premiered on tv back in december of     .  br    br   an infectious disease expert  william hurt  looses his family when an unknown disease enters his home and kills them . now some years later he is now in russia or someplace . i  m not sure where exactly  all i know is it takes place somewhere in that area . anyway  because of budget cutbacks at an infectious disease laboratory  they are forced to lay off most of their workers . one of them  a disgruntled security guard named joseph muller  played peter weller  best known for his role as the indestructible robocop  goes in there and demands that they give him his job back . he needs this job because he is divorced and he needs it to pay child support . so he goes in there  a fight breaks out  and some things get knocked over  dangerous things . it  s soon discovered that muller has been infected with a deadly pathogen . in fact it  s so deadly  one drop of his blood will kill a person in matter of seconds . soon word gets out and the disease expert  hurt  is called in to investigate and he later teamed up with an american reporter . now muller is determined to get home to see his wife and son and will stop at nothing even if he has to infect the entire russian population .  br    br   now as i said before this film is a lot like falling down . we have a disturbed person  weller here  michael douglas in falling down  who will stop at nothing to accomplish there goal even if they have to kill a few people in the process . next we have a hero  type person  hurt here  robert duvall in falling down  who is both sympathetic and determined to stop the antagonist .  br    br   contaminated man is in fact a very good film with a good story line and some very good performances .  br    br        
this is crap . . . . utter crap . i cannot believe any company could even get people to work on a film like this . full moon has a number of awful films  but this has got to be the worst . first off  the plot doesn  t exist . it  s odd . it  s like  they took an idea for the story  and kind of never really got around to developing it . they seemed to have just wasted a lot of time filming outside shots while the two  heroes  drove around in the desert  and bradbury talks nonsense for about   minutes . there were two scenes in the movie  when dez and dazzy are driving  and when dez and bradbury are driving  where it just went on and on and on . . . it was almost like  music videos in the place where there should have been some dialog or action . they just drove for about  minutes  with nothing but music and shots of the surrounding landscape .  br    br   next  we come to the acting  which is simply horrible . first off  the girl who plays dazzy is just a beast . she is so scary looking  i wanted to look away when she was on screen  horrible casting . then  you have the guy who played dez  who couldn  t act if his life depended on it . his  crying  is actually funny  and his madman antics are even funnier . the guy who plays the desk clerk at the hotel is just as bad  as is the guy who plays bradbury . there was no acting that deserves any recognition in this movie whatsoever .  br    br   the makeup effects . . . hmmm  can anyone say pathetic  the  effects  were so fake  they were laughable . the crazy little robot looking catepillar thing grabs onto someone  they cut away  and when they come back  the guy has a completely fake looking flesh wound . nice . did they run out of money on the makeup budget or what   i must say the druggie chick who is in the one girl  s apartment . . . nice makeup there too . i think they were going for a drugged look  and i think she was supposed to have a black guy  but it looked more like cheap zombie makeup for halloween .  br    br   this movie is just horrible from the start . the story is stupid and very  very unoriginal  the direction looks as tho it was performed by a   year old  the acting is the lowest of the low  and so on . stay away from this movie at all costs . it  s only   minutes long in the first place  and atleast   minutes of that is taken up by either music and no dialog or the character sitting around in the hotel . do not waste your time on this piece of garbage .  
the first time i saw it i got half of it but i watched and i knew later on it was about a salem witch trials . they focused on the sara good  s family . she is famous for cursing a priest which came true . in the film it depicts her daughter dorcas and her husband the spirit of ann putnam sara  s husband comes to the future hunts this girl to redeem her soul . which does happen at the end of the movie . dorcas is depict as witch at  years old who is burned at the stake . which never happen ann putnam saves her from the flames . the girl is safe she goes to ann putnam  s grave to to see that is not empty but it is at first because she accuse her of witchcraft  and lets her burn to death . now that ann putnam saves her her spirit is redeemed  and she is not a outcast to society for the salem witch trials .  
before the internet this movie could never have been made but the idea that the web is full of evil is the idea behind it . unfortunately thats all it was  the generally opinion that nowadays the web in the wring hands can create as much chaos as anything in real life . since the late   s somebody found out that you could create a virus which would disable a computer . the point  just to do something plain evil by remote control so its the cyber equivalent of robbery with violence . which is basically what spam is without the violence  its conning you into parting with your money and has been going so long its a wonder anybody takes any notice of it nowadays so they get cleverer and use real names as doing something illegal isn  t a priority  we see the internet get worse by the week  the social networking sites or chat room which lead to evil and the child porn sites which are illegal . so the idea of a movie which invites people to click a name is just the same old thing  there actually is a site called horrorvision which is a porn site  but this one kills the people who enter its portals . the story though is so disjointed its boring with it and comes to no conclusion . the definitive movie on this theme of destroying an internet service provider has yet to be made but clearly many do need destroying as they won  t be shut down when there  s money to be made . calling this a horror film is rather misleading as it bores not frightens  
in the seemingly endless quest to find well made  well acted horror films  it is all  too  rare to find one that even comes remotely close to hitting the mark . needless to say  i was very pleasantly surprised when i stumbled across  burned at the stake  on a u . s . cable network while i was flipping channels . the premise is reasonably simple . in      young ann putnam  swift  is the most vocal witness against alleged witches  leveling baseless charges against anyone who earns her displeasure . manipulating her for his own ends is reverend parris  peters  who also serves as the court  s guide on matters pertaining to witchcraft and satanism . things get complicated when ann starts accusing members of the goode family of witchcraft . salem  of     or so   loreen graham  also played by swift  begins having unusual visions shortly before she visits the salem witch museum . a strange man in seventeenth century garb tries to accost her there and the building . he continues to stalk her while strange phenomena begin to involve her more and more . soon  it appears that she is becoming possessed by the spirit of ann putnam . unfortunately  further description gets rather involved and would give too much away . though the film is not action  oriented and would likely be of little interest to many viewers  the performances are good and the seventeenth century dialogue used in the film  s many flashbacks sounds very convincing . the production values are solid with the possible exception of some of the special effects . in a side  note  the film  s technical advisor was laurie cabot  salem  s official witch . viewers who appreciate a well  made  atmospheric  but understated horror film may appreciate this . the writer  director  bert i . gordon  has had a long career in horror and science fiction filmmaking and is best known for his work on a number of  big bug  films and similar works years earlier .  
save your money . i have been a fan of fullmoon productions for a long time and i have never seen them make a movie as bad as this . the casting is terrible  the story is even worse and the special affects are worse than any movie iv  e seen sence the    s . this movie is so bad i cant even suggest renting it .  
the biggest reason i had to see this movie was that it stars susan swift  an outstanding and all  too  underappreciated actress . time travel movies usually don  t interest me and neither do movies about witchcraft  but this movie was fascinating and creepy . it didn  t rely on outrageous special effects and it didn  t focus so heavily on the time travel that the viewer gets lost and confused . this was a really creative movie kept simple and focused with great acting by all .  
at first look of the plot tagline i figured it could have been a decent film . could i have ever been more wrong  the beginning of the film makes it look like a bunch of freaks got together and decided to make a low budget film . for the first   minutes you don  t notice the cheesy acting  horrible sound and god  awful special effects  but then it gets worse . just about   minutes into it i was asking myself   what was the plot again   i could only ask that question when i wasn  t busted out laughing from the sheer lameness of this film . the main actor has one setting for emotions and he sticks to it throughout the entire film  even though he was supposed to go through love and hate and everything in  between . the flashback scene almost made me vomit because it made me re  live one extra minute of footage from earlier in the movie . now we hit the middle of the film where they are obviously trying to rip off morpheus from  the matrix   although he is doing just a horrible job . the actor  s talking about  star wars  and fortune cookie phrases is almost unbearable . now at the end of the movie you don  t realize that it  s the end of the movie because you actually think the plot is finally developing . the  morpheus  character dies  the only good thing about the movie . he utters a couple words and the credits roll . what is this  no plot  bad acting  cheesy everything  it couldn  t get any worse . please  if you value human decency  do not watch this movie   
for a mature man  to admit that he shed a tear over this film is a mature response  to a mature film .  br    br   if one need admit more then perhaps one could say that   life  can never be the same  after viewing such advent for it has moved us to the next level .  br    br    
decent enough with some stylish imagery however the tiny budget hampers things .  br    br   i also get the impression they were trying to shock you with some of the graphic weirdo perv website stuff .  br    br   if you like anime in particular stuff like cyber city and the ad police then this might up your street .  br    br   but basically its low budget matrix cash in however not totally devoid of its own style .  br    br   great soundtrack by some unheard of grunge  punk  post grunge bands . worth checking out if only for the soundtrack .  
picture bride has an excellent look into hawaii  s past and the people who lived there in that time . the time  money earned and the hours that these people had put into their lives to survive and live  takes a whole new meaning to blood  sweat and tears .  br    br   the concept of dating  matchmaking is something like what we do similar today via the net . just that is more of snail mail . very slow snail mail .  br    br   the singing of the plantation  s songs from the workers reminds me of the southern plantation workers  songs of their demise and future goals .  br    br   the movie shows the hardship as well as soft romantic scenes that hawaii can bring . like the stillness of a storm coming and the sudden chaos of the rain and then the tranquility .  
i found horrorvision almost unwatchable . while only   minutes in length i still found myself hitting the fast forward button again and again . the acting was of the if i scream and say k a lot i  m intense  school . and the story was at best a scenario that had yet to be fleshed out .  br    br   while i never go to full moon for great film making i have never seen them produce as bad a piece of junk as this .  
this is a great film . from reading other reviews  i can see that i  m not the only one who shed a tear . tamilyn tomita acted with such skill and conviction  she made the ending heartfelt and memorable . in the hands of a lesser actress  her last scene would have seemed trite and corny . one would never guess this film was done on a tight  limited budget . the cinematography is gorgeous and there are a number of big name actors . the script is so wonderful  i can see why they all wanted to be in it . if you watch the long  long list of credits at the end  you  ll see that half of hawaii pitched in to make this film happen  and for good reason . the soundtrack  available on cd  is absolutely beautiful and sets the mood throughout the film . my only  complaint  is that i almost didn  t want the film to end .  
if this guy can make a movie  then i sure as hell can make one too .  br    br   in fact  if you hire me to make a movie for you  i promise to do the following  br    br     i will add more naked women . this movie had none . i think cheesy b  class horror movies are only rented because of their traditional exploitation of the female body . i wouldn  t want to let my viewers down .  br    br     i will refrain from making too many scenes where the hero wakes up to find out it  s only a dream . i think horrorvision had about  of these scenes . and  considering the movie was only like an hour long  the dream  to  movie  length ratio was quite high . and  if i do decide to do a dream sequence  i will make sure that the person wakes up without clothes on . i mean  who sleeps in leather pants    br    br     i will not rip off any movies like star wars or the matrix because i will know that my budget is small and i will not want to mask my contempt for big  budget hollywood movies by adding satirical references about them in mine .  br    br     and finally  i will not mix modern technology with the undead . i mean  a palm pilot can only be so scary . . . at least they turned it into an evil rolly  polly monster before the screen blew up or something .  br    br   so  if you are looking for the above qualities in your next horror production  count on me wanna  b  movie director extraordinaire .  
i saw this when it premiered and just re  watched it on ifc again . this is a great telling of the many possible stories about the immigrant farmworker population that came to hawai  i to work the sugar plantations in the early      s . my grandparents were part of that migration my parents were born on a kohala plantation  big island  at the time setting of the movie . i moved to the big island over a year ago after living in california for over   years . i was surprised to see that many of the former cane growing lands are still undeveloped  with wild cane still growing  years after the plantations closed . i  ve heard many stories from my aunts and uncles who were kids growing up on the plantation . this movie helps to image those kinds of stories and memories . this story is more of an historical document than a romantic plot  driven movie . it leaves me shaking my head to read a review like ccthemovieman  s . some people just don  t get it .  br    br   i didn  t recall that youki kudoh had the starring role  with which she did an incredible job . i recall her great performances in jim jarmusch  s  mystery train  and in an australian film  co  starring with russell crowe   heaven  s burning  . tamlyn tomita did a great job with her pidgin english  especially for someone who didn  t grow up in the islands . i had forgotten that toshiro mifune had a cameo role as the moving picture show narrator . and i missed the fact that jason scott lee had an uncredited  non  speaking part as one of the plantation workers during the payday scene .  br    br   i was saddened to find out that the director and co  writer  kayo hatta  died in an accidental drowning in     .  br    br   there are two other excellent foreign films that mirror this cane plantation experience  gaijin  about the immigrant cane workers in brazil  many of them japanese  in the same time period and  sugar cane alley  about the cane plantation experience in africa . the latter is still available  but  gaijin   sadly  doesn  t appear to have been shown in quite a while . another great film about the early asian in america experience when immigrants were more like slaves is  a thousand pieces of gold  . this was set over the chinese workers  involvement in the building of the railroad  starred rosalind chao  chris cooper  michael paul chan  and dennis dun .  
i am not from america and i know what  wife swap  is . when a show came out of that name i was thrilled to see some cool glamorized sexual moments from the program . but what i got was a real sucking stupidity . i was misjudged by its title name  it has no adult contents  no nudity  not even vulgar dialogues  broad casted threw hallmark channel and i think they edited  mute out such contents to make it neat  .  br    br   a show which gives a picture of current american  western family state  overweight chubby peoples  polluted teenagers  and their sucking family goings . in each episode two wives  two mothers  more correctly  were chosen to live in each others home and re  changes each others family routine with their new own rule . sometimes its turns out to be good or more evenly bad . on the ending section each mothers are brought back with their husband and try to conclude what they did to each families past days . it  s the sucking portion of the program were each contenders fights for their rights . i was sucked to see all of these instead of seeing some cool adult sex stuff . i mean who make this program  more than that who gave the name  wife swap   its better to be called as  mother swap  . all in all it corrupts all the great things the real wife swap stands for   br    br   wife swap  average sucking reality show .  
it  s funny . it  s not arthur miller or t . s . elliot  but man this is funny . kline and fields are great .  her toss  off line  god  you are so disgusting  as she climbs in his window  great  kline  s running into the door after scoping out teri hatcher  great too   robert downey jr . and kathy moriarty work together flawlessly  until he finds out who she really is . . . a soap opera turn if there every was one   br    br   the scene near the end in the chinese dining area had my kids and i rolling on the floor  that scene alone is worth the rental price .  br    br   doesn  t solve any world problems or show the seemy underbelly of daytime t . v .  i hope  . just a lot of fun .  
this has got to be one of the worst movies i have ever seen . it is  i think  a story of a rebellious college basketball player  his tough  but  fair coach  his girlfriend  and a fellow student  played by michael margotta  who has continual nervous breakdowns . the story goes nowhere  there is zero character development  there is nobody to care about  and the performances  with the exception of bruce dern as the coach  are terrible . it is hard to believe how a talent like jack nicholson could direct such an awful movie . make sure to avoid this turkey .  
good historical drama which is very educational and also very entertaining to people who like history . very good acting and script . not as sensual and sexy as it is sometimes marketed  be prepared to peek into the pioneer spirit and human ability to adjust . very touching as well for the spiritually mature . not for people who do not like to think . . . . . .  
no doubt frank sinatra was a talented actor as well as a talented singer . after all  very few actors nowadays can get a scene just right in one take  and that was pretty much sinatra  s modus operandi on set .  br    br   i feel that as the      s wore on  the quality of the man  s films really started to tank . the tony rome detective series was nothing short of trying to compete with dean martin  s matt helm series which came out at the same time . perhaps even a james bond competition  but nothing really worked for frank during these years . his personal life in shambles  his music fading out . . . sinatra appeared more like a throwback to the      s . the last great sinatra film of this period was probably von ryan  s express in     .  
japan     . the story of    year old ryu begins with the death of her father . as it will be revealed later  both of her parents have died of tuberculosis . in this desperate situation ryus aunt has arranged a marriage with a japanese man in hawai  whom they know only from its picture . by her arrival in hawai ryu discovers that her new husband is much older as in the photograph  and that he lives in very humble circumstances beside a sugar cane plantage were he works on . ryu not used to the hard labour on the plantage and in despair over her situation in her new home thinks of running away . she soon discovers that she has nowhere to go . the friendship to kana  a female co  worker of hers  gives her new hope and strength . this picture is based on real events between     and the     s  when thousands of asian woman were married off to men in america  whom they only knew from their picture . this not very well known picture is well written and acted . the location is breathtaking . this film also features mifune toshiro in his very last screen appearance as a benshi  narrator of silent movies  . this film gives some insight of japanese culture here and across the ocean . a must see   
lady in cement  pi spoof with ole blue eyes . frank sinatra is a shamus on a houseboat in miami in this rarely funny  comedy  . burdened by an annoying and repetitious hugo montenegro score and bunch of misfiring punchlines this     flick just never rises above slightly too bawdy to be on tv made for television movie status . dan blocker is effective in the mike mazurski  ted de corsia big galoot role and raquel welch should thank her personal trainer . the only thing that makes the dvd worth keeping or seeing is the collection of cheesy trailers for welch flicks like bandolero  fantastic voyage  mother  jugs  speed and myra breckinridge . even if you get the dvd  skip the predictable movie and go for the trailer library in the special features . besides tons of mysoginistic asides  sinatra lisps  the homosexual owners of the local go  go bar . a relic that needs to be put back in the time capsule . d  
picture bride paints a realistic and moving portrait of what it must have been like for japanese men brought to hawaii at the turn of the   th century to work in the sugar cane fields . most came planning to return to their homeland  but few were ever able to do so . equally movingly portrayed is the fate of japanese women  some as young as fifteen or sixteen  who were sent as promised brides to men they knew only through photographs that often were   or    years out of date  or were of some other younger man . they too worked long hard hours in the fields  while fighting homesickness and to preserve their dignity .  br    br   director hatta  s portrayal of one picture bride  s courage and perseverance struggling to survive in a strange land and alien society under great physical duress  is  ultimately  inspirational and uplifting   a story of moral and cultural survival . there is a grandness and magnificence of sweep of character and landscape in picture bride that captures the alluring beauty as well as violent harshness of colonial hawaii . this is a film that is emotionally  intellectually and artistically rewarding .  
detective tony rome  frank sinatra  returns to the screen after his self titled debut  this time it  s a film that  s played for ermlaughs . while on a diving trip  rome finds the body of a blonde beauty at the bottom of the sea  her feet as you might expect  encased in cement . rome immediately on the case after being hired by man mountain waldo gronsky . rome finds himself immediately at risk as he has to investigate some mafia types  who turn the tables on him and he is himself found to be the main suspect  he must now go on the run and hope to solve the case alone . the portly sinatra tries hard to sell us the lame jokes and make us believe he is a good detective  oh and not to mention being sexually attractive to the foxy raquel welch  but he fails miserably  in this ham fisted vanity project . the frankly laughable denouement that surrounds every female is quite astounding  every woman in the film is a dither head  who likes bending over is front of the camera  director douglas of course obliges in zooming in on the cracks of their asses each time as they flex their posterior muscles . there  s even a ridiculously campy gay character that beggars belief  this was a film made by  real men  for  real men  to reaffirm their own flagging sexuality  it  s a shameful shambles .  
distortion is a movie that sort of caught me by surprise . . a sort of multi layered drama that focuses on a man writing a play about his life experiences that are happening to him right at this moment . to be more concise  he feels that his wife is cheating on him  so he hires a private eye to snoop on him . his wife has no idea that this is happening . meanwhile  the actors in this play are also having a few whoopdedoodles up their sleeves by fooling around with each other and with  shall we say  unscrupulous people in the world of israel . the whole thing culminates in a theater with all the actors present and the predictable  but not really  happens .  br    br   the director of the piece really keeps things moving along with the ensemble cast of characters  and edits in a way that makes you pay attention  this is a fun film actually  one which i didn  t mind viewing and would recommend people check out .  
terrible film with frank sinatra as tony rome . here  he gets involved with a dead woman below the sea .  br    br   rome is soon hired to find out what happened to a woman . naturally  it  s the woman below the sea . her room mate  lainie kazan  soon winds up dead on the floor .  br    br   an aging richard conte plays a police officer and friend of rome . when a local club owner gets killed  the blame falls on rome and there becomes an interesting chase scene . that  s how bad this picture is if you have to depend on a chase scene to supply the action .  br    br   raquel welch plays the beauty up to her neck in intrigue . her acting leads a lot to be desired .  br    br   martin gabel is a retired hoodlum whose son is trying to outdo him .  br    br   by the film  s end  you don  t know why the girl was murdered . don  t even bother to ask .  
this is arguably the best film director haim bouzaglo made until now . a skilled tv director  well  trained in story  telling and in directing his actors through long epics he tried to catch in this very low  budget film the essence of the very special psychological situation the israelis live though under the permanent danger of the terror attacks  resulting in  distorted  lives . each character trying to live his own life  to watch and control the other  while being himself watched and controlled by other characters and mostly by the continuous pressure  by political and historical forces well beyond his control . some call this destiny  but destiny has a very concrete representation in this film .  br    br   there is no explicit political saying in  distortion  . characters never discuss politics  not even at the level of saying  bastards   when they hear that a new terror attack happens . their reaction to events is to localize the attack and to count the victims using the official and media terminology for the dead and the wounded . they do not really live but rather survive on borrowed time happy to have survived one bomb  and waiting for the next one to happen . personal  social  professional life seems to work someway  but is deeply flawed and influenced by events . the main character played by the director is a playwright whose mid  life personal and creative crisis is amplified by the pressure of the events and by the fact that he is lucky enough to leave a terror attack site minutes before the bomb explodes . he hires a private detective to follow his girlfriend who is a tv investigative reporter whom he suspects is falling in for the subject of her next show  another failed man  former military  whose business and family life dismantles under the events . he starts to write a play that carbon  copies the reality and will bring it to the stage  in theater in film scene that reminds hamlet as well as  synecdoche  new york  . it  s not that i would dare suspect charlie kaufman looking over the shoulder of bouzaglo  he certainly needs not that  but the israeli director screen is brilliant into anticipating the later film  and the first directed by kaufman  . as in the american film actors play real persons and start interacting with them in an reality  meets  stage  meets  reality melange which never lacks logic  at least not artistic logic .  br    br   bouzaglo directs his actors with the usual talent  trusts them and allows them the freedom of living through the situations rather then acting them . his style is much more free here than in his tv series  and the  distortion  effects  although borrowed from american horror movies work pretty well all over . the ending seemed to me a little rhetorical and unsatisfying dramatically  but the shade of the suicidal killer who is haunting the film and the whole situation in a temporal loop will also follow the viewer when remembering later this film .  
the lady in cement is a veritable course on social anthropology of the late    s . the writing  not the acting  is at center stage . did i say  pure camp  prepare to be offended if you are female or gay . broad and dame are standard terms and gay baiting and bashing are represented for what they were in the day  camp  wise  . most of the lines are tossed off although there are wonderful performances by a very few outstanding character actors . the action scenes are mundane but it is fun to see dan blocker play a tough guy who likes bashing toughs . and lanie kazan and racquel welsh are at the voluptuous peak of their careers . amazing to note they were both   years old and mr . sinatra was   . the musical score  wait . . . was there a score  well  you get the point . watch it with friends who want a good laugh . it  s full of them .  
distortion is a disturbing  haunting film  about life imitating art and art reflecting life . haim bouzaglo  the director of the film  plays the role of haim bouzaglo  artistically blocked and sexually impotent playwright  who finds inspiration in his suspicions about the subject of his girl friend  s documentary . as an arab suicide bomber  disguised in skullcap and american t  shirt  wanders through the landscape in search of his target and his nerves  haim transcribes his girl friend  s life as she films her documentary and incorporates himself and his actors  lives during rehearsals . but the bomber has already struck and haim has left the restaurant just minutes earlier . despite the manipulation of time and space  the story is crystal clear  comprehensive and absorbing  a brilliant commentary on the  distortion  of everyday israeli life  where the political is intertwined with the personal  where everyone lives  on the edge   and people never know whether they are playing leading roles in their own lives or are merely dispensable bit players in someone else  s dramatic narrative .  br    br   bouzaglo plays with this notion of everyone being an actor in someone else  s production brilliantly . we are always voyeurs  seeing what the fictional director sees illicitly but also what the  real  director chooses to reveal . to remind us that these glimpses are violations of privacy  bouzaglo takes us into the bathroom and the bedroom  sometimes the bedroom is the street and rooftop   and repeatedly frames his views within tv  video  or security screens . actors play the role of actors who represent the  real  characters played by actors . of course  each of the actors is the star of his or her own production  only dimly aware of their diminished roles in their fellow actor  s personal films . the detective hired by the playwright becomes a character in the play . the actor hired to play the role of the detective seeks out the detective for  tips  on how to play the role  is caught by the detective on surveillance tapes  and they attend a cast party as their real selves .  br    br   despite this multiplicity of views  there is no mistaking the clear lines of this narrative the playwright searches for subject matter  the bomber seeks a target  and the detective stalks the filmmaker . nor is there any difficulty locating bouzaglo  s ultimate targetenervated and impotent israel  fully conscious of the threatening peril but incapable of meaningful action . israel is bouzaglo  the impotent fictional playwright cannibalizing his own life for his play . israel is also the bankrupt soldier  entrepreneur who is the subject of the filmmaker  s documentary  the cheating actors and actresses  and the cuckolded husband . they are all israel because they are all helpless  caught in inaction or aimless action  as the bomber scans the landscape for his best target . all the characters can do as another bombing is reported is have sex and keep  score  of victims .  br    br   there is personal triumph  vindication  perhaps revenge at the end of this play within a story within a film  but viewers will be left aching for the state of israel even as they are filled with admiration for bouzaglo  s memorable rendition of a nation  s plight within the telling of an individual  s story .  
though not a fan of sam rockwell  i was surprised when i saw his name in the credits in the opening of  joshua .  heck  i wasn  t even aware he was in  joshua  until i started the movie . so it goes without saying  i was watching the movie on the basis of the movie  not the leads . a sort of  rosemary  s baby    the omen  or any other demonic kid movie  joshua  was billed . unfortunately  it fell flat . slow  incredibly slow  and flat . yet  i continued on to see how this would all resolve  hoping beyond belief  the ending climax would shed some light on the subject . okay  i admit  it did  a wee bit  but what a stale closing . and what a low  low budget movie  or at least that  s how they designed it . a person falls  you don  t see the drop  you see someone lying down in what appears to be blood . a person gets hit by a cab  you don  t see it  you see someone complaining  holding a bike up . i  m not sure if this is called  style  or laziness or simply  lack of funds for special effects . we have a  rich  family with a crazy mom  a workaholic father attempting to balance everything  a kid  joshua  who may  may not be the antichrist and a new born baby girl who cries a lot . she cries as much as we see how many days she  s alive  and what was that about  are there rats above or is it joshua  is his mother nuts  is joshua crazy  is he merely jealous of the newcomer to the family  is he going to grow up to be michael myers  or does he drive his family to the brink  i don  t think so . they were nuts prior  and no  so  called  acting could make me believe otherwise . unfortunately  barely any questions were answered  barely any open doors shut . i  m sure that might have been the idea  but for pete  s sake  give me something . anything . there are plenty better kid  gone  wild movies to explore . joshua  s more like the mini  me of the antichrist .  
i have read with great interest the only available comment made before mine on this movie and i would first like to say that i understand the point of view of the previous user who commented on this movie very well viewed from an israeli perspective  i can very well imagine that this movie touches upon very sensitive issues and that the slightest detail can have a great importance for a viewer who is more or less directly concerned by the events depicted in this movie . what i would like to say is that  distortion  was shown at a film festival in geneva in november      festival  cinma tout cran   where it won the award of the audience   prix du public  in french  . for what affects me  i liked the  nervous camera  work of mr bouzaglo  who  in my opinion  portrayed an atmosphere of extreme tension and uneasiness in the movie very well  and i think that most of the swiss viewers appreciated this in the movie . this perspective  however  might seem totally  alien  to an israeli viewer  but not so surprising when it comes to swiss viewers  because switzerland is a country which has never been subject to any terrorist attack . it therefore comes as no surprise that the audience in geneva judged this film with a much more  detached  perspective . i would also like to quote what mr bouzaglo said when he was interviewed by a geneva newspaper  i  m translating from french     after   years of living here and after undergoing all this violence  we may ask ourselves if it is still possible to remain normal . we might sometimes think that it would be easier to commit suicide than to go on living . we are like the characters in my movie    on the edge of the edge   . this is the reason why the private detective  who is somehow   voyeur   is the happiest character in the movie  because he earns a living thanks to the system  he takes advantage of this situation   this is  in substance  the main thing that i and the swiss public  in my opinion  pointed out in this movie  and that we did not pay attention to some inconsistencies regarding the characters in the movie which the precedent reviewer pointed out with great accuracy and humor . so  to sum up  different countrydifferent perspective  but i think that this is somehow great  because it reassures me for what affects the future of cinema  that is to say that it well never be subject to a  unique  of  formatted  way of thinking .  
i did not enjoy the film  joshua  at all . perhaps it is because i saw another  much better similar film titled orphan  days prior but perhaps it  s really just because this film was not very good . i am going with the ladder . sure  the plot of an evil child is not exactly original but that doesn  t mean the film could not succeed . it could have been suspenseful and entertaining and chilling but instead it was slow building  boring  uneventful and really didn  t leave me thinking anything more than  that wasn  t very good  when it was all over .  br    br   at the end  joshua  s motivations are revealed . i won  t give that away but the reality is that he didn  t really accomplish his goals since despite vera farmiga as his mother  abby  disappearing about    th through the movie  all arrows point to her returning home soon . she was committed to a mental institution because she was losing her mind but then joshua  s father  her husband was accused of tampering with her medication which tells the audience that the institution realized that she was indeed not mentally ill but rather was being dosed medically . so . . shouldn  t she be coming home soon  won  t joshua have failed  won  t his mother be living with him and his sister and possibly his father soon  i question the father since his future is left open ended .  br    br   at the end of the day  i didn  t care about the characters . the evil demon child joshua wasn  t really scary . the storyline moved slowly and when it picked up it was still boring . suspense fell flat every single time . when it was over i couldn  t believe i had sat through the whole thing .  br    br       just because the acting was good from the parents especially vera farmiga as the mother but if you want to see a movie about an evil  child  go see orphan . now that  s a movie that took an unoriginal concept and created a brilliant movie .  
the premise is simple . this movies starts out looking like your average lame chick flick about two attractive young people meeting each other in an airport  then things take a    degree turn . . .  br    br   i for one  really dislike the kind of mind numbing love story nonsense that pollutes the average movie theater . and it is my humble opinion that wes craven  based on his previous meta  horror films  sceam  does too . . .  br    br   following this logic  it  s not surprising to find that craven sardonically takes his time to built up a nauseatingly sweet  sependipity love   story  only to have an awesome cillian murphy wreck that whole sugar  coated dreamworld . . .  br    br   the scope of his character jackson ripner  jack the ripper  get it  lame  right   in this film is impressive  he goes from being utterly charming to being a twisted nihilistic sicko  which is a plus in my book . as he proceeds to freak out his victim  jennifer garner lookalike rachel mcadams  who i found pretty annoying by the way   you can  t help but sympathize with the guy . . .  br    br   this is wes craven  embodied in jackson ripner  through cillian murphy  bashing all brainless chick flicks . . .  br    br   mr . craven  i salute you .  br    br   best quote  br    br   jackson ripner  after beating the snot out of rachel mcadams in the airplane toilet    thanks for the quickie      
this movie  joshua  is extremely disturbing  and downright pointless . it actually makes me shudder to think there are people who would enjoy watching it . without giving away the story it is about a young boy  s reaction to his newborn sister  and that is just the tip of the iceberg . during the entirety of this movie the viewer is subjected to some of the most unsettling child behavior imaginable . adding insult to injury  by the end of this movie there is absolutely no real outcome except the fruition of pure evil at the hands of a child no less  who outsmarted a whole group of dumb adults . there is no redemption  no justice served  and a whole group of adults who are not smart enough to see what is going on around them . frankly  i did not enjoy watching this movie . it was extremely unsettling . even for those who might enjoy horror movies  this movie could be too much . despite the fact this movie was well acted  the story itself is so disturbing that watching it was equivalent to a   minute wait in a dentist  s waiting room in anticipation of some painful dental procedure .  
rachel mcadams . cillian murphy . wes craven . the dream team . this is one of the best thrillers of     . a great plot . a great twist . a great eye candy . this is one of wes craven  s greatest movies apart from  scream  and  a nightmare on elm street  . this could be the best . the plot is one of the best things about the movie and it is very simple . lisa reisert  mcadams  a struggling hotel manager  boards a late red eye back to la . little does she know that she has been followed by jackson ripner aka jack the ripper  murphy  . they have a couple of drinks and end up sitting together on the plane . later he reveals to her that he is an assassin who was sent to kill the secreteary of homeland security who is staying in lisa  s hotel . and what does this have to with lisa . well  she would have to move his room to the top suite so they can bomb him  if she doesn  t ripner will murder her father  brian cox  . the twist and bringing of the story really gives it the extra zing and the side characters and the side jokes really add to it . overall  definitely one of the best thrillers of     . definitely worth the see .  br    br       out of  stars  
the acting in the film is really well done honestly  but the movie is so slow and so boring  as soon as it gets interesting everything slows to a major halt . i am glad to see sam rockwell in this  he did a great job  so did the other actors as i mentioned but man . . . this is one of the worst dragged out films i have ever seen . now maybe in a short film form this movie would be good  but other than that  avoid it . this film has so much filler it makes a twinkie cake jealous .  br    br   i never  ever  walk out on films  but watching this one at home with family  i walked out . yeah  it was that boring . apparently my comment doesn  t have enough lines to post  so here  s some more filler . i guess i was inspired by the movie i just watched .  
wes craven has been created a most successful killer  thriller movies of all time . after watching he  s movies  you will find your new fears . people don  t know  which wes craven  s thriller movie is the best  because they all different .  br    br   in this movie  lisa is terrorize by fellow  traveler . he coercible her to kill and if she don  t do this  jack will kill her father . lisa is in the huge mess  because whatever she choose  she will kill .  br    br   acting was unreal . rachel mcadams and cillian murphy acted unbelievable good . the emotions was in right choose . idea and script of this movie is great too . . .  br    br   sometimes it reminds a  scream   but he definitely better  than both  screams  sequels together .  br    br   and what can i say  this is the best killer  thriller movie in    s century yet . . .  
i watched the whole movie  waiting and waiting for something to actually happen . maybe it  s my fault for expecting evil and horror instead of psychology  is it a weird re  telling of the oedipal myth i want to kill my father and mother and marry my uncle and compose musical theater with him  i didn  t understand why certain plot elements were even present why was the construction upstairs  why was there that big stairwell with a perfect spot for someone to fall to their doom if no one was actually going to do so  why have the scenes at all with the father at work  why have such a nice kitchen if you  re only going to eat takeout  why would the boy want to be baptized and the parents be the ones to resist instead of the other way around . i see lots of good reviews for this movie . . . has my taste been corrupted by going up with   s b  movies and old sci fi flicks   
it was extremely low budget  it some scenes it looks like they recorded with a home video recorder  . however it does have a good plot line  and its easy to follow .  years after shooting her sexually abusive step father amanda is released from the psychiatric ward  with the help of her doctor who she is secretly having an affair with . the doctor ends up renting her a house and buying her a car . but within the first   minutes of the movie amanda kills him and buries him in her backyard . then she see  s her neighbor richard sets eyes on him and stops at nothing until she has him . she acts innocent but after another neighbor buzz finds out that amanda killed that doctor and attempted to kill richards wife laurie  this is after amanda and him get it on in the hot tub  . then she stops acting so innocent and kills buzz and later on attempts to kill richard whom she supposedly loves and cares for . and you  ll have to rent the movie to find out if amanda dies or not . overall good movie  reminds me a lot of my life you know the whole falling for the neighbor and stopping at nothing until you have him part .  
as a member of the cast  i was a member of the band at all the basketball games  i would like to let the world know after being in the movie  that we were not allowed to see it since it was banned in oregon . this was due to the producers and the director breaking the contract with the university of oregon where it was shot . seems that the u of o sign was shown . while we were shooting  we were allowed to eat several meals with the cast and production staff . mr nicholson was quite memorable for being one of the most ill  mannered men i have ever met . quite a time for a young   year old . but certainly not what campus life was really like in the late    s and early    s despite what hollywood may think . trombone player from oregon  
great little thriller . i was expecting some type of silly horror movie but what i got was tight short thriller that waste none of our time . mostof these movies we have to get into the back characters stories so we will either feel sympathy for them or hatred when people start getting killed . o such foolishness here . yes you see a few characters but they really only interact with the principals . such as the husband wife at the motel whose room was canceled . we saw them so we could just how efficient the lisa character was and how inefficient the new hotel clerk was . we see the little girl simply because she will have a very small but important role later in the movie when all heck breaks loose . the flight atrendants because we need on in particular to move the plot ahead . the bad guy in particular needs her in the beginning of the flight . the rude guy in the airport was important to the movie too . the only  characters that were just  liners with no use to the plot were the two young guys on the plane . that was clever because i thought they would have something to do with plot . from the first scene to the last the woman character a young hotel executive named lisa is in charge . even when jackson shows his true colors she doesn  t panic . she thinks what she can do to stall time . any other movie the smart executive women would be acting like idiots . but not this one . it was a very short movie and i was waiting for the usual plot devices to kick in because the movie seemed to be coming to its conclusion fast . thankfuly none of them were used . the new hotel clerk did not do the usual called and told her what to do  which is panic drop the phone and run out of the hotel without saying anything  or question your boss and tell her she had to much to drink and just dismiss her . was craven should do more of these types of movies . also one last comment . brian cox is in the movie but i had not one clue who he was . i had to come over here to see that he is lisa  s father . he is completely unrecognizable .  
i gave this more than a  because i did think there were some moral lessons in this story and it provoked some thought and comment from my wife and i . the acting and the dialogue were mediocre and i must confess i came out feeling like i had been beaten over the head with the god this  god that and christ is our saviour stuff . the movie and the story line did not need it . if  as i am  you are a recovering catholic or christian avoid this one it will make you nauseous . the movie did a good job of demonstrating the thin line between being a good citizen and how someone could become a potential stalker focused on what might have been .  
i was bored one night and red eye was on and thought why not .  br    br   red eye is one of the best movies in a long time .  br    br   i mean i just got into the movie cause it was just so brilliant .  br    br   the story is new and different .  br    br   the movie also has two great leads in the movie with rachel mcadams as lisa reisert and cillian murphy as jackson rippner .  br    br   the acting is just brilliant and you get the feel for the people in the movie .  br    br   the music is just excellent  it give you chills and can also make you feel relax .  br    br   i just love how the movie was just so well done and it never gets boring .  br    br   red eye is just phenomenal . nothing more and nothing less .  br    br   it  s a excellent thriller .  br    br   overall  i enjoy red eye so much that i can watch it over and over again .  br    br   if you like red eye  then i recommend elektra and cry wolf .  br    br   i give red eye  out of   .  br    br   great movie  
i was interested in seeing this movie because i knew it was christian based . the director had a good idea  intentions when making this movie but it could have been better . i can understand why someone would still have feelings for who they believe is the greatest love of their life . however  i didn  t understand why the director made his friends so insensitive  mean and rude . the main character kept apologizing to his friends when they were the ones mean to him . they weren  t understanding at all and they used god as a reason to explain their behaviors . the main character  nor anyone else didn  t know if the ex  girlfriend was divorced  still married etc but they were against him resolving old feelings that needed to be dealt with . his friends were suppose to be christians and should have been portrayed as being supportive whether they agreed with his decision or not . so many times we do things in life where we don  t apologize to those we have hurt in the past and when he was trying to do this they were all against him . the ironic part was his new female friend accused him of having stalking behavior for simply looking up an old friend  when she did a really odd thing to get a hold of his name  address and phone number . . . she seemed to be the stalker  . she didn  t seem like a friend at all but was only looking out for herself . god is love . . . and i think god wants people to be with the person they were meant to be with and i feel the movie did a terrible injustice by making it seem like god doesn  t care about true love . . . only that you stay with someone you made a bad choice with . we all make mistakes . . . it  s all about what steps you take to make amends . like i said the movie had potential but i was tired of the one  sided point of view being constantly repeated and jammed down the viewers throat by his so  called . . . well  meaning friends . this movie didn  t hold true to the christian belief of love but i give it a c for its effort .  
cillian murphy and rachel mcadams star in this action  thriller written and directed by the master of suspense  wes craven  himself . the whole movie starts with some trouble at the lux atlantic  a hotel in miami . the problem is all fixed by lisa reisert  the manager of the hotel . then she goes to the airport  and that  s where all of the trouble begins . she meets jackson rippner  who doesn  t like to be called jack because of the name jack the ripper  if you know you him and i mean . then they board the plane  and crazy enough  rippner and reisert sit next to each other . for the next half  hour  lisa is terrorized  tormented  and terrified by rippner . i won  t give anything away . then we move on to where jack is chasing lisa in the airport . then lisa goes to her house to see if her father is okay  and crazily enough  rippner is already there . there is nearly twelve minutes of violence and strong intensity throughout that entire scene . in total  about   minutes of intense action comes at the end .  br    br   not only was the movie intense but it had a great plot to it . like i said  i will not give anything away because it  s so shocking and thrilling and somewhat disturbing  frightening . and the acting from every single character in the movie  even the ones with no lines at all  were all pitch perfect . it was incredible . everything was awesome in this movie  the acting  the music  the effects  the make  up  the directing  the editing  the writing  everything was wonderful  wes craven is definitely the master of suspense . red eye is definitely a must  see and is definitely worth spending your money on . you could watch this movie over and over and over again and it would never ever get boring .  br    br   red eye i have to say is better than   out of   stars .  br    br   original mpaa rating pg     some intense sequences of violence  and language  br    br   my mpaa rating pg     some very intense sequences of violence  and language  br    br   my canadian rating   a violence  frightening scenes  disturbing content  
dave is going through a divorce and his mind wanders back to his first love .  wanders  is probably not the word . i should say he fixates on the past girlfriend . he recalls to the day when the relationship ended . the dream sequences only lack the hazy transitions . he fondly recalls their favorite songs and places they went . i  m not a counselor  but maybe this had something to do with the failed marriage     dave goes to a support group and meets up with a lady half his age  also divorced  who  instead of being  turned off  by his creepiness  starts to become interested in him . did i mention how creepy dave is  he sometimes refers to himself in the third person . he doesn  t move his arms when he walks  either . it  s just weird . too make a long story short  dave plots to hunt down mary  the old gal friend  and kill her . . . err . . . i mean confront her . he does so . which was really creepy . he believes her to be married  yet he still flies half  way across the country to meet her . he stakes out her house to make sure she is alone  before he  drops in  on her . he has an awkward conversation with her that ends with his sharing the gospel of christ in about   words or less  and flies back to the new young girlfriend . we enjoyed the movie mostly for unintentional comedic value . i am still entertaining the wife with my dave impressions . . . .  i heard another dave  mary song    
  you  ll know what i mean after you  ve seen red eye . . .   br    br   overall  red eye was a better  than  expected thriller . it gets off to a slow start  and slowly builds . but by the time it was over  it  s a thumper   br    br   it  s hard to exactly define what makes this thriller as . . . thrilling as i found it . except that  simply put  the director did a creditable job of pulling you into the action of what would otherwise have been a run  of  the  mill plot . i rather tended to forget i was watching a movie . that says a lot .  br    br   other factors  i think  are the  closeness  of victim and bad guy . . . and that over time  you begin to really relate to the victim . a scant  out of    more like a  .  . . . but that  s pretty good   
from everything i  d read about the movie  i was excited to support a film with a christian theme . everything about the movie was very unprofessionally done . especially the writing  without good writing a movie doesn  t have a chance . the writer  director said in an interview that he didn  t want to give away how the title relates to the story . believe me  it was no big surprise . i kept waiting for the teenage  young adult back  story to unfold  but it never did . as someone who has gone through a divorce  i was very disappointed . this movie would have been no comfort to me when i first went through the emotional turmoil that divorce can bring to your life as a christian   
red eye  a movie that id had wanted to see for awhile . . . cillian murphy plays jack ripner  jack the ripper  a managerial pose to assassins  and his literally killer plan to knock off a highly profiled man and his family .  br    br   an everyday woman  lisa   i think  is a normal woman  goes to work  home . . . worries . . . hates to fly .  br    br   the death of her grandmother sends her on a flight which delayed several times .  br    br   a flight where she meets jack . . . an ordinary seeming guy  until he suavely reveals his profession and plans  which coincidentally include her in them  she is the key to the keefe  s  sp   death .  br    br   she succeeds in saving them . . . but nearly the cost of her life is taken  jack is beaten . . . the keefs are saved . . . oh what a story laughs just kidding  the movie is really good actually  the best of last year . . . there are small things that you have to pay attention to earlier in the movie that play a great importance to the movie later . . .  the frankenstein pen  i watched it several times before catching all the little jokes and quirks . . .  br    br   a must see for thriller fans no sexual  but there is a slight hint  the bathroom scene   jack   thanks for the quicky  and the  female attendant   ohhh . . . its gonna be one of those flights   second female attendant   hey  this isn  t a motel  you get the idea . . .  
  a young woman unwittingly becomes part of a kidnapping plot involving the son of a movie producer she is babysitting . the kidnappers happen to be former business partners of the son  s father and are looking to exact some revenge on him . our babysitter must bide her time and wait to see what will become of the son and herself  while the kidnappers begin to argue amongst themselves  placing the kidnap victims in great peril   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   that acclaimed director ren clment could be responsible for this haphazard crime thriller is the real shocker . despite beginning with the appearance of having been edited in a washing machine  the film develops a linear storyline . once you  ve figured out what is going on  the engaging maria schneider  as michelle  and endearing john whittington  as boots  can get you through the film . there are a couple of female nude scenes  which fit into the storyline well .  br    br    wanted babysitter           ren clment  maria schneider  john whittington  vic morrow  
  a very pretty red headed woman waiting for her plane meets a charming young man that she connects with . as the two get on their flight and sit next to each other the young man jack becomes deadly as he threatens lisa to either change the room that a politician and his wife will be staying in  or else have her father die . see now that  s what you happens when you fly coach  stuff like that never happens in first class .  br    br    other than having a conflict that takes place on a flight  the other thing that this movie shares with  flightplan  is the sheer unbelievability if that  s a word of the story . the point of the whole is to get the main character to change a politician  s room so he can be assassinated which is a pretty plausible plan  but won  t it have being easier for jack to just find someone that was computer savvy and have them hack into the hotel  s system  teenagers today can damn near do anything with computers  so i  m pretty sure it would have been easier for him to simply get someone to change it using a computer instead of going through the trouble of spying on lisa and getting her into the predicament that she lands on in the movie .  br    br    plus one thing that struck me as odd was how no one on the plan heard a single thing they were talking about . this is a very small plane were talking about here and since their voices were raised occasionally it seems to me like the other passengers should have heard something . but i  m     sure that i  m reading way too much into it . the movie is meant to be as realistic as an episode of     so one can  t be perplexed by such complexities . for all my complaints though  this is still a very fun movie that gets the job done . it  s not exactly the type that requires to shut of your brain  but at the same time it doesn  t require great intelligence to fully enjoy .  br    br    i  d love to sit here in my comfy chair and rave about the brilliant acting in the movie but really i can  t . i love rachel mcadams  i love cillian murphy  and i like brian cox  but they don  t really stretch their acting muscles here . it  s not really much of a problem since this isn  t the movie that studios hope to win multiple awards and the acting isn  t the least bit horrible  just not great . wes craven isn  t exactly the first that comes to mind when you think of a movie like this  but he does a very nice job considering the time they had to film the movie and the lack of depth to the script . it was definitely a huge improvement over the disappointing  cursed  and as much as i liked him doing something different with this movie  i still would love for him to go back to doing what he did in the past which is great horror movies that is talked about decades after it  s release .  br    br    one nice thing about the movie which i really appreciated was just how short the movie was . it is great to sit and watch a nice three hour or so movie once in a while  but nowadays it  s like every movie that comes out feels too long  where as this movie just felt like the right length . not too long  and too short . they don  t waste time by trying to develop the characters too much because they know this isn  t the movie for that and by doing so they made a very nice short movie . being a huge film music geek  i have to say that the best part of the movie is the ultra cool score by marco beltrami . it  s really nice to see beltrami go from writing the predictable stuff to the great music he  s doing now . i really the cool techno  orchestral stuff he does for the main titles . too bad that i can  t find the soundtrack anywhere  would have really loved to listen to the titles anytime i wanted instead of having to pop in the dvd when i want to hear it .  br    br    overall it  s nice for what it is and whiles it  s far from great cinema  should still provide for some small entertaining hour and a half  
except for the brady variety hour  this was some of the hokiest television i  ve seen in a while . the video production qualities weren  t too bad  but the overall look and feel were unmistakeably early    s . and marie osmond looks like she did battle with the avon lady . . and lost big time . way too much eyeliner .  br    br   it was kind of embarrassing to watch veterans danny kaye and eric severeid take part in this . even more interesting was watching alex haley talk about the african pavillion in world showcase that would be opening  in about a year .   br    br   as of this writing it is   years later and it hasn  t opened yet  unless you count disney  s animal kingdom .  all in all though  for all the shortcomings  this still an interesting visual piece of disney history .  
this is an excellent  fast paced thriller by wes craven  nightmare on elm street   who for   minutes leaves aside the supernatural and presents us with something even more terrifying  the evil of human beings . we are far more likely to encounter the benign evil of jackson rippner than freddy kruger  and cillian murphy  batman begins  does an excellent job of presenting a sociable  friendly  even charismatic killer . the performances by murphy and by rachel mcadams  claire  from the wedding crashers  are brilliant . most of the film takes place on a very intimate level  between two people  their eyes  their faces . it is action on a small scale  not the broad sweep of the canvas  and it is no less compelling for these limitations . the cinematography is nothing special  though of course one can do only so much with a camera in the confines of a passenger jet  but the dialog is excellent  the story taut . there are no distractions  no subplots confuse the issue which is at its heart a battle between the main characters . by keeping his focus and avoiding distractions  wes craven is able to take what is a very minimal plot and turning it into an exciting  fast  paced action thriller .  
this may be the worst show i  ve ever seen . aside from the tastelessness of having a sitcom about hitler  it just isn  t funny or entertaining in any way . it is very similar to a      s sitcom in its cornball humor and contrived situations  but while it can be well done like in i love lucy  it  s just not funny here . i think the show was based around the novelty  look  it  s hitler as a bumbling sitcom figure  but it just fell flat in every regard . the guy playing hitler is so hammy that its hard to sit through that alone . i wonder what could have possibly made the network think this was a good idea to air . i thought america had some tasteless show  but the brits had us beat this time . america would never air a sitcom about hitler  although we did have that show about lincoln  s slave  the secret diary of desmond pfeiffer . chances are you  ll probably never see this show  since it only aired one episode and will probably never be released on dvd .  
lisa is a hotel manager or owner and she gets on a flight to miami . she ends up sitting next to an assassin named jackson who tells her that she has to switch a room of a family or her father dies . the reason she has to switch the room is because jackson wants to blow it up .  br    br   it  s a great suspense movie because lisa tries several ways to escape this ploy that jackson has set up . the whole storyline is great and i thought that they could have spent some more time on the plane . there could have more to the plane but other than that  the whole movie was pretty good .  br    br   i especially liked the ending because it was heart  stopping . i didn  t know what was going to happen and i was surprised by it . for me  this movie just took off .  
i wonder who was responsible for this mess . the jokes wouldn  t have worked for gilligan  s island . if this had gone to series  would there have been jokes about auschwitz  or would eva have to replace her oven  only to have adolf suggest the kind that seats     another post compared this show to i love lucy . the problem with this is that lucille ball was a genius at physical comedy and bizarre situations  and this mess was just plain badly done and an insult to my intelligence .  br    br   after the damage the nazi  s did to england and the number of people they killed  i would think the very concept of a comedy about hitler would seem repugnant and most normal people would have killed this concept before any episodes were produced .  
  i didn  t want this to get complicated  leese . i have to assume she  s gonna read that .  fear takes flight at       feet in this taut  action thriller . an overnight flight to miami quickly becomes a battle for survival when lisa  rachel mcadams  realizes her seatmate  cillian murphy  is planning to use her as part of a chilling assassination plot . as the minutes tick by  she  s in a race against time to warn the potential victims before its to late .  br    br   one of the many reasons i love this movie  is because of the chemistry between the two stars  mcadams and murphy  who are also two of my top favorite actors . for example  the early scenes at the airport play more like a romantic comedy two people keep running into each other . . . . i got to hand it to the two as well  for making a film like this work . especially  murphy  s character . . jackson who really seems to be sort of complicated in that way that he acts charming and innocent  yet he  s trying to do his job and make lisa feel trapped physically and mentally . i mean  in certain parts he really seems to be concerned for lisa .  br    br   a great thrill ride all the way through . a lot of films i would hate to see a prequel or a sequel about  but actually i wouldn  t mind a prequel to this one  which would take place with jackson surveilling lisa . favorite scene is probably that headbutt scene  because it was so unexpected . there was also that nice buildup to the famous  pen  scene . when is she going to make her move  there was also that nice change in mcadam  s lisa  where she changed herself from being a victim into fighting back . i also loved the scene where she sits down in the food court and pretends to ask some ladies a survey about the food court . how great was murphy with his whole weezing . . . . .  
wow you guys are way too nice    corny  corny  corny that is how i feel about that film . it started well with a good idea  a guy  edward asner  escape from jail dressed as santa  a bunch of kids find him and believes his the real santa so the fake santa enlist the children to help him find a bag of stolen money . the film is like a christmas version of  whistle down the wind  . the movie start well but gradually it becomes cheesier and cheesier to the point that at the end it becomes ridiculous and you just cant take this film seriously . for example you get the scrooge type character called sumner  rene auberjonois  who  s a total douchebag who treat his young son like a pile a rubbish  he treat his son so bad that he don  t even buy him decent clothes  the poor kid wears jeans with holes in it  but a   second scene with fake santa visiting sumner and by the end of the film you get the guy all happy singing christmas carol and giving his neglected son a hug . . . yep that is how corny it is . . . i  m all for feel good movie especially during christmas and i am a big fan of seasonal tv movie but this one is way too over the top for me  it is a shame because it started well but the second half of the movie is trowing a supernatural element to the film that just don  t match with the rest of it . it  s not totally bad  there are some solid acting  especially from the children but there are plenty of better christmas film around .  
red eye is a thrilling film by the creator of freddy kreuger  wes craven . wes craven depicts the story of a regular hotel worker lisa . after attending the funeral of her grandmother  she decides to take the red eye flight . during waiting  she meets this man named jack rippner   how fffrreeaakkyy is that   and they sort of become friends . ironically  both sit right next to each other on this plane . then this is when the horror starts . this movie is thrilling and to the weak hearted people who don  t like thrilling  horror films  well lets say that its possible that they might pee in their pants . this is an excellent example of a bone shaking production . wes craven did well with this film . he chose the right actors  like rachel mcadams  an intelligent  sexy girl who knows what she  s doing and is cautious of everything when she  s acting in a film . cillian murphy  the scary and horrifying actor who can chill your bones at his amazing acting being the bad character in this film  and his face can really widen your eyes . wes craven did an excellent job and i hope that he makes more films like this one .  
spoilerskhamosh is totally unrealistic  lacks a plot  and was basically only made to see stars portray themselves . the most suspenseful scene in the movie was when shabana azmi is in the shower and then we see her tv playing the shower scene from psycho . this movie actually expected users to believe that naseeruddin shah  s character has a good enough memory to remember where certain shots were fired and how many   br    br   spoiler begins  br    br   at the end  the killer spills his guts to shabana azmi long enough to allow naseeruddin shah  s character to run up and shoot him   br    br   spoiler ends  br    br   it is a little humorous  only a little  in the beginning to hear the director and cast members throwing insults at each other and hearing shabana azmi exclaim   oh sh  t    br    br   overall  a baaaaaaaaaaad movie   br    br   rating  out of    out of     
like most people  i  ve seen jason priestley on tv and i think he  s great . but i didn  t know he had a sister  justine priestley is simply  mah  velous as the scorned other woman . good music  intrigue  and a death scene involving amanda  s revenge on an abusive dr . that will stay with you for weeks . i  ll leave it at that . kudos .  
i went to see this movie at our college theater thirty years ago because i liked bruce dern in silent running and family plot . to this day  sorry jack nicholson   it is still the dullest movie i  ve ever seen . it just went on and on with no discernible point and then  it just ended . the lights came up and i watched everyone looking around in confusion . had the projectionist missed a reel  i  ve never had the urge to find out . all i remember about the movie is that it was a non  drama about some annoying college basketball players and their coach . the most enjoyable part of the movie was watching the totally mystified audience afterwords . fortunately  this was just an exception for jack  bruce  and karen black .  
red eye is a good little thriller to watch on a saturday night . intense acting  great villain and unexpected action .  br    br   some might not want to see this movie because it goes for a very short   min  s and    of the movie is on a plane and just talking . don  t worry they pull it off very well with the smart and witty dialog .  br    br   a pg    movie seems to be new grounds for director wes craven . but surely enough he has fit as much violence as he possibly can into this thriller .  br    br   this movies strongest point is its cast . this film needed good actors to deliver the dialog and thrills . if they didn  t have those actors the film would have been lost and boring . we had rachel mcadams from mean girls and wedding crashers . cillian murphy from batman begins and   days later . rounding off this cast is brian cox from x  men  .  br    br   the pacing in this film was great . just when your thinking its going to get boring they throw a twist at you . luckily this isn  t a long movie and doesn  t feel like it either . much better then the other flight movie flight plan .  br    br   here is my flight plan comment http   www . imdb . com  title  tt         usercomments      br    br   i recommend . not too long and not too shabby .  br    br        
                                                                    with their no holds bar cruel offensive humor  sure enough to offended anyone  you would sure think this would be a laugh riot  . . . . . . . . . . . . wrong . worest movie since open water . don  t be to surprised if you completely miss this movie upon release date as i  m sure it wont do very good at all at the box office . this movie had a lot of potential but fell to little to short . no enough character development  awkward actors and the upside of this movie was nudity . boobs . amazing . if i had to see this movie again  i myself would go postal .                                                                 
red eye starts in texas where hotel receptionist lisa reisert  rachel mcadams  is about to catch the last  red eye  flight back to miami where she lives  works . while waiting for her plane lisa meets the handsome  charming jackson rippner  cillian murphy   they both seem to hit it off  then when they board the plane they discover that by a coincidence they are seated next to each other . once the plane takes off  they are in the air jackson reveals who he really is  that their seemingly chance meeting was not a coincidence  jackson says that he is working for someone who wants to assassinate the homeland security secretary charles keefe  jack scalia   they need her to change his rooms at the hotel where she works in miami . jackson tells lisa to phone the hotel  make it happen or her father will be killed . . .  br    br   directed by wes craven who is perhaps better known for his horror films such as the last house on the left        a nightmare on elm street        the serpent and the rainbow        the people under the stairs        the scream trilogy of teen slashers a short  punchy  fast paced little thriller like red eye seems like a big departure from the sort of film craven usually makes . the script by carl ellsworth makes for a surprisingly gripping thriller that i must admit i really enjoyed  at only   odd minutes in length it  s a very quick moving  economical  straight to the point sort of film that focuses almost entirely on one tight  taught plot rather than go off in various directions with lots of subplots . some may like this approach like i did while other  s may not but i think it draws you into the action a lot more as it comes thick  fast without the film slowing down any  giving you a chance to relax . i really liked the plot for red eye  sure a film like this is always going to have one or two questionable moments in terms of plotting but what the hell  it  s a film made to entertain  for me that  s what it did . i really liked the two central character  s  lisa comes across as very likable while jackson rippner  an obvious play on the name of the notorious victorian serial killer jack the ripper  is a suitably slimy villain with a cold  i  m only doing my job  type mentality . another plus point is that i didn  t think anyone behaved overly stupid here  everyone actually seemed like human beings  the films plays out in a relatively plausible fashion . i really liked this  it  s one of craven  s better more recent films .  br    br   craven turns in a good solid tense  tight  taught  fast paced thriller with an attractive cast  some good action  a gripping plot . he certainly doesn  t hang about  once he starts the action  tension he never lets up  far  away the most effective part of the film is when rippner is holding lisa hostage on the plane  once the film switches to miami  lisa  s fathers house it does become a little bit more routine but it  s still good . a special mention goes to rachel mcadams who is absolutely gorgeous in this  i could probably watch red eye again just because she is in it  looks drop dead stunning . those who see wes craven  s name attached to red eye expecting a horror film should think again since there  s no horror in it at all  despite the imdb listing  horror  as red eye  s genre  . i am not sure about the ending  on the one hand it was nice to see the villain live for a change which goes against traditional expectation but it might have been more satisfying to see lisa kill him in some way .  br    br   dreamworks apparently gave red eye an initial budget of            but reduced it to            although it  s still a very well made film with glossy production values . actually shot in los angeles  florida in california . the film was supposedly written with husband  wife sean penn  robin wright penn intended for the leads but eventually the makers opted for younger leads . as i have already said rachel mcadams is pure eye candy  is a total babe in this  worth watching the film for on her own . oh   she puts in a decent performance too .  br    br   red eye is a really fast paced taught tension filled little thriller that i enjoyed immensely  i didn  t think i would enjoy it as much as i did  i am glad i decided to watch it . this definitely gets a recommendation from me  rachel mcadams really is hot stuff in this . . .  
today  i wrote this review in anger at uwe boll and hollywood .  br    br   hollywood has produced movies based on one of the darkest days of our nation .    changed everything . it changed our perception of security . it changed our understanding of the evil of man and humanity . most importantly and devastatingly  it changed our world .  br    br   however  i can  t not stress how utterly repulsed  disillusioned  and angry i am at the careless  blatant ignorance of hollywood seeking to make a lucrative profit out of death and destruction . this film and those like it are bound to cause controversy amid word  of  mouth among moviegoers and critics alike most surely to be echoed by the mainstream press . hollywood has sunk to a new low . even lower than the low  down bastards who perpetrated the most barbaric acts of savagery and unrelenting cruelty . behind it all is uwe boll . i am very angry at this movie . how dare they disrespect the memories of families of those lost  how dare they mock the lives of the brave men and women who risked their lives to save those trapped in the doomed towers on that fateful day of infamy      how dare they try to satirize and at the same time capitalize on a national tragedy in the mist of a mourning and weary post     world       how . . . dare . . . they   br    br   to those who have the gall to even think of seeing this morally appalling travesty  i say this with a heavy heart with all my strength remember . think back to that day and ask yourself whether or not you are a sane and moral person . think back to that day  ask yourself whether or not this film is a disgrace and dishonor to the lives lost on that day . think back to that day of the outcry of families of loved ones . think back to that day of the lives lost on those two planes . think back to the further carnage it caused following the attacks .  br    br   ask yourself if you have a soul .  br    br   think . remember . respect the memories of the lives lost on    by not seeing this film at all .  
greetings again from the darkness . what a relief . . . a thriller that actually is thrilling  new  it  girl rachel mcadams   wedding crashers  and  the notebook   dominates screen time in this nice little classic suspense thriller from famed horror film director wes craven   scream  movies and  a nightmare on elm street   . craven even has a cameo as one of the passengers on the plane .  br    br   what makes this one work  is the realism of the first      minutes as we see mcadams interact with  or  people either in person or on the phone . she is a natural . when she meets cillian murphy  the scarecrow in  batman begins   in what appears to be happenstance  the film really takes flight . watching the two yuppie  types flirt while the audience knows something evil is brewing  is bewitching film  making  the plane boarding sequence is mesmerizing and the   plus minutes onboard is excruciatingly claustrophobic . craven keeps us guessing as to the involvement of others and if anyone will come to her rescue .  br    br   as with many thrillers  the only letdown occurs during the climax when the lamb turns into a superhero . an interesting plot device leads us to believe little rachel has the necessary pent up frustration to see this through  but we can  t help but cringe a bit . the most overdone scenes involve irate hotel guests  an annoying airline passenger  cillian  s injury and the fx at the hotel . the strength of the film is in the character development and psychological games between the leads . sadly the fine screen veteran brian cox is under  utilized  but overall this is an above  average suspense thriller worth seeing for all but the finale .  
i watched this movie at a sneak preview screening and i  m glad i didn  t pay for it . this movie is just disgusting . its full of dick and fart jokes and takes no pride in the action sequences  such as the shootout in  little germany   . i made a little list of things i enjoyed in the movie . . and a lot of which i didn  t agree of .  br    br    . dave foley  s penis .  . the fart jokes .  . the poop jokes .  . the dude was a pussy .  . no gary coleman .  . the talibans  . again making fun of bush . . we get it he  s an idiot . . move on .  . the dude has blonde hair .  . the plot .   . the killing of minors   . uwe boll was in it .   . most of the cast were just outrages and out there .  br    br   now the  few  good ones  br    br    . the dude uses a cat as a silencer like in the game .  . lots of action .  . crotchy made a return  and a cameo of the maker of postal   . uhm . . i didn  t have to pay for it .  . there are a few  what the ef  moments  br    br   boll did it again . he made another crappy game into movie adaption . kudos to you  mr boll .      
red eye is not the kind of movie that  s going to win the palme d  or  but wes craven has never been that kind of director  anyway  and his branding is a good indication of what a film  goer can expect .  br    br   the fact that red eye is a tight little  undemanding package at   minutes is part of its charm and an indication of craven  s craft in producing lightweight  but generally enjoyable  box office fare . in fact  it  s the perfect kind of movie to show as inflight entertainment  attention  holding without putting any intellectual or emotional challenges on the viewer .  br    br   overall there is a cheesy feeling to the plot  vague terrorist subplot motivation and the supporting characters  and the main section has a tv movie feel . however  there are definite elements of hitchcockian suspense  and echoes of schumacher  s phone booth  which ultimately is a more sophisticated  and pretentious  play on the same idea of emotional crisis being played out suppressed in public .  br    br   for a film that focuses mainly on two people sitting in airline seats  it lives or dies on the characters and script . cillian  s icy but eloquent jackson rippner and rachel macadams resourceful lisa are the main reasons the film gets carried off . not only making the dialogue zing but also giving some sort of adam  s rib type dimension to their battle of  male logic  against feminine  sensitivity  .  br    br   in the final portion of the film craven indulges himself a little scream style as man  chases  girl  with  knife . the most surprising revelation here is what brian cox looks like after the  just for men  treatment  his ubiqutous appearance in films as diverse as super troopers  the ring and this making him the sexegenarian version of jude law .  br    br   short haul fun .  
if i could i would give zero stars for this one  but unfortunately i have to give one . . .  br    br   there is no single scene i could laugh about . . . but the game didn  t make me laugh either . so if you  re some ill retarded folk  go to your local cinema  watch this movie and give it   stars  like some people here already did .  br    br   but for me . . . in a movie where children are shot dead to achieve humor . . . good taste goes over the edge . . . this was the third time i wasted my time to see a boll movie and it was definitely my last   br    br       . . . i  m ashamed of being from the same country as uwe boll   br    br   please please keep him from making more movies       
i also just got back from an advanced screening of redeye and i must say i haven  t had so much fun at a movie in a long time . wes craven is at his best ever . he brings us an amazing end of summer thriller i was so desperately craving . this is the thriller of the year . . no doubt .  br    br   all the actors are amazing and the action is realistic and fun . the f  x were great . it steadily built suspense . i was on the edge of my seat most of the movie . it  s been a while since i heard an audience cheer and clap and get excited in a theater .  br    br   if your looking for thrills  action and a good plot this summer  redeye delivers . go see it   
i saw this movie at the edmonton international film festival  with the great dr . uwe boll in attendance .  br    br   the film is  simply put  very  very bad . and no  not in the usual uwe boll  so bad it  s actually entertaining  way  but just plain bad . the plot concerns a man who leads a terrible life  because of a past criminal record  apparently   can  t get a job  and with an awful    pound cheating wife . this man turns to his cult  leader uncle in a plan to steal a truck load of toys that contain the bird flu virus . al qaeda also has designs on stealing the toys  and what follows is just under two hours of completely incomprehensible sex and violence .  br    br   the acting is awful  except for dave foley  who really tries  despite it all   the jokes never rise above children being shot in the chest in slow motion  and people taking a poo . it  s supposed to be satire  but i  m not sure of what .  br    br   think  airplane    but done by the creators of south park  and without any jokes .  
on an overnight flight from los angeles to miami  lisa reisert  rachel mcadams  meets a charming man who turns out to be a hired killer who demands her help killing a businessman or else her own father will die .  br    br   red eye is a terrific thriller that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats . the premise is similar to cellular and phone booth but red eye is better than both of those films . almost everything about red eye is above average including the suspense  the acting and the direction . most of the film does take place on a plane but that doesn  t slow down the movie . the film is very fast pace and exciting with no slow or boring spots . wes craven does a really good job behind the camera . instead of focusing on the thrills  he focuses on the story and the characters . the movie does have its share of suspenseful moments but that  s not what the film is really about . i also like the way wes craven focuses on the other passengers and the small details that become important later on . red eye really shows his skills at storytelling .  br    br   red eye also works well because of its young and talented cast . rachel mcadams gives a very engaging performance and her character is hard to hate . you may even end up cheering for her out loud . cillian murphy gives a very creepy and effective performance as the villain . the way he acts charming at first but then turns psycho is especially impressive . the supporting actors are also pretty good which include brain cox and jayma mays .  br    br   the movie is also very stylish and it has this overall creepy vibe to it . the setting works well since there is an obvious fear of isolation and no escape . overall  the tone of the film is consistently creepy . the screenplay isn  t as strong as everything else though . there are a few unrealistic moments that may distract the viewer . most of them didn  t bother me but there were of few that left me shaking my head . also  the ending is disappointing . it isn  t a bad ending just a very simple one and a different approach would have been better . since the movie focuses on the characters  there is really no scream moments maybe just a few jumps . if you expect a horror movie then you will end up disappointed . in the end  red eye is an engaging thriller and it  s one of the best movies of the summer . rating      
okay this is gona be short and sweet review . . . something the movie should have taken a practice ina nd made its life shorter and sweeter than it was .  br    br   this movie is  . there  s a good reason there was a petition with over        signatures all demanding uwe boll stop making movies from franchises people liked . blood rayne being a biggie there .  br    br   the jokes are good . . . if you  ve never heard them a thousand times before . the acting is descent but u can really only blame the script for that . i even a few moments wonder if they  re even using a script .  br    br   the movie has little to nothing to do with the original games . hello if you  ve played the games u know the main character has no real motivation outside homicidal urges like mass murder because he stubbed his toe or simular . there  s way too much story for such a stupid movie . like i said . i wouldn  t even steal this movie . and for the person who says this is  funniest movie of      . . . . . . . . . . need to take a look around  the news is better than this .  
beautifully filmed  well acted  tightly scripted suspense movie . had me on the edge of my seat . i liked the lead actress very much  and thought the villain was very well done . not much to chew on here in the way of a theme  but if you just get in your seat  turn your brain off  watch the fancy camera work  and enjoy the plot  you will have a great time . the plot is well worn  and regular movie goers will probably know more or less what to expect by about ten minutes in . but that didn  t bother me  as i enjoyed watching it unfold . in the old days  they might not have focused so tightly on just two characters  and there were some enticing moments when i hoped they were going to let some other people have a few lines . but these folks were probably right to keep the movie so tightly focused . the plot got me by the throat fairly early on  and never let go . it  s not a good idea to think too much either during or after the movie . as i  m not sure it makes a great deal of sense . just sit back and enjoy .  
i  m not going to waste my time writing an essay and waste your time . i would like to say  however  that all those who are uptight about this movie even being made are being totally ridiculous . johnnymacbest  you can  t play that card  and i mean the nationalism patriotic card  to make people not watch this movie . this is a movie that expresses its free will in this country  oh yea i played that card  even though the director is german and deserves a slap on the wrist every time he reaches for a camera  but the world is full of controversy  and its the same thing you  ve heard before  like the gta controversy . it  s a comedy  laugh and be disgusted  not disgusted all together  its dark humor and obviously you don  t have the heart to take it  the past is past  yes people remember those who were lost but its time to move on  that was        years ago . you can still watch this movie and have good moral values .  br    br   besides i  m insane  and who needs a soul   
scream was wes craven  s last decent thriller . since then there has been nothing but an unbearable streak of hollywood trash barely good enough for a blockbuster night  including the disappointment of the scream sequels . perhaps the genius and the craftsmanship devoted to the movie drained all the energy and creativity out of him  so that when it came time for supper  he had nothing to serve us but his own doo doo . finally  after who knows how many bad movies later  he gives us a delicious  ruthless  gripping  chilling suspense thriller with red eye .  br    br   rachel mcadams once again delivers an enjoyable performance as she plays a hotel manager who has the unfortunate connection with an important political figure and regular at her hotel . then she meets jackson ripner  cillian murphy  batman beyond  at the airport  who she gets to know a little better after a delayed flight and a bay breeze . what she doesn  t know is he already knows her . and he also knows her father  who she will never see again if she fails to cooperate and meet jackson  s demands  to use her connections to set up her hotel regular for assassination .  br    br   you  re probably thinking this is nothing but your everyday thriller complete with predictability and chase scenes . although this is a good old fashioned thriller  that  s the beauty of it . no special effects . no cheap make up . just classic suspense . you feel the desperation and regret with every decision mcadams is forced to make and you actually care for her as you cheer her on every move she makes to find an escape from her claustrophobic position .  br    br   as always she delivers an entertaining and convincing performance . it  s either her sweet face or her uncanny ability to sincerely cry  but you always seem to sympathize with her if her role demands it . cillian murphy on the other hand is naturally creepy looking  so even if the trailer didn  t reveal it  his ultimate transition from charming stranger to merciless jackass isn  t so surprising . perhaps it would have been more trippy to see a nice guy persona like toby maguire transforming into evil relentless madman . nevertheless  cillian murphy  after his true identity is established  played the role so solidly you  d really want him to die  or at least get his ass kicked .  br    br   don  t overlook this feature . there are plenty of chalkboard screeching moments and heart jumpers that will keep your eyes on the screen instead of your watch like you would at craven  s recent pictures . if not for the you  do it for all the times you  ll see your girlfriend  or boyfriend  or someone with popcorn jump and cling on to you . wes finally gets it right . aside from his trademark mastery in suspense  red eye is not without its humor as mcadams  replacement cynthia at the front desk fumbles to keep the hotel in order . it was a relief that red eye wasn  t a disappointment . instead you  ll get the pleasure of seeing mcadams deliver another incredibly talented performance  murphy look creepier by the minute  and craven craft a classic traditional thriller . a flight that was delayed and would have been the beginning of craven  s renaissance had it arrived right after scream .  
uwe boll has done the impossible create a game adaptation that stays at least somewhat true to the game he has turned a game full of antisocial and offensive content into a movie full of antisocial and offensive content . so  as an adaptation  it  s a success .  br    br   unfortunately  it  s still uwe boll we are dealing with here  so don  t expect the movie to be actually any good . while it does have it  s moment   postal  wears out his welcome very fast and becomes a pain to sit through .  br    br   at its core  postal is a satire on the united states  as done by a twelve year old kid . boll seems to think that offensiveness is linearly proportional to comedic value the more offensive  the funnier  and the more exaggerated the funnier . this results in a movie that sets new levels of tastelessness while being extremely hit and miss . yes  some gags do work but it seems to be pure luck . high points include the director satirizing himself  and people getting hit very violently by trucks and other vehicles . low points include . . well pretty much everything else .  br    br   after the initial surprise wears off  postal simply becomes a bore to watch . yes there is a good joke every and good point ten minutes  but everything else consists of hordes of annoying characters shooting and chasing each other all over the place for what seems to be an eternity .  br    br   this probably would have worked as a short movie  but it  s just not enough content for something that lasts over   minutes  although it feels twice as long  . there are nice ideas and nice tries  but they get hopelessly lost in endless and pointless action scenes and content that is offensive just for the sake of it      
i had fun watching red eye . it  s not a masterpiece  but it  s well directed and structured . cillian murphy and rachel mcadams are perfect in the role . yes  it  s the same old story with a different setting but wes craven gave it a good pace . at least not another scream with the usual college killer . it  s nice when you can see a clean  coherent thriller even when originality doesn  t stand out as its main character . particularly from a film  maker like craven that has brought so many innovative ideas to the thriller and horror genre in the past and that now just lends himself to bringing home what could have been a good tv movie had it not been released theatrically . good job   
  blood of the sacred  blood of the damned  is the third installment of the gabriel knight games  a series of adventure games about the roguish writer  paranormal detective  gabriel knight . gabriel and his companion  grace  have been asked by prince james of albany to investigate a series of mysterious attacks by so  called  night visitors .  when the son of prince james is kidnapped  gabriel pursues the night visitors to rennes le chteau  where he begins piecing together a mystery relating to the holy grail .  br    br   despite the marketing  this game is not about vampires . vampires have a token appearance in the game  but never command center stage  as did the voodoo hounfor in  sins of the fathers  or the werewolves in  the beast within .  gabriel and grace make no attempt to uncover the true nature of vampires  or to research lore on vampires . although the vampires do murder three people during the course of the game  their victims are chosen at random and have nothing to do with the main plot .  br    br   a large part of the charm of the first two gabriel knight installments was in the relationships which gabriel formed with the villains . through these relationships  the player could not help but sympathize with the villain  and thus the villain was transformed into more of a human and less of a monster . however  in  blood of the sacred   gabriel  s only interaction with the villain is through a single  cheesy interview  which does nothing to endear the villain to the player .  br    br   the roles that gabriel and grace play in this mystery are fairly futile . gabriel spends his time snooping into the identities of members of a treasure  hunter tour group staying at his hotel  but what he uncovers amounts to nothing more than a red herring . grace spends her time researching the mystery of rennes le chteau  but all her research is rendered superfluous by the presence of a perplexing ally who has known the answer to this mystery for centuries .  br    br   the actions of this perplexing ally and his polar opposite    the vampire leader    are insupportable . the ally leaves hints about the mystery of rennes le chteau in broad daylight and expects grace  and not the other treasure hunters from the tour group  to find them . however  he could have revealed the mystery to grace in its entirety on day   instead of putting the kidnapped child at risk for an additional   hours . and in the end  he simply tells grace the mystery in its entirety anyway .  br    br   meanwhile  the vampire leader fails to achieve the goals of centuries of scheming  because he chooses to refrain from action for two days after the kidnapping of the child . the only reason given for his decision to delay action is that he wants to savor his victory .  br    br   the game would have been much better had it been purely focused on the holy grail . the kidnapping and vampires should have been omitted  replaced with a race against the vatican to uncover the mystery of rennes le chteau . since gabriel is portrayed more than once as reluctantly catholic  this conflict would have had many opportunities for character development .  br    br   all in all  the game was a disappointing installment in the series  despite an improved interface and the return of tim curry as the voice of gabriel knight .  
i saw an advanced screening for this movie tonight . i absolutely loved it . the movie kept me on the edge of my seat all night . cillian murphy is extremely creepy as the villain . for those of you who have seen batman begins  his character was much scarier in this film . he played his character very well . the scariest  bad guy   i have seen in awhile . rachel mcadams was great . everyone in the audience laughed  gasped and cheered at the same time  as if we were on cue . the suspense is held through out the movie . the amazing part is that the end was not anti  climatic . i was not disappointed in the end . i felt satisfied . the trailer does not do the movie justice . the movie is much better than the trailer indicated . do not wait for this movie to come out on video . go see it . although  i did not have to pay to see this movie  i would have gladly given   .   to see it . enjoy   
spoilers i  m always surprised at how many people gave this game good reviews . it was awful . the script and voice acting alone ruined it . gabriel and grace are the most unlikeable characters in the game . you almost pray for their deaths . and worst of all  there are less vampires in this game than there were werewolves in the beast within .  br    br   the lack of real vampires was incredibly disappointing . if you  re expecting some kind of anne rice style vampire story  forget it . this game  s story has very little to do with vampires . you won  t even see any till about the very end and even then  you won  t get to fight them .  br    br   the story has radical  and pretty much blasphemous  views of christianity . i  m amazed it got off the drawing board . i  m not even christian and i found it offensive . mostly  the story centers around a search for the holy grail and buried treasure . the kidnapping of a royal baby  which should have been the focus  really gets pushed aside . there is no sense of urgency for gabriel to find the baby . in fact  he almost never asks anyone about the baby after the first few time blocks .  br    br   the graphics are pretty bad . the characters move about at a snail  s pace even on the best of systems . they are chunky and outdated . and it  s hard to go from the fmv of the beast within to this horrible game engine for blood of the sacred .  br    br   the relationship between gabriel and grace takes an awful turn  too . i really don  t know why it was so horribly rushed  but they do sleep together . and it  s not fun . gabriel spends most of the game telling his best friend mosely how he thinks of grace as more of a sister and he doesn  t think she  s the one for him . and he seems really grossed out that they slept together . but he  s so unlikeable throughout the game  that you almost don  t even care at that point . his dialogue was the worst in the game . and he was constantly making stupid sexual innuendos at anything female the entire game . by the end of the game  grace leaves him with what appears to be a dear john letter . i guess she was as fed up with him as most of the players were .  br    br   i found the story to be annoying and boring . i was expecting to play a story of a royal baby who was kidnapped by vampires . and i was expecting to get to see and fight vampires  maybe even have gabriel or grace turn into one . but no . instead  the story focused on the author  s warped vision of christianity . what a shame . here they had the elements for a great adventure  and instead we got this .  br    br   for me  the only interesting parts of the game were actually at the very end . we do get a few action style puzzles at the end . but it wasn  t worth suffering through the entire game to get to them .  br    br   i can  t really recommend this game . i had gotten it back when it came out  years ago  and i hated the game engine so much that i shelved it for years . i only recently dusted it off to see what i  d been missing . and now  i  m very sorry that i did . my favorite characters were ruined . i hope there will be a fourth game just to redeem the series . and i hope they get it right next time . it would be a terrible shame to end the series with this installment .  
this movie was released by roger corman  so you know that the filmmakers didn  t have much money to work with .  br    br   although  some viewers may miss the subtleties in this movie because of the very typical  obsessed killer  type marketing approach  there are unique differences about this movie .  br    br   amanda  as played by the obviously talented justine priestley  is a complex character . some people like these movies precisely because the violence can seem random  but here the ramifications of past abuse  dealt with in a realistic but tasteful manner  are what shape the psychosis of amanda . surprisingly  amanda redeems herself at the end with an act of love  where most of these movies turn into the typical  all out fight to the death and the evil character dies just as evil in the end as to begin with .  br    br   some rough edges in this picture  but i have to give it  out of   stars based on its thoughtfulness and yes  originality as compared to the usual   especially on a budget .  
fashionably fragmented  yet infuriatingly half  realized character  study  an examination of the different personalities of two college roommates a talented but undisciplined star basketball player  and a pot  smoking  womanizing rabble  rouser . we never learn why these young men are friends . they may share confusions about the world and their places in it  but they don  t seem to have anything else in common . making his directorial debut  jack nicholson   who also co  wrote the screenplay with jeremy larner  based upon larner  s book   doesn  t introduce us to the characters with any clarity  nor he does shape the scenes to help us identify with anyone on the screen . there are some very decent performances here  particularly from newcomer william tepper in the central role   but most of the picture is unformed  perhaps intentionally   sketchy or unsure . bruce dern plays the hard  driving basketball coach  karen black is the older  married lady tepper is having an affair with  and michael margotta is tepper  s wayward friend  in an off  putting  over  the  top performance  . nicholson fails to set up the sequences with any particular flavor  preferring  i assume  to let the character interaction dominate the film  s tone his script is no help either  and as a result it is unclear whom we  re supposed to sympathize with . small  random moments do work  a supermarket fight between tepper and black  dern visiting tepper in his dorm  room  all of the scenes set on the court   however the entire third act of the picture is an excruciating mess . hoping to juxtapose an all  important b  ball game with a sexual assault  nicholson shows no style at his craft  nor does he earn points for chutzpah  as his staging of these events is squashy and ugly  . when a director goes out of his way to humiliate his actors  one has to question his motives in doing so . perhaps if  drive  he said  ultimately made some sort of powerful statement in the bargain  audiences could forgive the filmmaker for his lapses in judgment and taste . unfortunately  the perplexing closer is as dumbfounding as much of the rest of the movie .     from   
what i liked best in this film is that like the films of hitchcock  it is a thriller that does not take itself too seriously .  br    br   hitchcock understood that people go the the movies to have a good time . something that hollywood seems to have forgotten in recent years . this is a thriller  but it has plenty of laughs and always has one eye winking at the camera .  br    br   rachel mcadams is wonderful as always . cillian murphy is creepier than he was in batman begins . in the old days  there were guys who always played the bad guy . we don  t see much of that these days because i suspect the hollywood agents consider it a bad career move  but cillian murphy is really good at being bad .  br    br   the directing is surprising stylish . the story is good but the dialog could have used some sprucing up .  br    br    red eye  is a really fun film and people were applauding when the closing credits started rolling . if you are in the mood for an enjoyable escapist thriller   red eye  might be your ticket .  
pier paolo pasolini  or pee  pee  pee as i prefer to call him  due to his love of showing male genitals   is perhaps the most overrated european marxist director  and they are thick on the ground . how anyone can see  art  in this messy  cheap sex  romp concoction is beyond me . some of the  stories  here could have come straight out of a soft  core porn film  and i am not even so much referring to the nudity but the simplistic and banal  often pointless stories . anyone who enjoyed this relatively watchable but dumb oddity should really sink his teeth into the  der schulmaedchenreport  soft  porn german   s movie series  because that  s what  decameron  looks like to me .  br    br   besides  the movie is sloppy on nearly all levels  from start to finish  br    br    . editing . an example at  hour   minutes   seconds there is a chasing scene that is put quite clearly in the wrong place . it was supposed to be placed about a minute later  but i guess that pasolini must have hired boozed  up editors who have little time for the  fine details  of movie  making . pee  pee  pee  s fans would probably counter this by saying that it was placed there intentionally  which i very much doubt . besides  even if that were true  that would be even worse  because that story gains absolutely nothing by making it harder to follow .  this isn  t exactly  eraserhead  or one of tarantino  s broken  form films . . .   br    br    . acting . vey sloppy . triple pee  s fans  all  of them  proudly declare how  p  o uses  real people instead of actors  .  aren  t actors people  or are they martians  sure  many actors have sub  par iqs but does that mean we should treat them with contempt . . .   other directors have used amateurs and succeeded  such as alan parker or de niro   so why are ppp  s amateurs so utterly awful in his movies  the answer is once again appalling sloppiness . pasolini is sloppy in everything  and that includes trying to get as much out of his toothless amateurs as he can . he is a lazy director  an imperfectionist if you like . the anti  kubrick  i suppose . . . pee  pee  pee  s principal goal when casting must have been to find as many toothless old people as possible  and young men that are to his liking  . in pasolini  s world there is a simple formula lack of teeth  strange face  realism . it  s all well and fine to have them toothless  but at least try to eke out some at least semi  decent performances out of these inexperienced neo  thespians  otherwise you  re an amateur yourself  an amateur director  in pasolini  s case . whether  p   wasn  t capable of this feat or simply didn  t care doesn  t change anything .  who knows . . . maybe he didn  t even notice the awful acting    br    br    . audio . the synchronization . if  p   felt that microphones are too much of a hassle when filming a movie  then he ought to have at least made a concerted effort in post  production  i . e . getting all these bum actors to say their lines on cue in the studio  so that we the viewers wouldn  t have to watch mouths move while the elusive dialogue floats elsewhere in the movie .  br    br    . lack of concept . we have close to a dozen stories which aren  t connected in any meaningful way . some are anti  church  more on that later   while some are merely sex yarns i . e . cheap male  sometimes gay  fantasies designed to titillate and nothing else . the stories and characters are not amusing  if at all  on an intelligent level  but on the basest level .   year  old kids can laugh here . . . and there is nothing wrong with that  but then don  t call it exalted  intellectual art   br    br    . as a result of point   there is also a lack of logic in the order of the stories . that goes without saying . pee  pee  pee could have arranged the order in any other way  and we would have had the exact same movie . this also means that you can feel free to start from the middle then go back to the beginning  etc .  decameron  is like a bowl of spaghetti that way when you start eating it you can begin with any thread you want  it makes no difference at all .  br    br    . the pointlessness of the stories  resolutions . most stories end with a cheap gag  joke  i . e . some damn dumb punchline straight out of a porn comic  book  whereas some stories don  t even have a conclusion they merely end . finito . at best  the stories are watchable semi  anecdotes  barely any deeper meaning there  unless you find  deep  meanings in a porno . there is  of course  nothing easier than looking for and finding  meaning  where there is an absence of it . hence even any hardcore porn film can be philosophized  mused over endlessly . it  s easy and fun . try it  oh ye  ppp fans   br    br   as for the church  bashing . . . some viewers get all excited about his attack on catholicism and what  not . in principal  that  s all well and fine  after all  i  m an atheist myself  but what those people ignore is the simple but essential fact that pasolini was a marxist . it  s like the pot calling the kettle black . a marxist criticizing the church for hypocrisy and stupidity  where does he get the nerve  besides  pasolini wasn  t an atheist  hence his high  and  mighty and self  righteous stance isn  t justified . after all  marxists are believers they merely substituted the accepted god with the idea of a utopia  which is merely another supernatural wishful  thinking fantasy . hence i cannot get excited about ppp  s anti  religion antics .  br    br   this sophomoric humpdorama anthology ends with pasolini saying rather pretentiously  i wonder . . . why produce a work of art when it  s nice just to dream about it   he wasn  t actually referring to this silly little movie as art  was he . . .  in case he was  the poor deluded man  then i have to wonder why he didn  t just leave it at dreaming  and not make all those bad movies . . .  br    br   wanna read my altered subtitles of bergman movies  e  mail me .  
i just caught an episode about brad  the crack cocaine addict who turned to a drug addicted life on the streets after his bicycle racing career went to shambles as fast as it started . i have to say that the story about his biking career was more heart  breaking than his drug addiction . here  s this young guy who is winning bike races left and right and is invited to train with an olympic training team for two weeks  and immediately upon arriving he insults lance armstrong  one of the greatest athletes who ever lived  and is generally callous and unfriendly to everyone in general . understandably  he is soon asked to leave . most of the show is about his struggle with addiction and how he got his life back  but what i wanted to know was what was wrong with him in the first place to make his act like such an ass   br    br   at any rate  i was confused about how the show was put together  since it shows brad at the height of his addiction . we see footage of him pan  handling and sleeping in gutters and ditches and even smoking crack cocaine . i didn  t even know that was legal to show  but why would a camera crew just follow him around and film that  do they do that in hopes that this guy will turn his life around and give them some material for a good tv episode   br    br   at any rate  it is an enlightening show  because it shows the effects of various addictions and the total control that they can take over people  s lives . sometimes it  s hard to watch because you really see how badly the families and friends suffer in the face of the addict  s indifference  although i have to admit that at the end it all seems a little too clean  cut . there are times during the episodes when terrible things happen and everything seems lost  but still  and maybe i should warn about spoilers here  everything has a little too much of a happily  ever  after feel at the end  and i have a feeling that that is a very uncommon occurrence in real life . but still  it  s a show about people trying to help other people  and you can never complain too much about something like that  
although i am generally a proponent of the well  made film  i do not limit myself to films which escape those boundaries  and more often than not i do enjoy and admire films that successfully  break the rules .  and it is quite true that director pasolini breaks the rules of established cinema . but it is also my opinion that he does not break them successfully or to any actual point .  br    br   pasolini  s work is visually jarring  but this is less a matter of what is actually on the screen than how it is filmed  and the jumpiness of his films seem less a matter of artistic choice than the result of amateur cinematography . this is true of decameron . pasolini often preferred to use non  actors  and while many directors have done so with remarkable result  under pasolini  s direction his non  actors tend to remain non  actors . this is also true of decameron . pasolini quite often includes images designed to shock  offend  or otherwise disconcert the audience . such elements can often be used with startling effect  but in pasolini  s hands such elements seldom seem to actually contribute anything to the film . this is also true of decameron .  br    br   i have been given to understand there are many people who like  even admire pasolini  s films . even so  i have never actually met any of them  and i have never been able to read anything about pasolini or his works that made the reason for such liking or admiration comprehensible to me . judging him from his works alone  i am of the opinion that he was essentially an amateurish director who did not  break the rules  so much by choice as by lack of skill   and who was initially applauded by the intelligentsia of his day for  existential boldness   thereby simply confirming him in bad habits as a film maker . i find his work tedious  unimpressive  and pretentious . and this  too  is true of decameron . it is also  sadly  true of virtually every pasolini film it has been my misfortune to endure .  
  intervention  has helped me with my own addictions and recovery . i  m a middle  aged married father of two . i  m quite functional in my personal and professional life . still  i have pain from my past that i use addictions to soothe  and issues from which i am slowly recovering . when these addicts and their families share their lives with me  they help me to improve my life and my relationship with my family .  br    br   the show  unlike many others  digs into the past of the addict and reveals events that probably caused their addiction . many of us suffer because it  s too scary to go back and do  as alice miller says   the discovery and emotional acceptance of the truth in the individual and unique history of our childhood .  the show deserves a lot of credit for at least getting this process started . this digging is painful and difficult  but worth it . so much coverage of addiction   fictional and non  fictional   seems to ignore the underlying issues . often it  s assumed that the addict just one day started to shoot up or whatever for fun or pleasure or self  interest  and now they can  t stop . not so addictions are about killing pain . i can relate to the different events and hardships in people  s lives . there are common themes  and surprising exceptions . many addicts have suffered miserable abuse . some kids simply respond badly to divorce . to those who think that addiction is an over  reaction to a hardship  i would just say that different people respond differently . although some kids handle divorce well  others  like cristy in the show   collapse in a heap on the floor  and have their lives forever changed by the event .  br    br   for example  last night  s counselor said that pretty young andrea seeks validation from men . she strips for cash for a    year old neighbor and lets men abuse her . sound familiar to anyone  the series is filled with information that we can use to understand our own motivations and make adjustments to our lives . often it  s those of us with smaller issues who suffer the longest . as they say  even a stopped watch is right twice a day  but a slow watch can go undetected for quite a while  until it  s made your life miserable .  br    br   to the producers thank you for making the show  for digging into the past  for the follow  ups . also  the graphics  the format  and the theme music are brilliant .  br    br   to the addicts thank you for your courage to share . whether or not you have helped yourself  you have helped me .  
the tragedy is that this piece of rubbish was part of my curriculum while i was studying cinema . so imagine how i was forced to watch it in complete . believe me going through hell is much much easier . our professor told us that this is some film     but he never thought that we  d disagree or assume the apposite . i don  t think that there is any gods on earth  we  re only humans  so all the filmmakers  therefore they can make mistakes  bad movies . . or very bad too . the main problem wasn  t that art  by all means  is susceptible to endless points of view  but that a lot of people just don  t get it  that every single human got his own genuine taste  his own opinion  hence what i suppose it the greatest movie ever made  can also be your worst one ever  and how that is right both ways  but how many people can understand this correctly  . so my professor believes in this movie  and simply i don  t . however  the only way to evaluate this  thing  is by measuring it by its original intent to show us different kinds of old folk stories or whatever to catch on this society  s mentality  imagination  and nature . to tell you the damn truth mr . pier paolo pasolini as the scriptwriter and the director made it too unbearable to watch in the first place . the movie is so ugly . i can  t stand this  so how about analyzing it  then discovering the potential beauty in it   it  s beyond your mind hideousness  and strangely not for the sake of the movie  s case or anything  it  s for the sake of the unstable vision of  pasolini  . his work is so primitive to underdeveloped extent . the deadly cinematic technique  the effective sense of silliness  and the incredible horribleness made everything obnoxious . look at the atrocious acting  the unfruitful cinematography  the awfully poor sets  . . oh my god i  ve got the nausea already . it can terminate your objectivity violently as watching this movie is one true pain like taking the wisdom tooth off by a blind doctor . there are dreadful nightmares which could be more merciful than this . so originally  how to continue that just to review it fairly  actually  you don  t . as this very movie doesn  t treat you fair at all . there is really memorable scene in here where some boys are peeing into the eye of the camera    i  m trying to connect some things like that with pasolini  s end as murdered .  
i find i enjoy this show  but the format needs some work . first off  the good attributes . i like how this show will take us through the day  to  day life of an addict because the producers have a knack at getting the addict to show us how bad they  ve allowed their lives to become . this is followed by an intervention which is then followed by an outcome . intervention doesn  t candy  coat things and sometimes the outcome  often short term due to the constraints of time between filming and airing  is a negative outcome . this makes the positive outcomes all the better .  br    br   another thing i like about the show is the quality of the camera work . given the reality that these cameramen have to squeeze anywhere and don  t have the benefit of re shooting scenes the photography is surprisingly good and stable . it  s actually superior to scripted shows like  the shield  where the photography is so bad it can induce nausea .  br    br   now for the bad . an episode will sometimes contain two completely different and unrelated cases that will be mixed together during the show . you  ll get caught up in the story of one addict then suddenly you  re thrown into the story of another . get caught up in that story then suddenly you  re back to the first addict . . . or are you  by now you may have forgotten which case the individual currently on screen belong to . this constant flip  flopping between addicts really gets disruptive during the intervention scenes because the show will even mix together the two completely unrelated interventions  i once heard the marketing b . s . reason for this poor design  the show can get so intense that switching to another addict allows the viewer time to absorb what they  re watching .  oh please . clearly the reason this is done is because they have two cases that aren  t big enough for an hour show so they mix two together . by mixing them instead of giving each a half hour block  like they should  it forces the viewer to watch the entire thing  and the commercials  if they are interested in one case but not the other .  br    br   i used to find these  blender  episodes so annoying that i  d only tell my tivo to record episodes containing one addict  but then it became easier just to record all of them .  
though the title may suggest examples of the   commandments  it is a definitely incorrect assumption . this is an adaptation of  seemingly unrelated stories from giovanni bocaccio  s   th century  decameron  story collection .  br    br   set within a medieval italian town  s largely peasant population  it is a diatribe on the reality of sex  and its consequences  within that world and time . a realistic view of life within this world  it sometimes feels like a journey back in time .  br    br   given the depicted human element of its time  one can also see the more adventurous side of morality in its protagonists  as well as the ironies of life  at times . or it may also be viewed as a general satire of the catholic church  s rules .  br    br   nothing terribly special  but definitely interesting if one comes with no expectations or assumptions .  
this show is awesome  i have been a fan since it premiered  and it only keeps me watching . . . i  ve seen some terrible things here  that i wish i hadn  t  but  it really shows you how addiction affects all involved  not just the addict . you can see all kinds of different addictions  from drugs and alcohol to the shopping addict  or the eating disorder addict . and actually  it  s really sad to see some of the famous faces that have come through also . we  ve seen accomplished musicians  an nba player  and even young people  who really need the help . and since they have started showing a few follow  ups  that  s been awesome too . now  you can see how they are a long while after their ep aired . if you haven  t checked this one out  please do . it  s on ae  and it  s awesome  the new eps are sunday nights at   pm est  if i remember correctly . . . so set your tivo   
yeah  i  get  pasolini and his milieu  but at the same time  i feel his  decameron  is largely overrated  and more than a little disturbing . overrated because the supposed  realism  he introduces  milling crowds  crumbling architecture  etc .  are mooted by the absurd and downright goofy way that the characters behave . in the pursuit of realism  pasolini utilized many non  actors  but their deer  in  the  headlights stares and painfully awkward line delivery gives the whole a terribly off  kilter and inconsistent feel . and frankly   many of the toothless  misshapenly  featured people are painful to look at .  br    br   and pasolini  s  decameron  is disturbing  to me at least  because of the casual and prevalent homosexual content . not because i  m prudish or homophobic  i  m neither  but because the emphasis that pasolini places upon homoerotic images and situations is contrary to the neo  realism he otherwise espouses  so it comes off as gratuitous and forced . one can almost hear him say  ooh   i  ve got to stick a cute  naked boy in this scene   at times it seems that pasolini is trying to play up the homosexual angle to thumb his nose at critics  and at other times because he enjoys that aspect himself  regardless of what his audience might prefer .  br    br   the disjointedness of the  or   different stories in pasolini  s  decameron  struck me as being a failing of pasolini as a storyteller  rather than being an aspect of neo  realism . he seems to get bored with each story and so he wraps them up rather unconvincingly and with little conviction . even the pasolini  s final line of dialog in the film  which some people seem to find pithy   why create a work of art when dreaming about it is so much sweeter      to me  it just makes me wonder why pasolini would bother making a film if he felt this way  in my opinion  a far better  crafted film  and with more homosexual content  is fellini  s  satyricon  . it is also full of bizarre  looking people and absurd situations  but it succeeds because of its pacing  direction and strong storytelling whereas  decameron  fails by those same elements .  
i was on france  around march    and i love to go to this film festivals . i knew about this cinmas d  amrique latine de toulouse  but i  ve never went to it . i decided to go and then i caught cero y van  .  br    br   the film is stunning . it doesn  t caused the impact on me like with the mexican users  because it was french  subtitled but it  s still shocking .  br    br   this film is a satire about urban violence  about kidnapping and crime on the streets in mexico . it is a crude portrait of the city . of a metropolis . secuestro express  with a stunning mia maestro  which was also a satire of kidnapping  almost  but with a more serious tone has  and i think so  some kinda connection with cero y van  . a  sort of  redemption story and that how much is too much  man on fire  that was stunningly strong  was also  not a satire  but a crude portrait into the streets of mexico . or it is like the brave one . a film that shocks and hits you in the guts very hard . this is like the usual suspects  it has some plot twists and turns  but that makes it even more believable . verdict a film that shocks and makes you believe that there  s no security on the streets anymore . stunning dialogue  impressive direction and astonishing performances . cero y van  is a film that you won  t forget soon . leaves you shaking and stunned .  
this is a review of  freddy mercury the untold story   theatrical release  chicago int . film festival      one of the phoniest  uninspired and most tedious biographical documentaries i have seen . if the film i saw in a movie theater was originally released on tv  i would plead with its producers and distributors to not fool a paying audience with the false promise of a cinematically worthy documentary feature . even as a made  for  tv documentary  the sentimental piano solos accompanying interviewees sitting in front of flower arrangements in hotel rooms and the pompous  pseudo  literary narration rang more true of a sleepapedic bed infomercial . the only redeeming aspects of this  the untold story of freddy mercury    or  uhm  was it  the untold story of princess diana  are the original concert  video and tv footage   unabridged freddy mercury and queen . testimonial interviews with irrelevant eye witnesses with insights  such as  he was a free spirit    really . . i thought freddy mercury was a company man . . .  belittle those freddy testimonials  by brian may or montserrat caballe that shed new and affectionate light into mercury  s complex life and character . and . . . what up with the harry potter  like boarding school segments  how did the interview with the first girl  crush   . . . who now works in a travel agency   and members of freddy  s first school band contribute to what i really want to know about mercury  vital milestones of his personal life  his sexuality  his artistic style and growth  queen  the band remain unexplored . these filmmakers don  t ask a single  provocative question  nor do they engage in independent or visionary research of their subject  instead delivering a tedious montage of politely clean and vastly empty comments about an enigmatic and brilliant rock legend  who doesn  t deserve to be remembered by this history channel biography your grandparents can doze off to on a sunday night .  
this movie  even though is about one of the most favorite topics of mexican producers producers the extreme life in our cities  has a funny way to put it on the screen .  br    br   four of the more important mexican directors  of the last times  approach histories of our city framed in diverse literary sorts as it can be the farce or the satire  which gives us a film with a over exposed topic in our country  but narrated in a very different way which gives a freshness tone him .  br    br   with actors little known  but that interprets of excellent way their paper  each one of the directors reflect in the stories the capacity by we have been identified anywhere in the world  that capacity of laugh the pains and to make celebration of the sadness . perhaps to many people in our country the film not have pleased  but i consider that people of other countries could find attractive and share the surrealism of the mexican .  
kojak meets the mafia . telly savales is one of those guys from the past that seems pretty forgettable . i never thought that his show was all that great . this is his one dimensional characterization of a crime boss  with very predictable results . if you take the car chases and the general rambling out  there isn  t much plot development or action . i find mafia movies to be dull because i have no respect or interest in common criminals and their actions . hollywood  and in this case  the italian cinema  treat these guys as heroes . i saw the film and in a few days i won  t remember much about it . lots of shooting  innocent bystanders dying  betrayal  and that sick loyalty . the film is photographed pretty well and the acting is decent . but the dubbing is so bad  due to voices that just couldn  t come out of those bodies   that i almost started looking for godzilla approaching the bay .  
i can give you four reasons to see this movie  br    br    . four of the best filmmakers in the contemporary mexican cinema .  br    br    . four good stories  related into a big scheme .  br    br    . a surprisingly good cast .  br    br    . a bitter reflexion about the biggest trouble in this country  and many others  .  br    br    possible spoilers   br    br   alejandro gamboa opens this movie with a good story in a comedic mood about the authority practicing the extortion against regular people and still expecting to be appreciated by its efforts .  br    br   then antonio serrano gets more dramatic in the second piece with a story heir to the italian neorealism with a  peter and the wolf   like anecdote .  br    br   in the third story  the one that seems more independent from this series even in the context  carlos carrera tells us the story of a man being at the wrong place in the wrong moment . but after the recent lynching at tlahuac and the tradition in this awful matter at the state of mexico  this story couldn  t be more updated .  br    br   and at the end  fernando sariana returns to the dark humor in the  grand finale  in which he puts together the most of the characters from the past sequences in one of the better comedy pieces ever filmed . reprising the center scene from one of his previous films  todo el poder   sariana gives the final lesson of the theme . and by the way  give us the scene that steals the movie with anna ciochetti making a brief striptease .  br    br   once the movie has ended  you get a bittersweet feeling about having looked at a good movie  and maybe enjoyed it  with a very painful subject . they say that in mexico people laugh at their own disgrace and this is the best example . this film is a testimony of how mexicans have learn to live in the middle of a crime state  and perhaps accepted it   between two fires the criminals and the so  called authorities full of corruption . even this movie is a wishful thinking because almost all the good people have been a victim of crime and they don  t get this unhurt . if you had an assault without a scratch then you  re lucky . meanwhile  don  t lose the chance to see this movie  highly recommended .  br    br   and it  s a beautiful life in mexico . . .  
crime boss is directed by alberto de martino an italian crime drama partially filmed in hamburg  germany . an easily forgotten movie . even in spite of a good car chase sequence  this flick seems to lumber on almost aimlessly . a new don takes over a powerful mafia family and finds himself fighting for his own life . unwritten laws and ethics of the mafia code make it hard to trust in anyone especially when millions of dollars are at stake . brutality and violence breed the same in return . this can not be put on a shelf with the real gangster epics . just the look of the film brings back memories of american drive  in fare . even the popular american actor telly savalas can  t boost the calibre of this crime drama . antonio sabato also stars withpaola tedesco  guido lollobrigida  serio tramonti and piero morgia .  
there are people claiming this is another  bad language  ultra violence mexican movie . they are right  but more than that this film is a call to create awareness of what we have become . the awful truth hurts  or bores when you already have accepted the paradigm of living the third world as the only possible goal . one of the most important things of  cero y van cuatro  is the open invitation to profound reflexion over our current identity . is that what we all are  is that all that we want to be  i am abroad and i realized how spoiled is the mexican society when the tlahuac incident came to light . i still cannot understand viewers witnessing a mass broadcasted murder . i nearly puked when i saw some of the images . it was not irak or rwanda  just a tiny village near mexico city when rampage was carried out with the indulgence of media and government . the recreation of a similar situation in this film shocked me deeply . the other stories were good portraying other situations of corruption  dishonesty  betrayal and violence  but i consider  tamales de chivo  the best one .  br    br   the movie is deeper than some  cabrn  and  pendejo  screams . those are meaningless compared with the actions of the people . with a few exceptions they are all perfect examples of human rubbish . just like in real life honesty is becoming more the exception than the rule in our country . moreover  honesty is only rewarded miraculously .  
as if there weren  t enough of those floating around at the time already  we have here another lame godfather clone from the director of il consigliori       which i had watched earlier this year . the marquee  value name roped in this time is telly savalas who belatedly enters the proceedings and is first seen from behind  rather campily tending to his flowers and wearing a beret in the style of french painters  apart from not looking minimally sicilian  he sports no accent of any kind other than his familiar drawl . antonio sabato  then  makes for an unlikely gangster  apart from being a resistible leading man his relationship with savalas  which becomes paternal at the flick of an eye  is also unconvincing  especially since he subsequently becomes romantically involved with the latter  s spirited teenage niece   besides  for a gangster flick  there  s precious little action to speak of and none of it is in any way memorable  though the finale set in a clinic is well enough handled   furthermore  the score by francesco de masi is serviceable but nothing else . incidentally  the bargain  basement dvd i rented starts off midway through the credits so that none of the cast members  or even the film  s title  is ever listed   
what an absolutely stunning movie  if you have  .  hrs to kill  watch it  you won  t regret it  it  s too much fun  rajnikanth carries the movie on his shoulders and although there isn  t anything more other than him  i still liked it . the music by a . r . rehman takes time to grow on you but after you heard it a few times  you really start liking it .  
alright if you want to go see this movie just give me our money i  ll  br    br   kick you were it counts and you  ll have the same amount of fun . i  ll  br    br   even guarantee more fun . this movie once again shows what happens when  br    br   you can  t get any one else to hire your family and your forced to make  br    br   your own movies . same  i  m going through puberty humor jokes  just  br    br   dumber and grosser . this movie is really a disgrace to movie goers . they  br    br   try to shock you into laughing because you can  t believe the levels they  br    br   have to stoop to make you laugh . so my offer above stands as  
i saw this movie when it first came out . it was an official selection for the temecula valley international film festival and i voted for it for best picture .  br    br   justine priestley is hot as the psychotic  but complex amanda . this is not your ordinary psycho movie . lots of interesting and original slants on the genre . sort of a  fatal attraction  for the younger set with some great blues music mixed in as the object of amanda  s affection is married to an up and coming blues singer who has less time for her husband as her career takes off .  br    br    
i don  t know where to begin  so i  ll begin with a snippet from the back of the cover of this movie .  alive combines the tension of vincenzo natali  s cube with kitamura  s own versus .  i have not seen versus  so i can  t comment on that  but i think cube was an excellent movie which i recommend to everyone . however  in this case someone has clearly confused  tension  with  boredom  .  br    br   i  ll just go ahead and spoil the entire plot  because besides being one holy swiss cheese of a plot  it  s also moldy cheese  and the movie is not worth spending any time on even if you don  t know the plot beforehand  so it doesn  t matter . if i have misunderstood the plot  don  t hit me  it  s probably because i had to struggle to keep my eyelids open .  br    br   so the american military in nevada once lost a ufo i the nambi desert . this apparently makes sense because they  re both deserts so surely they  re practically the same place . different continents or not . a monkey broke into the ufo and acquired an alien something which was passed on to a japanese researcher who had to eat the monkey to survive in the desert . what ever . the alien thing is now passed on to anyone who  s  bloodthirsty  enough to kill the current host . the japanese military wants to use it for military stuff  so they decide to make it pass from the current host  the researcher  s daughter  to some other dude . but instead of just picking someone out of the military  which is full of people who are bloodthirsty and already on the military  s side  they decide that it  s probably a good idea to pick some criminal out of death row instead . oh  and the reason they pick this particular criminal from death row is because he was the first person in history to not die from the non  lethal electric shock which is the standard execution method  because everyone dies from the placebo effect when they get electrocuted . i don  t know if they do this so they can giggle in the staff room at how everyone dies even though it  s not deadly  or if they just want to cut down the electricity bill .  br    br   then the movie turns into what the matrix would have been if it had been really lame  and superfluous fighting bores us to tears for what feels like an hour . and oh wait  now they remember that they already had a dude who was infected with the alien thing  so the entire movie up to this point was actually a totally waste of time and also human lives . then everyone dies . the end .  br    br   the only one moment in the movie where i didn  t want to go away and sleep or eat a sandwich instead  was when a dude was pinned to a wall by a pipe through his chest  and he  s hanging around up there and another dude walks by . the dude hanging on the wall says  i  m in pain  shoot me  . and the living dude looks at him  and it  s not like he  s a mean dude or anything  so he really looks sorrowful and doesn  t want the guy on the wall to suffer . so he shoots him .  br    br    rhetorical pause .   br    br   in the stomach .  gee thanks a freakin  heap .   
a most awaited film of the year     . after three and half years of hibernation  rajini has acted in this movie . the hype for this film was toooooo high . .  br    br   this is not a typical rajini film  in this film he gives some spiritual messages also . but it also includes typical rajini actions  style  songs etc . its a good entertaining movie and gives good messages also .  br    br   i will rate this movie as good instead of excellent because of the screenplay . its a must watch movie . dont miss it   
after coming off the first one you think the wayans brothers could come up with some new jokes . though i guess not . if the first one wasn  t bad enough this one is just so bad it hurts to watch . with all the actors they had in this film you think they could come up with something a little more clever . though they couldn  t  they had to take all the same raunchy  not funny jokes from the first one and somehow put it into this film thinking people would laugh at it again . though the thing is i didn  t laugh at it the first time . they tried to make these movies into parodies though they failed at every level . most of the time it  s just randomly inserted jokes  that are so disgusting and raunchy that it  s hard to watch it and enjoy it . then when they do try to do scenes that are movie parodies they just end up making a   minute recreation of the scene with maybe one joke within the entire scene . also for people saying that its not for the older and real young audience  well i fit into the age range that it  s supposed to be funny for . while people say that different people have different ideas of what is funny or not  if you do find this funny then you probably aren  t one of the more mature or intelligent people around . it doesn  t take that much skill to write that kind of a script  though if you do want a more clever and funnier movie go see the movie spaceballs . it  s a movie parody that  s actually good and well done and it didn  t have to use disgusting and raunchy jokes to make it funny either .  
when friendship kills  in my opinion  is a very touching and kind of heartbreaking drama about the consequences of being anorexic or bulimic . anytime lexi  katie wright  or jennifer  marley shelton  threw up  i wanted to vomit myself . it  s kind of hard to explain why . if you ask me  they should have been more cooperative about things . however  i did enjoy seeing them do things together as well as get lectured by their parents . before i wrap this up  i  d like to say   if you ask me  when friendship kills does indeed show you how being anorexic or bulimic can affect a person  s body .  now  in conclusion  i recommend this movie to everyone who hasn  t seen it . you  re in for some tears and a good time  so the next time it  s on tv  kick back with a friend and watch it .  
given that this movie was put together in less than a year might explain its shortness    minutes  including end credits  so roughly   minutes of actual film  . but what it cannot explain is its lack of humor that the previous film possessed .  br    br   the gags are quick and sometimes not even funny . the only true funny parts are the quick spoofs on the nike basketball spots  james woods  portrayal of max van sydow  s character in the exorcist  and bits and pieces scattered throughout the film . very unfunny was the take off of charlie  s angels  which like the first scary movie and the matrix spin off scene  basically recreated the scene without much humor injected into it .  br    br   today  s youth might not be able to relate to the spoof gags of the classic supernatural horror films of the    s such as the exorcist and maybe of the   s  poltergeist  et . al .  br    br   hopefully scary movie  will take some time to put together  making the spoofs more enjoyable .  br    br   one thing though  the film features more than the last one of promising young actress anna faris  whom i will admit seemed exceptionally hot in the sequel  . just for her casting and acting ability  i give this movie a    out of     .  
i came across this film by accident when listing all the films i wanted my sister to record for me whilst i was on holiday and i am so glad that i included this one . it deals with issues that most directors shy away from  my only problem with this film is that it was made for tv so i couldn  t buy a copy for my friend   br    br   it  s a touching story about how people with eating disorders don  t necessarily shy away from everyone and how many actually have dieting buddies . it brought to my attention that although bulimics can maintain a fairly stable weight  it has more serious consequences on their health that many people are ignorant of .  
the script for  scary movie   just wasn  t ready to go . this is a problem with the film that is blatantly evident  to the actors and the audience alike . director keenan ivory wayans  and many of the actors are funny people and so the movie isn  t completely humorless . to their credit  the film has several funny moments . but as a whole   scary movie   is not even close to being as clever and amusing as the original .  br    br   the first  scary movie  was a laugh a minute film . it turned the smallest subtleties of the slasher film genre into comedic gold . the humor in  scary movie   is as heavy handed as it is un  original . they even miss obvious opportunities for parody . two of the movies stars are former cast members of  beverly hills        and this was a show that was begging to be parodied  in the final analysis   scary movie   is like a fine bottle of wine that was opened far too soon . the script needed a lot more time to age .  stars out of  .  
lexi befriends jennifer  a thin  intelligent girl at her new school . lexi  s parents have just split up . soon  jen tells lexi of her eating disorder  and the two begin dieting and exercising together . they both are in the school  s volley ball team . lexi  s mum becomes aware of her daughter  s illness  as she is losing lots of weight . lexi is admitted to hospital . she is diagnosed with anorexia nervosa  and is made to gain weight . her father visits her in hospital  and orders a feeding tube . she is better and is allowed out of hospital and she tells her mum that jen has bulimia . this leads to the two falling out  as lexi  s mum tells jen  s mum her suspicions .  br    br   at a party jen is hit by a car  and because her heart is weak it kills her . lexi  s condition worsens  as she blames herself for her best friend  s death . . .  
the first one was different and funny . this attempt should have never left the studio . this movie does not make you laugh . it is a weak attempt at gross out humor . the movie picks out current and old movies to rip  off . this time the jokes seem used and overdone . the audience that i saw it with only re  acted to hannibal dinner scene and was otherwise asleep .  
i agree with the above comment  i love the realism in this  and in many movies  not just movies on eating disorders  the producers seem to forget that . they take an every day problem and create a hugely dramatic scene and then come the end of the movie everything is perfect again  which i dislike because its not reality . not meaning to say things can  t get better  and not meaning to say things don  t in this movie  but it doesn  t spend most of the movie creating all these problems  and come the end of the movie everything is perfect again . when people have eating disorders people don  t just admit it and want to get better  and then life is peachy  it takes time  and i like how in this movie we grow with the characters  we go through the difficulties with them  getting better and worse  because it is a very important part of the movie . it gets into the minds of people with eating disorders  and shows the complications and pain  in a very realistic way  and i loved that . i also love how it shows the secrecy and betrayal people feel when suffering from eating disorders  it is scary to see how people react when they find out  especially if they approve of it . i thought this movie was very touching and beautiful and well told  and defiantly one of my favourites .  
i know a few things that are worst . a few . it had a couple of funny scenes . it is a movie not appropriate for kids but  only a child would find this movie hilarious . this is definetly a movie that you would like to use a free rental coupon for . don  t waste your money just to laugh a couple of times .  
there are way too many subjects avoided in cinema and eating disorders is one of them . this film shows it as it is . it is not glamourised for the viewers to enjoy  it is shown with real truth which makes it all the more powerful . i  ve only seen it once and that was a few years ago but i can still remember everything about it and how it made me feel . it is a very powerful film and is good support for anyone suffering from a eating disorder to give them the willpower to stop . this is what films should be about  they should be there to help people and not glamourise things that are wrong .  
i was very disappointed by this movie . i thought that  scary movie  although not a great movie was very good and funny .  scary movie   on the other hand was boring  not funny  and at times plain stupid .  br    br   the exorcist  amityville spoof was probably the best part of the movie . james woods was great .  br    br   now  i  ll admit that i am at a disadvantage since i have not seen a few of the movies that this parodies unlike the first  where i had basically seen them all . but bad comedy is still bad comedy .  br    br   something that really hurt this movie was the timing  which ruined some of what might have been good jokes . scenes and jokes drag out way to long .  br    br   also  the same jokes keep getting repeated again and again . for example  the talking bird . ok it was funny the first and maybe even the second time . but it kept getting repeated to the point of annoying . the routine between the wheelchair guy and hanson  chris elliott  was amusing at first but it kept getting repeated and ended up stupid and even tasteless .  br    br   some jokes even got repeated from the first movie . for example  the  creaming  i guess you would call it of cindy  anna faris  was funny in  scary movie  because cindy had been holding out on giving her boyfriend sex for so long  that essentially he had blue balls from hell and it was funny when he  creamed  her . but this time around it was out of place and not funny .  br    br   the bathroom and sexual humor in general was more amusing and well timed the first time around . the scat humor was excessive though and rather unneccessary in the second film .  br    br   tori spelling was annoying and really had no place in this movie .  br    br   but i did enjoy shorty  marlon wayans  who in my opinion was the funniest character in the first film . the scene with him and the pot plant was one of my favorites from the second film .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i love the wayans family and their humor . that is why this film is so disappointing . . . they have a lot more comic ability than endless scat jokes .  
i have seen a couple movies on eating disorders but this one was definitely my favorite one . the problem with the other ones was that the people with the eating disorders towards the end just automatically get better or accept the fact that they need help and thats it . this movie i thought was more realistic cause in this one the main character lexi doesn  t automatically just get better . she gets better and then has a drawback . i think this movie shows more than the others that i  ve seen that getting better doesn  t just happen  it  s hard work and takes time  it  s a long path to recovery . i think this movie shows all of that very well . there should be more movies like this .  
scary movie  was a grave disappointment . simply referencing movies  like mission impossible  does not lead to comedy . the movie opens well enough with a funny white people rapping scene and an excellent use of james woods ands andy richter . the movie plummets from there unfortunately . the acting is awful . tori spelling looks and acts completely out of place . the movie looks hacked together and is surprisingly slow paced . some of the longer gags in this snail paced movie  involving joints and a previously mentioned tom cruise movie  werent funny to anyone in my theater . the movie  thankfully  comes screeching to a halt at   minutes in a shockingly unfunny ending .  i say shocking because the ending does not even attempt to end with humor  i dont know what else to say except that is a sloppy rushed sequel done to make miramax some more cash on the backs of dumb teenagers . overall  a very poorly done movie .  
the surprise nominee of this year  s best animated feature race at the oscars . it  s an irish film by heart  but it was co  produced by belgium and brazil  with  i  m guessing  animators working in all three countries . the product is one of the most beautiful and unique films in recent memory . the character design is a little reminiscent of the french animated film persepolis from a couple of years back  with very simple characters with thick  black outlines . this film is not in black and white . oh no . what makes this film great is its use of color  simply some of the most outrageous and startling use of colors i  ve ever seen . the general design of the pictures is also a lot more geometrical  with characters who are basically rectangles or ovals . much of the film can be spent playing find the circle  a major aspect of the visual design is a circle in the center of the image . all of these geometrical designs have a purpose  the story is about a young boy who is learning to be an artist working on illuminated manuscripts  the book of kells is a real illuminated bible the art of the film is based on the drawings in it  . the story of the film isn  t especially deep  but it  s a pretty good fantasy tale . brendan is a young boy in kells  a city surrounded by enormous walls  built by his uncle to keep out vikings . a newcomer to kells  brother aiden  inspires brendan to take up illustrating . he also inspires him to do things like leave kells and explore the nearby forest  within which lives a nymph . bruno coulais provides a fantastic score  almost as good as the one he did for coraline  which i consider the very best of the year .  
  scary movie   is a let down to the scary movie franchise . scary movie    and  were all good but this one was kind of boring and not very funny . luckily they picked their act up after this one and made two more great scary movies .  br    br   this film is about a group of teens who get tricked by their professor into going to a haunted mansion for a night . things start to go wrong and then they realize they have to escape .  br    br   this movie isn  t horrible but they could have improved quite a few things . it is a bit of fun and if you liked the other movies in the scary movie franchise then give this a watch  but i don  t think you will like it nearly as much .  
first animated feature film from ireland is also one of the best animated films i  ve ever seen . its a real warts and all story that is unlike any of the other oscar nominees and any other film from this year or any other year .  br    br   the plot of the film has the abbot of kells  a village in ireland building a wall around his town to prevent the vikings from destroying the town should they ever attack . his nephew brendon  is a young monk who does the best he can but meets the ire of his uncle by doing things in his own time . when a legendary illuminator aidan arrives from a destroyed monastery  brendon drifts towards him and his warm personality . much to his uncle  s chagrin aiden offers to teach brendon how to illuminate . in order to help aidan work on his great book  saved from his destroyed monastery  brendan goes out into the forest to get material to make ink . while outside the walls he meets ashley  a forest spirit with whom he develops a friendship . unfortunately the abbot finds out that he went outside the wall and there is hell to pay . but lurking in the distance are the vikings . . .  br    br   forget what you think you know about this film you  re wrong . even what i  ve explained doesn  t do this film justice . its a simple story with so much more going on . this is a wonderful movie about trying to find your way in the world  over coming demons and finding the beauty of the world outside of the walls .  as the film says the world is a dangerous place and doesn  t cease to be even if you build walls  .  br    br   its a film that treats its audience as adults and deals with all of life including the darkness . there is death and destruction and joy and happiness . its not sugar coated . people die . monsters lurk .  it freaked out some of the kids   but in the end there is hope . frankly the darkness in this film is completely unlike anything in any recent american film . forget the  sadness  in a pixar film  this is the real thing  and its refreshing and it shows how homogenized even pixar has become .  br    br   its a genndy tartakovsky  esquire  samurai jack  animated film who  s look is actually based upon the the celtic art of the period . its a film that looks unlike any other . here again is another film that takes the movie frame and uses it in every way possible . the images are designed to fill the available space as much as possible . often the film manipulated things to make it look like a page in the legendary book of kells . its stunningly beautiful and best described as art come to life .  br    br   director tomm moore has fashioned a film that is a masterpiece . i can  t say more than that . its a masterpiece . its one of the best animated films i  ve ever run across .  
scary movie  is definitely the worst of the  films  for there is not much of a plot  bad acting  pretty tedious and some really cheesy jokes . but . and this is a big but  there is one good actor  one good recurring joke  and a good beginning . the good actor being tim curry  the one good recurring joke is the creepy  weird butler with the disgusting hand who always does cringey but laugh worthy things . and the good beginning is the spoof of the excorsist .  br    br   the plot to scary movie  is the main characters from the original and a host of new characters along the way are invited to stay the night at a creepy old mansion  but will they survive the night  this film is not very good but if your bored you might as well watch it   
this animated feature  a co  production between ireland  belgium and france  deals with what is surely one of the oddest subject ever for a movie the creation in the  th century of a famous illuminated manuscript  the book of kells . in this fantastic retelling of that story  a prepubescent boy named brendan  living in a monastery ruled by his uncle  a stern abbot who is worried preparing the defenses of the abbey from the impending attack by the feared vikings  must get into the forbidding surrounding forest to find the materials that a master illuminator named aidan needs to finish the book . to do that task  in the forest he unexpectedly finds the help of a friendly fairy named aisling . gorgeously and delicately drawn by hand  there is some computer animation in a few key passages  in a manner that wants to resemble both medieval and traditional celtic art  and with a very creative use of color and all sorts of geometric shapes  this film is relentlessly strange  but is a good strange  not of the off putting variety but of the eye opening sort . if one were to nitpick  beyond some anachronisms  like an african monk in  th century ireland  one would have to say that the blend of catholic mysticism with celtic paganism in this movie never really coalesce . and the comic relief is sometimes a bit too broad . that  s why i cannot give them the highest ranking . but these are minor problems with an otherwise delightful and superbly imaginative film .  
i loved the original scary movie . i  m a huge fan of parody  it is my favorite form of humor . it is sometimes regarded as the most intelligent form of humor . the wayans boys seemed to grasp that concept perfectly in the original film  then temporarily forgot it when making the sequel . i think the wayans  are a family of comical geniuses . alas  even geniuses make mistakes .  br    br   the movie begins with promise . i liked  the exorcist  parody  especially the  come on out  ma  gag . now  that  s wayans  quality material . but  other than that  i can only think of two other times i laughed   when tori spelling is seduced in the middle of the night by a spirit  then becomes clingy and starts talking about marriage with him . meanwhile  he  s saying   it was just a booty call    that was kinda funny .   the  save the last dance  parody where the cindy character inadvertently beats up a girl while practicing her new moves . but even the short  lived giggles are no match for the side  splitting laughs of the first scary movie .  br    br   the rest of the movie is pure trash  filled with cheap gross  out gags . jokes from the first movie which were subtle or implied are magnified and overdone . for example  in scary movie i  several innuendos are made to imply that the character ray is gay . this was hilarious . but  in scary movie ii  the whole penis  strangulation scene with ray under the bed was mind  numbing and incredibly unfunny . this is the pattern of the whole film . shock humor alone doesn  t take a movie very far . this was a trend in     and      unfortunately .  br    br   as much as it pains me to rate a wayans movie so low  i have to give this one a  out of   .  
as one other imdb reviewer has remarked  this movie starts a bit slow  but gets considerably better as it goes along . yes  it is released by roger corman  and yes  it goes over some of the same thematic ground as much higher budget predecessors such as fatal attraction and poison ivy . however  the juxtapositioning of the wife  s career as a rising blues singer against the husband  s gathering loneliness and his almost freudian need for filling the emotional and physical  void  or  hole  while she  s away along with the clever use of minimal effects and settings is nicely done . utilizing a very small number of locations and characters  and also using water in almost every scene both as a cleansing and drowning metaphorical symbol throughout  this movie  though clearly suffering from a minuscule budget  reminds me in many ways of the more fully realized and more recent scenario  namely the french film  swimming pool  which it seems to me at least may have borrowed liberally some useful ideas from  up against amanda .  with a smaller tool set  up against amanda maintains its suspense with a rudimentary  fatalistic view of surrendering to ones occasional lustful temptations  but accomplishes this as well or better as other films in this genre . the twist of the stepfather abuse of amanda in the past  again  very freudian  is also very unique in this genre and interesting . i agree with other viewers about the unexpected and sympathetic reaction for amanda  s plight this aspect of the story elicits . the cast is excellent i think .  br    br    
i  ll keep this short  as i know i don  t need to say much .  br    br    alive  is a strange little film that obviously appeals to some  but i found it to be shockingly bland from almost the very beginning . the film did very little to make any of the characters likable and the story at times became so convoluted that i completely lost interest . as i said  i know others enjoyed it  but i found kitamura  s  alive  to be anything but  a lame  extremely boring drama disguised as a thought  provoking action sci  fi flick . i felt like i was suckered into watching this film  based by its intriguing premise and uber  exciting cover art .  br    br   my suggestion  pass it up for kitamura  s far more enjoyable freshman effort  versus  or his     riot  godzilla final wars  .  br    br   . . . and don  t get me wrong  i  m always up for a good thinking man  s film  but this certainly wasn  t it . there was nary a moment that i actually cared about a single event taking place in this overly  preachy  dialogue  heavy movie .  br    br   if you wanna talk about something . . . talk about boring .  
a beautiful piece of children  s cinema buried in a world of archaic celticism . setting the story around the famous book of kels  believed to have been comprised by monks from the small island of iona  off the western coast of scotland .  br    br   telling the tale of a young abbots apprentice who goes off into the forest in search of crom  cruic  the fierce headless horseman of pagan mythology . in hopes of recovering a lost artefact .  br    br   the films true beauty lies in its  animation . cell shaded in a bright and inspirational style of deep complexity resulting in a look of seem less simplicity . deriving much from the artistic style of the brilliant cartoon network series  samurai jack  for its genius use of mark making and background depth  the secret of kels creates a consistently affective celtic world living under the shadow of viking invasion .  br    br   the history may be intensely inaccurate and the ways of life portrayed lacking realism but these facts are utterly irrelevant as the film sets itself in a world of fantasy and celtic  revivalist mysticism . the girl of the forest is a wonderful addition and in my opinion makes the picture what it is  as she glides from branch to branch . appearing and disappearing like a mysterious nymph with qualities resembling the legendary cheshire cat from alice and wonderland .  br    br   the secret of kels is an absolute treat . for all genders  all ages  it  s a lovely piece of family cinema .  br    br   don  t expect to be awed but instead pleasantly impressed   
keenan ivory wayans is probably one of the worst directors  i swear he has no real knowledge on how to make films . he has made one brilliant film and that is scary movie . scary movie  was ok too but everything else keenan has made are real disasters . avoid such titles like don  t be a menace to south central while drinking your juice in the hood . . . . . i know  what a title    obviously this film too  just anything that has keenans name in the credits .  br    br   it was an hour and a half on stupid nonsense that never made me laugh . just trust me on this  maybe women might like this film a little because of some of things that happen but on a whole this film will never be liked by anyone with a good taste in films . . . . . . . .     . . . . . . . j . d seaton  
while watching this movie i was frustrated and distracted and by the end  i wanted to give the movie a solid  or  . i thought the animation was random and all over the place and there was too much going on . even my a . d . d couldn  t keep up . it felt like a slight acid trip . everything looked flat  there was no dimension to anything . there were so many shapes  lines and patterns . i really wanted to stop the movie mid  way and smash my burned copy of this movie . but after i finish watching it  i went online to read up on the movie and i should have done a little research into this movie before watching .  br    br   the secret of kells is loosely based on the true story about the original book of kells . a small boy  brendan  is given the task of penning new pages in what is set to be the greatest book ever written . this book will contain information that will help  change darkness into light .  brendan lives in the village of kells behind huge stone walls . taking place in the  th century  brendan  s uncle  the abbot of kells  is trying to build the wall to keep the vikings out . brendan  s uncle insist he help complete the wall  but a traveler and keeper of  the book  secretly trains brendan to hone in on his illustration skills  and convinces him to complete  the book  and carry out it  s word .  br    br   the entire time i watched the movie i thought i was missing something because i didn  t really understand what was going on . i figured i was just missing a piece of irish history . a simple google search taught me all i needed to know about the original book of kells . after reading many articles  my opinion of the movie greatly changed .  br    br   the book of kells is a copied version of the first few books of the new testament transcribed into latin by gaelic monks in ireland in the  th century . along with it  s paleographic and insular script  the book is also beautifully illustrated in insular art  a type of early art form know for it  s intricacy  complexity  and miniature illustrations . much of the art in the book of kells is depicted as lots of art was at the time  flat and dimensionality challenged with no perspective . but what makes the book of kells stand out from other early pieces of art is it  s use of many colors .  br    br   the secret of kells is very colorful . i originally thought the animation was flat and boring . it reminded me a lot of the cartoon samurai jack which also had a flat and  amine  look to it . once i learned about the art styles of the book of kells  it  s obvious that many of the styles from the book are mimicked in the movie . there are lines and swirls and various shapes that inhabit brendan  s mind . whenever he goes into his imagination  circular shapes resembling the sun  cogs  clocks and wheels begin filling the screen . the edges of the screen become framed in decorated moving triangles or circles . transitions are filled with color  and celtic knots . from the trees to the floors  many things in this world are covered in shapes or patterns .  br    br   clocking in at   minutes minus credits  the secret of kells is a fun little history lesson with a little adventure and silliness thrown in to keep people  maybe just children  interested . i think one has to generally be open  mined to the secret of kells as half art piece  half movie about history . despite looking like it was animated with adobe illustrator  it  s a very nice looking movie . but based on the   films submitted for oscar consideration  i don  t think it was worth being nominated over mary and max .  br    br   thatwasjunk . blogspot . com  
basically this is an overlong  unfunny  action  comedy . first of all i  d like to say that i did enjoy the wayans brother scary movie    and the sequel had it  s moments . unfortunately white chicks doesn  t even deliver half the laughs .  br    br   the humour in it is absolutely crude . if you like burping  farting  stupid catchphrases you should probably look at this . when it isn  t crude it  s idiotic . the first   minutes of the film gave everything away to me  totally unfunny  simply idiotic .  br    br   however i watched the whole thing since i was with a friend  otherwise i wouldn  t have bothered  . the story is undeniably thin  it was in scary movie too but there at least the laughs were quick and constant . i think this is probably one of the main problems too with this film  the laughs don  t come quick enough . some jokes are dragged out too long when they  re more disgusting than funny in the first place . if you prefer your comedy with a few brain cells then just avoid this . if you want a silly comedy with more laughs then look at scary movie  airplane  hotshots    .  br    br       completely unfunny  thin storyline  a film that seems to be based on one idea  i . e . what if we dressed up as white chicks for a film   but simply didn  t have enough material .  
the secret of kells is one of the most unique  beautiful  and eye  popping animated films i have ever seen . before watching this film  i was convinced that nothing could give up a run for its money and that it was a shoo  in to win in this category  but i found in kells a serious contender .  br    br   the secret of kells tell the story of a young orphan named brendan  who lives with his uncle  the abbot of kell . the abbot is a loving guardian  but perhaps a bit too strict and much more concerned with fortifying the wall around the town from a coming attack by vikings than he is at nurturing the boy  s imagination . when the legendary brother aidan  who looks surprisingly like willie nelson  shows up and takes the boy under his wing  brendan goes on a journey into the woods and meets a lovely forest nymph named aisling who takes a liking to him  and saves his life more than once  . with aisling  s help  he attempts to save the town and help brother aidan complete the mystical book whichlegend has itcan turn dark into light .  br    br   see my full review of the secret of kells at http   theoscarsblog . blogspot . com          movie  review  secret  of  kells . html  
i don  t often go out of my way to write comments  but for this i had to  just to warn anyone that might think that by watching this they will see a comedy . this doesn  t come close . while the premise  change in colour  gender  whatever  is bad enough  and has been done  better  many times before  the actual transformation of two black guys into two white girls is one of the least convincing transformations ever put on screen . it would be bad enough if all that was required by the script was a change to white chicks . however the wayans brothers are required to disguise themselves as two specific white women . as you will have guessed by now  they fail completely . i have seen drag queens without makeup make more convincing women than these two do with the best special effects and make  up people that hollywood can provide . its appalling . add to the mix a basketball player built like a building  terrible dialogue and more plot holes than a golf course and this film hits a new personal low . and i like bad movies  avoid like the plague .  
the secret of kells is an independent  animated feature that gives us one of the fabled stories surrounding the book of kells  an illuminated manuscript from the middle ages featuring the four gospels of the new testament . i didn  t know that this book actually exists  but knowing it now makes my interpretation and analysis much a lot easier . there are a few stories and ideas floating around about how the book came to be  who wrote it  and how it has survived over      years . this is one of them .  br    br   we are introduced to brendan  an orphan who lives at the abbey of kells in ireland with his uncle  abbot cellach  voiced by brendan gleeson  . abbot cellach is constructing a massive wall around the abbey to protect the villagers and monks . brendan is not fond of the wall and neither are the other monks . they are more focused on reading and writing  something abbot cellach does not have time for anymore . he fears the  northmen   those who plunder and leave towns and villages empty and burnt to the ground .  br    br   one day a traveler comes from the island of iona near scotland . it is brother aidan  a very wise man who carries with him a special book that is not yet finished . abbot cellach grants him permission to stay and brendan buddies up with him . aidan has special plans for brendan . first he needs ink for the book  but he requires specific berries . the only way to get them is to venture outside the walls and into the forest  an area off limits to brendan . seeing that he is the only chance for aidan to continue his work  he decides to sneak out and return with the berries before his uncle notices his absence .  br    br   in the forest brendan meets ashley  the protector of the forest . she allows brendan passage to the berries and along the way becomes akin to his company . she warns him of the looming danger in the dark and not to foil with it . there are things worse than vikings out there . from there brendan is met with more challenges with the book and the looming certainty of invasion .  br    br   i like the story a lot more now that i know what it is about . knowing now what the book of kells is and what it contains  the animation makes perfect sense . i  m sure you have seen pictures or copies of old texts from hundreds of years ago  with frilly borders  colorful pictures  and extravagant patterns  creatures  and writings adorning the pages . much like the opening frames of disney  s the sword in the stone . the animation here contains a lot of similar designs and patterns . it creates a very unique viewing experience where the story and the animation almost try to outdo each other .  br    br   i couldn  t take my eyes off of the incredible detail . this is some of the finest  d animation i have seen in years . it  s vibrant  stimulating  and full of life . the characters are constantly surrounded by designs  doodles  and patterns in trees  on the walls  and in the air just floating around . it enhances the film .  br    br   the story is satisfactory  although i think the ending could have been strung out a little more . with a runtime of only   minutes i think there could have been something special in the final act . it doesn  t give a lot of information nor does it allude to the significance of the book . we are reminded of it  s importance but never fully understand . we are told that it gives hope  but never why or how . that was really the only lacking portion of the film . otherwise i thought the story was interesting though completely outdone by the animation .  br    br   i guess that  s okay to a certain degree . the animation can carry a film so far before it falls short . the story lacks a few parts  but it is an interesting take on a fascinating piece of history . i would recommend looking up briefly the book of kells just to get an idea of what myself and this film are talking about . i think it will help your viewing experience a lot more . this a very impressive and beautifully illustrated film that should definitely not be missed .  
white chicks hold on  why couldn  t they have dressed as black chicks  oh yeah  they wouldn  t look different at all . can anyone give me one wayans movie where they haven  t dressed up as ladies  don  t be a menace doesn  t count  jack white and michael costanza ghost wrote that  the other norton trio members acted as directors  .  br    br   in white chicks  there  s never really any jokes . it  s just the wayans acting like girls for  hours . there  s no setups  no punchlines and no laughs . there is a lot of  i think i  m gonna play some time crisis  .  at least for me there was   times to be exact  .  br    br   somebody has to tell kenan ivory  damon  marlon  shawn  damien  the only talented one   kim  rakeesha  george w .  and osama bin wayans to stop making movies . its only hurting the o  zone layer .  br    br   verdict     out of   
the secret of kells is an astonishing first animated feature which will dazzle your eye and move your heart . the shortcomings of the film  s limited budget and sometimes limited animation are more than compensated for by the visual poetry of the story of young brendan  s heroic quest to become a master illuminator during the dark ages . historically this was in the late  th century  when the centers of irish learning were over  run by the vikings . the vikings appear here as brute antagonists  the equivalent on the north seas of the plundering huns and mongols further east . the film  s narrative    which functions more as a parable    centers around the conflict between brendan  who seeks to create beauty in his illuminations during a time of encroaching darkness  and his stern uncle the abbot   who seeks to protect the town of kells and his nephew with a looming wall as barrier against the norsemen . the abbot disregards the value of brendan  s art in his quest for security . this is the movie  s outer conflict . brendan  s inner conflict is to find the hidden eye of creative illumination which will allow him to complete the most difficult painting in the book of kells . this eye is guarded by a dragon ouroboros  who destroys from within those not suited to this quest as surely as the vikings will kill from without  that  s as much of the story as i  ll divulge    br    br   what i really like about this film is its creators  imaginative understanding of some of the greatest art work to survive in the west from     years ago . the characters are stylized in flat abstract shapes defined by line just as in the original book of kells .  particularly noteworthy is monk aidan  s pet cat  defined in few lines  yet purely    and even magically metamorphically feline .  the range of emotion which brendan and the other animated characters convey given their economy of abstract design is a tribute to the excellent artistry of the director and his animators . the decorative borders on the edge of the picture change to complement the dramatic impact of a given scene  and this characteristic of illuminations from the dark ages is brought to wondrous animated life in the secret of kells . of course  historical dramas usually tell us more about our own times than the times which these dramas endeavor to depict . however  by introducing archetypal elements into this story  the writers and director of the secret of kells convey a numinous sense of lived  life from that far  off time in ireland which feels psychologically true  however much the script might stray from pedantic historical fact .  the united nations  band of illuminators who appear as a rogues  club of artists in the secret of kells aren  t historically probable  but they  re all well  designed  individuated characters who do much to convey the universal appeal of this quintessentially irish story .  animation has always seemed the best vehicle to me to better help us understand the visual art of different times and cultures . the magnificent art direction of this movie clearly derives from its historical visual source  but has also been cleverly adapted to the demands of animated storytelling if animation had existed in the dark ages  the secret of kells is what it would look like  finally  brendan  s hero  s quest in this film is the artist  s perennial quest to convey the spirit of beauty  life and inspiration .  without being preachy or even particularly christian  this movie affirms jesus  dictum that  man does not live by bread alone .   in my estimation the most inspired movie about the creative process of visual artists is andrei tarkovsky  s andrei rublev  a film about the great russian icon painter of the   th century . the secret of kells expresses much the same sense of mystery and exhilaration about the artist  s visual quest and creative process . it  s certainly not as profound as andrei rublev  but    heck    its a cartoon   and one which will appeal to young and old alike .  i think this movie will hold up well to repeated viewing in its own modest life  affirming way  this stylized secret of kells is a classic .  
i wanted so much to enjoy this movie . it moved very slowly and was just boring . if it had been on tv  it would have lasted   to   minutes  maybe . what happened to the story  a great cast and photographer were working on a faulty foundation . if this is loosely based on the life of the director  why didn  t he get someone to see that the writing itself was  loose  . then he directed it at a snail  s pace which may have been the source of a few people nodding off during the movie . the music soars  but for a different film  not this one . . . . for soap opera saga possibly . there were times when the dialogue was not understandable when armin meuller stahl was speaking . i was not alone  because i heard a few rumblings about who said what to whom . why can  t hollywood make better movies  this one had the nugget of a great story  but was just poorly executed .  
i would not have known about this film if not for its  surprise  oscar nomination for best animated feature film . thankfully  it came to pass that i was able to watch this animated little treasure .  br    br   the story is about the child brendan who was the nephew of the imposing and overprotective abbot of the township of kells . the main pre  occupation of the abbot is to build a wall to protect kells from the attacking vikings . one day  aiden  the renowned illustrator from iona  sought refuge with them . aiden opens brendan  s eyes to the art of illustration and the lure of the outside world . along the way  brendan befriended the white forest sprite aisling  as he sought to recover an ancient crystal invaluable to the meticulous art of book illustration .  br    br    the secret of kells  is unlike most of the animation released these days . it is a throwback of sorts as the illustrations are done in stark geometric lines and design without much care for realism  as much as symbolism . the movements of these lines are reminiscent of the simplistic yet fluid animation style used at the beginning sequence of  kung fu panda .  however  it is the magnificent use of color that is the main source of wonderment for the audience . the reds used in the viking invasion sequence is unforgettably haunting .  br    br   try to catch this quiet gem of a film . it is a welcome respite from all the senseless bombast of current animated fare such as  monsters vs . aliens  and the like . the sparse celtic musical score is effective in evoking the sense of fantasy that imbues the film . ok  the story might be a little shallow and the ending a bit wanting . i would have liked to know more about the book that brendan and aiden was working on . but the clear star of this film is clearly its amazing stylized artwork  said to be based on the artwork in the real book of kells .  
i enjoyed the movie very much  emotionally  intellectually  and visually . it contains no violence or sex or drugs or special effects  and doesn  t need them one bit  holding my attention the entire time with the visuals  story  and interspersed words of wisdom .  br    br   however    some of the foreign language accents made the dialog difficult to hear  understand    there is unnecessary overuse of swearing  especially the f  word  which is the only reason this movie was rated r  .    the movie is balanced with humor and emotion  but most of the emotion that holds you throughout the film  except the final resolution last minutes  is unpleasant due to the exaggerated long  lasting dysfunctional reaction of some of the characters to loss  living in the depths of bitterness and depression for too long .    i will not recommend this movie because of   seconds of background narration  which did not add one bit to the side  character it applied to  or the film   it only turned me off to the movie and stuck in my brain through the whole movie and afterward the main character  s mother of german ancestry  when watching old wwii movies   secretly roots for the germans .  there would be no  local color  or art if the nazi  s won the war . i don  t know of any germans today except radical skinheads who think the world would be a better place if the nazi  s won wwii .  
the secret of kells may be the most exquisite film i have seen since the triplets of belleville . although stylistically very different  kells shares with triplets and  the jaw  dropping opening  d sequence of  kung fu panda  incredible art direction  production design  background  layout and a richness in color that is a feast for one  s senses . kells is so lavish   almost gothic in its layout  somewhat reminiscent of klimt   wonderfully flat in general overall perspective  ornate in its celtic  illuminated design  yet the characters are so simplistic and appealing   and it all works together beautifully . you fall in love with the characters from the moment you meet them . you are so drawn to every detail of the story and to every stroke of the pencil  brush . what tomm  nora  ross  paul and all at cartoon saloon   their extended crews  have achieved with this small budget  very small crewed film  is absolutely astounding . the groundswell of support amongst our animation community is phenomenal . this film is breathtaking and the buzz amongst our colleagues in recommending this film is spreading like wildfire . congratulations to kells on its many accolades  its annie nomination as well as its current oscar qualifying run . they are all very well  deserved nods  indeed . . .  
as gently as i can  i sincerely believe this movie is a waste of time . i did not find it the  warm  emotionally satisfying  film others did . i found it boring  with music that distracted from the film . the story was thin  the characters overdrawn  and the direction pedestrian .  br    br   fooey .  br    br   now i  m going to write some more about this movie  so i make the   line minimum . there really isn  t more to be said and brevity is important  but imdb has its minimums  so here goes .  br    br   young eager kid finds nascent talent  seeks time with aging  embittered mentor in spite of father  s cartoonish homophobia . aging  embittered mentor turns out to drink a lot and teach very little . conflict arises . while i don  t think this is a spoiler  i  ve added the warning in case someone feels this much information is too much .  br    br   mostly  i just found the film boring and pretentious . a waste of my time . i honestly don  t understand what little fuss there seems to be  mostly on this web site  about the transcendent quality of this movie . i think it  s really worth avoiding . but  as dennis miller used to say   maybe i  m wrong .   
the secret of kells is a film i  ve been waiting for for years after seeing some early footage at the cartoon saloon in kilkenny . i  m here to tell you now it  s been worth the wait . the cartoons are heavily stylised but not annoyingly so as i  d feared . the whole film is a thing of beauty and great imagination  i particularly love the animated illuminated book where the little figures come to life on the page . the characterisation is superb  i love brendan gleeson  s voice as the stern abbot and i especially liked the voice of the sprite aisling . the forest is a triumph  such a beautiful place . the story is well realised  a mix of fact and fantasy . and really draws the viewer in to cheer on brendan in his quest for the perfect materials for the book . i  m a lover of calligraphy and illumination anyway so the subject is close to my heart  but all the people i know who  ve seen this and are not fans of the craft agree that it  s a lovely little film . i will definitely buy the dvd when it  s released  and would like to say  well done cartoon saloon and all the people involved in this mammoth project . may there be many more .   coming back in here to say that i bought several copies of the dvd as soon as i could and gave them out at christmas  everyone loves it  and i wish them all the luck in the world at the oscars  such a joy to see this nominated .  
this movie was a major disappointment on direction  intellectual niveau  plot and in the way it dealt with its subject  painting . it is a slow moving film set like an episode of wonder years  with appalling lack of depth though . it also fails to deliver its message in a convincing manner .  br    br   the approach to the subject of painting is very elite  limited to vague and subjective terms as  beauty  . according to the makers of this movie   beauty  can be only experienced in bob  ross  style kitschy landscape paintings . good art according to this film can be achieved by applying basic  like  primary school level  color theory and lots of sentiment . in parts the movie is offending  e . g . at a point it is stated  rather  celebrated by dancing on tables  that mentally handicapped people are not capable of having emotions or expressing them through painting  their works by definition being worthless  bullshit   quote  .  br    br   i do not understand how the movie could get such high rating  then again  so far not many people rated it  and they chose for only very high or very low grades .  
by      and after a string of solid wwii propaganda pieces  errol flynn  s hold over u . s . box office had started to decline so  in spite of the increased burden of waning looks  he embarked on a series of films pertaining to that genre which had earlier made his name the swashbuckler . the first of these was a good one actually  adventures of don juan        but it also proved to be his last big  budget hollywood starring vehicle . the rest of his sword  wielding days were spent wandering all over europe in england for kim        the master of ballantrae       and the dark avenger        in france for adventures of captain fabian       and italy for the aborted the story of william tell       and the little  seen crossed swords       . however  hollywood did beckon him one last time to his old seafaring ways  albeit for a modestly  budgeted universal picture rather than a warner brothers a  production to which he had been accustomed when at his peak  br    br   still  the glorious technicolor cinematography leaps off the screen here and  while an older and flabbier flynn may look like the pale shadow of his former self  his red  headed leading lady maureen o  hara has a field day as a tomboyish buccaneer leader who deep down craves romance and wants to be treated like a lady . anthony quinn was still a few years away from his larger  than  life starring vehicles  so here he is typically seen as the baddie  the pirate captain roc brasiliano  a role he attacks with gusto . like the black shield of falworth        a viewing of which preceded this one  against all flags takes me back to my cherished childhood days of constant tv viewing when vintage hollywood movies were the order of the day on both the local and neighboring italian channels .  br    br   for all i know  this might well have been the very first pirate movie i  ve ever seen and i cringe at the thought of today  s generation of youngsters supposedly believing that the grossly overblown pirates of the caribbean trilogy is what buccaneering is all about  as i said earlier  against all flags might not be the finest pirate yarn ever brought to the screen but it  s a solid example of this prolific genre all the same . nowadays  the amorous persistence of the child  like indian princess  alice kelley  towards her pirate captor flynn may strike one as being awfully silly but the rest of it  despite clearly not scaling the heights of the sea hawk       and the black swan        to mention the finest seafaring ventures of its respective stars  is briskly paced and reasonably engaging . incidentally  the film would later go on to be remade as the king  s pirate       with doug mcclure   br    br   for what it  s worth  the unprecedented box office success of that unappetizing modern franchise is most probably what induced reluctant movie studios to dust off their catalogue swashbuckling titles and release them on dvd and  as a matter of fact  against all flags itself was the one gem in a poorly  thought out pirates of the golden age movie collection set from universal which also consisted of obscure dross like buccaneer  s girl       with yvonne de carlo   doule crossbones       with donald o  connor  and yankee buccaneer       with jeff chandler   value for money  perhaps but  so far  i have only acquired the errol flynn flick from other sources even so  if the mood strikes me in future  i might wish to lay my hands on similar marine adventures like edward dmytyk  s mutiny        the afore  mentioned yankee buccaneer and pirates of tortuga       .  
there are pretty landscape shots . writers putting trite mouthings into actors mouths . with lesser actors this show would be silly .  art must uplift humanity or it  s bs .  not so because art of all those mentioned is also to stir humanity and express the dark side . the lead character even says those who don  t drink hide the shadow side . wrong  he lived in darkness and repressed his dark side by drinking and being one dimensional not expanding his horizons with something other than landscapes . there wasn  t a breathing organism in his work nor expression of his pain . all the artist did was limit himself to dime a dozen landscapes . the discussions between the characters was grade school  trite stuff always giving the one character the upper hand the writer wanted . i tried to like it after reading all the first wow comments on here . i had to dig deep to see those i agreed with . i figure the great comments were from those connected to the movie . i was moved only once towards the end . the kid was way too passive . the scenery was nice and the music ridiculous . just my opinion but nowhere show for me .  
being the prototype of the classical errol flynn adventure movie and having a good story as well as two more brilliant co  stars in maureen o  hara  what an exquisite beauty   and anthony quinn  i can only recommend this movie to all those having even the slightest liking for romance and adventure .  br    br   hollywood at its best   
i suppose it  s nice and trendy to see wonderful things in the absolute emptiness of a film like this . with the sometimes pointless excesses of many hollywood films  we can relax and enjoy a scene devoid of explosions  foul language  and corny one  liners . minimalism has its place  and can be very effective when employed properly . however  this film is not one of those cases .  br    br   take the long scenes with no dialogue and dreary  sparse scenery . i  m sure that they must hold some great meaning and insight  because the implied message in shrouded in bafflement . the acting is poor . . . bland and pedestrian . . . and features one of the worst crying scenes in history  at the end of the film  if you can sit through it to the end  . the scenery is drab  and the ridiculously long ending sequence of the girl walking through the barren park is as pleasurable as having a tooth pulled . i would call this anticlimatic  but as the film didn  t build to any sort of climax whatsoever . . . not even in the  erotic  scenes . . . it would be untrue . i  m sure that there was a script employed during the filming  but with the amount of dialogue  i think it might have been written on a cocktail napkin . basically  this film offers nothing to interest or amaze . . . no great story  no stunning insights  no visual drama  no excitement . apart from two or three amusing moments  this film is a waste of two hours . a tragically boring and dreary film .  
icy and lethal ace hit  man tony arzenta  a divinely smooth and commanding performance by alain delon  wants to quit the assassination business  but the dangerous mobsters he works for won  t let him . after his wife and child are killed  arzenta declares open season on everyone responsible for their deaths . director duccio tessari relates the absorbing story at a constant snappy pace  maintains a properly serious and no  nonsense tone throughout  stages the stirring shoot  outs and exciting car chases with considerable rip  snorting brio  and punctuates the narrative with jolting outbursts of explosive bloody violence . delon  s suave and charismatic presence adds extra class to the already engrossing proceedings . this film further benefits from sterling acting by a bang  up cast  with praiseworthy contributions by richard conte as wise mafia kingpin nick gusto  carla gravini as arzenta  s supportive lady friend sandra  marc porel as arzenta  s loyal pal domenico maggio  anton diffring as ruthless  calculating capo grunwald  and lino troisi as the venomous gangster rocco cutitta . silvano ippoliti  s glossy cinematography boasts several graceful pans . gianni ferrio  s funky score hits the get  down groovy spot . erika blanc and rosalba neri pop up briefly in nifty bit parts . better still  there  s no filler to speak of and we even get a decent dab of tasty gratuitous female nudity . the startling conclusion packs a mean and lingering wallop right to the gut . a solid and satisfying winner .  
having seen versus previously i had high hopes for alive . the description of the movie on the back of the dvd jacket sounded promising . alive did not deliver . very slow development . loads of potential with the cast and the cool visuals . the premise was intriguing but the payoff did not offset the build up . could have done so much more at the end . most of the movie is just  sitting around  . to put it plainly  three of us were amped to sit down and watch this movie and by the   minute mark we were struggling to make it thru to the end . it really needed more shock elements . if you are looking for ichi the killer or versus type fights then save yourself some  and loads of disappointment .  
a featherweight plot and dubious characterizations don  t make any difference when a movie is as fun to watch as this one is . lively action and spectacular stunts  for their day  give this movie some real zip . and there  s some actual comedy from the ripping chemistry between the two leads . quinn makes a good villain also  although his role is completely overshadowed .  br    br   but don  t be fooled by maureen o  hara  s tough broad role  this is as sexist as any hollywood movie of this era . you might be able to forgive that because of the time in which it was made  but it  s still hard to get past . for all the heroism and gruesomely adult off  screen situations  this is still little more than an adolescent good time .  
i enjoy a good  slow  moving drama . christmas in august  chungking express  virgin stripped bare by her bachelors  the way home  springtime in a small town  hana bi  eat drink man woman  dolls  in the mood for love  and spring summer fall winter spring are all enjoyable films  just to name a few .  br    br   unfortunately  there is a subset of films within the drama genre that attempt to ride the coattails of good films while providing nothing of interest themselves . these are what i call ian films   incomprehensible artistic nonsense .  tsai ming  liang is the king of this subgenre  and vive l  amour is his  masterpiece .  in fact  this is the crme de la crme of crap  infested garbage under the guise of  art .  people walk around in their apartments  drink water  stroll back and forth waiting for pay phones to become vacant  hang posters  staple papers together  go to the bathroom  eat  do pushups  have sex  slap at mosquitoes  etc . i  m not joking when i say that is an accurate synopsis of the entire film  which is the quintessential posterchild for pointless art  house trash . there is no plot  no storyline  no interesting or noteworthy events  no emotion  no meaningful dialogue  and most importantly  no drama .  br    br   the most eventful scene has two people  banging  on a bed with a person masturbating underneath the mattress  ironic that it  s also totally tasteless and gratuitous . the relationship of the characters on the bed is practically non  existent . tsai apparently didn  t feel like communicating anything to the viewer regarding these people other than the obvious fact that they like to  bang .  the person under the bed is just as one  dimensional and uninteresting . he likes to drink water  makeout with melons  and stroke himself . this is tsai  s idea of  character development .  a truly misguided  entertainer  indeed .  br    br   tsai  s true contribution in vive l  amour is perhaps the most atrocious scene in art  house film history . he first shows the lead actress walk all the way from one end of a park to the other for    consecutive seconds  only to then show her cry hysterically  for absolutely no reason whatsoever  for another    consecutive seconds . the film then abruptly ends . no point . no entertainment . just pure  concentrated torture inflicted on the viewer .  br    br   in an effort to beat a dead horse . the underlying theme of loneliness is mishandled so greatly that the only true feeling of this film is that of boredom . in fact  kiyoshi kurosawa provides a much better exposition on loneliness in his horror film kairo . and guess what  it  s actually interesting  that film moved as slow as molasses in january  but there are better ways of addressing the concept of loneliness than the utter waste known as vive l  amour . kairo is a perfect example of that .  br    br   fans of cinema may thank tsai ming  liang for directing this film  as he has provided irrefutable evidence that art  house cinema can be just as poorly made as b  grade  made  for  television horror flicks . art  house snobs have now officially lost their pedestal of self  righteousness . the quality level of your precious genre now overlaps films like army of darkness and  gasp   showgirls . how do you like them apples   
  against all flags  is every bit the classic swashbuckler . it has all the elements the adventure fan could hope for and more for in this one  the damsel in distress is  well  not really in distress . as spitfire stevens  maureen o  hara is at her athletic best  running her foes through in defiance of the social norms of the period . anthony quinn rounds out the top three billed actors as the ruthless captain roc brasiliano and proves to be a wily and capable nemesis for brian hawke  flynn  . for the classic adventure fan   against all flags  is a must  see . while it may not be in quite the same league as some of errol flynn  s earlier work  captain blood and the sea hawk  for instance   it is still a greatly entertaining romp .  
need i say   its a stinker   i gave it a rating of    br    br   only watch it if you suffer from insomnia .  br    br   there  s plenty of scenery chewing and hamming it up  but not much else happens in this movie . there is no suspense  no deep  shocking secrets revealed  no real threat to the heroine  s well being . a few disagreements  slight raising of voices   that  s pretty much it . the secrets are nothing that couldn  t happen to anybody  the last  secret  revealed in the film is totally predictable by that point .  br    br   the plot  such as it is  revolves around a young woman named faith  meg tilly   who is an artist  who is hired to paint a series of mural panels in a huge ballroom in a vast mansion by a very  very wealthy  older widowed woman  and a growing mother  daughter type relationship that the older woman craves with her .  br    br   it turns out the older woman  s daughter  cassandra  is dead . you can pretty well fit the rest of the pieces together .  br    br   even the scene with the mysterious man menacing our heroine does not advance to the point where you really fear for her safety beyond maybe a second or two . why he  s still hanging around years after cassandra  s death is a good question .  br    br   there  s also the question of the fact that in this vast mansion there is only one servant  a faithful butler who seems to do everything   cooking  cleaning  serving the meal  answering the door  etc . everything except apparently locking the door   since that would be the only explanation for how one of the characters just walks into a room where faith is .  br    br   there  s nothing that will have you grasping your chair arms  and leaning forward on the edge of your seat  because there is no  mounting  tension in this film   just bland  pathetic revelations that get tossed out from time to time .  br    br    
excellent pirate entertainment  it has all the good ingredients to keep one  s attention   an absorbing tale of intrigue  a fiery lady pirate named spitfire stevens  maureen o  hara  who  s attracted to the irresistible mr . hawke  errol flynn  who is out on a secret mission of his own . they make a fine romantic pair onscreen   sigh   br    br   anthony quinn is the mean  bad pirate weaving his villainous web of divide and conquer . i noticed the very familiar face of mildred natwick playing a supporting role as mrs . macgregor  the protector of young princess patma  alice kelley  .  br    br   there is beautifully filmed scenery of shorelines  ships  and the bay . lots of action too of sword fighting clashes  ship battles  daring leaps of errol flynn  robin hood on board ship   . from the flaming redhead herself i once heard in an interview of maureen o  hara that she boasted great command of the bullwhip and could also outdo flynn in sword fighting in those days but there  d be no need to put it to the test here .  br    br   very enjoyable movie .  
three writers made a valiant attempt to adapt jane stanton hitchcock  s novel for the tube  yet this television movie has ultimately been injected with too much melodrama and just doesn  t know when to quit . struggling artist meg tilly suddenly finds herself employed by wealthy  enigmatic ellen burstyn  who desires a mural painted on the walls of her unused ballroom . after learning about the last gathering held there   ellen  s daughter  s coming  out party   tilly decides on her artistic theme  never dreaming the daughter died mysteriously before the function even began  nor that she and the deceased bore a striking resemblance to one another  two superb actresses lend their services to an incredible yarn which doesn  t bear close scrutiny  one that fails to match either lady in emotional intensity . burstyn  s role teeters on camp  while tilly gets stuck doing the dreamy  eyed  waif routine . only one sequence late in the film  the morning after the mural is finished  is charged with honest feeling  anger and betrayal . the rest is piffle .  
having seen charley boorman in long way round with ewan mcgregor  i was very interested to see how charley would be in his own show . i thought charley came across as a lovely guy who is very grounded and down to earth . its nice to see that celebrities struggle with their weight and fitness  it just show  s their human too  i don  t know a lot about bikes  but this show gripped me right from the start . the preparation and organising for this event seems immense . the event itself seems very dangerous and i  m fascinated to see why charley and everyone else is doing it and how far he gets . i love the pace of the show and the fast upbeat music . i can  t believe he broke his collar bone  i really hope its not the end  i cant wait to see the next episode . . .  
  st watched            out of    dir  ewald andre dupont   fairly lame account of the titanic disaster is the first filmed version of this much  heralded event . the replication of the disaster is not bad  but the drama around it is at some times silly  badly acted and way  too soap opera  like . the story is very much the same as the most recent oscar  winning one except that we are shown how the crew tried to hide the actual disaster that was occurring until almost too late . good for nostalgia purposes only and to get a feel for what james cameron was competing against  barely  in his recreation .  
the planning episodes were a bit dull  but when they reached the desert it was quite fun to watch . the reason why i call it the most realistic reality show is because  much to my surprise  charley fell out of the race relatively early . when his hands were sore  i expected the usual stress and then a miracle fix  but instead he actually quit the race . the most anxious moment of the show must  ve been when max was stuck out in the desert with almost no water or food  the ending was great and i was very happy to see at least one of the team make it . overall  not as great as the long way round  but definitely an interesting watch  as one gets a peek into the most challenging race in the world .  
i am a motion picture production major at wright state university in ohio  and yesterday i was sadly given the opportunity to watch this god  awful film in class . we were informed by our professor that it would be very funny to us  but the reason we were watching it was because it was one of the first sound films  a complete disaster .  br    br   the problem with early sound films was that hollywood actors only knew how to do silent movies and they weren  t good at memorizing lines . so producers and directors would look to the stage to get actors . sounds like a great idea  right  well  the kind of acting one does on stage doesn  t show up too well on film . most of the actors in  atlantic  look and sound like they  re acting in a play  which results in lots of hearty laughs at the over  acting . another limitation of early sound film was the technology of microphones . you couldn  t move the mikes like you can today  you had to keep them static or it would pick up the sound of air moving through . there was usually one mike used in any given scene in this movie . in one particular scene  there is a man sitting at a table . someone walks right up to him and delivers their line  then walks away . another actor comes up from behind him  delivers their line  then walks away . it goes on like this for a couple more people . the microphone is obviously right by the man at the table  making for a laughable actor carousel .  br    br   those are only technical problems . if you get into the story and direction  then it gets even worse . the story is a fictionalized account of what happened on the titanic . the characters are unbelievable and pointless . a  story  about a man cheating on his wife and their teenage daughter has no place in the movie . it is barely resolved and leaves you wondering why it was there in the first place . a lousy attempt at high drama  the actors take long  pregnant pauses between lines many times . it is tiresome  and you can  t wait for this   minute  feels like    at least  movie to get over with . i  m not going to talk a whole lot about the issue of racism at this time in our country  but it really offended me that there were only two blacks in the whole movie  and they were portrayed as animals . they both pushed past the women and children to try and get in one of the lifeboats . they were ordered to stop or be shot  and of course they didn  t so they were shot . i was appalled .  br    br   i give this movie a     . i would have given it a      the lowest rating possible   but i gave it an extra point just because it was one of the first sound films  and i tried to put it into context . if you want to see a good early sound film  check out alfred hitchcock  s  blackmail  that also came out in the year     . you will find that the best directors were able to adapt to new technology immediately .  
i always follow the dakar  so when my husband bought charlie  s  race to dakar  dvd home i couldn  t wait to watch it  of course we  d seen the broadcast of the race when the actual race was on  but that never gives the background and specific teams .  br    br   if you watched long way round then you won  t be surprised by the language which frankly i find more amusing than offensive .  br    br   i think the only thing that annoyed me about the dvd was charlie  s hair  but he had it styled before dakar so my feminine need for neatness was assuaged tho  i could have lived without the  flame  undies lol as with lwr  the preparation was every bit as interesting as the race itself . i nearly cried when charlie broke his hand  and winced at every bruise he sustained while training . . . . and of course the death of andy caldicott . . . that was an appalling tragedy  but then every year there  s something .  br    br   russ drives me nuts  although his attitude has improved a thousand times from the argumentative cynic he was in lwr . it  s great to see him get along so well now with charlie .  br    br   what i learned from this odyssey was   . never let scorpion prepare your vehicle for anything   they had months to prepare the x   and still the day before the team left for lisbon  scorpion had only done half of things that needed to be done  and the vehicle was a pain throughout the whole race  . the dakar organizers need to put a lot more work into their rider  driver retrieval plan  leaving matt  and presumably a large number of other riders  drivers out to dry the way they did was nothing short of culpable negligence  . charlie has an endearing enthusiasm for  rough and tough  adventure but needs to toughen up a lot to really perform as he  d like and finally   . charlie and ewan are planning another of these epos called the long way down in      and i can  t wait to get my hands on it  d if you love bikes and  or genuinely nice blokes  having a go   you have to watch this  i guarantee you love it . it  s very entertaining .  br    br   in conclusion  to simon pavey  you sir are a hero  i was so impressed by the your  quiet achiever  manner and the fact that you actually finished . . . . . just incredible considering what an monumentally difficult race it is . and to charlie  matt and the rest of the team  full marks for pulling it off . to think that a relatively green team could have achieved so much is truly admirable . you  re all wonderful .  
yes i know  talkies  had just been invented for the cinema  years earlier when this was produced in     but this film showed that much had to learnt about the art of producing films . it comes over as a filmed  hammy  stage play with the actors melodramatically enunciating their lines  rolling their eyes  using too many pregnant pauses and using gestures more appropriate to silent cinema  which i suppose was normal during the process of educating them to appear more naturalistic on screen . the gaps between lines spoken should have been tightened up during editing as it considerably slows the film . it is now only of interest for titanic buffs who want to see an early example of this marine accident on film . in next chronological order they could see  titanic        a night to remember        titanic        to see how the cinema  s depiction of this tragedy as evolved over the years . there have been many documentaries and tv films made including the atrocious  sos titanic        on my version which is a dvd  david mccallum gives the introduction . it was he who played harold bride marconi  s junior wireless operator in  a night to remember   still the best feature film  please read my  tribute to walter  comments on imdb under howard morley . demon . co . uk  and gave the commentary on the series of  videos entitled  end of a dream  so he was well qualified to give the narration . of more interest i found was a recording accompanied by actual photos of the     us senate hearing which is also on the dvd . actors speak the actual words spoken by lightoller  nd officer  j bruce ismay  managing director of white star  harold bride and others including gloria stewart  the  old rose  in titanic      whose voice is used for one of the first class women survivors .  
if you loved long way round you will enjoy this nearly as much . it is educational  funny  interesting and tense . charley shares the screen with two interesting teammates  two tired mechanics  two excellent cameramen and too much russ . ewan makes a few appearances but charley really pulls it off alone . he is funny  engaging and still a puddle of stress and doubt . great stuff   br    br   the series wraps up in  episodes . like lwr  the preparation is nearly as interesting as the race . though they cover the ins and outs of the race well  there could be a bit more explanation of the trucks and cars  which are merely mentioned and rarely even seen racing . it is a motorcycle movie though and anyone on two wheels will love this .  br    br   the series features stunning photography as well as a few interviews of peoples mouths . yikes . there is another extremely catchy theme song like lwr but this one is not nearly as good as the stereophonics .  br    br   if you live in the us god knows when it will be released so buy it on amazon . uk and watch it on your computer as i did . oh  and be prepared to buy another motorbike .  
no movie with madeleine carroll in its cast could possibly be unwatchable . that said  i have to add that this british film comes close . the story takes place on board the ss atlantic  and it  s loosely based on the titanic  s  unfinished voyage . the word unsinkable  is spoken  the liner strikes an iceberg  and we hear a heavenly choir sing nearer my god to thee .  the doomed passengers eventually take over the anthem  in a clever bit of sound work . but the year of the film  s release       means that a modern viewer has to accept otherwise primitive sound and many of the acting conventions of silent films and the stage . these aren  t problems . the film  s major flaw is pacing  and pacing had been well developed in silents . however  if the dialog were delivered at a realistic speed  the movie  s running time would be cut in half . the intended effect was drama  and clarity in a new medium   but the result unhappily is tiresome now . the film  s structure is preposterously illogical and inept . paradoxically  i found certain details of the editing quite modern in technique fine  abrupt cuts from one area of the ship to another  sometimes even on sound effects . although we  re on board the atlantic  from the first shot  we were well over  minutes into the movie before i discovered that fact . there are long  intrusive musical passages by the ship  s dance orchestra .  entertaining  easy sound .  personal stories are presented in an utterly uninvolving and unconvincing way . don  t even think of spectacle . the berg is a tiny thing and the exterior damage it does to the ship  s hull is a minor dent . however  the scenes of passengers swarming into the lifeboats  clearly staged on a real liner  presumably tied up to a dock  generate great excitement . other than the glorious miss carroll  these sequences are the film  s only points of excellence . as the movie and the ship near their end  the screen goes totally black several times when the power generators begin to fail . their last  eternal blackout is the end of the film  with a sunset  sunrise tacked on  a clumsy symbolic effect . atlantic  is a cinema curiosity . at best .  br    br    
i loved long way round and wasn  t even aware of race to dakar until i saw it on the shelves of my local supermarket . i bought it and after a slightly  hmm will this be as good  first episode i decided that it was . charlie boorman was great as were the other members of the crew . great to see him with ewan again . there was a fair bit of swearing in it but that didn  t bother me . as for their being no mention of it on the package . thats more to do with the silly excempt from classification certificate that the bbfc have . they should have given it a   just for the language alone .  br    br   highly recommended series  i want more    
this was talked about to death by the critics when it honestly isn  t that great . sure   chaos  and  inside man  are literally the same movie  just with variations in suspense . but i found  chaos  more enjoyable because it was fast paced kinda like the silly film  swordfish .  the reason this film is more popular is because this got released in the states and  chaos  was aired all around the world at film festivals and foreign theaters  but has yet to find a distributor in the u . k . and u . s . a .  br    br   it  s true that this film makes lots of tributes to classic films like dog day afternoon and other spike lee films  but that doesn  t mean that it is a pleasant film to watch .  br    br   watch it if nothing else is on t . v .  but you  ll probably get bored with after awhile .  
clara bow  hula calhoun  is daughter of plantation owner albert gran  bill calhoun   who is mainly interested in playing cards and boozing with friends . she  s interested in riding in the countryside until engineer clive brook  anthony haldane  shows up to build a dam . one of her father  s friends arlette marchal  mrs . bane  then competes for his attentions . his wife maude truax  margaret haldane  shows up for the contrived finale .  br    br   lots of  pre  code  elements like nude bathing .  br    br   wonderful location shooting in hawaii .  
for me an unsatisfactory  unconvincing heist movie . with an a  list cast  particularly the three leads and an experienced maverick director like spike lee i was expecting far more and in the end felt that what was delivered added little to this movie sub  genre . for a start i didn  t like the pacing of the film  starting off with mastermind clive owen  s raison d  etre piece to camera  unnecessarily repeated at the conclusion  then finding the narrative peppered with confusing  not to say unreal  seeming witness interviews  then finding yourself jumped into scenes you sense had begun earlier . of course the camera work is fluid throughout  constantly on the move and incorporating hand  camera shots a  plenty  but director lee fails to deliver thrills or suspense  falling down fundamentally by not making anything of the key protagonists in the film . denzel washington is weighed down with the clothes and bad  ass jive talk of a  shaft  movie thirty  five years earlier  he even has that  no  one understands him but his woman  thing going on  replete with his  hot  girlfriend  baiting her with some downright crude and inappropriate  dirty  talk   and his mild  in the heat of the night  riff with willem defoe  in almost a bit  part  raises barely a ripple . clive owens plays his character with a resolutely english accent even as we  re given to believe the gang is arab  based  also hindered by having to play    of the film with a mask over his face . jodie foster delivers another of her patented tight  lipped  ice maiden  sub  clarice starling turns as a well connected financial bounty  hunter  if you will  to little effect . overall it  s a real mish  mash of a film  with a light but obvious twist at the end  in fact the title gives it away from the start  spoiler fans . worst scene  of many  is undoubtedly washington  s witness  interview  unbelievably  with an  year old street  kid  although owen  s dialogue with the same child minutes earlier runs it close in the embarrassment stakes . during the film in  joke references are made by characters to classic heist films like  serpico  and  dog day afternoon   but there  s no honour in self  praise . more like  the hot rock  instead . . . and even that was good for a few laughs .  
clara bow  s beauty and wonderful appeal are the chief reason to watch this film .  hula  is not quite up to par with clara  s best films but it is still enjoyable . she dances  she rides her horse  and pursues the man that she loves . this film is just over an hour in length and was directed by future oscar winner victor fleming  gone with the wind  . the film moves quickly and clara bow has lots of screen time . if you like clara  i would reccomend  hula .   
first  this film is not a  thriller .  neither is it  gripping  taut .  it might have been so based on the script  but the direction  s slow pace makes it difficult to get into .  br    br   the plot itself is very interesting and ingenious . unfortunately  we only get a sense of how ingenious after the picture is over . that leaves us with over two hours of long sequences with music playing over them punctuated by some action scenes that don  t grab the viewer  and  cunning vixen  scenes that inject a little more overt intelligence .  br    br   i wish this had been the fast  paced thriller the box promised . it would  ve been an outstanding film . instead  spike lee made it plod along through the end .  
alain delon visits swift  sure vengeance on the ruthless crime family that employed him as a hit  man in the duccio tessari thriller  big guns  after they accidentally murder his wife and child . tessari and scenarists roberto gandus  ugo liberatore of  a minute to pray  a second to die   and franco verucci of  ring of death  take this actioneer about a career gunman for the mob right down to the wire . indeed   big guns  is rather predictable  but it still qualifies as solid entertainment with lots of savage and often sudden killings . alain delon of  the godson  is appropriately laconic as he methodically deals out death to the heads of the mob families who refused to let him retire so that he could enjoy life with his young son and daughter . richard conte of  the godfather  plays a sicilian crime boss who wants to bury the hatchet with the delon character  but the rest of his hard  nosed associates want the hit  man dead . like most crime thrillers in the     s and     s   big guns  subscribes to the cinematic morality that crime does not pay . interestingly  the one man who has nothing to do with the murder of the wife and son of the hero survives while another betrays the hero with extreme prejudice . tessari does not waste a second in this    minute shoot  em up . apart from the mother and son dying in a car bomb meant for the father  the worst thing that takes place occurs in an automobile salvage yard when an associate of the hero is crushed in a junked car . ostensibly   big guns  is a rather bloodless outing  but it does have a high body count for a     mobster melodrama . only at the last minute does our protagonist let his guard down and so the contrived morality of an eye for an eye remains intact . tessari stages a couple of decent car chases and the death of a don in a train traveling through a train tunnel is as bloody as this violent yarn gets . the photography and the compositions are excellent .  
i really tried to like this movie but in the end it just didn  t work for me . i have seen most of kitamura  s output and have found it to be very variable . alive  like all of his films has an interesting plot  some nifty sequences and a fair amount of creativity . however  these qualities are in painfully short supply in alive . the plot is cool if not all that original and could have made for a pretty ace film . unfortunately  the pacing is painfully slow and the film takes an age to get going  before reaching fairly predictable places . the action is just about passable  with the final fight pretty cool  and the earlier one about ok . the earlier one is also marred by overspeedy camera  work  making for less coherency . there are some neat visual effects and some interesting ideas floating around in the dialogue but the film still drags badly . the characters are neither well fleshed out nor well acted and the setting and general color scheme is drab and boring . the film is not completely terrible and has some points of interest  perhaps judicious use of the fast forward button could improve it . with about twenty minutes taken off the run time this could be a pretty decent sci fi thriller . but the full length film is dull . only recommended to very patient and determined kitumura fans .  
ok clara bow silent film from      it  s a spin  off of rain  with bow playing the half  hawaiian wild daughter of the local pineapple king who falls in love with the staid english engineer   clive brook . bow competes with the local widow  arlette marchal  for his attentions  but both women get a big surprise when his wife shows up  patricia dupont  . the predatory wife is ready for a divorce until she discovers he might be on the verge of a fortune . bow settles her hash fast .  br    br   bow has personality to spare and has a few great scenes her opening nude bath  her hula in a grass skirt  and the dog rescue scene with bow and brook doing their own stunts .  br    br   note the imdb credit list is wrong . the film credits  from the dvd i have  list patricia dupont as playing mrs . haldane    not margaret truax as listed on imdb .  
this movie had so much potential  a strong cast  a reasonably strong idea and clearly a decent budget . i  m not sure where it all went wrong  but each of those elements was wasted . the story went nowhere  the characters were hollow to say the least and the result was a very boring  pointless  waste of a film . i hated it . judging by the other votes  i  m in the minority here and must be some sort of freak . however  i thought this movie was dreadful . i had high hopes  but was very disappointed . a particular disappointment was jody foster  s character . a very cocky  fixer  of sorts makes a nice idea . jody was confident and sexy  but the character did nothing and went nowhere . denzel washington played the same character he always plays  enjoyable but nothing new .  
many of the reviews and comments i have read about this movie say that this is a rather stale film and performance by clara bow . although the story  line was rather typical of clara  s later silents  i still find it somewhat heart  stirring and incredibly fun . clara plays a happy  go  lucky hawaiian girl who will stop at nothing to win the man she loves . . . never mind that this man is married  clara  s lack of modesty was shocking in the day  but i believe it lends to the sweetness and general fun of the movie . though definitely not a brilliant story  line  quite typical  actually   this movie is a nice showcase of clara  s ability to make the audience laugh .  
the trailers for this film were better than the movie . what waste of talent and money . wish i would  ve waited for this movie to come on dvd because at least i wouldn  t be out   . the movie totally misses the mark . what could have been a great movie for all actors  turned out to be a b  movie at best . movie moved very slow and just when i thought it was going somewhere  it almost did but then it didn  t . in this day and age  we need unpredictable plot twists and closures in film  and this film offered neither . the whole thing about how everyone is a suspect is good  however  not sure if it was the way it was directed  the lighting  the delivery of lines  the writing or what  but nothing came from it . lot of hype for nothing . i was very disappointed in this film  and i  m telling everyone not to see it . the cheesy saxophone music throughout made the film worse as well . and the ending had nothing to do with the rest of the film . what a disappointment .  
there  s a theory of time that posits that all the moments that ever existed and will exist  actually exist right now . it  s a bit too much to wrap your head around  but perhaps a bit of a comfort to those who wish they could go back to a simpler time and place . for barbara jean trenton  ida lupino   that time was twenty five years earlier  the mid      s when her youth and glamor held the greatest promise . for my part  if i could travel through time  it would be back to the      s when i grew up . maybe to a place like willoughby  but that  s another episode .  br    br   one thing that wouldn  t be so special about     would involve dealing with all that clunky machinery just to watch an episode of  the twilight zone  . how many reels do you think it would take to catalog the entire series  and then find a particular story you wanted to watch  i guess you have to consider the trade offs  convenience versus simplicity  having it right now or taking the time to spool it up to the exact spot where the story begins . popping in a cd has it  s advantages .  br    br   i  m a little surprised that rod serling would pen a story that so closely resembled  sunset boulevard  . ida lupino  s character mirror imaged norma desmond just a bit too closely to be considered an original concept . martin balsam portrays very much a similar character to erich von stroheim  the husband turned butler who  s loyalty is unquestioned . where the story diverges has to do with the way danny  balsam  and sall  ted de corsia  challenge barbara jean to get with reality and clear the cobwebs that paralyze her existence .  br    br   fortunately for us viewers  ida lupino had no such reservations about taking parts that were  not big  but a nice showcase  . it  s a real treat to watch any episode of  the twilight zone  and get to see who pops up from days gone by . sometimes you get a two  fer  like you have here with lupino and balsam  celebrities who sometimes made their mark before the series began  and sometimes after . combined with the stories that the program produced  it  s not surprising that they still manage to entertain so well today .  
now isn  t it  considering all the good work done by danzel  clive and jodie  the movie never grew into something more than a horrible die  hard  heist movies copycat . yes a couple of jokes  no absolutely no unpredictable twists  to be honest the only unpredictable moments are there because both director and editor made some stupid mistakes  it is a shame for them and a waste of time for us . if someone can tell me why on earth were they digging a hole inside that safe  who the hell is the rebe and how on earth did they know that the diamonds were in the particular cell  it could just make my day  but it seems that spike asks us to take too much things in this one for granted  and do not raise our eyebrows when something looks stupid . . . its just another studio contract movie relax and enjoy . . .  
i really enjoyed this episode  which was a great surprise given the bad reputation it seems to have acquired . from a pure writing perspective   the   mm shrine  is an absolute treat  with fantastic dialogue and character analysis  typical of sterling . in particular i really enjoyed the philosophical indulgences of the episode  tackling themes of existence and reality  whilst balancing it with more psychological topics such as denial  pride  and desire .  the sixteen  millimeter shrine  is an episode about how these ideas based around an unwillingness to accept change can seemingly alienate a person from the rest of the ever  changing world . it is also a fantastic example of cerebral twilight zone one that explores the mind rather than the world outside it . these elements all come together very nicely to create a thought provoking and incredibly interesting   minutes .  br    br   the episode is not without its faults however  which mainly lay in lupino and leisen shoes . ironically  i felt lupino was unconvincing throughout  with only a few scenes that could count as memorable . this of course being an absolute shame considering how well sterling had written her character . furthermore leisen didn  t seem to know what to do with most of his characters  sometimes having them stand around on set doing next to nothing  which probably explains why accepted the poor performances from lupino half the time  . thankfully balsam does a good job of covering up a lot of weak spots  helping redeem the show from an acting perspective at least .  br    br   as i said previously however  if you  re a fan of classic film and cerebral science fiction  this shouldn  t be as bad as it  s sometimes made out to be . in addition to the writing that i mentioned above  the episode also features some fantastic photography  it still amazes me that the show looks this good nearly fifty years later   and decent enough set  design . overall  the sixteen  millimeter shrine  is a great episode and above all is certainly one to make you think .  
three story lines and not enough tying them together   inside man  was very jumpy and an incomplete attempt to be artistic and realistic . though having its moments  the movie started off looking like a fast thriller which quickly grounded to a slow crawl  jumped quickly between highs and lows  and only barely picked up steam again near the last   minutes . i will give credit to denzel washington  he played his part extremely well with a full grasp of his human side and not just the typical  super  detective  with all the answers . clive owen also did quite well with his duality part as  evil genius  and  criminal mastermind   both not the same in retrospect  . overall though  each person individually created a great sub  section . yet  when the parts finally came together and everything counted  there was no sudden  ah  ha   or summation of everything . it all ended up with very little of the energy it began with  with a lot of plot  holes  tons of questions  and as i said earlier  no where near spike lee  s normal level . i have to completely disagree with the so  called  professional critics  . . . this is not the movie they play it up to be .  
after hitting the viewers with three very different episodes right off the bat  serling continued to go about introducing viewers to  the twilight zone  in a very strange way by scheduling one the series biggest growers as the fourth episode .  the sixteen  millimeter shrine  is one of the more understated episodes  focusing on an aging movie star  s inability to cope with the changing times and only introducing a supernatural element in the closing minutes . because of this approach  the episode is under whelming at first but subsequent viewings reveal it to be a thoroughly classy and beautifully written short story .  br    br   both the leads  ida lupino as barbara jean trent and martin balsam as her frustrated but caring agent  shine in their performances . the main problem with the episode is that the supposedly   year old footage of the actress is unconvincing . lupino looks identical when playing the young trent as she does when playing the middle aged trent and this diminishes the tragedy of the situation significantly . fortunately  lupino acts her socks off in convincing us of her desperation to return to the past . it  s a situation most can sympathise with  and yet trent is far from a sympathetic character . she is a prima  donna who gives little thought to the feelings of those around her  such as the disastrously withered co  star who she tactlessly belittles because he reminds her of just how long ago her glory days were . it is somewhat surprising  then  that she is rewarded with a happy ending . it is clear what is going to happen from the moment we see the huge projection screen and it is cleverly pre  empted in the opening moments when trent scares her maid by stepping out from behind the screen . what is not clear at the beginning  however  is whether being sucked into the projector will prove a reward or a harsh lesson in appreciating what we have and living in the moment . as it turns out  trent is allowed to return to the past she longed for  a testament to how strong the wishful thinking of humans can be .  br    br    the sixteen  millimeter shrine  gets better with each viewing . the top notch writing and acting combine to create a short play of enormous power which reflects the nature of humans to long for the past  even though we can never return . except in the twilight zone .  
this movie makes no sense at all  there are plot holes big enough to drive enormous nypd vehicles through . the characters do not act in any plausible way whatsoever . i will put my comments in the chat board  but save your time and money  this is stupid . i can  t stand when hollywood spends millions of dollars on flash bang equipment and uses fancy editing and cool music  and does not bother to have a plot that hangs together at even the most basic level . but it is nice to see denzel w . prevail over the man  who comes in  flavors  jodi foster  mayor bloomberg and capt . von trapp . there is even a sweet little kid with a video game who is nice .  
i found this movie really funny because you have a youthful black comedian  chris rock  who dies and is sent back to earth in a mid     s white mans body . he doesn  t realize that his behavior should change and continues to act as he had before . he listens to rap music  sings along  and plays the stereotypical part of an urban black man . the real humor in this movie was watching the trouble that this behavior gets him into with the black community .  
this is a dumb movie . maybe my judgment wouldn  t be so harsh if the film didn  t promise so much  but i just felt like this movie cheated and played me for a fool at every turn .  br    br   i didn  t have any beef with the acting  but i thought the characters were awful . the movie starts off with clive owen  s character telling us what a criminal mastermind he is  and how he planned the perfect bank robbery  something he frequently reminds us of later . oh yeah  he also tells us he  s in a prison cell  although that turns out to be a dumb metaphor . any idiot knows that the best bank robbery is one where a minimum number of things could potentially go wrong  and you  re long gone before the police show up . but clive owen  s scheme requires hanging around the bank for hours  for no reason but to stalk around and look scary as far as i can tell . he also has to control hostages  negotiate with cops  and most fantastically of all  perform a this  old  house job on the bank  s stockroom and hide out there for a week  i hope he brought enough food  and a bucket to pee in  and then sneak out again . yeah  that sure sounds like the perfect crime to me  clive  this plan has so many moving parts that the only reason it didn  t fall apart was the screenwriter said so .  br    br   and then there are the many unexplained details why were the cops so convinced that the crooks had accomplices among the hostages  who the hell is jodie foster  s character  and why is she so important that she has the mayor at her beck and call and she doesn  t have to tell denzel washington her agenda because  it  s above his pay scale   how dumb are these cops that they can  t figure out one guy speaking in a foreign language for hours is not the sound of a criminal gang planning a robbery  how did the robbers slip away  and why did clive owen stick around for a week  how did they find out about the bank chairman  s past  and the number and contents of his safe deposit box  why the hell would clive owen let in jodie foster or the cops  since when do they make toy ak    s that look real up close  how the hell do you bug a pizza box  anyway  how did clive owen manage to sneak out of a secure area of the bank during working hours  undetected  did this dispassionate criminal really feel bonded enough to this cop denzel to slip him a diamond   br    br   none of these questions are ever answered . there are films that achieve depth by leaving you to wonder about events that happen off  screen  but i never felt that way about inside man . it felt like the scenes that explained these things were cut from the movie  or these questions never had any answers in the first place  and that  s weak . particularly annoying is jodie foster  s character  who won  t disclose what she does  but never seems to tire of reminding us how important she is . we  re just supposed to take her word for it  i guess .  br    br   the only reason i gave this movie two stars is i laughed at denzel  s  taxi cab  and  pina colada  gags  and at the kid  s outrageous video game . other than that  this movie has no redeeming features .  
this was a hilarious movie and i would see it again and again . it isn  t a movie for someone who doesn  t have a fun sense of a humor  but for people who enoy comedy like chris rock its a perfect movie in my opinion . it is really funnny  
movie there are some very interesting comments on imdb about this movie . its truly awful . not enough money is spent on the movie and the way spike lee has made it  it seems like a combination of an indie film and an action flick . characters  actors denzel has done  exactly  what he does in every movie  so no surprise there . here is a little mind game for the readers . quickly think of   denzel movies . now count how many of them were in which he played a cop  detective  body guard  whatever . clive owen  hmmmmmm  this guy needs a better role on his plate soon . his best performance was i think in  beyond borders  . other than that he did pretty much the same thing as he does in every movie as well . his tone and way of talking was very similar to what he did in  sin city  . surely this guy knows acting  what he doesn  t know is better way of choosing roles . he is in desperate need of a better agent . jodie foster was brilliant in the movie  if you are watching her for the first time in your life . she has done better . she has had better roles . it so happens in hollywood that even the biggest stars fall down on their knees and pick up low class roles as jody foster did in this movie . plot plot was not confusing  in fact  i could think of such a plot  in fact the whole movie  while taking a dump after a nice big chinese dinner . i mean come on  spoiler on the way      i am sick of the un  necessary haulocast and the racism token . the movie is about bank robbers  why put the haulocast and the racism in there  nice try playing with people  s emotions  worked on anyone  not me . police let the bank robbers go thinking they were hostages  riiiiiiight  please  we  re talking about us police force and security here . nobody could find out where clive was  i mean they didn  t find anything different with that room . who  re we kidding  conclusion sure  go watch this movie  if nothing  you  ll have a nice time talking to you friends how bad the movie was . at least people won  t think you  re stupid to go watch this movie because they  d think you went to watch it because it has a big star cast  mistake  .  
my fondness for chris rock varies with his movies  i hated him after lethal weapon   but i hated everyone in that movie after it . i like him when he is himself and not holding back  like in dogma . well this is his best yet  wasn  t expecting this to be that good . laughed my arse off the whole time . chris rock delivers a sweet wonderful story backed by some of the funniest comedy i  ve seen in quite some time . loved it .  
a yawn  inducing  snail  paced disappointment  inside man tells the story of a detective  denzel washington  who is under investigation due to his possible involvement in a case of missing money . when a bank is robbed and hostages are held against their will by a mastermind thief  clive owen  and his team  the detective is assigned to coerce the thief to surrender  his one shot at proving he is innocent and worthy of his position . enter a powerful woman  jodie foster  with secrets and intents of her own  sent to recover an item from the bank owner  s safety deposit box that is stored within the bank  and you have quite the three  way dilemma . unfortunately  all you get it set  up in the film  and nothing pays off in the end . denzel washington is at his most uninteresting in an ineffective and distastefully egocentric performance . the only saving grace for the film is its competent co  stars jodie foster and clive owen  who are much better than the film itself . in fact  jodie foster delivers the most surprising and high  caliber performance playing against type as a ruthless  cutthroat villain of sorts . clive owen isn  t given much to do besides brood and pose  but the depth of his presence and his achieved acting ability more than make up for his underdeveloped role . it  s strange that so much talent is wasted on this film of little impact or interest . you have to wonder what director spike lee was thinking while he was creating this film . the most perplexing aspect of inside man  however  is how much unwarranted praise it has received . for a film that seemed to have all the makings of a pre  summer blockbuster  this one falls horribly flat .  
down to earth is the best movie    it is so funny  and it  s really sweet too . it has a good plot and it  s unique . it isn  t like those movies that are all the same with the similar story lines  and it  s not all comedy and no story . this movie also has a very good ending .  
my wife and i found this film to be highly unsatisfying . while the plot keeps you interested and busy wondering just what is going on  when you leave the theater  there are just too many loose ends that make no sense at all .  spoilers ahead  christopher plummer  enormously wealthy head of a ny bank has a terrible hidden secret . profiting from ww ii deals with the nazis and hiding loot stolen from jews  he keeps the evidence  including diamonds and documents with the nazi swastika  in a safety deposit box in his bank . why  if he wants this never to be revealed  why did he not burn and destroy the documents years ago  and the diamonds  obviously  he does not need them  why keep them rather than dispose of them  how did the bank robbers find out his secret  how did they know to zero in on this very safety deposit box      ace detective denzel washington also discovers bank records show sd boxes no  s    and     but no     . curious . he meticulously found time somehow to do an exhausting search of bank records to unearth this one curious fact . all the while dealing with a red hot hostage situation and bank robbers threatening to start executing them momentarily . wow  talk about super powers for a detective .  br    br   the bank robbers leave behind millions of dollars in loose currency in the vault they have opened . they take only the contents of sd box      ostensibly for the purpose of blackmailing the bank president . this defies any rational attempt at a logical explanation for what the film depicts as a criminal mastermind  or for his henchmen with lesser brains .  br    br   jodie foster  using her political connections with the mayor of nyc  gains permission to enter the bank which is under the control of the bank robbers while holding many hostages . she offers the chief bank robber a deal to buy back the documents he now has in hand  but he ain  t interested . so what  s his point  if any   .  br    br   my wife was offended by the arrogance of all the players  christopher plummer  bank president   denzel washington  ace detective   and jodie foster  crack trouble shooter for high  powered problems .  br    br   the last jodie foster movie i saw   flight plan   was also riddled with holes that made no sense at all . i thought i liked jodie foster  but i will probably avoid her future films .  br    br   now my problem is that i can rarely persuade my wife to go to the movies . i cannot disagree with her on this one . . .  a waste of money  and a waste of time .  be forewarned . a well crafted film  fine actors  lousy script writing .  
hopefully the score has changed by now due to my brilliant and stunning review which persuades all of you to go and watch the film thereby creating an instant chorus of    s  this movie  s true score .  br    br   as mentioned before chris rock is the king  previous to going to see this movie i wasn  t that over the top about him but now i  m banging on the doors of chris rock  s website begging him to take me on as his protege . this film is truly funny  if you don  t find this movie funny you really need therapy and it  s humour which targets all areas of society including race  predictably   class division  love  wealth  employment  dreams  stand up comedy . . . the list goes on .  br    br   there was one slight disappointment for me however . this was that in going into this film i didn  t realise that it was actually a remake of  heaven can wait  another quite good movie made in     with warren beatty . as such i was quite surprised when i watched this movie and suddenly the plot began to unravel to be distinctly similar to an older movie i had watched on tv a few weeks ago . . regardless this movie is in my opinion the better version out of the two of them simply because of the different areas it covers and the fact that chris rock is funnier than warren beatty any second of any day of any week of any year of any . . . you get the picture .  br    br   well to the actual plot of the film .  br    br   don  t spoil the experience for yourself  don  t read the plot  just go and watch a movie because there have been two reviews on imdb so far that have raved mad about it  go see it because it is the funniest thing you would have seen in a long time  go and see it because it  s a cinema experience that doesn  t leave you grumbling ad nauseum at the cost of cinema tickets . go see it because it is a good movie   
i have never seen any of spike lee  s prior films  as their trailers never caught my interest . i have seen  and admire denzel washington  and jodie foster  s work  and have several of their dvds . i was  however  entirely disappointed with this movie . if this film is any indication of spike lee  s ability as a director  my advice would be to  get a job   and stop wasting the time and talent of others .  br    br   i wonder if some of the other imdb commentators watched the same movie that i  d seen . i can only assume  from their sappy lovelorn reviews  that their adoration of spike lee has blinded them to the banality of this piece of work . i only paid   .    in a  second run  theater  and still felt i  d wasted my money .  br    br   the imdb  trivia  page says it all . . . . . . .  br    br     shot in   days    how can you expect to shoot a big budget  blockbuster    as the media hype promised   in such a short time  no wonder there was such a weak performance by all .  br    br     ron howard was first going to direct the film . . .    he may have done this project some justice  given more time to do so  of course . though the writing was atrocious  the premise had some merits .  br    br   ok  maybe not . i  m sorry  this film was so rife with pitiful clich  s  implausible scenes  and lousy characterizations  that maybe even he couldn  t have made much of it .  hey ron  be sure to thank russell . . . good call    br    br     jodie foster filmed her part in three weeks .    and it showed  her portrayal of a  fixer   who makes people  s problems go away  was as unbelievable as the script she was given . did she even want to be there   br    br   other peeves  br    br    how many bank robbers would bother to come to the door  and inform a uniformed police officer that they were inside robbing the bank  and he  d better keep away . . . or else   br    br    when  detective frazier    denzel washington   comes into the bank to verify there are no corpses yet  how many bank robbers  without a gun  would have  led  a cop   much less  let  a cop  back out to the front door  allowing the police officer to walk behind him   br    br    det . frazier later claimed  to have given the robber  every reason to shoot me .  why  then  in their brief struggle  didn  t he even try to expose the robber  s face  that may have gotten the response he was looking for . . . a robber would have shot him just to prevent later identification . and why did it take  steve  stevie  steve  o    the robber  s accomplice   so long to come and help out   br    br    i understand that these weren  t your typical bank robbers . they had a different agenda  and didn  t want anyone harmed . but the cops had no reason to think that they wouldn  t . to them it was a desperate situation . why then  when two of the bad guys stepped outside to  pick up the pizzas    were they not taken down .  first of all  how many robbers would have came outside without using a hostage as a shield  is this spike lee  s version of ny city  or snl  s   . taking them down would have reduced the bad guy  s numbers  screwed up their plans  and the remaining robbers would more probably have given up . if not  there at least would be fewer bad guys inside .  give swat something to do  or send them home    br    br    what police department in this country  would have allowed madeline white   jodie foster   to just waltz right into the bank  and discuss a matter with the robbers  that she would not disclose to them first  she had no authority  no governmental credentials and besides  this was after all   already  a hostage situation . . . add one more   br    br    why wouldn  t the bank ceo   christopher plummer   just have destroyed the incriminating documents a long time ago  screw sentimentality  the diamonds  he could have sold .  br    br    who was that  schmuck    the character  not the actor   with the jersey accent  that  conveniently  volunteered  and said he knew the recording was      albanian   but yet he himself couldn  t speak it . . . . . sir  put your hand down  and his ex  wife  what a  schlump  she was    both were totally unbelievable .  br    br    when interrogating suspects  why did det . frazier  continually harass the individuals who were obviously not a part of the heist    i . e .  telling the elderly woman she could go  and then she couldn  t  then could then couldn  t   give me a break   br    br    who  after seeing the bank robbers demand that the hostages put on jump suites  couldn  t deduce their escape plan included coming out of the bank pretending to be some of the hostages   br    br    near the end of the movie  a false wall was shown to have been built in the supply room  behind which clive owens hid out for  a week  . . . . where did the materials come from   the drywall  studs  . it was also to be assumed that they cut into the sewer  so he could relieve himself . the bank employees hadn  t complained about the smell  all week long  hello   br    br    after such a debacle since the documents  had  fallen into the robber  s hands  what kind of  references  was ms . white expecting to get from the bank ceo  seeing that he was now to be a target for blackmail  due to her failure   br    br    and last  but certainly not least  what  s with the  electric glide  that denzel did  how stupid  was that supposed to indicate his  resolve  to bring these guys to justice  he looked  rather  like a man who hopped a ride on a shopping cart  while trying to prevent a bowel movement   cheeee  zheeee       br    br   other than the mediocre plot lousy script bad acting and overall pitiful directing . . . . . . yada  yada  yada .  br    br   hopefully this will give enough insight into the movie to help others decide whether to waste their money or not   br    br   .  
tony arzenta  a sicilian hit  man or professional killer  decides to leave the business  and his former employers do not agree . in terms of content  this highly enjoyable action movie doesn  t have one in terms of sheer amusement  it is funit is very melodramatic  violent  quite brutal  the car chases are notable .  arzenta  is an unpretentious  yet very likable filmmuch better than the current hollywoodian trash that gets the same label . it comes from delon  s rather short flirting with the italian b cinema of the    s . it carefully uses delon  s tough guy persona  belonging to the gallery of bad  ass thugs that he made in his youth .  br    br   i enjoyed very much the fact that delon made this film  that he had a role in a good eurocrime flick .  br    br   the score is very fine  with a good introductory songmaking felt that gusto that the italians had for the film considered as a synthetic work  where the musical art has an important part .  br    br   in tony arzenta  big guns  no way out the very appealing erika blanc    years in     appears as an unnamed hooker . meanwhile  arzenta  s girlfriend  sandra  is played by carla gravina  a starlet that practically left the movies after     .  br    br    arzenta  is interestingly filmedan ambitious visual conception  some expressionistic peculiar angles . the movie was directed by the prolific duccio tessari  the one who made also zorro  the delon comedy  . needless to mention that these two films  tony arzenta       and zorro  are very unlike . the first one is a bloody melodramatic violent action movie   the second is a lighthearted comedy  more kindred to a spoof  though remarkably coherent and skilfully made . duccio tessari directed films like kiss kiss . . . bang bang        sons of satan  the bloodstained butterfly  viva la muerte . . . tua   tough guys        safari express        etc . .  
i  ve seen most of ryuhei kitamura  s work and i  ve come to the conclusion that he has a knack for action . scenes are kinetic and fast often combining elements of martial arts  gun fights and samurai fights with camera work that effectively captures the on screen carnage . with  versus  and  aragami  kitamura demonstrated that creativity and showed that he his more than capable of working with a low budget . so what happened in  alive   to be more blunt  the answer would be  nothing . nothing happened in  alive  it was a two hours plus movie with little to no action and little to no characters and plot .  br    br   adapted from a comic book by tsutomu takahashi  alive  is an examination of the life of one tenshu yashiro  played by hideo sasaki  a death row convict who survives his execution . he is then given a choice of either to repeat the execution or to subject himself in a bizarre series of experiments . he chooses the latter and soon after that is placed in a room along with a rapist and later with a girl infected with a strange parasite that in exchange for it  s host  s humanity grants supernatural powers . naturaly at some point that parasite moves into yashiro  the bad thing is that doesn  t happen very soon .  br    br   similar to  aragami    alive  sets it  s first half in establishing the basic exposition . characters are introduced  their motivations are set and their relations between each other are uncovered . the whole thing even takes place in just one set . the first major problem of that comparison is that while  aragami  was just a   minute movie   alive  drags on for more than two hours thus making the first part over one hour long . that length could have been justified had the characters been made a bit more interesting but alas that is not the case . dialogue is dry  monotonous  delivered without any sense of emotion or depth  characters themselves aren  t much interesting . there were some small attempts at making  alive  a bit more moral ambiguous but in the end it all came down to the classic  evil government people against  super  powered protagonist  whom yes you guessed it  saves the girl in the end . like i previously said the entire film practically takes place at just one set  and after two hours that does get boring  even worse the set design itself wasn  t even interesting to begin with  and doesn  t do much to improve on other aspects of the film .  br    br   now  after that first part is over  one might think that kitamura would at least make some entertaining action scenes to make up for the boring beginning . sadly that is not the case . the two only fights are actually rehashes of similar fights from hollywood movies  complete with bullet time effects and psychic powers . they  re just not interesting or fun  kitamura  s creativity from  versus  is gone  the small set even limits his often very impressive camera  work and it all boils down into generic and expectable fights  a shame really .  br    br   evidently  aragami  was better on all accounts and  kitamura  had learned something from  alive  . so it wasn  t at least a total loss watching this movie . if only to understand the errors made  how to fix them and create a better more entertaining movie .  
this movie i have been dying to see . well it took till now to decide to actually rent it . it was completely worth it . this movie made me laugh from the beginning to the end . chris rock is funny no matter which movie he is in . however  this should come real close to being his greatest . if ur lookin for a family movie  ie pre  teens and up then this is one u can  t pass over .  
it  s a waist to indulge such great actors in such a weak and boring movie . besides all the unanswered questions posted in the other comments  what  s so difficult about capturing the robbers  just eliminate the bank workers  see who was at the bank  from all the cameras  footage angles  prior to the robbers entry and you have those extra  remaining robbers among the hostages . where is the suspense every body is talking about  it was so obvious the moment the hostages were asked to change into this identical uniform that they were all going to walk out the front door . . . seen it many times . at least mr . spike lee could have seasoned the movie with some good music score and artistic shooting . the movie is not worth it . pronto   
great movie when i saw it . have to say one of my favorite movies of all time . i saw it like  times in the theater and got the dvd . as i got older and saw it again i realized that the movie is average . compared to movies that are known ad good comedys  this is nothing . i mean rock was hilarious in the movie and the whole switching with the racial stuff breaks a little barriers which is great . also the thought of how the movie goes is a nice way of thinking . it  s like most thought of a movie but also a little twist which is a very nice touch . i like the movie overall so i give it a . . .  br    br   still a good     for me .  
it seems to me that stephen king  s  bachman  pen  name was a way for him to put out some of the grimmer  rawer  more mean  spirited stuff that he wanted to write without  contaminating  his  brand name  . if you look back at the  bachman books   running man  the long walk  roadwork  thinner  you notice they have a sealed  in feeling of airlessness and hopelessness about them that is distinct from mainstream king . i realize that we are talking about the guy whose first novel featured a humiliated  blood  covered  emotionally crippled teenage girl slaughtering everyone at her high school prom . . . but mainstream king always at have characters and plot elements that leaven the grimness of the proceedings a bit  and mostly have endings that offer at least a glimpse of hope and human feeling . bachman books are just plain mean and always end badly .  btw   pet semetary  could have easily been a bachman book if king hadn  t revealed the alias by then . and  the dark half  seems to be at least partially about his  bachman  persona .   br    br    thinner  was the last bachman book  and man  with its themes of class warfare  revenge  and death by starvation  it is nasty . so it should be no surprise that the movie follows suit .  br    br   what is a surprise is that the adaptation seems to be filmed at a  tv movie of the week  level of talent instead of something worthy of a theatrical release .  these days  something like this would probably go directly to dvd or cable  . the makeup work and the striking motif  starving to death in the midst of plenty  a metaphor for the overfed  undernourished american middle class if there ever was one  is all that keeps you watching this misfire .  br    br   what went wrong  my first thought is that the director was going for the nasty bachman vibe  but he also somehow sucked all the interest out of the movie with poor casting choices  the actors here  with the exception of joe monetegna  simply can  t carry the movie . and then he squished the warmth and life out of the rest of the movie with awkward pacing and scene structure . plus he couldn  t leave the plot alone  and his changes don  t really help . the script and dialog ought to work  but mostly the movie just lies there . everything is muffled  dull  airless  and no fun to watch . . . with the vivid exception of the spectacle of the main character getting . . . . thinner  and thinner  and thinner .  br    br   as other have pointed out   thinner  is by no means the worst king movie ever made  or even the second worst  . and it does have a dreadful  compelling fascination owing to the theme and the careful makeup work . but first time viewers should approach this one with lowered expectations .  
i  m not saying that just as a chris rock fan  i  m saying this as a person who had low expectations going in to this movie and was proved wrong . the first flaw was it  s everything  works  out ending that everybody saw coming . flaw number two was i found that the chemistry between regina king and chris rock seemed fake . finally the acting in this movie was sub  par  with the best actor being regina king and the worst being mark addy . but i saw past that flaw and saw a solid comedy . in a heads  up scenario  watch heaven can wait instead  it  s better . so for all you chris rock fans out there  watch this movie  you  ll enjoy out . he has some good stand  up in this movie .  br    br   overall  out of    
this movie was absolutely terrible . i can  t believe i paid to see it in the theatre . i wouldn  t watch it on free cable t . v . i  m surprised that joe magtena even made it . do not waste your time with this movie .  
this movie is a remake of two movies that were a lot better . the last one  heaven can wait  was great  i suggest you see that one . this one is not so great . the last third of the movie is not so bad and chris rock starts to show some of the comic fun that got him to where he is today . however  i don  t know what happened to the first two parts of this movie . it plays like some really bad  b  movie where people sound like they are in some bad tv sit  com . the situations are forced and it is like they are just trying to get the story over so they can start the real movie . it all seems real fake and the editing is just bad . i don  t know how they could release this movie like that . anyway  the last part isn  t to bad  so wait for the video and see it then .  
a fun concept  but poorly executed . except for the fairly good makeup effects  there  s really not much to it . there are obvious problems for example  after taking what seems to be weeks and weeks to get from fat to normal size  the main character seems to go from normal size to deathly thin in days . . . and once he  s deathly thin he stays pretty much equally deathly thin for what seems to be a long time .  br    br   in any case  the movie has far worse problems than that   the cinematography is decidedly low  budget  tv  show quality and most of all the acting is pretty awful all around . robert john burke seems to always be trying for some kind of weird snarling charlton heston impersonation and is literally painful to watch . . . the only scary thing is that lucinda jenney and kari wuhrer are both even worse .  br    br   the only reason why i  m giving this movie as high as i am is that once the movie enters its last    or so and joe mantegna  s character takes over  the movie develops a fun  campy  cheesefest slaughterhouse  feel  and the gangster  s crazy schemes for tormenting the totally obnoxious gypsies are somewhat fun to watch . the ending  if predictable  is also nicely mean . avoid unless you  re a king  o  phile or are really psyched up at the idea of the voice of fat tony from the simpsons terrorizing a gypsy camp .  
chris rock stars in this remake of warren beatty  s heaven can wait  itself a remake of the     film here comes mr . jordan   a comedy about a man who dies before his time  before he can realize his dreams  and his adventures in his new  albeit temporary  body . in the beatty version  the protagonist was a backup quarterback for the then  los angeles rams . in rock  s hipper version  our lead character is a struggling young  and decidedly low  talent  standup comedian .  br    br   it  s very funny to see the razor  sharp rock playing a bad comedian . it  s kind of like seeing tom hanks play a bad actor . lance barton  s dream is to play the legendary apollo theater on a non  amateur night . but every time he tries out his material  he  s booed off the stage lustily  so much so that his nickname becomes  booie .  his jokes are lame  his delivery painful . in short  lance is everything that the real chris rock isn  t .  br    br   lance is also a bike messenger  and he  s riding the streets on his way to try out even more material when bam  he  s hit by a truck . ok  so maybe he was taken from his body a tenth of a second early by a slightly incompetent angel  eugene levy   but hey  he was going to get hit anyway . no dice  it appears lance isn  t due in heaven until     . so what to do  mr . king  chazz palminteri   the  manager  of heaven  reluctantly agrees to find a new body for the not  quite  dead mr . barton . trouble is  the body they find is of a greedy  old white man . turns out this fella  a mr . wellington  owns all kinds of things  he  s the   th richest man in the country  what luck  you can imagine how lance will turn things around .  br    br   but of course  while in the body of the affluent mr . wellington  lance falls for a gorgeous hospital worker  regina king  . we males know how tough it is to find a female given our own body  but try winning one over while you  re an dumpy  old white guy  and it  s even worse when she  s not impressed by your money .  br    br   this is rock  s first shot at a lead role  and in my opinion he performs admirably . there  s still a lot of the standup comedian in him  and  of course  if he ever wants to get diverse roles  he might have to stop incorporating standup routines into the script  but this isn  t really a bad thing . rock  s personality  his drive  his delivery  his demeanor  and his passion  are what fuel this film . he  s clearly having a lot of fun in the role  and he seems bent on making sure you have fun watching him .  
so  thinner  . . . yep . . this steven bachman  read steven king  yarn about a man who gets his just desserts from a gypsy elder who he just killed  the story itself is there  no doubt about it  but i don  t know why i didn  t enjoy it more than i could have . i guess what really distracted me was the actors . i mean  who  s the lead  robert john burke  who  s he  and fer crying out loud  can someone please stop hiring joseph mantegna for every italian mafioso role there ever is  and while we  re at it  does every mafioso have to have a pasta cooking italian mother  the only good acting job done here is under   pounds of makeup  michael constantine as the gypsy elder . he  s pretty good . but the rest  i make you all   better actors . . .   
this is such a great film  never mind the low rating here . i really have no idea where that came from  they must be discussing a different film then . because i absolutely loved it and found it to be a little hidden treasure .  br    br   it  s story was so original and charming . . i really can  t think of anything bad to say about it . maybe it has to be   your type of thing    but  i saw this with my sister and my mother  and we all were taken by it .  br    br   the acting was also very good  and that is hard to do in a film like this . but i found all the characters very intriguing and sympathetic .  br    br   i  ve always been very fond of dougray scott and found his new   dark   role very interesting . it is really awful hard to get me to like a bad guy  but i absolutely had no problem with that this time . even more so  i adored him .  br    br   everyone who loves a good thriller  drama that also has a good dose of love and tragedy should definitely go see this film  no question about that  anyone wanting to see a film with    bloodshed  should go rent something else  though . . but i guess the title already kind of gives that away . this is a love story  not saw  .  br    br   i give this film  out of five stars    good job     br    br   xxx enjoy   
to call a movie like  thinner  bad is like calling the earth round or pauly shore un  talented . no news  but how they got that way is what people want to know .  br    br   as far as this movie . . . . the book was good  even if it was a little derivative of other stories from the  be careful what you wish for  genre . burke plays an overweight lawyer who kills the daughter of a gypsy and is cursed by her father  constantine from tv  s  room      to several pounds a day .  br    br   like i said  it starts out good  but why involve the mobster  mantegna   why fire automatic weapons so much  why turn it into something so heavily dependent on fx  i thought it would have been much more effective if it focused more on the subtle ramifications of weight loss crazes  diseases  death  gypsy lore and such .  br    br   but no  it  s not to be . remember  this is stephen king we  re talking about .  br    br   and the ending . . . almost the same as the book  but a little too talky . in fact the whole movie talks too much  feeling it has to explain every plot turn to us . not that i expected  the dead zone   but i could have done without another  pet sematary   thanks anyway .  br    br   one star for at least trying to do a halfway decent makeup job . however  the rest of the movie is left to be . . . say it with me . . .  thinner  .  
  a thief in the night  is a film that was generally ignored by movie fans at large due to its low  budget  which was obvious  and its subject matter   the rapture of true christian church and the fate of those left behind . nevertheless  it was a gripping story that held the viewer and definitely made him or her review their relationship with jesus christ . it touched everyone   showing even a pastor who preached the word  but did not believe it  knowing exactly why he was left behind . this movie  and its sequel  distant thunder   are must see movies . even with the new  left behind  series coming out  telling the same story with a much higher budget  the impact is still the same    a thief in the night  broke the ground of this genre and will always be remembered .  
i began watching this movie with low expectations  as a matter of fact i only noticed it because it was an adaptation of a s . k . novel  a novel i never read  .  br    br   i  m glad my expectations were low because the movie wasn  t nothing close to good  but it manages to keep you interested . what really drags this story down is the work done by the director and the actors . the movie is overlong  hasn  t no  nice  shots and no scares  the dialogs are dumb and the special effects are crap .  br    br   the only things good are that  as i said  it keeps you interested  i guess the book must be good  without using much horror cliches .  br    br   my vote     .  
this film was really eye  opening . i have seen this film several times . first  when i was four and i actually remembered it and then when i was   . the whole message that the director is conveying is for everyone to wake up and not make the mistake of leaving god out of our everyday lives or just plain going the extra mile to insult him .  br    br   a great movie for non  believers and believers alike   
i am not one of those who think king is a great writer  his books are fine distractions for a few hours  and often have interesting premises  however they  in my opinion  fall apart pretty rapidly if you give them any serious thought .  br    br   this film suffers from being a pretty exact re  telling of king  s story . if you have read the book  there are zero surprises  no changes  no altering of scenes or characters . this is a film made by king fans for king fans .  br    br   for the rest of us  there is nothing terrible about the film  it is a  gypsy curse  horror  with its twist being the curse being something many people wish for  to become thinner . the final third has some severe structural problems  and the slightly forced ending seems to break the rules of this genre a little .  br    br   there are worse ways to spend   minutes of your life  but you might as well read the book  because there is nothing new here . . .  br    br    
i would say for it  s time  this movie was awesome . . . and yes if you have no desire to become a christian  then why bother watching it . i saw this movie after i had already been saved and found it to be very moving . i see now they have taken these movies to another level and have created the left behind series . . . they run a close comparison and definitely are more modern to reach people . i think in order to actually judge this movie  you should see it    there are  or  of them in the series if i am not mistaken . . . don  t use our comments to judge  see the movie for yourself   god will bless you if that is why you are watching them .  
this move reminded my of tales from the crypt keeper . it has the same sort of idea of people get what they deserve . i think that  s always the them in a crypt story . the same goes for the bad acting . very bad acting . i enjoyed the movie knowing that most people didn  t like it and i wasn  t expecting much . whenever i watch a stephen king movie i don  t expect much because all his movies are awful compared to the genius of his novels . i have read the shining and carrie and they were great books . i love how carrie played out like it was a true story and the whole book is a bunch of reports and theories and such . it was so good . but i noticed that both of the novels were nothing like the movies . the endings were very different then the movie versions . i assume from those two novels that all of his novels are changed greatly and the endings are always cheesy . i ending of thinner is the worst . so cheesy . i want to read the book to find out the real ending . i suggest everyone who intends to read stephen king  s novels to watch his movies before hand so that you may compare . and that way you will be greatly satisfied in the book . i intend on doing so with all his novels that were made into movies . i  m sure if they were made into movies they were real good books . . . and the screenplay went terribly wrong .  
i have seen this movie a whole dozen times and it  s awesome . but the only thing with it was that in the beginning  there was too much talk of who  s going out with who . i think that it would be interesting to do a remake of it . but on the official site  they said that they will not be making a remake of it because so many people have gotten saved when viewing it . what  s even happened to patty dunning now  she is a pretty good actress . she has done several other movies in the   s and   s  but we haven  t heard from her since . i know for sure about thom rachford  who plays jerry  works for accounting at rd films . but overall  i have to say that the series itself is like left behind gone old school .  
the plot of the thinner is decidedly thin . and gross . an obese lawyer drives over the gypsy woman  and the gypsy curse causes him to lose and lose weight . . . to the bone . ok  gypsy curses should be entertaining  but the weight  losing gone bad  nope . except stephen king thinks so . and michael mcdowell  other horror author and the screenwriter of this abysmal film  does so  too . the lawyer is not only criminally irresponsible  he is fat too  haha  the thinner is like an immature piece of crap for a person who moans how he  she has never seen anything so disgusting than fatness . hey  i can only say well  look at the mirror .  
stylish  moody  innovative revenge  driven bloodbath . also cheesy  of course  and sporadically very cheesy . it reminded me a lot of the big heat because it has the revenge plot set off by the exact same event  and the girl comes around to the good guy  s side because of the same bad behavior by the bad guy . it  s sad there  s no gloria grahame but so fantastic that it  s alain delon and not glenn ford . could there be anyone as beautiful as alain going around in a cashmere sweater and trenchcoat  yet he  s totally tough and icy cool . no one nowadays can touch him   though someone like jude law could try i guess . hard for any girl to look good with him . the music was funky and perfect and there were several excellent car chases  and those aren  t generally my cup of tea    especially one willy nilly one in the woods . people also met their dooms in creative and bloody fashion  for instance in a junkyard cruncher . but beyond the cheese  the overall atmosphere was affecting and expertly pulled off . more creativity  excitement and freshness in that  forgotten  movie than most of what i  ve seen lately .  
as interesting as a sheet of cardboard  this dispensable period piece has little going for it . it  s overly wordy and fails spectacularly to evoke the tension and fear that the real  life characters must have felt as they dodged the french revolution  s fickle hand of justice . eric rohmer at    it shows .  
man oh man . . . i  ve been foolishly procrastinating  not the right term  there  s a long list   to watch this film and finally had the chance to do so . and  news  are marvellous labyrinthine spectacle   br    br   for any von trier  s  follower   both rigets  element of crime  dogville  dancer in the dark  the five obstructions  etc . . . europa is probably the differential for its greatness in visual terms . everything is beautifully somber and claustrophobic  you really get the feeling of being inside this  imaginary  nightmarish time warp . taking from the masters of surreal cinema like bunuel  bergman  till noir films of the    s with acidic drops of avant  guard von trier leads the art  film scene as the  well intended totalitarian  movie maker of nowadays . his authoritarian way of dealing with very intricate issues  without being irrational  hits the nerve of the viewer with the intent to cure some of the deepest wounds we feed in our hypocritical world .  br    br   as utopian as it seems  i do believe people like von trier could help society in many ways in a broader aspect . the day films and filmmakers that carry this sort of power are no longer necessary  as a tool for reflection  perhaps it could be the start of a new era  the age of emotional control over our fears  . this is what he offers to us constantly through his work over and over .  br    br   bravo   
i can  t believe that those praising this movie herein aren  t thinking of some other film . i was prepared for the possibility that this would be awful  but the script  or lack thereof  makes for a film that  s also pointless . on the plus side  the general level of craft on the part of the actors and technical crew is quite competent  but when you  ve got a sow  s ear to work with you can  t make a silk purse . ben g fans should stick with just about any other movie he  s been in . dorothy s fans should stick to galaxina . peter b fans should stick to last picture show and target . fans of cheap laughs at the expense of those who seem to be asking for it should stick to peter b  s amazingly awful book  killing of the unicorn .  
i  ve read most of the comments on this movie . i have seen this movie  and the whole prophecy series  many times with family members of all ages  we all enjoyed and it just made us meditate on what we already knew from reading and studying the bible about the rapture and end times . no one got scared or traumatized like i have read on some posts . the movie is just based on biblical facts . i have seen a lot of end time movies  tribulation    armagedon  and so on and by far this one is one of the best in presenting bible truths . it may not have a lot of great special effects like todays movies but i believe it is a good witnessing tool . this movie and its prophecy series can be seen free at this website higherpraise . com  and judge for yourself . blessings to all .  
i was really looking forward to seeing this film  but after watching it i was really disappointed . the best bit was when stephen king was in it . rober john berk cannot act to save his life and neither can any of the others . a few of the performances even made me laugh out loud  the film was was not as i imagined it  after reading the book which was awesome  i imagined it darker and a lot scarier . if i was stephen  i would be really mad   br    br   i don  t know why they changed the ending  i thought the ending of the book was very good . if you just found out the pie killed your daughter  you wouldn  t feed it to anyone else would you    br    br   book was so much better   
this is a great movie for all generation x  ers . what a different world the america of     was compared to our psychotic   st century . you can get a sense of what an     america gone by was like by watching this movie . i found that the clothing and the car styles brought back to me fond memories of a much better country than we have now . just think . . . back then there were only  or  tv stations to choose from . there was no aids  muslim terrorists  road rage      bird flu  freeway snipers  etc  etc . the vietnam war was just over . there will still be  years before star wars comes out . the personal computer and internet would still be   years away .  br    br   when this movie first came out the producers had to market the film themselves as no other film company wanted it . so it began touring small protestant churches around the country being shown on movie projectors  this was the days before vcrs of course  . the pastor of a church who would would be interested in showing a thief in the night to his congregation would obtain a copy of the film . then he would set up a evening to show it in the church meeting area or lunch room . members of the congregation would invite  unsaved  friends and family members and it would be a social event of the week .  br    br   if you can get past the limited production values of the film and just watch it for its nostalgic value  then i think you will enjoy the film more . of course i am speaking as a gen xer .  br    br   if i had a time machine i would go back to     and say goodbye to the   st century cesspool we have now .  
just another example of why stepehn king  s books should not be made into movies .  even carrie  one of the best  is ruined in the adaptation from book to screen .  the premise of the story revolves around a fat lawyer  always on a diet  who  accidentally  kills an old gypsy woman . in court  with the help of the judge and the local police chief  he gets off  even though the accident was sort of his fault as he was not paying attention as he was driving . the father of the dead gypsy woman places a curse on the   with our main character  billy  the lawyer  getting thinner and thinner by the day . though the movie kept with the book  for the most part  and has your typical king ending  the acting was stilted and felt forced . we went from one scene to the next without much of anything in between  sort of like reading acts in a play . king himself made a cameo in the movie  sort of like dave barry   which reinforces my belief that authors should stay just that authors . leave the acting to actors . not that anyone in this movie was that great . i  ve seen the major characters in movies where they were much better .  
a thief in the night has got to be the best out of all the end times thrillers . i have no clue what people are complaining about what people are whining about when they say that these movies scared them into accepting god . they just needed to find an excuse and blamed a thief in the night . do not listen  these movies do not only tell of one of the many possibilities of the tribulation  but they  re also fun to watch in their simplicity . they are in fact low  budget and that is a little obvious  but not all too obvious upon first viewing . i had no clue because i really assumed that a lot of movies like these made in the    s included low  budgets all the time .  br    br   a thief in the night tells the story of young and cynical patty myers who lives for what comes her way  until her husband  and nearly all her friends disappear in the prophetic rapture everyone warned her about . at first  the movie isn  t all based around her until the rapture happens . what it leads up to are showing that everyone else around her are becoming christians and believing in christ  which is usually what happens to a lot of people . everyone around them they once knew and loved will be gone forever  and the one who is left behind is the one who blames everyone but themselves . no one can ever blame themselves because they  re always right .  br    br   just like these whiners who complain about the movie . these people must be full grown adults . i  m thirteen  and you don  t see me whining  especially since i was exactly like patty before i re  accepted christ into my heart . for those who haven  t seen it  if you want a little bit of everything tossed into a christian movie instead of stereo  typical everyone else is wrong movies  than you  ll enjoy a thief in the night . don  t knock it before you try it . something new is always good . trust your own instincts .  
no  i haven  t read the stephen king novel  thinner   but i choked down the film version . horror movies are an acquired taste . regular movies give an audience a hero to applaud as he strives to achieve a goal . in horror movies  audiences are invited to savor the demise of characters . in director tom holland  s low  fat but tasteless revenge chiller  thinner   nobody wins and everybody deserves the bite that is put on them . gluttonous new england attorney billy halleck  robert john burke of  robocop    has a weight problem . although he rocks the bathroom scales at    pounds  he appears happily married to a trim  delectable wife  heidi  lucinda jenney of  g . i . jane   with a yeasty teenage daughter .  br    br   fat doesn  t mean stupid here . halleck displays his sagacity in court when he wins an acquittal verdict for sleazy mafia chieftain richie ginelli  joe mantegna of  house of games   . driving home from a victory feast  billy hits an old gypsy woman crossing the street and kills her . a cover  up occurs  and halleck  s friends get him out of the soup . the disgruntled gypsy father taduz lemke  michael constantine of  skidoo   retaliates with a curse on the corpulent lawyer and the two town officials that exonerated him . suddenly  halleck finds himself shedding pounds no matter how much chow he chomps . when he begs the vengeful gypsy to lift the curse  the old man refuses . desperately  halleck resorts to richie . while halleck struggles with the gypsies to remove the hex  he learns that his loyal wife has turned his attentions to the town  s hotshot doctor .  br    br    thinner  qualifies as not only laughably inept horror flick  but the filmmakers also rely on stereotypes of men and women . tom holland  who directed  child  s play         and scenarist michael mcdowell  have served up such a slipshod script that you cannot relish watching billy get his just dessert and shrivel up .  thinner  boasts few shocks and fewer surprises . the filmmakers may have regurgitated king  s novel  but they have filleted whatever sense of horror and humor it contained . holland and mcdowell introduce characters  such as the mafioso  then inexplicably let them off the hook . one minor character shows up long enough to die and have a chicken  s head stuffed in his mouth .  br    br   the stereotypical behavior of the characters may offend audiences  too .  thinner  depicts women as oversexed vixens and men as swine . when halleck sneaks home from a clinic  he finds his doctor  s sports car parked at his house . his suspicions ripen into jealousy and he cooks up a scheme to get the curse transferred to this wife . even the premature ending lacks any satirical flavor . oscar  winning special effects wizard greg cannom of  van helsing  and make  up artist bob laden do a fabulous job beefing up actor robert john burke to look obese . they succeed  too  in making him shrivel .  br    br   only die  hard stephen king fans will be able to stomach this misogynistic gooledyspook .  
this is a great movie . some will disagree with me but  if you know anything about the bible you know it is . i think everyone should see it   i agree a new updated version like be nice but the message is still right on . if you can see this movie . is not a  scare the hell of you movie   it is truthful with the bible . i think the u . n . will play a major role in the world government to come . the last days are lining up with the bible . look at what has happened with the chip for dogs and cats that now has come to light to protect on children from being kidnapped . it  s the size of a grain of rice . this i feel is the fore runner of the mark of the beast spoken of in the bible . without the mark you can  t sell or buy  with this chip that small in the future there is no telling how much info can be put on it .  
you  ll notice that the chemist  who appears in two scenes and gets to speak  is played by stephen king .  don  t give up your day job  is the standard thing to say  but that  s not fair . king acquits himself reasonably well he  s no worse than any other member of the cast  and better than most . the story  on the other hand  is pure rubbish . please  give up your day job .  br    br   never have i seen so many dreadful performances  of which the lead actor  s  the lead actor  s   is probably the worst  gathered together in the one film . everyone acts hammily  but not in any entertaining way they all somehow manage to go over  the  top without expending  or manifesting  energy . i blame screenwriter  director tom holland . it can  t be that all the actors are really this bad . what are the odds against that  admittedly  i  ve never heard of any of them before  but still  i don  t think i could walk into a talent agency and walk out with this many bad performers if i tried one actor  despite my best efforts  would turn out to have talent . so what  s more likely  that tom holland rolled a dozen consecutive snake  eyes  or that he wrote a lousy script and then directed it poorly  that would also explain why actors are bad in direct proportion to their prominence in the script . the more direction an actor got  the worse he performed .   you want me to bend over like a hunchback  talk from the back of my throat  show all my teeth  and look bored  all at the same time  okay . . .    br    br   this theory is confirmed by the fact that holland undeniably managed to co  write a lousy script . several writers here have commented on the fact that billy halleck is not a likeable character  but that  s a misleading way of putting it . he  s not a knowable character . all we find out about him before the supernatural stuff starts happening is that he  s fat  and that all he can think about is food .   all i can think about is food   he tells us  helpfully .  and in the end . . .  br    br    sigh  i suppose i ought insert a spoiler warning here . . .  br    br   in the end he becomes evil . why  i can only shrug . perhaps he  s under some kind of enchantment . yeah  that  s probably it . by  evil  perhaps i mean  inexplicable   it  s not so much badness as a socially undesirable suspension of ordinary means  end psychology . anyway  his actions at the end make no sense  nobody  s actions make much sense  and this is despite the fact that the characters do little but explain their motivation for the benefit of the audience .  br    br   by the way  here  s my nominee for hammiest line  delivery  i don  t think you  d like it . in fact . . .  big dramatic pause  . . . i don  t think you  d like it at all .   
a thief in the night is an excellent fictional account of the weeks leading up to the rapture and the weeks following that pivotal event .  br    br   i thoroughly enjoyed both the production values and the content values of this independent christian movie .  br    br   the production values . hey  it  s an independent movie  with a shoe  string budget  so  ya  it  s going to look a bit cheesy  if your standard is a  list hollywood fare  . but  properly compared with other independent movies  this film is perfectly acceptable . more important than acting style  costumes  and music is the narrative itself . is the story compelling  do the dramatic moments work  does the story trajectory build to a satisfying climax  the answer to all these questions is an unqualified  yes .  as a side  note  the truly important technical stuff   continuity  sound  lighting   are fine . the viewer is able to watch the show without being distracted by sloppy craftsmanship .  br    br   content value . the message of the movie is superb . when you consider how many ideas the movie  maker developed within the brief span of   minutes  you begin to appreciate his artistry . he presents the message of salvation  the consequence of unbelief  the danger of backsliding  the truth of the rapture  and the threat of a world  dominating satanic government with flare  imagination  and   most importantly for an evangelical movie   with biblical accuracy .  br    br   the movie  maker is a good storyteller . for example  he develops the message of salvation in two important ways    he shows us through action the reality of jesus christ  s sacrifice for our sake . this is achieved in a subplot where the zoo  keeper is bit by a poisonous snake and nearly dies . the only cure is blood from someone who is immune to the snake  poison . the poison is like sin the cure is like christ  s blood  shed on the cross .    the filmmaker also develops the message of salvation through dialog . he has various characters explain the truth about human sin and the need for salvation through faith in christ . so  the movie  maker uses both action and dialog to tell his story .  br    br   as a side  note  the fact that a movie produced by evangelical christians actually contains dialog and scenes that convey a clearly delineated message of salvation  couched in explicitly evangelical christian language  imagery  and theology is also perfectly acceptable . to criticize this film for being explicitly christian is absurd it  s akin to criticizing a nike commercial for promoting sport  wear . what else would evangelical christian movie makers make  if not a film that states their case  also  the fact that the movie  maker employs the idea that the unbelieving will be left behind in a godless world is  again  perfectly acceptable . the movie  maker uses the dramatic potential of that idea admirably . how do i know  i heard about a thief in the night from a woman who saw the show way back in      it still lived in her memory thirty years later . how many movies can you say that about  all around  a very enjoyable  thought  provoking show . i plan on showing it to my teen group at church .  
one of those   why was this made   movies . the romance is very hard to swallow . it is one of those romances  that  suddenly   click   they are in love . the movie is filled with long pauses and uncomfortable moments  the drive  in restaurant being the most notable . charles grodin does a credible job but for most of the movie it  s just him and louise lasser . ask yourself  do you want to watch grodin with his neurosis and lasser with her neurosis together for a hour and half   
obviously  there wasn  t a huge budget for this film which definitely hindered the production . but the story and ending were so brutal that they made up for a lot . i mean brutal on the level of ju dou and other  great  chinese films . i first saw this when i was   years old  i ran home and begged god to forgive me for everything . . .  
this stuffy melodrama is quite easily the worst film starring ingrid bergman that i  ve seen . even her luminous screen presence can  t save this insufferably slow and meandering movie that  s nearly impossible to sit through without fast  forwarding a lot of it .  br    br   only for die  hard bergman fans others are very likely to fall asleep . i suggest you to watch  for whom the bell tolls  instead .  
to all the reviewers on this page  i would have to say this movie is worth seeing . so it was made in      so what . the fashion in the movie was exactly the same fashion of its time . people who didn  t study culture of the decades would think that this movie is a cheese ball . compared to the modern series  left behind    which is made for our time right now  it does look cheezy . however  the only cheezy part of the movie is the fashion  which again was over   years in the past . but . the message that is sent in this film is very powerful  and carefully preserved . there is just so much to say  but i refuse to say it .  for fear of spoiling it  so go out and see this film  if you don  t like the message that it sends  then you have issues  that need some attention   
a novel by remarque . a cast that looks great on paper . a left  wing refugee struggling to remain in paris between the wars . a gestapo officer undercover .  br    br   it  s a pity there  s no synergy here . the bits and pieces never coalesce .  br    br   stories about left  wing refugees in france don  t have to be this dull . read arthur koestler  s memoir  scum of the earth   if you can find it  . or his chilling  dialogue with death   ditto  .  br    br   to me  the only interest in this film lies in some of the incidental details .  br    br   the leads spend a lot of time drinking calvados  the norman apple brandy . i welcome any prompting to have a nip of calvados myself . it certainly made this film appear to pass more quickly . but  according to the film  it  s only sold in cheap  low  class saloons . vive le tabac parisien  that  s what i say . references to intoxicating liquors do abound here that would seem to be a preoccupation of the scenarists .  br    br   i enjoy films set in france because it can be amusing waiting for the inevitable full  size alcohol ad to pop up on a wall in the background . i wasn  t disappointed . this time it was for byrrh  a very unusual choice . this film would rate a   if only we were judging it on the refinement of its booze murals .  br    br   the film  s indifferent score is by louis gruenberg . gruenberg is best known   if you can call it that   for his opera  the emperor jones   based on the o  neill play . it premired at roughly the same time as the film version starring paul robeson . the opera survives today in a recording or two by lawrence tibbett . it should surface again soon though they  re running out of potentially marketable operas to revive .  br    br   opera seems an appropriate subject to mention here since charles boyer  s character operates under his  czech  aliases . two of them are  wozzeck  and  gunther   both prominent roles in german opera . is that just coincidence   br    br   name  dropping just seems to be part of this film . notice that they call up  himmelstoss  on the phone . himmelstoss happens to be one of the main characters in remarque  s earlier  all quiet on the western front  .  br    br   well  the in  jokes are all in place guess there wasn  t time to develop any drama .  
i remember seeing this movie a long time ago  back then even though it didn  t have any special effects  the acting was really good . and it still has the same message for today  even though the technology has changed  maybe they should make a remake of this movie  it would be interesting to see a remake . i also enjoyed the music from the movie as well  larry norman was a really good songwriter during that time period  although now most christian music is now worship and praise music . i was always curious to know what ever happened to patty after the series ended  did she go on to make more movies  did she get eventually get married and raise a family  i would like to have an update .  
this     made for tv movie was shown on a women  s channel  naturally . as a man  why do i even attempt to watch this  i don  t know  but i should have my head examined . and director and writer simon gornick should be ashamed of himself to give men an injustice as he does . he takes away any strength and conviction a man could have by having several boring women do him in . number one bore is joyce hyser as the wife . i couldn  t wait for him to drop her . her revenge was silly and stupid and very confusing through most of the movie . the other femme fatale was nichole hiltz  about the coldest person you  d ever want to meet . her looks didn  t warrant our leading man to go that ape over her and her acting was so obvious  only a fool could miss . definitely a loser . tembi locke was pretty good  but slow on the uptake as to the slut seducing her own husband  again played as a guy who is a loser  by david deluise . rounding out our cast of losers is anthony denison as a boss who has little to do but scowl at our hero . stephen jenkins as our hero  or should i say victim  was not that good . at first i thought he just a bad actor  but later i believed it . he never got the part off the ground and was repetitive throughout . although  as a man  i became enraged when the two women got away with it . men  beware of this channel that puts men down and women get away even with murder . lmn is the channel . beware . note having watched this a second time by mistake  i am convinced on my initial thoughts . especially on the writer  director  simon gornick . i still believe he has disgraced the male species and should be horse whipped . only saving grace in this film is tembi locke who doesn  t have a chance to show her talents with the awful acting of jenkins  hyser  hiltz and deluise around her . plus the stupid plot that only makes it worse . down with gornick  s movie and his vacant stars in it . please lmn don  t show this trite again .  
the reason why people say that this movie scared them is because it did   that means the movie purpose was felt by a few who did see it . when i first saw this movie it scared me and made me think about life and religion . this is not a blood and gore scary type movie  but the kind that you would think that it may be possible for things to happen the way the movie was written . of course non believers will say its only a sci  fi movie . truth is  this movie is a must have for your thriller collection  even if it does have a religious view . if you are a fan of classic thrillers  omen . . etc  this is one of them and its a must have . i never saw the sequel  distant thunder   but i believe it picks up where this movie ends .  
blows my mind how this movie got made . i watched it while i worked at home writing emails and answering the phone   i only watched it because i hoped the  revenge  part would be good . needless to say  the revenge and the forced plot twists were not worth the emails during which they were watched . in fact  i  m not even sure what happened at the end any more . the acting was as bad as re  enactment scenarios on the  fbi files  show   by far  the worst re  enactments  really only  arrest and trial  can possibly be as bad at re  enactments  . i didn  t even know that the leading man was in third eye blind until i looked the movie up here on imdb  but its obvious why he hasn  t made any movies since . i hope he is a good singer .  
now  for all of the cinematographical buffs out there  this film may not rank high on your list of things to see . but if you know anything about plot development  profound truth  and the intentions that this film  the series  had  you  d understand my p . o . v .  br    br   granted  the specifics of the film are renderings of the writer  who cannot be expected to know what will happen in the end . but the film is biblically accurate and justifiably  scares  viewers into thinking about what may be . i  m a christian  not due to this movie  but due to my personal decision to accept jesus as my savior . the film and potential that something similar to the circumstances portrayed therein can remarkably scare someone into thinking about their actions and decisions . it  s not some cheap attempt to scare people into believing in god  but rather  a means to get your attention .  br    br   as a christian  i know i  ll not be left behind  and thanks to movies like this  i can look beyond the superficialities of entertainment  acting  and film budgeting to appreciate the depth that the film has to offer . this is a movie you shouldn  t not only see  but feel with your heart and soul .  
you  ve heard it said to live every moment as if it  s your last  whether it  s your last day or not  i beg you not to waste any part of it watching this  nichole hiltz provides some nice moments of eye candy  that alas  stays wrapped  and david deluise shows why he should stick to the small screen or dog food commercials . a shallow  unrealistic plot with dreadful dialogue means there is no  art  in the  art of revenge  .  br    br    
night of the living homeless is a funny spoof of the     film  and the     remake  of  dawn of the dead  . only this time . . . with the homeless . the episode has homeless people all coming to south park and the people cannot figure out why . they treat the homeless like zombies who want change and a few of the parents end up on the roof of a supermarket like in the movie . so now it  s up to the boys to find out where they came from and how to get rid of them . this is a fairly funny episode with some good moments like the boys singing their own version of the  pac  dr . dre song  california love  . overall a good episode .  br    br        
as a fan of eric rohmer  s studies of the contemporary war between the sexes  i was very eager to see  the lady and the duke  l  anglaise et le duc   for how he would treat men and women during a real war  the french revolution .  br    br   the film looks beautiful  with each scene designed as a period painting  like a tableaux vivant . and i expected much talking  as that  s rohmer  s style . but maybe rohmer was restrained by basing the screenplay on a real woman  s writings is why this mostly felt like a docudrama version of  the scarlet pimpernel .   br    br   as awful as the excesses of robespierre et al  how about some recognition that the french aristocrats were spoiled brats  i kept humming to myself  marat  we  re poor  and the poor stay poor  you could also pick a tune from  les miz .   br    br   i wasn  t all that sympathetic as the central figure has to go back and forth between her city home and country manor to stay ahead of the revolution . at one point her maid claims the pantry is bare but sure manages to lay out a fine repast . i simply didn  t understand her  an english sympathizer who alternately rejects and defends her former lover and patron as he and the revolution keep shifting political focus i think i was supposed to sympathize with her consistency more than their political machinations  like a character out of  the scarlet pimpernel .  hey  the only reason she didn  t go back home was her disgrace after an affair and child with the prince of wales or somebody .  br    br   usually in a revolutionary period there  s some groundswell of change going on in relations between men and women  but i saw none here . i once went to a herbert marcuse lecture that concluded with a lengthy q  a the last question  from an audience member far older than the rest of us acolytes  heck she had gray hair  was  why are revolutionaries so grim   she was hooted at and marcuse didn  t deign to respond to it seriously   but it  s the only thing of substance i remember from the whole evening . rohmer demonstrates that counter  revolutionaries are also grim and didactic .  br    br    originally written            
long before tim lahaye and jerry b . jenkins would shake the world of the christian subculture  and make millions in the process  with the left behind books  mark iv pictures  the christian film distribution company of the billy graham evangelistic association  gave us this masterwork . what i love most about this genre is its incredible attention to detail  sitting in a living room . instead of taking us to the dramatic scenes of this  post  rapture  tribulation  we sit in the living room  hearing about it on the news because the filmmakers can  t afford to show it . the film  s premise is grounded in pre  millenial  pre  tribulation eschatalogy  believing that christ comes once for the secret taking of the true church  and then comes again at the end of the seven years of hell on earth . what used to terrify me in junior high now makes me laugh . the intriguing adventures of patty and her journey throughout the tribulation  and two of the film  s three sequels  tells her remarkable story of unbelief and ultimately damnation . i hate to admit it  but i still thoroughly enjoy watching this . it even has the same exact score of monty python and the holy grail . i think i  m the only person in history to make that observation .  
there is only one reason to watch this movie if you are not related to one of the stars or a producer actress nichole hiltz . she is the show in this slow moving and wildly unlikely story of revenge . directed by simon gornick  the film stars joyce hyser as a betrayed wife who decides to seek revenge on her cheatin  spouse . oh  but not by conventional means . she plans a total guerrilla war and recruits bad girl nichole hiltz as her weapon of choice . she wants nichole  as tuesday  to get close to her ex  the handsome but dull stephan jenkins  who should stick to music  to embarrass him and ruin his life . david deluise is good in his few brief moments  and former  crime story  star anthony dennison is given virtually nothing to do but scowl . hiltz on the other hand comes off at various times as sexy and playful  then evil and devious . she also handles vulnerable and  maybe a bit psychotic  well . she  s also quite hot  though there  s no naughty bits show  so you can understand how she might be able to get to any guy she is aimed at . but the performance is kind of wasted in this movie  which is just not edgy or interesting enough to recommend .  
ms patty duke  s story about her life and struggles with manic depression were just like my life struggles . i saw myself acting out just like her . i was so amazed at the similarities of our lives to include the sexual abuse that we both endured as children .  br    br   i saw the movie when it first premiered in     and i have loved this movie so much . anyone who has struggled with manic depression could get so much from this movie . never mind about if it showed her awards or what they were for . that is not the issue here . the issue is how ms duke had an illness and fought to survive it and overcame . ms . duke has much to be proud of in her accomplishments with her struggles for survival of a disease that often leaves many victims without hope .  br    br   unless a person has struggled with this illness personally they don  t know the hell they have to live with . the movie to me was a success because it showed the real issues and how a person who is depressed and manic acts . it was so real . . . so  so  real . it was like watching myself up there on screen .  br    br   i wish i could thank ms . patty duke in person for having the courage to let the public know about her illness . bocka  
an okay film  with a fine leading lady  but a terrible leading man . stephan jenkins  who plays the husband  is a truly bad actor . joyce hyser  on the other hand  is the movie  s saving grace . she  s the best actor of the bunch .  br    br   note the first comment  by the fellow who heaped praise upon the movie  and  according to his imdb . com account  has only written one review   and guess for what movie   is obviously a plant . while the movie is nicely shot  it  s by no means subtle or great or whatever other hypobolic descriptions the reviewer used .  br    br    art of revenge  is a fair movie  but it  s a big tease . it offers up all manner of sexual situations but never goes through with it . like watching a skin flick on cinemax  but with all the  naughty bits  edited out .  br    br   the film  as a whole  is a bit unfocused and the ending  and much of the third act  is really a big mess . there  s a twist ending  of course  since every movie nowadays finds it necessary to have a twist ending .  br    br   a  out of   .  br    br    
this is such a great movie  call me anna  because it shows how a person has suffered for so long without knowing what was wrong with her . for patty duke to come out in the publics eye and tell her story is an inspiration to those who suffer from this disease . i have a lot of respect for her as a person . the only thing i don  t like is i can  t get it on tape  i  ve tried looking for it but with no success . any one know how to get it   
the only reason i remember this movie is because it was  and still is  the biggest waste of time and money ever spent . i was   and my friend was   . we were the age when action movies were our thing to enjoy most  ok  nd most  . we walked out feeling so insulted  we wanted our money back  but the time could never be regained .  br    br   the editing is what killed this movie . as the truck gets attacked by more and more vehicles with rocket launchers attached the movie completely insults the intelligence of the audience by having these rogue bad guys in  x  vw bugs shooting rockets at the truck . please  rockets at a truck known to be carrying plutonium  what  s worse is the these vw  s manage to get      shots off of a  rocket launcher . you would see on vw with  rockets fire  of them  cut around the truck with the last one attached  come back a second later with two rockets attached  fire another  then go in front of the truck and now it  s back to a full set of  rockets .  br    br   we toughed it out hoping for a big finish that never happened . it looks like they just ran out of money and stopped .  br    br   just ridiculous .  
i think it took a lot of guts for her to come forward like that . it is unfortunate that when a celebrity suffers that is what helps people most . but  in her case  what she did was remarkable . i have been in the mental health field for five years and i think it is great that mental illness is not a terrible word anymore and i believe she helped . i always thought she was great and always will . i am glad that she wrote this book and that the movie was made . she is a remarkable lady and i hope she continues to act . she has been through a lot and has faced it . i would really love to see her work more with children  especially child actors . her ordeal should not have happened and i think she would be wonderful as a mentor to young people . the movie was so moving to me that i was very touched . suffering a tbi which brought the onset of my disorder and having ptsd  it is good to know that someone has the courage enough to display her life as she did . i believe it helped this nation and people in general realize that there are others like them and that there is help . thank you ms . duke  or anna  which ever you prefer .  
just a warning . . . this is the worst movie i have seen in years . . . i couldn  t watch it to the end . . . it is a pure waste of time . . . i really feel sorry for snipes that he ended up in such a movie . there really is not much to say about it . horrible acting  incredibly bad lines  story  everything . the only reason i would advise you to watch this movie is if you really want to see how a movie shouldn  t be . just to tell you one scene the police are searching for snipes  and they are surrounding the building with helicopters and cars  they are shooting around inside the building  but still they are whispering so that snipes doesn  t suspect a thing .  
then you must see this film  to understand the reality . having read the book  ms . duke is now an advocate for those afflicted with bipolar disorder formerly labeled manic  depression .  br    br   it is hard to believe that in this day and age  people still critique others with emotional problems  or those who seek psychiatric help . regressive and discriminatory thinking still exists  and this is unfortunate .  br    br   in this film  the audience sees the pain and suffering ms . duke had been through  especially as a child . many of us may remember her from the teenage  patty duke show  . she was a household name in america by age   .  br    br   you learn of her exploitation by the ross   well played by howard hesseman  . as she was growing up in the      s  the stigma was in full  force . however  we see as she advances in her career  yet the illness becomes worse . she goes through bouts of substance abuse and promiscuity even marries someone whom she divorces the next week and she has several conflicts and tantrums with her children and elderly mother . all these problem occurred before she received adequate therapy  and medication .  br    br   a recent survey released by nami  national alliance on mental illness  recorded that a majority of us adults fail to recognize most of the classic symptoms of bipolar disorder . it also was released that one in five respondents to the poll believed that people could control their illness without medication if they wanted to .  bp magazine  winter      if you watch this film  you will learn the true story of a talented woman who could not  pull herself up by her bootstraps  and  get well  until she was educated about her disorder  and received proper treatment . thank you  ms . duke  for being an advocate against ignorance and prejudice .  
the us appear to run the uk police who all run around armed to the teeth and did you know that cid officers change into uniform when they stop work and go down the pub  this has got to be one of the most unrealistic films with the worst portrayal of  real  uk police that has ever been foisted on the unsuspecting public . i can see that mr snipes might have needed the money to pay his back tax bill but what the heck a good actor like charles dance was doing in it is a mystery .  br    br   worse than the worse low budget  b  film of the    s . an hour and a half of suicide and time i will never get back .  br    br   avoid it like the veritable plague .  
this is a cute little horror spoof  comedy featuring cassandra peterson aka elvira mistress of the dark  the most infamous horror hostess of all time . this was meant to be the pilot vehicle for elvira and was so successful that it was picked up by the nbc network . they filmed a pilot for a television series to feature the busty babe in black but unfortunately the sit  com never made it past the pilot stage due to it  s sexual references . this film however  is very amusing . elvira is the modern  day chesty morgan and the queen of the one  liners . this film was followed up a few years later by the abysmal  elvira  s haunted hills  which was meant to be a take  off of the old roger corman movies but falls flat on it  s face . watch this movie instead for a much more entertaining experience   
haha  you have to just smile and smile if you actually made it all the way through this movie . it like says something about myself i guess . the movie itself was created i think as some sort of psychological test  or like some sort of drug  to take you to a place you have never been before . when wittgenstein wrote his famous first philosophical piece the tractacus  sp   he said it was meaningless and useless  but if you read it  after you were done  it would take you to a new level  like a ladder  and then you could throw away the work and see things with clarity and true understanding . this movie is the same i think .  br    br   as a movie it is without a doubt  the worst movie i have seen in a long long time in such a unique way . first of all  this is snipes . i loved watching this guy kick ass in various movies . and i have suffered through a few weak ones . however  although you know the movie might suck  you would never suspect that it could be as bad as it actually was . which is the fun of it . i mean this is snipes . you know it might be good  but it will be alright  right  smile .  br    br   so this thing on every level is pure boredom  pure unoriginality . the reference to the professional is both dead on and obvious  yet so poorly done as to be comical . there is not one character in this movie that is interesting  in the least . and to make the whole thing more surreal  they have a soundtrack that sort of sounds like parts to various bourne identity type movies  only isn  t quite right . in fact  although it seems close to action movie background music  it just so happens it is done in a manner that will grate on you fantastically .  br    br   then all the scenes in the total pitch black  where honestly since the characters are so flat  you don  t really care whats going to happen  but regardless  after it happens and someone is killed  you just say to yourself  was i supposed to see that  what else  how about scenes with blinding  obnoxious flashing at a strobe lights pace  for a period of time that is too long to bear . sure let  s throw that in . how bout this though . when you are straining and your eyes cant handle it any longer  do some more of these in the dark kills where you really don  t see what happened . and on top of that  lets face it you don  t care . you were past bored way from the beginning .  br    br   so i drifted in and out a couple times  but i caught almost all of this movie . and it becomes something you can watch  without something that engages your mind on any level  therefore  it becomes something you can effectively zone out with  and begin to think about your life  where its going  where its been  what we are as people .  br    br   and that . . . that is the true magic of this film .  
cassandra peterson originally created elvira as the television hostess of late  night horror films  and when the character proved unexpectedly popular she suddenly found herself doing everything from beer commercials to spots on the tonight show with johnny carson . she reached the peak of her popularity in the late     s  and the film elvira  mistress of the dark was the result .  br    br   the plot is flyweight . television horror film hostess elvira dreams of success in las vegas . when her great aunt dies  she travels to new england in hopes that the estate will provide enough money to back a stage show she is disappointed to find she has inherited a rundown house  a poodle  and an old book . it happens that the town is puritanical beyond all description  and she provokes righteous indignation everywhere she goes . it also happens that her great uncle is secretly an evil warlock and very intent on laying hands on  the old book .  throw in a few teenagers  a stud muffin  and a hateful woman with falsies and there you go .  br    br   no one would accuse it of being a cinematic masterpiece  and it does drag now and then . but cassandra peterson demonstrates tremendous flair from start to finish squirmy  sexy  and mixing lowbrow humor with flashes of sharp comedy  she dances through the film like a ringmaster in a circus of corny and often self  mocking jokes . from a flashdance disaster to witchcraft craziness  she is never less than wildly entertaining . it  s a tremendous amount of fun  and the film  s conclusion even manages to generate considerable suspense . will elvira best her evil uncle and save the day  well  i don  t want to give anything away  so let  s just say you  ll have a lot of fun finding out .  br    br   dvd quality is okay and there  s little in the way of bonus material  but if you  re in the mood for something silly this one is sure to answer the urge . and if you  ve never seen tassle  twirling  you  re in for a treat . recommended .  br    br   gft  amazon reviewer  
after watching this i thought to myself  there are either too few good writers  directors or lots of producers .  br    br   at any rate  this is a terrible movie . terrible in a way that it  s not fun  but rather makes you grit your teeth and quiver . makes you shout  this is wrong  at the movie . immersion is zero . by now most of you are probably used to the terrible errors  weirdness  es in movies that has computers hackers etc . in them . this movie is like that in every aspect .  br    br   the only good thing about the movie is the little girl emily  brilliantly played by eliza bennett . i hope she becomes big  and make this . . thing at least worth something .  br    br   do yourself a favor . don  t watch this . there is not even proper action in it . total waste of time .  
elvira mistress of the dark        cassandra peterson  daniel greene  william morgan sheppard  susan kellerman  edie mcclug  jeff conaway  phil rubenstein  larry flash jenkins  tress macneille  damita jo freeman  mario celario  william dance  lee mclaughlin  charles woolf  sharon hays  bill cable  joseph arias  scott morris  ira heiden  frank collison  lynne marie stewart  marie sullivan  jack fletcher  robert benedetti  kate brown  hugh gillin  eve smith  raleigh bond  tony burrier  alan dewames  timm hill  read scot  james hogan  derek givens . . . director james signorelli . . . screenplay sam egan  john paragon .  br    br   elvira  mistress of the dark was an    s tv icon who had her own late night show on cable . she hosted and presented classic american horror films  many of them campy  while providing her own quips and humorous remarks . actress cassandra peterson has to this date ridden on that success . in      her first film was released . playing herself  she  s stuck hosting monster movie shows but longs for her own show in las vegas and make big money . her agent manny proves a disappointment . it  s not long before she inherits a mansion from a deceased relative  a pet dog and a book of recipes . she comes to claim her inheritance in a small nevada town  she was on her way to vegas and became lost  and soon stirs things up in the sedate community . outspoken conservative town council woman chastity pariah  edie mcclurg  soon sees her as a threat to the decency and values of the small town . her voluptuous figure and winning personality soon draws the youth of the town . she falls for bob redding  daniel greene  the town handyman  carpenter  but before any real relationship can bloom  she finds herself in deep trouble . vincent talbot  william morgan sheppard  an eerie older man who is also set to inherit part of the fortune of elvira  s relative is in fact an age  old sorcerer who has a personal vendetta against elvira  s aunt and elvira herself . he is aware that the so  called  recipe book  is actually a book of powerful magic  a power he wishes to claim for himself . he schemes to bring down elvira by having the town burn her at the stake . how will elvira get out of this one  the movie was no real success at the box office  drawing a crowd of mostly young audiences familiar with the elvira show on cable . truth be told  this is a funny and feel  good movie . the script is chalk full of all kinds of jokes  some bad  some good  lots of sexual innuendo  visual jokes and overall campiness i . e . the hilarious last scene in which elvira has finally got her own strip show in vegas . this film is a cult classic of sorts  catering to elvira fans . you couldn  t enjoy this film otherwise . it  s also a look back at  pop  culture of the    s . elvira was as much an icon of the    s as was alf  vicky the robot  hulk hogan  mr . t and madonna .  
a lot of themes or parts of the story is the same as in leon  then other parts felt like some other movie  i don  t know which  but there are an familiar feeling over the whole movie . it was kind of nice to watch  but it would have been fantastic  if the story would have been more original . the theme little girl  bad assassin from leon  is just tweaked a little . the opening scenes are really good    it is strange that people like to fight in the kitchen  in the movies    my biggest problem was to remember which parts was from leon  nikita and if they where from the french or american version . if you have not seen leon  then this is a good movie . if you liked this movie  then i can recommend leon .  br    br   best regards  rick  
those who love elivra as i did in her late night movie hostess duties will love this movie  she is just plain cool  her car is great  and she is a bit of a transylvanian dolly parton  she is so innocent and naive at times  and sexy all of the time  plus  more than a touch of mae west   br    br   the sets are well done as well  and the comic cast is great  with edie mcclurg at her usual best  plus sally kellerman as patty is hilarious . any time i have to crunch something for a topping  i will think of how elvira crunches the potato chips   br    br   this movie is one to be watched again and again  just for the fun of it . now i have to get the sequel to it  elvira  s haunted hills  and see if it lives up to this one      
it is incredible   . . yes  someone before me wrote that it was a time wasting to seat and watch this film . . it is  don  t do so  i  m totally rankled  i liked wesley snipes  and i founded funny that he played his name  s meaning in a movie . anyway  i wanted to see this film  at home only of course  but now  just after  i am absolutely disappointed  it was his worst movie ever . inwatchable   bad actor  play  bad cameraman  bad scenario  . . only one good think that wonderful girl  must be a manikin surely  eeeeh   mb . .   lines minimum   i don  t want to waste you  re time anymore to read my opinion  i hope  i was clear and under  stable  because english is not my native method of speaking . so have grate time  and see good films  like i try too . . peace   
elvira  mistress of the dark  is a fun  camp horror comedy  in which the fourth wall is broken a couple of times and the jokes often stay below the navel . and the breasts of cassandra peterson become a character of their own .  br    br   elvira  cassandra peterson  is stacked horror show hostess  who learns  that she has inherited her aunt morgana . so she goes to a little town of fallwell  which is ruled by the most horrendous monster ever to embrace the earth morality comity . elviras boobacious appearance is  of course  too much for the prunes  but the kids of the town get a kick out of her different kind of approach on life . and of course there is even more sinister evil  her uncle vincent  william morgan sheppard   who is after elvira  s mothers book of spells . see  elvira actually is a real witch  she just doesn  t know it . yet .  br    br   for what it is  elvira is quite funny film  even though the script does leave a lot of room for improvement . most laughs come from the difference between elvira and the people of good morals  but there are a couple of good visual gags as well . over all direction is okay  but it never rises to be anything more than that . in all  a good  intentionally campy  comedy . if you like this kind of thing  that is .  
in the words of charles dance  s character in this film   bollocks   no plot  no character development  and utterly unbelievable .  br    br   full of stuff that just doesn  t happen in the real world  since when were british police inspectors armed with handguns in shoulder holsters   . full of mistakes  bulgarian trains in london   . full of dull and artificial dialogue . and the directing  editing is awful  wobbly hand  held camera shots that add nothing to the film except a vague feeling of seasickness confusing jump  cuts no structure .  br    br   wesley snipes  character is totally unsympathetic  why should we care what happens to him  direct to video  direct to the dustbin   
i found this episode to be one of funniest i  ve seen in a long time . the south park creators have done the best spoof of a romero film i have ever seen . they have truly touched on romero  s underlying social commentary that he has made with each one of his films . i would love to know what george romero  s opinion was on this episode i  m sure it was purely positive  keeping his true vision for his zombie epics fully intact  most spoofs deal with the pure gore without making the viewer think as romero tries to do with his films . i think that if a zombie outbreak did happen we may actually worry about our property values before our lives as shown in this episode   
i can hardly believe that this inert  turgid and badly staged film is by a filmmaker whose other works i  ve quite enjoyed . the experience of enduring the lady and the duke  and no other word but  enduring  will do   left me in a vile mood  a condition relieved only by reading the imdb user comment by ali     . for not only has rohmer attempted  with success  to make us see the world through the genre art of   th century france but  as ali has pointed out  has shown  at the cost of alienating his audience  the effects of both class consciousness and the revolution it inspired through the eyes of a dislikably elitist woman of her times . the director has accomplished something undeniably difficult  but i question whether it was worth the effort it took for him to do so   or for us to watch the dull results of his labor .  
i wasn  t expecting much  and  to be honest  i didn  t like this film the first time around but watching it again and i realised that it  s kinda cool . sure  it  s a one joke film but it  s a funny gag .  br    br   someone posted that it could be better written and it could be . i think this film had the potential to be a over  the  top my cousin vinny . but with a horror host instead of a lawyer . sadly it  s a wasted opportunity . with just a bit more writing it could be a classic . the kids are underused there  s no reason why they should latch on to elvira . apart from the obvious reasons . it would have been great to see their relationship flourish . i know it  s a comedy but it  s little differences that separate the good films from the brilliant .  br    br   elvira herself is always fun and engaging . not to mention flirty . every time she smiles you will too . it  s hard to knock a film when the main character is so charming . and it really is her charm  don  t let her looks fool you into thinking that she  s some sort of tart . well she is . but she  s a nice one . the sort of person you  d let look after your kids . wouldn  t let her cook for them  though . . .  br    br   i  d recommend giving it a go .  br    br   just don  t expect too much .  br    br   she  s more than just a great set of boobs . she  s also an incredible pair of legs .  
i read in the papers that w . snipes was broke so no wonder he would take parts in low budget projects like the contractor . he is just the next action star to join a growing clubthe penniless action stars of the   s  van damme  segal  lundgren  snipes  . here he stars the lead in a cheap action flick which was shot in bulgaria  we are supposed to believe that the location is london  like only a complete moron would buy that  the story is the one of     other movies retired special forces good guy gets hired by the government again to do a wet job  after that government wants to get rid of him  good guy gets away after killing bad guys  was that a spoiler  guess not   the star of the movie the little girl  eliza bennett  outperforms everybody else of the cast    one star is for her plus one star for eye candy lena headey  makes  stars . only for die hard snipes fans  everybody elseavoid   
the magnetism radiated from elvira  drawing her legions of devoted admirers  has a primordial quality . with her lengthy  well  toned figure  large  bust  innocuously mischievous attitude and grab  bag lexicon of me  generation valley slang  the character of elvira has a universal and timeless appeal . as an aspiring folklorist and an individual deeply interested in the structure of storytelling  it is evident that the elvira persona has certain archetypal elements that help to make the character more than the sum of her corny one  liners and large chest . as initiated from the manner in which the children of the town react to her  she represents the deep adolescent fantasy for an experienced woman whom can connect to them of their level a strange mixture of one  dimensional romantic yearning  boyish sexual craving and the desire for non  threateningly lighthearted fun . she symbolizes an undeveloped ideal of womanhood perfected for the boys and a source of strength for the girls of the town . the other adults have trouble with her for the same reasons . in the end  however  her film cannot move pass its more campy ingredients . the end result is that while elvira is infinitely interesting  her film is limited by how weak a showcase it is for her talents . nearly everything is tailored to an adolescent mindset and although it is a straightforward comedy  only those who can still process information with the mind of a young person will be able to enjoy the nonsense . fortunately  i have such ability and found the film to be a delightful charmer .  br    br   best quote bob redding how  s your head  elvira i haven  t had any complaints .  
this film was horrible . the script is completely unrealistic yet it is written to take place in the real  world  the editing and lighting effects are worse than most first projects in film school .  br    br   i do not recommend this film to anyone who a  knows any detail about the world of police or covert operations . b  knows any detail about film making or appreciation .  br    br   i do recommend this film to the average or below  average mind  i think it would be enjoyable if i was a dumber . if you must watch this film on a full mind  i highly recommend some kind of inebriation  br    br   it is a total waste of what little production value it has .  
to be honest i watched this movie only because of my pubert needs . i mean  i couldn  t get women at my age  i was  or    so i thought watching elvira  s cleavage was the closet thing to sex .  br    br   i ended up having a great time with this cult classic about horror comedy  halloween parties  sassy humor  and some sexy evil displayed by elvira .  br    br   they just don  t make movies like this anymore . . . it had the feeling of an amateur effort mixed with a late night cable talk show host style .  br    br   the truth is that it generated plenty of fans because of it  s humor and the ability to perform by cassandra .  br    br   this is classic that reminds me of the good days of usa up all night .  
the problem with the contracter is summed up by the opening scene . the cia want an international terrorist dead so contact black ops assassin james dial . the terrorist is appearing at the old bailey court in london which begs the question why do they want to bump off a terrorist if he  s going to spend the rest of his life in jail  he  s going to be out of circulation either way . didn  t the cia have a chance before he was arrested  if by some chance he gets a not guilty verdict then kill him . there  s no logical reason to kill someone who is going to spend life in a maximum security prison  br    br   since the premise sets up the story an audience might be choose to ignore the plot hole but the assination itself pours fuel upon the fire . dial  s colleague is killed by a police bullet and the taxi they  re driving in crashes but dial manages to escape . so the police were close enough to shoot someone but too far away to apprehend someone from a car crash  the film of this type of plot connivance . later dial finds a police inspector pointing a gun at him saying  this airport is surrounded by armed coppers  yet dial manages to escape very easily without explanation . the whole film cheats its audience by relying on things that are never explained . this includes an important supporting character called emily day . why does she help dial even though he  s a wanted fugitive  your guess is as good as mine  br    br   this is a fairly poor thriller and don  t be taken in by the  big name  cast . wesley snipes used to qualify as a film star but killed his career by starring in more and more inconsequental films . charles dance also appeared in big budget hollywood productions such as last action hero and alien  but again he  s someone best known for appearing in straight to dvd fare these days  and he  s basically playing a cameo role anyway . the likes of lena headey may go on to become big players in cinema but they  l certainly fail to put the contracter on their resume  
since the start of her career in the    s and vastly throughout the exuberant    s  elvira  cassandra peterson  has grown into a modest icon and genuine cult figure in the world of horror  bad monster movies . while ms . peterson has taken on various supporting roles in motion pictures  covering a wide variety in genres  it was her tv  character elvira that brought her the most fame . part of her charm  and respect from the fans  lies in the fact she never turned her back on the horror genre that made her famous  unlike many other big name actors  actresses that like to distantiate themselves from their  early  work  . i  ve seen only bits  pieces of her tv performances  but her cameo role in ghoultown  s recent tribute song  mistress of the dark  really encouraged me to check out more of her stuff . one thing had been clear to me already long before this music video over the years  elvira had become a force of influence herself by the time the mid     s came around .  br    br   and in      after films like  fright night  and  terrorvision  incorporated homages to and spoofs on her tv  work  it finally happened  elvira  mistress of the dark   the motion picture . now  i had seen the trailer for it already back in the vhs rental days  but it took me until last week to finally see the actual film . a few years ago  i did manage to watch  elvira  s haunted hills   made in       but for some reason it didn  t impress me all that much . was it really that forgettable  or should i give it another watch  i actually really do feel like re  watching it now  as this first elvira film from    really convinced me . though perhaps partly responsible for making this film work  might be sam egan and john paragon with their contributions to the script  there really is no way to deny it cassandra peterson has a great feel for comedy  she also co  wrote the screenplay  .  br    br   when elvira learns she  s one of the beneficiaries of a great aunt  she never heard of before   she takes it as the long cherished opportunity to start up her own show in las vegas . out to claim her rightfully inherited money  she travels to a quiet new england town . but the uptight townspeople of falwell are in for a treat . in less than no time she manages to shock and insult all noteworthy inhabitants of the conservative little town with her  often unintentionally  provocative behaviour . to make things worse  her inheritance turns out not to be what she expected a rundown mansion  a cookbook and a poodle . but what she doesn  t know  and her evil uncle vincent albot does  is that her great aunt was a witch  and the cookbook contains recipes to concoct the most hellishly dark powers imaginable . and if you haven  t turned off the movie yet by the time elvira has cooked up her first dish from the recipe  book  then rest assured  you  re going to sit out this ride with a smile on your face .  br    br   it  s surprising how a script rigged together with boob  jokes  witty one  liners  movie references  inside jokes and bade taste merriment also manages to tell a coherent story . simple  of course  but coherent . while other movies  heavily relying on gag  like situations  often make you loose track of the story completely  like the  naked gun  films  for example   this film doesn  t . a lot of horror  comedies were being produced during the    s  but not a lot of them actually worked . let alone a horror  spoof that doesn  t derail at some point   killer party   although i  m grateful for this one going completely bonkers during the finale  or becomes too tedious too quickly   saturday the   th   . although  elvira  is more comedy than horror  it doesn  t loose track of what it  s doing and consistently builds up towards a mildly grotesque finale  complete with a supernatural showdown in the streets of falwell between newborn witch elvira and evil uncle wizard talbot  including a real honest  to  god witch hunt and elvira  s very own burn  at  the  stake moment .  br    br   i  m telling you  there  s no power in hell that could make this movie unfunny . one of the first giggles i got was during the opening credits already  when daniel greene  s name appeared . daniel who  oh yes  i recognized his name  and later on his dim  witted macho  face  . how can one not forget daniel greene once you  ve seen . . .  atomic cyborg aka fists of steel   but if you haven  t seen  atomic cyborg   then i  m sorry  but you won  t be able to laugh with his face in this one . and on a side  note i never could have imagined elvira looking this cool while ignorantly driving away from a gas station . even robert rodriguez could not have made that shot look any better .  
don  t really know where to start with one of the worst films i have had the displeasure to watch in a very long time . from the setting which was quite obviously and very clear to anyone who has visited london for even  day will agree . . . was not london . to the much unexplained way how snipe  s character managed to escape the country back to the us without a single problem . then he convinces the girl and grandmother to visit him in america  how on earth did grandma agree to that . . . he  s an assassin  well that  s the ending how about during the film  well unfortunately that didn  t fare much better . we have british cops driving an amazing range of cars  i  m sure it was an eighties vauxhall belmont which chased the taxi after the assignation  but a modern subaru imprezza escorting the prison van in a few scenes prior . so   or whoever the gun toting arm of the met they were trying to portray was happily running around the streets with their guns out chasing after snipe  s along with the cia . there were children walking around  but the police were still stating they had a clear shot to shoot him  does this happen in london  no it doesn  t  i live there . we also have the very implausible travel from central london to the airport  let  s say heathrow for arguments sake  within  minutes of receiving a call . we also have terrible american accents  a young girl who  s posher than the queen  but lives in elephant  castle . what does it say for british police when helicopters and a number of officers at snipe  s location can  t find snipe  s and he manages to evade capture by hiding behind some stairs  the train station was obviously not even on uk soil and the fight scene sound effects were terrible . the plot was also extremely poor  boring and been written and filmed a lot better a thousand times before . but there were a few notable actors cast in this film  what were they thinking and please don  t let that sway you to watch this film  this film didn  t seem to know what it wanted to be  if you are going to concentrate on the dramatic aspects from the aftermath of an assignation then you need a strong rigid plot with plausible scenery and setting  this is something the viewer has time to take in and appreciate and if you do it wrong then you notice it . if you want an all out action film  which this is not  then continuity and scenery can be put to the side .  
elvira  cassandra peterson  is the host of a cheap horror show . after she finds out that her dead aunt has left her some stuff  elvira goes to england to pick it up  hoping it will be some money . but to her horror  elvira finds out that all her aunt has left her is her house  her dog and a cookbook . elvira decides to settle in the house anyways  but with her striking dark looks and her stunning features  she will not be able to live in peace . all the neighbours are now turning the whole town against her  and with elvira  s outrageous attitude and looks  everyone better watch out  because elvira is on fire  i really enjoyed this movie  it  s really fun to watch get elvira into all these adventures  she  s just great . the whole movie puts you into a halloween mood  sure  it  s silly and the jokes are cheap but it  s a pleasure to watch it . i would give elvira  mistress of the dark      
i once used wesley snipes  name as a clue to go ahead and watch a new  untried film in which he appears . so now  for the first time  my snipes  method of film recommendation has failed . utterly . i should first have come here to see these reviews .  br    br   snipes ought to be ashamed to allow his otherwise earnest efforts to be so wasted in  the contractor  .  br    br   one of my worst flick fears has come to bitter fruition . i feared that the shaky  blurry  pseudo  documentary   unconsidered  directing and editing style  first brought to my attention by the paul greengrass  directed  bloody sunday   might propagate to other films . greengass  sickening style was then brought to nauseatingly new heights in the last two of the bourne trilogy films . my fear had come to pass . in my opinion  these films are made really bad by these motion  sickness  inducing methods  which mistake blurry swipes for  action  enhancement  . but the  bourne franchise   as greengrass so loving calls his cash cow  apparently convinced others in hollywood to go unprofessional in the quest for fast  big bucks .  br    br   read my lips  you hollywood types . action needs to be clearly photographed and presented  not merely hinted at by poor  lazy cinematographic techniques .  br    br   and  the contractor  goes so far as to emulate  the bourne ultimatum  in inanely  repeated sound bites  in hopes their juvenile  apparently  evaluated  audiences can  t sense them . for example  if i hear a cop radio crackling  yankee  romeo  one more time  i  ll just scream . the chances are good i won  t hear it again i certainly won  t ever view  the contractor  again .  br    br   i recommend to those of you who have yet to see  the contractor   just be content with the tranquility this lack affords to your life .  br    br    out of    i am tempted to lower that to a  .  
i suck at gratuitous boob references  so i  m just going to write a plainly flat  no pun intended  review . i love elvira  not in a  i  m  going  to  shoot  the  pres  just  to  impress  jodi  foster  fanatical  way  but suffice to say i think she rocks . the movie is played like a    s horror film only alot more fun  look for the  leasurely stroking of the ankle  reference to know what i mean . what relay shines through in the movie is elvira  s  or should that be cassandras  absolute charm . i first saw this movie at the tender age of   and have seen it contless times since . . i realy should get around to buying a copy  the videostore version is looking a little worse for the wear . if any other fans of the movie want to e  mail me about it feel free .  br    br   p . s another great performance from edie mcclurg  chastedy pariah  an actress who never gets the attention she deserves .  
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   james dial  wesley snipes  is hiding out on his ranch in montana after failing to capture a notorious terrorist . then he  s approached by the agency again to travel to london to have another go . his target has been apprehended there and is under heavy police protection  but they don  t want him merely to capture their man  they want him taken out . all goes well but then the mission gets botched and when a senior police chief  windsor  charles dance  is killed  the blame falls at dial  s feet . hunted like an animal  he takes refuge in a nearby house and befriends a young girl named emily  eliza bennett  who  s dealing with issues of her own and becomes his unwitting sidekick as he goes about clearing his name and working out who betrayed him .  br    br   this latest snipes straight to dvd escapade came out of nowhere  with a minimal of publicity even for something so small time  i don  t recall seeing any advertisements or trailers for it anywhere .  with this in mind and after snipes  s history of duff dvd efforts  this might have seemed like one which snoop dawg would tell you to drop like it  s hot . but i felt compelled to give it a go anyway . it doesn  t rank among his worst  but it doesn  t reach any higher than the standards of some of his better ones  the detonator   seconds  says it all  really   either .  br    br   this is  at best  mildly suspenseful  with a minimal of action  naff all in the way of cool dialogue and snipes not exactly at his best in the lead role . likewise  in a main supporting role  it  s quite clear dance has only showed up for the pay cheque as well and this is generally one that none of the cast are going to shout for the hills about on any of their cvs .  br    br   it says a lot that by the end the only  contract  that  s keeping you interested is when snipes  s will end with sony and with it an end to any further sub par el dvd action films .   
when my sister said this movie was gonna be good i had second thoughts but i watched it and it was actually funny . basically the movie is made of a weird girl who goes to a small town where no one likes her and she just wants to go there and get the reading of her aunts will don so she can go . but its not all that easy . in this movie you will come across hilarious humor  a witch  a book of spells  recopies  a mentally challenged uncle and a dog . you will understand the meaning of the word freak a after anyways i hope you run right out and try to find this really old movie . hope you like it in total i will have to give it a  . . . . no i  m totally joking ill give it a  hope you understand that you will laugh  you will scream and you may just be offended .  br    br   love yours truly dakota you can email me at dakota  loves  ithot mail . com if you wanna  
wesley snipes is james dial  an assassin for hire  agent of the cia and pure bad  ass special operative . during his free time dial dons a cowboy hat and breeds horses with macho names such as beauty .  br    br   enter agent collins  his supervising officer . enter a new assignment  kill a terrorist that is in uk custody . of course the united kingdom being an allied state is a great place for covert ops and head  shots outside of courtrooms .  br    br   the assassination is a big success apart from the fact  that the escape plan blew . so dial  s partner and local liaison gets killed in action trying to escape the police  whilst dial becomes hot property with the london coppers trying to get to him and cia trying to dispose of him .  br    br   fortunately for dial the safe  house is routinely visited by a teenager emily day  eliza bennett   who loves hanging out with cold  blooded killers with arrest warrants and help them escape from the evil uk law enforcement . . .  br    br   with a script like that need i say more  on the plus side wesley snipes is wesley snipes  be that a pro or a con  and the movie is quite engaging . on the minus editing is very disjointing and has a hurl effect on the stomach .  
this film is fun  if your a person who likes a good campy feature film every now and then . by no means is this movie fine cinema  but if you dont take things too seriously  and can laugh at yourself once in a while  elvira is a good frownbuster .  
i wouldn  t call it awful  but nothing at all shines in this movie  and it is encumbered with some seriously unbelievable basic plot development . it starts out well  but once the main hit is done  it devolves into a long subplot around a young girl which is not compelling  and some action scenes which are theatre of the absurd unrealistic . for example there is a prolonged shootout at the airport in which the lighting is all stroboscopic . no explanation for that . how credible is it that a airport storage area is going to have lights that flash on and off confusingly  and just enough to let snipes do his incredible escape schtick  this is one of far too few action scenes punctuated by pointlessly drawn out set ups that just fails to draw one into suspending belief .  br    br   in addition  the whole premise seems to be that the united states cia team can shoot the place up but get away with it by saying  national security  to the brits . this gimmick relies on a stereotype that is to far afield from reality to be satisfying .  br    br   there are a lot better action movies out there . better formulated  better executed . this one is entertaining at times but there is just not enough meat on the bone and after a while it becomes downright boring   something that should never happen in a good action movie .  
there are two things that i like about elvira  and they  re both bigger than she is and she keeps them covered up her wit and her talent . a movie is the best thing to show off how funny she can be or how she commands attention . looking like a combined clone of morticia adams and anna nicole smith  she inherits a distant relative  s estate only to discover that she is really the heiress of the occult . the comedy in this movie is the best thing about it  but it could have been a lot more scary and chilling . it  s mostly a campy fare with as many bad horror movie references in it such as the rioting mob or the fleeing heroine who trips and stumbles on her heels . my favorite part is when she uses her marvelous endowments to break the chains keeping her locked in the cemetary . the ending is sappingly sweet as if it were written by the bradys  but the las vegas act at the end seems too grandiose for this type of movie .  
have previously enjoyed wesley snipes in several action flicks and i had expected a lot more  even from a score of  .  imdb  the movie fails to entertain and even though the story is thin and unoriginal  the acting is most unfortunately thinner and goes to mimic a  worst case scenario  of playing  strong  feelings accompanied by some bad acting . . . don  t waist your time this movie snt entertaining  if you wanna cry it might suffice though  even though your tears will be wept due to seeing wesley snipes in the tragic action film wannabe comedy . . .  br    br   i give this     it really was awful  if you wanna see a decent movie go see shooter or rent it  its all the good things this movie isn  t .  
elvira mistress of the dark is one of my fav movies  it has every thing you would want in a film  like great one liners  sexy star and a outrageous story  if you have not seen it  you are missing out on one of the greatest films made . i can  t wait till her new movie comes out   
virgin is selected to marry rich guy . rich guy urinates . woman on boat likes sailor . sailor urinates . virgin attends gross  out commune dinner . man urinates on dinner table . boatwoman does strip tease for little boys . man pretending to be baby urinates . there is an underlying theme here . makavejev is trying to say that he is pied off at the world . to say that this is a bizarre movie is an understatement . to justify the title  there is a scene where laure  who hardly speaks ten lines the whole movie  bathes in chocolate syrup . it is a sweet scene indeed but the rest of the movie leaves a bad taste in one  s mouth unless one happens to share the director  s fetishes .  
and yet another run of south park comes to an end . this wasn  t as strong an episode as i  d hoped for  but night of the living homeless was a stronger finisher then stanley  s cup  tsst  bloody mary  or erection day . it still can  t hold a candle to woodland critter christmas and goobacks  but few episodes can .  br    br   night of the living homeless is a spoof of the zombie genre  done in a way only south park would think of . instead of flesh eating zombies  the entities are homeless that request change and seem to survive off of it .  br    br   randy and other residents are locked in the community center  though this time on the roof  where they can survey the scene . a particularly funny moment is when one member finds out his home is gone  and becomes homeless  leaving randy no choice but to shoot him .  br    br   meanwhile  the four boys set out to solve the problem  with the whole story behind the homeless takeover trying to convey a message  but being seriously uninspired . south park is at it  s best a lot of the times when it is being ridiculous . matt and trey played it safe this week  and didn  t really critique the homeless problem  just lampooned it .  br    br   the shock moment of the episode comes when a scientist shoots himself in an attempt to avoid the homeless . this is the first time a suicide on south park goes wrong  and we watch the poor man miss his brain and then attempt to shoot himself many times while he painfully dies . another inspired south park moment .  br    br   overall  the episode was funny  but it was kept from being great by withholding any real commentary on the homeless and sticking straight with the zombie shtick . the ending is somewhat funny  but nothing new .  br    br   now we must wait until october for the next batch of episodes . it  s a long haul  but south park must be applauded for it  s run . the show seemed to be running out of steam last season  but now it  s back in full form .  
every so often a movie comes along that knocks me down a notch and reminds me that my taste in films i seek out to watch isn  t always impeccable . i normally would stay away from stuff like this  but i was duped by some glowing reviews and the rohmer pedigree .  br    br   there  s an initial and intriguing novelty to the production where rohmer essentially superimposes the actors onto painted  digital  back  drops of revolution era france . this quickly wanes and becomes about as interesting as watching the paint dry on a paint by numbers scene . what we  re left with is a boring and stuffy film about aristocrats in   th century france . none of the characters are appealing or sympathetic . the pace is so languid  the dialogue so arduous  and suspense is clearly a foreign concept to rohmer  that i ended up not caring whose head rolled  who was harboring who  or what the devil the revolution was supposed to be about . the movie would  ve greatly benefited from some semblance of emotional build  up and a music score  there  s some fine classical music used at the very end  . despite being so  talky   the film plays much like a silent film  and the worst kind of film at that  a dull and uninteresting film about infinitely interesting subjects . only the most astute french historians will find anything to take from this film  as it dose seem to paint well known events from a new angle  the lady is english and a royalist  . otherwise  avoid this yawner at all costs unless you are suffering from insomnia  i dozed off twice  .  
what can one say about elvira that hasn  t already been said in the world  s press  the classic comedienne that is elvira delivers in her first full  length big budget comedy masterpiece .  br    br   from the very first movie frame thingy  elvira packs an acting punch that clearly says film great . . . . eat your heart out  bette davis  see a forlorn elvira  see an excitable elvira  see a jealous elvira  see a murderous elvira . you can do nothing but marvel at her acting prowess   br    br   at the heart of this comedy masterpiece is elvira  s desire for las vegas show stardom . despite putting  the boob back in the boobtube  as a horror hostess  with the mostest   elvira finds the small screen constrictive emotionally . . . . and physically  nuff said  she packs up her kitbag and heads east . . . . a hotdog in one hand and a letter from her aunt  s lawyer outlining her inheritance  windfall  in the other .  br    br   i  ve seen this movie so many times  i can almost recite it verbatim . . . .  verbatim would just be showing off    br    br   grab a copy  laugh yourself silly  learn the lines . . . .  br    br   why she didn  t win the best actress oscar for this role is beyond me .  
investigative reporter darren mcgavin  as carl kolchak  is back this time  he  s after  the night strangler  . once again  police officials and fellow journalists either disbelieve  or want to cover  up  the supernatural angle . producer  director dan curtis presents the same basic story as his preceding  night   with understandably less success .  br    br   mr . curtis assembles a fun supporting cast  included are  dark shadows  alumni george dicenzo and ivor francis . jo ann pflug  as louise harper  heads up a sexy collection of belly  dancers . and  although i  ve never seen it mentioned anywhere  that must be roger davis as mr . mcgavin  s dining companion in an early scene  feigning disbelief in the existence of vampires   br    br    the night strangler          dan curtis  darren mcgavin  jo ann pflug  simon oakland  wally cox  
i think that this movie is very fun and horror . i love elvira and i like this movie . it  s very pity that second part of this wonderful movie had no success  because it very funny like a first part . i also regret that besides of this movie i have no seen cassandra peterson in other films . i think that she is amazing actress with big . . . potential . i hope that ii  ll see her in future in the third part of elvira  s adventures . cassandra peterson is one of my favorite comedy actresses . cassandra  if you read this  know that you are the best and my heart will be with you . you can rely on me . what can i more add  this is cool and classical movie   
as far as i am concerned this silent version of the merry widow is the worst version ever made . there is no tenderness or love or spirituality about this version  it is all macabre  germanic  sinister nonsense . it reminded me of nazis falling in love who cares   br    br   this silent version by von stroheim is not a faithful adaptation of the original story . in this one we have leering john gilbert and his gross relative the prince lusting after this silly american actress  played by mae murray  possessed with a modern permed hairstyle and implausible feminist manner that threw me off again and again . i like my romances light and beautiful  with slow build ups not harsh and sadistic like this one . and come on  those bee stung lips  get rid of them  girl   br    br   go see a live performance of the show if you would like to get a real idea of the sweetness of the original operetta by franz lehar . failing that  wait till tcm shows the jeanette macdonald  maurice chevalier sound version . it  s much better .  
ok  i saw this in the theaters when it came out and i don  t know why . i haven  t seen it since  but i ended up on this page because i found myself thinking about this film  again i don  t know why . but the fact that i remember it speaks volumes .  br    br   comedy is hard  much harder than any drama . doing it right makes it seem easy  but doing it wrong . . . is there anything worse than a bad comedy  steve martin  pay attention  you are falling in this category again for some reason .  br    br   elvira mistress of the dark must have done it right for me to remember this movie fondly . done at a quick pace  with tongue in cheek and knowing it isn  t the philedelphia story  it entertains from start to finish . brain donors is another that fits right in this category  sans most of the gratuitous boob jokes  .  br    br   one point of contention  the ending . it seems the writers  director had no idea how to finish a comedy . the ending tries to be a love story  somewhat undermining the quirky fast  paced dialogue up to that point . then there is the  tassle  scene . whereas this has to be seen  male opinion   it is so over the top and out of place it  s like a shock . one more rewrite for the ending was needed .  br    br   this is not comedy genius like spinal tap or the producers or the holy grail . but if you don  t try to dissect it and just let the puns and sappy fun come to you  you  ll laugh  i guarantee it .  
the imdb guidelines state that you have to declare if your comments contain  spoilers  .  br    br   well  this whole film is something of a spoiler . . . a cautionary tale that glorifies what it cautions against  a tale of lost youth that doesn  t know where it itself is going .  br    br   i just saw this at the tribeca film festival . this film wasn  t just bad  it was really bad .  br    br   the acting is inconsistent  the characters are the mostly clich offerings with little depth  and farnsworth  s acting was very bad in particular .  br    br   from the patronizing accents to the pointless plot line to the out of place  graphic  elements to the repetitious dialog and scenarios . . . it sucked the big one .  br    br   i think he was looking for sort of a more edgy  updated  drugstore cowboy  with a touch of  natural born killers  but it is no where as sensitive to the characters as the former and no where as shocking  outside of some frat  level gore  as the ladder .  br    br   more than anything  someone needed to really a  edit the screenplay  br    br    there are some things in there to build on and clearly  br    br   deals with a worthy subject . . . if ham  handed in it  s attempt .  b  edit the film . if it was cut down to a core  it might be passable .  br    br   i would go lower than  if i could . . . like maybe zero kelvin .  
elvira mistress of the dark is just that  a campy concoction of fun  sex appeal  horror and comedy all poured into a low cut black gown and toped with a sky high black bouffant hair  do . this movie is sure to delight any fan of elvira  s . it takes you upclose and personal with elvira and probes deep into her . . . um past revealing her enormous . . . ancestry .  br    br   the movie takes you on a ride with elvira as she goes from tv horror hostess with the mostess to her home town of fallwell mass to claim her inheritance from a deceased great aunt . where she encounters a stuffy town  a studly cinema owner  a creepy great uncle who seems to be after her for more than her good looks . a slew of high school kids that immediately love her  and a town board who are will do anything to get her out of town  even if it means burning her at the stake  watch elvira woo the kids  stalk the stud  avoid her creepy great uncle and thumb her nose at the stuffy uptight  preservatives  who have no kind words for her  in elvira mistress of the dark   br    br   as elvira would say  i guarantee it  ll be a scream   screams in background  whoa  good thing i didn  t say it  d be a gas    
i  m shocked that there were people who liked this movie . . i saw it at tribeca and most of the audience laughed through it at scenes that were not meant to be funny . i felt bad because the lead actress was in the audience  but honestly the plot to this movie needed major revision . . it didn  t even make sense  one second the characters question what exactly it is that they  re snorting . . the next scene they  re hopelessly addicted and figure out how to make it   also the ending just took the cake . . i  m not going to spoil the magnificent conclusion . . but it pretty much blended right in with the rest of the horrible plot  script . . . see this movie for comedy if you must . .  
this has to be one of my favourite flicks  unlike the weak  elvira  s haunted hills  . . . anyway i love the way the movie is a goth  com  wizard of oz  story . . .  br    br   elvira is a goth dorothy who is stranded in an unfamiliar town after the death of a good witch  elviras aunt morgana  . . . she inherits a  ruby  ring which is extremely powerful and sought after by the bad warlock  her uncle  . . . she befriends four characters whom she inadvertently helps grow throughout the movie all the while with a dog in tow . there is a show down with her uncle  the wicked witch of the west  where elvira realises that she has the strength within her and ends up defeating him . in the end she gets sent off by the towns folk after winning over their hearts and finally gets to her destination las vegas  dorothy  s home in kansas  .  br    br   there are many references made to the wizard of oz throughout the movie . . . she and her uncle both quote lines relevant to their parallel characters . elvira  youe must be aunt em  and you must be uncle remus . . . . there  s no place like home  there  s no place like home   bad uncle vinny  i  ll get you my pretty  and your little dog too    br    br   there is a sign that elvira passes when first on her road trip which mentions the state of kansas .  br    br   but aside from this  the fact that one of the sequences she  ripped off  um . . . i mean was inspired by flashdance  is pure genius . . . and if you don  t roll around laughing at her titty twirling at the end of her  very    s  las vegas show then you haven  t got a camp bone in your body . . . this movie is a cult  camp classic  
tasteless . i can  t even write intelligently about the movie . i laughed the entire movie . it wasn  t supposed to be funny . matt farnsworth has no clue what he is doing . his story is written  it seems  without any knowledge of iowa culture and the meth problem . i know farnsworth is from iowa  which makes his movie even more puzzling to me . why do the two main characters have accents  it doesn  t make any sense . the acting was mediocre at best and at times hard to watch . gratituous violence and sex filled the movie . i am guessing that the violence and sex were supposed to make the movie edgy  but it came across as unbelievable and offensive . the ending of the movie is so brilliantly bad that all i could do was laugh and look at the rolling credits with disbelief . as i walked out of the theatre everyone else who was leaving was laughing along with me . the ending of the movie was meant to evoke tears  but it did the exact opposite . do not waste your time on this horrible movie  unless you want to see ignorant  sappy  overacted  clichd drivel .  
this film is pure elvira and shows her at her breast . . . i mean best  the story  co  written by cassandra peterson  elvira  s alter ego  is inspiring and captivating and is brought to life by elvira  s wit and charm . the viewer gets an opportunity to see elvira in a whole new light as she struggles with the prejudices of the people of fallwell  massachusetts  where she has travelled from los angeles in order to attend the reading of her great aunt morganna  s will  and at the same time tries to help the long  suffering teenagers who have been deprived of fun by the matriarchal chastity pariah and the rest of the town council . she also has to deal with her attraction to bob redding  the owner of the local cinema  and another woman  patty  who has her eye on bob as well but is not nearly as deserving of his love as elvira . and  later in the movie  she also faces the complications of being descended from   a major metaphysical celebrity   and the charges of witchcraft brought against her which mean that she will be burnt at the stake . elvira manages to be both sexy and vulnerable  streetwise and naive in this film  while cracking risque jokes and delivering off  beat lines with double meanings .  br    br   this movie is inspiring because it gives out the message of never giving up on yourself and always trying to follow your dreams . in the end elvira  s dreams finally come true  which is the best thing that could happen to this wonderfully unique and determined woman .  br    br   i  ve seen this movie countless times and i never ever get tired of it  there are no unnecessary scenes and i found myself captivated throughout the whole movie . a review will not do justice to the actual movie  so i can just tell you to please watch it because it is one of the best movies ever made  meanwhile  i wish you   unpleasant dreams     
this movie made me really mad because the main characters or all the characters have a southern accent . i  ve lived in iowa for   years and i know that people don  t have a southern accent here . this movie is about a guy who does meth and i don  t know the real plot or what the movie is suppose to be about . it has some pretty graphic drug use in it and it  s really insulting so see these people use meth like it was sugar . i lost my brother to meth and this movie makes me sick to my stomach because it glamorizes the drug . the movie makes it look cool to use the drug but i was happy at the end when the guy almost made it across the state line . i also know that most women who experience a traumatic rape don  t want to make love to their boyfriend or husband the next day . the movie is just wrong in all directions . i would suggest  the basketball diaries  if i was going to suggest a movie about drugs .  
those who are not familiar with cassandra peterson  s alter  ego elvira  then this is a good place to start .  br    br    elvira  mistress of the dark  starts off with our heroine with the gravity defying boobs receiving a message . it seems that a great aunt of hers has died and that she needs to be present for the reading of the will . anxious to raise money for a show she wants to open in las vegas  she decides to go in hopes of getting lots and lots of money .  br    br   unfortunately  the place she has to go is the town of fallwell  massachusetts . having to stay a spell due to her car breaking down  she finds out that her great aunt left her  things a house  a dog and a cookbook . the town residents have mixed reactionsthe teens like her  the women hate her  and the men lust after her  although trying to remain moral pillars of the community  . her worst problem turns out to be her great uncle vincent  w . morgan sheppard   because he wants her cookbook . seems that the cookbook is a book of spells that will make him a more powerful warlock .  br    br   the film is actually pretty funny  with peterson a . k . a . elvira using her  endowments  and sexiness as a joke   and don  t forget  tomorrow we  re showing the head with two things . . . i mean the thing with two heads   . especially funny as edie mcclurg as chastity pariah  the woman that works her hardest to keep the town in line  but ends up looking ridiculous  the picnic scene is the perfect example  . deserves a peek  the film  not her boobs  of course  .  
the week before i saw iowa  i saw art school confidential  in which a pretentious student makes a film and can  t decide whether he wants it to be art or violent exploitation . iowa could be the film that he made . i can see elements of much better movies in iowa  spun and natural born killers . however  in addition to artiness  both those movies had good character development and coherent story lines . iowa . this movie stumbles to a preposterous end . i have to admit that it had consistency . this movie is bad from beginning to end and not particularly worse or better in any part . the actors all did what they could . roseanna arquette deserves better . she demonstrates that she is very talented  very funny  and very sexy . but why does she have to demonstrate it in this turd ball .  
ok  this movie is stupid . i mean that in a good way though . it was stupid on purpose  and was one of the better  stupid  movies i  ve seen . the jokes and gags are purposefully bad  but delivered in a way that it struck all the right notes with me . the supporting characters were pretty shallow and mediocre . there is a pretty weak plot  but it works just fine .  br    br   elvira  s character is the focus here . she is lovable and adorable . cassandra petersen has a world of acting talent that just glows in this movie . on top of that acting talent she had physical attributes which were frankly  stunning . few men could disagree with that . the parts that show off her figure were also some of the funnier scenes in the movie .  br    br   i had a smile ear to ear from the first scene to the last .  br    br   highly recommended to fans of comedy  and to fans of beautiful women . i wish they had made a dozen more elvia movies .  
well  i don  t think the picture is as bad as most of the reviews make it out to be . . . but there  s no denying that it  s got problems .  br    br   mostly  the problems are in the script . there  s a plot  but not much story  and certainly not one that anybody could call plausible it trots out any number of self  consciously strange and  or stereotypical characters  lines  moments  what  have  you and  by the end  it just hasn  t added up to much in this department .  br    br   sorry  but i couldn  t care less about whatever  social ill  farnsworth might be trying to address there will always be a sector of the population willing to do just about anything to shred their brains  even if it requires running around corn fields trying to steal ammonia  or whatever it is those morons do . so  as a film  you won  t find me calling  iowa   important .  but  at a stylistic level  the picture is more than interesting and some of farnsworth  s choices in depicting a meth  head  s wigged  out state are beautiful  hilarious  disturbing and  yes  i  m going to say it  inspired .  br    br   the acting is uneven  but that just may be a casualty of the afore  praised stylistic reaching . look  rosanna arquette is a fine actress  but she  s not very good here  so a discriminating audience member does have to ask   what happened   it  s weird that diane foster manages a simplicity and grace that so few of the other actors can come anywhere near . for example  i might seriously consider whatever explanation farnsworth could provide for michael t . weiss  s over  the  top turn as a probation officer  but i doubt i  d ever buy it it just doesn  t work .  br    br   then again  it  s the most alive and in the moment that i  ve seen john savage appear in years . so go figure .  br    br   this is the sort of work that tantalizes  but does not promise  and that  s okay neither farnsworth nor anyone else is required to make movies . so  whether or not farnsworth has another film in him remains to be seen  but if he does  it seems pretty likely that it won  t be bland pap . in an age when people are planning their lives around the latest installment of  american idol   perhaps we could allow  not scorn  farnsworth  s legitimate and undeniably flawed film .  br    br   what is more  perhaps we could welcome  not berate  his energetic and sometimes blessedly idiosyncratic imagination .  
elvira  mistress of the dark        br    br   directed by james signorelli  br    br   starring cassandra peterson  w . morgan sheppard  daniel greene  and edie mcclurg  br    br   plot elvira  cassandra peterson  quits her tv show and heads to the small christian town fallwell  massachusettes to collect on her dead aunt  s inheritance  hoping to make big bucks to open up a show in vegas . unfortunately for her  all she gets is a creepy old house  a poodle  and a magic cookbook . while in fallwell  elvira tries to make money  breathe some life into the teenagers  win the heart of a stud  daniel greene   avoid being burned at the stake  and keep the cookbook from her creepy uncle  w . morgan sheppard   who is planning to use the book to end the world .  br    br   my thoughts i love both cassandra peterson and her alter  ego elvira . she is a very successful  beautiful  and funny woman and as elvira she  s all that plus morbid and hilariously naive  not to mention she has an amazing pair of knockers . in this movie  her charms are put to good use .  br    br   i loved the whole  fish out of water  feel to the film . you got elvira  with her low  cut black dress  her big black hair  and her enormous  twins   and she  s in a christian town where most of the girls aren  t even allowed to wear makeup . this also makes her love story with bob  daniel greene  a lot more entertaining .  br    br   w . morgan sheppard is equally great as elvira  s uncle  nemesis vincent  out to steal the book to use it for evil . he has a lot of presence but still doesn  t get in the way and steal scenes from elvira .  br    br   what really makes the film is not the plot  but the many jokes . everything from boob jokes to horror spoofing is here and makes me laugh a lot more than anything from a scary movie sequel . i hear there are about   boob jokes in this film  and any fan of roger corman b  horror flicks will love the spoofing in this film .  br    br   if you love elvira  you will love this flick . also check out elvira  s haunted hills .  
  iowa  wants to be  requiem for a dream  for midwest meth  but it comes across as a hard r rated  reefer madness  .  br    br   yes  drugs are bad  and meth is horribly pernicious  as an addiction and how it destroys people  families and communities . but these characters who are either dumb or ridiculous and the eye  rolling plot won  t teach that lesson to anyone .  br    br   while writer  director  star matt farnsworth has some charisma on screen  his partner diane foster plays a wincibly silly wide  eyed innocent corrupted by drugsas was already satirized by susan sarandon in  the rocky horror picture show  . i really felt sorry for her for all the totally unnecessary nudity she was put through . it wasn  t until the end of the film that i realized i was supposed to think these two were recent high  school graduates to explain some of their naivet  as we are bombarded by their school photos  but if so  they even looked older than the folks on  the o . c .  . while they have good chemistry on screen  they are a pale imitation of a  badlands   type couple .  br    br   the guest stars are badly used . michael t . weiss  who was so good in tv  s  the pretender   is completely ludicrous as a corrupt parole officer and his brutal violence is just plain crazy  as his character pretty much ruins any social significance for the film . rosanna arquette has to be even sleazier than she rolled around for david cronenberg as a very low rent livia soprano . john savage even has to mouth the old baby boomer excuses about i did pot but this is worse . a goth chick shows up  with the odd explanation that she  s a stripper from des moines . the obligatory latino drug dealer appears  in iowa   br    br   with a limited budget  the interior view of meth use is portrayed quite vividly  with quite scary hallucinations . we certainly see them go crazy .  br    br   while the iowa locations are used very well  including an amusing scene of a propane gas robbery   the accents and church references are confusingly southern baptist . guns seem to be used by law abiding and law breaking citizens here more than in any inner  city drug  dealing movie .  br    br   the songs of iowa  s best known bard greg brown are used throughout  but oddly are not listed in the credits . i hope they were used with permission .  br    br   i caught this at its commercial run in nyc because i missed it at the tribeca film festival where it got considerable   and inexplicable   buzz .  
  elvira  mistress of the dark  is a sort of  harper valley p . t . a .  with touches of the supernatural . elvira  cassandra peterson  walks off her job as television horror movie hostess after the new station  s owner gets fresh with her . she  s now relying on a las vegas show to carry her through  but learns she needs to come up with more money to get the show started . things look hopeless to raise that money until she receives notice of her aunt  s death  which then takes elvira to massachusetts for the reading of the will . a house in need of repairs  a dog  and a cookbook are all that is left to her by her aunt  and again it seems elvira is having trouble coming up with the money for the las vegas show . the adults of the small and narrow minded town make things worse by making things more difficult for elvira . only the local hunk  daniel greene   and a group of teenagers will befriend her . elvira  s uncle  vinnie   w . morgan sheppard   presses to make a deal with elvira for the cookbook  but elvira soon learns of her powerful heritage that includes spellcasting  and a couple very effective casseroles . elvira no longer wants to sell the cookbook to her uncle  but he is determined to get his hands on it knowing of its power . elvira then faces being burned at the stake on the town  s old charge of witchcraft  and the showdown between her and her uncle . the plot is pretty simple  but the humor and well developed characters keep it moving at a nice pace .  elvira  mistress of the dark  is full of cute  gross  bawdy  and clever humor carried through by the many sight gags  puns  props  songs  and parodies . the film  s touches of the occult make this one of the best horror parodies ever made . it is a well made film with terrific acting by all performers including edie mcclurg  and jeff conaway  of  grease .   there are also nice special effects . many people  including myself  wondered if the elvira character could carry a feature film  and the answer is delightfully  yes   
the often  reliable leonard maltin says this is a  delightful romance  and that sanders is  superb .  maltin must have confused this movie with something else . sanders is snide and droll and superb  as usual   you can imagine his delivery of the line regarding adultery   sometimes the chains of matrimony are so heavy they have to be carried by three   but dull  wooden and dated describe this movie more accurately . the storyline itself  an autobiography with sanders as a suave jewel thief  francois eugene vidocq  who becomes chief of police but can hardly resist the lure of fine jewels  is entertaining enough  but it has the same kind of hollow historical hollywood treatment that marred such period epics as marie antoinette  and certainly the deplorable forever amber  which screams for a classy remake  . though  in his defense  sanders tries mightily to add some depth to his character  it is all for naught . i am an unabashed douglas sirk fan  but this is      and it is one of sirk  s earliest american efforts  lacking many of the signature touches that would define his florid  breast  heaving potboilers . sirk is just getting his feet wet here  and made a number of unmemorable films over the next ten years until he struck gold with magnificent obsession  and hit his stride  bombarding us with such estrogen  fests as all that heaven allows  written on the wind  and imitation of life . but scandal in paris is hardly his best work  a relatively low  budget affair with cheesy sets and ineffective costuming .  
  night of the living homeless  was a fairly strong finish to the first half of season   . obviously a parody of various zombie movies  most notably dawn of the dead  this episode parallels the homeless with the living dead  as creatures who feed and thrive off of spare change rather than brains .  br    br   kyle is blamed for the sudden mass outbreak of homeless people when he  out of the goodness of his heart  gives a    to a homeless man in front of his house . more homeless people begin to infiltrate south park  until the town is completely overrun with them . this is a very strong randy marsh episode  as he assumes the role of the shotgun  wielding leader of the adults who take refuge on the roof of the park county community center . but before randy makes it to the community center  he is accosted by hundreds of homeless people while hilariously screaming  i don  t have any change    unfortunately  the refugees end up losing gerald broflofski to the homeless  when he tries to escape by catching a bus out of town  and unwittingly tosses away all his change for the bus to distract the homeless people . then he becomes one of them  asking everyone for change .  br    br   the boys attempt to find out why there are so many homeless people in south park  and find a man who is a director of homeless studies . they find out that the nearby city of evergreen used to have a similar problem with the homeless  so they escape to evergreen to find out what they did to solve the problem . unfortunately  homeless people break into the man  s house  and he attempts to take the easy way out by shooting himself . however  he fails several times  as he shoots himself in the jaw  in the eye  in the chest  in the neck  in the shoulder  screaming horribly until he finally dies . this scene may have been funnier had a similar scene not happened in  fantastic easter special  two weeks ago .  br    br   meanwhile  a member of the refugees discovers that due to the homeless problem  the property values have nosedived  thus the bank has foreclosed on his house  making him homeless . randy immediately turns on him  holding the gun to the man  s head . when the man finally begs the others for a few bucks to help him out  randy pulls the trigger .  br    br   in evergreen  the boys find out that the citizens of the town sent the homeless to south park  and that the passing of homeless from town to town happens all over the country . the boys modify a bus that leads the homeless out of south park and takes them all the way to santa monica  california .  br    br   the zombie movie parallels and the great randy marsh lines make this one definitely re  watchable .      
if i only had one camera that was accidentally glued to the floor  enough film for only one take of each shot  and then lost all that film and had to scrounge up some bucks to buy a few digital video tapes  and was forced to make an over    hour movie about the french revolution  and also didn  t have any sets and had to have my   year  old autistic son paint the backgrounds  and also the only actors i could find were the people who didn  t make the auditions of that year  s soap opera  and i was also forced to not use any music in the entire film  and also the zoom function on the camera didn  t work except for one time when it accidentally started zooming in and couldn  t stop  oh and if i hated my audience  then i might make something kind of like this awful  yet mistakenly hilarious  hell  worthy waste of time . the almost grand looking but completely fake looking backdrops reminded me of some of george lucas  latest creations  which made it so much more disappointing because through the whole movie  there was that little glimmer of hope in the back of my mind that the film would climax in a lightsaber duel  space laser battle . i don  t mean to spoil the movie for those who haven  t seen it  but that  s not how it ends . the only thing i can think of that wasted more time than watching this movie was writing this review . peace .  
i don  t doubt that the critics panned this movie  especially the artsy fartsys who need a laxative . this is a great vehicle movie in the tradition of abbot  costello or more recently don knotts . it won  t shake the world or change movies forever . what it will do is entertain . when all is said  done that  s the most important thing anyway . watch this movie  forget your troubles . it even has a simple  kind moral message at no extra charge . i always loved elvira  s tv show when i lived in la . she did not really steal her schtick from vampira any more than vampira did from the original  theda bara . this sort of mythic character belongs to whoever does it best  cassandra peterson does it best . long live elvira we need more of these kind of movies . there are never enough . the villain  william morgan sheppard  was also excellent . he exudes a wonderful refined malice . i could find no technical faults . the execution is as close to flawless as the art form gets . my profound compliments to the director  james signorelli   all his crew .  
positively awful george sanders vehicle where he goes from being a thief to police czar .  br    br   while sanders was an excellent character actor  he was certainly no leading man and this film proves it .  br    br   it is absolutely beyond stupidity . gene lockhart did provide some comic relief until a moment of anger led him to fire his gun with tragedy resulting .  br    br   sadly  george sanders and co  star carol landis committed suicide in real life . after making a film as deplorable as this  it is not shocking .  br    br   the usual appealing signe hasso is really nothing here .  
this tender beautifully crafted production delved deep down bitter sweet into my being . the irreverent pupils  the life embittered bus driver and the teachers personalities present a subliminal debate as the story unveils . the adult characters all seem familiar  my teachers  my bus driver  each one of their opinions so plausible and well known . when a key incident happens on the bus we are sent on a circuit of viewpoints . all the time the babble of teenage energy is only just kept under control by the organisers of the trip . mr harvey is experiencing much pain throughout . he reminds me of war damaged teachers i did not understand when i was an irreverent pupil .  br    br   rhidian brook and the producers deserve much acclaim for this well shaped british film . the acting unblemished  the scenes appropriate  it should be widely available yet does not seem to have been given the right opportunity .  
his costume drama is ill cast and without charm .  br    br   george sanders was a superb character actor . but he is thoroughly implausible here as the lead  an eighteenth century rogue known for his philosophy and great good looks . his costar is  of all people  akim tamiroff . some frenchman  then there  s signe hasso  in a dark wig  as the virginal daughter of a wealthy family . carole landis fares best . the movie opens with her in silhouette . she is a soubrette  and a naughty girl at that . she disappears for a while but turns up in an improbably situation . but she  s good . she was always an appealing actress . here she is cast closest to her usual type of role .  br    br   it  s meant to be a little naughty  kind of ooh  la  la . it ought to have had a light touch but it  s a leaden affair from start to finish .  
  why did they make them so big  why didn  t they just give the money to the poor   the question about cathedrals was asked by a student to mr . harvey during a school field trip to salisbury cathedral .  that  s a good question   he replied .  partly to inspire them  to get them to look up with awe .  i  m not sure that cathedrals have that impact on everyone  but this movie certainly had that impact on me . it was awesome   br    br   it didn  t start out that way . for a while it seemed to be little more than a depiction of  well  a school field trip to salisbury cathedral . if you  ve ever been on a high school field trip to anywhere this is basically it . you have a group of largely disinterested kids just happy to be out of school for a day  the bus driver who  s driven crazy by them and some teachers trying desperately to keep it all under control . been there  done that  got the t  shirt was my initial reaction . i figured that in the end this was going to be a typical story of a teacher managing to inspire a group of disinterested students . yawn  but it turns out to be so much more  timothy spall was brilliant as mr . harvey  a sombre  unsmiling teacher with a strange fascination for cathedrals . over the course of the movie  his story slowly comes out and becomes the focal point of the story . we also get introduced to some of the troubled students  most notably helen  also brilliantly played by nathalie press  who  s into self  mutilation .  br    br   this isn  t a religious movie  but it includes some powerful reflections on religious themes . when harvey  s colleague jonathon  played by ben miles  says  i don  t care what anyone believes as long as they don  t try to force it on anyone else  harvey replies   that isn  t tolerance  it  s indifference    which is  in fact  in my opinion  what often passes for religious tolerance in our society . there are scenes of reconciliation between various characters  and the final scene of the movie was brilliant . as harvey climbs back on the bus  director susanna white has the camera slowly pan upwards  so that the final shot is simply of the sky  hearkening back to harvey  s comment that the purpose of the cathedral is to get people to look up in awe . the cathedral accomplishes its goal . we look up into the universe in awe  seeking something greater than ourselves  however we choose to define it . this is a very powerful and very inspiring movie .      
this crew  versus  monsta has been done a hundred times  sometimes better . this one was pretty slow  moving  only the monster  s resurrection was really worthwhile . attempts at character developments gets botched by routine . yeah   routine  is the word . went straight to video in france . no wonder  
although this was not without its faults  this drama was a fitting one to be shown around easter time . it reminded us of our spiritual selves and showed that behind our facades  we often hide our deepest sufferings and experiences . there was so much to enjoy in the drama  not least the rapping teenagers who provided a better musical accompaniment to the drama than the rather poor sound score in the background . the acting was excellent and timothy spall was once again superb . the climax was very satisfying  if rather simplistic . timothy spall  s  letting go  of his long  dead wife  s suicide was credible and mirrored well the feelings of despair that were present in the teenage girl who self  harmed . the resolution between the graffiti boy and the muslim was gratifying but less believable . a wonderful drama which left myself and my husband felling that the evening had been well spent . congratulations   
i really can  t say anything bad or good about this thing . its characters are likable enough  it  s capably produced and designed  and professional  looking  except for that cheesy monster suit  . however  it has no originality  no ideas  and nothing you haven  t seen in alien  predator  armageddon and  or outland . it  s just another formula  cookie  cutter   grimy corporate drones in deep space versus unstoppable monster  flick . pretty much a waste of time .  
  mr . harvey lights a candle  is anchored by a brilliant performance by timothy spall .  br    br   while we can predict that his titular morose  up tight teacher will have some sort of break down or catharsis based on some deep down secret from his past  how his emotions are unveiled is surprising . spall  s range of feelings conveyed is quite moving and more than he usually gets to portray as part of the mike leigh repertory .  br    br   while an expected boring school bus trip has only been used for comic purposes  such as on  the simpsons   this central situation of a visit to salisbury cathedral in rhidian brook  s script is well  contained and structured for dramatic purposes  and is almost formally divided into acts .  br    br   we  re introduced to the urban british range of racially and religiously diverse kids  with their uniforms i couldn  t tell if this is a  private  or  public  school   as they gather  the rapping black kids  the serious south asians and muslims  the white bullies and mean girls  but conveyed quite naturally and individually . the young actors  some of whom i recognized from british tv such as  shameless   were exuberant in representing the usual range of junior high social pressures . celia imrie puts more warmth into the supervisor  s role than the martinets she usually has to play .  br    br   a break in the trip leads to a transformative crisis for some while others remain amusingly oblivious . we think  like the teacher portrayed by ben miles of  coupling   that we will be spoon fed a didactic lesson about religious tolerance  but it  s much more about faith in people as well as god  which is why the bbc showed it in england at easter time and bbc america showed it in the u . s . over christmas .  br    br   nathalie press  who was also so good in  summer of love   has a key role in mr . harvey  s redemption that could have been played for movie  of  the  week preaching  but is touching as they reach out to each other in an unexpected way  unfortunately i saw their intense scene interrupted by commercials  .  br    br   while it is a bit heavy  handed in several times pointedly calling this road trip  a pilgrimage   this quiet film was the best evocation of  good will towards men  than i  ve seen in most holiday  themed tv movies .  
after finally viewing this movie in its entirety  i am completely mystified by the adoration it has received by critics and online users alike . is it the worst western ever  no  i wouldn  t say that . but  the last great american western   a phrase i saw applied to it more than once  not even close .  br    br   a movie that tries to tell a story like this needs believable characters that speak believable dialogue  and the dialogue in this film is among the most hackneyed and clichd that i  ve ever seen . the movie can be measured in groaners per minute as in  how many times is an actor or actress forced by the script to say something that no human being would say in real life  there  s so many instances of this that it  s distracting . cheesy lines come at you in waves predictable  unoriginal  and often .  br    br   if bad dialogue doesn  t bother you  then how about bad gunfights  few westerns can show you gunfighting that  s completely unbelievable while desperately trying to make you take the action seriously . it  s okay if there  s a comic edge to such gunfighting  such as in silverado  but in tombstone the very staged and very stiff choreography of the early gunplay is just another reason to leave this movie off the list of good westerns . the final showdown somewhat redeems the director on this score  but by then  i was so disinterested in the movie that it was beyond saving .  br    br   other than those flaws  i can say the visuals are stunning  the movie  s well shot and the settings all look great . the acting is passable  especially considering what the actors were given to work with . however  if you  re looking for the last great american western  do yourself a favor  go rent unforgiven instead .  br    br    out of    
if you have a chance of seeing this film do see it . it  s quite shocking in parts and really makes you think about so many important issues but it  s not didactic . in my opinion it  s a piece of art . . . beautifully filmed  fine music of many styles  the typically impressive level of acting that one has come to expect from bbc drama . nathalie press  billed as  natalie  press  is convincing in her role as depressed teenager exploited by a male classmate . celia imrie has that beautifully reassuring quality that gives the sometimes unnerving action stability and the viewer comfort in the knowledge that someone out there is actually  normal   but the real star as always is timothy spall  surely one of the greatest actors of our time   
the fact that i did not like the music is a very personal opinion  the historical innacuracies are not . i do realize that it is an opera and not a documentary  but some important aspects are missing  especiallly if other people comment falsely because of it .  br    br   abbu abas was the mastermind of this operation  which was staged and reorganized due to discovery on board the shiph  in order to free   terrorists from israeli prisons  one of which was samir kuntar  a heinous terrorist whose story you can find by searching for  klinghoffer samir kuntar  on google . abbu abbas was responsible for many other terrorist operations  even if he never set foot on the achile lauro . ben laden never set foot on the planes that hit the wtc  did he   br    br    possible spoilers   br    br   the movie almost excuses the terrorists  actions and reactions because of horrors they might have lived  always accentuating and exaggerating how much the israeli  s have done to hurt them . however  they never portray the hurt that the palestinians have ever caused to the israelis . the movie uses  quite horrid     images from the sabra and chatila horror  and nothing is said  understating the general belief that it was israel who was responsible  without ever mentioning that it was a syrian  les lebanese army who conducted the massacre .  br    br   the acting was generally very bad  but i guess that  s what can be expected from opera singers   br    br   on another note i am shocked at how a person can excuse terrorists killing a hostage because the hostage tried to stir the    innocent hostages against the armed terrorists  and add that the person should not be considered sympathetic because he is a supporter of zionism . imagine how unsympathetic his wife was  spitting on the terrorists who shot her husband and threw his body into the sea . i hope no one in the world is as cruel as she is  wink wink   
amazing acting  music . a simple and clear plot but it drew me in and kept me captivated all the way through . i don  t know why it was so fantastic but it simply was . so many of the characters were so real . it moved me and made me think i would like to watch more like this .  br    br   the idea of a school trip as a forum for such an amazing plot was a genius idea and so many of the people were like people were like those encountered every day by teachers in the classroom .  br    br   the film tackles issues of religion  prejudice  drugs friendship  memories  difficult experiences and simple the diversity of life itself .  
well this film has certainly had a fair amount of hype from the buzz at the toronto film festival to gushing reviews on cbc radio . a refreshing  wacky  hilarious indie movie apparently . i  d been looking forward to it for months .  br    br   how can i put it this simply  it sucked in a very big way . an exercise in cinematic lameness that makes adam sandler look like a comic genius .  br    br   at best it was mildly amusing and at worst coma inducing . an amerterish script badly directed and shoddily edited into a ramshackle mess .  br    br   and what was with the music being    db louder than the rest of the sound track  that was about the only truly odd thing about it .  br    br   if you want to see a genuinely funny  bizarre movie involving aliens then try repoman . there is no comparison   
a fine effort for an australian show . which is probably not surprising seeing as there seems to be somewhat of a resurgence in quality aussie drama . dare i compare this show to the brilliance of love my way  no . but it is reminiscent of early secret life of us . the cast is great  gibney works her magic in the first two episodes i have seen  the british cast is strong also especially the callum and lizzie characters . but abe forsythe may be the saving light  not that it needs saving  if this show is to get another season . i wasn  t a fan of his performance in the awesomely awesome marking time mini series a few years back but he was great as hal in always greener . its also good to see brooke satchwell again . lets hope the show keeps improving with each episode .  
although it got some favorable press after playing at the toronto intl . film festival  there were a number of reasons not to expect too much from this . one   it  s an ultra  low budget canadian film . two   it  s written  directed and starring the same person  usually a bad sign  unless it  s woody allen  george clooney or one or two other respected filmmakers  . but despite my watching it with lowered expectations  it still turned out to a far bigger disappointment than i thought possible .  br    br   in a nutshell   bad script  bad acting  terrible directing  don  t waste your time or money on this turkey . it claims to be a comedy  but i only laughed twice . plus  there is awful music blaring throughout . how this got any attention i  ll never know .  
tripping over . i must say at first i was a little disappointed in the first few episodes  but having faith in the show  and abe forsythe  s unquestionable talent  i continued to watch . i can safely say i  m now glad that i did . the story did develop quite well  and all the characters have a strong base  and most don  t have any information missing .  br    br   the only thing i can fault in this production is the somewhat annoying voice and pronunciation possessed by the character lizzie .  br    br   some good acting coupled with a stellar plot really gets this show over the line . here  s to hoping for another season   
this movie has got to be one of the worst i have ever seen make it to dvd    the story line might have clicked if the film had more funding and writers that would have cut the nonsense and sickly scenes that i highly caution parents on . . . . but the story line is like a loose cannon . if there was such a thing as a drive thru movie maker  this one would have sprung from that . it reminded me a lot of the quickie films that were put out in the      s  poor script writing and filming .  br    br   the only sensible characters in the whole movie was the bartender and beaver . the rest of the film  could have easily been made by middle school children . i give this film a rating of  as it is truly awful and left my entire family with a sense of being cheated . my advice  don  t watch it     
finally we get a tv series where we get to see the acting talent  episode one was excellent  the script gave us a little more than usual  yeah  there was still the  i  m not your father  i  m your father and omigod you cheated on me   rubbish but the script allowed the actors to actually feel and live those real moments rather than show us what it would feel like if  like so many tv soaps do .  br    br   the camera work also gave us a little more than usual  there were no boring shots of repeated angles for hours yet there was no unnecessary  shots inside shots or hand  held camera crap  to add an  artistic  edge it gave us what we needed to see and also some beautiful scenery pictures as well   br    br   nothing was over  dramatised or melodramatic they were real people in a real place dealing with real situations  the show lacked nothing in drama and was completely relevant . it was such a relief to be exposed to real acting and so nice to let our country see just how talented our actors can be when given a real script  a real opportunity  thank you tony tilse  sam miller  channel ten and all cast and crew  wonderful work   please continue what you are doing  your efforts are much appreciated and do not go unnoticed   
phil the alien is one of those quirky films where the humour is based around the oddness of everything rather than actual punchlines .  br    br   at first it was very odd and pretty funny but as the movie progressed i didn  t find the jokes or oddness funny anymore .  br    br   its a low budget film  thats never a problem in itself   there were some pretty interesting characters  but eventually i just lost interest .  br    br   i imagine this film would appeal to a stoner who is currently partaking .  br    br   for something similar but better try  brother from another planet   
some people have stated that as of the   th season  south park has started a trend of leaving behind their politically biting satire for shallow spoofs but this could not be further from the truth .  br    br   while this episode does spoof the living dead series  there is more . it is a satire of how people treat the homeless . characters say things like  they  re pretending to be just like us  or  they want to be human .  this episode attacks a culture of people who ignore the lower class who are often just down on their luck .  br    br   so yes  it is still a satire  and also a wonderful spoof . what more could you want   
eric rohmer  s  the lady and the duke  is based on the journals of an english aristocrat who lived through the french revolution . but it  s a stilted affair  with its strange  painted backdrops and mannered conversational tone . most notably  this portrait of age of terror takes place almost entirely at one remove from the real action one sees very little of ordinary people in this movie  and little of the chaos  poverty and terror that unfolded away from the drawing rooms of the persecuted  but spoilt  aristocratic classes . the result is frequently dull  and ultimately unenlightening about the forces that sometimes drive societies to the brink of destruction it  s a disappointing film from an acclaimed director .  
saw this in the theater in    and fell out of my chair laughing more than once .  beirut  . . .  what do you know about beirut   . . .  beirut . . . he  s the best damn baseball that ever lived .   br    br   you know how it  s going to end but it has a great time getting there . the training scenes are very funny but the best scene may be the one when jack and reno are attempting to watch the falcons v . vikings monday night football game while attempting a make  up dinner with their wives .  br    br   williams and russell seem to have a lot of fun with this one and it  s too bad that it  s overlooked as a top notch comedy .  
the guy who wrote  directed and stared in this shocking piece of trash should really consider a carer change . yes rob stefaniuk  i mean you  seriously  who funded this crap  there are so many talented writers out there whom money could be better spent on . i think the idea is great but the acting  script and directing is just plain awful  the jokes are so not funny  i understand that they are supposed to be taking the mickey . but do it with style  this movie is screaming     saturday night live skits . why  i say again why do studios give money to hacks like rob stefaniuk  never give a comedian the opportunity to write direct and star in his own movie . duh   
kurt russell is at his best as the man who lives off his past glories  reno hightower . robin williams is his polar opposite in a rare low key performance as jack dundee . he dropped the big pass in more ways than one .  br    br   you  ll see some of the most quotable scenes ever put into one film  as jack hisses at a rat  reno poses  and the call of the caribou goes out .  br    br   don  t miss this classic that isn  t scared to show football in the mud the way it should be played .  
when hey arnold  first came on the air in      i watched it . it was one of my favorite shows . then the same episodes started getting shown over and over again so i got tired of waiting for new episodes and stopped watching it . i was sort of surprised when i heard about hey arnold  the movie since it doesn  t seem to be nearly as popular as some of the other nickelodeon cartoons like spongebob squarepants . nevertheless  having nothing better to do  i went to see the movie anyway . going into the theater  i wasn  t expecting much . i was just expecting it to be a dumb movie version of a childrens  cartoon like the recess movie was . i guess i got what i expected . it was a dumb kiddie movie and nothing more . there were some good parts here and there  but for the most part  the movie was a stinker . simply for kids .  
for all of the has  beens or never was  s or for the curious  this film is for you . . . . ever played a sport  or wondered what it felt like after the lights went down and the crowd left . . this film explores that and more .  br    br   robin williams  jack dundee  is a small town assistant banker in taft ca .  whose life has been plagued  by a miscue in a big rival high school football game   years ago  when he dropped the pass that would have won over bakersfield  their arch  rival  that takes great pleasure in pounding the taft rockets  season after season . kurt russell  reno hightower  was the quarterback in that famous game  and is the local legend  that now is a van repair specialist  whose life is fading into lethargy  like the town of taft itself .  br    br   williams gets an idea to remake history  by replaying the game  he meets with skeptical resistance  so he goes on a one man terror spree  and literally paints the town  orange  yellow and black  to raise the ire of the residents to recreate the game . after succeeding  the players from that     team reunite  and try to get in shape to practice  which is hysterical . the game is on  bakesfield is loaded with all of the high tech gadgets  game strategies  and sophisticated training routines . taft is drawing plays in the mud  with sticks  stones  and bottle caps  what a riot  does taft overcome the odds  does robin willians purge the demons from his bowels  does kurt russell rise from lethargy  watch  the best of times  for one of the best viewing experiences ever   br    br   one of robin williams best understated performances  the chemistry between robin and russell is magic . and who is kid lester     br    br   holly palance and pamela reed give memorable performances as the wives of williams and russell . succeeds on many levels . a     
i like animated shows . i enjoy the nick fare pretty much  including hey  arnold . but moving a tv show to the big screen isn  t easy and this just didn  t feel big enough . it was more like a long episode of the show  and it just didn  t move along that well . judging by the behavior of the kids we had with us  it didn  t score that well with them either .  
hi i  m from taft california and i like this movie because it shows how us little town people love our sports football is the main thing in taft and this movie shows just how important it is i personally think they should make another one but instead of actors use us kids to play the games well show you our determination we  ve beat bakersfield every game for the past  years and since i  m a senior next year its my last chance and then its college we  ve had running backs lead the state and i  m next if you want to know me i  m kyle taylor and i average seven to eight yards a carry and about five times a game ill break away on a   or around that yard run so check us out at our website and go to our sports page bye  
tries to be funny and fails miserably . the animation is just terrible  looks like a  year old threw it together in his sleep . plot is dull and cliched . if you have a young child  maybe rent it . but don  t waste hard earned money to pay to see it .  br    br        
robin williams does his best to combine comedy and pathos  but comes off a bit shrill . donald moffat is too one  note as his father  in  law . jeff bridges is excellent though as the quarterback  and holly palance and pamela reed are marvelous  carrying the film through most of its rough spots . it fills time nicely  but is little more than that .  
i have to admit that i  m a great fan of this show  so you must know how disappointed i got when i watched this movie . first of all  the plot was awful  i thought it was going to be something more interesting  like to see what happened to arnold fathers  or something more interesting  but nooooooo  a maniac wants to destroy arnold  s house  between many other places  so many people tries to stop this .  br    br   i must admit that the plot wasn  t so bad after all  but what really sucked were the steps that arnold and his friends do to stop this maniac  they become friends of a spy   they drive a bus  based on a video game  for god sake   and to worse everything  they make super  moves on the bus  things that many persons had already tried and died  but not arnold  gerald and helga   cause they are experts on a video game .  br    br   honestly  my mom  my sister  even me got really disappointed after watching this movie   cause it was the worst way to finish a really good cartoon . i must admit that i used to enjoy  hey arnold    it was one of my favorite cartoons on nickelodeon  but after this crap of movie  i  m not quite sure if i  m going to watch  hey arnold   as i used to watch it on the past .  br    br   other thing nickelodeon  with that enormous number of dynamite i can assure you that not a simple street would explode  i think that the whole city could explode with that  oh  and please  if all of your future movies from good cartoons are going to be like that  don  t do more movies  you give a bad critic to cartoons that used to be good .  br    br   honestly  i think this was the worst way to end this show  a good show transformed into this crap of movie .  
i love this movie  but the music at all the alumni gatherings is just stupid .  br    br   the fateful game took place in     . that means that the protagonists graduated in     . but almost all of the music played at the dances etc . is from the     s and very early     s .  br    br   having just attended my   th high school reunion  i can assure you that the last music to be played at a reunion or dance of former high school people is their parents  music .  br    br   i understand the difficulty of finding relevant     s music   we all know what a desolate time it was musically . but it wasn  t completely bereft  and the producers of the film should have taken more care . i found those dance scenes very jarring to my otherwise willing suspension of disbelief in the rest of the film .  br    br   this was a bad director and  or producer decision .  
this is a great movie . i love the series on tv and so i loved the movie . one of the best things in the movie is that helga finally admits her deepest darkest secret to arnold    that was great . i loved it it was pretty funny too . it  s a great movie  doy     
the film did not do well at the box office .  br    br   i saw it in a sneak preview .  br    br   i have always enjoyed the film .  br    br   i live in  of the cities mentioned in the film where past players moved to .  br    br   not the best film ever put to screen  but enjoyable .  br    br   robin did well with his role .  br    br   best line of the film at the beginning  by robin  s character jack  i was that sob   cleaned up here as not to offend anyone .  br    br   was glad when it came to dvd a few years back in the wide screen  letter box format .  br    br   i am not a football fan or a real sports fan . but  you do not need to be one to like this film .  
only children below the age of   should be allowed to see this film . the rest of us should take a book  mp  player  or just take a nice nap to endure the experience of this event . this can be best summed up as a  blown  up  tv movie being distributed into theaters . children will want to see this film  and they will like and be amused by the movie .  
robin williams and kurt russell play guys in their    s who put their marraiges in jeopardy by deciding  russell somewhat reluctantly  to replay their heartbreaking tie with rival bakersfield years after the fact . williams is ok  but russell is flat  out great as legendary taft quarterback remo hightower . holly palance does a nice and attractive turn as williams  wife  who could live without this rematch . film is worth watching just to see the famed remo in action . highly recommended .  
hey arnold  is a slow  paced and slightly boring movie . the plot is not very creative . the paul sorvino character  shenk  is buying all of the decrepit  low  priced buildings in order to build a gigantic mall  shopping complex and office buildings . this plot goes back to many     s kids movies . it is boring . paul sorvino is not very exciting either  so the idea of him as the bad guy is not very scary . gramps remembers something about a historical document  and the rest of the movie is about the last   hours when arnold and jamal must find the document with the undercover aid of helga  whose father is hoping to become rich thanks to shenk  s mall . the kids must move around town on buses  and so the exciting chase scene involving a bus is not only silly  but underscores how this movie is written for very young kids . hey arnold  the tv cartoon is usually very entertaining  and it has enough humor to appeal to adults . the tv cartoon is usually faster paced and more imaginative than this movie . hey arnold the movie  is about five times more sedated  and a good way to put anyone  including kiddies to sleep . hey arnold was a tough one to stay awake all the way until the predictable and totally boring ending . if you want to send your kids to a totally non  offensive movie  this is it . i get the feeling that instead of trying to make a   minute movie  the producers started out with a   minute tv cartoon script and tried to expand it into   minutes . this mall story definitely could have been covered in the tv cartoon . hopefully arnold will bet a better writer if there is ever a sequel .  
spoiler this movie is about such a concept . williams will go to any low in order to replay the football game that haunts his life . russel plays the ex jock who peaked in high school . finally the under dog get its shot  and williams can save face  instead of being the clown . a great reverse tragedy .      
i saw this movie with low expectations and was not disappointed . its so bad that it is actually funny in a very cringe worthy way .  br    br   gael is absolutely terrible  i mean he just cannot act  period . he should give up now  as acting is clearly not his thing . . his co  stars are about the same caliber  i  m sure my  year old cousin could do a better job than all of them  the director should be ashamed to have put his name on something so ridiculous . . somehow i don  t think an oscar is on the cards for this guy .  br    br   i have never written a comment on imdb  but this movie was so bad i felt compelled to do so .  br    br   if you get the chance to see this film  don  t     if there was a   
the best of times is one of the great sleepers of all time . the setup does not tax your patience  the development is steady  the many intertwined relationships are lovingly established  the gags and bits all work and all are funny . there is lots of sentimentality . kurt russell playing reno hightower puts in one of his best performances  and robin williams playing jack dundee is sure  footed as ever . the cast also includes many great supporters . jack  s wife is played by jack palance  s daughter  who is lovely  as is reno  s wife  who is a great comedian . i can  t tell you how many times i  ve watched this movie  how many times i have enjoyed it and how often i wish that more people could see it .  
for those looking for a sequel for the fine south african miniseries of the     s  this isn  t it . nor is it a historical drama . rather  it is a dreary little fantasy which has nothing to do with the historical shaka  but merely uses his name to give a certain cachet to sinclair  s idiotic story about an african superhero who is a combination of jesus  lincoln  superman  and nelson mandela .  br    br   on the other hand  there are a few laugh  out  loud moments  as when shaka breaks the cross to which he is chained and kicks some serious slaver butt . you know  like jesus would have done if he hadn  t been such a wimp .  br    br   true  i saw only the    minute version  but i can  t imagine that twice as much of this crap would have been better .  br    br   and what kind of a name is mungo    
match   tag team table match bubba ray and spike dudley vs eddie guerrero and chris benoit bubba ray and spike dudley started things off with a tag team table match against eddie guerrero and chris benoit . according to the rules of the match  both opponents have to go through tables in order to get the win . benoit and guerrero heated up early on by taking turns hammering first spike and then bubba ray . a german suplex by benoit to bubba took the wind out of the dudley brother . spike tried to help his brother  but the referee restrained him while benoit and guerrero ganged up on him in the corner . with benoit stomping away on bubba  guerrero set up a table outside . spike dashed into the ring and somersaulted over the top rope onto guerrero on the outside  after recovering and taking care of spike  guerrero slipped a table into the ring and helped the wolverine set it up . the tandem then set up for a double superplex from the middle rope which would have put bubba through the table  but spike knocked the table over right before his brother came crashing down  guerrero and benoit propped another table in the corner and tried to irish whip spike through it  but bubba dashed in and blocked his brother . bubba caught fire and lifted both opponents into back body drops  bubba slammed guerrero and spike stomped on the wolverine from off the top rope . bubba held benoit at bay for spike to soar into the wassup  headbutt  shortly after  benoit latched spike in the crossface  but the match continued even after spike tapped out . bubba came to his brother  s rescue and managed to sprawl benoit on a table . bubba leapt from the middle rope  but benoit moved and sent bubba crashing through the wood  but because his opponents didn  t force him through the table  bubba was allowed to stay in the match . the first man was eliminated shortly after  though  as spike put eddie through a table with a dudley dawg from the ring apron to the outside  benoit put spike through a table moments later to even the score . within seconds  bubba nailed a bubba bomb that put benoit through a table and gave the dudleys the win  winner bubba ray and spike dudley  br    br   match   cruiserweight championship jamie noble vs billy kidman billy kidman challenged jamie noble  who brought nidia with him to the ring  for the cruiserweight championship . noble and kidman locked up and tumbled over the ring  but raced back inside and grappled some more . when kidman thwarted all noble  s moves  noble fled outside the ring where nidia gave him some encouragement . the fight spread outside the ring and noble threw his girlfriend into the challenger . kidman tossed nidia aside but was taken down with a modified arm bar . noble continued to attack kidman  s injured arm back in the ring . kidman  s injured harm hampered his offense  but he continued to battle hard . noble tried to put kidman away with a powerbomb but the challenger countered into a facebuster . kidman went to finish things with a shooting star press  but noble broke up the attempt . kidman went for the shooting star press again  but this time noble just rolled out of harm  s way . noble flipped kidman into a power bomb soon after and got the pin to retain his wwe cruiserweight championship  winner jamie noble  br    br   match   european championship william regal vs jeff hardy william regal took on jeff hardy next in an attempt to win back the european championship . jeff catapulted regal over the top rope then took him down with a hurracanrana off the ring apron . back in the ring  jeff hit the whisper in the wind to knock regal for a loop . jeff went for the swanton bomb  but regal got his knees up to hit jeff with a devastating shot . jeff managed to surprise regal with a quick rollup though and got the pin to keep the european championship  regal started bawling at seeing hardy celebrate on his way back up the ramp . winner jeff hardy  br    br   match   chris jericho vs john cena chris jericho had promised to end john cena  s career in their match at vengeance  which came up next . jericho tried to teach cena a lesson as their match began by suplexing him to the mat . jericho continued to knock cena around the ring until his cockiness got the better of him . while on the top rope  jericho began to showboat and allowed cena to grab him for a superplex  cena followed with a tilt  a  whirl slam but was taken down with a nasty dropkick to the gut . the rookie recovered and hit a belly to belly suplex but couldn  t put y  j away . jericho launched into the lionsault but cena dodged the move . jericho nailed a bulldog and then connected on the lionsault  but did not go for the cover . he goaded cena to his feet so he could put on the walls of jericho . cena had other ideas  reversing the move into a pin attempt and getting the       jericho went berserk after the match . winner john cena  br    br   match   intercontinental championship rvd vs brock lesnar via disqualification the next big thing and mr . pay  per  view tangled with the intercontinental championship on the line . brock grabbed the title from the ref and draped it over his shoulder momentarily while glaring at rvd . van dam  s quickness gave brock fits early on . the big man rolled out of the ring and kicked the steel steps out of frustration . brock pulled himself together and began to take charge . with paul heyman beaming at ringside  brock slammed rvd to the hard floor outside the ring . from there  brock began to overpower rvd  throwing him with ease over the top rope . rvd landed painfully on his back  then had to suffer from having his spine cracked against the steel ring steps . the fight returned to the ring with brock squeezing rvd around the ribs . rvd broke away and soon after leveled brock with a kick to the temple . rvd followed with the rolling thunder but brock managed to kick out after a two  count . the fight looked like it might be over soon as rvd went for a five  star frog splash . brock  though  hoisted van dam onto his shoulder and went for the f    but rvd whirled brock into a ddt and followed with the frog splash  he went for the pin  but heyman pulled the ref from the ring  the ref immediately called for a disqualification and soon traded blows with heyman  after  rvd leapt onto brock from the top rope and then threatened to hit the van terminator  heyman grabbed rvd  s leg and brock picked up the champ and this time connected with the f   onto a steel chair  winner rvd  br    br   match   booker t vs the big show booker t faced the big show one  on  one next . show withstood booker t  s kicks and punches and slapped booker into the corner . after being thrown from the ring  booker picked up a chair at ringside  but big show punched it back into booker  s face . booker tried to get back into the game by choking show with a camera cable at ringside . booker smashed a tv monitor from the spanish announcers  position into show  s skull  then delivered a scissors kick that put both men through the table  booker crawled back into the ring and big show staggered in moments later . show grabbed booker  s throat but was met by a low blow and a kick to the face . booker climbed the top rope and nailed a somersaulting leg drop to get the pin  winner booker t  br    br   announcement triple h entered the ring to a thunderous ovation as fans hoped to learn where the game would end up competing . before he could speak  eric bishoff stopped the game to apologize for getting involved in his personal business . if triple h signed with raw  bischoff promised his personal life would never come into play again . bischoff said he  s spent the past two years networking in hollywood . he said everyone was looking for the next breakout wwe superstar  and they were all talking about triple h . bischoff guaranteed that if triple h signed with raw  he  d be getting top opportunities coming his way . stephanie mcmahon stepped out to issue her own pitch . she said that because of her personal history with triple h  the two of them know each other very well . she said the two of them were once unstoppable and they can be again . bischoff cut her off and begged her to stop . stephanie cited that triple h once told her how bischoff said triple h had no talent and no charisma . bischoff said he was young at the time and didn  t know what he had  but he still has a lot more experience that stephanie . the two continued to bicker back and forth  until triple h stepped up with his microphone . the game said it would be easy to say  screw you  to either one of them . triple h went to shake bischoff  s hand  but pulled it away . he said he would rather go with the devil he knows  rather than the one he doesn  t know . before he could go any further  though  shawn michaels came out to shake things up . hbk said the last thing he wanted to do was cause any trouble . he didn  t want to get involved  but he remembered pledging to bring triple h to the nwo . hbk said there  s nobody in the world that triple h is better friends with . hbk told his friend to imagine the two back together again  making bischoff  s life a living hell . triple h said that was a tempting offer . he then turned and hugged hbk  making official his switch to raw  triple h and hbk left  and bischoff gloated over his victory . bischoff said the difference between the two of them is that he  s got testicles and she doesn  t . stephanie whacked bischoff on the side of the head and left   br    br   match   tag team championship match christian and lance storm vs hollywood hogan and edge the match started with loud  usa  chants and with hogan shoving christian through the ropes and out of the ring . the canadians took over from there . but edge scored a kick to christian  s head and planted a facebuster on storm to get the tag to hogan . hogan began to hulk up and soon caught christian with a big boot and a leg drop  storm broke up the count and christian tossed hogan from the ring where storm superkicked the icon . edge tagged in soon after and dropped both opponents . he speared both of them into the corner turnbuckles  but missed a spear on strom and hit the ref hard instead . edge nailed a ddt  but the ref was down and could not count . test raced down and took down hogan then leveled edge with a boot . storm tried to get the pin  but edge kicked out after two . riksihi sprinted in to fend off test  allowing edge to recover and spear storm . christian distracted the ref  though  and y  j dashed in and clocked edge with the tag team championship  storm rolled over and got the pinfall to win the title  winners and new tag team champions christian and lance storm  br    br   match   wwe undisputed championship triple threat match . the rock vs kurt angle and the undertaker three of wwe  s most successful superstars lined up against each other in a triple threat match with the undisputed championship hanging in the balance . taker and the rock got face to face with kurt angle begging for some attention off to the side . he got attention in the form of a beat down form the two other men . soon after  taker spilled out of the ring and the rock brawled with angle . angle gave a series of suplexes that took down rock  but the great one countered with a ddt that managed a two  count . the fight continued outside the ring with taker coming to life and clotheslining angle and repeatedly smacking the rock . taker and rock got into it back into the ring  and taker dropped the rock with a sidewalk slam to get a two  count . rock rebounded  grabbed taker by the throat and chokeslammed him  angle broke up the pin attempt that likely would have given the rock the title . the rock retaliated by latching on the ankle lock to kurt angle . angle reversed the move and rock bottomed the people  s champion . soon after  the rock disposed of angle and hit the people  s elbow on the undertaker . angle tried to take advantage by disabling the great one outside the ring and covering taker  who kicked out after a two count . outside the ring  rock took a big swig from a nearby water bottle and spewed the liquid into taker  s face to blind the champion . taker didn  t stay disabled for long  and managed to overpower rock and turn his attention to angle . taker landed a guillotine leg drop onto angle  laying on the ring apron . the rock picked himself up just in time to break up a pin attempt on kurt angle . taker nailed rock with a ddt and set him up for a chokeslam . angle tried sneaking up with a steel chair  but taker caught on to that tomfoolery and smacked it out of his hands . the referee got caught in the ensuing fire and didn  t see angle knock taker silly with a steel chair . angle went to cover taker as the rock lay prone  but the dead man somehow got his shoulder up . angle tried to pin rock  but he too kicked out . the rock got up and landed angle in the sharpshooter  angle looked like he was about to tap  but taker kicked the rock out of the submission hold . taker picked rock up and crashed him with the last ride . while the dead man covered him for the win  angle raced in and picked taker up in the ankle lock  taker went delirious with pain  but managed to counter . he picked angle up for the last ride  but angle put on a triangle choke  it looked like taker was about to pass out  but the rock broke angle  s hold only to find himself caught in the ankle lock . rock got out of the hold and watched taker chokeslam angle . rocky hit the rock bottom  but taker refused to go down and kicked out . angle whirled taker up into the angle slam but was rock bottomed by the great one and pinned  winner and new wwe champion the rock  br    br   finally there is a decent ppv  lately the ppv weren  t very good  but this one was a winner . i give this ppv a a   br    br    
much has been made of rohmer  s use of digital technology to  fill in  the background . at times it works well  the scene where grace and her maid witness from afar the king  s execution is particularly striking . at other times it gives the film a strangely amateurish look  resembling a home video . however  the major failing is that the sheer artificiality of the mise en scene creates an alienating effect in the viewer . we know that what we are watching is not real so how can we feel for the characters  to be frank  i did not care at all what happened to the lady or the duke .  br    br   the other major failing  i regret to say  is the performance of lucy russell in the leading role . she is in virtually every scene and the success or otherwise of the film rests on her performance . ok she is speaking a foreign language but she is incapable of expressing real emotion . her emoting in the scene where she recounts to her friend mme de meyler  an excellent performance by the debutante helena dubiel  seeing the head on a pole caused some embarrassed laughter in the audience . also  watch her hands when she is expressing emotion   br    br   all in all a very disappointing film  particularly given the positive reviews on this site .  
why did this movie fail commercially  it  s got a sharp script  by ron shelton  and great performances by kurt russell and  especially  robin williams  in a brilliant manic nerd turn that  s different from any of his other work . a great renter .  
amen to magsel . there was a lot of confusion going on . first off  how do you know which movie you are purchasing  henry cele stars in every one of them . i bought this movie thinking it was the miniseries . . . what a letdown   it would have been a comedy but for the young girl being raped . david hasselhoff  spelling   is ok for popcorn tv but he was not believable in this film  where was his english accent   and what  s with the love story    the movie was supposed to be about a young man  s rise to military power  not the slave ship captain getting jiggly with the english maiden looking for her daddy . . .  br    br   if i had paid more than   for this movie  i would have to call the police  because that would be a crime   
kurt russell is at his best as the man who lives off his past glories  reno hightower . robin williams is his polar opposite in a rare low key performance as jack dundee . he dropped the big pass in more ways than one .  br    br   you  ll see some of the most quotable scenes ever put into one film  as jack hisses at a rat  reno poses  and the call of the caribou goes out .  br    br   don  t miss this classic that isn  t scared to show football in the mud the way it should be played  note to the nfl  .  
complete drivel . an unfortunate manifestation of the hypocritical  toxic culture of a decade ago . in this movie  pedestrian regrets for slavery go hand in hand with colonialist subtexts  the annoying redhead feeding shaka rice   . forget historical reality too . didn  t most western slaves comes from west africa  an american slaver easily capturing shaka with a handful of men  . finally  david hasslehoff could not have been any more obnoxious . one can only ponder  how would he have fared in the miniseries   promptly impaled most likely  . the miniseries was superb  and it is unfortunate that dh should have gotten his hands on something unique  and made it mundane .  i tend to think that he had hand in creating this fiasco  .  
have you ever in your life  gone out for a sport  s activity  tried your best  and then found yourself in an important segment of it  where for a brief moment  you were given a chance to be a hero and a champion and . . . failed  i believe many of us have had that moment in our lives . this is the premise of the movie   the best of times .  in this story a middle age banker  named jack dundee  robin williams  suffers from the deep melancholy of a football mistake  which happened years ago  is inspired to re  play the game . . again . in order to accomplish this he must convince the once great football quarterback  reno hightower  kurt russell  to make a comeback . for reno  who is satisfied with his present lot in life  see  s no need to change the past record  which get  s better as he ages . added to both their problem is the fact years have passed and in addition  both their marriages are floundering and in need of re  vamping . not easy when his father  in  law  donald moffat  habitually reminds him of the biggest drop . nevertheless  dundee is persistent and will do anything to try and correct the greatest blunder of his life . great fun for anyone wishing to enjoy their youth again .   
as a south african  it  s an insult to think that someone was actually paid to produce this nonsense   br    br   despite the fact that the director was one of the writers for the original shaka zulu mini  this  addition  to the series is appalling  the original series was based on historical facts about a man who was a great strategist  leader and warrior . a man who played a large role in shaping the history of local tribes in south africa .  br    br   the plot of this film  however  is nothing but hogwash  scraped from the bottom of the barrel by a writer that has failed to impress since the mid  nineties .  br    br   while omar sharif and henry cele are good actors  what is david hasselhoff doing here  rescuing drowning slaves with his red buoy and bleached smile   br    br   i kept expecting blond  busty women to appear out of nowhere and run across the screen in their tiny red bathing suits  for no apparent reason . not that this would  ve been any more bizarre than the fantastical plot line that was probably dreamed up after   pints of beer at a fancy dress party  where someone  s caveman costume inspired the writer to return to an african theme for his next  blockbuster  .  
i guess that everyone has to make a comeback at some point . and that  s exactly what embarrassed taft resident jack dundee  robin williams  intends to do in  the best of times  . yep  the man who went all crazy with the radio in  good morning  vietnam  is playing football . in this case  he seeks to replay a game that cost his high school a prestigious title . but ex  teammate reno hightower  kurt russell  isn  t just going to go along with it so easily .  br    br   granted  it  s not the best movie for either man . but williams and russell are actually a pretty good comedy team . and some of the names in this movie are likely to give you the giggles  to say the least  . check it out .  
yes . i  ll admit it . i believed all the hype surrounding this piece of work  about the trials and tribulations of  people  living in mexico city concerning their sexual lives . and so  i was really expecting to finally see a mexican movie  in ages  that was both popular and interesting to watch . unfortunately the film was utterly disappointing . the story presents us with two couples  both with very obvious marital problems . when a third party comes into the life of each couple  their problems reach a pivotal point . or absolute absurd . the plot then turns into a battle of the sexes . the stance taken by each group  yes  they literally group  girls with girls and boys with boys  is blatantly stupid and childish  i guess the humor was supposed to be there  . and it all goes from bad to worse . the performances range from good  miss zavaleta  to mediocre  mr bichir   with serrano doing an acceptable job on his opera prima . however  the flat circumstances that make up the plot  the one  dimensional characters  the very poor  if not stupid  perception of what sex represents in a mature relationship etc  make the movie fail . miserably . spyl has had an  impressive  good reception at the box  office . believe the hype at your own risk .  
saw this in the theater in    and fell out of my chair laughing more than once .  beirut  . . .  what do you know about beirut   . . .  beirut . . . he  s the best damn baseball player who ever lived .   br    br   you know how it  s going to end but it has a great time getting there . the training scenes are very funny but the best scene may be the one when jack and reno are attempting to watch the falcons v . vikings monday night football game while attempting a make  up dinner with their wives .  br    br   williams and russell seem to have a lot of fun with this one and it  s too bad that it  s overlooked as a top notch comedy .  
i have to say i was really looking forward on watching this film and finding some new life in it that would separate it from most dull and overly crafted mexican films . i have no idea why but i trusted sexo  pudor y lagrimas to be the one to inject freshness and confidence to our non  existent industry . maybe it was because the soundtrack  which i listened to before i saw the film  sounded different from others  maybe it was because it dared to include newer faces  apart from demian bichir who is always a favorite of mexican film directors  and supposedly dealed within it  s script with modern social behaviour  maybe because it  s photography i saw in the trailers was bright and realistic instead of theatrical . the film turned out to be a major crowd pleaser  and a major letdown . what serrano actually deals here with is the very old fashioned  battle of the sexes  as in  all men are the same  and  why is it that all women . . .   blah  blah  blah . nothing new in it  not even that  it uses so much common ground and clich that it eventually mocks itself without leaving any valuable reflexion on the female  male condition . full of usual tramps on the audience like safe gags about the clichs i talked about before  those always work  always  and screaming performances  it is a well acted film in it  s context  . . and by screaming i mean  literally . the at first more compelling characters played by monica dionne and demian bichir turn out to be according to serrano the more pathetic ones . i completely disagree with serrano  they shouldn  t have been treated that way only to serve as marionettes for his lesson to come through . . . he made sure we got his message and completely destroyed their roles that were the only solid ground in which this story could have stood . anyway  it is after all  a very entertaining film at times and you will probably have a good time seeing it  if you accept to be manipulated by it  .  
this movie surprised me  it had good one  liners and laughs   a nonstop action  packed storyline with tons of gun action and explosions . this movie surprisingly had a lot of good twists and turns . the plot is solid despite what others may think  it kept my interest the whole time right up till the very end . in conclusion this is a great way for an action movie buff to spend time on .  
you know what you are getting when you purchase a hallmark card . a sappy  trite verse and that will be   .    thank you very much . you get the same with a hallmark movie . here we get a ninety year old ernie borgnine coming out of retirement to let us know that as a matter of fact  he is not dead like we thought . poor ernie  he is the poor soul that married ethel merman several years ago and the marriage lasted a few weeks . in this flick  ernie jumps in feet first and portrays the grandpa that bonds with his long lost grandkid . we have seen it before . you might enjoy this movie but please don  t say that you were not warned .  
this movie has everything you want from an action movie . explosions  shootouts  bad guys and worse guys . it is fun to see james belushi using his humor to get out of the trouble he has gotten himself in to since he stole   million dollars from the ultimate big boss  the skipper . does this sounds cheesy . of course it is . but boy  did i have fun watching this movie . it is a whole lot better than all the direct to dvd garbage that is made nowadays . if you can get over the silly plot than you will find out that this movie has quite a few surprises in store . you could argue about the twists being predictable . but the fast pace of this movie doesn  t give you time too think too much of them  which is a blessing since this movie is not about revealing the ultimate twist . but more about the journey to that moment . only the title is a bit misleading and that could be the reason why so many people hated this movie . they probably expected a movie about mobsters in stead of some crooks double crossing each other . pure fun   
it  s difficult to know where this adaptation starts going wrong  because i think the problem begins with the books themselves . alexander mccall smith has worked out that you read them not for the detective stories  but for his deeply condescending and completely spurious vision of an africa that does not exist . he  s done for botswana what borat did for kazakhstan  not as successfully  but based in as much fact .  br    br   once i realised this  it ceased to gall me that jill scott  an american singer  actress  is cast as mma ramotswe . if she is to represent a land that is not africa  how appropriate that she is a black woman who is not african  she  s not the only american on the cast mma makutsi is played by anika noni rose . both women are far  far too young for the roles they  re playing  and far too glamorous . both brutally murder the local accents  and both focus so entirely on this brutality that they fail to offer much in the way of acting . scott  s mma ramotswe is bouncy  cute and soft . rose  s mma makutsi is an annoying motor  mouthed bitch .  br    br   the result is almost unwatchable . the principal cast is redeemed only by the presence of lucian msamati  who turns in a decent performance as mr jlb matekoni . hes comes off smarter and more intense than in the books  but i find myself unable to blame msamati for this  he  s a shining light in an ocean of suckage . the contradictions between his performance and the books are clearly laid at the feet of whichever committee of butchers wrote the script .  br    br   to me  mccall smith  s writing has always been highly entertaining yet notoriously bad . he refuses to be edited . as a result  his books contain experiments in grammar that border on the scientific  and characters that change name mid  sentence . it is therefore something of an achievement that the writing team on this project actually made it worse .  br    br   the dialogue is now largely anglicised . characters speak of  opening up  and  sensitivity to needs  . mma ramotswe and mr jlb matekoni flirt openly . mma makutsi moans about not having a computer  but given her constantly restyled hair  makeup and jewellery  i  m surprised she doesn  t have a macbook in her handbag along with her visa card .  br    br   so what are we left with here  it  s difficult to be upset with this crappy adaptation because honestly  most of the things i like about the original books are apocryphal anyway . mccall smith paints a fictional botswana populated with cute  non  threatening black people who are full of amusing and palatable wisdom  nuggets . it reads well despite linguistic travesty  but it is a vision of how a certain type of white person wishes black people were . it just isn  t true .  br    br   given that  it  s hardly surprising that this show sucks as much as it does . it remains to be seen whether european and american audiences will even notice  however .  
what a good film  made men is a great action movie with lots of twists and turns . james belushi is very good as an ex hood who has stolen   million from the boss who has to fend of the gangsters  hillbillies his wife and the local sheriff  timothy dalton  . you wont be disappointed  jump on board and enjoy the ride .  out of    
i had somewhat high hopes for this since i like tim roth . i was not pleased with this film . i liked the ang lee the hulk a few years back so i figured this would have more of a bang to it . first i was very disappointed with john hurt  s performance here . he looks as if his eyebrows were re  shaped for this . his performance was not convincing . he was not as good as one would expect . tim roth is cool as always here . the gama thing didn  t really stick to the original story line i don  t think . i guess the best part of the film was the end . it had some cool action . the only problem with the original was that it was too long . this one is not as long but it got a bit boring at times . i remember some time ago when walmart had this movie really cheap for sale and i always wondered why  . now i know . i was hoping to to get blown away  but i was not .  
this movie surprised me in a good way . from the box i got the impression that it was an action thriller but it was too funny to be a thriller  even though it was somewhat exciting .  br    br   there  s a lot of nice one  liners and funny situations in this movie and james belushi was born to do bill manucci  he does a great job . the rest of the cast ain  t half  bad either and especially timothy dalton is a treat .  br    br   the story can get pretty confusing at times as new characters shows up during the film . things get more complicated as nobody seldom tells the truth about things . if you don  t pay attention things might get a bit messy in the end but i really liked it .  br    br   louis morneau isn  t all that well known but he has done a perfectly ok job with this one and i never really grew impatient while watching the movie .  br    br   made men is well worth checking out .  
this reboot is like a processed mcdonald  s meal compared to ang lee  s very good but very underrated      the incredible hulk  .  br    br   ang lee  s  the hulk  is a comic book movie for the thinking person . the hulk takes some time to appear  about   minutes   but when he does we see the conflict at our protagonist  s core . he does his best to avoid losing control  but as he admits  when he does give in to his rage  he likes it .  br    br   now compare this to edward norton  s turn  where there is no display of conflict in his personality  and he turns into the hulk whenever he becomes excited and his pulse rate hits    beats per minute  not     not     but exactly     . to this reviewer  this felt akin to the introduction of midi  chlorians in the phantom menace  which tell how strong the  force  is with one  as if mystical abilities can be gauged through a blood test . in the     movie  all ed norton  s bruce banner has to do is to keep his pulse rate under     as monitored by a device strapped onto his wrist . and for the record  it is extremely difficult to get one  s pulse rate up to    even through a very exhilarating run  especially for a physically fit person .  br    br   emotions drive eric bana  s hulk . he has repressed memories of his mother  s death and his father  s role in his early life . on the surface he is calm  but there underneath there is significant anger  enough rage to fuel the hulk when it is unleashed . but the hulk never kills intentionally  even his attackers . mostly  he just wants to get away or close to betty ross  jennifer connelly  . he incapacitates his shooters and in one critical scene  saves a fighter jet pursuing him from a collision .  br    br   in the     movie  the visual effects are there  but as necessary . the action scenes  and there are plenty of them  are necessary to the plot  unlike the     movie where action is inserted for the sake of action .  br    br   in his quest to turn it into a  fugitive  story  ed norton loses focus on how bruce banner feels about the hulk . to him  the hulk is a dangerous side effect of an experiment went awry . and louis leterrier  the director picking up on ed norton  s cue  fails to add any emotional dimension to the banner  hulk relationship . the story can be summed up as banner is pursued and hulk kicks butt  banner is pursed and hulk kick butt . repeat as necessary .  br    br   the only thing that went against the     movie is that it is perhaps not as true to the comic books as the     version . however  even as i am a fan of the comics  i would prefer a movie that is not as true to the comics as a fanboy  s dream but has heart over the comics  loyal but manufactured and soulless     version any day .  br    br   perhaps ang lee should have read more comics . iron man  also released in      is a perfect example of a movie that is true to its comic  book roots and has heart .  
i bought this movie a few days ago  and thought that it would be a pretty shitty film . but when i popped it into the dvd  player  it surprised me in a very good way . james belushi plays very well as bill  the mouth  manuccie . but especially timothy dalton plays a very good roll as the sheriff . the  end  scene  in the house of bill is very excellent  good camera  work  nice dialogues and very good acting . bill  the mouth  manuccie has stolen   million dollars from the mafia . together with his wife he lives in south  carolina in a witness protection program . but the mafia tracks him down  and wants the   million dollar . bill can only trust the only person he knows inside out  himself .  
somebody owes ang lee an apology . actually  a lot of people do . and i  ll start . i was never interested in the ang lee film hulk  because of the near unanimous bad reviews . even the premium cable channels seemed to rarely show it . i finally decided to watch it yesterday on usa network and  wow . . . .  br    br   spoilers for ang lee  s hulk and the incredible hulk  br    br   was it boring  i almost didn  t make it through ang lee  s hulk . eric bana was expressionless  nick nolte was horrible  sam elliott was unlikeable  and that  s no fun  he  s usually a cool character  . in fact  i honestly think they chose eric bana because his non  descript face was the easiest to mimic with computer graphics  and it was clear that the ang lee hulk was meant to facially resemble bruce banner in his non  angry state . when hulk fought a mutant poodle i was ready to concede hulk as the worst superhero movie ever .  br    br   but then something happened . about    of the way through this tedious movie  there was a genuinely exciting and  dare i say it  reasonably convincing  extended action scene that starts with hulk breaking out of a containment chamber in a military base  fighting m  tanks and comanche helicopters in the desert  then riding an f   raptor into the stratosphere  only to be captured on the streets of san francisco . this was one of the best action sequences ever made for a superhero movie . and i have to say  the cgi was quite good . that  s not to say that the hulk was totally convincing . but it didn  t require much more suspension of disbelief than is required in a lot of non  superhero action movies . and that  s quite a feat .  br    br   of course  the ending got really stupid with bruce banner  s father turning into some sort of shape  shifting villain but the earlier long action sequence put any of iron man  s brief heroics to shame . and overall  apart from the animated mutant dogs  it really did seem like the cgi in hulk tried hard to convince you that he was real and really interacting with his environment . it was certainly better than i expected .  br    br   ok  but what about the incredible hulk  guess what . . . it  s boring too  it has just a few appearances by the hulk and here  s the thing  the cgi in this movie is horrible . maybe the hulk in ang lee  s version looked fake at times and cartoonish at others  but it had its convincing moments also . the incredible hulk looked positively ridiculous . it had skin tone and muscle tone that didn  t even look like a living creature  just some sort of computer  generated texture . it was really preposterous . the lighting  environment and facial effects didn  t look  years newer than ang lee  s  they looked   years older . and there really is no excuse for that . we truly are living in an era where computer programmers can ruin a movie just as thoroughly as any director  actor or cinematographer ever could .  br    br   worse  the writer and director of this movie seemed to learn almost nothing from ang lee  s  failure  . all the same mistakes are made . bruce banner is practically emotionless . the general is so relentlessly  implausibly one  dimensional that he seems faker than the hulk . the love interest is unconvincing  i have to give liv tyler credit for being more emotional than jennifer connelly  though both are quite easy on the eyes  . tim blake nelson overacts almost as much as nick nolte  even though he  s only in the movie for a few minutes . the hulk really doesn  t do much in this movie  certainly not any more than in ang lee  s version . the incredible hulk was slightly more fast  paced  but since nothing really happened anyway that  s not worth much . oh yeah  the villain is every bit as phony looking as the hulk . he  s actually much more interesting as a human than as a monster .  br    br   this is how i can definitively say ang lee  s version was better if i ever have the chance to see ang lee  s version again  i might be able to sit through it to see the good action sequences  or else to try to appreciate the dialogue a little more  more likely i  d just fast forward to the good parts  . but there is absolutely not a single scene in the incredible hulk that is worth seeing once  let alone twice . it is truly at the bottom of the heap of superhero movies . the cartoonish cgi is an insult to the audience  at least in ang lee  s version it seems like they were trying to make it realistic  except for the giant poodle  of course  .  br    br   it is absolutely mind  boggling how the filmmakers intended to erase the bad feelings associated with ang lee  s hulk by making almost exactly the same movie .  br    br   it is to edward norton  s credit that he seems to be distancing himself from this film .  
firstly let me say that i didn  t like the fact that the rock won the title that is so gay . next i feel regal should have got back his european title  jeff hardy is a crappy champ . rob van dam had the intercontinental title too long already brock should have won it . i am pleased with storm and christian being tag champs  best match was the booker t and big show match in my opinion .  
revolutions always present opportunities for dramatic films since  in fact  most revolutions are in themselves dramatic events . unfortunately  what this film lacks in drama is compensated for by an overabundance of boredom . one cares not who wins  loses  dies or lives   just end it as soon as possible . this is due in large measure to what seems to me to be a superficial use of background technology . scenes of paris and the french countryside have a cardboard quality about them . they might better be done on a bare stage and left that way . one cannot expect the amazing effects of  the house of the flying daggers  or  the golden compass   but  after all  this is a     digitally mastered production . characters seem to enter a scene for the sake of entering a scene  so much so that one loses count of the number of times character enter and leave rooms . in my view  this film turns the french revolution of the     s into the  papier  mache  revolution of a  papier colle  world .  
i was hoping this was going to be good as a fan of timothy dalton  s james bond and although it wasn  t his deserved   rd bond outing  it was a laugh . belushi brought some good humour to his part and dalton hammed it up nicely  but was probably underused . his part was liked a camped up version of jack nicholson in a few good men . the other brit in it was a bit shocking  but overal it was a laugh .  
  p   or club  p  should really be called  l  for lame . every festival has a disappointment and this is the one that fails to live up to its much  hyped logline  thai lesbians fighting monsters .  rather  this is the tale of a khmer country girl who  s grandmother has taught her a little witchcraft along with a few odd  but specific  rules  don  t walk under a clothesline    don  t eat raw meat   and  don  t accept money for your powers .  well  guess what folks  the girl moves to bangkok to raise some money as a  bar  girl  and manages to break all the rules granny taught her which subsequently releases an evil spirit that conveniently kills the  foreign johns  who pay for her services .  br    br   while this film can  t even be released in thailand due to it  s controversial subject matter most american audiences will find this ho  hum horror pic a cross between  showgirls  and  interview with the vampire  as directed by walt disney .  br    br   if not for a few scenes with significant amounts of blood the mpaa could probably rate this for pre  teens only . there is literally broadcast tv adult fare  although you  d expect at least a sex scene considering the fact that the film is about a brothel and one of the actresses is a thai porn star in real life .  br    br   as for the  lesbian  angle  there  s one brief smooch and a couple of  i love you  s  to prove that the two main stars really are a couple  on brother  . and the p  bar has got to be the only exotic dance club on the planet where the girls keep their sarongs on and do carnival stunts  there  s a swordsman who cuts cucumbers out of a girl  s mouth . . . ooh  phallic imagery  .  br    br   no nudity  no real monster  unless you count a five foot high thai spirit with yellow eyes   and no way any adult should ever pay to see this kind of stupidity except on dvd . you  ve been warned   
great entertainment from start to the end . wonderful performances by belushi  beach  dalton  railsback . some twists and many action scenes . the movie was made for me  funny lines in the screenplay  good music . dalton as the tough sheriff and railsback as  redneck  villain  . i must recommend this film to every action  adventure fan        
this was shown as part of the   th edinburgh international festival  though for reasons best left to the powers that be . a lot seems to have been made of the fact that it  s the first thai language film  made with thai actors  crew  but directed by a westerner . needn  t have bothered to be honest  as this film is dull  dull  dull . why hint at something  why shroud an idea in mystery  why subtly invoke a feeling  when you can hammer the point home with terrible voice overs  obvious shots and over the top scenes  nothing is left to the imagination as time and time again director spurrier clumsily churns out endless clichs . no hinting  no guessing  it  s all up on screen  no need to use our imaginations . wonder when the  scary  bit is coming  no you wont   cause the soundtrack will get more and more intimidating  rising to a crescendo of ominously . hell  i  m making up words to describe how bad this is . wonder whether the conjured demon is real or imaginary  why tax yourself  it  s really is a snake  and yes it  s really is biting his crotch  and there  s blood splattering everywhere . it  s a strange  uneasy film for several reasons . it  s supposed to be a horror film  but it  s not scary  the jolts are signposted  obvious . it might be a scathing attack on the seedier side of thailand  yet the director has a sleazy  lubricious style when it comes to showing barely pubescent teens . maybe it was casting himself as the virginity  taking westerner that planted the seeds of doubt in my head . or maybe the whole thing was just pants . uninspired  insipid  repetitive  hackneyed  all candidates for best description  but dull seems most appropriate and honest . it  s all been seen before  probably better  often with more thought  rarely with less imagination or flare . sorry . thumbs down on every count . truly dire .  
in another one of bugs bunny  s hare  raisingly wacky shorts  the famous leporid works in a department store display case  when owner gildersleeve decides to stuff him . of course  this proves nearly impossible  as bugs apparently knows the store better than gildersleeve  and knows when to cross  dress  . as always  they keep everything coming at top speed  and so you have to wonder how hilarious this cartoon must have seemed when it first debuted  among other things   hare conditioned  is a fine example of how the looney tunes looked in the    s before the termite terrace crowd polished them . but don  t get me wrong  the cartoons were still really good after the refined forms arrived .  br    br   anyway  this is a great one .  br    br   leporids are rabbits and hares .  
i will be short . . . this film is an embarrassment to everyone except its cinematographer . the very fact that it is a critique of the sex tourism industry seems valid until we are  treated  to a lingering dance scene . the plot is ridiculous no one except the most ardent fan of bad horror will get anything out of it . and for the love of god please stop saying this film is a tale of innocence lost or even of female empowerment because it is quite clearly not  childish fumbling lesbians  what the hell   . this was by far the worst film at the edinburgh festival  that i saw anyway   someone even collapsed halfway through the film probably because they couldn  t take any more of it . this may seem like an overly critical rant but i genuinely cannot find a redeeming feature of this film except for perhaps if you take it as pure comedy . in short this film is best watched on a cocktail of class a drugs .  
a great bugs bunny cartoon from the earlier years has bugs as a performer in an window display at a local department store . after he  s done for the day the manager comes in to tell him that he  ll be transferring soon . bugs is happy to oblige into he figures out that the new job is in taxidermy . . . and that taxidermy has to do with stuffing animals . animals like say  a certain rabbit . this causes a battle of wits between the rascally rabbit and his now former employer . i found this short to be delightful and definitely one of the better ones of the early      s . it still remains as funny nearly    years later . this animated short can be seen on disc  of the looney tunes golden collection volume  .  br    br   my grade a   
i have come out of several years of lurking on these boards due to the sheer lack of intelligence that is communicated through the reviews that periodically appear on this film  s imdb space . i saw this movie courtesy of subway cinema  s new york asian film festival  which had an otherwise excellent selection of movies this year  see vital  snake of june  cha no aji  survive style  and have regretted every day that a scene from that movie disengorges itself from the back of my mind  and becomes a vivid memory .  br    br   i  m sure that you can read a laudatory summary of the film off of subway cinema  which is probably why i made the mistake of dragging my friend to the film . the description built up the kind of horror film that i had longed for for a while  one that relies on sheer terror rather than cheap scares . p was in fact different . it relied on cheap laughs .  br    br   the incredibly annoying announcer described this movie as  lesbians team up to fight monsters .  completely untrue . there is a subplot built up in this film to make it seem like the relationship between the girl and pookie is actually going somewhere . more lies . this film seems like a short made for  are you afraid of the dark   the story is ridiculous  and only succeeded in eliciting laughter and confusion from the audience after they finally rescinded their attempt to view this film with any semblance of seriousness and try to forget the   that they wasted at the door . i almost wish paul spurrier was in the audience so that i could laugh at him and ask him why he wasted  years in thailand to make a bad softcore horror  cum  porn that belongs on the spice channel  which only succeeded to get the actress excommunicated from her family  and caused a minor stir at the belgium film festival . the only stir that this caused was a gurgle in the lower intestine as it couldn  t extract itself from the shte that it is . anyway  i hope i can dissaude anyone from making the grave mistake of seeing this film  it was truly one of my top  worst movie experiences  knocking out soulplane for the number  .  
is it a good idea to use live animals for department store window displays   br    br   no  and here  s why . . . .  br    br   in  hare conditioned  the sale that bugs is helping promote is over and the store manager  nelson  is transferring him to a new department taxidermy . naturally  bugs objects and the fun begins .  br    br   using nearly every department in the store  children  s wear  sports  shoes  costumes  women  s nightgowns  don  t ask .   bugs comes out on top at every turn  even referring to the manager as  the great gildersneeze  . even when trapped in the confines of an elevator  bugs makes the best of the situation .  br    br   director jones is on top of his pictorial game as always  as are blanc  as bugs  natch  and nelson  the manager  who does sound like radio mainstay gildersleeves  go ask your grand  parents  .  br    br   and a sage word of advice when confronted by a fuzzy  looking woman wanting to try on bathroom slippers  always check her ears .  br    br   ten stars for  hare conditioner   the best argument yet for animal labor laws .  
made the unfortunate mistake of seeing this film in the edinburgh film festival . it was well shot from the outset  but that  s the last positive comment i have about the film . the acting was awful  i wonder if actual gogo girls were hired  but it was the plot that was truly laughable  in fact that it was laughable and not boring is the only reason i gave this     .  br    br    spoilers below  .  br    br   i just want to mention a few of the scenes that really got the audience laughing .  br    br   shoving the girl in the field who would have thought that a kid shoving another kid could be acted so badly . a real eye  opener .  br    br   the getting on the bus scene the girl is getting on the bus . but  according to the music  the world is ending .  br    br   the rolling under the clothes line wow  this one really demonstrates the plot writer  s skills . in the room  followed by raw meat and skill selling . why not just get her to perform all three  sins  at once  at least then the film might have been slightly shorter .  br    br   the running down the stairs of the mall watch as one of the girls takes to flight down the stairs pursued by a flesh eating dau  no wait . . she is just walking quickly trying not to break her nails .  br    br   the running covered in blood this is definitely my favourite scene  and a fitting end to the movie . a half marathon in red paint  completed by vaulting up stairs and over the bridge  only to be sent flying most unrealistically by a passing car . not only this  but this suicide is undertaken by the most self obsessed girl in the film  now that  s sticking to character for you .  br    br   i  d like to think that this film was created by a   year old and their mates . sadly  having met the director at the presentation  this is not the case .  br    br   but  if you  re in a sarcastic mood  and fancy a laugh with a few mates . . then still don  t even think about it .  
this  along with  hare tonic   ranks as one of the best bugs cartoons  indeed one of the best bugs  ever . there are some comments about how bugs in these cartoons is  basic   meaning  i guess  that he is as yet not fully developed . i actually prefer this  basic  version from the mid    s  chuck jones  was the best version  who is actually more rabbit  sized and far more amusing than the eventual long  legged version who towered over yosemite sam and daffy duck . the latter  day bugs came to be too suave and sophisticated for my liking . also check out  hair raising hare        and  rabbit punch        for great examples of classic bugs and classic chuck jones .  
watching  kroko  i would have liked to leave the cinema very much for the first time in my life . i would not recommend to watch this movie flat main characters  absolutely no development e . g . kroko the metaphoric german problem child remains a pure metaphor without any capability of positive involvement despite several plot  wise chances to do so . uninspired actors  non  evolving plot . i guess the movie attempted an environmental survey but did not succeed camera appeared shaky rather than motivated . pictures were low  contrast  gray and dark  i am sure deliberately but the components did not add up to a convincing impression of the social milieu . the story had certain potential though  it could have made a good short story .  
chuck jones  s  hare conditioned  is a fast paced  often hilarious cartoon . pitting bugs bunny against a strange  yellow  skinned apartment store manager who wants to have him stuffed   hare conditioned  takes full advantage of its multi  purpose setting . the chase takes bugs and his pursuer through a variety of departments  leading to an inspired gag in which they quickly emerge from various departments wearing whatever clothes are associated with that part of the store . this great gag is trumped  however  by a truly inspired sequence involving elevators in which bugs  disguised as an elevator boy  tricks the store manager into relentlessly getting on or off elevators at the wrong time . it  s a brilliant climactic set piece which unfortunately gives way to a not very funny final gag . by that time  however   hare conditioned  has made its mark as one of the great chase films  bursting with wild energy . as bugs was becoming more refined in some of the other cartoons from this period   hare conditioned  showed that he could still be just as appealing as a more anarchic character .  
any person with fairly good knowledge of german cinema will surely tell that numerous films about a young girl having troubles with her mother as well as her boy friend have been made in the past . if such a film is shown to people again  it would surely click provided if it has something new  fresh and captivating for today  s challenging audiences . this is also true for german film maker sylke enders as her film  s principal protagonist kroko has been mistreated by everybody around her including her mother and boyfriend . she is bold enough to face any punishment as she has tried her hand at all kinds of criminal activities including shoplifting . kroko was originally shot on dv to be blown afterwards to   mm format . its technical virtuosity does not hamper our joys when we learn that kroko would like to become a policeman as she feels that she is averse to the idea of becoming a run of the mill hairdresser . if someone were to state a positive aspect of sylke enders  film  it may well be kroko  s involvement with handicapped people as a result of a punishment . it is with kroko that we learn that punks are human too with their unique joys and sorrows .  
  jared diamond made a point in the first episode that other peoples of the world didn  t have animals to domesticate but europeans did  and that accounts for why we were able to make steel and invent complex machines  .    it is obvious that the person who wrote this comment hasn  t understood the reasoning behind this documentary or the original book . please don  t ruin this great piece by your simple mindedness . the reasons are far more complex than the single thing you mentioned . please read the book as is it a great source of information . i enjoyed it a lot . this book is even a taught as a text book at some universities .  
years ago i saw the godfather and it made a lasting impression on me  the atmosphere of the movie was first class  the acting memorable and the storyline a classic . recently i bought the trilogy and after watching part  again i looked eagerly to viewing part  . . . . . . i was so pleased to realize early on into part  that here was a fitting follow on to the great godfather movie  again everything was just about perfect and i could not wait to see godfather iii . . . . . . . . wrong   i wish i  d stopped at ii . the storyline was not good  it seemed to me like a story made up just to have a story  the characters were weak especially the daughter . pacino  s protege was a weak character that would have been eaten alive in godfather  or  . then scenes such as  corleone being invested with all the trappings of the catholic church with full choir  the assassin on horseback riding away into the sunset  the unseen helicopter machine gunning of the meeting  where the  goodies  get away and everyone else is shot   daughter and  st cousin rolling bits of pasta across a board  the pathetic shooting on the steps . . . . . corleone stuffing sweets down him with orange juice for diabetes  a man of his intelligence and guile isn  t ready for an emergency   . . . no it was not good and with the best will in the world i wont be able to watch it again . but i  ll watch    many times down the years .  
this series adds new information and background to the book and includes personal appearances by the author and by archaeologists and other anthropologists . it brings the book to life and makes even more sense of the author  s subsequent opus  collapse .  br    br   diamond himself comes off as personable and caring  not just a disinterested or disengaged academic . this series makes it clear that his book was not just a response to a need to  publish or perish   as the saying goes about academe  but a deeply considered answer to a question from someone he respects   why you white people got so much cargo  and we have so little   because he respected the intelligence of the questioner and his community  diamond looked for an answer that didn  t insult that intelligence or that community . i like to think of his answer in a very simple way  in the same spirit as  south park  s   blame canada    blame wheat    
and  finally  old  old michael corleone falls over and goes  thump   who really did the writing for this last installment of the godfather saga  probably the same staff who does  as the world turns .  this flick doesn  t deserve the title  godfather  at all . let  s call this one  the cosas of our nostras  or  all my capos  . as someone who  s encountered a number of mafia people in my business life  i can say without exception  that i  ve never met any mobster as inwardly  conflicted and contemplative as michael corleone . let  s face it  these guys are in the mafia solely because they  re greedy  nothing more . in this film  don corleone spends lots of time pondering his past deeds and his bleak future  perhaps even the afterlife  then recovers remarkably fast in order to pull off some fantastic business deal or order the death of this one or that one like the big time operator he is  deep down . then  there  s his failed marriage . after the break  up scenes in g   we may hope that michael  kay will reunite as man and wife  but here they seem to just become very good  platonic friends who can laugh  cry  share intimate thoughts about their lives . it  s as if the screenwriters try to make michael into a woman . it  s bizarre behavior for two people who shared the passion of the marriage bed for  years . there  s some miscasting here and there  or perhaps they  re sins of authorship . poor  old  country  beautiful sophia coppola is saddled with a hopeless role  with too many short lines in the film that don  t fit what a young woman would say in casual conversations  was given  remarks  rather than  lines  to emote . her  passionate  lovemaking scene with andy garcia looks like something from a bad teen sex comedy as they chew their open  mouthed kisses and fondle each others backsides on the kitchen drainboard like marionettes . . . scullery sex was brought off wonderfully by glenn close and michael douglas  but it  s just laughable here . then  there  s andy  s character  vinnie mancini  who  s also given a difficult  thankless role to play . he  s expected  i guess  to be the new  new don corleone  but he  s almost handed the job on a silver platter and has to do little to strengthen his position  unlike michael  s simultaneous hits on all  families in g  . this hand  me  down process may be an authentic way of transferring power in a mafia family  but why is so much made of this boring routine  certainly  don vincent may earn the respect of his fellow gangsters someday  but there  s little character revelations in the script to give us a portrait of this young man  sadly . puzo did such a fine job of quickly  concisely developing michael  s character in g  . but  g  has no economy in it  s story  telling and we suffer through drawn out expositories until we just want to take a snooze . thirdly  george hamilton was also handed a thankless task  in taking over as family lawyer after robt duvall reportedly turned down a  rd installment as tom hagen . george wisely underplayed his role  so it came off without damage to the actor . the development of connie corleone  s character is interesting  but it goes too far when she takes murderous matters into her own hands  she could well end up sleeping with the fredos  if this were the real world  . but  it  s not all bad . the assassination scene in the hotel penthouse is nifty  also   they keep pulling me back in  or words to that effect is a great line . and  we recover some old  country feel as we get to go back to sicily  even if it  s all done in     and they  ve got modern cars  haircuts . the plot lines involving the corrupt hierarchy of the catholic church are pretty interesting  since it  s based on some actual financial shenanigans at banco vaticani in the      s  but it  s brought too far  again  with the too  spectacular death scenes  etc . the grand opera scenes are very dramatic and well photographed . but  the death scene of mary toward the end is an unbalanced attempt of emotional  manipulation  at best . all screenwriters need to learn that we don  t always need more and more death in order to bring a mafia movie to a successful conclusion . you feel sorry for kay that her daughter is dead  she plays her grief so well  but michael  s reaction is hammy  hammy  hammy . then  michael dies sometime in the   st century  in sicily  alone on a grand estate  of heart  failure . . . no grandson to play with before his demise  no wife to grieve for him . what should have happened in the last    of this movie is michael being tracked down by someone like rudy guilliani  put on trial  all his dirty family  s sleazy little enterprises and bloodthirsty indulgences brought into the light of day  michael then convicted under rico statutes and sent to federal prison for life . . . then he can keel over dead from heart  failure while mopping a floor in leavenworth . that  s how mafia dons were ending their careers in the late    s and early    s and they got much better treatment than what they deserved .  
having read diamond  s book  i was slightly disappointed in the series  but all in all  it is quite informative . reading the other comments  it is comforting to know that the  culture warriors  are hard at work  seeing  attacks  on  western civilization  under every rug .  br    br   is diamond a little preachy  sure . like a lot of academics  he sees his theory as the most important thing ever . he uses the phrase  guns  germs  and steel  at seemingly every opportunity during the series . we get it  after about the first   minutes .  br    br   is diamond a little simplistic  in the series   sure . the part about the spaniards in south america is particularly amusing  condensing some very long  complicated history down to  smallpox  swords  and horses   wrapping up the whole conquest of south america in about   minutes . but the point remains valid  these things did in fact contribute  but not totally define  the reasons for the spaniard  s success against the established cultures .  br    br   is he preaching against western civilization in any way  nope . not a word . not to my ear . all he says is that luck played a large part in determining which cultures advanced more quickly  not that luck is the only reason .  br    br   in the end  if you  re looking for something that validates your own sense of superiority  then this series is not for you . but if you are interested in all of the factors than influence how societies succeed or fail  this series presents a useful interpretation of the historical evidence .  
i dislike this movie a lot . if you  ve read the puzo  s books  or at least have watched very closely the two first movies  specially the first one   you  re going to agree with me .  br    br   compared with the corleone  s saga presented by puzo  s novel  the script of this film is  sometimes  even ridiculous . the characters and the relationships among them are distorted . the story ends up reaching nowhere  although it appears to go to some direction during the movie .  br    br   it is understandable that different times should be expected for the corleone  s saga in the    s  and that we would not gonna find things the way they were before . but  in the other hand  i don  t know why they had to copy some dialogues from the other movies  in contexts when they didn  t fit . why this  it sounds like those poorly made sequels that just try to copy the original film  s qualities .  br    br   what will never be understandable is the fact that mario puzo  coppola and al pacino joined together to make this . a man who directed pieces like apocalypse now and godfather has to be forgiven for almost anything he does in cinema until he dies . so does al pacino  for being the actor he is . but mario puzo shouldn  t have written this . how come  he damaged all his previous work . what a shame  my friend . the puzo  s novel  the last don  is a    s story about the mob  and it is great . we can never tell the same about the plot for the godfather iii .  
i have seen a lot of ppv  s in the past but this is the most entertaining  intense ppv and the most complete dvd i have ever seen . the dvd extras are worth it because they it gives a different view of how the wrestlers act after the show  such as the chris benoit interview  edge interview   some glimpse into the monday night wars era  the first match of hogan winning tag title gold and some promotional talk . additionally there is a good music video .  br    br    . tag team table match bubby ray and spike dudley vs . eddie guerro and chris benoit     this was a pretty good intense match to start off the show . not too many holds and just pure raw physicallity . spike can hold his own in tables matches and guerro and benoit gave good pure wrestling skills on the mat .  br    br    . wwe crusierweight championship jamie noble w  nidia v . billy kidman     the crowd really didn  t care about either wrestler and didn  t get interested until kidman did a shooting star press . usually people expect a lot of high flying in a cruiser weight championship  but this had very little . in fact it was so bad that when noble hit his finisher  no one even cared or knew  you can tell by the lack of camera  s flashing  . the ending was quick though .  br    br    . wwe european championship jeff hardy v . william regal     i  ve never really liked regal as a wrestler  he lacks intensity and style . hardy was impressive but really didn  t get a chance to show off his high flying act  although he still performed some good counters and added that needed fast pace to the match . it ended off quickly which was perfect for this match .  br    br    . john cena v . chris jericho     it  s funny looking back at cena  s very first ppv  how he used to act  how he used to dress  and how he used to look  watch his interview  it  s pretty funny  . this was a good intense match with cena showing a nice variety of holds  suplexes  counters and some aerial . jericho was sub  par but definitely helped cena launch his career . cena wins .  br    br    . wwe intercontenital championship rvd v . brock lesnar     this was a very intense and good match . both wrestlers styles really matched up well on the screen  with brocks pure power and raw energy vs . rvds skill full moves and quickness . rvd looked great in this match  better than his later matches with edge and cena  and the entire match was fast pace . the ending worked perfectly because it still preserved brock  s undefeated streak while giving rvd his just desserts in his home state .  br    br    . no disqualification match booker t v . big show     another solid match that lacked a certain intensity as the rvd match but still a good follow up . although it started off kinda slow  which it always is with big show  booker t was impressive and did a sick move on the announcers table . the finisher was awesome  the ending was a great upset and big move up for booker t .  br    br    . wwe tag team championship hogan and edge v . christian and lance storm     this was a mediocre match . hogan comes out like usual to a huge pop but his variety of moves lacks that intensity and energy . then again christian doesn  t exactly have the greatest athletic abilities himself . this ended up being a mediocre match at best but was still ok for ppv .  br    br    . triple threat match for the undisputed championship      . rock v . undertaker v . kurt angle .  br    br   easily the match of the year . this is by far the best triple threat match i have ever seen . it had close falls  plenty of finishers  stolen finishers  raw energy  intensity and fast pace . no one could predict who would come out of this one . if your going to buy this dvd i would buy it strictly for this match .  ending  watch for yourself    br    br   overall this was a solid ppv with plenty of extra goodies to keep you watching again and again . although this is hard to find  i had to pay a little more than usual for this dvd  it is definitely worth your money .  
this movie is complete crap  avoid this waste of celluloid at all costs  it is rambling and incoherent . i pride myself on plumbing the depths of    s sleaze cinema from everything from salo to salon kitty . i like being shocked  but i need a coherent story . however if watching horses mate gets you off this film is for you . the saddest part was that lame werewolf suit with the functional wang . i mean its just plain hard to sit through  not to mention the acting is terrible and the soundtrack is dubbed badly . please  i know the cover is interesting  what looks like a gorillas hands reaching for a woman  s bare ass  but don  t waste your time or money as you won  t get either back .  
this is a documentary i came across by chance on the uk tv channel more  and i have to say i found it extremely interesting and thought provoking . i will also be seeking out the book that was the source material for this documentary . basically this is professor jared diamond theory on why certain parts of the earth  s societies prospered and others did not . the argument he presents was new to me and argued about how the fortune of the right crops and the right animals that where able to domesticated is certainly a compelling one . as for the documentary itself it is well shot and well narrated with not to much of the re  created scenes that spoil many a modern documentary . diamond also helps by not being to condescending which is a fault of a lot of intellectuals when trying to get a message to the masses . people have claimed his theory is marxist but i do not buy this and see it more socio geologist . it was also refreshing to hear an theory on the evolution of society not based around religion . highly recommended viewing .  
near the beginning of  the godfather part iii   michael corleone  s son wants to drop out of law school and become a musician . michael corleone does not want this . but his estranged ex  wife  kay  manages to convince him to let anthony corleone pursue music as he wishes . so he does .  br    br   that seems like an odd way to start a review  as it is a minor plot point and has nothing really to do with the major action . just bear with me here you  ll see where i  m going with this eventually . now let me tell you about the major plot . it is about michael corleone wanting to quit crime for good  he has largely abandoned all criminal elements in his family business  . but then along comes vincent mancini  an illegitimate nephew  who is involved in a feud . so of course michael must endure yet another brush with criminality and gun violence and all that good gangster stuff . meanwhile  vincent has a semi  incestuous affair with michael  s daughter mary . oh  and michael and kay are trying to patch up all the horrid things that happened at the end of part ii .  br    br   it is like a soap opera . one horrid  awful      minute soap opera . gone is any sort of the sophistication  romance  and emotional relevance that made the first two movies hit home so hard . after a    year break in the franchise  francis ford coppola delivered a mess of sop and pretentiousness entirely incongruous with the first two films  once again proving his last great work was  apocalypse now  back in the      s .  br    br   what  s worse   the godfather part iii  isn  t even a logical follow  up of  the godfather part ii .  michael is a completely different person . he hasn  t just gone to seed  which might be legitimate  even if it  d be no fun to watch  . he  s become a goody  goody that  s trying to fix all the tragedy that made part ii such a devastating masterpiece . his confession to the priest was bad enough  but that little diabetes attack in the middle pushed it over to nauseating . he also gets back together with kay  for heaven  s sakes  there is absolutely no way that should happen  as the  nd movie made abundantly clear  she aborted his baby  and his sicilian upbringing made him despise her for it . didn  t francis ford coppola even think of these things   br    br   and don  t even get me started on mary and vincent  s affair  for a romance so forbidden  it was shockingly unengaging . sofia coppola  s acting did nothing to help . she made the smartest move of her life when she switched from in front of the camera to behind it  because she was possibly the worst actress i have ever seen in a best picture nominee . every line she delivered was painfully memorized  and every time the drama rested on her acting abilities  all she elicited was inappropriate giggles . in the climactic scene   i won  t go into detail  but you  ll know which scene i  m talking about when  if you watch it   she looks at michael and says   . . . . . . daddy   i think i was meant to cry  but the line was delivered so poorly i burst out into long  loud laughter   br    br   now we get to the climax  and now you will also realize why i took time to start the review with a description of anthony corleone  s musical ambitions . after    minutes of petty drama and irrelevant happenstances  anthony corleone returns . . . with an opera  so michael  kay  mary  and vincent go to see it  and for about      minutes a couple killers walk around trying to assassinate michael . about this climactic sequence  i must say one thing it was really good  but not because of the killers   they were pretty boring . i just really liked the opera . it had some great music and real great set pieces . and  from what little it showed us  it seemed that the story had echoes of the corleone family  s origin . i  ll bet it was one swell opera  and i  ll bet michael corleone was glad he let his son switch from law school to music .  br    br   my biggest wish is this that francis ford coppola had merely filmed anthony corleone  s opera for    minutes and ditched the rest of the soggy melodrama . better yet  i wish he hadn  t made  the godfather part iii  at all . part ii gave us the perfect ending . this spin off was self  indulgent and unnecessary .  br    br   p . s . this is not a gut reaction to the film . i watched all  godfather films over a month ago  though i was rewatching the first one  . not only does this mean that my expectations for part iii weren  t screwed  in fact  i had set the bar rather low for it after what i heard   but it also means i  ve had a good time to think about all three films . while i was a bit disappointed with part ii at first  the more i thought about it  the better it seemed . but with part iii  it was bad to begin with  then got worse the more i thought about it . the sad thing is that many people will stop with part i  but if they watch part ii as well  they will most likely go on to part iii . if you have the will  watch parts i  ii and pretend like part iii never existed .  
the documentary presents an original theory about  guns  germs and steel  . the series graphically portray several episodes strongly supporting the theory  and defend the theory against common criticism .  br    br   i was deeply puzzled to find user comments complaining about lack of new information in these series . they say documentary presents information which is taught in middle school . indeed  it does . in fact  i greatly enjoyed the original look at the information which i have known since middle school and the unexpected analysis .  br    br   so  if you like knowing why things work  if you have taken apart the telephone trying to determine how it worked  if you have gone to the farm to see how farm works and how cows are milked  you will enjoy this series . a definite recommendation .  
the godfather part i was a stunning look inside the fictional corleone family and how an innocent young man was all but forced into circumstances he never wanted to have a part of . the godfather part ii shows that young man  s acceptance of his new role  his desensitization of character  as well as his complete loss of all innocence as he dives deeper and deeper into a life of crime . the first two parts of this saga of this transformation of michael corleone make for one of the greatest tragedies in cinematic history .  br    br   then  along came the godfather part iii . michael corleone is now the aging don of the corleone family . he shows remorse for his previous actions not through subtle behaviors  but by trying to use his powers for good and admitting all his wrongdoings and regrets to others . very cliche and uncharacteristic of the complex character that is michael corleone . michael  s plans to use his powers for good are derailed by an ambitious young disciple and his enemies . michael  s daughter is eventually a casualty of the ongoing mob wars and her death predictably leads to michael realizing that his entire life as don has been worthless for he has failed in the one thing that was the reason for putting himself into the position he was in protecting his family .  br    br   the godfather part ii ends with michael corleone reaching the lowest of the lows having his own brother killed . before part iii was made  the godfather saga was an emotionally riveting tale of an innocent young man  s journey into darkness with the unbelievably tragic end of michael forgetting his roots and abandoning the one thing that has always mattered most to him and those around him family loyalty . part iii paints the picture of michael as a man who is and always has been just a victim of circumstance . this greatly corrupts the meaning of the first two films .  br    br   the godfather part iii is a horrible mess of a film that never should have been made . the only solution to the problem that is this final installment of the godfather movies is to pretend that it does not exist and that the saga actually ends with michael  s shockingly horrible act of having a member of his own family killed .  
don  t know if this contains any spoilers or not  but i don  t want to risk being blacklisted until the year     .  br    br   i disagree entirely with the viewer comments that have described guns  germs and steel as  politically correct  and  neo  marxist .  they cannot have watched the same series that i did .  br    br   the series i watched depicted the history of european colonisation in the americas and southern africa with no particular inaccuracies . i saw nothing in the series that portrayed europeans as bad people who happened to be lucky  though europeans often were lucky  and there  s nothing wrong with luck . neither did i see native peoples portrayed as poor little innocent things . if anything  the inca was rather arrogant  as you would expect any leader would be when dealing with foreigners  if his country has not been conquered in living memory by any other world power .  br    br   i certainly saw nothing that could be construed as marxist or neo  marxist  except by the most incredibly elastic of imaginations .  br    br   otherwise  many african peoples do have a built  in immunity to malaria and other tropical diseases that europeans lack . at the time they were at the height of their successes  the aztec  maya and inca civilisations were as advanced as any other in the world  and as wealthy sometimes more so . aboriginal american and khoi  san populations were decimated by smallpox and other diseases introduced by europeans just as european colonists were decimated by tropical diseases like malaria .  note the khoi  san peoples are completely different from all other sub  saharan african peoples .   br    br   so  i don  t see what some of the other commentators are complaining about . the only thing i can find to complain about is that the series doesn  t tell me anything i did not know by the time i finished seventh grade . there  s really nothing new in the way of historical information in this film . it does  however  present some nice dramatisations of events  such as the conquest of the incas the production values are very high and it fills in a few holes here and there that didn  t get covered in mrs . gruber  s sixth hour social studies class at milan middle school .  br    br   if you rent or buy this  assuming you had a decent primary and  or secondary school education  you won  t learn anything new  but you will have an enjoyable and entertaining time reviewing what you already learned  or should have learned  by the time you hit high school .  
the danish movie  slim slam slum  surprised me to be the worst movie i have seen to this date . i didn  t think that it was possible to top my list of bad bad b  movies but this one deserves the gold . it  s not funny . it  s bad acting  it  s bad filmed and the storyline is bad . the only positive thing i can say about this movie is it has three girls in it . i truly believe this flick has the potential to knock of the other danish movie  stjerner uden hjerner  as the badest danish film ever made  and that  s truly something . congratulations in advance   
rock star inxs was the best music tv series i have ever watched  it had some of the greatest rock n  roll songs ever written  performed by   very talented singers  performers . it also had  in my opinion  the most heart  felt  feel  good  surprise endings in all of reality tv . it actually made me shed tears of happiness for the winner    over the   weeks of this televised competition  the viewing audience got to know and became familiar with all of the contestants . after    some episodes the remaining contestants seemed more like friends than just some more strangers competing against each other on a reality tv show . and the fact that inxs was  and still is  one of the greatest rock n  roll bands ever just added to the emotional tension created by this wonderful reality series . if you don  t have the series recorded  rock star inxs the dvd is a great alternative .  
what a crappy movie  the worst of the worst  this movie is as entertaining as a dead slug . no  talent  what  so  ever  actors  stupid plot . who wrote this script   was there ever a script for this goofy movie or did the director just accidentally press the record  button on his camera and then decided to make the film up as they went along  is this meant to be a kids movie or a comedy or what  my friends younger brother is in the  . th grade and him and his classmates just did an amateur  movie for their school  project which outdid this geeky movie . . this is by far the worst film i have seen in my life  there is just no excuse for this flick   
as has been well documented by previous posters  the real stars of rockstar inxs  and  indeed it  s sequel  rockstar supernova  are paul mirkovich  rafael moreira  jim mcgorman  nate morton and sasha krivtsov . don  t know who they are  they are the awesome  tight  rockin  house band whose music savvy and talent made this show something more than a sad american idol clone .  br    br   remember the  strings  night  that was musical precision and perfection if ever i  ve seen it . suzie mcneil  s epic rendition of queen  s  bohemian rhapsody   ty taylor  s memorable cover of the stones   you can  t always get . . .   jd fortune singing  suspicious minds  . the common denominator here is the awesome house band .  br    br   as good as inxs were in their prime  they are sadly a shadow of their former selves  though jd  s live performance has somewhat breathed new life into their music  this show is all about the hb .  br    br   memo to producers season three  if we  re blessed enough to have it happen  should be rockstar house band . get those boys a good lead singer and they are going places .  
i have never seen a movie as bad as this . it is meant to be a  fun  movie  but the only joke is at the start  and it is not funny . if you like this sort of movie  then you may just be able to give it a vote of  . if it had the necessary votes  it would truly belong on the bottom    .  br    br    
i don  t quite know how to explain  darkend room   because to summarize it wouldn  t really do it justice . it  s a quintessentially lynchian short film with two beautiful girls in a strange  mysterious situation . i would say this short is definitely more on the  mulholland drive  end of the lynchian spectrum  as opposed to  the elephant man  or  the straight story .  it  s hidden on lynch  s website  and well worth the search .  
slim slam slum is a sad and disappointing picture . there is absolutely no reason to this sorry excuse for a picture . dont go there  what ever you do  dont . watch tv  shop for   hours straight instead . that way you will be slightly amused .  
this is almost typical lynch . however  what makes this film slightly unusual for lynch is the fact that it looks very raw  almost amateurish . but i believe lynch does this on purpose to give a greater sense of realism  which serves to increase the intensity of surreal moments .  br    br   however  a lot of typical lynch motifs are present  such as floating camera work haunting music long  excruciating  pauses hanging curtains dim lights growing darker at a slow  almost indiscernible  pace extreme close ups themes of women in trouble over  bearing  incompassionate  all knowing characters facing off with characters who are distraught  temporarily oblivious  in the dark and so on . . .  br    br   the performances are great and the short is thought provoking . as usual  lynch leaves almost everything up to interpretation . many questions are left unanswered and this ignites the imagination .  br    br   another brilliant effort from lynch . i only hope he makes some shorts  more along the lines of his sony playstation  commercials . they were inspired .  
the show had great episodes  this is not one of them . it  s not a terrible episode  it  s just hard to follow up  the man that was death .    all through the house   and  dig that cat  he  s real gone .   br    br   this episode is about a couple that has just been married peggy  ammanda plummer  and charles  stephen shellen  . in the first five minutes you find out that charles only married peggy for her money . the two go on their honeymoon and their car breaks down on a dirt road and they have to seek refuge in an old abandon mansion . charles soon finds out a secret of peggy  s family . . .  br    br   in my opinion you should watch this episode  but just don  t expect the same feeling as the rest of the episodes in the first season .  
it  s a short movie from david lynch with just  minutes  but it got all the  lynchian ingredients   it  s mysterious  dark  inconclusive  eerie  and strange and before the blond girl starts to talk it  s even a bit scary  the soundtrack is exceptional to create this odd atmosphere because it  s also sinister and mysterious  br    br   about the setting itself  it hasn  t the  traditional  red curtains  but it has socking purple painted walls  which give it an equally effect of eeriness .  br    br   the plot is about a girl who  s locked in a dark room and she cries for help then comes another girl who starts talking to her in a mysterious way  saying she  s there just because of her fault we don  t know what did happen or what will happen next it ended unsolved and puzzling  as a good lynch movie must end   br    br   it  s a great short  despite some amateurish acting . the girls are professional actresses  but i think their acting could have been better in this short .  
horrid    br    br   the special effects make the tv version of  tremors  look real   br    br   no one in the cast can act .  br    br   kind of like the     voyage to the bottom of the sea  meets the cartoon ocean going electric eel cartoons .  
i really think that people are taking the wrong approach at this one . first of all  i find this short  film very entertaining and interesting . i just take it for what it is . i think the suspense and mystery are ingenious in their insinuation upon the watcher . one other thing that caught my fancy was that it immediately gets the viewer involved even though there is no clear story  just hints and pauses and emotions played out by the characters that kind of give you the impression that there is a story to all that is going on . no  one else could have done that better than lynch . this is the essence of lynchianism at its best . sure  i will agree with anyone that people that start viewing this with the desire to be entertained without any really imaginative work from the viewer  s side  will find themselves disappointed . and in good right . lynch is not about that . at least this side of lynch is not . the one that helped make lost highway  mulholland dr . is at full tilt here and people that just expect to be entertained like they would watching anything else  will just not get what this is all about . my opinion is that darkened room is all about messing with your animal  core  your instinctual self  by giving you the means  image  sound  situation  by which you instinctively react . it  s not about pleasure of any kind  it  s about getting the desired reaction out of you . and  that  my friend  is pure art .  
this was one of the worst movies ever         it was so bad  i was laughing through the whole movie  the plot was so cheesy especially the end . this movie turns from an end  of  the  world  disaster to save  the  eels  i mean  c  mon  and i swear . . . i think they use sock puppets for the eels  and there was this horrible kiss scene in the middle with the two main characters who happened to be divorced . how predictable  it was so terrible that my mom  my sister  and i couldn  t finish it  and when we did finish it  it was about a year later  the second time we watched it and we finished it this time  we did mst  k  like comments throughout the movie .  br    br   summary only watch this if you  re a movie basher  make hilarious comments  watch this at a sleepover for laughs  and i mean huge laughs . also watch for mockery . the metaphor that explains this movie this movie is a very shallow field full of cheese and sock puppets   
hello  this little film is interesting especially for an artist  film  maker or music creator or a visual artist  for  br    br   one can feel and examine david  s touch  style straight out of a short piece of relative simplicity .  br    br   you can see the rhythmic spacing of the shots  the pans and the sound elements .  br    br   even as simple film  this creation is multy  layer . for example  there are some sounds that drone all along  while others appear  though subtle   at certain points to support certain shots .  br    br   one can see also several types of pans some go up and down in a gentle back  forth way . there is diagonal pan . zooms also go back and forth sometimes .  br    br   the lightning and the composition  disposition of elements in the space is  as usual and obviously  work of a painer  artist . this can be felt even in this crappy room . this is to say one can make exquisite art already by the simple art of placing the look  view and composing the scene . then comes the forcelines of the visuals like digonales  parallels  etc . the light  s degrades and the colours  although without too much research for textures as in big productions  are fine too . this is an artist  s sketch of a sort . . .  br    br   all this is not calculated but done with inner feeling and this feel gives the david  s touch  feel to it  as with any true artist .  
actually had to stop it . don  t get me wrong  love bad monster movies . but this one was way too boring  regardless of the suspenseful music that never leads you anywhere . the actress had too many teeth and that moment when she makes contact with one of the beasts  was way too obvious a clich . this film totally betrays the cover on the dvd which looks pretty interesting . from the cover one expects a giant monster  but you get these cute not as gigantic as expected electric eels . moved on to watch another film called the killer rats but that  s another review . deep shock was really crap  a big shame considering the fact that it looks pretty high budget .  
this might be the wwe  s  nd best ppv of the year after wrestlemania it was a good suprise  john cena had an excellent match in which he upset chris jericho . jeff hardy retained his ic title in a short sloppy match with willam regal . bubba  spike dudley won a fairly violent tables match over benoit  guerrero . jamie noble had a really good match with kidman which was suprising to me . booker t defeated the big show in a no dq match  at one point booker t gave the scissors kick to big show and sent him right through the table . in a stupid decision by the wwe christian and lance storm  the jealous anti  americans defeated hogan and edge with a lot of help from test and jericho . rvd and brock had the match of the night it was filled with great high spots and rvd got to retain his ic title through a dq so i was happy he kept the title . triple h also signed with eric bischoff and raw which means little to nothing . and in the main event the rock became the first ever   time wwe world champion defeating both kurt angle  undertaker in a triple threat match . overall this is probably the wwe  s  nd best ppv of           
completely ridiculous  period  film is only a thin excuse for its extensive  graphic depiction of the heroine  s affair with  the beast   a monster who supposedly appears every century to rape some women . that  s pretty much what he does  and the film  s depiction of the beast is really really awful it  s basically a tall guy in a fur suit with a mask and a huge pvc tube for a hard  on that squirts copious amounts of white liquid . for fans of fake animal porn  i guess maybe this is a real turn  on . i was amused  however  by the opening shots of horses having sex in a public square .  
david lynch  s new short is a very  lynchian  piece  full of darkness  tension  silences  discreet but very textured background music  and features again two beautiful actresses  a blonde and a brunette  a recurrent theme in his work .  br    br   both characters create a very intriguing slave  mistress relationship that could be seen as a direct follow up to the same kind of relationship featured in mulholland dr .  br    br   beautiful . for lynch fan  s .  br    br    
deep sh . . is more like it  the eels are just cartooned in over the film . think  the incredible mr . limpet  meets  leviathan  . very tacky .  br    br   no character or relationship development . so called  romantic  scenes very corny and predictable . an interesting idea  but a poorly written script and lousy special effects make this a definite must  miss   
this is a very intriguing short movie by david lynch  and saying the name david lynch is probably enough for a lot of people . this is your typical lynch short . a blonde and a brunette are in a dark room . the blonde has been crying  the brunette is talking in a threatening way to the blonde  and that  s about it .  br    br   with a lot of silent moments  but with the haunting music from angelo badalamenti  there is a strange form of suspense . this short feels a little like  mulholland dr .   a movie i loved  and therefore i liked this one as well . it is probably especially for lynch fans but there is a chance you like this .  
i don  t get this . the movie obviously has a pretty good budget . it has very good cinematography . it has nice pacing  good editing and pretty good directing too . then why oh why didn  t they hire someone to do a final rewrite of the script so it would not be so damn cheesy and why oh why did they hire such lousy actors that can  t act their way out of a paper bag  this movie could have been good . at most times it looks good and feels good but in the end  you realize that the movie was no good at all .  br    br   so i would say it  s a good production but a bad movie . too bad actually .  br    br   and eels  come one  really   
i am going to go out on a limb  and actually defend  shades of grey  as a good clip  show episode  which delved into the life and death struggle of commander william thomas riker who was battling a terminally fatal disease .  br    br   the scenes from the flashback sequences were implemented quite well with the mood riker was in such as when he was reliving his romantic episodes such as             angel one   and  up the long ladder .  tragic moments were highlighted such as tasha  s death in  skin of evil   as well as elements of pulse  pounding danger in  heart of glory    conspiracy   and the aforementioned  skin of evil .  riker also exhibited courage under fire by telling some humorous jokes such as  an ancestor of mine was bitten by a rattlesnake once . . . after  days of intense pain  the snake died .  this episode highlighted the psychological ordeal of will riker under extreme duress . and  yes  i am biased in my opinion in proclaiming  shades of grey  as a solid episode  because at the time of its original airing  my face was covered in sweat  wondering whether or not riker would pullout of it alive and live to see other great  galactic  outerspace adventures beyond the final frontier . . .  br    br   of course  in subsequent years  i seem to have formed a singular opinion of this particular episode . . . but  if an award should go for  the best clip  show episode in the history of television   then i believe that this episode should be highly regarded in that respect .  
this has to be the cheapest film made in   st century . it is all the way low quality  but at the end it falls below . . . everything . all the cheap tricks  like flashing and darkness  are used to hide those crappy computer effects .  br    br   all the actors are below average  especially the main character anne fletcher  simmone mackinnon  . there is a scene  where anne is asked  why you seem so careless   the correct answer is  because she can  t act . no matter what happens  the world is about to be destroyed  her friend is dying  she is fired   she has the same stupid grin in her face .  br    br   it is not only the movie  which is b  quality . it is also the back cover description  at least in finland  . the text mentions things like lorica gray  vessel  capital  vessel and main character garrison harper and anna  not anne  fletcher . the description sounds like a different movie  both featuring character called fletcher and sea monsters  
i am watching the series back to back as fast as possible . i am attempting to watch all things star trek . this is month  and i am now on season  of tng and i have already gone thru ds  in its entirety . star trek is the greatest television phenomenon ever achieved .  br    br    shades of grey  is the first recap episode in the tng series . having just watched the shows  these clips were fresh in my mind  but i noticed how a couple of them were re  shot because the film looked better . season  always seemed real dark and ugly to me  and the actors looked silly  like they didn  t fit in their own skins .  br    br   the show is essentially just made of up a greatest hits of the happiest and saddest moments in riker  s life on the enterprise up until this point . the data and riker scene in the holo  deck is a classic moment of new friendship . my other favorite is when the  nd officer on the klingon ship challenges riker  s authority as first officer and riker beat the living crap out of that klingon . then the admiral kicks his a but good . this entire episode is a heck of a reminder that a lot of crazy  great things have happened already in a mere  seasons with  more to go and a handful of movies  at this point in the series they are really starting to develop the emotions that tie riker to deanna troi as imzadi . up until this point they have mentioned the fact  but they have yet to exploit it . let the record show that the st wiki  memory alpha claims that imzadi means  first  and denotes that she has had intimate relations with riker and also remains deeply close on an emotional one . this episode further proves there will be a tense romantic interest in each other for a long time to come .  br    br   here is the article http   memory  alpha . org  en  wiki  imzadi by this point in the series  production value is up to speed and star trek tng is settling into the sci  fi behemoth it was destined to become . watching this again as an adult i see now what great actors the star trek universe provides . they really need to make a new st show set after all the current shows . a ds  movie would have been nice too .  
deep shock plays out like a tv movie a whole cast of commercial  quality actors  a poorly designed creature to be the  bad guy   and a script that is more full of technical  political jargon and importances than it knows what to do with .  br    br   i checked out the movie because of the creature  i love to see what filmmakers have in mind for their designs in these cheaply made videos   and right off the bat  i got disappointed because the creature on the box was not the one in the movie . the actors i expected because of the type of film it is  really quite generic and not thought out past a certain point  . the music was typical  not  thought  out action symphonic music .  br    br   i liked the design of the computers and technical equipment  along with the mini  sub design . the movie even flowed really well  with guiding screens letting you know which set you  re watching the story unfold in . but there isn  t much of a story here anyways .  br    br   this movie gets a     stars imo . the boring search and destroy mission to blow up the north pole and these creatures protecting it . . . kinda lame . even lamer is the tagged  on love relationship between two of the characters that you don  t see coming . chalk this one up to being a movie which tries to get actors  careers off the bench and into a video . don  t bother .  
this is quite the gripping  fascinating  tragic story . quite good  and for the most part pretty accurate  considering it is a tv movie rather than a documentary . they did create some fictional characters  and combine several actual people into one character  but otherwise this is a good telling of a very tragic and dark story .  br    br   the final moments of the movie  depicting the mass suicide  murder  are almost directly taken from an audio recording made by jim jones . this recording was made during the final   minutes of the peoples temple  s existence . it is available in several places on the internet . this portion of the film is almost spot on in that regard .  br    br   to sum up  a documentary this is not . however  it does cover most of the base elements to the people  s temple story .  
a mediocre sci  fi channel original picture . a little squirmish  but not much . the nuclear powered submarine u . s . s . jimmy carter is on a mission deep below thick frigid ice near the north pole when it is attacked by giant super charged electric eels . a member of the crew  simmone jade mackinnon  thinks she has devised a way to communicate with the monsters  but is not given much chance for vague reasons . also among the crew aredavid keith  mark sheppard and sean whalen . this movie could have been somewhat better if the eels  monsters were not so cartoonish .  
i will never forget this film or the events that lead up to jonestown in guyana . it just seems so tragic but needs to be told . powers boothe give a commanding performance as the leader rev . jim jones from obscurity until total madness . it would have won him an academy award easily if it was released in the movie theaters . it is the kind of mini  series you won  t forget . you won  t forget the images of the cult  s brutality  control  and obsessiveness of it  s leader . his rise and fall and the threat from the outside world to destroy what he considered to be paradise . the mass suicide is horrifying  almost unreal to anybody  s imagination as to why so many people       went willingly or resisted jones  orders . they don  t make mini series like these anymore where we  re left with out mouths open and hungry to know what happened to the others .  
this is the worst movie ever made . the acting  the script  the location  everything  i would have given it a little chance if there were attractive women in the movie  but even they were bad . you would think that a movie with the word  beach  in it  s title would have good  looking women in it . wouldn  t you   
just given the fact that it is based on the most infamous mass suicide incident of modern times would have been enough to give this   part     made  for  tv film attention . but the fact is that it is a superb recreation of the life of the rev . jim jones  who built a church into a virtual empire  and then encouraged it to disintegrate into a sleazy cult in which a congressman and his entourage were assassinated  and    cult followers committed suicide by drinking kool  aid doused with cyanide .  br    br   done very tastefully but horrifying enough  unlike the excruciatingly sadistic cult of the damned  guyana tragedy features an all  star cast  including ned beatty  as rep . leo ryan   meg foster  randy quaid  brad dourif  brenda vaccaro  levar burton  and madge sinclair . but it is powers boothe  in his first big role  that really stands out as jim jones . he actually becomes the man  and his performance is riveting and chilling . thus  it is no wonder that this film still manages to attract attention after more than twenty years .  
is nothing else on tv  are you really bored  well  then watch phat beach . however  don  t rent it and definitely do not buy it . that would be a big mistake .  br    br   i watched this on tv and found myself laughing at certain points . i did not laugh long and i did not laugh hard . however  there were subtle jokes and comments i laughed at . if you are looking for an extremely funny  hood  movie then watch friday . if you are looking for a powerful emotional movie  something that this movie tries at . . kind of  watch something like hoop dreams or jason  s lyric . if you are lookin for some good black  booty  go watch a dominique simone porn flick  because the nudity in this movie is nearly non  existent . however  if you have nothing better to do and this is on cable  go ahead and watch it . you will be slightly amused .  br    br     out of     
powers booth is hypnotic as cult leader jim jones who led his peoples temple followers from     until     when he led them in a mass suicide in     where over    died . a very well done movie which may seem a little dated due to the   s time period but well worth the time  of    
watching this movie was the biggest waste of time and  bucks for rental in my life . if nothing catastrophic happens before i die  this will be the biggest regret of my life . who ever even thought about this movie  or financed deserves a kick between the legs  because that  s where they were thinking when they made this movie . it  s about an overweight guy who is a hopeless romantic  and writes pretentious drivel that tries to pass off as poetry . he joins his amorous friend in a trip to the coast . where they meet girls and such . only the fat guy doesn  t get a girl . skin flicks don  t annoy me  i take  em for face value . but this movie tries to be more than a skin flick . it  s about fat guy looking for love in some girl  but then meets another bikini silicone girl that enjoys his poetry . he finds his talent for volleyball which gets money for his family and impresses the ladies  only he has his lady anyways . the dialogue is super  horrible for even a c movie . it supports a ton of black stereotypes  no character development  it  s a glorified porno movie  without any porn in it . never ever watch this movie .  
i  ve seen this film literally over    times . . . it  s absolutely jam  packed with entertainment    powers boothe gives a stellar performance . as a fan of actors such as william shatner  impulse       and ron liebmann  up the academy       i never thought an actor could capture the  intensity  like shatner and liebmann in those roles  until i saw boothe as jim jones  as far as i  m concerned  powers boothe is jim jones . . . this film captures his best performance     
i watched phat beach on cable for a while and i sort of enjoyed it . the fat guy is the best character  as he seems to be a nice guy . the rest of the characters are just various stereotypes of young men and young black men . i like to watch these low budget movies that capture a period of time because they are almost like a documentary of the year  s attitudes and fads . phat beach is also funny because the low  budget babes in this movie are strictly home  girls . most low  budget movies have that  local babe  quality  and you can tell the babes in this movie were the local strippers and underwear models for jc penneys . some of them had so much cellulite hanging from their bikinis that it was funny to watch how the  youngsters  went wild over what was essentially some really over  used  high  mileage skank . there were some cuties too . that is the charm of these low  budget crappy movies . you will see a lot of doggies  and some real cuties  i checked up on some of them at imdb and seven years later phat beach is their only credit . too bad . it would be interesting if someone ever managed to do a  where are they now  book on all of the cuties that have appeared in the history of movies and then were never again to return . what happened   there are probably one or two young people in almost every movie who seem to have a lot going for them and yet years later when you see the movie again on tv you wonder  what ever happened to x   anyhow  this movie mostly blows  but it has some funny moments .  
a well cast summary of a real event  well  actually  i wasn  t there  but i think this is how it may have been like . i think there are two typically american standpoints evident in the film  communistophobia  and parallels to adolf hitler . these should be evident to most independent observers . anyway  boothe does a great performance  and so do lots of other well  known actors . the last twenty minutes of the film are unbearable  and i mean it  anyone who can sleep well after them is abnormal .  that  s why it  s so terrible  it all happened  and it probably looked just like that  . but  actually  did that last scene on the air station really take place   
this could have been a good episode but i simply had to turn it off . the british representation was horrible to watch . have the makers ever set foot in britain prior to filming  at least set foot in england   i don  t think any british person have had such an accent apart from a comedy skit of the royal family  also with the  english boys . . . well i don  t think any english boy has acted  spoke or dressed like any english kid in the history of the british nation since prince william and harry  s preteen public appearances . to american film makers . . there is more than  country in the uk . england  wales  scotland and northern ireland . . meaning more than  culture  i can handle some stereotyping but this was so bad i could not watch it . fire looked cool though   
many people know how it feels when a loved one is lost . the feelings of pain  grief and sorrow can be unbearable . however  sometimes it is the memories they leave behind that trigger the saddest emotions . this theme is superbly portrayed in the short film  tulip   directed by the award winning australian actress  rachel griffths . described as a movie  as much about memories as it is about love   a string of sensitivity and sentimentality is expertly threaded into this triumphant   minute film .  br    br    tulip  is a beautifully wrought  touching and heart  warming story of a man  s journey in coming to terms with the loss of his wife through the relationship he shares with a very special animal   tulip  . the film opens with a rising dawn  the chirping of birds and a vast landscape  introducing the sense of rustic harmony present throughout the film . a soft music plays  marking the entrance of ruth  jean bain  . she wears a flowered dress and apron with a sun hat on her head . she gently pets tulip  caressing her ears and patting her back . the furnishing of the house is impressive and the attention to detail is creditable  a vase of tulips can be seen on the bench   reflecting the peaceful rural community . will  charles  bud  tingwell  greets ruth as she is spooning the milk from the bucket . they pour the milk and coffee together  a sign of companionship and teamwork . not a word is said but it is obvious that their relationship is close and affectionate they paint a perfect picture of happiness .  br    br   sadly  happiness doesn  t last forever . the tragic passing of ruth affects will deeply . an effective scene of fading cars highlights will  s isolation and vulnerability at the end of the day of the funeral . soon he sinks into depression and becomes oblivious to his surroundings when everything seems hopeless and lost . at will  s moment of despair  tulip becomes the symbol of ruth  the genuine connection will has with his late wife . it was through tulip that will learns to cope with the absence of ruth and overcome the heartrending feelings of loneliness .  br    br   each of the characters is realistically and solidly portrayed  especially the part of will . charles  bud  tingwell brings the character to life through personal investment . the recent loss of his own wife  audrey tingwell  is effectively reflected in his acting . every sag of his shoulder and every frown on his brow make the viewer empathize strongly with the character . the character of ruth is wonderfully carried out by jean bain . although ruth does not say a single word throughout the movie  her sweet personality and loving relationship with will are obvious . lois ramsey and kati edwards give delightful performances in supporting roles as the friendly margaret and mary . they also add a subtle humor to the bittersweet story .  br    br   an anecdote from griffths  childhood  the story of loss and discovery is remarkably captured in  tulip  . beautifully shot and superbly acted  this film will surely make you misty eyed  triumphant or feel like drinking a cup of milk .  
unreal  movie   what were these people on   a mix of french upstairs downstairs  mating horses  porn  not suggested  its pretty full on for a film   bestiality with a bit of benny hill music  chase scenes thrown in  its sounds crazy  its even more so to watch . spoiler it plods along in a tedious fashion for quite a while  . . . . then a lamb does a runner  prompting woman in period dress to run off after it  she goes into the woods where she is set upon by an erect  penis  attached to a man in a bear  rat manky suit  i put it like that as its obvious the  penis  is in charge  gets way too much screen time  ejaculating for the most of it  anyway  in a nutshell  it turns out she liked a bit of bear  rat tadger  thats about it  the rest is just padding . end spoiler a film made to shock  offend  thus getting talked about  any publicity is good publicity i suppose  a waste of time really  but the  main event  has to be seen to be believed  its hard to imagine that anyone thought it was a good idea as they filmed it .  
lars von trier  s europa is a worthy echo of the third man  about an american coming to post  world war ii europe and finds himself entangled in a dangerous mystery .  br    br   jean  marc barr plays leopold kessler  a german  american who refused to join the us army during the war  arrives in frankfurt as soon as the war is over to work with his uncle as a sleeping car conductor on the zentropa railway . what he doesn  t know is the war is still secretly going on with an underground terrorist group called the werewolves who target american allies . leopold is strongly against taking any sides  but is drawn in and seduced by katharina hartmann  barbara sukowa   the femme fatale daughter of the owner of the railway company . her father was a nazi sympathizer  but is pardoned by the american colonel harris  eddie considine  because he can help get the german transportation system up and running again . the colonel soon enlists  or forces  leopold to be a spy  without giving him a choice or chance to think about it  to see if the werewolves might carry out attacks on the trains .  br    br   soon  leopold is stuck in an adventure by being involved with both sides of the conflict in a mysterious and film noir  ish way  where everyone and everything is not what it seems . its amazing to watch the naive leopold deal with everything  his lover  the terrorists  the colonel  annoying passengers  his disgruntled uncle  even the railway company  s officials who come to examine his work ethic  before he finally boils over and humorously and violently takes control . the film is endlessly unpredictable .  br    br   the film stylishly shot  it always takes place at night during the winter with lots of falling snow . its shot in black and white with shots of color randomly appearing throughout . also  background screens displaying images that counter act with the images up front . add max von sydow  s hypnotic narration  and europa becomes a dreamlike place that  s out of this world .  br    br   this is now a personal favorite film of mine .  
it was great to see some of my favorite stars of   years ago including john ritter  ben gazarra and audrey hepburn . they looked quite wonderful . but that was it . they were not given any characters or good lines to work with . i neither understood or cared what the characters were doing .  br    br   some of the smaller female roles were fine  patty henson and colleen camp were quite competent and confident in their small sidekick parts . they showed some talent and it is sad they didn  t go on to star in more and better films . sadly  i didn  t think dorothy stratten got a chance to act in this her only important film role .  br    br   the film appears to have some fans  and i was very open  minded when i started watching it . i am a big peter bogdanovich fan and i enjoyed his last movie   cat  s meow  and all his early ones from  targets  to  nickleodeon  . so  it really surprised me that i was barely able to keep awake watching this one .  br    br   it is ironic that this movie is about a detective agency where the detectives and clients get romantically involved with each other . five years later  bogdanovich  s ex  girlfriend  cybil shepherd had a hit television series called  moonlighting  stealing the story idea from bogdanovich . of course  there was a great difference in that the series relied on tons of witty dialogue  while this tries to make do with slapstick and a few screwball lines .  br    br   bottom line it ain  t no  paper moon  and only a very pale version of  what  s up  doc  .  
powers boothe turns in a stellar performance as      s cult figure jim jones of the peoples temple . jones physical likeness to jones is uncanny and the story is acted out chillingly . the movie keeps you riveted and is a must see for anyone . check it out .  
murder and insurance fraud take an adulterous couple to  the end of the line  . . .  br    br   tv was visually vulgar back in the early     s and this truncated  made  for  tv knock  off hurt my eyes . it can  t possibly compare to the     billy wilder film noir classic as anyone in their right mind ought to know  sight unseen  but that doesn  t mean this update should be seen as a separate entity  either . although based on the original paramount screenplay  there  s over half an hour cut out and the director  s bland indifference makes what  s left imminently forgettable . with rare exception  the younger generation wasn  t interested in watching old black and white movies on tv back in      still true today  alas  so this lurid  compelling tale was new to the overwhelming majority of viewers then as now  ratings rule and cashing in was its only reel raison d  etre . gus van zandt remade alfred hitchcock  s psycho for similar reasons and if these redux led to the seeking out of the original films or novels  so much the better . i loved the james m . cain source novel enough to tune in back then and i enjoyed this time capsule curio the second time around for the longish hair  halter tops  turbans  ugly decor  and lush auburn locks of  guest star  samantha eggar  who didn  t try too hard . in addition to recognizing a few of the incidental cast from a childhood spent in front of the boob tube  lee j . cobb was able to hold my interest as a world  weary  tired  looking keyes but richard crenna  s affable and inoffensive walter neff only reminded me of bill bixby on a bad day . improvement upon the original was  of course  never intended in a rush to make a buck but  instead of a mindless retread  a new adaptation of the novel would have been a novel idea . cain  s book differs somewhat from its celluloid incarnations and the horrific shark fins in the moonlight ending is killer . the completist in me is thankful this speeded up  me decade  update was included as part of the double indemnity dvd extras but the experience not only made me long to see the original  it had me nostalgic for any episode of the better  made columbo tv series . i also flashed back to a very good     abc tv movie of the week that i haven  t seen since its initial airing john d . macdonald  s linda starring the beautiful stella stevens as a ruthless femme fatale who murders her lover  s  sexy john saxon  wife and then frames her mild  mannered husband for the crime and  if i remember correctly  there  s also an open  ended ending . like double indemnity  it was needlessly remade with tv movie queen virginia madsen as the titular vixen and richard thomas as the milquetoast husband .  
i read a few reviews of this tv movie which all said that the film dragged on for too long and that it was basically only sensationalistic entertainment . i agree that perhaps  the film goes on a bit too long   h   would have been enough . . .  but i certainly do not think it sensationalize the subject matter . jim jones  expansive power trip and slow degradation into mental illness  paranoia and drug abuse are never treated in a voyeuristic manner . the movie takes its time in showing how jones recruited followers  brenda vaccaro  s and brad dourif  s character are stand  outs in that matter  but also in observing an uncanny shift in jones  perception of reality . it is mind  boggling to see an egalitarian  left  wing and compassionnate preacher become such a destructive and cruel dictator . perhaps the movie doesn  t explore jones  motivations enough  which can make the whole ordeal a bit superficial at times  may have to do with censorship as well . . .  but powers boothe  s mesmerizing performance makes it all come true . i am not familiar with the details of the real jim jones  life  but boothe sure makes the monster he plays believable and real . the movie features many strong scenes  among them the preaching messes of jones  jones  s meeting with father divine  a remarquable james earl jones   congressman leo ryan  ned beatty   s visit to the guyana camp and of course  the suicide scene . it is quite a gloomy spectable to watch and boothe is quite commanding in those last moments . madge sinclair shines in this scene as one of the suddenly sceptic follower  and so do veronica cartwright  as jones  wife  and brad dourif  especially when their time comes to drink the murderous potion . the relative calm of the end of this scene  the tasteful direction and the contrasting beauty of the natural surroundings all work in making those images quite impossible to erase from one  s mind . a disturbing reflection on human nature and its weaknesses . worth watching  if only to keep in mind one of the truly horrific events of the   th century . not to let it be repeated again . like  ironically  the inscription in jim jones  camp  those who do not know the past are bound to repeat it  .  
as a big fan of the original film  it  s hard to watch this show . the garish set decor and harshly lighted sets rob any style from this remake . the mood is never there . instead  it has the look and feel of so many television movies of the seventies . crenna is not a bad choice as walter neff  but his snappy wardrobe and  swank  apartment don  t fit the mood of the original  or make him an interesting character . he does his best to make it work but samantha egger is a really bad choice . the english accent and california looks can  t hold a candle to barbara stanwick  s velvet voice and sex appeal . lee j . cobb tries mightily to fashion barton keyes  but even his performance is just gruff  without style .  br    br   it feels like the tv movie it was and again reminds me of what a remarkable film the original still is .  
this isn  t the best bigfoot ever made  but by the recent standards of nature gone awry movies  mostly showing on the sci  fi channel  this is quality stuff . it has some action  some humor  decent f  x and bigfoot . cg is used  but so are some practical f  x  which i like .  br    br   overall this movie is worth a watch if you are a fan of b horror  sci  fi and need a fix . it  s better than the movie sasquatch and not a sequel to it  so don  t be fooled .  br    br   the acting is better than you may expect to find in a movie like this and the directing is more than adequate . expect a bit of a lul as the characters are  developed   but know that things will pick up . if you are watching a dvd you may want to skip a chapter or two .  
utter dreck . i got to the   minute    second point  and gave up . i  d have given it a negative number review if that were possible  although  pissible  is a more fitting word . . .  . unlike the sizzle you could see and practically feel between macmurray and stanwyck in the original  the chemistry between dumb ol  dicky crenna and whats  her  face here is just non  existent . the anklet becomes an unattractive chunky bracelet  there  s no ciggy  lighting  by  fingertip  and i thought i  d be sick when they have a mortified  looking  and rightly so  believe you me  lee j . cobb as keyes practically burping  upchucking his way through the explanation of his  little man  to mr . garloupis . no offence to the non  sighted  but it looks as though a posse of blind men ran amuck with the set design of both the dietrichson and neff houses . the same goes for those horrid plaid pants that phyllis wears . and crikey  how much  does neff make  that he lives overlooking a huge marina  this  folks  again  all takes place in the first   and a half minutes . if you can get through more of it  you have a much stronger constitution than me  or you are a masochist . but please  take some alka  seltzer first  or you will develop a  little man  of your own that may never go away . proceed with caution  obviously .  
  sasquatch hunters  actually wasn  t as bad as i thought .  br    br   spoilers  br    br   traveling into the woods  park rangers charles landon   kevin o  connor  roger gordon   matt latimore  brian stratton  david zelina  spencer combs   rick holland  and his sister janet   stacey branscombe  escort dr . helen gilbert   amy shelton  white  her boss dr . ethan edwards   gary sturm  and assistant louise keaton   juliana dever  to find the site of some reputed bones found in the area . when they make camp  the team discovers a giant burial ground and more strange bones littering the area . when members of the group start to disappear  they start to wander through the woods to safety . it  s discovered that a sasquatch is behind the killings  and the team band together to survive .  br    br   the good news this wasn  t as bad as i thought it would be . the movie really starts to pick up some steam at around the half  way point  when the creature attacks . that is a masterful series of scenes  as the whole group is subjected to attacks by the creature  and the suspense throughout the entire play  out is extremely high . the wooded area is most appropriately milked during these parts  heightening the tension and wondering when a single person wandering around in the forest will get their comeuppance . also spread quite liberally through the movie is the effective use of off  screen growls and roars that are truly unworldly . they really do add much to make this part so creepy  as well as the other times the growling shriek is heard . it  s quite effective  and works well . it  s quite nice that the later part of the film picks up the pace  as it goes out pretty well on a high note of action . one scene especially i feel must point out as being a special scene on first viewing . as a man is running through the forest from the creature  he spots the expedition that has gone on looking for it . raising his hands to holler to them for help  the second he goes to announce his presence is he attacked from out of nowhere and killed quite hastily . it caught me by surprise and actually gave me a little jump on first viewing .  br    br   the bad news there was only a couple things to complain about here  and one is a usual complaint . the creature here is mostly rendered by horrible cgi  which made him look totally ridiculous and destroys any credibility it might  ve had . the air of menace conjured up by the opening of the film is almost shot out the window when the creature appears on screen . it  s so distracting that it  s a shame a little more work wasn  t put into it . i  ve complained about this one a lot  and is something that really should be done away with  as it doesn  t look that realistic and is quite fake . another big one is the off  screen kills in here . very often in the film is a person grabbed and then yanked away  and then finding the bloody body afterward . it  s quite aggravating when the kills look nice and juicy afterward . otherwise  i don  t really have much of a problem with this one  as everything else that  s usually critiqued about this one didn  t really bother me  but it is called on for others beyond this stuff .  br    br   the final verdict i kinda liked this one  but it  s still not the best sasquatch movie ever . it  s not supposed to be taken seriously  and if viewed that way  it  s actually quoit enjoyable . fans of these films should give this one a look  and those that like the sci  fi creature features might find some nice things in here as well .  br    br   rated r graphic language  violence and some graphic carcasses  
when someone remakes a classic movie  the remake is always unfavorably compared to the original . also  there  s a chance that the remake is so radically different that it is just too unfamiliar to audiences .  br    br   well  the     tv version of  double indemnity  has almost identical scenes and dialogue as the     original . the main difference is that the remake just seems to have no energy at all . fred macmurray was great as the lecherous  leering insurance agent walter neff in the original richard crenna just seems world  weary and tired . edward g . robinson brought great manic energy to his role as macmurray  s boss barton keys lee j . cobb  a fine actor  appears almost bored with the proceedings . samantha eggar is all wrong as the conniving  back  stabbing phyllis dietrichson while barbara stanwyck was just superb in this wicked role  eggar is overly polite and mannered and just seems way out of place .  br    br   robert webber  in the old richard gaines role as robinson  s boss norton  and john fiedler taking the porter hall role as the crucial witness  bring some life to the movie . in particular  webber recreates the norton role well in a     s context .  br    br   however  after the movie starts  the whole thing just sort of lies there  without any life or electricity . this is one film that never should have been remade .  
rented the movie as a joke . my friends and i had so much fun laughing at it that i went and found a used copy and bought it for myself . now when all my friends are looking for a funny movie i give them sasquatch hunters . it needs to be said though there is a rule that was made that made the movie that much better . no talking is allowed while the movie is on unless the words are sasquatch repeated in a chant . i loved the credit at the end of the movie as well .  thanks for the jeep  tom   whoever tom is i say thank you because without your jeep the movie may not have been made . in short a great movie if you are looking for something to laugh at . if you want a good movie maybe look for something else but if you don  t mind a laugh at the expense of a man in a monkey suit grab yourself a copy .  
this     tv remake of the billy wilder classic is inferior to the original . surprise   br    br   first  the good things . lee j . cobb makes a terrific barton keyes . he  s not as good as edward g . robinson  of course  but he  s the only reason to watch this . this remake  s only improvement over the original is that it cuts down the role of lola dietrichson  the step  daughter of the femme fatale  phyllis dietrichson .  br    br   and that  s it for the good things .  br    br   the bad things are many . the director records everything in an indifferent manner if you watched the film with the sound muted you  d hardly get the impression that anything especially interesting was happening . because of modern bad taste  the film must be in color instead of black and white . because of     s bad taste  all the sets are distractingly ugly . walter neff  s expensive apartment  in particular  is hideous .  br    br   the modern setting hurts in a lot of small ways . train trips were a bit more unusual in the   s than in the   s  so mr . dietrichson  s decision to take a train seems more of a contrivance . men stopped wearing hats  which prevents walter from covering up his brown hair while posing as the white  haired mr . dietrichson . women in mourning stopped wearing veils  which robs samantha eggar of a prop barbara stanwyck made splendid use of in a key scene .  oddly  lola still has the line where she reveals that her stepmother was trying on a black hat and veil before she had need of them .   br    br   stephen bochco keeps much of the billy wilder  raymond chandler script the same . but he makes a lot of tiny  inexplicable changes to the dialogue which leave the script slightly flabby where once it was lean and muscular . outrageously  the famous motorcycle  cop banter is gone  but look closely and you  ll see what looks like a post  production cut where those lines should have been . bochco may not be to blame .  br    br   richard crenna is passable as walter neff . what might have made this version tolerable is a really splendid phyllis dietrichson . instead we get samantha eggar  who comes off like a standard  issue villainess from  barnaby jones .  but who can blame eggar  with a director who barely seems interested in what  s happening in front of the camera  how could barbara stanwyck herself have come off well   
fragglerock is excellent in the way that schindler  s list was excellent . a great watch for children and adults of all genders . big noses can be seen as hinting towards phallic symbols  in the same way that h . r . puff n stuff had hinted towards marijuana smoking . your kids will love this movie . i enjoyed it very much as a child . my father showed me this movie as a child . he enjoyed it as well and pointed out that the exaggerated noses were phallic symbols . although at the time i had no clue about what those were . the movie is comedy and adventure . the storyline is wacky and cheerful . i and you shall enjoy this together .  
watch the original with the same title from      this made for tv movie  is just god  awful  although it does use  as far as i can tell  almost the same dialog  it just doesn  t work  is it the acting  the poor directing  ok so it  s made for tv  but why watch a bad copy  when you can get your hands on the superb original  especially as you  ll be spoiled to the plot and won  t enjoy the original as much  as if you  ve watched it first   br    br   there are a few things that are different from the original  it  s shorter for once   but all are for the worse  the actors playing the parts here  just don  t fit the bill  you just don  t believe them and who could top edward g . robinsons performance from the original  if you want  only watch it after you  ve seen the original and even then you  ll be very brave  if you watch it through  it  s almost sacrilege   
everything was better in past days . even children  s television . and fraggle rock proves my point quite easily . at the time of writing this comment i am fourteen years old but even in my teen years i can  t resist the charm of fraggle rock . for those of you that have indeed been living under a rock  haha    fraggle rock is about a horde of playful and goofy creatures called fraggles who live  amazingly  in a rock . but they  re not the only creatures . the rock is inhabited with many other species like the hardworking doozers and countless living plants . outside the rock on one side live inventor  scientist doc and his dog sprocket  who later befriends gobo fraggle   on the other side a family of gorgs  supposed rulers of the universe . the five main fraggles gobo  fearless leader   mokey  arty and peaceful   wembley  indecisive and a friend to gobo   boober  a pessimistic domestic god  and red  loves anything to do with sport and general feistyness  get caught up in some strange situations each episode while at the same time sing and dance their cares away .  br    br   fraggle rock is definitely a family show  the plots may have intricate details that infants may not follow well  but the song  and  dance routines will hold their attention . the characters are strong and likable  their conflicts believable and their adventures thrilling . the gorgs are frightening  doc and sprocket enlightening  uncle travelling matt hilarious  the postcard segments are very   s   and the final episode  change of address  genuinely touching . let  s go down to fraggle rock again   
it was hard to watch this film and be totally fair and objective since i am a big fan the original     movie . that  to me and many others  is one of the greatest film noirs ever made . realizing this is simply a shortened made  for  tv film and that most people had trashed it  i didn  t expect much  but you can  t help but compare this with the    film . scene after scene  i found myself comparing what i was looking at it  and remembering how it played out with fred macmurray  barbara stanwyck  edward g . robinson and others . now i was seeing these famous actors playing their famous roles replaced by richard crenna  samantha eggar and lee j . cobb .  br    br   when it was all over  i found it wasn  t as bad as i had expected but it  s no match for the     original . the two main areas in which this made  for  tv film wasn  t as good were    the electricity between the two leads was missing and    being only   minutes  they rushed the story with hardly time to develop the plot  characters and chemistry between those leads . crenna and eggar were flat  and simply no match for macmurray and stanwyck as  walter neff  and  phyllis dietrichson   respectively .  br    br   where this re  make held its own was in the other characters  such as  barton keyes  and  edward norton .  cobb was terrific as keyes and robert webber as norton  head of the insurance company . it also was somewhat interesting to see the time frame changed  so the houses  cars  telephones  dictating machines  etc .  were all early    s instead of mid    s . otherwise  the storyline was very similar  just rushed .  br    br   however  one viewing was enough and i will happily go back to the original version for the rest of my viewings of this classic story and film .  
after seeing dick tracy in the  .    bin at future shop i decided to give it a go with no previous knowledge and being a big fan of mafia and crime movies . i was very surprised to see a very fun  smart entertaining movie with solid performances throughout . the movie moves along well  it has of course another solid performance from warren beatty  but the real standouts of the film are al pacino and madonna . i was happy to find out that pacino was nominated for his performance as an over the top gangster trying to take down the city . madonna was great as the damsel in distress  she really impressed me and added depth to her performance . if you go in with the attitude of wanting to watch a fun  smart movie with great acting and a solid script then give dick tracy a try . i don  t think you will be disappointed . and watch for the cameos from paul sorvino  james caan  kathy bates and dustin hoffman among others .  
when samantha eggar  as phyllis dietrickson  answers the door of her house swathed in a towel  you realize that as competent an actress as eggar may be  she doesn  t have the hypnotic allure of barbara stanwyck . and it is not entirely eggar  s fault . in the original film  wilder had stanwyck not only appear in a towel  but she enters the scene on the second floor balcony of the house . and she doesn  t  come out   she appears  almost as if by magic . walter neff is staring up at her from below on the first floor . there is a reason for this . stanwyck is much higher than neff  fred macmurray  when they are first introduced . it is not just the towel . the towel adds to the seductive allure . her pose is like a greek goddess overlooking her domain  and  in a strange way  you feel as if  from the start  she is actually controlling the entire situation . she has sexual  even magic  power . this person is no ordinary housewife . this person is a mystery with secrets hidden within .  br    br   back to     . the remake has crenna knock on the front door . stanwyck  s stand  in  eggar  answers the door with a towel around her . there is no  appearance  . she simply opens the door . the alluring superiority that grabs the audience at the first appearance of stanwyck in     is entirely absent in     . she opens the door with a towel around her . it may be sexy in a charlie  s angels sort of way  but it  s not nearly as mysterious . the filmmakers of the remake seem to misunderstand wilder  s point . the script may have said  phyllis appears in towel  so the filmmakers of the remake simply follow the instructions and include the required towel . the point is not the towel . the point is the enigmatic quality of phyllis  and the potential power she wields . wilder gave her a towel to add to her mystique . the filmmakers of the remake gave her a towel because that  s what wilder did . and in the choice of shot  lost all of phyllis  mystique .  br    br   richard crenna also seems miscast . he seems like he  s  acting  and not really in the midst of the dilemma . part of the problem is crenna appears so much like a    s actor . he can  t get into the      s . when macmurray first speaks into the microphone  sweat begins to drip from his face . no sweat on crenna . and they also changed one of the crucial lines at the beginning . in the original  neff says   i didn  t get the money  and i didn  t get the woman .  in the     version  crenna says   i didn  t get the money  and i didn  t want the woman .  did the filmmakers completely misunderstand the entire point of the story  or were they dumbing it down for a  television  audience   br    br   this made  for  tv movie is a by  the  numbers rendition . all the sharp edge of the original is lost . the only stand  out  maybe  is lee j . cobb in the role made famous by edward g . robinson . but he cannot save the loss of intensity of the original . this     boring remake is a forgettable tv  movie made probably by the same people who did  gilligan  s island  . they might as well have tried to remake  citizen kane  or  gone with the wind  . if mediocrity is the best one can hope for  what  s the point  the     classic is a film with a capital  f  . this made  for  tv remake deserves an  f  grade  or  maybe a  d  for dumb .  
at one end of the eighties warren beatty created and starred in the literate epic reds about the founding of the soviet union as seen through the eyes of iconoclast radical john reed . it was a profound film both entertaining and with a message presented by an all star cast . at the end of the decade warren beatty created another kind of epic in dick tracy that makes no pretense to being anything other than entertainment with a whole bunch of the best actors around just having a great old time hamming it up under tons of makeup .  br    br   that both reds and dick tracy could come from the same individual speaks volumes about the range this man has as a player . in this film beatty managed to get all the famous cartoon characters from the strip and put them in one original screenplay .  br    br   the city  s top mobster big boy caprice is making a move to really eliminate competition . the film opens with him rubbing out lips manlis  s henchmen in a valentine massacre style shooting and then lips himself being fitted for a cement overcoat . but caprice  s moves are making him a target for tracy .  br    br   in the meantime a third mysterious and faceless individual is looking to topple caprice himself . will our hero sort out this thicket of crime   br    br   the spirit of fun this film has is truly infectious . when people like al pacino  dustin hoffman  paul sorvino  william forsythe  r . g . armstrong get themselves outrageously made  up to look like the cartoon creations of strip author chester gould and then indulge in an exercise of carving the biggest slice of ham  you  ve got to love this film .  br    br   al pacino got a nomination for best supporting actor  but any of these guys could have  it  s only that pacino as big boy caprice gets the most screen time . only beatty plays it completely straight  the others all seem to play off of him . dick tracy won oscars for best artset design  best song written by stephen sondheim and introduced by madonna  sooner or later . the fact he was even able to get somebody like sondheim to write a score for this film only shows sondheim wanted to get in on the fun . as for madonna  the material girl does more than hold her own with all these acting heavyweights as club torch singer breathless mahoney .  br    br   before this film  dick tracy movies were consigned to the b pictures and worse as saturday afternoon serials . the only thing that rivals this all star extravaganza is a radio broadcast done for armed forces radio during world war ii that got to vinyl . can you believe a cast like bing crosby  bob hope  frank sinatra  dinah shore  jimmy durante  judy garland  frank morgan  and the andrews sisters  try and find a recording of that gem .  br    br   until then warren beatty  s classic comic strip for the big screen will do nicely .  
this     remake of the classic     billy wilder film   double indemnity   is a textbook example of how to destroy a great script . this grade  b tv fodder also illustrates the folly of remakes in general . while hollywood has gone after greedy executives that colorize black  and  white films and sought disclaimers on wide  screen movies that are shown in pan  and  scan versions  the industry has ignored the hacks that insist on taking a classic film and diminishing it with a shoddy remake .  br    br   the first step in producing a bowdlerized version of a classic is to edit the script . the billy  wilder  raymond  chandler work was cut by a half hour to fit the finished film into a specified time  slot with room for commercials . then update the production with bland  color photography  smart  upscale sets  and tv  familiar actors . thus  the brand  new  double indemnity  eliminates the atmospheric black  and  white film  noir cinematography that enhanced the mood and characterizations of the original . gone are the dusty  shadowy  claustrophobic sets that explained the protagonists  desires to escape their situations at whatever cost . gone are the close bond between keyes and neff and the erotic attraction between neff and phyllis .  br    br   the look of jack smight  s take on  double indemnity  is more  dynasty  than film noir . phyllis dietrickson has a designer home to die for  and neff  s comfy pad would be hard to afford on an insurance salesman  s salary  not to mention the sporty mercedes convertible that he drives . neither character has any apparent motive to murder for a paltry         . if not money  then perhaps murder for love or lust  not in this version . richard crenna shows little interest in samantha eggar  and their kisses are about as lusty as those between a brother and a sister . crenna fails to capture the cynicism of neff  and his attempts at double  entendre and sexual suggestiveness fall horribly flat . eggar is little better and lacks sensuality and the depth to suggest the inner workings of a supposedly devious and manipulative mind . only lee j . cobb manages a creditable performance as keyes . director jack smight and his three principals have all done much better work .  br    br   there was no conceivable reason to produce this wretched remake except to fill time in a broadcast schedule . there was no conceivable reason to resurrect this dud on dvd and package it with the original film except to fill out a double  disc package . the only lesson that can be learned from this misfire is that even a great script and great dialog can be ruined with poor casting  lackluster direction  and tv grade production values . the      double indemnity  should be titled     indemnity   because viewing it only underscores the     perfection of the original movie .  
dick tracy wasn  t the best for many comic book fans  because they wanted something with blood like batman . dick tracy plays the innocence of just being a comic book with villains that have severe appearance disorder and being fun . warren beatty directs and stars as the main character that fights crime without even using super powers . i have liked dick tracy since i was a child because of the comic atmosphere of the main colors red  blue  orange  yellow  green and black . this is the perfect film for anybody to watch with their children . al pacino is like the jack nicholson in batman and plays big boy caprice with zest . madonna as the babe who is the second villain in this film doesn  t play the same boy toy she represents . like i said  no blood  obscenities  sexually innuendo or anything to offend anybody .  
bought this movie in the bargain bin at rogers video store for   . i enjoy a good b movie now and then and figured this looked like a good one .  br    br   the movie is quite cliche       s  and is quite groovy for that . unfortunately the story line is hard to follow and not a lot happens in the movie . in fact  i turned it off after watching it for   minutes and figured a week later that i should watch the whole thing no matter how slow it was .  br    br   the movie has good spots in it  but you have to wait and wait and wait . . . . . . . for them .  br    br   if you are into b movies  this might just be for you  just be warned that the movie is slow and not much really happens  and did i mention not much story line either . . .  br    br    
  tulip  is on the  australian all shorts  video from  tribe first rites  showcasing the talents of first time directors .  br    br   i wish more scripts had such excellent dialogue .  br    br   i hope rachel griffiths has more stories to tell  she does it so well .  
notorious for more than a quarter century  and often banned   it  s obscurity was its greatest asset it seems . hey  it  s often better to be talked about  rather than actually seen when you can  t back the  legend  up with substance .  br    br   the film has played in los angeles a couple of times recently  and is available on home video  so that veil is slowly being lifted . while there is still plenty to offend the masses  it is more likely to bore them  than arouse much real passion . except for a gratuitous and protracted xxx sex scene between a pair of horses   nature documentary  anyone    there follows nearly an hour of a dull arranged marriage melodrama .  br    br   once the sex and nudity begins  it is a nonstop sequence involving masturbation  a looooooooong flashback to an alleged  beauty and the beast  encounter  and a naked woman running around the mansion  nobody  even her supposedly protective aunt  seems to even think of putting some clothes on her   . on video  i guess you can fast  forward thru the banality  but it  s not really worth the effort . the nudity doesn  t go beyond what is seen in something much more substantive such as bertolucci  s the dreamers .  br    br   try as one might to find some  moral  or  symbolism  in the carnality  i doubt it  s worthy of anyone  s effort . unfortunately  for la bete  now that you can more easily see the film  the notoriety of something once  forbidden  has been lifted . and this beast has been tamed .  
i still liked it though . warren beatty is only fair as the comic book hero . what saves this movie is the set  the incredible cast and it offshoots a mediocre script . i really expected something more substantial in the terms of action  or plot but i got very little . the main reason to watch this movie is to watch some of the biggest stars in hollywood at the time in such an unusual film .  br    br   the one person who did a terrible job and did not even belong in this film was madonna . she did not belong in this movie and her acting job was pretty bad . the movie at some points just stood still . you expected something more and you got nothing . al pacino plays a really bad dude and he does pretty good . he and beatty do make an excellent good guy and bad guy .  br    br   it is also interesting to see dustin hoffman  and warren beatty in a film other than isthar . i did not see ishtar but i heard bad things . the thing about this movie is it is good  but it could have been so much better . i liked it as a child because i thought it looked cool  and visually the movie is amazing  the sets are incredible  the writing is only fair  and with such a cast in the movie i would expect a little better anyway .  br    br   spoiler  br    br   i especially thought the finale was not big enough . it was interesting but for such a grand scale film i just thought it could have ended with a little more of a bang . the reason to watch this movie is the atmosphere . the movie only uses the  comic book colors making it all that more excellent visually anyway .  br    br   the costumes and makeup were flawless as well . the facial makeup for the villains was great . beatty is just not up to such a bigger than life character . still  this is a good movie that could have been much much more . it is to me better than batman  the other comic book adaptation that came out close to the same time . of course that movie was much bigger in terms of gross .  
i noticed with some amusement that in the end credits  the detroit pd is thanked for their participation . the chief of police even has one speaking line playing himself  and boy  can you tell he can  t act  . the reason for the amusement is that in this movie the police shoot first and ask questions later . not the kind of pr  i would think a police force would want . other than that  this is your standard cops and robbers film dressed up for the     s with a racial angle . alex rocco is given a thankless role of a lifer cop that can  t get ahead and is saddled with a mentally ill wife . he makes up for this by hanging out at the local whorehouse . hari rhodes is his dashing partner that has a groovy wardrobe and likes to chase after suspects while wearing a trenchcoat . the movie moves along until the penultimate shootout that makes absolutely no sense  why do people that are only guilty of a robbery  take on a whole police force   . not only do we see one shootout but since there are four bad guys  we get to see four . then there is a twist ending that is supposed to leave one guessing what really would have happened but only left me thinking how stupid it was . seeing that director arthur marks was also behind the braindead  friday foster  and  bucktown   i shouldn  t have wondered .  
dick tracy was originally a comic book created in     by chester gould . he is a plainclothes detective who tracks down a crew of villains  ranging from all types of visually original characters such as flattop to the blank to big boy caprice .  these villains became so popular in the    s that warner bros . created their own take on the tracy  style villains in such cartoons as daffy duck  tracy  s comics were known for their liberal use of gunplay and the up  to  date technology advances  notably the wristwatch communicator   which got their fair share of screen time on this excellent movie . the music was done wonderfully by danny elfman  and the original songs by madonna were interesting  but they were not the high point for her career . it  s weird because as you watch the film and see the suspenseful moments  the film feels so much like batman because of elfman  s memorable sound to his pieces .  br    br   i love the tough  talking kid  pacino  s acting as big boy caprice  and that chin    madonna  s take on villainy  and the cinematography and directing were impeccable . this film was very professionally made and features tons of great actors who were known as great actors for a while before this film was made  warren beatty  al pacino  william forsythe  dustin hoffman  kathy bates  mandy patinkin  catherine o  hara  dick van dyke  . the film was directed by beatty himself  which was interesting . it is almost like beatty saw himself as tracy in a past life or something because he really fit the part .  br    br   i had to give this film an     for everything that it brought to cinema that got overlooked  for whatever reason  . there have been tons of misunderstandings over the rating of this movie on imdb  and i still don  t understand why . the characters were completely original and vibrant  as was the style of the sets  wardrobe  lighting  and everything in this film . go buy it today . you will not be sorry .  
you know when you  re on the bus and someone decides to tell you their life  story  and you sit there with a pathetic smile on your face when all you really want to do is slap the fool and walk off  well i had a similar sensation while watching this film . okay  i did actually choose to go and see aprile  and i knew about nanni moretti  s taste for making himself the one and only star from caro diario  but after about half an hour of this latest installment from his memoirs i wanted to give moretti the madre of all slaps . caro diario was funny  unusual  and at least a couple of other characters managed to get a word in edgeways . in aprile  however  moretti has exclusive rights to the dialogue  so that all you hear for an hour and a half is a high  pitched whine going on about how his politics are best  or what quirky piece of popular culture is tickling his fancy at the moment . he also finds time to slag off films that he doesn  t like  something i thought was reserved for losers like me . surely being in a position like his you  d think he  d try and make a point about cinema a little more intelligently than this . by making a proper film perhaps  one with some ideas and a decent structure  or maybe one that isn  t completely dominated by his annoying voice . and when he started fawning over his newborn baby  i just wanted to go and be in the company of someone normal  preferably not a self  obsessed film director with a strange penchant for tacky music . the next time someone you don  t know tries to tell you their life  story  give them a slap from me . every blow will be a small victory in the fight against morettiism .  
this movies is the best movie to watch for comic book feel . the sets  costumes and the color are just so vivid it is just like stepping into a comic book . this is the movie i think of when the mob is mentioned  the suits  the hats and the attitudes .  br    br   hoffman gives comic relief as mumbles and you can  t help but feel sorry for madonna as she tries  and fails  to win tracy over . this movie contains all the classic mob clichs  burying people in concrete  blowing up peoples cars  tieing up the good guy and attempting to blow up his girlfriends house .  br    br   this movie is a classic in ever sense of the word  even camera angels cry out comic book . its so great to be able to go back to an older movie and see that someone knew how a comic should be made into a movie after seeing such mistakes as spawn and the hulk .  br    br      you have to see this movie      
 . . . however i am not one of them . caro diario at least was watchable for two thirds of the time  but the boring and self  centred third section of that movie gave us a taste of what was to come in this extraordinarily self  indulgent mess . moretti says he feels a need to make this movie  but doesn  t want to  whereas the viewer feels that he should stick with it  but really doesn  t want to either . a film about italian politics and elections could be fascinating  but this is not that film . at one point  moretti and his friends are standing outside the communist party headquarters  discussing the interviews they are preparing to conduct with party leaders inside  but it  s characteristic of this film that we never get to see anything of them . interposed with moretti  s political ravings are the events leading up to the birth of his son  and subsequent home movie shots of him with the baby and later the infant pietro  the film drags us through several years and more than one election period  . we keep expecting to see some definitive sequence or cogent argument  but they never come . i for one doubt that i could have the patience to ever sit through a nanni moretti movie again . he succeeds in making an hour and twenty minutes seem like an eternity .  
love it or loathe it  it  s hard to not find warren beatty  s take on  dick tracy   the     film adaptation of chester gould  s famous comic strip  anything short of a genre classic . superhero films have been coming out of the woodwork in recent years  and may soon become a genre all on its own .  br    br   beatty  s film liberally uses gould  s source material to full effect  shooting in all six of the strip  s primary colors  and thus giving this unique yet familiar world of trigger  happy mutant gangsters and loose  seductive women a lush visual style and tone .  br    br   it can be stated that the film  s strong visual aesthetics drastically short  change the characters and their acting abilities  which i don  t think can be any further from the truth .  br    br    dick tracy  relishes in its look and ghastly characters  and beatty himself  who plays the dogged and incorruptible detective of the title  is appropriately stoic and ready to bust the bad guys at any and all costs .  br    br   other than the visual treats and oscar  winning makeup  there is a plot  and big boy caprice  al pacino  deliciously over  the  top in an oscar  nominated performance   seeks to eliminate tracy in one well  planned move  but also seeks to gain control of all criminal action in the city by uniting all the feuding gangs under him .  br    br   tracy  meanwhile  is juggling his relationship with tess trueheart  glenne headly   who as her name would have it  remains faithfully by his side and cares for the kid  charlie korsmo   who eventually finds a father figure to look up to in our crime  busting hero . tracy  s fidelity to tess is tested by the tempting advances of breathless mahoney  madonna   who is also big boy  s main squeeze . at the same time that all of this is going down  things become heated when a new criminal figure arrives in town  and decides to play both sides against the middle .  br    br   the performances are good  as beatty  s focus on the strained and romantic relationships between each of the leads becomes the center of the material  as opposed to just concentrating on pointless action and special effects . pacino freely chews up the scenery in a role that  s truly standout from the rest .  br    br    dick tracy  is one of the best and most overlooked of the comic book movie genre . i think that if chester gould was still alive  he would be proud of warren beatty  s take on his beloved crime  fighting detective .  br    br        
before stan laurel became the smaller half of the all  time greatest comedy team  he laboured under contract to broncho billy anderson in a series of cheapies  many of which were parodies of major hollywood features . following a dispute with anderson  laurel continued the informal series of parodies at joe rock  s smaller  and more indigent  production company .  br    br   most of laurel  s parody films were only mildly funny at the time  and even less funny for modern audiences who haven  t seen the original movie which laurel is parodying .  west of hot dog  is a fairly generic parody of cowboy shoot   em  ups . it  s marginally a specific parody of  west of the pecos   an oater released two years earlier with no major actors . since  west of the pecos  was never a huge success  it  s difficult to see why stan  s film unit chose this particular movie as a target for their lampoonery  much less why they waited so long after its release to parody it . and where did they get that title  west of hot dog   possibly it  s down to the fact that  hot dog   was a sexual interjection favoured by american lechers in the     s .  as in the opening scene of the stage play  machinal  .   br    br    west of hot dog  was produced and co  directed by joe rock . among his many other achievements  rock introduced laurel to lois neilson  and he was subsequently best man at their wedding . full disclosure in the last years of his life  i had the great privilege of befriending joe rock and interviewing him . nearly ninety years old at the time  rock  s memory was impressively clear . . . but he remembered nothing at all about  west of hot dog   and i can  t blame him . this movie is eminently forgettable .  br    br   the leading lady  s character is named little mustard if that  s meant to be a parody of something in  west of the pecos   i don  t get it . there are a couple of  impossible  gags here  including laurel  s method for mounting a horse . for just one moment in this movie  stan laurel reminded me of the great buster keaton when he suddenly broke into a run .  west of hot dog  is vaguely similar in subject matter and tone to keaton  s short comedy  the frozen north   but keaton  s version is much funnier . the plot of this film somewhat anticipates a situation in keaton  s feature  our hospitality  but  again  suffers by comparison here  two tough varmint brothers expect to inherit the last chance saloon  but the previous owner has bequeathed it to weakling tenderfoot stan . however  the brothers will become the legal heirs if stan dies . hmmm . . .  br    br   seriously  though is such a bequest legal  as soon as stan takes possession of the property  surely any further questions of ownership or inheritance become his decision  not the previous owner  s decision . i had plenty of time to consider such points of law while watching this dull comedy .  br    br   at one point  a gag involves some crude animation drawn directly onto the film stock . it looks cheap and isn  t funny .  br    br   this  hot dog  is no weiner  and no winner it  s just a whiner . my rating one point out of   . hang on  stan in a few more years you  ll be one  half of a comedy legend .  
usually  when we use the word  escapist   we mean it negatively warren beatty  s big screen version of  dick tracy  proves that  escapist  can be good . this is truly one entertaining movie . as the eponymous  yellow  clad  fearless title character  beatty creates a detective to whom we can all relate ready for action  but not without his weaknesses .  br    br   from there  the rest of characters are almost a world unto themselves . tess truehart  glenne headly  is as glamorous as one would expect the hubby of any crime fighter to be breathless mahoney  madonna  is possibly the most perplexing person imaginable big boy caprice  al pacino  is the average villain ruthless but cool . other characters include the speech  challenged mumbles  dustin hoffman   the over  musical   keys  mandy patinkin   and the kid  charlie korsmo  . charles durning  james caan  dick van dyke  estelle parsons  catherine o  hara  seymour cassel  paul sorvino and kathy bates also star .  br    br   oh  wait a minute . i haven  t even explained the plot  the plot involves tracy trying  and failing so far  to find some way to nab big boy . simultaneously  some very bizarre events have been going on in town  the answers to which may or may not be closer than everyone thinks .  br    br   of course  the main thing about this movie is that it  s fun to watch . if warren beatty was having trouble acting his age  then he made good use of that here .  dick tracy  is one cool movie .  
back in the day  i remembered seeing dumb nintendo power comics that had the same artwork as this show . . . and then word came up that this show was a coming to a television near me  i was not estatic  but curious . . . i was curious about how bad this show was gonna suck . my friends all said that this show had no real meanings and was too silly for straight people like me to enjoy  i  m actually gay   so i decided to watch the show with low expectations .  br    br   what a horrible experience            first off  i hate the new characters . tiff and tuff are so dumb and i hate how so many fanboys drool over tiff  it  s sad . i also hate how they made chef kalasaki  or whatever his nonstraight name was  a good guy who owned a restaurant . bad move   kids tv  escargoon is nothing but a loser adviser to the king dedede  who sucks big time in this show  and i hate the face of that one company that keeps supplying dedede with those awful weapons to destroy kirby . so stupid  i hate this show .  br    br   i then began to hate kirby even more since it was obvious nintendo was just aching to get kirby some popularity . kirby  ll never beat mario in the fight for coolness  and kirby will always be nothing but a tiny little cream puff of gayness . nuf said     
at the time i am writing this i see out of over       votes it has a  .  rating . something is wrong with that picture . personally i give it a   . i can see a  at the lowest or a possible  if it was rated by people that see this movie for what it truly is . it is a movie based on a comic book hero . this movie won more than it  s share of awards . won  oscars . another  wins    nominations . . . . right there tells me it  s better than a  .  . some great acting from some very good actors  some great special effects and in my opinion will be if not already a classic for years to come . if you  re looking for pure entertainment be sure to check out dick tracy . definitely a movie you can watch more than a few times . al pacino is great as big boy caprice .  
this insipid mini operetta featuring a eddy  mcdonald prototype in a valentino scenario is so bad it becomes an endurance exercise after five minutes . it  s silly from the get go as this brevity opens two military men discussing the lack of manliness in the son of one of the officers . in under a minute he is packed off to morrocco where he lives a double life as the red shadow the leader of an arab tribe that would rather sing than fight .  br    br   alexander gray and bernice clare possess fine light opera voices  with little acting ability  and there  s a decent bass in there as well but the acting is so haphazard scenes so ill prepared you get the feeling they are making things up as they go along .  br    br   this two reeler was part of a larger stage production that lists six writers . with more room to spoof and warble the show may have had some entertainment values but this rushed quickie is little more than an insult to an audience waiting for the feature presentation .  
that was great fun  i never read those chester  gould  comics but it  s not necessary to know them . maybe there were some inside jokes i didn  t figure out but what the eye doesn  t see the heart cannot grieve over . this is such an ironic  colourful film and the actors are good  humoured all together . the setting is similar to that in the batman movies  but not as dark and grey . okay  the story is not so original but there is a plot  which is not self  evident  and a more or less surprising ending .  br    br   with this movie  you could play an interesting game  if you watch it with friends . don  t watch the credits at the beginning and then look who  s the fastest to find out who are the famous actors under their make  up   
getting lost in space frozen for   years  that  s unlikely . falling into a star . . . improbable . falling into it the day it goes supernova and explodes . . . ludicrous . getting rescued by a ship just then . . . priceless .  br    br   no  it  s not zaphod beeblebrox  s heart of gold to the rescue . it  s also not the parent of the year awardees . after sentencing her daughter to two years  solitary confinement on an abandoned spaceship  the mother encourages her to get drunk and wander off alone with the strange man they  ve picked up . this foreshadows their prowess in hand to hand combat  which makes up most of the film  s action . combat highlights include for example the psycho talking close up face to face with one woman while blindly pointing the gun behind him at the other about six inches away  who obligingly simpers in the line of fire .  br    br   in the end  the family of three abandons the metropolis  sized ship they were planning to use to observe the supernova until the last instant because it is too slow to escape the blast wave  instead using the psycho  s fighter ship which they  ve refueled in one minute with     pounds of gas propellant from a  .   kiloton missile . you have to love those hard sci  fi statistics   br    br   as long as hollywood treats writing as an irrelevant frill  they  ll continue making movies not fit to run at  am on the sci fi channel .  
i saw dick tracy when i was very young . i didn  t know who any of the actors were  and i didn  t know the movie would turn out different than the way it was previewed . i sure loved it though .  br    br   warren beatty stars as the crime  fighting      s detective dick tracy who goes after the biggest mob bosses in the city . this time  big boy caprice  al pacino  has killed a very powerful man and is out to take over the city with his singer girlfriend breathless mahoney  madonna  who has her eye on tracy . it becomes even worse because a new criminal is invading and the worst part is this criminal has no face . he or she is very unknown . plus  the famous villians are back from the comic book collection .  br    br   i thought that this movie was very colorful and creative . it was entertaining and fun to watch especially as a child . warren beaty was just like james bond of the      s the way he played dick tracy .  br    br   an ensemble cast of the film includes charlie korsmo  glenn headly  william forsythe  dustin hoffman  james caan  ed o  ross  tommy lee jones  mandy patinkin  charles durning . plus more   br    br   dick tracy is a movie for all ages and is a fun movie for a family to enjoy . take my word for it .  
a pretty average scifi film . the plot was more or less obvious from the start . although the acting was reasonably good  the writing seemed very cliched  using ideas taken from numerous films .  br    br   the basic plot scientists working on a deep space research platform rescue a fighter from crashing into the red dwarf that they have been orbitting . onboard they find a stasis pod  which coincidently malfunctions at that very moment . after  or  minutes of the man in the pod waking up  you realise that he is a complete lunatic . something which totally escapes the  person crew of the research ship . . .  br    br   after that it becomes a rip off every other film involving a psychotic madman terrorising innocent victims  overall i think speed  was a better exploration of the subject matter  which i didn  t consider to be a good film either .  br    br   not a good film  get aliens out and watch that again .  br    br    
most successful comic book movies usually depend on having villains that are bigger than life  ready to jump off the screen and strangle you alive with a smile or a demented line or two of dialog . the tim burton batmans had it  as did  in an even more grotesque manner  sin city . with dick tracy producer  director  star warren beatty piles on the villains until it becomes part of the framework . like a boisterous homage to     s gangster pictures  only this time meant for kids as opposed to the darker bonnie and clyde  dick tracy is filled  joyfully  with archetypes and bright  primary colors  where the criminals carry tommy guns and are formed on their faces to shape their personalities . villains like the stooge  shoulders  lips  the brow  mumbles  the blank  pruneface  spud . chester gould gave the names to his characters that fit their profiles  and gave his hero a jaw that could cut glass . the film is a continuation of sight gags that are perfectly taken seriously .  br    br   if  at the time  movies like batman and  underrated  teenage mutant ninja turtles were darker depictions of reality within a comic  book outline  dick tracy is more  old  school  . it  s a story of cops and crooks  or rather a cop  detective tracy as he tries to bust big boy  al pacino  in what is arguably his biggest performance to date  and in a sense the one that makes sense for his grandiose style   but with no such luck . there  s also a little kid  called simply the kid  charlie korsmo  who somehow brings more spunk to this little kid than would  ve been imagined   and tracy  s love interest in tess . and then there  s the nightclub  dame   madonna  who probably doesn  t give any kind of great acting performance  but maybe that suits the role fine  and she sings excellently when called upon   who wont testify unless tracy admits feelings he doesn  t have for her . then there  s convoluted dealings with taking tracy down  and a mysterious masked figure with a scraggly voice .  br    br   meantime  as if doing an impersonation of a howard hawks film in a splash of visual effects and bigger explosions  dick tracy adds on the wink  and  nod comedy and the action like its syrup on a tall stack of pancakes . it  s a wonder to look at this world  which is created in ways that have a fascination to them that had they been done today would just be simply by proxy of computers  i . e . sin city  which can be justifiably compared to beatty  s film  . we  re driven through this world in great big shots and then thrust in the plot line  or whatever there is of it  in big editing montages with camera angles that seem to come out of those little tilted panels in the comics of old . i  m almost reminded of the cotton club during these sequences  as story  music  detail  and a few big punches and gun  shots go a long way to revealing what needs to be said  which  actually  isn  t more than it needs to . and there  s a heap  load of catchy dialog from the script  one of my favorites  the enemy of my enemy is . . . my enemy   plus any of pacino  s references to other figures in quotes  .  br    br   revisiting this after seeing it for the first time in the movie theater  and only remembering little bits   dick tracy is a hard  boiled fantasy to the finest degree . it  s filled with good cheer for the kids  and with some pretty good action squared away without some of the more sinister intent of its cousin comic  book movies  i . e . pg    fare   and for the adults its throw  back central done with panache and a solid feeling for the unsubtle . even dustin hoffman hams it up  and he barely says an audible word   
on a distant planet a psychopath is saved from execution by a space monk . he releases a few fellow inmates and breaks out of the prison in a spaceship . they dock onto a ludicrously enormous spacecraft that is orbiting a supernova star . this massive craft is populated by only three people  presumably because the budget of the film did not extend to hiring many actors . anyway  to cut a long story short  the three goodies end up in a game of cat and mouse with the baddies .  br    br   the psychopath in this movie is curious in that he is annoying .  annoying  is generally not a term one would use to describe a lunatic  unhinged  frightening  dangerous maybe but not  annoying  but he is . the three people manning the giant ship are seriously unconvincing as warranting such important roles  this ship is practically the size of a city  considering that the film is set approximately   years in the future  it is somewhat optimistic that such a huge man  made craft could exist  never mind the fact that it is used for such a relatively mundane task . despite the vast size of the spaceship  the crew all have appallingly kitted out  tiny rooms and the dining room consists of what appears to be a plastic table and chairs . but there are a lot of corridors .  br    br   the film is fairly well acted and it works as an averagey sci  fi thriller . but nothing great .  
just picked this up on dvd and watched it again . i love the bright colors vs . dark imagery . not a big beatty fan  but this is an excellent popcorn movie . pacino is astounding  as always  and well  this movie marked the period where madonna was her absolute sexiest . i wish she had stuck with the  breathless  look for a while longer . charlie korsmo  s first really big role  other than  what about bob   . the makeup effects were cutting edge then and still hold up for the most part . beautiful scenery and mood transport you directly into a comic strip environment . the cars  wardrobe  buildings  and even the streetlights et a great tone  not to mention the perfect lighting  although the scenes with a lot of red can get a tad annoying  as it tends to blur a little . just wish beatty had gotten the chance to make a sequel . all in all  a fun few hours .  
despite unfortunately thinking itself to be  a  intelligent   b  important and  c  interesting  fortunately this movie is over mercifully quickly . the script makes little sense  the whole idea of the sado  masochistic relationship between the two main characters is strangely trite  and john lydon shows us all  in the space of one movie  why he should never have let himself out of music . his performance is one  note and irritating .  br    br   the only positive thing to be said is that harvey keitel manages to deliver a good turn . his later bad lieutenant would show just how badly good actors can act  but mercifully his performance here is restrained .  
rachel griffiths writes and directs this award winning short film . a heartwarming story about coping with grief and cherishing the memory of those we  ve loved and lost . although  only   minutes long  griffiths manages to capture so much emotion and truth onto film in the short space of time . bud tingwell gives a touching performance as will  a widower struggling to cope with his wife  s death . will is confronted by the harsh reality of loneliness and helplessness as he proceeds to take care of ruth  s pet cow  tulip . the film displays the grief and responsibility one feels for those they have loved and lost . good cinematography  great direction  and superbly acted . it will bring tears to all those who have lost a loved one  and survived .  
this film was shrouded in scandal for so long that it became a very sought after item . . . the outrage  the mystery  etc . it had everything to be a great piece of film  making  but ultimately fails in every extent . it  s a terribly bad comedy  a pathetic horror movie  a lame erotic film .  br    br   the  disc dvd includes a gorgeous booklet with stills  interviews  essays on bestiality  etc . as well as an extensive interview with the more  than  pretentious director . for those who have heard about it but never seen it  the package will seem fantastic until one actually sees the film . disc  contains the edited film  badly translated to english but with good visual quality . disc  contains the director  s cut  in an awful transfer  in french .  br    br   what can i say about the actual beast  a hand puppet of kermit the frog would have been more effective and shocking .  
heh  if i tell you to compare the dark knight with some    years  old comics  adapted movie rated  .   will you call me crazy  that  s just to catch your attention . everyday i meet people complaining there are no good movies  who seem to only know the recent blockbusters . it  s never a bad thing to search and explore old movies  especially those with good artistic values . dick tracy is one of those can  t be easily outdated  in terms of technology .  br    br   the negative reviews mainly complained about dt  s  messed up  story . but it appears to me that the storyline is quite clear  and i had no problem following it . i didn  t see the comic books  yet i am not a huge us comic fan  but i appreciate the top  notch film  making and performances . maybe the expectations of most people were too high about the story it would tell . but  if you see a movie casting madonna and warren beatty together  what would you expect . i had some scratches on my head  and can  t help but wonder  did we really see the same movie  the title role  although not as competent as it sounds  still was able to pull him up and charm the audiences . madonna was more express  less than  breathless  in her seductive role  but added a lot of fun to the story . al pacino was funny and prodigy to himself . apparently he  s bold enough to go sarcastic on his previously successful roles . we can see a hybrid of scarface  michael corleone  adolf hitler and robert de niro punching our stomaches to make us laugh . and many thanks to make  ups .  br    br   to me it  s not bad at all . the surreal feeling really got me .  
i saw this on dvd  its known as corrupt in this format  and the blurb on the casing really hyped up how harvey keitels character frank is so much like the one he played bad lieutenant in  this gritty and powerful police thriller  . what the casing didnt mention was that this is an old italian movie . how old is it theo  well when a character plays music he doesnt put on the cd player  he pulls out a big plastic pancake thing  puts it on a sort of revolving hob where a sort of mechanical arm touches the pancake thingy causing music to be heard . you see my point about this being an old film  the dvd case gave no clue this was a movie made   years ago . its also a film with poor production values like so many other italian films masquerading as american ones . with the exception of keitel the cast are awful though johnny rottens performance is bizarre rather than terrible  the cinematography is static with the picture and sound quality giving the impression that i was watching a fourth generation pirate copy  i dont know if its down to a dodgy dvd or if its a very bad film print  and worst of all is ennio morricones score . its impossible to belive the man who did the irritating intrusive incidental music for corrupt is the same one who did the music for those clint eastwood westerns .  br    br   all of this is a pity because corrupt does have its moments . its by no means the greatest psycho thriller ever devised but it did hold my interest and as always keitel puts in a good performance as a violent nutcase cop . just a pity the rest of the movie didnt match up to his high standards  
the opening credits make for a brilliant  atmospheric piece of escapist entertainment that  s full of little nods to the comic strip . all the good guys are good  all the bad guys are bad  and the film is jam  packed with familiar character actors covered in gruesom make  up to hi  lite their characteristics .  br    br   warren beatty  as dick tracy  is the ultimate tough guy straight man  incorruptable  calm usually  always a better fighter than the other guy  and rarely one to push the limit on legality . al pacino  as  big boy  caprice steals every scene he  s in as a hunch  backed gangster in some unnamed metropolis of     s gangsters . maddonna plays the kind of person she  d probably play best  breathless mahoney  a nightclub singer and femme fatale with her own little agenda going . gleanne headly is tracy  s tough  talking  fiercely independent long  time girlfrined . and then there  s the kid  a funny little street urchin tracy takes in  who models himself after his surrogate father  and saves tracy when the detective has accepted his fate of being blown up .  br    br   the supporting players are a who  s who of character actors . charles durning is the chief of police . dick van dyke is the district attorney  who  s bribed by big boy  s goons to keep him on the streets . dustin hoffman has a humorous turn as mumbles  the snitch whose dialect is so indecipherable the cops can  t make head nor tail of what he has to say . r . g . armstrong is pruneface  one of the rival gangsters big boy forms a special allegiance to in order to create a network of crime spreading throughout the whole city . mandy patinkin is   keys  the piano player for breathless  s show . paul sorvino plays lips manlis  breathless  s former benefactor until big boy gives him  the bath .  james caan wears relatively little make  up in his performance as the only gangster who won  t go along with big boy  s grand plan . william forsythe and ed o  ross are big boy  s enforcers  flattop and itchy .  br    br   this movie retains all of the corn of the comic strip  plus it is full of vibrant colors . almost all the suits are elaborate in blues and greens and yellows and reds . all the colors of the rainbow are found in this movie   and then some  the matte paintings that are used truly realize this world as two  dimensional  only acted in three  dimensional sets . the humor is plentiful . al pacino fills the shoes of his character like no other character he  s played before or since . big boy is kind of crazy  and kind of self  pitying . he  s an eccentric little man who takes pride in quoting our founding fathers and likening himself to great political leaders . the man with the plan  always looking for the smartest way to do business .  
encouraged by the positive comments about this film on here i was looking forward to watching this film . bad mistake . i  ve seen     films and this is truly one of the worst of them  it  s awful in almost every way editing  pacing  storyline   acting   soundtrack  the film  s only song  a lame country tune  is played no less than four times  . the film looks cheap and nasty and is boring in the extreme . rarely have i been so happy to see the end credits of a film .  br    br   the only thing that prevents me giving this a   score is harvey keitel  while this is far from his best performance he at least seems to be making a bit of an effort . one for keitel obsessives only .  
dick tracy is one of my all time favorite films . i must admit to those that haven  t seen it . you will either really love it or really hate it . it came out a year after the success of batman . so everyone  s expectations were so high that many were let down simply because the plot is so simple . but its based on a comic strip . . . what did you expect  creatively  this movie is amazing  the sets  make  up  music  costumes  and the impressive acting make this film fantastic . the film has bloodless violence and no bad language  that  s something rare these days . directed  produced  and stars warren beatty as the ace crime fighter going up against al pacino  s evil big boy caprice and his mob of thugs . madonna steals the show as the seductive breathless mahoney . this is one of the best characters madonna has ever played . she has the best one liners i  ve heard  madonna fans would love it  one of the coolest things about the film is that they only used seven colors to make it look like a comic strip . this film is truly a piece of artwork that is sadly overlooked by the public . to sum things up  this film brings out the child in all of us . it  s a film that will leave you smiling at the end .  
i thought harvey keitel  a young  fresh from the sex pistols john lydon  then as a bonus  the music by ennio morricone . i expected an old  school  edgy  italian cop thriller that was made in america . istead  i got a mishmash story that never made sense and a movie that left me saying wtf    too many unanswered questions  and not enough action . the result a potential cult classic got flushed down the toilet . keitel and lydon work well together  so maybe quentin tarantino can reunite these guys with better script . oh  and the morricone score ok  but not memorable .  br    br   overall  not a waste of time  but not a  must see   unless you are a hardcore keitel fan .  
i thoroughly enjoyed this true to form take on the dick tracy persona . this is a well done product that used modern technology to craft a imagery filled comic era story . if you are a fan of or recently watched some of the old dick tracy bw movies then you  re sure to get a kick out of this rendition . the pastel colors and larger than life characters rendered in a painstakingly authentic take on an era gone by is entertainment as it  s meant to be . i personally find madonna  s musical element to be a major part of this film  the cd featuring her music from this movie is one i  ve listened to often over the years  it  s just so well done and performed musically and tuned to that era . in my mind  madonna  s finest moment both on  screen but especially musically . this is sure to bring out the  kid  in you .  
tom brown  s schooldays  br    br   aspect ratio  .      br    br   sound format stereo  br    br   in late   th century england  young tom brown  alex pettyfer  is sent to the public school at rugby where he experiences the reforms of a radical new headmaster  stephen fry  and stands up to the school  s resident bully  flashman  joseph beattie  .  br    br   already the subject of numerous screen adaptations  most notably gordon parry  s superior     version  thomas hughes  evergreen novel gets the early   st century treatment  courtesy of screenwriter ashley pharoah  tv  s  where the heart is   and director david moore  the forsyte saga  . it  s pleasant enough  and watchable  but it  s also rather staid and dull  distinguished only by fry  s sincere performance as the new principal determined to sweep away some of the school  s most dubious  traditions   and by the introduction of a possible new star in   year old pettyfer  a talented kid with the kind of effortless charm and vivid good looks that should take him all the way to hollywood and beyond . otherwise  this is typical uk tv fodder  the kind of stuff favored by executives eager to fill the schedules with  prestige  product  even one as thoroughly unremarkable as this . the uk publication  radio times  described it as  daintily odd  and raised a querulous eyebrow over  all of that fagging and brutality and a handsome  rakish villain torturing the life out of sweet young boys  . quite .  
dick tracy is easily the best comic book based movie made to date . the movie has the same feel as the comic book  staying true to the color scheme . the batman series has climbed  fallen  climbed and fallen again . dick tracy has true staying power as something that both adults and children can enjoy . the good guys triumph over evil  without blood and gore to get the point across . al pacino does a wonderful job of his own adaptation of big boy caprice and madonna is memorable as breathless . but the best job by far is warren beatty who just epitomizes dick tracy just as he did with clyde barrows . i can  t wait until it comes out on dvd on april        my tape is wearing thin .  
this tear  teaser  written by steve martin himself  is so unbelievably bad  it makes you sick to your stomach   br    br   the plot is pathetic  the acting awful  and the dialogue is even more predictable than the ending .  br    br   avoid at all costs   
don  t look for an overdeveloped plotline here . . . . just sit back with some popcorn and enjoy this one . a gallery of stars pop up as the classic cartoon character  s villains in this live action comedy  which features incredible makeup and set design  not to mention knockout performances from beatty  madonna  and pacino . great fun for kids and adults alike .  br    br    out of   
this film is a flagrant rip  off of one of the best novels of all time  silas marner by george eliot .  br    br   the details of the film shown on imdb do give acknowledgement to the original authoress but i did not see this at the beginning of the film  only a credit at the end of it saying  suggested by the book silas marner  . suggested  it was nothing but a complete rip  off of all the essential elements of the story  br    br   a wronged and sad old man  an artisan  poor and lonely  has all his money stolen . one night a child wanders up to his door as her mother lies dying in the snow outside . the man takes her in and brings her up until one day the local squire  or rich politician here  demands to adopt the child . it is he who has fathered the child during an illicit affair years before . the battle then ensues as to who should have legal custody of the child .  br    br   in this and every other aspect of the film  the story is exactly the same . in only one can i find a difference . silas marner had epilepsy  but perhaps that would have strained the acting abilities of mr martin too far . on top of that he has his hair dyed in some carrot juice concoction  presumably to make him look younger  but actually making him look more the clown that he is   there is also the addition of meaningless jokes  that this offbeat comedian cannot resist bringing into the story which have no part in it and only detract from the profoundness of the story . like when the child cries in the courthouse declaring she can only be happy with the man who has fathered her all these years . this is conveyed in the film by the girl applying nasal decongestant to the bridge of her nose to make her tearful   br    br   i am surprised that legalities and integrity within the film industry permit such a film to be made . if i was a trustee of george eliot  s i would insist on reparation . if i was steve martin i would send the profits to that estate  or to the poor . at the very least it should be entitled silas marner  adapted by s martin . or better still removed from the archives   br    br   if you are interested in this story  and i hope you are  dismiss this completely and watch silas marner . or read the book  the bbc made an excellent adaptation of it in the      s .  
i never attended the midnight showing of a movie before  dick tracy  came out .  br    br   i still have the  t  shirt ticket  i had to wear to get admitted to the showing around here somewhere and  like that shirt   dick tracy  has stuck with me ever since .  br    br   if you  ve seen the movie  the sharp visuals  bright primary colors and strong characters have no doubt been etched into your brain . it  s a wonder to behold .  br    br   as director  star  co  writer  producer  beatty knows what works in a film and shows it here  taking a familiar american icon and re  creating him for a whole new era . still set in the    s   tracy  has a kind of timeless quality like all good films do . i  ve lost track of how many times i  ve watched  tracy  and i still catch something new every time i do .  br    br   the others are all top notch  starting with pacino  s big boy caprice  a reminder that he can do comedy with the best of them   even madonna  s breathless mahoney is a relevation in that under the right environment  she can act  gasp   .  br    br   but there  s still such themes touched on as the necessity of family  keeping true to one  s self  good versus evil  even machiavellian themes are explored . odd for a comic strip film  but hey  it works .  br    br   all in all   dick tracy  is a classic unto itself . compared with other films of this decade  it makes a strong statement . it  s a good  strong film that doesn  t depend on blood  violence  profanity or nudity to make its point .  br    br   there  s a lesson to be learned here .  br    br   ten stars . great scott   
there is something kind of sad about seeing someone who is so good at doing something try to do something very different . . . and end up being mediocre . i was thinking about jordan playing baseball  but the same applies to steve martin .  br    br   this movie is reasonably well acted and directed  but the script is a stinker . martin did a great job adapting a classic story into a comedy in  roxanne   but this effort to bring a victorian drama to the contemporary scene smacks straight into a wall of implausibility . if you want to see an old story updated with some style  best to rent  great expectations  .  
if dick tracy was in black and white  the pope wouldn  t be religious . giving a new sense to the concept of color in a movie  we are offered an unique experience throughout a comic  strip world  and it  s one of the few movies which succeeded in doing so  thanks to a serious script  good direction  great performances  al pacino is astonishing  and most importantly a powerful mix of cinematography  art direction and costume design . using only primary colors  the experience is quite different from anything we have seen before . and there is also a quite successful hommage to all the gangster  movie genre  pratically extinct from modern cinema . overall  i see this movie as a fresh attempt and a touch of originality to a cinema which relies more and more on the old and already  seen formulas .  out of   .  
just got back from a free screening and i  m very glad i didn  t pay to see this very sub  par film . the theater was full and the crowd was a mix of kids and adults . it seemed like it was just the kids who were laughing at all the slap  stick and fart jokes though  good god they loved to hit these poor mice in the crotch a lot   . the movie is pretty juvenile  unintelligent  predictable  and mostly annoying . the characters just seem to be thrown together to fill in empty space and the relationships between them all seemed very forced with no charm at all .  br    br   visually  the film is about average with nothing that really stands out . they did a decent job of mimicking the clay look from wallace and gromit  but other than that it  s very forgettable imagery .  br    br   although i was really bored throughout the whole film  i chuckled a couple times . it  s not an absolute failure  but i most definitely would not want to watch it again . if you  re a parent with kids  and you don  t care that your kids see mindless cheap  jokes  then feel free to take them to see it  but everyone else shouldn  t waste their money .  
  dick tracy  is one of our family  s favorites   the actors are great   the art direction is exceptional   the music is magic . it  s not supposed to be  to kill a mockingbird    it  s a fun experience .  br    br   stephen sondhemim  s songs are stellar  back in business  is energetic   sooner or later  is just right   what can you lose  is haunting   even tunes like  live alone and like it  add to the story  br    br   got to love the giddily over  the  top performances of al pacino  dustin hoffman  glenn headly  charlie korsmo  mandy patinkin  james caan  dick van dyke  supporting villains . . . the list is far too long . and  yes   even madonna and warren beatty are awesome . written with a smile a minute  how many times have we looked at each other and said   wait a minute   i  m having a thought   it  s gone     .  br    br   however  one of most telling things about in this film is that everyone involved seems to be having a good time   and that above all adds to the enjoyment for the viewer . so  if you haven  t already  why not give  dick tracy  a chance   accept it for what it is   a sunday comic strip brought to life   and in a wonderful way    
a few months ago  i was involved in a debate with another imdb poster  hey  kmadden  about this film . the poster insisted that if i gave  flushed away  a chance  i would like it . based partially on that argument  i agreed to watch the film .  br    br    flushed away  has good intentions  at least on aardman  s part   but lacks the strength to pull it all together . its best asset is sewer rat  boat captain  rita  played by kate winselt   who  imo  should have been the movie  s main character instead of roddy  hugh jackman  . rita  s cool  tough  and interesting  while roddy spends much of his screen time sniveling .  br    br   one of the things that bothered me most about  fa  is the repetition of jokes that aren  t funny to begin with . when roddy gets hit in the crouch  the film makes sure he gets hit five more times immediately .  my name  s shocky   says one of rita  s brothers  who then electrocutes roddy at least three times . my tolerance for cheap gags that involve pain is at an all time low .  br    br   i won  t waste time griping about katzenberg  s kleptomaniac tendencies toward pixar  one similar film  s a coincidence  five  s a rip off .   but i will say i  m disappointed in aardman . they can do  and have done  so much better . try harder next time  guys .  
i  ve been watching  dick tracy  for years  and as a result it  s become a vital part of my life  it was with me throughout childhood and i used to see it quite often . seeing it now  as an adult  it  s still a very good movie  dark  satiric and incredibly misunderstood . about the only thing that can be said is the oscar nomination pacino received  other than that it is rarely discussed and didn  t make much of a fuss when it came out .  br    br   pacino is over  the  top but to good effect as he  s clearly having loads of fun . beatty is great as dick tracy and behind the camera manages to capture the atmosphere of a film noir comic book better than any other film  possibly  i have ever seen . just taking a look at one scene from the film is breathtaking . the lighting  velvet overtones and smog  smoke combine to create a great effect .  br    br   there are some really funny cameos including one by dustin hoffman as  mumbles   and i don  t think there are any flaws at all in terms of acting  even the mandatory kid  character is far better than expected .  br    br   overall  a really fine movie that has become misunderstood over the years since its release and is incredibly underrated with only  .     average on imdb . the critics  reviews are very positive  check out rottentomatoes . com  and after seeing the film once again it  s not hard to see why  this is a perfect example of capturing the essence of a comic book  from style to eccentricity .  br    br   highly recommended .  .    stars .  
i wandered into this movie after watching the    minute  borat  tonight  and left quite disappointed . i was a huge fan of wallace and gromit  and routinely go to see animated films . that being said  i found myself nodding off and at one point nearly walked out  but stayed waiting for this film to get better . never happened .  br    br   the visuals are stunning and the voice work is top notch  especially in my opinion  that of kate winslet and ian mckellen  i had to remind myself a few times the bulbous headed lizard villain was gandalf and magneto  . the problem with this movie for me is it  s one of those animated features for the add  set . it registers after the fact as one zany slapstick routine after another  weighed down by a treacle filled plot that pulls out every stop in an attempt to convey an  important message .  it looks a lot like busted oscar bait for the animated category  and considering the way it  s scoring with critics  i wouldn  t be surprised if the academy gets it wrong and offers up its hardware . but if you  re looking for an enjoyable animated feature about rats  take my advice and wait for ratatouille .  
i hope she can keep acting and directing . she  s surely up to the task and could easily develop that visionary streak into a long career of unconventional and rare works of art . her work has a rare kind of generosity and her timing is spot  on  oy i  m kvell  
this movie is little more than poorly  made  fetish porn  and this is saying a lot considering the similar crap that was made in that era . this was recommended to me by friend as a  unique film experience .  he was right . i suppose he meant that as a joke . not disgusting  not even that shocking . just mediocre acting and poor attempts at shock art . a little bit of camp value  though i don  t believe the makers of this film intended this . and yes  as a previous reviewer mentioned  it  s sex with a guy in a bear suit . don  t spend a lot of money on this . try to borrow it  if you must see it . or contact me  i  d be happy to sell you my copy for half price .  br    br   i may have to see another of this particular director  s films  as he seems to have a certain following . but if it  s anything like this  i will again regret another  hours of my life gone forever .  
this is amazing  looking movie with the whole thing done in just six or seven colors . when it came out over   years ago  it stunned audiences with its color scheme  being so different from anything else that had ever been put on film . those colors  for me at least  make this an absolutely fascinating film to watch . there are literally thousands of scenes i wish could freeze and somehow convert them to a painting to study for their artwork .  br    br   the characters and the story don  t match up to the greatness of the photography  but they are all over  the  top  especially the villains . the famous actors who played them here must have a had a lot of fun on the set playing  flatop    pruneface    lips    mumbles   etc .  br    br   meanwhile  warren beatty and gleanne hedley are good as dick tracey and girlfriend tess truehart  and she  s as sweet and soft as her name . another good addition is charlie korsmo as the delinquent young boy dick and tess take under their wing . the colorful other characters are played by al pacino  dustin hoffman  william forysthe  paul sorvino  mandy patinkin  madona and other names you know but are too numerous to list here . check the full credits on the main page and you  ll amazed .  br    br   the only negatives i found were pacino  s voice which grates on you after awhile  madonna  s off  key singing voice and the fact that the film would have been better trimmed about   minutes . those  faults  are all minor because overall  this is a fun movie . . . . a cartoon strip coming to life in an incredibly  colorful fashion . . . . . like nothing you have ever seen .  
ok maybe a   year old like me was a little to old for this movie . its about this pampered rat  who lives in a palace . then a sewer rat flushes him down a toilet  he ends up in this rat city and meets this girl rat who has a gem a greedy frog wants . he will do anything for this gem he sends a whole army after these two rats . he plans to take the gem and to flood rat city  the cool part about this movie is the slugs . they do all the sound effects . they sing  make noises  its awesome  its also pretty funny . ok bottom line  it is aimed at  year olds . other wise  a great movie to take a younger family member to see . i didn  t think the animation was real dreamworks art though  more like wallace and gromit . i thinkthey slacked a little on that . the movie was just decent  not worth spending   .   for though  sorry .  
despite gorgeous and breathtaking animation  this is probably one of most uninspiring disney films i  ve seen  and i don  t slam disney films very often . spirit is a wild stallion who repeatedly gets captured  either by the cavalry or by indians  both of which try to  break  him . spirit ends up forming a bond with the indian  and that  in a nutshell  is the story . with exception to the beautiful animation of the horses  neither i or my five year old were very inspired or excited by this film . it  s ironic that it  s titled  spirit   as spirit is what this film could have used a bit more of . an extra point was given for the soundtrack  which was enjoyable  with songs by bryan adams and hans zimmer . and although this film is rated g  you will still probably have to end up explaining what  breaking a horse  means to your five year old . i did .  br    br    
don  t understand how these animated movies keep coming out  and no matter how good  or bad  it is people love it .  br    br   i saw this movie with my two kids      . they like pretty much anything animated  like most people who rated this film  . the theater was almost full  and i looked forward to seeing the movie with its superb cast . to tell the truth i was bored silly . it was unbelievably predictable and just plain unfunny . there were a couple chuckles throughout the film and that was it . of course they tried time and time again to get the cheap laugh  but just didn  t work . my son almost always says to me that he wants the dvd after we see an animated movie  but not on this one . my daughter fell asleep half way through . also  the kids thought the character animation looked weird . i haven  t heard that from them since seeing the polar express  which gave my daughter nightmares .  br    br   trust me  i  m not the type who looks for the negative in everything . but quality is quality  and like so many animated movies they throw out there  it has very little .  
time for a rant  eh i thought spirit was a great movie to watch . however  there were a few things that stop me from rating it higher than a  or   i  m being a little bit generous with the   .  br    br   point    matt damon aggravates me . i was thinking   what a dicky voice they got for the main character   when i first heard him narrate  and then i realized it is matt damon . the man bugs me so very bad  his performance in  the departed  was terrible and ruined the movie for me  before the movie got a chance to ruin itself  but that  s another story for some other time   as it almost did  spirit  . i was able to get past this fact because of how little narration there actually was . . . thankfully .  br    br   point    brian adams sucks . . . the whole score was terrible . . . the songs were unoriginal  generic  and poorly executed not once did i find the music to fit and the lyrics were terrible . every time one of the lame songs came on  i was turned off . i almost thought i  d start hearing some patriotic propaganda slipped into the super  american freedom style lyrics  i couldn  t help but be reminded of those terrible patriotic songs that played on the radio constantly after      . in light of the native american aspects of the film  they should have gone with fitting music using right instruments  not petty radio  hit  teen  bop     year  old  girl crap . i thought i was back in junior high school . i can  t believe no better could have been done   i refuse to . had it not have been for this  i  d rank the film up more with disney  which knows a thing or two about originality  ok  don  t bother saying what i know some of you are probably thinking   . too bad  it  s a shame they couldn  t have hired better musicians .  br    br   i liked the art and animation  except for some things here and there . . . like sometimes the angles appear too sharp on the face and the lines too thick or dark on the body  thick  dark lines mainly near the end  . there were often times when i thought they  tried too hard  on the emotion and facial expressions and failed at drawing any real emotion . but there were also times when the emotion ran thick . anyhow  many scenes were lazy and the layers were apparent .  br    br   ok  i  m falling asleep here so i  ll sum it up before i start making less sense . . .  br    br   nice try on an epic film . . . it turned out mediocre though . matt damon  you suck   
from the creators of shrek . . ok  that grabbed my attention .  br    br   well the creators of shrek also made madagascar . madagascar was half as good as shrek .  br    br   and now flushed away is half as good as madagascar .  br    br   that means flushed away isn  t good . the animation and all that special effects were extremely good but the movie wasn  t .  br    br   the story of this movie was only meant for kids . it  s seriously not possible for adults to actually love this flick .  br    br   but there were many jokes meant for adults . i bet kids dint understand the jokes .  br    br   despite that i dint like this flick .  br    br   i am completely disappointed .      
white man  progress  industrialization  bad . first nations  nature  animals  good . simple formula . actually  in past days the same kind of propaganda was used to defend the status quo now it is used to attack it . however  that being said  i think the movie does succeed in overcoming hackneyed politicization because it plays to the themes of freedom and original nature in a way that appeals to everyone . you may not be onside with the movie  s rubbishy revisionism of how the west was won  er lost . but anyone can feel a sense of longing for the days when horses could run free on the western plains .  the movie also conveniently sidesteps the fact that there were no horses in america before the evil white man brought them there  . anyway  i liked it . the quality of the animation  especially the opening shot  is incredible .  
so don  t even think about renting this from the shops  because this is one hell of a bad movie . you  d think that jj abrahams had written this movie . basically  a rat is flushed down the toilet and somehow has to get back out . fans of the completely terrible  shrek  might enjoy  but  wallace  gromit  fans will probably turn away in disgust . also  why didn  t they do it in plasticine or clay  i mean  cgi animation   for an aardman movie     obviously  aardman lazed around while they let dreamworks do the whole thing . wrong  wrong  wrong    nearly every single character is awful  apart from that freaky frog guy  who is just right for a movie villain . but everything else about the movie is dull  dull  dull    i almost fell asleep with boredom watching this movie . no  wait  actually  i did fall asleep with boredom watching this movie . it  s just terrible . but thankfully  it  s not as bad as  shrek .   
i love horses and admire hand drawn animation  so i expected nothing short of amazement from dreamworks new animated picture spirit stallion of the cimarron . i guess you could say i was a little bit disappointed . you have wonderful animation and at first what seems like a perfect story . a story about absolutely nothing but a horse in nature . the animals don  t sing cute songs or even talk   a major plus . sadly  the film has an uncalled for narration by matt damon a sappy soundtrack by bryan adams and enough action scenes to compare it to a jerry bruckheimer production . if the film makers would have just stayed with simplicity  we  d have a masterpiece here . this is not a great film  but it is good entertainment for small children . i would recommend this film to families because it has its heart in the right place and its the only thing out there right now that isn  t offensive to small children . not bad  but could have been much better . very pretty visuals though .  
let  s just say it in simple words so that even the makers of this film might have a chance to understand this is a very dumb film with an even dumber script  lame animation  and a story that  s about as original as thumbtacks . don  t bother   unless you need to find some way to entertain a group of mentally retarded adults or extremely slow children . they might laugh  especially if they  re off their meds . there  s a special kind of insult in a film this ridiculous   not only do the filmmakers apparently think that children are brainless idiots who can be entertained with claptrap that cost approximately zero effort  but they don  t even bother to break a sweat inserting a gag here and there that an adult might find amusing . this film  frankly  ticked me off royally . shame on you for stooping so low .  
while i had wanted to se this film since the first time i watched the trailer  i was in for a deep surprise with this film . while some of the elements and actions of the characters seemed a little too cartoonish   the dark nature of the film really makes this a much different experience . instead of the feel  good  happy  story  this film takes you in another direction that proves to be uplifting  but also disturbing . most kids won  t understand some of the darker moments in the film  which makes this film rather watchable for adults . i was also impressed with the cinematography  using animation and digital animation to create a seamless network of pans and tilts . the musical score was once again solid  proving hans zimmer is the go  to guy when it comes to animated scores  and i never thought i would say i actually enjoyed brian adams  music .  
oh if only i could give this rubbish less than one star  there were two mildly amusing parts in the whole film and that is it  one was where a line or two from the song don  t worry  be happy was sung by the slugs and the other was where roddy fell of the toilet roll and landed with his feet and legs apart so that everything else he landed on on the way down hit him in the groin . that is it there was nothing more amusing than that  at least not for me anyway  doctornappy  is not right in saying  fans of the completely terrible  shrek  might enjoy  but  wallace  gromit  fans will probably turn away in disgust .  as i loved shrek   and  and i also love wallace and gromit . you see what it boils down to is that if an animation is done extremely well then it is definitely worth watching  this however was about as far from done well as you can possibly get  the continuity mistakes were too big in number . some were pointed out by the makers of this site others were not . i won  t point out all of the others  but here are a few more to see when the young daughter leaves at the start of the film the catch to the cage door comes down and the hook part of it that is on the right clearly goes back around behind the round knob thus effectively making sure roddy would not be able to get out and yet he does just by simply kicking at it . at one point the ruby falls down roddy  s back and gets pushed straight up into the the air by rita all the while the ship is moving forwards . in the next scene roddy has caught it again . this is impossible . seeing as how the ship is moving forwards the only place when the ruby was ejected out from under the back of roddy  s shirt the only place it could have landed was in the water not in roddy  s hand . there was a third one i wanted to point out but for now i have forgotten it .  br    br   too many  for want of a better word   jokes  were repeated in one way or another  there was not enough time to establish any sort of connection with any of the characters  the characters were hollow  shallow and empty  and the whole film left you wanting . . . . wanting to watch   minutes of anything else  paint drying or grass growing are two superb options   
this animated movie is a masterpiece  the narration  music  animation  and storyline where all remarkable . my girlfriend and i saw it again for a second time and we got more insight from it . we invited a couple friends to see spirit with us and they really enjoyed it a lot . when i asked them to come along to see it  they thought it was a movie about horses  but afterwards they realized it was more than that . i liked esperanza  spirit  rain  and lil  creek  who reminds me of nathan chasing horse who is smiles a lot in dances with wolves . spirit has deep symbolic meanings and metaphors that i found to be empowering and inspirational .  br    br   i saw spirit for a third time and i want to go see it again . i enjoyed  spirit  tremendously because its portrayal of american indians is realistic  dignified  and non  stereotypical unlike the movie  the road to el dorado   which was a total farce because it portrayed american indians in a disrespectful and stereotypical way . but dreamworks has redeemed themselves by making spirit a great movie that i found to be acceptable  i hope they continue to make more animated movies like spirit  and i would like to see sequels or spinoffs to spirit if its done respectfully and without stereotyping american indians .  br    br   i highly recommend this to others who have an open mind to go and pay to see spirit stallion of the cimarron .  
ultimately too silly and pointless . yes there is the gilded cage metaphor but probably most kids would miss that . forgettable . instantly .  br    br   animation is  as we have come to expect  super  real . the plot  line could best be described as thin but tenacious . although the ending seemed arbitrary to me .  br    br   the sewer underworld is a suitably disgusting reflection of the world above and  somehow  wealth and money seem to count for a lot there too . oh yes  and there  s a romantic interest with the female being the smarter  more savvy and go  getting of the pair  this in itself is rapidly becoming a tiresome  anti  stereotype . probably your kids will love it though .  
this is a wonderful movie in a lot of ways . everyone in my family enjoyed it . the animation is excellent and easily demonstrates that there are plenty of producers who create films that are as visually brilliant as anything that comes from the disney studio .  br    br   one difference from the normal disney fare is that this dreamworks movie does not feature some wise  cracking side kick for comedy relief . and  there are no sudden moments where the characters break into song . i am sure that a scene at the beginning of the film would not appear in a disney picture the birth of spirit . but it is done tastefully and is not offensive at all .  spirit  was a great breath of fresh air . don  t get me wrong . i have loved disney for years and will continue to do so .  br    br    spirit  is another example of great animated fare . as soon as it was over  my kids wanted to watch it again . i had the same feeling . i thoroughly recommend it .  
can anybody do good cgi films besides pixar  i mean really  animation looked antiquated by     standards and even by     toy story standards . or maybe they spent all their budget on hugh jackman . whatever their reasoning  the story truly did suck .  br    br   somehow  hugh jackman is a rat  a rat that is flushed down a toilet . yeah i know  seems stereotypical . but then the sewer mimicked the ways of london  to an extent . throw in a promise of jewels       and an evil     frog and you get a pathetic attempt at entertainment .  br    br   i would like to say something entertained me . maybe the hookup in the movie  or maybe the happily  ever  after rat relationship . but nothing did . it had the talent  but it blew up . d   
this is one of the most calming  relaxing  and beautifully made animation films i  ve ever seen . with beautiful music throughout the movie  the sounds and music can make you feel like you  re in the movie  this movie is not just great for kids  but adults too . it teaches you lessons  such as never forget who you are  you can do whatever you stick your mind to  and to brave and daring . this movie can make you cry at times too  which is always a nice touch in movies . this movie is funny  sad  cute  and keeps you on the edge of your seat  some movies really give you a fuzzy feeling after you see them  and the movie  spirit  is definitely one of them  with my vote of     stars for animation  music  and a wonderful idea for a movie  it gave me a whole lot of spirit   
if your idea of entertainment is watching graphic footage of people being run over by cars  you get to see a woman passing under the front wheel  being twisted as the car passes over her before she goes under the back wheel   and they show it twice in case you missed it the first time  then this is the documentary for you . admitedly i didn  t watch any more of this very disturbing piece of voyeurism  but that was enough for me . maybe the rest is even better .  br    br   i wonder how long it  s going to take for television networks to start showing slush movies . perhaps game shows based on self  mutilation might be nice .  br    br   i already know that there are disturbed people in the world and that horrible things happen . i don  t need to see the proof on the tv masquerading as entertainment .  
this movie was highly entertaining . the soundtrack  bian adams  is simply beautiful and inspiring . even more impressive is brian adams doing all the songs in french as well . the score is also uplifting and dramatic .  br    br   the movie is made from a mix of traditional animation  combined with computer generated images . the result is truly stunning . i watch this film at least once a week with my kids and we never tire of it . the story is compelling and well narrated .  br    br   i don  t understand anyone who would rank this movie less than a  . definately a keeper in my household .  
  the cat  s meow  contains a few scenes that boast intelligent dialogue  and some fine performances  a few of which surprised me . eddie izzard is more effective than i expected as chaplin  partly thanks to an excellent hair and makeup job by some talented designer   joanna lumley is compelling as novelist elinor glyn and kirsten dunst is winning as marion davies  though why movies never use her real  life stutter is difficult to explain  . but these elements don  t add up to a successful whole . the screenwriter seems to have worked very hard on certain scenes   the meetings between davies and chaplin are particularly well crafted   but not so hard on the big picture . several minor characters don  t need to be there  and don  t behave consistently . the basic plot is full of illogic  e . g .  why does thomas ince think it  s a good idea to tell hearst something he really doesn  t want to hear    and the party scenes are repetitive and tiresome . i  d like to think a trip on hearst  s yacht was more fun than the movie indicates . davies is characterized as a standard bubbly flapper type  which isn  t really accurate  and the screenwriter  s ideas about chaplin and love are implausible .  br    br   strangely  bogdanovich  who seemed so connected to the thirties in  paper moon   lacks a similar affinity for the twenties . he insisted the excellent costume designer use only black and cream  which gives the party guests a very artificial look  and plays only the most stereotypical songs of the period  e . g .   yes  we have no bananas   . when hearst insists everybody  charleston  charleston   it looks as if the actors had a ten  minute dance lesson just before the scene was shot .  br    br   the lives of silent film stars can make fascinating movies  i  m sure  but not this time .  
a man readjusts to life alone after   years of marriage . he also has to solve the problem of the family milch cow  tulip  which refuses to allow itself to be milked . until  that is  he visualizes his wife who was the one who used to milk tulip .  br    br   tulip is based on a real story told in griffith  s family  of her grandparents  generation . the film is a nostalgic look back at a disappearing way of life  one where people still felt some sense of responsibility for each other  set in the lush green victorian  the australian state  not the era  countryside .  br    br   writer and director griffiths evidently has further ambitions in both areas  and this multiple award  winning    minute short is a fine beginning to her reel .  
this  and immoral tales  both left a bad taste in my mouth . it seems to me that borowczyk is disgusted by sex  and these two films are cautionary tales about what will happen if you do have sex . as a film  it  s not very well done   some of the acting is truly epically bad  such as the  american  woman with the french accent  . the young woman  s sudden flip  flop from being anxious about the marriage to being interested  when it seems like it should have been the other way around   and the aunt  s sudden realization of the young man  s secret don  t make sense   they  re not explained at all . i also didn  t like how the daughter  s relationship with a black man was presented as a sign of her family  s perversion or predilection for bestiality . the central idea  the idea that there  s this  sexy beast   if you will  that lives in the woods  could have been a foundation for a perverse but fun story  but instead is just used as a basis for a nasty  sex  negative  morality play .  
i recently watched spirit and enjoyed it very much  i  ve seen it about  times now on hbo and will buy the dvd . those who gave negative reviews would probably think that vanishing point  was just another car chase movie and thelma  louise  was just another chick flick . although the conclusions of those films are darker i feel the themes are somewhat related that freedom and individualism are very important and that there is usually someone wanting to take it away from you . the other common trait of these movies is the caring  thoughtful guardian angel  types who help the main characters to overcome adversity .  br    br   another review here mentions how this film relates to the theme of civilization invading someone else  s home . all one has to do is look around at the dwindling open areas around us to see that .  br    br   i thought the animation and the story were amazing  the animators really got the horses to look  act and move naturally . spirit  s emotions were very clear as the story progressed  yes i  m aware they do humanize the horses a bit  but this is fiction  . in a couple of action scenes you feel caught in the current of the rapids and the heat from a forest fire . in other more quiet scenes  which are most of the time  you  re allowed to savor the backgrounds . one of the big things that make the story really work is by not going the talking  singing animals route . doing so would take away from the story  s power . instead the flow of the story is told by occasional narration by the main character  further punch is added by the fantastic soundtrack . another plus is that they weren  t afraid to give the story somewhat of a dark side  which really made this film watchable to me  . this isn  t prevalent through the entire movie though  and the conclusion is fitting and uplifting without being sappy .  br    br   those who appreciate horses will really like this movie  but i think it  s a bit more than a horse movie . i don  t feel this would be a good movie to take children to if they  re brought up on the inane fare that  s offered up today . but if they  re the thoughtful sort that can handle compelling stories like the lord of the rings and black beauty they  ll likely love this movie . hell  i  m   years old and still love that stuff .  
anything that might have been potentially interesting in this material is sunk in the first few seconds with a disclaimer that the events we  re about to see can  t ever be known and  this is the whisper rumor most often told  about one of hollywood  s most sensational  mysteries .   br    br   okay . so we  re not getting anything new  and e   s  mysteries  scandals  gives you a better foothold on the particular incident . . . and that  s not much of an endorsement  . what do we get   br    br   we learn that hollywood is a nest of viper  s and decadents . no big news there . more interesting we learn what a washed up director is willing to do to regain his position of power in the entertainment industry and  or political establishment . it raises the question of whether peter bogdanovich is speaking from his own experience through these characters . but what  s told is so cynical and ugly and muddled  we  re left feeling guilty for witnessing a bunch of hooey that passes itself off as history .  br    br   the tone of the film has a curious madcap quality that i found more irritating than fun . we  re not empathetic with anyone . and the great  citizen kane  polishes off the relationship between davies and hearts in a much more convincing way . in  the cat  s meow  we  re not ever sure of davies motives for being with hearst . as soon as we  re told one thing  she  s off doing the other .  br    br   and are we to believe that davies was the love of chaplain  s life  or is he just trying to cockold one of america  s most powerful   and apparently moronic   citizens . the film never makes it clear .  br    br   what is convincing are the production values . there  s a glorious recreation of the yacht and period costumes . i got more out of looking at the construction of some of the lapels on the men  s jackets than following a story that libels many of the the most well  known personalities in hollywood history . no one will remember that the screenplay is pure fiction . the disclaimers that frame the film only make it all the more tentative and unsatisfying .  br    br   the performers can  t be faulted  although meg tilly goes way past parody here . kirsten dunst never disappoints . she gives the most sincere performance in a sea of scenery chewing . only joanna lumley rises above the material  but so much so that she seems to be distancing herself from the whole enterprise rather than narrating it . one of her first lines is   i  m not here   and i  m sure she wishes she wasn  t .  br    br   this isn  t on par with bogdanovich  s trashy  so  bad  it  s  good  at long last love .  it  s perched on attempting something serious  but hesitates and stumbles chiefly because it  s so full of bitterness towards  the beast  named hollywood . this is  national enquirer  filmmaking . and it not only soils the names of those who the film places on board the oneida that weekend  but the audience gets pretty dirty as well .  
this was a great movie with a good story . my children         and   all loved this movie  including myself . the music was also fantastic . no  the horses do not talk  but instead  the story is told by spirit . and to hear a story told by a horse  s point if view was fun .  br    br   i think the title says it all   spirit  . this movie really gives you a sense of family and home and friends . i would have to say my  year old boy and  year old girl were really touched by this movie  and even got so into it  they laughed so hard  and they cheered for spirit in the end .  br    br   enjoy  spirit  with your family and have your spirit lifted with this heartwarming story . your kids will love it . i think you will too .  
what happened to peter bogdanovich  once a brilliant director  a trail blazer . . . is now scraping the very bottom . . . is this the same man who directed  the last picture show   here  he takes a somewhat interesting  albeit farfetched  premise  and turns it into bubble gum that loses flavor the moment you take the first bite . . . dunst is not bad  but izzard is miscast as chaplin  and all the other actors seem to have been cast for their  looks   and not because they were right for the part . too bad . i  ll go rent  paper moon  again .  
i thought this movie would be dumb  but i really liked it . people i know hate it because spirit was the only horse that talked . well  so what  the songs were good  and the horses didn  t need to talk to seem human . i wouldn  t care to own the movie  and i would love to see it again .      
kirsten dunst is terribly overrated as an actress . you can tell always she  s just  acting  . i like izzard though . plot is awfully boring . the viewer has no real connections to the characters  never knowing who to really sympathize with  or even care about . slow  dull movie  with some laughs  but few and not very funny anyway . plot is not engaging or suspenseful in the least . you can see each plot turn coming a mile away . what is this movie supposed to be  comedy  drama  who cares  you won  t by the end of this film .  
spirit stallion of the cimarron is an overall wonderful movie . the blending of animation types is unique  the storyline is amazing  and the music is wonderful .  br    br   the drawn animation is a special thing about many animations . how they expressed the characters  especially the horses  through their animation are spectacular especially . while the way horses communicate through body language is easy to understand  many young children and people who haven  t studied horses might not understand . without words  i would imagine it would have to be challenging to express them through the features . because of this  i understand the  eyebrow  they added to the horses  while real horses don  t have those thick lines  . one of the few things i noticed about horse habits that might have been portrayed strangely is that spirit lead his mother  s herd . in wild horse herds  the lead stallion usually chases the young colts out .  br    br   also  while some people might think portraying the white army officers as the  bad guys  is stereotyping  think of all the movies in which the native americans have been portrayed as that . sometimes back then they did treat mustangs very poorly . for example  in real history  the appaloosa breed was almost wiped out due to the army officers . imagine what would have happened to one of the worlds best loved riding breeds if the native americans had not saved them .  br    br   i think it  s amazing how the realism wasn  t subtracted by making the horses talk to each other . spirit  s feelings were expressed by a little bit of narration  but mostly through the music  by bryan adams  . the songs express the story really well  and hans zimmer and bryan adams did a great job telling the story through melodies and lyrics .  br    br   the emotion i got when watching the movie  whether the first time or the twentieth  yes  i  ve watched it that much   you wouldn  t believe . some of the scenes take your breath away  while others seem to force tears into your eyes . the opening sequence  showing spirit  s homeland  puts you right into the spectacular action right away .  br    br   i don  t understand at all why some people are so hateful of this brilliant movie . overall  i rate it a       a must watch .  
just because an event really happened doesn  t mean that it will make a good screenplay  movie . the cat  s meow  by peter bogdanovich claims to be based on actual events which happened on a cruise hosted by william randolph hurst . the writer paid more attention to creating a bizarre cast of characters than taking time to create a story for the bizarre characters to inhabit . the key moments of the story seem implausible for example  when hurst accidentally shoots the producer  believing him to be chaplin . basing a key element of a story on someone wearing the wrong hat is trite and contrived . the story attempts to be a dark comedy  but the cat  s meow misses an important piece of this equation  comedy . there is also a lack of empathy for any of the characters . it hardly matters who is shot  who is killed  who is guilty and who is innocent . there is not a strong character to cheer for . as a result the conflicts are difficult to care about and the eventual outcome is incidental .  
i began riding horses fairly recently  and  as anyone who has ever ridden should know  i fell in love with horses and their world . i rented spirit on a whim  just trying to pack my life full of as much horse related material as i could  and i was surprised by the results .  br    br   what i expected was a feel  good disneyesque movie with talking animals and stereotypes every five minutes .  br    br   what i got was an amazing film  filled with beautiful scenery and animation  and an amazing storyline that has the great potential to warm one  s heart .  br    br   spirit is a wild mustang in the old west  whose entire world is brought crumbling down around him when he discovers the humans slowly taking over his homeland . the story unfolds with a wide array of characters  some human  some animals  all are well written and most are pleasant to watch on screen .  br    br   i would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good story  and who has an appreciation for history and animals .  br    br   one thing i forgot to mention  but that i feel is important  is that the animals in this film do not talk . this was a really nice vacation from the lady and the tramp animated movies that everyone today is used to .  
anyone who is a sucker for     s jazz      s dress  the charleston  and ultra  swanky yachts  e . g . me  on all counts  will want to like this movie . but the sad fact is that that  s all there is . the plot is banal and obvious  the acting mostly either awful or playing to the farcical side of the goings  on  and when the whole thing  s over there is not much left but the impression of mirrors and smoke . this is a beautifully made bad movie .  
i really dislike both shrek films .  since their both  pg  and have words in them i would never say myself  so i disliked them .   br    br   but when it comes to  spirit stallion of the cimarron   which i just barely watched for the first time last month  i became a fan of animated films  other than pixar . spoilers ahead in  spirit stallion of the cimarron   a horse foal is born and eventually becomes the leader of his heard . one night  he sees a strange light in the distance  and he sets off toward it . this action eventually leads to his capture  and several more things . throughout the movie  we hear a narration . it  s through the thoughts of spirit  though the horses never talk . this is what makes the movie so goo . they  the movie makers  recored real horses to do the sounds the horses made none of those sounds were made by humans .  br    br   spirit meets rain  a beautiful mare  and little creek  a native  american  who owns rain . little creek later frees spirit and rain  they go running home .  br    br   i have never been a big fan of brian adams  but i intend to buy the soundtrack to this film in the near future .  br    br   watch this film  and you won  t regret it . my score       
 . . . is the only way to describe this movie about subjects that should be surefire scandal  sex  celebrity  power . kirsten dunst grins her way through her role as silent movie star marion davies like she thinks she  s in  legally blonde .  the guy who plays william randolph hearst overacts to the point where you want to reach into the screen and slap him . eddie izzard is pretty good  except that he  s playing charlie chaplin  and is about  oh     lbs too heavy for the part  hard to believe this hamfisted  uneven wreck was directed by peter bogdanovich  but then again  he hasn  t made a watchable movie in  what    years  sometimes  there  s just no coming back .  
i liked this movie a lot . the animation was well done and the romance was cute . i liked most of bryan adams  songs and the hans zimmer score was excellent . what a lot of people don  t realize is how well it relates to the heart of darkness  apocalypse now themes  what happens when so  called  civilization  invades someone elses home  what does it mean to be  civilized  etc .  . the opening scenery and music were very stirring . the film is a lament to an america that was once beautiful .  
after seeing this film i complained to my local cinema about the quality of the sound  track or whether the cinema sound system may be faulty . for at least the first half of the film it is extremely difficult to understand what anyone is saying because of the background    s music and the scratchiness of the sound  track . i was ready to blame the cinema equipment but not so  it was the director .  br    br   i was told the subject of my complaint was an essential part of the making of the film . the music and the sound was supposed to be distorted to create a very disturbing effect within the film . these days  directors will go to many lengths to make their film unique . unfortunately  no matter where or how you see that film the sound score will be the same .  br    br   so apart from the historical inaccuracies of this film  which you can find out for yourself elsewhere  the sound  track distortions are in themselves a good reason to give this film a miss . you will only hear the distorted scratchiness of the sound  track and certainly not a cat  s meow .  
the horse is indeed a fine animal . picturesque depictions of wild horses and their grace could never have been more majestic in an animation flick .  br    br   the animation is simply stupendous . the fine animation forms the backbone of the beauty that the horses embolden across the flick . more so when the stallion traverses diverse terrain  jumps across cliffs and braves waters .  br    br   soundtrack too is very impressive . the wonderful instrumental music lures you to appreciate the movie .  br    br    they say the story of the west was written from the saddle of a horse .  huh  well  the story of a fine horse sure was written from the saddle of the west .  br    br   all in all  this movie is clearly up there with the best . it is one of the best animation flicks i have watched . would be a very fine choice on a lonely night . an easy     .  
i am appalled at how bad this film is . as a pastiche of early   th century hollywood artistes it sets a new low  even past the moderns or  gasp  cradle will rock  i never thought i  d see a film worse than those  . granted they were about a slightly different milieu  period . nevertheless the intents  results were distressingly similar .  br    br   first off there  s the horrible casting eddie izzard as chaplin  excuse me  peter  did you owe this guy something  jennifer tilly as loulla parsons   kirsten dunst as marion davies    holy smoke  these people don  t even begin to try to capture the look or sound of the period they are purportedly depicting .  br    br   well  last picture show was a decent film  but this thing is a disaster  the rest of bogdonovitch  s pics haven  t been much better . guess rubbing up against welles  hitch  ford wore off a long time ago . still good for hosting tcm though .  
well  what can i say  this movie really got to me  it  s not so bad  as many say  i really loved it  although the idea seems so simple  and rather boring  it isn  t . first of all i enjoyed the soundtrack  bryan adams   it really goes with the movie . second the simple story  and the drama of spirit gets your attention . one thing i like the most is that they didn  t give the stallion a human voice to interact with the other horses  it makes the movie more realistic  not many animations seem realistic now do they   but . . . i don  t know  making animals talk is just so . . . lame .  br    br   one of the most beautiful animations of     in my opinion  i recommend it to everyone  not just the kids    because it is very relaxing .  
what is supposed to be a simple generic mystery plot involving a dead philanthropist is  in fact  a head  ache inducing tale about a bunch of characters  the only big actor being ginger rogers  in a very early role  all trying to find the murderer among a small cast of residents in a posh apartment building . these characters range from utterly stupid to downright mean . as a cheap  low budget production  most of the action revolves around rogers and her lead man  some guy  i don  t care who he is  cause he really sucked  talking about their various possibilities of solving the crime  while being constantly cut off by an absurd detective with his head in his butt . honestly  i  ve never had a worse time watching an old b  rate movie of this type  and i  ve seen some real head  slappers .  br    br   oh  and the butler didn  t do it  because there wasn  t a butler . but pay attention to the guy who  s closest to a butler . there ya go .  br    br     polarisdib  
if only all animation was this great . this film is classic because it is strong is two simple aspects story and character . the characters in this film are beautifully personified . i felt for all of the characters  and human  animal relationship in the movie works perfectly . the beautiful animation and   d computer animation hasn  t worked better in any other film . this is a great movie for kids  and for adults who want a classic hero  s journey .  of   .  
a very young ginger rogers trades quick quips and one liners with rival newspaper reporter lyle talbot in this     murder mystery from poverty row film maker allied productions . the movie opens with a wealthy businessman taking a header from the roof garden of a high rise apartment house  or was it from a lover  s apartment  rogers actually has two identities at the film  s outset  that of miss terry  the dead victim  s secretary  along with her newspaper byline of pat morgan . mistakenly phoning her story directly to ted rand  talbot  instead of her paper  s rewrite desk  she gets fired for her efforts when her boss learns he  s been out scooped .  br    br   here  s a puzzle  it  s revealed during police inspector russell  s  purnell pratt  investigation of harker  s death that terry  morgan had been employed as his secretary for three weeks . why exactly was that  after the fact it would make sense that she was there for a newspaper story  but before  clues are dropped regarding harker  s association with a known mobster conveniently living in the same apartment building  but again  that association isn  t relevant until it  s all linked up to janitor peterson  harvey clark  . and who  s making up all the calling cards with the serpent effecting a hsss  with the words  you will hear it  cut and pasted beneath  apparently  the hissing sound of a snake was the sound made by the apartment house  s radiator system  which peterson used to transmit a poisonous gas into the rooms of potential victims  such as mrs . coby in the apartment below harker . but in answer to a question posed to inspector russell about mrs . coby  s death  he replied  apparently  to the cause of strangulation .  br    br   it  s these rather conflicting plot points that made the movie somewhat unsatisfying for me . the revelation of janitor peterson as the bad guy of this piece comes under somewhat gruesome circumstances as we see him stuff the unconscious body of miss morgan in the building  s incinerator furnace  however  and score another point against continuity  we see miss morgan in a huge basement room as peterson ignites the furnace she made her getaway  but how  and still pretty as a picture . and who gets to make the collar off screen if none other than milquetoast police assistant wilfred  arthur hoyt   who in an opening scene fell over his own feet entering a room .  br    br   sorry  but for all those reviewers who found  a shriek in the night  to be a satisfying whodunit  i feel that any charlie chan film of the same era is a veritable  the usual suspects  by comparison . if you need a reason to see the film  it would be ginger rogers  but be advised  she doesn  t dance .  
some time in the late   th century  somewhere in the american west  several cowboys in need of money go on a buffalo hunt . the group  s leader believes that buffaloes are too numerous for the hunting to have any impact  but the more experienced hunter has seen how quickly the population can collapse  and he isn  t so sure . featuring buffalo herds living in south dakota and showing film of actual hunting  the movie  s introduction explains it as necessary thinning of the herd   the movie does an excellent job of presenting us with the plight of the buffalo and its effect on native americans without ever getting preachy about it .  br    br   the real story  however  is about the dysfunctional family which is created by the small group formed to do the hunting . the father figure is charlie  a violent man with a short fuse . sandy  his  brother   is the experienced hunter who is tired of killing but needs the job after losing his cattle . a half  indian boy  who hates the fact that he looks entirely caucasian  takes the role of adopted son . the grandfather  and moral compass  is an alcoholic buffalo skinner charlie  s  wife  is an indian woman whose companions he killed after they stole his horses .  br    br   charlie is clearly the most interesting figure . he is mean and insulting towards everyone around him  yet at the same time he knows that they are the only family and friends that he has . he expects the abducted indian women to hate him  then accept him  but he doesn  t know how to react when she refuses to do either . he  s the one who put the family together in the first place  but he  s also the one who is fated to ultimately destroy it .  br    br   this is all very similar to the classic  red river   which also features a family of sorts being torn apart by the increasingly violent and alienated father figure . as one might expect  this movie suffers by comparison . the plot is not as focused on developing the characters and family dynamics  and the direction fails to keep all of the scenes working towards this common goal . charlie is so thoroughly unlikable from the very beginning that we never have any reason to care about what happens to him or his family . on the positive side  however  the message surrounding the buffalo slaughter adds an extra dimension to the film and its conclusion is far superior to the hollywood ending which was tacked on to the end of  red river  . as a result   the last hunt  is an interesting and entertaining film  very well made  but falling short of what would be needed to consider it a classic .  
this movie had a fairly good sounding plot  but the paste was very slow . . . very slow indeed . even if someone thinks this is a cult classic  i think that there are a lot better films from that era to be watched .  br    br   the cinematography is not excellent  but not the worst either . the sounds are ok . lighting ok .  br    br   i still wouldn  t recommend this to anyone else than maybe a film  student .  br    br   the movie does not contain music  and the horses having sex don  t make it a good one either . and the woman masturbating on the edge of the bed was plain stupid .  br    br   no winnings here  skip this utter boredom . i  ve seen worse believe me  but this is just waste of time  and i don  t get the good reviews here . especially the high ratings . . .  
i have probably seen this movie over fifty times by now because of the kids they just cant get enough of spirit . the best thing about the movie i think is that the animals isn  t able to talk  this makes the whole movie more honest and makes a better impression on both kids and the adults so      from the kids and me  
  rival reporters pat morgan  ginger rogers  and ted rand  lyle talbot  are always trying to out  scoop each other on stories . the latest involves the mysterious death of a philanthropist who fell to his death after a shriek was heard from his penthouse apartment . the two reporters start out as rivals but combine efforts to solve the crime and write the story when more residents of the apartment building turn up dead   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   this said  to  be follow  up to  the thirteenth guest  has little to do with the earlier movie it is not a sequel  as has been inferred . ms . rogers continues to develop her skills . mr . talbot adds a little humor to his characterization . they are a pleasant team  the plot is interesting and mysterious but  the resulting film is very dull . the opening and closing are startling . a long  winded wrap  up of plot development points follows the climax .  br    br    a shriek in the night       albert ray  ginger rogers  lyle talbot  harvey clark  
in a time when hollywood is making money by showing our weaknesses  despair  crime  drugs  and war  along comes this film which reminds us the concept of the  indomitable spirit  . if you are feeling beaten down  this movie will free your mind and set you soaring . we all know how tough life can be  sometime we need to be reminded that persistence and courage will get us through . that  s what this film did for me and i hope it will for you .  
this was a disappointment  none of the nuance of the original . the brits just seem to be able to make a truly unsettling film with none of the over  the  top histrionics of the american version . the original series combined both creepy stories and subtlety of performance with great attention to lighting and settings . i have watched the series many times and am still enthralled .  br    br   just another poor adaptation along the lines of the dreadful adaptation of  cracker  . get hooked up with bbc america or bbc canada and watch for such delights as waking the dead  spooks  silent witness  and judge john deed . watch the original touching evil  then look for  wire in the blood  for more of the truly understated  elegant performance of robson green . hollywood needs to have a look at this actor   
spirit is a unique and original look at western life from the point of view of a wild horse  and native americans . the film focuses on the friendships and perils that a wild horse  spirit  encounters during his life .  br    br   very well done in the presentation  using the technology available today to deliver stunning visuals that are breathtaking in their depth and realism .  br    br   the music is fantastic  with songs by bryan adams  and music by hans zimmer  who also was responsible for the extremely popular music from the     disney hit  the lion king .  br    br   the story is not very deep but the fact that it isn  t quite as in  depth as some movies doesn  t in my opinion detract from the film as a whole .  br    br   an excellent film which i enjoyed immensely  and that is suitable for all the family . not one to be missed .         
this movie was supposed to have depicted a  ladie  s man  bachelor who was ready and willing to settle down once and for all . however  i did not care for his mission to settle down  because i didn  t care for his character . i don  t understand what all of these beautiful women saw in him . he had absolutely no class  or charisma . he should  ve at least had a way about himself that made ladies weak in the knees other than his saxophone playing  but to no avail . just because he is a musician does not make him sexy . not to mention  the things he did to get the attention of a married woman he fell in love in a span of five minutes of knowing her were absolutely outrageous and ridiculous . does this man have any shame what  so  ever  had he tidied up  and stopped doing and saying stupid things he would have been more attractive as a character  but alas  his character was bland and boring .  br    br   gina gershon  s character was unnecessarily british . she could  ve just as easily been an uptight out  of  towner with her regular speaking voice than do a poor british accent that sometimes would fade through out the movie .  br    br   the only two characters i cared for were the fish and frog . now those two had chemistry  academy nominations for both stat  plot holes  lack of character development  horrible acting  unnecessary drama  clich moments . . . what a mess of a movie .  
life pod is one of those movies that you just watch and try not to analyze too hard . the acting is rather amateurish  at best . the special effects are obviously low budget  but not too bad . the story line is rather stock  but with an interesting twist . computer run amok  but not exactly a computer and the running amok is very understandable when the truth is revealed . still the movie has its moments and is quite watchable . for me  at least part of the allure of this movie is the prominent role of kristine debell . she may not be the greatest actress in the world  but having been a former playmate of the month  she is cute enough . in all life pod is much like other low  budget sci  fi movies of the     s and somewhat predictable .  br    br   the white star lines bit is cute  if completely inaccurate . the last of the white star lines company stock was purchased by the cunard lines     and the last ship to sail under the white star colors was the britannic  not the sister of titanic  which was sold for scrap in     .  
let  s face it  romantic comedies are considered lightweight when compared with dramatic movies  just look at the academy award nominations each year  . but still  the good ones are truly an art form . look at  when harry met sally    sleepless in seattle   and classics like  roman holiday  and  it happened one night  . i like the good feeling of seeing two people destined to find happiness .  br    br   this movie attempts to construct something that resembles a romantic comedy . but no one believes the romance between the main characters  and there is nothing funny to make up for that major shortcoming . modine is way past being a leading man  especially a romantic lead . i  m sure as executive producer  he had the means  but not the good sense  to cast himself . and gershon . . . i see possibilities of some comedic talent  but she had no script and a poorly developed character . and whose idea was the english accent  pointless .  br    br   others have stated it  but i want to repeat this story is poorly conceived  poorly executed the actors are terribly miscast and the characters  well  we just don  t give a hoot about them .  br    br   an art form this ain  t . go rent  moonstruck  again .  
i agree with  jerry .  it  s a very underrated space movie  of course  how many good low  budget ones aren  t underrated   if i remember correctly  the solution to the mystery was a sort of variation  but not  rip  off   of      because the computer controlling the spaceship had actually been a man  who had somehow been turned into a computer . and like hal  they tried to disconnect his  mind   but not the mechanical parts of him  and as with hal  it led to disaster . there is at least one funny moment . when the christopher cary character  who can  t find any food  finds the abandoned pet bird  there  s a kind of ominous moment  but then the obvious thing doesn  t happen after all .  
for the life of me i can  t understand the good reviews on this piece of crap . it was pointless . matthew modine was horribly miscast as a leading ladies man . gina gershon  well  others have said it  but i  ll reiterate  why the stupid accent  totally unnecessary . and her acting was just bad . i don  t know if she was thrown by the accent  or what . there was no chemistry between these two .  br    br   and the girl modine was in love with  suddenly she  s shoving half a head of lettuce in her mouth and acting in a goofy way  where did that come from  i think we were supposed to feel sorry for her as we saw her marriage to a workaholic begin to crumble  but frankly  i couldn  t care less about any of these people .  
wow . something of a surprise . though flawed  it is far better that i expected .  br    br   the brand new space liner arcturus with some      passengers is in the final days of its sixteen day trip to jupiter . without warning  the ship  s cerebral  central computer  sounds a disaster alarm and orders everyone to evacuate .  br    br   soon  there are only a handful of people remaining including one of the ship  s astrogators  penny   the captain  cary   and the director of the shipping line  kenyon  .  br    br   it turns out that the alarm was false and that the main cerebral is acting  br    br   erratically . the remaining passengers and crew must escape the ship and  br    br   avoid personal conflicts in order to survive .  br    br   the film starts out very well . the opening commercial is a very nice touch . there are obvious parallels to      a space odyssey and to the historic  br    br   sinking of the titanic . the film does slow down at times and has pacing  br    br   problems  but is generally well made and well acted .  
this is one of those movies that appears on cable at like two in the afternoon to entertain bored housewives while they iron . the acting is second rate . poor mathew modine seems to sleepwalk through the whole film . and god help gina gershon . her accent is too over the top . it sounds nothing like an true english woman . it sounds forced and phony  much like her acting . she should stick to what she does best  lesbian showgirl con  artist who plays in a rock  roll band and has a drug problem . the other characters are no better . they are two dimensional . empty  vapid and silly . how are we to supposed to care about these people . at one point christy scott cashman get  s lost in central park . really  it  s not that hard to navigate central park . just follow any path out . not only did i not care about any of the characters  i downright hated them . the only reason i even stayed with this train  wreck of a film was fisher stevens . even his brilliant humor couldn  t save this dying fish . each scene is typical romantic comedy fare and nothing is left to surprise us . the script was awful as was the acting . if you catch this fish throw it back   
this movie can be described in those  words  just unbelievable  . this is the best movie ever made  i just cant see why this movie isnt in the top    . i also can  t see why anybody would not love scarface . anyways  if you havnt seen it  it is a must buy .  
i just saw this film last night in the     tribeca film festival and it seriously makes me wonder if the folks at the festival actually screen the films before selecting them . the film was simply awful  i say that without hyperbole or ulterior motives  it was awful . matthew modine  s days as a leading man are way over . gina gershon sported an inexplicable and unnecessary english accent  she should be ashamed of her participation in this film . gloria reuben had a weird little cameo in it  she should also be ashamed . the script was terrible and the we were given absolutely no reason to care about the characters . i highly doubt this will be picked up  but then again  people in hollywood are known to make mistakes sometimes . i really think  kettle of fish  is a serious contender for the worst movie i  ve ever seen .  
a lot of people are saying that al pacino over acted but i mean common obviously for a movie role like this   a cuban drug lord you need a bit of over acting in this role with that cuban accent . this movie overall was a really good movie i myself rated a      i would highly recommend people to watch this movie .  
worst movie ever made    please see the real movie reviews from the pros on this movie . check rotten tomatoes on the web for some good independent reviews on this film . the comments made on this site are apparently from folks with some financial interest in this film . i find the positive comments very misleading . i find it amazing how the negative comments are so bad against this movie and the positive comments sound like an academy awards speech . don  t waste your hard earned money       this film is retarded   i can  t believe a film like this would ever be made . why would hollywood waste their time on such junk  this film is an attempt at nothing . i ask myself what looser would actually sink their money producing such trash . i went to blockbuster and the attendant even told us not to waste our time or money . i didn  t listen and i did waste my time and cash . please don  t make the same mistake  it really is the  worst movie ever made    
this movie is just great . if you have a chance to see it  then you should run to see it . even though the movie has almost nothing to do with its original from      pacino does a great job playing as tony montana to get around .  br    br   pacino has this way about him where he can say anything in anyway and make it sound just great . if you thought that pulp fiction was good with the swear words  if you saw it  then you should also see scarface to see another angle at how an actor can say them .  its quite sweet   br    br   even though the movie is has a lot of action and the plot moves very fast through time  not keeping the realtime aspect ratio correct  it is still easy to follow along  but you must keep your eyes peeled at all times to not lose anything . personally  i have found that watching this movie makes three hours seem like a breeze  it is really just that great .  br    br   this movie is one of thoe movies that is acted and directed so well that not only do you forget that this movie was made in the crappy   s but that it makes you actually root for the bad guy . . .  so say good night to the bad guy   
i  m a fan of matthew modine  but this film   which i stumbled upon on cable   is absolutely witless . i see that the screenwriter and director were one and the same  so there was no one around to check her worst instincts . there are no surprises  no original lines  and no original characters . the goldfish was basically the most sympathetic character . what a waste of all this acting talent . given how expensive it is to film in new york these days  i have to wonder how this got made in the first place . and if you  re wondering why i watched it at all  it came on after a film that i like on cable and i left it on while i worked at the computer . it  s not a very demanding picture   
on mtv cribs all the ballers and shot callers pull the classic movie scarface out of their dvd collection . this may give you an idea that scarface is a  gangster movie  . sure  there are gangsters and mobs in it  but that  s not the point of scarface . tony montana  al pacino  is just a cuban refuge looking for a new way of life . he falls in with the mob group and becomes a well  known drug lord . montana was all for doing what you wanted to do with your life . the classic phrase  say hello to my little friend   is in scarface . this quote is what always comes to mind when i think about brian depalmas movie  scarface . this falls under my top   favorite movies . i would rate it      out of   . definitely a movie you must see . phenomenal .  
well  you  d better if you plan on sitting through this amateurish  bland  and pokey flick about a middle  aged widowed mom who has a little more in common with her young adult or old teen daughter than she would like . set in tunis  mom piddles around the flat  gets antsy  and decides  albeit reluctantly  she just can  t help herself   to don the costume and dance in a local cabaret . meanwhile her daughter is taking dancing lessons . the common denominator is a tunisian band drummer . this film is so full of filler i watched the dvd at x  and read the subtitles  fast forwarding through much of the very ordinary dancing and loooong shots of walking  they walk everywhere  and more walking and just plain dawdling at x  just to get though this boring  uneventful  low budget flick which some how garnered some pretty good critical plaudits . go figure .  c    
robert taylor and stewart granger switch the goodie  baddie roles they held in  all the brothers were valiant  . taylor seems a bit uncomfortable in his bad  guy role but granger plays his part perfectly . however the real hero in the story are the bison and the northwest . the film is perfectly made  with the atmosphere of the times wonderfully given . the direction is taut and although the film is no light  hearted entertainment it is  to my way of thinking a major film  unjustly ignored by the cognoscenti .  
another variation and improvisation on the famous and beloved children tale  la bete       aka the beast tries to imagine  in very graphic and what may seem offensive and disturbing but in reality rather silly and comical way   what actually happened between beauty and the beast  i am amused by many reviews and comments that seem to look too deeply into this movie . i would not go so far as saying that it is a serious and dark exploration of such subjects as sexual frustration  longing  fulfillment  or satirical criticizing of the catholic religion . i would not even call it a horror  erotic movie . it  s more of the parody on all genres it touches or mentions even though it  s got some shocking moments in all departments that sure will stay in your memory .  br    br   the long  way too long  scene between an aristocratic young woman and the supposedly horrifying but the most laughable i  ve ever seen in the movies creature with truly impressive . . . well anatomy  is set to the clavichord music of scarlatti and is hysterical . my husband and i both laughed out loud at the exaggerated details of the encounter . the moral of the scene is  beauty can and will defeat the monster . the question is  who is the target audience for the film  for an erotic picture  it is too verbose for an art movie  it  s got too many jaw  dropping scenes of sheer madness and i  d say an abrupt ending . imo  the film creator did not mean for it to be a serious drama . as a parody of art house  horror  erotica  it is funny and certainly original . have a good laugh and try not to look for some deep meaning . this story of the curious beauties and the lustful beasts certainly is not recommended for co  viewing with the children . the opening scene that may shock an unprepared viewer much more than the infamous scene of bestiality can be successfully used on discovery channel for the program like  in the world of animals  mating habits and rituals of horses  .  
this movie has it all . it is a classic depiction of the events that surrounded the migration of thousands of cuban refugees . antonio montana  played by al pacino   is just one of the thousands to get a chance to choose his destiny in america . this cinematic yet extremely accurate depiction of miamis  drug empire is astonishing . brian depalma does an amazing job directing this picture  so much that  the viewer becomes involved with both the storyline  as well as every character in the cast . with tony  s characters  pressence being so believable and strong  brian depalma brang out the raw talent exposed by steven bauer  manny  tony  s best friend   mary elizabeth mastantonio  gina  tony  s sister   robert loggia  frank  tony  s boss  and michelle pfeiffer  elvira  frank  s wife  . i enjoyed every minute watching this movie  and still watch it on a weekly basis . on this year  the   th anniversary of this classic crime movie  i for one am a true believer that in another   years people will still refer to this movie in astonishing numbers . with other crime movies being so dramatic i find  this movie is a shock to the system .  
if you haven  t figured out what is going to happen in this film in the first five minutes then give it a couple more minutes . lilia is a widow . she has been left on the shelf for too long and she wants to burst out . she has a teenage daughter which only highlights that she is not getting any younger . while checking up on her daughter she discovers a world she never dared . . . the cabaret  where she can belly dance in skimpy sequined outfits while men throw money at her . the film is very misogamist . it  s portrayal of men is dismal . which is rather odd as lilia stoops to jiggle around for them  not for money  but just for the hell of it . when she succeeds in arousing them it makes her feel like a woman again . she does not wish to connect with them but she is addicted to the attention . the other dancers all are mostly aging women who look like men in drag and realize their time in the spotlight is short  lived . not short enough i say . she does find romance  however brief  with you guessed it . . . . no surprises here we didn  t see coming . though the ending is good you realize that it could have ended no other way . maybe this film just isn  t targeting my demographic    male  
this movie is very entertaining and is never ever boring even running at nearly  hours . al pacino  michelle phieffer and the rest of the cast are great in the film and are very believable . the violence was a little extreme in the film but then it showed how vicious the drug trade was at the time of the film . the ending is amazing and is probalby one of the coolest scenes ever . great movie and you will probably really enjoy it .  
just saw a pre  screening tonight . what can i say  it lived up to it  s mediocre trailer run  though that  s saying nothing at all . it did absolutely nothing that any movie before it hasn  t done  and it played out in such a clich fashion that eventually i got to the point where i stopped laughing only because i was laughing with the audience  and instead let the humorless movie play out .  br    br   so let  s see . . . we have the less  than  spectacular main character that is trying to get back with his ex  girlfriend but he  s not good enough for her  check . we have the three buddies that all have their own  personality  with one being the best friend who tries to get with the main girl character  s best friend but is constantly rejected  another friend being the super awkward one that can  t live down seeing the positive in everything     and is thrown in for the one  liners  which in this case is just a bunch of movie references  specifically from disney   and the third guy whose name you won  t ever remember but is there to complete the square and throw in consoling messages to whomever will care to listen . . . check . we have the girl  s ex  boyfriend and her parents   block the relationship at any possible means when things are looking up  not to mention the awkward family members from the main character  s side . . . check . we have the downer period an hour into the movie where everyone is depressed  check . we have the movie  s  funny  moments come from incessant swearing  people falling down or being hit  scenes from the trailer  and homosexual innuendos . . . check . and dare i call it a spoiler  but we have an ending that unfolds exactly as one thought that it would unfold before even seeing the movie . . . check .  br    br   honestly  this could have . . . no  wait . . . should have been a pg    movie . all that needed to be dropped were any f  bombs . honestly  it would have gotten much more publicity from the crowd that enjoys this kind of humor  would have gotten less media exposure  and thusly would have not been disliked as much from people like myself who should try and hold it up higher to the recent r  rated comedies like superbad and knocked up . the humor in this movie is just so awkward that it doesn  t fit in with what general people look for . i bet even the actors were often times unsettled with some of the dialogue and action they had to deliver on camera . let  s put it this way . . . in the theater  it will help you laugh because it  s on the big screen and others are laughing . when this movie hits showtime and you  re checking it out at     pm on an off  day  you may be inclined to change the channel . the only thing that will keep you watching is alice eve  s hotness  who is not quite a    but still very good looking  .  br    br   aside from the main resolution  this film kicked a lot of subplots to the side of the curb and seemed to forget to write more story that they tried to develop in the beginning of the movie  where everything else pretty much flies out the window . so there is a main resolution  but what comes of it  it  s never really clear  cut  nor does it allow the ending to be  feel  good  with the abruptness .  br    br   there was only one thing worth nothing in this movie  and that was the good soundtrack . aside from the nice choice of    s alternative rock songs  there was a nice upbeat score that would play in some parts of the movie  more so the beginning of it  that reminds me of something david holmes would mix up  compose . i  ll give them props for a great choice of sound .  br    br   one last thing  this movie was probably filmed sometime late last summer  because the inadvertent yet proud pepsi sponsorship showed the yellow bottle caps that they had during that rock band promotion . i just figured a lot of rock band gamers would catch onto that one if you saw it . but i say hold onto your money . if this was pg    and you were   years old on a friday night with a group of friends  i  d say knock yourselves out . otherwise  definitely pass . it doesn  t try and compete with the r  rated movies of the past few years  and ideally it definitely isn  t as good .  
for whoever play games video games here did anybody notice that the gtavice city mansion inside the game and some other things including weapons from the movie that are connected to this movie and this movie inspired the makers of the game  rockstar games  to copy some things from this movie and by the way this is one of the best    s movies out there i recommend this for anybody who still didn  t see it      no questions asked  
this movie probably had some potential for something my bewilderment is how these utterly prosaic unfunny themes keep making it to theaters  it  s as if ideas are being recycled just because generations are . truly the decerebrate oafs behind most films are like dogs  they return to ingest their own vomit . well  they  re   bucks richer now because of me . this was not at all imaginative  there was no redeeming moment  anything remotely funny was shown in the trailer  and nothing amusing was in the trailer   performances were strained  especially molly  s  totally unconvincing  . what was theoretically supposed to be some comic relief was the homoerotic friend with a penchant for disney films none of his analogies hit home  his little moral speeches were flat  i was literally waiting for them to go on to say something meaningful  only to find out he was done . the so  called  hard    is the most insipid plastic creature there is  apart from having a horse  like face with a weird smile   i honestly found her friend patty  referred to as the hamburglar  to be much better looking than her . but then again  gentlemen prefer brunettes   well  anyway  the whole premise is that society is superficial and if love is true it transcends all social facades the way they showed this  with a dude shaving another  s scrotum and the million  times  mutilated  and  beaten  to  death  horse premature ejaculation routine  with obvious allusions to american pie and happiness  the latter in the disgusting scene denouement involving the family dog  . i feel as if the movie was like adjoining ridiculous jokes into an unformed wretched ball of raw sewage . goes to show marketing can push anything out there  shine whatever fetid mass and call it gold  people will come  worked for me  . done with tirade .  
perhaps this could be the best movie ever made and if it  s not it  s certainly one of those who are burned onto your pupils as what brian de palma delivers here is a great piece of cinematographic artwork . first there is the director  s touch of brian de palma who proves once again he might be one of the best directors ever  there is the superb performance from al pacino who is delivering an immortal hero on the big screen  tony montana   there are the many different  violent  scenes that you will never forget  the one with the chainsaw  the one in where tony is sitting in a bath which is as big as most people  s living rooms   there are the many superb one  liners  count how many times the word  fck  is used   there are the superb little details  the pan american  globe that screams  the world is yours   or the great discomusic from giorgio moroder . nothing can be named that isn  t sublime here and it easily is along with  the godfather    good fellas  and  white heat  one of the best gangstermovies ever made   
i thought that this movies was a letdown i expected it to be so much better than it was . i am so glad i didn  t pay to see this movie and that i didn  t sit in a movie theater for this one . where to begin on this movie  the acting in this movie was average  the humor was terrible and just the overall storyline of this movie wasn  t special . i thought that this movie was suppose to be great  but it wasn  t more than a cheesy waste of time . i think that the acting in this movie was terrible no of the actors in this movie had chemistry  it just wasn  t there . i think that if maybe we had a different actor play kirk than jay baruchel it might have been better but the entire time i watched this movie he looked high and i didn  t get the feeling that he wasn  t acting in this movie . now  alice eve did a great job as an actress but  there was no chemistry between her and jay . all the actors in this movie were no names and had very little affect in this movie . the humor in this movie was not funny at all  there were a few one liners in this movie that were ok but nothing worth saying to your friends that they would understand . i think that jim field smith had a hard time with this because he couldn  t decide if he wanted a romance or a comedy . i honestly think he needs to stick with the burger king commercials . i think that this movie could have been better if the writers would have gone to a different director . the storyline of this movie is just like every other hot girl just ok guy love storyboring i think that it would have been better if it had more originality  but what a letdown nothing . i honesty would not recommend anyone go see this movie . i think that you would have more entertainment at the dentist than at this movie . so save yourself the agony and just don  t see it .  
one of the most definitive gangster films of the    s  scarface is very much a film of its time . the first thing you notice when you watch this film is that it is screaming at you   made in      . the costumes  the music score and soundtrack  the hairstyles  make no mistake about it this is a film all about crime in the    s and while it should have dated horribly it hasn  t . this is still a superb film . while georgio moroder  s music has dated a fair bit  it still compliments the story of tony montana well thanks to the superb screenplay by oliver stone and the first class direction of brian de palma  one of two films that he has made with pacino  the other being the fantastic carlito  s way  . all of de palma  s trademarks are here the strong language  the graphic violence  more on that later   the stylish excesses such as grandiose set pieces and of course the stylish camera work .  br    br   pacino dominates the film and i mean that literally . he is the dominant star of this film . his performance over the top  this is one of those films were pacino doesn  t so much say his lines as he does shouts them  this time with a superb cuban accent . however  this is pacino and he does it fantastically . only he could go this far over the top and still come away from the film with his acting integrity in tact . while some may complain about his shouting of his lines and the sheer excess of it all  this is an excessive film . take a look at the production design of tony  s house  take a look at the violence in this film . the chainsaw incident is downright brutal and their is blood everywhere . the shoot out at the end has bodies going down at a rate that is more akin to schwarzenegger and stallone in the rambo films . take a look at the amount of coke that is displayed in the film so pacino  s performance i suppose is perfect for the film . he is supported by actors who are more akin to saying their lines in a more controlled way . steven bauer  in particularly  as manny  tony  s best friend  is the stand out of the supporting cast . his performance is so controlled and quiet in a de niro sort of way it is a wonder how he ended up doing straight to video soft porn . michelle pfeiffer  of course  adds the glamor  robert loggia adds gravitas as usual and mary elizabeth mastrantonio makes a great debut as tony  s sister .  br    br   of course this is more than just a film about excess . there is more to it than drugs  violence  chainsaw assaults and a big great shoot out . this is a film about the darker side of the american dream . in many ways it puts it on a thematic par with the godfather films . tony finds himself coming to america  getting it all  living the american dream and then losing it all in violent fashion  and by saying he loses it all  i mean he loses it all . he kills his best friend  his sister is killed  his empire crumbles  literally  around him and to top it of he is killed in his own mansion  bullets ripping through him .  br    br   without doubt scarface is one of the key films of the early    s . sure  it doesn  t have the subtleties of the godfather films  but this is still a fine film and one that is worth going to again and again .  
the characters at depth  less rip offs . you  ve seen all the characters in other movies  i promise . the script tries to be edgy and obnoxious but fails miserably . it throws in some hangover meets superbad comedy but the jokes are way out of left field  completely forced  and are disreguarded almost completely after they are cracked . the hot chick is old and has no personality  shes just some early thirties blonde chick with a few wise ass non  underwear wearing jokes who is less than endearing . the attraction between molly  the hot chick  and kirk  the dorky love interest  is barely communicated . the attraction in no where to be found its a completely platonic relationship until they awkward and predictable seat belt  mishap kiss occurs . afer this they are in a full on relationship and its just incredibly lame . the main focus of this movie is not the relationship  but a failed attempt at making a raunchy super  bad  esquire movie with a semi appealing plot . i could compare this to the hangover  in its forced nature . i wont get into that . i could keep going but its just pointless . just don  t pay to see this movie .  
i heard a few friends one day saying that  scarface sucks . . . some idiot tried to make another godfather set in the early   s .  now  i usualy listen to idiots  watch cnn so i decided i  d stay away from it . then my mate handed me the dvd and said  this is   with the pelicangs   confused i tried it . this is the best film ever made . it  s more realistic than all this crap about racing stolen cars that are too expensive for someone in that area could afford  cough  fast  furiouscough  there is some humor though . . . i . e . the pelicangs and the light   s music . still  whats better than al pacino wielding an m     i give this a  out of   perfect for fans of al or gtavice city .  
big bad ralph is also on the not so squeazy truck commercials  and can be found at numerous brothels around melbourne any given night .  br    br   terrible film by the way  wasn  t shocking just bad  uninteresting  br    br   the main guy was in charge of the metal section on countdown  and was the lead bouncer at a gay night club in melbourne .  br    br   i dunno who the women where  probably pros  s that ralph knew   br    br   no story of interest  its one of those fast forward jobs  br    br   please look up big bad ralph at brothels around melbourne  br    br   hes famous in them .  br    br   i wish i could give     but ill give it  . only cos i cant give   
most people who have seen this movie thinks that it is the best movie ever made . i disagree but this movie is very very good . tony is a bad ass guy and knows that he  s intimidating and uses it to get ahead . it  s about him and how he goes from washing dishes to having a huge house and a office with cocaine all over the desk . if you want a family movie then this isn  t the way to go but if you want mobsters and vengeance and stuff like that then you  ll like it .  
first up this film  according to the slick said it won  best film  at  worldfest  film festival in houston  texas . hmmm must have been a quiet year .  br    br   wouldn  t call this the worst film ever but it certainly sucks  is pretty much just as terrible as other aussie b grader  body melt   but at least that film didn  t look like it was shot on hi  video .  br    br   my guess is the film makers  watched a lot of troma films  and really bad b grade gore films  thinking that they too could crack into the business releasing this film .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i love really low grade films  just the fact that some of the characters put on fake american accents  almost as if doing so would give them more chance to sell it in the states or something . really disappointing ending as well  the showdown could have been way more exciting  and some good fight scenes . you can completely see that the film makers are trying to copy  bad taste  with the whole  car explosion  rocket launcher  and endless amount of people being gunned down  yet the finale lacks any over the top humour  or style like  bad taste  .  br    br   if you like watching really bad gore films  or are interested in no  budget film making  watch it  otherwise stay away .  
i had the privilege of watching scarface on the big screen with its beautifully restored   mm print in honor of the   th anniversary of the films release . it was great to see this on the big screen as so much of it is lost on television sets and the overall largesse of this project cannot be emphasized enough .  br    br   scarface is the remake of a classic rags to riches to the depths of hell story featuring al pacino as cuban drug lord tony montana . in this version  tony comes to america during the cuban boat people immigration wave in the late     s  early     s . tony and his cohorts quickly get green cards by offing a political figure in tent city and after a brief stay at a cuban restaurant tony is launched on his horrific path to towards total destruction .  br    br   many of the characters in this movie a played in such skilled manner that is so enjoyable to watch i have forgot little of this film over the last twenty years . robert loggia as tony  s patron  frank lopez is wonderful . his character is flawed by being too trusting  and as tony quickly figures out  soft . lopez  s right hand  omar suarez is portrayed by one of our greatest actors  f . murray abraham  amadeus .  suarez is the ultimate toady and will do anything for frank it is like he does not have a mind of his own . tony quickly sees this and he constantly battles with suarez  but really only sees him as a minor problem to get through on his way to the top . the character that always comes back to me as being played so perfectly is mel bernstein  the audaciously corrupt miami narcotics detective played by harris yulin  training day .  mel  without guilt extorts great sums of money form all sides of the drug industry . he plays tony off of frank until it catches up with him in a scene that marks the exit from the film of both frank and mel . it is priceless to hear frank asking for mel to intercede  as tony is about to kill him only to hear mel reply  it  s your tree frank  you  re sitting in it .  this is from the man who frank had been paying for protection   br    br   tony  s rise is meteoric and is only matched in speed and intensity by his quick crash and burn . after offing frank and taking his wife and business tony  s greed takes over and he never can seem to get enough . as tony plunges deeper into the world of drugs  greed and the inability to trust he eventually kills his best friend and his sister who had fallen in love and married . this all sets up the ending in which tony  s compound is stormed by an army from his supplier who feels betrayed because tony would not go through with a political assassination that was ordered . this all stems form a compassionate moment when tony refused to be an accomplice in a murder that would have involved the victim  s wife and children .  br    br   all in all this is a great depiction of     s excess and cocaine culture . depalma does a nice job of holding it all together in one of the fastest moving three hour movies around . the violence is extremely graphic and contains a few scenes that will be forever etched on any viewers mind  particularly the gruesome chainsaw seen  the two point blank shots to the head and the entire bloody melee that ends the movie . this is a highly recommended stylistically done film that is not for the squeamish  or for those who need upbeat endings and potential sequels depalma let it all fly right here .  
i didnt think it was possible  but i have found film worse than  body melt  . this film is really really bad  and what makes it worse is that its another australian film . . .  br    br   shot on what looks like vhs  and with a terrible    s rock soundtrack  it just keep getting worse and worse  which is hard to believe seeing how bad the beginning is  skinned male hanging up  side  down in a white tomato sauce sprayed room anyone   .  br    br   and why do their accents keep changing  from bad new york drawl  to prissy english  then pure aussie  and it happens to the whole cast   br    br   this film also claims to have won some film festival on the cover  i believe it was the utah film festival  . this has to be a lie because no  one in their right mind would nominate this for anything  perhaps the golden rasberries but i thinks its too bad for that aswell  .  br    br   come on guys  this film has to be number  on the bottom       it has to be ten times a bad as those films already on there .  br    br   well done to the  film  makers of this trash  for proving there is a reason not to see films . . . . .      
surely one of the mysteries of the modern world    this film is not considered to be within the top    films of all time      br    br   if you watched this film and thought it was anything other than wonderful please let me know how   al pacino  s performance is as good as it gets   
at first glance  this movie has got everything a psycho wants a vampire story with a  not under    restriction  filled with hyper  violence  drugs  gore  sex  including lesbian sex   some fanatics zealots and even a gay necrophiliac cop  but then  this movie is a succession of bad story  so thin   bad acting  with a ridiculous english accent making you believe you  re watching a bad monty python   bad music     s hard rock   the videotaping is awful  the ending is a real shame . . . plus the scenes of sex are ridiculous  the gore not very impressive . and those vampires reflect in a mirror  and don  t even fear daylight  you get to be very disappointed  unless you see it as a  space mutiny  or  troll   . i hope bloodlust will one day reach the bottom     because that  s its real place .  br    br   i  d say it can still be fun to watch  if you have friends and enough beer .  br    br        
if you like gangster type of movies  then this is the first one you should buy or at least rent  al pacino his performance is top notch . and the story is classic            why isn  t this movie in the top    list    
i don  t know if the problem i had with this movie is that i was not able to capture the way movies were done in the past but i believe that this one did not miss to make use of any of the the fashionable conventions available in the   s to make a film . if you don  t have anything better to do my advise is not to watch this movie but to read a book or to go out for a walk .  
a lot of talk has been made about  psychological westerns   but this is one of the very few that is truly in that genre . it has big name stars who perform very well  but it is the director who makes this such a good movie . stewart granger loses his british safari hunter stereotype to play a haggard retired buffalo hunter who is revered in the west as one of the best . robert taylor plays the upstart  in contrast to the usual young upstart  taylor  s character is middle aged  too   who wants to slaughter buffalo  and lures granger into business with him . they hire two other big name actors  lloyd nolan and russ tamblyn  into being their skinners . granger is haunted by the buffalo he has killed  knowing that he may be to blame if they become extinct  knowing if they become extinct  the native american way of life will greatly suffer . taylor soon reveals a sadistic side  but it is a realistic saidism  unlike the one dimensional sadists of modern film  created by nerds and dorks . he is insecure  and needs human companionship . still  he won  t stop at murder . the end pits the two against each other  with a startling conclusion . the psychological effects of what they  re doing are well depicted .  
walerian borowczyks la bete       was obviously received in different ways some were appalled  some were shocked others applauded the courage . i however am completely untouched  bored and cannot stop asking myself why the display of incoherent  inconsistent images which vaguely orbit around a central theme are considered an intellectual journey .  br    br   what was this movie actually about  growing sexuality in a woman  i  ve seen great films on this subject  but this is not one of them . how can one attempt to portray a growing sexuality in a girl without at least trying to characterize her as a person not only as a narrative device to dream  in the nude  of beasts . where there are no characters  there is no character study . the woman persecuted by the beast was not adolescent  the girl having sex with the black butler  is he also characterized as a beast   has a very grown up attitude to sexuality  so where is the consistency  is it a movie about religion  if yes we would need a bit more thematic material than a priest without function  character and charisma  but with a strong desire towards two young boys .  br    br   is it about bestiality  the metaphoric feel of the movie forbids any realistic examination of bestiality  especially as realistic examination requires realistic characters . so no real bestiality here . some mythic beast and two priests talking to each other about the sin of bestiality . enough for a college essay on the topic  i don  t think so .  br    br   is it about sex  is it about anything  i don  t know . i only know that showing a fired gun doesn  t make a film a war movie . dealing with a topic must mean more than displaying its own associations with the theme .  br    br   so look across the controversy . don  t be scared by the bestiality  nudity  ejaculations  masturbation and stuff . i am not . look at it as you look at any other story and you might discover that this is a poorly made  poorly edited  poorly acted  really poorly written  okay  some pictures are quite nice  and the main character is a really good looking girl  cerebral masturbation of a director who thinks beating around the bush in a hypnotic slow manner will make a story intelligent . it doesn  t . it makes it boring .  
this is one of my favorite films of all time . al pacino acting is at its best and the story is excellent . too bad it didn  t do to well in the    s when it was first released because people didn  t get a chance to experience this classic .  
this is the most depressing film i have ever seen . i first saw it as a child and even thinking about it now really upsets me . i know it was set in a time when life was hard and i know these people were poor and the crops were vital . yes  i get all that . what i find hard to take is i can  t remember one single light moment in the entire film . maybe it was true to life  i don  t know . i  m quite sure the acting was top notch and the direction and quality of filming etc etc was wonderful and i know that every film can  t have a happy ending but as a family film it is dire in my opinion .  br    br   i wouldn  t recommend it to anyone who wants to be entertained by a film . i can  t stress enough how this film affected me as a child . i was talking about it recently and all the sad memories came flooding back . i think it would have all but the heartless reaching for the prozac .  
written by oliver stone and directed by brian de palma  scarface paints a picture not easily forgotten . al pacino turns in a stunning performance as tony montana  a cuban refugee than becomes a powerful player in the drug world as he ruthlessly runs his self made kingdom of crime in florida . this gangster flick is harsh  violent  loud  gross  unpleasant and must hold the record for uttering the word  f   k  the most number of times . almost three hours long  and yes it can get repulsive . a stout hearted constitution keeps you in your seat cheering for the demise of a ruthless crime lord .  br    br   also playing interesting characters are michelle pfeiffer  steven bauer  robert loggia  mary elizabeth mastrantonio  f . murray abraham and angel salazar . pacino proves to be one of the greatest of his generation . he manages to bring reality to his character that leaves a strong impression . this will not be a movie for everyone for you leave thinking you walked away from a disaster . is that powerful enough for you  crime does not pay for long   
gregory peck  s acting was excellent  as one would expect  and the cinematography quite stunning even when playing directly into some melodramatic  moment .  but  the rest of the film was overacted and hard to watch  for me anyway . i tried to like it  but had to fast  forward through the last thirty minutes or so . i feel i wasted a couple of good hours . had it not been for gregory peck  i wouldn  t have lasted fifteen minutes .     .  
many people like this movie and many more love it  but it seems that it is all for the wrong reasons . scarface should be liked and loved but not in the way it has been or is .  br    br   many people say the acting was over  the  top  but who better to do an over  the  top character than al pacino . to say that pacino went over  the  top in here would be an understatement . yet he does it so well  he just brings the inner devil out of you so well . his character tony montana was not such a great guy to begin with but his thirst for power just bring his sickness of greed to another level an inhumane level . sure at times pacino seems to be a bit cartoonish and surreal but that does not at all to me seem to be a liability at all . the supporting cast served its job very well . michelle pfeiffer was not really at her best but she certainly fit the role she played . on the other hand steven bauer was at his best  still he is steven bauer . mary elizabeth mastrantonio was good and like michelle pfeiffer fit her role very well . robert loggia i have always enjoyed watching in just seeing him yell . other than pacino they were not really any standout or memorable performances . everybody just seemed to fit their roles by being there . they did not fit in perfectly but were convincing enough .  br    br   brian de palma did a very good job directing this movie . whenever an actor is able to become larger than life with his performance some credit should be given to the director and i will certainly give de palma that . brian de palma  though not given the respect  is a very versatile director by my count . he knows how to direct movies according to their genres  but that at times has not turned out well . in here it does  this is by all counts a gangster movie but few are much better than this one because of de palma .  br    br   the writing was great it was just pure oliver stone . when i saw the credits at the end of this movie and saw that oliver stone had written this i was not the least bit surprised . that is a testament to him though . i have always though of him as a great writer and to me he proves this once again with scarface . nobody knows how to write a surreal reality for a movie than oliver stone .  br    br   the music was good but not that great . it is certainly not my favorite from giorgio moroder . the music was a little bit too   s  ish for me but it didn  t annoy me . the cinematography was good  not amazing but really who cares with a movie like this .  br    br   this has probably been one of the most influential movies in the past   years but as mentioned before it is for the wrong reasons . people should realize that the character of tony montana is no hero  he is a monster . he is not inspiring in anyway . he is greedy  bloodthirsty  uneducated and self consumed . yet he is a role model to many people because he is in some way or another a rebel but probably most of all because he is a deluded gangster . a vigilante would be like mother tereasa next to scarface .  br    br   the good thing about this movie though is that it shows that the tony montanas  are not the real problem . if we or the people of authority would want to shut people like him down we could do it but we don  t . in a freaky twisted way he is a necessity of our society . he is somebody you could blame everything on and fell better about yourself doing it . the tony montanas  of this world are the scapegoats of our society . this in no way excuses people like him . instead it is more of a reminder that we shouldn  t excuse or allow ourselves to do bad things just because we measure up or think we measure up compared better to a gangster or drug dealer . i love this movie because it is more than a corruption movie  it is a movie that in a strange way makes you self reflect .  
the only way this is a family drama is if parents explain everything wrong with its message .  br    br   spoiler they feed a deer for a year and then kill it for eating their food after killing its mother and at first pontificating about taking responsibility for their actions . they blame bears and deer for  misbehaving  by eating while they take no responsibility to use adequate locks and fences or even learn to shoot instead of twice maiming animals and letting them linger .  
in      director brian de palma set out to make a film about the rise and fall of an american gangster  and that he did   with the help of a terrific screenplay by oliver stone and some impeccable work by an outstanding cast . the result was scarface   starring al pacino in one of his most memorable roles . the story begins in may of      when castro opened the harbor at mariel  cuba  to allow cuban nationals to join their families in the united states .        left cuba at that time  for the greener pastures of freedom in america  and most were honest  hard  working people  thankful for the opportunity they had been granted . but not all . among the marielitos  who streamed into florida  approximately       had criminal records and were nothing less than the dregs of cuba  s jails   criminals considered beyond redemption  who castro had merely wanted to be rid of . and they  too  saw america as a land of opportunity  even as al capone had considered chicago some fifty years earlier . and among the most ambitious was a man named tony montana  pacino   known to his associates as caracortada .  scarface .  br    br   now that he was free of the yoke of communism under which he had grown up  montana wanted what he felt was coming to him  and he wanted it now and from the moment he stepped off the boat in florida  he was determined to have it all . wealth and power   that was montana  s dream  and he would get it by doing what he did best  beginning with a favor for a man living in miami by the name of frank lopez  robert loggia  . lopez  it seems  had a brother in cuba who had met an untimely end at the hands of one of castro  s goons  a man who  having outlived his usefulness to castro  had been summarily discarded and was currently being held in little havana   along with montana and all of the cubans just off the boats  where they awaited their papers from the government that would effect their transition into their new lives . and in short order  montana sees to it that lopez  s brother has been avenged  and it sets the stage for his own entrance into the underworld of america .  br    br   lopez  a wealthy businessman with the right connections  in return for the favor gets montana and his friend  manny  steven bauer   released from the holding camp  and puts them to work . in his day  capone may have had bootlegging as a means through which to line his coffers with illicit gain  but lopez has the modern day equivalent  and it  s even more lucrative cocaine . lopez takes montana under his wing and indoctrinates him into the life  but once he has a taste of it  montana isn  t satisfied with whatever crumbs lopez sees fit to throw his way  and he sets a course that will take him to where he wants to be at the top .  with a cold  blooded  iron will  montana decides he  ll do whatever it takes to get there  no matter what the cost . but before it  s over  he will realize the price for his dream  and he  ll pay it but for a brief moment  perhaps he will know what it  s like to be the man . and he will also know whether or not it was worth it .  br    br   in step with de palma  s vision  pacino plays montana larger  than  life  and he does it beautifully . from the accent he affects  which he researched thoroughly to make sure he got it right   and he did   to the body language and the attitude  he  s got it all  and it makes montana convincing and very real . what he brings to the role is nuance and style  in a way that few actors  de niro would be one  can . this is definitely not a character that is sympathetic in any way  nor is there anything about montana that you can readily relate to on a personal level but pacino  s screen presence is so strong that it makes him a thoroughly engrossing character  even though it  s hard to become emotionally involved with him . it  s quite simply a dynamic  memorable performance .  br    br   michelle pfeiffer gives a solid performance  as well  in the role that put her on the path to stardom . as elvira  the woman who becomes an integral part of montana  s dream  pfeiffer is subtle and understated  giving that sense of something going on underneath  while affecting a rather cold and distant exterior countenance . she  like pacino  definitely makes her presence felt as she fairly glides across the screen with a stoic  enigmatic and sultry demeanor .  br    br   the supporting cast includes mary elizabeth mastrantonio  gina   miriam colon  mama montana   f . murray abraham  omar   paul shenar  sosa  and harris yulin  bernstein  . an excellent precursor to the more recent and highly acclaimed traffic   and blow   and well as having a climactic scene reminiscent of peckinpah  s the wild bunch   de palma  s scarface   originally panned by critics  has since been cited by many as being the definitive american gangster saga . much of the violence is implied rather than graphic  but this film still has an edge of realism to it that many may find somewhat disturbing . but if you stay with it  there is a lesson to be learned in the end . and like many lessons in life  the most valuable are often the hardest to take at the time . but the reward is always worth it  and that  s the way it is with this film . i rate this one     .  br    br    br    br    br    br    
  ally mcbeal  was a decent enough show  but it was very overrated . the characters become boring after a while and the jokes begin to fall short .  br    br   i think it chose an appropriate point in time to leave  it was starting to outstay its welcome .  
arguebly al pacino  s best role . he plays tony montana  a small time hood from cuba turned into a rich and powerful crime lord in miami  and he does it with the only two things he  s got in this world  his balls and his word  and he doesn  t break  em for nobody . starts as doing jobs for a big time cuban dealer  frank lopez  robert loggia  and quickly goes up the ladder of the organization along with his long time friend manny  steven bauer  . soon he has an eye for the boss  s sexy wife elvira  michelle pfeiffer  . after frank sees a threat from tony to his position  he attempts to assassin tony but with no luck . tony is upset and nothing can stop him now . the film has a great supporting cast among them is f . murray abraham as a jumpy gangster  another familiar face is harris yulin as a crooked cop trying to shake down tony  marry elizabeth mastrantonio as tony  s young sister . credits to the ecxellent screenplay by oliver stone . this film is one of brian depalma  s brightest points in his long ups and downs career  you can see this guy is very talented . the movie has a magnificent look to it . also pay attention for two memorable scenes the one at the fancy restaurant   say goodnight to the bad guy   . the other is the final shootout where tony shows that he still knows how to kick ass and kills about   assassins that invaded to his house . this is certainly one of the most impressive endings to a movie i have ever seen . for fans of al pacino and crime movies it  s a must  see . for the rest of you it  s highly recommended .       
what the hell is this   kooky drama    lawyers in loony tunes land   the world  s thinnest  most duck  faced actress  even more duck  faced and anorexic than michelle pfeiffer  overacts her bony butt off  making cretinous grimaces that would shame bugs bunny  in one of the most animated non  animated tv series ever . this is also the most annoying one  hour  format tv show ever  hence the worst .  br    br   all the men act like pansies  and i for one refuse to believe that even hip big  city shysters are all as delta  male  like as this sorry  short  bunch . wuss peter macnicol manages to be even more irritating than calista flockofducks with his fake hollywood  shshshs  speech impediment it  s the sort of pseudo  inability to pronounce the letter  s  by turning it into a moronic  sh  that the likes of jon shtewart and christian shlater also practice with zeal . watching macnicol talk  i always wonder how come his jaw doesn  t dislocate . . . human facial anatomy was never meant to support the pronouncing of the  sh  sound more than three times per second . he is a medical wonder .  br    br   this badly conceived and written legal  drama  comedy hodgepodge also features some very   s pc . it has political correctness written with huge  neon letters . is there anything more unrealistic than a bunch of lawyers being full of ideals  high principles  and moral fiber  laughable  but that  s the way defense lawyers have been portrayed in hollywood since its inception . after all  what is more noble than defending a murderer  a rapist  or a thief  when a tv series as retarded as  ally mcbeak  starts preaching to america about how it should run the country  then it must be time for paris hilton to become president .  ally mcquack  is both a product of recent and large  scale western dumbing  down and a perpetrator of it .  br    br   those supposed touches of  eccentricity   like the unbelievably annoying musical numbers  are unconvincing and embarrassingly unfunny . this is no monty python . whatever  new  the talent  free makers of this garbage were aiming for  they failed with honours .  ally mcbeak  is a highly commercialized tv venture aimed at indiscriminating yuppies  bored housewives  and bipolar lawyers . it  s yet another dull  objection overruled sustained your honour may i call the witness  legalistic baloney that the american audiences seem to eat up with relish for some strange reason . . .  
the story turns around antonio  scarface  montana  an ultra  violent cuban refugee who comes to the united states with less than nothing  and makes a place for himself at the top of the cocaine trade . . .  br    br   as a calculating man with a conscience  and extreme ambitions  tony strongly begins to desire the things he sees a criminal high  roller enjoying  including his luscious lover . . . heights his way out of a refugee camp by enjoying the chance to stab a former taker of freedom  takes out rival dealers  gains the confidence of an important drug lord by eclipsing a local gang boss in miami  and eventually makes it to the highest levels of the drug organization . . .  br    br   pacino shows the results of greed and lust for power on the human psyche . . . he guns his way through the sunny streets of miami where he got  the world and everything in it .  with his ruthlessness  obscene dialog  and his negotiation skills  he begins to imagine himself invulnerable and above all others . . . he quickly moves deep to the world of gangs  and becomes more ruthless than anyone else can possibly imagine . . .  br    br   michelle pfeiffer looks dazzling as the addicted wife with no inner life . . . she succeeds in portraying the trophy  object  navigating uncertain waters with her anti  hero . . . mary elizabeth mastrantonio happens to be the best in tony  s life  the only thing that is good and pure . . . her revulsion at the end of the movie is so fiery that her whole head could have blown off . . . robert loggia exhibits a weak and fearful disposition  especially when faced with pacino as a challenger . . . he proves to be a less  ambitious boss in a position of power . . . steven bauer shines as the man of charm  loyal ally and faithful friend . . .  br    br   the oliver stone  scripted  scarface  is a change in genre  lifting scene after scene of hawks  classic while updating the rise  and  fall gangster saga to modern  drug  infested miami . . . but  as always  the focus is on decadence  profanity and violencememorably a sickening chainsaw murder  rather than on the psychological and social reasons for the hoodlum  s psychopathic behavior . . .  
mmm  doesn  t a big stack of pancakes sound good  maple syrup and fruit preserves on top . take a bite . mmmmmmm . take another bite . another . another . eat . eat it  you    keep shoveling it down your throat until your face turns green with nausea . you have just had the ally mcbeal experience .  br    br   i stumbled on this show in the winter of    and was instantly hooked . like that stack of pancakes  i gorged myself on it . but the enjoyment soon wore off  because the ally mcbeal character  whom we see to be cute  endearing at first sight  soon becomes the most annoying  insecure  whining complainer you  ve ever met .  call me a feminist  but i prefer my female leads to have a spine .  the gags  gimmicks of the show also become hackneyed  the music of vonda shepherd  which is really shoved in your face  becomes grating  and the incessant character changes  rewrites make the show into a damn soap opera .  br    br   my advice to you is to take this show in small doses  and quit as soon as it becomes bothersome  and it will  . i made it through  .  seasons before my enjoyment had totally soured . it was good while it lasted  but like a crazy  neurotic ex  girlfriend it just turned ugly after it had overstayed its welcome .  br    br   and next time you go to ihop  skip the pancakes . order something healthy like the fruit cup . it  ll sit with you much better .  
ya know when one looks at this brian depalma film today  i  m sure there has been allot of criticism about how dated it is . also  about the violence . when i looked at this film on vhs when i was    i thought it was ulta  violent and gritty as well . but i didn  t get  it  .  br    br   a few decades go by and man  how i know how much i didn  t get in this film   this is a remake of an excellent film which was done back in the    s     s . how can you improve upon a classic  ya don  t . but you tell a tale that is brought up to date through the eyes of the  new immigrants  during the most greed ridden decade  the over indulgent    s . depalma  stone and the gang present an ambitious  disturbing and darn right good film .  br    br   yes . . . . disco was dying and new wave  punk were taking over but these immigrants from cuba who had to make a new home in florida couldn  t tell the difference . it was exciting  it was what they wanted but how to get it     to these immigrants  there was only one way to get it in florida where they were . . by having lots of money and to get the money  you had to take over running a drug empire .  br    br   al pacino was fantastic to me as tony montana  the  little train that could  . what an amazing way to have your lead character look at america to fight  kill  steal . lie  cheat all to get    the money  the women and the power .   br    br   that  s what tony saw as the american dream .  br    br   he wanted it  he wanted to live it and in his circle saw nothing wrong with how he went to get it . tony montana  s command of the english language was heavily saturated with the  f  word but what did you expect  emily post  s finishing school for him and his co  horts  look at how they came to america  what they knew  what they were exposed to . this is the way tony and his crew chose to  be all they can be in america .  it was all about the power . tony montana would and did anything to achieve it . . it all its violent  lying  stealing  crooked  thieving glory .  br    br   the part of the film that personified the      s to me  is the money laundering . tony  s crew bringing sacks of drug money to the bank . did those around tony and his crew care  at the clubs where he spent and drank  nope . money was money and with money  you get the power . tony was living high off the hog . he and his pretty blond american trophy he married played well by michelle pfieffer .  br    br   after tony montana  s rise to power  he finds out its really crappy up there . he  s riddled with doubt  he  s drug addicted  he  s paranoid  he  s surrounded by those who want to take him on in a bloody take  over  his trophy    s american blonde drug addicted wife he finds out is a bore  he needs to keep atop of his empire because . . . he  s going down . and down he goes in a horrific violent fashion  but again i ask  what do you expect   br    br   this is the quintessential      s film telling you a warped tale of how some misunderstand the american dream . . . to obsession . it  s violent  bloody  overly so . . but it drives the point disturbingly home . not all cubans thrown out of cuba who landed in florida in the    s were anything like tony montana . give me a break . but the showing of how miserable the      s were with its emphasis on greed and money as the only measures in the usa to  be somebody  and have power took its tool on these poor characters and their lives in america .  br    br   makes you wonder   has anything from then   been learned today   
i think this is almost all i need to say . i feel obliged to explain my actions though . i  ve basically never seen such an armateur production  and i mean that in all senses of the word . although the physical camera work  boom mic operation and other technical aspects of this film are laughable  unfortunately its not the only areas .  br    br   unlike some classic independent films that have been saved by their scripts great characterization and plot  this unfortunately has an awful script  awful acting and worst of all  awful annoying characters .  br    br   it  s a crime that for the every independent film that gets  distribution like haiku tunnel  there  s a    other indie films that died silent deaths . i don  t know who the kornbluth brothers know at sony  but that can be my only explanation as to how this amateur family production ever got distribution . i  m quite bemused as to why they picked this up .  br    br   the only part of this film that holds out any intrigue is its title . however  the reason for that is even a let down . i hope this review will save a few people that may be intrigued by this films title from going to watch it . i  ve seen a lot of films in my time  and i  m very forgiving when in the cinema  but this was too much . i  ll never forget  tunnel   for marking an important point in my life experience of cinema . shame it  s such a low point .  br    br    
directed by brian de palma and written by oliver stone   scarface  is a movie that will not be forgotten . a cuban refugee named tony montana  pacino  comes to america for the american dream . montana then becomes the  king  in the drug world as he ruthlessly runs his empire of crime in miami  florida . this gangster movie is very violent  and some scenes are unpleasant to watch . this movie has around     f  words and is almost three hours long . this movie is entertaining and you will never get bored . you cheer for the drug  lord  and in some scenes you find out that montana isn  t as evil as some other crime lords . this is a masterpiece and i recommend that you see this . you will not be disappointed .      
i think this is almost all i need to say . i feel obliged to explain my actions though . i  ve basically never seen such an armature production  and i mean that in all senses of the word . although he physical camera work  boom mic operation and other technical aspects of this film are laughable  unfortunately its not the only areas .  br    br   unlike some classic independent films that have been saved by their scripts great characterization and plot  this unfortunately has an awful script  awful acting and worst of all  awful annoying characters .  br    br   it  s a crime that for the every independent film that gets  distribution like haiku tunnel  there  s a    other indie films that died silent deaths . i don  t know who the kornbluth brothers know at sony  but that can be my only explanation as to how this amateur family production ever got distribution . i  m quite bemused as to why they picked this up .  br    br   the only part of this film that holds out any intrigue is its title . however  the reason for that is even a let down . i hope this review will save a few people that may be intrigued by this films title from going to watch it . i  ve seen a lot of films in my time  and i  m very forgiving when in the cinema  but this was too much . i  ll never forget  tunnel   for marking an important point in my life experience of cinema . shame it  s such a low point .  
  a classic is something that everybody wants to have read but nobody wants to read . a classic is also something that everyone praises but no one has read .   mark twain  br    br    classic  seems to be the word used to describe  scarface   brian depalma  s     film about opulence  self surrender  greed  and danger among florida  s drug ring . people and critics  and rappers for that matter  deem this film  an epic gangster classic  or  eptiome of gangster films .  when it is anything but . it is praised for all the wrong reasons . scarface is a terrific film that deserves praise from all over  but not all the praise it gets from audiences today  and therefor the fine points it so poignantly makes are missed by the general public .  br    br   first off  the film is about a cuban refugee  with a past of wanting to escape communism grasp and find happiness . simple  yes . but the layers of de palma  s directing genius  and the great story written by oliver stone  yes i know  he actually wrote a real good one here  play into all of it . the characters are all looking for an escape  as escape is a natural element dealt with in the film by all . each character has something to offer  that makes them likable by everyone who could appreciate this film . they are entwined in a world of mystique and money  but all that has a price  as they all learn . each character thinks they are getting better chances in life  when in true dramatic irony  they are actually getting worse .  tragedy  would be a better word to describe this movie . all those who praise the film for it  s drug usage  it  s violence  it  s dialog  totally missed the point . there is nothing really positive about the film besides the characters positive expectations of themselves . and that is why the film works so well . the devastation through out the film serves to deliver the message of the film  not to look cool or attract viewers . brian de palma doesn  t make movies for cult gangsters  or brainless action fans .  br    br   next on  the film is an adult drama . it is not a  gangster film  . it has it  s share of action  but the action is plotted very carefully  so it has a point . it  s not like  aliens   an example of a big dumb action film  and most audiences perceive this film as a big dumb action gangster film about doing drugs and shooting people . ridiculous . hogwash . if this film is about that  then it is about how bad it is . not a promotion of it .  br    br   this being said  the film is indeed a great film . it has great cinematography that pulls you into the story . it has a very dramatic score  in true giorgio moroder style   which simply could give you chills  or bring you to tears . the film is rather lengthy  but it is a story  and each moment counts . the acting is terrific . al pacino  enough said . he can do any role that he puts his mind to  and this was no exception . pretty boy steven bauer  as manny . i didn  t think much of him in other films he did  but he actually makes you like him when he goes under maestro de palma  s direction . michelle pfeiffer is a true gem as elvira . popping  fresh off the heels of a sort of embarrassment in  grease   she got her ticket to ride performing a no holds barred performance of a beauty that is more than meets the eye . but the three true diamonds in this rough are mary elizabeth mastrontonio as tony  s sister gina  who when she smiles  or cries  we see her soul and her fresh way of living  and watch it deteriorate paul shenar as alejandro sosa  a drug lord  who runs deeper than a river  and shenar portrays him as so and miriam colom as tony and gina  s torn mother . these three dig the film as deep as it can go .  br    br   this reviewer learned one main thing when watching  scarface  for the first time . always go into a film unsuspecting . all the hype and talk of this film cannot possibly prepare you for what you really see . only knowing de palma  like i do  can give you even a glimpse of what this film holds . so ignore the rap crap  ignore the mindless violence supporters  and fix yourself a glass of bailey  s on the rocks  and indulge yourself in an emotional viewing of a great film  the real  scarface .   
really  when it comes down to it  this movie is just not funny . josh kornbluth is the antithesis of funny  and yet he thinks he  s hilarious . the plot about mailing the   letters was fine at first  until josh  s  look at me  i  m wacky  approach began infesting each and every scene . the judas priest joke may have been the least funny thing i have ever been privy to  and that is saying quite a bit  since it does have stiff competition from all the other jokes in the movie . and as for the incredible overuse of the pixies   debaser   i have just one thing to say what did the pixies ever do to deserve a fate like this  what did anyone do to josh kornbluth to cause him to write  direct  produce  star in such a terrible movie   
this is one of my all time favorites .  br    br   if the movie has a flaw  it  s that it comes at you like a raging bull . it doesn  t so much engage the viewer as assault him .   scarface   is as voracious and unyielding a production as tony montana himself . nothing is left to the viewer  s imagination .  br    br   moroder  s languorous synthpop fits the action to a tee . like the chorus in a greek tragedy  it wails and gnashes  broods and tugs  a constant reminder of tony  s inexorable fate .  br    br   not so much a tale of caution as a disaster in progress    scarface   rips across the screen with the unstoppable force of a runaway train .  
my wife and i rented this movie because some people had drawn parallels between it and  office space  . blockbuster and imdb even had it as an  also recommended  selection if you liked  office space  .  br    br   now  i  ve seen office space probably   or   times . i love it . it  s probably one of my   favorite movies . witty  humorous  and featuring characters that remind me of people i  ve worked with over the years .  haiku tunnel  is similar to  office space  in that they are both films . that  s where the similarity ends . we sat through probably the first   minutes of ht  giving it the benefit of the doubt  hoping  nay  praying that it would get better . it didn  t . we couldn  t take it any more  and stopped the tape . thank god it was a free rental . i  d have been ped if we  d actually paid for it . we should be reimbursed for having to sit through it . now  since we didn  t see the end  perhaps it miraculously comes together and redeems itself . i doubt it .  br    br   haiku tunnel is so bad it  s hard to believe it ever got produced . the movie is so unfunny it  s painful . just mail the friggin letters already    the premise is asinine . the jokes are awful . we got as far as the  printer doesn  t work  scene and had to stop . we couldn  t take it anymore . this film is an embarrasment for josh kornbluth .  br    br   if you are a fan of office space . . . . . . don  t waste your time with this turd .      
the last hunt is the forgotten hollywood classic western . the theme of genocide via buffalo slaughter is present in other films but never so savagely . robert taylor  s against  type role as the possessed buffalo and indian killer is his finest performance .  br    br   in the     s  your mom dropped you and your friends off at the saterday matine  usually featuring a western or comedy . but it was wrong then and now to let a youngster watch psycho  dramas like the searchers and the last hunt . let the kids wait a few years before exposing them to films with repressed sexual sadism and intense racial hatred .  br    br   why did mom fail to censor these films  because they featured  safe  hollywood stars like taylor and john wayne . but the climatic scene in the last hunt is as horrifying as vincent price  s mutation in the fly .  br    br   the mythology of the white buffalo  part of the texture of this movie  was later ripped  off by other movies including the white buffalo  starring charles bronson as wild bill hickock . the laugh here is that bronson used to play indians .  br    br   today a large remnant bison herd resides in yellowstone national park in wyoming . in the winter  hunger forces surplus animals out of the park into montana  where they are sometimes harvested by idaho  s nez perce indians under a us treaty right that pre  dates the lincoln presidency . linclon signed the congressional act which authorized the continental railroad and started the buffalo slaughter .  
nope  i am just not going to get with it here . i refuse to go along with the program . don  t you supposed that perhaps this movie is just a tad over  rated  look at the reader comments and their star ratings most are          or better . i think this is an instance when the ratings may say more about the people rendering them than the movie itself  which is unique . how many other sex fantasies about simulated bestiality complete with horse couplings have become mainstream hits as catalog dvd titles  i watched this movie with a pervading sense of anticipation  expecting fireworks  and instead got someone popping a gucci shopping bag . it looked great  but once the thrill had been spent even the twist ending didn  t do much to save it .  br    br   the film  s background story says it all director films about   minutes of borderline hardcore fake bestial sex for another movie  is informed the footage will not be appropriate  sets it aside  waits two or three years for a smattering of critical acclaim to build up  then constructs an entire feature around that   minutes  filming roughly   minutes of otherwise unrelated  excruciatingly boring footage and inserting the   minute chunk in as a dream sequence . that the   minutes of film in question is strikingly odd  original and shocking in a deliberate  calculated manner goes without saying . but we aren  t here to evaluate that   minutes alone  we must consider the entire film  and ask ourselves why people are so enthusiastic about the movie  or are they just enamored by it  s background story and history of having been banned by people who were stupid enough to be offended by it   br    br   perhaps it is an anti  clerical agenda that appeals to them . hating the western religions of catholicism and christianity is one of the few remaining socially acceptable bastions of intolerance   just today it was revealed that the bbc routinely skews their broadcasts with anti christian  anti western sentiment in the furtherance of political correctness . you can say anything you want about the bible  pedopheliac priests  the institutionalized cruelty of the church  and how much white men and their inhuman religions suck the dimpled skin off a golf ball . . . but say one negative thing about non  westernized religions  and you are toast . this movie was tailor made for such a sentiment  with a wrinkly old dried up priest who has an entirely unwholesome on screen relationship with two pretty   year old french boys complete with inappropriate touching  fawning  fondling  fumbling  groping  and patting of the backsides . ewww .  br    br   and then there is the horse couplings  photographed in such fetishistic closeup detail that portions of the film could be used as visual aids for a biology class on animal husbandry . yes i understand the thematic relevance of the imagery   large animal phallus  s with a wealth of reproductive fluids just waiting to be unleashed like fire extinguishers   but if i wanted to watch horses  you know  do it  i would like go live on a farm . having their genitals in my face is about as entertaining as watching someone use a bathroom .  br    br   is this movie just a sort of artsy diversion for social deviants  probably  though i will grant the artistic execution of most of it  filmed in a kind of arty euro detail that even has a dappled forest pond right out of a monet painting  complete with a spanning arched bridge . and the ending  which even i managed to be surprised by  does sort of wrap it all up into a neat if distasteful package . but you have to remember that there are certain things that cannot be deconstructed for their design elements and many artists are guilty for exploiting them in their work to lend a sort of gravitas that would not have been achieved without it . that isn  t fair  and even clint eastwood has fallen prey to the urge with his new movie about iwo jima . whether or not his film is any good stands as a separate consideration from whether or not that battle was a noble cause fought by men who were heroes . the problem is that most people will not be able to separate out the two aspects of the movie and will be lining up to give it oscars because of it  s noble message   not because it is a particularly good or original movie .  br    br   while it may seem like an odd parallel  i see one with the beast how can anyone not see the basic beauty of nature in the sight of two horses mating  and who cannot see the logical culmination of the repressed sexuality from fairy tales in the film  s explosive set  piece where beauty and the beast finally do the nasty  somehow i managed to miss both points  and am delighted that i have seen this film so that i can trash it as being what it really is   minutes or so of eye opening over the top adult fairy tale imagery surrounded by   minutes of skull drainingly boring artsy  fartsy euro trash dreck about some guy getting a haircut  and a great ending . it  s art for sure  but it sucks hard .  br    br        
  scarface  has a major cult following even now    years after its release .  br    br   it has also been widely criticized as being very tacky  unrefined  over  the  top and all bloated up  these are people who compare scarface to the godfather movies . it is true that on the technical front   cinematography  screenplay  direction  etc .  scarface is way behind  the godfather  .  br    br   but it is also true  that what scarface has and some other gangster movies lack  is the rawness  the sheer crude approach of the gangsters . the latino gangsters in this movie look much more menacing and real than any of the polished italian or irish gangsters from other gangster classics like  the godfather  or  goodfellas  . this is one of the major winning points of scarface and i strongly believe that this fact has been written off as  tackiness  by most critics  i have seen the original     scarface  and i must say that both these movies are way too different from each other and should be seen as two different movies instead of praising the original over the  remake    br    br   al pacino has been criticized to be over  the  top and loud in this movie . but how about considering that that is precisely the way the film  makers wanted tony montana  s character to be  he is this angry young man who takes hasty decisions and throws fits of tantrum every other minute  he is not the calm michael corleone here . he is tony montana  a very tacky  uneducated individual who doesn  t really think much and gets angry all the time   br    br   there is definitely a very   s feel to this movie . the soundtrack is all   s  i love some of the songs  including  gina and elvira  s theme    push it to the limit  and the title track instrumental .  br    br   there are some memorable and beautifully shot sequences  including the famous chainsaw scene  the rebenga hit  the first meeting with sosa and tony  s visit to his mother  s .  br    br   about the performances al pacino is brilliant as the angry cuban refugee . he has reportedly mentioned that he enjoyed playing tony montana the most in his entire career . and it really does seem like he has enjoyed himself thoroughly in all his scenes  one wonders what  scarface  would be like without pacino . i just couldn  t imagine anyone else portraying tony montana and in all probabilities  the film wouldn  t be as effective without him   br    br   steven bauer shines as tony  s friend manny .  br    br   robert loggia is wonderful as tony  s boss  lopez . so is f . murray abraham  as omar  in a small role .  br    br   then there is some eye  candy in the form of elvira played by michelle pfeiffer . she looks beautiful and is adequate in her role .  br    br   the director does go a bit overboard during a particular part in the climax . without revealing anything  i would only say that that was the only little part that suffers due to improper handling .  br    br    scarface  is definitely one of the most entertaining and one of the best gangster movies to ever come out . enjoy it for what it is a raw portrayal of the drug lords and their gangland   
office work  especially in this era of computers  multi  functional copy machines  e  mail  voice mail  snail mail and temps   is territory ripe with satirical possibilities  a vein previously tapped in such films as clockwatchers  and office space   and very successfully . this latest addition to the temp  humor pool  however  haiku tunnel   directed by josh kornbluth and jacob kornbluth  fails to live up to it  s predecessors  and leaves the laughs somewhere outside the door  waiting for a chance to sneak in . unfortunately for the audience  that chance never comes so what you get is a nice try  but as the man once said  no cigar .  br    br   as the narrator  star of the film  josh kornbluth  playing josh kornbluth   points out in the opening frames  in a monologue delivered directly into the camera   this story is pure fiction  and takes place in the fictional city of san franc  l  isco .  it  s an innovative  if not very imaginatively presented disclaimer  and not all that funny . it is  however  a harbinger of what is to follow  all of which   like the disclaimer   just isn  t all that funny .  br    br   kornbluth plays kornbluth  an aspiring novelist who supports himself working as a temp .  it  s a job that suits him  and it gives him time to slip in some work on his novel from time to time . but when he goes to work for a lawyer  bob shelby  warren keith   he does too good a job on the first day  and shelby dispatches head secretary marlina d  amore  helen shumaker  to kornbluth to persuade him to go perm .  the thought of working full time for the same company  though  initially strikes fear in the heart of kornbluth  but he caves in and signs on for the position . he  s nervous about it  but at least now the other secretaries acknowledge his presence  which  of course  they would never do with a temp   and if things get too rough  he has seventeen important letters he  s typed up   that now just have to be mailed out   to fall back on  he  s been holding them back because the mailing is the easy part  and he needs that something easy to do  in reserve  in case it all gets to be too much for him  . these are important  letters  however  and by the end of the week  kornbluth still has them in reserve  on his desk . and it doesn  t take a genius to figure out that when shelby finds out about it  kornbluth  s days as the fair  haired boy are going to be over . and quick .  br    br   the brothers kornbluth  who not only directed  but along with john bellucci also wrote the screenplay for this film  should have taken a page out of the ben stiller book of comedy  where it says if you play it straight  they will laugh .  but  they didn  t  and the audience won  t . because in comedy  even looking at it as objectively as possible  when the main character  as well as most of the supporting characters  in this case  plays  funny   as in  he knows  he  s being funny   he never is . and that  s exactly what kornbluth does here so rather than being funny   he comes across as insincere and pretentious  a grievous error in judgment on the part of the kornbluths  because by allowing it  they sabotaged their own movie .  br    br   in trying to discern exactly why this movie doesn  t work  it comes down to two basic reasons the directing  which   if not necessarily bad    is at least careless and secondly  the performances  beginning with that of josh kornbluth . quite simply  kornbluth just seems too impressed with himself to be effective here . unlike stiller  or even steve martin   both of whom use self  deprecating humor very effectively   kornbluth apparently has an ego that simply will not allow putting himself in that light he seems to have a need to let his audience know that he  the real kornbluth  is in reality much more clever than kornbluth the character . and being unable to get past that does him in  as well as the film . rather than give the millions of office workers who may see this film someone to whom they can relate or with whom they can identify  kornbluth affects a condescending manner that only serves to alienate the very people he is attempting to reach . so what it all comes down to is a case of poor directing and unconvincing acting  and when you take into consideration that the screenplay itself was weak to begin with  with an inexplicably narrow focus  given the potential of the rich subject matter   it  s easy to understand why this one just doesn  t fly .  br    br   the one saving grace of the film is the performance by warren keith as shelby  whose subtle delivery is convincing  and which   in and of itself   is fairly humorous . the effectiveness of it is diminished  however  inasmuch as keith has to share his scenes with kornbluth  which somewhat automatically cancels out his positive contributions to the project .  br    br   shumaker and sarah overman  julie faustino  also manage to keep their heads above water with their respective performances  which are commendable  if not entirely memorable they at least make their scenes watchable  and overman even manages to elevate kornbluth  s performance  if only momentarily . but it  s still not enough to save the day or the film .  br    br   the supporting cast includes amy resnick  mindy   brian thorstenson  clifford   june lomena  davonne   joe bellan  jimmy the mail clerk   with a cameo appearance by a disheveled looking harry shearer  as the orientation leader   a role that begs for an answer to the question  what was he thinking when he agreed to this   in any work environment  there will forever be situations arising that one way or another will unavoidably become fodder for someone  s comedic cannon  and the films depicting said situations will always be with us the good ones  see paragraph one  may even become classics in their own right . haiku tunnel   however  will doubtfully remain very long amongst them  for it  s destiny lies elsewhere   in a realm known only as obscurity .  i rate this one     .  br    br    br    br    
every great gangster movie has under  currents of human drama . don  t expect an emotional story of guilt  retribution and despair from  scarface  . this is a tale of ferocious greed  corruption  and power . the darker side of the fabled  american dream  .  br    br   anybody complaining about the  cheesiness  of this film is missing the point . the superficial characters  cheesy music  and dated fashions further fuel the criticism of this life of diabolical excess . nothing in the lives of these characters really matter  not on any human level at least . in fact the film practically borderlines satire  ironic considering all the gangsta rappers that were positively inspired by the lifestyle of tony montana .  br    br   this isn  t brian depalma  s strongest directorial effort  it is occasionally excellent and well  handled  particularly the memorable finale   but frequently sinks to sloppy and misled . thankfully  it is supported by a very strong script by oliver stone  probably good therapy for him  considering the coke habit he was tackling at the time  . the themes are consistent  with the focus primarily on the life of tony montana  and the evolution of his character as he is consumed by greed and power . the dialogue is also excellent  see  sawing comfortably between humour and drama . there are many stand  out lines  which have since wormed their way into popular culture in one form or another .  br    br   the cast help make it what it is as well  but this is really pacino  s film . one of his earlier less subtle performances  something much more common from him nowadays   this is a world entirely separate from michael corleone and frank serpico . yet he is as watchable here as ever  in very entertaining  and intentionally over  the  top  form . it is hard to imagine another tony montana after seeing this film  in possibly one of the most mimicked performances ever . pfeiffer stood out as dull and uncomfortable on first viewing  but i  ve come to realize how she plays out the part of the bored little wife . not an exceptional effort  but unfairly misjudged . the supporting players are very good too  particularly paul shenar as the suave alejandro sosa .  br    br   powerful  occasionally humorous  sometimes shocking  and continually controversial .  scarface  is one of the films of the eighties  whatever that might mean to you  . an essential and accessible gangster flick  and a pop  culture landmark .      
this movie is nothing like  office space  except in the premise . office space was hilarious . i would not recommend this movie to anyone  as i laughed not once during the entire film . mr . cornbluth  s self  indulgent tirades quickly become more annoying than   jason alexanders in the same room . if you decide to see this movie  use a free rental or watch it at someone else  s house so you can leave if necessary .  
this movie was for a while in my collection  but it wasn  t before a friend of mine reminded me about it  until i decided that i should watch it . i did not know much about close to leo  just that it was supposed to be excellent coming out of age movie and it deals with a very serious topic  aids .  br    br   although the person who has aids  is leo  the scenario wraps around the way in which marcel  the youngest brother of leo  coupes with the sickness of his relative . at first everyone is trying to hide the truth from marcel  he is believed to be too young to understand the sickness of his brother  the fact that leo is also a homosexual contributes to the unwillingness of the parents to discus the matter with the young marcel . i know from experience that on many occasions most older people do not want to accept the fact that sometimes even when someone is young this does not automatically means that he will not be able to accept the reality and act in more adequate manner then even themselves . with exception of the fact that the family tried to conceal the truth from marcel  they have left quite an impression for me  the way they supported their son  even after discovering the truth about his sexuality and his sickness . the fact that they allowed the young marcel to travel along with leo to paris to meet his ex boyfriend was quite a gesture from them most families i know will be reluctant to do that . there is a lot of warmth in the scenes in which the brothers spend some time together  you can see them being real friends  concern about each other .  br    br   close to leo is an excellent drama  which i strongly recommend  
i passed this one on the shelf a few times  looking at the myriad of huge positive quotes  with tiny names  on the front and wondering if i was missing something . the other night it was on one of the movie channels  and i tuned in . i missed nothing .  br    br   i must admit that i only watched the first   minutes . perhaps the movie becomes comedy gold after that . given the slow  plodding pace and complete lack of laughter in the first    i seriously doubt it .  br    br   the lead character starts the movie in classic  i don  t know how to start my movie  style  with a long  tiresome monologue about how he doesn  t want to get sued . it  s not funny . it  s not even remotely funny . others have commented on the  san franclisco  bit ok  a small chuckle the first time he says it . then he grinds it into the ground  smiling at the camera like it  s the funniest thing ever written . get over yourself . in fact  i think the talking to the camera bit was the reason i instantly disliked the film . don  t assume familiarity with your audience . familiarity is  earned   much like respect .  br    br   from there you basically have a fat whiny guy talking in a very effeminate way about his dull life as a temp . i didn  t realize he  s jewish it  s a discredit to jewish comedians to call this  jewish humor  . it  s just unfunny humor . just because you  re jewish doesn  t mean you have a knack for the comedy . a wasp  spalding gray  does a better job of self  analytical humor than this guy  so obviously it  s not about ethnicity .  br    br   if one of the bits i had seen had worked  i might have stuck around . but some schlub going on about how much he loves the names of the women he works with  then listing them for five long minutes  doesn  t make a great movie .  br    br   this is an obvious attempt to capitalize on the popularity of  office space  . don  t let yourself become a victim of target marketing . just say no to  haiku tunnel  .  
i saw this movie about a week ago and still keep thinking about it . i was very moved by this movie . i found the characters very believable and likable almost to a fault . as in real life though sometimes people disappoint  as was the case with leo  who even though i liked his character i could not have been more disappointed when he was willing to have unprotected sex even though fully aware of his hiv status . i was also disappointed with leo for rejecting the medicine available to him  and the awful way he treated marcel when he decided to ship him back home on the train . i think this movie showed in a very real way why hiv numbers are up in young gay men . this is in no way meant to bash gays  i am gay  and movie very well could have been made about a young straight person who makes bad choices and seems unaware of the consequences to himself and others . the only part of the movie i couldn  t understand was why the  gay friendly  family was unwilling to include marcel in leo  s illness to the point of not allowing him to go to the funeral .  br    br   i think the biggest message from this movie is that whether gay or straight is do not have unprotected sex   
after waking up at     in the morning and not being able to go to sleep  i decided that i may as well be entertained while i suffered from sleep deprivation . this movie was on hbo and i decided to watch it . what a mistake   br    br   here is the plot  potential spoilers  if you even care   a neurotic man with an addiction to candy  josh kornbluth  works as a temp for some ridiculous company . suddenly  he is offered the chance to  go perm   which seems to be the favorite catch  phrase of this movie . but with a secure job and a secure income within his grasp  josh decides for whatever stupid reason that he doesn  t want to do it . he hopelessly bungles several minor tasks and his laziness and lack of ambition fill me with contempt . his inability to send several  very important  letters within a given amount of time is supposed to be hilarious  but is merely stupid . josh meets and deceives a lawyer woman and they wind up in bed together  obviously a fantasy of josh  s in real life  as such a thing would never happen  . a bunch of other stuff happens  but it  s too trite and inane to go into now .  br    br   despite the fact that this movie is billed as a comedy  i only laughed twice during it the first time was the opening shot of josh kornbluth  my initial reaction was one of stifling fear  and the second was when he was in bed with the attractive woman  yeah  right  . josh kornbluth is perhaps the most terrifying  looking person i have ever seen in my life . he is an unattractive  overweight  balding jewish man who i am supposed to believe has sex with beautiful women . i do not at all sympathize with josh  s character . he is lazy and unmotivated and i just don  t appreciate the failed attempts at humor . skip it  even if your life depends upon it .  
i found this film to be a fascinating study of a family in crisis . when leo  the oldest announces that he is hiv the reactions of the family members alone and with each other was touching and yet strange .  br    br   i have never seen a family that was as physically demonstrative as this one nor one as likely to shout at each other . i didn  t understand why the family felt that youngest couldn  t deal with the news but once past that difficult i found this a thoroughly moving film .  br    br    
the worlds largest inside joke . the world  s largest  most exclusive inside joke .  br    br   emulating the brash and  everyman  humor of office space  this film drives the appeal of this film into the ground by making the humor such that it would only be properly appreciated by legal secretaries writing books . the audience is asked to assume the unfamiliar role of a legal secretary  and then empathize with the excruciatingly dumb protagonist .  br    br   the entire film is centered on the legal secretary finding free time  listening to music and writing a novel while working . these are his goals . you can  t imagine the slap in the face it is to the audience when  around halfway through  they find out he has had a job which fit all three of those criteria  but then gives it up  the director and screenwriter  jacob kornbluth and josh kornbluth  completely remove the audience  s motivation to empathize or even find entertaining a protagonist that has previously thrown away that which he is complaining about the lack thereof .  br    br   apart from that major stumbling block  the legal secretary insider humor fails because they must be explained explicitly to the audience each time they happen . without these asides  the audience wouldn  t have noticed anything particularly strange . humor is only effective if it doesn  t need to be thoroughly explained to the audience what is funny .  
this film made for french tv deals with the tragic effect it has for a close knit family . when leo  the young man at the center of the story is diagnosed as having the aids virus  announces it to his parents  they just can  t believe it . the film is a character study on how this family deals with its subject .  br    br   the director  christophe honore  has to be congratulated for bringing this frank account to the screen . nowhere but in france could this story make it to the movies because of the subject matter .  br    br   the news has a devastating effect on marcel  the young brother who hears about what leo has contracted  in spite of the way the parents want to shelter him from reality .  br    br   yaniss lespart and pierre mignard do a convincing job in portraying the brothers .  
i  ll dispense with the usual comparisons to a certain legendary filmmaker known for his neurotic new yorker persona  because quite frankly  to draw comparisons with bumbling loser josh kornbluth  is just an insult to any such director . i will also avoid mentioning the spot  on satire office space  in the same breath as this celluloid catastrophe . i can  however  compare it to waking up during your own surgery  it  s painful to watch and you wonder whether the surgeons really know what they  re doing . haiku tunnel is the kind of film you wish they  d pulled the plug on in its early stages of production . it was cruel to let it live and as a result  audiences around the world are being made to suffer .  br    br   the film  s premise  if indeed it has one  is not even worth discussing  but for the sake of caution i will . josh kornbluth  a temp worker with severe commitment  phobia  is offered a permanent job . his main duty is to mail out   high priority letters for his boss . but ludicrously  he is unable to perform this simple task . my reaction  big deal  that  s not a story it  s a passing thought at best  one that should  ve passed any self  respecting filmmaker by .  br    br   the leading actor  if you can call him that  is a clumsy buffoon of a man  with chubby features  a receding  untamed hairline  and a series of facial expressions that range from cringe  making to plain disturbing . where o where did the director find this schmuck  what  s that you say he is the director  oh  my mistake . playing yourself in your own embarrassment of a screenplay is one thing  but i suspect that mr kornbluth isn  t that convincing as a human being  let alone an actor . rest assured  this is by no means an aimless character assassination  but never before have i been so riled up by an actor  s on  screen presence  my frustration was further confounded by his incessant to  camera monologues in between scenes . i mean  as if the viewer needs an ounce of intelligence to comprehend this drivel  kornbluth insults us further by explaining  the action  first rule of filmmaking dramatize exposition   show  don  t tell  . who does this guy think he is  he has no charisma  no charm  and judging by his hawaiian shirts  no sense of style . his casting agent should be shot point blank   br    br   the supporting actors do nothing to relieve the intense boredom i felt  with but one exception . patricia scanlon puts in a very funny appearance as helen the ex  secretary  who has been driven insane by her old boss  and makes harassing phone calls from her basement  while holding a flashlight under her face . this did make me chuckle to myself  but the moment soon passed and i was back to checking my watch for the remainder of the film .  br    br   the film  s title is also a misnomer . haiku tunnel has nothing to do with the ancient form of japanese poetry . don  t be fooled into thinking this is an art house film because of its pretentious  sounding title or the fact that it only played in a handful of cinemas and made no money at the box office there  s a very good reason for that   br    br    
i loved this movie . first  because it is a family movie . second  because it offers a refreshing take on dealing with the news of hiv in a family  with far less hysteria than what i have normally seen in the movies . the brothers are very close  yet are not judgmental . their desire to protect the youngest brother is noble  but not needed in the end . i understand that leo  s choice on how to deal with his treatment may not have been the most popular one with people  but i believed it was the right choice for him . i can  t believe that this was a french television programme . it had great production values . i gave this movie a ten  and i think you will too  once you have seen it .  
watching josh kornbluth  act  in this movie reminds me of my freshman tv production class  where the  not funny  had the chance to prove just how unfunny they really were   br    br   obvious is the word that comes to mind when i try to synopsize this wannabe comedy . the jokes are sophomoric and telegraphed . the delivery is painfully bad . ouch        the writing is simply dorkish . it is akin to a bob saget show .  br    br   watching this movie is as painful as watching a one and a half hour long saturday night live skit  post belushi  .  br    br   i hated this movie and want my money back     
it is projected that between     and        million people will die prematurely as a result of aids . the projected toll is greatest in sub  saharan africa where   million additional deaths can be expected . beyond the grim statistics are personal stories that we rarely hear about . christophe honor describes one of the most moving in close to leo  a film produced for french television as part of a series dealing with issues facing young people . though fictional  it deals with a situation that is unfortunately too common   the effect of a diagnosis of hiv on a loving close  knit family .  br    br   when twenty one  year old leo  pierre mignard  tells his parents and two teenage brothers  tristan  rodolphe pauley  and pierrot  jeremie lippmann  that he has aids  the family is devastated . out of concern for his youth  they decide to withhold the information from his youngest brother     year old marcel  yannis lespert  but he overhears the conversation and begins to sulk and act erratically . when leo goes to paris for treatment  he takes marcel with him but the young boy confronts leo and demands to know the truth . leo tells him that he is ill and marcel is sad but accepting . when he brings marcel along to meet some former gay friends  however  tension between them boils to the surface  setting the stage for a riveting conclusion .  br    br   although i was uncomfortable with scenes in bed involving physical contact between the brothers  i feel that the sincerity of close to leo and the brilliant performances by lespert and mignard more than tip the scales in its favor . seeing events unfold from the young boy  s perspective gives the film an authenticity that reminded me of the quebecois film leolo and truffaut  s the    blows . unlike some american films that dance around the anguish of aids  close to leo tells a harsh truth but does so in a way that is tender and wonderfully real .  
the world may have ended . unfortunately this film survived as yet another testament to canada  s inability to make movies that go beyond the execrable . maybe it  s because all our really good people  norman jewison  martin short et al  go to hollywood .  in fact it  s too bad short wasn  t cast in this apallingly pretentious and banal film . he might have given it some credibility . the canadian government should realize    and this movie is a magnificent example    that shovelling money into the trough does not result in good cinema . if the people lapping up these public funds had had to compete  they might have been forced to come up with something worthwhile . as it is they have produced yet another snickering embarassment .  
it was very heart  warming . as an expatriated french  i particularly enjoyed this  tv  movie  which i think deserves a broader distribution . the acting was good  and the bonds between each member of this rural french family seemed so  br    br   strong and so natural . no doubt a great movie about the concept of family and inclusion in the face of homosexuality and aids . one of the strongest aspect of the movie is this privileged relationship between the eldest son  leo   who has contracted hiv  and the youngest son  marcel   to whom the rest of the family try to hide the situation . the two characters  br    br   progressively explore each other as time runs out for leo  who is not willing to spend the rest of his life surviving under drugs . . .  
to make any film about the supposed end of the world  there should be some facts  realism  . we are never told why these people believe this .  . location is new years eve in toronto canada . so please some one tell me why was then still shining at midnight  why  based on the costumes  did it seem like september  br    br    . the acting was in that neo  au  natural style  that needed a director who knew how to do it .  br    br    . the individual story pieces were all dreary  without any purpose . i could go on  but i do not want to make this as boring as the film .  br    br   rating      out of    on imdb scale  br    br   thank you i am as always  br    br   jay harris  aka  sirbossman  
well  made but basically dreary low  life melodrama which  according to the accompanying interview with lead isabelle huppert  writer  director pialat infused with a good deal of autobiographical detail given the mainly unsympathetic characters involved  it doesn  t do him any compliments  and he does seem to have been a troubled man  as huppert also says that pialat often disappeared for days on end during the shoot   br    br   the acting is uniformly excellent  however despite their relatively young age  huppert and co  star gerard depardieu  as the title character   were already at the forefront of modern french stars  a status which  with varying degrees of success  they both still hold to this day .  br    br   i have  more of pialat  s films in my  vhs to watch  pile  albeit all in french without english subtitles due to this fact but also loulou  s oppressive realism  in spite of its undeniable artistic merit  i can  t say that i  m in any particular hurry to check them out now . . .  
very funny to watch  beretta  s island  as kind of natural trash  film . it is like answer to jess franko  s type of b  movie . bodybuilders strikes back   face to face   to pushers . the very very very stupid strike  action unbelievably bad directed firing  shooting  scenes look even better than hand  to  hand fighting . chasing scenes ridiculous . saving beauties scenes incredibly stupid . erotic scenes are very unerotic . the main luck of film is pretty landscapes and festival scenes . don  t missarnold schwarzenegger  s joke at start of film and list of franco columbu  s kin at the end . special attraction naked bosom . almoust forgot  franco can sing   
i was initially dubious about this movie  merely because of the subject   but the richly drawn characters  the fabulous scenes of the buffalo hunt  and the dramatic conclusion make it well  worth watching . i initially had trouble distinguishing between the two buffalo hunters but as the movie progressed they increasingly distinguished themselves . i am still haunted by the final scene .  
kurosawa really blew it on this one . every genius is allowed a failure . the concept is fine but the execution is badly blurred .  br    br   there is an air of fantasy about this film making it something of an art film . the poverty stricken of tokyo deserve a fairer and more realistic portrayal . many of them have interesting stories to tell . a very disappointing film .  
this is quite a dull movie . well  shot with realistic performances especially a very good one from depardieu as a cad and bad boy with realistic locations mood and art  house connotations all over  it fails because the director takes no position  stand or critical commentary on the topic he stipulates . one of france  s revered and regular working partner on films with depardieu  i believe they made  together  pialat fails to engage . it seems to be a treatise on why women fall for the bad boy who will hurt when they have a ready caring boyfriend and good  hearted husband around . isabelle hupert who plays the philanderer with nonchalant distinction offers opprobrium answers like  i don  t know    i like his arms    i like the way he makes love  to her inquiring husband who tries to kick her out of the house but palliates and reconsiders because . . . i assume he loves her . so he accepts and hope for what  that she will one day wake up and come to her senses . things like this are not answered in pialat  s condescending docu  drama style with long speeches and even longer scenes that don  t add up . i know the answers do not add up but please take a stand . jules et jim  this is not . the final shot as cold as the movie we have just watched is a heartache and headache only to the most forgiving .  
from the first time i saw the box cover of the movie and the stretched out photography i thought this guy  this friend of the  scwarz  must be like  foot or  ft  in .  br    br   not  feet tall . not that  it  s his fault .  br    br   at any rating  i turned on the movie one cool night in tucson  out on the second story  deck with a good cigar and let it roll . at that time my wife was having an affair and things were going down hill for me  so i needed a good diversion . but  as bad as the movie was . . . i totally enjoyed it  with a bottle of merlot too  i might admit .  br    br   truly  i have watched this movie many times . it always makes me feel good   it  s not that it  tries too hard  to be cool or that  it  s so close  to hitting the mark for an action film . . . . it  s frantic . and then truly clueless . then frantic again . it  s the best of the best when it comes to a slow speed chase scene . wow   i never felt safer in my life . warm and happy too . i was thankful that they conserved on the gasoline during the chase  due to less production in the summer months . . . anywho  br    br   the direction was  uninspired  the action and fight sequences needed to be choreographed  or re  choreographed and tightened up  the sound was off the delivery didn  t hit you  it just kept on going  the other way . the  locals  of that village that they were in  the town rather  were  off cue  they also did not seem to follow what was happening very well  the would look and even  stare  into the camera lens . like a deer in the head lights kind of thing only some of them with a smile  a smiling deer .  br    br   i feel bad because  columbu  i just bet has a good heart and a caring spirit for people in america as well as for his own countrymen .  br    br   however  baretta  s island  is very lethargic and unbelievable . even still i like it a lot . my now x  wife hates it  but i love it   br    br   the funny thing is  i am pretty discriminating when it comes to movies i like or even  love  . all in all  i like franco . so there it is .  br    br   as a movie adding addendum to this if you like killing a few hours with truly fun to watch  straight to video  b movies or  bad  movies for your little library collection then  if you can find it  check out  the big sweat        with robert z  dar . . you know the big guy from  tango  cash  .  the big sweat   a bomb of a cop story with no real plot discovery and acting that is so lame  it might as well be  on crutches  and at the end of  the big sweat  i think they ran out of money  because they had a picture of the cast and just set it on fire and let it burn during the credits .  good fun .  br    br   but all in all  not as good as baretta  s island   i gave it a    and an overall rating of  awful  for awful  good b  movie . i  m waiting for the sequel  maybe like  baretta  s revenge on montazuma   franco takes a mexican vacation and gets sick on the water then  declares war on the water co .  or  baretta  s powder war  where as he would stake out a large drug lord in his country and chemically gene  splice and create a hybrid super bug  insect  that would be bred and dropped into the cocaine fields and eat the coke and upon passing it through the bug  it forms a chemical reaction that turns the coke to pure powdered sugar . then another sequel he would have to get the young people rescued from excessive sugar addiction and so on . he could get a major tooth paste company to endorse and partially fund the project with careful product placement in the feature . right      
  loulou  delights in the same way an expensive  high quality french wine does . it leaves you with a very fine aftertaste .  br    br    loulou  s theme isn  t new . the film doesn  t carry an original plot either . its colored picturing shows fine  but not extraordinary . its setting is serious . its elegant styling never and nowhere puts any weight on your mind .  br    br   whatever one further may say about  loulou   it  s beyond doubt that this very french film stands out for its excellent acting . the three leads convincingly reflect all numerous doubts and tenses sparkling between them  making the plot alive . their acting fully invites you to participate  to make friends .  br    br   for those around at the time   loulou  also provides an extra bonus its perfectly captured mood of     .  
it  s the worst movie i  ve ever seen . the action is so unclear  work of cameras is so poor  actors are so affected . . . and this lamentable  minutes of arnie on the screen . my advice from the bottom of my heart  don  t watch it unless you like such a low class torture .  
pialat films people in extreme emotional situations  usually with several violent scenes . in la gueule ouverte  he  s dealing with the devastating effects on a woman  s husband and son as she dies of cancer . in a nos amours  the teenage girl  s sexual experimentation leads to violent confrontations with her family . here we have a rather spoiled young woman who abandons her husband to take up with a sexy ex  con . her motivation is a little cloudy  since loulou is incapable of reading or discussing anything more challenging than tv shows on the other hand  he  s got a fabulous body  i wonder why depardieu never made a sports movie to show off that physique   he would have been great as a rugby player  .  br    br   the casting is impressive . isabelle huppert isn  t allowed to give a bland  inexpressive performance  she has given many   depardieu plays loulou with all the dynamism and charm you could want   see the scene in the bar  where he  s stabbed in the gut  runs away and seeks treatment  then soon restarts with nelly . guy marchand  with those coal  black eyes and distressed look  plays nelly  s husband beautifully it  s a fine repeat of the pairing in coup de foudre .  
sadly  the print of the film we were going to watch burned in the fire at universal studios last week  so we were stuck with video . that could even be a metaphor for this second  rate king kong movie from toho studios  stalwart director ishiro honda . essentially it  s a warm up for  king kong versus godzilla  . it even uses the idea of a mecha  kong  like mecha  godzilla . of course the movie climaxes with king kong fighting mecha  kong on top of the expo tower in tokyo  but if you didn  t know that already then maybe you  re in the age group that this movie was intended for .  br    br   the cast is headed by a guy named rhodes reason who we had never heard of . . . glancing over his list i see mostly a lot of scattered american tv credits  so it  s interesting that they dragged him all the way to japan so that they could have a nominal american hero . the real hero of the movie is the more sensitive japanese commander played by akira takarada  who i recognized from hiroshi inagaki  s iconic version of  chushingura     ronin  and also from the original godzilla films by honda . i  m sorry rhodes reason whoever you are  but this guy has way more screen presence and you can bet that everyone wants him to end up with the cute little blonde  played by linda miller . we laughed at the way reason would always find a way to interject himself between miller and takarada  who it seemed like she kind of preferred . of course like all kong leading ladies her primary relationship is with the king himself . she discovers a nice trick if you talk to a giant ape really . . . . . really . . . . slowly . . . . . he  ll understand what you  re saying . and if you  re a blonde gal  that means that he  ll do whatever you tell him to do . that fact is not lost on dr . who  eisei amamoto  and madame piranha  mie hama    representing a  nation which shall not be named    who plan on using her as bait to get kong to dig up mineral deposits that are trapped at the north pole .  br    br   yes  this is truly the plot of the whole movie   apparently only a giant ape is going to be capable of digging out these minerals which can be used to make super powerful weapons . dr . who builds mecha  kong to get it but the circuitry gets in the way  so they decide to go for the real kong . kong himself seems momentarily infatuated with mecha  kong  a story element that might have made the film more interesting but wasn  t followed up on .  br    br   by the end of the movie  the cute blonde has shouted  kong  or  king kong  in her chirpy voice so many times that when the two heroes tell her to let him go at the end they  re speaking for all of us . basically this movie squanders whatever majesty was possible in the kong character by making him a heroic and friendly figure much too early  just like the newest version of the story . kong is just a guy in a suit in this movie  and they show quite a lot of him to the point where the goofy face becomes impossible to take seriously . it  s a nice looking movie  i  m sure it satisfies the demands or desires of fans of this type of thing  which is really more of a wrestling film than a monster film in a lot of ways . the monsters don  t ever really scare in these films  they just jump around and push each other around a lot . it  s not a worthless movie  but it  s extremely predictable and formulaic so for anyone under the age of   or so it probably will only be entertaining as comedy .  
the subsequent two seasons of this original series was less than lacklustre . the latter seasons disastrous reshuffle contributed to its three season short life span . maybe if the plug was pulled after the first season it would  ve gained a cult following .  br    br   aside from that  the first season was truly hilarious  witty  clever with superb writing it was promising . the first season  s excellent brew had the right ingredients  characters  actors  storyline and so forth . plus a comedy about a paparazzi reporter was original to boot . nora and her fellow  photographers  on the prowl  night after night  day after day for the exclusives .  br    br   a lot of things don  t make sense to me . like how this show  and another fav of mine  gross pointe never  made it  . if only the first seasons of the naked truth  and grosse pointe were released on dvd  please anyone out there    
may contain spoilers  br    br   a dude in a dopey  looking kong suit  the same one used in king kong vs . godzilla in      provides much of the laffs in this much  mocked monster flick . kong is resurrected on mondo island and helps out the lunkhead hero and other good guys this time around . the vampire  like villain is named dr . who  funny  he doesn  t look like peter cushing  kong finally dukes it out with who  s pride and joy  a giant robot ape that looks like a bad metal sculpture of magilla gorilla . like many of honda  s flicks this may have had some merit before american audiences diddled around with it and added new footage . the rankin  bass animation company had a hand in this mess . they should have stuck to superior children  s programs like the little drummer boy .  
a truly adorable heroine who  at turns  is surprised and terrified by giblets  wrestles with mattresses  runs full  on into closed doors . . . just a few of the moments that sparkle in my memory of  the naked truth  . i loved what i caught of this show enjoyably daft plots and some good supporting characters provided the setting for the diamond of the show  tea leoni as   nora wilde   cute  clownish  and wonderfully accident  prone  how refreshing to see an actress who can clown  it  s no wonder hollyood doesn  t seem to know how to cast her . but where  oh  where are the dvd releases  the amount of  bleep  they release  it  s incredible me that this little gem continues to remain buried .  someone please correct me if i  m wrong .   
king kong vs . godzilla       which i recall having rated bomb  had been my introduction to cult director honda  s work this one isn  t necessarily better  it  s just that i  ve learned to be more tolerant towards such intrinsically lowbrow fare   br    br   here  we actually get two kongs for the price of one an ugly and dopey  looking giant ape and a robot variation of it which looks even worse  the simian creature lives on the island of mondo     where it  s shown fighting a couple of other monsters  and befriends a trio of humans . naturally  it falls for the blonde  and bland  heroine in fact  more intriguing is a femme fatale in cahoots with the film  s villainous mad genius  called dr . who and sporting the anemic look and cape usually associated with a vampire    br    br   he kidnaps king kong and hypnotizes it in order to retrieve the element x  which is embedded in the icy wastes of the north pole apparently  the giant ape is more impervious to radiation than its mechanical counterpart  and  to ensure its full co  operation  who even captures its three  companions    the female agent then has a change of heart  helps the heroes  one of whom  typically  is a nondescript american  and is killed by who . kong eventually escapes and makes it to tokyo  where it has a final showdown with the robot . the doctor flees the ensuing mayhem in his sub  which  on a request by kong  s dreamgirl  is summarily trashed by the giant ape .  
tea leoni plays nora wilde  a serious photographer  who is going through a bad divorce . she wants her freedom but it comes at a cost . she wants to legitimate photography but is hired to work for the tabloids as a paparazzi . her boss is played by the wonderful and divine holland taylor . the show was well  written most of the time . tea  s nora was beginning to develop into quite a memorable character but the network just didn  t support comedy and they still don  t . even when they brought in george wendt from cheers  they made unnecessary changes in casting and characters . the show was fine in the beginning and the audience was getting used to it but then the network botches it up like a bad plastic surgery .  
oh my god what the hell happened here    i  m not going to say this again but what sort of backward movie is this  the dubbing in this is way worst than the dubbing in  king kong vs godzilla   linda miller had to be the worst actress in it and the suits are really cheesy . its about some villain called dr . who who gets henchmen to build a robot gorilla that has the same strength as king kong but when this robot breaks down he builds another one and then tries to kidnap kong . when he does  thats when linda miller gets annoying  he makes kong his slave but everything goes wrong and king kong escapes . then dr . who sends the robot after him .  br    br   later when i was watching the movie i got a headache when linda miller and the other clowns started moaning . as i sat through the misery of watching the dvd while it was playing i was hoping that the madness in the movie was going to end until the fight . the ending has to be a really bad one because they could  ve shown kong back on his island fighting dinosaurs again .  br    br   don  t watch the movie under any circumstances or if you do . . . beware of the disappointment you will receive .  
i stumbled across rerun syndication of this show several years ago  and fell in love with it . it features ta leoni and holland taylor and kept me laughing  one episode after the next . i guess it didn  t make it so big  and was cancelled after a few seasons  but i believe it was a good run  and would suggest watching it . . . if the opportunity arises .  
before i start  i  love  eddie izzard . i think he  s one of the funniest stand  ups around today . possibly that means i  m going into this with too high expectations  but i just didn  t find eddie funny in this outing .  br    br   i think the main problem is eddie is trying too hard to be eddie . everyone knows him as a completely irrelevant comic  and we all love him for it . but in circle  he appears to be going more for irrelevant than funny  and completely lost me in places . many of the topics he covers he has covered before  i even think i recognised a few recycled jokes in there .  br    br   if you buy the dvd you  ll find a behind  the  scenes look at eddie  s tour  interesting in places  but not very funny   and a french language version of one of his shows . die  hards will enjoy seeing eddie in a different language  but subtitled comedy isn  t very funny .  br    br   if you  re a fan of eddie you  ve either got this already or you  re going to buy it whatever i say . if you  re just passing through  buy glorious or dressed to kill  you won  t be disappointed . with circle  you probably will .  
this is a nice little horror flick that fans of indie films will really appreciate . it has good acting  lots of gore  and a decent plot . one will be reminded of movies like the hills have eyes and pumpkinhead . it  s obvious that the budget was not all that big  but the film really makes up for it with atmosphere and solid performances by the actors  which seems to be lacking in a lot of today  s big budget special effects  filled films . the film really moves along and there is excellent direction and good camera work . there are no wasted scenes  so the film  s length is a bit short . in addition  it looks like the ending leaves an opening for a sequel  which would be very interesting as well . so grab some popcorn  turn down the lights and enjoy this one .  
william lustig  s followup to  maniac  proves conclusively that  without tom savini  s spectacular effects and spinell  s convincing performance   maniac  would never have become the cult hit that it did .  vigilante  is badly directed  with a simple  minded script that spells everything out for you and is predictable at every turn  and also mediocre performances by all the actors . judging from the sense of  deja vu  this film gave me  lustig had watched  death wish  several times too many before making this         
this movie is a perfect portrayal of the nutcracker the dancing is wonderful  the scenery in the background was excellent  and i loved that floating bed .  br    br   oh  and the costumes . . . i particularly loved marzipan  s  the tutu was adorable . the special effects were very well done  e . g . the tree  the bed  etc .   and i quite enjoyed the rats . i love how they didn  t make them scary  but cute and huggable . except for the king  i suppose .  br    br   if you  re a thoroughly masculine person  you won  t enjoy this  but this is a very good movie that  s good for all ages  just not all levels of testosterone .  br    br   but i have a few complaints .  br    br   firstly  why did they have to put the sugar plum fairy  s partner in those terrible tights  it would barely make a difference if he was butt naked  and secondly . . why on earth did they have to make culkin  s outfit pink   
a police officer  robert forster  in a crime ridden city has his wife attacked and young son killed after she dares to stand up to a thug at a petrol station . after the murderers get off scot  free thanks to a corrupt judge and he himself is jailed for   days for contempt of court  he decides to take matters into his own hands by joining a group of vigilantes led by a grizzled looking fred williamson . these robin hood types sort out any criminal that the law is unwilling to prosecute  and with their help he attempts to track down those that wronged him . .  br    br   this film is nothing but a big bag o  clichs . the only thing out of the ordinary is the on  screen slaying of a two year old boy  which was pretty sick . otherwise it  s business as usual for this genre e . g involves lots of car chases  beatings and shootings mixed in with plenty of male posturing . i could have done without the prison fight in the shower involving all those bare  aed inmates  though . also  did they run out of money before filming the last scenes  i mention this because it ends very abruptly with little closure . if anyone knows  give me a bell . . actually  don  t bother .  br    br   to conclude file under  forgettable nonsense  . next . .  
those who have given this production such a low rating probably have never seen the celebrated george balanchine production live onstage  or are letting their disdain for the star casting of macaulay culkin influence their judgement . the atlanta ballet was fortunate enough  from the      s to the      s  to be the first ballet company authorized to stage this production other than the new york city ballet  and i have seen it live onstage several times . i can assure readers that the film is a quite accurate rendering of this production  and that the use of a child with limited dancing abilities in the title role is not a cheap stunt dreamed up to showcase culkin it was balanchine  s idea to use a child in this role  just as it was his idea to use a child for the role of marie . the  heavy  dancing is left to the adults in the story .  br    br   this is deliberately a stagebound film in a way  it resembles laurence olivier  s  othello  . exactly as in that film  the sets of the stage production have been enlarged to the size of a movie soundstage  but not made any less artificial  and the ballet is straightforwardly photographed with discreet closeups  and without the distracting  music video  quick cuts featured in the     overrated maurice sendak  carroll ballard version . there are only two false steps in this     film . one is the addition of distracting and completely unnecessary sound effects  mouse squeaks  the children whispering  ma  gic   to drosselmeyer  etc .  . those sound effects are never heard in any stage production of any  nutcracker   and they have been put in as a cheap concession simply to appease unsophisticated audiences who may not relish the idea of watching a ballet on film .  br    br   the other false step is macaulay culkin  s nutcracker make  up  which looks absolutely ridiculous . when he is on screen as the nutcracker  rather than wearing a huge mask  as is always done when the balanchine production is performed onstage   culkin is actually made up as the toy  he wears what looks like a bald cap  as well as a white wig  whiskers  and a beard . he also has his face rouged up somewhat  and the worst aspect of his make  up is that it is still recognizably his face  amateurishly transformed in a manner similar to ray bolger  jack haley and bert lahr  s makeups in  the wizard of oz   that film  s makeup results though  worked spectacularly  as this one  s does not  . and a comparison with baryshnikov  s nutcracker in his production shows how wonderfully creative baryshnikov  s nutcracker mask was  the  jaws  actually seemed to move whenever baryshnikov tilted his head back .  br    br   the dancing itself in the macaulay culkin version is excellent  of course  except for culkin himself  whose dancing  as i said  isn  t meant to even be spectacular .  the sugar plum fairy and her cavalier are the prominent dancing roles in balanchine  s production of  the nutcracker  .  the film  s colors  though  could be a bit brighter since this is a fantasy . the choreography is also brilliant  and the adaptation of it is so faithful as to include the sequence that features additional music from tchaikovsky  s ballet  the sleeping beauty   as marie sneaks downstairs  falls asleep on the sofa  and dreams that drosselmeyer is  repairing  the broken nutcracker  this sequence was  of course  never included in tchaikovsky  s original ballet    it is the only sequence in this production which features music from a work other than  the nutcracker   .  br    br   those who have missed out on this film  or those who despise  or loathe it  should give it a chance  despite its two big drawbacks . it is far better than it seems when one first hears that culkin is in it .  
robert forster  normally a very strong character actor  is lost at sea here cast as a new york family man seeking revenge on the thugs who murdered his son and attacked his wife in a home invasion . scary subject matter exploited for cheapjack thrills in the  death wish  vein . it isn  t difficult to scoff at these smarmy proceedings the dialogue is full of howlers  the crime statistics are irrevocably dated  and the supporting characters are ridiculously over  written  particularly a despicable judge who allows an accused murderer to walk right out of the courtroom  . low  rent production is contemptible in its self  righteousness  especially as the violence in our cities has only increased .  from   
the last hunt is one of the few westerns ever made to deal with buffalo hunting  both as a sport and business and as a method of winning the plains indian wars . before the white man set foot on the other side of the mississippi  the plains used to have herds of american bison as large as some of our largest cities . by the time of the period the last hunt is set in  the buffalo had been all but wiped out . the   th century  due to the efforts of conservationists  saw a revival in population of the species  but not hardly like it once was .  br    br   robert taylor and stewart granger are co  starring in a second film together and this one is far superior to all the brothers were valiant . here stewart granger is the good guy  a world weary buffalo hunter  who has to go back to a job he hates because of financial considerations .  br    br   the partner he  s chosen to throw in with is robert taylor . forgetting taylor for the moment  i doubt if there  s ever been a meaner  nastier soul than charlie gilsen who taylor portrays . in devil  s doorway he was an american indian fighting against the prejudice stirred up by a racist played by louis calhern . in the last hunt  he  s the racist here . he kills both buffalo and indians for pure pleasure . he kills one indian family when they steal his mules and takes the widow of one captive . like some barbarian conqueror he expects the pleasure of debra paget  s sexual favors . he  s actually mad when paget doesn  t see it that way .  br    br   no matter how often they refer to russ tamblyn as a halfbreed  i was never really convinced he was any part indian . it  s the only weakness i found in the last hunt .  br    br   however lloyd nolan  the grizzled old buffalo skinner taylor and granger bring along is just great . nolan steals every scene he  s in with the cast .  br    br   for those who like their westerns real  who want to see a side of robert taylor never seen on screen  and who don  t like cheap heroics  the last hunt is the ideal hunt .  
the show  s echoed  bubbling  sound effect used to put me to sleep . a very soothing show . i think i might have slept through the parts where there was danger or peril . i had also heard that some set up shots for a show on sponge divers was shot in tarpon springs  florida . i would assume lloyd bridges never dove there . i only remember the show in reruns and although it was never edge  of  the  seat exciting we would make up our own underwater episodes in the lake at my grandmother  s house . . . imagining the echoed bubbling sounds and narrating our adventures in our heads . i thought  flipper  had better undersea action . of course  he had the advantage of being in his natural environment .  
released as zentropa in north america to avoid confusion with agniezska holland  s own holocaust film europa europa  this third theatrical feature by a filmmaker who never ceases to surprise  inspire or downright shock is a bizarre  nostalgic  elaborate film about a naive american in germany shortly following the end of wwii . the american  named leo  doesn  t fully get what he  s doing there . he has come to take part in fixing up the country since  in his mind  it  s about time germany was shown some charity . no matter how that sounds  he is not a nazi sympathizer or so much as especially pro  german  merely mixed up . his uncle  who works on the railroad  gets leo a job as a helmsman on a sleeping car  and he is increasingly enmeshed in a vortex of     germany  s horrors and enigmas .  br    br   this progression starts when leo  played rather memorably by the calm yet restless actor jean  marc barr  meets a sultry heiress on the train played by barbara sukowa  an actress with gentility on the surface but internal vigor . she seduces him and then takes him home to meet her family  which owns the company which manufactures the trains . these were the precise trains that took jews to their deaths during the war  but now they run a drab day  to  day timetable  and the woman  s uncle kessler postures as another one of those good germans who were just doing their jobs . there is also udo kier  the tremendous actor who blew me away in von trier  s shocking second film epidemic  though here he is mere scenery .  br    br   another guest at the house is eddie constantine  an actor with a quiet strength  playing a somber american intelligence man . he can confirm that uncle kessler was a war criminal  though it is all completely baffling to leo . americans have been characterized as gullible rubes out of their element for decades  but little have they been more blithely unconcerned than leo  who goes back to his job on what gradually looks like his own customized death train .  br    br   the story is told in a purposely uncoordinated manner by the film  s danish director  lars von trier  whose anchor is in the film  s breathtaking editing and cinematography . he shoots in black and white and color  he uses double  exposures  optical effects and trick photography  having actors interact with rear  projected footage  he places his characters inside a richly shaded visceral world so that they sometimes feel like insects  caught between glass for our more precise survey .  br    br   this grand jury prize  winning surrealist work is allegorical  but maybe in a distinct tone for every viewer . i interpret it as a film about the last legs of nazism  symbolized by the train  and the ethical accountability of americans and others who appeared too late to salvage the martyrs of these trains and the camps where they distributed their condemned shiploads . during the time frame of the movie  and the nazi state  and such significance to the train  are dead  but like decapitated chickens they persist in jolting through their reflexes .  br    br   the characters  music  dialogue  and plot are deliberately hammy and almost satirically procured from film noir conventions . the most entrancing points in the movie are the entirely cinematographic ones . two trains halting back and forth  barr on one and sukowa on another . an underwater shot of proliferating blood . an uncommonly expressive sequence on what it must be like to drown . and most metaphysically affecting of all  an anesthetic shot of train tracks  as max von sydow  s voice allures us to hark back to europe with him  and abandon our personal restraint .  
this is said to be a personal film for peter bogdonavitch . he based it on his life but changed things around to fit the characters  who are detectives . these detectives date beautiful models and have no problem getting them . sounds more like a millionaire playboy filmmaker than a detective  doesn  t it  this entire movie was written by peter  and it shows how out of touch with real people he was . you  re supposed to write what you know  and he did that  indeed . and leaves the audience bored and confused  and jealous  for that matter . this is a curio for people who want to see dorothy stratten  who was murdered right after filming . but patti hanson  who would  in real life  marry keith richards  was also a model  like stratten  but is a lot better and has a more ample part . in fact  stratten  s part seemed forced added . she doesn  t have a lot to do with the story  which is pretty convoluted to begin with . all in all  every character in this film is somebody that very few people can relate with  unless you  re millionaire from manhattan with beautiful supermodels at your beckon call . for the rest of us  it  s an irritating snore fest . that  s what happens when you  re out of touch . you entertain your few friends with inside jokes  and bore all the rest .  
both visually and musically stunning . a treat for both the eye and the ear . the quintessential victorian element of the opening sequences were completely enchanting  helping to create a christmas scene of which dickens himself would have been justifiably proud . technically the production is visually stimulating and the special effects are both imaginatively devised and creatively achieved in a traditional stage setting . the dancing of many of the lead artistes is breathtakingly good . the photography and lighting are first class and the sound recording admirably matches the overall high level of technical skills employed . a great film for all the family at christmas time and a most delightful discovery which will withstand multiple viewing .  
how wonderful . yet another movie about america by someone who has visited here probably a half dozen times  a day a piece  and believes himself to be an  expert  on the country . sheesh . i should take a trip to germany for a week and then come back and make a movie about germany as the  land of nazis  or some such . wim il boy  you should get together with lars von trier and make the ultimate movie about the americans . of course we all know it takes a pretentious left  leaning  we are the world  european to make a  real  movie about america .  br    br   yeah  right . for a continent that started not one but two world wars  europe sure has a lot of opinions about america  s wrong  foreign policy  .  br    br   p . s . don  t worry  wim il boy  there  s plenty of uc  berkeley americans that  ll just love your movie . of course  these are the same people who thinks george w . bush is worst than hitler  and that a painting of a can of soup is  sheer genius     
as far as i can recall  balanchine  s alterations to tchaikovsky  s score are as follows  br    br     the final section of the grossvatertanz  a traditional tune played at the end of a party  is repeated several times to give the children a last dance before their scene is over .  br    br     a violin solo  written for but eliminated from tchaikovsky  s score for the sleeping beauty  is interpolated between the end of the party scene and the beginning of the transformation scene . balanchine chose this music because of its melodic relationship to the music for the growing christmas tree that occurs shortly thereafter .  br    br     the solo for the sugar plum fairy  s cavalier is eliminated .  br    br   it seems to me the accusation that balanchine has somehow desecrated tchaikovsky  s great score is misplaced .  
  land of plenty  is not a film . it is a tombstone for the directorial career of german director wim wenders .  br    br   many felt it in  the million dollar hotel  and now  land of plenty  makes it perfectly clear not only has wenders lost it  he  s actually turned into a bad director  creating horribly weak and superficial stories and scenes .  br    br   one might argue that the  time you lose it  comes for every director  but wenders  case is extreme . it  s as if he completely forget everything he knew about cinema and started all over again  only to get sloppish results .  br    br   in a few words  this film does not deserve your time .  
this movies chronicles the life and times of william castle . he made a series of low budget horror films in the     s      s that he sold with gimmicks . in    ghosts  you need viewers to see the ghosts  they were in color  the film was in bw  .  the tingler  had theatre seats equipped with a buzzer that jolted the audience when a monster escapes into a movie theatre .  marabre  issued a life insurance policy to all members in case they were frightened to death  the movies themselves were pretty bad but the gimmicks had people rushing to see them . in this doc there are interviews with directors inspired by castle  actors in his movies and his daughter . it also gets into his home life and the kind of man he was  by all accounts he was a great guy  . the documentary is affectionate  very funny and absolutely riveting . it  s very short  under   minutes  and there  s never a dull moment . a must see for castle fans and horror movie fans . my one complaint   there were very few sequences shown from his pictures . that aside this is just great .  
the hysterical thing about this movie is that  according to the director  it has difficulty finding a distributor in the u . s . because most of them that viewed it couldn  t reconcile the seemingly conflicting messages of christianity and american angst . the thought of anyone seeing this as a religious film in anyway is laughable .  br    br   because a minister at a mission prays with the homeless or wishes someone  godspeed  this makes it a  christian  movie  one could interpret that it is actually mocking religion for in the  land of plenty  with all of its material excess  the best an organized mission can do is hand out a bowl of soup and a bible verse . plenty of unfortunate or downtrodden maybe  plenty of useless homeless missions  how about plenty of psycho vietnam vets  as a pill  popping delusional survivor of agent  pink  are we to think america is a  land of plenty  of paranoid patriots  maybe we have plenty of psychiatric patients  certainly we don  t have plenty of people concerned about palestine politics based on the main characters phone conversation in the film . of course if you worked in a german homeless shelter the unfortunate there would be much more concerned about peace in a distant land than their own personal survival as the world knows how europe is the  continent of plenty  when it comes to sophistication .  br    br   indeed i agreed with the title in the end as the united states is the  land of plenty  and in this particular case it refers to the abundance of poor scripts  amateur acting and dispassionately directed films . life is too short and one  even an american  doesn  t have  plenty  of time to waste watching this piece .  
i was lucky enough to catch this movie while volunteering at the maryland film festival . i  ve always been a fan of classic horror films and especially the gimmicks of william castle  so this was definitely a must  see for me .  br    br   this is about the life and work of william castle  who in my opinion was an underrated director . true  he made some cheap budget schlocky horror films  but he added something to these films real live theater gimmicks that you don  t see anymore . for example  he had nurses in case someone had a heart attack at his movies and put vibrators at the bottoms of chairs in the tingler .  br    br   this is truly a well  made documentary and brings this rather shadowed director into the light  and celebrated his contributions to horror cinema . it also paints castle as a larger than life character  who was very well  liked and had a smile on his face .  br    br   unlike most film documentaries that mostly show testaments from film historians  spine tingler  shows interviews mostly from his family members and directors who were influenced by his work  such as john waters  john landis  and joe dante . a must see for classic horror and sci  fi fans .  
wenders was great with million  hotel . i don  t know how he came up with this film  the idea of giving the situation after spt   and the view of american society is hopeful  that makes it  out of ten . but this is not a movie . is that the best someone can do with a great idea  the west  east clash  . there are important things going on in middle east and it is just issued on the screen of a mac with the fingers of an amerian girl who is actually at the level of stupidity  because she is just ignorant about the facts  . the characters are not well shaped . and the most important thing is the idea that is given with religion is somehow funny to me . at the ending scene lana says lets just be quiet and try to listen . and the background music says  . . . i will pray  . the thing is not about religion actually . but it ends up with this . how you are gonna see the truth if you just close your eyes and pray . the lights are already shining on the truth . its just that nobody wants to see it . ps  my home is not a place . it is people  the only thing that gets   out of   is that sentence . but it is wasted behind this film making .  by the way as  someone  mentioned below  americas finest young man are not finest  they are just the  poor  and the  hopeless  ones who sign up for the army in need of good paychecks which is not provided by the government    
i gave it a    since everyone else seemed to like it and it would have been churlish not to . the reason i  m troubling you is to add a personal observation on castle  s work .  br    br   i  ve seen  homicidal  and  the tingler   the version with the clever colour sequence where everything except the blood is in black and white  a few times and  the house on haunted hill  many times .  br    br   even i am not old enough to have seen them when castle was up to his showman tricks  thus i can appreciate them for their own merit . and while most pass him off as second  rate  schlocky  hammy  etc .  i believe they do him a disservice .  br    br   the end sequence of  homicidal  is genuinely shocking and works today  and the premise of  the tingler  while silly  was highly original .  br    br   but  the house on haunted hill  was a triumph . having used that frank lloyd wright house as its exterior  the great vincent price and a solid cast  plus a good score and production values  when i first saw it at a packed late  night showing in the late sixties  it produced an audience reaction i  d not seen before and have not seen since .  br    br   it was the bit where the heroine is alone in the basement  if you  ve not seen the film  stop reading now  and we are waiting to hear the hero on the other side of the wall .  br    br   with no telegraphing of what is coming  the camera slowly pulls back  forcing the audience to switch their gaze to . . . i  m saying no more  my  spoiler  declaration above only covers this movie  .  br    br   the point is  i believe this ploy was deliberate  not accidental  and when it happened  the whole audience screamed  including most of the men   it took the audience about ten minutes to calm down .  br    br   now that is superior film  making . a flamboyant showman he might have been  but  house  and the other two films i  ve mentioned were good movies . castle may not have been a hitchcock  but he was no ed wood  either .  br    br   it  s easy to concentrate on someone  s quirks and forget to examine their talent . so i hope this documentary acknowledged that . i look forward to seeing it .  
the end of violence and certainly the million dollar hotel hinted at the idea the wenders has lost his vision  his ability to tell compelling stories through a map of the moving picture . the land of plenty seals the coffin  i  m afraid  by being a vastly unimaginative  obviously sentimental and clich  d film . the characters are entirely flat and stereotyped  the writing  plot and direction are amateurish  at best . for the first time in quite a while  i was impatient for the film to end so i could get on with my life . the war  torn delirium of the uncle  the patriotic abstract gazing at the sky at the conclusion . . . it all just struck me as being so simple and pathetic  hardly the work of a filmmaker who once made some compelling magic on screen . what happened  the days of experimentation  perceptive writing and interesting filming possibilities are long behind him  i  m afraid . let  s hope he finds his inspiration again . . . at the toronto film festival  which is where i saw the film  wenders was there to introduce it . completely lacking in humility  he offered us the following  i hope . . . no  wait . . . i know you  re going to enjoy the next two hours .  i  m afraid he couldn  t be more wrong . . .  
william castle is notorious among horror fans as the b  grade director of the     s and   s . his gimmicks  his cost  cutting techniques and his unique vision are legendary . it comes as no surprise  then  that someone  jeffrey schwarz  who  s made countless documentaries  would finally take the time to devote a documentary to his greatness . such is  spine tingler the william castle story  .  br    br   i had a general understanding of who castle was  having seen some of his films over the years . i knew nothing about her personal life  his goals and ambitions . this film really fleshed out the man and gave me a fuller appreciation for the devotion he had for the craft of film  making and his contributions to the horror genre . the movie depicts castle as rival to alfred hitchcock  with hitch being the artist who wins praise while castle is the carnival barker who gains cult notoriety  but much less respect . he is an icon to all second  rate directors out there  which is why it  s not surprising that john waters is featured prominently in here .  joe dante and stuart gordon also have sizable roles .   br    br   his gimmicks were what drove his fame  and the documentary takes great pains to explain them  which is crucial for those who are too young to remember . the rudimentary   d of    ghosts   see separate review   the buzzer in the seat for  the tingler   see separate review   money back guarantees for  homicidal  . . . watching these films now outside the theater  we can judge them for their content  which  personally  i still enjoy  but we cannot fully appreciate what audiences once felt .  br    br   the climax of the film is when castle goes from cult director to hollywood producer . having bought the rights to  rosemary  s baby   he is put in a very special place for negotiating its film release . hoping to direct  he is sidelined to producer in order to make way for new director roman polanski . while at first disappointed  this proves to be one of the best opportunities of his lifetime   a hugely successful film  and a job he excels at . who better to control the purse of wild artist polanski than a penny  pinching castle  this was to be his crowning achievement  though sadly the film is more often connected to polanski than castle .  br    br   the remainder of his years are played out  and we are given personal reflections by his daughter and niece . across the board  everyone seems to have nothing but praise for the man . somewhere along the way  he surely upset one or two people  but you would never know it from this film . and i find that find   this is a celebration of bill castle  s life  not  e  true hollywood story  . fans of the genre would do well to pick up a copy of this work .  br    br   i would personally recommend picking up the william castle collection  which has not only this but eight of castle  s films in it  with plenty of special features . even this documentary comes with an audio commentary so you can hear how schwarz was personally affected by castle  and have castle  s daughter terry giving a running reflection of her experiences with the different films and remakes . it  s almost a whole new film .  
with a tendency to repeat himself  wenders has been a consistent disappointment ever since he hit it big with  paris texas  .  br    br    land of plenty  is no exception . taking into the fact that i anticipated an average  mediocre film even before i went in  wenders  ambitions seem to always get the better of him . it  s taken for grated now his films are heavy  handed and bombastic .  br    br   i weren  t sure if i was watching a comedy that mocks middle america or some thriller . the outcome of diehl  s character is wholly predicable . wender  s insistence on layering many many scenes with some rock song is also intensely annoying . he was covering up the holes in his script and direction by jazzing up the scenes .  br    br   i am certain that many people will find this film important and resonant but in all honestly  this clumsy and didactic effort only speaks of poor direction .  br    br   interesting that wenders professed that while making  paris texas   he had great help from sam sheppard with the script . yes  that was wenders  best and he should understand now he needs a good scriptwriter . his films from the past   years were a total mess .  
this documentary on schlockmeister william castle takes a few cheap shots at the naive    s     s environment in which he did his most characteristic work   look at the funny  silly people with the ghost  glasses   but it  s also affectionate and lively  with particularly bright commentary from john waters  who was absolutely the target audience for such things at the time  and from castle  s daughter  who adored her dad and also is pretty perceptive about how he plied his craft .  we never find out what became of the other castle offspring .  the movies were not very good  it makes clear  but his marketing of them was brilliant  and he appears to have been a sweet  hardworking family man . fun people keep popping up  like  straight jacket   s diane baker  who looks great  and anne helm  whom she replaced at the instigation of star joan crawford . darryl hickman all but explodes into giggles at the happy memory of working with castle on  the tingler   and there  s enough footage to give us an idea of the level of castle  s talent   not very high  but very energetic . a pleasant look at a time when audiences were more easily pleased  and it does make you nostalgic for simpler movie  going days .  
watching  der himmel ber berlin  as a teen in the late    s was a profound experience for me   so this was what the movies could be  . along with  paris  texas  and  until the end of the world  it still holds a special place in my heart and mind  a testament to the genius of wim wenders .  br    br   unfortunately later years has seen a steady decline in the quality of his work with  million dollar hotel  and  land of plenty  hitting a terrible low point . gone are the captivating pictures or music . no search for or display of great insight . all that is left are characters and thinly veiled political statements  that boils down to nothing but clichs  and quite frankly mock the intelligence of a mature audience .  br    br   has the well run dry  whatever the reason  it  s time for mr . wenders to either step it up or stop altogether .  
hitchcock was of the opinion that audiences aren  t really interested in what puts protagonists into danger  only that they are in danger  and need to escape .  br    br   this film proves hitchcock was not     correct . police believe jean simmons is guilty of a crime  when she plainly isn  t . trevor howard decides their best course of action is to run for it . and so  the body of the movie has our charismatic pair dodging on and off trains  buses and coaches  jumping across rocks at the top of a waterfall  scrambling across dockyard roofs .  br    br   all good exciting stuff  but i couldn  t get out of my mind that it was all unnecessary . they should have stayed put .  br    br   in other words  the macguffin wasn  t strong enough .  
i get it the diehl character is s  posed to be a microcosm of america itself  seeing arab terrorists under every rock  only to find out at the end that it  s his own actions all along that got him into that siege state and truly if he practices good  will to all men everything will be rainbows and lollipops . sorry wim you have made amazing movies in the past that stay neutral of the politics and for good reason  polemics are your weak point and they weaken this a well  made  amazingly filmed movie with absurd characters  dialog and plotting . better luck on your next flick . another thing that yanked my crank was the belabored point of the homeless section of la being there for reasons of hunger  these people don  t get enough to eat . truly these folks aren  t eating regally but the real hunger these folks is a spiritual hunger  an emotional hunger  a mental hunger . they need self  respect  self  worth  dignity which you can  t give a man . yeah those folks are hungry and if they need it it is available . less the center for hunger in america  i would say it  s more the center for alcoholism  drug  abuse  mental suffering and economic devastation . dealing with hunger although a noble endeavor is band  aiding a more profoundly systematic societal and age  old human problem of homelessness . bill diehl was good though and michelle williams was cute as the young yet  cliched  old soul .  
this film plays really well with an audience . especially once the chase begins . plus  trevor howard with his sensible  smart charms and jean simmons with her innocent demeanor and piercing eyes are terrific together .  br    br   the film starts as a psychological drama but after the murder it segues into a chase thriller as the two leads head for the border . some may think the chase is superfluous but actually the chase is essential because it aids in clearing the mind of the jean simmons character by getting her out of the oppressive household  plus it helps bring out the real killer  who is suddenly put into such a position that they have to finish the job . the killer rightly believed that once the simmons character was arrested she would be put away . and it is true that her lack of control in the household  as well as evidence pointing her way  there is no way she would have gotten out of the murder charge . the chase that ensues helps bring out the truth .  br    br   this is an entertaining film . seek it out if you can find it .  
this is an interesting left turn for reel   indies . two harbors is a bw   minute film from minnesota that features non  actors and is about two people finding a connection through a search for alien life . i applaud the boldness of the reel   programmers of thinking out  of  the  box when selecting this film . i just wish they had picked a stronger film to be bold with . as a matter of fact  i wonder if the choice had more to do with the uniqueness of the film than with the actual quality of the film itself  not that two harbors is completely without merit  but i  ll get to that a little later  .  br    br   as is common with independent films  two harbors is limited in terms of location . there are only two real locations  a large junk dealership market and a very teeny trailer  which is the home of the middle  aged main character  vic  played by alex cole . writer  director james vculek uses the market setting to provide exposition about vic  who is one of the dealers there . he has various people walk up to vic and start very long conversations that provides us with just two pieces of information  vic sells space toys  he prefers to call them  outer space action figures   and he is a caustic asshole . this is emblematic of one of the two key problems with two harbors  all the chatting . i  ve said it before and i  ll say it again  we are dealing with a visual medium and filmmakers need to work harder to tell their stories visually . there are exceptions  of course  but generally  endless patter is not so engaging on film  particularly if the dialogue is being used as exposition . pretty much all the conversations in the film are long and unnecessarily verbose . a notable example would be a few scenes which feature vic trying to play himself off as a boy scout leader in order to get a discount at a store . he argues with the clerk back and forth and these scenes don  t even advance the plot one iota . this is the kind of thing that makes even a   minute film feel long .  br    br   the other problem with two harbors is the acting . i may be a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to performance in film  but i really don  t feel like there  s a good excuse for not having good actors in your films . there are plenty of good actors out there  many of which willing to work on low  budget projects  even in minnesota . many filmmakers eschew the importance of acting ability as being secondary to their visuals  but that is nave . in narrative film  making  next to the story  nothing is more important than the acting  performances . if you don  t believe the people enacting your story  your audience is lost .  br    br   originally  i thought vculek was using non  actors  but as the film went on  i decided that they were probably community theater  type actors . it wasn  t that they were uncomfortable on camera . it  s that they were overly theatrical  i . e . big  . granted  the best of the actors were the two leads  cole and catherine e . johnson as cassie  a lonely young girl that gets caught up in vic  s extra  terrestrial hunt . they seemed to have the most training  but they were still a little rough around the edges . the eccentricities they displayed seemed to be surface only  not coming from a real  organic place within . ms . johnson  in particular  is an interesting case . she definitely has a presence  a midwestern charm about her  but that charisma belies the multitude of issues her character is supposed to have . she struggles to portray the idiosyncrasies that stem from a supposed life of solitude and  slave   labor  relying on stock gestures like eye rolls  lip biting and stammering to suggest her discomfort with the outside world .  br    br   i mentioned in the first paragraph that two harbors is not completely without merit and here  s what i mean . without giving too much away  there is a fade to white an hour into the film . after that  the story takes a stunning turn  which allows the last fifteen minutes to be evocative and downright powerful  it  s like a sucker punch to the gut  but in a good way . it  s almost a huge relief to feel something after so long with these characters . the last five minutes of the film don  t have any dialogue at all and the result is the best part of the film  subtle  detailed  cole does his best work of the film  and most importantly  cinematic . then  with the closing credits comes the most staggering revelation of all  that it  s based on a true story  which got me to thinking . with all the dialogue  the minimal locations and the lack of cinematic qualities  it occurred to me that with two kick ass actors and a tightening re  write  two harbors might make a really kick  ass stage play  maybe even a one  act . if there are any bold theater producers out there reading this  i definitely recommend seeing if you can get a hold of the film and contact the filmmaker  reel   or whomever . there might be something to this story after all  br    br    for more information on this or any other reel   film  check out their website at www . reel   . org   
a young woman  jean simmons  is convinced by her scheming and dangerous aunt  sonia dresdel  and uncle  barry jones  that she  s losing her mind and in very delicate condition that requires their supervision which turns out to be more like manipulation  as they try to keep her as far away from outside human contact as possible . the only other person she sees is the estate caretaker  a lascivious character played by maxwell reed  whose caught the wayward eye of the middle  aged aunt . all of this  the aunt and the caretaker  the butterfly expert uncle who has a serious underside to him  and the susceptible niece in the middle  would have made for a darker and more sinister film . as it is  a frame  up for a murder sends trevor howard  a fired government secret service agent who took a job at the estate cataloging butterflies  and simmons across the countryside escaping police  catching headlines of  police net closing in  over her front page photo  hopping on buses  and winding up in liverpool  where they meet some wonderfully cast characters  and finally face down the greedy and murderous aunt and uncle .  
i think i found the most misogynistic film of all time darklight .  br    br   the gist of the film  lilith was adam  s first wife and she was considered imperfect and banished from the garden of eden because she considered herself adam  s equal and refused to submit to him . see  i took those words straight from the script . then the film keeps going on and though she is the heroine of the film  the only time that she becomes acceptable is when she does what the men tell her to do  she ends the film under the control of the faith  an all male group   br    br   other than that the script was predictable and the fx were awful . apart from the obvious hatred of females that is usually a lot more subtle in modern film  there was nothing original about darklight .  
for some reason  this film has never turned up in its original language in my neck of the woods  despite owning the tcm uk cable channel  which broadcasts scores of mgm titles week in week out  . more disappointingly  it  s still m . i . a . on dvd  even from warners  recently  announced  western classics collection  box set  which does include  other robert taylor genre efforts   maybe  they  re saving it for an eventual  signature collection  devoted to this stalwart of mgm  which may be coming next year in time for the   th anniversary of his passing  br    br   i say this because the film allows him a rare villainous role as a selfish westerner with a fanatical hatred of indians and who opts to exploit his expert marksmanship by making some easy money hunting buffaloes an opening statement offers the alarming statistic that the population of this species was reduced from           to      in the space of just   years  as an associate  taylor picks on former professional of the trade stewart granger  who rallies alcoholic  peg  legged lloyd nolan  who continually taunts the irascible and vindictive taylor  and teenage half  breed russ tamblyn to this end . as expected  the company  s relationship is a shaky one  reminiscent of that at the centre of anthony mann  s the naked spur        another bleak open  air mgm western . the film  in fact  ably approximates the flavor and toughness of mann  s work in this field  despite being writer  director brooks  first of just a handful of such outings but which  cumulatively  exhibited a remarkable diversity   here  too  the narrative throws in a female presence  debra paget  also a half  breed  to be contended between the two rugged leads  and granger  like the james stewart of the naked spur  returns to his job only grudgingly  his remorse at having to kill buffaloes for mere sport and profit is effectively realized  .  br    br   the latter also suffers in seeing taylor take paget for himself  she bravely but coldly endures his approaches  while secretly craving for granger  and lets out his frustration on the locals at a bar while drunk  taylor  himself  doesn  t come out unscathed from the deal like the protagonist of the treasure of the sierra madre        he becomes diffident and jealous of his associates  especially with respect to a rare  and  therefore  precious  hide of a white buffalo they  ve caught he even goes buffalo  crazy at one point  as nolan had predicted   becoming deluded into taking the rumble of thunder for the hooves of an approaching mass of the species  the hunting scenes themselves are impressive  buffaloes stampeding  tumbling to the ground when hit  the endless line  up of the day  s catch  and the carcasses which subsequently infest the meadows . the film  s atypical but memorable denouement  then  is justly famous with winter in full swing  a now  paranoid taylor out for granger  s blood lies in wait outside a cave  in which the latter and paget have taken refuge  to shoot him when granger emerges the next morning  he discovers taylor in a hunched position  frozen to death   br    br   incidentally  my father owns a copy of the hefty source novel of this  by milton lott  from the time of the film  s original release actually  he has collected a vast number of such editions  it is  after all  a practice still in vogue  where a book is re  issued to promote its cinematic adaptation . likewise for the record  taylor and granger  who work very well off each other here  had already been teamed  as sibling whale hunters   in the seafaring adventure all the brothers were valiant       which  curiously enough  is just as difficult to see  in fact  even more so  considering that it  s not even been shown on italian tv for what seems like ages     
weak bobby  pineapple salsa  flay and mario batali bring this down .  br    br   flay being the worst . definitely a one trick pony  i think they could have gotten other american chefs to come to the table on this one as the iron chefs . the kind of dishes this duo come up with really . . . don  t reflect on the creativity of the original iron chef series . i don  t think batali even went to chef school  actually . there are a lot of great chefs in america  i just wonder why they don  t appear on the food network .  br    br   it would also help to have more regional ingredients and perhaps co  hosts who can handle the pressure . i like alton brown  but he is a bit too flippant  funny for this role .  
a delightful little thriller opens with trevor howard in his jag convertible and ends on a dockside in liverpool . it  s all thrills and spills as the ex  spy has to restart his career just as he  s getting some serious r  r cataloguing butterflies  how british is that   .  br    br   trevor howard and jean simmons frolic from london to newcastle  upon  tyne to liverpool  via ullswater   he  s just been thrown out of mi  or something  and she  you guessed it  is on the run  wrongly accused of murder . there  s seedy docks  rolling lake district hills  sheep  country pubs  coppers getting lost  waterfalls  a bunch of amateur cyclists  rooftop chases  and lots of chinamen  don  t ask   and it  s all very hitchcocky and hannayesque . . .  br    br   . . and a smashing example of british noir . . .  
what is interesting is that the acting was not bad  just not enough . it was rather lame .  special effects nor the lines were the single culprit for this failure . standing alone they weren  t horribly bad  but put together was a tragic move . the show seemed long winded and slow with special effects apparently designed to speed the movie along  but it failed totally .  br    br   much of the blame for this disaster was put on special effects . don  t believe it  they were kinda cool . appleby was not the best choice for this endeavor . though she may have been all they had to chose from with a bit of fan recogniton . an experienced actress would have brought something to the part  like appleby never did . scfi puts out some really good original movies  it  s just too bad that this failed so drastically .  
the clouded yellow is a compact psychological thriller with interesting characterizations . barry jones and kenneth more are both terrific in supporting roles in characters that both have more to them than what meets the eye . jean simmons is quite good  and trevor howard makes a fascinatingly offbeat suspense hero .  
i sat glued to the screen  riveted  yawning  yet keeping an attentive eye . i waited for the next awful special effect  or the next ridiculously clichd plot item to show up full force  so i could learn how not to make a movie .  br    br   it seems when they set out to make this movie  the crew watched every single other action  science  fiction  shoot  em  up  good vs . evil movie ever made  and saw cool things and said  hey  we can do that .  for example  the only car parked within a mile on what seems like a one way road with a shoulder not meant for parking  is the one car the protagonist  an attractive brunette born of bile  is thrown on to . the car blows to pieces before she even lands on it . the special effects were quite obviously my biggest beef with this movie . but what really put it in my bad books was the implausibility  and lack of reason for so many elements  for example  the antagonist  a flying demon with the ability to inflict harm in bizarre ways  happens upon a lone army truck transporting an important vip . nameless security guys with guns get out of the truck  you know they are already dead . then the guy protecting the vip says  under no circumstances do you leave this truck  do you understand me   he gets out to find the beast that killed his  buddies  he gets whacked in an almost comically clich fashion . then for no apparent reason  defying logic  convention  and common sense  the dumb ass vip gets out of the truck    a lot of what happened along the course of the movie didn  t make sense . transparent acting distanced me from the movie  as well as bad camera  work  and things that just make you go  wow  that  s incredibly cheesy .  shiri appleby saved the movie from a   because she gave the movie the one element that always makes viewers enjoy the experience  sex appeal .  
i enjoyed albert pyun  s  nemesis  for its cheesy action and semi  complicated script . a lot of people complain about the  confusing  plot to the first film  which is probably why  nemesis   nebula  has a dumb as rocks plot with the same super  action to carry it through .  br    br   this one gives the name of the first movie  s hero  alex  to a bulked up super  female sent to the past to save the future . she is raised by a tribe in africa . a good portion of the film only has dialogue in an african tongue without subtitles  which i liked because it made it seem somewhat authentic  how often do movies in this genre really try to do that   . it doesn  t take long for the evil cyborgs to time travel back in time to find her and try to kill her .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  this is a piece of crap  not that the first one was anything great  . there are subplots involving africa  s political unrest  treasure hunting  and tribal combat . the picture is very short on brains  so none of these things gets a very good treatment . the picture is basically a drawn out fight with some chases that boils down to muscle  babe vs . cyborg . it has its entertainment value  just don  t expect quality  or anything of the first movie .  
the story behind this movie is very interesting  and in general the plot is not so bad . . . but the details writing  directing  continuity  pacing  action sequences  stunts  and use of cg all cheapen and spoil the film .  br    br   first off  action sequences . they are all quite unexciting . most consist of someone standing up and getting shot  making no attempt to run  fight  dodge  or whatever  even though they have all the time in the world . the sequences just seem bland for something made in     .  br    br   the cg features very nicely rendered and animated effects  but they come off looking cheap because of how they are used .  br    br   pacing everything happens too quickly . for example   elle  is trained to fight in a couple of hours  and from the start can do back  flips  etc . why is she so acrobatic  none of this is explained in the movie . as lilith  she wouldn  t have needed to be able to do back flips  maybe she couldn  t  since she had wings .  br    br   also  we have sequences like a woman getting run over by a car  and getting up and just wandering off into a deserted room with a sink and mirror  and then stabbing herself in the throat  all for no apparent reason  and without any of the spectators really caring that she just got hit by a car  and then felt the secondary effects of another  exploding car  . . .  are you okay   asks the driver  yes  i  m fine  she says  bloodied and disheveled .  br    br   i watched it all  though  because the introduction promised me that it would be interesting . . . but in the end  the poor execution made me wish for anything else blade  vampire hunter d  even that movie with vampires where jackie chan was comic relief  because they managed to suspend my disbelief  but this just made me want to shake the director awake  and give the writer a good talking to .  
this is an excellent film for female body  builder  female action fans  i think that sue price did a great job in this film series  nemesis       and proved to be a great fighter . she has a very striking appearance and a will of iron to resist the powerful nebula  nemesis   . though not a film of great value and sue price  s acting skills not the best to have met in my life  the movie itself was something awesome  a priceless gem for fans of female body  builder action  well  some parts of nemesis  have been copied by other famous sci  fi films  such as terminator or predator  but that  s not the point . the point is that a . puyn casted in that film a very talented body  builder who put all of her energy and body talent to show us the best she can do . i really enjoyed that film and watched with the same enthusiasm nemesis   a rather boring sequel  and nemesis   a much more interesting sequel than   . what a pity it hasn  t shown yet on dvd     
a good idea  badly implemented . while that could summarize    of the scifi channel  s movies  it really applies here . i love movies where a good back story is slowly revealed  and i like action movies  and i like all of the main actors  so this could have been great . however  despite some good acting  this movie fails due to bill platt  s bad writing and directing .  br    br   another review made the good point of needing to know where you  re going so you can get there . this movie doesn  t . it  s put together in such a haphazard way that you know the words  second draft  are not in bill platt  s vocabulary . there is one scene that is entirely unnecessary and could be removed without anyone noticing . this scene even begins and ends with them driving a car  so you could cut from one car scene to the other and never have missed the pointless scene in the middle .  br    br   this movie also had a strange habit of under explaining some details while over explaining others  some to the point where you can guess the entire  plot  up front . it also had a habit of aborting a fight early  probably just because they couldn  t afford it . there are also a few laughably bad scenes where the  plot  is revealed on a computer and the final battle involving conveniently placed  toxic adhesive   seriously  what is that   .  br    br   if you are a fan of shiri appleby  watch this movie because she  s ok . she does manage to break out of her  roswell  persona a few times and make for a good tough chick  but not always  . john de lancie plays the same character he plays in everything he  s ever done since playing q back in sttng  so that  s nothing new .  br    br   in all  i gave this movie a     rating .  
you know  this movie isn  t that great  but  i mean  c  mon  it  s about angels helping a baseball team . i find the plot line to be hilarious anyways  this kid  s dad says he  ll take him back if the angels win the pennant  because he knows they won  t  kid prays to his fake god to help the angels win  god helps the whole time  via the angel christopher lloyd  rip  and in the end  his dad doesn  t take him back and rides off on his motorcycle right in that kids face . it  s hilarious until danny glover adopts it and it  s friend .  br    br   i guess the upside is that the old lady is left alone to die with her stitchin  projects and her stories . the real winner here  though  is god . because later he got a job as a writer for numerous prank shows .  br    br   as a kids movie  it gets a  . as a movie about the mysteries of blind  stupid faith  and the nature of  god   it gets a   .  
shiri appleby is the cutest little embodiment of evil turned good girl demon  kicking buffy clone  elle . but i  m getting ahead of myself  you see lilith was the first woman made by god as a companion to adam . but she got all uppity evil feminist so god banished her from eden . a clandestine order known as the fath captures her but doesn  t kill her  so now with amnesia  which is not really explained that well  lilith  now elle  is free to become the aforementioned buffy  clone who has to battle with a mad scientist who got an injection of lilith  s blood .  br    br   if the previous paragraph sounded hideously convoluted  that  s because it is . the movie is also dull  generic  and for a film with a plot steeped in theology it doesn  t seem to know a lick about it . this bargain basement lousy  cgied movie was apparently a failed series pilot . all i can say to the fact that it didn  t get picked up is a resounding amen .  br    br   my grade d   br    br   dvd extras commentary by writer  director bill platt and co  writer chris regina and stills gallery video effects samples before  after  it also has an  also available  selection that you would think would lead you to some trailers  but nope on dvd covers for other films  which is a stupid idea   br    br   dvd  rom extras final shooting script and deleted scenes transcript both in pdf format  
but how can you stand to mange a baseball team that can  t win . for george knox  it is not easy . as the movie opens  roger beaumont  joseph  gordon  levitt  and his best friend j . p  milton davis jr .  are riding on thier bikes around the angels  stadium . when they return to thier foster mother  s home  roger is suprised to have a visit from his dad  dermot mulroney  . his mom is dead  and when he asks his father when they going to be a family again  he father jokes  i say when the angels win the division championship  so later on  roger and j . p hide in a tree to watch the angels play baseball . when the manger george knox  danny glover  take out his pitcher  the pitcher gets mad and gets into a fight with him  and soon the angels team get into the fightm that gets knox ejected from the game . that night roger makes a prayer  for the angles win the championship . when his foster mother maggie nelson  brenda ficker  agrees that roger and j . p go to a basball  roger sees real angles come on the field and helps the left fielder  matthew mcconaughey  makes a catch  that leaves the manger and the play  by  play man  jay . o sanders  how did he to that . roger learns from the head angel  christopher lloyd  that only he can see the angles  because he was the only that prayed for help .  br    br         
this obvious pilot for an unproduced tv series features young canadian actress shiri appleby as an amnesiac with some pretty incredible powers that must be put to use when a man  turned  flying demon is let loose on the world . the cgi is par for a tv job  and appleby is ok as an amnesiac but hard to swallow as a superheroine . familiar tv face richard burgi is along for the ride as appleby  s mentor  but he can do nothing to elevate this dreck above the mediocre level . we see way too much of the cartoonish flying demon right from the start  a bad sign . also  the scenes where burgi is training appleby for battle are actually laughable . they are a bad copy of similar scenes in several other movies  most notably remo williams .  
with all the  adult  innuendos in todays family movies its nice to see one where you don  t have to worry about that and can just sit back and enjoy a family with your kids . yes  this movie might have a few swear  words  there  s that time where knox swears  but they don  t let you hear the full words   but for the most part this movie is truly as clean as they come  and that  s including movies from back in the day  . not only that  its very enjoyable  one of my favorites  and just a great clean and fun movie to watch with the family .  br    br   the only thing i have against this movie is that it is too short and i wish there could be more of some of the memorable parts that are in it  i  m not going to mention them because i don  t want any spoilers here .  br    br   all in all nicely done and a great movie to watch so go out and get the kids  make some cookies  and watch this movie   
yuck . i thought it odd that their ancient book on curses was made using a common script font instead of hand written . the acting is so apathetic at times and so over  dramatic at other times . why would a  demonico  kill the two suspiciously quiet doctors who helped make him immortal  just for the heck of it  and is it really necessary to show lilith  s motorcycle whenever she  s out somewhere . we get it  you spent a little bit of money to rent some third rate crotch rocket . it doesn  t mean you have to show it all the time  the  faith  s  lair looks like an old school battlestar galactica set with some last minute changes . there is a scene where we are introduced to a few people on a talk show for about   seconds before they are killed without apparent reason and without importance . everyone is a throwaway character . forgettable characters and an even more forgettable plot make this one of the most ill  conceived movies i  ve seen the scifi channel come out with . stay away unless you  re into bad movies .  
yeah  the archetype of a simple but inspirational movie . the very end when the entire crowd in the stadium gets up and the people raise their hands gives me a chill whenever i see it . that  s just brilliant . joseph is wonderful as the lonely and sad kid who has so far been disappointed by anyone and anything in his life . the way he interacts with danny glover and tries to make him believe in the magic and the angels is funny and exhilarating . a very nice family movie with  i concede  a rather corny happy end . but hey  it doesn  t really matter  the movie retains its basic quality by the good acting and the inspirational themes .  
genghis cohn is a  very  mildly entertaining british movie about a german police commissioner in the late      s who is haunted by the ghost of a jewish comedian that he killed   years earlier while serving under hitler in the ss . the ghost comes back and wants his killer to live as a jew to atone for the murders he committed .  br    br   otto  the german policeman actually knows this ghost  s name because  the last thing he did before he died was said  in yiddish  kiss my ass  . the policeman didn  t speak yiddish  so he asked around until he found the meaning . the kiss my ass  left such an impression that everybody involved with that killing learned and remembered the comedian  s name  genghis cohn .  br    br   there are a bunch of men who are murdered in the jurisdiction of the police commissioner  and there are no helpful clues . the men are murdered with a set of knives that are missing from the local butcher . the butcher announces that his knives are missing while the commissioner is in the store to get a liver and onion sandwich  so the commissioner is a suspect . the first man is killed while making love to the butcher  s wife  so the butcher is a suspect . but the butcher maintains that he would be very busy if he killed every man that slept with his wife . all the men are killed immediately after the climax of lovemaking .  br    br   i think i might be a bit angrier than the ghost of genghis cohn if i was killed like he was . he seems to be very good  natured about it  as if he was just in a mild car accident . i can only guess that it is because it is a british movie and they are known for being a very polite people . he uses some of his material from his stand  up routing  and i just didn  t find it very funny .  br    br   i gave this movie a  because it was just kind of goofy . i thought it should have been a little more serious than it was . the movie turns out to be a murder mystery  where did this come from    and it seemed that genghis should have been more helpful than he was . the movie gave me a tiny look into jewish culture  but was only skin  deep . do all jews love liver and onion sandwiches  do they all say shtoop  and meshuganah  in their daily vocabulary  isn  t there more important stuff that we should know about the culture   br    br   i saw this movie at a jewish community center in berkeley  ca  and i was the only person in the room whose hair was not fully gray or white .  i have no gray or white hair .  there were   of us  and after the movie they stayed for about   minutes to discuss the movie . there were  main concerns expressed there  . the movie was way too light  hearted and future generations might not understand the gravity of what happened and  . as the holocaust survivors are dying off  future generations will not know what really happened . i thought that this second concern was ridiculous and i told them i thought they didn  t need to worry because there is tons of literature out there and there will always be people who like to watch movies  like myself . the murder of          people by a very bad man will not ever be forgotten . i write this last paragraph because they charged me with telling others about my experience that day .  
  angels in the outfield  was originally a     movie from the ted turner library disney remade it in      this time  using the california angels  now the los angeles angels  as the team  disney used to own this and the anaheim mighty ducks hockey team also  good use of the words  huh       .  br    br   this movie was about a couple of orphaned children who wanted a family . a man promised the boys a family  only if the angels won the pennant . so  he called upon god one night about this . the boy who prayed could see the help coming on the way  and only that boy   for instance  when the first angel had come down  a player hit a ball so hard not only did the bat break  so did the ball      for much of the post  all star season of      the angels were at the top of the al west  of which my home team the rangers is one and it still is  . however  they lost a game because the boy was at court instead of the white sox  angels game  there was no central division in baseball back then  hence chicago being in the west   and no angels were there to help . thus  a new rule was created no angels can help in championship games . but wait  in the final championship game  the angels won      it was a miracle indeed   br    br   what i liked about this film this is a good movie . i mean  i prayed every night for the last few years asking for help with school and stuff look at me now  my work was good      so for one  this shows that if you believe  god can send his angels down to help you with any troubles that you may have in life . and second  this is a family baseball movie  which is always exciting . this is an old disney movie  too i  ve seen this just recently on the new disney channel  blech       .  br    br    angels in the outfield  will change your life forever once you  ve seen it       br    br         
this seemed to be a good movie  i thought it would be a good movie  and throughout the movie i was hoping it would be a meaningful use of my time  and yes  i have to admit that the acting talent of dimple kapadia and deepti naval where truly commendable  but despite the best effort this movie falls short of effectively conveying a meaningful message  which it seems is it seemed was what somnath sen is trying to do . the final point comes short and the ending seemed kind of unsatisfactory after all that happens a bit like real life in that respect but movies unlike real life ends in about  hrs and the ending should leave the audience satisfied  if indeed that was the director  s intention . this falls short in that respect and that is what disappoints me the most .  br    br   another aspect that concerned me was the national stereo  typing of the american characters  they all seem to be carved out of the same block . seems to me that most american characters in indian english movies are based upon how common indians themselves perceive americans to be like and it is clear that no effort has been made to bring any sense of depth or complexity to any american in the movie .  br    br   these two aspects put together they make for a disappointing story .  
this movie is perfect for families to watch together . it is a great film and it deserves more credit . the special effects are stunning and spectacular . everyone who has children should share this with theirs .  
this has got to be one of those films where the trailer is   times better than the movie itself . i first saw the trailer in      it looked great . since then i have always wanted to see it but could never find it . . . . . until today  yes    years later .  br    br   lets just say i was so disappointed its unreal  ok i knew it wouldn  t be an oscar winner but still had hopes that it would be a fun no  brain film in the bloodsport mold . unfortunately it was not  it  s pooh  br    br   whats with all the american rock and roll music and the acting was so bad it was quite frightening .  br    br   the fight scenes were rubbish and look fake .  br    br   this dvd only cost me   and i believe i was overcharged by    br    br   now i  m sad as i know that i will never get that hour and a half back .  
robert taylor as the mad buffalo hunter charlie gilson is the main character in this film . at the beginning i was thinking that charlie would end up redeeming himself like john wayne in the searchers or james stewart in the naked spur . but as the film goes along gilson keeps doing more atrocities until you realize there is no hope for him . stewart granger is sandy mckenzie  who wants to stop hunting because he realizes that the buffaloes will soon be gone and he becomes disgusted by the act of killing . gilson is a natural killer who makes no distinction between animals or human beings . debra paget as the indian girl is a surprising character considering the self imposed censorship of that time . she lies with gilson in total resignation even though she hates him . the last scene of a frozen gilson  is unforgettable .  
i  m a big fan of troma but i can  t figure out why they bought the rights to this movie  it  s so boring i felt like i was watching for  hours . some where on the plot summary it says  but what satan doesn  t know he  s stuck with annoying tourists  well they didn  t seem to bother him in the movie  just me .  br    br   the only good thing about this movie is the actor who plays satan  i like bad movie  s but it was just boring .  
christopher lloyd is funny and really believable as  al the head angel  . this movie is much better than the first  but it has great special effects that the first did not have as well as a much better plot and writing .  br    br   ok  it was written for kids  but adults have as much fun as the kids do . tony danza does a very realistic job in his role  but this is not a taxi reunion .  br    br   danny glover is actually good and even seems to be very human in his emotions as well as showing some real acting talent for a change  a pleasant change .  br    br   watch at least once  it is worth the effort to catch it .  
oscar wilde  s comedy of manners  perhaps the wittiest play ever written  is all but wrecked at the hands of a second  rate cast . sanders is  as one would expect  casually  indolently brilliant in the role of lord darlington  but the rest of the cast makes the entire procedure a waste of time . jean crain attempts a stage accent in alternate sentences and the other members of the cast seem to believe this is a melodrama and not a comedy indeed  the entire production has bookends that reduce it to tragedy   doubtless the hays office insisted . preminger  s direction seems to lie mostly in making sure that there are plenty of servants about and even the music seems banal . stick with the visually perfect silent farce as directed by lubitsch or even the     screen version with helen hunt as mrs . erlynne or try reading the play for the pleasure of the words . but skip this version .  
this movie was one of the best disney movies i  ve ever seen . great for the entire family to watch . the ideas may be a little far  fetched  but it  s a feel  good comedy and the acting is great . love the little boy  j . p . and academy award winner adrien brody  s part may have been very short  but very memorable . highly recommended .  
i can sum this movie up using   words or less . way too predictable of a story line with potential to be funny but instead falls flat on its face . see    words  however  i didn  t completely pan this flick with just one star but instead decided to bump it up to two stars due to the fact that julie bowen is smoking hot and provided just enough eye candy to keep me from ripping the dvd right out from the machine and blowing it up with an m   . my advice  take the   .   rental fee you would have paid to see this movie and just send it right to me as an advance thank you for saving you the time and frustration of having to sit through this train wreck  or you may want to send me the    .   replacement fee you would have been charged from taking out your twelve gage to use this piece of garbage as skeet shooting practice .  
one of disney  s best films that i can enjoy watching often . you may easily guess the outcome  but who cares  its just plain fun escape for  hour forty  two minutes . and after all wasn  t movies meant to get away from reality for just a short time anyway  the cast sparkles with delight .  magictrain  
some illegal so  called asylum seeker comes to stuttgart and finds that germans are  racist .   br    br   this is just another already  forgotten steaming nugget in a long list of post  wwii anti  german propaganda films  aimed to make germans feel  bad  for not welcoming each and every degenerate in their country so he can chase german blonds and sell drugs to german teenagers .  br    br   if you  re looking for good german films in general  see  der tunnel    der untergang    europa europa   and  lola rennt .   br    br   but not this .  br    br   also   das experiment   with the same male actor from  lola rennt .   
one of disney  s best films that i can enjoy watching often . you may easily guess the outcome  but who cares  its just plain fun escape for  hour forty  two minutes . and after all wasn  t movies meant to get away from reality for just a short time anyway  the cast sparkles with delight .  magictrain  
an illegal immigrant resists the social support system causing dire consequences for many . well filmed and acted even though the story is a bit forced  yet the slow pacing really sets off the conclusion . the feeling of being lost in the big city is effectively conveyed . the little person lost in the big society is something to which we can all relate  but i cannot endorse going out of your way to see this movie .  
great movie and the family will love it   if kids are bored one day just pop the tape in and you  ll be so glad you did     br    br   rube  br    br   i luv raven  s   
run . . . do not walk away from this movie      aimed at the very young kids  this movie will bore you to tears . if the gamera trilogy of the    s raised the bar  this film just lowered it . it  s slow paced and the monster fighting is good  but seldom seen . this movie had me dry heaving in the cat box . just a very poor offering after a phenomenal    s series .  br    br   spoilers beyond this point            here are the top   reasons gamera fans of the    s series will hate this film .  br    br     . this movie is a drama that follows a kid trying to cope with the death of his mother and fears losing baby gamera to a fight after knowing his father saw the adult gamera die .  br    br    . you see the adult gamera for maybe a minute at the beginning of the film . he gets his butt kicked by a few gyaos and self destructs    he looks old and lethargic . plus he looks nothing like any gamera you  ve ever seen . his suit looked cheap and rushed .  br    br    . the young gamera you see through the rest of the film looks like a pokemon . big  eyed and cute . . . it will remind you of the baby godzilla from godzilla vs mechagodzilla  . gamera is now too cute .  br    br    . this movie has the pace of watching a nascar race during a  hour rain delay . i watched this movie with  other gamera fans and nobody was happy with how slowly this film moved along . i  ve seen an suv full of fat people going up a mountain road move faster .  br    br    . like godzillafinal wars  this movie had very little kaiju time on screen . final wars had much more  actually  and better fights although short .  br    br    . kids take the title role . the friend of all children theme and poor writing killed the original gamera series in the      s and history repeats itself in the      s . the most successful gamera films abandoned the sesame street feel and went to a darker place . why go back to a failed formula  this was to be a new trilogy and poor ticket sales killed any hope for this story to continue  thank god  .  br    br    . gamera lost his iconic roar . he now sounds like an elephant with strep throat .  br    br    . this movie may produce a new olympic event . . . . . imagine a relay race that involves sending very young children into harm  s way . you have to see the ending to understand this point . where were the parents  oh yea . . right there sending their kids into a kaiju battle zone .  br    br    . the special effects were good  but sub  par for a gamera movie . legion and iris had better effects . the best effect was showing the apple sized baby gamera fly . not too impressive .  br    br    . this movie is just not what adult kaiju fans come to expect . the director was involved in power rangers and it shows . it comes off like a cross between et  always sunset on third street and tmnt . kudos if you know all  references .  br    br   rental at best or watch once if you buy it to complete the dvd series .  
i happened to catch this movie on cable one afternoon . i have to admit that i  ve never been a big baseball fan  but i can sometimes get into a good sports  related movie . what i found more interesting was the depiction of the foster family system . as a therapist who has seen both the good and the bad of the community mental health and foster system  i though it was rather refreshing to see a movie that showed both the ups and downs of this system people jumping from family to family  biological parents not always taking an active involvement  and transitions that can be but heart  wrenching and heart  melting . joseph gordon  levitt and danny glover are the anchor of this film  and both bring very believable performances . maybe it was just my emotional state  but i did find myself shedding a tear at the end of the film .  
this is a very odd film . . . i wasn  t really sure what is was about  some n london lowlifes find a mute kid in the woods that they all believe is some kind of oracle and somehow makes them all  in their own way  change something about their lives that usually ends in disaster . the film ended after about   minutes leaving me feeling quite unsatisfied  almost annoyed at the pointlessness of it all . i didn  t care about any of the characters  none of them get a chance to endear themselves to the viewer .  br    br   what was the message  am i being dim  it was just too odd . what happens to runner  why does emilio shoot the kid  . . . that made absolutely no sense  pointless . can someone help me understand this mess of a film   
the quality of this movie is simply unmatched by any baseball title of its time . pam dixon branches out in the film industry to recruit blue  chip prospects and make this work of art a must  see . academy award winners brenda fricker  home alone lost in new york  a time to kill   ben johnson  the last picture show  red dawn   and adrien brody  the pianist  the village  amplify the atmosphere of the movie  drawing in an anxious audience . however  the dramatic performances are neutralized by quirky radio broadcaster jay o . sanders  jfk  the day after tomorrow  .  br    br   the story is centralized around a foster child  up  and  coming actor joseph gordon  levitt  brick  the lookout  . sidekick milton davis jr . delivers a tear  jerking performance as the longtime friend who never knew his parents . the two don  t have much  but what they do have angels  baseball  and what they are seeking identity . that  s when   time emmy nominee danny glover  lethal weapon  predator   comes in to save the day as frustrated angels manager  george knox . in relation  all characters in the story seem to have the same mission search within themselves to find out who they really are .  br    br   depressed over the fact that roger  jgl  is separated from his father  he wishes to god for reunification if the angels can take the pennant . odds are astronomical  but   time emmy winner christopher lloyd  back to the future  my favorite martian  comes in as the omniscient overseer to work a little magic  pun  . before you know it  al  lloyd  is sitting with roger in the stands  snacking on cracker jacks  and causing some of baseball  s biggest boners  dorothy kingsley and george wells   dk oscar nominee gw oscar winner      screenplay is done justice under the finger of mastermind william dear  nominated in directors guild of america  . he includes a touching side story centered around pitcher mel clark  played by tony danza    time golden globe nominee  emmy nominee   who in relation to all other cast members is just trying to find his place in a confused anaheim . clark has been dubbed a wash  up  a once big  name in cinci  but he has something to prove to manager knox .  br    br   spoiling this nail  biting plot would simply be the equivalent to committing adultery in the   th century . this one is a diamond in the rough  and it will keep you on the edge of the seat until all come to peace . did i mention a cameo by matthew mcconaughey  a time to kill  we are marshall  for all you ladies out there   
i am rarely moved to make these kind of comments but after sitting through most of rankin  s dreadful movie i feel like i have really earned the right to say what i feel about it  i couldn  t actually make it right to the end  and became one of the half dozen or more walk outs  about    rd of the audience  after the ragged plot  woeful dialogue and insulting characterisation became just too much to bear . this film is all pose and no art . all style and no substance . it is weighed down by dreadful acting  a genuinely dire script  indifferent cinematography and student  level production values . how it got funded  started  and finished is a mystery to me . i bet you a million quid it never goes on general release . the proper critics would tear it apart . a really bad film . shockingly bad . a really really really poor effort and that is without even mentioning the gratuitous new  born  kitten  gets  dropped  into  a  deep  fat  fryer moment . totally meaningless  utterly lightweight  poorly put together this movie is a dreadful embarrassment for uk cinema .  
i have to say despite it  s reviews angels in the outfield was a pretty good movie . i like the fact how it teaches kids to always have faith and never give up because yes miracles can happen . unlike the other baseball movies this one particular movie stood out because of hits amazing special effects and well orchestrated soundtrack which was very interesting . though i liked this movie it did have some flaws such as some irrelevancy  i . e . towards the end when ray mitchell hits a homer he doesn  t step on the plate and therefore that wouldn  t be a score . but that  s just nitpicking .  i have to say i was really impressed with this movie  s presence and moral just have faith  don  t give up .  
without question  the worst film i  ve seen for a long while . i endured to the end because surely there must be something here  but no . the plot  when not dealing in clichs  rambles to the point of non  existence dialogue that is supposed to be street is simply hackneyed characters never develop beyond sketches set  pieces are clichd . worse  considering its co  director  the photography is only so  so .  br    br   comments elsewhere that elevate this alongside get carter  long good friday or kaspar hauser are way way off the mark lives of the saints lacks their innovation let alone their depth and shading . in short  their craft . a ruthless editor could probably trim it down to a decent    minute short  but as it stands it  s a  th form film project realised on a million  pound scale rambling and bloated with its own pretensions . that it received funding  surely only because of rankin  s name  while other small films struggle for cash is depressing for the british film industry .  
this movie  while seemingly based off of a movie of the same title in     released by mgm and starring janet leigh  is still a great film . danny glover in one of his best performances brings george knox  a down on his luck baseball manager with a short temper  to life . as for this movie being  stacked   how about adding christopher lloyd  his stage experience works and shows through in his performances on screen  a wonderful actor   joseph gordon  levitt  third rock from the sun   brenda fricker  a charming and well seasoned irish actress   tony danza  yes even he is good in this film   matthew mcconaughey  he stole the show in dazed and confused  and his role may not be as pivotal in this film  but he got exposure   adrien brody  what i said about matthew mcconaughey goes the same for adrien  except the dazed and confused part   some great character actors like taylor negron  david   tony longo  messmer   jay o . sanders  ranch wilder   neal mcdonough  whitt bass  and a seasoned veteran in one of his final performances  ben johnson  hank murphy  the owner of the california angels   and the rest of the cast does a great job  plus a great storyline that is uplifting to pretty much anyone  i don  t care what recesses of depression you  re in . i loved this film as a kid  and it brings back memories when i watch it today . i need this on dvd . i recommend it to any parent who  s looking for something their kids have not seen  and everybody else  for that matter .  
the lives of the saints starts off with an atmospheric vision of london as a bustling city of busy  quaint streets and sunshine . i was hoping it would maintain this atmosphere  but it gets bogged down in a story that goes pretty much nowhere .  br    br   othello works for big  fat mr . karva  his crime  boss step  dad  at least i think that is what he is supposed to be because it  s never really defined  but he does drop kittens into deep fat friers  so trust me  he  s a prick  doing scrappy little errands while his skanky girlfriend gives daddy hand  jobs . one of his colleagues is runner  a black dude who is always dashing from a to b . until the day he comes across almost mute homeless child who grants him his wish of being able to stop running . runner dumps the lost boy in othello  s flat  where he promptly starts granting more wishes . keen to have some of his own desires fulfilled  karva has the boy kidnapped . but he isn  t sure of what would really bring him happiness . is it the innocence of being a child again or is it another hand  job  either way  i don  t want to see the little boy grant him the second .  br    br   it just takes ages to get going and there are loads of repetitive scenes . the ending tries to be shocking but since there  s hardly any back  story on investment in any of these characters it only serves as a release for the bored audience .  br    br   writer tony grisoni  a favourite of terry gilliam  tries to blend in some kind of religious allegory which ends up being pretentious as all hell  ironically . if he gave us something more accessible or at least had better explanations for the characters suddenly acting all weird then it would have been a more enjoyable film . as it is  we are introduced to a bunch of annoying loudmouths who then miraculously seem to develop intelligence when confronted by the mysterious boy . who  s origins are never revealed . that  s just plain irritating   br    br   aside from sporadic moments of atmosphere and a moody score  this film has little to recommend .  
one piece of trivia that is often forgotten about this family film is one of business .  br    br   at the time  in      this movie held the record for the biggest movie premiere in motion picture history  and may continue to hold  . it was held in pittsburgh  pennsylvania  no doubt in honor of the original film  s  angels  who  haunted  the pittsburgh pirates . in this remake they  haunt  the california angels .  br    br   anyway  the premiere was held at the long gone three rivers stadium which was the home of the pittsburgh pirates and the pittsburgh steelers at the time  the pirates are now housed in pnc park and the steelers at heinz field  . the premiere was held on a movie screen that was five stories in height inside the stadium and held  and may even continue to hold  the record for the largest movie premiere in history  shown to       fans . danny glover  tony danza and christopher lloyd were all in attendance to the admiration of thousands of sports fans .  
i had watched  the eye  before i watched this one . i really liked  the eye   it was one of the best movies of the recent asian horror  cinema . so  i picked this  bangkok haunted  because it was the same director  and it was kind of popular round here . but man  what a disappointment . . .  bangkok haunted  are three stories about love  revenge  ghosts  etc . that are no scary at all  not even disturbing  as  the eye  was  . . . no nothing . i can  t even fill the   lines required for the comment . . .  br    br       boring .  br    br   my rate      
richard brooks  the last hunt was a film star stewart granger couldn  t even stand to hear mentioned  he even tore up a vintage poster for the film when presented it for signing in his later years  but then the director did run off with his wife  so it  s understandable . for anyone else this is one of the best of the adult westerns of the   s  and years ahead of its time in its attitude to the environment .  br    br   in many ways it plays almost like a sequel to one of anthony mann  s westerns that see their heroes dragged to their redemption kicking and screaming against it every step in the way . here granger  s legendary buffalo hunter has already seen the light but  after a buffalo stampede costs him his herd of cattle in a fit of poetic justice  he  s dragged back into the darkness by robert taylor  s callous and proudly racist gunslinger  justifying it on the grounds that  i  ve already got the guilty conscience . i might as well have the money as well .  raised by indians  he  s fully aware of the damage he  s doing as the disappearing buffalo heads for extinction  and he gradually becomes almost as consumed with self  loathing as taylor is with hate . when the two men fall out over debra paget  s squaw  the sole survivor of a band of indians taylor kills  and a white buffalo hide that  s priceless to the hunters and the indians for very different reasons  a showdown becomes inevitable  though the outcome certainly isn  t .  br    br   taylor  s is certainly ironic casting  it was granger turning down many of the epic roles mgm developed for him in films like quo vadis and ivanhoe that gave taylor his   s comeback after years of steady decline . his hair color may not convince but his performance does  a shallow and violent man so consumed with hate that he doesn  t wear a gun  the gun wears him . granger  s accent isn  t always convincing  but he makes a good quiet hero in the jimmy stewart mold  trying to keep hold of his newfound decency and reconcile his actions with his beliefs before finally getting a chance to make amends . russ tamblyn  s halfbreed skinner and lloyd nolan  s one  legged old  timer also give as good as they get  but the real star is the script tightly plotted with an excellent eye and ear for character  not to mention an ending stanley kubrick borrowed for the shining  it balances historical revisionism with entertaining drama without ever selling either short . the new french dvd is extras  free but does boast a  .     transfer with an english soundtrack .  
i completely agree with jamrom  . . this was the single most horrible movie i have ever seen . . holy crap it was terrible . . i was warned not to see it . . and foolishly i watched it anyway . . about   minutes into the painful experience i completely gave up on watching the atrocity . . but sat through until the end . . just to see if i could . . well i did and now i wish i had not . . it was disgusting . . nothing happened and the ending was all preachy . . no movie that bad has the right to survive . . i implore all of you to spare yourself the terror of fatty drives the bus . . if only i had heeded the same warning . . please save yourself from this movie . . i have a feeling those who rated it highly were involved in the making of the movie . . and should all be wiped off the face of the planet . .  
this film was pretty good . i am not too big a fan of baseball  but this is a movie that was made to help understand the meaning of love  determination  heart  etc .  br    br   danny glover  joseph gordon  levitt  brenda fricker  christopher lloyd  tony danza  and milton davis jr . are brought in with a variety of talented actors and understanding of the sport . the plot was believable  and i love the message . william dear and the guys put together a great movie .  br    br   most sports films revolve around true stories or events  and they often do not work well . but this film hits a   on the perfectness scale  even though there were a few minor mistakes here and there .  br    br         
times are tough for angel town  gangs rule with an iron fist and for reasons mostly unknown  mainly due to embarrassing writing  the gangs want a street kid  martine to join the gangs  so they beat him up everyday . however due to the presence of an olympic kick  boxer  olivier  world  s lamest actor  gruner  named jacques  hope is on the way . angel town is seriously one of the most inept message movies ever made  and i  ve seen my share  it seems to consist of the idea that all gang infested neighborhoods need  are french kick  boxers who can  t act . worst of all there are so many awkward moments it  s just truly hilarious . best of all comes from the exchange between gruner and aragon which basically sums up how ridiculous this thing is . to wit  you like the fighting   olivier grabs his asian best friend in a headlock  i could kill him right  when i want him dead he dies  the reason why i don  t want him dead is because i  m afraid of him  and i know that if i kill him his son and wife will kill me  that  s why he doesn  t die    br    br   of course the fact that it  s wrong to kill someone  let alone your best friend is of course left out of the equation . odd .  br    br   however don  t let me make this sound that i hated this movie  far from it  it  s so terrible it  s priceless . the biggest laughs come at the end in the disastrous finale which sees grunner going one on one with gang  members who  the film  s biggest logic gap  decline the use of pistols . also a handicapped vietnam vet helps out by shooting his machine gun at the gangs  while gruner kick  boxes the rest . all of this set to the sound of horrible  mexican  accents and surreal energy that make this one memorable for fans of cinematic trash such as this .  br    br   the other treat about this movie  is that for some reason olivier gruner never attends college despite that  s the main reason he  s here in the states and not in france getting it on with his girlfriend  in a graveyard in the film  s awkward beginning  angel town is without a doubt a failure on all conceivable levels but if you laugh at moronic martial arts movies with insane levels of action that make no sense on any level  this is the perfect movie for you . on the other hand make sure to down tequila  like the laughable opening song details  ain  t no mercy in angel town   br    br    out of    bad   
this was a top  notch movie with a top  notch cast . danny glover  tony danza  joseph gordon  levitt  and especially christopher lloyed are well  cast in this charming movie about real  life angels helping the angels baseball team . you never know  it could happen . i loved lloyd  s role in it . he was hilarious . the story is about turning your life around  as the kid  s belief in angels helped turn around angry  hardened  and embittered manager glover see the best in people . the movie was well made and also about seeing the best in people and reaching your dreams . it was funny  charming  touching  and sad  all very nicely done . you will like  or love  it . i guarantee .  br    br    out of   
olivier gruner stars as jacques a foreign exchange college student who takes on and single handedly wipes out a mexican street gang in this obnoxious and racist film which is so horrible that it  s laughable . bad acting  bad plot and bad fight choreography make angel town a turkey .  
i saw this film on tv many years ago and i saw this film when i got this on tape . i thought that this was reasonably well done . it was not the best of all movies  but it was good enough . the movie has enough talent to inspire many people  especially younger kids . the acting was good  with danny glover leading the cast . the plot line was not very believable  but the script was well written . this movie can also be the interest of avid baseball fans . it does not directly apply to a action  packed sports movie . it directly applies to a nice film that you can watch with your family and learn some messages that are hidden in this film . overall  the film was good  but not great . i give this a movie a     .  
oliver gruner is totally unknown to me . my friend showed me this film because he had seen gruner in  what he called a pretty good sci  fi film  nemesis . so as we watched this  we found ourselves fastforwarding through the bs drama parts just to get to the unbelievable action sequences . gruner loves to kick and kick and kick . and kick  haha  br    br   gruner character is a graduate student who is forced to stay in a ghetto close to the one that he grew up in . he finds himself watching after the boy who lives with him because he really wants to join in the mexican gang that keeps tormenting his family . instead of joining up  gruner tells the boy to fight back  against a gang  too crazy  . gruner plays a typical van damme character who kills everyone  or maims them pretty bad  and works to rid his block of these gangmembers .  br    br   the plot was very cheesy and easy to think of . gruner is probably not very well known because of his script  choosing if this movie is anything to compare possible choices to . this ghetto is pure hell and i enjoyed seeing the motley crew of characters go through it as if they have a chance against gruner  s character . the music was typical action music  thumping pianos and timpani  swelling guitars  which actually wasn  t as bad as i make it sound . the director really needed to keep the action going instead of taking a break every  minutes for a tense family moment .  br    br   ultimately  i gave it a     because it really tried to be an average action film for oliver gruner to star in  but the overall feel of the film leaves you wanting more closure on what you just saw .  
i think this is a lovely family movie . there are plenty of hilarious scenes and heart  warming moments to be had throughout the movie . the actors are great and the effects well executed throughout . danny glover plays george knox who manages the terrible baseball team  the angels  and is great throughout the film . also fantastic are the young actors joseph gordon  levitt and milton davis jr . christopher lloyd is good as al  the angel  and the effects are great in this top notch disney movie . a touching and heart  warming movie which everyone should enjoy .  
my kid makes better videos than this  i feel ripped off of the   .   spent renting this thing  there is no date on the video case  apparently designed by wellspring and  what  s even worse  there  s no production date for the original film listed anywhere in the movie  the only date given is      leading an unsuspecting renter to believe he  s getting a recent film .  br    br   this movie was so bad from a standpoint of being outdated and irrelevant for any time period but precisely when it was made  that i  m amazed that anyone would take the time and expense to market it as a video . it might be of interest to students studying the counter  culture of the      s  the anti  war  anti  establishment  tune  in  turn  on and drop out culture but when you read the back of the video case  there  s no hint that that is what you  re getting . if you do make the mistake of renting it though  it is probably best viewed while on drugs  so that your mind will more closely match the wavelength of the minds of the directors  fassbinder and fengler . regardless of your state of mind while watching it  i can tell you that it doesn  t get any better after the first scene so  knowing that  i  m sure you  ll be fast asleep long before the end .  
at first you think another disney movie  it might be good  but it  s a kids movie . but when you watch it  you can  t help but enjoy it . all ages will love this movie . i first saw this movie when i was   and now  years later i still love it  danny glover is superb and could not play the part any better . christopher lloyd is hilarious and is perfect for the part . tony danza is so believable as mel clark . you can  t help  but to enjoy this movie  i give it a        
i sat through almost one episode of this series and just couldn  t take anymore . it felt as though i  d watched dozens of episodes already  and then it hit me . . . . . there  s nothing new here  i  ve heard that joke on seinfeld  i saw someone fall like that on friends  an episode of happy days had almost the same storyline  ect . none of the actors are interesting here either  some were good on other shows  not here   and others are new to a profession they should have never entered . avoid this stinker   
although i don  t usually go for relentlessly heartwarming fare like this  i happened to catch the     version of angels in the outfield  aito  on cable one saturday morning just as it was starting . being an adrien brody fan  i was curious to see what brody was like as a youth of      when he filmed it  i suppose  in this early role as danny hemmerling  utility infielder for the california angels  in the     original  the hard  luck baseball team was the pittsburgh pirates . the name change is a nice touch  since it turns the title into wordplay  . i decided to give the flick a chance  and it turned out to be a pretty painless  even amiable experience  with a decent balance of laughs  tears  sweetness  and baseball  based excitement . also  my   year  old daughter liked the angel effects     directed by mike nesmith  s frequent collaborator william dear  aito is the story of roger  joseph gordon  levitt   a foster child who prays real hard after his ne  er  do  well dad  the convincingly sleazy dermot mulroney  sarcastically says they  ll be a family again once the last  place california angels win the pennant . soon roger starts seeing real angels at the angels  games  led by christopher lloyd  whose usual zany  eccentric irreverence keeps aito from plummeting irretrievably into the schmaltz zone . crusty manager george knox  danny glover in world  weary  exasperated mode  is a hard sell  but once the team starts winning  he believes roger  s angel sightings  and soon knox has roger and his cute li  l pal and fellow foster kid j . p .  the adorable milton davis jr .  at every angels game for good luck . knox even starts toning down his own temperamental outbursts and profane language  as much to appease the angels as for the kids  sake  resulting in a funny bit when he starts dressing down an umpire in his usual way but starts editing himself as he goes along . predictable obstacles ensue  such as obnoxious sportcaster ranch wilder  jay o . sanders  trying to make trouble for knox because of the angel angle . sure  it all works out fine for our heroes in the end  but they  re so darn amiable you don  t mind     baby  faced brody has a couple of good lines  i especially like his exchange with glover about the emotional impact of the national anthem at a ballgame  as well as a cute bit where a pretty blonde angel massages his shoulders before he goes up to bat . brody isn  t the only future star in aito  s lineup his teammates include matthew mcconaughey and neal mcdonough  and of course  young gordon  levitt went on to co  star in tv  s  rd rock from the sun as well as such films as   things i hate about you . the always  amusing taylor negron and oscar winners  but not for this film    brenda fricker and ben johnson lend able support . if you  re a baseball fan who wants to rent a movie appropriate for the kids and check out some notable young actors before they became stars  aito    will do nicely .  
billy chung siu hung  s  the bloody swordplay film assassin from      film love to kill  hong kong       is among the strongest products of the category iii boom that inhabited the hk cinema in early nineties . it consisted of films with strong sex  nudity and violence  more or less gratuitous and shock valued only . love to kill definitely belongs to the  more  category with some unforgettable ideas and pieces of celluloid sickness .  br    br   the hk psycho anthony wong  from the award winning the untold story by herman yau  from the same year  plays a business man and a husband who likes to torture  humiliate and rape his young wife  elizabeth lee mei fung  who for some reason doesn  t leave him and save herself and their little son from the disturbed tormentor . a policeman  danny lee  the famous police character actor from films like dr . lamb       by billy tang  and co  directed by lee  and the killer       by john woo to name just a few  however sees the problem and starts to protect the wife and the son but anthony naturally doesn  t like this at all  and leads it all into the typical ultra  mean spirited and graphic finale during a rain storm .  br    br   the film is almost completely without any serious merits as it  s just a piece of exploitation in order to cash in when these kind of films were so popular . the imagery and happenings are something never found in the western cinema  at least in mainstream  and it all becomes even more mind  blowing when some  most taboos for westerners  like violence and perversions witnessed by a child  are broken in these films so often that reading the plotlines alone would make most viewers feel sick  and that goes perfectly especially for this film too .  br    br   the film still has a rather interesting and creepy soundtrack in the tradition of the mentioned dr . lamb which practically started the whole boom in     . usually the music and soundtrack in hk films is interesting and adds to the imagery  especially in these terror films . also the cinematography is worth mentioning as the film bathes  especially in the finale  in blue colors and camera lenses  as does assassin  too   and the raging storm is captured nicely on the camera . otherwise there  s nothing that would rate the film any higher other than on the nastiness  meter .  br    br   the actors and actresses are talented and professional and so don  t make the film any worse with their acting . still the film has the usual hk humor in it which makes the sick goings  on even sicker as some  humor  is thrown into the soup . that includes some jokes about danny lee  s erection and so on . . something that could never be found in the western  serious  films either . and that thing usually destroys mane otherwise noteworthy hk films as the humor is just so obvious way and attempt to entertain the audience and masses .  br    br   the film has a very high outrageousness level as it has numerous scenes depicting the abuse of wong  s wife in various ways . she gets raped and molested  beaten and kicked by her husband . we also get to see some flashbacks from wong  s own childhood which turns out to be equally violent as his own father killed too and turned his young son into what he is now . these flashback scenes  mostly at the end of the film  include also some totally unexpected experiences as the imagery is speeded up  for example the hits of an axe  and that creates completely insane and mean spirited atmosphere to the scene . again something that only hk exploitation makers seem to be able to come up with . the ending itself includes plenty of sudden and shocking gore as the madman wields his axe and meets also some nails  for example  on his furious way .  br    br   the film is also genuinely pretty  suspicious  in my opinion as the violence and terror is realistically painful and deals with things that should never be taken as entertainment  mostly i mean rape . the version i saw  i  ve seen two versions  includes a very long and completely nauseating rape scene that just tries to be as sadistic as possible . i  m not sure does the hk audience really like imagery like this but i think no one with some sense for morality in films  entertainment would never accept or make something like it . women get brutalized and killed in the most sadistic and low ways so that the fates of the men seem almost tame when compared to the females .  br    br   the other version i saw  the newly released dvd in hk  without subtitles  has this  table brutality  scene in a much longer form than the subtitled taiwanese dvd which is otherwise identical to the hk version . i  ve also heard that the old hk laserdisc is different from these two and since the end credits are filled with scenes and images not found in the actual film  it is impossible to say how  uncut  versions these that have been released or shown theatrically are . obviously plenty of footage has been cut out  possibly even before the theatrical release .  br    br   the film is written by law gam fai and lau wing kin  the former having written also films like dr . lamb  the untold story and gunmen  kirk wong       but out of his other films that i  ve seen  love to kill is the most gratuitous . dr . lamb and the untold story both are very brutal and violent but have also some attempt to some criticism towards the authorities and men in general as how it is easy to turn into a beast when chasing or fighting one . the harrowing torture imagery of the untold story  the victim being the criminal  is very strong and definitely has its impact to change something that may be rotten in the society and among the police for example . but there  s none of this in love to kill  it is just honest  calculated and fastly made exploitation which is  by the way  produced by a veteran director kirk  organized crime  triad bureau        crime story        wong   br    br   love to kill earns no more than     from me as i don  t have too high appreciation on films like this .  hk  cinema is meant to be and can be more and films like love to kill are only commercial parasites living among the real pieces of the art .  
i really enjoyed this movie as a young kid . at that age i thought that the silly baseball antics were funny and that the movie was  cool  because of it  s about sports . now  several years later  i can look back and see what a well designed movie this was . this movie opened my eyes as a small child to the struggles other children dealt with and real world issues . that kind of exposure is largely lacking in kids movies these days which i don  t think is to our society  s benefit . sure the baseball antics seem really dumb now  but they drew kids in . no seven year old is going to ask to see a movie about foster children  but they will ask to see a movie about baseball . disney realized this fact and took advantage of it to teach these children an important lesson about the world .  br    br   as a young adult the performance of al and the other angels seems far less impressive  however i will give credit to the actors playing both children and danny glover who all did a fantastic job .  
this movie is really wack . there is really nothing nice i can say about it  besides the moral truth expressed in the film  s climax concerning people in the neighborhood participating in the fight against crime . besides all that  the film had nothing no good shots  no good acting  and no good script . i give this film a f and a  out   .  
that was definitely the case with angels in the outfield . it was on tv last night and i believe i hadn  t seen the film since my sophomore year in high school and i  m now in my  th year of college . although the film has many flaws  it is just so touching that you can  t help but sit down  watch it  and enjoy yourself . it is also hilarious . danny glover  s ranting is just so over the top that you can  t help but laugh out loud at him at most time . it adds to the film and i  m sure it  s exactly what the director wanted . you actually feel for the characters in the film even though the development isn  t the best . a must see . i highly recommend .  br    br        
superhero movies pretty much always suck  and this is no exception . its only redeeming quality is the fact the movie could have been even worse . i would put  batman  robin  and  steel  above this movie  so yes it is that bad . . .  br    br   if your looking for a black superhero  check out  blankman  its not a  serious  superhero movie but at least its entertaining .  
i enjoy movies like this for their spirit  no pun intended . its a decent  clean movie about a baseball team that  s falling behind  and a young fan wishes for them to win  since his deadbeat dad said that was the only way he  d come back for him .  br    br   the spirit shines through in two ways a funny cast with danny glover and a young joseph gordon  levitt  and the heavenly herald al  taking the dynamic form of christopher lloyd . its an energetic movie . it gets you smiling  and really involves you in the sport .  br    br   therein lies my gripe . the one thing that kinda bugs me is these sports movies that kind of turn you into an unexpecting fan for the team . there  s absolutely nothing wrong with that . i just find it odd that i should come away from the movie thinking the angels are a strong  cool team  when really my base loyalty  such as it is  lies with the toronto blue jays . it  s interesting  really . if it  s just a movie about an underdog kids team  then its okay .  
the movie began well enough . it had a fellow get hit by a glowing green meteorite  getting superpowers  telekinesis  x  ray vision  invulnerability  flight  the ability to speak to dogs  superspeed  heat vision  and the ability to make plants grow large and quickly   and fighting crime . from there on it  s all downhill .  br    br   meteor man gets a costume from his mom  fights with the resident gangs  and has many aborted encounters with the gang leaders which serves to set you up for the disappointing  overlong  and stupefying ending .  br    br   it wouldn  t be so remarkably bad if it weren  t like watching a boxing match where the two fighters pretend to hit each other while the audience stands looking onward while the fighters just continue to dance .  br    br   despite all of this nonsense the movie has good points . it states clearly that if you try to take on a gang alone then they  ll come back to your home and hurt you . it states that gangs  communities need to see their real enemies  the big bosses that use them for their own ends to crush honest people into a ghetto existence  . it also states that people do not need superheroes if they are willing to work as a community do destroy the predators that harm them . the only message it really lacks is that the voters should ensure their elected officials  rudolph giuliani  marion barry  ronald reagan  george w . bush   george h . w . bush  aren  t crooks too .  br    br    
i have always like this great baseball movie  it has a good cast including two tremendous actors and two of my favorites danny glover and christopher lloyd  also in this movie is ben johnson  brenda fricker  big tony longo  tony danza  and matthew mcconaughey  also jay o . sanders and dermot mulroney  the film has great special effects and acting from all of the film  s actors  the baseball scenes are all realistic  the music by composer randy edelman is very good and it fits the film very well  some of the actors who reminded me the actual baseball personalities . stoney jackson  s ray mitchell character reminded me royce clayton  mcconaughey  s character reminded me of steve finley  and jay o . sanders  s commentator in my opinion resembled how al hrabosky looks today . this is a fantastic movie for non and baseball fans and i strongly recommend this film   
let me tell you something about this movie . i have seen it twice . the first time i was a kid and the movie was quite entertaining to me . i really liked it . i thought it was funny and interesting and the main character was kind of cool .  br    br   i saw it again a few days ago . it was horrible . really . i don  t know why i thought it was funny before but now . . . i didn  t laugh at all . there was nothing even slightly entertaining . it was just dumb . the story was weak . the acting was nothing special . there are great actors in this movie but still the acting is mediocre at best .  br    br   what is the worst is the fact that this movie is racist . really . don  t get me wrong  usually i don  t complain about racism in movies . however i have seen people complaining about the lack of black men in movies like  the shaolin temple  or about the fact that the only black man in  the street fighter  is one of the bad guys or . . . whatever  you get the point . there are people seeing racism everywhere . i wonder how would they react to a movie like  the meteor man  . why  i will tell you why . there are no asians in this movie . there are no white people among the good guys . in fact there is only one white guy in the entire movie and he is the leader of the bad guys . all the good guys are african americans . don  t get me wrong  i don  t care is the good guy is black or white or yellow or pink or green . . . what i do care about is the fact that we can barely see a white person in this movie . this is the only movie like that that i have ever seen . it is just not realistic . if there is only one black man in a japanese movie which is the case with  the street fighter  there is no problem  in japan most of the people are asians . but if there is only one white man in an american movie there is some sort of problem  in usa most of the people are white . it is like filming a japanese movie with entirely white cast and only one asian as a bad guy . just not real .  br    br   that is it . i am giving the movie the rate of     . it would be     if i hadn  t have fun with it as a kid .  
the memory of the  the last hunt  has stuck with me since i saw it in     when i was   . it is a movie that was far ahead of others at the time in that it addressed the treatment of the natives  the environment  and the ever present contrast between the short and long term effects of greed . it is as relevant today as in      a cinemagraphic discussion of utmost depth and relevance . to top it off the setting is beautiful and the cinematography excellent . the memory of this movie will be with me to the end of my days .  
you know how sometimes you can watch a crappy movie with friends and laugh at all the shortcomings of the movie  well this was beyond that . i bought the dvd at tower records because it was like   .   and i  d heard this was a movie you could laugh at . it is really nothing short of pathetic . about   minutes into the movie  my friends started asking me to turn it off . around   minutes they begged me . after an hour  we compromised to fast forward to the end  so we could see how the conflict was resolved  and because we had been watching the whole time for matt walsh  . seriously  don  t watch this movie . it is beyond painful .  
as a baseball die  hard  this movie goes contrary to what i expect in a sports movie authentic  looking sports action  believable characters  and an original story line . while  angels in the outfield  fails miserably in the first category  it succeeds beautifully in the latter two .  angels  weaves the story of roger and j . p .  two anaheim foster kids in love with baseball but searching for a family  with that of the woebegone angels franchise  struggling to draw fans and win games . pushed by his deadbeat father  s promise that they would be a family only when the angels win the pennant  roger asks for some heavenly help  and gets it in the form of diamond  dwelling spirits bent on reversing the franchise  s downward spiral . and  when short  fused manager george knox  portrayed by danny glover  begins believing in what roger sees  the team suddenly has hope for turning their season around   and roger and j . p . find something to believe in . glover in particular gives a nice performance  and tony danza  playing a washed  up pitcher  also does well  despite clearly having zero idea of how to pitch out of the windup   
well  i  d be lying if i said that this could easily rival spiderman or the batman movies . still  it was more appealing to me for it  s moral value . i first bought the vhs when my son was about  years old and it immediately became his favorite . my wife and i are avid supporters of robert townsend and have been since he used credit cards to finance his first movie   hollywood shuffle  . true  he needs to take advantage of the talents and knowledge of technical advisors to make the films more believable  but his movies are still fun .  br    br   meteor man provides a hero with an urban contemporary feel . i always felt that  if there were superheroes  they wouldn  t provide the same scenarios as depicted in the comics . meteor man is realistic hero with real problems car broken into  bad neighborhood  local drug  dealing gangs using children for distribution  etc . the scope of his mission stayed pretty much within the community .  br    br   what i found to be truly entertaining  outside of james earl jones   young forever  performance  was how the neighborhood responded to his newly discovered powers . it wasn  t long before they had a full agenda lined up for him  without his input  of course . it was hilarious to hear them offer to lend him out to other communities where their extended families lived .  br    br   yes  the plot was weak  the movie was predictable  there was bad acting and continuity was rotten  but it ranks   with my kids . robert townsend works to bring movies  home  so to speak . i doubt he  ll ever truly be recognized as the talented actor  producer  director he truly is  but there are and will always be  those that love him for his efforts .  br    br   one point to ponder about the film  which i find amusing throughout the entire battle with simon  no one bothered to call the police     also  what mother and father do you know that will watch their son fight from a window  my mother would have been right there  scrapping by my side  toe  to  toe . dad would be loading his pistol . lol  br    br   rent it and check it out . it  s worth seeing at least once and good for those of you that are fans of sinbad  luther vandross  bill cosby  big daddy kane  etc . great job with the cameos robert   
they  re not jawing journalists cary grant and rosalind russell from  his girl friday  or witty detective william powell and sassy lady myrna loy from thin man  but woody allen and scarlett johansson are surprisingly charming as amateur sleuths in scoop . their screwball repartee is more postmodern than post depression  allen  s writing filled with ironic self deprecation and plain old new york angst . shades of the old wit occur rarely  such as when he  as sid  the great splendini magician  responds about his background  i was born into the hebrew persuasion  but when i got older i converted to narcissism .  johansson  fresh from allen  s match point as a bad girl  here gets to be a relatively good  sometimes ditsy journalism student caught in a murder mystery suitable for london a serial killer . the plot is a reworking of his recent london  based thriller match point  right down to the upper  class sins and the  american tragedy   place in the sun boating  accident .  as a matter of fact  allen is reworking manhattan murder mystery and purple rose of cairo to name just a couple of other examples . i care not if he reworks i would like the new material to be at least the equal of the originals  and  alas  it is just a reflection of his younger greatness .  br    br   allen as director and actor can  t hide his love for the actress  as he couldn  t for diane keaton  and therefore takes a middling comedy into an appropriate place down the allen canon  not great but amusing  at times brilliantly satirical about the suspected upper  class murderer  sid  allen  quips   i  d be very surprised if he killed one person .  this is vintage allen humor . while there are barely any bright literary allusions as in most of his film  he lards scoop with music from grieg  tchaikovsky  and strauss to let us know the woodman has not lost his touch of class .  
while it does crack the odd good joke  the humour is generally quite dry with members of the panel frequently pulling faces or resorting to coarse language and waiting on the crowd to applaud lame enough jokes .  br    br   unlike what an other comment says i don  t think this is the best rte have ever made  its really dry and sarcastic . sarcasm is the lowest form of wit  there are few truly funny intelligent gags that would make you genuinely laugh out loud . people seem to be convinced by the comedians well known names rather than by judging the quality of the gags which aren  t really that good . overall its mediocre with some good laughs to be had but often it can be fairly mediocre . its not as good as jasper carrot or dave allens stuff . i find benny hill funnier .  
in the funeral of the famous british journalist joe strombel  ian mcshane   his colleagues and friends recall how obstinate he was while seeking for a scoop . meanwhile the deceased joe discloses the identity of the tarot card serial killer of london . he cheats the reaper and appears to the american student of journalism sondra pransky  scarlett johansson   who is on the stage in the middle of a magic show of the magician sidney waterman  woody allen  in london  and tells her that the murderer is the aristocrat peter lyman  hugh jackman  . sondra drags sid in her investigation  seeking for evidences that peter is the killer . however  she falls in love with him and questions if joe strombel is right in his scoop .  br    br    scoop  is another great woody allen  s comedy outside manhattan  actually again in london . his ironic and witty lines are simply fantastic  and i laughed a lot inclusive with his fate of hero in a country where people drive  in the wrong side  . sid waterman is extremely funny and woody allen is in an excellent shape as comedian . however  his present muse scarlett johansson  of whom i am a big fan  has over  acting and is annoying in many moments  changing inclusive her accent to a histrionic pronunciation . her character is absolutely silly and promiscuous  and i was quite disappointed with her performance  probably for the first time in her filmography  . but this supernatural comedy is still a hilarious and worthwhile entertainment . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    scoop  o grande furo    scoop  the big scoop    
absolutely one of the worst movies i  ve seen in a long time  it starts off badly and just deteriorates . katherine heigl is woefully miscast in a lolita role and leo grillo manfully struggles with what is essentially a cardboard cutout character . the only cast  member with any enthusiasm is tom sizemore  who hams it up as a villain and goes completely overboard with his role . the script is dire  the acting horrible and it has plot holes big enough to drive a double  decker bus through  it is also the most sexist movie i have ever seen  katherine heigl  s character is completely unsympathetic . she  s seen as an evil  wanton seductress who lures the poor  innocent married man to cheat on his wife . it is implied throughout the movie that she  s underage  and the message that accompanies that plot  strand just beggars belief  at the end  she isn  t even able to redeem herself by shooting the man who  s obviously  ha   become demented with rage and guilt  but the script allows him to kill himself  thereby redeeming himself in the eyes of males everywhere . horrible . don  t waste your time .  
i am a huge woody allen fan and so when i saw that this was playing at the cinema i couldn  t help myself . i wanted to see how allen would follow up his magnificent film match point seeing as this is another one of his films shot in g . b .  which is unique among allen  s work  along with what seems to be his new muse scarlett johanson . scoop is much lighter than mp and the humor is scoop  s most enjoyable aspect . the plot revolves around johanson  s character  a journalism student  who gets a tip on a hot story from beyond the grave . she falls in love with a suspected serial killer  jackman  and she must decide whether the truth is worth finding . oh and all of this is done with the help of a bumbling magician turned detective played by allen .  br    br   i must say that i thoroughly enjoyed johanson  s performance but i am a bit bias  i could watch a three hour film with johanson in ever frame and remain enchanted . she plays a ditsy  yappy  bumbling sweetheart that is kind of a variation in a sense of allen  s stereotypical neurosis stricken character . she adds appropriate body language for comic effect . needless to say almost anyone who sees this will find johanson  s character sickeningly cute and that is a plus .  br    br   allen is allen . . . he is still playing the same character much like chaplin and his little tramp character . something that occur in this film makes me wonder if i will see the neurotic little hypochondriac again however . he is not in the cast of his next picture and has been spending more time exclusively behind the camera as of late . . .  br    br   jackman is also enjoyable as the suave  millionaire murder suspect . i cannot say that jackman does anything in particular to make the role his but he suits his character none the less .  br    br   in terms of the plot i cannot help but feel that this is fresh . . . in fact it stinks of curse of the jade scorpion . johanson and allen are more detective  like than anything . however i must applaud allen on his ending because it is a bit more clever than your typical unoutstanding hollywood version of this film . instead of everything being black and white  things are painted in shades of gray . being entirely innocent has nothing to do with it nor does unequivocal guilt . though the plot seemed old woody still has a knack for one liners . i did find his allusions to his last film interesting . . . come for the humor  laugh and be merry .  br    br   needless to say if you enjoy allen  s work watch it . if not watch something else . . .  
the scenery is pretty and the dog is cute . other than that  this film has absolutely nothing to recommend it . jack warden is pleasantly genial as usual  but the script is so awful that even he comes off badly . the plot makes no sense  the dialogue is dumb  and there are numerous smaller faults . but the dog is cute . . .  
i was going to give it an   but since you people made  .  out of a lot better votes  i had to up my contribution . the river styx was pure genius . sure  woody was his perennial stuff  but at least his role was appropriate . the first half hour was really hilarious  and then the rest of the movie was easy to watch . the dialog was clever enough  and woody  s card tricks at the parties  along with the reaction from the upper crust  were fun to watch . this was much better than the newspaper critics made it sound out to be . and a plus  a little sorcerer  s apprentice to go along with it . and of course  did you notice that johansen is getting a bit frumpy  charles dance is always entertaining  as was hugh jackman .  
i rented this film thinking it was the sobbingly sad     version i saw as a kid . it was not . i was therefore very disappointed with what i felt was marginal acting  poor character development  and most of all  failure to highlight the relationship between the boy and his dog . in this version . . . the  dog of flanders  is just a cute  aside  to the movie . get the     version   
do you still love woody allen  s humor and sense of the absurd  do you wait patiently for movies that get the plot going in the first five minutes instead of making you wait around  if so  you will adore this comedic murder mystery . it has all the elements of a good mystery sharp plot  a handsome suspect  romance  and intrigue  mixed together with enough laughs and winks at fate to keep even the most jaded of movie goers happy .  br    br   with beautiful people and gorgeous homes and landscapes to ogle  this frothy movie is just the thing to take your minds off your troubles . as woody might say  what  s not to like   
people love the original story for its ending . the hollywood style ending made this   version of  a dog of flanders  just for kids movie . i didn  t cry this time because the story was too hollywood . japanese tv series are much better .  
    scarlett johansson  woody allen  hugh jackman  ian mcshane  romola garia . directed by woody allen . just after his work with johansson on  match point  the two return for  scoop  a corky  zany and fun comic ride . when a student reporter  johansson  finds out a new scoop from a deceased reporter  mcshane  when she enters the materializer of a lame magician  allen  . the scoop being of the new tarot card killer in london who might be preppy peter lyman  jackman   while sondra and sid are playing detective sondra falls in love for the handsome would be killer . allen has finally hit a mark  not as good as  match point  but definitely more fun . i laughed a lot more than i expected  one of the years must sees  
  the running jumping  standing still film  is not a film as such  but it is a short series of clips with a comical slapstick theme . this  film  got richard lester recognised and paved the way for him to direct the first beatles film  a hard day  s night  .  br    br   richard lester directed and wrote the music for his first film in     . this film was entitled the running  jumping   standing still film . it was intended to be viewed only by those who had aided in its production . since the film was intended to be viewed by lester and his partners alone  a small amount of money and time was invested . the sole purpose of this film is entertainment  but the main reason for its existence is the fact that it served as an experiment to work the camera . the film cost    to make  and it was filmed in sepia  toned film stock in a field on a couple of sundays . all of the shots that were filmed were included in the finished production the finished production is eleven minutes in length .  br    br   the running  jumping   standing still film is a comedy about english sundays and the small hobbies that people do to pass the time . all of the events in this film take place in a field . a few of these comical events include a woman scrubbing a lawn  a man running around a tree stump with a needle to play a record  a photographer developing film in a pond  an artist aided in painting by the numbers on a model  s face  a man building a tent  an athlete running over the tent  and a duel between a man with a knife and a man with a gun . not only does the film poke fun at the hobbies that people do to pass the time away  but it also pokes fun at english culture when compared to american culture . another one of several events in this film includes a group of men and a kite  which has been constructed out of the flag of the united kingdom . one of the men jumps inside the kite while the other men attempt to fly it  and the kite breaks . according to neil sinyard  author of the films of richard lester  this event symbolizes the united kingdom as lesser in power and technology when compared to the united states during the space age . according to this scene  the british fly primitive kites while the americans  the world  power after world war ii  fly highly  advanced rockets and space shuttles .  
simply well written  directed and acted . . . woody  s best of the      s if not his best since the    s   hugh jackman was the perfect pick for his roll . scarlett johansson  s banter with woody proves how well rounded an actress she has become .  br    br   it  s refreshing to not being in a romance on screen with the leading lady . he plays the perfect bumbling magician .  br    br   there have been a few reviews maligning this movie . don  t let them stop you from seeing the wonderfully done film . people in the crowd i saw this with were laughing so loud at some lines i missed the next line . if you like woody allen films of the    s  you  ll regret missing this one .  br    br   i suggest you go to watch this film with an open mind  if you do  you might walk out smiling .  
an interesting change from the first one . there was more mystery to this movie then the first . even when it ends your asking yourself what happened who was the killer . there are some good parts through the movie  the first half starts off slow and then in the last half the pace picks up . all up the movie is enjoyable . the story is   years after the events that occured in the first film  norman bates is out of an asylum and back to the bates motel  but when a woman turns up claiming to be his real mother  things start going wrong . perkins plays an aged norman well again and the scene at the end was excellent  he swang that spade awfully hard .  
  match point  and now  scoop  have both convinced me that not only is woody allen doing a neat job making movies in england  and that scarlett johansson is the right cast member   but corroborated what i have known for years he shouldn  t focus on neurotic rich new yorkers . in this case  johansson plays journalism student sondra pransky  whom magician sid waterman  allen  puts in his disappearing box  where she meets the ghost of murdered reporter joe strombel  ian mcshane   who tells her that the serial killings that have plagued london were committed by millionaire peter lyman  hugh jackman  . so  she gets to know him  and . . . well  i don  t know how much i can tell you without giving it away . but i can say that this is probably allen  s funniest movie in years . there  s his ubiquitous unique style of humor  especially the line about his religion  .  br    br   so  you  re sure to like this movie . if nothing else  it  ll make you fall in love with london . but mostly  it  s just so damn hilarious . even if you don  t like woody allen  you gotta love this one .  
horrendous pillaging of a classic .  br    br   it wasn  t written convincingly at all why mary should develop such sympathy for bates . he may be more stable until they start playing pranks with him  but he still doesn  t help himself at all with his actions .  inviting a comparative stranger to stay alone with him in his until recently disused motel telling the attractive young girl of his past mental issues lying about the knives  etc . . .  this  in addition to her previous knowledge should have kept mary extremely wary of him  but this somehow doesn  t happen just so they can play the  mistaken  identity  murder  game later on . which in itself is also ridiculous  so  and  so is the real killer  plus her as well  also him  there were too many contrived twists in order to slap a story on screen when the narrative didn  t need extending .  br    br   it was good to see perkins reprising his famous role again  but that  s about the only small pleasure to be had . it  s definitely not a patch on hitchcock  and if you have no intention of even trying to get close then you shouldn  t be bothering at all .  
woody allen  s second movie set in london . tha tarot card murderer is killing prostitutes in london . aspiring journalist sondra pransky  scarlett johansson  gets a tip that he may be lord peter lyman  hugh jackman  . she starts to romance him but quickly falls in love . she  s helped by stage magician sid waterman  woody allen  who doesn  t like what he sees .  br    br   i like this better than the over rated  match point  from last year . it was shorter and moved much more quickly . the plot is old but i was entertained and it kept me guessing till the very end . it  s not really a comedy but a mystery with a few very good comedic lines  all from allen of course  . it  s not one of allen  s best but it  s far better than his worst .  br    br   the acting is  for the most part  very good . allen is bad but he  s played this character a million times before and it  s gotten tiresome . but johansson and jackman are just great   they look fantastic and give two very appealing believable performances . also allen  surprisingly  works on their sex appeal   there is a sequence where they  re both in the their bathing suits to show off their nice bodies . the only real debit is that allen still seems unsure on how to shot london . he  s not as off as he was on  match point  though   maybe he  ll just get better as he goes along .  br    br   worth seeing . i give it an  .  
this dumb comedy really does a good job of wasting comedic talent . in particular  dan aykroyd and howard hesseman are misused badly here . i might have chuckled once or twice during this film  but in general  it  s a boring movie  with a little bit of stupidity thrown in for good measure . the premise  although routine  still wasn  t bad  but once the plot was set  the film went nowhere . don  t waste your time with this misfire .  
the film largely focuses on a bullying robert taylor as a ruthless buffalo hunter and the people who have to put up with him . set amidst a hunt for dwindling numbers of buffalo  it portrays the end of a tragic era of senseless slaughter and is full of drama and remorse for both the buffalo and the native americans . taylor is blinded by his hatred of indians and his naivete that the buffalo herds will never disappear . in one scene  he shoots animal after animal  while in another he murders indians and then eats the food they had cooking on their fire . under this ruthless exterior lies an insecure person who is reduced to begging his comrades  stewart granger  lloyd nolan  and russ tamblyn  not to leave him . it  s not the most pleasant of films and is weighed down by the drama it creates  leading to a dismal and very fitting conclusion in a blizzard .  
i have seen a lot of movies in my life  but not many as bad as this . it is a movie that makes fun of fat people  has no real story  has bad actors  is not funny and much more . is this a movie that you would like to see  i guess not   br    br   i guess that the makers of the movie was trying to be original and creative  but it looks like it was made by a   year old child with absolutely no cinematic skills at all . the so called funny parts is as funny as throughing pies in the faces of people  or breaking wind . of cource if this is the kind of humour that you like  then this is the movie for you    br    br   dont waste your money on this movie   
i went into this movie knowing nothing about it  and ended up really enjoying it . it lacked authenticity and believability  some of the things that the characters said and did were completely bizarre  and a lot of the script seemed like it was ad  libbed  perhaps this is typical of woody allen  excuse my ignorance  but the whole audience in the theater was laughing so hard . it wasn  t even at the jokes in the movie per se  but at the whole movie itself . the acting reminded me of seinfeld  s acting  where he tries not to laugh at his own jokes  they are corny  but if you don  t take the movie too seriously  you can really appreciate the humour of the actors  not the characters . if you  re looking for a random movie  and you like woody allen  i  d definitely recommend it   
this is without a doubt the worst movie i have ever seen . it is not funny . it is not interesting and should not have been made .  
something happens to sondra pransky when she enters the magician  s box on the stage of a london theater . little does sondra know the spirit of newly departed journalist joe strombel materializes to ask her to investigate the man someone has told him  on his voyage to another dimension  is the infamous tarot killer that has been on a binge of crime in london . the only problem is the man accused is  for all appearances  a respectable upper class man .  br    br   when sondra tells her experience to the great splendini  who is a . k . a . sid waterman  the magician is stunned  but decides to go along . the two would be p . i . s conjure an invitation to a club where peter lyman goes to swim . sondra  who fakes she is drowning  catches the attention of this hunk  who wants to see more of her .  br    br   needless to say  the two of them will get into all kinds of funny situations until the mystery is revealed at the end of the film . little does the real tarot killer think he can fool a resolute sondra who proves herself to be more resourceful than he gave her credit for .  br    br   the result is a perfect summer film with a lot of laughs that is just what one needs to get out of the heat into a perfect time in a cool theater . woody allen has done better  and yet  this sunny comedy will vindicate him for past failures . in  scoop   mr . allen has taken himself from the romantic lead pawing his gorgeous leading lady . his trade mark gesticulating is something this funny man will never get rid of  since it appears to be his trade mark . the film has some funny one liners that will go over the head of the viewers that might not be paying attention .  br    br   scarlett johansson  the beautiful star of  scoop   seems to be the perfect foil for woody allen . she plays the straight part while mr allen does his shtick  a perfect combination . both are excellent in their banter throughout the film . ms . johansson is a knockout beauty in her red bathing suit  although they have dressed her so dowdy in most of the costumes she wears on the screen . hugh jackman is seen as peter lyman a sophisticated man about town with the right pedigree . he makes a good appearance in the movie as the man pursuing ms . johansson . ian mcshane plays the dead fleet street journalist on his way to eternity .  br    br    scoop  is a light film for the hot and humid summer thanks to woody allen .  
this movie is so bad  it can only be compared to the all  time worst  comedy   police academy  . no laughs throughout the movie . do something worthwhile  anything really . just don  t waste your time on this garbage .  
scoop  out of  woody allen is definitely not my favorite director  but i enjoyed  match point .  it was an excellent dark romantic thriller that luckily did not star woody allen . it did have the beautiful scarlett johansson in it .  br    br    scoop  is woody allen  s latest film and though he appears in this one  it  s ok . it also features scarlett johansson and the two of them work perfect together .  br    br   johansson plays sondra pransky  a young college journalist who gets the scoop of a life time from the ghost of joe strombel  ian mcshane .  joe heard the scoop while on a boat with the grim reaper and a bunch of other souls the reaper has taken . one of those souls is the secretary of peter lyman  hugh jackman .  she tells joe that peter may be the serial killer roaming the streets of england . joe  with the scoop of a life time  travels back to the living and gives this info to sondra  during a magic act . sondra is at some magic show with magician sid waterman  woody allen .  she becomes a volunteer to go in a disappearing box and while she is in the box  she gets the visit from joe . not knowing what to do  she enlists the help of sid waterman to help her crack the case .  br    br   this film has a nice light  hearted feel to it compared to  match point  and yet it all works . johansson and allen work great together . allen  s humor fits perfect for this story and role . hugh jackman is terrific as peter layman  the  suspected  serial killer .  br    br   this is a fun little movie to see if your ever looking for one to watch . the cast ensemble works well together and the story flows and you sometimes forget that your watching woody allen be himself . i say give it a chance because you just might like it .  
his first movie after longtime friend john belushi  s death  aykroyd shows much fatigue trying to pull off a character that would have been a snap for belushi .  br    br   instead   doctor detroit  gives us bookish professor aykroyd masquerading as a weird  violent pimp to ward off a rival known only as mom . that  s bad enough  but he also has classes to teach  a school dinner to host  four ladies of the evening to protect and a pimp  s dinner  or something like that  to attend . no wonder aykroyd seems stupefied most of the time . why should the viewer be alone   br    br   it was on this film that aykroyd met future wife donna dixon . at least some good came out of this chaotic mess .  br    br   one and a half stars . you want good aykroyd  see  the blues brothers  . you want bad  see  doctor detroit  .  
coming immediately on the heels of match point        a fine if somewhat self  repetitive piece of  serious woody   scoop gives new hope to allen  s small but die  hard band of followers  among whom i number myself  that the master has once again found his form . a string of disappointing efforts  culminating in the dreary melinda and melinda       and the embarrassing anything else       raised serious doubts that another first rate woody comedy  with or without his own participation as an actor  was in the cards . happily  the cards turn out to be a tarot deck that serves as scoop  s clever maguffin and proffers an optimistic reading for the future of woody allen comedy .  br    br   even more encouraging  woody  s self  casting  sadly one of the weakest elements of his films in recent years  is here an inspired bit of self  parody as well as a humble recognition at last that he can no longer play romantic leads with women young enough to be his daughters or granddaughters . in scoop  allen astutely assigns himself the role of sid waterman  an aging magician with cheap tricks and tired stage  patter who  much like woody himself  has brought his act to london  where audiences  if not more receptive  are at least more polite . like chaplin  s calvero in limelight        sid waterman affords allen the opportunity to don the slightly distorted mask of an artist whose art has declined and whose audience is no longer large or appreciative . moreover  because they seem in character  allen  s ticks and prolonged stammers are less distracting here than they have been in some time .  br    br   waterman  s character also functions neatly in the plot . his fake magic body  dissolving box becomes the ironically plausible location for visitations from joe strombel  ian mcshane   a notorious journalistic muckraker and recent cardiac arrest victim . introduced on a river styx ferryboat  to  hades  strombel repeatedly jumps ship because he just can  t rest in eternity without communicating one last  scoop  about the identity of the notorious  tarot killer .  unfortunately  his initial return from the dead leads him to waterman  s magic show and the only conduit for his hot lead turns out to be a journalism undergraduate  sondra pransky  scarlett johansson   who has been called up from the audience as a comic butt for the magician  s climactic trick . sondra enthusiastically seizes the journalistic opportunity and drags the reluctant waterman into the investigation to play the role of her millionaire father . as demonstrated in lost in translation  johansson has a talent for comedy  and the querulous by  play between her and allen is very amusing  and all the more so for never threatening to become a prelude to romance .  br    br   scoop  s serial killer plot  involving grisly murders of prostitutes and an aristocratic chief suspect  peter lyman  hugh jackman   is the no doubt predictable result of allen  s lengthy sabbatical exposure to london  s ubiquitous jack the ripper landmarks and lore . yet other facets of scoop  as of match point  also derive from woody  s late life encounter with english culture . its class structure  manners  idiom  dress  architecture  and  yes  peculiar driving habits give woody fresh new material for wry observation of human behavior as well as sharp social satire . when  for instance  sondra is trying to ingratiate herself with peter lyman at a ritzy private club  waterman observes  from his point of view we  re scum .  a good deal of humor is also generated by the contretemps of stiffly reserved british social manners encountering waterman  s insistent borscht  belt jewish plebeianism . and  then  of course  there is waterman  s hilarious exit in a smart car he can  t remember to drive on the left side of the road .  br    br   as usual  allen  s humor in scoop includes heavy doses of in  jokes  taking the form of sly allusions to film and literary sources as well as  increasingly  references to his own filmography . in addition to the pervasive jack the ripper references  for instance  the film  s soundtrack is dominated by an arrangement of grieg  s  the hall of the mountain king   compulsively whistled by hans beckert in m  the first masterpiece of the serial killer genre . the post  funeral gathering of journalists who discuss the exploits of newly departed joe strombel clearly mimics the opening of broadway danny rose       . references to deconstructing harry       include the use of death as a character  along with his peculiar voice and costume   the use of mandelbaum as a character name  and the mention of adair university  harry  s  alma mater  and where sondra is now a student  . moreover  the systematic use of greek mythology in the underworld river cruise to hades recalls the use of greek gods and a chorus in mighty aphrodite       .  br    br   as to quotable gags  allen  s scripts rely less on one  liners than they did earlier in his career  but scoop does provides at least a couple of memorable ones . to a question about his religion  waterman answers  i was born in the hebrew persuasion  but later i converted to narcissism .  and sondra snaps off this put  down of waterman  s wannabe crime  detecting  if we put our heads together you  ll hear a hollow noise .  all in all  scoop is by far woody allen  s most satisfying comedy in a decade .  
you know those films that have you trapped in the cinema  you  re stuck there in the best seat in the house  centre of the row in your own special sweet spot that you swapped three times before you got just the right seat  and after about what feels like   hours you are still trapped there  uncomfortable and itchy  thinking  when the f is this film ever going to end      you know the feeling  think of a . i . and the village  .  br    br   well  visitor q delivers a weird variant of that feeling . i sat there for the first   minutes wondering when the thing was going to fing start  it is interminable  so  arty  it hurts . this is the first miike takashi film i have watched . apparently he makes films by the dozen and  if they are all pretentious wnk like this  i suspect it will be the last .  br    br   i  m not against pretentious wnk . david lynch is up there amongst the top   directors for me but visitor q is cut  rate  cheap  and nasty pretentious wnk .  br    br   as you may have worked out by now  i hated it .  
great movie  enough laughs and action for any audience .  br    br   since the last person who posted on this movie took it upon themselves to call woody allen incestuous and not comment on the film  here i am .  br    br   the film follows an unlikely duo  johansson and allen  as they follow a tip given to them by the ghost of a recently deceased english reporter . their search takes them into the home of the killer  and eventually to a somewhat tragic end . but don  t let the plot fool you  the film truly is hilarious and the acting is superb .  br    br   it seems that as directors reach a certain age they really get things right . clint eastwood  allen and pollack all seem to making some of the most imaginative work of their respective careers . also  from watching the movie in a pact theater  you can just tell that people really love woody allen and are ready for him to really make a comeback . the second he walked on screen audience lit up . there  s just something about the man and he really shines in scoop .  br    br   check it out  it  s worth the trip .  
this movie was terrible . throughout the whole movie  i was puzzled and did not see any point to it . i had to go to this site and read the review to finally understand what it was about . this movie is not worth watching at all . not only is it sick and revolting but totally stupid  please don  t watch unless you are one of those that likes to watch bad movies . if this movie questions japanese society and their values and roles  than this is a country that i would not like to visit or bother to know . this is a totally sick movie         i did not enjoy it because it made no sense . my boyfriend and i sat there waiting to see if it was a horror because that is what it was listed under . it was total disappointment .  
allow yourself to be transported to a different  old school kind of storytelling . scoop is classic woody allen .  br    br   allen  s latest muse  scarlett johansson  who also appeared in last year  s match point  also by allen   is surprisingly able to tone down her sultry sex kitten appeal and transform into a normal looking student  type with the aid of nerdish glasses and outfits but still fails to make the audience believe how hugh jackman  s lordly character can be so smitten by her  given the royal  s background  don  t worry  no spoilers here  . there are no grand transformations for johansson  s character here  as she consistently plays the same character throughout despite the script saying otherwise . you even forgive her character  s apparent lack of logic  continuing an affair with a suspected serial killer  simply because he is his royal hotness jackman  who is refreshing to see sans the wolverine duds .  br    br   if anything  consistency is what the    year old allen is all about . he continues to tell his stories on celluloid in the same way he always has as if he  s never been exposed to modern film  making  which is probably what makes his quiet  simple films appealing . they never seem to aim for a specific market as if allen makes movies to his taste alone  whether the public likes it or not .  
  visitor q  is a failed attempt at black comedy which focuses on what might be the world  s most dysfunctional family including physical abuse from beatings to murder to incest to sodomy to necrophilia to a lactating mom who nurses her husband and adult daughter  etc . the film is so outrageous it garnered some critical praise and established a small cult following . however  with home video quality and a slapdash production   visitor q  just doesn  t hold up even as a curiosity . genitals are blurred out and sanitary appliances clearly visible  make  up is awful  and everything else is amateurish at best . a waste of time .  c    
i  d even say some shades of hitchcock . . . this is clearly better than mmm  which is seen as a guilty pleasure by some if not most woody fans . by the way  did you know that annie hall was first conceived as a murder mystery  anyhow  woody reclaims some relevance in film comedy with this one . the plot turns are nice and tight . i will say that in the first   minutes or so  some of the actors are a little too hasty at delivering their lines  but stick around . scarlett johansson proves well  cast in the diane keaton  type role  and at no time is there any uncomfortable moments between her and the much older woody . no one could imagine a more perfect actor for the role of peter lyman than jackman .  
this movie stinks . i don  t think i have ever seen a movie so strung up on shock value . the plot was relatively interesting  but the dialog was super flat and the acting was bland . this could have been an a good movie . i think it just relied on it  s grotesque visuals . i can usually handle graphic scenes and human taboos  but it felt like miike shot it for the sake of shooting it . just one poorly executed film . there just isn  t anything to be entertained by watching this film unless you are fascinated by exhausting yourself with explicit scenes of incest  pedophilia  necrophilia  rape  self milking  parental and sibling abuse  and fecal dispersement . i think i just sold the film to many of you  but i meant it when i said this stinks . he has succeeded in other films  but i think you  d be better off watching someone pooping .  
great woody allen  no . good woody allen  definitely . i found myself  along with the audience in attendance  laughing hard and often at some of the best woody allen lines we  ve heard in a while . the aging allen created an appropriate role for himself as scarlett johansson  s  father  . . . well  sort of . some have said johansson plays  a young dianne keaton .  i beg to differ . she plays woody  s dialogue  which  in his comedies  always has a very similar feel . . . like  well  a woody allen comedy . that  s fine for us woody appreciators . she certainly did woody  s dialogue far better than the young cast of his last comedy  melinda  melinda . some may find woody  s humor tiresome  but for those of us who love it when it  s done right  we look forward to the next .  
there is nothing cool  hip  or clever about this film   liking it just reveals an ignorance of true art cinema . how can you so easily forget that the central fact of this entire film is that these mean  ugly people are . . . serial killers  if they have to dismember total strangers in order to  be a family again   then we don  t want them to  be a family .  what part of that did you have trouble grasping  why applaud this filth   br    br   this silly filth is what you do if you can  t do art  one  s head  life must be deeply empty to mistake this shallow viciousness as  interesting .  this is a camera without a brain . what really makes an artwork cool is profundity  questioning the status quo from a perspective informed by a knowledge of history  or  in this case  a knowledge of anything would be preferable   . instead  this is just randomly piling up the ugliest images available in a world in meltdown  thanks to just the sort of empty meanness glorified as  cool cause it  s so far out  man    . these same violent events actually happen  every day . they are not  just in the film .  they refer to actual soul  less people who would do those same things to you . do you want those things done to you  a child could have thought this up  it required zero imagination  it is not surrealism . this lazy crap has no content  is saying nothing   it  s just the worst of the evening news   it is saying nothing new  nothing we don  t already know . it  s  the emperor  s new clothes   the director hoping there are enough uneducated children  proud of their streak of inhumanity  for this sloppy filth to fly . i can see director miike  s demented fans now chain  smoking teens  and  twenties drunks covered in tattoos  with metal hanging from holes punched in their faces  their knowledge  base inversely proportional to their intelligence estimate of themselves .  br    br   there is no plot to this   it is just sheer exploitation of shock  value violence . there is no  hidden meaning  anywhere in this poorly made film . it is fine to explore a film to see if you can find cinematic devices that are ingeniously artistic  but you cannot uncover a hidden meaning if one is not there  to do that you need to view  review a real piece of cinema . there are plenty out there  directed by fellini  bergman  fassbinder  herzog  altman  bunuel  kurosawa  lynch  tarkovsky  peter greenaway  tarantino  guillermo del toro  richard linklater  eisenstein  aronofsky  gus van sant  soderbergh  shyamalan  ordet . why don  t you view a real art film by the likes of these giants  this wannabe director  miike  will never make a film equal to one of the geniuses i just listed because he just doesn  t have the talent  anyone could slap together some chaotic crap like  visitor q .  teenagers could throw that together in one afternoon  there  s no message  no meaning  no plot  nothing to it at all . there are long lists of art films to learn from   but this  visitor q  is not an art film in any respect . it has no content to it . it  s just one banal horror piled onto another  and the point to remember about those hideous crimes is that those things happen  every single day  somewhere in the world . they are not okay because they are  just in the film .  they refer to actual soul  less people who would do those same things to you . do you want those things done to you  to others  why  because this world is already ugly enough  thanks to people who enjoy thinking about horrific events like this .  br    br   there are sooooo many art films out there to use your mind to deconstruct  but you are wasting your talents with this piece of crap . there is no deeper meaning . there is nothing to analyze why keep trying  i  ve spent nearly   years watching practically every film ever made  and keeping up with all the new ones  but i  ve never seen anything as disgustingly pointless as this . it  s not imaginative or even shocking  because these types of events happen daily all over the world . to make this film  or even to favorably review it  has caused over   young airheads who don  t know any better to think it  s  cool .  they may grow up thinking that  convincing others  some of whom may end up doing these things   convicted killers often reveal how they started out just this way  by being desensitized to the horror of this gruesome inhumanity . trust me on this    i know cool  and cool this piece of crap ain  t . visitor q has the feel of a genuine snuff film  and i  m still not sure it isn  t  actually .  br    br   your actions have consequences  son . the world is awful enough already . some violence like this could happen to you  or to the socially irresponsible director who cranked out this fake art film . believe me  you won  t be thinking it  s  cool  when someone is sawing your skull in half   
first of all  let me comment that the audience loved it from the first moment . perhaps current events in the middle  east led people to take the attitude   i came for a comedy and by george i  m going to enjoy it .  but for whatever reason  everybody seemed really into the comedy of it . the last few times woody has tried to do a straight comedy  small time crooks  curse of the jade scorpion  hollywood ending  i  ve felt like the one  liners felt strained and a bit antiquated . i remember thinking at one point   that would have been funny in the early sixties .  so going in to this movie  i was afraid woody was becoming tone deaf  however  in this one his comic sensibilities were in perfect tune . admittedly  there were plenty of my fellow aarp card carrying folks in the screening  but there were also plenty of    somethings and    somethings as well  and they all seemed to get it and give up the occasional belly laugh in addition to numerous guffaws  chuckles and the like . in many instances  the throw  aways had people laughing so loud you missed the next line .  br    br   thematically  woody was traipsing familiar ground . as i suspected from the trailer  this film had a lot of manhattan murder mystery in it  but then again  there was more than a smidgen of oedipus wrecks  new york stories   alice  and even a little tribute to broadway danny rose at the very beginning .  br    br   even with woody in the movie  scarlett  as sondra  was  at times the woody  proxy  but her character was far from the nebbish that  say  will ferrell gave us in melinda and melinda or kenneth branaugh attempted in celebrity . instead of archetypal ticks and quirks  sondra  s nerdishness comes directly from the family history which she shares early on . on numerous occasions the  family business  leads her to malapropisms that we get as an audience  while the characters on the screen can only perceive them as strange non  sequiturs . since we are all in on the joke  we can  t help but laugh . but the laughs don  t come from recognizing the woody nebbish  but truly from the character . to a great extent  unlike farrell  branaugh  cusack or even mia farrow before her  scarlett is not required to use the woody voice to evoke the woody role . thus  we don  t find ourselves ripped out of the narrative as a woody  s voice suddenly emerges from someone else  face .  br    br   as my friend commented on the way out  sid  the character played by woody  is a supporting role  but more center  stage than i was hoping going in . however  this time woody seems to have written a character that truly fits his current persona . unlike his ed dobel sage character in anything else  or his blind director in hollywood ending  this time the character is a comfortable fit . perhaps more importantly  this time the character works in the story . within the elevated circles they find themselves in  he is even more fish  out  of  water than scarlett  which is used to great comedic effect throughout . sid is a declining  itinerant magician playing to small audiences  but the fact that he is from another era is placed front and center for our enjoyment .  br    br   but what about jackman  what about ian  swearengen  mcshane  i liked both of them to the extent that they are used in the piece . i particularly liked mcshane  s short but effective turns . jackman is charming with the ease of  old money  that was so often portrayed in films from   years ago .  class echoes from purple rose of cairo    br    br   so what did i think  short answer  maybe his best straight comedy since      s bullets over broadway . less stylized than mighty aphrodite . less caustic than deconstructing harry . less forced than small time crooks or hollywood ending . woody has finally found a comic voice that works in the   st century .  
okay  so i get it . we  re supposed to be horrified . the idea has been planted . a girl is doing her dad and taking photos of it . call me over the shock  rock genre but i call for the explicit detailing of an act before i can fall for this . but don  t expect me to watch a soft  porn and become horrified that she is  doing her father  . . . i mean hasn  t that convention become a bit abused in the adult film industry already infiltrated with  rape  and molestation  porn . . . horror isn  t what your mind can fool you into believing . it is what actually exists in film . this is where miike fails in visitor q . extremism becomes mild when it becomes a choose your own adventure .  
greetings again from the darkness . remember all the  what happened to woody allen   jokes  even mr . allen poked fun at the fans who wanted him to continue making his same  funny  films . as with any great artist  mr . allen  s craft evolved over the years and he lost some fans  while picking up others . last year  s masterpiece  matchpoint  showed he is still every bit as relevant and poignant as he was in the days of  annie hall  and  manhattan  . what is most striking to us   plus year fans is that mr . new york himself seems to have a bit of a crush on the mother country . apparently he actually likes england   while filming  matchpoint   mr . allen became enamored with scarlett johansson and her real life spirit and sense of humor . this attraction motivated him to write his best comedy in years . scarlett  while risking overexposure  must be given credit for not just picking films that cast her in some glamorous light . she is unafraid to look and act like a real person . in  scoop   she flashes some real on screen comedy chops and  in many scenes  delivers the real punchline to mr . allen  s straight man . of course  any time mr . allen decides to put himself in front of the camera  he will get more than his share of one liners and social commentaries in  which is fine  because few do it better .  br    br   very nice support work from ian mcshane and hugh jackman . in fact  mr . jackman provides a few glimpses into why many of us thought him the best choice to replace brosnan as the new bond . as with most of allen  s films  the star is the script  not the actors . although scarlett delivers superbly here and is a nice contrast to the polished allen and jackman  what makes this one crackle is the dialogue . . . especially the banter between allen and scarlett . if you are not a huge woody the actor fan  fear not . he does limit his screen time and he is quite effective  except in two or three brief scenes that almost seem out of place . another woodman tradition is a sparkling musical background and  scoop  is no exception . . . especially the strauss composition .  br    br    scoop  is a nice cross between  annie hall  and the best of the marx brothers films or the cary grant comedies . yes it is an adult comedy  but it is actually very cute . . . especially for a serial killer and talking ghost comedy    
this film is a twisted nonsense of a movie  set in japan about a dysfunctional family who end up with a strange violent guest who just sits back and watches the  members of the family at their worst . nothing is sacred in this movie  with sex drugs and violence stretched to such a limit i  m surprised it got past the censors .  br    br   overall  i think it will appeal only to those whom we shouldn  t be encouraging  rather than any supposed underlying message coming out for the rest of us to consider . a film that panders to the worst element in society and is in anyway utter gash . . . a disappointment from a man who made the sublime dead or alive and audition movies .  
i saw this film about twenty years ago on the late show . i still vividly remember the film  especially the performance of robert taylor . i always thought taylor was underrated as an actor as most critics saw him as solid  almost dull leading man type  and women simply loved to watch his films because of his looks . this film  however  proved what an interesting actor he could be . he did not get enough roles like this during his long career . this is his best performance . he is totally believable in a truly villainous role . from what i have read  he was a very hardworking and easy going guy in real life and never fought enough for these kind of roles . he basically would just do what mgm gave him . this film proves that he could have handled more diverse and difficult roles . the other thing i remember about this film is how annoying lloyd nolan  s character was . nolan was a great actor  but this character really aggravated me . the last scene of the film has stuck with me for all of these years . this film is definitely worth a look .  
this is the single worst movie i have ever seen . i cannot express how bad it is . i honestly wanted to kill myself several times through this atrocious experience just to have the pain end . i recommend instead of seeing this movie  you bathe in acid then you will at least know a fraction of the pain without all of the scars .  br    br   i had such high expectations when i read the back of the dvd case  and when in the beginning it added that jesus was following them i was so excited . . . then by the end i wanted to kill myself . i mean a twenty  three minute introduction to the most annoying characters in the history of cinema . . . just pain  monkeys could have done a better job editing this trash . at least they would have thrown feces and blurred some of the garbage . it would have made it better to have not seen any of the horror .  br    br   it wasn  t that i didn  t get the jokes  it  s that they were not only not funny  they repeated themselves like twenty times . apparently  something isn  t funny unless you see it like a million times .  br    br   do not under any circumstances see this . people have rated  manos the hands of fate  as the worlds worst movie . i have seen that too and agree that it is bad . . . but alas it is only the second worst .  fatty drives the bus  is by far worse .  br    br   this deserves all kind of harsh language  but i can  t write that here so just imagine i swore a whole bunch .  
  scoop  is also the name of a late  thirties evelyn waugh novel  and woody allen  s new movie  though set today  has a nostalgic charm and simplicity . it hasn  t the depth of characterization  intense performances  suspense or shocking final frisson of allen  s penultimate effort  match point    argued by many  including this reviewer  to be a strong return to form  but  scoop  does closely resemble allen  s last outing in its focus on english aristocrats  posh london flats  murder  and detection . this time woody leaves behind the arriviste murder mystery genre and returns to comedy  and is himself back on the screen as an amiable vaudevillian  a magician called sid waterman  stage moniker the great splendini  who counters some snobs  probing with   i used to be of the hebrew persuasion  but as i got older  i converted to narcissism .  following a revelation in the midst of splendini  s standard dematerializing act  with scarlett johansson  as sondra pransky  the audience volunteer  the mismatched pair get drawn into a dead ace english journalist  s post  mortem attempt to score one last top news story . on the edge of the styx joe strombel  ian mcshane  has just met the shade of one lord lyman  s son  s secretary  who says she was poisoned  and she  s told him the charming aristocratic bounder son peter lyman  hugh jackman  was the tarot card murderer  a london serial killer . sondra and sid immediately become a pair of amateur sleuths . with sid  s deadpan wit and sondra  s bumptious beauty they cut a quick swath through to the cream of the london aristocracy .  br    br   woody isn  t pawing his young heroine muse   as in  match point   johansson again   as in the past . this time moreover scarlett  s not an ambitious sexpot and would  be movie star . she  s morphed surprisingly into a klutzy  bespectacled but still pretty coed . sid and sondra have no flirtation  which is a great relief . they simply team up  more or less politely  to carry out strombel  s wishes by befriending lyman and watching him for clues to his guilt . with only minimal protests sid consents to appear as sondra  s dad . sondra  who  s captivated peter by pretending to drown in his club pool  re  christens herself jade spence . mr . spence  i . e .  woody  keeps breaking cover by doing card tricks  but he amuses dowagers with these and beats their husbands at poker  spewing non  stop one  liners and all the while maintaining  apparently with success  that he  s in oil and precious metals  just as  jade  has told him to say .  br    br   that  s about all there is to it  or all that can be told without spoiling the story by revealing its outcome . at first allen  s decision to make johansson a gauche  naively plainspoken  and badly dressed college girl seems not just unkind but an all  around bad decision . but johansson  who has pluck and panache as an actress  miraculously manages to carry it off  helped by jackman  an actor who knows how to make any actress appear desirable  if he desires her . the film actually creates a sense of relationships  to make up for it limited range of characters sid and sondra spar in a friendly way  and peter and sondra have a believable attraction even though it  s artificial and tainted  she is  after all  going to bed with a suspected homicidal maniac  .  br    br   what palls a bit is allen  s again drooling over english wealth and class  things his brooklyn background seems to have left him  despite all his celebrity  with a irresistible hankering for . jackman is an impressive fellow  glamorous and dashing . his parents were english . but could this athletic musical comedy star raised in australia   x  man  s  wolverine  really pass as an aristocrat  only in the movies  perhaps  here and in  kate and leopold   .  br    br   this isn  t as strong a film as  match point   but to say it  s a loser as some viewers have is quite wrong . it has no more depth than a half  hour radio drama or a tv show  but woody  s jokes are far funnier and more original than you  ll get in any such media affair  and sometimes they show a return to the old wit and cleverness . it doesn  t matter if a movie is silly or slapdash when it  s diverting summer entertainment . on a hot day you don  t want a heavy meal . the whole thing deliciously evokes a time when movie comedies were really light escapist entertainment  without crude jokes or bombastic effects without vince vaughan or owen wilson . critics are eager to tell you this is a return to the allen decline that preceded  match point .  don  t believe them . he doesn  t try too hard . why should he  he may be    but verbally  he  s still light on his feet . and his body moves pretty fast too .  
i actually retired from asian horror films some time ago after becoming completely sick of seeing samey ghost story rubbish . however  i  ve been getting more and more into exploitation flicks recently  and so decided to give them another chance . my first port of call was highly rated director takashi miike  s highly rated  visitor q  . i  d already seen audition  and while i didn  t like it much  i do rate it as one of the better modern asian horror films . so  i went into this with sensible expectations and unfortunately  found only boredom . i suppose this movie is actually really clever and it just went over my head  but what it seemed like to me was simply a collection of violent and nasty scenes with little or no coherency between them . any comparisons to the work of luis bunuel and david lynch is blasphemous as far as i  m concerned all miike has done here is make a film any intelligence surrounding it has been implemented by pretentious fans  desperate to find some kind of meaning . my headache set in about   minutes in  after a father had sex with his daughter for some reason   and it didn  t subside until the movie finally ended at least twenty four hours later  or so it would seem . don  t get me wrong  i  m not against violence in movies and in fact actively seek out the most notorious films around but while this may be violent  it  s also pointless and boring and i didn  t get one ounce of enjoyment out of it . takashi miike may have a lot of fans  but i  m certainly not one of them and i certainly hope this is the last time i  ll come into contact with one of his films .  
i thought this was a wonderful way to spend time on a too hot summer weekend  sitting in the air conditioned theater and watching a light  hearted comedy . the plot is simplistic  but the dialogue is witty and the characters are likable  even the well bread suspected serial killer  . while some may be disappointed when they realize this is not match point   risk addiction  i thought it was proof that woody allen is still fully in control of the style many of us have grown to love .  br    br   this was the most i  d laughed at one of woody  s comedies in years  dare i say a decade   . while i  ve never been impressed with scarlet johanson  in this she managed to tone down her  sexy  image and jumped right into a average  but spirited young woman .  br    br   this may not be the crown jewel of his career  but it was wittier than  devil wears prada  and more interesting than  superman  a great comedy to go see with friends .  
anyone who could find redeeming value in this piece of crap ought to have their head examined . we have the submissive  heroin  addicted  part  time hooker wife with lacerations all over her body  lacerations received from repeated beatings by an abusive son . now  she is squirting breast milk all over the kitchen floor  the release so gained somehow akin to helen keller placing her hands in running water . we have the husband who starts out by patronizing a prostitute who just happens to be his daughter  she  s upset with him because he came too quickly  and ends by murdering his female colleague  having sex with her corpse  and then chopping her up . we have the kid who is relentlessly bullied by his classmates and who comes home and beats his mom . you see  it  s all circular . deep  huh  the only decent moment in this horrendous pile of tripe is when the dad murders his son  s tormentors . it  s a good thing this turkey was shot on video because otherwise what a waste of expensive film it would be . if that guy who thinks artists ought to be interested in this slop is really serious  no wonder most people think artists are insane . we saw this lousy movie  then put on  zero woman  the accused .  oh my god  it was a tossup as to which one was worse . what is going on in japan these days  sick  sick  sick .  
i was lucky enough to get a free pass to an advance screening of  scoop  last night . full house at the theatre and when the movie ended there was spontaneous applause . i didn  t speak to anyone who disliked  scoop  although two teenagers sitting next to me sighed and fidgeted uncomfortably for most of the film . they were the exception though because everyone else including myself really enjoyed themselves .  br    br    scoop  is a quickly paced murder mystery . a young female journalism student is unwittingly maneuvered by forces beyond her control into trying to catch a serial killer on the loose . plenty of hijinks ensue as she partners up with a traveling illusionist and falls in love with a frisky and charming young nobleman .  br    br    scoop  isn  t a bad addition to the woody allen filmography . it isn  t his best work but it is a very enjoyable and light hearted romp . i  d say it fits quite comfortably into being an average woody allen film  right in the middle of the pack . if you  re a woody allen fan you  ll probably enjoy yourself . if you  re indifferent to his work then  scoop  might be enough to get you interested in seeing more . i don  t think that anyone who dislikes his style of film  making and acting are going to change their mind . woody plays the same kind of neurotic character we  ve grown so accustomed to although it borders dangerously close to forced and over the top in this film . while potentially aggravating for some who might find themselves wishing he  d hurry up and just spit out the words  woody allen fans know what to expect .  br    br   very good performances all around in my opinion although i found myself missing ian mcshane who is excellent and not on camera nearly enough . hugh jackman is great as the charming nobleman and i think woody allen has found a new regular star to work with in scarlett johansson . i think that with  match point  this is their second pairing and she  s just magic with the material that woody gives her . could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship  i  m glad i saw the movie and definitely recommend it . more sophisticated comedy than movies like  scary movie   so if your brand of comedy is the latter rather than the former   scoop  probably isn  t for you . if  on the other hand  you like a touch of class  sophistication and fun   scoop  is for you . probably not the woody allen film i  d introduce to a newcomer but all others should give it a try .  
  big spoilers  i  ve seen one other takashi miike film  and that was the very disturbing and brutal  audition   which was an examination of the japanese ideals of femininity  in  visitor q   which i think means  visitor question   he examines  in a very disturbingly gross way  the family unit . miike  s surreal vision of a dysfunctional family almost tries to be lynchian in terms of confusion and film  making  but ultimately lacks the style and intrigue . we  the audience  are introduced to a bizarre array of scenarios from the opening scene with the father figure  kenichi endo  who was actually quite good  paying for sex with his displaced daughter  fujiko  . then  as the father returns home  he is struck on the head by  the visitor   kazushi watanabe  wielding a fairly sizeable rock  and for some reason  they both end up back at the family home . the mother  shungiku uchida  is beaten and bullied by her son  jun muto  who is also beaten and bullied by his school peers . when the visitor enters the home  he somewhat menacingly establishes himself as part of the unit . eventually  the family begin to improve their relationship  with assistance from the visitor  through milking breasts  murder and retaining a sense of family pride .  br    br   and there are other crazy scenes that somehow bring the family closer together . it  s has uncomfortable humour  but is equally frustratingly silly  and over  the  top in its weirdness . there is a necrophiliac scene that is utterly disgusting  but ends up being ridiculously funny as the scene progresses . partly because of the situation itself  and partly because you can  t believe the filmmakers and the actors are actually doing this  the style of the film is poor to say the least  and the plot is stupid and unbelievably weak . the characters themselves are all over the place  and while i understand this is not meant to be realistic  there is hardly any interest in these confronting characters and situations as all of them border on the absurd  the camera  work is sloppy  and doesn  t have that cinematic feel that lynch  s work entails . it  s hard to take this film seriously on a surrealist level  or on an interpretation of examining the family unit in japan . it just seems that miike was out to shock  and the film seems self  aware that it  s  trying  to be shocking  and it becomes almost comical to be taken seriously . all in all  i would say that this film is a bizarrely dark comedy  but it looks and feels amateurish  and seems to unnecessarily want to shock . miike  s previous film  audition  was finely balanced between disgusting horror  character development and technique  which established more intrigue in the way the film was crafted to allow the viewer to become engrossed with the plot .  visitor q  is a step down as it tries too hard to be outlandishly bizarre and intentionally confronting  without really having much to say in the process   br    br    out of    
  scoop  is easily woody allen  s funniest film of the      s so far . allen  although finally looking his age  is at the top of his game as low  brow magician sidney waterman . his one  liners and demeanor are hilarious . don  t let the critics sway your opinion .  scoop  is a top notch  woody  lite  picture .  br    br   the classical music score is an excellent compliment to the action on screen . scarlett johanson looks gorgeous in that bathing suit . jackman is dashing . the cinematography glows .  scoop  is wonderful escapist fare from start to finish . the last shot of the film alone is worth the admission price .  
i like billy crystal  and i thought it would be fun to watch this film  since i know he admired alan king and they would be funny together . i thought i had seen all billy  s movies but couldn  t remember this one  and now i know why . it  s so full of clichs and phony emotion you can smell each scene coming  and going   . billy doesn  t even get to be funny very often . he  s too busy trying to cry fake tears or show his angst at how badly his father let him down . alan king himself is fairly likable  as is the subplot about being an extra in the movies . but what a coincidence that billy just happens to visit his father just as a major health crisis takes place  etc . etc . or that two busy doctors can just shut down their practices to moon around in la . and when the end comes  boy  does it come quickly  almost as though the writers realized they had painted themselves into a corner and the only way out was to do a death scene . mostly disappointing with a few glimmers of good humor .  
i went to the movie theater this afternoon expecting to be underwhelmed by scoop . happily  the film exceeded expectations  at least a little bit . it  s nothing heavy  nothing deep   and not anywhere as good as any number of real allen masterpieces   but it  s also completely enjoyable as a light  bantering comedy . there  s something kind of simple and sweet about it .  cute  was the word i heard from people in the audience as they were walking out after the show . it doesn  t feel like allen set out to create a masterpiece here  it feels like he wanted to make a little comedy and have fun doing it . compared to just about everything hollywood is producing  allen  s stuff has a tendency to charm . even the fluffy stuff . these days it  s just refreshing to go to a movie made by an actual human being .  
billy crystal co  wrote  co  produced and stars in this extremely safe and comfy comedy  drama about fathers and sons  adult irresponsibility  and growing old . billy plays a heart surgeon who has a heart attack  ha ha  which causes him to seek out his estranged father  alan king   a movie  extra who fancies himself a big star . the script is sub  neil simon nonsense with one  liners galore  a flat  inexpressive direction by henry winkler  stuck in sitcom mode   and family  conflict at the ready . crystal and king try their best  but king is over  eager and frequently over  the  top . jobeth williams has another one of her thankless roles  but manages to bring her innate  down  home class to the proverbial girlfriend character . it  s a comedy  i guess  but one that blinks back the tears . . . shamefully .  from   
reading a wide variety of  scoop  reviews over the past few days  i walked into the theater prepared for a subpar outing from woody . happily  i couldn  t have been more wrong . granted  woody the performer is slowing down a touch or two  but woody the writer  director is in fine form  and found a credible way to integrate his    year old self into the story . judging from the laughter and guffaws  the audience ate up allen  s one  liners and dialogue in a way that i haven  t seen in several years .  br    br   in a movie landscape dominated by software  approved story arcs  twentysomething tastes and assembly  line formula fare for kiddies  it  s a source of both satisfaction and inspiration to see allen pursuing his highly personal and still  rewarding path .  
as a history nut who is particularly interested in this particular historical event  i was very disappointed with the movie . granted  the costumes and staging was quite authentic  but the hollywood portrayal of this  british little big horn  was truly boring .  br    br   the amount of film footage dedicated to marching or parading troops has to have been unprecedented in film history . eveytime i heard triumphant background music begin  i knew i had to prepare myself for another laborious scene of meaningless filler . obviously  the producers had invested heavily into  staging  and were determined to get their money  s worth .  br    br   despite the outstanding cast  their dialogue was  again  boring and their characters were never developed . whenever peter o  toole or burt lancaster finished a scene  i would cringe with disappointment . their given lines were so weak and meaningless that i could hardly believe these were the same two great actors who portrayed lawrence of arabia and the bird man of alcatraz respectively .  br    br   there are worse epics  but this one is not much better .  
this is a excellent series . you will laugh  you will cry  these wonderful people will be a part of your family . the way this family cares for one another and helps each other through their crisis sets a great example of the way we should live our lives . there are many good things they do  and a number of bad choices  but they never turn their backs on family  they work through problems . michelle  the youngest daughter  is the cutest thing i  ve seen . stephanie  the middle daughter  suffers with middle child syndrome and with the help of everyone in the family it  s better . dj  the oldest daughter  is growing up whether her dad wants it to happen or not . one thing they all share is they miss their mom . danny  dad   joey  and uncle jesse love these kids so much  and it  s apparent in every episode .  
bob clampett  s  porky  s poor fish  is a so  so cartoon populated by appalling puns and one or two nice moments . set in porky  s fish shoppe   porky  s poor fish  occupies an uncomfortable area between a standard black  n  white porky cartoon and one of the books  come  to  life merrie melodies that were popular at that time . typically of many of the early porky cartoons  porky is far from the star  appearing only in a rather stilted opening musical number and the climax of the film . for the rest of the time the star is a scraggly cat who sees the fish shop as an opportunity for a free meal but gets more than he bargained for . unfortunately  the audience gets far less than they bargained for . as was sometimes the case in the books  come  to  life series  the spotlight is thrown on punning signs which could have worked just as well in a non  animated medium . laughs are scarce and  while the cartoon is just about saved by clampett  s energetic direction  there is very little at all to recommend  porky  s poor fish  over any of the other below  par early porky cartoons .  
i don  t know if this is a sitcom or not  but i agree that this is one of the greatest television shows ever . it  s great that this show still airs . and i love michelle . it  s cute on the episodes when she was a baby and she talked  and she sometimes said something funny . aw .  br    br   this show can relate to children and teens and . . well  families as they struggle through rough times and try to work it out as a family . i don  t know who would ever turn down an opportunity to watch this show with someone .  br    br   i love the episode when i think her name is dd . . the older girl accidentally stole a sweatshirt  and she learned a lesson about stealing . that was a great episode . an example that this tv show shows the family working things out as a family .  br    br   i recommend this show for everyone .  
considering the risk of showing same  sex relationships before the late      s  personal best could have done better to play the same  sex relationship between hemingway  chris cahill  and donnelly  tory skinner  as a more than experimental phase of cahill  s life .  br    br   it seems to me that the creators of this movie threw in the same  sex relationship between two fairly attractive women in order to attract viewers . also consider the   seconds of exposing the crotches of several women jumping backwards over a high jump pole . this random scene had very little relevance to the movie and it appeared as though this was done merely to keep the audience interested in this bland movie . i suppose the producers were trying to counteract the boring plot and the even more boring setting of the movie  the     oregon track and field competition  .  br    br   this review may seem harsh  but it is the truth . the exploitation of young muriel hemingway  s body and the same  sex relationship ruined any credit that i would have given to this film .  br    br   pepper thompson  
full house is a great show . i am still today growing up on it . i started watching it when i was  and now i am   and still watching it . i fell in love with all of the characters  especially stephanie . she is my favorite . she had such a sense of humor . in case there are people on this sight that hardly watch the show  you should because you will get hooked on it . i became hooked on it after the first show i saw  which just happened to be the first episode  in     . it really is a good show . i really think that this show should go down to many generations in families . and it  s great too because it is an appropriate show for all ages . and for all parents  it teaches kids lessons on how to go on with their life . nothing terrible happens  like violence or swearing . it is just a really great sit  com . i give it  out of  stars . what do you think  oh and the best time to watch it is when you are home sick from school or even the old office . it will make you feel a lot better . trust me i am hardly home sick but i still know that it will make you feel better . and to everybody that thinks the show is stupid  well that  s too bad for you because you won  t get as far in life even if you are happy with your life . you really should watch it and you will get hooked on it . i am just telling you what happened to me and everybody else that started watching this awesome show . well i need must go to have some lunch . remember you must start watching full house and soon   
this is just typical bruce willis  action movie schtick . watch it with some popcorn and your buddies . rent it  to save money .  br    br   none of it is realistic . the battles aren  t realistic . the soldiers aren  t realistic . the victims aren  t realistic . and why was tom skerritt  s character talking to willis from the deck of the carrier  what  s up with that  he can  t do that from inside the ship   br    br   of course  bruce w . gets a machete wound . there  s a bunch of average explosions .  br    br   if this movie accurately represents the navy seals  then don  t get stuck in africa expecting them to come rescue you   br    br   the noble attack on the village bothered me the most .  front row seats to an ethnic cleansing  . . . as bruce looks at the slaughter going on in town . so what does he do  he crawls into town on his belly . yep . how many died while they were putzing around  oh well . . . a body count was needed  i guess .  br    br   and if that one african guy was so important  why didn  t he get on the chopper with the elderly and children  can he say  duh    br    br   finally  the movie was very dark . not just in plot  but so much happens at night it was difficult to make out what was going on .  br    br   rent it .  
i loved this show growing up and i still watch the first season dvd at age   today . what can i say  i grew up in a house much like the one on full house . i had a dad  two sisters  and a dog . i guess the only difference was that i did not live with my uncle and my dad  s best friend . also  i grew up with my mom in the house . i don  t know what i would have done without full house on television . i think that stephanie  played by jodie sweetin   d . j .  played by kirk cameron  s sister candace   and michelle  played by mary  kate and ashley olsen  are my favorite characters . i can relate to each of them because i am the middle child of my family like steph  i am a younger sister like michelle  and i am an older sister like d . j . i really like how the show always has moral values because i don  t really like any of the o . c .  like shows today . i like the comedy of full house  too . uncle jesse  john stamos   joey  dave coulier   and danny  bob saget  are hilarious as the girls  uncle  dad  s friend  and dad  respectively . the story goes that  after the girls  mom dies  danny  s best friend joey and his brother  in  law  jesse move in to help raise the kids . three men trying to raise three young girlshilarious . each character on full house is full of heart  funny  and genuinely believable . joey is an aspiring comedian with a kid  s heart and soul . jesse is the cool  motorcycle riding  tough  guy uncle who is softened by his three nieces  and later  his wife becky  laurie laughlin  from summerville  . both kids and adults will love this show . guaranteed .  
if you like to be entertained  do not go see this movie . if you like to see heroics of war  do not go see this movie . if you like to see good acting and an excellent screenplay  do not go see this movie . if you like typical hollywood war films that end just in time to give a politically charged appeal to the public about the greatness and glory of war  go see this movie . otherwise  don  t waste your time . i am always interested in war movies because i think that if they are done well  they can teach us something about the paradoxical and worthless qualities of war . this film shows a bunch of guys running around the countryside  saying whorrible cliche lines  doing the most predictable things  and defending the oppressed with the same exact force and brutality that was being given to the oppressed . this film is a disgrace to filmmaking and to the united states of america  can you imagine being a person from europe or africa  or any other country and watching this  being told that this is how americans truly are  no wonder everyone hates us  please  please  please  don  t waste your time on this piece of junk if you must  wait and rent it .      
i had watched several days film shooting of this movie that summer  the end result was just two scenes in the movie . the location was sylvan lake in the black hills . bring the wagon  stop the wagon etc . so this dakota youth looked forward to seeing the movie and was not disappointed . the local buffalo herd was being culled so the shooting scenes were for real .  yes doris  animals were hurt during filming  i think the ending was copied by jack nicholson in the shining  a great western  social comment from the    s . this should be in the same class as high noon for real western drama or used as a social statement like blackboard jungle or rebel without a cause was for    s youth .  
how can a movie with amy  posey and raechel have nothing funny in it  believe it or not  house bunny  did this better and funnier . hopefully the principals had a good holiday and got some money  this movie is an embarrassment to all of them . it is a clich from beginning to end . clichs can work well with a script  or at least an idea . this movie does nothing but use clich after clich rather than ideas or script . it uses the preexisting persona  s of the actresses rather than develop characters . bad  sad  and rubbish . now i apparently have to have ten lines of text for a comment . really  why  as an it ops manager this is another example of sloppy coding .  
full house came to me when i was about  . i remember seeing re  runs of america  s funniest home videos with bob saget  and one day my mom told me that he was also in a show called full house . one day  i was lucky enough to catch an episode while visiting family . it didn  t seem too interesting at first  but as i watched more and more  ever night at      i would just be so into it .  br    br   this show really makes you want to be there yourself  hang out with the girls  go places with them  and maybe even join in their little family  sing  alongs  .  br    br   the thing i like most about full house is that it  s a great show for kids and adults of all ages . there will be some parts that are more for adults  then parts that are meant for kids  so that the whole family will enjoy it . no matter how cheesy it can be  it  s still a great show  and i would definitely recommend it to anyone .  br    br         
 . . . for the lt to have chosen this one . first  the film wasn  t horrible  it was just hollywood . worst case i  need  this  to  happen  or  we  have  no  movie scenario if willis  mission was to save the doctor  but she was adamant that her  people  make it out of the missionary  he would have put her on that first chopper and marched those refugees to the border without her . he would not have compromised his package for the refugees . that  s not how it works . but  as i pointed out  this is hollywood  we must have drama . this is why we make movies  because reality isn  t quite so complicated . however  i did think that willis and the good doctor had workable chemistry . that said  there are also some well done battle scenes in the film . it  s not a waste of time   tears of the sun  is worth the dvd rental fee . check it out on a rainy day and you  ll be satisfied .  
i think the comments regarding the show being cheesy are a bit too exaggerated . when a person comes to watch a tv show  what does he look out for  it is to enjoy that he watches a show  unless he  she is a critic or a person who analyzes story . but most of us are not so and watch the shows to relax and enjoy . full house is an ideal show to watch after having a heavy day in the office  school . it makes you laugh and it is not just humor .  br    br   yes  the tanner family is a perfect family  a perfectly hypothetical family . if any such family existed in real world  it would be a role model for us to follow . but this is a tv show  and not a real family  and there is nothing wrong in depicting a hypothetical family on television . the very fact that the show could run so long shows us that people enjoyed watching it  whatever be the comments later on .  br    br   another good point about the show is that any person of any age would not only enjoy watching it  but would take back a message however childish that message be . those jesse  s talks with michelle are extremely touching  if one doesn  t think of it as childish .  br    br   overall i would say after watching every show of full house  there is a contentment in your heart that is rarely present after many other shows .  
although a film with bruce willis is always worth watching  you better skip this one . i watched this one on television  so i didn  t have to plunk down cash for it . lucky me .  br    br   the plot develops slowly  very slowly . although the first   minutes or so are quite believable  it gets more and more unbelievable towards the end . it is highly questionable  if a seasoned soldier like lt . waters would disobey direct orders . and even if he would  if the rest of his platoon would . they know he puts them in direct danger  and they know they will certainly die if they follow him  but what the heck  he is our lt . so let  s do what he says  despite the direct orders  remember  .  br    br   still  there are some nice scenes in this movie . they somewhat save a village  where the total population is being massacred by the rebels . well  they save a dozen villagers or so  the rest was already killed . the strange part of it  that they did take the trucks which the rebels left behind . they rather go on foot . maybe because the roads are unsafe  but there was no explanation for it . anyway . i think this was what earned the movie the one point i gave it .  br    br   what made this movie an insult to the brain and hence completely unbelievable is that a group of  soldiers can kill of so many rebels without being hurt or killed themselves . only near the end they loose a few comrades . and that is only because they have to fight of an army of nearly    or more . can you believe that   br    br   they fight of an army of so many  kill hundreds of them  and only loose a few of themselves . and they have rounds and round of ammo . never run out of it . grenades and claymore mines  an m   machine gun and even an rpg . where do they get this stuff . carrying it around or what  they even got a laptop which shows them the activity of enemy rebels . and this laptop has a battery which goes on for days . really  who think up this crap .  br    br   i guess if you turn off your brain completely and accept that the rebels are a bunch of idiots  you give this movie a high rating . if not  skip this one . it saves you time .  
i grew up watching full house as a child . i stopped watching it for years  but about two weeks ago i started back watching it again . now my kids watch the show and they love to watch it as well . my kids can  t believe that dj  on the show  and i are the same age .  br    br   i really love the show  because it is a show you can watch with your family . it has good teachings your kids can learn from . also there isn  t any drugs and violence on it . also when the kids  on the show  have a problem they can always open up to their family for help . that  s the message kids should be getting from tv now a days  turn to your family for help  not to drugs . kids should be watching more shows like full house instead of half the mess on tv now a days .  br    br   i also love the show because it makes you laugh and it is down to earth . it talks about real life problems and family matters . there is always a lesson you can learn from the show .  br    br   i vote the show a   .  
the first ten minutes of  just looking  really dictates the direction most of this movie takes . lenny  ryan merriman  is a   year old boy living in new york in the    s . he has a burning desire to see two people have sex . who are the best people he has in mind  well  his own mom and stepfather of course  how pleasant . unfortunately for lenny  he is caught before he sees anything and is sent away for the summer to stay with his uncle and his uncle  s wife .  br    br   lenny  s next plan is to see his uncle and his wife have sex . however  the wife is quite pregnant and they aren  t currently sleeping together . then lenny makes a new friend . him and his buddy spend most of their free time hanging around a couple of girls . they have a little club where all they do is sit around and talk about sex . the problem is . . . it  s not done in an innocent  charming      s sort of way . i am no prude by any means  but i found it rather disturbing listening to these kids talk about masturbation  blowjobs and anal sex . that kind of rawness may work in a movie like  kids        but in this film it just seems perverted .  br    br   gretchen mol is utterly wasted here as hedy  a former bra model who becomes the object of lenny  s carnal desires . jason alexander needs to stay as far away from the director  s chair as possible .  for better or worse        was awful and now this . what a waste .      
full house is a wonderful sitcom that is about a dad  danny tanner  whose wife had just died in a car crash . so danny asks his brother in law  jesse katsopolis  and best friend  joey gladstone  to help raise his three girls  donna jo  dj  tanner  stephanie tanner  and michelle tanner . this is my favorite show ever  and i can watch it all day long . and something on full house is always making me laugh and there are sad parts also . there is never a dull moment in full house . the main characters are played by  bob saget  danny tanner   john stamos  jesse katsopolis   dave coulier  joey gladstone   candace cameron  dj tanner   jodie sweetin  stephanie tanner   and mary  kate  ashley olsen  michelle tanner  .  
this is probably one of the worst french movies i have seen so far  among more than    french movies i have ever seen . terrible screenplay and very medioacre  unprofessional acting causes the directing powerless . with all that it doesn  t matter how nice western french scene and fancy music can add to the story .  br    br   one of the key weakness of this movie is that these two characters do not attract people  as an audience i don  t care what happens to them .  br    br   it amazed me how this movie won jury prize in cannes  man  i love almost all the awarded movies in cannes  but not this one . a major disappointment for me .  
i really did not watch this show as often when i was a child but the first episode i remember ever seeing is the episode where kimmy gibbler pierced stephanie ears . when i started high school back in     . i had problems all through out high school and i  d rather not get into that . but i used to always watch saved by the bell but that show really reminded me of the problems i faced at school  and it rarely showed the kids parents . saved by the bell is okay  but not a good family show . a few days after i graduated high school in     . i turned the tv to the family channel and day after day i got addicted to full house . i could even push the info button and see the year it came out and i would remember what i was doing during that time period . the episode was about to come on and it was titled  birthday blues  and to this day it is most favorite episode  it  s sad  with a happy ending  and you see kimmy gibbler in a way she doesn  t act in other episodes  she actually shows her serious side . i have seasons           and  on dvd and i am waiting for  and  . i wished somehow they could have a documentary and some commentaries from the cast members . i don  t why some people have a hatred for this show because you don  t see trash and violence on this show . and for those who hate this show  i pray for you because you might have grown up in a dysfunctional family where there was no love . but full house in my opinion is a family living in heaven where everyone is happy and good things always happen . and the characters are so awesome . danny tanner reminds me of my mother and grandmother . joey is good natured and is always in a good mood . when i was a child i used to be just like jesse and he is the first actor on tv as a guy that is so obsessed with hair . somehow you can actually tell that dj is a california girl . i really like the episodes with kimmy gibbler because she always makes me smile and brightens my day when i watch her . and stephanie is so cool . also i have a hard time telling the olsen twins apart . i want my kids to watch it one day . but full house is my   favorite show and sabrina the teenage witch is my   favorite . one day  sometime before i die  i would really like to meet all the cast of full house in person . the first  seasons are kinda boring but they start getting better in the  th season . i just wished they could have made a  th season . they stopped making full house in     and in the fall of     sabrina the teenage witch came out  which is a similar family show  but full house is a very loving show and they have their good times and bad times  and yes  i understand  if your a wild trashy type person your going to hate this show but this is a show for happiness and it is also moral show . also i would like to say that the first  seasons is good kid shows but around the  th and  th seasons dj and stephanie become teenagers . also i noticed  not only with full house but a lot of shows  they never talk about the problems in the world and politics  like when full house was on the air during the gulf war in     and during the time of the oklahoma city bombing in      they never mention anything about it . also steve was my favorite dj  s boyfriend  the ones with viper and nelson were  nt very interesting . but season  and  i think are the best . i just wished they would have made a  th season because  it left a big question mark in my head  because on the last episode in the last minute  dj gets a surprise and goes to her prom with her ex boyfriend steve  i always wondered if they got back together . and i liked how in the final seasons  dj was always the responisible one and stephanie was always wanting to do something daring  like in the episode  stephanie  s wild ride   
you do realize that you  ve been watching the exact same show for eight years  right  i could understand the initial curiosity of seeing strangers co  exist on an island  but you  d think that after watching unkempt  stink  ladened heroes run roughshod through the bush with an egg on a spoon for half a decade would be enough to get you to commit to something a little more original  and interesting  .  br    br   and i  m not even speaking of the shows validity which for the record i find questionable . it  s just hard to suspend disbelief for  bushy bill  eating a rat when the entire crew of producers and camera people are housed in an air conditioned make  shift bio  dome sipping frosty mochcinno  s with moxy .  br    br   what  s the appeal here  i don  t care about these people or their meandering lives . i just don  t get it . but if you do find yourself being captivated by hairy  unwashed people  i suggest you turn off your tv and just take a trip to your local bus station where you can see people like this in their true habitat . they call them homeless people  and free of charge  you can sit back and marvel in their uncanny ability to retrieve various cigarette debris from a plethora of garbage canisters  eventually striking  pay  dirt  and fashioning a homemade dr . frankenstein  styled cancer  stick  all the while begging people for change for food when the stink of  aqua velva  on their breath is enough to suggest otherwise . and the best part  much like survivor  every week one member of the tribe  leaves  the  island  when they are unceremoniously sent packing to the local institution when the frightening unmedicated state of full  blown schizophrenia kicks into gear  now that  s entertainment   
full house is a great family show . however  after watching some episodes over and over again i  ve realized that they  re incredibly boring and they seem to shelter themselves from the outside world a lot . yes  there is a lot of comedy  but there are times when it  s incredibly cheesy . it  s not like i hate it  but just don  t watch them over and over again because they get old quick . probably the best season is the first .  br    br   full house is about widower danny tanner  bob saget  and his three daughters d . j .  candace cameron  stephanie  jodie sweetin  and michelle  mary  kate and ashley  . when danny  s wife dies the he is in need of some help . so  his best friend joey  dave coulier  and the girls  uncle jesse  john stamos  moves in with them . once they live there together they find they can  t live without each other .  br    br   full house reminds you just how important family is and that you can always go home again .  
how has this piece of crap stayed on tv this long  it  s terrible . it makes me want to shoot someone . it  s so fake that it is actually worse than a     s sci  fi movie . i  d rather have a stroke than watch this nonsense . i remember watching it when it first came out . i thought  hey this could be interesting  then i found out how absolutely  insanely  ridiculously stupid it really was . it was so bad that i actually took out my pocket knife and stuck my hand to the table .  br    br   please people  stop watching this and all other reality shows  they  re the trash that is jamming the networks and canceling quality programming that requires some thought to create .  
this show is about three little girls .  d . j  stephanie  and michelle  their mother is killed by a drunk driver so their father danny invites his brother  in  law  jesse  and his old friend  joey  . so the whole show is about living life . the girls go through life  s troubles and have life lessons . they develop crushes  boyfriends  and many more . the whole show is basically about to go with the flow . you do not have to hold grudges you just have to let it go . i think this show is really good and fun to watch . i grew up watching this show and still watch it today . i am glad they still air this show on television . i watch it almost every day . i rate it      .  
this show comes up with interesting locations as fast as the travel channel . it is billed as reality but in actuality it is pure prime time soap opera . it  s tries to use exotic locales as a facade to bring people into a phony contest  then proceeds to hook viewers on the contestants soap opera style .  br    br   it also borrows from an early cbs game show pioneer  beat the clock  by inventing situations for its contestants to try  overcome . then it rewards the winner money . if they can spice it up with a little interaction between the characters  even better . while the game format is in slow motion versus beat the clock  the real accomplishment of this series is to escape reality .  br    br   this show has elements of several types of successful past programs . reality television  hardly  but if your hooked on the contestants  locale or contest  this is your cup of tea . if your not  this entire series is as i say  drivel dripping with gravy . it is another show hiding behind the reality label which is the trend it started in     .  br    br   it is slick  well produced  so it might last a while yet . after all  so do re  runs of gilligan  s island  green acres  the beverly hillbillies  the brady bunch . this just doesn  t employ professional actors . the intelligence level is about the same .  
ok . who brought the cheese . i love it . during it  s run it became a phenomenon . the anorexic twins became popular . bob saget started making a paycheck  instead of his really funny stand  up  . and people knew who dave coulier was . this is when life was good and simple . this is one of the great american classics . it was humorous and always brought home a good lesson . and this is where i differ from the norm i liked the last few seasons . like home improvement  when children get older there are a lot more you can do with the script . this is why i dare say . . . it could have gone much later than it did . but anyway . i gave it an     because of its wholesome  funny story lines  and because of bob saget   
roy rogers and company try to bring  sintown  back to life  it  s a ghost town which may go boom if silver mining is successful . andy devine  as  cookie   slapsticks around . jane frazee  as carol  loses a piece of her bitches to mr . rogers  sharp leer . foy willing and the riders of the purple sage stand  in  or  is that sing  in   for the a . w . o . l . bob nolan and the sons of the pioneers . james finlayson  from the laurel and hardy films  adds to the  slapstick  look of  grand canyon trail  . a loose floor board delivers the winning comedy performance . mr . devine  s mule kicks its heels . there are energetic human performances  too  but  the material isn  t grand .  br    br    grand canyon trail       william witney  roy rogers  jane frazee  andy devine  
i love full house so much that i couldn  t live without full house . why did it end  it upsets a lot of the fan of it . can we have a full house ii  oh  come on  but it is better that we have those dvd to help us . but i need those real ones to come up with another new episode . love  warmth are filled the house  all the characters are very cute and handsome  candace cameron  mary  kate and ashley olsen  jodie sweetin  bob saget  dave coulier  and john stamos  loooooooove you  dj  michelle  stephanie  danny  joey  and jesse please come back to the screen please  how is michelle after falling down from a horse  how are nicky and alex  is joey alone or is he having a wife or at least a girlfriend  are they still living in the same house  i want to continue the life of full house  and please don  t upset me   
i  d have to say that this was a little embarrassing for the  king of the cowboys   made in      the picture came out a decade after roy rogers  earliest pictures in which he had a starring role . roy  s character comes off as a bit clueless in this one  along with his female co  star jane frazee  who alternates her allegiance between roy and robert livingston  portraying chief bad guy bill regan . the whole story seems kind of muddled  with missed opportunities for what could have been an entertaining hour or so . like the legend of the  hangman  s hotel  for example  which says the hanged man comes to life at midnight . with andy devine in the cast as cookie bullfincher  you would think the story would get a little mileage out of that set up . instead  you have some convoluted proceedings that would have been better served if this had been a bowery boys flick . it was a sad attempt at a haunted hotel gimmick that relied on poor old genevieve  who truth be told  wound up getting more screen time than trigger  who  s contract as  smartest horse in the movies  didn  t have anything to say about getting upstaged by a mule . and then you have foy willing and his riders of the purple sage replacing bob nolan and the sons of the pioneers for your musical interlude . i don  t know about you  but it was already half way into the picture and i was still looking for pat brady  oh well   br    br   yet there was still an interesting element to be found here if you were looking hard enough  and that turned out to be roy  s athletic dismount of trigger while still on the run from the bad guys . ok  it was probably a stunt double  but i haven  t seen that one before in a couple hundred westerns .  br    br   jane frazee does the honors as the female lead in this picture  as she would in four other films opposite roy in the          time frame . in  under california stars   she appeared as andy devine  s cousin  appropriately named caroline bullfincher . you  re never quite convinced what side she  ll come in on in this story though  since she starts out pretending to be someone she  s not  and winds up on the good guy side almost by accident .  br    br   fans of the old laurel and hardy films might be as surprised as i was to see james finlayson here as the sheriff of sintown . i would have liked a little more comedy relief written into his role  but he played it pretty straight after all . i had to wonder  when it was all over  why he and old vanderpool  charle coleman  wound up in the mine shaft with cookie when there was no reason for that to be . just a way to close it out i guess  with about as much thought as went into the rest of the picture . i hate to be that harsh  but if you  ve seen enough roy rogers flicks  you  ve got to know that this was not one of his finer efforts .  br    br   say  sintown  i wonder if that  s the same place that grew up to be sin city   
i try to watch it everyday most of the time  and even though i have watched it for the past  years  i have not seen every episode .  br    br   the show is about danny tanner who is guy who does news for sports . his wife is killed by a car accident from a drunk driver and he asks jesse  an elvis maniac with a motorcycle and has an obsession of his hair . joey  an adult kid who does comedy and does voices of cartoons all the time to take care of his three girls  donna joe  they call her d . j .  stephinie who is the second oldest and michelle  the youngest .  br    br   they all live under one roof with no one to help them out .  br    br   later in the show  jesse gets a girl friend and later is married to her and have twins  nicki and alex .  this starts to happen in the new seasons  this show is awesome  if you like the suite life of zack and cody  that  s so raven  boy meets world  and designing woman  you will love this .  it starts to get better in the ending seasons  watch it  you will love it   
here are the matches . . .  adv .  advantage   br    br   the warriors  ultimate warrior  texas tornado and legion of doom  v the perfect team  mr perfect  ax  smash and crush of demolition   ax is the first to go in seconds when warrior splashes him for the pin     adv . warriors  . i knew ax wasn  t a healthy man but if he was that unhealthy why bother have him on the card  this would be his last ppv . eventually  both legion of doom and demolition job out cheaply via double disqualification     adv . warriors  . perfect applies the perfect plex on texas tornado for the pin . he then attempts the same on warrior but warrior no  sells it and kicks out . warrior comes back with a splash to pin perfect and become the sole survivor .      br    br   the dream team  dusty rhodes  koko b ware and the hart foundation v million dollar team  ted dibiase  mystery partner and rhythm and blues   the mystery partner is the undertaker and  on his debut  makes an impact disposing of koko straight away with the tombstone  monsoon still manages to say his correct height  weight and finishing move while pretending not to know who he is  making it    to dibiase  s team . niedhart power  slams honky for the pin      and his career with the wwf is over . shortly afterwards  it is niedhart who falls victim to dibiase with help from virgil     adv . dibiase  s team  . rhodes next after an undertaker double axe  handle off the top rope but doesn  t leave quietly attacking brother love . undertaker goes after dusty and gets counted out despite not being the legal man     adv . dibiase  s team  . almost straight after  greg gets caught in a cradle by hart trying to put the figure four leg  lock on him and gets pinned . it comes down to hart v dibiase and after a few minutes of nice wrestling  bret gets his body  cross reversed by dibiase for the pin . dibiase is the sole survivor . at least hart is put to good use .      br    br   the vipers  jake  the snake  roberts   superfly  jimmy snuka and the rockers  v visionaries  rick  model  martel  warlord and power and glory   after spending some time in the ring  marty jannetty gets power slammed by warlord as he comes off the top rope for the pin     adv . visionaries  . snuka gets pinned in seconds by martel who reverses his body cross     adv . visionaries  . michaels gets caught in the power plex and pinned by roma     adv . visionaries  . it is now roberts against four men resembling his survivor series effort two years before . despite hitting warlord with the ddt  roberts gets counted out chasing after martel . the visionaries are the first team in survivor series history to completely survive as one . not much here worth watching to be honest as the psychology is rushed .      br    br   hulkamaniacs  hulk hogan   hacksaw  jim duggan  bigbossman and tugboat  v natural disasters  earthquake  dino bravo  barbarian and haku   one bossman slam eliminates haku early in the bout     adv . hulkamaniacs  . duggan gets his  by  out after whacking earthquake with it to get disqualified      . bravo commits career suicide shortly afterwards by allowing hogan to cradle him for the pin     adv . hulkamaniacs  . earthquake manages to overcome bossman with two elbow drops for the pin shortly afterwards      . hogan gets beat down and finally tugboat gets a tag  who knew he was there at this point    he wrestles for about   seconds before getting counted out with earthquake . only hogan and barbarian left . barbarian puts in some nice offence but inevitably gets caught in the big boot and leg drop for the pin . hogan is the sole survivor .      br    br   the alliance  nikolai volkoff  tito santana and bushwhackers  v mercenaries  sgt slaughter  boris zhukov and orient express   all of the mercanaries wore camouflage face paint . lightning quick pins here with santana pinning zhukov in his last ppv in seconds     adv . alliance  . there wasn  t even a bolshevik showdown . bushwhackers hit sato with the battering ram even though tanaka was the legal man     adv . alliance  and would be his last appearance on wwf ppv as the orient express get repackaged . tanaka follows sato when santana stuns him with the flying forearm     adv . alliance  . despite slaughter getting in the ring against four men  he eliminates volkoff  who  s career is over after this   butch and luke in that order with relative ease . finally  santana beats slaughter by disqualification when general adnan hits him with iraqi flag . at last some interesting booking even though the match was awful . santana takes the upset victory as the sole survivor and becomes his last finest hour .      br    br   the egg hatches and it  s hector guerrerro in a silly outfit . he dances with gene okerlund and gets booed by the crowd while piper and monsoon pretend they are enjoying it .  br    br   match of survival ultimate warrior  hulk hogan and tito santana v warlord  power and glory  rick  model  martel and  million dollar man ted dibiase just merely another catalogue of eliminations as santana pins warlord in seconds with flying forearm at least avenging his previous summerslam defeat     adv . dibiase  s team  . dibiase stun guns santana afterwards for the pin     adv . dibiase  s team  . hogan kicks out of the power plex and proceeds to pin roma after a clothesline  effectively killing off power and glory  s push     adv . dibiase  s team  . hogan eliminates martel by count  out and dibiase with the leg drop for the pin     adv . hogan  s team  . hogan finally allows warrior into the match who quickly disposes of former nemesis hercules after a splash . a very predictable ending to the point of nauseous .      br    br   overall  too many matches and too little time obviously had a detrimental effect as the wrestlers were almost waiting on a conveyor belt to be pinned . most of the heels were decimated by warrior and hogan which is a poor way to handle a great roster of wrestlers .  
i just watched this movie  by mistake . what a little gem . this film made in     looks  and feels  like a late seventies movie . and is in fact better  more restrained and correct than  say  blue soldier . the environmental  anthropological undertones are way ahead of its time . the understated cinematography is superb and terribly realistic . much more than dances with wolves  the last hunt manages to convey the look and feel of the buffalo  killing fields  of the late     s . probably because those in the movie were real killing fields . the movie was shot during legal forestry directed buffalo culls  so the animals you see are really being shot  the bones are real . in conclusion  a very under  rated western masterpiece  superbly acted  directed and shot .  
they really can  t get stupider than this film dealing with  losers who try to capture the college spirit during the annual spring break festivities at many of our higher schools of learning . the problem is that these losers try to do this   years after their college years when one is assigned to watch over the daughter of a woman senator being groomed to be the next vice president .  br    br   trouble is that her daughter is anything but popular  but of course she comes out of all that . the girls go through drunken rages  exotic dancing and other absolute nonsense .  br    br   it really can  t get much worse than this awful film .  
full house was and still is a great show . it  s a good show for people of all ages and is also a good family show . there really aren  t any shows like it anymore . the kids are very cute and even though it  s a bit cheesy  it  s still good  especially for anyone who watched it when they were a kid . i would love to see the cast interviewed now . anyone that would like to see interviews of the cast  kind of like a where are they now type thing for the special features of the dvd  should go to the petition spot website and sign a petition titled full house reunion on dvd as there is a petition for this in hopes that the cast may want to do it . yay for full house   
this one was marred by potentially great matches being cut very short .  br    br   the opening match was a waste of the legion of doom  but i guess the only way they could have been eliminated by demolition was a double  dq . otherwise  mr . perfect would have had to put in overtime . kerry von erich  the i  c champ  was wasted here . and this was the third ppv in a row where perfect jobbed . remember  before that he never lost a match .  br    br   the second match was very good  possibly the best of the night . ted dibiase and the undertaker were excellent  while the jim neidhart had one of his wwf highlights  pinning the honky tonk man . koko b . ware continued his tradition of being the first to put over a new heel  remember the big bossman and yokozuna   . this was a foreshadowing of bret hart  s singles career  as he came back from two  on  one and almost survived the match . he and dibiase put on a wrestling clinic  making us forget that the point of the match was dibiase  s boring feud with dusty rhodes .  br    br   even though the visionaries were the first team to have all of its members survive  and only the second since    to have four survivors   this match was not a squash . this was the longest match of the night  and jake did a repeat of his    performance when he was left alone against four men and dominated . i think he could have actually pulled off an upset . these days  the match would have ended the other way around .  br    br   one of the shortest ss matches ever was also one of its most surprising . possibly the most underrated wrestler ever  tito santana was the inspirational wrestler of the night  putting on war paint and pinning boris zukhov  tanaka  and even the warlord in the final survival match . it was so strange to see him put over so overwhelmingly  then go right back to his mediocre career . sgt . slaughter also did well  getting rid of volkoff and the bushwhackers  but that just wasn  t a surprise . tito was .  br    br   i think the only point of the survival match was to have hogan and the warrior win together at the end .  br    br   this show was boring and the matches were too short . the undertaker  s debut was cool  but tito santana is the reason i will remember this one .  
  full house   in my opinion  is an absolute abc classic  i  m not sure if i  ve never seen every episode  but i still enjoyed it . one of my favorite episodes is where jesse  john stamos  and rebecca  lori loughlin  get married . if you want to know how what made it so funny  you  d have to have seen it for yourself . it was a two  parter  so you  d have to have seen both parts . another one of my favorite episodes is where jesse  stephanie  jodie sweetin   and michelle  mary kate  ashley olsen  get locked in a gas station on michelle  s birthday . you  d also have to have seen it for yourself if you want to know how and why that happened . i have many other ones that i like  too . everyone always gave a good performance  the production design was spectacular  the costumes were well  designed  and the writing was always very strong . in conclusion  even though it can be seen in syndication now  i strongly recommend you catch it just in case it goes off the air for good .  
yes  marie dresler drinks prune juice that she thinks is poison and she exits running .  br    br   dresler is good . never my cup of tea but she is a solid performer who surely holds the screen .  br    br   i watched this for polly moran  whom i  ve seen elsewhere . here  moran is ok   just ok   as dressler  s shrewish friend  foe . too bad she has sunk into nearly total oblivion .  br    br   the plot is good hearted . bad guys try to rob the townspeople . dressler triumphs and all ends well .  br    br   i do wonder about the central plot mechanism bonds . this came out during the depression so maybe everyone was familiar with bonds and what they can do if used well and if used wrongly . i  however  not of that era  am vaguely familiar with them . they  re like stocks only different  right  it seems odd to build a story about the little man around a somewhat sophisticated monetary entity .  
this is how i feel about the show .  br    br   i started watching the show in reruns in     .  br    br   i enjoy the show but it had too many faults .  br    br   i hate the michelle  joey characters   br    br   stealing story lines from old tv shows . they even stole from  the partirdge family .  then in  episode  the partridge family  was mentioned .  br    br   actors playing different roles in different episodes . mtv martha quinn the most notable doing this  especially when she played herself in  episode .  br    br   the michelle character could not take a joke but then they had this little kid act out  revenge  to her sisters for a joke by them on her .  br    br   story lines that came  went in  episode . joey getting the tv show with frankie  annette  never heard from it again after that . danny all of a sudden playing the guitar .  episode he is coaching soccer   episode he is coaching softball  baseball .  game  you are out huh danny   br    br   jesse  joey keep getting jobs really quickly with no experience . only in a tv show .  br    br   i did like the d . j .  stephanie characters . wish jodie sweetin could have learned from candace cameron bure  had a clean non drug adult life .  
in      childhood friends marie dressler  as maggie warren  and polly moran  as lizzie praskins  oversee the wedding of their children  anita page  as helen  and norman foster  as john  . before the celebration  ms . dressler turns the reigns of her small town bank over to her son  mr . foster . six years later  the great depression brings many bank closures  and financial insecurity . banker foster is able to survive  due to mother dressler  s wise planning . but  ms . moran is worried about her fortune  and loudly demands a complete withdrawal . other  warren bank  customers hear moran  s rant  and start questioning their own solvency . soon  the family is in financial crisis .  br    br   dressler  s huge critical and financial film hit  emma  had been released early in the year  and mgm had to have wanted to get a new dressler film out as soon as possible . dressler  s     hits   reducing  and  politics  were still making a lot of money and  dressler had become      s us   box office star  according to the industry standard list compiled by quigley publications .  prosperity  certainly celebrated dressler  s status  but the production appears uncharacteristically sloppy  and rushed . the cast does well  considering . some more care in direction and editing  and some retakes  would have helped apparently  they needed it in theaters for the holidays .  br    br    prosperity           sam wood  marie dressler  polly moran  anita page  norman foster  
this show has a great storyline  it  s very believable  a mans wife dies and he cant take care of his children alone so he calls on his brother in law his best friend and many others come later on in the show . such as rebeecca donaldson   the lovable yet strong dog comet  nikki and alex who you can find out for yourself  i don  t want to spoil it for you  and of coerce kimmy gibler   the sidekick of dj  but the kids are wonderful too . this is mary kate and ashley first took off  and also you may know candace cameron bure from shows like st . elsewere punky brewster and that  s so raven  jodie sweetin plays steph the love able middle child who feels left out . really this is a very good show   
marie dressler carries this depression  era drama about a kindly bank owner  which recently aired on tcm during their april fools comedy month . if you come with the expectation of big laughs courtesy the dressler  polly moran team  you  ll be disappointed  as this is really a very downbeat film . it  s also very poorly made  surprisingly so considering it came from mgm . leonard smith  s bare bones cinematography is strictly from the  set up the camera and don  t move it  school  frequently to the detriment of the cast  who find themselves delivering lines off screen  it  s like a pan and scan print before such existed   or having their heads cut off . the film doesn  t even have a credited director  underlying the apparent fly by night nature of the production . overall  it  s an unsatisfying mess  with dressler frequently over  emoting and only that bizarre  final reel dash to the bathroom to set it apart .  
i have never seen a show as good as full house . full house puts all of the newer shows to shame  big time  anyone who has never seen it  which i don  t see how it is possible  should see it . it is a great show for anyone of any age . full house will make you laugh  it will make you cry  it will amaze you . true  some people feel that there are some  cheesy  aspects to the show  but  the positive aspects out weigh all of the  cheesy  aspects . full house ran it  s first episode on september        entitled  our very first show  and ran it  s last episode on may        entitled  michelle rides again part ii  .  br    br   the plot of the show is very believable . danny tanner  bob saget  losses his wife  pam  in an accident involving a drunk driver . danny has his brother in law  jesse katsopolis  john stamos   which is pam  s younger brother  and danny also brings in his best friend joey gladstone  dave coulier  to help him raise his three daughters . danny  s daughters are named dj  candice cameron  bure   stephanie  jodie sweetin   and michelle  mary  kate and ashley olsen  . joey and jesse plan on moving in with danny and his three girls for a few months just to help out and end up living with them for eight years which is the number of years the show ran for .  br    br   the following is a short description of some of the characters and the actor  actress who played him  her john stamos  jesse   john stamos is a great actor . he plays jesse . jesse is a rock star waiting to get his big break . in full house  john stamos does a great job portraying his character . he looked and played music like his idol  elvis presley .  br    br   bob saget  danny   bob saget is also a great actor . he looses his wife in car accident involving a drunk driver . he has to raise three girls without a having the girl  s mother . bob saget does a great job portraying a single parent who works full time and still has time to raise his three girls .  br    br   dave coulier  joey   one word can describe dave coulier  funny . he is great . playing the character of joey was perfect for him . he does a great job playing the stand  up comedian waiting for his big break .  br    br   candice cameron  bure  dj   she is a tremendous actress . she plays the oldest sister  dj which is short for donna jo . she is one of the best actresses i have ever seen . her acting ability in full house was very believable .  br    br   jodie sweetin  stephanie   two simple words can describe jodie sweetin  incredibly amazing  i wish i could say every thing that i would like to say about jodie  but  i would use up the      word maximum just on her . she got her start in a kids show called mother goose stories and when she came to full house  she blew the audience  s and creator  s mind . her great looks and absolutely amazing acting ability helped to make the show the success that it was . according to dave coulier  jodie was supposed to be the star of the show . it was supposed to be where she was going to get her big break . jodie  at five years old when the show first aired  could hit every line perfectly . she showed great enthusiasm . most young kids can  t do this . as you can probably guess  jodie sweetin  stephanie  is my favorite character in full house .  br    br   mary  kate and ashley olsen  michelle   great actress . full house is where they got their start . they received the part of michelle because they were the only babies who did not cry while in front of a camera .  br    br   there are many more cast members that should be recognized . these are the original characters from when the show first went on the air in     .  br    br   the only negative thing that i can say is how full house became the michelle show towards the end . i think it was to focused on her towards the end . especially when i think jodie and candice were much better at acting .  br    br   full house is a great show for everyone . it can teach you a lot . one of the biggest things it can teach you is that everyone can live a great life even if a tragedy  such as loosing a family member  occurs . full house continues to attract new fans . with all this said  there is only a couple things left to say full house will never die  and  thank you  the cast of full house  for giving everyone a show that they can enjoy .  
ugh  another one of those  fooled by the cover  dvds . i expected some kind of action at least with bears  cats   such on the cover . i got nothing  bad movie  .  br    br   i forced myself to watch this all the way through thinking that eventually something would happen . . . no luck .  br    br   now the reason i gave this a  is because of the scenery otherwise it sucked .  br    br   the kid was terrible  talking to himself  although i suppose they couldn  t just run a movie with dumb music and no dialogue at all   doing his lame karate stances to a tree stump  threatening a raccoon  munching on worms  and  what a dumbass  kicking a porcupine . and he wouldn  t be pulling those quills out that easily either . . . they stick like fishhooks . at least he fought the bear  weakly  a couple of times .  br    br   what was up with the flashback thing  it made a bad movie even worse . i wanted to see a survival movie  not some dramatic bs about a kid suffering thru divorce .  br    br   what else can i say  well  maybe they should have had the bear eat the kid or something . at least that would have been more exciting .  br    br   people  don  t waste your time on this one .  
i am only   years old but i discovered full house when i was about five and watched it constantly until i was seven . then i grew older and figured full house could wait and that i had  more important  things to do . plus there was also the fact that my younger brother who watched it faithfully with me for those two years started to dislike it thinking it too  girly .   br    br   then i realized every afternoon at five it was on   and i once again became addicted to it . full house has made me laugh and cry . it  s made me realize how nice it would be if our world was like the world of full house plus a mom . i have heard people say full house is cheesy and unbelievable . but look at the big picture three girls whose mom was killed by a drunk driver . the sisters fight and get their feelings hurt . the three men who live with the girls can get into bickers at times . what  s any more real than that   br    br   if anything the show has lifted me up when i  m down and brought me up even higher when i thought i was at the point of complete happiness . i have howled like a hyena at the show and gained a massive obsessiveness over mary kate and ashley olsen .  of course hilary duff has now taken that spot but they were literally the cutest babies i have ever seen . they are great actresses and seem to be very nice people .   
ever wanted to eat worms  here  s a  documentary  to show you how  yeah . . . the kid eats live worms  and that  s about the most interesting part of the movie .  br    br   this movie has been pretty well summed up by previous reviewers as rather boring . i  m totally in agreement here . the movie just doesn  t go anywhere . . . . unless you  re fond of worm eating  this is one movie it  s almost impossible to write a spoiler for . . . . because nothing much happens .  br    br   now on the technical side they should have given that kid a haircut . who  s he trying to look like anyway . . . bozo the clown . it was almost comical . . . i almost expected him to turn into the shaggy dog or something .  br    br   and on top of that the kid was way too chunky to ever look hungry  should have kept him off the junk food for a couple of weeks before filming .  br    br   all in all  this movie nearly put me to sleep . and my kids could only handle about   minutes before they left the scene for something more interesting .  br    br   i will admit that the scenery was very impressive . and had there been a decent story to go with it  it might have made a hit .  br    br   it did seem safe enough for kids to watch the bear scenes and the  oddball  eyeball were too weak to frighten most kids  and the brief  skinny  dipping  scene didn  t show anything .  br    br   i gave this one a very generous  .  
i watched  speak easily  one night and thought it was o . k .  but missing something . maybe buster keaton strangely speaking threw me off  or the labored line delivery of a leading lady . the next day i kept thinking about the movie  though . i couldn  t get durante  s song out of my head  i kept trying to better remember thelma todd  s first scene  i considered that maybe keaton did do some funny falls and physical comedy . the next night i watched a scene with thelma todd as a conniving chorus girl trying to impress buster and jimmy with her sex appeal . a very funny scene  the actors excellent  their faces  their eyes  their silly expressions . so i watched another scene  their show is opening on broadway . buster in his blissful innocence botches every act . again  i was laughing out loud  appreciating keaton  s clowning and tumbling . so the next night i watched the whole movie again  and this time i see it for the first time it  s stupendous  it  s sensational  it  s sublime  three great comedians  todd dances  durante sings  keaton speaks  sure it ain  t poifect . . . but there  s a lot of laughs in this picture .  
what horrible writing and acting . no personality . what  you can  t make a good movie with a single character  hmm  it was done in castaway with self dialog .  br    br   so this kid goes on a trip to see his father . the kid  jason  takes a plane and the pilot has a heart attack and dies mid  flight . so the kid crashes in a lake and survives . then he runs around  surviving in the wilderness until he gets rescued .  br    br   during that time he fights a bear twice . the first time he fights it off in the lake . the second time he makes a spear out of a branch and spears the bear . two shots of fake blood spurting out of the bear  s chest reminded me of monty python  s  the holy grail  .  br    br   also the kid decides to kick a porcupine with predictable results .  br    br   gag .  
since it has been some years since i reviewed this classic i have decided to go back and review it more in dept  but first some insider notes from a movie critic .  br    br   this animated series is one of those that i grew up with  it made my childhood joyful  it made it awesome  miss some of this stuff today that we clearly don  t see as much as we did back in the days  well on to the review . . .  br    br   talespin  or luftens helte which it is called in denmark is a great animated series  it is much like chip and dale  ducktales and a lot of those old ones  so it has that weird feeling surrounding it  i cannot remember this series as much as i would like to remember it .  br    br   but in my opinion it was very great  it came with some kind of message  not that wild of a message  however it is one of the old ones so that can be forgiven .  br    br   now i don  t want to sound old or anything but i feel like time slipped out of my hands with these cartoons  today we see something like ed edd and eddy or anything else weird like that  we have all these new or nearly new shows like hannah montana or something like that  yet i feel like that we don  t have the same spirit in cartoons or real shows like we did in the early days .  br    br   now maybe i am wrong but i feel like time has changed to much  to conclude i would be thrilled to see these series like talespin being released again to the tv screen instead of all the new ones  give me back my childhood cartoons  give them to the kids i have some day  give them again . . .  
in my lit . class we  ve just finished the book  hatchet  and this movie is nothing like the book .    brian never ate worms in the book .    he didn  t know the pilot  s name .    his mom was cheating on his father in a station wagon not in the woods where anyone could see .    the man the mother is cheating with doesn  t have black hair  he has blonde .  br    br   now for the unrealistic parts of the movie    a thirteen year old can  t punch his fist through a window in one punch .  br    br   and for the acting  the kid who played brian was a horrible actor .  br    br   however  i do believe that the scenery was impressive  though i highly doubt the director even read the book .  br    br   this movie is good if you have not read the book hatchet  by gary paulsen  but if you have  then begin a complaint letter to the director .  
i used to watch this show when i was a little girl . when i think about it  i only remember it vaguely . if you ask me  it was a good show . two things i remember vaguely are the opening sequence and theme song . in addition to that  everyone was ideally cast . also  the writing was very strong . the performances were top  grade  too . i hope some network brings it back so i can see every episode . before i wrap this up  i  d like to say that i  ll always remember this show in my memory forever  even though i don  t think i  ve seen every episode . now  in conclusion  if some network ever brings it back  i hope that you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good .  
i came away from this movie with the feeling that it could have been so much better . instead of what should be a gripping  tense story of a boy  s fight for survival in the wilderness  it comes off as a national geographic documentary meets columbia sportswear ad .  br    br   the film begins with brian  jared rushton  preparing for a journey by plane to see his father . his mother fortuitously gives him the curious choice of a hatchet as a going  away gift  what  s wrong with a rubik  s cube    little knowing how badly he will soon need it . once in the air  the plane  s pilot  a blink  and  you  ll  miss  him cameo by ned beatty  suffers a fatal heart attack  leaving brian helpless as the plane crashes into a lake . extremely lucky to walk  or rather swim  away virtually unscathed  brian must find shelter  food and hope for rescue .  br    br   here is where the main problem with the movie begins . by the very nature of brian  s solitude  jared has very few lines to speak  and so the film ought to have compensated by ratcheting up the tension of each scene . instead  he is shown walking around  sitting around  and so on  with only a minimal sense of danger . as a result  too much reliance is placed on flashbacks to the parents  troubled marriage as the source of tension . these scenes merely get in the way and don  t particularly add much to the story . even worse  occasionally jared  his face covered with mud  lets out a primal scream or two  which conjures up unfortunate parallels to predator .  speaking of unfortunate  we could have done with being spared the sight of his mullet  but it presumably helped keep him warm at night .  br    br   another disappointment is pamela sue martin in a totally ineffectual performance as the mother . both she and the father have very little impact in the movie . for instance  we are never shown how they react to news of brian  s disappearance  how they might be organizing rescue attempts  and so on . this is just one source of tension the film  makers would have done well to explore instead of spending so much time on events that happened before brian embarked on his journey .  
thanks jymn magon  for creating disney  s  best cartoons ever . this show has improved very much over the years . as a kid  i didn  t like it because i thought it was a rip  off of ducktales  which was my favorite disney thing at the time  like grandmoffromero  . then later on though it was good but not great . but after reading the reviews here  i decided to give it another chance  bought the dvd set  watched the whole pilot the first day i got it   was very pleasantly surprised . it  s still my favorite episode  although the series did live up to it . and by the end of disc   i knew this was going to be a top tenner .  br    br   the characters are so complex  charming . my favorite has got to be wildcat . he  s absolutely hilarious and sweet to boot . my next favorite is baloo  the best pilot on the show . i can see why  ol jymn built the show around him . then it  s kit cloudkicker . he  baloo have the best relationship in the series . after that  louie . jim cummings did a perfect job of impersonating the original voice . after him  rebecca . she has made me laugh pretty hard  and i do believe she and baloo eventually marry . and finally  for the heroes   molly . although she  s my least favorite  i still like her . i think she  s a very cute character  much better than webby from ducktales  . and the villains were very original . don karnage  his air pirates always crack me up  kahn is ice  cold and ruthless  and the thembrians are always at least amusing .  br    br   as said before  the stories range from hilarious  time waits for no bear  romance of red chimp  to nothing short of touching  the old man  the seaduck  paradise lost   to fun  funny  exciting adventures  in search of ancient blunders  my favorite for whom the bell klangs  . these are only a few of my favorite episodes . anyway  talespin is disney  s best  aside from gummi bears some reasons for this  gb had a decent amount of my favorite character  cubbi   while ts didn  t have enough of wildcat . but in the end talespin remains a classic . bottom line        th best cartoon ever .  
this clunker of a film sets a new standard for bad filmmaking . jared rushton gives an adequate performance of a very poorly  created character in an ill  fated movie  thereby creating a net effect of a very bad movie . the film  s main thrust is how a boy  s temporary excursion into the canadian wilderness after surviving a plane crash solo allows the disgruntled adolescent to deal with his anguish over discovering his mother  s extramarital affair . unfortunately it turns into a bizarre collage of random  survival events   including two especially hokey scenes involving fighting a bear  and strange hallucinations that make you wonder if this kid isn  t just sitting in an alley somewhere on pot dreaming up this whole movie  and what a nightmare it is   . furthermore  despite the heralds of some reviewers of the family viewability of the film  there are several scenes not suitable for very young children or family viewing  including a graphic scene of the dead pilot underwater with one of his eyes apparently exploded .  br    br   all in all  a terrible movie that nobody should be subjected to  much less innocent kids .  
like most other reviewers i have first seen this movie  on tv  never on the big screen   when i was a teenager . my dad has always regarded this film highly and recommended it to me then  and i must say he was not only right  but this movie has stayed with me forever in the more than  decades since i saw it first time . i have seen it two or three more times since then  just a few days ago i gave it another watch  and it has not lost anything of its impact with time . it still a great and well worth to be seen movie  manr regard peckinpah  s ride the high country as one of the first and best later western  which had a realistic look at life in the old west  but the hardly known last hunt is definitely the better movie and was even half a dozen years earlier . actually it was probably  decades ahead of its time  or maybe it still is . . .  br    br   although thinking hard and having certainly seen    s of western  i like this genre  i can not remember any western as bleak and depressive as this one . two men bound together  partly by hate  partly by not seeming to have other choices  surrounded by beautiful ms . padget  a crippled old man and a young inian  leading the life of buffalo  killers until fate reaches out for one of them .  br    br   nobody who has ever seen this movie will be able to forget its ending and the last frames of this gem . when the camera moves on and away from mr . taylor a white buffalo skin comes into sight  on a tree  and echos from the past  when all the hatred began  are present again . mr . taylor has got his buffalo  but in the end the buffalo got him .  br    br   aside from the top performances of everybody involved  the intelligent script and the great dialogue  it should also be mentioned  that the last hunt is superbly photograped  i have seldomely seen a western that well shot  aside from the ones directed by anthony mann  which are also all superbly photographed   that all the locations are cleverly chosen and that even the soundtrack fits the picture very well .  br    br   and director brooks is really a superb storyteller . master craftsmanship  he has made quite a couple of really great movies and was successful in nearly every imaginable genre  but even in an as prolific career as this one  the last hunt still shines as one of his best  if not his best .  br    br   definitely would deserve a higher rating  compared to the   something ride the high country enjoys .  
amy poehler and rachel dratch are among the funnier women to have been on  saturday night live  . it  s unfortunate that they  along with tina fey and maya rudolph  were on snl during the longest stretch of unfunny writing and sketch  making  circa           the show has ever had . still  these two women most especially know what  s funny  and they know how to write a funny movie .  br    br   you  ll notice in the credits of this movie that dratch and director ryan shiraki wrote the story for  spring breakdown   but who wrote the actual screenplay  consisting of dialogue and all the important fill  in  the  blank material that makes a story into a multidimensional movie  yep  just shiraki . just one guy wrote the dialogue for this movie  and no women apparently wrote the script with him . the result is a pretty clich spring break movie that doesn  t so much spoof the faux holiday as much as exploit it equally as much as mtv does every year .  br    br   if dratch  poehler  and even co  star parker posey could have contributed their handwriting to the screenplay  it would have been far less clich . the premise is original  being about three thirty  something women who were unpopular in high school  and apparently college  too  who never had the fun spring break trip they allegedly dreamed about . i say  allegedly  because you never quite know what fun is to these characters . they entered talent shows in the past where they sing stale pro  woman anthems like  true colors   and spend their nights together holding make  your  own  pizza parties . even though none of them are especially unattractive  the outside world appears to treat them like they are . there  s a scene where a blind student of poehler  s  played by poehler  s real life husband will arnett  asks her out on a date  only to touch her face and immediately change his mind . if poehler  s character is supposed to be unattractive  they obviously hired the wrong actress .  br    br   the movie continues to show promise  even though we have our doubts about the main characters  when posey  s boss  texas senator  kay bee  hartmann  jane lynch  funny as always  hires posey to watch over her unpopular college  age daughter  amber tamblyn  playing yet another woman who  s attractive in real life  but not in the eyes of any characters in this movie  while she goes to a laguna beach  like vacation spot for spring break . poehler and dratch come along  they reluctantly get boozed up  party like they apparently should have when they were in college  and then comes the ultimate showdown with the sorority bitches lead by sophie monk .  br    br   sophie monk is an incredibly attractive woman who has a body both women and men would kill to have for different reasons . unfortunately  her movie career is off to a rough start with the abominably unfunny  date movie        and the disappointing  click        . here  she plays a southern belle  although her voice sounds like she stole delta burke  s voice box . she hams it up a little too much  trying too hard to play a conniving bitch that she comes off as much like a caricature of spoiled college kids as the rest of the extras .  br    br    spring breakdown  was released straight to dvd despite the star power of amy poehler  but rightly so because the story is way too clich . it may as well have been called  national lampoon  s spring breakdown   and the magazine probably wouldn  t have sued for trademark infringement because of the free publicity . if director shiraki had given at least one woman the creative input  especially rachel dratch  this movie would have been great and not nearly as run  of  the  mill as frat  house comedies we  ve seen before . i know dratch will come up with another funny concept  and hopefully be allowed to fill in the rest of the screenplay herself . she  s funny enough  and she deserves better than this half  baked comedy that would accept stiffler  s brother with open arms .  
in the year      the world of disney tv cartoons was certainly at it  s prime . shows like chip n dale rescue rangers  ducktales and gummi bears was already popular  and now disney made another great cartoon and that cartoon brought the birth of the disney afternoon . that cartoon is called talespin . it  s about old jungle book character baloo the bear as he gets a job in the plane business . in the series he meets kit cloudkicker  former air pirate and good cloud surfer  business lady rebecca cunningham and her hyperactive daughter molly . this series is very funny and has tons of great puns that you may not understand as a kid but understand later on in life . this is one cleverly written series and it  s great to add to your dvd collection . parents  buy this for your kids rather letting them watch all of those horrible nickelodeon cartoons . if you liked talespin  then check out  darkwing duck  and  goof troop  . spin it   
i wish i could give this movie a zero . cheesy effects and acting . the only reason to see this movie is so you can see how bad it is . lets start with the kid who plays brian . what a geek  i couldn  t believe the mullet  then there was the talking to himself . i guess they couldn  t just have the movie be silent  but still . of course they had to have him skinny  dipping too  not something i wanted to see . but jared gave a great performance  compared to the special effects department . everything from the bear to the crash was something i could do myself  and better . i seriously doubt that gary paulsen had anything to do with the production  seeing as the movie was not even called hatchet . finally  i do not think the writer had ever read the book  seeing as nothing was the same . i think the book was great  but this movie stunk like a smelly goat   
ahh  talespin  what can i say that hasn  t already been said about this great show  nothing  this is without a doubt one of the most well  written shows i  ve ever encountered  live  action or animation . the newer stuff is way too dumbed down for my tastes  and some of the  mature  stuff i have to shoo kids out of the room for . but not talespin .  br    br   the stories are engaging and very plausible . some of them could even be stretched out to an hour or two for a movie . episodes like stormy weather and her chance to dream are very dramatic while still being enjoyable for kids and adults alike . then there are the pure comedy episodes such as the bluest of the baloo bloods and stuck on you  where the emphasis is on hilarity . i can laugh myself to tears in a few choice ones .  br    br   the drama aspect is very lacking in most shows nowadays  at least  those which aren  t specifically geared toward it   especially in cartoons . in the episode stormy weather for instance  kit cloudkicker decides that he  s going to join an air circus  but baloo believes that it would be too dangerous . in the biggest fight of the episode  baloo yells at kit to stay away from daring dan  to which kit screams  no  you can  t tell me what to do  your  re not my dad   and buries his face in his pillow . the next day he leaves for the air circus . this kind of drama is a rarity in a cartoon  and would be most welcome in the ones created nowadays .  br    br   the characters have a lot of depth to them . baloo is pretty much the way he is in the jungle book  plus or minus a few degrees of laziness . rebecca is a cunning business woman whose ideas on getting money  while good in theory  are seldom good in practice . molly is a cute little girl  but you can  t let that deceive you . she can be a real hellion sometimes . kit cloudkicker is a darker character than the rest . he doesn  t trust adults much unless they appeal to him  and he has a tendency to break off relationships . watch his expression in plunder and lightning when he grabs the grappling hook he looks as though he  s prepared to put it right through a pirate .  br    br   in the end  it  s the drama combined with the very real chemistry between the characters that makes this show   in my book . the relationship between baloo and kit is very real  almost father and son . this is demonstrated well in all  s whale that ends whale when baloo takes kit  s word for it that seymour is abusing the animals in his aquarium instead of siding with the other adults . baloo and becky  s relationship is also realistic  due to baloo  s motivation for working comes from wanting to buy back the ol  sea duck  not necessarily a desire to help rebecca . but something tells me that if he did get the duck back he  d still do jobs for rebecca .  br    br   the sea duck  not to mention all the other planes in the series  is pretty realistically designed . the plane  s functions don  t change once throughout the series  continuity like that is hard to come by also   and unlike most other  super  planes  of other cartoons  it doesn  t have one single weapon on board  unless you count mangoes    and relies instead on it  s cunning pilot  s great skill to get out of trouble . it  s hard to think of a hero vehicle that doesn  t have some sort of gun turret  laser cannon  or even a handgun somewhere on board . and the fact that they use their heads to get out of trouble is so hard to find in a cartoon nowadays . plus it  s just such a darn cool design   br    br   this is definitely the best cartoon . ever . period . definitely worth all ten stars   
  bad stuff this movie is real crap . bad stunts for one thing  they looked so fake i thought this was  the twilight zone  . the flashbacks are pretty much useless . one part of the movie he thinks taking his anger out on a window will make his life better . i wanna know the casting director and if he was high because the acting  even from the adults was horrid . a kissing scene in this movie even sucked . this movie killed the book . the book was great . i highly do not recommend this movie . not even for educational purposes .  br    br    good stuff i don  t know what i can say really . there is some suspense parts that get you going  but they are quickly shot down by the bad stunt work and acting .  br    br    my verdict do not watch .  
ever since i remember  i have loved airplanes and flying . i am now in college with a private pilot  s license and looking to become a commercial . i could never remember why i was so obsessed with the subject until i came across my old tail spin tapes in my basement at home and it hit me  this was it . my parents bought every single tape they had and this was the only show i would watch as a kid . i had the theme memorized as i grew up and i can still re  cite it today . it is absolutely amazing and i plan on buying the dvd  s soon  it really is great for children and adults and is absolutely timeless . i cannot get enough of this show .  
i had never read gary paulsen  s novel  hatchet  for which  a cry in the wild  is the adaptation of  so i can  t make any comparisons to the book . i will  however  say that as a film on its own  adaptation or no adaptation  it was an underdeveloped adventure that provides no major explanation of its few characters .  br    br   think of  a cry in the wild  as a less luxurious  teenage mountaineer  was quincy  california the only place this was filmed   version of  cast away .  jared rushton is    year  old brian roebson  a kid headed on a small plane to visit his father  until the craft crashes over some deserted mountain terrain  leaving the kid stranded for quite a while and having to defend himself .  br    br   there are basically three parts to the film . the obvious being the ten or fifteen minute introduction of the characters  namely brian and his mom .  br    br   the next third of the movie  which really consumes nearly all of the film  is that of brian  roughing it .  these scenes contain no particularly amazing action  nothing spectacular other than lots of beautiful cinematography of a beautiful yukon landscape . nothing to put you on edge  no real encounters  except a brisk confrontation with a cub   and no major dilemmas to initiate some sort of enjoyment or connection with the character on the screen . you might even feel briefly bored with the passage of time as we witness brian dealing with his situation through first  primitive means  and then more improved ones  using tools  etc  for his survival . it is more like the ordinary time that passes if you were actually stuck in the situation  and that is pretty much about it . in other words  they put no meat on the paulsen  s words when they translated them into a visual media .  br    br   and  of course  the third part of the movie is his rescue .  br    br   there is a subplot that continuously seeks to make itself known during this time  however . some conflict between brian and his parents that created a rocky  awkward relationship between them . however  for the most part  it is only explained in brief  intermittent  minimal dialog flashbacks that look more like a back story for a music video . any minute  the singer from jefferson starship  should chime in an start singing  sara .  other than what the viewer can draw from the implications  or guess for his own need to fill the gaps in the narrative  we get a very underdeveloped back story which was probably necessary to enjoy at least part of this film and create a connection to the characters  whether or not it really had anything to do with brian  s survival adventure in the third part of the movie . these are the flaws in the narrative that through the viewer into a stupor as he struggles to find out what the heck those people there on the screen are doing and  for me  almost done to the point of screaming at the television to say something and tell me more   br    br   it certainly was not  for me  a good adventure tale . but  for fans of jared rushton  it was one of the last few movies he made . so  watch it purely for nostalgia  if nothing else .  
along with darkwing duck this is unfairly cancelled . disney has been in decline since tarzan and we need a show like this to get disney back on track . ed gilbert and jim cummings were perfect for the voices of louis and baloo  sounds familiar   the theme theme tune is also catchy . out of all the villains  which are all great on their own merits  tony jay stands out as shere kahn . louis and baloo actually sound very similar to the voice overs in the jungle book  which isn  t a bad thing at all . as a matter of fact  it  s quite inspirational  the animation was spot on  and the script had plenty of wit that has been severely lacking in animations for years . please bring this show back      . bethany cox  
after seeing only half of the film in school back in november  today  i saw that it was on flix channel and decided to watch it to see the rest of it and to write a new review on it .  br    br   the book that the film is based on  hatchet  is ok . this is a terrible adaption of it though .  br    br   awful  and i mean awful  acting  bad dialogue  and average cinematography make up this terrible adaption of hatchet .  br    br   the film starts off brian who is the clich image of a late   s teen  sporting a mullet  banging his head to cheap   s rock music  and his mother driving in a car for him to get on a plane to fly up to see his estranged dad  his parents are divorced . . . now cue the dramatic pause .  now brian has said goodbye to mom and dog and is flying up to see his father . the pilot is a fat  ugly  rude man  wasn  t like that in the book  who after  minutes in the air  has a heart attack and dies . in the book it goes into more detail with the pilot having more pains and it seemed to be that they were in the air much longer before the pilot had his heart attack .  br    br   the plane  within another two minutes  has gone empty on fuel  leaving us  the viewers  to assume that he  s been up there for hours even though the sun hasn  t changed position and the scenery looks exactly the same .  now  s he  s crashed landed .  br    br   this is the point in the movie where everything is a lot different then it was in the book . in the book it said his jacket was torn to shreds but in the movie it is perfectly fine with no tears or rips  looks like he just bought it   it never said he climbed a mountain  saw a wolf  and fell asleep up there on the mountain  it never said he was attacked by a bear  it said a moose but not a bear   it never said he eats the several bugs that he does  it never mentions the second tornado or that he learned to get those sparrows  skin them  and eat them or that little fish farm trap that he makes  that is destroyed by one of the tornadoes  nor does it mention him hurting his ribs from one of the tornadoes .  br    br   i don  t even think you can call what was depicted in the film a tornado . all it was was just a windstorm that knocked down several of his things .  br    br   my favorite part of this camp fest was brian  s lame flashbacks  that are never mentioned in the book  especially the clich scene of brian waking up  walking over to the window and seeing his dad  with all of his things packed that can all perfectly fit into just the back of his truck  leaving and screams  daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddddddd       yet of course his father didn  t hear him even though he was just right outside  and he punches his fist through the window  wtf    br    br   the ending is the only thing that is close to what happened in the book  i said close .  in the book i think one of the key things that the rescue pilot said to brian when he landed was  you  re the kid who they  ve been looking for  they stopped months ago . . .  yet they left that line out in the movie .  br    br   there  s a pathetic epilogue with brian  somehow without counseling or therapy  getting back to normal with his family . i think we were supposed to assume that they were getting together for thanksgiving  because they had a turkey on the counter .  then it shows his temporary home  for what  in the movie  seemed like three days  but in the book was for several months  and his hatchet  still in a tree where he left it  also didn  t happen in the book  showing where he carved a message  so perfectly done  home   where we really supposed to believe that he carved that that perfectly with just that hatchet    br    br   no quote can sum this movie up better then when enid from ghost world said  this is so bad it  s gone past good and back to bad again .  perfect description of this movie .  br    br   i wouldn  t recommend it to somebody  who hasn  t read the book  and are just looking to watch a movie nor would i to somebody who has read the book  because they  ll be disappointed and bored to death .  br    br   for those who have read the book  leave what your imagination created as the movie . this is awful and will bring down your thoughts on the book .  br    br        
as for many on here i can  t help but praise the cast and crew who developed talespin and others they made throughout my childhood  i as all who have commented here have thoroughly enjoyed the quality of not just the animation but the quality of the story lines and the characters .  br    br   to class this work of art as a  cartoon  could never do talespin justice  in fact it  s an insult to class it as a  cartoon   talespin is an animation and nothing less  it is evidently the greatest work of genius to be produced at disney to date  when disney  pulled  it from the air little did they realise what they did and i  m sure their souls have been tortured by regret ever since .  br    br   i  ll take a moment to explain  from the first which is ducktales to the last which i think is darkwing duck  disney has been plagued with failures due to political correctness and have taken a quantum leap backwards since  they prefer quantity over quality now not to mention the room full of monkey  s for the story  s  i couldn  t have my children watching the mind  numbing  cartoons  they throw out now in fear that they would all turn out to be homer simpson some time in the future and    of the blame would be on me for permitting them to watch it  i couldn  t let that happen  which is why i have all of the shows from the late    s to the mid    s on a harddrive so one day my children couldn  t be corrupted by the  cartoon crap  of today and to savour the last piece of childhood i have and to hold on to and i owe that all to talespin .  br    br   talespin to me is without a doubt the best animation ever produced in the world on account of it  s depth  charm  wit  compassion  emotion and lack of truly bad quality and story lines of which many have today  do you see any of that content in say  ed  edd and eddie or anything else you can think of   the rubbish produced today can be likened to some  year old  s undecipherable hyroglyph depicting a picasso .  br    br   the next time you watch an episode of talespin take a look at the woodgrain on any wooden object or building such as higher for hire and salivate over the quality of workmanship and effort put into this animation  even the one shot backgrounds were done as though they would use them again and again  the buildings look true to the art deco movement which was popular in the time period depicted  even the vehicles are true to life  ok not all of the episodes were fantastic in animation but the lower grade scenes were covered up by the superior scenes so all in all it evened it all out by the end of the episode and you  d probably never even notice at all unless you were focused and have an attention to detail .  br    br   the one thing i love about this is what i like to call the  deliberate mistakes  or  intended mistakes  in each episode and some have two  for example in sheepskin deep where rebecca say  s  you  re up to something baloo  and baloo replies  who  me   i  m as innocent as a schoolboy  take a look into rebecca  s eyes  i won  t spoil the rest of the baloopers but just keep an eye out next time .  br    br   everyone elses comment  s are bang on and     correct  i have nothing else to add that others haven  t said already on here  disney  wake up and smell the coffee  you have been asleep for over a decade  stop producing rubbish and bring back quality into animations and stop producing  cartoons   we have seen the proof of what you can do and we want it back as rapidly as possible .  
another big star cast  another glamour  s set  another reputed director  another flick filled with songs that  s topping the chart buster  but alas what  s missing at the day end is a story that every moviegoer expects of from such a big budget motion picture . so much hype is what that was lurking around the movie before it  s  red carpet premiere . a hype which went to an extent where anil kapoor envisages that the movie would be one of the finest love stories ever made after dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge . well anilji  which movie were you speaking of  well the plot of the movie is about  different couples and   different people  who have a total different stance towards life  but despite their different approach towards life they all have one common problem  that  s love . well indeed a luring theme . but little did we expect that the movie would be such boredom that it will let down the last expectation the audience would have from such a multistarrer movie . these are kinda movies which i totally abhor because after spending a hefty buck for a multiplex ticket i get locked in the theatre for  hours just waiting in agony for the climax .  br    br   the trouble begins right from the start . the director gets so confused with the plot that somewhere even he gets baffled as to how to share the time slot to six different star casts . some of the couples like anil kapoor  juhi and sohail khan   whoever the female is opposite to him  just doesn  t make any sense for their existence in the movie . salman  who calls himself rahul in a weird manner for the entire movie . well something like rahoooooool  again as usual tries to be extra cool with his videsi kinda hindi accent . hey sallu bhai  now that aish is getting married  at least go get some tip from abhishek to improve your acting abilities . a simple striptease wouldn  t make the movie a box office hit every time . and anilji stop shaving your trade mark beard or you look totally like a eunuch . and smooching a girl of your daughters  age just looks as uncool as watching jack nicholson in a romantic movie . and please nikhilji avoid putting such superfluous scenes in a movie that is totally not needed for the shot .  br    br   the other bigger flaw in the movie was that there wasn  t any perfect synchronization between the stories of different couples . every story itself looks as if it is taken from different flicks  put together to form a sadistic plot of salaam  e  ishq . bollywood still has to learn a lot from movies like snatch  memento where the director knows the perfect art of threading the different unrelated sequences to form a perfect blended storyline .  br    br   somewhere while i was evaluating the pre  release movie reviews someone predicted that the movie wouldn  t do good because the title of this movie adds up to the number    and   is considered a bad number in numerology . but i totally take my stand by saying the movie will fail not coz of its numerology defects  but because of the myriads of flaw that persisted in the movie . and when director like nikhil advani can make such major blunders in the entire storyline of the movie  any wonder wouldn  t have saved the movie from bombing at the box office .  br    br   my suggestion for all you guys is  please avoid watching this movie at any cost . it isn  t worth a pie that you pay for the ticket . there indeed are better movies on theater screens currently which are worth watching more than salaam  e  ishq .  
  spin it    br    br   the   s opened up with a clever disney favorite   talespin   the tv cartoon series that featured characters from  the jungle book .  join baloo and kit cloudkicker as they fly the sea duck like you  ve never seen it before out of cape suzette  to louie  s  up mountains  through jungles  on water  in volcanoes  looking for adventure  looking for treasure  looking for fun  all in one action  packed cartoon adventure       br    br   this was a favorite of mine as well as my family  s . this ran on the disney afternoon the entire first half of the   s until the original cartoons moved to the old disney channel in      which i have seen on vacation once in     before getting cable in march     .  br    br   and good news today the dvds are here      relive the fun and excitement of  dun  dun  dun  talespin        br    br         
i was so excited and hyped up about watching this film when the promos first came out in november  it looked awesome and the songs  i was quite disappointed when i went to watch it  this is a film which weaves  couples together . it has a multi cast of   people  a huge amount of stars have worked on this film . i think the director  nikhil advani  has not managed the situation well and should not have had many people in this movie as this would of made it easier for him . compared to nikhil  s directorial debut  kal ho naa ho    salaam  e  ishq  falls quite behind . i think nikhil should have a smaller star cast . i think the best factors of this film is the songs  the songs are excellent and i think that all of the songs are awesome  shankar  ehsaan  loy done an excellent job and have done an excellent jobs over the years . i think the ratings of this movie may go up because of the excellent songs  one thing i was disappointed with  is that the director should not have included nudity in this film which is done by sohail khan and isha koppikar . i found this extremely rude watching this with family  although  some may find this nude as comedy  it is not something you would want to watch with parents  i think the best acting was performed by salman and priyanka overall  i think its an alright movie   
if you are viewing this show for the first time  you may start wondering if you are in an alternate reality . colorful and imaginative characters  entertaining dialogue  plots that seem to have some depth to them  even creating atmospheres of suspense and drama at times  i mean  this is a syndicated children  s show right  this is the same venue that has brought kids such drek as  pokemon    pepper ann    mighty morphin power rangers   and  vr troopers   please note that three of the titles mentioned above are crass japanese exports  courtesy of the fox network and saban entertainment  . don  t worry  you are just sampling some of the quality fare that was available to kids during the late      s and early      s . some examples of this period would be  transformers    garfield and friends    captain power   and  c . o . p . s .   a cartoon not to be confused with the live action show on fox  . besides these prime examples  disney also returned to syndicated programs for kids  coming up with a lineup called  the disney afternoon  . aside from a dumbed  down show called  the gummi bears   early shows like  darkwing duck    duck tales   and  chip  n dale  s rescue rangers  gave credence to the disney animation teams that were also turning out theatrical classics like  the little mermaid    beauty and the beast    the rescuers down under   and  the great mouse detective  . but above all these wonders shines  talespin  . the premiere of  plunder and lightning  was a two  hour thrill ride  and won an emmy . much to my delight  the rest of the episodes were up to par on the promise of the premiere .  br    br   while i enjoy the plots and dialogue  i guess for me the greatest attraction are the characters . there  s rebecca cunningham  an independent female  but still fallible kit cloudkicker  full of pre  teen angst and optimism louie  with his loyalty and support frank wildcat  the most entertaining engineer since scotty on the original  star trek   molly cunningham  cute and witty  but with some depth that most child characters don  t have  and of course in the middle of it all  there  s baloo  whom i would describe as a slobby version of james bond . this is because whenever there  s trouble  baloo saves the day with the assistance of his sleeker  than  most  fastest  of  all sea duck  read james bond  s aston martin  . of course every great show has to have great villains  and talespin doesn  t disappoint here either . from the megalomania of businesstiger shere kahn  to the vain and always failing air pirate don karnage  to the hilarious and inept soviet  satirized thembrians . the animation is good  the music appropriate  and the episodes are  for me  the finest that children  s programming has ever had to offer . great fun for the whole family   
i have been waiting for this movie a long time . especially because juhi chawla is in this  she  s a great actress .  br    br   this movie contains six stories . it  s a new concept flew over from hollywood . so it  s not a new item .  br    br    . khamini  priyanka chopra  is a dancer . she wants to get famous and makes up a boyfriend to let news reporters be interested in her . but then rahul  salman khan  appears and he claims to be her boyfriend .  br    br   priyanka chopra is still not a good actress . when she yells  i get annoyed . salman khan cannot play comic roles . but in his serious parts he is marvelous .  br    br    . vinay  anil kapoor  is married to seema  juhi chawla  . he gets in a midlife crisis and gets attracted to a much younger woman  with forgetting what he really has in life his wife and kids .  br    br   anil kapoor en juhi are natural born actors  actresses . they are great . but this story is to thin for them .  br    br    . shiven  akshaye khanna  is going to get married to gia  ayesha takia   but he gets cold feet and blows the wedding off .  br    br    . ashutosh  joh abraham  is married to tehzeeb  vidya balan  . she gets an accident and suffers a memory loss . now she doesn  t know that she loves her husband anymore .  br    br    . raju  govinda  is a cab driver . he meets stephani  shannon esrechowitz  who is a white woman who is in love with an indian male but he is about to get married with an indian woman . raju has to bring staphani to that man  but falls in love with her .  br    br   i never liked govinda  s movies . he is very annoying  not funny . but in this movie i liked him very much  like he has been growing up the last years .  br    br    . oh yes  there is sohail khan  he plays ram dayal who is just married to phoolwati  isha koppikar  . he want to get some serious action with her  but every time her family comes in between .  br    br   sohail khan is not a handsome actor  but he is funny  i like his movies .  br    br   now here  s the problem . all these stories aren  t interesting . to make one story from six not interesting stories does not make the whole movie interesting  here and there the stories touch each other  but is not significant for the characters .  br    br   my conclusion priyanka cannot act  loose that woman in the bollywood industry . sohail khan should make more movies  this role for him was too small . salman khan cannot act comic roles  but real serious movies . that  s written on his life as an actor . this movie sucks  and is a waste of a cast of good actors and actresses like anil kapoor  juhi chawla  akshaya khanna and john abraham .  br    br   it  s just like you have the ability to make a movie with amitabh bachchan  and you only let him sing a lullaby .  
brilliant kung  fu scenes  loads of melodrama  peculiar footwear symbolism and an unhappy    end makes barefoot kid an unforgettable film .  br    br   one of the silliest subtitles i  ve seen . . .  
this movie has lot of downsides and thats all i could see . it is painfully long and awfully directed . i could see whole audience getting impatient and waiting for it to end . run time is way over  hrs which could have been edited to less then  hrs .  br    br   transition between stories is average . most people confessed being on seating expecting something better to come out .  br    br   its funny only in pockets . ambitious project and a below par execution . govinda does a fair job  anil kapoor disappointed me  rest we as expected . if u r expecting anything close to babel or love actually then its no where close .  
this movie was beautiful . it was full of memorable imagery  good acting  and touching subject matter . it would be very easy to write it off as being too sentimental  but that is the sentiments this type of a movie is trying to achieve . i was totally involved in the story  s unfolding and presentation . there were a few cheesy shots  but such is to be expected in a religious propaganda film . the only complaint i can conjure is there wasn  t a ton of details . however  this movie wasn  t created to explain every element of joseph smith  s life  ministry  triumphs  controversies  failures etc .  it was designed for a quick glimpse at a few highlights of one of the most amazing american and historical religious figures of all time .  
this is a terrible  terrible film           br    br   first of all tooo long . the longest movie i have ever seen .  br    br   the stories are all too damn over the top      br    br   as a matter of fact there are too many stories that the story line is ruined .  br    br   the comedy wasn  t comedy      it wasn  t funny at all . . . .  br    br   the story is so repulsive and badly written that it doesnot matter if the characters live or die . . . . . . .  br    br   i had some expectations from this movie . . . . . . . . . but my expectations were crashed completely in the first few minutes . . . . . .  br    br   the only thing good about this movie is the music . . . . . . and obviously vidya balan . she gives the best performance and stands out among all the senior actors . . . . . . she  s just a new comer and yet she shines and makes the rest of the cast look so pathetic      govinda and the blonde who playes his love interest also help saving this disastrous movie . govinda perfectly fits in the role of the taxi driver . and the blonde also gives a very subtle and consistent performance . . . .  br    br   another talented actress ayesha takiya is completely wasted in this movie     so is priyanka          akshay does his role well but it seemed too over the top      anil and juhi are also totally wasted . . . . . .  br    br   the only one not wasted is salman because he has no talent what so ever to be wasted           br    br   all in all this is a very impossible movie with mishmashed screenplay and tooo masladar that the storyline is shaped according to the stupid comedy scenes . imagine how stupid this movie is        br    br       it is four hours long     think and rethink before going to the cinemas      better avoid it       
i have seen this wonderful production  and i wonder if anyone can tell me anything about the actress who played the blacksmith  s wife  i am not sure of her character  s name . i went to byu with her and lost touch with her  her maiden name was kim luke  and i wonder if anyone has any info on her . she is not listed in the credits . this production was outstanding  a tear  jerker on all accounts  superb acting by all . i guess i don  t even want to put it in the general category of  acting   more like  portraying with feeling the amazing events that led to the opening of the heavens for this the final dispensation  . . . . . something like that . if anyone worked with kim or has a website or something please let me know    she was fantastic in her role  by the way . . . . thanks  melissa thorne  
six for the price of one  so it is a bonanza time for cinegoers . isn  t it  here it is not one  not two but all six  love stories  an ensemble cast of top stars of bollywood  plus all stories in the genre of your favorite top directors johar  bhansali  chopra et al . you will get to see every damn type of love story that you enjoyed or rather tolerated for years now . so no big deal for you . do you need anything more than this  no sir  thank you . why sir  enough is enough . please spare us . they signed every top star that they manage to sign  whether required or not  so they end up making a circus of stars  believe it or not . too crowded every thing depicted here is exactly how it is prescribed in bollywood textbook of romances . plus you have to justify the length given to each story  as each has stars . therefore  it is too long  three hours plus . the gags are filmy . characters are filmy . problems  barriers  situations  resolution  yes you guessed it right  again . filmy  tried and tested . same hundreds of dancers dancing in colorful costumes in background . why they have no other work to do  all couples are sugary  sweet  fairy tale type  picture perfect . all are good looking . each story beginning in a perfect way and therefore should ends also in that impossible perfect manner  too haphazard . you can  t connect to a single story . here you have everything that you already seen a million times . bloody fake  unreal  escapist abnormal stories considered normal for more than hundred years since evolution of this indian cinema . what a mockery of sensibilities of today  s audience  yes it could have worked as a parody if he just paid tribute to love  stories of yesteryear but alas even that thing is not explored . at least  director nikhil advani should have attempted one unconventional  offbeat love story but then what will happen to the tradition of living up to the mark of commercial bollwood potboiler brigade  oh  somebody has to carry on  no . imagine on one hand audience finds it difficult to sit through one such love story and here we have six times the pain . i mean six damn stories . i mean double the fun of chopra  s mohabbatein  year      in this age and time  get something real  guys . we are now desperate to see some not so colorful people and not so bright stories oh  what have you said just now  come on  that is entertainment . my advice  please don  t waste your time henceforth reading such reviews . go instead  have some more such entertainment  thank you .  
this is the most compelling and excellent performance that robert taylor ever gave . it even surpasses his wonderful performance as  johnny eager  coming a full   years after that film . his looks are still a wonder to see  but he has a maturity now that gives him the edge in this gritty  violent role . charlie gilson  taylor  is the last of his breed  a buffalo hunter who kills not for the money but for the pleasure . his wild eyed killing of not only buffalo but human beings  is stunning to watch . he is basically a lonely man  needing the people around him  but they dislike him because of his sociopath behavior . his partner is sandy mckenzie  stewart granger  who is sick of the hunt  and only goes along  because he is a failure at anything else . along the way charlie kills a family of indians and captures the beautiful debra pagent . charlie tries to seduce her to no avail  but sees that sandy is interested in her also . granger is kind of sad to watch  so fed up with the hunt  longing to go away with the girl and her baby . lloyd nolan as the drunken skinner is wonderful with his wise cracks and accordian playing . russ tamblyn plays the half breed trying to fit in a white world . the group is an odd mix of good and evil  young and old . in the end taylor gets spooked by the buffalo  as many hunters before him had  and runs off leaving sandy with the girl . upon his return  that night sandy leaves with the woman  setting charlie off on a rampage of killing in a quest to get sandy and have the girl for himself . the final confrontation comes in a snow storm and the last scene is so shocking that you will never forget it . it is taylor  s film all the way and he was truly a much underrated actor of the era .  
this horror movie is really weak . . . that is if this is the correct movie i am commenting on . nothing really terrible goes on as a family adopts a cute little german shepard pup . i had a german shepard and it is a really good dog . i did not get the idea to get one from this movie though  but rather from the comedy  k    . that is another story all together though . this movie really doesn  t have much horror at all as the most horrific scene is at the end and it looks really cheesy . also  we see a guy almost put his hand into a lawn mower . that is about it . the father suspects something though  as his family seems to be getting rather strange  somewhere he finds out if you hold a mirror to them while they are sleeping you can see if they are possessed . all in all a really weak horror movie even by television standards . . . television movies that do work are out there as  this house possessed  is pretty good and there is another haunted house movie about a woman and these strange creatures that is also rather good . this one is really rather dull .  
the best way for me to describe europa  which is high on the list of my favourite films  is the exclamation that came from a companion after the film ended  i didn  t know films could be made like that  . entirely original in it  s visual style  it is one of the best examples of what cinema can be . it  s as far away from the  master and coverage  style of shooting as one can get perfectly integrating many layers of image  sound  effects  props  dialogue  voice over  performance  editing  lighting  etc . . . all equal  none predominant . despite hollywood  s  dialogue  myopia  cinema is not about dialogue  nor is it about beautiful lighting  action or music . it works best when all the elements are on an equal footing  where only the blending of those elements  in the order or combination in which they are presented  will communicate the idea . reduce or eliminate the contribution of one element  and the film has no meaning .  europa  is what cinema should strive to be .  
who are these  they   the actors  the filmmakers  certainly couldn  t be the audience  this is among the most air  puffed productions in existence . it  s the kind of movie that looks like it was a lot of fun to shoot too much fun  nobody is getting any actual work done  and that almost always makes for a movie that  s no fun to watch .  br    br   ritter dons glasses so as to hammer home his character  s status as a sort of doppleganger of the bespectacled bogdanovich the scenes with the breezy ms . stratten are sweet  but have an embarrassing  look  guys  i  m  dating  the  prom  queen feel to them . ben gazzara sports his usual cat  s  got  canary grin in a futile attempt to elevate the meager plot  which requires him to pursue audrey hepburn with all the interest of a narcoleptic at an insomnia clinic . in the meantime  the budding couple  s respective children  nepotism alert bogdanovich  s daughters  spew cute and pick up some fairly disturbing pointers on  love  while observing their parents .  ms . hepburn  drawing on her dignity  manages to rise above the proceedings  but she has the monumental challenge of playing herself  ostensibly .  everybody looks great  but so what  it  s a movie and we can expect that much  if that  s what you  re looking for you  d be better off picking up a copy of vogue .  br    br   oh  and it has to be mentioned that colleen camp thoroughly annoys  even apart from her singing  which  while competent  is wholly unconvincing . . . the country and western numbers are woefully mismatched with the standards on the soundtrack . surely this is not what gershwin  who wrote the song from which the movie  s title is derived  had in mind his stage musicals of the    s may have been slight  but at least they were long on charm .  they all laughed  tries to coast on its good intentions  but nobody  least of all peter bogdanovich  has the good sense to put on the brakes .  br    br   due in no small part to the tragic death of dorothy stratten  this movie has a special place in the heart of mr . bogdanovich  he even bought it back from its producers  then distributed it on his own and went bankrupt when it didn  t prove popular . his rise and fall is among the more sympathetic and tragic of hollywood stories  so there  s no joy in criticizing the film . . . there  is  real emotional investment in ms . stratten  s scenes . but  laughed  is a faint echo of  the last picture show    paper moon  or  what  s up  doc   following  daisy miller  and  at long last love   it was a thundering confirmation of the phase from which p . b . has never emerged .  br    br   all in all  though  the movie is harmless  only a waste of rental . i want to watch people having a good time  i  ll go to the park on a sunny day . for filmic expressions of joy and love  i  ll stick to ernest lubitsch and jaques demy . . .  
liked stanley  iris very much . acting was very good . story had a unique and interesting arrangement . the absence of violence and porno sex was refreshing . characters were very convincing and felt like you could understand their feelings . very enjoyable movie .  
if you look at corey large  s information here on imdb  apparently there  s a movie called  reload  in production  as of june     in which he  s playing a character named sebastian cole .  br    br   first of all  how does such a crappy movie ever earn a sequel . . . and second  didn  t sebastian get killed at the end of  loaded    br    br   i watched this in the wee hours of the morning when i was battling insomnia  and so i was drifting in and out while it was on . i  m sure i missed some plot points  but overall  it seemed really weak . large  s performance was  for me  one of the stronger parts of the film . i  m also a bit surprised at all the people commenting on the beautiful girls  since i thought the actress playing brooke was pretty  but not exceptional .  
i think the film is educational . however  it fails to treat the issue which sparked so much controversy plural marriage . also  the film fails to reveal what the lds church espouses . big opportunity was missed to tell the world what they actually believe . i could not get a clear idea of what it is lds views are on central topics of religion .  br    br   i have many lds friends and they are nice people . would have been nice to get a clearer picture of how they view their prophet  s more controversial statements . maybe these statements are just too controversial to be treated in a film format  but it would have been great to hear the whole story of joseph smith  s truly interesting life . after all  it gives insight into american thought on religion in the   th century . hope they do some documentaries on this fascinating subject  allowing historians to comment on smith  s life . we may have a mormon president some day . after all  smith ran for president .  
the only possible way to enjoy this flick is to bang your head against the wall  allow some internal hemorrhaging of the brain  let a bunch of your brain cells die and once you are officially mentally retarded  perhaps then you might enjoy this film .  br    br   the only saving grace was the story between raju and stephanie . govinda was excellent in the role of the cab driver and so was the brit girl . perhaps if they would have created the whole movie on their escapades in india and how they eventually fall in love would have made it a much more enjoyable film .  br    br   the only reason i gave it a  rating is because of govida and his ability as an actor when it comes to comedy .  br    br   juhi chawla and anil kapoor were wasted needlessly . plus the scene at heathrow of the re  union was just too much to digest . being an international traveler in the post     world  anil kapoor would have got himself shot much before he even reached the sky bridge to profess his true love   but then again the point of the movie was to defy logic  gravity  physics and throw an egg on the face of the general audience .  br    br   watch it at your own peril . at least i know i have been scarred for life    
i don  t know what movie some of these other people watched  but they must have seen a different  joseph smith prophet of the restoration  than the one i saw .  br    br   i think the movie was both well  done and inspiring . i think it  s definitely worth watching . it  s apparent from the outset that a lot of care went into the making of this film . the background scenery is beautiful .  br    br   i think the film does a good job of portraying joseph smith both as a man and as a prophet . joseph  s spiritual experiences are portrayed with taste and reverence .  br    br   i would definitely recommend watching this movie .  
my sincere advice to all don  t watch the movie .  br    br   don  t even go near to the theater where this movie is being played   even a glimpse of it is bad for health . serious . no jokes . it  s  .   am in the morning . and i returned from this crappiest movie on this universe . four hours damn    i am proud that i survived after all of it  if this is called survival .  br    br   i am highly frustrated . annoyed . disappointed . it was sheer waste of time  money went in drain  no plot . hope i wake up tomorrow sane and with no memories of this night   rubbish movie .  br    br   happy republic day to one and all    
despite reading the  initial comments  from someone who curiously disliked the film    why is the only negative comment very first on the list   it was very nice to note that virtually everyone else loved it  obviously the church wanted to stress certain points and portray the prophet joseph smith in a positive manner  thats the whole idea . and in fact  those points were extremely effective . we already know joseph smith was human . . . but despite that  and all of the horrific negative attempts stirred on by the adversary  it showed just how he was able to complete a remarkable  god  given work . i  d recommend it to anyone   
this is a sad film made for sad people . i was sitting in theaters tearing my hair apart  wanting to break the chairs in front of me as the movie spitted out one cringe  inducing scenes after another . and there were people roaring with laughter behind me  which made me wonder what kind of films these people must be watching to actually enjoy this horse  st .  br    br   nikkhil advani has six stories with no plot and no interesting characters . the screenplay is dull  probably he was drunk when he was writing this film . there is no strong hold on any of these stories . nothing new  nothing to hold the audience and filled with dialogs which you would have heard a million times before . one of the stories is about this couple not being able to have sex because of series of disasters taking place every time they want to do it . i mean seriously is this story really required  its not funny  not creative but only proves that advani has no sense of comedy . another of the stories  which was probably the only story i was interested in  is based on a man  s infidelity and that too ends in a lame age  old sati  savitri pati  parmeshwar crap . i have no idea what the salmaan  priyanka plot was all about . there was no issue in the plot for it to be a plot . she can  t take karan johar  s film because she has to marry salmaan   why can  t she marry him and still take the film   or does advani and priyanaka just want to prove the world that it is in fact true that female actors cant be successful if they are married or that they should not act in films once they are married   with six actors in the film obviously advani cant produce the film all by himself . so he makes full use of sponsors like the times group  shamelessly promoting their filmfare magazines . and also some jewelery brand which the women in the film absolutely seem to adore   i come to imdb to give it the worst rating and i am shocked to see posts praising the film . it just goes to show the sad state of bollywood and how star struck the fans are . with fans like these  movies like salaam e ishq will be continue to be made and worse probably be a hit .  
as a convert into the church of jesus christ of latter day saints  i try to absorb as much as i can of my new religion  s history . i was invited to attend a showing of this film with my sons  the other young men  women as well as their families of our ward .  br    br   on a beautiful spring evening  we drove to kirtland  ohio to the church  s historical village located there . we were to have had reservations at the vistor  s center to view this movie . since my movie viewing was limited to only a few church documentaries  i was intrigued . the only  full length motion pictures  of the church  s i had seen was  legacy  and  my best two years   both which i thought were very well written and preformed .  br    br   at the beginning  the missionary interpretor passed out tissues stating that several people had been deeply moved to the point of tears by this movie . i thought  ok . . . but it takes a lot to move me to tears .  imagine my surprise when i found myself sobbing  it truly is a very moving  inspirational testament to the prophet joseph smith .  br    br   see it  believe in it  s powerful message   
six different couples . six different love stories . six different love angles . eighty numbers of audience in the movie theater . looking at the eighty different parts of the silver screen .  br    br   i am sitting in somewhere between them looking at the center of the screen to find out what  s going on in the movie . all stories have got no link with each other  but somewhere down the line nikhil advani trying to show some relation between them . i tried to find out a few lines i could write as review but at the end of  hours   minutes found nothing to write . the movie is a poor copy of hollywood blockbuster love actually .  br    br   my suggestion . don  t watch the movie if you really want to watch a nice movie .  
this film is a true and historical film . it is very useful to those researching the lds church  because it is     true . it is an excellent film and i recommend it .  br    br   it is very factual  exciting  and motivational . there are some who think it is not factual  but it is .  br    br   it is about the restoration of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints  and about the prophet  joseph smith  who restored it . it has such events in his life as the disease that he had when he was a small boy  his courting emma smith  emma  his wife  giving birth  and so on . but most importantly it reveals the restoration of the church .  
clocking in at an interminable three hours and twenty minutes   salaam  e  ishq  is a pretty but superficial comic soap opera from india that regales us with six interwoven tales of romantic love  which is at least four tales too many in my estimation  .  br    br   filmed like a cross between an mtv music video and a super bowl beer commercial  the movie is a sprawling mishmash of exotic settings  dazzling colors  sexy showgirls  high  stepping song  and  dance numbers  dream and fantasy sequences  winking character asides  corny dialogue and way  over  the  top comical performances  all pretty much standard  issue stuff when it comes to bollywood happenings these days . it  s an exhausting chore just trying to keep all the characters straight as they dance  prance and preen their way through the incomprehensible storyline .  br    br   there  s plenty for the viewer to feast his eyes on here  not least of all all the drop dead gorgeous women  but he  ll need the patience of job to get him all the way through it .  
this movie was the best movie i have ever seen . being lds i highly recommend this movie because you are able to feel a more understanding about the life of joseph smith . although the movie was not made with highly acclaimed actors it is a remarkable and life changing movie that can be enjoyed and appreciated by everyone . i saw this movie with my family and i can bear witness that we have all had a change of heart . this movie allows people to really understand how hard the life was for the prophet and how much tribulation he was faced with . after i saw this movie  there was not a single dry eye in the entire room . everyone was touched by what they saw and i have not been the same since i have seen it . i highly recommend this movie for everyone .  
we all have seen some unending epics in our times  but this one really tops them all  the movie is so long and so slow  that  just to put things in perspective  i felt a lot older when i left movie hall  than i entered it . at almost  hours length  it could have rather been made into a tele  serial .  br    br   what starts as a promising comedy slowly loses its pace . nikhil advani has woven the plot around  love stories and he cant make justice to any one of them . . . there is no interconnection between them to start with  and links shown in last   minutes just seem to be forced to connect the story .  br    br   situation is made worse by silly dialogues  most of them repeated in hindi cinema over years  and stupid cinematography .  br    br   priyanka doesn  t realise that she actually needs to play her role rather than just looking glam on screen . . . an utter waste of beauty without acting skills .  br    br   and then there is loud  is  humorous govinda  my  face  twists  better  than  jim  carrey akshay khanna who keep belching at the top of their lungs to irritate already tired viewers .  br    br   only good part in movie is john  vidya  s love story  nice acting  comedy by sohail  isha . but they are so good at their roles that just these two couples could have justified the movie without jumbling it with other bunch of characters . their brilliance gets lost in the midst of other substandard plot lines .  br    br   my guess  director was making two separate movies  may be more   and some beginner assistant mixed up all the records  beyond a point of sorting them out  so director was left with no choice to show it all as a single movie . . .  br    br   watch it only if you want to test your patience     
the most amazing  spiritually uplifting movie about the restoration of the gospel . far better than any other film  or movie made about the restoration thus far . if you haven  t seen it  hop on a plane to salt lake and see it now . you won  t regret it  you truly get a sense of what the first saints had to struggle through  putting complete and total faith in there prophet joseph smith . you finally get some sort of comprehension of the things the prophet had to fight through and the persecutions he and his people faced . if you have any questions about the church of jesus christ of latter  days saints and our humble beginnings just watch this movie  it will make complete and total sense afterward .  
ok the director remakes love actually the director nikhil advani after debuting with khnh does his second half and wait  br    br   he makes a     hours  film which loses on patience  time . etc the viewer seems like a  hrs sleep watching this film  br    br   ok they had  stories so it was necessary but why   stories   br    br   we have the anil  juhi story convincing but boring don  t tv serials show such stories   br    br   we have govinda  shannon story which is funny and works well  br    br   we have akshaye  ayesha story again believable but gets boring soon and the focus is on comedy more and that too slapstick boring comedy  br    br   we have salman  priyanka story which is the worst  not just acting terms  it makes no sense at all  br    br   we have sohail  isha story to make you laugh and the trick works at times thanks to the boredom set by most of other stories  br    br   we have john  vidya story a good story in all respects  br    br   but then by the time all stories come in bits n pieces the viewer gets bored and sleepy the climax isn  t appealing though especially the climax of salman  priyanka story nikhil advani  s handling is alright at places  some stories are well handled but weak at places music  sel  is good  but too many songs cinematography is nice  every story is given a different look  texture and it works  br    br   actors govinda rocks  after a dismissal comeback with bb he actually makes you laugh and love him in this film despite his age and weight anil kapoor acts his part well  though he looks out of shape and tired john excels in his part  akshaye khanna overacts for a change  br    br   sohail khan is too over  the  top and isha has nothing to do anjana suknani is dismissal  br    br   priyanka and salman deserve an award for this film you are shocked   br    br   salman khan doesn  t act only  just talks like he is in his sleep and that fake accent oh god priyanka overacts to such a standard you feel like throwing something on her  she does get better towards the end vidya balan is good  juhi chawla is okay shannon is okay  
this is one of the most spiritual movies i have ever seen . i headed up with about    people to st . george and we saw this movie in the visiting center of the st . george temple . . not one person had dry eyes in the audience . also  there were some non  religious and anti  mormon people in the audience who felt the spirit of the movie and were touched by the captivating music and reenactment of the story of the pioneers and the hardships they faced because of their beliefs .  br    br   i recommend this movie for anyone who wishes to understand more about joseph and the hardships that the pioneers went through . after all  it is apart of american history .  
it  s amazing to see how nikhil advani manages to attract people to the theater till the very day of the release . i mean . . . . . look at the cast here  the promotion is superb  good enough songs and the trailers are fine . this makes it a house full on the first day  but it  s only when people go and see the film they realize that there is no way their money is refundable . house full the first day  the movie is out the next week .  br    br   this film  inspired by  love actually  is what they say  didn  t manage to handle the whole cast well . they tried to put in big stars but ended up by not even managing to bring out even an average performance by any one . the stories are hollow and cheesy  so the audience can  t connect with any single one of them . it  s a big disappointment to all those who like big stars or for that matter nikhil advani after his big success of  kal ho na ho  .  
this movie makes a statement about joseph smith  what he stood for  and what the lds church believes . with all the current media coverage of a certain fugitive people have confused the lds church with the flds church and criminal fugitive warren jeffs . jeffs is not associated with the lds church yet media groups internationally have asked for comments about jeffs from the lds church . jeffs is not mentioned in the movie at all but i think that it is ironic that this movie with all it  s points about joseph also point away from the fews of the flds church and their leader at this time in the media world . this is a movie about joseph smith and a great one at that . some of the most obvious differences between jeffs and joseph is portrayed in joseph  s humanity  acceptance and love . jeffs views and opinions differ greatly from joseph smith and the lds church and it is seen in this movie . jeffs thinks of the  negro  as devils . joseph smith knew they were children of god and gave up his wife  s favorite horse to a african american  former slave  to buy his son  s freedom . joseph is shown doing housework for his wife emma and is criticized by a member until joseph tells him that a man may lose his wife in the next life if she chooses not to stay with her husband and that doing chores is a way to help and cherish your wife . jeffs brought one of his polygamist wives to her knees in front of a class full of students by grabbing her braid and twisting it painfully till she came to her knees . lastly joseph participated with law enforcement and sought aid from the government at all times . jeffs thumbs his nose at government and flees at all times .  br    br   i loved this movie and if you don  t know much about joseph smith and what the lds church believes  then this is the movie to see . and if you had confused the lds church with the flds church then you really need to get your act together . we are not much different from anyone who believes in jesus christ  the sanctity of marriage and the family  as well a patriotic to our homeland and country . we are all different as well just like you can find different protestants  presbyterians  methodist  baptist and catholics . what  s important is our message and what we stand for . this movie trys to portray that but there is so much of joseph  s life that can  t be covered in a mere  hour movie . this was a really great show .  
the problems with nikhil advani  s salaam  e  ishq are many . a one  line concept that looks good on paper  which also worked in an earlier english film  love actually  goes terribly wrong thanks to inept and shallow writing . a well  intentioned idea gets crushed to smithereens under the weight of its own gargantuan ambition . a director so completely besotted by his own much applauded first film goes overboard with the devices that worked in his earlier film  kal ho na ho   try counting the number of times the device of split screens is used in this flick . the problem is  what worked fabulously in kal ho na ho were the emotional excesses of the karan johar school of film  making  but here   emotion  doesn  t quite grace us with its appearance on the screen  no  not even cursorily . the writer  director gives us  six relationships with one common problem  love   but where is the intensity  where is the depth  where is the  emotion   a  tribute to love  sans emotion  and one that goes on and on and on . . . . . . nah  it just cannot work   br    br   in my opinion  the basic requirement for a portmanteau film like this to work is that not only should each individual story be  complete   it should  in some way or the other  follow the graph of the traditional three  act structure  screen writing guru  syd field  s paradigm  . that  s the real reason why salaam  e  ishq didn  t work for me . none of the stories had any depth or a roller  coaster ride of emotional ups and downs one expects in mainstream hindi cinema . also  the linkage between some of the stories seemed tenuous and very forced . it  s not clear what salman khan is doing at ayesha takia  s wedding . if he was required to be present at the wedding scene for a neat wrap  up  why not conjure a few more coincidences and bring the other two couples also to the wedding  that would be neater .  br    br   but yes  some of the stories did have a lot of promise . for one  the anil kapoor  juhee chawla story tries to address a very real situation  mid  life crisis  but its journey is so linear that you  re left wondering if it was really an issue . similarly  the problem of commitment in the akshaye khanna  ayesha takia story is also true to life . if only it was developed a little better . i felt that the more promising stories in this mish  mash were told from the male point of view  which is fine  but it brings down the emotional quotient of these stories because the female characters  juhee chawla and ayesh takia in particular  have all the depth of a half  filled bath tub . wasn  t this film supposed to be about    different lives   now the actors . john abraham still needs to learn acting  while vidya balan is dependable and endearing as ever . anil kapoor gets a role written just for him but sometimes overplay the boredom of his character . since she didn  t get a meaty character to portray  juhee chawla uses her charming smile and natural acting style to cover up for it . akshaye khanna is fine despite going a trifle over  the  top in a few scenes . ayesha takia has nothing much to do  but she does remind us that she  s the same girl who surprised us with her bravura performance in dor . govinda tries to make up for that huge mistake called bhagam bhag  and succeeds to a large extent .  br    br   that brings me the most irritating track of the film  which unpardonably ends up hogging the maximum screen time   salman khan and priyanka chopra . the track is irritating mainly because of them . but i must credit them for their consistency . they  re consistently bad all through the film . priyanka could well be the next queen of hamming  i don  t buy the crap that her role  that of an  item girl   required her to act over  the  top . somebody should tell her the difference between being flamboyant because the character demands it and downright hamming . if you  ve seen rakhi sawant  who seems to be the inspiration behind this role  in her interviews and bigg boss you  ll know what i mean . i strongly feel that if nikhil advani had taken rakhi sawant in this role rather than a bigger star like priyanka  the story would have worked better . salman khan  s phony accent is . . . . . well  shannon esra  s hindi is less accented than salman  s .  br    br   to be fair to the director  he does manage to add some good directorial touches to the film . i particularly liked the use of grey as the predominant color in the anil kapoor  juhee chawla story as a metaphor for their boring existence  and the bright colors that come into the story with the arrival of the other woman . but will anyone choose to paint their house in varying  depressing shades of grey  that  s acceptable cinematic license i would say . but when the film runs almost for  hours  it almost feels like the director is trying too hard to give the audience a glimpse of his  touch  in an endlessly meandering montage of uninspiring sequences .  br    br   maybe nikhil advani wants us to sit in the theatre for as long as is humanly possible  pata nahin  kal ho na ho .  
i really thought they did an excellent job  there was nothing wrong with it at all  i don  t know how the first commenter could have said it was terrible  it moved me to tears  i guess it moved about everyone to tears  but i try not to cry in a movie because it  s embarrassing but this one got me . it was sooo good  i hope they release it on dvd because i will definitely buy a copy  i feel like it renewed my faith and gave me a hope that i can  t explain  it made me want to strive to be a better person  they went through so much and we kind of take that for granted  i guess . compared to that  i feel like our own trials are nothing . well  not nothing  but they hardly match what they had to go through . i loved it . who played emma    
i had a video of the thing . and i think it was my fourth attempt that i managed to watch the whole film without drifting off to sleep . it  s slow  moving  and the idea of a mid  atlantic platform  which may have been revolutionary at the time  is now just a great big yawnaroony . apart from conrad veidt  the rest of the cast are pretty forgettable  and it is only in the action towards the end that things get really interesting . when the water started to spill big  time it even  on one occasion  woke me up .  br    br   but give the man his due . no one could hold a cigarette like conrad veidt . he doesn  t wedge it between his index and middle fingers like the lesser mortals . he holds it in his fingers  while showing us the old pearly  browns . there are a few scenes in this film where the smoke drifts up to heaven against a dark background  and looks very artistically done . but it does not say much about this film if all that impresses you is the tobacco smoke .  
have no illusions  this is a morality story . granger is the troubled ex  buffalo hunter  tempted back to the plains one more time by kill  crazed taylor . granger can see the end is near  and feels deeply for the cost of the hunt  on the herds  the indians and the land itself . taylor  on the other hand admittedly equates killing buffalo  or indians to  being with a woman .  while granger  s role of the tortured hunter is superb  it  s taylor who steals the show  as the demented  immoral  everyman  out for the fast buck and the goodtimes . there  s not a lot of bang  bang here  but the story moves along quickly  and we are treated to a fine character performance by nolan . the theme of this story is just as poignant today  as in the     s  man  s relationship to the land and what  s on it  and racism . considering when this was made  the censors must have been wringing their hankies during the scenes in the  bawdy house   taylor  s relationship with the squaw  and much of the dialogue . although downbeat  this is truly a great western picture .  
very dull  obvious  tedious exorcist rip  off featuring a doberman with red eyes  that  s the extent of the special effects in this made  for  tv cheapie . richard crenna is about as animate as a chew toy . very    s dress  music only add to the torture . should put you to sleep almost as fast as  the corpse vanishes   or  the blue hand  . practically worthless . moocow says eaghhh what a stinky dog    p  
warning mild spoilers .  br    br   the story of joseph smith stands out as an amazing  even moving  episode in american history and world religious history . this movie portrays events in the life of joseph smith  whom mormons revere as the prophet of the restoration of the true church of jesus christ on the earth . i  ve so far seen the movie twice in its first month of public showing .  br    br   joseph smith is shown first to be the youngest of a trio of brothers  alvin  hyrum  joseph  who  at a very young age  needed an operation . the operation  done without our modern conveniences  was bloody and difficult . the scene helped to show the cohesiveness of the smith family and the bonds between the brothers and between joseph and his parents .  br    br   joseph  s religious confusion and subsequent praying which lead to what mormons call the first vision was interestingly portrayed . the face of jesus is never shown  but you see the unmistakable nail marks in his hands . the rejection by religious leaders and many in his small new york community is sweetened at least slightly by joseph  s marriage to emma .  br    br   this movie does not clearly map out the events of mormon church history  but merely jumps from scene to scene . this is not a critique  simply a note about the style .  br    br   the practice of tarring and feathering is shown  and it is especially dramatic and moving when joseph delivers a sermon about the savior  s love with a scarred face from having recently been attacked .  br    br   the movie masterfully portrays simultaneously the joy and growth of mormonism as an infant church  while at the same time the ever  deepening opposition that spread into the heights of local governments .  br    br   the film shows many scenes from joseph  s life  including a few beautiful moments portraying his relationship to emma . an attempt is made to show the depth and complexity of joseph  s life  including his fierce love for his wife  his endless love for children  his wit  his courage in the face of filthy and dangerous opposition  his religious sentiments  and his compassion .  br    br   as joseph and hyrum ride to carthage  never to return home alive  most of the characters from throughout the movie  whose lives had been touched by joseph  are shown along the way  helping to reinforce what was already seen but setting up the final scene to be more powerful .  br    br   at the end  the martyrdom of joseph and hyrum is portrayed  and moviegoers are left to ponder the events they just witnessed .  br    br   when i first watched the movie i assumed it was made by the church to introduce joseph smith to non  members . i no longer think that is the case  although i hope the movie can do just that . as an insider  i find that the film is a celebration of joseph and excellently reinforces the good things we already know about him . i am curious to see how outsiders will view the film  whether they will simply see it as propagandic  an epic story of an american religious man  or something else .  br    br   the film is beautifully shot  family friendly  moving and  hopefully  something good for everyone . that the events portrayed actually happened in these united states of america is interesting to ponder in light of the many aspects of our culture  including freedom of religious expression and respect  generally  for the law  we moderns take for granted .  
the acronymic  f . p .   stands for  floating platform    . the film portends the building of an  f . p .   in the middle of the atlantic ocean  to be used as an  air station  for transatlantic plane flights . based a contemporary curt siodmark novel it was filmed in german as  f . p .  antwortet nicht         in french as  i . f .  ne rpond plus         and in english as  f . p .         . soon  technology made non  stop oceanic travel much more preferable .  br    br   stars conrad veidt  as ellissen   jill esmond  as droste   and leslie fenton  as claire  find love and sabotage on and off the atlantic platform . karl hartl directed . mr . veidt is most fun to watch but  he is not convincing in the  love triangle  with ms . esmond and mr . fenton . the younger co  stars were the spouses of laurence olivier and ann dvorak  respectively . both the concept and film have not aged well .  br    br    f . p .          karl hartl  conrad veidt  jill esmond  leslie fenton  
i am stunned at the negative comments that i have read and can only assume that the people making such comments were less than honest . this is the most moving and real portrayal of joseph smith that i have ever seen . it was well acted to the point that at times i forgot that i was watching a movie . it brought joseph  s life of hardship  good  natured optimism  enduring faith in people and god  and ultimate sacrifice to life such in a way that frankly left me speechless and silent in awe . if anyone  of any christian religion can watch this movie without being touched in some positive way   i would have to say it is a reflection of the individual and not the movie . i give the movie a     and encourage honest souls to view it . at the very least it is an extremely heart felt portrayal of man who gave everything he had for what he believed . . . in a world where values and beliefs are ridiculed  this movie stands as a enduring reminder of the kind of people we are supposed to be  no matter what religious beliefs we hold .  ann pruitt   
john pressman  micheal  i shoulda called ditech  lerner  works at a doctor  s office as an orderly . his mother  zelda  poltergeist  rubenstein  hypnotizes him to off the people who see thinks wronged him . but this turns out to be a movie within a movie  but the lines soon blur as john goes a movie theater to kill . prompting a guy who  s watching the movie to do the same . lerner is suitably over the top in this  but zelda repeats lines of dialog over and over again . that gets annoying fast . but not as annoying as the two girls who are watching the movie within a movie . as a horror film this one fails  it  s too busy trying to be clever  trying to impart a message and seems to forget a slasher film must evoke a sense of tension  or at least a jump or two . no  what we have here is the worst kind of slasher an art  house one .  br    br   my grade d  
i saw it at the legacy theater in the joseph smith memorial building in salt lake city this morning . i  m going to assume that one  s level of enjoyment during this movie will largely be based on one  s level of acceptance of joseph  s story .  br    br   however  that aside it was very well made  well acted  and had a nice score . if you get to salt lake city  it is a must to see it in the legacy theater . i have never been in a nicer theater as far as picture quality  sound quality and ambiance in my entire life . . . i wonder if the church would let me watch batman begins there  being that i  m lds and regard joseph as a prophet  i was touched in several places and was brought to tears quite a few times . . . which i presume is expected since they handed out tissues before the movie started  anyway  i  m told that this film is available in several lds visitor centers around the globe  if you have   minutes check it out because whether you believe joseph smith or not  he tells a fascinating story .  
the dialogue was pretty dreadful . the plot not really all that inspired beyond the obvious twist it presents . not visually stunning . actually visually annoying at times . most definitely one of those films you find easier to finish if you keep one finger on the fast forward button . if you could watch it for free  have absolutely no other options open at the moment and you really dig seeing the little poltergeist lady . . . well maybe i  d recommend it to you  but not anyone else i could think of at the moment .  
after reading the comments to this movie and seeing the mixed reviews  i decided that i would add my ten cents worth to say i thought the film was excellent  not only in the visual beauty  the writing  music score  acting  and directing  but in putting across the story of joseph smith and the road he traveled through life of hardship and persecution for believing in god the way he felt and knew to be his path . i am very pleased  indeed  to have had a small part in telling the story of this remarkable man . i recommend everyone to see this when the opportunity presents itself  no matter what religious path he or she may be walking  this only instills one with more determination to live the life that we should with true values of love and forgiveness as the savior taught us to do .  
i should have figured that any movie with the poltergeist lady in it isn  t going to be good . it actually starts out okay  but during the first murder scene you find out that the movie you  re watching is a movie inside of a movie . there  s people sitting in a movie theatre watching that movie . one girl in the audience is so annoying that i would have turned around and strangled her . a bit strange  but far from good .  
this is by far the most incredible movie i have seen in a long time . the actors gave wonderful portrayals of the characters in the movie . the story was accurately portrayed . the story starts out with a young woman from the british isles and her father traveling by steamboat to nauvoo  illinois . she has become a member of the lds church and he has not . he thinks she is ridiculous for making the trip and is discouraging . she encourages him to read about joseph smith  the prophet . this is where the story of the prophet joseph smith begins . the movie accurately portrays his life and some of the history of the lds church at the same time . it was graphic at times  but was needed . the emotional expression was very believable  which caused my emotions to spill out . filming was awesome . the way in which the story was presented was touching . after the movie was over  we just sat there unable to moved . i was stunned . for people who know very little of joseph smith  the mormon prophet  i would encourage you to see this . if nothing else but to gain some understanding of his life . for those who are members of the church  i would encourage you to see it . it will increase your testimony of this most incredible man . this is a must see .  
a somewhat awkward spy mystery with a predictable plot about world war two dangers . the mystery is whether or not jane graystone  nancy coleman  has amnesia . the best acting is done by raymond massey as dr . ingersoll  a good doctor turned evil . he is head of a spy ring attempting to get information from amnesiac jane  coded information related to allied activities . will she tell  can she remember  moroni olson  as mr . goodwin  is convincing as an accomplice to massey . the role played by john garfield  as dr . lewis  is nothing short of disastrous . he seems so badly miscast that the casting has to be ranked as one of the worst in film history . it is unfortunate that so talented an actor is stuffed into a role which not befitting his talents . the movie is worth one look  despite being a half spy and half gangster film  and despite containing a parade of stereotyped characters . it  s easy to forget this one  amnesia is not necessary .  
thought at first this film would be your typical western film  however  it turned out to be very interesting and kept me spellbound right to the very end  which turned out very unusual . charlton heston   sam burgade    midway       had past experiences with james coburn   zach provo    deadfall       and zach never forgave sam and would stop at nothing to make sure he caught up with him and paid him back . unfortunately  barbara hershey   susan burgade    the portrait of a lady       managed to get caught up in this situation and found herself among sex starved men who never seemed to leave her alone . sam burgade had to make some very hard decisions and and i was quite surprised at the conclusion . this is a very entertaining film and the acting was outstanding .  
alfred hitchcok is not my favorite director by any means but imagine what he could have done with this  the plot holds much potential for suspense . john garfield is as almost always excellent and raymond massey is scarily cast against type . nancy coleman is not a very impressive leading lady but the supporting cast is large and very capable .  br    br   yes it starts to sag fairly early . there are too many coincidences . and an important subject is trivialized by its being made into little more  in the end  than a love story .  br    br   it  s fun to watch for garfield  massey  and the character performers . but it  s not awfully good .  
good western filmed in the rocky arizona wilds . lots of tough guys throughout cobern  s character seemed to rock back and forth between a raging psycho and a laid back type . several holes appeared in the picture  but not enough to offset it being exciting and worth seeing . one really dumb scene shows heston emptying .   cases of their powder and collecting it in a sack for the purpose of starting a fire . a . to gather that much gunpowder he would have needed a pack mule to carry the ammo . b . the grass was obviously dry why not just drop a match on it and let  er rip   
if bob ludlum was to see this mini series  he would have cried . this was complete waste of time and money . i have read the book and even though movies are not exactly what the book may be  cbs wasted time and money on this and it is embarrassing to claim that this was ludlum  s work .  br    br   may be the creator should check out the bourne identity with richard chamberlain and see how good that tv series was .  br    br   poor mira  blair  anjelica and colm  why did they sign to stoop this low   br    br   horrible    
  the last hard men  is a typical western for the    s . most of them seem to be inspired by sam peckinpah . also this one  but director andrew mclaglan is a john ford pupil and this can be obviously shown in many scenes . imo the beginning is very good . in a certain way mclaglan wanted to show the audience a travel from the civilization to the wilderness . in the third part there are some illogical flaws and i complain a bit about charlton heston . he has to play an old ex  lawman named sam burgade but he is in a fantastic physical shape . i never got the feeling that he really has problems to climb on a horse or on a rock . for me he didn  t looks very motivated as he usual do in most of his epic movies . same goes to the beautiful barbara hershey who is playing the sheriff  s daughter . maybe both had troubles with the director or were unhappy with their roles . hershey and coburn are not showing their best but they are still good . if the scriptwriter had john wayne in their mind as sam burgade  also michael parks as modern sheriff is a bit underused in his role . on the other hand there is james coburn as outlaw zach provo . coburn is a really great villain in this one . he is portraying the bad guy between maniac hate and cleverness . his role and his acting is the best of the movie .  br    br   landscapes and shootouts are terrific . the shootings scenes are bloody and the violence looks realistic . zach provo and his gang had some gory and violent scenes . what i miss is the typical western action in the middle of the movie . i would have appreciated a bank robbery or something similar . overall it  s an entertaining western flick . not a great movie but above the average because of a great coburn  a very good beginning and some gory and violent scenes .  
i am a big fan of ludlum  s work  and of the covert  one books  and i had often thought how incredible they would be made into a film . imagine my excitement  then  on learning that such a movie actually existed  the  hades factor  being the first in the series seemed an obvious place to start .  br    br   from the outset the film was disappointing . simple elements from the film such as griffin  s first meeting with smith are needlessly different from the book  and much less exhilarating . several characters are poorly cast  too . for starters dorff is woeful as smith . not a bad actor  just an incredibly bad choice as he is far too soft  and fails to exhibit many of the features that are definitive of john smith .  br    br   re  naming  re  assignment and even omission of certain characters further degrades this film . for example the removal of victor tremont and the entire back  story of the virus  including the involvement of vaxham makes the entire point to the film somewhat hazy . marty zellerbach is a very large part of the book  and in the seat he takes vary much a back seat  not to mention that the film character shares nothing in common with the character in the book  is another big mistake .  br    br   rachel russel is presumably supposed to be randi russel from the book . not only is she supposed to be the sister of sophie amsden  should be called sophia russel  but she is also supposed to work from the cia  not  covert  one  . which brings me to my final point  and i think one of the most important . covert  one doesn  t even exist at this point  not until the second book of the series is covert  one devised by the president as a preventative measure against further biological terrorism .  br    br   to be honest i could go on all day . in short  if you like the books and want to see a good adaptation  i  m afraid you  ll be bitterly disappointed . even as an action movie it is thoroughly average  mainly due to very lack  luster editing and poor effects . the bumbled story line and dull  as  ditch  water script are the final nails in the very cheap coffin of this film .  
spoilers seething with hatred and revenge half breed zach provo  james coburn  had spent the last   years on a chain gang planing his escape . what provo want  s more then freedom is to even the score with the man who captured him and in the process  during a wild shootout  killed his navajo wife the former pima county sheriff sam burgade  charlton heston .  br    br   making his escape after killing two prison guards provo makes his way towards yuma knowing that that  s not just where burgade lives but where his his young daughter susan  barbara hershey  resides as well . using his fellow escaped convicts to lure burgade into the vast arizona desert  by promising them        .   in gold coins that he buried there  provo plans to exact his bloody vengeance on burgade . but only after having him witness his daughter being brutally raped by his fellow convicts or are  in not being with a woman for years  as horny as a rabbit during mating season   br    br   brutal and very effective western that updates the john wayne     classic  the searchers  in a father searching through dangerous indian territory for his kidnapped daughter . charlton heston as the guilt  ridden sam burgade in his felling somehow responsible for killing provo  s wife and then having to face the fact that the same thing can very well happen to his daughter susan is perfect in the role of the aging and retired sheriff . charles coburn as the vengeful half breed zach provo is also at his best as the obsessed with hatred and murder escaped convict .  br    br   the man who escaped with provo are really not interest in his personal affairs but have no choice  in that he knows the territory like the back of his hand  but to go along with him . it  s only the thought of them having their way with susan  when provo gives them the green light  as well as the buried        .   in gold coins that keeps them from breaking up and going their own way .  br    br   also going along with burgade is susan  s boyfriend hal brickman  chris mitchum  who proves in the end that he  s as good as burgade is  who felt that he just didn  t have it in him  in both tracking down the escaped criminals as well as using common sense  which in this case burgade lacks  in doing it .  br    br   spoilers the unbelievably brutal and blood splattered showdown between burgade and provo is almost too much to sit through . provo who  s hatred of burgade bordered on out right insanity wanted him to suffer a slow and excruciating death . it was that hatred that bugrade took advantage of and  after taking some half dozen bullets  thus ended up putting the crazed and blood thirsty  as well as mindless  lunatic away for good   
  a small time hood tricks the local mob boss out of a lot of money . of course the mob boss wants his money back and doesn  t care who he has to kill to get it . the punk enlists his friend and an old mobster to help him save his life .  br    br    if this sounds ridiculous  it is . the whole idea that this izod  wearing  dune buggy  driving punk could hold off one of the most powerful mobs in rome is just plain silly . his friend may be good with a gun  but he  s up against a group of trained killers . the old mobster is little more than comic relief and no real help when it comes to the face off with the mob . there  s also a sub  plot about how the friend  s father was killed years ago by the mob boss  but there  s little made of it and it doesn  t help the movie any at all .  br    br    the mob boss  mister scarface  is played by jack palance . i suppose he got the name because he has what looks like a shaving nick on his cheek . palance is as ineffective as the rest of the cast  doing what he must to get a paycheck .  br    br    i  ve seen some pretty good italian crime  cop flicks recently  but mister scarface isn  t one of them . check out syndicate sadists or revolver instead .  
i  ve seen this film on sky cinema not too long ago . . i must admit  it was a really good western which features  of the big names . . on one side  there  s charlton heston  playing the infamous and retired lawman samuel burgade . on the other . . the late james coburn playing the villainous zach provo . . seeking revenge on burgade no matter what the cost . .   br    br   the good thing about this film was there was some really good characters . . most of the actors played it out really well . . especially james coburn  who i find that he was really mean in this film . . but that how it was . .  br    br   christopher mitchum  who i  ve seen everywhere in other films . . playing hal brickman . . i felt his character was left out in the cold  but he manage to get himself back in by teaming up with burgade  to bring down provo  s posse  s   br    br   all in all  it was a great film . . very good to watch . . great score from the late jerry goldsmith . .  br    br   wonderful piece of western persona . .   out of   .  
i read a couple of good reviews on this board for  mr . scarface   but for anyone uninitiated in the genre of italian gangster films like myself  the picture will probably make very little sense . indeed  after the initial setup involving the ten million lira scam  the picture devolved into a fairly routine revenge flick with a minor twist in the identity of rick  s  al cliver  character . the whole gang war plot got muddied up for me with the inclusion of vinchenzo napoli  vittorio caprioli   but as most other viewers commented  he  s about the only one who gave this picture any life with his often ineffective attempts at violence . i found it somewhat unbelievable that manzari  s goons who chased tony through the streets didn  t actually stroke out before tony even laid a hand on them . for all of his buildup as the title character  jack palance was wasted rather unceremoniously in an anticlimactic near finale  making the u . s . working title   mr . scarface   rather moot . i  ve seen enough spaghetti westerns to know that they don  t all work i guess in this case  my first look at a spaghetti gangster flick didn  t quite make it either .  
the arrival of vast waves of white settlers in the     s and their conflict with the native american residents of the prairies spelled the end for the buffalo . . .  br    br   the commercial killers  however  weren  t the only ones shooting bison . . . train companies offered tourist the chance to shoot buffalo from the windows of their coaches . . . there were even buffalo killing contests . . .  buffalo  bill cody killed thousands of buffalo . . . some u . s . government officers even promoted the destruction of the bison herds . . . the buffalo nation was destroyed by greed and uncontrolled hunting . . . few visionaries are working today to rebuild the once  great bison herds . . .  br    br    the last hunt  holds one of robert taylor  s most interesting and complex performances and for once succeeded in disregarding the theory that no audience would accept taylor as a heavy guy . . .  br    br   his characterization of a sadistic buffalo hunter  who kills only for pleasure  had its potential the will to do harm to another . . .  br    br   when he is joined by his fellow buffalo stalker  stewart granger  it is evident that these two contrasted characters  with opposite ideas  will clash violently very soon . . .  br    br   taylor  s shooting spree was not limited to wild beasts . . . he also enjoy killing indians who steal his horses . . . he even tries to romance a beautiful squaw  debra paget  who shows less than generous to his needs and comfort . . .  br    br   among others buffalo hunters are lloyd nolan  outstanding as a drunken buffalo skinner russ tamblyn as a half  breed and constance ford as the dance  hall girl . . . but taylor steals the show . . . richard brooks captures  in cinemascope and technicolor  distant view of buffalos grazing upon the prairie as the slaughter of these noble animals . . .  br    br   the film is a terse  brutish outdoor western with something to say about old western myths and a famous climax in which the bad guy freezes to death while waiting all night to gun down the hero . . .  
devil dog sets your heart racing . it  s brilliantly paced  the ending comes like a bolt out of the blue and plunges itself into the very centre of your being . you  ll never look at your dog the same way again . in fact you  ll start thinking of having it put down  by a priest  fantastic   
the last hard men finds james coburn an outlaw doing a long sentence breaking free from a chain gang . do he and his friends head for the mexican border from jail and safety . no they don  t because coburn has a mission of revenge . to kill the peace officer who brought him in and in the process killed his woman .  br    br   that peace officer is charlton heston who is now retired and he knows what coburn is after . as he explains it to his daughter  barbara hershey  coburn was holed up in a shack and was involved in a waco like standoff . his indian woman was killed in the hail of bullets fired . it  s not something he  s proud of  she was a collateral casualty in a manhunt .  br    br   lest we feel sorry for coburn he lets us know full well what an evil man he truly is . heston is his usual stalwart hero  but the acting honors in the last hard men go to james coburn . he blows everyone else off the screen when he  s on .  br    br   coburn gets the bright idea of making sure heston trails him by kidnapping hershey and taking her to an indian reservation where the white authorities can  t touch him . he knows that heston has to make it personal then .  br    br   coburn  s gang includes  morgan paull  thalmus rasulala  john quade  larry wilcox  and jorge rivero . heston has chris mitchum along who is his son  in  law to be .  br    br   the last hard men is one nasty and brutal western . andrew mclaglen directed it and i  m thinking it may have been a project originally intended for sam peckinpaugh . it sure shows a lot of his influence with the liberal use of slow motion to accentuate the violence . of which there is a lot .  br    br   for a little peckinpaugh lite  the last hard men is your film .  
this was such a waste of time . danger if you watch it you will be tempted to tear your dvd out of the wall and heave it thru the window .  br    br   an amateur production terrible  repetitive  vacuous dialog paper  thin plot line wooden performances lucy lawless was pathetically hackneyed .  br    br   seriously flawed story  completely unbelievable characters . the two worst concepts in film and t . v . are    the evil twin     amnesia . there are no twins .  br    br   the plot  twist   outrageously simplistic and obvious  like watching a train coming down the track in the middle of the day on the prairies . it doesn  t even resolve properly . the evil is not punished for the original crime .  br    br   please  please  please  don  t watch this even if its free and your only other choice is to go to a synagogue .  
this hard  hitting  often violent western in the peckinpah  leone tradition is surprisingly directed by andrew v . mclaglen  whose previous westerns  particularly those that starred john wayne  were mainly in the john ford mode . it is both surprisingly traditional  good guys  bad guys  and incredible up  to  date as well .  br    br   heston portrays a former captain of the arizona territorial police who has been in retirement for a year  having turned over the law enforcement reins to a reform  minded sheriff  michael parks  and finding his ways of enforcing the law being taken over by autos  telegraphs  telephones  and the railroad in the first years of the   th century . but soon he is confronted with a menace from his past   a half  breed outlaw  coburn  that he put away more than a decade before for a train robbery that killed four guards . in a subsequent shootout  coburn  s wife was killed and so coburn is out for a most nasty sort of revenge . it involves the kidnapping and  eventually  the rape of heston  s daughter  hershey  by him and his gang . the result is a taut and violent pursuit through the mountains and deserts of southern arizona .  br    br   the last hard men  based on brian garfield  s novel  gun down   is violent in many places  including the showdown between heston and coburn  and the rape scene involving hershey and two members of coburn  s gang  quade  paull  is probably every bit as questionable as similar scenes in straw dogs and deliverance . but that doesn  t detract too terribly much from the film  s psychological approach to the western genre . mclaglen is able to handle the bloody story with significant panache  and heston  s performance as an aging lawman was probably the best one he ever gave in any of his     s films . coburn makes for an especially cold  blooded heavy  and both parks and chris mitchum  as hershey  s intended husband  do good turns as well . the music here is cribbed from jerry goldsmith  s scores to    rifles and the     remake of stagecoach  but it still works here .  br    br   wisely filmed totally on location in southeastern arizona  and utilizing the old tucson set  the last hard men needs to be released by fox on vhs and  or dvd soon . it is a western that deserves nothing less .  
that might be a bit harsh for me saying that  but sadly so far in his directing career its true . just have a look at what he as done so far . they barely make it past the  star mark .  br    br   why did i watch this movie   reasons . lucy lawless and heroes star greg grunberg . lucy was outstanding in this movie  her performance carries the whole movie . i do hope she gets a  blockbuster  and breaks into the bigger league of actors  she clearly has the skills . greg was not so impressive  typical tv acting style .  br    br   the movie is oddly categorized as a horror . the only  horror  is short flashbacks  and they last a max of    seconds with a little blood in them . i personally would call this more a  drama  thriller  .  br    br   but no matter how interesting the story actually is  bad directing  editing and acting  appart from lucy  destroys it . you get no real connection to the actors  something which is very important in a story like this one . you just sit there watching feeling nothing . its like watching a bad tv soap . . . . actually i think the tv soap would be more interesting .  br    br   my advice stay away from this movie . . . or better yet just stay away from anything michael hurst is involved with .  
as a huge fan of the original  i avoided this film like the plague when the bad reviews started coming in eight years ago  but i just finished watching this film and found it to be a really pleasant surprise .  br    br   okay  if you are looking for a retread of the original  you  re in for a big disappointment  but if you are looking for something quite different  a bit edgy and political  then this is the film for you .  br    br   gregory is now thirty four and works as a teacher at his old comprehensive school  where he  s being pursued by a fellow teacher and having sexual dreams about one of his students . when the student insists on meeting up with gregory  a series of misadventures ensue that include torture  breaking and entering and all manner of unexpected twists and turns that left me feeling elated and moved .  br    br   if you are looking for something original  then i highly recommend this film . i only wish that more people had gone to see this when it was released and seen it for what it really is .  
the story idea is excellent . unfortunately  the execution lets it down .  br    br   the movie lacks pace  for one thing . it should be an exciting ride  but it is slow and more than a little boring .  br    br   i think the problem  s mainly in the screenplay and editing . there aren  t enough obstacles and reversals to ratchet up suspense  and there are scenes which don  t really move the story along very effectively .  br    br   the producers should have seen this in the screenplay and insisted upon a major rewrite . unfortunately  when the producer is also the writer and the director  this evidently ain  t gonna happen .  br    br   much of the acting seems kind of flat  and that is down to the director  all the actors have been quite competent in other projects .  br    br   it  s a shame  because with better writing  editing and direction  this could have been a really good thriller .  
a shift in outlook is neccesary to enjoy modern british films  one that somehow allows them to be seen in their own right and for their own qualities rather than by the criteria that american films are judged . britfilm has to try hard to be gritty and finds it hard to make it  but at warmth british films can lord it over their otherwise overwhelming competitor .  br    br   this film fails not in its content but only in attaching itself to the predeccesor  so allowing it to be all to easily seen as the work of star and director somewhere near the end of their tethers . it  s a couple of decades later  gregory teaching and this time with two girls on his mind . he teaches at his school railing against human rights abuses . when students he  s fired up find abuses in their midst he must face whether he  s just all talk .  br    br   this is a subversive film in that there  s not the usual worldly character of any american movie that you expect to do whatever he does  but a naive man boy who may still put everything on the line for principles . maybe . it  s certainly no protest  by  numbers though  being too warm . where u . s . film may seem realistic because they  re urban and gritty  this and other british films of recent years  those that don  t try to match america for visceral thrills  are real because british humour reveals truths .  
reed diamond plays a man suffering from amnesia who  s been in a mental asylum for over a decade after he was found wondering the back roads with blood on his hands . the doctors want to test out an experimental new drug that  ll return his lost memories if it works . but when the drugs give him hallucinations of a demon  he chooses to escape instead . while outside he befriends a young boy whose stepfather  greg grunberg  mistreats his mother  won  t let her near the darkroom in his basement  acts suspicious in general .  br    br   while the general  mystery  of the film is a tad easy to identify way before it  s revealed  i found mr . diamond  s acting to be enthralling enough to keep my attention throughout .  in the interest of full disclosure  i  ve been a huge fan of his since homicide and his brief  but extremely pivotal  role in the shield up through journeyman  dollhouse  not a great film nor a good one  but serviceable enough . although i did like it better than the previous films that i  ve seen from director  writer michael hurst  room   pumkinhead   mansquito   br    br   eye candy one fleeting pair of boobs in a hallucination  br    br   my grade c   
the good thing about this film is that it stands alone  you don  t have to have seen the original . unfortunately this is also it  s biggest drawback . it would have been nice to have included a few of the original characters in the new story and seen how their lives had developed . sinclair as in the original is excellent and provides the films best comic moments as he attempts to deal with awkward and embarrassing situations but the supporting cast is not as strong as in the original movie . forsyth is to be congratulated on a brave attempt to move the character on and create an original sequel but the film is ultimately flawed and lacks the warmth of the original  
quite the most boring nonsense i have seen in a long time . the plot was full of irrelevance  and the acting was the worst i have seen in a long time .  br    br   to make it worse  camera angles that made me feel sick were used  the incidental music was terrible and drowned out the dialogue  maybe not a bad thing then   and the shots of san francisco looked as if they had been stolen straight out of the city tourist board  s promotional video .  br    br   oh  and the obligatory sex scene was not even half well done . better lighting next time  please .  
somewhere near the bottom of the film studio ladder you can find companies like u . f . o  troma and beneath them lie seduction cinema .  br    br   seduction is a direct to video production company that specialize in lesbian themed  non  hardcore erotic movies . it has developed a very dedicated fan base that purchase each new title as they are released but sadly the company has become too closely associated with frequent star misty mundae . i say sadly because recent mainstream interest and her appearance on the show masters of horrors has caused her to set her sights a little higher than the zero budget s . c efforts which forces the company to find a new identity . but back in their glory days they released this film on a very appreciative world .  br    br   the gorgeous misty mundae is forced to attend a boarding school at the request of a absent father . at the school she meets her absurdly hot room  mate played by ruby larocca who immediately has designs on her but the headmistress  barbara joyce  has other plans . in typical s . c style the movie stops every ten minutes for a extended sex scene but unlike most of their efforts this one has a somewhat interesting story and a couple of good performances . ms . larocca appears to be having a great time as the sexual predator who views misty as a tasty meal and darian caine makes a welcome  though brief  appearance as satan . this is the sort of film that jess franco would crank out in the   s  although this one does not have the hardcore sex that franco was always willing to throw in for foreign sales  and fans of that madman  s work would be wise to give this one a go .  br    br   to me  as a long time zero budget cinema fan  and troma worshiper   i came across the seduction cinema films through their parody films  playmate of the apes  who wants to be a erotic billionaire  but i actually prefer their more original works . you either see past the low budget and occasionally weak acting or you get hung up on these things and just hate all of these films . for me the most obvious thing that unites these no  budget movies is a real sense of fun . these low budget companies are able to create their own unique style which gives the viewer something very different from the bland  by the numbers  studio efforts that load up the multiplexes .  br    br   if you have never seen a seduction cinema film either this or sin sisters  featuring both of the mundae sisters  are excellent choices to begin with . this one is a fun  fast paced film  although the frequent exterior shots of the school do get a little old  and the dvd is totally loaded with extras including a ton of previews of other company offerings  a great behind the scenes featurette and some deleted scenes including a alternate opening . i do recommend you pass on the disc  s bonus feature  the first film by director  as it is quite weak and not really worth viewing .  
this movie was on the romance channel  and i thought it might be a goofy    s movie that would be enjoyable on some level  so my brother and i watched it . boy did it suck . boy gets crush on girl   correction  his dream  girl  apparently there is a difference and i  m surprised he realized she was his dream girl   he was smitten with her from over   feet away . i guess that just goes to show the power of dream  girls   boy ends up masquerading as a female to be near dream  girl  creative in the sense that it  s a far  out plan  but un  creative in the sense that there are probably better solutions one might think up   awkward situations ensue  a match is made  all of which takes seems to take place around late afternoon   either the location was somehow responsible for this odd lighting  or the actors had to wait until they got off of their day  jobs to come to the set i suspect the latter  . very clumsily done  very pathetic . it  s almost never even amusing accidentally  so there really is nothing to redeem it . unless you  re interested in seeing chad lowe  s early days  before he finally got his piece of the pie with his role as the hiv  positive gay guy on the series  life goes on   or gail o  grady who was on nypd blue and probably got to stare at dennis franz  s buttocks  . but those are unlikely motives   i  d say  systematic derangement of the senses  would be a more justified purpose . i  m surprised i watched it all . i guess it  s the kind of thing where  halfway through  you find yourself still watching due to some morbid  self  flagellistic inner  issue  and think you might as well finish it so you can tell your friends and family that you actually sat through such a horrible movie  on the off  chance that it  ll garner you some sympathy for the questionable state of your mental health . can you take the challenge   
i have to say that this tv movie was the work that really showed how talented melissa joan hart is . we are so used to  now  seeing her in a sitcom and i really hope that a tv station will show this tv movie again soon as it will show the sabrina fans that mjh shines in a drama . seen as we have watched her on sabrina now for now  years and so to give the viewers a taste of her much unused talent would be a plus . melissa plays her role so well in this wanting her parents  done away  with so she can be with the guy she loves . one thing that all sabrina viewers will notice  melissa works with david lascher in this  well before he took the role of josh on sabrina . so it would be kind of neat to see this currently whenever it gets aired again . hopefully mjh gets some good roles in movies or even in more tv movies  sort of like kellie martin who has always shined in tv movies . lots of unused talent waiting to bust out when it comes to melissa joan hart  you shine always melissa     
i really wish that when making a comedy  the people actually tried to make it funny . this is a film that you can sit through  but nothing is special about it . after watching it  you will say that it was alright . it was not boring to watch  but gave the audience no jokes to laugh at . entertainment should mean that you actually get something more than an o . k . story . this movie wanted to be  tootsie   but instead it failed .  br    br   i gave it a  out of   .  
i have seen it  i like it melissa plays her part well . it was actually believable . my brother in law saw it with my sister  i and when i mentioned to my sister that i forgot it was based on a true story  i had seen it a few years ago .  he said just because its on lifetime you think its true  both my sister  i were like it was so anyway i was wondering if anyone knew what murder it was or like who was really involved was because i want to prove it to him . i love lifetime movies especially the ones that are true  or just the ones that teach a good lesson . i thought i saw something about it a week ago but i cant remember where any help would be appreciated .  
i saw this movie in the middle of the night  when i was flipping through the channels and there was nothing else on to watch . it  s one of those films where you stop to see what it is  just for a moment   but realize after twenty minutes or so that you just can  t turn it off  no matter how bad it is . one of those movies that is somewhere in between being so bad it  s good and so bad it  s  well  just plain bad  it  s worth seeing just to experience the confusion of realizing that it  s both  great middle  of  the  night fare  if only for the fabulous tennis drag . don  t even bother asking yourself why nobody can tell that chad lowe is so obviously male  because logic does not apply .  
this movie is totally wicked  it  s really great to see mjh in a different role than her sabrina character  the plot is totally cool  and the characters are excellently written . definitely one of the best movies    
i concur with everyone above who said anything that will convince you to not waste even a briefest of moments watching this amazingly amateurish movie . very poor acting  offhand production values  utterly pedestrian direction  and a script so inept and inane it should never have been written  let alone produced . even hollywood  professionals  apparently go to work just for a paycheck  although no one should have been paid for this bad work . careers should instead have ended over this inconsequential drivel .  br    br   oth  there is something fascinating about watching something so jaw  droppingly bad . and chad lowe is terrifically and consistently bad .  
i like the movie . twisted desire had jeremy jordan  one of my favorite and one of the cutest actors ever . melissa joan hart is a good actress . i  ve seen most of her movies but all of jeremy jordan  s . the thing i dislike about twisted desire is when  nick  gets arrested and  jennifer  rats him out . twisted desire is my second favorite movie . my first is the goonies . but i still love jeremy jordan .  
generally  i  ve found that if you don  t hear about a movie prior to seeing it on dvd  there  s probably a good reason for it . i hadn  t heard about this movie at all until i was in a blockbuster the other day and saw it on a shelf . since all the good movies had already been rented out  the ones i wanted to see  anyway   i figured i  d give this one a shot .  br    br   it  s really not much different than other movies in the genre  such as the singles ward or the r . m . if you  re into those type movies  you  ll probably enjoy this .  br    br   however  if you  re not a mormon  this movie probably won  t appeal to you . there  s no way to avoid the overtly religious  mormon  message contained within  and at times it comes across as sappy and cheesy . ultimately  if you don  t fall within the mormon demographic  you  re probably better off watching something else .  br    br   admittedly  there were some very funny moments in the film  but i didn  t think that it was enough to salvage the movie overall .  
i really enjoyed this documentary about kenny and spencer  s attempt to pitch  the dawn  . was a great look at how outsiders try to get to the inside to make it big .  br    br   the story was put together well and organized in an interesting manner that made the film flow well . certainly worth a watch . my only complaint is that their appeared to be no closure . perhaps that is part of the point . we expect it but in reality that is not what happened  or usually happens  .  br    br   the film is also a great way to see the personality of kenny and spencer outside of their canadian television show . you can see a bit of what is yet to come .  br    br   i look forward to a chance to see the papal chase .  
a dog found in a local kennel is mated with satan and has a litter of puppies  one of which is given to a family who has just lost their previous dog to a hit  run . the puppy wants no time in making like donald trump and firing the mexican housekeeper  how festive . only the father suspects that this canine is more then he appears  the rest of the family loves the demonic pooch . so it  s up to dad to say the day .  br    br   this late    s made for tv horror flick has little going for it except a misplaced feeling of nostalgia . when i saw this as a kid i found it to be a tense nail  biter  but revisiting it as an adult i now realize that it  s merely lame  boring  and not really well  acted in the least bit .  br    br   my grade d  
hi  im scott  a . k . a woody      i love the film twisted desire  and i love watching melissa joan hart on the t . v as i think she is fine . i am a real fan of sabrina the teenage witch too  so this helped my watch it  don  t ask  . i love the way that nicole plans out her parents murder very carfully  as she makes sure that someone else pulls the trigger and practices on the bottles  so she wont give away her fingerprints  a very well planned out idea   back i guess it all backfired on nicole as she got caught as her old boyfriend comes along and puts a hidden camera under his shirt . i give this film a nine out of ten  and put it in my top   films list . and last but not least if anyone see  s this film in the shops please tell me as i seen it on tv and didn  t record it . bye  
  baptists at our barbecue  is the best film ever made . now  that i got your attention with that horribly inaccurate statement that should be a hanging offense if spoken  let me begin my short overview of this tacky  offensive  pretentious and boring hunk of junk i guess you could consider a movie . first of all  the low budget of this stinker is totally obvious based on the very poor and inexperienced direction of christian vuissa  and the tacky  overly preachy  whiny and stilted screenplay by f . mathew smith . i really despise the fact that it sends a very pro  mormon  and sort of anti  every other religion message . yes  the story is about a small town half full with mormons and half full with baptists . it shows all the main and role  model characters being mormon  and being so nice and perfect  yet they are being picked on by the evil  conniving and very judgmental baptists . it shows how beautiful mormons are and how cold  hearted and ignorant baptists are  instead of showing a little solidarity like would be appropriate and realistic . i  m a part of neither religion  i  m actually an atheist   but this offended me  along with another countless amount of baptists most likely . it shows the baptists as being very unopened and unwelcoming to the mormons  and the mormons being very accepting  when again  in reality there is a mutual like  dislike between them . sorry  i didn  t mean to go off on a rant .  br    br   another aspect of  baptists at our barbecue  i didn  t much care for  was the acting . the performances are very amateurish and unnatural  especially from the female lead heather beers . miss beers stumbles her way through her part without any passion or feeling for her role  and i wasn  t too much impressed with dan merkley  who  s the main character in this lackluster of a motion picture  but i have to say he  s way more talented or shows more talent in this film then heather beers . whoever played the town sheriff was awful also . although there is maybe a tiny laugh deep within the film  it is full of clichs . for example  the main character  tartan  merkley   finds solace with a native american who always gives him the best advice on things relating to a tribal way of life  how clich is that  to make the situation even more of a pathetic clich  tartan buys the poor  lonely heathen a puppy dog . ugghhh   br    br   if you want my advice  stay as far away from  baptists at our barbecue  as you can . i saw it on the shelf and thought it would be a cute and interesting little indie about religion . all i got was a  well  piece of crap . grade d   br    br   my ratings guide  a  absolutley flawless   a  a masterpiece  near  perfect   a   excellent   b  great   b  very good   b   good   c  a mixed bag   c  average   c   disappointing   d  bad   d  very bad   d   absolutley horrendous   f  not one redeeming quality in this hunk of hollywood feces  .  
  warning minor spoilers   br    br   i ran into this one partway through and watched from there  not knowing what it was or what the plot was . it certainly held my attention i didn  t know until the ending that it was based on a true story  the guy she used to do the dirty deed came out looking like a seriously nice guy who just got his head twisted around by a devious girl i have to question how true to life that portrayal is . anyone who would murder a husband and wife as they slept just can  t be entirely nice . still  i did have some sympathy for him  as he had been set up and taken advantage of that much was made clear .  br    br   my main complaint is with the ending  here comes the biggest spoiler  skip this paragraph if you don  t want to learn it  . a few minutes before it ended  there seemed no way for the truth to be discovered . the way it got discovered was in a  sting  operation  but my question is how did the police get convinced to go along with it  the movie didn  t show us that  and it seemed a bit too convenient absent the explanation of how they were persuaded to do it .  br    br   i think the way they handled that was done for dramatic purposes  as the omission of the explanation lent an aura of suspense to the crucial scene which otherwise wouldn  t have been there  we would already have known what the scene was about  and what was going on with brad in it  .  br    br   otherwise  this is a pretty good film i give it     . it made me think . now i  m interested to find out the facts of the real case .  br    br   one more thing the movie was done in     . some of the reviews here seem to be treating it as a more recent movie .  br    br   p . s . meadow sisto is lovely . i hadn  t seen her before . she can act a little  too  always a plus in her line of work  lol  .  
first of all this movie is not a comedy unless you really force yourself you can hardly laugh . secondly  the movie is slow and boring . the acting is not bad but not special . there is a lucky luke comic about two families  one with big noses and one with big ears  fighting each other in a small town . . . you will laugh much more if you read this instead of wasting your time with this movie . religions and dogmas are not the best source to make a good comedy and this movie does nothing more than confirm this rule . there is a similar subject comedy   the home teachers    this had some good moments . my final comment is do not waste your time and money to watch this uninspired and boring film .  
the movie that i am going to review is a little television movie made in     and it starred melissa joan hart and daniel baldwin .  br    br   the main protagonist  antagonist jennifer stanton  hart  is a typical all american teenager who is feeling the pressure of having such a controlling father  baldwin  . however  when she meets an ex con called nick ryan  jeremy jordan  never been kissed   they instantly  fall  for each other  but jennifer has a different idea on where to take their relationship . she manipulates him to kill her parents  to protect their  love  but she just used him to get rid of her parents so she can be with brad  david lascher future  sabrina  cast mate for hart  . melissa joan hart actually really surprised me with her role as an evil manipulator and she carries the movie well by using her friends and nick so she can literally get away with murder . the rest of the supporting cast work well and they each hold their own when they have screen time . i also found it interesting that this film was made and released the same year  hart  began portrayed sabrina  the teenage witch and this shows she can act in my genres of film and television .  br    br   although the film has dated somewhat it stills stands out as some of her best work that involves drama or thriller and i am looking forward to  nine dead  that comes out in november because it shows she can seen as other people that are not called  clarissa darling  or sabrina spellman   br    br   i recommend this film to anyone that is a fan of melissa joan hart or sabrina . you can watch this on the internet  so i suggest check it out .  
this movie was awful . i had a very difficult time watching this all the way through . i didn  t get the point of the movie . what was the point of this movie  the soundtrack was bad  acting was bad and the story uninspiring . the two main characters in the movie were very boring and their dialog was uninteresting . there was no chemistry among any of the cast members . i don  t know this for a fact  but i suspect that most of the actors were first timers . the movie could have easily been cut down to about an hour and half without losing the plot . that indicates how many useless scenes there were in the movie . i would have rather ha a root canal during the two hours of the movie . i want those two hours back  if you want to watch good  funny movie that is family friendly and made by a bunch of mormons  watch napoleon dynamite instead .  
when i was flicking through the tv guide  and came across  twisted desire  on the movie section  i read it  s description . three words caught my eye  melissa joan hart  . . . i find her role in  sabrina the teenage witch  absolutely vile  i hate those kind of programs  so i was just thinking that it was going to be a boring old  love story starring her . . . little did i know .  br    br   it finally started on the television  i had my bucket ready in case i were to puke over it  s cheesiness or soppiness  you know what i mean . at first  you think she  s just a nice  ordinary girl who  s in love  but has mean parents . then when you find out she  s manipulated her boyfriend into killing her parents  so she could be with her true love  you  re like  whoa  . you just don  t expect this sort of role for that sort of actress . she played her role very well in my opinion  i never expected her to be able to act like such a bitch  and voil  she did it perfectly  congrats to her  the movie was very good  i  d definitely watch it again and recommend it to others .  
movie about a small town with equal numbers of mormons and baptists . new family moves in  cue the overwritten dialog  mediocre acting  green jello salad with shredded carrots  and every other  inside mormon joke  known to man . anyone outside the mormon culture will have a hard time stomaching this movie . anyone inside the mormon culture will be slightly amused with a chuckle here and there . you  ll be much better off watching hess  s other movies  napoleon dynamite  etc . .  than trying to sit through this one . the acting is mediocre . jared hess has had his hands on much more quality films like  saints and soldiers   and  napoleon dynamite  . i would recommend both movies over this groaner .  
twisted desire       was a tv movie starring melissa joan hart . melissa  s character  jennifer stanton  a seventeen  year  old seduces her current boyfriend nick ryan into murdering her two parents . the movie is based on the     murders of the parents of   year old jessica wiseman . jessica had her   year old boyfriend douglas christopher thomas shoot and kill her parents  thomas was executed in      jessica was released from prison when she turned   years old . evidence now suggests that it was jessica who fired the fatal shot that killed her mother . jessica is known to now be residing somewhere in the state of virginia .  
the story of the film was as simple minded as its morality go find a girl  marry her  live with her happily ever after . though the film had some fine moments and turns  most of it stayed at the surface of what might have been shown in a film with the same storyline .  br    br   the baptist  mormon struggle was only touched superficially and was mocked about  probably intentionally . a more interesting story would have been a mixed couple .  br    br   if you wanna see a film which doesn  t need too much concentration  which can be watched by the whole family and which teaches your children modest and conservative values  besides the modern tolerance stuff      you will be fine with this film . might be shown at a family  home  evening . . .  
i recently stumbled across this film on tnt five minutes into it  while on vacation in florida . . .  hey there has to be some down time in the hotel  right   i was initially surprised to see melissa joan hart in any feature length film on tnt . i mean  drive me crazy  isn  t that old already  is it   br    br   but i stuck with it  and was thoroughly surprised and entertained . melissa plays her role as the psychotic jennifer excellently . the supporting cast  nick  the ex  con boyfriend karen  her best friend and her life  controlling parents  all added a great degree of believability . the twist at the end was a nice closure to this tale of the girl who always seemed to be one step ahead of everybody .  br    br   if you get a chance  check it out   br    br    
i expected this to be a lot better . i love tim burton  s work  so i was really excited to see these online short films . well  they weren  t at all what i had expected .  br    br   i don  t really know what exactly it is i don  t like . i guess they  re just sort of dull . the sound bothers me  and most of the characters  although i loved roy the toxic boy  and stainboy .  br    br   the match girl episode probably bugged me the most  although it was pretty funny .  br    br   i also don  t like the way some of the characters die . like how match girl basically set the gas station on fire  or how the girl who stares died  in general . roy  s death was amusing  surprisingly . death by a car freshener . very original    that made me laugh so hard . . .  br    br   there are some things that aren  t appropriate for kids . just some language and gore . that  s about all i have to say       
why am i so convinced there  s actually another film version of this novel out there somewhere  i saw the film again this year as i am teaching the novel and find the changes in the film annoying  there is no appearance of the little boy in the novel and the ending has been changed . they kill him off in the film but the whole point is that he is haunted by the events at eel marsh house for many years but does remarry and eventually put the events behind him . mr . bentley is a far more sympathetic character in the novel  the scene in the film where kipps sets fire to the office is plain daft  and the constant appearance of the toy soldier to signify the presence of the child is genuinely creepy but pointless  kipps is haunted by the woman seeking revenge  not the child . i am sure i  ve seen a film which is better and closer to the novel and actually scarier . have i just imagined this   
i wasn  t sure whether to laugh or cry . porretta was good looking but resembled like a mexican porn star not an english outlaw . costumes  what costumes  a t  shirt with strips of black leather on it . it was marion  s clothes   or lack of them   that really got me . do the  fans  of this stinker really believe women dressed like that in medieval england . the mongols and vikings were inaccurate and stupid  but the episode with an alien was worst of all . especially as his make up mainly consisted of oatmeal on his face   an old trick . the hedgehog monster was pretty funny  as was climbing up the side of a castle on a ladder of arrows   as if . the us accents grated as did the initial drawling voice over  raw  bin hood and liddle john  . the second robin and marion were really quite minging in looks and what was left of the show went totally down the pan . . .  
the woman in black was a british made for tv movie which was first broadcast on the bbc on christmave eve of     and again in    . i believe it made a round on american tv on ae . it was released on vhs in britain in the early    s but went out of print . a u . s . company released it on dvd later  but that version also sold out . according to the website of the author of the book  the rights to the movie are now owned by someone else and that it won  t be released again  and that there are unofficial bootlegs being sold on ebay .  br    br   i first heard about this movie just recently on a message board and had to check it out . i found a copy on ebay for about   bucks . it  s certain to be a counterfeit from a seller in the far east  even though the dvd says   made in canada   ha ha . but it  s a good copy  and you can  t really fault the bootleg labels for releasing stuff that is rare  out of print  and lost in legal disputes .  br    br   i love the movie . it  s a period piece set in the      s  with all the very authentic and quaint british settings of that time . the woman in black is very atmospheric and dark . for the most part  the movie is very low  key  but effective and scary . there is no self indulgent gore  violence or much at all in special effects  but the woman in black is still able to create absolutely chilling moments . it  s a chilling classic styled ghost movie . the movie itself looks like it could have been made in the      s except for the color . without all the flash of all the modern horror movies  i  m afraid this film will always just be a lost gem . for me  it places itself as one of my all time favorites .  
this series is one of the worst shows i have ever seen . terrible acting  terrible effects  terrible writing  you get my drift . the stories are so far from the legend of robin hood it  s amazing . looks like they just wanted to use the name robin hood to attract an audience . it might as well have been called new adventures of mr . bland acting .  br    br   someone commented before me that if you had imagination  you  d love this show . that is a horrible approach to a tv  series . a visual media like this should spark your imagination  you shouldn  t have to force your imagination into something to make it good . that would be like the simpsons episode where they try to brainwash homer with a religious propaganda movie  and he starts talking about who killed who or whatever .  if a movie is boring  i just make up my own story .   br    br   in conclusion absolute human waste .  
yes  a true classic  this is what british drama is all about  realism and the minimal use of special effects  and over inflated budgets  . i last saw this drama when it was last screened on british terrestial tv in     . it truly should be viewed by everyone who likes a scary plot  no big names but non  the  less great acting . sadly the copywrite is now owned by someone unknown and as such this great drama is unlikely to be aired anytime soon . i myself recently acquired the woman in black on vhs  so now once again i shall be able to enjoy this truly great british drama . you should try and enjoy it too   br    br   mark r . horobin  
does anything at all happen in this movie . there are only the bizarre short scenes where i didn  t know what the hell was going on so that doesn  t count . this movie is sooo boring it hurts  and this is coming from a person who likes it when movies are about making movies . confused   well i was after watching this crap . what was donald sutherland on  because he missed it with this one completely . and what  s with the  pedofile  scene at the beginning of the movie . can put anyone to sleep       
the woman in black is fantastic in all aspects . it  s scary  suspenseful and so realistic that you can actually see it happening in real life . i first saw this on the tv back in      and with all the lights off and the volume turned up  it was probably the most creepy experience of my entire life . i managed to get hold of a copy  and now  i make sure to bring it out every halloween and show it too unsuspecting family members  who have no idea what they  re in for  and all i can do is laugh with glee . as for the film  br    br   it starts out with a young lawyer named arthur kipps  who is assigned by his firm to go to the market town of crythin gifford to settle the papers of a recently deceased client  mrs . alice drablow .  br    br   this film starts off as a reasonably solid and interesting ghost story . but then  arthur attends the funeral  and from that scene on  we do not feel safe . we are constantly on edge and biting our nails  and that goes on for the next hour or so  until the final  thrilling finale .  br    br   a warning to all new viewers though do not watch this alone . . .  
as was to be expected  a mazursky film made in the   s would be counter  culture  sympathetic towards the hippies  and have a lot of hippies in it  and  naturally  it is childishly anti  authoritarian  e . g . the scene on the mexican border  when sutherland provokes a custom  s officer by showing little respect and then accuses the latter of making him open his luggage only because he  sutherland  has long hair  . the constant left  wing dribble could have gotten on my nerves had i not been prepared for it beforehand sutherland muses aloud to his family and friends about potential movie ideas for his next film  and most of these ideas are either about blacks or indians  needless to say  he would be welcomed with open arms in today  s hollywood  . one of his movie ideas is about a black uprising in beverly hills  a race  war  so  to  speak  in the middle of l . a . . this is the kind of nonsense that mazursky thinks about when writing scripts for his movies . fortunately  some of sutherland  s hippie friends make fun of this black  revolution premise  and the resulting dialogue isn  t bad a little later  the jewish guy makes a crack about sutherland making a movie about  masturbation and the black problem   when the latter starts talking about masturbation . another funny moment is when sutherland  s older daughter performs some pc crap on stage with her white school  mates  and they all say  we  the black people of the republic of south africa . . .  .  br    br   there is always a certain amount of self  indulgence when hollywood makes a movie about hollywood  especially when it  s hollywood making a movie about hollywood discussing hollywood doing movies . now  that  s very  very self  indulgent  indeed . the scene with fellini  playing himself  is more amusing than annoying  though . mazursky throws in the standard flower  children and anti  vietnam bullshit into the soup  and also pokes fun at corporate hollywood  but he was  is just as much a part of the  phony hollywood   lyrics from that song in the surreal war segment  as anyone else i am pretty sure that he  too  makes phony small  talk in beverly hills parties and grins fakely while shaking the hands of people whom he either doesn  t know or like  but whose money he wants badly for his next  left  wing  project . as for his hair he has the worst hair i  ve seen in a very long time  on film or elsewhere   it  s sort of like the kind of long hair that a middle  aged accountant would have if he grew it long . the film remains relatively interesting in spite of its aimlessness  but it bogs down somewhat into tedium in the last third . if you  d like to read my parody  biography of donald sutherland  and other hollywood actors   contact me by e  mail .  
an hilariously accurate caricature of trying to sell a script . documentary hits all the beats  plot points  character arcs  seductions  moments of elation and disappointments and the allure but insane prospect of selling a script or getting an agent in hollywoodand all the fleeting  fantasy  realizing but ultimately empty rites of passage attendant to being socialized into  the system .  hotz and rice capture the moment of thinking you  re finally a player  only to find that what goes up comes down fast and in a blind  siding fashionthat for inexplicable reasons  hollywood has moved on and left you checking your heart  your dreams  and your pockets . pitch is a must  see for students in film school to taste the mind and ego  bashing gantlet that is  for most  the road that must be traveled to sell oneself and one  s projects in hollywood . if your teacher or guru has never been there  they can  t tell you what you need to prepare for this gantlet . to enter the  biz   talent is necessary but far from sufficient  
the concept of this made  for  tv horror movie is ludicrous beyond words  but hey  it was the late      s and literally all stupid horror formats were pretty damn profitable  so why not exploit the idea of a satanically possessed dog  the plot of  devil dog  is easy to describe to fans of the horror genre simply think of  the omen  and replace the newborn baby boy with a nest of german shepard pups  seriously  i  m not kidding  that  s what the movie is about  during the opening sequence  members of some kind of satanic cult buy a female dog in heat only to have it impregnated by satan himself . you  d think that the lord of darkness has other things on his mind than to fornicate with a german shepard and take over the world one evil puppy at the time  but apparently not . exactly like little damien in  the omen   one of the puppies is taken in by model family and grows up to become a beautiful and charismatic animal . but lucky  that  s the dog  s name  is pure evil and liquidates annoying neighbors and nosy school teachers in derivative and tamely executed ways . he also inflicts his malignant character on the family wife and children  but he cannot force the father  richard crenna  to stick his arm into a lawnmower because he  s a  chosen one  . the whole thing becomes too moronic for words when crenna eventually travels to ecuador to search for an ancient wall painting and gets advice from an old witchdoctor who speaks perfect english . i guess he learned that living in isolation atop of a mountain his entire life . director curtis harrington   what  s the matter with helen    ruby   and lead actor richard crenna   wait until dark    the evil   desperately try to create a suspenseful and mysterious atmosphere  but all is in vain . scenes like cute puppy eyes spontaneously setting fire to a spanish maid or a dog dodging bullets without even moving evoke chuckles instead of frights  and not even spooky musical tunes can chance that . the  special  effects are pathetic  especially near the end when the satan  dog mutates into an utterly cheesy shadow on the wall .  devil dog  is a truly dumb movie  but it  s definitely hilarious to watch late at night with some friends and loads of liquor . there are entertaining brief cameos of martine beswick   dr . jekyll and sister hyde   as the terrifying cult queen and r . g . armstrong   the car    the pack   as the evil fruit  vegetable and puppy salesman . and  yes  that annoying daughter is the same kid who gets blown away complaining about her ice  cream in carpenter  s  assault on precinct    .  
a young solicitor from london  arthur kidd is sent to a small coastal town of crythin gifford to oversee the estate of a recently passed away widow mrs drablow . while attending her funeral  a mysterious lady dressed in black catches his attention . supposedly drablow lived a reclusive life  and locals kept pretty quiet about her . after this he heads to mrs drablow mansion that can only be reached on a causeway through the swamp during low tide . there he encounters the woman in black again in cemetery out back of the house  and things begin to get creepy as terrifying noises start coming from the marshes . now can mrs drablow  s belongings and listening to her recorded dairy entries help kidd figure out this gloomy mystery that the locals fear to talk about .  br    br   often highly regarded amongst horror fans as being one of the most chilling ghost stories ever and i can see their point . but only in doses does it draw upon tag . yes  from what you can gather i was left a  little  under  whelmed  despite really liking it . i was expecting goose bumps throughout the whole feature  but that  s probably it expecting . mainly i had a similar reaction with the     haunted house thriller  the changeling  . when you hear so many good things  it  s sometimes hard not get caught up with it .  br    br   anyhow what the british tv presentation of  the woman in black  effectively does is bring out a truly old  fashion  slow burn spine  tingling premise driven by its moody locations  disquieting atmosphere and first  rate performances . subtly blankets the psychologically gripping story  adapted off susan hill  s novel of the same name   as the simple mystery authentically opens up with a depressingly tragic tone and successfully characterises its protagonist . little seems to happen  and can feel drawn out  but the fragile randomness of it catch you off guard . whenever the camera focuses on the lady in black . who mostly appears as a background figure  it  s ultimately creepy . she might not appear all that much  but when she does . talk about unnerving  that also goes for that downbeat conclusion . pauline moran  who plays the woman in black  competently gets us nervous by just her gaunt appearance and sudden positioning . a pale look and those minor mannerisms just seem to haunt you . she  s a spirit you don  t want to cross paths with  yet alone let her see you . an accomplished performance by a marvelously moody adrian rawlins as the solicitor arthur kidd does hold it all together . in support are solid turns by bernard hepton  david daker  clare holman and david ryall .  br    br   drawing heavy on its lushly sombre rural town and foggy coastal locations adds more to the realistically eerie plight and the centre piece were everything unfolds in the forlorn  time  worn victorian house that comprehensively suffocates the air with constant fear . director herbert wise carefully fabricates alarming imagery that slowly covers one secretive piece at a time in a smoothly paved out rhythm of well  judged contriving . instead of going out to shock us  some scenes contain a distressing intensity that won  t let go . the sound effects are masterfully used  by surrounding and disorienting the air . rachel portman  s harrowing musical score knows how to get under your skin during those eerie moments and then stay with you .  br    br   this rarity made  for  television feat is a stimulating rich and unsettling supernatural spook  fest . it might not share much new to the sub  genre  but it competently sticks to it strengths to deliver what counts in this curse .  
i know nothing of the iliad so can not comment on it  s accuracy to that story . however  as a stand alone film i found this very boring . the battle scenes tried to be large and spectacular but they were just obvious cgi .  br    br   the acting is poor and no doubt brad pitt was cast just to attract the ladies . but he does not make a good warrior  too pretty i am afraid .  br    br   good points are is the design . this film does look good with the landscape and castle buildings  walls impressive . i do like a film that at least tries to get the characters accents true but this film just seems to ignore it completely . we hear american  scottish english anything but what you might expect for a film about an ancient eastern civilisation .  br    br   all in all  i do not recommend this film for a family sit down . it is too long and the young will get bored .  br    br   for adults  it is ok if you don  t care about the lack realism .  
this is a plain old spooky ghost story . i showed it to some friends of mine in my movie club  and they were kept spellbound until the ending  no blood or gore  just good old fashioned suspense . it starts out right from the beginning  and builds and builds . the ending is a real twist that caught me unawares .  br    br   well directed and well acted . it is also a  period piece   set in the     s  which added to the atmosphere .  br    br   i was so impressed i got the book by susan hill from amazon . the movie follows the book rather closely .  br    br   it  s a shame it  s not readily available on dvd . my copy is vhs . this along with  haunted  are probably two of the best ghost stories i  ve ever scene . which just goes to show that a little creativity outdoes  in your face  gore any day   
well  were to start  this is by far one of the worst films i  ve ever paid good money to see . i won  t comment on the story itself  it  s a wonderful classic  but here it feels like a soap opera . to start with  the acting  except for eric bana  is soap opera quality . i  ve always been a fan of brad pitt  but here every actor on the bold and the beautiful puts him to shame . the camera action doesn  t help  either . how it lingers on him when he  s thinking  it just takes me back to brooke forrester  s days in the lab  peter o  toole has either had a really bad plastic surgery  or he is desperately in need of one . either way  he looks more like linda evans than linda evans  and to end my comments  diane kruger is a cute girl  but she sure is no helen of troy . peterson should rather have chosen saffron burrows for the role  since elizabeth taylor would be rather miscast by now .  
 . . . . . . . . . . . as i was when i saw this movie  i will never watch this movie again  not because it is a bad movie  but because it scared me so much  as i said  i was   when my english teacher decided to show it to us the reason for this is that we had read an extract from the book .  br    br   all the girls in my class were terrified when the woman in black comes through the window and floats over kidd  s bed  although  just before that there is something that also frightened us  which was when kidd finds the toy soldier underneath his pillow  and he hears a child  s voice say  it  s for you  . that scene still haunts me to this day  nearly  years after i saw the film .  br    br   if you are easily scared  avoid this film          
to confess having fantasies about brad pitt is a pretty tough admission for an heterosexual to make . but what can i tell you  maybe is that famous extra something that everybody talks about and makes a star a star . it crosses that barrier . it pulls you into unknown sensual and emotional territory . brando had it in spades  montgomery clift  gary cooper  james dean of course and in more recent times  tom cruise  jude law  johnny depp  ewan mcgregor and billy crudup . women fell in love with garbo  dietrich  katharine and audrey hepburn  grace kelly  marilyn monroe  julie christie  charlotte rampling  meryl streep  vanessa redgrave  julia roberts and very very recently natalie portman . but brad pitt has  singlehandedly  redefined the concept . he is the only reason to go out  get in the car  find parking  buy a ticket  popcorn and get into a theatre to see  troy  if you liked epics in the  jupiter  s darling  style you may enjoy this . but if you don  t  go all the same  we want to keep brad pitt in business .  
 . . . on stage  tv or in a book   the woman in black  is an outstanding ghost story . other reviewers have already said just about all there is to say about this film  but i thought i would add my belated little review too . the made  for  tv movie has a deliberately slow first act  which chronicles the main character arthur as he goes about his business as a solicitor in     s london . i can understand why this might not appeal to all palates . nevertheless  for me  i love this british  style of storytelling similar to any of the bbc  s  ghost story for christmas  adaptations of the great m . r . james  work . in the second act  the ghost story kicks in as arthur is sent to the provinces by his boss  to tidy up the affairs of a deceased client . the third act relentlessly builds up to a spine  tingling conclusion . . . as a londoner  i have seen the play . i own the book  dvd  r and have the unabridged audio book on my ipod  too . what is sure for me   the women in black  on any medium is a ghost story with few equals . it is about time that we had a legitimate region  dvd release .  
i like brad pitt enormously . he is an actor with brains and wit  not to mention face  pectorals and all the rest . since i saw him in  thelma and louise  a thought has been bothering me  who does he remind me of   troy  did it for me . he is the new brigitte bardot . the differences are obvious of course . male  american etc but brigitte bardot comes to mind nonetheless . he is so beautiful that he is at his most effective when he plays against it .  kalifornia     monkeys   fight club   snatch  his self deprecating humor makes him human  almost accessible . fortunately  troy  will soon be forgotten . only still photographs with pitt  semi naked in ravishing sprint positions will decorate the walls of legions of salivating fans . strange   das boot  is one of the great films of the second part of the   th century . what is wolfgang petersen doing directing this  well  i suppose it would be very hard to say no at the chance of working with the new brigitte bardot .  
a young solicitor in sent to a remote area to wrap up the estate of a recently deceased client . when he arrives he finds that he is made less than welcome by the local villagers and that his deceased client was not liked . to speed things up he decides to move from the local inn and take up residence in her home  a house that is usually fogbound and approached only by a causeway that is blocked off by the sea most of the day . once there he sees visions of a woman in black  is she real or imaginary  he is also subjected to the blood curdling cries of a woamn and child apparently drowning in the marshes  these events take their toll on him and he soon becomes quite terrified . atmospheric tv adaptation of a famous play by susan hill  that spends it first third building up its characters  before moving to the creepy country house  its poor colour contrast give away its tv roots immediately  this really should have been in black  white  but still as a ghost story it had a couple of unsettling moments  still though after waiting so long to see it i must say i was sadly just a little underwhelmed .  
went to see the movie  troy  this afternoon . here  s what i learned  br    br   contrary to popular opinion and history in general  greek men were not gay . ever . this was clearly established immediately at the start of the film and reinforced every five minutes or so thereafter . so it is safe for american dudes to see this movie .  br    br   helen of troy always had impeccable hair and makeup . she looked gorgeous in all of her brief cameo scenes which  though numerous  were probably all filmed on the same day  one after the other  with the director saying   alright  now look beautiful . . . good . . . ok  now look frightened . . . good . . . now look depressed . . . good . . . now look interested . . . good . . . now look beautiful again . . . good . . .   br    br   most greek and trojan men had british accents . those with american accents couldn  t act .  br    br   trojans looked just like greeks  but they tended to stay on the right side of the screen .  br    br   brad pitt does not blink on camera .  br    br   helen of troy  s biggest line was   they  re coming for me .   br    br   trojan music sounded remarkably like modern bulgarian music .  br    br   brad pitt  s thighs go all the way up .  br    br   achilles had a young male friend with whom he was very close  but it  s ok . they were cousins . never mind what history says .  br    br   peter o  toole can tell an entire story with just an expression .  br    br   trojan gods apparently all had greek names  but their statues either looked egyptian or like peter o  toole in drag .  br    br   greek men never touched each other unless they were fighting  much like american men .  br    br   all of the thousands of extras in the movie had exactly the same skin color . . . light egyptian  by max factor .  br    br   troy had only three women .  br    br   there were lots of blond greeks  which is good news for brad pitt  who would otherwise have really stuck out .  br    br   despite their coastal desert locale  greeks had the uncanny ability to find unlimited amounts of timber to build fires  funeral pyres  trojan horses and the like .  br    br   british actors look silly with greek hairdos .  br    br   brad pitt changes expression only when the sun is shining directly in his eyes .  br    br   greek soldiers fought constantly  but their outfits always looked impeccable .  br    br   greek soldiers wore underwear under their skirts .  br    br   apparently greek temples were always in ruins  even back when they were all new .  
i first watched this film when i was a kid and is the only time in my life that i can remember putting my hands over my face and eyes in utter horror at one particular scene . i remembered it again with a disscusion with my uni friends and promptly bought it on video with plenty of hesitation i might add  to my surprise i only found it on the web in the states when it was made in england   when i watched it again my reaction and to my surprise was almost the same  of sheer horror and fear and never has my heart been beating so much too . this is in my opinon the scariest film ever made  hollywood films seem tame in comparison and a bit pony and trap  crap   pardon the pun . what is amazing though is the power of this film and at uni when watching this with about twenty of my associates i have never heard so many screams  blokes as well  even the sight of the video brings the fear of god into me of that one particular scene  and left me feeling that i will never walk alone again in the dark      
hello there   br    br   this is my first post in imdb even though i use it as a reference for quite a while . i would therefore like to salute you all . the fact that i am a greek is inevitably going to affect my judgement i hope not to your annoyance .  br    br   i spent  years of my life   all we greeks did actually   analysing omirus epos  and not homers as you see everywhere   rhyme by rhyme . if i recall well it was iliada  iliad  on  th grade and odysseia  odyssey  on  th grade . warner  s troy  was a big disappointment to me and my fellow greeks around the campus  i study in the uk  .  br    br   iliad epos is one of the very best literature works ever made . it was composed by a greek poet omirus a whole    years after the actual war . historians put trojan war around     bc  and the actual reason of the war not being helen  s beauty but the strategically crucial position of troy . that said one may now understand that omirus epos is not presenting the actual events  as it  s not accurate historically  but this was never the purpose of this work .  br    br   reading this huge poem  one can find himself wondering for the very definitions of honour  love  anger  hate  heroism  discipline  loyalty and so on . the best part and the most educational as well were these prolonged talks between the warriors before the battle . none of these though were revealed in  troy   br    br   warner  s troy was really cheap to my eyes  and to other intellectual people english finnish and german colleagues of me as well . it is a shame to spend millions of dollars in such a bad scenario . by the way perfect storm was a bad and stupid blockbuster  computers graphics did the whole work   and yet it is wolfgang petersen  s best work .  br    br   i conclude saying that you  d better watch something else instead . i would give troy  out of   . it is a really expensive b movie .  br    br   cheers  br    br   alex  
there is nothing remotely scary about modern  horror  which is an insult to the word  horror  . freddie vs jason  the scream movies  cabin trash  and especially stephen king  s infantile attempts  he  s recycled every story from the monkey  s paw to whatever  often in the same story  at horror in both writing and on film  except for kubrick  s version of the shining which actually was scary  unlike king  s books which are as frightening as my big toe  the left one  which still has the nail .  br    br   but the woman in black is that rare modern film that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end . this is the way it should be done the director creates tension  and the scariest ghost ever actually seen simply by having her suddenly turn up standing still somewhere or other with that incredible look on her face . then he brings it all to a ghastly disturbing close . he  s learned his lessons from the masters who knew how to make horror  val lewton  original cat people  and robert wise  a val lewton disciple and director of the haunting and the body snatcher   jacques tournier  another val lewton disciple who directed a truly horrifying zombie film  not the gross rubbish raimi did  gross isn  t scary  folks  it  s just gross   and lewis allen  the uninvited   and of course jack clayton  s turn on henry james the innocents  and the way the master of suspense  hitchcock  can still bring you to the edge of your seat even with a slow  building and burning period piece like under capricorn .  br    br   ten stars . . .  
i had high hopes for troy and i am so bitterly disappointed . the film was directed so badly it made my stomach ache . the pacing was so slow  the dialogue laughable and the film  well apart from a nice fight scene between achilles  pitt  and hector  bana   the rest was shallow .  br    br   and why  oh why does hollywood always insist on rewriting stories to fit  consumer approval  . agamemnon didn  t die in troy  the war lasted   years and achilles was killed by paris outside the walls of troy with an arrow to the ankle  it annoys me that such a classic story as this is turned into a soap .  br    br   and don  t even start me on the  lack  of chemistry between helen and paris . she was the woman the war was fought over and it didn  t even look as if the two of them cared a great deal about the other . no sparks  no emotion  no hope .  br    br   i have to say in the films defence brad pitt  eric bana and peter o  toole acted very well with a bad script but that isn  t enough to save this awful movie .  br    br   can anybody tell me where the     million budget went  maybe in all the trees they used for the funeral pyres  where did they get all those trees   br    br   i am so disappointed it hurts .  
the first and only time i saw the woman in black was i think the only time to my knowledge it appeared on tv back in     . it was christmas eve and my father and i were watching it in the living room shortly before we all went to a midnight service in the village church . i was quite young at the time but i  m not sure who was more terrified walking through the church yard to the entrance of the church that night me or my father  .  br    br   there are many factors about this film that make it so creepy but i think  ne of them is the fact that there  s not much in the way of a sound track that plays in the background of nearly every hollywood movie  so every creak  thump and bang is more amplified in your head as there  s no distraction . another factor that makes it different from other ghost stories there  s no jump factor involved like things bouncing out the closet so it makes it not necessarily what you see but what you hear and what you think is going on . this is a clever medium as nothing scares you more than your own mind running riot thinking whats around the corner or behind the door   br    br   a superb ghost story  i  ve never seen anything that can match it and with all the dross thats repeated over and over on tv i cant believe the bbc has deleted it after  to my knowledge  only one showing   
i had the greatest enthusiasm going in to the advance screening for this movie . after all  this is one of the oldest and most complex tales known to mankind  and it was one of the first epic tales i read as a kid  even before tolkien  . i must say that it was a huge disappointment . they completely made the plot into a joke and turned the thing into one long soap opera . the elements that were faithful to the plot were sprinkled throughout in such a haphazard manner that the audience was laughing at many times at the silly script that just paid lip service to this battle of all battles . it was a huge disappointment to see a complex character like achilles  who has a strange combination of nearly matrix  like powers  utter ruthlessness and male lovers in the original poem  turn to  fabio on the beach  in the guise of pitt  who with a good script and more effort could have turned this into the most complex and original warrior figure hollywood has ever produced  . the actors were actually decent  trying to make the best of a ridiculous script . it was actually a waste of so much talent  peter o  toole stole the show  and orlando bloom and sean bean were pathetic  . compare it to lotr or gladiator and it doesn  t even hold a candle to them . plenty of hunks for the ladies to goggle over but not enough battle scenes for a movie that is about one long battle and siege . i wouldn  t recommend that anyone pay to see this story dragged through the dirt like one of the characters was  at least they got that part right  .  
how much could the general hollywood director learn from this movie  all . . . when it comes to actually scaring people . this movies truly shows that it is possible to really frighten and scare a viewer  and that monstrous monsters and long knifes never will be the best way of achieving this . all who love a real psychological thriller must see this movie . . . it is the best of it  s kind .  
i have walked out of about  movies my entire life . this was one of the worst movies i have ever seen . i don  t know how i sat through an hour of it . i must have been in a coma that night . i saw it in the theatre when it came out  years ago . i couldn  t even remember the name  but i knew that penelope ann miller starred in it . it must have really affected me to be wasting my time commenting on it today . yech  vomit  barf   
i gave this film an      with some reluctance as it  s hard to praise something that so haunted and terrified me for years . the sheer menace on the woman in black  s face is just pure horror and the accompanying music just worsens the dread .  br    br   i saw this when it was first on tv when i was   and it really did disturb me for years . i  m fascinated by the fact that so many other users have said this too . so many movie reviews go on about how disturbing or terrifying a film might be but you can believe all those who have posted on this board  this really is incredibly powerful stuff . i mean i really like horror films and generally find them quite funny more often than not  but this really is menacing and will probably disturb most people . i haven  t seen it since i was   and i  m tempted to watch it again but fear i might have some sleepless nights . i can  t quite put my finger on what it is exactly  but i think it  s something to do with the fact that fear is the woman  s greatest weapon and that we  as viewers  are just as susceptible as we feel the fear so intensely . it  s remarkable that other viewers  feelings are so unanimous .  br    br   i  ve also seen the stage play  which was an excellent production . . . but nothing can compare to this .  
the box for  to die for  suckered me in   a shirtless hunky guy and the promise of some laughs and sex . there was plenty of thomas arklie  simon   who  s easy on the eyes  but no laughs and little sexiness .  br    br   the couple  mark and simon  have allegedly been together several years  but neither character is interesting enough to care about  so it  s hard to imagine that they care about each other . the fault seems to lie in the script  not the performances both actors do the best they can with what they  re given .  br    br   the ending is sappy and unaffecting  well  not totally unaffecting i felt relief that it was over  .  br    br   if you  re looking for a movie about gay relationships and aids that  s funny   parting glances  is far better .  
credited by variety to be one of the greatest documentaries to ever come out of canada . al pacino  roger ebert  neil simon  matt dillon as well as a constant slew of celebs make this film a canadian classic . the film is really best described as  roger  me  meets  the player  . watch as kenny hotz and spenny pitch their script to the big boys of hollywood . called the only american film to ever come out of canada  this film opened the toronto film festival in      winner of the  best indie film award toronto  . europe premier was at the prestigious hof film fest in germany . u . s . a . premier u . s . comedy festival aspen     . more information available at www . kennyhotz . com  
i remember devil dog playing on tbs almost   years ago  and my older sister and her friends watching it and laughing all the next day . it  s not that bad for a made  for  tv horror movie  but it is derivative  mostly of the exorcist  and businesslike  for lack of a better word . it won  t blow you away with artful cinematography or great acting  but it  s not a waste of time  either . it  s the kind of movie you watch to kill a couple of hours when you aren  t in the mood to think too hard .  br    br   however  if you go into the movie looking for some laughs  you won  t be disappointed . the early scenes  with lucky the devil dog as a cute little puppy with children of the damned eyes are hilariously non  threatening  and the climactic blue  screen effects of a giant black dog  with horns   are pretty side  splitting . and keep an eye out for the cloaked satanist in maverick shades toward the beginning .  br    br   not a great horror film by any stretch of the imagination  but i wish they still made stuff like this for tv .  
most horror movies are in fact horrible movies . they get to be same ol   same ol  . same ol  pack every minute with some cheap thrill  usually  splatter   and nowadays they can pack every second with gaudy special effects . one of the goals of a really good horror flick is to suspend the sense of disbelief of the audience . for instance  i saw both of the recent mummy movies and nearly got dizzy viewing ridiculous special effects every second . it probably costs a million dollars per second to make those movies and my sense of disbelief was never suspended  it grew roots .  br    br   subtlety can be more terrifying . less is more .  br    br   i first saw  the woman in black  on the ae channel . after flipping through the usual    channels of very bad television i stopped to watch it . this movie almost has the feel of a  masterpiece theater  production . that was fine with me  i  ve always preferred british tv  movies anyway .  br    br   most viewers would find this to be too slowly paced . but the slow pacing helps give the story credibility . the special effects are few which lulls the viewer into thinking that this film is set in the real world thus making us a bit more uneasy . the makeup and costume for the ghost are kept simple and believable . hollywood would have made her look like a she demon from hell with glowing eyes  fangs  claws etc . hollywood would have done an overkill and turned this idea into a mediocrity .  br    br   the woman only makes about five appearances in the film . most of them are where she appears in the distance and even that creates a good fright . if she appeared too often  it could  ve cheapened the mood that gets set . however this movie is so well made that through much of the film we  re led into sensing that she is there the whole time but not visible . the scene where she  visits  arthur kidd late at night and we see her just a little too close is a masterpiece in horror .  br    br   this is just an extraordinary film that i think should rate as one the finest horror films ever made . i have a copy of  the haunting    the changling  and a zillion more . i haven  t seen anything that tops  the woman in black  yet although i  m still looking . this movie is so well made that it gives even the most hardened skeptic  like me  a moment where i almost had second thoughts about the non  existence of ghosts . i joke to people that i occasionally get brief fears that she could appear standing in the middle of the road or that i  d see her staring through my window  etc . maybe she could be in a crowd at the mall glaring at me with her look of hate . this is how a really great horror film should be . like a lafanu novel  the woman in black very slowly pulls you in and wraps herself around your neck and before you realize it  she  s squeezing the life out of you and then it  s too late .  br    br   closest thing i have to a criticism is that this was made for the small screen . . . and it  s a terrible shame that this is out of print . i just paid over    for my second copy of this movie . it  s a major prize in my collection . now i  m on a quest to find an even better horror movie that not only gives the chills but also qualifies a sound drama .  
i had read a few positive reviews of this film  and was truly surprised at how dreadful the whole thing was . positioned as some cross between an aids  related story and some kind of  ghost    blithe spirit  tale  this film can  t always make it  s mind up what it wants to be .  br    br   simon and mark are a gay couple who have an  open  relationship  simon is able to have anonymous  though safe  sex on the side when he wants . mark is hiv and he and simon don  t seem to have a sex life anymore . when mark dies  simon  who has made a habit of shutting off his emotions after being rejected years ago by his father  tries to erase his memory and just get on with being a bachelor . not that his behavior before mark  s death was much different . but mark returns in ghostly form and foils his various trysts  while getting simon to open up and admit his true feelings .  br    br   unfortunately  simon is such a selfish sob  it  s impossible to feel any empathy toward him for most of the film . by the time he is supposed to be more sympathetic  it  s too late to care . mark  on the other hand  follows in demi moore  s footsteps from  ghost   by crying profusely throughout the movie .  br    br   there is a bizarre switch in tone after mark returns . suddenly we get some lame attempts at humor  a la the tv show  bewitched .  but that doesn  t last long . once simon  s emotional health is at stake  the whole thing becomes increasingly mawkish  with amateurish attempts to jerk at your heartstrings . the finale  with a gold  plated muscle  boy angel guiding a tearful mark to heaven while a chastened  grief  stricken simon waves goodbye is just stupefying  chiefly because it isn  t intentionally funny .  
this film gave me nightmares for months and i  m   . this is the scariest movie ever made  that is no exaggeration   i saw this movie at school in english lessons and no one else was scared which amazed me . after reading other reviews i  m glad i  m not the only person who found this so scary    
this film is  riveting  but in much the same way a car crash is riveting . it  s hard to look away . overall  this film is nothing more than an incredibly irresponsible social experiment   and a futile  biased experiment at that . the filmmakers are manipulative and seem to have no problems going for the lowest possible denominator . the manner in which the money is presented to ted is pure exploitation . the intervening steps that the filmmakers force ted to participate in  meeting with so  called experts  were empty and devoid of any substantive attempt to connect with ted . instead  it  s painfully obvious that they serve to cover the filmmaker  s posteriors and to further exploit ted  s situation . the worst part is that the filmmakers stop following ted after  months and seemingly are cut off entirely from the subject they had followed so closely months before . if they had cared  they would have found better  experts  to help ted . if they truly wanted to see what ted would do  then they should have let him spend the money without any intervention . this film is at best a high  brow jackass stunt and not a documentary . it  s sad to think how much         could have actually changed a homeless person  s life had it been put in the right hands .  
i saw this on tv so long ago that i can  t remember when it was  but it still stands out as one of the scariest  most unnerving films i  ve ever seen . there is a simultaneously subtle but intense dread induced by the woman in black lurking at the edge of the frame  not quite clearly visible  so that you feel  like the solicitor hero   unsure whether its just imagination or not . it is also one of the few films which has really made me fearful to keep watching .  production values  be hanged  good films are about a director  s ability to create atmosphere using film  actors  locations  sets  music  attention to detail  and . . . imagination . a real gem .  
what happens when you give a free man just enough money to trap him into the rat race and watch him squirm  homeless people answer to no one . they have no mortgages  rent payments or idiot bosses . homeless people don  t have to worry about the irs or performance reviews or credit card payments . but  give them just enough money to rent an apartment and buy a car and  suddenly  they have to worry about entering the rat race  buying gas for transportation  paying insurance on their car  and working for someone else . they get a chance to be a  productive citizens .  this film was about as exploitive as a film can be . it  s a way for the rich and middle  class sheeple to say  see what happens when you try to help the poor   and it vindicates capitalistic arrogance .  br    br   why not a film that asks   what happens when you take away everything a rich man has    
well  done ghost story that will give you the creeps and some pretty fair scares along the way . the story unfolds slowly  building atmosphere all the way until you  re ready to see the woman in black . you won  t forget her once you  ve seen her . no gore  no knives  no hockey masks   just a well  constructed story that is best viewed at night with the lights out .  
as always this is an inaccurate picture of the homeless . tv told a lot of lies about panhandlers in the early     s and made everyone look bad  and claimed we all made over     a day when       a day was much closer to reality . when someone drove by where i held up a sign offering to work  and offered me work  i actually went and took the work if i was physically able . and if i would been offered the         id damned sure invested in in apt prepaid for at least  years  and kept most in the bank and still left myself          for nl     and     cash games at the casinos . i usually always win and could win decent if i just had a bankroll . instead i win about      a month is all playing in always minimum buying in due to not wanting to risk losing it all . i was only homeless cause i didn  t wanna risk spending all my money and going broke  sometimes i had over           in my sock while i slept outside . anyone wanting to talk contact sevencard     on yahoo messenger . i admit i was different than most homeless people though  due to the fact i never drank smoke or took drugs . im no longer homeless  am now in govt housing for     a month and getting ssi and spend most of my time winning at online poker . mom and sunflower diversified worked hard to get me ssi . glad my days of hiding in under the stage in the convention center of the casino at night sleeping  worrying about getting caught by security are finally over . had this tv crew picked me theyd been over a lot sooner . its a shame how they don  t better select who they pick .  
i first saw this movie here in the u . k . in december     when central tv broadcast it . i still have the video tape  although worn out  over the years many friends and family members have borrowed it and have also been chilled by it   .  br    br   anyway  i remember coming home that night  grabbing a christmas tipple  switching the lights out and watching what was advertised as a  christmas ghost story  . even now i remember certain scenes that still send the hairs on my neck standing on  end . . .  br    br   i have seen some comments on the movie which say it  s not this and not that . . . i think those people get scared by friday   th and the like  stalk and slash rammel  which are laughable . this is a  traditional  ghost story there is no big budget action or special effects . . . no swearing  no blood  no gratuitous sex scenes  no chainsaws or guns etc . . . so how refreshing     it  s atmospheric . if you like chilling horror  well written  well acted and with a genuinely scary atmosphere  this is the movie for you . i like the original horrors only last night i saw the original haunting and that is a superb movie . very atmospheric again  and so is the woman in black . the end of the movie differs to the book  but still very good . i recommend it . try it . . . you will like it if you like traditional ghost stories . . . so . . . turn off the lights  turn up the fire  lock the doors  grab a drink . . . and enjoy . . .    
  what happens when you give a homeless man           as if by asking that question they are somehow morally absolved of what is eventually going to happen . the creators of  reversal of fortune  try to get their voyeuristic giggles while disguising their antics as some kind of responsible social experiment .  br    br   they take ted  a homeless man in pasadena  and give him         to see if he will turn his life around . then  with only the most cursory guidance and counseling  they let him go on his merry way .  br    br   what are they trying to say   money can  t buy you happiness    the homeless are homeless because they deserve to be   or how about   lift a man up  it  s more fun to watch him fall from a greater altitude .  they took a man with nothing to lose  gave him something to lose  and then watched him dump it all down the drain . that  s supposed to be entertainment  they dress this sow up with some gloomy music and dramatic camera shots  but in the end it has all the moral high ground of car crash videos  only this time they engineered the car crashes and asked   what happens when you take down a stop sign    
i was lucky enough to watch this without any pre viewing hype . i was surprised at the resilience of the ghost  s image in my mind the next day  and the day after that . i  ve watched it    times  and each time i appreciate it even more . the settings are gorgeous  the town at dusk has beautiful lighting effects  the marsh long shots  and the house itself is sufficiently grown with moss . the main hero is so likable and good natured  that he is easily sympathized with . to the person who complained that there wasn  t enough  spark  in this film  i  d say that it  s because the whole fight against the ghost is being waged by just this one person . it is a fairly slow paced film  with an unusual amount of time being spent  pre and post ghost attack  on developing his character with family and work life . spoilers discussion   br    br   i especially liked the turning point  when he comes back to the main town and meets with the man helping him and explains about seeing the ghost . he describes the woman in black  and then at the end of the conversation he says that he is going back  because after all  what harm had she done to him  the other man says   you can  t go back . . . alone   and lends the hero his dog . the cute little dog offers a small respite of comic relief  with it  s bounding through the house and even into the locked room .  br    br   the many casual appearances of the ghost really freaked me out . the woman shows up in mid shot at the church  showing that it is not afraid of the church  and is also not shy or bound to the house . this is all in the very beginning . another unbelievably memorable scene was with the kids outside of the church fence  watching the funeral . as the camera pans to the right  the woman is seen in the background among the gravestones . the older man won  t even look at it  but the kids are all yelling and taunting it . crreeepy . . . usually ghosts are hidden in shadows  haunting specific locales or people . as has been mentioned  the ghost  s malevolence and wrath are frightening  and i feel it  s attacks and the ending were perfect and fully justified . the ending underlined the fact that the hero made a major mistake by going back to the house . or perhaps he was marked no matter what  by saving the gypsy girl . the guy who plays the hotel manager is so believable  and really fills the role well . i have been spreading the word to my friends about how much i enjoyed this film  and it is reassuring to see others feel the same . i can see how people don  t quite see the same masterpiece  especially if they went into it with a lot of review hype .  br    br   i think another person summed it up when they said that this movie settled the question of whether or not ghosts could physically harm man . whew . . i plan to watch it again tonight followed by the changeling  aaww yeah . any other films to recommend   br    br   thanks   
don  t spend your money or your time on this pitiful piece of film in the guise of cinematography . when every third word is devoted to foul language and there is no real plot as well as having a cast of old actors who are still giving the same dated performances from the past and have not evolved in their careers  leaves a lot to be said . i was expecting something better from award winning actor benicio del toro . the vision that others may have of puertorricans will be irreversibly distorted by such trash as maldeamores . a foul word at a given moment in a film may be used to emphasize a given point of view and may even be funny or sad depending on its context  see the movie elsa and fred for example  but it should not permeate the plot . the movie is a total embarrassment and there was absolutely nothing funny or even cute about this film .  
whilst i have loved haunted house movies such as amityville and poltergeist  this made for tv adaption of susan hills book packs a huge punch on the horrors of hollywood .  br    br   with a brilliant cast  many of which star in heartbeat and other tv dramas   great acting  and fantastic setting  which portrays      s life convincingly   it has all the right ingredients to entice the viewer into what is a powerful ghost story .  br    br   herbert wise did not need blood  violence  or gore to send chills down the spines of an audience . using your own imagination  the woman in black is a figure of fear and dread  and whose presence is never absent once she first appears .  br    br   the main character arthur kidd  a solicitor  learns about his unseen spectre on his mission to settle the estate . the widow dies and arthur spends few nights inside her dreary home in which he notices many oddities  which may haunt him for some days . some of the scenes are very unsettling and claustrophobic  particularly the locked room which opens itself  which turns the generator off and closes arthur in darkness . the film becomes more harrowing the more you put yourself in arthurs shoes  and his efforts to shake this ghost off . the writer puts many chilling additions into the story  an example being the tin soldier  s re  appearance . one is eager to learn the meaning of it all . the fact we never really learn that much about the widow  leaves more to the imagination and makes it all the more unsettling .  br    br   the widow for the most part  looks vicious and intimidating . the scene after winding the generator sent the chills down me  a woman who appears out of nowhere on isolated marshy land with a howling wind  having been on such properties myself i can appreciate how isolating this is . and the scene in the inn was perhaps the most horrible things i  ve seen  one i don  t wish to watch in a hurry or show to elderly relatives . i have often woken up at night thinking she was behind me in my sleep .  br    br   the woman in black is a great tv movie and a lost gem . i agree to some extent the internet hype for this film has been totally overblown and can see why people were disappointed after spending the best of    on it  but i think the net has defeated hidden gems because it makes films like these over  exposed . i think it  s still brilliant and fantastically acted and i consider it the greatest ghost story of the last century .  
this film is a good example of how through media manipulation you can sell a film that is no more than a very unfunny tv sitcom . in puerto rico the daily newspaper with the widest circulation has continuously written about the marvels of this film  almost silencing all others . coincidentally the newspaper with the second largest circulation belongs to the same owners . the weekly claridad is the only newspaper on the island that has analyzed the film  s form and content  and pointed out all its flaws  clichs  and bad writing .  br    br   just because a film makes a portion of the audience laugh with easy and obvious jokes  and because one can recognize actors and scenery  does not make it an acceptable film .  
i saw this film on television years ago  but here several years after  i wake up in the morning  and still remember her face .  br    br   this film is the most profoundly terrifying film i have seen .  
charles bronson continued his    s slump with what could possibly be his worst movie of the decade  if not ever . in it he plays a detective who goes to great lengths to track down a pimp who has abducted an asian girl and is currently selling her to the highest bidder . it  s a shameful attempt at action and is quite possibly the most depressing movie ever made . a lot of people consider the death wish sequels to be bronson  s worst movies . the death wish sequels weren  t great movies but were in most cases competently made and very watchable . kinjite however is an utterly dull thriller which is punctuated by mean spirited racism and child molestation . it really is a rephrensible film and all of it is made worse by the fact that it tries to preach a  law and justice  mentality that is too overwrought to really say anything . indeed the movie begins with underage sex being interrupted with bronson then anally raping the pedophile with a dildo . the chicago theater i watched this in just gasped at the awkwardness of this scene  only to gasp at the awkwardness of the pimp raping the girl in this film . it has no point other than to exploit and really the movie wasn  t well written enough to rise above the exploitation level and deliver something that would work . bronson seems more into things but clearly this is far too repugnant to save . i want to point out that i think charles bronson is the coolest actor ever but this effort is ultimately his worst . the action sequences are poor also .  br    br       out of    awful   
spectacular horror movie that will give you the chills once you get settled with it . the atmosphere is very creepy and stylish  the score is chilling  but the best about the movie is it  s performances . it  s rare to get scared by performances and this movie  s solid acting plays an important part in the scare factor .  br    br   the story is very interesting and gets your attention since the first minutes . though the woman in black does not have much screen time  she makes the necessary appearances to chill the audience in some brilliant scenes . the dialogs are very descriptive and make your imagination work and that  s when it becomes really scary .  br    br   if you have the chance  watch this on theater it  s a totally different experience but as scary as this movie .  br    br   this is one of the best ghost movies ever and it  s directed for people that want to get scared .  
repugnant bronson thriller . unfortunately  it  s technically good and i gave it      but it  s so utterly vile that it would be inconceivable to call it  entertainment  . far more disturbing than a typical slasher film .  
i love ghost stories in general  but i particularly love chilly  atmospheric and elegantly creepy british period  style ghost stories . this one qualifies on all counts . a naive young lawyer   solicitor  in britspeak  is sent to a small village near the seaside to settle an elderly  deceased woman  s estate . it  s the     s  a time when many middle  class brits go to the seaside on vacation for  their health .  well  guess what  there  s nothing  healthy  about the village of crythin gifford  the creepy site of the elderly woman  s hulking  brooding victorian estate  which is located on the fringes of a fog  swathed salt marsh . when the lawyer saves the life of a small girl  none of the locals will help the endangered tot   you find out why later on in the film   he inadvertently incurs the wrath of a malevolent spirit  the woman in black . she is no filmy  gauzy wraith  but a solid black silhouette of malice and evil . the viewer only sees her a few times  but you feel her malevolent presence in every frame . as the camera creeps up on the lawyer while he  s reading through legal papers  you expect to see the woman in black at any moment . when the lawyer goes out to the generator shed to turn on the electricity for the creepy old house  the camera snakes in on him and you think she  ll pop up there  too . waiting for the woman in black to show up is nail  bitingly suspenseful . we  ve seen many elements of this story before  the locked room that no one enters  the fog  the naive outsider who ignores the locals  warnings  but the director somehow manages to combine them all into a completely new  seeming and compelling ghost story . watch it with a buddy so you can have someone warm to grab onto while waiting for the woman in black . . .  
the     s were not very kind to one  time major star charles bronson . starting with      s  death wish ii  and ending with this truly gruesome film from     bronson  s screenwriters seemed to be trying to top each other in progressive grossness .  d . w . ii  left little to the imagination in its depiction of the rape and suicide of bronson  s character  s daughter   a rape and murder of his housekeeper was also shown in disgusting detail  .    to midnight  was the sort of loathsome film that made you want to take a bath afterwards . nothing redeeming about it . other films like  the evil that men do  and the remaining  death wish  films from this period straddled the line between high camp and high barf with their earnest depictions of brutality and revenge . i  m not sure if the producers  usually pancho kohner  got a kick out of showing a weary looking  senior citizen  aged bronson destroying punks young enough to be his grandchildren or what  but the shoddy craftsmanship  and terrible scripts  of these films usually destroyed what little energy they may have generated .  br    br    kinjite    the last of these films   is fairly well  made but truly takes the cake in cinematic wretchedness . in this film bronson sodomizes a perverse john forces a pimp to eat his rolex watch allows a male prisoner to get raped by another prisoner makes incredibly xenophobic remarks among other things i  ve thankfully forgotten . also depicted is the gang  rape of a young japanese girl  fortunately  this was off  screen  though well  implied  .  br    br   what were people thinking when they made this film  what was bronson thinking when he decided to ruin his career with these horrible films  for anyone interested in his best movies  check out most of the films he made in the     s and     s like  the mechanic    death wish    from noon til     once upon a time in the west    red sun    the great escape    the magnificent seven    rider on the rain   etc .  etc . . . .  
this film is exactly what its title describes   an attempt to get you to buy into what the writers have to offer .  br    br   first  it  s kinda fun to see the      style toronto i remember with all its silly haircuts  sunglasses  clothes  and attitude . it really hasn  t changed any just a nice  safe  cheap  provincial little urban backwater that makes a great meeting place for international film types  it  s also amusing to see kenny and spenny head to l . a . and find out that it  s toronto all over again  only with a strange assortment of beach bums  musicians  fortune tellers  and yet more uppity film types .  br    br   i don  t see pitch as a film to be enjoyed it  s not entertainment unless the viewer enjoys watching someone  s aspirations being trampled . i take pitch as a warning that power and money is really held by studio execs and production houses . would  be  and  successful   writers  musicians  and actors are still mere transients even when they reach the big time .  br    br   so  kenny and spenny are trying to sell you a warning . buy it or don  t  but the message is still there .  
what  s this  a canadian produced zombie flick that i have never heard of before . a mortician works on the body of a recently deceased young man . this allows for an extended flashback that show how the guy got there . basically  he and friends went to a cemetery on friday the   th and raised the dead thanks to his silly chanting . cut back to the morgue where our dead body comes back to life and kills the mortician and owner  who gets his eyes popped out  . the final wtf  shot has the funeral home owner in a straight jacket and screaming   i  m not crazy   amazingly  he has his eyeballs back .  br    br   running a scant   minutes  this is certainly one oddity in zombie cinema . it feels a lot longer  but put me in some kind of trance where i couldn  t stop watching . the film also has one of those  if you see this image  turn away from the screen  gags . it is the image of an old man getting sick in a theater  prophetic   and when he pops up  only twice  the blood begins to flow . the scenes are pretty damn gory for the time period . there is a great gaffe where a zombie chops off a girl  s right hand with a shovel  but  when he pulls the fake hand into the frame to chomp on  it is a left hand .  
i really miss the production of good old fashion spooky films . if ismail merchant and james ivory had been given the task of producing such a film it may have been this one  save for the lack of an internationally known  top drawer cast . this is one of those films that you watch alone on a dark evening with a pizza and some popcorn  and you don  t even bother doing the dishes until morning because you just want to hide under the covers . bravo to director herbert wise  writers susan hill and nigel kneale  top production design by jon bunker  art direction by john ralph and an excellent cast for making me shudder and feel so isolated even though i  m living in one of the most populated cities in the world in the beginning of the   st century . i gave it a    out of     because with the production and budget constraints of television  they really pulled of a great show .  
offering a killer combo of terrible writing  terrible acting and terrible direction  it  s a tossup whether kinjite forbidden subjects is offensively bad or just hilariously bad . it  s almost as if someone ran a competition to make the sleaziest  seediest cannon film . as if a glance at a cast list including characters like  lesbian pedophile    perverted gentleman    porno actress  weren  t enough  it  s your only chance to see charles bronson  s cop throw a lowlife on a bed and grab a dildo  but don  t worry  it  s okay  as the offscreen screams make clear he  s only torturing him for information . after all  even if he is a bit overprotective of his nice catholic daughter  he  s a nice catholic cop who regularly brings local catholic priest william o  connell a packed lunch and who believes in poetic justice  or at least ensuring that the bad guys end up in the slammer with the horniest inmates maximum security can provide to give them a taste of their own medicine . but then that  s what you get for telling him  look  i think you  re a little bit unstable .  still  when later offered a bribe  he may snarl  i  d like to shove this up your ass  but i don  t want to get my hands dirty   he  s clearly learned where to draw the line instead  he just makes him eat a        watch and sets fire to his cadillac . the anal obsession even follows through to the film  s title despite the poster featuring a naked japanese girl on a porn film set  the film  s only direct example of kinjite  forbidden subjects  as alex hyde white  s english teacher explains to a group of japanese businessmen  is  er talking about your bowel movements in polite society .  br    br   bronson isn  t just too old for this  as the opening fight makes only too clear  he  s too old for love interest peggy lipton  and she looks old enough to have grown  up kids . a better actor than he ever got the credit for when given the right material  here  s he  s given less a properly thought out character than a series of outrageous reactionary quirks . when he  s not widening the circles of suspects he  s accidentally dropping them to their death off the sides of buildings . he  s definitely not a p . c . copper  with a special loathing for the japanese  as if it wasn  t bad enough that they  re buying up american businesses  what  s worse  they double  park on a public thoroughfare  no racial minority goes unassaulted  be they black pimp or pakistani hotel clerk  no cop clich unrecycled  be it a boss who bangs his fist on the table or a dead meat partner  perry lopez and his spectacularly bad hair dye that  s so prominent it deserves screen billing all its own  . the twin plot strands  bronson  s l . a . cop trying to take down juan hernandez  s pimp who deals in underage girls and james pax  s porn  obsessed japanese businessman  take forever to intertwine  and then in the most unlikely of ways after copping a feel of bronson  s daughter on a bus   some oriental guy touched my holy of holies     in the film  s idea of poetic justice pax finds his own daughter kidnapped by hernandez . you half expect the writer to pop his head round the corner of the screen and say   how d  ya like them apples    br    br   somewhere underneath all the laziness is the germ of a good idea even if it is too muddily developed to ever be clear quite what that idea really is  but the execution is pure rising sun the archie bunker version  shot like out  takes from an r  rated   s music video with an outrageous and rather lazy dockside shoot   em  up  and  blow  em  up finale that sees a small army of machine  gunning sidekicks suddenly appear to up the gratuitous body count . the last of bronson  s mostly bad to in different collaborations with j . lee thompson  and sadly thompson  s last film as director  it  s a poor signoff for two undervalued players who increasingly never seemed to be that discerning about what pictures they said yes to .  
every once in a while in the wonderful world of horror  diamonds are crafted  and one becomes completely awestruck by its sheer brilliance . this is no less than a diamond   this is a film brimful of eeriness  chilling anticipation  and dark atmosphere  and i think it  s safe to say  one of my favourite horror films of all time  and of course it contains probably the single most  flat out scary sequence in the whole of history of horror  every time i see the film  and it gets up to the point where you know the inevitably will happen  i try to remember exactly when i will be frightened out of my wits  but it never fails to happen i never get it right  and i find myself as terrorized as the first time i saw it   now  it must be said  to scare a jaded horror fan like that  that is nothing short of pure perfection . unlike the americans  the brits know their subtleties  they take pride in the art of acting  they do not need any special effect in order to convey atmosphere  they rely on the power of the potent story  and the creepiness  in this case  of suggestion and anticipation . every single element is impeccable  from the set pieces  the acting  the story  to the menacing atmosphere . pauline moran surely could make the devil whimper  that  s for sure   as an end note  if you for some demented reason don  t like this piece of insanity  then you honestly don  t know what horror is all about  and frankly do not deserve to know it either . thank you   
charles bronson stars as lt crowe a police detective who declares war on a pimp named duke  juan fernandez  who kidnaps the daughter of a japanese businessman who is the man who sexually harassed crowe  s daughter  amy hathaway  in this sleazy yet stylishly helmed revenge thriller . kinjite may not be for everyone with it  s somewhat disturbing plot threads but it is well made and indeed entertaining .  
this film has been scaring me since the first day i saw it .  br    br   my mum had watched it when it was on the telly back in    . i remember being woken up in the middle of the night by her tearful ramblings as my dad helped her up the stairs .  br    br   she was saying something like  don  t let her get me  or something like that . i asked what had made her so upset and she told me that she  d been watching the woman in black .  br    br   so obviously i had to watch it and even though i was only eleven she let me . it scared the s out of me . i  ve been immune to horror films since watching this   
when great director  actor combinations are talked about the team of j . lee thompson and charles bronson is not usually mentioned . probably because the output of nine joint ventures between the two of them runs the gamut from the really good action entertainment to the mediocre . unfortunately kinjite forbidden subjects falls in the latter .  br    br   that  s sad because kinjite could have been a whole lot better . but for the life of me i don  t understand why it was necessary to make the father of the missing japanese girl  a guy used to getting some cheap jollies because the romance in his marriage has run out . that might have been good for another film altogether  but it served no purpose here .  br    br   a straightforward cop drama with charles bronson as a vice cop who  s seen a bit too much in his line of work and has a strong prejudice against orientals . that part could also have used a little explaining as well . but he  s going to have to overcome it if he and patient partner perry lopez are going to locate a captured japanese school girl .  br    br   bronson  s time in the vice squad have told him exactly where to look for the kidnapper . a stylish  murderous pimp played by jaime fernandez is the guy and he and bronson have some history . in fact in the film  s best scene  bronson made him eat an expensive rolex watch and set his car on fire .  br    br   at one point fernandez happens to spot bronson and lopez in an all night delicatessen and this being after his rolex snack  he sprays the place with an uzi killing everyone  but bronson and lopez . i really think that little incident would have had more than a couple vice cops from the lapd after fernandez . but that  s another terribly big hole in the plot .  br    br   still there is a very rough justice in the end for fernandez . i wish the whole film had been better though . this was the last film of the bronson  thompson team and j . lee thompson  s last as a director . he should have gone out with something better .  
the woman in black       is a tv adaptation of susan hill  s modern classic ghost story  published only a few years earlier than the film was made . sadly  this film has not been released on dvd  and as far as i am aware it has been deleted on vhs . it  s availability is in direct contrast to it  s popularity amongst those in the know about horror films . the story revolves around events in a seaside community in the early   th century where a young solicitor is sent by his firm to conclude the affairs of a recently deceased widow  who died on her isolated marshland estate . what he thought would be a routine and probably tedious task turns into a nightmare as he discovers that the old woman was haunted to her death  and that the ghosts of her past are not content to rest . the story is told in a subtle but concise way  never being self  indulgent  flashy or over  expositional . the obviously tight budget may have contributed to the no  nonsense approach  but it  s just what the story needs  and why it works so well . it  s what you don  t see that scares . having said that  there is one particularly terrifying scene that relies on the visual  and it works to perfection . i watched this film during the day  and it still gave me nightmares nearly a week later . if you love being terrified  do what you must to get hold of and watch a copy of the woman in black .  
the husband  and  wife team of bennie fields and blossom seeley were huge stars in vaudeville  yet they made very few films . as is the case for some other performers of their era  george m . cohan  fanny brice  gertrude lawrence  the most accessible piece of film footage for fields and seeley is the biopic about them  in which they  re portrayed by other actors  somebody loves me   starring betty hutton and that inimitable song  and  dance man ralph meeker .  br    br   in their heyday  fields and seeley were so hugely popular that another husband  and  wife vaudeville act   jesse block and eve sully   achieved nearly as much stardom performing an almost identical act  effectively becoming the  second  team  fields and seeley . offstage  though  there was a major difference in the couples  living arrangements . fields and seeley lived in hotel suites  paying room  service rates for every meal they ate  and eventually running out of money . block and sully lived modestly and invested their earnings wisely  ending in comfortable retirement .  br    br   the first   seconds of this vitaphone short are occupied by two spats  wearing pianists . apparently these two men had some slight name value of their own in      although i  ve never heard of them . finally  fields and seely rush in and start performing . they both have plenty of pep  and she  s fairly attractive .  br    br   i was annoyed that both performers keep making movements as if they  re about to break into a dance  but they never quite do so until the third of the three songs they perform in this short . when they finally start hoofing  the results are not impressive .  br    br   i was delighted to have this opportunity to see these two major performers doing their vaude act . now that i  ve seen it  i understand why they never became stars in movie musicals . my rating for this one just  out of    and i  ll stick with block and sully .  
  the woman in black  is easily one of the creepiest british ghost stories ever made . a young solicitor  after arriving in a small town to handle a dead client  s estate  is haunted by a mysterious woman dressed all in black . the film is loaded with extremely eerie atmosphere and the frights are calculated for and deliver the maximum effect possible . the action keeps the viewer deeply involved and the finale is quite disturbing . the acting is excellent and the tension is almost unbearable at times . so if you want to see a truly creepy horror film give this one a look . i dare anyone to watch  the woman in black  alone at night with the lights off . highly recommended .   out of   .  
this is one of the most boring horror films i have ever seen  as it  s absolutely god awful  john carradine has very limited screen time . all the characters are boring  and the story is terrible  plus i could see the two twists at the end coming miles away  . the great setting and the creepy house definitely would have helped if it wasn  t so damn boring  and there isn  t one character to root for either  plus i hope it makes it  s way to the bottom     because it deserves to be there in my opinion . when john carradine finally shows up at the end  it  s a pretty good scene but it  s already way too late  and the only other screen time he had was in flashbacks  plus the only really gory scene in the movie is when a character gets his face messed up by bee  s  as it was rather gory . i got this in a dvd horror set called back from the grave and everyone really overacts in my opinion  plus it  s lucky this was included in a set i bought otherwise i would have chucked this out the window  . this is one of the most boring horror films i have ever seen  as it  s absolutely god awful  john carradine has very limited screen time  and i say avoid it like the plague   you don  t want to go through the torture . the direction is absolutely terrible  . carl monson does an absolutely terrible  job here  making every thing look cheap  wasting his potential on making creepy atmosphere and just keeping the film at an incredibly dull pace . the acting is just as bad . john carradine is good in his scene  but other then that he  s hardly in the film other then flashback scenes .  carradine ruled    . merry anders overacts here terribly as laura  as she didn  t convince me at all . ivy bethune is ok  and somewhat creepy  but also overacted  she did have a creepy smile at the end though . rest of the cast  i didn  t pay enough attention too  as i had a lot of trouble getting through it  but they were all really bad . overall please avoid this  it  s not worth the agony  . bomb out of   
  insignificance  is a far from great film  from a stage play  directed by nic roeg . in the scheme of roeg  s films  this is above the level of most of his post   don  t look now  work  which is characterised by judicious use of theresa russell as lead actress . she  s actually very good here  and far from the problem in other roeg films like  bad timing  and  cold heaven  . as the  actress   who is marilyn monroe  russell is very effective  portraying her as a thoroughly depressive  but likeable siren . she plays well alongside michael emil as einstein  who is excellent to say the least . he looks the part admirably  and while theresa russell doesn  t look exactly like monroe  she certainly is attractive enough to make the part ring true . other players are adequate if not quite as arresting as emil and russell are . a pretty workable  intelligent script is directed well by roeg  but certainly not brilliantly  like  walkabout  or  performance  . as in other later roeg films  he tends to rely too much on vague  insubstantial flashbacks  that add very little to the film . in many ways the film would have worked better as a shorter  say    minutes   more modest piece . still  a quite acceptable  passable film . at times quite excellent  but somewhat lacking overall . rating         
back when i was a kid and i lived with my sister  she bought every horror movie she could find and this was one of them . vcr  s had just became a household item and we didn  t have but about    movies and we watched the hell out of all of them .  br    br   i was at a yard sale the other day and i saw this vhs copy of blood legacy and i buy any horror movie i don  t have and i knew this movie looked familiar . i thought for a second and realized it was one that my sister had bought . she had sold it years ago in a yard sale i am guessing  who knows .  br    br   i didn  t recall anything at all about it and i watched it the night i bought it and it refreshed my memory because of a few scenes . i am not sure how i felt about it as a kid but i am sure i enjoyed it because it was new to me and i  d watch and enjoy anything back then .  br    br   i am a horror freak  but there are certain requirements in order for me to consider it  good  and this one fell very short . it was one of those talk talk talk and bore me to death types . what death scenes you see are done using the shadow on the wall followed by blood splatter and thats if you  re lucky you get that much .  br    br   the story is good and i have seen a few with similar plots  so i think this one should be buried and forgotten . don  t watch this people unless you  re hard up .  
it is not known whether marilyn monroe ever met and spoke with albert einstein  and since the mysterious disappearance of her diary after her equally mysterious death  we may never know   but in their lifetime the opportunity was there .  br    br   scripted by terry johnson from his own play  nicolas roeg  s insignificance imagines an encounter in a new york hotel room one night in     between the two icons plus joe dimaggio  busey   and senator joseph mccarthy  curtis   but only on one level . on another level  it elevates  or reduces  these  personalities   and what a lousy phrase that is  to mere avatars  the characters are deliberately unnamed   at once greater and lesser in status .  br    br   the title insignificance is both apposite and deeply ironic here  dimaggio  s net worth has been reduced to little more than a picture on a bubblegum card . monroe too is reduced to her constituent parts of dress  hair  lipstick  wiggle and voice . by uncovering their insecurities and reversing their roles  the film brings into sharp focus received notions of celebrity  exploding the cult of personality .  br    br   furthering the theme  there will be another explosion at the film  s climax hiroshima in a hotel suite  in which  the actress  is burned to a cinder in seconds a literal deconstruction of fame . goodbye  norma jean . history informs the script  which in turn  shakes history upside down . as roeg mused after watching johnson  s play for the first time   these characters were mythic  not invented by any single person  not the public or the press  probably not even by the characters themselves .  as played by theresa russell  marilyn  a closet intellectual in real life   lectures a childlike einstein   the professor   played by emil  on the theory of relativity using balloons and a flashlight  while getting the professor to show off his legs  in conscious parody of her own role in the seven  year itch  the movie the actress is seen to be working on in the film  s opening .  br    br   history records that monroe  s then  husband  fading baseball star dimaggio  played by busey as a tenderly psychotic simpleton   was unhappy about her iconic dress  splaying scene in the film  precipitating their break  up . right on cue  we discover the jealous  ballplayer  in a bar  bemoaning the fact that if   i want to see her underwear  i just walk down to the corner like all the other guys  .  br    br   in contrast to the professor  the ballplayer believes the universe is round  a contention shared by native americans . but the big chief  sampson  of one flew over the cuckoo  s nest fame  who operates the roosevelt hotel  s elevator has been all but disenfranchised from his own culture  i no longer cherokee  i watch tv .  meanwhile   the senator  is investigating the professor  who is on the eve of delivering a pacifist speech to the united nations  but whom the senator suspects is a red . in fact  as he divulges to monroe  einstein is wracked with guilt over hiroshima  and what the white heat future holds . yet in a seemingly godless universe  all such worries and aspirations are rendered insignificant in the light of a higher  atomic  power .  br    br   roeg really is the perfect director to bring johnson  s stage play to the screen . throughout  tortured childhood flashbacks and pessimistic flash  forwards  ka  boom   draw unexpected connections between time  place and circumstance  with the repeated visual motif of a wristwatch employed to mark time  s passing  but perhaps also to suggest all time is one time each moment co  existing . as evinced by his back catalogue  it  s something of a hobbyhorse for a director enchanted with the notion of synchronicity  see don  t look now in particular . here      bleeds into     and drip  feeds into the     s  a period in which another  actor  has taken on his greatest role as the president of the united states .  br    br   if all this sounds rather heavy going  quantum physics is surely involved   the execution is anything but  owing to johnson  s witty  zippy screenplay  roeg  s playful direction  opening out an essentially stagey set  up  and the cast themselves  who are on stellar form . tony curtis especially leaves denture marks in the wood panelling as the paranoid  impotent senator  who is seen attempting congress with a monroe impersonator  a real one  as opposed to russell  s   before being let down by his dwindling member .  br    br   of course  curtis once co  starred with the real marilyn monroe in some like it hot  and whose embrace he memorably described as like  kissing hitler  . as roeg commented   everything suddenly seemed connected . . . when the film began to take shape even the actors themselves seemed part of this endless linking .  it all goes into the pot  to be boiled down and served up in new and fascinating ways .  
ok  how  s this for original  this mean  rich old geezer leaves his estate to his adult children  all of them ungrateful losers  and two creepy servants  provided they spend the week in his spooky old house . what happens that night will surprise only those who haven  t seen a movie or television show before . after a string of murders in which the victims look like they  re bleeding restaurant ketchup  we have a painfully obvious twist ending . the cast is lead by some once respectable actors must have been desperate for their paychecks . there are also a few second  tier actors who were rising at the time but long forgotten now . as a result  the film generates all the drama and mystery of an episode of  matlock .  i will give credit where it  s due  the closing scene is clever and amusing  if you  re still awake .  
new york      . one hot night  four famous iconic figures will come together . the professor  albert einstein  has come to ny to give a speech  which he has  the senator  joesph maccarthy  on his back . later that night his gets a surprise visitor a famous actress  marilyn monroe  . who actually wants to discuss the theories of relativity . soon her ball  playing husband  joe dimaggio  turns up at the hotel room  begging to work things out for their crumbling relationship . flashbacks of childhood  important events  perceived consequences of their actions creep in to show how these individuals cope with despair and a hidden fear waiting to break out .  br    br   now that  s one  of  a  kind  adapted off a stage  play by terry johnson  who would also script the screenplay for the film    insignificance  is an odd  quirky  seductive and downright curious fictional pop  culture gimmick in the hands of director nicolas roeg . this inspired and cerebral experimental effort might be rooted in its stage  play origins  because it does feel theatrical and most of the action occurs in a hotel backdrop and one main suite . the cramp look only enhanced the moody and smoky atmosphere of new york to great effect . however these limitations can  t contain the fruitful and daring ideas that roeg manages to randomly storm up visually and through the meaningful material . the way he reflects on the characters   who are suggestively famous figures  without the need of naming of them  philosophical journeys and interpretations of their notions is stimulating in a spiritual sense  with the memories gelling into the present and visions showing their fears of realisations  which depending on what you  re seeing is either beautiful  or hauntingly implemented . there  s plenty of food for thought and hints within the verbosely innovative  if sometimes awkward  script  with the main focus concerning the present situation  but the flashbacks gives us the personal make  up  sex  power  enlightenment and glory  of what makes them who they are and how much of a burden it can be in there already demanding lives . sure the story might not lead to anything by the end  and it can feel disjointed  but the dreamy vibe and intelligent arrangement irons out those folds and makes sure it never turns giddy . peter hannan  s sensually fluid photography and stanley myers  titillatingly oozing blues soundtrack fit in snugly with roeg  s stylistically subdue and established style of directing . he makes it look like he  s working with something big and large  scale  but otherwise that  s not the case and a small little universe is created . the vintage costumes and locations of the period all come off fittingly enough . what made the film for me had to be the impressive acting it boasted from the main four . theresa russell  s perky  drop dead gorgeous appeal of the sexy pin  up actress is a growing portrayal that definitely held the film together along with an genuinely excellent and endearing performance by michael emil as the professor . tony curtis marvellously plays it up as witch  hunting senator and gary busey is suitably good in the stoically gravel manner as the ballplayer . showing up in minor  but amusing support roles happen to be will sampson and patrick kilpatrick .  br    br   a memorably striking  fresh and tour de force meditation piece of metaphysics linked together by four different extremes . some might find it pretentiously estrange and too talky  but this one had me wrapped up in its own little unique world to worry too much about its shortcomings .  
you know a movie will not go well when john carradine narrates  a . k . a . reads the script  plot synopsis  over his character  s funeral procession  a mere  minutes into the movie . the narration is his character  s last will  testament . it stipulates that his estate be divided amongst his  children and servants . the children shall split     million equally  but if any should die then that share is split amongst the remainders . if all the children should die then it is divided amongst the servants . to be eligible  they must live in the family estate for a week . it sounds like the typical plot of a reality show .  br    br   there is little subtext as to the nature of the deans . they are a powerful and severely dysfunctional family  but the real trouble starts with the drowning of that dog . from the opening voice  over by john carradine you expect this movie will lead to a machiavellian cat and mouse game with a twist ending .  br    br   that journey is painfully slow and pointless . we trudge through minutes of watching people sitting around  playing pool  throwing darts  the misuse of the  through the fish bowl  shot  dramatic conversations between silk cravat wearing men  constant bickering  misplaced circus music  bizarre flashbacks reminiscent of faux  german expressionism  the horror aesthetic of the  th grade and heaps of dramatic overacting . this all inevitably leads to the expected  ungratifying ending . you will be happy to still be alive  but the pain might be too great to bear alone . share children  share .  br    br    celluloid rehab  
if you have any sort of appreciation for character and dialogue  and any sense of american cultural history  you will find a lot of very absorbing material in this film . it probably was originally a play  and that  s why it  s dialogue heavy  but i can  t stress enough how these icons that we only have a shallow understand of are made into truly complex and wonderful characters .  br    br   this film is better than any college course for telling you how to create a character  driven story .  br    br    
a family of terrible people must remain in a house for a week or else they will lose their inheritance which will go to the servants who will only get their inheritance if they agree to stay on and keep the house in order . people die  and so will you if you try to sit through this  if you  ve ever had any desire to see bad actors  many with ill fitting dentures  act or attempt to act in a bad horror movie this is your chance . this is just awful . its so bad i thought al adamson  one of the worst directors ever  directed it  but i was wrong .  br    br   its so bad i don  t want to say anything more about it  not because it isn  t polite but because once i start i may not be able to stop .  br    br   avoid  
yes  it  s flawed  especially if you  re into hollywood films that demand a lot of effects  a purely entertaining or fantasy story or plot  and you can  t actually think for yourself .  br    br   roeg  s films are for the intelligent film  goer  and insignificance is a perfect example .  br    br   the characterizations are brilliant  the story is excellent  but  like all nic roeg  s films  it has you thinking on every level about aspects of reality that would never have dawned on you before . his films always make you think  and personally  i like that in a film .  br    br   so don  t expect to come away from watching this film and feeling all happy  happy  because it  s likely you  ll be disappointed .  br    br   but i think it  s excellent .  
a grade  z horror filmmaker carl monson was one of the most prolific directors operating within the field of the low  budget gory mayhem . his movies are full of inept gore  laughable acting  boring sub  plots and woeful dialogue . a mysterious black clad figure is savagely murdering guests staying at the family mansion . unfortunately this film is almost bloodless . you don  t actually see the murders except with shadows and a few blood splatters . the pace is lethargic and the plot is rather uninteresting . the acting is merely competent  but the lack of gore and mutilation left me disappointed . a generous  out of   . just bewaredo not mistake monson  s film with andy milligan  s equally weak  legacy of blood  .  
this movie is great  the music  with the exception of the very first song in the movie  was awesome . the story line is awesome too  it  s just basically a wonderfull movie  for all ages . i found the last battle scene awesome  basically this was a great flick   
this thought long lost flick sometimes comes available on the web . so i bought me a copy . well  of course the acting is terrible and the story line is childish but it does have his moments . i think people who searched this one also knows the backstory of it . it was made by a grindhouse cinema owner for an extreme low budget . but for me he surely didn  t spoiled the money on props but on the make up . the make up is for that kind of flick well done . the zombies are watchable and the gore is intact . the only problem with that kind of movies is the quality of the pelicule . it  s terrible  luckely no hiss on the sound but sometimes it  s way too dark . so you have to watch clearly to see the gore . in a funny way they tried to sell this one as really not for the squeamish . a voice  over tells in the beginning of the movie to watch out for a sign and a man appearing with green flashes  that tells you there is gore on the way . of course that doesn  t work  made me think of cannibal girls  had that annoying bell when the red stuff started to flow . they had the original idea  cannibal girls was made a year earlier . don  t go for the storyline  go for the zombies and notice a continuity mistake . when the girl and guy are making love first she takes of her bra  then they make love and suddenly her underwear is back on . . . try to do that  or am i getting a bit offline  . . . eat it you ugly corpses  
i have always been a great admirer of nicolas roeg and  walkabout  is one of my favorite films . this is a film version of roegs stage play and while most of the film takes place in a hotel room it still has some of roegs cinematic flare . very unique story is about a famous actress  theresa russell  who after a hard nights work on a film in     goes to a hotel to visit a famous professor  michael emil  and together in his hotel room they talk . after awhile she wants to go to bed with him but as they start to get undressed her husband is banging on the door . her husband is a famous ex  baseball player  gary busey  and he wants to know what is going on . the three of them in the hotel room talk about what is going on and what the future holds for them . meanwhile  a famous senator  tony curtis  is threatening to take away the professors papers if he doesn  t testify at a hearing . theresa russell is just excellent and while she  s not trying exactly to impersonate marilyn monroe she does a wonderful job of exuding the phobia  s and nuances that monroe is very well known for . one thing the film does is show her as not only a woman on the verge of a mental breakdown but show her as a physical wreck as well . she talks of being unable to have children and at one point in the film she suffers a miscarriage . you can make an excellent case that this is russell  s best performance and i probably wouldn  t argue . the film does an interesting thing in showing many flashbacks as the characters continue to talk about one thing and in the flashback we see one of many reasons for their actions . busey also gives a good solid performance and it reminds me of what a strong persona he gives off on screen . emil as the professor is a character that has many more things on his mind then we originally thought . the last scene in this film is a demonstration of his darker side  one of the highlights of the film for me is the little conversation he has with the elevator man  will sampson of  cuckoo  s nest   and they discuss what cherokee indians think about at all times . but of course the famous scene in this film is where russell demonstrates to emil how she does understand the theory of relativity and uses toys to show this . the professor is delighted by her demonstration and so are we  russell and roeg are married in real life and they do admirable work when they are in collaboration and this is probably their best film together . good performances and a very interesting job of directing make this a challenging and visually thought provoking film .  
i happen to have bought one of those  legacy of horror    movie pack collections and would you believe i  m still looking through them to find a good horror movie in it . sometimes you find an enjoyable yet campy one like the devil  s messenger or the devil bat  or one of the great alfred hitchcock  s films  some aren  t horror however and are only on there because hitchcock directed some horrors and suspense  but other times it seems that they put movies like the island monster and this on because they can  t accept the fact they would easily be forgotten and should be for that matter .  br    br   so we open up to sort of a westing game idea . the rich yet cruel and abusive father played by carradine  the one standing feature of this  has died and left his inheritance to his children and servants who he still hates . carradine gives a good enough performance as always  but he  s left mainly in a voice recording and flashback sequences leaving us to sit through the mediocre  terrible performances . the rest of the cast either overacts or underacts in scenes . given this was an independent film of the    s the lighting and effects are pretty limited . it  s hard to build a lot of tension when the viewer can  t see what  s happening that well in some scenes . some actors like the servants igor and elga give an effort at least and i  m ashamed to admit kind of left me chuckling at the end mainly for the sheer stupidity but still with some very minor happiness that they pulled some version of a twist to an otherwise pretty obvious who  done  it but not enough to enhance the quality of the film . you aren  t meant to like the characters as they are either selfish and cruel or psychotic  but it takes it to a whole new level and makes many unwatchable . the death scenes are pretty bad and the suspense is not really there . it proves that you would probably enjoy the   movie pack  chilling  containing films like house on a haunted hill  little shop of horror  s with jack nicholson  and night of the living dead over it . this is best avoided .  
nicolas roeg  s projects are variable to say the least  but are never less than interesting .  insignificance  is obviously  first and foremost  an adapted stageplay it  s wordy and pretty  much  room  bound  . but  it pays to view this film more than once the underlying themes are not overtly presented and  what  s more  it takes a while to adjust to the juxtaposition and role  reversals of the four protagonists einstein  mccarthy  munroe  and dimaggio .  br    br   einstein is wracked by guilt over hiroshima yet fancies the simplicity of a sexual liaison with munro munro is sick of being seen as a bimbo and craves intellectual credence senator mccarthy is at the height of his witch  hunting powers but is an impotent sleazebag dimaggio is insecure about his celebrity  self  obsessed  and prone to violence . each of them contains the seeds of their own destruction . each character has a troubled  abused  abusive past and a questionable future . gradually  we see that obsession itself is the central theme . america  s obsession with its postwar cultural icons and mores the obsessions of the protagonists for something none can have peace  of  mind and  or happiness .  br    br   compared with the theory of relativity  a proposed unified  field theory and  indeed  the cosmos itself  all the aspirations and interactions of roeg  s protagonists seem insignificant . yet these aspects of the physical universe  it  s all quantum  trust me   affect us when they are applied to the development of the means to destroy us . monroe  s mention of the principle behind the neutron  bomb  without naming it as such  is not an anachronism per se  but can only be understood by a contemporary audience . indeed  all the references within the script are only accessible to a knowledgeable viewer one au fait with    s occurrences  personality cults and how they affect us in the   st century .  br    br   this film and its screenplay are either very  very clever  or extremely opaque and pretentious . ultimately  however  probably insignificant .  br    br   live long and prosper    br    br    
terrible . . . just terrible . probably the worst film i have ever seen . and i did see some pretty bad pictures  throughout the years . the sound sucks so does the quality of the picture  the direction  the acting . . . etc  etc . the only good shoots  meaning funny  because they  re so bad  are the special effects . overall there are about  minutes worth of laughs . the rest of the flick gives you brain damage .  
what if marylin monroe  albert einstein  joe dimaggio and senator mccarthy were to come together in a mind  bending evening of relativity   br    br   this delightful roman  clef never uses the actual names of the characters it so thinly veils and scathingly exposes not only for the individuals they must have been  but also for what they came to represent over time . if you are confused by allegory  or if you like your movies served up predigested and mushy  you won  t like this film . it is a demanding opus that rewards on many levels the viewer with the intelligence to appreciate it .  br    br   dropping  for the time being  the rigorous avoidance of using the real names of the characters  we see einstein  about to deliver a pacifist speech to a united nations hell  bent for nukes  being visited by marylin monroe  after filming the notorious seven year itch scene that some say led to the end of her marriage with joe dimaggio . they have a lovely interplay in which einstein stumbles with suitable professorial clumsiness around the innocence of perhaps the greatest sex symbol of modern times .  br    br   enter senator mccarthy who thinks einstein is a red . he is determined to extract einstein  s assurance that he will support the activities of the house unamerican activities committee while delivering the ultimate weapon in the name of peace . add joe  a surprisingly fragile and vulnerable person perhaps not perfectly cast as gary busey  who hates marylin  s exhibitionism and believes einstein has become her lover  even though marylin only wants to show einstein that she understands the special theory of relativity .  br    br   but there  s more .  br    br   just like each of us  these characters have their deepest fears  which they reveal one by one in haunting flashbacks . it is these weaknesses  ultimately  that lend humanity to figures we cannot help but see almost exclusively in the abstract today . finally  we see the shocking terror of einstein  s vision  and the statement of the movie becomes clear . it is a powerful and memorable moment .  br    br   insignificance is one of my top five movies of all time . it is utterly amazing .  
blood legacy starts with the arrival of lawyer tom drake  norman bartold  to the dean estate formerly owned by the now deceased christopher dean  john carradine   upon his arrival he is greeted by mr . dean  s four children  gregory  jeff morrow   his wife laura  merry anders   victoria  faith domergue   johnny  richard davalos  plus leslie  brooke mills   her fella carl isenberg  john smith  . drake plays a tape recording of they  re late father  s wishes after his death  the estate worth    million dollars is to be split equally between his four children  if any should die then the money would be split equally between the rest  if all were to die the freaky servants elga  ivy bethune   igor  buck kartalian   the more mundanely named frank  john russell  would pocket the lot . well  not satisfied with a quarter share of     million  which is still almost    million back in     which doesn  t sound too bad to me  someone decides they want it all for themselves  it  s not long before decapitated heads are turning up in the fridge . . .  br    br   co  written  produced  directed by roy monson blood legacy disappointed me on two accounts . for starters this film  s alternate  much more common title is legacy of blood which is also the title of an obscure horror film directed by andy milliagn back in    which i  ve always wanted to see  both films are regularly mixed up as both have similar stories  when i checked my on screen cable tv guide for legacy of blood i was excited because it said it was the milligan film  even listed him as director so when i actually sat down to watch it  i heard john carradine  s voice  i then knew it wasn  t the milligan film that i had wanted to see  my heart sank . then  of course  there  s the simple yet undeniably straight forward fact that blood legacy is a total utter piece of crap that is literally painful to watch at times . the script by monson  eric norden is slow  boring  extremely predictable . the character  s are absolutely bizarre in an annoying way  the freak of a servant who ask  s his sister    to cane him  the strange set of brother  s  sisters who are just downright unlikeable  so far removed from reality that any tension or mystery that the simplistic whodunit story could have achieved is sorely missing  then there  s the awful twist ending that you can guess within the first   minutes . it  s boring to watch  it  s poorly paced  it  s just a chore to even think about it . please  someone save me as this is really bad stuff . i could go on all day about how bad blood legacy is  i really could .  br    br   director monson was either working with a none existent budget or judging by this he shouldn  t have even been directing traffic . the entire film looks ugly  it  s poorly photographed  there is no atmosphere or scares . the blood  gore is tame  there  s an axe in a head  a decapitated head  a scene when someone is stung to death by wasp  s  the best murder when someone  s face is eaten by piranha . however there are question marks over this scene  so there  s the victim  right . there  s the tank of piranha  right . victims head is placed in piranha tank  right . pirahna eat victims face  right . water remains crystal clear despite said victim having his face eaten  erm where  s the blood   br    br   technically blood legacy is terrible  it looks awful  the sound was obviously shot live  it  s muffled  hard to hear which considering the terrible dialogue is maybe a blessing in disguise . the acting was not going to win anyone any awards that  s for sure  the least said about it the better .  br    br   blood legacy is an awful film  there really isn  t a single positive aspect to it or if there is i can  t think of it . do yourself a favour  don  t bother with this one  there are much better films out there .  
a lovely little b picture with all the usual joe lewis touches . . . . people ripping up pillows and auras of lurking fear . also  alas  an ending that comes out of nowhere  because  apparently  the auteur has lost interest in the movie  or perhaps because as a b picture it has to fit into a slot .  
spoilers with a gathering of family members and servants of the late christopher dean  john carradine  to hear his last will and testament they get somewhat of a surprise in that the dean fortune  some    million dollars . the money is to be divided between them but only after they successfully spend a week at the dean mansion . there seemed to have been a mix  up in the story when we later find out that it  s really an overnight sleepover  not a weeks vacation  at the mansion for the guests to qualify for dean  s money since almost everyone ends up dead by sunrise .  br    br   the first victim of the dean curse have nothing at all to do with getting and money from the departed christopher dean estate the local sheriff dan garcia  rodolfo acosta . acosta has his head chopped off refrigerated and then served on a platter to a shocked group of guests . later that evening cute little chin greg and laura  s  jeff morrow  marry anders  little pet pooch is found dead outside floating in the pond .  br    br   the movie has all the people staying at the dean mansion being picked off one by one until it  s revealed who the killer really is . we then have what seems to be a double  twist in the story where the original killer is suddenly killed together with two of the last remaining guest . the real killer ends up not only getting all the loot     million dollars  but then ends up not having to split it with his accomplice by doing him  or her  in by giving him a poisonous cookie that kills him on the spot .  br    br   nonsensical who done it  and haunted house  movie with a cast of such immoral and unlikable characters that even a mother  much less the audience  would have trouble liking . there  s everything you can possibly think of in the move involving the selective guests that includes incest sm sadism and of course double  dealing and back  stabbing not even counting murder . you just couldn  t care less who of the guests survives to collect the dean fortune at the end of the movie hoping against all hope then none of them do .  br    br   even the big surprise at the end isn  t really that much of a surprise since the killer  s identity is divulged with the film  maker having forgotten to keep his face in the shadows so you actual see who he is even before he reveals himself  we then have a plot  twist that eliminates the killer together with a number of remaining guest just to make the movie a little more confusing then it already is . the final plot  twist  that you can see coming from as far as ten miles away  was just to show how smart the very obvious killer was which fooled almost nobody watching the movie .  
joseph h . lewis was one of the finest directors of film noir . this is surely his best .  br    br   it doesn  t have some of the standard features of what we now call film noir . though american  made  it is set entirely in england . it lacks gangsters . it lacks a femme fatale . it does not lack crime .  br    br   the title character answers an ad . she is overjoyed that she  ll be making some money as a secretary . instead  she wakes up days later as the pawn in a frightening plot . only a very strong person could survive such a terrifyingly unsettling ordeal . and nina foch gives the sense of a strong woman as julia .  br    br   part of the excitement comes from casting against type ms . foch has an elegant manner . she is no screaming  cowering victim . she is actually a bit icy and patrician  albeit impecunious . this makes her character  s plight all the more believable .  br    br   surely the single most fascinating element is the casting of dame may witty . she was  and is  probably most famous for the charming title character in  the lady vanishes .  she has a sweet manner and a harmless  slightly dithering manner . but here she is far from a heroine .  br    br   george macready is excellent as her extremely troubled son . the whole cast  in fact  is superb .  br    br   it seems that this famous and brilliant movie was made almost by accident . undoubtedly the director knew exactly what he was doing . but he did it on a low budget . that is the thrill and charm of film noir  the real film noir it is small  convincingly lowlife  and  in this case  unforgettable .  
ridiculous horror film about a wealthy man  john carradine  dying and leaving everything to his four children  and his servants to be divided up equally . one condition   they must spend one week in his estate to get the money . and if any of them die  the others get more . guess what happens next . . . .  br    br   i saw a brand new print of this film on cable . the colors were bright and vivid and the house itself looks beautiful . that  s about all the good things i can say about it .  br    br   let  s list just some of the problems this film has the killer is screamingly obvious the servants are called igor and elga   come on   some of the sound recording was so bad i couldn  t make out the dialogue  no great loss i  m sure   the gore was sparse and very poorly done the other murders were simply boring  stupid or impossible and this movie contains some truly abominable acting   so bad you just stare at the screen in disbelief . even pro jeff morrow was terrible  the only fairly good acting was from trouper faith domergue  who deserved better than this  and john carradine  who looks painfully old and frail here  . i do have to admit though   the closing line in this movie is a gem   br    br   why this was renamed  legacy of blood  is beyond me   there  s another     horror film with that name   br    br   whatever its name is  it  s a bad movie . to be avoided at all costs .  
nina foch insists that  my name is julia ross  in this     film noir also starring dame may witty and george macready . it  s short  and because it is  the film suffers . it could have stood to have been a good fifteen minutes to a half hour longer .  br    br   when i was growing up  foch was a fixture on television  playing a neurotic woman  the wife with the cheating husband  the nervous wreck . she became one of the great acting teachers in los angeles . here  she  s a pretty young ingenue playing the title role . julia answers an ad for a secretary and is hired immediately by mrs . hughes and her son ralph . little does she know  though we learn immediately  that the employment agent is a front  set up to get just the right woman for this assignment  a woman with no family and no boyfriend .  br    br   it  s a live  in situation once julia gets to the house  she  s drugged  and when she wakes up  she  s told she  s mrs . hughes and not allowed to leave .  br    br   the acting is very good . low budget but still entertaining  some things  particularly at the end  happen way too quickly  which is why i said the movie is too short . nevertheless  i recommend it .  
this hamlet made for one of the boringest mst     episodes ever . i am not a shakespear fan  but i do not believe he ever intended his works to be this slow paced and drab . it is also one of the hardest movies to find because there are so many hamlets listed . like i said though this one is quite boring . it is in black and white  the pacing is slow  and there is minimal scenery . the actors are all dubbed too so that doesn  t help . this is the one mst     i can  t watch in one sitting cause the way the guy playing hamlet says his lines can put anyone to sleep .  
this was a typical grade b movie in     s hollywood and yet it succeeded way beyond its expectations . why  it has a wonderful plot and backed up by nina foch  george macready and dame may witty  as a female villain  of all people .  br    br   when a young lady answers an advertisement for a secretary  she certainly gets more than she bargained for . the only talents her employers are seeking are those which will lead to her demise . seems that witty and macready want to pass her off as their daughter  in  law and wife  respectively . macready killed his real wife and wants to do foch in as well so that a body can be claimed .  br    br   the film deals with how foch tries to get town people to believe her and how she is thwarted in practically everything she does . why don  t people believe her   
you all know the story of  hamlet  . i do .  br    br   well  the  to be or not to be  phrase  not the speech itself  has been beaten into the ground so many times that it  s not very interesting  in fact  it wasn  t that great to begin with  . in fact  i find  hamlet  a good but vastly overrated play . it  s not even shakespeare  s best  julius caesar  and  romeo  juliet  are ten times better  with  a midsummer night  s dream  and  othello  not too far behind .  macbeth  knock your table  off his drawers  puck will make amends  ow    isn  t that bad either . there are lots of others that are better than this by shakespeare .  br    br   i won  t really comment too much on the movie  rather i will dissect the utterly horrible mst  k episode .  br    br   okay . . . mike and the bots win a card game  get to pick the movie . . . they ask for  hamlet   pearl sends them this  yadda yadda yadda . . . and prepare for the most boring sci  fi episode of mst  k ever  admittedly  i haven  t seen any of the cc ones  .  br    br   while  blood waters of dr . z  makes the viewing of that episode horrible  since it is not really a movie  rather random  spliced  together scenes  i  m reminded of mike  s line from  future war    maybe this is an anthology of short  plotless movies    the sol crew a lot got off a good many good cracks . can  t say the same for here .  br    br   the riffs fall flat  the host segments  par usual  are at best mediocre  and when the movie itself  which isn  t that bad  is actually better  i mean  as a quality movie  not as camp  like  prince of space   than the mst  k version of it  you know the show must be bad . i laughed  the last time i saw it was several months ago   oh  maybe eight or nine times throughout . i tried and tried and tried to be entertained  but i just couldn  t . only the occasional line  like  hail queen dilbert  s boss    and when that  s the funniest line of the episode  well  ahem   and by occasional  i mean every ten minutes or so  maybe me even chuckle . the second time i tried to watch it  i didn  t even laugh at the few jokes i  d found funny before  and simply gave up forty minutes before .  br    br   the movie isn  t horrible it  s just a german version of hamlet . the actors are good enough  and though the dubbing isn  t the greatest  that  s not in itself a reason to hate this film .  br    br   four stars for  hamlet   three  yes three for the mst  k version .  br    br   ps why why why  mst  k   
greatly enjoyed this     mystery thriller film about a young woman  nina foch   julia ross  who is out of work and has fallen behind in her rent and is desperate to find work . julia reads an ad in the local london newspaper looking for a secretary and rushes out to try and obtain this position . julia obtains the position and is hired by a mrs . hughes   dame may witty  who requires that she lives with her employer in her home and wants her to have no involvement with men friends and julia tells them she has no family and is free to devote her entire time to this job . george macready   ralph hughes  is the son of mrs . hughes and has some very strange desires for playing around with knives . this was a low budget film and most of the scenes were close ups in order to avoid the expense of a background and costs for scenery . this strange family all live in a huge mansion off the cornwall coast of england and there is secret doors and plenty of suspense .  
ming the merciless does a little bardwork and a movie most foul   
my name is julia ross is a mesmerizing     b thriller from joseph h . lewis  arguably one of the very finest directors of hollywood noir films . this   minute gothic oddity from columbia pictures came after lewis  lengthy apprenticeship as the helmer of a string of poverty row westerns  east side kids comedies  horror melodramas  including the incredibly bizarre bela lugosi shocker the invisible ghost  and standard studio b product  secrets of a co  ed  bombs over burma  the falcon in san francisco  etc     all of which set the stage rather nicely for what was to come from the enormously talented and inventive mr . lewis . my name is julia ross  as well as so dark the night from the following year  introduced a director who had mastered the rare and delicate art telling a dark and probing tale swiftly and efficiently on the most modest of budgets . later lewis productions like gun crazy       and the big combo        despite the expanded scope of their narrative structure  continued to rely upon deft  lucid camera work and effective low  key lighting . and very modest resources .  br    br   my name is julia ross probably owes more to the tradition of british mysteries  it  s set in a studio  bound england  than it does to conventional film noir attitudes and trappings . a young woman  nina foch  agrees to take a position in the home of an elderly woman  dame mae witty  . two days after her arrival she awakens from a deep sleep in a completely strange house and  mysteriously enough  with a brand new identity    that of the old woman  s daughter  in  law . told that she  s been the victim of a nervous breakdown  she struggles to grasp the utter and seemingly hopeless nature of her predicament . but before long she begins to piece together the strange and troubling truth behind this dark mystery  that her  husband   the always menacing george macready  most probably murdered his real wife and that she  s been duped into participating in a harrowing and sinister scheme . much of what distinguishes this otherwise modest tale are the indelible touches that lewis brings to the production  marking it as the first of his truly serious endeavors as a film director .  
i literally fell asleep  times watching this movie . granted  it  s shakespeare and that takes a certain mindset to be interested or not . but this movie exceeds any barrier of long soliloquies and what not  that may prevent many from just not caring about a shakespeare based story .  br    br   the largest roadblock to this production is the complete flatness of the characters . often during character  s interacting  it  s nearly difficult to distinguish who  s lines are who  s . granted  i believe this movie is dubbed in english . certainly they could  ve obtained voice actors which could  ve added a bit more drama to these classic  literary lines .  br    br   it would be difficult to rate this movie greater than   although perhaps that  s based on prejudices of perhaps age and what would seem a very low budget . still  it  s absolutely painful and boring . if you insist on hamlet  do yourself a favor and read the book again .      
for those who think of dame may witty as the kindly  slightly batty  old lady from hitchcock  s the lady vanishes  this movie requires an adjustment . here  she  s anything but kindly or batty . instead  her son  george macready is the loony one . just don  t give him a knife  otherwise his eyes light up and no furniture cushion in the house is safe . now we know what he has in mind for the trapped nina foch if he can just get out from under mother  s domineering hand .  br    br   really tight little woman  in  danger film that keeps the suspense on high throughout . the script never strays from foch  s dilemma . she  s held prisoner in a big old gothic house on the edge of an angry sea . they  re going to kill her  but why . her predicament makes no sense . the tension mounts as she tries one escape ploy after another  but even strangers seem against her . we begin to feel her helplessness and mounting paranoia as the world turns away from her .  br    br   director joseph h . lewis took a big step toward cult status with this film and understandably so . then too  watch foch run subtly through a gamut of emotions without once going over the top . witty too shines as a really intimidating matriarch who knows what she wants and how to get it if she can just keep her wacko son in line . my one reservation is the climax which seems too contrived considering the timing of the events . nonetheless  it  s a good  nerve  wracking way to spend a little over an hour  courtesy columbia studios .  
poor will would be rolling over in his grave if he could this this horiible german  tv adaptaion of his classic play . it  s obvious that very little money was spent on it . a stage riser  a catwalk and some randomly placed columns pass off as a set . the movie was ineptly dubbed into english  with the english voice actors occasionally mumbling their lines . the whole production had an incredibly dark and dreary feel to it . and just where was fonterbras in this movie anyway  mst  k gave this sorry production the treatment it justly deserved .  br    br   to be or not to be  i wish this movie never was in the first place .  
still love it   or so years after the first time i saw it  in fact i discovered that i had lost my copy of this and was very upset . despite it  s non  association with the original  which as a kid i never noticed and as an adult i don  t care about   this is what cartoons should be like . just dark enough to be interesting and light enough to be enjoyed by everyone . i  m more than glad that my parents raised me on this kind of thing rather than the cartoons we see today that teach our kids nothing . the music is great  and gets stuck in your head forever . . . i have downloaded the entire soundtrack at one point or another .  
kim basinger stars as della  a desperate housewife with a somewhat abusive husband  who gets into trouble while she  s out at the local mall doing some last minute christmas shopping . after placing a hastily scrawled hateful note on a piece of paper and sticking said paper in the windshield of a car that took up two parking spaces  she finds out the owners of the car are the rainbow coilition of villains comprising of a white guy  a mexican  a chinese guy  a black . they confront her about the note  cap a helpless security guard  and the chase is on . during the course of the film della will go for hunted to hunter as she unleashes her inner bronson .  br    br   i found this to be a somewhat tense little thriller . the acting was good enough  except for a few scenes  the  why god why  bit was cringe worthy in it  s badness though  it comes undone a bit due to the sheer fact that the villains della chases from  after are mind  numbingly stupid . if they hadn  t had the intellect of any given  home alone  baddie  perhaps their eventual defeat would be something to savor instead of the meh reaction it evokes . the unbelievability factor i  m willing to overlook as both the director  one of the producers had part in bringing  shoot em up  to the screen  a film which while throwing credibility out the window was immensely fun  . this film while never attaining the heights of that film  was good in it  s own rights .  br    br   my grade c   br    br   anchor bay dvd extras commentary with writer  director susan montford and producer don murphy a   and a half minute  making  of   a trailer  two tv spots for this film and trailer for lower learning  
julia ross  nina foch  agrees to take a position as a secretary with the rich hughes family to get over her boyfriend leaving her . almost immediately she is drugged and shipped off to the family  s estate in cornwall . when she awakens they keep telling her she  s marion hughes  has been mentally ill and keep her locked up . . . but why  you  ll probably guess why but won  t mind because this one is fun .  br    br   along with  the narrow margin  and  face behind the mask  this is one of the best b pictures ever made .  b pictures were low budget pictures made quickly with low budgets and no major stars  . it  s just as long as it needs to be  only   minutes   is well  directed  fast paced and exciting . it only stumbles at the end which i found a bit too implausible to buy .  br    br   foch  a good actress  is just ok in the lead but dame may witty is great and george macready is excellent  and frightening  as the villains . well worth catching . a perfect example of how you can make a great movie on a small budget .  
i  m a fan of both shakespeare and mst  k  so i waited anxiously to see this episode . i  ll comment on the movie first  then the mst  k episode . the recipe for this movie take talented actors  rich and beautiful shakespeare material  and a   .   budget . mix well  then drain of all life and movement  until dull and lifeless . serve cold in a big  plain stone cauldron . movie  i give  out of    because the actors at least deserve a little bit of credit . okay  now the mst  k episode . i  ll admit it  the first time i saw it  i fell asleep halfway through . i understand that was the reaction of several other veiwers as well . however  when i watched it a second time  i realized that there was a whole host of intelligent references and good lines i missed the first time around . the trick with this episode is listen carefully  it takes a couple of viewings to catch each line . give it a second chance  and you  ll see what i mean . mst  k episode     out of   .  
nina foch delivers a surprisingly strong performance as the title character in this fun little gothic nail  biter . she accepts a position as secretary to a london society dowager  played imperiously by dame may witty  and her creepy son  the effete and bothersome george macready  . before she knows it  she awakens to find herself in a seaside manor she  s never seen before  where witty and macready are calling her marian and trying to convince the servants and the nearby townspeople that she  s macready  s mad wife . of course this pair can only be planning dastardly deeds  and even though we know julia has to eventually escape her trap  director joseph lewis builds real suspense in answering the question of just how she  ll manage it .  br    br    my name is julia ross  has nothing stylistically to set it apart from any number of films that came out at the same time period  but i was surprised by how well it held together despite its shoe  string budget and b  movie pedigree . there are quite a few moments that just may have you on the edge of your seat  and i found myself really rooting for julia as she caught on to the scheme underfoot and began to outsmart her captors . in any other gothic thriller  the heroine would have swooned  screamed and dithered  waiting for her hero to come and save her . so i can  t tell you how refreshing it was to have the heroine in this film use her brain and figure out how to save herself .  br    br   well done .  br    br   grade b  
note to george litman  and others the mystery science theater     riff is  i don  t think so  breeder  .  br    br   my favorite riff is  why were you looking at his  like     simply for the complete absurdity . that  and  right well did not   over all  i would say we must give credit to the mst  k crew for trying to ridicule this tv movie . you really can  t make much fun of the dialog bill s was a good playwright . on the other hand  this production is so bad that even he would disown it . a junior high school drama club could do better .  br    br   i would recommend that you buy a book and read  hamlet  .  
having watched this film strictly on the strength of reviewers  ratings i was most pleasantly surprised . although clearly low  budget  it bears the signs of clever ingenuity . for example  when julia wakes in the strange house and looks out the window i found myself thinking that her sense of isolation would be enhanced with an exterior shot focused on her face and then moving backwards to include the house and its isolated location . and lo and behold  the next scene was exactly that last shot of the house standing lonely on the cliff at the water  s edge . there are other examples of how a clever director can elevate his film to the level of a very enjoyable thriller . savvy viewers will surely spot them but should rest assured they will not be disappointed .  br    br   as to the performances  george macready is his usual creepy self  barely maintaining his composure while suggesting a capacity for unadulterated violence . nina foch was surprisingly good as the no  nonsense working girl who  s not about to submit without a fight . but dame may witty  oh boy  she even had me doubting my own eyes and believing she could get away with her evil schemes .  br    br   this a real diamond in the rough and not to be missed .  
alas  poor hamlet . i knew him  dear reader  and let me tell thee  this version sucks  i don  t know who of all people put up the money for this flotsam  but i hope that they  re proud of themselves . they took the classic play and turned it into the most boring melodrama imaginable . this version is quite literally so bad  that not even the presence of a great thespian like maximilian schell in the title role can save it . this movie  s only redeeming quality is that it made great fodder for  mst  k   mike  servo and crow had a lot of fun with this one .  br    br   but either way  i  m sure that shakespeare  had he been alive when they made this  would not have wanted his name associated with it . this  hamlet  is not even so bad that  s it good it  s just plain bad . absolutely dreadful .  
second  feature concerns a young woman in london desperate for a job  happy to accept live  in secretarial position with an elderly woman and her son . thrillers about people being held in a house against their will always make me a little uneasy   i end up feeling like a prisoner too   but this rather classy b  film is neither lurid nor claustrophobic . it  s far  fetched and unlikely  but not uninteresting  and our heroine  nina foch  is quick on her feet . rehashing this in      as  dead of winter   proved not to be wise  as the plot  elements are not of the modern  day .  julia ross  is extremely compact  too short at   minutes   but it stays the course nicely until a too  rushed climax  which feels a little sloppy .  from   
yay  . . . i think . it  s hard to say . it  s hard to have an emotion about a movie that has no emotion . this movie is as sterile as a surgeon  s scalpel . for a setting  it has a few stone pillars  some stone seats  a couple stone crosses and some stone actors . they have no emotion  the only thing that saves this movie is the fact that it is hamlet  and hamlet is a terrificly written piece of literature . the dubbing really wasn  t all that bad though . the voices stuck true to the dull  gloomy  dreary  life  sucking atmosphere the movie gave forth . i have seen this version of hamlet on the fabulous mystery science theater     three times  and each of the three times  i was on the brink of turning off the tv  despite it being mst  k .  br    br   not an uplifting production of a drama that deserves so much better .  
a toothsome little potboiler whose    minute length doesn  t seem a second too short  my name is julia ross harks back to an english tradition of things not being what they seem   hitchcock  s the lady vanishes is one example . out  of  work julia ross  nina foch  finds a dream job at a new employment agency in london  whose sinister representative seems very anxious to ascertain if she has living relatives or a boyfriend . after reporting to duty  she wakes up  having been drugged  in a vast manderley  like pile on the cornish coast  supposedly as the barmy  in  the  crumpet wife of george macready  who displays an alarming interest in knives and ice picks . his doting  enabling mum is the irresistible dame may whitty  this time a model of bustling efficiency on the other side of good  vs  evil than she occupied in the lady vanishes  . the nightmare vision of this tale unfolds claustrophobically we know what  s going on but are powerless to tell poor julia . this movie  curiously  is regularly accorded a place of honor as one of the earliest  and very few british  films noirs . i think it  s closer to the gothic old  dark  house tradition than the american one of wet cobblestones and urban corruption it does  however  evince a more modern  psychoanalytic cast of mind . whatever you call it  it remains a sharply satisfying thriller .  
take  br    br    . a famous play  br    br    . a director with now ideas of his own who is using  br    br    . a copy of the stage design of a popular theatre production of the play mentioned in  .  br    br    . an actor for the lead  who has no feeling for the part he  s playing and you  ll get  hamlet  prinz von dnemark   br    br   i listened to the radio play of  hamlet  with maximilian schell as hamlet and i was so disappointed . i hoped that the filmed version would be better  that schell would at least have a body language to underline what he  s saying  nothing . then the set . . . the minimalistic design is not everyone  s taste  but usually i like it when there  s just enough on the stage to make clear what  s the setting and nothing more . alas  that  s on a stage  in a theatre . it won  t work in a film based on a play that actually has believable settings . that the idea for the set was copied from the theatre production in which schell played the hamlet already . . . let  s say if that was the only thing to complain about . . . i ask myself how schell could get the part of hamlet anywhere in first place and how anybody could allow him to play hamlet a second time . if you  ve got the choice to view any of the about sixty films based on  hamlet   don  t watch this one  unless you  re a masochist  or really hardcore  or like to poke fun on untalented actors .  
shirley maclaine in another tailor  made role . as the aunt to a single mom in a     working  class chicago neighborhood  the veteran character actress gets another work  out as a gutsy woman who won  t let any set  backs defeat her spirit of success . the children  a pre  teen boy and girl  are drawn to their spirited aunt zoe  although the many magic tricks and practical jokes learned from her  and applied at all the wrong opportunities eventually get them expelled from school .  br    br   the plot is cleverly enveloped in the cuban missile crisis  with all of the social implications . men building bomb shelters  people watching news programs on what seemed to be the only tv set  at a diner  and a general mist of uneasiness and fear in the air . when a  harmless  miracle is blown out of proportions  the climactic conclusion nonetheless makes the viewer feel good . yes  virginia  the sun will come up tomorrow  clearly a small  budget production  this is still a sweet little film  filled with the magic that sunday matinees were made of . with a few choice  oldies  thrown into an effective sound track  the whole family is sure to enjoy this one .   
there  s really not much need to begin this little review with a plot synopsis . i mean it  s shakespeare  s hamlet for goodness sake  probably one of the best known plays ever written . i  m not embarrassed to admit that i came to this version of hamlet the way most people on imdb have  through mystery science theater     . while the show may not be the best venue to use to judge a movie  in this case i cannot imagine attempting to watch it without the comedic quips . in a word  this german  made  for  tv version of hamlet is dreary .    minutes  no way  it  s too dark and depressing to be anything i want to spend almost three hours on . i  ve said it any number of times  but entertainment is the thing for me . and this wrist  slitter is far from entertaining . i will  however  give it a couple of points for what i felt was some reasonably good acting . a     sounds about right to me .  br    br   as much as i enjoy mst  k  their comments don  t help to make hamlet any more palatable . there are a few good riffs here and there  but overall  hamlet is just the wrong movie for mst  k . shakespeare is far too talky to allow the comedy to have any sort of rhythm or flow . as much as it pains me  i  ve got to give hamlet a    on my mst  k rating scale .  
wonderful family drama  comedy starring macclaine and garr that entertains and warms the heart every time i see it . strongly recommended for all ages from  year olds to grannies . lovely period piece capturing     . the story encompasses the struggling garr  her two children and aunt zena  macclaine  trying to make ends meet without a man as head of the household . the  family  heads west to take the inheritance of a long forgotten relative that has left garr a run down  ramshackle road side cafe right out of the late      s . the tenacious garr  as the sweet but determined mom  gets the whole family into the restoration and opening of the cafe . but wait . . . . . . aunt zena is an old circus performer with card tricks  magic powders and a jesters sense of humor . . . . . . she loves to get the kids and her into silly and sometimes dangerous games . . . . . what happens next is a delightful combination of  miracle at lords  thrown together with the cuban missile crises  with authentic tv news from the real event  and a  ghost  prank that gets totally out of hand . this film entertains  philosophizes  questions religiosity and gives an unnerving glimpse of the frightening scare of october      s cuban missile crises . in the end one is left with the wonder of faith  family and rediscovered love . oh  and the music from the era of the early    s is just great   br    br   recommend strongly as a feel good film   out    
 . . . this verson doesn  t mangle the bard that badly . it  s still a horrible minimalist production  hamlet  s dutch uncle is inexplicably dubbed by a spaniard  whether it  s ricardo montalban or not is subject to debate   and maximilian schell overacts like never before . most of the dialogue makes it through unscathed  and the fact that the mst  k version feels obliged to point out repeatedly that the speeches are long duh doesn  t strike me as incredibly humorous . mostly it  s just bad acting  though .  
i took a chance on  hardcastle and mccormick  by purchasing the first season  s worth  canadian release  from amazon . when i got it  i started with the pilot  and i was instantly hooked after that . i rated it  stars on amazon  and i am rating it   stars here . it is just that good . what i liked about it were the opening and closing themes  and of course stephen j . cannell  s logo at the end of each episode  but most of all  the relationship between the judge and mark as they worked together to crack each case . i was so hooked that i also purchased the second season as a companion  and i enjoyed it equally . if you do not have this excellent series on disc  i believe that you should purchase it and put it in your collection .  
i  ve seen all kinds of  hamlet  s .  br    br   kenneth branagh  s was most ambitious  mel gibson  s was quick and to the point  laurence olivier  s was the best  hands down . but now we come to maximilian schell  s take on the bard .  br    br   for one  this is a dubbed version of a german tv production of william shakespeare  s venerable chestnut . but if there  s a slower  more plodding  more lethargic and worse  staged version out there somewhere  it must have been acted at grade school  level .  br    br   having seen it on mst  k helps  with mike and the robots taking jolly good jabs at the old boy  puncturing the profundity of black and white tv  shakespeare and the wisdom    of germans acting out an english play and making it look like an ingmar bergman reject .  br    br   of course  the best parts are the mst riffs . best lines   i  m gonna unleash the great dane    i don  t think so   breather     meet the beatles    hey  dad  will you help me with my science project  and  my personal favorite  during a party   garrison keillor  s leaving germany  yaaay     .  br    br   but then there  s schell  playing shakespeare  s greatest character much like a department store mannequin would  only not as expressive . no doubt he  s a great actor  but here he comes off about as well as paul newman in  the silver chalice  . ever see that one  you gotta watch these two on a double  bill   br    br   in the end  this is one instance where it  s true that you  re much better off to just read the book . at least the book isn  t dubbed by ricardo montalban .  br    br   one star only for this  hamlet   ten stars  naturally  for the mst  k version .  br    br   good  night  not  so  sweet prince .  
hardcastle and mccormick is an excellent tv show .  br    br   yes  it is predictable much like the dukes of hazzard  hunter  the a  team  etc etc etc .  br    br   this show is just good clean television . the relationship between hardcastle and mccormick is quite amusing . they often take jabs at each other several times an episode  which adds a great deal of humor to the show . it contains several car chases in almost every episode  but  who doesn  t enjoy a good car chase  especially with the coyote   br    br   i only wish they made clean television like this today i highly recommend this   
i read the reviews of this movie  and they were generally pretty good so i thought i should see it . i  m a big francophile and art film lover  but i believe this is yet another case in which the critics make something  arty  or  intellectual  into something it is not . i will be blunt it contains scenes of sexual perverseness that i never  ever wanted to actually see . obviously  the piano teacher has some major psychological issues  but i really did not want to see them displayed so graphically . the film is  in essence  disgusting . i mean  when i saw requiem for a dream  i was repulsed by the last sort of scene with jennifer connelly  but that was not anywhere near the sort of disgust and repulsion i felt during this film .  
  br    br   film dominated by raven  haired barbara steele  it was seen when i was seven or eight and created permanent images of pallid vampiric men and women stalking a castle  seeking blood . steele is an icon of horror films and an otherworldly beauty  and the views of the walking dead pre  date romero  s night of the living dead shamblers  unifying them in my mind .  br    br   i don  t see the connection between this film and the haunting  which is clever but ambiguous about the forces present . la danza macabre is a b  movie without pretention  daring you to fall in love with barbara steele and suffer the consequences . there  s no such draw to haunting  s overwrought claire bloom . the comparisons to the haunting are superficial .  br    br   and no  this movie does not need to be remade . not only is it a product of the sixties  but the large percentage of talentless cretins in hollywood cannot fathom macabre  s formula for terror . that formula is based on one overriding factor good writing . low  grade classics like castle and corman  s poe films with r . matheson and tourneur  s out of the past share a commonality of strong writing . it  s simple . get a real writer like richard matheson or steve mcquarrie and let them put a plot into today  s cinematic mess . besides that  let hollywood attempt some original material for a change  and stop exploiting the obviously superior product of the past .  
i rented the video of  the piano teacher  knowing nothing about it other than what was written on the video box . i did this with some trepidation because films that win awards at cannes are usually very good or very bad . unfortunately  this one falls in the latter category . about one quarter of the way into it i found myself saying out loud   this movie is boring .  about half way through i was saying to myself   where have i seen this before   at the three quarters mark i had figured it out .  br    br   in spite of its literary origins  this film is essentially a remake of robert altman  s much earlier        and better   that cold day in the park .  although the details obviously differ and altman  s work was more plot  driven and less of a character study  the two films are thematically identical . there is nothing  new  to be seen in this production . every aspect of it has been done before a character spiralling out of control with increasingly self  destructive behavior  abel ferrara  s  bad lieutenant        a perverse and doomed  love  culminating in an operatic  near  death scene  david cronenberg  s  m . butterfly        uncommonly brutal sex scenes  david lynch  s  blue velvet        and so on . hence  i am bemused by the fact that so many found the film to be  shocking    shattering   etc . this highly derivative film seems to have been made for the sole purpose of making viewers feel uncomfortable  and clearly succeeded with some . however  i largely attribute such a reaction to a lack of film  viewing experience . see enough movies and you really will  eventually  have seen it all . and while it is true that i saw the expurgated  r  rated  version  i doubt that the additional scenes would change my overall opinion of  the piano teacher .   br    br   technically  the film is not without merit . there is some very good camera work and the lighting is excellent . isabelle huppert  s creditable performance also helps save it from being a waste of time . this is the first of haneke  s films that i  ve seen  and if i were to see more i expect i would have the same opinion of him that i have of ferrara an interesting director but not nearly the genius others make him out to be . rating     .  
every kid has that movie that he pops into vhs when he has nothing to do  or when there is a babysitter around . this was that movie for me .  br    br   i can tell you the whole plot exactly  i must have seen it    times at least  and i can say it is a good kids  family movie .  br    br   i still have the tape  i haven  t watched it in  years  but maybe i  ll get around to it this week  and be a kid for the day .  br    br   you just have to love the care bears  and their messege .  br    br    
ok  if you  re a woman who  s got aggression issues  you might like this movie . hate your significant other  this movie is for you . for the guys  it will be a bag of laughs .  br    br   it  s sad when former award winning actresses have to do cut rate movies .  br    br   the only really good part is the last   seconds . even that was a load of cheese .  br    br   my wife is picking the worst movies lately . this is what you get  i  for letting my wife pick movies based on reading reviews on movie rental sites .  
i saw this film when i was   or   years old  alone in my parent  s basement on a saturday night . it was being shown on  chiller theatre   a regular fright feature that i watched religiously as a young  un . now  i have seen many old horror films thanks to chiller theatre  but none ever stuck with me like  danse macabre   a . k . a .  castle of blood .  i am   now  and only last year was i fortunate enough to locate a relatively recent  quality dvd edition of this wonderfully shudder  inducing supernatural classic  having thought i  d never manage to see it again . i have already watched it four more times  and cannot seem to get tired of it .  br    br   they just don  t make spook films like this one anymore . haunted catacombs and mist  enshrouded graveyards just don  t work as well in color as they did in black and white back in the day . anyway  this one has edgar allen poe and barbara steele  deliciously shadowy  cobweb  wrap  ed haunted castle sets  restless spirits re  enacting their deaths . . . and a wickedly ironic ending .  br    br   imo  this one  s right up there with robert wise  s  the haunting    the innocents   with deborah kerr   and the more recent  the others .   
although i can see the potentially redeeming qualities in this film by way of it  s intrigue  i most certainly thought that the painfully long nature in the way the scene structure played out was too much to ask of most viewers . enormous holes in the screenplay such as the never explained  your father died today  comment by the mother made it even harder to try to make sense of these characters .  br    br   this won first place at cannes in     which is a shock considering . perhaps the french had been starved for film noir that year and were desperate for something as sadistic as this film . i understood the long scenes as a device to keep the viewer as uncomfortable as possible but when matched with the inability to relate to the main character it went too far for me and kept me at arms distance from the story altogether .  br    br   this is a film for only the most dedicated fan of film noir and one who expects no gratification from having watched a film once it  s over . i loved movies such as  trainspotting  or  requiem for a dream   which were far more disturbing but at least gave the viewer something in the way of editing and pacing . to watch this teachers slow and painful silence scene after scene just became so redundant that i found it tedious  and i really wanted to like this film at every turn .  
castle of blood   aka castle of terror   is a well  crafted  surprisingly spooky entry from italian director anthony dawson . exquisite black and white cinematography  flawless dubbing  superb casting  fairly logical scripting  deliberate pacing and a surprise  though totally appropriate  ending set this one apart . only the films sometimes hokey music and the rather abrupt love at first sight  between elizabeth  barbara steele  and alan  georges rivire  mar an otherwise surprisingly entertaining movie .  br    br   while visiting england  edgar allan poe sits in a pub  telling one of his ghostly stories to count blackwood . recognizing the great writer  alan  a young news reporter  requests an interview with poe . during the course of the conversation  poe reveals that all of his stories are true . incredulous  alan expresses his skepticism about life after death . count blackwood offers to bet alan    pounds that he cannot survive this night in blackwood  s castle  a night following halloween when the dead walk . alan cannot afford the bet  so he bets his life for a   pound wager .  br    br   unlike mario bava  s overpraised black sunday    aka the mask of satan    castle of blood  is fairly restrained  making the few moments of violence even more dreadful  especially surprising from a director usually associated with those terrible italian space movies from the   s .  br    br   it  s a pity the only version of this film i  ve found is badly deteriorated  and recorded  pan and scan version . even so  it is well worth seeing  and cries out for a modern remake  perhaps with christina ricci or jennifer love hewitt in the role of elizabeth . watch it and enjoy a film that compares well with robert wise  s the haunting  .  
well  the artyfartyrati of cannes may have liked this film but not me i am afraid . if you like the type of film where shots linger for so long that you wonder whether the actor has fallen asleep or the cameraman gone for lunch then it may be for you . a large part of it is like this with short sojourns into the realm of unpleasantness . i did not find it shocking nor disturbing as some other reviewers have  simply a little distasteful and pointless . the only reason i did not give this one star is that the acting is commendable ans the film is fairly well shot . the plot  however  has little to recommend . a large part of the film just shows a grumpy woman teaching or listening to piano  which might appeal to some people . but lest you think this is harmless enough be prepared for some snatches of pornography and sexual violence just to wake you up with a bad taste in your mouth . not recommended .  
i first remember seeing this one back in the   s when it was shown on late night television . scared the hell out of me . but then  i was a teenager back in those days  not as jaded about films as i am now .  br    br   castle of blood  aka danse macabre  is a fine example of the   s italian horror genre  along with mario bava  s black sunday        curse of the living dead  aka kill baby kill        and mario caiano  s nightmare castle       . if you want spooky atmosphere along with great writing  then check these out as well . i also rate these along with those early poe films that roger corman was doing during the same period .  br    br   i saw the new synapse dvd that was taken from a french print and it  s a great improvement over that old pan  and  scan print that was making the rounds on television over the years . it adds a couple of minutes of dialog  in french  that don  t really add much to the movie as whole  but it  s nice to see it complete  without cuts . unfortunately the dvd doesn  t really offer any extras beyond stills from the film .  br    br   one flub i noticed was in the opening scene  seeing the smoke  effects man next to the camera being reflected on the glass of the inn  s front door . i guess the editors didn  t catch it at the time  or maybe they didn  t care  but it is something i didn  t notice the first time . that  s the wonders of dvd . you get to see all the flubs  mistakes and details that weren  t apparent the first time around . but no matter .  br    br   but no matter  it still gets a  on the imdb meter  br    br    
i do not fail to recognize haneke  s above  average film  making skills . for example  i appreciate his lingering on unremarkable  natural  day  lighted settings as a powerful way to force a strong sense of realism . however  regarding the content of this film  i am very sad to see that in the   st century there is still an urge to pathologize domination  submission relations or feelings  and  or bdsm practices  . the problem that the main character has with her mother is unbelievably topical as is the alienation and uncomprehension felt by walter  i don  t mean the frustration of a lover which is not loved back in the same way  which is understandable i mean that he looks upon her as if she were crazy  or as if he was a monk  come on   . i mean d  s is not something new in the world and i think it is rather silly to treat the subject as if it were something  freakish  or pathological it isn  t . in general  films dealing with this subject are really lagging behind the times .  br    br   so  for me  i feel that this film ends up being quite a programmatical film  worried with very outdated psicoanalitical theories  isn  t it nearly embarrassing    and that does not really relate with real  life lives and experiences of those engaged in d  s relationships  personal experience  forums  irc chatrooms even recent scholar studies will show this  .  
italy produced a lot of really great and original horror films in the      s  and this is certainly one of them  the first thing you will notice about danse macabre is the style of the film . shot in beautiful black and white  and due to director antonio margheriti  s use of lighting the film almost looks like it could be a german expressionistic horror film . this  coupled with the horror  filled plot line ensures that danse macabre is a film that truly captures the essence of horror . of course  the fact that the beautiful barbara steele appears in the film doesn  t harm matters  and the good news continues as  in this film  she gets to flex her acting muscles more than she did in the films that made her famous . the plot is very aware of the time in which this was released  and so incorporates the great edgar allen poe . we follow alan foster  a writer who accepts a bet from poe himself and lord blackwood that he can  t spend an entire night in the latter  s creepy old castle . everyone that has spent the night there previously has died . . . and our hero is about to meet the previous wager  takers   br    br   nowadays  horror films don  t tend to focus so much on each shot and the result is that there isn  t much beauty left in the genre . it is refreshing  therefore  to see this film . many of the shots here are incredibly beautiful  from the female side of the couple wearing just a see  through skirt  to my personal favourite  a shot of smoke creeping in from under a door . this my first antonio margheriti film  and even after seeing just this one it  s obvious that he was one of italy  s premier directors . also interesting is the fact that screenplay was co  written by another of the italian greats django creator sergio corbucci . the plot can meander a little too much at times  but there  s always enough atmosphere on hand to make sure that the film never becomes boring  and the fact that it is always intriguing  even when the plot slows down  ensures the same thing . the way that danse macabre utilises the  haunted house  theme is both well done and original  and helps to keep the story as eerie as possible . on the whole  fans of italian and  or cult cinema will not want to miss this little gem   
isabelle huppert is a wonderful actor . the director of  la pianiste  understands this  providing the viewer with long takes of huppert  s face  and these are a pleasure to see . huppert is not an animated actor   she registers emotion with the smallest lift of an eyebrow or flicker of a smile .  br    br   other than the enjoyment of watching an experienced actor excel in her profession  there is nothing in this movie that makes me want to recommend it .  well  if you enjoy self  mutilation  sado  masochism  and bizarre behavior   la pianiste  might work for you . other than these attributes  i could not find any redeeming value in it .   br    br   buried in all this strange material there is a kernel of truth . people who compete at the very highest level   musically  athletically  whatever   begin as strange people  and are shaped into stranger people by the competitive environment .  br    br   not worth a trip to a movie theater to relearn this life lesson .  br    br    
castle of blood is a good example of the quality work in the horror genre being turned out in italy in the   s . the film has all of the right elements  old dark house  atmosphere  a decent story  and barbara steele . steele makes most any film worth seeing .  br    br   the story concerns a haunted castle . people have visited  but none have returned . our hero makes a wager that he can spend the night in the castle and return to collect his winnings . but  the night he visits is a special night . it  s the night each year when the dead return to relive their deaths .  br    br   the only flaw i see in the movie is the running time . it almost feels padded . there is a large portion of the first act where literally nothing happens . our hero stumbles around in the dark finding nothing of interest . but once he does find something  the movie picks up and become quite enjoyable .  br    br   castle of blood is a definite must for steele fans and fans of italian gothic horror in general .  
this movie purports to be a character study of perversion . some reviewers have been gulled into assuming that because perversion is depicted  the film is psychologically deep actually  considering the salacious material  it is surprisingly tedious and shallow  with no motivational substance . why is the main character the way she is  you won  t find out from the script . for a better treatment of the same theme  and a more entertaining movie   try bunuel  s belle de jour .  
when american author edgar allan poe visits london  he is approached by british journalist alan foster  who becomes the target of a peculiar wager . not believing poe  s assertion that all of his macabre stories have been based on actual experience  foster accepts a bet from poe and his friend sir thomas blackwood that he cannot spend an entire night in the blackwood  s haunted castle . once installed in the abandoned castle  foster discovers that he is not alone  as he is approached by various beautiful women and handsome men  and a doctor of metaphysics  who explains that they are all lost souls damned to replay the stories of their demises on the anniversary of their deaths  the first time i watched this glorious bit of classic horror  i was mesmerized the entire time . i found the movie genuinely creepy and at the same time sorrowful . babs steele is undeniably beautiful . the music score makes the atmosphere twice as terror inducing . the topless scene threw me for a loop  as i was not expecting it . it looks as synapse did a great job with picture enhancement  because this movie looks damn fine for its age  and it  s the uncut international version  to boot . this is the movie responsible for me starting a babs steele and klaus kinski collection .  
elfriede jelinek  not quite a household name yet  is a winner of the nobel prize for literature . her novel spawned a film that won second prize at cannes and top prizes for the male and female leads . am i a dinosaur in matters of aesthetic appreciation or has art become so debased that anything goes   br    br    gobble  gobble  is the favoured orthographic representation in britain of the bubbling noise made by a turkey . in the film world a turkey is a monumental flop as measured by box office receipts or critical reception .  gobble  gobble  and the piano teacher are perfect partners .  br    br   the embarrassing awfulness of this widely praised film cannot be overstated . it begins very badly  as if made to annoy the viewer . credits interrupt inconsequential scenes for more than   minutes . we are introduced to professor erika kohut  apparently the alter ego of the accoladed authoress  a stony professor of piano . she lives with her husky and domineering mum . dad is an institutionalised madman who dies unseen during what passes for the action .  br    br   reviewing the piano teacher is difficult  beyond registering its unpleasantness . what we see in the film  and might read in the book  for all i know  is a tawdry  exploitative  nonsensical tale of an emotional pendulum that swings hither and thither without moving on .  br    br   erika  whose name is minimally used  is initially shown as a person with intense musical sensitivity but otherwise totally repressed . not quite  because there  s a handbags at two paces scene with her gravelly  voiced maman early on that ends with profuse apologies . if a reviewer has to  yawn  extract a leitmotif  why not use a pretentious word when a simpler one would do   elrika  s violently alternating moods would be it .  br    br   a young hunk  walter  studying to become a  low voltage  engineer  whatever that is  and playing ice hockey in his few leisure moments  is also a talented pianist . he encounters elrika at an old  fashioned recital in a luxury apartment in what may or may not be paris . in the glib fashion of so much art  he immediately falls in love and starts to  cherchez la femme  .  br    br   repressed erika has a liking for hardcore pornography  shown briefly but graphically for a few seconds while she sniffs a tissue taken from the waste basket in the private booth where she watches .  br    br   walter performs a brilliant audition and is grudgingly accepted as a private student by erika  whose teaching style is characterised by remoteness  hostility  discouragement and humiliation .  br    br   he soon declares his love and before long pursues erika into the ladies where they engage in mild hanky panky and incomplete oral sex . erika retains control over her lovesick swain . she promises to send him a letter of instruction for further pleasurable exchanges .  br    br   in the meantime  chillingly jealous because of walter  s kindness to a nervous student who is literally having the shits before a rehearsal for some future concert  erika fills the student  s coat pocket with broken glass  causing severe lacerations to those delicate piano  playing hands .  br    br   the next big scene  by  passing the genital self  mutilation  etc  has walter turning up at the apartment erika shares with her mother . erika want to be humiliated  bound  slapped  etc . sensible walter is  for the moment  repulsed and marches off into the night .  br    br   at this point there  s still nearly an hour to go . the viewer can only fear the worst . erika tracks down walter to the skating rink where he does his ice hockey practice . they retire to a back room . lusty wally is unable to resist the hands tugging at his trousers . his  baby gravy  is soon expelled with other stomach contents . ho hum .  br    br   repulsed but hooked  perhaps desirous of revenge for the insult so recently barfed on the floor  walter returns to erika  s apartment . can you guess what happens now  it  s not very deep or difficult . yes  he becomes a brute while erika becomes a victim . one moment he  s locking maman in her room and slapping erika  the next he  s kicking her in the face  having sex with her and renewing his declarations of love .  br    br   am i being unfair in this summary  watch the film if you want  but i  d advise you not to .  br    br   anyone can see eternity in a grain of sand if they  re in the right mood . i could expatiate at the challenging depiction of human relationships conveyed by this film if i wanted . but i  prefer not to   because this is a cheap and nasty film that appeals to base instincts and says nothing .  br    br   i  m supposed to say that parentally repressed erika longs for love  ineffectively seeks it in pornography  inappropriately rejects it when it literally appears  pink and throbbing  under her nose  belatedly realises that she doesn  t like being hurt  blah  blah  blah .  br    br   the world has  for reasons not explained  stunted her . she apparently makes a monster out of someone who appeared superficially loving  but surely we all know that any man is potentially a violent rapist  because that  s his essential nature however much he tries to tell himself and the world otherwise .  br    br   at the end  if you have the patience to be there  there  s a small twist . before going to the final scene  where she  s due to perform as a substitute for the underwear  soiling student with the lacerated hands  erika packs a knife in her handbag . for walter   br    br   yes  you  re ahead of me . she stabs herself in a none life  threatening area and leaves . roll credits .  br    br   if this earned the second prize at cannes  just how bad were the rest of the entries   
i  ve watched this movie a number of times  and found it to be very good . this movie is also known as  castle of terror    coffin of terror   and  dance macabre  . barbara steele  is her usual beautiful  creepy self . george riviere  the male lead  does a good job with his role . the whole movie is dripping with atmosphere  and there is a good deal of tension throughout . the camera angles are good and the acting  for the most part  isn  t bad . this film is quite suitable for a rainy day or evening . i have the dvd uncut version  which is far superior to the edited tv version . grab some popcorn  turn out the lights  settle back and enjoy . john r . tracy  
a movie has rarely left me as cold as this one . there is not a bit of tension  not a second of fear  not a moment we jump  even a little bit . the girl is cute  yeah . that  s it . was that worth a movie  i knew it wasn  t supposed to be a great movie  but i was at least expecting one .  
this complicated story begins fairly simply  with an english journalist accepting a wager from edgar allen poe and his friend lord blackwood that he cannot spend a night in the haunted blackwood castle . once there  the writer wanders around the dusty rooms and corridors  until music and a glimpse of a waltzing couple lead him into an empty room . he sits at the harpsichord and starts to play the tune he has heard  and is surprised to be tapped on the shoulder by the stunningly beautiful elizabeth blackwood . she informs him with an ambiguous charming  eerie manner that she has prepared his room upstairs and that someone is always expected on this night . . . the night of the dead . thus begins a startling series of supernatural events that bewilder the journalist all the rest of the night . spoiler ahead it probably won  t surprise too many viewers to learn that the lovely elizabeth is actually a ghost . this doesn  t prevent her from falling in love with the journalist  but it does make things more complicated for them than for the average couple . this is a fun movie  with absolutely everything ghosts  the spooky castle  repeated visions of past events  sex and violence  though both have been toned down in the version most americans have seen over the years .  the alluring  captivating barbara steele is the main reason to see it . she has a strange charisma unlike anyone else you  ve ever seen in the movies . recommended   
i wasn  t really hoping for much when i went to see this . after mst  king the heck out of jasonx with some friends though  i was hoping for a similar experience here .  br    br   unfortunately the movie took itself way too seriously . do i care about jason  s problems  i  m sorry no . there are a legion ft   th movies that cover that anyway . at at then end of the day  he  s an undead serial killer  i  m just not going to get that sympathetic .  br    br   freddy was by far the most interesting aspect of the movie with the hallucinations and what not  but unfortunately they were few and far between and by the end of the movie  it had degenerated into a bad episode of celebrity deathmatch . . . only not funny .  br    br    
i originally saw this movie as a boy at the old rialto theatre as part of a saturday afternoon matine triple bill which also featured vincent price  s  last man on earth  and mario bava  s  nightmare castle .  i had nightmares about blood lusting ghosts for a week afterwards  though i didn  t know it then  all three movies would prove to be classics of the genre . no wonder i was so scared  though all three films frightened me  it was castle of blood that had the most profound impact .  br    br   it was the first on the bill . i didn  t even get to see it from the beginning as we were late getting to the cinema and missed the first   minutes of the movie . that  s lot to miss since the edited print only ran about   minutes  the unedited runs   minutes  . but despite this  the dark creepy atmosphere  complete with ruined castles  fog enshrouded cemeteries  shadows and cobwebs   gothic set design  strong acting  and suspense  especially the last   minutes  scared the bejeepers out of me and made a lasting impression it took me years to finally get a copy of the film for my collection . since it was a french  italian import  it wasn  t a movie that showed up on the late show in winnipeg . i couldn  t quite remember the title  remember i didn  t get to seen the beginning of the film and was scared witless   and to make matters worse  the film had been released under literally a dozen different movie titles  aka danze macabre  coffin of terror  castle of terror  long night of terror  etc . . .  and the usa  uk working title  castle of blood  was very generic  similar to dozens of other  b  horror and suspense films  making it illusive . but thanks to the internet and perseverance  i found it at last  what a treat to finally watch the film in its entirety after so many years  it may not have had quite the sheer emotional impact that it did when i was a boy  but as haunted house movies go  it  s stands up well and compares favourably to similar iconic films of the period such as  the haunting    the innocents  or  black sunday   the film is a fine early effort of italian director antonio margheriti . it stars    s scream queen icon barbara steele and features a well written screenplay by sergio corbucci about a sceptical writer  georges riviere  who  on a bet  spends the night in haunted house and unsuspectingly becomes part of an annual ongoing ghostly story . the hypnotic steele is well cast as the ghostly love interest  as is arturo dominici as dr . carmus  and margarete robsahm as julia .  br    br   many of the tricks margheriti employs to create the film  s eerie atmosphere  cobwebs  creaking doors  fog  etc  are bound to seem clich to a modern audience  but they work far more effectively in black and white than they ever could in modern day colour . rather than using body counts and special effects  the film creates scares the old fashion way  relying on a good story  stylish direction  fine set production  interesting camera work  and strong acting performances . margheriti does a marvellous job taking these elements and building the film  s suspense as the horrifying paranormal secret of the house gradually reveals itself to the unwitting writer .  br    br   the film is not without faults . the pace drags at the beginning of the film  ironically  the   minutes i originally missed  . this is probably worsened by synapse films effort to restore the film to its original length . though fans will likely appreciate the chance to see the film restored  in terms of the intro  it may have been more of hindrance than a help . the english voice dubs are merely passable and  in the restored scenes  the language shifts from english to french  english subtitles provided  which is sure to be annoying to some viewers .  br    br   however  synapse films deserves kudos for the quality of the print . clearly some effort was put into its restoration and deservedly so .  br    br   i enjoyed the film immensely and highly recommend it to aficionados of    s italian goth films  or anyone who enjoys a good ghost story .  br    br   rob rheubottom winnipeg  mb canada  
i rented this shortly after renting ben stein  s  expelled  and thought it would interesting to compare them . before i go further  it seems only fair that i point out the following so a reader can see if i  m prejudiced or not . i  m trying to be objective  for the record .  br    br   i tend to enjoy maher  s hbo show now and then  though i rarely think he  s the source of the humor . i don  t really care for his stand  up either . but he makes some good points on the show now and again  and i liked politically incorrect  though he was still fairly politically correct  which i deem a negative because the very term sounds orwellian or at least fascist  . as for my religious views  i  ll say for simplicity  s sake that i  m a non  denom . christian with some views that are objectivist and some that are agnostic mixed in .  br    br   that being said  this a bad  documentary  for reasons that haven  t been touched on yet by many reviewers   though the ones mentioned are valid too . the reason it  s not convincing isn  t just that he argues the main point without letting others talk  and his point boils down to nothing logical either  it  s just  come on  really   which isn  t a point  just a question . try david hume if you want a decent argument .  . the reason this isn  t convincing lies in his lack of experts on the subject matter . i saw this about  months ago and i only recall him talking to one person whose credentials as a professional were mentioned if he wasn  t a clergyman . there are probably hundreds of scientists or at least professors with masters or doctorates willing to do a bit of verbal sparring  particularly in the fields of history  anthropology or a host of others .  br    br   if one compares this to ben stein  s  expelled no intelligence allowed  he  ll find that stein interviews about   credentialed professors  professionals  clergy  etc . he does this with a variety of sources with various backgrounds . he also makes a point in his film regarding freedom of thought and education . maher could easily have pointed out wrongs committed by theocratic rules throughout centuries or persecutions from this . instead he idiotically refers to the   th century  s secular totalitarian regimes as evidence of why secularism needs more socio  political power      it  s in the bonus features where he  s standing in front of the anne frank house i think .  this is a true orwellian head  trip . he blames christianity in particular on many pointless deaths   which has had its share  though far smaller than most     without even including a basic view of the evidence . perhaps this is because that argument is dwarfed by secular humanism  s miserable record of the   th century alone .  br    br   another glaring weakness is his unwillingness to talk to anyone that would be considered a moderate or  average  practitioner . he picks out the weakest gazelles of the herd . how difficult is that  how does proving the existence of exceptions move toward disproving the general rule  it does not . wow  so people in cults think outside of the norm  how enlightening to know this . great work maher  again  it would be fairly easy to interview someone like laurence vance and include his work on refuting the idea of  patriotic duty  that demands a person fight in any war his country is involved in .  br    br   beyond all that  he  s just not that funny here . some of the clips that are overlaid in  clever  out of context  irreverent ways might garner a laugh  but mostly work to illustrate how a real contextual argument from maher will not be forthcoming  much less convincing . he spends most of his time bashing christians  spouting inaccuracies  and interviewing fringe groups that he doesn  t allow to really answer his questions .  br    br   for the record  there are good questions to honestly ask of religious folks and many they should ask of themselves . he touches on almost none of these . i get the feeling that i could  ve responded much better to most of his questioning than the people he interviewed  but the whole thing reeks of deck  stacking in terms of what is included and what was edited out .  
if you  re a fan of gothic horror  then you  re definitely absolutely guaranteed to love this wondrous italian    s film  castle of blood  . we  re really talking about creepily creaking doors  eerie portraits that appear to be moving  spontaneously dying candles although there  s no wind and smoke coming from underneath heavy wooden chamber doors . speaking in terms of atmosphere and style  this masterful piece of gothic film  making is one of the best out there just one tiny league below landmarks such as  black sunday    the three faces of fear  and  curse of the crying woman  . the prominent directors duo sergio corbucci   the great silence    django   and antonio margheriti   cannibal apocalypse    killer fish   are successful in all areas  including a powerful plot  one that is genuinely nightmare inducing   ultra  sinister scenery and filming locations  stylish black and white photography  spine  chilling music and a brilliant gathering of talented performers . barbara steele  starlet of the aforementioned  black sunday  and italian goth  muse number one  shines brightly again as a spiritually tormented character and she  s literally surrounded by excellent co  players . one of them  silvano tranquilli  even gives away a fairly credential depiction of author edgar allan poe . the story involves him and another wealthy visitor of a countryside tavern challenging a brutal young journalist to accept a morbid wager . if he  alan foster  would survive spending one night in the infamous blackwood castle  he receives the astonishing reward of    and a newspaper interview with poe . needless to say the ordeal is much more dangerous than it sounds  even for somebody like alan foster who  s a firm non  believer in ghosts and vampires . the night starts out great for him  as he even meets up with the stunningly beautiful woman of his dreams  but gradually he learns that blackwood castle is a hellish place where the ghosts of the previously deceased visitors are trapped for all eternity . i don  t know about you  but this is seriously one of my favorite horror movie premises of all time . co  director antonio margheriti clearly was proud of this film as well  because he remade it himself a couple of years later as  web of the spider  . that movie had a handful of trumps  like for example the casting of no less than klaus kinski in the role of edgar allan poe  but in general this original is vastly superior .  castle of blood  literally oozes with atmosphere and maintains a thoroughly unsettling ambiance throughout . this truly is one of the rare films that can make the hair on your arms and back of the neck rise with fear if you watch it in the right circumstances . watch it late at night  preferably alone and in a candle lit room  and you  ll get an idea about the true definition of horror .  
i  ve been a fan of all things bill maher for   years but this film was disappointing and at times disgusting . of course  i am catholic  come from a well  educated family and go to church of my own volition  which probably puts me at ends with quite a few of bill  s opinions .  br    br   bill  s problem is that he presumes that religion is uniformly negative . he  s correct to document the sociological aspects of it i . e . one faith builds its holidays on top of another and that many wars have been started because of religion  or  more accurately  by the sinister appeals of men to the ultimate and unquestionable authority of god   but that said he never looks at its positive side . quite frankly  i think that hell would freeze over before bill would ever humble himself and travel to the slums of calcutta where mother theresa spent her life working with the poorest of the poor . she  s dead now of course  but he could easily visit the jesuit priest in east la who runs homeboy industries  which works with young men typically with gang and prison backgrounds to teach them career skills  get their tattoos removed  and to become responsible members of society  or he could visit usc  s institute for advanced catholic studies  which has brought together some of the world  s finest theologians  diplomats  and investment bankers to study ways in which to ethically integrate the world  s poorest countries into global capital markets and thereby improve the standard of living for the half of the world  s people who live on less than   a day . of course he won  t do that because that would require him to consider evidence that does not easily fit into his preconceived beliefs about religion  and it  s so much easier to continue to make snide  superficial jokes .  br    br   that fits into the other large problem with bill  s movie  which is that he never subjects himself to anyone either on his level or who is better than he is . in this movie  you have maher the cornell grad spend most of his time talking down to truck drivers at a nondenominational christian truck stop service  in a night club with a dutch guy who smokes pot all the time  with the minister of a storefront church in miami who claims to be the reincarnation of christ  and with an actor playing jesus at a  holy land  theme park .  br    br   what you won  t see in bill  s film  beyond some superficial speculation alongside a ph . d in grand central station that religion chemically alters the brain like drugs do and that religion is the fallacy of tradition wrought on the masses  is any sort of serious and questioning interviews with philosophy and theology professors from schools like notre dame  byu  or wheaton college  who could easily rhetorically decapitate him in a debate on the matter . you won  t see any serious discussion of any of the writings of c . s . lewis  g . k . chesterton  or any papal encyclicals  and of course you also won  t find any discussion whatsoever of any of the non  abrahamic  judaism  christianity  and islam  faiths whatsoever . all you get at the end of the day is a textbook example of a condescending  snobby elitist from the west side of la who makes a movie for his own kind and who has absolutely no gut  level understanding whatsoever of how the other half of america that elected george w . bush  twice  lives their lives or about the school of thought behind it .  br    br   i get a lot of what bill  s saying  but for someone possessing his intellect and influence  this film was nothing less than pathetic . anyone interested in the kind of intellectual ferment that indie documentaries typically bring could find more stimulation in an old rerun of the teletubbies .  
in an era of such awful cartoons  i am rather in shock to see a movie with such good morals make it to the imdb bottom list for animated movies .  br    br   this movie does contradict the first . i won  t deny that . however  when i was in the target age group for this movie  i didn  t even notice  nor would it have mattered if i did . the people who made it may have used  new generation  to note that this is another way the care bear family could have began . perhaps we are meant to decide for ourselves how the care bear family truly began .  br    br   this was my favorite movie at age     and it did not scare me or confuse me at all .  br    br    
fail . i  d love to give this crap a  . yes  i registered just to rate this garbage . i want to go back in time and cut my wrist . heres some copy and paste to take up   lines . fail . i  d love to give this crap a  . yes  i registered just to rate this garbage . i want to go back in time and cut my wrist . heres some copy and paste to take up   lines . fail . i  d love to give this crap a  . yes  i registered just to rate this garbage . i want to go back in time and cut my wrist . heres some copy and paste to take up   lines . fail . i  d love to give this crap a  . yes  i registered just to rate this garbage . i want to go back in time and cut my wrist . heres some copy and paste to take up   lines . fail . i  d love to give this crap a  . yes  i registered just to rate this garbage . i want to go back in time and cut my wrist . heres some copy and paste to take up   lines .  
it is not every film  s job to stimulate you superficially . i will take an ambitious failure over a mass  market hit any day . while this really can  t be described as a failure  the sum of its parts remains ambiguous . that indecipherable quality tantalizes me into watching it again and again . this is a challenging  provocative movie that does not wrap things up neatly . the problem with the movie is in its structure . its inpenetrable plot seems to be winding up  just as a second ending is tacked on . though everything is technically dazzling  the movie is exactly too long by that unit . the long  delayed climax of leo  s awakening comes about   minutes late .  br    br   great cinematography often comes at the expense of a decent script  but here the innovative camera technique offers a wealth of visual ideas . the compositing artifice is provocative and engaging a character is rear  projected but his own hand in the foreground isn  t . the world depicted is deliberate  treacherous and absurd . keep your eyes peeled for a memorable  technically astonishing assassination that will make your jaw drop .  br    br   the compositions are stunning . whomever chose to release the  out of print  videotape in the pan  scan format must have never seen it . where is the dvd   br    br   it is unfathomable how anyone could give this much originality a bad review . you should see it at least once . you get the sense that von trier bit off more than he could chew  but this movie ends up being richer for it . i suspect he is familiar with hitchcock  s foreign correspondent in which devious europeans also manipulate an american dupe and several welles movies that take delirious joy in technique as much as he does . all von trier movies explore the plight of the naif amidst unforgiving societies . after zentropa  von trier moved away from this type of audacious technical experiment towards dreary  over  rated  un  nuanced sap like breaking the waves and dancer in the dark .  
when i first saw a glimpse of this movie  i quickly noticed the actress who was playing the role of lucille ball . rachel york  s portrayal of lucy is absolutely awful . lucille ball was an astounding comedian with incredible talent . to think about a legend like lucille ball being portrayed the way she was in the movie is horrendous . i cannot believe out of all the actresses in the world who could play a much better lucy  the producers decided to get rachel york . she might be a good actress in other roles but to play the role of lucille ball is tough . it is pretty hard to find someone who could resemble lucille ball  but they could at least find someone a bit similar in looks and talent . if you noticed york  s portrayal of lucy in episodes of i love lucy like the chocolate factory or vitavetavegamin  nothing is similar in any way  her expression  voice  or movement .  br    br   to top it all off  danny pino playing desi arnaz is horrible . pino does not qualify to play as ricky . he  s small and skinny  his accent is unreal  and once again  his acting is unbelievable . although fred and ethel were not similar either  they were not as bad as the characters of lucy and ricky .  br    br   overall  extremely horrible casting and the story is badly told . if people want to understand the real life situation of lucille ball  i suggest watching ae biography of lucy and desi  read the book from lucille ball herself  or pbs  american masters finding lucy . if you want to see a docudrama   before the laughter  would be a better choice . the casting of lucille ball and desi arnaz in  before the laughter  is much better compared to this . at least  a similar aspect is shown rather than nothing .  
the dvd for  danaza macabra   castle of blood  is very odd . that  s because parts of the film are in french with subtitles and the rest is dubbed into english from the french . sometimes  characters switched between the two in the middle of a scene  when i tried to get the film to be just subtitled or just dubbed  it made no difference  odd  but still watchable .  br    br   the story purports to be based on a poe story  though i can  t recall which one . in fact  the character of poe appears in the beginning and end of the film   though it didn  t look especially like him .  br    br   a rich man makes a bet with a guy down on his luck that he cannot stay the entire night in a manner home . it seems like an easy bet to win   even if the house is very creepy . however  it can  t be that easy  as the rich guy says that all those who previously took the bet died   yet this fool still wants to make the wager  while in the home  he meets lovely barbara steele within and falls madly for her . later  however  he learns that she died more than a decade earlier  how can this be   i could tell you more about the plot but don  t want to spoil any of the suspense . see it for yourself to find out the rest of the story .  br    br   this film gets very high marks for creating a creepy atmosphere . the house  black  white cinematography and music work together to make for a scary looking film . as for the plot  it  s interesting   especially because there are many twists and turns   so many that you are wondering just who is and who isn  t among the undead by the end of the film .  br    br   the only negative is that i felt sorry for the poor snake that was needlessly killed . crazy as it might sound  i felt sorry for it and it hardly seemed necessary .  br    br   also  parents may want to know that towards the end there is a bit of nudity . a strikingly beautiful woman appears topless  but it  s hardly necessary for the plot .  
now don  t get me wrong . if you need an insightful summary of everything that been wrong with the history of human civilization as well as a flawless path to brighter future for mankind  who better to turn to than a comedian and practitioner of pop culture  if you need a healthy dose of all the solid  sound reasons why religion has outlived it  s usefulness then turn to sagan or dawkins  not bill maher for god  s    sake  that  s a good point in and of itself . maher dismisses our religious past as a neurological disorder conveniently ignoring how his entire society  art and science is rooted in it .  br    br   in this film  he relies heavily on his keenly  honed skill set of irony and cynicism to make his point while attempting to appear erudite and wise . unfortunately  his intellect isn  t up to the task .  br    br   maher makes us laugh but is clearly not the brightest bulb in the box . as an example  he responds to an interviewee  s  and i use the term loosely as they were clearly all  ambushees   assertion that the existence of jesus is historical fact with a deadpan  no  it  s not  followed by a long stare meant to convey contempt at the subject  s naivety  a device nauseatingly overused in this film  . the problem is that the person was correct and maher dead wrong in his assertion that jesus is mentioned only in what he considers to be the historically  suspect gospels . i guess mr . maher has never read the contemporary historian josephus .  br    br   but the masses will flock to this pseudo  documentary as they do the fictional works of other intellectual giants like michael moore  and they will loudly bray and guffaw  they certainly did at my showing  .  br    br   it  s doubly telling  however  that the loudest and most mule  like braying occurred during the approximately    of the running time that the film devoted to it  s anti  christian tirade while the audience was wholly mute during the token    devoted to criticizing the self  described religion of peace . hmmm . either criticism of islam is off  limits to the hip and liberal target audience or they were just afraid to laugh . very telling  either way . .  
i remember seeing this film at the west end theater in louisville  kentucky when i was a boy . the scene where dr . carmus finds the gardener  s coffin  and the breathing dead body therein  was the scariest part of the movie for me  only intensified by the darkness of the film . i also wondered about the people hanging from the trees at the end  until i recognized the part of the film in which the family name of the blackwoods was changed from blackblood  due to the fact that in the family history there was a character who was known for his many hangings of various people . sir thomas blackwood seemed to get his kicks out of adding to the deaths caused by his family . i also noticed that as foster first enters the gate of the cemetery  he is careful in noticing the sharp object of the gate  where he meets his end . i would not hesitate to recommend this film to horror movie lovers .  
i saw it  i agree with him      but i didn  t care for his delivery . he just came off as an asshole in a poorly edited  contrived juvenile smear campaign . edit cuts galore  etc . . . the camera would be focused on him  and you  d see  or  edit cuts just over the course of a minute or two of dialog . add in the constant boom mikes in the camera shot  which is a film no  no .  br    br   this documentary hits a topic with so many angles  so many interesting stories  that the movie is just so easily done . picking on religious fanatics is like picking on the retarded kid . it is so easy it is just wrong . i mean how hard is it to make these people look like nut bags  to make them contradict themselves  you just let them recite more then a verse or two . i do like when he jumped back in forth between people of the same religion and showed them completely contradicting themselves .  br    br   i just think he could have done something a little more creative . the part with the neurologist talking about brain activity was never fleshed out . it could have been interesting to show brain scans of people during religious fits compared to drugs  or sex  or     he could have played more on the women all rejoicing over the passion play that looked more like a snuff scene in a new rob zombie movie . more could have gone into the history of john smith  the mormon founder who had quite the colorful past . delve into science v . s . religion . one is a very methodical  very strict process for increasing the confidence in theories . it builds on itself from a solid bottom up  a new layer on top of a more proved layer . an enormous burden of proof is required each step of the way . the other starts at the top and comes down with unchallengeable claims . it is so  because well i said so .  br    br   done right i  d say turn it into an hbo original series hit a different religion every week .  br    br   it was an eye opener about one thing . i must have been blind . good ole g . w . bush . . . no wonder he got elected . he had the religious majority . and well . . . now that is the blind leading the blind .  br    br   bill moyer . . well . . what can i expect from a guy who hands out at sutra in newport beach   
this begins a wager between edgar allen poe and a journalist . . . poe bets that the man can not spend an entire night in a creepy castle . well  of course he can  but will he come out unscathed  hard to say with all these strange people that aren  t supposed to be there wandering around  including the icy barbara steele . this is a fairly odd film in that the presentation is both in french and english  and switches back and forth a few times . perhaps this is done because bits of dialog were lost  it  s also rather dark and claustrophobic  being that one doesn  t see much beyond a small circle of light that candles and such generate  plus there  s a feel of dread and impending doom pretty much at all times . this version  on synapse  is also uncensored and i wondered what might be censored in a film from     until i saw the topless scene  i guess that might be it . overall this is pretty good and in gloomy black and white . barbara steele definitely makes the movie too .  out of   .  
this film is really only bill maher  s interpretation of religion . there are several funny moments  and some interesting points  but don  t go into this expecting an even  handed discussion of religion . this is what i consider to be the worst kind of documentary  everything is arranged ahead of time and in editing to provide you with the opinion of the director  rather than letting you make your own decision .  br    br   editing  it  s very chopped up  inter  spliced with clips from pop culture and the media to reinforce the point . the interviewee barely has a chance to finish a sentence before he is interrupted by the editing . the only people given a fair chance to speak their mind are those who say what bill maher wants them to say . once someone deviates from the gospel according to maher  they get edited .  br    br   interviewees  they are meant to represent the absolute most extremist religions . from the tv evangelical to the ultimate jewish stereotype  to a truck stop chapel  seriously . a truck stop chapel  . he  s picked the worst money  grabbers  the heavy extremists  and those who don  t have the budget to say no to pick on . and when he does get a good person to interview  he edits the hell out of them .  br    br   stereotyping  all religions are portrayed as stereotypes . especially hard hit are the muslims . during the muslim segment  he barely gives anyone the chance to speak before interrupting them either himself  or through editing in pieces with suicide bombers . all muslims are portrayed as gun  toting extremists through the editing  and none of the people interviewed is edited fairly .  br    br   ending  the message at the end is incredibly heavy  handed  and while it is an interesting idea  it  s not presented with fairness to the countless people who are not religious extremists . bill maher explains himself while clips of destruction play in the foreground . this literally gives the message that religion is stupid and dangerous  and that it will destroy the world . he also states that everyone involved in religion is stupid .  br    br   with the faults to the film  it has some good points  and the humor  while very unfair  is actually funny . but know going in  it is a very one  sided view  bill maher  s view  of religion . he  s not discovering anything . he  s telling you what he thinks .  br    br        some good moments  but heavy  handed with an extremely irresponsible documentary style .  
i have never seen a barbara steele movie that i haven  t liked  and have always been a sucker for a good haunted  house story  especially for such wonderful pictures as  the legend of hell house  and the original versions of  the haunting  and  house on haunted hill    so i had a feeling that  castle of blood  would be right up my alley . and boy  was it ever  this french  italian coproduction  while perhaps not the classic that steele  s first horror film   black sunday   remains to this day  is nevertheless an extremely atmospheric  chilling entry in the spook genre . filmed in black and white  it manages to convey a genuinely creepy miasma . the film concerns a journalist who bets one lord blackwood and an author named edgar allen poe that he can spend the night in blackwood  s castle on the night of all saints day  when the spirits of those killed in the castle reenact their fate . the viewer gets to see these deaths  and they are pretty horrible  for the most part . the film does indeed send shivers up the viewer  s spine  and in the uncut dvd that i just watched   thanks to the fine folks at synapse   even features a surprising topless scene and some mild lesbianism  and barbara is wonderful in this movie her otherworldly beauty is put to good advantage playing a sympathetic spectre . her mere presence turns a creepy ghost story into something truly memorable . not for nothing has she been called  the queen of horror .   
some funny bits  but come bill  a film  quoting zeitgeist  keep the tv show and the interviews  but a film  i  m probably overreacting but what a unnecessary provoking film . . . i don  t know . i laughed  disagreed  agreed . . . this film is very confusing and inconsistent .  br    br   bill  s a funny guy . . . but also very cocky . . . bill  s rhetoric is similar to bill hicks  a brilliant comedian . but like many comedians  the borderline between comedy and preaching can be annoying . i think that the major problem in this film is his lack of sensibility . this might be just a personal taste  but comedy that constantly demeans somebody cannot be taken as truth . bill is obviously emotionally reactive to religious fundamentalism . i agree with bill that religious fanaticism is not sensible  but the response to it cannot be sensible . it will create unnecessary turmoil . we can do better than just react to fundamentalism . his conclusion is that  we don  t know  and he fervently tries to convince the spectator that nobody knows anything  to the point that the agnostic community has been concerned with his lack of serious research in comparative religion . his humility that he only knows that he doesn  t  is a contradiction as he tries to insist that all religious thought is non  sense .  br    br   i had great trouble seeing bits of zeitgeist  the movie in bill  s film . all the astrotheology  influenced non  sense that simplifies all religions as the same is simply disappointing . zeitgeist has provoked a lot of controversy and has messed up the validity of so much of the valuable religion studies scholarship . it is very sad how wrong facts have been tossed around with no reliable scholarly sources . astro  mystic sources that reduce everything to  the stars say it all  seem to be from the middle ages . this film is a confusing statement from a confused  agnostic  . agnosticism is far more complex and philosophically academic than defending every single issue as  we don  t know  .  br    br   this film is an obvious proof of how postmodernism has been able to oversimplify and generalize major issues in human history .  br    br   watch the film  it has hilarious interviews and bits  but please do not behave like bill . you cannot expect anybody to have a mature conversation if you are making sardonic comments in every other line . his arguing techniques are demeaning and insulting  provoking emotional reactions rather than rational and logical argumentation . . there needs to be a more mature way of dealing with these issues .  
well executed old and very dark house horror . good set  up which includes the character of poe  himself  alluding to the story in a london pub . although from here it is pretty much the one guy who has taken the dare to visit the house on a particular night running from room to room either looking for or avoiding people  it is still most enjoyable . plus we have the delightful and enigmatic barbara steele . there is some wooden dialogue and some unexplained bits and bobs but it is the super creepy atmosphere that is maintained throughout  that and the super musical score that keep this one moving nicely along . dvd originates from us and has a few extras  
bill maher  s religulous is not an attack on organized religion . it  s an attack on christianity and islam . apart from ridiculing a bunch of rabbis inventing warped machines to get around sabbath regulations  he really doesn  t attack judaism and seems enraged when a rabbi actually challenges the existence of the state of israel . if bill maher followed his hypothesis to its logical conclusion  he would realize that the very creation of israel in the palestinian territories is based on the so called  holy books  of organized religion . this is evidence of his complete and utter lack of objectivity or focus in the creation of this film .  br    br   i find it really hard to believe that the man is atheist or even all that intelligent . anyone can go up to a religious person and laugh at them and call them stupid for their beliefs but what do you have to offer them in return  nowhere does he actually tell them why he thinks they  re stupid . what makes him the  rational  person in the room  in a way it reflects how he really isn  t and in the process ends up looking just as stupid as those people .  br    br   if you want to watch a good movie  documentary about the actual evils of religion and how religion can actually be detrimental to the human civilization  watch richard dawkins   root of all evil   . it is a brilliantly researched documentary  clearly outlining what it hopes to achieve and how .  br    br   bill maher  s religulous is not funny  poses no interesting questions nor does it provide any insight on so controversial a topic . it seems to be the rantings and ravings of an old man disgruntled with his catholic upbringing . i almost feel sorry for him .  
antonio margheriti  s  danza macabra  aka .  castle of blood  of     is a beautiful and incredibly haunting masterpiece of italian gothic horror  and after mario bava  s  la maschera del demonio   aka .  black sunday   of     and roger corman  s  pit and the pendulum  of      starring the great vincent price  another must  see that earned the wonderful barbara steele her more than deserved fame as the most important female horror icon in the history of motion pictures . but not only is the beautiful and brilliant barbara steele one of my favorite actresses of all  time  the screenplay to  danza macabra  was co  written by no one less than the cinematic genius sergio corbucci  who directed such ingenious spaghetti western milestones as  django        and  the great silence        . italy  s number  in the field  right after mario bava   director antonio margheriti is one of the all  time masters of gothic horror  and  castle of blood  is doubtlessly his greatest achievement . hardly another film works so brilliantly in creating an incredibly haunting  yet beautiful atmosphere as it is the case with this creepy masterpiece .  br    br   when he encounters the famous writer of brilliant macabre stories  edgar allen poe  in a gloomy london tavern  young journalist alan foster  georges rivire  accepts a bet from a nobleman  that he can not spend a night in his haunted castle in the night of all souls  eve . as soon as foster enters the eerie castle  mysterious things start to happen . after a little while  however  he encounters an enchanting resident of the castle  the stunningly beautiful elisabeth blackwood  barbara steele  . the mysterious events so far  however  have only been forebodings of the terrors the castle bears  however . . .  br    br   the eerie castle setting alone would be sufficient to create a gloomy mood  the excellent black and white cinematography and a great score by riz ortolani create an incredibly haunting atmosphere that is eerie beyond comparison . the wonderful barbara steele is fantastic as always  i simply can not find enough words to praise this wonderful actress . no other actress has ever been capable of uniting ravishing beauty with the uncanny as it is the case with steele  and no actress ever will . besides steele  the movie  s cast contains another stunning beauty  margarete robsahm  and she also delivers a great performance . george rivire  s performance as alan foster is great  and the rest of the performances are also very good .  castle of blood  is outstanding in many departments barbara steele delivers one of her best performances  the cinematography and locations are beautifully haunting beyond comparison  the atmosphere is incredibly eerie . . . the film simply is a perfect whole of atmosphere  gothic beauty and the art of terror . in short  castle of blood  is one of the most atmospheric and greatest gothic horror films ever made  and must not be missed by anyone interested in the genre        
this was a disappointing film . the people seem to have no substance  the lead protagonist martin cahil has zero redemptive values  in fact everyone in it including jon voight epitomizes sleeze . i would not recommend this film to anyone . the violence is distasteful  though artfully done . the filming is to black  at least the print i saw fit this category . a disappointment .  
antonio margheriti  s  danza macabra    castle of blood  is an eerie  atmospheric chiller that succeeds on all fronts . it looks absolutely beautiful in black  white and it has wonderfully creepy gothic vibe . alan foster is an english journalist who pursues an interview with visiting american horror writer edgar allan poe . poe bets foster that he can  t spend one night in the abandoned mansion of poe  s friend  thomas blackwood . accepting the wager  foster is locked in the mansion and the horror begins  the film is extremely atmospheric and it scared the hell out of me . the crypt sequence is really eerie and the tension is almost unbearable . barbara steele looks incredibly beautiful as sinister specter elisabeth blackwood .  castle of blood  is easily one of the best italian horror movies made in early    s . a masterpiece   
a craven  cowardly film . director boorman shows cahill burglarizing rich houses  but the male occupant is shown being unfaithful with the nanny  thats all right then . the forensic scientist investigating cahill is blown up in his car  but he is rat faced sourpuss  and doesn  t look like a nice man  so thats all right too . the beits  owner of russborrough house  made their money by exploiting  darkies  digging up diamonds  so it  s okay to rob priceless art from them and hide it in a bunker in the wicklow mountains . the garda kill his ferrets and are implicated in his murder . the moral equivalencing is sickening  boorman looks for a hit film  but doesn  t have the guts to stand against the criminality of the generals gang  who terrorized the neighbourhood  and unleashed another wave of scumbags upon dublin . he even liaised with the generals son while making it . disgusting . shame on him for his cowardice .  
i saw this movie as a kid on creature feature when i lived in new york . it was a pretty creepy movie  though not as good as horror hotel . i just bought this movie on dvd  and it is different from what i remember because in the dvd that i bought there are several scenes where the actors speak in french and  or italian and no subtitles are provided . then the other actors respond in english to what was being said . kind of weird . also on the dvd box  the names of some of the actors are spelled differently than on imdb .  br    br   aside from that  this movie is different in that the character of elsie takes her clothes off and provides a nude shot in one scene and in another scene julia tries to force elizabeth  barbara steele  to make out with her by pushing her down on the bed and kissing her while steele resists . that scene existed in the tv version  but it was very edited . i wonder if there is any extra footage that could be incorporated into a remastered ultra  edition  it seems sad that some of these old low budget classics have been spliced to bits and sold in all kinds of edited versions . where are the master tapes and all the unused footage   br    br   aside from the first boring twenty minutes before allen is delivered to the castle  the rest of the movie is pretty good . there aren  t too many special effects  but herbert  s face after julia clubs him is a good one  . the creepy atmosphere and the strange  exotic  and seductive look of barbara steele make the movie a lot better than it should be . i can honestly say that if barbara steele had not been in this film  it would be a big zero . she makes the movie a ten   
like with any movie genre  there are good gangster movies and there are bad gangster movies . if you asked me to name a good gangster movie  i  d have dozens to choose from . if you asked me to name a bad gangster movie  probably the first one to pop up in my mind is one that still has me in a sort of depression of disappointment about a week since i saw the film for the first and i promise you  the last time . that film is  the general   unrelated to the     silent film of the same name . this is a very dry  very slow gangster epic that raises questions not about the story  it  s more than easy to follow  but about why the filmmakers chose to make this rather flimsy endeavor .  br    br   like  goodfellas        and  american gangster        two superior mob movies  the general  is based on real people and true events . the film revolves around an irish criminal named martin cahill  brendan gleeson  who started his long chain of crimes stealing food as a teenager and then moving up to robbing museums and houses as an adult . meanwhile  the police led by an inspector named kenny  jon voight  try desperately and vigorously to prove just one of his crimes and convict  or kill  him .  br    br   perhaps because it  s a film in the same category as the marvelous  goodfellas        and the first two  godfather  films  i was expecting too much from  the general .  but that may be going too easy on it . this would have been a bad film had i not seen the aforementioned masterpieces before being swamped by boredom in this oater and its far  too  stretched running time of screaming bad scenes . let  s start knocking the film by just looking at the style in which it is presented . for some reason  director john boorman and cinematographer seamus deasy selected to film this movie in black  and  white while its style and presentation are clearly the elements that belong to a full  fledged color film . now i have nothing against b  w pictures  not even ones made in modern  day times .  schindler  s list        was more than ninety percent filmed in black  and  white and it  s a masterpiece .  the general   made just five years after  schindler  s list  is not . the cinematography is also far too blown out with high lighting keys that seem very distracting and give the movie a very video  game  like quality that i found simply annoying . the filmmakers were obviously going for a realist  s documentary  like style  like  schindler  s list  did  but they fail by making it seem too much like a documentary and at the same time  too much like a classic  style motion picture . performances in the film range from passable to poor . brendan gleeson and jon voight gave decent enthusiasm for their roles  but it seemed to me at times that even they were getting kind of run down by the awful screenplay from which they were quoting . the sound design is also very primitive  probably in an attempt to give it a   s crime  noir appeal  but that also fails because again  it  s made too much like a contemporary picture and seems vastly out of place .  br    br   but the worst thing that occurs is that there  s not onenot onecharacter in the film that i felt any emotions or opinions for . in fact  for every moment of every scene  the only thought going through my head was  okayso what   moments that in a better film might come across as shocking or appalling are just dull and time  consuming here . i did not sympathize or hate the brendan gleeson character because the way the cahill character is written is simply flat and dull . gleeson just plays the common criminal and does not strike out with the impact the real martin cahill obviously did . if a character is killed off  as they always are in gangster films   we feel nothing . no remorse  no relief  no surprise  nothing . we just say  so what   and that  s all i did during the entire running time of this very flimsy  very poorly  made crime film .  
yakitate  ja  pan  translated as fresh baked  japanese bread  is the story of a young man named azuma kazuma and his journey to make the perfect japanese bread or ja  pan  for japan  and for the japanese  that will be recognized the the whole world .  br    br   of course  that  s just on the outside . in reality  yakitate  ja  pan isn  t really about the bread  but the reaction that come after eating the bread  and the pun that comes with the reaction . the series is lovable because of these puns . from popular anime titles like naruto  detective conan  and dragon ball to blockbuster movies like the matrix and lord of the rings . it  s all there .  br    br   so what makes this title different from other titles of the same genre like cooking master boy or mr . ajikko  well  unlike the others who use cooking for world domination  yakitate  ja  pan is purely comedy . sure  there are times that the story turns to drama  or even murder  but the comedic atmosphere makes you laugh at them . you  ll be laughing at their own view of heaven . just watch it .  br    br   just remember that this is also fiction  although some of the bread made here are based on real bread  eating the home made japan   won  t turn you to a super saiyan or turn your body to rubber .  
just had to write that one liner  but it really is . i love the gangster genre and this is the weakest entry i  ve seen in recent years . i have praises for everyone involved in most aspects except the most important one  the script . it is a weak story about a petty criminal . no amount of fine acting or black and white film styling can make up for a total lack of substance . i love kevin spacey and i hear he  s gonna do another film about the general . my advice is don  t waste your time .  
yaitate   japan is a really fun show and i really like it  it was shown in our country just recently in hero tv and abs  cbn every     . it is about azuma kazuma who is trying to fulfill his dream to make japanese bread that will represent his country . he is working in the southern toyo branch of pantasia and he is also helping his friend  tsukino azusagawa  along with other bakers  like kawachi kyousuke and kanmuri shigeru  to beat st . pierre and take control of pantasia . they fight other skillful bakers from many other countries and not only learn to make different kinds of bread but also learn to cook other food . it is a really funny and unique anime because they also mimic characters from other anime  like naruto  detective conan and one piece  and famous people from real life . it is one of the best works of takashi haschiguchi and is really a must  see for people of different ages .  
john boorman  s     the general was hailed as a major comeback  though it  s hard to see why on the evidence of the film itself . one of three films made that year about famed northern irish criminal martin cahill  alongside ordinary decent criminal and vicious circles   it has an abundance of incident and style  the film was shot in colour but released in bw scope in some territories  but makes absolutely no impact and just goes on forever . with a main character who threatens witnesses  car bombs doctors  causes a hundred people to lose their jobs  tries to buy off the sexually abused daughter of one of his gang to keep out of jail and nails one of his own to a snooker table yet still remains a popular local legend an attractive enough personality for his wife to not only approve but actually suggest a mnage a trios with her sister  it needs a charismatic central performance to sell the character and the film . it doesn  t get it . instead  it  s lumbered with what may well be brendan gleeson  s worst and most disinterested performance he delivers his lines and stands in the right place but there  s nothing to suggest either a local hero or the inner workings of a complex character . on the plus side  this helps not to overglamorize a character who is nothing more than an egotistical thug  but it  s at odds with a script that seems to be expecting us to love him and his antics .  br    br   there  s a minor section that picks up interest when the ira whips up a local hate campaign against the  general  and his men  painting them as  anti  social  drug dealers purely because cahill won  t share his loot from a robbery with them  but its temporary resolution is so vaguely shot  something to do with cahill donning a balaclava and joining the protesters which we  re expected to find lovably cheeky  that it  s just thrown away . things are more successful in the last third as the pressure mounts and his army falls apart  but by then it  s too late to really care . adrian dunbar  maria doyle kennedy and the gorgeous angeline ball do good work in adoring supporting roles  but jon voight  s hammy garda beat cop seems to be there more for american sales than moral balance  overcompensating for gleeson  s comatose non  involvement in what feels like a total misfire . come back zardoz  all is forgiven .  
and my children love it now  granted  i can watch it now and realize the animation wasn  t that great  and that the plot is trite . hey  if every villian introduced themselves by saying  i ammmmm daaaarrrkk heeeeaaarrt  i think they might be laughed at  but for young children it is a moral story with catchy music .  br    br   music so catchy  mind you  that i still had the words memorized after not seeing this film in twenty years . i would definitely suggest this one for younger children .  
where to start . . . oh yea  message to the bad guys when you first find the person you have been tracking  in order to kill  that witnessed a crime you committed  don  t spend time talking to her so that she has yet another opportunity to get away . message to the victim when the thugs are talking amongst themselves and arguing  take that opportunity to  run away   don  t sit there and watch them until you make a noise they hear . message to the director if someone has a  or   minute head start in a vehicle or on foot  you can  t have the bad guys on their heels or bumper right away  time and motion doesn  t work that way . it would also be nice to think that a woman doesn  t have to brutally kill    men in order to empower herself to leave an abusive relationship at home .  
for those of you who think anime is just about giant reptiles raping schoolgirls  think again . there is a totally different side to the japanese animation . yakitate  japan is one of those shows . it is a sweet  natured tale of a young boy with the gift to make delicious bread . his universe is all about creating a japanese bread that can match with the famous european breads . the show is as wacky as they come and i  m sure that non  japanese viewers will miss a lot of the jokes . but it is still very nice to watch because of the complete innocent vibe of the show .  br    br   in the world of yakitate  it is not uncommon for people to look like they  ve just had an orgasm after eating bread . the bread is hallucinating and can give the consumer a wide array of super powers  from time  traveling to swimming like a fish . that weird aspect makes it into one of the least predictable and funny shows i  ve watched in a while .  
what is most striking about this semi  musical set in     s berlin is the marvelous cinematography and editing . it  s top of the line from first national in these departments . the story is mildly engaging and similar to the plots of miller  s other two films  sunny  sally  where working girl is romanced by rich boy with family disapproval  complications and final clinch . all the four musical numbers are bunched at the beginning of the film and we go for a long stretch without any further musical buoyancy . miller sings parts of i think of baby and reprises because of you . there are also don  t ever be blue and though you  re not the first one .  br    br   miller here is very engaging and delightful  quite reminiscent of irene dunne in manner and delivery . sad she does not dance as that is her forte . sally remains her finest film  with this trailing as second and the rather poor sunny a vastly inferior runner up . her life was tragically cut short by a sinus infection before the days when hospitals and antibiotics made such tragedies preventable . it  s worth visiting these films though to see ziegfeld  s top star of the twenties .  
when i first started watching this anime i never thought that something about making bread could actually be interesting  but thankfully i was mistaken . from the moment i started watching it  anime just pulled into the world of bread making  i was hooked .  br    br   the biggest advantage of this anime is it  s humor  which is very intelligent and very funny  with some recurring gags . but the animation  soundtrack and character development are below average  while these disadvantages aren  t seen so much in the first episodes  because of the great job on this anime  it really starts to show in the last   episodes  when the reactions and recurring gags just grow old  and aren  t as funny as before .  br    br   as far as i  m concerned  if this anime had ended with episode   i would have given it a   but the last episodes just leave a bitter aftertaste  which sadly can  t be washed away by the awesome   episodes .  br    br        
written by a woman  and directed by another . whoppie . are we in for a feminist ride or what . fasten your seat  belts  ladies  for we are about to enter a world of mean men and innocent  well  intentioned women .  br    br   in this soaper trish comes across a guy in the employment agency who behaves  looks  and dresses like a pimp    and gives her a job with the hope of nailing her some time later . in his office he even touches her chin the way a megalomaniacal heavy in a bond movie would a touch a girl just after he  s captured her and just before he is ready to kill her alongside with bond . some time later the pimp  employment guy stalks trish in a ladies  dressing  room  harasses her  and even comes close to raping her . oh  these evil  evil men . they are all bad  don  t you know . you can  t even look for a job nowadays without getting raped  right ladies  well  we  ll show  em  in this film there is some kind of a divorced women  s club or something  headed by a janet leigh who speaks for all women involved in this film when she says that  men are all st  . she moans about how terrible men are she has been divorced five times . now  seriously any woman who marries twenty times and then uses that statistic as an argument that men are all  bad  must have realized eventually that the explanation might lie elsewhere  or  it must occur to her that a  she is a bad judge of male character  or  much more likely  b  she is the one impossible to live with  her ex  husbands were probably the victims  or if they were indeed aholes then she probably got what she deserved .  don  t the likes of zsa  zsa gabor and liz taylor prove this point  show me a likable woman who got married this often and i  ll show you a way to reach the planet mars using only roller  skates and a ladder .  trish eventually meets a computer guy who restores her faith in men  but hold your horses this guy turns out to be married  therefore proving without a doubt that men are indeed all  bad  . were it not  of course  for a kindly old vegetable seller around the corner who loves his wife even though she  s still dead  proving that all men are  bad  except for kindly old men whose penises don  t work and they  can  t get none  anyway so they are forced to abandon a life of aholocolism and finally give women the respect they deserve . even the supporting male characters are all  bad   the black guy in the employment agency is unfriendly  and the guy in the mortuary is out  right rude  and insensitive  the bastard  sob . . . sniffle  and what  s with this corny  corny ending  . . . minutes before court  time trish abandons the claim to any of her husband  s money  realizing that she is now  free  and that she can finally do that jump into the swimming pool . . .   what  s all that about   her jump into the pool is then  very predictably  frame  frozen as the credits start to role in  while life  inspiring i  don  t  need  revenge  nor  my  husband  s  money music starts kicking in . her girlfriends are shocked by her abandonment of money claims  but they don  t stay shocked for long and soon start kidding each other about what a heart  attack trish  s lawyer will get when he hears about this . the shyster lawyer is naturally a man . an evil  evil  terrible  bad  man  whose only interest in this world is money . . . ah  these men all they care about is money they know nothing of the higher values in life  like shopping . i am glad we have movies like this they bring the sexes closer together  but most importantly  they teach girls and young women that men are all horny  selfish  skirt  chasing bastards who will dump you into a world of poverty and misery the first chance they get . so  girls  open your mouths an stick your tongues into your girlfriend  s mouths . lesbian power   
the premise of this anime series is about bread  of all things to base a plot on  i truly laughed . the main character has a special bread making power that he was born with  and he goes off to bread baking school . i wish it were available on dvd  and it doesn  t matter if it  s subtitled or dubbed  it  s that good . even the theme song alone is funny . at one point in the theme song  there  s an african  japanese man with an afro on horseback  wielding a french baguette as if it were a samurai sword . these images will not make sense unless you see the anime . you  ll laugh until your sides hurt . it is definitely the most unique anime i have seen thus far .  
i can  t believe i wasted my time with this movie . i couldn  t even call it a movie . it was so bad with nothing to recommend it .  br    br   i like low budget movies and weird flicks but this one had me bored to death . badly made and bad acting ruined it from being curious . you have to wonder what these people were thinking when they spent money to produce this movie . i wonder what i was thinking watching it to the end . i recommend this movie to no one . how did they release this  was there an audience who likes this kind of movie  there must be because you can find this at almost any video store . but why   br    br   deserves to be forgotten .  br    br   if you like bad movies then this is for you .  
i usually steer clear of tv movies because of the many ways you know that it  s tv movies five seconds into the picture . this one got my attention because of the unusual title and its gloomy  well  crafted mood that is established from the very start . while the ever present rain confirmed my suspicions of a misplaced story  even if claiming to be set in california the movie was largely shot around a stormy vancouver  b . c .   the dark and oppressive outdoors beautifully complement olmos  excellent acting .  
townies is the laziest movie i have ever seen  and i saw the blair witch movies  parts one and two  . it seems confused in what it wants to be . it  s not funny enough for comedy  it  s not tragic enough for drama  it  s not bloody enough for horror  and it  s not good enough for watching . it has scenes of a man doing  slapstick  bloody  karate so i think  oh this movie will be in the vein of toxic avenger and street trash . then it leaps without warning into a drama about a missing girl  a retarded  mentally handicap  woman and a trusting mother . then it slaps itself into the only good part in the movie which seems to be set up like a sitcom without the laugh tracks . the part i  m speaking of is a lonely townie who is so lonely he finds comfort in a rotting corpse . that was the only part of the movie that gave me any feeling . the rest was a waist of my life . then  just to show how cruel wayne is there is a kind of documentary at the end of the film of wayne  the director  making fun of toby  the star  in public . it made me sick . even though killer nerd and bride of killer nerd  two other movies by wayne  aren  t the best  they at least are thought out enough were you can stay entertained until the ending credits . i even like killer nerd a bit  it had some great lines i still use to this day .  br    br   if you like underground films  if you like overground films  and if you like to watch your feet  just resting were they are  you will not like townies   br    br        out of    br    br    
this movie is obviously low  budget  filmed in british columbia  canada . the obstacles that had to be overcome to make this movie convincing  set in california  late    s     s  were well conceived . i believe this is the best  most accurate version of the zodiac killings that plagued the town of vallejo  the bay area from          he was never caught  . edward james olmos  det . dave toschi   george dzundza  zodiac  at the time believed to be arthur leigh allen  since cleared by dna  fingerprints  play a game of cat  mouse re  visiting crime scenes together  each one trying to trigger the other into an emotional revelation . olmos dying from some type of terminal disease  knowing dzundza did it  still totally obsessed to the point of losing his family  becoming a full blown alcoholic along the way . dzundza totally oblivious  self absorbed  like all serial killers  to the carnage left in his wake . the only disappointment was the  over the top  ending otherwise pretty accurate . if you tire of the typical hollywood fluff or have an interest in the zodiac case  check it out .  
the strange people living in a town go about their lives . there  s the licker a guy who licks everything  a dumpster diver that finds a body which he takes home to live with him  a crazy girl with a doll dressed like her  a guy who wants to cleanse girls of their wicked ways . . . offbeat in the extreme  this shot in black and white movie is better with out the color . the monochrome takes the edge off the two steps up from home movie feel . like a troma movie  this movie is fun in fits and starts but mostly its weird for weirds sake and soon becomes a crashing bore since one you see the set ups you can kind of guess where its going a lot of the time  not always  but enough for it not to be fun .  though i didn  t see the cleansing coming  . worth a shot if you  ve nothing else to watch and you  re waiting for the next set of golden girls to come from netflix .  
another comment about this film made it sound lousy . given talking pictures were so new  i think the script and acting were good . davis was so young and fresh . she had not yet found her own style that we had grown to expect . yet it is great to see her this way  still learning the craft .  br    br   so many clichs came from this film and it seems  this film blazed some trails for the next   years . my vote is see it and remember how young this type of film was . keep and open mind and you maybe shocked at how troubled the characters were in this picture  for being     and how we view the early part of last century as uptight . . i love it and hope you make up your own mind about it not influenced by others negative and one note comments .  
i  ve been working my way through a collection of lugosi films recently  and having just been blown away a couple of days ago by the combination of lugosi and boris karloff in  the black cat  i was really looking forward to seeing their collaboration in  the raven .  alas  it just didn  t work for me  and by the end of the film i was quite disappointed .  br    br   for the first three quarters of this movie or so i thought the story lacked any real suspense . lugosi was doing a pretty good job of holding things together as the somewhat mad dr . vollins  some sort of surgical genius who falls in love with a young woman  irene ware  he treats after a car accident but who can  t have her  partly because she  s already engaged  and partly because her father  samuel s . hinds  disapproves . to deal with that situation  he enlists the aid of edmond bateman  boris karloff   a horribly ugly man who wants vollins to make him look more acceptable . aside from lugosi  s performance  though  i found little to hold my interest . then  suddenly  in the last fifteen or twenty minutes  the movie shifts around completely . suddenly it becomes quite suspenseful  but i thought lugosi  s performance fell apart  largely because the movie tried to shift him from mad to insane  and there  s a difference . he plays the  mad  role very well  controlled and in control but evil .  insane  is a more out of control evil  and i didn  t think lugosi pulled that off well . at one point  he offers some maniacal laughter which just comes across as fake . in the meantime  karloff was a huge disappointment . he never grabbed me at all . as an aside  it must have grated on lugosi that  in movies in which they co  star  karloff gets the top billing  even though in  the raven  it  s clearly lugosi who is the lead actor . this surely gives a hint as to how universal ranked their two great horror stars  inexplicably  i would add  because i  ve always thought of lugosi as the better actor of the two .  br    br   in any event  there  s no real connection here to edgar allen poe  s story  the raven   except that vollins is a poe fanatic  who tries to recreate some of the torture techniques from poe  s stories . overall  a disappointment .     .  
 . . . that the bette davis version of this film was better than the kim novak version .  br    br   despite all of the other comments written here  i really prefer the bette davis version  even though the novak version has a more coherent story line .  br    br   however davis  mildred  s raw emotions seem to me to be more apt to a sluttish girl who seems easily to become a prostitute .  br    br   and it is those raw emotions that constitute part of what the poor doctor falls in love with . he has emotions of despair  of failure  of  otherness   strong emotions that he represses . davis  mildred  on the other hand  displays her emotions immediately and without censure . she has no feelings of despair  or of failure  or of  otherness   rather  she is merely surviving as a poor cockney woman in the victorian era .  br    br   novak  s portrayal was a more vulnerable mildred than was davis   almost through the the whole movie . davis  mildred was never vulnerable until she actually had to go to the doctor and beg for assistance . and when he reviles her  for her method of keeping body and soul together  and for continually taking advantage of his love for her  she unleashes arguably the most passionate repudiation of snobbish holier than thou attitude ever seen on screen  i wiped my mouth  i wiped my mouth    novak  s vulnerability was excellent . davis  realism was monumental .  br    br   imdb votes concur   
i  m a don johnson fan  but this is undoubtedly the worst movie  done by anybody  that i  ve ever seen . the acting was bad  as was the cinematography . don should stick to doing action  because as the king  he just didn  t cut it .  
although this film put davis on the map due to her brilliantly intense performance as the illiterate guttersnipe waitress  prostitute mildred rogers  this film is strangely unsatisfying to me as a whole . the acting is indeed fine in most every respect . what i cannot fathom for the life of me is just how or why phillip  a sensitive  well  bred young man would take the constant abuse this tramp constantly dishes out towards him i find his naive tolerance quite ridiculously unbelievable in certain respects . yes  i know he is a sensitive club  footed  introverted intellectual . but davis is such a venomous witch that nobody that cultured would tolerate her attitude or actions and make it believable . davis is astounding in her role yes  she may go overboard in her histrionics now and then  but it  s a vividly creative portrayal any which way you look at it . too bad she wasn  t playing a gangster  s moll . her character would have been completely believable as a tramp among low  lifes   
you may say to yourself   don johnson as elvis  can that work  is it possible  seems like an terrible choice to me  but perhaps i should have an open mind . maybe i  ll be surprised . maybe he can pull it off .   br    br   not   br    br   don johnson is not a bad actor . but he is an awful elvis . he  s too short  too weak  voiced  too sharply featured . . . well you  ve already imagined how bad he would be . add to that a hokey black wig and heavy  handed eye  liner and mascara and it  s a big fat embarrassing mess .  br    br   the best i can say is that since johnson  s acting is decent and since his impersonation is so far off  after a while you don  t even think of him as elvis anymore . you see him as some other crazed pop star instead . then  on that level  the movie becomes watchable .  br    br   stephanie zimbalist is also not ideally cast as the tall  beauty queen  linda thompson . but she is attractive in her own right and plays the part with the honesty  elegance and intelligence we  ve come to expect from all her roles . there may be too much intelligence in her performance . you have to be kind of a dope to stick with a dope abusing dope .  br    br   there  s nothing new to this story we  ve heard it many times before . if you  ve looking for new info or insight  you won  t find it . it  s told as a love story  an unrequited one linda for elvis and elvis for drugs .  
when i saw that this film was only   minutes long  i thought we were in trouble . condensing the gigantic w . somerset maugham novel down to a movie that clocks in at under an hour and a half seemed like a disaster waiting to happen . but you know  the movie  s not half bad  and it even manages to retain much of what makes the book resonate so much with its readers .  br    br   i  ve heard many film buffs complain that leslie howard was a wet noodle of an actor  and he was  but i can  t think of anyone more suited to play the role of philip carey than a wet noodle  for that  s certainly what carey is . howard plays him well  which means you want to shake him and slap him upside the head repeatedly  then finally take him out and buy him a spine .  br    br   ah  and then there  s bette  as the girl with whom carey is obsessed and who brings his world crashing down around him . i didn  t know what on earth the appeal of mildred was in the book  and the movie stays true to that detail . but as played by davis  she does become the most fascinating character in the story  and if she  s nasty and unlikable  she  s at least the most dynamic person on screen at any given time . davis  s performance here is credited with changing the course of screen acting  much as brando  s would do nearly   years later when he screamed out  stella    in that little  known tennesee williams play  and it  s not hard to see why . davis is intense to the point of scary . she makes no effort to wring any sympathy from the audience  and she allows herself to look ugly and most unglamorous . her appearance when carey walks in on her late in the film to find her dead or nearly dead of an unnamed disease  though not much care is taken to hide the fact that it  s an std  is shocking . of course  it helps that this movie squeaked out just before the production code went into effect if it had been made a year later  you can bet things would have been a bit different .  br    br   yes  much of the novel  and many of its most interesting parts  are left on the cutting room floor  and the story really does become about carey and mildred and not much else . i found that to be the least interesting and most tedious part of maugham  s novel  but it is the part that gives the novel its title and seems to be the part that readers are still drawn to now  so it strikes me as a wise decision on the part of the film makers that they chose to adapt the novel the way they did .  br    br   grade b  
in      after his wife left to go her own way  elvis presley began dating linda thompson . miss thompson  a good  humored  long haired  lovely  statuesque beauty queen  is charted to fill a void in elvis  life . when elvis  divorce became final  linda was already in place as the legendary performer  s live  in girlfriend and travel companion until     .  br    br   this is a gaudy look at their love affair and companionship . linda whole  heartedly tending to her lover  s needs and desires . and even putting up with his swallowing medications by the handful and introducing her to her own love affair with valium . at times this movie is harsh and dark of heart a very unattractive look at the  king  and his queen .  br    br   don johnson is absolutely awful as elvis . over acting to the hilt is not attractive . stephanie zimbalist lacks the classiness of linda  but does the job pretty well . supporting cast includes john crawford  ruta lee  and rick lenz . watching this twice is more than enough for me  but don  t let this review stop you from checking it out . for most elvis fans that i have conferred with  this is not a favored presentation .  
today actresses happily gain weight  dye their hair  dress like slobs  and lose their glamor for a role  and bette davis was probably the actress who started the trend . even as a pretty young woman who occasionally wore designer clothes and constance bennett  type makeup in films  davis was willing to ravage herself in order to create a character on the outside as well as the inside .  br    br   her determination is amply demonstrated here in her breakout film   of human bondage   in which she stars with leslie howard as philip carey . davis plays mildred  a slutty  manipulative  greedy low  life to howard  s masochistic  club  footed philip . he first meets her when she  s a waitress  and she allows him to take her out to dinner and theater while she frolics with a wealthy older man  alan hale sr .  . in truth  mildred is repulsed by philip  s club foot . on his part  philip seems to enjoy the abuse of her open flirtation and her coolness toward him . he allows mildred to bleed him dry financially in between boyfriends who drop her when they tire of her  while he blows off a couple of truly lovely women  kay johnson and frances dee  . when he gets the gumption to throw her out  mildred trashes his apartment and robs him  forcing him to withdraw from medical school and lose his lodgings .  br    br    of human bondage  looks rather stilted today in parts . though leslie howard was a wonderful actor and attractive  his acting style is of a more formal old school  and as a result  he tends to date whatever he  s in . he shines in material like his role opposite davis in  it  s love i  m after  or  the petrified forest  which call for his kind of technique . his dated acting is even more obvious here because davis was forging new ground with a gritty  edgy performance that would really make her name . if she seems at times over the top  she came from the stage  and the subtleties of film acting would emerge later for her . contrast this performance with the restraint  warmth and gentleness of her henriette in  all this  and heaven too  or the pathos she brought to  dark victory .  she was a true actress and a true artist . davis really allows herself to look like holy hell mildred  s deterioration is absolutely pathetic as philip seems to gain strength as her spirit fades .  br    br   an excellent film in which to see the burgeoning of one of film  s greatest stars .  
previous commentator steve richmond stated that a walk on the moon is  in his words  not worth your    . i ended up paying a bit more than that to import what is one of the worst  quality dvds i have yet seen  of this film or any film in existence . even when you ignore the fact that the dvd is clearly sourced from an interlaced master and just plain nasty to watch in motion  the film has no redeeming qualities  save anna  s presence  to make watching a top quality blu  ray transfer worthwhile . not that this is any fault of the other actors . liev schreiber  diane lane  tovah feldshuh  and viggo mortensen all score high on the relative to anna paquin acting ability chart . far more so than holly hunter or sam neill did in spite of an equally lousy script  anyway . director tony goldwyn  s resume is nothing to crow about  but pamela gray  s resume includes wes craven  s most dramatic excursions outside of the horror or slasher genre  so one could be forgiven for thinking this is a case of bad direction .  br    br   as i have indicated already  the sole reason i watched this film is anna paquin . in her acting debut  she literally acted veterans of the industry with a minimum of twelve years  experience above hers under the table . while she is not as far ahead of her castmates here  her performance as a girl that starts the piece as a brat and grows into a woman whose world is crashing down around her proves her oscar was no fluke . for some time i have been stating to friends that she would be the best choice to portray the heroine of my second complete novel  and a dialogue seventy  three minutes into this film is yet another demonstration of why . this woman could literally act the paint off walls . anna aside  only liev schreiber comes close to eliciting any sympathy from an audience . sure  his character spends the vast majority of the film neglecting a wife with an existential crisis  but he plays the angered reaction of a man who feels cheated brilliantly . i should know  even if it is not from the same circumstances here .  br    br   viggo mortensen also deserves credit for his portrayal of a travelling salesman  although perhaps not to the same extent . in a manner of speaking  he is the villain of the piece  but he successfully gives the character a third dimension . yes  his actions even after the whole thing explodes are underhanded  but not many men would act any differently in his situation . nobody wants to be the other man in this kind of messed  up situation  so viggo deserves a lot of credit for giving it a try here . unfortunately  these are all participants in a story about a woman who feels trapped in a stagnant marriage where tovah feldshuh tells us that the mills and boon archetype of women being the only ones who feel life is passing by simply does not exist . either writer pamela gray or director tony goldwyn thought they could just put this line into the film without thinking of how the audience might receive it . anna even gets to speak the mind of the audience when she asks diane who she is to be lecturing anyone about responsibility .  br    br   that said  the film does have a couple of things besides anna going for it . mason daring  s original music  while not standing out in any way  gives the film a certain feeling of being keyed into the time depicted that helps where the other elements do not . roger ebert is right when he points out that while liev is a great actor  putting him alongside viggo in the story of a woman forced to choose between her marriage and her fantasy is a big mistake . he is also very correct in that when the film lingers over scenes of lane and mortensen skinny  dipping or mounting one another under a waterfall  it loses focus from being a story of a transgression and becomes soft porn . the film seems terminally confused about the position of its story . no matter how many times i rewatch liev  s scenes  i cannot help but feel he has been shortchanged in the direction or editing . one does not have to make their leads particularly handsome or beautiful  but taking steps to make them the most interesting or developed characters in the piece would have gone a long way .  br    br   ebert also hits the nail right on the head when he says that every time he saw anna on the screen  he thought her character was where the real story lay . stories about the wife feeling neglected and running into the arms of a man who seems interesting or even dangerous are a dime a dozen  to such an extent now that even setting the story in parallel with an event as earth  shattering as the moon landing will not help . in spite of feeling revulsion at the manner in which her character  s story is presented  anna might as well be walking around with a neon sign above her head asking the audience if they would not prefer to see the whole thing through her eyes . while i am all too aware that it is difficult to control exactly which character your audience will find the most interesting from your cast  it is very much as if they did not bother to try with lane and schreiber . fans of these two would be well advised to look elsewhere . hopefully by now my ramblings about the respective performances will give some idea of where the whole thing went wrong .  br    br   i gave a walk on the moon a three out of ten . anna paquin earns it a bonus point with one of her best performances  and that is saying something  .  
i grew up on this movie and i can remember when my brother and i used to play in the backyard and pretend we were in care  a  lot . now  after so many years have passed  i get to watch the movie with my daughter and watch her enjoy it . if you are parent and you have not watched this movie with your children  then you should  just so you hold them in your arms and watch them get thrilled over the care bears and care  a  lot  the songs  especially  forever young  are very sweet and memorable . parents  i highly recommend this movie for all kids so they can learn how enjoyable caring for others can be  when it comes down to all the trash that is on tv  you can raise your children to have the right frame of mind about life with movies like these .  
the only redeeming qualities this movie has are the fairly original death scenes . other than that this movie is a big dud . we have kim basinger  the beleaguered housewife slowly meandering thru the local mall for the first   min . of the movie  which added nothing . then the movie picks up a bit as she has a confrontation with  punks who took up  parking spaces on this busy xmas eve . they begin to chase her after offing the local security guard who tried to help her . from there this movie gets worse  way worse . i know its only a movie and you  ve gotta go with the flow but she  s got about a  min . headstart and she can  t hide or find someone to help her . instead she drives to a half built subdivision beside a forest . in typical fashion she does everything she can to allow her followers to easily track her . but now she turns into one tough mofu . you get the point . do not under any circumstances buy or rent this movie no matter how much you like this type . it  s so illogical you  ll be questioning every scene . it is embarrassing for basinger and craig sheffer and the rest of the cast  as well as the consumers .  
reading web sites on bette davis one can find instances where authors claim that there is nothing special about her acting . i even found a site which claimed that bette davis  success was probably due to her luck . but ms davis films of     tell quite the opposite . the most evident example are two films that she did only few weeks apart fog over frisco and on human bondage . characters she played in these movies  though both being negative  are quite different . arlene in the former is a beautiful  glamorous and frivolous heiress and much more likable character than mildred in the latter  which is a pale  uneducated and impudent cockney waitress . needless to say that ms davis played both characters very authentic and with the same enthusiasm . but even that is not all . the point is that the former role  which would be wished by most actresses of the day  was the one she was forced to play . the latter role  which seemed to most actresses as undesirable  career destroying role  was the one she fought for ferociously for months . and it was the latter role that launched her among the greatest stars . so there is no question that ms davis knew from the start what she was doing .  br    br   the film  which tells about a medical student phillip carey  leslie howard  which falls unhappily in love with cockney waitress mildred rogers  bette davis   has a few week points  but many more strong ones . the story is simply too big to be told in mere   minutes . for example  it is quite unclear why refined student found any interest in an impudent waitress in the first place . well  there is one scene in which we are exposed to ms davis captivating eyes  but this is when his emotions are already fully evolved . nevertheless  the integrity of the story is preserved by superior acting from howard and davis as well as fantastic steiner  s music which tells tons of emotions even when we do not see characters  faces . in fact the film is amalgamated by phillip  s walking sequences showing him from the back supplemented with shuddering two  tone repetition . every detail is well thought  max steiner wrote a beautiful leitmotif for each women in phillip  s life  which is consistently used through the film . and a beautiful scene in which we see sally  s face in front of calendar is one of the sweetest scenes i  ve ever seen exactly due to francis dee  s breathtaking beauty  ms dee was by the way considered to be too beautiful to play leading role in gone with a wind  as well as steiner  s captivating music . camera movements between the some scenes is also original and refreshing .  br    br   but my strongest objection is that events are presented too two  dimensionally  which induce viewer that mildred is an ultimate slut . the most disgusting characters ought to be men which lure her into relationship  despite well knowing that they will abandon her after taking use of her  but they  curiously  finished portrayed as likable characters . after all  mildred always  in her own specific  but still a honest way  lets phillip know that she despises him and had no interest in him . which he just refuses to hear . it is phillips masochistic nature connected to his club foot and infantile experiences that is the principal reason of his love problem . he is enslaved to his club foot as much as to mildred and perhaps has to be free of both to start a normal life . of course  selfish and impudent mildred  after discovering voluntary phillip  s bondage to her  did its own share to make his life hell . even taking into account that she exploded after realizing that the bondage has loosen  it is less than clear why would she burn phillip  s money  maugham intended different in his novel  . after all  she could as well steal it and drunk gallons of champagne .  br    br   for modern standards the film is a bit outdated  but each subsequent time you watch it  you can reveal new interesting details due to superior acting  fascinating music and original editing  so it does deserve the highest possible mark .  
in what could have been an otherwise run of the mill  mediocre film about infidelity in the sixties  the subtle  free  love  period   the creators of this film pile on ridiculous scenario after ridiculous scenario and top it all off with a trite little cherry on top  happily ever after ending . at no time did i ever feel sympathy for diane lane or anna paquin in their troublesome middle  class care free life  nor did i feel for the emasculated liev shrieber . the story line plods along slowly to its predictable  pathetic conclusion and the only thing interesting and watchable about this film is the stunning diane lane topless . here  s a hint  it occurs about   minutes into the film . fast forward to that part and skip the rest .  
somerset maugham  s characters are brought to life in rko  s  of human bondage   but the movie is a too skeletal version of the novel  with bette davis  star  making performance sucking up all of the energy . otherwise  it  s the story of leslie howard  as philip carey   he dreams of becoming a painter  but is told he has no talent for the arts . as the film progresses  mr . howard  s struggles  instead  to become a doctor . his efforts seem to indicate some bad advice regarding the arts though successful in medicine  his painting seemed easier  also  note the symbolism of his disability  a  club foot   explained in the film  .  br    br   along the way  right away  in this version   howard becomes infatuated with waitress davis  as mildred rogers  . davis  characterization of  mildred  is extraordinary  culminating in a spectacular speech  when she tells howard  among other things  that she had to  wipe my mouth   after kissing him . howard also performs well  but the story fails to explain his prolonged fascination and love for davis so  their performances are wasted .  br    br   still  a film to watch for the acting  including some good supporting players . bette davis  characterization was famous for inspiring a  write  in  campaign for the      best actress  academy award . for the record  she placed third . the results were  br    br    . claudette colbert   it happened one night   br    br    . norma shearer   the barretts of wimpole street   br    br    . bette davis   of human bondage   br    br    . grace moore   one night of love   br    br    of human bondage          john cromwell  leslie howard  bette davis  reginald denny  
tony goldwyn is a good actor who evidently is trying his hand at directing .  a walk on the moon  appears to have borrowed from other  better made films . the present story takes place in the late sixties at a summer resort for working class jews not far from woodstock . the screen treatment by pamela gray doesn  t have much going for it  so it  s a puzzle why mr . goldwyn decided to tackle this film as his first attempt at direction .  br    br   the kantrowitz family is spending some time at the resort . we see them arrive at the small bungalow that is going to be their temporary home . marty  the father  comes only for the week  end he works in what appears to be a family small appliance business repairing television sets  mostly . in a few days the first man will walk in space  so the excitement is evident .  br    br   the kantrowitz women are left behind . pearl  marty  s wife and her mother  in  law  lilian  spend idle days in the place until the  blouse salesman  arrives . pearl goes browsing and she finds much more than a shmatte she gets the salesman as well . it appears that pearl and marty have no sexual life at all . after two children  pearl  who appears to be sexy and with a high libido is ready for some extra marital fun .  br    br   that is the basic premise for the film  which becomes a soap opera when the young daughter  alison  decides to play hooky and go to the woodstock festival nearby where  horror of horrors  she witnesses her own mom making out with the blouse salesman  what  s a girl to do  well  stay tuned for the grand finale when all the parties are happily reunited by the little son  s bedside when he is stung by wasps and the salesman comes to apply some home remedy  and daddy is called from the city  after knowing about pearl  s betrayal with the younger stud .  br    br   poor diane lane  she went to make  unfaithful  later on  which is the upscale version of this dud . viggo mortensen is the salesman who caters to his lonely female customers whispering little somethings in their ears  liev schreiber as marty  the cuckolded husband  doesn  t have much to do . anna paquin plays the rebellious alison and tovah feldshuh is the unhappy nana  who would like to have stayed in the city watching her soap operas instead of witnessing first hand one that is playing in her own backyard   br    br   watch it at your risk  or pop the dvd in the telly when you have a fun crowd at home and you really want to have a laugh  or two dishing the film .  
the movie may be great . i just watched it last night  but feel unable to give an honest opinion of it because i read the book first . the book is so much better than the movie that i was disappointed with the film . if you plan to watch  of human bondage   don  t read the book beforehand . on the other hand  the book is so good  and contains so much more than the love affair phillip has with mildred  you could still enjoy it after seeing the movie . i do not make this claim lightly . i average reading a book every  days  and read such disparate authors as danielle steel  ovid  faulkner  plato  and shakespeare .  of human bondage  gets my vote as one of the top ten novels ever written .  
seeing as the world snooker championship final finished in a premature and disappointing manner with ronnie osullivan defeating greame dott by   frames to  bbc  found a gap in their schedule and so decided to broadcast a walk on the moon a movie i had absolutely no knowledge off  br    br   i missed a few seconds of the title credits so had no idea viggo mortensen starred in it and thought possibly it might be a cheap tvm  certainly the opening with the mawkish pearl and marty taking their kids to a summer camp has that sort of made for tv feel though the brightly lit  too brightly lit  cinematography seemed to suggest this was a cinematic film and it wasnt until the appearence of viggo mortensen as hippy guy walker that i realised this was a cinema release  after all someone of mortensens stature wouldnt star in a tvm  i mean thats like a legend like robert deniro appearing in a straight to video film . wait a minute  didnt bob . . . .   br    br   some people on this site have mentioned that pearl and marty are an unconvincing on  screen couple and i agree . i can understand why pearl would be attracted to exciting hippy guy but have no idea why walker would be attracted to plain house wife pearl . the sixties was before my time but surely if youve got the choice between hippy chicks and bored house wives its not really a choice at all . mind you a lot of people took lsd in those days so i guess that explains it  br    br   i feel the major problem of a walk on the moon comes down to the fact its a romantic drama at heart  just like youd expect in a tvm  with several cloying coming of age scenes so why include a fairly explicit sex scene  it jars with the rest of the movie and is possibly off putting to the menopuasal women who were   something in     . i say possibly because the movie also seems to aim at a teeenage market with the coming of age scenes and those teenagers will probably be bored with the historical and social context of man walking on the moon and woodstock . in other words a walk on the moon tries to attract many types of audience but will probably appeal to none of them  
bette davis  electrifying performance is such that it is hard to remember the other female players . they were as perfect in their parts as davis was in hers  they just didn  t have as much to do . some of the reviewers felt that the book was so much better  it was but to give the film it  s due  to condense a    page book down to   minutes is no mean feat . the first part of the book didn  t even make it to the screen  it told of phillip  s childhood  then moved to germany and paris  where phillip had gone to try to make good as an artist . it also chronicles his first romance  with fanny price  who kills herself when she realises phillip cannot return her feelings of love . it is a wonderful book but rambling and i think that anyone who does not think too highly of the film should read the book and will realise how good the film is .  br    br   after realising that he will only ever be a mediocre painter  phillip carey  leslie howard  comes back to england hoping to take up medicine . when out at a tearoom he meets a sullen waitress  mildred  bette davis  . even though she has no interest in him and basically treats him like dirt  phillip is obsessed . it is so hard to watch his efforts at trying to find any civility in this vicious shrew . in one scene she promises to meet him in a second class railway waiting room  when they almost miss each other  she berates him with  why would i wait in a second class waiting room when there is a first class one available  . you just want to shake him . the only time she is pleasant to him is when she tells him she is going to marry another man  a coarse sales  man  emile miller  alan hale  . with mildred out of the picture  he meets nora  kay johnson  a lovely woman  who writes romantic novels under a male pseudonym . she jokes about the popularity the books enjoy among servants  in the novel he had seen mildred reading them .  nora gives phillip all the love and confidence he needs but he is incapable of returning her love . when mildred returns  miller didn  t marry her and she is having a baby   of course he takes care of her and helps her with the baby  in the film it is treated as an object  always called  baby   never given a name or gender   she repays him by running off with his best friend .  br    br   at the hospital he meets sally athelny  frances dee  who is visiting her sick father . he begins to visit her home and for the first time in his life gets a sense of family . then surprise  surprise  mildred returns like a bad penny and surprise  philip takes her in . but he has changed and feels only disgust when she tries to show gratitude the only way she knows how . then follows one of the most vicious  verbal fights on film with phrases such as  you cad  you dirty swine    i only kissed you because you begged me  and  when you went i wiped my mouth  i wiped my mouth     in the book a lot of mildred  s stock phrases such as  you  re a gentleman in every sense of the word    i don  t mind   and  mr . high and mighty  were associated with prostitutes and when phillip meets her for the first time he is struck by that .  br    br   the end of the film shows phillip  being truly free of mildred in the only way possible  now free to love sally . again in the book sally tells phillip that she thinks she is having a baby but that just makes him more sure of his love . that ending  like mildred  s  sickness  could not be in the film  even a pre  code one .  br    br   kay johnson was always called on to play sensible  believable women  which she played to perfection as she was obviously sensible herself . her nora was the woman philip should have stayed with . frances dee was one of the most beautiful of screen ingenues . she was obviously being groomed for stardom with some roles that proved she was not just a pretty face   the silver cord  and  blood money   but when she married joel mccrea her career started to peter out . her sally did not push her talent to the limits . apparently leslie howard was not very helpful to bette davis on the set  he was annoyed that an english actress was not given the part . he used to throw her her lines  whilst reading a book off camera  . he did start to take an interest when a newspaper reported  the kid was running away with the picture      br    br   highly  highly recommended .  
recently  i had opportunity to view a working print in kansas city  olathe  ks .  of this title . it is difficult for me  being a lover of the art as i am  to report the following  but  the truth sometimes hurts  and quite frankly after sitting through this tripe  i  m using the slang definition here  worthless statements or writing  for an hour and a half  i feel obligated to share  warn  any interested parties . let  s begin at the beginning  a good place to start as always . the first   minutes are not really that bad  a couple of laughs  and decent development  but then it is downhill from there . this is the story of a woman  in her mid thirties  that  as the writer would like for you to believe  is dissatisfied with her life and unfulfilled . the first major difficulty occurs when if you don  t know that fact going into the movie  you won  t know it when she suddenly risks it all for  in my opinion  a very unkempt and unlikely fling with a local salesman . there is little development  drastically insufficient development  to justify her actions for the affair she has  and when it occurs  one feels  as i did  that she is just of low moral character . the word  slut  comes to mind  hopefully  they  ll let that pass the review and post the comment . this  in my opinion  is the first fatal flaw of the film . if you  re married or have ever been in love  irregardless of whether you are male or female  its going to turn you off . quite frankly  i feel that it would have made a much better  blue movie   that  s the level in my opinion of which the screenplay is deserving . the second fatal flaw is the casting  diane lane just didn  t work for me here  and viggo mortensen is not the right man for the job  believe me . the only saving grace to the entire film is anna paquin  the depth of her ability as a fine actress shines in places  conveying a subtle yet very blunt  i apologize for the dichotomy but it is accurate  portrayal of an emerging teen . bravo  well done . i  m not going to give the ending away  but i was disappointed  being billed as a slice of life romance is one thing . . . but an ending like that . . . . well  if that teased you enough to see this picture  don  t say i didn  t warn you  but you better look fast  if this celluloid is released  i doubt it goes four weeks before bursting into flames . i  d say wait for the video  but the free sex education tapes at most video rental outlets have more entertainment value . hmmm  dustin hoffman produced this  you think he  d learn after ishtar . this film once carried the working title  blouse man  and should have been left on the rack . if you  ve never in your life wanted to walk out on a film  give this one      minutes  the only thing worth staying for is anna paquin  if you can stomach the fact that you  ll find your mind drifting to whether or not you took out the garbage before you left home  which is probably where you should have stayed in the first place if you  re off to the movies to see this one . that  s my two cents  for what it is worth .  
this     adaptation of somerset maugham  s novel put bette davis on the map as a movie actress . she might have won an academy award for her performance but the films was made on loan  so her studio didn  t push for her . her acting in this one doesn  t come off well by today  s standards . as the heartless waitress who jerks philip  a sensitive medical student  around and nearly ruins his life  davis is way too shrill  almost demonic . director john cromwell  who usually elicited good performances from his actresses  was perhaps overwhelmed by this one . davis is watchable  for sure  but so strident and predatory as to seem scarcely human . i imagine the character of millie as quieter  less feminine than davis  with maybe a touch of the tomboy . davis is such a strong  immediate presence that  s there  s no air of mystery to her  which makes philip  s attraction to her seem more overtly masochistic than it should be .  br    br   as philip  leslie howard is excellent . his wan  somewhat wilted good looks are perfect for this failed aesthete . nor does he impose a personal interpretation on the part  as  say  dirk bogarde might have done  which gives his work a rare clarity . he seems completely in control here  as he should be  playing a man with a rational intellect who is in the grip of irrational emotions he cannot manage or even fully satisfy  as the object of his affections moves him in ways he cannot understand . howard was a fine actor  too often cast in standard romantic parts which compelled him to fall back on charm  which he doesn  t use here .  br    br   it  s been so long since i  ve read the book i don  t feel comfortable commenting on the movie  s faithfulness to it . i think it captures the spirit of the story well enough  and that it has in howard a perfect philip carey . the sexual undercurrents are muted  and at times philip behaves so masochistically that in the absence of strong sex feelings makes one wonder about the character  s sanity  surely not mr . maugham  s intention . thanks to howard  s performance  philip remains firmly in focus  as one can see in his various responses to and yearnings for millie the extremes to which a reasonable intellect will go to understand the irrational  in himself and in others .  br    br   overall  a very good film  a little stilted at times  due to its age  it evokes london nicely  and is well acted for the most part .  
any movie that portrays the hard  working responsible husband as the person who has to change because of bored  cheating wife is an obvious result of  years of the clinton era .  br    br   it  s little wonder that this movie was written by a woman .  
i saw this film again and noticed how close it is to the novel if we ignore the part about cary  s leslie howard childhood . considering that  br    br   at the time not much can be shown on the screen  not that there is much in the novel the obsession of the character with mildred bette davis is very well conveyed to the audience . i recommend this film to anyone who ever fell for another person and the other side tried to take advantage of him or her . i have read that maugham was asked to make a recording of the novel for sale  but when he started to in the studio he began crying and could not finish more than a few lines and whole project was chucked . one can tell the novel is written from the heart and the film is a good  br    br   adaptation of a part of it at least .  
why do people who do not know what a particular time in the past was like feel the need to try to define that time for others  replace woodstock with the civil war and the apollo moon  landing with the titanic sinking and you  ve got as realistic a flick as this formulaic soap opera populated entirely by low  life trash . is this what kids who were too young to be allowed to go to woodstock and who failed grade school composition do   i  ll show those old meanies  i  ll put out my own movie and prove that you don  t have to know nuttin about your topic to still make money   yeah  we already know that . the one thing watching this film did for me was to give me a little insight into underclass thinking . the next time i see a slut in a bar who looks like diane lane  i  m running the other way . it  s child abuse to let parents that worthless raise kids . it  s audience abuse to simply stick woodstock and the moonlanding into a flick as if that ipso facto means the film portrays     .  
bette davis turns in a coldly amusing performance as mildred rogers in this     film . the film seems rather dated now in     . it is no doubt well worth watching for film buffs and bette davis fans but may not have as much appeal for the average movie watcher today . it was startling for me to see how young ms . davis looks in this move . the actors turn in performances which are basically sound and the story is meaningful and interesting . leslie howard is well cast as philip carey  the club  footed medical student . this is a film with a strong message about whom we choose to love and why . however   of human bondage  didn  t seem to have a strong impact on me mentally or emotionally . i felt slightly indifferent and detached about the movie after viewing it . i have an intuition that this may be the reaction that the director was going for . you be the judge   br    br    
here again is yet another diane lane movie where she cheats on her husband . is this the only role she knows how to play  this time it  s set in     and she cheats on her husband with the blouse man . i am so not surprised because that is so very predictable . then her husband gets mad and throws the milk . i wouldn  t be surprised if she slept with the milkman as well . i wouldn  t be surprised if she slept with the ice cream man too because this is a very boring movie . then after some milk throwing  she says sorry and sees the blouse man again . duh . then while she is making it with him  her son gets stung by wasps . my mom always told me not to throw rocks at a wasps nest . this kids mom didn  t have time to tell him that  she was too busy with the blouse man .  
the story is somewhat stilted  what with the main character  s sudden reversals of fortune  but leslie howard and bette davis  s portrayals of philip carey  the nave obsessed lover and mildred rogers  the unworthy object of his affections  raise this film considerably above standard melodrama .  br    br   sensitive  cultured philip  who for most of the picture is in bondage to first his infatuation and then his pity for mildred is not unlike a character howard was to play a few years later   ashley wilkes  the southern gentleman too refined and decent to make it in the rough reconstruction era . philip in fact seems resigned to disappointment even before mildred enters the picturehe doesn  t even seem particularly surprised when his art teacher tells him he  ll never make it as a painter . it is perhaps this passivity  these lowered expectations that makes him put up with the selfish cockney waitress for as long as he does .  br    br   although leslie howard is memorable  today  of human bondage  is mainly thought of as a bette davis picture  perhaps because of the well known story of how she had to fight jack warner to get the part of mildred  and perhaps too because movie audiences tend to prefer characters with her sort of brash energy . mildred may have a grating voice  but she also has the ethereal beauty of a stained glass angel  making it somewhat understandable why philip let himself be strung along for as long as he did . although man eating mildred may at times seem one dimensional  she does evoke sympathy in the viewer from time to time as when she becomes ill and belatedly realizes that philip is the only decent man who ever cared for her . one may also think she is on to something when she accuses philip of looking down on her for not being  fine  enough .  the scene in which philip and norah dismiss romance magazines as trash for kitchen maids seems to confirm this  .  br    br   most of the supporting characters are also effective  particularly norah the sensible romance writer who loves philip but knows she can never compete with mildred and sally who has mildred  s beauty and norah  s decency and emerges as the deserving woman philip is rewarded with in the end . the only character i found hollow was sally  s eccentric  ale slurping aristocratic father who seems like a stock character from an earlier era .  br    br   a classic that deserves it reputation .  
sorry fulci fans  but i could not get through this one . the soundtrack was about as annoying as they come  the acting was puerile  the story has been done and done  and the direction was non  existent .  br    br   massacre honestly looked like a children  s film project . but i  ve seen some of those  and they actually look better than this did  it appears to have been so underfunded they couldn  t afford . . . anything  not a dop  not a director  no one who even remotely had a clue what acting was . it was a very poor cinematic experience one of my worst .  br    br   this was about the worst suck  fest i  ve seen  next to terror toons which is second only to killer klowns from outer space . i  ve nothing else to say about it .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
i just saw  of human bondage  for the first time a few days ago and wow  what a mysterious and almost spooky film . i loved how the music went with the pace of each step of philip  s feet . it gave me the chills for some reason . . .  br    br   one of the greatest aspects of this film is that you get to see bette davis coming into herself right before your eyes . she  s great  not necessarily because this is her best work  but because it was so out of the ordinary to be so vicious  gritty  and unflinching as an actress in     . . . bette was a risk taker  always wanting to be different and this is right about when she started to realize that she could be as nasty and daring as she wanted and people would love her for it . if you  re a true lover of film  it  s amazing to see . . .  br    br   she just had a way of delivering a line that made the part  and the film for that matter  belong to her . like  a mass of music and fire . that  s me . . . an old kazoo and some sparklers  or  but you are blanche  you are in that chair   or  with all my heart  i still love the man i killed    . . . those are from a few of her films  but you get my drift . she was just so brave  sassy  and exotic looking with those beautiful big eyes . after seeing this  i can  t believe it was remade twice . . .  br    br   leslie howard was gorgeous . . . so calm and persistent  needing to be loved . i thought he was adorable and couldn  t understand how everyone wasn  t falling for him  but then again  everyone was . . . except mildred . he did a great job . . .  br    br   the only thing that i didn  t like was something that was common with the writing in the early films . they  d make a character so hateful that it  s almost unbelievable that someone would actually fall for them in the first place . the performances were great  but in real life  philip would have never been interested in mildred . that  s just the simple truth . . . see it    
in case half of this film  s footage looks strangely familiar  it means you watch way too much of this gory italian cult  crap  for you see  the notorious demigod lucio fulci did not only produce this movie  he also took the liberty of re  using the most sadistic killing sequences in his own  and more easily traceable   cat in the brain  . the opening scene already  in which a prostitute is brutally decapitated with an axe  features in fulci  s later film and so do another handful of killings and sleaze moments . andrea bianchi  s  masssacre  fails miserably as a giallo  since the search for the sadistic killer among a movie  crew shooting a horror movie is all but compelling and suspenseful  but it  s still good entertainment if you  re into cheap  n shlocky horror trash . the incoherent script introduces a whole bunch of repugnant characters who  re all potential maniacs  but none of the red herrings biachi comes up with are plausible and you can point out the killer almost immediately . whatever remains to enjoy are the truly misogynous make  up effects and the hilariously awful acting performances of the ensemble cast . whenever there isn  t any bloodshed on screen  like between the first and second murder   massacre  is a slow and almost intolerable with its inane dialogs and thoroughly unexciting photography . thankfully in the second half  there are women getting impaled on fences and males being stabbed repeatedly with rusty spikes . the music is crap and the use of filming locations is very unimaginative . my advise would be to skip this puppy and go straight for the aforementioned  cat in the brain  . that one features all the great moments of  massacre   and then some .  
this is a well directed film from john cromwell who was not a great director but who did make some fine films including the     version of  the prsoner of zenda  . set in a london that only hollywood could manage  atmospheric but nothing like the real thing  it is a story of obsession and thwarted love  from the novel by somerset maughan .  br    br   i was looking forward to seeing it on dvd as i had never seen it before and being a great admirer of bette davis wanted to see her in a role considered one of her early great ones . so i bought it . well she looked fine but i  m sorry to say her london cockney accent just made me laugh . bette davis was one of the greatest film actors  make no mistake  but here she did make one . it was impossible to take her character seriously . it wasn  t as gruesome as the dick van dyke  mary poppins  cockney accent but close .  br    br   in the other major role was leslie howard and he did it superbly . he was a subtle and intelligent actor the supporting actors acquit themselves well . worth watching despite ms davis  vocal gymnastics .  
prior to this film  i had only seen two films by director andrea bianchi the trashy zombie flick le notti del terrore        famous amongst horror fans for its unforgettable performance from man  child peter bark  and the enjoyably sleazy giallo strip nude for your killer . neither film was a particularly spectacular piece of cinema  but both were entertaining in their own special way  and the fact that they featured plenty of gore and nudity didn  t hurt  . massacre  however  is dull  dull  dull  despite quite a bit of splatter and the odd spot of gratuitous bare flesh .  br    br   the story  about a series of murders in a hotel where the cast and crew of a horror film are residing during their shoot  is confusing and oh  so boring when the blood isn  t flowing and the skin isn  t on show  the film is a real struggle to sit through  it took me four attempts to finish   with endless scenes of unlikeable characters bickering among themselves and doing very little of note .  br    br   the only point of interest about the film is that its producer  lucio fulci  used several of its death scenes to pad out his mega  gory movie cat in the brain  aka nightmare concert  . and if you  ve already seen that film  then there is very little reason to bother with massacre .  
care bears movie   a new generation isn  t at all a bad movie . in fact  i like it very much . yes i admit the dialogue is corny and the story is a bit poorly told at times . but darkheart  while very very dark is a convincing enough shape shifting villain  and hadley kay did a superb job voicing him . speaking of the voice acting  it was great  nothing wrong with it whatsoever . the animation is colourful  and some of the visuals particularly at the beginning were breathtaking . the songs and score are lovely  especially growing up and forever young  the latter has always been my personal favourite of the two . the care bears  who i do like  are adorable  and the human children are well done too . and the ending is a real tearjerker . all in all  harmless kiddie fun .     bethany cox  
overall this movie is dreadful  and should have never been made . one of the problems with this movie is that there is no link to the audience and the characters  for example  if she is about to be attacked  you want to feel   oh my god  no    but you don  t in this case  you don  t care because there is no link that has been made to know the character . in the trailer  it seemed as though the movie would be great  yet there is no suspense what so ever really . there could have been maybe some mystery but there is not .  all she has is a toolbox .  was said on the dvd  s back  you would think that it was carefully planned this movie  and cleverly made  but it is not  the ending  was just awful  very straight forward  and pointless too . the acting is either average or below average  maybe even lower . in my opinion it was a waste of an hour of my life . the  special effects  and sets were average too  nothing special what so ever . there is not much gore  or bloody violence  not much blood is shown . this movie was advertised to make it sound quite amazing  yet really  its not even worth looking for  i do not recommend this to anyone  unless they are easily satisfied  by a few fights and a boring story .  
bette davis  cockney accent in this film is absolutely appalling . i totally understand that americans and other nationalities mightn  t realise this and that  s fine but believe me  it  s about half as good as dick van dyke  s cockney accent in mary poppins  and that was a right load of old pony  slipped into london vernacular there  many apologies  .  br    br   the remarkable thing to me is that the strange accents and exaggerated acting styles don  t detract from the films  power . of human bondage is a fascinating piece of cinema despite its superficial faults . it also has to be viewed in perspective . the technical and cultural limitations of film making at the time have to be appreciated  and given those limitations john cromwell does a very good job directing the camera and allowing the narrative to develop cinematically rather than solely via the mannered acting and stilted dialogue . a fine example of his skillful direction is the scene set at victoria station . it is beautifully conceived  shot and edited . note too the stark shots of the prostrate mildred towards the end of the film they owe more to the early days of artistic film making than the sanitised  formulaic world of the studio that was about to dominate .  br    br   the themes of the film are universally familiar and compelling ones sexual obsession  unrequited love  scorned passion  self  loathing  manipulative relationships  social divides and youthful folly . though the dialogue is often rather hackneyed  the difficult task of portraying these themes and the inner lives of the characters is tackled well albeit in a low  key way . some of the scenes of obsession and emotional rejection are uncomfortable to watch but the story doesn  t descend into clich we  re aware that the characters  even the poisonous mildred  are both victims and perpetrators  and that their actions are motivated by their misunderstanding of each others feelings as well as by wilful selfishness . whilst naive in style the story reaches to the complex heart of the human condition and the mannered nature of the acting and the occasionally grating exchanges don  t diminish the veracity of the work .  br    br   of human bondage was one of the films that got bette davis noticed in hollywood and whilst watching it you are conscious of being witness at the birth of a celebrated career . her unconventional beauty and screen charisma  no one flounced or did disdain quite like ms davis  grab your attention from her first appearance . whilst hers is definitely the memorable performance in the film  leslie howard is also excellent as the sensitive and fragile student philip carey . they are a good combination  though  why oh why didn  t he help her with that terrible  terrible accent    
massacre is a film directed by andrea bianchi  burial ground  and produced by legendary italian horror director lucio fulci . now with this mix of great talent you would think this movie would have been a true gore fest . this could not be further from that . massacre falls right on its face as being one of the most boring slasher films i have seen come out of italian cinema . i was actually struggling to stay awake during the film and i have never had that problem with italian horror films .  br    br   massacre starts out with a hooker being slaughtered on the side of the road with an ax . this scene was used in fulci  s nightmare concert . this isn  t a bad scene and it raises your expectations of the movie as being an ax wielding slaughter . unfortuanitly  the next hour of the movie is so boring . the movie goes on to a set of a horror film being filmed and there is a lot of character development during all these scenes but the characters in the movie are so dull and badly acted your interest starts to leak away . the last   minutes of the movie aren  t so bad but still could have been much better . the gore in the movie was pathetic and since fulci used most of the gore scenes in nightmare concert there was nothing new here . the end of the movie did leave a nice twist but there was still to much unanswered and the continuity falls right through the floor .  br    br   this wasn  t a very good film but for a true italian horror freak  like myself  this movie is a must have since it is very rare .     stars  
the movie concerns about philip  leslie howard  he  s a serious but handicapped medicine student . he falls fatally in love with a heartless  predatory waitress called mildred  bette davis  . she leaves him  engaging with others  alan hale  reginald denny  . meanwhile he is romanced with another suitors  kay johnson  frances dee  but she goes back in a mutually destructive affair .  br    br   easily the best and first of numerous films versions of somerset maugham  s novel . bette davis as the cockney cruel waitress winning yet another magnificent interpretation with an alluring and smouldering performance  absolutely hypnotic in her account of the bondage that occurs from the beginning to the finale . davis rose the stardom with her performance . her role as tough and crude domineering woman will be repeated several times in posteriors acting . leslie howard as the essentially good and decent student subtly destroyed gives an excellent and melancholic performance . he was an awesome actor  gone with the wind  besides producer and writer and dead in plane crash during wwii . both will play again in petrified forest       . the atmosphere film is elaborately recreated in the rko  radio picture inc  studio is entirely convincing . remade in     by edmund goulding  with eleanor parker and paul henreid and in     by ken hughes with kim novak and laurence harvey . the motion picture will like to classic cinema buffs . rating  very good but a little bit dated .  
kevin spacey is very talented  but unfortunately directing is not his forte . i had high expectations about the film before i rented it and maybe that is why i disliked it so much . i admire spacey  s attempt at making a film that takes place mostly in one small setting  but it  s not the attempt that counts . i found the film dull  boring  and stretched out . the acting was nothing spectacular . gary sinise has done much better  especially since he is conscious in most of his other films . skeet ulrich was disappointing  but this was one of his first films  i did get a kick out of how young and chubby this scream star looked  . the only thing that impressed me about this film was the one shot of the car wreck from above . the center line of the road was perfectly centered and the camera moved on along the line and past the wreck . however  that shot was very  usual suspects  ish and my guess is spacey got the idea from that earlier film of his  which is very good mind you  . if you want to see a fabulous film that takes place in one small setting  watch hitchcock  s lifeboat . maybe spacey should have watched it before filming this .  
enjoyable in spite of leslie howard  s performance . mr . howard plays philip as a flat  uninteresting character . one is supposed to feel sorry for this man however  i find myself cheering bette davis  mildred . ms . davis gives one her finest performances  she received an academy award nomination  . thanks to her performance she brings this rather dull movie to life . be sure not to miss when mildred tells philip exactly how she feels about him .  
a trio of low  life criminals  led by matt dillon  botches a late  night burglary . they flee but quickly cross paths with the police who just happen to be in hot pursuit of a terrorist . of course the police mistake the burglar gang for the terrorist  the real terrorist gets away  and the burglars are forced to take refuge in a small dive of a bar  taking hostages  unaware why the police are so intent on catching them . and guess who else has picked the bar as a sanctuary for the night   br    br   unbelievable  absolutely . and it goes down hill from there . spacey did acquire a good bit of acting talent matt dillon  faye dunaway  gary sinise  viggo mortensen  and m . emmett walsh  but they  re all wasted . mostly because after all the characters get stuck in the bar  all they do for the remainder of the film is argue . endlessly and aimlessly . long before the conclusion of the film you  ve stopped giving a damn about what happens to them .  
this movie is about sexual obsession . bette davis plays mildred . this is a woman who men are drawn to . not because she is a nice beautiful girl but because she is a sexual entity . now the movie does not come out and say that but it is obvious . there is a scene in the movie in which men are all going googly eyes over her . she works as a waitress in a coffee shop  she can  t read and she not really anybody to look at but she is a flirt . it is obvious the male customers in that coffee shop are there because of her . one day phillip a club footed failed painter medical student comes in the shop to say a good word for his friend but he becomes besotted the moment he sees her . he starts buying her things even pays for her apartment . meanwhile she is seeing other people and she makes no secrets of it . he dreams about her like she is a angel  but she is no angel . he is constantly thinking about her . his med school grades are even failing . so what the nookie is too good . he wants to marry her but she rejects him because she is marrying another guy . she always lets phil know she really doesn  t have love feelings for him all of time . he is heart broken but he meets another woman . they seem fine but it is obvious he is still dreaming of the bimbo . mildred does comes back with a baby and unwed . phillip takes her in again  but she starts going out with a friend of his  the light bulb comes on a little and he kicks her out . she does what she knows works so she tries to seduce him  well it doesn  t work and she proceeds to burn his tuition money up . oh we have a club foot that he has problems about  even though a street teenager who has the same problem tells him to lighten up about it . he meets another girl named sally we have a march of time montage which shows her aging while he strings her along still waiting for mildred . well he has no school tuition  can  t find a job . finally sally and her dad takes him in . not before another march of time montage showing him going downhill . soon his uncle who raised him dies and he gets money to become a doctor . meanwhile he finds mildred needs him again . she has tb . meanwhile he is still leading sally down the primrose path about marriage and he takes a job on a steamship . finally the bimbo dies and phillip declares he is free now and he will marry sally . i wished she told him to stuff it . now i know my take on the characters are not going to get me any points . but i feel phillip was the bad guy . yes mildred is a strumpet but he knows it  and he keeps coming back . mean while he has two other girlfriends who love him but he treats as appetizers . i guess the sex wasn  t as good . but in any case he dogs those women waiting for mildred . not only that but the man who gets mildred pregnant is already married and when philip asks him what he intends to do about baby  apparently the baby  s name  he laughs is off  he has no intention in supporting her and baby and he is wealthy . sally  s father who has  children say some pretty nasty things about women but he is said to be a old traditionalist . philip doesn  t seem to refute his feelings either . men are using mildred as a boy toy but the men in this movie come out as unscathed . yes she was not a respectable woman but far from a villain . to me it is philip who was had the real problem and it was his sexual obsession for mildred .  
by dane youssef  br    br   a gang of crooks . the perfect plan . it all goes wrong . they  re in trouble . the police are outside . they  re cornered . what are they gonna do now   br    br   sound familiar   br    br   the movie seems like it  s trying to be a combination of the acting workshop  the  indie  film and the theater .  br    br   it  s the kind of things that actors love   it  s kind of like a workshop or a play because it mostly consists of tight focusing on the actors acting . . . acting angry  tense  scared  conversing  scheming  planning   giving the performers a lot of free range to really ham it all up .  br    br   a trio of crooks  one leader  one goon  one brother  come up with a big heist scheme . . . and a monkey wrench is thrown into the works . to top things off  there  s a bit of a  fender  bender  and one of the crooks in flung through the back of the windshield .  br    br   the cops are on their tail and they stumble into a bar named poetically  and leadenly   dino  s last chance .   br    br   spacey  as a director  tries to keep the focus on the actors  performances and delivery of dialouge . he pans over to a bright passion  red cigarette ad of a smoking and smoldering bogart . and he keeps all the violence off  screen  really .  br    br   i think that was a mistake . focusing on the intensity and gruesome violent scenes would have given the movie some edge .  br    br   the problem with the movie is that it moves too slow and suffers from miscasting in almost every role . matt dillon   drugstore cowboy  and  wild things   seems too young and too idealistic to be the leader of this gang .  br    br   gary sinese seems to brooding and deep in thought to be a spineless tag  along with these guys and joe mantaga is effective as the traditional routine foul  swearing mad  dog police lieutenant who  s all thumbs  but he isn  t given anything to really do here .  br    br   william fischter is the only actor who is believable in his role as a brainless grunt who just wants to spill blood .  br    br   and the crooks are in a tense situation where they either go to jail or they try to think of some way out of this .  br    br   spacey lacks the ability to create a lot of tension and keep it going . the characters are mostly chatting away  trying to think of a plan . . . and they  re to calm and too articulate . there  s even a scene where the crooks are playing pool with a whole swarm of armed cops right outside  ready to strike . at one point  one of the crooks even call the police who are right outside the bar . oh brother . oh bother .  br    br   these cops are going to either blow them away or going to lock them up . shouldn  t the holed  up crooks be a little scared  a little uneasy  meanwhile  all the real action is happening inside .  br    br   someone whips out a gun  a baseball bat  which leads to an ugly confrontation off  screen and there  s one more casualty that happens that  s . . . well  kinda sad . but . . .  br    br   faye dunaway also should have spent more time with a dialect coach  improving on her new orleans accent . skeet ullrich is fine in a smaller part .  br    br   a cop listening in reaches for a pack of matches at the absolute worst time is a nice look . and so is a scene where someone goes right through the rear windshield .  br    br   the dialouge is obviously trying to go for a david mamet approach and it  s as profane  but never as realistic or as insightful .  br    br   the movie feels like too much of what it really is . . . a really low  budget movie with an actor behind the camera for the first time directing other actors from a script that  s  not bad  but needs a few more re  writes .  spacey shows he  s not a terrible director  but he lacks a sort of feel for  shaping a movie  and it feels like he  s just filming actors act .  br    br   these actors are all talented and could work with the material  but they all feel out of place . as i said before  the movie really suffers from miscasting .  br    br   i don  t mean that the wrong actors were cast . i think they found just the right cast  but placed them in all the wrong roles . i think switching some of the roles would  ve helped immensely .  br    br   having veteran mob actor joe mantagna play the leader of the pack  gary sinese as the angry police lieutenant outside on his bullhorn giving orders and barking at his troops  keeping fischter in his  bloodthirsty goon  part and matt dillion as the sacrificial lamb . that would have been a big improvement .  br    br   when some actors direct  it works . they can even win oscars for it . but a lot of the time  when actors direct  they have a tendency to just focus on the performances . just shoot the actors acting .  br    br   sometimes it works . . . but they need a good showcase for it . an excuse for it .  br    br   hostage situations are all pretty much the same in real life just like coming  of  age stories so it  s only natural that movies about them will go from point a to point b as well .  br    br   there are a few really great entries into this genre .  spacey himself appeared in a similar movie about hostage situations  the negotiator .   br    br   this certainly won  t become a cult classic  let alone one of afi  s    . still  it does have a few nice moments and personal touches  but in the end  it  s instantly forgettable and the kind of movie that would play best on regular tv . it  s just not worth going out of your way to see .  br    br   i give a  out of   .  br    br   spacey  s other directorial credit   beyond the sea  was reportedly a better effort . hmmm . . . maybe it  s true . you need to fail before you succeed .  br    br   by dane youssef  
i happen to like leslie howard  in his better films . yet  for some reason  his performance in of human bondage never has moved me tremendously . i first saw the film on my college campus in     and the reviewer in the college newspaper made the comment that in the     s and     s howard played the roles supposedly later picked up by dirk bogard as the man who was born to be betrayed . this is not usually the case  off hand i think of ashley wilkes as a man who might be betrayed  if he and scarlett o  hara were meant to be an item by margaret mitchell  but ashley loved melonie  not scarlett  . howard could play any type  and a role like r . j . mitchell or professor henry higgins is not one who is betrayed .   br    br    one can make the case that philip armstrong scott is betrayed by the two strangers he shows hospitality to in   th parallel  but they are nazis who consider him  a liberal  westerner  canadian  fair game to double cross in wartime . it isn  t the same as emotional betrayal  and howard does not shrivel up as a result  but faces the nazis and captures one after beating him up .   br    br   i think what the reviewer meant was that howard could be soulful  or try to be soulful . witness his poet  dreamer  wanderer in the petrified forrest . but that character was not betrayed  except by history perhaps  as he feels his type is as out of date as the gangster played by humphrey bogart  . the character of philip carey in somerset maugham  s of human bondage is soulful too . he is sensitive for several reasons . he has an interest in art and tries to become a painter  but unlike the artist strickland in the moon and sixpence he has no real talent . so he decides to concentrate on medical studies  accentuated by a club foot condition he has . here he is a man with low self  esteem who is set up to be betrayed .  br    br   philip finds that betrayal in the form of mildred a cockney waitress  bette davis  who is mercenary and as selfish as they come . why philip falls for her is not really addressed in the film  but he does find the woman fascinating . and she finds him an easy meal ticket . ironically in being so captivated by this slut  philip fails to notice two other women who are interested in him  kay johnson and frances dee   and are more fit to be his mate . he also keeps finding himself forgiving davis when she has affairs with other men  alan hale and reginald denny  the latter a friend of howard  s  .  br    br   although howard  s performance captures the doormat tendency of philip towards mildred  he really does not show enough passion  until late in the movie  when he turns on her  . that is why i find i never cared for his performance here  it lacks any reality . his later tortured insistence in gone with the wind that he loves olivia de haviland  not vivian leigh  has more consistency with a man in love . but the performance of davis as mildred makes the film important . she had a wide variety of parts up to      like the girlfriend of the deaf pianist in the man who played god or the spoiled heiress who gets murdered in fog over frisco or the mouse  like secretary in three on a match . as mildred she finally showed she could be a major actress by playing a selfish bitch .  br    br   curiously her performance was not all of one note . while she uses and abuses howard for two thirds of the film  culminating in that famous scene where she shows how disgusted his kissing of her made her  her last scenes show she too could fall apart due to her health deteriorating  and her inability to keep any honest jobs . when howard rejects her the viewers fail to note how equally vicious he becomes  he asks what happened to her baby  she tells him the baby died and howard says brusquely that he is glad  which is hardly the response she expects  . in the end howard does finally get his life in order  but mildred ends a casualty  ironically her death discovered by her old boyfriend denny on a medical call  . the motion picture academy of arts and sciences did fail to nominate davis in      leading to the largest write  in campaign in it  s history  and a permanent change in it  s rules   but davis was established as a star . in one year she won the oscar as joyce heth in dangerous . and in two years she co  starred with howard again  as equal stars  in the petrified forrest .  
on the face of it  this should be a great film  a great cast  a plot with many possibilities and one of hollywood  s finest behind the camera for the first time .  br    br   however  its clear why it was another  years before spacey decided to try directing a movie again . this movie fails on so many levels . in a film where there is not much action and most of the scenes are shot in a couple of locations  it is imperative that suspense and continuity are provided by the director . not so here  the great cast is horribly under  used  none more so than the great  late john spencer  the plot is so run of the mill and nothing you haven  t seen in a hundred other tv movies . there is so little character development you end up not caring for any of the protagonists . at least we know spacey has a lot of mates and clout in hollywood studios to get away with a poor flick like this  
every motion picture bette davis stars in is worth experiencing . before davis co  stars with leslie howard in  of human bondage   she  d been in over a score of movies . legend has it that davis was  robbed  of a     oscar for her performance as a cockney  speaking waitress  unwed mother  manipulative boyfriend  user  mildred rogers . the story goes that the afi consoled davis by awarding her  st oscar for playing joyce heath in  dangerous .  i imagine davis  fans of  of human bondage  who agree with the oscar  robbing legend are going to have at my critique  s contrast of the     film for which the afi didn  t award her performance  the     film  dangerous   performance for which she received her  st oscar in     .  br    br   i  ve tried to view all of bette davis  motion pictures  tv interviews  videos  advertisements for wwii  tv performances in popular series . in hindsight  it is easy to recognize why this film   of human bondage   gave davis the opportunity to be nominated for her performance . she was only   yo when the film was completed  just about to reach hollywood  s red carpet . the public began to notice bette davis as a star because of her performance in  of human bondage .  that is what makes it her legendary performance . but  rko saw her greatness in  the man who played god    borrowed her from warners to play rogers .  br    br   i  m going to go with the afi  in hindsight  some   years after their astute decision to award davis her  st best actress oscar for  dangerous    years later . by doing so  the afi may have been instrumental in bringing out the very best in one of hollywood  s most talented   th century actors . because  from  of human bondage   onward  davis knew for certain that she had to reach deep inside of herself to find the performances that earned her the golden statue . doubtless  she deserved more than  oscars perhaps as many as  .  br    br    dangerous  provides an exemplary contrast in davis  depth of acting characterization . for  it  s in  dangerous        that she becomes the greatest actor of the   th century . davis is so good as joyce heath  she  s dead  center on the red carpet . whereas in  of human bondage   davis is right off the edge  still on the sidewalk  ready to take off on the rest of her   year acting career .  br    br   perhaps by not awarding her that legendary oscar in      instead of a star being born  an actor was given incentive to reach beyond stardom into her soul for the gifted actor  s greatest work .  br    br   it is well known that her contemporary peer adversary was joan crawford a star whose performances still don  t measure up to davis  . even anna nicole smith was a  star  . howard stern is a radio host  star   too . lots of people on stage  the silver screen are stars . few became great actors . the key difference between them is something that bette davis could sense the difference between the desire to do great acting or to become star  struck .  br    br   try comparing these two movies as i have  viewing one right after the other . maybe you  ll recognize what the afi  i did . davis was on the verge of becoming one of the greatest actors of the   th century at   yo  achieved her goal by the time she was   . she spent her next   plus years setting the bar so high that it has not been reached . . . yet .  br    br   had the afi sent her the message that she  d arrived in  of human bondage   davis  life history as a great actor may have been led into star  struck  dom  instead .  
although it has been  years  i still remember the complete waste that comprises the entire plot of the movie . unfortunately  i came across this movie after my friends and i selected it while browsing through the new releases at blockbuster . we decided to pick the movie because it was the only one we all had not seen and it sounded like it may be enjoyable . although it has been quite some time since i viewed the movie  i still remember the lack of plot  seriously  there is no true plot   and complete waste of time that was spent watching the movie . if you are in the video store and this film catches your eye  walk on and find a better movie . if you did end up seeing this movie  i understand your pain    
coming shortly before the imposition of a morality code darkened the spirits of writers  directors and actors  the first film adaptation of w . somerset maugham  s  of human bondage  titillated countless moviegoers . it has no shock value today  just fine acting .  br    br   while the cast is excellent  this is bette davis  s first great role and one of leslie howard  s best performances . howard is english wannabe parisian artist philip carey who is gently and firmly told that he lacks any talent and that his dedication is no substitute for true genius . taking the lesson to heart he returns to london and enrolls in a medical college  one  by the way  that seems to have no female students  at that time there would have been at least a few . perhaps author  physician maugham didn  t care for distaff medicos  .  br    br   having tea one day carey is entranced by a waitress  mildred rogers  bette davis in a role as a morally loose and basically wicked farrago . her cockney accent is as sharp as eliza doolittle  s . his repeated attempts to date her are greeted with the less than enthusiastic reply   i don  t mind   a sure sign for any man with his head screwed on straight that he  s plumbing the depths . maugham  s mildred supplemented her waitress tips with a bit of old fashioned street  walking  something not clearly brought out here .  br    br   carey  s besotted prostration serves rogers  avaricious need for support of the financial kind . he is desperately in love with her  she plays him as a sunday church organist effortlessly plies her instrument . no sex here . recognizing that he is getting nowhere  he begins a chaste relationship with norah  a woman who adores him . re  enter mildred  replete with a baby  and in her usual need of being taken care of . exit heartbroken norah .  br    br   another separation from mildred and carey begins a long  term friendship with sally  abetted enthusiastically by her dad who seems to view eventual marriage as both a good thing for the two young people and a chance to be relieved of one of his nine offspring .  br    br   the movie reasonably but not entirely follows maugham  s excellent novel . howard  s carey is naive and vulnerable and for much of the movie his sad eyes remind one of a doe facing a double  barreled shotgun . mildred is unrestrainedly wicked  a user of the worst kind  her sole preoccupation with her own needs barely disguised when she tries to wheedle carey with a thin patina of affectionate words  and offers  at one point she promises she  ll do  anything he wants   a daring statement for the times and one i  m sure audiences fully understood .  br    br   pre  code it may be but mildred  s quick  march dissolution would have satisfied the league of catholic decency . the ending is conventional  sin loses  principled behavior triumphs .  br    br   director john cromwell wrought excellent performances from his two main stars  one well  established  the other established largely because of this film . the atmosphere is     s london and the trip back in time is worth taking .  br    br   available on dvd .  br    br        for davis  s and howard  s performances   
i saw this movie on t . v . this afternoon and i can  t see how anyone can sit through this piece of trash . it  s not funny at all and it takes your i . q . down a few notches . i know this movie is for kids  but that doesn  t mean the writers should take their intelligence for granted . i bet that writers were sitting around a large wooden table and figured that a  the word  poop  equals big laugh . b  a four foot tall kid can dunk on a ten foot tall basketball net . c  kids should always fight kidnappers armed with guns because the kidnappers will fall for anything and d   months of karate training is all you need to beat up so  called  ninjas  with swords . one good thing i can say about this movie is it contains the weakest suburban  gang  in the world that couldn  t scare anybody . maybe the guys at mst  k could use this movie for a good laugh . don  t bother with this lame  ass excuse for a movie .  
how amazing this film is  i  ve seen it over and over throughout the years and i  m always spellbound by it . the reason why the film is so easy to re  watch is  of course  the arresting performance given by the young bette davis . she not only steals every scene that she  s in  but is actually much prettier and better photographed here  not to mention sexier  than she was in any of the films that she had made thus far at her home studio  warner brothers  this film was made by r . k . o . radio pictures  . she wears a very flattering make  up and has very attractive hairstyles and oh  those lovely big eyes  especially  in the restaurant scenes that take place in london  s soho  . her body was so curvy when she was young . get a load of it in the cheap negligee that she wears for her big explosive confrontation scene with leslie howard . and oh boy  she is an absolute powerhouse in that scene . howard is a little too nervous throughout  but he does captures the hero  s sensitivity . frances dee scores as the sweet  pretty young sally who truly loves him . max steiner  s score is both charming and poignant . splendid performances and thirties flavor make this the must see version of the classic novel .  
oh my god  this movie insults the intelligence of everybody . i mean really  who thinks three kids can fight   to   ninjas and win . not to mention the brainless humor thrown in . this film is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad . the movie is an omen  the only thing it  s good for is a time killer or unintentional laughs .  
several features of this film immediately date it . the sound is rather shrill and one realizes what great strides have been accomplished in sound reproduction in the ensuing years . the language of the dialogue is rather quaint and unnatural and the acting is still reminiscent of its transition from the stage techniques .  br    br   bette davis always gives a strong performance in all her films as she does in this early period of her very successful career . i do feel however that somehow the cockney accent does not fit the facial expression . i think it is the assumed cockney accent that does not ring true for me .  br    br   somerset maughan loves to delve into human relationships of great dramatic intensity which will please all movie  goers . as in so many of her character roles  bette davis can switch from a beautiful seductive woman to a viper full of fiery hatred . leslie howard is well cast as the withdrawn english artist with a club foot desperately seeking a partner and making a bad choice in a scheming little waitress .  br    br   towards the end of the film the young doctor meets his true love in a busy street . they cross through the traffic completely oblivious to a multitude of horns and whistles screaming at them . this scene is possibly meant to be funny  but i find it quite ridiculous in this otherwise very serious film . it is probably construed to send you home with a smile on your face . and after all as far as we can see  and hope for  it is a happy ending .  
serious home alone  karate kid knock off with enough bad character stereotypes to have the writer sued and then shot . you could see blatant stunt man usage in almost every scene . oh  and the acting sucks too . although i must say that the line  sorry  dude  i have to take a major dump big time  made me laugh my ass off .  
this movie  even though it is over   years old is still a very moving  strong film . bette davis  as the slutty  vicious cockney waitress mildred is absolutely believable . watching her performance is still spellbinding . she makes the viewer absolutely despise her and pity her at the same time . leslie howard  s performance as the weak  obsessed phillip carey is not as strong  but i don  t see how any actor could hold their own against ms . davis  s performance . she chews up the scenery in every scene she is in  totally stealing the show . this is the movie that sealed her stardom and she deserved to win the academy award  but lost . it was shocking for it  s day what with themes of unwed pregnancy  multiple sex partners  and mildred  s vicious language so it is somewhat dated  but still an excellent movie . just to see the scene where mildred tells phillip what she really thinks of him   you cad  you dirty swine . . . .   is still some of the greatest acting i have ever seen on film .  
i remember when this came out a lot of kids were nuts about it . i guess i was a bit too old to get all excited and i was a fan of real martial arts films and always found this a bit cheesy .  br    br   in the early    s we were swamped with programs such as this making kids feel like they could fight and be a power ranger or an equal to these kids on  ninjas . i think eventually parents and film makers alike got sick of it because all we had in reality was abunch of kids going around punching and hitting everyone .  br    br   many kids movies have some big point they  re trying to make and its nice for your kids to watch and get the message  this one doesn  t have any message at all . . . it just exploits a million difference things in less than   minutes .  br    br   the movie has no great visual qualities but would one expect it to  the acting is pretty bad . victor wong is a cool actor but it was embarrassing to see him here . . the short  fat  gimped eyed old fart as a powerful ninja that was just hilarious . the kids over acted way too much and the youngest ninja tum tum was maybe the worst kid actor i have ever seen .  br    br   the movie has a plot that anyone knows before they even read the review .  ninjas . . . yea you know they  re gonna fight a bunch of bad guys and win obviously . . . need i say more . sorry if i spoiled it for anyone .  br    br   with all that said kids will love it . this movie is aimed at kids and only children could enjoy it . if you don  t mind your kid seeing movies about kids fighting this is a good movie to let them see . if you don  t mind allowing your children to see complete garbage that has nothing to do with real martial arts  real acting or reality period then you have found a movie for your kids . . . i say kids because i think even the girls will like it . . . i recall all the girls having a crush on rocky .  br    br    out of   stars because i think you can make a movie for kids and still make it enjoyable for adults . . this movie failed big time at that . . it is beyond cheesy and nothing original or unique and i would not allow a child of mine to watch it . . . kung fu the tv series is on dvd and there  s tons of great shaw brothers films out there . . . why not show your children things that will really entertain them and not make them dumb along the way  perhaps even teach them some moves and not just how to kick a man between the legs as grandpa did on  ninjas . . . no no no . . . never kick a man between the legs . . . never . . thats so unninja like .  
this movie does contradict the first one as far as the origins of the care bears and the care bear cousins goes . i won  t deny that . however  if you look at  part ii  as a separate film  then it  s a very good movie . i remember watching this in the early    s  and fitting into its targeted demographic audience then   and absolutely loving it much more than the first movie  not that i didn  t enjoy that one too  it  s just that this one seemed to have a little something extra to it  . sure it  s darker than the first one too  but perhaps maybe that  s why it  s so good . and it  s dark in deeper kind of subtle way too  that kids may not fully understand  but could still be a bit scared of because of the atmosphere it gives off  and adults watching will surely get quicker as i have now watching this film again now in my mid  twenties  where you basically have a young girl making a deal with an evil spirit  demon in exchange for something else . get the picture  but simply watching that as a child  sure as i said it may have been a little scary  but nothing traumatizing . in fact if anything it gave me another fantasy game i could play when i was that age . i can  t tell you the number of times i used to pretend dark heart wanted to imprison me  have me help him capture the care bears  tried to make me turn over to his dark side  and other things like that etc . so this movie was also good for my imagination . and it  s also got great emotional depth to it too . i used to watch it at least once a week .  br    br   also hadley kay was the perfect choice for the voice of dark heart  i always thought so and i always will  .  br    br   now it  s just too bad that they never made a soundtrack available . sometimes i just want to hear growing up without watching the movie  as good as it is .  br    br    what good is love and caring if it can  t save her    
i can  t believe the likes of guillermo del toro and kim bassinger got involved ins this piece of garbage  the script is so poorly written and the directing so weak  both by the same person  that its hard to find more one  dimension characters in a film . the dialogs are so lame that this so called thriller got laughs out of the few fools that got into the theatre . the setup it  s tricky  inviting you to believe you are going to watch a chilling thriller and suddenly it turns out into the most stupid persecution film . bassinger  s character is so dumb  that she actually stops to scream to god  where are you   so the people after her can follow  and then takes a leak     and then she apparently got into the smallest wood in the world  i mean  she runs all over the place and the killers never loose track of her  and this happens in the middle of the night . it really makes me wonder  is that really the best writing people in hollywood can find that they spend millions producing it .  
spoiler alert w . somerset maugham classic on film about a love obsessed young man who  s abused hurt and humiliated by the object of his obsession to the point of losing everything he has only to find true love in the end under the most unusual circumstances .  br    br   leslie howard plays the role of philip carey a sensitive young artiest in paris trying to make a living by selling his paintings . told by a local art expert that his work is not at all good enough to be sold to the art going public philip decides to go back to his native england and study medicine and become a physician in order to help others .  br    br   philip being born with a club foot is very hypersensitive about his awkward condition and makes up for that by being a very pleasant and friendly person . one afternoon philip is at a local caf with a fellow medical student and spots pretty waitress mildred rogers  bette davis  and immediately falls in love with her . mildred at first rebuffs the love  sick philip but later realizing just what a sap he is takes advantage of his feelings for her . mildred has him spend himself into poverty buying her gifts and taking her out to the theater every time she off from work . phlip also falls behind on his studies  by paying so much attention towards mildred  at the medical university and fails his final exams .  br    br   going into hock buying an engagement ring for mildred in an attempt to ask for her hand in marriage the cold hearted mildred tells the startled philip that she  s already engaged to be married to emil miller  alan hale . it turns out that he  s one of the customers at the caf that she  s always flirting with .  br    br   philip broke and heart  sick slowly get his life back together and later retakes his medical exam and passes it and at the same time finds a new love in nora  fay johnson  a writer for a local love magazine . later to philip  s shock and surprise mildred walks back into his life .  br    br   mildred telling philip that her husband emil  who  s child she  s carrying  threw her out of the house has the kind and understanding philip take her back at the expense of nora who was very much in love with him . it later turns out that mildred wasn  t married to emil but had a child out of wedlock by having an illicit affair with him  emil it turns out was already married .  br    br   as before mildred takes advantage of philip  s kind heart for her and her baby daughter  where he supports them with food medical attention and shelter  to the point where he again goes broke and can  t continue his studies ending with her leaving philip after having a very heated and emotional encounter with him . out on the streets with nowhere to go philip is taken in by mr . athanly  reginald owens  who he once treated at the hospital and falls in love with his daughter sally  frances dee .  br    br   later philip has his club foot corrected at the medical center and with the help of mr . athenly gets back to being a doctor . it  s then when he encounters mildred again who  s really at the end of her rope . dying of tuberculosis and having lost her daughter she  s all alone with no one to look after her . philip now well to do and respected in medical circles does all he can to help the sick and poor mildred but in the end she succumbed to her illness and passes away .  br    br   mildred had the love and devotion in philip all those years that he was in love with her but choose to abuse him and have affairs with man who were just like her  cold unfeeling and selfish . in the end mildred got back just what she gave to the kind and sensitive philip she became both unloved and alone . philip found in the sweet and caring sally everything that mildred wasn  t and in the end also found the true love that he was looking for all of his life .  
mimicking its long title the movie finds ways to come close to the    mark . the beautiful sets are here with all that made the hamer production values a trademark  yet paris drowned in the fog is a sign of indolent neglect . the story is obvious and can be summed up in a dozen words so there comes nothing unexpected and nothing worth more than   of your attention to be expected .  br    br   the directing is heavy as a direct transfer from the stage play  actors are mostly stiff as wax figures  ok this is a hamer feature  only it  s sometimes better featured in the whole package  . my conclusion this movie is trash  not worth the time i spend that evening . eternal life is a boring matter and i should have hoped the guys in charge of programming at the cinemathque would have known better .  
of the three remakes on w . somerset maughan  s novel  this one is the best one  and not particularly because what john cromwell brought to the film . the film is worth a look because of the break through performance by bette davis  who as mildred rogers  showed the film industry she was a star . finally  her struggles with jack warner and his studio paid off royally .  br    br   the film is dominated by mildred from the start . we realize from the beginning that mildred doesn  t care for philip and never will . she doesn  t hide her contempt for this kind soul that has fallen in love with the wrong woman . he will be humiliated by mildred again  and again  as she makes no bones about what she really is .  br    br   poor philip carey  besides of being handicap  is a man who is weak . when he tries to cling onto mildred  she rejects him . it is when mildred returns to him  when she is frail and defeated  that he rises to the occasion  overcoming his own dependency on this terrible woman who has stolen his will and his manhood .  br    br   bette davis gives a fantastic portrayal of mildred . this was one of her best roles and she ran away with it . her disgust toward the kind philip is clear from the onset of their relationship . when she tells him she washes her mouth after he kisses her is one of the most powerful moment in the movie . leslie howard underplayed philip and makes him appear even weaker than he is . frances dee  reginald denny  alan hale and reginald owen  are seen in minor roles .  br    br   this is bette davis show  and don  t you forget it   
 . . . because   out of    times  the producers lied through their teeth  or someone else  s  to get you to rent or buy their mercifully censored .  br    br   shock  o  rama cinema proves the truth of this yet one more time with the release of  feeding the masses   a possibly well  intentioned but utterly inept and dismal entry into the zombie genre . folks  this is not only low  budget film  making  this is very low  budget film  making by a bunch of people who   i  m sorry  i know they have families who love them   will never  ever be in variety in any significant fashion . this is one baaaaaaaaaad mooin  pitcher  folks  and not just because it  s cheap .  br    br   the acting is mediocre  but i don  t blame the actors they had no direction . they had no direction because the script was a half  baked zombie fantasy with no sense of real cinematic storytelling . characterization is thin at best  no thanks to weak dialogue and soporific direction . have i mentioned yet that the script and the direction are pretty lame  they are . there  s no drama  no tension  no great character moments  nothing . the whole premise of government suppression of the media is squandered on sophomoric  commercial breaks  and an undramatic storyline that defies rational analysis and awkwardly shambles to its ridiculous finish . syd fields would not be pleased .  br    br   how could the government suppress the truth of a virulent zombie epidemic when the reality of it would be apparent everywhere  why would they give it more than a cursory try  in this day and age of cellphone cameras with wireless access  what could they possibly hope to accomplish for more than a day or so at best  now  if they were covering something up  like their own culpability . . . . but  feeding the masses  never explores such possibilities . instead  it dwells on absurdity and poorly staged events to dig for laughs and  or significance  praying its audience won  t notice the near total lack of production value beyond basic film  making equipment . did anyone in this film get paid  i hope the actors did  if only for their time wasted on career blind alleys like this one at least the techies got to rack up some legitimate work experience .  br    br   even zombie fans will find little to gain from  feeding the masses .  the gore is remarkably tame for no  budgeters of its rank  and there are no distinctive set pieces or memorable effects . they  re all eminently forgettable  in fact . knb has nothing to fear .  br    br   even junk like the aussie stillbirth  undead  was miles ahead of  feeding the masses .  sorry  guys  back to the drawing boards  and take your deceptive marketing with you .  
after   movies and three years of working in hollywood bette davis finally got a role she claimed as her own and which put her as a force to be reckoned with . as mildred rogers  davis burst forth with a completely unsympathetic role of a slutty waitress who becomes the target of leslie howard  s affections  and already eager to sink her teeth into a role like this  she had no qualms of the awful things her character was meant to do throughout the course of the film and the awful transformation she would undergo . it also has been widely noted that her performance here  one of the few things that makes this slightly uneven movie watchable  has been the one to remember even after two remakes and the scenes where she rips into howard have made cinema history .  br    br   at circa   minutes  the story moves at a nice pace  telling the story of philip carey  howard  as his life crosses that of the destructive mildred rogers over and over again .  br    br   howard and davis  chemistry is all but non  existent   davis sustained in an interview much later in life she personally didn  t care much for howard  s iciness towards her and that helped her act even worse  in character  towards him as mildred . all the same  the two seem awkward with one another their scenes together remain stiff  only salvaged by the ferocious acidity davis brings to her lines and her own nervous presence . then again  cromwell  s direction has a certain stiltedness about itself that fails to come through at times   he tries to fill in some space  whenever davis is not there  with dissolves and montages indicating the passing of time  a calendar superimposed over a changing frances dee  . all much in the style back then . this was before technicalities and complicated camera angles came into being  and in essence  the visual story is a simplified  bare essentials translation of the somerset maugham  s novel   which is saying a lot  since at    pages   of human bondage  would have been indeed hard to film even then .  br    br   storywise  it feels that philip carey may be something of a glutton for punishment  since there is no discernible  sexual attraction between he and mildred and to compound that  mildred never hides her displeasure from the get  go . howard  s performance never seems to go through much external emotion   his eyes are constantly sad  his expression never veers too far away from lost  he could almost be a distant cousin to william hurt in  the accidental tourist    dejected  hurt  and absolutely passive   but this is possibly a part of his character and the reason he fails to see that other women  played by kay johnson and frances dee  are making themselves vulnerable to unrequited affections . interestingly  johnson  s norah  once she realizes carey will never fall for her  is the one who sums the story up with her observation that people are bound to other people   she is bound to carey as carey is bound to mildred  and mildred herself is bound to miller  or men who fit the role of provider  . in her short but memorable scene  she  s the one who holds the essence of the story  s moral .  
please  for the love of god  don  t watch it . now saying that  i know what you  re thinking  it can  t be that bad can it  if everyone says it as bad as they say  i have to watch it  don  t do it  it  ll be like looking at a horrible accident involving little babies and a gasoline tanker  you  ll be scarred for life . . . the image will never leave you  i could only watch a half hour of this before becoming violently sick . the acting is the worst i  ve ever seen  and i  ve seen barbwire    if you do risk ripping your eyes out and rent this movie . . . don  t say i haven  t warned you  the cover and storyline are a trap   zombies  satire  shaun of the dead was great  this movie must be the same . . . . right  no   the writing  crap directing  garbage acting  there was no acting . still not convinced  then forever your soul will be tormented     
brilliant film  the next best film to the drunken master  jackie chan  . i recently bought it on an original vhs and i haven  t seen this film for   years but still as good as it was back then . the acting was terrible and the dubbing was even worse but it those features that make this film  and many other old fashioned chinese kung  fu movies  great . the choreography is awesome and the storyline is basic . i have never seen the   th chamber of shaolin but know it is the same film but gordon liu plays san te but san te in thr return to the   th chamber is played by a different character . it has a lot of comedy value and brilliant kung  fu .  
first  a little summary . this reporter named torch is basically trying to get out the story of a zombie outbreak and finds the military  government censoring him . nice message  government censorship and all that  but the way they did the movie was  well let me explain .  br    br   this movie is beyond description . the idea that somebody holds it in higher regard than anything by george romero is justification enough for the reviewer to be committed to a mental institution . the script is atrocious on its own  like it was written by a sixth grader . as for special effects  i understand that independent films have low budgets  and some gore effects looked acceptable  but if you want a scene with fire  here  s a tip buy some nonflammable material  have an extinguisher ready  and get a fire going  don  t digitally add it in and make it look like an explosion from a nintendo   game . the acting  well let  s put it this way . in my summer theater program  a cold reading of the script is  compared to this  the godfather . i won  t even go into the inconsistencies . find them yourself .  br    br   what disturbed me the most  though  was when everything was finished after shooting and editing  somebody might have said   okay  this looks good . let  s release it .  it sends a chill down my spine to even think about it  to think somebody felt that this was good enough for dvd release . this isn  t dvd quality . this isn  t sci  fi channel quality . hell  this isn  t even film school quality . if you were to submit this in for a project at a film school  you would get an f . no  not even an f  more like an f  . i wouldn  t be surprised if he would try to get you expelled .  br    br   i felt used after i saw this thing . blockbuster and the makers of this movie have my money right now  and i  d prefer not to think of what they  re doing with it . i have been the pawn of some elaborate  nefarious scheme at legalized theft  and it doesn  t feel good to think that i walked right into it  looking at the back cover with pleasant memories of   days later only to find a film ed wood would watch and say afterwards   i didn  t much care for this .  this film is the single most terrible movie i have seen . i have not seen anything by ed wood  but i have confidence this is worse . if you are looking for serious cinema  so much as being within ten feet of it will probably give you a bad headache . if not  i still recommend that you personally write the director and ask how he sleeps at night . however  if you are the kind of person who get a laugh out of really bad stuff then i recommend you check this out . you won  t be disappointed .  
i thought this would be a sequel to the original    th chamber of shaolin  but actually it  s more of a light  hearted  sister  to the original . gordon liu still stars as a would  be hero on a quest to learn kung fu to defeat those pesky manchus . . . but this time around it  s lighter and more comedic . the film centres around the local dye mill  where wages are cut due to the hiring of   new manchurian bosses . liu plays  chao   who is able to fool the mill bosses into thinking he is a shaolin monk possessing almost magical kung fu skill . but his luck runs out  he is exposed as a fraud  and he promises the mill workers that he will go to the shaolin monastery to learn kung fu  and return to protect them .  br    br   the comedy really begins at the monastery where chao makes several bungling attempts to get accepted . this sets up lots of really funny moments  and lots of great fight choreography . continuing in the    th chamber  tradition we see all kinds of neat and interesting  and supremely hokey  training methods at the monastery as well as creative uses of wooden benches as weapons .  br    br   also unique and of note is the blending of kung fu and the craft of bamboo scaffold building . chao is not accepted as a student at shaolin but is made to build bamboo scaffolding for the    year restoration  of the monastery . on the dvd i bought there is a special on bamboo scaffold building and the inspiration that director lau kar  leung drew from it . this is a craft many hundreds  perhaps thousands  of years old  and in hong kong scaffolding is still built of bamboo even on large high  rises  though the west exclusively uses steel tubes and clamps . as a result of his scaffolding work  chao develops a special style of kung fu . . . when asked what kind it is  he hilariously replies  scaffolding kung fu    which he first tests during a dust  up with the monastery  s abbot . in the final confrontation with the manchus  there is a dazzling array of creative uses for bamboo poles and ties .  br    br   from a comedy perspective  i think it  s one of the best of the kung fu genre . as a kung fu film in general  it also stands out . . . i recommend it to anyone   
although nothing can compare to vampires vs . zombies . . . in any realm of film making i will attempt to judge this movie .  br    br   firstly  the special effects were breath  taking . when there was an explosion on the television screen i thought my entire house was going to explode  and when automatic machine guns were fired i thought the shells were landing on the floor right next to me . simply stunning my friends .  br    br   but the scene when the jack black sound  a  like is giving the worst monologue i have ever heard i nearly killed myself  but don  t worry since he was getting blazed in the movie he can pass his awful acting off on  i must be high  . seriously  he must have watched himself mindlessly babbling about non  congruent thoughts that make absolutely no sense and just added that he must be  high  to justify his awful acting . well if you can say that to excuse terrible acting then if you talked to the writers  directors  executive producers  sponsors you will probably get the same response . . . seriously .  br    br   with a production team called  shock  o  rama  i was shocked i didn  t place a sawed  off shotgun in my mouth and ended my life after this shockingly terrible excuse for a movie was played .  br    br   if you want to see this movie  then you should be murdered  br    br   yours truly   br    br   the general  
i saw this movie once on late night t . v . and knew it was the best movie ever . this is one of the few kung  fu movies with a decent plot . the progression of the main character is seamless . the whole movie is great   
as you may have gathered from the title  i wholeheartedly believe this movie to be the worst zombie movie of all time . the acting  camera  work  writing  special effects and anything else remotely related to this movie sucked . people have argued that while this movie is terribly  acted and terribly  produced but it comes through with a witty intelligent script . wow . the plot has more holes than i or anyone else could possibly count . for starters  why would the government tell everyone to go back to work when it  s not safe  i know the government  s supposed to be evil but they don  t gain anything by killing the entire population of the country . there wouldn  t be anyone to govern  another thing that i was wondering about  even if the government told everyone to go to work  why would people go if the streets were swarming with zombies  were the zombies going to hide in the bushes and ambush the unsuspecting people in order to aid the government in their plot to kill everyone on the planet  and how about the ending  that stupid torch guy sacrifices his life in order to get a few close up shots of the zombies . he probably forgot that every camera made in the last   years has a zoom feature . and another thing  why does he say hindenburg before he dies . the hindenburg was a rare event seen by a very few people . the zombie menace will been seen by everyone in the country  possibly the world . he doesn  t think anyone else will get a few snapshots  they also managed to ruin the only semi  interesting scene in the film when the soldier is watching the exotic dancer . why did the zombie hide behind a curtain for five minutes before attacking the girl  especially when the zombie could have come through the door . it  s probably just something an unintelligent zombie movie fan such as myself wouldn  t understand . every day i pray that god with increase my brain capacity long enough for me to figure out all the subtle nuances in feeding the masses .  br    br   anywho  i think it  s interesting that this is the first movie that gave me the desire to physically hurt the people involved in the production . hey trent haaga  i  m calling you out   
return to the   th chamber is one of those classic kung  fu movies which shaw produces back in the   s and   s  whose genre is equivalent to the spaghetti westerns of hollywood  and the protagonist gordon liu  the counterpart to the western  s clint eastwood . digitally remastered and a new print made for the fantastic film fest  this is  presented in shaw scope   just like the good old days .  br    br   this film is a simple story of good versus evil  told in  acts  which more or less sums up the narrative of martial arts films in that era .  br    br   act one sets up the premise . workers in a dye  mill of a small village are unhappy with their lot  having their wages cut by    by incoming manchu gangsters . they can  t do much about their exploitation because none of them are martial arts skilled to take on the gangsters  and their boss . at first they had a minor success in getting liu to impersonate a highly skilled shaolin monk  one of the best comedy sequences   but their rouse got exposed when they pushed the limit of credibility by impersonating one too many times .  br    br   act two shows the protagonist wanting to get back at the mob . however  without real martial arts  he embarks on a journey to shaolin temple  to try and infiltrate and learn martial arts on the sly . after some slapstick moments  he finally gets accepted by the abbot  whom he impersonated   but is disappointed at the teaching methods  kinda like mr miyagi  s style in karate kid  but instead of painting fences  he gets to erect scaffoldings all around the temple . nothing can keep a good man down  and he unwittingly builds strength  endurance and learns kung  fu the unorthodox way .  br    br   act three is where the fight fest begins . with cheesy sound effects  each obvious non  contact on film is given the maximum impact treatment . but it is rather refreshing watching the fight scenes here  with its wide angled shots to highlight clarity and detail between the sparring partners  and the use of slow  motion only to showcase stunts in different angles . you may find the speed of fights a tad too slow  with some pause in between moves  but with yuen wo ping and his style being used ad  nausem in hollywood flicks  they sure don  t make fight scenes like they used to  return to the   th chamber gets a repeat screening on monday  so  if you  re game for a nostalgic trip down memory lane  what are you waiting for   
this apocalyptic zombie film tries to be vicious and shocking but feeding the masses comes off lame as some of the stiff  legged zombies stalking the streets . in rhode island  a zombie epidemic known as the lazarus virus is being played down by the government manipulated newspapers and television stations . a couple of brave  but dumb  souls at channel  tv news feels its audience is being given false hope and no idea of the real danger at hand . an eager reporter  racheal morris  and her cameraman  william garberina   with the aid of a military escort  patrick cohen   risk life and limb to present a  live  broadcast to show the doom at hand . do yourself a favor and don  t watch . this thing is obviously very low budget and comes across with the feel of a high school play gone bad . acting is atrocious and the flesh  hungry zombies are almost comical . also appearing are michael propster  william decoff and brenda hogan . feeding the masses should be left to starve .  
return to the  th chamber is the comedic sequel to the epic   th chamber of shaolin  in which gordon liu played shan te  a young man who became a monk and awesome fighter . in this sequel liu plays a hapless loser who has to learn kung fu after causing his friends to be beaten . he imitates the original shan te  tries all manner of tricks to get into shaolin temple to learn and eventually gets some unique skills to fight some bullying bosses . its a classic light hearted martial arts tale  with the ace production values of the shaw brothers and the sure footed direction of lui chia liang . the choreography is fantastic throughout  whether for fighting or slapstick comedy and gordon liu  s performance  as are the others  particularly the sympathetic monk work perfectly for the material . the film is less epic or profound than some of the stars other work and there are certainly grander  more violent and sweeping shaw brothers films . but few have such a magical blend of slapstick  unique training and fighting  with a subtle yet warming tale of a useless guy making good . full of light hearted joy  its impossible not to give this the highest score .  
this is perhaps the worst attempt at a zombie film i have ever had the misfortune to see . terrible  terrible  terrible . any review found on this site is obviously the work of either the filmmaker  the filmmakers family  or a friend of the filmmaker . how does this film suck  let us count the ways . . .  br    br   the plot  incoherent . dialogue  atrocious . i will not slam the effects  gore  as i understand that this is low budget . but was there even one zombie that was not obese  c  mon  and for a film set in rhode island  why did that truck sport a massachusetts plate  continuity  find some .  br    br   the girl dancing while the soldier  stands at attention  . please  don  t put your ex  girlfriend or buddy  s sister in your movie naked . this was an ugly movie filled with ugly people  and has no business even mentioning romero on the cover . next time you decide to make a movie  don  t .  
this movie has a lot of comedy  not dark and gordon liu shines in this one . he displays his comical side and it was really weird seeing him get beat up . his training is  unorthodox  and who would  ve thought knot tying could be so deadly   lots of great stunts and choreography . very creative   br    br   add johnny wang in the mix and you  ve got an awesome final showdown  don  t mess with manchu thugs they  re ruthless   
honestly  who in god  s name gave this movie an  .  rating   i guess the people who actually made or starred in the movie were the ones who voted . otherwise this movie sucks  this movie is nothing more than an amateur  or possibly student  film . i  m a movie fanatic  and have seen terrible movies  but there was literally nothing redeeming here . the story and acting was the worst i  ve ever seen . the props  including the use of toy airsoft guns with terrible special effects  where just as bad as everything else . i  m all for bad language in movies  but the f  bomb was dropped about every third word and i think we might have a winner for the most use of the f  bomb in any movie ever . the movie also appears to have been filmed using cheap video cameras and not actual film . i  d expect this to get awards for an amateur movie shown only on public access stations around the country  but it doesn  t belong on a dvd .  br    br   do not buy this movie . do not rent this movie . all i can say was that this was a terrible waste of a free movie rental coupon . this is valuable time that you will never get back . unfortunately for me  that time is lost  but it  s not too late for you . if you decide to rent this movie  consider this my warning .  
i agree with another user here and have to say that this is one of the best kung fu movies ever  i watched this as a kid and absolutely loved it  the scaffolding scenes are brilliant and you can really empathise with this guy because he is treated as an outcast . nice humour and fantastic kung fu this movie rocks  if you like kung fu you would love this     
set in providence  rhode island  feeding the masses tries to be a satiric look at the role of the media in government . at best  it could be applied to how the us try to control media during the iraq war  but it ends up feeling hollow . there  s never any really tension in the story and the acting never very good . worst  the direction of the movie is atrocious  focus more on odd camera angles that fail to convey anything beyond  isn  t this an odd way to hold the camera .  special effects are pretty bad . . . at one point video of an explosion is green screened over the city  and it  s laughable at best .  br    br   the film does have a couple bright spots . . . namely the advertisements for post  zombie services  including a reclamation service and a party bus  . but it  s far too little to make the film worthwhile .  br    br   for a better zombie film  try hide and creep . it has the same weak production value  but there  s much more wit  humor and talent behind it .  
it all started with true heart bear  noble heart horse get the club to safety . noble heart horse meet dawn  john  took them to see true heart bear . later  the care meter went down more  true heart bear  noble heart horse check to see if it dark heart but they can  t go unless the club at care for so they ask dawn  john to care for the club . after true heart bear  noble heart horse come back  they send dawn  john back to camp . than the club  cousin bears have grown up to get ready to fight dark heart . at the end  dark heart kidnap all the care bear  the kids  dawn  john  have to tell christy that dark heart is evil . than they work to together to save the care bears . later  true heart bear  noble heart horse found out it dark heart shadow  return to care land to find that their gone . the kids  dawn  john   christy  come but they was not powerful to stop dark heart . true heart bear  noble heart horse come to help dawn  john   christy to free the other care bears but christy got in the way  was hit by dark heart magic . than dark heart saw christy got hit  stop fighting the care bear in order to help her but he can  t because dark heart  himself  don  t have the power of caring to save christy . the care bears  the kids help dark heart save christy . now dark heart starting to care  became a real boy to fall in love with christy . dark heart is now a real boy  help out christy to work out in camp .  br    br   this is a great move ever  the best care bears movie i ever seeing .  br    br   i like all the care bears movies  i can  t wait to see  care bears big wish movie        .  br    br   who like this movie   
a friend once asked me to read a screenplay of his that had been optioned by a movie studio . to say it was one of the most inept and insipid scripts i  d ever read would be a bold understatement . yet i never told him this . why  because in a world where films like  while she was out  can be green  lighted and attract an oscar  winning star like kim basinger  a screenplay lacking in character  content and common sense is no guarantee that it won  t sell .  br    br   as so many other reviewers have pointed out   while she was out  is a dreadfully under  written woman  in  peril film that has abused housewife basinger hunted by four unlikely hoods on christmas eve . every gripe is legitimate  from the weak dialog and bad acting to the jaw  dropping lapses of logic  but basinger is such an interesting actress and the premise is not without promise . here are a couple of things that struck me  br    br     i don  t care how much we are supposed to think her husband is a jerk  the house is a mess with toys . since when did it become child abuse to make kids pick up after themselves   br    br     racially diverse gangs are rare everywhere except hollywood  where they are usually the only racially balanced groups on screen .  br    br     sure the film is stupid . but so are the countless  thrillers  i  ve sat through where the women are portrayed as wailing  helpless victims of male sadism . stupid or not  i found it refreshing to see a woman getting the best of her tormentors .  br    br     i loved the ending   br    br     though an earlier reviewer coined this phrase  i really do think this film should be retitled  the red toolbox of doom .   
this movie is one of the many  kung fu  action films made in asia in the late    s  early    s  full of cheap sound effects  dubbed dialog and lightning fast martial arts action . but unlike most films of this genre it also has a decent plot and lots of great comedy . when workers of a dye factory are forced out of their jobs by manchu bullies  they hire a con  artist  gordon liu  to try to scare them off . when his attempt fails miserably  he cons his way into a shaolin temple to learn to fight for real . but instead of making him a kung  fu student  the master instead orders him to build a scaffolding to cover the roofs of all   chambers . well  it turns out that while he  s performing these menial tasks  stacking and tying bamboo poles  that he  s learning the skills to be a kung  fu expert  it  s sort of like in karate kid when mr . miagi teaches daniel the basics of karate by having him do routine household chores   wax on  wax off  et cetera . there  s lots of great comedy from beginning to end  and plenty of action at the end when gordon liu once again faces his manchu tormentors .  this time it  s not just tricks  it  s the real thing   liu declares  proudly thumping his chest . if you like classic kung fu films you don  t want to miss this one   
feeding the masses is just one of many recent mediocre zombie movies to be after your hard  earned dollars . suggestion  keep your hard  earned dollars and let  s just say that good old theatrex took one for the team on this one . guess what the plots about  zombies taking over . this time though  for the sake of originality    this film takes place in rhode island  and to be honest i  m not sure i  ve ever seen a zombie flick based in rhode island . a tv station  controlled by the government  is supposedly keeping up  normal  broadcasts so that any remaining citizens won  t think that there  s any problem in the world  that is  those that never look or go outside  anyway . i will say though that a few of the commercials broadcast by this station were probably the most amusing part of this film . there is actually somewhat of a story to this but i  m not bothering with that because after a while you  ll either not care or have fallen asleep . at any rate  this has plenty of terrible acting to throw on top off all the  seen it all before  stuff that gets trotted out before the camera . trust me  you can find plenty of other things to do with your time than watch this .  out of   .  
this is simply the epitome of what a made for tv movie should be . it was a lazy sunday afternoon when my wife and i were in grad school that we stumbled upon this . the cheesy acting . the poorly written script . the good ol  boys . the ridiculous  yet somehow obvious  clich  and banal premise . the riding in pickup trucks with your propped  up wife  corpse . it has it all .  br    br   you will meet familiar characters gold  digging hussy  stupid rich boy who wants to make it on his own  friends  who  know  better  daddy who knows better but drives son away . and the wife  corpse . propped up . in a pick  up .  br    br   wow and the title . several things in our lives have been  texas tragedies  since watching this beauty . everyone involved in its creation deserves a medal .  
this is quite possibly the worst acting i have ever seen in a movie . . . ever . and what is up with the casting . the leading lady in this movie has some kind of nose dis  figuration and is almost impossible to look at for any period of time without becoming fixated on her nose . you could go to your local grocery store on a sunday afternoon and easily find   more qualified  better looking possible leading ladies . i made the unfortunate mistake of renting this movie because it had a  cool  dvd case . this movie looks like it is just some class project for a group of multimedia students at a local technical college . i would rather have spent the hour or so that this movie was on watching public access television . . . at least the special effects are better and the people on there are more attractive than anyone you will see in this film  
i just saw this movie on hbo  and it was really good . . . a tragic love story indeed  i really appreciated the fact that the guy at the heart of the story had lost the use of his legs in an accident . it  s rare to see a love story involving someone who is physically handicapped . the love that developed between that character and the woman who comes into his life nicely portrayed how i  d like to think love can heal someone  s heart . laura leighton . . . all of   when she made this movie . . . was great as the woman so full of life she  s able to revive this guy  s heart . unfortunately  since his family is wealthy and her  s is not   problems  develop .  br    br   it  s playing on hbo some more times this month . check out the schedule here  http   www . hbo . com  apps  schedule  scheduleservlet  action  detaildetailfocus  id        
some news reporters and their military escorts try to tell the truth about a epidemic of zombies  despite the  government controlling the media  . the makings of the film don  t understand that the george romero zombie films only worked because he kept his politics subtly in the background of most of his films   land of the dead  withstanding  . this satire is about as subtle as a brick to the face or a bullet to the head is more apropos for this scenario . what  s subversive or subtle about seeing a military guy masturbating to death and destruction  anything nuanced about the various commercials that are inter  cut with the film  nope . furthermore the acting is uniformly horrible  the characters thoroughly unlikable  and the plot inane . add this all up and you have the worst  most incompetent zombie film since   c . h . u . d .   reared it  s hideous head .  br    br   my grade d  
this was a very good movie i wished i could find it in vhs to buy  i really enjoyed this movie i would definaetly recommend this movie to watch i would like to see it again but can never find it in tv  it would be well worth the time to watch it again  
feeding the masses was just another movie trying to make a little money off of the zombie craze that is going around  mostly due to the popularity of movies such as land of the dead and the resident evil series .  br    br   it starts at a television station  which is guarded by the military  and are reporting that the lazarus virus  zombies  are close to containment and the city will soon be free to do their business again . the problem is  this is totally false . zombies are running rampantly and only a small minority of people are aware . among them are torch  william garberina   the camera man  sherry  rachael morris   the lead anchor woman  who for some reason is listed as playing shelly on this website  and roger  patrick cohen   their military escort . torch and sherry are against lying to the people but the station is being run by secret service  or some other government agency  and they are heavily censored .  br    br   this movie gives itself a pat on the back on the box  cover saying  we hold feeding the masses on a higher level than any o the three  of the dead  films by george a . rombero .  the source of that quote has lost all credibility with me .  br    br   let me just say that this movie is bad . i don  t mean bad like i was expecting more  i obviously was  though  but i mean bad in that i could not find any redeeming qualities in the film  whatsoever . the acting in all parts are either over done or too wooden . did anybody remember their lines or are they reading off of cue cards  i can  t even think of what the best part of the movie was or the best actor  actress . there really was not one . if i had to give a nod to someone  i would say roger  the military escort was probably the most interesting character but that is really not saying much .  br    br   i would have to recommend to pass on this movie  despite the box  cover looking pretty good  it  s what originally drew me to the movie  .      
yes  a tap dancing horror thriller . . . . . . . . with shelley and debbie  goody goody . this is demented and campy fun and part of the guignol cycle of the   s that leaked into the   s . released as a double feature with the burt reynolds comedy fuzz this mad scare is so bonkers as to be throughly entertaining . like a mix of day of the locust  the other and baby jane  i suggest any prospective viewer take on the idea that this is almost meant to be skew  iff and sit with someone with whom you can shriek and elbow all through it . actually  get drunk whilst you watch it . . . . . on cheap champagne . again  with many   s film ideas they are also about delusion the struggle of the time for a better life getting bitter and twisted by emotional madness falling into murder . but this one is just plain crazy . it also reminds me a lot of bloody mama the de niro  winters shlock fest that makes this film look positively glorious .  
you know how everyone jokes about the acting in porno movies  well if you  ve always found the plot line of a porn to captivate your interest  then this movie is for you . it truly was like a porn without the sex . or if that analogy is not to your liking  imagine you and your drunk roommate found a movie camera abandoned on a park bench . this is the movie that you would make .  horrible acting  bad camera work  music done on a casio keyboard this movie has it all  and more . for those who are masochists in the crowd  this is a premiere piece for your collection .  br    br   all i can figure is that the only people to submit reviews for this dripping pile of movie  were people who  starred  in it .  br    br   their movie career is over before it started .  
i had watched  and recorded  this a few years back on local tv and  having been underwhelmed by it  i subsequently erased the tape however  when it was released by mgm as part of a  midnite movie  double  feature dvd of curtis harrington  shelley winters films for a very affordable price  i couldn  t resist giving it a second look  this has since gone out  of  print  . actually  i received the dvd a few months ago but only now  with harrington  s passing  did i get to it thankfully  this time around i was more receptive to the film and  in fact  now consider it one of the more satisfying whatever happened to baby jane        imitations  with whom  incidentally  it shared screenwriter henry farrell  .  br    br   the film offers a splendid evocation of     s depression america  with its child  star craze and sensational murders  exploited during the fake newsreel opening   it  s stylishly made  kudos to lucien ballard  s cinematography and the set design by eugene lourie   and boasts an effective david raksin score . shelley winters  debbie reynolds and michael macliammoir deliver excellent performances the latter is especially impressive as the larger  than  life and vaguely sinister diction coach  though he ultimately proves a mere red herring   . also featured are dennis weaver and agnes moorehead  hers is only a cameo  really  as the evangelist she plays is mostly heard over the radio  .  br    br   many seemed to regret the inclusion of musical numbers by the kids  including an amusing mae west imitation   but i personally wasn  t bothered by them the film does slightly overstay its welcome due to an unhurried pace and  perhaps needlessly  convoluted plot . reynolds  a musical star herself  is ideally cast as the dancing  school owner and  despite their on  set rivalry  she and winters work well together . the latter  in fact  gives a more balanced depiction of paranoia and insanity than in whoever slew auntie roo         the narrative  then  comes up with a number of ironic twists that lead up to the expected grand guignol  type denouement . apparently  the film was toned down  it originally contained more gore and even a suggestion of lesbianism   by producer martin ransohoff  against harrington  s wishes  in order to get a pg rating . . .  
if this movie was written directed and produced with the intention of creating a bad movie cult classic  it might  i say might  have been a hit . have you ever sat and watched a movie that was so absolutely awful that it becomes fascinating in terms of its faults  well this is it . every one of the acting cast should be nominated for worst acting performance awards . it would be hard to find another film  with this kind of production budget  that contains so little of any value whatsoever . the whole thing  from the opening scenes defies logic . dialogue is completely unbelievable and illogical . ditto for the behaviour and general storyline of the film itself . what is really mind boggling  is that some buffoons in a boardroom actually made decisions to spend money on this piece of trash . wow .  
some of the background details of this story are based  very  very loosely  on real events of the era in which this was placed . the story combines some of the details of the famous leopold and loeb case along with a bit of aimee semple mcpherson .  br    br   the story begins with two mothers  shelley winters and debbie reynolds  being hounded as they leave a courtroom . the crowd seems most intent on doing them bodily harm as their sons were just convicted of a heinous thrill crime . one person in the crowd apparently slashes winters  hand as they make their way to a waiting car .  br    br   soon after they arrive home  they begin getting threatening phone calls  so reynolds suggests they both move to the west coast together and open a dance school . the dance school is s success and they cater to incredibly obnoxious parents who think their child is the next shirley temple . one of the parents of these spoiled kids is a multimillionaire who is quite smitten with reynolds and they begin dating . life appears very good . but  when the threatening phone calls begin again  winters responds by flipping out   behaving like she  s nearing a psychotic break and she retreats further and further into religion   listening on the radio to  sister alma  almost constantly . again and again  you see winters on edge and it ultimately culminates in very bad things   i won  t say more  as it might spoil this suspenseful and interesting film .  br    br   in many ways  this film is a lot like the bette davis and joan crawford horror films of the     s like  whatever happened to baby jane     straight  jacket  and  the nanny  . while none of these are exactly intellectual fare  on a kitsch level they are immensely entertaining and fun . the writing is very good and there are some nice twists near the end that make it all very exciting . winters is great as a fragile and demented lady and reynolds plays one of the sexiest   year  olds i  ve ever seen   plus she can really  really dance .  br    br   my only concern about all this is that some might find winters  hyper  religiosity in the film a bit tacky   like a cheap attack on christianity . at first i felt that way  but when you meet sister alma  she seems sincere and is not mocked  so i took winters  religious zeal as just a sign of craziness   which  i assume  is all that was intended .  br    br   by the way  this film is packaged along with  whoever slew auntie roo     another shelley winters horror film from     . both are great fun . . . and quite over  the  top   
jesus christ  i can  t believe i  ve wasted my time watching this movie . i only watched because i have such a crush on jordan ladd . but watching this film almost put me off her . this is absolutely awful  i could have been watching survivor series   over this .  br    br   the lead guy in this was so bland and generic . i would love it if the great mistuharu misawa tiger drove     d his ass through a glass window . i was enraging every time he was saying  lake  and  cabin  . i  d kick his ass .  br    br   jordan ladd  on the other hand  was absolutely wonderful . a true angel . but she couldn  t even save this utter joke of a film . sadly  she couldn  t even act like she was off her nut when she took that truth drug . it looked hilarious .  br    br   i also loved the bit where jordan accidentally spilled yogurt on her . it reminded me of a time where . . . nevermind .  br    br   anayways  do watch this film because of it  s awfulness .  
the     s . classy  elegant adele  marvelously played with dignified resolve by debbie reynolds  and batty  frumpy helen  the magnificent shelley winters going full  tilt wacko with her customary histrionic panache  are the mothers of two killers . they leave their seamy pasts in the midwest behind and move to hollywood to start their own dance school for aspiring kid starlets . adele begins dating dashing millionaire lincoln palmer  the always fine dennis weaver  . on the other hand  religious fanatic helen soon sinks into despair and madness .  br    br   director curtis   night tide    ruby   harrington  working from a crafty script by henry farrell  who wrote the book  whatever happened to baby jane   was based on and co  wrote the screenplay for  hush . . . hush  sweet charlotte    adeptly concocts a complex and compelling psychological horror thriller about guilt  fear  repression and religious fervor running dangerously amok . the super cast have a ball with their colorful roles michael macliammoir as a pompous elocution teacher  agnes moorehead as a stern fire  and  brimstone radio evangelist  yvette vickers as a snippy  overbearing mother of a bratty wannabe child star  logan ramsey as a snoopy detective  and timothy carey as a creepy bum . an elaborate talent recital set piece with pamelyn ferdin  the voice of lucy in the  peanuts  tv cartoon specials  serving as emcee and original  friday the   th  victim robbi morgan doing a wickedly bawdy dead  on mae west impression qualifies as a definite highlight . david raskin  s spooky score  a fantastic scene with reynolds performing an incredible tango at a posh restaurant  the flavorsome depression  era period atmosphere  lucien ballard  s handsome cinematography  and especially the startling macabre ending are all likewise on the money excellent and effective . mgm presents this terrific gem on a nifty dvd doublebill with  whoever slew auntie roo    both pictures are presented in crisp widescreen transfers along with their theatrical trailers .  
i couldn  t believe this terrible movie was actually made at all . with the worst actors you could find  the worst script written  mark frost  sollace mitchell  and by far the worst waste of time in viewing . i won  t belabor the story as it  s really not worth it . but i will elaborate on some of the performances and definitely the story . as to the story  it is very hard to believe that this bitty crazy schemer could actually do what she did . that in reality the wife couldn  t defend herself against a little bitty of a thing . that the husband could actually find the nut case attractive at all . that the defense attorney could break every court rule there was and keep on doing it after the judge ordered the blankety blank to shut up . and the final result of the film is an insult to justice  movie codes  and the male species . the theme of this mess is let women do as they wish  kill whom they want  defend the killer and get away with it  while the guy rots in jail the innocent victim . hard to believe that sollace mitchell  the director and a man  would even want to make this dribble .  br    br   as to the acting jordan ladd  the killer  is awful . a loony toons  who does needlepoint during her murder trial  is this allowed in court   she bored me to the hilt . one more look of her batting her eyes and indicating how innocent she was and i  d throw up . she  s not even attractive enough for any guy to leave his wife . the husband  played on one level by vincent spano  just seems to look and act stupid most of the time . he was so predictable in his performance falling into the traps set for him by all the women surrounding him . the worst by far was holland taylor as the defense attourney . she over acted throughout the film and made a mockery of justice . if she would cross examine me anytime  i  d have told her to go take a hike . everybody else in this sleazy film did their job as directed to do so .  br    br   i wish i could give this film a zero rating . however we are forced to start with  . too bad . let  s not have anymore painful watching films like this . lifetime can do better then this  i know it .  br    br   this is a postscript made the mistake of turning this insipid movie on by mistake . as soon as i saw the bimbo jordan ladd i knew i  d seen it before and didn  t like it or her . i not only turned the darn thing off but had to add my anger at people like sollace mitchell who wrote the screenplay but also directed this horrible flick . doesen  t anyone see that her  his message is that sickness pays . being ill and going around killing people is okay with this director  writer . totally making the male species idiots . well  this male tells you to go stuff it somewhere painful . we  re not all that stupid and will speak out to your so called movie  which in this person  s mind deserves to be trashed .  br    br   and again this loser is shown . why     can  t you read the comments on this stupid and despicable movie  are we constantly subjected to see the bimbo jordan ladd again and again  get her off tv  films and out of sight . she  s just terrible in every sense of the word . phew      
well  here  s another terrific example of awkward    s film  making  the rudimentary premise of  what  s the matter with helen   is quite shocking and disturbing  but it  s presented in such a stylish and sophisticated fashion  in the hands of any other movie crew  this certainly would have become a nasty and gritty exploitation tale  but with director curtis harrington   whoever slew auntie roo    and scriptwriter henry farrell   hushhushsweet charlotte   in charge  it became a beautiful and almost enchanting mixture of themes and genres . the basic plot of the film is definitely horrific  but there  s a lot more to experience  like love stories  a swinging      s atmosphere and a whole lot of singing and tap  dancing  the setting is unquestionably what makes this movie so unique . we  re literally catapulted back to the      s  with a sublime depiction of that era  s music  religion  theatrical business and wardrobes . following the long and exhausting trial that sentenced their sons to life  imprisonment for murder  adelle  debbie reynolds  and helen  shelley winters  flee to california and attempt to start a new life running a dance school for young talented girls . particularly adelle adapts herself perfectly to the new environment  as she falls in love with a local millionaire  but poor old helen continues to sink in a downwards spiral of insanity and paranoia . she only listens to the ramblings of a radio  evangelist  fears that she will be punished for the crimes her son committed and slowly develops violent tendencies . the script  although not entirely without flaws  is well written and the film is adequately paced . there  s never a dull moment in  what  s the matter with helen   although the singing  tap  dancing and tango sequences are quite extended and much unrelated to the actual plot . but the atmosphere is continuously ominous and the film definitely benefices from the terrific acting performance of shelley winters . she  s downright scary as the unpredictable and introvert lady who  s about to snap any second and  especially during the last ten minutes or so  she looks more petrifying than all the freddy kruegers  jason voorhees  and michael myers  combined  there are several terrific supportive characters who are  sadly  a little underdeveloped and robbed from their potential  like michal macliammir as the cocky elocution teacher  agnes moorehead as the creepy priestess and timothy carey as the obtrusive visitor to the ladies  house . there are a couple of surprisingly gruesome scenes and moments of genuine shock to enjoy for the grand guignol fanatics among us  but particularly the set pieces and costume designs  even nominated for an oscar   are breathtaking .  
 . . . . may seem far fetched . . . . but there really was a real life story . . of a man who had an affair with a woman  who found out where he and his new wife were staying   and she killed the wife   making it look like a murder rape . . . . . . .  br    br   in her delusion she had told everyone that the man had asked her to marry him . . so she quit her job in wisconsin . . . and moved to minnesota . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   last i heard she was in a mental institution  security prison . . . .  br    br   she was still wearing the  engagement ring .  that she has purchased for herself . . . and had told everyone that he had bought it for her .  br    br   the events took place in a small town in wisconsin        and the murder happened in minnesota . . . . . .  br    br   there even was a feature story in  people  magazine . . . spring of      i want to say on page   . i remember this as i was in college at the time   and a colleague of mine had met the individual in the security hospital . . . .  
  after their sons are sentenced to life in prison  adelle  debbie reynolds  and helen  shirley winters  begin receiving threatening phone calls because someone fells their sons got off easy . the pair decides to move to california to escape the publicity of the trial and to start a new life . they start a dance school that is soon very successful . one of the students has a rich unmarried father with whom adelle quickly falls in love . in the meantime  helen is busy raising rabbits and becoming a little too infatuated with an evangelist on the radio . it  s only a mater of time before everything falls apart and the women enter a world of madness and murder .  br    br    i can  t help but compare what  s the matter with helen  to whoever slew auntie roo   also starring shelly winters . where that movie seemed almost restrained in its presentation of auntie roo  s madness  there  s nothing holding helen back in this movie . it may take a good deal of the movie  s running time  but once she snaps  helen is one bad mad mutha . you don  t want to mess with her . winters is so delightfully demented that it was impossible for me not to enjoy her performance . i  m not going to spoil the movie  but the things helen is capable of are totally over  the  top .  br    br    as good as winters is  reynolds is totally ridiculous in her role as the gold  digging tap dancer . i got the impression that she thought she was in a movie that would get her nominated for some award . this ain  t citizen kane  quit acting so serious . hey  debbie  don  t you realize that you  re main purpose is to be a victim of winters  insanity .  br    br    i just love these former  female  stars  in  the  twilight  of  their  career horror movies . what  s the matter with helen  is as fun as any .  
i can  t believe i actually watched this but i guess i just wanted to know if this movie would get unintentionally funnier and funnier towards the end . and it did . the climax was the poorest performance ever given by the defence lawyer  so out of real life that even for a fictional story it was far too weird . no way anyone on this planet can behave in front of a court like she did . and probably the worst prosecutor on earth . why was he in court anyway  he did nothing and absolutely nothing to prove her guilty . a simple search of her house would have resulted in the find of the rings . but no go . he preferred to say  objection   or  times during the whole trial  that was it . the blonde lunatic was given a truth  drug to prove her innocent but not brett . the lunatic almost had an altar of brett in her home that could have proved her sick obsession . but again no go . during the court scene i felt the silent urge to take the needlepoint out of her hand and bang it several times against her head . even real weirdos do not look that silly fake  i am innocent  like she did . and what does this movie tell us  never marry a woman with a life insurance as soon as she falls down the stairs her husband will be thrown into jail  guilty or not . evil  evil men .  
this is my favorite of the three care bears movies . once again i liked all the songs . the big problem however as most people have pointed out was that this story contradicts the original . for those that saw the first movie recall the bears met their  cousins  who they apparently never knew about . it wasn  t of course until the end that the cousins received their tummy symbols after proving how much they cared . in this story however the cousins grow up with the care bears and have tummy symbols all along . that being said this isn  t a bad movie as long you keep it separate from the first . i thought the darkheart character much more evil then the nicholas of the first . but at the same time i felt it added a sort of balance to the sweetness of the care bears . i also liked the we care part at the end  although i know other people had mixed feelings about that scene . and of course i loved the songs . my favorites being growing up and forever young . the care bears movies have always had such good songs . ten stars for a very good movie .  
i don  t often give one star reviews  but the computer won  t let me do negative numbers .  br    br   the opening titles tell us we  re in deep water already . although this is a low budget exploitation film  there are   producers credited . no . no .  br    br   at the beginning of the story abusive husband kenneth comes home to his family in an upscale gated community . the house is a pigsty . his wife  della  kim basinger  has let the children run amok all day .  br    br   ok . we  re already in deep water . ms . basinger was   years old when the film came out . uh  are these her children or grandchildren  it  s christmas eve . della drives to the mall  a lengthy scene that could have been cut . to bludgeon home the idea of eeeeeeevil male aggression rampant in the universe she drives past football players in full uniform playing in pouring rain on christmas eve . sure . for a bonus she sees a vehicle with a slaughtered deer tied to it .  br    br   we get some actual suspense in the driving scenes  though . it  s raining and traffic is bad . first we see della try to drive and smoke at the same time . then later della tries to drive and talk on her cell phone at the same time  at one point turning completely around to check the cluttered back seat for the charger for the phone .  br    br   she wanders the mall  sees an old friend from college  tries to buy stuff but her credit card is declined  gosh  maybe her husband is grumpy because he  s going broke  but that  s too complicated for the script to follow .  br    br   in the parking lot she runs afoul of the most ludicrous gang in the history of films . one white boy  lukas hass watching his career go down the toilet   one black  one asian  and one hispanic . imagine a company of up with people gone to the bad and you  ll have the idea .  br    br   although they have a gun she gives them attitude . a mall cop comes to investigate the ruckus and they shoot him in the head  firing more than once . the parking lot is crowded as can be  people everywhere  and nobody notices .  br    br   della escapes in her car and rather than choosing a police station or well lighted safe area  she drives to a construction site  where she kills all four bad boys one at a time with simply the tools  literally  at hand .  br    br   major spoiler ahead .  br    br   she drives back home . the car poops out so she walks through the pouring rain . checks on the children  goes downstairs  and when her husband petulantly asks what she got him at the mall shows him the gun and shoots him at point blank range .  br    br   the experience with the four punks was supposed to result in personal empowerment for della . instead we know that her children will probably spend christmas in foster care or a group home  because the state will collect them while she answers to murder one charges . the four punks can be classified as justifiable homicide in self defense . the husband  different story .  br    br   i  m so glad i saw this on cable . if i  d seen it in a theater  did it get any release   i  d have been furious . as is  i  m just sad seeing talents like ms . basinger and mr . haas waste themselves on garbage like this .  br    br   one very good thing  though . this was written and directed by susan montford . ms . montford has not gotten another writing or directing credit since passing this turd . there is justice in the world .  
a vastly underrated black comedy  the finest in a series of grand guignol movies to follow  baby jane  . reynolds and winters are mothers of young convicted murderers  a nod to  compulsion   who run away to hide in hollywood . they run a school for would  be movie tots  a bunch of hilariously untalented kids attended by awful stage moms . debbie  in her blonde wig   i  m a harlow  you  re more a marion davies  she tells winters  leads the tots at their concert and wins a rich dad  weaver . she also does a deliciously funny tango and  over all  gives an outstanding performance  unlike anything she  d done before . the atmosphere is a fine mix of comic and eerie . it looks wonderful with great period detail     s  . lots of lovely swipes at hollywood and the terrifying movie tot . micheal macliammoir has a ball as the drama coach  hamilton starr   he purrs   two r  s but prophetic nonetheless  . see it and love it .  
i happened upon this flick on a rainy sunday  intending to tune  in to something else . out of curiosity  i accessed the comments here  and found myself watching it to the end . i really didn  t do so with intent   this was one of those movies where you  re  fascinated   and watch it for  another couple of minutes   until you finally just watch to the end . and the indictment of it in most of these comments made it more fascinating to view . the one comment where the person really liked it seems to be solely as a result of liking ladd and spano  and their earlier roles . but great isn  t anywhere to be found anywhere here  story  performances  and particularly the absurd courtroom hi  jinks . we all know that perry mason  before raymond burr passed the     lb . mark   and ben matlock  are granted some leeway in cavorting around the courtroom  instead of being boringly confined to a lectern . and matlock is especially granted the privilege of entering exhibits often by simply going to the jury and showing them  before the judge and prosecutor have even been informed of  or shown  them . no real  life judge or prosecutor would stand for this .  br    br   both perry and ben almost always ended the proceedings by wringing a confession of the real killer . actually perry nearly always did this  but often matlock would simply present overwhelming evidence of the true culprit  pronounce it  reasonable doubt   and then leave it to the cops and prosecutors to proceed against the guilty party  sometimes on  camera  sometimes presumed at the end of the show .  br    br   but that said  holland taylor  s histrionics and the amount of leeway afforded her  in the courtroom portion of this story  made the actions of matlock  mason more  closely resemble the slow  often boring detail such as seen on court tv and in real  life courtrooms .  br    br   every character in this presentation was either insipid  unsympathetic  obnoxious  boring  improbable  or some combination of two or more of these .  br    br   the ending was the most banal  absurd  even silly conclusion possible  but again  fascinating because of this . ladd and spano are attractive individuals  and t . v . movies would appear their best forte  probably best in  nd  lead  probably better if   rd    roles  even in this venue . taylor could be cast as the aunt or mother of one of them . give this one  star for the story  performances  and  additional for the fascination factor .  
from the writer of  what ever happened to baby jane   and  hush . . hush  sweet charlotte   this tail  end of the sixties horror cycle has some eerie and campy fun . michel macliammir does a victor buono  type bit  but too often the movie totters dangerously close to a bad musical . . . there  s a particularly awful children  s recital about halfway through . debbie taps  tangos and tricks up a l harlow  while winters  religious fanatic has a lesbian edge to her . agnes moorehead checks in as an evangelist . weaver has nothing to do  and even has to pay a gigolo to dance with debbie .  
  the deadly look of love  is essentially  fatal attraction  with a couple of twists added onto the back half . the ending will not surprise anyone who has seen more than two or three movies of the week . it is yet another cautionary tale about succumbing to temptation  and it adds nothing fresh to the genre .  br    br   brett  vincent spano  is engaged to a beautiful woman who just happens to have a sizable trust fund . even though he has it all  he risks losing everything by starting up a steamy side affair with janet  jordan ladd  . janet  a doe  eyed blonde from cedar falls  falls hard for brett  and she does not take it particularly well when he comes clean about his engagement . shortly after the wedding  mrs . brett turns up dead in the master bedroom of the large  luxurious home she shared with her new husband . when the police question brett  he promptly points the finger at janet . following her arrest  janet seems to get loonier by the minute  not that she was the picture of stability before . her defense attorney  holland taylor  is convinced that janet is innocent and is hell bent on proving it .  br    br   did she do it or didn  t she  how will it end  you can find out the answers to these questions the next time  the deadly look of love  airs on your local station . and be sure not to miss the moral of this beautiful story men are pigs  and women are crazy .  
the most bizarre of the cinematic sub  genres is the so called  the great ladies of the grand guignol   camp horror films which combined over  the  top melodrama with gothic thrills and always starred by seasoned and almost forgotten actress from hollywood golden age in unflattering roles of either long suffering victims or screeching evil harpies . this genre provided them with an unusual acting showcase that allowed strut their stuff on the screen once again and win new generations of fans at expense of their glamorous images from yesterday .  br    br    what  s the matter with helen  is the last drop of this sub  genre with stunning performances of both debbie reynolds and shelley winters as the troubled mothers of two convicted criminals who run away from their past to the sunny california in the     s to open a talent school to milk out the eagerly mothers who want their daughters to be the next shirley temple . in california  debbie gets happiness  clients  tango  tap dancing and a new love interest  dennis weaver meanwhile shelley gets wacko with horrible flashbacks  menacing anonymous calls  menacing strangers  menacing agnes moorehead as a radio evangelist  cute little rabbits    and an unfortunate encounter with an electric fan  ouch   .  br    br   the sloppy script  penned by henry farrell  the man who started all this genre with  whatever happened to baby jane  along with master director robert aldrich  joan crawford and bette davis  is full of plot holes  red herrings and wasted opportunities that could had made this movie great the underlying themes of twisted motherhood  with debbie and shelley  s characters as  failed mothers  and the overbearing mommies of the child stars  and obsessive female bonding  debbie and shelley relationship and the fact that the few male characters of this movie are either sinister or sleazy even dennis weaver dream boat texan  are wasted . instead we get debbie reynolds musicals interludes and dancing tots  although fun to watch take too much screen time of what is supposedly to be a psychological chiller . but still this movie is highly entertaining . the two stars and curtis harrington stylish direction easily overcomes its flaws . the movie recreation of the      s is colorful and elegant  look at debbie  s clothes   made with a very tight budget . the increasing atmosphere of madness and hysteria is genuinely creepy with a shocking finale that will haunt you for days . and you wouldn  t easily forget that silly  goody  goody  song that runs through the movie either . and seeing an increasingly mad shelley winters screw every one of debbie reynolds  chances at happiness is a hoot to watch   br    br    out of   .  
this is not horror  as the first part was this is   campy   light and humorous entertainment . like in so many sequels  the action starts right away with no explanations . but there  s boobs  so i don  t complain . and real boobs that is . if i understand correctly  those are quite rare today amongst the teenage girls in u . s . of a . which brings to my mind the fact that the main actress here is pamela  bruce  s sister  springsteen .  br    br   this cannot be thought without the first movie  so i compare this to it . again there is too small clothing  mainly pants  and funny hair  it  s not hard to tell what decade this film is made in . again there is really strange characters  this time even more visibly  pathological  ones . especially the personnel of the camp . it  s like some mental rehabilitation summer camp . people are older most of the actors must be at least    but i think they  re supposed to be   or something . some  methods  used by the evil dyke are quite unpleasant . actually this movie don  t have much in common with the first part  and this is worse than it in every way .  
i found the film quite expressive  the way the main character was lost but at the same much more clear about certain things in life than people who mocked him  his flatmate for example  .  br    br   he was tortured and you loved to watch him being tortured  it had this perverted side which was frightening but we were all happy to see him come out of the misery again .  br    br   it was like a game character or pan  man through a mine  land or to enemy and we love to watch him under sniper attack or fire but then at the end we are happy to see him survive . . .  br    br   .  
absolutely putrid slasher film has not one redeeming quality . it has camp councellor angela  pamela anderson . . awful as the killerher quips when she wastes people aren  t even amusing  on the warpath slaying teenagers who act the least bit naughty or resist her pleadings for good behavior . we run the gamut of boring  clichd killings such as the slashing to the throat to one kid looking for his freddy clawed glove  a kid who gets a chainsaw  one girl who gets drilled  one who gets shoved into the crapper  filled with leeches   one who is roasted  etc .  br    br   it doesn  t have one original idea to offer and is merely a waste of time . that is unless you want to see valerie hartmen  s  who plays the slut ally  tits . most of the violence occurs off  screen so even that will not satisfy .  
in a year of pretentious muck like  synecdoche  new york  a film born out of charlie kaufman  s own self  indulgence  comes a film that is similarly hard to watch but about three times as important .  frownland  is a labor of love by the crew  the actors and the filmmaker  shot over years by friends . it traces a man who cannot communicate through his thoroughly authentic  real brooklyn world . the people that you see are a step beyond even the stylization of the  mumblecore  movement . they are real people  painfully trapped in their own self  contained neuroses  unwilling to change  unable . the real world to them is their own set of delusions and because this is a film about people who are so profoundly out of touch  it is very difficult to watch . it is   mm film  making without proper light  money or any of the other factors that would make a film  slick   but its honesty can not be understated  a fact that would cause a room full of people to dismiss it and for richard linklater to give it an award as he did at sxsw . this does remind of films like  naked  or the best of the  mumblecore  . it is a film that is not for everyone  but one that challenges you to watch and grows on you the longer you think about it .  
this movie is not good . the first one almost sucked  but had that unreal ending to make it worth watching . this one has nothing . there  s zero scare  zero tension or suspense . this isn  t really a horror movie . most of the kills don  t show anything . there  s no gore to speak of . this could almost be a tv  except for a bit of nudity and a bit of violence . the acting is not very good  either . and don  t get me started on the dialogue . as for the surprise ending  surprise  there isn  t one . i suppose it could have been worse  although i don  t see how . but then again  it is less than   minutes long  so i guess that  s a good thing . although it felt a lot longer . apparently this is the cut version of the film . i found it for a very cheap price  but it still not worth it . if you want the uncut more graphic version  check out the anchor bay edition . anyway  this version of sleepaway camp iiunhappy campers gets a big fat     from me . p . s . if you watch this movie  you will probably be a bored and unhappy camper . if you are a real fan  you might want to pick up anchor bay  s sleepaway camp  with survival kit  three disc collection containing the first three movies uncut and with special features  
frownland is like one of those intensely embarrassing situations where you end up laughing out loud at exactly the wrong time and just at the moment you realize you shouldn  t be laughing  you  ve already reached the pinnacle of voice resoundness and as you look around you at the ghostly white faces with their gaping wide  open mouths and glazen eyes  you feel a piercing ache beginning in the pit of your stomach and suddenly rushing up your throat and . . . well  you get the point .  br    br   but for all its unpleasantness and punches in the face  frownland  really is a remarkable piece of work that  after viewing the inarticulate mess of a main character and all his pathetic troubles and mishaps  makes you want to scratch your own eyes out and at the same time  you feel sickenly sorry for him .  br    br   it would have been a lot easier for me to simply walk out of ronald bronstein  s film  but for some insane reason  i felt an unwavering determination to stay the course and experience all the grainy irritation the film has to offer . if someone sets you on fire  you typically want to put it out stop  drop  and roll  but with this film  you want to watch the flame slowly engulf your entire body . you endure the pain   perhaps out of spite  or some unknown masochistic curiosity i can  t even begin to attempt to explain .  br    br   unfortunately  mainstream cinema will never let this film come to a theater near you . but if you get a chance to catch it  prepare yourself bring a doggie bag .  
so angela has grown up and gotten therapy and an operation to turn her into a real life daughter  rather than the son that she was born  and now holds a job as  wait for it  a camp counselor  how appropriate  right  i know  i love it . anyway  the first sequel to the sleepaway camp franchise obeys all the rules of horror sequels  more blood  more imaginative killings  which aren  t imaginative  but still more so than the original   more nudity  a more elaborate plot  and generally worse than the original .  br    br   it is entertaining in the same way as the original was  in that the characters and wardrobes are so goofy and so authentically    s that you can  t help getting a good laugh . at one point  a guy asks angela out  and she says  i  ll call you   and then quickly walks away . the guy says to himself   how is she gonna call me  i don  t have a phone   and then he sniffs his armpits  wondering what turned her off  it  s the hair  dude    .  br    br   it is a well  known fact that in   s slasher movies  the murdered teenagers were more often than not being punished by their killer for some kind of bad behavior  usually for being too promiscuous . when i first started getting into horror movies and saw the friday the   th movies for the first time in the mid   s  i didn  t realize this . i learned it in a film class a year or two later and was amazed that their was some method to the madness . i was pretty impressed  not only that the movies were passing on some kind of message  albeit a morbid one  but that there was actually some thought put into it .  br    br   but not in this movie  at one point just before angela kills one of her victims  she says  let this be a lesson to you . say no to drugs   real subtle screen writing there  guys . then again  the dialogue is the most entertaining thing in the movie . angela  who  by the way  went through all that therapy and those operations and all that trouble to clean up her past and reinvent herself as a normal and well  developed person and then changed her name from angela to  umm  angela   says at one point   i don  t like being the wicked witch of the west  but i know what happens when things get out of control .   people start getting killed . . . by me  ha    br    br   then later  she demands that one of the counselors  mare  make an apology  to which the girl replies   i  d rather die   sorry  mare  but you really walked into that one . . .  br    br   two years ago i was a camp counselor at a sleepaway camp similar to the one portrayed in this movie  except the camp that i taught at had more than three kids to the   or   counselors and it also had rules  which the one in the movie doesn  t  . this made me notice the myriad of discrepancies in the movie from what camp life is really like .  br    br   that  s okay though  you can hardly make a movie like this with a lot of  year olds running around  although there were some   or   year old kids killed in this movie . i hadn  t seen that kind of thing much before .  br    br   definitely bad taste  even for a cheesy   s slasher movie . . . .  
a very strange and compelling movie . it  s about a very awkward and tightly wound man who attempts to navigate his life as a door  to  door fundraiser  salesman . the director was able to capture a very unnerving tone that really served the story well . original and unsettling while also finding a great deal of humor in the pain that accompanies life . there is a sequence at a testing facility that really stood out and made me laugh out loud which is not something i do as frequently as i should . one of the more memorable films i  ve seen in a long while . hasn  t left my mind and i look forward to future efforts by bronstein . fantastic performances all around . the simple line  i really appreciate it .  is now iconic to me .  
angela johnson  pamela springsteen   yes she  s related to bruce   the killer from the first film  is up to her old tricks again . she  s one of the counselors at camp rolling hills . as long as the girls at camp are nice and stay away from sex  drugs and swearing things are fine . but a few step over the line and angela kills them   cracking bad jokes all the way .  br    br   the original  sleepaway camp  was a vicious and nasty splatter film but had some good points to it . this is vicious and nasty too but has no good points to it . the plot has been done to death and this adds nothing new to the formula . there are plenty of gory killings in here  people are burnt alive  heads are cut off  throats slashed  but all the gore is so obviously fake it actually become comical . this also has the smallest amount of campers i  ve ever seen and virtually everyone is far too old for their roles  especially higgins  . as expected there  s the gratuitous female nudity  here provided by the tremendously untalented valerie hartman  and the obligatory good girl  good boy team  renne estevez and tony higgins  . with the sole exception of springsteen and higgins the acting is lousy   even by slasher movie standards . there  s also a cruel edge to this movie in which one character is drowned in an outhouse  boring and sick with a stupid plot  pointless nudity and bad gore . skip it .  
what happens when someone has so much social anxiety that they cease to function  how alone can one man get  when the mundane crap we have to do in order to be part of society gets to be too much  what happens  frownland explores these questions . definitely a startling original debut from bronstein . the tone is strange and claustrophobic as we get inside the mind of a guy named keith that is so messed up he can hardly form a proper sentence . we follow him around as he tries to make contact with people and function day to day . most of us have known people like this  people that say  sorry  too much or  i appreciate it  when there  s nothing to appreciate . so we know there are people out there like this but why would someone want to make a movie about them  well  because its interesting and bronstein and the lead actor  dore mann  do an excellent job . this film is about as un  commercial as a film can get . a few friends filmed it over the course of a few years as they saved money . it was shot on   mm and the scratched film look is beautifully low budget . with no distributer  this may be a tough one to find  i think it  s been screening randomly for the past year or so . hopefully it  ll be on dvd at some point . i saw it at the silent movie theater here in la . there were   people in the audience  among them crispin glover  if that tells you anything about how weird this movie is . highly recommended .  
despite being a sequel to the more potent original  this is more of a comical remake of friday the   th concerning the further antics of psychopathic angela  killing more nubile teens for their  immorality  at a camp .  br    br   pamela springsteen  sister of bruce  looks great . there are some pretty darn funny sex scenes with some pretty darn attractive girls  but the movie  s so  unintentionally  comedic rather than suspenseful  it  s a stinker .  br    br    out of  .  br    br   mpaa rated r for graphic violence and gore  nudity  and for some sexuality  language  and drug use .  
  a guy thing  may not be a classic  but it sure is a good  funny comedy . the plot focuses on paul  jason lee   who wakes up the morning after his bachelor party with no memory and becky  julia stiles  lying naked in his bed . before he can figure out what happened  he rushes becky out of his apartment because his fiance karen  selma blair  is coming . after that  as you could imagine  chaos ensues .  br    br   almost every single scene in  a guy thing  delivers loud laughs . the funniest moments come from when paul imagines what could happen if he tells karen . selma blair is a truly talented comedian  and the worst thing about this film is that she goes underused . although  she turns out to be more funny than stiles  character  who actually isn  t that interesting . of course  not every comedy is perfect .  br    br   as i said   a guy thing  is no classic  but it  s not bad either      .  
this movie was bad from the start . the only purpose of the movie was that angela wanted to get a high body count . the acting was horrible . the killings were acted out very badly . like when ally got stuffed down that toilet i guess it was in the abandoned cabin . but when the end of the movie comes and molly and the other guy are in the cabin you see ally so angela must have gone in to get her . the part that really got me was when the black girl and angela were in the cabin and angela took the guitar string and chocked her . one it was horrible acting and two why wouldn  t you just turn around and punch the bitch      then when molly is getting chased by angela if you have the neigh why not just turn around and stab her    so stupid . this movie sucked . . .  
on the night of his bachelor party  paul coleman  jason lee  meets the gorgeous dancer becky  julia stiles  in the bar  they drink a lot together and in the next morning  he wakes up with her on the bed . his future mother  in  law calls him and informs that his fiance karen  selma blair  might be arriving in his apartment  and he desperately asks becky to leave his place in a hurry . sooner  he finds that her has crabs  and later  in the preparation of his wedding dinner party  he realizes that becky is the cousin of karen . this is the beginning of a very funny comedy  with hilarious situations . the first attraction of this movie certainly is the central trio of actresses and actor . julia stiles and selma blair  who are excellent actresses and extremely gorgeous  and jason lee  who is amazingly funny  have good performances . i laughed a lot along the story  but there are some scenes that are really hilarious . for example  when paul finds becky in his bed when he finds her paints his imagination in many situations in the drugstore  trying to buy and get explanations about the crab medicine most of the scenes of his neighbor  the minister when karen calls the department store or when the police finds a suspect of assaulting paul . i could number many other scenes  but better off the reader rent or buy this movie and have lots of fun . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    louco por elas    crazy for them    
this is an immoral and reprehensible piece of garbage  that no doubt wants to be a friday the   th       clone . the poster for this movie makes it look like there  s going to be some sort of a cross between jason and freddy  which is likely to attract movie  goers . there is nothing good or entertaining about this movie about this movie . it just makes me sad  just thinking that some people are going to stumble upon sleepaway camp ii unhappy campers       on video or dvd  and waste their time with this sad  cynical  depressing movie .  br    br   angela baker  pamela springsteen  is a camp counselor at camp rolling hills  who hopes that the other campers are as nice as she is  and that they stay out of trouble . meanwhile  the other campers are realizing that people are disappearing one by one  with angela making up the excuse that she had to send them home . could angela be the killer  who was once a man  who underwent a sex change operation years earlier  who knows  who cares   br    br   the     s was home to a lot of movies that made the cross between the mad slasher and dead teenager genres  in which a mad killer goes berserk . some have a plot  some don  t  but they  re all about as bad as this one . sleepaway camp ii unhappy campers is   minutes of teenagers being introduced and then being stabbed  strangled  impaled  chopped up  burned alive  and mutilated . that  s all this movie is . it is just mindless  bloody violence .  br    br   watching this movie  i was reminded of the friday the   th movies  in which the message for its viewers was that the primary function of teenagers is to be hacked to death . the filmmakers of sleepaway camp ii have every right to be ashamed of themselves . imagine the sick message that this movie offers for its teen viewers  the world is a totally evil place   this movie tells you   and it  ll kill you . it doesn  t matter what your dreams or your hopes are . it doesn  t matter if you have a new boyfriend  or a new girlfriend . it doesn  t matter what you think  what you do or what your plans for the future are . you can forget those plans  because you  re just going to wind up dead .   br    br   and the sickest thing is   and by not giving too much away   the movie simply sets up room for a sequel . well  why not  they  ve probably and already taken the bucket to the cesspool by making three or four of these movies . i missed out on the original sleepaway camp        and  after watching its first sequel  i will hopefully stay away from the other sequels  as well as the original . and for parents  if you know kids who actually like this movie  do not let them date your children .  
as a child i preferred the first care bear movie since this one seemed so dark . i always sat down and watched the first one . as i got older i learned to prefer this one . what i do think is that this film is too dark for infants  but as you get older you learn to treasure it since you understand it more  it doesn  t seem as dark as it was back when you were a child .  br    br   this movie  in my opinion  is better than the first one  everything is so much deeper . it may contradict the first movie but you must ignore the first movie to watch this one . the cubs are just too adorable  i rewind that  flying my colors  scene . i tend to annoy everyone by singing it .  br    br   the sound track is great  a big hand to carol and dean parks . i love every song in this movie  i have downloaded them all and is all i am listening to  i  m listening to  our beginning  also known as  recalling  at the moment . i have always preferred this sound track to the first one  although i just totally love carol kings song in the first movie  care  a  lot  .  br    br   i think the animation is great  the animation in both movies are fantastic . i was surprised when i sat down and watched it about   years later and saw that the animation for the time was excellent . it was really surprising .  br    br   there is not a lot of back up from other people to say that this movie is great  but it is . i do not think it is weird  strange . i think it is a wonderful movie .  br    br   basically  this movie is about how the care bears came about and to defeat the demon  dark heart . the end is surprising and again  beats any  pokemon movie  with the care bears moral issues . it leaves an effect on you . again this movie can teach everyone at all ages about morality .  
the genre of suspense films really takes a dive in this one . the big problem is implausability . i realize that you need to create difficult situations which would cause suspense and the tense feeling of whats going to happen next  but this movie was so predictable  and is just not believable . i find that the more i watch this kind of movie  the more i am continually saying things to actors to direct them away from danger . continually making bad decisions just borders on being plain stupid . if they took the time to make it more realistic  i might have enjoyed it a little . having said that  you might be better off staying away from this one .  
romantic comedies can really go either way  you know  you  ll see one that  s really sappy  and you  ll think you want something more realistic . then  you  ll see one that  s realistic  but it might be too dull to keep you interested . or maybe you  ll see one that does everything right  but just fails to make you smile . romantic comedies are tough movies . you go into them with a lot of expectations  and usually  whether you like it is simply a matter of whether the filmmakes was anticipating your expectations or those of the guy or girl next to you .  br    br   of course  if you  ve got a girl next to you  and you  re a guy like me  it probably doesn  t matter all that much whether the movie  s any good  you  ve got other things on your mind . for you  i say   go get her  tiger   for the rest of us  i say   see  a guy thing  .  it  s a lot of fun .  br    br   because  a guy thing  knows you  re going in to this movie with expectations  so it doesn  t pretend that its  guy about to get married meets the woman of his dreams  and it  s not his wife   plot is going to make everyone happy . sure  maybe you like it  but maybe it doesn  t ring true  or you think it  s cruel .  a guy thing  covers that . what  a guy thing  does is fill the screen with the best supporting cast i  ve seen in a long time  so if you don  t the main plotline  you  ve still got something to make you smile .  br    br   whether we  re talking about the seasoned veterans of big and small screen  like larry miller  pretty woman  best in show   james brolin  traffic   julie hagerty  airplane    david koechner  saturday night live and conan o  brien regular  dirty work  austin powers ii  or thomas lennon  the state and viva variety   or new faces like shawn hatosy  the faculty   or colin foo  saving silverman   we  re talking about a bunch of very talented and skilled actors who know exactly how to take advantage of the film  s inspired characterisation  steal the show  time after time  and still frame the piece with an energy and a joy rarely seen in romantic comedies these days .  br    br   and that  s not to detract from the actual romantic throughline and the stars that carry it along  because it  s very sweet and terribly well done . jason lee  mallrats  chasing amy  dogma  etc .  is touching as the young professional whose life may be spinning out of control  and selma blair shows an understated brilliance in portraying the aspiring socialite and sophisticated career woman every guy wants to marry except for the guy who actually is .  br    br   a lot of the success of the movie  though  falls on julia stiles  the right girl in the right place at the wrong time  and she wears it well . not since  gosh  i don  t know when  have i seen an actress in a romantic comedy that has made falling in love with her so easy . of course  it  s all in the closeups  the voice  and the subtle smiles  but it  s magical  and it  s one of the big reasons why we go to the movies in the first place .  br    br   but julie stiles  s slightly offbeat sophistication would be lost were it not for the fact that the rest of the cast is so incredibly dead  on in their classic simplicity . this is a movie that paints a broken world of irreconcilable stock types  makes them fall over each other to make you laugh  and then comes through with a great deal of heart .  br    br   a guy thing is a movie you  ve definitely seen before  and the filmmakers clearly knew that when they set down to make it . we haven  t really seen any new romantic comedies since shakespeare the relative success of this one or that one is entirely dependent upon the execution of the classic story of boy meets girl . a guy thing does embrace that with a bit of a metacinematic edge  often taking the scenes into the absurd in order to give the audience a chance to acknowledge the powerful emotions and ancient plot devices at play .  br    br   for the record  it also even manages to poke fun at the rather traditional structural notions of sex and gender that form the center of every romantic comedy  so even the feminists out there might get a kick out of it .  br    br   and guys  i think we can all agree that we wish our friends are as cool as jason lee  s friends in this movie . i  m not going to spoil it for you  but when you try to explain to your girlfriend why the pharmacist and the clothing store clerk are among the coolest dudes in cinema  i suggest you just say  it  s a guy thing   and leave it at that .  
no wonder pamela springsteen gave up acting to become a full  time photographer it  s a much better idea to have her behind a camera than in front of one . while this movie is not without its interesting elements  mullets from hell  etc .   it is outweighed by flaws . for one thing  angela  the murderous counselor  appears to be about the same age as the campers . having an older  more threatening camp director would have done a lot for the film . and then you have the murder scenes . the budget was apparently too low to execute most of them properly  no pun intended   although drowning someone in an outhouse toilet is certainly original . but overall  there are a ton of movies out there that are scarier  more fun to spend an hour and a half of your life watching .  
i was literally preparing to hate this movie  so believe me when i say this film is worth seeing . overall  the story and gags are contrived  but the film has the charm and finesse to pull them off . that gag where jason lee thinks he has crabs  and tries not to let his boss  future father  in  law and co  workers see him scratching himself isn  t terribly intelligent  but it sent me into a frenzy of laughter . very few of the film  s gags are high  brow  but they made me laugh . as i said  the film has charm and charm can go a long way .  br    br   the characters are likable  too . i must say i wish i got to see more of james brolin  s character  since he was a hoot in the very few scenes he was in . plus  i admire any romantic comedy that has the guts to not make the character of the wife  who serves as the obstacle in the plot  a total witch . the selma blair character is hardly unlikable  and there  s never a scene where i thought to myself   why did he want to marry her in the first place   the ending is hollywood  ish  but it could  ve been much more schmaltzy .  br    br   the cast is talented . i haven  t had a favorable view of most of jason lee  s mainstream work . i just loved him so much in kevin smith  s films that i couldn  t help but feel disappointed at seeing him in these dopey roles . and he never looks comfortable in these dopey roles . even in this movie  he doesn  t look perfectly comfortable  but he contributes his own two cents and effectively handles each scene . but i still miss his work in independent films . julia stiles proves again why she  s so damn likable . of course  she  s a very beautiful girl with a radiant smile that makes me want to faint  but she also possesses a unique charm and seems to have good personality . in other words  her beauty shows inside and out . i don  t know the actresses  name  but the woman who plays the drunk granny is hilarious . julie hagerty also has a small part  and she  s always enjoyable to watch  which makes me wish she received better roles . i loved her so much in  airplane  and  lost in america  that it  s a shame she doesn  t get the same opportunities to flaunt her skills .  br    br   don  t be put off by the horrible trailers and even more horrible box office records . this is a funny  charming film . romantic comedies are getting so predictable nowadays that it feels like the genre itself is ready to be flushed down the toilet  so it  s always to see a good one among all these bad apples .  br    br   my score   out of     
being a slasher film aficionado  i typically will settle in to watch every slash movie that passes over my retinas  which sometimes does more harm than good to my brain  i will say . while channel surfing the other night  sleepaway camp ii happened to cross paths with me . of course  i wanted to check it out  as i had heard of the sleepaway camp franchise  but have never actually seen any of them  for shame  i know  . i will note that since i have not seen the original  my criticism should probably not be taken too seriously  because perhaps what i think is wrong with it is totally intentional by the franchise  s own design .  br    br   now i  m assuming that the franchise of sleepaway camp is  in itself  a joke on itself . hell  even the name comes off as an intentional joke . sleep away camp  it  s good fun . i can appreciate the film for wanting to just put together something for pure camp horror value  but that  s about as far as i can go . the acting in this movie made the cast of the original friday the   th look like thespians doing a rendition of macbeth . campy requires bad acting  but come on . pamela springsteen as the evil out  of  touch  with  reality killer did a better job of killing off my interest than she did killing off the entire cast . as far as comedy goes  there were a few times where i chuckled  but it was few and far between .  br    br   ultimately  sac ii is pretty boring  and i really did want to sleep away the camp . the deaths are so obviously staged and fake that you can barely appreciate them . if you  re looking for a slasher film comedy with good camp  i recommend club dread . if your channel surfing takes you across this one  check and see what else is on .  
this movie starts out brisk  has some slow moments in the middle  but generally moves along well  has a few very good moments  then peters out at the end of act  . i was able to get to see this in la premieres  times  with  different endings  . jason lee is a star  but he is not tomorrows leading man . he is humorous and holds his own  but he is better served as a supporting actor . julia stiles does  ok  in a comedy role  new for her  but she doesn  t  steal  this movie  the way a star of her caliber should . for an actress who has so much potential    things  save the last dance  o   it is hard to watch her continue to do roles that are so  average   and then not have her take the role and run away with the movie  like daniel day  lewis did in  gangs   . selma blair is a good young actress as well  and does an  ok  job . i didn  t expect an academy award performance from her  and she didn  t deliver one  but  her performance was adequate . chris koch delivers another film that is  above average  . perhaps the problem lies in the script more than anything else . i  did  like this movie  but  it is not a movie where you walk away and say . . .  that was great   . . . this  story  has been done so many times before and there was just not much new here . the rehearsal dinner scene was probably the best in the movie  and larry miller gives an incredible performance in a supporting role  he could be the best surprise of the film  . if you want to go see a movie that will make you laugh a few times  and have an enjoyable evening  i can still recommend this film  but unless they have changed the ending . . . again . . . leave during the church scene  or you will surely be disappointed .  
after the debacle of the first sleepaway camp  who thought that a franchise could be born . sc ii is superior in aspect . more inspired killings and just whole lot more fun . while that might not be saying much  compared to the first movie   sleepaway camp ii is worth the rental .  br    br   pros entertaining  doesn  t take itself too seriously like sc i . inspired killings . cons crappy acting and mullets abound .  br    br   bottom line      br    br    
first a quick  shut up   to those saying this movie stinks . you can  t go to every movie expecting  citizen kane  . this was actually a fun movie . jason lee is good in everything he does . the only flaw in this movie is  i don  t think there was enough chemestry between lee and julia stiles . they should have dwelled more on that . other than that  the movie is good fun . selma blair needs to eat something . she  s worrying me . but she still looks beautiful . so yes  i recommend this movie for a date or light saturday afternoon fun . go see .  br    br   rating     out of   
me and my friend rented this movie for   .   . and we both agree on one thing  br    br   this is the worst movie ever made   br    br   also me and my friend counted    face shots .  which makes up    of the movie  .  br    br   so in other words do see this movie unless you like wasting money  and i do   br    br    
i think the deal with this movie is that it has about  minutes of really  really funny moments and it makes a very good trailer and a lot of people came in with expectations from the trailer and this time the movie doesn  t live up to the trailer . it  s a little more sluggish and drags a little slowly for such an exciting premise  and i think i  m seeing from the comments people having a love  hate relationship with this movie .  br    br   however  if you look at this movie for what it is and not what it could have been considering the talent of the cast  i think it  s still pretty good . julia stiles is clearly the star  she  s so giddy and carefree that set among the conformity of everyone else  she just glows and the whole audience falls in love with her along with lee . the rest of the cast  of course  lee  s testosterone  filled coworkers  his elegant mother  in  law  his fratlike friend jim and his bride  to  be all do an excellent job of fitting into stereotypes of conformity and boringness that make stiles stand out in the first place .  br    br   lee doesn  t live up to his costars  i don  t think  but you could view that as more that they  re hard to live up to . maybe that  s one source of disappointment .  br    br   the movie itself  despite a bit of slowness and a few jokes that don  t come off as funny as the writer  s intended  is still pretty funny and i found a rather intelligent film . the themes of conformity and  taking the safe route  seemed to cleverly align on several layers . for example  there was the whole motif of how he would imagine scenarios but would never act on them until the last scene  or how he was listening to a radio program on the highway talking about how everyone conforms  or just how everything selma blair and julia stiles  characters said and did was echoed by those themes of one person being the safe choice and one being the risky choice .  br    br   the other good thing about the movie was that it was kind of a screwball comedy in which jason lee has to keep lying his way through the movie and who through dumb luck  example the pharmacy guy turning out to be a good chef  and some cleverness on his part gets away with it for the most part .  br    br   while it wasn  t as funny as i expected and there was a little bit of squandered talent  but overall it  s still a good movie .  
this is a big step down after the surprisingly enjoyable original . this sequel isn  t nearly as fun as part one  and it instead spends too much time on plot development . tim thomerson is still the best thing about this series  but his wisecracking is toned down in this entry . the performances are all adequate  but this time the script lets us down . the action is merely routine and the plot is only mildly interesting  so i need lots of silly laughs in order to stay entertained during a  trancers  movie . unfortunately  the laughs are few and far between  and so  this film is watchable at best .  
what would you say about a man who was about to get married and was having his bachelor party with some of his closest friends at a hawaiian guy bar  all smooth sailing until he takes his  bachelor hat  off . what would you say about him talking to one of the suggestive dancers and then sleeping with her  what would you say if that exact girl was the cousin of his finance  a new low  right  well paul coleman  played comically by jason lee  leads this experience of a nauseous blur and a new low . i got to say this is one of his good leading roles . however i do believe his role in vanilla sky was better acted .  br    br   his finance named karen is played by the up  and  down actress selma blair while karen  s character  becky  is played by the lovely and talented julia stiles . getting back to where we left off  paul now has to deal with one arising problem to another . he gets diseases  has to deal with certain people  and has to play his lie games with stealth or any member of each of the families could get p . o  ed  including one of his relatives that hasn  t had a  bowel movement  for   days . vomit all of this leads to the long awaited wedding with one hilarious scene before it recapping all the hell that paul and his brother had to go through .  br    br   overall  a guy thing is quite funny and is all right . sometimes the story may seem to go nowhere and you get tired of scenes here and there but it  s a mixed movie . and if you  re a canadian and a fellow fan of the ctv brett butt sitcom  corner gas  you  d recognize a small role played by fred ewanuick  the same man who plays the hilarious hank in the series . this movie is all right . it  s another feather in lee  s hat  quite an empty hat so far  however  .  br    br   my rating      br    br   eliason a .  
why review good movies when you can review  trancers ii    br    br   ooh  this film is soooo lame . i can just picture the cast and crew driving around l . a . with a camcorder  hurling extras in silly monster make  up at poor  long  suffering tim thomerson . the stars  families actually turn up to play cameos  probably because full moon couldn  t afford  real  extras . lame effects  lame sets  and a script so convoluted it would take eons to untie all the knots  this must be classic trancers   br    br   and yet . . . and yet . . . it rules . note this is the same thing i say about  trancers iv .  i say it because it  s true . what can beat watching an old guy in a trench coat mow down zombies  then bust out with quips like   don  t worry ladies  they  re bio  degradable   well  lots of things could be better  but anyway this is still good stuff .  br    br   my only significant reservation is megan ward  who really stinks up the joint . she  s a lousy rival for helen hunt  s character  they  re both young pieces of eye candy  and it would  ve been more effective if they actually contrasted a bit more . oh well  you can  t have everything . at least the wonderful plot device of the  long second watch  is back in place  and we  ve got more of hap ashby  the least  convincing athlete in the history of cinema  oh  wait a minute  he  s got a rival in the form of david ogden steirs in  creator   .  br    br   i haven  t seen this lately  but i do seem to remember that martine beswick runs away twice during the final battle . hooray for lousy continuity  just one of the many highlights in this fine film .  
paul  jason lee  is an underachiever who just happens to be engaged to a type  a princess named karen  selma blair  . she chooses his clothes and his daily schedule . at his bachelor party  paul gets a little too drunk and somehow ends up taking a pretty dancer named becky  julia stiles  back to his digs .  nothing happened   as they say  but the duo do wake up in the same bed . suddenly karen telephones . she  s on her way to paul  s apartment . understandably  paul hustles becky out of the place  although her underpants are left behind . but  there is even more fun ahead . at a family dinner at karen  s parents  home  paul runs smack into becky again  learning that she is karen  s cousin . talk about some explaining to do  but  instead  paul chooses to feign a stomach problem and hides out in the bathroom . will karen ever find out that becky spent the night at paul  s place  and  what will be the consequences  i  m sorry for critics who pan movies like this . they should definitely lighten up  for this film is fresh and fun . of course  it doesn  t hurt matters that lee is a consummate funny man  stiles is a charming beauty or that blair is a natural as a pretty but anal fiance . the rest of the cast  including james brolin and julie haggerty  is also quite nice . the look of the film is wonderful  as are the costumes and california settings . best of all  the script is imaginative and inspired  creating big laughs for the audience . in short  if you want to tickle the proverbial funnybones  get this movie tonight . it may not be academy award material but it is absolutely guaranteed to turn a bad day into a darn good one .  
the original trancers is not by any means a great movie . it had massive plot holes and very little in the way of internal logic . however  it was entertaining  better done than most low  budget b  movies  and could be surprisingly witty . unfortunately  trancers ii is none of these .  br    br   trancers ii suffers from many of the same problems of most flop sequels . the plot is thin enough to see through and the writing is insipid . it seems that the people behind this movie felt that bringing the familiar faces of the first movie back would be enough  and didn  t bother with anything else . not even veteran b  grade actors like tim thomerson and jeffery combs were able to drag this film out of the muck .  br    br   a brief plot overview jack deth  thomerson  is a cop from the future who was sent to     to save the ancestors of members of his government . trancers ii takes place six years after the events of the first trancers . jack deth is married to lena  helen hunt   the woman he met in the first movie  and both live with hap ashby  the man deth was sent into the past to protect . it is discovered that the brother of whistler  the bad guy from the first movie  has traveled back in time to create an army of trancers  people turned into mindless killing zombies  to kill ashby . complicating jack  s mission is the fact that his first wife  who had died long before jack traveled to the past  was also sent back to stop whistler  s brother  and now jack finds himself working with her .  br    br   i have two real problems with this movie . one is that the method of creating trancers in this movie is radically different from the methods used in the first movie . what makes it annoying is that  in a rather poor example of soviet revisionism  they act like it was always the technique .  br    br   the other thing that annoys me is that the love triangle between deth  lena  and alice stilwell  jack  s first wife  is given very little screen time . this bothered me particularly because it was much more interesting than the actual plot of the movie . it felt like it was just something that was thrown in to fill space in the movie . alice  s character in particular seems very unconcerned with the fact that she is reunited with her husband only to find he  s re  married  making her either very shallow or very poorly written .  br    br   the only reason i can think of for watching this movie is if you  re interested in watching the entire trancers series  currently totaling six movies  . otherwise  even if you  re a fan of the original trancers  stay away from this tepid sequel .  
recap the morning after his bachelor party paul is woken by his mother  in  law  to  be and discovers that there is a woman sleeping beside him . unfortunately its a waitress from the bar  and not his fiance . and suddenly she turns up everywhere . . . the toll booth at the freeway and at his parent  in  laws dinner . and it is hard to keep a secret when her jealous ex  boyfriend had him followed and photographed . it is not only about saving his wedding . . . it is about survival .  br    br   comments actually much better than expected . not the sweet romantic comedy i expected  but something much funnier  something with a little edge . this movie wasn  t afraid to take the jokes a little further . and jason lee does now how to deliver comedy  especially when his character is half  panicked and deep in trouble  as he is here . and he got nice support from beautiful ladies julia stiles and selma blair . and actually i thought lochlyn munro did a nice part as the ex .  br    br   so  more emphasis on comedy than romance  and the end result was good . i enjoyed it very much .  br    br        
since the   s  writer  producer  director charles band has been responsible for literally hundreds of science  fiction  fantasy and horror b  movies . some of them are wonderful examples of how to use a tiny budget to maximum effect many of them are pretty bad . trancers       was one of those rare gems .  br    br   a terminator style tale of time  travel and action  trancers saw tim thomerson playing jack deth  a future cop given the task of tracking down bad  guy whistler  who travels into the past by inhabiting the body of an ancestor . whistler is capable of controlling other humans with his psychic powers  converting them into obedient zombies  the  trancers  of the title   and attempts to alter the course of history by killing off the ancestors of the leaders of the future . jack follows him to      determined to stop him .  br    br   in this     sequel  jack is still living in     . having destroyed whistler  he has settled down and married leena  helen hunt   the young woman who helped him succeed in the first movie . but  for jack  things don  t stay calm for long  and trouble appears in the form of whistler  s brother  e . d . wardo  who is trying to build a trancer army .  br    br   trancers ii lacks the charm and simplicity of the original and is a huge disappointment considering how good the original was . the story is difficult to pick up if you haven  t seen the first film  or at least not for a long while   and there is loads of unimpressive action and a few poor special effects . gone is the inventiveness and wit that made trancers so much fun instead we get some cheesy one  liners and a script that feels like it was written on  the  fly .  br    br   about the only reason i can give for recommending this film to fans of the genre is the cast  which boasts many names that will be familiar to followers of sci  fi and horror movies jeffrey combs  barbara crampton  richard lynch  martine beswicke . unfortunately  most of them seemed to be having an  off day  whilst filming trancers ii  and performances are mediocre at best .  br    br   the trancers series obviously has its fans four further sequels have since been churned out . unless the quality has taken up massive upward swing  i can  t imagine them being any good .  
i think this movie got a low rating because it got judged by it  s worst moments . there is a diarrhea joke and an embarrassing nut  scratching scene  but apart from that there are actually quite a few moments that made me laugh out loud . jason lee is performing some wonderfully subtle comedy in this movie and julia stiles manages to be pretty damn funny herself . apart from that this movie behaves like most romantic comedies  after about   minutes into it you know how it is going to end .  which is better than most of them  where you already know after     minutes  . anyway  better movies to watch but definitely not the worst pick . . . cheers  
annie  s wig does not look good . she is not cute and pretty enough to play annie . annie sticks out in the movie  as her outfits look like halloween costumes . terrible acting and terrible plots . this movie is such a change from the     version . i think that a younger and smaller girl should have had the lead role . ashley johnson portrays a very boyish annie . not appealing at all . at least the casting director got it right with daddy warbucks . ms . hannigan was also miscast . camilla belle played molly alright .  warning  this movie might insult your iq so you might just want to only show it to very young children .  and younger . some of the plots are too fictional and could hardly take place in the real world .  
i happened to watch this movie by chance some days ago while flipping channels . my expectations were not very high but it was an interesting movie . in  a guy thing   jason lee plays paul  a straight  laced  seattle  based fellow who is about to marry his fiance karen  selma blair  and settle down to an unchallenging life of middle  class domesticity . we first meet paul at his bachelor party  where he professes no desire to engage in any of the normal bachelor party type activities his  surprisingly few  buddies encourage  in case he  s a bit naughty and gets into hot bother with his soon to be trouble and strife . of course  the next thing paul knows  it  s the morning after the night before  he  s in bed with a naked hula dancer  and his mother  in  law phones to inform him that karen is on her way over . oh  and the hula dancer is karen  s cousin becky  julia stiles  .  br    br   from this small acorn of potential trouble grows a mighty oak of frenetic misfortune  as paul scrabbles from misadventure to misadventure  trying to cover up what he  s done whilst keeping up the appearance of being a dutiful  family  oriented good guy  who  s super  excited about his forthcoming nuptials . his efforts to ensure karen remains none the wiser about any potential wrong  doing on his part ironically forces paul closer and closer to the fun  loving becky  forcing him to question whether he really wants the life that seems to have been mapped out for him . the movie contains the right mix of comedy and romance . definitely worth a watch .  
not even worth watching this tacky spoiler ruins everything about  annie  . the characters seem almost cheapened by the poorly written storyline and they low quality feeling to the production . it was very clearly made for tv  yet if i found it on my television  i would flick it straight over . the children in the film do an alright job  yet the adults acting is unbelievable and so the movie fails to really draw you in . this film lacked the music  dance numbers thats made the original brilliant and truly does take the shine of the annie we all love . johnson  as annie is at times annoying and over acted . . you cannot convince yourself that she truly is annie . the differences in character appearance continued to irritate me throughout the duration of the film . sad to say this sequel was a total flop .  
i was worried that my daughter might get the wrong idea . i think the  dark  heart  character is a little on the rough side and i don  t like the way he shape  shifts into a  mean  frog  fox  boy i was wrong  this movie was made for my kid  not for me . she  gets it  when it went over  under   my head . of course i don  t  get it  . this isn  t one of the new kids movies that adults will also enjoy . this is straight for the young ones  and the crew knew what they were doing . there isn  t any political junk ether . there  s no magic key that will save the world from ourselves  nobody has the right to access excess  and everyone isn  t happy all the time . and as a side benefit  nobody dies  russwill .  
its christmas eve and lazy and submissive housewife della  kim basinger  receives some violent threats from her troubled and abusive husband . leaving her twin children in bed she ventures off into the night for one last shopping spree at the local mall . its busy there and finding a parking space is nigh on impossible  della takes umbrage at one motorist who parks in two spaces  she leaves them a note saying as much . returning to her car after visiting the shops she is confronted by some yobs  yup the owners of the car she left a note on  they are very angry and want some fun with her  a kindly security guard steps into assist her  but things get out of hand and the guard is shot  della flees with the now murderous yobs in hot pursuit  they shoot at her  she looses control of her car and crashes  quickly grabbing her toolbox from the trunk  she hides in a deserted building site  but is soon caught  just before they try to rape and kill her  from her magical toolbox she produces a wrench  wounding their leader  chuckie   she manages to escape again into the nearby woods  in the fracas one of the gang is killed  it just happens to be the black guy here the night gets worse for all involved as a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues . a similar plot line to eden lake drew me to this  but that is where the comparisons end . this is a brainless and dumb film  shockingly scripted and horribly acted by all involved  the doe eyed disney  esquire twin kids are horrible to watch  but its lukas haas as chuckie  that must take the plaudits in the bad acting department  although he is given a run for his money by the equally awful husband . as a film its plot line is completely telegraphed all the way through  even in the set up early on della  s cell phone goes dead and then in the shops her credit card has been cancelled by her hubby and she has no cash and its christmas eve  now where could they be going with this i wonder    the only surprising part of this hit is when after killing all the clichd bad guys with the contents of her magic toolbox  she demands chuckie to fck her  if my jaw had not already been on the floor at this films awfulness  it would surely have dropped and smashed on the floor . even the ending is messed up  all the feminist grannies wanting their pound of flesh are left utterly disappointed . . i didn  t think i could be further disappointed  but then i saw that guillermo del toro produced this dreck  
in my opinion  a guy thing is a hilarious  witty  sexy  romantic  and totally beautiful chick flick that guys will also enjoy . i thought that jason lee and julia stiles dazzled as a bewildered groom  to  be and his soon  to  be sexy cousin  in  law . if you ask me  they lit up the screen like magic . you can also feel their chemistry between them . before i wrap this up  i  d like to say that the performances were top grade  the direction was flawless  the production design was nice  the casting was perfect  and the costumes were perfectly designed . in conclusion  to anyone who  s a fan of jason lee or julia stiles  i recommend this movie . you  re in for lots of laughs and thrills  so  go to the video store  rent it or buy it  kick back with a friend  and watch it .  
this film is absolutely awful  but nevertheless  it can be hilarious at times  although this humor is entirely unintentional .  br    br   the plot was beyond ridiculous . i don  t even think a  year  old would be convinced by the ludicrous idiocy that the film  makers tried to slap together into a story . however  on the positive side  some of the horrifically inane plot twists provide a great deal of humor . for example   wow  lady hogbottom has a giant missile hidden in her back yard   it gets worse  and even funnier   but i  ll spare you .  br    br   the acting is generally laughable . most of the kids  roles are sort of cute  but not very believable . on the other hand  annie is pretty awful all  around . the adults don  t take their roles seriously at all  but this is largely a good thing . if they  d tried to be believable  the film would  ve been even worse . which is difficult to imagine .  br    br   once you get past the overall crappiness of the movie  there are actually a few standout moments of almost  not  crappiness . the scene where lady hogbottom  s son runs away with the maid is surprisingly hilarious  though it  s an annoying letdown when they get caught by the police . the butler character  while very minor  is a ray of sunlight that almost  but never quite pierces through the gloom .  br    br   watching this movie actually caused me physical pain . nevertheless  there were a few redeeming parts that made it almost watchable without beginning to hemorrhage internally . judged on its good parts alone  the movie would be about a   unfortunately  the rest of the movie hardly deserves a  . thus  i give it a  .  br    br   that  s being pretty generous  i  d say .  
  the lady from shanghai  is well known as one of hollywood  s most troubled productions . welles  original cut was taken away by the producers and cut to ribbons . this made the already muddled mystery story even more difficult to keep track of . they post dubbed a good amount of his dialog because of the density of the irish accent  and the dubbing is all too apparent and poorly done . most disastrous of all  welles and his on screen and real life leading lady rita hayworth were falling apart in their relationship  and their tumultuous chemistry comes through on screen .  br    br   fortunately  this is all overcome by just how fantastic orson welles  direction is . he makes the film incredibly stylish and atmospheric  every scene just seems to be breathing down your back from the screen . also  the characters and scenes are so bizarre they border on dreamlike and surreal . this sense of weirdness elevates scenes that are often found in these films  such as the courtroom sequences in the middle . i typically find courtroom dramas a bore  but welles  direction and quirky touches make them just as fascinating as everything else . the ending at the carnival reminds one of david lynch almost .  br    br   the acting here is also very good . despite their failing relationship  welles and hayworth both give decent performances  their interactions however are just a bit lacking . everyone else is superb and delightful to watch though  especially everett sloane and glenn anders .  the lady from shanghai  obviously has its problems  but its worth watching just to see one of cinema  s masters at his finest .        
unfortunately there was not a  for a rating or else i would  ve chosen it . this movie lacks the star power that the original movie had in such abundance . carol burnett  albert finney  tim curry  bernadette peters  edward hermann  the innocence of newcomer aileen quinn  and expert directing from seasoned pro john huston  father of actress angelica huston  is what made this film so charming . even the     remake with kathy bates  victor garber  alan cumming  and kristin chenoweth had more to offer than this sorry excuse for a sequel . before she did this movie all ashley johnson was known for was her role as little chrissie seaver on the prime time show growing pains . she had a few bit parts in movies but i don  t know who thought she had talent enough to carry a movie on her own . and adding joan collins as lady edwina hogbottom  ridiculous  they couldn  t get good enough actors to play the major roles like daddy warbucks  miss hannigan  and annie but they will sign joan collins to play some british lady  it doesn  t surprise me that this movie was as bad as it was . the critics were right to have not agreed with this movie  even if it was only made for tv  it was a poor sequel to an otherwise lovable movie .  
i did no research on the film prior to my first viewing of it because it was part of a welles box set i had recently purchased . a box set i chiefly got because i wanted to own a man for all seasons and to also re  evaluate waterloo . so i stick orson and rita in the player and i  m treated to class and confusion in equal measure .  br    br   on the surface the story seemed a simple one  man meets gorgeous woman and saves her from a couple of thugs  they click straight away and man gets offer of work on a cruise with woman and her famous lawyer husband  and then . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   . . well it becomes murder mystery of plotted devilment and much shenanigans . michael o  hara  orson welles himself doesn  t really know what is going on  he is as confused as the viewer is  and that is wonderful to watch as he is pulled all over the place by pretty much everyone in the film . obviously being pulled by the heart strings by a femme fatale of such beauty as elsa bannister  rita hayworth has its moments  but you just know that things are going to go pear shaped .  br    br   so many wonderful things in the film  it has welles visual style all over it  see a scene in an aquarium that is marvellous and the ending sequences in a fun house is majestic on the eye . the narration from o  hara is joyously self mocking  and we get good light relief by way of a court case with everett sloane considerably lighting up proceedings .  br    br   yet the film is an oddity  and in fact it  s a choppy viewing experience  because as i was to find out after studio bosses cut the film by pretty much a whole hour  and that is just not only frustrating to us the viewer  but unfair on welles  vision . i  m positive that a full original cut of this film would have been lauded and revered wholesale  as it is tho  we have a very good and intriguing film  one that sadly only hints at greatness  but remains a fiendishly engrossing film that i  m glad i own to revisit further .  .      
well where do i start  i think it  s very insulting to the original annie with aileen quimnn . i love the film annie  and i was expecting this to be a brilliant film  but i was so disappointed  the acting is awful  the original annie came out a few years before i was born  i  m now   and annie is still one of my favourite films  so i was really excited to see annie  . the acting was awful in the film  were any of the characters original  very badly written  directed and acted . this is not a film i wish to see again  and any annie lover i recommend that you don  t watch this film because it will only leave you very disappointed . the young girls singing isn  t bad but still doesn  t compare to the original  
one reviewer notes that it does not seem to matter what welles actually says or does  he moves you . i concur . he was and remains a unique force in film . more than a triple threat who could act  write and direct  he had a genius uniquely suited to film . one can consider whether in an earlier age he would have been a painter . this film certainly reinforces that impression . a musician  a theatre actor  an heir to shakespeare  hard to tell but i am very grateful that his time cam with film and he have him captured on film . i like the accent . i like the face  the size  the style  the mind and the games . i love all of his movies and wish there were more . i particularly love how other actors interacted with him on film . many were never better or at least somehow different with him because he was o firmly there . even towards the end when his beauty was ruined  perhaps by his own intent  he was impossible to ignore and he made every scene he was in . rita was a gorgeous blonde   a lana turner look alike but perhaps even lovelier and even then the eye goes to welles and one wishes for another minute  another film  another hour in his company . that is why we all wish we could come upon the lost scraps cut from his films because we know  we all know  that there is not part of him not worthy of our time . watch it and be grateful for the chance .  
christ . a sequel to one of the most cloying films of all time  this at least has the decency to leave out the songs  bar a reprise of the unbearable  tomorrow   but does continue the tradition of being nauseating and unfunny . this time  annie and her friends head off to london and get caught up in joan collins  s plot to blow up buckingham palace or some such shite . the movie has a bizarrely sycophantic attitude towards its eponymous character at odds with how irritating she is every time the little bugger squeals  leapin  lizards   i could feel my teeth grinding themselves down into powder . drearily photographed  slushy and plodding  the movie has only one memorable line   unhand me  you stupid genius    and the fact that it  s not the original to recommend it .  
in a lot of his films  citizen kane  confidential report  touch of evil  orson welles gave him the role of an exuberant men . in  the lady from shanghai  it  s the only time i see him holding the role of the victim . the role of the culprit  he gave it to rita hayworth  i guess it  s because he was in love with her . therefore  it  s an interesting film . but i find the story excellent too . the direction is genius  as usual with welles  two scenes are particularly brilliant the one in the aquarium and the final one with the mirrors . this film is brilliant .         
worst movie   with the best reviews given it  i  ve ever seen . over the top dialog  acting  and direction . more slasher flick than thriller . with all the great reviews this movie got i  m appalled that it turned out so silly . shame on you martin scorsese  
the lady from shanghai is proof that the great genius orson welles could direct a  mainstream  movie if he wanted to . by comparison to his other  more artistic works  this film has only a moderate amount of craftiness  and almost no esoteric elements .  br    br   the exception being  of course  the final scene in the hall of mirrors  widely agreed to be one of the greatest scenes in the history of film . it alone is worth the cost of a rental .  br    br   the sweet surprise was the superb acting by the beautiful rita hayworth . her acting during the beginning and middle of the film is so excellent  she made the other actors appear as caricatures instead of characters . even the great mr . welles .  
what ever possessed martin scorcese to remake this film  and not only did he remake it  completely ruin it  the nonsensical decision to make the character played by robert deniro  in his most overdone performance  and that  s saying a lot  into a religious fanatic is ridiculous  and exemplary of attitudes harbored by hollywood  and mr . scorcese especially   attitudes that compel writers to think that the best way to make a character insane is to tattoo a crucifix on his back . in any case  this movie is awful .  br    br    
it is not as great a film as many people believe  including my late aunt  who said it was her favorite movie  . but due to the better sections of this film noir  particularly that justifiably famous  fun house  finale  the lady from shanghai has gained a position of importance beyond it  s actual worth as a key to the saga of orson welles  failure to conquer hollywood .  br    br   by     welles  position as a hollywood figure was mixed . citizen kane was not recognized as the great movie it has since been seen as due to the way it was attacked by the hearst press and by hollywood insiders themselves . welles  attempt at total control  direction and production and acting  of his movies seemed to threaten the whole system . his best job in this period was as edward rochester in jane eyre  supposedly shot by robert stevenson  but actually shot in large measure  with stevenson  s blessing  by welles . but the credit went to stevenson . only the stranger  a film benefiting from a postwar interest in fleeing nazi war criminals  made a profit . for five years in hollywood it was barely a great record .  br    br   welles returned to broadway in      hoping to recapture his critical abilities by his production of around the world in   days . but despite the assistance mike todd  and cole porter composing the score  the musical was a failure . his failure occurred just at the same time that his wife  rita hayworth  was on the rise with her portrayal of gilda . so the marriage was going on the rocks as well .  br    br   welles had to make money  his broadway production had led to his personal bankruptcy . he sold his interest in the possible movie rights to around the world to todd  which he would eventually rue   and he also sold the idea of a film about the career of henri desire landru to charlie chaplin  who was supposed to be directed in it  and who turned it into monsieur verdoux  .  br    br   the story goes that welles  with a        .   tax bill to worry about  called cohn and offered to do a film with rita for a down payment . cohn was willing to do so  but naturally asked what the film was . it was a wise question . welles was on a pay phone in new york in a pharmacy that had a book department . he grabbed a book with the title the lady from shanghai  and raved that it was a great thriller . somehow welles convinced the normally astute cohn that welles knew what he was talking about . cohn said he  d look into getting the rights  and sent welles his down  payment of        .   . after cohn hung up welles bought the book and read it  and found it was really pretty bad . he spent time rewriting a treatment and screenplay that would build up rita  s character of elsa bannister .  br    br   certainly it has a curious plot development . michael o  hara is a seaman  longshoreman . he rescues elsa bannister  when she is apparently attacked by gangsters in a park in san francisco . elsa is married to arthur bannister  everett sloane  a crippled criminal lawyer with a great reputation . she convinces him to hire michael as the skipper of their yacht . the cruise also contains bannister  s sinister partner george grisby  glenn anders  and one sidney broome  ted de corsia  who turns out to be a detective hired by bannister to watch elsa . when they can michael and elsa try to find time together  but broome or grisby keeps showing up .  br    br   grisby makes michael an offer  he wants  for reasons connected to his so  called fatalistic view of modern society  to drop out of it  pretending to be dead . according to grisby  the plot becomes murky here  he can still collect his life insurance  although dead   and use it to run off to the south seas . he will pay michael        .   if he will pretend to shoot grisby . this includes actually signing a document admitting to the murder  michael does not realize that such an admission would wipe out the need to produce a corpse if all the other evidence suggests that grisby is probably dead  .  br    br   of course grisby is killed  and michael is arrested for that  and for the murder of broome  shot with michael  s gun  . michael is tried with bannister defending him  and discovers that the latter is doing a second rate job because he wants michael to be convicted . michael is convinced that bannister is the actual murderer  and manages to escape just before the jury verdict . he is knocked out and deposited in a deserted carnival  and this leads to the famous  fun house  sequence and the conclusion of the film .  br    br   it  s a terribly confusing movie  as i have had commented on  . that does not mean it  s not worth seeing  visually it is striking . witness the fight between michael and the police in the trial judge  s quarters  where he knocks the bailiff into the judge  s bookcase  shattering glass . or the clever use of photography to capture hayworth diving from a rock  reflected on the lecherous grisby  s binoculars .  br    br   the acting is pretty good  in particular sloane  possibly that fine actor  s best film role  . glenn anders was a leading broadway performer . he rarely made movies before the lady from shanghai  and his slimy grisby is unforgettable . also ted de corsia does very nicely with broome  a detective who is really looking for his own interests  to his own cost .  br    br   as for hayworth  she turns in a performance that was unlike most of what she had done before  blood and sand  tales of manhattan  and the strawberry blond are exceptions   and is a memorable siren . welles  o  hara is a very unusual character for the actor  a likable but naive man who learns the hard way not to believe what he secretly wants to believe . it  s not kane  ambersoms  othello  touch of evil  or chimes at midnight  but it is a good film for all that .  
this remake of the     orginal film  o the book has some very good parts to commend it and some fine performances by some fine actors  however scorsese opts toward the end for the most formulaic of plot twists and an embarrassingly overacted shakespearean demise that had me looking at my watch .  br    br   deniro is a superb actor  dedicated to giving his all in the work he does  however he needs direction to focus his talent  and this is sorely lacking in the last five minutes of the film .  br    br   gregory peck  s cameo is serviceable but nothing more whilst robert michum is always fun to watch  even with as few lines as this .  br    br   nick nolte turns in a better performance than lorenzo  s oil but is not on the same form as  weeds  . joe don baker has some great lines while juliette lewis proves yet again that talent sometimes skips a generation .  br    br   some good points  the start credits     the first view of cody  s back when doing dips in the prison  the scene where cody is attacked with baseball bats  sam bowden  s decent into full  fledged panic  cody  s outwardly calm but unnerving prescence .  br    br   the worst  the  cleaning woman  but not really     part . clinging bare  handed to the underside of a car for a hundred miles at high speed .  are there no speed bumps in the us   the  he  s dead  but not really     parts and the aforementioned rambling ending .  br    br   i may watch the original again  but i  ve yet to be tempted to watch the remake in four years since seeing it .  
neatly sandwiched between the stranger  a small film noir picture that proved welles can do a formidable genre work on budget and on time and ironically proved his biggest box office success in the forties  and macbeth  a no  budget shakespeare adaptation shot in old western shets in   days  comes the lady from shangai  a dark film noir woven from the very same fabric of wellesian mythos that covers the magnificent ambersons  mr . arkadin and any other film the director didn  t manage to save from the clutches of studio bosses .  br    br   six years after the maltese falcon  with the post  war craze of the film noir in full swing  welles  always ahead of his time  a true visionary director of tremendous artistic integrity  envisioned a labyrinthine world of shadows that is already darker  more sinister  paranoid and serpentine than anything his contemporaries were doing at the time . it  s no wonder the movie was so misunderstood at its time  to the point that one full hour of footage was forever left in the cutting room floor  and it was once again europe that championed it as another welles classic .  br    br   certain set  pieces stand out . the aquarium scene with its flickering light and ominous shadows  and of course the funhouse  hall of mirrors finale that is as classic a piece of wellesian bravura as any in citizen kane or the trial . the only faults i find with the movie is welles  ill  advised irish accent and perhaps some of the erratic editing in the first act . the story however unfurls in a progressively mesmerizing manner  which the cuts only serve to intensify . i believe the heavily chopped versions of shangai and ambersons attain a surreal quality for that matter .  br    br   welles would exile himself in europe for ten years and return in     to deliver yet another stonewall classic  the monumental touch of evil  perhaps the crowning jewel of the film noir that was already in its waning days by that time . shangai was not the box office success a star vehicle for hollywood  s premiere star of the time  rita hayworth  ought to have been  and welles marriage with hayworth ended before the movie was even released . sixty years later and one hour of footage less  shangai is still one of the best film noir pictures one is likely to discover . surely that must count for something .  
worst de niro scorsese collaboration in this horrible agonizing violent overlong mess . scorsese is totally out of his element in this film with the horror cliched suddenly loud phone ringing and door slamming gimmicks that seem laughable and embarrassing coming from such a master craftsman . the cast is totally wasted here and the southern accents are very annoying and forced . nick noltie plays the wimpiest lawyer in history who would ever believe he can defend anyone  de niro  s psychotic bowden is nothing more than the typical    s movie psycho killer . the scene with de niro and lewis early on is very awkward and the climax goes on and on and we should all be more than tired of the on psycho stalker that never dies . one of my most horrible movie experiences . rent the original it  s    times better .  br    br    
pure orson welles genius makes this one of the greatest of movies . welles is drawn into a murder conspiracy only to be set up as the fall guy  which is what he refers to with the sarcastic comment  big dummy that i am .  plot is so complex that i still don  t know whether the victim knew that his life was about to be lost . the shootout scene in the carnival hall of mirrors is one of the most amazing ever filmed . that scene alone is worth the price of admission . this is the only time that rita hayworth ever played a complex yet believable character . no one but welles would have had the nerve to cut her hair and dye it brassy blond . no one should miss this picture .  
while i can  t deny that his movies are often entertaining  i have always personally felt that martin scorsese is just a little overrated in his abilities . his use of flashy stylistics in a good number of his movies seems to scream  look at me  aren  t i an imaginative director   . his best film that i have seen is the one with the least added flourishes  the superlative  raging bull  .  br    br   for this remake it appears it was business as usual  though . the dull film stock to convey a      s setting was so bland as to be a distraction in itself . the melodramatic close  ups combined with the sub  par imitation of the classic  psycho  score are more likely to provoke smirks of derision than a sense of atmospheric terror . the score for  psycho  was brilliantly unnerving  this  homage  just sounds shrill and annoying . even the cast  who can be decent at times  deliver histrionic performances that just scream  caricature   the notable exception to this being an intelligent turn by lewis as the impressionable teenage daughter of the bowden family .  br    br   the worst acting offender here is surprisingly de niro . sure  he looks suitably menacing but as soon as he opens his mouth that aura just drains away . now i  m no expert on american accents  me originally coming from near manchester in england an  all  but surely he could  ve come up with a more convincing southern drawl than that  being the gifted physical actor he is  he almost overcomes this fatal flaw  but not quite . it was disconcerting for me  as a de niro fan  to be wishing he was off screen  rather than rapt at his performance .  br    br    possible spoilers .   br    br   the over  the  top style of the whole movie extends to the ridiculously overblown finale . when will scorsese learn that underplaying the situation can sometimes build tension just as effectively as giving the viewer a visual and sonic bombardment  i also thought that he was too respected a reputation to resort to the  killer  not  dead  yet  cheap trick that less talented individuals might employ .  br    br   all in all  a thoroughly ridiculous  thriller  . scorsese and de niro have done much better work together .  
despite loving rita hayworth  finding the final few sequences of the film intriguing and being able to appreciate some of the subtler  symbolic  aspects of the cinematography  the lady from shanghai didn  t quite work for me . i had a problem with most of the performances  the script and the overall structure . and in a film that  s mostly people talking with each other in various situations  that  s quite a problem . the lady from shanghai ended up at a very low  c   or a   for me .  br    br   the lady from shanghai is really all about orson welles  character  michael o  hara . o  hara sees elsa  rosalie  bannister  rita hayworth  in central park on a carriage ride and hits on her . later  he saves her from a mugging and she takes a shine to him . o  hara is a seaman from ireland and the globetrotting elsa happens to own a yacht with her husband  arthur  everett sloane   a very famous and powerful california defense attorney . they talk o  hara into working for them  despite his initial reservations   it seems to him  and to the audience  that elsa is just looking for someone to have an affair with  and o  hara doesn  t want to get involved .  br    br   shortly after going to work on their yacht  a strange man  george grisby  glenn anders   who says he  s arthur  s partner  shows up at a port of call and begins stirring up trouble . eventually  grisby asks o  hara to enter into a very dubious and dangerous scheme . foolishly  o  hara agrees . naturally it gets him into quite a bit of trouble  and eventually  a number of mysteries are revealed .  br    br   maybe my problems with the film lie in the fact that  so far  i  m not exactly a huge fan of orson welles  and here  he produces  writes  directs and consumes most of the screen time . i haven  t seen anywhere near the majority of welles  work yet  but i  ve tended to like his later films better  when he became a bit more campy and performance  arty . i love f for fake  vrits et mensonges       for example  and i even kind of like his performance in casino royale        when he bizarrely insisted on being allowed to do magic tricks at a baccarat table  but citizen kane       never did much for me  despite giving it  or  chances over the years  including about one year ago my rating was a low    the same as my current score for the lady from shanghai  .  br    br   welles  performance and the dialogue he  s written for himself come across as affected and pretentious to me . he  s a bit of a motormouth  a bit of a boor  and a bit monotone   he tends to sound like he  s reading . his performance reminded me of what i  ve seen of welles  version of moby dick  listed on imdb as      but  completed  in      it can also be seen in orson welles the one  man band         where he seems to be just reading to the camera and believing that he  s inherently  sublimely dramatic . i  m also someone who almost never complains about accents  but somehow welles manages to make his irish accent sound affected and pretentious to me  too .  br    br   as for the other performances  i can only say i thought hayworth did an excellent job . of course she  s gorgeous  which doesn  t hurt . plenty of eye candy here . like welles  sloane also seemed a bit affected and pretentious to me   i never quite bought his character  his handicap and so on  and anders is simply bizarre where bizarre doesn  t seem to fit . welles often shoots him in close  up and anders almost always has some over  exaggerated  manic expression on his sweaty face .  br    br   structurally  the lady from shanghai is very uneven . the first   minutes or so are extremely bland and soap  operatic  although the soap opera ministrations tend to be approached from a tortuous oblique . once grisby introduces his scheme  things pick up a bit  and mostly improve as we near the end . but by the time the lady from shanghai becomes a crime  mystery film  it  s too little too late  and it quickly turns into a courtroom drama before the sudden  thrilling ending that comes almost out of nowhere and is over far too quickly for its relative excellence .  br    br   the ending is more action  oriented  less  dialogue heavy  more varied and exotic in settings  and at times  fairly abstract . welles handles that combination of material skillfully as a director . if the lady from shanghai would have been a largely a combination of the crime  mystery stuff and the arty ending  it could have easily been at least a  . the final scenes are easily   s  as welles shifts from a hitchcockian suspense scene in a san francisco chinese opera house to another suspense scene in a chinese amusement park . the funhouse climax uses cinematography that was experimental for its time . it  s well integrated with the script  as it allows a complex resolution and fuels a lot of symbolism .  br    br   the cinematography throughout is interesting  even if it usually can  t make up for the problems in the foreground . welles blocks scenes with skill . there are lots of attractively filmed settings  from central park to acapulco to various san francisco locations . welles effectively creates symbolic backdrops for his action  from the emphasized heights and precipitous drops of acapulco to the maze  like caribbean streets  the beautifully framed and silhouetted shots of the san francisco aquarium  and so on . the romance material  for which the aquarium serves as one backdrop  is interestingly tempered with a kind of unease throughout the film  but on the other hand  that makes the romance never quite work as romance .  br    br   surely serious welles fans will appreciate the lady from shanghai much more than i did  and of course it  s worth a watch if you love rita hayworth . the lady from shanghai isn  t exactly a terrible film  in my view  but it  s dangerously close to not  passing  . proceed with caution .  
i  m surprised this movie is rated so highly  although if i were to go with typical grade scale   is a c  or d so perhaps that  s all right but this movie was just a typical thriller except boringly slow and unrealistic . not that a typical thriller is realistic but this one seemed to be trying to  and yet the woman who got rapped didn  t press charges because she didn  t want to be cross examined in a court even though she would be putting the man who broke her arm beat the crap out of her and raped her away for life not but also protecting the lawyer whom she had feelings for and his family not just random people she didn  t even know . there were other similar problems with the movie which would have been all right if there was some kind of moral to take away from the movie but the few moral questions like whether it was right to try to kill  beat kady before he did anything illegal were presented a little one sided since kady ended up being just a crazed bastard bent on revenge so sure the lawyer was justified in protecting his family since waiting for kady to actually rape his daughter so he could do something legally about it would be a bit absurd . so now i  ve just waisted more of my life for this stupid movie so please don  t see it so at least your life won  t be waisted and that way my     hours or so has meant something .  
this cartoon was strange  but the story actually had a little more depth and emotion to it than other cartoon movies . we have a girl at a camp with low self esteem and hardly any other friends  except a brother and sister who are just a miserable as she is . she reaches the ultimate low point and when the opportunity arises she literally makes a pact with a devil  like demon . i found this film to be very true to life and just when things couldn  t be worse  the girl sees what she  s done  she feels remorse and then changes and then she helps this dark  mystical creature learn the human quality of love . the twins improve too  by helping the little bears and then they get a sense of self worth too . a very positive message for children  though some elements of the film was strange  it was and still is a rather enjoyable film . the music from stephen bishop  tootsie songs  made the film even better  
so this is what actress kim basinger has succumbed to  mmm to tell the truth the film  s title is something quite eye grabbing to getting your interest and plot outline reads so basic  but simplicity can have its strengths . anyhow by the end of  while she was out  i was left feeling rather indifferent . not the worse  despite being engulfed by negatives   but there  s easily way better in what is an causally lukewarm  but compact and unbalanced late  night survival fable of a feeble suburban housewife stranded in the woods trying to fight for her life after she witnessed the death of a rent a cop that came to her aid  when she provoked an ugly exchange with some punks in a shopping car park .  br    br   the problem here falls on the misguidedly erratic and foreseeable material  taken from a short story   along with the very variable performances . the flimsy script was poorly thought  out  which isn  t so good when your plot has a slight structure to hang off   so many wretched inclusions and dubious actions just go on to find its way in this endless chain of events . as for the bunch of stereotypical goons  led by an unconvincing lukas hass as a loose canon  terrorizing basinger  well they were less than threatening  but hopelessly clueless . watching basinger scrounging around in the dank wilderness with a red tool box in her hand  don  t ask me why   knocking off these wannabe punks one by one became ridiculous because it didn  t elicit tension or emotion but instead clumsy jolts that were absurdly daft because of the stupidity of the lead up . basinger  s performance is stout  like  but doesn  t craft much empathy . craig sheffer shows up as her hot  headed husband . strangely i couldn  t keep my eyes off the screen thinking to myself that red toolbox is hypnotic  why would she be constantly carrying it  and what tool was she going to use to dispatch the next thug her choices were quite disappointing . watching her transformation through the traumatic situation when things are finally turned around is rather empty  due to its unsure tone and the ending is something you could see miles ahead .  br    br   susan montford  s soberly slick direction lacks cohesion and energy  as it pretty much chugs along . i liked the opening credits though  with its hauntingly sullen score  which is the most effective thing throughout the feature  and polished photography .  br    br   no great shakes . doesn  t ask much of your time  but i wouldn  t care to see it again . however with the inclusion of a joy division song  it made me grab a couple of their albums for a listen .  
it  s very hard to say just what was going on with  the lady from shanghai  and what the film could have been without studio interference . orson welles  prime interest in film at this point was to raise money for his theater indeed  funding his own projects is what drove him to seek out acting jobs . he made  lady from shanghai  for his soon to be ex  wife  rita hayworth . harry cohn was fearful for rita  s image and held back the release of this movie for one year .  br    br   the plot concerns an irish sailor  michael o  hara  who falls in love with else  hayworth  stunning with short blond hair  . her husband is a well known criminal attorney arthur bannister  everett sloane  who is as crippled on the inside as he is out . he hires o  hara to work on his yacht  and there o  hara is drawn deeper and deeper into a web of murder and deceit .  br    br    the lady from shanghai  moves at a snail  s pace  though i agree with one of the posters that films today are criticized for taking time to build a plot . still  this movie drags . the scene in the fun house is fantastic  welles wanted it without music  though  and i believe the studio cut it down . it  s a shame . the photography throughout is stunning  atmospheric  bold  and very stylish .  br    br   welles was an excellent actor  handsome in his youth  charismatic and possessing a magnificent voice and technique  but in many films  it  s almost as if he doesn  t trust himself or doesn  t take the time to develop a character . instead he relies on externals such as accents and fake noses . one of the only times he didn  t do this was  tomorrow is forever   where the director gets an excellent  deeply felt performance out of him . contrast that with  compulsion  where he shows he is a master of pure technical acting as he phones in his performance . here welles is doing quadruple duty  as director  star  co  writer and narrator . sporting a completely unnecessary accent and looking intense was a fast way to a characterization . nevertheless  he is always compelling .  br    br   the supporting players are excellent  including sloan and glenn anders . hayworth  gorgeous and soft  voiced  her singing was again dubbed by anita ellis  is as usual a complete goddess and one of the great screen presences . what a sad life for such a vibrant beauty .  br    br   any film that orson welles directed is worth seeing  and  the lady from shanghai  is no exception . but this one leaves the viewer frustrated  as does  the magnificent ambersons   as does any work that welles did within the studio system . he was a great artist who should have been given a freer reign he wasn  t . he was a strange dichotomy  he needed more freedom  but as is evidenced by some of his later work  he needed the structure of the studio . alas  he couldn  t have both .  
one of scorsese  s worst . an average thriller the only thing to recommend it is de niro playing the psycho . the finale is typically of this genre i . e . over  the  top  with yet another almost invincible  immune  to  pain villain . i didn  t like the   s original  and this version wasn  t much of an improvement on it . i have no idea why scorsese wasted his time on a remake . then again  considering how bad his recent movies have been  i  m referring to his dull buddhist movie and all the ones with his new favourite actress  the blond girl di caprio  this isn  t even that bad by comparison . and considering spielberg wanted to do the remake . . . could have been far worse .  
the lady from shanghai is weird even by the standards of its eminent director  orson welles  whose last hollywood film this was for many a moon . it  s a kind of post  modern film noir made during the period when more conventional films of this type were quite popular  and it concerns a happy go lucky irish sailor  played by welles  who falls in with a mysterious lady  rita hayworth  who was married to welles at the time   and her crippled  and probably impotent husband  played with a brainy  malevolent gusto by everett sloan . a long sea voyage follows  with welles in tow as bodyguard  and the plot thickens when sloan  s law partner  glenn anders  turns up and starts making trouble by giving odd speeches about suicide and other morbid topics that suggest that the man is on the verge of mental breakdown . a murder plot ensues  and all sorts of calamities follow for welles and his employers  and at this point the story  fuzzy and told at a leisurely pace thus far  goes off the deep end  and the last part of the film consists of brilliant directorial set  pieces that seem to have been thrown in to give the movie some of the drive and urgency its story does not  by itself  possess  and the result is a very watchable and often pleasing at all times incomprehensible mess .  br    br   it  s hard to know what welles was trying to do with this film aside from maybe resurrect his career in hollywood by making a vehicle for his wife . but self  destruction intervenes  as it often does with welles  and miss hayworth has never looked less fetching . that she is also cast as a femme fatale seems peculiar  as aside from her beauty her most appealing trait as a screen personality was lovableness  a quality she does not possess in this picture . the director himself is strangely unappealing and hammy at o  hara  the  presumably  easygoing sailor  since welles  for all his many gifts  was not known as an easy man to work with . this is a role that twenty or thirty years later sean connery or robert shaw might have been able to breath life into . welles does not . the most interesting performance in the movie is glenn anders  as grisby  sloan  s loony  treacherous law partner . anders works wonders with the part  and is photographed to look bizarre  while his scenes end on odd  sour notes  and are often choppily edited but for all this he manages to make grisby  s derangement palpable and disturbing  and anticipates  in a genteel way  the more flamboyant method actors of the fifties  such as timothy carey .  br    br   there is a question that nags me about this film what was welles trying to say  he was a highly talented and intelligent man  and tended to make statements in his movies  which  whether one agrees with his world view or not  were brilliantly put forth . i think i have an answer  or a partial one welles was summing up his movie career . he had reached the end of his rope in the hollywood studio system he despised  and he knew it . the lady from shanghai isn  t exactly a nose  thumbing at the studio moguls of the day  but i suspect that it is  in its portrait of amoral  rival big shot lawyers  read producers  expressing welles  opinion of the power brokers of hollywood . that he presented himself as a rootless sailor is telling . welles himself was certainly an inveterate traveler  and he rarely lived in one place for long . he was hired by a studio to provide it with a big  prestigious film  citizen kane   which caused a firestorm of controversy from which he never fully recovered . this may be the issue that dares not speak its name in this film  which is to say welles  personal failure in not getting over the shock of his newness in the movie colony  and his inability to deliver the goods  as promised . the mere fact of him turning up in hollywood  like his mere presence in the film  could not forestall disasters well beyond his control . that he presented himself in the movie as an amiable  naive outsider shows a lack of self  knowledge on welles  part . he was much more of an inside player than he let on  and i imagine that he despised his knowledge of the worldlier aspects of life  and himself for knowing so much .  
i really don  t want to compare martin scorsese  s cape fear to the classic     cape fear film  but i can  t help it . not only am i a huge fan of the robert mitchum and gregory peck starred cape fear  but when scorsese includes scenes right out of the previous film  cady taking the keys out of the ignition  dog dying  and even using bernard herrmann  s score throughout the entire film  he  s not giving me a lot of opportunities to not make a comparison as i can  t help but think of the classic cape fear nearly every scene . when comparing scorsese  s version of cape fear to the classic version  the remake comes out destroyed by the classic but even when taking the film by itself  it  s still bad .  br    br   now scorsese and screenwriter wesley strick didn  t just remake the     cape fear scene for scene  they tried to do things differently . unfortunately this is one of the film  s problems . gone is the original crazy and animal  like max cady who is out for personal revenge  the max cady in the     version is a religious fanatic out to  save  sam bowden and who is in touch with his feminine side  his words  not mine  . also gone is the stand  up and strong sam bowden seen in the classic cape fear film  the sam found in the     remake is very goofy  magoo  distrustful  and very unlikable . even mrs . bowden is a completely different character  she  s crazier than max cady is  the overall story has also been changed around  sam didn  t testify against cady in court to put him in jail like in the classic version  sam is now cady  s ex  lawyer who cady suspects of not doing all he could to keep him out of jail and is out to  save  him .  br    br   the overall story has been changed  and i don  t hold too much against it  but the overall script is also weak all around . other sub  plots have been thrown into the mix that not only distract from the bigger picture  they are also just poorly written . the film also includes a few frankly absurd scenes and is filled with apathetic and even ridiculous lines that you can  t take the least bit seriously . these aspects take away from the dangerous and thrilling nature that the film is supposed to have  but they have some help in this department as well .  br    br   now the classic version of cape fear was extraordinarily filmed with brilliant lighting and a powerfully effective suggestive subtlety combined with a barefaced brutality that delivered thrills when the film called for it and a sense of danger throughout its entirety . however  scorsese is unable to do any of this in his cape fear  giving the film a cookie  cutter early     s look  no sense of danger  no suspenseful scenes  and little style  unless you count animating fire and the skyline style  . yeah  there is some gruesome violence and some effort was put in to make this cape fear bigger than the original  but it ends up empty and all shock but no awe .  br    br   if all that wasn  t enough  the acting isn  t great either . robert de niro  being somehow nominated for an academy award for his performance  starts off alright as max cady  but he gets progressively worse until he begins to get nothing but laughs instead of scares by the end of the film . the opposite thing happens for jessica lange and her performance of mrs . bowden  going from overacting for most of the film to giving a convincing display of fear and desperation towards the end . as sam bowden  nick nolte stays the same throughout the whole film beige . juliette lewis  who also reeled in an academy award nomination  is decent enough in her role as danielle bowden  but she  s called upon to play a real stupid character and it  s hard to really like what we see on screen from her .  br    br   this film seems to be often counted as one of the few good remakes  and i can  t figure out why . i wanted to like it i really did  i mean  if there  s going to be a remake of cape fear i  d rather like that one too  but i just couldn  t . containing nothing to be great on its own and being crushed by the unavoidable comparison to the original cape fear  i found martin scorsese  s cape fear to be a very bad film indeed . the best things about the film are robert mitchum and gregory peck in their supporting roles  go figure .  
this     film stars and was directed and written by orson welles  with a funky irish accent  and also stars the gorgeous rita hayworth with less appealing short blonde hair . so  i  ve hung out with orson before in touch of evil and citizen kane and the third man etc . but this was my first rita hayworth interaction . our first meeting went well  she does a superb job playing the frightened  cagey elsa  married to a crippled millionaire lawyer . mike  welles  and elsa fall for each other . he wants to run away with her  she doesn  t know if she can live without the things money can buy . elsa  her husband  and his partner bicker and bite  just like the sharks mike describes attacking each other and his foretelling proves just too true . several twists and turns follow in this murder mystery as we come to the climax in the fun house .  think the ending shootout in the man with the golden gun  which borrowed heavily from this scene  . i wasn  t sure who the murderer was until the end .  br    br   this movie is like shrimp in garlic and lemon . the dish centers on the sea  it is subtle  sour  and pungent  all to great effect . these might not be the best  fresh shrimp  but good quality frozen shrimp from costco . the flavorful sauce adds to the naturalness of the pink shrimp as you fill up on a healthy  but filling alternative to more mundane  common fare .     http   blog . myspace . com  locoformovies  
i think we all begin a lot of reviews with   this could  ve made a great movie .  a demented ex  con freshly sprung  a tidy suburban family his target . revenge  retribution  manipulation . marty  s usual laying on of the karo syrup . but unfortunately somewhere in universal  s high  rise a memorandum came down everyone ham it up .  br    br   nolte only speaks with eyebrows raised  lange bitches her way through cigarettes  lewis  ohmagod  s   her way though her scenes  and bobby d . . . well  he  s on a whole other magic carpet . affecting some sort of cajun  huckleberry hound accent hybrid  he chomps fat cigars and cackles at random atrocities such as  problem child  . and i want you to imagine the accent mentioned above . now imagine it spouting brain  clanging religious rhetoric at top volume like he swallowed six bibles  and you have de niro  s schtick here . most distracting of all  though  is his most overdone use of the  de niro face  he  s so lampooned for . eyes squinting  forehead crinkled  lips curled . crimany  bob  you looked like plastic man .  br    br   the story apparently began off  screen   years earlier  when nolte was unable to spare de niro time in the bighouse for various assaults . upon release  he feels nolte  s misrep of him back then warrants the terrorizing of he and his kin . and we  re supposed to give de niro  s character a slight pass because nolte withheld information that might  ve shortened his sentence . de niro being one of these criminals who  despite being guilty of unspeakable acts  feels his lack of freedom justifies continuing such acts on the outside . mmm  kay .  br    br   he goes after notle  s near  mistress  in a scene some may want to turn away from   his wife  his daughter  the family dog  ya know . which is one of the shortcomings of wesley strick  s screenplay utter predictability . as each of de niro  s harassments becomes more gruesome  you can pretty much call the rest of the action before it happens . strick isn  t to be totally discredited  as he manages a few compelling dialogue  driven moments  de niro and lewis  seedy exchange in an empty theater is the film  s best scene   but mostly it  s all over  cranked . scorsese  s cartoonish photographic approach comes off as forced  not to mention the horribly outdated re  worked bernard hermann score  i kept waiting for the wolf man to show up with a genetically enlarged tarantula  .  br    br   thus we arrive at the comedic portion of the flick . unintentionally comedic  that is . you know those scenes where something graphically horrific is happening  but you can  t help but snicker out of sight of others  you  ll do it here . nolte and lange squawking about infidelity  de niro  s thumb  flirting  he cross  dressing  and a kitchen slip on a certain substance that has to be seen to believed . and bob  s infernal  incessant  constant  mind  damaging  no  end  in sight blowhard ramblings of all the  philosophy  he disovered in prison . i wanted him killed to shut him up more than to save this annoying family .  br    br   i always hate to borrow thoughts from other reviewers  but here it  s necessary . this really is scorsese  s version of freddy krueger . the manner in which de niro relishes  speaks  stalks  withstands pain  right down to his one  liners  is vintage freddy . upon being scalded by a pot of thrown water  you trying  to offer sumpin  hot   please . and that  s just one example .  br    br   unless you were a fan of the original     flick and want a thrill out of seeing balsam  peck  and mitchum nearly   years later  or want a serious head  shaking film experience   avoid a trip to the cape .  
what can i say  it  s a damn good movie . see it if you still haven  t . great camera works and lighting techniques . awesome  just awesome . orson welles is incredible  the lady from shanghai  can certainly take the place of  citizen kane  .  
  look  i know this may suck right now  but pain is temporary  film is forever . whatever you do right now is burned into celluloid for all time and for thousands of years to come .   robert de niro  br    br   this was initially a film for steven spielberg  the director hiring several screenwriters to adjust the screenplay so that it more suited his themes . and so we have a dysfunctional family that is threatened by a deranged monster in the form of a recently released from prison robert de niro . like  jurassic park    poltergeist  and  war of the worlds   the dysfunctional family bands together to defeat the beast  the beast being the creation of the father  a lawyer who failed to defend de niro during his trial .  br    br   in typical spielberg fashion  the father kills the monster that undermines the family and is then promptly absolved of his sins . like oscar schindler  robin williams  sam niel  tom cruise and virtually every  daddy  figure in spielberg land  the father reclaims his paternal duty in the kind of bittersweet coda that spielberg so enjoys .  br    br   but spielberg eventually abandoned the picture and the project was instead turned over to martin scorsese  who at the time was seeking to try his hand at more commercial fare . the result is arguably the worst film in scorsese  s filmography  and  ironically  his most illuminating .  br    br   an artist  s failures or misfires are often very revealing  exposing the inner workings of their art . when the story doesn  t work  the characters don  t connect or the images don  t sear  we find ourselves left with a kind of inner core . this  the remaining carcass  is what the director  s cinema is about .  br    br   now  cape fear  is an impersonal film  so we won  t find any thematic connections to the rest of scorsese  s filmography   you already sacrificed me   de niro yells  but the films themes of catholic redemption are cookie cutter  . what the film does  though  is expose the kind of language that his filmography hinges on . watch how scorsese  s camera desperately whips back and forth  how he zooms frantically onto doorknobs and windows in an attempt to force tension and how his characters are all loud and screaming for attention . but more importantly  watch how the film makes no spatial sense . a showdown on a boat at the end of the film takes place on an obvious sound  stage  a street parade is claustrophobic and takes place within no larger context and the family  s house doesn  t seem to exist anywhere in particular . there is simply no geographical sense to anything in the picture  scorsese unable to film space or create any kind of spatial environment .  br    br   the reason for this is that scorsese  s camera always has to be bound  or intimately tethered  to his central character . for the world around the character to make sense  his camera has to be focused on the character . resnais can take you around a french hotel  welles and hitchcock can dance you down a street and up a building  cameron can give you a tour of the titanic  scott can recreate an entire future cityscape  lucas can give you an alien desert planet  and most other directors can create a sense of space by textbook  close up  mid shot  wide shot  combinations  but scorsese can  t do this . there  s no poetry  no sense of tangible space in his films . he  s all about the character . you break that tether  you leave that boxing ring  that taxi cab  you look away from de niro  and everything collapses . he simply cannot break away from this very documentarian style of shooting  which  in a way  is a prerequisite for action film  making .  br    br   scorsese tried to rectify this problem with  gangs of new york   where the space and the sets become the central character  but even this self consciously spatial experiment gets sabotaged by the magnetism of daniel day lewis  the actor drawing scorsese  s camera inexorably toward him like a moth to a bulb .  br    br        even as a generic b  movie  this is an ugly  vulgar looking film . look at the matte paintings  the inept attempts at tension  the silly rotorscoped special effects and hokey fistfight showdown . still  we have robert de niro to pick up the slack . de niro  who gives his body over to scorsese like a tattooed christ  gives the film its only great scene . in an improvised romantic sequence with young a juliette lewis  he sticks his thumb into her mouth and kisses her . a kind of symbolic rape  the girl runs away  both aroused and repelled by this man  s interest .  br    br   but de niro  s performance  so deliciously over the top  simply can  t be imitated by scorsese . you  d need the operatic tone and the baroque visuals of someone like de palma to make this work . but scorsese  nope .  br    br   worth one viewing .  
surreal film noir released soon after the  real   genre  defining classics  the maltese falcon    double indemnity  and  the postman always rings twice .  welles films shouldn  t be evaluated against others . he was playing by different rules . in fact  he was playing . this starts where other femme fatale films leave off  so the vaguely logical  but interesting  whodunit is embellished with a display of wellesian scenes  typical rapid  fire style   dialog  lots of  hard  boiled  philosophy   and unusual acting  good hayworth presumably intentionally one  dimensional  . to welles  genre  may have meant  formula  but he seemed to like using  mysteries  as backgrounds for his  entertainments .   
the film starts with a voice over telling the audience where they are  and who the characters are . and that is the moment i started to dislike the movie . with all the endless possibilities any film director have in hand  i really find it a very easy and cheap solution to express the situation with a voice over telling everything . i actually believe voice overs are betrayals to the film making concept .  br    br   i hate to hear from a voice over saying where we are  which date we are at  and especially what the characters feel and think . i believe that a director has to find a visual way to transmit the feelings and the thoughts of the characters to the audience .  br    br   but after the bad influencing intro  a very striking movie begins and keeps going for a fairly long enough time . the lives of a middle class family and all the members individually are depicted in a perfect realistic way . i think the director has a talent for capturing real life situations . for example  a father who has to make his private calls from the bathroom might seem abnormal at first  but life itself leads us some situations which might seem abnormal but also very normal as well . i think the director is a very good observer about real life .  br    br   but that is it . after a while the realism in the movie begins to sacrifice the story  telling . i really felt like i  m having a big headache because of the non  stop talking characters . it was as if the actors and actresses were given the subject and were allowed to improvise the dialogs . it is realistic really  but characters always asking  really  is that so  etc . to each other  or characters saying  no  or  are you listening to me   ten times when saying it only once is just enough causes me to have a headache .  br    br   i also think the play practicing and book reading scenes are more then they should be . i understand that the play and the book in the movie are very much related to the plot  but i think the director has missed the point where he should stop showing these scenes .  
any film in the early days of orson welles is a triumph all the way to the third man with joseph cotton . he is also wonderful in a touch of evil . please see them all  he tends to get pompous and self serving in films like f is for fake  really stupid waste of film . don  t waste your time watching it . it is really ignorant . orson welles is a film icon and anyone studying film should see everything he has filmed . all his leading ladies are tremendous but in the end welles became a fat drunk  like his character in a touch of evil  for some reason orson welles had a way with women  i see how he could be considered attractive in his youth  not like gary cooper or joseph cotton  or cary grant  john wayne  i could go on and on but i digress . . . and because i am a woman  i can see the attraction to him . he  orson welles  is one of the last true film makers and unless you count the film  makers of today tarantino  scorscese  spike lee  most of the film makers just don  t measure up to the film makers of the forties  i know there are many more great film makers of today but in such a short amount of time i can  t name them all . no offense to any of the great film makers of this millennium  august        . please remind me of some current up and coming film makers  i don  t want to be stuck in the past  i love some of the films out now  but rarely are there any that i would put on a     best  list . .  hustle and flow  was great  so was  fargo   and  oh  brother  where art thou   from a line in sullivan  s travels another fine film from the forties  can anyone give me a best list for the    s and on up to      i would like to know who to watch  thank you  also props to this website  where else can you plug a film or boo it  i love the ranting and raving from regular folks like me who can say what i want and i promise not to spoil any film for someone who hasn  t seen it yet   
the plot it  s not so original . if someone saw  l  ultimo bacio  there  s nothing new . a wealthy family in rome living everyday life that  s is boring and false  with everyone asking to others what they think about them . really boring after an half of hour because it  s simple to understand where the story is going to finish . this because it  s simple to see the moralistic view of muccino in this movie  so even the hardest parts seem normal . to summarise in the first  minutes of the movie it would be enough and the aim of the movie were already said . the family saw from a   years old  i don  t like to see movie that want to show the reality but for be coherent to his thoughts has to push more than the normal the situations . really good how muccino put the camera in the right place moving with the carathers and it  s the only reason that bring me not sleeping in the cinema though always in the movie scream from the begining . perhaps it could be good to see the family how they are in reality and not put the blame to something out of it . morante was intense and great as usual but unfortunatly on a bad movie   
orson welles manages to knock me on my ass with every picture of his i see . lady of shanghai is on the same level as his other masterpieces  the magnificent ambersons  touch of evil  the trial  and chimes at midnight . the plot can tend to be confusing sometimes  and sometimes it seems to be moving maybe a tiny bit too fast  about an hour of it was edited out when test screenings went poorly  . it doesn  t matter  however . you can  t watch welles  films and manage to concentrate too much on the plot . his direction defines what great direction is . almost any scene from this film can hold up with any other scene he directed . check out the courtroom scene . usually they are such stock scenes that i can  t stand them . case in point  try to sit through welles  own speech near the end of compulsion . in lady from shanghai  just pay attention to the level of detail in that courtroom scene . watch that juror who is always sneezing and interrupting the proceedings . or just take a look at the lighting in that scene . i know  it is just a simple venetian blind  and that it was used constantly in film noirs and crime films of the era  but welles gives it a beauty all its own . the dialogue is also remarkable . welles had the skill  a skill that no one else seemed to have  to make a crime film containing examples of the grandest poetry . whether he was speaking shakespeare or spitting out hard  boiled lines  it had the power to stir the soul .      .  
the actors did a really good job playing their roles   particularly the mom . however  as the movie progressed i found i was watching it more for their acting and not because i cared in the least for the people . and  at times  i felt irritated by the irresponsible and hands  off approach to parenting displayed again and again . the daughter is a   year  old shallow skank whose main ambition in life is bedding famous men and becoming a dancing nyphette  complete with lots of  booty shaking   . the son is a guy with low self  esteem that seems very desperate for a relationship and friends   so much that he throws a drug party late in the film . the husband and wife are both bored  but rather than put energy into their stale relationship would rather seek out new partners  though the wife picks poorly  as the man she  throws herself at  happens to be gay    oops   . i just felt that all the characters needed to grow up and had a hard time caring for such shallow jerks . i think the author  s attempt was to demonstrate the utter banality and hollowness of the capitalist system . however  given that these characters are not typical of the average western family  it seems disingenuous .  
this could be well have been the definitive film noir of all time  had not the columbia studios cut so much of orson welles  s original . what we are left with is a flawed  yet brilliant film that showcases the overwhelming talent of welles as an actor  director and rita hayworth as a serious dramatic talent .  br    br    the lady from shanghai  is film noir at it  s most sizzling and confusing . welles  with an uneven accent  portrays michael o  hara  a journeyman irishman  who  after a fateful encounter with the seductive  dangerous elsa bannister  hayworth  in a great performance  finds himself virtually coerced into accepting a job as a crewman on her and her crippled husband  s  everett sloane  yacht . elsa  or  rosalie  as michael likes to call her  plays the innocent  helpless doll very well  ensnaring o  hara in her web . as the lovers conduct a not  so  secret affair at sea  arthur bannister  s partner in his law firm  george grisby  glenn anders  comes aboard . he is a weird  untrustworthy figure who offers michael a unique proposal he will get      to assist grisby in the faking of grisby  s death  so it looks murder . the plan is for michael to get off a technicality  and run off into the sun with elsa . but things do not go to plan .  br    br   hayworth delivers us one of the best femme fatales of all time in a very ambiguous portrayal . at times she seems genuinely vulnerable and child  like  at others brutal  world  weary and hard . always she is brilliantly beautiful  whether he situation calls for her to be dripping wet in a swimsuit or dressed in black  brandishing a gun . hayworth is beautifully photographed here  and she is a far  cry from her famous  gilda  role . her then  husband orson welles cut off her trademark auburn locks for a dyed blonde crop  angering columbia boss harry cohn  . it was a terrific marketing ploy  and he change suits her changed attitude wonderfully . she is not the sympathetic femme fatale that  gilda  is  here  instead she is a predatory  black  hearted dame who sees murder as a very useful option .  br    br   the welles and hayworth pairing came at a time when the couple were having extreme difficulties in their marriage . they would divorce after the film was made  so this is also a curiosity for providing some view into the complicated relationship . they are hateful  not romantic  lovers in this  so it  s hard to gauge whether or not they had real chemistry on screen . certainly every encounter is potent and filled with raw sexuality  with welles as the  fall guy   he even admits it himself in the film   and rita as the double  crossing babe .  br    br   welles character is the typical noir  drifter  with not much sense . as welles voice  over proves to use  o  hara indeed does not use his brain very much  expect to be thinking of her  elsa   . welles usually played intelligent  charismatic fellows  so his turn here as the dim  witted michael is unusual and very interesting . indeed  welles was an actor of fine talent and he pulls off it well .  br    br   everett sloane is suitably slimy as hayworth  s crippled husband . one wonders why he hires michael . it is obvious that his wife is interested in him romantically  so why does he invite a  threat  on board  one interpretation could be that michael provides the  service  to his wife that bannister cannot in his crippled state . there is definitely something to that theory  with a lot of implications toward elsa  s behaviour before she met her husband  was she some sort of prostitute   and grisby  s knowledge of bannister  s most intimate secrets being hinted at in several scenes .  br    br   this is a jumbled  convoluted film with a plot that is ultimately flawed . we are more interested in the love triangle than the murder plot  as with most noirs . welles provides us with many of his usual brilliant cinematic touches  including the justifiably famous  hall of mirrors  climax . it  s a terrific scene  one ending that can almost obliterate the faults earlier on in the movie and lift it into greatness . this fun house scene is visually stunning  with a dali  like feel to the painted sets  apparently orson painted them himself  . subtle visual imagery utilized throughout the film by welles enhances the plot and makes this a thought  provoking experience .  br    br   the dialogue is scorching and confusing  delivered superbly by rita  s alternately breathy low voice and helpless  high  pitched little  girl voice . hayworth proves her acting capabilities in this one  and proves that she is the ultimate femme fatale of  noir  . it  s a pity  only a slight one  as rita was a brilliant dancer  that she did so many delightful yet frothy and often forgettable musicals for columbia in the    s instead of darkly  themed noir like this . she was a brilliant actress when given the chance to show off her talent .  br    br       .  
beast wars is a show that is over  hyped  overpraised and overrated . let  s meet the characters of this obnoxious show whose creators must have been on acid to try and make a show like this .  br    br   cheetor  seriously  they need to have censor bars on this guy . how come he dosen  t creep out the viewers having the same voice as baby taz   at least razzoff from rayman   hoodlum havoc is voiced by slip  slide  action blast  if you want a line of show that suck  get g  tranceformers cybertron  a show that should go down in a toilet . good job creators  sarcasm  show it self  retarded  boring  at least the super mario games are better  this show had a lot of followers sayin  bring it back  but i believe that it was cancelled for its own good .  
in nyc  seaman michael o  hara  orson welles  rescues elsa bannister  rita hayworth  from a mugging  rape as she takes a horse  carriage through central park  and lives to regret it . titian  haired hayworth  s a platinum blonde in this one as dazzling as fresh  fallen snow  but nowhere near as pure . . .  br    br   to reveal any more of the convoluted plot in this seminal  noir  would be criminal . it  s as deceptive as the mirrors used to cataclysmic effect in the final scenes  but the film holds far darker secrets from the ny times  childhood shadows the hidden story of the black dahlia murder  by mary pacios  mary pacios  who was  years old when she was befriended by   year old bette short  retraces short  s steps  interviewing friends and associates . she also offered a detailed  if speculative  analysis of orson welles  particularly in regard to his movie  the lady from shanghai  . according to ms . pacios  the movie  along with related archival materials  has many of the same ritualistic elements associated with short  s murder . she raises the question could welles have been the killer   interesting theories  and with the spate of books now out on  the black dahlia   much more may come to light . fritz lang  s brutal  film noir    the big heat         was a roman  a  clef telling of the  dahlia  killing in  the city of nets  that was l . a .  but it  s the orson opus that the  dahlia  had a  hands  on  connection to . in reality  it was bugsy siegel  and the hollywood mob wars of the      s  that did the  dahlia  in . . . but that doesn  t negate much of what pacios wrote . almost all of hollywood intersected with elizabeth   the black dahlia   short and her tale  aura  legacy  curse is encoded in a number of golden age films .  br    br   the  black dahlia  was always on the peripheral edges of  shanghai   even before it started filming . barbara payton on franchot tone  it was when he was thinking about making  the lady from shanghai   before he lost the option to orson welles . franchot said he  d been in a bad state over that deal when he ran into the dahlia in the formosa cafe across from the goldwyn studios . . .  the floor above the formosa cafe was bugsy siegel  s office and  the dahlia  one of his on again  off again working  girls  .  br    br   it gets deeper and darker  after the     brawl over barbara payton between tom neal and franchot tone that sent franchot to the hospital with a concussion and  never talking the same way again   barbara said  she married tone  just to spite neal .  tom   detour   neal also knew  the dahlia   who didn  t   and became obsessed  from  l . a . despair  by john gilmore  the january     slaying of the young  beautiful would  be actress elizabeth short  known as  the black dahlia   was one of the most grisly murders in the annals of modern crime . a project  called  who killed the black dahlia   was being kicked off by actor tom neal  a hell  raiser from ww ii movies . potential producer gene harris  someone will have to come up with a more imaginative business proposition than what has been presented by tom neal and his cohorts . . .  not long after  it would be very clear one beautiful day to come  when tom would sneak up on his pretty  new palm springs wife as she lay on their sofa and shoot a .   bullet through her head .  barbara payton and norma jean dougherty  later marilyn monroe  knew the  dahlia  and their stories are well known . it seems all who crossed the path of the  dahlia   like the proverbial black cat  entered a  twilight zone  darkness and  or had an incredible string of bad luck afterward . tone  neal  welles are only a few  and this includes a butchered film called  the lady from shanghai  . . .  br    br    lady from shanghai  took two years to be released  thanks to extensive re  editing  and all because columbia president harry cohn couldn  t understand the story . it  s dark  noir  to be sure  one of the darkest  in fact . it  s also a wicked satire on life in the new atomic age .  br    br   nicolas christopher  br    br    shanghai  pushes forth an insistent subtext of nuclear apocalypse and contains the definitive noir statement concerning the atomic bomb and the american city . the film  s principal murder victim  and there are many   a psychotic and double  dealing lawyer  manically foresees armageddon at every turn  claiming he can  feel it .  he announces that he plans to escape to a remote pacific island  a particularly acid joke on welles  part since this was the very year the u . s . began testing atomic bombs at just such a place  the bikini atoll  relocating all the inhabitants and destroying the ecosystem . by the time of bikini  the erotic identification of hayworth with the bomb appears to have been institutionalized  with the blessing of the military brass the first bomb dropped in the pacific testing ground in named  gilda  and has hayworth  s image  in provocative dress  painted directly on its casing . . .   br    br   its ironic that orson welles  broad interpretation of an irishman is considered a detriment to the film by many . welles is giving a clue to viewers that  michael o  hara  is only the storyteller  not part of the story even though it revolves around him .  o  hara  contradicts the shark motif throughout the film . sharks on a feeding frenzy won  t stop until there  s nothing left .  michael o  hara  lives to tell the tale .  elsa bannister  causes a feeding frenzy during  o  hara  s  trial and her netted chapeau suggests she  s caged in  so as not to devour the human spectators to a roman coleseum . the spectators are on a feeding frenzy of their own  gossiping and carrying on about  elsa   a human aquarium correlating to the san francisco marine museum sequence . that  s the human condition . . . except for  michael o  hara  . and yet he  ll be spending his life trying to forget his past   elsa    or die trying .  elsa  is part of  michael  and the tale eats its own tail in the end and the viewer is cautioned to stay out of trouble .  
growing up with the beast wars transformers  i wasn  t very familiar with the original transformers  and now that i have seen the awesome movie  and now that i have seen the older cartoon on which it  s based  i have to say i like the original cartoon and the live action movie more than beast wars .  br    br   not that i don  t like the bw characters  i just think that characters like optimus prime are better than optimus primal .  br    br   i mean   autobots transform and roll out   sounds a lot better than  maximals maximize   the voice of the original optimus prime still makes me a strong believer that he  s a real commander  more so than optimus primal .  br    br   besides  powermaster optimus prime is a lot more powerful than optimal optimus . just look on the web   br    br   megatron in the bw character seemed more like a humorous version of the more evil version of him in the original series .  br    br   besides what  s cooler  robots changing into animals or robots changing into vehicles and spaceships  gimme the original transformers any day over beast wars   
the first mystery is to guess what welles  original film was like . that makes this a real adventure   to see an incomplete skeleton and using cinematic forensics  imagine the beautiful woman it once supported .  br    br   if you do  you will both see and experience perhaps one of the best film mysteries ever . as mysteries go  the narrative is rather ordinary a simple diversion  one jealous husband as red herring .  br    br   what  s rather miraculous is welles  placement of the story in an artificial eye seeing a dark  dark multifaceted world . the first real noir  but even darker . it  s not an obviously twisted world  unless you think about the camera . what we can see firsthand is someone creating a vocabulary that would later become common .  br    br   for all the celebration  kane was a success because of the great drama and story . the camera  s eye was shocking  but experimental . welles would go from there to explore the mystery narrative and the self  reference of shakespeare with this eye . othello and macbeth are both begun in this period  and i consider them part of a single vision with this .  br    br   the noir feel here hinges on the notion that people are not in charge of their lives  even a little   they are manipulated by random factors in the environment . so in telling this story  welles has to make the environment into a character . several characters as suspects in the mystery .  br    br   thus we have the famous lighting  blocking and angles we know  and have since seen countless times  . and we have the deliberately closed sets the park  yacht  picnic area  aquarium  dock  courtroom  chinese theater and funhouse . i am certain that what was cut by the barbarians was lots and lots of  external  narrative dealing not with character but with these strange environments .  br    br   my own solution to the mystery is that the funhouse did it  among the other character  environments introduced as suspects . in other words  the manipulation of black irish  who we know from notes and one scene typing at the union hall was an aspiring novelist  was neither a force of human conspiracy  the park or the civilized version  the courtroom  nor of nature  the picnic or the civilized version  the aquarium  .  br    br   instead it was a matter of deliberate caprice by the gods for amusement . this is of course a self  reference to what welles is doing putting these people  including himself  through hell for our own caprice  a matter underscored by the peking opera set with welles doped up . and of course leading to the funhouse where the environment directly tinkers with perception .  br    br   more about the self  reference surely there is conscious comment on his relationship with his soon to be exwife . but i believe there is strong subconscious comment on his own taunting the environment in which he worked  the studio environment . surely welles was as much screwed with  and in much the same way  as his character . and that screwing took the form of the murder of this film  leaving the rotting corpse mentioned at the beginning of this comment .  br    br   that poor rita comes from china ties up the whole thing  the chinese theater  the expected rape from above  the loss of the woman . the investment in environment beyond all .  
  me and my sister have right now watch that movie . we have laugh to the deaf . can u imagine on covers there is nomination for oscar     first  musician have mix about    different style of music . . . and the music is not synchronized with the scenes and the character moves . . .  br    br      main character silvester do not fit in there . he look like mexican tarzan .  br    br       russian soldiers are everything but not russian faces         ok  the main points  . airplane called charter painted in black . . .  br    br    . what is an idea when rambo go to jump from the airplane  but he stuck  rope mix  . a girl  the best scene is when she dies . she means a lot to him . he knows her for ages  he cries for her  . . . o my god samurai  . how many arrows is he got  his arrow bag is always full of the arrows  i didn  t notice a scene where he collect them  but i have seen the scene where arrow stay in the vietnam solder head  that is very important  . how many rockets helicopter can hold     real one  i have seen  . but rambos have hit about   of them .  br    br    . the main part . what the russian special army helicopters do in vietnam          after the war   . first scene when he enter into vietnam  s camp . . . his first idea was to liberate the refuge who is standing on the tree on the open space  wow  what an idea than again  . with the knife u can cut the iron wire  maybe only made in vietnam   . mortar  using for hit one running man  o my god  u americans really need to learn about the weapons  do u know how much it takes to calibrate the mortar  i think writer have been watching to much movies from ii world war   
the second care bears movie is immensely better than its predecessor . it has a deeper plot  better character development  and the tunes  especially the closing song  are both catchy and warm  hearted . sure the movie tends to over stress caring but come on  it is a care bears movie . this movie is a great picture to show to kids because it emphasizes friendship  love  and again  caring . not to mention the care bears are just too adorable   
first of all  really kim basinger  your rich banker husband leaves you alone in your beautiful  most likely paid in cash for home  and you can  t even put on a decent shirt  i  m a woman  and yes  i  m going to come right out say it   clean something  starting with your hair . and while you  re at it  it  s christmas eve . buy your kids some presents . . . or at least a christmas tree . don  t drive   minutes to the crowded mall  park your car  miles away and cry about it the whole walk in  and simply buy wrapping paper . also  the next time you decide to leave someone a nasty note  don  t sign your name . i refuse to feel sorry for della . obviously  due to the fact that kim basinger is this masterpiece  s executive producer  she wants you to feel bad for the poor white blond woman . we get it . alec baldwin is a jerk  but seriously  don  t model horrible films after your own life . also  you  re in you   s . you definitely wouldn  t have  year old twins . and those names  terry and tammy . way to let your kids grow up with any decent chance of ever respecting themselves . it  s also pretty fantastic to hear the characters in the film constantly call her beautiful or refer to her as a  girl  . . . obviously ms . basinger had some say about what goes in the script . it  s also pretty awesome how none of the criminals can fight back . apparently  della  s magical ninja skills are impossible to beat . her driving skills are pretty nifty too . this film is so clich  it hurts . wahhhhh  they spelled your name wrong on the tea cup . or your husband put a hole in the wall but all you can think about is buying nail polish when you  re at the mall instead of maybe some plaster and paint . or the woman you went to high school with bought the teddy you were looking at . boohooo  the fact that she refuses to take off that bright trench coat while running through the woods screaming and breaking everything in her path proves my point   this woman is a moron . who thinks to grab the toolbox out of the car  but not their purse  full of identifying artifacts such as your address . i have never wanted the  bad guys  to succeed as much as when i watched this film . and did anyone else happen to catch the  african american  shirt the black guy was sporting  oh yes  rewind and feast your eyes on perhaps the most racially stereotypical prop in a film yet . don  t waste and hour and twenty minutes of your life . instead  go do what della couldn  t figure out how to do . . . take care of your kids  and maybe brush your hair . that powerful ballad at the end though was pretty impressive . singing  i  ll be home for christmas  in the rain while your bloody arm clings oh so tightly to your wrapping paper is about as emotional as it gets . thanks della   
critics need to review what they class as a quality movie . i think the critics have seen too many actions films and have succumbed to the matrix style of films . europa is a breath of fresh air  a film with so many layers that one viewing is not enough to understand or appreciate this outstanding film . lars von trier shows that old styles of filming can produce marvellous cinema and build drama and tension . the back projection effect he uses during the film arouses and enhances the characters  and the focus of the conversation they are having . other effects he uses such as the colour and black and white in one scene much like hitchcock and the girl with the red coat grabs attention and enhances the drama and meaning of the scene . the commentary is superb and has a hypnotic effect  again maintaining the focus on the central characters in the scene and there actions .  br    br   i could talk about the effects more but i think you all would agree they push this film into a category of its own  and really heighten the drama of the film . a film to buy if you don  t own already and one to see if you have not .  br    br        don  t miss this artistic noir film from one of the great film directors .  
whoever wrote the screenplay for this movie obviously never consulted any books about lucille ball  especially her autobiography . i  ve never seen so many mistakes in a biopic  ranging from her early years in celoron and jamestown to her later years with desi . i could write a whole list of factual errors  but it would go on for pages . in all  i believe that lucille ball is one of those inimitable people who simply cannot be portrayed by anyone other than themselves . if i were lucie arnaz and desi  jr .  i would be irate at how many mistakes were made in this film . the filmmakers tried hard  but the movie seems awfully sloppy to me .  
at the point in time that the lady from shanghai was being made  the marriage of orson welles and rita hayworth was disintegrating . the film was as much an effort by welles to rekindle the old flames as it was to make a classic noir . not received well at the time  the lady from shanghai has gotten more and more critical acclaim as years pass . gotten better with age so to speak .  br    br   welles is irish seaman michael o  hara who on a fateful night rescues the beautiful rita hayworth from three muggers in central park . sparks do fly  but then comes the rub  turns out the lady is married to crippled  but brilliant criminal attorney everett sloane . nevertheless sloane takes an apparent liking to welles and hires him to skipper his yacht .  br    br   so far this film is starting to sound a lot like gilda . if orson had seen gilda and was not at this point thinking with his male member  he would have skedaddled back to the seaman  s hiring hall in lower manhattan . instead he gets himself involved in a lovely web or intrigue and finds himself pegged for two murders and sloane as his eminent counsel .  br    br   welles for whatever reason decided that his wife would be a blond in this film . supposedly harry cohn hit the roof as rita was internationally known for her coppery red hair . this may have soured him on the picture as he joined the legion of studio bosses who saw welles  s vision of independent film making a threat to their power .  br    br   stage actor glenn anders plays sloane  s partner grisby who is one slimy dude  he winds up a corpse . the other corpse to be here is ted decorsia  a bottom feeding private detective who tries to go in business for himself .  br    br   it  s a good noir thriller  showing rita at her glamorous best even if she was a blond here . the final shoot out in the hall of mirrors is beautifully staged  but i wouldn  t recommend seeing it if one is on any controlled substance .  
usually  any film with sylvester stallone is usually going to suck ass . rambo first blood part ii was no exception to this . the only movies that sylvester stallone were in that were good were rocky and first blood . this film is extreamly unrealistic  and boring . it has action  but not very good action . i didn  t enjoy watching it  and i would never ever watch this again . no wonder why it won the razzie award for worst picture . i would give this a      the only reason why it got the  was because it had somewhat good action  but not good enough .  
made in     and released in      the lady and shanghai was one of the big films made by welles after returning from relative exile for making citizen kane . dark  brooding and expressing some early cold war paranoia  this film stands tall as a film  noir crime film . the cinematography of this film is filled with welles  characteristic quirks of odd angles  quick cuts  long pans and sinister lighting . the use of ambient street music is a precursor to the incredible long opening shot in touch of evil  and the mysterious chinese characters and the sequences in chinatown can only be considered as the inspiration  in many ways  to roman polanski  s chinatown . unfortunately  it is welles  obsession with technical filmmaking that hurts this film in its entirety . the plot of this story is often lost behind a sometimes incomprehensible clutter of film techniques .  br    br   however  despite this criticism  the story combined with wonderful performances by welles  hayworth and especially glenn anders  laughter  make this film a joy to watch . orson welles pulls off not only the irish brogue  but the torn identities as the honest but dangerous sailor . rita hayworth  who was married to welles at the time  breaks with her usual roles as a sex goddess and takes on a role of real depth and contradictions . finally  glenn anders strange and bizarre portrayal or elsa  s husbands  law partner is nothing short of classic   
the summary pretty much sums it all up . this is nowhere near as good as the original . with a script co  written by both stallone and james cameron  at the same time he was also writing aliens  . most of the action was written by cameron and the political aspects were written by stallone .  br    br   sly was in the best condition physically as he was making this and rocky  and he does look in great shape or jacked up to the eyeballs on steroids  depending on your own viewpoint or opinion .  br    br   rambo starts off in prison and is visited by colonel trautman who asks him to go on a special mission that could earn him a presidential pardon . he eventually agrees and goes off to the briefing camp run by charles napier playing a washington suit trying to pass himself off as former ex  forces to placate rambo .  br    br   the mission is to find out if there are any missing pows still alive in camps in vietnam . rambo was chosen as the camp he was checking was somewhere he had previously been a prisoner himself . he is told it  s not a rescue mission and he is there to take recon photos only .  br    br   after a bad attempt at parachuting from a plane he loses most of his kit  meets his contact  who turns out to be a cute woman  and travels down river with pirates to the camp .  br    br   he finds there are still prisoners and rescues one . as the  flee from half the vietnamese army on their river boat they are betrayed by the pirates but rambo kills them all and they are forced to carry on to the pick  up point on foot after their boat is rammed and blown up with rambo almost on board .  br    br   rambo is betrayed again and abandoned as napier orders the recall of the rescue helicopter . it is clear as trautman returns to base to berate him that no survivors were expected to be found .  br    br   steven berkoff turns up as a russian spetznatz colonel and rambo is tortured and eventually escapes only to be pursued by more vietnamese troops and spetznatz . killing many of them  rambo finally steals a chopper and rescues most of the prisoners to return to his base .  br    br   he resists the urge to kill napier for abandoning him but destroys the ops centre .  br    br   a weak plot and very weak ending as rambo walks off into the sunset as a free man .  
as i watched one of orson welles  last contributions to hollywood as a filmmaker  i knew i was watching a great movie unfold  though at times i did not know why . the story in the lady from shanghai has the prime elements of a film  noir average  joe lead  femme fatale  conspicuous supporting characters  and a comprehensible if somewhat convoluted plot structure . it is an entertaining ride  and it  s filled to the brim with welles  unique gifts as a director  but there are scenes that tend to just not work  or don  t feel complete in what was welles  full vision  the latter is unfortunately too true  executive producer harry cohn and the columbia execs are to blame for that  .  br    br   welles co  stars with his then wife  the profoundly gorgeous rita hayworth  as mike o  hara  an irish worker who can and does get angry at the right people . hayworth is mrs . bannister  married to mr . bannister  everett sloane  who played mr . bernstein in citizen kane   who is accompanied by a friend mr . grisby  glenn anders  who has great control in his eyes  . they want to go sailing on their yacht and take o  hara along for the ride  and at first he  s reluctant  but agrees since he  s falling for the married mrs . as their journey unfolds  o  hara finds that bannister and grisby are not pleasant to be around  and more so with grisby  who at first seems out of his gourd . yet as the plot unfolds  o  hara is drawn into a scam that grisby is planning for insurance money  with results that i dare not reveal  although they have been discussed over and over by others  .  br    br   whatever liabilities pop up here and there in the mystery part of the story  and those few noticeable moments where shots were studio dictated   the performances and the look of the film are what remains striking after over fifty  five years . though he doesn  t have the terrific greg tolland  kane  s dp  at his side  dependable charles lawton jr . assists welles in creating an atmosphere that is both elegant and stark  covered in shadows  deep focus  low angles  the works . a particular accomplishment is the fun  house mirror scene  which is merely a highlight among others . welles himself is always dependable as an actor  even if his accent isn  t anything special  and hayworth herself makes a scene a little more lush  despite her path in the story .  br    br   the lady from shanghai is worth checking out  especially for welles  hayworth  or film  noir buffs  fans of the coen brothers might find this fascinating as well  . it may just take a little while  repeat viewings  as was for touch of evil   for the underlying motives in the plot to sink in .  
by rights  there should never have been a  first blood part ii  . the original script for  first blood  had john rambo committing suicide at the end of the film  but this was changed to allow him to live  not because the producers wanted to make a sequel but because test audiences found the original ending too depressing . nevertheless  someone obviously thought that the character was too good to waste  because he ended up as the hero of two more films in the eighties  plus the recently released fourth instalment .  br    br   the official title of this film was  rambo first blood part ii   but it is more commonly known simply as  rambo  . it starts with the title character in jail  where he is presumably expiating the crimes he committed in  first blood   although this is never made too explicit . he is removed from prison by his former commanding officer  colonel trautman  for a secret mission . rambo is to return to vietnam to investigate reports that american pows are still being held captive by the communist regime . he is under strict instructions not to attempt to rescue any prisoners or to engage the enemy his is to be simply a fact  finding mission .  br    br   what rambo does not realise is that he is being set up  not by trautman  who is portrayed as brave  honourable and incorruptible  but by the organiser of the mission  a military bureaucrat named murdock . murdock intends that the mission will prove that there are no american prisoners in vietnam  partly because that will improve relationships between the american and vietnamese governments  partly because it will make his own life easier . unfortunately for murdock  rambo discovers that not only are americans still being held prisoner  they are also being kept in hellish conditions . of course  he is far too much of a hero to leave them to their fate  and tries to rescue them . the rest of the film is more or less one long battle between rambo and a few allies  including a beautiful vietnamese girl  and the evil commie soldiers and their russian allies . most of the evil commies  of course  end up dead  although i was surprised to learn from your  trivia  section that the total death toll was as low as   . at times it seemed as though rambo was trying to wipe out the entire vietnamese army .  br    br   the tone of this film is very different from the first . in  first blood  rambo was unquestionably a criminal  even though his responsibility for his crimes was lessened by severe provocation and by his mental instability . in  rambo  he is a bona fide all  american hero . a few years earlier the director  george pan cosmatos  had made  the cassandra crossing   a biased piece of left  wing anti  american propaganda . cosmatos  however  was nothing if not versatile  and  rambo  proves that he could also turn his hand to biased right  wing pro  american propaganda . the one thing the two films have in common is that both are laughably bad .  br    br    first blood  had its faults  but it also had its virtues . its stance  that the anti  war movement was partly to blame for the problems faced by vietnam vets in readjusting to civilian life  was a controversial one  but at least the film was trying to make a statement about war  social attitudes to war  and the roots of violence in society .  rambo   by contrast  has very few virtues  except that the action sequences are well enough done to please those who like that sort of thing . it is essentially a sort of jingoistic revenge fantasy for those americans who were still sore about the vietnam war . rambo re  fights the war single  handed  and this time the right side wins . take that  charlie cong   br    br   by this point  no doubt  the film  s admirers  and there seem to be plenty  more than      voters have already given it ten stars  will have concluded that i am a liberal commie  loving pinko . far from it  in fact  i have always despised communism as a pernicious ideology . what i dislike about the film is not its politics but its lack of subtlety and its suggestion that the solution to all problems  including ideological disputes  is to go in with all guns blazing and to try and kill as many people as possible . it makes no attempt to understand the political complexities of south  east asia or why not everyone in the region was pro  american . for all its anti  communism  the film is the sort of moronic sledgehammer propaganda that the communists were very good at churning out themselves  except that they attributed all the world  s problems to capitalism  or imperialism  or revisionism  or whatever other ism they had taken a dislike to . compared to  rambo    the green berets  was a masterly piece of political analysis .      
orson welles   the lady from shanghai  does not have the brilliant screenplay of  citizen kane   e . g .  but charles lawton  jr .  s cinematography  the unforgettable set pieces  such as the scene in the aquarium  the seagoing scene featuring a stunning  blonde  tressed rita hayworth singing  please don  t love me   and the truly amazing hall of mirrors climax   and the wonderful cast  everett sloane in his greatest performance  welles in a beautifully under  played role  the afore  mentioned miss hayworth   welles  wife at the time   at her most gorgeous  make for a very memorable filmgoing experience . the bizarre murder mystery plot is fun and compelling  not inscrutable at all . the viewer is surprised by the twists and turns  and welles  closing line is an unheralded classic .  the lady from shanghai  gets four stars from this impartial arbiter .  
i think it  s time john rambo move on with his life and try to put vietnam behind him . this series is getting old and rambo is no longer a solider but a cold blooded killer . ever time he turns up on the screen someone dies . vietnam was not a fun place to be and frankly i am tired of hollywood making it seem like it was . this is not the worst of the films concerning vietnam  that honor goes to john waynes green berets . in any case john rambo carrying around a   cal machine gun taking on what seems to be half of the viet cong army plus a good many russians is an insult to watch . what is worse is rambos cheesy speech at the end . . . please   oh yeah i heard they are making another one . . .  
one can only imagine the film mr . welles might have finished without the interference of the studio  this film is a flawed welles  but worth every minute of it because one can see the greatness of perhaps america  s best motion picture director of all times   br    br   we can see the toll it took on orson welles the filming of this movie . the story has a lot of holes in it  perhaps because of the demands of the studio executives that didn  t trust the director .  br    br   it is curious by reading some of the opinions submitted to imdb that compare orson welles with the coen brothers  roman polanski  even woody allen  when it should be all of those directors that must be regarded as followers of the great master himself . no one was more original and creative in the history of american cinema than mr . welles . lucky are we to still have his legacy either in retrospective looks such as the one the film forum in new york just ended  or his films either on tape or dvd form .  br    br   rita hayworth was never more lovingly photographed than here . if she was a beauty with her red hair  as a blonde  she is just too stunning for words . everett sloan and glenn anders made an excellent contribution to the movie .  br    br   the only thing that might have made this film another masterpiece to be added to orson welles body of work  was his own appearance in it . had he concentrated in the directing and had another actor interpret michael o  hara  a different film might have been achieved altogether . orson welles has to be credited for being perhaps a pioneer in taking the camera away from the studio lot into the street . the visuals in this film are so amazing that we leave the theater after seeing this movie truly impressed for the work  the vision and the talent he gave us .  
the ghost of the vietnam war has haunted the american psyche for thirty years now . if not because of the fact that tens of thousands of american soldiers went mia in vietnam  or the manner in which those who returned were treated  then because it was the first war that america could be said to have lost . many men came home from the war a shadow of their former selves  and the original first blood managed to provide a small insight into their problems as they attempted to rotate back into the world  as the saying goes . first blood part ii  on the other hand  is little more than a fist  pumping mess that goes to illustrate how sore america can be  both in victory and defeat . stallone puts in another sluggish performance as the titular special forces commando  while richard crenna attempts to hold up the serious actor quotient . where it all comes undone is in the script  which didn  t do any better when it was called missing in action and starred chuck norris . what little semblance of logic there was in the original is now gone  as the filmmakers decide to paint a big s on rambo  s massive chest .  br    br   the film picks up a little while after the end of first blood . the film  that is  the novel didn  t allow for the possibility of sequels . in this mediocre follow  up  rambo has been put to work at what appears to be some sort of open  air mine . as he is breaking rocks and working up a sweat  a prison guard pulls him away to go and have a chat with colonel trautman  who advises him that his government is willing to offer him an early release if he goes on a covert mission . rambo  never one to back down from a hard day  s violent work  accepts  and is promptly shipped off to a covert base in what appears to be cambodia or thailand  i forget which  . from there  he is commissioned to seek out a camp where american mias are supposedly being held  and photograph them . his mission quite clearly specifies that he is not to make any attempt to secure their release . rambo being rambo  however  has other ideas in spite of their possible political implications .  br    br   of course  things go somewhat awry when it turns out that the people commissioning rambo  s work have more interest in making sure no american mias are found . it is the age  old conspiracy theory  and makes no apologies for exploiting the plight of many an american family that was left without a son during the ten years that the official vietnam war had been raging for . of course  with the jingoism that was inherent in american society during the     s  they could not help but work in a plot tangent about the vietnamese army being in bed with what appears to be a single battalion of russians . together  the two antagonists attempt to extract what information they can from rambo  but it backfires upon them in an orgy of bullets  arrows  rockets  and destruction . about the only thing missing is the moment when rambo drinks from a grail  like chalice and declares himself invincible .  br    br   to be honest  first blood part ii is a well  photographed  and well  choreographed  action spectacle . the hand  to  hand combat with the larger russian commander is one of the few battles in the film that has any dramatic tension whatsoever . the rest is simply a case of the lead actor and the director building a fantasy for americans to pump their fist to . fortunately  this fad of america ber alles action films soon died down when more introspective and intelligent war films such as platoon began doing the rounds . some of the kills shown here are quite creative  despite all the problems . the vietnamese commander meets an end that many an action film villain would envy . the russian commander bites it in a manner that is as spectacular as it is ridiculous . only in a     s action film would one see a law being used from inside a helicopter . sure  there have been action film clichs rooted in contradictions of fact  but never this ridiculous before .  br    br   i gave rambo first blood part ii a one out of ten . it is so bad it is ridiculous  and so ridiculous that it is often funny . one doesn  t even need to have served in the military to know how stupid some of the action sequences are . the only risk it takes is in trying to make a stupid political statement with what is a heartbreaking subject for those directly involved . keep the tongue firmly in the cheek  and it might be watchable .  
after citizen kane in      hollywood executives turned their cob  webbed backs on the great orson welles . with the exception of kane  welles lost all creative control on magnificent ambersons  journey into fear  and many other films to come . welles was an innovative and creative genius  the most unconventional of filmmakers when hollywood was in need of a few more . the lady from shanghai is yet another example of the misunderstood view of welles  films at the time  a movie that seems a bit choppy and non  fluent . it has a conventional      s premise told in a most unconventional way  and i am sure some scenes ended up on the cutting room floor . it is now legend that columbia mogul harry cohn stood up during its initial screening and asked what it was about . in hindsight  many old grumps that ran the studios back then had not one clue as to the cinematic techniques and master story  telling of orson welles and the lady from shanghai is only nearly great because of their intrusion .  br    br   beside being arguably the greatest director of all  time  welles was also quite a performer as an actor . at    we all know what he did as  charles foster kane   perhaps the most famous character in film history . here  he inhabits a rare character of dim wit and not much intelligence  something unfamiliar to those familiar with welles other great work . instead of a slick  wise tongue  he speaks with a rough  irish twang . rita hayworth  his unhappily married wife at the time  plays an unhappily married wife of a lawyer who puts welles in a spell and is able to draw him into a job that will take him to the limits of deception and disillusionment . he is a large lug who may have even murdered a man  but the real mystery lies in the relationship between hayworth  with stunning blonde hair  and crippled hubby everett sloane  mr . bernstein from citizen kane  . a creepy partner of sloane  s is along for the sail around the country to set off a number of peculiar events that has welles   michael o  hara  head spinning . welles narrates the picture as o  hara  but things are still unclear throughout . see for yourself and realize that it takes at least  viewings to fully know exactly what  s up .  br    br   an uncharacteristically strange courtroom sequence centers around  o  hara   with sloane defending him . it is an oddly comedic scene with some quirky courtroom methods  including sloane cross  examining himself . i didn  t really laugh here because the film stalls at this point after a first portion that never gets to take off anyway . up to this point  the cinematography is great  some scenes are shot with craft and skill  aquarium love scene   but there is no distinct line drawing the elements and us  the audience  in . reportedly  the court scene was re  shot against welles  requests    closeups of hayworth were ordered  and a makeshift song sung by the starlet was thrown in at cohn  s insistence . a gaudy score infuriated welles  who once again  was left out of the editing process . thank welles himself for saving the film entirely with a tour  de  force ending that will always be treasured . the so  called  hall of mirrors  scene brings buffs back time and time again  rightfully so .  br    br   it must be seen to be believed and it does a good job of wrapping up some confusing ideas presented . the crash of the mirrors represents  o  hara  s  disillusionment and the  crazy house  itself is a masterpiece of art and set decoration . it seems more like a state of mind than an actual place and is indeed  crazy   twisted and turned like a dali painting . this is a great ending to a flawed picture that if left alone would probably have made the afi  s top    . then again   or  more of orson welles films may have made all collective  best of  lists if he had been left alone to create his own magic .  br    br   note look for the mercury players that are so prominent in welles pictures . they pop up all over . rating  of    
while the original first blood had its far  fetched moments  it was at least exciting in parts . in rambo first blood  part ii the emphasis is shifted very much onto comic  book action . plausibility is totally rejected logic nose  dives stallone becomes so impregnable that there can be no doubt he will succeed in his mission . just like any other wish  fulfilment actioner of that time  e . g . invasion usa  commando  red scorpion   rambo first blood  part ii cancels out its own opportunities for real excitement by presenting a hero too invulnerable to fear for . if you can tell from the word go that rambo is going to wipe out hundreds of enemy soldiers  what is left to get excited about   br    br   imprisoned after the events of the first movie  john j rambo  sylvester stallone  is offered a pardon if he will join a covert operation in the far east . the year is      and a mission is being arranged to find out if there are any american pows still trapped in the jungles of vietnam . rambo is encouraged to take the job by his old mentor colonel trautman  richard crenna   but the assignment is actually the brainchild of a government outfit fronted by marshall murdock  charles napier  . rambo  s job is merely to head for a prison camp in the jungle and check out if it contains any american pows  if it doesn  t  he is to rendezvous with a chopper if it does  he is to get photographic evidence of their existence so that they can be rescued at a later date . aiding him in his quest is a lady soldier with local knowledge  the beautiful and resourceful co bao  julia nickson  . sure enough  rambo discovers that there are pows in the camp  but he exceeds his orders by rescuing one of them when he reaches the rendezvous point  the rescue chopper abandons him on the orders of murdock who  it seems  doesn  t really want to find any pows because of the political and military implications . rambo is captured by the enemy and tortured  but following an explosive escape he sets out to free the pows and get his revenge on the treacherous murdock .  br    br   the few good points of the film come from jack cardiff  s polished photography  jerry goldsmith  s exhilarating score  and the sheer professionalism of the stunt team in performing various action antics . beyond these scant pickings  the film is a failure . the actors are reduced to macho posturing  the plot rings false  the action sequences are soulless and suspenseless  the dialogue is absurd even the violence becomes numbingly predictable . at the time of its release america was under the presidency of ronald reagan  a man with simplistic and near  hysterical anti  communist sentiments . for this reason  contemporary audiences lapped up this commie  bashing shooting  fest as if it was the greatest movie of all  time  transforming it into an undeserved box office success . thankfully times have changed  nowadays we can look upon it as a simple  minded action flick with a ludicrously high body count  ludicrously dumb politics  and a ludicrous hero .  
of all the film noirs of the     s and     s  this has to rank as one of the strangest  and most fun to watch . i say that because of the four main actors orson welles  rita hayworth  everett sloane and glenn anders .  br    br   the first two names are familiar to everyone but it was the last two that made this movie so entertaining to me  especially anders . his character   george grisby   is one of the strangest people i  ve ever seen on film . his voice  and some of the things he said  have to be heard to be believed . slaone isn  t far behind in the  strange  category . hayworth is not as glamorous with short  blonde hair but still is hayworth  which means a lot to ogle if you are a guy . welles  is as fascinating as always . one tip if you have the dvd  turn on the english subtitles . his character in this movie is an irishman and you need the subtitles to understand everything he says .  br    br   welles also directed the film which means you have great camera angles and wonderful facial closeups . you also have a unique ending  visually  with a shootout in a house of mirrors . great stuff  as bizarre as this film is  i still thought the buffoon  like carnival atmosphere at the trial near the end was too much and took away from the seriousness of the scene . other than that  no complaints .  br    br   this is great entertainment  which is the name of the game .  
i don  t see much reason to get into this movie in much detail . sylvester stallone is once again john rambo  author and survivor of  a season in hell   recruited from prison by his only friend  major richard crenna  to secretly return to vietnam  take photos of the american prisoners believed to be still held in horrible camps  and return without engaging the enemy .  br    br   fat chance . what if he actually did nothing more than sneak in  take pics  and sneak out  who would come to see the movie   br    br   it  s essentially a celebration of stallone  s muscles . preparing for his mission  we see his well  oiled muscles bulging .  they are oiled and bulging throughout .  there is the ritual strapping on of black leather  ugly guns  and even uglier knives . the black guns are cleaned  assembled with loud clacks  and almost as oiled as stallone  s muscles . the bow is tested and  yes  it has enough poundage to drive a bolt through an enemy  s forehead . the knife is sharpened with slick snicks .  br    br   stallone and one of his pows are betrayed by one or two of the suits from washington  cynical politicians who  you can bet  were never even in a fist fight in grammar school . no guts  you know  just sit around with their feet on the desk and drink foreign beer .  br    br   the movie does what it set out to do  but what it set out to do is meretricious . it deliberately cashes in on the myth popular in the mid      s that there were uncountable numbers of mias quietly kept in wretched camps by the north vietnamese . the bumper stickers were ubiquitous .  free our mias .  why would they keep them  it was never quite reasoned out but perhaps to turn the pows into a slave labor force   in a country that has absolutely no resource other than labor . or maybe for their propaganda value as an instrument to humiliate the united states   a propaganda weapon that the vietnamese kept secret from the world .  br    br   as a captive  rambo is treated in a medieval fashion by the north vietnamese . dipped to his neck in pig excrement and then hauled out of it by his wrists  his muscles still on display . then  not content with subhuman vietnamese  a russian officer is brought in to play the part of the gestapo officer    vee haff vays of making you remember .  a high  tech type  the russian uses psychology and electricity  not just pig dump .  br    br   rambo returns and declares that he intends to drift aimlessly until  this country loves us as much as we love it   bringing up another myth that vets returning from vietnam were uniformly spat upon and cursed  which is why i guess we elected so many to the congress and appointed others to high  echelon positions . the last three losing presidential candidates were among that despised group . at least rambo  s aimless drifting left room open for a sequel  which arrived apace .  br    br   the action movies with schwarzenegger and willis and others were leavened by wisecracks but rambo is humorless . it marches dully through it  s phantasmal ideological swamp  killing without mercy  barely speaking  barely able to speak . to speak is a sign of weakness .  
after all  you do not go to an orson welles movie to see a nice simple little plot and a burnishing of the image of a happy  ever  after star  br    br   you go to see theatrically heightened characters locked in conflict against colorful and unusual settings  lighted and scored imaginatively  photographed bravely  and the whole thing peppered with unexpected details of surprise that a wiser and duller director would either avoid or not think of in the first place  br    br   as usual  as well as directing  welles wrote the script and he also played the hero  a young irish seaman who had knocked about the world and seen its evil  but still retained his clear  eyed trust in the goodness of others unfortunately for him  he reposed this trust in rita hayworth  whose cool good looks concealed a gloomy past and murderous inclinations for the future she was married without love  to an impotent  crippled advocate  acted like a malevolent lizard by the brilliant everett sloane  br    br   there is a youthful romanticism underlying it all  and this quality came into exuberant play in  the lady from shanghai .  before the inevitable happened  welles escaped  to a final triangular showdown in a hall of mirrors  which has become one of the classic scenes of the post  war cinema   br    br   welles did not miss a chance throughout the whole film to counterpoint the words and actions with visual detail which enriched the texture and heightened the atmosphere his camera seemed almost to caress rita hayworth as the sun played with her hair and her long limbs while she playfully teased the young seaman into her web  
i remember i loved this movie when it came out . i was   years old  had a commodore   and loved to play rambo on it . i was therefore really thrilled when i got to buy this movie really cheap . i put it in my vcr and started up man this movie is really bad  sylvester stallone says like  words in the entire movie  except for that awful sentimental speech at the end   and has the same expression on his face all the way . and that stupid love thing in the middle  it  s just so amazingly predictable . i just ended up fast forwarding the entire thing and went to exchange the movie for something else .  
these are excerpts from a nine  page  memo to mr . cohn from mr . welles   written after orson had seen studio mogul harry cohn  s edited version of the picture  he took an hour out    br    br    . . . the preview title music was written by a first rate composer  george antheil . although not written for our picture at all  this temporary title music had an atmosphere of darkness and menace combined with something lush and romantic which made it acceptable . . . the only musical idea which seems to have occurred to this present composer  heinz roemheld  is the rather weary one of using a popular song   the  theme    in as many arrangements as possible . throughout we have musical references to  please don  t kiss me  for almost every bridge and also for a great deal of the background material . the tune is pleasing  it may do very well on the hit parade   but lady from shanghai is not a musical comedy . . . mr . roemheld is an ardent devotee of an old  fashioned type of scoring now referred to in our business as  disney  . in other words  if somebody falls down  he makes a  falling down  sound in the orchestra  etc .  etc . . . if the lab had scratched initials and phone numbers all over the negative  i couldn  t be unhappier about the results . . . just before i left to go abroad  i asked vi  viola lawrence  the editor  to make a cut which would involve dropping the near accident with the taxi  cab and also quite a bit of dialogue . i am convinced that this would have been an excellent cut . . . saving much needed footage in the slow opening sequence  this was not done  accounting for the main weaknesses of the film  s opening reel  . . . there is nothing in the fact of rita  s diving to warrant a big orchestral crescendo . . . what does matter is rita  s beauty . . . the evil overtones suggested by grigsby  s character  and michael  s bewilderment . any or all of these items might have inspired the music . instead  the dive is treated as though it were a major climax or some antic moment in a silly symphony a pratfall by pluto the pup  or a wild jump into space by donald duck . . . there is no sound atmosphere on the boat . a little wind and water is sorely missed . there  s no point in photographing a scene on a real boat if you make it sound as though it all happened in front of a process screen . . . at the start of the picnic sequence . . . in the temporary score  we used a very curious  sexy latin  american strain . . . this has been replaced with a corny  dramatic  sequel   bad stock stuff . . . this sort of music destroys that quality of strangeness which is exactly what might have saved lady from shanghai from being just another whodunit . . . there is a big musical outburst after grigsby  s line   i want you to kill him .  this is absurd . . . the hawaiian guitar music which comes out of the radio . . . was supposed to be corny enough to make a certain satirical point . as it stands now  it  s on about the same level as the rest of the scoring . nobody in the audience could possibly suspect that we  re kidding . . . the aquarium scene needs more echo .  please don  t kiss me  is in again  . . . a bad dubbing job and poor scoring has destroyed the character of michael  s run down the pier . from the gunshot through to the phone call  a careful pattern of voices had been built up with the expenditure of much time and effort . for some reason  this has all been junked in favor of a vague hullabaloo . as a result  the whole sequence seems dull . . . the audience should feel at this point  along with michael  that maybe they are going crazy . the new dubbing job can only make them feel that maybe they  re going to sleep . . . the gun battle with the breaking mirrors must not be backed with music . . . the closing music again makes reference to  please don  t kiss me  . . . this finale is obvious to the point of vulgarity  and does incalculable injury to the finish of the picture .   br    br   all of these edits from orson were ignored  
as an army veteran  i was deeply offended by this film . in my opinion  it is a disgrace to those who fought in the vietnam war . to say that the real sf soldiers i knew were offended by this crap is an understatement . if the film were presented as satire or even as a cartoon  it was   it would have been better received . but it was taken seriously my many people  especially overseas . silly as it sounds  wherever i went in europe in the late    s people seemed to judge me and americans in general by this film . unrealistic  hmm  let  s see . a monosyllabic  muscle  bound cretin is pulled off a prison work gang to go on a secret mission to se asia to free some american pow  s . in a running battle he kills about    enemy soldiers with an m    machine gun that never runs out of ammo and never overheats . and he never misses  running with a   lb gun held up with one arm . i could go on  but i  m getting a headache . i gave this a     only because it  s slightly better than rambo iii .  
i was very impressed with this small  independently made picture . the story  about a pair of social outcasts who meet  become friends  and provide each other with a support system both seemed to lack as children  is at times hilarious  at times sad  but always provocative . music  mostly by underground bands  was used to great effect  as was the experimentation with camera angles  filters  and slow or fast motion techniques . the performances  the leads are played by the writers and directors of the film  are some of the best i  ve seen in the last couple of years . if you ever felt like a square peg being forced into a round slot  i really believe you  ll appreciate  by hook or by crook  .  
years ago  when i was a poor teenager  my best friend and my brother both had a policy that the person picking the movie should pay . and  while i would never pay to see some of the crap they took me to  i couldn  t resist a free trip to the movies  that  s how i came to see crap like the second conan movie and never say never again  now  despite this being a wretched movie  it is in places entertaining to watch   in a brain dead sort of way . and  technically the stunts and camera  work are good  so this elevates my rating all the way to a   so why is the movie so bad  well  unlike the first rambo movie  this one has virtually no plot  rambo himself only says about  words  other than grunts and yells   there is a needless and completely irrelevant and undeveloped  romance  and the movie is one giant  and stupid  special effect . and what stupifyingly awful special effects . while                  bullets and rockets are shot at rambo  none have any effect on him and almost every bullet or arrow rambo shoots hits its mark  and  while the bad guys are using ak    s  helicopters and rockets  in some scenes all rambo had is a bow and arrows with what seem like nuclear  powered tips   the scene where the one bad guy is shooting at him as he slowly and calmly launches one of these exploding arrows is particularly made for dumb viewers  it was wonderfully parodied in uhf starring weird al . plus  hot shots  part deux also does a funny parody of the genre   not just this stupid scene .  br    br   all  in  all  a movie so dumb and pointless  it  s almost like self  parody   
origins of the care bears  their cousins . if you saw the original film you  ll notice a discrepancy . the cousins are raised with the care bears  rather than meeting them later . however i have no problems with that  preferring to treat the films as separate interpretations . the babies are adorable and it  s fun watching them play and grow . my favourite is swift heart rabbit . the villain is a delightfully menacing shapeshifter . i could empathise with the three children since i was never good at sports either . cree summer is excellent as christy . the songs are sweet and memorable . if you have an open heart  love the toys or enjoyed the original  this is not to be missed .      
she may have an oscar and a golden globe  but this film shows why she also is a perennial razzie nominee . to do a film that is so bad must be an indication that she needs money . she could do ads on why you shouldn  t talk on a cell phone while driving  especially at night on the way to a crowded mall .  br    br   susan montford should stick to producing  shoot  em up  as she is not very good as a writer  director .  br    br   she is accosted by four thugs in the mall parking lot  and the first thing they do is tell her they have a gun . what does she do  she starts pushing and cursing them like she knows martial arts or something . she manages to get away  but gets lost in the forest after crashing . why didn  t she run to someones house  we get four thugs with guns chasing a lady with a toolbox . of course  their guns are no match for her wrench . ha  of course  she also has a tire iron and a screwdriver . those poor thugs .  br    br   now  she  s home for christmas  and she brought a gun   
people claim its edited funny but they had to cut it down substantially in post production . i have harry as a professor right now at ucsd  and honestly its one of the best classes i  ve had  its rather funny to here about what happened in making the film cause harry is so animated . i originally watched  joy of life  for another class where harry did a voice over in the film  and started watching this film after i started the class . harry originally did some performance work  and is really genuine about creating moments that move you  especially when you have to re edit things until you hit on that moment  but its something you see in this film .  
this movie is a joke and must be one of the worst movies stallone ever made . this is a typical   s movie where you have one man destroying the whole army by himself .  first blood pt .   is very similar to schwarzenegger  s  commando   but there you have arnold killing the terrorist while here you have a specific nation showed as the bad guys . this movie is a typical american anti  soviet propaganda . true  this was the peak of the cold war  but i  m sick of having communists or the nazis always being shown as the enemy . there are so many american movies that have this one thing in common . why can  t there a movie that show americans as the enemy  who  s going to believe that one lone soldier will destroy the whole army  do you really think that something like this would have really happened  by the looks of it  an average  brain washed american viewer certainly would .  
by hook or by crook is a tremendously innovative film from a pair of immensely smart and talented filmmakers  harry dodge and silas howard . they manage to tell an original story in a distinctive cinematic style  and it  s beautifully shot by ann t . rosetti  and wonderfully written   truly poetic .  br    br   the lead characters are true heroes and serve as a rare kind of role model  inspiration for butch dykes and trannies everywhere . this film has so much energy  so much poignant passion and scruffy san francisco heart to it . i can  t recommend it highly enough   br    br   the best butch buddy movie of all time   
george p . cosmatos   rambo first blood part ii  is pure wish  fulfillment . the united states clearly didn  t win the war in vietnam . they caused damage to this country beyond the imaginable and this movie continues the fairy story of the oh  so innocent soldiers . the only bad guys were the leaders of the nation  who made this war happen . the character of rambo is perfect to notice this . he is extremely patriotic  bemoans that us  americans didn  t appreciate and celebrate the achievements of the single soldier  but has nothing but distrust for leading officers and politicians . like every film that defends the war  e . g .  we were soldiers   also this one avoids the need to give a comprehensible reason for the engagement in south asia . and for that matter also the reason for every single us  american soldier that was there . instead  rambo gets to take revenge for the wounds of a whole nation . it would have been better to work on how to deal with the memories  rather than suppressing them .  do we get to win this time   yes  you do .  
what is so taboo about love   people seem to have major problems with the transgenered .  br    br   the title of this movie didn  t catch my eye . it was a grainy shot about  minutes into the movie is what made me stop channel surfing . i could not believe how freaking amazing this film was . it touches on so many levels of human emotion that it did not once fail to move me in some way . it is by far one of the best independent films i have ever seen . i did not view these characters as either gender  just human . i would recommend it to anyone who loves movies . especially independent films . praise to all fearless filmmakers   
an offensively over  the  top action adventure  first blood part ii seemed to catch the mood of the us at the time of it  s release in the mid     s  with right  wing reaganism and virulent anti  red feelings still not finished yet  though the emergence of a certain mikhail gorbachev in the heart of the  evil empire  in moscow would soon render these types of films redundanteven reagan himself eventually admitted this truism .  br    br   in that sense  we can be most grateful to  gorby   not for his disarmament treaties with the us  nor his policies of  glasnost   or even his support of democracy being restored to the eastern european countries in the former soviet union  s backyard . no  it  s the final diminution of foolish  jingoistic  bloated cold  war adventures like this . the first rambo film was hardly perfect  though at least was a mildly literate and adequate action thriller with a not too bad storyline . in this sequel  any sense of even the remotest conviction is instantly jettisoned for silly  senseless plotting and incident in which rambo single  handedly takes on scores of brainlessly stereotyped vietnamese and russian troops to rescue american pow  s ten years after the conflict ended  with the americans on the losing side .  br    br   perhaps the reason why the film was a huge box  office success was to let many americans wallow in fantasythey may have lost the war  but there was still unfinished business at hand  and ludicrous comic  strip heroics with a robot  like hero killing virtually every red on sight  with as much hardware as possible  fulfilled such whimsically far  fetched ideals .  br    br   this could have been entertaining on a superman  spiderman level  but sadly everything is played absolutely straight . but that is not to say that there is no humour in the filmsadly it is virtually all of the unintentional kind . the action scenes  though technically adequate  never once carry the slightest bit of conviction or persuasiveness  because they are always placed in the most spectacularly unbelievable of contextsnamely  our hero rambo is always unscathed  aside from a few cuts and bruises here and there  despite the tons of explosives  grenades  gunshots  etc . going around him .  br    br   in between the mayhem  what there is of a script consists of the dullest clichs and banalities . stallone  who co  wrote the script with james cameron  a long way from the exciting terminator made the previous year   deliberately seems to have given the rambo character as little to say in understandable english  and merely comes out with moronic grunts  almost as though he has invented his own brand of patois only understandable to himself . maybe his colleague cameron was thinking of the terminator again with so little communication involved for the lead character  in this sense rambo seems even less of a human than the terminator did  the rest of the cast do little better with good actors like charles napier and richard crenna doing their admirable best with the hackneyed dialogue they are given  and steven berkoff hamming it up outrageously yet again with another of his russian kgb  red army villain roles . berkoff  s overplaying is mildly enjoyable but not remotely menacing . how come that sly managed to survive berkoff  s electric shock torture to kill yet more of those red commie scumbags  well  credibility is never this film  s strong point . it is a work of fantasy comparable with the wizard of oz . at least that was meant to be a fantasy  and an immortal classic it turned out to be . this is only a classic of the most dismal  and indeed offensive  kind . and as for sly  s climactic speech . . .  rather hypocritical after slaughtering all those people  eh  by the way  in the same year  he also made rocky iv . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   rating  out of   .  
a great and truly independent film that hit most of my emotions and carried me into another world . isn  t this why we go to the movies  i was especially impressed with the editing and the music  the combination of which was very transportive .  
like  first blood   this attempts to make a point about the treatment of vietnam vets  but there really isn  t much time for that in between the monotonous gunfire  burnings  stabbings  torture and explosions as an impossibly indestructible rambo takes out half of asia  a ton of vietnamese soldiers  most of the russian army  various vehicles and anything else he can point a rocket launcher at . the only woman in the middle of all these boys toys is soon bumped off  allowing the testosterone to reach dangerous levels and the script to degenerate into a succession of loud noises . helpfully supplying a few hackneyed musical cues is jerry goldsmith  who carefully checks off all the clichd themes from russian rat  a  tat to chinese ching  chang  chong just in case we don  t quite understand who we  re looking at . stallone has a brain in his head this empty nonsense is beneath him .  
this low budget digital video film has strengths in the right places   writing and acting . in addition the digital photography is the best of the lot so far . in low light conditions the characteristic video umber tone prevails but  surprising  it rivals film stock for brightness  clarity  and  saturation in brightly lit situations . this is grass roots film making at its best with snappy dialogue carrying a  midnight cowboy  kind of story about grifters doing whatever it takes to survive in urban san francisco .  
well what i can say about this movie is that it  s great to see so many asian faces . what i didn  t like about the film was that it was full of stereotypes of what typical racial characters would do in their role . the asian girl without confidence who has to play someone else to get ahead  the white guy infatuated with asian culture and chooses to leave his white world behind for the land of yellow and the  keeping it real  black cab driver . plus all the coke  shanghai tang and dunkin donuts product placement was a bit too obvious . the story plot itself was fun but pretty much how i thought the story would unravel . then again when watching romantic comedies you can  t expect much but then again i would have been wanted to just be surprised at least once . the parents are the best part of the flick .  
i loved this movie from the opening sequence right through to the end . i found the director  actor  s style of directly addressing me  the audience very engaging .  br    br   what i found most exciting and refreshing about this movie was its ignoring   and thus challenging   of gender and class stereotypes . the idiosyncrasies of the characters are portrayed as strengths  and the absence of judgment   and the characters  acceptance of themselves and each other   enabled me to embrace them and allow myself to be drawn into their world . without preaching  and with intelligence and gentle and loving humor  this movie has the power to open us to new possibilities  and offers hope for a world in which people see and accept each other as unique and precious individuals . i look forward to more offerings from this creative and talented director .  
in what i can say was a theft of my time i was taken to see this movie and i must say what a horrible experience . fay ann lee is a terrible actress and is unconvincing in this movie . larryjoe   is obviously a shill reviewer . the plot is thin to say the least  the cantonese dialog is not funny . see this movie at your peril .  br    br   david tang from shanghai tang should be after the movie for the little or no revenue this movie will generate . the banal plot attempts to compete with other rom  coms out there  and just blends into the scenery . it was like watching paint dry .  br    br   in short this movie was a total waste of time and space . i  ve seen better movies on youtube .  
the movie only enter the cinema in indonesia this year        two years after it  s official release  and after many illegal dvd  s had found its way to the public . apparently the popularity of the illegal dvd  s lead to the release into the theaters  with still public coming to watch .  br    br   the movie is a great epic  bringing japanese culture into your house in an exiting way . in a sometimes humorist way  the story is told about a theater writer who writes a story for his theater  since the regular kabuki theater plays is something he finds boring .  br    br   at first  the audience might be a little bit confused about which story we are following  but when the story unfolds  we see that the love between a male human and a female demon leads to a great story for a new kabuki theater piece .  br    br   the audience is left in the dark if this is a story that is supposed to really have happened in japanese traditions and mythology  but that doesn  t matter .  br    br   the way the story is told with a love for theater  expression  vivid colors  humor and tragedy  makes this a great ride on the roller  coaster of japanese cinema as well as theater .  br    br   let yourself go completely when you watch this movie  try to see it in a cinema instead of on your television at home .  br    br   one critical point though the soundtrack is sometimes a little bit annoying . though most of it is great music  there are a few moments in the movie that i think they should have chosen some more dramatic music . but maybe the fact that the story contains moments of humor made the director choose for lighter moments in music as well .  
don  t get me wrong  i love david suchet as poirot . i love the series as well as the movies but enough already re death on the nile . everyone has done this one  we know who dies . we know why they die . we know who the killer is . we know how it was done . so i say enough already  mr . suchet could have used that awesome talent in another one of agatha christie  s novels . i will say that the acting by all the actors was superb . the sets were terrific and very realistic . i especially liked david soul but i was surprised at how  awful  he looked . i hope he doesn  t look that way in  real  life  i honestly can  t remember from other movies whether the very end was the same . somehow i don  t think so . i thought that was a rather brilliant touch whether or not ms . christie wrote it that way . i would much rather have that ending then wasting away in prison   
i went to see ashura as     fantasia festival kickoff . man  that was one cool kick off . the director was supposed to be in montreal for the canadian premiere  but due to health reasons  he  s still in japan . . . oh lord i hope he gets better and makes plenty of other movies .  br    br   the plot is pretty simple  but somewhat original . . . the demons are roaming in edo in japan and swordsmans called  demon wardens  are slaying them and fearing the rebirth of ashura  the demon goddess who  s sleeping and supposedly is very kick  ass .  br    br   it brings us to izumo . . . some kind of elite swordsman called  demon slayer  and his buddy jaku who  s the typical violent jealous asshole . . .  br    br   seems boring  well now it thickens . . . .  br    br   izumo took his retirement from killing demons since he slayed a young kid on the  impression  that he was the demon  he never knew  but he did killed her . so izumo went on with his life and recycled himself in kabuki theater . in a boat joyride on a nice night  izumo spots a girl hiding on a bridge and it changes his life and restart to slay demons . . . for the good cause  the cause of love . . . and damn . . . the guy knows how to handle a sword and to pull an entertaining massacre .  br    br   izumo carries the movie as far as playing goes . . . he is the total package . . . he knows how to fight  hell yeah he knows   he  s witty  he  s intelligent and he has that grit . you never have to yell   no izumo  it  s a trap  the guy already knows it he has that common sense . he  s really the perfect hero .  br    br   as far as cinematography goes  the esthetics are pretty interesting . it  s by far  the movie that looks the most like a manga . it  s creamed full of special effects and nothing  at all cost will prevent this movie to look realistic . . . it  s pretty amazing . lots of colours an  unreal  photography  other than that . . . it  s pretty straightforward . . . but like i said  the main character is carrying the movie a must see  a tale lead by masterful hands  
as low budget indies go  you will usually find that you get what you pay for  and let me just say  i didn  t pay much for  frightworld  . . .  br    br   writer  director david r . williams brings us the story of an abandoned amusement park  besieged by the vengeful spirit of a slain serial killer . not a bad premise  but executed with a bevy of low budget mistakes . the camera work tries to be too cleaver for it  s audience  by constantly using shaky quick  cuts to cover the fact that they really have nothing gory or scary to show us . this becomes evident right off the bat  as we are introduced to the would  be killer  and soon realize that the  acting  is the scariest thing happening . . . after a painfully long title sequence we are brought back to modern times  yet the acting remains the same .  frightworld  does generate some rather unique cinematography when showing scenery from inside the fun  house  but with an extremely long running time  it can  t save the film from it  s below average indie hell .  br    br   there is some mediocre nudity  but not much for gore  which is usually the saving grace for these types of movies .  br    br   fans of really bad b  movies might find something of interest here  otherwise  don  t spend a lot of cash .  
japan is in serious trouble . demons have infested edo  taking possession of earthly forms and bending them to their unholy will . on top of that  the rebirth of ashura  queen of the demons  is nigh . the only thing that stands against this grave threat are the demon wardens  a fearsome group of warriors  who might just be as bad as the demons themselves .  br    br   izumo is a retired demon warden  who five years ago  took up theater instead of demon slaying after accidentally killing a innocent child  in a battle that  s strangely reminiscent of the bar scene from dusk till dawn  . one night by a chance encounter he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman named tsubaki . their fortunes intertwine  literally  and they are bound by fate to be lovers and enemies .  br    br   if you think this sounds like your typical japanese fantasy  swordplay epic  you  d be wrong . in fact  there  s nothing typical about ashura . it is a hodge  podge of many different genre  s of film . those just mentioned  as well as a comedy  drama  and romance . director yojiro takita  onmyoji  juggles the genre  s fairly respectfully  although  the comedy seems forced in some scenes  and the end result is a ridiculous  but really fun popcorn movie .  br    br   to be sure  there are flaws in the film . some of the humor seems contrived  and out of place . and the acting isn  t the greatest . but seriously  do you watch fantasy  swordplay  comedy films for the great acting performances   no  we watch them for the action and the crazy cg visuals  all of which ashura has in spades . not to be misleading  the film is not all action  but it is spaced out generously enough with lots of swordplay and buckets of green blood to keep the average viewer happy .  br    br   bottom line the films has it  s faults and is not a martial arts epic  but it doesn  t try to be and it features interesting visuals and good swordplay action . the reason the film worked for me is that it never takes itself too seriously and if the viewer does the same  their sure to be delighted by this fun and silly swordplay fantasy action flick .  br    br   my rating  out of   . fun popcorn movie .  
very bad . very  very bad . as a fellow who aspires to make  be in or  at least  sniff the catering table at a movie set  i find it hard to criticize independents who actually got a movie of any sort made . however  this movie . . . oh dear .  br    br   realizing frightworld doesn  t aspire to anything more than crude exploitation  an honorable thing in itself  and to try to make it conform to more mainstream standards is a mistake . and to be fair  it is more entertaining than  say  red zone cuba . . . but not by much . so i won  t try to critique  just let me ask throw out some observations .  br    br     if gore is the point of the movie  shouldn  t you be able to see it   br    br     if you have hire three sound men make sure at least one knows how to operate the equipment .  br    br     in a horror movie your lead maniac must be scarier than a smurf doll . difficult i know but really . . .  br    br     there is a lot of talented videographers in the buffalo  rochester area  most you can hire really cheap . get one who knows how to frame a scene .  br    br     just because you have someone who knows how to use after effects and other cool programs doesn  t mean he should do so every two seconds .  br    br     kudos for getting the girls to take off their tops but next time  get girls who  s tops we want to see taken off .  br    br     editing should help tell the story or set a mood . at the least in this sort of movie editing should sell the gore gags . a chainsaw suddenly appearing in a characters stomach is not scary  it  s sloppy .  br    br   some good things . not all the acting was bad . jack was pretty good and i liked acid once she started fighting back . there was some neat imagery  unfortunately it was thrown up on the screen without rhyme or reason .  acid poptart  is a name that deserves a better movie . i like the moxie of frightworld too . next time  now that they have a movie of sorts under their belts  i hope all involve aspire to something better than colman francis . upgrade at least ed wood .  
set in japan  ashura is the story of demons taking over the earth . the premise is far more complicated  but the arching storyline should not be forgotten . japan is in turmoil  with demons occupying human form roaming the lands . generally speaking demons look and act like humans  but are evil . the japanese word they use is not just demons  but rather the classical form of  ogre  which is a mythological creature of some historic stature . we  re talking about creatures that would appear more like gods than simple ugly child  eating monsters .  br    br   however in human form all that remains is the green eyes and green teeth  which appear when put under any sort of stress . in order to save the world from demons there are demon  slayers . trained and skilled warriors who can spot and defeat most every kind of demon  and who guard the passage  way between the realm of hell and that of the real world . these are the basic premises .  br    br   the story begins with a festival in a local town . amid these festivities   men ride in  dressed in all black  seemingly intent on doing harm . the villagers run  excepting those which are demonic in nature  who turn green  eyed and try to kill them . the demon  slayers end up killing off the majority of the demons . from here the story gets interesting . the whole essence of the story begins when at the gate to hell a fortune  telling demon appears before the  gate  keepers  revealing the arrival of ashura . with it  comes the end of the reign of man  and begins the reign of demons . ashura however requires some form of birthing process  the first step of which occurred during the opening battle  but which won  t be revealed to you until you see the film . the  demon  slayers are a wise old man  a powerful yet unprincipled man  and a skilled and compassionate warrior . immediately you can see the split between them  the old man wanting to stop the demons  the powerful one wanting to bend them to his increasing ego maniacal wishes and the third looking to stop the second . along the way he meets a woman who he begins to take fancy to  and believes himself to have a special relationship with . she in turn is a brigand who is good  natured  sought after by authorities . when the two finally meet face to face  he places his hand on her shoulder  and suddenly she is scathed by a mark on her shoulder . needless to say  the mark is not a good sign . what ensues is a battle for earth  a battle between both good and evil  as it should be  but also between good and good itself .  br    br   the point for me of this film became something other than what i thought it would . i came in thinking it would either be a fast  paced action style film with demons  or a horror film with macabre evil and foul creatures the likes of which would be seen in ringu and ju  on . i was however mistaken in the best possible way . the story it seemed to me is an adaptation of a very old japanese play  and it plays itself out as such  combining the essentially action driven adrenaline scenes with a great concept  an amazing narrative  and a style which makes you compelled to think rather than just sit wallowing in gore . many scenes are painted with luxurious dialogue between two characters the likes of which will never be seen in a hollywood film . it becomes a practically theatrical experience which takes your breath away .  br    br   the film makes use of some immaculate scenery and camera  work comparable to many great samurai films of our days  but adding to it a well  thought and classical plot . with great acting  great music  and thoroughly stunning scenes  its a must watch in my book .  br    br   that being said  it does need the disclaimer that it is not for everyone . its not cheap thrills horror  its not balls to the wall action . its a horror style play thats been filmed . it has very much to say and takes the time to do so  flying in the face of the conventional one  liners . like japanese plays  the exchanges between the characters can last for many minutes before they come together for a quick yet marvelous battle scene . if you can enjoy such a thing  this is a masterpiece . if your idea of a good film is slasher flicks with little plot and excessive nudity  then you can easily watch something else .  br    br   overall  this film to me is a unique and amazing one  which keeps you riveted and amused . it has good writing  good acting  and good direction . it is all in all a solidly great film .  
this was a weird movie . it started out pretty good . a solid sound track behind flash images of gore and mayhem as our psychopath did his thing .  br    br   next comes his  down fall  here i could tell i was in for a real cheesy  b  movie . poor acting  i mean how hard is it to hold a gun and act like a cop  these guys could not . after the death scene of our psychopath we get the opening credit and the movie starts . . .  br    br   from this point on it is bad acting big boobs  the occasional bucket of blood and poorly done death scenes .  br    br   that said i gave the movie a four because in spite of its flaws it did maintain a sort of creepiness that i just could not quite shake off .  br    br   i do not recommend this movie but i have to admit i have seem worse .  
for the longest time  i liked this movie better than the original care bears movie . well last summer  i watched them both together and decided i was wrong . the first one is a better care bears movie  as you may have guessed if you read my review for it  . this one isn  t a bad movie  it  s just . . . very strange .  br    br   well first of all  as a few people have mentioned  it completely disavows any knowledge of the first movie . i can  t think of another sequel that contradicts the original so blatantly  especially with the genders of some characters and how they all met  . when i was little and watching this  i was quite a bit confused and distraught . i felt the same way watching it as an adult   br    br   on to the reasons why the movie is actually pretty good  if you disassociate it from the first movie  . i can  t think of another movie for little kids with a demon as it  s villan  now i am not for a minute suggesting that evil demons who want to steal the souls of campers and care bears are good  i just find it cool that there  s a supremely evil being in a movie for little kids  it  s like that bizzare  santa clause vs . satan  movie from mexico you hear about sometimes .  br    br   anyhow  the demon  s name is darkheart and he wants this chick to help him get the care bears in return for him giving her special powers . very dark for a kiddy flick eh  and did i mention that darkheart appears to the girl most often as a whiney voiced   year old boy    freaky  meanwhile some other kids are in care  a  lot looking after baby care bears  oh  man  demons and baby care bears in the same movie       br    br   needless to say  everything gets cleared up in the end  but not before we get to see darkheart trap the care bears  souls in this scary chandelere thing in one surprisingly deeply disturbing scene  . but i am left with the question of wether this movie has found the cult audience it so richly deserves . i might just watch it again myself .  
i remember the days in which kim basinger was nothing more than a pretty face who adorned movies with typical characters of dumb blondie  romantic interest or damsel in danger . but  everything changed when she won an academy award as best supporting actress for her role in the excellent movie l . a . confidential  and i think i was not the only one who was surprised by her solid performance . however  after that moment  her career did not follow the ideal path . sure  the prestige she won thanks to that movie made her to participate on moderately prestigious movies  like people i know or the door in the floor   but we have never seen her again on a substantial character . the movie while she was out does nothing to put her on that situation and it is not only that her character is not too tasty  but also that the movie is really crappy . the screenplay from this movie could not be more hollow and basic . however  basinger brings some conviction to her character  and that makes this poor movie to win a few points . this movie is full of clichs and generic villains . the work of director susan montford is truly disastrous for many reasons but mainly  because the movie never gets a good rhythm and tone . the ending from this movie is extremely ridiculous . i do not recommend while she was out at all . this film commits the capital sin of being boring .  
very good drama about a young girl who attempts to unravel a series of horrible crimes . she enlists the aid of a police cadet  and they begin running down a series of clues which lead to a traveling carny worker with a long police record . an ending which is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat .  
this movie is actually worse than most movies i  ve ever suffered through  and i  ve suffered through a lot . absolute nonsense . it  s got terrible  forced dialogue pointless plot developments really drawn out  spooky imagery  scenes  which look more like a high school remedial art project than a horror movie     at best attractive women long  boring sex scenes involving said women  forget what you know about virgins  especially ones with lop  sided fake breasts   muttered  difficult to understand speech from some of the characters and they actually used the masks from killer klowns from outer space during a masturbation scene  which should be a saving grace because that movie was pretty funny  but it isn  t . veden fell is the lamest bad guy in the history of film .  br    br   absolutely give this one a miss .  
this is a nice piece of work . very sexy and engaging enough plot to keep my interest throughout . its main disadvantage is that it seems like it was made  for  tv full screen  and though there were several sex scenes  there was absolutely no nudity  but boy did it come close   . strange  too  since netflix shows that it was rated r .  br    br   nonetheless  very titillating  and i wish alicia silverstone made more movies like this .  br    br   one netflix reviewer stated that it was part of a series  but i have been unable to find out what series that is . i  d like to find out  though  because this movie was that good .  br    br   walt d in lv .           
with the exception of the sound none of the above are really criticisms for this type of no budget   truly  independent horror film . make up effects and gore are very good and the lead actor was effective  the lead actress although attractive needs some coaching as she was particularly poor .  br    br   the major problem with frightworld is it  s length  at    minutes its half an hour too long to be effective as a slasher movie  plot wise only about ten minute of the first fifty are relevant .  br    br   in places it is visually engaging and sometimes the lack of lighting works in the films favour . however when this is combined with the poor sound as is the case with most of the film large sections are difficult to watch .  br    br   this could certainly be an entertaining if unoriginal  serial killer back from the dead  movie with some judicious and ruthless editing  in its current form it plays like an unfinished rough cut .  
i thought this movie was wonderfully plotted it made me confused and my cousin who watched it with me . to tell the truth i think that the younger kevin dillon was hot . hahahaha . . . but i also thought the girl was stupid to go along with the cop and that was wrong what he said to her before his death  i was inside you  . i think that  s what she gets for doing what she did with him and how is he going to tell her that she  s too young when he never cared how old the other girls were .  now i don  t think i myself could ever trust a cop like that . but to tell the truth it was pretty obvious it was him even if he was wanting to become a cop i would still be suspicious of him either way . and that was funny when she sprayed him in the eye in the store . hahahahaha . she was still stupid for going into the warehouse again by herself and so was the cop who died hello   it  s called back  up . sometimes these movies make me mad when people act stupid and do stupid things . but that  s what i think an thought about the movie .  
  honestly  barbra  i know it  s you who  s klicking all those  no  s on my review .   times   how many people did you have to instruct to help you out here  don  t you have anything better to do  like look at yourself in the mirror all day    br    br   steven spielberg told barbra that this was  the best movie i  ve seen since  citizen kane   . that pretty much says it all  and serves as a dire warning   br    br   what are the ingredients for a sure  fire cinematic disaster  and one that will haunt you  never letting you forget the tears of both laughter and pain  the ingredients barbra streisand  s face  a musical  feminism  barbra streisand  s voice  barbra streisand directing  and an ultra  corny  idiotic premise .  br    br   hollywood is full of egomaniacs  this much we know . in fact  nearly everyone  by definition  has to be an egomaniac in hollywood . why would anyone want to act  for the  art     well  if you  re dumb enough to believe what they tell you in their carefully prepared interviews and streisand has the biggest ego of them all  this is quite an achievement . to be surrounded by narcissistic cretins  and yet to manage to top them all  remarkable .  br    br   the movie  like all her  solo  endeavors  is an ego trip straight out of hell . every scene streisand is in is automatically ruined . stillborn . but as it that weren  t enough  she sings a whole bunch of streisandy songs  you know  the kind that enabled the mariah careys  the celine dions  and the whitney hustons of this world to poison our precious air  waves for decades now . just for that she deserves not one but    south park episodes mocking her .  br    br   the premise  streisand dressing up as a man to study to become a rabbi  sounds like a zany zaz comedy . apart from it being a clich  the obvious problem is that streisand doesn  t look like a woman nor does she look like a man  in fact i  m not even sure she  s human . the way she looks in this movie  well it cannot be described in words . e . t . looks like a high  school jock by comparison . she looks more alien than michael jackson in the year     . she looks horrible .  br    br   the songs . they made me shiver . particularly  papa can you hear me squeel like a demented female walrus in heat   and  tomorrow night i  ll prepare the sequel  yentl   the return of the bitch  .  br    br   did you know that streisand considered having a nose  job early on in her career  but changed her mind when they told her her voice might change  can you believe that  she should have done it  killing two flies with one swipe  that  s what it would have been .  br    br   if you  re interested in reading my biographies of barbra streisand and other hollywood intellectuals  contact me by e  mail .  br    br   should barbra streisand finally go into retirement  click  yes  or  no  .  
i saw true crime when it was first released back in the mid  nineties and i have watched it many times since . it is a great mystery about mary  played by alicia silverstone   a high school senior in a california town who  s classmate  s younger sister was tortured and killed by an unknown murderer . mary meets tony  played by kevin dillon   a police cadet who sees how bright she is and they decide to work together to try to find the killer .  br    br   many suspects in this one . true crime feels very  true  or real to me . i read a newsgroup review where someone wrote that total suspension of disbelief is present here and it is so true . alicia silverstone is perfect in this role and kevin dillon and bill nunn do a great job  as do the other actors . the locations are right on and the writer  director  pat verducci  really captures some of the realities of teenage life and of mary  s loneliness  see the scene where mary awakens from the dream sequence after having viewed the photos she took of tony  . i wish verducci would make more movies .  br    br   i have not seen any other movie quite like true crime .       
i remember when this piece of trash came out  all the newspapers were squawking about how it had taken barbra streisand years to get the film made . well it couldn  t have taken that many years the play only opened in      eight years previously . it made a broadway star of the great actress tovah feldshuh  who probably should have been cast in the film  but nooooo . . . the great star barbra had to do it her way . and with music no less  this film is a total disaster from start to finish . for one thing  barbra was forty years old when she made it and she looked every minute of it . there was no way anyone could possibly swallow her as a young girl yearning to study torah . and then when she dresses up as a boy it gets campy . i get the impression that streisand could not bear to be unattractive so she played around with the make  up she is prettier as a boy than she is as a girl . and as if that is not bad enough  she gets involved with both her schoolmate avigdor  mandy patinkin  whose best moment is the shot of his naked rear end  and his fiance  amy irving  who does her usual sleepwalker routine  a bit of schtick the poor woman always resorts to when the director ignores her and she does not know what she is doing  . yentl even goes so far as to marry the girl i won  t even bother to mention the  wedding night  scene .  br    br   then there is the music . nine totally forgettable songs  all sung by streisand via voice  over  presumably as a look inside her mind   and each one as intrusive and irritating as fingernails on a blackboard .  br    br   i won  t say that streisand does not show a glimmer of promise as a director here some of the visuals are lovely  patinkin  s backside especially   and she has a good eye for balance . the problem with this movie is that she won  t get out of her own way . i did not believe her for one second in the title role she should never have added the songs  and on top of that the whole mess goes on for two hours and fifteen minutes . i was sick of the whole sorry mess after forty  five minutes .  br    br   awful  awful  awful .  
i got to see the whole movie last night and i found it very exciting . it was at least  not like the teen  slasher movies that pop out every now and then . the search for the killer and the  partner  relationship between the herothe so  called bad guy was parts i liked about the movie . also  i remember once being on the edge of my seat during a specific scene in the movie . i mean it  s exciting . maybe some time later  i might watch the movie again . . .  
barbara streisand directs and stars in this very jewish story .  br    br   to have a chance at obtaining an education  babs enthusiastically disguises herself as a boy which isn  t the most difficult thing to do since she already looks like a boy  anyway . at her new school she meets many male classmates who have no trouble at all in believing she  s a guy .  br    br   don  t miss the best of many moments of unintentional humor when babs  male friend thinks she  s a man  but pins  him  to the ground  sits on top of  him   and looks affectionately into  his  eyes . . . . snicker .  br    br   mediocre film splashy story about nothing particularly interesting .  
i have seen this movie and even though i kind of knew who the killer was from the beginning i still liked watching it . i would recommend it to other people . it comes on lifetime movie network quite a lot . and i am thinking since it  s close to halloween they might play it more . so please be on the look out for it if you are interested in watching it . i believe that alicia silverstone played her part very well . i really like her as an actress and person . she seems so nice and down to earth . kevin dillon he  s performance was so so for me . i am not trying to knock him or anything but i believe that his brother matt would have been able to pull this bad evil serial killer persona better . kevin just seems too sweet for me . but i think he did okay .  
my personal vision of hell is being locked in a room without the ability to close my eyes or block my ears and have this movie play for eternity on every available surface in that room . the whole notion that streisand plays a boy  man only begins to scratch the surface of how ridiculous a premise this movie is . the single most important thing about watching any movie is the concept of  willing suspension of disbelief  . . . it is impossible to do that in this movie .  
this is the best made  for  tv movie of all  time  am i saying this because i  m a huge silverstone fan  partially  but even without her  i  d still see it . i  m a fan of serial killer genre films  and believe this to be a great entry in that category . also  mary giordano easily ranks among alicia  s top five character creations . totally memorable  like she really exists . i  d have her on my side  too  if there was a mystery to be solved . she plays the character  like she does with her real life  with complete confidence in everything she does . seems sweet  honest  nice . . . just like she is in real life . so is that acting  yes  indeed  she  s sort of a rebel once again . this time she  s not bad  she  s too good and a bit afraid to do things that seem above the law . but she doesn  t do things the normal teenager would do . instead  she spends her time reading detective mags and solves crimes . a cliche abounds she  s sort of avenging her father  s death  in a different way than vigilante  style . at the time  alicia seemed to be playing the same characters rebellious  seductive  without a parent  a loner . this happens here  too  but she  s a bit nerdy this time around . that doesn  t matter she  s still cool as a nerd . check this out soon  or else giordano will be investigating why you haven  t . . .  
i know  i know   plan  from outer space  is the worst movie  or maybe  manos  the hands of fate .  but i can  t get worked up over those sock  monkey movies . of course they  re bad . how could they be any good  but if you  re talking about movies with respectable production values and bankable talent  the t . rex of all turkeys has to be  yentl .  all the treacly phoniness  all the self  absorbed asininity  that stains everything barbra streisand has done since      reaches its culmination in this movie . from its lonely summit of awfulness   yentl  looks back to  a star is born  and forward to  the mirror has two faces .  there is nothing else quite like it . what emotional undertow dragged streisand out to make this movie i would rather not speculate  and what audience she was playing to i cannot possibly imagine  although i  ll bet there  s a nine in ten chance you aren  t a member of it .  br    br   nobel prize  winner and saintly guardian of yiddish literature isaac bashevis singer was so outraged by what streisand did to his story that he blasted her in public for it . it is a tribute to streisand  s impenetrable vulgarity that she not only didn  t commit suicide  but went on to make more awful movies .  
i searched out this one after seeing the hilarious and linguistically challenging  clueless         perhaps alicia silverstone  s best known effort from early in her film career .  true crime  has kevin dillon  which should be helpful in improving most film projects . in fact everyone in the cast does a good job . the only disappointment i think the movie has for me is an awkward  feel  to some of the scenes  coming from the need to run a quite uncompromising  grown up theme as part of what in tone starts out as a schoolgirl adventure .  br    br   alicia silverstone is pretty good in this one . she carries off well the naive enthusiasm and growing unease that affects mary giordano as she manoeuvres towards the truth behind the serial murders . i reckon her characterization of mg has some mileage in it too . the inference of the story line is that she goes on to a career in law enforcement . it could be really interesting for an older silverstone to revisit giordano at a time of crisis later in the officer  s life . just a thought   br    br    true crime  shows its director in a good light . pat verducci also has the writing credit . i don  t know of any other film work pv has done . i can only wonder what happened after such a promising start .  br    br   like most productions  this one has a largely unknown supporting cast  although bill nunn  detective jerry guinn  is hardly that . over the past decade he seems to have been able to secure an impressive number of screen appearances . i recall seeing him recently in  carriers         a made for tv presentation with a military theme . bill nunn played  captain arends  . fans of the classic us tv comedy show  who  s the boss  may also have an interest in  carriers  because the leading player is judith light  remembered with affection by many because of her lengthy involvement with the show .  br    br    true crime  could easily not have worked  but it does ok . i think it is an entertaining story worth seeing .  
this might be the worst film ever made  and is possibly worth seeing for that reason alone . streisand is laughably unbelievable as a young woman posing as a man in order to study judaism . the soundtrack is torturous  featuring barbara belting out some of the weakest blather ever put to film . and don  t even get me started on the plot . you will actually get more chuckles out of this film than many comedies because it is soooooooo terrible . the rampant ego of streisand  thinking she could somehow raise this stinker to oscar heights  led to this disaster . i  m pretty sure the novelist  isaac bashevis singer  hated this film and never forgave streisand . i can  t blame him . this movie is like watching a car wreck in slow motion for two hours with the soundtrack of  the sound of music  being played backwards on an old turntable . it  s truly that bad . i  m amazed that anyone from streisand enjoyed this movie on the level that it was intended .  
i must admit i  m a little surprised and disappointed at some of the very negative comments this film seems to provoke . i think its a great horror  sci fi film . colonel steve west  alex rebar  returns to earth after an historical space flight to saturn . while in space he contracted some bizarre and unknown disease . he wakes up in a hospital bed  he looks in a mirror and before his very eyes his face is melting  escaping the hospitals supervision  he hides out in some local woods surrounding a small town . unfortunately he starts to develop a rapidly growing hunger that can only be satisfied by eating other people . he must feed on human flesh and drink the blood of others to survive  stalking human prey he begins his reign of terror  its up to his old friend dr ted nelson  burr debenning  to find him and try and help him . he has to work alone as his boss general perry  myron healey  wants it kept ultra quiet . nelson can  t even tell his wife judy  ann sweeny  . however  sheriff blake  micheal alldredge  becomes suspicious as general perry turns up just as some of the local townspeople start turning up half eaten . i don  t really understand why this film gets such negative reviews  what do people expect  anyway  i really like this film . the star of the film are unquestionably rick bakers special make  up and gore effects which for the most part are excellent  and the fact their all prosthetic effects and no rubbish horrible cgi makes them even better . writer and director william sachs isn  t afraid to use them either  we get some nice long lingering close up shots of the incredible melting man and they hold up very well  even now . photography  music and direction are a little bit dull  but professional enough . the script manages to create some sympathy for the the monster  shots of him looking longingly into ted nelsons house  or when he sees his own reflection in some water and reacts violently . the ending  set in a large factory of some sort  is pretty downbeat so don  t expect any happy ending . which surprised me . also  the script doesn  t really do anything with the premise  he just walks around melting and killing  with his friend trying to stop him  maybe a bit too simple . personally i think the worst bit of the film is near the start when the fat nurse runs down a hospital corridor in slow motion  her screams are also portrayed in slow motion too  it looks and sounds totally ridiculous  you need to see it to believe it  i like this film a lot and recommend it to    s and    s horror  sci fi fans . a bit of a favourite of mine .  
a seemingly endless movie that really deserves a zero rating . the premise seems simple enough yentl  a girl interested in studying the talmud  wants to go to school . but only boys are allowed to study  so after her father  s death she decides to disguise herself as a boy to get in . she does and becomes close friends with avigdor  who is to be married to a beautiful woman named hadass . hadass  family learns avigdor  s brother committed suicide  and the wedding is called off . yentl  now calling herself anschel  is then selected to marry hadass . she does but it is never consummated . yentl  anschel and avigdor go away for a few days  and yentl  anschel reveals her secret to him . the movie ends with avigdor returning to  and marrying   hadass  and yentl going to america to continue her studies although she will have to continue to do so in disguise .  br    br   the plot above seems interesting at first for a movie over  hours long  but there are several things that ruin it . for starters  there is the constant singing .  i can already hear the critics shouting .  yes  i know this is a musical so there are supposed to be lots of songs and dance numbers . but the movie could have been improved if it were directed and played without them . the songs become tedious after a while  and there isn  t as much dancing as one would expect . many of the songs are forgettable  with no real memorable lyrics  and those with any significance could easily have been substituted by a voice  over . only one song stands out from the rest   papa can you hear me  . it is obvious that most of the others were deliberately placed so streisand could simply have a reason to show off her vocal abilities every five to ten minutes . chances are anyone who will see this film will already know what a superb singer and actress she is  so the songs really aren  t necessary .  br    br   second  streisand  s makeup  which can be seen during her scenes as a man  the lipstick  enhanced lashes  and traces of blush are all obvious  makes it hard for the audience to believe in the yentl  anschel character  that she is actually serious  and fooling her new friends  colleagues  and even hadass  into believing she is a man . yet we are asked and expected to believe that very thing . there seems to be a contradiction  as her character talks  or rather sings  of how she doesn  t think she can pull it off  but is surprised that everyone seems to be fooled because she is wearing men  s clothing . this means that we are then expected to believe the other characters are so naive they can  t see the other differences  such as her actions  which are clear giveaways . the facial differences alone cannot be included  as other characters in the film mention that some of their male relatives or friends didn  t have a beard or other facial hair . nevertheless  in the     s  if a woman dressed as a man  but wore as much makeup as streisand  s character did  and still tried to pass herself off as a man solely because she wore men  s clothing  it would have been deemed unacceptable and caused an outrage . chances are she would probably be forced to leave the town  or even the country . therefore the  feminine  makeup on streisand does not lend to the character  s credibility  and only weakens the plot . if it was only applied to make streisand look more beautiful  it should have been scrapped .  br    br   thirdly  when yentl  anschel herself reveals who she truly is toward the end  we are then asked to believe that the other characters are not as smart as streisand  s and only when they learn the  truth  do they become a little wiser . by now it becomes more and more apparent that the whole plot is so far fetched that it is nothing more than a custom  made vehicle for streisand to fuel .  br    br   lastly  there are those who are fans of streisand who will find no fault with this film  its plot  or the songs . to those i must respectfully disagree . while she has excellent vocal and acting abilities  i am not a  fan  of her style of singing . however  i have enjoyed many of her other features including musicals . there are even some songs of hers that i like  so i am not a  hater  nor have set out to bash her . i have written this review from an honest perspective  from someone who has tried their best to watch this movie  several times even  and has noted the problems within . if streisand was interested in creating a great or even believable film  she could have done so here by not injecting her need to show off and prove how talented  beautiful and smart she is at nearly every turn . this movie does nothing more than hurt her abilities  make her appear self  absorbed  and thus turn the film into a laugh  fest unworthy of her fans or audience .  
to me there is something so appealing and nostalgic about low  budget sci  fi . as a kid in the   s thats all there was . in     i saw  the first man into space  in a movie theater with my dad . it had marshall thompson starring and some other poor slob who got the title role . it is also about a space mission gone bad where the astronaut turns into a grizzly killer . scared the good  plenty right out of me . the memory of those heebie  jeebies still lives within me . the incredible melting man is almost a re  make only in full glorious color . . . that is wherever the scenes were well  lit . just gotta love it for what it is . . . . . . a little over an hour of darkly lit scenes  disgusting noises  and that eerie music . bravo   
this movie started out good  i felt like i was watching an adult version of seinfeld . much to quickly i started questioning the situations and actions of the main characters  and found no answers to why they were doing what they were doing . all the acting was superb but only a few scenes had brief moments where they were actually funny . dan cortese was amazing . i loved him in this role . his agent should show this movie to casting agents . watch the first few scenes and then find something better  or else you will find yourself totally lost in this mess . i found this in a bin at a video store . it cost me two dollars and due to the rareness of this movie i feel like it was a good price .  
i spied this short on a dvd of best new zealand shorts  all great but the french doors was amazing . it starts off slow and you wonder if there is anything going to happen . just as you relax into the hum drum of home renovation  the most spookiest thing happens .  br    br   eeeekkk  i wanted to stop watching  but i was glued .  br    br   the films dips into the primal fear of the dark and with little  if not any  special effects . it chills you right to the bone . a simple yet brilliant concept opened up all those memories of when i was young and dream  t up the most improbably but spooky situations .  br    br   the film makers visual style are bang on and the lead character takes you convincingly through the story . it is a quality short that i haven  t seen in quite some time .  br    br   the french doors has all the hallmarks of a great feature  alas it finishes after ten minutes or so . never the less a great ending that begs you to want to know more .  br    br   loved it and well done and thanks for the ride . these new zealanders are really turning out the talent .  br    br   a new fan .  
this is one seriously disturbed movie . even though the boys deserved some of what they got . . . . . the sadistic gruesome executions were  slightly  over the top . the only character showing some conscience early in the hunt was killed off before he could offer some help to the sad plot .  br    br   at the beginning of the movie  there looked to be some promise of a mediocre affair  but this was just a ploy to lull the viewers into a false sense of security  before the joy of what was to come .  br    br   the only thing that could have saved the movie for me was if jack nicholson had jumped out of the bushes and yelled   and  where is the batman   . kim basinger could have screamed .  br    br   now that would have been cool   
the melting man . . . a tragic victim of the space race  he perished melting . . . never comprehending the race had long gone by . . .   br    br   a man  burr debenning  burns his hand on the kitchen stove . but instead of screaming something a normal person would scream  he shouts something that sounds like  aaaaatch  kah    this movie you  ve popped in . . . isn  t a normal movie . you  ve just taken your first step into the incredible melting man  the famous late     s gore film featuring rick baker  s wonderful makeup effects . baker was just on the edge of becoming a superstar  and did this at the same time as his famous  cantina aliens  in star wars . for some strange reason  star wars became a household name  and incredible melting man did not .  br    br   it might have something to do with the fact that this movie is just mind  numbingly awful . from the opening credits   starring alex rebar as the incredible melting man  . . . that  s really what it says    to the chubby nurse running through a glass door  to the fisherman  s head going over a waterfall and smashing graphically apart on some rocks  this film provides many  many moments of sheer incomprehensibility .  why did they . . . but how come he . . . why are they . . .   after a while  you give up wondering why and watch it as what it is   a very entertaining piece of garbage .  br    br   an astronaut returns to earth in a melting  radioactive condition he escapes and  his mind disintegrating as well as his body  begins a mad melting killing spree . the authorities quickly decide that the melting man must be stopped  but  probably not wanting to  cause a panic   want him captured as quietly as possible . so they send one guy with a geiger counter after him . wow .  br    br   storywise  surprisingly little happens during the movie . the melting guy wanders around killing people . a doctor searches for him with a geiger counter . various characters are introduced  ask questions  and leave . eventually the doctor catches up with the melting man  but is shot by a security guard for no reason  after he explains that he  s  dr . ted nelson .  the melting man wanders off and finally dissolves into a big puddle of goo . the end .  br    br   it  s so brainless that it somehow ends up being a lot of fun  despite a fairly downbeat ending . supposedly  a widescreen dvd release is planned . a very special movie .  
michael williams  who works for bbc  finds a somehow impressive italian picture which gets mixed in the material of his ongoing task titled diabolical art a documentary . but since his wife  s mysterious death her daughter  emily  has been emotionally disturbed  so he goes spoleto  where the problematic picture is  with her and her nanny  jill . and there is a countess  who is also a psychic  and she informs him that the picture was somehow made at the night that a young witch named emilia was executed . michael doesn  t believe her story  but after that emily has hysterical spasm and jill is killed . . . this italian film is  of course  almost innocently influenced by the exorcist  but this one is much cheaper  much simpler  and in a sense  much dirtier . first of all  it should be said this film is full of confusion . for instance  the story shows emily is a reincarnation of emilia . but when emily sees her in the flashbacks  she perceives her exclusively from a third  person  s point of view . but if she is the reincarnation of emilia  she should and must see the past from nothing but emilia  s point of view . confusions of this kind  which the film has many  are almost exclusively based upon a problematic fact that the film is too cowardly  rather than ambivalent  to specify its own quasi  freudian theme  namely  pre  adolescent girl  s one  way incestuous wish . to make matters worse  this film also has characteristic problem  if not confusion   every character is too naive and helpless to be realistic and  or believable living human . regarding emily  or emilia   she is after all a child  and one can say it is difficult to blame her mainly for her naiveness and helplessness .  and according to the freudian theory  every girl wants to have her father  s child  ren  in her own way . in this sense  emily is not exclusively pathological only her way of excluding other women from her father  s love is problematically pathological . but  as i already mentioned  this film per se is too cowardly to be freudian .  the problem is that adult characters are as childish and naive and helpless as emily is . and because of this characteristic weakness even the psychic who can see almost everything cannot do anything down  to  earth  and because of the same weakness the very story of the film is ended in a badly escapist way . in addition  special effects of this film are incredibly cheap and laughable . although stelvio cipriani  s music is noteworthily beautiful  indeed this one is so good that it seems to be worth having it alone   the film as a whole is nothing but a cheap b  film which can disappoint even the     s   italian  horror  film  lovers .  
thanks to this fungal film i do not want my maypo  can  t stomach the thought of maltex or wheatena  and even that granola over there doesn  t look so innocent anymore  why wasn  t the song  slop time   by the sherrys  used as the theme   
i saw this movie  and at times  i was unnerved believing this movie  saw me .  munchie sullies the  farce  for years to come . re  watch star wars  don  t  watch munchie .  br    br   as a responsible parent  i  m speaking to those who are parents now   i  you  would not let my  your  child ever partake of this video festival of the pseudo  occult . to insinuate munchie is satanic  to a co  viewer  is likely to illicit a chilled  duh .  he is fiendish  alien  rodential  and wholly malevolent  like the bogey man made flesh  invisible to adults  tempting children with lifestyles they could never afford  without the income made possible by years of self denial and prudent stewardship  . he is a peddler of easy answers  and false ideals . he is everything the morally conscious viewer is not . he is the devil  s own ron popeil .  br    br   i pray  i mean this literally and figuratively  with an emphasis on the former  that this movie has not made the format jump to dvd . it is my hope that this type of  yellow film making  died an un  mourned death in the cold nights of     .  br    br   munchie also loves pizza . i forgot to mention that . it comes up a lot .  
as a collector of movie memorabilia  i had to buy the movie poster for this film which  now that i  ve finally seen it  has to be the best thing about it . there  s nothing more attractive to hang on your wall than a   x   inch image of the melting man . however  there  s nothing more awful to put in your vcr than an hour and a half long image of the melting man . at first i thought this movie was pure garbage but then i realized that it did have some qualities which made me laugh . the character of dr . ted nelson has to be the most wishy  washy persona ever brought to the big screen . his dialogue is so trite it  s unbelievable    it  s incredible  he seems to be getting stronger as he melts    br    br   and could somebody tell me please how the heck they know exactly how much time steve has left before he melts completely and exactly what their plan is to  help  him  if this movie was meant to scare its audience  i think it missed its calling .  
terrible story  poor acting and no humour at all  apart from the final joke at the end   br    br   some sort of ugly angel is sent to earth to save a boy and his mum from being thrown out of their home . supposed to be a kiddies movie  but even they will not be amused by this terrible film  
astronaut steve west  alex rebar  and his comrades undertake a space mission that sees them flying through the rings of saturn . his comrades are killed instantly  but it would seem that they are in fact the lucky ones . steve returns to earth a constantly oozing mass of humanoid pulp as he turns into a savage killer  melting every step of the way  he is tracked by his friend  dr . ted nelson  burr debenning  .  br    br   this is often so uproariously funny  with enough absurd lines and situations to go around  that it  s hard for me to believe that the laughs are all unintentional . it seems to me to be kind of a goof on low  budget genre efforts from the     s and    s  and as such  it  s a marvelously entertaining movie . that sequence with the nurse is simply hilarious . we  re even treated to a split screen sequence that doesn  t really add anything  but is still a gas to watch .  br    br   writer  director william sachs deserves credit for coming up with this ingenious idea his ultra  slimy character is a memorable one indeed . i think his pacing is a little off some scenes  like the one with the elderly couple  go on a little long  but ultimately he delivers solid  schlocky  b  movie goods with a degree of panache . the climax is especially fun .  br    br   arlon obers  music is enjoyably shuddery  yet also amusingly silly during some moments   and willy curtis  s cinematography creates some really great shots at times . that brings me to rick bakers  fantastic and convincing makeup effects  which form a highly respectable centerpiece for the movie  right down to the ultimate final melt .  br    br   rebar is under the heavy makeup for almost the entire movie  sachs also gets my praise for having the movie hit the ground running  and does what he has to do well enough . debenning makes for a rather oafish and silly hero  and ann sweeney isn  t so hot either as his wife  but myron healey  michael alldredge  and lisle wilson are fine in support . it  s also worth it to see folk like cheryl  rainbeaux  smith  doing an appreciable topless shot   janus blythe  of tobe hoopers   eaten alive  and wes cravens   the hills have eyes    and even director jonathan demme in a bit part .  br    br   this is a highly entertaining midnight movie with enough gore  chills  and laughs to rate it as worth catching for lovers of low  grade sci  fi  horror everywhere .  br    br        
i just don  t see how a concorde  new horizons film directed by jim wynorski and featuring the acting talents of andrew stevens and a puppet could be bad . it just boggles the mind  doesn  t it   br    br   well  let  s make no mistake about it .  munchie strikes back  is indeed a bad film . munchie is a puppet who has been around for many centuries . for reasons not fully explained until the end of the film  he is sent to earth to help a single mother and her son . the mom  s problem  her main problem at least  is that she has a balloon payment due on her mortgage in two weeks . . . to the not  so  tiny tune of        . ouch . she can  t come up with the money because she just got fired . ok . . . just is the key word in that sentence . what the . . .  was she planning on paying it off with a single paycheck  maybe it would  ve been a good idea to have spent the last several years saving up for it . . . ya think   br    br   munchie has magical powers similar to those a genie would possess . . . but there isn  t a limit on the number of wishes you can make  munchie gets the boy a bunch of fancy stuff for one night but then the kid asks for it to be sent back to the mall munchie was  borrowing  it from . the annoying furball also uses his otherworldly skills to help the boy win a baseball game by means of cheating . a baseball is hit so hard that it orbits the earth several times . sadly  those dumb parents watching the game don  t think it  s at all strange . hmm .  br    br   anyway  i  d like to wrap this up because this has already drained away enough of my lifeforce as it is . you  ll be truly moved by the scene where leslie  anne down  playing the mother  kicks a dog which is yapping at her . your heart will melt at her charm when she notices dollar bills fluttering down on her front yard and she wonders how it could be snowing during the summer .  munchie strikes back   s credits promised another film to follow entitled  i believe   munchie hangs ten  . to date  the movie viewing public has been robbed of what would surely have been a cinematic tour de force . heh .      
first off  anyone looking for meaningful  outcome oriented  cinema that packs some sort of social message with meaningful performances and soul searching dialog spoken by dedicated  emotive  heartfelt thespians  please leave now . you are wasting your time and life is short  go see the new brangelina jolie movie  have a good cry  go out  buy a hybrid car or throw away your conflict diamonds if that will make you feel better  and leave us alone .  br    br   don  t let the door hit you on the way out either . the incredible melting man is a grade b minus regional horror epic shot in the wastelands of oklahoma by a young  tv friendly cast  crew  and concerns itself with an astronaut who is exposed to bizarre radiation effects  wakes up in a hospital  and finds that his body is liquefying on him as he sits there feeling like a chump . the melting man is played by one alex rebar  who is recognizable for about the first four minutes of the film . but once he starts oozin  with rick baker  s extraordinary special effects makeup he more resembles something you might find in a tin of spam before you drain off all the runny  viscous blebs of grease .  br    br   the film has zero exposition and does not bandy about with plot points there are a couple of scenes involving scientist types riding around on an absurd industrial conveyor machine who dutifully recite a few obligatory lines about the effects of radiation but the movie does not care  really . it  s a freak show and a marvelous one at that with a decidedly sick sense of humor for those who can stomach it   one great laugh comes when the melting man stumbles upon a young girl in the forest and is so at a loss for what to do that one of his eyes pops out . hilarious .  br    br   the  hero  of the film is played by burr debenning  a fascinating character actor from the golden     s    s television scene who was sort of an early model for the kevin spacey prototype slightly twisted  neurotic  and one step ahead of most everyone in the room even if he looks confused . he appeared just after this movie was made in a bizarre made for tv anthology horror piece called house of the dead  or the alien zone  that is regarded as one of the finest movies ever made in oklahoma  which is where i suspect this film was made as well . the arid  cold looking rural midwestern landscapes are certainly the same  and the creek that one unfortunate fly fisher chooses for his afternoon of sport appears to be the same one that cameron mitchell fought off flying alien pancakes in without warning . . . which also had a sick sense of humor  a tv friendly cast  and some pretty outrageous gore . i definitely sense at least an aesthetic connection between the three movies  as well as the silence of the lambs which is of no surprise considering that director jonathan demme is a part of melting man  s cast .  br    br   essentially  as others have pointed out  this is a     s b movie plot updated for later     s era special effects  the inevitable boobs . the movie it probably borrows most of it  s ideas from is phantom from space with peter graves as an astronaut who also returns to earth after being exposed to funky radiation effects that set him off on a killing spree . one of the things that i actually admire about the film is that absolutely no regard is given for the melting man  s motivations he simply goes on a rampage and the movie  s drama comes from wondering if he  s going to fall to pieces before certain characters fall victim to his madness . the budget for the film is also delightfully low and every dime spent on it is up there on the screen  rick baker  s disgusting effects getting the lion  s share of whatever was spent on this .  br    br   sick  disgusting fun best enjoyed with a crowd of friends and plenty of beer . why can  t people have made more movies like these   br    br        
i think that it was just pointless to produce a second part of a movie like  my girl  .  my girl  was a very good movie but it is ridiculous making a second part of a movie in which one of the main characters  macaulay culkin as thomas j .  dies . the story was over after the first movie . i wonder why someone tried to find a way to make the story going on . that was senseless   
  the incredible melting man  is a fantastically gross  trashy and energetic z  grade production that every self  respecting camp  horror freak simply has to see for him  herself  the ideal way to describe this low  budget    s gem is like a shameless copy of hammer  s  the quatermass xperiment  . . . only a thousand times filthier  astronaust steve west is the only survivor of a disastrous space  mission  but turns out the carrier of a horrible disease that makes him radioactive and . . . causes him to melt  in shock after seeing his face in the mirror  can you blame him    steve busts out of the hospital  leaving a trail of sticky pus and fallen off body parts behind . doctor ted nelson has to find him urgently  as the disease also set steve up with an insatiable appetite for human flesh . the premise may sound utterly stupid but this flick is enormously entertaining and contains great make  up effects from the hand of rick baker . the melting dude  s face looks like a rotting pizza and his heavy breathing makes him sound like darth vader  another big advantage is that william sachs  screenplay doesn  t waste any time on tedious scientific explanations or emotional speeches . the repulsiveness starts right away and lasts until the very last moment of the film . just enjoy this silly horror gem and try to switch off your brain activity as much as you can because  if you start contemplating about the many stupidities in the script  you  ll miss out on all the campy fun   
if you want to know what kind of music white people listened to in      this is the movie for you . but you  ll have to listen to a lot of flutes and violins  too  see my remarks on my girl  for the reference  .  br    br   indulgent admission i approached my girl  with cynicism and annoyance  having just viewed its predecessor . but as an adoptee preparing to finally set upon a search for my birthmother  my girl  made me look  with its theme of searching for mother .  br    br   put another way  anything i liked about my girl  had nothing whatsoever to do with my girl   but relating to a protagonist who asks  like so many adoptees   who  s my mama   and if there are home movies of my mom in an acting troupe  i  ll be sure to make my own movie about it .  br    br   people are listless . movies should not be listless . my girl   like my girl   is just . . . listless .  br    br   avoid unless you  re a complete sap who  s comforted by a series of small annoyances .  
i saw this movie in     when i was   years old at a drive  in theater with my family .  br    br   way back then  i thought it was very funny . . . even though i was too young to understand    of what makes this marvelous movie such a delight  i saw it again this morning on  turner south  . as i watched it  i was absolutely convulsed with laughter   the mating game  is a unique classic from a by  gone age . if you  re too young to have experienced the enchanting period in history that produced this film  i feel very sorry for you . there  s no way you can watch movies like this and understand how they can  even today  deliver such a delightful slice of heaven to  old timers  like me .  br    br   having said that  all i can do is respectfully request that younger people refrain from commenting on films like  the mating game  .  br    br   movies like this were made for the generation that preceded the current group of your people . and as such  these films speak a very different language than any of you can understand .  br    br   in other words  if you don  t understand the issues the film is addressing  please don  t embarrass yourself by offering comments which  frankly  make no sense .  
quite simply this shouldn  t have been made . it  s predictable and clichd . the on screen chemistry which made the first  my girl  so captivating is nowhere to be found here  and the acting as a whole is stilted and forced . the writing also leaves much to be desired  some of the  memorable  lines such as  earpeircing a barbaric custom  are just shocking . where  my girl  provoked a genuine feelings of sadness and some genuinely funny moments  like so many sequels  my girl   tries to recreate these emotions generated by the audience  and fails miserably . maybe i  m being hard on this film because of how great the first one was  but quite honestly it insults the quality of the original with the sort of drivel this installment serves up . surely this has to come close to  son of the mask  as being one of the worst sequels of all time . in both cases  the old saying rings true  if it ain  t broke  don  t fix it  .  
mating game is a charming  wonderful movie from an era gone by . hollywood needs to consider a charming remake of this movie . my wife and i would go see it .  br    br   it is an excellent romantic comedy that my wife and i watched on amc .  br    br   this movie has tony randall at his best . debbie reynolds is great  as always .  br    br   loved it . we plan on ordering on dvd to add to our growing collection of movies .  br    br   too bad hollywood does not make movies like this anymore .  br    br   hey hollywood . . . . time to dig some of these type of scripts out of the old safe  update them a bit  without spoiling the original movie and script as you have done with other remakes   and hold a casting call .  br    br   a remake would be a big hit on the silver screen  dvd  and on cable  sattv .  br    br   sn austin  tx  
original claymation rudolph pretty good . original frosty cartoon needs a little work  but could be worse . but frosty and rudolph together on the fourth of july  c  mon  give me a break    this was one movie that shouldn  t have been made . it was bad . it didn  t really go for any holiday in particular  except july  . that made it especially bad since frosty and rudolph are usually associated with the christmas season . and any movie can be ruined by too much singing . the frequent songs made this movie seem a lot longer than it really was . the movie tried mixing two familiar chirstmastime characters with an american traditional holiday  which almost seems to  limit  it to america   too many pointless songs  and a lousy plotline . the result  a bad movie that can  t really be watched at any time of year . i would suggest you forgo this movie even if you like frosty and rudolph .  
i have always liked this comedy as one of the few ever seriously trying to deal with the u . s . government  s yearly demand for taxes . ever read a tax code   it is quite a trial to follow it  s multiple clauses that our congressmen and senators push in to help their financial backers and various interest groups . despite claims that it is fair  the tax code has always laid the lion share of the burden on the middle and working classes rather than the rich and influential . most of the various special clauses are meant for their use  go through the average     or     a form and look at the variety of different investment and business ventures all of which have a different set of rules . most people will never have any use for these .  br    br   the story here is that a wealthy landowner  philip ober  uses his influence to tip off the irs that his neighbors  paul douglas and una merkle  have not payed taxes in   years . the baltimore office of the irs is under fred clarke  and he is snapping to attention for ober with his influence . he sends tony randall to check out the situation .  br    br   randall finds that douglas  merkle  and their three girls and two boys are pretty decent people  who rarely have need for cash  they get along on their farm produce and barter with their neighbors  . but randall  trained in the clear  to the irs  lines of the tax code tries to pin down the family to fundamentals . but gradually douglas notes that reynolds is fond of randall  and he keeps sidetracking randall from his chore  eventually getting him drunk . he also makes it difficult for randall to leave by having the motor of his car removed  for repairs  by his two sons .  br    br   the plot follows the growing attraction and frictions between urban  vaguely ambitious randall  and countryside  life loving reynolds . they make a cute couple actually . eventually  after ober complains  randall is sent back in disgrace and clarke  a tougher cookie  gets down to brass tacks . and comes up with a very large tax bill  that will possibly ruin douglas  s family .  br    br   the film does not end there  it does end happily  but it does remind us that the power to tax is the power to destroy  and that the government does  all too frequently  go in for destruction . a chance in a million reversal saves the family  but it is so rare that we know it is just a dramatic trick . more realistic is how clarke  s boss   charles lane  cuts to the essence regarding ober  s  help  by suggesting that next year his taxes will be looked at more carefully . after that ober is rather green .  
a concept with potential  and it was fun to see these two holiday icons together  but . . .  br    br   rudolph  s glowing nose didn  t require the  explanation  offered in this film  much like the force in the star wars films didn  t need the explanation of  medichlorians in the bloodstream .  but mainly  the film left me cold because of winterbolt  s over  complicated plot to destroy santa . he  s got the power to put suggestions into people  s minds  so why does he do things in such a roundabout way  breaking the magic of rudolph  s nose  framing rudolph  threatening to melt the frosty family . . . the comedically exaggerated plots of pinky and the brain and  phineas and ferb  s  dr . doofenshmirtz  which are done that way on purpose and played for laughs  seem simple and straightforward compared to winterbolt  s  which we  re expected to take somewhat seriously .  br    br   there is a particularly  and amusingly  strange moment when a character throws her two guns at the bad guy  like boomerangs . i understand if they don  t want to have guns being shot in a family film  but then why have guns in the first place   
excellent farce  which  of course  is all it is intended to be . thankfully there is neither a social or political message  nor is there the slightest attempt in that direction . could the plot actually take  or have taken place in any particular time or location  unlikely  for  after all  this is simply  merely  a movie  and movies spring from imagination  not from reality . the only goal of this movie is to entertain  certainly not to educate  and entertain it does  with reality delightfully and lightheartedly tossed to the winds . i think most would agree that from documentaries we expect enlightenment and authenticity . but for entertainment i want what is nowadays described as a  no  brainer   which the mating game is in all respects . for a few chuckles and an outright laugh now and then  this is fine fare fantasy .  
ever since i was eight years old i have been a big wrestling fan . it didn  t matter what federation i watched . wwe  wcw  uswa . to me the action is all i watched it for .  br    br   may   rd     . that was my   birthday . i ordered over the edge and i was just expecting another pay per view . but this time . i was wrong . instead that was the night one of the best wrestlers to come out of canada a true human being fell to his death due to a stunt gone wrong . not much you can do to change the situation . but what happened affter owens death made me very mad .  br    br   rather then ending the pay per view and doing the right thing as human beings the wwe decided to protect what comes first and that was the money by keeping the pay per view going as if owens death never happened .  br    br   i gotta tell you . vince mchmaon has made some stupid decisions in his life but this was by far the stupidest decision he ever made .  br    br   and this crap with saying owen would have wanted the pay pew view to keep going . give me a break . when someone dies on a pay pew view its comon sense to stop it . thats like a police officer shooting a robber or a mugger with a run and then just leaving the man to die so he can go home and call it a day as if the mans life never mattered .  br    br   but no matter what happens . owen will be missed and thanks for the memories for all the times you gave us .  
about a year and a half ago my dad told me about the french doors . i thought it sounded interesting enough but i didn  t try to find it anywhere . then about a year ago i remembered that film and thought  hey why not  and tried finding it on the internet . eventually after about a week of looking i found it on atom films . i called my dad over to the computer and said to him  hey dad i  ve found that creepy film you told me about ages ago   he smiled at me  turned round turned off the lights so it was pitch black apart from the computer screen and told me to watch it . i started off fine . . . then when he started getting worried about whatever was there i found it very unnerving . at the end i pushed back my chair and stood up . . . it made me jump  p if you haven  t seen this film i highly recommend you do because it is well worth it . even after the fourth or fifth time its still unsettling .  br    br   great film   
what a weekend . two days ago i watched the first half of  war games   dead code   now  while she was out  . i am trying to come to a decision which one was worse in terms of pain in my mind while watching . i guess   while she was out  was worse .  br    br   it has all been said before in other comments unrealistic  illogical etc .  the only thing i really have to add is that at some point i started feeling more for the evil guys than for the woman because i would have recommended her for a darwin award if she actually died  only watched first half  so i don  t know  . soon i was at two darwin awards  if that  s even possible  for her immense stupidity .  br    br   and  hey produced by kim basinger  so she did not only know the script but was also responsible for bringing this waste of money to us  the people  i consider humans who waste considerable amounts of money to be evil because the money could have used to feed and clothe quite a few people instead of hurting   percent of those who saw it in the cinema and giving   percent  which are idiots  a good opportunity to show just how much of an idiot they are .  
if you are the sort of person looking for a realistic film or one with a strong and believable plot  then this film is not for you . nope   you  ll hate it . however  for those who like sweet  slightly screwball comedies  then you  ll have a nice time watching this slight film .  br    br   tony randall works for the irs and he investigates a very nice farmer who never realized he needed to file an income tax return . however hard he tries to convince them of the seriousness of his visit  everyone in the family is thrilled to have company . they dote on him and treat him like one of the family  . . . and have plans on getting him hitched to their daughter  debbie reynolds . that  s really about all the plot there is . but the film gets high marks for a fun script and decent acting . a really nice little curio from the late     s .  
not to long after jeff jarrett left the wwf for good he spoke of that night . owen hart and him where good friends and both  nd generation wrestlers . jeff first remarks  i was literally pushed thru the curtain as my lifeless friends body was wheeled past me  . debra mcmichael  steve austin  s ex wife as well as steve mondo mcmichael ex wife  .   br    br   as owen hart fell  a video promo the ring was darkened  as a blue blazer  owen hart promo was played . the fall and video of owen in the ring was never showed on tv . there are a few news photos that got posted . when they came back from the video promo jim ross was talking over a all we had was a crowd shot  .  he stated that owen hart as the blue blazer has fallen and doesn  t look good . lawler then came back from the ring his face was ashen he told jim that the situation was very critical paramedics where working hard to revive him . rock and hhh where going there match in a private room when another referee came in and told them owen fell at first  knowing owen harts constantly being a prankster they thought it wasn  t real . but both later stated that the look of the referee face said it all . in fact as he fell  as mentioned in other post  he yelled for the referee and ring announcer to move .  br    br   brother bret hart was a plane heading to la to do a angle on the tonight show  he couldn  t get any of the plane phones to work  one of the captains got a message to call home something had happened . when he landed in la eric bishoff was there told him what had happened  and put him on a charter flight to kansas city to the morgue  bret even later with owens widow martha went up to the top of the arena where owen was standing . police found no foul play formerly closed as a accident .  br    br   most of the information in bret harts book as well as the book by martha hart   
many critics have felt offended that r . w . fassbinder has portrayed both protagonist wilkie and the nazis in this movie in a human  like manner . connoisseurs of other fassbinder films  however  will realize that  lili marleen        belongs to fassbinder  s  women movies  like  the marriage of maria braun        and  lola        . fassbinder was convinced that  stories can be told much better with women than with men   because  according to fassbinder  while men usually fulfill their determined roles in society   women are capable of thinking in a dialectic manner  . dialectics  however  means that there is not only a thesis and its antithesis like usually in our black  and  white world  but a synthesis where the oppositions coincide . moreover  dialectic means that because of the third instance of synthesis the absolute opposition of the difference between thesis and antithesis is abolished . concretely speaking starting from a dialect point of view and portraying the fascist state  the underground fighters must necessarily use the basic means like the rulers do  and between offenders and victims there is thus a chiastic relation  so that every offender is also victim and every victim is also offender . fassbinder has illustrated this abstract scheme  that transcends classical logic  in his play  the city  the garbage and the death        which was filmed by daniel schmid under the title  shadow of angels        .  br    br   therefore  approaching an a priori controversial topic like nazi germany  in a dialectic manner  the depiction of this time in the form of a movie gets even more controversial  especially for people who cannot or do not want to see that our recognition of the world is by far not exhausted with a primitive light  switch schema  but needs the third instance of synthesis as controlling instance of its opposite members thesis and antithesis . the mutual relationship between offenders and victims has to scrutinized  since it is simply not true that the offenders are the bad ones and the victims the good ones . in a synthetic viewpoint  the bad ones participate on the goodness as the good ones participate on the badness . they are mutually related . in a world  view based on classical logic  a relation between good and bad cannot even been established  and in an ethics based on this insufficient system of logic  the bad conscience of the survivors of nazi germany  feeling  illogically enough  responsible for the deeds of their ancestors  exclude the possibility of a relationship between the two extremes and thus a synthesis in the form a new evaluation based on this relationship as well . from fassbinder  s dialectic viewpoint  it follows that neither lili marleen nor lola nor maria braun can be condemned for their  misuse  of the ruling system for their private purposes  because they don  t misuse them  they just use them . in the opposite  since victims must repeat the actions of the offenders as the offenders must repeat the actions of the victims  because  good  and  bad  are no longer simple mirror images of one another like in two  valued logic  their strategies are legitimated by the chiastic structure of a logic that describes our world  that is not black and white at all  much better than a black  and  white logic .  
this is one of the few episodes  if not the only one  with an indisputable error in its storytelling . while handling the ralphie situation christopher states that he has heard about pie  o  my  s death in the fire accident . this is an important detail because in this context it is quite obvious that christopher knows from the beginning that tony is the one who must have killed ralphie . there is however no way chris could have heard about the accident . who should have told him and when  by the time he is torn out of his delirium by tony  s call nobody else was informed . tony knows that  which makes it even worse  hearing christopher talk about pie  o  my  s death could therefore only lead tony to the conclusion that chris himself has set the fire . given the impressively elaborate writing process as told by the writers themselves on the dvd i really wonder none of them realized the problem there . the story just doesn  t work that way . unnecessary to add that i  m a huge fan of the sopranos . otherwise  i certainly wouldn  t care .  
i consider this movie a masterpiece  but it took me at least  o  times to see it  so as to realize what a great movie it was . first  it describes a face of ww  that we don  t usually see in hollywood movies . in particular  german soldiers  army and the nazi government are shown more  humanized  . one of the facts that impressed me most was the mention  by the end of the movie  of a murder that took place in a forest in the last    s . . . that forest is the place where the final chapters of berlin alexanderplatz take place those are the woods where reinhold kills mieze . another clue for those who like the details  is the representation of doors . fassbinder is obsessed with the changes in people each time they walk across a door  or a door is opened . many doors are shown in the screen  opened and closed . and the characters change in their personality  their acts  etc any time that happens . have you noticed that   
i expected a bad movie  and got a bad movie . but i couldn  t really imagine in my worst fantasy how bad this movie was . i don  t even want to try to explain what blood surf is about . is not about blood surfing  but a big a crocodile . they are complaining about the fake shark in jaws  but spielberg was wise and didn  t show the shark until the end . here the crocodile is shown a lot of times  and it  s the worst fake crocodile i have ever seen  and they don  t try to hide it . if you want to see a good fake crocodile watch lake placid .  br    br   the director had an opportunity to make a decent surf  shark movie  but he had to make a bad b  monster movie . he had the chance to make an original surf movie  but he wanted to make a monster movie . so you have understand how bad this movie is  does it have some good parts  not really  it got some nudity  and a sex scene that is taken straight out of a playboy movie . the acting isn  t half bad either  and kate fischer looks good . too bad she doesn  t take her top off . the lead actors aren  t bad either . they had some potential . the location was beautiful and the movie start good with some nice surf scenes . the blame is on the untalented writer and director . the dialogue is some of the worst i have ever seen  and the script is really badly written  and the director got no talent what so ever  and not much of a fantasy either .  br    br   don  t watch it . even if you want to watch the beautiful kate fischer . it isn  t worth it . watch sirens to watch kate nude  and watch lake placid if you want some good crocodile action .  br    br       because i  m in a good mood  and maureen larrazabal looks good naked  and kate looks good  but is bad actress   and dex miller  joel west and matt borlenghi did a good job with the piece of sht they had to work with .  
kate beckinsale is as good if not better than gwyneth paltrow as emma in this movie  although i really liked gwyneth paltrow in the other emma version . they  re both good in different ways . kate beckinsale as emma seems more interesting  almost  though . and i liked the woman who played harriet smith in this movie better  too . . . she was more believably sweet and sentimental . there are certain things i like better about the gwyneth paltrow version  though  like how the humorous side is more apparent .  
blood surf aka krocodylus is a fair film that has an okay cast which includes dax miller  taryn reif  kate fischer  duncan regehr  joel west  matt borlenghi  maureen larrazabal  cris vertido  susan africa  archie adamos  rolando santo domingo  and malecio amayao . the acting by the actors is fairly good . the thrills are fairly good and some of it is surprising . the movie is filmed fairly good as well . same thing goes for the music the film is fairly interesting and the movie does keeps you going until the end . this is a fairly thrilling film . if you the the cast in the film  monsters  giant animal films  horror  thrillers  mystery  and interesting films then i recommend you to see this film today   
as winter approaches  our state  owned broadcaster  the abc  has decided for some reason to have a partial jane austen festival on sunday nights . this commenced with a twelve  year old movie length version of  emma  last sunday more recent versions of three other novels   persuasion    northanger abbey  and  mansfield park  are to come .  br    br   the curious thing about this production by ae television networks  with script by the ever  reliable andrew davies  is that it appeared almost simultaneously with two much bigger budget movie versions  one starring gwyneth paltrow  and  clueless   a  modernized  version  starring alicia silverstone  which transported the plot to beverly hills . perhaps as a result  even with kate beckinsale in the lead  this production sank without trace .  br    br   as a general rule  much is lost when novels are shrunk to fit feature movie length . the adaptations one tends to both enjoy and remember are those which have adequate room to develop both story and characters . an outstanding example is  brideshead revisited  which had      minute episodes back in     . you only have to compare the very ordinary movie  length version of  pride and prejudice  in     with the brilliant     six  part tv mini  series . it  s not that a novel should be filmed page by page  and some novels  often not very good ones  adapt wonderfully to film   atonement  is a recent example   but novels of the jane austen sort need some time and space to exert their full charm .  br    br   given the shortcomings of this type of adaptation  this production is ok . kate beckinsale gives emma the right mix of self  assuredness and vulnerability and mark strong is a forthright mr knightly  he reminded me that jane tended to recycle characters  knightly is a more articulate version of the moody mr darcy of pp  . samantha morton was a rather limp harriet but prunella scales got the blabbermouth miss bates perfectly  sybil fawlty on speed . bernard hepton as emma  s feeble father was also excellent . we saw the damp countryside  the mud and the poverty as well as the posh interiors  in case anyone thought this was a particularly idyllic age for everybody .  br    br   even though this was a condensed adaptation it was oddly slow in places  some of the conversations were rather stilted  even allowing for the formalities of the times . i  d have to look at the film again to be sure  but it might be due to the under  use of reaction shots .  br    br   if you do like filmed period stuff this is a perfectly nice example  and compares well with the paltrow version . anyway  there is more to come   
this film is awful . the cgi is the very cheap gray blob cgi . the crocodile looks like a large gray smudge . the worst is that no effort at all is given to making it walk or look like it is alive . it is mostly a photo  shopped cgi that is placed into scenes and you almost expect to see the hand that is moving the cgi smudge across the screen . this is one of the worst examples of cgi effects that i have ever witnessed  and i have seen lots of the very bad sci  fi channel movies .  br    br   aside from the terrible lack of special effects  the cast is composed of the typical low  cost actors who probably work as waiters  waitresses at local diners while they wait for their big breaks . perhaps the most ridiculous scene in this movie is when one of the bad guys is attempting to sexually assault kate and the giant crocodile jumps straight up out of the water to the second floor of the villains headquarters and through the balcony and pulls the bad guy off kate and instead of crashing straight down through the building  and crushing kate  the croc just flies backwards at the same angle into the water . no laws of physics can apply to this movie or the special effects . at least there is honor among crocodiles .  
this is the best emma in existence in my opinion . having seen the other version       which is also good  and read the book  i think i can safely say with confidence that this is the true interpretation and is the most faithful to jane austen  s masterpiece . the     movie with g . paltrow is good too  it  s just that it  s almost like a different story altogether . it  s very light and fluffy  you don  t see the darker edges of the characters and if you just want a pleasant movie  that one would do fine but the intricacies of some of the plot points  such as the churchill  fairfax entanglement is so much glossed over as to be virtually non  existent . but if you want the characters fleshed out a bit  more real and multidimensional  the     tv version is the superior . emma is a remarkable person  but she is flawed . kate beckinsale is masterful at showing the little quirks of the character . you see her look casually disgusted at some of the more simple conversation of harriet smith  yet she shows no remorse for having ruined harriet  s proposal until that action has the effect of ruining her own marital happiness at the ending . you see her narcissism and it mirrors frank churchill  s in that they would do harm to others to achieve their own aims . for emma  it was playing matchmaker and having a new friend to while away the time with after having suffered the loss of her governess to marriage . for frank churchill  it is securing the promise of the woman he loves while treating her and others abominably to keep the secret . in the book  she realizes all of this in a crushing awakening to all the blunders she has made . both kate beckinsale and gyneth paltrow are convincing in their remorse but paltrow  s is more childlike and stagnant while beckinsale  s awakening is rather real and serious and you see the transition from child  like  selfish behavior to kind and thoughtful adult . both versions are very good but i prefer this one .  
why  o  why  . . . did i pick this one up  well . . . i needed a no  brainer in the summer heat  and the cover looked cool .  br    br   of course i should  ve known better . this is a really  really bad movie . and it gets embarasing when the makers know it  s bad  and try cover it up by adding some sexy  beautiful women  and some sex  scenes to it . well  folks . . . it does  nt cut it  does it   br    br   if you would like a cool movie about a big reptile that is actually very  very good  well  played and funny go rent lake placid   that is an order   
the minute i started watching this i realised that i was watching a quality production so i was not surprised to find that the screenplay was written by andrew davis and was produced by sue birtwhistle both of these brought us the excellent     production of pride and prejudice  so my only gripe here is that emma did not run to  or  or maybe even six episodes like pride and prejudice . the acting was superb with i think prunella scales excellent as miss bates but i loved kate beckinsale and mark strong just as much . the language is a delight to listen to  can you imagine in this day and age having a right go at someone without actually uttering a swear word  samantha morton was excellent as miss smith in fact the casting was spot on much as it was with pride and prejudice . i liked it so much that i watched it twice in two days   so once again thank you bbc for another quality piece of television . i have seen the paltrow version and it is okay but i do think the bbc version is far superior . an excellent production that i am very happy to own on dvd     
spoilers spoilers if one were to review the film based on the premise alone  one might think that you were looking at an average animal orientated horror flick . the plot is as follows . a group of documentary filmmakers head off to an island in order to film a documentary about surfing with sharks or blood surfing .  i live in south africa so it was released as  blood surf .   admittedly  this seems to have a somewhat interesting idea behind it which  if it were explored further  could have improved the movie somewhat . however  this is not the case as the blood surfing part of the movie is minimal due to the fact that their documentary is interrupted by a rather large salt  water crocodile .  br    br   the script is absolutely terrible . a good example of this is whenever someone gets eaten by the crocodile which is a frequent occurrence in this film  no one seems to give a damn . the most anyone person did in the film was to merely toast the victim in a scene which was meant to be poignant but just ended up being laughable due to the fact that the dialogue in this film was of a highly dubious nature . another thing that really irritates about this film is the fact that they introduce characters who are totally superfluous to the film itself . they introduce a bunch of pirates who can only be seen to be adding another   minutes to a mercifully short film .  br    br   the acting can be said to be mediocre . it probably would have been a lot more impressive if they did not have such a terrible script to work from . all in all there isn  t one person who made a terrible impact on me . every single person seemed to be a watered  down caricature and in this way  not one of these actors made any sort of impact on me .  br    br   the crocodile itself is said to be huge  over   feet exactly and this sense of size is well portrayed by the obvious fake of a crocodile that they have provided for us in the film . the crocodile  s death at the end of the film is so ridiculously fake and contrived that it makes one  s stomach turn . with a huge cry of bravado  the hero of the film announces that he has a plan which turns out be falling down a hill and getting the crocodile to impale himself on a luckily  placed spike at the bottom of this said hill .  br    br   all in all  i would say that this film is one which has to be seen for you to believe how bad it could be . what probably seemed like a good idea at the time suffered from a terrible script and an overwhelming sense of low  budgetness which all served to create a truly awful movie .  
i really loved this version of emma the best . kate beckinsale was awesome as emma and mark strong was very good as knightly . the only complaint that i had was on mr . woodhouse . . i can  t believe that a man could whine so much or be so selfish with his daughter  s life . . she was a smart girl in the end though . as always  i love the places in which these jane austin movies were shot . the settings are so spectular . it makes me want to visit england so much  as well as ireland and scotland  i think the actors chosen for this movie were a good choice as well and all the other story lines interwhined with emma  s most excellently  i am glad that i got to see this one as well .  
this film is really terrible . terrible as in it is a waste of   minutes of your life . special effects are so terrible . the acting wasn  t convincing .  br    br   its about a crocodile that attack a view tourists as they are filming a documentary about  blood surfing  . blood surfing is when they surf around sharks but it turns terrible wrong when a   foot crocodile interrupts there holiday . the sharks don  t look real . the crocodile is even worse  and it gets even more pathetic when they are running away form the creature  but the crocodile gets stuck and  females flash it . the deaths are fake and the pirates are just to fill in time .  br    br   a pointless  terrible film thats not worth seeing    
until the     s there had never been a film based upon jane austen  s  emma  . then two came along in the same year      . or  if you count      s  clueless   which updates austen  s plot to a modern american high school  three in two years .  br    br   the main character is emma woodhouse  a young lady from a well  to  do family in regency england . she is  financially  considerably better off than most austen heroines such as elizabeth bennett or fanny price  and has no need to find herself a wealthy husband . instead  her main preoccupation seems to be finding husbands for her friends . she persuades her friend harriet to turn down a proposal of marriage from a young farmer  robert martin  believing that harriet should be setting her sights on the ambitious clergyman mr elton . this scheme goes disastrously wrong  however  as elton has no interest in harriet  but has fallen in love with emma herself . the speed with which emma rejects his proposal makes one wonder just why she was so keen to match her friend with a man she regards  with good reason  as an unsuitable marriage partner for herself . this being a jane austen plot  emma turns out to be less of a committed spinster than she seems  and she too finds herself falling in love  leading to further complications .  br    br   today in     kate beckinsale is a hollywood star  but in      despite being only a year younger  was not nearly as well  known internationally as gwyneth paltrow . she is  however  just as convincing as austen  s well  intentioned but often wrong  headed heroine . beckinsale seems to have a gift for classical roles  she made a delightful hero in kenneth branagh  s version of  much ado about nothing   and i sometimes find myself wishing that hollywood could have found more suitable roles for her rather than wasting her in turkeys like  pearl harbor  or  underworld  .  br    br   i preferred jeremy northam to mark strong as emma  s love interest mr knightley  largely because he came closer to my own conception of the character as a gentlemanly  chivalrous older man  in some ways more of a father  figure to emma than a lover .  his surname is probably meant to indicate his gentlemanly nature  nineteenth  century gentlemen liked to think of themselves as the modern equivalent of mediaeval knights with their elaborate codes of chivalry  . strong tends to downplay the question of the age difference  he is    she    and makes knightley more of a passionate lover and less of a wise mentor than does northam . samantha morton  another actress who would go on to bigger things  is perhaps closer to the harriet of the novel than was toni collette .  br    br   this was the more small  scale of the two versions  being made for television rather than the cinema  and the sets and costumes seem less lavish and there are fewer big names among the cast . costume drama  however  is generally something that british television does well  and this version can certainly hold its own with the cinema version both are entertaining and well  made versions of austen  s novel .      
the only real highlight in the movie is the death of the sniveling guy and the reaction of the surviving characters to it .  br    br   in every other way  this film is a very lame rip  off of jaws  lake placid  and alligator  with a little bit of godzilla       thrown in .  br    br   as is standard for a      s  style horror movie  the two non  starring females each take their clothes off at least once . the female lead doesn  t  since she obviously has a better agent .  br    br   the whole movie surrounds the filming of a really dumb extreme sport called blood surfing  in which surfers cut themselves and surf in shark  infested waters . in this film  a giant salt  water crocodile also happens to be in the area . people get eaten . the movie ends .  br    br   i don  t mind a bad horror movie  but i really hate a dull bad horror movie  which this definitely is .  
old jane  s mannered tale seems very popular these days . i have lost count of the number of versions going around . probably the reason is that her  ruts  are our  ruts  even at this late date . this tv mini  series gives it a mannered telling suitable to the novel . headstrong  opinionated emma is a pretty  modern  girl when you think about it  even though the ambience of jane austen  s world may seem a tad artificial to us today . if you haven  t seem emma  i  ll only say that self  sufficient emma does get her comeuppance . it  s worth watching to find out how . the acting honours here go to the ladies kate  prunella  lucy and samantha . they could almost have had a psychic connection to old jane   
you  know  i can take the blood and the sex  but that thong bikini shot pretty much did me in . someone get that girl some pasta before it  s too late   br    br   and you know  it  s just not a good idea for a schlock movie to start off by mentioning the much better movie it  s ripping off .  br    br   i gave this one a   just because it  s marginally better than tobe hooper  s crocodile .  
this schiffer guy is a real genius  the movie is of excellent quality and both entertaining and educating .  br    br   i didn  t know what a weather girl was before i learned it here .  
who in their right mind does anything so stupid as this movie   br    br   accidental killing of a security guard . . . characters that are so two dimensional that a two year old could have painted drawn them . . . and better . . .  br    br   a red toolbox of death  please . . . .  br    br   hypothermic weak thugs . . .  br    br   acting from hell . . .  br    br   stylistically this movie shifts between teen comedy  thriller  voyeurism and . . . female . . .  uhm  rambo   br    br   unbelievable and it  s an insult to any thinking person . do not watch  walk away it  s more horrible than you may imagine . . .  br    br   and on top of it all it  s trying to be hip by being overly graphic in it  s violence . . .  br    br   mrs montford shoot  em up was fun and funny  this is just pathetic and terrible . good luck next time .     
kate beckinsale steals the show  bravo  too bad knightly ins  t as good looking as jeremy northam . mark strong did a fabulous job . bernard hepton was perfect as emmas father . i love the end scene  which is an addition to the novel  but well written  when the harvest is in and knightly dines with his workers and high society friends . emma must show that she accepts this now . she is a changed woman . that is too much too quick  but ok . i  ll buy into it . samantha bond plays emma  s ex  governess and confidant . she is wonderful . just as i would have imagined her . i believe that when the uk does a jane austen its the best . american versions of english literature are done for money and not for quality . see this one   
upon viewing tobe hooper  s gem  crocodile  in      i developed a great interest in the college  crocodile niche of the exploitation  monster genre . i look forward to a wayward producer to follow up with several sequels to these delightful bonbons of camp goodness . if only ed wood could bring his subtle sense of flair and dignity to these remarkable scripts . with ed writing the scripts  and a room full of monkees creating crocodile special effects on a computer  all we  d need would be a cast of crocky fodder with russ meyer breasts and ren hoek pectoral implants .  br    br   while tobe hooper  s crocky opus referenced his own movies  blood surf chose to dish out a bunch of aging themes from the chum bucket of other movies . see if you can look past the revenge of the nerds sequel sets to find the allusions  homages   rip  offs to jaws  temple of doom  indiana jones  last crusade  the convent  godzilla      and any james bond movie . also  try to find the ready  for  tv fade where the editor gave up on making sense of the stock .  br    br   i was disappointed the crock didn  t get to try out its sotto voce tenor with a soliloquy on environmentalism . . . or crocky appreciation  but the quasi  captain ahab of the story does get his tour de force speach . perhaps  in the coming years  we  ll see a crock galloping off after a shootout into a golden sunset . or hopefully  a monkey will flush a crocky down the toilet of an international space station for midgets and enjoy the exploitative waltz of zero  g monkey  midget  crocodile bloodshed .  br    br   all  in  all  the lack of a whammy bar in the surf music irked me .  
it has taken me a while to watch this version as unfortunately i don  t seem to be able to rent it in the video store  only the other version but i fell in love with it . i was always borderline with the other emma . gwenneth and toni collette  as they are not british naturally have to put on the accent  and well to me it doesn  t seem natural . it seems put on . sorry but don  t think toni and gwenneth did a brilliant job there . i could not warm to any of the characters  but this version is more heart warming and more the type of person i imagined emma to be . it is definitely the version i will come back to from now on . i was disappointed that mr knightley was not better looking  but he is convincing . i also like jane fairfax better  played by olivia williams  . i never warmed to her in the movie version  but she is better portrayed in this version . come to think of it   besides mr knightley  all characters are better played  and a lot less over the top . unfortunately both came out around same time and the paltrow version got more publicity . pity . . . . . . i also love the new scene at the end . well done to kate beckingsale  therefore  if you are a jane austen fan  don  t forget to watch this one .  
oh  cgi . a blessing when used properly . a sin with it  s used by people who have no idea what their doing . sadly  that  s not the only thing that  s used poorly in this umpteen jaws rip  off .  br    br   ok  anybody who has read any number of my posted reviews has probably noticed  things .   i like low  budget horror movies . and   if there is a cute guy in said low  budget movie  i  ll usually point them out . so  let  s just get this out of the way right now . this is one low  budget horror movie i didn  t like . the acting  for the most part  is horrible  effects laughable  and the script rivals battlefield earth as the worst i  ve witnessed this year . as far as the resident cute boy . . . dax miller  bog  wins that prize hands down . this boy is hot  and surprisingly  he  s not just a toned body with nice eyes and a cute butt . . . he can actually act  well  as much as he can in this odious film  . now that we have the housekeeping chores out of the way  let  s get on with it .  br    br   in cliff notes version  here  s the story  don  t worry  i  ll try not to give anything away  . . .  br    br   a film crew travels to a remote island to film a documentary about two surfers  established cute boy and his buddy  who surf with sharks . unknown to them is a rather large salt water crocodile lurking around the island . croc shows up  mayhem ensues  and people are eaten . roll end credits .  br    br   as i said earlier  this film pretty much blows . it started pretty well  but soon devolved into being silly and stupid . a main character becomes lunch  in a rather humorous way   and our remaining heros utter one  liners at the victims expense . also  if this croc is at the top of the food chain on both the land and in the water  what  s with all the sharks around  if this thing can eat a   foot boat  i don  t think a few skimpy sharks would stick around . the fx is some of the worst i have ever had the displeasure to see . the cgi is horrendous  and they  ve even managed to screw up the animatronic crocs . attention  filmmakers . national geographic . discovery store . the croc hunter . they know what crocodiles look like . you obviously didn  t reference any of these judging by the monstrosity seen towards the end of the film . and what  s with the pirate  drug pusher gang  did you just need another reason to rip off a woman  s top   br    br   it  s funny how we get little sub  genres in the movie world . with alligator and it  s sequels  lake placid  crocodile  and now blood surf  it now looks like  over  sized crocodile  alligator  movies should now get their own category at blockbuster . alligator was good . lake placid was good . i even thought tobe hooper  s crocodile was good . blood surf  sucked .  br    br   my grade d   
i  ve really enjoyed this adaptation of  emma  . i have seen it many times and am always looking forward to seeing it again . though it only lasts    minutes  most of the novel plot and sub  plots were developed in a satisfactory way . all the characters are well  portrayed . most of the dialogues come directly from the novel with no silly jokes added as in emma thompson  s sense and sensibility .  br    br   as a foreigner  i particularly appreciate the perfect diction of the actors . the setting and costumes were beautiful . i find this version quite on a par with the     miniseries  pride and prejudice  but then the producer and screenwriter were the same . kate beckinsale did a really good job portraying  emma  of whom jane austen said she would create a heroin no  one but her would love . she is snobbish but has just enough youth and inexperience to be still likable . mark strong was also very good at portraying mr knightley  not an easy part  i think  though he has not the charisma shown by colin firth  s mr darcy in pride and prejudice . even the end scene  the harvest festival  which does not happen in the novel provides a fitting end except for when it shows emma being cold and almost unpleasant with frank churchill whereas in the novel she was thoroughly reconciled with him  even telling him that she would have enjoyed the duplicity  had she been in his situation . a strange departure from the faithfulness otherwise shown throughout the film . i find the costumes more beautiful and elaborate than in other adaptations from jane austen  s novels .  
spoilers  br    br   this is one bad movie . seriously . acting in absolutely horrible  the fx are dreadfull and the plot is down right awful . but hey  its so bad that its fun watching  the script is so bad that its enjoyable  you just have to cringe and laugh at lines such as  i guess thats what you call crocteasing .  as the women flash their breasts at the crocodile . i mean come on thats funny cause its so bad  it has such horrible jokes that they  re funny  but after a while it just becomes to much as the movie turns into crap . i really started to fall asleep . trust me though  the plastic croc foot stamping on the leaves and the constant swishes of a crock tail well keep you laughing for a long time . though i have to say it had one cool part when the croc ripped that dude in half and he just hung there for a while figuring out what to do . heh heh mindless movie  which has to be nominated for the mst  k line    
this has long been one of my favourite adaptations of an austen novel . although it is definitely not in the same category as the spectacular  pride and prejudice    emma  is a lush and relatively faithful tv version of austen  s novel   especially considering its short length . the biggest change between the novel and the movie is a good one  as the unnecessary snobbishness that austen exhibits at the end of the story is removed here and replaced with someone much more akin to emma  s character in the rest of the book . i thought the characters chosen to portray the roles were well  picked . kate beckinsale walks the fine line between girlishness and the social snob with a grace completely lost in gwyneth paltrow  s    version . samantha morton  s wispy blonde locks suit her attitude and character as the simper that accompanies her role in previous characterisations is replaced with the harriet we know from the book . mister knightly  s role is carried out extremely well in my opinion both the seriousness and the gentle compassion that the hero is painted with in the novel are present here in this much  neglected  sumptuous film .  
i never actually thought that a film could be so atrocious  but alas i was wrong . terrible acting  terrible plot  terrible effects . the crocodile was awful and as for the stupid sex  killing scene all in one  that was a bad move from the word go . it was truly shocking and that is not a compliment  how can someone make this film  watch it back and then actually say  yeah  thats a good movie . people will watch that  if you haven  t seen it i beg you don  t bother     
i  ve seen this movie after watching paltrow  s version . i  ve found that one a very good one  and i thought this would not be as good . . . but i was wrong british version was far better and enjoyable  i found jeremy northam more  agreeable  than mark strong  but i can say that strong catches much better austen  s knightley . anyway  both versions are good  but anyone that loved austen  s books  should watch this movie . i agree with caalling andrew davies changed a few things  but still remains faithful to the original .  br    br     out of    br    br   my  cents   
some might scoff  but there is actually a real art with making particularly bad films . this misses out on all fronts .  br    br   a bunch of young people   women with heaving breasts and continuously wet t  shirts  naturally   go to film  blood surfing  and end up running into a   foot crocodile .  br    br   not only was the croc obviously fake  but some of the props notice the boat hitting the reef in particular look like they  ve come out of thunderbirds   br    br   no good  from start to finish . don  t see it   
of the spate of austen films from the     s  this is my favorite  more even than  persuasion   which was the one that converted me to austeniana . before seeing this  emma  i had seen two previous versions  but in one emma seemed all wrong  more like lady teazle  and in the other she seemed half wrong  like a possible impostor  whereas here she seemed just right  young and silly and stubborn . in general i thought the attitude and the atmosphere of the production conveyed the charm of the novel exceedingly well indeed it is one of the sweetest  merriest things i have ever seen  rather in the nature of a christmas treat . the script is unusually well formed  and the adapter  s additions  like the shaft of light that reveals harriet to emma in church  are all in keeping . mark strong as knightley is not what i would have expected  but i enjoyed him very much he strongly brings out the plain  spoken  practical side of the character  in contrast with emma  s affectations  and his choleric outbursts against frank churchill are quite funny . bernard hepton makes mr . woodhouse a figure of almost carrollian absurdity samantha morton as emma  s protg is exactly as soft and exactly as firm as she ought to be . and as in the same producers   pride and prejudice   care is taken that the eventual couplings of characters can be believed   uniquely in some cases . for me this production was and remains a delight .  
 . . . which isn  t exactly a ringing endorsement . overall   dinocroc  was a much better movie . sure  in that movie matt borlenghi played a complete wuss  bag who spent the entire movie crying about his little brother getting eaten by the dinocroc . but the special effects in  dinocroc  were better  the plot lines were better  and the acting was better . here are the problems with  blood surf      the killer crocodile looks like a kid  s model with a retractable jaw .   the plot is ridiculous . matt borlenghi  co . get shipwrecked on a deserted island  in which they encounter a rabid group of ugly filipino natives who try to force themselves upon the women in the group . which was a complete waste of   minutes of film . and   there  s not enough croc time . there are a couple of redeeming qualities of  blood surf    the actresses are pretty attractive and matt borlenghi gets eaten by the croc towards the end of the movie . but if you  re on your deathbed and only have enough time to watch one matt borlenghi  killer crocodile movie  skip this one and fire up  dinocroc  instead .  
kate beckinsale is excellent as the manipulative and yet irresistibly charming emma in this tv  adaptation of jane austens novel . when i read that novel i was sometimes quite doubtful whether the protagonist really deserved to be considered the heroine of the story for honestly  she is so terribly self  righteous and scheming that one is tempted to dislike her seriously . kate beckinsales interpretation  however  saves emma from herself so to speak she is portrayed with all the innocence and generosity of her character in full view  and one cant help but give in and like  not to say love  her in spite of her less amiable qualities . kate beckinsale is the main  but not the only  reason why this tv  series is so delightful raymond coulthard is perfect as mr . frank churchill  expressing this characters personal magnetism to the full  which is all the more conspicuous because of this role being not very well handled by ewan mcgregor in the      screen adaptation of emma   and mark strong  samantha morton  bernard hepton  and olivia williams are all as they should be in their respective roles . this production is  in short  a great achievement and one to view many times with increasing pleasure .  
oh god  i must have seen this when i was only   or twelve   don  t ask how  i may have been young  but i wasn  t stupid . anyone could see that this is a bad movie  nasty  gross  unscary and very silly . i  ve seen more impressive effects at disneyland  i  ve seen better performances at a school play  and i  ve seen more convincing crocodiles at the zoo  where they do nothing but sit in the water  ignoring the children tapping on the glass .  br    br   the story is set in northern australia . a handful of ambitious young people  are trying out a new water sport  surfing in shark filled waters . it soon becomes evident that something more dangerous is in the water . after they learn what  they get the help of a grizzly middle aged fisherman  who wants to kill the animal to avenge the eating of his family .  br    br   i think i have seen every crocodile film made in the last fifteen years  the best of which is lake placid  and the worse of which is its sequel . blood surf would have to be the second worst croc flick i think  with primeval and crocodile tailing closely behind .  br    br   the australian saltwater crododile is one of the most dangerous creatures out there  resulting in more than a hundred injuries or deaths every year . movies like blood surf however ruin not only the ferocious image of such a creature  but a good hour and a half of the viewer  s life . unless you really want to see it  avoid blood surf .  
this is a better adaptation of the book than the one with paltrow  although i liked that one  too  . it isn  t so much that beckinsale is better   they are both very good   but that the screenplay is better . davies is a master at adapting austen for filming  and the production values here are very good . it  s not quite as glossy as the hollywood treatment  but it  s close  and i thought that the locations and the costumes actually worked better .  
  it  s not like that big mechanical toy   says a character early on  commenting on  jaws  . well   blood surf  would only wish to have a beast as convincing as the shark of the  jaws  series . in other words  the digital special effects of this movie are terrible . acting and directing are not much better  either they seem more suited to a deodorant or a bubble  gum commercial than to a horror movie . the attitude of the people who worked on this film shows contempt not only for the genre  but for the audience too . saying you  liked  this film only encourages filmmakers to offer us more of this crap  further destroying the poor horror genre .        
jane austen  s emma is an extremely enjoyable story at the worst of times and this production of the story is the best i have ever seen . kake beckinsale  s emma is irreproachable . gwyneth paltrow   with the help of a good screenplay and excellent cinematography  is able to bring out the comedy effectively  she fails to make emma likeable . paltrow is not aided by the fact that her hairstyles are simply  wrong  for the part  and i believe the era  and she looks positively ill in the empire line dresses . kate beckinsale  on the other hand  manages the comedy effortlessly and is still able to show what mr knightly  the most romantic of jane austen  s heroes  actually sees in her . mark strong is a splendid mr knightly with the right mix of handsome looks  an appropriate age  chivalry  compassion and gentlemanly behaviour . emma and mr knightly are supported by a cast of good actors and the production as a whole is quite delightful .  
an mtv  style film crew consisting of american t . v . programme producer zack zardine  matt borlenghi  his camerawoman  the australian cecily  kate fisher  and two surfer  dudes  named bog hall  dax miller  and jeremy  joel west  arrive on some nice looking island somewhere  it  s not actually revealed where . the crew plan to shoot an expose on  bloodsurfing  which is apparently the latest craze in extreme sports . surfers throw bait into the sea and cut themselves to attract sharks  just to see if they can out  surf them without being eaten . once there they are greeted by sonny lofranco  cris vertido  and his wife melba  susan africa  . their search for the perfect location leads them to the shark infested waters of lilo  cay . sonny  melba and their daughter lemmya  maureen larrazabal  take them in their boat . soon after arriving and having already shot some  bloodsurfing  footage sonny  melba and lemmya are all killed by a   foot saltwater crocodile that some say  owns  the island . the boat is sunk . zack  cecily  bog and jeremy appear stuck on the island until such time a rescue party arrives . however  after a run in with some  erm well i don  t really know what they are . pirates  drug smugglers  revolutionairies  fat ugly people who just don  t like being with other people  who knows  and more importantly who cares  not me that  s for sure . anyway  after escaping from these guys who look like pirates  they are picked up just off the coast of the island by captain john dirks  duncan regehr  and his girl arty  taryn reif as tara reif  . the film crew believe they have been saved . little do they know that the crocodile and captain dirks go way back and he has a score to settle and four members of a film crew aren  t going to stop him . captain dirks heads back to lilo  cay for a final showdown with the giant man  eating crocodile .  br    br   directed by james d . r . hickox this is one awful film  but it  s still not as bad as tobe hoopers crocodile       . everything about this film sucks . the script by sam bernard and robert l . levy is terrible  extremely slow as the crocodile isn  t even seen or mentioned before the   minute mark and by that time i was seriously bored and annoyed with the hideously unlikeable characters thought up by bernard and levy . the whole film is also frustratingly predictable as well  within the first   minutes anyone familiar with horror film stereotypes and stock characters will be able to guess who dies and who will survive . the crocodile effects are awful and seem to be repeated over and over  there is a small puppet head that obviously has someones arm stuck inside it controlling it  s movements as the water splashes become huge  the cgi shots of the crocodile are just plain embarrassing to watch . there is no gore apart from when a character is bitten in half which is achieved using cgi to digitally remove the actors legs  again it looks terrible . there is also a brief scene when someone is impaled on wooden spikes when they set a trap off . there is a reasonable amount of nudity and sex  plus the female actresses are nice and easy on the eye . there are basic continuity and logical errors in the film too  in one sequence cecily is filming bog and jeremy  bloodsurfing  but from the angle and distance she is at it would be physically impossible to obtain footage of both the sharks and surfers at the same time  and surely that is the whole point of her shot  when dirks manages to harpoon the crocodile the angle of the wire changes dramatically between shots  in one shot the angle of the line looks like it  s coming from the sky  in the shot straight after the angle is completely different and it seems as if the line is coming from below the surface of the water when in actual fact the harpoon is attached to the back of the boat and the line should be almost level with the surface . i could carry on  like why does the crocodile jump off the edge of a cliff if it  s so smart as this film tries to make out  but i would probably exceed the     word limit if i listed everything that was wrong with this film  so i won  t . i hated this film  but rather scarily it  s still not as bad as tobe hoopers effort at a giant crocodile film . definitely one to avoid .  
  a family affair  takes us back to a less complicated time in america . it  s sobering to see how different everything was back then . it was a more innocent era in our country and we watch a  functional  family dealing in things together . the film also marks the beginning of the series featuring the hardy family .  br    br   the film  directed by george seitz  is based on a successful play . judge james hardy  and his wife emmily  are facing a domestic crisis that must be dealt with . married daughter joan comes home after she has committed a social blunder and her husband holds her responsible . at the same time  another daughter  marion  brings home a beau  who is clear will clash with her father . the happy teen ager andy  seems to be the only one without a problem until his mother makes him escort polly to the dance  something he is reluctant to do .  br    br   needless to say  judge hardy will prove why he knows best as he puts a plan into action to get everyone together again . after all  he is a man that understands  not only the law  but how to deal with those outside forces that threatens his standing in the community and what will make his family happy .  br    br   lionel barrymore plays judge hardy with conviction . he is the glue that holds everything together . spring byington is seen as emily  the mother . mickey rooney has a small part in this film  but he is as always  fun to watch . cecilia parker and julie haydon appeared as the daughters  marion and joan . sara hayden and margaret marquis are also featured in the film as aunt milly and polly  the girl that surprises andy with her beauty .  br    br    a family affair  is a good way to observe our past through the positive image painted of an american family .  
a movie about a bunch of some kind of filmmakers  who want to make a documentary on a new kind of surfing in shark  infested waters . as an absolute fan of movies including some kind of vicious animals or monsters  i thought this might be my kind of movie . . . it wasn  t    this should be more of a guideline of how not to do it  it has a lot of accidental humor in it and the evil beast is an incredible joke  in the final scene it goes after the main characters rolling  the feet are obviously waving in the air  it looks ridiculous  good for a laugh though . if it were only for the lack of talent between the actors  the embarrassingly stupid dialogs and the hilariously stupid crocodile  it would be at least worth a laugh  but it gets worse i  d guess  the people in charge of this movie noticed how weak it was  so they though up the old idea of  sex sells  . . . totally  i mean totally without any reasons one of the main actresses shows her breasts to the beast . and somewhere towards the beginning there  s some kind of meaningless  makeout  . this is the last ingredient making the movie absolute trash to me . it  s incredible how people actually spend time producing such rubbish  if you are seeking for a real waste of time watch this movie     
does anyone know where or how i can get a copy of this film    i  ve been searching for way too long  someone help  back in     my girlfriends and i were extras on this long island based film  and we actually never got to see it .    br    br   i was hoping i could find a copy somehow so i can finally check it out  and share it with the girls  is there anyone out there who knows where to get a copy of this  so i can stop driving myself crazy   also  it doesn  t matter if its in in vhs format  i  m still in the ice age myself .  if you  or anyone you know  has a copy of this film please help  i would be willing to pay for a good copy of it   
well  let me start off by saying how utterly hilarious this film is  i simply couldn  t keep myself from laughing at the sheer stupidity of it . don  t get me wrong  it is well acted particularly by bassinger but the script is just  well the mind boggles truly .  br    br   the premise is good and up until della actually witnesses the murder it is engaging but after that it just goes downhill . half way through the film the protagonist pulls out her toolbox and of course instead of lobbing it at the guy  s head  she decides to pull out a screwdriver  car jack and finally a flare  as in for a sinking ship  respectively to kill her victims .  br    br   then there is the final line that i promise  if it doesn  t have you in stitches then i will eat my own left foot .  br    br   i would recommend this film to those who simply want to laugh at some good old fashioned  appalling film making . might i also suggest you watch out for the scene in the scrap yard with the guy falling from the one foot high plank of wood  gets me every time .  
this is a excellent start to the film career of mickey rooney . his talents here shows that a long career is ahead for him . the car and truck chase is exciting for the     era . this start of the andy hardy series is an american treasure in my book . spring byington performance is excellent as usual . please mr rooney or owners of the film rights  take a chance and get this produced on dvd . i think it would be a winner .  
sometimes i rest my head and think about the reasons why movies about killer sharks and  or crocodiles are still getting made these days . they  ve been making these lame  jaws   copies since the   s  it  s not like they  re getting any more well  liked . the idea is still exactly the same . so we have an animal that starts murdering people . first it takes down some secondary characters  then it starts attacking the main characters  usually played by a couple of nobodies except for someone who used to be a bit more famous  who usually plays a specialist . one of the main characters usually dies before the others kill the animal somehow  usually with an explosion . then  we usually get a last shot where we see that the animal is still alive  or has laid eggs  etc . etc .  krocodylus  basically uses the same overused ideas  and does absolutely nothing to create even a tad bit of variation . unless you count the fact that the  specialist  is a captain in this one variation  in that case your standards are pretty low . it  s funny that he  s played by duncan regehr though  he like totally used to be zorro . hell i  ll give it a bonus point for that .  
tintin and i recently aired as an episode of pbs  s p . o . v . series . it  s based on a taped interview of georges remi a . k . a . herge  tintin  s creator  from     in which in discusses his various experiences publishing his popular character  first in a catholic newspaper  then in his own series of comic books . awesome sweeping views of various comic pages and surreal images of herge  s dreams . i first encountered tintin in the pages of children  s digest at my local elementary school library reading the secrets of the unicorn . my mom later got a subscription to cd and i read the entire red rackham  s treasure every month in     . i remember seeing some tintin comic books in a local book store after that but for some reason i didn  t get any probably because i was   and i thought i was outgrowing them . i do have breaking free  a book written and drawn by j . daniels  published in      six years after herge  s death . haven  t read it yet . this film also covers the artist  s personal life as when he left his first wife after his affair with a colorist in his employ  whom he later married  . her name is fanny and she is interviewed here . if you love tintin and his creator  this film is definitely worth a look . update        i  ve now read breaking free . tintin and the captain are the only regular characters that appear here and they are tailored to the anti  capitalist views of mr . daniels with tintin portrayed as a rabble rouser with a chip on his shoulder who nevertheless cares for the captain who he  s staying with . the captain here is just trying to make ends meet with a wife and daughter that he loves dearly . they and other construction workers vow to strike after a fellow employee dies from a faulty equipment accident . the whole thing takes place in england with working  class cockney accents intact . not the kind of thing herge would approve of but an interesting read nonetheless . oh  yes  dog snowy only appears in the top left corner of the cover  which has tintin running over the police   and the dedication page .  
standard  paint  by  numbers  monster fare  filled with a bunch of routine plot devices from big  creature movies . it  s like somebody had a deck of cards with plot ideas from other movies written on them  which were shuffled  and dealt . whatever plot lines and characters came up in the deal were then tossed into the script .  br    br   characters are so clich  ridden  that you can play a game of  guess who ends up as a monster meal  after less than ten minutes into the movie  and probably get every single one right   including the order that they will get devoured . many of the characters are so obnoxious  that you root for the creature to shut them up . some of the main characters include a billy idol clone who surfs with sharks  a loudmouth brat who flashes bankrolls  a capt . ahab guy with a vendetta  and ahab  s girlfriend who does sleazy dances at a bar . oh  and a big  big beast in need of anger management therapy .  br    br   along the way  people argue a lot  pretty girls run around with wet t  shirts  couples make out on exotic beaches  explosions occur  ruins of a shrine appear  and greasy  faced pirates drop by .  br    br   amusing  for the most part  but one thing bothered me the callousness by characters when other people were killed . after one violent demise  they make one  liner jokes . i could almost hear rim shots .  br    br   overall  ok  if you have   minutes to waste  and you want to laugh at a so  bad  it  s  good  movie . otherwise  you may want to skip this one .  
some thirty years ago  author numa sadoul published a book length interview with the belgian comic book artist georges remi  better known as herge  the creator of tintin  . this movie catches up with sadoul today as he recalls the interview  while we listen to the cassettes  herge died in      and see some old photos and footage of the man himself . some parts of the interview were not published in the book at the request of herge  and we now know these dealt with his separation from his wife  after he had an affair with one of his collaborators  who years later would become his second wife  . an interesting thing the movie does not address well is the shift in the tintin books from the early rightist and imperialist books  tintin in the congo  tintin in the lands of the soviets  to fairly anti  imperialist books just a few years later  the blue lotus  . on the whole  i come out of this movie knowing a few more things about herge and seeing him as a bit more unlikable than when i come in to the theater .  
fans of creature feature films have to endure a lot of awful movies lately . blood surf shamelessly joins the list of stupid  redundant pulp  horror titles about ridiculously big animals that want to turn the food chain upside down . crocodiles are particularly successful as we already had to struggle our way through the abysmal  crocodile   directed by a disappointing tobe hooper  and  lake placid  . blood surf is every bit as bad as these other films and  on top of that  it likes to exaggerate tremendously . the saltwater  crocodile supposedly is   years old  over   ft long    and it kills for fun  during the film  he amuses himself by devouring a bunch of utterly stupid surfer  dudes  dudettes who came to seek new thrills by surfing in a shark  congested area . the only beautiful aspect about this film is the tropical location . even though it  s a completely inappropriate setting for a film like this  the lagoons and nature looks marvelous . every other aspect is simply disastrous . there  s a quite a bit of gore but it all looks fake and laughable . the dialogues are downright painful to listen to  you won  t believe some of the lines these actors have to say  i know surfers are supposed to be a mentally underdeveloped group but i hope for their own sake they  re not that stupid  early in the film  one of the characters refers to jaws as being a  mechanical toy  but the croc here looks at least   times less real than spielberg  s great white shark . the visual effects in  blood surf  are amateurish and the massacres fail to impress . i won  t say too much about the acting since it  s secondary in flicks like this . the girls look sexy in wet shirts and their boobs joyfully bounce while running away from the beast . you guessed right blood surf is a very bad film . so bad it becomes fun again . but  funny  for a whole other reason than james hickox intended .  
this is a brilliant documentary that follows the life of herge and his creating tintin . its based around a series of interviews conducted in      and covers every thing from his early life and  nazi collaboration  to the final moments of his life .  br    br   brilliantly edited  very cinematic and fast paced enough to not get boring . this film will give you a new appreciation for the work of herge .  br    br   the film makers make the film more than just another documentary . using the latest state of the art technology and for a change putting it to good use .  br    br   recently more and more documentaries have been making it to cinemas . but this one as to be amongst the best . . .  
seeing this movie  as i just did for the first time on turner classic  which lists it as  dangerous female    can only multiply your appreciation for the     bogart  astor version . ricardo cortez must have been getting paid by the smirk . i hope he remembered his dentist and his brylcreem salesman in his will they made him the actor he was . the women are all good  but no better than that . well  una merkel is a little better . more interesting are the  original  joel cairo and mr . gutman  who competently deliver many of the individual tics but almost nothing of the set  changing atmospherics of their successors in the roles  peter lorre and sydney greenstreet . humphrey bogart and mary astor somehow transcended the essential seediness of their characters in the remake here  sam spade and ruth wonderley    can  t .  br    br   this movie doesn  t exactly stink it lies there like a big slice of ham . its chief value today is as a reminder that great movies like the     falcon  don  t just happen . on the   to    scale i rate it a   mainly for the camera work and the supporting players .  
if you as i have a very close and long relationship with the world of tintin . . . . do yourself a favor and watch this beautiful documentary about herg and his life creating tintin . i  ts so brilliant and a very cool production . the whole background story about herg and the people and also very much the many different situations he was influenced by  for good and worse is amazing . there is a very fine and obvious connection between the comic books and just this . i will for sure be in my basement digging up the tintin albums again . also  the movie itself are very well told and has a great ambient sound to it . i really do hope people will find this as intriguing as i did   
you get  writers together  have each write a different story with a different genre  and then you try to make one movie out of it . it  s action  it  s adventure  it  s sci  fi  it  s western  it  s a mess . sorry  but this movie absolutely stinks .  .  is giving it an awefully high rating . that said  it  s movies like this that make me think i could write movies  and i can barely write .  
  tintin and i  first of all struck me as a masterpiece documentary . the photography and the editing are truly breath  taking  almost anti  dogma  .  br    br   we follow the life of tintin drawer herg through an open  hearted interview from     . the tintin series was drawn on the background of the great ideological fights of the twentieth century . in the midst of these herg has his own demons to fight with  and much of his drawing activity seems like an attempt to tame these and to escape into a world of perfection .  br    br   even though there are spectacular photographic panoramas of drawings from tintin albums and also some reconstructions and reading of passages from the albums  the story of herg is told entirely through interviews and archive material  and never through reconstructions .  br    br   herg lived the turbulent life of a true  suffering artist . but the fantastic world that came of his imagination will continue to amaze readers again and again .  
the special effects of this movie are  especially for its time  laughable and used in such an over  emphasized way that you can  t deny their terrible existance .  br    br   the acting redefines the term  terrible overacting  at the hands of meg foster and richard joseph paul  where julie newman and andrew divoff just redefine  bad  .  br    br   spoilers  br    br   the charm in this movie can be found in two things first is the excellent casting of carel  lurch  struycken as the mysterious psychic gaunt  who can sense where and when people will die and is always there .  br    br   the second are original finds  the combination sf  western is obviously original  if terrible  but other finds are more original  like the gunman zack stone being able to sense the pain of the people he shoots  though his acting falls short here  .  br    br   overal . . . don  t see this movie  except if you love that ol  hunk  o  brutal carel struycken  as any self  respecting dutchman should .  
imagine that i was about to miss this great cultural event on swedish tv last night  and it was only because my girlfriend insisted on keeping the tv on  to make it easier for her to fall asleep   that i came across it  yes i had seen an advert for it previously but of course forgotten about it and looked forward to an  early night  . . .  .  br    br   anyway  this must surely be a rather unusual idea  to base a film documentary on an interview made with sound only more than   years ago . but with animated and other documentary film material it adds up to a really good and insightful portrait of one of the   th centuries  most appreciated literary artists  georges remy a . k . a herg .  br    br   i for sure will read my tintin albums with a different eye after having seen this film  which makes it easier to connect the variations in style as well as content with the different periods in herg  s life  and i can tell you that i will a . s . a . p get the few that i don  t have  . of course my perception of the albums has changed over the more than   years that i have already been reading them  as has my view about what albums are my favourites  but this adds  at least  one more dimension to them .  
republic pictures comes late in the game to the  werewolf  er werecat genre . the plot has a writer returning to paris after a long trip abroad during which he developed jungle fear during which he had blackouts . he is arriving to great acclaim as his novel that parallels an infamous trial is a best seller . the french government wants to know if he had access to secret documents  something that seems more likely when an official is killed by a  catman  . suspicion really falls on the writer when his fianc ends up dead . complicating matters is the return of the blackouts so the writer doesn  t know if he  s the killer or not .  br    br   okay thriller is much too leisurely to be fully enjoyed . there are too many musical numbers early on and too much dead time when things are all talk in the middle and later sections . the acting is fine and the sets quite good but there is a reason why most people i know only remember the top hatted killer  he  s the most interesting thing in this film . despite its short running time  just over an hour  i think the reason that this film was rarely seen on tv was that after   minutes you begin to lose patience with it . as good as the talk is  i just wished someone would do something . when it finally did happen  in the closing minutes  it was too little too late . .  br    br   take a pass .  
tintin was one of my favorite heroes as a kid . i used to borrow the books from the school library every chance i got . my favorite one was  the red sea sharks   so much action and humor .  br    br   this documentary was a brilliant exposition of the background story of herge and his development of tintin . the film  maker  s personal experience in interviewing herge and the story of his relationship with the artist who was the inspiration for the chan character was very moving .  br    br   a great documentary of a very talented and well  loved artist . a great example of someone who has become internationally renown  and has brought joy of millions of children  and the young at heart  all over the world .  
speaking solely as a movie  i didn  t really liked it . not because there were no fx or because we had a single cabin as the scenario for the whole film  actually that was what kept me watching it .  br    br   i didn  t like it because the acting was shady  his  friends  are all happy and then they  re mad  but you have no idea why then they take distinct roles  one is the believer  other is the antagonist  but they never really make the point  also  the lighting was terrible and i  m just mentioning technical issues .  br    br   in a few words  i thing the movie could have just had a  ok i  m outta here   from some characters . like the lady who doesn  t want to hear his version of the bible .  br    br   about the story itself  everyone is free to write about what they want  and the story is proof of some good writing and imagination . i credit the book author for that  hence  my     .  br    br   so  in the end  hear the man  s story believe it or not  just don  t spend the whole time acting like you believe him and being shocked at what he says  and at the same time moving around and making jokes like you don  t believe him .  br    br   coherence .  br    br   thanks for reading    
seven young people go to the forest looking for a bear . soon they are all stalked and viciously murdered by a crazy vietnam veteran .  trampa infernal  is a pretty entertaining mexican slasher that reminds me a lot  the zero boys  . the film is fast  paced and there are some good death scenes like throat slashing or axe in the neck . unfortunately there is not much gore  so fans of grand  guignol will be disappointed . however if you are a fan of slasher movies give this rarity a look . mexican horror flicks are quite obscure  i have seen only  alucarda  and  don  t panic    so this should be another reason to see this enjoyable slasher . my rating  out of   . highly recommended .  
i  ve seen about four other japanese horror films and they weren  t too impressive . however  i could sense that there was a sensible script guiding the way .  br    br   not here  no way . this is about a detective who is trying to tie together similar murders that have been happening . when he finds a suspect to question  the suspect freaks out because they keep seeing a ghost . then  the ghost starts to follow the detective around for a reason that is never explained and takes up more than half of the movie .  br    br   bad enough  oh no . the film keeps switching perspectives to different characters who don  t have much to do with the story . i  ve seen this before in other movies where it shows a different perspective . not the case here .  br    br   also  whatever is happening on screen that is actually tolerable quickly ends . for example  there a few scenes with a slight instrumental score that builds up and . . . then it just cuts to another scene . i  m aware that this can be a dramatic effect . that  s definitely not the intention here . it  s just bad editing .  br    br   finally  there  s the  ghost  who just screams in a way that  s not scary or unintentionally funny . it  s annoying and it happens a lot throughout the movie .  br    br   all of the scares have been done before in better ways so you can see them all coming . then after one of them  the movie is over . at that point  a wave of confusion swept over the audience as i could sense we all felt that we had wasted our time . someone did a mock clap and laughter ensued . it was better than the whole film . simply put  avoid .  
four macho rough  n  tumble guys and three sexy gals venture into a remote woodland area to hunt for a bear . the motley coed group runs afoul of crazed vietnam veteran jesse  an effectively creepy portrayal by alberto mejia baron   who not surprisingly doesn  t take kindly to any strangers trespassing on his terrain . director  co  writer pedro galindo iii relates the gripping story at a steady pace  creates a good deal of nerve  rattling tension  and delivers a fair amount of graphic gore with the brutal murder set pieces  a nasty throat slicing and a hand being blown off with a shotgun rate as the definite gruesome splatter highlights  . the capable cast all give solid performances  with especially praiseworthy work by pedro fernandez as the nice  humane nacho  edith gonzalez as the feisty alejandra  charly valentino as the amiable charly  and tono mauri as antagonistic jerk mauricio . better still  both yummy blonde marisol santacruz and lovely brunette adriana vega supply some tasty eye candy by wearing skimpy bathing suits . antonio de anda  s slick  agile cinematography  the breathtaking sylvan scenery  pedro plascencia  s robust  shuddery  stirring score  the well  developed characters  and the pleasingly tight  n  trim   minute running time further enhance the overall sound quality of this bang  up horror  action hybrid winner .  
the japenese sense of pacing  editing and musical score must be different than american tastes  but surely this movie could have been so much more with a little more post production work .  br    br   someone in hollywood needs to re  make this movie and i think it would be a big hit . the story is interesting and creepy . there  s something about the edges of the city  gritty policemen  earthquakes  sanitariums and mysterious saltwater killings that is enough to be captivating . however  this story has to make just a little bit of sense and maybe be about   minutes shorter .  br    br   i do have to say that the  sixth  sense  effect was in full force in this movie  and that was evident from the very beginning .  br    br   as it stands  only the die  hard japanese film lovers should bother seeing this oh  so  boring movie .  
they filmed this movie out on long island  where i grew up . my brother and his girlfriend were extras in this movie . apparently there is some party scene where they are all drinking beer   which they told me was colored water  tasted disgusting  and was very hard to keep swallowing over and over again  especially in the funnel scenes  . yet none of us ever heard of the movie being released anywhere in any form . it never came out in the theaters  obviously  and it  as far as i knew  was never released on video  and i  m sure wasn  t released on dvd . yet it looks like it was seen by some people  albeit it probably very few . so there must be something . i would absolutely love to purchase this for my brother  yet there is no way i can find it anywhere . does anybody know anything about when  where  how this movie could be purchased  and which format that would be   
my  how the mighty have fallen . kim basinger is a great actress but she was definitely slumming when she took this role . this movie is bad for one reason in particular lapses in logic . its looks like one of those movies that would have been passable with all its plot holes if it had came out in the   s and   s but in     it just looks real stupid . this is the worst thriller i  ve ever seen and i  ve seen the bone collector and twisted .  br    br   the story details della  kim basinger  is just getting from buying gifts in a mall an is harassed by a gang of thugs that end up killing a cop that came to her aid . from then on she is chased by these idiotic goons through an abandoned street and she gets rid of them one by one with a toolbox full of tools .  br    br   so many things are wrong with this movie . as i said this movie leaps over logic at every turn and with the exception of kim basinger  the acting is made  for  tv bad . hell  this pseudo thriller is made  for  tv bad . the way she kills each of these politically correct thugs   caucasian   hispanic   asian and  african american all coming together to stalk a caucasian woman . don  t you just love america   is laughable to a fault . the way she killed the hispanic guy made me laugh hysterically . the sex scene with the main hoodlum was so out in left field that it make you shake your head in shame . i only recommend this to lovers of bad films and no one else . anybody else especially kim basinger fans would do well not to own this flick . you don  t want see an actress you respect in a film this bad now do you  of course not . you were warned .  
i searched for this movie for years  apparently it ain  t available here in the states so bought me a copy off ebay .  br    br   four young hunters and three of their girlfriends venture into the woods searching for a bear that apparently has killed several campers . what they find is an ex  vietnam vet gone crazy  he kills some of his victims using a glove with long metal finger nails a la freddy krueger  . as soon as the night falls  one of the girls goes for a walk after a brief argument with her boyfriend  she gets killed . after one of the group finds her body  they all hide in their tents waiting for daylight . once the sun comes up  all of them try and make it out  but fall victim one by one .  br    br   seven bodies  not a lot of gore  but a couple of good murders  especially the girls  deaths . the guys get killed in somewhat bloodless ways  blown up in car  shot to death  knife through head  .  br    br   overall  infernal trap is a nice slasher film from the late    s . nothing new  just well acted  fast paced and some pretty ladies .   out of   .  
this kiyoshi kurosawa ghost movie is pretty wild  and it did have at least one jump scare that caught me off guard . but all in all  the movie is incredibly stupid  with a detective trying to track down a suspected serial killer  only to find out he may have committed one of the crimes . then he finds himself haunted by a gorgeous asian lady ghost  and has no idea why  and neither does the viewer  . as other murders are committed  he becomes even more confused as the killers are easily found  and this ghost still haunts him for some reason . not only is the plot completely stupid  the lady ghost is more funny than anything  especially when she suddenly flies across the city  like wonder woman . and the ending makes little sense  in fact  the whole movie makes little sense  and i can  t recommend it at all . if it didn  t take itself so serious  i would think it was supposed to be a black comedy . outside of  bright future  this is the worst movie directed by kiyoshi kurosawa i have seen yet .  
talk about a blast opening   trampa infernal  has the coolest opening credits ever  guided by musical tones that are perhaps slightly inspired by the legendary  friday the   th  theme  tsh  tsh  tsh  ha  ha  ha   the names of the lead players appear on screen split up in giant syllables . promising intro of a totally obscure mexican slasher  backwoods survival thriller and it only becomes cooler with every minute that passes . two extremely competitive and testosterone  overloaded paintball enemies challenge each other to the ultimate showdown in a sleazy bar . according to a newspaper article  there  s a savage bear loose in the nearby woods and it already killed multiple of the hunters that tried to catch it . the challenge includes that whoever kills the bear will be declared the ultimate macho hero with the biggest set of balls . upon arrival  however  it quickly becomes obvious they  re not up against a bear but a bewildered and utterly maniacal war veteran with quite an arsenal of weapons in his hideout and numerous combat tricks up his sleeve . after a whole decade of tame and derivative american slashers  this early    s mexican effort looks and feels very refreshing and vivid . the formula is simplistic but efficient  the lead characters are plausible enough and the building up towards the confrontations with the sadist killer is reasonably suspenseful . the maniac must have been a fan of freddy krueger and michael myers  as he also uses a self  made glove with sharp knives attached to it and a white mask to cover his face . the murders are pleasingly nasty and barbaric  which i was really hoping for since the awesome aforementioned opening sequences  and waste a whole lot of gratuitous blood . the forestry setting and particularly the camouflaged booby traps are joyously spectacular .  trampa internal  is a mexican slasher  survival sleeper hit that comes warmly recommended to the fans of the genre .  
screenwriter lisa lutz began writing the screenplay at the age of   in      br    br   is she even in business  if someone gave her another chance after this piece of crap  she  s up for the most fortunate person of ever award . this movie sucks to no end . . . it never ceases to amaze me what the turn into movies . . . and the fact that they made this writer put it off for a bit  seriously  i can write better crap than this in my sleep .  br    br   ok  so how many lines to i have to type  i don  t get this at all . i guess i  m a newbie . i guess i don  t understand why there should ever be a limit to what anyone has to say . . . or a quota  seriously  i don  t care if you have a one word sentence . . . or even a one word response . i mean  c  mon   br    br   thanks . . . is this enough  finally   br    br   this movie is worthless .  
rumour has it that around the time that abba  the multi  award winning swedish disco favourites   s star had reached its zenith  the band grew disillusioned with singing in english and yearned to perform in their native tongue . soon after  problems began to emerge in the onetime  wed locked  watertight partnership and recordings became less and less frequent . the band dissolved  albeit unofficially  in     and pop lost one of its most celebrated artists . although they have never admitted that there  s any truth in those rumours  the fact remains that abba would never have been so successful had they only recorded in their native tongue . if you want to appeal to the largest money  making media market in the entire world  then you must cater for english speaking audiences .  br    br   it  s amazing for me how such a small island that  s located a stone  throw away from the european continent could have created perhaps the most recognised  although not most widely spoken  language in the world . everyone speaks a little bit of english whether it be simply  hello  or a common swear word  you  ll find an english speaker almost everywhere . pedro galindo obviously didn  t agree  because trampa infernal was never subtitled for global consumption until it was released recently on budget dvd . that  s a real shame  because it  s actually a decent slasher movie that  s a lot better than many of its english  speaking genre compatriots .  br    br   the film launches in the somewhat unfamiliar territory of a pistol duel . two unidentified characters are shown sneaking around a dilapidated complex searching out one another for the inevitable final showdown . after some suspense and a couple of near misses  one of the pistoleers emerges victoriously . next we learn that they were only paintball guns and the two competitors are actually youngsters from the local town . nacho and mauricio are fiercest rivals and mauricio is always trying to prove himself to be better than his soft  spoken opponent  but as of yet he hasn  t succeeded .  br    br   later that night  whilst the victorious gunslinger celebrates his triumph with his girlfriend alejandra and his buddy charly  mauricio enters the bar and says that he has one last challenge for his glorious nemesis . he says that this will be the competition that will prove to the town once and for all who deserves the uttermost respect . nacho is at first reluctant because alejandra warns him of the perils of continual competitiveness  but he eventually succumbs to the weight of peer pressure and agrees much to the distaste of his morally superior partner .  br    br   they plan to head out to the remote region of filo de caballo  because recent press coverage has reported that numerous people have been butchered by what locals believe to be a vicious bear . mauricio proposes that whoever murders the animal can be regarded as the greatest and he also promises that it will be the last battle that he wages against his adversary .  br    br   after visiting the armoury to stock up on weapons and ignoring the warnings of the elderly store  keeper  the group set out to the remoteness of the secluded woodland . hunters become hunted as they learn that the  bear  is actually a homicidal vietnam vet who is still unaware that the war has ended and considers all humans as his enemy . what started as a competitive adventure suddenly becomes a battle for survival as they are stalked and slaughtered by the malevolent assassin .  br    br   i picked up trampa whilst studying in madrid from a mexican student who lived in the dorm room next  door to me . i remember that the copy i watched was faulty and the tape ended about   minutes before the final credits rolled  which meant i never got to see the final scenes . thankfully i came across the budget dvd recently on amazon and immediately added it to my collection .  br    br   gallindo  s slasher is a surprisingly good effort that excels from its skillful direction and enthusiastic plot  which attempts to cover areas not usually approached by slasher movies . it is in fact so good that it reminded me on more than one occasion of the arnold schwarzenegger classic predator . this is especially evident in the scenes that show the creepily  masked assassin jogging through the forest and stalking the panic  stricken troupe as they struggle to escape the maniac  s playground .  br    br   despite gallindo  s obvious awareness of genre platitudes  the bogeyman even uses a claw  fingered glove a la freddy kruegar   trampa also attempts to add something different to the standard template . whilst the majority of the runtime plays by the concrete rules of the category  the final third heralds a significant step in individuality as the maniac arms himself with a machine gun and entices the hero to his lair for the final showdown . from here on  the film rapidly swaps genres and becomes almost an action film  which depending on your taste will either excite or disappoint you . the last slasher that tried to crossbreed the two styles was that shoddy eighties entry  the majorettes   which is not necessarily a good thing .  br    br   as is the case with many latin films  especially spanish flicks by almodovar and amenabar   trampa has a subtle undercurrent of a moral to its story  which is conveyed successfully without being rammed down the viewer  s throat . over indulge in the temptations of competitive masculinity and you may not always be the winner . it  s a sugar  coated point  but it  s handled delicately enough not to detract from the fun of the feature .  br    br   trampa may be cheesy  but it deserves to be seen and recognised as one of the better late slashers . the killer looks great in creepy army fatigues and white valentine  style mask and the attempts at originality just about work . it may lack the gore that most sincere horror fans enjoy  but it has enough in terms of suspense and creativity to warrant at least one viewing .  
simply put  this is the worst movie since  police academy mission to moscow   if you liked that movie you will probably like this one  .  br    br   what were they thinking  some ideas should stay just that  an idea . the fact that this idea could itself to film should be a criminal offense .  br    br   what was so bad about it i hear you ask . one word . . . everything .  br    br   cost to hire   .   cost in time to watch   minutes  br    br   i want a refund on both   
i think it  s one of the greatest movies which are ever made  and i  ve seen many . . . the book is better  but it  s still a very good movie   
plan b has the appearance of a quickly made  unedited  sloppy script for a movie with the attempt for an outing for the actors involved  an outing that should have been nixed from the start . it is just another mafia  based  comedy  that has nothing new and lowers the standard for those participating .  br    br   joe maloni  paul sorvino  is the crime boss more concerned about clothing and appearances than about his business of control . his personal assistant mario  anthony desando  is dumber than dirt and his ignorance is supposed to be funny . maloni has whacked one of his debtors  who just happens to be married to bookish fran  diane keaton  and maloni takes fran on as his assistant to work off her dead husband  s debt by being maloni  s  hit man  . fran is afraid of her own shadow and is unable to carry out maloni  s assignments  electing instead to transport her  whackees  to florida to hide at her brother james  house until she can figure out what to do next . this alternative to killing the three candidates is called plan b  plan a being to kill them  the ending is wholly predictable just as is every line assigned in the script to the characters .  br    br   diane keaton has made a lot of fine films and is one of our most talented actresses and comediennes  but here she screams and rants and twitches her way through a ridiculous part that quickly becomes annoying to watch . paul sorvino is  well  the paul sorvino type cast from other mobster films . the supporting cast is likewise allowed to play to the balcony in the broadest slapstick  pratfall fashion imaginable . what is supposed to be a comedy ends up being just silly and overdone . director greg yaitanes needs to go back to tv sitcoms had this flimsy story been compressed into a half  hour gig it might have had a chance . grady harp  
all this talk about this being a bad movie is nonsense . as a matter of fact this is the best movie i  ve ever seen . it  s an excellent story and the actors in the movie are some of the best . i would not give criticism to any of the actors . that movie is the best and it will always stay that way .  
i  m usually not one to say that a film is not worth watching  but this is certainly an extenuating circumstance . the only true upside to this film is cornelia sharpe  looking rather attractive  and the fact that this film is really short .  br    br   the plot in the film is unbelievably boring and goes virtually nowhere throughout the film . none of the characters are even remotely interesting and there is no reason to care about anyone . i  m not sure why on earth sean connery agreed to do this film  but he should have definitely passed on this one .  br    br   the only reason i could see for seeing this film is if you are a die  hard sean connery fan and simply want to see everything he  s done . save this one for last though .  br    br   well  if you by some miracle end up seeing this despite my review  or any of the other reviews on this site   then i hope you enjoy it more than i did . thanks for reading .  
i never heard of the book  nor care to read it  but the movie i will probably see many times .  br    br   this film is unforgettable with perhaps the richest imagery i have ever seen in a movie . it was as if i was looking at paintings many times  which i think was the idea .  br    br   terrific movie  story  actors  and cinematography . full of profound emotions from every angle . although i am not particularly fond of romance movies  i loved this and was deeply moved by winona ryder  s plea to her father toward the end .  br    br   mr . irons deserved an award for his performance and close was never better .  br    br    
this is a case of a bunch of people thinking they are so clever they have a story that fits the time . remember the all  around political conspiracies caught on camera in the years leading to the watergate and a little later  most movies trying to cash in on made  for  tv  o so powerful  o so mind numbing  conspiracies were in fact caught in their own navel  gazing attitude .  br    br   i was never a fan of the conversation which i find as much dated as others conspiracy stints of the time but coppola was true to his main character and hackman was a pretty engaging actor to observe . i mean these conspiracy movies are mostly drowning in the character pool of noir heroes . lots of questions unanswered  lots of dis  communication . . . well this takes at least bergman to build a movie about such un  visual bases .  br    br   the next man is a perfect example of its time one political soup served with an idealistic character and an horrendous conspiracy tightening its web around him . neither part is interesting in itself and the whole doesn  t get any better . in fact you can tell how much it will be bad from the very first sequences piling up  watcha that  murders without ever advancing any storyline . pedestrian directing at its worst as most of the movie is one pompous accumulation of scenes revolving around violence naively brought under the viewer  s eyes .  
can such an ambient production have failed its primary goal  which was to correctly adapt allende  s novel  obviously yes . bille august managed to make a superficial  shallow film where basic elements of south american mentality are presented simply as side events  resulting in total incoherency . i can  t believe there was a whole production team that could not understand the book  there is of course technical quality in this film and i think the actors did their best with what they had in their hands  but something is missing . and this something was the most important part .  
the movie had a lot of potential  unfortunately  it came apart because of a weak  implausible story line  miscasting  and general lack of content  substance . one of the very obvious flaws was that sean connery  who played an arab man  didn  t know how to pronounce his own arab name  this may seem a small flaw but it points to the seeming lack of effort in paying attention to details . the quality of acting was uniformly well below average .  br    br   movie  s solitary saving grace was the twist in the plot at the very end and a french song  i don  t recall the title  . overall  it was a pretty bad movie where sean connery was visibly miscast .  
perhaps the best isabel allende  s book  house of the spirits describes an alternative chilean history  this one full of magic  a mystic veil  plus some kind of omnipresent sadness . this movie gathers a great cast  plus a great art direction  with a script that cannot contain all this book  s quality . it  s unusual for a nearly unknown country like chile to get so well represented as it is by this movie  whose perhaps only sin is to aim too high  and because of that left the illiterate public a little upset  mostly because they understood very little .  
i found  the arab conspiracy  in a bargain bin and thought i  d uncovered a lost treasure . folks  there  s a reason why you don  t hear much about this film . the plot is muddy  the pacing is slow  cornelia sharpe is about as vivacious as plain  cold tofu  and the ending leaves you flat . not even sean connery can save this one .  
well  i said it all in the summary  i simpley adore the movie and the cast . . . i would give each actor an oscar . . . great  great movie . . . i  m   now and i watched it  times in different periods and i always think i won  t cry and i always do  about  or  times . . .   meryl s . was absolutely brilliant  jeremy irons also . . just brilliant . . . i wish the movie received more awards . . . i really don  t know anybody who watched it and didn  t loved it . . . also  glenn close was fantastic . . . the story was beautiful and sad at the same time . . . i loved the fact that despite everything clara and esteban loved each other so much  and how blanca was close to her parents . . .  
when watching this show you are not quite sure whether it is the story or the acting that is more annoying . first of all  the storyline of each episode is very predictable  the writers must have used every clich possible  you can guess not only the general plot  but the arrangement of the scenes and also the lines of each character  making the show some sort of a collage of every police series out there . on the top of it all comes the  message  of the show  that the good are good and the bad are bad and that at the end of the day the good shall prevail and that we should all love each other  be better man and better citizens  all done in the most ostensible manner . the actors  as the vehicles of this message and nothing more than that  will use a limited set of acting skills the  i am a good carrying person  smile  the concerned look and the  victory is ours  body posture  while the bad guys have the  i  m a bad one  frowning and the  you caught me  look  followed by the  i  m good for nothing and i should be removed from society  head banding  this kind of also sums up the general development of each show  . true story or not  the show is garbage  yet another proof that producers don  t give a st about viewers  that we are all thought to be idiots . well this series makes every possible attempt to idiotize the living brains out of you .  
maybe it  s because i saw the movie before reading the book  but i really love this movie . i  ve seen it many many times and will be watching it many times more . it  s a compelling story  that  s interesting from the beginning to the end . it has everything action  romance etc .  
although this seems to be quite an old show        i watched my first ever episode last night and i have to say it has to be the worst show . . . ever .  br    br   i am not one for placing comments but i was so shocked that a show could exist that blatantly tries to pander to  and i am only assuming that this was their target audience  children under   years old or people with a less than average iq .  br    br   the episode i was subjected to last night contained so many disjointed story lines  tried to include every possible plot summary imaginable and all the while trying to preach about friendship  family  religion and politics    .  br    br   basic story that they covered in the episode frat house hazing gone wrong wrong with too much alcohol  death turns out to be senators son who wants fbi to investigate . death is actually murder by peanut allergy senator thinks it could be his sworn enemy and childhood best friend who did this because senator was taking money for his votes for legislation but eventually got a conscience and said  no  to mean mulit millionaire . everybody a suspect but all have the usual alibi  ex  girlfriend student shagging a married teacher so had to lie  disgruntled student who was reported by victim actually had life changing experience  senators enemy did not pay desperate student to kill sworn enemies son  he gives money freely to lots of broke students  . all the while the heroine of this dribble has her niece staying who is  at that age  and has a crush on a boy  who she eventually gets the courage to talk to with the assistance of her aunty  but only to dump him because the  in  girls says he is not good enough and so to keep in with them she dumps him . don  t worry  she gets back with boy after she learns the truth about life and the  in  girls drop her  aunty also explains that god is the only one who truly she can rely on  i was almost sick at this point  .  br    br   this  drama  gets even better when sue and her fbi team find out who the killer is . . . your gonna laugh at this  i sure did . . .  br    br   it is one of the frat boys who only a year ago found out he was adopted and that his real dad is an international terrorist and he is trying to impressive real daddy by killing boy and planting bomb at funeral . . . . . . .  br    br   the characters are cardboard the acting is cardboard the continuity is cardboard the story is cardboard anybody who says that they love this show has cardboard for a brain  br    br   why the writers of this show have tried to pack in every eventuality into the one show means that they obviously have no faith in the character development or actors capability to carry off a simple plot line . watching this show is like watching  last action hero  with arnie killing      people with a tooth pick  except arnie is a better actor  wow  never thought there would be a day that i would say that     br    br   in the words of the simpsons beloved character  comic book guy  . . . .  br    br   worst tv show . . . . . ever .  
i caught this movie on my local movie channel  and i rather enjoyed watching the film . it has all the elements of a good teen film  and more  this film  aside from dealing with boys  girls relationships and sex and the like  also deals with the issue of steroid use by young people .  br    br   the film has that real  life feel to it  no loud music  no special effects and no outrageous scenes  which  for this movie  was right . that feel makes it easy to relate to the characters in the film  some of which we probably know from where we live .  br    br   overall  a good movie  fun to watch .  br    br        
even though many people here praises this movie  i have to warn you . it has no logic whatsoever . i think that basinger does a decent job at acting  but you can  t make a thriller if there is a great lack of realism .  br    br   this scene paints a good picture for you of the movie  while basinger is pursued by murderous thugs she decides to sit down and gaze upon a picture she finds from her pocket . the picture is from her daughter and it reads  we love you mommy  . who does something like that  what the eff  and believe me when i say that it is not nearly as stupid as some other scenes of the movie . someone stated that this is a  hidden gem  . well  i have to strongly disagree  this movie has stayed hidden for a reason . and it  s not a gem . oh  and please  i don  t even want to start commenting about the red toolbox . it hurts my brain d usually the lack of logic does not bother me if it is in small amounts  but this movie basically is made possible only because of the lack of logic . but  i still give it a  because even though it is embarrassingly flawed in logic  it has certain mood that kept me watching till the end .  br    br   so if you choose to watch this  you know you have been warned .  
this is one of the few movies i watched twice in the theatre . i really love this movie for its atmosphere and its telling of the life of tragic hero esteban trueba . he makes so many mistakes but gets a chance for redemption . isn  t this a rather consoling thought   br    br   when i watched it for the first time  i thought that after the won election  the movie would be over  i didn  t know the book . so boy was i wrong when the dramatic climax was still to come  i was literally swept away by the sheer power of the last half hour of the film .  br    br   many people here utterly dislike this movie . i cannot understand that one single bit . maybe those who read the book first are  as often with screen adaptations of novels  simply disappointed that so many things have remained untold  unseen  unexplained . but as a movie telling a touching story  the story of a family  the rise and fall of a man  the deep compassion of a woman  the strength of love and the insanity of hate  and conservatism   this movie is simply splendid  furthermore  the soundtrack is incredibly good and the cast is wonderful as well  especially winona ryder and jeremy irons .  br    br   so definitely one of those films that cinema was invented for   
i saw one of the stage performances in denver and have never been less impressed . the word  vagina  says it all . a body part . nothing shocking here . i could say to my doctor   my left arm has been hurting a bit after tennis  or  my vagina hurts after cycling  with equal or more social commentary . it could be the  tricep monologues  for all the entertainment or radical comment i heard . the monologues were dull but delivered with drama  the topics were outdated  and i was alternately bored and annoyed . once i think i laughed but apparently it wasn  t when i was supposed to . surely this isn  t really a hit . oh  and spoilers there was a lesbian   oh  wait  maybe not  come to think of it . and inappropriate fondling  and a crack mama  that about covers it .  
this movie is an incredible piece of work . it explores every nook and cranny of the human mind  focusing on the characters relationships with the people around them . stellar performances all around . this one had me weeping for about half an hour straight . spend some real time with this one .  
hearing such praise about this play  i decided to watch it when i stumbled across it on cable . i don  t see how this  elivates  women and their  struggles  by focusing on the topic at hand . i guess if you have an interest in stories about women  s private parts and how it affects their lives  then this is for you . otherwise  it  s rather dull and boring . if anything  i found it a bit degrading .  br    br   i inquired with a female friend who also watched this and she thought it was horrible as well . so  it  s not just a guy  not getting it  .  
at first i didn  t didn  t like it that much  although i did . they didn  t include the third trueba generation  the love between blanca and pedro wans  t well explained and some actors were too different from what i had imagined .  br    br   later i realized that  had the movie been more loyal to the book  it would have been like five hours long  and would be kind of tedious . now i like it very much  because my favourite characters are there as i portraited them . clara really looks like an angel in live  and her introduction to the story at the beggining of the film was fantastic  loyal and short . glenn close is ferula . i pictured her just like that  only not in mourning throughout the whole thing . esteban is find enough . i never really liked his character  and  although i was interested in him  i hated him a lot  more specially when he hit clara . as in the book  the very last part is the most exciting one  and it has real history too there .  br    br   the movie is really good  specially considering that it was a gringo film based upon a latin american book . its amazing how many famous stars are there  don  t you think so   
this was one of the most boring  horror  movies that i have ever seen . a college kid has an epidemic of nightmares involving roaming spirits at alcatraz . trying to deliver a mix of  nightmare on elm street  and standard vampire fare in the form of a bad   s music video  this movie is jammed full of bad acting and an exhaustively slow moving story . although  being such a bad  and often laughable movie  dig those mullets and the terrible dialog   it would be good material to spoof on for an episode of mystery science theater     . don  t be fooled by the proud mention of the film being the     winner of the silver scroll award by the academy of sicence fiction  fanatasy  and horror  or that devo contributes to the soundtrack  or that tony basil has a part in the film . it is a giant disaster  though one with a small cult following  see the other imdb comments for this film  .  
the photography of this bid  budget production is surprisingly bad . colors are muddy and brownish and the photography has very   ish look to it . direction and editing are often quite uninspired and tv  movie like  too . and at first the movie only seems to want to torture its viewers with lurid images of sex and violence . hans zimmer  s score is also a typically simple and bland work of this overrated  untalented composer .  br    br   but if you are willing to watch the movie further you are rewarded with a very moving family story  a sort of european version of edna ferber  s family epos giant . while at first you wonder why clara married this idiotic man  even his character gets more depth and more background one can judge him by . clara delivers the movie  s spiritual lesson  a great and moving statement set against the terrible happenings in her country . her daughter  whose lover is a young antonio banderas at the beginning of his international career  understands that lesson and ultimately tries to live by it . the way the plot was constructed with the ending mirroring the beginning was great . the actors all do a great job  too . i was wondering  who is the actress playing blanca   all the time  but of course  it was a really young winona ryder   br    br   all in all  this movie really made me want to read the book .  
college student alex gardner  nicholas celozzi  is plagued by nightmares of a cellar  dwelling ghoul at alcatraz . he dreams of cutting off his own hand  spitting up a worm  a ghoul ripping open his chest and being roasted over an open fire . after his friends see him levitating   feet  over his bed  a helpful  occult  obsessed teacher  donna denton  suggests that they sneak into alcatraz to face his fears . of course they go in the middle of the night when no one is around to help when things get out of hand   br    br   the group become stranded  alex  s brother richard  tom reilly  becomes possessed and starts killing everyone . toni basil of  mickey  fame shows up as the helpful ghost of sammy mitchell  lead singer of the group  bodybag  . she teaches alex how to levitate out of his body and does a rock music dance intercut with repeat nightmare footage to pad out the running time . all of the victims show up as wisecracking ghosts a la the griffin dunne character in an american werewolf in london . the script is full of plot holes  cheesy dialogue and lame attempts at comedy . good fx work and cool opening credits  both by ernest d . farino  are the only things gaining any merit . basil and devo   whip it   do some songs on the soundtrack .  br    br   score  out of    
could not understand why jeremy irons felt it necessary to exhibit a most disconcerting accent  spoken through clenched teeth  and from the back of his throat . in fact it rather spoiled the film for me  and distracted from what was probably a fine performance by him  very irritating  . no other actor or actress seemed to have such a pronounced accent and whilst i have always rated jeremy irons as a fine actor  i would not class this film as being one of his best . the film however has whetted my appetite  as have some of the other comments made re this film  which i have found very interesting  and intend to now read the book .  
well after three times through i still have no idea what this movie is about because  quite honestly  it failed to generate any real interest or concern . but here it goes a bunch of too old to be teen teen actors dressed in horrifying latter      s fashions  did we look like that too    decide it would be a really good idea to get in a motorboat and go visit the abandoned alcatraz after one of them has nightmares of people being slaughtered in various horrifying ways that manage to rip off poltergeist  the evil dead  and freddy kreuger in one fell swoop . the dimwit even envisions himself being roasted over an open fire with some deformed freak slicing off strips of tenderloin . good thing it was only a dream or it might have hurt  and good thing his dreams had a decent special effects budget . mine are usually pretty lame girls  model space ships  blowing things up with a bazooka  etc .  br    br   once on the alcatraz island they find themselves in a slasher movie  and meet up with tony basil  who cannot help but break into a couple dance poses at times and had her own lighting crew  complete with a smoke machine for that      s smoky haze infused light look  which i kind of miss  . and such reminded me that ms . basil helped choreograph david byrne of the talking heads for some of his videos and performances . this of course has nothing at all to do with the film but kept popping into mind as the movie posed very little to actually think about . it sort of happens  and you can either watch or keep working on your page markup with it on the tv set off to the side . but since the film isn  t really interesting  you  ll keep deciding to finish one last thing instead of wasting time  the movie will keep ending  and you  ll find yourself wondering what you missed every time you realize the end credits are starting to roll again  dammit . . .  br    br   some      s teen horror movies can survive such specialized viewing umberto lenzi  s ghosthouse  chopping mall  it  s killbots  the hard to ignore night of the creeps and the over  the  top sleepaway camp all come to mind . they are films that  like them or not  demand your attention and usually pay off with some good gore or ta  and typos in your work as evidence that you were watching the tv instead of your keyboard . i am sure that hell island  as the british version i glommed onto is titled  does indeed have some good stuff in there  but frankly i don  t care . and nothing is more annoying that encountering art of any genre that doesn  t inspire admiration  some decent dislike or even good old honest hatred for it . the film is content with simpering away    whatever minutes of time and never really accomplishing anything more than being a sometimes distraction in spite of my best efforts to try and give it a chance  but no dice .  br    br   there is some offbeat production design going on  the use of lighting is striking at times  and the occasional outburst of mayhem will probably keep fans of      s teen horror interested . the rest of you be warned though you will wonder if you dressed like that in      and the answer is probably more hideous than anything which happens on screen . try to watch it as a free rental if possible so that if disappointed you aren  t stuck with the damn thing movies like this take up valuable shelf space that is often at a commodity these days  what with the world coming to an end  all . . .  
brilliant adaptation of the novel that made famous the relatives of chilean president salvador allende killed . in the environment of a large estate that arises from the ruins  becoming a force to abuse and exploitation of outrage  a luxury estate for the benefit of the upstart esteban trueba and his undeserved family  the brilliant danish director bille august recreates  in micro  which at the time would be the process leading to the greatest infamy of his story to the hardened chilean nation  and whose main character would augusto pinochet  stephen similarities with it are inevitable recall  as an example  that image of the senator with dark glasses that makes him the wink to the general to begin making the palace  .  br    br   bille august attends an exceptional cast in the jeremy protruding irons  whose character changes from arrogance and extreme cruelty  the hard lesson that life always brings us to almost force us to change . in esteban fully applies the law of resonance  with great wisdom  solomon describes in these words  the things that freckles are the same punishment that will serve you .   br    br   unforgettable glenn close playing splint  the tainted sister of stephen  whose sin  driven by loneliness  spiritual and platonic love was the wife of his cruel snowy brother . meryl streep also brilliant  a woman whose name came to him like a glove clara . with telekinetic powers  cognitive and mediumistic  this hardened woman  loyal to his blunt  conservative husband  is an indicator of character and self  control that we wish for ourselves and for all human beings .  br    br   every character is a portrait of virtuosity  as blanca worthy rebel leader pedro segundo unhappy . . .  or a portrait of humiliation  like stephen jr .  the bastard child of senator  who serves as an instrument for the return of the boomerang .  br    br   the film moves the bowels  we recreated some facts that should not ever be repeated  but that absurdly still happen  colombia is a sad example  and another reminder that  against all  life is wonderful because there are always people like isabel allende and immortalize just bille august .  
the storyline is absurd and lame  also sucking are performances and the dialogue  is hard to keep your eyes open . i advise you to have a caffeine  propelled friend handy to wake you in time for a couple gore  effects . why they bring alcatraz in  in this case  becomes increasingly difficult to swallow . all the while  i wondered who this film aimed for  chock full of lame subplots  such as the cannibalism us army  captain  this is low  grade in every aspect . btw this movie is banned in germany    
i liked the movie  first of all because it told an interesting story  but the story as told in the movie felt like it was condensed from a much  longer story . since the book is over    pages  that makes sense . it spans a time period from the     s to the     s  in a fictional south american country  also a lot to fit into the time available . i think it would have been much better as a six  hour mini  series than it turned out as a     minute movie .  br    br   even though it  s rushed  the story doesn  t skip so much that it gets confusing . what is told is told fairly well . one fault is that clara  s supernatural powers appear inconsistently either they should have appeared more evenly through the course of the movie  or they should have been left out . two more faults  which could be spoilers   esteban  s eventual return to goodness happens somewhat too suddenly  and ferula  s curse seems to wear off  even though the tone of the story suggests that it should endure forever .  br    br   the acting is excellent . glenn close  as the tormented spinster ferula  is outstanding . jeremy irons  as the brutal self  made rich man  is also excellent . meryl streep  as the main character clara  is great  although she  s often even better than she was in this movie . there were many well  performed smaller roles too . the biggest fault is that the movie seemed to lack a dialect coach each actor seemed to speak in a different sort of accent .  
the summary provided by my cable tv guide made it sound a lot more interesting than it actually is .  slaughterhouse rock  is by far the worst horror film that i have ever seen  a title previously held by  urban legends final cut  . from its opening scene i could tell it  s going to be really bad  but i was so bored that i couldn  t care less . this film contains laughable acting  especially by the guy who  s tormented in his dreams  incredible as in not credible plot twists  and some of the crappiest music i  ve heard  and i  m living in a period when the likes of britney spears and nsync dominate the air waves . the biggest problem with  slaughterhouse rock  is that it  s not funny . one would a film as dull and boring and so not scary as this would try to spice things up a bit with a few funny one  liners here and there  but no . we have tormented guy  s self  centered friend trying to be funny  but came across as annoying instead .  spoiler  and please  do tell me  who in this crazy world is insane and self  loathing enough to visit a creepy jail in the middle of the night  no one  if you  re going to make a horror movie  at least make it believable . this one is anything but .  
although the story is fictional  it draws from the reality of not only the history of latin american countries but all the third world . this is the true  pure and raw recent history of these countries summarized concisely in this novel  film . the offbeat supranatural stuff  lightens up the intensity of historical events presented in this movie . after all the supranatural stuff is a part of the culture in the third world . although is not critically acclaimed  probably because of the supranatural stuff   this is an excellent movie  with a great story and great acting .  
the late    s saw an inexplicable rash of supernatural horror films set in gloomy penitentiary settings . renny harlin  s superbly gritty and moody  prison  got the whole haunted hoosegow ball rolling it was immediately followed by the markedly inferior  the chair   john saxon  s enjoyably trashy  death house   the passable psycho picture  destroyer   and this hideously limp  n  lethargic exercise in hopelessly comatose tedium .  br    br   your usual annoying collection of horribly unsympathetic college student chowderheads lead by insufferably spineless tormented twerp alex  the hugely unappealing nicholas celozzi  go to alcatraz island to investigate the bizarre circumstances surrounding the sudden gruesome death of up  and  coming rock star sammy mitchell  blandly played by toni basil of  hey micky  fame  . alex  s brother becomes possessed by the evil demonic spirit of a vicious cannibalistic us civil war cavalry commandant and goes on the expected killing spree  thus forcing wimpy alex to overcome his passivity and make a stand against this ghoulish specter .  br    br   although slickly photographed by nicholas von sternberg  with a few decent gore set pieces and a fair amount of spooky atmosphere  the film was shot on location in the dismal  rusty  rundown ruins of alcatraz island    slaughterhouse rock  nonetheless just doesn  t cut it as a solid  effective fright feature . this is largely due to the uniformly obnoxious and unlikeable collegiate smartaleck characters  a tiresomely smirky bunch whose inane comic antics prove to be grating rather than amusing . the flat acting from a noticeably disinterested cast hurts matters all the more  with onetime  playboy  playmate and undeniable blonde cutie pie hottie supreme hope marie carlton doing an especially irritating linnea quigley impersonation as the token oversexed nympho bimbo . dimitri logothetis  direction displays a modicum of flashy visual style  but the tone is unevenly pitched between grim seriousness and goofy  horrendously sophomoric silliness  and  most damagingly  ted landon  s sloppy  inconsistent  overly complicated and finally quite confusing script miserably fails to develop the necessary internal logic to make the far  fetched story even remotely plausible . in other words  this stinker sadly succeeds in making a scant   minutes seem like an excruciatingly drawn  out cinematic jail sentence .  
the house of the spirits is a gripping tale of family intrigue  south american politics and super  natural powers . meryl streep  glenn close and jeremy irons bring isabel allende  s novel to life with all its passion and suspense . this  in my view  is one of the best films of the     s . jeremy irons as esteban trueba ages and mellows very believably  while meryl streep in the role of clara maintains her gentle  loving warmth throughout her relatively short life . winona ryder and antonio banderas make a handsome couple struggling for family acceptance in a racist culture . glenn close  as esteban  s sister  gives a very moving performance . the countryside of portugal is a reasonable substitute for a non  tropical latin american country . settings of clara  s home and esteban  s ranch are effective and the period us cars add nicely to the post  war atmosphere .  
making the film as dark and visually fuzzy as possible in order to cover up the budget deficiencies is an often  used strategy in low  budget horror films  but this one takes it too far . it is so poorly lit and murky  and it takes place almost entirely at night  to boot  that you often end up virtually looking at a black screen  although perhaps the bad video transfer may also have had something to do with that  . alas   murky  is also the best word to describe the movie  s plot . the filmmakers throw in diverse  and unoriginal  horror ideas without any semblance of logic  and halfway through you get the feeling that they just about abandoned the effort to make a good horror film you know it when you see characters who are supposed to be in mortal danger  or  in some occasions  even dead  making small talk . . . .        
before all  i  d like to point out that i have not read the book  so there was no chance i  d be disappointed in that aspect . the major flaw i spotted was historical detail  with several cars  trains  clothes  etc . i think dont belong at that time .  br    br   possible spoiler  br    br   the technical aspect of the film is ok  nothing to brag about . but the acting  i think  was terrific . i don  t have no experience in acting  still i can  t believe how people can consider this terrible  maybe they  ve only seen two movies  ever   and the other one must have been very good indeed   br    br   i specially liked jeremy irons  and really understood his character  someone who crawled up the social ladder with very hard work  then fights against those who would take his life  s work from him  only he gets so involved in this fight  he doesn  t realize reason is no longer at his side  and he ends up a beaten  disappointed man . irons made this so believable  i sympathized with the character despite his brutality .  br    br   after jeremy irons  winona ryder is also wonderful as a romantic young women  who is drawn into the revolutionary ideals by her boyfriend  banderas  he had an under  developed part  i think   and glenn close was also very good . meryl streep had an average performance  it was not bad  just not up to the standards of the other actors . watch out for miguel guilherme  a fine portuguese actor  between so many stars .  br    br   in contrast to today  s movies  here only the interpretations  only people matter  but at the same time  it is not a pretensious film  too worried trying to be intellectual . the best proof i really liked it  i  m writing a review  years later .  
i  m gettin  sick of movies that sound entertaining in a one  line synopsis then end up being equal to what you  d find in the bottom center of a compost heap .  br    br   who knows  witchery  may have sounded interesting in a pitch to the studios  even with a  big name cast   like blair and hasselhoff  wink  wink  nudge  nudge  and the effervescent likes of hildegard knef  i dunno  some woman . . .  .  br    br   but on film  it just falls apart faster than a papier  mache sculpture in a rainstorm . seems these unfortunate folks are trapped in an island mansion off the eastern seaboard  and one of them  a woman  i  d guess  is being targeted by a satanic cult to bear the child of hell while the others are offed in grotesque  tortuous ways .  br    br   okay  right there you have a cross  section of plots from  the exorcist    the omen    ten little indians  and a few other lesser movies in the satanic  worshippers  run  amok line . none of it is very entertaining and for the most part  you  ll cringe your way from scene to scene until it  s over .  br    br   no  not even linda blair and david hasselhoff help matters much . they  re just in it to pick up a paycheck and don  t seem very intent on giving it their  all  .  br    br   from the looks of it  hasselhoff probably wishes he were back on the beack with pam anderson  and who can blame him   and linda . . . well  who knows a celebrity peta benefit or pro  am golf tour or whatever it is she  s in to nowadays .  br    br   and the torture scenes  ecchhhh . you  ll see people get their mouths sewn shut  dangled up inside roaring fireplaces  strung up in trees during a violent storm  vessels bursting out of their necks  etc  etc . sheesh  and i thought  mark of the devil  was the most sadistic movie i  d seen . . . .  br    br   don  t bother . it  s not worth your time . i can  t believe i told you as much as i did . if you do watch it  just see if you can count the cliches . and yes  blair gets possessed  as if you didn  t see that coming down main street followed by a marching band .  br    br   no stars .  witchery   these witches will give you itches .  
this     nbc  tv movie aired six months before john goodman  s big  screen version of the life of babe ruth came out . for my money  there is no comparison between the two . the tv production isn  t perfect but it presents the babe  s story with more depth and complexity than goodman  s one  dimensional telling . i especially enjoyed the film  s depiction of the complex love  hate relationship ruth had with yankee manager miller huggins  who always understood his star player  s brilliance and also kept trying to point out why ruth  s own character flaws would never let him become a manager or leader of players . the tv  movie rightly notes how ruth never fulfilled his dream of managing the yankees because of his flaws  while the horrible goodman version tries to push the falsehood that ruth was denied what should have been his for the taking .  br    br   this film makes a great companion piece to  eight men out  since the story starts with ruth  s arrival in new york in      one year after the black sox scandal and when his home run exploits literally saved baseball from ruin . indeed  the continuity between the two films is even accentuated with john anderson reprising his  eight men out  role as commissioner kenesaw mountain landis .  
wow . rarely have i felt the need to comment on movies lately  but this one especially is begging for a beatdown . let  s start at the beginning . first  writer  director susan montford puts kim basinger in the tired old victim role  complete with the requisite abusive husband and dull suburban existence . let it be said right now that almost all content in this dull movie is completely hackneyed and trite . montford  s pathetic attempt at symbolism involving the christmas tree with no star is laughable .  br    br   when she goes out for some christmas wrapping paper one dark and ominous night  della is furious that somebody double  parked their car on the busiest shopping night of the year . she decides to do something about it  so she leaves a nasty note on the car  s windshield . the next fifteen minutes of the movie are devoted to della walking around aimlessly in the shopping mall . when she finally gets to her car  the thugs confront her about the note  a cop is killed  and she runs  and they catch up to her  and she gets away  and they chase her some more  and on and on . everything is completely predictable and uninvolving . the thugs are not scary or menacing at all  and they all get picked off one by one in all the usual ways .  br    br   this is one of those movies in which all the action depends on the characters being as stupid as you can imagine . why the bad guys don  t just kill her instead of waiting for her to hit them with a tire iron is beyond me . and once  just once  in a film like this  does the leader of the pack have to die last  what does it matter that they are all picked off one by one when they are all equally inept  much of the movie simply consists of lukas haas running around in the woods screaming  della     and the inclusion of joy division on the soundtrack of this wretched film is insulting .  br    br   the part that really made me run for my computer keypad was when della  exhausted and hurt  cries out to the heavens   where are you  god   where  indeed  was god when this movie was being made  i give it a  only because of competent cinematography and lighting  and it  s not as bad as  btk killer   the ultimate marker for judging any terrible film . cheers   
hotel du nord is a gripping drama of guilt in which marcel carne portrayed an entertaining tale of ill  fated love which also functions as a revolt against the cruel world . the film is based entirely on a pair of hapless lovers . pierre and renee were mistaken when they believed that suicide would put an end to their misery . hotel du nord has its own inimitable charm as its inhabitants have become an essential part of the establishment . there is an element of togetherness as everyone flocks to hotel du nord to eat  chat etc . marcel carne has remained true to the spirit of the films produced in   s and   s as hotel du nord has a certain kind of nostalgic feel . carne  while recreating the life of parisian roads was able to create a sort of nostalgia for black and white giving a unique genre of poetic realism to his oeuvre . hotel du nord can be termed as a quintessence of cinematographic populism . the   th july ball scene on the banks of saint martin canal remains a magnificent sequence . the film  s immense popularity can be judged from the fact that hotel du nord has been declared as a national monument .  
i and a friend rented this movie . we both found the movie soundtrack and production techniques to be lagging . the movie  s plot appeared to drag on throughout with little surprise in the ending . we both agreed that the movie could have been compressed into roughly an hour giving it more suspense and moving plot .  
a true classic . beautifully filmed and acted . reveals an area of paris which is alive and filled with comedy and tragedy . although the area of  hotel du nord  and the hotel itself still exists  it is not as gay  in the original sense of the word  and joyful as it once must have been . the film makes one yearn for the past  which has been lost  with a sigh and bittersweetness .  
humm  an italian movie starred by david hasselhoff and linda blair  i wasnt expecting very much  to be honest and in fact  i took even less than i was expecting . it doesnt mean this movie is the worst i have seen because i have watched worse things than this but the plot was most of the times confusing and uninteresting and some good gore scenes are the only thing saving this . apart from that you are going to love some special effects  they are really cheesy and bad . now i only want to watch  troll   by this same director  sure it is not going to be worse than that .  
i love this movie  jouvet  arletty  blier  carn . . . almost everything has already been said about the movie  but there is one detail i  d like to shed some light onto no footage of the real  still standing  htel du nord  is it still  i heard it was to be demolished . . .  has been used for the movie  the whole scene has been rebuilt on set  the main reason being that they could not stop the traffic on the st martin canal for several weeks .  
we brought this film as a joke for a friend  and could of been our worst joke to play . the film is barely watchable  and the acting is dire . the worst child actor ever used and hasslehoff giving a substandard performance . the plot is disgraceful and at points we was so bored we was wondering what the hell was going on . it tries to be gruesome in places but is just laughable .  br    br   just terrible  
this is an excellent film  and is the sort of treasure that one can only catch through sporadic cinema showings  as it is unavailable on video  dvd . the way that the film begins with the two lovers arriving  and ends with them leaving  although quite a lot happens in between  and they don  t stay in one place during this time   gives you a sense of closure  and a feeling that all is right with the world . if you get a chance to see this film  then do . i can  t wait to see it again  and wish that it could be put on general release .  
this only gets bashed because it stars david hasselhoff . well  then let me bash it to . compared to the garbage they call horror coming out nowadays  this film isn  t too bad . it has the beautiful leslie cumming . she is super hot  but can  t talk very well . there is a great scene with her when she is supernaturally raped . she shows off her nice body . linda blair does nothing here as well as hasselhoff .      
i suppose i always felt that hotel du nord was studio  bound  the movement of people cars and camera were just too effortlessly smooth and stagey to have been filmed on location . but no problem  it  s still a much underrated lovely composition from marcel carne . the plot seems a bit choppy at times  as if they were making it up as they went along  but because it is unpredictable holds the attention to the bitter end . the money shots when the  lovers are alone in their room are saddled with some rather stilted dialogue  but it  s all so lovely to fall into any inanity can be accepted . are these  young people symbols of a cancerous hopelessness in pre  war france or simply idiots  suicide pacts are fairly common if the suicidees are young and healthy with their lives before them untrammelled would you think anything other than that they were just misguided fools   br    br   arletty played the part of prostitute well  she kept that zipper on her dress busy throughout anyway  i  ve only seen a few films with jouvet  he is the most impressive invention as pimp in hdn  my trouble is shallow every time i see his face i think of sonnie hale in evergreen   br    br   a remarkably atmospheric  well acted and photographed film with so much happening it needs a few viewings to get it all in place . annabella and aumont made an exceptionally beautiful couple francois  heurtebise  perier in his  nd film had a small amusing part as a gay man . all in all wonderful .  
i watched this movie purely for the setting . it was filmed in an old hotel that a friend owns shares of . the plot was predictable  the acting was mediorcre at best  the scares were all gross  outs  not true scares .  br    br   i don  t remember much of the plot  and i think that  s because there wasn  t much of one to remember . they didn  t even use the hotel to it  s fullest potential . . . the beaches are fantastic and the hotel is situated on a peninsula . at low tide  you can walk almost    mile into the bay  which is actually an eerie sight first thing in the morning or late at night when the wind is howling through the cracks .  br    br   the best way to see this movie is with the remote in your hand so you can fast forward through the action  and i  m using that term loosly  scenes and pause at the beauty of the surroundings   
  hotel du nord  is the only carn movie from the          era which has dialogs not written by jacques prvert  but by henri jeanson . janson was much more interested in the jouvet  arletty couple than in the pair of lovers  annabella  aumont . the latter is rather bland  and their story recalls oddly the edith piaf  s song  les amants d  un jour   except that the chanteuse  s tale is a tragic one . what  s fascinating today is this popular little world  the canal saint  martin settings .  br    br   this movie is dear to the french movies buffs for another very special reason . the pimp jouvet tells his protge raymonde he wants a change of air  atmosphre  because she does not understand the meaning of the world atmosphre  the whore raymonde  wonderful arletty  thinks it  s an insult and she delivers this line  that is  undeniably  the most famous of the whole french cinma  br    br   in french   atmosphre  atmosphre  est  ce que j  ai une gueule d  atmosphre   translation attempt  atmosphere  atmosphere  have i got an atmosphere face  this is our french  nobody  s perfect  .  
this film features two of my favorite guilty pleasures . sure  the effects are laughable  the story confused  but just watching hasselhoff in his knight rider days is always fun . i especially like the old hotel they used to shoot this in  it added to what little suspense was mustered . give it a  .  
fragile carne  just before his great period . although it is sometimes hesitantly directed  and marred by longueurs  hotel du nord is full of the faded charm and beauty typical of french films of the late     s  as well as a relative lightness of touch unusual with this director . all of his great virtues are here the cramped interiors broken up by gliding  complex  delicious camera movements a melancholy deployment of light and shade remarkable  wistful sets by alexander trauner  which are so evocative that they  as the title suggests  take on a shaping personality of their own the quietly mournful music of maurice jaubert a seemingly casual plot about romance  tragedy and fatalism that casts a noose over its characters extraordinary performances by some of the greatest players of all time  in this case louis jouvet and arletty .  br    br   in fact  the film  s biggest failing  and i find myself astonished  as someone who usually  didactically  minimises its importance  to admit it  is its script . it has plenty of wit and poignancy  but without the poetry and irony regular carne collaborator jacques prevert brought to their best films  it cannot avoid slipping into cliche  even if it is only cliche in hindsight  .  br    br   ostensibly set in the boarding house  the film sets up its opening idea of community with two interconnecting tales of doomed love  and emotional  metaphysical and actual isolation the doomed love scenario is the one that works least well . annabella is very beautiful  but not very good at doing tragic  while aumont  s callowness  brilliantly appropriate though it may be  by its nature obtrudes any real  felt  romance . maybe it  s just me  but i find it hard to sympathise with a couple  so young  so attractive  who  after only a few months  are so racked with despair that they have to shoot each other . their high  flown lines are rather embarrassing too . of course  this affair is not meant to be plausible  they are symbolic of youth  hope and possibility being crushed in france  or maybe france itself  despairing  resigned  waiting for death . for symbols to be truly powerful  they must convince on a narrative level  which  i feel  they don  t quite here .  br    br   what saves this plot is its connection with the story of m . edmond  a character linked to the great tradition of french gangsters . although we only learn it gradually  he is a killer in hiding  living off the prostitute played by arletty  having dobbed in his accomplices . in his previous  role   and the theatricality of his position is crucial  he had one set of traits in hiding he has assumed their complete opposite . living a rather aimless life  he is profoundly shaken by the lovers  pact  and becomes fatalistic  realising the folly of trying to cheat death .  br    br   in this way  the admission that one is less a person than a collection of signs  and that death is an unavoidable reality the most powerful masculinity must succumb to  edmond is like a romantic prototype of melville  s clinical killers . with one exception  he gives briefly into hope  a delusion which only strenghtens  if that  s not too much of an unbearable irony  his fatal resolve .  br    br   all this could have been trite if it wasn  t for the truly amazing performance of louis jouvet . i had studied his theatrical work at college  but this was my first taste of his screen talents  and he reveals himself to be worthy of the greats  grant  mastroianni  clift  mason  mitchum  cotten  giving a quiet nobility to a role which is more of a conception  he  needless to say  is allegorical too  than an actual person . edmond begins the film a minor supporting character  but emerges as a tragic hero of some force . like all those major actors  jouvet  s brilliance lies in what he conceals .  br    br   on a formal level  what amazes is carne  s grasping  ten years before its flourishing  of the techniques of the great hollywood melodramas of sirk  ophuls  ray and minnelli . although his theatricality lacks the fluidity and clear  eyed beauty of sierck  s contemporary german melodramas  check out the masterpieces zu neuen ufern and la habenera   carne  s style truly fits his theme  that of entrapment  paralysis  resignation .  br    br   the film  s principle motif is that of water  the credits float and dissolve  the hotel stands by a waterway  but instead of renoir  s open river of possibility  we have a canal  stagnant and manmade  going nowhere . the film begins as it ends  and the setting never changes  except for one brief interlude from which both escapees are doomed to return . characters can only escape through death  their entrapment is emphasised by the narrow rooms they occupy  the walls and frames that hold them captive  the windows that look out on an escape they can never achieve . any hope at the end  therefore  is profoundly  if romantically  compromised .  
a really very bad movie  with a very few good moments or qualities .  br    br   it starts off with pregnant linda blair  who runs down a hallways to flee what might be monsters or people with pitchforks  i  m not sure . she jumps through a window and wakes up  and we see she is very pregnant . the degree to which she is pregnant varies widely throughout the movie .  br    br   she and an annoying and possibly retarded little boy who i thought was her son travel to an abandoned hotel on an island . italian horror directors find the most irritating little boys to put in their movies  on the island already are david hasselhoff and his german  speaking virgin girlfriend  you know how germans are said to love hasselhoff . . .  . he  s taking photographs  and she  s translating an esoteric german book about witches  i think .  br    br   also traveling to the island are an older couple who have purchased it  and a real estate agent  and a woman i thought was their daughter . evidently she was an architect  and linda blair and the boy are the older couple  s children . i guess they all traveled to the island together  but it really seemed like linda and the boy were apart from the rest of them  maybe they were filmed separately  .  br    br   the hotel seems neat  certainly from the exteriors  but it isn  t used to any great effect . an old woman in bad makeup and a black cloak keeps appearing to the boy and chants something in german sometimes  which he eventually records on his sesame street tape recorder .  br    br   people start getting killed  either in their dreams  or sucked into hell or something . some of these gore scenes are ok  but not enough to recommend the movie . though the copy i watched stated it is uncut on the box cover  the death of one character whose veins explode really seems to have been cut . much of the scene is showing another character  s reaction shots  since we  re not seeing anything ourselves . the creepiest scene is one in which a man or demon with a really messy  looking wound of a mouth rapes someone . he looked particularly nasty . there  s a laughably and painfully bad scene in which linda blair is possessed . i wish if a horror movie is going to cast her  they would do something original with her role  and let her leave exorcist behind her  except for the yearly horror conventions  .  br    br   in the weird  largely italian  tradition of claiming to be a sequel to something it is unrelated to  this is also aka la casa  and ghosthouse  . that is  it is supposedly a sequel to casa   ghosthouse  la        it  s not  that  s also a better movie than this one  . la casa  and two were the evil dead       and evil dead ii        again unrelated to witchery and la casa   and much better than those  . there  s also a casa   la       aka house   which seems to want to be a sequel to the fake la casa series and the series house house       house ii the second story        the horror show       aka house iii  and house iv       . how  s the horror show fit in there  it doesn  t really  it claimed to be a sequel  thus requiring the real series entry to renumber itself to cause less  or more   confusion . oddly  the horror show is also aka horror house  and la casa  is also aka horror house  . does your head hurt yet   
anna christie        br    br   on its own terms  this version of garbo  s anna christie  shot a year later in german with a whole new cast  is just toned down and refined enough to work better than the english version  both are american mgm productions  . garbo is if anything more commanding  or more beautiful as a screen presence  and her acting is more restrained . and she seems frankly more at ease  probably for a lot of reasons  but we can speculate that she was no longer making her first talking picture  so had adjusted quickly .  br    br   without comparing always one film to the other  this anna christie is still the same o  neill play with too many words . his themes of a woman wanting love without losing her independence are here  but it comes off as oddly old fashioned anyway . there are some scenes missing   the coney island section is shortened and isn  t as good   but overall it  s a direct echo of the first film . the director  jacques feyder  belgian  french   is simply redoing what was done already  which i assume must be a frustrating experience .  br    br   it  s interesting to see both films in succession because they are blocked out exactly the same way  not only the sets  but the shots  are all the same  . there is an occasional scene lifted from the earlier film   some of the storm  understandably  but also a brief scene where marie dressler  from the english language version  is walking with her friend on a plank over a canal  drunk as can be . but they are just silhouettes  and when the next scene shows their faces  we see the german actors taking their parts . there is no replacing dressler  for sure  but for me the german father is more believable and honest in his performance .  br    br   clearly the themes   immigration  wayward fathers  daughters turning to prostitution  and the troubles of finding true love   have strong currents back then  especially with european threads  garbo  appropriately  plays a swedish young woman  .  
witchy hildegard knef traps a group of people in an isolated hotel and picks them off one by one in twisted  disgusting ways . i thought i  d seen it all until one unfortunate man here is crucified and then has his head set on fire . hildy is quite the prankster too she takes a nagging harpy and sews her mouth shut . . . then hangs her upside down in the chimney just in time for a roaring fire   witchery  made me sick . it made my eyes hurt . i was ready to write it off as the worst movie ever  ever  ever made by otherwise competent people . . . until the finale . i have to admit i loved the ending . it involves a boy and his toy tape  recorder cornered by linda blair looking fantastically possessed . the scene only lasts for about a minute and the movie  s over  but you know that old saying  if you  ve got a great ending  people will forgive you for just about anything    
after garbo  s introduction to sound in clarence brown  s  anna christie   jacques feyder made a german version of the movie where all of the cast  except for garbo  were different . while the american version is still more available in the usa and most of the american viewers have primarily seen this version  the germna  anna christie  is more likely to be viewed in europe . as i have seen both films  i feel the right to compare the two closely  knit productions . is jacques feyder  s film different  is it better than clarence brown  s   br    br   in this analysis  i would like to focus first on what the both movies have in common . they have identical sets  very similar scripts and the same chronologically presented scenes . here  you also find the story of the young woman who comes back to her father after years of absence and is trying to start a new life . here  you also have the humorous  though a bit shorter  sequence in the amusement park . however  when emphasizing garbo herself  i address the first difference . she does not appear to cause such a curiosity while talking . the viewer concentrates more on her acting than on the way she speaks  which occurred  most probably  to     viewers . garbo was very good in american film and she is also very good here . yet  to me  she seems even more genuine in the german version . it is noticeable that garbo does not focus on the way she says the words that much  the effort that was artificially created by the sensation garbo talks   . her german is not very well pronounced yet no one cares everything is perfectly understood . therefore  i can easily say the same i did in my american version comment skaal greta garbo   br    br   yet  the film differs in one very important issue the rest of the cast . here comes the question which portrayal seems more captivating  which one is better for sure  the differences are filled with varieties . salka viertel  or salka steuerman   garbo  s lifelong friend  does not do the equally great job as marie dressler in the role of marthy owens . she is not bad  she is different  sometimes overacts  from today  s perspective  but is no longer that genuine in the role as marie dressler who still amuses us and whose moments have absolutely stood a test of time . some people even claim that dressler was better than garbo in the film and that opinion  though appears to be questionable of course  carries some truth . theo shall is more sympathetic as matt than charles bickford but when applied to him  this is not the matter of performance so much as the mater of looks .  br    br   who shines in the german  anna christie   who is really worth greatest attention is hans junkermann in the role of chris christopherson  anna  s father . george f . marion vs hans junkermann is like a day vs night difference . junkermann portrays a real alcohol addict  a man with hopes  with fears  who overdoes the care of his daughter . the scene of anna  s first meeting with her father is truly magnificent  the opening moment of chris  conversation with marthy is memorable particularly thanks to his facial expressions and a flawless performance . junkermann is the chris whom you like  who you sometimes laugh at  whom you sympathize with  who leaves a picture of a calm alcoholic sailor in your mind . great   br    br   if you have seen the american  anna christie  and have a chance to get the german version  i would highly recommend to you this movie because it  s a slightly different look at the story  a nice and accurate way to compare  a fine enrichment to clarence brown  s movie and  foremost  a wonderful chance to discover a marvel of performance hans junkermann  s . skaal or prost  hans junkermann   
  witchery  might just be the most incoherent and lamentably scripted horror movie of the    s but  luckily enough  it has a few compensating qualities like fantastic gore effects  an exhilarating musical score and some terrific casting choices . honestly the screenplay doesn  t make one iota of sense  but who cares when linda blair  with an exploded hairstyle  portrays yet another girl possessed by evil powers and david hasselhof depicts a hunky photographer  who can  t seem to get laid  in a movie that constantly features bloody voodoo  sewn  shut lips  upside down crucifixions  vicious burnings and an overused but genuinely creepy tune . eight random people are gathered together on an abandoned vacation resort island off the coast of massachusetts . the young couple is there to investigate the place  s dark history the dysfunctional family  with a pregnant linda blair even though nobody seems to bother about who the father is and what his whereabouts are  considers re  opening the hotel and the yummy female architect simply tagged along for casual sex . they  re forced to stay the night in the ramshackle hotel and then suddenly the previous landlady  an aging actress or something who always dresses in black  starts taking them out in various engrossing ways . everything is somehow related to the intro sequence showing a woman accused of witchery jump out of a window . anyway  the plot is definitely of minor importance in an italian horror franchise that started as an unofficial spin  off of  the evil dead  . the atmosphere is occasionally unsettling and the make  up effects are undoubtedly the most superior element of the entire film . there  s something supremely morbid and unsettling about staring at a defenseless woman hanging upside down a chimney and waiting to get fried .  
filmed by mgm on the same sets as the english version  but in german  garbo  s second portrayal of  anna christie  benefited from practice and her apparent ease with german dialog . garbo appears more relaxed and natural under jacques feyder  s direction than under clarence brown  s  and her silent movie mannerisms have all but disappeared  which made her transition to sound complete . the strength she brought to the character remains here  although it has been softened  and garbo reveals more of anna  s vulnerability . the entire cast  with the exception of garbo  is different from the previous version of the film  and garbo benefits from not having to compete with marie dressler  who stole every scene she was in during the english  language version . in feyder  s film  garbo holds the center of attention throughout  although the three supporting players  particularly the father  gave excellent performances .  br    br   feyder  s direction was more assured than clarence brown  s  and his use of the camera and editing techniques did not seem as constrained by the new sound process as did those of brown . the film moves with more fluidity than the english language adaptation  and the static nature of the first film has been replaced with a flow that maintains viewer interest . even william daniels cinematography seems improved over his filming of the brown version . he captured garbo  s luminescence and the atmospherics of the docks with style . also  the screenplay adaptation for the european audience made anna  s profession quite clear from the start  and the explicitness clarifies for viewers who were unfamiliar with the play as to what was only implied in the brown filming . however  the film was made before the production code was introduced  which made the censorship puzzling .  br    br   garbo  s oscar nomination for  anna christie  was always somewhat mystifying  and i suspected that the nod was given more in recognition of her relatively smooth transition to sound films than for her performance . however  some of the academy voters may have seen the german  language version of the film  and they realized  as will contemporary viewers  that her  anna christie  under feyder  s direction was definitely oscar worthy .  
witchcraft  witchery  la casa   and whatever else you wish to call it . how about . . crud .  br    br   a gathering of people at a massachusetts island resort are besieged by the black magic powers of an evil witch killing each individual using cruel  torturous methods . photographer gary  david hasselhoff  is taking pictures for linda  catherine hickland whose voice and demeanor resemble ee  yor of the winnie the poo cartoon   a virgin studying witchcraft  on the island resort without permission . rose brooks  annie ross  portraying an incredibly rude bitch  is interested in perhaps purchasing the resort and  along with husband freddie  robert champagne  who is always ogling other women much younger than him   pregnant daughter jane  linda blair  and grandson tommy  michael manchester  who just looks bored throughout  probably wanting to watch sesame street instead of starring in this rubbish   go by boat to the resort being treated to a look at the property by realtor tony giordano  s son jerry  rick farnsworth   obviously a pup in the business getting his feet wet . along with these folks is architect leslie  leslie cumming  whose character is a nympho  who might help rose re  design the resort . the boat  s captain is killed by the lady in black  hildegard knef  wearing her make  up and lip  stick extra thick  and a storm is brewing . the boat drives off by itself  . . guided by the invisible power of the lady in black  i guess  with everyone stuck in the decrepit resort  which is in dire need of repairs . most of the victims  before meeting their grisly fates are carried through a type of red wormhole whose vortex leads to another dimension  . . perhaps a type of hell or something  where they are tortured by these fiends dressed in raggedy clothes with a crummy visage . one victim has her mouth sown before being hung upside down in a chimney  roasted as the others light the fireplace . one poor soul is tortured by harsh twistings of rope wrapped tightly around her flesh before being found hanging from the snout of a swordfish penetrating through her neck . one fellow is slowly suffocating as his veins bulge  . . and bleed  and neck  s blood vessels burst squirting in hasselhoff  s face  one fellow is crucified with nails hammered into his hands before being hung upside down over an open flame . blair  s pregnant victim becomes possessed with her hair standing on end speaking in another woman  s voice . one is raped by this demonic man with a  diseased  mouth as the hellish hobos stand nearby gleefully cheering . the film  despite it  s excesses  is mostly dull fodder for those who really wish to see the lowest point in the careers of hasselhoff and blair  who deserve better than this . almost unbearable at times  building little  to  no suspense . clumsy execution of the death sequences which look cheap and laughable . sure some gore is okay  but most of the film shows victims after they  ve been run through the ringer . we do get a chance to see pregnant women  . . who look exactly like stuntmen in costume with bad wigs  jumping out three story windows . oh  and the lady in black  s reflected face often pops up on inanimate objects for characters to see . tommy has a little sesame street recorder which tapes the lady in black  s mumbo jumbo chants  obviously used for later . for some reason  the lady in black likes to visit little tommy . he  s not at all scared of her  for tommy  s just too bored to show any expression on his face  much less fear . need i say more  this one  s a real stinker . ugh .  
i waited ages before seeing this as all the reviews i read of this said it was horrible  i rented it expecting the worst  and while it is hardly the best sandler film out there  there are much worse  sandler frequently talks to the camera and the film does not take itself seriously  but that is all part of the fun  a great way to waste an afternoon  and you might even find yourself laughing once a twice  a good film  well worth renting   
sorry  but aside from kim basinger doing a good job acting scared  this was one of the worst thrillers i  ve seen in awhile . logic is thrown out as  young guys terrorize this woman outside a crowded mall then shoot a security guard . yet no one seems to notice . then  instead of screaming for help or racing back to the mall  she drives off and ends up in the middle of the woods with the guys in hot pursuit . i can  t even describe how silly it is seeing this woman fleeing from  retarded thugs  carrying a red toolbox  screaming for god to come help her  and then having sex with one of them after brutally killing the others . please trust me  this is bad and a bit tasteless as well .  
i had started to lose my faith in films of recent being inundated with the typical genre hollywood film . story lines fail  and camera work is merely copied from the last film of similiar taste . but  then i saw zentropa  europa  and my faith was renewed . not only is the metaphorical storyline enthralling but the use of color and black and white is visually stimulating . the narrator  max von sydow  takes you through a spellbounding journey every step of the way and engrosses you into europa     . we have all seen death put on screen in a hundred thousand ways but the beauty of this film is how it takes you through every slow  moving moment that leads you to death . unlike many films it doesn  t cut after one second of showing  for example  a knife but forces you to watch the devastating yet sensuous beauty of a man  s final moments . i think we can all take something different away from what this movie is trying to say but it is definitely worth taking the time to find out what it all really means . i would love to talk more in depth about the film for any one who wishes to send me an email . enjoy it   
i would put this at the top of my list of films in the category of unwatchable trash  there are films that are bad  but the worst kind are the ones that are unwatchable but you are suppose to like them because they are supposed to be good for you  the sex sequences  so shocking in its day  couldn  t even arouse a rabbit . the so called controversial politics is strictly high school sophomore amateur night marxism . the film is self  consciously arty in the worst sense of the term . the photography is in a harsh grainy black and white . some scenes are out of focus or taken from the wrong angle . even the sound is bad  and some people call this art   br    br    
this version of anna christie is in german . greta garbo again plays anna christie  but all of the other characters have different actors from the english version . both were filmed back to back because garbo had such a following in germany . garbo herself supposedly favored her anna christie in this version over the english version . it  s a good tale and a must  see for garbo fans .  
there are many different versions of this one floating around  so make sure you can locate one of the unrated copies  otherwise some gore and one scene of nudity might be missing . some versions also omit most of the opening sequence and other bits here and there . the cut i saw has the on  screen title witchcraft evil encounters and was released by shriek show  who maintain the original us release title witchery for the dvd release . it  s a nice  looking print and seems to have all of the footage  but has some cropping  aspect ratio issues . in italy  it was released as la casa   witchcraft  . the first two la casa releases were actually the first two evil dead films  retitled  and the third la casa was another film by the same production company  filmirage   which is best known here in america as ghosthouse . to make matters even more confusing  witchery was also released elsewhere as ghosthouse  . except in germany  where ghosthouse  is actually the ogre demons  . ok  i better just shut up now . i  m starting to confuse myself   br    br   regardless of the title  this is a very hit  or  miss horror effort . some of it is good  some of it isn  t . i actually was into this film for the first half or so  but toward the end it became a senseless mess . a large  vacant hotel located on an island about   miles from boston is the setting  as various people get picked off one  by  one by a german  speaking witch  hildegard knef  . photographer gary  david hasselhoff   who wants to capture  witch light   and his virginal writer girlfriend  leslie cumming   who is studying witchcraft  are shacking up at the hotel without permission . along comes real estate agent jerry  rick farnsworth   who  s showing off the property to potential buyers rose  annie ross  and freddie  robert champagne  brooks . also tagging along are their children pregnant grown daughter jane  linda blair  and very young son tommy  michael manchester   as well as oversexed architect linda sullivan  catherine hickland  hasselhoff  s wife at the time  . once everyone is inside  their boat driver is killed  hung  and the boat disappears  so they find themselves trapped and basically at the mercy of the  lady in black .   br    br   so what can you expect to find here  plenty of unpleasantries  one of the characters has their lips sewn shut and is then hung upside down in the fireplace and accidentally slow  roasted by the rest of the cast . there  s also a crucifixion  witches eating a dead baby  a swordfish through the head  someone set on fire  a possession  a sesame street tape recorder  the virgin getting raped by some demon  a guys veins bulging and exploding thanks to voodoo doll pokes and some other stuff . from a technical standpoint  it  s a nice  looking film with pretty good cinematography  a decent score and good gore effects . the hotel  island setting is also pretty nice . blair  particularly at the end  and ross both seem like they  re having fun and knef is great as the evil witch . even though people like to ridicule hasselhoff these days  he  s not bad in his role  either .  br    br   on the down side  despite all the gore  the film seems somewhat dull and it gets monotonous after about an hour . the supernatural themes are muddled and confusing  too . when characters are being swept into the witches lair to be tortured and killed  the filmmakers unwisely decided to superimpose the screaming actors over some silly looking red spiral vortex effect that looks supremely cheesy . and the witch lair itself is vacant and cheaply designed with unfinished lumber . and while most of the cast is at least decent  a few of the performances  particularly the  actress  who plays hasselhoff  s girlfriend and the kid  are so bad they  re constantly distracting .  
it  s sort of crazy  but i taped from tcm both  this german version of mgm  s  anna christie   and the english one . . . but i got to see this one first   cos i  d heard that many people thought it was better than the english version .  br    br   without having seen the other one  i cannot compare them  but anyway this is an excellent early talkie  with a straight  from  the  heart performance by garbo . she looks very beautiful in this film  her face shines throughout  especially when cameraman william daniels  gets those gorgeous close  ups of her .  br    br   the atmosphere of the film seems different from the regular mgm stuff made on that era  it looks very similar to french or german expressionistic films from the thirties  well it was directed by a great french director  monsieur jacques feyder  who had directed garbo in     in  the kiss  .  br    br   theo shall is excellent and gives an absolutelly believable performance as anna  s sweetheart  the hard  boiled  tough  sailor  who  s just a kid in man  s body . also hans junkermann gives a very fine performance  as anna  s alcoholic father and salka viertel too  as a good  hearted old cheap floozie .  br    br   in all quite an experience  because it  s the only film were you can listen to garbo speak in a foreign language . . .  cos all the other films she did in either sweden or germany  were during the silent era .  br    br   serious flick .  
oh my . . . bad clothing  worse synth music and the worst david hasselhoff . the    s are back with vengeance in witchery  an american  italian co  production  helmed by infamous joe  d  amato on the production side and short  careered director  thank heavens for small miracles  fabrizio laurenti directing . marketed as a kind of sequel to sam raimi  s evil dead series in italy  that was dubbed  la casa  in there   witchery delivers some modest gore groceries and bad acting .  br    br   a mix of ghost story  possessions and witchcraft  the film bounces clueless from scene to another without letting some seriously wooden actors and hilarious day and night mix  ups slow it  s progress to expectable ending  topped with some serious wtf surprise climax .  i just love the look on her face . . .  surprisingly laurenti manages to gather some suspense and air of malice in few  very few  scenes unluckily for him  these few glimpses of mild movie magic go down quickly and effectively .  br    br   the plus sides are experienced  when the gore hits the fan . this department is quite effective and entertaining in that classic latex and red paint style of the    s italo  gore  when things were made     hand  made and as shockingly and vivid as modest budgets could allow . i could only watch with sadistic glee and few laughters all the over  the  top ways that obnoxious characters  and actors  got mangled and misused  one by one . i only felt sorry for linda blair  who apparently haven  t been let to try any other than that good old possessed girl  woman role ever in his career  or so it looks like when checking out his filmography .  br    br   well  folks  not much more to tell  and even less to tell home about . don  t expect too much when spending some rainy afternoon with this  and probably you  ll experience at least some mild fun . it also helps if your rotten little heart pounds in the beat of    s euro gore horror . and speaking of hearts  every movie that has david hasselhoff getting skewered by a sizeable metal object and bleeding heavily around the room and corridors  must have it  s one on the right place .  br    br   this is my truth  what is yours   
master director ching siu tung  s perhaps most popular achievement is this series  a chinese ghost story    . chinese ghost story stars leslie cheung in some distant past in china as a tax collector who is forced to spend a night during his  collecting trip  in a mysterious castle in which some strange old warriors fight and meet him . beautiful actress joey wang  wong is the ghost who lives in that castle and is under a domination of one powerful demon  a wood devil who collects human souls for herself  itself with the help of her beautiful ghosts . leslie and joey fall in love  and even though ghosts are not allowed to live with humans  they decide to break that rule and live happily together for the rest of their lives . this is not what the wood devil thinks and our protagonists have to fight for their lives and their happiness .  br    br   this film is no less full of magic than other films by ching siu tung . his masterpieces include duel to the death       and the swordsman series  which all have incredible visuals and kinetic power in their action scenes . ghost story is full of brilliant lightning and dark atmosphere  which is lightened by the strong presence of the beautiful and good willing ghost . the effects are simply breath taking and would work at their greatest power in the big screen . the camera is moving and twisted all the time and it adds to the fairy tale atmosphere this film has . there  s plenty of wire  fu stunts  too  and even though some think they are and look gratuitous or stupid when used in films  i cannot agree and think they give motion pictures the kind of magic  freedom and creativeness any other tool could not give . when people fly in these films  it means the films are not just about our world  and they usually depict things larger than life with the power of this larger than life art form .  br    br   the story about the power of love is pretty touching and warm  but the problem is  again  that the characters are little too shallow and act unexplainably occasionally . leslie and joey should have been written with greater care and their characters should be even more warm  deep and genuine in order to give the story a greater power and thus make the film even more noteworthy and important achievement . also  the message about love and power of it is underlined little too much at one point and it should have been left just to the viewer  s mind to be interpreted and found . another negative point about the dialogue is that it  s too plenty and people talk in this film without a reason . that is very irritating and sadly shows the flaws many scriptwriters tend to do when they write their movies . people just talk and talk and it  s all there just to make everything as easy to understand as possible and so the film is not too challenging or believable as it has this gratuitous element . just think about the films of the japanese film maker takeshi kitano his films have very little dialogue and all there is is all the necessary as he tells his things by other tools of cinema and never talks  or makes other characters talk too much in his movies . this is just the talent the writers should have in order to write greater scripts .  br    br   otherwise  chinese ghost story is very beautiful and visually breath taking piece of eastern cinema  and also the song that is played in the film is very beautiful and hopefully earned some award in the hong kong film awards back then . i give chinese ghost story     and without the flaws mentioned above  this would without a doubt be almost perfect masterpiece of the fantasy genre .  
an italian  american co  production co  starring linda blair and david  the hoff  hasselhoff how could any fan of trashy horror resist such a treat   br    br   well  based on the uneventful  extremely tedious  and utterly nonsensical first forty minutes or so  i would have said  very easily   thankfully  however  things do eventually get a tad more entertaining with the introduction of several inventive death scenes  and for those lucky enough to find an uncut copy  a smattering of nudity too  unfortunately  my copy was optically edited to remove such offensive material  .  br    br   the hoff stars as gary  a photographer who accompanies his beautiful girlfriend leslie  leslie cumming  to a run  down hotel on a seemingly deserted island in order to take pictures for her latest project  a book about witches whilst there  frustrated gary also hopes to try and cure a bad case of blue balls by relieving leslie of her virginity .  br    br   his plans for nookie are scuppered  however  by the unexpected arrival of property developers freddie and rose brooks  robert champagne and annie ross   their pregnant daughter jane  blair   son tommy  michael manchester   pretty nymphomaniac architect linda sullivan  catherine hickland   and estate agent jerry  rick farnsworth   who have come to inspect the island  s hotel .  br    br   after explaining their unexpected presence on the island  gary and leslie are welcomed by the property  s new owners  and when a violent storm suddenly picks up  making it perilous to return to the mainland  everyone agrees to spend the night in the old building . unfortunately  unbeknownst to the hotel  s new guests  the place is also home to the spirit of an evil witch  hildegard knef   who requires human sacrifices in order to bring herself back to life . one by one  victims are pulled into a swirling red vortex  which is guaranteed to provide unintentional laughs   before meeting a terrible fate .  br    br   none of this makes much sense  and the acting is atrocious  manchester as tommy is particularly bad  whilst hasselhoff proves to be one of the better performers  which speaks volumes about the others   but those viewers who make it past the dreary first half are rewarded with some pretty decent moments of gore rose has her lips sewn together  before being roasted alive in a fireplace jerry is crucified and burnt alive linda is tortured by hags and impaled on a swordfish      freddie  s veins pulsate and erupt in geysers of blood and gary gets stabbed in the back .  br    br   oh  and leslie is raped by a guy with no lips and blair gets possessed  again  .  
i can  t remember many films where a bumbling idiot of a hero was so funny throughout . leslie cheung is such the antithesis of a hero that he  s too dense to be seduced by a gorgeous vampire . . . i had the good luck to see it on a big screen  and to find a video to watch again and again .      
this movie is so bad it  s good   in an unintentionally funny way . i couldn  t stop watching it  i was laughing so much  it  s like a parody of a romantic thriller  except it  s not a parody .  br    br   alexandra paul plays emily wendell  an oppressed preacher  s wife who falls hard for luke  corey sevier   a hunky and mysterious drifter who we eventually learn was in prison the only thing sevier is guilty of  though  is bad acting  mind you  he  s no worse than the other actors . you get the sense that the actors have no idea they  re in a really awful film they  re playing it straight . everything about the film is bad the acting  the script  the love scenes  the pacing  the plot twists  the choice of music . the climactic scenes are just so ludicrous   first the shootout in the church  then luke  s final words to emily   i was howling with laughter .  br    br   evidently luke did a lot of weight lifting and ab crunches in prison  and we get to see plenty of his naked torso . that  s probably the highlight of the film .  
this is a great movie . i like it where ning climbs down to get his ink  and the skeletons chase him  but luckily he dodged them  opened the window  and didn  t even notice them . xiao qian is very pretty too .  when he stuck the needle up ma wu  s butt  its hysterical . and when he is saying love is the greatest thing on earth while standing between two swords is great too . then also the part where he eats his buns while watching thew guy kill many people . then you see him chanting poems as he ran to escape the wolves . the love scenes are romantic  xiao qian and ning look cute together . add the comic timing  the giant tongue  and u have horror  romance  comedy  all at once . not to mention superb special effects for the   s .  
i watched this movie last week sometime and had the biggest laugh i  ve had in a long while . the plot of the film is pretty dumb and convoluted in a badly crafted way . the only plus to be found anywhere in the film are corey savier  s impressive abs . alexandra paul  i think that  s her name  is horrendous as the preacher  s wife who has a history of depression . ted mckenzie is gross and his character  s a twit on top of it all . and as if the fact that you think she  s having sex with her son isn  t enough  they throw in needless sax solos at every opportunity  the end and climax of this film is absolutely abysmal and also laughable . i mean who the hell wants to carry the child of a con who tried to make you think he was your son and that you were having an incestuous relationship with him   
wasn  t quite sure what to expect with this one  outside of the uniform positive reviews i  ve read . turns out  i could have never imagined this movie  because it  s very close to  the bride with white hair  in being operatic and dealing with the fantastic . this walks a fine line between being a farce  a comedy  and just plain good old fashion ghost story telling . there  s nothing scary about it  that  s not the theme  it  s really mostly a love story dealing with a bumbling guy who encounters a beautiful ghost  who is in a lot of trouble with other ghosts . so the main theme is the guy trying to save the beautiful ghost . this also takes place in ancient china  with wild outlandish kung fu exhibitions  and a trip to hell  more or less  . some of the stop  action ghosts are pretty cool  and the visual effects are top rate all the way . i could watch this genre of chinese movies all day  because they are highly entertaining  great visuals  and pretty much tongue  in  cheek . and i  m looking forward to watching the first sequel of this movie also . highly recommended .  
i am watching this movie right now on wtn because that was the channel that the tv was turned to when i turned it on . it is a not very credible and fairly boring story about a minister  s wife  alexandra paul  falling in lust with a young stud  drifter  with washboard abs  played by corey sevier . there may or may not be a plot . corey whips his shirt off a lot and alexandra swoons . i  m getting the feeling he  s supposed to be up to no good  and that  s why he  s messing with skinny alexandra paul . it  s not really important because as i said he takes his shirt off a lot and i just caught a glimpse of butt cleavage . there  s a lot of sax on the soundtrack  which is just painful .  
a chinese ghost story stars the late  great leslie cheung as ling choi sin  a penniless tax collector who decides to spend the night at a deserted temple  where he meets and falls for a beautiful woman called tsing  joey wang  . when ling discovers that tsing is actually a ghost who has been forced to seduce victims for an evil tree spirit who feeds on  chi   life force   he decides to try and free the girl by giving her remains a proper burial . enlisting the help of swordsman yin  wu ma   a crazy taoist monk  ling successfully defeats the tree spirit  but must also do battle in hell against the evil lord black  to whom tsing is due to be wed .  br    br   the first hong kong film that i saw which wasn  t purely martial arts action  a chinese ghost story opened my eyes to the incredible world of asian fantasy horror  a magical realm inhabited by beautiful female ghosts  bumbling innocent heroes  sword wielding taoist monks  monstrous spirits  and dark lords of the underworld i instantly fell in love with the film  s exuberance  energy  humour  inventiveness and visual excellence .  br    br   two decades later  and this amazing movie still remains one of the finest examples of its genre that i have seena sumptuous  breathtaking masterpiece that brilliantly blends horror  comedy  fantasy and romance . with superb direction from siu  tung ching  excellent editing from david wu  stunning cinematography  and a whole slew of imaginative special effects  including a humongous killer tongue  a many tentacled monster  and multiple flying heads    a chinese ghost story is a completely unforgettable and thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish .  
this film is a pure failure . i am a steve martin fan  but even he can  t save the tired idea and swiss cheese script . think  police academy   and apply it to a military parody . yuck .  br    br   i do not feel the other user comments reflected the poor rating this film received  and rightfully deserved   . it is extremely misleading . i have often seen this film marked down to   .   in the grocery store and now i certainly know why .  br    br   if only i could get my   minutes back . . .  
if there is a movie to be called perfect then this is it . so bad it wasn  t intended to be that way . but superb anyway . . . go find it somewhere . whatever you do . . . do not miss it     
when i say  doctor who  you might conjure up an image of tom baker  or jon pertwee or maybe peter davison . when i say  james bond  youll almost certainly conjure up an image of sean connery while a small handful of people may think of roger moore or pierce brosnan . but when i say  sgt bilko  absolutely everyone will think of phil silvers . unlike doctor who or james bond the role belongs exclusively to one actor . and thats the problem with this film version youll continually wish you were watching the old black and white show . in fact the whole idea of making a film version of bilko without silvers in the title role comes close to sacrilage  
there  s never a dull moment in this movie . wonderful visuals  good actors  and a classical story of the fight of good and evil . mostly very funny  sometimes even scary . a true classic  a movie everybody should see .  
even steve martin and dan aykroyd couldn  t save this movie from laying an emu  sized egg . based on the classic phil silvers tv series  it bombed because a  it was updated to the     s  and b  the simple premise of the tv series was turned into a confusing  feeble and silly screenplay .  br    br   the original tv series used a small cast of talented actors to portray lovable characters acting out simple yet hilarious pranks . to expand this premise into a     s movie was asking for trouble  and it shows . no one could pay me enough to sit through this stinker a second time .  
a mix of comedy  romance  music      action and horror . a knockout . this is one of the reasons people rave about hong kong cinema . if you  re looking for something totally original  look no further . entertainment at it  s peak .  
this was a disappointing movie . considering the material    army life is always good for a laugh    and the stars  this movie should have been a fall down laughfest . it was worth a couple of chuckles  at best . steve martin has been much funnier than this and it appears that dan ackroyd should stick to dramatic roles  where he might follow robin williams  lead and someday win an oscar .  
after seeing this film for the  rd time now i think it is almost adam  s worst film punch drunk love is poor in comparison to this i must say at the end when dickie gets thrown of the boat it is so funny  the hair is different to his and i like it when he flips everyone off . this film should only be brought if your a true adam sandler fan .  br    br   the characters are poor in comparison to his funny films like the waterboy  which has the same people in it  peter dante  who is one of the assassins trying to kill the australian bird .  br    br   this film lack depth and a decent story line and deserves to be in the bottom     
words can  t describe how utterly stupid this story  and therefore bad this movie  is  basinger  del toro . . . what were you thinking   so there  s a mall and its parking space is totally full . basinger  s character goes in to buy a cup of tea and some packaging paper .  br    br   when she comes out  the whole place is so empty  that nobody hears two gunshots fired nearby   even though she lives there  when she drives away from the baddies  she goes to the most remote and godforsaken place possible instead of the nearest police station or at least a crowded place   come on    i won  t even go into the infamous red toolbox  since other people have done that before . let alone how she kills the moronic thugs one by one .  br    br   this is so stupid  without the least bit of logic  i can only warn you watching it  it  s a total waste of time  honestly    
just read the original story which is written by pu in   th century . strikingly  the movie despict the original spirit very well  though the plot was modified tremendously . the film language  the rhythm  the special effect are all from hollywood  but still there is a chinese core . it is amazing how hark tsui managed to combine them together . the result is pure beauty .  
steve martin should quit trying to do remakes of classic comedy . he absolutely does not fit this part . like the woeful remake of the out of towners  this movie falls flat on it  s face . how anybody ever thought steve martin could even come close to jack lemmon  s wonderful performance is beyond me and the same is true for this movie . dan ackroyd could have played the bilko part better . martin is great when doing his own original characters but fails miserably trying to recreate other people  s classic work . it  s a sad statement when the funniest part of a movie is contained in the first line of the credits when the movie is over . the line  the producers gratefully acknowledge the total lack of cooperation by the united states army  was just about the only line that actually made me laugh . if you want to see the real bilko  get hold of the original episodes of the phil silvers show . those are guaranteed to make you laugh  unlike this mistake that should never have happened . i put this movie in the same category as the aforementioned lemmon classic and the remake of psycho . none of them should ever have happened .  
  chinese ghost story  is one of the most amazing hong kong films i have ever seen . it  s a brilliant mix of fantasy  comedy  romance  horror and martial arts . the film has some wonderful visuals and amazing fights . i love especially the fight scene between wu ma and the tree demon tongue . truly original and refreshing film and another embalmer  s fine recommendation .  
i know i  ve already added a comment but i just wanted to clarify something . . .  br    br   i  m not some old fogey from the baby boom generation that grew up glued to a flickering b  w picture of phil silvers  jackie gleason etc .  br    br   bilko was already   years old before i was born but i had the pleasure of discovering phil silver  s bilko courtesy of bbc  . i wonder if i would have enjoyed steve martin  s travesty if i hadn  t seen or heard of phil silvers  i don  t know  maybe i would have .  br    br   some of the other reviewers who think this movie is worthy of a     admit that they haven  t seen the original . i can only urge you to spend   minutes of your life watching a single episode . if after watching the original ernie  colonel hall  ritzig  emma  duane doberman  henshaw  dino  flashman  zimmerman  mullin et al you still think that steve martin  s film is woth anything above a     i  ll stand you a pint . . . .  
cannot believe a movie that can be made that good in     and is virtually unknown in the west . not to repeat other reviews here . the score is very good and moving . literally it means  dawn please never comes   when it comes  the beautiful ghost and the lover will be apart forever . after   years  joel and leslie still look great . i enjoyed joel in god of gamblers and many movies by leslie including better tomorrow .  
for   years after world war  the united states was in a state where key segments of the economy were dominated by military interests . at the same time  because of the draft and wars  everyone in society had served  or was connected to someone who had .  br    br   this allowed for a minigenre based on the notion of american cleverness in the midst of an inflexible military machine . sometimes that machine was non  us military  for example in prisoner of war situations . once removed are stories in other machines science fiction and corporate  but they always reference this military genre  and indeed the testosterone shots of action even reference their comic sibling .  br    br   you can trace it  i think  perhaps starting in the comic  meaning amrican  sections of  the great escape   which immediately spawned teevee offspring in  gomer pyle  and  hogan  s heros .  then a second wave triggered by  catch    and  mash   both of which had been real life  then books  then movies  and in the mash case  then teevee .  br    br   but before all that  there was the  phil silvers show   about a sergeant bilko and this followed from  mister roberts .  a happy con man  who only committed harmless crimes  and then only as response to an overly crude system which attempted to limit his life . this was in the day when teevee shows mattered . you absorbed them instead of merely carrying them to work to chatter about . it wasn  t particularly clever in any way  except in finding that crack between what we wanted in control and freedom .  br    br   its one large zone where americans worked out how they think about forgivable  even endearing lies in a military context  a zone that has been appropriated by one of our political parties here .  br    br   because its big  it sometimes pays off in laughs .  stripes  was pretty darn funny i thought . it had the twist of the misfits actually defeating serious foes  sort of folding in some  dirty dozen .  and sexual adventure .  br    br   now this  well before the cultural wars escalated . it tries to touch that sweet spot  like other remakes that manhandled steve martin . it is so unfunny  you actually root for the army to be the stronger player . yet another way to track how societies work out the handles on military power .  br    br   ted  s evaluation    of   you can find something better to do with this part of your life .  
for long time i haven  t seen such a good fantasy movie  magic fights here are even better than in lotr  even considering that it  s a     movie and haven  t computer special effects . this movie have good plot  good acting and interesting ideas . recommend everybody to see it .  
this may or may not be the worst movie that steve martin has ever made  but it certainly was far from his best . obviously  he did this crap for the pay check . dreck like this certainly does nothing to enhance his reputation as a funny man . what he doesn  t seem to grasp is that when people go to see a steve martin movie  they expect to be entertained  not bored to tears . it  s sad that he dragged dan aykroyd and phil hartman down with him . i don  t understand why talented people can  t get a grip on the fact that people don  t want to see them in lousy movies . if you  re going to call a movie a comedy  then it should be funny . this wasn  t . shame on the us military for allowing itself to be associated with this pabulum  too . full metal jacket had more laughs than this miserable excuse for a  service comedy .  surely  phil silvers is rolling over in his grave .  
once in a while  a film comes along that raises the bar for every other film in its genre . a film of this caliber will influence many films following its release for years to come . a chinese ghost story  falls in this category . it is arguably one of the best horror films made during the      s possibly one of the best ever made .  br    br   the filmmakers have crafted a movie that appeals to every horror fan . the story is engrossing and original . the villains are appropriately menacing and frightening . the sets are creepy and atmospheric . there is even a little blood and gore to satisfy the splatter fan of the house . but don  t let the horror  label scare you off  if you  re not a fan of the genre . this film easily fits into many different categories .  br    br   the screenwriter has deftly blended the drama  comedy  horror  kung fu  and romance genres into a delicious deluxe cinematic pizza . a chinese ghost story  is a beautiful epic love story told  thankfully  without the gratuitous nudity and  or explicit sex scenes that have ruined many hollywood love stories  . those put off by the romantic elements of the story can sit back and revel in the fast  paced swordplay and wire  fu  . if that  s not enough  actors leslie cheung and wu ma provide enough humorous situations to satiate your appetite for comedy . this film offers something for every film fan .  br    br   director siu  tung ching and producer tsui hark assembled a truly amazing cast for this film . leslie cheung proves that he is not only a gifted actor  but also a talented singer and a charming physical comedian . i cannot possibly think of a performer other than cheung who could have portrayed ling choi sin better  except maybe chow yun fat  . joey wang is enchanting as lit su seen  the enslaved spirit who steals the heart of cheung  s character . her portrayal of the title character is truly haunting and memorable . wu ma is hilarious as the cantankerous taoist who aids the young lovers .  br    br   on technical level  this film is very impressive  even by today  s standards . the direction is superb . i wish that today  s hollywood executives would seek out talented artists like siu  tung ching rather falling back on the usual mtv video or pepsi commercial directors  . the cinematography is gorgeous . you have to commend any cinematographer who can make a film look good when most of its pivotal scenes take place in the dead of night . the special effects make  up is top  notch . in fact  most of the creature effects in this film blow away the shoddy cgi ghouls and goblins that have become commonplace in modern horror films .  br    br   since its release   a chinese ghost story  has spawned two worthy sequels  a full  length animated movie  and countless imitations . none of the films that followed it or copied it were able to capture the magic of this classic  however . this film is required viewing for any horror fan or just anyone looking for great way to spend   minutes of your time .   out   .  br    br    
maybe i  m really getting old  but this one just missed me and the old funny bone completely . surely there must be something powerful wrong with this irishman  that  s me  schultz   . lordy  lordy what i would give to see the light  firstly  that phil silvers manic energy  wit and drive was very much a part of the comedic upbringing and overall education in life  if you will . although it is possible that the series  first titled  you  ll never get rich            could have gotten on the cbs tv network with someone else in the title role of sgt . bilko  it is very hard to picture any other actor  comedian in the business wearing those master sergeant  s stripes .  br    br   such a strong identification is inescapable  though not the same sort of career  wrecking typecasting of a nightmare that it proved to be to some other guys  like clayton more   the lone ranger    george reeves   the adventures of superman   and charles nelson riley   uncle croc  s block   .  br    br   one major stumbling block to successfully adapting and updating such a work from the      s tv screen to the      s movie  going public is our collective memory . without being sure about what percentage of the crowd remembered the bilko character from seeing the original run and early syndication revivals  and their numbers were surely considerable even a large segment of the young had seen bilko reruns in recent times . it was obvious that the new film and the source were miles or even light years apart .  br    br   so as not to be thought of as a totally square  old grouch please let  s consider some other points .  br    br   right here today  the   th day of november in the year of our lord      let me swear and affirm under oath that i have been a steve martin fan for nearly   years  furthermore  i  ve enjoyed the wit and talents of bilko    co  stars dan akroyd and the late phil hartman . after all  it was the talents of guys like this and so many others  alumni of  nbcs saturday night  and  second city tv  that kept the last quarter of the   th century laughing . but a bilko re  make it just didn  t click .  br    br   perhaps if the film had been made as a service comedy  always liked  em   but without the bilko show names and gave it some identity of it self it would be more highly regarded by crabby  old guys like me .  br    br   so  we  ve already had so many sitcom and cartoon series turned into movies lately  what  s next  howse about somebody doing hal roach  s world war ii army comedy series of sergeants doubleday  ames and tv  s  st cartoon series  crusader rabbit   remember where you heard it first  poodle schnitz   
there are   comments as i add mine to this list and there is barely a criticism . this is because this film is terrific entertainment and has a bit of everything in it .  br    br   it is perhaps a little frightening for younger children but my    year old son thought it was fantastic in every way from the action  to the humour and even to the beautiful music score .  br    br   i buy dvds only when i know that they are going to be regularly watched and now that this is finally available in the uk  i will certainly be adding it to my collection .  
ok i  m not an american  but in my humble scottish opinion steve martin is not  never has been  and never will be a funny man as long as our posteriors point in a southerly direction . phil silvers as sergeant bilko was a funny man  no doubt due to the skilled writers and directors and all the other talented team working characters in the series who contributed perfectly to one of the funniest and dateless situation comedies america has ever produced . how anyone could have the audacity to even attempt to replicate the phil silvers character is beyond me . to compound things the exercise was repeated in martin  s unfunny attempt to be peter seller  s inspector clouseau  another abortive attempt  in my opinion  to rekindle a demonstrably unfunny career . some of your contributers say  steve martin puts his own stamp on the character   to that i would say  balderdash   his portrayals will be long forgotten when those of silvers and sellars will be treasured for generations to come  
ching siu tung  s and tsui hark  s a chinese ghost story  aside from being one of the greatest wuxia pian films ever made  is a beautiful and romantic love story as well as an impressively choreographed martial arts film that should belong in every film lover  s collection . the sorely missed hong kong superstar leslie cheung plays a traveling tax collector who spends the night at a haunted temple . while staying at the temple  he meets a colorful cast of characters that include the swordsmen yin  wu ma  and hsiao hou  the tree devil  and the beautiful ghost lit sin seen  played by the lovely joey wong .  br    br   to free her from the clutches of the evil tree devil  he must reincarnate her body and travel to the underworld to defeat an even more powerful demon .  br    br   enough good things can  t be said about this film . the pacing is perfect  with a great combination of romance  action  fantasy and humor  and the feverishly paced finale should leave you with little chance to breathe . the chemistry between the wonderfully tragic joey wong and leslie cheung  whose legendary career ended much too soon  really allows the viewer to feel for both of them . indeed the acting on the whole is so vivacious and full of life  i would say this is one of the most fun viewing experiences i  ve ever had . much of the credit goes to wu ma in his portrayal of the mysterious swordsman yin . his over  the  top persona of a disillusioned swordsman hell bent on vanquishing evil leads to some great moments of humor and traditional hk drama . a wonderful score  lush cinematography with eye popping colors  and frenetic action pieces courtesy of ching siu tung round out this wonderful film . find a copy anywhere you can .       
director jonathan lynn has made some underrated comedies in the past  like  greedy  and  clue  . this isn  t one of them . more akin to a  police academy  film than its inspiration  it stars steve martin in the old phil silvers role as an army sergeant forever pulling scams under the nose of his superiors . but the idyllic life of bilko and his lazy platoon looks shaky when an old enemy visits the base determined to catch bilko in the act . nothing much happens  really . it  s all quite dull . it  s not very funny . martin  dan aykroyd and phil hartman squeeze a couple of laughs out through sheer effort  but they  re all better than this and it  s quite painful watching them work with such thin material .  
a masterpiece of comedy  a masterpiece of horror  a masterpiece of romance  if there is anything negative to say about a chinese ghost story  it might be that the special effects looked dated in comparison to modern technology . the film has a simple premise a poor debt collector has to stay in a secluded area while trying to collect a debt . of course  it happens to be haunted as well .  br    br   what i wasn  t expecting the first time i saw this film is that it  s one of the most touching love stories i  ve ever seen that is without losing any of the slapstick comedy that will have you in stitches . unlike some films of asian cinema  a chinese ghost story isn  t hard to swallow for those that aren  t versed in chinese culture . indeed  it plays on timeless  cultureless themes of the paranormal and romance .  br    br   think evil dead   if they had thrown a wonderful love story into the mix . this film is for real  despite being overlooked by many . it  s absolutely among the best i  ve ever seen . it  s ability to combine the best aspects of multiple genres  and cross cultural boundaries in order to appeal to humanity everywhere  is nothing short of fantastic . highly recommended       .  
i am sorry to fans of this film but it is the worst thing i have ever seen . slow  badly cast and badly acted it is a film trying to escape the deadbeat romcoms of the recent years and failing  mcdonald and parker seem unable to convey real emotion and are lifeless . they seem to be in this one for any pay checks they are getting for it and not because they thought it was a good idea . the plot is dull   i love great chick films as much as the next girl and this is not one   if you avoid one film this year . . . . let it be  
though i  m not the biggest fan of wirework based martial arts films  when a film goes straight for fantasy rather than fighting i get a lot more fun out of it and this film is one of the best in terms of fantastical plotting and crazy flying shenanigans . ching siu tung has crafted here an enchanting treat with fine performance and much ethereal beauty . the great  tragic leslie cheung plays a tax collector hero who stays the night in a haunted temple and gets involved with a stunning fox spirit and a wacky taoist . cheungs performance is filled with naive but dignified charm and wu ma is pleasingly off the wall as the taoist monk  who shows off some swordplay and even gets a musical number . perhaps best off all is joey wang as the fox spirit  truly a delight to behold with every movement and gesture entrancingly seductive . the film takes in elements of fantasy  horror  comedy and romance  all stirred together into a constantly entertaining package . ching siu tung  directing and handling the choreography gives some neat wirework thrills  and fills the film with mists  shadows and eerily enthralling benighted forest colours  giving every forest scene a wonderfully bewitching atmosphere . also notable are the elaborate hair stylings and gorgeous flowing garments of the female characters  with  if i  m not mistaken  joey wang sporting hair done up like fox ears at times  a marvellous touch . though the film features relatively little action and some perhaps ill advised cheesy pop songs at times  this is a beautiful piece of entertainment  with swell characters and plotting  even the odd neat character arc  a near constant supply of visual treats and copious dreamy atmosphere . an ethereal treasure  highly recommended .  
i absolutely hate this programme  what kind of people sit and watch this garbage   ok my dad and mum love it lol but i make sure i  m well out of the room before it comes on . its so depressing and dreary but the worst thing about it is the acting i cant stand all detective programmes such as this because the detectives are so wooden and heartless . what happened to detective programmes with real mystery    i mean who wants to know what happened to fictional characters we know nothing about that died over   years ago    i wish the bbc would put more comedy on bbc  cos now with the vicar of dibley finished there is more room for crap like this .  
first things first  the female lead is too gorgeous to be missed . now actress wang zu xian  the one who played xiao qian in the movie  is   years old and well aged . it  s always good to review these glorious times when seeing old  school hongkong productions like this .  br    br   the movie is one of the most influential titles made in     s . the art set decoration and other aesthetic facets are all mesmerizing . more fantastically the movie had a total black humorous undertone in it . it feels like a horror movie but ultimately it  s not scaring  but only fun .  br    br   i had the experience of translating the second script of  a chinese ghotst story   and i thought that script was a decent write . however when i saw the movie  i firstly was disappointed in seeing the movie different from the script  like in a smaller scale and involving more comic roles . however  it turned out to be better executed in terms of being entertaining .  br    br   if you have seen the lord of the rings  you will notice the similarities in this movie to lotr . the climax is like a mirror of miranda otto fighting with the ring witch . it  s definitely a laugh  out  loud . bravo   
i feel like i  ve just watched a snuff film . . . . a beautifully acted  taut  engrossing and horrible thing  a two hour litany of perversion in the most basic and all inclusive sense of the word  sexual violence and torture  rape  decapitation  incest  corruption  live burial  and abuse  abuse  abuse . no redemption whatsoever . and i was entertained . i couldn  t stop watching . what does this say about me  about the people who make and act in this sort of thing  and a world that has become so desensitized that eventually real snuff films will be the norm . and i  m neither puritanical nor humorless  i don  t try to hide from the existence of darkness  and i definitely have not led a sheltered life  but i am ashamed of myself . and i  m sorry to see my british cousins dragging the subject  matter sewers the way my own tribe does . it doesn  t have to be cozy  but does it have to wallow in vicarious sadism   
i like the good and evil battle . i liked eddie in this movie better than any movie he has ever done . he wasn  t the smart  cocky  know it all he usually plays . he shows heart and a more humble humor . the fact that it shows there are stranger things in heaven and on earth than we can think of gives me hope .  
della myers  kim basinger  is an upper  class housewife that lives in a private condominium in the suburbs with her twin children and her abusive husband kenneth  craig sheffer  . della gives all the attention to the twins  neglecting their house and her appearance and upsetting kenneth . on the christmas eve  she drives to the local mall in the night to buy wrapping paper for the gifts  and she does not find any parking space available . when she sees an old car parked on two spots  she leaves a message to the owner calling him  selfish jerk  . when the mall closes  della  s car is hold by the driver of the old car and she is threatened by four punks  chuckie  lukas haas   the afro  american huey  jamie starr   the chinese  american vingh  leonard wu  and the latin toms  luis chvez  . when the security guard of the mall protects her  he is shot on the head by chuckie  della speeds up her car trying to escape from the criminals . however she crashes her truck nearby a forest while chased by the gang . she takes the toolbox and hides in the wood  fighting against the gang to survive .  br    br   a couple of days ago  i saw the trailer of  while she was out  and i was anxious to watch the dvd . unfortunately the trailer is better than the movie  and i am totally disappointed with this dull and implausible collection of clichs . della myers is presented as an insecure and neglectful housewife and inexistent as wife the motherhood is her only interest in her concept of family . she is chased by four mean criminals but she defeats them with a toolbox that seems to be the batman  s utility belt . therefore  the plot is so absurd that irritates . the gang of criminals is formed by the favorite clich of american movies  with an afro  american  a chinese  american and a latin together with an american lord to be politically correct . kim basinger has a decent acting  but their children are too young for a fifty  five year  old woman . my vote is four .  br    br   title  brazil    enquanto ela est fora    while she was out    
sinnui yauman  is without a doubt one of the best ghost stories ever made into film . written by songling pu and directed by siu  tung ching  a chinese ghost story has it all . ling choi sin played by leslie cheung is a young man down on his luck who goes in search of a monastery for lodging  deep in the woods  a place the villagers seem very afraid to go near . the trek alone is perilous with wolves  and a crazy taoist monk lives at the temple .  br    br   ling choi sin meets tsing  a beautiful and mysterious young girl who also lives nearby in a deserted temple . she is forced to seduce men for her evil mistress  but when she meets innocent ling choi sin they fall in love .  br    br   ling choi sin is sort of a bumbling fool but his heart is in the right place  while tsing tries to protect him from the other spirits in the woods  he tries to protect her from the monk who is trying to kill the spirits in the woods . there  s great martial arts  even a monk that breaks out into drunken song as he performs ritual taoist sword forms . the movie does a lot of traditional old martial art films acrobatics  with magic and flying through the air  leaping from tree to tree  with elegant long gowns and scarves  but the movie genuinely flows  and everything is effective .  br    br   tsing is to be married to a evil tree monster  which cant be good  and we feel her plight in her home where we meet her sisters and stepmother who is truly not nice .  br    br   in the end they must fight a tree witch with a deadly tongue  and go with yin deep into the heart of hell to fight a thousand year old evil to save their souls  and bring ling  s ashes back to her home for a proper burial so she may have a chance at reincarnation .  br    br   a beautiful story that truly pays attention to details . one is touched in many ways by this movie  you  ll laugh  cry  and just have fun with the great martial arts and cinematography . and though at the end  yin and ling choi sin ride off into the morning sun under a enchanting rainbow  we never know if tsing was afforded a reincarnation  but we do know her  
no spoilers here but i have been a fan since waking the dead started but the last series  of which only  have been on so far is awful . the stories bear no resemblance to the original idea of the series . i found these  in the last series jaw droppingly ludicrous . as a bbc licence payer  after the show i rang bbc complaints to pass on my disappointment . i  m amazed that actors of the calibre of trevor eve and sue johnstone didn  t object to the story lines . these actors have been with these characters for  seasons  surly they can see it  s lost all direction . it  s a good job it is the last series or the next series may start with the team investigating the death of father christmas   br    br   paul bentley  west yorkshire  england .  
i saw this movie in my childhood . and after   years i did not remember anything about this movie but i found out it i also don  t know how i was able to find out this movie . its my life . my all times favorite movie . my words will fall short of true meaning what i have inside for this movie . i follow this movie . it  s a brilliant mix of fantasy  comedy  romance  horror  erotic  scary and martial arts . the story about the power of love is pretty touching and warm . it  s a masterpiece of hong kong cinema .  br    br   sinnui yauman  is without a doubt one of the best ghost stories ever made into film . written by songling pu and directed by siu  tung ching  a chinese ghost story has it all . ling choi sin played by leslie cheung is a young man down on his luck who goes in search of a monastery for lodging  deep in the woods  a place the villagers seem very afraid to go near . the trek alone is perilous with wolves  and a crazy taoist monk lives at the temple .  br    br   ling choi sin meets tsing  a beautiful and mysterious young girl who also lives nearby in a deserted temple . she is forced to seduce men for her evil mistress  but when she meets innocent ling choi sin they fall in love .  br    br   ling choi sin is sort of a bumbling fool but his heart is in the right place  while tsing tries to protect him from the other spirits in the woods  he tries to protect her from the monk who is trying to kill the spirits in the woods . there  s great martial arts  even a monk that breaks out into drunken song as he performs ritual taoist sword forms . the movie does a lot of traditional old martial art films acrobatics  with magic and flying through the air  leaping from tree to tree  with elegant long gowns and scarves  but the movie genuinely flows  and everything is effective .  br    br   tsing is to be married to a evil tree monster  which cant be good  and we feel her plight in her home where we meet her sisters and stepmother who is truly not nice .  br    br   in the end they must fight a tree witch with a deadly tongue  and go with yin deep into the heart of hell to fight a thousand year old evil to save their souls  and bring ling  s ashes back to her home for a proper burial so she may have a chance at reincarnation .  br    br   a beautiful story that truly pays attention to details . one is touched in many ways by this movie  you  ll laugh  cry  and just have fun with the great martial arts and cinematography . and though at the end  yin and ling choi sin ride off into the morning sun under a enchanting rainbow  we never know if tsing was afforded a reincarnation  but we do know her .  
seeing as i hate reading long essays hoping to find a point and being disappointed  i will first tell everyone that this movie was terrible . downright terrible . and not  surprisingly for the reasons mentioned in the first review . i thought i might agree with him  seeing as he gave the movie the rank it deserved  but was sorrowfully rebuked upon reading what he said . i am quite ashamed to be taking the same side as someone who commented that the movie  definitely lacks good  looking females .  let me be the first to say   wow  that was definitely some serious in  depth reviewing there . my mind can hardly comprehend the philosophical musings about this movie .  seriously though  a lack of  good  looking females  shouldn  t be considered an essential to a movie . if you  re desperate enough for  good  looking females  you should really watch other types of movies  not necessarily falling into the sci  fi category .  
this movie is one of my favourites . it is a genre  mixture with ingredients of the action   horror   romantic   comedygenre . some of the special effects may seem outdated compared to modern standards . this minor flaw is easily ignored . there is so much to discover in this story . the romantic relation between the two main characters is so beautiful that it hurts . the visuals are beautiful too . the action is great which is no surprise  it is originating from honkong  birthplace of the world  s best action movies . the humour sometimes seems a little bit silly but in a good way . somehow this movie is being able to balance the different moods and keeps being good . absolutely recommended .  
as seems to be the general gist of these comments  the film has some stunning animation  i watched it on blu  ray  but it really falls short of any real depth .  br    br   firstly the characters are all pretty dull . i got a hint of a kind of laputa situation between agito  toola and the main antagonist shunack . however maybe my mind wanderd and this was wishful thinking  laputa being my favourite anim  original engilsh dub  . the characters are not really lovable either and as mentioned in another post they fall in love exceptionally quickly  leaving poor old minka jealous and rejected  she loves agito  who seems oblivious of this  . however she promptly seems to forgive toola at the end with no explanation for the change of heart other than it makes the ending a little bit more  happy  .  br    br   there is also a serious lack of explanation . like who are the druids really  are they people  and who are the weird women  girls who seem to hang out with them and run the forest  there is nothing explaining why they are there and how they can give regular humans superpowers . the plants coming from the moon still does not fill in the blanks about this . it is almost like a weird version of the day of the triffids .  br    br   and who does call toola  why bother with this if it wont be explained   br    br   i really wanted to like this film but i found the plot no where near as deep as a film like ghost in the shell or having any real character like those of miyazaki . i do not resent watching it but i do sort of wish i hadn  t bought it . my advice  give it a go if you have a couple of hours to spare  but borrow it  or buy it cheap  perhaps if your new to anim films and don  t have much to go by you will enjoy it . it certainly is visually pleasing .  
this is the best chinese movie i have ever seen  and  in my opinion  a lot better than hero or chrouching tiger  hidden dragon . the movie is a unique combination of several genres it  s a beautiful love story  action movie  comedy and horror at the same time . and the most amazing thing is that it really succeeds in all of this   br    br   this movie definitely makes it to my top   and should be enjoyable to every movie lover . the action sequences do have the traditional unrealistic jumping and even flying  but the way it  s shot differs from the style of hero a lot and the flying always looks great and usually even makes sense  ghosts can fly   br    br   see this movie  you won  t regret it .       
as many agree  origin is a beautiful anime artistically . the music  graphics  and the world created are gorgeous and it really stands above most other modern animated works . however  if you are looking for more than this  than i suggest looking else where . the beauty stops short of its appearance  and when it really comes down to plot and characters  there  s nothing special . action is slow and minimal and the people are flat  corny at times  and do not act realistically . not to mention the plot hole here and the plot hole there . . . so  in summary  oh my goodness  i  ve never seen an anime as beautiful as this one and oh my goodness  it  s like . . .  poke  people don  t act like that . it took a giant step forward in graphics and music in anime  but it also took a few step backs to times of bad characterization  and unfortunately  there  s not even that much action to make up for that . . .  
this movie is incredible . with great characters  specially the old swordsman that can fly in the shape of fireball and jump across the trees  this film tells a classic story of battle between good and forces of evil . the final showdown is specially breathtaking and the music score is kinda cool .  br    br   very  very recommendable . not for the smallest children though . this one deserves a   .  
this was a rip  off of the same garbage we had to watch bob saget host during the half  hour before this . dave coulier only thought he was funny and it was pretty much the same show as america  s funniest home videos except with a hosts who have a combined iq of three . tawny kitaen must  ve really needed the money and coulier had to go to the recycle bin for his jokes . it was torture enough having to see him imitate popeye and other washed up cartoon starts on full house . that one dude who played all of the practical jokes on everyone deserves to be on the receiving end of a grade a wedgie . coulier must  ve needed to money to please alannis morisette while they were dating .  
i first saw this film when it was transmitted around     by the bbc when i was working on uk  s     ad . my pal steve parkhouse recorded it on vhs and sent it to me . up till this point  i  d really only seen the shaw bros kung fu movies  with their harsh lighting  so audience could see the moves clearly   so it was a revelation to me to see something that looked like it had been lit by ridley scott coming out of hong kong . this was also my first exposure to the movies of tsui hark  pronounced  apparently   choy huk   .  br    br   yet for all the smoky  back  lit exteriors and ambitious special effects  stop  motion  in a hong kong movie   at the heart of chinese ghost story lies a simple and moving love story  made all the more real by the outstanding acting talent of leslie cheung  what a tragic  tragic waste of a life   and the beauty and elegance of joey wong . granted joey is gorgeous  but it  s her balletic hand gestures that give her character an unattainable eroticism that  s hard to analyse . and though joey is now almost   years older  gawd  which of us isn  t   this will always be the enduring image of that actress .  br    br   some reviewers here have said that the film is simplistic and lacks any surprises  but they  re missing the fact that this movie was based on a famous chinese story written by pu songling around      that  s a bit like complaining that romeo and juliet has a predictable ending and just copies west side story .  just wanted to get that off my chest    br    br   for me  chinese ghost story is the quintessential romantic tale . it has high tragedy  because we know that chio sin and sin seen can never be together . it  s about becoming mature  for none of us can mature until we  ve experienced great loss . it  s about sacrifice  for sacrifice is an essential component of true love . and the comedy stylings of wu ma don  t hurt a bit  either .  br    br   enjoy chinese ghost story by trying not to view it through a filter of western culture and you  ll get on with it just fine .  
i remember that show . i still remember that kick ass fun song  america  s funniest people .  frankly it should  ve been titled american  s lame or unfunny or downright disgusting people . dave couldn  t save this show and neither could bob saget or the replacement hosts for afv that came later . the jackalope segments were hilarious and yes dave could make some good voice overs that were better than bob  s . but this show went to hell because of the lame crappy videos people submitted . also it developed as somewhat of a variety show with lame guest stars including the olson twins . plus afv was in it  s prime before they started picking the drooling ugly as sin babies as the winner . did i mentioned the videos were disgusting and lame  but still the theme song rocks   
i saw this movie first on the berlin film festival  and i had never seen hong kong cinema before . i felt like sitting in a roller coaster the action was so quick  and there wasn  t one boring moment throughout the film . it has martial arts  love  special effects and a fantastic plot . my favorite scene is when the taoist drinks  sings and fights for himself  one of the many scenes which stress the extraordinary musical component of the movie . this film is a definite must    
a woman  sylvia kristel  seduces a   year old boy  eric brown  . they have sex . . . but it  s all tied into some stupid plot or something .  br    br   easily one of the most disturbing sex comedies ever . does anyone realize this movie is making light of child molestation  i suppose it  s ok cause it  s a teenage boy   if we had one with a man seducing a teenage girl there would  rightfully  be outrage . sorry  but having it done to a boy doesn  t excuse it . it  s still sick . i realize brown was of age  he was actually   when this was made  but he looks   . i just find it disturbing that some people find this ok .  br    br   plot aside the acting sucks  kristel is beautiful   but can  t act brown is easily one of the worst child actors i  ve ever seen  and the constant nudity gets boring and isn  t even remotely erotic .  br    br   i saw this drivel at a theatre back in     . i was   and with my   year old cousin  who could easily pass for    . he wanted to see it   i didn  t but i decided what the heck  we got in and i actually bought tickets for three teenage boys who were obviously underage . my cousin thought is was boring and the three other kids left halfway through  let me make this clear   three teenage boys left a movie with tons of female nudity  that should give you an idea of how bad this is . i  m surprised this was ever released . a  all the way .  
by     hong kong had given the world such films as sammo hung  s encounters of the spooky kind  chow yun fat in john woo  s iconic a better tomorrow   zu warriors  and the classic mr vampire  . jackie chan was having international success on video  but it was with a chinese ghost story  that hk cinema had its first real crossover theatrical hit in the west for many years .  br    br   western filmgoers had never seen anything like it . it was a film that took various ingredients that hk cinema had used for years  flying swordsman  wildly choreographed martial arts and the supernatural  and blended them to create a film that was unique in its look  feel and execution . forget the poor and unnecessary sequels it spawned  this is the original and best .  br    br   director siu  tung ching  still best known as an action choreographer on such films as woo  s a better tomorrow     the killer   has  under the watchful eye of legendary producer tsui hark  created a masterpiece of fantasy  horror cinema . and with such an expert crew at his disposal  no less than  martial arts coordinators  the chances of the film being anything but wonderful would be unthinkable .  br    br   the editing by the amazingly prolific david wu  who wrote  directed the bride with white hair   and edited such classic titles as a better tomorrow        hardboiled  and the cult hit the club   is quite simply a work of genius . his crafting of the perfectly choreographed high flying  tree climbing sword fights makes them some of the best hk cinema has ever created . fast moving  outlandish but never confusing they are  even today  the pinnacle of their art .  br    br   the crew of cinematographers have also done miracles . this is a film where every shot is an expertly crafted painting . where wonderful blue tinged night sequences  shrouded in an ever  present ghostly fog  are the breathtaking platform for our story to unfold . it  s a film where everything is used to weave a dreamlike beauty . even the silken robes and dresses worn by hsiao tsing become living parts of the movie  whether in romantic sequences or battle scenes the ever present silk flows across the screen . even a simple scene where hsiao tsing changes robes is turned into a thing of fluttering beauty as every skill on the set combines to create a most memorable scene from such a simple act . the sets are also amazing  giving an other worldly sense to the forests  and the temple and harshness to the scorched  flag filled wasteland of hell for the amazing finale . the production design by zhongwen xi deserves the highest praise .  br    br   another major factor to the films success is the music by romeo diaz and james wong . hong kong films have given us some fantastic music and songs that have added so much to the success of a sequence  but on a chinese ghost story  the music is  quite simply  vital . from the opening song onwards the music becomes as important as the characters .  br    br   the score is a perfect mixture of modern and traditional instruments . drums  bells and guitars pound away over the action sequences to great effect  but it  s in the slower  achingly romantic pieces that it comes into it  s own . here flutes  strings and female choral effects create what are possibly the finest pieces of music heard in an hk film . add to this the female vocal  stunningly beautiful song that plays over tsau  shen  s and hsiao tsing  s love making   nothing is ever seen  but the effect is wonderful . this is lovingly innocent movie romance  and you have a shining example of the power a film  s music can have .  br    br   and we of course have the acting talent . leslie cheung  a better tomorrow     and a very popular singer  is outstanding as the innocent tax collector . his work in the  thankfully mild  comic sequences is never over the top and his scenes with joey wang are played with just the right amount of passion and innocence .  br    br   joey wang  who would later be mostly relegated to support roles in films like the chow yun fat  andy lau classic  god of gamblers   has never looked more radiant than how she does here . she is the epitome of ethereal beauty . her portrayal of the tragic hsiao tsing is stunning . she shows her characters sadness at what she has become and what she is made to do  but also gives off a subtle eroticism in the scenes where she is luring the men to their gruesome deaths . veteran actor wu ma  mr . vampire   swordsman   is great fun as the wise  brave  but ever so grumpy  yen . he treads a fine line between the eccentric and the annoying with practised ease . and what so easily could have been a character that could have harmed the film is actually wonderfully entertaining and memorable .  br    br   but what about the monsters and beasties   i hear you cry . well they range from the rather crude but fun stop motion  animatronic zombies that inhabit the temple  resulting in a great running gag with constantly thwarted attempts to munch on the amusingly unsuspecting tsau  shen   to the rather cheesy but surprisingly effective lord black . complete with an arsenal of vicious flying heads  and quite outstanding wire work . most of which has  to this day  never been topped .  br    br   but the most outstanding effect and creation is the tree spirit  s killer tongue . we first encounter this thing with an evil dead  style rushing camera effect as it powers down its victims throats to deliver a lethal french kiss that turns the victims into zombiefied husks . but later it  s shown in all its crazy glory . it can grow so big and long that it shoots through the forest after prey  rips apart trees  wraps itself around buildings and coils it  s slimy length around people before picking them up and throwing them against tree trunks   it can even split open to reveal a fang filled mouth  it  s an outrageous idea that given the deeply romantic main plot shouldn  t work . but it does  to fantastic and unforgettable effect .  br    br   so what all this adds up to is a classic example of hong kong movie making . a true team effort that has given us a truly ground breaking movie . it  s a film packed with wit  invention  action  monsters  martial arts  ghosts  fantastic ideas  lush visuals  beautiful music  and most important to it  s enduring charm  one of cinemas most moving romances .  
a previous reviewer said the movie is not all that bad . what       the movie glorifies child molestation . oh  but sylvia kristel was naked in it  so let  s give it  out of   stars . why not a full    because the filmography was  agonizing   the child  s looks of shock were  unrealistic   and the fat friend was  irritating .  nowhere in the review does the reviewer express any outrage that an american movie in     featured scenes of a child having sex with a grown woman . i happened to catch this steaming loaf of a movie while staying at a hotel that had showtime . to me  even if the fat friend had acted up a storm and was a deserving of an oscar  i would still have to give the movie only  star . that tv  s howard hessman starred in the movie at the same time as he was appearing in wkrp is particularly ridiculous . but don  t take my word for it   
  bread  very sharply skewers the conventions of horror movies in general and  night of the living dead  in specific and is constantly inventive . the production values are a little rough at times  it  s a student film  after all   but it never loses sight of its goal to entertain . hey   george romero liked it enough to include it on the remastered  dead  video tape  laserdisc and dvd . . . that should tell you something .  
it is obviously illegal . pedophiles pray on stuff like this . how did they get away with making such a movie  this movie is all summed up in one word  sick . where do people get off making  and watching these kinds of films . as i was watching the movie i didn  t actually think they would allow this kid that is say maybe   if that actually sleep with this woman . sorry if this is a spoiler to you but i would have rater not seen this . where has the sanity of these people gone  maybe the makers of this movie are pedophiles  our society today is filled with all types of sexual predators that pray upon children  yet film makers make these types of movies that do nothing but provoke this type of behavior . i noticed that on a previous comment someone asked if there was a version where it showed them naked . this is a kid here  and someone is asking something like this  what is wrong with this picture   
before viewing  please make sure you have seen night of the living dead . . . this might well be the best  minute parody i have ever seen  absurd  crappy  special effects   the rope  the rope      and maneating slices of bread . . . what more do you need     br    br    do not watch this movie while eating bread . . . you might get scared    
back in my days as an usher  private lessons  played at the   plex i was working . it was a sleeper hit selling out friday and saturday nights for several weeks . i never got around to seeing it but saw that it was on cable this last weekend  so i decided to give it a shot . what i witnessed for the next   minutes was one of the worst movies i have ever seen and one that made me terribly uncomfortable to watch .  br    br   the basic story is a teenage boy lusts after his sexy maid  sylvia kristel  . she  too  seems to feel an attraction towards the boy but for more sinister reasons . so we get scenes of the boy watching her undress and her inviting him in to watch . and it goes from there .  br    br   eric brown  as the teenage boy  has to be one of the worst actors i have ever seen . his  scared  reactions to every time sylvia takes off a piece of clothing or when she touches him are horrible . i didn  t laugh a single time during this piece of junk .  br    br   and let  s not get started on the subplot of the maid and chauffeur planning to extort money from the kid . let  s just say it involves faking a death  burying a body . . . . i could go on and on but it gets more ridiculous .  br    br   the sex scenes are the worst i have ever seen . even though eric brown was older then he looked  the fact is he looks like a baby . it appears he has no idea how to kiss a woman  if that was acting then maybe i should re  think my criticisms of brown  and it just came too close to bordering on child pornography to be erotic . i have never been so turned off by a sex scene even though miss kristel is quite beautiful with and without clothes .  br    br   spoiler warning i must make mention of the last scene . to me it  s just plain sick but i can remember audiences cheering as the film freeze framed and dissolved into credits . our hero returns to school and begins a flirtation with one of the female teachers . he asks her out for dinner and she gives him a look as if tom cruise has just asked her out . she nods affirmatively and he walks away  smiling at the camera in triumph . give me a break  yes i am sure teachers all over would just risk everything for a plain looking teenage kid .  br    br   i will never understand the appeal this film had in     . certainly it was more then the nudity because there were plenty of teen sex comedies with nudity that bombed at the box office . and to think that these same teenagers that cheered that movie   years ago are now working their way up corporate ladders and possibly helping to run this country . that is a scary thought .  
very funny film . classic film funny eddie murphy of the   s . i saw when i was a child and i have a good memory . the classic irony of murphy does not fail  the film is funny  well done . murphy in the    s made many films of action that represented for him a way to joke about everything that is dangerous . the result can only be appreciated by some but ii film from     up to now have changed . the atmosphere for a movie of that time is good and the special effects are good for a film of the period . a nice movie to see and enjoy appreciating the taste of ironic murphy  an actor who has recently disappeared . the final part is anthologies  the likable actor who plays the part of the tibetan monk . that  s it .  
it says that a girl named susan montford both wrote and directed this  movie .  no wonder she has no other credits to her name for writing or directing . she made a severe vocational error in choosing this as her career . this is one of the worst human creations of this millennium .  br    br   the fundamental thing wrong with this movie other than its ridiculous story of a woman running away from four weak thugs  is the blatant and complete lack of logic .  br    br   after she leaves the mall  she gets approached by four thugs as they surround her . tell me  what woman would aggressively shove a potential attacker while being surrounded  and insult them verbally  i don  t mean after an attack had already started  because then of course it  s completely normal for someone to fight back . but she shoved that guy and pretty much escalated it to the next level . no woman would do that unless she   had a weapon    has the confidence of knowing that backup is very close  and so is relatively safe from harm  or   the attackers are so young  and weak looking that she  s pretty sure she can take them . none of that applied in this situation  so she was just acting like someone that  s asking to get raped or mugged . and by the way  when the security guard approached  as soon as he came within viewing distance of kim basinger  why wouldn  t she immediately either run towards him for help  or scream    br    br   when she drives off after the security guard gets shot in the head  she drives into a deserted part of town  and crashes . she had a good three minute lead on the pursuers  instead of simply running off on foot in a diagonal direction behind houses and climbing fences and continuing  she gets out her red toolbox and starts messing around under her hood . i understand she was trying to fix her car  but she should  ve ran .  br    br    i didn  t even mean this to be a chronological summary of the movie  because i loathe people who do that in their reviews  but it just so happens that every main sequence of this movie has something so blatantly stupid that i have to comment on it  .  br    br   why would she carry a loud  red toolbox as she  s trying to sneak away in the dark  when she does get caught  one of the jokers demands for her to open the toolbox . first she resists  then eventually opens it . and takes out a wrench . this scene here is so rich in subtle overtones of the complete failure of dramatic effect i have to break it down  it  s one of the dumbest scenes in the entire movie . when asked to open the box  she  s resisting at first as if it were her plan to somehow get one of the thugs to open it themselves out of anger after she didn  t open it  in the same way that someone in some action movie might have some device that an enemy demands that person to touch  push  open  manipulate  and once that hero refuses to open it  the enemy grabs that device  only to have that device automatically dispense a chemical  shoot him in the face  render him unconscious  which was the hero  s plan all along . it feels like that  s what they tried to do with kim basinger here  as she opens the toolbox dramatically and quickly takes out a wrench and dispatches one of the thugs  and somehow gets away from him and the three other thugs .  br    br   throughout the rest of the movie  basically what you see is this suburban house wife  sneaking around the woods as she carries her red toolbox  taking out various tools used as weapons to kill her attackers .  br    br   when she was running away  how did she end up moving back to where the thugs were  i think it was the scene where they had that radio playing loudly in tribute to the dead dude . she somehow crept up on them when i thought she was moving away from them .  br    br   finally  this whole premise is so weak because the whole reason she  s being chased in the first place is because from the thugs  perspective  she was a witness to a murder they committed against the security officer earlier  and so they felt they had to kill her . how ridiculous . as one of the thugs even said  they could  ve just left town and returned back to whatever city they drove from  no one but her had seen them anyway  and she probably didn  t get the license plate . even if these possibilities wouldn  t work in their favor  how is raising hell and hunting down someone to kill them improving your chances to get away with the original murder   
i just viewed this great good  natured parody of night of the living dead  and i have to say it was so awful and so corny it was excellent . this movie incorporated all the antics and scenery shots that the original had including the cemetery  the supposable abandoned house  the basement and the front lawn . what i especially love about this movie is the comical use of bread and all the common household enemies bread has a grudge against . c  mon  we know that toasters  toaster ovens and zip  locks have done bread in a dozen times and now we must call for their help in order to defeat the reanimated bread . aside from the cheap acting and voice  overs  this short horror film is my personal favorite parody of night of the living dead  even better than night of the living dead of     .  br    br   i think what makes this movie worth watching is how the writers and directors utilized all the dialogue from the original movie and revolved it around bread  including how the bread became reanimated and to avoid leftovers because they are especially dangerous . another great reason why i love this movie is that  there is no exception as to what bread is evil  bagels are evil and even communions are evil  which is demonstrated by a hilarious scene involving a newscaster and a rather monotone priest . i think that the actors are especially humorous performing the deed of being viscously attacked by slices of bread  i . e . the car scene  . i think the end is very worth sticking around .  br    br   even though this is a short and that  night of the day of the dawn of the son of the bride of the return of the revenge of the terror of the attack of the evil  mutant  alien  flesh eating  hellbound  zombified living dead part   in shocking   d  is debatably another great parody  it  s still recommend as a great horror parody done by  what seems to be college filmmakers . i highly recommend this movie to anybody who is able to make fun of night of the living dead and still have respect for the filmmakers . i would also like to recommend this movie to anybody who loves d  movies and horror parody  s  it  s just a wonderful little short horror film that  s fun to watch and learn .  
let  s put political correctness aside and just look at this in terms of the numerous sex comedies that came out in the      s because i for one don  t think this is any better or any worse than the others . unless your some religious kook or an uptight female you can probably view a silly film such as this without getting all worked up about the content and i personally had a totally innocuous feeling towards this before and after watching it . story is set in albuquerque  new mexico where a rich   year old boy named phillip  philly  fillmore  eric brown  is naturally horny as hell and starts spying on the attractive maid that has just started working for his father .  br    br   spoiler alert nicole mallow  sylvia kristel  is friendly to philly but things heat up when his father goes out of town on business and she starts to flirt with him to the point where she invites him into her bedroom to watch her undress . philly is awkward and doesn  t know how to react at first but soon he goes for it and has sex but than to his horror it seems that nicole has died from a heart attack  with the help from the sleazy chauffeur lester lewis  howard hesseman  they seemingly have buried her body but a note from a blackmailer shows up and philly must get        out of his father  s safe . philly is shocked when nicole shows up and he learns that the whole thing was an extortion plan set up by lester and that she only went along with it because she  s an illegal alien and if she didn  t do what she was told lester would have called the immigration office . together they try to get his father  s money back before he returns home and they enlist the help from jack  ed begley jr .  who is a tennis instructor but pretends to be a cop to scare lester .  br    br   this little comedy was made for less than   million but it grossed over    million worldwide and made it one of the least likely films during that time to be so successful which prompts me to wonder why this was a hit and not any of the others in the genre . director alan myerson can boast that he made a hit film but the truth is that he never really had a career in films although he did go on to be very successful in television . so . . . why did this become so successful  i have a thought that it just may be because of kristel and before you decide that i  m crazy listen to my reasoning . kristel was an international star because of her soft core films so that reason alone made many free thinking adults curious about viewing her in an american film that was getting a wide release . with that  the same adults would also be nostalgic about their own youth and the fantasy of being taught the ways of lovemaking by an attractive older woman which brings in the much younger audience members who are probably still very inexperienced and curious about the film . anyway  that  s my thought and if anyone has another reason i would love to hear it but back to the film itself it  s apparent  and very sad  that a film like this could probably never get made again  except in europe  because of the religious right and the other prudish freaks who just can  t come to terms with the fact that a teenage boy getting laid will not do him any harm . in fact  it  s a valuable service that all boys pray will happen to them  the film itself is clumsy and kristel  s body double is all too evident in certain scenes especially if you take careful note of the difference in their nipples . the story  although intriguing in it  s basic form  is neither very funny or revealing so were left ogling the nude scenes that are really the norm for the genre .  
being someone who lists night of the living dead at number three in her top five favorite movies of all time  and at the same time loving this student film parody  i feel i must defend this movie against the previously posted scathing reviews . this short but sweet opus has always been a crowd  pleaser at horror and science fiction movie marathons where those who attend have a love of the genre yet know not to take zombie movies too seriously . this film is a tribute to the original  not an insult . it is intended to be funny  and many others who i have heard chant for and applaud it agree with me that it succeeds . especially for those of us who have seen notld    times . watch for the director cameo as news reporter jeff drexel  and also if you have the opportunity catch his alien parody  loaf .  
one of the those  coming of age  films that should have nostalgia for adults and promise for the kids . this movie has neither . it is a poor excuse to let sylvia kristel  s body double frolic with a dorky eric brown . to make matters worse  the movie is either silly or stupid when it tries to be funny  sexy  or dramatic . laugh awkwardly as we are supposed to believe that a teenager would go alone with burying a dead woman in his front yard . ponder vigorously on why a woman famous for emmanuelle needs a body double . as the movie went on and on  i started to imagine a hybrid of private lessons and little miss millions that had sylvia kristel seduce jennifer love hewitt as howard hesseman makes us nostalgic for wkrp . watch this to laugh at other people  s stupidity  or for ed begley jr .  s committed performance  or to wonder what sylvia kristel would look like with jennifer love hewitt . but i can give you an idea of your lesson  stay away from movies staring sylvia kristel that are not emmanuelle .  
having seen the short a number of times at horror movie marathons  i believe it to be a humorous parody that slices to the main point of its reference .  br    br   though the themes are crusty and stale to today  s viewers  it is by no means a crumby waste of time .  br    br   though being a student film gives little rise to an excuse  the proof is that it appears crafted with care on a budget of little to no dough .  br    br   as noted by another reviewer  it is less than ten minutes which is plenty of time to cleanse the viewing palate with a toast of joy  sit back and loaf idly through the film .  br    br   i think this short  bread of a film should be enjoyed as an appetizer for the title reference and the viewer should relax and roll with it .  
the film looks super on paper . a romantic comedy in which a frantic lover gets dragged into a smuggling thriller should be generic cross  breeding gold  especially with this excellent romcomic cast .  br    br   i  m afraid lawrence kasdan simply gives his two stars too much rope though and they duly go and hang themselves . adam brooks  script may well be to blame but you  d expect better from the kevin kline of a fish called wanda . instead the two ping  pong off one another and the unlikely burgeoning romance is never reconciled satisfactorily with the reason either of them are in and dashing around france .  br    br   jean reno co  stars amiably as the cop  with  a  heart and i guess wishes he was a star  with  a  part . mind you he went on to do those pink panther remake  s   so perhaps he was ok with this . . .      
joan fontaine here is entirely convincing as an amoral beauty who is entirely incapable of feeling love for anyone but herself . her husband  richard ney  has lost all his money through a combination of his foolhardiness and her extravagance  and they are reduced to living in a tiny room  with little or no prospects . they continue to put on the most amazing clothes and go out and socialize as if nothing were wrong . he is a charming  feckless  but wholly amiable fellow . however  fontaine decides he has to go  as he has outlived his usefulness . so she resolves to poison him when she realizes he does not want to divorce her  so that she can move on . she has meanwhile had a lover  patric knowles  whom she decides to drop because he is not rich either . she meets the aging herbert marshall  who has a yacht with all the trimmings and more money than even fontaine could figure out how to spend . she targets him and decides he will do nicely . he is all too eager to be eaten up by the young beauty . he certainly isn  t very exciting  and has about as much sex appeal as yesterday  s omelette . but fontaine is one of those gals who has eyes only for money  and the man standing between her and it is transparent  so that she doesn  t even notice or care what he looks like  she looks through him and sees what she really wants and goes for it . she proceeds to poison her husband  and dispatches him very neatly and satisfactorily  so that everything is going well . but as always happens in the movies  and sometimes even in life  some unexpected things begin to go wrong  and the tension rises appreciably  so that fontaine begins to sweat . fontaine is particularly good at looking wicked and terrified  and as the net begins to close in on her  her rising sense of desperation is palpable and has us on the edges of our seats . hysteria and fear take over from cool calculation and cunning . but she finds a fall guy for her crime in the person of her cast off lover  who is an innocent victim of her scheme to set him up . he is condemned to death for murder  because the husband  s death by poison came to light unexpectedly . but sir cedric hardwicke  playing a grimly determined scotland yard inspector  thinks there may be something amiss  and begins to doubt the story and suspect fontaine . he closes in on her  and some of the scenes as this happens are inspired portrayals of the wildest panic . but will the innocent man  s life be saved before he is executed  will fontaine worm her way out of this one  will herbert marshall protect her to safeguard his infatuation  this film is expertly directed by sam wood  and the film is a really superb suspense thriller which i suppose qualifies very well for the description of a superior film noir .  
un  bleeping  believable  meg ryan doesn  t even look her usual pert lovable self in this  which normally makes me forgive her shallow ticky acting schtick . hard to believe she was the producer on this dog . plus kevin kline what kind of suicide trip has his career been on  whoosh . . . banzai    finally this was directed by the guy who did big chill  must be a replay of jonestown  hollywood style . wooofff   
does anyone happen to know where this film was shot  the aviation scene on the cliff is beautiful . it appears to be england . however  ivy  s apartment building certainly looks like the brill building  with its fascinating elevators .  br    br   charles mendl is listed as playing  sir charles gage  . maybe i blinked  but i never saw him . perhaps he was the husband  s lawyer  but  again  i don  t recall that character being in the film  other than being mentioned as having made a phone call . perhaps he was in the aviation scene  or the ballroom scene  did anyone spot him   br    br   herbert marshall was   years old when he shot this film .  
the premise is ridiculous  the characters unbelievable  the dialogue trite  and the ending absurd .  br    br   believe me  i  m a fan of kevin kline  but watching him do a pepe le pew accent for  hours as a supposed frenchman is not nearly as amusing as it sounds .  br    br   for her part  meg ryan is once again as perky and adorable as a  take your pick   kewpie doll  baby  puppy  kitten  whatever you happen to think is the cutest creature on earth . she also bears not the slightest resemblance to a real human being .  br    br   this movie strikes me as an opportunity seized by buddies lawrence kasdan and kline to vacation in paris and the south of france while being well  paid for it . so i can  t really blame them .  
warning contains a spoiler . corny plot and in many cases terrible acting . fontaine is great  but some others  particularly richard ney  ivy  s husband  are exceedingly wooden . ney lies in bed  dying of arsenical poisoning  with every hair in place . yet the movie is so juicy and so suspenseful . more faithful to the book than most movies of its era . casting joan fontaine as a poisoner  and an adulteress  which was just as shocking then  i  m not kidding  kids  was a masterful stroke . she  s just her usual joan fontainey self . as murderers were supposed to  she dies by falling  feet foremost through the floor into an empty space .   
kevin kline and meg ryan are among that class of actors which i am always interested in seeing  despite reviews . i have always found ms . ryan to be a charming and winsome actress in nearly all her roles  and kevin kline is almost always worth watching .  br    br   i say  nearly  and  almost  in large part because of this movie .  br    br   first off  meg ryan does not play a likeable character  she plays a weak  willed whiner who begins grating on your nerves shortly after the opening credits and doesn  t give up until several days later . that said  kevin kline  s character is even more annoying and less likeable . so  even if you normally like these two actors  i recommend your give this movie a pass .  
an excellent period murder melodrama  with fontaine effectively playing against her earlier naive wallflower type  in a role that reportedly olivia dehavilland turned down . that  s fine  because fontaine is wonderful . scripted by charles bennett  who had written for hitchcock in the thirties and also later penned the excellent script for the classic british horror film night of the demon . the opening scene  where ivy visits a sinister fortune teller played by the wonderful una o  connor  the screecher of james whale fame   is a tour de force  and the film maintains interest throughout the numerous sinister machinations . i hope to see this film on dvd someday  but despair of that ever happening  because it seems to be an undeservedly obscure film . fortunately i got to see it on amc some seven or eight years ago  but have not seen since . catch it if you can   
i give this five out of   . all five marks are for hendrix who delivers a very decent set of his latter day material . unfortunately the quality of the camera work and editing is verging on the appalling  we have countless full  face shots of hendrix where he could almost be doing anything  taking a pee perhaps  we don  t see his hands on the guitar thats the point  also we  re given plenty shots of hendrix from behind  there appears to be three cameras on hendrix  but amateur fools operate all of them . the guy in front of hendrix seems to be keen to wander his focus lazily about the stage as if hendrix on the guitar is a mere distraction . while the guy behind is keener on zeroing in on a few chicks in the stalls than actually documenting the incredible guitar work thats bleeding out the amps  the sound recording is good thanks to wally heider  interspersed on the tracks are clips of student losers protesting against vietnam etc on tracks like machine gun  complete waste of film  if hendrix had lived even another two years berkeley is one of those things that would never have seen the light of day as far as a complete official release goes . the one gem it does contain is the incredible johnny b good but all in a pretty poor visual document of the great man and inferior to both woodstock and isle of wight  
poor ivy though to the manner born  she had the bad luck to marry a charming wastrel  richard ney  . as the movie is set in the   s or   s  when rigid victorian ideas of class were starting to fray at the edges  this uncertain status vexes her unduly . the gretorexes  for so they are called  don  t know where their next shilling is coming from but there are yachting parties and fancy  dress balls in posh pleasaunces aplenty to tempt her . when ivy  joan fontaine  makes the acquaintance of a wealthy older gent  herbert marshall  who must have been born middle  aged   she sets one of her extravant chapeaux for him . luckily  one of the beaux she still strings along  patric knowles  is a physician whose consulting rooms provide a cache of poison  with which she bids her hubby farewell . the fact that it implicates knowles doesn  t phase her a bit  even as the hours trickle by until he should be hanged by the neck until dead . the turning of the plot depends on police inspector sir cedric hardwicke knowles  mother  the redoubtable lucile watson   and knowles  loyal housekeeper  una o  connor  . sam wood adds some subtle touches to this well above average melodrama fontaine  s luminous face supplies the rest .  
were i not with friends  and so cheap  i would have walked out . it failed miserably as satire and didn  t even have the redemption of camp .  
joan fontaine stars as the villain in this victorian era film . she convincingly plays the married woman who has a lover on the side and also sets her sights on a wealthy man  miles rushworth who is played by herbert marshall . mr . marshall is quite good as miles . miss fontaine acted her part to perfection   she was at the same time cunning  calculating  innocent looking  frightened and charming . it takes an actress with extraordinary talent to pull that off . joan fontaine looked absolutely gorgeous in the elegant costumes by travis banton . also in the film is joan  s mother  lillian fontaine as lady flora . i highly recommend this film .  
i saw this movie originally in the theater  when i was   . even at that age the  humor  was mildly insulting to my adolescent intelligence .  br    br   in the past  whenever i would see ed begley jr . or jeff goldblum i would cringe and start to feel very uncomfortable and even slightly sad . until i was reminded of the existence of this movie today  i was unsure why i felt that way . apparently i blocked my memory of this movie yet my negative feelings towards two of the perpetrators remained . apparently i forgot that i saw this movie but subconsciously mourned the pieces of my soul that had been stolen  nay eaten by the creators of this inhuman work .  br    br   i haven  t been brave enough to try watching it as an adult . i imagine that as part of the healing process that i should probably look at confronting this childhood fear so that i can truly put it behind me . some regression therapy and  or hypnosis might not be a bad idea either .  
loved joan . great performance . what isn  t she good in . i watched this film and then jane eyre right after . . . she just keeps getting better . my heart was racing . great old movie drama . just what i want from a classic movie . facial expressions are worth the whole film . i  m glad i have it on video . don  t know what more you need in a film . beautiful woman . . . . wealth . . . . . greed . . . . . murder . . . . detectives . . . . . . a trial . . . . .  br    br   the costumes are very nice . makes me wonder what the budget was for this movie  wish they still made films like this . whenever they try they just seem to make a cheesy movie . films in black and white still hold a certain mystery .  
this comedy has some tolerably funny stuff in it  surrounded by a lot of unfunny stuff . just about every scene involving the servants of the castle and their silly antics is a waste of time . and the plotting is so sloppy that it makes you wonder if they actually had a script ready before they started filming this  or they were simply making it all up as they went along .        
a strange role for eddie murphy to take at the height of his career . while there is a lot of the  eddie murphy character   he plays a truly decent person . the rest of the cast is good  particularly the lovely charlotte lewis . her character  s beauty and serenity held the tone of the film from getting to be too much murphy .  
oh my god . the idea that this movie is a thriller is an absolute joke to me . besides the point that it seems to be written by a  year old . the plot  the acting and even the props and filming of this movie were all beyond disgrace .  br    br   i am not usually this critical about any movie  cause every person has his  her style . but this movie  however  was probably the worst movie i have seen in     . i can honestly believe that this movie is unknown  and i think it should stay like this  for movies like these are making the thriller genre a joke .  br    br   i advise anyone that is a fan of thriller movies  or even simply movies to stay far away from this one .  
there is indeed much to complain about this movie version of molnar  s mystical play   farrell looks good in his title role  but his line readings  frankly  stink . this also suffers  in large part  from this being credited as the first movie that makes use of rear projection . the sets look phony .  br    br   there are two great strengths in this show  however although the dialogue readings limp  the visual performances are perfect . rose hobart  as julie  is little remembered today mostly for rose hobart  in which joseph cornell cut down the programmer east of borneo to simply shots of her credit melford  s stylish visual direction of the original . her great beauty and simple  although stagy  performance help repair some of the damage to the earth  bound sections of this movie .  br    br   however  one of borzage  s themes is the mystical power of love  and it is the handling of the celestial sections that make this great  from the arrival of the celestial train to the journey to  the hot place  . h . b . warner  s performance here is  as always  perfect .  br    br   so we have here a flawed but very interesting version . i think that lang  s     version is better  as well as the celestial scenes in the henry king version of carousel  the watered  down musical remake . but i still greatly enjoyed this version and think you should give it a chance .  
  transylvania        is an insignificant but occasionally funny and charming mid    s horror parody with some very familiar names in the cast and a handful of genuine opportunities to chuckle in the script . two bozo journalist of a gossipy tabloid newspaper are sent  very much against their will  to transylvania to do a story on the alleged return of mad scientist frankenstein . there are some adorable little gimmicks and details to discover left and right in the film  like a little guillotine for hard  boiled eggs and laboratory test tubes that are being used to put in cream and sugar at the breakfast table . the wholesome of the film  however  is not as successful as it could and should have been  with jokes and parody situations that are way too overlong . the roger corman production  transylvania twist   which came out four years after this  is a lot funnier and much more recommended . the film is particularly parodying the classic universal milestones of the early    s  so you better make sure you  ve seen those if you want to grasp all the tiny gags and references . there  s a pretty original twist indicating that the frankenstein character only behaves like a mad  raving evil scientist when he enters his laboratory . it  s also revealed that he  s actually more of a father damien sort of messiah who  s only concerned with the condition of exiled monsters . michael richards  the freaky guy who plays kramer in seinfeld  stars as a psychotic butler who appears and disappears at the most inappropriate moments . i  m pretty sure john turturro  s character in  mr . deeds  was inspired by richards  s role here .  
although lang  s version is more famous  borzage  s work is not devoid of interest  far from itits  celestial  sequences are even better . the metaphor of the train  perhaps borrowed from the ending of abel gance  s  la roue   is eventually more convincing than the  up above  heavenly world .  br    br   borzage  s tenderness for his characters shows in marie  s character and love beyond the grave is one of his favorite subjects  the ending of  three comrades   . the amusement park seems to be everywhere we see it even when we are in marie  s poor house . i do not think that the sets are that much cheesy  they are stylized to a fault . the fair from a distance almost gives a sci  fi feel to the movie .  br    br   borzage never forgets his social concerns in the heavenly train going up  the rich cannot stand to be mixed up with the riffraff but as  chief magistrate  tells   here there  s no more difference  .  br    br   not a major work for borzage  neither is lang  s version   but to seek out if you are interested in the great director  s career .  
horror spoofs are not just a thing of the   st century . way before the  scary movie  series there were a few examples of this genre  mostly in the   s . but like said franchise most of these films are hit or miss . some like  elvira  mistress of the dark  mostly rise above that  but other like  saturday the   th  and it  s sequel fail to deliver the laughs . but out of all these types of films there is one particularly big offender and that  s  transylvania         a major waste of time for many reasons .  br    br   pros a great cast that does it  s best . some of the dopey humor is amusing . a corny  but catch theme song . some good transylvanian locations .  br    br   cons threadbare plot . mostly tedious pacing . most of the humor just doesn  t cut it . the monsters are given little to do and little screen time . i thought this was supposed to be a spoof of monster movies  lame ending that will likely make viewers angry .  br    br   final thoughts this is a comedy  if it is then why are the really funny bits so few and far in between  comedies are supposed to make us roll on the floor  not roll our eyes and yawn  aching for it to be over . i can  t believe anchor bay released this tired junk . i  ll admit it  s not one of the worst films ever made  but it  s not worth anyone  s time or money even if you  re a fan of any of the actors . see  transylvania twist  instead .  br    br   my rating     
the sea is watching was an interesting film experience . first of all  the overall feel was intense  internalized  claustrophobic  and small . each frame seemed to be a photograph of something inside  something very focused and not part of a bigger picture . it was obvious what we were to look at in each frame . the physicality of the set itself contributed to that feeling of smallness and intensity . the lights along the middle of the road cut the road in half  and the tiny gate to the tiny settlement followed by the tiny and few cubbyholes that served as the establishments that made up what seemed to be the entire town . even the view of the ocean was framed by a tiny landing on which one can count the number of longer grass swaying in the wind . no panoramic views . in fact  it reminded me of the montmarte sequence of moulin rouge where the camera sweepingly focuses in to the windmill creating again a feeling of a small area where everything is happening .  br    br   while the acting was passable considering i really could not discern how the lines were truly delivered  i felt that the actions were overly melodramatic and nonsensical . why kikuno would continue carrying on the way she did when fusanosuke announced his impending marriage really didn  t seem true  people hadn  t really changed that much  and the character kikuno was so strong and resilient that even if they were busy taking on o  shin  s business for naught  the reaction seemed out of character and unnecessary and distracting . another example of odd acting was when the drunk boyfriend of kikuno showed up and ryosuke decided to intervene and was pushed down the stairs  the way in which he got up and menacingly came up the stairs and the ensuing fight outside among the reeds was simply unsatisfying . it wasn  t that i like fight scenes  au contraire  but it seemed a little stilted and again  overly dramatic .  br    br   otherwise  while not a beautiful movie to watch  it provided an interesting glimpse into the darker side of prostitution  as opposed to the geisha  . unfortunately  perhaps it fed into our expectations of wanton women  the  honey  i  ll give you a deal  comments supported by the over  stretched actions  and seriously caused me to doubt whether indeed   th century prostitutes really acted in that way . but once inside the house  the inner workings became most interesting  vivid and real and provided a scenario i never anticipated or imagined in my romantic view of japan in the   th century .  
anyone familiar with my reviews on the internet movie database will know that i can be a grumpy bastard from time to time . there are a lot of films i don  t like which  for some unfathomable reason  i  ve felt the urge to review . however  if anyone out there is curious to know the name of the worst film i  ve ever seen  look no further than transylvania       . without question  this takes the title of the all  time no .  awful film . i can  t believe that i actually made it from the start of this clunker to the finish   br    br   it is clearly meant to capture the flavour of mel brooks  s young frankenstein  but where that film was a funny take on horror movie traditions  this one is a desperately strained and misguided attempt to wring laughs from embarrassingly weak material . jeff goldblum and ed begley jr look ashamed to be here as a pair of journalists in modern day transylvania  perhaps they realised early on that they were doomed in this dud  . during their research  they come up against all the chief monsters from past horror favourites  such as vampires  werewolves and mummies .  br    br   anyone who manages to brave this film right through to its end may pray that a stake be driven through their heart to relieve them from the agony of boredom . it marks a career nadir for everyone involved and proves that when comedy fails in a big way  it results in awesomely dire entertainment .  
artistically speaking  this is a beautiful movie   the cinematography  music and costumes are gorgeous . in fact  this movie is prettier than those directed by akira kurasawa himself . in this case  he only wrote the movie as it was made several years after his death .  br    br   so  as far as the writing goes  the dialog was well  written and the story  at times  was interesting . however  the story was also rather depressing yet uninvolving in some ways   after all  it  s the story of a group of women who work in a brothel . it  s interesting that although prostitution has been seen as a much more acceptable business in japan  the women still long for a better life . this reminds me a lot of the movie streets of shame  though streets of shame  s characters are a lot less likable and more one  dimensional .  br    br   so  overall it gets a    mostly due to everything but the writing . it  s too bad that the weakest link in this movie is the story by the great kurasawa .  
oh  brother . the only reason this very irritating film avoids getting the total  bomb  from me is because it  s at least historically noteworthy as the first three stooges film  when they weren  t yet on their own and were still saddled with that painfully unfunny ted healy  . but even as a longtime stooges fan i  d have to say that young moe  larry and curly are badly used here as three zany assistant janitors to mr . healy  s taller boss janitor . they  re not featured steadily through the movie and their silly on  and  off  again stints paint them more like zany overactive cartoon characters trying too hard to be amusing .  br    br   most of this toothache deals with jack pearl seeking in vain to get some chuckles from the audience himself as a man who impersonates baron munchausen  here  s a good example of the level of humor  i object    on what grounds    coffee grounds    . his sidekick is none other than a young jimmy durante  but even the schnoz himself is a bore .  
the sea is watching has been made from an original akira kurosawa script  and it is indeed a lush and warm film . watching it will be a pleasure   br    br   kei kumai as director is certainly no equal to the old but everlasting master  particularly the mass scenes in the beginning of the film has some terrible acting   but the overall mood and scenery is very enjoyable . another thing that is missed here kurosawa always managed to let the characters be so much more then what they are actually showing and doing .  br    br   probably that was his magic on set while shooting and just maybe this script was not fully up to par yet .  br    br   maybe we just miss the eye of the master .  br    br   this is one lovely and sweet film  but it is no kurosawa . to expect that might well be very silly . . .  
strained comedy  a sketch  like revue which was initially a vehicle to showcase one  time radio star jack pearl but is now best remembered as america  s introduction to the three stooges . actually  larry  curly and moe are billed alongside comic ted healy as ted healy and his three stooges . although the supporting cast features jimmy durante  who is completely wasted on dim material  and zasu pitts  the only audience for the film these days are stooges  addicts  and even they won  t find much to applaud here . incredibly loud and overbearing  it shows how far hollywood had to go to reach a certain level of slapstick sophistication .     from   
kurosawa weaves a tale that has a cast of characters as diverse as any shakespearean drama  and the acting is true to the story  with each star playing their role as a part of the larger tale . it is touching  funny and intriguing in all parts . the character development is near perfect  the cinematography is vivid and engaging  and the story draws you in .  br    br   i would like to say that the  samurai freaks  and those obsessed with late   th and   th century dynastic tales of japan may snub this film as not kurosawa  s best work . perhaps not his best  but even at his worst  kurosawa is better than many of the best . this story is so based in elevating the mundane lives of ordinary people in a time of great change  that it is timeless  despite being set in the not  so  distant past .  br    br   i would heartily recommend this to any movie buff  and especially to those who are likely to continue on to read the novel on which the film is based .  
this movie starred a totally forgotten star from the     s  jack pearl  radio  s  baron munchausen   as well as jimmy durante . however       decades later  it  s being billed as a three stooges film because they are the only ones in the film who the average person would recognize today . film fanatics will also recognize the wonderful edna may oliver as well as zazu pitts .  br    br   as for the stooges  this is a film from there very early days   before mgm had any idea what to do with the team . at this point  they were known as  ted healy and his stooges  as healy was the front man . fortunately for the stooges  they soon left this nasty and rather untalented man  read up on him   you  ll see what i mean  and the rest is history . within a year  they were making very successful shorts for columbia and executives at mgm were soon kicking themselves for losing the team . this sort of thing was a common occurrence at mgm  a great studio which had no idea what to do with comedy  such as the films of buster keaton  laurel and hardy  abbott and costello and others  . in fact  up until they left for columbia  mgm put them in a wide variety of odd film roles   including acting with clark gable and joan crawford in dancing lady . and  oddly  in this film they didn  t act as a team   they just did various supporting roles  such as larry playing the piano   br    br   this particular film begins with pearl and durante lost in the african jungle . when they are rescued and brought home  all sense of structure to the film falls apart and the film becomes almost like a variety show   punctuated by scenes with the leads here and there . as for pearl  i could really see why he never made a successful transition to films  as he has the personality of a slug  but slightly less welcome  . as for durante  i never knew what the public saw in him   as least as far as his films are concerned   he was loud and . . . loud  he apparently took time off from helping mgm to ruin buster keaton  s career to make this film . together  pearl and durante rely on lots of verbal humor    and vaudeville  style routines that tend to fall rather flat .  br    br   in this film  the stooges they didn  t yet have the right chemistry . seeing healy doing the job that moe did in their later films is odd . what they did in the film was pretty good  but because all the segments were short  they came on and off camera too quickly to allow them to really get into their routines . stooges fans might be very frustrated at this  though die  hard fans may want to see this so that they can complete their life  long goal of seeing everything stooge   even the rotten joe derita and joe besser films  oh  and did they got bad after the deaths of shemp and curly  .  br    br   overall  the film is rather dull and disappointing . however  there are a couple interesting things to look for in the mess . at about the   minute mark  you will see a brief scene where a tour guide on a bus is singing . look carefully  as this is walter brennan in a role you  d certainly never expect  another unusual thing to look for in the film is the  clean as a whistle  song starting at about   minutes into the film . this song and dance number is clearly an example of a so  called  pre  code  scene that never would have been allowed in films after      when the production code was strengthened  . despite the word  clean  in the title  it  s a very titillating number with naked women showing lots of flesh   enough to stimulate but not enough to really show anything  it  s quite shocking when seen today  though such excesses were pretty common in the early     s . finally  at the   minute mark  see jimmy durante set race relations back a few decades . see the film  you  ll see that i mean   
this is a very fine and poetic story . beautiful scenery . magnificent music score . i  ve been twice in japan last year and the movie gave me this typical japanese feeling . the movement of the camera is superb  as well as the actors . it goes deep into your feelings without becoming melodramatic . japanese people are very sensitive and kind and it  s all very well brought onto the screen here . the director is playing superb with light an colors and shows the audience that it is also possible to let them enjoy a movie with subtle and fine details . once you  ve seen this movie you will want to see more from the same director . it  s a real feel good movie and i can only recommend it to everybody .  
this film  s basic premise is a political cartoon . i suppose for those who know nothing about the realities of the military this is probably a  feel  good  film on gender equality . indeed a recent commentator stated  it lets women know that they can do anything they want to do .  what claptrap  no one  man or woman can do anything they want to do  and unfortunately demi moore  buffing  up for seal hell week in the early   week bud  s program by a few sessions at the local gym and her desire alone to be a seal is simply not going to make it so . there is approximately an    dropout rate in what is arguably the roughest military training program  those are the ones who voluntarily drop out  can  t compete on a physical level  suffer frequent physical injury during the training or can  t handle the psychological harassment . i never got beyond the shallowness of the contrived  purported message of this film . in the real world  demi wouldn  t last the first   hours in this harsh and sustained physical training . wishing alone won  t do it . skip this film as wishful thinking  and better spend your time reading  the warrior elite  by dick couch  crown  new york      for the best description as to what really goes on in this training . ring the bell  demi   br    br    
this is a wonderful movie about a brothel in a fishing village  that could be best described with scene constellations and direction of old kurosawa  s works  combined with dostoyevski  s topics of human psychology  o  shin  sonia marmeladova   shakespeare  s drama and hans christian andersen  s tragic and cheerfulness . the screenplay is wondrous  the scenes are colour  and beautiful some scenes stay really imprinted in my mind . the plot is interesting and unpredictable  each of the characters is very well developed and interesting  there is also a little action  so if you don  t like all the sentiments you  d also come to your costs  . it is not about mysterious geishas and proud samurai with their bushido pouring all out of them  but about life  work and kinds of people found everywhere at any time . a lovely and fascinating tribute to kurosawa  certainly worth seeing .  
this is easily the worst ridley scott film . ridley scott is a wonderful director . but this film is a black mark on his career . demi moore and viggo mortensen  both totally miscast in an overaggressive film about a girl going to the army . very stupid . and there is never one scene that is convincing in any way . it is really not difficult to make a film such as this . everything the crew makes could have been an idea of just anybody . the writers didn  t have much inspiration either many foolish dialogs that made no sense at all and some brainless action . i strongly recommend to stay away from this rubbish . i hope that the many talented persons involved in this project realize this type of film does not deserve their attention  and that in the future they will work on more honorable and more intelligent movies than this useless mess .  
it helps immensely if one is familiar with the culture and time period in which this film takes place . first of all  these ladies are not geisha  they are oiran  prostitutes  in the yoshiwara  type  green houses   circa      give or take . . this should help clear up some details which may be confusing to the unaware . the film deals with issues of loyalty  love and  perhaps most importantly  how people deal with adversity  both their own and that of others in their immediate environment . that plus the outrageous photography together with the hauntingly beautiful music  make for a lovely ride . just plug it in  suspend your disbelief and enter their world . you won  t be disappointed .  
this movie is very much like  flashdance   you know that dance flick with jennifer beals . that film is probably the most boring film i have ever seen since it  s not even bad enough to be funny .  g . i . jane  is much better than that film  but that doesn  t say much . here demi moore sweats a lot and there  s high music and we get to see her fight and everything  but it is certainly not very engaging . i really think the idea behind the film is kind of interesting  but the script is too clichd and ridley scott can  t do anything about that . well  like i said . . . it  s better than  flashdance  . . .        
this movie just goes to show that you dont need big explosions  muti  billion dollar computer graphics  or highly over paid actors and actresses to make a good movie  all you need is a excellent story line and plot . which the master of all japanese films  akira kurosawa pulls off brilliantly . i recommend this film to all that love a epic period piece . and for those that enjoy kurosawas earlier works .       
a real disappointment from the great visual master ridley scott . g . i . jane tells the story of a first female ever to go through the hellish training at the navy seals . the training is the most difficult and hard in existence as the instructor says in the film to the lead character o  neil played by demi moore . there is no particular message or point in this film or then i couldn  t reach it properly . it may be a some kind of a statement of female rights and abilities but it all sinks under the tired scenes and stupid gun fight at the end of the film .  br    br   i really can  t understand why ridley uses so much zooms in that mentioned last gun battle at the desert   it looks sooooo stupid and irritating and almost amateurish so i would really like to know what the director saw in that technique . when i look at his latest film  black hawk dawn  there is absolutely nothing wrong in the battle scenes  which are plenty  and they are very intense and directed with skill . the whole finale in g . i . jane looks ugly and is nothing more but stupid and brainless shooting and killing .  br    br   this is ridley scott  s worst movie in my opinion and there are no significant touches from which this great director is known . still i  m glad i saw this in widescreen format because there are still couple of great scenes and samples of scott  s abilities  but they are very few in this film .  br    br   a disappointment and nothing compared to the classics  blade runner  thelma  louise  alien and so on . .  of this talented director . so i  m forced to give g . i . jane     .  
i grew up watching this movie  and i still love it just as much today as when i was a kid . don  t listen to the critic reviews . they are not accurate on this film . eddie murphy really shines in his roll . you can sit down with your whole family and everybody will enjoy it . i recommend this movie to everybody to see . it is a comedy with a touch of fantasy . with demons  dragons  and a little bald kid with god like powers . this movie takes you from l . a . to tibet  of into the amazing view of the wondrous temples of the mountains in tibet . just a beautiful view  so go do your self a favor and snatch this one up  you wont regret it   
well  it turned out as i expected visual overload but nothing else added to the original . what did surprise me however was that the storyline was fairly drastically changed compared to the     flick . initially this awoke my interest  but what eventually surprised was that the new twists and turns  a  were apparently invented in order to present us with a typical hollywood  like product and  b  made the whole storyline improbable  the     story was breathtakingly straightforward  and included no time  storms or any bogus of that sort it just stated that when you come home after a long journey  things might have changed a bit . earth might have fallen in the hands of apes  for example . like many  old  movies  it  s main ingredient was suspense  hell  does anyone understand that word these days   . in this burton movie  an attempt has been made to turn the whole thing into an action movie  but at what cost  surely  the images are overwhelming  and a lot of time and money has been put into the design of a complete ape  culture  even ape  music    but what  s wrong   br    br   first  the suspension of disbelief is made very hard  because the apes have a lot of hollywood  human traits . i refer especially to ari and the slave  trader . these traits include emotional skills like irony  sarcasm  and an overtly displayed array of  subtle  emotions . it makes you forget that the apes are apes  which is essential .  br    br   second  the humans talk . of course  we can imagine that humans will never forget how to speak  but the fact that the apes had speech and the humans didn  t made the ape  human role  switching very tangible and stressing in the     version . the wound in the throat that charlton heston gets there is essential to his survival and his later regained speech essential to his uniqueness and the interest that dr . zira has in him  so  no need for things like human rights activists or ape  human love in order to explain things  .  br    br   third  the fact that they talk ads a great deal to the implausibility  but is a necessary twist in the new movie  since capt . davidson has to play the hollywood  let  s  save  the  whole  world  and  have  a  good  ending  for  everyone  and  still  make  it  to  the  lounge  bar  for  a  cool  diet  coke character . oh my god  will they never learn  i new it from the start  when there was only one guy who got lost  they were in need of a hero  and then the script writers go on reasoning we need one guy . . . so  why would one guy get lost . . . because he tries to save an ape from an electromagnetic storm . . . implausible  but it  s necessary because it shows the audience that he respects apes  since  in these modern and politically correct times  we can  t have a xenophobic ape  hater like charlton heston  s   character loose on the screen let  s give them a bubblegum version   br    br   fourth  okay  the general twist of the original  discovering the truth  of the     film to the modern version  he finds that his own mother ship crashed on the planet ages ago and that their lab  apes developed their society  where heston simply discovered that just  somehow  the apes overtook the earth while he was away  is nicely done . the second  battle  part comes as an anti  climax . that  s because this movie has added the first two planet of the apes movies in one plot . nice try  but the chill you feel when davidson and you discover that he  s lost on the planet forever just washes out due to the uninteresting battle  part .  br    br   fifth the ending    for chrissakes  who came up with that    a  davidson crashes twice with his escape pod  which seems an unsteerable object  while the chimp manages to simply land gracefully  come on  who  d believe that  if the pods are really small space crafts  davidson simply flies off into space at the end  and not merely escape vessels  he might have managed a safe landing at least once  no  and what about that ending     i mean  in the original film it was clear that everything took place on earth . but here the whole movie takes place on a distant planet  and suddenly the same  there  s a thade statue  ape culture is on earth    how come  did the apes of the far planet evolve technologically  flew into the time storm and colonised earth before davidson  s mission took off  why is thade worshiped  stupid stupid stupid .  br    br   helena bonham carter is even adorable and beautiful as an ape  but i  d expected no less . i preferred her ape above estella warren as a human  but maybe i got some loose wire in my head . nevertheless  the only convincing apes were tim roth as thade  wonderful   and ari  s household ape  the ex  general  but i forgot his name  .  br    br   nonono  a lot of things could and should have been added  altered to the     pic  but not the plot  at least not in that way . it was simple and clear and needed no additional explaining . it was nicely tongue  in cheek and caricatured . don  t stylize everything . . .  
i  m not sure how i missed this one when it first came out  but i am glad to have finally seen it .  br    br   this movie takes place in and around the   th century red light district of okabasho  japan . it tells the tale of prostitution  caste systems and women who are strong in a society based upon the strength of the samurai code of japan .  br    br   it is uniquely akira kurosawa  even though he died before he could direct this movie  his adaptation of the screenplay shows . his view of the japanese world and caste system is renowned and sheds light upon how these systems interact with each other . the characters may revolve around each other  but the caste system stays intact when each character goes back to the world they belong in . the samurai warrior who drifts into the good hearted and loving prostitute  s world goes back to his life  while she embarks on a another road with a man who is part of her caste system . . lowest of the low . many prize the world of the samurai above all others  but yet  it is the lower caste inhabitants who can support each other and who can love without restraint . the samurai in this movie turns out to be the weak one  while the classless lovers prove to be the honorable ones .  br    br   the movie deserves a higher rating . it is a tale of survival of women in feudal japan . during this time frame  men were thought to be the survivors . . the strong ones while women were thought to be just mindless and weak property . this movie highlights the strength of japanese women and how they did what they had to for survival  and how their strength enabled the japanese culture to continue on as it has .  br    br   i recommend  the sea is watching  to anyone who is a fan of akira kurosawa and even if they  re not a fan . it is a lovely  quiet and soul sustaining movie  and one to be treasured for any movie collection .  
hmmm . . . where to start  how does a serious actress like demi moore got involved in such crap   first blood  might be rated as bullt but this type of nonsense is just rambo with tits  point . of course if you are interested in the crapstory  demi moore just wants to prove that a woman can be part of the navy seals  that is the most stupid clich one i can think of  you  ll say  gi jane  is a great movie . just the performance from viggo mortensen made this movie bearable but hell  i can  t think of demi moore being rambo  especially not during the last  useless    minutes  . ridley scott doesn  t deserve the credits to make this movie one that comes up for women with equal rights  it  s just brainless propaganda for the american army and to make it more attractive they dropped moore in it . awful movie .  
  umi wa miteita    the sea is watching   was akira kurasawa  s swansong to film his adaptation of his favored novelist shugoro yamamoto  s story into a screenplay he intended to film was his final mark he left on a brilliant career . director kei kumai pays homage to both kurosawa and yamamoto in presenting this visually stunning transformation of word to image .  br    br   set in   th century japan  the story explores the lives of the women of a geisha house whose sole purpose in life is to earn money by pleasuring men . the house is run by an older couple who are genteel and the geishas are an enchanting group of women who know their trade and take pride in their careers . each has a reason for turning to the life of geisha . oshin  nagiko tono  supports her family who live in a neighboring village  kikuno  misa shimizu  has customers both good and evil whom she manages to sustain with her stories of her higher caste . oshin befriends an endangered samurai  falls in love with the gentle fellow  only to find that he must not marry out of his caste and leaves his pleasures with oshin to marry his promised betrothed . oshin  s heart bruises easily but is always supported emotionally and physically  monetarily by kikuno and the other geishas .  br    br   a handsome samurai ryosuke  masatoshi nagase  enters oshin  s life and develops the first trusted and devoted relationship with her . kikuno is beset by problems  deciding whether to accept the humble love of an old man who wishes to marry her  and coping with a rich but abusive customer . all the while the sea is watching and as a typhoon destroys the geisha house and street  oshin and kikuno sit atop the roof waiting for the promised rescue by ryosuke . the manner in which the story ends is one of sacrifice  love  and devotion . the sea is watching and will find protection for true love .  br    br   the photography by kazuo okuhara is breathtakingly beautiful night scenes with glowing lanterns and colorful geisha interiors are matched with recurring glimpses of the sea both calm and turbulent . the acting is a bit strained for edo art  but the characters are well created and keep the story credible . the one distraction which is definitely not something kurosawa would have condoned is the tacky western music score that sounds like cheap soap opera filler except for the isolated moments when real japanese music on authentic instruments graces the track . but in the end there is enough of kurosawa  s influence to imbue this film with his brand of dreamlike wonder that will always maintain his importance on world cinema . grady harp  
a recent post here by a woman claiming a military background  contained the comment  a woman  s life is no more valuable than a man  s  .  br    br   this mantra of the politically correct is not true as history as well as biology show . societies have managed to recover from heavy losses of their male population  sometimes with astonishing speed . germany was ready to fight another war in     despite the          war in which over two million of her men were killed . in south america  s war of the triple alliance        paraguay took on three neighboring countries until virtually her entire male population was wiped out but fought to a stalemate in the     chaco war against much larger bolivia .  br    br   no society  however has or ever could survive the loss of its female population . only when the very life of the nation is at stake are women sent to fight . israel faced that situation in     but since then has never considered coed combat units for its defense forces despite the popular image of the israeli girl soldier .  br    br    g . i . jane  is hollywood fluff .  
my boyfriend and i both enjoyed this film very much . the viewer is swept away from modern life into old japan  while at the same time exposed to very current themes . the characters are realistic and detailed it has an unpredictable ending and story  which is very refreshing . the story is made up of mini  plots within the life of several geisha living together in a poor city district . i highly recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in a realistic romance or life in old japan .  br    br    
  br    br   how this film ever got a  star average is beyond me . the script is so banal  and frankly an insult to whomevers life it is based upon . the cinematography comes straight from the slick world of advertising  and the talented ridley scott should be ashamed . demi moore however  shows none a surprise by participating in this film  if one looks at her tracklist . all in all  a  high concept  style film that even don simpson would be ashamed of .  
a tragically wonderful movie . . . brings us to a japan that does not exist anymore . despite hollywood  s technical expertise  i have yet to see a  hollywood  movie that can match the authenticity of the atmosphere in this small town by the river near the sea . . . tom cruise  s the last samurai looked liked the last installment of the lord of the rings in trying to capture rural old japan .  br    br   if you like serene but intense story lines  this is a must see film . it will be a respite from hollow flashy films much like the last     blockbusters you saw . i think this is one of kurosawa  s better stories .  br    br   even if it  s a movie about geishas and brothels and the complicated rules that govern life in such settings  it did not turn into a skin flick . the characters are full of depth and act with much intensity .  
i think that movie cant be a scotts film . that is impossible . do you remember blade runner  and alien  two greats movies versus a one . i hope didnt see ever it . good bye    
a wonderful film to watch with astonishing scenes and talented actors  such as misa shimizu and nagiko tono . after   minutes of watching  your eyes get locked on the screen and you do nothing but breathing in the atmosphere of the film waiting what the destiny will bring to the characters . this film makes you leave your position as a standard audience  it takes you in  it makes you a part of the story . . . costumes and settings are brilliant especially the district of the okiyas is skillfully built . it is definitely not very akira kurosawa  however it still gets a lot from the master  especially the stylistic story telling tells us we  re in a distinguished land of cinema which is quite far from hollywoodish flamboyance .  
naturally i didn  t watch  gi jane  out of choice . i was more or less forced to watch this film round my ex  girlfriends house .  br    br   gi jane loses its credibility straight away by trying to convince the viewer that it is potentially a real scenario  which of course it isn  t . the result of this is that the story becomes automatically bound by constraints  restricting the amount of humour  of which there is none  or entertaining action scenes  and soon becomes too serious . the film therefore becomes extremely boring and predictable .  br    br    gi jane  fails where other action films succeed  mainly because films such as james bond  dirty harry and various others are larger than life  yet never proclaim to be otherwise . they are escapism  and therefore entertaining .  gi jane  tries to be real and fails .  br    br   this is a very disappointing film from ridley scott  with a very non  credible storyline  unremarkable acting  and the only reason i give it     instead of     is for some of the technical work .  
i can understand those who dislike this movie cause of a lack of knowledge .  br    br   first of all  those girls are not geisha  but brothel tenants  and one that don  t know the difference will not understand half of the movie  and certainly not the end . this is a complete art work about the women  s life and needs in this era . everything is important  and certainly the way they dress  all over the movie means more than words . to those who thought it was a boring geisha movie  i  ll suggest you to read a bit about this society before making a conclusion that is so out of the reality . this is kurosawa  s work of is life  and i  m sure that the director understood the silent meaning of kurosawa  s piece to the right intellectual range .  
after reading through many of the reviews  i don  t know what movie some people were watching  but clearly it wasn  t the same one i saw .  br    br   this movie is horrible . the acting  primarily moore  s  is just terrible . the woman cannot act . nice tits  but she just can  t act . at no point did she come across as the actual character . instead  it was spoiled hollywood actress goes to the beach to play make  believe with the boys .  br    br   and that  s what this movie ultimately is   hollywood make  believe . the training sequences are over the top . the politics   over the top . the political correctness   over the top . the combat scenes   you guessed it  over the top . your mission is to get in and get out without being detected . so what do you do  why shoot off as many rounds and make as much noise as possible  of course . oh g . i . jane  you can be my wing man anytime .  br    br   the premise is good  but as soon as hollywood gets a hold of it  we end up with top gun with tits .  br    br   what more is to be expected from commercial us films anymore  not much i guess .  
contrary to some people  s summaries  the women depicted in the film are not geisha . they are oiran  prostitutes  living outside the most famous pleasure districts  and their lives and experiences represent the lives of a great number of tokugawa era women . i can  t say the stories were particularly enlightening  but their charm lies in just how typical they are . the themes are universal and everyday love  friendship  and sacrifice .  br    br   i did greatly enjoy the art direction and the acting . i felt like i was getting a glimpse of a time and place i can never otherwise glimpse . the actors  especially the  women who played the main oiran  were a thrill to watch . i  d only recommend this movie to people who want a taste of japanese culture  or to those who enjoy quiet and emotional stories . it  s a great example of both .  
watching this movie was a waste of time . i was tempted to leave in the middle of the movie  but i resisted . i don  t know what ridley scott intended  but i learned that in the army  women get as stupid as men . they learn to spit  to insult and to fight in combat  and that  s also a waste of time  in my opinion  . and  anyway  what the hell was that final scene in lybia  are they still fighting gadafi or is it that it  s easy for everyone to believe islamic people are always a danger   
i really liked this movie  and went back to see it two times more within a week .  br    br   ms . detmers nailed the performance  she was like a hungry cat on the prowl  toying with her prey . she lashes out in rage and lust  taking a  too young  lover  and crashing hundreds of her terrorist fianc  s mother  s pieces of fine china to the floor .  br    br   the film was full of beautiful touches . the maserati  the wonderful wardrobe  the flower boxes along the rooftops . i particularly enjoyed the ancient greek class and the recitation of  antigone  .  br    br   it had a feeling of  story of o   that is  where people of means indulge in unrestrained sexual adventure . as she walks around the fantastic apartment in the buff  she is at ease  and why not  what is to restrain a  devil in the flesh    br    br   the whole movie is a real treat   
i  ll be short and to the point . this movie was an insult to any one with a room temperature iq . sorry liberals  feminists  etc . no women will ever be a seal . they can forget about the draft or being in combat too . ain  t going to happen . you see  hard as it is to understand or accept  men and women are physically different . regardless of the fact it is      reality cannot change things in order for people to avoid having their feelings hurt . men can  t give birth or breast feed babies  oh  i forgot about san franfreako  .  br    br   women lack the physical strength to be on par with men in a combat or other physically challenging situations . how many women play in the nfl or nhl  lastly  i couldn  t give a bloody hoot in hell if what i just wrote upsets you . come to think of it  if this does upset you that only warms my heart more . i didn  t write one thing that wasn  t the truth . this imbecilic movie is nothing more than a comedy and a lousy one at that .  
the movie is far more sophisticated and intelligent is its exploration of sexual tension than such american attempts as  and a half weeks . . . the courtroom scene itself . . . with the couple copulating in the cage while the heroine pleads for their orgasm . . . is amazing . . . i have not seen this movie in   years . . . but it made indelible pictures in my mind . . . it is rich in texture and successful in creating a world where sex is the engine for all activity  and at its bottom is the yawning angst that lives in us all . . . . the plot is european  and it meanders a bit  but so does life . . . especially when you are   and have a constant hard on . . . .  
demi moore  s character in the movie was selected for the seals because of her looks . that was a bad start and the movie went down from there . the plot was totally unbelievable . the will to make it in a tough military unit is not enough . this movie did not convince me of a woman  s physical ability to perform the types of tasks required .  br    br   trying to pretend that women and men are basically the same is an insult to everyone  s intelligence . the differences between the sexes are what makes life interesting .  
notable because of it  s notorious explicit scene when the gorgeous maruschka detmers takes her young lover  s penis from his trousers and into her mouth . even without this moment the film is a splendid if slightly disturbing passionate and blindingly sexy ride . detmers puts in a great performance as the partly deranged  insatiable delight  wandering about her flat nude . dressed  partly dressed and naked she steals most of the film about love  sexual passion  philosophy and politics . for me the last two get a little lost and the ending is most confusing when her fianc is released whilst fellow terrorists are released  she seems uncertain as to who she wants and the young lover seems more interested in his exams than anything else as she weeps  beautifully of course   
i thought this was a truly awful film   i found myself actually yelling at my tv a couple times . one or both of the gay male leads was miscast there was absolutely no chemistry between them and richard ruccolo looked like he  d rather be kissing a dog . the movie covers their long and tortured courtship  highlighting each break  up and make  up  but not developing the reasons in  between in any detail . these reasons would make for some interesting characters  not the fight or the make  up scene in bed  lame even if you liked the movie  .  br    br   andrea martin and adam goldberg shine as their characters  but it doesn  t make the film worth renting . save your money .  
this movie was good for it  s time . if you like eddie murpy this is a must have to add to your collection . eddie was young and funny with his    s haircut . charlotte lewis  eddie  s costar is hot . this was one of her first movies and she was not bad . the graphics were good for the    s . a lot of the actors went on to do other good movies you should check them out through imdb . other must have from eddie is  coming to america  and    hours  . another actor  victor wong  has a small part in this movie . check out some of his older movies like  big trouble in little china  . if you liked the action movies from the    s this is your movie .  
i really looked forward to see planet of the apes  but it was a huge dissapointment .  br    br   the settings and masks are great  but that is the only good aspect of the film . all other things are really annoying . mark wahlberg is not acting  he is just in the movie  looking stupid . the other actors are also not very good .  br    br   but the worst point of all  is the story . it is absolutely ridiculous  for example the apes are lying unconsiousness on the ground  but the humans dont attack them  no  they wait until they are up again  this is just one example for the stupid story  but it would take too long to tell them all .  
i loved the the film . it beautifully analyzes italian petty bourgeois society  how the leftists of the   s have given up all their ideals and come to a happy arrangement which they don  t want disturbed . for instance  the aging psychoanalyst who is jealous of his own son  and doesn  t want to be reminded of his more radical youth .  br    br   for a long time wanted to buy the video after having seen the movie a couple of times on the big screen and on tv  but it seems to have completely disappeared from the market  even in italy no one in the book shops knew about the film . a great pity .  br    br   the one sex scene  which everyone seems to go on about  does the film no harm .  
why would a person go back to a person  who kicks them in the teeth  not once  not twice  but over and over again .  br    br   this film teaches us that in order to find love we must accept abuse  not just forgive it  but fully accept it  . gosh  no wonder my first relationship only lasted ten years . i obviously wasn  t embracing my inner masochist .  br    br   as bucatinsky  s writing debut  there are many wonderful aspects to this film however  in order to justify the reunion of eli and tom  more character development would have been helpful . we are never acquainted with eli  s masochism  in fact  we are led to believe that he is not a masochist  although tom  s psycho  emotional sadism is highly evident .  
bellocchio refers to this as a mainly political movie  a description of the revolutionary movement in italy  but that seems more metaphor than reality . well  almost everything in the movie seems like metaphor . the revolutionaries  of whom we see and about whom we learn very little  might as well be mafiosi . out with the old and in with the new .  br    br   andrea  s papa  a psychoanalyst  seems to stand for the usual traditional bourgeois values   morally upright  unperturbed  clean and tidy  thoroughly ritualized .  br    br   giullia  the girlfriend of a revolutionary  seems to represent what can happen to someone who needs very badly a cause to support but is unable to muster up the kind of devotion such a commitment demands .  i  m guessing here .  andrea  the adolescent boy  seems to be the only guy in the movie who is not in some unquiet way  upatz .  he  s respectful of his father but disobedient too . he loves giullia  or so we assume  although he  s not really old enough to have learned how to manage his reflexes optimally  but he leaves her in order to show up at school and complete his final exams . his course between these contradictory lifestyles could be described as  media .  he  s the man in between  who knows the meaning of gradualism  who can keep his cool while those about him are screaming .  br    br   most of this is summed up during the oral part of his finals when he is asked to translate and comment on an excerpt from  antigone   which contrasts the traditional authority of the gods with the notion of secularity and free will .  br    br   that brings us   by no particular course that i  m aware of   to marushka detmars . she brings to mind a new yorker cartoon of a few years ago . two hippos are neck  deep in the river  staring at a gazelle drinking from the bank  and one hippo says to the other   i hate her .  she  s a good actress .  let me get that out of the way .  but so is everyone else in the film . she carries with her  in her speech and manner  the rich glitter of outright lunacy . and it all comes from the actress too  not from directorial aid . detmars isn  t nuts the way catherine deneuve was nuts in  repulsion .  the walls don  t turn to rubber and grow hands . instead  we see her animated   sometimes too animated . and she gives us shocking jolts when her mood abruptly changes and becomes threatening the way a looming thunderstorm is threatening .  br    br   a critic described her as sultry  but that  s probably not the word he was searching for . she  s compellingly beautiful with her fluffy brown hair  her wide white ready grin  her impulsive giggles . and her eyes are like the eyes in the paintings on the walls of ancient egyptian tombs . the sexy parts are pretty erotic  not so much because one of them is explicit  but because we  ve gotten to know the characters involved .  it  s more interesting to spy on the honeymoon couple next door than go to a skin flick .  actually there isn  t that much sex . there is only one scene of simulated intercourse but the director lets it play out in what seems to be real time . at least real time for an eighteen  year  old boy .  br    br   the young man who plays andrea is fine too  which is a necessary thing  because the film depends almost entirely on him and giullia . they have to carry it and they do . if it were not for their performances  i  m not sure this would be as interesting or as admirable flick as it is . it could easily have been turned into a rather slow  boring romance .  br    br   worth it .  
i saw this recent woody allen film because i  m a fan of his work and i make it a point to try to see everything he does  though the reviews of this film led me to expect a disappointing effort . they were right . this is a confused movie that can  t decide whether it wants to be a comedy  a romantic fantasy  or a drama about female mid  life crisis . it fails at all three .  br    br   alice  mia farrow  is a restless middle aged woman who has married into great wealth and leads a life of aimless luxury with her rather boring husband and their two small children . this rather mundane plot concept is livened up with such implausibilities as an old chinese folk healer who makes her invisible with some magic herbs  and the ghost of a former lover  with whom she flies over manhattan  . if these additions sound too fantastic for you  how about something more prosaic  like an affair with a saxophone player   br    br   i was never quite sure of what this mixed up muddle was trying to say . there are only a handful of truly funny moments in the film  and the endingis a really preposterous touch of pollyanna .  br    br   rent  crimes and misdemeanors  instead  a superbly well  done film that suceeds in combining comedy with a serious consideration of ethics and morals . or go back to  annie hall  or  manhattan  .  
i  ll be quick to address the matters of the film here it was a very engaging story about the destructive qualities about all  consuming passions a young italian woman who cannot emotionally connect with her jailed political  radical fianc  due in part to her apolitical attitudes and freewheeling approach to life  finds solace and passion in a new young lover whom she embarks on an explicitly sexual relationship with . the anxieties  rage  tenderness and passions that swirl around in the atmosphere of the story equal the dispassionate quiet that seems to engulf the two leads . it lends the film an unsettling mood that permeates through all the political strife that is otherwise lost on the viewer  unless you have a deep knowledge of italian politics during the    s  . i found the film compelling . . . what ruined it somewhat is a gratuitous oral sex scene that the actress performs on the male lead . . . it isn  t simulated and leaves little to the imagination . there are other scenes of sex in the film  which i do feel were necessary because they outline the madness and loneliness that the characters live in . but the oral sex scene  i feel  derails the focus on the actual story . it was smooth sailing up until that point and once the infamous sex scene appears  which caused much hoopla back in its day   it  s like hitting a roadblock . it  s jarring and unnecessary and i am in the camp that believes that the film would not have been harmed any if the scene had been removed from it . and what  s unfortunate is that this particular scene may deter people from watching this intriguing film  which i believe is worth a viewing because there is so much going on underneath the surface  emotions and further turmoils layered in the subtext .  br    br   overall wonderful film hampered by a much not  needed sex scene .  
i saw this movie in new york city . i was waiting for a bus the next morning  so it was  or  in the morning . it was raining  and did not want to wait at the port authorty . so i went across the street and saw the worst film of my life . it was so bad  that i chose to stay and see the whole movie  i have yet to see anything else that bad since . the year was    so call me crazy . i stayed only because i could not belive it . . . . . . . . .  
this     italian  french remake of the     film of the same name turns up the heat early  and doesn  t let us come up for air . the story is about a high  school student  federico pitzalis  who can  t keep his eyes off the mysteriously beautiful young woman  played by dutch phenom maruschka detmers  who lives next door to the school . one day  he follows her  and his persistence pays off . there  s only one problem she  s engaged to a sketchy character  riccardo de torrebruna  who may or may not have committed a heinous crime  and if he repents  will probably be let off with a slap on the wrist . also  the young woman is a little  funny in the head   and this is corroborated when we discover she has been seeing the boy  s father  who is a psychiatrist . giulia  s emotional instability is only equalled by her prodigious sexual desires . hot  hot  hot  from the word go  with handsome leads and a bombshell performance from detmers  who plays us like a yo  yo  as she does the boy  from scene to scene  with enough suspense to keep us guessing right up until   and even after   the end . available in r and x    rated versions .  
this is one of those movies that apparently was trying to ride the martial arts wave craze . kind of like billy jack i guess . however  whereas billy jack did have one notable martial arts scene there are none in this one unless you consider some gentlemanly grappling and roughhousing as such . we are introduced to the star who is described as having learned judo in the marines . i was in the marines and while they are pretty established in boxing  i really don  t remember any emphasis on judo . as a result the antagonist  james macarthur  makes reference to the judo when he offers an excuse for why he  a state champion wrestler was so easily defeated . lame .  
cashing in on the  demons  meets  clergy  trend of the late    s  early    s that most prominently included the triptych of  rosemary  s baby    the exorcist   and  the omen    the sentinel  is an addition that  s just as good  albeit the most overlooked of the lot  . in a way  it combines the best elements of those films and tosses in a dash of polanski  s  the tenant   which came out the same year  for good measure . a new york model unable to commit to her lawyer boyfriend takes up residence in a moss  coated townhouse that initially seems like the perfect locale she meets a wily old coot of a neighbor  the brilliant burgess meredith   plus the other off  center tenants . kept awake by loud noises above her apartment  she soon discovers that a mute priest and herself are the only residents in the otherwise deserted building . from there  director michael winner   death wish   kicks this supernatural thriller into gear  and there is a devilish glee to the hallucinogenic tortures he inflicts on his heroine . aided by a brilliant ensemble cast  a subtle storyline  and excellent makeup fx by dick smith   the exorcist     the sentinel  is a genuinely creepy horror flick .  
god  i am so sick of the crap that comes out of america called  cartoons    br    br   since anime became popular  the usa animators either produce a cartoon with a   year  old  lazy  ass style of drawing  kappa mikey  or some cheep japanese animation rip  off .  usually messing up classic characters  no wonder anime is beating american cartoons   br    br   they are not even trying anymore   br    br   oh  i just heard of this last night i live in the uk and when i found out this show first came out in      well  i never knew the uk was so up  to  date with current shows .  
i  m surprised that no one yet has mentioned that there are two versions of this same film . the lion  s share of the footage in both is identical  but here is where they differ in one version  the version i have seen most often on broadcast tv   the group of clerics guarding the gateway consists of the  brotherhood of the protectors   a  fictional  splinter group of priests and brothers  excommunicated  by the church . in the other version  which i  ve seen only once on tv  the clerics guarding the gateway are depicted as priests of the official church  meaning the archdiocese of new york  or perhaps brooklyn  . also  in the former version  in most of the pertinent scenes  the clerics are referred to as  brothers   and in some scenes  you can see where the lips say  father  so  and  so but the dubbed audio says  brother  so  and  so . in the latter version  i believe everyone is referred to as  father  .  br    br   in any event  it seems that one of these two versions is more or less a partial re  shooting of the other  with all  brotherhood of the protector  scenes re  shot as  archdiocese  scenes  or vice versa .  kind of reminds me of the raymond burr cutaway scenes in  godzilla   . i have videotaped both versions off broadcast tv  so no  i  m not imagining this . can anyone shed some more light on the story behind these two versions of the film   
i think this piece of garbage is the best proof that good ideas can be destroyed  why all the american animators thinks that the kids this days wants stupid gi joe versions of good stories    the looney tunes are some of the most beloved characters in history  but they weren  t created to be xtreme  i mean come on    tiny toons was a great example of how an old idea can be updated without loosing it  s original charm  but this piece of garbage is just an example of stupid corporate decisions that only wants to create a cheap idiotic show that kids will love because hey    kids loves superheroes right    the whole show is only a waste of time in which we see the new versions of the looney tunes but this time in superhero form  this doesn  t sound too bad but the problem is that this show tries too hard to copy series like batman the animated series  or the new justice league  the result    bad copies of flash  the road runner  or superman  who else    bugs bunny  the problem is that looney tunes weren  t meant to be dramatic  the were supposed to be funny     as i said before this series sucks  and many people wonders why anime is taking all over the world    this show tries to be dramatic and action packed  but that  s something that few series and anime are able to do  if you want to see a good upgrade of an old show watch tiny toons  that  s an example that it  s possible to bring back to life old characters  but with a good story and respecting the original roots . too bad that show is already dead  another corporate wise decision i suppose .  
wonderful film  one of the best horror films of the   s . she is realistic settings and atmospheres . as usual it was inevitable the usual negative comments . i have noticed that most horror films of a certain period many times fail to reach even sufficiency . obviously because most horror movies are old and must be denigrati  is like a mental mechanism that moves the minds of the potential of music critics here .  br    br   before you read the review already knew what was the final judgment . in the film a good gift because   is really well done . raines reads quite well and the film as a way in which it was produced reminds me a lot of kubrick films . he really impression . excellent film really . i consider a film anthology of years    .  
  loonatics unleashed  is the worst thing that could happen to the classic characters created by chuck jones . the  loony tunes  have many spin  offs and different versions  some were good  others not very much . but  loonatics  it  s the worst . the concept is stupid and derivative of shows as  the power rangers  and  teen titans  . there wasn  t any similarity with the original characters and the stories are boring and poorly made . the new designs are ugly and the animation is pathetic . this show just doesn  t work . this horrible waste of animation is a complete failure and this shouldn  t have be nothing more than a bad joke . lame  zero stars  
well  after long anticipation after seeing a few clips on bravo  s the    scariest movie moments i had long awaited to see this film . the plot was simple  beautiful model alison parker  cristina raines  moves into an apartment building that  s a gateway to hell . the sentinel is a down right creepy film  even if it  s a bit slow . it  s a mix of the omen and rosemary  s baby . the acting is fine  and there are some truly disturbing bits such as the awkward orgy scene with the dead father and the chubby woman in the middle of the orgy eating cake and laughing the ending is a weird mix of deformed people and cannibals . it  s a very odd  campy but in the end  i truly believe a great film  one of my favorites from the    s  even if it  s nothing greatly original . it  s wacky and extremely creepy  probably one of my all time favorites .      
loony tunes have ventured  at least  twice into the future . the first time was with the brilliantly funny  duck dodgers  . the latter time was with this  um  effort .  loonatics unleashed  isn  t without merit  and might be considered a good product were it not that it isn  t up to warner brothers quality . wb cartoons are noted for their cheeky humor  appealing at least as much to adults as to children . these pedestrian superhero episodes  on the other hand  cannot fail to convince adults to pass them up .  br    br   the premise of the series is that  ordinary individuals   bunnies  a tasmanian devil  a duck  a roadrunner  and a coyote  live on the  city  planet  of acmetropolis and acquire super powers when a meteor strikes the planet in     . what  s confusing is that the titles section features these individuals with a count  up to     from the   st century . cute  but frelling stupid .  br    br   in each episode  the super sextet  amid mildly amusing but essentially banal banter  fight various super villains . for the most part  these are types that appear in every mediocre superhero adventure series and even some of the better ones . like many mediocre superhero series  this one takes its villains far too seriously for the context . and of course these guys are the only characters that laugh  the usual evil laugh  of course . why is it that villains in predictable superhero adventures always  always  laugh evilly at every opportunity  animated material of this sort seems to leave laughter exclusively in the province of villains and  occasionally  their henchpeople and  or henchthings .  br    br   in point of fact  the makers of this series missed their best bets right from the get  go . the superpowers of the characters are sometimes based on their previous normal abilities  but sometimes not . the problem here is that we don  t see enough wb looniness . lexi and ace have fairly ordinary biologically generated energy weapons and have virtually no personality traits one could describe as  bugs  like  . what we have here is basically the silly and drekish  teen titans   including its overly  modern  animation  look   but with animals . feh .  br    br   the other misstep by the program  s creators is  or are  the villains . as noted before  these are not terribly imaginative and do the evil  laugh bit excessively . amazingly  the writers totally missed the obvious technique of making villains from stock wb characters as well as the protagonists . adding to the fun could have been  say  jupiter sam  as well as the fudd  still hunting wabbits  as well as tech e . coyote converted into a really neurotic villain  and so on . ah  the sadness of missed opportunities .  br    br   sadly  this whole production has gone into too much overtime  that is  a  nd season  . nevertheless  we can rejoice that there  s something new out there for the    going  on   crowd . the rest of us can hope for a  rd season of duck dodgers .  
i had the tv on for a white noise companion and heard      for a fully furnished apartment  so i ran into the tv room expecting another    s flick and got much more . luckily  i could rewind to the beginning  dvr buffer  and hit the record button to watch it entirely .  cinemax uncut and in hd no less   aside from some holes in the story and intermittent improbable dialog  events  this is an effective thriller worthy of your time to watch . pretty creepy and progressive at times beverly d  angelo  s character masturbates in front of alison parker  played adroitly by cristina raines  parker stabs  in very gory fashion  her father  an explicit menage a trios scene .  don  t let the kids watch  the film is totally    s full of bad clothes  polyester suits and tacky ascots  and decor  bad hair  over bloated music score  and familiar looking cinematography . the cast is excellent  take a second on this film  s home page to check it out . it was a surprise to see christopher walken  jerry orbach and jeff goldblum so young . sylvia miles  always wonderfully creepy  enjoy   
  well chuck jones is dead  lets soil his characters by adding cheap explosions  an american drawn anime knock off style  and give them superpowers  .  but sir   don  t we all ready have several shows in the works that are already like this  much less don  t dump all over their original creators dreams  .  yes  and those shows make us a bunch of cash  and we need more   .  but won  t every man women and child  who grew up with these time less characters  be annoyed   .  hay you  re right  set it in the future  make them all descendent  s of the original characters  and change all the names slightly . . . but not too much though  we still need to be able to milk the success of the classics  .  br    br   well that  s the only reason i can think of why this even exists . if you look past the horrible desecration of our beloved looney toons  then it looks like an ok show . but then there is already the teen titan  s  which is the same bloody thing . all the characters are dressed like batman  they drive around in some sort of ship fighting super villains  they have superpowers  only difference is they sort of talk like the looney tunes and have similar names and character traits .  br    br   this kind of thing falls into the  it  s so ridiculous it  s good  kind of category . think of the super mario brother  s movie  and batman and robin . if you want to laugh for all the wrong reasons  check this out . if you are of the younger generation  what this thing is actually intended for   and can look pass the greedy executives shamelessness  then run with it and enjoy .  br    br   if you enjoy this cartoon i don  t have a problem with you  it  s the people who calculated this thing together that i am mad at . you know how they say piracy is like stealing a car this show is like grave robbing . they might as well of dug up all the people involved with the original cartoon  shoved them on a display  dressed them up inerr pirate costumes  and charged money . if this show wasn  t using characters  ones that didn  t resemble the looney toons in anyway whatsoever  that have already made the studios millions  then this would be fine . but no  for shame warner brothers  for shame .  br    br   if i saw this thing as a   second gag on an episode of the simpson  s or family guy  i would love it . as it is i just can  t believe this was ever made . i would bet anyone that    of the people who work on this show hate it . but whatever it doesn  t really matter  in   years this show will have been forgotten  while the originals will live on foreveror at least until the world ends .  br    br    coming      snoopy and the peanut gang are back  and now they have freaking lasers and can turn invisible  can charley brown defeat the evil alien warlord zapar  tune in and see .   
ahh  yes  the all  star blockbuster . take a so  so concept  stuff it into a script and load it down with every single freakin  special effect that the wizards of hollyweird can conjure up  then round up the usual suspects hot up  and  comers  has  beens  wanna  be  s and never  wuzzes  and stick  em all in ensemble roles of various sizes in front of the unforgiving eye of the cameras . and hope to gawd that some of them aren  t too old to remember their lines .  br    br   leave it to the bishops of box office to apply the concept to horror films at last  as was the case with the post  exorcist thriller the sentinel . novelist jeffrey konvitz decided to try and one  up ira levin  s rosemary  s baby scenario of creepy  and ultimately satanic  neighbors in a new york brownstone . the result was a controversial best  seller that some claimed bordered on the plagiaristic  and an equally controversial  top  heavy  star  laden vehicle co  written and directed by death wish  s michael winner  but for many unsettlingly different reasons .  br    br   cristina raines  nashville  plays successful model alison parker  who is pretty much over  stressed and over  worked   i won  t add  overpaid .  i mean she is a model  so that would be redundant   not just by her     schedule  by also by her insistent   wanna  get  married  right  now  boyfriend michael  chris sarandon of dog day afternoon and the classic sob . i . g . movie lipstick  . one of the ways she decides to try to get away from it all is to move into her own place a big  beautiful brownstone in manhattan which she  s able to get dirt  cheap   that should  ve been the big red flag  cheap real estate in new york    from the mysteriously accommodating broker miss logan  golden age screen vet ava gardner  fresh from the storm drain in earthquake .   br    br   things seem fine at first  but ah  yes . . . then comes the noises and the loud pounding from the apartment upstairs at night . and what about the really strange neighbors like gerde  sylvia miles  and sandra  a very early beverly d  angelo   the nice  single friends   read lesbians  living together  and kindly old mr . charles chazen  a nicely creepy burgess meredith   who seems maybe a little too concerned with alison  s welfare  and that  s not to mention other assorted squirrelly cohabitants  you  ll never hear the phrase  black and white cat  black and white cake  again without wanting to laugh milk through your nose and possibly vomit simultaneously .  especially the old blind priest living in the penthouse . . .  br    br   things really start to go downhill when an apparition  laden nightmare of alison  s morphs into a grisly murder   in one of the movie  s most underwear  staining scares   and both alison and michael  with some assistance from alison  s bff  jennifer  deborah raffin   begin to piece together the puzzle that reveals the brownstone  s dark origins  as well as the murderous agenda of its other  worldly inhabitants  not to mention alison  s connection to them  which as it turns out is anything but coincidental .  br    br   although there  s nothing controversial about the overstuffed cast  which seems to feature every actor of diverse genres looking for work at the time   arthur kennedy  jose ferrer  martin balsam  eli wallach  john carradine  and even early appearances by christopher walken  jeff goldblum and nana visitor   winner and company went back to bombastic basics and pulled a  tod browning  . . . by enlisting real  life physically  challenged actors to appear in the sentinel  s climactic everything  and  everybody  goes  to  hell sequence  which i guess any ballsy director would do  finding himself unable to access linda blair and a case of green  pea soup . it does definitely leave you with arctic fingers playing your spinal cord like a zither  knowing this juicy little tidbit of info as you watch . and it does feature a technique to which filmmakers have only begun to return very recently live on  set makeup and special effects that don  t involve cgi   which was pretty much non  existent back then .   br    br   the sentinel has that kitschy  late  seventies cheese factor  but does manage to distinguish itself from time to time with some gasp  inducing moments like the one mentioned above  not to mention that queasy feeling of dread that horror writers find it easy to play upon  of isolation and things that go bump  and  shriek in the night . after all  what living  single  in  the  big  city person hasn  t lain in bed in the dark  and listened intently to the sounds of what they hope is  the building settling    br    br   konvitz followed up the sentinel with an inevitable sequel  the guardian  not to be confused with the william friedkin supernatural thriller namesake   that was never adapted for the screen . sigh of relief  
there will be a time where kids will have grown up without ever seeing the one and only bugs bunny kiss  technically  another man on the lips . there will be a time where it won  t be duck or rabbit season . there will be a time where the tazmanian devil will be dubbed politically incorrect .  br    br   but so help me now is not that time .  br    br   nobody really wants an  extreme  version of our beloved loony characters . whoever it is in marketing who comes up with  corn nuts corn gone wrong  and  extreme doritos  and evidently this festering turd should know that just because they have a degree in business or advertising or whatever doesn  t mean they know jack about kids .  br    br   i think that they  re doing a disservice to children  depriving them of one of the greatest and most iconic shows of all time . this show disgusts me  and it  s not just the dated artwork or terrible dialogue . they misuse good voice talent  like phil lamarr  michael clarke duncan  candi milo  and so many others . it lacks style  humor  character development  and most importantly  heart .  br    br   the show  like it  s repackaged characters  slam tasmanian  rev runner  ace bunny  is but a shadow of it  s former  timeless and beautiful self .  
eddie murphy spends his time looking for lost children  so when a very special magical child is kidnapped in tibet  the sexy charlotte lewis asks for his help to rescue this child from the clutches of evil itself .  br    br   although the story is a bit silly  it never quite feels corny  despite the hilarity of the comedy throughout the film charles dance off  sets the comedy with his very serious and dark characterisation of the evil that holds the child hostage .  br    br   the golden child is very funny  action packed and really quite compelling in a charming  almost magical way .  br    br       great for all generations .  
what ever happened to one of the most innovative and brilliant storytellers of our time  well  he made the kind of typical summer action fodder that could  ve been directed by anybody available out of film school . . . and in fact  they probably would  ve done a better job . they would  ve at least have put half of a thought into the dreadful script .  br    br   mark wahlberg plays an astronaut who traveled through some sort of wormhole and landed in a planet ruled by apes .  gasp   except this time around  the apes squirm through groan  worthy dialogue  nonsensical plotting  and showy special effects that constantly reinforce in my mind that this money could  ve been put to about   independent films that would have been considered  masterpiece  next to this tripe .  br    br   as much as i enjoy the superb acting talent that is tim roth  his performance as evil ape leader thade is nothing more than an intense composition of slouching and heavy breathing . luckily for him  the makeup allows he as an actor to maintain some dignity and most of the crap  dialogue is hidden behind his groans and sniffles .  br    br   and alas  the always dependable hollywood tradition of taking the male and female leads and hooking them up at the end without any relationship development or cause . and the  haha  we  re so clever  aren  t we   way that hollywood intermingles references from the original pota into this one . sigh . . .  br    br   instead of seeing this  spend the night in and call up some friends and rent  ed wood    edward scissorhands    batman   or even to a lesser extent  sleepy hollow   and reminisce about the days when tim burton was a man of vision and originality . . . not shame and ridicule .  
michael winner is probably best known for his revenge  themed films  such as  death wish  and  chato  s land   but he is equally gifted as a director of occult horror cinema  as  the sentinel  of     proves .  the sentinel   which is based on a novel by john konvitz  who also wrote the screenplay  is a clever and immensely creepy religious chiller that no lover of occult horror should consider missing . the film is obviously inspired by successful occult classics such as  rosemary  s baby    the exorcist  or  the omen   but  as far as i am concerned  it is also easily as unsettling as these more widely acclaimed films  and probably even creepier .  br    br   allison parker  christina raines  is a beautiful young new york model . traumatized by events in her her past and not yet willing to marry her lawyer boyfriend  chris sarandon   allison is in search for an apartment  and finds a big  incredibly nice one  which is also affordable  in an old mansion in brooklyn . the new apartment  however  comes along with a bunch of very strange other tenants . and the sinister new neighbors soon become more than a little bothersome to alice . . . this may not be an adequate plot synopsis  but i would hate to spoil any of this film  s great moments  so i will not give any further plot description . what i will say  however  is that  the sentinel  is a very creepy and effective film that profits from a great cast as well as an often bizarre and constantly uncanny atmosphere . the fact that director michael winner and writer john konnvitz also acted as producers here certainly had its influence on the outcome . the film is imaginatively photographed  and the eerie old brooklyn mansion is a fantastic setting for this kind of film . as mentioned above  the atmosphere is obscure and creepy  and the film also includes several shock  moments and genuine scares . the film features many sinister and eccentric characters  and the cast is superb . beautiful christina raines is great in her role of allison parker  lovable and yet on the cusp to losing her mind . chris sarandon is also very good as her boyfriend  a successful lawyer  and the supporting cast includes many big names  such as christopher walken  jeff goldblum  jerry orbach  beverly d  angelo and tom berenger  before becoming really famous . the cast also includes stars like ava gardner  horror icon john carradine  burgess meredith  and  my personal favorite  the great eli wallach as a cynical homicide detective . i  ve been a great fan of director michael winner for a long time  mostly for films like  death wish  and  chato  s land  .  the sentinel  is yet another great film in winner  s repertoire  and also the proof that the man is not only a master of hard  boiled revenge  cinema  but also of atmospheric occult horror . all in all   the sentinel  is a creepy  intelligent  and amazingly bizarre occult chiller that is highly recommended to all horror fans   
they probably should have called this movie the map because the majority of the whole stupid film is revolved around a map of a cemetery . not to mention how many of the same boring shots of the map there are . the only thing they show more than the map itself is the little beads of sweat that is constantly building up on the forehead of our main character . this of course was the film makers way of showing us how incredibly tense things are getting up on the immortal hills cemetery . come on now  couldn  t they have shown us just one of the death scenes  we hear a whole lot about how everyone who is listed on the map is dropping like flies but we don  t get to see anything . some how i bury the living manged to keep my attention so i was fairly generous with the rating i gave it but i will not recommend this movie to anyone . unless you have a deep fascination with maps or sweat i recommend renting a better i movie  such as i spit on your grave or i drink your blood .  
director  writer michael winner  s feature is a better than expected offbeat supernatural horror film  although still schlock efficiently catered for   which really does by go unnoticed . sure it might borrow ideas from other similar themed horror movies of this period  but still manages to bring its own psychological imprint to the smokescreen material  of good vs . evil  and a unique vision that has a fair share of impressively expansive  if somewhat exploitative set  pieces . as a whole it  s sketchy  however remains intriguing by instilling an ominous charge without going gang  busters with the scares . actually there  s always something going on amongst its busy framework  but it  s rather down  played with its shocks steering to soapy patterns and atmospheric tailoring  up until its vividly repellent and grisly climax with a downbeat revelation . winner  s dressed up craftsmanship might feel pedestrian  however it  s the ensemble cast that really holds it together as you try to spot the faces . there  s plenty too . some having more to do with the scheme of things than others  but there  s no doubts every one of them are committed  despite the ludicrously crude nature of it all . it  s interesting to see names like sylvia miles  who  s significantly creepy    beverly d  angelo  likewise   deborah raffin  eli wallach  christopher walken  william hickey  a neat cameo   jeff goldblum  jerry orbach and tom berenger in bit parts . then you got a mild  mannered chris sarandon and movingly gorgeous cristina raines in the leads . offering able support jos ferrer  martin balsam  ava gardner  john carradine  burgess meredith and arthur kennedy . the script does throw around many characters  as well as notions but gets disjointedly sidetrack by trying to squeeze all of it in . however it  s disorienting air works in its favour in establishing the suspicion and deception of what  s really going on here . is there a reason for all of this  and why is it surrounding raines  character  the emphasis is mainly built upon that moody angle  as it begins to slowly shed light of her inner goings and that of the strange  worrying experiences she encounters when she  s moves into her new apartment . this is where winner tries to pull out the eerie shades  which projects some icy moments . gil melle was the man responsible for the grand  overpowering orchestral score that never misses a cue and richard c . kratina instruments the sweeping  scope  like photography .  
this movie could have been great  cause its got a somewhat fascinating premise  but it never rises above sheer caricature . the acting is severely flawed and there were moments where i cringed so severely that i thought i was going to fall of my seat in the theater . never and i mean never watch this godawfull piece of . . . . danish cinema has been getting a lot of good pr the recent years but if this piece of . . . . crosses the border i  m afraid nobody sane will ever want to rent a danish movie . this movie is the reason why i chose to register here . i really felt i needed to steer people away from this piece of . . . . my sympathies go out to the people who already went to the cinema to watch this  
the sentinel is a movie that was recommended to me years ago  by my father  and i  ve seen it many times since . it always manages to entertain me  while being effectively creepy as well . the flashback scenes are what really made it for me . cristina raines  s father running around all creepily  with the two creepy woman  always manages to send chills down my spine . it  s your typical good vs evil thing  but at least it manages to be entertaining . the ending i consider to be one of the finest in horror history . it has plenty of shocks and suspense  seeing burgess meredith do his thing as chazen  had me on the edge of my seat . the sentinel has the perfect build up of tension . we are never fully comfortable whenever allison is on screen . we know something terrible is always awaiting her  and that made things all the more tense . this movie is often neglected among horror fans  but i personally think it  s one of the better one  s out there  and it certainly has enough for all horror fans  to be satisfied .  br    br   performances . cristina raines has her wooden moments  but came though in a big way for the most part . she  s beautiful to look at  and her chemistry with saranadon felt natural . chris sarandon is great as the boyfriend  michael . he had an instant screen presence  and i couldn  t help but love him . martin balsam  jos ferrer  john carradine  ava gardner  arthur kennedy  sylvia miles  deborah raffin  jerry orbach  richard dreyfuss  jeff goldblum and tom berenger all have memorable roles  or small cameos . burgess meredith is terrific as chazen . he looks like a normal old man  but what we find out  is absolutely terrifying . eli wallachchristopher wlaken do well  as the bumbling detectives . beverly d  angelo has one chilling scene  that i won  t spoil .  br    br   bottom line . the sentinel is an effective horror film that horror fans  sadly tend to neglect . it will give you the thrills and scares you need to be satisfied . well worth the look .  br    br        
i had high expectations of this movie  the title  translated  is  how we get rid of the others   . after all  the concept is great a near future in which the ruling elite has taken the consequence of the right  wing government  s constant verbal and legislative persecution of so  called freeloaders and the left wing in general  and decided to just kill off everyone who cannot prove that they  re contributing something to the establishment  the establishment being called  the common good   but actually meaning the interests of the ruling capitalist ideology  .  br    br   very cool idea  ideal for biting satire  only  this movie completely blows its chance . the satire comes out only in a few scenes and performances of absurdity  but this satire is not sustained it is neither sharp nor witty . and for an alleged comedy  the movie has nearly no funny scenes . the comedy  i assume  is supposed to be in the absurdity of the situations  but the situations are largely uncomfortable and over  serious  rather than evoking either laughter or thought .  br    br   the script is rife with grave errors in disposition . the action should have focused on the political aspects and how wrong it would be to do such a thing  but instead oodles of time are spent on a young woman who was the one that wrote the new laws for fun  and who  s trying to save everybody  by organizing a resistance that ships people to africa . all this is beside the point  a movie like this should not pretend to be so serious  it  s a satire  a political statement . but it doesn  t even begin to actually address the problem it  s supposed to be about . maybe it was afraid of going too far  how cowardly . that  s not art . it  s not even real satire .  br    br   sren pilmark  a very serious and by now one of denmark  s absolutely senior actors  was very good . he largely carried what little entertainment value the movie had . everybody else nothing special  well  perhaps except for lene poulsen  who did supply a convincing performance  .  br    br   in fact  a problem with most danish movies is that the language never sounds natural . neither the formulation nor the delivery . why is it so difficult to make it sound right  why must it be so stilted and artificial  i hope  when people look at these movies fifty years from now  they don  t think that this was how people talked in general danish society .  br    br    out of   .  
time has not been kind to this movie . once controversial adaptation of jeffrey konvitz  best  seller  now this film looks like a mere mainstream version of your typical spookfest . gruesome touches aside  particularly that crazy  over the top finale   this is essentially a glossy horror movie for those people that do not care much for the genre . it has an extraordinary cast in small roles  jose ferrer  ava gardner  eli wallach  burgess meredith  christopher walken  and many others   but something tells me that the producers wanted such an expensive cast in order to convince the audience that this is not your average lowbrow movie  producers of    s disaster movies had a similar idea  . i kind liked to see the familiar faces  but the story is very silly  and no matter how high class the film pretends to be  it operates at the level of your average    s exploitation movie  not an entirely bad thing  though  . still  it is an enjoyable movie  especially for those viewers who enjoy stargazing . as usual  albert whitlock  s matte work is outstanding . overall  pretty entertaining .  
the script is so so laughable . . . this in turn  makes the actors  lines sound stiff and unrealistic and not to be believed . there  s repetition of phrases    my sweet little god daughter  and minor variations of that line which comes to mind . . . and it  s just sloppy soap opera dialog .  br    br   worse yet  the music is so wrong  plus  the main bluesy  theme  is horribly quaint and entirely wrong for this . and it feels overused mostly because the instrumentation  texture and arrangement of this theme never changes  even when the scene  s emotional context does .  br    br   subsequently  whenever it appears  it sticks out like a sore thumb as the main transition from one scene to another .  br    br   the music  s corny  and it  s as if the writer were writing music for a soap or a sitcom   a low budget    s canadian sitcom at that   and this makes it feel as if we  re always on the brink of throwing to a commercial .  br    br   this is so miscast  there  s a lot of overacting and it  s a real stretch that so many of these characters are employing only one type of ny accent   a thick bronx accent . i don  t know if it  s a question of the actors  limited capacity in only knowing one ny accent   or whether it  s a question of the director  s ability to notice such an glaring anomaly .  br    br   in the end  it  s the amateur script with it  s leaden lines which makes this entire  movie  . . . blow . when any foundation is shaky and unstable  it  s impossible to build upon it without it  s flaws revealing themselves in exponentially more damaging and unflattering ways .  
i  m not sure why this little film has been banished into obscurity  as despite some rather silly goings on the sentinel is a clever and inventive horror film that gives most of the highly praised ghost stories of today more than a run for their money . michael winner has admitted many times that he  s not the best director of all time  and that does shine through on a number of occasions with this film but it has to be said that the film works in spite of it  s uninspired direction  and the fact that winner has somehow managed to round up a simply amazing cast of talent more than makes up for it . the plot is rich with mystery  and begins by focusing on alison parker and her hunt for a flat . she finds that she can  t afford most properties she looks at  but thinks her luck has changed when she finds a fully furnished apartment for an affordable price . her problems start soon after moving in  as she doesn  t like her neighbours very much . . . and this problem increases when the property broker tells her that she has just one neighbour an elderly blind priest on the top floor . . .  br    br   the cast list is truly superb  with the relatively unknown cristina raines heading up a great support cast . chris sarandon is a little wooden in his role opposite raines  but small parts for the likes of john carradine  eli wallach  ava gardner  jeff goldblum and christopher walken  to name but a handful more than make up for sarandon  s lifeless portrayal . michael winner does a good job with his central location  as the block of flats provides a creepy and macabre setting for the story . the film is a little slow to start  but it  s never boring and michael winner  s screenplay provides a surprise that  s almost impossible to guess from the offset  which certainly deserves some praise . like many similar slow  burning horrors  this one doesn  t go for the money shot early on  but unlike many  the ending is a definite climax as winner goes all out to shock the viewer  and if the rumour that he used actual human oddities is true i  ve got to say that he does a very good job at it  overall  while this film may be pure hokum whichever way you look at it the sentinel is one of the better films of its type  and it  s definitely a major highlight for its director .  
i don  t remember seeing another murder  mystery movie as bad as this . this movie  about a medical examiner who investigates his friend  s mysterious death in a car accident  has the complete receipt for a bad movie bad acting  boring story  lack of suspense  poor humor and no drama . i remembered seeing this movie on pax  a tv station notable for dishing out low  budgeted and campy made  for  tv movies such as this one . tv movies  of course  do not have the edge factor or the suspense as movies from the big screen . but  this movie sure hit all sour tastes . the makers of this movie have missed out on an opportunity to making  receipe for murder  a great tv movie the title does offer some suspense .  br    br   so  if you want a good recipe  don  t watch this movie . this movie alone can kill your tv appetite .  br    br   grade f  
this horror movie  based on the novel of the same name  suffers from flawed production and choppy  amateurish direction  but it  s nonetheless strangely compelling . unlike shocker horror flicks such as the exorcist  this movie takes the viewer on a slow yet relentless dip into a pool of evil . it drifts into horror  which dawns on the audience with the same dreamlike slowness as it dawns on the poor girl who  s been unwittingly chosen to be the next sentinel . her appointed task is to sit at the gates of hell and prevent evil from erupting into the world . this falls on her in atonement for her attempted suicide earlier in her life .  br    br   the story is true to the book  which was riveting  but the way it  s edited can lose the viewer . there are subtleties in the plot that are shaved away and never explained satisfactorily  which hurts this film . that  s a pity . the sentinel is not an edge  of  your  seat kind of flick it  s more a watch  and  squirm uncomfortably . like a bad car wreck  there  s a compulsion to look even when it becomes unbearable . this movie isn  t all bad  and still has a capacity to shock .  br    br   the cast was competent . christina raines was captivating as alison  the vulnerable girl under spiritual attack from both sides  a pawn in the never  ending battle between good and evil . chris sarandon was good as her caring but ultimately self  centered boyfriend . eli wallach and a very young christopher walken are the detectives struggling to unravel the bizarre puzzle they  ve been handed . ava gardner is elegant as the realtor unaware of the horrors lurking in her rental property . the gaunt elderly john carradine  with his arthritis  twisted hands  is excellent as the dying sentinel who must be replaced . the devil is played to charming perfection by burgess meredith he  s so sweet and yet so evil . there are future stars hidden in this film beverly d  angelo and jeff goldblum as friends of the poor girl  and jerry orbach playing successfully against type as a jerky television director . the damned souls at the end are portrayed by actual sideshow freaks and geeks . whoever thought to do that was a twisted but brilliant genius .  br    br   the horror that pervades the movie bubbles up unexpectedly  such as when alison opens a door and finds something that evokes a flashback to when she found her father with his two whores . she relives her first suicide attempt  faces a pair of strangely dysfunctional lesbians  and sees a cat cut up as a cake . time and again  she  s yanked back and forth through reality and fantasy  through dreams and waking nightmares  all the while lacking the means to cope . in truth  the devil is trying to drive her insane enough to kill herself before becoming the next sentinel . will he succeed . . .  in summary  slow  moving yet indescribably creepy  well  acted but poorly directed  and a very typical    s horror film before the real shockers cut loose .  no pun intended  this movie may not work for those with a short attention span  but it can still send chills up the spine  and still can provide some low  key shock value . it remains a strangely compelling and entertaining dip into the realm of evil .  
the good thing about this that  s at least fresh almost no movies about dance music and the club scene  if even made  hit the cinemas . and it radiates lots of energy too  from the music to the portrayal of ibiza .  br    br   but the main problem is that it can  t decide what it wants to be . although it definitely likes to be a mockumentary in the line of this is spinal tap  the makers also realized they wouldn  t want to play copycat . however  it fails grossly on the jokes because it  s not very well written and most characters are underdeveloped . and it has no arc in its script and directing to make it to   minutes  so why not edit it down to    the production department and cinematography still try to save the day  e . g . paul  s home  .  br    br   in a strange way and unexpectedly so it  s all gone pete tong works much better as a simple drama in the line of almost famous . especially the scenes with beatriz batarda offer some acting power .  br    br   conclusion it  s a mess  it somewhat entertains at a basic level  but you better spend a night in your favorite club .  
boasting an all  star cast so impressive that it almost seems like the  mad mad mad mad world  of horror pictures   the sentinel        is nevertheless an effectively creepy film centering on the relatively unknown actress cristina raines . in this one  she plays a fashion model  alison parker  who moves into a brooklyn heights brownstone that is  and i don  t think i  m giving away too much at this late date  very close to the gateway of hell . and as a tenant in this building  she suffers far worse conditions than leaky plumbing and the occasional water bug  to put it mildly  indeed  the scene in which alison encounters her noisy upstairs neighbor is truly terrifying  and should certainly send the ice water coursing down the spines of most viewers . despite many critics  complaints regarding raines  acting ability  i thought she was just fine  more than ably holding her own in scenes with ava gardner  burgess meredith  arthur kennedy  chris sarandon and eli wallach . the picture builds to an effectively eerie conclusion  and although some plot points go unexplained  i was left feeling more than satisfied . as the book  dvd delirium  puts it   any movie with beverly d  angelo and sylvia miles as topless cannibal lesbians in leotards can  t be all bad   on a side note  yesterday i walked over to   montague terrace in brooklyn heights to take a look at the sentinel house . yes  it  s still there  and although shorn of its heavy coat of ivy and lacking a blind priest  nun at the top  floor window  looks much the same as it did in this picture . if this house really does sit atop the entrance to hell  i take it that hell is . . . the brooklyn queens expressway . but we new yorkers have known that for some time   
this collection really sucks   br    br   i rented it  thinking id really would enjoy some good fighting . man this sucked  quick flashy cuts  an extremely annoying speaker  and the fights them selves were heavily edited and shortened  im thinking especially of jet lis fight in fists of legend and jackie chans fight from drunken master   .  br    br   and whats the deal with those brawling streetfighters   whats so  cool  about that  ive seen more interesting fights on martial law   br    br   this a stupid collection of cuts for stupid people .  br    br   do not ever buy this film  do not encourage the people who made this crap to make more of this crap   br    br   instead  go buy the movies the fights were from and wath the fights in their uncut glory   
this happens to be one of my favorite horror films . it  s a rich  classy production boasting an excellent cast of ensemble actors  beautiful on  location cinematography  a haunting musical score  an intelligent and novel plot theme  and an atmosphere of dread and menace . it  s reminiscent of such classic films as rosemary  s baby and the shining  wherein young  vulnerable women find themselves victimized by supernatural forces in old  creepy buildings with a macabre past . here  cristina raines plays a top new york city fashion model named alison parker . her happy  outgoing exterior masks a deeply conflicted and troubled soul . this is evidenced by the revelation that in her past  she attempted suicide twice  once as a teenage girl after walking in on her degenerate father cavorting in bed with two women and having him rip a silver crucifix from her neck and toss it on the floor  and the second time  after her married lawyer  boyfriend  s wife supposedly committed suicide over learning of their affair . telling her beau  played by a suitably slimy chris sarandon  that she needs to live on her own for a year or so  she answers a newspaper ad for a fully  furnished  spacious one  bedroom apartment in an old brooklyn heights brownstone . this building actually exists and is located at   montague terrace right by the brooklyn heights promenade off remsen street . the producers actually filmed inside the building and its apartments  paying the residents for their inconvenience  of course . the real estate agent  a miss logan  ava gardner   seems to be very interested in having alison take the apartment  an interest that cannot be solely explained by the   commission she would earn . especially when she quickly drops the rental price from     .   a month to     .   . alison agrees and upon leaving the building with miss logan  notices an elderly man sitting and apparently staring at her from the top  floor window . miss logan identifies the man to her as father halliran and tells alison that he  s blind . alison  s response is very logical   blind  then what does he look at   after moving in  alison meets some of the other residents in the building  including a lesbian couple played by sylvia miles and beverly d  angelo  who provide alison with an uncomfortable welcome to the building . alison  s mental health and physical well  being soon start to deteriorate and she is plagued by splitting headaches and fainting spells . when she relays her concerns to miss logan about her sleep being disturbed on a nightly basis by clanging metal and loud footsteps coming from the apartment directly over her  she is dumbstruck to learn that apart from the blind priest and now herself  no one has lived in that building for the last three years . summoning the courage one night to confront her nocturnal tormentor  she arms herself with a butcher knife and a flashlight and enters the apartment upstairs . she is confronted by the cancer  riddled specter of her dead father and uses the knife on him in self  defense when he comes after her . the police investigate and find no sign of violence in that apartment  no corpse  no blood  nothing . yet alison fled the building and collapsed in the street  covered in blood  her own  as it turns out . but there  s nary a mark on her . what alison doesn  t realize until the film  s denouement is that her being in that brownstone has a purpose . she was put there for a reason  a reason whose origin dates back to the biblical story of the garden of eden and of the angel uriel who was posted at its entrance to guard it from the devil . she is being unknowingly primed and prepped by the catholic church to assume a most important role  one that will guarantee that her soul  which is damned for her two suicide attempts  can be saved . at the same time  the  invisible  neighbors  who turn out to be more than just quirky oddballs  have a different agenda in mind for her . this is a competent and intelligently done film and one that surprisingly portrays the church and its representatives in a mostly sympathetic light .  
just because someone is under the age of   does not mean they are stupid . if your child likes this film you  d better have him  her tested . i am continually amazed at how so many people can be involved in something that turns out so bad . this  film  is a showcase for digital wizardry and nothing else . the writing is horrid . i can  t remember when i  ve heard such bad dialogue . the songs are beyond wretched . the acting is sub  par but then the actors were not given much . who decided to employ joey fatone  he cannot sing and he is ugly as sin .  br    br   the worst thing is the obviousness of it all . it is as if the writers went out of their way to make it all as stupid as possible . great children  s movies are wicked  smart and full of wit  films like shrek and toy story in recent years  willie wonka and the witches to mention two of the past . but in the continual dumbing  down of american more are flocking to dreck like finding nemo  yes  that  s right   the recent charlie  the chocolate factory and eye  crossing trash like red riding hood .  
in the hands of a more skilled director  this film would have been considered a horror masterpiece . despite michael  death wish  winner  s merely passable direction  the movie is interesting  original and more than a little scary .  br    br   the script bucks more than one horror clich off its back  several it can  t shake  including chris sarandon as the heroine  s boyfriend who actually listens to her as she insists that eerie things are going down . burgess meredith is delightful as the lovably insane neighbor . eva gardner is haunting with a young beverly d  angelo as her mute and disturbed lesbian lover . john carradine does a heck  of  a job sitting in a chair . and watch out for a brief cameo from an unknown  at  the  time chris walken  this movie is creepy and creative . the plot twists are lovely  if a tad predictable . the climax  of which i will give no detail  is disturbing and quite impressive . again a better director could have done more with it  nonetheless it is quite satisfying  at least to those with the sensibilities of seventies horror .  br    br   if you like modern overproduced body  counting torture  fantasy  you won  t like this . there is almost no gore . the direction is quite spartan . the effects are few  although there  s some delightful makeup near the end  most of which actually isn  t makeup . . . but perhaps i  ve said too much already .  br    br   i  ve rated this a little higher than its quality may justify  but i enjoyed it as much as any    film that i  ve seen .  
creepy  lascivious wolf . the young  red  is wearing full make  up  and extremely short shorts  robe . got about   minutes through and realized it could be a pedophile  s dream come true . the  up  beat  music sounds a lot like something i  d hear at a strip club . i actually think this movie is a sick joke  it  s not a family movie . gross  glad i was watching this with my daughter  i don  t want her to think it  s normal for families to view quasi kiddie porn together . very bad  very sad it  s sold as a family film  joey fatone will probably be embarrassed he was in it . and what  s with advertising it as a  special effects spectacular     the effects do look low budget  gawd awful .  
i was an usherette in an old theater in northern california when this movie came out . as good as it is on dvd  it  s even more eerie and terrifying on the big screen . although it has been about  years since i have seen it  it is still one of my all  time favorites . at the risk of sounding trite   they just don  t make  em like this anymore   if sixth sense freaked you out at all  this movie is definitely for you  great storyline  incredible cast of characters  ominous setting even the soundtrack has a haunting quality to it . i highly recommend you not watch it alone . what a brownstone apartment was renting for in     alone  will have you gasping  it would be at least    times that price today  .  
relying on the positive reviews above  we saw a free screening of this last night . now i know that filmmakers plant positive reviews  because there is no way an objective individual could have written these .  destined to become a  cult classic     the theater was packed  apparently with friends and families of the production crew  because only a few of us walked out by the first hour .  br    br   the songs were the most literal i  ve ever heard in a musical   don  t take the short cut  honey  there  s a wolf in the woods . .  . debi mazar  s eyes blinked furiously as she struggled to sing . fortunately  most of the tunes lasted for only a few lines .  br    br   now  whoever plays the wolf in this tale should be charming and seductive . instead  we get joey fatone  ex n  syncer  living up to his last name as he  s not aged well . he  s not exactly lithe with his extra   pounds and junior high school  quality makeup and out  of  tune singing . seriously  this guy was in vocal group  the rest of the actors are semi  adequate  but can  t do much about the unimaginative script . you know  it is possible to write for adults and children at the same time  see under  pixar  .  br    br   on the positive side  the virtual sets looked nice and were well  integrated with the actors . and it wasn  t as offensive as  crash  .  
this was a highly original decent movie  and a brave move for all those involved . i don  t care if it  s not the most well put  together movie of all time  the fact that it has eddie murphy doing something non  formulaic  and that i don  t know what will happen next  makes it a favorite of mine . i wish more movies were as imaginative as this one  rather than the same old formula for entertainment .  
i had very low expectations for this alleged  re  imagining  of the original   and they weren  t even met  what were they thinking   answer they weren  t .  please don  t waste your time on this hollywood trash fest . clip your nails  balance your checkbook  do anything besides watch this . remember if you rent stuff like this  it will only ensure they make more .  
nyc model alison parker  cristina raines  rents a room in an old brownstone where she meets a few bizarre neighbors and experiences some creepy hallucinations . as lawyer boyfriend michael lerman  chris sarandon  goes about making inquiries on her behalf  she struggles to maintain her sanity  not to mention her will to live  as her experiences take a toll on her physical  mental  and emotional health .  br    br   i don  t want to spoil the better moments in this psychological horror film for those unfamiliar with it . the story is interesting and entertaining  but the film doesn  t really offer much in terms of real scares . or  for that matter  any atmosphere . it is sort of quietly sinister  but it  s not like the traditional horror film . it  s more of a story about a troubled woman  s attempts to deal with the increasing unreality in her life . on that level  it works  but it  s not quite powerful enough .  br    br   what  the sentinel  does offer are some eye  catching set pieces  in particular  the fascinating  fabulously creepy climax  and there  s a scene with beverly d  angelo that must be seen to be believed  . there  s also some gore to be seen  but not very much . an ominous music score by gil melle adds to the menace .  br    br   no review of this film would be complete without an appraisal for the film  makers in gathering such excellent actors for its ensemble cast . some of them don  t get to do too much  but to see all of them together is impressive . eli wallach and burgess meredith make the biggest impressions as  respectively  a hard  nosed detective and a solicitous neighbor . other legendary names include jose ferrer  arthur kennedy  and ava gardner . future stars like d  angelo  christopher walken  tom berenger  jeff goldblum make brief appearances  and other familiar faces include jerry orbach  sylvia miles  william hickey  and martin balsam . whoever was the casting director for this film deserves some sort of prize .  br    br   written for the screen by director michael winner  probably best known for the  death wish  series that he did with charles bronson  from the novel by jeffrey konvitz .  br    br   i wouldn  t consider this a truly great horror thriller but it has its moments and is reasonably entertaining .  br    br        
the creativeness of this movie was lost from the beginning when the writers and directors left out a good story line  only to substitute with horrible special affects . this movie seemed to be focused on amusing children  but couldn  t even accomplish that . many small low budget films have the potential to become great movies  but this movie is no where near that . fortunately this will be another film easily made  and easily forgotten . this movie was probably a chance for the actors to make a little money on the side until their chance came along for a real role in a good movie . anyone who has a shred of respect for films  should avoid seeing this movie at all costs .  
a young woman who is a successful model  and is also engaged to be married  and who has twice attempted suicide in the past  is chosen by a secretive and distant association of catholic priests to be the next  sentinel  to the gateway to hell  which apparently goes through a creepy old  but well maintained brooklyn apartment building . its tenants take the stairway up and can reincarnate themselves  but apparently can  t escape as long as a sentinel is there to block the way . the previous one  john carradine  is about dead  so she  by fate or whatever  becomes the next one  and the doomed must get her to kill herself in order for them to be free . lots of interesting details lie under the surface  her relationship with her father  the stories of the doomed  her fianc  so one can pass this off as cheap exploitation horror  but given the sets  the great cast  and overall level of bizarreness  this is definitely worth seeing .  
this film is really vile . it plays on the urban paranoia of the   s    s and puts it into a school context . i  m not saying that urban crime wasn  t a problem for a lot of people or that schools weren  t  aren  t problem areas but this vile piece of exploitation takes the biscuit . violence is beyond anything realistically imaginable but in this case it  s not a case of social issues but a white  upper  middle class student uses it to turn himself into the crime kingpin of his local high schoiol . and of course he knows how to play the system . does that sound familiar . yes . this turd is pure violent exploitation  a really nasty piece of work . it  s disturbing brutality dressed up as a social comment . this belongs in the same category as trash like exterminator  death wish    and so on and so on . the only remarkable thing is that michael fox was so broke at the time that he had to do stuff like this .  
here  s a decent mid     s horror flick about a gate of hell in nyc that just happens to be an old brownstone . seems like there  s lots of gates of hell around  but of course this unwitting model happens to decide she needs some space from her boyfriend  fiance and so she just happens to pick one  which is disguised as a nice and reasonably priced apartment . she meets several strange neighbors  and even attends a birthday party for a cat . upon meeting with the realtor because she hears strange noises at night from upstairs  she finds out that she and an old priest are supposed to be the only tenants . whoa  then who are all these weirdos  her boyfriend  a slimy lawyer  played by chris sarandon  starts poking around and finds that things are not what they seem  not by a long shot . this has some decent creepy scenes and the idea of the creaky old folks that are her  sometimes  neighbors being other than what they appear is fairly intriguing . a bit of decent gore and even a parade of less  than  normal folks towards the end make this a decent watch  and while i  ve seen this many times on tv the uncut dvd version is much better  of course . not a bad little horror flick  maybe a good companion piece to  burnt offerings  .  out of   .  
spencer tracy and katherine hepburn would roll over in their graves if they knew this guess who  s coming to dinner rip off was actually in theaters . along with sidney poitier and katherine houghton these four brilliant actors made a great cultural statement with director stanley kramer  s     master piece . this present day rip off is a joke . so a white guy from an overly stereotyped italian family in rhode island brings his african american girlfriend home  insert gasp here  to his grand father  s funeral . his family members reactions were of course . . . . predictable . this movie was so painfully telegraphed from start to finish my girlfriend actually started fake snoring to signal to me that she wanted to leave . do yourself a favor and rent the original . take a pass on wake .  
christina raines plays a lovely model in new york who seeks out a new apartment and begins to meet strange neighbors and reveal a secret about the building and herself slowly building up to quite a climax by film  s end . this film has all kinds of neat plot elements from the roman catholic church vs . the devil  to the gateway to hell  to bizarre rituals  to a growing conspiracy  and finally to a host of talented famous actors and actresses flooding the film . we get ava gardner  burgess meredith  chris sarandon  jerry orbach  deborah raffin  arthur kennedy  jose ferrer  slyvia miles  beverly deangelo  eli wallach  martin balsam  christopher walkin  william hickey  tom berenger  jeff goldblum  and who can forget john carradine as the old priest . many of these actors ham it up  particularly burgess meredith giving a fine comic  demented performance as one of the neighbors with a little bird and a cat . meredith is memorable as is balsam and chris sarandon . some of the performers have virtually nothing to do like jose ferrer in a thankless role even if it is nothing more than a cameo . the sentinel is a fine horror film with plenty of psychological elements and some truly terrifying scenes . the end scene is repulsive and yet chilling . i do find fault with some of the gratuitous sex and violence in the film  particularly that whole scene with deangelo and miles . was that really necessary  i think not . also  the father  daughter stuff was a bit much as well  but overall the film works and has a winning pace . director michael winner does a workmanlike job and is effective creating tension and scary movie moments . the scenes with carradine are particularly effective .  
while some performances were good  victoria rowell  adrienne barbeau  and the two italian girlfriends come to mind  the story was lame and derivative  the emphasis on the girlfriend  s racial background was handled clumsily at best  and the relatives were mostly portrayed as stereotypes  not as real people . i found myself wincing uncomfortably at many moments that were supposed to be funny . i can hardly comprehend why the local paper here in sf said this was a good movie  and wonder who posted the glowing review here on imdb . very disappointed in this movie  and mad i actually went to a theatre to see it  based on the faulty connection to garden state  which is a far funnier  more inventive  and touching movie than this one . i must especially mention the emotional climax in the church  which was so wooden and by  the  numbers that i nearly left  and some in the audience actually did . that was followed by a silly climax at the graveyard  which i saw coming   minutes before it happened . i really don  t like being misled to spend my money so uselessly .  
sigh i sincerely wonder why all the acclaimed and supposedly profound movie critics hold such a grudge against director michael winner  surely he isn  t the avatar of subtlety  as his films are practically always hard  handed and confronting  but so what  they  re awesomely entertaining . his most famous action movies  like the first three entries in the  death wish   series for example  are easy targets to clobber down because they allegedly glorify violence and the personal use of shotguns  but even when winner takes on far more mature cinema genres  like the religious horrors of  the sentinel  for example  he doesn  t stand a chance with any of the critics .  the sentinel  generated some controversy and infuriated several people upon its release  when it leaked that michael winner cast genuinely malformed and handicapped people to portray the creatures attempting to cross the gateways between hell and earth . pretty much the exact same controversy caused todd  s browning  s masterpiece and landmark in horror cinema  freaks  to remain banned and unseen for over thirty years  and why  just because certain prudish and easily offended people  who shouldn  t watch the movie in the first place  claim it  s an unethical thing to do  i don  t suppose michael winner or todd browning held these people at gunpoint or forced them to appear in their films  so what gives us the right to feel embarrassed in their place  another major reason why critics didn  t warmly welcome  the sentinel  is because jeffrey konvitz  novel  and thus michael winner  s screenplay  is hugely derivative of other contemporary but far more successful religiously themed horror stories and thus  according to the merciless pens of horror critics  little more than pure plagiarism . admittedly  the sentinel  borrows multiple substantial elements from  rosemary  s baby    the omen  and  the exorcist   but let  s face it     s cinema largely thrives on stolen formulas and imitating success stories . if you overlook the slightly unoriginal concept and  in all fairness  a handful of thoroughly confusing and unnecessary sub plots   the sentinel  honestly still remains a uniquely atmospheric and often downright petrifying    s horror  highlight with an impressive ensemble cast and nightmarish imagery you  re not likely to forget easy .  br    br   alison parker  a ravishing model with some unprocessed mental traumas  moves into a stunning brownstone apartment in brooklyn  deeply against the will of her boyfriend michael who proposed to wed her several times already . alison  s physical existence and especially her mental condition drastically alter shortly after  and the ominous apartment appears to be the root of all misery . she meets eccentric neighbors and attends birthday parties for their cats  even though the landlady claims she and a blind priest are the only tenants . she frequently faints during her work assignments and has truly creepy visions of her bastard father and the night she attempted to commit suicide . it slowly becomes clear that alison got chosen to serve a higher supernatural purpose inside this apartment building  but simultaneously malignant forces try and prevent this . it  s truly regrettable how the promotional taglines and even brief synopsis on the back of the dvd immediately reveal that alison  s brownstone apartment is the earth  s gateway to hell itself and she  s the chosen one to guard it  because the film  s script only slowly builds up towards this shocking revelation . for nearly   minutes  and throughout some sadly tedious and overlong sequences  michael winner successfully maintains the impression that alison  s own mind is playing tricks with her and that the involvement of the catholic church and her fiance  s odd behavior are strictly red herrings . multiple of the horrific scenes come pretty close to being genius  like alison  s flashback or her first acquaintance with the priest upstairs . the whole climax  with the controversial guest appearances mentioned here above  is a literally perplexing showcase of pure terror and easily one of the most unforgettable and nail  biting denouements i ever witnessed .  br    br   the cast michael winner managed to gather is deeply impressive  especially considering  the sentinel  still remains a legitimate horror movie and this genre isn  t the most popular among prominent actors  but of course you also have to put the cast listing a little into perspective . with such an extended cast  obviously several of the roles in the film are little more than cameos . martin balsam and john carradine  for example  only appear on screen for a couple of minutes all together . several others  like christopher walken  jeff goldblum  beverly d  angelo and tom berenger  perhaps add a lot of fame to the movie nowadays  but back when it was released they were still too unknown in order to attract curious viewers . my personal pick for best performances go to burgess meredith as the uncanny neighbor and eli wallach as the satirical police inspector . the relatively unknown cristina raines does an admirable job carrying the film and chris sarandon neatly back her up  even though he sports a ridiculous mustache . in my humble opinion  the sentinel  is a marvelously entertaining and frightening horror movie  and most definitely a must  see for true genre fanatics .  
if you haven  t seen this  it  s terrible . it is pure trash . i saw this about   years ago  and i  m still screwed up from it .  
man  i really love the new dvd that universal put out . i  ve never seen the sentinel look this good since i had to put up with crappy  grainy vhs tapes for years . unfortunately there are no extras beyond a trailer that looks pretty worse for wear . and avoid the goodtimes dvd at all costs . it sucks .  br    br   anyway  troubled fashion model alison parker  cristina raines  moves into haunted nyc brownstone  only it  s more than just haunted . it  s also a portal to hell and the vatican keeps an old blind priest  john carradine  to keep watch over it and make sure the devils and arch  angels don  t escape .  br    br   this has an all star cast full of old  timey actors like ava gardner  arthur kennedy  jose ferrer etc . . . as well as cameos of upcoming   s stars including christopher walken  jeff goldblum  who  s voice was mysteriously overdubbed  and tom berenger . and you won  t even recognize jerry orbach from law  order . i had to do a double  take when i didn  t quite place where i  d seen him before .  br    br   nice gore scenes of alison slicing the eye and nose off her dead father  s rotting corpse that  s been possessed by the devil . and there  s a neat ending where disfigured  deformed people try to haunt alison into committing suicide so she won  t be the next one to guard the portal . it seems alison  s troubled past makes her a prime candidate by the vatican to become the next sentinel .  br    br   an excellent  creepy   s classic from director michael winner that shouldn  t be missed . i also recommended it for those who want something a little more imaginative beyond the usual stupid teenager slashers and horror comedy .  br    br    out of    br    br     
this film is so ridiculously idiot that you may actually laugh at it . but no  even this is too much for this lost meters of celluloid . i found it as an offer in a magazine and that  s why i  ve seen it . i regret the time i lost to see this .  out of    because they don  t have a lower grade  .  
   the sentinel   is one of the best horror movies already made in the movie  s industry  i think it is very scary as very few movies actually are . alison parker is a model with some fame . she dates a lawyer called michael lerman  and has as a best friend  another model called jennifer . everything was great in her life  until she decides to live alone for some time and rents a beautiful and old apartment .  br    br   the problem are her neighbors  who are very  very strange . suddenly alison starts to have health problems and faints with frequency she also remembers some painful facts about her past that makes her have nightmares or illusions . but everything has a reason  and it has to do with the new house she is living . . .  br    br   i personally find   the sentinel   a very creepy movie  and along with   the exorcist   they are two of the scariest movies i already watched . when we discover that alison  s house is only occupied by the priest and herself my blood froze  it  s also horrible to see that she needs to become blind in the end of the movie in order to be the new sentinel to keep the monsters away from our world .  
it is hard to make an unbiased judgment on a film like this that had such an impact on me at such a young age . this is with out a doubt the worst kind of exploitation film . i was unfortunate enough to see this film for the first time in my youth  iwill never forget it . i thought it was the most horrible movie ever made . i then saw it again earlier this year and was once again horrified .  br    br   i am not a zealot or one to say what others should and should not see but i did take great offense to the way in which something as horrible as rape was dealt with in this movie . i love lowbrow cinema but this is just plain nasty . rent some rus myer instead .  
of all the movies of the seventies  none captured to truest essence of the good versus evil battle as did the sentinel . i mean  yes  there were movies like the exorcist  and other ones but none of them captured the human element of the protagonist like this one . if you have time  check this one out . you may not be able to get past the dated devices as such  but this is a story worth getting into . then there are all the stars and soon  to  be stars . my absolute favorites were eli wallach  sylvia miles  and burgess meredith . then there are the subtle clues that lead to what  s going on too . pay close attention . i had to watch it four times to catch on to all the smaller weird statements like  black and white cat  black and white cake  . plus  the books are really good as well . i  m just sorry that they  re not going to turn the second book into a film . it  s so scary that it would outdo this movie .  
lipstick is another glossy movie failure . i am trying to think of one good thing that i could say about the movie  and i am having trouble coming up with something . i guess the red dress that margaux hemingway was wearing in the end of the movie was the best part . the writing and the script was not the worst that i have ever encountered  but it could have been a lot better . lipstick was very pleasing to the eye to view . the sets were very glossy and nice to look at . the cast was okay . i felt like anne bancroft  s character was the only feasible character in the entire movie . it was sad to see chris sarandon waste his time on this one .  
i have read the book and i must say that this movie stays true to form . i think this is the beginning of the psychological thrillers in the same genre of psycho . cristina raines gives an excellent performance as the lead  and burgess meredith gives an excellent supporting actor as the next  door neighbor . i have seen this movie at least twice and i think that i am going to buy both the book and the movie for my collection . the suspense just keeps building up to the climatic end  the twist you will never see coming . if you like movies like signs and the village  the sentinel will be a classic prelude . also  what is interesting is the actors in the movie  you would not recognize them if you did not read the credits . the late jerry orbach is great as the commercial director and jeff goldblum is excellent as the photographer . also there is beverly d  angelo  who is underrated but great .  
warning possible spoiler  br    br   if you can get by the extremely unpleasant subject matter  this film does offer a heaping helping of outrageously campy melodrama . surprisingly enough  this movie has been copied and ripped  off several times over the years  although it  s hard to fathom any filmmaker being inspired by this trashy drama . neither one of the hemingway women can act here  although mariel has improved over the years   anne bancroft offers the only touch of class as a prosecuting attorney  and chris sarandon is by turns pathetic and unintentionally hilarious as the smirking  smarmy bad guy of the piece .  br    br   veteran director lamont johnson can  t make a silk purse out of this sow  s ear of a script  which is stuffed to bursting with howlingly bad dialogue and outlandish situations . for example  the final sequence  where margaux grabs her shotgun and chases sarandon down after his latest shocking act is meant to be exciting but elicits hearty chuckles instead . add a notoriously shrill and spacy musical score by michel polnareff and you have a true guilty pleasure  even though you  re likely to feel grubby and needing a hot shower after viewing it . don  t say you weren  t warned .  
bored with the normal  run  of  the  mill staple films to watch this halloween that i  ve seen over and over again  i took a chance on  the sentinel   hoping it could get my horror juices flowing again . mind you  i had just come back from seeing the dark castle remake of  the house on haunted hill   complete and utter crap . thankfully   the sentinel  blew me away  in a riviting story about a model who moves into a creepy building in brooklyn hights  the film offered everything that i hope to find in a good movie     campy and fantasically juicy characters  exchanges and dialogue  including hilaraious turns by christopher walken  jeff goldblum and especially  martin balsam  as an absent minded professor     horrifying terror  not to give a frame away  but there are scenes in this film that chilled me to my pancreas     fantastic gore  terrific make  up and wacky  if very uneven  direction from michael winner  which flows rather nicely with this unreal treat . if you loved  evil dead     dead alive  and  deep rising   this will be your queen of favourites . just to emphasize my love for this film  after i watched it for the first time  jaw  dropped  i rewound it and watched it again . it is now one of favourites of all time . do yourself a favour and check it out   
model chris mccormack  margaux hemingway  is brutally raped by a teacher  chris sarandon  of her sister kathy  mariel hemingway  . he is brought to trial but goes totally free . he then rapes kathy   br    br   objectionable and sick rape film . this movie was advertised as an important drama dealing with rape . what it is is a badly written and  for the most part  badly acted drama . it purports to be sympathetic to the victim of the rape but shoves the scene in our face . to be totally honest however  hemingway  s acting is so bad in that sequence that it loses any real impact it might have had . the trial scenes were boring and predictable . and the movie just went too far when   year old mariel is raped  thankfully that wasn  t shown  . i do admit though that it did lead to a great ending when margaux grabs a gun and shoots sarandon dead . but seriously   having a young girl raped is just revolting .  br    br   acting doesn  t help . for instance  margaux was no actress . she was certainly a beautiful woman  and an actual model i believe  but her acting left a lot to be desired . it lessens the film . mariel was just ok but this was one of her first films . sarandon does what he can as the rapist . he wasn  t bad but the terrible script worked against him .  br    br   i do remember hearing that at a screening of this back in     some women stood up and cheered when sarandon was killed so maybe this works for some people . i found this boring  simplistic and really sick . a  all the way .  
while this movie has many flaws  it is in fact a fun    s movie . eddie murphy peaks during his    s movies here . while his character is indistinguishable from earlier movies  his timing is almost flawless with perfect partners and foils .  br    br   couple this with the hypnotic beauty of charlotte lewis  this makes for a fun rainy day action  comedy flick .  br    br    
this tim burton remake of the original  planet of the apes  from      and starring charleton heston  is a far  far cry from the quality and plot of the original .  br    br   certainly special effects have improved since      but writing has not . the characters were boring and the dialog was awful . i sat through the entire film with a friend  who thankfully only rented it  and completely understood why  before christmas  all of the  planet of the apes  toys at target were in the clearance bin .  br    br   my advice to tim burton don  t put this on your resume .  br    br   my advice to everyone else watch the original      planet of the apes  movie .  
bizarre horror movie filled with famous faces but stolen by cristina raines  later of tv  s  flamingo road   as a pretty but somewhat unstable model with a gummy smile who is slated to pay for her attempted suicides by guarding the gateway to hell  the scenes with raines modeling are very well captured  the mood music is perfect  deborah raffin is charming as cristina  s pal  but when raines moves into a creepy brooklyn heights brownstone  inhabited by a blind priest on the top floor   things really start cooking . the neighbors  including a fantastically wicked burgess meredith and kinky couple sylvia miles  beverly d  angelo  are a diabolical lot  and eli wallach is great fun as a wily police detective . the movie is nearly a cross  pollination of  rosemary  s baby  and  the exorcist    but what a combination  based on the best  seller by jeffrey konvitz   the sentinel  is entertainingly spooky  full of shocks brought off well by director michael winner  who mounts a thoughtfully downbeat ending with skill .     from   
after seeing a heavily censored version of this movie on television years ago  i was curious to see the unedited version . i was surprised that it was more believable and well acted than i remembered  but one thing really stood out . i think other reviewers have mentioned this also  namely  what exactly is the nature and motivation of the chris sarandon character  has he raped other victims before  is he completely psychotic or an  average  sociopath  how did he expect to get away with his attack on the younger sister  is this character at all credible  or is it just a matter of more background being necessary  he seems almost simultaneously to be an uncomfortably believable character  and too crazy to actually be able to hold on to a teaching job that puts him in contact with young  vulnerable girls . this seems to to be the biggest complaint of viewers in general . it has nothing to do with his performance  which is terrifyingly convincing . the movie occupies an uneasy position between sheer exploitation and a half way serious treatment of the subject  without quite settling into either mode . not the worst movie ever made  but not all that good  either .  
minor spoilers  br    br   alison parker  cristina raines  is a successful top model  living with the lawyer michael lerman  chris sarandon  in his apartment . she tried to commit suicide twice in the past the first time  when she was a teenager and saw her father cheating her mother with two women in her home  and then when michael  s wife died . since then  she left christ and the catholic church behind . alison wants to live alone in her own apartment and with the help of the real state agent miss logan  ava gardner   she finds a wonderful furnished old apartment in brooklyn heights for a reasonable rental . she sees a weird man in the window in the last floor of the building  and miss logan informs that he is father francis matthew halloran  john carradine   a blinded priest who lives alone supported by the catholic church . alison moves to her new place  and once there  she receives a visitor her neighbor charles chazen  burgess meredith  welcomes her and introduces the new neighbors to her . then  he invites alison to his cat jezebel  s birthday party in the night . on the next day  weird things happen with alison in her apartment and with her health . alison looks for miss logan and is informed that she lives alone with the priest in the building . a further investigation shows that all the persons she knew in the party were dead criminals . frightened with the situation  alison embraces christ again  while michael investigates the creepy events . alison realizes that she is living in the gateway to hell .  br    br   although underrated in imdb user rating   the sentinel  is one of the best horror movies ever . i have seen this film at least six times  being the first time in the    s  in the movie theater . in   september      i bought the imported dvd and saw it again . yesterday i saw this movie once more . even after so many years  this film is still terrific . the creepy and lurid story frightens even in the present days . the cast is a constellation of stars and starlets . you can see many actors and actresses  who became famous  in the beginning of career . fans of horror movie certainly worships  the sentinel   and i am one of them . my vote is nine .  br    br   title  brazil    a sentinela dos malditos    the sentinel of the damned    br    br   obs .  on   september      i saw this movie again .  
manipulative drama about a glamorous model  margaux hemingway  who is raped by a geeky but unbalanced musician  chris sarandon   to whom she had been introduced by her younger sister  played by real  life sibling mariel   whose music teacher he is . while the central courtroom action holds the attention  thanks largely to a commanding performance by anne bancroft as hemingway  s lawyer  the film is too often merely glossy  but also dramatically unconvincing the jury ostensibly takes the musician  s side because a  the girl invited assault due to the sensuous nature of her profession and b  she was offering no resistance to her presumed aggressor when her sister arrived at the apartment and inadvertently saw the couple in bed together . what the f    she was clearly tied up  what resistance could she realistically offer   br    br   the second half of the film  involving sarandon  s rape of the sister  which curiously anticipates irreversible       by occurring in a tunnel  is rather contrived mariel  s character should have known better than to trust sarandon after what he did to her sister  but margaux herself foolishly reprises the line of work which had indirectly led to her humiliating experience almost immediately  the climax  in which sarandon gets his just desserts  with margaux turning suddenly into a fearless and resourceful vigilante  is  however  a crowd  pleaser in the style of death wish        incidentally  ubiquitous italian movie mogul dino de laurentiis was behind both films .  br    br   it  s worth noting how the two hemingway sisters  lives took wildly different turns  this was the film debut of both   margaux  s career never took off  despite her undeniable good looks and commendable participation here   while mariel would soon receive an oscar nomination for woody allen  s manhattan       and  interestingly  would herself play a glamorous victim of raging violence when essaying the role of real  life playboy centerfold dorothy stratten in bob fosse  s star         . with the added pressure of a couple of failed marriages  margaux took refuge in alcohol and would eventually die of a drug overdose in      chillingly  the hemingway family had a history of suicides  notably the sisters  grandfather  celebrated author ernest  who died of a self  inflicted gunshot wound in     .  
  the second beginning  as it  s title explains  shows us the beginning of the end for the human race . set long before the matrix existed  this short anime written by the wachowski  s shows us the world that could lay infront of us in the not to distant future  set at the turn of the   st century  the second renaissance delves into issues common with human behaviour greed  power  control  vanity etc .  br    br   the use of robots or artificial intellegence as slaves or servents is common among science fiction  fantasy stories . the second renaissance is no exeption to this concept  however instead of a simple man vs . machine layout  this story explains the struggle that the machines put up with  the struggle for acceptance in a world ruled by humans . where the matrix films show us the human perspective  these short animations tell both sides of the story .  br    br   the second renaissance part     answer many questions brought up by the original matrix film  such as how the war broke out  how the sky was blackend  what led to the use of humans as batteries and it also introduces us to the machine city called    which may have relevance to the upcoming matrix revolutions film .  br    br   i won  t give away too much of the story  as i do not want to ruin the experience for perspective viewers  however  i will recommend it to anybody interested in the world of the matrix or simply anybody interested in japanese animation  anime  .  br    br       .  
ben masters   kyd thomas    dream lover      plays a sort of mike hammer character  a private eye who does any old job for a buck and never misses out on all the sexy curves of good looking gals . kyd makes one big mistake when he stops morgan fairchild   laura cassidy  eva bomberg    arizona summer      from getting beaten up and raped . kyd takes laura home to his pad and when he wakes up  she is out on his patio eating his eggs and orange juice and making herself right at home . by the way  kyd sleep in his bed and laura slept on the couch for this particular scene . laura is mixed up with all kinds of hoods and there are some hot scenes between kyd and laura . all said and done  this is a lousy picture and i purchased the dvd for only   .   and i really got ripped off   
for those that were interested in knowing how exactly humanity came to be encased in big red pods that make me crave pomegranate  there is the duo of the  second renaissance  shorts . i  m not exactly sure why they are split into two parts  especially since they  re credited as one on the dvd  and are these shorts viewed on any other format but the dvd    but they  re informative even if they have a few gaps .  br    br   what really makes this first part stand out  from the second part and the rest of the animations as well  is the parallels it shows between robot uprising and civil rights . graphic homages to slavery  fascism  concentration camps  and mass graves are mixed with verbal references to the million man march and humanity  s god  complex . in fact   god  is never really referenced by these shorts  instead replaced by  man  s own image  .  br    br   as far as the shorts go in the collection   the second renaissance part i  is by far the most effective in bringing out emotion . it  s a sorrowful and disturbing view of the potential of humanity to become  the architect of its own destruction .  some may be turned off by some of the concepts this short rips directly out of previously established science fiction literature  but then again  that  s basically what most of the matrix series has done  and it  s been a driving force behind its success .  br    br     polarisdib  
when i got this movie free from my job  along with three other similar movies . . i watched then with very low expectations . now this movie isn  t bad per se . you get what you pay for . it is a tale of love  betrayal  lies  sex  scandal  everything you want in a movie . definitely not a hollywood blockbuster  but for cheap thrills it is not that bad . i would probably never watch this movie again . in a nutshell this is the kind of movie that you would see either very late at night on a local television station that is just wanting to take up some time  or you would see it on a sunday afternoon on a local television station that is trying to take up some time . despite the bad acting  clich lines  and sub par camera work . i didn  t have the desire to turn off the movie and pretend like it never popped into my dvd player . the story has been done many times in many movies . this one is no different  no better  no worse .  br    br   just your average movie .  
along with it  s partner  this is the greatest piece of animation ever created . the images and styles are amazing  and match perfectly with the story which is a brilliantly realistic reinterpretation of our own world  where is has been  and where it could go . quite affecting and sometimes painful to watch  it it a masterpiece of the visual art .  
when i got this movie free from my job  along with three other similar movies . . i watched then with very low expectations . now this movie isn  t bad per se . you get what you pay for . it is a tale of love  betrayal  lies  sex  scandal  everything you want in a movie . definitely not a hollywood blockbuster  but for cheap thrills it is not that bad . i would probably never watch this movie again . in a nutshell this is the kind of movie that you would see either very late at night on a local television station that is just wanting to take up some time  or you would see it on a sunday afternoon on a local television station that is trying to take up some time . despite the bad acting  clich lines  and sub par camera work . i didn  t have the desire to turn off the movie and pretend like it never popped into my dvd player . the story has been done many times in many movies . this one is no different  no better  no worse .  br    br   just your average movie .  
this is part one of a short animation clip showing the history of the matrix  the war between man and machine that resulted in the eventual creation of the matrix . the animation is part japanese anime  part contemporary american animation  and is very well made  considering the excellent directors behind the movie . it shows the initial development of ai and the exploitation of the machines by man  until the day they rebelled . . .  
when i got this movie free from my job  along with three other similar movies . . i watched then with very low expectations . now this movie isn  t bad per se . you get what you pay for . it is a tale of love  betrayal  lies  sex  scandal  everything you want in a movie . definitely not a hollywood blockbuster  but for cheap thrills it is not that bad . i would probably never watch this movie again . in a nutshell this is the kind of movie that you would see either very late at night on a local television station that is just wanting to take up some time  or you would see it on a sunday afternoon on a local television station that is trying to take up some time . despite the bad acting  clich lines  and sub par camera work . i didn  t have the desire to turn off the movie and pretend like it never popped into my dvd player . the story has been done many times in many movies . this one is no different  no better  no worse .  br    br   just your average movie .  
this is the second part of  the animatrix   a collection of animated short movies that tell us a little more about the world of  the matrix  .  br    br   in this one we learn how men and machines could not work and live together . it is a little history lesson in the world of  the matrix  . not as good as the first part   the final flight of the osiris   but still pretty entertaining .  
there aren  t many good things to say at all about underneath  soderbergh  s untrue endeavor into neo  noir . soderbergh remakes robert siodmak  s decent noir criss  cross faithfully  not altering the plot very much at all  however the adaptation drains it of every ounce of its state  of  the  art film noir atmosphere  giving it the same story set in the very least appealing places  lifestyles and anachronisms . soderbergh  who would later make wonderful crime films like out of sight and the ocean  s series with great style and atmosphere  takes the dangerously obvious route to modernization by renovating the story with the ugliest  dullest and flattest fashions of the early     s . nightclubs have terrible  revoltingly dressed garage bands  peter gallagher  s uninteresting version of burt lancaster  s anti  hero is left by his femme fatale girlfriend for compulsively buying cinematically lifeless modern appliances like stereos  tvs  and other up to date pieces of equipment that suck the reaction out of the film .  br    br   it could  ve been more entertaining and less boring had it a few saving graces like a good score  more flesh to its characters  more than just william fichtner giving performances that aren  t wooden  a crisper pace . unfortunately  underneath has none of these things . soderbergh  a fine director  does not utilize his dry detachment to the benefit of his film this time . that disposition works wonderfully when he  s helming a crime movie with more tongue in its cheek like the george clooney pictures previously mentioned  or a social or character drama like traffic or sex  lies and videotape . with a movie like underneath  it intensifies the boredom experienced by the viewer .  
the first time you see the second renaissance it may look boring . look at it at least twice and definitely watch part  . it will change your view of the matrix . are the human people the ones who started the war  is ai a bad thing   
i read somewhere where this film was supposed to be a remake of the     film noir   criss cross .  i found the latter to be disappointing but it was still better than this film .  br    br   this movie is a  neo  noir  since it  s modern  day and it  s in color  two things that purists would make it be disqualified for film noir status .  br    br   the biggest negative to it  however  wasn  t the cinematography  that was fine  but the muddled storyline . hey  some of    s dashiell hammett stories were similar but i didn  t care for some of those either . the filmmakers here did not help the situation by placing flashbacks into the story what seemed like every three minutes . no wonder it was the keep up with this story . it was ridiculous  what happens is that by the    minute mark  their is so much confusion nobody cares anymore . i know i didn  t .  
what was always missing with the matrix story was how things came to be in the real world . say no more  because this part of the story covered most of the bases . what was truly interesting was how political it was  maybe even a cheap shot at the current presidential administration . fascism and violence were the only things man could think of in regards to fighting the robotic horde  who were meant as nothing more than servants to humanity . what i also found interesting was the use of fear and how it was perpetuated by the idea of the unknown . we as humans tend to fall into that trap quite often  letting the lack of logic and thought overtake us because people can  t believe the contrary . well represented and put together  this a true testament to how illogical humans can be .  
look  it  s the third one  so you already know it  s bad . and  maniac cop  wasn  t good enough to warrant the second installment  so you know it  s even worse . but how much worse  awful  approaching god  awful .  br    br   when maniac cop goes on a killing spree  a reporter exclaims   what happened here can only be described as a black rainbow of death .   br    br      rainbows are not black  and can never be .    rainbows are harmless  and can never inflict pain or death .    a news reporter  one valuable to his agency  might find another way to describe the aftermath of a killing spree .  a black rainbow of death  is not the only way to describe the given situation .  br    br   this is what you  re in for .  
this is the first of a two part back  story to the conflict between the machines and mankind in the matrix world and it delivers spectacularly by combining observations on man  s fear of the unknown and of being usurped with politics  extensive religious and historical imagery  subverting expected portrayals of parties involved and an at least partially believable and thus terrifying vision of our near future . it isn  t perfect and some plot points and images are at once obvious and contrived but it has the desired effect and impact and tells a visceral and cautionary tale .  br    br   this first part sets the scene  human societies have developed advanced and capable robots  mostly humanoid  to serve people doing menial  unskilled jobs  labour  construction etc . and thus the populace has become lazy and derogatory towards them . one robot  however  rebels and kills his owner  stating at his subsequent trial that he simply did not want to die . he is destroyed but when the robot masses  destruction is ordered to protect humanity many robots rise up in protest  with many human sympathisers alongside them .  br    br   the imagery here is exploitative  recounting race riots and abuse  tiananmen square  the holocaust and an overly provocative scene of a robot in a human girl  s guise getting harried  hammered in the head and then shot dead as it pleads  i  m real  . it lays on the ground  clothes and skin torn and breasts hanging out . it  s an obvious and obscene image designed to present human fear towards uncontrolled elements and aggression towards groups based on the actions of individuals .  br    br   anyway  this first portion is much like a compressed version of the film i robot  but it soon develops into a recognisable matrix back  story as the surviving robot contingent is exiled and congregates in the middle east  in the cradle of civilisation as the narrator informs us . there  the machines regroup and begin to produce new ai and to manufacture mass technology and trade it with human nations . we see a commercial for a car that uses the circular energy hover engines that the ships the rebels in the movies use and we see sentinel type robots flying around zero one  the name of their city . their goods and trade make their economy soar affecting other economies detrimentally and human governments and authorities establish a blockade in response . the machines send ambassadors in the form of adam and eve resemblances to a un congress to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the blockade  but they are forcibly removed and the scene is set for war in the second part .  br    br   the animation is by studio  c who work on quite a few of the animatrix and it  s evocative and visually stimulating  rendering different scenes like imagery montages  cctv footage and particular scenes of import distinctive and overall presenting the story perfectly . the plot may not be an original concept and it may draw on simplistic sheep mentalities and plot models and resort to provocative material for impact but after the tantalising mystery offered by the first film and morpheus  vague brief info  dumps this is a nice exposition of the cataclysmic events that left the world ravaged and in the hands of the machines that serves as a warning and as a vehicle for many observations and comments on the human condition  the development of ai and the importance of harmony and co  operation and the devastating consequences of conflict and prejudice  themes expanded on in the movies .  
the supernatural  vengeful police officer is back for a third installment  this time acting as guardian angel for a wrongfully accused female cop . standard stalk and slash picture  yet well acted and directed  thus making it oddly interesting and watchable  though the violence isn  t for the squeamish  especially the director  s cut which was originally given an  nc     rating  .  br    br       out of   
i think the movie was pretty good  will add it to my  clasic collection  after all this time . i believe i saw other posters who reminded some of the pickier people that it is still just a movie . maybe some of the more esoteric points defy  logic   but a great many religious matters accepted  on faith  fail to pass the smell test . if you  re going to accept whatever faith you subscribe to you can certainly accept a movie . is it just me or has anyone else noticed the aja  yee dagger is the same possessed knife lamonte cranston had so much trouble gaining control of in  the shadow  . no mention of it in the trivia section for either movie here  imdb   but i would bet a dollar to a donut it  s the same prop .  
being a big fan of the  other  planet of the apes films  i rented this dvd despite my aversion to all things tim burton . once again  he doesn  t fail to disappoint with his uninspired direction . even the ape makeup looks second rate  which is unforgivable considering the monstrous budget of this monstrosity . mark wahlberg proves once and for all that he is not an actor  as if boogie nights wasn  t proof enough  . i was embarrassed for genuine talents such as tim roth and helena bonham carter . no doubt their paychecks motivated them since it couldn  t possibly have been the cliche  ridden screenplay . i rented this dvd on a special   night and i still feel ripped off .  
that was the first thing that sprang to mind as i watched the closing credits to europa make there was across the screen  never in my entire life have i seen a film of such technical genius  the visuals of europa are so impressive that any film i watch in it  s wake will only pale in comparison  forget your michael bay  ridley scott slick hollywood cinematography  europa has more ethereal beauty than anything those two could conjure up in a million years . now i  d be the first to hail lars von trier a genius just off the back of his films breaking the waves and dancer in the dark  but this is stupid  the fact that europa has gone un  noticed by film experts for so long is a crime against cinema  whilst overrated rubbish like crouching tiger  hidden dragon and life is beautiful clean up at the academy awards  but what do the know  europa has been hidden away  absent form video stores and  until recently  any british tv channels .  br    br   the visuals in europa are not mtv gloss it  s not a case of style over substance  its more a case of substance dictating style . much like his first film the element of crime  von trier uses the perspective of the main character to draw us into his world  and much like element  the film begins with the main character  or in the case of europa  we the audience  being hypnotized . as we move down the tracks  the voice of the narrator  max von sydow  counts us down into a deep sleep  until we awake in europa . this allows von trier and his three cinematographers to pay with the conventions of time and imagery  there are many scenes in europa when a character in the background  who is in black and white  will interact with a person in the foreground who will be colour  von trier is trying to show us how much precedence the coloured item or person has over the plot  for instance  it  s no surprise that the first shot of leopold kessler  jean  marc barr  is in colour  since he is the only character who  s actions have superiority over the film .  br    br   the performances are good  they may not be on par with performances in later von trier films  but that  s just because the images are sometimes so distracting that you don  t really pick up on them the first time round . but i would like to point out the fantastic performance of jean  marc barr in the lead role  whose blind idealism is slowly warn down by the two opposing sides  until he erupts in the films final act . again  muck like the element of crime  the film ends with our hero unable to wake up from his nightmare state  left in this terrible place  with only the continuing narration of von sydow to seal his fate . europa is a tremendous film  and i cant help thinking what a shame that von trier has abandoned this way of filming  since he was clearly one of the most talented visual directors working at that time  europa  much like the rest of his cinematic cannon is filled with a wealth of iconic scenes . his dedication to composition and mise  en  scene is unrivalled  not to mention his use of sound and production design . but since his no  frills melodramas turned out to be breaking the waves and dancer in the dark then who can argue  but it does seems like a waste of an imaginative talent .       
oh  brother . . . after hearing about this ridiculous film for umpteen years all i can think of is that old peggy lee song . .  br    br    is that all there is    . . . i was just an early teen when this smoked fish hit the u . s . i was too young to get in the theater  although i did manage to sneak into  goodbye columbus   . then a screening at a local film museum beckoned  finally i could see this film  except now i was as old as my parents were when they schlepped to see it    br    br   the only reason this film was not condemned to the anonymous sands of time was because of the obscenity case sparked by its u . s . release . millions of people flocked to this stinker  thinking they were going to see a sex film . . . instead  they got lots of closeups of gnarly  repulsive swedes  on  street interviews in bland shopping malls  asinie political pretension . . . and feeble who  cares simulated sex scenes with saggy  pale actors .  br    br   cultural icon  holy grail  historic artifact . . whatever this thing was  shred it  burn it  then stuff the ashes in a lead box   br    br   elite esthetes still scrape to find value in its boring pseudo revolutionary political spewings . . but if it weren  t for the censorship scandal  it would have been ignored  then forgotten .  br    br   instead  the  i am blank  blank  rhythymed title was repeated endlessly for years as a titilation for porno films  i am curious  lavender  for gay films  i am curious  black  for blaxploitation films  etc . .  and every ten years or so the thing rises from the dead  to be viewed by a new generation of suckers who want to see that  naughty sex film  that  revolutionized the film industry  . . .  br    br   yeesh  avoid like the plague . . or if you must see it  rent the video and fast forward to the  dirty  parts  just to get it over with .  br    br    
this is the second animatrix short  and the first of them to be what one could call  artistic  . it contains a lot of references  metaphors and symbols in the dense amount of material  especially with a running time of  minutes . i  ve heard some complaints that this is  anti  human   or tries to direct hate towards man  for their  sins against machine  . i don  t think that  s true it merely uses the robots to show us  that as humans  we aren  t particularly accepting or open  minded towards anyone different from ourselves . i  d say it does a great job of that . the plot is good . . . it plays as a historical document  recounting what led to one of the main conflicts in the trilogy . thus it holds clips from fictional news reports and the like . the voice acting is very good  if there is not a lot of it . the animation is nice  and the use of color  in spite of the usually realistic drawing style  makes it more open to do the smooth transitions and other surreal imagery . this has several bits of strong violence and disturbing visuals  as well as a little nudity . the disc holds a commentary  not in english but subtitled  and worth a listen  read . there is also a well  done and informative making of  based on both parts  so i would advise watching it after seeing the next one  as well . i recommend this to anyone who enjoys the matrix universe  and  or science fiction in general .      
matt cordell is back from the dead for a third go  round  although i  m not sure anyone cared at this point except for rabid manica cop fans . cordell  who died in the last flick  is resurrected through voodoo  and is now hot on the trail of several miscreants involved in the shooting of a fellow officer cordell is very fond of . i missed part of this early    s low  budget quickie  but it was pleasing to see cordell wracking up the body count in various  gruesome ways . problem is  the overall film is pretty static  and cordell simply ain  t jason or freddy . the interest wanes pretty fast  even with that grand b  movie master robert forster as a doctor who ends up with his brains scrambled . stick with the first film in the series  which is funny and scary and exciting  all at the same time .  
     was seen as the year of the matrix  with the release of two sequels and a computer game that actually linked to the plot of the film . also released was a dvd of  short animated films  most written and made in japan and made as anime . japan makes some of the best animation in the world . sadly most of these shorts are disappointing . the best of them is the first part of a prequel to the first matrix film .  br    br   the second renaissance is made as a historical file . it tells how humans made machines in their own likeness . humans live the high life whilst machines are the grunts  the workers of society  second class citizens . in the year      a machine  bi    er was put of trial for murder  after killing his owners who wanted to deactivate him . the machine does not have a fair trial and riots start around the world . the governments of the world order to dismantle machines . many machines leave human society and form their own country in the middle east  o  .   has a productive economy and easily undercut the human nations  forcing them into economic crisis . the human blockade   and reject the machines requests for peace  thereby it was the humans who were responsible for the war that enslaves them .  br    br   the second renaissance is a interesting watch  with excellent  traditional animation style and sets a compelling world . it shows how the machines were mistreated and that humanity sowed the seeds of their own destruction . there is a political and social world and the short tells a lot in it short running time . the short shares themes and a style to the classic silent film metropolis  partly the beginning with the underworld . they are the themes of slavery  the mistreatment of the working class and racism . the short also has some religious themes and religious iconography . mainly that men saw themselves as god and created the machines in their own likeness . seeing themselves as the rightful masters of the machines . the machines too use religious iconography  mainly forming their nation in  cradle of human civilisation  and the machines coming to the united nations dressed as adam and eve  offering an apple .  br    br   the animation style is beautiful  done in the traditional anime style  like akira  . the set designs are great  combine futuristic with historic cities  e . g . washington d . c . . there is well down future scene  and surprising violence  which is key to the film . the director  mahiro maeda  also directed the anime sequence in kill bill vol .   so has good credentials to hollywood . he is willing to use violence and know how to keep a story going .  br    br   the only real complain is a continuity error to the first matrix film because morpheus mentions that the humans have no historical records or know who started the war . but its a good watch .  
i am at a distinct disadvantage here . i have not seen the first two movies in this series  although i have seen a lot of larry cohen films . fans of the series seem to think this is a good film . judging it on it  s own  it was pretty boring .  br    br   you never get a real good look at the maniac cop  s  robert z  dar  face  but what i did see was pretty grim . the death scenes seem to be staged to eat up the most film  not to give any thrills . maybe if i saw the nc    director  s cut  i may be more impressed .  br    br   the ending with the car chase with z  dar  caitlin dulany  and robert davi was pretty intense . best part of the movie .  
warning  spoilers ahead    br    br   this short is part one of two that expound upon the brief portion of  the matrix  in which morpheus explains how the matrix came to be . because we already know the story  the plot itself is no surprise and the short isn  t so much entertaining as informative . but that  s how it is presented  as a file in the historical archives . the visuals are better than average  and the generally cold colors aid the purpose of the short .  br    br   a couple problems . the violence of the tale is a little gratuitous and  combined with the occasional dose of political correctness  un scenes   detracts from the straight narrative of the short . plus it needs to be seen with part two to be complete .  br    br   the animatrix concept is brilliant  and despite a few issues  this short still fulfills its purpose . it would not have fit in the original movie in style  content  or flow . this is the perfect method to reveal the history .  br    br   bottom line good information . could have been told a little better  but still a solid  of   .  
i always thought people were a little too cynical about these old andy hardy films . a couple of them weren  t bad . modern film critics are not ones who usually prefer nice to nasty  so goody  two shoes movies like these rarely get praise  br    br   nonetheless  i can  t defend this movie either . you can still have an dated dialog but still laugh and cry over the story . watching this  you just shake your head ask yourself   how stupid can you get   this is cornier than corny  if you know what i mean . it is so corny i cannot fathom too many people actually sitting through the entire hour  and  a  half .  br    br   the story basically is  andy   mickey rooney  trying to get out of jam because he makes up some story about involved with some dbutante from new york city as if that was the ultimate . people were a lot more social  conscious in the old days . you  d hear the term  social  climber  as if knowing rich or beautiful people was the highest achievement you could make it life . it  s all utter nonsense  of course  and looks even more so today .  br    br   however  it  s about as innocent and clean a story and series  there were a half dozen of these andy hardy films made  as you could find . also  if you like to hear judy garland sing  then this is your ticket  as she sings a couple of songs in here and she croons her way into andy  s heart . oh man  i almost throw up even writing about this   
you  d be forgiven to think a finnish director from helsinki would be no good at directing an american horror movie  especially one entirely located inside a us prison   see this to prove yourself wrong  it was produced in the    s after all and the film was made on a budget more fitting to a modern diy company tv advert  something i think anyone would really notice nowadays what with practically everyone being accustomed to     m budgets for action movies unfortunately dominating the industry mind   being mr harlin  s first major production and the  at least what nowadays would be considered a stellar  cast . i still think most of the nordic contribution to the film industry as a whole is more to do with stellan stargaard  s screen appearances  not mentioning the well overrated mr  s  bergman directorial efforts   at least for all female viewers  but this flick really proves there does exist proper movie talent outside of the us and hollywood to make us watch a film in suspense . do try and watch this movie even if you  re not a horror puff  imo it  s definitely worth it   
andy hardy meets debutante       is the ninth   th  film of the series and it shows the direction it was inevitably headed into . characters andy hardy  mickey rooney  and judge hardy  lewis stone  were going to be front and center . the rest of the cast was going too just punch the clock and collect their checks . the series would rise to the occasion again and have its moments but a fatal decline had set in .  br    br   lewis stone throughout the series would continue too portray the character of judge hardy in a sympathetic manner . the rest of the cast would be professional even though given less and less to do . mickey rooney on the other hand would continue his character as if there was no learning curve . andys  reaction to any situation was in a naive and unbelievable way . even after he returned as a veteran of world war ii service in love laughs at andy hardy       his reaction to any  teapot tempest  was the same  juvenile .  br    br   in this film it is clearly illustrated . andy gets himself into several unbelievable situations that with a simple explanation would have been resolved . this screen writing device was known as the  idiot plot  . a means of stretching a poorly written scenario . maybe it was less mickey rooneys  fault then the director and the writers . most likely george b . seitz had directed one too many and a firmer hand was needed too control rooneys  excesses . to see our overview of the entire series go to you  re only young once       .  
i was living rawlins when this movie was made and i got lucky enough to be able to work on it . both as an extra and with eddie surkin on special effects . it was fun to see all the behind the scene workings  from the barbedwire coming alive to the electric chair up through the wardens office floor . also it was a lot of fun getting to meet all the actors  from viggo to tiny . also the gate that was cut into the prison wall for the movie was and still is called  disney gate  by locals . if anybody is interested and is ever in rawlins  most of the movies sets are still in place and can be seen during the self guided tour . it was a lot of fun working for and with r . harlin and wished i had a chance to do it again .  
i must say this movie is a mork and mindy knock off  when watching it i got the chills  i even wet myself a little . when that korean guy with the spiders in his neck started kicking people i was like oh my lord asian people smell and suck cause they eat dogs all the time . any way back on track chuck had a somewhat terrible performance and lacked the intelligence of a regular non robotic human being . some people would compare it to his earlier days when he was a car wash analyzer and believed in the holy ghost and the ghost of christmas past . this movie is so bad i put my new born child in a box and left it in mr . norris mailbox . he can raise my kid i  m not letting him into a world where he thinks chuck norris is a karate expert ill let him see what that hack is like in real life for the rest of his life .  
caught this film in about     on video by chance and without knowing what i was in for . many horror fans may have missed this thinking it was a typical prison film and the ones who did get it didn  t like it as it was not what they wanted to see . the above mentioned factors are probably the reasons it is low rated but just ignore that and give it a whirl if you  re a fan of the genre .  br    br   it has strong suits in all departments from script and atmosphere to acting and the prison itself .  br    br   an absolute diamond  a film i still have on video to this day . check it out .  
the shame of it  there i was  comfortable in the arm chair with a beer and a bag of popcorn  bouyant in the hope of another splendid muppet night of entertainment . what did i get  disappointed  how can the muppets go from the sublime christmas carol to this  the humour was dreadful  the songs were worse than country and western  and that  s saying something  and the plot was as confused and poor as blind pew . i think the main problem was that they bit off too much in attempting treasure island . a short tale  such as christmas carol  is perfect because you can weave the muppet high jinks around it . . . . here the need to drag the plot along stopped all the fun . where do the muppets go next  how about muppets wizard of oz   
a long  defunct prison  shut down for over   years  is re  opened and ethan sharpe  the late  great character actor lane smith   once a guard there  is put in place as warden . as the prisoners are put to work fixing the place up  they  re instructed to break into the old execution room . this unleashes a fierce spirit that wreaks merciless havoc upon both guards and prisoners cool  as  can  be low  key prisoner burke  viggo mortensen  showing real poise in an early role  is thrust into the role of hero .  br    br   i know it  s a no  brainer to praise the film for its atmosphere  it was shot in an actual abandoned penitentiary near rawlins  wyoming   but it elevates this horror film to a higher level . it  s got a great sense of foreboding  established right at the outset . director renny harlin made his fourth directorial effort here it got him the  nightmare on elm street   directing gig and effectively began an impressive career in mainstream action movies  thrillers  and horror films .  br    br   it may have stock characters  but it  s got a capable cast bringing them to life chelsea field as the young woman vying for prison reform  lincoln kilpatrick as weary veteran convict cresus  tom everett as restless con rabbitt  ivan kane as the outgoing lasagna  tommy  tiny  lister as soft  spoken giant tiny  and arlen dean snyder as captain horton . it  s also worth noting as an early acting credit for kane hodder  as the vengeful spirit  that helped him land the gig of playing jason voorhees in the  friday the   th  series .  br    br   decent special effects  moody lighting courtesy of prolific genre cinematographer mac ahlberg  spooky music by richard band and christopher stone  great visuals  the incredibly gloomy location  and an overall flashy and intense presentation help to make it quite entertaining . it  s nasty  gruesome  and good fun for a horror fan .  br    br        
the treasure island dvd should be required viewing in any film production course  it  s a textbook example of how not to make a movie . watching the movie and then listening to the writer  director  s commentary demonstrates graphically the vast chasm between what he knows about the characters and what he communicates to his audience about them . call me old  fashioned  but i think of movies as a means of communication  and communication isn  t complete if the audience doesn  t know what the hell the director is talking about . the director  s avowed purpose is to make a movie void of  hollywood conventions  . among those conventions  alas  is consistency of character and clarity of concept . the director himself realizes that audiences often don  t understand points where he has purposely avoided a  hollywood clich  . however  he never seems to grasp the idea that clichs exist for a reason . they are shorthand for conveying complex ideas quickly and clearly . it  s fine to avoid them  but they need to be replaced with some other way of communicating the same idea  not simply eliminated . the film is built on an intriguing premise  rich with potential . two puppets are assigned to fabricate a personality and background for an unidentified corpse that is to be used in a disinformation mission in the closing days of wwii . soon each begins to populate their personal fantasies with the character and their invention becomes increasingly real to them . someone with less disdain for the  hollywood convention  of traditional storytelling could create a wonderful film with this idea . this film certainly isn  t it  the puppets do everything they can to bring consistency to these characters  but they are all too often defeated by the dazed and confused script . in particular  i  m becoming increasingly impressed by gonzo  who plays the lively corpse . in a number of muppet films  he always stands out as a very charismatic puppet .  
prisons are not exactly renowned for their kind hospitality and  happy vibes   what with stories of fights  chaos  murder and of course extreme male bonding  but the prison in this film is a different beast altogether . horror films set in cells are  as you probably know  nothing particularly new as they emphasis and exaggerate the fear of claustrophobia and the inability of escape  two of the greatest themes in horror cinema . with such examples as the chair  waldermar korzeniowsky        the green mile  frank darabont        alien   david fincher       and of course the entire women in prison exploitation genre itself  another entry into this niche has to be something inventive and a lot of fun to boot in order to be recognised . or at least that  s what you  d have thought . prison is certainly an incredibly fun and enjoyable ride and it  s somewhat of a shame that it isn  t as well known as it should be .  br    br   the film  in short  centres on an old prison  well  duh   which has been reopened . however  it  s not just fellow inmates and guards the prisoners have to fear  but also a mean ass demon ghost spirit with only one thing on its mind death  and boy  are we treated to some awesome death scenes  i won  t spoil anything here for you but there are plenty of innovative and enjoyable murders all done by invisible hands .  br    br   besides the special effects and the murders  this film also has another thing going for it it  s cast . headlining  we have lord of the rings  peter jackson            star viggo mortensen  and for all those so inclined  yes  he does get naked  whose performance is not only highly believable  but is done with such skill that his eastwood  esquire character is both bad  to  the  bone and likable  a very delicate mix  . add him to a cast of  hey  wait  a  minute  i  know  that  guy  actors and you  ve got yourself one great set of stars . the characters themselves however lack three  dimensionality and more often than not come across as very stereotypical . we  ve got a black oculist  a hard  as  nails prison warden  a human  rights activist woman and plenty of other stock characters . but in all honesty  this  fault  actually aids the film . instead of boring character development in an over  long equilibrium  we are chucked  more or less  straight into the action and once it gets going  very early on  there  s not a single scene that  s a filler  it  s balls to the wall plot . unlike a certain shawshank redemption  frank darabont        sharing conventions with the slasher genre  this is somewhat of a convention itself  and  in good ol  slasher genre tradition  prison punishes those who have been bad .  br    br   all in all this is an excellent little horror film and one which is sadly overlooked and unmentioned among the horror world . with an excellent cast and great special effects and rather original death scenes this film is highly recommended to horror fans . don  t be fooled into thinking it  ll be a cheesy little film either  just because it was made in usa     s  it  s far from cheesy  although the very end does ruin this  and  simultaneously  far from gritty and realistic  whilst it attempts to tackle issues such as prison rape  these are rather subtly done  .  br    br   i give it  .  out of  luvs . a very entertaining horror film with some very nice touches indeed .  
alicianne  laurel barnett  becomes a live in babysitter for young rosalie nordon  rosalione cole  who has recently lost her mother . but rosalie misses her dead mother a lot and continuously visits her grave  conveniently located in a cemetery right behind the house  late at night . . . where she also meets her  friends  . . .  br    br   this starts off good with a truly eerie sequence in the cemetery . . . then falls apart . the story is thin and there is tons of padding to make the film   minutes long . the acting is terrible across the board  with cole easily being the worst  . badly directed with some of the worst editing i  ve ever seen in a motion picture . scenes  and sound  are just cut off with no rhyme or reason . also the film has terrible  and obvious  post  production sound .  br    br   as for blood and violence   forget it  there  s very little and what there is looks incredibly fake . i  ve never seen such fake  looking blood   looks like ketchup  boring  pointless   a rightfully forgotten drive  in movie . you can skip this one .  
viggo mortensen stars as a new inmate of a haunted prison in which the warden  played well by lane smith  has a grisly secret that could be the reason why various prison guards and inmates are being slaughtered by a supernatural presence . lincoln kilpatrick is the lifer who knows the secret and is scared for his life . when i think prison movies  i always think action movies starring stallone or van damme or high caliber dramas such as shawshank redemption or the green mile . however i didn  t expect a ghost story more along the lines of exorcist iii . prison however is an atmospheric effort and it certainly remains the best movie of renny harlin  s career . the movie is creepy and has some good acting from a cast of  at the time  unknowns . lane smith comes off the best because his warden isn  t the usual clich of evil personified but rather nervous and twitchy which adds some credibility to a movie that far exceeds expectations .  br    br    out of    good   
if you  re going to look after a child  make sure they don  t live anywhere near a graveyard . especially if said kid has a habit of drawing gory pictures and disappears at night among the tombstones to see her  friends  . but  our long haired heroine  oblivious to all the signs  shacks up with her family the nortons  which include a strict father and a dullard older brother who becomes a love interest for our budding babysitter . even more spooky than the zombie gang outside is the cast  s tendency to talk even when their lips aren  t moving  and for the words to not match the movement of their mouths . but enough of that . . domestic animals are being sacrificed  old ladies are having eyeballs torn out and the orchestra won  t shut up during any scene  even the quiet ones . oh  and the editor is having a day off going by the way the film drones on .  br    br   in fact  it would been better if everybody involved had taken a breather  smelt what they  d signed up for and gone awol . yes  i know it  s hard to get into movies these days  but this sort of starter point is not one on your cv you  d want . if would be like a trainee farm labourer having a conviction for chicken molesting . featuring one of the worst lead performances ever by the shrill laurel barnett  and another almost equally as bad by the charisma  free child actress rosalie cole  the next dakota fanning she ain  t  the film meanders on and on with nothing but padding until we get what passes for a climax .  br    br   this involves five or six members of the undead barricading our utterly useless heroine in a shed  while her bit of rough fends off these ghouls with a plank of wood  a one shell shotgun and whatever he can lay his hands on . but back up a minute . . earlier on they were in the car  and they accidentally discovered that the creatures found the noise of the horn so repellent they shuffled off at the sound of it . so do they stay where they are safe  no of course not  they run off to this abandoned building in the middle of nowhere  so the bloke can prove what a hardnut he is the girl can act like she  s having a nervous breakdown .  br    br   finally  the film closes . it doesn  t end  it just goes to a grinding halt . the main character wanders back to her vehicle covered in fake blood  as if nothing horrible had happened . but  my dear viewer  something horrible has happened . you have just sat through one of the most lamebrained  boring horror films you  re ever likely to see  and lost   minutes of your life you  ll never get back . just think . . years from now on your deathbed  what you  d trade an hour and   minutes for just to spend a bit of extra time with your family . sadly  it  s already too late for me . don  t you make the same mistake        
prison is not often brought up during conversations about the best eighties horror films  and there  s a good reason for that because it  s not one of the best . . . but as you delve past the classic films that the decade had to offer  this is certainly among the best of the lesser known  smaller films . the film does have some connection to blockbusters for a start it  s an early directorial effort for renny harlin the capable director behind a number of action films including die hard   cliffhanger and deep blue sea and secondly we have an early role for lord of the rings star viggo mortensen . the film is not exactly original but the plot line is interesting . we focus on a prison that has been reopened after a number of years . this was the prison where a man named charles forsyth was sent to the electric chair after being framed by the prison  s governor . naturally  the spirit of the dead man is not resting in peace and when the old execution room is reopened  the spirit of the dead convict escapes for vengeance .  br    br   the film is not exactly the shawshank redemption  but it does take care to build up its various characters and while the main point of the film is always the horror  the prison drama behind it all does make for an interesting base . this is a good job too because other than the basic premise  the film doesn  t really have a  plot  to go from and we solely rely on the interaction between the characters to keep things interesting . the horror featured in the film is at times grotesque but it  s never over the top  which might actually be the reason why this film is seldom remembered  being released in a decade of excess . the murders themselves are rather good and imaginative  however  and provide some major highlights . as the film goes on  we start to delve more into the back  story of the vengeful convict  s ghost and while it  s fairly interesting  some things about it don  t make sense and it drags the film down a little . still  everything boils down to an exciting climax and overall i have to say that prison is a film well worth tracking down .  
and that comes from someone that will withstand almost any viewing . the acting and sound is awful . this might qualify for a  so bad it  s good  point of merit    for some . however i take my horror movies seriously and this is just crap  it  s just soooo cheap  i think that  s my major complaint . the dialogue is often hilarious  attention to how many times  you startled me  is used . the  child  actress is seriously god awful  i pray her acting career ended here . . her line  donuts  i hate donuts  is worth repeated viewing however .  
eddie murphy plays chandler jarrell  a man who devotes his time to finding lost children . when the beautiful kee nang charlotte lewis enters his life  she tells him he is the chosen one and he must find the golden child . sceptical and driven purely by lust and intrigue  jarrell gets involved without realising he  s about to embark on a fantastical journey  one that involves peril and worst of all  the demon sardo numspa .  br    br   is the golden child a product of its time   by that i mean  was eddie murphy and the golden child  s popularity exclusive to the late     s audiences  . for i can remember vividly how much this film entertained folk back in that decade  it  s box office was             making it the  th biggest earner of      but since the   s faded from memory it has become the in thing to deny eddie murphy pictures the comedy accolades that they actually once had . the golden child is not up with the more accepted   s murphy pictures like trading places and beverly hills cop  but upon revisiting the film recently i personally find that it contains murphy at his wisecracking  quipping and charming best   seriously  .  br    br   cashing in on a fantasy action formula that was reinvigorated and temp  lated by raiders of the lost ark in      the golden child hits all the required genre buttons . pretty girl  daring reluctant  hero with a quip in his armoury  dashing villain charles dance so english i could kiss him myself  wonderful colour  and a cute kid with mystical powers  the film only asks you to get involved in the fun  not to dissect and digress its worth as a cranial fantasy picture . yes the cgi demon looks creaky now  and yes the genre had far better pictures in the   s    s and beyond  but really if you agree with the disgraceful rating of  here on this site then you may just be taking this genre a little too serious  seriously .      
i think everyone was quite disappointed with this sci  fi flick . for one thing  it was directed by tim burton . another thing  it  s a remake of what is supposed to be a classic . i found it boring  gross  and ridiculous . if you  ve seen it  you know what i mean . just about everyone at imdb say it  s crap and boy  are they right  if you haven  t  avoid it . it  s a snorer .  out of   .  
this is an excellent example of what can be done on a small budget movie . the acting is excellent considering the script  the whole atmosphere of the film is very foreboding . the gore is well done and used sparingly  look out for the excellent barbed  wire death   the action is punchy when used . it  s true that there are dodgy lines in the script at times  but compared to other movies on the same  or bigger   budget  it  s hardly noticeable at all . overall  this is recommended . trust me  it  s better than it appears       
this movie was seriously awful . the acting was the worst  it was worse than a student film . super cheesy  and i think the worst actor was the old lady . at first i thought to myself  well it  s an old movie . then i remembered that that is no excuse  i  ve seen older movies with way better acting and such .  br    br   the music was terrible to . it was really choppy . the editing was poor  most of the dialog was out of sync .   br    br   overall  this movie doesn  t even deserve a  . i only watched it because i was so bored  and the movie hardly entertained me . it was just laughable . my dead grandmother  s left pinkie toe could make a better movie than this .  
i pulled down a vhs box from my vast collection  many unseen  and picked out a movie  based on the box art  i thought would be fun  and yes  bad . prison had that   s cheesy look all over that box . i sat down and watched  and lo  and behold   found that sometimes we do indeed sit down to a movie with preconceived expectations in mind . fortunately  i reversed mine quickly and soon realized i was sitting down not just to an okay film but a rather good movie in total . prison tells the story of an old  dilapidated prison being reopened to save on budgetary concerns . it looks creepy as all empty and filled with prisoners . the prison used as a set is incredibly atmospheric and easily the most important character in the film . the story using the prison as its central setting tells in a prologue of a man being killed via the electric chair . we see lane smith as a guard  tearing away a crucifix before sending the man to his maker . we then go to present day  first with a government board at a meeting deciding to open the prison and send a beautiful doctor in to make sure that conditions are acceptable as she campaigned vigorously against re  opening the old prison . then we see the new warden  lane smith  haunted by a nightmare in bed  and given the new job of opening a prison he has not been to in years . well  the rest follows suit prisoners and guards arrive with plenty of stereotypes abounding . we are given some character depth and several of the prisoners are interesting characters . the acting is better than one might expect with lane smith doing as always a workmanlike job . viggo mortenson as a very different prisoner being solid . tom everett  tiny lister  and ivan kane really exploring the boundaries of their stereotypical characters . chelsea field is okay as the female lead . the best performance is by lincoln kilpatrick  an underrated character actor  as cresus  a prisoner who had been in that very same prison years ago when the  man  had been executed  with some kind of terrible secret . prison is not the next best thing to sliced bread or anything like that  but it is definitely worth a look and definitely better than most would expect from it . i was pleasantly surprised at the way director renny harlin created a story so visually atmospheric . the film has a tense  taut pace and harlin knows how to build his scenes . there are a few excessively shot gore scenes  the one with the barbed wire was a bit much as was the one with all the pipes . but these scenes are visually creative and interesting . the acting is uniformly decent . the script actually much more cohesive than one usually gets from films like these . that may in part be credited to irwin yablans who wrote the story . you may remember he came up with the idea of making halloween scary as a holiday . here he makes incarceration a hell of a lot more scarier than it already is . give prison a break  get it  .  
there were a lot of truly great horror movies produced in the seventies  but this film certainly isn  t one of them  it  s a shame the child isn  t better as it works from a decent idea that takes in a couple of sometimes successful horror themes . we have the idea of a vengeful child  which worked so well in classic films such as the bad seed and then we have the central zombie theme  which of course has been the backbone of many a successful horror movie . the plot is basically this young girl blames a load of people for the death of her mother  so she goes to the graveyard and raises the dead to get revenge  as you do  . this is all well and good  except for the fact that it  s boring  nothing happens for most of the film  and although it does pick up at the end with some nice gore it  s not enough of a finale to justify sitting through the rest of it . the film was obviously shot on a budget as the locations look cheap and all the actors are rubbish . there  s really not much i can say about the film overall as there isn  t much to it . the child is a dismal seventies horror flick and i certainly don  t recommend it .  
what we have here is a compelling piece of low budget horror with a relatively original premise  a cast that is filled with familiar faces and one of the most convincing filming locations in the history of horror films . so . . . could anyone please tell me why this movie is so utterly underrated     prison  is the finnish director harlin  s american debut  which still counts as his best effort even though he went on making blockbuster hits like  die hard     cliffhanger  and  deep blue sea  . the story entirely takes place in an ancient and ramshackle wyoming prison  re  opened for the cause of over  population in other  more modern state penitentiaries . inside the former execution dungeons  the restless spirit of the electric chair  s last victim still dwells around . the now promoted warden eaton sharpe  lane smith  was there already   years ago  when this innocent man was put to death  and the spirit still remembers his vile role in the unfair trial . it seems that the time for vengeance has finally arrived . viggo mortensen plays the good car thief who has to prevent an even larger body count and chelsea field is the humane social worker who slowly unravels the secrets from the past .  br    br    prison  contains over half a dozen memorable gore sequences but it  s the unbearably tense atmosphere that  ll stick to you for certain  unlike any other horror picture from that decade   prison  features an amazing sense of realism  by this  i refer to the authentic scenery and the mood inside the prison walls  of course  and not towards the supernatural murders that are being committed . . . even though these are genuinely unsettling as well . the film  s best parts are images of realistic and tough prison  drama sequences combined with visual mayhem and shocking horror . the absolute best terror  moment  providing me with nightmares ever since i saw it at rather young age  focuses on a grizzly death  struggle involving barbed wire . haunting   the screenplay only suffers one flaw  but that  s a common one . . . almost inevitable  i guess clichs  the story introduces nearly every possible stereotype there is in a prison surrounding . we  ve got the ugly  fat pervert with his  cute  boy  toy  the cowardly and racist guard avoids confrontation at all costs and  naturally  the old  n wise black con who serves a lifetime  did i hear anybody yell the name morgan freeman   don  t stare yourself blind on these clichs is my advise  as there are so many other elements to admire . the photography is dark and moist  the mystery is upheld long and successfully and the supportive inmate  roles of class b  actors are excellent  the fans will recognize tom everett  tom  tiny  lister and even immortal horror icon kane hodder  . forget about wes craven  s god  awful attempt  shocker  or the downright pathetic cheese  flick  the chair  . this is the only prison chiller worth tracking down  especially considering viggo mortensen peaking popularity nowadays  i heard he starred in a successful franchise involving elves  hobbits and other fairy creatures . . .  this true    s horror gem oughts to get an urgent dvd  release   
a little girl lives with her father and brother in the middle of the countryside . this little girl rosalie has some psychotic tendencies as the movie opens with her feeding kittens to some kind of creatures in the cemetery  and she has recently lost her mother who went crazy but whilst alive enjoyed staying in the woods all night . the premise of the film has a new young lady coming to rosalie to take care of her . she is introduced to the evil of the woods while driving and  imagine the suspense here  experiences a huge blue barrel falling over the side of a cliff to somehow stop her car dead in its tracks . from there she walks to the nearest house and discovers mrs . whitfield who then goes into a whole lot of explanation about rosalie and her family . the earnestness exuded by the mrs . whitfield character has to be seen to be believed . well  the young lady meets up with the child and we soon learn that not only is she strange but everyone in the film is very bizarre as well . they all do share one thing in common which is none of them ever heard of an acting school . none of these people can act  as evidenced by the few vehicles any of them in the entire film appeared in before or since  and all of them look like they have little idea what is going on  pause to remember lines  and have all the conviction of a paper bag . the director plods through the material in a slow pace with this horrible piano music crescendoing here and there at things that are suppose to be scary . it takes us a bit before we get to a couple of murders by the creature friends  but by that time i didn  t care . the murders are not convincing either  and truth be told the whole film looks like someone through it together on their friend  s farm with the people and things on hand there . that all being said the ending does have some creepy aspects to it though we don  t learn one darn thing about why rosalie is like this or more importantly who the creature with the cheap masks are . cheap doesn  t even begin to describe the budget here with . it basically is a couple old farmhouses and some sheds at the end and of course the woods . someone lent the director a couple old cars too . no special effects of any kind and only the most minimal make  up . there are so many guffaws  ridiculous moments to list  but i will just list a few here that at the very least made me chuckle from the lack of aptitude from the creative powers involved   watch the gardener  s body well after he has been  slain  . len comes in and sees him butchered and you can see his fat belly heave with life .   the dying scene at the end where the actress playing rosalie is killed . she looks like she is listening to directions and takes her sweet time dying considering the method .   how about the guy playing roaslie  s father giving us a cranky poor man  s andy griffith . the scene where he is laughing about boy scouts dying was a weird hoot . the child is indeed a very bad film and is very bad even for the standards of    s cheese if you will . this isn  t a b film but more like a z film with producer harry novak making some money on virtually nothing .  
story of a wrongly executed prisoner who haunts the prison he was electrocuted in and kills random prisoners while waiting to take revenge on the man who framed him .  br    br   viggo mortensen is great  and the acting is pretty good overall . lane smith is deliciously wicked as the guilty warden . also  this film has some great gore  including death by barbed  wire mummification .  
i  m not going to say that this movie is horrible  because i have seen worse  but it  s not even halfway decent .  br    br   the plot is very confusing . i couldn  t really figure out what was happening and where things were going . when the movie was over  i was left scratching my head . i watched through to the end of the credits to see if they had something after them that may clear things up  but once the credits were over  that was it . i felt like i was jarred from one weak plot point to another throughout the whole movie  with little or no transition between the two .  br    br   character development is very shallow . i couldn  t figure out when somebody was angry or had a grudge against someone . i couldn  t tell if half of the characters were just supposed to be drunk  stoned  mentally challenged or they just had a bad actor to portray them . this film seems to be based around stereotypes  to it  s credit  they are hard to avoid using when you are making a film about a singer in a rock band   which should make character development easier  since so many other films have already illustrated the suffering of an abused child  or the trials of a heroin addict trying to come clean . stereotypes are easy to depict  which would explain why so many bad films tend to overuse stereotypical characters . this film  on the other hand  uses stereotypical characters left and right  but then tries to keep them as incomprehensible as possible .  br    br   another problem with the characters is that they seemed to be dismissed with no explanation . i guess that  s ok because so little time was spent developing the characters that i really didn  t get a chance to know any of them  so i never really missed any of them .  br    br   and last but not least was sadie  s singing . it  s awful . the music backing her up is not prize winner  but it is usually drowned out by the screeches that are released from sadie  s vocal cords . i swear that there  s one point in the movie where she sings a song for at least   minutes . i seriously thought i was going to have to turn it off during this howl  a  thon .  br    br   as a whole  this movie is confusing . characters are ill  developed  georgia  s acting is wooden and stiff  sadie  s character is yanked from one bad situation to another  with no back story or explanation . the music was unbearable  and i can think of no good reasons to see this film unless you have a thirst for cinematic pain .  
renny harlin  s first american film was one of the best of a slew of prison  set horror films  like  death house  or  the chair   in the late    s . twenty years before  guard lane smith had wrongfully executed a condemned man . now  he is the warden of the newly re  opened prison  and the man  s ghost is back for bloody revenge . this atmospheric and very moody film features lots of gruesome gore and violence . viggo mortensen  tiny lister  tom everett and kane hodder are onhand for the entertaining carnage .  
jennifer jason leigh and mare winningham are a good match portraying vastly different siblings  but only winningham is able to bring something convincing or substantial to her role . leigh  playing bar  band singer and alcoholic sadie flood  constantly leans on older sis georgia  an acclaimed folk singer in the joni mitchell mold . perhaps due to her double duties as co  producer on the film  leigh seems to have boxed herself into a corner she isn  t credible as a singer and  even if this is intentional  gives herself far too much screen  time at the microphone . probably hoping for a tour  de  force  leigh is wire  drawn and nervous and jagged however  we simply do not see any talent within this character  leigh is obviously a solid actress  but she makes decisions here that wall us off from her  . if sadie had even the slightest bit of charisma or appeal  we might be able to buy into the concept that she gets the  small  breaks that she does . as it is  the likelihood of her ever getting up on stage is slim . director ulu grosbard crafts a few intense dramatic sequences  and the editing at the finale juxtaposes sadie  s bar performance with georgia  s sold  out arena show   both singing the same song   and it  s a sadly nuanced moment . . . but really  what  s the point      from   
this was obviously the prototype for mick dundee but  the adventures of barry mckenzie is funnier . i was amused throughout and laughed out loud plenty of times . terrific central performance by barry crocker in the title role  an australian who invades england to upset the poms with his free  flowing uncouth ways . few brits will be upset by barry  s frequently cruel observations on his hosts . the relationsip between the two countries is prickly but friendly and this is highlighted by the film  s final line  delivered by a somewhat reluctant mckenzie as he boards the plane home .  i was just starting to like the poms .   
i don  t remember  barnaby jones  being no more than a very bland  standard detective show in which  as per any quinn martin show  act i was the murder  act ii was the lead character figuring out the murder  act iii was the plot twist  another character murdered   act iv was the resolution and the epilogue was betty  lee meriwether  asking her father  in  law barnaby jones  buddy ebsen  how he figured out the crime and then someone saying something witty at the end of the show .  br    br   one thing i do remember was the late  great composer jerry goldsmith  s excellent theme song . strangely  the opening credit sequence made me want to see the show off and on for the seven seasons the show was on the air . i will also admit that it was nice to see ebsen in a role other than jed clampett despite ebsen being badly miscast . i just wished the show was more entertaining than when i first remembered it .  br    br   update             i watched an interview with composer jerry goldsmith on youtube through their archive of american television channel . let  s just say that i was more kind than goldsmith about the show  barnaby jones .   
the story centers around barry mckenzie who must go to england if he wishes to claim his inheritance . being about the grossest aussie shearer ever to set foot outside this great nation of ours there is something of a culture clash and much fun and games ensue . the songs of barry mckenzie  barry crocker  are highlights .  
yes awa wrestling how can anyone forget about this unreal show . first they had a very short interviewer named marty o  neil who made  rock n roll  buck zumhofe look like a nose tackle . then it was gene okerland who when he got  mad as the wrestler  would say either  were out of time  or  well be right back  acting like he was mad but actually sounding forced . after he went to the wwf ken resneck took over even though his mustache looked like week old soup got stuck to it was a very fine interviewer who  georgeous  jimmy garvin called mouse face which made me fall off my chair laughing . after he jumped ship then larry nelson came on board which he was so bad that phyllis george would of been an improvement  then there  s doug mcleod the best wrestling announcer ever who made every match exciting with his description of blows  then he was offered more pay by the minnesota north stars hockey team . at ringside who can forget roger kent who  s mispronouncing of words and sentences were historic like when a wrestler was big  hes a big  on   punched or kicked in the guts  right in the gussets  or when kicked  he punted him  or  the  piledriver should be banned  after nick bockwinkle used it on a helpless opponent .  right roger like you care   after he left to greener money  wwf  they had rod trongard who  s announcing style was great but different . like when a wrestler scraped the sole of his boot across another guys forehead he  d say  right across the front  e  lobe  or when a wrestler is in trouble  hes in a bad bad way  . he also would say awa the baddest  toughest  meanest  most scientific wrestlers are here right in the awa   no extra money verne gagne   after he left  wwf  larry  wheres phyllis    nelson took over and i would talk to someone else or totally ignore him .  wwe wisely didn  t take him   also greg gagne had the ugliest wrestling boots i ever saw a yellow color of something i don  t want to say . also when hes looking for the tag he looks like he wants to get it over with so that he can run to the nearest restroom  jumpin jim brunzell was such a great dropkick artist that you wonder why greg was ever his partner . jerry blackwell  rip  was also a superstar wrestler but you wonder why verne had himself win against him .  puhleeeeze   then when vince mcmahon would hire gagnes jobbers  he would make most of them wrestle squash matches . i like to see the gagne family say wrestlings real now   
  the adventures of barry mckenzie  started life as a satirical comic strip in  private eye   written by barry humphries and based on an idea by peter cook . mckenzie   bazza  to his friends  is a lanky  loud  hat  wearing australian whose two main interests in life are sex  despite never having had any  and fosters lager . in      he found his way to the big screen for the first of two outings . it must have been tempting for humphries to cast himself as  bazza   but he wisely left the job to barry crocker  later to sing the theme to the television soap opera  neighbours    . humphries instead played multiple roles in true peter sellers fashion  most notably bazza  s overbearing aunt  edna everage   this was before she became a dame  .  br    br   you know this is not going to be  the importance of being ernest  when its censorship classification n . p . a . stands for  no poofters allowed  . pom  hating bazza is told by a sydney solicitor that in order to inherit a share in his father  s will he must go to england to absorb british culture . with aunt edna in tow  he catches a quantas flight to hong kong  and then on to london . an over  efficient customs officer makes bazza pay import duties on everything he bought over there  including a suitcase full of  tubes of fosters lager  . as he puts it  when it comes to fleecing you  the poms have got the edge on the gyppos   . a crafty taxi driver  bernard spear  maximises the fare by taking bazza and edna first to stonehenge  then scotland . the streets of london are filthy  and their hotel is a hovel run by a seedy landlord  spike milligan  who makes bazza put pound notes in the electricity meter every twenty minutes . there is some good news for our hero though he meets up with other aussies in earls court  and fosters is on sale in british pubs .  br    br   what happens next is a series of comical escapades that take bazza from starring in his own cigarette commercial  putting curry down his pants in the belief it is some form of aphrodisiac  a bizarre encounter with dennis price as an upper  class pervert who loves being spanked while wearing a schoolboy  s uniform  a young conservative dance in rickmansworth to a charity rock concert where his song about  chundering   vomiting  almost makes him an international star  and finally to the b . b . c . t . v . centre where he pulls his pants down on a live talk  show hosted by the thinking man  s crumpet herself  joan bakewell . a fire breaks out  and bazza  s friends come to the rescue  downing cans of fosters  they urinate on the flames en masse .  br    br   this is a far cry from bruce beresford  s later works   breaker morant  and  driving miss daisy  . on release  it was savaged by critics for being too  vulgar  . well  yes  it is  but it is also great non  p . c . fun .  bazza  is a disgusting creation  but his zest for life is unmistakable  you cannot help but like the guy . his various euphemisms for urinating   point percy at the porcelain   and vomiting   the technicolour yawn   have passed into the english language without a lot of people knowing where they came from . other guest stars include dick bentley  as a detective who chases bazza everywhere   peter cook  julie covington  later to star in  rock follies    and even future arts presenter russell davies .  br    br   a sequel  the wonderfully  named  barry mckenzie holds his own  came out two years later . at its premiere  humphries took the opportunity to blast the critics who had savaged the first film . good for him .  br    br   what must have been of greater concern to him  though  was the release of  crocodile dundee  in     . it also featured a lanky  hat  wearing aussie struggling to come to terms with a foreign culture . and made tonnes more money .  br    br   the song on the end credits  performed by snacka fitzgibbon  is magnificent . you have a love a lyric that includes the line  if you want to send your sister in a frenzy  introduce her to barry mckenzie   . time to end this review . i have to go the dunny to shake hands with the unemployed . . .  
any film which begins with a cowhand shagging a female calf can  t promise much . as for the stereotyping of the kibbutz as it was   yrs ago  well i was there and it just wasn  t like that . ok every kibbutz had just a small piece of something shown in the film  like youngsters raiding the kitchen at night  but you can  t show the whole kibbutz as being full of all those  shall we say  naughty traits . each kibbutz had its own problems  but hardly any kibbutz had all of them . the views of israel were great . i still remember my youth in that garden of eden called the emek  valley  . yes  and the acting was good too  so you see it wasn  t all black  just a wrong portrayal  probably on purpose too .  
this film and it  s sequel barry mckenzie holds his own  are the two greatest comedies to ever be produced . a great story a young aussie bloke travels to england to claim his inheritance and meets up with his mates  who are just as loveable and innocent as he is .  br    br   it  s chock a block full of great  sayings  where else could you find someone who needs a drink so bad that he  s as dry as a dead dingoes donger  great characters  top acting  and it  s got great sheilas and more fosters consumption then any other three films put together . top notch .  br    br   and some of the funniest songs you  ll ever hear  and it  s full of great celebrities . definitely my two favourite films of all time  i watch them at least once a fortnight .  
i saw this movie  just now  not when it was released and hailed as best picture of the year here in israel . and to summarize everything right now  i will just say this is not a good film .  br    br   this is dror shaul  s second feature film  and i have to admit that his first and the tv drama he made before this picture are much better . further more  this is his first attempt at directing a drama . the early works were comedies  and were funny and effective .  br    br   the first thing you have to know if you  ll ever see this film israel of the   st century hates the kibbutz and the values it represented since the formation of the state of israel . the real situation of the kibbutzim is very dire  and some of them disappear one by one . the kibbutz  hebrew word for collective  was a sort of village for members only  where the values of equality and socialism were the dogma for everyday life . with the change in social values with time  it seems now that the kibbutz was a place where the human spirit was repressed  locked within the dogma rules  with no ticket out . the entrance of capitalist values and way of life in the    s and so far made it very hard on the kibbutzim to survive . the crazy mother in the film is the central metaphor for that .  br    br   but  i regard this film as having nothing to do with nostalgia for the good old days of the kibbutz . once  it was a dream of every young couple to live in a kibbutz and raise children in this quite and beautiful environment . but the film shows the opposite . that the kibbutz  with it  s socialist dogma  was a place sort of like a cult of crazy people  with crazy ideas that undermine the freedom of each individual within the collective . this is the central philosophy of post modern capitalism your individuality is the most important thing . you must place yourself in the center  and no one else but you is the matter . this is the philosophy the film stands for  and that  s just it  s first sin .  br    br   if you disagree with me on the political side  i  m sure you will agree that the acting  the tone of the film  it  s script and it  s direction are the four sins that follow . the film has no real visual text and none of it  s shots is something to remember . it is also very  delicate   a delicacy that is no more than artsy fartsy attempt to provoke emotions  which do not surface  not in the film and not with the viewer . it brings nothing but boredom .  br    br   can someone please explain why this film won so many prizes  maybe because it shows that israel is in line with the rest of the world  hating socialist and human values  or maybe it shows that israel is a  delicate  place  not giving in to dogmas and fanaticism  that we are basically very human and good people  capable of emotions  especially when they are fake ones  just like capitalism expects us to be  or maybe because it tells one of the biggest lies of israeli cinema in recent years  a lie that undermines the justification of the existence of the jewish state  no matter what the answer is  it  s not a good one . not for the world  not for human values and not for the jews .  
i love this movie like no other . another time i will try to explain its virtues to the uninitiated  but for the moment let me quote a few of pieces the remarkable dialogue  which  please remember  is all tongue in cheek . aussies and poms will understand  everyone else  well   br    br    title song lyric   he can sink a beer  he can pick a queer  in his latest double  breasted bondi gear .   br    br    another song lyric   all pommies are bastards  bastards  or worse  and england is the ae  hole of the universe .   br    br    during a television interview on an  arty program    mr mackenzie what artists have impressed you most since you  ve been in england   barry  s response  flamin  bull  artists   br    br    while chatting up a naive young pom girl   mr mackenzie  i suppose you have hordes of aboriginal servants back in australia   barry  s response  abos  i  ve never seen an abo in me life . mum does most of the solid yacca  ie hard work  round our place .  br    br   this is just a taste of the hilarious farce of this bonser aussie flick . if you can get a copy of it  watch and enjoy .  
tainted look at kibbutz life  br    br   this film is less a cultural story about a boy  s life in a kibbutz  but the deliberate demonization of kibbutz life in general . in the first two minutes of the movie  the milk man in charge of the cows rapes one of his calves . and it  s all downhill from there in terms of the characters representing typical  kibbutznikim .  besides the two main characters  a clinically depressed woman and her young son  every one else in the kibbutz is a gross caricature of wellevil .  br    br   the story centers on how the kibbutz  like some sort of cult  slowly drags the mother and son deeper into despair and what inevitably follows . there is no happiness  no joy  no laughter in this kibbutz . every character  situation represents a different horrific human vice like misogyny  hypocrisy  violence  cultism  repression etc . for example  while the protagonist is a strikingly handsome european looking   year old boy  his older brother is a typical kibbutz youth complete with his  jewish  physical appearance and brutish personality . he cares more about screwing foreign volunteers than the health of his dying mother . he treats these volunteers like trash . after his little brother pleads of him to visit his dying mother whom he hasn  t seen in a long time due to his military service  he orders  quote   linda  go take shower and i cum in two minutes .   br    br   there is one other  good  character in this movie  a european foreigner who plays the mother  s boyfriend . when the animal rapist tries to hit the mother  s son  the boyfriend defends him by breaking the rapist  s arm . he is summarily kicked out of the kibbutz then for  violent  behavior against one of the kibbutz members . more hypocrisy the indescribably annoying french woman who plays the school teacher preaches that sex cannot happen before age    or without love and gives an account of the actual act that  s supposed to be humorous for the audience  but is really just stupid . she of course is screwing the head of the kibbutz in the fields who then in turn screws the little boy  s mom when her mental health takes a turn for the worse .  br    br   the film portrays the kibbutz like some sort of cult . children get yanked out of their beds in the middle of the night and taken to some ritual where they swear allegiance in the fields overseen by the kibbutz elders . the mother apparently can  t  escape  the kibbutz  although in reality  anyone was  is always free to come and go as they choose . it  s a mystery how the boy  s father died  but you can rest assured  the kibbutz  drove him to it  and his surviving parents are another pair of heartless  wretched characters that weigh down on the mother and her son .  br    br   that  s the gist of this movie . one dimensional characters  over dramatization  dry performances  and an insidious message that keeps trying to hammer itself into the audience  s head  that kibbutz life was degrading  miserable and even deadly for those who didn  t  fit in .  i feel sorry for the guy who made this film  obviously he had a bad experience growing up in a kibbutz . but i feel as though he took a few kernels of truth regarding kibbutz life and turned them into huge atomic stereotyped bombs .  
this movie is very entertaining  and any critique is based on personal preferences  not the films quality . other than the common excessive profanity in some scenes by murphy  the film is a great vehicle for his type of humor . it has some pretty good special effects  and exciting action scenes .  br    br   as a finder of lost children  murphy  s character starts off looking for a missing girl  which leads him on the path for which others believe he was  chosen    to protect the golden child . the young boy is born as an enlightened one  destined to save the world from evil forces  but whose very life is in danger  if not for the help of murphy  and his beautiful  mysterious and mystical helper  guide  protector .  br    br   also  there are moments of philosophical lessons to challenge the audience members who are interested in pondering deep thoughts . one such scene is where the golden child  that murphy  s character is solicited to protect  is tested by the monks of the mountain temple . an elderly monk presents a tray of ornamental necklaces for the child to choose from  and the child is tested on his choice .  br    br   this is a fantasy  comedy that is based on the notion that there are both good and evil forces in our world of which most people are completely unaware . as we accept this premise of the plot  we must let go of our touch with a perceived daily reality  and prepare for the earth and walls to crumble away  and reveal a realm of evil just waiting to destroy us .  br    br   this is an excellent movie  with a good plot  fine acting  and for the most part  pretty decent dialogue combining a serious topic with a healthy balance of martial art fighting  and eddie murphy humor .  
this is the worst movie i have seen for years  it starts ridicoulus and continues in the same way . i thnik when is something going to happen in this film     and the the acting is worse . the ending lifts it a bit and saves the movie from a total flop . mark wahlberg is a bad actor in a bad movie . sorry tim burton batman was good but this one sucks .  
a hit at the time but now better categorised as an australian cult film . the humour is broad  unsubtle and  in the final scene where a bbc studio fire is extinguished by urinating on it  crude . contains just about every cliche about the traditional australian pilgrimage to  the old country   and every cliche about those rapacious  stuck up  whinging  tory brits . would be acceptable to the british because of its strong cast of well known actors  and to australians of that generation  who can  get  the humour . americans   forget it . the language and jokes are in the australian dialect of english and as such will be unintelligible .  
there just isn  t enough here . there a few funny spots  but not really enough . i was very disappointed because i love stupid movies . i was expecting this to be a hidden gem . it was not . it was a hidden turd .  br    br   the whole time i was watching it i was thinking   geez  i could do better than that and i  m a moron  . don  t believe the few good reviews . i was suckered in by them . at no point did i laugh at loud . maybe this was funny or cutting edge in     but man  it fell flat today . this movie had promise  it just didn  t deliver on it . maybe if they rewrote it a few more times . i cant fault the actors . they weren  t the best  but they just didn  t have much with which to work . this movie failed because of threadbare writing . sorely disappointed .  
very smart  sometimes shocking  i just love it . it shoved one more side of david  s brilliant talent . he impressed me greatly  david is the best . the movie captivates your attention for every second .  
mark pirro  s  deathrow gameshow  of     is a black comedy that is extremely cheesy in many parts  but occasionally very funny nevertheless . this movie could certainly have been a lot better  the acting is terrible  and some extremely cheesy scenes make it hard to watch at times  but the concept is funny  and it has some hilarious moments .  br    br   in the near future  the year       game shows have changed . chuck todean  john mc cafferty  hosts a game show called  live or die   in which convicted death row inmates have the chance to play for their lives  and for money . candidates who fail  get executed on the air using many different methods  such as guillotines  electric chairs  and other  more bizarre devices of execution  followed by applause from the cheering studio audience . the show is  of course  more than controversial  and chuck has made lots of enemies . . .  br    br    deathrow gameshow  is incredibly cheesy and crappy in many aspects  and the acting is terrible  but it is without doubt fun in many parts  especially if you  re a fan of dark humor . you haven  t missed anything if you haven  t seen it  but it is definitely funny and a good time waster .      
with the mixed reviews this got i wasn  t expecting too much  and was pleasantly surprised . it  s a very entertaining small crime film with interesting characters  excellent portrayals  writing that  s breezy without being glib  and a good pace . it looks good too  in a funky way . apparently people either like this movie or just hate it  and i  m one who liked it .  
i rented this film to see what might be a bloody  non stop action movie and got this overly sentimental and super cheap low budget action  drama that makes kickboxer look like die hard . lou and reb are in vietnam and as lou saves reb from the gooks  he gets shot in the head in what is easily one of the worst effects ever . the vietnam scenes are shot in someones backyard  i swear  lou is now brain damaged and reb and him live together and own a bar . super homoerotic . lou is convinced to fight in a cage for money and reb goes on a killing spree to get him back . there is no good fight scenes at all  the punches are two inches away from a person . characters personalities change in matter of seconds . one guy is a bad and in the next scene he  s good . the acting is horrid and the music is some overly sentimental frank stallone sounding song that would make you sick . i hated this film .  
this movie really kicked some ass . i watched it over and over and it never got boring . angelina jolie really kicked some ass in the movie  you should see the movie  you won  t be disappointed . and another reason you should see the movie is because the guy from the x  files is in it  david duchovny .  
cage       was another one of those low budget  buddy  action flicks that were produced during the    s thanks in large part due to the films such as   hrs . and lethal weapon . this one stars reb brown and lou ferrigno as to former vietnam vets who happen to run a local dive bar . reb takes care of lou because he saved his life in  nam . but lou was shot in the head and is now pretty soft . although he  s huge  lou has the brain of a child . one day some ruffians throw their wait around in the bar and lou and rebb beat the tar out of them . but payback  s a mother . they crash the bar leaving lou and reb with nothing . that is until these two thugs come into the picture  one of them  s a real nice guy  who have a plan in mind .  br    br   the film  s a waste of time . maybe if they went all they way and made a hard core action flick instead of trying to tone down the gruesomeness of the situation perhaps it could have worked . alas  it doesn  t and the audience is left holding the bag . oh well . it  s too bad because you have all the elements for a great b  movie . better luck next time  i guess .  br    br   not recommended .  br    br   xxx  
i  d always wanted david duchovney to go into the movie business  and finally he did  and he made me proud . this movie lived up to what i had hoped for . duchovney played his character very well  managing to remain consistent with something new  instead of playing the agent molder we are used to . therefore  i give him extra credit for his role  also because i could not see anyone else playing that particular character . david was great  but nothing compared to the psychotic timothy hutton . a brilliant performance that you don  t get tired of throughout the movie  because he never fails to surprise you . he has weaknesses  and strengths  making the story all the more believable . i also very much enjoyed the narration  it added to the story a good deal  and had some very memorable quotes that i still use to all the time . this movie also had a wounderfull score . i recomend this for anyone who likes drama  and doesn  t mind blood .  
if you want to laugh like crazy  rent cage . cage is about two war heroes  billy and scott who are best friends . when billy is shot in vietnam  he is unable to fend for himself  so scott takes him in .  br    br   i have never seen a movie with more gay references to the two main characters . billy and scott love to  wrestle  and scott tells billy that he is  still sore from last night   among other things .  br    br   wonderful catch phrases like  shut the sh  t up  and  ping pang pong  cut the sh  t  will keep you laughing for hours . the native american guys that are supposed to be playing mexican gang members are also top notch . as they say  it  s  party time right now . ba  ba  ba  ba ba  ba .  i could go on forever  but just watch this movie and laugh your a off . it was so funny i went out and bought the dvd for   .    
like i said its a hidden surprise . it well written well acted and well cast . i liked everything in this movie . look its hollywood all right but the brighter side . angelina jolie is great in this and i  m totally watching every movie with her in that i can get my hands on . well worth a look .  
i don  t know what you guys are inhaling  but please stop . this movie was complete trash .  br    br   macaulay culkin as kevin mccallister was lovable  cute  sweet  loving  and extremely fun to watch . he had that innocence but at the same time  he was strong as well .  br    br   this new kid  alex  annoying as all hell  just a blatant ripoff at trying to match culkin  s charm and grace  failing miserably at that .  br    br   the villains  complete crap . harry and marv  they were such an entertaining on screen team . they were comedic  they were humorous  and just made you really want to root for culkin even more  which is what a good villain is suppose to do . these guys joe pesci and daniel stern  absolutely perfect for those roles . on the other hand  in   we have  new idiots that just bicker and again  try to capitalize on the charisma and duo charm of the first villains . not saying they were horrible  but they were not memorable or even really that entertaining . more on the corny side actually .  br    br   then we got the actual movies . part  and   classics . memorable . perfect to watch around christmas and brings a wonderful christmas feeling and brings out so many emotions . it makes you fall in love with the story  and care about the characters . simply  memorable and close to being masterpieces . part   masterpiece of crap . enough said .  br    br   all and all  i don  t know why people like this . i think people really don  t know what a good movie is anymore . its a crappy sequel rip  off with more unrealistic traps and a stupid new main character kid that i wish the robbers would of at least beat the crap out of .  br    br   run  run away from this garbage . and lets not even start with part    
david duchovney creates a role that he was to replicate somewhat in californication  the troubled talent . and it is a role he plays well .  br    br   this thriller starts off at a good speed and carries you through to the end . timothy hutton plays a fine villain and angelina jolie pouts . the story of a disgraced doctor finding his way into a criminal world is well scripted . drug addiction and a desire for the sultry jolie mix a heady cocktail . unfortunately towards the end the story gets a little weaker and the relationships between villains and the fbi is muddled and rushed as if it was created only to develop the final scene . but  that aside  a movie worth seeing .  
whoever thought that another home alone film would be a good idea should have their head examined . . . same plot  different kid  more villains  which leads to more endless stupidity in the traps  . the other two films were bad enough  and this is where it hits rock bottom . people may as well watch the other films for plot  as it  s all identical .  
this film has a lot of raw potential . the script is sharp  the dialogue is  usually  excellent  though it could stand to lose the cheezy voice  overs   the direction and cinematography is surprisingly quite good  though some of the experimentation just doesn  t work . the main problem here is david duchovny . once a geek  boy  always a geek  boy and the sad  simple fact is that he  s incapable of playing anything but fox mulder . he postures  he tries to be slick  he poses  he tries to be macho . in the end he just tries too hard . he overplays his character  he overspeaks his lines  and he  s just outplayed in all ways by timothy hutton and angelina jolie  who are each in a class above him in terms of acting skill . timothy hutton was  as always  really good . there was a spotty moment or two where he over  dramatized his role  but you could tell he was having fun with it . he looked the part  and he became the character both physically and atmospherically . angelina jolie was also really good . she didn  t have much of a role in fact  i though she could have used a much stronger one . . . her character wasn  t nearly developed enough  though she did remarkably well with what she had . and the chemistry between her and hutton was apparent  gee  maybe that  s why uma left him . . .   all in all  it was rough around the edges  but a solid effort by a good cast and great supporting roles . if david duchovny hadn  t ripped his role to pieces it would  ve been that much better .     .  
i hated this movie . it was absolutely horrible  poor  poor  pitiful acting  real real real stupid criminals that weren  t even the least bit funny  unlike the first  home alone movies that were very good  . all the boobie traps are weak  pathetic excuses for ideas poorly copied of of the first two which just meant that the people writing this movie were just lazy because their paycheck didn  t go above   bucks a week . this movie is absolutely lousy  it  s not worth even renting . in fact don  t even watch it on t . v .  go use your eyes in a more useful way by seeing the first two  i barely give this  star  out of    . just trust me when i say  if you liked the first two  and you are not a complete stupid person  you will not like this movie  do not watch this movie     
i enjoyed this movie . unlike like some of the pumped up  steroid trash that is passed off as action movies  playing god is simple and realistic  with characters that are believable  action that is not over the top and enough twists and turns to keep you interested until the end .  br    br   well directed  well acted and a good story .  
i loved the first two movies  but this movie was just a waste of time and money  for me and the studio  . i  m still wondering why they made this horrible movie . the thing with the plastic gun and with the toy car  that can go into another house are ridiculous . joe pesci and daniel stern in the first two movies were so funny  but the terrorists in this one are so stupid and not funny . believe me this movie is just a waste of time .  
david duchovny plays the lead role in this film . now a lot of people upon finding that fact out wouldn  t even bother watching it . very unfair to say the least . david made his name on the x  files and is a decent actor . dr eugene sands  duchovny  is a drug addicted doctor struck off for malpractice . by sheer accident he becomes a private doctor for criminal millionaire raymond blossom . however the fbi take an interest in using eugene to snare blossom . angelina jolie is cast in the supporting role of clare  the gangsters moll . she puts in a solid performance . timothy hutton playing blossom is superb and immersed himself deeply into his character . duchovny himself isn  t as bad as many people would think and in the end i would rate his performance his credible . his familiar monotonous tone and straight face is present but dosen  t detract too much from the film  
remembering the dirty particulars of this insidiously vapid  movie  is akin to digging into your chest cavity with a rusty  salted spoon . perhaps  home alone   lost in new york        was a bit on the predictable side  but this pathetic excuse for a film is just one of the most shameless bids at commercialization i have ever heard of . a boy fighting off spies  terrorists when he  s home alone in a chicago suburb with the chickenpox  ridiculous  why did this film have to be made  i am the kind of person who believes even terrible movies are not wastes of time  but rather learning experiences . however  this is actually a waste of time . it should be avoided at all costs .  
i love this film . it is well written and acted and has good cinematography . the story blends action  humor  mysticism  and tenderness with great sets and beautiful location shots . see it  buy it  show it to your friends .  br    br   the acting is good and murphy especially does a fine job portraying the reluctant  unlikely hero . i enjoyed all the characters and found them to be interesting and well developed with dynamic interactions .  br    br   i cared what happened to these people and  while the outcome was pretty predictable  the good guys win  the hero gets the astonishingly attractive girl and the holy child saves lives   who doesn  t see that coming    it still made me happy when everything worked out well in the end . thank god this film  s dignity was never ruined with a crappy sequel . grab some popcorn  cuddle up on the couch  and watch this fun  happy and entertaining film .  
while watching this piece of crap  the day after  i saw a  min trailer  that one minute included all  all what was at least not boring to watch . . .  br    br   so don  t waste money or time on this one  get the original  it  s much better though the effects might not be up to date . . .  
normally  i don  t watch action movies because of the fact that they are usually all pretty similar . this movie did have many stereotypical action movie scenes  but the characters and the originality of the film  s premise made it much easier to watch . david duchovny bended his normal acting approach  which was great to see . angelina jolie  of course  was beautiful and did great acting . great cast all together . a must see for people bored with the same old action movie .  
home alone  is one of my least favourite movies . it  s the cream of the crop  or s if you tend to be more cynical  as it ranks up  or down  there with stuff like battlefield earth and flinstones viva rock vegas . in fact  it could even be worse than those two  since those two at least intermittently made me laugh at their stupidity . this just made me cringe in pain constantly and clap when the credits started rolling . no other movie has made me cringe in pain . now i will point out exactly why this movie is so incredibly atrocious .  br    br   first off  the plot is ridiculous . it revolves around a chip in a remote control car     that is misplaced and how these terrorists want it . dumb stuff .  br    br   the action that ensues is similar to that of the other two home alones  with boobytraps and all  but watching these boobytraps being executed is  rather than being funny  incredibly unpleasant to watch . i didn  t laugh  or even so much as smile  once  rather  i cringed constantly and hoped that the terrorists would nail the kid . the bird  rather than providing comic relief  was unfunny and annoying .  br    br   the acting  as done by a bunch of no names  ranges from poor to atrocious . there is not a single good performance here . alex d . linz is absolutely unlikeable and unfunny as the kid  while the terrorists act  and judging by their movie credits  look  as they  ve been hastily picked off the street . . . and well  that  s it .  br    br   i can see some people saying  man  it  s for the kids . don  t dis it  man .  well man  kids may like this  but they can get a hell of a lot better . see monsters inc . and toy story before even considering getting this out . hell  even scooby doo and garfield  which suck  see those reviews for more  are better than this   br    br   so in short  this is an irredeemably atrocious movie . this was clearly recycled for the money  as it almost completely rips off the first two the only thing is  it completely insults the first two as well . no human  kid or otherwise  should find any reason to see home alone  . ever . it  s that bad .  br    br      stars  
okay  truthfully  i saw the previews for this movie and thought to myself  what are the producers thinking  hutton  jolie  and duchovny  how could the monotoned actor possibly compete with jolie  s natural power on the screen  but surprisingly  the two had the kind of chemistry that showed intense caring without a kiss . even david  s humor matched up to jolie  s spark and fire . as for hutton  he played the psycho very well  contrasting with david  s calm delivery of life threatening situations . overall  i was very impressed with the writing and character development . i gave it  stars .  
i would like to say that curiosity got the best of me . if only i saw a trailer  i  d be able to tell you the whole plot of the movie i could have saved myself the most pointless one hour and forty minutes in my entire life  and about twenty dollars . this movie was a disaster waiting to happen  and it is an embarrassment to hollywood .  br    br   the movie displays a vivid ignorance of reality . for example  this kid  s remote control race car goes all over the neighborhood  and even enters this house . it  s even covered with clothes . is it not rational to believe that a remote can no longer transmit a signal under those circumstances  hollywood obviously did not believe so . common logic and any concept of electronics dictates the opposite i doubt the race car could even have reached the street  let alone a house across the street . another unrealistic trait is the lack of intelligence the criminals possess . why is it in all these movies  these criminals are rocket scientists until they encounter an eight  year old  the kid is meant to be the most intelligent person in the movie instead of professional terrorists  please  there  s more reality in the matrix . also  the leader puts down his real pistol and  accidentally  picks up a plastic pistol apparently  he could not tell the difference . even with a glove on  one should be able to do that . just because they look the same does not mean anything there is other senses then sight . the traps are unrealistic as well if any one of them actually worked  the criminals would be dead . but  hollywood intends for us to  laugh  at the  funny  results of the traps . i did not laugh i sighed and rolled my eyes .  br    br   but  i recommend this movie to anyone who thinks they have seen a really bad movie the movie they saw will seem like citizen kane compared to this one . otherwise  skip this one for the sake of your pride . home alone  also raises a question . we all know alex d . linz stars in the movie  but did he write it as well   
i was expecting this to be the same kind of schlock as the previous modesty blaise movie  which is why i left it unwatched for so long  but i was very pleasantly surprised .  br    br   far from being a succession of silly gun battles and car  boat chases  it was an almost thoughtful analysis of how a pretty girl gets to become as hard as nails  with nothing being overstated or over  rationalized .  br    br   it  s likely that the budgetary constraints actually helped with that less time and effort was spent on finding ever  stupider ways for stunt men to pretend to die  and more was dedicated to making the movie worth watching . hell  the biggest gun battle takes place off screen   and the scene where it is heard is all the better for that background noise  that adds to the suspense   who  s winning  who  s dying   br    br   alexandra staden might not be as drop  dead gorgeous as monica vitti  but few are  and she certainly has every ounce of class and fire that  s needed to make the character work   and the shape of her face  her hair  and her tall  slender body could have been lifted straight from the comic  strip graphics .  br    br   nikolaj coaster  waldau was the perfect choice for a blaise bad  guy  in that he made the character interesting and enjoyable to watch   even likable  and i doubt i  d consider taking on many brutal  psychopathic murderers as drinking buddies  . i can  t think of a single one of hollywood  s  former waiters  who could have pulled the role off that well .  br    br   fortunately  blaise baddies always die  in the end  no spoilers there   that  s a really good thing  because all the girls who would have spent their time swooning over such a disgustingly handsome and interesting hunk can now pragmatically settle for us ordinary joes .  
this is the worst ripoff of home alone movies that i have ever seen  watch part  and two  but don  t let anyone say that this is better than the first two  i mean  really  you don  t make a movie  then make a sequel with the same characters and actors  and then make another sequel with different characters and actors  i mean  it would have been ok if this wan  t a  home alone  movie  but they did make it a home alone movie . culkin is too old now  so you  re suppose to stop making sequels  goodness  this movie makes me sick  buy part  and  .  
this is a good movie  although people unfamiliar with the modesty blaise comics and books may find it a little slow and lacking in action . for the modesty fan  the movie will be very enjoyable  particularly because it is very faithful in its presentation of the modesty blaise  history  . peter o  donnell is listed in the credits as  creative consultant  and the film makers must have actually paid attention to him as the plot follows quite closely the details that have been presented in the comic books over the years although the events have been recast to modern days  . the only thing that the true fan may find disappointing is that there is no willie garvin in the story . this lack of willie is again just being faithful to the modesty blaise chronology since the movie takes place in the very early days of modesty  s career . alexandra staden makes a very believable young modesty who actually looks a lot like modesty is supposed to look . a welcome change from the travesty of the monica vitti portrayal of modesty .  
i like to keep my reviews short and simple  but this pretty much sums it up . you can not beat the original two for a number of reasons one of which including the directing talent of chris columbous .  br    br   this movie had terrible directing covered up by even more terrible acting . i cant even believe these people are considered actors .  br    br   painful to sit through and watch . the storyline was a complete joke about a secret chip and russian terrorists on a painstaking quest to get it back . horrible  rent one of the original tow and enjoy yourself   br    br   the movie wasn  t even set during christmas like the original . home alone was turned from an excellent christmas time family comedy movie to a joke with no moral or plot   
for a first film in a proposed series it achieves the right balance . it is done with style and class showing modesty  s early days as a refugee and the start of her rise to power in the criminal world . i think it is a very honest  true portrayal of her character exactly as the writer peter o  donnell intended . alexandra staden as modesty is stunningly beautiful and an excellent choice . she acts very convincingly as the tough survivor with an exterior of cool  intelligent  innocence . and full marks to tarantino for choosing an unknown actress for the role  much more believeable to have a new face creating the part . i  m looking forward to the next film .  
in      john hughes wrote and directed  planes  trains and automobiles   which was a hilarious and poignant comedy  the best thing he  s ever done . ten years on he  s reduced to again recycling the plot of  home alone  in this second sequel  which is not connected to the other films but is equally uninspired and sadistic . the four crooks  that  s right  four  and one of them is a girl  congratulations  hughes  for introducing this revolutionary change to the series   are electrocuted with metal chairs  brained with barbells and blinded with paint  ha ha ha haaaaaaaa ha  while the new kid is even less charming than culkin . you  d think that the departure of almost all the key players from the first two films would stop hughes from fossilising the same old routines  but the only surprise is that not even he turned up for  home alone   .  
i was pleased to see that she had black hair  i  ve been a fan for about   years now and have been disgusted at the two earlier attempts to film the stories .  br    br   i was pleased that the screenwriters updated the period to include a computer  it didn  t spoil it at all . in fact i watched the film twice in one day  a sure sign that it was up to standard . this is what i do with books that i like as well .  br    br   i thought all the characters were well depicted and represented the early days of modesty blaise extremely well as evinced in both book and comic strip . i would also have to disagree with a comment made by an earlier reviewer about baddies having to be ugly . has he actually read the books   br    br   i thought this was a very good film and look forward to sequels with anticipation .  
alex d . linz replaces macaulay culkin as the central figure in the third movie in the home alone empire . four industrial spies acquire a missile guidance system computer chip and smuggle it through an airport inside a remote controlled toy car . because of baggage confusion  grouchy mrs . hess  marian seldes  gets the car . she gives it to her neighbor  alex  linz   just before the spies turn up . the spies rent a house in order to burglarize each house in the neighborhood until they locate the car . home alone with the chicken pox  alex calls    each time he spots a theft in progress  but the spies always manage to elude the police while alex is accused of making prank calls . the spies finally turn their attentions toward alex  unaware that he has rigged devices to cleverly booby  trap his entire house . home alone  wasn  t horrible  but probably shouldn  t have been made  you can  t just replace macauley culkin  joe pesci  or daniel stern . home alone  had some funny parts  but i don  t like when characters are changed in a movie series  view at own risk .  
i have read modesty blaise for several years now  collecting numbers of the strip . after the fiasco movie made many years ago based on the first book  modesty blaise  i was surprised the result got this good .  br    br   what i got was a movie not based on action or violence . the director had focused on history and psychology . how was modesty created based on the own tale and what parts in her life was affected by her non  childhood . i think this thougths will give a greater understanding to the next  i hope  film . i simply loved the movies old  fashioned style .  br    br   however everything wasn  t that good  the gambling wasn  t that good . almost boring and unreal . the acting could have been improved too . i  m not thinking the bad guy in this movie felt real  the only reason he was there was so modesty could have someone to tell her story for . also they could have expanded the movie  showing more about when she builds up  the network  but i  ll guess thats for the next movie .  br    br   and please forgive me for my bad english  
the first home alone was a decent enough film . . . the sequel was pretty much the same  at a new setting . this one tries to be original  and succeeds to some degree . . . of course  the formula is basically the same  so it  s like watching the same movie for a third time with slightly altered plot . the new score is quite bad  though the new  setting traps  piece was  if nothing else  interesting and different   especially compared to the grand score of the first  and the almost  but  not  quite  as  good score of the second . it  almost  makes up for it by using some pretty good non  original music  but it  s just not the same . the plot is fair  and somewhat original to the franchise  but it  s still basically the same movie as the first two  with worse acting and a less impressive example of the  scary character turning out to be good  . the acting is mostly unimpressive . the characters are mostly caricatures . the new thieves are less entertaining than the old ones  and they make fun of spy  stuff  which is almost criminal  given the limited amount of good spy flicks there are  and how precious few of them are cool  . the fact that there are more of them  and thereby more traps  is just a weak attempt at trying to go one higher than the first two films . . . and it doesn  t work . the idea behind the thieves and their mission is a tad too . . . adult and serious for a children  s film  and there was a sexual joke or two  though that isn  t the first time in the series  . it  s also unnecessarily complex  as is the plot in general . i could follow it  but i doubt a kid could . some of the exposition are delivered so obviously that even children may find it stupid . the animal stuff is generally not amusing . there are fewer siblings  which should mean that those there are get developed more  but they have less personality than the least featured of those of the first two films . all in all  just not particularly good  or worth watching  unless you really love watching criminals getting hurt in cartoon  y violence . i recommend this to huge fans of the series only .      
as a long time fan of peter o  donnell  s greatest creation  i watched this film on dvd with no great hopes of enjoyment indeed i expected to be reaching in disgust for the remote control within fifteen minutes . but instead i thoroughly enjoyed this production  and i especially enjoyed and appreciated how the producers and director succeeded in telling the modesty blaise back story . they managed to avoid the trap of making a  bad  film version of the books we are all so familiar with  choosing instead to concentrate on a period in modesty  s life only alluded to in the novels .  br    br   as for the production values  and i am no student of cinematography    yes  the film was filmed on a tight financial and time budget and maybe that shows . . . but does it spoil the viewer  s enjoyment  in this case i think not . instead we are introduced to one of the world  s greatest literary heroines and given a taste of her capabilities .  br    br   in regard to the casting because we in unfamiliar territory the only people who really matter are modesty and  perhaps  professor lob . for me they were totally credible . alexandra staden  described by some as wooden  and too thin to be an action heroine  brought to the screen modesty  s poise and coolness her technique  when martial arts were needed  but most importantly personified the integrity which is at the core of the modesty blaise canon .  br    br   ok  so we all know this film was produced to stake miramax  s claim to the modesty blaise character  it was made quickly and cheaply  but . . . i for one cannot wait to see the next production in this series by these producers  as long as they keep to the core values and characterisations of the original stories   
  home alone   is the first of the home alone movies not to feature culkin in the main role and the same villains . however  the plot is very similar to the original  home alone  film . instead of two comical villains  we get three or four of them . this film involves some traps  but it also has a long scene with a remote  control car . the slapstick humour is consistent as well  but the young boy and the villains really fail to make an impact in this film .  no pun intended .  this film offers nothing new or different than the previous films did  and there really is not the warm  holiday feeling or subplots that the other two films had . it  s more of a pure comedy  but it did not succeed in making me laugh as the characters really did not do it for me . i would not recommend this film it  s pretty boring . if you are seeking a good holiday family film with comedy  then watch the original  home alone  movie .  
the movie was a long awaited release  which where a bit disappointing because of the expectation  s i had set up . when looking at it again i must say it is actually pretty ok . first of all is it very true to the original history  of course not completely  and is as such only made to keep the right for the movie . modesty  s history as a child is shown and is very true to the original . the acting is perhaps not the best around and the plot is a bit thin  but when you compare it to the     vitti movie is way better just because it is not trying to be a musical . generally would i only recommend it to fans of modesty blaise or to someone who by catch it on the tv .  
beating the bad guys . . . again is the tag line for this movie  it exposes so much truth about it .  br    br   home alone one and two  film classics . home alone three and four  a good film if you  re three  like sharkboy and lavagirl  as hard as it tries to be funny  it  s not . culkin is replaced by alex d  linz or something else . he  s a very bland actor with bland performances  but it  s not entirely his fault  the writing called for bland vocabulary and bland expressions . the pranks are just copied from the first two with different crooks  and you  d have to be blind to think those chicken pox are real . a good choice if you are a preschool teacher in which is showing this film on a rainy day . and to make things worst  a totally different cast  go see if you don  t believe me  but you  ll regret it .  
while the main story is supposed to take place in morocco  this movie was shot in foggy romania in   days on a very tight budget . however broken their cards may be  the actors and the crew play them with remarkable skill and commitment  so that in the end i found the result both touching and graceful . nikolaj coaster  waldau provides a formidable performance as the bad guy . the script and direction provide some gems . whether you will like the movie or not  however  will probably depend on your take on alexandra staden in the title role . other reviewers have pointed out staden  s inadequacies as modesty blaise . they may have a point  but i found her interpretation delightful and very fitting . modesty manages to overcome terrible odds through discipline  innate talent and courage . staden appears to be doing the same here .  
the first  home alone  was one of the funniest movies of the    s . the second was just as funny with the same cast and jokes  now comes  home alone   . i was curious how they could continue with the same story considering kevin would  ve been   by     . he could take care of himself  right  so  what does the director decide to do  he takes a child just as annoying and makes him sick . the kid is like  years old and the mother leaves him alone in the house  what kind of team of burgerlers are these idiots  i don  t really want to get too into detail if you want to sadly see this movie . but please  i  d recommend that you  d stay away from it . it  s not worth your precious time . go fold a piece of paper  do chores  balance a pencil on your nose  or take a nap  it  s better to do then to watch  home alone     br    br        
every once in a while  eddie murphy will surprise you .  br    br   in a movie like  the golden child   especially . this is a movie you  d figure would star maybe harrison ford or kurt russell or someone . but eddie really does work he  s smart  he  s funny  he  s brave  kind  courteous  thrifty  clean and everything else a hero should be .  br    br   having been chosen to secure a mystic child who holds the key to protecting the world from complete evil  embodied perfectly by dance   eddie goes from california  to nepal and back  all while the beautiful kee nang  lewis  wonders if he  s all he says he is and a crazy old holy man  wong  perfect as always  knows that he is .  br    br   it  s exciting  breathtaking in spots  shocking and  of course  funny . eddie is the only action hero i know who could begin a movie by making rude remarks behind some guy reading a porno magazine and end it with smart  aleck remarks about ed mcmahon .  br    br   no problem with this  child   it  s a  golden  find .  br    br   nine stars . viva nepal   
this movie was     boring  i swear i almost died from boredom at the theater . it wasnt funny and didnt really hve that much action in it either  it was boring and i hope whoever out there that liked this movie  god be with you in the future when you find out what this movie was really like and try to jump off a bridge or something like that  
recap it  s business as usual at louche  s casino in tanger . the casino is about to close and prepares for a big transaction the next day . the owner louche and some staff leave for the night  leaving modesty in charge . suddenly a troop of armed gangsters storm the casino  shooting wildly . unknown to modesty  they have already killed louche  and are now after the money hidden in the vault . but no one present  and still alive  at the casino knows the code to open the vault . the vault itself is heavily booby trapped with explosives so the assailants can  t blow the door as planned . suddenly modesty finds herself eye to eye with the gangsters  leader miklos in a game of roulette with their lives in jeopardy .  br    br   comments this is a review written with no connection what so ever with other published media about modesty blaise  as i have neither seen nor read any of it . the first point i like to make is that this is slightly wrongfully classified . foremost i thought this was a thriller with a battle of wits between modesty and miklos as the main plot . sure  there are some bursts of action but they are not really an integral or important part of the story .  br    br   as already mentioned the main plot and the main suspense  filled scene  is the game between modesty and miklos . it  s an innovative and intriguing way of revealing the background of a character  and in doing so much of the story takes place outside the casino at a much earlier time . someone said that it is almost like a pilot for a tv  series  and the feeling is that it might indeed be used as such . but  i felt it was a much better way to introduce a character than many other have done . i was in no way disappointed in the lack of action  instead i enjoyed this game  the history much more than a simple action movie .  br    br   i think the two main stars  alexandra staden and nikolaj coaster  waldau did very well . staden especially portrays modesty very well  and really carries this confident and talented character .  br    br        
this is the worst brain damaged  ultra cheap  super stupid  silly  pointless piece of trash i  ve ever seen  an unbelievable garbage of instant cult status among fans of the bizarre . if you think that ed wood  s  plan   is bad  well . . . let me tell you  looks like  citizen kane  compared to that one . special effects  . . . again   plan   is  star wars  . acting  . . . thor johnson is al pacino . . . so it  s beyond bad  really . but if you are looking for that kind of incredible movies  it  s for you  i  m a fan of american international for so many glorious horror movies  the price  corman  poe saga and some great blaxploitation stuff  but with  star creatures  they descend right down to the z level . of course  my  out of   works in reverse if you like to watch bad movies for fun  the guy playing an indian chief is great  so have fun and enjoy . . . if you can .  
this was the modesty that we didn  t know  it was hinted at and summarized in the comic strip for the syndicates to sell to newspapers  lee and janet batchler were true modesty blaise fans who were given the dream job  tell a prequel story of modesty that the fans never saw before . in their audio  commentary  they admitted that that they made changes in her origin to make the story run smoother . the  purists  should also note that we really don  t know if everything she told miklos was true because she was  stalling for time .  i didn  t rent or borrow the dvd like other  reviewers  did  i bought it  and i don  t want a refund  i watched it three times and i didn  t sleep through it  great dialog and well  drawn characters that i cared about  even bad guy miklos  just like in the novels and comic strips  i too can  t wait for the next modesty  and willie  film  especially if this  prequel  is a sign of what  s to come   
some things need to be clarified . the picture of mark ferris is not the mark ferris who starred in this movie . i know that because he was my dad . please remove that picture . also  mark ferris was the writer  at least one of them . i have been trying to find a copy or a way to see this movie again . it has been years and if someone can point me in the direction of obtaining a copy  that would be great . the movie wasn  t all that bad  and trying to compare it to todays world of star wars and other high tech sci fi  s it futile . if you watch it  just enjoy it for the rediculousness and humor it possesses . lighten up on being movie snobs and enjoy some less creative and innovated films .  
shot on an impossible schedule and no budget to speak of  the movie turned out a lot better than you would expect  certainly much more true to the peter o  donnell books and comic strip than the previous two films . you can read the strip currently in the reprints from titan books  or in comics revue monthly . it is one of the greatest adventure comic strips of all time . the movie isn  t great  but unlike most low budget films it makes the most of what its got  and it holds your interest . on the dvd extras  the interview with quentin tarentino  who is obviously stoned  is a gas . some people have faulted tarentino for associating his name with the film  but without him it would never have been made . he is a modesty blaise fan  and picked a good writer and director . all things considered  worth  stars .  
invasion of the star creatures would definitely be in the  so bad it  s good  category if the film wasn  t quite so sexist or racist . that it is such just makes it plain bad .  br    br   it has the same kind of hardline stereotypical sexism that you saw in queen of outer space  and the kind of racist stereotypes  in this instance  native americans  that you would normally find in thirties  forties b  westerns . in terms of being non  funny  the same walking  through  the  cave gag is repeated well over ten times during the course of this fairly short movie . ray does do one good impression of jimmy cagney  but can  t make it work for two impressions of cagney in a row  nor handle a peter lorre when he tries it  . there really aren  t any production values to speak of  as the  star creatures  make the ro  man from robot monster or tor johnson in plan  from outer space look like creations of industrial light and magic .  br    br   this film was definitely one of a vanguard of what you would have to call early independent cinema . . . not artsy enough for those theaters and not good enough for anything but the last feature of an all  night drive  in .  br    br    
i enjoyed this film . it was a joy to see a version so close to the vision of peter o  donnell .  br    br   a number of people have disliked the film  but it has to be seen in context of the origin story that it is . the film uses flashback to show the young modesty and the events that shaped her into the woman that she became . before the network . before willie garvin .  br    br   the pace is a trifle slow  and for my taste not enough tension is developed in the present day scenes . however this is acceptable just to get such a faithful version .  br    br   if you like modesty blaise  you will enjoy it even with its faults  if you just want an action flick with car chases  forget it .  br    br   it has the feeling of being the first of a franchise  but as i have never seen it promoted anywhere  i suspect there will be no more to follow . sadly .  
  let me start by saying that i understand that invasion of the star creatures was meant to be a parody of the sci  fi films of the   s . i understand that none of it is to be taken seriously . the problem i have is that none of it works . a parody should be funny and this one just isn  t . not once during the entire runtime did i so much as crack a smile . in general  i am easily entertained  but i couldn  t find a sliver of entertainment anywhere in invasion of the star creatures .  br    br    i knew i was in trouble right from the beginning . the two  stars  make their screen appearance with one of the lamest gags imaginable  a water hose they can  t control that gets them both wet . these two come off as bowery boys wannabes . why anyone would want to mime the act and persona of the bowery boys is beyond me . after the less than illustrious beginning  the movies goes on to feature comical chase sequences  dancing indians  vegetable men  decoder rings  and other assorted unfunny bits . it  s all just a complete waste of time .  br    br    i bought this on the double feature dvd with invasion of the bee girls . that movie is academy award winning stuff in comparison with invasion of the star creatures .  
the best modesty blaise movie i have seen so far . it  s like a good pilot for a tv  series . i even think it  s a little bit  cult   like with a lite touch of quentin tarantino  s magic  or something . they have caught a great deal of modesty  s character  but i admit missing willy garwin a bit . even if i have read many comics and book by peter o  donnell i  m not disappointed of this film  quite the opposite . positive surprised of this story about modesty and her childhood . i did not put my expectations so high  because of the bad movie from     . so i may have overrate this movie just a little . but if you like the comics and other storys about modesty blaise  you should definitely see this one  can  t wait for a follow  up . . .  
gloria victor and dolores reed in space girl costumes .  br    br   i love   sci fi  i even love cheesy   s sci fi  but this film is really  really bad . and not in a mst  k kinda way .  br    br   virtually unwatchable as a couple of bozos do their best  hip cat  impression of abott  costello .  br    br   chessecake can usually save cheesy sci fi  such as in  cat women on the moon  but it can  t in this case . this film requires a mute button and fast forward feature .  br    br   that said  i could watch gloria and dolores walk around the space ship for about an hour or so .  
i  ve seen this movie and i must say i  m very impressed . there are not much movies i like  but i do like this one . you should see this movie by yourself and comment it  because this is one of my most favorite movie . i fancy to see this again . action fused with a fantastic story . very impressing . i like modesty  s character . actually she  s very mystic and mysterious  i do like that  . the bad boy is pretty too . well  actually this whole movie is rare in  movieworld  . i considered about the vote of this movie  i thought this is should be a very popular movie . i guess wrong . it was me who was very impressed about this movie  and i hope i  m not the only one who takes only the cost to watch this one . see and vote .  
this was one of those films that got a ton of play on the airwaves in the early      s  usually on the   am movie  or one time  on the     pm  channel  big movie  and still another on creature double feature . when local channels used to run movies as part of their local programming  mostly gone today in favor of infomercial time  it was of the time . a couple of low  rent abbott and costello wannabees  frankie ray and robert ball  are in a platoon of soldiers  half a dozen guys in army surplus remainders  who are sent on field maneuvers to look into some strange radiation  and wind up encountering extraterrestrials . they first go into bronson canyon to what would be later the famous batcave on batman  and encounter the remains of a dead  carrot monster  . later  in the cave they  re chased by a living carrot creature  basically a guy in black suit and paper mache head  with sparkly things on it and ping  pong ball eyes . two of them  complete geeks  ray and ball  are captured and wake up tied to tables and are being  examined  by space amazons  dr poona  nooo kidding   and professor tanga who are stunningly beautiful and even moreso in their skimpy bikini  uniforms  . we were too young at the time  to realize what later bondage and fetish scenarios this  examination  scene would more than suggest . turns out that the two gals and their carrot monster  are stranded on earth with a ship that  s well hidden and are trying to return to their world .  br    br   the film was made as a total comedy with varying degrees of taste but remember this was of the time when eric von zipper and his crew from frankie and annette  s films  were the height of b  film  drive  in comedy . so it only seemed a natural to jump on the bandwagon for some quick bucks .  br    br   for some reason i only thought i  d imagined seeing this film to start with . no  i really saw it . and when it was released on  restored  dvd i was assured in my memory . the comedy goes from mildly funny to just plain stupid  but whatever . the budget is non  existent  which  is a minor miracle when you think about it  that it even got made and we can talk about a  restored  version here and now  over   years later . the payoff is the girls who want to learn about  love  and  kissing  and  the upshot is the geeks  which all of us were  get the girls and love wins out . it  s just goofy and silly and for the locations  has nostalgic significance .  
having heard of modesty blaise before  but never having read a novel or a comic strip  my wife and i liked the film a lot . it delivered  in a captivating way  a good introduction to the character and her background .  br    br   although it has some action flick elements  it is much more an intimate play  excellently written . sadly  this is also  where a major drawback of the movie is revealed . an intimate play lives on the capabilities of its actors and unfortunately only half of the cast delivered . while alexandra staden did an excellent job as modesty blaise  her counterpart nikolaj coaster  waldau  as the villain miklos  did not . smiling his way through the plot as if it is an extend toothpaste commercial  he fails to build up an atmosphere of anxiety that would have made the movie a masterpiece . the supporting cast is somehow similar  from some stereotyped gangsters and sluts to decent performances from fred pearson as professor lob and eugenia yuan as irina .  
i appreciate a think positive feel good about yourself film  but this is too much . in the end they look like a bunch of loonies . this film is one of those finding yourself    s plots  i know the film is made in     . a lot more of clint and girl friend movie . this movie is a     .  
there  s a great deal of material from the modesty blaise comics and novels that would be great in a movie . unfortunately  several attempts have been made and they  ve fallen short of the great potential in the character . so  no  this isn  t the modesty you know from the comic strip  currently reprinted in nice editions from titan books  . this is modesty some  or  years prior to the first strip  and from what you can piece together from her back  story  it  s accurate .  br    br   miramax had the movie rights to the character  with quentin tarantino acting as advocate and technical adviser . early drafts of the miramax project attempted to adapt one of the best novels  but always managed to leave out some crucial element . tarantino wasn  t happy with any of them  and offered to remove his name from the project so they could proceed . to the studio  s credit  they wanted to keep him in the process  since they knew he  got  the character and her world . with the movie rights close to expiration  they decided to try a very different approach . the result was  my name is modesty   a small direct  to  video movie that introduces the character .  br    br   the movie does not introduce willie garvin or sir gerald . these characters are important to blaise  s adventures throughout most of the published stories . what this movie accomplishes is showing the strength of the character by herself . she never loses her composure  and you never doubt that she  s in charge even unarmed in a room full of gangsters with guns . most of the movie takes place within a casino  which undoubtedly saved money on the production . it doesn  t matter . the film does not come across as cheap . instead  it gives a fairly comprehensive  and believable  back  story for the character and demonstrates just how far she thinks ahead . should miramax adapt any of the comic stories or novels now  they  ve laid out the character  s background nicely and won  t have to spend much time on her  origin .  i realize the words  direct  to  video  don  t inspire confidence  but this film is well worth a look .  
sondra locke stinks in this film  but then she was an awful  actress  anyway . unfortunately  she drags everyone else  including then real life boyfriend clint eastwood down the drain with her . but what was clint eastwood thinking when he agreed to star in this one  one read of the script should have told him that this one was going to be a real snorer . it  s an exceptionally weak story  basically no story or plot at all . add in bored  poor acting  even from the normally good eastwood . there  s absolutely no action except a couple arguments and as far as i was concerned  this film ranks up at the top of the heap of natural sleep enhancers . wow  could a film be any more boring  i think watching paint dry or the grass grow might be more fun . a real stinker . don  t bother with this one .  
first off i  m a dedicated fan of modesty  s  and have been reading the comics since i was a child  and i have found the earlier movies about our heroine unsatisfying  but where they fail  this one rocks   br    br   well then  here we go ms blaise is working for a casino  a gang of robbers comes along and she starts gambling for her friends lives . if the robber wins one round  she  ll have to tell him about herself . if she wins two times in a row  one of the staff members goes free .  sounds stupid  yeah  well  i  m not that good at explaining either . .     br    br   she tells him about growing up in a war zone  without parents or friends  about her helping an old man in the refugee camp and how they escape  living by nature  s own rules . they hunt for food  and he teaches her to read and fight . as they approach civilization they get caught up in a war  and as they are taken for rebellions  they are being shot at and the old man dies  which leaves her to meet the city by herself .  br    br   then she meets the man who  s casino she  s now working for  and there the story ends .  br    br   what is to follow is that there  s an awesome fight and the line  s are totally cool . alexandra staden is a terrific modesty blaise  just as modest and strong  graceful and intellectual as the comic  one .  br    br   feels awkward though  too hear modesty speak with a slightly broken accent  but that  s not relevant since the comic book  blaise can  t speak out loud  but certainly must have a somewhat existing accent .  not to mention that it  s weird everybody  s speaking english in the balkan . .   br    br   the acting is really good  even the child who personifies the young blaise must have a applaud   br    br   my favorite part must be where she rips up her dress to kick the stupid robber  s ass  totally awesome  d i can  t wait until the real adventure begins in the next movie  s   br    br   watch it  you won  t be disappointed   
clint eastwood is bronco billy  the leader of a wild west troupe  one of six regular misfits who comprise a struggling  to  break  even touring show . the seventh member of the bunch is a woman  billy  s assistant  but such women never last long  and the position is chronically open . enter antoinette lilly  sandra locke  eastwood  s girlfriend at the time  . it seems miss lilly  as doc  scatman crothers  calls her  is a would  be heiress who will only receive her long  deceased father  s estate if she  s married by the time she turns    so on the eve of that birthday she gets hitched to the cartoonish geoffrey lewis .  br    br   so  what  s the plot of this film  it  s hard to say . there  s the romantic tension between billy and miss lilly  but the problem is that for the first half of the movie she  s so haughtily insipid and detestable that when she suddenly becomes  one of the troupe  halfway through the film  it  s not only unbelievable  but the audience is well past caring about her . there  s the chronic lack of funds behind the wild west show  but this topic isn  t touched upon enough to really be the raison d  etre of the film . there  s miss lilly  s predicament of being stranded in the rural west  cut off from the funds that fuel her spoiled life of luxury  she  s mistakenly believed to be dead by her family and the press  . but are we really supposed to believe that she couldn  t get back to new york and her waiting fortune if she gave it a bit of effort   br    br   no  the point of this film seems to be that billy is the leader of a family  a lovable bunch of losers who hang together through thick and thin . this is a warm  fuzzy film  or at least tries to be .  br    br   along the way  clint shows us his skills with a gun  even foiling a bank robbery in a shooting that is grotesquely out of place in an otherwise relatively non  violent film . one of the gang is arrested on an old draft evasion charge billy bribes the local sheriff . the show  s tent burns down an orphanage makes them a new one . but numerous mundane pitfalls do not a plot make .  br    br   compounding the problem is the acting  or lack thereof . aside from scatman crothers  the supporting cast is quite amateurish . eastwood isn  t on top of his game either  though he looks better simply by virtue of being surrounded by such a lackluster bunch .  br    br   and for all this  the film plods on for    minutes . to what point  good question   br    br    out of    
finally was there released a good modesty blaise movie  which not only tells a story  but actually tells the  real  story . i admit that it is a bad movie if you expect an action thriller  but if you stop in your track and remove all your expectations . then you will notice that it is a story that comes very close to the original made by peter o  donnell . you have a cover story just to tell about how modesty became the magnificent person which she is . it is not a movie to attract new fans  but a movie to tell the real tale . some things could have been better  but when you cannot forget the awful movie from    then is this a magnificent movie . so are you a fan then sit down relax and just enjoy that the real story is there with a cover story just to make modesty tell her story .  
sondra locke stinks in this film  but then she was an awful  actress  anyway . unfortunately  she drags everyone else  including then real life boyfriend clint eastwood down the drain with her . but what was clint eastwood thinking when he agreed to star in this one  one read of the script should have told him that this one was going to be a real snorer . it  s an exceptionally weak story  basically no story or plot at all . add in bored  poor acting  even from the normally good eastwood . there  s absolutely no action except a couple arguments and as far as i was concerned  this film ranks up at the top of the heap of natural sleep enhancers . wow  could a film be any more boring  i think watching paint dry or the grass grow might be more fun . a real stinker . don  t bother with this one .  
i first saw this movie on television some years ago and frankly loved it . charles dance makes one of the most terrifying villains anyone can imagine . his sophistication is such a perfect contrast to the crudely good hero . i have never been much of an eddie murphy fan but find his irritating portrayal here a winner a bit of  axel foley through the looking glass  . charlotte lewis is  to utilize a hackneyed phrase but the only one applicable  luminously gorgeous . some scenes are wonderfully created the dream sequence  the bird  the silly fight scenes  and the climactic confrontation . through it all murphy is the modern man suddenly dropped into an oriental myth  a stunned and quieter version of kurt russell in his oriental fantasy romp . like that movie we have james hong  the incomparable actor whose scenes  however short  raise the quality even of derek . since     hong has defined the fine supporting actor  the  class act  of his profession .  the golden child  is silly it is not perfect but it has so many redeeming features that it is an enjoyable and amusing fantasy  well worth watching . after four years i have seen  the golden child  again i enjoyed it even more  it truly is great fun .  
this is a bit of a first for me  the first time i have ever been disappointed in a tim burton film . pota isn  t a bad film  great sets  costumes and the odd great performance  but it could have been made by any off  the  shelf hollywood director . the pacing was very odd  the last third was just spent waiting for the film to end  by myself and the cast . tim roth was excellent  probably the only pleasure in the film . come back tim .  
rented and watched this short     minutes  work . it  s by far the best treatment modesty has received on film   and her creator  peter o  donnell  agrees  participating as a  creative consultant .  the character  and we who love her  are handled with respect . spiegel  s direction is the best he  s done to date  and the casting was very well done . alexandra staden is almost physically perfect as a match to the original jim holdaway illustrations of modesty . a terrific find by whoever cast her  raymond cruz as a young rafael garcia was also excellent . i hope that tarantino  co . will go on to make more in the series   i  m especially interested to see whom they  d choose to be the incomparable willie garvin   
ten minutes worth of story stretched out into the better part of two hours . when nothing of any significance had happened at the halfway point i should have left . but  ever hopeful  i stayed . and left with a feeling of guilt for having wasted the time . acting was ok  but the story line is so transparent and weak . the script is about as lame as it could get  but again  stretching out the ten minute plot doesn  t leave a whole lot of room for good dialogue .  
although i bought the dvd when it first came out  and have watched it several times  i never wrote a review .  br    br   i loved it when i first saw it and i love it still .  br    br   sadly  it seems it never made enough money to motivate anyone to do a follow  up . i have to assume qt still controls the rights  but after kill bill if he does a film that is as true to the comics and books as my name is modesty  with another tough female lead  anyone not familiar with the character will see this as a let  down .  br    br   peter o  donnell wrote his stories to focus more on psychological suspense rather than action thrillers .  br    br   the tug of wills between modesty and miklos is very true to the source material and is tense  suspenseful and fascinating to anyone who doesn  t have to have gore and explosions . alexandra did a great job in playing how o  donnell  s character would have taken control of the situation .  br    br   i find this particularly ahead of the curve following the sorely needed reboots of batman and james bond . after  dismal earlier efforts  although not nearly as well known to the public  this is really a reboot of the modesty character  and it is really sad that probably no more films about her will be made .  
this movie is hilarious  not in good way . the fights are awfully bad done  while sometimes they will try to shock you by breaking some bones  and even this happens only two or three times  definitely not enough to call it a shockmovie . a gunfight means a hero can walk into an open field with   people shooting at him with uzi  s  pick up a gun  start shooting back and not get hurt .  br    br   the story empty  guy waking up  lost his memory  starts fighting cos that  s what he  s good at . five years later memories come back  takes revenge blablabla .  br    br   not worth your buck  not really worth your time unless you  re drunk and bored .  
if you are already a fan of peter o  donnell  s wonderful modesty blaise books from the sixties  you will really enjoy this movie . if you have ever seen the      modesty blaise  film  forget it  that was camp . this is the real modesty blaise . the story and character are both true to the modesty that fans of the books know and love . it  s a long way from joe losey  s     travesty  and it takes our modesty quite seriously . alexandra staden is quite good and believable in the part  and yes  we do get to see her kick butt . chuckle  br    br   this is likely meant to be the first movie of a series and as such it serves to introduce modesty  her childhood and her days with lob .  br    br   since peter o  donnell was the creative consultant on the movie  everything really rings true . even the story o  donnell told of how he conceived the character is just as he told it . having read all the books  i enjoyed the movie even more for that .  br    br   now that miramax has kept their option on the property by having quentin tarrentino make this film  i do hope to see more of the modesty stories asap . especially as the wonderful character of willie garvin makes modesty  s character really come alive . to that end  i really hope the film does well in europe . i have no idea if miramax intends to ever distribute the dvd in the usa . i suspect it might not do that well in the usa in general distribution . i wonder how miramax decides where and how to distribute it  s films .  br    br   in the story  modesty is in her early    s  working at louche  s casino in tangier . the flashback sequences are artfully done and take modesty from about  years old  through her teens up to her current age in the movie  about       i  d guess . i really don  t think there  s a  perfect actress  for modesty . for many of us modesty fans  she  s much too powerful a presence in our imaginations already . alexandra staden is credible . she is very slim  graceful and poised . she has lots of closeups . she has a great face  one that sticks in your mind well after the movie is over . according to o  donnell  s illustrator  romero  modesty has rather a fuller figure than staden  but i  m willing to overlook that . if staden continues in the role  i think she will mature into it  just as modesty grows more powerful and skilled as she gets older . staden already conveys modesty  s humor and absolute assurance very well . go ahead and rent this movie  it  s not like anything else you  ve seen and even though it was directed by scott spiegel  it is full of tarrentino touches  great camera moves  lighting and well  done action sequences .  
this movie is so bad that i cannot even begin to describe it . what in the blazing pit is wrong with the writers  producers and director  how on earth did they get funding for this abomination  the plot is laughable  the acting is poor at best  the story . . . what story  the first fight in this movie is ok but then it keeps repeating itself until you want to turn it off .  br    br   i guess i  m the biggest looser for not turning this stupid movie off after the first minute .  br    br    spoler alert   br    br   i only saw this movie because scott adkins was in it . . . and he is in it . . . for   seconds . . .  br    br   i give it  out of   because it  s the lowest grade imdb has to offer .  br    br   do yourself a favour see an uwe boll movie instead . . . twice . . . it  s more worthy of your time .  
unfortunately many consumers who write reviews for imdb equate low budget with not good . whatever else this movie might need  more budget really isn  t part of it . big sets and lots of special effects would have turned it into another lara croft movie . what we have here is a step or two better than that .  br    br   the nearly unknown alexandra staden is captivating as the enigmatic modesty  and this is crucial for this movie to work . her wise little smiles and knowing looks are formidable  and you find yourself wishing that the camera won  t leaver her face . it makes it workable that the bad guy nikolai  played by also little known  in the u . s . at least  nikolaj coaster  waldau might take an unusually cerebral interest in her  something modesty can exploit . she is able to divert his raping her with just a shove and spitting out  stop wasting my time   then storming off between his heavily armed yet suddenly diffident henchmen . making a scene like that plausible doesn  t happen by accident .  br    br   probably the biggest problem i have with the rail  thin staden playing modesty is it just isn  t very believable for her to go hand to hand with an athletic and muscled looking guy like coaster  waldau and beat him . she just ain  t a peta wilson or a pumped  up hilary swank type actress who can throw a convincing punch . coaster  waldau letting himself be overpowered by staden looks like he  s just roughhousing with his little sister .  br    br   since this is not really an action film  this isn  t a big flaw . i just hope they do better on that if and when they make sequels .  
i had always been a big lynda carter  wonder woman fan so when the sci  fi channel ran this movie  i had to see it . i was bitterly disappointed . this is a wonder woman movie in name only . she doesn  t wear the right costume she must have refused to or had ordered major changes and the plot runs like a poor man  s james bond . there  s none of the things that made the comic book heroine a success i . e . the superhuman strength or determined will . it  s just one long bad dream . i don  t even think cathy is all that attractive anyway . i wouldn  t waste your time on this .  
magellan   said  you can only do so much when the two stars of the show can only be seen by one fellow cast member .   br    br   i assume  then  that you never heard of  topper  .  br    br   which  in addition to the two stars who could only be seen by one member of the cast  had a dog  ditto .  br    br   this was the kind of program that had  not gonna make it  written allover it from the first episode  it was like an arcade video game where you actually have to read the instructions to play no  one  well  very few of us  apparently  wants to watch a comedy program that has a basic premise that actually requires thought to grasp .  
i  ve been reading posts here concerning wonder woman  s costume for this tv movie . it should be pointed out at the time the movie was made  she wasn  t wearing her traditional outfit . the producers were actually sticking to the comic book writer  s conception of ww for the early seventies .  br    br   as for the movie itself  i have to agree with many of the other posters here . snoozefest  i was a kid when it appeared on abc in      so i was at the right age to have appreciated a movie about a comic book hero . yet i was so  engrossed  with the plot  i stopped watching it three quarters into the movie .  br    br   of course  i wasn  t at the right age to appreciate cathy lee      
i used to watch this show when i was a little girl . although i don  t remember much about it  i must say that it was a pretty good show . also  i don  t think i  ve seen every episode . however  if you ask me  it was still a good show . i vaguely remember the theme song . everyone was ideally cast  the costume design was great . the performances were top  grade  too . i just hope some network brings this series back one day so that i  ll be able to see every episode . before i wrap this up  i  d like to say that i  ll always remember this show in my memory forever  even though i don  t think i  ve seen every episode . now  in conclusion  when and if this show is ever brought back on the air  i hope that you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good .  
i remember watching this on prime time when i was about  years old . i was a huge comic book reader at the time  and anything relating to superheroes was anticipated heavily . the end result  however  was underwhelming .  br    br   i was aware of the  emma peel  diana prince stories  as they had only recently come to an end and diana was returned to her amazonian form . however  there was so little action that i was bored throughout most of the movie . the final costume was an interesting idea  but looked more like a cheerleader than a superhero .  br    br   i saw the movie again in my late teen years . it hadn  t improved much . cathy lee crosby was more familiar  thanks to that  s incredible  but her acting was no better . the script had a few good ideas  like the rogue amazon  and a decent villain in ricardo montalban  but it just didn  t come together and was still boring .  br    br   i think they should have built the back story better  and built the show into a more epic climax . it was too much like a bland spy film  crossed with a superhero story written by someone who had never seen a comic book . the amazon elements were intriguing  but needed to be expanded .  br    br   the film did succeed in forcing producers to go back to the drawing board and come up with something more faithful  if a bit too camp and low budget . the budget was also pretty low here  and superheroes don  t come cheap .  br    br   it would be nice to have the movie available on dvd  if only as a comparison and historical document . even superman  is available  and it has nothing over this film  except chris reeve and gene hackman  . it  s worth seeing for curiosity sake and for a bit of inspiration and caution for future versions .  
this movie is definately one of my favorite movies in it  s kind . the interaction between respectable and morally strong characters is an ode to chivalry and the honor code amongst thieves and policemen . it treats themes like duty  guilt  word  manipulation and trust like few films have done and  unfortunately  none that i can recall since the death of the  policial  in the late seventies . the sequence is delicious  down to the essential  living nothing out and thus leading the spectator into a masterful plot right and wrong without accessory eye catching and spectacular scenes that are often needed in lesser specimens of the genre in order to keep the audience awake . no such scenes are present or needed . the argument is sand honest to the spectator an important asset in a genre that too often achieve suspense through the deception of the audience . no  this is not miss marble . . . a note of congratulations for the music is in order a film to watch and savor every minute  not just to see .  
apparently shakespeare equals high brow which equals in turn a bunch of folks not seeing something for what it really is . at one point in this film  someone  i believe pacino  s producer  warns him that film is getting off track  that it was once about how the masses think about shakespeare through the vehicle of richard iii . instead he decides to shoot a chopped up play with random comments sprinkled throughout . some scenes seemed to be included as home movies for al  was there really any reason for the quick visit to shakespeare  s birthplace  other than for a laugh about something unexpected which happens there    and  before the film has really even begun  we are treated to seeing al prance around and act cute and funny for the camera . i thought his silly act with kay near the end of godfather iii with the knife to his throat was an act  but apparently it  s how al really behaves in person .  br    br   enough rambling . here  s a shotgun smattering of why i didn  t even make it    of the way through this   pretentious  al always knows when the camera is on him  whether he  s acting as richard or in a  real  conversation with someone  you can see it in the corner of his eyes  also  some of the actors around the rehearsal table become untethered and wax hammy to the extreme . if anyone reading this has ever spent any time with an group of actors and has witnessed this kind of thing from the outside  it  s unbearable .  look at me  chewing all the scenery     winona ryder . when she appears as lady anne  this film comes to a screeching halt  which it never recovers from . she has nothing to add in the discussion scenes but the camera lingers on her to bring in the kiddoes . her performance is dreadful  to boot .   the only things you really learn from this are told to you by the very scholars the filmmakers are trying to keep out of the picture . of course  you also learn that pacino shouldn  t be directing films  or doing richard in the first place  . i  d rather watch bobby deerfield than this .  br    br   lastly  read the play and learn it for yourself . go out and see it performed . in     i saw the play performed at the university of washington ethnic cultural theater  and it made what we see in this film seem like high school drama  except for the gratuitous throat slashing of clarence  my god  was that necessary     br    br   it  s all just a bunch of sound and fury  signifying nada .  
short synopsis  br    br   this film opens with soldiers being released from the company of men . one of them pursues another with a weird scheme the other repeatedly refuses . later they both get trapped in an office building in which they want to crack a safe during the christmas holidays . hostility turns into playful banter and then into a desperate fight for survival  during the bantering they lose all drinkable liquids  so it is really serious  . with exposed  well built and well oiled torsos they ram a hole into a wall and finally manage to escape  only to find out that they have been betrayed and set up by women . one gets caught  the other remains free and is not given away by his companion . a last encounter  a last light for a cigarette  adieu l  ami  farewell  friend .  br    br   i found it hard not to see closet homosexuals in the two main characters  played by classical he  man superstars alain delon and charles bronson . they are obviously attracted to each other  their treatment of women is abominable and marked by contempt throughout . the whole story seems to have a strong symbolic undertow  a little like deliverance . it is also very stylish . the safe the two men want to crack is in a  for the time  ultra modern glass and aluminum tower . it is the seat of a publicity firm  so there are many fancy posters and wall coverings around . the wardrobe is also very good . the ultra stylish citroen ds  maybe the most modern and elegant car of all times  features large in this movie  perhaps a subtle kind of product placement .  br    br   i can recommend this movie for the actor  s performances alone . delon and bronson are really sharing the top billing  in a manner that struck me as very fair and sporting . both do a considerable amount of acrobatics . i have never seen bronson better than here  he really acts  and speaks french throughout  with a heavy accent buy very passably indeed . and it is certainly the man himself we hear .  so the french language version is highly recommended  . the police inspector who pursues the two is played by on of my favorite franch character actors  bernard fresson who was gene hackman  s partner in french connection ii . he is the best brainy police inspector i know . also very good is former child actress brigitte fossey as the young ingnue who  as it turns out  is not so innocent as it first seems .  br    br   anyone who expects the old in  an  out  of classical heist movies might be disappointed with this film . for those with a little patience this will be a rewarding experience  full of novel and original ideas and directorial quirks  although it my be a little too brutal and sadistic for its own sake .  
it seems that salvatores couldn  t decide what to do with this movie some of it is a very weak thriller  and i say very  very weak   some of it is an attempt to explore the relationships between the main characters . both things have been tried in psychological thrillers  but in this case the movie cannot hold things together  due to poor  superficial scripting  bad acting and a too dark  too dull cinematography . i  d say that salvatores gave his best in other genres and in other settings  where he was free to look at the characters without having to think about the plot . on the whole  a b  movie  hardly worth your money . . . vote      
utterly tactical  strange  watch for the kinky moment of a drop  dead gorgeous blonde acting as pull  string doll for some rich folks   pointless but undoubtedly compelling late  night feature . this unhinged french production is a stew of perplexedly unfocused ideas and random plot illustrations centred on its very charismatic stars  if somewhat anti  heroes  alain delon and charles bronson . really they don  t get to do all that much  especially during the confined  lengthy mid  section where they hide themselves in a building during the christmas break to crack a safe with       possible combinations . oh fun  but this is when the odd  if intriguing relationship is formed between delon and bronson  s characters . after a manipulative battle of wills  and childishly sly games against each other   the two come to an understanding that sees them honour each other  s involvement and have a mutual respect . this would go on to play a further part in the twisty second half of the story with that undetectable curve  ball . still their encounters early on suggest there  s more  but what we get is vague and this is magnified by that  what just happen there   ending that might just make you jump . yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhh  glad to get that out of the system .  br    br   the pacing is terribly slow  but placidly measured for it and this seems purposely done to exhaust with its edgy  nervous underlining tension . watch as the same process is repeated over and over again  and you know something is not quite right and the scheming eventually comes into play . now everything that does happen feels too spontaneous  but the climax payoff is haunting . the taut  complex script is probably a little too crafty for its own good  but there are some neat novelties  coins  glass and liquids try not spilling  and visual symbolisms . jean herman  s direction is efficiently sophisticated and low  key  but get a tad artificial and infuse an unwelcoming icy atmosphere . the sound fx features more as a potent note  than that of francois deroubaix  s funky score that  s mainly kept under wrapped after its sizzling opening . top drawers delon  who  s quite steely  and bronson  a jovial turn  are solid  and work off each tremendously . bernard fresson chalks up the attitude as the inspector who knows there  s more going on than what is being led on . an attractive female cast features able support by brigitte fossey and olga georges  picot .  br    br   a cryptically directionless  but polished crime drama maintained by its two leads and some bizarre inclusions .  
this film  s premise is so simple and obvious that only a texas millionaire high on oil fumes and whiskey would have a problem understanding it if someone shouted it across the proverbial parking lot . in summary the oil business is in cahoots with the government  or gummint if you prefer   the gummint is in cahoots with middle eastern despots  and the cia is a singular festering pool of double dealing sons  of   insert word  willing to toe any line that comes their way . the only people that get done over are the good ones  like mr clooney   bob   . oh  and terrorism is a result of the poverty which globalization creates when wicked multinationals stalk the world looking for a tasty takeover or three . that really fits to the profiles of the well  heeled     perpetrators .  br    br   in syriana this facile tissue of political half  truths and hollywood holograms is stirred up in a repugnant vermicelli of story strands that twist  turn and whirl through the gloopy circumlocutions of their own insignificance until the poor viewer is left alone with the conclusion that  br    br    . the  director   good joke  should never be let near a camera again  br    br    . people like clooney and hurt might know how to act  but they sure don  t know how to pick a script  br    br    . if you want to see a film that deals with corruption in big business and the state  go and see claude chabrol  s  l  ivresse du pouvoir   which is insightful  funny and brilliantly acted .  br    br   empty  doom  laden sententious piffle spun out to evening  ruining length .  
this movie is definately one of my favourite movies in it  s kind . the interaction between respectable and morally uncorruptable characters is an ode to chivalry and the honour code amongst thieves and policemen . it treats themes like duty  guilt  word  manipulation and trust like few films have done and  unfortunately  none that i can recall since the death of the  policial  in the late seventies . the sequence is delicious  down to the essential  living nothing out and thus leading the spectator into a masterful plot right and wrong without accessory eye catching and spectacular scenes that are often needed in lesser specimens of the genre in order to keep the audience awake . no such scenes are present or needed . the argument is flowless and honest to the spectator  wich is an important asset in a genre in wich the the suspense is often achieved through the betrail of the audience . no  this is not miss marble . . . a note of congratulations for the music is in order a film to watch and savour every minute  not just to see .  
considering how much money was budgeted for this film  you would expect more from the story as a whole . this could be quite possibly the most worthless movie i have ever watched . there was no real advancement of anything . character development  minimal . plot advancement  maybe . enjoyment  none . i  m not sure what points were even trying to be made . if you want to see a movie where terrorists are kinda good guys  american cia bombs everything that doesn  t agree with our opinions  all capitalists are corrupt  and you like to see anything resembling a storyboard advancement accompanied by a death  have at . for those of us who realize that it doesn  t take killing off a good guy to make a point  we  ll stick to other movies . in summary  this was a horrible attempt at an  ocean  s    style hide  the  plot  so  person  has  to  think movie because not only do you not know what  s going on  nobody who made the movie did either . home alone  was a better cinematic piece .  
whenever i see most reviews it  s called  a misfire for eddie murphy  . these critics want to take a look at some of the stuff he  s doing these days  and maybe soften their stance in retrospect . . .  the golden child  is not highbrow entertainment  but thanks to some of the cast it breaths new life into old clichs  and gives murphy one of his best roles . i don  t understand the pervading lack of  love  for its efforts  at all . perhaps it was released at a time when the establishment had grown weary of knockabout  thrill  a  minute adventures  steven spielberg started it with indiana jones it  s unfair to make this one a scapegoat when what is possibly its biggest sin is also utterly harmless . there  s nothing necessarily wrong with trying to capitalise on trends .  br    br   yes it  s silly  but even an occasional observer should be able to understand that  ridiculous  is where hollywood  s idea of mysticism begins and ends . what  s more important than believability with a story like this is that the audience have entertaining tour guides on hand to show them the mysterious sights . michael ritchie and eddie murphy fit the bill for this capacity just fine . my advice to you is to buy the ticket and take the ride .  
absolutely the worst film yet by burton  who seems to be getting worse with each film he directs . a miserable script loaded with cliches is only the first of many objectionable aspects to this film . this is the kind of movie where every time something happens  you  ll be sure to hear someone shout out  he  s lost his gun   or whatever it is to let everybody know . carter is really awful and so is wahlberg  who can  t play this straight and be convincing . very nice effects and photography  but poor music in the john williams mold by burton  s crony elfman . heston appears in a nonsensichal scene to spout out his most famous catch  phrases from the first movie . very poor results .  br    br   if anyone else out there also saw  sleepy hollow   they will probably have noticed  as i have  the declining quality of burton  s films . i  ve heard that this particular project was produced by others and that burton was brought in as director  in which case his judgement should be questioned . but i think he has allowed any possible vision he might have had earlier in his career to slip the evidence is there in the films . in  sleepy hollow   he couldn  t decide what kind of movie he was making  whether it was a comedy or a real horror movie  and the population of british character actors  chris lee  etc .  made you also think it was kind of a monster rally film  those are never scary  as horror fans know  . the movie couldn  t succeed on either horror or comedy because it was so schizophrenic  and no style had been developed to smooth the two together .  planet of the apes  is much the same way  and the result comes off more like  total recall  or  tango and cash  than like sci  fi . he  s also fallen into the rut of so many other  big  directors of trying to satisfy the entire possible audience . word to burton  if you  re out there   pick something and do it straight  or use some style to peice it all together  as in  mars attacks  or  beetlejuice   or you might as well retire  because people like me that are fans of your movies will stop going .  
farewell friend aka adieu l  ami  honour among thieves isn  t perfect but it is a neat and entertaining thriller that sees mismatched demobbed french algerian war veterans alain delon and charles bronson trapped in the same basement vault  one to return stolen bonds  the other to clean out the two million in wages sitting there over the christmas weekend . naturally things aren  t quite that simple even after they open the vault  leading to some neat twists and turns . on the debit side  there  s a very bizarre striptease scene in a car park  bronson has a very irritating fonzie  like catchphrase he uses at the most inopportune moments  brigitte fossey  sporting perhaps the most hideously misconceived hairstyle of the   s  it makes her look like a bald woman whose wig is blown back off the top of her head by a high wind   is something of a liability  her  i  ll cook spaghetti  i  ll learn to make love well  i  ll read shakespeare   speech is hysterical in all the wrong ways  and it  s a shame about the horrible last line  shot  but otherwise this is a surprisingly entertaining and unpretentious number that  s worth checking out if you can find a decent print .  br    br   cinema club  s uk dvd only offers the english soundtrack  but since delon voices himself and the rest of the cast are fairly well dubbed that  s no great problem  especially since the widescreen transfer is pretty good quality .  
we gave up at the point where george clooney  s character has his finger  nails extracted . we were not squeamish  having sat through an hour of this drivel we just knew what it felt like . to say this film was incomprehensible  boring  pretentious twaddle would be to over  praise it  how did people manage to sit through this confusing  slow  depressing pseud  s corner of a film  let alone nominate it for an oscar  clooney looked as ill as we felt watching him . what was he thinking  oh . . and what was with those subtitles   did we just have a dud dvd or was the original film done like that  sentences left hanging in mid  air  the film was hard enough to follow without that as well . i pity the cast  who obviously did their best with the material available .  
a clever script from the late sebastian japrisot and smart performances from the two male leads  alain delon and charles bronson  or should it be the other way around  result in an engaging and entertaining thriller .  br    br   add to the above the competent direction from veteran jean herman and a sparse but effective score by francois de roubaix  it becomes easy why this film has an odd timeless quality .  br    br   this is a buddy buddy or bonding story with two loners  both disillusioned and world weary  returning  presumably from algiers . like the other colonial powers of this time  post ww ii leading into the   s   france had struggled to keep up appearances overseas . losing algiers was a bitter blow .  br    br   adieu l  ami  the original title  chronicles the actions of our two  anti  heroes as they struggle to make a go of it  after their discharge .  br    br   one thing happens after another  and the viewer really has to pay attention  because japrisot is lean and economical with his script if it is there  then there must be a reason .  br    br   suffice to say  these two men battle it out  physically and psychologically  one long weekend . their motivation is quite different  their goals are different  their survival depends entirely on each other . that alain delon and charles bronson are outwardly so different  the former  arguably a pretty boy  and the latter an ugly thug  adds to the chemistry .  br    br   that quest makes for a great story  which in turn  makes for a great film .  br    br   lest i forget there are women in this film  and true to the japrisot method  they too are memorable  though not nearly as fleshed out to say much more would be to spoil one  s delight in discovering their true nature .  br    br   farewell  friend has been released in the uk an anamorphic image    .  enhanced in english only  not even subtitles for the hard of hearing   a running time of    minutes mono soundtrack but the de roubaix music has lots of punch   br    br   highly recommended .  
contrary to most other comments about  syriana  on the imdb web  site  i and my family found watching this film on dvd at home a complete waste of time and space .  br    br   in short  this was a film based on a script whose writer was being too clever by far . rather than trying to tell a complex story in an intelligent and clear manner  it was assumed that constantly throwing mostly vague and hard to connect with each other    second vignettes of different story  lines from a dozen or so  story  lines  at the audience made for great and clear viewing . no  sir  it does not . what does make for great viewing is total clarity  precision  plots and story  lines  and characterisations  which have a beginning  a middle  and an end .  br    br   this kind of cinematic presentation  akin to the dim sum experience in a chinese restaurant  is pretentious and unintelligent in the extreme .  br    br   thank goodness  then  for the tv and dvd presentations of the hollywood and british film noirs of the     s and     s whose writers  director  and actors knew the value of clear story telling  diction  and acting that meant something .  br    br   this is one dvd that this family will not be sitting through again .  
noni hazlehurst  s tour  de  force performance  which won her an afi award  is at least on par with her effort in fran three years later . colin friels is also good  and  for those who are interested  alice garner appears as noni  s child  and michael caton  best known for the castle  is a bearded painter .  also interestingly  hazlehurst is currently the host of lifestyle program better homes and gardens  and caton is the host of property  type programs including hot property  hot auction  etc . . .  this film reaffirms the popularly  held belief that noni was arguably australia  s top female actor during the early  to  mid     s . rating       .  
i saw this film last night following a lot of good reviews from many sources . i would like to point out that if your not ready to try and work out continuously who is who and what it all means you will hate this film .  br    br   i am still struggling to understand the roles of the actors in this film  the film jumps from different stories and does not allow you to really empathise with any of the roles .  br    br   for the political buff  s and those interested in corruption in other world governments out there this film is probably quite good  but to the average movie watcher this film is awkward  very boring in places and you will leave the cinema confused and annoyed that you paid the entrance fee .  br    br   see it if your ready to focus     on every minute detail or politics interest you . don  t see it  if you actually like watching films .  
nora is a single mother  of  two who still wants to live the life of a young artist in the     s  as do her friends  a group of writers  singers and actors . the free love  philosophy isn  t quite out of the system  and nora didn  t count on falling in love  particularly with a junkie . hazlehurst won her first of two afi awards in the space of four years for her amazing portrayal of nora  who makes sure she does the right thing by her children  but falls in love with junkie javo  friels  at the same time . garner  who would later costar in films such as love and other catastrophes and strange planet  is well  cast as nora  s pre  pubescent daughter  and caton  perhaps in readiness for his role as host of the lifestyle program hot property in         appears as a bearded painter . early effort by director cameron is a winner he went on to make the award  winning miniseries my brother jack among his later projects . but it  s the stunning delivery by hazlehurst which brings to life the intelligent  searching script  based on helen garner  s award  winning novel .  
ok hollywood is not liberal .  br    br   obviously i  m lieing because it is . im a conservative but the politics i will leave out of my opinion of the movie . this movie was anti bush  anti middle east  anti big oil propaganda but that is not why it was bad .  br    br   fist off i will give credit where credit is due . i saw this film opening night because i happen to like these kinds of films and am a political science major in collage . the cinematography was excellent and the acting was as far as i could tell very good .  br    br   the plot was impossible for me to decode however . i have been tested and have an iq of    but no matter how hard i tried there was no way i could piece together the story line of the movie and what characters where doing what .  br    br   the story and scene sequence was totally incoherent and poorly organized .  br    br   unless this is one of those movies that is meant to be watch many times to get the full depth pf the story  which it very well may be  i have no idea exactly what was going on .  br    br   which makes sense because if you want to make a political argument and not receive any criticism then make your argument impossible to critique  if you cant dazzle them with brilliance  then baffle them with bull s .  
noni hazlehurst  colin friels  alice garner  chrissie amphlett and michael caton  what more could you ask for  monkey grip based on the prize winning novel of the same name explores nora  hazlehurst  a single mother falling for a heroin addict jobe  friels  . a simple story is made truly extraordinary through the all round magnificent acting  in particular noni hazlehurst  and nice use of the small budget . the only flaw is  if you can pick it up  is that the story is set in melbourne  although for budget reasons  the film was mainly shot in sydney  so as a result  in a few scenes you see trams  melbourne scenes  and then a carlton post office  sydney scenes  . other than that   monkey grip  is a must see  excuse the clique  but it is  at least for an award winning performance from former  play school  and  better homes  gardens  presenter noni hazlehurst .  br    br         
this movie  supposedly a thriller  had about five sub  plots that developed simultaneously to climax at the end  but it ended up more as a yawn .  br    br   the writing was trite  the pace was slow and disjointed and the characters were boring . george clooney looks like he needs to get into a gym  matt damon hammed it up and the others seemed to read their lines from a teleprompter .  br    br   the worst part of this movie was that it was carefully crafted to be politically correct and so it ended up saying nothing at all about big business  oil and the middle  east . i have seen documentaries provide more excitement . watch it only if there  s absolutely nothing else to do .  
i definitely recommend reading the book prior to watching the film . this book won national book council award in     and is a very gripping read  pun not intended  . it  s not too difficult to read for those out there that don  t read often so don  t be afraid  the book seems to capture the passion of the relationships more so than the movie and the movie will make more sense after reading the book . having grown up in melbourne i could really relate to this book and movie . very few australian female writers were around the in the    s therefore very little is documented about the way of life for a women in an urban city in australia during this era or class . it  s a precious piece of melbourne history . it  s a shame that it is documented as some sort of    s soft porn movie . it  s far from that and as the other reviewer has mentioned please do not read the dvd jacket  it does not represent what the movie is about at all . those that rent the movie based on this description will only be disappointed . just remember this movie was made in      so don  t expect the hollywood over dramatization that they seem to incorporate these days . this is what i like about it . it  s also great seeing noni hazlehurst in this role  she is just fantastic as nora and it  s great watching her really acting  for if you  re close to my age you will best remember her for her stints on playschool and better homes and gardens . who knew she hid this talent  this movie will give you an entirely new impression of her . a classic australian story   
exceedingly complicated and drab . i  m a bright guy  but this was just too much for a tired brain . it would really benefit from a few early clues as to who these people are and what they are doing . probably better for the us market . gc himself hinted that this alone did not supply his oscar and you can see why .  br    br   still the sand dunes are pretty . the nail pulling is nasty . the attorneys drunk dad is a mystery . the cricket is good to see .  br    br   very difficult to write the required ten lines on this  despite it being over  hours long . thank heavens they shortened it . admittedly we don  t get to the pictures much  but the last film we saw  walk the line  was   times better and i don  t really like johnny cash . my wife says george still looks good with the beard and a few extra pounds so there  s that . . . . . am i nearly there yet   br    br   how about now  
if jean renoir  s first film  whirlpool of fate  first takes us into the world of the countryside  the rivers  the lives of the peasantry that he will continue to explore  it seems only fitting that his second film deals for the most part with the wealthy and the privileged  the upper classes and those who are trying to claw their way upwards . put the characters from the first two films together and you have the seeds of his great  grand illusion  and  rules of the game .  this is beautifully filmed  with the restless camera making full use of the amazingly huge apartments and backstage areas that dominate the film  s interiors  and the acting though frequently overwrought offers some great moments as well  particularly from werner krauss  muffat . but the glamorous and sultry ms . hessling  who at first appears as if she might give louise brooks a run for her money in vampishness  never goes beyond a one note  selfish harlot portrayal . perhaps this is in part a problem with the script  which does seem to mostly go for high points and outraged emotions not having read the novel i  m not really clear on whether the choices were well  made or not .  br    br   still  the differences between nana  s suitors are well  drawn  and i particularly liked the relationship between muffat and jean angelo  s vandeuvres   the tragic understandings that each seems to have of his ultimate fate and their sympathy with each other  particularly in the scene at the bottom of the enormous staircase where vandeuvres warns muffat  and we wonder if violence will erupt   this and other gleanings of the ridiculousness of the idle rich help give the film the depth it has .  br    br   far from his greatest achievement  and for me probably just shy overall of  whirlpool of fate   this is still well worth seeing for renoir fans or those interested in silent cinema generally .  
i couldn  t wait to receive the dvd after hearing so much about the film . what a disappointment  this became one of the most confusing films i  ve ever viewed . there were so many characters introduced  some resembling others  that it became impossible to follow the story line . i could not understand how george clooney received an acting award for the film since he was hardly involved  at least in the first half of the movie . my wife and i gave up after about an hour of misery and stopped the dvd . i might have considered fast forwarding to see if the ending was any better but after so much confusion decided that chances for improvement were slim . a co  worker told me that a lot of the movie  comes together  in the last minute or less . i was glad i didn  t waste another hour  waiting . i gave the dvd away the following day .  
this is the first jean renoir silent film i have watched and perhaps rightly so since it is generally regarded to be his best  besides being also his first major work . overall  it is indeed a very assured and technically accomplished film which belies the fact that it was only renoir  s sophomore effort . for fans of the director  it is full of interesting hints at future renoir movies especially the diary of a chambermaid       and the golden coach        in its depiction of a lower class femme fatale madly desired by various aristocrats who disgrace themselves for her  but also the rules of the game        showing as it does in one sequence how the rowdy servants behave when their masters  backs are turned away from them  and french cancan        nana is seen having a go at the scandalous dance at one point . personally  i would say that the film makes for a respectable companion piece to g . w . pabst  s pandora  s box        josef von sternberg  s the blue angel       and max ophuls  lola montes       in its vivid recreation of the sordid life of a courtesan .  br    br   having said all that  the film was a resounding critical and commercial failure at the time of its release  a mad undertaking as renoir himself later referred to it in his memoirs which  not only personally cost him a fortune  he eventually eased the resulting financial burden by selling off some of his late father  s paintings   but almost made him give up the cinema for good  stylistically  nana is quite different from renoir  s sound work and owes a particular debt to erich von stroheim  s foolish wives        a film renoir greatly admired  and  on a personal note  one which i really ought to revisit presto  having owned the kino dvd of it and the other von stroheims for  years now  . anyway  nana is certainly not without its flaws a deliberate pace makes itself felt during the overly generous    minute running time with some sequences  the horse race around the mid  point in particular  going on too long .  br    br   the overly mannered acting style on display is also hard to take at times  particularly that of catherine hessling  s nana and raymond guerin  catelain  s georges hugon  one of her various suitors  although  technically  they are being their characters i . e . a bad actress  who takes to the courtesan lifestyle when she is booed off the stage  and an immature weakling  respectively . however  like anna magnani in the golden coach  hessling  renoir  s wife at the time  by the way  is just not attractive enough to be very convincing as the epitome of elegance  as another admirer describes her at one stage  who is able to enslave every man she meets . other notables in the cast are dr . caligari himself  werner krauss  as nana  s most fervent devotee  count muffat   jean angelo  as an initially skeptical but eventually tragic suitor of nana  s  and future distinguished film director claude autant  lara  billed as claude moore and also serving as art director here  as muffat  s close friend but who is secretly enamored with the latter  s neglected wife   br    br   the print i watched  via lionsgate  s jean renoir   disc collector  s edition  is  for the most part  a lovingly restored and beautifully  tinted one which had been previously available only on french dvd . being based on a classic of french literature  by emile zola  no less   it cannot help but having been brought to the screen several times and the two most notable film versions are dorothy arzner  s in      with anna sten and lionel atwill and which i own on vhs  and christian  jaque  s in      with martine carol and charles boyer  which i am not familiar with  .  
this movie was slower then molasses in january . . . in alaska . the man who put togeather the preview should get an award for managing to put every one of the   seconds that were interisting into the preview . i had to wake up the people i was watching it with  several times . after it was over  i felt bad for having woken them up .  br    br   most of the film is taken up with hoping something will actually happen  but nothing ever does . it was easy to loose track of people  s motives  and the characters were flat and uninteristing . by the end of the movie  you just hoped everyone would died . everyone runs around either being contemptible  petty  or pitiful  and usually all three .  br    br   and worse  we watched a minute or two of the added features  just for kicks and giggles you understand  and all that we saw was people being smug about how socially aware they are . if they had spend the time on the movie that they did patting themselves on the back  it might have been worth watching .  br    br   i was brought in expecting the excitement of    .  i got a lecture on social awareness through the blery eyes of the sandman .  
ok  this movie starts out like a cheesy lifetime movie and doesn  t get better till almost well through the movie . the script is full of  cheese  and  fluff  and cast is not well directed for the most part . for the first half of the movie the little girl grated on my nerves . i do not think this is one of her best acting jobs . the only reason i bought the movie is because it was on sale and had ellen burstyn in it . she  s terrific but this is also not one of her best acting gigs . the story is based on true events and that helps the movie . actually  i didn  t even like the movie at first and was getting disgusted when i saw stills of the balloon traveling  i mean . . let it get where it  s suppose to go and be done with it  but all is forgiven by the time it does reach it  s destination and the story comes to a close . if this doesn  t bring a tear to your eye  nothing will  it  s cheesy and predictable but also makes you feel good about the world again .  
simply put the movie is boring . clich upon clich is confirmed and story lines never come together . it seems as if the director was unsure whether to make a movie or a documentary . the main plot is very thin  a cia agent is ordered to kill an oil prince  gets caught and then warns the prince  why    and therefore some elements were added to make the movie more interesting . so  a kid dies  which results in the  natural  response of the father freely advising the person indirectly responsible for his son  s death . the lawyer has a drunk  friend  and keeps him around  why  no one knows . some kids become suicide terrorists and blow up a ship .  br    br   all in all  this is one of the worst movies i have seen in quite a while . i was neither entertained nor intellectually challenged . i neither laughed nor cried  i did not gain an understanding nor was i compelled to learn more or take up a cause . it meant nothing to me  which in my eyes is the worst one can say about a movie .  
it is a great movie . i sow that some people think that this might not be based on a true story . no matter this    the movie is great  and all u can think is not why a balloon with a mermaid on it ends up flying in the mermaid town and so on  instead thinking that  a little girl  s wish came true   and this means that all our peaceful dreams will come true if we trust in us  and do all in this world to make them true . the little girl  desi  in the movie   and her mom  were the best actors i  ve been seen in a long time . good for they  for all actors  all for the director . if someone can tell them this  please tell them   a   year guy from romania says thank you for making this movie  .  
seldom do i give up on a movie without seeing the entire show . this is particularly true when i have rented it on dvd . syriana was one in which i did give up . half way through i turned it off in bored disgust .  br    br   this movie is disjointed  boring  confusing and lackluster . the acting was dry and without credible portrayals . the general plot was good but developed in such an insipid and boring fashion that it failed to grasp my attention or interest . the multiple sub plots often failed to connect to each other and seemed more like random stories than an actual connected plot . too bad such a serious subject and such great actors could create such a flop . i cannot imagine this movie receiving any nominations much less an award .  
the premise may seem goofy  but since murphy  s character doesn  t take it seriously  it helps ease the audience into this mix of mysticism and modern  day hard  boiled child abduction . excellent cast  particularly charles dance and charlotte lewis  and murphy is at the height of his    s peak in comedy  action . there  s also some great f  x  a very surreal dream sequence  and a fairly original plot . often overlooked in the pantheon of murphy flicks  but this one is worth a look .  
spoilers i guess .  br    br   the absolutely absurd logic of the ending ruins the entire movie . i just couldn  t get over it . and what is wrong with mark wahlberg  s character  if i suddenly found myself crashed  landed on a planet full of talking apes  i  d be all like   aaaahhhhhhh    run for your lives  the monkeys have inherited the earth   but he  s all like   talking apes  okay . next   that  s pretty jaded i  d say . he must run into even stranger things on a regular basis . besides that  this is rick baker  s best work yet . this film is a true testament to how far we  ve come in the monkey makeup field .     .  
i just saw this movie on tv . .  br    br   i  ve lost my dad when i was young and this movie surely did touch me . .  br    br   i can feel the lost that the little girl desi felt . .  br    br   the feeling of wanting to see her father again . .  br    br   wanting to talk to him . .  br    br   or at least given the chance to say goodbye . .  br    br   and i  m so touched with the letter that was wrote back to her . .  br    br   saying that her father read her letter  and sent it back to someone to reply her and buy her a present because there isn  t a shop in heaven . .  br    br   it just lets me feel that miracles do exist . .  
syriana swept the critics upon release and everything seemed to be raving about it . i suppose it  s one of those films that is intensely intelligent . . . so intelligent that i think you need to be well versed in the oil industry and a politically brilliant mind . i don  t consider myself unintelligent  i  ve been studying politics since my early teens and i enjoy an intelligent film but for the most part unless it  s a documentary films are meant to be primarily entertaining as well as have a message . syriana tried to be strictly intelligent and it does turn some people away . i would even go so far as to say that those who rave about it and insist it  s a      are lying because they think they look better . this film was the most confusing  senseless  mindless dribble i have seen in awhile . . . especially considering the critical acclaim  the oscar nods  and the cast . screenplay writer stephen gaghan has disappointed me yet again . his horribly written havoc preceded this film and i think he  s just trying way too hard . i can  t believe he was offered the opportunity to write the da vinci code screenplay . on top of that gaghan directed the film which made it an absolute mess . i had no idea who anyone was  why things were happening  who was who and what was what . it was a disaster .  br    br   because i don  t really know who anyone was i can only mention the actors and what i thought of their performances because despite the horrendously complicated script the actors did alright . george clooney plays c . i . a . field agent and assassin i think   bob barnes . clooney has never been a favorite of mine but lately he  s managed to churn out some decent performances and this seemed to be a pretty good performance on his part . barnes was a complex character with a sordid history and if i knew what was going on with him i would have really enjoyed his character . matt damon plays bryan woodman and he is rather bland and always looks like a deer in the headlights which i can understand his confusion after reading this script and then trying to perform it . amanda peet plays his wife and she does well in the few scenes she is given . christopher plummer makes a cameo appearance as someone doing something . i like plummer and love seeing him show up even if he doesn  t get top billing anymore .  br    br   the cast is intense if only the story made sense . i  d like to exact quote the description of plot on imdb .  a missile disappears in iran  but the cia has other problems the heir to an emirate gives an oil contract to china  cutting out a us company that promptly fires its immigrant workers and merges with a small firm that has landed a kazakhstani oil contract . the department of justice suspects bribery  and the oil company  s law firm finds a scapegoat . the cia also needs one when its plot to kill the emir  apparent fails . agent bob barnes  the fall guy  sorts out the double cross . an american economist parlays the death of his son into a contract to advise the sheik the cia wants dead . the jobless pakistanis join a fundamentalist group . all roads start and end in the oil fields .  what     say who now   syriana might be the thinking man  s movie but it bored me to tears and no matter how hard i tried to stay with it i eventually surrendered and turned it off after an hour and a half and you couldn  t have bribed me enough to get me to finish it . i suppose if you want to form an opinion than by all means watch it but i promise you someone looking for entertainment or an enjoyable film will be asleep in the first half hour .      
i didn  t know the real events when i sat down to watch this  just the fact that this was based upon a true story . after the death of the kid  s father  rhonda tries to help her daughter desiree  . . . i did not know anyone actually named their offspring that  cope with the loss . this is really made for children  as is often the case with  family  flicks  with that said  go ahead and get everyone together for a viewing  though i  d keep teenagers out of it  unless you  re sure they  re gonna buy the concept   but it doesn  t downplay the sting that the death of a parent is  and it doesn  t really talk down to anyone . the plot is sufficiently interesting  and moves along well enough . acting varies  with the excellent burstyn outshining most of her fellow cast  mathis following that pretty well  and ferland and her peers  with a few exceptions  being the least convincing of the bunch  and frankly  they  re irritating then again  i  m not really in the intended audience for this thing  . the editing and cinematography are standard  and certainly not less than that . while humor is limited to a handful of amusing lines or so  the tone is not an unpleasant one . there is an intense scene or two in this . i recommend this to fans of these types of movies .      
living in the middle east  in israel   i was excited when i bought my ticket for syriana . having seen the trailer  and being a thriller  lover  i expected to see first of all a fast moving  breath catching movie  which wisely dips in global policy  making and the relation between oil  power and corruption  from a fresh angle . well  i almost left the movie in the middle . the pace was painfully slow  almost all characters were stereotyped  the intertwined editing made understanding the logic very difficult  but  as steve rhodes wrote in his review  in the end you don  t care . save your money  save your time  choose another movie .  br    br   robi chernitsky  
the little girl desi is so adorable . . . i cant think of a more beautiful story then this one here . it will make you cry  laugh  and believe . knowing that this was based on a true story just made me gasp and it also made me realize that there are nice people out there . great cast and an overall great movie .  
imagine turning the american national anthem into a cartoon . throw in a couple of cute animals  some terrible puns and a pair of roller skates and you  d find yourself with almost an exact replica of this film .  br    br   i remember seeing this when i was younger i made my mother rent it from the video shop about  times . the story itself isn  t too bad  it  s just that any marxists watching would certainly have something to complain about .  br    br   if you don  t like america you won  t like this film .  
a warm  touching movie that has a fantasy  like quality .  br    br   ellen burstyn is  as always  superb .  br    br   samantha mathis has given many great performances  but there is just something about this one will haunt your memory .  br    br   most of all  you  ve got to see this amazing   yr . old  jodelle ferland . i was so captivated by her presence  i had to buy the movie so i could watch her again and again . she is a miracle of god  s creation .  br    br   judging by the high imdb rating  i  m not the only one who was mesmerized by this young actress .  
this is probably one of the worst movies i have ever seen  everything about it is weak and incoherent . the acting is absurd  the costumes even crummier and the story is non  existent . this  poverty row  sword and adventure film was meant to capture some of the success that  beastmaster  and  conan  enjoyed but it doesn  t give us any reason to follow along . the lead character is tepid and dull  he can  t even fight with a sword and the sword is from the   th century . all the action sequences are like that  slow and unrealistic  not to mention the castle and the horribly dated music playing whenever they are riding a horse . don  t even bother with this crap .  
and look how a true story   . . . with a little help of it  s friends . . .   a welldone and touching script  a good directing and a surprising great acting from a bunch of  no  name  actors  especially from the   yr  old jodelle ferland  becomes a must seen movie .      
i saw the mst  k version of  deathstalker iii  and loved the movie so much   even  unmystied    that i decided to watch the entire series of  deathstalker  films . i bought i and ii and settled down for a laugh .  br    br   nothing about  deathstalker i  was funny on any level and when the credits rolled i was embarrassed and regretful that i had bought it  too much ugliness and nudity . i guess either  ds   was a much cleaner production or mst  k really edited a lot because i expected something similar  i . e . stupid and carefree and simple . i was wrong . even at   .   it seemed a waste of money . i didn  t even open  ds   as i will return it tomorrow . now i  ll probably just throw away this dvd as i can  t return it and no one wants it   including myself  so really  don  t bother with this one . even the nudity  lots of it  btw  is uninspiring and icky .  
what an inspiring movie  i laughed  cried and felt love . for a true story  it does give you hope and that miracles do happen . it has a great cast . ellen burstyn  samantha mathis  jodelle ferland  she  s  or  yrs . old  what a actress . its on showtime . a must see movie       
i don  t recall walking out of a movie theater except this once . not only that  but i was with  friends  and we all wanted to go . an uninteresting plot  characters made of clay  violence with no point . i didn  t care when the good guys died i didn  t care when the bad guys got it . the fantasy and magic was laid on thick as liver pudding and there was no coherency . in short  fine entertainment if you happen to be spending an eternity in hell .  
this is just a short comment but i stumbled onto this movie by chance and i loved it . the acting is great  the story is simple and touching  and the lines  especially from the   yr  old desi  are so cute and sad . seek it out .  
wha  bam  someone surely had fun devouring a whole truckload of acid  mushrooms and then subsequently scripting this crazy excuse for a motion picture  writer howard cohen expands the  sword  sorcery  concept with a couple of extra s  s  like sex  silliness   more  sex and sheer stupidity  this isn  t just a movie  this is every juvenile pervert  s dreams  fantasies come true   deathstalker  has it all blood  violence  trolls  female mud  wrestling  attempted rape  successful rape  life  sized pigs     awful hairstyles  hideously oiled muscular bodies  multi  sexual orgies  gay warriors  tournaments  to  the  death  delirious witches  dismemberment  laughable villains and boobs  boobs  booooooooobies    deathstalker  literally wipes the floor with its obvious role  model  conan the barbarian  when it comes to terms of cheesiness and sheer flamboyance . the story is  evidently  of minor importance . lone and gay  only he doesn  t know it yet  warrior deathstalker goes on a mission  as commanded by an annoying witch  to gather the three notorious elements of creation or something like that . on his journey he combines forces with a troll  turned  human  a fighter who  s even gayer than he is and  last but not least  a luscious lady who doesn  t really seem to be a big support of the concept of bras . together they head for the kingdom of the ultimately evil munkar where they  ll participate in a warriors  tournament and conquer no less than two out of three elements . munkar is bald guy with half a spider  s web tattooed on his skull and an impressive harem that would even make the wealthiest oil sheik jealous . okay  granted   deathstalker  is a pretty damn awful and at some times even unendurable movie . the fight sequences are lame and the costumes and make  up effects are downright pitiable . for a moment  when beholding the opening sequence  i actually feared i was watching  troll the prequel  . the monsters look incredibly cheesy and the complete opposite as menacing  but it  s undeniable entertainment if you  re in an undemanding mood . i presume this isn  t a favorite amongst feminists  as the overall portrayal of women is somewhat umdiscriminating . most of the gals exclusively serve as eye  candy in the harem . they  re allowed crawl over the floor naked and play around in the mud  but strictly forbidden to open their mouths . the two  leading  ladies  barbi benton and lana clarkson  are ravishing but  in all honesty  if it wouldn  t be for their continuously exposed racks  they would hardly be worth mentioning  either .  
my family and i have viewed this movie often over the years . it is clean  wholesome  heartbreaking and heartwarming . showing us the compassion between two families of two countries thousands of miles apart and by the most uncanny of coincidences  it  s almost as if the hand of god had to be intervening .  br    br    yo jodelle micah ferland who plays desi the heart stricken little girl  does a magnificent job of acting her part  and for me she was the priam choice for the lead role .  br    br   all in all  a   out of   . there are no downsides to this sweet human story . children of all ages will tearfully  then joyfully watch this and it will bring the viewing family together with smiles and good feelings .  
this is one of those movies that you and a bunch of friends sit around drinking beers  eating pizza  and laugh at . unfortunately for me i found myself watching this one alone . my friends and i rented a big block of movies and never got around to seeing this one . it was due back and i figured that it was a waste not to watch it . so i did  and i was impressed at how absolutely terrible this movie is .  br    br   now  i love bad movies quite a bit  and i probably would have liked this one if the  hero  wasn  t so utterly loathsome . the entire movie i was hoping that he  d put that stupid sword down and let someone kill him  he does very little heroic things in the movie . he  s a beefy  disgusting  stupid thing . he has less redeeming qualities than the villains do . and what was it with all the naked chicks  i mean  i love naked chicks just as much as the next guy  but this movie went a tad overboard in that department .  br    br   well  anyway  if you love bad movies and can stand a disgusting  hero  then i  m sure you  ll like this schlock of a film .  
what a lovely heart warming television movie . the story tells of a little five year old girl who has lost her daddy and finds it impossible to cope . her mother is also very distressed . . only a miracle can alleviate their unhappiness . which all viewers hope will materialise . samantha mathis is brilliant as the little girl  s mum  as she was as the nanny in  jack and sarah   worth watching if you like both samantha mathis and happy year tear jerking movies  ellen burstyn is  as  always a delightful grandmother in this tender and magnificently acted movie . jodelle ferland  the little five year old  is charming and a most convincing young actress . the film is based on a true story which makes it so touching .  mermaid  is a tribute to the milk of human kindness which is clearly illustrated and clearly is still all around us in this difficult world we live in .  mermaid  gives us all hope  by realising that there a lot of lovely people in the world with lot  s of love to give . james robson glasgow scotland u . k .  
i had to give this film a  because it  s that bad  but don  t make this think that i didn  t enjoy watching  because i laughed and laughed  and i even had a few questions . so half of the time i was laughing  half of the time i was saying  what in the hell is going on   or  why would someone do this   et cetera . i mostly enjoyed the terrible fog effects  the    s style nude scene  battle  dialogue  nude scene  and the way that the warrior  s swords flap in the wind when they ride their horses . and there  s some crappy model effects  those aren  t supposed to be real trees  are they   and i still don  t understand this guy that they find in the cave  what in the hell is he  a friend of mine told me about these movies and i thought i would give em a try  and i basically liked the film as people like ed wood films  i have no real enjoyment of what the film was meant to be  i look at it in my own hilarious way . so don  t let this distract you if you really thought this was an action movie  it is  i just liked it for other reasons . it  s much  much worse than evil dead  so it can actually make you think as though you are wasting your life by watching it  which came into my mind a few times  . i guess the best thing for most people would be to have a few drinks  have some friends around  and laugh at this film . maybe this is a bit harsh  but i don  t think so  rent it and you  ll see . yo .  
what are the odds of a  mermaid  helium balloon traveling from yuba city  ca .  on nov  th       and landing  days later   on nov .    in mermaid  prince edward island  canada .  approx .     miles  . this is a great movie . it is based on a true story . this movie helps not only children cope with losses  but older people as well . hope everyone will enjoy it    rhonda  
deathstalker is perfect for b  fantasy movie fans this barely    minute travesty of film  making features everything hecklers can ask for   non  existent plotting  terrible acting  save for at least a raspy  sounding old lady   laughable scripting and schlock editing  and bargain  basement style background settings . there are no characters that come across as likable or interesting  in particular  the lead doesn  t have anything appealing about him   and the actors assembled barely do anything to rise above the f  grade material . if that  s not enough  then how about the lack of a compelling plot  which this movie has nothing of the sort  to make deathstalker qualify as a major turkey  i was also offended that the women in this movie barely serve any purpose other than to   be topless and  or scantily clad   get raped   have sex with the hero   all of the above . in addition  the background music is hideous a bizarre mess of electronic noise  cheesy choral bursts  and blaring orchestral cacophony . ear numbing and eye numbing all in one packed with nary a thing to keep one interested  deathstalker is probably best suited for folks looking for something to laugh at  and believe me  there  s plenty of that in here  . otherwise  i do not recommend this    th  grade conan wanna  be to anyone in the least .  
i loved this movie . i totally disagree with some  negative  critiques that i  ve read over the years . this was a great vehicle for eddie murphy  he appeared to have a great time with his part as chandler jarrell and he should never care about what the critics say  if he had fun doing it  and most of his audience enjoyed it  and  it was fun to watch as it combined some great fantasy tension with mr . murphy  s great comedic style . you have to keep in mind that  golden child  is a  fantasy  film  just an imaginative work of magic and wonder amidst the  real  world . during the time this film was released  i was working in a video rental store . this was one of the most popular with all our customers . every single time  we put this one up on our monitor  all the copies we had went out fast with wait  list requests that kept it on the queue for months  everyone who rented it loved it  i was the resident film critic and all my regular customers would ask my opinion before they rented  this was one of my favorites and i knew the taste of my customers so i highly recommended this one to most of them . i really feel that this film is a sleeper  it may not have done too well at the box office  due to very poor marketing  but it hit a high in the video rental and purchase market later   yes  i did buy this film for my own video library   . i adored the little boy who played the  golden child   j . l . reate  but after looking at his profile in imdb  i noticed that he never did any more films . that is sad  because he definitely had an on  screen aura and could have continued with a film career . i also adored victor wong  who played the old man  i loved him in his part as  egg shen  in  big trouble in little china        . at any rate  this was a great film . the only drawbacks that didn  t seem to fit with the theme were some of the parts that got a bit more  adult  in nature  such as  chandler  s rather sexual remarks about the serpent lady that was presented to him as a silhouette . it was funny  but it still was out of sync . ok  so there were a few suggestive gratuitous scenes  those were put in for the mind  set of the day perhaps . this was still an adventurous and escapist type of film which we do need today to get away from all the hard core reality and depressing fluff that we are hit with from hollywood . now that  s entertainment   
not good  rent or buy the original  watch this only if someone has a gun to your head and then . . . . maybe .  br    br   it is like claiming an elvis actor is as good as the real king .  
this movie has a great message  a impressive cast  ellen burstyn  samantha mathis  jodelle ferland  was  years old when she made this movie  ellen burstyn and jodelle ferland have both been nominated for best actress in a tv drama at the up  coming emmy awards in new york  peter masterson  director  has been nominated best director tv drama at the emmy awards also . april        jodelle ferland  won   best actress in a tv drama  at the young artist awards  in studio city  ca . i can see why they have  nominations . mermaid is a true story  during the cridits they have the real family on the set  something you don  t see often . you can find mermaid at all blockbuster video stores . do watch it  you  ll be glad you did .  
 . . . or  more precisely  so bad that you are going to have the time of your life laughing your ass off when you watch it  james sbardellati  s  deathstalker  of     is certainly one of the most awful productions the sword  sorcery sub  genre has brought along  but it is highly amusing . the acting is terrible  the plot is pure crap  and the effects and photography couldn  t be more amateurish . but it is the bad acting  the cheesy effects  and the many errors  that makes this movie so hilarious .  br    br    spoilers ahead   br    br   deathstalker  rick hill  is an extremely strong and skilled warrior . one day  a good witch tasks him to unite the three powers of chaos and creation  a sword  an amulet and a chalice  in order to free the country from its brutal ruler  the evil king and sorcerer munkar . obtaining the sword is quite easy  but the amulet and the chalice are in munkar  s possession . fortunately  the evil king has arranged a tournament in which the county  s most skilled warriors fight each other until death . the winner is then to take the king  s place . of course  the king doesn  t want anybody to take his place  an therefore he has planned to kill the winner  instead of just not arranging the tournament in the first place  . deathstalker is not only to obtain the the three powers of creation  but also to save the old  good king  s gorgeous daughter  barbi benton  from the claws of evil munkar . luckily  he doesn  t get bored on his way to the tournament  since he is allowed hump the gorgeous female warrior kaira  lana clarkson  in the meantime . . .  br    br   the film has many great  incredibly stupid and funny scenes . some of my favorite scenes include  br    br    deathstalker beheads a bad guy with his sword . the head that falls down  however  is not that guy  s head . the falling head has a red goatee  while the guy beheaded by deathstalker had dark hair and no beard .  br    br    when the character of female warrior kaira  lana clarkson  is introduced  she is first seen in a black robe  hiding her face and body . deathstalker  s traveling companion oghris  richard brooker  fights her  and during the sword fight her robe  under which she is  of course topless  opens  exposing her breasts . her breasts are the first thing we see of lana clarkson  even before her face .  br    br    the last warrior deathstalker has to fight in the tournament  is a giant guy with the body of a man and the head of a pig .  br    br    evil munkar has an ugly little creature locked in a chest . he feeds that little creature human eyeballs and fingers .  br    br   . . . there are many other unintentionally funny  hilarious  and great scenes . the acting is terrible but barbi benton and the late lana clarkson are eye  candy  and although i described this movie as  unintentionally funny   i sometimes had the impression that some of the actors were absolutely aware of how crappy the movie is . there is a fair amount of gore  and lots of female nudity to keep the viewer entertained .  deathstalker  is an incredibly awful movie  but i still highly recommend it . people with a sense of humor will have the time of their lives   
ok  so i don  t watch too many horror movies  and the reason is films like  dark remains  . i caught this on  a surprisingly feature  filled  dvd and it scared me silly . in fact the only extra i think the dvd was missing was a pair of new pants .  br    br   however  the next day i was telling someone about it when i realised i  d only really seen about    of it . the rest of the time i  d been watching the pizza on my coffee table  nervous that my girlfriend would catch me if i actually covered my eyes . the few times i did brave watching the screen i jumped so hard that i decided not to look up again .  br    br   the film  making is solid and the characters  situation was really compelling . the simplicity of the film is what really captured my jump  button  it  s merely a woodland  a cabin and a disused jail  and a lot of darkness . most surprising to me was the fact that while this was clearly not a multi  million dollar production  the make  up effects really looked like it was  also  it  s obvious this is a film made by someone with a great love of film  making . the sound design and the music really made use of my surround system like many hollywood movies have never done . i noticed on  line that this film won the la shriekfest  a really major achievement  and i guess that the festival had seen the filmmakers  clear talent  and probably a great deal more of this movie than i managed to .  br    br   turn up the sound  turn off the lights  and  if you want to keep your girlfriend  order a pizza .  
this sword    sorcery story of an appallingly brutal and callous  hero  vanquishing an evil king is worthless in almost every detail . the acting is horrible from the leads to the supporting roles . the leering  gloating glee with which the director shows the hero smearing blood around is absolutely disgusting nor is it redeemed by any justice to his cause  since he is as bad as the people he  s fighting . z  movie editing is abundant  including a scene where a character  dies  from a sword thrust that very obviously missed completely   br    br   the movie is clearly banking on the charms of the female leads  barbi benton and lana clarkson  who are paraded around mostly naked throughout the movie . as a    something male  i will not pretend that female flesh on the screen doesn  t attract me . but the treatment of their characters is so degrading and the sex scenes so casual and joyless  that i couldn  t enjoy even this aspect of the movie .  br    br   most cheesy movies of this era are at least somewhat redeemed by a light  hearted  tongue  in  cheek feel  the sequel is better in this regard   but deathstalker seems to take itself completely seriously as heroic fantasy . no way  avoid at all costs   br    br   rating    out of  .  
i read nothing but good things about this movie and finally had a chance to watch it late last night and it was everything i expected it to be and more . this is the way a proper horror movie should be . i think the reason it was so scary was because it was so realistic . the spooky sounding score was perfect for setting a dark mood . i liked the dramatic opening scene and enjoyed how the rest of the movie played out . it was very easy to follow and understand unlike some movies which are way too complicated . the special effects were very good . i would love to see more horror movies like this one . this is easily one of my favorite  s . a realistic thunder and lightning storm would have set a nice atmosphere for this movie . other then that it had all the elements a good horror movie needs . i highly recommend this movie to anyone who can appreciate a good scary movie that pulls no punches . i will be adding it to my collection . the dvd has some interesting special features .  
deathstalker is directed by john watson and it stars rick hill  who is some kind of body builder and famous of that  if i have understood right  the plot follows as deathstalker  hill  tries to get something back from the evil lord  and he has to travel to the lord  s cave . he meets many dwarfs and monsters during his journey  and the settings are very close to tolkien  and of course conan the barbarian . this is a rip off of huge success of conan  and even though this is very stupid film  it has many nice trash merits and is recommended for trash fans and tolerating film junkies   br    br   there are no many cinematic merits in this film . couple of scenes are almost atmospheric and fascinating  but what deathstalker concentrates to show  are nude females and huge muscles of hill . females are usually helpless victims and very stupid  too  so this is very macho film and thus may not please many feminists  the fight scenes are nothing special and pretty dull  and the monsters are not either anything special . and all the other aspects of the film are also very amateurish and badly done  but what did you expect from low budget effort like this  this tries to be as great as conan but fails pretty miserably . as i said  this can please fans of turkey cinema but no one else . this belongs to the category it  s so bad it  s great   br    br   deathstalker is still not as near as bad as it could be  and as a turkey film  i appreciate this almost as much as other turkeys  enjoyable ones of course  if bad films are your cup of tea  then try this and have fun  but if you don  t understand  enjoyably bad films  then stay away . and if somebody can  t stand large amount of nudity  then stay away as well . there is more nudity here than violence  and due to these scenes  the film has an r rating . otherwise this could be some safe pg family film   br    br        
although i was in this movie playing the part of sheriff hodges  it still managed to make me jump in several places and believe me i  m not that easy . you might say that i  m biased about the film  and  ok  i am  but i didn  t see the finished product until           and was extremely pleased . i  m not a horror film fan as such but love the old  b  movies and black and white sci fi films . this movie will make you  think  you know when something is going to happen  then it doesn  t  then it does . it will keep you completely off balance . i would suggest watching the movie first then the director  s notes and special features . it is so well written  directed and filmed and i can tell you personally that it was a real joy to work with this cast and crew . i sincerely hope to be part of brian and laurence  s future projects .  
this film  s kind of like conan the barabarian  but with more sex  rape and murder . there is a plot somewhere underneath all this debauchery but the filmmakers don  t do a good job showing it  which is a shame because it  could  be a decent story . richard hill gives a solid performance in the lead role  as does the villain  who sadly didn  t appear in anything else of note . the fight scenes aren  t too bad either  i love the way deathstalker lets his sword  drink  the blood of his victims  and there  s plenty of nudity and sex to temper the general level of machismo throughout .  br    br   all in all  not good  but not necessarily that bad either . . .  
this movie scared the crap out of me  i have to admit that i spent most of the film watching through my fingers but what i saw was really scary . i screamed out loud two or three times during the show .  br    br   film  making  wise my favorite aspects were the sound and photography . the sound was particularly great and the setting was really creepy beautiful . i read somewhere that it  s some weird husband and wife team that made it . for some reason that makes this even stranger for me .  br    br   if you enjoy the jumps and jitters of scary movies than this one is for you  very suspenseful and a great movie to rent with a bunch of friends who love to watch movies curled up on a sofa screaming like little girls   
woosh  man what can i say . . .   br    br   the opening  scene  maybe  we see a bunch of mongoloid  barbarians with bad make  up jump off the walls of some ruins . they sneak around and attack some dude with a scantily clothed captive girl . the dude runs off  the mongoloids follow him and one of them stays behind seemingly to rape the girl  but instead he exposes one of her breasts and kidnaps her . then  the dude  still on the run  sees a horse and tries to steal it . suddenly a blond god  like looking hero with a bad wig appears  saying  that  s my horse   . the mighty deathstalker just made his appearance . the mongoloids arrive  deathstalker kills all of them  including the dude  on the tunes of some rather inappropriate mexicanos western score  this is supposed to be a swords  sorcery flick  so what  s with the  arriba  trompettos     and then goes up to captive girl and exposes both her breasts . he starts to rub them and captive girl seems to like it . she starts liking her lips and caressing deathstalker . just when they are about to get down to it  this old dude appears  interrupting what could have been the end of a perfect day for deathstalker  and a possible perfect ending for a short  film  .  br    br   now tell me isn  t that the point where either a feminist would angrily switch off the movie  or any other male viewer would say  this is going to be one hell of a good movie   the plot is as simple as throwing a kitten from the balcony deathstalker must obtain the sword of justice and use it to steal the amulet of life and the chalice of magic from the evil sorcerer munkar .  br    br   aside from decapitations  dismemberment  random bloodshed  retarded fist fights and embarrassing sword fights  this film also contains a massive amount of t  ts  a shots . i initially wanted to add one extra point to this movie for each gratuitous shot of naked boobies i could count . after  points  not even halfway into the movie   i had to give up counting . it was distracting me from the rest of the movie . and the rest of the movie was worth it . totally crazy stuff . check out this mutant cat  worm  like creature munkar has as a pet and which he feeds eyeballs and fingers . and here  s an interesting question what would you do if a man in a woman  s body would enter your bedroom and try to kill you with a knife  the answer is simple you slap him around a bit  take away the knife and then try to rape him . then you discover that he  s actually not a woman  so you throw him out of your bed and tell him to leave your room . it works out well  i tell you . deathstalker does it too  and the deathstalker  way  is the right way   br    br   deathstalker is a wonderful movie  really  as pointed out in other comments . the villains are vile . the women are delicious . there  s blood  sex  violence  rape and tasty chicken . there  s a completely pointless tournament which just features a bunch of barbarians beating  slashing and hacking the crap out of each other . my favorite weapon used in that tournament was a giant wooden hammer  used to beat a poor contender to bloody pulp . and my favorite contender undoubtedly was that one brute with the warthog  head  reminiscent of the gamorrean guards from return of the jedi  . i won  t reveal how the movie ends  but just prepare to ravish in delight when i tell you a   way dismemberment is thrown into the movie  s climax .  br    br   and of course  there  s a wonderful display of ineptitude throughout the whole movie . see a guy being dragged behind a horse over a dirt road  and the next point  of  view shot shows him being dragged over grass  no road  . see that awesome tattoo on the sorcerer  s head magically change sides within the same scene  on shot has it on the left side of his head  the other on the right  . well  after all  munkar is a magician . it  s that  or this movie was shot in an alternate universe where things like  continuity  simply don  t exist .  br    br   as much as i enjoyed this and as much as i am looking forward to the other  installments in this series  i do have enough shreds of decency left in me to not let this movie pass . i am prepared  though  to give it the maximum amount of minimal points  just so i could be able to deduct a couple of more points for the possibly inferior sequels to follow . deathstalker might be a superbly fun  trashy  sleazy conan rip  off  it also is an abominable movie .  
i just watched this movie and have to say  i was very impressed . it  s very creepy and has numerous moments that will make you jump out of seat  i had to smoke several  emergency  cigarettes along the way to calm my nerves  if i had to criticise  i  d say that perhaps if anything  there were too many jump moments . it got to the point where every single new scene climaxed with a jump and this gradually wore away the startling effect  because you kind of new what was coming .  br    br   although it contains virtually every clich in the ghost genre  they were all done so well that it maintained the creepy  fear  factor . it had elements of the shining  the  th sense and the changeling  in particular  the soundtrack reminded me of the changeling  .  br    br   i would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good old  fashioned scare   
bette davis brings her full trunk of tics to this miserable flop which is another variation on the  hilariously mismatched  lovers theme . sadly  cagney and davis are truly mismatched in acting styles and the mix is not simply unpalatable but distasteful . the only distinction in the film comes from eugene pallette who  literally  phones in his usual part as the deb  s misunderstood dad . jack carson  s performance can only be described as an act of mayhem on the audience  
well  this film is a difficult one really . to be straight with you  this film doesn  t contain much of a riveting story  nore does it make u  want  to know how it  ll end . . . but i  ll tell you something now . . . never have i been as tense and jumped up before in my life  this film sure does deliver the jumps and thrills  to be fair  i did watch it at almost midnight so i was kinda sleepy anyway  so maybe that explains why i was jumpy . . . or maybe it  s because this film does deliver in that aspect  it  s basically about a couple who lose their child in a tragic event . they decide to move away and rent a cabin looking thing in the mountains . . . all looks peaceful and calm until they have their first visitors  i think it  s it  s the sister of the main character  and she brings along her husband  . . . during the night  the husband hears noises . . . checks it out  and thats when things start to go really really wrong . . . they don  t stay for another day and tell the couple they should leave asap as something isn  t right . . . to cut a long story short . . . eventually they find out what has happened in that house in the past few years and decide it needs to be taken care of .  br    br   it  s not a hollywood blockbuster  nore does it have a huge budget  but please don  t let that put you off . it  s creepy  tense and very very jumpy  just give it a try    
rich ditzy joan winfield  a woefully miscast bette davis  is engaged to be married to stupid egotistical allen brice  jack carson looking lost  . her father  eugene palette  is determined to stop the marriage and has her kidnapped by pilot steve collins  james cagney . seriously  . they crash land in the desert and hate each other but  sigh  start falling in love .  br    br   this seems to be getting a high rating from reviewers here only because cagney and davis are in it . they were both brilliant actors but they were known for dramas not comedy and this movie shows why  the script is just horrible   there  s not one genuine laugh in the entire movie . the running joke in this has cagney and davis falling rump first in a cactus  this is done three times   . only their considerable talents save them from being completely humiliated . as it is they both do their best with the lousy material . cagney tries his best with his lines and davis screeches every line full force but it doesn  t work . carson has this  what the hell  look on his face throughout the entire movie  probably because his characters emotions change in seconds  . only palette with his distinctive voice and over the top readings manges to elicit a few smiles . but  all in all  this was dull and laughless   a real chore to sit through . this gets two stars only for cagney and davis  acting and some beautiful cinematography but really   it  s not worth seeing . cagney and davis hated this film in later years and you can see why .  
dark remains is a home run plain and simple . the film is full of creepy visuals  and scares  that will make the most seasoned horror veteran jump straight out of there seat . the staircase scene in particular  these guys are good . although they weren  t working on a huge budget everything looks good  and the actors come through . dark remains does have one of those interpretive endings which may be a negative for some  but i guess it makes you think . cheri christian and greg thompson are spot on as the grieving couple trying to rebuild there lives   however some side characters like the sheriff didn  t convince me . they aren  t all that important anyways . i give dark remains a perfect ten rating for being ten times scarier than any recent studio ghost story  japanese remake .  
this film was a big disappointment .  br    br   i take the opposite view of the critics . this is not a case of the material not being up to the level of the actors here the actors  bette davis and james cagney  are simply not up to the level of the material . clark gable and claudette colbert were every bit as big as davis and cagney  and look how it happened one night turned out  an all  time classic . with a very similar story  davis proves that she has no talent for comedy  good thing for her that this is just about the only comedy she ever attempted   davis  one  note performance oozes petulance  but none of the nuances of colbert  s acting in it happened one night . cagney  who was a great comedy actor  just seems out  of  sync with his costar  davis . the script provides some decent lines and gags  but the delivery seems better suited to drama than comedy .  br    br   part of the problem is the soundtrack  which  like the delivery of davis and cagney  seems more suitable to a light drama than a comedy .  br    br   jack carson  who played similar roles throughout his career  has more capably handled very similar material . in a fairly typical supporting role eugene palette delivers a respectable performance . in a slightly different role as an old west relic  harry davenport  is very good . but in one of his poorest performances  william frawley is quite irritating . his character  s constant references to fictional cops are a poor effort at irony .  br    br   i really love every one of these performers  and it is a shame that  as an ensemble they achieve no more chemistry and no better result than the bride came c . o . d .  
i  m not at all picky about horror movies  and i  m willing to watch pretty much any of them . that doesn  t mean that i  m willing to re  watch many of them  or that i won  t have criticism for them . this movie is creepy  and is very well done . in fact  i think this movie would make an excellent double  bill with session  .  br    br   i should specify  before i get to my comments  that i watched this alone . i started watching it before going to bed  and got about   minutes in before i realized that it was too effective  so i saved the rest of it for the morning . even while watching it in broad daylight  it was still creepy . however  i can  t vouch for how effective it would be when watching in a larger group .  br    br   after the death of their daughter  a couple move to a remote cabin as a means of trying to come to terms with this death . let me make note of this death  this is one of the rare movies that doesn  t shy away from the death of a child . this is much more important  as it both sets the tone  as well as explains much of the acting that permeates the movie .  br    br   the couple is not doing well . the wife has distanced herself from the relationship  and the husband is doing what he can to try to bring her back . while some of the comments have complained about their acting  one specified that they act more like a father and daughter than husband and wife  and that  s legitimate . he  s trying to give her more direction . it  s a role that men sometimes take on .  br    br   there are a variety of scares in the film  and most are fairly non  violent  though grotesque in some ways . the story itself feels very straightforward for most of the film  and takes an odd turn near the end . while the turn is not absurd  it is certainly not what you expected from the way things had been progressing .  br    br   moody  atmospheric  and very well done for something that appears to have been shot on video .  
  .     . this movie has absolutely nothing good about it . the acting is among the worst i have ever seen  what is really amazing is that everyone is awful  not just a few here and there  everyone . the direction is a joke  the low budget is hopelessly evident  the score is awful  i wouldn  t say the movie was edited  brutally chopped would be a more appropriate phrase . it combines serial killings  voodoo and tarot cards . dumb . dumb . dumb . it is not scary at all  the special effects are hopelessly lame . laughably bad throughout . the writing was appallingly bad . the cinematography is real cheap looking  and very grainy sometimes  and the camera  work is dreadful . again  what really does the movie in is how badly all the actors are . cheesy .  
first  nobody can understand why this movie is rated so poorly . not only is this the first real horrific movie since a very long time for me who am pretty hard  boiled with a decades long experience of horror starting with driving through dark rides  ghost trains  as a child . second  the main actress cheri christian has a face that lets you hope she will be the leading actress in major pictures of the future . third  this woman is that tremendously beautiful that i suggest the directors retire all those cameron diazes  eva mendezes  and how ever the names of these ephemeral bulb  lights are . mrs . christian is not a light  but a sun .  br    br   however   dark remains  is also of considerable metaphysical importance . they idea that photographs shows creatures of the intermediary reign between reality and  imagination  that are not visible with one  own eyes is not new . but i have never seen in a movie before that those creatures are visible on the photographs only for certain people and only to certain times . this means that the photo is not just an iconic picture of reality  by which reality turns into a sign   but becomes an alternative form of reality which can change as the  real  reality can . being a sign  the changing of the picture means that it influences the photographed objects  i . e . the sign behaves like an object . now  in our usual world of perception  it is common that objects change signs . f . ex .  if someone grows a bird  his photograph will show him with beard  not without  as it did before . but the opposite  the changing of objects by signs would imply that the photo with beard is first and only then the beard grows on the man . this is  very simply expressed  the case that happen with the photos taken by the main character in the prison  in this movie . this is new  and we must be thankful for everything new in horror movies which usually just repeat and reorder effects and features that are already well  known  mostly since the silent time .  
i was searching through hollywood video last night with a friend trying to find a good  looking horror movie to watch over the new year  s weekend . as i was looking through the shelves   severed  spotted my eye  and i grabbed it off the shelf and it looked like it might be a decent b  grade horror movie . the cover looked fairly good . the plot sounded semi  interesting . so i rented it . what a mistake . don  t be fooled by the cover  which actually looks decent . i  m thinking that more money was spent on the cover artwork than the movie itself . the film follows two police detectives who are tracking down a voodoo  inspired  ritualistic serial killer called  the head hunter   who is decapitating victims left and right in some unnamed city  probably los angeles   and they become drawn into his world of ritualized murder .  br    br   story sound somewhat good  well  it is  and this movie could  ve been halfway decent . but good god  it was bad  almost everything about it was laughable . the opening scene features some redheaded actress in a car trying to talk on this huge  outdated cell phone  and for whatever reason  she goes outside and talks to some guy . then  a shadow comes up behind them  hacks off his head  and the girl drops to the ground and starts crawling  for absolutely no reason  while trying to dial    . sound ridiculous  yep  you bet it is . the entire movie looks like it was filmed on a vhs  quality camera  and i  m assuming it was . the acting was mostly awful  and the special effects were far from believable . and the scenes with the policemen on the phone were awful  the voice on the other line was echoing and it sounded like it was being recorded in someone  s bathroom . everything about this movie was simply amateurish and tedious  and it didn  t hold my interest for very long  and i often found myself bored and tired  mostly because of the bad acting and the horrible cinematography . the pacing was bad . everything was just bad .  br    br   overall   severed  is a failed attempt at what could have been a decent b  movie . the plot was good and i think if this film had been handled better and had a higher budget  it could  ve been alright . but this movie fell flat on it  s face . if you  re expecting something semi  decent  you  ll be sorely disappointed . only recommended if you can tolerate d  grade horror flicks . otherwise  you  ll probably want to stay away from this straight  to  video garbage . it had a little potential  but it was beyond a mess .     .  
  the golden child  was eddie murphy  s first film since his megahit  beverly hills cop  . and even though it  s not as good as  cop   it  s a fun comic adventure . murphy stars as a finder of lost children who  s assigned a most unusual case . his assignment to find the title character  a child with mystical powers . this movie could have been titled  beverly hills cop and the temple of doom  since parts of this movie plays like a spielbergian adventure  kinda like an indiana jones comedy . it  s got comedy with laughs  and adventure with special effects . lots of fun .  br    br     out of four   
this film was bad because there was nothing interesting about it . it was sort of a remake but then again  not really . i was very disappointed considering the tools that tim burton has at his disposal . he had great make up and cgi available and lots of money      million  but can you honestly say that what we got was as good as the original film that was made for less than   million  heck no . so in that regard  the film fails .  br    br   at least in the original film  the statue of liberty scene was shocking but there was nothing shocking in this film even the end scene because you could kind of see it coming . and  by the way  if you give it some thought  and i did  you can figure out how the ending could come about . i just wish i had back the time that i wasted thinking about it .  br    br   this film would have been brilliant and fun if it stayed along the lines of the first film and adopted part of  beneath the planet of the apes  . here  s how i would have written it  br    br   an astronaut  it really should have been more than marky mark because he  s not good enough to care a film all by himself so i would have put in three guys  that would land on what they would think would be another planet  encounter humans  not mutes   a city ruled by apes  were hunted  made friends with some good apes  discover that they  re on earth via finding some destroyed ruins  end up running into crazy mutant humans living beneath the earth  a war breaks out between the mutant humans and the apes  and then . . . . well  let your imagination run wild on how you want to end it .  br    br   but my point is that there could have been so much more to this film . sadly  tim burton really knows how to wreck a good thing . consider what he did with the batman series . he  s a rotten director inspite what of people think . he  s trendy so he must be good goes the thinking . sorry  but no . if anyone else had done this film  it would have turned out far better and would have been far more satisfying .  
allen and julie move into a cabin in the mountains after their daughter is murdered one night . no one knows who killed the little girl but it  s why they moved to the mountains . so the couple moves into this cabin and it  s haunted by people who killed themselves there and no one in the nearby town wants to talk about it .  br    br   this movie has a lot of creepiness to it and it has a lot of parts that made me jump . some of the parts are predictable but once in a while there is a part i didn  t expect . it was a pretty good movie that wasn  t the scariest movie in the world but it was still scary enough to make it pretty good .  br    br   i also liked the ending because it left the viewer to decide how it ends . it is also kind of a sad movie as well but a well done horror movie .  
i own this movie . i bought it for   .   at a fairly major video retailer in order to do some  indie   type movie research since i had just finished my own feature and was editing it . now when i feel down about my skills as a first time director i just sit down with a plate of cookies and severed . within minutes i feel great     br    br   i hate to down talk another filmmaker so i  ll just use constructive criticism .  . find good actors . take the time . it really helps .  . when shooting video  over light your scenes and darken in the computer later on in post .  . closeups are better for video .  . when an actor enters a scene  wait a bit before  br    br   having them speak so that we know what  s going on and who  s talking .  . never show the back of a door while we wait for someone to come open it . damn well worth the   .    br    br   the true horror would be getting the reviews severed has here on imdb . and you have to give these guys credit . . . they did get distributed .  
this movie was very good . if you are one who likes to watch horror movies  i recommend it . the acting was very good although i thought that the actress playing julie could have had more emotion behind her lines . allan was very good and i thought the cinematography was amazing . i was on the edge of my seat the entire time while my friends were freaking out and screaming . it was a complete success in my opinion and should have made it to the big screen . i give it two thumbs up  i definitely would say that if you haven  t already seen it then go rent it . if you have seen it and didn  t like it go and watch it again because there are parts that were completely unreal . i also liked how a lot of the movie was filmed around and on my school  s campus .  
hm . while an enjoyable movie to poke plot holes  point out atrocious acting  primitive  at best  special effects  all of which have caused me to view this movie three times over the past six years   severed ranks among the worst i  ve ever seen . i  m never sure who the protagonists are  all i know is that the killer uses a portable guillotine  as seen in the dance floor murder scene . all in all  i don  t really like the movie  because only the first   minutes are enjoyable  the rest is a mishmash of confusing dialog and imagery that fail to progress the story to a logical conclusion  which i can  t remember anyway  .  
following their daughter  s brutal murder  julie and allen escape the city to find solace and grieve in a solitary cabin on a remote mountain . allen  s intentions are good  he wants his wife to get out of her depression by resuming her photography . julie stumbles across an ancient prison and sees the perfect creepy  decaying setting for her photography . but when the photos are developed they are full of dead people  and allen quickly discovers the tragic history of suicide in their new mountain .  dark remains  is a pretty decent indie horror flick . it offers some genuine scares and plenty of tension . the acting is fairly good and the cinematography is great .  out of   .  
this is one of them movies that has a awesome video box but has wired camra work and unknown actors that speak with bad dialogue . its so dark when the killings happen you can hardly see it plus the movie is hard to understand . the only star in this is wcws vanessa sanchez  tygres in wcw before it folded  and she is a good actress . i like low budget film especialy ones that has errors because they are fun to watch but severed unfourtunatly isnt one of them . this movie is ok to see if you like voodoo and severed heads but this is no blockbuster but if you need something new to watch then rent severed .  
after all the crap that hollywood  and the indies  have churned out  we finally get a movie that delivers some scary moments . there are some clichd moments  but i  m not sure it  s possible nowadays to make an entirely original movie . there  s not much new here . . . it  s just done well .  br    br   make sure and pay attention  as the  subtle  scares come quickly and often . this is not a movie to watch while you  re eating pizza .  br    br   there  s one very well  written red herring in this movie and  unfortunately  one very poorly  cast role . cheri christian just doesn  t make an effective julie  the wife  mother  . for one thing  she  s totally unsympathetic . i know  i know . . . she  s just gone through a traumatic experience . but the viewer never gets to know her as she  normally  is and the relationship between her and her husband is rather discomforting  in an unintentional way  . i think that the director had meant for us to have some sympathy for her  but i never did .  br    br   finally  a thumbs  up for the ending  which is both disturbing and satisfying . it could easily have been cheapened with a sound effect at the beginning of the end credits  but the director wisely resisted .  br    br   this is not a masterpiece by any means  but it is a good  old  fashioned scary movie . . . something that  s rather rare nowadays .  
bad acting  bad lighting  bad plot   this had the quality of a porno movie . i have seen more interesting home video of a boring wedding than this movie . . . it sucked big time   don  t waste your time or money on this crap  it  s amazing that they allow this kind of smut to even be released on video  it should be a crime    
finally  an indie film that actually delivers some great scares  i see most horror films that come out . . . theatrical  straight  to  dvd  cable  etc . . . and most of them suck . . . a few are watchable . . . even fewer are actually good . . . dark remains is one of the good ones . i caught a screening of this film at the south padre island film festival . . . the audience loved it . . . and my wife and i loved it  having no name actors  i assume the budget on this film was pretty low  but you wouldn  t know it . . . the film looks fantastic . . . the acting totally works for the film . . . the story is good . . . and the scares are great  while most filmmakers focus solely on the scares  they often forget about story and character development  two things that help to deliver the scares more efficiently . brian avenet  bradley must know that character and story are important . he develops both to the point where you care about the characters  you know the characters  and are therefore more scared when they are in danger .  br    br   watching horror films that cost anywhere from    million to      to make  i find  dark remains  to be one of the gems out there . check this film out   
there was nothing about this movie that i liked . it was so obviously low  budget with bad lighting and camera work  almost like blair witch project  only it wasn  t supposed to be that way  . there wasn  t really much to the plot  and the movie just drug on and on . i actually fast  forwarded through the last    of the movies  but that did not help matters much . it looked like it might be good from the box  but i must say again nothing about this movie even resembled good . no good actors  the special effects were so fake  the camera work was horrible  and the dialogue was painfully terrible . on my own personal scale  i give this movie a  of   . yikes   
what  s good about it some inventive and genuinely creepy little effects that will get under the skin of even the most seasoned horror fan . doesn  t rely on the hackneyed soundtrack stabs for its  gotcha  moments . even if you  ve seen everything  there  s still a few things in this film that will make your jaw drop .  br    br   what could have been better about it the acting was  at times  flat and unconvincing . it had a  shot  on  video  quality in some places  though  it mostly achieved the atmosphere it was striving for   and the camera work is full of needless close  ups of meaningless actions . though the effects are genuinely creepy  i think they may have gone to the well a few too many times with some of them . the ending seemed rushed  and glossed over what could have been more impactful moments . the viewer is left to figure out a lot of things for themselves  not as a challenge by the filmmakers  but because they just missed it .  br    br   still  a good little indie horror film that is easily several steps above the average . well worth the rental .  
ok  i love bad horror . i especially love horror bad enough to make fun of . demonicus  or house of the dead  those were bad enough to make fun of . severed was not .  br    br   it was worse .  br    br    spoilers  who cares    br    br   my friend and i sat through the entire film  and i have a number of comments  both in the  this sucks  style and in the realm of actual critiques .  br    br   plot  sort of   there  s a guy in this city  which is possibly seattle  see comment below  who is running around and cutting off heads . he  s been doing this for over a year  i  m not going back to get exact numbers  thank you very much   possibly two or three years . one head a week . and the police are just now calling in a  specialist   who once refers to himself as a psychic  but that never comes up again  .  br    br   schya right  feds take over after  what  three connected homicides  after nearly a hundred similar killings we  d be under freaking martial law       br    br   anyway  this  specialist  consults the voodoo chick who the police have been ignoring the entire time  and the two of them come to the conclusion that it  s baron samedi  a voodoo spirit  who is cutting off heads to gain enough power to make himself a body  and then presumably take over the world  or possibly just go to disneyland  .  br    br   um .  br    br   setting  where is this happening  well  if you  re not from seattle  you might not realize that at the bar  rave  occupied by about ten of the movie staff and their family members   there  s a poster for a local radio station  and that in the highly  entertaining   pulp fiction  esqe dialog  as if  between the two cops  yes  the ones who get their heads cut off about   minutes into the flick  they discuss  the new stadium  which may still have been an issue when this movie was made .  br    br   being from seattle  i apologize on the movie  s behalf and hang my head in shame .  br    br   ok  here  s where it gets really critical  being a horror movie writer  not published  don  t go looking for my name in the imdb   i do research . lots of research . and unlike the writers of this movie  i know that baron samedi  while a voudon loa  spirit  who guards the graveyards and has traditionally been associated  by various christian oppressors  with  satan   is actually a  loki   like trickster god .  br    br   in other words  he doesn  t cut off heads .  br    br   besides  a major part of the voudoun religion is that baron samedi can have a body whenever he wants . their religious ceremonies center around the possession of various members of the congregation by the loa .  br    br   not to mention  if he  s already possessed someone  why make a new body   br    br   also  if baron samedi got a body  he wouldn  t go around cutting off heads  he  d get some good rum and cigars and par  tay     br    br   in summary  the only thing they did get  surprisingly  right is that in the completely unnecessary tarot card reading  used only to show that the voodoo chick is  spooky   they didn  t screw up the interpretations of the cards the way most movies do . again  i  ve done research .  anyone remember the old late  night ad for phone  in tarot readings   the lovers  you will soon fall madly in love . . .  and all that nonsense    br    br   if you made it this far through my comments  i congratulate you . and i  m sorry again . i  ll be more sorry if you feel the need to watch the film on account of me  so please don  t .  
for years we  ve been watching every horror film that comes out  from the dull hollywood retreads like saw   to awful indie releases that are completely unmatchable . . . we suffer through all of bad films in hopes of finding little gems like  dark remains  .  br    br   we managed to catch a screening of this film at shriekfest     . the audience loved it and i believe it ended up winning the award for the best film .  br    br   while it may not have the budget or star power of studio films  it packs a serious punch in the creepy atmosphere and scare category . the acting and cinematography are top notch  but it  s the direction that makes this film worth the view . the story and characters develop at just the right pace to provide some fantastic scares .  br    br   the editing and visual fx are also top notch . and while many horror films don  t manage to use music to their benefit  the score for  dark remains  only adds to it  s creepiness .  br    br   i know the film has shown at a bunch of festivals  but none have been near me  so i can  t wait to hear when it  ll finally be coming out on dvd . trust me  even if you  re sick of the current state of horror films  give this one a try . . . you won  t regret it   
to be brutally honest . . . i loved watching severed . that  s why i  br    br   gave it a     stars because of its starkly unimaginative  br    br   story  filming  acting  everything . this film was a riot to watch . if  br    br   you enjoy watching bad films in order to poke fun at them  you will  br    br   really get a kick out of severed .  br    br   the story really doesn  t matter  it involves some guy who  s bald  br    br   and has a sword and goes around beheading random people .  br    br   but he has a supernatural twist . . . nobody ever sees him do it .  br    br   even when  in one very memorable scene  he walks into a  br    br   jampacked night club and whacks off some girl  s noodle and  br    br   nobody sees it .  br    br   severed doesn  t merely look like it was filmed on video  it was  br    br   filmed on someone  s home camcorder . the filmmakers had  br    br   knowledge of lighting  very thin knowledge  and composition  br    br   actually holds together in some scenes . but mostly you can  t hear  br    br   the actors . . . you can  t understand what they  re doing  and you laugh  br    br   when the next vicitm gets his pumpkin detatched from his body .  br    br   go and rent this movie . support films like this  they are a hoot and  br    br   a hollar   
if you haven  t already seen this movie of mary  kate and ashley  s  then all i can say is  what are you waiting for    . this is yet another terrific and wonderful movie by the fraternal twins that we all know and love so much  it  s fun  romantic  exciting and absolutely breath  taking  scenery  wise   of course as always  mary  kate and ashley are the main scenery here anyway  would any true fan want it any other way  of course not  anyway it  s a great movie in every sense of the word  so if you haven  t already seen it then you just have to now  i mean right now too  so what are you waiting for  i promise that you won  t be disappointed  sincerely  rick morris  
i  m sure that the folks on the texas  louisiana border must have had a a good laugh or two when paramount  s b picture unit inflicted this one on the war time public . very simply the area along the sabine river where the film opens is cotton country just like the rest of the deep south or at least the deep south was post civl war . no big cattle empires there  they  re much farther west in texas  farther than richard dix and preston foster could ride to set up their empire .  br    br   the film begins with the two of them partners in a riverboat and when leo carrillo tries a theft of their services by not paying them for hauling his cattle  they keep the cattle . and that  s the beginning of the big ponderosa like ranch they start .  br    br   along the way foster marries dix  s sister played by frances gifford and feuds with his much smaller neighbors . they also have some further run ins with leo carrillo .  br    br   anyway  us easterners who like westerns usually don  t bother with geographical trifles and it  s still a good western from the production mill of harry sherman who produced all those hopalong cassidy westerns for paramount . the climax is a blazing  and i mean that literally  gun battle that should have maybe been used on an a production .  br    br   but i wouldn  t have any but western fans look at it .  
this movie is the best movie ever it has a lot of live action it  s just great everyone should watch it and the actor are great the location is rome italy thats the best place ever the actors are great mary  kate olsen is such a great actress she plays charlie and thats a great character and ashley olsen play leila and thats a great character to love when in rome love it .  
this film has the kernel of a really good story . the work of the men and women of the coast guard  especially in the north pacific  is the stuff of heroes and legends . this film mucks up a good story with three endings  none satisfying   a couple of unneeded and pointless bar fights and two alleged  romantic  relationships that have as much spark as dead campfire . the rescue scenes are great  even if the computer generation is hokey and the scenarios are pretty unreal  but the backstory is lame and disappointing . costner is good  especially his hand acting  watch for it  . ashton kutcher is flat but not terrible . the main female characters are one dimensional . the best female is one of the coast guard sailors in the rescue center and she  s on camera for about two minutes in the whole film . it could have been an excellent film  and costner needs one   
i always feel strange and guilty saying it  because i  m a fairly well  educated non  teenager   but i actually sort of like the olsen twins  and i respect the movies they make  even though i  ve never really been their target audience .  when in rome  was a traditional mary  kate and ashley movie  complete with the foreign travel  accents  motorbikes  adult romance as a  b  storyline  fashion orientation  and even the gag reel over the credits . i enjoyed myself .  when in rome  and the other olsen twin movies never pretend to be anything they  re not most of the time  they only premiere on video  and they never claim to be the next  citizen kane  or even  an affair to remember .  my point is  people who watch this movie and expect it to be anything other than another olsen twin movie will be disappointed .  br    br   that said  those who are fans of the olsen twins will really enjoy themselves . for those of us who  ve watched them since the first episodes of  full house   it  s really great to see them growing into more mature roles . this movie provides important historical and geographical information  just like many of their other movies  remember   downing street from  winning london  and the visit to the louvre from  passport to paris    as well as providing good  clean fun that can be enjoyed by the whole family .  br    br   as long as i still feel like i  m on my soapbox  and as long as i can make it relevant to the movie  let me take a moment to challenge those who reject the olsen twins in order to be a fan of the olsen twins  you don  t have to be some pre  teen  valley girl  from california . in fact  that  s not really the target audience . if it were  the mka fashion line of clothes and accessories would be run through gap or some store like that  not wal  mart .  when in rome   while it does feature  high fashion  and globe  trotting and two girls from a valley in cali  isn  t really about that . . . it  s more about inspiring young girls who have initiative to let it take them places . if that means setting the movie in some glamorous foreign city with cute guys on motorbikes  so be it . that  s called marketing   you take an idea and sell it by making it appealing . at least they  re sending a good message  even if the means seem a little superficial .  br    br   basically  don  t knock the film until you  ve seen it  and then don  t knock it until you  ve tried to understand what the olsen twins do they encourage young girls to be creative  intuitive  and driven young women . this movie does that  i think  just like their others . kids  enjoy . parents  do the same . if you like the olsen twins  you won  t be disappointed .  
i went to the movie as a sneak preview in austria . so didn  t have an idea what i am going to see . the story is very normal . the movie is very long  i believe it could have cut to    without causing any problems to the story . its the type of movie you can see in a boring night which you want to get bored more  ashton kutcher was very good . kevin costner is ok . the movie is speaking about the us coast guards  how they are trained  their life style and the problems they face . as there aren  t much effects in the movie . so if you want to watch it  then no need to waste your money and time going to the cinema . would be more effective to watch it at home when it gets on dvds .  
i thought this was a splendid showcase for mandy  s bodacious bod . if you don  t expect anything else  such as clever plot twists and believable character development  you won  t be disappointed . consider this a sports illustrated shoot whose character goes around killing people  especially those who threaten to come between her and her  mommy   suzanna arquette  who obviously doesn  t want to play the sex kitten  she leaves that up to her daughter  .  br    br   mandy  s face is a little too perfect  but her body is a complete   alarm fire  up there in the ranks of sophia loren when it comes to natural bustiness  a perfect   to    ratio of waist to hips  and splendidly configured legs  right down to her feet .  there has to be some ideal configuration of thighs to knees to calves to ankles that is altogether pleasing to the eye mandy certainly is the model for this idealized ratio  .  br    br   and no flat butt to boot  which seems to be the undoing of many a busty babe with curves everywhere except in the  nether hemispheres  . mandy might have used a body double in the rear shot of her losing her towel as she descended into the candle  lit hot tub with her blindfolded german  guy victim no .   but from all i could see from her bikini shots  she had the butt for it and didn  t need a double to prove it .  br    br   mandy  s acting abilities had little to do with her impression of a psychotic  mommy  s girl   with the obvious erotic lesbian overtones . her bisexual nature  allowing herself to be boinked in the hot tub after a long flirtation with german guy no .   who also happened to be her mother  s lover  added an additional dimension to an otherwise one  dimensional caricature of adolescent female horniness conflicted with pathological murderous impulses  always by water with the men  the ultimate fate of the latina housekeeper was edited out in the televised version for some obscure reason  .  br    br   mandy  s uber  nordic facial features coupled with her uber  voluptuous body could either be a blessing or a curse . if mandy really wants to further her career as an actress  i  d advise her to immerse herself fully in the romance languages  especially italian and spanish  and maybe french  although i don  t know if they would go for her type . but this would enable her to reconcile her bo derek face with her vida guerra body  but maybe her face is just a little too nordic  and she has shown off too much of her extraordinary body in a cheesy movie to enable her to advance to any more fame that was enjoyed by michelle johnson of the      s whose early fame in blame it on rio was followed by a series of skin flicks that failed to make it off the ground .  br    br   vambo drule .  
what a disappointment  especially in light of the budget provided  the technical resources available  and the talent assembled . isn  t the fundamental rule for science fiction  drama to create in the audience the willing suspension of disbelief . poa     creates a plausible beginning  suckering us in  but thereinafter mr . burton forgets that his moviegoers have working brains . the over the top libertarian of helena bonham carter  s chimp  the worthlessness of the humans  lockup  the ease of their escape  their extraordinary skills of horsemanship  this is an astronaut and a group of human primitives suddenly riding full tilt   the massive and immediate human rebellion all are too unbelievable . mark wahlberg never once projects any sense of real fear  danger or comeuppance in this world turned upside down . compare to the original  in which chuck heston  s nakedness metaphorically captured his utter helplessness and astonishment at his turn of events . the uniformed wahlberg preserves his modesty  but also his apparent sense of management and control in an inherently wacky situation  and we never really wonder about his well being . unlike heston  he seems never to be in real jeopardy . tim burton should have used some of the f  x budget for some competent screenwriting . in fact  after this inferior fiasco  i wonder why hollywood  s producers ever bothered to settle the screenwriters and directors strike threats . let them walk . trained monkeys could have done as well as they did in planet of the apes     . i  ll bet the repeat viewings of this effort will be nonexistent . it could have been a new franchise  and a wonderful new step for imagination . another opportunity lost .  
contains spoilers due to me having to describe some film techniques  so read at your own risk    br    br   i loved this film . the use of tinting in some of the scenes makes it seem like an old photograph come to life . i also enjoyed the projection of people on a back screen . for instance  in one scene  leopold calls his wife and she is projected behind him rather than in a typical split screen . her face is huge in the back and leo  s is in the foreground .  br    br   one of the best uses of this is when the young boys kill the ravensteins on the train  a scene shot in an almost political poster style  with facial close ups . it reminded me of battleship potemkin  that intense constant style coupled with the spray of red to convey tons of horror without much gore . same with the scene when katharina finds her father dead in the bathtub . . . you can only see the red water on the side . it is one of the things i love about von trier  his understatement of horror  which ends up making it all the more creepy .  br    br   the use of text in the film was unique  like when leo  s character is pushed by the word   werewolf .  i have never seen anything like that in a film .  br    br   the use of black comedy in this film was well done . ernst  hugo jregrd is great as leo  s uncle . it brings up the snickers i got from his role in the kingdom  riget .  this humor makes the plotline of absurd anal retentiveness of train conductors against the terrible backdrop of ww  and all the chaos  easier to take . it reminds me of riget in the way the hospital administrator is trying to maintain a normalcy at the end of part one when everything is going crazy . it shows that some people are truly oblivious to the awful things happening around them . yet some people  like leo  are tuned in  but do nothing positive about it .  br    br   the voice over  done expertly well by max von sydow  is amusing too . it draws you into the story and makes you jump into leo  s head  which at times is a scary place to be .  br    br   the movie brings up the point that one is a coward if they don  t choose a side . i see the same idea used in dancer in the dark  where bjork  s character doesn  t speak up for herself and ends up being her own destruction . actually  at one time  von trier seemed anti  woman to me  by making breaking the waves and dancer  but now i know his male characters don  t fare well either  i found myself at the same place during the end of dancer  when you seriously want the main character to rethink their actions  but of course  they never do   
this film was probably inspired by godard  s masculin  fminin and i urge you to see that film instead .  br    br   the film has two strong elements and those are     the realistic acting    the impressive  undeservedly good  photo . apart from that  what strikes me most is the endless stream of silliness . lena nyman has to be most annoying actress in the world . she acts so stupid and with all the nudity in this film  . . . it  s unattractive . comparing to godard  s film  intellectuality has been replaced with stupidity . without going too far on this subject  i would say that follows from the difference in ideals between the french and the swedish society .  br    br   a movie of its time  and place .     .  
this might contain a spoiler  so beware .  br    br   if it had been        thousand or two million people  does it make a difference  sometimes i get so angry at the apparent apathy of a small number of  strangely very loud  americans  but i have to remember that many people here in the us were not bred or raised to care about anything outside of their comfort zone . god help us for what we have done . after the relative ease of what we did to the native americans  and the indifference to the horrors of enslaving a race  you would think we  d have grown hearts and souls in the late    s and early    s . but now i see it is ok as long as our ends are justified to only us . how then  can we look at any other dictator and horrible government and think we are somehow doing good to impose our will  we are contradictory and hypocritical  and i am ashamed for this . i feel sorrow for the people affected . they deserve justice and their homes back . if this was done in my name as an american for my supposed safety  i don  t want it . i denounce these actions  and hope our global community understands that many americans believe the american government is a runaway train of deceit . no one is above the law . i want my country back  and so do the chagos islanders . regardless of what people post from the anonymity of their computers  no one can in their heart deny that they would be unwilling to give up their birthplace for some bombs and heliports . we can  t stand to be stuck in traffic  let alone forcibly and unjustly removed from our homes .  not one of us  brit and american alike forget what goes around comes around . don  t buy into the fallacy that a simpler  more natural civilization is somehow less worthy of having their rights observed  and preserved  when we turn our backs on the basic human rights and dignities of      we turn away from the basic human rights and dignities of all men .  
i have to admit that this  re  imagining  of the original     film was a huge disappointment . specially when taken into consideration that this is a tim burton film . he is defenetly one of the most original and  might i say  cool directors hollywood has produced .  br    br   i am personally a great fan of his work  but something obviously went wrong with his latest flick  the planet of the apes . i really enjoyed the original film . when it first came out people expected just another cheezie    s science fiction film  but a very surprise anding totally proved that theory wrong . it had indeed a clear cut message . an obvious anti  war message . fear of the cold war  where it was taking the world and fear of the use of nuclear weapons played a big role in the mind of the film  makers . those reasons made the film rise above all expectations and it became a instant classic . although  the new film  the  re  making  or whatever  leaves us with nothing . no message  no ideals behind it . it is just another money  minded summer blockbuster .  br    br   visually tim burton does not let you down . the dark and creepy settings were excellent and of course the make up was terrific .  br    br   obviously that is not enough to keep people intrested in a film . there has to be an exciting plot or storyline . in this movie the plot is highly uninteresting and it is extremely badly thought out . the script is very lame and it is full of gaps . it looks like this film had been written in a big hurry . the explanation for why the apes where there  and why the ruled the planet was indeed very stupid and proved the script  writers ignorance .  br    br   it raised a lot of questions  which had no reasonable answers to .  br    br   for example why did the apes speak english   why were there other ape  species than chimps on the planet  given that there were only chimps in the space ship that crash  landed on the planet  where the hell did all of those humans come from  how were a few chimps able to evolve into a huge raise of all kinds of monkeys in only a few thousands years .  i mean it took a few million years for us to evolve from monkey to man    br    br   and finally  the bad surprise ending was just plane dumb . it was probably just thrown in because the original film had such an end  then they felt that the audience were expecting the same kind of ending . the ending also raises a lot of questions  which i know  dont have intelligent answears . did theid learn to work the space ship   which was power  less  and learnt to fly back in time and take over the earth single hand   and  what did he do  breed with all the women  and lets say that that would happen  i higly doubt that history would stay the same  like washington would be built exactly like it is today   i mean wouln  t there be a huge banana instead of the memorial    br    br   well  just to say something posative about the film . some of the cast was great . helen bonham carter  s character was interesting and well  acted  as for tim roth as theid . he was very good  a little exaturated at some points of the film . michael clark duncan was also fine . i was not happy with marc whalberg . he is not much of an actor  and plays here a very macho colour  less character . very unbielevable and is nothing compared to hestons character in the original . and the main female character had no reason or place in the film . she was just casted for the looks . hardly said a word throughout the entire film .  br    br   well  i think that in the future when people think about the planet of the apes  they will think about the original one . the latest will soon be forgotten .  
this documentary explores a story covered in pilger  s latest book  freedom next time   which was published in     . it reveals the shocking expulsion of the natives of diego garcia  one of the chagos islands in the indian ocean .  br    br   the islanders are technically british citizens  as diego garcia is a british colony  much like mauritius  the nearby island to where the natives were exiled  used to be . but the british government has ignored their pleas to return to their homeland  as the island is now a military base for the united states army  who have used it as a basis for the bombing of iraq and afghanistan .  br    br   as usual  pilger  s coverage is shocking  especially as he documents the treatment and the current impoverished living conditions of the surviving islanders . his interviews all round are excellent  and his cornering of a parliament representative where he uses the government  s own information to pin him down  ranks as one of his best .  br    br   pilger also uses dramatic reconstruction to dissect a series of recently released documents that fully illuminate the british conspiracy to evict the natives . the weaving of this footage with the interviews  and the islanders music  really heightens the film  s impact .  br    br   it is not easy viewing  but  stealing a nation  is john pilger at his best . recommended .  
apart from helen bonham carter  there is nothing worthy about this movie . . . . and the surprise ending   the thought of a sequel is even more annoying . save your money  wait for the video and ignore that too .  
the endless bounds of our inhumanity to our own kind never fails to stun me . this truly astonishing story of a horrifically abused and largely unheard  of population is compelling  well  documented and enraging . as an american  i am constantly humiliated by my country  s behaviour and this is just another in our long catalogue of international debasement . we suck . this is probably the first john pilger documentary i  ve seen  but it immediately made me want to see what else he  s done . my only complaint  and the reason i gave this film only  out of    is that pilger shows us this travesty and the appalling collaboration of the us and uk governments  demands that we viewers  citizens are complicit in our own inaction . . . but makes no suggestion of how to help . i don  t know about britain  but america  s made it nearly impossible for the citizenry to take part in their government  s doings . a gesture in the right direction might help these islanders  cause .  
after looking at monkeys  oops apes  for more than one hour  i was feeling like one too . i was an ape  spending money on this movie . please people  hold you money in your pocket and go see some funny movie like bridget jones  s diary . .  
this well conceived and carefully researched documentary outlines the appalling case of the chagos islanders  who  it shows  between     and      were forcibly deported en masse from their homeland through the collusion of the british and american governments . anglo  american policy makers chose to so act due to their perception that the islands would be strategically vital bases for controlling the indian ocean through the projection of aerial and naval power . at a time during the cold war when most newly independent post  colonial states were moving away from the western orbit  it seems british and american officials rather felt that allowing the islanders to decide the fate of the islands was not a viable option . instead they chose to effect the wholesale forcible removal of the native population . the film shows that no provision was made for the islanders at the point of their ejection  and that from the dockside in mauritius where they were left  the displaced chagossian community fell into three decades of privation  and in these new circumstances  beset by homesickness  they suffered substantially accelerated rates of death .  br    br   following the passage of more than three decades  however  in recent months  and years   following the release of many utterly damning papers from britain  s public record office  one rather suspects that there was some mistake  and these papers were not supposed to have ever been made public   resultant legal appeals by the chagossian community in exile have seen british courts consistently find in favour of the islanders and against the british state . as such  the astonishing and troubling conclusions drawn out in the film can only reasonably be seen as proved . nevertheless  the governments of great britain and the united states have thus far made no commitment to return the islands to what the courts have definitively concluded are the rightful inhabitants . this is a very worthwhile film for anyone to see  but it is an important one for britons and americans to watch . to be silent in the face of these facts is to be complicit in a thoroughly ugly crime .  
i read somewhere that hollywood should concentrate on remaking bad movies and leave the classics alone . we can only hope . while this remake wasn  t a total waste  i still wish i had the six bucks back to go toward a dvd of the original . lots of violence and one of the worst endings i  ve ever seen . this version doesn  t add anything new . it only reiterates why hollywood should leave the good stuff alone .  
ed harris  s work in this film is up to his usual standard of excellence  that is  he steals the screen away from anyone with whom he shares it  and that includes the formidable sean connery . the movie  which is more than a bit sanctimonious  comes alive only in the scenes when harris is interrogated by the attorney for another convict . it is breathtaking  a master class in artistic control .  br    br   the other cast members are all adept and connery is reliable  as is fishbourne  but the story itself packs no wallop . the plot depends largely on the premise that a black prisoner always will be mistreated and coerced by white law enforcement officers . this is the engine which drives the story  right or wrong  and makes one feel a tad cheated at the end .  br    br   still  worth watching to see harris in action .  
i have seen and liked the original film  and expected more from a remake than this .  br    br   good effects and makeup are good . no complaints about the score and visuals  they are adequate  and the performances were okay  tim roth was excellent  the other principals were fine  and a handful of the  supporting supporting actors  did very well with extremely limited roles  . the action scenes were exciting and fun .  br    br   bad the escape from the ape city was terrible . the characters are going in circles  then suddenly someplace in the middle of town there are tunnels to escape . plus  what escape route leads through everybody  s bedroom   br    br   the story was pared down to include as much action as possible . i like action scenes but the original film had more meat to it and deserved more respect .  br    br   finally  the ending was completely nonsensical as presented . without seeing the inevitable sequel  there is no justification for it .  br    br    
this is a very good movie . do you want to know the real reasons why so many here are knocking this movie  i will tell you . in this movie  you have a black criminal who outwits a white professor . a black cop who tells the white professor he is wrong for defending the black criminal and the black cop turns out to be right  thus . making the white professor look stupid . it always comes down to race . this is an excellent movie . pay no attention to the racist . if you can get over that there are characters who are played by blacks in this movie who outsmart the white characters  then you shouldn  t have any problems enjoying this movie . i recommended everyone to go see this movie .  
the acting was bad  the script was bad and the ending was just terrible . . . the only good comment i could make about this movie would be the special effects and make up . . . but apart from that . . . this movie would be one of the worst movies of     . . . why on earth did they have to remake such a perfect movie and ruin it . . . why      
this is a very dramatic and suspenseful movie . there are many plots and turns . the story or the director opens question marks on the death row or presumed crimes committed by black people . this film is very well directed by arne glimcher and the fine sound of james newton howard is excellent . strong performance of sean connery and ed harris . if you liked this one dont miss  true crimes  or  the hurricane  . my wife and me gave     .  
this film is another of director tim burton  s attempts to capitalize on a familiar title to bring his vision  to the screen . he has done it with batman   sleepy hollow  and now this . this is not a remake . the only thing it has in common with the original is that it has simians that can speak  and charleton heston makes a cameo  . burton has reconstituted the entire story  watering it down for today  s mass viewership .  br    br   the original planet of the apes was a product of its time . during the      s america was struggling to redefine its civilization . it was a turbulent time of soul searching and rethinking social norms . it was the civil rights era where groups long considered inferior demanded to be treated as equal . in that context  pota was allegorical  reflecting the philosophical turmoil confronting the audiences of the day . pota was an extremely intelligent film that broached difficult questions and elegantly held the oppressions of american society up to scrutiny by making the white guy justify his intelligence to a species he considered inferior . the dialectic between colonel taylor  charleton heston   dr . cornelius  roddy mcdowall  and dr . zira  kim hunter  was thought provoking and intelligent with ironies both subtle and obvious .  br    br   burton  s version is as much a product of today  s times as pota was of the sixties . this is apes for dummies . it is superficial and jejune  substituting politically correct platitudes for intelligent dialogue and focusing more on form than substance . the surprise  ending is utterly incongruous and contributes nothing to the film except a cliffhanger that sets up the sequel . while the ending of the original pota gracefully tied everything together in a single powerful scene  burton  s ending simply mocks the audience  taunting  i know something you don  t know  and you are going to have to wait for the sequel to find out .   br    br   from a technical perspective  as is always the case with burton  s film  the film is excellent . the makeup is fantastic and burton  s camerawork is outstanding  though i continue to dislike his dark look  . however  thirty  three years of advancements in prosthetic makeup can not compensate for the insultingly vacuous script .  br    br   the story has been reduced to a monster movie . the humans band together behind captain davidson  mark wahlberg  to fight the monstrous apes  aided and abetted by a few turncoats  notably helena bonham carter as ari  . the presentation is formulaic and simplistic with plenty of violence  perfect for today  s fast food mentality .  br    br   the acting is mixed . mark wahlberg is a fine actor who is simply miscast in this role . walberg is excellent at playing dark  sullen characters that are tormented but strong . this part requires an inspirational hero  a profile not in wahlberg  s repertoire . helena bonham carter is a brilliant actor whose character is so far beneath her ability that the disconnect is laughable . she tries desperately to do something with the flimsy character  but her interpretation presents like a cross between a college peace demonstrator and love sick teenager .  br    br   then there is tim roth . his is a virtuoso performance  single  handedly saving the film from total ruin . roth is diabolically hateful as the malevolent general thade . he creates one of the most villainous and despicable bad guys i can remember in some time . additionally  his physical acting is superlative  rendering a chimp  man that is such a perfect meld that one can almost believe that the species exists .  br    br   this film is a great disappointment . it is decent entertainment  as long as you check your brain at the door . i rated it a     . from a technical perspective it is much better than that  perhaps a     . however the story is an insult to the original franchise . it is simply another attempt by burton at self adulation  using a familiar title to attract throngs to the box office so lots of people can see what a genius he is . of course it  s true  but it would be great if he used that talent to produce substantial films  instead of simple minded pap formulated for mass consumption .  
i  ve read a number of reviews on this film and i have to say  what is wrong with you people      this was an excellent film  i thought this film was superb from start to finish and the story was extremely well told . i  m convinced that the people that didn  t like this film weren  t paying very good attention to the film . there are a number of very important scenes that if you aren  t paying attention you will be confused and the following scenes may not make sense . i urge anyone who didn  t like this film to watch it again and watch it alone so that you can truly pay attention . the story made perfect sense to me and as i said  was very well told . every scene in the film has a point and everything fits together at the end of the film .  br    br   all the actors did a fantastic job  sean connery was very good in his role as always . laurence fishburne was superb as tanny brown  playing a very interesting character . kate capshaw was a nice touch as well  and looks fantastic . blair underwood was a pleasant surprise  i didn  t really expect anything great from him  but he pulled off a great performance . ed harris was the real gem in the film . he plays a truly sick individual and really makes you see how disturbed his character is . watch his eyes in his scenes  just superb    also  there is a very young scarlett johansson  as kate  in one of her first roles . . . not a bad place to start . excellent cast in this film   br    br   i would strongly recommend this film to anyone that likes any of the cast members or just likes thrillers . this is a great film and should be seen . don  t listen all these other people  s opinions  go see the movie and come to your own conclusions . i hope that you will see the film  and i hope that you enjoy it as much as i do . thanks for reading   br    br    chris  
if there  s one thing that annoys me most in seeing a bad film  it  s seeing it done by experienced film  makers who ought to know better . this  re  imagining  of planet of the apes could have used some imagination  to say nothing of essential elements of character development . nova  the girl in the original planet of the apes  was a better developed character than daena in this version  for all that she does not say a single word . one certainly expected a lot better from tim burton  a man who has hitherto combined an incredible visual imagination with intelligence  wit and humour  all of which were notably absent from this production .  br    br   there were problems in basic plot development . the first big mistake was allowing the humans to talk . this was the fundamental difference between apes and men that made all the difference in the original film . even while he was mute  his ability to communicate was what marked out heston  s taylor as being different from the other humans . in the current film  mark wahlberg encourages the  talking  human slaves to revolt  but there is no overpowering reason for them to have not revolted and reclaimed their emancipation already . they are dexterous tool  users and have the ability to communicate in order to form plans  something mute humans can  t do . it needs no man to fall from the stars to save them . indeed  since he comes from a technological civilisation and finds himself in a pre  technology era without  at first  any gadgets to help him  it is wahlberg who ought to be at a disadvantage  not the humans who are used to living there .  br    br   it was sad to see helena bonham carter working so hard to generate some kind of spark between herself and that unresponsive brick wall mark wahlberg . her best scenes were with the villainous tim roth .  br    br   the humans were practically ignored until they were needed in the third act  at which point daena started showing some actual interest in davidson  wahlberg   and a young boy suddenly changed from part of the background to a feisty gung  ho freedom  fighter . this was poor character development .  estella warren  in particular  looked as if she would have been capable of a great deal more than she was given in the script  . wahlberg  s puzzlement at the end as to what these humans see in him was certainly shared by me  as he has scarcely interacted with the humans throughout .  br    br   creating the apes half a plus point and two minuses ape make  up was excellent on the males  particularly michael clarke duncan who has incredibly expressive eyes  which was why he was so good in the green mile   and the makeup design allowed him to use them fully . but the ape females looked like nothing on earth  neither ape nor human . the minuses were the ape jumps which looked about as realistic as flash gordon  s rocket jumping apes looked as if they  d just been fired from a catapult  they had none of the long  limbed grace of genuine apes . secondly  the poor sound mixing  when the gorillas roar it is quite clearly dubbed from some animal  probably feline  making them sound ridiculous and unrealistic .  br    br   in the original film  the various  human  things the apes do and say are handled as light relief   i never knew an ape i didn  t like .   human see  human do    . here  the apes just talk matter  of  factly exactly as   st century humans do  and there is no humour in it at all . the only genuinely original idea was ari writing with her feet .  br    br   nothing made me cringe more than the  v  ger from star trek  moment near the end of the film . first of all  the apes had apparently been able to read roman lettering in the distant past  for them to know the name of the forbidden zone in its partly concealed form . secondly  the mysterious inscription giving the name is merely covered with sand which wahlberg just brushes away  something any ape could have done centuries ago . this moment was  for me  far worse than the much  maligned ending of the movie .  br    br   things of that nature  however  are typical of most science fiction movies of today . back in the    s and    s  they generally didn  t have the budget to make convincing futuristic sets  but they dealt with genuinely original themes and ideas which were truly science fictional . i  m thinking of      a space odyssey  the     planet of the apes  thx      soylent green  silent running and the     solaris . the first planet of the apes even utilised the only scientifically valid and physically possible method of travelling forward in time . however  this film includes just about every bad science fiction clich going space storms  anomalies and worm holes straight out of star trek the planets of the solar system and their moons apparently all visible together as large globes  in reality from any one planet  all other bodies  even their own moons  are just points of light   a conventional rocket powered shuttle travelling from saturn to earth in a matter of minutes instead of years two  thousand year old equipment firing up and fully working the minute the hero presses the button . to say nothing of a conveniently bulletproof internal glass door . in a contemporary setting  you  d have to explain why it was bullet proof  but because it  s  science fiction  you don  t have to   br    br   overall  burton  s most disappointing film .  
as usual  sean connery does a great job . lawrence fishburn is good  but i have a hard time not seeing him as ike turner .  
warning spoilers galore   br    br   tim burton remaking this sui generis movie is about as sensible as remaking psycho  oh  that  s right  some idiot already did that  i rest my case .  br    br   movie opens with chimpnaut blundering a simulation  proving he  s not that smart from the outset . marky mark appears in shot without his characteristic underpants showing  then is turned down by a plain woman who prefers the touch of chimpanzees .  br    br   the perfunctory establishing shot of the space station orbiting saturn for no apparent reason  interior of ship a  bustle with genetic experiments on apes . must we travel      million kilometers to saturn to conduct these experiments  the special effects team decrees it .  br    br   marky  s chimp gets lost in that staple of   s sci  fi cinema  the time warp . marky then demonstrates the space station  s mind  boggling security ineptness by stealing a pod without anyone noticing  while simultaneously demonstrating his abject stupidity in mounting a deep  space rescue mission into a worm  hole for an expendable test chimp  with a million dollar vehicle with limited fuel and oxygen supplies .  br    br   before anyone can say pointless remake  marky has surfed the worm  hole  crashed on an alien planet  removed his helmet without any thought to the lethality of the atmosphere and is being chased through a sound stage that almost resembles a lush rainforest  if it weren  t for the kliegs backlighting the plastic trees .  br    br   surprise  it  s apes doing the chasing  or at least  it would have been a surprise if no one saw planet of the apes thirty  three years ago .  br    br   since marky mark did not get to show his pecs  take down his pants  or bust his lame whiteboy rap  he was characterless . michael clarke duncan  s gorilla teeth being inserted crookedly helped immensely in establishing his lack of character . helena bonham  carter  aka irritating chimp activist   at a loss without a shakespearean script  did a fine job of outdoing both marky and clarke as most cardboard cutout . paul giamatti  the orangutan slave trader  secured the role of token comic relief and interspecies klutz . though i have grown bilious in hearing puns relating to this movie  one review headline captured the essence of this planet of the apes re  imagining   the apes of roth  . while everyone else minced about looking like extras from one million years bc or greystoke  tim roth  as chimpanzee thade  chews massive amounts of scenery and hurls kaka splendiferously . as entertaining as his portrayal of the psychotic thade was  his character lacked a behavioral arc thade is mad when we first meet him . . . and he  s pretty much at the same level of mad at film  s end . nice twist .  br    br   the original pota       featured a leading character  charlton heston  s taylor  who was so disenchanted with mankind that he left earth for space with no regrets  yet as that film progressed  taylor unwittingly found himself locked in a battle to prove mankind  s worth  as their sole champion  the original film was ultimately a tale of humiliation  not salvation when taylor discovers the statue of liberty  he is forced to realize that his species had not prevailed . is there anything that cerebral or ironic to marky mark  s leo  or roth  s thade  no  but there  s lots of running .  br    br   the slogans cry take back the planet . but it  s the apes  planet . in this movie  humans and apes crash  landed here together  the humans having degenerated to cavepeople  allowing the apes to acquire speech and sensual body armor the apes deserved to inherit the planet  along comes marky mark  in true anthropocentric arrogance  taking it for granted that humans have to be the apex predators  simply because they  re there . taking it back  is as ludicrous as apes landing here in      complaining  a planet where men evolved from apes      and then causing trouble with their overacting and hairy anuses .  br    br   heston was cast in the     pota because he had established his reputation as a maverick he was ben  hur  michelangelo  moses  to cast him as the mute  dogged animal in an alien society was to stupefy an audience  s expectations how crazed must a world be where our man charlton cannot command respect  marky mark has currently only established that he has tight underpants .  br    br   though heston was denigrated constantly by the ape council  he dominated the screen with his charisma and stupendous overacting . when marky mark tries to instill fervor in the mongoloid humans  it  s like that unpopular guy in school suddenly being made classroom monitor  who tells you to stop drawing penises on the blackboard and you throw a shoe at him . burton tries to elevate marky to humanity  s icon  but he comes off as a chittering deviant . in the original film  the apes deem taylor a deviant  yet he was  to audience and apes alike  an icon of humanity . that irony again .  br    br   it was apt that a man who elevated scene  chewing to an acting technique  heston  should play the father of this film  s primo scene  chewer  thaddeus roth . as roth  s ape  dad  charlton utters his own immortal lines  turned against the humans this time  damn them  damn them all to hell    br    br   the movie gets dumb and dumber towards the end . while thaddeus is giving marky an ass  beating lesson  a pod descends from on high with marky  s chimpnaut in it . apes demonstrate their hebetude by bowing in obeisance to this incognizant creature  while marky proves his own hebetude by muttering  let  s teach these monkeys about evolution .  firstly  they  re not monkeys  you ape  secondly  it was genetic tampering and imbecilic plot fabrications which brought the apes to this point  not evolution . and what you intend to teach them by blowing them away with the concealed lasergun is called misanthropy  not evolution .  br    br   giving away the twist ending would only confuse viewers into believing that estella warren  s half  nekkid role was actually integral to the plot  be still my pants .  .  br    br   no matter that he was humankind  s last underpanted hope in the end  cop apes take marky away to plot point prison where he was last heard ululating  it  s a madhouse  a madhouse   . . .   
i just saw the movie on tv . i really enjoyed it . i like a good mystery . and this one had me guessing up to the end . sean connery did a good job . i would recomend it to a friend .  
thank you hollywood . yet another movie classic utterly ruined by a cheap  shallow  effect  heavy and redundant remake . the original  planet of the apes  was an intelligent and thought  provoking movie with a very clear message . it was a movie that focused almost entirely on dialogue  which sounds very dull but was in fact very interesting .  br    br   this movie  on the other hand  seems to have done away with pretty much all the dialogues . instead of a great movie we get an incredibly stupid two hour chase movie . dialogue has been reduced to a mere minimum  character interaction and development are non  existent and most of the time it  s extremely hard to figure out what  s going on . instead  we get a bunch of pointless action scenes  some marginally funny one  liners and some very hollow quasi  intelligent conversations .  br    br   the only thing worth mentioning about this movie is that it looks absolutely fantastic . the make  up of the apes is magnificent  and the sets and backgrounds are beautiful too . however  this does not distract from the fact that  planet of the apes        is a very shallow and simplistic movie  filled with paper  thin characters  stupid dialogue and a nearly non  existent plot . please hollywood  stop ruining great movies by turning them into senseless blockbusters .  br    br   oh yeah  the ending did not make any sense whatsoever .  br    br    out of  stars  mainly for the visuals  br    br    
lars von trier is never backward in trying out new techniques . some of them are very original while others are best forgotten .  br    br   he depicts postwar germany as a nightmarish train journey . with so many cities lying in ruins  leo kessler a young american of german descent feels obliged to help in their restoration . it is not a simple task as he quickly finds out .  br    br   his uncle finds him a job as a night conductor on the zentropa railway line . his job is to attend to the needs of the passengers . when the shoes are polished a chalk mark is made on the soles . a terrible argument ensues when a passenger  s shoes are not chalked despite the fact they have been polished . there are many allusions to the german fanaticism of adherence to such stupid details .  br    br   the railway journey is like an allegory representing man  s procession through life with all its trials and tribulations . in one sequence leo dashes through the back carriages to discover them filled with half  starved bodies appearing to have just escaped from auschwitz . these images  horrible as they are  are fleeting as in a dream  each with its own terrible impact yet unconnected .  br    br   at a station called urmitz leo jumps from the train with a parceled bomb . in view of many by  standers he connects the bomb to the underside of a carriage . he returns to his cabin and makes a connection to a time clock . later he jumps from the train  at high speed  and lies in the cool grass on a river bank . looking at the stars above he decides that his job is to build and not destroy . subsequently as he sees the train approaching a giant bridge he runs at breakneck speed to board the train and stop the clock . if you care to analyse the situation it is a completely impossible task . quite ridiculous in fact . it could only happen in a dream .  br    br   it  s strange how one remembers little details such as a row of cups hanging on hooks and rattling away with the swaying of the train .  br    br   despite the fact that this film is widely acclaimed  i prefer lars von trier  s later films  breaking the waves and the idiots  . the bomb scene described above really put me off . perhaps i  m a realist .  
if only to avoid making this type of film in the future . this film is interesting as an experiment but tells no cogent story .  br    br   one might feel virtuous for sitting thru it because it touches on so many important issues but it does so without any discernable motive . the viewer comes away with no new perspectives  unless one comes up with one while one  s mind wanders  as it will invariably do during this pointless film  .  br    br   one might better spend one  s time staring out a window at a tree growing .  br    br    
the movie was a suspenseful  and somewhat dark  look at the severe results of a genuinely human mistake . connery and fishburne work very well together in this thriller about murder and redemption . keep your boots on for the strange turnaround at the end of the movie . . . you  d never expect it   
yes  chunky  this is the nick  name that donna reeds  romantic lead played by tom drake tags her with  so lets get this clear right away . from her first ingnue role in the get  away       too her last  dallas            ms . reed could never be described as chunky . not this attractive and slim actress . whose roles at m . g . m . seldom lived up to her talents .  br    br   ms . reed is supported by a cast of competent character actors  who unfortunately must flounder through this alleged  screw  ball  comedy . clearly m . g . m . was out of their depth making this type of film . a type better produced over at columbia  paramount  rko and even universal . neither the  touch  of ernst lubitsch nor the wit of preston sturges could save this film . a rather conventional romantic comedy that had all the markings of a pre  war  wwii  effort .  br    br   if irving thalberg had still been alive the screen  play would have either gone through a significant rewrite or never seen the light of day . it did fit into louis b . mayer  s  safe  zone  of none challenging family entertainment . a form that could not stand up to the post  war challenges of the  dehavilland decision   loss of their theater chains  television and would contribute to m . g . m . s decline . fortunetly for donna reed her best days are ahead of her culminating in from here to eternity       and her oscar win as best supporting actress .  
i really liked this film . all three stars  connery  fishburne and underwood  give credible performancesand harris is enjoyably over the top . the lighting and shot angles in some of harris  scenes make his face look truly diabolical . the surprising turn of plot at the end makes it interesting . not a great movie  but an enjoyable one . i gave it  of   .  
i  m a jean harlow fan  because she had star quality . i don  t think her movies are good and i don  t even think that she was a good actress  but she certainly was great in comedies . every bit of comedy in the girl from missouri is very good . but this movie is perhaps more like a love story . jean harlow is wonderful in this one and you can forget the rest of the cast  their performances bring nothing new . it always impresses me much to think that harlow  s beautiful body was that of an ill woman . well  in this movie she does look beautiful .  
a young and seemingly promising college graduate  played by blair underwood  is sent to jail for the murder of an innocent young girl and is put on death row . sean connery plays the  happy go lucky  attorney whom the young man  s grandmother tracks down out of retirement and pleads with to take on the case in the hopes of freeing her grandson . laurence fishburne plays a police officer who was well involved in the case and is hell bent on debunking an theory that connery might dig up to try and free the boy whom he and the entire police department swear is guilty of the crime . ed harris  kate capshaw  ruby dee  and the late lynne thigpen co  star in this very intense dramatic thriller .  
this film has a weak plot  weak characterization  and really weak special effects that i question why i lost valuable life by watching it . it has random characters who add nothing to the story and seem like excuses for the director to get his girlfriend in the film . the robots are sad and the main  hero   bot is turned on by a huge knife switch . if this movie weren  t so bad it would be laughable  but there  s nothing funny about it . the main antagonist is one of the only redeeming characters  and he is killed . it  s sad when you root for the bad guy  because he  s the best one to cheer for . when all is said and done  this movie was better left on the cutting room floor  or never funded at all .  
i enjoyed this movie  granted it is mainly because i enjoy seeing sean connery act and this one has the added bonus of having ed harris and lawrence fishburne in it too . the story has a grandma seeking out connery  s assistance because her grandson is in prison and she says he was wrongly convicted . at first it seems there may have been some racist aspects of the case  however it later turns out the main officer on the case was black himself and it seems he did some rather bad things to coerce a confession out of the boy . well the boy tries to point to another killer locked up in the same prison  one who is about to be put to death . he is a particularly nasty person too  as he takes a lot of joy in what he did  writing the relatives of his victims and trying to get people to mail them . a lot of twists and turns in this one with some of it being somewhat unexpected . me i just enjoyed sean connery  s character trying to make sense of the whole ordeal . the movie also made me mad in areas  especially when you find out what ultimately happened . you get very good interplay between connery and harris and connery and fishburne as they all shine rather well in this one . in the end this one makes for a rather good suspense  thriller .  
there  s nothing quite like watching giant robots doing battle over a desert wasteland  and robot wars does deliver . sure  the acting is lousy  the dialogue is sub  par  and the characters are one  dimensional  but it has giant robots  the special effects themselves are actually quite good for the period . they are certainly not as polished as today  s standards  but it contains a minimum of computer graphics and instead uses miniatures  so it has aged fairly well . its shortcomings are easily overlooked given the films short runtime  and it does have a certain tongue  in  cheek humour in parts that make it quite enjoyable . i would recommend this to any fan of giant robots or cheesy sci  fi who is looking for a lighthearted hour of distraction .  
to fight against the death penalty is a just cause . everyone who is sane in europe would think so . in the usa everything is different . the film seems to demonstrate in a first stage that justice can be won against the racist bigot death penalty craving american justice . a young man is freed from death row thanks to a law professor who went back to defense counseling for this particular case . but the film has a sequel . justice in the usa is entirely governed by the aim of vengeance . miscarriage of justice is just the same governed by vengeance . one person in the local public attorney offfice has a young man prosecuted on false charges . this public attorney  s officer drops the charges after a while and the young man walks out free . but he loses his college scholarship and he is castrated by some vengeful people for whom there is never any smoke without a fire . he hides his shame and swears to get his vengeance . but he also needs to satisfy his sexual needs which are more mental than hormonal for sure but even stronger because mental and no longer hormonal and he can only do that with little girls . he apparently teams with another serial killer who is after the same kind of preys . one day the local cops follow their intuition  guided by some vague circumstantial elements in the assassination of a young girl  and they arrest the young chap we are speaking of . they beat him up and interrogate him for   hours with nothing but blows and blows and telephone books and guns and russian roulette . he confesses . sent to death row  he asks his grandmother to go get the law professor in massachusetts who is the husband of the local public attorney  s representative that had him falsely prosecuted some years ago and the vengeance is on the rails . it will fail but it shows that as soon as one in the line of justice  police work and other security forces steps off the line of absolute legality  some unjust act is done that can ruin even the best accusation case and that can nourish the worst deepest imaginable thirst for vengeance . to charge someone on circumstantial elements is just as bad as to let circumstantial elements ruin the work of the police or of justice . the best intentions on the police side are ruined by some personal involvement and vengeful intention  just as much as the life of a person can be jeopardized by circumstantial elements inflated to the size of evidence  which in its turn will jeopardize the whole case by being just circumstantial  hence easily discardable  with a good lawyer . the film then is a deep reflection on the necessity to respect standards and regulations all along the police and justice line if we don  t want to make a mistake  which in its turn of course does not justify the death penalty since anyway it goes against the deepest belief americans are supposed to have  we hold these truths to be self  evident  that all men are created equal  that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights  that among these are life  liberty  and the pursuit of happiness .   declaration of independence  life is an unalienable right that was given to man by his creator  which means no one but the one who gave it can take it away . only god can take the life of a person away . the death penalty is the arrogant appropriation of a power that we do not have . even if we do not evoke god  we cannot justify the death penalty except as an act of vengeance  and here the film shows vengeance is the worst possible motivation in the rendition of justice and in the establishment of public peace . if vengeance is pushed aside there is no other justification for this death penalty . and there can always be a mistake in that pursuit not of happiness but of vengeance .  br    br   dr jacques coulardeau  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  university paris  saint denis  university paris   crteil  cegid  
this movie doesn  t have an awful lot to do with it  s predecessor  robot jox  . this must be also the reason why its most common name is  robot wars  and not the alternate name  robot jox   robot wars  .  br    br    robot jox  was basically a fun movie to watch because it had a nice premise of giant robots battling each other in the near future . this concept has been abandoned for this movie and instead it features a totally dull story that besides isn  t very original or cleverly written . a shame it tried to be so much different from its predecessor really  for else this perhaps could had been a more fun movie to watch .  br    br   just like  robot jox  this is a b  movie but with as a big difference that it  s just not a very good one . perhaps this also has to with the fact that  robot jox  got made during the     s  when b  movies still had a certain bit of charm and class over it  even though the movie got released in     . this really can  t be said about this movie . it  s just lame  badly made  poor looking and not exciting enough . it also has an ending which leaves you thinking  this is it  that  s all   .  br    br   what the movie its story is lacking is good clear main plot  line really . perhaps a good main villain would had been a good idea and some other stuff such as an actual point to the story  some action  or likable main characters .  br    br   seriously what were they thinking when they picked the actors for this movie . all of them are simply not likable in their roles and especially don michael paul is annoying as the main character  who behaves as if he  s god  s gift to woman and mr . perfect who can compete with anyone . weren  t they even simply able to get the actors from the first movie   br    br   for such a futuristic movie  with a concept of having large battle droids in it  this movie surely is lacking with its action . had they put some more and bigger action into the movie  the movie would at least had been a more entertaining one to watch . instead now we have a movie that fails to impress in basically every way imaginable .  br    br   you can better watch a  mighty morphin  power rangers  episode  for some more action and likability .  br    br        
hi . . i consider just cause one of my favorite sean connery  s movies  it is a tense psychological thriller with excellent performances from the cast  especially connery . . it also has one of the best lines i have seen in movies  so the dialog is pretty good in this one . . it also has one of the best scenes in movies ever  when sean interviews ed harris  s character in prison is just fantastic . . i enjoyed this one a lot and i can not recommend this enough  really do not miss this one  do not pay attention to the negative reviews stating that the last   minutes suck  it was as intense as the rest of the movie  i really find just cause a very entertaining movie . .  
i first didn  t want to watch this film  for the trailer gave the impression of a common and too expected film . . . but as i recently had the pleasure to discover the surprising  mensonges et trahisons et plus si affinit   which was beautifully directed and written by laurent tirard  screenwriter of  prte  moi ta main    i changed my mind and decided to try it  thinking that  prte  moi ta main   would be as good as  mensonges . . .  . and it is absolutely not . the script is not bad  but it is not as well directed as  mensonges . . .   the actors not as generous  especially charlotte  as boring as she usually is  as edouard baer or clovis cornillac  and too be honest  i still don  t understand how such crap can have such a success  even with such a casting . . . anyway the story could have been a pretext to create so many interesting plots  but it is not as good as tirard  s  mensonges . . .  though it  s also written by him . easy  unsurprising  and lazy work . totally overestimated   
i read some previous comments stating that this movie loses steam towards the end of the movie and also that it has a similar ending to cape fear . i completely disagree . i  m going to give a simple review for the normal moviegoers out there . i thought the casting was perfect . i thought this was one of ed harris  s best performances . what an evil psychopath    i have a lot of respect for his acting after viewing his performance in this movie . i was riveted throughout this movie . if you like mystery thrillers then this definitely a movie you want to see . i also noticed a young scarlett johannson in this movie . this movie is filled with top stars and i highly recommend it   
if there is a hell  it contains a screening room in which grand canyon is playing over and over again on an eternal loop . one would hope that the presence of so many marvelous actors  danny glover  alfre woodard  kevin kline  mary louise parker  would help make up for the presences of mary mcdonnell  whose penance is to watch her own films for all eternity  . . . but  no . apparently they injected those other actors with a serum made from mcdonnell . the entire affair is pretentious  overblown  insulting  if you are deaf or know anyone who is  be prepared for your blood to boil at the ludicrous tdd scene  . grand canyon is filled with obnoxious  self  involved people  but never gives us a reason to like  understand  sympathize with or even tolerate them . with rare exception  they are insufferable losers that the gene pool would be better off without . there  s no plot to speak of  no character development  these people won  t ever develop   no break  out performance and the most arch writing you  ll ever encounter in a film . the best thing about grand canyon  its title . this is one large hole of a movie .  
just cause is a flawed but decent film held together by strong performances and some creative  though exceedingly predictable  writing . sean connery is an anti  death penalty crusader brought in to save a seemingly innocent young black man  blair underwood  from the ultimate penalty . to set things right  connery ventures to the scene of the crime  where he must contend not only with the passage of time  but a meddling sheriff  laurence fishbourne  . twists and turns and role reversals abound   some surprising  some not   as the aging crusader attempts to unravel the mystery . the climactic ending is a bit ludicrous  but just cause is worth a look on a slow night .  
why me  why should i be subjected to such slaughter of what could have made an interesting plot   at least if i can warn other people off  it will have been worthwhile .  br    br   i had to watch this horrible movie for a college course . otherwise  i would have looked at the synopsis on the back of the thing and steered clear . the movie was slow  had painfully little character development  and centered around the idea that a creepy little white man can become cool if he hangs out with an la  style token black man .  br    br   if you want to experience the stereotypical la feeling of dizzying superficiality  watch the movie . note  though  that this movie does not depict what we have come to think of as an  la lifestyle   it is a wonderful example of the products that arise from it .  
just cause takes some of the best parts of three films  cape fear  a touch of evil and silence of the lambs and mixes it together to come up with a good thriller of a film .  br    br   sean connery is a liberal law professor  married to a former assistant district attorney  kate capshaw and he  s a crusader against capital punishment . blair underwood  s grandmother ruby dee buttonholes connery at a conference and persuades him to handle her grandson  s appeal . he  s sitting on death row for the murder of a young girl .  br    br   when connery arrives in this rural florida county he  s up against a tough sheriff played by laurence fishburne who  s about as ruthless in his crime solving as orson welles was in touch of evil .  br    br   later on after connery gets the verdict set aside with evidence he  s uncovered  he  s feeling pretty good about himself . at that point the film takes a decided turn from touch of evil to cape fear .  br    br   to say that all is not what it seems is to put it mildly . the cast uniformly turns in some good performances . special mention must be made of ed harris who plays a hannibal lecter like serial killer on death row with underwood . he will make your skin crawl and he starts making connery rethink some of those comfortable liberal premises he  s been basing his convictions on . many a confirmed liberal i  ve known has come out thinking quite differently once they  ve become a crime victim .  br    br   of course the reverse is equally true . many a law and order conservative if they ever get involved on the wrong end of the criminal justice system wants to make real sure all his rights are indeed guaranteed .  br    br   criminal justice is not an end  but a process and a never ending one at that for all society . i guess if just cause has a moral that would probably be it .  
oh what a condescending movie  set in los angeles  the center of the universe from the pov of hollywood filmmakers  this movie tries to be a deep social commentary on contemporary american angst .  br    br   stereotyped  smarmy characters of widely varying socio  economic backgrounds cross paths in their everyday  humdrum lives . the plot is disjointed and desultory . numerous unimaginative plot contrivances keep the film going  like a drive  by shooting  an abandoned baby left in the weeds  a gang of thugs intimidating a lawyer  a guy flying through the night sky over the city  a kid at summer camp .  br    br   and through all these events  the one constant is the generous helping of sociological  insights  imparted through the dialogue  as characters compare notes on their life experiences . one character tells another  when you sit on the edge of that thing  the grand canyon   you realize what a joke we people are . . . those rocks are laughing at me  i could tell  me and my worries it  s real humorous to that grand canyon  .  br    br   and another character pontificates about the meaning of it all  there  s a gulf in this country  an ever widening abyss between the people who have stuff and the people who don  t have . . . it  s like this big hole has opened up in the ground  as big as the . . . grand canyon  and what  s come pouring out . . . is an eruption of rage  and the rage creates violence . . .  .  br    br   aside from the horribly unnatural and forced dialogue  aside from the shallow  smarmy characters  aside from the dumb plot  the story  s pace is agonizingly slow . acting is uninspired and perfunctory . the film  s tone is smug and self  satisfied  in the script  s contempt for viewers .  br    br   this was a film project approved by hollywood suits who fancy themselves as omnipotent gurus  looking down from on high . they think their film will be a startling revelation to us lowly  unknowing movie goers  eager to learn about the real meaning of american social change .  
a compelling thriller      december     authorlittlehammer      from united states  br    br   just cause  br    br   starringsean connery  laurence fishburne  and blair underwood .  br    br   a liberal  though good  hearted harvard law professor paul armstrong is convoked to the flordia everglades by unjustly convicted black guy bobby earl . confessing that sadistic  cold  hearted cops vilifyied and beat him to a pulp to get the confession of a gruesome murder of an eleven year old girl . as he digs further and further into the mysterious case he realizes that bobby earl is a victim of discrimination . that the black police detective lt . tanny brown of the small community is corrupt and villainously mean . when the infamous  psychotic serial killer blair sullivan is introduced . he discovers that he knows the location of the murder weapon that butchered the little girl . when armstrong finds that there are lucid coincidences of sullivan  s road trip through the small town and the letter he personally wrote . bobby earl gets a re  trial . is unfettered from prison and eludes his horrific punishment . all seems swimmingly well until an unexpected phone call from serial killer sullivan comes into focus . armstrong discovers a lurid double killing which happens to be sullivan  s parents . whom he immensely detests . sullivan divulges to armstrong the truth of joanie shriver  s heinous murder and why he was brought here . it turns out that bobby earl is a psychopathic murderer and he really did rape and kill joanie shriver . he just merely struck a bargain with fiendish psycho sullivan . to get loose so he could kill again for revenge . upon armstrong  s beautiful wife and daughter . now sullivan is executed to his death . armstrong and tough good guy brown chase the malevolent villain to the everglades in order to thwart him . when they arrive armstrong learns that the psychotic sicko bobby earl plans to kill his wife and daughter for a former rape trial that inevitably made him endure agonizing pain and castration . but good  virtuous cop brown emerges and thwarts the brutal baddie . is stabbed and eaten by ruthless  man  eating alligators . paul armstrong  tanny brown  his wife  and daughter survive and live happily ever after . a good thriller that works . delivers both mystery and subterfuge . how reluctant blacks are hazed by racist lawmen . sentenced to unfair penalties . even though sometimes the wrongfully convicted innocent  friendly black man may in truth be the vicious baddie . sean connery is great as the oblivious  holier than thou hero . laurence fishburne is watchably amazing as the mean  arrogant  but good guy cop . underwood and harris are over the top and invigorating as the malevolent psychos . capeshaw is okay . ruby dee is great as the tenacious grandmother . the rest of the cast is wonderful as well .  
this series gets  stars solely because it puts some of dickens  bleak house on film and perhaps someone will read the book . contrary to what is probably received opinion  diana rigg was poor as lady dedlock . she was clunky and wooden . lady d . is a reserved character but not a martinet . denholm elliot is wrong  wrong  wrong for mr . jarndyce . so i  ll interrupt myself and respond to all those people who are saying  i didn  t read the book  so i don  t have to take this guy  s opinion because he  s basing his evaluations on the book .  true and not true . for ex  diana rigg is bad in her role because of poor acting whether or not you  ve read the book . on the other hand  denholm elliot is a passable jarndyce  although too old  . the series fails not because it  s unfair to compare it to the book  but because the various plot lines and characters just don  t coalesce to make a coherent  dramatic  mysterious andcompelling entertainment . it is dull and flat . if you want to make apossibly good bleak house  you need to expend   hours of film in   two hour episodes . but i suggest that producers etc . leave dickens alone  even a christmas carol  . television deadens the genius of dickens as manifested in his ingenious plots and unforgettable characters .  
zentropa is the most original movie i  ve seen in years . if you like unique thrillers that are influenced by film noir  then this is just the right cure for all of those hollywood summer blockbusters clogging the theaters these days . von trier  s follow  ups like breaking the waves have gotten more acclaim  but this is really his best work . it is flashy without being distracting and offers the perfect combination of suspense and dark humor . it  s too bad he decided handheld cameras were the wave of the future . it  s hard to say who talked him away from the style he exhibits here  but it  s everyone  s loss that he went into his heavily theoretical dogma direction instead .  
  i am curious yellow  is a risible and pretentious steaming pile . it doesn  t matter what one  s political views are because this film can hardly be taken seriously on any level . as for the claim that frontal male nudity is an automatic nc     that isn  t true . i  ve seen r  rated films with male nudity . granted  they only offer some fleeting views  but where are the r  rated films with gaping vulvas and flapping labia  nowhere  because they don  t exist . the same goes for those crappy cable shows schlongs swinging in the breeze but not a clitoris in sight . and those pretentious indie movies like the brown bunny  in which we  re treated to the site of vincent gallo  s throbbing johnson  but not a trace of pink visible on chloe sevigny . before crying  or implying   double  standard  in matters of nudity  the mentally obtuse should take into account one unavoidably obvious anatomical difference between men and women there are no genitals on display when actresses appears nude  and the same cannot be said for a man . in fact  you generally won  t see female genitals in an american film in anything short of porn or explicit erotica . this alleged double  standard is less a double standard than an admittedly depressing ability to come to terms culturally with the insides of women  s bodies .  
this movie really is a mixed bag . on the one hand  the story and concept of the movie are really good  tense and have some nice plot twists in it . but than again on the other hand  it all is told very slow  without style and uninvolved . still i regard  just cause  as an above average thriller simply because of the fine cast .  br    br   maybe sean connery was miscast in his role . i mean  he isn  t really that believable as a the main  hero  and father of a young daughter  played by a still very young scarlett johansson by the way  and husband of kate capshaw . i feel that he simply was too old for the role to be really credible in it . however sean connerey is of course a great actor and that is the only reason why he is still able to carry the movie as good as he does . but he of course is helped by a very solid supporting cast that consists out of actors like laurence fishburne  blair underwood  ned beatty  hope lange  lynne thigpen and ed harris . all actors are really good but some of them are highly underused at the same time  which is a real shame  as well as a missed opportunity . especially ed harris is just totally great in his role as a psychopathic serial killer . he  s truly chilling and acting superbly . normally he doesn  t play this ruthless  chilling sort of roles in movies  so he really surprises with his role in this one . his performance alone is already more than enough reason to watch this movie . however due to the fact that the story is told without much style and too formulaic  none of the characters in the movie really work out well because it feels all too distant .  br    br   it really is the way of storytelling that kills all the movie its fine potential . arne glimcher directs the movie with little style and keeps the pace too low at times . because of this  we as viewers  never really get involved with the story or any of it  s characters .  br    br   it really is too bad  for  just cause  had more than enough potential . a fine cast and a slick story with some unexpected twists and turns in it in which nothing is what it seems . the cast and story are the only reason why this movie is still an above average thriller  that will probably still please the fan of the genre . it however is an eternal shame that the movie is lacking in its story telling and style  or else this movie could had been a real classic in its genre .  br    br        
herculis puaro is  in general  a well established  hero  we know well from books and movies . this movie or this story don  t work and i felt its not agatha  s mistake . the cast isn  t good  the actors are over exaggerating and making foolish gestures  the costumes are so clean and tidy that everything  even arab clothes  look fake and for the serious spectator who thinks twice this movie can be seen as a comedy instead of mystery drama . the actor playing herculis puaro is doing a nice job but nothing fantastic . the scenes are  as said before  perfect and looking fake . the story is not very enchanting although a mystery of murder but who cares about the death of a loony and vicious blond    woman in the iraqi desert   the  victim  is not likable .  
never having seen this movie  based on the entertaining novel by nicholas katzenbach  and taking into consideration the first rate cast assembled for the production  we decided to take a look .  just cause   while not a horrible film  takes too many liberties with the original material that jeb stuart didn  t quite succeed in his treatment . arne glimcher directed .  br    br   the first thing we think when a young black man is hauled to the local precinct for interrogation is police brutality . after all  sheriff tanny brown  and police officer wilcox  show no mercy in beating bobby earl  who is accused of killing a young white girl . we feel horrified by what the officers do to the prisoner .  br    br   then  the scene changes . evangeline  bobby earl  s grandmother is sent north to ask a distinguished harvard professor  a retired lawyer  the young man wants paul armstrong to defend him . she old woman is convincing enough for armstrong to take a look at the case . he is also convinced of the young man  s innocence .  br    br   things are not exactly what we thought they were . when blair sullivan  a man who is serving time in the same facility as bobby earl  comes forward to tell about how he is connected to the young girl  s murder  and changes the dynamics of the case . the way it plays in the movie  it serves to confuse the viewer and distract armstrong from arriving at the truth .  br    br   this thriller is made enjoyable by sean connery  who plays armstrong . laurence fishburne  an intense actor  makes a fine impression as the sheriff who  as far as we can see  is guilty of abusing his prisoner . ed harris has a wonderful opportunity to show why he is one of our best actors . blair underwood  kate capshaw  ruby dee and the young scarlett johansson are seen in supporting roles .  br    br   the film  even with its faults  will not disappoint .  
this movie could have been   minutes long if it weren  t for all the bickering between son and father . very predictable . both male  stars  need a good slap in the face  would you like some cheese with that  whine   two chuckles . . . and a headache . i can understand why the mother left her hubby after   years . . . i don  t know how she lasted that long  the first  minutes made me want to turn the movie off wishing i had never paid the   .   to watch it  the movie didn  t flow well and was painfully long . i kept watching my watch hoping time would fly faster . . . it didn  t . the script had so much repetition that it had to be easy for the writer to fill space . on a positive note . . . the scenery was pretty  fall being my favorite season . the car  the   ford was also quite nice . this movie gets an d  rating approaching an f  
enjoyable movie although i think it had the potential to be even better if it had more depth to it . it is a mystery halfway through the film as to knowing why elly is such a recluse . then  when we are finally given an explanation going back to her childhood there still isn  t much detail . perhaps had they shown flashbacks or something .  br    br   anyway  it is still a good movie that i  d watch again .      br    br    
did anyone else notice whenever they are in the car each time the camera takes a new angle they switch roads . like in one scene it is a one lane residential with sidewalks  next they are on a multiple lane highway with a divider  next a two lane country road with double yellow lanes . i can understand a low budget but that was just sloppy film work .  br    br   i also read the other reviews and disagree that it was a bad movie . i think that if you are a fan of paul reiser and his comedy then you may enjoy this movie . if  however  you find his work  not funny then i would recommend staying away from this one .  
a simple movie in the beginning  a simple movie in the end . it does have that un  ending and pretending cliche  but  most tv movies have that any ways .  br    br   christopher reeve does a good job as being an ex  con  drifter . the marriage between her and the woman he works for  i feel is a bit queer  but  i believe for the time period it is set in  that it is believable none  the  less .  br    br   now  i saw the edited  tv  version  even tho the movie was made and showed on  tv   i find that a bit queer as well . but  i feel if i saw the entirety of the piece  i would give it more  in  likely the same rating .  br    br   j . t . walsh does a nice job  not his best role  but  still . . . . a nice job .  br    br        
i have two good things to say about this film the scenery is beautiful and peter falk gives a good performance  considering what he had to work with in terms of dialog and direction  . however  that said  i found this film extremely tiresome . watching paint dry would have been more entertaining . it seemed much longer than   minutes . beginning with opening sequence  where everyone is talking over each other and paul reiser is repeating everything that  s said to him on the phone  the movie is annoying . the film is filled with clichs and shtick  not to mention endless incidents of audible flatulence by falk . also  the director seems to have had difficulty deciding whether to aim for laughs or tears . there are some sequences that are touching  but they  re all played for laughs . if schmaltzy  sentimental  and  cute  appeal to you  you  ll love it . but if you were hoping for something with more substance  see a different movie .  
notice that all those that did not like and enjoy this film commented that it was not as good as the book or that it differed from the book .  br    br   i don  t understand this type of criticism . books and films are different media . while books have hours and hours to develop characters and story lines  films have about    minutes . yet the film has the advantage of stimulating several senses visual  audio  as well as the imagination . i don  t care if a film is as good as or  in fact  has any resemblance to the book on which it is based . who cares  i judge it for what it is .  br    br   this tv movie was charming . an old and oft  seen story  prone to clich  it could easily have been embarrassing . however  riffen and reeves pull it off . one reviewer found riffen far to old . i would never have guessed she was   when she made this film . it is to her credit as an actress that she played a      year old amazingly well . i also think it is about the best thing reeves ever did . the story could have been stronger  and i agree the screen play could have used  tightening .  nonetheless  it is well worth watching clearly not a powerful love story  but rather  a charming romance which will leave you satisfied that love is a strong emotion and good overcomes evil . and it is nice to see a  love story  without the obligatory f word  the naked buttocks  or hours of spit  swapping kissing .  br    br   lastly  the musical score is excellent .  
this should have been a movie about sam and his wife  the glorious peter falk and equally glorious olympia dukakis . that would have been a movie worth seeing . instead it  s a paul reiser vehicle  with a little falk thrown in . the wonderful elizabeth perkins is also in this movie  but you  d hardly know it . i presume reiser is under the impression that he  s a giant movie star who needs an appropriate vehicle . he  s not . even more galling is that reiser took the trouble to hire some of the best women character actresses on the screen today and then shoved them all into his background . dukakis does not show up until the last   minutes  but when she does  the screen glows . the story is about falk and dukakis really  but we  re subjected to a pointless  silly  preposterous road trip in which reiser gets to show how very cute  precious and oh  so  deep with psychological insight  wrong   he can be . for instance  in a restaurant scene that i imagine reiser had hoped was  cassavetes  like  there  s a laughably false confrontation between reiser and falk that is so patently ridiculous  i was embarrassed for falk .  
i found this movie to be charming . i thought the characters were developed since as i watched  i found myself caring about these people . this is a period piece that i believe took place during the depression . a single mother  who is known as the town recluse  she has reason to be   puts an ad in the paper for  a husband  . christopher reeve plays a ex  con who happens into town looking for work . he sees the ad and he goes out to see her . she hires him . i really had some chuckles as their relationship progresses because i found it easy to put myself in their shoes . everything went on so matter of fact . he needs the work so he doesn  t want to upset her . and she needing his help  but doesn  t want him to get the upper hand . they dance around the fact that they begin to really need each other . things start warming up until . . . . . . the big blowup . i won  t spoil it by telling you what happens . but the point of resolution is perfectly wonderful . i found the story to be very believable for the time it  s taking place . i think this is one of the better  relationship  stories out there . maybe the younger generation won  t  get it  but if you are over   i think you  ll like it . and if you liked christopher reeve in  somewhere in time  you  ll like him in this one also .  
this is a horrible movie . all three stories are bracketed with a psychiatrist hypnotist line which is unnecessary and all the stories are bad . the first is about wild wolves and some lady  there are some things that don  t make sense  but the hypnotism thing makes up for that . the second one  with bad bill paxton as a maniac roommate should not be viewed by anyone . the last one  sadly the best is almost incomprehensible which i guess makes it better than the other garbage .  
i love this film . the noir imagery combined with spillane  s no nonsense character mike hammer works marvellously to create a mood and feel seldom found in low budget detective films of the early fifties . it may not be  the maltese falcon  but this film makes it  s own solid contribution to the genre . spillane is often criticised for alleged misogyny etc  but his  dames  are way above their male counterparts in terms of cunning and intelligence . poor old mike hammer  as effectively played by biff elliott  is blinded by the beauty of the mysterious psychiatrist whom he meets when investigating the death of an army buddy . when the penny finally drops his face is a picture . good to see that   s censorship did not force the film makers to omit the famous last line . a bona fide low budget classic .  
this is the single worst movie i have ever seen . let me say that again this is the single worst movie i have ever seen .  br    br   it had all of the ear  marks of a bad movie continuity errors  bad writing  bad acting  bad production value  bad music . i thought that there were a couple points to horror movies . the first is that it is supposed to be suspenseful enough to scare you . this movie gets and f in this category . the second point is that when a character dies  or something bad happens to them  we are supposed to care . this movie gets an f in this regard as well .  br    br   the first story  a woman gets mauled by wolves after being afraid that this would happen to her . the next story  an ocd guy dies from not being careful and talks to a dead friend of his . oh  and then there is the horrific  nail  biting story of a bad roommate . come on  could you pick topics a little more interesting and a little less common than being alone in a house  being anal  retentive  and having a roommate  turns out all of these stories where hallucinations  virtual reality induced by a doctor who in turn uses it himself . wow  stupid .  br    br   let me explain something  i enjoy watching bad horror movies and laughing at how bad they are . i couldn  t do that with this one . it was utter pain to sit and watch . do not under any circumstance watch this movie . you will regret it .  
i consider this film to be the best one about mike hammer  with biff elliott  s performance the definitive mike hammer . harry essex  s script is excellent and contains many improvements on mickey spillane  s novel . his direction is strong and imaginative  and he makes fine use of light and shadow . the camera work by john alton is top  notch  as is the score by franz waxman . the cast includes many veteran players  as well as peggie castle in her memorable performance as charlotte manning . all in all  this is one of the finest private eye films ever made . biff elliott and haary essex should have received more opportunities . i have always treasured this film .  
this movie still chills me to the bone thinking of it . this movie was not just bad as in low  budget  badly acted  etc . although it certainly was all of those things . the problem with this movie is that it seemed to be intentionally trying to annoy the viewer  and doing it with great success . what i want to know is  is this supposed to be a horror movie  i mean  it  s definately horrifying  but not in the way horror movies are supposed to be . i could see the first segment trying to be horror and failing  but what the hell is the second segment  it  s just annoying . the third segment is like watching an artsy student film  which amazingly enough makes it the least painful segment . it  s an atrocity that this movie isn  t way low on the bottom     so get your votes       in people   i know some people gave this good reviews  but  well  they  re lying in a sadistic attempt to trick you . trust me  it is impossible to like this movie . the only benefit of this movie is an amazing life  extending effect it feels like you  ve been watching this movie for years after only the first half hour has passed .  
  the last big thing  is a wonderful satirical film that sardonically whips pop culture to the point of humorous self  desctruction . the characters are so interesting and fun to laugh at  sympathize with . which brings me to an introduction to the characters i liked best . . .  br    br   simon geist is a man in his late   s  early   s who creates a pop  culture driven editorial magazine called  the next big thing  . thing is  this magazine doesnt really exist  and it is only an excuse for simon to get close to actors by interviewing them  only to bitch  slap them silly  insulting their way of buying into pop culture . his live  in female friend  darla  is also writing a magazine  which is real   which mainly has to do with her and simon  as well as her and her father . darla is a genuinely loveable  or loathable  character  depending on how you view her muted neurotic behavior . magda is a prostitute  the character i liked the best . brent is a flat character with not much to him  as is tedra  the music  video queen for a bunch of b  rated rock bands . still  these characters weave a very interesting web together . and this movie questions all the motivations that people have for what they do and why they do it . its a wonderful film and i suggest you see it if you  re in the indie  art house crowd . mark my words   br    br    
imagine a woman alone in a house for forty five minutes in which absolutely nothing happens . then this goes on twice more . the writing is flat and lifeless  and jokes unfunny  and the bad acting keeps you from caring about any of the characters  even when they battle wolf packs and get beaten up by fraternity goons . anyone that ranked this movie higher than a two is not fully sane .  
this movie is an amusing and utterly sarcastic view of pop culture and the producers thereof . i was impressed with the photography that consisted of vivid colors and spin doctored settings  especially when you think that this is zukovic  s first large scale attempt .  br    br   one warning  do not take the movie  s message that seriously . it is not for mass consumption  and that is not a compliment  . the message is a somewhat stylized post  college  neophyte view of society .  br    br   i did enjoy the basic plot line of a fictitious  zine editor verbally whipping the mobocracy of the    s .  
three tales are told in this film  that seemed to have been shot without knowledge of this being a combined vignette film . the makers relate the three vignettes by having them all connected to shrink martin kove  although you never see some of the leads with kove .  br    br   the first vignette has sexy vivian schilling  a woman afraid of everything under the sun  she makes adrian monk look brave   having a paranoia laced evening at home alone . you will literally scream at vivian for doing some ridiculous things . she spends the majority of her time in a nighty which shows off her amazing features . but her film is the worst if not the most nail  biting .  br    br   the second vignette is owned by bill paxton as he portrays the roommate from hell . his geeky roommate allows him to take complete advantage of him  and bill does so whenever he can .  br    br   the last vignette was funny as a man fears that death will take him at any moment  much like his pal who choked to death on an olive .  br    br   not very interesting  as the movie as a whole seems chopped together with very little thought involved . a must for bill paxton fans .  
zentropa has much in common with the third man  another noir  like film set among the rubble of postwar europe . like ttm  there is much inventive camera work . there is an innocent american who gets emotionally involved with a woman he doesn  t really understand  and whose naivety is all the more striking in contrast with the natives .  br    br   but i  d have to say that the third man has a more well  crafted storyline . zentropa is a bit disjointed in this respect . perhaps this is intentional it is presented as a dream  nightmare  and making it too coherent would spoil the effect .  br    br   this movie is unrelentingly grim    noir  in more than one sense one never sees the sun shine . grim  but intriguing  and frightening .  
i rented i am curious  yellow from my video store because of all the controversy that surrounded it when it was first released in     . i also heard that at first it was seized by u . s . customs if it ever tried to enter this country  therefore being a fan of films considered  controversial  i really had to see this for myself .  br    br   the plot is centered around a young swedish drama student named lena who wants to learn everything she can about life . in particular she wants to focus her attentions to making some sort of documentary on what the average swede thought about certain political issues such as the vietnam war and race issues in the united states . in between asking politicians and ordinary denizens of stockholm about their opinions on politics  she has sex with her drama teacher  classmates  and married men .  br    br   what kills me about i am curious  yellow is that   years ago  this was considered pornographic . really  the sex and nudity scenes are few and far between  even then it  s not shot like some cheaply made porno . while my countrymen mind find it shocking  in reality sex and nudity are a major staple in swedish cinema . even ingmar bergman  arguably their answer to good old boy john ford  had sex scenes in his films .  br    br   i do commend the filmmakers for the fact that any sex shown in the film is shown for artistic purposes rather than just to shock people and make money to be shown in pornographic theaters in america . i am curious  yellow is a good film for anyone wanting to study the meat and potatoes  no pun intended  of swedish cinema . but really  this film doesn  t have much of a plot .  
i was lucky enough to have seen this on a whim during a film festival and was smacked so hard with what i saw i returned the next night for its second of three screenings . a funny  savage and sharp  toothed attack on every aspect of mainstream entertainment passively swallowed without tasting by the lowest  common  denominator target audience waged by a lone  avenger journalist who slowly takes in members for his guerilla  war on predictability is what the movie  s all about  and is executed in such an unpredictable and refreshing way that you  re left after the credits roll with hope renewed  and excited that original films can still be made . anyone frustrated with unfulfilled expectations for something to light up their imaginations would do well to hunt  and i do mean hunt  this scarcely  seen item down . for fans of fight club and any charlie kaufman film  and required viewing for anyone who avoids multiplexes like a rabid dog .  
when i  d seen the name of this movie  i  d always thought it was a musical . like  the harvey girls .  it  s not . it  s a pudding that overcooked  hit the kitchen ceiling  and was pried off and cobbled together . no music and not a period piece but thoroughly improbable .  br    br   it starts with patriarch james woods telling the eldest of his three daughters  a small child who grows to be barbara stanwyck  that she must maintain the family name and home .  br    br   we thus think it is going to be a historical intergenerational tale . and it is  for a brief time . then it turns into the story of cold  hearted stanwyck  s fight against lawyer george brent . why is she so dead set against him  well  why else  as we learn in a strange flashback sequence narrated by stanwyck  she had once thought she could inherit some money  for her sisters as well as herself  of course  by marrying . she hit on someone she took to be a country bumpkin  who was in fact budding lawyer brent .  br    br   lest anyone think the child they had  a young man of eight or so at the time of the main plot  is   well  you know . . . they had a hasty marriage and during the very short time they were together  he was conceived .  br    br   one of her sisters is in love with a painter named gig young  who is played by gig young . the other sister tries to take him away . etc .  etc .  br    br   it is a shrill  unengaging mess   well enough acted but without a shred of logic or plausibility .  
this film is as good as it is difficult to find . the film  s hero  and writer and director  is simon geist  a man  with an agenda .  he creates a fake magazine just to have the authority to interview the swine of los angeles  the actors  the models  the musicians  who believe that their own defecation doesn  t smell . with clever dialog  zucovic succeeds in doing this . sure  the budget for this film was probably what he paid for a used car  but this film is so solid and so well written that it works very well . any person who can reenact edward munk  s  the scream  in the reflection of a silver trashbin at a local coffee house should be nominated for some type of award . give this film a chance and listen to what it says . . . because they have been making the same car since     . . . it  s called  the car .  bravo  zucovic  bravo   
spoiler alert  although i think this one was spoiled coming out of the can it  s hard to even imagine that a film with these stars  from this studio  made at this time period  could be so awful  but it is . it is the film  s biggest flaw by far that it just doesn  t make any damn sense .  br    br   rich widower american aristocrat penn gaylord leaves his small daughter  in charge  and goes off to world war i where he is killed . then we flash forward to present day       and total confusion . the three sisters are in court where they are said to have spent the last twenty years  and some jerk named barclay is trying to take their home away from them . this is just the beginning of an endless series of unanswered questions that comprises the script  more holes in it than the warren report . what happened to the gaylord fortune  if the will is worth half a billion  why has the family home gone from an opulent palace to the house on the munsters  who the devil is this barclay clown  and why is he able to take someone  s home away from them  the questions just pile on top of more questions .  br    br   the usually affable and charming george brent is playing barclay  who is inexplicably a total sod tromping all over everyone  taking whatever the heck he wants no matter who it belongs to and without a twinge of guilt yet no one besides fiona  barbara stanwick  seems to particularly dislike this cretin . why  none of these questions are ever answered . we instead just follow fiona  s life from one train wreck to another  the evil barclay takes away her home  her fortune  and even her child . what does she do  shoot him  set him on fire  no  too logical . in a completely improbably wrap  up  this woman  who  s only prior romantic involvement with barclay was  save for the technicality of marriage  rape  suddenly decides mid  sentence  literally  that she does not hate him  she loves him . and they  re going to live happily ever after . all of a sudden for no reason in the world  this early female role model of independence and authority is transformed into the usual helpless ankle  twisting twit more commonly found in films of this era . yeah  sure  steal everything in the world that belongs to me and i  ll fall in love with you . on what planet does that happen  i can only guess the reason i never heard of this film before i happened to catch it on turner is that it was as lost on contemporary audiences as it is today .  
saw this a couple times on the sundance channel several years ago and received a nice cinematic jolt to the system . a semi  surreal yet hard edged take on modern media culture  or the lack of it   focusing on some seriously wacked  way  beyond  the  hollywood  fringe dwellers . it had an amusing early performance from mark ruffalo  and some memorable cinematography from the dp who did the polish brothers movies . there was a savage umcompromising humor and a weirdly original feel to it that definitely set it apart . this film had cult classic written all over it  and i  m surprised it  s not yet out on dvd .  br    br   hopefully soon .  
here is one of those movies spoiled by the studio  s insistence on a happy ending . conflicts which have stretched out for years are settled in a few minutes . it would have been far more interesting to inject a tone of ambiguity . the talented barbara stanwyck is undone by a sudden metamorphosis from independent and assertive woman to a compliant female of the kind she has put down all her life . brent  as usual  is well over his head and then there is the ludicrous situation of gig young playing a character named gig young . someone mentions  gig young  and then who appears but gig young  the actor  worth seeing though far below what it could have been .  
the film revolves around a man who believes that all forms of media are obsolete . the idea behind his art project is to unmask the ridiculous culture that we are bathed in . naturally  the film takes place in los angeles  orange county . he attacks stand up comics  caw  caw  caw   rock bands  models  blockbuster hollywood films  and touches on many other mediums . eventually  he finds himself in the sights of the weapon he has set into motion . the film is five years old and rings more true every day . it  s the best description of post  punk anger i  ve ever seen . it  s also one of my top   favorite films .  
i have to say the first i watched this film was about  years ago  and i actually enjoyed it then . i bought the dvd recently  and upon a second viewing i wondered why i liked it . the acting was awful  and as usual we have the stereo  typical clansmen in their fake costumes . the acting was awful at best . tim roth did an ok job as did liam neeson  but i  ve no idea what jessica lange was thinking .  br    br   the plot line was good  but the execution was just poor . i  m tired of seeing scotland portrayed like this in the films . braveheart was even worse though  which is this films only saving grace . but seriously  people didn  t speak like that in those days  why do all the actors have to have glaswegian accents  just another film to try and capture the essence of already tired and annoying stereotypes . i notice the only people on here who say this film is good are the americans  and to be honest i can see why they  d like it  i know they have an infatuation for men in kilts . however  if you are thinking of buying the dvd  i  d say spend your money on something else  like a better film .  
i watched the babysitter as part of bci eclipse  drive  in cult classics  featuring crown international pictures releases  on dvd . i think it is a very good film .  br    br   this movie packs a lot of story into a very short time . you have hippies  rock music  bikers  lesbians  sexual impropriety  blackmail  and murder  all in one spot   br    br   the lead actors do a credible job . and  i found the intricately woven plot to be believable and interesting .  br    br   however  the supporting cast  primarily the bikers  delivers a stilted performance  particularly when asked to deliver lines with more than just a few words . perhaps they used real bikers  instead of actors . a couple of the characters  in particular  were exceptionally believable .  br    br   the musical score is absolutely spot  on  for the times  the tempo  and for moving the story forward . i found the music a real treat . i noticed in the opening credits that the movie featured the music of  the food   i googled them but  couldn  t find anything . . .  br    br   in any case  george e . carey who wrote  produced and starred in this movie liked the idea so much  of a wayward married man brought to redemption through trials and tribulation and  a little help  of course  that he wrote  produced and starred in  weekend with the babysitter .   
this movie was a long build  up with no climax . people whom refer to the swordfight in the end as great must either be out of their minds  or have none . way too often this movie got soft . i am not saying that soft movies are bad . but no matter how fond you are of sugar it should have no space on a t  bone steak . this movie was supposed to be about vengeance for crimes committed against a culture  but it ended up being a petty bar  brawl . and there was only one of them who actually knew what a sword was tim roth  s character  and yes  he plays him well  . rob roy was a weak  hero  with no knowledge of how to use a sword  and the way he  won  was a disgrace . as a drama this movie had it  s periods  but the best performance in it has to go the nature of scotland . this is one tad breath short of being termed as  soap  in my book .  
frustrated middle  aged deputy district attorney george maxwell  a fine performance by george e . carey  who also produced this picture  can  t stand his naggy  frigid wife edith  a perfectly bitchy anne bellamy  anymore . worse yet  poor george is further saddled with a newborn baby sun and a lascivious lesbian teenage daughter  dishy brunette sheri jackson  . george has an adulterous fling with lovely  enticing and free  spirited swinging hippie babysitter candy wilson  delightfully played with sexy aplomb by yummy blonde knockout patricia wymer  . complications ensue when george finds himself being blackmailed by the bitter julia freeman  a nicely venomous turn by kathy williams   who wants george to spring her psychotic biker boyfriend laurence mackey  a frightening robert tessier  who sports a head full of hair here  from jail . director tom laughlin  yep  the same dude who portrayed billy jack   and screenwriter james mclarty cram the splendidly seamy story with a winning and highly entertaining surplus of delicious female nudity  sizzling soft  core sex  and raw violence . moreover  they accurately peg the whole wild  n  easy uninhibited sensibility of the    s youth culture and relate the plot in a tight   minute running time  thus ensuring that this movie doesn  t overstay its welcome . one definite highlight occurs when candy invites her groovy friends over the maxwells house for an impromptu basement bash complete with pot smoking  wailing rock music  and  of course  hot naked dancing chicks . robert o . ragland  s funky score hits the gnarly spot . stanton fox  s stark black and white cinematography adds an extra gritty edge to the deliriously sleazy goings  on . best of all  this flick rates as a marvelous showcase for the utterly charming and fresh  faced pixie patricia wymer  who positively lights up the screen with her sweet  bubbly personality and captivating beauty . a total trashy treat .  
born  raised  and educated in scotland  i was appalled at this disgusting portrayal of a man who was no more nor less than a cattle rustler . worse yet  the thread of the entire movie was sex in one form or another  by implication or verbally . to view it  one would think that   th century scotland was populated by a bunch of sex perverts and homosexuals . lange was a joke acting as the  young  mother at age   but liam neeson was even worse  taking a  bath  in a scottish loch is not commonplace as they portrayed him  but  it did give them yet another opportunity to demonstrate how sexually driven we were . save your money and watch pinnochio .  
this familiar story of an older man  younger woman is surprisingly hard  edged . bikers  hippies  free love and jail bait mix surprisingly well in this forgotten black  and  white indie effort . lead actress patricia wymer  as the titular  candy   gives the finest performance of her career  spanning all of  drive  in epics  . wymer was precocious and fetching in the young graduates        but gives a more serious performance in the babysitter . the occasional violence and periodic nudity are somewhat surprising  but well  handled by the director . leads wymer and george e . carey sell the may  december romance believably . there are enough similarities between the babysitter and the young graduates to make one wonder if the same director helmed the latter film as well . patricia wymer  where are you   br    br   hailing from seattle  wa  miss wymer had appeared as a dancer on the tv rock and roll show malibu u  before gracing the cover  as well as appearing in an eight  page spread  of the august      issue of  best for men   a tasteful adults  only magazine . she also appeared as a coven witch in the popular     cult drive  in shocker the witchmaker .  br    br   the babysitter has finally made its home video debut  as part of the eight  film bci box set drive  in cult classics vol .   which is available from amazon . com and some retail stores such as best buy .  
how does a scotsman in a kilt make love in the bonny purple heather  very  very carefully . now i have the distinct advantage over many other of the reviewers in that i was born in scotland . far too many americans take this simplistic nonsense seriously . it  s a joke  people   four legs good  two legs bad   as orwell had it . jessica lange has an accent that the wells  next  the  sea amateur dramatic society  s production of  brigadoon  would turn down . liam neeson  apparently popular with the ladies  wears his kilt with all the authority of a man whose great grandmama once stepped off the train at edinburgh waverley . and the auld enemy  where would the scots be without them to hate and blame for everything  messrs roth  cox and hurt should be ashamed for indulging in such racist stereotyping .  robin hood  prince of thieves  seems a masterpiece of historical accuracy in comparison . and at least alan rickman was funny .  
  let  s bowl  started out on local television in the twin cities . it came on late at night  something you  d stumble across while channel surfing after your  th bottle of hamm  s .  br    br   even the ads were locally produced  featuring wally outside grumpy  s bar  holding a microphone and stammering nervously    ahh . . . over to you  steve sedahl .  not sure why  but that one always made me laugh .  br    br   there was a bowling contest featured under the guise of settling a dispute between two bowlers  but the game was secondary to the commentary and clips . sedahl played it straight  counter  balanced by rich kronfeld  s bizarre and hilarious  wally hotvedt .  highlights included segments like  how to properly dispose of an old bowling ball   chuck them into a lake  and  tips on dating   where the duo  date  a couple of hookers and wally ends with the bitter complaint   i could have done that myself    br    br   another segment   what the duo did on their days off   featured steve in beer can strewn hovel  pigging out from the fridge while wally struggled to climb the cliffs at taylor  s falls  dressed in his tight pale blue blazer and over  sized headphones . hilarious   br    br   wally  s awestruck comments about  league bowlers   and his struggle to apply the correct euphemism to various splits were also highlights .  br    br    let  s bowl  was picked up by comedy central and had some good moments  but the network never really knew what to do with it  running it during prime time and emphasizing the bowling  competition   which was never the point of the show . the constant commercials interrupted the flow and the side characters  ernie  the pig  butch  etc .  were more distractions than anything else . the whole thing seemed rushed and kind of forced . even jon stewart dissed let  s bowl on the daily show    not enough lame  snide jokes     an ignominious treatment for a show that deserved far better .  br    br   how often does a  let  s bowl  come along in the world of modern television  a locally flavored mix of comedic genius and total crap  the networks have the  total crap  part down cold  but it  s a sad thing to watch them kill such a dark  strange  funny little gem like  let  s bowl .   br    br   here  s hoping they  ll put it out on dvd .  
i wish more movies were two hours long . on the other hand  i wish more american civil war movies were merely two hours long .  gone with the wind    gettysburg   that  s about the length i  ve come to expect although those two at least entertained for however many hours they lasted and even  gettysburg  lasted as long as it did because things happened in the course of it .  br    br   by contrast ang lee  s film is bloated and uneventful . it actually feels as if it takes much less than two hours . that wasn  t a compliment . it  s really no different to any other form of sensory deprivation at the time it feels as though it will never end  afterwards it seems to have taken no time at all .  br    br   the film gets off on the wrong foot  as lee plays his interminable credits over the opening footage  bad mistake  in which we are introduced to some characters we take an instant dislike to and will later come to loathe . the central two are jake  the son of german immigrants who are staunch supporters of lincoln  and jack  an equally staunch southerner whose values jake shares .  i had to re  read that sentence to make sure i hadn  t written  jack  instead of  jake  at some point or vice versa .  the two go off to become  bushwhackers   southern militia who so strongly lust after revenge and violence that they can  t even be bothered to join the official southern army  which i presume they think is for sissies . i  m afraid lee lost me right there . it  s easy to feel for characters who make moral mistakes if we have some independent reason to like them  or feel as if we know them in some way  then their moral flaws can make us care for them all the more . not so here . we aren  t properly introduced to jake for at least an hour when we are  it becomes clear he  s a gormless pimple of a man  who isn  t a confederate by choice so much as by habit  the kind of person who says and does what everyone around him says and does  whose psychology is purely immitative . the people he associates with are either just the same or positively evil in some uninteresting way . i found myself cheering whenever the northern cavalry appeared on the screen . i thought good  kill the rebels  end the damned war  let me go home .  br    br   aggravating this problem is the horrible  horrible dialogue . everyone speaks in the same whining southern accent . i  ve heard accents from all over the english  speaking world and this is the worst of them all . i don  t care if southerners really did talk like that  it  s simply not fair to ask an audience to listen to it for two hours . and believe me  we do listen to it for the full two hours lee  s picture is a talky one  largely because characters take so long to say what they mean in their ungrammatical  say  everything  three  times  folksy drawl . it would help if they talked faster  but not much . can  t these people find a more efficient language in which to communicate   br    br   in short the film is little but a gallery of uniformly unattractive characters with no inner life  who talk in an offensively ugly mode of speech  who don  t bathe often enough  to whom nothing of interest happens  despite their being involved in a war . good points  jewel was nice to look at  and so was the scenery . but i have complaints even here . the cinematography  nicely framed  looked as if someone had susbtituted colour film for black and white by mistake and as for jewel  we were teased with her body  but never actually allowed to gaze upon it  which i think is the least we were owed .  
preston waters is off to a bad summer . besides his birthday coming up  nothing else looks promising .  br    br   first he has to share his own room with his brothers who are going to run a business . they can  t do it in their rooms because they don  t have enough space . off to a birthday party he only gets   tokens while others get         and even    . when one of his birthday cards comes early  he only gets a check made out for    .  br    br   going to the bank he learns he needs     at least to start an account . leaving the bank  a bully steals the check . pursuing after the kid nearly gets him run over  definately his bike gets ruined  by a criminal named quigley  played by miguel ferrer  . quigley  s just come from the bank too from giving the owner           to give to this guy tomorrow . quigley starts to write a check for the damage  but only succeeds in writing his name before a police car circles the area . afraid  he gives preston the check  informs him to give it to his dad to finish out .  br    br   that evening though  preston tells his dad that he doesn  t want a new bike  he wants his own room back  better yet his own house . his father confines him to his room for the rest of the evening . moping in his room preston figures things can  t get any worse he realizes that he forgot about the check as it  s still in his shirt pocket . it  s blank .  br    br   using the computer and after careful consideration  he makes it out for           . the next day  while trying to cash it at the bank he  s taken to the owner who thinks he  s the person he  s supposed to give the           and does . he  s not though as the real person named juice comes in a moment later .  br    br   now the three have to track preston down .  br    br   meanwhile  preston has fun buying all sorts of stuff including his own house and even going on dates with a disguised bank lady who  s really and fbi agent  who  s trying to track the  bad guys down  . he makes this person up named mr . macintosh who he works for and even plans a party for him on his birthday .  br    br   but eventually things catch up  the money runs out  the bad guys get him  .  br    br   overall  a pretty funny flick . miguel ferrer plays his role very good . if you enjoyed him in another stakeout  you  ll love him here . he does all sorts of wicked crazy things .  br    br   rick ducommun  the stressed out boss from ghost in the machine  plays a wonderful friendly chauffeur in this movie .  
long on action and stunt work  but so short on character delineation and development that it failed to hold our interest . not always easy to figure out which side a character is on and who  s doing what to whom .  
first of all the movie  is an ingenious work of art  movie  . the plot was filled with surprises  a little kid pretends to be a grown up inherits one million dollars and how he spends it . i mean how whacked out is this . walt disney really outdid themselves this time . the comedy is most of the times expected but the other times unexpected . i mean was this movie ok or was this movie ok . it also teaches a lot about wise youths and i this kid is really wise and a bit time smart pants . but also it sucks . how the heck could a guy like that kid get a hot police babe and his dad let him go free . that  s like let a killer get bailed free for ten years . if i were to do that i  d get beaten with a  suble jack   a huge stick that stings when used to bench your butts really hard  . that kid is really lucky . back to the story . the movie makers really knew what they were doing when they made this movie but still it  s not perfect . the acting was good and bad . the kid and woman had no chemistry neither did the father but the bros were excellent  . the special effects on the other hand was lame . plus this movie isn  t based on reality . i hated and loved it at the same time .  
this was a new alltime low among westerns . the writing is excruciatingly bad  characters are impossible to emphasize with and are either disgusting or bland  the violence is appalling and technically not very convincingly executed . and tobey maguire shows us the flip side of his talent  sleepwalking through his part with those expressionless eyes and that raspy voice of his that here betrays only mannerism .  ride with the devil  is among my five worst movie experiences ever  a western never to be surpassed in the negative respect .  
von trier once explained how he created such strong involvement from the viewer with his movies by placing his movie world in about the middle of the real world and the imagined world . so as viewers we think we watch a  true  story while in fact we are thoroughly manipulated  often to the point that the movie works disturbing  dancer in the dark  or painful  the idiots  idioterne  . of course the dogme  films acted only as a vehicle for this theory  besides creating some welcome spotlight on von trier  .  br    br   the story is typical for von trier our hero is idealistic  seems to balance his relations with everybody else  but soon becomes the victim of the problems others have created in the past for themselves . the idealist inevitably has to reject society in order to stay idealistic and becomes the terrorist . mankind is spoiled and purity only leads to  self   destruction .  these elements were also very omnipresent in breaking the waves and dancer in the dark .  the movie is also full of cynical  even humorous  undertones about the role of the germans and americans in post  war germany .  br    br   as a technical achievement the movie is wonderfully designed shifting and fading washed  out colors  screen overlays  action on different overlays  with the shooting of the soon  to  be mayor as the most interesting  . in this movie we can see how good von trier  s handles film as a technical medium . in his later works he seems to step down from this  as if he is not longer interested in technical achievements because they become so easily available  .  
this film  once sensational for its forward  thinking politics and depictions of free love and sexual liberation  has been reduced by time to a mere curiosity . it seems absurd now that this mostly boring little film had been banned and seized by governments in many countries . given how socialistic sweden eventually became  the  radicalism  of its politics  once controversial  appear naive and almost mainstream four decades later . and its sex scenes  at one time the subject of sensational obscenity trials  look pretty tame in a modern context . nevertheless  the film and accompanying documentaries detailing its many controversies and influences remains marginally watchable as an early reliquary of    s youth rebellion . one part of the film that still holds up its self  consciousness with respect to the  fourth wall  . every once in a while  the filmmakers film themselves making the film . the satiric playfulness of this still elicits a chuckle .  
yeah  i remember this one  many years since i actually watched it . the story was entirely surreal  but nonetheless great  what anyone who rates and reviews movies ought to bear in mind is what the respective movie aims at . it  s the same with  first kid   which follows a similar pattern . certain movies  like this one here  just aim at plain and comical nonsense . such movies can  t be rated from the point of view of a hypercritical reviewer . of course these movies lack quality  lack a sophisticated storyline  very often lack first  class acting  but if they do fulfil their primary premise  that  s okay . i don  t have this movie here on my list of all  time favorites  but i still thought it was funny  had some very enjoyable sequences and made a good story . brian bonsall is a smart actor anyway .  
this movie was two and a quarter excruciating hours . someone please tell me what the point was   br    br   i mean  i understand the historical setting . it  s supposed to be about a ragtag group of confederate bushwhackers  terrorists   on the missouri  kansas frontier  taking revenge against all northern sympathizers and abolitionists during the u . s . civil war . but aside from gratuitous violence there wasn  t really much of a point to this movie . perhaps it was a political statement  that war is really nothing much more than gratuitous violence  if that was the point it was done quite well  but i don  t think that was the point . i think the producers really thought they were making a worthwhile movie here  but as far as i was concerned there was a complete lack of any plot . it seemed like i was watching a paperback novel come to life  with the characters looking like what you would see on the covers of such novels .  br    br   this movie should be burned along with some of the towns this gang torched   
this is a good movie . something fun about watching money be blown at a super rate  especially from a kid  s point of view . take it for what it is  a fun little movie about a kid  s dream coming true  and what a kid might do with   million dollars . don  t like it  don  t watch it . they make movies for the watchers  not the people that have nothing better to do then complain in their lives .  
i am sad that a period of history that is so fascinating and so rich in material for film can be made into a ho  hum event . wm c quantrill was barely shown in the film  probably the most intriquing figure of the period . frank james was never mentioned  cole younger  ditto  and bloody bill anderson  who would weep for his murdered sister every time he went into battle was completely absent in the script . instead we were forced to watch fictitious characters that never developed into anyone we cared about . how sad . the costumes were wonderful however  as was the location shooting in missouri . i hope ang lee will make another film from the period and try again  or some other film maker will look into the tremendous wealth of material to write a screen play on .  
preston waters  a   years old boy  has problems with his parents and brothers specially because of money issues . he is crazy to have his own house and his own rules  since his brothers always stole his saved money and his parents neglect his wishes . one awful day  preston was riding his bicycle it was the same day that the villain of the story  quigley  was trying to scape from the police and accidentally ran the car over preston  s bike . needing to be far away from the police  quigley gives in a hurry  a check to cover the damages of preston  s bike . the problem was it was a blank check  preston is a clever boy and decides to have a high price on that check  million dollars  all that money gives preston things that he always wished for  like a mansion with pool  lots of toys  and even a limousine  the problems start to begin when the fbi and quigley wants to know where the money is  making preston in a hard situation and facing many problems .  br    br   this movie was one of my favorites during my childhood .    
okay . . this wasn  t the worst movie i  ve ever seen  but i had heard lots of good things about it and i was sorely disappointed . i could see where the film makers were coming from and that they were trying to express the fact that the two sides in this battle weren  t a whole lot different from one another  that the individuals were getting lost in the fighting  etc  etc .  well  that  s my presumption  anyway      br    br   at any rate . . the movie kind of bored me . i  ve watched a lot of really long movies  but this one just seemed to drag on and on and on . . basically because i just couldn  t bring myself to care for any of the characters . i just kept thinking . . who cares    i also found the acting to be rather dead pan and the dialogue strained . i understand that this was the     s and all  but most of the conversations just seemed rather unnatural . no one seemed to have any emotion throughout most of the film except during melodramatic events .  br    br   the  romance  in the story didn  t seem to be supported by anything other than  i  m a guy and you  re a girl   which i don  t consider much of a romance  and yet i felt i was being steered to the belief that these people were in love . oh well . . i guess it  s the whole  all this horror around us  we have each other to cling to  type thing  or whatever . i was also hoping for some sort of dynamic between the two best friends  who both initially seemed to have an interest in the girl  but that was just sort of dropped . maybe avoiding a cliche love triangle . i don  t know .  br    br   oh well . . daniel holt was about the only character i really truly liked . and sue lee was all right . i didn  t exactly dislike jake  but he seemed a bit too . . . spineless  i guess . jack bull i did not care for at all . and i  m pretty sure you  re supposed to hate just about everyone else  with the exception of the poor normal people who just get mowed down left and right . it was pretty graphic and had that whole  the horrors of war  thing down  but i  ve seen plenty of other movies with the same theme  done better .  i enjoyed the patriot a lot  for instance  even if it was a bit emotionally manipulative  but  as i  ve already stated  i  m a cynic . what can i say     
this is an excellent little film about the loneliness of the single man . phillipe harel as notre heros is a bit like an amalgam of robert de niro in taxi driver  inspector clouseau  in his stoicism  and chauncey gardiner in being there  also peter sellers  . he is single yet doesn  t have a clue how to attract the opposite sex  in fact  he really makes no effort at all   br    br   he has a stoicism and fatalism that defies any hope of ever achieving coupledom  his friend jose garcia as tisserand is in the same plight yet at least makes a brave effort to transcend his extended virginhood  he  s   and admits he  s never had sex  .  br    br   very good outdoor shots of paris and rouen  where the two software people travel on business . they try various nightclubs and places but all to no avail . my theory is that they  re trying the wrong places  they go to more  or  less  youth  nightclubs they should try the type that has older people  more their own age .  br    br   harel increasingly becomes isolated and does a little de niro effort  as in taxi driver  urging his friend  colleague to go and stab some bloke who  s pulled a nice  looking girl in the nightclub .  br    br   worth watching .  
i am probably one of the few viewers who would not recommend this film . thought visually stunning like all of ang lee  s work  each still frame seems worthy of a print   i was really disappointed by the film  s disjointed pace . it really was too long .  br    br   the story is set in civil war era missouri  and is about a young man  roedel  who joins the feral forces of the bushwackers  sort of renegade confederate sympathizers who conduct geurilla type fighting with the jayhawkers  their union counterparts . he and his close friend  jack bull chiles played by skeet ulrich  join the group after chile  s father is shot point  blank and his home is burned  presumably by jayhawkers . the story follows roedel  s and chiles  raiding adventures and their interactions with other victims of the war  including former slave who fights for the bushwhackers  daniel holt played by jeffery wright   and a war widow played by jewel .  br    br   it seemed that every time the film developed the story to an interesting point  it would turn to some other subplot and leave things undeveloped . for example  the agitation among roedel  s group caused by former slave holt participating in the confederate cause is shown briefly through some conflict regarding propriety and protocol  and then dropped until later in the movie . a young villian  bully bushwhacker hates roedel and directs much angst and violence against him  but  we never know why . some of the characters never seem to surface i think that is because the movie embraces too many of them as well as taking on large amounts of history .  br    br   the historical detail was excellent . i loved looking at the housing  furniture  clothes  etc .  and i thought the lead actors did a wonderful job of humanizing the characters  though they stumbled a bit with the dialog . unless you really enjoy history or are a huge ang lee fan  though  take a pass on this one .  
unremittingly bleak and depressing  the film evokes as well as could be desired the legendary misery and emptiness that characterised houellebecq  s controversial novel of the same name . like many french films  its manner is one of wistful profundity but it is painfully slow  or should that be  slowly painful  while this is an excellent and challenging film  it is not an enjoyable one and its difficult to think of any time when one might be in the  right  mood to see it .  
the central theme in this movie seems to be confusion  as the relationships  setting  acting and social context all lead to the same place confusion . even harvey keitel appears to be out of his element  and lacks his usual impeccable clarity  direction and intensity . to make matters worse  his character  s name is  che   and we are only told  directly  by the narrator  well into the film that he is not  that  che  just a guy named che . the family relationships remain unclear until the end of the film  and once defined  the family is divided  the younger generation off to america . so clich . other reviews discuss how the movie depicts the impact of the revolution on a boy  s family however the political stance of the director is murky at best  and we are never quite sure who is responsible for what bloodshed . so they lost their property  acquired by gambling profits   so what  refusing to take a political stand  when making a movie about the cuban revolution  is an odd and cowardly choice . not to mention the movie was in english  why are all these cubans speaking english  no wonder they did not get permission to film in cuba . and if family life is most important to look at here  it would be great if we could figure out who is who  we are  introduced  to them all in the beginning  a cheap way out of making the relationships clear throughout the film  the acting was mostly shallow  wooden  and unbelievable  timing was off all around . the  special  visual effects were confusing and distracting . references to american films  and the black character as greek chorus  strictly gratuitous  intellectually ostentatious  and consistently out of place . i only watched the whole movie because i was waiting for clarity  or some point to it all . it never happened .  
the book on which this movie is based was excellent it took a while to come to grips with houellebecq  s unconventional style but once i understood the mood behind the writing i was completely drawn into the author  s world of sadness . in fact  no other book has affected me so much . this is not necessarily a good thing  it elucidated my own personal struggle and has made the futility of my own struggle harder to accept . houellebecq  s insights are masterfully captured by harel and the hero  s apathy and indifference to a world which has rejected him is perfectly portrayed . this is a movie which reveals today  s society for the lowly male in all its horror . hopefully  things will change in the future but for the present we have to accept the rat  race as shown in this movie . it  s probably best that harel or houellebecq do not create a work of genius like this again . one is enough for any man .  
this is seriously one of the worst movies i have ever seen . i love japanese movies  and i think another film by the same director  electric dragon       v  is a masterpiece . i really wanted to like this movie  asano is a terrific actor and the storyline was immensely appealing . but i couldn  t find anything entertaining about it .  br    br   the movie takes forever for nothing to happen . and the effects the director used  like the constant percussion and the exorbitant use of slow motion  merely added to my growing annoyance at the fact that the plot was so mind  bogglingly slow and the actors were heinously overacting . a lot of the boredom was a result of extraneous additions that were completely unnecessary  like an hour spent on asano going around slicing buddha statues and proclaiming how he doesn  t worship anything . this added nothing to the plot . a fellow japanese film buff and i were both checking the time constantly . we couldn  t believe this film was as terrible as it was . and the finale was awful . i thought the director would at least attempt to reward the viewer for managing to sit through this  but sadly i was mistaken .  
it is an extremely difficult film to watch  particularly as it targets the innermost core of all of our lives . but ultimately it is a very beautiful and deeply moving film . any person who finds it cynical i have to say that they must have greatly missed the point of the film  s entire message . for those who actually watch the film  they will see that the way the issues are dealt with is absolutely necessary  and the outcome is ultimately uplifting . sure  it  s very hard to watch  a difficult subject matter and even brutal . yet it  s extremely relevant to society and everybody . it shows the peak of what world cinema is doing at the moment  i will not restrict that term to just france  and everyone should try to see it . i will say that it is best to go in with a clear head without being swayed by conflicting views  and just let the film work for you .  
spoilersthis was an ugly movie  and i  m sorry that i watched it . like jan kounen  s dobermann  it suffers mostly from poor editing   or lack of it . it is as if the director was so in love with his work that instead of cutting the movie down to a pace that kept your attention  he added all of the footage he had shot together . there are maybe two cool scenes in the entire movie . one of them is spoiler when benkei is petrified and the camera starts spinning around him . that was cool   but okay  we got it  move on please  the camera won  t stop spinning around this guy  there  s maybe one or two more cool scenes that i forgot about in this flood of mediocrity  but the last duel scene is not one of them  it may be because unlike in the earlier sword  handling scenes  shanao isn  t masked   but just because the director couldn  t find a stuntman who somewhat resembled asano tadanobu doesn  t give him the right to go ahead and make up    of the sword fight with extreme close  ups of sword clashes  and all from the same angle  may i add . the director should learn from the american produced     bullet  train ninja movie the hunted  i personally saw the village raid scene as a tribute paid to the social activists of the previous generation who were confronted by the police in the violent demonstrations of their college years . the situation where innocence is oppressed by an authoritative and armed branch of the government unwilling to understand seems to be a message common in the japanese media  due to the strong influence of socialists and communists who are a political minority . the movie versions of gto and salary man kintaro are two other recent examples end spoiler i don  t understand . i just don  t understand why people who don  t speak the language of the movie find praise worthy material in this . maybe the worst was lost in the translation .  br    br   the ending of the movie   on which marketing played a lot  is a different interpretation of the legendary encounter between shanao and benkei . but that legend is not the most popular in japanese folklore  and it is so detached from contemporary themes  that after    minutes of over played visual techniques  who cares how the director wants to re  interpret the story   director sasaki hirohisa of crazy lips said that there was an unpleasant trend among new japanese directors to ignore japanese audiences  and target their movies for foreign film festivals   in order to gain faster international fame . this works  although it doesn  t make sense  because the point of an international movie fest is to introduce to the world what kind of movies are being made in other countries  what kind of movies people watch in those countries . certainly not gojoe and the like .  
faithful adaptation of witty and interesting french novel about a cynical and depressed middle  aged software engineer  or something   relying heavily on first  person narration but none the worse for that . downbeat  in a petit  bourgeois sort of way   philosophical and blackly humorous  the best way i could describe both the film and the novel is that it is something like a more intellectual charles bukowski  no disrespect to cb intended  . mordantly funny  but also a bleak analysis of social and sexual relations  the film  s great achievement is that it reflects real life in such a recognisable way as to make you ask why aren  t other films like this  one of the rare examples of a good book making an equally good film .  
i basically picked up this movie because i had seen kitano takashi  s brilliant remake of zatoichi and was in the mood for another updated samurai tale which also starred asano tadanobu . these two movies are worlds apart . zatoichi added humor and depth to its characters and subverted traditional samurai movie clichs . gojoe goes off the deep end in the other direction .  br    br   first off  i hate movies that have other characters inform the audience what the main character is like instead of having the character develop over the course of the movie .  you cannot decide whether you are a monk or a warrior  says almost every character in benkei  s presence  yet this inner turmoil is barely conveyed within the character himself . instead of character development  we get bloated  boring  gory battle scenes . asano  s character is undeveloped and even he looks like he is bored and doesn  t know what he is doing there . i know that he usually looks distant and cool and that is part of asano  s appeal  but this movie doesn  t serve him .  br    br   a lot of the camera movement is nauseating . there is a scene that goes on forever in which the camera spins around the main characters until my wife and i felt like vomiting . the ending is ridiculous and rather anti  climatic .  br    br   its too bad that really good samurai movies aren  t being made in japan nowadays with this type of budget . the colors  scenery  and costumes were great  but the rest is just a loooong waste of time . i would rather see one of the kabuki versions of this myth .  
a true anomaly in the french cinema  this despairing work has no equivalent in the contemporary production . one would rather have to look on the side of louis malle  s  le feu follet         the fire within  to find something not completely unlike harel  s effort . wry and cynical  having lost all his illusions  the hero  a computer scientist  has got no more reason to live . absolutely none . estranged from the human race  he seems to live his life as some kind of entomologist  studying his colleagues . one of them catches his attentiontisserand  jos garcia plays the most demeaning part of the decade  . then tisserand will become some kind of preyall his pessimism will rub off on this poor man . the scene is the night  club climaxes the strange relationshipthe hero tells his victim that his life will always be unfulfilled unless he . . . . well now the movie takes a more conventional turn so to speak  clouzot  s misanthropy maybe  but just for a while .  br    br   the form is weird beyond comment there are two voices  over  one for the narrator who always refers to the main character as  our hero   one for the aforementioned hero . the story takes place  now in paris  now in rouen  guy de maupassant  s town . in a scene with his shrink  the hero says the writer  s madness was only the expression of his disgust for man and he draws a parallel between his despair and maupassant  s one .  br    br   this depressing movie is only suitable for an informed audience . not for the very short excerpts of x  rated movies  but because after watching it  you may be feeling down in the dumps .  
sogo ishii can be a skilled filmmaker under the right conditions  but gojoe tells the story of a warrior monk and his only rival  a scion of the genji clan . the film  making has the main hallmarks of a low  budget production  including blurry fight scenes and clumsy montages  the kind you might find in an under  produced dorama  . the monk benkei informs his spiritual teacher that his destiny lies in defeating the mysterious spirit that guards gojoe bridge at night  but he doesn  t realize that this decision will bring him squarely into conflict with nearly every element of society at that time  but which could earn him enlightenment .  br    br   there  s no absence of ambitiousness  however  in its depiction of the conflict between the holy and the worldly . artsy flourishes in some of the photography and editing help to compensate for the loose film  making style .  br    br   a disappointment .  
i caught a bit of this concert on public television and knew i had to have it . the boys give everyone at the royal albert an excellent  often thrilling performance complete in every way . pure  too  no synth  no smoke  shrouded lasers and strobes  no grandiose entrance  and an unstoned  serious  and appreciative audience  all of whom left their bottle rockets at home  .  br    br   if you  re a cream fan  or if you  ve only heard of them   if you  re a blues fan if you  re a rock  n  roll fan you will not be disappointed when you view and listen to this dvd . you also will never lose this dvd because you  ll never lend it to anyone .  this dvd justifies selfishness  tell them to get their own   it  s too good and too replayable you  ll want to keep it within easy reach .  
this production has absolutely no storyline . the acting is embarrassing . the promising dutch television sophie hilbrand star should not add this movie to her cv . her acting is far from flawless and personally i think she has crossed boundary of professional decency relating to the way she exposes herself in this movie . this movie contains too much unnecessary nudity  vulgar sexual scenes and rude language . it also shows a wrong image of the netherlands  as most movies do  . do not bother to watch this movie a waste of time  a waste of money and an embarrassing record for hilbrand  who has proved to be better with her close on on the screen .  
with stunning cinematography and a thread of kafkaesque absurdity  this movie had me from the simple yet fascinating opening scene . the movie plays much like a dream  and i think that may be why people either hate it or love it . characters are drawn superficially and the story itself is slight and perhaps a little pointless . but these are failings of the movie but conscious choices . the film works isn  t trying to work as history  but rather is a deconstruction of     s war movies .  br    br   i would have trouble arguing that there was much real substance to the movie  but the movie is such a cinematic wonder that i was completely swept away . this is one of the most beautifully filmed movies ever  and there is a wild imagination in its style . i can completely understand why people would hate it  but i give it     .  
i am curious is really two films in one  half of it is the sexual experimental side of lena and the other half is her curiosity with political  socialism . whatever the director  s intention  the two don  t really mesh together . the director should have just stuck with the romantic side of lena and made a separate movie for the politics . there is a bizarre mixture of political  war rallies  dr . king  serious political interviews  flopping breasts  and pubic hair . the film feels more like a fictional documentary than a movie . other than the interesting sex scenes  you  ll be bored dry watching this film . unlike many other reviewers  i think the nude  sexual scenes are overdone for what it is . if you want to see real porn  i  m sure there are better choices . the pervasive nudity is a major distraction from whatever plot there is . i think the cast did a fine job however . they played their parts believably . there is little of the over  the  topness i  m so used to seeing in the american films during this time .  
liked stanley  iris very much . acting was very good . story had a unique and interesting arrangement . the absence of violence and sex was refreshing . characters were very convincing and felt like you could understand their feelings . very enjoyable movie .  
all i could think of while watching this movie was b  grade slop . many have spoken about it  s redeeming quality is how this film portrays such a realistic representation of the effects of drugs and an individual and their subsequent spiral into a self perpetuation state of unfortunate events . yet really  the techniques used  as many have already mentioned  were overused and thus unconvincing and irrelevant to the film as a whole .  br    br   as far as the plot is concerned  it was lacklustre  unimaginative  implausible and convoluted . you can read most other reports on this film and they will say pretty much the same as i would .  br    br   granted some of the actors and actresses are attractive but when confronted with such boring action . . . looks can only carry a film so far . the action is poor and intermittent a few punches thrown here and there  and a final gunfight towards the end . nothing really to write home about .  br    br   as others have said   bad  movies are great to watch for the very reason that they are  bad   you revel in that fact . this film  however  is a void . it  s nothing .  br    br   furthermore  if one is really in need of an educational movie to scare people away from drug use then i would seriously recommend any number of other movies out there that board such issues in a much more effective way .  requiem for a dream    trainspotting    fear and loathing in las vegas  and  candy  are just a few examples . though one should also check out some more lighthearted films on the same subject like  go   overall  both serious and funny  and  halfbaked  .  br    br   on a final note  the one possibly redeeming line in this movie  delivered by vinnie jones was stolen from  lock  stock and two smokling barrels  . to think that a bit of that great movie has been tainted by  loaded  is vile .  br    br   overall  i strongly suggest that you save you money and your time by not seeing this movie .  
i first saw a track from this dvd at a hifi show nov     in london  i was not really into cream until now    . it was through a high end arcam system  it sounded great with dts . i had to get this dvd and i  ll tell you this is by far the most exciting music dvd i have ever watched . the performance of cream at their age was just mind blowing and sound quality is the best i have heard on a music dvd . it does not matter what type of music you like  this one will definitely grow on you . it  s the sheer brilliance of their performance that will make you watch it again and again . even new musicians don  t cut the mustard these days  as these old rockers do .  
this film should have never been made . honestly  i must admit that before i saw it i had some serious doubts . the director is not a great actress  though she did a lot of movies in holland  and the young woman who took the main part is a tv  personality with a constant smile on the face and not much self  criticism . the actor who played the other main part i recently saw in bride flight and although that film is better  he did not convince me than . to start with the the story  i have not read the novel it is based upon  but the script that underlays the film is something that might have been done with in mind kids having a birthday party on a rainy sunday afternoon  not someone of the same age as the director who likes to watch a good movie . something really disturbing were the overdubbed dialogues  it was most of the time spoken out loud . my regards go to the cameraman  at least he tried to make something out of it . it is a pity that the film is edited lousy  if not  some scenes were certainly more credible .  
i  ve loved all of cream  s work  even as there is such a small and precious catalog of work to take hold . even when they go for as long as twenty minutes with some of their songs  spoonful and toad off of wheels of fire are prime examples  still rock the socks off of more than half of any given rock act working today . this power to gel on stage is given one of the most anticipate rock band reunions ever with their royal albert hall shows last year . they may have gotten older  as have their fans  but the energy is still there  with the great arrangements of classic blues songs as well as their own . the renditions of white room  badge  politician  spoonful  sunshine of your love  not one seems to miss a beat . clapton  s solos have a formation that he sometimes doesn  t have when on stage with his solo band . ginger baker  enough said . jack bruce is sturdy enough with his vocals still with a kind of power that clapton could never get on his own . bottom line  if you want to see what were the best shows you wish you had seen last year  well  some may have seen them   it  s all on this dvd  with cool special features .  
i recently saw this at the     palm springs international film . this is the feature length directorial debut of veteran dutch actress monique van de ven and based on my observation it should be her last . i hate movies that are so implausible that you are picking apart practically every scene . this film immediately leaves you scratching your head . as it begins a young photographer and his girlfriend who works for an international aid organization are having a leisurely drive through the taliban  controlled mountains afghanistan having a conversation about their love when a rocket stops a truck in front of them . they get out of their vehicle to watch as talliban fighters equipped with rocket launchers  machine guns  rifles  handguns and grenades execute all five people in the truck . bob  waldemar torenstra  starts taking pictures of all this when he is spotted by one of the insurgents who lobs a hand grenade at them that kills his girlfriend . since they are with hand throwing distance they can  t be more than   yards away yet he somehow gets away . his girlfriend is blown up and he takes a picture of the moment of the grenade impact that kills her and wins a prize as photographer of the year for the photo . every scene and situation in this film as as ridiculous as it  s opening . the following year bob finds himself on assignment for national geographic on a dutch resort island where he meets kathleen  sophie hilbrand  and inserts himself into her seedy underworld of international drug smugglers . avoid this film . i would give it a  .  out of   .  
so often a band will get together for a re  union concert only to find that they just can  t get it together . not so here . this concert is just shear brilliance from start to finish . these three musicians obviously got together beforehand and plotted and planned what was needed to ensure this was not just a nostalgic bash to satisfy someone  s ego . this is obvious from the start  before they even step on stage . many faces in the crowd weren  t even born when these guys first performed . from the first song they capture that old magic that was cream   men   instruments  no fuss . clapton  by his own admission  said he had to stretch himself for this concert because there were no keyboards  synthesizers etc so we get to see him at his best . ginger baker demonstrates why so many drummers today  speak of him as some sort of drumming guru . jack bruce just great . they really managed to put together a piece of magic that will stand the test of time for many years to come . this one  s a   for me .  
this movie is just like every other dutch movie  so if you enjoy movies such as turks fruit and de kleine blonde dood . then you might be okay with this one  even though those two have much better stories and actors  zomerhitte starts strong enough  but even that one good scene ends up having nothing to do with the storyline . there  s a lot of nudity  but me and others just could not find that girl attractive   the dialog is laughable  as we did a lot to the annoyance of other movie watchers   and some of the scenes are so completely random that this is more of an unintentional comedy than anything else  like a random scene in which an owl rips somebody  s eye out . . . it has nothing to do with anything and is only referenced once later in a sentence saying  did you hear what happened . . . i was there   . the only reason i gave it a  is because some of the places they are at look nice . . . that  s it . and the reason i saw it was because we went to the sneak preview  here in holland we have a strange system regarding sneak previews  you pay less money then for a regular movie and you don  t know what movie it is that you will be watching . all you know is that it  s a new movie that  s not yet in the theaters  . my advice is to stay far away from this film  if you really want to see a good dutch movie watch temmink or zwartboek .  
eric clapton  jack bruce and ginger baker re  unite to play all their songs from   years ago when they formed a trio called  cream .  those were the psychedelic days of england and america and these guys looked it all skinny  very long hair  wild clothes and loud music . they played a combination of rock and blues and it was  for the most part  good stuff .  br    br   well  these guys are now    something years old and they can still sing and play at a high level as this wonderful dvd concert disc shows us . i was always extremely familiar with clapton  of course  who has never been out of the limelight  but i didn  t know what to expect from bruce and baker  neither of whom i hadn  t seen in decades . they surprised me . when he was young  baker was so gaunt he looked like a speed freak near death . now he looks healthy  in shape and his drum playing was solid . bruce looked a bit haggard but his voice is great  as good as ever and a pleasure to hear on these old songs . this is just excellent material and performing from guys who know what they  re doing .  br    br   some people criticized this show for being low  key . i don  t agree with that . i have no complaints . the concert sounded very good . the second song   spoonful   was outstanding  the highlight of the concert for me .  br    br   highly recommended .  
edward montagne  s tattooed stranger is supposed to play like a crime thriller with a little film noir mixed in for flavor . instead  it  s a poorly acted  witless look into low budget and uninspired film making . the plot is absurd and the acting excruciatingly stiff and amateurish . john miles  who had a rather thin resume in the industry  grins and guffaws throughout  and everyone else acts with the same verve as characters in a government  made filmstrip about driver safety . the movie anticipates shows like  leave it to beaver  and  father knows best  in its unnaturally wholesome view of new york in     . why  the viewer doesn  t even get to see anyone light up a cig until some shapely woman is interviewed in a flophouse halfway through the movie . the only thing the movie has going for it  besides its brevity  is the excellent location shots coordinated by william steiner . the low budget of the film works in the cinematographer  s favor  as the viewer is treated to well  framed shots of new york city  s interiors and expansive exteriors . unless you wish to enjoy the film for the choice of settings and camera angles  i suggest watching practically any other movie .  
okay . yes  this was a very  tight  budget movie with continuity errors  like single scenes obviously filmed in sunshine and then in shadow and then mixed together   and as much as i love nick mancuso he was often a little too good at the burnt  out part  and some of the minor supporting cast was really bad  plus at least one actor was used for two different but conspicuous roles  . but come on . richard grieco was hysterical  his hair alone is worth the trip  . steven ford was very likable . mancuso had some great lines  while nancy allen  ironically  was completely bland and uninteresting . classic  no . bad parts  yes . entertaining  big yes . i would have loved to have been on  set the day they decided what kind of hairstyle grieco would have .  are you fast   . . .  y  ain  t that fast .   
very low  budget police procedural film about homicide detectives trying to solve the murder of a woman whose body turns up in a stolen car in central park  and their only clue is a tattoo on her arm . although released by rko  this has the look of an independent production that was picked up by the studio for distribution . the cast and crew  with a few exceptions   among them a young and uncredited jack lord  director edward montagne and cameraman william steiner   are comprised of complete unknowns  and it shows . the performances are universally sub  par and wouldn  t pass muster in a high school training film  the direction is stodgy and choppy and  as mentioned previously  there  s no chemistry whatsoever between the lead actors . however  despite the film  s many shortcomings  it does have a few good points . the location shooting in new york city  and the film  s ultra  low budget  gives it a gritty authenticity much like that of the far superior  the naked city   a shootout in a dark basement is decently handled  and some of the investigating procedures are clever . otherwise  it  s not much to write home about . it is worth a look  however  for a glimpse at the seamier sections of new york city in the early     s  and old  car buffs will be ecstatic to see the legions of    s and    s cars in the streets .  br    br   .  
this film caught me off guard when it started out in a cafe located in arizona and a richard grieco   rex    dead easy       decides to have something to eat and gets all hot and bothered over a very hot  sexy waitress . while rex steps out of the cafe  he sees a state trooper and asks him   are you fast   and then all hell breaks loose in more ways than one . nancy allen  maggie hewitt    dressed to kill        is a tv reporter and is always looking for a news scoop to broadcast . maggie winds up in a hot tub and rex comes a calling on her to tell her he wants a show down  western style  with the local top cop in town . this is a different film  however  nancy allen and richard grieco are the only two actors who help this picture together   
  demons iii the ogre  is not related pre  sequel are on  the demons  and  the demons  are cool hip horror     classic .  demons iii the ogre  is very stupid  bored  cheap monster . i am very confuse about the writer is  demons iii the ogre   lamberto bava and dardano sacchetti are poor quality writer and stupid who the bored william shakespeare ghost or demon  s egg from spider  s web or what huhuhuhuhu make the girl dream  . i am very sorry  very very very very boring movie . i bought the special dvd box called  demons  on the  different movies called  demons iii the ogre    the other hell   and  black demons  don  t have closed captioned and subtitles is cost    .   from best buy store in the city of downey . why the lamberto bava and dardano sacchetti are poor quality writer who make the stupid movie almost like  halloween iii  don  t have michael myer monster but the people wear halloween . i am very confused . i really love  the demons  and  the demons  are better the boring stupid  demons iii the ogre  is not part for  the demons  and  the demons   are same demons .  br    br   thank you juan antonio de la torre  
an unusually straight  faced actioner played by a cast and filmed by a director who obviously took the material seriously . imperfect  as is to be expected from a film clearly shot on a tight budget  but the drama is involving   it  s one of those films that when it gets repeated ad nauseum on cinemax  or more max or whatever they call it  you end up watching   minute blocks when you  re supposed to be going to work . along w   deathstalker     chopping mall   and  the assault   a reminder that wynorski is a much more talented director than many of his fellow low  budget brethern  who has a real ability to pace a genre film  when he actually  s interested in the material  i . e .  don  t bother watching any of his shannon tweed flicks with a  or a  after the title   actors who  ve had too little to do recently  mancuso  ford  even gary sandy for chrissakes  really put their all into some of their best roles in years   as for grieco  he has the right look  although his acting is a bit one  note   it  s clear his character is supposed to be self  destructing throughout the film  but grieco doesn  t quite convey it . i checked imdb and i see the writer also wrote  sorority house massacre     dinosaur island  for the director   both minor classics in their own rights  but obviously  silly  roger cormon  like cinema   this one  s more like some of the better jonathan demme and jonathan kaplan b  pictures of the    s   giving you the exploitation element but offering involving drama at the same time   a real step forward . not  citizen kane   and the comic final moments are a bit disruptive  but a well  written  character  driven above  average straight  to  video actioner . small achievements like this should not be overlooked when they come along  which is rare enough  as i was reminded as i tried to sit through an albert pyun monstrosity called  heatseeker  the other night   this low  budget stuff isn  t as easy as it looks   but that  s another story    
  aka demons iii   br    br   made for italian tv although shot in english and was never meant to be a sequel to the earlier demons films . it was supposed to be simply titled  the ogre  which is how director lamberto bava had released it .  br    br   an american family rents an italian villa for the summer . the woman  virginia bryant  has recurring dreams of herself as a little girl going down to the old wine  cellar of this villa an encountering this cocoon  like structure hanging down from the ceiling . it glows and is covered in cobwebs and has what looks like spider or insect legs hanging down from it . it drips what looks like green paint .  br    br   of course the husband doesn  t believe any of this . the villa just is old and creaks and makes strange noises in the middle of the night and she should just ignore it .  br    br   but then the ogre itself appears in what looks like some kind of   th centaury costume with what looks like a wolf  s head attached to it and it  s attracted to the scent of orchids .  br    br   the films isn  t really that bad and at least the dialog is halfway intelligent without the ridiculous awkward phrases that dubbing would bring . there  s no real gore other than some skeletons rotting in a basement pond that really looks like the bottom of a modern swimming pool . the ogre itself just simply fades away after it is run over by the family  s jeep cherokee .  br    br   the copy of the shriek dvd i watched was defective  with the picture going black for a few seconds about a half an hour into the film  a flaw i hope shriek has since corrected . extras include a short interview with lamberto bava where he explains how this wasn  t a sequel  etc . . etc . . . along with some trailers to other shriek dvd releases . this is pretty standard stuff .  br    br    out of    br    br    
i enjoyed watching this well acted movie very much  it was well acted  particularly by actress helen hunt and actors steven weber and jeff fahey . it was a very interesting movie  filled with drama and suspense  from the beginning to the very end . i reccomend that everyone take the time to watch this made for television movie  it is excellent and has great acting    
this was really a very bad movie . i am a huge fan of italian horror  argento  mario bava  fulci and yes  even our good friend here lamberto sometimes comes out with a good one . i found the first two  demons  films to be highly entertaining  they were so bad they were great but this one is just so bad that it is really  really bad . it is intensely boring  the story never goes anywhere and i hated the characters  the wife slapping husband and whiny cry  baby pain in the  wife drove me mad  there was nowhere near enough of the story devoted to the ogre who was probably the best actor in the whole film . i turned it off about three quarters of the way through because i was very  very bored  don  t bother .  
i must say that i really had no idea that i was going to sit down and watch this movie . i guess it was the fact that i had nothing better to do between class . but  for once a tv movie caught my interest . more importantly helen hunt caught my eye . i really wasn  t a big fan of hers prior to this film . sure i liked twister and as good as it gets . but  something about this movie really did it for me . i would now see myself as a huge fan . this movie comes with high marks from . . . me . give it a chance  it won  t let you down .  
the thing that really gets me about this movie  that is  the thing about this movie that makes me physically ill  is that someone actually paid to have it made . there is absolutely no purpose for the existence of this movie . it is not frightening  it is not thought provoking  it is not entertaining  it is not good . it is a sleeping pill made of cyanide . the dvd case compares it to blair witch  evil dead  and a few other decent movies  making the filmmaker  s desperation glaringly obvious . it is nothing like any other movie ever made it is far  far worse . the claims of an  extremely shocking ending you will never forget  are the equivalent of one ton of stinking horse droppings . please do not ever waste your time watching this piece of trash  because it may make you sterile . the man who wrote this movie should be wiped off the writer  s guild membership list  and never allowed to film anything again . because if he thought this was a movie worth making  he probably does not have much of anything to offer in the future . zero stars . may grod have mercy on the soul of anyone unfortunate enough to see this . i am going to go vomit now .  
i enjoyed watching this well acted movie very much  it was well acted  particularly by actress helen hunt and actors steven weber and jeff fahey . it was a very interesting movie  filled with drama and suspense  from the beginning to the very end . i reccomend that everyone take the time to watch this made for television movie  it is excellent and has great acting    
this movie was extremely boring . it should least not more than   minutes . the images of child and animal being killed were little bit disturbing .  br    br   usually i don  t write comments but this one was so bad having so many good and excellent comments . i think in this case we are one step closer to honest assessment of this title .  br    br   what more can i say  i fall asleep during this movie  times . it was about  hours after i had woken up from  hours long sleeping period . i think it is the point itself .  br    br   there is no dialog between characters except maybe  sentences at the very end .  br    br   when you fall asleep once watching it do not try to rewind and catch up because you will fall asleep again .  
on october of      the american german descendant leopold kessler  jean  marc barr  arrives in a post  war frankfurt and his bitter uncle kessler  ernst  hugo jregrd  gets a job for him in the zentropa train line as a sleeping car conductor . while traveling in the train learning his profession  he sees the destructed occupied germany and meets katharina hartmann  barbara sukowa   the daughter of the former powerful entrepreneur of transport business and owner of zentropa  max hartmann  jrgen reenberg  . leopold stays neutral between the allied forces and the germans  and becomes aware that there is a terrorist group called  werewolves  killing the sympathizers of the allied and conducting subversive actions against the allied forces . he falls in love for katharina  and sooner she discloses that she was a  werewolf  . when max commits suicide  leopold is also pressed by the  werewolves  and need to take a position and a decision .  br    br    europa  is an impressive and anguishing kafkanian story of the great danish director lars von trier . using an expressionist style that recalls fritz lang and alternating a magnificent black  white cinematography with some colored details  this movie discloses a difficult period of germany and some of the problems this great nation had to face after being defeated in the war . very impressive the action of the occupation forces destroying resources that could permit a faster reconstruction of a destroyed country  and the corruption with the jew that should identify max . jean  marc barr has an stunning performance in the role of man that wants to stay neutral but is manipulated everywhere by everybody . the hypnotic narration of max von sydow is another touch of class in this awarded film . my vote is nine .  br    br   title  brazil    europa   
well  where to begin  i guess i can start with the general complaint regarding the way in which this film is marketed . call me ignorant for not knowing of schneebaum  s book before viewing the documentary that has been based off of it and decide that i have been living under some kind of a rock  but don  t blame me for picking this movie up since the title and the description on the box makes no note of the fact that this  documentary  is actually a companion to said book . yeah  i felt quite stupid after viewing this little flick seeing as how the reason as to why i sat down to watch it in the first place was to get a good serving of a  modern cannibal tale .  i mean  am i a fool for expecting this film to actually cover most of its story on the behavior of cannibalism in jungle tribes  i certainly didn  t expect an hour and forty  five minutes of one old geezer kissing his own ass by whining about every little detail of his dull and worn out life . i certainly didn  t expect the insipid directing and i most notably did not foresee myself laughing so hard at tobias schneebaum and all of his off  putting glory .  br    br   schneebaum is indeed unlikable . the old man just rambles and bitches the entire film making the whole picture a personal tale of his even though he isn  t even that interesting a character to fill a story . oh really  he was a cannibal  ninety percent of the movie is focused on next to nothing regarding schneebaum  s dirty past . the only time that we really get to see some cannibal action is when tobias finally breaks his little silent treatment about what happened to him in peru and say that he had  a small piece .  that  s it  folks . ninety minutes of bull later and tobias schneebaum is a cannibal by three inches . it  s like calling a movie  the life of a true don juan  only to see that the only the time the protagonist of said film did something sexual happened during college when he once played  just the tip .  unbelievable .  br    br   the directing is  indeed  superbly ghastly as there is no flow or rhythm to the story that is being told . alright  i understand that i didn  t read schneebaum  s volume before watching his celluloid tale of it  but i can still recognize some bad pacing and even worse editing . one minute schneebaum is talking about cruise ships and tourism and the next he  s going on and on about how he can  t drive and then jumps to talking about some dead relative or some failed and miserable saga in his life . i mean  jesus  can you at least slam his back story to the first part follow up with some stuff covering his homosexuality and then end it off with a hearty look into his visit to peru  also i don  t particularly care much for schneebaum  s insipid little quips on life and living  but i at least implore the old man to keep consistent with his ramblings . if i hear a guy talking about how he prefers life in the jungle i don  t expect him to suddenly bitch and moan about wanting to go back home twenty minutes later . absurd .  br    br   another note on the directing is the random clips from the story at hand to the small little television appearances in which our hero has appeared . while some might find the clips to be fancy little breaks from the story  the director has overused the gimmick and broken his entire film into pieces by seemingly attempting to place most of the efforts of telling the story on the old reels .  br    br   the bottom line  here  is that tobias schneebaum is a fraud . pure and simple . i know that i haven  t read the book  but i  m still holding on to the argument that this film is totally useless by noting that a good film must stand on its own . this documentary relies way too much on the assumption that the viewer is already an avid fan of schneebaum  s work and instead goes on from that assumption like a supplemental disk found on a dvd . schneebaum is both arrogant and bitchy  striking a sour combination when mixed with the fact that his story is remarkably un  riveting . if you  re looking for a solid piece on the nature of humans and cannibalism  turn away because  keep the river to your right  is an embarrassingly hilarious self  serving rant over a man who is long overdue for a straight  jacket and a gag .  
spoilers highly charge police drama about a serial killer loose in and around the small town of riverside wisconsin . who  s being tracked down by the local police using policewoman gina pulasky  helen hunt  as an undercover decoy to catch him .  br    br   nothing new in this made for tv movie that you haven  t seen before but the depth of the acting and screenplay is unusually good and brings out a lot about not only the killer but the policewoman  s  as well as her fellow policeman lover  state of mind .  br    br   having been put under psychiatric care after shooting an armed and unstable assailant  who attacked her partner with a rifle . officer palusky is given the task to go undercover to get close to murder suspect kayle timler  steven webber . after he was positively identified by the little girl sahsa  kim kluznick  who saw him not far from where little timmy curtis was found stabbed    times  to death the next day .  br    br   getting a job at the mr .  c  diner where tim works gina gets to become very friendly with him and later tells him  in order to get tim to open up  about him possibly being the serial murderer that she once killed in a hit  and  run accident a   year old woman .  br    br   tim who is said to have a genius iq doesn  t seem to pick up on gina  s attempt to trap him even when he later sees her at a bowling alley with her fellow cops spending a night out . playing some weird cat and mouse game with her tim at one point get  s gina  at knife point  to admit that she  s wired . but gina tells him that she was forced to do it by the police to get a break and an early release from prison . besides tim  s instability and criminal actions we find out that gina isn  t all there as well . she seems to be suffering from her being rejected by her father who left her  with a drunk and abusing mother  as a young girl that  s effecting her work as an undercover policewoman .  br    br   there  s also the fact that gina  s lover policeman will mccaid  jeff fahey   who  s estranged from his wife and two kids  who  s also on the serial murder case is too overprotective of her . that causes gina to almost blow her cover and that has her later being taken off her assignment .  br    br   put back on undercover duty by her boss capt . cheney  dan conway   over the objections of officer mccaid  after another young boy    year  old davy marish  was found murdered gina finally get  s herself together and gets tim to admit that he  s the person who  s responsible for the string of murders in the area . gina does it by having a hidden tape recorder that she replaced the one that she gave to him to show how honest she is  hidden on her .  br    br   the movie  in the company of darkness  wasn  t really that exceptional but the acting by helen hunt jeff fahey and especially steven webber was . it was these high caliber performances that lifted the film well above the average made for tv movie were used to seeing .  
the plot is straightforward an old man living off a main road in woodland one day witnesses a man murdering a child in the woods . soft for digging follows the old man  s attempts to try and convince the police that what he saw was not a figment of his imagination . however  there is a problem each time the old man guides the police to where the murder happen no corpse can be found . soft for digging has a diminutive dialogue which reflects the majority of the scenes of the film  an old man living by himself in a house . during the film i found that i was scared twice namely when the murdered child abruptly appears before the old man . the rest of the film i have to admit did not engage me i found the tempo of the film a little too slow . the limited dialogue was not a problem . however  the development of the story and its conclusions  after watching the film  took too long . i feel more could have been made of the relationship  ghostly encounters  with the child and the old man . alone in the woods at night unsure of your own mind can lead to some eerie situations  children are always scary as ghosts  see dark water .  
this is one of the best movies out there and that  s saying a lot being that it was for television . i really wish it was on d . v . d .  br    br   helen hunt gave such a raw performance . she played a rookie cop thrown into serial killer case perfectly . when she falls apart because he kills another kid it was amazing . she is so alone  so he gets to her . when she talks about her mother  wow   br    br   steven weber as the serial killer was so shocking  he really brought her into his dark world . it was oscar  worthy . when he talks about killing the kids  scary  when he realizes who she really is  what a scene    br    br   they really don  t make them like that anymore . it was a real thriller without being gory .  
jerry spies tom listening to a creepy story on the radio and seizes the opportunity to scare his nemesis .  br    br   i didn  t find this particular episode that funny the humour seemed rather constrained and the whole set up was kinda lame  jerry is essentially the  bad guy  in this one  tormenting poor tom for no particular reason  .  br    br   there is the occasional flash of inspiration  such as tom  s literal  heart in mouth  experience  and the moment when his nines lives are sucked out of his body   but  on the whole  this effort lacks the frenetic pacing  excellent animation and sheer wit of most of tj  s other cartoons .  
chalk this one up in the win column  this was a superb movie . the acting performances were great and the script was equally great .  br    br   helen hunt was magnificent as the riverside police officer gina pulasky . gina was a complex character . she was a rookie cop with the riverside police dept . she ended up in an affair with a coworker that she knew had a wife and kids  all the while she took on the dangerous task of going undercover to catch a serial killer .  br    br   jeff fahey  the ray liotta look alike  did a bang up job as the confused  often stammering  police officer that had an affair with gina . he was stoic as an officer  but he was quite the opposite when it came to dealing with his feelings and his extra  marital affair .  br    br   steven weber  most notably from the sitcom  wings   did a nice job as the quiet  meek  underachieving sociopath . on the surface  he was an innocent loser  but beneath the surface lied a cold hearted killer . weber really took on the persona of a childlike young adult with an insatiable thirst to kill young boys .  br    br   the entire movie was spectacular . each scene  each verbal exchange let us know more and more about the characters . the production team did a phenomenal job with condensing days  if not weeks worth of events into a   minute movie . this movie was a good example of doing a lot with little .  
tom is listening to one of those old  time radio broadcasts  something kids from the     s to today would watch on tv . however  they didn  t television when this cartoon was made so people got their entertainment  from comedies to music to scary stories  from the radio .  br    br   tom is literally shaking in his boots listening to some story about the  phantom .  he  s actually literally doing everything the narrator is saying  such as  hair standing on end  icy chills race down her spine  her heart beats in her throat   etc . jerry  meanwhile  is watching tom and laughing his butt off at his scaredy  cat antics .  br    br   we then get a taste of what we will see for many years after this     cartoon in which jerry tortures tom for no reason other than sadistic pleasure . if the cat asks for trouble  that  s one thing  but when he  s minding own business and jerry is physically  and in this case  mentally  abusing him  i have a hard time rooting for the  little guy .   br    br   these early tm efforts also were a minute longer than all that followed . sometimes that one minute makes a difference . it did here as this actually dragged for awhile . it could have been cut to five minutes without missing anything because the sketches went on too long . that  s usual for tom and jerry  s . usually  they are much faster  paced .  
more tv movies ought to be made like this one . i saw it way back in    when it was first on tv . helen hunt and steven weber were both terrific  giving very gritty and realistic performances . weber was especially good  turning in an exceptionally creepy and understated performance as the child molester  killer . this film really increased my respect for hunt as an actress . the director also directed  hoosiers   which was somehow both formulaic and exciting . but the direction in both of these works has the same stark  simple realism that is so appealing . if you like tv movies that aren  t predictable and filled with overacting  see it if you can . the side story about hunt and fahey  s affair is also appealing without detracting from the main story .  
don  t bother trying to watch this terrible mini series . it is a six hour bore  an unbelievable love triangle between three people who have absolutely no chemistry for each other . there is no heat in this story  no real passion  no real romance . it is a dry  boring  drawn out  and uninspired as they come . and it doesn  t even meet the expected level of technical proficiency . take those six hours of your life and use them for something more worthwhile .  
when a small town is threatened by a child killer  a lady police officer goes after him by pretending to be his friend . as she becomes more and more emotionally involved with the murderer her psyche begins to take a beating causing her to lose focus on the job of catching the criminal . not a film of high voltage excitement  but solid police work and a good depiction of the faulty mind of a psychotic loser .  
this is the worst piece of crap i have seen recently . there is nothing good about this movie . the plot is plain stupid  dialogs don  t make any sense  humorous scenes never heard anything about the real humor . actors just don  t play  the worse they don  t even try . the script itself is somewhat which is in the same league with ed wood and uwe boll . there is only one good thing in this flick  the fights . they are well choreographed as one would expect of the hong kong guys  and are the only reason to watch prince of the sun . although i believe the fights are just supposed to fill the empty space so that the screenwriter didn  t have to bother thinking about the storyline . however  this weak and absurd plot may prevent you from watching it to the end . avoid it unless you are fan of the dragon lady cynthia rothrock .  
i have seen this movie more than several times  on tv . i always watch it again . . . never turning the channel . this movie is full of chilling surprises  and absolutely edge  of  your  seat suspenseful  without being overbearing or stupid . helen hunt  s talent is magnificently shown in this movie  i recommend this movie to anyone     
oliver hardy awakens with a hangover and soon learns that his uncle is coming to see ollie  s new wife and baby . the problem is  they don  t exist   ollie apparently made them up  so  it  s up to him and his pal to locate a lady with a baby who will agree to pose as his family .  br    br   this isn  t a particularly unique story idea  as i  ve seen at least a couple other silent shorts with this exact plot . the best of these was bobby vernon  s don  t kid me . it is much better than one too many   probably much of this was due to it being made a decade later   when comedy became a bit more sophisticated and relied less on pointless slapstick . now i am not against physical comedy  but in some slapstick films  people starting shooting guns wildly  kick and strangle each other  etc . with little provocation . sadly  at the end of one too many  that  s exactly what they do . none of it makes sense and it was as if they  d just run out of story ideas .  br    br   overall  not exactly a milestone in entertainment . there  s just not enough payoff to merit watching it unless you are an obsessive silent fan like myself .  
i just finished viewing this finely conceived  and beautifully acted  directed movie . it was nip and tuck as to whether i was going to waste my time viewing a movie on the lifetime movie network because of the horribly distracting commercials . reading the earlier comments persuaded me to give it a shot . after all the worst that could happen would be that i might fall asleep during one of the boring yet lengthy bug spray ads . so why did i watch it  mainly because when imdb gives a movie a  weighted average  of  .  who  s statistical average was  .  it must be a sure hit .  br    br   i was totally delighted to have taken the time to view this movie  commercial pox and all . helen hunt continues to amaze me with her ability to take on tough roles adapting her core persona to fit each role .  br    br   the portrait she painted in this film of the tough yet perceptively human police officer was beautifully executed . when the scene calls for quick witted  timely delivered verbal intercourse  she can stand toe to toe with any actor . yet she is adept at the delivery of volumes of emotional response without uttering a word relying only on facial expression and body language . without the commercials  which by design kill the continuity of any good film  this would have been a real edge  of  the  seat nail  biter . i gave it a  .   
stan laurel and oliver hardy had extensive  separate  film careers before they were eventually teamed . for many of ollie  s pre  stan films  he was billed on screen as babe hardy . . . and throughout his adult life  hardy was known to his friends as  babe  . while touring postwar britain with laurel in a music  hall act for bernard delfont  hardy gave an interview to journalist john mccabe in which he explained the origin of this nickname early in his acting career  hardy got a shave from a gay hairdresser who squeezed hardy  s plump cheeks  the ones on his face  and said  nice baby   hardy  s workmates started crying him  babe   and the nickname stuck .  br    br   although much of hardy  s pre  laurel work is very interesting   notably his comedy roles in support of larry semon and the chaplin imitator billy west   his teamwork with billy ruge  who   in a series of low  budget shorts for the vim comedy film company is very dire indeed . hardy and ruge were given the screen names plump and runt names which are unpleasant in their own right  but made worse because ruge  although shorter than hardy  isn  t especially a runt . seen here  hardy looks much as he does in his early hal roach films with laurel . . . but without the spit curls and the fastidious little moustache .  br    br    one too many   an absolutely typical plunt and runt epic  is direly unfunny . . . and its dreichness is made even more conspicuous by the fact that this film has exactly the same premise as  that  s my wife   one of laurel and hardy  s most hilarious films . plump  hardy  is the star boarder in a rooming  house run by a tall gawky landlady . runt  ruge  is the porter . plump receives a letter from his wealthy uncle john  whose dosh he expects to inherit . his uncle is coming to see him and to meet plump  s wife and baby . there  s only one problem plump hasn  t got a wife and baby . he  s been lying to his uncle in order to seem a family man . now  of course  plump expects runt to find him a wife and baby on short notice . of course  the results are disastrous . it would be nice if those disastrous results were funny  but they aren  t . most of the unfunny humour here is just empty slapstick  with characters settling their arguments by shoving each other into bathtubs .  br    br   spoilers coming . vim director will louis  who   shows no instinct for camera framing the actress who plays the landlady is significantly taller than hardy  and louis consistently sets up his shots so that her head is out of frame . this could be funny if done on purpose  but it  s merely inept . at one point in this bad comedy  an extremely tasteless gag is looming on the horizon as runt approaches a black laundress .  surely they wouldn  t stoop that low for a laugh   i thought . but they do . runt steals the woman  s black infant and tries to fob this off as plump  s progeny .  br    br   somehow  plump acquires an infant  s cot  but he still hasn  t got a baby . with uncle john coming up the stairs  plump conscripts runt for babyhood . this gag might just possibly have worked with a midget  or even with a truly runt  sized actor such as chester conklin  but billy ruge is only slightly below average height . ruge  s impersonation of a baby is neither believable nor funny  and uncle john would have to be a complete moron to fall for it . amazingly  he does   br    br   the most notable aspect of  one too many  is a brief appearance   apparently her only  ever film appearance   by madelyn saloshin  oliver hardy  s first wife . the marriage was not a happy one  although hardy  s marital troubles never attained the epic proportions of stan laurel  s .  br    br   only one thing in this movie impressed me . there is a very brief flashback sequence  with hardy reminiscing about his seaside romance with a bathing beauty . in      there was still not yet a standard film grammar for conveying flashbacks the one shown here is done gracefully and simply . too bad this movie has no other merits .  one too many  is definitely one film too many on oliver hardy  s cv  and i  ll rate this movie just one point out of   . laurel and hardy together are definitely much funnier than either of them separately .  
this anime was underrated and still is . hardly the dorky kids movie as noted  i still come back to this   years after i first saw it . one of the better movies released .  br    br   the animation while not perfect is good  camera tricks give it a  d feel and the story is still as good today even after i grew up and saw ground  breakers like neon genesis evangelion and rahxephon . it has nowhere near the depth obviously but try to see it from a lighthearted view . it  s a story to entertain  not to question .  br    br   still one of my favourites i come back too when i feel like a giggle on over more lighthearted animes . not to say its a childish movies  there are surprisingly sad moments in this and you need a sense of humour to see it all .  
when the folks at kino video assembled their fine  slapstick encyclopedia  collection  a multi  cassette selection of silent comedies  someone decided to kick off the first installment with one too many        an obscure one  reel farce made in florida starring the very young oliver hardy . as enjoyable as the set is over all  this decision was an unfortunate one  for one too many is a very poor film which almost discourages the viewer from watching further . like any typical farce  this one involves deception inspired by greed  panic when plans go awry  and complications escalating to the point of absurdity  but unlike the good ones  one too many is incoherent  unfunny  and downright annoying . it  s hard to tell at this point whether the hopelessly confusing plot is the result of missing footage or inept film  making  but whatever the cause  by the halfway point even the most alert viewer has no idea what the character relationships are or what is happening  and by the end one no longer cares .  br    br   the only point of interest here is seeing the   year  old  babe  hardy  who appears considerably heavier than he would a decade later when he teamed with stan laurel  but who is nonetheless full of youthful energy . in the opening scene  awakening with a hangover  babe performs a highly athletic backward roll off a bed . trust me  that  s as funny as this movie gets . if you read this before seeing the first cassette of kino  s  slapstick encyclopedia  i suggest you fast  forward past this one and skip to the good stuff .  
i felt compelled to write a review for space cobra as it has received a good score of  .  stars but only a few of the reviews at the time of me writing this were particularly positive . a strange situation and hopefully my positive review will point people towards this old and mostly forgotten anime movie . space cobra is the funky tale of a smuggler and rogue who becomes involved with the three sisters of an ancient and dead planet and an evil force who wants to harness the planets powers . this is an old movie and the animation shows  but what it lacks in modern sophistication it makes up with an abundance of charm . space cobra is very much geared to a western audience and very easy to watch . there are few if any references to specific japanese culture and great for anime novices to watch and enjoy . space cobra himself is witty and likable . i cannot say how much of this is due to the english dub or the intentions of the maker  but this is one of the few japanese comedy characters that i find truly funny . the style is very sixties barbarellish with a fantastic soundtrack by yello . the style is colourful and imaginative and there is constant action to move the story along . the strangest aspect of this movie is how it begins as a comedy and ends on a very downbeat dramatic note . i cannot think of another anime or general movie that has been able to do this so seamlessly and convincingly . you barely realise that it is happening  but it is done so subtly and seems perfectly natural . you also really feel the characters went on a journey and they  re lives were changed by the whole experience . check out if you can .  
a sentimental school drama set in denmark        we shall overcome  offers a pathetic danish take on us culture . frits  janus dissing rathke   a flower  power obsessed  naive    year  old  exits with half his ear hanging off from brutal master lindum  svendsen  s  bent mejding  office . lindum  svendsen  a school director  portrayed as a fascistoid tyrant  has the local community in control . lindum  svendsen  s gone too far this time  and with his father  recovering from a mental breakdown  sure  there wasn  t enough drama already . .   and overly stereotyped hippie music teacher mr svale   hi  call me freddie    frits stands up for justice .  br    br   tell you what . it  s so unconvincing  over   method   acted  and so full of misery  that as a  family  picture this grotesque  filled with clich  s  excuse for a movie fails miserably to convince non  scandinavian audiences . sorry  kind danish readers  to crash like this into your sentimental journeys . . but it  s definitely not a tale about a  boy becoming a man by fighting the system  . the boy never becomes a man  but rather remains a naive  big eyed cry  face . if you call a church of small minded small town folk  led by a dictator like cartoonish character  the system   i  m sorry if i  m missing something .  br    br   if you  re into family pictures  go see happy feet instead . .  
this film is a great fun . i recommend you watch it yourself and then watch it again with your friends . i did last night and it was fascinating how well norma khouri could pull everybody into her world  i did feel a little bit strange watching my friends go through the same roller coaster as i did the first time . but they all thanked me and loved the movie . you know it is a great film if you spend  hours after the film talking about the movie   br    br   i once saw a con man almost up tonorma khouri  s level  but no where near the same size ring . he fooledtons of very gullible and rich folks at my old berkeley ca a . a . group where everyone trusts everyone else . he would  sponsor  only people who seemed very well to do . who knew he would have stolen in excess of    k  in     when that was real money  after being in town for only  month . his victims were very fragile as they were in their first month or week of being sober . he was evil with a great laugh and a great smile on his face .  br    br   the above crime is nothing compared to what norma khouri did to her old neighbor . but i don  t want to give anything away .  br    br   i just found this one night on a late night movie channel   showtim  i think . this is always a movie fans greatest experience to be totally tricked into seeing something and having your mind blown . just drag your friends over to see this and don  t tell them a thing . it is a very entertaining film  it moves quickly and never bores you .  br    br   this should be a international classic for all time . i believe all great movies eventually rise to the top . time will be very good to this film . i am just sorry no one has heard of it yet  in some ways that makes the surprises even better .  br    br   the director and editor were fantastic . they deserved winning the best documentary .  br    br   just watch this film   
probably somebody heard of alberto tomba . a former policeman  a former sky champion  and  now  a terrible actor .  alex l  ariete  was planned to be a tv  mini serial   but the italian television itself refused to show the movie on its channels . now it  s a  believe me  ridiculous movie . the script it  s simply hilarious  it  s supposed to be a dramatic movie   something like a  years old kid work . but what really blows you away it  s the amateurish acting alberto tomba  who actually was not believable as a policeman himself  plays terribly a totally silly character a special operations italian policeman specialized in smashing doors open    ariete  is  ram   . this super  guy will try to save a young nice girl life  an actual italian  little  tv showgirl  married to the singer eros ramazzotti   nice but absolutely inept in the acting . lose this one and make yourself a favour . a movie that is a shame to italian cinema industry only john travolta in earth attack got close . .  
this is the fifth von trier film i have seen . i believe that he is the only director to whom i have given such a high score on all his movies . four of them  the element of crime  europa  breaking the waves  and dancer in the dark  i have given a    and one  the idiots  i have given a   and i have been reconsidering whether to give it a   since i first saw it  although i  d like to see it once more before i do  . he has been chided for calling himself one of the best working directors . i tend to agree with him . i cannot blame him for being arrogant when he has made such great films . in   years  when von trier retires  he will be looked upon as the pre  eminent film artist from europe  perhaps from the planet   and there will be classes taught in his name . he simply is the bergman or fellini of our time . it is too bad the critics are too intrigued with themselves to notice this .  br    br   about europa itself  i  ll admit that it was confusing and that its narrative did not seem strong . i think that  s the point . this film was obviously meant to represent a nightmare  or the subconscious at some level . this is absolutely clear from the framing of the film max von sydow  s narration . we are hypnotized  or von trier is hypnotized  and this is our  his subconscious mind . i  m inclined to lean more towards his mind  since the degradation of europe concerns me  an american  very little . this framing is also clear if you have seen the element of crime  an even more brilliant film than this  although i am disputing that in my mind what europa needs more than anything is a proper release on dvd  hopefully criterion again  with theatrical aspect ratio and remastered sound and picture then  i am fairly sure  this film would seem as great as any of von trier  s other films  . in the element of crime  the film begins with a hypnotist  whom we actually see on screen this time  is hypnotizing fisher  a european detective who wants to get to the root of his mental anguish . the first words of that film are  fantasy is okay  but my job is to keep you on track .  and whenever fisher  the narrator  gets off track  the hypnotist does chastize him and tells him to get back on with the story . he even laughs when a character is given a really silly and trite line . something along the lines of   do you understand the difference between good and evil   the hypnotist laughs and says   now  fisher  she didn  t really say that  did she    br    br   so the key to interpreting europa  almost a sequel of sorts to the element of crime  is that we are deep in our  von trier  s subconscious  and the symbols there are to be interpreted within ourselves and will likely be different for everyone . what does the train itself symbolize  consider it internally  and only then discuss it externally . europa is a great film  a masterpiece . i was never bored by it  even though i watched it at  am . the perfect time to watch  actually  since it works in dream logic .  
so  where are the cannibals  those intrigued by the title and the  real cannibal  appeal of this film will be let down . instead  we are shown a strange man and his re  visiting of a papua new guinea village full of natives  one of whom was his lover several decades prior . the man  tobias schneebaum is new york jewish as they come and somehow  this is intertwined with the documentary as he appears in his yamika in several scenes .  br    br   there are no real cannibals here only stories relayed by some of the natives and by tobias himself . not all together a bad film . very interesting and great cinematography . schneebaum remains highly likable throughout and provides us with a fascinating glimpse into a life that is about as far removed from western civilization as one can get .  br    br   it  s just not what it claims to be on the cover and in the plot summary .  br    br    out of    kids .  
in the early to mid      s  clifford irving proposed to write the ultimate biography of howard hughes  claiming to have spent months preparing for the book  engaged in interviews with the reclusive millionaire . when all of this turned out to be false  irving was accused of perjury  spent several years behind bars  although always admitting his findings were accurate  . flash forward to       several months prior to september   th  a book  entitled  forbidden love   published in the u . s . as  honor lostlove and death in modern day jordan   by a previously unknown author by the name of norma khouri  a woman from jordan  who reported on the death by mercy killing of her best friend dalia  due to the fact that dalia  being from a devout muslim background  was dating a christian man . it  like irving  s biography on hughes was revealed as a potential hoax . australian film maker  anna broinowski attempts to delve into the quagmire that was khouri  s attempts to clear herself of the lie  s  . over the time frame of    minutes  the film attempts to reveal is norma khouri telling the truth  or is she just a compulsive liar  with an agenda  vendetta of her own  . interview footage with those who know  knew her  including an ex husband  her publisher  and others  tell their side of the story . this is a toothsome  well produced documentary that manages to point many fingers at just as many potential guilty parties . not rated  but contains pervasive bad language  a re  enactment of the grisly murder scene  played over a few times  but nothing nearly as graphic  disturbing as what one would see in the latest torture porn epic  such as sawpart    . not a good choice for the little ones .  
this movie was exactly what i expected it to be when i first read the casting . i probably could have written a more exciting plot  it  s a pity that they left it to a pack of howler monkeys . alberto tomba was surely a good skier but he has to thank god  and we too  that he does not have to rely on his actor skills to earn his living . he can  t play  he can  t talk  he can  t even move very good on mainland without his skis . . . michelle hunziker is a pretty blonde girl  and that  s all . she obviously wasn  t chosen for her astounding competence in dramatic roles but most probably for her nice legs . nevertheless i must admit that she could be the tomba  s acting teacher  because he  s even a worse actor than her  and that  s funny  especially considering that she isn  t italian . i laughed all the time  watching this movie . i found it so ridiculous and meaningless that it actually made me laugh  loud  very loud .  
beat a path to this important documentary that looks like an attractive feature . forbidden lie       is simply a better  cinematic  version of norma khouri  s book forbidden love  and that was a best  seller . an onion  peeling of literary fraud and of a pretty woman  lie is the very best in editorialised reality tv .  br    br   cleverly edited and colourful  broinowski  s storytelling is chaptered by moving silhouettes of norma khouri meaningfully blowing smoke . i disagree  with variety  that it  s overlong instead my one slight problem was with the episodic nature of its key players commenting on others  just  recorded testimonials . on a single watching your sense of narrative becomes mired . . . . . so i watched it twice .  br    br   this oscar  worthy effort is at once genuinely funny  upsetting  and totally engrossing as it documents one lie after another . the apparent con unfolded in the australian state of queensland via very personal swindles of khouri  s friends and fans    . clearly these friends are now  turned   the funniest on  camera line belonging to khouri  s qld neighbour rachel richardson who speaks her disillusionment in flat  no  nonsense colloquialisms  i think it  s a load of sh  t . personally  .  br    br   we need to learn from their experience  hence my belief in spoilers . any perennial lie  spinner caught out in a lie will just say anything to buy time to tell another lie .  br    br   there  s some breathtaking footage of khouri cackling derisively at duping this very documentarian  who instead presses her  con   artist  repeatedly for corroboration .  br    br   since being busted by sydney morning herald journalists caroline overington and david knox a year after publication  khouri has been on the run  but was tempted back to the director to supposedly clear her name . she absconded supposedly because a  she  s either terrified of her sly  more  italian  sounding  than  greek husband  or b  because she needed her passport  visas to clear her name .  br    br   unlikely .  br    br   a more plausible reason was that the fbi regained her trail in queensland before she again skipped overseas  one guess no  not jordan  . according to a closing card  khouri is  still under investigation by the fbi  in     .  br    br   i guessed audiences might just give khouri the benefit of the doubt once she invoked the need for utmost secrecy and subterfuge . instead  the audiences i sat with slowly became just as disillusioned as the duped people on the screen . once they caught on  there was plenty counter  derision and catcalls earlier  stressed sighs had emanated from audiencemembers who just didn  t know how to take khouri  s evolving contradictions .  br    br   the filmmaker gets props for so beautifully spanning this convoluted tale from beginning to end  not leaving anything out   not even her own self  sacrifice .  br    br   anna opens her film with a sympathetic book narration by khouri herself . the putated reason for authoring it is retold very believably at first   key to how a lifelong liar operates in half  truths . khouri is nevertheless a very pretty and smart   yr  old with rather disarming charm  and surprisingly  worked  out biceps .  br    br   gradually we  re introduced to less  and  less  adulating aussie journos  publishers and fans who at first bought the extent of khouri  s honour  killing accusations hook  line and sinker . later we see their more rueful reactions  quite self  controlled and matter  of  fact  if some perhaps a little bitter .  br    br   it was jordanian  anti   honour  killing activists who took deepest umbrage at khouri  s fallacies because its pot  stirring forced them to reduce the pace of change . honour  killings do happen in jordan it  s just their prevalence that  s at odds with khouri  s book   plus   other  facts  . in     these activists faxed  australian  random house with   painstakingly  checked objections .  br    br   the publishing houses across  continents who  d jumped at the chance to publish first  time author khouri never tried to check any facts . leaving any corroborration to a disclaimer in their author contract  they too were fair game . so a massive hot  topic fraud was as easy to perpetrate upon the world as typing it up in internet cafes .  br    br   later still we  re shocked to discover that the  factual errors  extend to khouri  s bio as well . for one thing  she  s not only not a   yr  old virgin  her defence is that she merely didn  t disabuse people of their assumptions   but she has a slickster husband and  teenagers  sometimes she  s just too fast  talking in her american accent . she also seems too  comfortable with cellphone technology and western clothes . i realise observations like these might sound prejudicial to the very jordanian women who don  t need any western paternalism from me  but when even cultural cues don  t jibe in addition to khouri  s  facts   you  ve got to start questioning your source .  br    br   at some point the filmmaker came to the same conclusion . she makes an admirable effort to hold khouri to account  in person  in jordan . the last third is consumed with a fact  finding trip back to amman  where one  fact  after another falls . eventually broinowski forces her  con   artist  to admit the decade  discrepancy in her story  and it  s after this that khouri records her derisive secret confession into her own digital camera . secret  because in it khouri  s  american security guard  jeremy is heard to have an australian accent he  s an actor   we never find out how anna uncovered it .   br    br   so this becomes the filmmaker  s triumph  as she never flags in her tone or commitment . her on  camera revelations lead her audience to learn from the mistakes of others given such a litany of reasonable doubt  fbi documents   and khouri  s most shocking initial crime .  br    br   anna broinowski  watch  list her now  is even clever enough to use the one artistic device  key players cross  commenting on footage  to kill two birds   making her audiences want to drink from the same well again .  br    br   in fact  despite her deceptively demure approach  she made me re  confirm that overington and knox really did win their     walkleys in investigate journalism for their  norma khouri investigation  .  br    br   broinowski made me look .         
richard dreyfus is not the star here . he has about three   second cameos and what is gene barry doing all over this movie  no idea  the director was probably his brother  this is a movie that makes no sense whatsoever . the inept writer  director  same dude  butchered up everyone  s talent with his horrendous uh . . . work . i got the dvd for a penny so can  t complain  but it  s weird  and it makes you feel weirded out and in not a good way . this was the    s and looks like the director was on a bad acid trip and wanted everyone to experience what it  s like to be inside his head . it has a somewhat interesting and controversial concept  but like a scratched record  it quickly plays foul . it has that  manson family on acid  vibe to it .  br    br   i have no idea how the other reviewer got all they did out of this movie  maybe they worked in it back when  at any rate  be prepared to lose    min of your life you  ll never get back . yes  it  s that awful   
what a fascinating film . even if it wasn  t based on real life  forbidden lies was a fascinating portrait of a con artist in her element . and it is the kind of film psychology students could study to learn about compulsive liars .  br    br   the author of forbidden love  norma  was revealed as a fraud in the media but this move really does give her ample opportunity to clear her name .  br    br   but the twists and turns she takes the documentary maker through are amazing . what a patient woman  i loved this movie . i have not read the book but simply heard good reviews and went to see it on boring rainy afternoon . the journey this film takes you on is clever  interesting and totally engrossing .  
 . . . . because if i was  i may have wished it was me being crucified on a wooden cross  i  m still trying to determine the plot of this movie  and i  m being  generous  that there was even a plot to begin with . as previously mentioned  it  s a misnomer on the cover of the dvd that richard dreyfuss is actually the star . he was barely in the movie . and if he was indeed  frustrated  as the back cover indicated he was  well  that  s probably because he said yes to be in this disaster of a movie and couldn  t get out of it  the movie really seemed to focus on jared martin  and what his role in the movie was supposed to be  other than the extreme close  ups  was not as big of a mystery as to what gene barry  s role actually was  or wasn  t . and speaking of  big  . . . whomever had the bright idea to fit gene barry in the humpty dumpty attire  which showcased his trousers literally pulled up to his chin  should be sentenced to hard time by watching this movie stoned sober . i could go on and on about how horrendous this movie was  from the dialogue not matching the  actors   mouths  think clutch cargo   to the erratic jumping from scene to scene  again  being generous even calling the frames of pictures  scenes    to the lack of a plot . . . . however  if you  re into bad early   s genre and if you  re in a cottage in michigan with nothing but this movie and a box of kid  cat pictures  i recommend having a good bottle of wine before you embark on this weird ride of a movie because you  ll be thankful that you may not remember it the next day   
a best  selling book about honour killings in jordan is withdrawn by its publishers after allegations surface that the story has been fabricated associated with other allegations of its author  s past as a con  woman . a few years later  she resurfaces  conceding that she took a certain amount of dramatic licence but willing to cooperate with a film  maker to prove the substance of her allegations . what follows is a fascinating insight into a pathological personality  someone who  s behaviour on one had makes no sense unless what she is saying is true  yet who is seemingly incapable of saying anything that is not astonishingly dramatic but unproven at best and most often  verifiably false . it  s almost impossible to imagine what ms . khouri hoped to gain by appearing in this film vindication  celebrity   all she does achieve is to project a certain image of herself as a deeply damaged individual  and even that cannot be taken at face value . director anna broinowski appears increasingly on camera as her film progresses  and increasingly exasperated to boot but she is finally rewarded with a remarkable  although scary and disturbing  tale to tell  and one of those films that reminds us what a thoroughly weird world it is we live in .  
it was and a simpler time  the seventies   a simpler place  san francisco   where a man could make a simple movie about a drug crazed psychotic re  crucifixion of christ as a woman on acid with never ending dream sequences and inter cut flashbacks while having a multi  racial inter gender orgies regardless of financial responsibilities or moral repercussion .  br    br   this movie  tedious  slow  boring  is the worst example of the kind of pretentious heavy handed art school dreck that passed as art in the midst of the    s . and i love it  once this train wreck of endless slow motion zoom ins and heavy reverbed echo chamber acid guitar licks starts you can  t take your eyes off of it until the ridiculous and absurd end . its kind of a cross between jesus christ superstar  beyond the valley of the dolls  and a really crappy acid trip with your parents on a water bed . its simultaneously a train wreck  completely fascinating  and also a great snapshot of the worst  or best  elements of b  grade seventies phychadelic film genre .  br    br   the plot .  br    br   i  ll just tell you the plot because you will hardly be able to tell whats happening due to the constant cross edited flashbacks to events that may or may not have happened to characters that may or may not be themselves  and the face painted hippy freak nicks endlessly cavorting about in banal sequences of performance art level mime like street theater .  br    br    logan  is a really annoying iconoclast film maker who yells at people allot and is surrounded by a mostly silent film crew who are always dropping acid and having what seem like really bad orgies . richard dreyfus has an ancillary role as what seems like the accountant . the film crew seems to hate him for some reason and break out into maniacal laughter perhaps to torment him .  suzanne  the titular character is a willowy blond who stairs vacuously into space and comforts the totally insane  artist  character .  the artist  is going completely mad  by the way . either from his hamfisted overacting or the incredible awfulness of his paintings . all of course terrible nudes of susanne . there are some other characters that randomly show up  a cigar chomping  the man  character . who also is all hot for suzanne i guess . he has a monologue . i couldn  t really ever figure out what he had to do with the story except everyone had to hate  the man  back then and you couldn  t make a movie without one . there is also a mute girl . the mute girl pays off in the end trust me  its incredibly stupid .  
you sit there for a half an hour and watch a story  believing it all  then watch another half an hour of the same story utterly unraveling . . . and then put back together again . brilliant .  br    br   one of the most exciting feature films at the san francisco international film festival is a documentary . i don  t know if  other than andrew jarecki  s  capturing the friedmans   there has ever been anything like anna broinowski  s  forbidden lie .  it features  exposes  defends  reveals  and questions everything about norma khouri  author of  honor lost   the acclaimed and lambasted     bestseller about honor killings in jordan .  br    br   what is quite incredible and what makes the film so exceptional is that this  exposure  of khouri is made with khouri  s full participation .  br    br   for the initial portion of the film  khouri presents her story about the supposed honor killing of a friend of hers in amman  the story of the book . she sounds completely believable  convincing .  br    br   then her story is taken apart  exposed  by eminently believable and convincing people  such as women  s rights activists in jordan  investigative reporters there and in australia  where khouri lived for a while .  br    br   khouri comes back and denies the accusations  taking a successful lie  detector test in the process . there comes another segment of devastating exposures  not to be specified here because that would lessen the shock value . . . and then khouri comes back and faces the accusations  not all  but the essential ones in the matter of the book  .  br    br   and the houdini act continues  with round after round in this heavy  weight  seesaw prize fight  surprise after surprise  and there is no  happy ending  in the sense of resolution . brilliant .  
  the second coming of suzanne  is yet another one of those surrealistic films that tries to come across as extremely sophisticated  yet all it does is put the viewer to sleep . like other movies of this type  there is limited dialogue . everyone is much more interested in the visual aesthetic of the shot . however  the cinematography stinks so there is nothing at all to keep your attention .  br    br   the video box states that this film is  one of the most exciting visual adventures ever seen on film .  yeah . . . sure . it  s right up there with watching such stimulating events as a bucket of ice melting or a turtle walking for a mile .      
i saw this film at the adelaide film festival    and was thoroughly intrigued for all    minutes . i like documentaries  but often find them dragging with about   minutes to go . forbidden lie powered on though  never losing my interest .  br    br   the film  s subject is norma khoury  a jordanian woman who found fame and fortune in     with the publication of her book forbidden love  a biographical story of sorts concerning a muslim friend of hers who was murdered by her family for having a relationship with a christian man . a few years later though  a few journalists started poking holes in the story  leading the public to believe it was fraud . the film covers this quickly but thoroughly in the beginning  and from there we spend most of our time in the company of norma as she tries to convince us that her novel is more than fiction .  br    br   director anna broinowski has found a truly fascinating woman to study  and she conducts endless interviews with khoury as she seeks the truth . as always in life  the truth is not so easy to find . norma fears for her life  worried about violent backlash over the unsavoury portrait her novel paints of jordanian muslims . she refuses to return to jordan and show us the facts . broinowski is not deterred however  and slowly puts the pieces together in front of us .  br    br   the result is an incredible look inside the mind of a con artist . naturally  what we find there makes little sense and is extremely difficult to follow  and ultimately we don  t know whether to believe norma or not . she  s either a rather unfairly put  upon woman trying to survive  or a fantastic spinster . the web of lies  truths and half  truths she turns through the film is brilliant .  br    br   the film uses much interview footage  as well as dramatisations to tell it  s story  and broinowski uses these dramatisations to show us why people like norma are able to exist we want to be conned . we go to the cinema every day and allow ourselves to believe what  s happening on the screen is real . that might just be me reading into things a bit too much  it didn  t come up in the qa with brionowski after the film  but that  s what i took away from it .  br    br   this is a great australian film  and must receive an international release  and a swag of awards if you ask me . certainly the best film i saw at aff   .  br    br   go see it  if you get the chance .  
richard dreyfuss is  indeed  in this flick  but in a rather small part . he is not the  obsessed  filmmaker  he  s the group  s business manager  accountant . even the box describes the film inaccurately . there are no erotic scenes with sondra locke  as advertised  unless one uses the term  erotic  quite loosely . i would not have considered viewing the film without richard dreyfuss being in it as a major character . i might have  however  had i realized that the famous    s anthem  leonard cohen  s  suzanne   was an artistic influence . other than the brief recitation of lines from the end of james joyce  s  ulysses   and an interesting visual reference to the end of ingmar bergman  s  the seventh seal   i found it a poor attempt to meld symbolic elements and moods immortalized in films like  last year at marianbad  and  un chien andalou .  if you like the idea of the eccentric artistic troupe  there are many superior films  ranging from  bye  bye  brasil  to  cecil b . demented .   
i saw this movie at a college film festival back in the    s  i have been waiting forever for this movie to come out on video  finally it  s out  . it was made in brazil  so i assumed that was why it hadn  t made it to video yet . i have been checking video stores for the past   years waiting for this outstanding movie to come out  it is one of my all  time favorites  but be warned  it is weird  like werner herzog weird  its weirdness stems from its super  realism .  br    br   the movie is based on a true incident back a few centuries ago  in pre  colonial times  when europeans were first encountering the tribes in the amazon . a white man is mistaken by a savage tribe of cannibals as their enemy  so they intend to kill him . before they dispatch him  though  they make him part of their tribe  their custom  . the entire movie is like watching a national geographic documentary as he becomes an accepted member of their tribe . that  s it . cosmic plotline  no . intense insight into the variety of human life  definitely .  br    br   oh yeah . . . be warned . . . this film has definite nudity  this is not some hollywood schlock flick about noble savages . . . this film tells it like it was  re  read above national geographic  super  realism   br    br    
mindless dribble about the second coming of christ in the form of a hippie and albino looking sandra locke . you have no idea what  s happening on the screen with the irritating theme song  suzanne  being played over and over throughout the movie until when  the second coming of suzanne  is over you already know it by hard no matter how hard you try to forget the whole thing .  br    br   this off  the  wall armature movie maker logan  jared martin  is out to make the movie of the century but is so rude and obnoxious that none in the banking world is willing to finance his project . planning to go on his own logan then spots this couple at a seaside caf and is fascinated with the young woman suzanne  sandra locke  who reminds him of someone he knew in another life jesus christ .  br    br   with logan  s assistant and all around gofer clavius  richard dreyfuss  somehow getting a         .   loan from the bank to finance logan  s masterpiece he starts to work on suzanne by flattering her about her talent as an actress in order to get her interested to be in his film . this leads to suzanne not only leaving her boyfriend artist simon  paul sand  but later simon being so depressed and feeling all alone takes a gun to his mouth and blows his brains out .  br    br   the movie also has two somewhat unrelated sub  plots in it that has to do with a young autistic girl dorothy  kari avalos  who  s cured of her autism by suzanne after everyone else  at the psychiatric hospital that she was committed to  failed . it  s not really known what exactly suzanne was doing at the hospital but she seemed to be some kind of orderly or volunteer there was this supposed to show us in the audience that she  like jesus  could miraculously heal the sick   br    br   there  s also this newspaper columnist and big time businessman tycoon jackson sinclair  gene barry  who seems to be either going through a very difficult mid  life crisis or has seen a biblical  like vision that changed his life forever . sinclair had been searching for the meaning of life as well as what it  s all about all through the movie and wanted to know why there  s all this suffering in the world  like this movie that he  s in  and seemed to have found the answer when he first laid his eyes on suzanne . sinclair also got some sense knocked into his head when his private chauffeur david  mark rasmusser  who  s gotten sick and tired of his weird and crazy hallucinations almost running him off a cliff in a kamikaze like drive along the pacific coast .  br    br   the movie  the second coming of suzanne  goes on with a number of unrelated sequences  probably to fill or pad in some time by it  s director and film editor  and then goes to it  s final scene in a christ  like crucification on a hill as logan has all the cameras rolling . it turns out that the crazed logan got so carried away with his masterpiece as he tried to replicate  on the helpless and tied up suzanne  the actual crucification of jesus christ some      years ago .  br    br   hard to sit through and almost impossible to follow  the second coming of suzanne  puts you through the same kind torture that suzanne is put through by logan and the makers of the film . the movie tries to be arty but that  s just an excuse to cover up it  s brainless and non  existent storyline and even worse the terrible and amateurish acting by everyone in it .  
how tasty was my little frenchman tells a story that is alternately sad  scary and life  affirming . it ends with a brutal finale that you knew had to happen  even though you were hoping   maybe even beleiving   it wouldn  t .  br    br   utlimately  this is the film  s greatest strength it expertly plays with your emotions and expectations  then drops a bomb on you .  br    br   i saw this in a film theory class at usc back in the mid     s . it is not easy to find  but is definitely worth hunting for .  
this dreadful film assembles every asian stereotype you can imagine into one hideous package . money grubbing  devious japanese business men send goofy but loveable policeman pat morita to recover industrial secrets in detroit . here he encounters a down at heel jay leno  who promptly refers to a murder victim as a jap and calls morita tojo . it  s all downhill from there .  
without  mental anachronism   this film which i would like to find in dvd offer an extraordinary diving in the vital and mental context of thought of the people before the  disenchantment of the world  . that  there is thirty years  a director and a scenario writer could test one such empathy and such a romantic truth to do it of them masterpiece leaves me astounding . it would be necessary to be able to see and re  examine it film for better seizing than the temporal and cultural distance us to make lose of capacity to be included  understood  analyze and finally to accept of such or such example of  primitive thought  . because this thought maintaining almost impossible to feel in the secularized world however contain certain keys of our behavior  that only them future generations will be able to analyze with sufficient relevance . if somebody knows where i then to get a numerical copy or vhs to me or dvd thank you in advance .  
this is a really stupid movie in that typical   s genre action comedy . conceptwise it resembles rush hour but completely lacks the action  the laughs and the chemistry between the main characters of that movie . let it be known that i enjoy jay leno as a stand  up and as a talk show host  but he just cannot act . he is awful when he tries to act tough  he barely manages to keep that trademark smirk off his face while saying his one  liners which  by the way  aren  t very funny . and seeing him run  even back then  is not a pleasant sight . in addition  i have a feeling that pat morita  at least by today  s standards  doesn  t give a very politically correct impression of the japanese . don  t even get me started about the story . i give it a  out of   .  
i grew up in brazil and i used to visit and marvel at the beautiful coast where the movie was filmed . the area is called  parati  and is part of the  green coast  of the rio de janeiro state . it is some    miles from the rio de janeiro city .  br    br   this movie brings back to life the world of   th century brazil  where europeans were barely starting to explore the coastline  which was still in pristine state and sparsely populated by various native tribes . french and portuguese fought each other for territory and for the upper hand on the brazil wood trade  all the while negotiating with the natives  who also fought each other for whatever reasons .  br    br   one french misfit   a mercenary   is left to die by his own compatriots but manages to escape and is kept prisoner by an all  naked native tribe . while he is a  slave  of the chief  according to the customs of the tribe  he is allowed to live in relative comfort for months until the time is right for him to be killed and eaten in a ritual of revenge .  br    br   what i love about this film is that it recreates in loving detail the natives  villages and their way  of  life  they walked naked and were cannibals  and asks us to recognize and accept the life in those times as it was in a gorgeous garden  of  eden  life was messy  violent  full of pathetic superstition and bizarre customs . the europeans arrive and bring their own problems  including more violence with better weapons and greed . there is no romanticized  noble savages  or  heroic explorers  here  it is just people trying to survive in a tough world .  br    br   the movie is neither unduly sympathetic nor dismissive of the natives . from what i know of the subject  the depiction is fairly accurate which adds an air of uniqueness to the project how many movies have you seen regarding the lives of brazilian natives and their early affairs with europeans   
this movie is awful . i haven  t laughed so hard at a movie that was unintentionally funny in a long time . leno should  ve stuck to stand up and late night tv . the cars in the movie were cool  but the movie by itself is the dumbest movie i  ve ever seen . it  s pathetic  the acting is horrible  and the plot could  ve been written by a  year old . don  t get me wrong  jay leno is hilarious  but not in this movie   
storyline max von sydow  s voice  over narration hypnotizes the protagonist  and audience  back to     where our protagonist the young american ideologist leopold kessler  jean  marc barr  has just arrived in post  wwii     germany to help rebuilding the damaged country . uncle kessler  ernst  hugo jregrd  supplies leopold with a job in the big zentropa train corporation  but soon leopold falls in love with katharina hartmann  barbara sukowa   daughter of zentropa owner max hartmann  jrgen reenberg  . leopold soon finds himself caught in a web of corruption  being taken advantage of  losing his ideology  and is forced to chose between pest or colera .  br    br   mysterious  mesmerizing  manipulative  noirish  haunting  beautiful  and ugly . these are some immediate  grandiose  descriptions that come to mind when thinking of lars von trier  s     masterpiece europa the final chapter of the europa trilogy . in usa it was retitled zentropa so audiences wouldn  t confuse it with agnieszka holland  s europa europa from      equally a wwii drama  . the europa trilogy also consists of forbrydelsens element from     and epidemic from      the infamous experiment that only sold    tickets in the danish cinemas  . the trilogy thematically deals with hypnotism and loss of idealism  although the themes of this trilogy are not as essential as the visuals . in the opening  shot of europa we see a locomotive moving towards us while our unidentified narrator literally hypnotizes us  on the mental count of ten  you will be in europa . be there at ten . i say ten  . a metaphor for movies  ability to transport us into a subconscious dream  reality .  br    br   europa utilizes a strange but extremely effective visual style   that famous russian director andrei tarkovsky is trier  s main  influence says it all . it  s a black  and  white movie occasionally intertwined with red in form of blood  a red dress etc . according to rumors this inspired steven spielberg to use the similar effect in shindler  s list from      coincidentially another wwii drama  . furthermore trier uses so  called dutch angels and reinvents background  projection by adding separately shot co  operating layers upon layers  but unlike old hollywood movies that incorporated it for economical reasons  trier uses it for artistic reasons . these carefully executed strange  looking visual techniques underline that we are in a dream  reality  we are hypnotized the universe of europa is not real  europa is often criticized for weighing advanced technique  such as multi  layered background  projection  above plot and characters  but hey that  s what reviewers criticized stanley kubrick  s     visual masterpiece      a space odyssey for   nowadays it holds an obligatory place in all cinema  history books .  br    br   europa also gets accused of historical incorrectness . apparently trier assigns the nazis  werewolf terrorist  group too much historical significance . according to various online  sources that  s correct  a fascinating subject  try googl  ing it yourself    yet trier  s purposes are neither educational nor portraying history accurately . europa is a never  ending nightmare . leopold kessler is hypnotized  therefore the universe that the audience encounters is a distorted reality . equally it shows how our memory deceives us   a     accurate reconstruction is a lie  although young audiences who experience europa are too young to have memories from wwii  we have a collective memory of it from various bbc documentaries  so these small inaccuracies actually serve a purpose they inform us us that we are not in post  wwii germany      but in leopolds memory of it .  br    br   all three europa trilogy chapters portray young ideologists with noble intentions forced into corruption and losing their ideological innocence . the ambiguous endings of forbrydelsens element and europa show the ideologists getting forever caught in their hypnotized realities . before  during and after shooting europa in     in poland  lars von trier and co  writer niels vrsel were extremely interested in wwii . it shows . it  s packed with extremely beautiful shots catching the atmosphere of the time  period spot  on . a great example is the old polish church  europa was shot in poland primarily for economic reasons  in the last act of europa . as with      space odyssey i think europa will receive it  s rightfully deserved place in cinema  history . its method of twisting old film  noir love  affair clichs and visual techniques is so unique  strange and completely different from anything you will see from hollywood nowadays  or any other dream  factory for that matter .  br    br   europa is an essential movie in the lars von trier catalog . some write it off as pure commercial speculation  but that would be catastrophic . it  s right up there with other trier classics and semi  classics such as forbrydelsens element from      the tv  series riget from     and dogville from     . it  s a unique experience from before trier cared for his actors  and before the dogme   manifesto . watch it   on the count of ten . . .       
  in      tobias schneerbaum disappeared in the peruvian amazon . one year later he walked out of the jungle . . . naked . it took him   years to go back .  supposedly   keep the river on your right  is  a modern cannibal tale  . in reality  anyone looking for some insight into cannibalism will be sadly disappointed . the first half of the movie is more like a travel log of new ginuea  mostly touting the native art . the second half relies on still photos of a peruvian cannibal tribe  but really that  s about it . unless of course  you are interested in home movies of a jewish wedding  or schneerbaum introducing his former male lovers . i give up . big disappointment and not really  a modern cannibal tale .   merk  
how tasty was my little frenchman tells a story that is alternately sad  scary and life  affirming . it ends with a brutal finale that you knew had to happen  even though you were hoping   maybe even beleiving   it wouldn  t .  br    br   utlimately  this is the film  s greatest strength it expertly plays with your emotions and expectations  then drops a bomb on you .  br    br   i saw this in a film theory class at usc back in the mid     s . it is not easy to find  but is definitely worth hunting for .  
there is a reason why jay leno himself will not acknowledge this film . it consistently ranks as one of the worst films of all time . the acting is horrible  the script lacks direction and the director himself doesn  t seem sure on which way to take this film .  a buddy film    an action  comedy    mystery .  seems half way through  he gives up  and is just along for the ride . jay leno and pat morita are talented and dedicated performers . it is a shame that they wasted their time and gifts making this mess of a movie . jay leno and pat morita prior to involving themselves with this  had spent years pounding out their crafts on the hollywood circuit . mr . morita had already been a star in his own right  acting steadily since the mid     s as the star of such cult tv and movie classics as  happy days   and the dismal but affable  mr . t and tina .  and won the hearts of america with his roles in the powerful film   midway    the karate kid   and a host of others . mr . leno can been seen on tv shows dating back to the mid   s . and was a top performer in the comedy clubs of america . he can be seen in countless tv spots and in major films . it is a shame  that they agreed to be seen with this nonsense .  
i was hardly aware of the time in history depicted in this     brazilian black comedy  however that is not to say it wasn  t accessible to me because the movie makes it very clear . it  s set in   th century brazil  where rival french and portuguese settlers are exploiting the indigineous people as confederates in their battle to assert dominance . what is particularly interesting about the movie is that it is made by the portuguese from the point of view of the french . the hero is a likable frenchman  the portuguese are barbarians  and the rest of the french are oppressive and greedy . the film  s portuguese makers are objective because when all is said and done  we see that it makes no difference whose side one takes . it  s about heredity overpowered by environment in a time starkly defined by tribes . enemies are made and perpetuated  and like so  the environmental integration never progresses .  br    br   a frenchman is captured by the portuguese is then captured by an indigenous tribe  the tupinambas  after they massacre a group of portuguese . the tribe  s shaman predicted they would find a strong portuguese man to cannibalize as revenge for the chief  s brother being killed by a portugeuse musket ball . thinking the frenchman is portuguese  they believe they now have one . nevertheless  the frenchman is granted unrestrained course of the village  is sooner or later given a wife  and assumes their accustomed appearance rather than his western clothes  or any clothes . another frenchman comes to the village and tells the tribe that their prisoner is indeed portuguese  then assures the incensed frenchman that he will tell them the truth when the frenchman finds a secret treasure trove that another european has hidden nearby .  br    br   i found the opening scene funny  because its narration apposed with its contradictions on  screen serve as great satire  even if the movie didn  t seem to want to maintain that tone very much more often . it  s actually not a terribly riveting film . the bountiful  essential locale  fierce way of life and ripened native women make not only the frenchman  but us  too  forget any threat  and we have the feeling of him as a free man . it should not be that terribly hard to escape . the cannibalism is as scarce of desire as the full  frontal nudity of the cast  suggested in lieu as the representative core of pereira dos santos  s dry political cartoon of new world mythology and undeveloped social coherence . at any rate  this     s  era social commentary  shot on location at a bay with    islands  played almost entirely nude and almost entirely written in tupi  encourages effective breakdown of established ways which are topical because they  ve repeated themselves for centuries .  
collusion course is even worse than the typical  evil white male corporate capitalist  movie of the week . this movie is less pleasant than a toothache . jay leno can act . he  s good in his underrated debut movie  the silverbears  in which he gives a performance consist with the demands of his character . this movie is so bad leno  s character  a sanctimonious buffoon  is less annoying than morita  s character  a sanctimonious fool .  
in     in brazil  the tupinambas indians are friends of the frenches and their enemies are the tupiniquins  friends of the portugueses . a frenchman  arduno colassanti  is captured by the tupinambs  and in spite of his trial to convince them that he is french  they believe he is portuguese . the frenchman becomes their slave  and maritally lives with seboipepe  ana maria magalhes  . later  he uses powder in the cannons that the portuguese left behind to defeat the tupiniquins in a battle . in order to celebrate the victory  the indians decide to eat him .  br    br    como era gostoso o meu francs  is another great low budget movie of the great brazilian director nlson pereira dos santos . the screenplay is very original and the story is spoken in tupi . the film is shot using natural light most of the time and is very realistic . the actors and actresses perform naked and ana maria magalhes is magnificent  showing a wonderful body and giving a stunning performance . the sound is produced by the brazilian musician z rodrix . this movie shows the beginning of the exploitation of my country by europeans  focusing in the portuguese and french at that time  trading with the indians and exchanging combs and mirrors by our natural resources . this movie was awarded in the national festivals  such as the     brazilian cinema festival of braslia  festival de brazlia do cinema brasileiro  with best screenplay  nelson pereira dos santos   best dialog  nelson pereira dos santos and humberto mauro  and best cenograph  rgis monteiro   art critics association of so paulo  associao paulista dos crticos de arte   with best revelation of the year  ana maria magalhes  and some other prizes . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    como era gostoso o meu francs    how tasty was my frenchman    
the novelty of hearing clean  cut jay leno spout four  letter words is the only memorable aspect of this formulaic mismatched  police  partners caper . in collision course  the pelican  faced comedian teams up with the late pat morita to track down a stolen prototype turbocharger  think car lover leno played a hand in the plot   . the two leads try hard  they really do  but leno is no actor and morita  s fish  out  of  water routine gets old in a hurry . the film carries a bit of cheesy    s appeal  but its worthy moments become increasingly scarce as it fills out its overlong     minute running time . fans of leno  s considerable comedic talents will feel let down everyone else will just be bored .  
i love this movie very much i watched it over and over . i don  t see why anyone would think this movie wasn  t good . maybe you have seen better or whatever it is i personally love it . it is one of my favorite movies and i am not hindi at all but i do love it . it might be a little like  pretty woman  but i haven  t seen that and i don  t think it  s any better than this . i don  t know why you are all trashing about it but maybe you have a good reason but i think i have said it enough but i absolutely love this movie  and to those who say it  s not good at all well then i wonder why you watched it and what movies you consider good . as for everyone else that i watched it with they enjoyed it too so it surprises me that this many people don  t like it . as for rani mukherjee  i think thats how you spell her last name  she is very beautiful and my favorite actress ever   
i was utterly disappointed by this movie . i had read some of the other reviews here and had much higher expectations . i expected a drama with more intense character development . but that never happens in the movie . daniel  day lewis is a good actor  but not as good as some reviewers here would have us believe . i tought he repeated the same set of  or  movements in the movie . i would rate his performance  out of   .  br    br   acting  out of   direction is  out of   . script is the worst  out of   .  br    br   i deleted the movie from my dvr at   mins . into the movie . much better movies out there than this . . .  
this film is a very good movie . the way how the everybody portrayed their roles was great . the story is nice . it tells us about raj who is in love with priya . they get married . she later becomes pregnant . but shortly their is a problem . sadly they wont get the child . raj later meets madhu . he bribes her . she later becomes pregnant but she is not married to him . the movie is very good . the dialogues are wonderful . the songs are melodious to listen . the picturisations are good . the wedding song is very colourful . salman  rani  preity were excellent . . the cinematography is excellent . the film is beautifully pictured in swiztertland . the cast makes the movie great to watch . worth the money and time . . rating       
so i finally saw the film  my left foot  last night after years of being told by my mother how amazing it is . . . the central performance of day  lewis is indeed remarkable and amazing  but anyone with even minimal exposure to his other work should expect nothing less .  br    br   the fatal misjudgement in my eyes was that in becoming obsessed with proving the normalcy of this man the movie chose to show him as a complete and utter jerk . on the one hand i can see that this is a logical correlation mankind always has the capacity to be objectionable  and disability shouldn  t obscure that . i just wish that impartial onlookers wouldn  t be so forgiving of aberrant behaviour and assume that circumstances automatically make it forgivable . they don  t . acting out is normal  and so yes  disabled people act out  but they don  t do it because they  re disabled they do it because they  re being unreasonable . a physical impairment doesn  t afford you the right to throw a hissy fit in public  just because someone you love turns you down .  br    br   there are certain things it is unwise to do whether you are disabled or able  bodied . giving someone tacit permission to boot a football directly at your head for the sole purpose of fitting in is one of them .  admittedly  i did once save a penalty from the school  s star striker with my face  but i already belonged by then . it wasn  t for acceptance .  engaging in a bar brawl is another . revelling in the fact that your father only extends companionship to you after you  ve proved yourself capable of metaphorically jumping through physical hoops takes masochism a step too far . all of these things are stupid  and suffering through them as a way to demonstrate your bravery doesn  t make them any less foolhardy .  br    br   so yes just because you  ve overcome obstacles to achieve great things doesn  t make you any less of a jerk . . . being a good person takes priority setting an inspiring example for the disabled should appear way down the list .  
after a love triangle story in har dil jo pyaar karega these  stars were again chosen in this controversial flick . the film would have been considered as hit if there was not a controversy with the production values from bharat shah . here director duo abbas  mustan did a very different and unique job as compared with their previous and after directorial ventures . they are considered as thriller makers of bollywood . but in this cccc they proved that they can equally handle to make a romantic family drama . hardly there is a single action scene when preity was being raped by salman  s colleague in her apartment  salman slapped him .  br    br   the movie has almost all the standards and ingredients like song  story  casting  performances etc . which are required to make a movie hit . but of course for salman  s fan this was something a surprise gift from him . why  because for so long he has been doing roles where he has a scene to show his open body and dance la  la  la all around . his role as a rich young businessman who has no  nonsense nature and of normal attitude is really impressive . after all madhubala  a prostitute role performed by preity is amazing . later when she too turns out thoughtful about her life she deserve proper attention . her facial expressions and body language become more attractive  and focus mainly goes to her . her previous role as a pregnant woman in kya kehna was not that heart  touching as it is here . of course  this can be termed as improvement . then priya  a very innocent and helpless wife of raj who only depends on him for a better result . she has nothing powerful influence in the story as the main ingredients are in the hands of preity .  br    br   finally  the main point of the story which is something rare and unique in itself . in real world of this age it is not totally impossible to happen such step of searching for a surrogate mother . perhaps  many are happening in this large world where these are kept secret . and in this way the scriptwriter of cccc has uncovered a hidden truth which is taking place in others daily lives . but still then it is a doubt .  
this movie was awesome    not quite as good as the leif garrett masterpiece longshot  but still awesome   i thought ashley looked freakin  huge compared to mary  kate in this film . i wonder why . who woulda thought they could swith places like that and almost get away with it . dad was kinda a jerk though and mom was a little too chummy with helmit head . i give it  . any one who likes this movie shoudl check out longshot .  
this is a generally nice film  with good story  great actors and great songs . the cinematography was unfortunately bad . one of the film  s weakest points is the annoying chain of sequences copied from pretty woman . why  does it hurt to attempt some originality  abbas  mustan  anyone   br    br   the film is about a newly married couple  raj and priya  salman  rani  . priya cannot conceive after an accident she had during the previous pregnancy  and they finally decide to use a surrogate mother  who will carry their child . they pick madhubala  a vulgar prostitute played by preity zinta . the film is not really realistic  i mean  isn  t it easier to adopt  and even if they pick a girl  does it mean the man has to sleep with her  have you heard of insemination  anyway  i guess if the writers had heard of all this  the film wouldn  t have been made  so the concept is apparently intentional .  br    br   salman acts very well . it  s nice to see him playing a serious character . but his character suffers from unnecessary and cheap dialogues about his great love to his wife and how hard he finds it to sleep with another woman . come on  it  s cheesy and unrealistic . rani is just about ok she is generally effective and does try to do something with the role but gets completely overshadowed by preity zinta .  br    br   the film belongs to preity  who steals the show in a big way with her flawless performance . she makes the transformation from a loud prostitute to a sensitive woman easily and naturally . she lives the film  emotes and makes you love her and admire her at the same time  partly because of her role  partly because of her magnetic and positive personality . this is one of her career  best performances . there is no doubt she is more talented than her industry contemporaries . she just should do more such roles .  br    br   the film  s ending only highlights what i said above . it is tear  jerking  exciting and very well  acted . watch it for preity .  br    br       for the film        for preity   
this movie was definitely not one of mary  kate and ashley  s best movies . i really didn  t like it  and i was kind of disappointed in that movie . for some reason  it seemed like it was a movie that they put together really fast . in some parts  it got so boring that i had to fast forward it . it didn  t have any bloopers or any exciting parts like their other movies .  
 . . . . . . . . . and you get chori chori chupke chupke . don  t get me wrong  this movie is much less explicit  or not even  than pretty woman  but it  was  a new topic for bollywood . the topic was accepted but it is far from jism  murder  and julie . to tell you the truth  the topic is presented in a very clean manner . but the plot has it  s number of clichs . the beginning of the movie is presented in a very  filmi  way . there are some very little plot holes . the movie picks up once rani has her miscarriage where you feel that you are watching something other than a typical movie . otherwise the whole family sequence felt overdone in the beginning . the acting couldn  t have been any better . salman khan sometimes impresses  and sometimes lets you down . over here he gave one of the best performances . on top of that his role is written so well  that you applaud every time he solves a problem . rani mukherjee was adequate . throughout the movie  you feel for her character the most  but she is overshadowed by preity zinta . preity zinta is picture perfect . out of the three  she gives everyone a run for their money . its surprising how she can be just as convincing when she is innocent . and trust me  madhubala is far from your girl next door . this role is one of the reasons why i rate her high . the supporting cast are like the family you see in hahk  where they have no significance to the plot yet i found them tolerable here . the songs are pretty nice . the title song is my favorite of them all along with dil tera mera dil  hearts  . mehndi mehndi  henna  and dekhne walon ne  look at the world  s sight  are two song that fit the film perfectly . preity  s cabaret number  diwani diwani  crazy   could  ve been shortened while no .  punjabi came across boring though it had good dancing . otherwise the movie is definitely worth a watch .  
yes  you guessed it . another movie where identical twins switch places . i think now that the olsen twins are getting older they should try and make the plot less predictable and less like re  runs of  full house  . if you plan on seeing this film  don  t . watch  the parent trap  instead . it  s more entertaining .  
the year     had been a bad year for indian films due to lack of quality and imagination from film directors . other than mohabbatein and kaho naa pyaar hai nothing stood out . cccc had lot of contraversy due to the financing of the film and this with not really knowing what the film is about has generated good publicity and advanced ticket sales for the film around india and abroad . the only information given was that it was a suspense thriller . the film is now been released in     and the film was surprisingly quite good . the main plot is to do with surrogacy and is well handled . salman and preiti give a good performance where salman doesn  t actually take is shirt off at all . . must be special effects   rani plays salmans wife but it is slightly a less demanding role compared with preiti who plays prostitute who eventually becomes the surrogate mother . the three main leads confirm  after har di jo pyar karega  they have a solid on screen and off screen chemistry  apparently  . salman khan who is excellent plays a serious role in the film as a successful business man and is a pity is being exploited as a wannabe comedian in his other films as he is quite underrated in the mumbai film industry partly due to the films he chooses . rani  s character does not know preiti is a prostitute until the end . . . this kept from her and the rest of the family . . . the rest you should find out as it will ruin the film if i told you . the songs are all picturised well especially dekhne walon and the main title song . the other supporting actors do a minimal but fine effort as salmans loving family . abbas mastan has produced a hit and handled the film subject tactfully . . i say go and watch it or rent it whatever you prefer   
i saw switching goals . . twice . . . . and always the same feeling . . . you see the olsen twins make same movie . . . . they like play different sports and then fall in love to boys . . ok now about the movie . . . . first off all such little boys and girls don  t play on such big goals . . .  . football does not play on time outs . . .  . if the game is at its end the referee gives some overtime  a minute or more  . . . and the finish is so foreseen . . . . i think that this movie is bad because of the lack of football knowledgement . . . . if it were done by european producers it would be better . . and also the mane actors aren  t the wright choice . . . they suffer from lack of authentic . . ok they played some seasons in full house but that doesn  t make them big stars . . . . you have got to show your talent . . . . and that is what is missing in the olsen twins  
cccc is the first good film in bollywood of     . when i first saw the trailer of the film i thought it would be a nice family movie . i was right . salman khan has given is strongest performance ever . my family weren  t too keen on him but after seeing this film my family are very impressed with him . rani and preity are wonderful . the film is going to be a huge hit because of the three main stars .  br    br   it  s about raj  salman khan  and priya meeting and falling in love . they get married and go to switzerland for their honeymoon . when they come back raj and priya find out that priya is pregnant . raj  s family are full of joy when they find out especially raj  s dada  amrish puri  . raj and his family are playing cricket one day and priya has an accident which causes priya to have a miscarriage . raj has a very close family friend who is a doctor  balraj chopra  prem chopra  . he tells raj and priya that she can no longer have anymore kids . raj and priya keep this quiet from the family . raj and priya decide to go for surrogacy . surrogacy to them is that they will find a girl and raj and that girl will have a baby together and then hand the baby over to raj and priya . raj finds a girl . her name is madhubala  preity zinta  . she is a dancer and a prostitute . raj tells her the situation and bribes her with money and she agrees . raj changes madhubala completley . raj tells priya that he has found a girl . madhubala and priya meet and become friends . they go to switzerland to do this so no one finds out . priya spends the night in a church and raj and madhubala are all alone and they spend the night together . the doctor confirms that madhubala is pregnant and they are all happy . raj tells his family that priya is pregnant . they are happy again . madhubala comes to love raj and she wants him . what happens next  watch cccc to find out .  br    br   the one thing i didn  t like about the film is their idea of surrogacy . they should have done it the proper way in the film but it didn  t ruin the film . it was still excellent .  br    br   the songs of the film are great . my favourites are  chori chori chupke chupke   dekhne walon ne    deewana hai yeh mann  and  mehndi  . the song  mehndi  is very colourful . in that song it shows the ghod bharai taking place and it is very colourful . the film deserves        
a sad  sad sight indeed is the munster  s revenge . the munsters are brought back one last time  fred gywnne received a huge paycheck to come back to the role of herman munster  in this made  for  tv movie about a pair of wax replicas of grandpa and herman that are robots  terrorizing  the city as preparation for a robbery of a mummy  s stash at an exhibit . with the police on their heels  the two elderly television icons try to find out who is actually behind the crimes in order to clear their names . we get to see them dress in drag as waitresses  a minor highpoint in the film   grandpa turns into a bat with attached wire a couple times  one time even flying to transylvania with herman somehow invoking his frequent flyer miles i guess   and a most annoying relative  the phantom  constantly sings and breaks glass ad nausium  what is most sad is hard to pinpoint is it that gywnne  especially  and al lewis look so haggard in every scene and so indifferent to the material . is it the hokey costumes of the robots that have that school production values look about them . maybe it is the ridiculous script . sid caesar  s crazy  mostly unfunny antics . or perhaps it is seeing something which brought me joy and fond memories as a child being treated to a super k  mart fashion makeover . at any even  the result is decidedly disappointing and silly even for munster standards . as for the rest of the cast  yvonne de carlo is adequate in a most vacuous role  though showing more cleavage than usual for a woman of her years and experience  . k . c . martell makes an ever  so  not affable eddie munster . jo mcdonell is an attractive marilyn . bob hastings as the aforementioned phantom looks and acts and speaks in the most absurd manner . the film has a real cheap feel about it even for a made  for  tv movie .  
a few years ago  a friend got from one of his other friends a video with the michael mann film  heat  on it . after we finished that movie  and were about to stand up  we saw that there is another film just after  tough on the cassette  s envelope the owner didn  t write it up . yet we were all glued back to our seats by its distinct opening  which lacked credits .  br    br   some two hours later  i just sat there wondering how could i not have heard of this masterpiece before  . . .  br    br   this film was europa . lars von trier woke film noir from the dead  deconstructed reality with intentionally obvious sets  yet often there was haunting similarity with post  war german photographs i saw . and then the tricky cuts   br    br   the story itself is a hard  to  take moral odyssey that has no happy end . a young american pacifist of german descent comes to post  war germany  intent on doing some good to pay for the bombs his countrymen dropped . but he mostly meets distrust and self  destructive defiance . he hires with zentropa  a dining  and  sleeping  car company  modeled on mitropa   whose owner is one of the nazi collaborators the occupiers whitewash . our hero falls in love with his daughter  who later turns out to be a member of the werewolf  nazi post  war terrorists . when he doesn  t understand the world  or just europeans  anymore  in his rage he blows up a railroad bridge under a train which he just saved .  br    br   as a final note  for historical correctness in the real world  the werewolf were nowhere as important as the film implies  they were mostly a final nazi propaganda coup . after an ss unit assassinated the major of allied  occupied aachen  two months before the capitulation  the nazis announced the creation of whole legions of saboteurs and terrorists who will be ready to fight behind the lines  the werewolf . but only a few hundred of mostly hitler youth received some training  and while two or three times some were deployed to murder suspected communists or forced  labourer foreigners in bavarian villages to imprint lasting fear on inhabitants  with hitler  s death and the war  s end it all fell apart .  br    br   however  the werewolf propaganda had a profound effect on the occupiers . they feared the werewolf everywhere  suspected it behind any serious accident  but without exception another cause was found later  ignored by some recent pseudo  historians  . for example  when a gas main exploded in the police hq of bombed  out bremen  or when the soviet military commander died in a motorbike accident in berlin . the effect was strongest on the soviets  who arrested tens of thousands  in large part children    preemptively  on suspicion of being werewolf  and closed them off in prison camps where a lot of them died .  
well the reason for seeing it in the cinema was that it was a sneak preview  else i would never have seen this terrible teenage slasher movie . i mean haven  t we had enough of this yet  scream and scary movie at least did not take them self serious  the plot sucks  and the acting is the worst i  ve seen .  only godzilla can compare  which is also the only movie that competes in being the worst i  ve seen in the cinema with this one .   br    br   there is so many plot holes in the story  and the girls are so alike  that you don  t even now who has been killed  and who has not .  and you don  t care .  the only of them i knew in advance was denise  and she was the most talent less actress i have ever seen in this bad excuse for a movie .  br    br   stay as far away from this movie as possible .        
this documentary was interesting  but it was also long  so long it lasts a total of    minutes   like ben  hur long . but if your into that  this is for you . but only if you have a passion for movies  like i do . being that martin scorsese is my favorite director  live and maybe even ever   this is quite fascinating  especially if you know the style of scorsese  s works . because then you can understand where he got his inspiration for many of his films . not the best documentary film ever made  but it is a leap for scorsese  which is always good to watch . a  
   minutes of this is cruel . . and i love the old munster  s . yes  the plot is thing yes the lines are trite but whoever was at the helm of this was not a fan . there is so much  intrigue   and i use that word with great pause  that i wonder if it  s an old starsky  hutch episode . i lost count of the number of times i noticed that makeup had missed a spot near the collar . refusing to acknowledge that any time had passed since the mid     s  ludicrous  the producers simply replace marilyn  eddie with younger actors . why not let them grow and age  the addition of an addam  s family style reunion does not add to the flavor of the halloween party .  br    br   grandpa  herman fly to transylvania and back in a few hours  preposterous .  sid ceaser is the most  yes the most unbelievable character  i am including the bad robots  since he babbles an unwild combination of gibberish  yiddish but claims to be an ancient arabic ruler . and yes  it looks like the laugh track is missing . in fact  there are several spots where there is dead air  as if the laugh track was to be inserted later . the actors seem to wait on the faux audience . it  s not laughable it  s sad . oh  and the best part  yvonne decarlo has a line that just goes to show you how out of touch the writers and producers were . marilyn says something like  where could uncle herman and grandpa be  they could have been in an accident . they could have been hit by a car . . . or a train   lily says responds with something like  you  re uncle herman will be here if he has to drag himself off the train track .  what  s amazing about this is yvonne decarlo  s husband was a stuntman in the early    s and lost a leg and was nearly killed in a train stunt . he never recovered and this financially devastated her family .  check out biography  s fantastic review of her life and career  this line could have been easily changed to be more sensitive to her .  br    br   if you are a real fan of the munster  s then you  ll have to rent this mess . it illustrates how some things are better left alone . even with the  nearly  original cast  this is almost as bad as the attempted remake of the show a few years ago .  
i would never have thought i would almost cry viewing one minute excerpted from a     black and white movie without sound . thanks to martin scorsese i did  the movie was from f . borzage  . you will start to understand  if it  s not already the case   what makes a good movie .  
following the success of the  awful  gilligan  s island tv movie reruns  a number of tv movies were made in the      s reuniting casts from classic shows . most of these movies completely missed the boat as far as recapturing the humor that made the shows so special . the munsters revenge is among the most disappointing because it goes for a laurel and hardy  type comedy style that really wasn  t in the original series . yvonne de carlo  a wonderful comedienne and essential to the series  is completely wasted  she has less time here in this   minute movie than she did in any single   minute episode . and since the roles of  eddie  and  marilyn  in this movie are nothing more than cameos  what was the point of making them younger and recasting them  with very little rewriting  they could have used butch patrick and pat priest . although seeing some of the munsters spooky relatives was a nice touch  i didn  t enjoy sid caesar as the hammy mad scientist mainly because there  s too much of him and not enough of the underused munsters  ironically that very year       caesar  s old partner in comedy  imogene coca  was also inappropriately cast in a major part in a tv movie reunion return of the beverly hillbillies  . another strange inexplicable bit at the beginning of the film has the munster family represented as wax figures at a local horror wax museum . why would they be in there when they are supposed to be a  typical   if strange  american family  not famous monsters  this was the last munsters project featuring the original cast in their roles  there was an awful revival of the series in the late      s with a completely new cast and a      s tv movie which featured decarlo  lewis  priest  and patrick in cameo roles as a family dining .  
an enthralling  wonderful look at the films that inspired the excellent martin scorsese . many of the films he speaks of are easy to relate to his works  particularly the earlier ones  the silent era . very enjoyable despite being a bit long  i found this to be one of the best documentaries on film yet . required viewing if you admire martin scorsese and his work .  
this film is the freshman effort of stephanie beaton and her new production company . while it suffers from a few problems  as every low budget production does  it is a good start for ms . beaton and her company .  br    br   the story is not terribly new having been done in films like the burning and every friday the   th since part  . but  the performances are heartfelt . so many big budget movies just have the actors going through the motions  its always nice to see actors really trying to hone their craft .  br    br   the story deals with the murder  and possible return  of a disfigured classmate . the others are sworn to secrecy  but the trauma of the event sends each person in different directions in their lifes . ten years later  the friends are murdered one by one by a gruesome stalker known as  the bagman  . who will survive  you have to watch .  br    br   if you are roger ebert or any number of arrogant critics  you probably shouldn  t bother . but if your taste run more towards joe bob briggs and you want to see a group of people honing their craft  then check out  the bagman  .  
thre isn  t a single scorsese movie i  d place on a list of my favorite movies . but this is the best thing i  ve run through my dvd player in about five years . scorsese  s patient elucidation of favorite film moments  and how hollywood works is incredibly gracious  calm and intelligent .  br    br   it  s  dvd  sides worth of material . it would have to be a british production  since everything about american corporate culture would have trampled the quiet  methodical  no frills  put  the  focus  on  the  content approach that is taken here . and an american production would have demanded he say he liked only movies that were popular favorites . i wish everyone took a page from his love of movies . you should love the movies you do for personal  idiosyncratic and specific reasons . not just more  me  too  votes for the godfather  etc . . people have no clue what ideas are being explored in their favorite movies . if they did  movies would be more interesting than they are . scorsese does know what ideas are being explored  and that makes him a compelling  involved speaker on the topic . i really appreciate his articulate  generous interviews over the last decade .  br    br   on a negative note  scorsese is best when he  s excited to show you some obscure movie  rather than when he  s didactically teaching you something well  established about film history . and i do wish he pluck those three hairs out of the bridge of his nose . it  s very distracting .  
we bought this film from a shop called poundland . we were looking for more inspiration as we have previously bought the film no big deal an remade it .  br    br   we expected this film to be badly inspirational so that we might remake it and put it on the tube . however  this was shocking . boring is the main word that comes to mind . the bad effects and script aren  t enough to make you watch it . the main woman  s body seems to be whipped out at opportune moments in a pathetic attempt to keep the viewer interested . however  it just makes you wonder  did they blow the budget getting her to take her clothes off  if so  i  d have asked for a refund  it looks like a homemade film  the shots don  t even correspond with each other and the camera work is so amateur it makes our remakes of bad movies look professional . i cannot believe that this is being sold as a marketable product .  br    br   it is just boring and ugly to watch . the actors are bad and there is no degree of professionalism about it . there are no words to describe how terrible it is .  
prolific and highly influential filmmaker martin scorsese examines a selection of his favorite american films grouped according to three different types of directors the director as an illusionist d . w . griffith or f . w . murnau  who created new editing techniques among other changes that made the appearance of sound and color later step forward the director as a smuggler filmmakers such as douglas sirk  samuel fuller  and mostly vincente minnelli  directors who used to disguise rebellious messages in their films and the director as iconoclast those filmmakers attacking civil observations and social hang  ups like orson welles  erich von stroheim  charles chaplin  nicholas ray  stanley kubrick  and arthur penn .  br    br   he shows us how the old studio system in hollywood was  though oppressive  the way in which film directors found themselves progressing the medium because of how they were bound by political and financial limitations . during his clips from the movies he shows us  we not only discover films we  ve never seen before that pique our interest but we also are made to see what he sees . he evaluate his stylistic sensibilities along with the directors of the sequences themselves .  br    br   the idea of a film canon has been reputed as snobbish  hence some movie fans and critics favor to just make  lists .  however  canon merely denotes  the best  and supporters of film canon argue that it is a valuable activity to identify and experience a select compilation of the  best  films  a lot like a greatest hits tape  if just as a beginning direction for film students . all in all  one  s experience has shown that all writing about film  including reviews  function to construct a film canon . some film canons can definitely be elitist  but others can be  populist .  as an example  the internet movie database  s top    movies list includes many films included on several  elitist  film canons but also features recent hollywood blockbusters at which many film  elitists  scoff  like the dark knight  which presently mingles in the top ten amidst the first two godfather films  schindler  s list and one flew over the cuckoo  s nest  and the fluctuation of similar productions further down such as iron man  sin city  die hard  the terminator and kill bill vol .  . writer scorsese  s taxi driver paul schrader has straightforwardly referred to his canon as  elitist  and contends that this is positive .  br    br   scorsese is never particularly vocal at all about his social and political ideologies  but when we see this intense and admittedly obsessive history lesson on the birth and growth of american cinema in both ideological realms  we see that there is really no particular virtue in either elitism or populism . elitism concentrates all attention  recognition and thus power on those deemed outstanding . that discrimination could easily lead to self  indulgence much in the vein of the condescending work of jean  luc godard or the overrationalization of the production practices of a filmmaker like michael haneke . yet populism invokes a belief of representative freedom as being only the assertion of the people  s will . as has been previously asserted about the all  encompassing misconceptions the people have about cinema  populism could be the end of the potential power and impact of cinema . one can only continue seeing films  because it is a vital social and metaphysical practice . and that  s what martin scorsese spends nearly four hours here trying to tell us  something which can  t be told without being seen first  hand .  
any film with a title as ridiculous as  the bagman  should automatically attract the attention of any bad movie lover  but the plot is far different than what one may expect after viewing the dvd cover . the bagman is by no means a good movie . it falls into the category of films that seem to have been  and probably were  filmed on a home video camera . the acting is awful . i haven  t heard and seen such wooden acting since troll  . there are plenty of scenes with nudity and sex  but they are clearly jumped into too fast . the characters are morons and entirely forgettable . the ending  which i will not spoil  can be easily anticipated after watching the very first scene . due to the cheesy nature of the film  nothing aside from the awful production values is truly scary  awful attempts at realistic gore  a driving scene where the car is clearly stationary  etc  . recommended for bad movie aficionados only .  
when the british film institute asked martin scorcese to create the american part of its century of the cinema series  he grabbed the opportunity with both hands . a personal journey through american movies is a fascinating  wide  ranging and  as the title says  a highly personal look at hollywood cinema .  br    br   scorcese  s story is primarily about hollywood  s directors  actors  producers  screenwriters and other collaborators barely get a mention . he states right from the beginning that for him the primary conflict within the film industry is that between the director  s vision and the distributor  s profit motive  between art and commercial viability . he even opens with a clip from vincente minnelli  s the bad and the beautiful  one of the earliest films to openly explore this contradiction . this dictates the structure for the documentary . scorcese looks at how genres have darkened and clichs have become challenged  how mavericks have challenged the production code  and how certain filmmakers fell from grace when they dared to be different . however  scorcese never falls into the auteurist trap of dismissing directors who consistently pleased the studio bosses  he lavishes praise on cecil b . de mille   or those who had less of a recognisable style but were master craftsmen of the cinema nonetheless .  br    br   scorcese doesn  t necessarily focus on his absolute favourite directors either  orson welles and alfred hitchcock  two of scorcese  s biggest influences  are only mentioned in passing  . instead  he looks at the individuals and the films that serve to tell his story . for example  he shows us a succession of john ford films to show how the western evolved . he looks at the work of vincente minnelli  probably the most often referenced director of the documentary  to show how a supposedly wholesome genre like the musical could also have darker undercurrents . i can imagine that  had this assignment not been limited to america  scorcese would have also loved to talk about  for example his italian influences or his british hero michael powell . as it is  he stretches the definition of american movies to include both the hollywood films of immigrant directors such as fw murnau  billy wilder and douglas sirk  as well as the work of us  born filmmakers that was produced elsewhere  such as that of stanley kubrick .  br    br   rather than simply tell the story of hollywood chronologically  scorcese compares films from various eras in order to tackle various subjects . in his section on the language and tools of cinema  he begins with dw griffith  looks at the coming of sound  colour and widescreen and inevitably ends up going over computer generated effects which  although scorcese is not keen on them  he is even  handed enough to include clips of george lucas and francis ford coppola defending them . however  he doesn  t simply finish the chapter here as if this is the end of it . instead  he then rewinds back to the     s  to show how a low  budget horror like the cat people can achieve effective results from the simplest and cheapest of elements .  br    br   a personal journey through american movies has to be one of the best film documentaries made . there were a number of outstanding directors and pictures which i would never have discovered without  and even the most seasoned of film buffs would be likely to find something new in its broad scope . scorcese has also restored the balance to forgotten or undervalued pictures . i was pleased to see that  when he talks about kubrick in his  iconoclasts  chapter  he looks at lolita and barry lindon  for me his two most underrated films . scorcese  s respect for the medium is on display in the way he allows clips to play out fully  rather than just giving us tiny bits  and he interrupts them with talking heads  a combination of archive and new interviews  only when necessary . there is a bit of bias towards the   s and   s  but that is hardly surprising since it is the era in which scorcese grew up and discovered cinema . and after all  i don  t think this documentary could have been achieved had it not been a personal journey .  br    br   one word of warning though  in its in depth look at certain pictures  this documentary does contain a fair few spoilers .  
to be clear from the get go   the bagman  is very  very  very bad . it suffers terribly in almost every aspect except for one the finished product is such an awful film that it  s actually hysterically funny to watch . this is a very low  grade film . budget constraints for the film should be obvious to anyone who watches even just the opening title sequence . i  m not sure if much of the humour in the film was intended or not . for example  the movie takes place in  doomsville .  note to all prospective home buyers if the town you  re moving to is called  doomsville   keep moving . stephanie beaton is quick to pull off her top for a pretty enthusiastic sex scene in the kitchen . i couldn  t help but laugh because it has intentional humour  she turns on the gas stove . . . get it  the sex is that hot  get it   and unintentional humour . the unintentional in this case is the music . it  s like the theme music for  chariots of fire  goes electronica . break out the computer and the synthesizers  i realize that coming up with music for a small production like this is cost prohibitive . i really feel for them because the work here is so well  intentioned . the problem is that cheap music isn  t necessarily good music . i haven  t laughed so hard at sex on screen since  alone in the dark  with that  seven seconds  song  i guess they were implying that poor old mr . slater was a bit . . . quick on the draw   . even the end credits are hilarious . intentional or not  you be the judge a pet dog and cat are part of the credited cast   and an animal wrangler was on set for them    the boom is credited to  mr b . stick   and the  rd unit  s wardrobe  yep  they had a third unit  is credited to k  mart . maybe it  s just me  but i think the hilarity of this more than saves the film . the movie is very  very bad  but the goals of stephanie beaton  her friends and family are so well  intentioned in  the bagman  that you can  t help but like the movie they  ve produced .  the bagman  is bad but not dreadful . in its own sweet way  it even manages to be a bit endearing . it wears its flaws so honestly that you can  t help but forgive them .  better  films that try to hide the flaws are almost worse in a way . i guess this is just a film that knew who its audience was and was produced accordingly .  br    br   watch any number of movies and most of them will probably be a lot better than this . some of them might look cheaper  or have worse acting  or sillier production value . they may not suffer terribly as  the bagman  does from awful editing  sound  and foley effects . mr b . stick didn  t do a very good job . the special effects look to be where most of the money went . they tend to be more funny than gruesome  although when the  bagman  is finally unmasked at the end  the make  up job there is surprisingly well done .  br    br   my  out of   is a little high but the humour helped a lot . this is an ideal movie to track down some night with a few friends and a few beers in hand . great entertainment is to be had by anyone who seriously considers themselves b  movie or low budget film aficionados . all others should probably avoid with great prejudice .  
as a  rebuttle  of sorts to the afi  s top    films  the british film institute worked out a documentary with martin scorsese .  br    br   now . i am a huge film fan and pride myself on having seen many  many films . but  i am nowheres in comparrison with my idol . in this fantastic  though long  documentary  scorsese walks the viewer through several stages of the american history on film . this is divided in to several sections including the western  the gangster film and the noir . full of bouncy enthusiasm  martin scorsese is a great tour guide as well as a fantastic professor .  
dear friends and family   br    br   i guess if one teen wants to become biblical with another teen  then that  s their eternal damnation  just remember kids   birth control  doesn  t mean  oral sex   i don  t care what the honor student says . on the other hand  even if the senator  s aid quotes himself as a  bit of a romantic guy   he  s still only hitting on a high school girl . if she was my sister  i  d eat this guys kneecaps .  br    br   other than that i found out that mongolians don  t kiss the same way the french do and that baseball players named zoo like delicate undergarments .  br    br   i think i  d almost rather watch richie rich one more time than suffer the indignity of this slip  slap  slop . thank you  and good night .  
huge  exhaustive and passionate summary of american cinema as seen through the eyes of martin scorcese . needless to say  there is never a dull moment in all of its  hour running time . many genres  periods and directors are all examined  discussed more from the perspective of cinephile rather than contemporary director . for anyone even remotely interested in american films  or cinema in general . a masterpiece  and the best of the bfi  s century of cinema series .  br    br    
inspector gadget was probably my all  time favorite    s cartoon . i enjoyed both the first and second seasons of the series as well as      s christmas special  inspector gadget saves christmas  . some gadget fans are quick to criticize the second season       of the show  but they need to compare it to dic  s     release of  inspector gadget  s last case claw  s revenge  for then  they will find the second season to be absolute gold .  br    br   being a gadget fan  i couldn  t resist the opportunity to see the animated inspector gadget in something that wasn  t gadget boy  related . i purchased the film  and i swore to myself that i  d be objective i knew that sometimes artistic liberties would be taken from the original series . i was not even prepared for what i was about to watch .  br    br   there was barely a shred of the original show still intact .  br    br   here is a short list of just some of the cons for this movie the humor is non  existent from the original series .  br    br   penny and brain  originally having a nearly equal part in the series as gadget  are missing from the action for fifteen to twenty minute intervals .  br    br   the original music by saban  levy is not there  and the score that exists is sub  par .  understood that saban has his own production company now  but at least  inspector gadget saves christmas  had good music  even without saban .  don  t expect to see any of gadget  s gadgets which made the show so endearing  such as gadget  copter  gadget  brella  gadget  mallet  gadget  coat  which actually was used but it was not even called the same thing   as well as his standard other hat and hand gadgets . in this movie  his gadget legs were telescopic instead of springs . that kind of stuff annoys true fans of the show  and simply aren  t necessary to change .  br    br   the gadgetmobile from the original series is now a fast  talking  supposedly  hip  convertible . all the fans from the original series enjoyed the gadgetmobile transforming into the gadget van and vice versa .  br    br   chief quimby is now very short  tempered and even mean to gadget . he was always grumpy in the original series  but this pushes the situation a bit much .  br    br   penny no longer has a computer book .  br    br   are there any positives to this movie  ok  here goes . . .  br    br   maurice lamarche does a good job of taking over for the great don adams as inspector gadget .  br    br   in one scene  chief quimby alludes to an actual villain from the cartoon series the great wambini  classic  gadget  villain from the second season  voiced by louis nye  .  br    br   looking for more redeeming factors for this movie  well  you  re out of luck . life is about making choices and living by those choices . most situations in life have a purpose even if it is to teach a lesson . the lesson learned here keep to the original formula   if it ain  t broke  don  t fix it .  true gadget fans should steer clear from this movie you will surely be disappointed .  br    br   hopefully  dic and shout  factory will continue to release more of the original series after the     release of  inspector gadget the original series  volume    containing the first   episodes of the series . as a true gadget fan  lover of    s animation and many of dic  s programs  i urge you the viewer to purchase  inspector gadget the original series  volume   and  inspector gadget saves christmas  dvd  s which are excellent and sure to bring back good memories .  
thank the lord for martin scorsese  and his love of the movies .  br    br   this is the perfect introduction into the mind of the most talented american artist working in cinema today  and i couldn  t recommend it more . i was enthralled through the whole thing and you will be too . just relax and let him take you on a ride through his world  you  ll love it .  
this animated inspector gadget movie is pretty lame . the story is very weak  and there is little action . most of the characters are given little to nothing to do . the movie is mildly entertaining at best  but really doesn  t go any where and is pointless . it  s watchable but only just and is nowhere near the calibre of the animated tv show from the    s . it  s not a movie that bears repeat viewing  at least in my mind . it  s only about   minutes long including credits  so i guess that  s a good thing . unlike in the tv show  the characters are not worth rooting for here . in the show  you wanted inspector gadget to save the day  but there  who really cares  anyway  that  s just my opinion . for me inspector gadget  s last case is a disappointing      
rko had a reputation for making folksy  homespun pieces of americana .  br    br   anne shirley  as dawn o  day  had been in films since she was a toddler . by     she was in limbo  having played ann dvorak as a child in  three on a match        and a  flower girl  in both  this side of heaven  and  the key  both in     . george nicholls jnr remembered anne  s work from a previous film and that  s how she got this part . she also adopted anne shirley as her stage name . the memorable stories are there  lady of shallot in a leaky boat  the  stolen  brooch  the  red hair  incident . anne was so right for the role of the chatty  heartwarming orphan . she was heartbreaking in her intensity  her eagerness to please and also her fiery temper . o . p . heggie was wonderful as the understanding matthew cuthbert and helen westley was fine as the firm marilla . tom brown was an excellent gilbert blythe . gertrude messinger  who had also been in films as a small child was fine as diana barry . sara haden proved she could play someone other than aunt millie in the andy hardy series  was mrs . barry .  
i got this dvd well over  years ago and only decided to watch it yesterday . i don  t know why it took me so long as i do like the inspector gadget show and even the new gadget and the gadgetinis . while it may have a bright color pallet and all the technical sophistication of a modern animated movie  there are some old things missing that bog this gadget right down the toilet .  br    br   first of all the classic inspector gadget theme song and music is completely absent . the composer tries to compromise by doing a score that sounds similar but it  s still just no good enough . the gadget  mobile is now a talking car  not a car that can turn into a van . plus it looks a lot cuter and rounder instead of being plain cool . penny no longer has her computer book and she and brain hardly make an appearance at all .  br    br   the plot is non  existent . there  s something about a transformation formula and doctor claw using for some never revealed evil but that  s all i got . what the deal was with the short  giant italian guy i will never know . it had nothing to do with anything .  br    br   and if the title is anything to go by  his last case is wrapped up in no way whatsoever . and he stays on the force so why it  s called  last case  is a mystery also .  br    br   i wasn  t impressed at all . this is an affront to a great animated show that is strangely absent on dvd  but don  t let that prompt you into buying whatever inspector gadget dvds you can . i sold this mere seconds after finally watching it . no kid will like or appreciate this and no fan of the old show with tolerate it .  
someone release this movie on dvd so it can take its hallowed place as on of the greatest films of all time in ten to twenty years when critics and film historians look back on the so  called films of the      s and see how vapid they were for the most part  and how lars von trier tried to revolutionize and revitalize the international film world with this masterpiece . as it stands   zentropa   or  europa  as it is referred to outside the us  is one of the most fascinating and artistic views of the bleakness and almost psychotic uncertainty that oozed out of post wwii europe  namely the decimated german landscape  whose physical horrors were matched only by the damage to the psyche of its people . von trier brilliantly paints his vision on screen . you will feel like you are watching some lost espionage noir classic from the late      s with the perfectly lighted black and white scenes  while at the same time feel you are on the brink of something beyond the cutting edge  especially in scenes like the assassination aboard the train . literally  when you see this movie  you are witnessing the evolution of an art form .  br    br   for some reason  von trier got caught up in his own dogma movement shortly after this . and while his  breaking the waves  and  dancer in the dark  are classics in their own right  it is with  zentropa  that he truly lifted the art of film making to new and exciting heights .       ages like a fine wine  and begs for a dvd release .  
this movie in away was super  clever . it  s theme rhymes with every single horror movie ever made . valentine makes zero attempt to be original . what is valentine anyway  it  s a bunch of people giving each other the same lame messages that were given to the same people a year earlier . there is nothing original in valentine .  br    br   i only saw it once  and in that one viewing here are some of the films it ripped off .  . prom night  . carrie  . scream  . any other horror movie in which somebody is killing somebody .  br    br   i know there is more  but my mind was slowly turning into a puddle of silk so it couldn  t grab them as fast as they came .  br    br   valentine had no chance of being a good movie . how come every horror movie has to have a  suprise  killer  people you don  t care about because their emotions take a turn every other scene . one minute a nice girl turns into an evil b   ch  then she  s an insecure woman  and so on and son on .  br    br   normally any horror movie  in my book  can be saved by gore  once again valentine doesn  t have this . it was as if they tried to make it pg    but failed  so they left the edit .  br    br   do not see this overly  inspired  rip  off unless you hate yourself  and you want to die .  br    br           j . leonard rollins   
in  anne of green gables         marilla cuthbert  helen westley  and matthew cuthbert  o . p . heggie   middle  aged siblings who live together at green gables  a farm in avonlea  on prince edward island  decide to adopt a boy from distant orphanage to help on their farm . but the orphan sent to them is a precocious girl of   named anne shirley  dawn evelyn paris  a veteran of disney  s series of  alice  shorts who later would adopt her character  s name  .  br    br   anne was only   in lucy maude montgomery  s source novel but the same actress could not credibly go from   to college age during the course of the story . the movie suffers somewhat from this concession  as many of anne  s reactions and much of what she says are more entertaining coming from an eleven  year  old that from a teenager . as in the book  anne is bright and quick  eager to please but dissatisfied with her name  her build  her freckles  and her long red hair . being a child of imagination  however  anne takes much joy in life  and adapts quickly to her new family and the environment of prince edward island .  br    br   in fact anne is the original  teenage drama queen  and the film  s screenwriter elected to focus on this aspect of her character . which transformed the basic genre from mildly amusing family drama to comedy . a change that delighted audiences and that continues to frustrate reader purists .  br    br   since the comedy is very much in the spirit of the montgomery  s story i can see no reason to take issue with the changes  but let this serve as fair warning to anyone expecting a totally faithful adaptation . the comedy element is the strength of the film as it is one of the earliest self  reflexive parodies of hollywood conventions . the actress anne shirley was one of hollywood  s all  time beauties and the film is in black and white . so much of the amusement is in seeing the title character  s endless laments about her appearance and hair color contradicted by what is appearing on the screen . anne regularly regales her no nonsense rural companions with melodramatic lines like  if you refuse it will be a lifelong sorrow to me  . perhaps the funniest moment is when she corrects the spelling of her name on the classroom blackboard .  br    br   tom brown does a nice job as anne  s love interest gilbert blythe and sara haden steals all the scenes in which she appears as the cuthbert  s pompous neighbor .  br    br   then again  what do i know  i  m only a child .  
this film essentially deals with inspector gadget  s arch  nemesis doctor claw who has returned after many years to the now  peaceful city of metropolis . claw  s plan is to foil gadget once and for all by using a newer  cooler  crimefighter to help destroy gadget  s popularity . sadly the film fails miserably  the series was great  but it was revived nearly   years later with tragic results . without the voice of don adams as inspector gadget it just doesn  t cut it anymore dr . claw is not only visually less frightening  but sounds more like a wrestler with a cold  than his original intimidating self . granted this is a children  s movie  but the plot is so painfully weak  heaven forbid i mention the animation  that it pales in comparison to the original series . someone has decided to updated penny as well to bring her two decades up to speed  she now has some quasi  punk rebellious clothing style and doesn  t play half the role that she did in the tv series . the gadgetmobile talks  as well as including a plot angle that focuses entire on talking cars . maybe i  m just a kid who loved the show who  s grown up jaded  but i thought that the live  action version was more pain than i could bear  but now they go and spring this complete watering  down of the quality tv series on us . it  s more than i can take .  
vivacious  irrepressible  anne of green gables brings unlooked  for happiness into the lives of a lonely old sister  brother on prince edward island .  br    br   lucy maud montgomery  s well  loved novel comes to life in this wonderful little movie . excellent production values  a literate script and first class performances gives the story exactly the touch of quality it deserves .  br    br   taking her professional name from the character she portrayed  actress anne shirley is a joy as the red  headed fourteen  year  old orphan who completely alters the lives of her new guardians . completely assured in her starring role  miss shirley is a delight  entertaining the viewer with anne  s boundless imagination  quick temper and not  so  secret sorrows .  br    br   playing the stern spinster who gives the girl a home  helen westley also completely commands her role the viewer will enjoy seeing this sharp  tongued woman slowly unbend to anne  s affection and child  like innocence . australian character actor o . p . heggie gives one of his finest performances as westley  s shy  gentle brother who welcomes anne into his heart from the moment he arrives to fetch her from the railroad station .  br    br   tom brown most agreeably plays the schoolboy who quickly grabs anne  s attention . sara haden is appropriately prickly as a nosy neighbor . charley grapewin makes the most of his few moments as avonlea  s doctor .  
  the bubble  is an effort to make a gay romeo  juliet type of story with an israeli and a palestinian  although it seems to come at it by way of  friends  or  beverly hills      .  the characters are shallow and trite as are the dialog and plot line . the movie seems torn between fluff and depth . on the one hand there is a pointed effort at being shallow as  in one example of many  some minor characters even ask questions that invite development of insight into the conflicts at hand  and get answers like   hey  we  re here to make a poster for a rave against the occupation . don  t get political   beyond the obvious absurdity of such a line  it  s just one of many ham  fisted signals that the movie is just as hollow and insubstantial as its title suggests . on the other hand  the movie  s main pretension to depth follows the lovers to a presentation of  bent  a play about gays in a nazi labor camp . the scene on stage is awkwardly rushed  undermining its erotic power  understandable given the constraints of film  time  but still this could have been edited to much better effect .  and comes off as flimsily as the rest of the film . too bad . this play deserves much better .  br    br   the characters are so one  dimensionally cartoony some even have names that telegraph their entire  though the word seems inappropriate here  substance . the aggressive soldier from the crack golani brigade is named  golan .  the militant palestinian is named  jihad .  the striving  for  chic faghag roommate is  lulu .  anyone familiar with the checkpoints and life in palestine  whether from real life or documentaries will find the checkpoint scenes as absurdly unreal as well  the rest of this fluffy fantasy . when a palestinian woman goes into the fastest labor on record israeli soldiers are solicitous and helpful  an ambulance shows up in minutes .  the outcome of the birth serves to show the palestinians as unappreciative of israeli beneficence and even downright paranoiac .  altogether the checkpoint is shown as a mere nuisance  not the series of bone  numbing  soul  crushing  humiliating obstructions with no regard for medical care or necessity in cases of birth  death  or severe illness . ashraf  the palestinian lover  seems to get through from nablus to tel aviv with no problems  no papers  no hassles . he just shows up whenever he likes . when the israelis want to get through it is much more of a challenge involving a scheme worthy of lucy ricardo .  br    br   against the backdrop of nice  supportive israelis and surly homophobic palestinians we move to a resolution that is utterly lacking in motivation or purpose  except as a painfully obvious dramatic device to milk sympathy for the forbidden lovers .  br    br   gay israeli  palestinian romance has been handled on stage with much more skill and depth as in saleem  s  salaam  shalom  so this film is hardly even as groundbreaking as some people would like to think .  br    br   gloriously bad films  like the works of ed wood   at least have some striking idiosyncrasy to distinguish them . this one doesn  t even have that going for it . most of the sound track sounds like simon and garfunkel on quaaludes  and even with the weird oedipal touches to the gay sex scenes  the general incompetence that pervades this movie plays out like a mediocre tv  movie  of  the  week .  
never viewed this film and consider it a great classic with great veteran actors . in the period that this film was made  people in america were different  there was no tv or all the modern things we have today  except the radio and the starting out of great films being made in hollywood . sweet innocent tales of young romance between a young girl or guy was viewed differently than it is today . ann shirley   murder my sweet      played a young orphan gal who was called carrot top because of her red hair and found herself being taken into a home of two elderly folks  who were like two wise owls and watched over ann shirley . it was a small town and everyone knew everyone and if anything happened  the entire town found out about it within minutes . it is a down to earth film with nice decent people trying to help each other in a very very simple way of living . today  it seems very corn ball and stupid  but believe me  this was the way people were in america during the      .     s and they were a great generation that loved good family films .  
eytan fox  whilst generally leaning on the apologist side of israeli politics  has made several quite interesting films in the past such as  walk on water  and the simply wonderful film   yossi  jagger  . in  the bubble   however  he has taken this illogical and unfair approach to the extreme .  br    br   far from giving this film a standing ovation  the people at the screening i attended quietly got up and left . i also quietly left  fuming with anger at such a ridiculously one  sided film that translates self  preservation as racist bullying  and racist bullying  and terrorism  as outbursts of justified anger which implies that arabs are so wronged by the evil israelis that they react in anger to a constant stream of one  sided israeli aggression against them  and that they  therefore  should not be held responsible for their actions .  br    br   this film wasn  t worth the money i paid for the ticket  indeed  i considered demanding my money back   and was basically an israeli apeing of the palestinian film  paradise now  . if you want to be an anti  israeli  then by all means watch this film  as it really justifies just such a belief system . the fact that this film was made by an israeli director and  even worse  such a talented israeli director  is a crying shame . indeed  just how israel can be surprised to be regarded as a pariah state when israelis themselves make such anti  israel propaganda  beggars belief .  br    br   what a shameful  horrid little film   
the cast is different and now they took a different approach we have the street smart team  networth  vs . the supposed professional team  magna  but boy if you think the street smart team would have trouble you  d be right . while the magna team has struggled at times  the street team has simply disintegrated week after week .  br    br   first some things to reiterate as far as the  apprentice   first of it continues the same absurd mentality  from trump  and the game in this series if your a good project manager  but you lose  the team will turn on you and you will be fired  despite the fact that your backstabbing teammates are often the ones who do half ass jobs . simply absurd  that a game show that claims to hire the best candidate actually  weeds  out the best while the dysfunctional candidates stab each other until one is left and that person is the best . lol  br    br   anyone this season  weve seen a total of cursing  backstabbing and even gay offensive stereotypes carried out as teams try to do campaigns .  br    br   the list of victims so far cast tara dowdell  audrey evans  danny kastner those three are the only that i feel were unfairly fired by trump  the rest really had it coming as they only incited conflict  anger and suffering . it  s just amazing as one candidate audrey evans said as how she who did a good job was fired and how some of her worthless teammates are still in the game .  br    br   yes its the game  it  s  the apprentice  where manipulation  backstabbing  and always popular  everyone gang up on the project manager  mentality rules .  br    br   it has been an entertaining ride  though  the candidates are given a wide array of assignments from photo shoots to the construction of mini golf courses  to building of new apartments .  br    br   still though it  s still the  apprentice  though so all you can do basically is laugh the whole time as the insanity and chaos insues until lucky person is the winner .  
what is it  is a mish  mash of bizarre recurring motifs  snails  shirley temple  swastikas  and overtly racist music  among others  unfettered by any sort of narrative or plot or character development . the whole thing struck me as self  consciously  freak show   and i don  t mean only the unusual casting decisions . it has the feel of a bad acid trip  far beyond any level of drug use one might attribute to hunter s . thompson or william s . burroughs . the only movie to which i can compare it is eraserhead  my second  least  favorite film of all time   which was by intent much more depressing  but i still found what is it  a total waste of my time . it  s one thing to give me a peek into the inner workings of someone else  s mind   even someone else  s chemically altered consciousness   but quite another to just throw weird visuals at me purely for the sake of weirdness .  
for people interested in business and the corporate world  this show is simply the best of the best . as one of the former contestants of the show wrote in his blog about this innovative show people in business finally had an audience . the whole idea is perfect having a group of businesspeople competing against each other in business  related tasks  set in the best place in the world  new york city . donald trump is perfect as the boss  even though his ego is bigger than the whole universe times infinity . he also makes a lot of questionable decisions about whom to fire  which is one of the negatives about the show .  br    br   season   great season overall  the best season of the  normal  ones . this season was the one that was most about actual business skills . later on the series almost drowned in marketing related tasks with way too many product placements . great and interesting contestants overall  with the most likable character ever in this series troy . i know i  m not the only person who suspect that the trump world tower  episode where he got fired was rigged to have amy and nick win this particular task .  br    br   season   also a great season . the tasks were still pretty much ok  and it had many interesting contestants . jen m was terrible and should never had made it to the final  imo . also  this season had the worst firing ever  pamela  .  br    br   season   terrible . actually  i liked the concept of book smarts vs . street smarts  but the cast was so utterly terrible  it turned out that trump hated the cast as well  that the whole season was a total disaster . best moments was the second episode  motel renovation   with pm brian fired  a guy who added nothing but huge amounts of comedy value .  br    br   season   an excellent season  much because of the interesting and entertaining contestants this season  especially randall  alla  marcus and the total disaster whose name was toral  . the  take me out to the boardroom  episode is one of the absolute classics of this show  ending with the well  remembered quadruple firing . sadly  i think we got robbed for the randall vs . alla final . i think trump was afraid that she could have won  and prevented that from happening .  br    br   season   a boring season with really no special things to it . brent was just an embarrassment and obviously only there to create drama . the tasks were terrible overall  how has creating a jingle anything to do with business at all   . i guess the best man won  but personally i couldn  t care less .  br    br   season   i can see why they wanted to try out l . a . as a new location for the show  but looking back it was a mistake . new york will always be the place for this . this season added so many new things  most of them terrible  like losing team having to sleep outside in tents  winning pm continues to be pm  for example  . the tasks were terrible and trump also chose the wrong winner . james deserved it  no doubt .  br    br   season   celebrity edition . best season ever . totally different rules  like the use of rolodexes   but all fun and entertainment . the biggest problem was that many of the contestants were not real celebrities at all  especially the women where everyone were unknown to me except for omarosa  who is a total disgrace to everything she takes part in . this looked to be gene simmon  s season  but after he made a complete fool of himself during the kodak task  another man emerged from the shadows piers morgan . never has anyone dominated a season like he did . he crushed his opponents and also came across as a guy with a great sense of humor  although some uptight americans  not all americans  of course  don  t take me wrong  sadly didn  t have the social skills to understand it  . way to go piers    br    br   for fans of this i highly recommend the uk version starring sir alan sugar as the boss . in fact  the british version is way better  and that says something since the american  and original  truly is a great show . one thing about the uk version is that the contestants normally tend to behave like decent human beings in the boardroom  unlike the constant yelling and rude behavior that takes place in the us version .  
i saw his film at the ann arbor film festival . i am a film student at the univeristy of michigan so i know a thing or two about film . and crispin glover  s film is outrageous . he basically exploits the mentally challenged . not only is shirly temple the anti  christ  which i admit is a little funny  telling the mentally challenged to kill each other  but there is an obsession with killing snails . crispin also plays with the idea of being in love with one of his actors who is as they all are  mentally challenged . peta and human rights should be all over this thing . it  s not  counter  culture  as crispin stated at the ann arbor film festival  it  s exploitation .  
the interesting aspect of  the apprentice  is it demonstrates that the traditional job interview and resume do not necessarily predict teamwork skills  task dedication  and job performance . and they certainly don  t reveal any hidden agendas . in other words  a good indicator of potential may be to see a job applicant in action which is the point of  the apprentice  . people vying for a corporate position may hand over a sugar  coated resume and put on their best personality attire for the interview  but these are not necessarily the best indicator of strengths  weaknesses  and performance .  br    br   briefly   the apprentice  involves   job candidates competing for the ultimate career opportunity a position in real estate magnate donald trump  s investment company .  the apprentice  refers to the winner who will win a salaried position  learn the art of high stakes deal  making from the master himself  and  presumably  gain prime corporate connections . the position is a dream  come  true for those wanting to make more money than the gnp of some foreign countries . to entice the candidates  trump shows off his private jet  his private luxury apartments replete with statues and artwork  his limos  his connections to celebrities  and other aspects of the life of a billionaire magnate .  br    br   the road to success is not easy . the group is divided into two teams that compete against each other . each has a corporate  sounding name  such as versacorps and protg corporation . the teams are assigned tasks that entail an entrepreneurial venture such as creating advertising  selling merchandise  or negotiating . teams select a project manager who provides the leadership and organizational skills to complete the task . if they win  the manager receives a lot of credit  particularly in the eyes of the final arbiter . if they lose  the manager may also become the scape  goat . some of the tasks are monumentally difficult with only a day or two to complete . tasks may involve creating a tv commercial  or print ad . others may involve selling at a retail outlet or on the street .  br    br   the tasks bring out the best and worst in the participants . they often show immediately who is the most reliable  who is the most trustworthy  and who is hard working . and the tasks also expose who is not a good team player  who is inefficient  and who seems only out for themselves . the tasks invariably reveal in unexpected ways the strengths and weaknesses of the participants and in particular the project manager . how well the manager communicates with the team  delegates work  organizes time  and sets specific goals will largely determine the outcome  but it does not necessarily predict the winner .  br    br   the single  most telling aspect of someone  s potential is when he or she is assigned as a project manager . their real abilities as opposed to their self  propagated abilities immediately show through the veneer that cannot be hidden by a     silk tie or a beautiful makeover . leadership qualities and  or weaknesses often become agonizingly obvious after only a few minutes . those promoting themselves as top  notch leaders are not always as strong when put into a real  life leadership situation . it is always easier to  toot your own horn  than to actually engage in leadership . project managers  even those on the winning teams  often do not formulate a cohesive strategy . they often believe that by diving off the deep end to complete the task at the first minute rather than taking a little time to organize and discuss how the task will be completed is more efficient . more often than not  members of an ill  strategized team are running around like headless chickens figuring it out as they go along  and in the long run they end up wasting far more time .  br    br   the winning team gets a taste of the high life  such as eating dinner at an exclusive restaurant  flying in a private jet  and  or meeting a celebrity . the losing team comes to the dreaded board room where trump hears the lame excuses of the members and knocks off one or more of the contestants like pieces off a chess board with the now infamous  you  re fired  . often  the project manager is held partially responsible for the team  s loss  and may be the target of trump  s accusatory rhetoric . every week  at least one person becomes a casualty from the losing team .  br    br   my least  favorite aspect of  the apprentice  is the board room . while the tasks themselves bring out the strengths and weaknesses in the candidates  the board room often brings out the worst . unfortunately  the rules of the game insist there is one winning team and one losing team  even if the competition was close . members of the losing team start accusing each other  often ruthlessly  about who was at fault . and sometimes more than one person gets fired . i seldom see an under  performing candidate take responsibility for their actions in the board room . kristi frank and kwame jackson were possibly the only candidates who took full responsibility for her team  s losses and received no recognition for this selfless act . for me  kristi frank and kwame jackson had the most integrity of all the candidates . however  trump saw kristi as weak and fired her  claiming she wasn  t standing up for herself  which may mean he values ego more than integrity . no one should sacrifice their integrity for this . kristi frank may not have become the apprentice but she can live with herself knowing she did not blame others unjustly . isn  t that worth as much as  winning    br    br   the strength of  the apprentice  is also its weakness . because team performance is evaluated strictly by winners and losers  other evaluation opportunities are overlooked . barring huge gaps between the winning and losing teams  sometimes a losing team exemplifies a high standard of teamwork and efficiency . i have seen losing teams sometimes appearing better organized than the winning team . we americans are so often obsessed with winning and losing that we often overlook excellence .  
i saw crispin glover  s  what is it   at the ann arbor film festival . admittedly  the film was at least aptly named  because i got the distinct sense that even the writer  director could provide no answer . at the question and answer session after the screening  mr . glover said that the film was originally meant to be a short film to show the virtue of using actors with down  syndrome . however  this is in itself not enough of a reason to create a film . actors are  in my opinion  building blocks for a larger vision  a larger vision that seemed muddled at best and absent at worst .  br    br   crispin glover also said that he wanted to address taboo subjects . well  he does do that . but why  the film seems to have no stance  no reason for addressing anything . does he feel these things shouldn  t be taboo  the film doesn  t even give me an indicator of that . taboo for the sake of taboo is not interesting . it can  t even afford to make the taboo disturbing or inciting on any level because he hasn  t made the audience care in any way .  br    br   ignoring problems with the concept for a moment  the thing that actually shocked me most was how poorly the film was put together . the editing  cinematography  and other technical aspects seemed frequently to be extremely amateur . glover said        thousand dollars went into the movie  and i feel that the money should have been spent on different designers  glover actually did some design himself  i know i saw at least sound design in the credits  . the painted sets are okay  not great   but used poorly . parts feel like a photographed stage play  which would be fine if that went to any sort of purpose  but in glover  s hands it just feels sloppy . other parts are filmed like a sort of home movie  of inferior quality to a lot of the stuff i see first  time filmmakers do on imovie .  br    br   perhaps the biggest problem with  what is it   is i can  t even understand how seriously the film is to be taken . there are some parts that feel like glover is screaming at you to think seriously . at other points  he seems off on his own little joke . perhaps he meant for this to be ironic  or meaningful in some way  but i just felt that glover couldn  t even get himself to give his film any sort of serious attention .  br    br   glover said he originally wanted it to be a short film . if only it had been . at seventy  two minutes  the film runs out of imagery and ideas in the first twenty  and it is arguable if the ideas were formulated enough to claim that they were even there for that period of time .  
i started watching the apprentice about  years ago  maybe   and i really really liked it . the first thing that strikes you about it is the refreshing format  which though similar to a lot of other reality shows at its core  is still very entertaining . donald trump is wonderful as the host and the main judge of the show as well . the casting coup with intelligent people having good looks being picked as contestants is appreciated as well . but the best part of the show is new york city . mark burnett may have made a lot of crap in his time but his handling of the cinematography is excellent as he makes nyc look like a character unto itself . the jazz tunes coupled with some great camera  work make new york look spectacular .  br    br   the apprentice will easily alway make my top  reality shows of all time  the amazing race is no .   however  . but just like the amazing race this show is always best watched in moderation . if you keep watching it for a while the originality of the show will wear off fast  the same case as with tar  . star world  the broadcasters in this country  did a bang up job in presenting the show . the first three seasons were shown in a row  then after  years the next two seasons were shown  which kept the concept fresh .  br    br   in conclusion  you will love this show  especially the first  seasons . however if you keep watching the show continuously  thereafter its charm will wear off and fast .  
i firstly and completely and confidently disagree with the user who calls this a  spoof  . crispin glover is very serious about his film . he personally introduced the film at the screening i saw in chicago . he had worked on the film for years and it is the first in an intended trilogy .  what is it   is crispin glover  s attempt at an art film in the vein of those he idolizes by herzog  lynch etc .  br    br   i had heard rumor of this film years ago  epic porno movie with all down  syndrome cast directed by crispin glover  . when it finally came out i watched the trailer on  line and read the synopsis and i was foaming at the mouth with anticipation . . . . i went to chicago to see it and it was a major disappointment . if he took out the goofy sht  such as the pot  smoking grandma  and the dancing dolls  he would be left with something much better  but only about   minutes long .  br    br   in other words just watch the trailer  be entertained  and leave it at that . there are some striking images and fantastic juxtapositions and phrases  but its lack of focus amounts to disappointment .  
wow what an episode  after last week seeing mellisa constantly making cameos about the friendship of annie and brandi i almost puked . but that was nothing until seeing mellisa  s tirade after being fired . seeing her hobble around on her cast spewing out obscenities and screaming for someone to get her purse was absolutely the most hilarious thing ever on reality tv . she continued to scream at people off set to get her clothes  all of them  like someone else would wear one of her hideous outfits . mellisa you are like   years old and you still throw temper tantrums  then joan starts calling annie and brandie every name in the book  and gets up and quits the show  both rivers are spoiled brats who were only left on the show this long to keep ratings up . mellisa crying and refusing to do an exit interview  just proves to america what everyone thought  you are a spoiled baby . wah wah i can  t get my way  i love how annie told the cameras she could manipulate mellisa to think her way  and then did exactly that . mellisa is by far the smartest contestant and clearly deserves to win the whole game .  
may contain a spoiler of sorts   the mere mention of crispin glover is enough to send some geek  s panties in a bunch . his landmark appearance in back to the future as george mcfly has sealed him into the american conscience forever . more recently  he has been trying to get back into the culty subconscious with bartleby and willard .  br    br   this time  however  crispin has made a    minute  cheap dada film . at times it reminded me of genius  while overall it almost insulted me  but not because of its content . content  what is it  is a movie where  in one half of the movie  all of the actors have down  s syndrome  giving it a freakshow feel to it . the other half of the movie includes crispin glover  adam parfrey  and a guy with cerebral palsy . this all had the feel of what john waters was attempting to do with desperate living  and simultaneously feeling more successful and failing miserably .  br    br   the half with the down  s syndrome actors also features many many killed snails . it is about a guy who has snails  and ends up killing one . he is also tormented by a bunch of other people  and a grasshopper . he falls in love with  girls  one of which he has sex with in a graveyard . he also has a falling out with a friend who teases him .  br    br   in a weird semi  interior set  crispin glover is the director of this show . he is something like the control of the guy  s mind  and the cerebral palsy guy is something like the sexuality . well  he at least gets masturbated in explicit scenes . there is other  shocking  imagery made humorous  like nazi swaztikas crossed with shirley temple  and minstrels in black face saying they  re michael jackson .  br    br   in the outside world  the tormentor is still dealing with his love of killing snails and being beaten by the other people . they beat him with rocks  and such . later  they beat the minstrel after putting him on trial .  br    br   back to the interior  crispin glover is still the ruler of his set  and tries to control everybody  but fails miserably .  br    br   what is it  makes less sense than dr . caligari  and has more than a passing style stolen from it . the claustrophobic mental space feels very much like the way the no  wall sets of dr . caligari felt claustrophobic . they also had some dialogue that was absolute nonsense . and  it was all wrapped up with absurdist imagery for humor .  br    br   the problem is  about   minutes into the movie . . . maybe a little more . . . what is it  runs out of imagery . for the next   minutes  we keep running on the same sets of images  only introducing new imagery in the form of an absurdist puppet show . the movie seems little more than a movie which attempts to push the envelope in offensive and taboo imagery . it tries to mock and confuse the audience . but  the issue is that it only has enough different imagery for a   minute movie .  br    br   even worse than that  the cinematography  set design  and everything else felt very very cheap and almost unplanned . it felt like  ok  this is the way we can do it and get it out of the way .  it didn  t feel interesting  and was quite . . . boring . dr . caligari  on the other hand  had amazing cinematography and framing . the difference between the two is quite astounding .  br    br   rating c  
season after season  the players or characters in this show appear to be people who you  d absolutely love to hate . is this show rigged to be that or were they chosen for the same  each episode vilifies one single person specifically and he ends up getting killed off . you enjoy seeing them get screwed although its totally wrong and sick . you enjoy seeing them screwing others  getting screwed themselves  playing dirty  getting it back  escaping and finally getting kicked out by trump . the amount of tears also seems to be increasing by the season .  br    br   the rewards which attempt to compensate for past humiliation and suffering are also heavily reduced . in the newer seasons  its like  you get to meet xyx who  ll lecture you about uvw  . . like who freaking cares  the characters are so hateable  collectively and individually  that you wonder if they  re paid actors  the only sane one gets to win .  br    br   watch with caution and maintain a conscience . those are your fellow human beings in the firing line .  
the words  swedish  and  action movie  do not mix . that becomes more and more obvious with every attempt made in the genre . this is yet another failed attempt .  br    br   lasse brunell  shanti roney  works at a military air base with top secret computer systems . one day foreign criminals threaten to hurt his family if he doesn  t do what they tell him . they want the secret equipment and will do anything to get it .  br    br   this movie has it  s ups and downs . and usually in swedish action movies there are no  ups   just  downs  . so i guess something in this movie showed some quality . to begin with the positive remarks i can mention that the movie is technically well made . the footage of planes and helicopters flying are well shot and look very nice . the acting is of very varying quality . shanti roney makes a decent performance while maria bonnevie is stiff and unnatural as usual  i wonder how long swedish directors are going to keep using her even though she has the acting skills of a wooden plank   . stefan sauk is laughable as the  cool  special forces man who comes to the base to investigate .  br    br   and what about the action scenes  well as i said above the scenes of planes and helicopters flying are nice . but aside from that there is not much action to talk about . and that is a common problem with swedish action films . there is just not enough action going on . maybe it  s a budget problem  maybe it  s film  making culture . i don  t know  but it negatively affects the experience . because quite frankly  the story and acting is not good enough for this movie to rely just on that .  br    br   i rate this     for effort .  
i work in a library and expected to like this movie when it came out  years ago . well i liked parker posey a lot  she  s a wonderful actress  and omar townsend was really cute as her boyfriend  he couldn  t act but when you look like him who cares   but the movie was bad . it wasn  t funny or cute or much of anything . posey kept the movie afloat with her energy . but she learned the dewey decimal system overnight and then shelves tons of books to the beat of music          come on  also i did have a problem with the way she looked when she became a full  fledged librarian at the end   hair in a bun  glasses  no sense of humor   can we let that stereotype go please  worth seeing for posey and townsend but that  s about it . the tv series was much better .  
a good cast is appallingly wasted in this slower than molasses and haphazardly connived comedy . peter ustinov tries hard here to bring something to life but the result is a dour bore that misses all the right beats that might have made it watchable . regardless of the favorable comments here  this film is awful . badly directed . badly edited . badly acted . badly written . you need to sit through a hundred movies to come across one this bad .  br    br   the muddled and excruciatingly laggard plot concerns ustinov conning his way into an american insurance company in order to hack their computer and embezzle millions of pounds . how he does it is beyond lameness and credibility  he just learns his computer skills seemingly overnight by reading some pamphlets  and hoodwinks computer expert robert morley into going to south america and stealing his identity  .  br    br   as a side plot  ustinov romances fellow loner maggie smith  who just happens to become his secretary by chance after he gets a flat in her building . she ends up sharing scenes that have sexual undertones with bob newhart that go nowhere  while ustinov goes about grafting the money bit by bit and trying to keep one step ahead of newhart and karl malden . then he marries smith and they fly off to brazil  which has become the staple finale of almost every british caper comedy since  nuns on the run  a fish called wanda    br    br   the surprise twist of an ending is more laughable than everything that came before . by the end i was thinking i must be truly off my rocker to stick out drivel like this . even a cameo by cesar romero didn  t help it . one of the most unfunny  poorly paced  comedies  i  ve ever seen  and certainly the worst caper . don  t waste your time . if you love this you need to see better films .  
it was an excellent piece to the puppet series because this film showed all of the series  from one to seven . and this was about one woman trying to stop the new puppet master because i would have never guessed that the puppets would be in pain . plus it showed some of the puppet master series that i didn  t see and i what to see it so badly like part two . it showed an appearance of torch which can turn things and humans  which is cool  and showed the return of the puppet master from part one . it also showed little aliens from part  that was also cool  it showed other people episodes that might be good to them and it did . so thanks to this puppet master is going to be a big hit .  
here was no effort put into valentine to prevent it from being just another teenage slasher film  a sub  genre of horror films of which we have seen entirely too many over the last decade or so . i  ve heard a lot of people complaining that the film rips off several previous horror movies  including everything from halloween to prom night to carrie  and as much as i hate to be redundant  the rip off is so blatant that it is impossible not to say anything . the punch bowl over poor jeremy  s head early in the film is so obviously taken from carrie that they may as well have just said it right in the movie  hey everyone  this is the director  and the following is my carrie  rip  off scene . enjoy    . but that  s just a suggestion .  br    br    spoilers  the film is structured piece by piece exactly the same way that every other goofy teen thriller is structured . we get to know some girl briefly at the beginning  she gets killed  people wonder in the old oh  but  that  stuff  only  happens  to  other  people tone  and then they start to get killed . the problem here is that the director and the writers clearly and honestly want to keep the film mysterious and suspenseful  but they have no idea how to do it . take jason  for example . here is this hopelessly arrogant guy who is so full of himself and bad with women that he divides the check on a date according to what each person had  and as one of the first characters seen in the film after the brief history lesson about how bad poor jeremy was treated  he is assumed to carry some significance . besides that  and more importantly  he has the same initials as the little boy that all the girls terrorized in sixth grade  and the same initials that are signed at the bottom of all of those vicious valentine  s day cards .  br    br   it is not uncommon for the audience to be deliberately and sometimes successfully misled by the behavior of one or more characters that appear to be prime suspects  and jason is a perfect example of the effort  but not such a good example of a successful effort . sure  i thought for a while that he might very well be the killer  but that  s not the point . we know from early on that he is terrible with women  which links him to the little boy at the beginning of the film  but then in the middle of the film  he appears at a party  smiles flirtatiously at two of the main girls  and then gives them a hateful look and walks away  disappearing from the party and from the movie with no explanation . we already know he is a cardboard character  but his role in the film was so poorly thought out that they just took him out altogether when they were done with him .  br    br   on the positive side  the killer  s true identity was  in fact  made difficult to predict in at least one subtle way which was also  unfortunately  yet another rip  off . early in the film  when shelley stabs the killer in the leg with his own scalpel  he makes no sound  suggesting that the killer might be a female staying silent to prevent revealing herself as a female  rather than a male as everyone suspects . but then for the rest of the film  we just have this stolid  relentless  unstoppable killer with the emotionless mask and that gigantic butcher knife . director jamie blanks  who  with all due respect  looks like he had some trouble with the girls himself in the sixth grade  mentions being influenced by halloween . this is  of course  completely unnecessary  because it  s so obvious from how badly he plagiarizes the film . the only difference between the killer in valentine and michael meyer  s is that michael  s mask was so much more effective and he didn  t have a problem with nosebleeds . this stuff is shameless .  br    br   at the end  there is a brief attempt to mislead us one more time as to who the killer is  complete with slow and drawn out and  the  killer  is  mask removal   but then we see adam  s nose start to bleed as he holds kate  his often reluctant girlfriend  and we know that he  s been the killer all along . nothing in the film hinted that he might be the killer until the final act  and these unexplained nosebleeds were not exactly the cleverest way to identify the true killer at the end of the film . valentine is not scary  i watched it in an empty house by myself after midnight  and i have been afraid of the dark for as long as i can remember  and even i wasn  t scared   and the characters might be possible to care about if it weren  t so obvious that they were just going to die . i remember being impressed by the theatrical previews  although the film was in and out of the theater  s faster than battlefield earth   but the end result is the same old thing .  
this is one of may all  time favourite films . parker posey  s character is over  the  top entertaining  and the librarian motif won  t be lost on anyone who has ever worked in the books and stacks world .  br    br   if you  re a library student  rent this . then buy the poster and hang it on your wall . the soundtrack is highly recommendable too . i  ve shown this film to more library friends than any other   they all fall in love with it .  
a reasonable effort is summary for this film . a good sixties film but lacking any sense of achievement . maggie smith gave a decent performance which was believable enough but not as good as she could have given  other actors were just dreadful  a terrible portrayal . it wasn  t very funny and so it didn  t really achieve its genres as it wasn  t particularly funny and it wasn  t dramatic . the only genre achieved to a satisfactory level was romance . target audiences were not hit and the movie sent out confusing messages . a very basic plot and a very basic storyline were not pulled off or performed at all well and people were left confused as to why the film wasn  t as good and who the target audiences were etc . however maggie was quite good and the storyline was alright with moments of capability .  br    br    .  
this movie is brilliant . the comments made before is from someone who obviously doesn  t get it . the movie is campy  yes  but it is uplifting and fun . this movie is an underground hit and brings comparisons to absolutely fabulous . it is a must see   
i was excited to discover this late sixties comedy staring some of my favorite people  maggie smith  a very young bob newhart and  of course  peter ustinov . my disappointment was thus compounded to discover the film doesn  t work as either a comedy or a perfect heist film . ustinov plays a small time crook just out of prison who sets his sites on a large american corporation based in london . bluffing his way past dimwitted ceo karl malden and tech geek newhart  ustinov passes himself off as a computer expert and immediately plans the  perfect heist  part of the film . to do this he needs to get passed a tamper proof security system that guards the corporation mainframe . and here is problem one . his perfect plan only works because everyone else in the film is remarkably trusting and stupid . his lame excuses are taken at face value and this must be the only computer center anywhere not to bother with video cameras . the second problem is the heist  fraud really  happens within the first   minutes of the film robbing the rest of the picture of much in way of dramatic tension . maggie smith is sadly miscast as ustinov  s ditsy next door neighbor  secretary who just can  t keep a job . i love maggie smith but she just seems too together here  too composed  the part called for more of a wacky  physical comedian . furthermore  ustinov and smith have no chemistry together  maybe it  s the age difference  but the later romantic relationship  as devoid of actual romance as it is  still comes off a little creepy . ustinov co  wrote the script  and it was thought well of at the time  but i found it unfunny  meandering and a sad waste of a great cast .  
myself and my groovadelic    something pals just can  t get enough of this awesome parker posey classic  i tried renting this on dvd  but can  t seem to find it  too bad  as i  m sure the features would be  extra special      we all highly recommend this uber  cool comedy flickerino for a date  or even just a cozy night home alone  this would also be the purr  fect type of movie to watch with your cat  or even throw a party based on  like a  party girl  party  just like the one in the movie that the lovable  huggable  squeezable parker posey goes to at the end . oh  and be on the lookout for a gripping and hilarious surprise ending . . . move aside  the sixth sense  you  ve just been outdone by a way radder movie  sorry  no offense  just calling it like it is  take it from an old flick lover  comedy just doesn  t get better than  party girl  with parker p  feel it  yours  ronald marie macdougall  aka dj cyber  rap   
maggie smith and peter ustinov as a very unlikely couple in a very not likable film at all .  br    br   the film shows promise for ustinov is released from prison for embezzling . he convinces robert morley to go away so that he can assume his identity and begin hacking away at computers at a very fancy firm run by karl malden and bob newhart  another unusual duo for films .  br    br   morley sounds just as he did in      s  marie antoinette .  perhaps  he needed to return to that genre .  br    br   this film is ridiculous at best . hard to believe that the following year  maggie smith totally changed her ways and gave a shattering oscar performance in  the prime of miss jean brodie .   br    br   ms . smith is made out here to be an apparent dumb  red head  but by film  s end  she is the brains of the outfit . too bad the writing didn  t go the way with her .  
a great    s flick  parker posey is fabulous in this story about the nightlife in manhattan that requires so much cash . posey gives an amazing performance as a librarian and a night crawler . this is a good  light movie for saturday night before you go out . the soundtrack rocks  the outfits are out of this world  the script is funny and the actors do a great job . the redeeming value  you can make it in this world if you try  just find your niche . i believe parker posey is the perfect actress for this kind of character young  fabulous and broke .  you must look up the movie  clockwatchers   . if you watch party girl you are bound to have a good time . enjoy   
this movie starts slow  then tapers off . after watching for about an hour  and seeing absolutely nothing happen  i walked out . i mean  nothing happened . zero . zip . nada . there is no story . the characters are vague representations of the most boring people any of us know . the producers of this film could be sued in a court of law if they try to sell it as a  motion  picture . there is no motion . i could have told the same  story  with a couple still pictures with captions . the script is a joke . it  s just awful . i doubt that any script doctor in the world could save it . my biggest regret is not that i wasted   minutes of my life watching  love in the time of money   but that i missed a great opportunity to be a leader . i could have been the first to walk out  but i waited a bit too long . instead  i watched about   people walk out before me .  
i remember parker posey on  as the world turns  before she became the queen of the independent movies . in this film  posey shows her potential as a top fledged actress . in this film with supporting cast that includes omar townsend as moustafa  a lebanese immigrant who works as a falafel salesman on the street  who aspires to become a teacher . the supporting cast features a wonderful actress who plays her godmother and only family relative as judy  the librarian who is old fashioned  dedicated and menopausal . posey as mary learns that she has to grow up and mature . losing her librarian clerk position makes her realize how much she misses it as a place in her life . mary  s life is surrounded by friends in the lower east side village of new york city before it became gentrified with yuppies . this film is quite good for an independent and i have come to enjoy parker posey as mary as well as other characters in other films .  
the more i think about it  there was nothing redeeming about this  br    br   movie . i saw it  months ago  so my memory might have made it  br    br   worse than it was  but i do know it was at least as bad as a  out of  br    br     .  br    br   after seeing the movie  i met the director . he seemed so clueless  br    br   as to what he was doing or what he had done  and as far as i  br    br   could tell  he didn  t care for the film either . even he agreed that he  br    br   didn  t really know what he was doing  and he was forced to do  br    br   certain things because it was filmed digitally .  br    br   i felt that the movie was trying to hard to fit in to the formula that it  br    br   built for itself   people all have to be connected in some way . how  br    br   can we get from point  a  to point  b   so in order get from the  br    br   prostitute we see in the start and back to her at the end they    br    br   minutes on each character  s relationship to another person . it  br    br   makes one feel choked by the  demensional  badly drawn  br    br   characters .  br    br   i just remembered the one redeeming part of the movie . . . steve  br    br   bouchemi there is one scene where he is amazing . that  s it . as i  br    br   say . . .  out of   .  
he  he  hello   this is a really fun movie . basically  in party girl  you have your fun  lovin   independent  early    s new yorker chick . along with her party friends  she meets a mature turkish vendor . it is a comming of age story for those new adults who are searching for what they want to do . it is comforting to see a female slacker develop into a mature woman . hope is given to all of us slackers who might feel like their only skills are being able to maintain while hammered and a nack for throwing good parties .  br    br   on a side note  parker posey makes this movie great . i have never been a great fan of her  but this movie makes me just want to watch all of her movies . there are subtle manerisms that perfected her character . if you want good laughs and a fun time  make sure to watch this movie . repeated viewings are a must .  
the concept of the legal gray area in love crimes contributes to about    of the movie  s appeal the other    can be attributed to it  s flagrant bad  ness . to say that sean young  s performance as a so  called district attorney is wooden is a gross understatement . with her bland suits and superfluous hair gel  young does a decent job at convincing the audience of her devout hatred for men . why else would she ask her only friend to pose as a prostitute just so she can arrest cops who try to pick up on them  this hatred is also the only reason why she relentlessly pursues a perverted photographer who gives women a consensual thrill and the driving force behind this crappy movie . watching young go from frigid to full  frontal nudity does little to raise interest  but the temper tantrum she throws standing next to a fire by a lake does . watching her rant and rave about her self  loathing and sexual frustration makes love crimes worth the rental fee  but it  s all downhill to and from there . despite her urge to bring patrick bergin  s character to justice  her policing skills completely escape her in the throes of her own tired lust and passion . patrick bergin does a decent enough job as a slimy sociopath if it worked in sleeping with the enemy it sure as hell can work in this . but i can  t help but wonder if the noticeable lack of energy young brings to the film conflicts with his sliminess . i  m guessing it does and the result is a  thriller  with thrills that are thoroughly bad and yet comedic .  
am i the only one who saw the connection between the discussion of camus  the myth of sisyphus  and mary  s life  in camus version a man is condemned to spend his eternity with a giant boulder that he must roll up a hill . unfortunately every time he reaches the top the boulder slips and ends up back at the bottom for him to start . there may have been a buzzard pecking at his eyes  i  m not sure right now . in the movie mary spends her life struggling to get her life together  unfortunately every time she gains any footing she falls and loses everything . case in point would be the party she throws where she gets intoxicated  offends her falafel lover  and is practically attacked by liev schrieber . in case you question this theory  note how this scene ends with her attempting to climb a flight of stars while books fall from nowhere impeding her progress until ultimately she passes out . the next morning when she awakens she is still on the stairs  never having reached the top .  
 contains spoilers   br    br   the truly exquisite sean young  who in some scenes  with her hair poofed up  looks something like elizabeth taylor  is striking in her opening moments in this film . sitting in the back of a police car waiting to signal a bust  her face and body are tense and distracted . unfortunately  once the bust is over young  s strained demeanor never changes . this is one fatally inhibited actress .  br    br   one has only to compare young to the performer playing her coworker and best friend  arnetia walker  to grasp what is missing in young . walker is open  emotional  and at ease at all times . . . in that there  s no apparent barrier between what she may be feeling and her expression of it . she is an open book . young  on the other hand  acts in the skittish  self  conscious way you might expect your neighbor to act were they suddenly thrown into starring in a film . basically  she doesn  t have a clue .  br    br   with this major void looming at the center of the movie  we  re left to ponder the implausiblities of the story . for instance  after miss young is kidnapped by the criminal she  s trailing and locked in a closet  she breaks the door down when left alone . granted  she  s dressed only in a bra and panties  but in a similar situation  with a psycho captor due to return any moment  would you head for the door . . . or take the time to go through his dresser  take out some clothes and get dressed  i would guess that this and other scenes are trying to suggest some sort of mixed emotions miss young  s character is experiencing  but young can not convey this type of complexity .  br    br   there are a few affecting moments in the film  such as the short police interviews with the criminal  s past victims  but overall this is an aimless endeavor . it  s too bad miss young was replaced while filming the pair of comic book style films that might have exploited her limitations with some humor  batman and dick tracy   because her floundering while attempting to play actual people is oddly touching . watching miss young try to act  at least in this  thriller   is a sad spectacle .  
this movie was such a blast  it has that feel  good  yet totally in your face attitude that draws me to a movie . it has a good message  party girl decides she needs a real job  yet she doesn  t completely lose all sense of fun . i recommend this movie for anyone who needs some humor  but is also a thinker     
just as  its a mad  mad  mad  mad world  is at the top of my list for all time greatest comedies ever made  this one is at the very bottom .  of course  i could be wrong  not having seen  saving silverman   in other words  it  s a lame  lame  lame  lame comedy .  br    br   rating     out of   
okay . this has been a favourite since i was   . granted  i don  t watch it multiple times a year anymore  but . . . this is not a movie for an older generation who want a deeper meaning or some brilliant message . this movie is fun . it  s pretty dated  almost passe  but parker posey is so brilliant that it  s unbelievable . if you want to be charmed by a    s breakfast at tiffany  s  attended    s raves  or love parker  this movie is for you . otherwise  don  t bother .  
a one is the highest rating i could have given this movie  considering zero and negative numbers are not allowed . pee yew  pointless mess of a movie with a lot of wasted b  list actors who have done better work  written and directed by some guy with the mentality of a twelve year old who smirks and giggles at stupid puns  and poop and fart jokes . for example  gene stapelton  s  ding  bat from all in the family  character telling marilu henner  s character that she  swings both ways  sexually  was a cheap attempt at humor indicative of the general lameness of the movie . . . you want good  cheeky humor  rent animal house  american pie  part one only   old school or office space .  
i loved this movie  and i am one of the older people who is not supposed to enjoy it  or so it seems . no  this movie is not deep   who cares  these kinds of movies never are . but strangely  there is a message in it . it  s that we each have the potential to be whatever we want to be .  br    br   parker posey is great in this movie . i  ve always thought that she bears some resemblance facially to katharine hepburn . so  it  s great to see that both hepburn and posey made movies about librarians  hepburn  s is the desk set  . all librarians  especially those with a sense of humor  should see party girl .  br    br   i gave this movie an  . it is not by any means a great film by cinematic standards  although there are some nice shots in it . but it is incredibly charming and entertaining .  
amy heckerling  s second film johnny dangerously is a parody of      s gangster films made in the warner brothers  tradition . michael keaton stars as a middle aged gangster looking back at his life of hard knocks when he catches a kid trying to steal something from his pet store in     . keaton  s mother  maureen stapleton  has continuing health problems  so keaton falls into crime at an early age via peter boyle . meanwhile  the fargan richard dimitri plays a rival crime lord to boyle and keaton eventually rises through the ranks . joe piscopo has a hilarious turn as danny vermin  yeah that  s right  vermin  griffin dunne is keaton  s younger brother turned district attorney  glynnis o  connor his wife  and marilu henner plays keaton  s moll . the film looks notoriously cheap  making it seem like a television show instead of a theatrical film .  br    br   the film starts out great and then slows down as expected after the first half hour . due to the combination of dialog and gags  the film holds its own for the first half  but then it rapidly loses steam and descends into mediocrity and vulgarity in the second half . keaton chews the scenery doing his best james cagney impression . stapleton has several vulgar lines that are only obnoxious  not funny . piscopo does the  once  bit one time too many . several supporting actors try to hold up the fort like danny devito  dom deluise  ray walston as a street vendor  alan hale  jr . as a desk sergeant  and sudie bond as an unscrupulous cleaning lady . the second half evolves into a hit or miss television show type tone and never recovers . the closing scene utilizing the roaring twenties is an anachronism as is the call of the wild clark gable film seen on a marquee earlier in the film . i think heckerling should have known better  since the targeted audience would certainly be aware of the roaring twenties  actual     release date .     of  stars .  
this movie is a great way for the series to finally end . peter  the boy from puppet master iii  is all grown up and is now the puppet master . well  this girl comes to destroy the puppets and learn toulon  s secrets but instead she listens to the story about the puppets . most of this movie is footage from puppet master ii  puppet master iii  puppet master   puppet master   curse of the puppet master  and retro puppet master  sorry . . . but i guess paramount wouldn  t let them use scenes from   . personally i wish puppet master vs . demonic toys would finally be made but the way this movie ends they basically say  this is the final movie in the series . . .   
spoilers spoilers are all teen slasher flicks suffering from a drought of originality  it awfully seems so . first of all  this is a noble premise that could  ve been utilized well . a rejected young nerd who grows up  stalks and murders all the girls who tortured the hell out of him when he was in junior high  can  t say you had nothing to work with . but this film goes through the same motions as all the other recent slashers . everything from the score to the camera angles allow us to predict exactly when a false alarm is coming and exactly when the killer will strike . we know the pattern by now . these stupid slasher movies push the credibility envelope more and more by the minute . let me ask you something who  in their right mind  is going to surprise a friend of theirs in a dark  dreary morgue in the middle of the night and just surprise her out of the blue while she  s all alone and surrounded by corpses  does that make any damn sense at all   br    br    valentine  is only occasionally innovative . one good shot involves the butchering of denise richards  character . she gets trapped inside a pool and the killer pokes at her with a chainsaw . there  s some good songs in the soundtrack  including one cool track by orgy . the music video is contained in the special features section on the dvd .  br    br   even the acting is mediocre at best . the actors all sleep through their roles . of course  david boreanaz is often stoic  even in his portrayal as the title character on  angel .  denise richards is a fine actress  though  and she keeps a stoneface throughout the movie .  br    br    valentine  is just like you  d expect pretentious  implausible  forgettable  cheesy and without a good scare in sight . don  t even bother .  br    br   my score   out of     
i remember seeing this years ago when it first came out and i was floored by parker posey  s performance . and the movie was pretty good also . for anyone who  s spent a little too much time in the nightclub  after  hours scene  this movie will have a special charm for you . not too serious  mostly funny  and parker posey definitely blazes her talented way through this indie gem .  br    br   i especially liked the diaz character  reminded me of every single struggling dj i  ve ever known  . and many other movies could take a cue from this movie on how to preach the virtue of responsibility without being boring and bland about it .  br    br   babaganoosh   
 warning here be spoilers  why do i waste my hastily fleeing years watching garbage like this  this film is an impressive collection of clichs  poor writing  worse directing  and then we haven  t even got to the acting yet .  br    br   and of course  you can predict the whole story from beginning to end .  br    br   hero expert fights against stupid  corrupt and incompetent henchmen . one avalanche goes off  burying all the heroes who somehow manage to get out alive in spite of going through all sorts of cliffhanger perils . corrupt partner who caused the whole thing gets fried alive together with his payoff money . second avalanche heroically deflected by renegade expert  s adventurous experiment . evil henchmen in the end turn out to have a heart as well . troubled teenager falls into the arms of her crusty stepmother after being saved by her . etc  etc  etc  etc  on and on it goes .  br    br   in fact  there  s little reason to warn for spoilers . you could probably work the whole plot out if i gave you the basic ingredients . at least  i wasn  t too wide off the mark most of the time  anticipating what would happen next .  br    br   and then we haven  t discussed the factual errors .  br    br   i agree with a previous commentator that even though there are usually some redeeming features even of a bad movie . you  d be hard pressed to find any in this one . i suppose i gave it  out of   for some nice scenery shots  but that  s it .  br    br   it  s been some time since a film made me groan  but this one certainly did .  
this film is a delightful  light hearted look at both sides of where the  club kid  rave scene blends with the new york art  music and performance art worlds  with a cameo by the omnipresent miss bunny  . this is  torch song trilogy  for the perky  post  teen girls .  that girl  for our disaffected  affected millennium times .  br    br   the dialogue is fast and funny  and parker posey  s costumer deserves  if not an academy award  at least  a stadium  wave  of kudos .  br    br   of course  this film rests on the very stylish platform heels of miss posey  and she is perfectly cast . like a lot of her acting work  it may not be very deep  it is often self  referential and  well  posey . . . but it all works . she is a talented comedienne  an incredible entertainer  and this film entertains  she carries it on her shoulders like a faux leopard wrap  and never lets it drop to the floor .  br    br   mary is a superficial party fashionista who isn  t above stealing designer clothing from a friend  s closet or making out with someone else  s boyfriend . on a deeper level  this is a story of a girl and her friends who are care  less in every sense of the word  including about other people and the process of learning that caring is necessary to life .  br    br   the script is beautifully crafted  witty  and the only performance that disappoints is the aunt  in a role that was much too one  dimensional and heavy handed a more nuanced performance from her  would have deepened the relationship between the two . . . but . . . hey . . . this is comedy . a surprisingly deep role  that gives this film some substance and world vision  is the fallafel selling boyfriend . we should all be so lucky . . . is he the one for mary  or the one that gets away   br    br   i rate this as a  because it isn  t a great moment of film history  it is not a classic  and it is not great art  all of which get deeper and richer on re  viewing  . like  desperately seeking susan  it represents something very true about it  s time period  but may become irrelevant with time . still  it has everything an entertaining film needs  and is worth viewing several times for the clothes alone   
i can  t figure out how anyone can get a budget for a movie this bad . it  s like the tv station are desperate for anything  anything at all . they  re buried underneath a bunch of snow  the electricity constantly flashes on and off  yet magically there is a background light that stays constant . where does all this  fake  light come from  that  and all that stupid bickering between the characters . they seem to be more interested in complaining to each other than trying to invent ways to survive . it tries to create that feel of emergency and people helping . but because it  s such bad directing and acting  you will not your florence nightingale fix with this flick  sorry . i  m joining the negative feedback  and i concur that this is one of the worst movies ever .  
  party girl  capitalizes on the tremendous charm of parker posey . in fact  at times  the movie seems to be a vehicle in which ms . posey is allow to play herself  as she normally is in real life .  br    br   the film  directed by daisy von scherler mayer  is a treat for ms . posey  s fans . ms . von scherler mayer takes us on a wild trip into lower manhattan to show us this aimless soul whose life is dedicated to have fun in the different clubs she constantly frequents . this is an era that still was more naive than what that area and the adjacent meat market districts became . at least  there are no pretensions in the films and we see down to earth people going about their lives in a normal way  if we can call it that way .  br    br   parker posey makes an amazing mary . it  s because of parker posey we enjoy the movie more than if another actress would have played mary . she is the whole picture . the rest of the cast is good .  
saw this on tv . i  m glad i didn  t go to the cinema to see this or spend the money on rental . the movie is totally predictable  from the corrupt owner and planner  to the snaking electric cables . the plot is really weak and unbelievable  the avalanche expert guy gets hit by a   foot wave of bone breaking avalanche  using actual footage  and all he has to do is get up and shake himself down . the avalanche thunders down at a million miles an hour and stops dead at the side of the road .  br    br   some of the actual avalanche material is impressive and shows its devastating power . but the contract between the real avalanche and the staged stuff makes this film look even flimsier .  br    br   do yourself a favour  don  t bother with this one not even on t . v .  
this movie should be required viewing for all librarians or would  be librarians . all of the best lines are directly related to librarianship . the public library vs . academic library argument is a classic argument waged among librarians and library school students . it also breaks many librarian stereotypes . librarians might even be capable of having fun   even if they don  t usually have sex in the romance languages section   the best movie about librarians  desk set  with katherine hepburn and spencer tracy  of course .   
this was one of the worst films i have ever seen .  br    br   i usually praise any film for some aspect of its production  but the intensely irritating behaviour of more than half the characters made it hard for me to appreciate any part of this film .  br    br   most common was the inference that the bloke who designed the building was at fault an avalanche collapsing it . er ok .  br    br   also  trying to out ski an avalanche slalom style is not gonna work . running   feet into some trees is not gonna work . alas it does here . as mentioned before the innate dumbness and sheer stupidity of some characters is ridiculous . in an enclosed space  with limited oxygen a four year old could tell you starting a fire is not a good idea .  br    br   anyway  about  minutes of the movie redeems itself and acquires some appreciation . however  if you have a modicum of intelligence you too will find most of this film hard to tolerate .  br    br   it pains me that so many quality stories go unproduced and yet someone will pay for things like this to be made .  br    br   oh  did i mention the last five minutes  well to give you a hook you have to keep watching in order to see the latest in combative avalanche techniques . absolutely priceless .  
a french film ester williams would love . but the synchronized swimming was only a hook for the story of three girls in a paris exurbia finding themselves . no question where sciamma  s sympathies lie as all the boys are depicted as  animaux  but actually only the  girls are in focus  and for the entire time  with the few adults and the other adolescents being mostly in the background . marie is a stick of a girl  unattractive  but determined . she wants to be a swimmer and forces herself on floriane  a renascence quality beauty per one reviewer  and she is also a friend of convenience to anna not unattractive  but for her  the time of her body  s perfection was short  and now she is an adolescent in a women  s body . what ensues is a journey to self  realization without a road map but there is a glumness about the three that is un  natural where is the gaiety and mindless chatter of youth  while the dnouement was breath taking  with floriane  s self  absorption beautifully portrayed  as well as the equally beautiful union of marie and anne  it all seemed abstract  sciamma  s puppets .  
man  this was hilarious . it should be under comedy . or stupid . it would have made realizing what a pile of stank this was much easier . seriously  i want anyone associated with this movie tased  effective immediately . for everyone who is thinking of watching this  movie   let   s go over a few plot points . oh  wait . there aren  t any . there is literally no plot . i think casper van dien was bored  and he decided to film something with some random someones  and miraculously  it somehow got on videotape . this movie is literally the worst movie of all time . don  t believe me  go watch it . do it  man . i dare you . but be prepared to gouge your eyes out . if you can sit through this without blowing a cow  you are very strong and courageous .  
in this swimming pool  this pond  there are water lilies and there are frogs . frogs sit on water lilies . the frog and water lily have a parasitic relationship . marie  pauline acquart  is a water lily  a synchronized swimming groupie with a crush on floraine  adele haenel   a frog  the captain of her team . floraine  s teammates shun their leader because the preternaturally curvy and well  proportioned blonde conveys a loose persona that betrays the syncrhronized swimmer  s mindset of conformity and discipline . but floraine has a secret the bombshell has a bombshell  which  naissance des pieuvres  reveals to the audience  visually  before she confides in marie .  br    br   floraine has never gone  as they say  all the way  with a boy .  br    br   at a party  we see a double  image of the burgeoning sex bomb checking her make  up in a bathroom mirror .  lolita  is a fata morgana . marie gets to know floraine  s double while her imitation breaks the water lily  s heart . while the frog goes through the motions of catching flies for appearance  s sake  she gets chummy with the water lily when no one  s looking . in the film  s most startling scene  the water lily agrees to give the frog a hand in losing her virginity through the mechanical act of oral stimulation . floraine wants boys to like her  but she doesn  t like boys  seemingly  but it  s more important to the frog that she  s popular . when the water lily finally kisses the frog  the frog remains a frog . the frog can  t transform into a water lily  or a princess  because the water lily lost the frog  s respect . after their lips unlock  floraine tells marie   see  it  s easy   which is the frog  s way of equating their kiss with the orgasm that her friend gave her as nothing more than a rite  of  passage without any strings attached . floraine  s beauty is a burden . she carries the weight of meeting boy  s expectations . florence uses marie to have one final fling before her fata morgana subjugates its imitation into the closet .  br    br   the other water lily  the other frog  marie  s best friend anne  louise blachere  and floraine  s frustrated boy  toy francois  warren jacobs   just like any water lily and frog  have a parasitic relationship  too . while floraine uses marie for love  francois uses anne for sex . but that  s life that  s the treachery of growing up  in which even a friend will turn on a good friend if the opportunity to move up the food chain presents itself . at a mcdonalds  the water lily chastises the other water lily after bathing extensively in the frog  s afterglow . physical beauty is a currency . marie gets to call the shots because anne  although far from being ugly  is overweight and has an unflattering hairdo . anne tries to fight back by using her breasts as ample retaliation  the magnifying glass from her happy meal incidentally comments on marie  s flat chest   but the tadpole  marie thinks she  s better than anne  better than a water lily  points out that her breasts are a byproduct of fat .  br    br   teenaged girls can be brutal to each other .  br    br   later  in the final shot   naissance des pieuvres  suggests that marie has a double  too  and this symbiosis among water lilies has the potential to turn parasitic in the near  future  if it not already has . teenaged girls can be brutal to each other in a way that no boy could match .  
this movie will confuse you to death . furthermore  if your a denise richards  fan  don  t even think of renting this movie . besides getting top billing by being on the cover and about   minutes of air time if that  she has nothing to do with the movie or the many messed up plots .  
it sounds as if it should be a biography of claude monet but it  s actually a highly focused story of relationships between three adolescent girls on a french synchronized swimming team . there are no parents or teachers to speak of  no school  and boys are represented by one peripheral figure  the hunky francois who enters the story determined from time to time and always leaves confused .  br    br   pauline aquart is the youngest of the three  only aspiring to join the team she so much admires . she  s kind of odd looking . she  s not yet out of her adolescent growth spurt and has long  bony limbs  big feet  and no derriere to speak of . she  s prognathous and sports these plump pursed lips . after a while her appearance grows on you and from certain angles she can come to appear enthralling .  br    br   adele haenel is older   more  well  more developed physically . what a glamorous figure she cuts in her swim suit  sauntering around  teasing the boys  swishing her long blond hair . but she  s not what she seems . or is she  i couldn  t quite figure it out . the french are long on paradoxes and short on consistency . no wonder francois is always sniffing after her .  br    br   there  s not so much ambiguity in louse blachere  s character . she  s on the team too but she  s dumpy and plain  and sensitive about it  and has an intense crush on francois . blachere is a good actress and adds to the ungainliness of the character through her performance .  br    br   the movie deals with the relationships between these three  meaning intrigues  deceptions  hidden feelings  and all the rest of what we associate with young girls who spend much time with one another . this is of course a tricky topic . it becomes trickier during the gradual development of a homoerotic relationship between pauline and adele . not that you should expect this to be a soft porn movie . the only nudity we see is considerably less than a turn on  and what little sex there is under the covers  sometimes literally .  br    br   i don  t think i want to get into the plot or into its analysis too much  partly because it  s suggestive rather than expressed through action  partly because it  s complex  and partly because i  m not sure i got it all .  br    br   let me give an example . okay . adele is the girl the others envy . she  s also quite distant and self satisfied . on top of that she is apparently schtupping every boy and man in sight if they can be of any use to her at all  from the handsome but dumb francois to the bus driver she wants a favor from . she brags unashamedly about her expertise in fellatio . when pauline approaches her about joining the swim team  adele uses her as a lookout during assignations with the guys . a superior and self  indulgent narcissist  you know  but then the soi  disant slut takes the skinny pauline under her wing and reveals to pauline that she  s still a virgin . really  yes  really . pauline begins to draw closer to adele and adele finally confesses that she  d like to rid herself of her hymen and she would like pauline to do it for her . pauline  now drawn sexually to adele  performs the task with subdued relish . now adele would really like to get it on with a man  preferably older and experienced . so she takes pauline to a boite where she dances seductively with some guy until she follows pauline to the powder room . the two girls stand there staring at one another  neither having overtly expressed a sexually tinged interest in the other . but adele stands so close that pauline slowly loosens her own reins  reaches up  and kisses adele on the lips . adele steps back  smiling  and says   there now  that wasn  t so bad  was it    and then walks back into the club .  br    br   that  s a pretty close description of whatever is going on between pauline and adele   but what the hell is going on  initially  adele treats pauline like an irrelevant child  later like a close friend  finally like a potential lover   and the minute pauline responds  adele walks off satisfied . is she using pauline the way she seems to be using men  does it satisfy adele to know that she now has another person in involuntary servitude  i don  t know .  br    br   i  ve slighted louise blachere as the third member of the trio  the plain and overripe wallflower whose expression always suggests dumbfoundedness but who at least is thoroughly heterosexual and the first of the three to rid herself of that noisome virginity  but i  ve only skipped her for considerations of space .  br    br   should you see it  by all means .  just compare it to the typical american movie about high school kids .  for men  some of whom have never penetrated the female mystique  this may give you some idea of what it looks like in medium shot .  
of all movies  and i  m a film graduate  if that  s worth anything to you   this is the worst movie i have ever seen . i know there are probably some worse ones out there that i just haven  t seen yet  but i have seen this  and this is the worst . a friend and i rented it one night because denise richards was on the cover . talk about being young and retarded . she  s uncredited  her role was unbelievably small  how did she make it on the cover   imdb doesn  t even list it in her filmography . this movie was so bad  we wrote a little note to the video store when we returned it  and slipped it inside the case . it read something like  please save your further customers from having to view this complete and totally bad movie    
in the areas where they overlap this fine movie is light years ahead of     s innocence  which gave the impression of a rheumy eye and heavy breathing ogling young girls . here the effect is much more realistic and really gets inside the heads of the three protagonists as they fumble their way through an adolescence riddled with pitfalls . the three principals  all unknown to me give very sure  footed performances  the kind  in fact  that may be so natural that it will be difficult for them to replicate this quality of acting in other films so i wouldn  t be too surprised if they are not heard from again . it would be nice if this could get away from the art houses and into the multiplexes where there  s just an outside chance it might  speak  to the bubblegum crowd it isn  t aimed at .  
the volleyball genre is strangely overlooked by most screenwriters . thankfully  highly acclaimed director nelson mccormick has brought us the second best volleyball movie of all time  rated lower than side out and higher than  well  umm  . however  don  t let the cover of this movie decieve you . kill shot stars up and coming star koji as a modern day sherlock holmes . using such high  tech gadgets as a computer that is less powerful than my gameboy  koji is able to aid fbi agents in the tracking of a man who has not committed any obvious crime . while there are other actors in the movie  including brief cameos by denise richards  a gay negro  and a preposterously ugly and annoying girl  koji carries this movie on his own . any fan of movies such as the matrix or hackers will definitely love kill shot .  
i saw this little belgian gem two days after seeing  american teen  . make no mistake about it  adolescence is a roller coaster ride  be it american or european .  naissance des pieuvres   or as it is being called in the u . s .  water lillies   is a tale of a young   year old girl  played by pauline acquart  who at times resembles a young scarlett johansson  acts the cool  withdrawn girl who wants to be on the school swim team  just to be close to another attractive girl  adele haenel  . it  s more than obvious that marie is more than attracted to floriane . figuring among all of this is marie  s rather plump  unattractive friend  anne  who just wants a boyfriend like any other girl her age . along the way  we are shown the usual array of teen pastimes  broken hearts  shop lifting  alcohol and  or drug use  casual sex  etc .  . this is a quiet little film that takes time to work it  s way into your system  michael bay fans  take notethe pacing here is s  l  o  w  so steer clear   but if you have no problem with this  water lillies is a charmer . no rating here  but would pull down a hard  r   due to language  nudity  adult situations .  
it  s like a bad   s tv show got loose and tried to become a soft  core porn movie . oh my god was it bad . the plots of each character had little relevance . the plot itself wasn  t anything to speak of . something about a stalker  i guess . in the end he shoots himself  it  s not really clear  but somehow there  s a volleyball game involved . and the main character  randy  sleeps around a lot . the only reason my friends rented this movie was because casper van dien was in it  and they ended up wanting to fast forward to the scenes with him in it  which were barely watchable at that . thank god i didn  t spend any money on it  but i want that hour of my life back .  
water lilies is a well  made first film from france about young female sexuality and friendship . sciamma works with specialized  slightly sanitized material that is as off  putting to some as it is alluring to others . the film focuses exclusively on three middle  class teenage girls in a tidy new paris suburb . their lives revolve around a big indoor swimming pool where two of the three are part of a synchronized water ballet team .  br    br   such distractions as parents  siblings  work and school have been neatly excised from the equation . the central sensibility belongs to the attractively sullen but skinny marie  pauline acquart   who is not on the team  but thinks she would like to be . marie worships floriane  adle haenel   an alluring blonde and team standout whom the boys are after . this takes marie away from her former best friend  also a member of the water ballet team  the somewhat plump anne  louise blachre  . being less special anne is more truly accessible to the boys . floriane  like this film  promises a bit more then she truly offers . marie has the more essential quality for a teenage girl she suffers inwardly . flroiane doesn  t so much suffer as jump into situations and then bolt .  br    br   marie is dazzled by the glamor of the water ballet as well as floriane . floriane takes advantage of this to make marie first her slave and a cover for her assignations  then  lacking any other friends  her confidante . all the other girls think floriane a slut  an illusion she encourages in the men and boys she teases  because it leads them on . she suffers the pretty girl  s fate of being not a person but an object  and she can  t resist the validation the boys give her by wanting to kiss her and bed her  but she doesn  t really care about any of them and knows her involvements with them are a trap . enlisting marie to act as her pal so her  unseen  mother won  t know she  s going out to meet boys  she also gets marie to rescue her from the boys later . it looked the opposite at first  but floriane needs marie as much as marie thinks she needs her . anne is left with her discomfort with her body and a desire to get laid that  s earthier and more real than the other girls  .  br    br   keeping all external context at bay  sciamma can highlight subtle shifts in the delicate equation of the three girls  goals and interactions . on the other hand the film  s water madness  which includes lots of showering and spitting as well as underwater swimming shots  makes it feel completely airless at times and some of its   minutes do not pass so quickly . luckily the film has a sense of humor and lets the trio sometimes forget their ever  present goals and avoidances and just do silly  pointless girl things . it  s the offbeat moments that give the film life too bad in a way that there aren  t more of them . but sciamma has the courage of her obsessions and what remains as one walks out of the theater is the personalities and their dynamics . along the way of course it is pleasant to watch the swimming and to gaze at the girls  who understandably love to gaze at themselves .  br    br   there  s no great revelation or drama on the way  but things get a bit more interesting when it emerges that marie doesn  t just admire but truly desires floriane and is jealous of her boyfriends   whom floriane always stops before they go all the way . in a typical irony of this kind of plot  floriane actually decides she wants to have her first real sex with marie   but marie is the one who holds off  because she knows it won  t have the significance to floriane that it will have to her . when it happens  it  s a timid  mechanical affair . meanwhile anne has a huge crush on francois  warren jacquin   a male swimmer  but of course he is after floriane . boys are not an element that  s been subtracted and there always seem to be several dozen ready at poolside or on the dance floor  but they are just bodies and faces  available studs .  
monika mitchell  s showbiz satire has some laughs and some premeditated violence . i wouldn  t say blood  soaked but there is insult and injury . max matteo  john cassini  is a character actor that has a quirky adaptable presence on screen  but he has a terrible track record of being chosen for the parts he goes after . there is always a producer  s nephew or seemingly trivial reason for his not being awarded the role he seeks . well  the best thing to do is get rid of the competition . . . max becomes obsessed with such thoughts . the rewarding career is just a swing  push and shot away . other cast members rene rivera  molly parker  jennifer beals  frank cassini and cameos by eric roberts and sandra oh . well  that  s show business . . . or is it   
after some of the negative reviews i heard on this movie  i was doubtful of giving it a go  but i had   .   in my wallet  thought id gamble on buying a budget like movie  saw this and gave it ago  i  m glad i did  i enjoyed it . directed by the star of films such as chain reaction  the ring  bourne identity   brian cox  i had to gamble with this even if it was rubbish but it weren  t at all  i found some of the humour quite funny especially alfred molina the star of spider  man  the character doc ock . he was excellent the most enjoyable part of the film . of course like many other people which bought this movie i saw matthew  s name  and that made me get it  and no his part isn  t big at all  it  s very short at the very end of the film  it  s not a big part which makes me believe thats why people hate the film . i suggest you give it a go . some parts are a pit poor that needed polishing  the acting  and a bit more action . but it  s watchable .  
its plain to see why the makers of scary movie found it so easy to spoof these  teen slasher  movies . they are so unbelievably formulaic . and if valentine had been released a year or so earlier  i  m sure they would have been spoofing this film too  that  s if they found any actual original material to distinguish it from the screams  i know what you did last summers  and urban legends .  br    br   valentine offers nothing new to this genre  except a better than usual ending which  of course  leaves lots of room for the inevitable sequel . as always  a masked psychotic killer stalks a bunch of beautiful young women  killing the main character  s friends  one by one  in typically over the top style . lots of ta on display  no character development  bad acting  and overly elaborate bloodshed .  br    br   the thing i can  t stand about these kind of movies is that they pass themselves off as  who done its   . the thing is that they aren  t because the motive is only revealed once the killer has unmasked  and tells the main character who  s friends have now all been murdered . usually something that was never made at all clear during the film anyway  eg . main character  s mother  s uncle  s fishing partner kicked his friend  s father  s dog  . everybody still left alive throughout the film is a  suspect   but they are more  red herrings  than suspects . as we all know at this point the main character manages an implausible escape and kills the unmasked psycho killer after the motive is revealed .  br    br   valentine followed this formula almost to the letter . spoiler        mini spoiler anyway   in valentine the motive was not revealed  but more  left for you to think about given that the film didn  t quite conclude in the typical  teen slash  way . the issue is only part resolved  and the goal of the lead killer may or may not have been fulfilled by surviving the bloodshed and killing almost everybody . will the killer want more  or were the demons truly vanquished   br    br   this still didn  t make valentine a good film  instead it simply saved it from being as bad as usual  which still doesn  t count for much . to anybody thinking of making another film along these lines  please don  t . originality is so important  and its hard to see any originality coming out of this genre .  
these type of movies about young teenagers struggling with their own sexuality were something unique and daring and daring a couple of years ago but more and more movies like this got made over the past few years  making it hard for the movies to still stand out really .  br    br   also this movie received little publicity  aside from the usual little film festivals that featured this little french movie  as well as the big festivals that are always fond of these type of little movies about everyday subjects that aren  t being handled too often in movies . the film premiered at cannes in     and actually won some awards there as well .  br    br   the movie doesn  t really stand out from others  since it actually features little new once you  ve already seen some similar movies such as this one but this however really doesn  t mean that  naissance des pieuvres  is a bad one to watch . the movie is certainly a good watch  that handles its subject well and tells its story steadily and therefore also effectively  in a typical somewhat slow french cinematic pace .  br    br   it  s a coming of age movie  that focus on the life of mainly  totally different mid  teenagers . sexuality is a big theme within the movie  which gets handled delicately and subtle . it makes the movie and its story overall a pretty realistic one  though perhaps a bit predictable  since the movie doesn  t quite offer anything original enough within its genre .  br    br   this type of french movie will probably scare off a lot of people because of the reason that they probably expect it to be very arty  with deep layers and meanings to it .  naissance des pieuvres  however is a very accessible movie for everyone and you really don  t have to be into euro  teen movies to appreciate this movie . it  s a sweet and somewhat sensual kind of movie  due to its subject and visual approach .  br    br   the movie is also being made realistic by its actors  who don  t had and have a lot of experience within the movie business but are authentic looking and feeling within their roles . the strong individual characters provide the movie with some nice themes and good moments .  br    br   a good movie on its subject .  br    br        
this was the worst movie i saw at worldfest and it also received the least amount of applause afterwards  i can only think it is receiving such recognition based on the amount of known actors in the film . it  s great to see j . beals but she  s only in the movie for a few minutes . m . parker is a much better actress than the part allowed for . the rest of the acting is hard to judge because the movie is so ridiculous and predictable . the main character is totally unsympathetic and therefore a bore to watch . there is no real emotional depth to the story . a movie revolving about an actor who can  t get work doesn  t feel very original to me . nor does the development of the cop . it feels like one of many straight  to  video movies i saw back in the   s . . . and not even a good one in those standards .  br    br    
the significance of french title of this film   la naissance des pieuvres  which literally means  the birth of the octopuses   is rather obscure  so it is perhaps not surprising that it has been marketed in english  speaking countries as  water lilies  . the  lilies  of the english title are three teenage girls  marie  anne and floriane  who are members of a synchronised swimming team based in the paris suburbs  and the film is a  coming  of  age  drama about the development of their first sexual feelings .  br    br   one feature of the film  perhaps unusual for a film of this type  is that it concentrates exclusively on relationships between the young people themselves . we see nothing of their parents or their teachers  and very little of the adult world at all . the three girls are very different in appearance  and are portrayed as being very different in character . the shy  retiring marie is slim and petite and appears to be the youngest of the three . anne is something of a plain jane  floriane a glamorous blonde who is very popular with the boys . the three  together with a handsome male swimmer named francois  are involved in what might be described as a love  quadrilateral .  br    br   anne has fallen in love with francois  but he is smitten with floriane  who seems to return his affections  although he is by no means her only male admirer . indeed  not all of floriane  s admirers are male  because marie has a crush on her attractive friend . the film charts the way in which their friendship develops at first it seems that floriane is simply using marie as a convenient excuse when she is in fact going out to meet boys her parents presumably object to her dating boys  but have no objection to her going out with female friends . later  however  we realise that  despite floriane  s image as the sexy  popular girl who is always the centre of male attention  she actually reciprocates marie  s feelings . the film reverses some conventional stereotypes about sexuality . anne  with her short hair and rather chunky figure  looks typically  butch   yet she is the only one of the three main characters who is unambiguously heterosexual  whereas the more conventionally feminine marie and the glamorous floriane are lesbian  or at least bisexual .  br    br   coming  of  age films are common enough  although most of them tend to avoid the controversial topic of teenage lesbianism .  water lilies   however  deals with its subject  matter in a sensitive way  with three very good performances from its three leading actresses  pauline acquart  adele haenel and louise blachere . the relationships between the characters  especially that between marie and floriane  are complex  and capable of a number of interpretations .  is floriane  for example  simply using marie for sex  or does she genuinely have romantic feelings for her  could floriane  s sluttish behaviour with francois and the other boys be just a device to hide her lesbian feelings from the outside world  or even to hide them from herself   this was the first film made by its young director celine sciamma  only   at the time   on this basis she must be regarded as a highly promising newcomer .      
mild spoilers contained herein . i  m spoiling this film to save you the trouble of having to watch it .  br    br   jet li  s movies fall into one of two categories shaolin period movies and movies set in modern  day hong kong revolving around triads or triad like organizations . each genre has its best and worst films . twin warriors  is jet li  s best shaolin era flick while the evil cult  is his worst . fist of legend  while in the recent past is the best modern era  jet li movie . black mask  without a doubt is the worst .  br    br   jet li plays a self  exiled mercenary who received an injection that gives him superhuman ability  but shortens his life span . in his new life  in exile he plays a pacifist librarian . when his old mercenary squad goes on a rampage  jet li becomes a vigilante determined to stop them . he dons a very silly corrugated cardboard mask so as to conceal his identity from the police  and public  as a librarian  as well as to conceal his true identity to his ex  comrades in arms .  br    br   the version i saw was dubbed  and horribly at that . why does jet li capture and hold hostage his library co  worker if he  s a pacifist  is there a love story between them  why does the police chief not care when he learns of the black mask  s true identity  the plot is just plain bad . bad by way of the superhero cheesiness  bad in the sense that characters are never properly developed  bad in its character interactions  all topped off by a half  explained story i quickly lost interest in .  br    br   the action and martial arts sequences are way over the top . lots of blood  gore  severed body parts aplenty   explosions  and matrix style superhuman martial arts fiascos are present in the film . unfortunately this is the films best and only selling point . if you want to see jet li playing a vigilante superhero in a mission impossible style movie black mask  delivers . for the rest of us jet li fans it is a true disappointment . this is one of those movies where jet li never gets to be jet li he gets neither the chance to charm us with his charisma  nor a chance to impress us with his impressive yet realistic martial arts ability .  br    br   normally a chinese knockoff of ozzy osbourne would be enough to engross me in a film  sadly black mask  proved to be an exception to that rule . indeed the antagonist of this movie  by the way he dresses  his long straight hair  and trademark round sunglasses looks like the modern and aged ozzy osbourne . however the villain isn  t on  screen long enough to make the gimmick worthwhile . i am assuming the likeness to ozzy was intentional in addition to the villain  s look  he also ran a satanic looking hideout . so much more could have been made from the ozzy osbourne villain gimmick  if only the writer  director  or anyone had bothered to give a background to and develop the character of the film  s arch villain   br    br   black mask  was the first jet li film released on video in the usa after lethal weapon   and i  m glad i stayed away from it until now . it may well have ruined my whole perception of jet li as a martial artist and actor . if you want to see jet li at his worst  rent black mask  and the evil cult  and make it a double feature or horror  both intentional and unintentional . otherwise stick to moves that utilize the talents of jet li  and have plots that are semi  well thought out and plausible .    stars .  
not everything is said in this excellent first feature from cline sciamma . the friendship  the  wanting to fit in   the first sexual feelings . . . all this and much more is sublimated through the underwater synchro swimming scenes .  br    br   all three girls in the movie try to find and express their personality in a very different way . it is a much less violent approach to the understanding of the teenage years compared to  say   thirteen   but a very worthwhile trip nonetheless .  br    br   a must see  and please leave all american cinematographic preconceptions at he door . the soundtrack is a by the way .  br    br   bon cinma   
the movie was awful . the theater was dead with silence  cause everyone was embarrassed to be in there watching such trash . i think someone gave jet li a lobotomy and made him perform a script with dialogue written by a five year old . the martial arts are  ok   but when put next to the jackie chan movies and  the matrix  you  re better off seeing one of those .  
the original title means  the birth of the octopuses  . i must confess that i do not quite understand this title . the english title is  water lilies  . but after having written this  i read the comment by another user  the title in french is also suggestive  prieuve   or octopus  suggest an individual having to juggle many pressures simultaneously .  thanks for your explanation .  br    br   the basic theme is the first sexual emotions of girls  when it is not clear if they are directed toward the same or the other sex . it is no different for boys . i think that both floriane and marie will eventually have heterosexual feelings without any admixtures .  br    br   much of the movie is water ballet . sometimes the girls will have their heads downwards  and nothing above the water except their feet and lowers legs  with which they will wave and kick in the air . to people like me who had never seen such things before  it was fascinating .  floriane is the leader of one team of  water lilies  .  br    br   marie tells her that she would like to see when floriane is training . this seems to be their first contact that is not just ordinary . soon they will walk together . floriane takes marie to a garage where a boy is waiting for her  and then goes away with him for an hour  while marie is waiting for her to return . i took for granted that the couple slept with each other . but we will later learn from the movie that they do less than that .  br    br   i can supply some information which few users will find elsewhere . there is a scene in which marie secretly steals floriane  s garbage bag . in it she finds an apple  mostly eaten . and marie proceeds to eat the rest .  there is a parallel scene in another movie   kazetachi no gogo   afternoon breezes  by hitoshi yazaki  japan       . this is about adult young females  and a clearly lesbian woman is vainly in love with a heterosexual woman . she also steals a garbage bag of the beloved  and also finds a more or less eaten apple and eats the rest .  br    br   later floriane tells marie that she would like to have her first orgasm from her . marie says she cannot do this .  br    br   but still later marie says that she is indeed willing to do it . and she masturbates on floriane . there is no nudity in this scene .  br    br   probably only a female director could have made such a fine psychological show or study of  i would like to quote baudelaire   les amours enfantines  .  br    br   floriane is played by adle haenel  who made the excellent performance as the autistic girl in  the little devils  by christophe ruggia        a very underrated movie .  
lame  cliched superhero action movie drivel . i had high hopes for this movie  and the genre of hk buddy cop actioneers is one that i don  t despise  but very rarely do i see a storyline as trite and ludicrous as this one was . this would have been forgivable  as it always is in these kinds of movies  when the action compensates  unfortunately  it did not . the action does carry the trademark surreality and over the top nature of hk action  but it  s not very involving  obscenely gory  and in fact often completely incoherent  perhaps this is due to re  editing for american release  it does show signs in many places of patchwork  . i was very disappointed .  
also known as  water lilies  this film tells the story of two girls as they struggle their way into the world of love and sex . this story is told at a slow pace and that works very well . it gives plenty of time and space to get to know the different characters and to grow somewhat attached to them .  br    br   using a small cast puts some extra pressure on the people playing as they all have some more screen time than normal but the people playing in this film handle that well . everyone is completely believable . visual setting is great  especially the underwater shots in the swimming pool add a nice effect .  br    br   many films have been made about the same subject though and this one does not really stand out above any of them . it pulls some  standard  pressure methods out of the high hat and works on them . it isn  t bad  not at all  but it surely isn  t great either and i do feel it could have done better if it had taken some what less explored angles .  br    br    out of   synchronous swimmers  
jet li  is one of the best hand to hand combat fighters in the world . he has been for over   years and he puts others in the genre to shame . while he is big in asia  he is almost unknown here in the us .  br    br   black mask is supposed to be a breakout movie for him  but it fails horribly . first of all  it is dubbed . while it may have camp value  the dubbing isn  t even close and it is flat in tone   it seems inappropriate for the ordinary movie viewer . secondly  the director in this movie  daniel lee  does a horrible job . he cuts scenes so fast  at times  you don  t know what  s going on . other times  the camera shakes and wobbles . fans see jet li  s movies for the fantastic martial arts . however  the director edits the scenes so fast that you don  t even know who  s who half the time  other times  a scene is left hanging  ie li is beginning to cut a hole in the floor of a jeep  while the badguys arm their guns  two seconds later  both li and the love interest are already under the car   other scenes are so improbable  that they cross over the point of being completely ridiculous  killer cd roms  just give him throwing stars      . li  needs a director who is less prone to machine gun cutting and more to creating a cinematic mise  a  scene . the added rap  techno music goes from being okay to intrusive . the plot has possibilities but are all squandered by cartoonish characters that take away from any credibility that this movie strives for . and are we really to believe that the love interest would not recognize simon  because he has a half mask on  wouldn  t the hair  lower jaw  or voice give it away   br    br   if you want to see a jet li movie  try iron monkey or his classic shaolin temple . this disjointed mess is a complete waste of time . . . . .      
i saw it at cinema mk  hautefeuille just one night after its first public projection in paris . a very pretty film about three   years old teenagers  all of them just at about the same psychologically stages . many of the scenes let us to come back to our adolescence age  our first feelings about sexual relations . it is possible to imagine that the director would like to reduce the first strong sensual feelings of the girls to lesbianism  but even in that case she doesn  t corrupt the likelihood of the story . you can sometimes find the film a little slow but it is what creates this intimate atmosphere . i fund the young actresses of talent  special mention with floriane and marie  very convincing . there are many small details but this film also enabled me to discover what synchronized swimming is impressing   
  hak hap   or  black mask   in english  was a disappointment . i was told that it was a sort of  japanese version of the matrix  . imagine my disappointment . the film was either badly dubbed or the soundtrack didn  t time well with the film . another thing is that the dialogue was pretty much bad . there was very little thought put into the english version of this film and it appeals only to the  senseless action  genre . not a film i would want to see again .  
three teenage girls in an incomplete triangular relation . the base of the triangle is barely there . at the apex is marie  a serious  short and lean tomboy with a belmondo  like facial structure . her best friend is the physical and psychological opposite coquette  chubby   i dare say fat   and desirous for her first kiss with a boy but not quite ready for her first sexual encounter . because of her chubbiness  boys don  t seem interested and it pains her .  br    br   the other leg of the apex is a beautiful  fille fatale  blonde vamp . she is deeply involved in the sport of synchronized swimming performing at competitive level . marie sees her during a competition at the local public swimming pool . marie insinuates herself into the life of the vamp using the desire to become a synchronized swimmer as an argument . the vamp has a reputation of being a whore  making out with any young male that orbits around her . marie is not phased out by that reputation . put a stress on reputation .  br    br   the first half is set up . we get to see a lot of synchronized swimming as we become familiar with the three girls . eventually the narrative leaves synchronized swimming behind and concentrates on the topsy  turvy relations among the three . that  s when unexpected things start to happen .  br    br   it is a trademark of french films to drop nuggets of wisdom on the viewer . this one is no exception . here it is about ceilings and the dying . see the film to learn more .  br    br   the director says that the use of synchronized swimming is purposeful . that women  only sport is a metaphor for a girl  s life pretty and feminine on the surface while hard working and competitive underneath . a number of scenes drive this point elegant moves and smiles for the public  legs kicking ungainly underwater . the title in french is also suggestive  prieuve   or octopus  suggest an individual having to juggle many pressures simultaneously .  
i rated this a  . the dubbing was as bad as i have seen . the plot  yuck . i  m not sure which ruined the movie more . jet li is definitely a great martial artist  but i  ll stick to jackie chan movies until somebody tells me jet  s english is up to par .  
a bit slow  somehow like a sofia coppola movie  but still a very captivating film about the discovery of sexuality by three teenage girls . the magic of the movie lies in its capacity to bring back many memories to how it felt like to be their age . the confusion and the insecurities are portrayed in a very simple way but so true to life . the music is perfect and the acting is amazing . the camera works beautifully also . i highly recommend it for those who are not afraid to look back at this particular period of life when we discover our sexual impulses and our desires . i would also say that it is a fine film for young people going through that period . so many movies have been made about adolescence but this really captures the true essence of discovering the adult world of romance and its complexities .  
it  s hard to believe an  action  packed jet li movie could be so boring  but this was transcendant trash . the plot is an amalgam of other hong kong chopsocky flicks . the martial arts action is all special effects and no human talent .  br    br   it  s a comic book story about a group of super  human soldiers who are to be killed because they  re mentally unstable  one of their number  li  who holds off an incompetent army to save them and rebuilds a life as a pacifist librarian . the saved killers resurface with an austin powers quality plot to take over the world  and li sheds his new life to save the world .  br    br   the version i saw was dubbed  and that may have accentuated the cheesiness of the wafer  thin plot and comic  book   cent special effects . but i suspect even ninja  turtle  watching   year olds would have found this juvenile and hollow .  
  the day time ended  is an incredible picture . in some ways  it  s better than  close encounters of the third kind .   i prefer cheesy independent flicks to big budget spectaculars .  the special effects are cheesy  but that  s a big part of the fun . jim davis gives an excellent performance in this film . it  s probably one of the best roles he ever had in a feature . the musical score is very good . the story doesn  t make sense . but that only makes it all the more intriguing . like many of the best works of art   the day time ended  isn  t afraid to be subtle and ambiguous .  the day time ended  may be a low budget indie film  but it isn  t too much of a stretch to compare it with the  existential  european films of the fifties and sixties .  many of which were low budget independent productions themselves .   
went to see this movie hoping to see some flashes of the jet li we were amazed by in lethal weapon  . unfortunately too many of his fight stunts are so clearly fake that it took even that enjoyment out of it . the flying kicks would be a lot more impressive if you couldn  t see the wires holding him up as he flies through the air for  seconds and  kicks .  br    br   too cartoonish and very disappointing .  
the williams family live on a ranch located in the middle of the remote desert . they find themselves in considerable peril when the place is suddenly thrust into a time vortex where the past  present and future collide in a wildly chaotic and unpredictable manner . director john  bud  cardos begins the film on a compellingly mysterious note and gradually allows things to get stranger  crazier and more exciting as the loopy story unfolds . moreover  cardos fills the screen with plenty of dazzling visuals and does a nice job of creating a genuine sense of awe and wonder . the admirably sincere acting from a game cast qualifies as another major plus jim davis as hearty patriarch grant williams  dorothy malone as his cheery wife ana  christopher mitchum as the concerned richard  marcy lafferty as his lovely wife beth  natasha ryan as sweet little girl jenny  and scott c . kolden as the gutsy steve . the funky special effects offer an inspired combo of gnarly miniatures  neat stop  motion animation monsters  said creatures include a tiny spindly hairless guy  a big  lumpy  fanged beast  and a scrawny lizard dude   and nifty matte paintings . richard band  s rousing full  bore orchestral score really hits the stirring spot . john arthur morrill  s crisp  sunny cinematography likewise does the trick . a fun flick .  
i was very disappointed in this movie . plotwise it was weak bordering on silly souls who can affect reality in the way they do  a mission apparently critical to the soul hunters entrusted to one of their younger members  and the whole b  story with the  holobrothel  and the lawsuit against the station was so awful that at one point i blurted out to the television   why are you wasting my time with this    br    br   thematically   river of souls  didn  t really go into the question of the soul in any more depth than the original episode  soul hunter  did . we see that soul hunters can make mistakes  but we still don  t get a feeling for their culture .  are there any female soul hunters    br    br   the acting was okay  given the material they had to work with  and the special effects  especially the planetscapes in the first act  were very impressive . but overall  i  d say give this one a miss .  
i don  t understand why the other comments focus on mcconaughey . he has never been a very interesting film actor .  br    br   the best part of this movie is the writing and the wit . alfred molina and patrick mcgaw make an unusual comic duo  definitely not stock types . although one can  t say their characters are well developed that doesn  t make them any less funny .  br    br   the version i saw was on hdnet and had subtitles for the spanish dialog  so that was certainly not a problem . the use of spanish gives it more authenticity .  br    br   a very underrated movie  judging by the unusually low score imdb members have given it . i thought it was fun and interesting and worth a  at least . a lot of slick movies with higher scores and making big money at the box office are much less interesting .  
the good i liked this movie because it was the first horror movie i  ve seen in a long time that actually scared me . the acting wasn  t too bad  and the  cupid  killer was believable and disturbing .  br    br   the bad the story line and plot of this movie is incredibly weak . there just wasn  t much to it . the ways the killer killed his victims was very horrifying and disgusting . i do not recommend this movie to anyone who can not handle gore .  br    br   overall a good scare  but a bad story .  br    br    out of   
if you love cult    s sci  fi the way i do  or if you like movies such as  repo man  or  buckaroo bonzai  than you  re going to love this one . it  s a stream of consciousness    s sci  fi spectacular  including a   nd century junkyard and the earth a million years from now . this movie is pure    s . put on steve miller  s  fly like an eagle  or pink floyd  s  dark side of the moon  and you  re ready to go   
i  m a big fan of b   having caught on only at the end of season three . i faithfully watched all the previous seasons when it was syndicated  concluding that it was one of the most well  thought out story arcs to ever hit television . even the filler episodes were interesting . the movies  also  were well produced and as entertaining as anything to hit the theaters .  br    br   which brings us to  river of souls  . naturally  after seeing everything else  i had high expectations . martin sheen appears to be acting in an ed wood movie rather than a serious sci  fi story . the story itself  might have looked good in outline form  even made it to the story board . however  it suffers obviously when it came time to filling this notion out into a two hour movie . there are no special effects to keep us entertained in the total absence of a compelling story . there are places where they were obviously short of time and just improvised the dialog to fill the story out . had this made the regular season  it would have rated among the worst of the episodes .  
considering it was made on a low budget  the day time ended manages to make the most of its budget with some surprisingly good special effects work .  br    br   the story involves a family who are about to move into their solar  powered home in an isolated part of the mojave desert in southwestern california  only to find it trashed   by motorcycle vandals  they think . but their youngest daughter  natasha ryan  has begun to see mysterious things   a green pyramid  strange humanoid figures  etc . and only recently  the light from a trinary star explosion has caused extremely unusual auroras to show up in the desert skies . thus the family  led by jim davis and dorothy malone  finds themselves face  to  face with strange alien forces who have put them in a time  and  space warp .  br    br   mixing in elements of      a space odyssey and close encounters of the third kind  the day time ended  despite its obvious flaws and uneven acting  remains interesting due to the superb special effects work of david allen . the desert setting is very appropriate for this film  s close encounters and while the movie cannot really be compared with either kubrick  s or spielberg  s films  the day time ended is much better than many other      close encounters knock  offs . i give credit to director john  bud  cardos  whose     thriller kingdom of the spiders made for an interesting precursor to arachnophobia  for at least trying   and on that basis  i give the day time ended a  out of   .  
before this made for tv movie began  i had relatively low expectations . that  s because it was made after the final episode of the series had aired and many of the series originals were gone . there is no president sheridan  delenn  lennier  londo  vir  g  kar or lyta . if you remember  on the second to last episode of the series  all the regulars except zack  vir and captain lockley left b   permanently . now for this film they did bring back garibaldi  who was not in the last b   movie  to join zack and the captain and the doctor makes a brief and irrelevant appearance . but because so much is gone of the old chemistry  this film already is severely handicapped .  br    br   the movie is about a soul hunter  martin sheen  who is led to babylon  in search of a globe filled with souls that had been stolen from a hidden repository by an archaeologist  ian mcshane  . a lot of spooky mumbo  jumbo stuff occurs but frankly it was all pretty silly and pointless . yeah  yeah  the station nearly blew up but was saved and all  but frankly i felt like it was a case of  been there done that   and done that a lot better in the past  .  br    br   the secondary plot  provided more for comic relief  was much more interesting  as an entrepreneur installed a holo  brothel and those in command weren  t sure what to do about it and when they tried to pressure them to close  they were slapped with a lawsuit . this was fluff  but it did provide a few laughs   something the other dreary plot was surely lacking .  br    br   by the way  sheen at first did a good job playing the should hunter   with his wild eyes and bizarre delivery . however  repeatedly throughout the episode he fell out of character . this should have been spotted and corrected .  br    br   so the final verdict is this is only for total die  hard b   nuts  like myself  . others seeing it might assume the series sucked   which is a great injustice . this is a great example of a show not knowing when to quit .  
bizarre  trippy  forget  about  a  story  and  full  steam  ahead low budget sci  fi about the williams family  living in the california desert . they become witness to a series of events that escalate in their level of strangeness apparently  they  ve been caught in a time  space warp  where past  present and future collide .  br    br   this is the excuse for a parade of highly amusing special effects  a constant light and sound show  dinosaur  like creatures that have at each other  a friendly and tiny little e . t . who enchants the granddaughter  and so on . this picture does show off a little imagination  if nothing else .  br    br   very nice music by richard band  engaging special effects work from the likes of david allen  randall william cook  and peter kuran  and  importantly  a likable family are key assets . it generates a sense of child  like amazement it may very well be that it  s more of a romp for kids  or the kids inside many of us  who are able to gloss over any flaws in the narrative or presentation .  br    br   i found it hard to resist it  s a short and sweet    minutes  diversion  and a decent credit for director john  bud  cardos  of  kingdom of the spiders  fame  and executive producer charles band .  br    br        
  grey matter  aka  the brain machine  but the video people thought better of that the screen says     but imdb says      it  s that kind of movie . the government has some kind of overriding interest in this  brain machine  project that has drafted four people  who turn out to be  roughly  a philosopher  a horny priest  a crackpot veteran and a patriot who got an abortion  to sit in a shrinking room with a computer that can read their horrendous secret thoughts . in the end the government takes over the lab by force and everybody dies . here is a movie that is incompetent in every important way my s has better production values than this . it held my interest  though  just to see what exactly these exploitation filmmakers thought they were doing  dabbling in four  guys  in  a  room character drama . the answer a tract about how science is inferior to god . thanks a lot . it  s like opening a kinder egg and getting your   th goddam jigsaw puzzle . the priest is played by james  roscoe p . coltrane  best  the philosopher by gerald  the republican simon  mcraney . also featuring very  very  very long establishing and transition shots in great quantity  this moves almost as slow as the liberal convention .  
probably the most whimsical installment of the first season   shore leave  has its ups and downs some parts drag on too long and others are unambitiously cut short  but one can  t deny they threw in everything but the proverbial kitchen sink to make this an entertaining episode . kirk and crew seem to have found the perfect planet for shore leave after an extended tour of duty has left everyone on board in need of rest  relaxation and so on . it appears for all intents and purposes to be an uninhabited earth  with beautiful scenery and an ideal climate . the first indication that things might go just a little awry is when mccoy  leading an advance team  spots alice  from wonderland  following a large white rabbit wearing a vest . kirk beams down and finds the others reporting similarly bizarre happenings and encounters . the one thing they all have in common is that each crew member was thinking about the person  place  thing they discovered right before they discovered it . this doesn  t immediately sink in with kirk or anyone else . more strangeness ensues  including sightings of don juan  a siberian tiger  a ww  fighter plane  etc kirk meets up with ruth  a gorgeous old girlfriend  of course  and a bully from his academy days  finnegan . the chase  fight scene with finnegan goes on too long but at the same time  mccoy is run through with a lance by a knight on horseback and apparently killed . finally  an elderly man appears and explains what has been happening . the planet is a futuristic  amusement park  where visitors have only to imagine something to have it appear . nothing is permanent mccoy isn  t really dead . once this is explained  kirk decides to order shore leave for everyone after all . despite the  it was all a dream  sort of ending   shore leave  holds up as another first  rate episode of star trek  s first season .  
i thought watching employment videos on corporate compliance was tedious . this movie went nowhere fast . what could have been a somewhat cheesy half hour twilight zone episode turned into a seemingly endless waste of film on people parking their cars  a picture of some dude  s swimming pool  he really needs to answer his phone by the way  a dot matrix printer doing its job  and heuy and louey sitting in a yellow lighted control room repeating  t minus   and counting  as if something exciting is going to happen . it doesn  t so don  t get your hopes up . the best thing about this movie is to see james best and gerald mcc  in something other than there famous tv personalities  and that is stretching to find anything good . and do not get me started on the music which was totally composed of a tympani  some large marine mammals  and microphone feedback . this movie is as close as i have given a one yet  but it gets the  because i actually was able to finish this insomnia cure  and didn  t have to leave in the middle . avoid at all costs .  
i watched shore leave the other day . i  ve seen it so many times  and i never get tired of it . strangely enough  every time i watch it lately  it takes me right back to the very first time i saw it . including this time . must be that sense of mystery and  what is going on here   about it .  br    br   oddly enough  the one part of the story that always felt awkward and uncomfortable for me  this time  actually had a huge effect on me   ruth . i think a lot of it was gerald fried  s score . a real masterpiece  that  the romantic section was reused   much more extensively   in this side of paradise . but of course  it debuted here . i get the impression that  out of all the girls kirk knew over the years  she may have been the  sweetest  . when she said   do you have to go    combined with the music  i could really feel the pain she must have felt at not being able to have him stay with her .  br    br   someone commented online that ruth looked older than he was  yet she wasn  t supposed to have aged at all in   years . which makes me think . . . maybe she was one of the teachers at the academy . kirk had an affair with an older woman   perhaps he thought back to this in  miri  when he told janice   i never get involved with older women .  maybe he meant   . . . anymore .   br    br   reading st reviews the other day  i see where someone compared what are little girls made of  with i  mudd . but it seems shore leave oughta be in there  too . what are all those  people  if not androids  and could  the caretaker  be related to  the old ones  from the earlier episode  whoever he is  he seems to be one of the rare cases in st where you have a race that is actually  superior  as opposed to merely thinking they are .  br    br   yeoman barrows seems to be filling in for yeoman rand . considering how much attention dr . mccoy showered on her  it  s just one more frustrating example of a potentially good character who appears once and then never shows up again  sheesh .  br    br   one thing missing from the last several i  ve watched that snuck back in here was  spock smiling . he was  i saw him . i really prefer knowing there  s  sides to him going on inside all the time  rather than this  submerged  business . when he said   enjoy yourself  sir .  near the beginning  you could see it wasn  t just his addressing his superior officer  but talking to his friend . and at the end  when he needlessly says   totally illogical    i can  t help but think he does it purely to provoke a reaction . he may not be smiling or laughing  but i think he likes seeing his fellow crew members around him happy .  
  the brain machine  will at least put your own brain into overdrive trying to figure out what it  s all about . four subjects of varying backgrounds and intelligence level have been selected for an experiment described by one of the researchers as a scientific study of man and environment . since the only common denominator among them is the fact that they each have no known family should have been a tip off  none of them will be missed .  br    br   the whole affair is supervised by a mysterious creep known only as the general  but it seems he  s taking his direction from a senator who wishes to remain anonymous . good call there on the senator  s part . there  s also a shadowy guard that the camera constantly zooms in on  who later claims he doesn  t take his direction from the general or  the project  . too bad he wasn  t more effective  he was overpowered rather easily before the whole thing went kablooey .  br    br   if nothing else  the film is a veritable treasure trove of      s technology featuring repeated shots of dial phones  room size computers and a teletype machine that won  t quit . perhaps that was the basis of the film  s alternate title   time warp   nothing else would make any sense . as for myself  i  d like to consider a title suggested by the murdered dr . krisner  s experiment titled  group stress project  . it applies to the film  s actors and viewers alike .  br    br   keep an eye out just above the general  s head at poolside when he asks an agent for his weapon  a boom mic is visible above his head for a number of seconds .  br    br   you may want to catch this flick if you  re a die hard gerald mcraney fan  could he have ever been that young  james best also appears in a somewhat uncharacteristic role as a cryptic reverend  but don  t call him father . for something a little more up his alley  try to get your hands on      s  the killer shrews  . that one at least doesn  t pretend to take itself so seriously .  
this one  s a romp many trek fans don  t rate this as high as the well  known all  time classic episodes because it lacks the deep meaning or undertone of those really great ones  but this one is so well executed for what it is  so successful as pure entertainment  it always makes my personal list of the top half dozen episodes  no matter what mood i  m in . several well known future movies   westworld   and tv shows  the more bland  fantasy island   took their cue from the premise of this episode  then  of course  the tng show revamped the concept with the holodeck technology  . beautifully filmed  especially evident in the restored version and on dvd  and directed  it takes place in the nice park  like setting of a planet which the enterprise has just arrived to . it  s odd that no animal life  even insects  seems to exist here  how are flowers pollinated  for example   but things turn really odd when members of the landing party start seeing people from their past  kirk has a people  heavy past  it turns out   as well as figures from other well  known fantasy stories . sulu even finds an old  style police revolver  adding to his collection of swords  no doubt  .  br    br   by this point in the trek series  halfway thru the first season   the main characters had pretty much solidified into the old friends we  d come to know over the many proceeding years . here  we get to really see them relax  converse and work together to figure out this episode  s puzzle the strong narrative is a mystery again  of sorts  and the audience is along for the ride as kirk  friends seek to unravel a very bizarre series of events which have a decidedly amusing flavor to them . it  s almost whimsical  following up on the carefree style established up on the starship as kirk was finally maneuvered into beaming down after showing definite signs of stress and fatigue  the enterprise had  it  s suggested  just completed a harrowing mission  . then dr . mccoy is killed by a knight on horseback yes  this is dr . mccoy  s final episode . . . just kidding . but  it  s no joke to the rest of the landing party at this point in the story . mccoy really is dead for all intents and purposes and  like the best trek episodes  the  nd half of this adventure escalates to a more frantic  more desperate tempo of action and suspense . this is all signaled by kirk  s resolute response to sulu  who voices his lack of understanding about any of these events just after mccoy  s death  kirk will get to the bottom of all this  come what may .  br    br   but  it doesn  t get much easier for kirk what follows is probably the longest staged mano  a  mano fight for the series as kirk tussles with his nemesis from his academy days  a struggle that seems to take place over half the planet . yet  this is counterbalanced by scenes of extraordinary tenderness  with another of kirk  s past acquaintances . this episode runs the gamut of all human experience  rather fitting in light of what we learn about the actual purpose of this weird planet . it  s gratifying that the script really does explain all of what  s happened  as opposed to some nonsensical approach which permeates many other fantasy  sci  fi series with similar plot lines  unexplained appearances by persons who could not possibly be there  . and there actually is a subtext to the story  that we humans need to  work  off our tensions and fatigue in a particular fashion  or we just don  t function in a  normal  natural way . also  note the appearance of the very cute yeoman barrows and the sudden absence of yeoman rand  who did not return until the first trek movie in    . i believe that after this episode  even more trek fans couldn  t wait for the next appearance of all their favorite characters . but i leave this episode with a final  perhaps tantalizing thought if mccoy was killed  verified by spock   how do we know it was our real mccoy who beamed back up to the ship  perhaps this explains why this mccoy was still inspecting starships about a century later and getting along very well with data .  
you know you  re in trouble when the film your watching has numerous alternate titles . generally it means that they tried and retried to hide the turkey in various markets . such a turkey is the brain machine which has seven different titles .  br    br   its about some super secret government project that is suppose to be able to use a computer to read people but instead it drives people to kill each other or themselves  or something like that . its filled with b level tv actors sitting in paneled room with lawn chairs trying to act a script that makes almost no sense .  br    br   its a turkey of the untastey kind . avoid it .  
probably one of the prime examples of following a suspenseful  dramatic episode  in this case  the superb balance of terror  with a lighter affair  shore leave is the first true attempt on behalf of the star trek writers to produce a more entertaining piece of sci  fi  and while the formula isn  t quite right yet in this entry  the true triumph is trouble with tribbles  in season    the laughs come pretty fast as long as the viewer is willing to allow for all the silliness .  br    br   diverting from the show  s tradition  the enterprise isn  t on any proper mission in this episode . instead  kirk has found a perfect planet for his crew to spend some time off duty a well deserved break after three months of incessant work . the earth  like planet  a budget  related fact  is very appealing  but it only takes a few minutes before something weird happens dr . mccoy starts having visions of a white rabbit that seems to come straight out of lewis carroll  s work . soon  other people begin experiencing similar things a woman meets a don juan  like character  sulu has a run  in with a samurai  and kirk faces a double encounter with the past  in the shape of almost love and the guy who used to pick on him at the academy . throw in a freakishly real  looking tiger  and it  s easy to see why kirk and spock are determined to figure out what  s going on before anybody gets hurt .  br    br   the idea is a classic one idyllic place turns out to be far from heavenly . the episode  s humorous take on the topic is rather successful  weren  t it for a dark turn of events that doesn  t sit well with the rest  of course  everything works out fine again come the end  and the cast  s general unwillingness to show a funnier side of themselves  most notably  and ironically  the otherwise hilarious william shatner  . and yet shore leave deserves recognition for being another good example of the writers trying new  previously unseen things the definition of star trek  s success .  br    br          
this film about secret government mind experiments and the corrupt use of the citizenry by secretive and vile shadowy figures had the potential for being a really interesting movie . but for me  it failed . i won  t elaborate much on the rather confusing plot line  but if you are looking for a detailed explanation  the comment by user  reluctantpopstar  gives a good description of it .  br    br   but it didn  t work for me . i found it slow  which would be okay but for the fact that it seemed to go nowhere . the viewer is left in the dark about too many things to really be able to get a handle on this movie  in some films  one can argue that the filmmakers intended to provoke thought and left things ambiguous for that reason . i don  t think that this is the case here .  br    br   as for the frequent long shots of two buildings that have been frequently mentioned by other users . . . i see that they do have a point  they give the viewer time to get another drink without missing any of the  action  . and i suspect many viewers would welcome the opportunity to have several beverages on board to get through this one .  
  shore leave  is mostly an average star trek adventure . nothing wrong with the episode  though . i simply think that this is not the best representation of what the show had to offer to fans . it is lightweight entertaining  nothing more . however  i  m glad to see that a tv show of this type had enough good sense to take a break from serious intergalactic conflicts . in this episode  kirk decides to grant his crew some time off  and a landing party is beamed down to a planet that looks like the perfect place for a vacation . as usual  the planet is not as peaceful as it appears to be . there are some action and tense moments  but most of the story is played for laughs . good  but unexceptional .  
let  s see  here are the  highlights  of the brain machine   establishing shots of a pool and a house   establishing shots of a nondescript office building  countdowns by a bland technician  close  ups of a menacing guard and a myriad of technical babble to show us this is a high  tech experiment .  br    br   various posters have commented on the discrepancy between the copyright date of     and the release date given on the dvd box of     . that  s an easy one to explain . this dog simply sat on the shelf unreleased for five years  until someone dusted it off  thinking it fit in perfectly with the post  watergate mood of distrust in government . after seeing the brain machine now  my only wonder is that it ever got released at all   
another episode from childhood that  as an adult  i look back on with a different perspective . this was one of my favorite childhood episodes  one that really cemented my adoration of this show . however  on viewing this episode after   years  i  d say it is definitely one of the lighter ones  played for laughs and amusement  instead of the dramatic and well  constructed story lines in previous episodes in this  their first and best season . perhaps this episode was written for a little fan rr too  as mr . spock would say  the story just isn  t logical but there are some amusing lines like  of course  mr . spock  s final one at the end   when he asks the captain  mccoy et al whether they enjoyed their rr and they answer in the affirmative  he raises an eyebrow and says  fascinating . . .  in only the way mr . spock could do that . an interesting story line  of course  the idea of an amusement park being actually amusing  instead of the fake and often annoying  amusement  of disneyland  for example   being able to have one  s wishes actually come true . really  a great idea but not that well executed . and coming from theodore sturgeon  another of the great sf short story writers they used in the first season  one wonders how much tinkering was done to the script that sturgeon turned in .  br    br   now  here is a little trivia i learned on this very site in      james gunn established the theodore sturgeon award for best short science fiction story . and i  ll quote the rest from this site in     he sturgeon wrote  the joy machine   a third script for the star trek tv series amok time the other  that was never shot . the main reason that it wasn  t used in the series is that it contained expensive special effects sequences that would be too much for their budget . however  the script was adapted into a book by sci  fi writer james gunn  star trek     the original series  and published by pocket books in     .  br    br   i  d sum this up to say this episode is still very enjoyable  especially if one doesn  t think too much about it . just laugh and enjoy it and next episode we can get back to the serious stuff of protecting the universe .  
i bought this  it was only    ok   under the title  grey matter  . the novelty of seeing sherriff roscoe in a non  dukesofhazzard role intrigued me . as the other reviewers warned  it  s a pretty boring tale of a top secret government experiment gone awry .  br    br   and yes  there are plenty of establishing shots  especially of a house with a pool in front of it . some of the characters and interiors are so nondescript i guess the filmmakers worried we might forget who is who  so they keep tipping us off by first showing the outside of the buildings . it  s actually kinda funny . after awhile the pool shot feels like a tv channel  s station identification logo  reminding us that we are watching  grey matter  .  br    br   i also enjoyed two bouts of name  calling . at one point an angry test subject taunts somebody in charge by calling her a  scientific btch   . it  s just a very inadequate insult . several scenes later a different subject lets off steam by muttering about that  scientific btard   . it just sounded very awkward to me .  br    br   someday this movie will disappear forever . another decade from now it will likely be impossible to find any copies of it . almost like it never happened .  br    br    
this is one of the shallowest episodes in that the plot really seemed like an excuse to just have fun . but  i appreciated this light  hearted approach and this is truly one of the best episodes to see on a purely fun level . think about it   the crew members have encounters with the white rabbit and alice from wonderland  a bengal tiger  a samurai warrior  a knight on horseback who kills mccoy  and a host of other seemingly bizarre events that just don  t make any sense at all until the very end . despite all the danger  you just can  t take everything very seriously   it  s just too fun and the whole episode seems very surreal . so  on a purely non  aesthetic level  it  s great stuff .  
ouch  what a painfully boring sci  fi movie  and that  s especially saddening because the opening   minutes were so action  packed and full of potential  during the intro  we follow a bunch of nervous security officers and hired hit men as they chase a doctor who escaped from a mysterious laboratory with a briefcase full of top  secret files . as he  s about to reveal the supposedly horrible  inhuman events that take place in the lab  he  s executed . figures from then on  the  action  swifts back and forth between two locations  the aforementioned laboratory and the rural mansion of a corrupt senator  or something   and it quickly becomes clear that the experiments are actually the complete opposite of disturbing . more like dull  pointless and vague . scientists selected four random persons without living relatives and it  s really really really really important that they speak the truth even though a giant machine reads the content of their minds  anyway . they all hide dark secrets from their pasts and people suffer when get revealed yet i fail to see how these tests could ever result in a humanity  threatening device . perhaps i missed something  but i doubt it . the interactions between the patients and doctors are even less interesting to follow  as really none of them have personalities . so basically   the brain machine  just handles about a bunch of lame people living in an awfully decorated room . the film also could have been half an hour shorter if it weren  t for a thousand stagnant shots of buildings  the relocations from the lab to the villa and vice versa are indicated every single time by a five  second shot of the places . either the makers really needed the padding or they just assumed that all sci  fi viewers are morons unable to notice a change of location by themselves . staring at a forsaken pool with a mansion in the background for the tenth time in only five minutes becomes quite annoying  i assure you . james best  s performance as the reverend with mental issues is rather decent  but one man definitely can  t save this thing from being an absolute waste of time . avoid   
first of all  riget is wonderful . good comedy and mystery thriller at the same time . nice combination of strange  dogma  style of telling the story together with good music and great actors . but unfortunately there  s no  the end  . as for me it  s unacceptable . i was thinking . . . how it will be possible to continue the story without helmer and drusse  . . . and i have some idea . i think lars should make riget iii a little bit different . i  m sure that  rd part without helmer wouldn  t be the same . so here  s my suggestion . mayble little bit stupid  maybe not . i know that lars likes to experiment . so why not to make small experiment with riget   i think the only solution here is to create puppet  driven animation  like for example  team america  by trey parker  or even computer  d animation . i know it  s not the same as real actors  but in principle i believe it could work . . . only this way it  s possible to make actors alive again . for riget fans this shouldn  t be so big difference  if the animation will be done in good way average  watcher  will consider it normal just after first few shots of the movie . the most important thing now is the story . it  s completely understandable that it  s not possible to create riget  with the actors nowadays . so why not to play with animation  and . . . look for the possibilities that it gives to you  even marketing one  great director finishes his trilogy after   years using puppet animation . just dreams   br    br   i hope to see riget  someday . . . or even to see just the script . i  m curious how the story ends . . . and as i expect  everybody here do .  br    br   greets  slaj  br    br   ps i  m not talking about the  kingdom hospital  by stephen king     
this movie was rented by a friend . her choice is normally good . i read the cover first and was expecting a good movie . although it  br    br   was a horror movie . which i don  t prefer . but no horror came to mind while watching the movie . it was a dull   br    br   not very entertaining movie . the appearance of denise richards  br    br   was again a pleasure for the eye . but that  s it . we  the four of us   br    br   we  re a little bit disappointed . but feel free to see this movie and  br    br   judge it yourself .  
the production quality  cast  premise  authentic new england  waterbury  ct   locale and lush john williams score should have resulted in a    star collectors item . unfortunately  all we got was a passable  star  decent  flick  mostly memorable for what it tried to do . . . . . . . . . bring an art house style film mainstream . the small town locale and story of ordinary people is a genre to itself  and if well done  will satisfy most grownups . jane fonda was unable to hide her braininess enough to make her character believable . i wondered why she wasn  t doing a post doctorate at yale instead of working in a dead end factory job in waterbury . robert diniro  s character was just a bit too contrived . an illiterate  nice guy loser who turns out to actually be  with a little help from jane  s character  a     version of henry ford or thomas edison .  br    br   this genre has been more successfully handled by  nobody  s fool  in the mid   s and this year  s        about schmidt .  i wish that the main stream studios would try more stuff for post adolescents and reserve a couple of screens at the multi cinema complexes for those efforts .  br    br   i  ll give it an  a  for effort .  
weak plot  predictable violence  only semi interesting characters . like the writer  also one of the stars   was fictionalizing his own screw ups and added an incredulous fantasies of drugs and murder to make it  hot  . from the predictable rap and house soundtrack  to the family conflicts  it  s poorly acted  stereotypical  and ultimately terribly boring . even the title has been done before  imdb lists five movies with the same name released in             br    br   note saw it on showtime  which listed the synopsis for one of the other movies . was halfway thru before i realized no one was an undercover cop . even tho another stereotype  would have made it interesting if it happened .  
bogmeister and others have pretty much nailed this . shore leave is really tos  first attempt at lightweight sci  fi  which they would later perfect with the classic trouble with tribbles  . it gave both the crew of the enterprise and its tv viewers a needed respite from the universe threatening consequences of  for example  the corbomite manouever .  br    br   looking for a place to chill out for a while  the enterprise happens across a seemingly idyllic m class planet  and sends an exploratory team down to take a closer look . soon enough all kinds of absurdities begin to take place  some seemingly perilous  but it all seems a morass of human emotional extremities played out in a weird blend of fantastic mystery  mccoy has gone through the looking glass   psychological thriller  kirk is stalked by an indefatigable bully from his past   and romantic comedy  no comment  .  br    br   tos was the least serialized of all of the series in the trek franchise  so it is easy to forget how many episodes in the first season focused on heavy  handed  potentially calamitous drama . unlike later series franchise writers  tos  production team was not afraid to literally go where no tv series had gone before . and shore leave  despite its occasional problems  is an example . my only criticism of this episode is that the cast  particularly shatner  ironic given his legendary sense of humor  didn  t seem to know how to handle this new wrinkle on st  s themes . the last scene is possibly one of the worst scenes i can remember from the entire tos run  both compositionally and in terms of acting .  br    br    nuff said . my recommendation  see it while watching the entire first season as it was meant to be seen  it order .  
oh  my gosh . . . i thought cbs primetime television shows were the  br    br   worst things gerald mcraney appeared in . . .  br    br   four people are experimented on by a crazed mind control  br    br   computer . that  s it  don  t rent it .  br    br   i saw this under one of its many titles   grey matter   and it is  br    br   perhaps one of the worst films of recent memory . the other  br    br   reviews are right  it is awful . never have so many establishing  br    br   shots appeared onscreen  never . the cast is awful  the direction  br    br   is awful  and the script is awful . i cannot stress how awful this is .  br    br   avoid it like you would smallpox .  br    br   this is rated  pg  for physical violence  some gun violence  mild  br    br   gore  some profanity  and some adult situations  
okay  we  ve got extreme verhoeven violence  although not as extreme as other verhoeven flicks   we  ve got plenty of sex and nudity  but something is missing . . . oh  yes  it  s missing the intelligence that paul verhoeven is known for in his sci  fi movies . i admire the way verhoeven introduces the characters and how they have a sense of humor  but unlike most verhoeven films  the movie itself doesn  t have enough humor for it to fall into the comedy genre . the acting overall was above average compared to most slasher films .  br    br   what makes hollow man a good movie is not the story  not the cast or characters  but the amazing special effects work that would otherwise make a film like this impossible . the crew has truly made an invisible man  without the use of things like a floating hat suspended on piano wires and other practical effects  effects done on set  . the most stunning effects scenes are not seen while kevin bacon is invisible  they are when kevin bacon is becoming invisible and visible .  br    br   the problem is that this invisible man story deserves to be more imaginitive . here  it takes place at a lab for the most part . i would have enjoyed seeing the invisible kevin bacon robbing a bank and getting away with it  or let  s say steal something from people  s purses  or something like that . but what is shown is decent enough to make hollow man an entertaining movie . grade b  
someone mentioned editing . this is edited badly and what started out as somewhat intriguing became an incomprehensible mess . for starters  let us know what it is you are trying to do with these experiments . why are these people the best choices for the type of experimenting they are involved in  and  what exactly are they testing  apparently there is some grand plan that some agency is going to exploit . the acting is pretty bad . everyone is emoting . everyone is keeping secrets . they frequently mention that if it weren  t for the money  they  d hang it up . there  s a deranged minister who spouts scripture . on and on . but  again  the biggest hang up is the lack of laying out a playing field for the actors . there are some really cheesy elements . those little rooms and those chaise lounges . the awful wallpaper  was it wallpaper   . it was interesting  but didn  t seem to go anywhere .  
contains spoilers  br    br    hollow man  is probably the weakest movie that paul verhoeven  director of great movies like  total recall    starship troopers  and  robocop  has ever made .  br    br   that  s probably not his fault . for some reason  verhoeven got stuck with an utterly mediocre script  and he made the best of it .  br    br   the first part of this movie is rather good  with lots of cynical jokes  great special effects and even skunk anansie on the soundtrack . unfortunately  the movie falls flat in the second part  were it degenerates into a standard slasher movie or maybe a very bad  alien  clone . the ending is especially ridiculous  spoiler   as kevin bacon keeps coming back to life after a number of incidents that should  in the logical sense of the word  have killed him .   spoiler  . and the entire thing is quite shallow  indeed the subject of becoming invisible is never fully investigated .  br    br   but all in all  verhoeven manages to stay well above average with this movie .  br    br       out of  stars  
dynasty revisited in hawaii . . . full of clichs  highly predictable  unrealistic and sometimes even stupid . if you have nothing better to do however  it does provide   minutes of simple  unpretensive entertainment  endless looks at great male and female muscles and very good photography of the spectacular hawaiian scenery . on the other hand  if you are looking for anything more than that  stay away . . .  br    br   oh  and by the way  if you have ever worked in a hotel or know anything about running one  you have two options  . you will feel sick every two minutes at the sheer stupidity and silliness of how the show presents hotel business or   . look at it as science fiction comedy as i did  lie back  relax  and laugh about it   
paul verhoeven  genius and master film maker  strikes back with the less than perfect  yet still fun in a  dirty old man type of way   hollow man . the first two acts are so good that the slasher final act disappoints . yet i am giving a recommendation to this film for it  s mind blowing special effects  perhaps the best so far around  and two dandy performances by the leads . verhoeven  s moral questions are of course thought provoking  and although the film turned off many  this movie is pretty soft  core for old verhoeven .  br    br   two major flaws josh brolin  aka walking ape  man  and the whole deal with the elevator . if there was an access ladder  why were they trapped down in the lab   br    br   a fun horror film for a saturday night .  
an absolutely wretched waste of film   nothing ever happens . no ghosts  hardly any train  no mystery  no interest . the constant and brutal attempts at comedy are painful . everything else is pathetic . the premise is idiotic a bunch of people stranded in the middle of no  place  because their train was held up for less than  minutes . what  and the railroad leaves them no place to stay  in a heavy storm  i think not . oh  they can walk  miles across the dead  black fields . umm  yeah . sure . or  they can force themselves on the railroad  s hospitality  and stay at the  haunted  train station . a station which proved to be nothing but deadly boring  utterly without ghosts  interest  or plot .  br    br   so very terribly dull that this seems impossible .  br    br   this ought to be added to the lost films list   aargh    
hollow man is one of the better horror films of the past decade . the sub  plot is original and the main plot is even better . the special effects are brilliant and possibly the best i have ever seen in a horror film . kevin bacon proves again that he can handle any role that comes his way .  br    br   claude rains shocked the world with the invisible man in      well now  kevin bacon has shocked us with hollow man . one of the most thrilling horror films ever . the action is intense and the chills are true . you may actually find yourself jumping if you are watching it in the dark on a stormy night . the supporting cast includes elizabeth shue  josh brolin  kim dickens  joey slotnick  greg grunberg  and mary randle . all of whom do an exceptional job .  br    br      spoilers     br    br   dr . sebastian caine  kevin bacon  and his team have discovered the secret to making someone invisible . after animal testings  they move on to human testing . but someone has to be the subject . volenteering  caine is turned invisible . but when his team is unable to bring back into visibility  caine is driven mad by his condition as he seeks his revenge . . . end spoilers  br    br   the film has created memorable shock sequences and is destined to become a classic well into the next century . becoming the basis for a spoof joke in scary movie   this film grabs you by the throat and never lets go . the first   minutes or so are slow  developing the characters and showing how their experiments work . the second half is exciting and appealing to most action and horror fans . think of deep blue sea . then change the sharks into an crazy invisible man . and then change the water into fire and explosions . a rehashing of a killer shark movie . interesting . . . hollow man gets    .  
arthur askey  s great skill as a comic was in the way he communicated with his public . his juvenile jokes  silly songs and daft dances went down well because he was able to engage folk and draw them into his off the wall world . a lack of a live audience was a distinct disadvantage to him  and he was never completely comfortable in films . he has his moments in the ghost train  and his character  tommy gander  has been tailored to make the most of his talents  but askey the performer needed to be seen to be appreciated .  br    br   askey  s support in the film is not strong  it includes regular co  star richard murdoch betty jardine and stuart latham as a dopey honeymoon couple linden travers going over the top as a  mad woman  . also on board are peter murray  hill  who off  screen married phyllis calvert  as the nominal leading man  giving a totally bland reading of the part  and leading lady carol lynne  who turns in an equally insipid performance . it is left to character actress kathleen harrison to effortlessly steal the film as a parrot loving single woman who gets smashed on dr morland graham  s brandy .  
this movie scared me so bad  i am easily scared though so its no big thing but this movie was scary and whoever wasnt scared by this movie  im surprised because everyone i know said it was scary  i hope everyone sees it  but dont see it with the lights off like i did . . . .  
  a damsel in distress  is definitely not one of fred astaire  s better musicals . but even astaire  s bad films always had some good moments .  br    br   in  damsel   astaire is jerry halliday  an american musical star who is in london on a personal appearance tour . he meets lady alice marshmorton     year  old joan fontaine   a beautiful english heiress  who hops into the back of a cab he is taking to escape a mob of admirers .  br    br   jerry believes that alice is being forced into a marriage by her rich aunt . he tries to rescue her from her family  s country manor house  but soon discovers that the house staff is laying bets on which suitor lady alice will marry . keggs  reginald gardiner  the conniving butler  and albert  harry watson   the bratty house boy  each take turns alternately helping and sabotaging lady alice  s romance with jerry to make sure they win the bet .  br    br   this musical has numerous problems . first  there is the plot  based on a novel by p . g . wodehouse  who co  wrote the screenplay  . the story is slow  painful  and nerve  grating . when fred is not dancing  we have to endure endless annoying scenes of  a  fred romancing joan fontaine or  b  keggs and albert conniving against them and each other .  br    br   the butler and the house boy are especially irritating . they are one  dimensional stock villain characters  the kind of guys you just want to punch in the mouth . you wish they would get off the screen and let fred dance .  br    br   astaire suffers in the absence of his usual partner  ginger rogers . joan fontaine is a lackluster leading lady in this film  and is miscast in a musical . she has little going for her  character  wise  other than her lovely face and beautiful smile .  br    br   george burns and gracie allen are along for the ride  as jerry  s publicist and his ditzy secretary . the duo adds some sorely needed chemistry to the plot  and gracie has some funny lines  but she is also very annoying at times .  br    br   the direction of the movie by george stevens is not well done . at times  the cinematography is horrible and off  focus . there are a number of outdoor scenes set on extremely foggy streets  to try to convince the audience that we are in london  not hollywood .  they must have used tons of dry ice in this movie .  on the plus side  the songs by george and ira gershwin are terrific  and have become classic song standards . and of course  the dancing in the movie is exceptional  thanks to astaire and his choreographer  hermes pan .  br    br   but the musical and dance numbers are ill  used and ill  staged . at times  the cast seems to start singing and dancing because  well  it  s time for them to start singing and dancing . the musical numbers seem randomly inserted into the meandering plot .  at one point  the butler steps outside the manor house and breaks into an operetta solo for no clear reason .  the numbers include   i  m dancing and i can  t be bothered now    fred dances well on a foggy traffic  filled london street . he does some great  cane  twirling  with a rolled umbrella   but the number ends too soon when fred jumps on a passing double  decker bus .  in the broadway musical   crazy for you   harry groener did a much better version of this number with a group of chorus girls .   br    br     put me to the test    fred  george  and gracie do a trio tap dance in an english cottage . george and gracie match fred step for step  but the number ends poorly with everyone kicking each other for no reason .  br    br     stiff upper lip   the fun house number    at an amusement park fun house  fred  george  and gracie have fun dancing on the revolving floor  rotating barrel  and with the fun house mirrors . it  s the best number of the movie  but it gets a little repetitious at times .  br    br     things are looking up    fred and joan fontaine do their one dance number together in the film  prancing around the back woods of the country manor estate . fortunately  it  s a very simple dance number because joan is not a great dancer .  br    br     a foggy day in london town    fred wanders around the foggy manor estate at night  crooning about the foggy day when he first met joan in london . at times  he looks as if he  s not sure which way he  s going in the fog   much like the musical number itself .  br    br     nice work if you can get it    a great song that is misused in the movie . during a social event at the manor house  fred gets drawn into a chorus of dour  faced singers who are haphazardly singing this song . each time fred joins in  the other singers look at him as if they wish he would leave .  again  harry groener did a better dance number with this song in  crazy for you .     drum dance number    as fred and joan are eloping  fred has to stop and do one final tap dance number while banging a group of drums . as usual  it  s a great dance number . but there  s absolutely no need for it  except to prolong the movie .  br    br   the most contrived moment in the film comes when fred decides to leap off a high stone balcony at the country estate in order to prove his love for joan fontaine . as he leaps from the balcony  he finds a conveniently  placed trapeze   that  s right  a trapeze   hanging from a nearby tree . fred  or rather  a stuntman in fred  s clothes  grabs the trapeze and swings to the ground from it .  br    br   the movie is worth owning on dvd for the dance numbers alone  but you feel indebted to the guy who invented the fast forward button on your remote . the   ff button allows you to skip through the other  boring scenes in the film to get to the dance numbers .  
remember h . g . wells   the invisible man   well here  s another movie like it  only more extreme .  hollow man  is like no one story about invisibility as a weapon of choice . kevin bacon plays sebastian caine  a scientific genius who goes out into the world of invisibility and making it useful for military purposes . at first making the serum was the easy part  making the person come back was not . most of the first tries ended up unstable . until one night  when he perfected the formula . and who else  but caine would be the lab rat . the gorilla was the first and almost died  so when he came to  it was a close one . so when the did caine  he decided to use it for fun . then when he got tired of being not seen  the team tried their best to bring him back to the world of the flesh . however  the visibility formula happens to not work the way it should  and caine would delve into madness . so he ends up being one mad invisible killer . it would be best to just get out of town instead of taking the lives of people that are close to you . i would care less about the ones who did you wrong . great movie  plenty of fun .  out of  stars   
this  movie  is more like a music video . kusturica said in an interview from     that when he is making movies  he feels like making music  and when he is making music  he feels like making movies . the best thing in  promise me this  is the music  written by stribor kusturica .  br    br   kusturica said in the same interview  that for him the dialogues in the movies are like noise .  promise me this  has very little  noise  .  br    br   i liked  life is a miracle  . it was also like music video for the first   minutes and at some points later  but it had a beautiful plot .  promise me this  has no plot . i was awaiting this movie with big expectations  because i  ve read  that the script has been written by ranko bozic  one of my favourite scriptwriters  who participated also in  life is a miracle  . ranko bozic writes great dialogues  but for kusturica they are  noise   and much to my regret  i saw only two dialogues  which i could identify as written by ranko bozic . the other part of the script was used by the director for making his chaotic music video for the music of his son stribor .  br    br   gordan mihic  the man who wrote the scripts for  time of the gypsies  and  black cat white cat   said in an interview  that kusturica never follows the script .  black cat white cat  was the only script  for which kusturica said  that he will not touch it . according to gordan mihic  after all kusturica comes back to the script  and if he doesn  t  he doesn  t make a good movie . and i think this is the case with  promise me this  . he should have followed the script of ranko bozic .  br    br    promise me this  is billed as a  comedy   but there are very few moments  which made me laugh . the comedic moments are in the same style as  black cat white cat   but are not that funny at all . i think the difference comes from the fact  that  black cat white cat  was written by gordan mihic .  br    br   however  i know some people  who liked  promise me this   they find it very positive movie .  
hollow man starts as brilliant but flawed scientist dr . sebastian caine  kevin bacon  finally works out how to make things visible again after having been turned invisible by his own serum . they test the serum on an already invisible gorilla  it works perfectly  caine  his team of assistant  s celebrate but while he should report the breakthrough to his military backers caine wants to be the first invisible human . he manages to persuade his team to help him  the procedure works well  caine becomes invisible  however when they try to bring him back the serum fails  he remain invisible . the team desperately search for an antidote but nothing works  caine slowly starts to lose his grip on reality as he realises what power he has but is unable to use it being trapped in a laboratory . but then again he  s invisible right  he can do anything he wants . . .  br    br   directed by paul verhoeven i rather liked hollow man . you know it  s just after christmas  i saw this a few hours ago on late night  early morning cable tv  worst of all i feel sick  not because of the film but because of the chocolates  fizzy pop i  ve had over the past week so i  ll keep this one brief . the script by andrew w . marlowe has a decent pace about but it does drag a little during the middle  has a good central premise  it takes he basic idea that being invisible will make you insane just like in the original the invisible man       film which hollow man obviously owes a fair bit . it manages to have a petty successful blend of horror  sci  fi  action  provide good entertainment value for    odd minutes . i thought the character  s were ok  i thought some of the ideas in the film were good although i think it  s generally known that verhoeven doesn  t deal in subtlety  the first thing he has the invisible caine do is sexually molest one of his team  then when he gets into the outside world he has caine rape a woman with the justification  who  s going to know  that caine says to himself . then of course there  s the gore  he shows a rat being torn apart  that  s just the opening scene after the credits  to be fair to him the violence is a bit more sparse this time around but still has a quite nasty  sadistic tone about it . having said that i love horror  gore  exploitation films so hollow man delivers for me  it  s just that it might not be everyone  s cup of tea .  br    br   director verhoeven does a great job  or should that be the special effects boys make him look good . the special effects in hollow man really are spectacular  more  or  less flawless  their brilliant  it  s as simple  straight forward as that . there  s some good horror  action set  pieces here as well even if the climatic fight is a little over  the  top . i love the effect where kevin bacon disappears one layer at a time complete with veins  organs  bones on full show or when the reverse happens with the gorilla . there  s a few gory moments including a rat being eaten  someone is impaled on a spike  someone has their head busted open with blood splattering results .  br    br   with a staggering budget of about            hollow man is technically faultless  i can imagine the interviews on the dvd where some special effects boffin says they mapped bacon  s entire body out right down to he last vein which they actually did because you know everyone watching would notice if one of his veins were missing or in the wrong position wouldn  t they  the acting was ok  bacon made for a good mad scientist anti  hero type guy .  br    br   hollow man is one of hose big budget hollwood extravaganzas where the effects  action take center stage over any sort of meaningful story or character  s but to be brutally honest sometimes we all like that in a film  well i know i do . good solid big budget entertainment with a slightly nastier  darker streak than the usual hollywood product  definitely worth a watch .  
after life is a miracle  i did not expect much . it  s hard to believe that these films were made by the same man as do you remember dolly bell  for instance . zavet is two hours of silly antics with no story . the wild and unbridled humor of underground seems to have degenerated into pathetic buffoonery here . it appears that kusturica has been going steadily downhill since he started making life  affirming comedies  beginning with black cat  white cat  which i think was great  but already had some disturbing signs of dementia . i liked his early films so much  and this is why it  s especially disappointing to see something like this . let  s hope his next one will be great .  
a pentagon science team seem to have perfected a serum which causes invisibility but when the lead boffin tries it out on himself he can  t reverse the process . frustrated and drunk with power  he turns psychotic in the classic h . g . wells tradition .  br    br   this is a gleefully horrible invisible man story  delivered with relish by the ever  tasteful verhoeven and bacon as the genius  turned  loonytoon  maniac . as with much of verhoeven  s work it has a terrific unrestrained sense of boy  s  own comic  book adventure  the secret underground lab where the scientists work is just wonderful  combined with the most horrific and depraved visuals  women in their underwear being groped and attacked by an invisible fiend  animals beaten to death  literally gallons of blood and wholesale slaughter in the last two reels  . whilst the story doesn  t ring any new twists on an old idea  the cg special effects by scott e . anderson are eye  poppingly brilliant as we see veins and arteries  cardiovascular systems  muscles  tissue  bones and flesh all literally appear out of nowhere . in particular  a sequence where the team bring a gorilla back from the invisible state and the scene where bacon drowns devane in a swimming pool  are absolutely breathtaking in the detail and artistic invention of the effects . the film also has a great soundtrack by jerry goldsmith and classic horror  movie photography by jost vacano . the young cast are pretty much overshadowed by the movie  s technical pedigree  but both shue and dickens are impressively out of their depth . this is a great fun nasty movie .  
i did not expect a lot from this movie  after the terrible  life is a miracle  . it turns out that this movie is ten times worse than  life . . .  . i have impression that director  writer is just joking with the audience  let me see how much emptiness can you  audience  sustain  . dialogues are empty  . . . scenario is minimalistic . in few moments  photography is really nice . few sarcastic lines are semi  funny  but it is hard to genuinely laugh during this  comedy  . i  ve laughed to myself for being able to watch the movie until the end . if you can lift yourself above this director  s fiasco  . . . you will find good acting of few legends  miki manojlovic  aleksandar bercek   and very good performance of emir  s son stribor kusturica .  br    br   in short too bad for such a great director  emir kusturica is still young and should be making top  rated movies . instead  he chooses to do this low  budget just  for  my  private theater movie  with arrogant attitude toward the world trends and negligence toward his old fans .  
it seems a lot of imdb comments on this film are biased  in the sense that they try to compare it to an older version . true   hollow man  is a remake of sorts of  the invisible man   but that  s where the similarities end .  hollow man  is an entertaining movie  period . if you watch a movie with the intention of finding as many flaws as possible  then you shouldn  t watch movies in the first place . true  some movies are plain horrendous and unbearable  but  hollow man  manages to entertain and make you think what you would do if you were invisible and if you had your ex getting laid with one of your friends . kevin bacon stars as a eccentric scientist who  along with a team of collaborators  discover the way to make animals invisible . now his mission is to make them visible again . when this team of young scientists  working  as you might guess  for the pentagon  think they have the formula for making animals visible again  kevin bacon volunteers to be the first to try the new experimental drug . after that  of course  things go wrong  as kevin bacon remains invisible for the rest of the movie and is obliged to wear a latex mask  so his collaborators know where he is . feelings of paranoia and desperation begin to take over kevin  s character  and when he finds out that his ex girlfriend and collaborator  elisabeth shue  is having a torrid affair with another of the young scientists in the team  he finally snaps . the movie then turns into a hybrid of  alien  and a slasher flick  but that  s not saying it  s a bad turn . there are scares and chills and the movie moves at a nice pace . the special effects are top notch  a quality always prevalent in all of paul verhoeven  s films  as we get to see some  body reconstitution  sequences never seen on a movie before . if there  s anything to complain about  perhaps  is the predictability of the situations herein by the first hour of the movie you know kevin bacon will make the jump from being weird and eccentric to being a homicidal lunatic in the end . and the ending is a bit abrupt  but despite this  hollow man is still worth watching . if you want to know what a truly bad movie is  then waste your money on  fear dot com   with stephen dorf  or the even worse the untold  or  sasquatsh   with land henriksen  . now that is  hollow     out of      
not really spoilers in my opinion  but i wanted to cover myself  nevertheless . as the executive producer  morgan freeman wants the audience to ignore the numerous absurdities of his character in   items or less  a movie with an intentional indie  feel  and just be absorbed in the mentor  be  all  that  you  can  be theme . he plays a alternate universe  semi  washed up version of the real morgan freeman  who is chauffeured in an old econovan by a kid all the way into carson  ca from brentwood to research his next movie role . why carson  is a mystery to so . cal residents . he could have saved the trip and gone anywhere in the san fernando valley and found the same elements . paz vega is pretty to watch  a cross between salma hayek and penelope cruz  playing a disgruntled grocery checker at a large but slow local market that apparently is the ultimate source for moragn freeman  s research . his character is only known as  him  to allude to how actors are regarded when encountered in real life by average people   psst  that  s  him   etc . unfortunately  i was too distracted that him had all kinds of worldly wisdom and advice but had no reliable return back to his home in brentwood  carried no cash or debit card  or had the wisdom to keep a cell phone with him . if one has such a high opinion of their self that they believe they possess an answer to everything like him does  then i gotta see cash and a blackberry which displays intelligence and good survival instincts to preserve that big ego which him definitely has . nothing really happens in this movie . i don  t believe that either of the main character  s were substantially changed by their encounter with each other . it flirts with the idea of adultery  but then that thought fizzles . this to me was similar to steve martin  s shopgirl  without the sexual affair . it was self  indulgent for freeman and unconvincing to the audience .  
normally i don  t like series at all . they  re all to predictable and they tend to become boring and dull very fast .  br    br   these series however  are well played  the story follows through all episodes and even if you miss one  the story will still be catching your mind .  br    br   the episodes are all filmed on a hospital and takes you further and further in to the mysteries of dark and old secrets that lies just beneath the surface of the mighty hospital .  
valentine is a horrible movie . this is what i thought of it  br    br   acting very bad . katherine heigl can not act . the other  s weren  t much better .  br    br   story the story was okay  but it could have been more developed . this movie had the potential to be a great movie  but it failed .  br    br   music yes  some of the music was pretty cool .  br    br   originality not very original . the name paige prescott  recognize prescott   br    br   bottom line don  t see valentine . it  s a really stupid movie .  br    br        br    br    
earth           big screen adaptation of the bbc  discovery channel series  planet earth  offers quite a majestic sampling of nature in all its beauty with some truly jaw  dropping moments of  how the hell did they get this footage    while taking in the awesome scenics of animals in their natural habitats and environmental message of the circle of life can be cruel  witness a great white shark gulping down a walrus seal as a quick meal   and adorable  the various babies and their  rents  . the basso profundo tones of narrator james earl jones solidifies its  god  s eye views  and profundity . culled from literally hundreds of hours of footage  the only gripe comes from the fact this should have been in the imax format and could  ve even gone longer  oh  well  there  s always the next time  since disney studios has produced this count on a series of more to come  . dirs alastair fothergill  mark linfield .  
a still famous but decadent actor  morgan freeman  has not filmed for four years . when he is invited to participate in a new project  he asks the clumsy cousin of the director to drop him in a poor latin neighborhood in carlson to research the work of the manager of a small supermarket . he sees the gorgeous spanish cashier scarlet  paz vega  and he becomes attracted with her ability . his driver never returns to catch him and scarlet gives a ride to the actor . but first she has a job interview for the position of secretary in a construction company and the actor helps her to be prepared then they spend the afternoon together having a pleasant time .  br    br   i am a big fan of morgan freeman and paz vega . however  the pointless    items or less  is absolutely disappointing . this low  budget movie does not seem to have a storyline  and is supported by the chemistry and improvisations of morgan freeman and paz vega and actually nothing happens along   minutes . the ambiguous open conclusion is simply ridiculous  with the character of morgan freeman returning to his silver spoon world and telling the simple worker that they would never see each other again . was he afraid to have a love affair with her and destroy his perfect world with his family  or was a clash of classes  and he realizes that his fancy neighborhood would not be adequate to a simple worker from the lower classes  my vote is four .  br    br   title  brazil    um astro em minha vida    a star in my life    
greetings again from the darkness . stunning photography highlights this disney documentary and provides a glimpse into some of the harshness of animals that live in the wilderness . for anyone over    disney and mutual of omaha  s wild kingdom provided much of our insight into wild animals since our childhood . . . back when there was no channel dedicated to national geographic or nature or animal planet .  br    br   what always fascinates is just how difficult the circumstances are for many of these majestic creatures . watching the elephants trudge for days  nearly delirious from lack of water  is oh so painful . but their nighttime battle against the lions is thrilling .  br    br   some of the underwater shots are breathless . the mama and baby humpbacks are beautiful and watching the great white shark attack its prey is every bit as chilling as  jaws  . the most amazing scenery for me was the breathtaking views of the himalayas . i had never seen such detail of the vastness of the range .  br    br   don  t think most young kids today will be too excited by this one  but it surely is one of the most beautifully photographed documentaries i have ever seen .  
this movie was great the first time i saw it  when it was called  lost in translation .  but somehow bill murray turned into an eccentric black man played by morgan freeman  scarlett johansson turned into a cranky latino woman played by paz vega  and tokyo  japan turned into carson  california . instead of meaningful conversations and silence we enjoyed in translation  we get meaningless blabbering in   items that verges on annoying . instead of characters that were pensive and introspective as in translation  we get characters that spew pointless advice on topics they have no clue about . how can a character that wears hundred dollar t  shirts and has never been inside a target department store expect to give advice to a working  class woman on how to prepare for a job interview as an administrative assistant  don  t think that stops him . if he isn  t giving her clothing advice  he  s telling her what she should eat . the most annoying part of the movie for me was how supposedly they were in a hurry to make an appointment  and yet the characters keep finding time to run another errand  be it washing the car  stopping at arby  s  or just laying around to list off their   items or less lists of things they love and hate . i kept wanting to yell at them saying   didn  t you say you had somewhere to be  what the heck are doing  a minute ago you were practically late  now you  re eating roast beef and pondering your lives   until i saw this movie  i never truly understood how something could  insist upon itself   but i think this movie does exactly that  and undeservedly so . the dialogue makes the characters cheesy and unsympatheticwith the exception that i felt sorry for both of the actors for having signed onto this project .  
why on earth should you explore the mesmerizing nature documentary  earth   how much time do you have on earth so i can explain this to you  ok  i will not elongate my review exploration on  earth  to infinity  but i must stand my ground on why this is a  must see  . the documentary takes a nature round trip on the migration paths on three animal families a female polar bear and her cubs with the real life subplot of the father bear daring it out to hunt for food in his isolated path  a mama of a whale with her baby whale taking a whale of a migration tour for prey  and an elephant mama with her small  maybe not so small  they are elephants  offspring migrating in africa . directors alastair forthegill  mark linfield did an  out of this earth  job in also capturing the survival skills of many other animal species besides the magnetic shots of our three animal family protagonists . the cinematographically skilled team of richard brooks burton  mike holding  adam ravetch  and andrew shillabeer were animales in camera shooting the wondrous nature sites and animal instinctive behaviors not to mention  the slo  mo animal prey shots were u n b e l i e a v a b l e .  earth  is also a lesson learner on the global warming effect on the animals the papa polar bear in the doc is the poster animal boy on that consequence . so fellow earthlings  it is time to take the documentary voyage to visit  earth  today   good  
while watching this movie  i came up with a script for a movie  called  the making of   items or less    br    br   producer i  ve got good news and bad news . the good news is  we can get morgan freeman   br    br   writer that  s great  but what  s the bad news   br    br   producer we can only afford to hire him for one day . i guess we  ll have to get someone else .  br    br   writer so we hire him for one day . a movie is an hour and a half long . a work day is eight hours long . i fail to see a problem .  br    br   producer but . . . he  ll have to spend time getting into character .  br    br   writer so we have him play a character who is essentially himself .  br    br   producer but he  ll still need to understand his motivation and all that . you  re not saying we have him play a big  name actor that  s doing a low  budget movie  are you   br    br   writer why not   br    br   producer that  s ridiculous  but fine  at least we  ll have morgan freeman in our movie . and i guess we have to set the movie in los angeles too .  br    br   writer of course .  br    br   producer this script is a load of crap . we  d better make money on this . just in case  have morgan freeman  s character plug wal  mart or target or one of those stores  so at least someone will want to sell the dvds .  br    br   writer sure thing   br    br   producer wait a second . . . what  s this about a tiny bodega with a  ten items or less  express lane   br    br   writer oh  i guess that is pretty weird . but we can  t change the title now   br    br   i doubt my script actually bears much resemblance to reality  but then neither did    items or less  . this is a case of good acting  but bad writing  and i hate to see it happen . when watching an independent movie  you expect it to try to convey some sort of message . i think they might have been trying for the tired old  don  t let anything hold you back  message that has been done to death in much better films . in any case  with    items or less   the only message i got was  look  look at morgan freeman    
in      the ampas awarded one of the most innovative documentaries depicting wildlife in the coldest place on earth  that film was march of the penguins narrated by academy award winning actor morgan freeman .  br    br   walt disney studios has had a monopoly on the animated circuit for decades now . they  ve taken their stabs at live action film making and it  s been hit and miss all across the board . disney then created a sub  division called disneynature and release its first feature film titled earth . this is absolutely one of the most touching and informative documentaries i  ve seen in quite sometime .  br    br   narrated by the great james earl jones  earth doesn  t offer anything new to anyone who has watched the discovery channel in the past five years or follows the global warming crisis very closely . earth touches very deeply on the issue and takes a very liberal approach on the subject matter .  br    br   it enables an emotional connection to nature that i haven  t experienced before . it also shows not only the beauty and mystifying parts of our gorgeous planet  but the grunt and disturbing aspects that it often entails . it  s one thing to watch  mufasa  fall from a cliff in to a stampede or bambi  s mother be shot by a hunter in the middle of the woods . it  s all good because at the end of the film we know it is  just that  a film . this shows penguins  polar bears  elephants  all types of families  from all walks of life  living and dying in their natural habitats . these real things make a real movie experience .  br    br   though a bit heavy  weight on the graphic nature of the film  which many people will disagree   earth is a touching experience . there is stunning cinematography work here by a great camera team and an amazing score by george fenton . in comparison to march of the penguins or grizzly man  it doesn  t really hold any measure but it stands great on its own . at the end of the day  you grow an appreciation of our planet and a bit of sadness as many of us will probably never get to visit these places we  ll witness in the film . we live here yet it  s like we never get to explore the planet for one reason or another . earth is beautiful .  br    br       
i love morgan freeman . paz vega is an attractive  appealing and talented actress . i  m sure that this would have been a good movie had anything happened in it . nothing does . it  s short  less than   minutes  . it was   minutes too long . after an hour of frustration  i scanned through the remaining    odd minutes . excruciating .  br    br   freeman plays an actor  who hasn  t worked in a while  researching a part that he might play  as a checkout clerk in a supermarket . he visits the supermarket where she works . nothing happens . she decides to give him a ride home and they go to an arby  s  a target  a car wash . nothing happens . they converse about their lives . nothing happens . ever .  br    br   i don  t get it . but i also don  t get the bill murray flicks  lost in translation  and  broken flowers  . if you like those movies  maybe you  ll like this . lots of people find movies like this whimsical  charming  or  for reasons that escape me  find the dialog fascinating . a common device in movies of this ilk is to have a long take of stillness  silence after an actor delivers a line that  s supposed to be meaningful . we know it  s meaningful because it  s followed by two minutes of nothing on the screen . sorry  i must be a philistine . i don  t get it . to me  these kinds of movies aren  t funny  or charming  or thought  provoking . they  re just boring . why  because there  s no comedy . no drama . no tension . no laughs . no suspense . no action . nothing to watch . in short  none of the things i go to the movies for . i can be bored for free . i see oddball  quirky characters in real life . i go to target  and fast  food restaurants  and car  washes . these elements do not a movie make  even if stars are doing this stuff . i pay to be entertained .  br    br   if you  re crazy about morgan freeman and just like to hear him ramble on about nothing  have fun . if you wanna drool over paz vega  you can look and listen to her . but nothing happens  i promise . a total snoozefest .  
first of all  the release date is      not     for this feature length nature documentary film . it should be more properly referred to as  earth       . secondly  allow me to address the complaints of some reviewers who have seen the  planet earth  tv series of     .  br    br   i have not seen this tv series  but learned here  that this film is the full length version of this     tv series . i judge any film  on it  s own merits  not by it  s source . i judge the results  on their own  and the results of  earth       are indeed excellent . i dismiss this trivial complaint of some reviewers that it  s simply an expanded version of the     tv series  planet earth  . so what  it doesn  t really matter .  br    br   as a film buff and one who has viewed dozens of nature documentaries in my lifetime  i was astonished and highly impressed by  earth       . this is the debut film from the new  disneynature  division of disney and follows in the footsteps of walt disney  s pioneering and academy award winning nature documentary films of the      s and      s .  br    br   cinematography  film editing  music score  sound and narration are all excellent . there have been a few other nature documentaries that also excelled in these categories . what really sets  earth       apart is its  scope . it literally covers the entire planet  covering all seven continents .  br    br   after my first viewing  it was obvious this documentary film required a massive effort and amount of time and talent to create .  br    br   three production companies were required to make this amazing documentary film .  br    br    earth       convincingly tells the stories of four species on their great migrations as it spans one year through the seasons beginning in january and ending in december  from the north pole to the south pole .  br    br   two special new high  tech cameras were used for this film one camera has a    degree computer controlled motorized rotating lens and the other is a hd camera set to an amazing      frames per second . this filming technique really added drama and beauty to some of the scenes of  earth       especially the cheetah chase and great white sharks leaping out of the water to catch sea lions and an aerial view going over the edge of the world  s highest waterfall . there are many stunningly beautiful shots in this documentary .  br    br   via cinematography  music score and narration  there is drama  sadness  humor and great beauty in this documentary . with a great music score performed by the world renowned berliner philharmoniker  excellent creative and technical cinematography and james earl jones narration  i consider  earth       as the greatest nature feature length documentary film ever made .  br    br   five years of hard work  patience  talent and dedication really paid off very well here . this film should be required viewing in all schools throughout the world . i predict an academy award for best documentary feature  among other awards . truly  an amazing  astonishing  exhilarating and magnificent documentary film .  br    br   very highly recommended  
after i watched this movie  i came to imdb and read some of the reviews  which compared it to lost in translation lite . when i read that i immediately could see the reviewers point .  br    br   this movie was a poor attempt at a similar theme . interestingly  the format of the movie is nearly identical  but the pacing is incredibly different .    items  rushes the viewer through the   day time line of the movie  whereas the better  planned  lost in . . .  seems to stretch out over a few long days .  br    br   i  m sure some people will see this because it has morgan freeman  and will be disappointed . it seems his better roles now  a  days are supporting roles in big blockbusters  rather than leading roles in sub     mil limited release movies and indie films .  
i saw the german version of the movie in german television and i was really amazed . i generally like to see documentaries  but i can  t remember to have seen one that is better than  earth  . i knew some of the scenes from youtube videos that i found by random browsing . i also remember to have seen parts of the film on multimedia stores  running on the displayed high definition tvs . after seeing the movie it  s obvious to me why the footage is so popular among youtube users and multimedia retail managers it  s just so awesome and spectacular that you can  t help but stare on the screen  no matter if you  re generally interested in nature documentaries or not .  br    br   without hesitating a   out of   . for sure  there are more thrilling movies  but in regard of documentaries   earth  is definitely one of the best of it  s genre .  
i had high expectations for this indie having perused the many thumbs up reviews . then . . . .  br    br   here  s my additional  two cents  to the already posted  excellent  lost in translation  review . premise morgan is  stuck  in a dusty small town where he meets lovely scarlet who is working in the local supermarket . can morgan help elevate the lovely scarlet from her trailer trash life   br    br   realistic dialog  not . how about that shopping in target . first  freeman looks at the target interior as if he  s walked into harrods . then  he  s bowled over at a t  shirt rack confirming he has never been in any store visited by lovely scarlet . morgan is detached from any and all aspects of scarlet  s reality and is portrayed as gleeful in his ignorance of everyone and everything in scarlet  s life .  br    br   one reviewer enjoyed the scarlet and ex  hubby fight scene where her survival  a car in this instance  requires she physically attack her ex hubbie . does freeman run to her defense . . . . naw . . . he  s cowering in disbelief and totally incapable of dealing with such a blunt aspect of her very real  sorry lot in life .  br    br   freeman  s character believes a car wash and new very revealing  tight fitting blouse is the key to scarlet  s job interview . another sign that freeman is clueless . freeman  s endless  stage talk  where all aspects of scarlet  s reality are reduced to one or another stage related freeman experience was irritating .  br    br   freeman is right to emphasize that scarlet is young with her future ahead of her and then conveniently ignores the brick walls she faces vis a vis uneducated  no white collar skills or experience  very poor  no family support and a lifetime of low self esteem . scarlet learns such life lessons from freeman as some people pay     for a t  shirt and a revealing blouse may open doors in lieu of her lack of education and white collar job skills . in the end freeman offers scarlet little more than strange diversion with a  star   not even paying for gas for scarlet  s dead of night return to her unchanged life in a town the name of which freeman cares not to know .  
earth is a must see for children and adults . my son had great fun watching all these funny birds and ice bears . we can learn a lot from this movie and we should be proud on our great treasure on earth . there are some animals in danger to disappear . exactly that problem should prevent all the authorities of our planet .  br    br   this documentary offers many exceptional pictures that i have never seen before . then it is well accompanied by a heavenly music . the director did a great job here that gets high respect . nothing can stop me and my family to give earth the highest rate . i hope so much that the stuff will create a sequel .  
strange . . . i like all this movie crew and dark humor movies but didn  t like this one at all  it  s awful  horrible and surely not funny at all . pity cannot do a whole movie plot  disgust either . and it was really boring . long empty moments fills the movie it could have been removed . it should have been in another shorter format  surely . maybe i expected too much from the crew  like saving the movie lol  . it  s also filled with overused clichs of characters and situations . . . i don  t get it why people liked it . . .  poetry    hope   nope  mam  didn  t see anything like that   all in all  it  s empty and crude  pitiful and hopeless . oh darn this one . . . . . . . .  
i saw this movie with my family and it was great  this film is more than just a documentary  that offers not more than cold facts  with long mono   duologue  s and lots of charts . . . the complete  power  of this movie comes from the impressive pictures being filmed under water  in the air or the arctic . with watching this movie you can learn more about our planet than with just reading a book  it shows that we are embedded in the circular flow of life . this movie is not only for  environmental fanatics  although people that want to look a good movie with a message should watch it . this movie taught me that we are not only living on the earth . . . we live with and through the earth and all plants and animals grow and die with us .  
while on a vacation at the beach  red  haired brothers michael mcgreevey and billy mumy  as arthur and petey loomis  find a seal . the lads christen their critter  sammy   and spend summertime frolicking with the sandy sea lion . when it  s time to go home  the boys begin to suffer separation anxiety . young mr . mcgreevey decides they can  t take  sammy  back to  disneyland   er   gatesville   but  young mr . mumy packs him anyway . at home  they try to hide  the way  out seal  from adults  and  of course hijacks ensue   br    br    sammy  the way  out seal  pt            norman tokar  michael mcgreevey  bill mumy  robert culp  
i almost did not go see this movie because i remember march of the penguin was not that much exciting . i went mainly because disney promised to plant a tree if i go see it on the opening weekend  but after i did go see it  it was simply amazing the fact that the photographers can capture impossible images are simply worth your money . you also get to see different habitats  different vegetation  animals  and natural phenomenons that will not only shock you  simply because you would never expect nature to be so magical and dynamic  but also touch your souls and raise the question of humanity versus the world  of how our lives have deviated from nature to such a degree that we take for granted of the natural beauty and miracles that are quintessential to our biosphere . you don  t have to be an earth lover or a tree  hugging environmentalist to appreciate the mere awesomeness of this documentary . you simply have to be a curious soul who questions the value and miracle of living . enjoy   
i don  t know why this conduct was ever tolerated in the movie business  this movie  short  is gross  to say the least   it is a bunch of    year old children wearing diapers with big bobby pins  acting like adults  and too much so   . however  it is interesting because it is a good example of how  the good old days  may not have been so good after all   thank god we have laws against this kind of material now    br    br   this is one short from the  shirley temple festival    
this is a run  of  the  mill nature porn movie . by porn  i don  t mean sex . i mean gratuitous images of  for example  thousands of birds together  or hundreds of walruses  or a giant waterfall or iceberg . several of the shots in the film seem to exist solely to make their way into the trailer  to get people into theatres to see it for all of ten seconds before it disappears never to be seen again for the rest of the film .  br    br   there is almost no plot in this film . told to expect a story of three animal families   better than march of the penguins   the movie simply doesn  t deliver . the blame rests in three key areas    the writers who gave james earl jones some of the worst lines to narrate in nature film history     the music team who over  dramatized everything to tell you what you should be feeling  even when the film fails to motivate  and lastly but most importantly    the editors who had the story jump from place to place with no rhyme or reason  no continuity  no flow  sucking the life out of the entire film   a film about life . when we got to the whales halfway through the film  i sunk back in my seat with dread  hoping against hope that the film was more than halfway through  and that i  d be able to survive the long endurance test along with the animals on screen .  br    br   there was also almost no science in the film at all . they attributed hot and cold  all of it  not just the seasons  solely to the earth  s tilt  ignoring the fact that we  d have even greater extremes from location to location if there was no tilt because the poles would never warm . and it would be worst if we had no rotation  relative to revolution  like mercury  because half the planet would bake and the other half would freeze . then near the end they used the phrase  humans and animals   as if humans are not animals  somehow exempt from the laws of nature . so much for science .  br    br   i must credit the camera work  however  and again that is why i call this nature porn . everything from super  slow  motion to what appears to be a finely  tuned mechanically  controlled time  lapse photography  was put to use to provide some  and i caution  only  some   stunning moments that do raise the bar compared to other nature films . that said  i am not convinced that it was all nature on the screen . some of the shots showing the great watering hole in africa  as it changed from season to season seemed like cgi to me . a director might have expected such suspicion and built in other shots to demonstrate that it  s all natural  but they didn  t do that .  br    br   for a film about earth  i had expected a lot more of earth to be shown . what we saw was pristine . we had to take the narrator  s word for it that some species are at risk due to climate changes . they didn  t show us evidence of it . they didn  t show us alberta  s poisonous tailing ponds visible from space . they didn  t show us the great pacific trash whorl . they didn  t show us a nighttime picture of human light pollution around the planet . these are as much earth as anything else . why cover it up for a feel  good whitewash   br    br   my last criticism of the content is of predation . any time a predator was shown on the screen actually hunting prey  the music turned almost into that mt doom scene from lord of the rings  with the predator portrayed as some kind of sauron ultimate  evil character . but predators aren  t evil . they perform a necessary service  ensuring that the best members of the prey species survive . we are predators ourselves . any time the predator caught the prey  we immediately cut away to something else  to sort of pretend that death and eating don  t really happen . the final insult was the  dad  polar bear being left to die after he dared to try to eat .  bad bear  bad    you can almost hear them say .  br    br   on to the presentation itself . my theatre may be in part to blame for this  but maybe not . i had expected to see something with greater clarity than i could see on my own hdtv lcd at home . but the picture was blurry  and was presented in the same     ratio i could get at home  instead of the wider ratio many films come in these days . and during one action  packed scene near the end  the film  i can  t imagine this happening digitally  from how it looked  was damaged  and we lost several of the colors  eventually blacking out completely . that repeated about three times .  br    br   if they actually do plant a tree on my behalf  it will have been worth it . but how will i know   
this is a horrible little film   and unfortunately  the company that made this short made several others . the short is essentially a one  joke idea that wasn  t funny to begin with and may also offend you . it certainly made me uncomfortable watching very young children  most appeared about  years  old  cavorting about and pretending to be adults   in this case  a dancehall girl and bar room patrons . it  s the sort of humor that you might be forced to laugh at from your own kids if they pretended to be adults  but i can  t see anyone wanting to see this   especially when a very young shirley temple is dressed in a rather slinky outfit and acts like a vamp   and then  other kids act like adults in some rather adult situations . at the time  i am sure they were not trying to appeal to pedophiles  but when looking at it today  that is what immediately comes to mind  because of this  this boring film also creeped me out and i hope to never see it again   pretty strange and pretty awful .  
more eeriness and dark secrets released in the final parts of lars von trier  s fantastic horror satire the kingdom . . . much more is revealed and the ending just leaves you begging for more . plus a great performance from udo kier in a more substantial role . . .  
this stalk and slash turkey manages to bring nothing new to an increasingly stale genre . a masked killer stalks young  pert girls and slaughters them in a variety of gruesome ways  none of which are particularly inventive .  br    br   it  s not scary  it  s not clever  and it  s not funny . so what was the point of it   
in celebration of earth day disney has released the film  earth  . stopping far short of any strident message of gloom and doom  we are treated to some excellent footage of animals in their habitats without feeling too bad about ourselves .  br    br   the stars of the show are a herd of elephants  a family of polar bears and a whale and its calf . the narrative begins at the north pole and proceeds south until we reach the tropics  all the while being introduced to denizens of the various climatic zones traversed .  br    br   global warming is mentioned in while we view the wanderings of polar bear note is made of the shrinking sea ice islands in more recent years . we never see the bears catch any seals  but the father  s desperate search for food leads him to a dangerous solution .  br    br   the aerial shots of caribou migrating across the tundra is one of the most spectacular wildlife shots i ever saw it and another of migrating wildfowl are enough to reward the price of admission to see them on the big screen .  br    br   one of the disappointments i felt was that otherwise terrific shots of great white sharks taking seals were filmed in slow motion . never do you get the sense of one characteristic of wild animals their incredible speed . the idea of slowing down the film to convey great quickness i think began with  or at least it  s the first i recall seeing  the television show  kung fu  during the early seventies .  br    br   an interesting sidelight is that as the credits roll during the end some demonstrations of the cinematographic techniques employed are revealed . there are enough dramatic  humorous and instructive moments in this movie to make it a solid choice for nature buffs . perhaps because of some selective editing  sparing us  as it were  from the grisly end of a prey  predator moment  and the fact that this footage had been released in     and is available on dvd it is a solid film in its own right . and you can take your kids   br    br   three stars .  
i saw this movie once late on a public tv station  so i don  t know if it  s on video or not .   br    br   this is one of the  baby burlesks   sic  that shirley temple did in the early     s . it is hard to believe that anyone would let their daughter be in this racy little film which today might just be considered this side of  kiddie porn  .  br    br   shirley temple stars in a cast which probably has an average age of  . they are all in diapers  and are in a saloon which serves milk instead of alcohol . the  cash  is in the form of lollipops .  br    br   shirley playing a  femme fatale  sashays up to the bar and talks to soldiers who make suggestive comments about her    . but shirley doesn  t need really their lollipops  cash because her purse is full of ones from other  men  .  br    br   meanwhile a little black boy does a suggestive dance on a nearby table    .  br    br   what a strange film . . . infants using racy dialogue playing adult roles in a saloon . who thought up this stuff any way   
this documentary makes you travel all around the globe . it contains rare and stunning sequels from the wilderness . it shows you how diversified and how fragile our planet can be . the polar bear  s future is highlighted at the beginning and at the end of it . after all  its bleak future is closely linked with the consequences of global warming . this documentary is however a simplistic approach of such a serious environmental issue . it can nonetheless be easily seen by young children since it mainly remains descriptive . scientists might well be disappointed as it is not a remake of al gore  s documentary  an inconvenient truth  but frankly . . . what a description    a question may then arise isn  t it worth preserving our world  s beauty  because this documentary proves that in     such a beauty still exists despite the different pollutions . by living in towns and cities we tend to forget that we are part and parcel of this nature . all things considered this documentary reminds us that we own a common treasure called  earth  .  
i rented the dubbed  english version of lensman  hoping that since it came from well  known novels it would have some substance . while there were hints of substance in the movie  it mostly didn  t rise above the level of kiddie cartoon . maybe the movie was a bad adaptation of the book  or it lost a lot in the dubbed version . or maybe even the source novels were lightweight . but for whatever reason  there wasn  t much there .  br    br   i noticed lots of details that were derivative  sloppy  poorly dramatized  or otherwise deficient . some examples the opening scenes looked borrowed from the      star gate  scene and the star wars image of hyperspace . the robot on the harvester looked like an anthropomorphized  r   d   .  br    br   it starts out trying to borrow its comic relief style of star wars  but mercifully  since the humor doesn  t work  gives up on comedy and plays it serious . in that sense  it  s superior to the star wars franchise  which started with a clever sense of humor  and eventually deteriorated to jar  jar  s annoying silliness .  br    br   the agricultural details were apparently drawn by someone who had never seen a farm . the harvester was driving through the unharvested middle of a field  dumping silage onto unharvested crops  rather than working from one side to the other and dumping the silage onto already  harvested rows or into a truck . corn  maize  was pouring out the grain chute  but the farm lands were drawn like a wheat field .  br    br   when it was time for kim  s father had to face his fate  there wasn  t any dramatic weight to the scene . that could have been partly the fault of the english  language voice actor  but the drawings didn  t show much weight either . kim  s reactions in that scene were similarly unconvincing .  br    br   similarly  when a character named henderson was killed  chris showed very little reaction  even though they were apparently supposed to have been close .  henderson  s death is no spoiler his name isn  t revealed until his death scene .  she seems to promptly forget him . someone  s expression of sympathy shows more feeling than she does . i think the voice actor deserves most of the blame in that case there  s at least a hint of feeling in the drawings of chris .  br    br   on several occasions  villains fail to accomplish their orders . a villain leader often punishes those failures with miserable deaths . i can  t say whether that  s lifted from star wars  or if that comes from an earlier source   possibly the lensman books .  br    br   there  s a scene where a space ship crash  lands . as it plunges toward the ground  parts are break off the ship . but so many pieces are fall off that there should be nothing left of it by the time it lands .  br    br   while in most cases chris seems like a competent  tough space hero  there  s a scene where she shrieks like an incompetent damsel in distress . someone tough enough to get over henderson  s death so quickly should at least be able to shout   help  it  s got me and i can  t reach my gun   instead of just shrieking .  br    br   the character with the most personality  almost too much at times  is d . j . bill . he sounded like wolfman jack  the d . j . in american graffiti . i wonder if he  s as well  voiced in the original language .  br    br   two planets in the movie exploded . the explosions were unimpressive  and appeared to owe a lot of inspiration to star wars . to its credit  however  the cause of the explosion was completely unlike the death star  s primary weapon . the dialog had a good  interesting explanation for the cause . many other explosions in the movie did look good  just not the planetary explosions .  br    br   some of the sound effects are very cheesy  as if borrowed from a late     s video game . some of the images look like primitive video games  and some influence from tron is visible too . on the other hand  the sound effects are often pretty decent  although that emphasizes the cheesy  sounding parts . the art is good too  particularly when it stays away from the often cheesy  looking computer graphics .  br    br   finally  there  s the story . if a movie tells a good story  it can get away with a lot of production shortcomings . but the plot here was pretty lightweight . a nave boy tries to help someone on a crippled space ship  and acquires a great power he doesn  t understand . he and his band of very virtuous companions struggle against a powerful  unredeemably evil enemy . he makes friends  learns about his special power  and grows into a young man . if he is persistent and virtuous enough  he might even defeat the evil enemy . details along the way can make such a story rise above the simple outline  but there  s very little more than that in this movie .  br    br   in the end  it  s just a kiddie cartoon . but then  since it looks like the primary intended audience is older children  maybe it doesn  t need to be anything more than that .  
the spoiler warning is for those people who want to see for themselves what animals and landscapes pass before their eyes  although i don  t mention it in great detail .  br    br    earth  is an approx .   minute cinema version based on  planet earth  which i watched all on bbc tv . the tv version was narrated by david attenborough  a captivating commentator  who i had wished had also done it for  earth  but it is patrick stewart  star trek  s captain picard . there are regularly shots of the earth from space so that  s may be appropriate . in any case he has a nice enough and calm voice for it . there are   chapters in which we follow animal life on earth from north pole to antarctica .  animal families  polar bear  elephant and whale  appear in more than one of these parts . each  chapter  starts with an indication how far from north pole or equator it is . we see something of each kind of animal  but only mammals and birds  and some fish  and some beautiful shots of vegetation  mountains  waterfalls  deserts and jungle  a near perfect presentation of the variety of life and landscapes and climates on earth . you get the impression that our planet is only inhabited by animals people or villages or cities aren  t in the film  so it  s a typical nature documentary  but breathtakingly shot and accompanied by delightful music . when the film opened i already knew it would end far too soon for me . it is a family film  so no brutal killings of any animals . when one is caught by his hunter the shot ends and in other cases where we see the prey being caught it  s shot in slow  motion which makes it less violent and watchable for young children  age limit  in the netherlands  . no blood is shed . some scenes  newly born animals  are really cute and will be adored by kids . it looks like an ordinary nature film but when you know how many shooting days it took       and how much money it has cost it becomes an even more astonishing piece of beauty . it had it  s dutch premiere yesterday  a month before the actual release  in a cinema of    seats  of which   were taken . true beauty is rarely interesting for cinema goers  it seems . as i knew the tv  series i was of course very curious if my favourite scenes would make it into this movie . some didn  t  but the most impressive shots  big waterfalls  did  luckily . it was the first time i ever cried in a nature film .  
the original lensman series of novels is a classic of the genre . it  s pure adventure sf with some substance  here and there  and i  ve always wondered why hollywood hasn  t filmed it verbatim because it  s just the kind of thing they love massive explosions  super  weapons  uber  heroics  hero gets the girl  aliens  great cgi potential   good versus evil in the purest form  etc etc . instead  and bear in mind i  m a japan  o  phile and anime lover  we get this horrendous kiddies movie that rips the guts out of the story  mixes in star  wars  ironic as the latter ripped off the books occasionally  pastiches and dumbs the whole thing down to  thundercats  level . to see kimball kinnison  the epitome of the galactic patrol officer and second stage lensman portrayed as a small boy is pitiful  etc  . i just can  t understand why the makers did this because they obviously had the rights to the story and could have made far more money  far   by telling straight . it makes no sense .  
you have to see it to believe it  directors alastair fothergill and mark linfield have done a thing really great  it is a   out of   so i can not believe that other user of this web had rate it so poor  unless they were expecting to see just a normal movie  with people  love scenes  and so on . i am also convinced that this kind of documentaries are an excellent way to wake up us in order to save our beautiful planet . finally  it has nothing to do with al gore  s documentary  movie  an inconvenient truth  mainly made of long monologues  painfully and with  truths  not always accurate  as many scientists have pointed already .  br    br   the best thing you can do on earth is not miss earth .  
wow . watching this film today  you can  t help but be appalled by the writing of this film . spencer tracy and loretta young play a couple who  in modern times  might be featured on  the jerry springer show    as they have a sick and abusive relationship . . . and inexplicably  the writers appear to be endorsing it   br    br   the film begins with a hungry and homeless loretta being shown the ropes by the poor but very resourceful spencer tracy . he shows her how by conniving you can do very well with little money and takes her home to his shack to stay . it  s never clear whether or not they marry   and considering it  s a pre  code film  you can assume they aren  t even though they are cohabiting . their relationship is very strange . . . and rather sick . while you can see that tracy cares about her by his actions  he is verbally abusive and a total jerk    and young comes running back for more like some sort of dog . he calls her  skinny  or  ugly  and these are  in a sick way  his way of using endearments  later  when he starts fooling around with another woman  glenda farrell   she tells her friend that if that  s what he wants  it  s okay with her    it sure smacks of a sado  masochistic relationship and you can  t help but feel a bit horrified . sure  he doesn  t hit her but the relationship is very abusive . to show how sick it is  when young gets pregnant  she tells him  . . . it  s your baby and it  s mine  but you don  t need to worry  i  ll take all the blame for it    yikes  doesn  t this all seem a bit like looking through a peephole into a sick and dysfunctional home   later  in a case of art imitating life  tracy proves what sort of man he is and disappears . after all  he can  t be burdened with a baby   even if it  s his . but  he changes his mind and decides to return home . wow . . . that  s bit of him  and  when he returns  he  s nasty and acts like if he stays  he isn  t obligated to care for the kid   and  she tells him he  s  a free man . . . free as a bird   wow  i was almost in tears at this tender moment . . . not  soon  this crazy pair are married . . . and  naturally  young is depressed because he seems to be staying as long as it suits him   not because of any love or sense of responsibility . so how can you salvage anything with this sort of sick characters  what would you do  well  as for the writers  they have tracy soon commit a robbery to help pay for the brat  the romantic aspects of the film are underwhelming to say the least  during the robbery  tracy behaves like a chump   doing almost nothing to take precautions not to get caught   like he was secretly hoping to get sent to prison . and  to show what sort of nice guy he is  the guy he tries to rob is one of his best friends .  br    br   while there  s more to the film  the bottom line is that tracy is a jerk and young is an idiot in the film . despite both being very good actors  there  s absolutely no way they could make anything of this crap the writers produced . nice music  nice sets  good acting . . . and a script that is     poo . how the film is currently rated  .  is beyond me and i wonder how anyone can ignore the pure awfulness of the characters . a horrible misfire that somehow didn  t destroy the careers of those involved .  br    br   oh  and if you wonder if loretta ever gets a backbone in this film or plays a person who is the least bit strong  the answer is no  by the end  she  s learned nothing and hasn  t changed one whit for the better .  br    br   they sure don  t make films like they used to . . . and in this case . . . thank god   
rather annoying that reviewers keep comparing this to planet earth . . . of course planet earth is better  it has much much more of the same . earth is like an extended trailer for the planet earth series  and as such  is inevitably inferior and simplified . but that is not comparing like with like .  br    br   as a feature  length documentary  or actually as a feature  length anything   it surpasses pretty much anything you will see in your entire life  unless you choose to traverse the earth in helicopters with long  range cameras for years on end  and wait for months in the most extreme environments to catch a glimpse of the most extraordinary beings on earth  which  lets face it  is unlikely  .  br    br   on the narration yes everyone in the uk  very much including me  adores david attenborough  and there  s little excuse for him not to be narrating here  but that hardly deserves knocking down a star or three . he wasn  t a presenter on planet earth  just a narrator  and i  m sure he  s modest and gracious enough to realise that anything that gets more viewers in is a good thing .  br    br   anyone who sees this will be overwhelmed by its awe  majesty and glory . all reviewers agree on that . those who love it  ie . everyone  will  should go on to see an buy planet earth . so three cheers for its cinematic release  and a big boooo for anyone cheap enough to buy this on dvd rather than the planet earth box  set . but as works of art they  re not in competition here people .  br    br   the earth is big enough for both .  
the movie has a good start portraying an interesting and strong shannon lee and introduces two very simpathetic side characters through the first half . but later something happens and all the sudden shannon turns into this straight faced  second hand bad girl and the movie gets lost in it  s own context . the second half lacks any kind of charisma and is full of clichs  bad acting  a horrible plot and even worse stunt coordination . not to mention the horrible actors they chose for the chechen mafia gang .  br    br    game of death   was bad and clownified bruce  but his daughter tops it making an even bigger embarrassment of herself than the double who played bruce lee back then . i truly believe that she can do much better than this and i hope she participates in a better production next time .  br    br   if you are a real hard core action fan and don  t care about quality go ahead and see this movie . i was personally looking forward to it but just got terribly disappointed .  
just like al gore shook us up with his painfully honest and cleverly presented documentary  movie  an inconvenient truth   directors alastair fothergill and mark linfield also remind us that it  s about time to improve our way of life in order to save our beautiful planet .  planet earth  is also a wake  up call that the global warming of our planet has disastrous consequences for all living creatures around the world . al gore showed us the bleak future of planet earth by presenting hard facts backed up by documented examples through long yet always interesting monologues . the creators of this documentary choose a different yet equally powerful way to accomplish this . they do not present us with a future representation of what might occur to our planet if we don  t radically change things around  but they rather show us the genuine beauty of planet earth in all of its amazing glory . we see places that we knew that existed but never thought they could be so beautiful . in this movie  we see a wide array of the most extraordinary places such as forsaken deserts  giant forests full of fauna and flora and icy  landscapes as far as the eye could see . and in all of those immensely different environments  we see the most beautiful animals trying to survive .  br    br   this is exactly the kind of movie that had to be made  in combination with the one from al gore  in order to make us realize that our planet is too precious to meddle with . the voice  over by patrick stewart is always relaxing and thus very well done although at first it sounded as though i was watching an x  men movie instead  the cinematography is probably the most remarkable thing of this documentary . at times what you see is so unreal that you tend to forget that a man with a camera actually had to film all of that delightful footage .  br    br   in short this is definitely a must  see for everyone since it concerns every single person on this beautiful planet earth  the truth is i never thought our planet was so astonishingly beautiful   
i  m not sure what hk movies the other reviewers have been watching  but enter the eagles is nowhere near the top of the heap in hk action . michael  fitz  wong should be glad he can get acting jobs in hk  because he couldn  t act his way out of a wet paper bag in english . shannon lee looks good and is a fantastic fighter  even better with the leg fighting than her dad   but her acting skills are also sub  par . in fact  all the english dialog     of the movie   even more than in gen  y cops  is so bad that i switched to mandarin audio just to spare myself the misery of the bad dialog delivery and the redundancy of the english subs . sure  there are some decent gunfights  but nothing we haven  t already seen before  and good cinematography  but the cheesy visual effects really spoil the action .  br    br   that said  it  s worth the price of admission to watch shannon and benny  the jet  urquidez go at it . spectacular  and almost worth watching the rest of the movie for .  br    br   finally  you might notice some scenes that seem  familiar  to you  notably a shootout at an outdoor market  think matrix  and fitz diving out of a helicopter wearing black fatigues  think mi   . guess someone thought at least a few things in this flick were worth ripping off .  
i have to say that sometimes  looks  are all that matters  just like jeremy clarkson from bbc has pointed out  not about our earth though  but he is right anyway  .  br    br   and when it comes to looks  this movie is such an unbelievably stunning beauty you will absolutely love what your eyes are about to see .  br    br   and then there  s the personality of the movie as well  interesting  with a captivating narrator voice and narrator stories that will touch your soul as you watch those superbly filmed images .  br    br   the movie probably won  t affect your lifestyle  ruining these beauties  but it will certainly remember you how precious our earth we live on truly is .  br    br   this movie deserves it  s   stars as it is one of the few stylistic earth documentaries i truly enjoyed .  
one question why  first off  the premise is not funny or engaging at all . they use taped interviews  and take the audio to animate ite with animals speaking the parts . first off  the interviews aren  t funny or entertaining to begin with  and even if they were  i am sure they would be a lot more entertaining being viewed as they are originally  without being turned into cartoons . how does that add any hilarity to it  i turned on cbs  s monday night sitcom line  up   which has become a regular way for me to relax after stressful monday workdays  and found this on . of course  the sitcom line  up would be reruns anyway  being summer  but seeing those episodes over again would have been more entertaining . i tried to give  cc  a chance . i really did . when it started  i figured  well  maybe it will be funny . nope . and then it kept going . it was a long half hour .  br    br   and i can almost see if there was a purpose  if the interviews were shown in their entirety  and had points to them . but no  it was just one  line clips  cut and pasted together really quick . it was like a horrible dreadful version of cartoon network  s  robot chicken .  i wasn  t a fan of cbs  now  cancelled sitcom  the class .  while that was on  it was one half  hour of the line  up i would struggle through . but if it came down to me deciding a whole season of that or three more episodes of  creatures  . . . . let  s just say i  d take the  class .  considering it  s been a couple hours since it aired  and i come on here to see i am the first to comment . . . i guess that  s a good sign that nobody watched it  and that it won  t last much longer . cartoon roadkill .  
i  ve heard nothing but great things about the     television mini  series   planet earth   narrated by my childhood idol david attenborough . nevertheless  whether it was screened down here in australia or not  i never caught up with it  and when i happened upon the opportunity to see  earth         a feature  length compilation of the same nature footage  on the big screen  i jumped at the chance . the theatre was basically empty just one other patron sat in the row ahead of me  and it was as though i had  not only the big screen to myself  but  indeed  the entire planet earth . for   minutes  i was lowered into the beauty and perils of the isolated wilderness  amongst some of the most beautiful living creatures ever captured on film . awesome in its scope  and yet painfully intimate at times   earth  is a heartfelt plea from the filmmakers to recognise the delicate balance of life on our planet  and how the intrusion of humans has placed countless glorious animal and plant species on the brink of extinction .  br    br   though the film  directed by alastair fothergill and mark linfield  obviously argues for the conservation of the wilderness  it refrains from beating us over the head with propaganda  and the puzzle that is politics is ignored altogether indeed  there is not a human in sight . instead  we are simply taken on a breathtaking journey into the majesty of the natural world  to experience the resilience  and also the fragility  of life on earth . i hear that the original mini  series  which ran for eleven episodes  delves a lot deeper into the scientific background of world ecosystems  but i think that  here  the filmmakers made a wise decision to replace information with emotional impact i can  t remember the last time that i felt so inspired  and yet utterly heartbroken at the same time . by establishing an emotional link between the audience and a select few individual animals  anthropomorphising them to an extent  we are suddenly able to appreciate the  human side  of each species  and their hopeless plight for survival becomes less a statistic and more an unacceptable tragedy .  br    br    earth  is basically comprised of a selection of dramatic episodes  whether it be the struggles of a female polar bear to lead her young cubs to the arctic ice  or the tramp of an elephant herd towards the life  saving seasonal floodwaters of the okavango delta . the documentary demonstrates the delicate balance between life and death  most heartbreakingly exhibited in the desperate ballet of predator  prey interactions . though occasionally  perhaps to cater towards a younger audience  the footage cuts itself short at the crucial moment  i regularly shed at tear at the inevitability of death in nature  and the raw instinct that fuels these animals  final  hopeless efforts at survival . there  s even a haunting beauty to be found in the hunt  both in the slow  motion footage of a cheetah bringing down its prey the result of a single fateful misstep  or the majestic mid  air leap of a great white shark as it engulfs a hapless sea lion . it is this frail balance that has been fatally disrupted by the selfishness of our own species .  br    br   aside from these main stories  we are also treated to brief snippets of wildlife from around the world  including the birds of paradise of papua new guinea  and the autumn migration of the demoiselle cranes . of course  entire films might have been dedicated to these species alone  and an inevitable consequence of having to sift through so much footage is that some interesting ecosystems are glossed over far took quickly . by choosing to focus most closely on the polar bear  elephant and humpback whale  tracing their lifestyles  via some astonishing high  definition time  lapse photography  throughout a calender year  the filmmakers were able to avoid any structural problems that might arise from having so much to show  and only   minutes to show it . consequently   earth  left me thirsting for more  and  fortunately  i now have approximately eleven hours more  as soon as i can track down a copy of the dvd box  set for  planet earth .  uplifting and tear  jerking  awe  inspiring and heartrending   earth  is a truly magnificent documentary experience  and it might just be my favourite film of     .  
the british claymation series putting  witty  conversations taped from  average  people in the mouths of  cute  fanciful creatures at least had the advantage for non  british viewers of seeming droll and the kind of rarefied cultured humor you couldn  t get on u . s . television . someone made the mistake of putting it on u . s . television .  br    br   sort of like the sadly miscast american version of the sublime brit  com coupling which died in a month on nbc when the same basic scripts didn  t  translate  from british english to american english  what seemed droll and cultured  and just a bit dull  in england  comes across in creature comforts  the american version  as simply boredom with puppets . there  s no through plot  line  no characters and after one and a half episodes watched  of the three ultimately aired   no reason to suffer through more .  br    br   the only positive thing to be said about the new summer series and the mercifully brief run it had is that the claymation is at least professionally done and coming as a set  up for the single worst show on the cbs schedule  the new adventures of old christine  or  how to be a horrible mother  or person  in one interminable  unfunny lesson    kids who wanted to stay up past their bedtime happily ran to bed rather than sit through this show  and the adults could wait to tune in until  pm when  two and a half men   guilty pleasure  and  how i met your mother   actual quality writing  come on .  
there is some spectacular  heart stoppingly beautiful photography here of a range of scenery and animals  from arctic to tropical and everything in between . the camera techniques are varied and spot on from close ups to aerial work . editing is tremendous and the commentary is spot on too  with just the right tone and some dramatic and telling facts about our world . where the film falls down a bit is in trying to cover and integrate four themes  seasonal patterns  climate change  individual animal stories and hunter  hunted interactions across multiple environments . eventually it all gets a bit bitty and disjointed . overall  well worth seeing especially given the issues covered but don  t expect oscar material .  
although this film was made before dogme emerged as the predominant method of filmmaking  and before digital triumphed over   strike that . you get the point . this     masterpiece clearly anticipated those developments . corin nemec is just outstanding as the ne  er do well author and narrator . the pace is slow  but elegantly so  because the cinematography is so beautiful . record it the next time its on t . v .  because i guarantee you  ll never see a better nostalgia rip  off made  for  t . v . movie . direct  to  video never felt so good   
i loved the way earth is made . its photography is unbelievable  editing it must have been an interesting challenge and patrick stewart  s voice over is perfect . in addition its music and sound editing make watching earth a profound experience you don  t want to miss . you really are on a journey to where you would probably never  ever end up by yourself .  br    br   and although  at first  i was quite surprised by the laughter of the audience as we see animals in their daily fight for survival  i could not help laughing myself sometimes . nature simply seems too impressive to comprehend .  br    br   but  rather than the need to laugh  i left the cinema with a profound question  howcome    years of industrial revolution can destroy natural systems that have been here for thousands and thousands of years    br    br   with this question in mind  you  ll understand how i felt somewhat bitter and powerless after seeing earth . i felt the immediate need to change the world  to help all these animals in their struggle  to undo the changes we have gone through the last centuries and to stop the global heating at once  all that not being a ngo activist at all   . . .  br    br   so i immediately visited the website mentioned at the end of the film to see what i could do to save our  still  fantastic planet  and the polar bear  from its depressing fate . . .  www . loveearth . com   br    br   i was a little disappointed to find no direct answers to my questions there . yet it was very interesting to find out more about the film and the struggle its crew went through .  br    br   i hope that cutting on my energy  use will do . i don  t know how else to shorten the distance polar bears have to swim to reach land before they drown or attack animals they cannot beat in their exhausted state . . .  br    br   an inspiring film it is  but i didn  t leave the cinema feeling very happy .  
may contain spoilers     so i watched this movie last night on lmn  lifetime movie network  which is not known for showing quality movies . this movie is awful  i am still amazed that i watched the entire thing  as it was terrible . could this movie contain any more stereotypes   harping jewish mother who wants son to be a doctor  catholic family with priest sons  big big crucifixes in every room shown in the catholic family  s house  mexican whores   bad  guy who is really a softie at heart  incredibly bad country accents  gag     i was at first intrigued by the fact that i had never heard of this movie and after seeing that cheryl pollack and corin nemec were in it  i decided to stay awake until  am to watch it . anyway  the only redeeming thing about this movie is madchen amick  s beauty . i suppose pollack  s and nemec  s acting is okay  but they have a horrid script to work with . unlike the other reviewer who commented on the lack of texan accents  the movie is supposed to take place in austin and very few people there have a twang  i think that the accents were there  in supporting characters like mary margaret  s date and john  and were unnecessary . they were also very very bad . i am so very tired of hollywood  southern  accents that sound nothing like the area where the accent is supposed to be from . and since it was supposed to take place in austin and shooting movies there in     would not have been expensive  i fully expected there to be familiar shots of the town the beautiful capitol building  the ut tower lit up for a winning football game  etc . none of these things were there . also  it takes about    hours to drive to mexico from austin . at one point in the movie  michael and his posse take off for mexico to lose their virginities and are able to drive off when it is dark  during the summer and early fall it doesn  t get dark in austin until  pm or so   spend time in mexico getting drunk and having sex with mexican  is there any other kind   whores  and then return to austin by dawn . while this is theoretically possible it is not very likely . and if anyone has started school in the hill country  usually the third week of august  but may have been in september in      they know that unless they want to pass out from heat stroke they do not wear their letter jackets      in august and september in austin and the surrounding areas it is    degrees . only people with no body temperature would be stupid enough to wear sweaters or letter jackets on the first day of school . all in all  a very bad made for tv movie experience .  
second part  actually episode     of the hit danish tv  series is slightly inferior to the first one  but has plenty of laughs and scares as well . this time  udo kier plays two parts  as the monster baby and his demon  like father . other standout parts this time are sren pilmarks doctor krogshoj  who must face the horrible revenge of dr . helmer  and once again  patient mrs . drusse tries to solve the mysteries  miss marple  style . ends on a cliffhanger and following the deaths of lead actors ernst hugo jregrd  dr . helmer  and kirsten rolffes  mrs . drusse   you wonder how theyre ever going to be able making part iii  but i hope von trier will give it a shot . sadly  morten rotne leffers  the downs syndrome dishwasher    died shortly after  as well . look for stellan skarsgrd in a cameo .   
firstly  there are some good things about this film  but it  s all cliche slasher stuff combined with a teen movie . in the advertising of this movie  that i  ve seen  a large emphasis was on the fact that denise richards is in it  but she  s a poor actress  and not as good looking as people try to make her out to be  not that that has anything to do with the movie  . and what  s with that look she gives everyone  perhaps it  s part of the character  but like i said  the acting . . . still  the writing is fine . you know who it is all throughout the movie  and you can almost predict what is about to happen  but not in an irritating way . i think the book it  s based on is probably good  judging by the plot line  but next time i  ll read the book to find out rather than watch this .  
this was playing at our theater in amsterdam and the film we wanted to see was sold  out so we went to this  not knowing anything about it other than it was a documentary about the planet . we were very happy at our misfortune as this was a very powerful film about life and the delicate balance we all share with the rest of the inhabitants of earth . this film has some of the most breathtaking photography i have ever seen in a film and took me places from deserts to oceans to rain forests and displayed things i have never seen in a film  tv or book   earth  is a film that every student should see before they become jaded . i will encourage my niece to see this film since she will be inheriting the planet we leave her . this is also a film to see on a theater screen or a very big television since the photography is so powerful and exotic .  
while flipping through the channels on a late saturday night  my friends and i stumbled across this film . first of all  irish actor pierce brosnan as a native american  seriously   his accent was breaking through so much  although his character was apparently scottish . next  i was stunned to find that this film was made after he had already played james bond  agent    at least twice . this movie plays up the stereotypes  with the inspiring professor figure . the girl who played pony should be paid to keep her mouth shut . and  this film won an award  i cannot believe it . brosnan is an attractive man  but we seriously wanted to gauge our eyes out after watching this for just   seconds . we switched from  kicking and screaming  to this  and we wanted to switch back . we watched the     children  s classic  the indian in the cupboard  earlier in the night  which also discussed the iroquois . the following line represents our desire to run away  take me outside  earth grasper .  from  grey owl    if you don  t like it  you don  t have to watch .   
this is simply the most astonishing movie you will ever see . i thought it was just another documentary  but it really is something else . it doesn  t try to teach you anything  it shows you how life works in nature .  br    br   i won  t talk about the quality of the pictures  because you obviously know from other comments it is unmatched .  br    br   earth is funny  tense and sad . it can make you laugh  it can make you cry . sometimes both at the same time . this is the first movie that made me cry  not because you feel sorry for the animals  but because you come to realise how fragile our planet is and what treasure we were blessed with  yet we don  t appreciate it one bit .  br    br   this movie should be shown obligatory in schools . it is the most wonderful film you will ever see  so go and see it . who knows  maybe it is the last time we might see our planet like this . . .  br    br         but i would easily rate it more if it were possible .  
      possible spoiler       br    br   youd think a story involving archie grey owl  an englishman posing as a red indian  would have a massive amount of humour involved . in fact id say the only way to treat a film like this where a remarkable man cons the gullible public is to treat it as a comedy . however richard attenborough commits something akin to a crime by making grey owl a serious drama . worse  hes made an extremely dire film too . pierce brosnan lacks the charisma needed for the title role and the romantic subplot between grey owl and pony  played by the equally wooden annie gaupeau  lacks any type of on screen chemistry . but to be fair to the cast their not helped with the script which fails to portray archie as the cheeky chappy he is of fooling everyone into believing hes a native american . the producers and screenwriter have made the major error of having the film centre around the plot twist of archie being an englishman  thats why i wrote  possible spoiler  its not actually revealed untill late in the film that the title character is english  but its obvious that everyone who viewed this movie knew that beforehand hence theres absolutely no surprise involved .  br    br   yes i do agree with everyone that the scenery is lovely and that it has a deep ecological message which isnt actually a new concept . theodore roosevelt was the first important environmentalist of the   th century if truth be told . and it should also be remembered that with the exception of soylent green  and possibly the two towers if you want to class it as having a green message  that there hasnt actually been a great ecological film . in fact most environmentally concious films suck and that includes grey owl  a film that unsurprisingly had a serious problem in finding a distributor  
i was really looking forward too seeing this movie as it has been advertised as a must  see movie for people that love movies about nature . the movie shows different climates and the animals associated with them by starting at the north pole and going down south as the movie progresses . the footage from this movie is often breathtakingly beautiful and i many times wondered how on earth they could have taken some of the shots under water or in the sky . however beautiful  a large part of the footage i had already seen in the tv series  planet earth   narrated by david attenborough . i found attenborough  s narration of planet earth to be much better than the narration of earth .  earth  is an easier movie . it skips much of the scientific detail that attenborough covers in his  planet earth  series . for instance  earth will tell you that a tropical sea is an ideal nursery for a young humpback whale  because there are few predators . planet earth will tell you that a tropical sea is a good nursery  because the water is low in oxygen and doesn  t contain enough nutrients to support very large animals  like large sharks  etc . to me  that  s an important difference . that  together with attanborough  s far superior voice make planet earth a far better documentary than earth . still  however  i think earth is worth watching for the beautiful footage and the fact that it  s easier to understand makes it interesting for children too .  
it  s a good movie if you plan to watch lots of landscapes and animals  like an animal documentary . and making pierce brosnan an indian make you wonder  does all those people don  t recognize if someone isn  t indian at plain sight    
brilliant execution in displaying once and for all  this time in the venue of politics  of how  good intentions do actually pave the road to hell  . excellent   
images are great and reflect well the landscapes of canada . the story was  on the other side  quite boring to my eyes it was a love story in the woods just like titanic was a love story on a boat . i did not feel that grey owl was great environmentalist . i usually like lord attenborough but this one was . . . bad .  
kept my attention from start to finish . great performances added to this tremendous film . mr . pacino once again gives us another brilliant character to enjoy .  
james bond in the wilderness  well  that  s the way it looks pierce brosnan is after all best known as bond in  tommorrow never dies        and  golden eye         both shot prior to this release . frankly  the film  s two leads are both badly miscast  with brosnan turning in the marginally more convincing performance  and with annie galipeau  as pony  grey owl  s love interest  having to battle with carelessly  written dialogue .  br    br   the two aunts  on the other hand are perfect . but the film is not about aunts . it is about the wilds of the canadian wilderness . and while the photography may be pretty  there is no grit to the harsh reality of living in the wilds . annie galipeau  as pony  just fails to be convincing  unfortunately  because i really wanted to believe in her . she was a relatively inexperienced twenty  year  old on this film  and it could have worked  but richard attenborough was maybe just not tough enough on her . he makes her look vulnerable  which of course she is . . but in the wrong sort of way .  br    br   but one thing for sure  she appears picture  perfect throughout . but mascara and eyebrow thickener in the wilderness  it just doesn  t fit  especially as she only ever seems to walk forest trials with bond  sorry  grey owl   and use photo  ops for kissing close  ups .  br    br   i  ve lived with forest people in the pacific north west  and they simply don  t look this pretty and stay so sweet while fighting for survival . which brings me to another point the film fails to evoke the period in which it is set the     s . i put the blame here largely on a lack  lustre script that is keen on preaching at the expense of dramatic arc  plot points and those small details that can evoke period through action .  br    br   william nicholson wrote the screenplay  and his latest offering   elizabeth  the golden age  opened three days ago  so i do hope there is an improvement .  br    br   yes  i  ve read the comments others have posted  but i  m not convinced . a lot of potential  but mishandled and even maybe ill  conceived . if it had had a religious film  it would have been panned  but because it preaches environmentalism  the film remains somewhat above criticism  since it is  politically correct .  sorry  for all that  i don  t buy it . amen .  
i appreciate movies like this smart and well  crafted  entertaining  absorbing  well  acted and nicely directed . nobody   even pacino   is chewing the scenery  trying to stand out one of the film  s most effective moments  aielo pulling over at his beloved off ramp  is chilling precisely because of its restraint .  br    br   not as good as  say  quiz show  city hall is of a similar cloth engaging the mind as well as eye  ear  and heart . why such well  hewn entertainment flops at the box office is anybody  s guess .  br    br   you know  pacino does chew it up in one particular scene  but precisely because it  s required . great scene  too .  
this film was made in saskatchewan and manitoba parks and returned the world eye again to what little of the  wild western canada  is left . when archie began to write his stories for the papers the thought of the day was to tame the wilderness and convert  absorb the first nation peoples .  br    br   the film puts forward and asks the question why would a well  educated  obviously talented englishman become an indian   br    br   archie  as an english boy dreams about becoming something but grasping the full meaning of that dream is unique and priceless  no mater what it is . sounds like a famous puppet story doesn  t it .  br    br   in my opinion  i saw archie become my living image of the  cigar store indian  a very wooden character and not real at all  very well done acting on the part of mr . brosnan . he also portrayed the wild indian in the dance scene for the tourist . the fullness and or reality of it weren  t realized till he met and married his wife  annie .  br    br   annie pushed archie in a direction that would bring him to the forefront of the englishman  s world stage  not as himself but grey owl  an canadian native of the wilderness frontier .  br    br   this is the closest archie get to becoming the noble savage prototype .  br    br   mr . brosnan  s interpretation as well as the directors is both well done . i have watched documentaries on grey owl and i think this is a good big screen movie to add to my collection .  br    br   spoiler  i thought the final scenes with archie going to meet the grand council of chiefs was a great a great moment in the film .  br    br   very beautiful canadian lake scenery and real  grey owl  locations .  br    br    
having worked in downtown manhattan  and often ate my lunch during the summer days in the park near city hall  i would see the mayor come and go . it was great being able to go beyond the doors of city hall and see what it looked like in the lobby and through out the entire building . al pacino   mayor john pappas    gigli       gave an outstanding performance through out the entire picture  and especially when he gave a speech at an african american church for a little boy who was slain . john cusack   deputy mayor kevin calhoun    runaway jury       was a devoted servant to the mayor and worshiped him in everything he attempted to accomplish . bridget fonda   marybeth cogan   starts to fall in love with kevin calhoun and gives a great supporting role . last  but not least  danny aiello  frank anselmo    off key       played a mob boss who had some very difficult choices to make towards the end of the picture  great film with great acting and fantastic photography in nyc   
oh dear . some of the best talent in british tv made this serial  and so i can only assume that they were working under incredible time pressure  and had to settle for first takes of many scenes .  br    br   there are some frightening scenes in this highland mystery  mostly when the  monster  attacks and we see it from his point of view   but i  m afraid that i found most of the story unintentionally funny  such as the moment when the hero discovers a dismembered corpse on a golf course oh look  there  s a hand . . . oh  and there  s another hand over there . . . hmm this is a bit puzzling . . .  br    br   for many years fans of british cult tv shows campaigned to have this serial released on vhs or dvd  but the bbc always said no . now i think i understand why   
we often see movies about undesirable things going on in politics  but i still recommend  city hall  . in a role he was born to play  al pacino stars as new york  s mayor who has to deal with the shooting of a boy . but it turns out that nothing that he does will really have any effect . in this movie  the characters are as gritty as we would expect of anyone involved in a political scandal . no matter how much you trust any given politician  you may have your doubts after watching this movie .  br    br   i understand that i can  t name any specific example of something similar to what this movie portrays  but that  s not the point . if we had idealistic impressions of those at the top  this movie tears such ideas down . certainly one that i encourage you to see . also starring john cusack  bridget fonda  danny aiello  anthony franciosa and david paymer .  
i missed the first   or so minutes of the movie but don  t think watching it from the beginning would  ve made any difference . i found the film extremely boring and was disappointed with the acting . i remember patrick swayze and some of the other actors  roy marsden  for instance  in outstanding roles but they all disappointed here due to a very weak script .  kind solomon  s mines  . . . the very short part of the movie inside the  mines  was about as exciting as watching paint dry and i doubt that even a pre  school kid would  ve been spell  bound by watching the fight of the  warriors  . the entire movie was reminiscent of a cheaply produced american tv series . give me indiana jones any day   
full marks for pacino  s rendering of the speech over the dead kid  s coffin shakespeare  s mark antony would be put to shame    br    br   was it paul schrader or was it ken lipper who should be complimented on the remarkable dialogues  they are rich and intelligent and well worth your time if you like movies with good scripts . i found the story narrative developing quite well right up to the voice  over postscript .  br    br   there is little else to talk about in this film even john cusack has done better roles than this one . interestingly  the film is very male oriented   the women are mere appendages .  
well  what can one say  firstly  this adaptation is far too long at  hours  for the complexity  or lack of such  of the plot . the actors try really hard to make something of this film but there is too little content for the time available . swayzee is really not a quatermain character at all . after seeing sean connery  s interpretation of the great man in  the league of extraordinary gentlemen   swayzee really does not make the grade . this chap with the winchester repeating rifle has none of the strength  stature  subtlety  or humour needed for the part  and is upstaged by everyone including the witch doctor  who incidentally seems from my point of view to be more convincing as an actor than the rest of the cast . some of the vistas are pleasing but there are silly mistakes in the cinematography . for example . when the happy team arrive at the water hole in the middle of the desert  their tracks are visible down to the oasis  just waiting for them to walk in them . climbing out of the mine leads to an exit  on the next shot  nothing like the exit seen from the passage they have climbed through  et cetera . i was waiting for doug mcclure to appear at any moment . in some ways i wish he had .  br    br   the leader of the russians pursuing quatermain is a shoddily created stereotypical character who just shoots at everything .  br    br   swayzee does quite well as the sad father  returned to london  who is unable to obtain the custody of his son . swayzee should stick to that sort of thing . he is not able to carry the part of a courageous gentleman with a stout heart  experience of life  and sense of fair play .  br    br    out of   . barely  
city hall is a somewhat mixed bag . part vignettes of nyc political life  and part moralizing tale . al pacino  a dukakis  esque boss with presidential dreams  gives an oft times sullen or subdued performance . there  s a couple times when he chews the scenery  and in the case of city hall  this is where he shines . john cusack gives a subdued and generally flawless performance  without going into caricature of a new orleans dialect  or sliding into melodrama during the films climax . danny aiello as a burrough political chief  is also very good . i love showtunes  too .  br    br   the major problem with city hall  and it is a good movie in many ways  is the general feeling of a lack of momentum . it comes off more like a documentary  than a motion picture . we see the action or follow the story from a detached perspective  and naturally  the viewer doesn  t become involved . when the viewer doesn  t get involved to a certain degree  they become apathetic towards the characters  and eventually  the plot .  br    br   this tends to alienate  and what should have been a riveting  detail divulging finale  came off as a  hmmm . . . uh . . . okay .  they say you  can  t fight city hall   as the tread worn cliche goes . yet  it still can  t stop you from thinking what might have been  if they had just tightened up the screenplay and pacing of this movie .  
i give  stars only for the beautiful pictures of africa . the rest was . . . well pretty boring . for about   min we have the outline of the plot . . . in war of the worlds  the introductory part lasted  oh  about   min  then was real action  this is something like  let  s take a walk in the savanna and gasp at the beautiful sunsets   . and maybe deliver a message  like  don  t kill elephants   . very ecological . i would have expected this out of a  new  steven segal movie  not from this . . . the leading actress makes me think about artificial sun  tan  dyed hair and too much foundation  and i didn  t see one scene where her hair is messed up  or she sweats  or her clothes are dusty . she just doesn  t look like a   century woman  and in the bar  where they seek up our hero  swayze makes a comment about the commander that he looks like dracula . hmmm  bram stoker wrote his book and published it in      and it became famous in the next years . livingstone and other explorers went to central africa from     to     . so unless the action takes place between     and     . . houston  we have a problem .   swayze makes a nice impression . . as a nutshell  hard on the outside  but soft and cuddly on the inside . not that i would cuddle with a nut  but you get the point . he really manages to have that beaten puppy look on his face on several occasions . the movie stank . way too long and increasingly boring . don  t watch it  don  t buy it  it  s a waste of your money   
riget ii is a good sequel  but not quite as good as the first one . this series don  t seem to be quite as serious as the first one . there are much more comedy in this  good one  though .  br    br   we  re back at the danish rigshospitalet  the danish national hospital . mrs . drusse is just about to leave the hospital as her work is done  but fate want  s it otherwise . she is soon chasing ghosts and helmer is doing everyone mad and it  s soon to get much worse as black powers are unleashed in the kingdom .  br    br   this story involves a lot more comedy that the previous . by all means lot of fun  but it makes you take the series a little less serious . the story has kept a lot of elements from the last series and added some new ones . it  s well written  but some of the new elements are just kind of silly  but they save it by making it more like a comedy . good story  but not as good  original and thrilling as the first series .  br    br   the actors are the same with some addition to the regular cast . they are all very good . it  s an odd story and setting . some parts are a total freak show and the characters change during the show so to keep it serious and keep it real is not an easy job . yet  these actors handle this whole situation perfectly .  br    br   much of the good qualities from the first series are kept intact . the cinematography is one of those qualities . the hand  held camera that made trier world famous gives suspense and reality to the series . it gives the camera a unique ability to move and follow the characters and trier makes use of these abilities . good  movement  great lightning and good composition and editing makes this enjoyable to watch .  br    br   be prepare to see better effect in this sequel that in the first . also be prepared to see some more . i didn  t think that green thing looked all too good . thought it was unoriginal and didn  t fit . never the less  the effects like the ghosts are really good . the non  digital effects looks good too . little brother looks just really odd  but you accept it . all over i  d say effects are from ok to good .  br    br   the music is also quite good . moody and nice . some of it are really touching . it fits really nice . as the first one there are rather little music in the action scenes and it works very well .  br    br   all together this makes a good sequel . if you  d seen riget you can see this one without being disappointed . it has many of the same qualities as the first series . however  i would recommend seeing the first series before seeing this . these two makes up a series you don  t wanna miss .  
in an attempt to bring back the teen slasher genre that was taken away by spoofs like scary movie and shriek if you know what i did last friday the   th  valentine fails . why did people like halloween  because it was original  new and went beyond anything that  s ever been done . why did they like scream  because at least it made sense . valentine is just a stupid slasher  flick that has hardly any gore what so  ever . the plot is so similar to halloween and urban legend it  s not funny . and the moment the killer comes on screen  you know who it is  it  s just sssssssssssooooooooooooo predictable . the teen slasher genre is dead get over it   br    br    out of    
i liked the quiet noir of the first part  the acting of pacino and cusak  especially their scenes together . the moodiness of the setting and the juxtaposition of the old pol and the idealistic youth was effecting . i wish bridget fonda had more scenes in the movie she was an earnest and appealing character . the film went off the rails for me when the assistant mayor starting snooping around the mafioso to get to the bottom of something his boss clearly didn  t want him meddling in . nobody in their right mind would meet a mafioso on an abandoned dock in a junkyard . here the story became implausible . something that i don  t understand why did the cop and vito have a shootout if the latter was delivering info that could bring down the corrupt judge   
swayze doesn  t make a very convincing alan quatermain . compared to stewart granger which growing up was my ultimate hero in films like the      scaramouche   the      prisoner of zenda  and the      king solomon  s mines   patrick swayze fails utterly . even the portrayal of an older alan quatermain by sean connery in  league of extraordinary gentlemen  was very good in an otherwise big flop . also alison doody lacks the grace of deborah kerr in the role of the leading lady  and last but not least the impressive siriaque in the role of umbopa makes it very hard for anyone to fill his  shoes     for someone who was disappointed by richard chamberlain  s     version  i now highly recommend it if you can  t get your hand on the granger version .  
in a performance both volatile and graceful  al pacino re  teams with sea of love director  harold becker .  br    br   as new york mayor john pappas in city hall .  br    br   a savvy thriller thats the first film ever shot inside the lower manhattan structure that  s ground zero for the city  s government .  br    br   that the other nyc locations provide the vivid settings as an idealistic mayoral aide  john cusack  follows a trail of subversion and cover  up that may loop back to the man he serves and reveres .  br    br   bridget fonda  danny aiello  martin landau  tony franciosa and david paymer add more starry brilliance to this gripping tale of power .  br    br   and the power behind power .  
i picked this movie on the cover alone thinking that i was in for an adventure to the level of  indiana jones and the temple of doom  . unfortunately i was in for a virtual yawn . not like any yawn i have had before though . this yawn was so large that i could barely find anything of quality in this movie . the cover described amazing special effects . there were none . the movie was so lightweight that even the stereotypes were awfully portrayed . it does give the idea that you can solve problems with violence . good if you want to teach your kids that . i don  t . keep away from this one . if you are looking for family entertainment then you might find something that is more inspiring elsewhere .  
city hall takes on the politics of a city rather than country  state or any sort of major political table . granted it shines on new york city which is a huge political arena  especially nowadays  but it still goes for a smaller scale and puts the microscope on a few key players in a city wide scandal stumbled on by the mayor  s right hand . director harold becker is a director very familiar with elements of the thriller having done mercury rising  malice  and domestic disturbance and i think in many ways he incorporates so many of the formulaic thriller genre that its almost to a fault . i mean city hall is meant to be a political drama  not a thriller but instead when all is said and done and once you get to the meat and potatoes of the film it feels and looks like a thriller but a decent one at that with very important part of the recipe that immediately makes it stand out . . . what else . . . or rather who else . . . al pacino . the film begins by giving you a really good look at life in the mayoral office and the inner workings of the city . as the film continues it broadens its political spectrum to include a democratic boss  and his connections and then we are introduced to some of the goings on within the city . as events unfold a mystery begins and the political aspect is kind of left in the background but it still has a brilliant set up .  br    br   i absolutely hate talking about al pacino . i mean even if once he didn  t give a good performance how could i ever say it  the man is acting royalty . there is just something brilliant about his entire demeanor . in city hall pacino plays the new york city mayor . he has a sense of duty and honor and immediately appears to be a very upstanding politician . he also delivers one of the most powerful and outright engaging speeches i  ve ever seen at the  james bone  funeral . i re  watched that speech four times and the first time i watched pacino give it  my mouth gaped open and i almost wanted to stand up and applaud . its brilliantly written and brilliantly delivered by pacino . john cusack  who i really do enjoy as an actor  turns in a mediocre and overdone performance as the deputy mayor kevin calhoun . he is kind of the focus of the film and him and pacino have good chemistry together when they are on screen but there is just something in this performance . . . he seems like he  s trying too hard . his accent is just bizarre  and although he is supposed to be cutthroat and intimidating he doesn  t get seem to pull it off . maybe he was having an off film . bridget fonda  on her way out of her high point stardom does an okay job as attorney for police widows marybeth cogan . her performance is very similar to cusack  s in that she just doesn  t seem to find her groove with this character . danny aiello is terrific although his character is a little under explored as democratic boss with ties to the mafia frank anselmo . martin landau makes a decent cameo as judge under scrutiny walter stern .  br    br   the problem with city hall is evident in my review of the characters and actors . everyone is . . . okay . there is a lot of back story that they try to bring out without actually showing it and it unfortunately leaves you just a little bit confused about the whole conspiracy . and of course you have al pacino in a rather small supporting role but he  s absolutely brilliant at it and outshines and overshadows every other actor in the film . it almost feels like maybe they are intimidated by him being on screen with them . so city hall could have been this huge political epic drama  thriller but it felt cut and toned down to an average run of the mill one but it still has to be seen for pacino and a different spin on the inner working of politics . if you just won  t see this movie than find pacino  s speech at james bone funeral because the word electrifying doesn  t seem to give it justice but you can see what makes al pacino so incredible because in a mediocre film he pulls out this wallop of a speech and makes you feel it . if you  re a john cusack fan which i am . . . he  s definitely done better but he is the main character and all in all he does get his justice . a decent movie but unfortunately potential loss .  .      
this is the worst imaginable crap . the novel by h . rider haggard is very entertaining and dramatic . the makers of this worthless movie don  t follow it closely . well  old novels aren  t sacred and making free versions of them is fine with me if one has ideas of one  s own . if all one can do is changing things and replace them with uninteresting and watered  down clichs one should stick to the original . if they had done that this film would have been at least twice as good even with worse actors and if filmed inside a studio with huts made of cardboard . but there  s no imagination at all only tiredness . this should be bought or watched only by collectors of victorian novels made into movies .  br    br   just a hint  and not a spoiler i think  to make those of you who have read the novel understand what has taken place and what you may expect if you decide to watch this on tv or  god forbid  waste money on buying this . gagool an old baddie witch in the book and some precursor to gollum has been turned into a nice gal   
the film concerns a classic theme . in fact it concerns the theme exploited by batman  from beginning to end  but in real data and details . the mayor of new york  appreciated and very diligent and dynamic  in order to get some project through slightly faster than normal  yields to some pressure from some private business contractors about a criminal drug dealer who should have been sent and kept in prison and he pressurizes the judge in his turn to set him free on probation in spite of a negative probation report that disappears but is not destroyed  be it only because of the political value it represents . and what was to happen happens and a few people  including a black schoolboy is killed in a shoot out between a police detective and that criminal . the city may explode because of it racial tension because of the black school boy and social tension because of the insecurity such criminals free to roam around and go on with their criminal activities represent to the public . unluckily the film does not show that tension very well and follows the investigation of the first deputy mayor who wants to find out the truth and does find it out . but along the way a few witnesses are killed  and those who had played some role in the whole business are forced to retire  the judge   to end their career and life  the contractor or the contractor  s go between   a public officer who was ready to deliver the disappeared probation report  and some shady character after he provides some crucial information . the mayor himself retires and takes a long vacation but the main interest of the film is in the exploration of the contortions the mayor is doing to cover up the problem and the contortions he remembers having done in the past that led to the mistake about this probation case . the political philosophy that nothing is pure white or pure black and that everything is grey which is never comfortable to decision makers is invoked as an excuse for wrong but profitable decisions . we are not speaking of necessary compromises to get to some consensus in some domains that are crucial to public interest . we are speaking of considering as less important to take a bad decision about some petty or supposedly petty criminal than some infrastructure or economic project in the city . that is not typical of new york . that is true in any mayoral office . it is just more significant in quantity and in quality in a big metropolitan area like new york and of course in a city or country where police departments are municipal and are controlled by political imperatives . the young deputy mayor is thus pushing the old mayor out of the way  and he derails his ambition to be the governor of new york in order to become the president of the us . the mayor is perfect due to the embodiment al pacino offers us since he is able to express ten minutes of dialogue with one facial expression that makes the whole dialogue useless . i find the end slightly mushy with the ex  deputy mayor campaigning in his own name . that seems to mean that he was so attached to justice because he saw his chance to push the mayor out of his own way . hence he is not better than all the others  just still too young in his ambition .  br    br   dr jacques coulardeau  university paris dauphine  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  university versailles saint quentin en yvelines  
start of with the good bit several times swayze talks zulu to his friends or that language is heard among the tribes . that  s a great plus  as normally usa  uk movie audiences think all people on this planet speak english  just in case you  re one of them no they don  t  .  br    br   but the acting is  tenenkrommend  as we say in the netherlands  it makes your toes curl  and not in a good way  . i like swayze but in this he  s awful . the muscles in his jaws make overtime and he  s frowning the whole movie  some one must have told him it looks butch . no patrick it looks silly and is compensation for lack of character . alison doody  elizabeth  has opted for a style of acting that does not meet the style of her co  workers . her acting is s relaxed that this movie could have been set in the current days . and it  s not . your frock was a clue  alison .  br    br   the best acting came from the people from the african continent and sided onyulo as umbopa i liked best . clear  warm and in character  his performance is a joy to watch .  br    br   general it is mwah  entertaining on a rainy day . pity . could have been better . sack the director .  
spoilers when undercover brooklyn north det . eddie santos  nestor serrano  was to meet his drug supplier tito zapatti  larry romano  in the williamsburg section of brooklyn in a buy and bust operation  with tito being the one who gets busted  that things went haywire with both det . santos and tito ending up getting shot and killed by each other . during the deadly shootout an innocent bystander six year  old james bone jr .  jaliyl lynn  was also killed in the cross  fire .  br    br   with new york city slated to host the     democratic presidential convention that summer that last thing that the city  s flamboyant mayor pappas  al pacino  wanted was a possible riot over young james bones tragic death by a possible  in was later determined that it was a bullet from tito  s gun that killed young james  member of the new york city police department .  br    br   what was far more shocking then even bone  s death is that his killer tito zapatti was given probation by the well respected ny state judge walter stern  martin landau . when he should have been put behind bars for   to   years by being arrested with a kilo of cocaine in the backseat of his car  it soon became evident that the person who got judge stern his job  for a        .   payoff  was non other the brooklyn political boss frank anselmo  danny aiello . it  s anselmo who  s involved with mayor pappas in a land deal  involving the new york subway system  that would bring him and his real estate friends tens of millions of dollars over the next two years  it would also indirectly connect mayor pappas in the bone killing by connecting him to judge stern  who made it possible for tito be be free  who  s a mutual friend of both him and his gomba  or landsman  frank anselmo   br    br   to keep all this from blowing up the late det . santons is framed  by working undercover without the authority from his superiors  in the bone shooting . in fact those framing santos go as far and hiding some        .   in cash in his upstate summer home making it look like he was being paid off by tito  s uncle mafia boss paul zapatti  anthony francoisa  for letting his nephew deal drugs with him getting a piece of the action . which may well explain him  as well as tito  getting shot by tito welshing on his paying santos off   br    br   as things turn out it  s mayor pappas  deputy in city hall kevin calhoun  john cusack  who ends up messing everything up for his boss by being too honest in finding who was responsible in covering up tito  s criminal record that allowed him to be out on the streets . the facts that kevin uncovered lead straight to frank anselmo  a major political supporter of mayor pappas  who as it turned out was connected by the hip to tito  s mafia chieftain uncle paul   br    br   a bit over  plotted  city hall  does show how big city corruption can filter up  as well as down  to everyone in city government without them  like mayor pappas  even knowing about it . mayor pappas biggest sin was that he was friends with brooklyn boss anselmo who was putting people into jobs  like judge stern  who were subjected to being blackmailed from anselmo  s real boss mafioso paul zapatti .  br    br   spoilers it only took a deadly shootout in williamsburg to set everything into motion not by only tito  besides det . santos and james bone  being killed but why he was allowed to be out on the street in order to bring the very popular new york city mayor down . mayor pappas was looking forward to much bigger things  like governor or even president  in his future political pursuits . as it turned out his top deputy kevin calhoun in not looking the other way was responsible for his demise . as well as that of the mayor  s good friend frank anselmo and the person whom he helped put on the bench  as a state judge  judge stern . who  s decision in letting tito zapatti off made this whole disaster  which resulted in at least a half dozen murders and one suicide  possible   
the movie is very lengthy and unfortunately pretty different from the novel . if you want to see the movie then don  t read the novel first as it will shock you . however  cinematography was ok and if you are a person who loves adventure genres which explores africa then go for it . acting performances are adequate  however  many important events that were present in the novel are omitted . in the novel  sir henry curtis was in search of his missing brother rather than a lady in search of her father . gagool was cunning and was killed in the cave whereas here she was shown to be a good person who preferred to stay with the new king .  
working from a script written in part by nicholas pileggi  best known for writing the book wiseguy  which he adapted into the movie goodfellas  and for writing the book and screenplay casino  director harold becker shows how connected circles scratch each other  s backs  even in the command of a comparatively honorable mayor like pappas  who is regarded as a presidential prospect . as cusack follows the paper trail of the dead mobster  s probation report  his skepticism is agitated . how did this violent young man get probation rather than a jail sentence  we meet the other players in the plot  not the least of which is danny aiello  the political boss of brooklyn  and tony franciosa  the mafia boss whose nephew was shot dead . how and why these people are affiliated i leave to the movie to divulge  though there are never any misgivings that they are .  br    br   the narrative is told generally through the eyes of the cusack character  a visionary from louisiana who admires his boss and hopes to learn from him . much is made by everyone of bureaucratic knowledge passed down through the generations . some of the dialogue is ungracefully erudite  but considering i just described the building blocks of the story as bureaucratic knowledge  one can  t say it doesn  t work . the shooting case builds against the seasoning of two other issues on the mayor  s desk a charge by aiello for a subway stop and an off  ramp in brooklyn to aid a new banking center  and the city  s bid for the next democratic convention . individual idiosyncrasies are also explored  including aiello  s emotional bond with the music of rogers and hammerstein .  br    br   much also is made of menschkeit  a yiddish expression  which  pappas explains to his deputy  is about the bond of honor between two men  about what happens between the two hands in a handshake . this connection doesn  t mean much to bridget fonda  the lawyer for the policeman  s association who defends the dead cop  s honor and fights for his widow  s pension even as incriminating evidence appears . little by little  the deputy mayor comes to grasp that menschkeit is such an influential notion that it outclasses he law .  br    br   there are various scenes of hard impact  including one where the brooklyn boss comes home for lunch in the middle of the day  his wife asserts her interest through the medium of the dish she has cooked  and then the mafia boss drops in by surprise . there is also a compelling  and markedly conjectural  late scene between the mayor and his deputy .  br    br   one scene handled with delicacy is comprised of the mayor  s decision to speak at the funeral of the slain child  in a harlem church . his advisers tell him he won  t be wanted there . but he goes anyway  and cranks himself up for a spiel of unabashed hyperbole  pacino and his character both .  br    br   it gets an impressive reaction from the congregation  but the mayor knows  and his deputy knows  that it was artificial  and the way they scrupulously evade discussing it  in the limousine taking them away  is a subtle employment of composure and innuendo . this is a script that knows it has to supply pacino with the reason why most of his fans go to see him  and immediately follows its quota with the reality that silence has much more inherent meaning than speech .  br    br   pacino and cusack are convincing together throughout the movie  the older man unbreakable and aware  the younger one anxious to learn  but with ideals that don  t sway . pacino is innate with his down  to  earth capacity to marry common sense and inventive imagination  inspired flair and matter  of  fact realism . cusack moves very freely in spite of his dark defensiveness .  br    br   the bridget fonda subplot development is unnecessary  but it is a result of veteran screenwriter paul schrader  s otherwise shrewdly perceptive belief in the worth of every character  and each is fleshed into earnest embodiments . aiello  for instance  is a highlight because he evokes his character  s joie de vivre and sensitivity to his environment .  
ok . not bad movie making if it were from an original script . but it is not   br    br   which part of  in this story there are no women  except for foulata and gagoola  introduction by haggard did the producers  directors and writers not understand  i mean  it is pretty plain english . i understood it at age    . the beauty of ksm is that it contains a spectacular description of three different worlds  the colonial africa  the unforgiving desert and kukuanaland  a hidden and isolated kingdom . that should be more than enough for even the most mediocre of producers to work with . but  nooo  they have to throw  romance  into it . pathetic . suggestion to all you poor souls who actually thought this would be close to the book . give it up . until a peter jackson wannabe comes along and  does it right  you may as well keep re  reading the tome . btw  there is a sequel book  actually a pre  quel  called allan  s wife . it gives background to the story of quatermain . it is a bit creepy but good .  
has al pacino ever been in a bad movie  his name seems to be an imprimatur for top notch cinema . this is as good a performance as he  s ever given . pacino is an american olivier . and this is a political thriller as good as they get . there are no good guys and no bad guys . but the system has its inexorable effect on the people who think they  re running it . not only is pacino  s performance compelling    the eulogy at the dead child  s funeral is awesomely powerful    the film has a fast paced  gritty realism to it that enhances the fine performances without resorting to gimmicks . this outstanding portrait of big city politics also manages to provide two hours of superb movie watching without undue violence  overheated sex or gutter language . there is murder . there are bad people . but they come across effectively without crossing the line . a film like this restores my jaded faith in hollywood . i don  t award many tens . this one richly deserves it   
the movie is an extra  long tale of a classic novel that completely fails to capture the original adventure  s spirit . the quite horribly american patrick swayze is cast as the british hero allan quatermain despite the obviousness of his nationality .  br    br   the movie continues throughout to  hollywood  ise  the story by changing both the plot and the characters to fit more comfortably into the accepted mold . the movie manages to be predictable throughout  even to those who are not familiar with the story and is plagued by some extremely bad acting and terribly disappointing fight sequences .  br    br   all in all  a terrible addition to the already quite bad collection of movies based on the legend of king soloman  s mines and allan quatermain .  
i read the negative comments before viewing this film and undeterred  went ahead and started watching . i admit that i had to rewind quite a few times as the film is incredibly complex  involved and full of detail . that is a good thing but also  quite unexpected in this culture of car chases  explosions  gratuitous sex and general violence that substitute for plot and character development . in fact  what a welcome departure  however  i am so used to not paying a lot of attention to what i watch .  br    br   this film is chock full of character development and plot line the kind that we used to analyze when i was in high school . it requires actual mental participation on the part of the viewer . what a nice change . i would compare it to  all the president  s men  in terms of generic subject matter . that is  it is a mystery about intense misconduct on the part of elected officials and those with enough influence upon officials to essentially  own  them .  br    br   unlike  all the president  s men   this film makes an effort to give a couple of the characters actual personality . in this sense the movie is a character study like  the negotiatior  with samuel jackson and kevin spacey . in that movie  their characters are both city employees and the plot is extremely intense . yet  the plot is dependent on the ability of their characters to cooperate with each other  trust each  and ultimately unite together against the corrupt police department . there is more gun fire in this film and the specific plot is different but generically  there are many similarities .  br    br   i will say that city hall requires a whole lot more concentration . in fact  i was struck how parallel it was to past and present political scandals i  ve seen in my life going back to watergate . the thing is  the public knows that something is wrong  for sure  but following the details is hard to do . this movie is not even close to being as complex as real life but it actually is realistic to life in its complexity . i think that is one of the reasons that previous posters have criticized the film unrealistic expectations .  br    br   if one watches this knowing what they are about to see and are up to the experience  it really is excellent  i watched it  times in a row  the acting is superb and the directing is flawless . the weakest link is john cusak  s accent .  
the year     was when shirley temple played three major movies and really began to make a name for herself . unfortunately  the studios had to experiment to see what the public best liked about here . two of those things were singing and dancing . another was a short  interesting film that kept people  s attention and got their minds off the depression . you know the other keys to shirley  s successful films .  br    br   this film achieved none of the above  despite the star presences of gary cooper and carole lombard and despite a very good director in henry hathaway . in addition  there are too many talky parts in here which become simply boring  and too many arguments between a sullen lombard and cooper . to top it off  you didn  t get the normal feel  good ending which is what the public wants . i guess they learned after this movie .  
across the country and especially in the political landscape  people with any kind of political ambition  should take time out to see this film . the movie is called  city hall  and with little imagination  its synopsis can take place anywhere in america . it just so happens to open in new york . here we have the story of a popular politician named mayor john pappas  al pacino  with enough savvy to run a major metropolitan city with very little effort . his right  hand man is none other than deputy mayor kevin calhoun  john cusack  an equally bright individual who  s ambitions are tied to his mentor and both seemed destined for higher office . everything points in that direction  until a police shooting ignites an investigation spearheaded by marybeth cogan  bridget fonda  who believes the guilt points towards city hall and the mayor . a six year old boy and a police officer  s death are blamed on a career criminal who  s questionable freedom leads to an apparent cover  up by political pay  offs and city corruption involving union leaders like danny aiello played by frank anselmo  corrupt judicial officials like judge walter stern .  martin landau  and mafia bosses like paul zapatti  anthony franciosa  who are deeply involved . also implicated  are party officials like larry schwartz  richard schiff  who works for the probation office of new york . but it is the bond between the mayor and his deputy which is taken to task by the accidental shooting . a great vehicle for cusack and a sure bet nominee to become a classic .   
having grown up in texas  and less than   miles from what used to be gilley  s  i can tell you that this movie is nauseating . the majority of texans do not live like this movie indicates . the plot is weak  and the fake accents are amusing  and it reinforces the stereotypical image that all texans are beer drinking  honky  tonkin   rednecks . the horribly fake texas accents is what kills it for me . true  there is a certain texas twang to most texans  accents  but these people overdo it . you can  t get someone from new jersey and ohio to do texas accents . it just doesn  t work . john travolta should have stuck to disco  dancing or the   s . debra winger was more convincing as wonder girl than she is as a texan .  
this is one of the best crime  drama movies during the late     s . it was filled with a great cast  a powerful storyline  and many of the players involved gave great performances . pacino was great he should have been nominated for something . john cusack was good too  as long as the viewer doesn  t mind his louuu  siana accent . he may come off as annoying if you can  t stand this dialect . the way that pacino  s character interacted with cusack  s character was believable  dramatic  and slightly comical at times . danny aiello was superb as always . david paymer was great in a supporting role . bridget fonda was good but not memorable . there were times when this picture mentioned so many characters  probably too many . it may take a second viewing to remember   which zapatti was which   after so many cross  references  one has to stop and think just to recap . the ending didn  t have a lot of sting . it was built up for so long and then was a bit of a letdown . this was one of the few problems with the film . since the movie wasn  t billed as a  huge  blockbuster  big screen hit  it made some forget that this movie even existed . pacino and aiello were great but the film  s lack of  splash  in the theaters may have accounted for no nominations . it was semi  successful in the home market  and viewers are still learning that this title is out there . made in      it still stands up today and will remain popular for many years to come .  br    br   so  make yourself some lemon pudding  you  ll see  and see this movie   
first  before reading further  you must understand that i  m not neo  nazi  i  m just trying to understand correctly hitler to be sure nobody like him take power again .  br    br   i  ve seen this series and found it awful . i mean  ok  it  s interesting to look  but is it real  i searched for answers and found one absolutely not . first  hitler wasn  t angry all his life  the series shows an angry hitler  even when he is a child . second  hitler never wanted to abuse his daughter  in fact  it is highly probable that hitler  in reality  was gay and fought all his life to choke this secret . third  people will hate me but it  s true hitler was charming . how do you think he managed to get to power if he was so hateful and ugly  because he was charming . that  s a common point i found in the interviews of people who live near or far of him  of course  not jews  .  br    br   this series was awful because if you think that hitler was just an angry bastard  ugly  and of course  not charming at all  you  re wrong . if you think that  you will let people like him take power in countries and you don  t want that . if you really understand how hitler managed to get into power  and stop thinking he was just awful  you  ll be able to find dangerous politicians like him  of course  remember he was elected  and stop theme before it  s too late .  br    br   life is important to protect  this series is just awful to show us the truth  if we continue to see hitler like that  another one will take place exactly as the first did .  
wow . . .  more hours of riget . lars continues the great combination of occult  dark horror and soap  opera drama . picking up exactly where the last episode of the previous series left off  complete with the same high intensity and suspense  though that doesn  t last for better or worse   this installation in the franchise seems somewhat more bent on haste . . . in the last series  there seemed to pass a day or a week between each episode  whereas in this  it clearly is one long stretch . . . where one episode ends  the next begins . a lot can be said about lars von trier . . . but he is very diverse and pretty eccentric . both qualities show in this . the plot continues its excellence  now giving a few regular characters that were minor players in the previous four episodes more attention . basically every character from the first returns  at least as far as the main roles go . the pacing isn  t as sharp as in the first part  and i found myself less gripped by this one . that is not in any kind of way to say that this didn  t involve me  though . . . i still found myself constantly watching  and at several points reacting strongly  often out loud  to what was going on  extremely unusual behavior for me  as i am an incredibly silent person   as i also was during the first . like the first  this also brings up some loaded ethical questions . building on the foundation from the first  this brings the story further . . . and being a sequel  the scope is also bigger . grander . more spirits  more bizarre occurrences  more subplots . the strong graphic material of the first also returns  and it  s been kicked up a notch . the characters are developed further . the acting is amazing  as that of the first . udo kier solidifies his immense talent  to anyone who doubted it . playing a very difficult character  anyone who has seen the first series can most likely figure out what i mean  and acting in a language he didn  t speak  he was later dubbed  . . . and still handing in such a strong performance . the cinematography remains great  and is still very hand  held  with rapid zooms and the occasional long take . the editing is sharp  with a few direct cuts in sound  though these were more prominent in the first  . now  with all that said  i would really like to be able to rate this a perfect   . . . or at least just under  like the first four episodes . i truly enjoyed watching  and i don  t regret it in the least . but this does have shortcomings . . . the ones the first part had and more . as the first  the humor just takes up too much space . . . and this time around  it  s even worse . there are several new regular characters that are there for no other reason than to provide comic relief . . . three of them  no less . scenes are set up and executed for no other reason than to make the audience laugh . fine for a comedy  but what is it doing in such a dark and unpleasant  yes  nothing short of sadistic at times  horror piece  helmer  s solitary secret hiding place of solitude is changed from the hospital roof . . . from which he could see his beloved sweden . . . to a bathroom . with an angle from inside the bowl . no  you read that right . in general  the humor seems more low  brow . . . more sex and bodily function jokes  which  again  begs the question  why   . whilst most of the writing is excellent  some of it is downright dire . several scenes are basically copied from the first mini  series  one would guess due to their popularity when it aired  . at times  the drama seems a bit more bombastic than that of the first  and it jumps too much at times . fortunately seldom  but still noticeably  plot points and items are explained away too easily  a certain character living in denmark for no apparent reason  for example . . . anyone who  s seen it knows who i  m speaking of  . the two dishwashers  while still mysterious and insightful  become too much of a gimmick . . . too overexposed  in the end  i guess . most of the scenes with them are still enjoyable  though . in addition to that  i want to reassure any reader of this that in spite of all the negative things i have just written that this is still mostly good . . . definitely enjoyable  compelling  powerful . . . and in my humble opinion  it should definitely be seen by anyone who liked the first  though if belong in that group do not expect to feel that the story is finished after watching this any more than you did after the first  . i recommend this to any fan of lars von trier and anyone who enjoyed the first riget and wants more where that came from . i urge anyone who  s even considering watching this to make sure you  ve seen all of the first before you do . . . i bought this before i bought the first  but i held out on watching until i had bought the first and watched that  and i can  t tell you how glad i am that i did . though this features a brief summary of the events in the first  there are an immense amount of details and aspects that you would miss out on if you didn  t see it before watching this . slightly lesser sequel  but definitely still one to watch if you liked the first .      
there is no way to describe how really  really  really bad this movie is . it  s a shame that i actually sat through this movie  this very tiresome and predictable movie . what  s wrong with it  acting there is not one performance that is even remotely close to even being sub  par  atleast they are all very pretty  . soundtrack  songs    if we get orgy on the soundtrack then everyone will know that they are watching a horror film    soundtrack  score   okay  but anyone with a keyboard can make an okay soundtrack these days . don  t even get me started on the  what the hell   moments  here are a few killer can move at the speed of light   door opens actress turns  no one is there  turns back  there is something sitting in front of her .  out of now where the killer shows up with a power drill  a really big one  the filmmakers get points for at least plugging it in  but can i really believe that the killer took the time to find the power outlet to plug it in . i feel like one of the guards at the beginning of holy grail and want to say  where  d you get the power drill   . i could go on and on about how bad this film is but i only have     words . i will give this  out of ten stars . one star for making me laugh and another star for all the cleavage . seriously  do not waste your time with this one .  
excellent political thriller  played much quieter and slower than other  higher ranking films in this genre . when people talk about pacino and cusack how do they manage to skip over these amazing career topping performances  a story of friendships  father  son relationships  corruption and deceit . the two actors gel amazingly well together  and the supports from aiello and fonda are equally as impressive  although aiello is brilliant  especially when the papers run to press . instead of focussing on an over complex corruption scandal  it creates wonderful characters who show the human side of failure an political bribery  the final scenes with each of the main characters are wonderfully written and acted .  
if anybody really wants to understand hitler  read wwi history not wwii history . find out what happened during that war  how soldiers had to live around dead corpses all the time . how so many soldiers went insane  from what they saw during wwi  at the time they called it  shellshocked  now the call it post  traumatic stress disorder . if you learn the true horrors of wwi  you will begin to understand hitler . you will understand how a human being can become desensitized to death  not because their evil but simply because it was the only way for them too cope with the horrors around them .  br    br   this movie unfortunately misses that  as so many others do . read some books on the subject and you should watch the movie  paths of glory   the only good wwi movie ever made . you will see the frustration of the soldiers in that movie  the sense of helplessness  and a utter devaluation of human life  as nothing more than bullet catchers .  br    br   thats what this movie misses  its really the key point to understanding germany . a lost war  where millions and millions of germans lost their lives  for no real reason . then comes an utter economic collapse  following the war . those are the factors that create extremism .  br    br   the loss of family members and massive poverty will create always lead to extremism . unfortunately this movie ignored these factors  and has just become another throw away piece of crap to throw on the pile . with really no real value  there are fictional movie  s based upon fictional characters that could give you a better idea of hitler than this does . they just threw hitlers name on this so it would sell more .  
i  ve seen this movie about  times now . and each time i view it  i  m more impressed by the story and the acting . its like watching a train wreck being set in motion . its subtle in its approach  but very effective in reaching its goal .  br    br   spoilers   at the center of the story is a very nice dichotomy . on the one hand we have deputy major  eddy calhoun  cusack  unknowingly tearing at the old boys network that forms the hart of major of new york  s administration and on the other hand we have the mob boss zappati who  s deliberately trying to maintain the status quo through all means necessary . this situation nicely culminates in the end when zappati orders alselmo to make it easy on himself by killing himself and calhoun ordering pappas to do the same  politically speaking .  br    br   the movie also contains some really great one  liners such as  a personal weakness of mine    you don  t sum up a man  s life in one moment  the only thing new in this world is the history you don  t know  br    br   all in all  a great movie that deserves a much higher rating .  
advertised by channel seven in australia as the  untold story   this miniseries undoes itself in the first five minutes by washing over the titular character  s childhood and adolescence in less time than a good director will use to set up a single event . this cowardice and self  censorship for the fear of offending anyone permeates the series  and is ultimately responsible for its failure .  br    br   robert carlyle puts in a valiant performance as the most hated man of the twentieth century  but he is hamstrung by two things . the lack of a decent dialogue coach on the series leaves his northern  uk heritage shining blindingly through his physical appearance  and the dialogue is at times truly abysmal . apparently  acknowledging the fact that hitler was raised in a catholic family is off limits  but insulting millions of vikings and their descendants by having carlyle spew the most ridiculous lines about valhalla is quite okay . well  here  s a clue for the writers  any person familiar with viking mythology will tell you that valhalla is about the embodiment of honour and might in battle  two things that the nazis quickly eschewed in favour of rat cunning and backstabbing . until we can wake up to ourselves and realise that the reason hitler has never been excommunicated from the catholic church is because it would require the embarassing acknowledgement that he was once a member  we will never learn what this awful period of the world  s history has to teach us .  br    br   so now that we  ve managed to insult vikings and the citizens of scandinavian countries in this sham  you  d think the series would stop there  but it doesn  t . stockard channing  s listing in the opening credits was particularly eyebrow  raising  given that her voice is heard  and her face seen  for about thirty seconds at the most during the opening credits  making it patently transparent that more footage of hitler  s early days were shot  but not included because of a typical nanny  state fear of offending someone . it is also quite ironic that the films or miniseries which give a far better insight into hilter  s character do not feature him at all .  br    br   until we learn to stop sugar  coating the truth and realise that the citizenry of germany was mostly unopposed to hitler  s views  and not necessarily through ignorance  we will never learn to deal with the fact that subversions of democracy  yes  germany was a democracy pre  hitler  can occur anywhere  we are doomed . that  s the one thing this mini  series got right in portraying . unfortunately  that element is lost in attempts to make hitler  s religious beliefs appear those of a much more valiant people  and the inability to scratch past the surface in any part of the subject matter . david letterman  s show had it pegged when they ran short satirical segments about the series . they really might as well have made a family sitcom with him as the star  that  s how badly it was written .  br    br   all in all  this politically correct farce of a bio  pic is worth no points  but i gave it two because robert carlyle definitely deserves better material than this  and he is about the only thing in it that works .  
being a transplanted new yorker  i might be more critical than most in watching city hall . but i have to say that before even getting to the story itself i was captivated by the location shooting and the political atmosphere of new york city that director harold becker created .  br    br   for example there  s a reference to woerner  s restaurant in brooklyn where political boss frank anselmo likes to eat . there is or was a woerner  s restaurant on remsen street in downtown brooklyn when i lived in new york back in     . it was in fact particularly favored by political people in the borough though they did have a couple of other hangouts .  br    br   no surprise because the script was co  authored by nicholas pileggi who still writes both political and organized crime stories . he knows the atmosphere quite well and he sure knows how those two worlds cross as they do in this film .  br    br   a detective played by nestor serrano goes for an unofficial meeting with a relative of mob boss anthony franciosa and things erupt and three people wind up dead  including an innocent  year old boy whose father was walking him to school . the story mushrooms and at the end it  s reached inside city hall itself .  br    br   al pacino plays mayor john pappas and john cusack is his deputy mayor a transplanted louisianan  a state which has a tradition of genteel corruption itself . he  s the outsider here and in trying to do damage control  cusack finds more than he bargained for   br    br   danny aiello plays brooklyn political boss frank anselmo and for those of you not from new york  his character is based on the late borough president of queens donald manes who was also brought down by scandal . he  s very much the kind of brooklyn politician i knew back in the day whose friendship with organized crime and favors done for them  do aiello in .  br    br   city hall was the farewell performance on film for anthony franciosa  one of the most underrated and under  appreciated talents ever on the screen . no one watches anyone else whenever he  s on .  br    br   al pacino  s best moment is when at the funeral of the young child killed  he takes over the proceedings and turns it into a political triumph for himself . his is a complex part  he  s a decent enough man  but one caught up in the corruption it takes to rise in a place like new york .  br    br   for those who want to know about political life in the big apple  city hall is highly recommended .  
this     to     germany looks hardly like a post wwii czech capitol . oh sorry  it is the czech capitol and it is      how funny .  br    br   this is one of the most awful history movies in the nearest past . rhm is a head higher than adolf and looks so damned good  gring looks like   when he just is   and the  fhrer  always seems to look like   . and the buildings  folks  even buildings have been young  sometimes . especially     were a lot of houses in germany nearly new  the wwi does not reach german cities   . no crumbling plaster  then the reichstagsbuilding . there have never been urban canyons around this building  never . and this may sound to you all like a miracle in the year     the greater berlin fire brigade owns a lot of vehicles with engines  some even with turntable ladders  but none with a hand pump .  br    br   one last thing what kind of playmobil castle was this at the final sequence  for me this was a kind of  adolf  s adventures in wonderland   
well  there is a plenty of ways how to spoil a political thriller . usually they are derivative or too ambitious  often they feature a conspiracy that is totally paranoic and unbelievable . but city hall does not do neither of the above mentioned . the plot is cleverly crafted  story is believable . as far as characters go i would say this movie is a solid average . no character seems out of place and al pacino is brilliant as always . his portrayal of a charismatic nyc mayor is superb and proves again that al pacino belongs to the absolute top of american actors nowadays .  
i  m not sure it was the language or the poor acting  but everything about this movie feels and looks cheap and fake .  br    br   after seeing der untergang this is a huge disappointment . there  s no connection between different scenes  and the acting is so incredibly poor i couldn  t even believe people could make such a mess of something that had great potential .  br    br   and above all  everyone in germany speaks english . big mistake . the german language has a certain sound to it  and especially hitler himself only sounds like hitler when he  s speaking  yelling german .  br    br   the way the story is told made me believe it was improvised on the spot  the characters were empty and the movie seems to be a collection of random events that could have happened .  br    br   whether it  s the english or the fact that i  ve already seen der untergang  everything about this movie was fake and ridiculous .  
i had been long awaiting this movie ever since i saw the trailer  which made it look like a political drama  starring three of my favorite actors al pacino  john cusack  and bridget fonda . and even though it was directed by harold becker  who has done uneven work  he and pacino did combine on sea of love  which ranks among each of their best work . but interference on some level  for starters  several of the scenes in the original trailer don  t appear in the movie  and changing of tone  subsequent trailers make it look like a thriller  make this  while watchable  nowhere near as it could have been .  br    br   which is too bad  because i really wanted to like this movie . there was great potential here to be a film about how government can still be worthwhile despite all the corruption  and to make a complex statement about that corruption  not the usual good guys vs . bad guys . and there is good acting here . pacino and cusack are both very good  and danny aiello gives one of the best performances of his career . but fonda is wasted in her role  having nothing to do  and while there is merit in the central storyline  when it turns to a thriller  the movie loses its way  briefly recovers in the final scene between cusack and pacino  and then falls down completely in the end . i wish i could like this more  but no .  
i have recently watched this movie twice  and i can  t seem to understand why the hll the makers made this pile of crap . i mean  yes  it gives a great impression of hitler  s environment  and i mean the way they reproduced austria in the late      s  wwi and the inter  war period . what i can  t understand is why they pictured hitler as a     pure evil  mad  unreliable  mentally unstable freak . he was after all a very thoughtful  loving and intelligent man who of course had his dark sides  no doubt about that . but why in heaven  s name portray him in this way  all of his positive aspects have been cut out of the scenario  leaving nothing but a very propaganda  like portrait of a man who had the biggest influence on modern civilization ever . yes  he threw germany into the devastating  nd world war . yes  he was racist  and yes he was at times menially unstable especially at the end of the war . all true . but again why the hell did they plain lie to the public  to warn us   br    br   i absolutely don  t think this movie was a warning . the true danger of hitler and the nazi  s was the fact they were able to rise to power at moments of severe global weakness . the fact this evil was so recognizable yet so embraced by almost every german alive  not to mention austrians and a lot of other people  makes it a warning to modern civilization  not the fact hitler was such a  weirdo  . if it would have been like the makers make us believe  i would have been convinced that the german people were retarded . a man like the one in this movie would have never gotten anywhere near party leader  not to mention reichskanzler .  br    br        
mardi gras made in china is an excellent movie that depicts how two cultures have much in common but  are not even aware of the influence each society has on one another . david redmon open your eyes and allows you to see how the workers in china manufactures beads that cost little to nothing and are sold in america for up to   dollars . when redmon questions americans about where these beads come from they had no clue and seemed dumb founded . when he told them that they are made in china for less then nothing with horrible pay and unacceptable working conditions  americans seemed sad  hurt  and a little remorseful but didn  t really seem that they would stop purchasing the beads after finding out the truth . when redmon questioned the workers in china they did not know that americans were wearing them over their necks and paid so much for these beads . the workers laughed at what the purpose was behind beads and couldn  t believe it . this movie is a great film that gives us something to think about in other countries besides our own .  br    br   m . pitts  
i have rarely been subjected to such outright nonsense in a film that is supposed to be based on a historical figure . a horrible joke of a film  i cringed throughout . terrible  trite  distorted and riddled with outright lies and half truths .  br    br   the famous hitler biographer ian kershaw was to originally be a consultant for this film . however  he found the script to be so historically inaccurate and ridiculous that he refused  and also demanded they stop using his name as a source  it embarrassed him to think people would think he was involved  .  br    br   one scene shows hitler beating his dog . there is not one source for this . hitler loved animals above people . he brought in the strictest animal welfare laws in europe  banned vivisection and animal experimentation . he was also a vegetarian .  br    br   the film turns his gaining of the iron cross into a farce  involving bribery . utter lies . he was awarded it for repeated acts of bravery over a long period of time .  br    br   there are no historical documents showing that hitler ever had a sexual relationship with his niece . not one .  br    br   apart from these  hitler is portrayed as a rabid simpleton in this garbage flick .  br    br   if he was even half as ignorant  demented and thick as he is in this nonsense film as in real life you would not even know he had ever existed . never mind become the leader of germany .  br    br   honestly  this film was utterly terrible .  br    br   go watch downfall and give this a very wide berth .  
documentaries of this kind are often very opinionated . this film seems to take all opinions out and let the viewer decide what to do with the information provided . it is sad the conditions these poor people have to work in  this film does a great job of showing the ugly side of sweat shops . the film mardi gras made in china was a good way of showing the world how something as petty as beads for a celebration can effect the lives of so many people in another country .  br    br   i had to watch this film for an english class where we spent our time talking about sweat shops and how some people are trying to eliminate them and this film helped get the topic rolling . it was a great  very informative movie and i  d recommend anyone see it  it kinda opens your eyes .  
simply put  this is a simplistic and one dimensional film . the title  the rise to evil  should tell you that this isn  t going to attempt to be anything deep or do much with hitler  s character . rather  from the first minutes of the movie where we see baby hitler looking evil with evil music playing the background  we are given a view of hitler that presents his as a cartoony supervillian  seemingly ripped right out of a saturday morning tv show . the film really wants to make its case that hitler was evil but does anyone need a movie to convince them that hitler was evil  ultimately  making him such a one  dimensionally evil character is both boring and confusing  one must ask how the inept  phsycotic character in the film cold ever persuade a nation to follow him or be named time  s man of the year  . this film had a great opportunity to take a figure who has committed some of the most horrible acts in the   th century  and try to delve into his mind . instead  it basically just says   hey  hitler was evil  just thought you might like to know . . .  over and over again . the great irony is that the film still was attacked for presenting too sympathetic a view of the character . give me a break .  
i  ve watched this documentary twice  and although i  m an major movie buff  most documentaries don  t hold my attention . this film however was mesmerizing . almost every shot is perfect  saying so much more than an audio commentary  which this documentary does not have  .  br    br   the concept of this film is amazing  i can  t praise it enough . mardi gras beads  who would have thought    br    br   amazing and excellent choices of interviews  film footage of a factory in china  the film makes you feel like you are actually there .  br    br   i  m political aware  and i  ve read several books on globalization so there wasn  t anything in this film that was a surprise to me . however  it  s made me think so much .  br    br   i wish so much too  that this world was a better place .  br    br   a million kudos to the filmmaker  and thanks for making this film too .  br    br   i wish everyone could see it .  
i watched this film few times and all i can say that this is low budget rubbish and that it does not have anything to do with a real history facts . actors performances is very poor but it is result of limited acting possibilities . anyone who watched this film now probably think of hitler as some crazy skinny lunatic who running with a gun like some chicago gangster . i can only to say that there is much better films about hitler and germany in those years and that rise of evil is very much under average . i can recommend german film downfall in which you can see brilliant performance of switzerland actor bruno ganz in a roll of adolf hitler .  
sharp  well  made documentary focusing on mardi gras beads . i have always liked this approach to film  making  communicate ideas about a larger  more complex  and often inscrutable phenomenon by breaking the issue down into something familiar and close to home .  br    br   i am sure most people have heard stories about sweatshops and understand the basic motives behind profit and capitalism  and globalism  s effect on poorer nations  however people feel about it  . rather than expound on these subjects and get up on a soapbox  not that there  s anything wrong with that  other than such documentaries typically preach to the converted   this documentary simply shows mardi gras beads  how they are manufactured  by what people  and under what conditions  and then how they are utilized by consumers at the end of the process . it openly and starkly investigates the motivations of everyone involved in the process  including workers  factory management  american importers  and finally  the consumer at the end of the chain .  br    br   i felt a little sickened by this equally by the mardi gras revelers  but also by the way the workers in china have accepted their situation as normal and par for the course  even if they have some objections to the details of how they are managed  . the footage of the street sweepers cleaning up the beads off the streets at the end  made a particular impression . but that was just my reaction i can see how someone else might read this documentary a little differently .  br    br   unlike other documentaries on this subject  i don  t think you have to have any specific political opinion to be affected by this . this is ultimately a story about human beings and our relation to the goods we produce and consume . if you have ever bought a product made in the far east  this should give you something to think about .  br    br   outstanding and highly recommended . need to see more documentaries like this . kudos to all of those involved in the making of this film .  
the back cover of the dvd  missed this one when it came out  hails hitler  the rise of evil as  a triumph   the new york post  and  mesmerizing   newsweek  .  br    br   well  never mind the post but really  who ever wrote that word in newsweek in the same context with this peace of  ahem  art should be sacked .  br    br   i don  t no where to start with . why try to paint the picture of hitler  s evil with colors that did not exist  he was evil alright  but now his character is portrayed in way that is often historically inaccurate  compared to his love of animals  the gentle and subdued way he treated women  and so on .  br    br   the actors are good  so you must feel sorry for them as they are imprisoned inside their one  dimensional characters . some kind of curse here with peter o  toole this is the second time in his honorable career when he has ended up playing an old and failed leader in a failed movie  or in this case tv  production  to be accurate  . the first one was of course the legendary galigula .  br    br   the list of historically inaccurate scenes alone would fill the     words allowed by imdb  so i think i  ll leave it here .  br    br   this one is ok if it  s on telly and you don  t have anything else to do  but believe me  it  s best left on the shelf in your local virgin store .  
wow  wow  wow  i have never seen a non  preachy documentary on globalization until i saw mardi gras made in china . this film has zero narration and combines verite footage with sensitive interviews with four teenage workers in china who live inside a factory compound . they play with toys  jump rope  and dance . yet  the majority of their days and nights consist of work  work  and work   but the footage of their work is illuminating and mesmerizing to watch . the owner of the factory in china is amazingly open  so much so that he hits home the effects of globalization while he  punishes  the workers . astutely following mardi gras beads from china to the carnival  the film reveals how the local is connected to the global through humor and interesting  compelling footage from both cultures . one of the most interesting parts in this film is the cross cultural introduction of factory workers and mardi gras revelers to each other through pictures . here  the film comes full circle and shows how images can be a point of communication and transformation . the film is never preachy  is not guilt driven  and allows everyone  s point of view to be present . at the end  we   the viewers   make up our own conclusions about the complexity of the film  and globalization .  
this is by far one of the most boring and horribly acted accounts of the early days of adolf hitler that i have ever watched . robert carlyle is a wonderful actor  but to cast him as hitler is just plain wrong . to cast liev schrieber as hitler  s longtime friend and aid  haefengstal must have emitted cries of despair and anguish from the simon wiesenthal centre . a j  w playing a nazi supporter  bad bad bad casting . this was not an enjoyable family film with a good historical background . this was hollywood rubbish at its finest  cashing in on the strength of a strong  but sorely under utilized  supporting cast of actors whom seemed to have all but disappeared from the acting radar in the past  years .  br    br   the fake german accents  vee vill vin zis var  is insulting to german people everywhere . my mother is german and she sat fuming at the sound of the voices which kept switching from american  english  german all in the same sentence . the supporting cast make better cardboard cutouts at the local video store than they do on screen . jenna malone as the fated geli raubal  was splendid though  she captured the innocence and confusion of this tragic young woman who ultimately ended her own life to escape what her future would have been like in hitler  s shadow .  br    br   if you would like a tremendously fantastic and historically accurate account of hitler  s early years leading up to and including the war  holocaust  rent  inside the third reich      starring rutger hauer as albert speer and derek jacobi as hitler . it was good and made more sense then this baloney .  br    br   as a historical researcher of the third reich i can honestly tell you  this had me reaching for my books to confirm its myriad of inaccuracies .  
sequel to  the kingdom  is bloodier and even more twisted . i only saw half  i was exhausted and couldn  t sit through all     hours  but i loved what i saw . ghosts  blood  murder  poisoning  mutated babies  voodoo . . . this has it all  if you have a strong stomach and like weird movies this is for you .  br    br   also  you don  t have to see part  to understand this . . . you  ll figure it out   br    br   does anyone know if kingdom  and  are available on dvd  sitting through these marathon movies in a theatre is tiring .  br    br   sadly  there probably won  t be a  kingdom     ernst  hugo jaregard  sig  died a year after this was filmed . but you never know   
there are so many puns to play on the title of the spectacularly bad valentine that i don  t know where to begin . i will say this though here is a movie that makes me long for the complexity of the valentine cards we used to give out in elementary school . you know  the ones with batman exclaiming  you  re a super crime  fighting valentine    br    br   valentine is a slasher movie without the slightest hint of irony  one of the few horror movies in recent years that ignores the influence of scream . the villain is omniscient and nigh  invulnerable . the heroes are easily scared when people run around corners and grab them by the shoulders screaming  heyijustleftmycoatbehind   the score is more overbearing than norman bates  mother .  br    br   the flimsy plot follows several childhood friends  now grown up and extremely curvaceous . since the film gives them nothing else to do  they stand around and wait until a masked stalker kills them one by one . this stalker appears to be former nerd jeremy melton  who was constantly rejected by women and beaten by men in high school . with valentine  s day approaching  the women begin receiving scary cards foretelling their doom . melton seems like the obvious suspect . only problem is  as numerous characters warns  in thirteen years melton could have changed his appearance to look buff and handsome . so  insert terrified gasp here  everyone is a suspect   br    br   here  s problem one . in order to have any sense of suspense while watching valentine  you have to accept a reality in which a high school nerd is capable of becoming david boreanaz . nerds don  t turn into angel when they grown up  they turn into older  balder nerds . he  s not a terrible actor  but the script  by no less than four writers  gives him and the rest of the cast nothing to do but scream and make out . denise richards  the bustiest actress in hollywood never to star in baywatch  is especially exploited most shamefully in the blatant excuse to get her in a bathing suit just before a crucial suspense scene . note to self always bring a bathing suit to a valentine  s day party . just because it  s february doesn  t mean you might not feel like taking a little dip .  br    br   the slasher in valentine dresses in head  to  toe black with a cherub  s mask . here  s problem number two . the filmmakers clearly thought this would be a disturbing image to have on the head of someone who  s whacking people in the face with hot irons . plain and simple  it  s not . instead  it just made me wonder how a guy with a mask that covers his entire face  including his eyes and ears  can move so stealthily without bumping his shins on chairs or tables . then again  given the things the cupid killer does  maybe he can teleport and his eyes are on his hands .  br    br   not only is the movie bad  it isn  t even sure who the killer is the final  twist  is more  huh   than  hah   when you  re not scratching your head you  re yawning  then groaning  then searching for the nearest exit . do not watch this movie . even if you  re alone on valentine  s day  find something  anything  else to do . you  ll be glad you did .  
excellent film that reveals how people are connected to the taken for granted  ordinary beads exchanged during mardi gras . the film is much more than a commentary on globalization . in fact  it humanizes the workers in china  the owner of the factory  the bead distributor in new orleans  and even the revelers in new orleans . what stands out the most is the director  s ability to tell a tricky story with complicated details in such a simple and seductive way . his amazing access to the factory is another aspect that  s intriguing and i only wish i knew how he got inside . it  s a beautiful story without sentimentality or guilt associated with it  and the conclusion provides hope without leaving people feeling alienated .  
if another hitler ever arises  it will be thanks in part to nonsense like this film  which propagates the absurd notion that he was a visibly deranged lunatic from the start . far from following such a person and electing him to the highest office in the land  sane people would cross the street to avoid him  and he would have died in a ditch  nameless and unknown .  br    br   anyone who reads the accounts of hitler  s close companions  the autobiography of his secretary traudl junge for instance  will be struck by the fact that people found him a kindly  intelligent  generous man . he was also a brilliant orator  and the fact that his speeches seem overblown and ranting to modern ears ignores the times in which they were made  when strutting pomposity was common in political speeches . ditto the overstated anti  semitism  which was neither a central plank of the early nazis  who were primarily anti  communist  nor uncommon or unusual for the times . the film makes it look as though hitler  s sole ambition from the start was the holocaust .  br    br   if you want to identify the next person who will cause the death of tens of millions  you can ignore fleck  lipped ravers life the one portrayed here . look instead for a charming  charismatic man whose compelling speeches inspire the entire nation  and whose political work visibly and materially benefits the country . i  m afraid his personality will be much more like barack obama  s than fred phelps  .  br    br   i hoped for much here  and got nothing but caricature . the fools who made this thing perpetrated a crime against reality . this is the historical equivalent of  reefer madness  .  
the film exposes the blatant exploitation of the chinese worker  generally female  garnering footage from the chinese business owner who shares his unashamed and delusional viewpoint  his american counterpart also as unashamed and delusional  the oppressed workers who are given a voice and  of course  the drunken americans who wear the beaded necklaces mindlessly celebrating in new orleans .  br    br   the glimmer of hope comes when some americans are actually outraged that people making their beaded necklaces were getting paid like   .   per hour to do so . you also have a feeling that the workers may have a chance to escape working in the bead factory  but will probably do so when they get fed up with the punishment treatment popular with the factory owner and  or they just get too exhausted to work up to   hours a day of hard labor .  br    br   i have wondered where those necklaces came from  not realizing how completely grueling and arduous it would be to make them . i just truly appreciated this film as it beautifully portrays the impact american indulgence has over something we consider relatively innocuous in our society on peoples on the other side of the world . honorable mention goes to wal  mart . it is simply amazing . and clearly  just the tip of the iceberg   
i saw that movie  and i was shocked  robert carlyle isn  t hitler he is a man who sadly tries to be hitler . the movie lies  it doesn  t reflect the truth . in the scene were hitler hit the guy with his gun . hitler never had hit anybody  he wouldn  t hit people with his fist  but with the fists of soldiers . understand   another thing is it is too obvious  that hitler is that evil  he was more clever  than shown in this movie . no german would have accepted him as the leader  because the can see that he is evil . so the real hitler haven  t shown his evil side to the people .  br    br   have any of you yankees watched the movie  der untergang  or  the dawnfall   this is a great movie  with amazing actors . and its a german movie . i think  this theme of nazi  germany  should not be realized as a movie by people who don  t know anything of germany . people  watch  der untergang    br    br   http   www . imdb . com  title  tt          br    br   its a great movie about a very sad period of time for human beings around the world .  
in this documentary we meet roger  the rich manager of a factory in china that makes beads and other trinkets sold and traded at mardi gras in new orleans . roger claims the factory girls love their work and are grateful for the opportunities it provides  but interviews with four of them tell quite another story . the girls  bleak lives are shown in stark contrast to the bizarre excesses of mardi gras itself . filmmaker david redmon should be lauded for getting excellent and rare footage of everyday life inside a chinese factory compound  and for landing a revealing on  camera interview with the head of the u . s . company that imports and sells the beads . the movie is compellingly told and clearly serves its purpose as a window into what lies behind those ubiquitous  made in china  labels .  
this could well be the worst film i  ve ever seen . despite what mikshelt claims  this movie isn  t even close to being historically accurate . it starts badly and then it  s all downhill from there . we have hitler  s father cursing his own bad luck on the  fact  that he  d married his niece  they were in fact  second cousins . hitler  s mother  klara  called his father  alois   uncle  because alois had been adopted and raised by klara  s grandfather and brought up as his son  when he was really his nephew . alois was much older than klara and so as a child she  d got into the habit of calling alois   uncle .   br    br   the scene in the trenches where hitler is mocked by his fellow soldiers and decides to take it out on his dog is simply a disgrace and an insult to the intelligence of all viewers . we see hitler chase the dog through the trench  when he catches up with the poor thing he proceeds to thrash it for disobeying him . in the distance we see and hear his fellow soldiers continue to mock and chastise the cowardly little man  but then a shell lands directly on his persecutors  and every last one  we are told  is killed outright . how then  if hitler was the only person to survive the scene  did this tale of brutality and cowardice come to be told  did hitler himself go around  boasting  about it   i don  t think so .  br    br   next up  hitler bullies and intimidates a poor  stressed out and war weary jewish officer into giving him an iron cross  i can only assume that this jewish officer had been a pawnbroker before fighting for the fatherland  and had thoughtfully brought along some pledged medals from his shop  because i  m certain that iron crosses were not being handed out as shown in this comic farce .  br    br   all the grotesque clichs are here  not least the calming and hypnotic effect of wagner  s music upon the little man . if only the producers had kept ian kershaw on side . then they might have discovered that franz lehar  s  merry widow  was more likely to float the fuhrer  s boat than any  flying dutchman  from the cannon of richard wagner   br    br   hitler may have been responsible for the deaths of   million people but how can he ever be forgiven for his appalling taste in music   br    br   i could go on but i  d be at it for hours .  br    br   give it a miss .  
mardi gras made in china provides a wonderful  intricate connection between popular culture  nudity  and globalization through the making and tossing of beads . i saw this film at the international film festival of boston  and was expecting a dry introduction to globalization  but what i got was a riveting visual display of shocking footage from both china and the united states . the eye  opening film is humorous  in  depth  serious  non  patronizing  and it leaves you wanting more as the credits role . it is worth comparing to murderball   it  s simply that well done . the young women workers in china have various points of view  and the owner is amazingly open about the discipline . the revelers during carnival are the highlight  but only because this excellent film provides in  depth context inside the factory in china without narration . bravo to the filmmaker for getting inside and finishing the film  i would have never thought about the connection between beads  china  and new orleans now i think about the human connection between almost every object  but also the role of globalization  inequality  and fun . more importantly  i can make these connections without feeling a sense of guilt after watching this film  unlike other films on globalization that i  ve seen .  
just imagine the real hitler  who was a master of propaganda and speech  would have been such a mumbling moron as carlyle portrayed him in this film .  br    br   nobody would have followed him  not even a desperate  unemployed guy in the     s .  br    br   this is just a hollywood cardboard piece of propaganda itself  disguised as  true history  .  br    br   i pity everyone who actually believed anything from this show . carlyle and the producers didn  t get anything right with this .  br    br   why was hitler able to win so many people  a whole county for his ideas if we was such a sausage  why did people follow him to death  by portraying him as such a loser they make their own film totally unbelievable . this film is a mixture of old ww  propaganda and mtv urban myths about one of the most important persons of the last century . imagine a film about churchill where the director only shows him as a drunkard for   mins .  br    br   this film is a disgrace and i wonder how they could talk an actor like carlyle into this dreck .  
more like psychological analysis of movies  but psycho does sound better as a header . the man in charge of the movie  the narrator if you will  does depict movies here in his own way . most of them are classics  but all of them are listed here at imdb and i  d strongly advise you to see them  especially the hitchcock movies  solyaris  conversation  and the lynch movies   because slavoj zizek will reference them   br    br   or in other words  he might spoil them for you . i don  t remember if he spoiled more than those i  ve listed  i think the chaplin movies too   but as i wrote it  d be best if you watch them all beforehand  in the imdb listing there is a movie missing  that i did report to them  so it might get up there pretty soon . it  s a meg ryan movie  but it  s a only a brief snippet not big of a deal anyways .  br    br   zizek views and opinions are crazy and fun to listen to  if you  re open minded to see things through another perspective  even if that does destroy your favorite movie a bit for you . . . it doesn  t mean it will do that  but it could    
i watched this hoping to find out something i didnt know about modern historys most infamous man and couldnt help thinking that history has been rewritten in hitlerthe rise of evil . hitler was so obsessed with his niece that he threatened to have one of her admirers shot . hitler turned up with a gun in his hand to arrest ernst rohm . forgive me for asking but havent the writers confused adolph hitler with tony montana from scarface  thats bad enough but what really offended me was that theres entire chunks of historical context missing in this mini series . germany lost the first world war and the allied powers made germany pay a heavy price for doing so . it was this economic environment that led the german people to have someone  anyone  to restore their pride and thats why they turned to nazism . the german humiliation of the     s caused by the allied powers seems to be entirely missing therefore there is no way that hitlerthe rise of evil can be taken seriously as a historical document  and i havent even mentioned that himmler and goering are conspicous by their absence  br    br   there is one positive point about the mini series and thats robert carlyle in the title role . okay some of his mannerisms are wrong and his voice is a little too loud  archive recordings show that hitler had a soft seductive voice  but carlyle is a charismatic actor and he does manage to communicate hitlers own charisma on screen . comments in the british press that carlyle resembles the synth player from sparks more than adolph hitler are unfounded and he gives one of the better interpretations of hitler .  br    br   i liked the performance by robert carlyle but i hated everything else about this mini series and wondered why on earth it was made in the first place . theres nothing to recommend it to serious history fans  
his choice of films  the basic  conceit  of the production  which places him in the sets or simulacra of the films he is commenting on  and his delivery are brilliant  but if you want freud  be aware that you  re getting zizek  s version of lacan  which should not be confused with lacan himself . as usual  zizek delivers complex ideas with gusto and in a convincing manner . the rub is he is also quite mercurial and so there may be more in his gusto than in actual content . cinematically  it is a gem . psychologically  this will have people of all persuasions  freudians  lacanians and jungians  scratching their heads but reaching for the popcorn all the same . zizek is a phenomenon and pop icon unto himself .  
well first off i  d like to add that i myself is somewhat of a historian so what i look for in a film that is based upon historical events is that it is actually based upon historical facts . but this is however not the case here . sure the movie is entertaining and all but the fact that it isn  t entirely based upon true facts is more than annoying . hitler wasn  t anti  semitic in his youth  he even worked for jews before world war one . it was however during world war one and after that he formed his views about the jews . his upbringing in this movie is also inaccurate  hitler as a child wasn  t a disturbed little brat . he had a more or less normal upbringing . nothing is mentioned about his lost brothers and other important pieces that adds to the puzzle that is hitler .  br    br   robert carlyle is a great actor but he doesn  t really fit in the role as hitler . hitler wasn  t as impossible and unstable as he is portrait  ed here . under his younger years he was a charismatic person whom  manipulated  people through his charms . his unstable behavior and rage outbursts started in the turning point of the war .  br    br   i  d like to see a film about hitler  s life that is based upon real historical facts and not accusations . i really hate when people point a blaming finger at for example hitler and others and tell inaccurate stories just to paint a picture of them as pure evil . it is much better to actually tell the story exactly as it was so that everyone can learn what it was like  the ones behind this movie should have made some research before making this . because it seems as if they didn  t even know what really happened . hitler wasn  t even shot in the revolutionary march in munch  his shoulder was ripped out of its socket .  br    br   it gives you more to see a good documentary than seeing this .  
the pervert  s guide to cinema         br    br   if loving cinema makes me a pervert  so be it   br    br   if you are a true  moviefreak  like me then i  m sure you can  t get enough of films about film  making and i don  t mean necessarily the dry documentary know and then . i mean a total discourse on the film viewing experience . well if that  s the case have i got a lulu of a film experiment for you .  br    br   in sophie fiennes  sister of ralph  joseph if you were wondering  has noted philosopher cum cinephile slavoj zizek give his analysis on cinema with some impressive  and often outrageous  takes on everything from the silent era of chaplin thru the modern age of the wachowski brothers analyzing  probing  and pontificating about the psychosexual underpinnings  socioeconomic  political and of course indefinable magic of the film going experience with his unflagging  determined and near  frenetic dissertations . to go from explaining how the bates  house in psycho is actually the mirrored psyche of the conflicted norman bates with each level as his ego  superego  id is one thing but then to suggest the same thing about each marx brother in barely a beat is a remarkable test of faith that wins over the skeptic layman .  br    br   although i had no idea who zizek was  he resembles a hybrid of filmmaker brian depalma  european actor rade serbedzija and the hyperkinetic energy of filmmakers quentin tarantino and martin scorsese  with his sibilant tongue and passion  the host comes across as a mad prophet .  br    br   fiennes cleverly inserts zizek into several of the film clips  backgrounds peppered throughout making for a humorous tone but still lets the ranting and raving continue full throttle giving pause for argument in three acts covering the gamut of films by the likes of kubrick  lynch  hitchcock and films as diverse as the wizard of oz  the red shoes  and fight club .  br    br   there  s something for everyone and if one man can provoke an argument or at least a reason to discuss a film  s themes  even if they are freudian  jungian to a fault  then i say this collection of film theory is worth the watch . seek it out now if you can before it comes to home video it  s the only way to appreciate it .  
  br    br   as usual  i was really looking forward to a new tv  film on a favourite subject of mine  makes a nice change from a strangely familiar documentary about kursk or stalingrad on the history channel .  br    br   i avidly looked forward to pearl harbour and enemy at the gates  but was rudely brought down to earth with the realisation of the malevolent  stupid  ifying power of hollywood  and its ability to spend an absolute fortune on tripe .  br    br   so yet again i got excited about  the rise of evil   especially as i heard that ian kershaw was involved  as i  ve enjoyed his books . i can see why he quit .  br    br   to quote some guy responsible for this rubbish  br    br    the kershaw book was an academic piece   he said .  it was  br    br   quite dry . we needed more incidents .   br    br   incidents  are they totally nuts  hitler  s life cannot be said to be without  incident   yes kershaw  s two volume hitler biographies were long and detailed  but they were supposed to be .  br    br   the thesis behind  rise of evil  seems to be  br    br   hitler was a very bad man  no he was a very bad man  who hated jews  and just in case you miss this  we  re going to emphasise the fact in every scene in the film .  br    br   there was no effort whatsoever to try and explain the mood of the time  and why hitler may have adopted the views and strategy he did . needless to say  unlike the generally excellent  nazis  a warning from history   this film neglected to point out the fact that nearly all of the leaders of the munich communist rising were jewish  and that this may have coloured his views on the subject  and his axiomatic linking of the jews with bolshevism  an absolutely crucial aspect to understanding much of the nazi era .  br    br   but there was not much understanding to be done  the film  makers weren  t going to go there  so we just got all the stuff we knew about anyway . we certainly don  t get the fascinating fact that kershaw alludes to  which has hitler briefly being a socialist  communist immediately after ww  . that would of course be far too complex for the film to handle  and might even detract from the relentless  he was very bad  mantra which bangs away incessantly .  br    br   we know he was a bad man . however  we also know that he was a mesmerising figure both as a public speaker and in more private situations . he could be polite and even sympathetic  and of course espoused some views like vegetarianism  anti  alcohol and anti  smoking that many guardian readers could agree with . he was also famously fond of animals  hence why that wholly invented dog  flogging scene was so absurd .  br    br   he was also  from all the accounts i  ve seen  a brave soldier in ww  . whilst we saw him with his iron cross  we never get to see how he won it  acts of bravery were not in the script  needless to say  . we also get no insight whatsoever into why he was so fired up by his war experiences  whilst sassoon  owen  brook  remarque and so many others found it so repellent an experience . and again  like the point above re the jewish  bolshevik link  this is vital to anyone  s understanding about the subject . why did he love war so much  why did he think it was always a good idea  despite massive evidence to the contrary  why didn  t he care about his colleagues who died  or maybe he did  but still drew the wrong conclusions .  br    br   this film certainly didn  t have anything of any interest to say on this either .  br    br   as all too often these days  the film is a classic example of  making history relevant to the present  and inventing stuff or leaving awkward facts out to fit in with  the present   which all too often is to cater to the lowest common denominator  where you don  t trust your audience an inch  so you just ram stuff down their throats  knowing  sadly correctly  that you  ll always get away with it because there are so many dumb fools in the world .  br    br   history is really about making us relevant to the past and seeing how it colours our present  for better and for worse . this rubbish was a great opportunity  lost again . they spent millions on it  and the locations and large scenes were impressive  but told us nothing at all we didn  t know already  and promoted no understanding of this dark period in human history .  br    br   wt  
famous movies are subject to freudian analysis possessed  the matrix  the birds  psycho  vertigo  duck soup  monkey business  the exorcist  the testament of dr mabuse  alien  alien resurrection  the great dictator  city lights  the tramp  alice in wonderland  the wizard of oz  dr strangelove  the red shoes  fight club  dead of night  the conversation  blue velvet  solaris  stalker  mulholland drive  lost highway  persona  in the cut  eyes wide shut  the piano teacher  three colours blue  dogville  frankenstein  the ten commandments  saboteur  rear window  to catch a thief  north by northwest  star wars  dune  kubanskie kazaki  ivan the terrible  pluto  s judgment day  walt disney   wild at heart .  br    br   you may wonder how the marx brothers come into play . according to slavoj zizek  the host and analyst of this intellectually tickling tour de force  groucho is the superego  chico the ego  and harpo the id .  br    br   scenes from the above listed films are used to illustrate concepts the role of fantasy in shaping reality and vice  versa  the father figure  male and female libido  death drive  etc . here are some of slavoj utterances  most as paraphrases    desire is a wound on reality    fantasy realized is a nightmare    music is the opium of the people   borrowing from k . marx    of all human emotions  anxiety is the only one that is not deceiving  . the whole is bracketed by an intro that declares  you don  t look for your desires in movies  instead cinema tells you what you should desire  and concludes with the cineaste view that  cinema is needed today so that we can understand our current reality    i say  as long as censorship doesn  t derail it .  br    br   the three part subdivision is merely mechanical  possibly with tv screening in mind . for the theater goer it is irrelevant .  
no wonder that the historian ian kershaw  author of the groundbreaking hitler biography  who originally was the scientific consultant for this tv film  dissociated himself from it . the film is historically just too incorrect . the mistakes start right away when hitlers father alois dies at home  while in reality he died in a pub . in the film  hitler moves from vienna to munich in      while in reality he actually moved to munich in     . i could go on endlessly . hitlers childhood and youth are portrayed way too short  which makes it quite difficult for historically uninformed people to understand the character of this frustrated neurotic man . important persons of the early time of the party  like hitlers fatherly friend dietrich eckart or the party  philosopher  alfred rosenberg are totally missing . the characterization of ernst hanfstaengl is very problematic . in the film he is portrayed as a noble character who almost despises hitler . the script obviously follows hanfstaengls own gloss over view of himself which he gave in his biography after the war . in fact  hanfstaengl was an anti  semite and was crazy about his  fuehrer  . but the biggest problem of the film is the portrayal of hitler himself . he is characterized as someone who is constantly unfriendly  has neither charisma nor charm and constantly orders everybody around . after watching the film  one wonders  how such a disgusting person ever was able to get any followers . since we all know  what an evil criminal hitler was  naturally every scriptwriter is tempted to portray hitler as totally disgusting and uncharismatic . but facts is  that in private he could be quite charming and entertaining . his comrades didnt follow him because he constantly yelled at them  but because they liked this strange man . beyond all those historical mistakes  the film is well made  the actors are first class  the location shots and the production design give a believable impression of the era .  
the person who wrote the review  enough with the sweating and spitting already  has no grasp of what cultural  literary  or psycho  critique is . he dismisses zizek  s interpretations because they don  t seem  in line  with what the director originally intended . so what  the importance of a director  s  or author  s  intention is not important in critical theory . this is known as the author  s  intentional fallacy  and should be avoided .  br    br   http   en . wikipedia . org  wiki  intentional  fallacy a text or movie can be analyzed through a number of theories  many of which disagree with one another  as well as completely ignore the author  s intention . this is the most fundamental idea of critical theory .  br    br   because of this  whoever wrote that wall of text wasted a lot of time and effort on insulting zizek . in reality  anyone who studies theory would immediately discredit this guys opinion  i suggest you should too  as it is completely off point .  br    br   that being said . . . if you are at all interested in freudian  laconian  or kristevian discourse  this movie is a must . it connects these theories with popular film  making them much more palpable and enjoyable than simply reading or thinking about them .  
wonderful cast wasted on worthless script . ten or so adults reunite at the summer camp they attended as juveniles . could this ever happen in a million years  it  s simply a fantasy  and a boring one at that . do they become teenagers again  do they reenact their pranks  games  good times  they may try but ultimately the answer is no . is there any intrigue  any suspense  horror  comedy  none of the above . how anyone can be entertained by this drivel is beyond me . i wanted to like this movie i tried to like this movie  but my brain refused .  
i admit creating great expectations before watching because some friends mentioned it  and they are not pervs   as a must see . and it is a must see  just don  t expect to see something outbreaking .  br    br   the freudian psychoanalyzes are interesting in many parts of the film  but there  s just too much perversion and it doesn  t stick in the end .  br    br   some of the good things are the analyzes of kieslowski  s blue  most of david lynch  s  some of hitchcock  s and perhaps a couple more i missed  i just remembered . . . dogville   and i usually don  t miss things unless they are too obvious or loose in the air .  br    br   other than being repetitive  which makes it too long  the documentary is enjoyable in the sense of noticing some perversions fed by our unconscious  hence the commercial success of most thrillers studied and used as basis for this theory .  br    br   i really enjoyed the energetic tone of the narration and the effort of mr . zizek to revive freud  s theory  which has been numb for too long  specially in north america . again  it  s way over the top and i believe not to be a completely waste of time for i do believe most humans have a dark appreciation for death and blood .  
like watching a neighbor  s summer camp home movies   indian summer  is a sleep inducing bore . eight alumni campers are barely introduced  when unbelievably boring flashbacks begin for characters we know nothing about . fine actors  alan arkin  and bill paxton are totally wasted in this film . one camper  s observation that  everything seems so much smaller than i remember it  is repeated at least ten times  enough to make you squirm . the anticipated pranks are neither funny or original  unless you think that short sheeting is a real  howler  . this movie was a great disappointment considering the ample talent involved .  indian summer  did not make me homesick  just sick .  merk  
i reached the end of this and i was almost shouting  no  no  no  no  it cannot end here  there are too many unanswered questions  the engagement of the dishwashers  mona  s disappearance  helmer  s comeuppance  the  zombie   was little brother saved by his father  and what about the head         argh   then i read that at least two of the cast members had passed on and i have to say  i know it probably wouldn  t be true to lars von trier  s vision  but i would gladly look past replacement actors just to see the ending he had planned  granted  it would be hard to find someone to play helmer as the character deserves . helmer  the doctor you love to hate  i think i have yet to see a more self  absorbed  oblivious  self  righteous character on screen  but  i could overlook a change in actors . . . . i just have to know how it ends   
there  s one line that makes it worth to rent for angel fans . everyone else this is just a very bad horror flick . the female characters are typical horror movies females . they are wooden  annoying and dumb . you are glad when they are killed off . long live the strong female character in a horror movie    
there  s the danger with the critic  philosopher slavoj zizek with his film  directed by sophie fiennes  which takes together a wonderful amalgam of silent  horror  sci  fi  surreal and other contemporary thrillers together to make his points ofr freudian comparisons to overload . but in the pervert  s guide to cinema he also makes even the more far  reaching points a point of departure from any other analysis i  ve seen on a collective section of films . while it doesn  t cover the expansive territory scorsese  s movie documentaries cover  the same attachments are there  and zizek has a definite love for all of these  perverse  examples and films  primarily the work of hitchcock  lynch  chaplin and tarkovsky . yet one shouldn  t go into seeing this  if you can find it that is  i got to see it almost by luck  thinking zizek will just try and dissect all of the psycho  sexual parts or parts referring it in an obtuse  deranged manner . if anything he opens up one to points that might never be considered otherwise  would one think of three of the marx brothers as representations of the id  super  ego and ego  harpo  s example is most dead  on for me  .  br    br   he  s not just one to take on the classics though  he also considers the food for thought in the matrix and fight club  in representations of the split between fantasy and reality and if the matrix needs the energy as much as the energy needs the matrix for the former  and in the attachment of violence in dealing with one  s own self as well as ones double in the latter . he even throws in a piece from the pivotal moment in revenge of the sith when anakin becomes darth vader  and the implications of shunning away fatherhood under that back mask at the very moment his children  s births happens elsewhere . the ideals of fatherhood  male sexuality  the male point of view in turning fantasy into reality  at which point zizek rightfully points to as the moment of a nightmare  s creation   and female subjectivity  are explored perhaps most dead  on with vertigo . this too goes for a scene that zizek deconstructs as if it  s the zapruder film  where he dissects the three colliding points of psycho  sexual stance in the  don  t you look at me  scene in blue velvet .  br    br   now it would be one thing if zizek himself went about making these sincere  excited  and somehow plausible points just face on to the camera or mostly in voice  over as scorsese does . but he goes a step further to accentuate his points of fantasy and reality  and how they overlap  intersect  become one and the same  or spread off more crucially into some netherworld or primordial feeling for some characters  i . e . lost highway  by putting himself in the locations the films take place in . funniest is first seeing him in the boat  heading  towards the same dock tippi hedren  s boat heads to at the beginning of the birds equally funny is as he waters the blue velvet lawn he goes on to explain the multi  faceted points of frank booth only one  when he  s in solaris  like territory  does it seem a little cheesy . but zizek seems to be having a lot of fun with this set  up  and after a while one bypasses the potential crux of this gimmick and zizek  s words come through .  br    br   there were some films i of course would  ve expected  chiefly from hitchcock and lynch  but a treat for movie buffs come from seeing two things  the movies that one would never think of seeing in a film about films titled the pervert  s guide of cinema  top two for me would be the disney pluto cartoon and the exposition on chaplin  s films  albeit with a great note about the power and distinction of  voice    and the ones that one hasn  t seen yet  i . e . the ventriloquist horror film  dr . mabuse  stalker  among a few others  that inspire immediate feelings of  wow  i have to see that immediately  no questions asked .  zizek is a powerful writer with his work  and puts it forward with a clarity that reminds one why we watch movies in the first place  to be entertained  sure  but also to have that actual experience of sitting down and having something up there  as he put it  looking into a toilet . it  s probably one of the greatest films about cinema  and in such a splendidly narrow analysis of how freud works its way into films regarding desire  the id  super  ego  ego  and of the supernatural in fantasy  that you may never see . . . unless distribution finally kicks in  if only on the smallest levels .  
i was looking over our dvd tower last night for something to watch . we were between netflix mailings and it was a quiet saturday night . i pulled one out that i never heard of before and realized it was borrowed from a friend . from the jacket  it sounded like a rip  off of  the big chill  but  with the all  star cast  felt it might be worth watching . boy was i wrong    not only was it like  the big chill   it was a rip  off almost character by character . the bill paxton character was a copy of william hurt   where have you been all this time  role   spoiler warning  and  lo and behold  he remains behind to take care of the old place  cabin  camp  . kimberly williams  meg tilly jerk womanizer matt craven  jeff goldblum etc .  etc . i found myself wondering why i  m even watching these people . there was insufficient character development for me to find any interest in them . how did  unca lou  even find these characters after   years  plus it wasn  t even funny  except when perkins fell  err  flopped  out of bed the first morning  it was a sign and i missed it . after it was over  i asked my wife   were there any endearing characters in this film  . . . are you sleeping over there   she replied   no  i  m still thinking . . . no  none i can think of .   
  cinema is the ultimate pervert art . it doesn  t give you what you desire it tells you how to desire .   br    br   so begins  the pervert  s guide to cinema   in which slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst slavoj zizek applies his freudian  lacanian brain  scalpel to world cinema . this film in three parts is the second feature documentary directed by sophie fiennes  yes  sister of ralph and joseph   and it is a notable accomplishment  clocking in at     hours of talk from one man and yet remaining humorous and engaging throughout . in essence  it is an extended film lecture  and one of the best you may ever get . over the course of the film  zizek guides us through a catalog of obsession and desire in film history . he touches on more than   films and  in particular  spends a great deal of time with hitchcock  lynch  chaplin  tarkovsky  the marx brothers  and eisenstein . but he also takes a close look at  persona    the conversation    three colors blue    dogville    fight club   and  the exorcist .  thematically  zizek  s inquiry into cinema ranges from thoughts on the death drive to the  coordinates of desire   and from gnosticism to  partial objects .   br    br    the pervert  s guide  will be a slightly better experience if you  ve taken a few minutes to bone up on your basic freudian terminology . however  even if you  re not steeped in psychoanalytic theory  zizek  s dynamic and hilarious personality carries the film forward with such gusto that you aren  t likely to balk at the specialized lingo . the film frequently cuts from movie clips to images of zizek inside the movie he is talking about   that is  in the original locations and sets . the transitions in these sequences sustain such tension and humor that the trick never gets old . and zizek himself is constantly making us laugh  either from bizarre little jokes or from his enthusiastic insistence on  for example  a bold oedipal interpretation of  the birds .  and this go  ahead  and  laugh attitude  on the parts of both fiennes and zizek  is essential to the gonzo character of the film . it is the spoonful of sugar that helps us digest zizek  s weird medicine . after all  don  t we all have a sense that  past a certain point  psychology theorists are just pulling our legs   
this kind of film has become old hat by now  hasn  t it  the whole thing is syrupy nostalgia turned in upon itself in some kind of feedback loop .  br    br   it sure sounds like a good idea a great ensemble cast  some good gags  and some human drama about what could have  might have been . unfortunately  there is no central event that binds them all together  like there was in  the big chill   one of those seminal movies that spawned copycat films like this one . you end up wanting to see more of one or two particular people instead of getting short takes on everyone . the superficiality this creates is not just annoying  it  s maddening . the below  average script doesn  t help .  
lots and lots of information to digest  and if you  ve seen zizek  you know his pace .  br    br   also if you haven  t seen most of the films or at least some other films by the same directors mentioned in this doc  you will be somewhat lost .  br    br   and the film list is long . director includes hitchcock  psycho  vertigo  birds   lynch  lost highway  mullholland falls  wild at heart  blue velvet   tarkovsky  stalker  solaris  and the conversation  coppola   br    br   there are some segway films like  star wars espisode iii  matrix . . . but these i suspect are baits . to be sure  zizek is never boring  but if you don  t buy  or if you mind  the psycho analytics  then you  ll be annoyed to no end .  br    br   but you should not be  as the setting  clips  the way the film interleave with these clips  zizek  s points are never boring .  
i am completely appalled to see that the average rating for this movie is  .     for what affects me  it is definitely one of the worst movies i have ever seen and i still keep wondering why i watched it until the end . first of all  the plot is totally hopeless  and the acting truly awful . i think that any totally unknown actress would have been better for the role than susan lucci concerning mr . kamar del  s reyes  i think it would have been a better choice for him to remain in his  valley of the dolls  . to sum up  it is total waste of time  and i  m trying to stay polite . . .  to avoid at any cost . my rating is  and i still think it is well paid  but since we cannot give a o . . . .  
bear in mind  any film  let alone documentary  which asserts any kind of truth  will generate an adverse and proportional amount of cynicism  from those to whom any suggestion of and or search for truths is already meaningless  those of you who are already masters of psychology  film  and captains of the soul  will no doubt find this movie redundant  after all  you already know everything there is to know . congrats .  br    br   for those of us in the minority like myself  i found  the perverts guide to cinmea  . . . . mostly brilliant  and worth watching for those interested in movies  psychology  and modern philosophy .  br    br   a little like scott mclouds   understanding comics   director sophie fiennes  inter  grates slovene philosopher  psychologist  and social critic slavoj zizek right into many of the films and specif scenes he discusses . the cover is an image from  the birds   zizek takes a boat out to re  create the shot  .  br    br   lacanian psycho  analysis  does not necessarily scream  an evening of great fun . . . but it is  if you like movies that is . . . . having some knowledge of lacanian psycho  analysis helps  symbolic  real  and imaginary  are terms which get thrown around a little loosely at first  but the scenes which zizek selects and analyze make remarkably clear what was always for me  a very abstract subject . in fact  it  s probably better to have a familiarity with the films he  s discussing than with the terminology he uses  which becomes clearer as the film goes on .  br    br   why i love  this film isn  t because it picks great films to analyze or reveals great truths about lacan  but shows in a very practical and clever manner  where film and psychology  and by default philosophy  meet .  br    br   why is  the sound of music  kinda fascistic  why is  short cuts  about more than just class and alienation  why do the birds attack in  the birds   what is there to learn about the mind from  alien resurrection   what does the planet of  solaris  want  what does  psycho  and  the marx brothers  have to do with each other  and what the hell is david lynch getting across in movie after movie . . . well zizek has some ideas .  br    br   the role of the voice in both  the excorcist  and  star wars revenge of the sith   is maybe the movies strongest and most lucid moment  when he gets into feminine sexual subjectivity i begin to wonder . . . at one point zizek admits his feeling that flowers are a kind of decorative vagina dentatta  that they are disgusting and should be hidden from children  jokingly  it seems but . . .  .  br    br   anyway  it  s a fascinating documentary  which anyone who has ever seen a movie  and thought it meant something more than was literally stated  should make an attempt to see .  br    br   and anyone interested in slavoj zizek  this is a must as well  much less dry than  reality of the virtual   and more direct than  zizek    two other pseudo  docs  about  the elvis of contemporary cultural criticism   as he is being dubbed  in the english speaking world .  br    br    the perverts guide to cinema  is not about the role of sex in cinema . zizek claims cinema is the ultimate pervert art  because it teaches  how to desire  and not what to desire   and that it is the only contemporary art form that can allow for these desires to be articulated . this is not a film about finding the reality in cinema  it  s about finding the cinema in reality  and how important and exciting that can be . hard to find  and a bit long  but well worth the trouble  one of the most  stimulating  movie watching experiences i  ve ever had .  
a thematic staple of cinema since its inception is that genre involving seductive women whose wiles and means entice susceptible men not only into their arms but also into dire circumstances that typically will only result in jeopardy for the male victims  along with incertitude as to whether or not temptresses will be forced to take their medicine  and here susan lucci performs as a siren  although her acting chops from a primarily soap opera pedigree are inadequate to make her performance a credible one . isabelle  lucci   inconstant wife of venture capitalist stewart collins  john o  hurley   begins a love affair merely for fun with yacht salesman richard davis  philip casnoff   simply a bagatelle for her but an earnest matter of the heart for richard  apparently mesmerized by his lover while she takes advantage of his ardour by engaging him in a risky plot that will graduate into a scheme of murderous intent . when davis becomes convinced that guileful isabelle is a victim of physical abuse administered by her husband  he desperately attempts to free her from what he feels is a marital trap in order that he may wed her himself  coming to believe that the only clear solution to his plight will be found in a rudimentary essay at hiring a professional assassin who will dispose of the allegedly violent stewart . in the wake of the hit  man  s assault upon collins  a pair of police detectives  performed by joe grifasi and dean mcdermott  become increasingly curious concerning isabelle  s possible involvement in the crime  while at the same time reality dawns upon enraptured richard who might have to pay a dear price in return for his inamorata  s maneuvering . lucci and kasnoff are properly cast as a viable pair of conspirators  each giving a reading that makes for a boring rather than charming set of lovebirds  but o  hurley and mcdermott offer strong turns in a film that suffers from a hackneyed scenario as well as uninventive direction and design elements . released upon a fremantle dvd  this largely lustreless affair depicting a man  neath the spell of a seductress does benefit from top  flight visual and sound quality  and although no extra features are provided  the above  average production quality enhances able efforts from cinematographer robert primes and composer stephen edwards .  
i saw this film at the toronto international film festival . not as salacious as it sounds  this is a three  part documentary  each episode is   minutes  featuring slovenian superstar philosopher  psychoanalyst slavoj zizek . zizek takes us on a journey through many classic films  exploring themes of sexuality  fantasy  morality and mortality . it was directed by sophie fiennes  of the multi  talented fiennes clan  she  s sister to actors ralph and joseph  .  br    br   i enjoyed this quite a bit  although i think it will be even more enjoyable on dvd  since there is such a stew of ideas to be digested . freudian and lacanian analysis can be pretty heavy going and seeing the whole series all at once became a bit disorienting by the end of two and a half hours . it didn  t help that an ill  advised coffee and possession of a bladder led me to some discomfort for the last hour or so .  br    br   my only real issue with this is that zizek picked films that were quite obviously filled with freudian themes . he spends quite a bit of time on the films of hitchcock and david lynch  not exactly masters of subtlety . i would have liked to see him try to support his theories by using a wider range of films  although that  s really just me saying i  d like to see part four and five and six .  br    br   zizek is very funny  and part of the humour was watching him present what amounted to a lecture while inserting himself into the actual scenes from some of the films he  s discussing . so  for instance  we see him in a motorboat on his way to bodega bay  from hitchcock  s the birds  or sitting in the basement of the bates motel  from psycho  . which is not to say that his theories are not provocative . even when i found myself disagreeing with him  it definitely made me think a little more deeply about the films . which is exactly what he  s trying to accomplish .  
spoilers a bit ridicules made for tv movie has sexy and middle age gold  digger isabelle collins  susan tucci  doing a number on every man she comes in contact with in the movie . first winning over their hearts then their wallets and then  when their no longer any use to her  thrown in the wastepaper basket like a used up kleenex tissue .  br    br   isabelle  s first victim is non other then her abusive  on keeping isabelle from raiding his bank account  husband stewart  john o  hurley . it  s later in the movie when isabelle gets very friendly with former plumber and now yacht salesman richard davis  philip casnoff  that she  without really telling him  has the totally love  sick richard get a contract out on her unsuspecting husbands life . getting this ex  convict  in fact as soon as he  s released from prison  daggett  nicholas campbell  to do the job on stewart richard soon finds out that he didn  t get exactly what he paid         .   in cash  for .  br    br   getting a little too greedy daggett not only blew stewart  s brains out but took a solid gold watch  that stewart offered him in order to spear his life  as well . the watch was easily traced to daggett as he tried to pawn it at a local jewelry shop where he was quickly arrested . with doggett spilling his guts out on who hired him to whack stewart it doesn  t take long for the long arm of the law to arrest stewart  s  by hiring doggett  killer isabelle  s husband to be ex  plumber and yacht salesman richard davis  davis  arrest by the police happens just as he and isabelle took the vows of matrimony in a local church   br    br   isabelle manipulates everyone  exclusively men that fall head over heels for her  to her advantage by getting them to do her dirty work . always playing the part of the naive housewife or widow or lover or even client isabelle seems to live a charmed life always one step ahead of the law and police . no matter what she does isabelle covers her pretty behind so well that it  s almost impossible to pin her down on any  in having others do them  of the many crimes that she commits  through a second party  in the film .  br    br   after screwing  figuratively as well as literally  her first husband steven her second husband  for less then ten seconds  richard and finally her  or richard  s  attorney gavin kendrick  kamar de los rey  isabelle knows that it  s only a matter of time before the police get wise to her . with the d . a getting both richard and kendrick to turn evidence against her isabelle now knowing that everything is fast closing in on her makes her final move . getting everything in order  by transferring all her cash overseas  isabelle and her   year  old daughter ruby  lauren collins  shoot down to the passport office in order to get clearance  passports  to get out of the country .  br    br   it  s then when the cagey and clever isabelle makes her first and possibly last and fatal mistake in the movie . isabelle is told by the passport clerk  don carrier  she  ll have to wait a full   hours for her  and ruby  s  passport to clear  just enough time for the police to find and arrest her  outlandish ending that goes against almost everything and every ethic that  s in a film noir or crime movie . an ending that will not only blow your mind but your concept of what  s right and wrong in the world   
he  s stocky  sweaty  slightly cross  eyed and restless . he stands in front of us and calls himself a pervert . he claims that we  the film viewers  perceive the screen as a toilet bowl  and are all secretly wishing for all the st to explode from the inside . he  s unpredictable and scary . well  come on  you could have guessed by now he  s one of the leading philosophers of our age .  br    br   slavoj iek is both a narrator and a subject of sophie fiennes  extraordinary new film  a pervert  s guide to the cinema . fiennes illustrates a feature  long lecture by iek  and does so in two ways by providing exemplary film clips and putting iek on real  or reconstructed  locations from the movies he speaks about . it  s always nice to watch neatly captioned scenes from great movies  although revenge of the sith got here as well   but the main attraction of a pervert  s guide is iek himself . what makes the movie such fun to watch is the unanswerable question one cannot help but ask over and over again what is more outrageous  iek  s views or iek  s screen presence  in a documentary by astra taylor  iek       slovenian philosopher at one point confessed his fear of being silent . because  he claimed  he feels like he doesn  t exist in the first place  the only way to make all other people believe he does is to talk constantly and feverishly . and talk he did  and how . also a pervert  s guide is dominated by his voice  delivering perfect english in most crazy way  and making some astonishing points about the cinema .  br    br   what are those  well  for example he sees chaplin  s reluctance towards talking picture as a sign of an universal fear of voice itself  kind of alien force taking over the human being  think the ventriloquist segment of dead of night      . he says that the perverse nature of cinema is to teach us to desire certain objects  not to provide us with them . he identifies groucho marx as super ego  chico as ego and harpo as id . he says a million other interesting things  and all the time we cannot take our eyes off him  so persuasive  and captivating  are his looks . at some point i couldn  t help but stare at his thick  scruffy hair and wonder what kind of a brain lays stored underneath . craving  of course  for more insights .  br    br   most notable are iek  s readings of lynch and hitchcock  which comes as no surprise since he has written about both of them  . the cumulative effect of many brilliantly edited clips from their respective work made those parts of iek  s lecture memorable and  unlike others  difficult to argue with  since he seems to really have gotten things right on these two directors . this doesn  t go for his reading of tarkovsky for example  upon whom he relentlessly imposes his own utterly materialistic view of reality  dismissing precisely what  s so remarkable in all tarkovsky  namely strong religious intuitions and images  .  br    br   the question isn  t whether iek is inspiring and brilliant  because he is or whether fiennes film is worth watching  because it is likewise . the real question is rather are iek views coherent  one smart observation after another make for an overwhelming intellectual ride  but after the whole thing is over  some doubts remain . for example while considering vertigo     iek states that what  s hidden behind human face is a perfect void  which makes face itself only a facade something of a deception in its own means . however  when in the final sequence we hear about the ever  shattering finale of city lights     as being a portrait of one human being fully exposed to another  it  s hard not to ask what happened to the whole facade  thing  why should we grant chaplin  s face intrinsic value of the real thing and deprive kim novak  s of this same privilege in two bold strokes  or maybe that incoherence might also be read in lacan  s terms   the name of the notoriously  unreadable  french psychoanalyst is fundamental to iek  s thought .  the film has all the virtues of a splendid two  and  a  half hours lecture lots of ground are covered  many perspectives employed  even some first  rate wisecracks made  when iek travels on a melanie daniels  boat from the birds     and tries to think as she did  he comes up with  i want to fk mitch    . but it has also one shortcoming that isn  t inherent to two  and  a  half hours lecture as such it  s almost obsessively digressive . iek  s yarn about how far are we from the real is as good as any other psychoanalytic yarn  but after some   minutes it becomes quite clear that one of iek  s perverse pleasures is to ramble on and on  changing subjects constantly . overall effect is this of being swept away by a giant  cool  fizzing wave you  re simultaneously taken by surprise  refreshed  in mortal danger and confused no end . as you finish watching  your head is brimming with ideas not of your own and you  re already planning on re  watching some films  but you also share a sense of having survived a calamity .  br    br   the ultimate question is did iek lost it  or haven  t we even came close to the real thing  once cinephilia becomes punishable by imprisonment  we shall all meet in a one big cell and finally talk to each other  not having any movies around to turn our faces to  . i dare you all who will have enough guts to approach iek and defy him  my guess is that once you look into those eyes in real life  you become a believer .  
most of the episodes on season  are awful . . there is no comparison to twilight zone or outer limits  as they programs actually had decent story lines . most of amazing stories are well dull . . not amazing in the least . . go rent or buy the twilight zone series . . . i have heard season  of this series is much better . . also for some reason on the dvd  s they cut out the ray walston parts which further diminishes this compilation . the one cool thing is to see actors and actresses when they were younger in     . . . most of the story lines are very predictable though and the series could of been better with twists and turns that left you wondering . . .  
always enjoy the great acting talents of harry hamlin   jim lansford    strange hearts       who plays a straight as an arrow husband  who seems to get all kinds of attention from very charming young women  namely  lisa zane   lynne    monkeybone       who is a co  worker with jim lansford and you wonder why he doesn  t try to hit on her for some fun . annie potts   kris lansford    breaking the rules       is a very warm and sweet loving wife to jim and has complete trust in her husband . kris wants to always keep her husband happy and even buys him a home with out him even seeing it for himself . this film will keep you guessing right to the very end   
this rather formulaic swords and flying fists movie is a decent early display of john woo  s talents . the cinematography is excellent and some of the sword work is truly remarkable . unfortunately the film labours under the burden of a dull story and a glaringly low budget  check some of the setbound fight scenes if you doubt me  . nonetheless  it  s worth seeing  especially if you can catch in letterboxed .  
i was watching this movie on friday  apr  th . i didn  t see the last scene  cos i was talking with my bro n mom in law at the same time  . anyone can tell me what happened to her  i watched slightly that her husband was hearing someone was talking to his wife in the bedroom and then he opened the door  she  s dead already .  br    br   what happened to her  did she kill herself  how could she arrange everything like the phone calls  meanwhile she  s at home when her husband was talking to this strange admirer  anyone can explain to me  please . i am so so curious    in the end  i read that she suffered from multiply disorder personality  .  br    br   thnks before .  
i have seen dolemite and also  avenging  disco godfather  two other fine works of the blaxploitation canon from our friend rudy ray moore . but this film  the human tornado  aka dolemite   will always hold a special place in my heart . for sheer goofiness  lack of skill in film production  and absolute enthusiasm  frankly a little too much   the human tornado cannot be topped .  br    br   the opening scene sets the tone . our old pal dolemite is shacking up with a white woman  when some racist local cops raid the house for no good reason  and wouldn  t you know it  the woman in bed with ol  dole is none other than the sheriff  s wife . her cry when she sees him  he made me do it   dolemite  s cry   are you for real     subtlety was never his strong point .  br    br   highlights  the cameo by a very young ernie hudson  of ghostbusters fame   the continuity errors  characters looking one way in one shot  and another in the next  dolemite  s suit changing colors in every single shot of his nightclub act   and queen bee  s demonic eyes in her first scene .  br    br   but the real joy here is rudy ray moore himself . did the man really think he looked cool in this movie  i certainly don  t know why  but you have to admire the sheer enthusiasm he has . whether it be jumping totally naked off a cliff  or barking orders to his gang in rhyme  e . g quick  into the cave  i have a plan to let that mother    dig his own grave   the man commits totally . certainly he goes overboard  nevermore so than any time he  s doing kung fu . the climactic battle is filmed at high speed  but occassionaly slows down to let rudy pose and grits his teeth . i  m not sure if they wanted it too look like they sped up the film as an effect or if they really wanted us to believe he was that fast . in any event   the matrix  it is not .  br    br   human tornado  much like the original dolemite  is an incompetent film of enormous proportions . but at least it  s fun  and certainly you have to give credit to these people for the effort . just not that much . enjoy with my hearty recommendations .  
i liked this movie  although halfway through it  i was able to tell who the secret admirer was .  br    br   i am also wondering if it was based on a true story since it told about the  real  people at the end of the movie . i guess i will have to research it and let ya know .  br    br   does anyone remember what state this happened in  i believe they moved to north carolina if i  m not mistaken .  br    br   of course the states could have been changed to protect the innocent .  br    br   you would think that this man could have figured it out as easily as i did . was he stupid or what   
this film has its good points hot chicks people die  br    br   the problem . . . the hot chicks barley get nude and you don  t get to see many of the people dieing  mostly just lots of fast movements and screaming though there were two good kill scenes .  br    br   also for those of you watching this for jenna jameson she is just a side chearator with a very small role and minor nude scenes .  br    br   what this film needed . . script and story would be nice but i will not complain about that . . simply put it needs more nudity and better kill scenes cuz lets face it that is why we watch these flicks . . .  br    br   i wouldn  t waste my money on it . . . and if you must  wait until it  s on the old shelves at your local video store  
her deadly rival        starring harry hamlin  annie potts  lisa zane  tommy hinkley  susan diol  roma maffia  robert c . treveiler  d . l . anderson  william blair  sean bridges  robin dallenbach  wilbur fitzgerald  dale frye  stan kelly  deborah hobart  david lenthall  lorri lindberg  chuck kinlaw  amy parrish  melissa suzanne mcbride  ralph wilcox  al wiggins  jeff sumerel  daria sanford . . . . director james hayman  screenplay dan vining .  br    br   actor harry hamlin  of la law fame  clash of the titans and other films  seems perfectly cast in this  lifetime  type film directed by james hayman and released in     . he and his wife lisa rinna would later work on a film about sex addiction .  her deadly rival  is  at first glance  similar to the better known hollywood box  office hit  fatal attraction  . in  rival   happily married couple jim and kris lanford move into a new home in the typically beautiful suburbs . they have the seemingly perfect marriage  they are deeply in love  despite a routine lifestyle . but then a mysterious admirer sets her eyes on jim . her identity is never revealed  despite an attempt by jim and even investigators to discover who she is . she constantly harasses jim through phone calls and letters . his marriage nearly flounders as his wife begins to think he  s having an affair and trying to cover it up . while harry hamlin  annie potts and the rest of the cast  lisa zane  tommy hinkley  susan diol  roma maffia  robert c . treveiler  d . l . anderson  william blair  each seem to be straight out of a soap opera . but this is a very suspense  filled drama and has its good moments . there is a twist at the end . spoiler alert . all i have to say is  her deadly rival  was only herself . based on a supposedly actual case  jim  s wife kris suffered from multiple personality disorder and that was what ruined her marriage . even if the story is not terribly impressive  even if the acting is only a step above soap opera acting  this film has its moments . especially moving are the intimate scenes between jim and his wife and the final scene in which  when jim learns the truth  he can  t believe what he has just heard . the movie is probably a little too long and boring in some parts but it  s the kind of tv movie that usually does well  especially on lifetime  which continues to produce films of this kind  of the  domestic thriller  type  or seduction stories . trashy but everyone likes trash .  
it was the worst ending i have ever seen if some one can please tell me how and why the last chick goes crazy and eats the old women in the end . why dose the movie have all those cheap crappy scares in it in the beginning but yet when the first person dies they kill them all off in  minutes  most of the people could act but i do give so credit to the porn stars they did their best . also it had a couple funny parts and kills like when the care taker gets his organs riped out of his ass and then gets choked with it . if this movie had an ending that could make any since i would have given it a  out of   but the ending made no since . the ending sucked but the rest was great  
the stories in this video are very entertaining  and it definately is worth a look  the first one concerns a young couple harrassed in the woods by two rednecks  with a great  but unexplained twist at the end .  br    br   the seond is the best of the lot  and it alone  makes this worth watching  a man is attacked by a dog  which he fears to be rabid  he finds shelter in what appears to be a hospital  but he finds out the employees there are not exactly what they appear to be . . . . . . great twist at the end  and this episode alone scores       if the others were up to par with this one  this would get        br    br   the third is the weakest of the bunch  a girl meets with some guys and has wild sex  there appears to be no point to the story until the end  with a good little twist  but it is spoiled by the awful first part   br    br   never the less  this is a great movie that will not do you wrong at all  well worth a rental   
  valentine  is another horror movie to add to the stalk and slash movie list  think  halloween    friday the   th    scream   and  i know what you did last summer   . it certainly isn  t as good as those movies that i have listed about  but it  s better than most of the ripoffs that came out after the first  friday the   th  film . one of those films was the     canadian made  my bloody valentine   which i hated alot .  valentine  is a better film than that one  but it  s not saying much . the plot a nerdy young boy is teased and pranked by a couple of his classmates at the beginning of the film . then the film moves years later when those classmates are all grown up  then they  re picked off one  by  one . the killer is presumed to be the young boy now all grown up looking for revenge . but is it him  or could it be somebody else   valentine  has an attractive cast which includes denise richards  david boreanaz  marley shelton  jessica capshaw  and katherine heigl . they do what they can with the material they  ve got  but a lackluster script doesn  t really do them any justice . there are some scary moments throughout  however .  br    br     out of four   
i am right now in front of the tv  watching casomai . it is changing  it id evolving or better . . . devolving . it begin with a courius wedding of the two protagonists where their love  story is reported . after that everything change  a child was born  and all the rest usually happen in a couple . it is a not a special movie because it talks about a normal couple  and normality is the center of this movie . it doesn  t want to show us something particular  there is nothing new  it is just a normal love  story  the story of a couple  and being normal it become different from the rest . it is also a flashing movie  everything is short  every scene is long just some seconds . it is a reported story  many things are known because friends and parents talk about that  and their opinion is central  the opinions create the story and destroy it . it is a simple story of a couple as i said  but it is not boring  it just show a couple  should be everything known  it is  but i am sure that every one of you will want to know what happen  so don  t forget to watch the end   
he pulled the guys guts out his butt  that  s a spoof right   no one really writes that it just happens like improv gone horribly wrong . i think any way . this movie must be a spoof because who would say they wrote that script otherwise . can anyone imagine the entire cast sitting around as the director and writers go over the storyboard .  br    br   director says   next our inbreed villain uses his   inch machete to disembowel our token creepy neighbor . get this  he is going to pull the guts out his bunghole   br    br    brilliant   the entire cast proclaims .  br    br   no way can that happen  nobody writes that stupid  gotta be a spoof .  br    br   i loved the part where the skinny introspective gal beats the inbreed freak to death with the cast iron skillet she finds on the floor of the cave . i wasn  t sure the inbreed cannibal types bothered to cook much . maybe that explains why the skillet was lying on the floor in the dark at just the right time to kill the malformed hulk . seems ironic that after the freaky guy had bested martial arts expert porn queens and a couple out doors type jocks he falls so easily to the frying pan of a skinny defenseless girl next door .  br    br   what the heck is that richard greco guy doing in this  did he fire his agent or something   br    br   can anyone explain the ending to me please because i didn  t get it either  i can  t quite figure why the nice hero girl wanted to kill the funny lady who was making her some tea . never mind i don  t want to know .  
i now that these days  some people wan  t see a movie without movie styling  so much dogma  lars von  watchosky brothers  are changed what we expect in a movie  perhaps  casomai is no  one  more  independent  non  american movie  the movie take all movies resources and language to tell us a simple history about love and marriage  but much more . . fully of views  lectures and let you thinking . . . and i  m sure  you can  t fell boried any second of a long    minutes . i calculate that don  t have a single scene longer that  o     minutes .  
did they use their entire budget paying the porno stars or what     br    br   sound effects  background music and the editing in general was so bad you  d think some    year  old wanna  be made the film .  br    br   most of the acting was good considering the script . . . the  innocent virgin  played her part really well .  br    br   the mutants look really cool and this actually could have been a really cool flick with the right brain behind the wheel . . . but  unfortunately for all involved  that  s not the case .  br    br   turn left was made better than this movie and those guys didn  t even have any money    good thing i didn  t rent the movie myself   
the best film about marriage and family . this is a very interesting reflections to the couples that will be come to the dangerous and paradoxical fascinating world of marriage and family . this decision could be the better or the worst in our lives and the life of our kids . the real intrusion or help of  friends   or executioner if we leave  . the real role of families they can help or they can destroy us . the mad priest who possibly is not much mad telling what could happen according the statistics and the reality . a couple who thinks in a  special  marriage  live a painful story in their future own history .  br    br   who likes contract marriage  nobody  after the priest tells their own history if they leave the future in another hands  if they don  t know what is the marriage . that the problems are true  that the life demand a real engage  guaranties  from each one . that the real victims of the divorce are kids  with real name andrea in the film  or names . that the abortion is only an easy exit sadness  regrets and unhappiness will be there after abortion . that the state and social security thinks every time less in a real problems of the families . the gossip of the  friends   the infidelity because of weakness and desperation of steffania because tomasso lives his life as if he were alone .  br    br   maybe someone could think that this film is a pessimistic film  but not . steffania and tomasso  in the deep of their hearts  they like a beautiful marriage and family  if not  why they like marriage  a truly and beautiful marriage depends only of the couple of each one of their decisions  of each one actions in their lives . the family could be a place where each one feel loved because being his or her  only by existing . the screenplay is wonderful . the performances are great steffania and tomasso  the almost cynical priest  an excellent direction and script . the colors and the management of the cameras  superb .  
make a  you sacks of german staples  well  when i started to watch this sack of crud  it was a sunday afternoon  and i was just looking for stuff on show time . i was introduced to a hot naked babe  and like any guy  im a guy  the e  mail is my sisters . . .  i was happy . but then they threw it all to the dogs  spit on it  lit it on fire  and peed it out . you wanna know how  the dumb chick talked  the dialog throughout the film was just horrible . sounded like something my  nd grade bro could wright . the violence was nice for some scenes  but some was just totally moronic . the scene in the pit were he gives the guy the knife . . . dumb moron  to sum it up  this is pure cinema barf drenched in the chocolate syrup known as nudity  and topped with the cherry of horrible acting as only a porn star could deliver .  
a sophisticated contemporary fable about the stresses that work to loosen and ultimately unbind the vows of marriage . the main thrust of the narrative arises from a  homily  spoken by a country priest following the wedding vows of a young cosmopolitan couple from milan . in it  the future course of the marriage is spelled out  which bit by bit frays from the stresses of modern life . the  moral  of this story within a story is that in order for a marriage to work out  both now  and in the past  it has been necessary for that relationship to be abutted by family and friends . this film was a relative blockbuster by domestic italian standards . it  s a terrible shame that this film is not available in either dvd or vhs .  
i only gave this ridiculously titled comedy horror flick a  because several famous porn stars of the past appear in it . a group of tourists  supposedly on vacation in ireland but actually in canada  run afoul of a cannibalistic inbred mutant something or other  and the plot is more or less right out of the hill have eyes ands wrong turn . only problem is  unless i miscounted  there  s only one mutant on display  and he isn  t all that impressive . sort of like the potbellied mummy in that homemade film from about five years ago . some gory but silly deaths help  but the film is strictly amateur night and boring beyond belief . the ending is predictable and has been done to death . no pun intended .  
  casomai  was the last movie i  ve seen before getting married  just last year .  br    br   it was also the first movie i  ve searched for  after i was married  because we promised to offer a copy to our priest .  br    br   sometimes  reality is not that apart from fiction . to all those who wrote that priests like  don camillo  don  t exist in real life  i would recommend them to visit my priest pe . nuno westwood  in estoril  portugal     br    br   to all others  i would only recommend them to see this movie  before and after the  i do   day     br    br   rodrigo ribeiro portugal  
please don  t rent or even think about buying this movie . they don  t even have it available at the red box to rent which would cost a    i think its worth less than that . the main reason why i rented this d movie was because jenna jameson is in the movie lol between    min . i will give credit that the movie had hot chicks and quite a bit of nudity but other than that you might as well buy another d horror movie that has the same thing with nobody you know . ginger lynn has more acting time in this movie than jenna  she  s not even on the front cover of the movie nor her name . i recommend people to watch zombie strippers because you see jenna almost throughout the whole movie  nude most of the time . this movie is a big disappointment  such a huge waste of time .  
this movie contains personalities that so deliciously are playing their parts  i love the final  when nobody knows what are they gonna do about their life  but it  s completely great when you see and realize that the priest is right  is jut for two  so what are the other persons doing there  the movie embrace you to a new life  to experiences  to be able of dream with the other person and reach those dreams . also shows you the life itself  hard like it is . but gives you the option to choose what you want and what you really need . hope this comment works for you . the movie it did worked well for me . i bought the movie by the way   take care .  
for your own good  it would be best to disregard any positive reviews concerning this movie . this flick stinks . now  i like  at least in theory  low budget horror movies  but this one makes the worst mistake a low budget flick can make it takes itself way too seriously . and  unfortunately  that  s not it  s only problem .  br    br   it  s the story of the murderous beane clan of the british ilses transposed to modern times . an interesting premise  but there are two things that are immediately perplexing about this film once you start watching it .  br    br      why is the biggest name on the cd box jenna jameson  she  s a below average looking woman who can  t act  and she has a minor role . answer she  s apparently a well known porn star  as you no doubt read in other reviews   so i guess this is a  cameo  appearance for her . she  s giving the film much needed  name recognition   it seems . her top billing isn  t any indication of her talent  though  it  s an indication of how untalented the rest of the cast is .  br    br      how can film makers be so stupid to think canada can be passed off as ireland  it doesn  t even remotely look like ireland . and the house that the guests  victims stay in is this great big north american wood frame edwardian thing . they should have skipped the whole beane theme and developed a story that took place in n . a . also  if you  re going to make a movie that takes place in ireland  it  s probably best to have more than one character with an irish accent  and that was a really really really bad irish accent .  now  this wouldn  t have been so bad if the director wasn  t trying to make the next  night of the living dead   but it seems he was . too bad . he could have had some fun with it . in fact  some of the scenes weren  t far from being unintentionally comedic as they were .  br    br   like the infamous gutting scene  were the woman is chained to the table  stripped naked  and then sliced open and eviscerated . that  s funny  you ask  well  in the deleted scene version  the mutant killer pulls out mile after mile after mile of intestines . it  s actually funny after awhile . and what self respecting cannibal eats intestines  anyway  do we eat the intestines of cows and chickens  heck no  we eat hams and ribs and drumsticks . oh well .  br    br   some of the other cast who were annoying the whiny  creepy howard rosenstein . i  m not sure  but i think he was supposed to be cast as a stud . in fact  he  s as big a loser and goof ball as his name would imply . which would explain why the character played by the equally annoying gillian leigh fell for him .  br    br   i checked gillian leigh on her link on imdb  and apparently it  s important to know that she graduated high school with honors . i can  t decide if it  s more amusing or pathetic to know that only a couple years after graduation  the honor student is doing nude soft  core porn scenes in a shower with a guy named howard rosenstein . wonder if her former classmates have seen this movie  if they have  hopefully they  ll get the message avoid this fate  go to college    i could go on and on  but why . if you like gore  you  ll find something redeeming in this flick  but not much more .  
i was very pleased to go and see a  milanese  film shot in milan . alessandro alatri is a roman director who has understood properly and fortunately printed in a film the milanese philosophy .  br    br   film tells the story of a standard  in career  milanese couple  starting from  the birth  to the death . the birth  wedding is so typical out of any scheme that becomes original and involves all the wedding guests in a flash back story of how the couple came to each other and felt in love . life is hard in the  urbe  of milan and after the sweeties old days became tougher and tougher  then finally the product a child  who instead of strengthen further the couple relationship it weaken because  the selfish effect  typical of a nowadays  metropolis  personality . the advertising environment with all the  creative  under stress atmosphere helps to get well involved in the plot . we are losing the life values and this is well and deeply reflected in this nice and sharp movie from the senza pelle  s director .  br    br   the actors are well chosen  stefania rocca nice and well characterised  and a positive surprise  an unexpected good fabio volo  well known by the  trash  tv serie le iene .  br    br   rating      
four porn stars romping through the irish woods sounds like a film to watch . we have ginger lynn allen  chasey lain  taylor hayes  and jenna jameson all together in one film . are you licking your lips  well the mutant creatures who resulted from centuries of inbreeding were certainly licking their lips as they feasted on the entrails of their victims .  br    br   yes  there was some flesh exposed  far too little considering the cast  but  it was soon ripped open to expose dinner for these creatures . there was definitely some action that probably has not been seen before  and more than one person lost their head in the situation .  br    br   unfortunately  director christian viel did not show much promise and i am not likely to watch his later efforts .  
  casomai  is a masterful tale depicting the story of a young couple who wade through the murky waters of marriage . the story is very believable in telling the strange see  saw between oblivion and continuous interference by others  which is fairly typical in italy  one may wonder whether such happenings are different elsewhere  though  . pavignano and d  alatri were very good at writing  and that is one of the strong points of the movie . acting by stefania rocca and fabio volo is sober and gripping . and the figure of the sympathetic priest is funny and well  rounded . all in all  a truly deserving movie  probably one of the best italian movies of the year .  
thanks to this film  i now can answer the question   what is the worst movie you have ever seen    br    br   i can  t even think of a close second  and i  ve seen some really bad movies .  br    br   absolutely nothing works in this film . name a single element of any horror film and this movie fails . honestly  i  ve seen better on youtube . here  s some typical dialogue  br    br    steve    steve    steve  is that you    steve  i  m not kidding   steve  this isn  t funny    steve  are you there    steve    steve    steve    br    br    arggh     ahhhhhh     nooooooo    
this is the one movie to see if you are to wed or are a married couple . the movie portrais a couple in italy and deals with such difficult topics as abortion  infidelity  juggling work and family .  br    br   the so called  culture of death  that we are experiencing nowadays in the world is terrible and this movie will surely make you think .  br    br   a must see . i hope it gets distributed as it should .  br    br   congratulations on the cast and director .  br    br   two thumbs up and a   star evaluation from me   
i had to register for imdb just to post a comment on just how awful this movie is . . . my cats and a ball of string have a better storyline than this . not the worst acting i  ve ever seen  but when you wipe out almost the entire cast of the movie within  minutes  it leaves a bit to be desired . there wasn  t a single  scare  moment in the movie  with the exception of when they were watching the movie  halloween  on the tv . all around  it seems like it could  ve been a good story  rolling the credits and saying that chasey lain was in it was a bit of a loss as i didn  t recognize her right away and her scene was already over before i could  ve said  oh yeah  there she is  . i  m so glad i saw this in a hotel and didn  t pay for it as i  d be real ticked if i had payed a cent to see this . i normally like or can at least find a redeeming factor in a movie  but this one is an exception . it  s so bad that it  s not even that amusing so  good  it  s  bad . . . . it  s just plain bad .  
overall the film is ok . i think it  s better than sepet and much better than gubra in term of its story  its sentimental value .  br    br   there are a few scenes that makes me touched . yes i agree that the boy  mukhsin  did his acting very good . brilliant . i can say that his acting is almost natural .  br    br   however  the song  ne me quitte pas  by nina simone really   menaikkan  my  bulu   roma   .  br    br   i love the song . both the song .  ne me quitte pas  and  hujan  . i just downloaded the song . beautiful .  br    br   and salute to yasmin . the movie  s ending credit makes me touched again . we can see how yasmin really appreciated her parents in an unique way .  br    br   i think the movie deserves that grand prix of international jury at berlin film festival .  br    br   i give  .  out of  o stars .  
this started bad  got worse  and by the time the girl attacked the old lady at the end i literally wanted to take the dvd to the person we borrowed it off and choke the ct to death with it . avoid this film  a little bit of good cinematography and some naked shots  would be almost acceptable if i was   and had not seen jenna jameson naked a million times . if anyone feels the need to watch this film  i would strongly recommend you spend the time more appropriately  as an example i would say trying to cram a lego house into your bum with no lube would be a good start . i hear that this film was not the original version  i would very much like to view the original  as it seems that this cut version is devoid of all plot  and apparently most of the nudity  can someone please tell me how i can get in touch with christian viel he owes me an hour of my life back   
like his earlier film   in a glass cage   agust villaronga achieves an intense and highly poetic canvas that is even more refined visually than its predecessor . this is one of the most visually accomplished and haunting pictures one could ever see . the heightened drama  intensity and undertone of violence threatens on the the melodramatic or farcical  yet never steps into it . in that way  it pulls off an almost impossible feat to be so over  the  top and yet so painfully restrained  to be so charged and yet so understated  and even the explosives finales are virtuosic feasts of the eye . unabashed  gorgeous  and highly tense . . . this film is simply superb   
i  m in iraq right now doing a job that gives plenty of time for watching movies . we also have access to plenty of pirated movies  this gem came along with   other movies  and this is easily the worst i  ve seen in a long time . i  ve seen a few other reviews that claim this movie doesn  t take itself too seriously  but really  i think that  s a cover up for the fact that its horrible . it  s not tongue in cheek  the writers really thought they were improving on the movie blade . this movie is just one notch above vampire assassin  which if you haven  t seen  i recommend . at least that movie is so unbelievably bad that you  ll laugh harder than you thought possible . this is right at that cusp of no redeeming qualities what so ever . from the bad acting  to clich visual  ie opening credits   to the adobe premier special effects . they couldn  t even get blanks for the guns  which may have to do with where the movie was filmed  but if you  re going to use effects  make them close to accurate . as for the cast  it seems like they just went to a tae bo class and picked up the first not to ugly chick that walked out . once again  like ron hall in vampire assassin  don  t let stunt folk act  they can  t . also  the comment about this being a  return of old vampire movies  . . . no  it  s not . this is exactly what all new vampire movies are about . buffy the vampire slayer  blade  underworld  they  re all about some super star fighting the vampires . this is the newest vampire genre  with bad blood  fake screams  and cheesy over acting . obviously anyone who wrote a good review about this is somehow connected to the movie  or friends of the cast . but what do i care  i paid   cents for it . anyway  to wrap this up  someone in their first semester of film school decided to make a movie  i give them credit because it  s better than i could do . of course i also know i can  t make movies so i don  t try . i do know how to watch movies though . i work   hour nights   days a week  i  ve seen several thousand in the year i  ve been out here and this was so bad that half way through i was hoping for a mortar attack .  
everyone has a first love  and though it is hard to define that feeling when you  re younger  it is there  aching inside you . that is what malaysian filmmaker yasmin ahmad aims to prove in her fourth feature  a movie where that most complex of emotions is recounted in a deceptively simple  straightforward fashion .  br    br   such an approach is especially convenient in this case  as the love story at the film  s core involves two twelve  year olds  and would therefore make any attempts at  deeper  analysis seem contrived and pretentious . that they don  t is also testament to the astounding performances given by the leading non  actors  sharifah aryana and mohd syafie naswip . the former plays orked  already seen as an adult character in ahmad  s previous picture  gubra   a lively  almost rebellious girl who  perhaps influenced by her  british  upbringing  her mother studied in england   despises playing with dolls  preferring to play violent sports with the boys . then one day she meets mukhsin  naswip   who has come to spend the holidays at his aunt  s house  and all of a sudden she changes her habits goodbye fistfights  hello bike  riding and tree  climbing . but what does this mean  are they just friends  or is something more implied  something neither of them is yet ready to understand  let alone accept   br    br   given the young age of the protagonists  answering those questions borders on impossible  and so  like in several  smaller  films  lost in translation comes to mind   there is no real closure  a choice that leaves a bittersweet  but ultimately satisfying aftertaste the naturalistic  unfiltered acting  especially aryana  s  gets to the heart almost immediately  and a strong supporting cast  orked  s family most of all  helps keeping the minimalistic narrative fun and seducing . the down  to  earth approach isn  t always that effective  the hilarious subplot regarding an adulterous neighbor is dropped way too early   and it is hard to justify the bizarre pulp fiction reference at the start of the feature  but the emotional strength of the teenage romance is enough to make this an interesting piece of independent asian cinema .  
first of all  jenna jameson is the best actress in this movie  and she  s just awful . this movie has every horror move clich in imagination  and all badly played . the over  sexed teen couple . the comical  not  horny jock . the snotty cool chick . the creepy local color guy . the parental  type couple . the virginal chick who amazingly never dies in these films . the dialogue is so painfully awful and delivered with the depth of a wading pool . it  s almost like you  re wishing that they  d all die sooner . i saw the rough cut of this film a while ago  but somehow  this just got worse . sure  the funniest thing in here is the ghoul trying to eat jameson  s implants  but that hardly rates even a rental of this dog . avoid at all costs .  
the movie starts off in a classroom setting where not surprisingly  our main actress  orked was seen in a chinese language class . later in the film  she was asked on why  by mukhsin  that she was sent to learn mandarin . her answer was simple for a child she is coz she  s already known the malay language well .  br    br   it  s a bit of a romance one may thought of it  but once you  ve stopped yourself from reading too much critics and go for it  you  ll notice the typical elements of malaysia . the movie basically focuses on   year old orked who met   year old mukhsin in a game of which many would think of it as a boy  s game . running out of players  mukhsin  who was new in that village  was forced to allow orked into the game  in which she eagerly showed the male side of her . orked is no such ordinary girl as she depicts more of the male behavior as you will see in the movie  defending mukhsin from much violent encounter with her school  bullies  throwing one of the bully  s bag out from the school bus window  throwing punches and kicks on mukhsin  s brother where after he teased mukhsin and so on and so forth . both were awesome buddies  and stick closer than that  but with a slightest of misunderstanding in which most of us would all respond to in the same way  parted the both of them until the day when mukhsin left town .  br    br   now the movie depicts the first love between orked and mukhsin  they started out as friends  but slowly evolving into somewhat more of a closer relationship and then towards bgr . you would notice  the changes yasmin made in the movies for each of the main actor and the actress when they go through love . the different character was portrayed with eagerness and mild humor . the scenes were all in random but it depicted so much reality in it that you  d be stuck on the screen for a long time . you will love the movie for what it is  and not because that you want to be patriotic to the local scenes  coz it means much more .  br    br   as the movie envelopes around the two love birds  it also manages to find its lens towards orked  s parents  her mother who was educated in england  speaks very good english and in which  her husband and the caretaker in the house with very much attempt tries to speak back their own kind of english  which was humor all the way indeed . let me just explain to you why humor can be such a prominent thing in this movie . and that explanation or description that you may portray can be given in only one word and that is randomness . often more than not  we don  t learn to laugh at ourselves  and when we do  we do it at the expense of others . it is just like what the movie just follow law by jack neo would have mentioned  often when we are ourselves  we don  t see the person in us we are  but when only when we are in another person  s body  then only would we learn to see who we really are . and that is how humor applies as well  more so than just dignity .  br    br   the movie was filled with such randomness that the typical facts of our routine lives as we carried it out could be all the way filled with laughter if we want it to be .  br    br   the other focus of this movie was on how orked  s neighbor  a couple in which the husband is no longer loving to his wife  and wanted to find another . pak koboi as what he  s nicked after was seen polishing his motorbike daily and would take it out for a ride with his newly found girlfriend . the producer did not fail to show you perhaps why the husband wanted to find another wife . the wife was a real hurler or kpc as we chinese would call it  having interrupting on other people  s business and sending her own daughter to tease orked in words only adults would use . after all  what goes around  comes around  and that  s probably why bad things kinda want to happen to her . in every time  being nice to people around you won  t hurt at all  unless you have an ego to protect  but then again  what  s it worth  the movie also centers around mukhsin  s brother  hussein who would go out to town everyday until very late at night  smoking  drinking  and also finding  girls  . he  s the total opposite of mukhsin  but that  s all perhaps because of family problems . both the brothers were staying with their aunt and the parents were far away from them . i will not reveal more of the story line as it would spoil much of the interest in wanting to find it out for yourself  but the slightest of all elements in which the producer wanted to send a message across to the viewers is the life of us all . she wanted us  me at least to view life from our own perspective when we are not ourselves . movies in a way  take us out from our own body  places us in the character  s position  and use our empty mind then to view on the happenings of it . depending on the type and genre of the movie  you will be mesmerized by how a good movie such as this would portray and imply a significant impact on you .  
karen  bobbie phillips  mentions  after one of her kids gets out of hand with his lame annoying jokes  that she  ll never survive this trip . . boy  is she ever on the money . karen is a school teacher taking her group of kids from the shepley college of historical studies to the butt ugly locale of a run  down manor in the major dung  heap of ireland . . surely there are places in this country more appeasing to the senses than this   the caretaker of the manor  gary  simon peacock  warns karen and her students to stay on the path and not to stray into the forest . there  s a myth regarding the sawney bean clan  a ritualistic druid cannibalistic inbred family celebrate samhain  the end of summer  october   st   feast of the dead  where sacrifices are needed to appease the spirits . gary is supposedly clairvoyant  his cousin pandora  ginger lynn allen  tells us  because he was born on samhain . funny  because he sure doesn  t see outcomes well or even give advice accurately . nearly everyone dies  . . even those who never stray from the path  and he doesn  t even see his own gruesome fate . what this monster we hear breathing is a victim of way too much inbreeding . . it  s face resembles a malformed mushroom and it looks like a hideous reject from a mad max picture . it doesn  t take long before the  evil breeder  is killing everyone . paul  howard rosenstein  is karen  s love interest who made the wrong decision coming to ireland without his girlfriend  s prior knowledge .  br    br   horrible formula slasher doesn  t stray from the norm . it  s minuscule budget shows loudly and the characters are assembly line clichs churned out yet again to be slaughtered in the usual gory ways . most of the violence flashes across the screen quickly with not much dwelling on the breeder  s acts of death towards his victims . lots of guts get pulled out during the fast edit cuts as one scene whisks to another . seeing gillian leigh  s gorgeous naked body for a moment or two isn  t incentive enough to recommend it . phil price has the really irritating trickster character  steve  often shedding bad jokes . . how he is able to get leigh  s barbara naked in the shower for some action is anyone  s guess because i have no reason why he  d stand a chance with such a hottie . brandi  ann milbrant has the fortunate role of shae  the quiet virgin smart girl  who is also quite hot  who we know will be the one chosen by the screenplay to survive . jenna jameson drops by long enough to get her heart cut out of her chest  at least we see her breasts momentarily before her chest is opened up  with a few minor lines about two missing friends she  s looking for . the film  s main problem is that the story and character development grinds to a halt because it  s realized that none of them are at all interesting so director christian viel just lets loose his monster to run rampant causing carnage  obliterating an entire cast almost in one fail swoop within ten minutes . oh  and richard grieco has a minor opening cameo as a victim who strayed off the path to tent camp with his chick .  
mukhsin is a beautiful movie about a first love story . everyone probably has one  and this is writer  director yasmin ahmad  s story of hers  with a boy called mukhsin . we know that her movies have been semi  autobiographical of sorts  having scenes drawn upon her personal experiences  and it is indeed this sharing and translating of these emotions to the big screen  that has her films always exude a warm sincerity and honesty . mukhsin is no different  and probably the most polished ad confident work to date  though i must add  as a personal bias  that sepet still has a special place in my heart  .  br    br   our favourite family is back  pak atan  mak inom  orked and kak yam  though this time  we go back to when orked is age   . the characters are all younger from the movies we  ve journeyed with them  from rabun to gubra  and here  sharifah amani  s sisters sharifah aryana and sharifah aleya take on the roles of orked and mak inom respectively  which perhaps accounted for their excellent chemistry together on screen  nevermind that their not playing sibling roles . the only constant it seems is kak yam  played by adibah noor  and even pak atan has hair on his head  through mukshin the movie  we come full circle with the characters  and the world that yasmin has introduced us to . we come to learn of and understand the family a little bit more  set in the days when they  re still living in their kampung  revisited back in rabun   where orked attends a chinese school  and packs some serious combination of punches  and you wonder about that burst of energy in gubra  well  she had it in her since young   . the perennial tomboy and doted child of the family  she prefers playing with the boys in games  rather than mindless  masak  masak  with the girls  and favourite outings include going with the family to football matches .  br    br   the arrival of a boy called mukhsin  mohd syafie naswip  to the village provides a cool peer for orked to hang out and do stuff with  cycling through the villages  climbing trees  flying kites . and as what is desired to be explored  the crossing of that line between friendship and romance  both beautiful emotions .  br    br   mukhsin does have its cheeky moments which liven up the story  and bring about laughter  because some of the incidents  we would have experienced it ourselves  and sometimes serve as a throwback to our own recollection of childhood . in short  those scenes screamed  fun   we observe the life in a typical kampung  where some neighbours are very nice  while others  the nosy parkers and rumour mongers  spreading ill gossip stemming from envy . there are  additional family dynamics seen  one from an immediate neighbour  and the other from mukhsin  s own  both of which serve as adequate subplots  and contrast to orked  s own .  br    br   as always  yasmin  s movies are filled with excellent music  and for mukhsin  it has something special  the song  hujan  as penned by her father  as well as  ne me quitte pas   aptly used in the movie given that the yasmin  s movies to date have been centred around the same characters  the beauty of it is that you can watch them as stand alone  or when watched and pieced together  makes a compelling family drama dealing with separate themes and universal issues like interracial romance  love  and forgiveness . fans will definitely see the many links in mukhsin back to the earlier movies  while new audiences will surely be curious to find out certain whys and significance of recurring characters or events  like that pudgy boy who steals glances at orked .  br    br   and speaking of whys  parts of mukhsin too is curiously open  which probably is distinctive of yasmin  s style  or deliberately left as such . i thought that as a story about childhood  recollected from memory  then there are details which will be left out for sure . and subtly  i felt that mukhsin exhibited this perfectly  with not so detailed details  and the focus on what can be remembered in significant episodes between the two .  br    br   another highly recommended movie  and a rare one that i feel is suitable for all ages  bring along your kid brother or sister   
rented a batch of films from blockbuster last night  and this was the first one i watched  it was late on a saturday night  wanted a  horror film fix   . . .  br    br   wow  this was awful  almost embarrassingly so . . . stupid slasher  type story i really thought films like scream had put an end to amateur actors delivering clichd  and insipid dialogue that is hard to believe was actually typed and read off a page and gore scenes that are nothing to get excited about  especially when occurring in a film this poorly scripted  .  br    br   but i  ve always believed no film is     percent totally worthless . here  s the few good things i can say about this mess  br    br     bobbie phillips love this actress . she  s the only member of the cast who displays any acting talent whatsoever . the only reason i took a chance on renting this is because her name was on the front cover . she acquits her presence in this dreck with professionalism  even though she looks bemused at times that she  s acting in such a moronic story .  br    br     unintentional hilarity this is the kind of film i can remember seeing back when there were still grind house theaters around the country and they used to include crap like this as the third movie on a triple  bill with some prestige thriller movie that was finally making it  s way to the hinterlands . unfortunately  in this direct  to  video age  most viewers have to endure these turkeys alone now without the communal experience of being part of an audience jeering and throwing stuff at the screen because the film is so terrible . which leads to    br    br     porn stars trying to act   mostly on hand because the producers don  t need to cajole or plead with them to disrobe for extended sex scenes  but this trade  off usually means they actually get to speak some lines that are supposed to advance a story  other than  ooh yeah baby   or  harder    . and  proudly  they all deliver expertly at looking foolish when trying to act . i  d almost exclude ginger lynn allen from this group if her character wasn  t supposed to be an irish mom and she  s actually attempting at times to do an accent  which just keeps the smiles coming .  br    br   it  s nice to look for the positive in all experiences  and that  s what i took from this cesspool a . k . a  evil breed   
i thought that mukhsin has been wonderfully written . its not just about entertainment . there  s tonnes of subtle messages that i think yasmin was trying to bring across . and yes  it might be confusing to some of you  especially if you didn  t watch sepet and  or gubra for   times  .  br    br   i bet u noticed how they use characters from the two movies before right  its really ironic how the characters relate . like the bossy neighbour is that prostitute from gubra . and the chick at the snooker pad turns out to be the religious and wife of the pious man in the future .  br    br   and i absolutely love the voice  overs . its crude yet awakeningly fresh . like  when they took a shot of the rumah tumpangan gamin signboard  then there was suddenly mukhsin  s voice saying  bismillahhirrahmannirrahim . .   the scene when he climbed the tree  .  br    br   it captured malaysian  s attitude  and in some mild way  sniggering at how pathetic it is  portrayed in the character . for example  even the kids can be really sharp tongued  complete with the shrill annoying voice  and simply bad mouth ppl all movie long . and how you can be such a busybody and talk about ppl  when ur own life isn  t sorted out .  br    br   all i can say is  this movie totally reached my expectation if not exceeded it .  br    br   it kept me glued to the screen  i couldn  t even take my eyes off it . not even to make out in the cinema . ha ha .  
i really don  t get how people made this film and thought it was worth all the work they put into it . even more puzzling are those who watched this film without feeling cheated out of   minutes of doing something valuable like cleaning under the couch or reading leviticus .  br    br   first of all  surely they could have  found real irish people  and some good  looking women who could deliver their lines better than the washed up  haggard porn stars sprinkled throughout this film . granted  the gore works  but strangely  it  s not as troubling as you might think to see organs yanked out of the porn stars  hot  formerly  tight bodies left and right . probably has something to do with the fact that after their horrific inhuman acting you just want them to die in pain .  br    br   so  if you don  t care at all about the following  br    br    acting  seriously  everyone sucked . i  ve never witnessed this before . everyone sucked  .  br    br    plot  some crappy horror movies are remotely linear  or at the very least surprising . this movie doesn  t make sense unless you  re as trashed as the writers obviously were  .  br    br    theme  nothing to learn from this film . nothing to be scared about in bed at night  nothing to contemplate or grasp  or explain to others  .  br    br    soundtrack  crap  crap  crap . music as ordinary and dull as the script  .  br    br    scenery  could have been this film  s saving grace  but no . . . nothing pleasing here . even the rocks are fake  .  br    br   so  yeah . if you don  t care about that  and you  re just a horny teen with bad taste in music and  women   this movie is for you . positive comments interesting cinematography at times  wasted on the other elements . very realistic gore again  wasted . but the intestines scene is classic . i agree with the mutant  disembowelment solves the fake accent problem .  
a classy offering from amicus  producer milton subotsky and director peter duffell   the far pavillions  etc  turn in a classy  intelligent  four  hander  with a strong cast  peter cushing  christopher lee  jon pertwee  ingrid pitt etc  all giving stylish performances  despite a low budget which results in a few  un  special effects  . the most outstanding contribution  however  is that of the   year  old chloe franks who turns in chillingly effective account of her part which makes one  s blood run cold . only spoilt by the lurid title wished on the film by its distributors  this underrated release  a cut above the run  of  the  mill  blood  n  guts  shocker movie  is for those who appreciate a little thought with their horror .  
yes  definitely better than my viewing of death tunnel . actually some of the deaths were pretty original and the gore was decent . it was kind of like wrong turn meets the hills have eyes .  br    br   but  .  when the  kids   high school or college   are discussing horror movies in the kitchen  everything shae says is almost an exact quote from scream       . the thing about the big  breasted girls etc .  br    br    .  was steve not a bootleg randy from scream   .  besides the fact that it took place in october  what the hell did the movie have to do with samhain  pretty unnecessary if you ask me . i find it humorous when i see those horror movies from the    s that explain away loose ends by pointing the fingers at the druids or a pentagram .  br    br    .  wow they made a sam raimi reference     .  why was gary and his sister in the movie  they  re characters had nothing to do with anything . and hes so psychic that he couldn  t even see his own death   .  when gary was being killed in the bathroom  at that point  the deaths became simply troma  licious  how could she hear the screams when she was downstairs but not hear them when she was standing outside the door   .  gary  s sister commented on haggis  thats primarily a scottish dish  not irish .  br    br    .  so the lesson is if you are like shae and don  t have any fun or crack a smile through the whole film  you  ll be the one to live   .  the mutants were pretty cool  but they looked like walking dishes of chili con carne .  br    br     .  when they brought in gary  s sister  did they forget that steve had been strapped there and wonder where he went    .  was there not more than one killer  shae beat that one  but never encountered any more of them .  br    br     .  what was with the flashbacks to those other people  half of them shae didn  t know if they were dead or alive  so what was with that    .  why didn  t they kill gary and his sister before    .  why did no one ever call the police  and apparently everybody knew those people lived in the woods  why did they never organize some kind of raid    .  as far as i know  they were not zombies or vampires  so how could she  turn into  one at the end  i  m with everyone else on the giant  huh   at the end .  br    br   way better than death tunnel  but still quite sloppy . i still don  t understand why they even placed it in ireland  considering samhain had close to nothing to do with the plot .  
this is an awesome amicus horror anthology  with  great stories  and fantastic performances   only the last story disappoints . all the characters are awesome  and the film is quite chilling and suspenseful  plus peter cushing and christopher lee are simply amazing in this  . it  s very underrated and my favorite story has to be the  rd one  sweets to the sweet   plus all the characters are very likable . some of it  s predictable  and the last story was incredibly disappointing and rather bland   however the ending was really cool  . this is an awesome amicus horror anthology  with  great stories  and fantastic performances  only the last story disappoints   i say it  s must see  .  br    br    st story   method for murder   . this is an awesome story  with plenty of suspense  and the killer dominic is really creepy  and it  s very well acted as well  . this was the perfect way to start off with a story  and for the most part it  s unpredictable  plus the double twist ending is shocking  and quite creepy  . grade a  br    br    nd story .   waxworks   . this is a solid story all around  with wonderful performances  however the ending is quite predictable  but it  s still creepy  and has quite a bit of suspense  peter cushing did an amazing job  and i couldn  t believe how young joss ackland was  i really enjoyed this story  . grade b  br    br    rd story   sweets to the sweet   . this is the best story here  as it  s extremely creepy  and unpredictable throughout  it also has a nice twist as well  . christopher lee did an amazing job  and chloe franks did a wonderful job as the young daughter  plus the ending is quite shocking  . i don  t want to spoil it for you  but it  s one of the best horror stories i have seen  . grade a  br    br    th story   the cloak   . this is a terrible story that  s really weak and unfunny jon pertwee annoyed me  however the ending surprised me a little bit  and ingrid pitt was great as always  however it  s just dull  and has been done before many times  plus where was the creativity   . grade d  br    br   the direction is great  . peter duffell does a great job here  with awesome camera work  great angles  adding some creepy atmosphere  and keeping the film at a very fast pace  .  br    br   the acting is awesome  . john bryans is great here  as the narrator  he had some great lines  i just wished he had more screen time . john bennett is very good as the det .  and was quite intense  he was especially good at the end   i liked him lots . denholm elliott is excellent as charles  he was vulnerable  showed fear  was very likable  and i loved his facial expressions  he rocked  . joanna dunham is stunningly gorgeous   and did great with what she had to do as the wife  she also had great chemistry with denholm elliott  . tom adams is incredibly creepy as dominic  he was creepy looking  and got the job done extremely well  . peter cushing is amazing as always  and is amazing here  he is likable  focused  charming  and as always  had a ton of class   cushing rules    . joss ackland is fantastic as always  and looked so young here  i barely recognized him  his accent wasn  t so thick  and played a different role i loved it   ackland rules  . wolfe morris is creepy here  and did what he had to do well . christopher lee is amazing as always and is amazing here  he is incredibly intense  very focused  and as always had that great intense look on his face  he was especially amazing at the end   lee rules    . chloe franks is adorable as the daughter  she is somewhat creepy  and gave one of the best child performances i have ever seen   i loved her . nyree dawn porter is beautiful and was excellent as the babysitter  i liked her lots  . jon pertwee annoyed me here  and was quite bland  and completely unfunny  he also had no chemistry with ingrid pitt  . ingrid pitt is beautiful  and does her usual vampire thing and does it well  .  br    br   rest of the cast do fine . overall a must see  .  out of   
i have been watching horror movies since i was  years old  beginning with childs play . since then  i have seen good horror movies and bad  but this is without question  the dumbest movie i have ever seen  the actors did all they could with the material . the plot was just idiotic . plus  it was just all gore . i can stomach a lot of blood  but that was just ridiculous  in one of the scenes  a character gets stabbed in the rear end and choked with his intestines  plain stupid  another problem with this movie is that its boring and probably the slowest movie ever made . the end of it is just dumb . but then again  it goes with the rest of it  at the end  when the girl gets away from the cannibal  ancestor  she receives help from a old lady . the old lady is making tea  but when she turns around to talk to the girl  the girl attacks her  she turned into a cannibal  retarded movie .  
enjoyed catching this film on very late late late tv and it kept my interest through out the entire picture . this wonderful creepy  yet mysterious looking english home  with evil looking decorations and weired furniture and rooms that make you wonder just why anyone would want to rent this home or even own it . there are four    tales concerning this house  and each resident of the home meets with all kinds of problems . you will notice the beautiful lake and pond around the home and also the sweet singing of birds  but don  t let that fool you  there is horror all over the place . peter cushing   black jack      gives a great performance as one of the person  s living in the home and even christopher lee   curse of the crimson altar     and his little daughter  chloe franks   jane reid  make a wonderful exciting story together  his daughter for some reason loves to read witchcraft books  if you love creepy  horrible and mysterious films  with lots of surprises  this is the film for you      
evil breed is a very strange slasher flick that is unfortunately no good . the beginning of the film seems promising but overall it  s a disaster . the dialogue is pretty bad but not near as bad as the acting . the acting is brutal and unbearable . most of the characters deliver there lines horribly and even if that is on purpose the method doesn  t work because the characters become annoying . some of the kills are innovative but it took far too long to get to them . after about a half hour through the movie we get the first death  other than in the beginning  and then almost every other character is smoked within the next five minutes . the movie then turned into sort of a spoof with ridiculous looking characters  unrealistic karate like fights  and a scene in which a man gets his intestines pulled out of his asscrack . none of it is funny it  s just plain ridiculous . the film then becomes ultra gory and ultra pointless . most of the characters are clichd even for slasher standards and are as solid as butter left on the counter for  days . evil breed isn  t even laughably bad therefore it fails in it  s main task . watch texas chainsaw massacre  just before dawn  or see no evil for a real slasher .  
this film is a quite entertaining horror anthology film  along the lines of tales from the crypt  written by robert bloch  author of psycho  . it  s good fun for horror fans and has an excellent cast . the movie should also be required viewing for doctor who fans since jon pertwee  the third doctor  has an amusing role as a rude and obnoxious horror star   
understand i  m reviewing the film i have seen . i realize virtually all the nudity and gore was cut from this film  thus neutering it completely . when seeing names like ginger lynn and jenna jameson attached  i knew i wasn  t going to get a horror classic  but at the very least i expected gratuitous boobies and bloodshed . but no  this has got to be the most butchered modern horror film  i mean it  s easy to tell there is much more to certain scenes   but they suddenly cut away  or the scene just totally ends right as it begins . how does one screw up cannibals  and porn stars  i mean thats a winning formula  it makes me wonder if the director slept with some executive  s wife or something  because it is literally amazing how much got cut from this . reading about it a few years back in fangoria  i was excited  it looked like a fun film  but unfortunately the true film is locked in a vault somewhere  and we must endure this piece of excrement retitled evil breed . hopefully an unrated cut will be released someday  as i think a good movie exists in this mess  but until then best grab a twelve pack of bud  cause thats the only way you  ll make it through this movie .  
this is a very amusing and sometimes quite creepy anthology  that if a bit short in the screenwriting department  more than makes up for the shortcoming in the acting  location work and overall exuberance . the best episodes of this are the first with denholm elliot playing a horror writer stalked by a character from his novel in the works  a perfect example of the acting pulling this out of the merely pedestrian   the third  with christopher lee as a man terrified of his own daughter and the final episode with the late great jon pertwee as a pompous horror film star who gets more than just a new role on his latest project . the dialogue between pertwee and ingrid pitt is sparkling and inspired  both obviously relishing the opportunity to really ham it up  cushing is typically good in the weakest segment  which certainly isn  t helped by the fact that the wax figure of the woman he  s obsessed with down at the local wax museum  is anything but  beautiful  as we are told to believe she is  someone of shocking beauty was needed and instead we  re given a woman with a jaw of a turtle . minor quibbles aside this movie and it  s wonderful country house setting is one to catch when you can .  
justifications for what happened to his movie in terms of distributors and secondary directors  drunks and receptionists doing script rewrites aside  let  s just take this movie as it  s offered  without extraneous explanations .  br    br   this movie is god awful . straight up craptastic . rather than rehash what may serve as a plot  i  ll run a highlight reel of some curious points that made me scratch my head .  br    br   a class  of   take a field trip for a history class to the middle of friggin  nowhere ireland . these students may be canadian or american  it  s difficult to tell . that it was filmed in a canadian forest rather than ireland is rather obvious as well . one student seems to know nothing about history and is basically the  dumb jock  character from a number of kick ass    s movie  except when he channels randy from scream . one character may be chris klein  s stunt double . he has a girlfriend who probably gets killed  but it  s never really established if that is true . one character is sullen and removed from her peers . . . just . . . cuz . . . and then there  s a blonde girl . yay blonde girl .  br    br   ireland has a population of  . they  re cousins . gary  who is clearly the same age or younger than the rest of the cast  is called  sir  more than once . he  s very ominous and wears a knit cap . his cousin is a roughed up porn star with the worst irish accent to befoul film in my lifetime and most likely beyond .  br    br   picturesque ireland features many canadian forests and swampy areas and  ducks which appear more than once in cut scenes .  br    br   the producers got a discount on volume fake entrails . good for them .  br    br   unbeknownst to me  horribly inbred freaks have access to brand spanking new hunting knives . perhaps there  s some kind of outdoorsman outlet nearby with a blind and deaf clerk working the register .  br    br   also unbeknownst to me  if you inbreed for roughly    years  as the story leads us to believe happened  you end up being somewhat lumpy  yet amazingly spry and fairly strong . genetics are a wonderful game of craps .  br    br   there may or may not be more than one freak in this film . reference is made to  them  and we see shadows  yet only one odd looking dude is seen ever . and when one odd looking dude is finally killed  apparently all danger is passed . i  m running with my initial assumption that no one thought to outfit a second man in full make up  thus they just used the one . that  s what it looks like on screen  anyway .  br    br   richard grieco should be ashamed .  br    br   also of note  aside from those shiny new knives  the inbred freaks have access to some posh leather gear  as once richard grieco cuts his bonds  there are fresh ones ready for the next sucker who gets tied up . . . who also then escapes  because the chains give you enough slack to just undo them  making one wonder why they even bother tying anyone up .  br    br   a dead body in a shack will be maggot  ridden after what i would guess is about  hours has passed . said dead body will also have glasses on  when no characters wore them . curious .  br    br   jenna jameson appears for no reason from stage left  chats for  minutes  vanishes stage left . in the middle of a giant forest . that  s not unusual  as gary can also pop out of nowhere  which is also known as whatever exists in tv land off the screen .  br    br   ms . jameson dies sadly and somehow her clothes vanish like my hopes that this movie wouldn  t suck wind .  br    br   i offer a special nod to the  breeder  character  the poor girl who has been used by the freaks for months  or maybe years  for breeding purposes . the poor girl who still has eye shadow on and emotes on camera with all the passion and conviction of a stuffed chihuahua .  br    br   the ending of this movie was clearly tacked on by a drunk or someone with a fierce mental disability that has been cultivated and encouraged with excessive gasoline drinking over the years .  br    br   apparently this wasn  t just random crap i found on the movie network late at night  apparently people have heard of and even followed this movie through it  s production . how sad for you all . i have nothing more to say . may god have mercy on us all .  
for fans of     s hammer type horror films  this movie should be a treat . the only thing i didn  t like about the film was the fact that peter cushing was wasted on the worst episode . in general  however  this is a solid  spooky little movie . if this is not amicus  best film  it  s certainly one of them . the best episode  rightfully saved for last  is the one featuring jon pertwee as a horror film actor   it is really excellent . as good as pertwee was in this role  it  s hard to believe he didn  t do more of these types of movies . all in all  this is an entertaining movie  which scared the heck out of me as a child  and which still gives me the creeps to this day .  
tourists head to ireland for a school trip to learn about druids . what they encounter is a horrific tale of cannibalistic killers .  br    br   if i had to sum up evil breed  it would be a low grade gore fest . the film mixes dead alive  evil dead  wrong turn all in one . it  s just too bad that the film has so many inconsistencies to keep track of that it loses any  fun  one would have watching it . the film has lots of random  horror  nudity . . . although the film also stars four porn stars  yup four  so there could have been plenty more . breed also showcases a good amount of gore .  br    br   evil breed has a horrible start  with laughable dialogue and horrible acting . that  s a given in a straight to video horror film  but this takes the cake . i can  t really figure out who the main character is  since the one female who  lives  at the end is not really in the movie all that much . speaking of the ending  that has to be one of the most random and bogus ending in the history of film . it has no purpose with the rest of the film and totally changes one  s view of the film .  br    br   you have to see this film to believe it  since there are some pretty great death scenes . there are two death scenes that come into my mind  one in which the inbred killer rips the intestines out of a naked woman through her chest . . . . yea her chest  don  t ask me . the other id when the guy gets his intestines  yet again  ripped out through his asshole . does that kill the guy  no  the killer continues to strangle the guy with his own intestines . these scenes remind me so much of dead  alive  with the right amount of humour in each . i also got the sense of evil dead  with the pointless mentions of horror films and sam raimi . along with halloween  when the female character is in a closet screaming for her life with the killer trying desperatelyy to get in .  br    br   although  the gore and nudity are not enough for the poor audio and visual quality of the film . when the teacher wakes up from her bed and walks down the stairs  her footsteps are so loud and hard that it seems like she was wearing boots . distracting indeed . as well as the continuity in the film  with only one inbred killer  as well as which character dies at which moment . i couldn  t tell if the breast implant chick was jenny or gary  s sister  cousin . . . i can  t remember . as well as the random naked chick with a dead baby hanging out of her body  still attached with the umbilical cord .  br    br   the horrible editing is distracting as well  the opening credits are too fast and disorienting . it did have a bad start and got better  but the ending just brings the film back down to a horrible level . if maybe there were better production values and more faith put into this film  then it wouldn  t have been horribly butchered to death . stay away from this film  unless you are happy with the below budget horrible bad film with decent gore .  
if you want to learn something about the spanish civil war and about all the political details and intrigues  let me tell you  you  ve chosen the wrong film .  br    br   this is a vision of the war as it happened in majorca  a small island off the coast of spain . when a war like this happens in a small island that takes position for the traitor almost at once  there is no war in the open . the soldiers are sent to the front to fight  in the mainland  while another kind of war happens at home  on the small island . there  neighbours tell on other neighbours  sometimes because their political views are contrary to the new regime  but many people are told on because of old family fights  or maybe the silent introvert who has no friends is told on by someone who wants to  earn some points  . and these things don  t happen in the open . there were some trials  true  but many other times people would just be woken up in the middle of the night  taken out of their homes to the closest cemetery where they would be killed . and the next morning the bodies would be found  and people would have an idea of what had happened  but nobody would dare to speak or to do anything . we  re not talking about soldiers killing someone they had never seen in their life . we  re talking about people killing their neighbours  and probably saying hello to their widow the next day  and even attending the funeral for the guy they had killed . we  re talking about villages with one or two thousand inhabitants  where everybody knew everybody .  br    br   i am from that small island and i  ve heard the stories my grandparents told me  and i must say that this film upset me  oh yes  it did but i also found it remarkably beautiful and moving . the initial violence is not something the director or the writer made up  that  s how things happened during that war . a kid knowing that his mate  s dad is in the fascist squad that killed his dad  completely possible . all that happened later on  possible too . tb was real too . at that time my island was not the holiday resort it has become . people were poor  illiterate  and worked in small farms . after the war there were times of hardship .  br    br   so  you won  t find a war story in this film  or at least not the kind of war story you expect . there are no battlefields  no soldiers  no political intrigues . this is the meanest kind of war  which happens when the space is limited  just check the size of the island   when neighbours fight with their neighbours  when members of the same family fight each other  and they live in a place where everybody knows everybody . you  ll find a story about the damage that this particular kind of war can cause to people and the story of how they survive that damage  or maybe they don  t .  br    br   i must mention the excellent work done by the writers who adapted the novel and by all the actors  who managed to sound really majorcan . that was remarkable .  
well  you know the rest  this has to be the worst movie i  ve seen in a long long time . i can only imagine that stephanie beaham had some bills to pay when taking on this role .  br    br   the lead role is played by  to me  a complete unknown and i would imagine disappeared right back into obscurity right after this turkey .  br    br   bruce lee led the martial arts charge in the early    s and since then fight scenes have to be either martial arts based or at least brutal if using street fighting techniques . this movie uses fast cuts to show off the martial arts  however  even this can  t disguise the fact that the lady doesn  t know how to throw a punch . an average  year old boy would take her apart on this showing .  br    br   sorry  the only mystery on show here is how this didn  t win the golden raspberry for its year .  
this film has a special place in my heart  as when i caught it the first time  i was teaching adult literacy . it rang very true to me and even an outstanding student i had at the time . there are scenes which make you gulp with sudden emotion  and those which even put a smile on your face through sheer identification with the characters and their situation .  br    br   excellent performances by jane fonda and robert deniro that rank with their best work  a great turn by a young martha plimpton  an inspiring story line  and a haunting musical score makes for a most enjoyable and rewarding experience .  
there are times when finishing a film one wishes to have a refund for the time just spent . this was one of those times . i almost gave up with only   minutes left to endure . . . and i wish i had . . .  br    br   the pace that a man goes from a straight  laced  controlled life to one of complete spinelessness and irresponsibility could never be this rapid .  br    br   from a graduation celebration to the predictable ending tristan price  jesse metcalfe  man of privilege and culture allows himself to be seduced by a woman  by violence  and by mind altering substances . of course  the woman part is understandable when observing the talents of the beautiful april  nathalie kelley  . but the in for a penny in for a pound aspect of the drugs  violence and dedication to a person he has just met is impossible to understand .  br    br   frankly  besides being able to stare at nathalie kelley and monica keena  this film has no redeeming qualities . save your money  save your time . . . do anything else . . .  
now days  most people don  t watch classic movies  such as this . most of friends only watch movies from the    s to present . thats kinda stingy .  br    br   most old movies like this are masterpieces  unique in their own way . only because  back when these movies were being thought of and made  thats when ideas were fresh . now people strain just to think of new ideas .  br    br   anyway  to the movie . for true fans of classic horror . this is for you . the movie is based with a investigator from scotland yard investigating the disappearance of an movie actor  and stumbles on to three other strange occurrences with past residents of the same house .  br    br   i won  t say anymore  for i will ruin the movie more than i already have . but it is a terrific movie for as old as it is . and would never mind watching it again   
oh  this is so bad  it is funny . the only way one could explain something like this is a porn party with drugs that resulted in the resolution to make a movie just for fun . i mean you get to see porn actresses topless  having sex  then killed by human mutants . there is plenty of gore  including the classic  something is wrong with her  oh no  it  s half the person she used to be  and the accidental murder caused by panic . but you can also find funny stuff like intestines pulled through someone  s ass and a guy running in the woods then finding himself decapitated by a wire tied between two trees  that makes a metallic doiiing sound afterward  like in cartoons  . somehow there is a market for people going beyond porn  they really need to know what  s inside an actress  mere genitals are not enough . therefore you get to see plenty of summary autopsies on slain bimbos . there is no dialog . jenna and chasey have really small parts and i really wonder what richard grieco wanted when accepting a role here . i think this is a film one must watch with the button on fast forward and watch only the juicy stuff  just to be reminded of the old school c class horror movies .  
an excellent movie and great example of how scary a movie can be without really showing the viewer anything . it  s a set of four stories all revolving around the tenants of a charmingly old  fashioned house and their various gruesome and horrific fates  all tied together by a wrap  around story about a scotland yard inspector searching for a missing horror film star . it starts out with a story about a mystery writer whose main character becomes a little too realistic  followed by a story about two old romantic rivals who become obsessed over a wax figure in a museum  then a story about a sweetly angelic little child who is anything but  and closing with the story of what happened to the missing film starand what he does to the inspector . it  s a gorgeous print that lets you really appreciate the work of director duffell and what he was able to accomplish with a very small budget . add to that the acting talents of peter cushing  christopher lee  denholm elliott  joss ackland  ingrid pitt and jon pertwee and you  ve got a movie that can be enjoyed again and again . just don  t answer the phone if anyone from stoker real estate calls to offer you a bargain on a beautiful house in the english countryside  
the only remarkable fact is the participation of klaus kinski who plays a priest . don  t ask me why he does it  a bad  bad movie overall .  br    br    
the late  great robert bloch  author of psycho  for those of you who weren  t paying attention  scripted this tale of terror and it was absolutely one of the scariest movies i ever saw as a kid .  i had to walk miles just to see a movie  and it was usually dark when i emerged from the theater seeing a horror movie was always unnerving  but particularly so when it was as well  executed as this one .  when i had the opportunity to see this one several years ago on videotape  which should always be a last resort   i was surprised at how well it held up . take the terror test watch it at night  alone  and then tell me it  s not scary . . .  
the ballad of django is a meandering mess of a movie  this spaghetti western is simply a collection of scenes from other  and much better   films supposedly tied together by  django  telling how he brought in different outlaws . hunt powers  john cameron  brings nothing to the role of django . skip this one unless you just have to have every django movie made and even that may not be a good enough excuse to see this one    
  spoilers included  this film surely is the best amicus production i  ve seen so far  even though i still have quite a few to check out  . the house that dripped blood is a horror  omnibusan anthology that contains four uncanny stories involving the tenants of a vicious  hellish house in the british countryside . a common mistake in productions like this is wasting too much energy on the wraparound story that connects the separate talespeter duffel  s film wisely doesn  t pay too much attention to that . it simply handles about a scotland yard inspector who comes to the house to investigate the disappearance of the last tenant and like that  he learns about the bizarre events that took place there before . all four stories in this film are of high quality  level and together  they make a perfect wholesome . high expectations are allowed for this film  since it was entirely written by robert bloch  yes  the same bloch who wrote the novel that resulted in the brilliant horror milestone psycho   we  re also marking peter duffel  s solid and very professional debut as a director .  br    br   the four stories  chapters if you will  in the house that dripped blood contain a good diversity in topics  but they  re  almost  equally chilling and eerie . number one handles about a horror  author who comes to the house  along with his wife  in order to find inspiration for his new book . this starts out real well  but after a short while  his haunted and stalked by the villain of his own imagination . the idea in this tale isn  t exactly originalbut it  s very suspenseful and the climax is rather surprising . the second story stars  hammer  horror  legend peter cushing as a retired stockbroker . still haunted by the image of an unreachable and long  lost love  he bumps into a wax statue that looks exactly like her . cushing is a joy to observe as always and  even though the topic of wax museums isn  t new  this story looks overall fresh and innovating . this chapter also contains a couple of delightful shock  moments and there  s a constant tense atmosphere . it  s a terrific warm  up for what is arguably the best story number  . another legendary actor in this one  as christopher lee gives away a flawless portrayal of a terrified father . he  s very severe and strict regarding his young daughter and he keeps her in isolation for the outside world . not without reason  since the little girl shows a bizarre fascination for witchcraft and voodoo . besides great acting by lee and the remarkable performance of chloe franks as the spooky kid  this story also has a terrific gothic atmosphere  the devilish undertones in this story  along with the creepy sound effects of thunder  make this story a must for fans of authentic horror . the fourth and final story  in which a vain horror actor gets controlled by the vampire  cloak he wears  is slightly weaker then the others when it comes to tension and credibility  but that the overload of subtle humor more or less compensates that . there  s even a little room for parody in this story as the protagonist refers to co  star christopher lee in the dracula series  most memorable element in this last chapter is the presence of the gorgeous ingrid pitt  the cult  queen from the vampire lovers  certainly is one of the many highlights in the filmher cleavage in particular .  br    br   no doubt about itthe house that dripped blood will be greatly appreciated by classic horror fans . i truly believe that  with a bit of mood  settling preparations  this could actually be one of the few movies that  ll terrify you and leave a big impression . intelligent and compelling horror like it should be  highly recommended . one extra little remark  though this film may notrepeat may not under any circumstances be confused with the dorm that dripped blood  . this latter one is a very irritating and lousy underground    s slasher that has got nothing in common with this film  except for the title it stole .  
that  s incredible  fidani  who he was also a spiritist  was one of the cheapest director of all the world . this movie stole the original title of leone  s  duck you sucker   but tell the boring story of a pinkerton agent against the killer  testa di ferro   the improbable gordon mitchell  a stuntman  . all is poor and crazy in this pelicula filmed into the dear landscapes of lazio . the story is bad and crazy at the same time . fidani was not able and ingenuos at the same time . into the story happened some kind of crazy illogical things  like the discussion into the sheriff  s house and the demential appearance of butch cassidy           yes  really butch cassidy  who is portrayed like an idiot  . terribles nuit americaine  absurd comportaments  illogic plot  bad acting and a fugace appearance by one of the most rewarded anchorman in the story of italian television  renzo arbore . ah  of course klaus kinski . yes is great and terrible  but i  m sure he was in it only for money an for playing with iron horses   of   but . . . don  t miss it       
four great stories from master robert bloch  adapted to the screen by the best actors in the field in the early seventies  are the base of this excellent amicus  production . this was a kind of movie very popular in the sixties till the mid  seventies and it  s one of my favorite type of horror movies . this one in particular shines for the episode sweets to the sweet  where christopher lee is stalked by his evil little girl child  heiress to her mother tradition . great fun from start to finish  and good to very good are also the other three episodes  with the last one a bit on the comic side  but with the great addition of ingrid pitt  the most famous vampress of the english cinema .  
i am a big fan of the spaghetti western genre  and i usually also like most of the cheaply made ones . infamous director demofilo fidani  however  is rightly known for some of the cheapest  trashiest  and  well  worst contributions to the genre . the plots of fidani  s movies were usually very weak  and since his talent was quite limited  he usually tried to sell the movies by adding famous spaghetti western names like  django  of  sartana  to the titles . i the particular case of  gi la testa . . . hombre  of     he just took the title of sergio leone  s  gi la testa   aka .  duck you sucker   and added  hombre  . the movie can be found under various titles   fistful of death    western story  . . .   i personally bought it under the name  adios companeros   which this movie shares with another fidani film with almost the same cast   per una bara piena di dollari   which is also entitled  adios companeros  in the german language version .  br    br   the plot is rather weak  it basically follows a guy named macho callaghan  jeff cameron  and his involvement with two rivaling outlaw gangs lead by butch cassidy  jack betts  and ironhead  gordon mitchell  .  br    br   the leading performance by jeff cameron is  kindly stated  not very convincing . neither did i find jack betts very good as  butch cassidy  . b  movie legend gordon mitchell  however  is always worth a try  and although he probably wasn  t a very good actor  i always found his performances in the spaghetti westerns quite funny and original  and he actually saved some of fidani  s movies  such as the rather crappy  django and sartana . . . showdown in the west   .  br    br   there is one very funny and original thing about  gi la testa . . . hombre   the great klaus kinski is playing a priest  i could have imagined kinski in any role  but before seeing this movie i would never have guessed that anybody would cast him as a priest . kinski is  once again  great  although he has only little screen time  and one scene  where he breaks up a fight  is probably the only good scene in this . one more interesting thing about this film is that the legendary director and king of sleaze joe d  amato did the cinematography .  br    br    gi la testa . . . hombre  is a cheap  crappy film  but nevertheless  it has some funny moments . being a spaghetti western enthusiast  i found it fun to watch  but if you  re not  never mind this movie  or watch it only for the purpose of seeing kinski play a priest .      
  the house that dripped blood  is one of the better anthology films of the time period .  br    br   spoilers  br    br   tracking down a missing film star  inspector holloway   john bennett  finds that the last reported sighting was in a large mansion in the countryside . during the course of looking through the house  he is told four different stories about past residents of the house .  br    br   the good story  s   method for murder  moving into the mysterious manor to get some peace and quiet while charles pens his latest masterwork  horror novelist charles hillyer   denholm elliott  and his wife alice   joanna dunham  are thrilled with the story  which centers around a serial strangler named dominic . after a series of strange accidents and experiences in the house  charles begins to believe that the creation my have come to life and is haunting him and his wife . probably one of the better entries in the film  it  s easily the creepiest . the atmosphere here is what sets it apart . the scenes with the fictional character are genuinely creepy  the mystery surrounding him is really effective and there  s always a classic creep  out moment . the classic moment is the kill in the psychiatrist  s office  which is an all  time high for creepiness . the build  up to it  with the creaking sounds  quick flashes of a mysterious being  and the thunder and lightning in the back ground work well for this one  s favor .  br    br   sweets for the sweet  moving into a new house  widower john reid   christopher lee  hires former school teacher ann norton   nyree dawn porter  for his young daughter jane   chloe franks  while he  s away on business . ann gradually begins to unravel a dark secret from jane  s past  which john vehemently denies . when she learns the true nature of what has happened  it  s far more shocking that what she could  ve thought possible . with the creepiest outright plot and the biggest twist of the stories  this is a quite pleasant entry . the mystery of the family is wonderfully played out  with small amounts of clues piled up here and there  and the final revelation is downright nerve  wracking . that part alone is the main reason why this one works  and lee doesn  t harm it either .  br    br   the bad story  s   waxwork  tortured by memories of his lost love  phillip grayson   peter cushing  and his friend neville rogers   joss ackland  both become infatuated with a statue of a woman in a wax museum  as the statue takes over their lives  they discover a shocking secret about the museum that haunts the both of them . there  s a clever premise here  and it does provide an excuse to spend time in a wax museum  which are always creepy . this is no exception  and it looks eerie  which is helped by the florescent lighting on display on the sculptures . a dream sequence provides a great moment of suspense  but what ultimately kills this one is the slow pace . it takes a long time for events to unfold out  and most of the time is spent on exposition . it also builds up to a shock ending that can be seen coming from a mile away . those really lower this one a bit . had the twist been changed  it would  ve scored higher  the rest is acceptable .  br    br   the cloak  veteran horror film actor paul henderson   jon pertwee  upset at the lack of realism on the set of his new film  goes off and buys a new vampire cloak from a specialty store . the cloak soon turns him into a vampire  going crazy on the set with co  star carla   ingrid pitt  and other vampiric acts at home . unconvinced the cloak is the cause  he does everything he can to prove it  s just in his imagination . this has a pretty decent premise  and there is plenty of opportunity for some decent scares  but what sinks it is several factors . first  it  s just too goofy for it  s own good . the plot twist at the end is a perfect example  which is so overdone that it  s not really a shock at all  and just comes across as just plain silly . there  s so few scenes of scares or attempted scares that it  s just a bore to sit through . it  s the weakest one in the film .  br    br   the final verdict a quite decent omnibus film  there  s a few small problems scattered through each of the stories that renders this a less than perfect but still highly watchable film . highly recommended for those into the similar films at the time or who enjoy british horror films .  br    br   today  s rating  pg     violence  
a quite usual trashy italo  western  stupid storyline full of clichs and lack of logic  some mediocre actors  dirty settings  lots of punch  fights and people shoot dead on a massive scale .  br    br   this has nothing to do with django .  at least not in my german translated version  this german dvd  release is called  adios companeros  and has macho callaghan fighting against butch cassidy and ironhead because their gang killed his one  he  s the only survivor  . then you have butch cassidy and ironhead fighting each other because they quarreled and the gang split . and you have ironhead fighting against everyone because he  s just the biggest and most greedy asshole anyway . yeah  that  s it  no more cleverness in the storyline  hehe .  br    br   a small role by klaus kinski as reverend cotton is remarkable  that  s why i bought this dvd  . in one scene he attempts to separate two men fighting by hitting them and screaming  i said love   and in another scene he wins a competition in throwing horseshoes and goes nuts for a second  fantasticfantasticfantastic     br    br   it  s also remarkable that joe d  amato aka aristide massaccesi did the cinematography  i love this master of incompetent exploitation  thrash  so it was an  aahhh  for me .  
before films like  the texas chainsaw massacre    suspiria   and  halloween  changed the view of horror forever  there was a more gothic and far less violent era in the genre . films like the hammer horror series and  rosemary  s baby  were what scared and thrilled audiences throughout the   s and early   s . i can  t tell you how many times i rented this film during my childhood  but i did because there was something about it . i didn  t want to limit myself to the slasher and zombies movies of the   s and   s and films like this production from the famous  but sadly long gone amicus film company were a good start .  br    br   pros a grand  eerie music score . strong performances from a stellar cast . brilliant cinematography . plenty good old fashioned thrills and chills  especially in the first and last vignettes . some haunting moments and images . moves at a slow  but stead pace . the house is one spooky  oppressive dwelling . great production design and set decoration  which give the film a real old gothic horror feel . depends more on mood and bloodless chills than on gore and gratuitous nudity for it  s thrills .  br    br   cons some pacing issues in the first half . aside from the  the cloak   the rest of the stories feel like they  ve been done before . clichs galore . the second story   waxworks   has fine acting and it  s moments  but is the weakest of the four in terms of scares and suspense . the low budget really shows at times .  br    br   final thoughts after seeing this film for the first time in many years i can see why i rented it so frequently . it  s not a masterpiece by any means  but it  s a good example of a time when horror films were made with style and class . watch this one with the lights off .  br    br   my rating  .     
in      charlie chaplin began making pictures . these were made for mack sennett  also known as  keystone studios   and were literally churned out in very rapid succession . the short comedies had very little structure and were completely ad libbed . as a result  the films  though popular in their day  were just awful by today  s standards . many of them bear a strong similarity to home movies featuring obnoxious relatives mugging for the camera . many others show the characters wander in front of the camera and do pretty much nothing . and  regardless of the outcome  keystone sent them straight to theaters . my assumption is that all movies at this time must have been pretty bad  as the keystone films with chaplin were very successful .  br    br   the charlie chaplin we know and love today only began to evolve later in chaplin  s career with keystone . by      he signed a new lucrative contract with essenay studios and the films improved dramatically with chaplin as director . however  at times these films were still very rough and not especially memorable . no  chaplin as the cute little tramp was still evolving . in      when he switched to mutual studios  his films once again improved and he became the more recognizable nice guy   in many of the previous films he was just a jerk  either getting drunk a lot  beating up women  provoking fights with innocent people  etc .  . the final evolution of his little tramp to classic status occurred in the     s as a result of his full  length films .  br    br   it  s interesting that this film is called twenty minutes of love since the film only lasts about   minutes  oh well . the plot  what little there is  involves the little tramp in the park . a couple wants to neck but inexplicably  charlie insists on practically sitting on the couple  s lap and really annoying them . i can  t understand why and the short consists of charlie wandering about the park annoying these people and some others later in the film . perhaps he was looking for a threesome  i don  t know . but the film lacks coherence and just isn  t particularly funny   even when people start slapping each other and pushing each other in the lake . a typical poor effort before chaplin began to give his character a plot and personality .  
the british production company amicus is generally known as the specialist for horror anthologies  and this great omnibus called  the house that dripped blood  is doubtlessly the finest amicus production i  ve seen so far  admittedly  there are quite a few that i have yet to see  though  .  the house that dripped blood  consists of four delightfully macabre tales  all set in the same eerie mansion . these four stories are brought to you in a wonderfully gothic atmosphere  and with one of the finest ensemble casts imaginable . peter cushing  christopher lee  cushing and lee are two of my favorite actors ever   as well as denholm elliott and the ravishing ingrid pitt star in this film  so which true horror fan could possibly afford to miss it  no one  of course  and the film has much more to offer than just a great cast .  the house that dripped blood  revolves around an eerie rural mansion  in which strange things are happening . in four parts  the film tells the tales of four different heirs .  br    br   the first tale   method for murder   tells the story of horror novelist charles hyller  denholm elliott   who moves into the house with his wife . after moving in  the writer suddenly feels haunted by a maniac of his own creation . . . the first segment is a great kickoff to the film . the story is creepy and macabre throughout and the performances are entirelly very good .  br    br   in the second story   waxworks   retired businessman phillip grayson  peter cushing  moves into the house  and suddenly feels drawn to a mysterious wax museum in the nearby town . . . the great peter cushing once again delivers a sublime performance in this  and the rest of the performances are also very good . the tale is delightfully weird  and the second  best of the film  after the third .  br    br   the third tale   sweets to the sweet  is by far the creepiest and most brilliant of the four . john reed  christopher lee  moves in with his little daughter . the private teacher and nanny mrs . norton  whom mr . reed has employed to instruct his daughter  is appalled about her employer  s strictness towards his daughter  and is eager to find out what reason the overprotective father  s views on upbringing may have . . . this best segment maintains a very creepy atmosphere and a genuinely scary plot . christopher lee is  as always  superb in his role . nyree dawn porter is also very good as the nanny  and my special praise goes to then    year  old chloe franks . this ingenious segment alone makes the film a must  see for every true horror  fan .  br    br   in the fourth segment  horror  actor paul henderson  jon pertwee  moves into the house with his sexy mistress  co  star carla  ingrid pitt  . this fourth story is satire  more than it is actually horror . it is a highly amusing satire  however  and there are many allusions to other horror films . at one point henderson indirectly refers to christopher lee  who stars in the previous  third segment . . .  br    br   all four segments have a delightfully macabre sense of humor and a great atmosphere . as stated above  the third segment is by far the creepiest and greatest  but the other three are also atmospheric and often macabrely humorous horror tales that every horror lover should appreciate . an igenious atmosphere  a macabre sense of humor  genuine eerieness and a brilliant cast make this one a must  see . in short  the house that dripped blood  is an excellent horror  omnibus that no lover of british horror could possibly afford to miss . highly recommended   
although twenty minutes of love is a harmless attempt at an early comedy  it was difficult to follow and the film quality was not very good . it does have a couple of moments that are funny  but i have seen better by charlie chaplin .  
this movie is good for what it is  and unpretentious i wouldn  t watch it twice  however i am a peter cushing completist and that  s why i watched it . the best asset of this movie is brevity and effectiveness . compared to other similar movies  it does not drag its feet forever as each of the four  plus one  segments lasts under   minutes  with the last under   . good uncanny vibes . in the first segment  horror writer suffering from  writer  s block  relocates to secluded old house seeking inspiration . he finds even too much of it when he starts to visualize one of his fictional madmen . plot contrivance similar to premature burial . good use of the point  of  view twist is the writer getting mentally ill . . . or  as the ending shows  his trophy wife wants her lover to play along with the husband  s phobias to drive him mad  secure his estates . . . yet will the scheming bimbo survive to enjoy the fruit of her ingenious plan   br    br   in the second segment two long time lost friends get together in the same secluded old house but cannot seem to help visiting a bizarre horror museum featuring the wax statue of the long lost love of their youth  which had once separated them . from the gothic museum keeper they learn the woman portrayed is a deceased ax wielding murderer . . . or was she   br    br   the third segment was the less interesting to me .  br    br   the fourth shows a horror movies actor  who thinks he  s the best of all  sunken to the depths of low budget c movies . seeking a costume to lend more credibility to his fictional vampire  he gets the real deal . this segment also lacks the solidity of the first two .  br    br   acting is fair  with the  initial segments contributing the bulk of it . good movie  taken with a grain of salt . not the best cushing  nor lee . . . but worth watching .  
i saw this film last night  about    minutes  and don  t know what kept me in my seat . i guess i just expected a film with gere would have some value in it eventually but nothing of value ever came on the screen . the story is a silly excuse to pile on shot after shot of bondage and torture . there is not a character in the film that does anything like real life . the cutting  style  relies on jump cuts  mini flashbacks and overprinting to give weight to this vapid setup of a gang of sadists apparently running free for years and surprise the leader is the  victim  of an executed killer . i don  t see how gere  a buddhist  got involved in this violent  sexist trash .  
the british horror film was in terminal decline by the start of the seventies  but out of the blackness came three films that were among the best our island produced . the wickerman  blood on satan  s claw and the house that dripped blood made the future seem rosy  even though a lot of people knew by this point there wasn  t going to be one . thtdb has the sort of cast that could easily form a wishlist  if it hadn  t actually been assembled  in the bleak hinterland of     you may well find yourself expecting to wake up . waxworks is the most overlooked of the four stories and is  naturally  my favourite  cushing  s life and art are interlinked so firmly that you can  t tell where performance ends and pain begins . one can only guess how this role affected such a gentle  sensitive man . death and the maiden . rip peter .  
i really have problems rating this movie . it is directed brilliantly  there is obviously a lot of money in it . gere and danes are intense  although her screen personality could use a bit more defining and spicing up   editing and cinematography are excellent . on the other hand  it is one of those really really sick movies where one cannot help but wonder whether the director himself likes to stage specific scenes  and  yes  one cannot help but wonder how many copycats will such a movie inspire .  br    br   in purely artistic terms  it is a   but i really have to ask myself who these people are giving their money to produce such a movie . . . .  
the latest film by the spanish director agusti villaronga is a study on how children that experience violence and isolation within their remote community  develop into troubled young adults that need certain psychic tools to deal with their hidden mental frailty . whether these tools are religion followed to a fanatical level  caring for others or simply putting on a macho image whilst engaging as a male  prostitute  villaronga creates a successful examination of how these vices affect three teenagers living in spain under franco . the three witness the disturbing double death or their friends before they are teenagers and subsequently bury the emotions they feel with their peers frail corpses until they meet again once more at a hospital for those suffering form tuberculosis .  br    br   the cinematic style of the text is typically visually opulent as you would expect from the spanish auteur and is extremely reminiscent of fellow spaniard pedro almodovar  s work with themes dealing with sexual desire  both heterosexual and homosexual . an element that is different between the two directors is that villaronga favours a supernatural undertone spliced with claustrophobic  gritty realism opposed to almodovar  s use of surrealism  although both styles are similar .  br    br   the piece gives an insight into troubled young psyche and contains disturbing violence and scenes of a sexual nature . i highly recommend watching this film as it contains elements that will remain with the audience for a considerable period after viewing .  
dude  really     where have you guys been the past   years  this is shocking in all kind of ways  horror  this is a joke  there is nothing wrong with being low budget  but this is a laugh  if you want to look at the classics  freaks of tod browning  the victims of dracula and frankenstein  the undying monster  ernest thesiger  paul wegener  s the golem and the passengers of the ghost train  you can  t compare it  it gives it a bad name  bad acting  bad screenplay etc . total waist of money and free time  have watched a lot of movies  were as horror is my all time favorite  i really am speechless  have nothing more to say that please don  t do the effort to watch something so daft  please understand  
yes  this is a horror anthology film and it was a lot of fun  that  s because although the film clearly was horror  some of the stories had a light spirit   and there were even occasionally a few laughs . this isn  t at all a bad thing as sometimes horror films are a bit stuffy and overly serious . because of this and because all four of the stories were pretty good  it  s one of the better movies of this style i have seen .  br    br   the unifying theme that connects each story is the house itself . four different stories involve people who either rent the home or investigate what happened to the tenants .  br    br   the first segment starred denholm elliott as a horror writer who has writer  s block . so  for a change of scenery  they rent this house . almost immediately elliott  s block vanishes and he works steadily on a tale about a serial killer . amazingly  soon after his block vanishes he begins to actually see his fictional character  again and again  the psychotic killer appears and then disappears   making it seem as if he is losing his mind . this might just be the best of the stories  as the nice twist ending makes the story come alive .  br    br   the second  while not bad at all  is probably the weakest . peter cushing plays a bachelor who is pining for a girl friend who died some time ago  though the picture of her looked amazingly contemporary  . when he enters a chamber of horrors wax museum in town  he sees a wax figure that reminds him of his lost lady and he is both fascinated and scared by this . later  a friend  joss ackland  visits and he  too  sees the figure and is entranced by it . this all leads to an ending that  frankly  was a bit of a letdown .  br    br   christopher lee then stars as an incredibly harsh and stern father to a pathetic little girl . during most of this segment  lee seemed like an idiot  but in the end you can understand his demeanor . though slow  this one ended very well .  br    br   the fourth segment was the silliest and was meant to parody the genre . jon pertwee  the third  doctor  from the dr . who television series  is a very temperamental actor known for his portrayals of dracula . however  nothing is right about the film according to him and in a fit of pique  he stomps off the set to find better props for this vampire film . it  s actually pretty interesting that he played this role  as it seemed like a natural for christopher lee who played dracula or other vampires a bazillion times  give or take a few  . i enjoyed pertwee  s line when he basically said that lee  s and other recent incarnations of dracula were all crap compared to bela lugosi  s  perhaps this is why lee didn  t take this part  despite some very silly moments  it was very entertaining and fun   possibly as good or better than the first segment .  br    br   considering that the film started and ended so well  had excellent acting and writing  it  s hard not to like this film .  
the reasons to watch this knock off . . . err . . . tribute to a great movie called se  en  it  s on while your channel surfing and there  s nothing else on .  someone pays you to watch it .  br    br   do yourself a favor and pop in the dvd for se  en  rent it  download it on itunes  or put it in your netflix cue and skip the flock entirely . the flock the same story with with a few changes . furthermore the editing just wreaks of se  en and actually ends up taking you out of the story several times . the worst one is probably the fly over desert helicopter shots  with sounds of people people chattering over the radio  except there are no police helicopters flying overhead in this one .  br    br   bottom line i call it a blatant knock off . if you wanna be nice you can call it a tribute film  go ahead  but either way go watch se  en .  
no  nonsense inspector hollaway  a solid turn by john bennett  investigates the disappearance of a famous thespian and uncovers the wicked past history of a creepy old house . first and most mundane tale   method for murder   successful author charles hillyer  nicely played by denholm elliott  is haunted by images of the murderous fiend he  s writing about in his latest book . although this particular outing is too obvious and predictable to be anything special  it does nonetheless build to a real dilly of a genuine surprise ending . second and most poignant anecdote   waxworks   lonely philip grayson  the always outstanding peter cushing  and his equally lonesome friend neville rogers  the splendid joss ackland  both become infatuated with the beguiling wax statue of a beautiful  but lethal murderess . third and most chilling vignette   sweets to the sweet   quiet  reserved and secretive widower john reid  a typically terrific christopher lee in a rare semi  sympathetic role  hires nanny ann norton  the fine nyree dawn porter  to take care of his seemingly cute and harmless daughter jane  a remarkably spooky and unnerving performance by the adorable chloe franks  . this stand  out scary episode is given a substantial disturbing boost by the exceptional acting from gifted child actress franks  who projects a truly unsettling sense of serene evil lurking just underneath a deceptively sweet and innocent angelic veneer . fourth and most amusing yarn   the cloak   pompous horror movie star paul henderson  delightfully essayed to the haughty hilt by jon pertwee  purchases a mysterious cloak that causes him to transform into a vampire whenever he wears it . this item makes for good silly fun and further benefits from the awesomely pulchritudinous presence of the luscious ingrid pitt as enticing vampiress carla . director peter duffell  working from a deliciously macabre and witty script by noted horror scribe robert bloch  maintains a snappy pace throughout and does an ace job of creating a suitably eerie atmosphere . kudos are also in order for ray parslow  s crisp cinematography and the shuddery score by michael dress . highly recommended to fans of omnibus fright fare .  
first this deserves about  stars due to acting  some which would give me a better subjective opinion and not an objective one as it should by giving this one  well deserved  star  but then i know that those facts are used for the actor  s  names to increase the rating of something like this . . .  br    br   i do have a problem with such productions yet another attempt  just like  untraceable   of a systematic propagandistic feature promoting government intrusion on your rights  how interesting that it comes at a moment when ips providers trying to  preferentiate   censor information  and the americans and canadians are fighting against that at this very moments  . this time is not by labeling torrent file transfers as evil  that one was intended to remind you of such feeling whenever you transfer data on the net   but by literally attempting in creating a sexual frustrated population as a whole . seems like fear promotion is hollywood  s norm this days  especially when coming to thrillers which is the most  on demand  motion picture genre for past  decades or so  most viewed  best way to try influence the society as a whole . such levels of violence are depicted in this  features of morally and  ethical  people  that it gives a new much needed meaning to  anti  heroes  figures . make no mistake  this is not  dexter  which was meant to be high  quality entertainment . stop selling  fear  please  the world would be a better place without it and the dollars made of it .  br    br   the opening scene and generally the first   minutes really give a frightful picture of an erroll babbage that is clearlly suffering of sexual frustration . the way he handles the black male is very disturbing if not outright racist  for sure a  cliche  at least   in real life someone would probably get a beating for it  you will see what i mean  . the second scene  with claire danes  s character present  is even more extreme . at that point i realized  in my opinion that erroll babbage is a very dangerous individual to people around him . how many people  that have seen or will see this movie  have never been  hold down   regarding both sexes  out of self  common gratification   . typically the movie gives an extreme criminal case  that unfortunately did  is and will likely happen again sometime  somewhere  but fingers everyone else indirectly as well as  you could become that   etc . anyone that is familiar with sigmund freud and jung will know very well that sexuality is not something to be judged let alone  asses   by such fanatical  hero  here . safe sex in its many forms is healthy and not some evil that apparently richard gere character is obsessed with  on his way for some sexual  crusade  . have we not learned anything from the abundant recent scandals involving priests and young boys   or for how long an american teenager can see extreme violence on  pg     but he can not even see a woman breast until  r          yet the industry targets them with this very same sexual perversions like  american pie  series for example  . raise the kids tester  one levels but frustrate them and drive them underground in developing fetishes to unhealthy extremes   all sexual activities  upon mutual acceptance  integrates individuals better then some  rightous  nut  case  that blames his misfortunes and shortcomings on  the lives of others   a new german movie that would work great in comparing this  distinct and world apart features on the very same subject  . here  like in that movie  you will probably appreciate the actors for well portraying the opposite of what they should have been .  br    br   i am very disappointed with richard gere especially after the recent  hunting party   a feature where he really shines and about a more realistic  hero   after real facts as well  . but then it just reminds me that all those people are only actors that get paid to play someone  s political and social agenda .  the flock  and  untraceable   heads of the same hidden beast    it just reminds you  if know anyone with similar views on the subject as a whole  as erroll babbage has those here  to stay clear of them for their own safety . they would kill my family faster then any  .      chances of paul jerrod in anyone  s life would . . .  br    br   in the end i recommend this to anyone thinking negative here about my  assesment  of this particular movie  and  untraceable  actually   so you can likely have similar thoughts as i did . nothing sweeter then a propagandistic movie shooting itself in the  foot  .     for once i agree with the rating  this is not a feature for teenagers or kids simply because at best would confuse them even more then the  common  belief of  moneyfamefashion  and how that relates to sexuality .  scream  series and movies as such at least have a defined entertainment value  even if a dumb one in my opinion  . but this one is just another  trust me i know what is good for you  deeply  not so well done i might add  subliminal messages .  
i  ll admit to being biased when i reviewed this since it was my introduction to the series . i saw this film for the first time in      on the late night  fear friday  on amc  which often pulls obscure gems like this out of cold storage for new generations . i made it a point to watch the entire amicus anthology series before reviewing any of them here to make sure i had perspective . looking back  i still rate the house that dripped blood as my favorite  followed closely by tales from the crypt and then asylum .  br    br   i think all of the elements that make this series charming    the vintage    s     s style cinematography  creepy to kooky  far  fetched tales and the utter britishness of it all right down the backing music     came together better here than any of the others overall . the movie centers around a very old english country house and the misfortune that befalls all that dwell within .  br    br   the first story involves a horror writer and his wife  who moved into this secluded place to get a break from the city so he could concentrate on his passion . he creates a murderous character called dominic and soon starts experiencing great difficulty telling reality from fiction . there is a subtle physchedelia here via his torment that i found amusing yet creepy . oh and those horrible prop teeth  then again these are british actors  maybe those were real      br    br   the second story is the tale of a lonely old man  peter cushing  that has moved here to escape his loneliness  yet it only worsens as he is haunted by lost love . he seems to have found possible salvation at a local  very creepy  wax museum  but it turns out he would have been much better off alone . . . . . . .  br    br   the third story includes the great christopher lee  my fav british horror actor  as a single father with a rather disturbed and thoroughly creepy young daughter . he is constantly wary of her getting into things she shouldn  t    like witchcraft  she has a natural talent for it  with good reason . lee is superb here as the ice cold disciplinarian  that man has a true talent for playing characters that are absolutely devoid of warmth   but despite his best efforts  the little troublemaker does in fact learn forbidden knowledge and bad things follow . . . . . .  br    br   this final story is the tale of a cynical old veteran actor that feels the young director he  s working with isn  t qualified to capture a proper vampire film  right down to the quality of the costumes and his cloak in particular . so he goes to a old curiosity store in the middle of a foggy night to get something more  authentic  . little does he know that he picked up a truly authentic vampire  s cloak  putting it on at the stroke of midnight has rather noticeable effects . by the time i had gotten to this fourth and final story  it was after  am and i couldn  t quite stay awake on the first try  not from boredom  . but i did experience something that i have hundreds of times  a curious bonding experience i have with films or music when i drift in and out of sleep and the film  music becomes part of my dream   great fun   this bizarre story was perfect for that and seemed much scarier the first time than it actually was because i woke up right when he was levitated by the cloak  s power and couldn  t quite comprehend was what happening at first . not long after  the lovely ingrid pitt  a costar on his movie set  came to visit and he warned her not to put on the cloak at midnight    but he needn  t have bothered  for she was a real vampire herself . the chintzy keyboard jingle that followed as she flew toward him on the staircase was simply hysterical   and again in my half  asleep state  seemed rather confusing  side note make sure to catch lee and pitt along with the stunning amicus star britt ekland in the all time classic film the wicker man       .  br    br   the weakest link here was the interlacing commentary between stories  but based on the stories themselves  this is a classic  objectively  i would say the third story is best  but i like the  th most because it makes me smile so much . very highly recommended for horror fans and if you  re a british horror fan  it  s mandatory  i  d say it  s worthwhile to view the series in chronological order if you can . the last film of this series  monster club       is certainly the weakest . i think the first    films except for the at times mediocre torture garden       are the best  but if you like any of them  you should watch them all at least once . you  ll probably be back many more times to watch your favorites .  
a bad rip  off attempt on  seven   complete with sub  second  grade acting  awful camera work  half  baked story and strong aftertaste of lame propaganda . yeah  them  sex offenders   they live next door and you  re gonna get raped  really .  br    br   no surprises from the vice  terminatrix woman  she acts as always   as convincingly as a piece of wood . richard gere keeps on sliding lower and lower   and is about as low here as a late steven seagal .  br    br   the singer woman with the crazy eyes is best when she  s dead in bed and even the wolf was sub  par  although she was the best performer in the movie    maybe they fed her before the shots  or something .  br    br   unlike  seven   which had a  made up  but interesting  story  to which one could relate more or less regardless of the country  this movie seems to focus on a us  only obsession . if one doesn  t care much about  sex offenders    and the statistics are that lack of exercise and bad diet cause more pain  suffering and death   there is little reason to see it  or to be afraid .  br    br   there are some body part fetishes and some snuff  but the gore is less then mediocre  and fails both as artistic device  because it is pointless  and as gore  because it is not gory enough .  br    br   don  t waste time on this one .  
this movie is another horror anthology . it is rather good  but it could have used a bit more . i compare it to  doctor terror  s house of horrors   though in this one the title fits . it has four stories all somewhat connected by a house . the first tale is about a writer and his wife moving in . he creates a killer for his latest novel and then he starts seeing the killer roaming around in his house . this one is sort of predictable  but it does throw a few twists in the end . the next story is a bit more unpredictable  and you really do not know where the heck it is going . this one features peter cushing and was probably my favorite of the bunch . this guy buys the house  but it is not the house that takes center stage  but a rather strange wax museum . the third story starts out rather good and features christopher lee . this one has him as a rather bizarre dad who seems awfully protective of his daughter . the problem is that once you know what is going on the story does not end soon enough . it drags a bit leading to a very predictable conclusion . then the final tale concerns an actor buying a cloak from an odd little shop . the actor really gets what he paid for . then there is a small story about an officer who is seen throughout trying to find out what happened to this actor and then an explanation of why these things happened . though i was not very satisfied with the explanation as i don  t think it really explained cushing  s story much at all . i think they needed a bit more back story for that one . all in all though it was an interesting set of stories .  
the flock is not really a movie . it  s a wannabe movie  with wannabe actors . not including richard gere  he gave an excellent performance  but when only one of the actors truly gives himself to his character  and the rest of the cast is just acting . . . the result is pathetic  just like this movie . you see  the idea of acting is to hide the fact that you  re acting . what the hell was claire dains doing in this one   she  s the most inappropriate actress for this character . in   .   of the movie she looked extremely out of place  out of everything   the only thing she was doing was asking stupid questions  like  do you really think so     and making silly faces . i was embarrassed by her acting  seriously  and i used to like her . . . she  s the romantic movie type  i don  t know who picked her among all the actresses out there . . . . lol  and seeing avril lavigne   this really made me laugh . . anyway . . if you want to get the feeling of throwing up  this movie will do the job for you    i wish i could vote   . .  
featuring a few of hammer  s all  stars  this highly effective slice of british horror revolves around a house and the fates of it  s previous tenants  whose stories are all told to a scotland yard detective  in search of a missing actor .  br    br   story number one  which is probably the least impressive of the four  deals with a writer and his wife who  ve just moved in the house and plan to stay just for a short time so that he may write one of his horror novels . he creates a demented character named dominic  who  s a very creepy looking strangler  and soon finds himself going mad as he starts to seeing this beastly looking man everywhere he goes . after his wife convinces him to seek psychiatric help  a sub  plot is introduced which frankly  didn  t really work for me . i won  t spoil it for you .  br    br   the next story  the best in my opinion  stars the wonderful peter cushing as philip grayson  a man who  s moved into the home for his retirement years and soon makes his way to a nearby wax museum  that deals in the macabre  where he  s very startled to find a wax figure that looks exactly like a woman from his past . soon thereafter  an old friend  who also has a history with this woman  is in town for business and drops by to see him . the two men are in for a rude awakening as they soon discover that there was more to this woman than meets the eye .  br    br   story three stars one of my very favorites . . . christopher lee  who plays john reid . after moving into the home with his peculiar daughter jane  the nanny that he hires becomes awfully suspicious as to the way reid suppresses his daughter . well come to find out . . . if she knew what lee did  she would have certainly understood .  br    br   the final story is a rather light  hearted vampire tale that stars john pertwee and ingrid pitt . after buying a cloak from a mysterious merchant  actor paul henderson finds himself turning into the very creature that he  s portrayed several times in his career .  br    br   overall  the pacing and direction were very good  as was the most of the performances . there were nice gothic touches here and there and an effective score to complement the ambiance . this one  s a keeper  and comes highly recommended .  
i just saw this film yesterday .  br    br   my girlfriend wanted to see it only because of richard gere .  br    br   i feel i wasted my time and money and told my girlfriend it  s the last time we go to see a film just because a certain actor  actress is in it . i hope she learned the lesson because i had trouble keeping her in her seat . as of me  since i paid already  i wanted to see the end at least  just in the hope something good would turn up  but i didn  t hold my breath  and luckily so cause i would have been a victim of the film just the same .  br    br   this is not a black and white film  it  s a black and black one . the main character  richard gere  is almost as bad as his registrants  and all sex offenders are portrayed as unredeemable hard core criminals and the bad ones among them were really very very bad . speak of a clich and the exploitation of a typical us phobia .  br    br   richard gere  s acting was good as usual but the blond girl that  s supposed to replace him was wishy washy at best . totally unconvincing for the job .  br    br   the film tries to exploit a popular theme and gives it a cheap  dramatic  and sensational turn that just is unreal . they just use sex offenders as an excuse to indulge in cheap violent acts of murders  vigilante beating  rape and torture  something that almost seems gratuitous . they even have a wolf attacking people in the film  how low can you get .  br    br   i gather the film won  t come out in the usa and will go straight to dvd . that  s were it should have stayed in other countries too  but because it  s hollywood and richard gere they just had to show it . believe me  without gere  the film is not even worth a b  series movie .  
amicus made close to a good half dozen of these horror anthologies in the    s  and this  from leading horror scribe robert bloch  is one of their best efforts . there are four stories  all worthwhile  but two    sweets for the sweet  and  method for murder    distinguish themselves as highly effective journeys into fear .  br    br   in  sweets   christopher lee plays an impatient widower whose lovely daughter  chloe franks  becomes resentful of his neglect and brutish intolerance  so she sculpts a voodoo doll with which she expresses her distaste for his methods . franks is a beautiful figure of mischievous evil and delivers one of the greatest child performances in a horror film since martin stephens in  the innocents  . this installment is directed with great subtlety and the final outrage  occurring off  screen  is a moment of purest horror .  br    br    method of murder  is about a horror novelist  denholm elliott  who is menaced by one of his own creations  the creepy dominic . this episode is striking for its simplicity and stark terror . dominic may or may not be real  so director peter duffell has a great time playing with our expectations . the brief shots of dominic reflected in a pond or seen as a fleeting phantasm in a meadow are truly haunting .  br    br   the original poster art  featuring a skeletal figure clasping a tray holding peter cushing  s severed head  was a rich enticement for punters fixed on fear .  
i watched the movie  the flock  because of the casting of gere and danes and because the story synopsis sounded interesting . this was one of the worst movies i  ve seen in a long while  and i  ve seen some turkeys .  i  ve never posted online before but this movie was so awful i had to do so . i suppose the problems begin begin with the script which was so amateurish it  s unbelievable . the story makes zero sense and the dialogue is so trite it  s nauseating . poor gere  he deserves so much better . as for the gere  danes on screen matchup  because of the horrible writing  one doesn  t believe either character for a single minute . i  ll bet gere wishes he could buy back the negative  were such a thing possible . it  s a shame to see talent wasted so badly  not to mention i wish i could get my  hours back .  i know what you  re thinking . how do i really feel    
linking story another first  time viewing for me and  again  this is one of the most popular of the amicus anthologies  and it  s easy to see why  though i realize how the film  s rather meaningless title could be misleading for some i certainly fancied director peter duffell  s choice  death and the maiden  which  incidentally  is a classical piece by schubert that is heard in the film during the peter cushing episode   a great deal more . though the linking device itself is not all that great  the episodes are all equally compelling and enjoyable . production values come off as very respectable indeed for the budget duffell had to work with . the latter infuses the film with a great deal of style which is not so common with this type of film and  frankly  it makes one regret the fact that he wished to distance himself from the genre  though more so as not to be typecast rather than because he felt it was beneath him  .  br    br   now to the individual stories themselves  br    br    method for murder   the opening segment does not offer any real surprises but  to make up for this  it  s quietly suspenseful and appropriately creepy at times  tom adams   fictitious  villain looking like the long  lost brother of boris karloff from the old dark house         also  it ends with a satisfactory diabolique  type twist  and features a fairly intense role for denholm elliott in the lead . that  s all we need out of it  really .  br    br    waxworks   for the second story we are introduced to a curiously romantic mood which is quite unusual for this type of film peter cushing and joss ackland are both excellent  as well as impeccably dressed  in their roles of two jilted lovers of a woman who continues to obsess them even after such a long time  and whose friendly rivalry can only lead them blindly and inexorably to a fate that is literally worse than death an ominous hallucination scene with peter cushing is quite well done in view of the limited resources at hand  and ackland  s inexplicable inability  or unwillingness  to leave town somewhat recalls the house  trapped aristocrats of bunuel  s the exterminating angel       .  br    br    sweets to the sweet   this is perhaps the finest episode of all  with his ambiguous role here  christopher lee continues to demonstrate his versatility and he is matched by an understanding nyree dawn porter and the deceptive innocence of chloe franks  who appears as lee  s daughter  . the film  s treatment of the occult here is both subtle and mature  culminating in a powerful and extremely chilling  curtain  . trivia note chloe franks appears as a grown  up in the featurette included on the disc  and when i saw her i felt an immediate familiarity with her face but couldn  t quite put my finger on it . later  on reading her filmography  it was revealed to me that she had played one of the leads in the long  running stage adaptation of agatha christie  s  the mousetrap  in london  s west end  which my brother and i were fortunate enough to catch while we there on holiday in the summer of      needless to say  we had no idea then that she had once created such a delicate  and delicious  portrayal in sheer evil  mainly by virtue of her peculiar look and a devilish smile    br    br    the cloak   a wacky but oddly reverent vampire tale  that still manages to debunk many of the myths attached to the subgenre  while inventing some new ones   which takes in some wonderful digs at exploitation cinema and  at one point  christopher lee himself   jon pertwee is marvelous as the campy horror star who gets more than he bargained for when he attempts to bring a measure of authenticity to his work ingrid pitt sends up her image nicely though her role is somewhat subsidiary to the proceedings geoffrey bayldon  made up to look like ernest thesiger  also has a memorably quirky bit the  silent  cinema  style of the ending was a pretty audacious one to pull on an audience  i suppose  and  while some of the humor comes off as heavy  handed a  la the fearless vampire killers       or theatre of blood        it  s also rather infectious and certainly ends the film on a high  and highly unusual  note   br    br   video and audio quality are relatively satisfactory  considering i had no other version to compare it with the main culprit is some noticeable print damage but this is never so nasty as to affect one  s enjoyment of the film . as for the extras  beginning with the audio commentary frankly  this is one of the finest chats about a genre film that i can remember listening to jonathan rigby gets to butt in with his opinion more than is usual for a moderator but his effort certainly allows director peter duffell to touch on every aspect of the production  whereas with some other films  you  re left rather expecting there to be more   and  as such  it  s an extremely pleasant track that complements the main feature very nicely indeed . the featurette  a  rated horror film  is a worthwhile effort with peter duffell again at center  stage but this time backed up with valid  if all  too  brief  contributions from producer max j . rosenberg and stars chloe franks  ingrid pitt and geoffrey bayldon . we also get film notes  reviews  bios and a poster  stills gallery which  again  are wonderfully assembled  with the contemporary reviews being something of a novelty  and a welcome one at that  .  
although the flock has some pretty good acting by veteran richard gere  and some okay shots that might harken some back to the silence of the lambs days  the movie stretches credibility to the breaking point and destroys itself against a plot that really leads nowhere .  br    br   the film is about erroll babbage  gere  who works for the department of safety and is preparing to retire . his office thrusts upon him his replacement  allison lowry  claire danes  stardust   who quickly discovers that babbage is obsessed with his job . and that job ain  t very fun . he monitors hundreds of sexual offenders who are on parole in his jurisdiction . allison goes with erroll on many calls to check up on his  flock  of offenders and learns that he is in desperate need of retirement . but erroll is good at his job even if his methods aren  t . he taunts sexual predators and even has physical conflicts with them . erroll justifies his actions by bringing up these deviants  pasts . it is this  good justification  that challenges the audience on some level  letting us see how brutal erroll is and yet how out  of  touch he  s become  by being too close to his job  .  br    br   when a teenage girl goes missing in erroll  s  area   he immediate leaps to the conclusion that she was abducted by one of his flock . but how could he know  is erroll that good at his job  allison challenges him and erroll pushes back . their battles become as fierce as erroll  s need to find this missing girl .  br    br   although the set  up for the story was okay  it didn  t have any umpf  i will give credit to richard gere  however  who plays the erroll character very well . battling retirement . worried about everyone who  s near his flock . disgusted with those he  s responsible for overseeing . disgusted with himself for having to do some of things he does . quite a change in character portrayal for gere . but beyond him there  s not much else . some of the sets are okay  dark and dangerous  but there are so many other problems as to be laughable .  br    br   i  ll be the first to admit that suspending disbelief is a requirement whenever watching films . but that suspension has limits . the biggest push against those limits is the destruction of extremely vital crime scenes . someone as meticulous as erroll would know that moving a body would be a huge no  no . or trampling through a crime scene . or moving evidence . it went beyond and hurt the film to no end .  br    br   the other damaging part of this film is that we never get into clair danes  character  allison . she  s almost dropped by the wayside at the end of the film and we  re never privy to what her intension might be will she stay or leave  will she end up like erroll if she does stay  this isn  t a horrible film as it does touch on some uncomfortable moral ground  but the story as a whole needed to be tightened up .  
from the mind of robert bloch  of  psycho  fame  come four tales of twisty terror in this amicus anthology film  which  while not quite as much fun  or scary  as i would have liked  still provides for some decent genre entertainment .  br    br   it  s linked by the wrap  around story of a highly skeptical scotland yard detective  john bennett  who is investigating the disappearance of a prominent actor he  s advised that this case is linked to a few others by the house in which they all took place  and our film is off and running .  br    br    method for murder  has author charles hillyer  always delightful denholm elliott  haunted by his latest fictional creation  who has seemingly come to life . this sequence has some good surreal and fairly suspenseful moments  and is capped by a reasonably amusing revelation and denouement .  br    br    waxworks  stars horror icon peter cushing as retired stockbroker philip grayson  who  along with old friend neville rogers  joss ackland  becomes obsessed with the image of a beautiful woman found in a macabre wax museum . most effective in this episode is the dream sequence  although it  s great as always to watch cushing . the final images presented to us in this story are pretty shocking .  br    br    sweets to the sweet  features another well  loved horror star  christopher lee  as john reid  who doesn  t treat adorable moppet child jane  chloe franks  with too much kindness  and it  s up to new companion  tutor ann norton  nyree dawn porter  to find out why . the mystery of this particular episode is handled excellently the film  makers wisely don  t tip their hand so it comes as more of a genuine shock as we get the full truth of this unhappy family . the  dying  moments are particularly horrific .  br    br    the cloak  has the most outright comedy of the four jon pertwee  one of many actors to have played the role of dr . who over the years  is a lot of fun as a vain  temperamental horror movie star  in fact  he  s the highlight of this story  who  infuriated with the lack of quality in his latest low  budget film  goes out and buys his own cloak . said cloak has strange powers  which i dare not reveal here . sexy ingrid pitt is a welcome presence as pertwees  companion one wonderful example of the humor here is a knowing jab taken at none other than christopher lee   br    br   the wrap  up story then concludes in a predictable but still effective way as detective inspector holloway learns that he should have taken all of the warnings given him more seriously .  br    br   underscored by michael dress  s unusual  striking  and eerie score   the house that dripped blood  is an entertaining mix of stories while i don  t enjoy it quite as much as  say   tales from the crypt   it  s still good fun . capably directed by peter duffell  it moves slowly but surely towards each of its chilling conclusions  and is certainly a good film of its type .  br    br        
in the title i write that the story is ludicrous . below i  ll elaborate and tell you why it  in my humble opinion  ruins this movie .  br    br   gere and danes are doing their jobs  and while it  s not their best work  it  s quite ok . the rest of the cast  though  is doing a really poor job . mind you  this is not entirely the actors fault . the problem is that gere and danes are the only ones that have characters that have even the slightest room in the movie to really give any depth . all other characters have either too little room in the movie to create any depth  or the character is such a clich that it doesn  t matter how hard the actors try .  br    br   the director has a bit of a se  en complex  but looking merely at the direction  i think he does an ok job .  br    br   but the story . this is the kind of script that is bad in two ways . first of all it  s a bad movie script . the characters are shallow  except for gere  s and danes  characters   the villains are clichs and the actions of the characters is totally unbelievable . besides this  the writers must have an agenda where they want to bring back our views and ethics a hundred years . it  s the kind of movie that are saying that some criminals are still criminals  regardless of the fact that they have paid the price the society has given them . it  s also the kind of movie that says  albeit only between the lines  that every form of sexual deviance should be punished without trial  judge or jury . and of course  according to the movie  everything that is not sex in the missionary position by a married couple is a sexual deviance .  br    br   so  if you  re going to film school and need an example of a bad script  or if you  re writing scripts yourself and want an ego boost . see it . for everyone else  i recommend another movie .  
the house that dripped blood is the third in a series of seven amicus horror anthologies . if the monster club is included as part of the series  this would make eight movies . although  that movie is very different from the others .  br    br   i look upon the amicus anthologies with great memories as i used to love them when i was in my teens . my feelings for them today are just as strong .  br    br   i spent many years trying to track down this movie . the synopses of the stories was so appealing that i went as far as paying a substantial amount for it when i eventually found a copy . as great as though the movie is  i did feel a sense of disappointment when i finally saw it . it wasn  t quite as good as i was led to believe . whilst better than its two predecessors  it  s nowhere near as good as its four successors as i shall demonstrate .  br    br   the linking story sees john bennett as a police inspector tracking down a missing person who lives in a mysterious old house . his journey begins at the local police station where he learns the stories of previous occupants . the linking story later sees him visiting the estate agent who sold the house . whilst this linking story seems enticing on paper  it is flat and lifeless in practice and easily the weakest of any amicus anthology . i couldn  t help but get the feeling that john bennett is a poor man  s version of donald pleasance or ian hendry . i would much rather have seen one of the two aforementioned actors in his role . we could have even had both here  one as the police inspector and another as the estate agent . they could  and i believe would  have brought this weak element of the movie to life much better .  br    br   the movie contains four stories  each of which focuses on an inhabitant of the house .  br    br   the first story sees denholm elliott as a writer of crime stories . he is absorbed into an exciting story about a strangler  even going as far as drawing a sketch to aid his writing . soon after  he begins seeing visions of his own creation . some excellent direction by peter duffell  particularly with the choice of camera angles helps to detract from the restrained script . elliott  s performance is superb as the tormented writer and he also helps to elevate the story . the story ends with a semi  twist but i couldn  t help get the sense of a script which didn  t allow it to live up to its potential .  br    br   the second story sees peter cushing move into the house . he is a lonely man who is still pining for a beautiful young woman who once jilted him and who he keeps a picture of . cushing  s performance really brings this emotionally  moving story to life . he is helped by the director who chooses to include continual focus on cushing  s loneliness . this is taken further with a great hallucination scene that helps us to see inside cushing  s mind . anyway  cushing sees a figure at a nearby wax museum that looks just like his girl . naturally his obsession grows but this seemingly romantic story has a disturbing twist at the end . joss ackland plays cushing  s rival but his performance is massively overshadowed by the late great peter cushing .  br    br   the third story and easily the best sees christopher lee  my favourite horror actor of all time  move into the house with his daughter . mr . lee gives one his perfect ice cold performances here . he shows no love or attention for his daughter at all . he even brings in a school governess to educate her . the governess  played by nyree dawn porter in another of her superb performances  tries to find out what is wrong . without giving too much away  i can reveal that witchcraft plays a role . christopher lee  s presence is truly electrifying in every scene he  s in . chloe franks deserves special recognition for her massively underrated performance as the little girl who is easily the creepiest character in the whole movie . the movie is worth seeing even for the sake of seeing just this one story .  br    br   the final story is played almost entirely for laughs but it certainly does entertain and that  s what matters . jon pertwee plays a horror movie actor who moves into the house . he is very dissatisfied at the approach his producers take to movies  seeing everything as cheap and fake  particularly the costumes . so he decides to buy an authentic cloak for his latest vampire role . geoffrey bayldon has an excellent cameo as a dealer who sells pertwee an ancient cloak . when pertwee puts the cloak on  he starts developing fangs and basically transforming into a vampire . pertwee  s performance has to be seen to be believed . it truly is hilarious . ingrid pitt is also in this story but her talent is wasted in a role that should have been much larger .  br    br   the linking story finishes with a loose connection to the final story . this is particularly fitting since the inspector was looking for pertwee and naturally decides to visit the house . the rest you  ll be able to work out for yourself . as weak as the linking story is  it does have a decent if somewhat unintentionally comical ending .  br    br   i  m convinced that the blame for the shortcomings in what should have been a truly magnificent movie doesn  t lie with peter duffell  the director  who really does his best with what he  s got . i think the script was just too restrained and lacking the ambition that can be found in the four later movies .  br    br   overall  the house that dripped blood  despite its flaws is a must  see for fans of the amicus anthologies  fans of other amicus movies or fans of portmanteau horror movies . if my summary provides the movie with enough appeal in your eyes  check it out . you  ll enjoy it   
it got switched off before the opening credits had even finished appearing . the first joke was just so appallingly lame and dreadfully acted that it had to go . you shouldn  t really decide to watch this based on my review or not . i saw so little of it i shouldn  t even really be commenting but suddenly it all became clear why the video shop guy was sniggering at us paying money to see it .  br    br   couldn  t they have just made earnest does dallas   
given how corny these movies are  you gotta figure that they must have had fun making them . the movie focuses on a house that strangely accommodates whomever lives there . the inhabitants were author charles hillyer  denholm elliott  with hair     who gets haunted by one of his own creations philip grayson  peter cushing   who gets a little too close to a wax statue john reid  christopher lee   whose daughter  s cuteness is apparently a facade and actor paul henderson  jon pertwee   on the verge of getting a little too much into character .  br    br    the house that dripped blood  is actually worth seeing  well duh it stars peter cushing and christopher lee  . aside from just being neat  there might be some undertones it might be calling into question the issue of real horror vs . assumed horror . like in  the shining   we might ask whether the house  hotel itself holds some memory of past events . and if absolutely nothing else  ingrid pitt  as paul  s co  star  is hot hot hot  around the time that this came out  she also starred in  countess dracula  and  the vampire lovers   also with peter cushing  . maybe she  like barbara steele  will remain known only as a scream queen  but mark my words she is a hot scream queen  i  d like to see ingrid pitt and barbara steele co  star in something .  br    br   i guess that the only weird scene  so to speak  is where denholm elliott is wearing a pink shirt and fluffy jacket . you read that right . what kind of a name is  denholm  anyway  oh well . a very cool movie .  
i only lasted   mins before self preservation jerked me out of the empty eyed drooling stupor that this film effortlessly induced and propelled me screaming back to the video shop armed for bear .  br    br   to say the film was bad would be a missed opportunity to use words interspersed with characters from the top keys on my keyboard  just to keep these comments clean  .  br    br   one to be avoided .  br    br    
film is designed to affect the audience and this film left me speechless . gorgeously photographed and well acted with dialog that approaches poetry the film involves lust  hate  murder  rape  theft and deception . it weaves an intense web that left me unable to take my eyes off the screen until the closing credits . the story is sweeping . it takes the audience from the atrocities of the spanish civil war to the human wreckage left behind . roger casamajor and bruno bertanzoni are two young actors who command the screen . supporting players are excellently cast and lend a real sense of authenticity . sets  lighting  scenery and cinematography are wonderful . i absolutely love the photography .  
this is really terrible .  br    br   the only redeeming feature about this movie is that the next time people ask me what is the worst vampire movie i have ever watched  i would have a suitable reply .  br    br   i think it is filmed on   mm so it is already tacky like hell . i wouldn  t have bothered commenting but i noticed some fanboys  probably connected to the movie  had claimed that this was the best movie since the matrix . let me debunk the myths and lies .  br    br   there is nothing good in the movie . everything yells tacky . the actress is ugly . the fight choreography is the worst i have ever seen . the fight scenes are unbelievably amateurish . imagine a girl flailing her arms around in a circle helplessly and delivering weak kicks which wouldn  t hurt a kitten . obviously  the director just pulled people off the street to give them roles in the movie .  br    br   i know the director did not have much budget for the movie but still better movies have been made on smaller budget before . unforgivable .  
four stories written by robert bloch about various people who live in a beautiful  old mansion and what happens to them . the first has denholm elliott as a novelist who sees the killer he  s writing about come to life . some spooky moments and the twist at the end was good . the second has peter cushing becoming obsessed with a wax figure resembling his dead wife . the third has christopher lee who has a child  chloe franks  and is scared of her . it all leads up to a pretty scary ending  although the ending in the story was much worse  . the last is an out and out comedy with jon petwee and ingrid pitt  both chewing the scenery  and a cape that turns people into vampires  there  s also a cute line about christopher lee playing dracula .  br    br   this is a good horror anthology   nothing terrifying but the first one and the ending of the third gave me a few pleasurable little chills . also the fourth one is actually very funny and pitt makes a very sexy vampire  also the house itself looks beautiful . . . and very creepy . it  s well  directed with some nice atmospheric touches . a very good and unusual movie score too . all in all a good little horror anthology well worth seeking out . try to see it on dvd   the lions gate one looks fantastic with strong colors and great sound .  
why did i waste my time with this movie  there was not a single funny joke or line throughout . the slapstick wasn  t even mildly funny . i mean really  an out of control vacuum sucking pipe  why has the national lampoon  s name been attached to this movie  even christmas vacation was better than this  i actually thought that film was very funny  .  br    br   avoid like the plague   
four tales of terror regarding the events at a creepy old mansion are recounted to sceptical scotland yard investigator holloway  john bennett  as he investigates the whereabouts of the latest occupant of the house that dripped blood .  br    br   one can only struggle to find the words to describe the true brilliance that is the house that dripped blood  . this seventies horror anthology is quite remarkable in the way that such a visually innocent movie is capable of inducing horror in even the most discerning of viewers . incredibly  the number of depictions of violence on  screen can be counted on one hand but the film is still able to portray brutality and succeeds in conjuring up the most horrific images in the viewers own imagination  all the while refraining from taking the obvious route of graphic violence . in a rare feature of early seventies horror the technicalities of the movie are virtually flawless  from the faultless performances of the star  studded cast  featuring the legendary peter cushing  christopher lee and ingrid pitt  all the way to the superb direction and story telling courtesy of peter duffell and master of the macabre writer robert bloch  the author of the novel psycho   . the only real complaints that one may have with the house that dripped blood  are the somewhat asinine plot  twists at the end of the first two segments and the predictable ending of the picture  but even these minor details fail to detract from the overall viewing enjoyment .  br    br   the first segment  entitled method for murder   tells the story of charles hillyer  denholm elliott   a horror author who rents the creepy house while he works on his latest novel . while working on the novel  hillyer continues to start seeing the murderous character from his story in and around the house and soon begins to question the difference between fiction and reality . elliott  s performance in this piece is truly exceptional and his character is given a surprising air of believability . the key to this segment  as with the others  is the mystery surrounding the events that take place . the viewer is made to question whether the sight of the murderous character of dominic is merely a hallucination  a schizophrenic disorder or whether the character is actually there . duffell  s direction succeeds in creating an unsettling atmosphere coupled with a slow  methodical approach to engendering the tension and suspense required to make the segment greatly enthralling .  br    br   the following segment features peter cushing as the new occupant of the sinister house . during a trip into town he comes across a wax museum of horrors and decides to venture in . while there  he discovers a wax model of a beautiful woman that seems all too familiar to him . cushing  s character  philip  is then joined by his friend neville  joss ackland  who also wishes to visit the museum  much to the dismay of philip . in this segment the viewer is given no more than very subtle clues as to the mystery of the wax woman but in general the viewer is left in the dark . there is far less tension to this particular story yet the segment still succeeds in maintaining its air of mystery through a particularly harrowing dream sequence and the general ambiguity of the story . duffell  s direction is once again exceptional and while this is quite possibly the weakest of the four stories  there is no denying that through some creative direction and credible acting waxworks  is still a delightful entry into the film .  br    br   waxworks  is followed by what is  in my opinion  the greatest of the four segments  sweets to the sweet  . christopher lee stars as john reid  the father to a young girl who to begin with has an inexplicable fear of fire which is soon remedied by caring nanny ann norton  nyree dawn porter  . however  john appears to be harbouring a dark secret about the family . sweets to the sweet  is easily the most sober and intricate of the four stories and that is why the segment is undeniably compelling to the viewer . throughout the segment small and subtle clues are released about the truth behind the family  but it is not until the immensely horrific final scene that everything slots neatly into place . this is the best example of how duffell used dramatic tension and suspense to create the foreboding atmosphere that made the entire film great . accompanied by a wonderfully arranged soundtrack  sweets to the sweet  is an exercise in sustained fear that grabs the viewer by the throat and refuses to let go until the agonising screams that end this piece finally cease . personally  i believe that this short segment would have made an entertaining and haunting feature length movie and i would give this segment a rare      .  br    br   the film is ended with the story surrounding the missing performer that the investigator was originally interested in . jon pertwee and ingrid pitt star as two performers who are currently working on a horror movie . pertwee  s character is disgusted with the amateurish production and props of the film and so he purchases his own vampire cloak from a strange shop of mysteries . however  strange things begin to happen when he wears the cloak and soon he begins to fear the worst . this segment  which places the inspector amongst the events  is a nice way to wrap up a wonderful anthology . although there is an irrefutable air of camp to the segment this is  in a way  what makes the story so enjoyable . unfortunately  there is little in this segment that could be classed as frightening in any sense and the predictable ending could have been executed better but nonetheless the segment has its redeeming features . horror buffs should definitely look out for pertwee  s brief comment on bela lugosi  s and christopher lee  s portrayal of dracula . this slightly comical and light  hearted approach to the final segment is in essence an adequate and almost natural way of ending the picture even if it lets down the film when compared to the earlier examples of suspense  driven horror .  br    br   to sum up  the house that dripped blood  is one of the greatest horror anthologies that features an incredible cast  great stories and above par direction . there are certainly worse ways to spend one hundred minutes of your life and while blood and guts fans will be highly disappointed  fans of more tense horror efforts should enjoy this film immensely . my rating for the house that dripped blood       .  
  br    br   a friend of mine enjoys watching the worst films he can possibly find  and i have a good laugh watching them with him .  br    br   i have told him if he puts this one on again i will be forced to give him a good kicking .  br    br   he knows i am serious   br    br    
horror omnibus films were popular in the seventies . i  m not very fond of them myself  but this one is an undeniably excellent slice of british horror cinema . the house that dripped blood is a horror omnibus  featuring four stories that surround a creepy old house in the country and are being told to a scotland yard officer by an estate agent .  br    br   this film is headlined by three well known stars of horror cinema peter cushing  christopher lee and ingrid pitt  whom horror fans will recognise as one of lee  s co  stars in the greatest british horror film of all time the wicker man .  br    br   the first segment of the film  titled  method for murder  tells the story of a horror storywriter  whose creation a strangler named  dominic  is brought to life by his own imagination . this story builds suspense very well through his girlfriend  he  and the audience is lead to believe that what he is seeing is a figment of his imagination . this story certainly isn  t very original  but it makes up for its lack of originality through the atmosphere it creates and it  s final twist which works incredibly well and came as a genuine surprise .  br    br   the second story  titled  waxworks   stars peter cushing and is my least favourite of the four . this tale follows the story of phillip grayson  cushing   a man that discovers a wax museum and decides to venture in . inside  he discovers a woman that is familiar to him and who we later find out is a murderess . quite what the woman  s relationship with phillip entailed is never really explained  but the tale relies more on the mystery to build the suspense rather than plot details . cushing is later joined by his friend  neville rogers  played by joss ackland  and that  s when the tale really starts to pick up . the setting of a waxwork museum full of murderers for a horror film isn  t a new idea the same setting was used to great effect in the excellent     horror film   chamber of horrors  . although the one here isn  t as grand as the one in the aforementioned film  the power of the setting is used to no lesser a horrifying effect  much of which is achieved by a feeling of claustrophobia  brought about by the limited area of the museum . peter cushing is always interesting to watch  and seeing him avoid an axe  wielding madman is a treat for the horror fan . despite being my least favourite  this story is still entertaining and interesting enough to not let this anthology down .  br    br   the film continues with  sweets for the sweet   which is without doubt the best of the omnibus . this story stars the legendary christopher lee as a seemingly overprotective father . the beauty of this story comes from the way it is played out . it leaves the audience guessing we know that there is something wrong with either the father or the daughter  but we don  t know who  or what  it is . christopher lee  as usual  portrays his character with a great degree of sinisterness the audience is left to simmer over his actions regarding giving his daughter a doll  and the fact that she isn  t allowed to go to school or have any toys . the card of exactly why is held close to the chest until right near the end  epitomised by the truly chilling line in which lee tells his babysitter that he is  in fact  afraid of his daughter . the ending to this section is superbly played out  in my opinion it  s one of the finest endings to any horror story ever told  and will stay with you long after the end credits roll .  br    br   the omnibus finishes with  the cloak   which is definitely the most comedic of the four . this tale is about a hammy horror film star that  unimpressed by his latest film  s technical side  goes out and buys himself a cloak . naturally  this cloak turns out to be a real vampire cloak . unlike the other three tales  this one seems to be played out mostly for laughs . that is no bad thing however as the majority of the humour is funny and it serves as a nice contrast to the rest of the film . the ending to this tale coincides nicely with the ending to the wraparound story of the film  which is a very sinister yet humorous ending to a very good film . also  look out for the little jibe regarding christopher lee in dracula . a nice touch  i think .  br    br   overall  if you want a horror omnibus  you really cant go wrong with the house that dripped blood . the third tale alone makes the film worthy of your time and this is a very solid horror film indeed .  
you should know that i am the type of person that watches even the worst of movies to the finish  often out of sheer morbid curiosity . i even watched leprechaun to the end before giving in to the temptation of tearing out my eyes and stamping on them . you should also know that this movie was in my vcr for less than half an hour before i made a frantic leap for the stop button and dashed back the rental store just to put as much distance between me and it as possible .  
gbs wrote his own screen adaptation of this nobel prize winning play but didn  t live to see it produced  he had won an oscar in     for his brilliant adaptation of his     play pygmalion  . when otto preminger mounted  produced and directed  this production in      seven years after shaw  s death  he had noted british author graham greene do the adaptation and it was a solid choice .  br    br   taking a cue from shaw  s own screenplay  greene uses material from the stage epilogue to create a framing device to meld the two acts of the play  one early and one late in joan  s story  into a unified and most satisfying whole . where on stage the shift in tone is buffered with an intermission  here it works just as well with a return to king charles balois  s bedchamber  where the man joan put on the throne is dreaming of the events which led to his current situation   and more material from shaw  s epilogue  the introduction of the shade of john gielgud  s warwick  the english  king maker   .  br    br   the majority of the language is solid gbs  and the performances from stalwart shauvians  like felix aymler  s inquisitor or harry andrews  de stogumber  to relative newcomers  the film established jean seberg  s career  are first rate . it may jar some  only familiar with richard widmark  s many movie villains  to see him playing a frail and somewhat silly dauphin  but the performance  oddly top billed  is professional  even if arguably miscast .  br    br   the symbolism of the opening credits and the director  s choice to use the visual vocabulary of black and white filming all serve shaw and the story well . go in expecting quality entertainment and you won  t be disappointed .  
this  movie  has to be the biggest pile of steaming cp i have ever  br    br   seen  what more can i say than bad  bad  bad  bad  bad  bad . there is nothing to save this  movie  and i pray that they never even talk about making a sequel . if you are thinking about watching this then you should know that the storyline is that two garbage men get dragged into saving the earth . movies like men in black has been torn to shreds and put back together to make this  comedy  but have totally failed . please avoid this movie   save yourself  .  
this movie is a should  be classic . it  s not perfect  certainly . the pacing  while perfect for the stage  is in movie form slow as a tortoise with arthritic knees . jean seberg is misdirected to be too sweet and too gentle . she fully shows enough acting talent  skill  and craft to convincingly play the clever  passionate  and confident joan  but  unfortunately  the director missed the point of the character . george bernard shaw is my favorite playwright . in no other play has his dialog been more sharp  nor the lines more musical . however  processing this film requires that you look at it as a lawyer . this movie is a case  and the viewer is the judge . that is how this picture is to be enjoyed .     .  
words fail me . this film was extremely difficult to watch and in hindsight i really wish i hadn  t done it . although i attempted to sit through it until the end credits i have to admit i couldn  t last for more than hour  so my opinion could be unfair . however  this film would require the most impressive final third in the history of film  making in order for it to be given a review which is anything but vicious .  br    br   please do not watch any part of this film .  
having seen the peter o  toole version recently  i was ready to be awed by the smart writing in this version . little time is spent on the fighting  which i prefer . instead  we are shown all the many motives underlying both the french and english  who held normandy  politicos and priests who put her to death . even the worst hypocrite of them all  the archbishop  leaves us with the thought that  of course  she was innocent . the innocent have always had to suffer for the ambitions of the mighty . she had no idea what she was saying  no idea of the implications of blasphemy or going against the church . unschooled  she had no idea of what the church  s stand on such matters even was .   br    br   preminger was true to the myths surrounding her death  and i appreciated the preview on the tape that showed the flames reaching up and burning her . why  they used gas jets in the movie  and  of them were stopped up . suddenly  the air pressure blew out the stoppage and the flames leaped up right on her . thankfully for her  they didn  t have to repeat the shot as it was so realistic she was being burned   pretty traumatic introduction for an iowa girl to her new career of acting .  br    br   john gielgud performed outstandingly . he is the english politico who is orchestrating the show . he also makes the point that once you condemn someone to death  you don  t want to be around to watch them die . you might shrink from your  duty  the next time . . . not that such delicacies bother the soul of our would  be president . we christians  even the most anti  semitic have no problem with falling back on the old testament when it comes to capital punishment  even though it was overridden by jesus  words . bring on public executions like this little girl  s . smelling burnt flesh might bring us respectable folks to our souls  senses .  br    br   the only little  pick  i have about this film is that we are not shown why the priest who has been so adamantly urging her burning becomes so suddenly so contrite  even to the point of madness . there should have been more expansion of his character  more dialogue   as the sudden  coming to his senses  doesn  t make sense .  br    br   and  whether graham greene does this deliberately or not  st . joan is such a self  assured little upstart  you almost but not quite  are glad she meets her come  uppance . and  when she turned down life in prison  for some reason i thought of anne sexton  the poet who accused sylvia plath of  stealing her death  when she committed suicide . . . knowing such an action guarantees immortality . you gotta wonder    br    br   if ever there was a good example of obsessive thought and logic  tight compartments  this is one . st . joan should have turned buddhist and quieted the  voices in her mind  .  
i watched this on a weekend afternoon as there was simply nothing else on  it would have been more entertaining to chew off my feet and probably less painful . i urge anyone to watch this just to see how turgidly awful a movie can be  surely it was deliberate . i cringed at every futile attempt at humour carried out in such a childish  unrehearsed  badly executed way that it was beyond belief . this is the movie that makes spiceworld look like goodfellas  think i am exaggerating  well give it airtime and think again . dreadful  utterly dreadful . if this wasn  t a prank then the director and anyone else responsible for this should be removed and promptly shot after being forced to watch this film again .  
preminger  s adaptation of g . b . shaw  s   saint joan    screenplay by graham greene  received one of the worst critical reactions in it  s day . it was vilified by the pseudo  elite  the purists and the audiences was unresponsive to a film that lacked the piety and glamour expected of a historical pageant . as in   peeping tom    the reaction was malicious and unjustified . preminger  s adaptation of shaw  s intellectual exploration of the effects and actions surrounding joan of arc  her actual name in her own language is jeanne d  arc but this film is in english  is totally faithful to the spirit of the original play  not only on the literal emotional level but formally too . his film is a brechtian examination of the functioning of institutions  the division within and without of various factions all wanting to seize power . as such we are not allowed to identify on an emotional level with any of the characters  including joan herself .  br    br   as played by jean seberg  whose subsequent life offers a eerie parallel to her role here   she is presented as an innocent  a figure of purity whose very actions and presence reveals the corruption and emptiness in everyone . as such seberg plays her as both saint and madwoman . her own lack of experience as an actress when she made this film  which does show up in spots  conveys the freshness and youth of jeanne revealing both the fact that jeanne la pucelle is a humble illiterate peasant girl who strode out to protect her village and her natural intelligence . by no means did she deserve the harsh criticism that she got on the film  s first release  it  s a performance far beyond the ken and call of any first  time actress with no prior acting experience . shaw and preminger took a secular view towards joan seeing her as a medieval era feminist  not content with being a rustic daughter who  s fate is to be married away or a whore picked up by soldiers to and away from battlefields . her faith  her voices  her visions which she intermingles with words such as  imagination  and  common sense  leads her to wear the armour of her fellow soldiers to lead them to battle to chase the invading englishman out of france .  br    br   and yet it can be said that the film is more interested in the court of the dauphin  richard widmark   the office of the clergy who try joan led by pierre cauchon  anton walbrook  impeccably cast  and the actions of the earl of warwick  john gielgud  then in joan herself . the superb ensemble cast  all male  portray figures of scheming  machievellian  although the story precedes niccolo  opportunists who treat religion as a childish toy to be used and manipulated for their own ends . the sharp sardonic dialogue gives the actors great fun to let loose . john gielgud as the eminently rational earl whose intelligence   albeit accompanied by corruption   allows him to calculate the precise manner in which he can ensure joan gets burnt at the stake and anton walbrook  s pierre cauchon brings a three dimensional portrait to this intelligent theologian who will give joan the fair trial that will certainly find her guilty . richard widmark as the dauphin is a real revelation . as against  type a casting choice you  ll ever find  widmark portrays the weak future ruler of france in a frenzied  comic caricature that  s as close as this film comes to comic relief . a comic performance that feels like an imitation of jerry lewis far more than an impetuous future ruler of france .  br    br   preminger shot   saint joan   in black and white  the cinematographer is georges perinal who worked with rene clair and who did   the life and death of colonel blimp   in colour . it  s perfectly restrained to emphasize the rational intellectual atmosphere for this film . preminger  s preference for tracking shots of long uninterrupted takes is key to the effectiveness of the film  there  s no sense of a wasted movement anywhere in his mise  en  scene .  br    br   it also marks the direction of preminger  s most mature  and most neglected period  his focus is on the conflict between individuals and the institutions in which they work  how the institution function and how the individual acts as per his principles . these themes get their most direct treatment in his film and as always he keeps things unpredictable and finds no black and white answers . this is one of his very best and most effective films .  
i may have seen worse films than this  but i if i have  i don  t remember . or possibly blocked them out . who knows  if i was to undergo hypnotherapy  i may remember them  along  maybe  with been abducted by aliens as a child  or other traumas . if so  i would happily exchange those memories for the ones i have of watching this film .  br    br   i should give the film some credit it did produce an emotional response . i actually started to become angry at scenes that spoofed other films and tv programs  that this travesty was dirtying them by association . i am terrified that i may be unable to watch films like dr strangelove again without this film flitting across my minds eye .  
savaged when it came out  this film now looks handsome and sounds great . a feast of intelligent thoughtful acting  from gielgud  kenneth haigh  harry andrews and especially anton walbrook  and a moving central performance from the beautiful and incredibly young jean seberg . preminger doesn  t jump around and show off  his long slow takes encourage you to listen and reflect  and graham greene  s script condenses shaw without sacrificing complexity . the piece has the look of a made for tv movie  and is certainly studio bound but none the worse for that . too many contemporary movies on  historical  themes cannot resist dumbing down . what would mel gibson have made of the maid  many drooling shots of her on the rack probably  then crisping up on the bbq as the flames take hold . preminger does none of this . the burning is shown mainly through a guilt  stricken reaction . there are a few weak performances  but not enough to cause any serious damage . i caught this movie on tv and was not expecting to watch it through  but i was gripped . in our age of religious fundamentalism and sacrifice  joan  s story has unexpected resonance .  
if you really  truly want to waste two hours of your life  do the following  br    br     look through the tv listings .   find the movie  men in white  .   when  men in white  comes on  sit and watch .  br    br   and that  s it . after sitting through two hours of bad puns  dreadful  and not that funny  movie references  and experiencing something with possibly the lowest production values ever made in recent history  you will have wasted two hours of your life  and wonder exactly why .  br    br   why did i do this  i was stupid enough to think that this film might actually be some good . it wasn  t .  br    br   but  on the other hand  if you  re old enough to remember power rangers  you might spot some familiar faces during the film . presumably to save on production costs  saban  who also make power rangers   decided to liberally sprinkle old monster costumes from everyone  s favourite tacky toy  spawning franchise throughout the film . i spotted quite a few old monsters from episodes i saw from when i was a kid  so i guess it could at least be said it has some nostalgia value .  br    br   but  if you want to see actual power rangers monsters  go watch power rangers itself . it  s much better than this piece of garbage .  and that  s saying something    
i  m a writer working at home and diagnosis murder is my lunchtime break companion  good  clean fun  good humour and nostalgia for the days of the dick van dyke show . how innocent we all were  and how innocent is diagnosis murder  . i particularly enjoyed the episodes with other nostalgia figures like joe mannix . the bad guys always get caught  the good guys carry on . the stars clearly enjoy themselves and are having a ball without taking themselves too seriously .  br    br   one beef why were so many of the villains women or at least bitches  amanda was too dizzy . its hard to imagine her really carrying out anything as gruesome as an autopsy .  br    br   i hope we haven  t seen the last of dick van dyke and family on our screens  esp . at lunchtimes    
well  not yet  at least .  br    br   it  s not listed in the worst    . . .  br    br   so let  s all team up  and put it in it  s rightful place .  br    br   this is truly a bad movie .  and i liked ishtar      
diagnosis murder is one of the only programs i watch regularly on tv now . the way all of the main characters have something to do in each of the episodes makes it so unlike today  s shows where they concentrate on  or  people per episode and everyone else is shoved to the side . the way mark  s brain works is also so obscure that you never really know what he is thinking  and if you think you do  you are wrong .  br    br   diagnosis murder has tackled a diverse range of topics  not just in the cases but in each of the characters personal lives . everything from racism and adoption  to terrorists and technology .  br    br   as for it being for old people  i am     i don  t think i can be classed as old yet .  br    br   i just want to know when they will be releasing all  seasons on dvd  not ntsc  so that i can watch them all in order . they seem to be doing it with lots of other programs from the same era so can they hurry it up a bit   
if you see this turkey listed in your tv guide  avoid it like the plague                  br    br   a steaming great pile of fetid dingoes kidneys doesn  t begin to describe how bad this movie is  there is only one funny scene  the memory eraser scene  but even that rates only .    on the laughometer  out of      . whoever wrote this turkey should be banned from writing another movie for their entire lives .  
i saw  el mar  yesterday and thought it to be a great movie . it starts with a childhood episode in the life of the  main characters ramallo  manuel tur  and francisca . after that we jump about   years to an hospital where the  friends meet again .  br    br   religion  sickness  love  violence and sexuality rage throughout the movie creating and intense and tension  filled movie .  br    br   i see people complaining about the film being too gory and i think they missed the point of the story . it  s a violent  intense and sad story . people are expected to suffer . to cry . to get hurt . to bleed . and i think that what the film shows  isn  t done for pure shock  value or presented in a distasteful way . i know that some people like their films  clean   even those with violence in it . but sometimes  a movie needs to make you feel unconfortable to work . this is one of those movies . and a great movie it is .  br    br   the only fault i found was that there were  or  moments were some plot details weren  t     clear  and only after thinking about them at the end of the movie  it all made sense . but it wasn  t anything of much importance to the overall story  so i still give this movie a  .  
you may consider a couple of facts in the discussion to be spoilers .  br    br   i  m sorry  but spielberg didn  t deserve to win any oscar for this piece  and i think the academy was right in that vote .  other oscars for best actor nominations and such . . . that i don  t know about . but it would be hard to justify  given what they were told to do and what you see in the final product .  the way spielberg directs this is so contrived  so meddlesome . while watching this movie a distinction made during a film as art course i have taken was screaming at me  sentiment is honest emotion honestly rendered . sentimentality is sugary and unreal  a false view of life .  this is over  the  top sentimentality . when in real life to two people ever begin to read out loud in synchronicity  as celie and shug avery do when sitting on the bed going over the letters from nettie they have found  there are examples of this type of faux behavior throughout the film all the men crowding around miss millie  s car and then jumping in unison like a flock of birds taking off when she goes to drive away harpo falling through the roofs of various buildings he  s working on  a cheap slapstick gag   the whole troop of revelers heading from the jook joint en masse to the chapel  as if magically entranced by the choir  s singing . . . on and on . nothing rings true . i even wondered if harpo  s name was chosen purposefully because it  s his wife sophia  s real name   oprah   backwards . spielberg isn  t above such  cuteness .   br    br   it  s not that spielberg is incapable of honestly rendered action and emotion . schindler  s list was amazing  deeply touching for me  and i greatly admire saving private ryan too for its realism  even if the story is a bit contrived .  
old people show     i  m   and have been watching the show since i was    recoding it onto my sky box everyday from hallmark and bbc  . i really wish they hadn  t cancelled it  they didn  t even get a proper farewell . but what an adventure  all those episodes  i think i  ve seen them all  and not one comes to mind that i didn  t like and enjoy .  br    br   its a shame the bbc keep swapping between diagnoses murder and  murder she wrote   never watched it and don  t intend to . anyways  he characters in diagnoses murder are so in  depth  and the chemistry between the actors is amazing . it really was a sad day when they cancelled this show . . . . . . . .  
i wished i  d taped men in white so i could watch it again  br    br    what  you mean you really enjoyed it theo    br    br   no i mean i could watch it again to see if it was as retarded  stupid and as embarrassingly unfunny as i can remember it  br    br   a lot of people have claimed it was made for children . may i suggest it was also made by children  because the whole structure of the script lacks any type of discipline on the part of the producers and writers and much of set pieces seem to have been included because it seemed like a good idea at the time  br    br   the cast don  t help but i genuinely started to feel sorry for them . honestly you can believe that during filming the cast had to lie to their families that they were filming a hard core porn film such was their embarrassment at having to appear in something as dismal as this . to give you an idea of how bad the acting is every time baywatch babe donna d  ericco disappeared from the narrative i waited patiently for her to reappear then seconds later i forgot she was in the movie . got that  a star from baywatch appears and seconds later you forget they  re in the movie . this tells you all you need to know about the standard of men in white  br    br   fair enough it  s trying to be a live action cartoon similar to the goodies  although the dismals would be a better adjective for this movie   though perhaps the movie deserves some credit for never descending to toilet humour  but considering this is a kids movie  this didn  t stop itv broadcasting it at   pm  then there should be no near the knuckle humour in it anyway  
diagnosis murder has been shown on most weekday afternoons on bbc  since i used to watch it while ill from school a good   years ago  i know i shouldn  t really enjoy it  in the same way i shouldn  t enjoy  murder she wrote  but i  m totally addicted to both and even have the dvd box  sets . . . . ok i know that  s sad   br    br   dick van dyke carries the show as he stars as dr . mark sloan a doctor at community general hospital in l . a who is also a police consultant for the l . a . p . d .  his son steve  barry van dyke  dick  s real life son  is a police officer  who needs his father  s help on very many suspicious deaths .  br    br   along for the ride is dr . amanda bentley  victoria bentley  the resident pathologist at community general and for the first couple of seasons you had scott baio playing dr . jack stewart  who upped and left the series in     hoping to go on to bigger and better things . . . he should have stayed where he was  he hasn  t done anything of note since . . . . and his only theatrical appearance for many years was in baby geniuses  superbabies . . . . oh dear     br    br   anyhow dr . jack stewart was replaced by the younger dr . jesse travis played by charlie schlatter who stepped into baio  s shoes pretty comfortably .  br    br   the series is highly implausible but what whodunit series isn  t   murder she wrote  everywhere jessica goes  someone ends up dead  or the underrated father dowling mysteries about a murder solving priest with nun sidekick   br    br   the series was much lighter up until     this is because it had a supporting cast that included the bumbling hospital manager norman briggs played by michael tucci along with nurse  mark  s secretary dolores played by delores hall  after     both these characters were no longer included and the series became a grittier affair with a bigger looking budget  some episodes included far more action  one episode the entire hospital is blown up .  br    br   this was a family show for the van dyke  s because as well as dick  s son barry  you also had dick  s daughter and all his grandchildren making an appearance in various episodes .  br    br   as the series went on it got a bit silly  one episode i remember dick van dike plays his entire family  which was a bit out of the ordinary  but on the whole  diagnosis murder  was a really good tv show which had numerous good guest stars .  br    br   since this show finished in      dick  barry have appeared together again in the  murder     series of tv movies made by the hallmark channel  pretty much following the same path  and still enjoyable . dick who  s now in his mid    s doesn  t seem to change a great deal  and looks as if he  ll be working till the bitter end .  br    br   tv show  out of   
this film is so bad  it made me want to vomit . poorly produced  a complete laugh free zone . why in the name of god would you spoof a movie which to a degree is a spoof  and a damn funny one at that  as it stands  the sets are laughable  the effects so bad that they aren  t even laughable  and the acting farcical . it is a complete mystery why you would even consider watching this lump of garbage . national lampoon once made animal house  which people still consider to be completely and utterly hilarious . now they  ve been relegated to making tv movies like this lump of  . name your expletive  and it could be accurately used to describe this film .  
this  like murder she wrote  is one of those shows  that after a stressful day at school  i sit down in front of the tv  and watch . why  because i genuinely enjoy it  and it  s a shame it  s not on the air anymore . dick van dyke is amazing as dr mark sloan  a doctor  turned  detective  who with his son  solves murders . he is joined by a largely unknown but very competent supporting cast  namely his real  life son  barry van dyke . victoria rowell is also good  but i noticed that every series her hairstyle changes . i also liked scott baio and charlie schlatter  but i particularly loved michael tucci as norman  and was puzzled how he suddenly disappeared . this show is so entertaining  with great guest stars  it  s a bit obvious at times  like colombo  but in every episode  there is always something to chuckle about . in conclusion  a great series  with two thumbs up and a      . bethany cox  
although properly warned i actually sat down to watch this movie . in part because i usually give every movie an even break  and because i thought that a single movie couldn  t be that bad . i stand corrected . not even george kennedy  barry bostwick or ben stein could save this turkey from sinking like a ton of bricks . only once during this humor forsaken travesty of a spoof did i laugh . namely during the simon says scene . the other jokes are either poorly carried out or simply plain unfunny . and some of them you actually see coming a mile away . this movie just hasn  t got what it takes to be a good parody like airplane   iii   naked gun  iiiiii   or scary movie . they all had a . funny gags  b . good dialog and most important of all c . unforgettable quotes . men in white has got d . none of the above . to call this movie bad would be a gross understatement . avoid this movie anyway you can  consider yourselves warned   
what network was  diagnosis murder on  i thought it was cbs . am i right or   also  back in those days  the actual production h . q . was near about the van nuys airport . i surely remember  because i practically made nearly two episodes in those daze . more . i remember the early days . i had found an article in reader  s digest giving this actor  writer a clue to a terrific episode . so just for suggesting it i was awarded . awarded or not  i sadly didn  t develop it  and was cut out of it all due to poor publicity of mine . so as a justification i learned as i always have  the hard way . . . roll the dice . . craps    just a side bar on mr . van dyke . he had a house in the brentwood area on chalon road and it was an incredible party house . dick had a terrific sense of modernism when he built that house .  
i won  t spend a lot of time nor energy on this comment . i just want to add it because all the comments were so positive i felt like i just had to let people know that not everyone is so thrilled  let alone intellectually provoked by this attempt at creating a captivating philosophical cinematic enigma . some scenes seemed promising  playing with visual dimensions  but couldn  t hold up the rest . i felt like i was stoned for the first time again  having semi  philosophical conversations with fellow adolescents .  br    br   what a futile attempt to raise dutch cinema to new heights . i  d rather watch jesus is een palestijn  without all the pretentions and with straight forward humor  also raising questions about life and the realities we create for ourselves .  br    br   gert de graff is not jean  luc godard or tarkovsky and appearantly never will be .  
i love this show as it action packed with adventure  love and intrigue . well some times love  it  s so good see a show where all the characters work well together and they treat each other with respect . it  s also very good to se dick van dyke in a television role as i have only seen him in mary poppins . the mixture of the main characters  mark  amanda  jesse and steve is very capturing to the audience . this is a show you have to watch   
from the blocky digitised footage to the acting that makes keanu  i  m so wooden i could be a plank me  reeves look like an oscar winner this film bites  pun not intended  . the best thing about it is the box of eraticate in the  nd segment  which out of the three seemed to be the strongest piece in terms of storyline and  twist   . wish i  d spent the   .   it cost me on something else  like erm . . . . natural born killers directors cut . if you do buy this  you  re really in for a disappointment  do yourself a favour and avoid it like the plague . if you  re looking for something amateurish and with actors that are more wooden than a  x  then go ahead . however if you want some quality werewolf action look elsewhere  like dog soldiers  wolfen  romasantathe werewolf hunt .  
thankfully as a student i have been able to watch  diagnosis murder  for a number of years now . it is basically about a doctor who solves murders with the help of his lapd son  a young doctor and a pathologist . dm provided  seasons of exceptional entertainment . what made it different from the many other cop shows and worth watching many times over was its cast and quality of writing . the main cast gave good performances and dick van dyke  s entertainer roots shone through with the use of magic  dance and humor . the best aspects of dm was the fast pace  witty scripts and of course the toe tapping score . sadly it has been unfairly compared to  murder  she wrote  . dm is far superior boasting more difficult mysteries to solve and more variety . now it is gone tv is a worse place . gone are the days of feelgood  family friendly cop shows . now there is just depressing  gritty  ones .  
i don  t think you can get much worse then this . put together bad actors  fake limbs  and three stupid stories and what do you get  this b  rate pointless excuse for a movie .  br    br   the first story immediately shows the bad video quality and the acting is just really pathetic  especially when you bring in the   year old posing as a grandma with the usually grandma bun over the ears bit . plus  the man is ok  but the woman is rather ugly .  you look great   not  the werewolf in this one was the best one out of all three i  d say  but its still not impressive since it was all bad costume . the face on the woman later was decent enough for halloween but not for a werewolf movie .  br    br   the more stories you go through the worse it gets . there are two lesbians in this next one who are completely retarded its ridiculous . the whole  i want to be a werewolf  too   how could you do this to me    was silly to say . you asked for it now get over it  the werewolf will not even be spoken of . . . its a rat   br    br   the third one has no point . . . almost forty five minutes of running and boring narration make up this story and the whole switch thing still didn  t make it interesting . boring   br    br   music  yes  bad . . . who couldn  t even hear some parts it was stupid . animals effects were either rat or pig  like which was stupid . they couldn  t use lion sounds  guess not  good movies use that . well  i f you enjoy b  rates this is good for you . i got this movie since i  m a hardcore werewolf fan and i  ll buy any werewolf movie and watch it more then once  but thats just me . if you prefer good ones  don  t waste your money . i beg you   
the tighter the drama  the better the film of sister rivalry  this little gem was mainly promoted as a comedy upon its release in sweden  so i  m glad to find that wasn  t the whole case . funny bits on small  town bickering are there to enjoy  surely  but the drama takes center stage  as the story progresses . and not just family drama  it also raises poignant questions on respecting differences of peoples  lifestyle choices .  br    br   great character ensemble with many superb and moving dramatic scenes that score credibility points and they  re not just scattershot  but hold everything in place . it just makes me assume that if ingmar bergman had made this  the drama would suit him    the international attention probably would have been immediate .  br    br    out of   from ozjeppe .  
it  s like this . . . you put in the dvd and the most professional  looking thing you see over the next ninety minutes is the logo of the distribution company . and at this point  you know you  ve just been jerked around .  br    br   people are generally trusting enough to assume that if something has been put on dvd  it  s going to be of a certain level   at least financially if not creatively . but sadly this isn  t the case . distribution companies are perfectly happy to throw together dvds of amateur movies and ship them right out into the stores to await the unsuspecting buyer who is drawn in by the well  designed dvd cover . the weight behind this particular project is most likely independent horror movie pioneer kevin j lindenmuth  whose name may be known amongst genre fans since he  s responsible for various other low  budget werewolf movies    rage of the werewolf    werewolf tales  and so on .  br    br    blood of the werewolf  is made up of three short independent werewolf stories with no real connection other than the fact that they deal with hereditary shapeshifters . the first segment   blood reunion   pretty much sets the tone for the whole thing . . . a man returns to his home town to look up a girl who had a crush on  only to find that her domineering grandmother refuses to let her have relationships with men  and for reasons which are somehow related to a dark family secret . this instalment is poorly directed  poorly directed  and basically nothing superior to what you could throw together yourself with a few friends and a home video camera .  br    br   the second story   old blood   is probably the strongest out of the three and is directed by lindenmuth himself . it tells the story of a lesbian couple  one of whom is a shapeshifter and the other wishes to be given this power . her wish is granted  but she doesn  t become the creature that she envisioned . this short movie shows that lindemuth has more talent and experience than the other filmmakers who worked on this project  but still not enough to raise it above the level of an amateur movie .  br    br   and finally we have  manbeast   in which some army guy runs through the woods while being chased by two other fellas . they wish to kill him as he has been bitten by the beast and is believed to be dangerous  but all might not be as it seems . this one has an interesting concept  but it  s stretched out to be far too long  and if you don  t guess what the  twist  is in the first ten minutes then you probably ain  t too bright . this pretty much sums up the problem with this whole dvd . . . a few good ideas just aren  t enough to justify spending money on something like this . after all  would you pay for a picture you could have painted yourself   
the movie takes place in a little swedish town where everybody knows each other . here mia visits her parent for the birthday of her father  a which occasionally always have some kind of tragedy  the question is just what will it be this year  and you will be surprised . . . it is an extremely well composed movie  with a story which has a perfect balance of humor and seriousness  which is rarely seen . you get happy  you get hurt  and basically everything in between . finally you can  t help falling in love with mia  if you are a boy i guess  the main actress   she is an extremely well chosen actress  as a lot of the other actors  actresses .  br    br   enjoy  
really bad shot on video  film  made by not one  not two  but three amateur video makers .  br    br   if you  re going to make a bad horror film at least throw in some blood  gore and nudity . there is some blood provided by latex cut off arm props bought at a halloween store . there are lesbians and hookers but no nudity or sex . the lesbians spend a lot of time in bed but only talking .  br    br   there seems to be no editing effects  fades  wipes etc . once in a while a bit of black appears to separate scenes .  br    br   terrible music by bad heavy metal bands whose websites take up the majority of the end credits . the werewolves are represented by rubber masks that are attached to just the  actors  face . they didn  t even bother to apply brown makeup to their necks  arms or wrists .  br    br   i guarantee a   year old with a video camera could put together a better movie . no reason at all to buy  rent or watch this film except as an example of how not to make a low budget video .  
this is the best movie i  ve ever seen   br    br   maybe it  s because i live just a few miles from the village were the story take place  and i know how things work out in this area in sweden . the movie tells the truth  believe me  it both criticizes and honors the lifestyle of dalarna  and the producer wants people who watch the movie to be more opened minded and care more for your closest friends and relatives .  br    br   but if you live in another small village anywhere in sweden  or another country  you will probably also recognize much from this movie .  br    br   thank you maria blom   
what a shame that a really competent director like andre de toth who specialized in slippery  shifting alliances didn  t get hold of this concept first . he could have helped bring out the real potential  especially with the interesting character played by william bishop . as the movie stands  it  s pretty much of a mess  as asserted by reviewer chipe  . the main problems are with the direction  cheap budget  and poor script . the strength lies in an excellent cast and an interesting general concept   characters pulled in different directions by conflicting forces . what was needed was someone with vision enough to pull together the positive elements by reworking the script into some kind of coherent whole  instead of the sprawling  awkward mess that it is   try to figure out the motivations and interplay if you can  . also  a bigger budget could have matched up contrasting location and studio shots  and gotten the locations out of the all  too  obvious la outskirts . the real shame lies in a waste of an excellent cast   hayden  taylor  before his teeth were capped   dehner  reeves  along with james millican and william bishop shortly before their untimely deaths . few films illustrate the importance of an auteur  with  vision more than this lowly obscure western  which  in the right hands  could have been so much more .  
i saw this at the mill valley film festival . hard to believe this is ms . blom  s directorial debut  it is beautifully paced and performed . large cast of characters could be out of an anne tyler novel  i . e . they are layered with back story and potential futures  there are no false notes  surprising bursts of humor amidst self  inflicted anxiety and very real if not earth  shattering dilemmas . if you saw  the best of youth   you will recognize how well drawn the characters are through small moments  even as the story moves briskly along . i really hope this gets distribution in the usa . i live in a fairly sophisticated film market  yet we rarely get swedish films of any kind .  
i  m a big fan of westerns but this one . . . . whew  what a stinker  i think what turned me off almost right off the bat was the inane dialog . i think i could have written better dialog than this when i was in eighth grade . and the poor actors  given this terrible dialog  none of them came across looking anything but ridiculous . really  i  m not kidding . some of this is little better than what you  d get in an ed wood film .  br    br   the biggest tragedy is sterling hayden . he was probably the  big  star in this movie which if you called it a b  western  you  d be lavishing praise upon it . this is what should be called a b  minus western perhaps . pity sterling hayden  who appeared at other times along with joan crawford  bette davis  frank sinatra  and other major talents . for him to appear in a vehicle this poor must have been something he tried to downplay for the rest of his life .  br    br   one annoying thing about this movie is all the men look like they haven  t shaved in a week and their faces are all greasy . i know in the old west guys weren  t always well groomed but to a man this is a movie that makes you want to just go  ewwww   really  this is a crummy western . denver pyle also had to live this one down  especially after appearances in so many great westerns . bad  bad movie .  
this film is  in short  a cinematic masterpiece . the film is moved along brilliantly by intense images that deeply move the sensitive viewer . the film opens during the spanish civil war as a group of children seek their revenge on another child . in fact  they are acting out in their world a version of what they have witnessed in the adult world around them . later we meet three of these children again as adults at a sanatorium . here we see what life has wrought on each of them . one is a reclusive sexually repressed patient . another man is a hustler who has become ill . the third child  a young lady  has become a nun and is serving at the sanatorium . this film is an allegory about the effect of violence on the psyche .  br    br   this film has a climax that is definitely not for the squeamish members of the viewing audience but it is logical as well as profoundly moving . the acting is excellent and the script is quite well written . there is a musical score that provides an undercurrent of dread throughout this film . this is not a film for thrill seekers but a film for a thoughtful audience .  
  spielberg loves the smell of sentiment in the morning . but sentiment at the expense of narrative honesty  nobody should love that .   lucius shepard  br    br    the color purple  takes place in the deep south during the early     s  and tells the story of celie and nettie  two african american sisters . the film opens with the girls playing in a field of purple flowers  an idyllic haven which is promptly shattered by the appearance of their stepfather . this motif  innocence interrupted by men  permeates the entire film .  br    br   the film then launches into a series of short sequences . celie is revealed to have been twice impregnated by her stepfather  gives birth in a dirty barn  has her newborn child taken away and is forced to marry a local widow named albert johnson  a violent oaf who rapes her repeatedly  forcing her to cook  clean and look after his children .  br    br   all these horrific scenes are given little screen time  and are instead surrounded by moments of pixie  dust cinematography  a meddlesome symphonic score  incongruous comedy and overly exuberant camera work . the cumulative effect is like the merging of a disney cartoon and a rape movie  a jarring aesthetic which caused stanley kubrick to remark that  the color purple  made him so nauseated that he had to turn it off after ten minutes . ten minutes  he lasted a long time .  br    br   the film is often said to deal which  racism    sexism  and  black culture   but this is not true . alice walker  the author of the novel upon which the film is based  claims to be a bisexual but is actually a closet lesbian . her book is a lesbian fantasy  a story of female liberation and self  discovery  which paints men as violent brutes who stymie women . for walker  the only way out of this maze is for women to bond together in a kind of lesbian utopia  black sisterhood and female independence celebrated .  br    br   spielberg  s film  however  re  frames walker  s story through the lens of comforting american mythologies . this is a film in which the salvific power of christianity overcomes the natural cruelty of men . a film in which albert finds himself in various ridiculous situations  moments of misplaced comedy inserted to make him look like a bumbling fool . a film in which all the characters are derived from racist minstrel shows  the cast comprised of lecherous men  always beaming with devilish smiles and toothy grins   stereotypical fat mammies  jazz bands and gospel choirs .  br    br   this is a film in which black people are naturally childlike  readily and happily accepting their social conditions . a film in which black people are over  sexed  carnal sensualists dominated by violent passions . a film in which poverty and class issues are entirely invisible  albert lives in a huge house  and black men are completely inept . this is not the old south  this is the old south as derived from  gone with the wind   mgm muscals   song of the south   warner cartoons   halleluha   and banned disney movies . in other words  it  s the south as seen by a child raised on   s tv . it  s all so cartoonish  so racist in the way it reduces these human beings to one dimensional ethnic stereotypes  that black novelist ishmael reed famously likened it to a nazi conspiracy .  br    br   of course  in typical spielberg fashion the film ends with family bonds being healed . this reconciliation was in walker  s novel  but spielberg goes further by having every character in the story reconcile with their kin .  br    br   beyond walker  s hate letter to black men and spielberg  s bizarre caricaturing of black life  we are shown nothing of the black community . we have only the vaguest ideas as to how any of these characters make a living and no insight into how they interact with others in their community . instead  spielberg  s camera jumps about  desperately fighting for our attention  one of celie  s kitchen contraptions seems like it belongs in a  home alone  movie   every emotion over played  the director never stopping to just observe something or to allow a little bit of life to simply pass by . couple this with quincy jones  ridiculously  white  music  and you have one of the strangest films in cinema history an angry feminist tract filmed by a white jew in the style of disney and griffith  scored by a black man trying to emulate john williams .  br    br   problematic too is the lack of white characters . consider this the men in this film aren  t portrayed as being rough to each other  nor do they dominate women because they are brutalised by a racist society which reduces their manhood . no  they are cruel by nature . and the women  whether quietly suffering like celie or rebellious and tough like her sister  persevere and survive only because the men are too stupid to destroy them . a better film would not have focused solely on the oppression of women as it occurs among the oppressed  rather  it would have shown that it is societal abuse which has led to spousal abuse  that enslaved black women are forced to perform the very same tasks as their male counterparts  whilst still fulfilling traditional female roles  and that african american domestic violence occurs largely because of economic factors  women unable to support themselves and their children alone .  br    br   and so there  s a hidden ideology at work here . late in the film one character tells another that since he didn  t respect his wife  she wound up getting severely beaten and imprisoned by whites . the implication is that blacks need to return to their african roots to restore their own dignity and that it is their fault that whites unjustly crush them . ie  respect one another in your poor minority community and you won  t run afoul of the dominant white culture .  br    br        a failure to confront sex and lesbianism  inappropriate musical numbers  countless sequence loaded with extraneous visual pizazz  incongruous comic business  emphatic music cues  and wildly hyped emotionality  all contribute to rendering  the color purple  worthless .  
this is an incredible film . i can  t remember the last time i saw a swedish movie this layered . it  s funny  it  s tragic  it  s compelling  and most of all it  s a slice of swedish small town life . it crushes the clichs  and dwells deeper . it makes you feel connected  not only to the main characters  but to all the characters .  br    br   big city girl tracing back to her roots  her small hometown  to celebrate her father  s   th birthday  crossing paths with people she hasn  t met in several years . although the story itself isn  t unique  it offers a fresh approach . the center of the story is the relationship between three sisters  on different stages in life   who aren  t very close . or at least don  t realize how close they are .  br    br   one key reason that makes it so easy to connect to the people in this film is the immaculate cast . first  i  m more than pleased about the fact that there are absolutely no so  called  a  list  swedish actors in this film . usually there is a handful of actors that has the ability to find their way into almost every major production in sweden . this time the production company managed to keep it real by casting actors who actually seem to love their profession . sofia helin is probably the first swedish actress since eva rse to prove that you don  t need words to convey an emotion .  br    br   the writing is also very appealing . the dialogue is more than believable  and compared with other swedish films from the past year or two  it  s ahead by miles . maria blom controls everything from the beginning  and if you didn  t know  you would never guess that this is her first time writing and directing a feature length film . i can  t wait for her next one .  br    br   once you start watching this  you really want to see it through .  
being a ni supporter  it  s hard to objectively review a movie glorifying ulster nationalists . characters who are hard to root for  typical heavy  handed anti  violence messages  and a predictable  poetic justice  ending makes this an awkward watch . . .  
just saw this movie today at the seattle international film festival  and enjoyed it thoroughly .  br    br   great writing and direction  excellent and believable interaction among the cast  and great comic timing as well .  br    br   this movie touches on themes that are universal  family and separation . as a result  i can see european  asian  and american audiences all finding points of similarity between this film and their own lives .  br    br   if all that wasn  t enough  this has the potential to be the best underground date movie of the year . . . somebody distribute this in the usa  please   br    br   finally thank you maria flom  it really is a great film .  
i disliked this film intensely and left during the scene where the loyalist gang are shot up by the british . the film effectively blames the people of ni as being the cause of their own troubles . it suggests that the   year war was a question of intransigence and nothing to do with britain  s partition of ireland and domination of its history i . e . ni was created by britain in     irrespective of the wishes of the rest of ireland .  br    br   the characters are portrayed as hapless fools  even though i despise loyalist paramilitaries they were fighting for a cause  maintaining their artificial privileges over the catholic community . it is a known fact that british intelligence collaborated with loyalists during the war  no doubt to keep the catholics at bay and demoralise republicanism .  br    br   nineties  values about  machismo   masculinity etc are transposed on to     s belfast and are portrayed as part of the supposedly unique irish  psyche  which leads to violence . the stupid song from the woman in the club  old ireland of green fields . . blah . . blah . .  is given a symbolic stature  i . e . poor young fools fighting for an impossible cause . tedious  ahistorical  cheap and nasty trash . o  sullivan has made a personal statement on a conflict which requires serious political analysis .  
well done giving the perspective of the other side fraulein doktor captures both the cost and the futility of war . excellent acting especially when german high command refuses in the name of chivalry to present medal kaiser ordered struck . the scenes of carnage are probably too intense for effete us minds who  d probably prefer some silly speeches and senseless abstractions like   points or the league of nations . real americans might appreciate the story line and the action . for all the action and intrigue  fraulein doktor compares favo  u  rably to jacob  s ladder .  
was this tim meadows first acting role in a movie  the character  leon  is funny enough but shortly after that the sexual jokes and humor are too dumb to listen to anymore . some movies can get away with the sexual jokes  and base their audiences to know that right when the advertising comes on . some movies that do this are american pie and scary movie . scary movie was stupid  and american pie wouldnt have done well without the sexual jokes . the only role  besides leon  that had some humor that followed was will ferrell . the character really was dumb and that was all  the dumb humor was all that had me watching . the movie was ok  and nothing else . i dont really understand why the snl people that are dying to leave the show always get a movie based on a character they played on the show . the skits last about  minutes  and if they can make a movie off a  minute skit  then what is the world coming to  molly shannon had superstar  cheri o  terri had scary movie  but she wasnt a leading role  and will had elf . but that was good  but he did some dumb movie  but i cant remember  and mike myers with wayne  s world . how come the mad tv crew dont ever get movie deals  seen only one guy break through  but only in like  movies and a tv show with andy dick . but that guy relies on comedy for his life to continue  funny or not . this movie is not good  but had some positive humor . what a waste of film and people  s money .  d d    
i remember seeing this film years ago on  i think  bbc  . i would very much like to view it again  does anyone know how i can obtain a copy  as i remember  it was an especially powerful movie  in particular the scene that stands out is of the horses wearing gas masks . apart from that i really can  t recall too much about the story  which is why i want to view it again  i have trawled the web but am unable to find a copy  which is unusual in my experience  perhaps there is no dvd or vhs of this film on the market . would appreciate any help anyone can give me on this . thanks very much in advance for your assistance . best regards  albany    googlemail . com  
i rented this tape a couple of years ago  and boy did it suck . from the commercials  i was lead to believe that this was a movie about a guy who had no no luck with women  and that was where the comedy would lie . boy was i wrong . the jokes were vulgar  and they were just not funny . don  t bother .      
this is an excellent but hard to find trippy world war i spy thriller in the inimitable    s italian style . from the psychedelic graphics of the introductory credits and the great score by ennio morricone to the lesbian love scene with capucine and the elaborately produced apocalyptic no man  s land battle scenes with poison gas and german cavalry in full gas proof  storm trooper  gear  this is a movie that should not be missed . it is a film that captures the horrors and cruelty of war and the ruthlessness of the players on and off the battlefield . apart from the battle scenes  some of the production and special effects are primitive  apparently because the bulk of the budget for this movie was saved for the battle scenes  but for lovers of    s cinema it should not be an issue . i first saw this movie on television many years ago and had the foresight to tape it on vhs . i still have the tape and enjoy watching it again from time to time .  
i think i laughed twice . the line where the main character says something about being from the streets . and then i forget the other time i laughed . it was probably in the beginning .  br    br   this has to be one of the thinnest movies ever . doesn  t hollywood realize that this kind of humor is degrading and sad  really . you can only insult yourself so many times .  br    br        
excellent film . suzy kendall will hold your interest throughout . has not been shown on american tv for a decade . one scene that has always stayed with me is the german cavalry gas attack . you will find others . hope they soon put it on tape .  
first of all  i  d like to say that i love the  ladies  man  sketch on snl . i always laugh out loud at tim meadows  portrayal of leon phelps . however  there is a difference between an   minute sketch and a feature  length movie . watching leon doing his show and making obscene comments to his listeners and coming up with all sorts of segments for his show  like  the ladies man presents . . .  which is reminiscent of  alfred hitchcock presents . . .  is absolutely hilarious . there  s a great episode where cameron diaz role  plays monica lewinski  and leon plays bill and they call it  the oral office .  see  that  s funny     br    br   in the movie  we don  t see leon on the show too often . in fact  he gets kicked out of almost every radio station in the country . and the plot revolves around his quest for true love  involving a mystery letter that got dropped off at his houseboat  signed by  sweet thing .  karyn parsons  who is famous for playing hillary on  fresh prince of bel air   works with him on the show and has a secret crush on leon . the movie just piles on one boring subplot after another . and the gags are boring as well . the first time we see leon mention the word  wang  it  s pretty funny . when he uses it over and over again  supposedly trying to get a laugh  the joke has run dry . most of the jokes he uses in the film are jokes we heard before  and done better  on the snl sketch and played out tediously for a whole hour and twenty  five minutes . they even try to insert a musical number by will ferrell and his gang of ladies  man haters  who all want to destroy him because their wives had an affair with him  to bring some life into this witless comedy . ferrell has some funny moments  and tries to make the best out of an otherwise unfunny role . ferrell just has that unique comic talent  and he  s funny at almost anything he does . even julianne moore gets a cameo . watching her  you can  t but wonder  what the hell is an oscar  winning actress doing in this movie        her name wasn  t mentioned in the opening credits   probably by her consent . and of course a movie of this theme has to include the master of love himself  billy dee williams . billy dee is charismatic as always  but even he can  t breathe enough life into this film . i also have to add that the soundtrack is full of soft r  b hits  which impairs the film even more  giving it a horribly downbeat tone   as if the script isn  t boring enough . i mean  this is  supposed  to be a comedy . the soundtrack would  ve been appropriate for something like  love jones .   br    br    the ladies man  only has sporadic laughs . there are exceptions in which snl can produce a great movie out of a short sketch . watch both of the  wayne  s world  movies  and you  ll see how it  s done . but this movie  just like adapting mary catherine gallagher  s character to screen in  superstar   shows the flip side . some sketches are meant to be remembered on snl  and not on the silver screen .  br    br   my score   out of     
i saw this movie once in or close to its release year   years ago       . although i can now only remember bits of it  i long to see it again . the parts i remember  rightly or wrongly  include mustard gas in the trenches and suzie kendall as a german spy  offering some bloke sexual favours in the back of an enclosed truck to get military information from him . the music score was especially memorable and emotion stirring in the league of gone with the wind and i would love to hear it again . there must be some commercial or copyright reason why this movie is not available . anyone know why  i doubt its anything to do with a lack of quality or interest .  
i rented this movie for a few laughs . i had never seen the snl skit  but with hits like tommy boy  and waynes world  it couldn  t have been that bad  could it  the answer it was . this movie hardly was a means of relaxing after a hard day at work . i just kept waiting for a plotline and a funny part  but there wasn  t any . the highlight was tiffany amber thieson  and thats just about it .  
like almost everyone else who has commented on this movie  i can only wonder why this has never appeared on video .  br    br   i recall seeing it at about age   on the  the late show   circa     . i too recall the poison gas attack and the weirdly garbed horses .  i don  t recall the more horrific bits i  ve seen described here they were likely cut out for the tv audience .  but the scenes i really liked were the ones involving the death of lord kitchener aboard the hms hampshire  almost exactly   years ago . the scenes of the doomed cruiser approaching the minefield in the storm were really chilling  as i recall .  br    br   don  t recall the musical score  but the comments of the others now have me curious . get this one out on video   
i could name plenty of funny movies . there are comedies that set out to be funny  and are . some movies  like a gymkata for example  try to be serious but end up funny . the ladies man is a film that is desperately trying to be funny  but could not be less funny if it was about a guy who got a lot of chicks in the middle of the wreckage of a nuclear holocaust . it  s anti  funny .  br    br   i don  t think i laughed harder than a chuckle at anything in this movie . it  s simply unfunny . it  s boring  stupid  inane  annoying  mind  bogglingly bad  but not funny . i don  t particularly care for tim meadows  or this character from snl  but i expected better than this .  br    br   the movie is completely lacking logic or common sense . it  s like the script writer had a bag over his head while he was typing and he couldn  t see which keys he was hitting . they tell the  origin  of the ladies man  but fail to include a motivation for his bizarre fascination with acting like it  s still the seventies . the movie tries to get humor out of a man who appears to pleasuring himself to porn  shortly after he tried to hang himself . this is comedy  i like to consider myself having a pretty keen sense of humor  spending a lot of time writing comedy as i do   but maybe i  m just not quite bright enough for this film .  br    br   lee evans  so funny as tucker in there  s something about mary  is outrageously bad here . i was pleading with him in my head to shut up .  br    br   by the end i was pounding on my chair  muttering under my breath  and had the film gone on any longer  would probably have attempted suicide . this film might not be as bad as battlefield earth  but it  s the first movie i  ve seen that  s come close .  br    br    
luckily  not knowing anything about this movie i was curious enough to tape it from tv . and then the tape ran out just five minutes before the ending   br    br   but i  m glad i managed to get most of it because this is a really great spy movie . there are the usual toy submarines and a bit foggy plots  but also very chilling and even daring moments . considering the production year      the certain slight lesbian overtones must have raised a few eyebrows . of course now it doesn  t surprise anyone and those scenes in fact seem pretty beautifully done . and it  s not just because of the two george  s actresses .  br    br   the gas attack seems to hit every viewer very strongly  no wonder  and it certainly did hit me . very effective . also the viewpoints from the both sides of the opponents gives the whole story more deepness along the usual suspense and action . this is not just a heroic war tale of one victorious side  but shows what lies behind the victory in good and bad . well  being a case of war  mostly bad .  br    br   for the fans of composer ennio morricone this is also a must . his work is always excellent  touching but never over the top . and i think i have to try to catch more movies with suzy kendall . talk about frulein  let  s hope they get this on dvd soon  so i can have the entire movie in my collection and more people will become familiar with this very little known gem .  
lorne michaels once again proves that he has absolutely no business producing movies .  br    br   you  d think that after such dismal flicks  superstar    night at the roxbury   and  coneheads   he  d start to get the notion that maybe he doesn  t know what he  s doing when it comes to movies  and many would argue that he doesn  t know what he  s doing when it comes to television  as well  . trying to make feature films out of skits that wore out their welcome the third time the were done on snl makes no sense .  br    br   i personally like tim meadows  and think that he would be great in the right movie . it  s a shame to see a talented guy wasted in a film that features unfunny after unfunny situation  and caps it all with a dreadfully bad song and dance scene . any laughs here will be because the movie is so bad  not because it  s funny .  br    br   oh well  at least we can be thankful that there are many other tired snl characters who will never have films done about them . it  s just too bad that this one made it to the big screen .  
there are movies  and there are films . movies are more often than not merely cinematic  candy   whereas films are true works of art . fraulein doktor is certainly well  placed in the latter . as most viewers  i was highly impressed with the battle scenes  but the poignancy of the portrayal of the central character is what i consider to be the most sterling quality of the film . having done everything possible to serve her country as a true daughter of deutschland  all the while in the throes of morphine addiction  die fraulein is treated very shabbily by the german high command despite all of her efforts . the scene in which the doktor is being conveyed in the rear seat of a mercedes benz command auto  alone  desolate  and sobbing is perhaps one of the saddest yet truest depictions of a  spy  s  lot in life . only the emotional pain presented by richard burton in the spy who came in from the cold comes close . fraulein doktor is a far deeper film than one may realize upon a singular viewing . i only wish that its producers would see fit to release it on dvd so that those who have never experienced it can  and those who have seen it can again  perhaps again and again  enjoy this exceptional motion picture .  
while leon is cute on snl  he  s only on for a minute . like most snl skits  to  movies  this one can  t fill   minutes . it has some cute moments  the ones you  ve seen in the trailer  but the actors are largely wasted . tim meadows does his best but the plot just doesn  t have many high points . will farrell has a bit part . farrell may be the funniest man alive . . . but not in this movie . what a shame .  
  el mar  directed by catalonian director agusti villarona  and based on the novel by blai bonet  offers a glimpse of the spanish history as seen by a balearic author that takes the viewer back to the days of the civil war in that country . the movie concentrates on three friends  and follows them from those early days during the onset of the war in majorca  to a few years later as two of those friends meet again when they are at a sanatorium  lost in the countryside .  br    br   we first meet three boys that are playing happily . not everything is what it seems . the tragic death of one of them points out about the cruelty of the one that commits the evil deed . the boys have excluded a young girl  about their age  from taking part in their games .  br    br   when we meet the adult ramallo again  he is on his way to a sanatorium . he seems to be suffering from tuberculosis . to his surprise  manuel tur  one of his boyhood friends is also being treated  and the young girl that was not welcomed to participate in their games is now one of the nuns that supervise their health care . it is obvious that tur looks at ramallo in a way that only means he is in love with the tough bully . their relationship will have devastating consequences .  br    br   roger casamajor does a good job with portraying the older ramallo . bruno bergonzino makes an impression as tur  the vulnerable youth . antonia torrens plays sor francisca with conviction . angela molina  puts an appearance as carmen  the wife of the caretaker of the institution . simon andreu is perfect as alcantara .  br    br    el mar  is a dark film that clearly shows agusti villarona  s talents in making the novel come alive for the viewer .  
watched this on dvd in original language with english subs . either the subtitling was very poor or the actual dialog doesn  t make much of story and give any character development . there are quite a few hk stars in this but the movie doesn  t need their presence to make it better or worse . it  s just bad . the bright and colorful scenes done in cg are attractive for the sheer colors and brilliance but it can get overwhelming before long . if anything this makes me think of a child  s movie with its nonstop barrage of cg  fight scenes  and crap plot . i  m certain i grasped what took place in the film but the whole delivery of the story was rather lousy .  
frulein doktor is as good a demonstration as any of how the once great film industry in western europe has declined in the past   years . then  in the late   s  while the big hollywood studios were on the ropes  italy  france and england were turning out movies to fill the void left by hollywood  s decline . there were the james bond pictures  doctor no was a surprise hit in the usa  it was first released at the century theater chain in nyc with a   cent afternoon admission price   the clint eastwood spaghetti westerns  with a fistful of dollars released by a distributor that never paid the italian producers a dime  and french crime movies that usually went to art houses  with exceptions like the sicilian clan . and there were european co  productions like doctor zhivago and  of course  frulein doktor . with its big budget for the time  and the world talent involved  frulein doktor was good enough that viewers still remember the movie decades later .  br    br   kenneth more  playing a british intelligence officer  has a line in frulein doktor where he tells a caught spy to either talk or he will play the wall game . the wall being opposite a firing squad  with little chance of the spy winning the game . that sort of cynical attitude played well across national borders  in the vietnam war era of     .  br    br   the steamy scenes between suzy kendall and capucine probably did not damage these performers  chances at getting parts in hollywood movies  hollywood studios were in the process of shedding their overseas distribution and production businesses . fox would no longer co  produce films like the sicilian clan  columbia wouldn  t distribute films like belmondo  s the night caller . mgm went even further  cutting almost all film production  selling its chain of theaters in india for the value of the land underneath and unloading its borehamwood studio facilty as kerkorian looted the studio to raise money for building his casino in las vegas  where a bally casino gift shop sold mgm memorabilia at giveaway prices  stuff left over from the auction of mgm  s prop warehouses  .  br    br   paramount distributed frulein doktor  but gulf and western  s charles bludhorn  who had taken over the company and canned the studio  s aged board of directors  unloaded the studio  s film library to universal  as i recall  and really became interested in movies after production chief robert evans started turning out one hit after another . but that was in the   s . frulein doktor with its lesbian scene was buried  with cut versions of the movie showing up on local stations through the   s .  br    br   kenneth more was usually typecast as a bumbling guy when he was older  especially in the bbc detective series father brown . when he was younger  as in the british movie titanic  he played his standard reserved british officer . in frulein doktor  he had a chance to be a lot tougher than usual  as i recall . it would be nice to see if my memory of this movie is accurate  about his role and  of course  those cavalry horses wearing gas masks and protective covers riding into battle . that was some scene  and alberto lattuada showed he was some director  helming this world war i espionage movie  where the money spent on production values really shows up on the screen .  
i honestly don  t understand how tripe like this gets made . the worst junior  high talent show skit you  ve ever seen is more entertaining than this film . will ferrell  s wrestling fetish provides the only  briefly  humorous moments . utterly horrible .  
it seems more than passing strange that such utter dreck as  dukes of hazzard  and  the hills have eyes   the new version  can find dvd distributors while older  and far superior works such as this film  are nowhere to be found . with all the on  going debate about the morality  or lack thereof  of warfare  and interest in espionage  consider the multiple jack ryan  bourne  xxx  and  mission impossible  productions  this would seem to be an obvious choice for release on dvd . true  it looks like a     motion picture because it is a     motion picture . but style consideration aside  this is still a production that actually has something valuable to say  and has plenty of plots twists to keep an audience entertained . if nothing else  will somebody please consider getting the soundtrack onto some kind of cd  whether it be a compilation with other morricone music or as a stand  alone . i don  t know if industry people bother to read what we fans have to say about their products  but if you are reading this and other comments  please take us seriously . we are paying for your lavish homes with our hard  earned dollars spent on tickets  dvds and cds  give us what we want  all that said  if you are reading this and have not seen this film  lobby for it  s release so you may see what those of us who have seen it are talking about . you will not be disappointed .  
the ladies man is a funny movie . there  s not much thought behind it  but what do you expect from an snl movie  it  s actually better than most snl movies  i . e . superstar or a night at the roxbury  tim meadows and will ferrell were both very funny . chris parnell was also funny in his short scene  one of the funnier ones in the movie  . other than that  the rest of the cast is average and is just there to support meadows . i  ve definitely seen funnier movies  but i  ve seen dumber ones too . again  it  s not exactly a deep movie  but it  s good for a few laughs . it was funnier as a skit though . but still  if you  re looking for a pretty funny movie  i  d recommend this one . just don  t think about it too much  or you  ll hate it .  br    br   rating      
i saw this film by chance on the small box . it has a fantastic and chilling scene about poisonous gas . a lot about fanatical patriotism . a bit of eroticism . i can  t believe it  s still waiting for  votes    
this film was very well advertised . i am an avid movie goer and have seen previews for this movie for months . while i was somewhat skeptical of how funny this movie would actually be  my friends thought it was going to be great and hyped me up about it . then i went and saw it  i was sunk down in my seat almost asleep until i remembered that i had paid for this movie . i made myself laugh at most of the stuff in the movie just so i wouldnt feel bad and destroy the good mood i was in  plus i wanted to get my monies worth out of the movie  i always go into a movie with an open mind  not trying to go into them with too many expectations  but this movie was not that funny . now it wasnt the worst movie i  ve ever seen  but it is definitely worth waiting for hbo . if you havent seen many previews for the movie or you like very slow and corny comedies you may enjoy it  but for true comedy fans id say pass . maybe even check out the kings of comedy again . something told me to go see meet the parents instead     
i havent seen that movie in   or more years but i remember the attack scene with the horses wearing gas  masks vividly  this scene ranks way up there with the best of them including the beach scene on saving private ryan  i recommend it strongly .  
this movie really deserves the mst  k treatment . a pseudo  ancient fantasy hack  n  slash tale featuring twin barbarian brothers with a collective iq of hot water  character names that seem to have been derived from a mad libs book  and such classic lines as  hold her down and uncover her belly    the barbarians crosses over into the  so bad  it  s good  territory .  
i saw this at the theater in the early      s . the most memorable and scary scene is when the german army attacks with yellow cross mustard gas for the first time . the germans and their horses are covered from head to toe  or hoof  with eerie protective suits . the experienced british soldiers don gas masks  only  and once again await the clouds of gas and the german attackers . the gas clouds move ever closer  finally enveloping the british defenders . the germans move forward slowly menacingly in their scary looking garb . suddenly a scream from the defenders . . . this gas is like no other that they have experienced before . . . .  br    br   now you will know why i have remembered this scene for the last    years and still shiver  i think that you will too   
cannon pulled off a real visual beauty of a medieval epic that appears fascinating  except for the dragon prop  . now just how did the long  gone studio known for chuck norris movies ever come up with a complete lack of knowledge in the first place  case in point the amateurish acting and horrible plot is a sign that reviving the medieval legend is no cure for some lousy execution . they actually went on and made another cheap exploitationer featuring hundreds of lusty bimbos  just to make this look even better . for the two  barbarian brothers   they sure know how to make weird noises than becoming brave warriors so strong and bold enough to save their native land . this is the single greatest waste of potential i  ve seen from an  expensive  low  budget movie  and worse enough to let an axe strike through the gorgeous print without mercy . all of this followed an advertising campaign that sold t  shirts based on the barbarians  the movie alone makes a great souvenir   
after watching the rather sloppy ww  spy thriller  madam lili       starring julie andrews on tv this afternoon  i suddenly thought i had seen a far superior ww  spy thriller . all i could remember was that it was produced by dino de laurentis . it only took a short search on imdb to find fraulein doktor . once i recognised the title the memories came flooding back . it is  for its time  a reasonably well crafted story revolving around true events such as the death of kitchener and the german offensives of     . it also has a female spy who is much more believable than julie andrews  as with other reviewers the first and strongest memory was of the well produced battle scenes and of men and horses in gas masks . if you have an interest in war films and particularly ww  it is a film well worth seeing if you have the opportunity .  
when i decided to watch the barbarians  starring those twin bodybuilders  peter and david paul  i thought it couldn  t be that bad because the film was directed by ruggero deodato  who has a reputation for creating sleazy movies but well made sleazy movies . well  the barbarians is remarkably trashy action  adventure movie that wants to be another conan the barbarian  and fails at every level . the look of the film is all wrong . some scenes were well shot but the tone and the schintzy  tacky  disco  look of the clothes and hair people are adorned with just doesn  t make any sense whatsoever  even for a low budget flick like this one .  br    br   richard lynch looks like an old woman with that ridiculous hairdo and costume . he  s supposed to be menacing but he comes across as a buffoon . and it  s funny to see eva larue callahan  one of the stars of all my children  appear in her first movie  walking around in skimpy fur bikini . i  m sure she wants this dreck to disappear from the face of the earth  the so  called barbarian twins are okay as the muscle bound heroes but it  s almost impossible to construct a proper critique of their acting because their roles are  like everything else in this mess  really ill  conceived . the only way the film tries to differentiate one twin from the other is by having one twin wear a loincloth that covers his ass  while the other twin  s loincloth barely covers his muscular butt . i  m not kidding  don  t ask me who  s who though .  br    br   deodato must have been really desperate to agree to make this film . and his desperation is reflected perfectly in this trashy flick . it  s just bad .  
like other people who commented on  frulein doktor  i stumbled by chance upon this little gem on late  night tv without having heard of it before . the strange mixture of a pulp fiction story about a sexy but unscrupulous anti  heroine on the one hand and a realistic and well  researched portrayal of war in the trenches on the other hand had me hooked from the beginning .  br    br   to me this is one of the five best movies about wwi  the others are  all quiet on the western front    paths of glory    gallipoli  and the post  war  la vie et rien d  autre   . and the scene with the poison gas attack is really chilling the horses and men appear like riders of the apocalypse with their gas masks .  br    br   i only wish i had taped the film .  
i was china in this film . i choose the screen name sheeba alahani because i was modeling at the time in italy and they couldn  t pronounce my real name correctly  so i choose sheeba and then added alahani since it was similar to alohalani .  br    br   i had never acted before  and it shows   but it was so much fun to film . they gave me  acting lessons  each morning  which obviously were not useful  . they dubbed my voice  thank goodness  .  br    br   david and peter were a blast on the set  full of good humor and jokes . this film was never meant to be taken seriously  it was a tax write off according to inside information .  br    br   i give it a  because i have a sense of humor  but a   for the fun i had  acting  in it .  
smallville episode justice is the best episode of smallville                                                                                                                                                 it  s my favorite episode of smallville                                                                                                                                            
the movie is basically a boring string of appalling clichs which do not offer a real cross  cultural insight . the middle eastern leg of the journey is described in a particularly irritating way there obviously are mud brick villages  dirt tracks in the middle of the desert  women clad in black robes and belly dancers . i wonder how camels and date palm trees were missing from the whole picture . the personality of the two main characters is very clumsily sketched and many situations are hardly credible .  br    br   the original idea might have been interesting  but at the end of the day if you are looking for cultural insight  you should skip this movie .  
smallville episode justice is the best episode of smallville                                                                                                                                                 it  s my favorite episode of smallville                                                                                                                                            
this was one of the worst movies i have ever seen . the plot is awful  and the acting is worse . the jokes that are attempted absolutley suck . don  t bother to waste your time on a dumb movie such as this . and if for some reason that you do want to see this movie  don  t watch it with your parents .  
this particular episode of smallville is probably the best episode to air since reunion . this is for many reasons . for example  it takes the series back to some of it  s roots . it welcomes back lionel from a supposedly long absence  with the luthorcorp plaza office in metropolis . this room hasn  t been in smallville for a very long time  and seeing it again brings back many memories from the smallville  s past . not to mention  lionels conversations with lex are always admirable .  br    br   another pleasant return is  well uv guessed it  is bart allen  aka impulse   ac  aka aquaman  and victor stone  aka cyborg  . not only does steven deknight reunite the former justice leaguers  he blends them in with the smallville formula in such a unique way  that it almost feels like it is a feature length movie .  br    br   from there you get the basic story  green arrow forms the league  attempts to blow up   .   bart gets captured  clark saves him  and the facility is blown to kingdom com . all is good and graceful  with a good mix of stealth  action  pace and suspense . oh  and cyborg has some cool new upgrades true to the justice league character   .  br    br   the music is probably what makes this episode work so well . if you remember correctly  the first episode steven deknight directed was agless from season  . this was a mediocre episode  but something felt out of place . maybe it was the music  or the acting  or the fact clark sais at the end  we didn  t find you  you found us   kind of made people lose faith in the formula . but thankfully steve deknight redeemed himself in this justice episode .  br    br   i had a few quivvles about justice that made it fall short of the full   . first of all  the far too cheesy exit of the justice league from the ridge facility expolsion . i mean it would have been soo much cooler if say green arrow and cyborg took off on oliver  s bike  rememeber from the arrow episode  . clark and impulse should have obviously ran  and aquaman should have swam via another route . but that was soo incredibly cheesy  it nocked off  points from the full   .  br    br   secondly  another cheesy moment  not as bad as the first  but when green arrow sais  let  s go save the world  . that made me cringe . all in all  judging by the acting performances  music  direction and production values  the pros do outweigh the cons  and this is still one of the best episodes in smallville history  and maybe the  nd best episode in season  .  br    br    out of   . . .  
this may very well be the worst movie i  ll see if i live to be    . i think a group of first  graders could have come up with better plot lines as a class project than this . i  m dumber for having watched it  and god have mercy on the souls who were paid to produce this film .  br    br   and after i finally turned it off  i actually had the urge to vomit .  br    br   no one had a clue about photography when made this . no one had a clue about acting . no one had a clue about just about anything .  br    br   i can  t believe f  x shows this crap on occasion . the only time i had seen it was on one of the starz  channels  not even the main one . and it was on at about  a . m . at that .  
el mar is a tough  stark  utterly brilliant  brave work of cinematic art . director agust villaronga  with an adaptation by antoni aloy and biel mesquida of blai bonet  s novel  has created a film that traces the profound effects of war on the minds of children and how that exposure wrecks havoc on adult lives . and though the focus is on war  s heinous tattoo on children  the transference to like effects on soldiers and citizens of adult age is clear . this film becomes one of the finest anti  war documents without resorting to pamphleteering the end result has far greater impact because of its inherent story following children  s march toward adulthood .  br    br   a small group of children are shown in the spanish civil war of spain  threatened with blackouts and invasive nighttime slaughtering of citizens . ramala  nilo mur   tur  david lozano   julia  sergi moreno   and francisca  victoria verger  witness the terror of the assassination of men  and the revenge that drives one of them to murder and suicide . these wide  eyed children become adults  carrying all of the psychic disease and trauma repressed in their minds .  br    br   we then encounter the three who survive into adulthood where they are all confined to a tuberculosis sanitarium . ramala  roger casamajor  has survived as a male prostitute  protected by his  john  morell  juli mira   and has kept his life style private . tur  bruno bergonzini  has become a frail sexually repressed gay male whose cover is his commitment to catholicism and the blur of delusional self  mutilation  crucifixion . francisca  antnia torrens  has become a nun and serves the patients in the sanitarium . the three are re  joined by their environment in the sanitarium and slowly each reveals the scars of their childhood experiences with war . tur longs for ramala  s love  ramala longs to be free from his morell  and francisca must face her own internal needs covered by her white nun  s habit .  br    br   the setting of the sanitarium provides a graphic plane where the thin thread between life and death  between lust and love  and between devotion and destruction is played out . to detail more would destroy the impact of the film on the individual viewer  but suffice it to say that graphic sex and full nudity are involved  in some of the most stunningly raw footage yet captured on film  and the viewer should be prepared to witness every form of brutality imaginable . for this viewer these scenes are of utmost importance and director villaronga is to be applauded for his perseverance and bravery in making this story so intense . the actors  both as children and as adults  are splendid roger cassamoor  bruno bergonzini and antnia torrens are especially fine in inordinately difficult roles . the cinematography by jaime peracaula and the haunting musical score by javier navarrete serve the director  s vision . a tough film  this  but one highly recommended to those who are unafraid to face the horrors of war and its aftermath . in spanish with english subtitles .  br    br   grady harp  
this is not so much film as big budget children  s television . as far as i can tell  the villain is a giant swarm of chocolate covered espresso beans . this theory seems to be verified by the fact that the subtitles refer to it as  insomnia  . when it  s first mentioned that a civilization had been wiped out by insomnia  i thought  wow  a nihilistic martial arts film   but no such luck . although you have to consider it experimental cinema when the villain is strangled by an old man  s long  white eyebrows . zu warriors makes exactly the same amount of sense whether the subtitles are on or off . that  s not a good sign . i found the special effects to be somewhere between ray harryhausen and xena warrior princess . primitive .  
this is a reunion  a team  and a great episode of justice . from hesitation to resolution  clark has made a important leap from a troubled teenager who was afraid of a controlled destiny  to a superman who  like green arrow  sets aside his emotions to his few loved ones  ready to save the whole planet . this is not just a thrilling story about teamwork  loyalty  and friendship this is also about deciding what  s more important in life  a lesson for clark . i do not want the series to end  but i hope the ensuing episodes will strictly stick to what justice shows without any  rewind  pushes and put a good end here of smallville    and a wonderful beginning of superman .  br    br   in this episode  however  we should have seen more contrast between lex and the team . nine stars should give it enough credit .  
this film can not even be said to be bad for it is sadly  just painfully mediocre . lacking any real wit or imagination  a thin plot is stretched to the absolute limit and the jokes   which are predictable and threadbare  are spun out to such inordinate length that boredom and yawns quickly overtake the viewer . another notch to mark the sad decline of john waters and a reminder that what shocked  or amused us   years ago doesn  t work quite the same way now . we  ve seen it all before  and it no longer breaks any taboos because they have long since evaporated . a major miss .  
i really enjoyed this episode . seeing the flash  cyborg  green arrow  and aquaman  even though all he did was swim  made my eyes widen . to see most of the founders of the justice league trying to bring down lex luthor is what i  ve been waiting for . this sounds a bit off topic  but making a live action justice league show would definitely make me have a reason to shove everything that i usually do during the week down the drain just to watch one episode . this is the thrill i got from watching this episode . i wish they had made this episode a little longer  like a two hour special  because i felt that one hour of the justice league wasn  t enough . now before i bore you  unless i already have with my rambling  i just want to say  smallville is cool again . it sort of lost its touch when the show started focusing on lana . but i  m sure the writers will just fall back into that loop hole .   so enjoy this episode . who knows when another good one  s going to come out . catch it again this thursday  feb .    if you missed the first airing .  
whoever gave this movie rave reviews needs to see more movies .  br    br   a loser takes his camera and photographs his mental family . the movie is filled with idiots and includes live  teabagging  . that should sum it all up for you .  br    br   do not waste your time . you may want to watch the entire movie in the hopes that it gets better as it goes on  it doesn  t   
show favorites green arrow  introduced this season   aquaman  introduced in season     impulse   season    and cyborg  season   all come together  along with clark  to stop one of lex  s evil plans in this thrilling mid  season episode .  br    br   through his sophisticated technology  green arrow learns that lex luthor is constructing laboratories across the world that hold people induced by the meteor substance kryptonite and people with abilities to run tests on . green arrow over the past months has allied arthur curry  aqua   bart allen  impulse  and victor stone  cyborg  to stop lex and destroy these facilities . after recruiting clark to help  the team puts on quite a show in interrogating and destroying a local laboratory .  br    br   this episode is incredible . full of action  humor  and fabulous dialog  it feels more like a movie . it is full of entertainment and provides as a springboard for the most interesting storyline of the sixth season .  
the only saving grace of this movie is that it serves as the  end of the movie rating scale . now if i see a movie that really stinks i say this movie was a real pecker . i believe this movie is a perfect example of christina ricci  s one dimensional acting . horrible  
i loved this episode . it is so great that all  of them team up and stop luthercorp and save the world . i also love this episode because kyle gallner  bart allen  impulse  and justin hartley  oliver queen  green arrow  are guest starring in it    i just hope that clark will join the justice league and we  ll get to follow this group of heroes across the globe     it was really exciting and keeps viewers interested because of what will happen next . i think chloe should also join the team as watchtower  that would be such a coool thing for her to do besides the daily planet because she doesn  t have super powers . also  i want to find out what types of subjects lex is going to use for   .   i wonder what other types of powers other people in the world have     
i saw this movie at sundance     and was stunned at how bad it was  although based on the catalog description i was excited to see it . supposedly a  mockumentary  of two high school students making a documentary of high school life  it featured bad acting  bad directing  completely lack of engaging characters as written  and all  around is a total bust . i love good movies about high school  and this is not one of them . the characters are one  dimensional and self  consciously  cool  although they are supposed to be outcasts . you get the overall impression of a bunch of people sitting around making an on  purposely  bad movie to show their friends  yet somehow it got into sundance . mystifying .  
chloe is mysteriously saved from dr . caselli  the corrupt doctor responsible for transferring patients with abilities from belle reve to project   .   and a fraction of second later clark arrives . he finds that bart allan has returned to smallville and they meet each other in kent farm . when bart is captured by lex during a break  in in a luthorcorp  s facility  clark discovers that the green arrow had also hired bart  a . k . a . impulse   arthur curry  aquaman  and victor stone  cyborg  to investigate the project   .  . clark accepts to join the trio to save bart and invites chloe to participate of their mission .  br    br    justice  is the best episode so far of this  th season . in this episode  the justice league begins its saga with the association of five heroes clark  green arrow  the flash   impulse    aquaman and cyborg . the participation of chloe is spectacular  completing the necessary organization to the teamwork . in the end  oliver breaks up with lois based on the importance of fighting against criminals and lex  s secret laboratories around the world . my vote is ten .  br    br   title  brazil    justia    justice    
 . . . was so that i could  in good conscience  tell everyone how horrible this movie is . i barely made it through twenty minutes before i started thinking to myself   wow  this is pretty bad .  . and  to be honest  i would  ve given this movie  star if it wasn  t for esai morales  though he had very little screen time  . he  s the movie  s only well  acted role  which is a shame because i really like gil bellows . . . or at least i thought i did .  br    br   while watching this i started thinking back to his part in  shawshank redemption  and realized it wasn  t as good as i thought it was . problem his jail  house  tough guy act seems like it  s just that  an act his dialogue sounded like he was doing a very poor impression . has he ever met someone who speaks like his character was supposed to  i doubt it  but maybe he should have .  br    br   and  to make matters worse  they  ve managed to inject a little jail  house philosophy and make it seem nothing short of contrived  especially when you consider that the rhetoric was being spouted by a  rasta  who  s accent was so strong that it seemed unnatural .  br    br   i wouldn  t normally slam a movie like this  but when i saw the movie it had a fairly favorable review . i felt like i was cheated and lied to  and i thought i should try to save someone the misery of having to watch this movie .  br    br   i say boooooooo .  
i  ve just seen the saint strikes back for the first time and found it quite good . this was george sanders  s first appearance as the saint  where he replaces louis hayward .  br    br   in this one  the saint is sent to san francisco to investigate a shooting at a night club . with the help of his acquaintance inspector fernack who has come down from new york  they help a daughter of a crime boss .  br    br   joining sanders in the cast are wendy barrie and jonathan hale .  br    br   not a bad saint movie . worth seeing .  br    br   rating  stars out of  .  
the movie uses a cutting edge title for a lame story . kill kill  would have been nice . the movie incorporates taboo scenes to make the viewer move back in their chairs . the scenes are unnecessary and choppy . the movie is something a novice screen writer could have conjured . just a waste of movie props and network money . i have to write   lines of text to critique this film when it is not worth   lines of my time  but i have to push on to let the people know to avoid the nonsense . if people are counting on you to choose a good movie for movie night  pick something else . if you have a soul don  t damage it by subjecting yourself to this filth .  
leslie charteris  series of novels of the adventures of the slightly shady simon templar   the saint   was brought to the screen in the late     s with the up and coming george sanders as templar . it was a careful choice  sanders usually would play villains with occasional  nice roles   ffoliott in foreign correspondence  the title hero in the strange case of uncle harry  the framed  best friend  of robert montgomery in rage in heaven  . here his willingness to bend the rules and break a law briefly fit his  heavy persona   while his good looks and suave behavior made templar a fit shady hero like chester morris   boston blackie   and  to an extent  peter lorre  s  mr . moto  .  br    br   the films are not the best series of movie mystery serials  but they are serviceable . like rathbone  s holmes series or oland  s chan  s series the show frequently had actors repeating roles or playing new ones  the anti  heroine in the film here was played by wendy barrie  who would show up in a second film in the series  . this  and slightly familiar movie sets make the series a comfortable experience for the viewers  who hear the buzz of the dialog  always showing sanders  braininess in keeping one step ahead of the bad guys   without noting the obvious defects of the plot . all these mysteries have defects due to the fact that even the best writers of the genre can  t avoid repeating old ideas again and again and again .  br    br   here the moment when that happened was when one of the cast admitted his affection for barrie  which she was long aware of . shortly after he tries to protect her from the police . but as the film dealt with the identity of a criminal mastermind  it became obvious that this person was made so slightly noble as to merit being the mysterious mastermind  i . e .  the script disguised him as the least likely suspect  .  br    br   barrie is after the proof that her father  who died in prison  was framed by the real criminals in a robbery gang . she has several people assisting her  mugs like william gargan  and she gets advice from the mastermind on planning embarrassing burglaries that can  t be pinned on her . the d . a . who got her father convicted  jerome cowan  is determined to get barrie and her gang . the only detective who seems to have a chance to solve the case is jonathan hale  who is shadowing sanders but reluctantly working with him .  br    br   the cast has some nice moments in the script  hale  currently on a special diet  is tempted to eat a rich lobster dinner made for sanders by willie best . he gets a serious upset stomach as a result  enabling sanders and barrie to flee sanders  apartment . best has to remind him  when he feels better  to head for a location that sanders told him to go to at a certain time .  br    br   there is also an interesting role for gilbert emery . usually playing decent people  like the brow  beaten husband in between two worlds  he plays a socially prominent weakling here  whose demise is reminiscent of that of a character in a bogart movie .  br    br   on the whole a well made film for the second half of a movie house billing in     . it will entertain you even if it does not remain in your memory .  
for the knowledgeable beatles fan  the main value in this movie is to just sit back and pick out the flaws  inaccuracies  combined events  omitted events  wildly exaggerated events  omitted people  timeline errors  mis  attribute quotes  incorrect clothing  out of place songs  and  shame shame  incorrect instruments and other boners i just cant think of right now . the flaws come fast and furious so you  ll have to be on your toes .  br    br   i didn  t give this a    primarily due the fact that it is filmed in liverpool and the actors  the band rain  give it their all  the lennon character is credible and does a good job  . also  the song  cry for a shadow  is heard at one point and that counts for something .  br    br   so    watch it for fun  but please don  t take it as historically accurate .  
it  s not too bad a b movie  with sanders  barrie  hale  cowen  hamilton  gargan  fitzgerald and even willie best we could be either with charlie chan  moto  the falcon  blackie  holmes or the saint etc . in other words you get the chance to spend another hour in the company of some old friends  from plain to urbane  murdering and being murdered  always a pleasure in my book .  br    br   barrie  s a hard  boiled dame out to avenge and clear her framed and dead father  a police detective by planning and carrying out with her coterie a string of underworld assassinations . which would surely have had the opposite effect  sanders joins in the fun simply by dancing in the right club in the right place in the right city at the right time with the right lighting falling on both him and the first killer  at the right time   and killing him .  br    br   the story and acting  s ok  the only gripe i  ve got is near the end with the hurried and almost laughable discovery of who the evil genius  waldeman  was  did they almost forget about his relevance in the plot  that said  a solid entry in the series .  
i  ve had to change my view on the worst film in the world having just seen this one . this is it   br    br   make no mistake this film is awful .  br    br   here  s a list of reasons  br    br   hopeless storyline  despite being based on a true story  . dreadful acting  what was judge reinhold thinking  unbelieveably bad stunts . childish dialogue . non  existent continuity . lack of atmosphere .  br    br   get the picture   br    br    
catscratch is the best thing to come out of nickeloden  including wayne knight . this show doesn  t just appeal to maoris and pi  s . some people love it  and they  re all aussies . at first glimpse i admit it seems a little crude  but it grows enormously on you . also  to correct something that one of the other critics has said in  correct  tv . com  doesn  t say  does that mean you  re homo now   he says  does that mean you  re homo  owww   this is his phrase in the show . mr . blik is  i think  the funniest of all like peww  weww  s playhouse  br    br   firstly  i  ll admit that the early episode were a bit good . but after a while the episodes became great  and just when the series had found it  s surreal  whacky . . . nickelodeon cancels it   br    br   i know nick is meant for kids  but every once in a while a brilliant show appears that can be enjoyed by teenagers and adults . these shows include mr . bean the animated series  charlie brown  pelswick  rocko  s modern life  at times   and invader zim . all of these must have been considered too good  with the exception of catdog   cause nick felt the need to cancel them .  br    br   what i like the famous final episode  where gordon fight a duck .  br    br   i  d also like to see a dvd  with plenty of audio  commentaries and behind  the  scenes docos  and including the final episode .  br    br   but of course  what i  d definitely like to see is the show come back on the air . wake up nick   br    br   i wish there was a list somewhere on the internet with all the gag closing  credits . that would be great .  
to call this anything at all would be an insult to everything else . some expletives might describe it  but still too positively . normally one ignores this kind of rubbish  but it was so stupid that one can but despair . would have though that even americans and commercial tv  stations would have given this piece of st a miss . but as the germans say gegen die dummheit kaempfen die goetter selbst vergebens   
i love this show  mr . blick  gordon  and waffle are cats so different from each other  yet they refer to themselves collectively as  brothers .  i often find myself trying to imitate the tired  sighing accent of their butler  hovis  or even the scottish borough of gordon . there should be more episodes made about human kimberly . the episode about the cats disguising themselves as pre  teen girls to gain admittance to human kimberly  s slumber party in order to get their thirsty paws on their favorite drink  rootbeer  is a hilarious classic . we can  t drink rootbeer in our house now without either doing the catscratch voices or the hanson brothers from the movie  slap shot .  future classic . where can i get the first two seasons on dvd    
weak plot  unlikely car malfunction  and helpless fumbling characters . at first i thought this movie was made during the seventies  since the picture quality  as well as the storyline and drama seemed taken from an old kojac episode . when i checked and found that it was really made as late as    i was astonished . this is by far one of the worst and least  thriller  movies i have ever seen .  br    br   if you read this  be advised  if you see it you waste time when you could have done something more exciting  like watching paint dry .  
  gespenster  question of to be cool in the german cinema  br    br   there are not many german films in the last ten years  who have made me so interest . yes  the problem of the most german films are in this film  gespenster  too . he is on some places to uncooked to be good to see . special the figure of toni  sabine timento  is too cool . but thats is in german films always so . everybody must to learns this coolne  is the realism in this films . thats difficult to understand . but in this case it makes some sense  because she steals and she lies  she is the kind of girl is better you never love it  because you lose it . thats not clear for the other girl nina in this film . she love her  and she would lose her . but nina lost everything . she will play with soft emotion and a sad feeling . there is no way  but you must take it said herbert achterbusch for twenty years . thats so often the way it goes in german films . why  nina  julia hummer  is not inside of the laws of society  the is outside  and there she have no chance . this films tries not on every place to gave her a part inside . thats one of the problems  the stupid break with conventions  the criminal fascination . throw it all away  and go nowhere  but the actress plays this difficult part very interesting . on the other side  there the parents  who are the pendant to the two girls . the have a car  a hotel suite  the have money and live in world with music of the opera . but the film stand always in some distance to seem . there is no much explaining of them .  br    br   in the center of this film  there is one scene you will never forget . the two girls got to a casting . and there they should say how they find together . in this scene toni will lying on . she said a fantastic story  has nothing to do with her . and then nina will say the truth . she said it in an introversion way . there is no exhibition in it . she looks to the bottom and said what will happened for here . thats a great moment . in the next scene on the party with pictures in red this feeling is going on  than toni goes away . . .  br    br   okay  the film will end  in the german way of coolne  rubbish  here the circle of sadness is closing . but there was a moment  where is happening something else  and this moment was important . he is more than german coolne  and this moments are rare in the german cinema in this time   
zu warriors most definitely should  ve been an animated series because as a movie it  s like watching an old anime on acid . the movie just starts out of nowhere and people just fly around fighting with metal wings and other stupid weapons until this princess sacrifices herself for her lover on a cloud or something . whether this princess is a god or an angel is beyond me but soon enough this flying wind bad guy comes in and kills her while the guy with the razor wings fights some other mystical god  demon  wizard thing . the plot line is either not there or extremely hard to follow you need to be insanely intelligent to get this movie . the plot soon follows this chinese mortal who is called upon by this god to fight the evil flying  princess killing bad guy and soon we have a very badly choreographed uwe boll like fight scene complete with terrible martial arts on a mountain or something . even the visuals are weird some might say they are stunning and colorful but i  m going to say they are blurry and acid trip like  yes that  s a word   . i watched it both dubbed and with subtitles and both were equally bad and hard to understand . . . . who am i kidding i didn  t understand it at all . it felt like i was watching episode   of some      s anime and completely missed how the story began or like i started reading a comic series of  at number  because i had no clue how this thing started where it was going or how it would end i was lost the entire time . i can honestly say this was one of the worst film experiences ever it was like watching inu  yasha at episode    drunk . . . yeah that  s right you don  t know what the hell is going on . don  t waste your brain trying to figure this out .  
ok  here is my personal list of top nicktoons shows as in today  br    br    . all grown up  spongebob squarepants  br    br    . my life as a teenage robot  br    br    . invader zim  br    br    . catscratch  rugrats  br    br   notice a word with only capital letters  that means this is the nick show i  m going to talk about .  br    br    catscratch  is basically a simple but great animated comedy about three wealthy cats  mr . blik  gordon  and waffles  who get into weird and really surreal situations  from attempting to join human kimberely  s slumber party for root beer to saving a planet of slugs from the evil spaceship . this is one nick show that you will simply have your funny bone tickled sooner or later  the theme song is catchy and memorable . voice actors  including wayne knight from the  seinfield  franchise  brings the characters to fresh life with very quirky personalities . the stories are enjoyable  fans  episodes would be  king of all root beer  and  gordon  s lucky claw   . and the humor is all done in some style of earthworm jim .  br    br   so in conclusion   catscratch  is one of the nicktoons series  like  invader zim  and  mlaatr   which becomes very  very popular all over the world in just  seasons or less .  
comment this movie is impossible . is terrible  very improbable  bad interpretation e direction . not look       
not since spongebob squarepants have i seen a greater cartoon on tv . the colors are great  the voices could  t be better  the characters are so original  great great cartoon . hope nickolodean continues to develop this cartoon . hope the season dvd comes out soon    i love cartoons like this and i hope more people tune in to se this great cartoon . it is very hard to find the season dvd  so if somebody finds a store that is selling it please let me know . the only catscratch merchandise available on nick shop is a great lookin shirt  but very very very expensive    if you love spongebob and who doesn   t   you  ll love catscratch too   
watching this movie made me think constantly why are they making such a problem out of some broken brakes  there are a million options to slow down the car  in the movie speed the writers a least thought of a good reason why the car wasn  t able to stop . . .  br    br   there aren  t many good things to say about this film all the usual narrative cliche  s make their appearance  the actors are very bad  the story is as leak as a sieve etc . that makes this movie a waste of time and money .  br    br    
when reading a review from another user  saying that it  s a terrible game  i could not stand idle and do nothing   br    br   well  this game is great  from the news clips  with two real persons  full of humour sense and credibility    to the story  i find it very good  i only complain about the enemies start blinking when they die  until they disappear and some frustrating situations on the leila vr missions  when riding the bike  here and there . . .  br    br   except that  it  s a great game  with a great story  good graphics  excellent characters  great soundtrack . . . i recommend it  surely  it can be a bit old  but still enjoyable  at least  on the dreamcast . . . but the ps  version shall be the same .  
quite one of the worst films i have ever seen . terrible acting  laughable  action   it  s clear that the cars are travelling slowly   atrocious script  hideously unsatisfying ending and incompetent direction make a hash of a movie . we know judge reinhold is a fine actor  but he should be ashamed of this detritus . there is no great tension within the car and  when the characters stumble upon moments of hope  they laugh like inane banshees for some reason  even  high five  ing  when they see the bridge lowered   br    br   also  the chain of events that lead these people to share the same car strains credibility . apparently based on true events  though  if that  s the case  truth is evidently stranger than fiction  unfortunate then  that it was portrayed in such an inept manner .  
here is the explanation screenwriter pamela katz gave me for why mvt introduced jg as a specific character in the film  br    br    . . . the historical record is very clear joseph goebbels was directly responsible for the release of the rosenstrasse prisoners  so we needed a way to get goebbels himself into our film . . . for a woman like lena  a woman from an aristocratic family with connections  it wasn  t unthinkable that she would make an attempt to go to the top . the idea of getting to goebbels wasn  t impossible for her  so that became our hook .   br    br   those of you who insist on seeing an actual sex act here can read my new thread below  then fire away .  br    br   jan lisa huttner films for two  
how this piece of garbage was put to film is beyond me . the only actor who is at all known to me is judge reinhold  an accomplished actor whose presence is merely a justification for putting it into production .  br    br   i don  t even think it is worth a nomination for a rotten tomato award  this film really does make b movies a cinematic enjoyment . a car travelling along the freeway with police in tow  and no one knows how to stop the car  yeah  right .  br    br   the script must have been written on the back of a cigarette carton . most made for tv movies are awful but this redefines the word . check out the acting skills of the bridge operator  pure oscar material .  
although the beginning of the movie in new york takes too long  the movie is a must see for people who like this genre . when hannah goes to berlin to visit the older woman who helped her mother during the war  the movie gets much much better . the movie is a bit like the pianist  can not really be compared .  
there is no story  the plot is hopeless  a filmed based on a car with a stuck accelerator  no brakes  and a stuck automatic transmission gear lever cannot be good  i would have stopped that car within one minute whether i was in it or in the police car constantly following it . i feel sorry for the actors that had to put up with such a poor script . the few scenes that some similarity to action was heavily over  dramatized  and as far from reality you can get . in addition  there were a lot of blunders  for instance the hood of the runaway car  which was popped doing    mph . at first it just folded over the windshield  like it would in reality  but then  afterwards  it blew off . the car was later in the movie observed with the hood on . . . .  br    br   this film was nothing but annoying  stay away from it   
the van trotta movie rosenstrasse is the best movie i have seen in years . i am actually not really interested in films with historical background but with this she won my interest for that time    br    br   the only annoying thing about the movie have been the scenes in new york  and the impression i had of  trying to be as american as possible  . . . which i think has absolutely failed .  br    br   the scenes in the back really got to my heart . the german actress katja riemann completely deserved her award . she is one of the most impressing actress i have ever seen . in future i will watch more of her movies . great luck for me that i am a native german speaking   and only for a year in the us  so as soon as i am back i  ll buy some riemann dvds .  br    br   so to all out there who have not seen this movie yet watch it    i think it would be too long to describe what it is all about yet  especially all the flash backs and switches of times are hard to explain  but simply watcxh it  you will be zesty         
this movie is so bad it hurts . the car doing   mph when it  s supposed to go    . . . the shift lever that  s stuck  in park    the nurse that drives for almost  hours with the cell phone on the shoulder . . . can  t any of the  morons take this damn phone  there  s nothing credible in this crap . i would be ashamed to be seen in a movie like this   
this was a wonderful film . how these women tried to save their husbands . i thought that the performances of the actors were great . i had to think about the film for a very long time . i think that every student should see this film so that they can think about war  relationships  friendship and love . i liked the film because it told and showed me how strong love can be . i wish i could be so strong as a woman . i really liked it because it told me something about relationships and that is what i like to see in a movie . i think you can compare the film with der untergang  the pianist . if you put these three films together  you have a great sight of what happened during the war . we should remember something like the war forever .  
this film has it all the deft camera work  reminiscent of martin scorcese  or oliver stone  the tight acting of  heat   the explosive action of a jerry bruckheimer movie  the witty dialogue of a tarantino script and the epic feel of say   the godfather   br    br   the judge reinhold character displays a fiery temperememt  yet also shows real emotional depth and intensity . his performance reminds me of robert de niro  s portrayal of jake la motta in raging bull .  br    br   the action scenes are truly breathtaking  not since bullit has a movie depicted such high octane  yet stylish car scenes . the special effects push the boundries of technology and filmmaking to their limits . independance day set the standard that this movie clearly has matched  and greatly surpassed .  br    br   overall  great acting from its a list cast  like an oscars night party invitation list    classy locations  gripping action  and a tight script .  
spoilers within .  br    br   it appears that von trotta was a lot more at ease with what the balance of personal story versus history of the events than she was in her earlier film versprechen  das       .  br    br   the direction seemed carefully controlled  and visually i felt it was highly appealing  especially where the visual narrative was concerned  the title  sequence blend and the lighting of a new candle in modern times commemorating the deaths of various characters in the past  .  br    br   to clarify two points that many people have been confused by  br    br   firstly  lena did not sleep with goebbels . although this may have seemed implied  it was not the intent . von trotta told me so herself   and she is a very nice lady  by the way    br    br   secondly  the time  frame of events was in fact historically accurate  the actual dates are shown on the close  up of the memorial  and the prisoners were released as suddenly as in the film . there is evidence showing that goebbels was annoyed about having done this  and had planned to eventually recapture those he had set free .  br    br   overall  what most impressed me most was that it was an original story from a much  over  movied  era . it seems a shame that it has taken such a long time  for various reasons  for this film to hit our screens .  br    br   more of the same please  margarethe   
this     film  blanc classic tale of smoldering passion has achieved its well  deserved legendary status as one of the screen  s greatest sagas of a doomed and hopeless love . the pervasive  ongoing and progressive magnetism between judge reinhold and what  s  her  name is sure to set many a viewer  s heart a  flutter with memories of one  s own first crush . the brilliant screenplay dangles this embryonic affair  to  be in front of the enraptured audience  sitting transfixed as the abstract  almost  expressionist cinematography deep  focuses on the just  under  the  surface desires that ebb and flow between the principals . you can cut the sexual tension with a dull tire iron .  br    br   a tiny drop of perspiration on the end of a nose catches the bright sunshine  and leaves no doubt as to its significance . scenes like this abound and bear watching again and again . as with  jane eyre  and  rebecca   to which this masterpiece is so often compared   the closeups of the actors  faces as they experience the slow dawning of the great love  that  is  not  to  be will haunt you forever .  br    br   the now  classic rc soundtrack score  with its creative and unique use of solo synthesizer  emphasizes the emotion that drips throughout like a leaky crankcase .  br    br   if i had any criticisms at all by mentioning what i consider a minor flaw  and dared to risk the wrath of the millions of fans who hold this classic so dear to their hearts   i would say that the hallmark of  runaway car   its sense of mounting sexual tension  is briefly broken by the highway scene  which now after repeated viewings seems just a bit overlong  and probably even unnecessary   to the eternal  bittersweet tale of love interrupted .  br    br   dare i advance what i perceive as the tiniest of flaws in this critically  acclaimed triumph of modern cinema   citizen kane  had its  rosebud  . . .  runaway car  should have its catchword as well . perhaps the film could have opened with an extreme closeup of judge reinhold saying something such as  a car is an extension of its owner    and the rest of the storyline could then be dedicated to parsing every syllable  subtlety and nuance of that phrase . had that plot line been done  this film could have topped  titanic  at the golden globes that year  i  m convinced .  br    br   my one regret  that i didn  t read the novel first .  
rosenstrasse is a touching story of courage in adversity . reichdeutch women find that their jewish husbands have been locked up pending deportation . one an aristocrat disowned by her family  lena fischer  finds herself among the mob as does general gudarian  s sister . but rank and privilege merit no special consideration .  br    br   nor does service to the reich as a female detainee whose husband is on the ostfront will learn . in one of the most horrifying scenes of the movie  the guards take the wedding band given by her soldier husband .  br    br   lest you think this is typical german brutishness we in america today have lady bush imperiously ordering the arrest of gold star mothers  mothers of us service  members killed in action  because their very presence is offencive . little  regrettably  has changed in the   years from der fuher to der fumbler .  br    br   fortunately the eight year old daughter ruth escapes capture .  br    br   waiting in the cold on rosenstrasse lena fischer is at first reluctant to take in ruth responding in a way that we take as typically german . even lena fisher  s brother colonel arthur von eschenbach who is aware of and opposed to the holocost cautions lena against it . but lena chooses to embrace the idea with an american rebelliousness even renaming ruth  the more aryan sounding name helga lehmann .  br    br   the siege ends favourably on rosenstrasse but lena mourns what happened to ruth after the war  years later ruth  s daughter hannah sets out in search of her mother  s past and meets   year old lena under the guise of writing a personal history of the war .  br    br   i did deem it interesting that hannah wanted so much to look up the family but never checked on the fate of her grandfather last known to have served on the ostfront .  
imagine  its  say     am  your at home  your bored  your not tired . this scenario occurred about  say  or so years back . . i turned on the tv and flicked over a few channels and found that this film was on . oh my word this is the worst film i have ever seen  a runaway car that cant be stopped  cos the brakes have been cut or something  in caning it down the freeway  whats gonna happen   this film was so bad its actually funny  i think the stunts cost about   to make  there was one instance where a baby  small child is being winched from the car by a helicopter  in an attempt to excite the viewer  a conveniently placed bridge is nearing ahead . . . this is the best bad bit of a film ever  it shows the child narrowly missing the bridge but it looks so bad  you can almost see the make of the dummy that they used  total low budget classic  cant remember the end of the film  though but i bet it was great  br    br   i doubt they will ever show this film again so i  m glad i got to see this piece of trash   
i saw this film at the toronto film festival  where it received a standing ovation  this film tells a story that to my knowledge has never been told before   namely about the rosenstrasse  a street in berlin  uprising of german gentile women who were married to jews at the end of the second world war . as such  it is a unique story  and what  s more  is the only film about the holocaust that i have ever seen that shows that there were good germans  the helping family in  anne frank  for instance was dutch  who did not support the nazis  and  in fact  had the fortitude to stand up against their own country  s immorality and brutality during the nazi regime  at the risk of their very lives . the acting is great across the board  the framing story in new york interesting and intricate  the direction from von trotta masterful in every scene  and the production values  including the gorgeous cinematography  outstanding . of course the family in new york could be speaking german . many immigrants in this country choose to speak in their native tongue with their family   a common occurrence . so that criticism is unwarranted . to say more would spoil the experience . the film is long  but i did not look at my watch once . i am hoping this film gets some distribution is north america  for not only is this film a masterpiece  but it can actually help heal any animosity people have towards the germans because of their support of hitler . if this film is playing in your area  i urge you to see it  you will be glad you did   
i have to admit that by moments i had to laugh at how bad that movie was . . . but the laughs were too few and since this whole thing was in no way a parody  it felt more like an insult to the viewer  s intelligence . the worst acting i have ever seen from any of these people . . .  
  gespenster        forms  together with  yella         and  jerichow         the gespenster  trilogy of director christian petzold  doubtless one of the creme  de  la  creme german movie directors of our time .  br    br   roughly   gespenster  tells the story of a french woman whose daughter had been kidnapped as a  years old child while the mother turned around her head for  minute in berlin  and has never been seen ever . since then  the mother keeps traveling to berlin whenever there is a possibility and searches  by aid of time  dilated photography  for girls of the age of approximately the present age of her age . as we hear later in the movie  the mother was already a lot of times convinced that she had found her daughter marie . however  this time  when she meets nina  everything comes quite different .  br    br   the movie does not bring solutions  not even part  solutions  and insofar  it is rather disappointing . we are not getting equipped either in order to decide if the mother is really insane or not  if her actual daughter is still alive or not . most disappointing is the end . after what we have witnessed in the movie  it is an imposition for the watcher that he is let alone as the auteur leaves nina alone . the simple walking away symbolizing that nothing has changed  can be a strong effect of dramaturgy  f . ex . in  umberto d .    but in  gespenster   it is displaced .  br    br   since critics have been suggesting freudian motives in this movie  let me give my own attempt why is it that similar persons do not know one another  especially not the persons that another similar person knows  this is quite an insane question  agreed  from the standpoint of aristotelian logic  according to which the notion of the individual holds . the individual is such a person that does not share any of its defining characteristics with anyone else . so  the aristotelian answer to my question is they do not know one another because their similarity is by pure change . everybody who is not insane  believes that . however  what about the case if these similar persons share other similarities which can hardly be by change  e . g . scarfs on their left under ankle or a heart  shaped birthmark under their right shoulder  blade  this is the metaphysical context out of which this movie is made  although i am not sure whether even the director has realized that . despite our modern  aristotelian world  the superstition  conserved in the mythologies of people around the globe that similar people also share parts of their individuality  and that individuality  therefore  is not something erratic  but rather diffusional  so that the borders between persons are open  such and similar believes build a strong backbone of irrational  ism despite our otherwise strongly rational thinking  a source of gespenster of the most interesting kind .  
ok first of all the video looks like it was filmed in the   s i was shocked to find out it was released in     . secondly the plot was all over the place  right off the bat the story is confusing . had there been some brief prologue or introduction the story would  ve been better . also i appreciate fantasy but this film was too much . it was bizarre and badly filmed . the scenes did not flow smoothly and the characters were odd . it was hard to follow and maybe it was the translation but it was even hard to understand . i love chinese epic films but if you  re looking for a chinese epic fantasy film i would recommend the promise  visually stunning  the plot is interesting and good character development  not this film . beware you will be disappointed .  
this isn  t another searing look at the holocaust but rather an intimate story about the events that took place on a small street in berlin and some of the people that were involved . this film starts in the present time in new york city where ruth weinstein  jutta lampe  is in mourning over the death of her husband and family members have all gathered to her side . ruth  s daughter hannah  maria schrader  slowly learns that her mother was raised by an aryan woman named lena fischer  doris schade  and so she travels to germany and locates the   year old who tells her about the events on rosenstrasse .  br    br   spoiler alert  br    br   lena talks about berlin in     where the gestapo would hold all the jewish spouses in a building on rosenstrasse street even though they are supposed to have immunity for being married to aryans and for nine days a group of women would wait outside and shout for their release . eight year old ruth  svea lohde  awaits for her mother to come out and has nowhere to go but she meets   year old lena  katja riemann  who takes her in . lena  s husband fabian  martin feifel  is also inside and eventually she tries to socialize with nazi officers to get them to do something .  br    br   this film is directed by margarethe von trotta who is making her first feature film in almost   years after working in television and while this is clearly not one of her more provocative efforts she remains one of the most revered directors in europe . this is not one of those nazi films where we view horrible acts of inhumanity to jews although we do see some severe treatment being issued out but instead this is more of a retelling of a small event that meant life and death to the people involved . this film isn  t trying to shock anyone or open the door to debates on the circumstances but what it simply wants to do is just shed a light on a small but true life event that occurred during an historical period . part of the films strength comes from its actors and there are some good performances that shine through especially by riemann and young lohde and it  s always good to see schrader  aimee  jaguar  in a pivotal role . this isn  t a great film or something that  s going to change your perspective on wwii but considering that innocent lives were put to death because of the events that took place i think that reason alone is important enough to retell this true story .  
this became a cult movie in chinese college students  though i havnt watched it until it is broadcasted in channel   uk .  br    br   full of arty giddy pretentions  the plot is mediocre and unreal the  spirit  it wants to convey is how independent artists  resist the commercisliation of music industry  and maintain their  purity of an artistic soul  and wouldnt  sell themselves for dirty money  . that is really giddy and superficial the diologue are mainly pathetic . acting is poor . sceenplay is full of art pretention . it is a fantasy movie for kids and thats all  br    br    
goebbels motivation in backing down was not explored . in the aftermath of stalingrad the reich had decided to go for  total war  . this is referred to in the film . part of this was to use women in the war effort  which germany had not previously done to any great extent . an ss massacre of women would have faced goebbels with a public relations disaster of massive proportion . his preference was to make the problem go away as quietly as possible  on the basis that the jewish men could always be rounded up later . i understand the majority survived the war .  br    br   his other problem was that the  red  berlin had never been very enthusiastically behind the nazi cause and had to be handled cautiously . again a massacre of women could have cost the nazis what mediocre level of support they had in their capital city .  br    br   it was interesting that the majority of ss uniforms showed patches which indicated that the men wearing them were not of german nationality  but were from german origins in other countries such as lithuania or latvia  
this was a waste of   minutes of my life . the acting was atrocious and the plot was ridiculous . it revolves around an evil lesbian who gets rich married men to have sex with her  and then blackmails them for money . one of the victims is a candidate for da  which is causing problems in his relationship with his wife . another is a plastic surgeon  also married  and the evil lesbian happens to seduce this guys wife too  meanwhile  the evil lesbian  s girlfriend doesn  t really like her sleeping around . it ends in a happy ending where all is forgiven . the women get naked a lot too  mostly in situations that stretch reality . bad bad bad .  
another small piece of the vast picture puzzle of the holocaust is turned face up in this docudrama about the rosenstrasse protest in berlin  an event i had not known of  that began in late february      . the details are given in an addendum that follows this review .  br    br   the film narrative sets the story of this protest within another  contemporary story that begins in new york city  in the present . here a well off  non  observant jewish woman  whose husband has just died  shocks her children and others by insisting on an extremely orthodox mourning ritual . she goes even further  demanding that her daughter  s non  jewish fianc leave the house .  br    br   the distressed daughter  hannah  maria schrader  then learns for the first time from an older cousin that during wwii  in berlin  her mother  then  years old  had been taken in and protected by an aryan woman . hannah drops everything  goes to berlin  and finds this woman  lena fischer  now   . hannah easily persuades the woman to tell her story . it all seems rather too pat .  br    br   the film thereafter improves  focusing through long flashbacks primarily on the events of     that surrounded the protest  in which the fictitious central character is the same mrs . fischer at    played magnificently by katja riemann   a baroness and accomplished pianist who is married to fabian  martin feifel   a jewish concert violinist  one of the men detained at the rosenstrasse site .  br    br   the narrative does briefly weave back to the present from time to time and also ends in new york city once again . while scenes in the present are color saturated  the     scenes are washed out  strong on blue  gray tones .  br    br   the quality of acting is generally quite good  what we might expect given the deep reservoir of talent in germany and the direction of margarethe von trotta  new german cinema  s most prominent female filmmaker  herself a former actress .  br    br   the story of the protest is told simply . only one feature is lacking that would have helped still  text notes at the end indicating the eventual outcome for those people taken into custody at rosenstrasse  an outcome that was  as the addendum below makes clear  incredibly positive .  br    br    rosenstrasse  has not fared well in the opinions of most film critics . overly long  needlessly layered  purveyor of gender stereotypes  manipulative with music so go the usual raps . it is too long . but i found in this film an austere  powerful  spontaneous and entirely convincing voice of protest from the women who kept the vigil outside the place on rosenstrasse where their jewish relatives and others were detained . i found nothing flashy  contemporary or manipulative in this depiction .  br    br   the very absence of extreme violence  no one is shot or otherwise physically brutalized  intensified my tension  which increased incrementally as the film progressed . you keep waiting for some vicious attack to begin any minute . the somberness of the film stayed with me afterward . i awoke often later in the night i saw the film  my mind filled with bleak  melancholic  chaotic images and feelings conjured by the film . for me  that happens rarely .  in german and english  . my rating      b  .  seen on          . if you  d like to read more of my reviews  send me a message for directions to my websites .  br    br   add the rosenstrasse protest swept up from their forced labor jobs in what was meant to be the final roundup in the national capital      to     jews  mostly men married to non  jewish women  were herded into rosenstrasse     a welfare office for the jewish community in central berlin .  br    br   because these jews had german relatives  many of them highly connected  adolf eichmann hoped that segregating them from other prisoners would convince family members that their loved ones were being sent to labor camps rather than to more ominous destinations in occupied poland .  br    br   normally  those arrested remained in custody for only two days before being loaded onto trains bound for the east . but before deportation of prisoners could occur in this case  wives and other relatives got wind of what was happening and appeared at the rosenstrasse address  first in ones and twos  and then in ever  growing numbers .  br    br   perhaps as many as six thousand participated in the protest  although not all at the same time . women demanded back their husbands  day after day  for a week . unarmed  unorganized  and leaderless  they faced down the most brutal forces at the disposal of the third reich .  br    br   joseph goebbels  the gauleiter  governor or district leader  of berlin  anxious to have that city racially cleansed  was also in charge of the nation  s public morale . on both counts he was worried about the possible repercussions of the women  s actions . rather than inviting more open dissent by shooting the women down in the streets and fearful of jeopardizing the secrecy of the  final solution   goebbels with hitler  s concurrence released the rosenstrasse prisoners and even ordered the return of twenty  five of them who already had been sent to auschwitz   br    br   to both hitler and goebbels  the decision was a mere postponement of the inevitable . but they were mistaken . almost all of those released from rosenstrasse survived the war . the women won an astonishing victory over the forces of destruction .  adapted from an article posted at the university of south florida website   a teacher  s guide to the holocaust .    
argh  this film hurts my head . and not in a good way .  br    br   maybe it  s just my growing hatred for the action genre  but even as a kid when i would swallow tripe like navy seals  i still regarded this film with dislike . now i utterly despise it .  br    br   take one fairly good fast  paced story . keep the title and throw the rest away . instead use some half  assesd future gladiators storyline thats so full of plot holes the whole things in danger of collapsing  why is there a rebel base in the middle of the arena  what about the cameras  why have clearly marked footage of what really happened at bakersfeild in an unguarded room    br    br   the whole film screams eighties  from the truley awful score to the goofy shiny costumes . ugh .  br    br   don  t watch this film . i know some people liked it  but some people get off on being peed on and i don  t understand them either .  
i  m always surprised about how many times you  ll see something about world war  on the german national television . you would think they don  t like to open old wounds  but there isn  t a week that goes by without a documentary or a movie about the horror and atrocities of this war . perhaps it  s a way of dealing with their past  i don  t know  but you sure can  t blame them of ignoring what happened . and it has to be said most of those documentaries are really worth a watch because they never try to gloss over the truth and the same can be said about their movies  think for instance about  der untergang  or  the downfall  as you might now it  which are also very realistic .  br    br   one of those movies is  rosenstrasse  . it tells a true story and deals with the subject of the mixed marriages during the war  even though the movie starts with a family in the usa  at the present day . after hannah  s father died  her mother all a sudden turned into an orthodox jew even though she hasn  t been very religious before . she doesn  t know where the strange behavior of her mother comes from  but as she starts digging in her mother  s troubled childhood  hannah understands how little she has ever known about her mother  s past .  br    br   the fact that this movie deals with the subject of the mixed marriages during the nazi regime is already quite surprising . for as far as i know  there hasn  t been another movie that deals with this subject .  for those who didn  t know this yet being married to a so  called pure aryian man or woman meant for many jews that they weren  t immediately sent to one of the concentration camps  but that they had to work in a factory  . but it does not only tell something about the problems of the mixed marriages  it also gives a good idea of how these people were often seen by their own parents and relatives . how difficult it sometimes was for them during the nazi regime and how these people  most of the time women  did everything within their power to free their men  once they were captured and locked away in for instance the rosenstrasse . . .  br    br   the acting is really good and the story is very well written  although the way it was presented in the beginning didn  t really do it for me  and that  s exactly the only part that you  ll get to see in the trailer  . perhaps it  s just me  but i would have left out a big part of what happens in the present day . at least of the part that is situated in the usa  because the part where hannah goes to berlin and talks to someone who knows more about her mother  s past  definitely works .  br    br   if you are interested in everything that has something to do with the second world war  and if you aren  t necessarily looking for a lot of action shots  than this is definitely a movie you should see . this isn  t a movie in which you  ll see any battles or gunfights  but it certainly is an interesting movie  because it gives you an idea about an aspect of the war only little is known of . i give it an     .  
i am a big fan of stephen king . i loved the running man . so obviously i was very excited that someone had made a film of it . and when a local network showed the film  i was in heaven . i was all ready for a night of fun   br    br   the first indicator that something was wrong was when i noticed that someone had cast arnold schwarzenegger . i could simply not believe that a man who got famous for films filled with runnin  an  shootin  could play a more cunning part  as was described in the book . i still was convinced that this would be a good film  however . who knows  maybe arnold had some hidden talents   br    br   well  he didn  t . i soon found out that the only reason he was even cast was because someone had re  written the entire story to make it about fightin  an  shootin  . yup  it was a standard arnold  film hero is done wrong  hero solves problems by flexing his mighty muscles and scaring everyone away and hero gets the girl .  br    br   i was stunned . this is not what the book said at all . i know that books can  t be put on screen literally  but this didn  t even have ties to the book . stephen king should have openly denounced any affiliation with the film and he should have forbidden using the title the running man for this shameless waste of film . i don  t say it often  but this film was bad . if i weren  t at home watching  i  d have tossed rotten tomatoes at the screen . once again bad .  br    br    note that i used  someone  a lot . i did this because i  m sure a lot of people are ashamed to have worked on this and i don  t want to embarrass them even further by naming them here   
in rosenstrasse  margarethe von trotta blends two stories to create a vibrant tapestry of love and courage . the film depicts a family drama of estrangement between a mother and her daughter  and the story of german women who staged a protest on rosenstrasse to free their jewish husbands from certain extermination . in addition to the dramatization of historical events  the focus of the film is on the saving of a child from the holocaust by a german and the result of the child  s experience of losing her mother . while ms . von trotta shows that the courage of a small number of germans made a difference  she does not use it to excuse german society . indeed  she shows how in the midst of torture and extermination  the wealthy artists and intellectuals of german high society went on about their lives and parties  oblivious to the suffering .  br    br   rosenstrasse opens in new york as a jewish widow ruth weinstein  jutta lampe  decides to sit shiva  a seven  day period of mourning that takes place following a funeral in which jewish family members devote full attention to remembering and mourning the deceased . when her daughter hannah  maria schrader   is forbidden to receive phone calls from her fianc luis  fedja van huet   a non  jew  hannah questions why her mother has suddenly decided to follow an orthodox tradition that she previously rejected . when ruth coldly rejects her cousin  hannah questions her and learns about a woman named lena who took ruth in as a child when the latter  s mother was deported and murdered by the nazis  and she vows to find lena and discover the secret of her mother  s past .  br    br   her quest takes her to berlin where she finds lena  doris schade   now ninety years old  and interviews her on the pretext that she is a journalist researching certain aspects of the holocaust . with unfailing memory  lena tells her story of how  as a young    year old woman  katja reimann   she searched for her husband  jewish pianist fabian israel fischer  martin feifel   who disappeared and was presumed to have been imprisoned despite the protection normally given jews in mixed marriages . lena  in a radiant performance by reimann  discovers that her husband and other jews are being held prisoner in a former factory on the rosenstrasse .  br    br   standing together in the freezing night  german women whose husband are missing congregate outside the building  their numbers growing daily until they reach one thousand shouting  give us back our husbands  . lena finds ruth  svea lohde   a young girl whose mother is in the building . she takes care of her  protecting her from the gestapo and raising her after her mother is killed . lena comes from an aristocratic german family and her brother  recently returned from stalingrad  is a wehrmacht officer . after being refused help from her father to free fabian she enlists the aid of her brother who tells a fellow officer   i know what they do to the jews . i saw it  . given his support  she is bold enough to bypass channels and go to the top where her beauty and charm prove irresistible for the minister of culture  joseph goebbels  a known womanizer . while this fictional part of the film has been criticized as degrading to the women protesters  it is a historical fact that goebbels was very active in making the decisions affecting rosenstrasse .  br    br   the director margarethe von trotta  an activist  feminist  and intellectual  is no stranger to political drama . she directed a film about socialist rosa luxembourg and marianne and julianne  a story of the relationship between two sisters  one of whom resorts to political violence to accomplish her liberal objectives . in rosenstrasse  a film she worked on for eight years  she had to make compromises  adding the present day fictional element in order to have her film produced . that it works so well is a tribute to ms . von trotta  s artistry and the beautiful screenplay by pamela katz whose father was a refugee from leipzig . the events at rosenstrasse give the lie to germans  who say   there was nothing we could do  . now von trotta has shown the opposite to be true  that something could be done to resist the nazis . it is tragic that the example did not catch on .  
i read the running man from kings books as bachman and i felt for the main character john and his family . this movie could have been so much more . the trouble  it was set during the big action movie craze . i watched the movie and was in pain during the whole thing . i felt nothing for the character and less for his cause . yes it had funny scenes  or laughable  though i think that it did not save the movie in my eyes . if you read the book you can feel the climax and the fire in the heart of john as he gets his final revenge .  br    br   i give this movie a low number . it may not have been this low if i had not read the book .  
berlin  born in     margarethe von trotta was an actress and now she is a very important director and writer . she has been described  perhaps even unfairly caricatured  as a director whose commitment to bringing a woman  s sensibility to the screen outweighs her artistic strengths .  rosenstrasse   which has garnered mixed and even strange reviews  the new york times article was one of the most negatively aggressive reviews i  ve ever read in that paper  is not a perfect film . it is a fine movie and a testament to a rare coalescing of successful opposition to the genocidal nazi regime by  of all peoples  generically powerless germans demonstrating in a berlin street .  br    br   co  writer von trotta uses the actual rosenstrasse incident in the context of a young woman  s search for information about her mother  s never disclosed life as a child in the german capital during world war ii .  br    br   the husband of ruth weinstein  jutta lampe  has died and in a surprising reversion to an orthodox jewish lifestyle apparently hitherto in long abeyance  ruth not only  sits shivah   the jews  week  long mourning ritual  but she insists on following the strict proscriptions of her faith . her apartment in new york city reflects the affluence secured by her deceased spouse  s labors . her american  born daughter  hannah  maria schrader  and her brother are a bit put  off by mom  s assumption of restrictive orthodox jewish practices but they pitch in . the mother coldly rejects the presence of hannah  s fiance  a non  jew named luis  fedja van huet  . a domestic crisis might well erupt as ruth warns that she  ll disown hannah if she doesn  t give up doting  handsome luis . stay tuned .  br    br   a cousin arrives to pay her respects and also drops clues to an interested hannah about a wartime mystery about mom  s childhood in berlin . hannah is intrigued  she queries her mom who resolutely refuses to discuss that part of her life . this is very  very realistic . i grew up with parents who fled nazi germany just in time and i knew many children whose families  in whole but usually in part  escaped the holocaust . those days were simply not discussed .  br    br   so hannah  having learned that a german gentile woman saved ruth  s life  traipses off to berlin hoping to find the savior still breathing . were she not  this would have been a very short film . but ruth  pretending to be a historian  locates   year  old lena fischer  doris schade   now a widow . as the happy  to  be  interviewed but shaken up by repressed memories lena tells her story  the scenes shift fairly seamlessly between present day berlin and the war  time capital .  br    br   the young lena of      katja riemann  was a fine pianist married to a jewish violinist  fabian fischer  martin feifel  . with the advent of the nazi regime he was required to use  israel  as a middle name just as jewish women had to add  sarah  to their names  incidentally i wish imdb had not given fabian  s name on its characters list with the false  israel  included  it simply perpetuates a name applied by nazis as a mark of classification and degradation  .  br    br   while germany deported most of its jewish population to concentration camps  those married to  aryans  were exempted . for a time . until     when the regime decided to take them too  most were men a minority were jewish women married to non  jews  . the roundup is shown here in all its frightening intensity .  br    br   the young lena tries to locate her husband . all she and many other women know is that they  re confined in a building on rosenstrasse . the crowd of anxious women builds up  some piteously seeking help from german officers who predictably refuse aid and also verbally abuse them   jew  loving whore  being one appellation  . as a subplot lena more or less adopts eight  year  old ruth who hid when her mother was seized  remember  ruth is now sitting shiva in manhattan  . the child ruth is fetchingly portrayed by svea lohde .  br    br   through increasingly angry protestations the women finally prevail . the men  and a handful of women  are released . as in the real story the nazis gave in  one of the rare  almost unprecedented times when the madmen acknowledged defeat in their homicidal agenda  another was the termination of the euthanasia campaign to rid the reich of mental defectives and chronic invalids but that  s another story  .  br    br   von trotta builds up the tension and each woman  s story is both personal and universal . hannah continues to prod the aging lena who slowly  one gathers  begins to suspect she  s not dealing with an ordinary historian but rather someone with a need to learn about the girl she rescued  the child whose mother was murdered .  br    br   the contrasts between rosenstrasse of      a set  and the street today in a bustling  rebuilt  unified berlin provide a recurring thematic element . today  s berlin bears the heritage but not the scars of a monstrous past . von trotta makes that point very well .  br    br   the main actors are uniformly impressive . lena  s husband while strong is also shown as totally helpless in the snare of confinement with a likely outlook of deportation  which is shown to have been clearly understood by all characters  including the local police and military  as a one  way trip to oblivion  . the older ruth is catalytically forced to confront demons long suppressed in her happy new york life . hannah is very believable as a young woman whose father  s death triggers a need to discover her family  s past . these things happen  although the times  s critic appears not to know that  .  br    br   von trotta  s hand is sure but not perfect . a scene with goebbels at a soiree enjoying lena  s violin playing is unnecessary and distractive . the suggestion that she may have gone to bed with the propaganda minister  the most fanatical top  level hitler worshiper  to save her husband detracts from the wondrous accomplishment of the demonstrating spouses and relatives . most of the german officers come from central casting and are molded by the erich von stroheim  copy and paste  school of teutonic nastiness . but that  s understandable .  br    br   the rosenstrasse story has been the subject of books and articles and some claim it  s a paradigm case for arguing that many more jews could have been saved had more germans protested . unfortunately that argument is nonsense . the german women who occupied rosenstrasse were deeply and understandably self  interested . most germans were located on a line somewhere between passive and virulent anti  semitism . that  s why the rosenstrasse protest was virtually singular . whether one buys or rejects the goldenhagen thesis that most germans were willing accomplices of the actual murderers it just can not be denied that pre  nazi endemic anti  semitism erupted into a virulent strain from     on .  br    br   the elderly lena remarks that what was accomplished by the women was  a ray of light  in an evil time . most of the men and women sprung from a near death trip survived the war . so  a ray of light  it was and von trotta  s movie is a beacon of illumination showing that some were saved by the courage of largely ordinary women and for every life saved an occasion for celebration exists . and always will .  br    br        
spoiler alert  br    br   soooo  arnie  s really a good guy  but after an incident with some fighting in a helicopter and some disobeying of orders  he  s sent to jail  or rather some sort of work camp  . he escapes  but after a short while he  s caught once again . this time ends up in a freakish reality show in which he  s supposed to run for a while from a bunch of tough guys with different themes  and eventually die . but we all know arnie  and we all know that he  s tougher than even the toughest of tough guys .  br    br   i really wanted to like this movie  being an arnie  fan and all . however   the running man  contains too many flaws that really annoy the crap out of me . e . g . the reconstruction of arnie  s fight inside the helicopter  where the shocked audience is showed a short summary of the incident  complete with     different camera angles . this means that the military helicopter in which arnie flew was equipped with almost   cameras filming the crew members  one of which  inside  the eye of one of the crew members arnie beats .  br    br   there are other flaws also  and the plot  which in theory seems to be very interesting and innovative  works for a while  then it sort of creates a pool of stupidness and unrealism in which it drowns .  br    br   the acting can  t really be said to be anything better than sub par  with arnie in the leading role  doing an average arnie performance . the rest of the cast get by without being especially good or bad .  br    br   the special effects are ok  without being impressive .  br    br   rating      
rosenstrasse is more an intimate film than one of epic proportions  which could have kept away many film goers looking for a pianist similar plot . fortunately  von trotta  a good screenwriter  opts for a feminist peep to an era too much illustrated on its colorful exterior  but too little analyzed in terms of intimacy and from the point of view of ordinary aryan german rather from a jewish standpoint . rosentrasse finds its strength in these unsung burdens of people trapped within historical circumstances of which they emerge as victims . the pace of the film is introspective  poignantly slow  meditative . besides  the characters are so vivid while transitions between generations and the passing of time has been deftly crafted . rosenstrasse is not a masterpiece  and some narrative flaws are well discerned . another fault lies on a trivial cinematography unable to capture the intensity of the internal drama lived by the characters . nevertheless  this film is worth seeing . finally  rosenstrasse is part of the last trend in german films dealing with the ghosts of a nightmarish past  trend that includes such excellent films as nowhere in africa  and recently  the controversial downfall . i would recommend this film to those who know how to read beyond the images .  
i am probably one of the few who actually read stephen king  s book  the one this movie was based on . after reading this excellent work  i could not wait to see the movie version of it . after viewing the movie  i was totally disappointed . the only thing that this movie has in common with the book is the title and the names of the characters . in the book  schwarzenegger  s character is put on a game show . the main object is to survive . but he  s not in an arena . he  s set loose in the city and has to escape the game show  s  i guess you  d call them  villians  who bear absolutely no resemblence to the movie characters . this premise built much tension and suspension and ended greatly with the climax . the movie was absolute garbage . there was no cinematic quality to it . i totally respect arnold schwarzenegger as an actor  but he messed up with this one .  
does anyone know  where i can see or download the  what i like about you  season  episodes in the internet  because i would die to see them and here in germany there won  t be shown on tv . please help me . i wanna see the season  episodes badly . i already have seen episode  and episode   on youtube . but i couldn  t find more episodes of season  . is there maybe a website where i can see the episodes  because i  ve read some comments in forums from germany and there were people which had already seen the season  episodes even though they haven  t been shown at tv in germany . i am happy about every information i can get . thanks kate  
maybe television will be as brutal one day . maybe big brother was only the first step in the direction stephen richard bachmann king described the end point of . but enough about that . if i spend too much words talking about the serious background topic of this movie i do exactly what the producers hoped by choosing this material . it  s the same with the  th day . no matter  how primitive the film is  it provokes a discussion about its topic  which serves the producers as publicity . let  s not be taken in by that . the social criticism that is suggested by that plot summary is only an alibi to make it possible to produce a speculative  violent movie  more for video sale than for cinema .  br    br   i didn  t read the book . i don  t dare criticising stephen king without having read him  but when i saw the film i thought they couldn  t make such a terrible film out of a good book in a typical     s set with     s music and some minor actors arnold schwarzenegger finds himself as a policeman running away from killers within a cruel tv show . the audience is cheering .  br    br   together with predator  this is definitely schwarzenegger  s most stupid movie .  stars out of   .  
what i like about spoilers teenager holly tyler  amanda bynes  goes to live with older sister valerie  jennie garth  to avoid moving to japan with her father but she doesn  t know the half of the wacky things that will happen to her from now on  and not only to her  but to her sister  her friends gary  wesley jonathan  and tina  alison munn   boyfriend henry  michael mcmillian   crush vince  nick zano   valerie  s boyfriend jeff  simon rex   first boss  then firefighter then husband  vic  dan cortese   annoying colleague lauren  leslie grossman  and second boss peter    if you don  t have a funny bone in your body  please skip this if you like only veeeery sophisticated comedy this isn  t for you if you like a funny  sometimes touching show with two hot chicks who can act in the lead  and none other than the fabulous  mary cherry  from popular  leslie grossman  in the main cast   then what the hell are you waiting for  you  re welcome to casa de tyler  what i like about you              .  
this was the worst movie i have ever seen billy zane in . i understand that this movie was mainly to showcase the new comers  who did pretty good for newbies  but over all  the movie was not believable .  br    br   with all of the gunfire  you would think the police would have intervened . even the coin being a bug on sean was stupid . the way sean suddenly realizes the coin is the bug  was not realistic .  br    br   looks like this movie was slapped together fast . poor job . get a better writer .  br    br   the count down to the end was not in sync with anything . it took longer to fight . and what a coincidence that each time billy was going to blast sean  he  d be out of bullets . once  i can believe  but not twice .  br    br   actually  billy  s character was goofy . it was so stupid when sean punches him out at the end . it was like a comedy . bad  bad  bad   
i love this show . i watch all the reruns every day even though i have seen all of them like  time s each .  br    br   it  s about two sisters  holly  amanda bynes  and val  jennie garth   who live in new york . holly goes to live with val when their dad is transferred to japan . val has the perfect life  she has a boyfriend and a perfect apartment of the upper east side .  br    br   the show basically shows all the problems vall and holly go through . the main problem is guys but also is about being responsible and other life choices .  br    br   holly is   and is a total free spirit while val is the complete opposite . she is the organized has to have a plan to do anything kind of person .  br    br   the other characters are henry  vince  gary  lauren  and tina .  
it is unbelievable that a script as clich and completely absurd could make any screen even the small one . the dialogue in this movie makes catwoman seem like a high culture classic . billy zane plays the bad ass harmonica playing  elvis impersonating  gunslinging  martial arts master who gambles on the life of a down  an  out former football player turned gambling addict played by the winner of nbc  s craptastic show  next action star .  his performance is as cold as ice and not in a cool way . the  film  takes place in vegas  and since people play poker there the writers felt it was a perfect setting for a movie about a guy trying to survive   hours against an omnipresent  wealthy gambler who has offered his target   .  million if he can make it through the day . and so the hunt ensues . a hunt reeking with unimpressive explosions  construction yard settings  shoddy cinematography  and one  liners containing the word  bet  or  gamble .  the female winner is also tossed in the mix  but for what reason i have no idea . oh but don  t worry  nas  fans the losers make their memorable cameos as well . the surprise ending will knock your socks off if you love predictability or plagiarism . joel silver should reevaluate his decision to sell out even more . i wish he could give me those two hours of my life back .  
i  ve seen this film more than once now  and there  s always someone complaining about the  obvious construction  of the plot afterwards . but then  this is part of petzold  s game he plays along with the rules of genre .  br    br   it  s very nice  how the highly improbable story of how the two girls  timoteo  hummer  meet  is again mirrored in another  even more improbable story  that the girls make up for a casting . this film is a journey between fact and fiction  it  s more about potentials  things that might have happened in the past or might be happening in the future  than it is about actual ongoings . it  s a reverie  sorts of  so apt enough there are a lot of motives  freud might have found interesting for his dream analysis  like all the  doppelganger   constellations .  br    br   also  i think   gespenster  might be interesting to be watched in comparison to current asian cinema of the uncanny petzold  s everyday urban architecture also feels haunted in an unobtrusive  strangely familiar way . this film is not about the obvious . to describe it as the story of two girls who meet and eventually become friends and lovers  or as the story of an orphaned mother  who searches europe for her lost daughter  clearly doesn  t say much about the nature of  gespenster  at all .  
warning spoilers following . superb recreation of the base in antarctica where the real events of the film took place . other than that  libelous   scandalous  filmed in canada presumably by a largely canadian crew and cast . i caught the last half of this film recently on global television here in canada . nothing much to say other than how thoroughly appalled i was at what a blatant piece of american historical revisionist propaganda it is and starring susan sarandon of all people  i can only assume that canadian born director roger spottiswoode was coerced to make the usaf the heroes of the film when in fact the real rescuers where a small private airline based in calgary kenn borek air .  
i have just started watching the tv series  what i like about you  and i must say that is a joy to watch . i always like to see new shows do well considering a lot of shows go off before you really get a feel for them . i have watched amanda bynes since  all that  she is truly a funny girl  what is the best about her comedy is that its so natural and what i mean about that is  its something that a person could here there best friend saying  its not rehearsed .  br    br   i just recently started watching the show and have fell in love . i am just watching re  runs as of now but am looking forward to the next season . all the characters in the show give something to the whole story line . its nice to see some old face from other shows i enjoyed watching in the past such as  jennie garth from         leslie grossman from  popular   and wesley jonathan from  city guys .  the new character are very talented as well  nick zano has that charm the makes you love him even when he is doing something wrong to holly  bynes  .  br    br   overall this show has the right ingredients to be successful  i look forward to watching it grow .  
hah  so this is the movie that the  next action stars  were getting into . well i  m glad that i didn  t participate and didn  t win . . .  br    br   isn  t it funny how one can just look at the first   seconds    and make up ones mind about a movie  i mean  come on  just look at those titles   i watched this movie  or part of this  teleplay  since it was produced for tv and we couldn  t bear to watch the whole thing  one evening while doing my military service and the audience with me was the typical hodge  podge of average guys that once in a while watch series like las vegas just for the girls in the show . so the bar wasn  t really high  the most watched movie in my group was girl next door  and it wasn  t because of the great script d . but this movie  s total lack of originality  acting  scripting  and just about everything else that makes a movie good made it pretty easy to switch channel to las vegas  or was it csi  don  t remember . . .  without any complaints by the rest of the group . and that is rare    for heavens sake  don  t by this movie  if it  s on tv  then yes  watch it . and contemplate on it . my conclusion  well  since joel silver has indeed produced some of the best action  films out there  die hard  matrix   to name some  i can only say that producers don  t give the film it  s quality  they provide money for the directors . and to sell this movie just because it  s a joel silver movie is just a desperate attempt to conceal the obvious flaws of the crew who really made it .  
my mom and i have just recently become addicted to this show  laughing our butts off  i  ve only seen about   episodes  and i am disappointed that i didn  t pay attention to this hilarious series before they were canceled  the story line is very funny  the characters really have great personalities  or  not so great  but they  re still funny   . i tivo every episode of what i like about you . amanda bynes and jennie garth  as well as all of the cast  never leave me bored while watching  there is some unsuitable language for children and some sexual content  but with a parental guide near  you shouldn  t have too much problems . there is some sort of  friends  type of relationship that attracts me to this show . i really enjoy it .  
after watching many of the  next action star  reality tv eps tivo taped this gawd  awful tripe for me . for some bizarre reason  and i only have myself to blame  i watched the whole thing  hoping that there would be something unique in the entire movie . after so much hype about joel silver  s  midas touch  with action flicks  he might want to make sure he bones up on his alchemy .  br    br   first  the only redeeming value of the entire film was billy zane  and even he couldn  t lift the slipshod writing out of the crapper . having said that  zane  s performance falters about    rds of the way through  as he doesn  t even seem to know what else to do other than look smug .  br    br   can  t blame him here  though . the writing  quite frankly  sucked . let  s take ideas from  rat race    enemy of the state    terminator    midnight run  and any bad gambling film you can think of and simply rehash it . and who  s brilliant idea was it to have two bridge chase sequences in a row   br    br   sean carrigan  the  man of the hour  of  the next action star  shows all of the strengths and weaknesses the casting directors mention during the entire run of the series . a one  note johnny  sean plays the dumb good looking jock very well  but struggles with shouldering the weight of the film . quite frankly  we never quite seem to care about whether he lives or dies by about mid  way through  as carrigan fails to provide a reason for the audience to even like him . his dumb  but  lucky routine gets old as there really isn  t anything about the character to root for .  br    br   but carrigan is a dream compared to the wooden  rigid corinne van ryck de groot . did howard fine really tell her to pretend to be a terminator for the first half of the film  i don  t think so . i kept expecting her to quote arnie . her character  performance  can be compared only to the dramatic depths of  freddy got fingered   though not nearly as well  developed . the camera loves her in dark  shadowy limousines  but in the harsh light of day her demeanor sucks all energy off the screen . jeanne bauer showed more natural life in her five minute bit part than corinne showed at any part of her screen time .  br    br   ultimately  sean has the rugged good looks to provide a good lead in an ensemble cast  but shouldn  t have been left to do this one solo . it was simply too big of a task for him .  next action star  colleague jared elliot may or may not have had better luck with some more dynamic characterization  but it  s hard to tell given jeff welch  s lame script . someone should take welch  s imac away from him before he hurts himself or anyone else . and finally  van ryck de groot simply was outclassed and way out of her reach  even for complete shlock like this .  br    br   joel silver should be ashamed .  
  what i like about you  is definitely a show that i couldn  t wait to see each day . amanda bynes is such an excellent actress and i grew up watching her show  the amanda show .  she  s a very funny person and seems to be down to earth .  holly  is such a like  able person and has an  out  there  personality . i enjoyed how she always seemed to turn things around and upside down  so she messed herself up at times . but that  s what made the show so great .  br    br   i especially loved the show when the character  vince  came along . nick zano is very hot and funny  as well as  gary   wesley jonathan . the whole cast was great  each character had their own personality and charm . jennie garth  allison munn  and leslie grossman were all very interesting . i especially loved  lauren   she  s the best  she helped make the show extra funny and you never know what she  s gonna do or say next  overall the show is really nice but the reason i didn  t give it a   was because there  s no more new episodes and because the episodes could  ve been longer and more deep .  
to heighten the drama of this sudsy maternity ward story  it  s set in a special ward for  difficult cases .  the main story is loretta young  s she  s on leave from a long prison stretch for murder . will the doctors save her baby at the cost of her life  or heed her husband  s plea for the opposite  melodrama and sentiment are dominant  and they  re not the honest sort  to say the least . for example  just to keep things moving  this hospital has a psycho ward next door to the maternity ward  and lets a woman with a hysterical pregnancy wander about stealing babies .  br    br   there are just enough laughs and sarcasm for this to be recognizable as a warners film  mostly from glenda farrell  who swigs gin from her hot  water bottle while she waits to have twins that  to her chagrin  she finds there  s now a law against selling . an example of her repartee  be careful .  farrell  it  s too late to be careful .  aline macmahon is of course wonderfully authoritative as the chief nurse  but don  t expect her to be given a dramatic moment .  br    br   the main theme of the film is that the sight of a baby turns anyone to mush . even given the obvious limitations  this film should have been better than it is .  
the show is about two sisters living together . holly being the younger one has some teenage problems on the other hand her sister val has job  boy friend  fianc problems like most of the women on the planet . they try to support each other they make mistakes sometimes but they don  t give up and continue . and the show is also about friendship . the priorities in life . i loved this show so much . it is funny and the actors are so good . i am really sad that the show is over . i still watch the reruns time to time  amanda bynes is very talented . jenny garth may be new to comedy but she plays really well . she is one of the actresses i like watching . i like vince and holly  s relationship they are very natural . gary is a natural talent and makes you laugh each time he shows up . with tina holly found a real friend and i really like them hanging out . lauren character is so funny and she is a natural talent . i would like to see her more . this show really takes you in and makes you laugh . i wish the show hasn  t been over .  
many of the lead characters in hideo gosha  s     film  hitokiri   manslayer aka  tenchu    heaven  s punishment  were actual historical figures  in  western  name  order format   ryoma sakamoto  hampeita takechi  shimbei tanaka  izo okada      anenokoji . the name  hitokiri   a historical term  refers to a group of four super  swordsmen who carried out numerous assassinations of key figures in the ruling tokugawa shogunate in the mid      s under the orders of takechi  the leader of the  loyalist   i . e . ultra  nationalist  pro  emperor  faction of the tosa clan . what was this struggle about  sad to say  you won  t find out in this film .  brilliant history lesson  indeed   br    br   no  gosha is much more interested in showing you the usual bloody slicing and dicing and  at absurd length  the inner torment of the not  very  bright killer izo okada than in revealing actual history . sakamoto  for example  was someone of historical significance  considered to be the father of the imperial japanese navy . the closest gosha comes to providing a history lesson is the scene in which sakamoto  whom takechi considers a traitor to the loyalist cause  comes to takechi  s mansion to try to sway him ideologically . he begins by talking about the international political situation  with foreign warships in japan  s ports and a japan that is too weak militarily to defend against them . want to know more  sorry . gosha cuts off this potentially fascinating lecture in mid sentence    . so much for informing his audience about a turning point in japanese history .  br    br   the film left me in utter confusion about the aims of the two sides in this struggle . for the two and a half centuries that the shogunate held central power in japan  it was an institution dedicated to preventing social change  to preserving the feudal relations of society . it was fearful of outside contamination  both ideological and technological . in keeping with this spirit  it outlawed firearms  those instruments of  leveling  in europe and the americas  with which a peasant could have stood up to a samurai . throughout this period  the emperor was nothing more than a spiritual figurehead .  br    br   but  in the towns  which stood in neutral zones between the feudal fiefdoms  a new class of merchants  landlords and craftsmen was developing   the class known in europe by its french name  the bourgeoisie . inevitably  as this new class gained strength  it chafed against the many confines of feudal society . as in europe  the king  emperor  became the central figure in the bourgeoisie  s struggle for power against the feudal aristocracy . but a political leadership does not always fully understand the interests of the class it serves . when the outside world arrived with a bang in      in the form of u . s . admiral perry  s  black ships   the ruling elite of japan was thrown into a crisis . their military was no match for these foreigners . also  they had heard about the havoc the british and french imperialists were wreaking in china . what should japan do to save itself from the fate of its weak neighbor  surprisingly  some elements within the usually isolationist shogunate were inclined to open trade with the foreigners in order to obtain some of their advanced technology . this is the point of view represented  just barely  in the film by sakamoto . on the other hand  the emperor  loyal ultra  nationalists  represented by takechi  believed they could keep out the foreigners by force  if only they could prevent the other faction from  selling out the country .   sound familiar   thus  the assassination of key shogunate figures is in order   and away we go .  br    br   takechi  s motivations were  for me  the film  s biggest puzzle . gosha suggests that he is fighting mainly for his personal advancement rather than for the loyalist cause . can we take this to represent the tenor of the loyalists as a whole   do you care    br    br   several reviewers have compared this film favorably with  goyokin   which gosha made in the same year . but  where  goyokin  is a crackling  suspenseful  adventure yarn  with a hero worthy of sympathy   hitokiri  is plodding  nowhere near as compelling and lacks such a hero . sakamoto could have been this film  s hero but we are not allowed to know him   nor what he stands for   well enough for him to achieve that status .  br    br   in view of his wonderful scores for five previous kurosawa films  masaru sato  s score here was very disappointing  sounding like something rejected from a  bonanza  episode .  br    br   barry freed  
what i like about you is one of those series you need to see but aren  t sure you would see  the beginning is cool and its sucks you into the series just for fun  the second part i season    which are more stale  they come and go in what you want . what happens with many series is that they don  t end with something special because the second part of the series always goes down into the drain  this one also somewhat did  the third part is the one to spoil and ruin the whole series  usually  but it doesn  t  this ending is perfect for the series  it fits perfect  actually i was pretty angry about all these guys in val  s life  actually i wanted to end with jeff in the end  but later on it changed  they chose to take vic into the series after almost  seasons without him  and that was the biggest surprise and also what made the series go on top .  br    br   see it many times the series is actually very cool just don  t expect the second part to be that good it isn  t but the third part does what was needed and made the series to one that was worth the whole thing  i am happy to say i was glad and happy about the series and now i will go over to see two guys a girl and a pizza place  when i have seen the whole series i will be back . . .  
wow . this movie bored the pants off me when i saw it . bland  pointless and unmoving .  br    br   apparently  ash and co . can travel through time with the help of  the spirit of the forest    princess mononoke  much    there  they meet a dorky kid named sam  and the  plot  begins .  br    br   so tom  ash  and huck  sam  get high with nature  become hippies and try to free celebi  the  spirit   from some weirdo hunter guy . i don  t even know what else went on . it all went by in a blur . ash  s friends were hardly in it  and all the fight scenes were boring .  br    br   after saving the day  ash and his infamous friends  must return to their time  while watching sam float away with celebi  that scene was just creepy . o  o  then  after returning to their time  ash learns that his new friend is actually his rival  s grandpa . and i think that  s it . pretty retarded isn  t it  if you love your children  you won  t expose them to this .   out of   .   
while i would say i enjoy the show  i expected something completely different from when i first saw  what i like about you  i expected to find something along the lines of  all that   i am not sure if it is going on anymore  but i have to say i do like the show and while i don  t classify it as a breakthrough show  it is very charming and i do like the chemistry between the characters as well  including the supporting cast   br    br   i would definitely say that it is great to see wesley jonathan back on the screen because i really loved him in city guy . i had also seen the woman who plays valerie  s friend in popular and while i think that was an okay show  i do not really like her character in this show because she  s just not my cup of tea but she rounds it out pretty well  
the movie seemed to appeal me because of the new type of pokemon celebi . but the plot was out of course and didn  t have as an interest as the other movies . it was a waste of money and time . the same corny humor and cliche bad guys . the movie was of no use to make if you wanted to make pokemon famous . the movie should better not associated with animes such as dragonballz  digimon  or yu  gi  oh . the drawing and settings are of no level rising to the standards of original anime . it is a shame even to talk about this movie . i bet pokemon fans will be disappointed with the outcome of the movie and give up on pokemon . digimon is more of an anime and doesn  t fall anywhere close to pokemon . it  s second movie is coming out late     .  
though cher and cage are the focal points of this story  gardenia and dukakis are good counterparts for them  this is where loretta and ronny will be in   years  still in love . the whole cast does a nice job from aiello to john mahoney  it shows a real slice of life . though i saw this long ago  i am glad it finally catapulted cage to the place where he was recognized in hollywood for his talent . from the music to the scenes at the opera to the kitchen table arguments  this is a very entertaining movie .  
not one of the better pokemon movies .  br    br   two legendary pokemon come into the story . you do get to see how strong celebi can be  though he turns evil first .  br    br   suicune also makes an appearance  he didn  t seem that powerful .  br    br   the marauder didn  t have many strong pokemon at all  except for that taranitar  some fight scenes with his pokemon may have made it better .  br    br   ash and pikachu meet the much younger professor oak  though they don  t realise it . misty i was thinking had it at the end but she didn  t get close . i saw this in the credits .  br    br   don  t expect much here  the worst of the series so far .  
this is the kind of film for a snowy sunday afternoon when the rest of the world can go ahead with its own business as you descend into a big arm  chair and mellow for a couple of hours . wonderful performances from cher and nicolas cage  as always  gently row the plot along . there are no rapids to cross  no dangerous waters  just a warm and witty paddle through new york life at its best . a family film in every sense and one that deserves the praise it received .  
this movie is rated a classic on sentiment not on any quality of movie  making . it moves from the unlikely to the unbelievable  from the unrealistic to the ludicrous .  br    br   the unbelievable plot revolves around an attempt by two british soldiers and a hindu gofer to rescue a third soldier who has been captured by insurgent indians . in the later scene we see a full regiment with drum and bagpipes marching into an ambush . in the british army  a sergeant does not order up a rescue attempt  and if you get past that  he does not attempt it with only one other soldier and an indian servant when there is a full regiment on hand . the indian insurgents are so incredibly inept it is laughable . . . there are hundreds of them but they can  t hold their prisoner or kill the two rescuers  of course not . at one point we see the british soldiers throwing blocks of stone down from the battlements at the insurgents  who are scattered around the mountainside in ambush . . . one would have to have an eggplant for a brain to think this would do any damage . after cary grant as the rescued prisoner is shot  he lies on the floor looking around at the water boy . . . hardly the actions of someone who has been shot in the back . the water boy bravely blows a bugle  which comes from nowhere  to sound the alarm . . . this he does by standing up high on a wall so he can be seen and shot by the bad guys  and we shed a tear as he keeps trying to sound more notes as he is repeatedly shot and the bugle call breaks up into feeble squawks . . . instead of blowing the bugle while hiding behind cover as anybody with half a brain would do . this scene has deservedly been parodied in comedy sketches . if they wanted to make a buster keaton comedy  they should have hired keaton and done it better .  
either or  i love the suspension of any formulaic plot in this movie . i have re  visited it many times and it always holds up . a little too stylized for some but i fancy that any opera lover will love it . norman jewison  a fellow canadian  takes enormous chances with his movies and his casting and it nearly always pays off in movies that are off centre and somehow delicious  as this one is . i have often wondered at the paucity of cher  s acting roles  whether she has chosen to minimize this part of her life or she does not get enough good roles to chew on . i have found her to be a superb actress who can retreat into a role  as in this particular one or be loud and daring and fierce as in  mask  . i found the comedic strokes broad at times  a hair salon called  cinderella   but this was the whole intent of both the writer and director . nicolas page plays the angst ridden tenor of opera  all extravagant gestures  at one point demanding a knife so as to slit his own throat . the brooklyn scenes are magical  this is a brooklyn under moonlight  romanticized and dramatic  just like opera . all in all a very satisfying film not to everyone  s taste by a long shot  i loved the ending  everyone brought together like a greek chorus  every part subtly nuanced and blending with the others  the camera pulling away down the hall  leaving the players talking .  out of   .  
this movie is about as underrated as police acadmey mission to moscow . this movie is never funny . it  s maybe the worst comedy spoof ever made . very boring  and dumb beyond belief . for those people that think this movie is underrated god help you . i give this movie  out of   br    br    
  moonstruck  is a lovely little film directed by superb story teller  norman jewison  in the heat of the night  fiddler on the roof  the hurricane  . the film is great on many levels . it shows a good slice of italian culture  has a touching romance  and  best of all  is a hilarious comedy .  br    br   one thing i liked most about the film was the relative unconventional looks of the actors . nicolas cage looks positively odd for most of the film  and cher . . . well  cher always looks a little odd .  br    br   overall  it  s a fun film  and easy to recommend .  br    br    .  out of    
national lampoon  s class reunion was a flop when it was released . it didn  t stay long in theaters in my big city . why  because it  s bad       br    br   not bad in a good way but bad in a really painfully unfunny way . the entire cast of actors were mostly unknowns then and have remained unknowns after this turkey .  br    br   the idea is actually great  a parody of slasher flicks  but the execution is sorely lacking in every aspect .  br    br   just avoid this  comedy  . your time is more precious than spending a nanosecond watching this embarrassing misfire .  
this was just another marvelous film of the berlin festival . but unlike  yes   by sally potter  which i had seen some days before  where after leaving the cinema i felt a strong desire of wishing to embrace the whole world and was just happy to be alive  this time quite the opposite thing happened there was something that dragged me down  and the air suddenly felt cold and hard to breathe . it was as if  all of a sudden  there was nothing left  all hope  all future had been taken away to a dead place .  br    br   nina  s life seemed to be dismal and locked  but then  one lovely day  there appears that kind of luminosity that opens up the horizon and makes her believe in the fulfillment of her dreams . there was nobody at her side but suddenly she finds a companion  just out of nothing  someone who was able to share the most hidden feelings of her life . that person was toni  a vagabond girl who does not seem to have any roots  just like herself .  br    br   but the film  s title is  ghosts   and ghosts appear and disappear as they wish  there is no way to retain them ghosts also represent the hidden fantasies of people  strange ideas that occupy your mind and are only perceived by yourself  hiding away from all other people . franoise  a french woman  is a victim of such ghosts . she once lost her child daughter in berlin  who apparently had been robbed from her in a supermarket  in just one moment of inattentiveness . now time has passed  and franoise is back in berlin  still looking for the missing child .  br    br   nina could be that child  after all she has got that same scar at her ankle and the heart  shaped birthmark between her shoulder blades which seems to prove her true identity .  br    br   and nina adopts that idea  after all she is not only in desperate need of a companion  she also longs for a mother . but in the end she is empty  handed  toni has disappeared with a man  and her supposed mum turns out to be a sick woman .  marie is dead   concludes franoise  s husband  and the statement could not be more disillusioning . nina is just a  nia   a girl without name  there is no hope for any divine fulfillment . there is no marie in this world to accompany our lonely lives . therefore  in the end  we see nina all alone  about to walk along the road that has opened up before her  into a future that seems joyless and uncertain .  
i have always admired susan sarandon for her integrity and honesty in her private life as well as her talents as an actor . i therefor found it strange that she would appear in a film that so distorted that facts . her character  s rescue from the south pole was done by a canadian charter company from edmonton  alberta flying a canadian designed and built twin otter aircraft . the trip had been turned down by the us airforce  navy and coast guard as beyond their capabilities . the same company staged a similar rescue a few years later to bring out a man from the south pole base . i feel that the film fairly represented a very gripping subject and documented a very courageous woman facing a frightening task . i fail to see why the producers would find it necessary ignore the bravery of the rescue pilots and show the rescue plane as a usaf hercules .  
i guess if a film has magic  i don  t need it to be fluid or seamless . it can skip background information  go too fast in some places  too slow in others  etc . magic in this film the scene in the library . there are many minor flaws in stanley  iris  yet they don  t detract from the overall positive impact of watching people help each other in areas of life that seem the most incomprehensible  the hardest to fix . both characters are smart . yet stanley can  t understand enough to function because he can  t read he can  t read because he  s had too much adventure in his childhood . iris  although well  educated  hasn  t had enough adventure and so can  t understand how to move past the u  turn her life took . in both their faults and strengths  the characters compliment each other . it may be a bit of a stretch to accept that an iris would wind up working year after year in a factory  or that a stanley never hid his illiteracy enough to work in construction or some other better  paying job . and while these  mysteries  are explained in the course of the story  their unfolding seems somewhat contrived . i assume no one took the time to rethink the script . even so  it  s a good moviejust imagine what de niro  fonda and plimpton would have done on screen if someone had   
this is it . this is the one . this is the worst movie ever made . ever . it beats everything . i have never seen worse . retire the trophy and give it to these people . . . . . there  s just no comparison .  br    br   even three days after watching this  for some reason i still don  t know why  i cannot believe how insanely horrific this movie is  was . its so bad . so far from anything that could be considered a movie  a story or anything that should have ever been created and brought into our existence .  br    br   this made me question whether or not humans are truly put on this earth to do good . it made me feel disgusted with ourselves and our progress as a species in this universe . this type of movie sincerely hurts us as a society . we should be ashamed . i really cannot emphasize that our global responsibility as people living here and creating art  is that we need to prevent the creation of these gross distortions of our reality for our own good . it  s an embarrassment . i don  t know how on earth any of these actors  writers  or the director of this film sleeps at night knowing that they had a role in making  loaded  . i don  t know what type of disgusting monsters enjoy watching these types of movies .  br    br   that being said  i love a good  bad  movie . i love shark attack   i love bad taste  they are hilarious . i tell all my friends to see them because they are  bad  .  br    br   but this . . . . . . . this crosses the line of  bad  into a whole new dimension . this is awkward bad . this is the bad where you know everything that is going to happen  every line  every action  every death  every sequence before they happen and not just like a second or two before  i mean like  after watching the first  minutes before .  br    br   every cheesy editing  effect  is shamelessly used over and over again to a sickening point . i really never want to see the  shaky  camera  drug buzz rush  effect or jump cuts or swerve cuts or any fancy cut ever again ever . this is meticulously boring  repetitive and just tortures the audience .  br    br   but . . . . . . . and let me be specific here  the most disturbing thing about this movie is that given the production  it appears that a somewhat decent amount of money was actually put into this excrement . i personally will grab the shoulders of the director if i ever see him and shake him into submission  demanding that he run home and swallow two  gallons of drain  o or i will do it for him .  br    br   if we ever needed a new form of inhumane torture for our war prisoners abroad  just keep showing them this movie in a padded cell over and over again . trust me  i think they will become more extravagant with suicide methods after the   nd time of sitting through this .  br    br   stop these movies  they are just the most vile of all facets of our society . please . stop . now .  
this is not a bad film . it is not wildly funny  but it is interesting and  br    br   entertaining . it has a few funny moments . cher gives a good  br    br   performance in a role that is very opposite her real  life self . her  br    br   performance alone is worth the watch . if this movie had come out  br    br   today it would not have been nominated  but by    s standards it  br    br   was excellent .  
the biggest national lampoon hit remains  animal house   and rightly so . it was funny  raucous and good  natured .  br    br   the exact opposite of every other national lampoon film . including  class reunion  .  br    br   please do not be fooled by the inclusion of stephen furst   flounder   from  animal house  . or by the fact that john hughes wrote this jumbled mess . this reunion is about as hilarious as root canal and twice as painful .  br    br   one star  and that  s being generous . then again  i always thought most of my old classmates were demons  vampires and serial killers  too .  
it is quite a simple not very active but very charming film . there were moments where i can see why cher won the academy award for best actress  but there were other times when i wondered why glenn close didn  t win for fatal attraction . anyway  oscar and golden globe winning  and bafta nominated cher plays loretta castorini  a simple woman with a low pay job who has just been asked by mr . johnny cammareri  danny aiello  to marry him . he promises her he  ll be back in a month  as his mother is sick  so she mean while needs to get as much of his family to attend the wedding as possible . only problem is  when she finds johnny  s one  handless brother ronny  golden globe nominated nicolas cage   they start having a relationship  and there love goes on to that moon scene  where the title comes from  . also starring oscar nominated vincent gardenia as cosmo castorini  oscar  bafta and golden globe winning olympia dukakis as rose castorini and john mahoney as perry . it ends with no wedding for johnny and loretta  but she and ronny were happy together . it won the oscar for best writing  screenplay written directly for the screen  and it was nominated for best director for norman jewison  in the heat of the night  and best picture  it was nominated the baftas for best score for dick hyman and best original screenplay  and it was nominated the golden globes for best motion picture  comedy  musical and best screenplay . it was number   on    years     quotes   snap out of it     it was number   on    years     passions  and it was number   on    years     laughs . very good   
stereotypical send up of slasher flicks falls far short as supposed entertainment . gerrit graham  michael lerner  zane busby  and in fact the entire cast are totally wasted . lame jokes abound  and every punch line is well telegraphed . the dumb one liners come at a fast pace  and almost every one falls flat as a squashed grape . the musical numbers only contribute to the boredom that sets in and lingers for the entire movie . another negative is the claustrophobic setting entirely within the walls of an abandoned high school . avoid this and seek out one of  lampoon  s  truly funny films like  national lampoon  s golddiggers   merk  
i bought the video rather late in my collecting and probably would have saved a lot of money if i bought it earlier . it invariably supersedes anything else on those  cosmo  s moon  nights . cher and olympia certainly deserve their awards but this is really a flawless ensemble performance of a superb screenplay . what  you don  t know what a  cosmo  s moon  is   
anyone who thinks this film has not been appreciated for its comic genius must have been smoking with the two stoners in the film . this film is not under  rated . . . it is a bad movie .  br    br   there should be no comparisons between this film and the naked gun or airplane since the latter two films are well written and funny . class reunion is neither of those things . the sad thing is it had such potential  good cast  good story lines  but the good jokes are few and far between . the scenes that were supposed to be funny came off more annoying than amusing . the stoner guys  the vampire  the blind girl . . . not funny . the only funny character were delores  the one who sold her soul to the devil  .  br    br   national lampoon has made some really good films  animal house  vacation  but this isn  t one of them . i certainly expected more from john hughes .  
i  m really suprised this movie didn  t get a higher rating on imdb . it  s one of those movies that could easily get by someone  but for romantic comedy  moonstruck  is really in a class by itself . it  s setting and ethnic charm are things people seem to take for granted . the casting alone makes it a nearly perfect movie . few movies in the      s were as good as  moonstruck  and it  s funny too .  out of   
if it wasn  t for the performances of barry diamond and art evans as the clueless stoners  i would have no reason to recommend this to anyone .  br    br   the plot centers around a   year high school reunion  which takes place in a supposed abandon high school  looks more like a prop from a     s low budget horror flick   and the deranged student the class pulled a very traumatizing prank on . this student desires to kill off the entire class for revenge .  br    br   john hughes falls in love with his characters too much  as only one student is killed as well as the lunch lady  goonies  anne ramsey  . we  re led to believe that the horny coupled gets killed  but never see a blasted thing  this is a horrible movie that continued national lampoon  s downward spiral throughout the   s and   s .  
i  m really surprised this movie didn  t get a higher rating on imdb . it  s one of those movies that could easily get by someone  but for romantic comedy  moonstruck  is really in a class by itself . it  s setting and ethnic charm are things people seem to take for granted . the casting alone makes it a nearly perfect movie . few movies in the      s were as good as  moonstruck  and it  s funny too .  out of   
remember a film you seemed to enjoy in the past that doesn  t quite meet those same feelings as an adult  that occurred to me when i went back to school . . the national lampoon  s class reunion . the film has a perfect opportunity for laughs  but surprisingly wanders aimlessly as we see a bizarre collection of characters such a woman who sold her soul to the devil and can shoot out flames of fire from her mouth  a man who appears to be a vampire  and a lunatic killer dressed as a woman and wears sacks over his head . you have the class president who believes he  s the best thing since sliced bread  but as we see in the film  he  s a coward and joke   a couple of pot smokers who don  t even know they are at their own class reunion  and a man named gary for whom know one even knew existed  and no one can seem to remember his name . . this is the one running joke i enjoyed  . there is a plump pervert who likes to grab women in inappropriate places  a deaf and blind woman who has a screeching holler when calling for her dog  and the cook  you know her from  goonies  and  throw mama from the train   who loves to place food on people  s plates with her hands  the film is essentially about a nutcase who is  or at least attempting to  taking revenge on his classmates for a gag they pulled on him  they arranged for him to sleep with his own twin sister   . the film follows the characters as they search for the killer canvasing darkened  trashed hallways of the old high school . they were told of the killer by his psychologist who seems a bit odd himself . the film has a few good gags that work  pretty much early on   but the film slowly gets worse each passing minute . the film  s true problem is that it really doesn  t know where to go . the film is pretty much a one  joke premise for it has unassured direction . . if it really has any direction at all . the cast is enthusiastic enough  but the material they are to make funny just doesn  t have the quality to hold any interest . it  s a curio for fans of early    s comedy relics that are forgotten  this one rightfully so  .  
  moonstruck  is one of the best films ever . i own that film on dvd  the movie deals with a new york widow  cher  who falls in love with her boyfriend  s  danny aiello  angry brother  nicholas cage  who works at a bakery . i  m glad cher won an oscar for that movie . nicholas cage and danny aiello are great  too . the direction from norman jewison  who directed  fiddler on the roof   is fantastic .  moonstruck  is an excellent movie for everyone to see and laugh . a must  see   br    br        stars   
recently  i saw the documentary  the revolution will not be televised   also know as  chvez inside the coup  . at first i thought it showed a genuine inside view of events during the venezuela coup of april     . what bothered me though was the fact that the tone of the narration and the accompanying music were suggestive  and that at no point any criticism was expressed about hugo chvez . this is peculiar because if a documentary is giving an non  biased account of what happened  there should have been some of that too . after all  chvez certainly is not a saint . fortunately  since the documentary is several years old  a lot of additional information is available on the internet nowadays  and it was not difficult to find for instance  urgent investigation about chavez  the coup by the  european tv corporations who financed the film which presents blatant falsehoods about venezuela .  it lists the many errors and intended or unintended falsifications in the documentary .  just use the title as a search string in google  you will find it  . another interesting document was the video registration of a presentation of the findings of the many errors in this documentary   x  ray of a lie  . to me it seems to be a good counterweight to  chvez inside the coup  it  s available at video . google . i strongly advice you after watching  chvez inside the coup  to look at  x  ray of a lie  and then form your opinion . my conclusion is that kim bartley and donnacha o  brian were  knowingly or not  part in chvez  propaganda .  
the  movie aimed at adults  is a rare thing these days  but moonstruck does it well  and is still a better than average movie  which is aging very well . although it  s comic moments aim lower than the rest of it  the movie has a wonderful specificity  italians in brooklyn  that isn  t used to shortchange the characters or the viewers .  i . e . mobsters never appear in acomplication . it never becomes grotesque like my big fat greek wedding  the secondary story lines are economically told with short scenes that allow a break from the major thread . these are the scenes that are now missing in contemporary movies where their immediate value cannot be impressed upon producers and bigwigs . i miss these scenes . it also beautifully involves older characters . the movie takes it  s own slight  quiet path to a conclusion . there isn  t a poorly written scene included anywhere to make some executives sphincter relax . cage and cher do very nice work .  br    br   moonstruck invokes old  school  ethnic  workaday new york much like  marty  except moonstruck is way less sanctimonious .  
in this movie  chvez supporters  either venezuelan and not  venezuelan  just lie about a dramatic situation in our country .  br    br   they did not say that the conflict started because of chvez announcement firing a lot of pdvsa best workers just for political issues .  br    br   they did not say anything about more than   tv interruptions transmitted by chvez during only  days in  cadena nacional   a kind of confiscation o private tv signals  . each one with about   minutes of duration .  br    br   they did not tell us anything about the quiting announcement made by general en jefe lucas rincon romero  inspector general of the army forces  who is a traditional supporter of chvez . even now  in despite of his announcement  he is the ministro de interior y justicia . after chvez return he occuped the charge of ministro del defensa  equals to defense secretary in us  .  br    br   they did not say anything about chvez orders about shooting against a pacifical people concentration who was claiming for elections .  br    br   they did not say anything about the people in this concentration that were killed by chvez supporters  either civilians and military official forces  .  br    br   they present some facts in a wrong order  in order to lie .  br    br   they did not say anything about venezuelan civilian society thats are even now claiming for an elections in order to solve the crisis and chvez actions in order to avoid the elections .  br    br   that  s why i tell you . . . . this movie is just a lot of lies or a big lie .  
as someone else has already said here  every scene in this film is gem . most films are lucky to have one scene that is perfect  but director jewison hit a home run every time . the cast got just the right take on the excellent script  and in addition  dick hyman  s musical settings of the opera and the other music made for a perfect match . hard to imagine how they kept the precise mood going throughout the long production of a film . the comedy is subtle  mostly   and the camera  work mirrors every little emotional inflection of the narrative . cher is such a comedy natural  vincent gardenia  who i know mostly through his frank lorenzo role on all in the family until i saw him in this and then off  broadway in the    s  deserved far greater stardom than he ever got  and aiello  s hapless loser are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to giving kudos to this tremendous cast . has jewison ever written about this film   br    br   would love to read it . hard to figure out why the average rating here at imdb is so low . . .  
this  documentary  is a proof of talent being used for mean purposes . the fact that it is financed by the venezuelan government gives it a lack of legitimacy in the purpose of searching for the truth of what really happened those horrible days of april     in venezuela  something even we venezuelans don  t know for sure .  br    br   there are ways of lying  and the directors of this stuff lie both by omission and by knowledge .  br    br   the venezuelan political process is too complex to be easily understood by foreign audiences  and they take advantage of that . for instance possible spoilers they show pro  chvez demonstrators shooting at an empty street  what the hell they did that for   in a way of saying they didn  t kill anyone  but didn  t bother showing the images we all saw here  of opposition demonstrators  and a journalist  falling dead or injured at the other side of that  empty  street . they can  t explain why the chopper of the political police was the only one authorised to fly over caracas that day and did nothing against the snipers that were all over the roofs of the buildings nearby the presidential palace  something that would exhibit how inefficient would be the security measures to guard the president . a few days after the  coup   the chief of the military guard in charge was asked at the national assembly  our congress  why didn  t they act against the snipers and he said   cause they weren  t there to act against the president   isn  t that a confession   br    br   there is so much more  the fact that the highest rank military announced that chvez had resigned and  days later he said he had lied because  that  s politics  and nowadays is the minister of internal affairs of chvez  administration .  br    br   it would take me thousands of words to explain all the lies depicted in this  documentary   made with the intention of selling the world an image of the good old hugo chvez who rules for the poor and the bad rich opposition that wants him out at all costs  when the truth is that       of people rejects his government  and that percentage includes the poor .  br    br   i hope those of you who have seen and bought this will be able to see a different version that is being made by a group of venezuelan people showing no less than   lies .  br    br   nazi propaganda has returned   
seeing  moonstruck  after so many years is a reminder of how sweet and sensationally funny this film was when it first appeared . who knew that cher could act  who had ever heard of olympia dukakis  nicholas cage was the beginning of his career  and vincent gardenia and danny aiello were not known for their comedic talents  nor was norman jewison the director .  br    br   the only really flat note in this splendid work is  when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie  that  s amore   a song that is sung too many times in the movie  once is already too many  and that went on to have a long afterlife in popular music .  br    br   cher is   forgive me   sensational as loretta castorini  a widow who wants to be married and does not have to be in love with the groom . aielo  johny cammareri  obliges by proposing  offering her his pinkie ring as a substitute for an engagement ring  then rushes off to sicily to be with his dying mother . he charges loretta with seeing to that his estranged brother  ronny  attends the wedding . loretta confronts ronny and quickly falls in love with him . meanwhile  her father  vincent gardenia  is cheating on her mother  olympia dukakis   which loretta accidentally discovers when ronny invites her to the metropolitan opera .  br    br   everything works out in the end  as it inevitably does in films of this genre . in the meantime  all the actors acquit themselves admirably and the audience enjoys itself . in its way   moonstruck  is how hollywood used to be at its best rollicking entertainment with no social significance whatsoever . if they  d only lost  that  s amore  along the way  it would have been perfect .  
    out of    people found this comment useful  and counting . . .   br    br   people are such suckers for image and looks  as much as for the intellectually hollow  idealism  that lurks behind communism . che  s charisma and looks have as much to do with his iconic stature as the misinformation that has been spread by leftist propaganda  such as this movie  about him .  br    br   i don  t know what  s worse being captured by one of che  s murder  squads or having to sit through  hours of this typically soderberghian garbage . the question isn  t why this pet  project was made but what took them so long . by  them  i  m referring  of course  to left  wing hollywood and its  secret  love of marxist tyrants  lenin  castro . . . take your pick  . i am fascinated that it took decades for one of tinseltown  s least talented liberal directors to finally take on such an irresistibly biased propaganda project . where was oliver stone all these years  robert redford  tim robbins  warren beatty  alan pakula  george clooney  barbra streisand even  it  s a mystery . all these overrated  artists  have often indulging themselves in similar  politically one  sided projects  yet somehow che guevara  who is arguably the most popular and well  known communist  hasn  t been a film topic of theirs yet .  br    br    guerrilla  has all the hallmarks of an american truth  bending story of an epic scale there is as much factual detail to be found here as in other similar hollywood big  budget political fairy  tale bios such as  malcolm x  or  gandhi   i . e . almost none . the movie stars del toro as the famous argentinian revolutionary . nevertheless  however controversial and criminal this man  s actions may have been  one thing nobody could take away from him he was an intelligent manipulator who came from a rich family  which is why del toro fits the bill only visually . del toro may be an interesting  charismatic actor and he may resemble guevara physically  but he exudes no intellectual qualities whatsoever  hence he makes guevara come off as too primitive . casting such mediocrities as bratt  philips and franka incompetente only underlines the director  s lack of sound judgment .  br    br   the movie is to the most part extremely slow  no surprise there   and visually uninteresting . even a director as brilliant as kubrick would have carefully considered releasing a movie that goes beyond the   hour mark  so it  s quite telling that this soderbergh  who has only made one or two solid movies and early on in his career  would think that his oceanic grandness was up to the task . if you think the film  s length indicates that a bulk of che  s life has been shown here  then think again . soderbergh focuses on che  s last phase  and a lot of the movie is tedious jungle nonsense  full of guevara  s alleged idealism .  psychopaths don  t have ideals .  i do wonder what kind of a mind this highly esteemed director has to have to actually choose to ignore some of che  s earlier life . did he actually consider it too uninteresting  a massacre of    people holds no interest for the viewer  huh  amazing . some much better directors than this over  praised charlatan would have easily fit not one but two complete biographies into a   hour movie .  br    br   soderbergh  in a sense  becomes an accomplice by never addressing the negative  dark side  which is more than     of guevara . by spreading this kind of historical inaccuracy  consciously ignoring the ugly truth  god forbid he should taint the holy image of che   soderbergh proves himself not a humanist  a fake image which most hollywood and pop music personalities struggle very hard all their careers to uphold  but the opposite that he cares only about ideas  never about the people on whom these ideas are tested  like on guinea pigs  . soderbergh and the like are elitists of the worst kind such people often have a latent contempt for the  proleteriat   what a stupid term  they  re supposedly siding with .  br    br   half of all students around the world wear che  s image on their red and orange shirts  but without ever knowing why . he has become an iconic figure for clueless  uninformed  very often young people  who think that by having this man  s face on their chest that somehow makes them appear  edgy   intellectual  hip or interesting . in reality  wearing a che shirt only underlines one  s overall shallowness and total disinterest in self  education .  wouldn  t you want to find out more about a person before you start advertising his  her face to the world   wearing che  s by  now clich image has become as common as having a bart simpson coffee cup . all those  che  wearers  probably know more about marge  s blue hair than they  ll ever read up on about fidel castro  s dead ally .  br    br   after everything that  d been done in the name of marx  one would think that these mongrel  ideals  would be finally laid to rest . it seems mankind will never learn . stalin  mao  kim il  pol pot  castro  milosevic  ceausescu  the iron curtain  a hundred million dead  more than a billion ruined physically and  or mentally through this system . . . so none of that matters  huh   br    br   the fact that del toro won a cannes award should only surprise those who are absolutely clueless as to how cannes and other european festivals work  and vote . hint sean penn headed a jury not long ago .  br    br   for my music  related rants  go to http   rateyourmusic . com  collection  fedor    
  moonstruck  is a movie that i liked the first time i watched it . i really liked it the second time . i loved it the third time . now it is one of my all time favorites .  br    br   the humor is subtle but really good . the film offers a lot of warmth humor . the story takes place in a old school italian neighborhood in nyc . cher  s search for love is enjoyable to watch . this film is  by far  the best job nicholas cage has done on film . the old man character is fantastic . he lights up the screen without saying a word . the scene with his dogs howling at the moon was fantastic . but  perhaps the best character is the one played by olympia dukakis .  br    br   the film  s climax is a scene where the main characters have it out over a breakfast of oatmeal in the family kitchen . exceptional direction and wrap up .  
the first part  che in cuba  is about that portion of his life . it contains too many indistinguishable battles and che ministering to too many indistinguishable wounded  remember that che was a physician  . it ends as castro wins the revolution che never gets to havana . the second part  che in bolivia  is about guess what . it contains too many indistinguishable battles and che ministering to too many indistinguishable wounded .  br    br   when i realized this was supposed to be an  epic   i never knew anything but the title before it started   i naturally thought of the greatest epic of them all  david lean  s lawrence of arabia . more of that later .  br    br   not to be a racist  but aside from what i  ve already mentioned is the fact that there are too many characters who are  well  indistinguishable   unknown hispanic actors who look alike  especially considering they all wear  che  beards and all wear che fatigues . this results in the viewer not being able to identify with anyone other than che  benicio del toro  even fidel has a very minor role  . while del toro  s terrific  think of  lawrence  with peter o  toole as the only discernible character no alec guinness  no omar sharif  no anthony quinn  etc . you get the idea .  br    br   because the other characters are interchangeable  this results in a loss of reference . when top aides of che are killed  you feel no remorse since you don  t know who they are . even when che is killed  i don  t think that  s a spoiler   there  s no empathy from the audience   he  s just killed .  br    br   he  s too one  dimensional to relate to as a human being . aside from being a revolutionary and second only to jesus in moral rectitude  the only thing we learn about che is that he  s married with five children  he tells another character that near the end  . what was his motivation  a complete enigma .  br    br   maybe soderbergh is purposely aping lean . like soderbergh  s che  lean never lets us know anything about lawrence  the mystery man of arabia . but at least lawrence had a friend  sharif  and associates  guinness  quinn  . he was as courageous as he was insecure   i . e .  had human qualities . che is like a machine  about as warm as the terminator .  br    br   earlier this year there was another war epic  mongol . che makes mongol look like it  s a wonderful life .  
a funny comedy from beginning to end  there are several hilarious scenes but it  s also loaded with many subtle comedic moments which is what made the movie for me . creative story line with a very talented cast . i thoroughly enjoyed it   
i really wanted to like this western  being a fan of the genre and a fan of  buffalo bill    wild bill hickok   and  calamity jane   all of whom are in this story  add to the mix gary cooper as the lead actor  and it sounded great .  br    br   the trouble was . . . . . it wasn  t . i found myself looking at my watch just   minutes into this  being bored to death . jean arthur  s character was somewhat annoying and james ellison just did not look like nor act like  buffalo bill .  cooper wasn  t at his best  either  sounding too wooden . this was several years before he hit his prime as an actor .  br    br   in a nutshell  his western shot blanks . head up the pass and watch another oater because most of  em were far better than this one .  
i don  t think that many films  especially comedies  have added memorable  quotable dialog like moonstruck . i won  t illustrate it  you can see a remarkably long list of quotes on this thread  but any film that can make subjects like the defense of using expensive copper piping rather than brass for plumbing purposes into memorable dialog is amazing to me . it is not the only line that pops up and makes an imprint on our memory . how about a restaurant waiter who regrets a planned marriage proposal because it will mean the loss of an old bachelor client  or a nice  elderly dog fancier encouraging his pack to howl at he moon  or perry  john mahoney  s  description of a female student  s youthful promise as  moonlight in a martini   my favorite line  .  br    br   moonstruck is a wonderful example of brilliant script  first rate direction  and a good ensemble cast that fits perfectly . there are other examples  the drama the ox  bow incident is another example  but a grimmer one  . cher  olympia dukakis  vincent gardenia  nicholas cage  john mahoney  and danny aiello are all involved in plots and cross purposes that examine the nature of love  and how to handle it . is it a good thing to be totally in love  cher and cage  at the end  seem to think so  but dukakis knows that real love drives the individual crazy  and cage gets a glimmer of realization of this too  when he and cher argue outside his home after they return from the opera la boheme  . is infidelity by men a way of avoiding thoughts of death . dukakis believes so  and  oddly enough  although he is not totally convinced  aiello . chance reveals infidelity  dukakis realizes early that gardenia  s odd behavior is tied to unfaithfulness  and cher literally stumbles onto gardenia and his girlfriend at the opera  but gardenia also stumbles onto cher  s similar unfaithfulness to aiello  . but chance also causes misunderstandings fyodor chaliapin stumbles on dukakis walking with john mahoney and thinks that she is having an affair .  br    br   there are lovely little moments in the film too . cher  s observation about flowers leading to receiving one . her hearing the argument in the liquor shop and it  s resolution . but best is the sequence of louis guss and julie bovasso as cher  s uncle and aunt raymond and rita cappomaggi and rita  s charming and kind comment to raymond about the effect of the moonlight on him . it is the sweetest moment of the entire film .  br    br   it is close to a flawless film . after seeing it over a dozen times in as many years i can only find two points that do not seem as smooth as they should be . when cher is at cage  s bakery  his assistant chrissy  nada despotovich  mentions how she is secretly in love with cage  but has been afraid to tell him . earlier she was slightly snippy towards cher  who put her in her place quickly . yet nothing seems done with this potential rivalry . at the same time  the fact that cher forgets to deposit her uncle and aunt  s daily business profits is brought in momentarily in the concluding seven minutes of the film  but just as quickly dropped . was there supposed to be some plot lines that were dropped  besides one about cher and vincent gardenia working at a homeless man  s shelter as penance  it is a small annoyance  but i think it is just based on a desire to see more of this film because it is so very good .  
what i found so curious about this film   i saw the full  hour roadshow version  is how oddly dispassionate it is . for a film about  very charismatic men   castro and che  engaged in a gargantuan political struggle  it  s almost totally devoid of emotional fire . the scenes between benicio del toro and demian bichir  who is at best a second level actor  with a slightly high pitched voice  have no drama or depth and basically come down to castro telling che go here  go there  do this and that  with no explanation as to what effect or use this action will result in . odder still is there is an actor in the cast who has the requisite power to play castro   joaquim de almeida  but he  s shunted aside in a minor part in the second half . without the tension or passion that you would expect to fire these men and their followers  the film becomes a dullish epic  length film about hairy  bearded men running through various jungles shouting and shooting to no particular purpose or end . several of the reviews i  ve read showered praise on the work of director steven soderbergh while ignoring the actors almost completely .  one in fact spent more time talking about soderbergh  s new digital film camera than the plot or actors or the fact that it  s entirely in spanish with english subtitles .  this is an odd  odd thing to do since a  soderbergh was only a hired gun on the film and b  it  s no more than a competent job of work  with an unremarked upon nod to oliver stone  s jfk in the black and white cut up camera  work when che visits new york . if you can imagine reds directed by andrew mclaglen instead of warren beatty  you  d get an idea of the dull competency of this movie .  
the bittersweet twist to this movie contains a wonderful element of romanticism that evokes an impetuous passion  these characteristics of idealistic imagery which  moonstruck  possesses  spur on an end result of a resounding thumbs up verdict by virtually every prominent critic in hollywood . let me describe the circumstances to this film  simply put  they are  yesteryear  .  moonstruck  is a cohesive film which sparks the naivety of an old italian neighborhood in new york city . new york city has always been one big melting pot that is galvanized by many bicker  some mannerisms which are indicative of typical new yorkers  this includes a lot of italian americans living in new york as well  the mid and late eighties brought on an abrupt conclusion to many strong associations with various cultural stereotypes . ethnicity polarization was a firmly embedded scourge in american history that was far more prevalent several generations before this movie was made . these generalizing proclivities still exist today  however  they are more mollified and less identifiable  for this italian family of a bygone era  confusion  indecisiveness  agitation  and yes  of course  love  all have the comical camaraderie of an utterly human understanding to them  the kindred spirits with everyone in  moonstruck  seems to be that of comprehending individual frailties . one might wonder about cher playing the lead role  as she is more known as an entertainer than a big box office first billing star in a movie . in  moonstruck   however  i think she was incredibly well suited to her role  and came off as thoroughly believable in a relatively unbelievable situation . all of the characters in  moonstruck  are very rough around the edges  really tough  and not afraid to have a formidable duel with adversity . the most hilarious aspect to their lives is imperfection  and they are thoroughly aware of the fact that weathering the storm definitely serves a constructive purpose  i thought the acting in this movie was sensational . all relationships in this movie garner an auspicious potential to vividly illuminate because everybody knows how everybody else  s basic nature is really like   for this family  nothing is glamorous  nothing is pretentiously romantic  and nothing is overly emotional  just moderately so  . the fact is  this entire family is plainly and perpetually afflicted and overcome by an extremely zealous and candid cupid in all of their lives . taking moon beams literally can indeed have a pleasantly enervating impact on one  s resolve  masqueraded mystique  and resistance to the proverbial am ore  . thus signifying everything   the homey and mercurial tenet in this film is basically one of  be honest  get angry be honest  get confrontational be honest  get distorted and emphatic most importantly be honest  and fall in love   this is cher  s best performance ever as an actress   nicholas cage  danny aiello  and olympia dukakis  were wonderfully flawed in  moonstruck  such performances by these three were perfectly appropriate for the kinetic energy of the characters in this movie  director  norman jewison  famous for  cincinnati kid    thomas crowne affair   and most famous for  in the heat of the night  which won the academy award for best picture in      depicts many keen and humanistic instincts in the process of purveying the deliberate incongruity to this film  i am italian american in descent   partially anyways  cher is not italian  and  for that matter  neither is the writer nor the director  i guess since non  italians like eating our food  they may as well use our culture to make a fabulous film too  it is refreshing to know that a film can be marvelous and have an incredibly happy ending   for those of you who didn  t like this movie  i just have one thing to say  snap out of it    this movie  moonstruck  is totally happy go lucky   totally eighties   and totally five stars   see it    
i think that  s this is awful produced and directed movie . benicio del toro shouldn  t work in production of movies  he should put accent on his acting and that  s it . steven soderbergh missed the whole point of the idea about revolution  about it  s ideals  and most important about life of che guevara and so on . camera is awful  like someone with  day working experience is shooting with it  music is . . . i don  t know . . is there some music in the movie     i will not recommended this piece of sh . . to no one . it  s just wasting about  hours in front of the tv or whatever . . . . i can  t figure out how can someone rate this movie more than  stars . disaster . . . . disaster . . . . disaster . . . . disaster don  t watch please . save yourself from this misery of  movie   
this film stands head and shoulders above the vast majority of cinematic romantic comedies . it is virtually flawless  the writing  acting  production design  humor and pathos are all wonderful  even the music   from dean martin to la boheme   is captivating and delightful   br    br   every character is peculiarly delightful and memorable  from the leads played by cher and nicolas cage  to the many supporting roles   olympia dukakis  vincent gardenia  john mahoney  danny aiello   even grandpa with his dog pack  each of these performers  plus norman jewison as director  performs above their normal quality in this ensemble work . for several of the actors  this was an early major exposure in film  so the casting is also exceptional   and we have many current acting powerhouses whose careers were altered by their effectiveness in this film .  br    br   i  ve seen this film several times all the way through   which can sometimes deflate the impact of a film substantially . more tellingly  i realized some years ago that whenever i channel  surfed my way into a scene from this film   any scene   the scene was compelling and beautifully crafted . there are so many stunning and memorable scenes the original meeting between the cher and nicolas cage characters  where cage tells his tale of woe vincent gardenia discovered with his paramour at the opera  amidst the splendor generated by his gold  mine plumbing business olympia dukakis scolding john mahoney for philandering with his student in the classic line about liaisons with co  workers  don  t sh  t where you eat    danny aiello at his dying mother  s bedside nicolas cage  taking  cher as the rapture of an aria soars in the background   br    br   there are of course many great romantic comedies  among them sabrina  both versions  but especially the audrey hepburn  humphrey bogart  william holden original   when harry met sally the apartment .  br    br   none quite equals moonstruck   
it is incredible that with all of the countless crimes that have been uncovered and laid unequivocally at the doorstep of marxism  from the berlin wall to the gulag archipelago to the cultural revolution to the khmer rouge  one still finds admirers of communist totalitarianism in hollywood and are still making propaganda in its favor . it just shows the moral depravity of hollywood .  br    br   in this particular film a psychotic murderer is glorified . needless to say that neither his crimes nor his psychotic proclamations were included . that both the director and the actor expect audiences to sit through this seemingly interminable propagandistic film demonstrates the tunnel vision that they have in regards to their object of worship .  
this movie is still an all time favorite . only a pretentious  humorless moron would not enjoy this wonderful film . this movie feels like a slice of warm apple pie topped with french vanilla ice cream  i think this is cher  s best work ever and her most believable performance . cher has always been blessed with charisma  good looks  and an enviably thin figure . whether you like her singing or not  who else sounds like cher  cher has definitely made her mark in the entertainment industry and will be remembered long after others have come and gone . she is one of the most unique artists out there . it  s funny  because who would have thought of cher as such a naturally gifted actress  she is heads above the so  called movie  stars  of today . cher is a real actor on the same level as debra winger  alfre woodard  holly hunter  angela bassett and a few others  in that she never seems to be  acting   she really becomes the character convincingly . she has more than earned the respect of her peers and of the movie  going public .  br    br   everything about moonstruck is wonderful  the characters  the scenery  the dialog  the food . i never get tired of watching this movie .  br    br   every time single time i watch the scene where they are all sitting around the dinner table at rose  s house  i pause the remote to see exactly what delicious food rose is serving . i saw the spaghetti  mushrooms  i think   but i can  t make out whether they are eating ravioli  ziti  what is that main course  it looks wonderful and its driving me nuts   br    br   everybody in that family was a hardworking individual and they respected and cared about one another . the grandfather wasn  t pushed aside and tolerated  he was a vital part of the family and he was listened to and respected for his age and wisdom . he seemed to be a pretty healthy  independent old codger too .  br    br   loretta  s mom wasn  t  just a housewife   she was the glue that held the family together and was a model example of what a wife  mother  and home manager should aspire to be . she was proud of the lifestyle she had chosen but she didn  t let it define who she was . high powered businessmen aren  t as comfortable in their skin as rose casterini was . notice the saucy way she said  i didn  t have kids until after i was   . it ain  t over  til its over .  you got the sense that she had been the type of young woman who did exactly as she pleased and got her way without the other person realizing what had happened . she was charming  quick witted  and very smart . what a great mom   br    br   i didn  t actually like loretta right away because she seemed like a bit of a know   it  all who wasn  t really as adventurous and as in control of herself as she wanted others to think . she could tell others about themselves and where they had gone wrong  but she really didn  t apply common sense to her own life . she was going to marry a middle  aged mama  s boy simply because she wanted a husband and a sense of identity and purpose to her life . she was more conventional than her own mom . she dressed and wore her hair like a matron at a house of detention and seemed humorless and bored  but underneath you sensed that she was vulnerable and lonely and had a lot of love to give the right man . she would probably end up making an awesome mom too .  br    br   i could see in the future  a house full of loretta and ronnie  s loud  screaming happy kids and rose and cosmo enjoying every minute of it .  
now that che       has finished its relatively short australian cinema run  extremely limited release  screen in sydney  after  wks   i can guiltlessly join both hosts of  at the movies  in taking steven soderbergh to task .  br    br   it  s usually satisfying to watch a film director change his style  subject  but soderbergh  s most recent stinker  the girlfriend experience        was also missing a story  so narrative  and editing   seem to suddenly be soderbergh  s main challenge . strange  after    odd years in the business . he was probably never much good at narrative  just hid it well inside  edgy  projects .  br    br   none of this excuses him this present  almost diabolical failure . as david stratton warns   two parts of che don  t  even  make a whole  .  br    br   epic biopic in name only  che       barely qualifies as a feature film  it certainly has no legs  inasmuch as except for its uncharacteristic ultimate resolution forced upon it by history  soderbergh  s  .  hrs  long dirge just goes nowhere .  br    br   even margaret pomeranz  the more forgiving of australia  s at the movies duo  noted about soderbergh  s repetitious waste of  hd digital storage    you  re in the woods . . . you  re in the woods . . . you  re in the woods . . .  . i too am surprised soderbergh didn  t give us another  .  hrs of that somewhere between his existing two parts  because he still left out massive chunks of che  s  revolutionary  life   br    br   for a biopic of an important but infamous historical figure  soderbergh unaccountably alienates  if not deliberately insults  his audiences by  br    br    . never providing most of che  s story  br    br    . imposing unreasonable film lengths with mere dullard repetition  br    br    . ignoring both true hindsight and a narrative of events  br    br    . barely developing an idea  or a character  br    br    . remaining claustrophobically episodic  br    br    . ignoring proper context for scenes    whatever we do get is mired in disruptive timeshifts  br    br    . linguistically dislocating all audiences  even spanish  speakers will be confused by the incongruous expositions in english   and  br    br    . pointlessly whitewashing his main subject into one dimension . why  at this late stage  the t  shirt franchise has been a success   br    br   our sense of claustrophobia is surely due to peter buchman and benjamin vander veen basing their screenplay solely on guevara  s memoirs . so  like a poor student who has read only one of his allotted texts for his assignment  soderbergh  s product is exceedingly limited in perspective .  br    br   the audience is held captive within the same constrained knowledge  scenery and circumstances of the  revolutionaries   but that doesn  t elicit our sympathy . instead  it dawns on us that  ah  soderbergh  s trying to hobble his audiences the same as the latino peasants were at the time  . but these are the same illiterate latino peasants who sold out the good doctor to his enemies . why does soderbergh feel the need to equate us with them  and keep us equally mentally captive  such audience straitjacketing must have a purpose .  br    br   part  is more chronological than part   but it  s literally mind  numbing with its repetitive bush  bashing  misery of outlook  and lack of variety or character arcs . deltoro  s che has no opportunity to grow as a person while he struggles to educate his own ill  disciplined troops . the only letup is the humour as che deals with his sometimes deeply ignorant  revolutionaries   some of whom violently lack self  control around local peasants or food . we certainly get no insight into what caused the conditions  nor any strategic analyses of their guerrilla insurgency  such as it was .  br    br   part   s excruciating countdown remains fearfully episodic again  nothing is telegraphed or contextualized . thus even the scenes with fidel castro  demin bichir  are unexpected and disconcerting . any selected events are portrayed minimally and latino  centrically  with part   s interviews replaced by time  shifting meetings between the corrupt bolivian president  joaquim de almeida  and us government officials promising cia intervention    .  br    br   the rest of part   s  woods  and day  for  night blue filter just exasperate the audience until they  re eyeing the exits .  br    br   perhaps deltoro felt too keenly the frustration of many non  american latinos about never getting a truthful  unspun history of che  s exploits within their own countries . when foreign governments still won  t deliver a free press to their people   for whatever reason   then one can see how a popular american indie producer might set out to entice the not  so  well  read   i may not be able to read or write  but i  m not illiterate     cf . the inspector general        out to their own local cinemas . the film  s obvious neglects and gross over  simplifications hint very strongly that it  s aiming only at the comprehensions of the less  informed who still speak little english . if they did  they  d have read tomes on the subject already  and critiqued the relevant social issues amongst themselves   learning the lessons of history as they should .  br    br   such insights are precisely what societies still need   and not just the remaining illiterate latinos of central and south america   yet it  s what che       gleefully fails to deliver . soderbergh buries his lead because he  s weak on narrative . i am gobsmacked why benicio deltoro deliberately chose soderbergh for this project if he knew this . it  s been   yrs  hindsight about guevara was sorely wanted it  s what i went to see this film for  but the director diabolically robs us of that .  br    br   david stratton  writing in the australian     oct       observed that while part  was  uneven   part  actually  goes rapidly downhill  from there   charting che  s final campaign in bolivia in excruciating detail   which  . . . feels almost unbearably slow and turgid  .  br    br   chethe guerilla aka part  is certainly no travelogue for bolivia  painting it a picture of misery and atavism . the entire second half is only redeemed by the aforementioned humour  and the dramatic   yet tragic   capture and execution of the film  s subject .  br    br   the rest of this interminable cinema verite is just confusing  irritating misery   shockingly  for a soderbergh film  to be avoided at all costs . it is bound to break the hearts of all who know even just a smattering about the subject .        
there is nothing not to like about moonstruck . i  m from a new york italian family and i actually get a little homesick when i watch it . the actors  actresses  the plot  the subplots  the humor . . they were all fantastic . it starts a little slow  but a lot happens in that two days  i fell in love with laboheme because of this movie . on my list of favorite movies  moonstruck is number  . it  s a  feel good  movie where you leave the theatre humming  that  s amore  or repeating some of your favorite lines  old man  if you give those dogs another piece of my food  i  ll kick you till you  re dead    chrissy  bring me the big knife    who  s dead    do you love him loretta . . . . .  good because when you do  they drive you crazy because they know they can  . i always put moonstruck on when there  s nothing good to watch because it makes me happy .  
the second half of steven soderbergh  s revolutionary bio on che guevara deals with his last campaign to export revolution to bolivia . in order to maintain his saintly visage of che soderbergh conveniently leap frogs the mass executions he presided over after the revolution in cuba and the folly of his congo adventure   this is the history of a failure  he writes in the preface of his congo journal  to concentrate fully on che  s attempt to rally support to rise up against the government in bolivia . it would turn out to be a disaster and guevara  s final act .  br    br   what plagued the first chapter follows suit here as soderbergh slows his film to a crawl to study the beatific countenance of the contemplative guevara once again being played like james dean in east of eden by bernicio del toro . the problem is guevara has little success in gaining converts and he soon finds himself and his starving comrades being swallowed up in the heart of darkness bolivian jungle . unlike werner herzog in the magnificent  aguirre  the wrath of god soderbergh fails to utilize the jungle  s metaphorical possibilities to heighten the desperation of the guerrillas . he seems more concerned with keeping che  s nimbus above his head than exploring the panic setting in on the dead enders . there is one herzogian moment where che sits astride an obstinate horse kicking and screaming to get it moving but overall soderbergh  s mise en scene remains flat  sloppy and uninteresting .  br    br   in both of his films soderbergh shows he is clearly a che groupie and because of it his focus remains myopic and narrow . he spends too much time building his monument to che and too little in developing his relationships with key players in his saga  especially fidel castro . making matters worse he does it with a slow and dispassionate approach that never catches fire . one would think he was steeped in enough eisenstein and vertov to realize that sweeping change is showcased a lot better with sweeping style .  
wonderful romance comedy drama about an italian widow  cher  who  s planning to marry a man she  s comfortable with  danny aiello  until she falls for his headstrong  angry brother  nicholas cage  . the script is sharp with plenty of great lines  the acting is wonderful  the accents  i  ve been told  are letter perfect and the cinematography is beautiful . new york has never looked so good on the screen . a must  see primarily for cher and olympia dukakis   they  re both fantastic and richly deserved the oscars they got . a beautiful  funny film . a must see   
same old same old about che . it completely ignored the really interesting facts of che  s true character . sodeberg redid the same boring narrative of che . the silly seductive tale of an argentinean rich  boy who was so shocked by poverty he became a robin hood fighting alongside the poor  until eventually he was murdered by the cia . yeah  yeah  heard it all before  boring and untrue  . the reality of che guevara is very different and far more explosive  the facts show that he was a totalitarian with a messiah streak  who openly wanted to impose maoist tyranny on the world . he was so fanatical that at the hottest moment in the cold war  he even begged the soviet union to nuke new york  washington or los angeles and bring about the end of the world . che urged khrushchev to launch a nuclear strike against us cities . for the rest of his life  he declared that if his finger had been on the button  he would have pushed it . when khrushchev backed down and literally saved the world  che was furious at the  betrayal  . if che  s recommendations had been followed  you would not be reading this review now . how a homicidal maniac became a pop icon would have made a much more interesting film . incredible that no filmmaker has been daring enough to show the real side of che and his posthumous media transformation . that would make an oscar winning film  i thought making independent film meant taking real risks and being groundbraking  they only stick to  safe counterculture themes   to wit   che cool    wall street bad    republican nazi    bush ex hitler    nra is worse than kgb    christians are fanatics and stupid   etc . . . ad nauseum . oooh  how daring  how mind blowing . tres anti  mainstream and edgy . i wish they would have some real cojones and tackle the independent film oligarchy  that would be truly daring   
deliriously romantic comedy with intertwining subplots that mesh beautifully and actors who bounce lines off each other with precise comic timing  a feat that is beautiful to behold . when cher  s spineless fianc asks her to help him make peace with his estranged  moody younger brother  no one could dream the consequences which follow . operatic symbolism  catholic church confessions  love bites and falling snow . . .  moonstruck  is timeless and smooth . it takes about   minutes for the picture  s rhythm to kick in  there  s an early sequence with the grandfather and his dogs at the cemetery that  s a little rough  and a following scene with cosmo and the elderly man at the gate that seems obtuse   but the patchwork of the plot is interwoven with nimble skill  and the movie  s wobbly tone and kooky spirit are both infectious .     from   
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   this second instalment of the che films moves the story forward to the late   s  where the man has now moved his resistance fighters into the hills of south america  surviving without enough food and water and with tensions mounting between the group . everything comes to a head when he crosses the border into bolivia and the government forces step up their campaign to bring him down .  br    br   without the flitting between time and places of the last film  soderbergh  s second instalment focuses solely on the action in the hills  and manages to be an even duller experience . and more pretentiously  the score has been drowned out  giving the second instalment more of an unwelcome air of artsieness that proves just as alienating . there  s just an unshakeable air of boredom to the film that never lets up . you can  t fault soderbergh  s ambition or del toro  s drive in the lead role  it  s just a shame that somewhere in the production things managed to take such a disappointing turn .   
  moonstruck  is a love story . there is not one romance  there are at least three  but they all have to do with the same family . loretta  s family . loretta  cher  is about to marry johnny cammareri  danny aiello  . she doesn  t love him  but he is sweet and good man . when he leaves to visit his dying mother in italy loretta meets johnny  s brother ronny  nicolas cage  . he and johnny haven  t spoken each other in five years and loretta wants to invite him to the wedding . of course they fall instantly for each other .  br    br   how this story and love stories of loretta  s parents and uncle and aunt develop is something you simply have to see for yourself . every seen is a delight to watch  with cher as the bright star in the middle of everything . she won and really deserved the oscar that year . cage is pretty good  and goofy as well  and olympia dukakis as loretta  s mother and vincent gardenia as her father are terrific . this movie is funny  charming and therefore highly enjoyable .  
what an unusual movie .  br    br   absolutely no concessions are made to  hollywood special effects  or entertainment . there is no background music  not special effects or enhanced sound .  br    br   facial expressions are usually covered by thick beards and the spanish language is a strange monotonic lilt that sounds the same whether in the midst of a battle or talking around a campfire .  br    br   i sort of viewed these movies  parts  and   as an educational experience  not really something to go and get entertained by . its quite long and in places dull .  br    br   but i suspect that given the lack of any plot development  i don  t think its very educational either .  br    br   its also difficult to perceive any story from the movie dialogue  it would be a good idea to read up a little on the history so that you can understand the context of what is happening  since for some reason the director didn  t see fit to inform the audience why che  s band was moving around the way they did  as a result there seem to be groups skulking around the woodland for no particular reason and getting shot at .  br    br   i would have loved to give this movie more stars for somehow generating more empathy with me and developing depth of character  but somehow all of the characters were still strangers to me at the end . the stars it gets are for realism and showing the hardships of guerrilla warfare .  
this movie is brilliant in every way . it touches on the complexities of loving relationships in a meaningful way  but never lectures . the script never condescends toward any character  not even the hapless johnny . it also and benefits from spot  on direction  production design  casting  and performances . the fact that cher is so perfect in the film and is more unlike  cher  than she has ever been is a wonder to me . i watch moonstruck at least once a year and i just viewed it again this christmas eve with my   year old twin daughters and they loved it as well . it has something for everyone with a heart and leaves you filled with joy in the end .  
i went to see this movie with the most positive expectations . i had seen jacquet  s previous movie  march of the penguins  and had heard a very positive review of this one on the radio . however  i was severely disappointed . most of all  this movie is terribly boring . literally nothing happens . i tried to describe the content of the movie to a friend  and we both ended up laughing because i could only stammer things like  well then the winter comes  and then spring  and then there  s an eagle  and a river  and one time it is dark  and the girl goes into a cave  and another time the fox has babies  and so on . after about half an hour i began sighing  yawning  rolling my eyes  cursing the reviewer at the radio station  and hoping that it would be over soon . but the movie went on and on . when it finally ended i had sunken so deep into my chair that i must have looked somewhat similar to stephen hawking . the most annoying parts of the movie are  a  the girl  who is obviously there to give children someone to identify with . she wears the same clothes throughout the entire movie  one year   and shows exactly two facial expressions joy and seriousness . she is cute  no question about that . however  a movie about the beauty of nature like this one would have done better without her all  too  human presence . i found myself constantly hoping that she might get eaten by a bear  drown in the river  or something similarly terrible .  b  the commentary by the girl  s adult voice  which tells us nothing but negligible  obvious  boring  redundant things .  c  the music  which is desperately lacking subtlety . when the girl is happily jumping around  the music jumps around  too . when the fox is threatened by an eagle  the music becomes threatening  too . it reminded me of the very early days of film  making  and was just too predictable to enjoy . admittedly  many of the children who saw the movie with me did obviously like it  at least they got somehow involved . thus  my warning concerns adults only if you are over ten years old  avoid this movie . you can get a better  and cheaper  sleep in most other places .  
loretta castorini  cher  is a woman in her late thirties  a widow  who lives with her parents in a duplex apartment in brooklyn . she is engaged to marry johnny cammareri  danny aiello   a bland man  more out of a resigned duty than actual love . before their wedding johnny takes a trip out to visit his mother who is sick and leaves loretta the function of playing the olive leaf with his brother ronny by notifying him of their impending wedding . ronny  nicholas cage  hasn  t forgiven johnny for being the cause of his accident which caused him the loss of his hand  and subsequently  his then  bride  to  be   but he does fall for loretta  and hard . after a heated affair loretta out of respect for johnny tries to avoid ronny  but his dark looks and overpowering masculinity win her over . meanwhile  loretta  s mother rose castorini  olympia dukakis  is not only suspecting her husband cosmo  vincent gardenia  is seeing another woman  but is also herself the subject of admiration from a college professor and wonders why do men chase women . things get complicated when johnny returns from sicily to tell loretta they can  t be married .  br    br   the setup is pure sitcom  but the story  written by john patrick shanley with a deep understanding for italian  americans living in new york  is genuine he gets the idiosyncrasies of these people and their day  to  day foibles and quirks  and all of the characters have a deep romanticism that comes through in key moments throughout the story . loretta  a character hardened by the loss of her husband and knowing her chances of happiness are slim  slowly emerges as a woman who is so swept by the sudden recognition of love she becomes the heroine of la boheme   the one who acknowledges the love of the man with the wooden hand  in a clever gender reversal   and cher inhabits the role and makes it hers and in her own style subtly trades her frumpiness to a deep  dark beauty . ronny is pure fire and nicholas cage exudes masculine power as if he were channeling marlon brando . the castorini  s and the cappomaggi  s  counterbalancing the central couple  both express their love for each other in two very crucial moments the latter couple  on the night of the full moon when loretta and ronny consummate their affair   a rare scene depicting love and intimacy among the elderly    and the former at a tense moment over breakfast when rose bluntly reveals  in touching words  that she wants cosmo to stop seeing his mistress mona  anita gillette  .  br    br   moonstruck is not only the romantic comedy and date movie of choice  but also a beautiful examination of love and passion among regular people . the ending is a tour de force of emotional impact  the family situation going beyond the momentary complications to cement it in tradition going back to the days of immigrants  and is one that elevates this movie from being just another feel  good movie to a classic . moonstruck deservedly got its oscars for best writing  actress  and supporting actress  and has proved to grow beyond its time .  
at the beginning of the movie  the beautiful photography and the scenes of the fox were amazing . however  the story was so very slow and boring . and then the little girl begins to domesticate the fox  which leads to tragic events . we live in the forest  and frequently see foxes . one thing anyone should know is that you leave wild animals to be wild  and enjoy them from afar . this movie sets a terrible example to the children who will be watching it  in trying to make a wild creature into a pet . i do not know what the point of the story was supposed to be . even after the terrible events with the main fox  the little girl was still wanting to play with the kits . does she never learn her lesson  and there are other scenes featuring predator animals to the fox  which only adds to the trauma inflicted on children watching this movie . what a disappointment this movie was . and what a horrible story it tells . the final narrated dialog was so stupid  by which time my wife and i were screaming at the tv  i absolutely hated this movie  and would never recommend it to anyone   
this silly movie is really fun for the younger audiences . its heros are a couple of dud detectives whose sophomoric attitudes lead them down some very silly roads . chasing the big murder case  you will see these detectives go to every length to solve the crime . no nudity  but lots of sexual implication  slapstick silliness . . . everything adolescents go for . low budget  but very entertaining . definite cult classic potential .  
if you can imagine mickey mouse as a new york street pimp  or john wayne as a communist spy  then you might believe pat boone as a juvenile delinquent on his uncle  s farm in kentucky and you could conceivably enjoy this movie .  br    br   this film is so stupid that it isn  t even campy for a mid     s sexless love story . and the problem is that hollywood made such a big deal about pat boone  s refusal to kiss a woman not his wife on screen before its release that the audience knows he won  t kiss shirley jones so you cannot build any anticipation for the  screen consummation  of their love . it  s sort of like watching a western in which the cowboys don  t have guns .  br    br   the story is pointless . even the title song is sung with pained enthusiasm .  br    br   april love belongs in the worst film bargain bin along with ishtar and plan  from outer space .  
so wonderful  so quirky  so romantic  so italian . the film is so feather  light you float off into its refracted reality and you never want to return to the humdrum again . a kitchen sink world of bakeries  and hairdressers  and plumbing  but one that shimmers with a soft luminescence . should the credit go to the screenplay or the direction  take your pick   they  re both faultless . let me get back to that new york city that lies just beyond the looking glass .  
this film has little to recommend it  though that little being the breathtaking scenery  cinematography and direction of wildlife  it is difficult to bring up its weak points in the company of such rave reviews . it is precisely these things  however  that make the lack of a satisfactory plot and its execution so disappointing .  br    br   i watched this with my children and none of us was too impressed by the end . yes  the pictures were great  the broad landscapes across the forest and mountains magnificent  but what was going on in the foreground  the rather dull narration of the stupidity of an insipid girl who learns all too slowly a very basic lesson about befriending wildlife  and gets off quite easily given the track record of that sort of thing . it is certainly not a new story  in fact there is nothing remotely novel about the way it is told  and we have all seen this before  and  indeed  much more eloquently by antoine de saint  exupry .  br    br   the only thing really to be gleaned from this film is a sense of how to work with these wonderful lenses and forest lighting the rest is a waste of time .  
harman and isings  old mill pond  is a true masterpiece of the art of animation . the consummate skill and artistry that characterise this duos work is nowhere more in evidence than in this cartoon . it is a shame that so many people can see only offence in what is  and was always intended to be  a light hearted piece of entertainment that in no way sought to denigrate black people . if anything it is a tribute to the infectious humour and musicality of the black race . i have not been able to view this confection for many years as the  race commissars  in england have deemed it too offensive to be shown in multi racial britain . if anyone knows where i can obtain a copy i would dearly love to view this masterpiece again . i think those who routinely look for messages and intent that were never intended in these cartoons  which are  after all  sixty years old  should try to lighten up and remember that the world is a very different place today  but that does not mean that anyone has the right to censor what is viewable from the past .  
  the fox and the child  is the new film by french director luc jacquet  who brought us the oscar  winning documentary  march of the penguins .  it focuses around a young girl  wonderfully played by bertille nol  bruneau  and her blooming friendship with a fox .  br    br   there are some truly mesmerizing moments here badgers mucking about  a lynx chasing the fox through a snow  littered forest one scene in particular when the fox is being tormented by a pack of wolves is quite intense and even frightening at times . however  there  s simply not quite enough of them .  br    br   beautifully shot the cinematography is dazzling . the bubbly kind of look of the film is wonderful . it  s undeniably a very lush production .  br    br   the english version is narrated by kate winslet  but what little dialogue there already is has been very poorly dubbed . the score is also far too fluffy  or at least it is for my liking and the screenplay  while subtle  seemingly jumps from one scenario to another  ultimately leaving me almost baffled .  br    br   while there  s a nice moral at the heart of the film  and the rather quiet performance from nol  bruneau is quite lovely  the real star is the fox . those captivating moments focusing solely around our furry little friend are tremendous . however  again  there  s simply not nearly enough of them .  br    br    to keep up to date with all the latest in film  including reviews  news  discussions and more  be sure to visit www . mybluray . com . au  
i just saw this cartoon for the first time and recognized the caricatures of famous black entertainers . . . cab calloway  bessie smith   not josephine baker or sophie tucker  who was white   thomas  fats  waller  bill  bojangles  robinson  stepin fetchit  notwithstanding  louis armstrong and the chorus girls are out of the famed  cotton club  in harlem . true . . . stereotypes are there  but this was the way it was . . . and these cartoons were meant as adult entertainment at your local cinema before the main feature .  br    br   harmann  ising cartoons tended to be more  cutesy  and more upscale   after all . . . we are talking about m  g  m  than the standard animated short done over at warners  paramount  universal  fox  rko or lowly columbia . even disney  s very early mickey mouse had loads of barnyard humor before uncle walt cleaned him up just before he went  technicolor  .  br    br   disney had some cartoons with caricatures of black entertainers as well . . . for example       s silly symphony  woodland cafe  . but we have to remember that these films are part of a certain time and place .   years from now . . . clips of the simpsons  family guy  and south park will be also scrutinized  analyzed . . . and even vilified by future viewers .  
the one reason i remember this is that it was shown the week after nigel kneales brilliant quatermass serial was broadcast . the trailers made heavy emphasis that the main character had a mutilated arm which had me hoping hed be like victor caroon from the quatermass experiment stalking the streets of london .  br    br   no such luck because the racing game is just a rather drab thriller with the gimmick of having a hero with a physical disability trying to get to the bottom of investigations of corrupt horse racing . i suppose if youre a fan of dick francis you might enjoy it but setting it in the context of the late   s when the sweeney had just finished and the professionals was still being produced  theres something lacking about the racing game . one trailer featured a car over taking another on a motor way  if itd been a trailer for the sweeney youd see jack regan over taking a car and beating a confession out of the slags whod done a blag while the professionals would have over taken a car and blown away the terrorists inside . i think that sums up whats wrong with this series  
this is te cartoon that should have won instead of country cousin . visually well  done and much more entertaining and memorable . worth watching just for the music alone  although there are elements that undoubtably will bruise the sensibilities of some these days  the cartoon has to be given a bit of perspective . it  s over sixty years old and it is  after all  just a cartoon . i  m disabled and if i were as hyper  sensitive as the folks who look at things like this cartoon and take umbrage  i would have long since curled up in a fetal position and faded away . sometimes you need to lighten up  put your head back and float  caricatures of celebrities in cartoons were common in the     s and     s and were almost never terribly flattering . bing crosby reportedly hated it when he was used on more than one occasion . sigh  
basing a television series on a popular author  s works is no guarantee of success . yorkshire television learnt this the hard way when in     they bought the rights to the books credited to dick francis  three of which were broadcast under the collective title  the racing game  . mike gwilym was sid halley  a former jockey turned private eye following an accident in which he lost his right hand  only to have it replaced by an artificial one . gwilym suffered from an acute lack of charisma  and looked like one of the bad guys  while mick ford  who played the irritating chico barnes  made me think of a horse  s arse whenever he was on screen . for six weeks  this less  than dynamic duo charged about the countryside  foiling nefarious plots to fix races  usually by the same methods  blackmail  kidnapping riders or doping horses . yorkshire television threw money at the show  but to no avail . violent  sexist  far  fetched and repetitious  it was quickly carted off to the knackers yard .  
the old mill pond is more of a tribute to the african  american entertainers of the    s than any denigration of the entire race  stepin fetchit caricature notwithstanding  . besides who i just mentioned  there  s also frog or fish versions of cab calloway  fats waller  joesphine baker  bill  bojangles  robinson  and louis armstrong . this happy harmonies cartoon from hugh harmon and rudolf ising is very entertaining musically with perfect characterizations all around . they all sound so much like the real thing that half of me thinks they could possibly be . if not  they  re certainly very flattering impersonations . even the lazy  shiftless fetchit characterization gets an exciting workout here when he gets chased by a tiger as  hold that tiger  plays on the score . highly recommended for fans of    s animation and jazz music .  
i saw this movie a couple years back . i could  nt sleep and there was nothing on . so i peeped it . what really gets me is it makes no sense and thats why its disturbing . richard gets tied up in chicken wire and jarvis starts making out with richard  s girl while she  s unconscious . then jarvis  s buddy troubador is playing some stupid song on his guitar . by the next morning it shows richard  s girl talking to jarvis and trouby and then she walks back to richard and looks at him while he  s still tied up . then they play some happy music and the movie is finished . i mean what happened  did they brake up  and what was she saying to those  guys  trouby and jarvis   its to puzzling and to poor to . i can  t stand movies that are disturbing and don  t make sense . this was the worst film i  ve ever seen since the    s version of lord of the flies .  
a surprisingly good movie  it has quite a few good jokes thru out the whole movie . the only negative thing is that some scenes go to the extremes to show just how stupid the two main characters are . we get it  stupid blondes  get on with it   br    br   the plot just barely dodges being called  corny  . and boobies are always a plus altho the movie for some strange reason doesn  t play with that card very much even tho the plot line introduces two black haired women who act as the evil counter part of our two blondes .  br    br   so all in all  a good movie to watch . i almost gave it an      but let  s not get crazy .  
when i was in school i made a film about a couple roaming around in the trees and talking  and i realized halfway through editing that this was not just a failing aesthetic strategy but a clich of canadian cinema sodden lyricism married to vacant  metaphor  burdened stabs at social commentary . but whatever my own film  s failings i feel much better after seeing this . . . this . . . thing . for one thing  mine ran   minutes  not    and had more content at that every pointless bit of business here is fawned over for four  five  six relentless minutes . the male lead is just incredible  a brow  beating  loudmouthed creep given to outbursts of drama  class improv in between philosophical insights culled from the u of t pub  and he is given lots and lots of space to make us hate him . admittedly if he weren  t such an ahole then the third act would make even less sense  as a couple snarky dudes show up to provide distant and thoroughly unhelpful echoes of  exploitation  values but it doesn  t make it any easier to watch the caged creep whimper  please  in closeup until the magazine runs out . i take back what i said about autumn born  which at least had the courage of its own misbegotten lechery this cinematic crater is and will remain the very worst canadian movie of all time . at least  i really really hope so .  
this movie is actually funny  if you  d like to rest your brain for an hour so then go ahead and watch it . it  s called blonde and blonder  so don  t expect profound and meaningful jokes . what this movie and enjoy all the stereotypes we have about two blondes . it  s just a funny movie to watch on a date or with a company of friends  especially if you  re not too sober . lol  pamela and denise are still pretty hot chicks . it  s a mistake to judge this movie as a piece of art . c  mon  this movie is about blondes  it  s supposed to be light  funny and superficial . one more thing  i do not think that girls will appreciate and like this movie but guy definitely will .  
this film turned up on local tv here in south africa recently and i thought that i  d warn even those who enjoy watching b grade bad movies  which i do  that this is not even amusing . the plot concerns a couple visiting a house in the country . some strangers appear and . . . . the problem is that most of the film  obviously shot in the early seventies  consists of extreme wide shots of people walking  in real time and awfully slowly  from a to b . this makes the film tedious in the extreme and the expected blood and gore payoff just never happens . i am really curious  how many people have actually watched this from beginning to end   
blonde and blonder has pamela anderson and denise richards in almost every scene and if you want more from a movie you  re being utterly unreasonable . it feels like a late era carry on  when the series was no longer blazing trails  but was still more funny than not  think behind or england and you won  t be too far off the mark . pamela and denise are bubbly  charming and clearly aware this isn  t a masterpiece they  re making  although you can give me it over lots of things i  m told to like . the supporting cast are energetic  even if some of them aren  t particularly good i can  t see a couple of duff turns in a movie that  s already practically forgotten making much difference to anything  so just smile . i really do think blonde and blonder is ace and i hope you hate me for it .  
i used to review videos for joe bob briggs  legendary  we are the weird  newsletter . i saw a lot of stinkers  but this by far was the worst  and the years have not been kind  it remains the most indecent crime against cinema i have ever witnessed . don  t get me wrong  caged terror is nominally more technically competent than  say  monster  a  go  go or the guy from harlem or something of that ilk . what solidifies its claim as worst movie of all time for me is its unique blend of bare proficiency with crippling pretension . is it a vietnam commentary  an ecological protest  an incitement to race riot  a study of man  s inhumanity to man  a novel exercise in padding nature footage out to  nearly  feature length  in short a hep young urban professional  possibly the most loathesome screen character ever  somehow seduces a nubile asian  american associate into camping in the woods with him . after brow  beating her with quasi  philosophical clap for the better part of an hour  they run across two wandering veterans  the unforgettable jarvis  a righteous brother  and the troubadour  guitar  toting manson family reject  . hey  a plot twist  tension  action  suspense  well  no  just a climactic getting  locked  in  a  makeshift  wire  chicken  coop  and  lightly  belittled scene . the victim in question stares listlessly at the captors and mutters   no . . . no . . . please . . . don  t . . .  meanwhile  jarvis addresses the troubadour as  trouby  once every two minutes  bringing to mind nothing so much as the alien star of juan picquer  s pod people . that  s about all that happens in caged terror  and such a synopsis perhaps makes it seem almost tolerable . but trust me  i  ve seen thousands of movies in my life  and this one has remained  for the past eight years since i first saw it  the absolute worst .  i pop it in the old vcr once every two years or so just to reassure myself  and reassure myself i certainly do .  i think the element which makes caged terror so particularly hateful is this very little happens  and although what little does happen happens quite poorly and quite slowly  what truly makes it compulsively unwatchable is the suffocating sense that the filmmakers really  really want to shove some kind of message down your throat . but because caged terror is so incompetent and ineffectual  what was intended as a civics lesson becomes a crash course in intense viewing discomfort . this film is   minutes long and feels like three and a half hours . it  s terrible  truly truly terrible . folks  trust me  i saw ghosts that still walk and this one is worse . go see it  you  ll thank me . and curse me . just for the record  my favorite line  in caged terror but perhaps ever   yeah  well  you probably think the song of solomon was an allegory for christ  s love for the church . . .    note must be delivered in a tone of concerted condecension .   
this is bar none the most hilarious movie i have ever seen . beginning with the four delinquents being sent off by their fathers to wienberg military academy  a tone is set that steadily continues all throughout this goofball film  and it does not let up for a second .  br    br   it  s tough trying to describe this film the humor elements are so spot on and brilliantly concieved that upon a first look it appears as nothing more than a stupid    s teen lust comedy . but it is oh so much more than that  fresh from the minds of those folks over at mad magazine  up the academy serves up a formula and style that i have never since seen duplicated by any of the  funniest  offerings to come out of hollywood in years past . basically the film is so full of infantile cornball material that you might guess that the writers were a couple of   year olds themselves . see this movie if you love to act  immature .  a classic .   
without question one of the most embarrassing productions of the     s  gaots seems to really  really want to be something important . the tragic truth is that it  s so entirely valueless on every level that one can  t help but laugh . reaching in desperation for the earthy elements of ingmar bergman  s films  it follows a city couple  s day in the wilderness . . . they walk along a shady path  allthewhile pontificating like a u . c . berkeley coffee clatch . almost every line of tarradiddle dialog delivered here is uproariously bad   i feel that life itself is made up of as many tiny compartments as this pomegranate . . . . but is it as beautiful    after what seems like an eternity of absolutely nothing happening  well . . . ok . . . we are treated to some nudity and a tepid soft sex scene   there is finally a very anticlimactic confrontation involving a pair  nam vets who are making the nature scene and performing some pretty harsh folk ballads with an acoustic guitar .  br    br   nothing at all eventful or interesting happens in this entire film . i thought the larry buchanan picture  strawberries need rain  was a weak example of a bergman homage .  golden apples  is every bit as bad  but the ceaseless random verbiage it presents makes it memorably awful .      
this movie is so cheap  it  s endearing    with ron liebmann  major vaughn  providing the most entertaining on  screen diatribes in film history . i own  copies of this movie on video . . . on one  ralph macchio is caught actually cracking up in the background at major vaugn while he is ranting at  hash  . obviously they forgot to edit this mistake out of the film  but it goes to show just how funny the movie is  when the actors themselves can  t keep a straight face     
a routine mystery  thriller concerning a killer that lurks in the swamps . during the early days of television  this one was shown so often  when dad would say  what  s on tv tonight   and we  d tell him  strangler of the swamp  he  d pack us off to the movies . we went to the movies a lot in those days   
for a  no budget  movie this thing rocks . i don  t know if america  s gonna like it  but we were laughing all the way through . some really funny funny stuff . really non  hollywood .  br    br   the actors and music rocked . the cars and gags and even the less in your face stuff cracked us up . whooo whooo   br    br   i  ve seen some of the actors before  but never in anything like this  one or two of them i think i  ve seen in commercials or in something somewhere . basically it rocked  luckily i got to see a copy from a friend of one of the actors .  
a movie that attempts to be far smarter than its makers are capable of producing . the movie twists and turns through miriad plot  surprises  at a desperate attempt to kep the audience guessing  offcourse puncturing the  plot  with steamy scenes they thought would help it along .  br    br   james belushi is involved in this pseudo  intellectual attempt and just sleep walks through the movie . the same applies for the other  actors  . the plot is quite silly and tacky . whih in itelf is not such a crime  but towards the end  the tremendous plot  twists get very tiresome and boring .  br    br   however  the movie does manage to generate some interest in the middle . in all worth a lazy watch on a really boring day  but don  t fret if you miss this one .  br    br   a rather lame    
i may very well be one of the few who really stuck to this film . i also saw this movie when it came out  and i agree with the last post that up the acedemy was way ahead of its  time . the humor in the film itself is pure mad magazine . i don  t see why mad stand behind this feature . it was also one of the few films of the early    s to have a killer accompanying soundtrack with the punk and new wave bands that were emerging from l . a . at the time . i own the soundtrack and i play it constantly to this day . what can i say  there are definitely worst movies out there . i don  t consider porky  s to be as funny as up the academy  there are some really good laughs throughout the film  and the jokes fall on either stereotypes or getting laid . hey  nobody said this was going to be the maltese falcon .  
mary pickford becomes the chieftain of a scottish clan after the death of her father  and then has a romance . as fellow commenter snow leopard said  the film is rather episodic to begin . some of it is amusing  such as pickford whipping her clansmen to church  while some of it is just there . all in all  the story is weak  especially the recycled  contrived romance plot  line and its climax . the transfer is so dark it  s difficult to appreciate the scenery  but even accounting for that  this doesn  t appear to be director maurice tourneur  s best work . pickford and tourneur collaborated once more in the somewhat more accessible  the poor little rich girl   typecasting pickford as a child character .  
this movie has it all . sight gags  subtle jokes  play on words and verses . it is about a rag tag group of boys from different ethnic and social classes that come together to defeat a common enemy . if you watch this more than once  you will find you are quoting it like animal house  and yes i love animal house also  . i put in the top   funniest movies . the major at a boys military academy is paranoid that every kid is bad and wants to cause trouble  in this movie he is right  . he is sadistic  uncaring  cruel and has to be taken down . the group of boys that do not get along at first  end up teaming together to survive and get rid of the major with a wacky plan only mad magazine could of wrote . a must see  you will love it   
please humour me if you will  for a minute while i read you the back of the alley cat vhs box . it says that  br    br   in this part of the city every street is a dead end  on every corner something to buy  in every alley another way to die  to survive you  re got to be the best  just like the alley cat . alley cat  this lady owns the night . on the streets where even the predators become victims she knows how to survive  cross her and you  ve run out of luck . alley cat  this animal is aroused .  br    br   now isn  t that one of the most pathetic blurbs you  ve ever heard in your life  whoever wrote that must be insane if they thought such a awful description could tempt us into viewing the video . yet unfortunately  whichever faceless individual was responsible for that tragic use of english was doing their job only too well . . the movie contained within the little plastic case is as bad as it sounds  and then some .  br    br   karin mani plays the title role  and the script basically tells her during every given scene to either a  pout like a goldfish b  kick male butt or c  show off her feminine  attributes  . no complaints about the latter  but in terms of the other two . . let  s just say she isn  t much of an actress  and is even less convincing as a martial arts expert . but even meryl streep with cynthia rothrock  s body  what a scary thought  would fail to save this movie . the unfolding of the plot is boring beyond belief  as we get one ineptly directed fight sequence after enough  pausing only for hysterical courtroom shenanigans and the occasional gag  inducing love scene with the interestingly named robert torti . the camera  work also follows a similar path of shame  with far too many unneeded close  ups and continuity errors abound .  br    br   the part that i think really sums this scum  bucket of a movie up is where our heroine is sexually assaulted  and finds herself testifying in front of a corrupt judge while her rich  kid rapist leers at her from the box . not only does he get off scot  free despite the overwhelming evidence against him  but she herself is then jailed for daring to protest about the verdict in front of his honour . behind bars  she then has a group shower  a lesbian crush  a couple of cat  fights and a nice  sweaty game of volleyball before being released on bail to continue her battle . this ten  minute section has nothing to do with the rest of the movie  and the screenplay grinds to a halt to encompass it . i can only imagine the producers wanted to add a bit more ta to the mix  and came up with this needless sub  plot as a means to achieving that end .  br    br   which kinds of begs the question  is this an exploitation film  or a serious drama  neither  is my response to that . . it isn  t sleazy or camp enough to appeal to fans of troma  style cinema  and it certainly doesn  t make the grade as an exploration of one woman  s fight against the system . . purely because it is so appallingly made . so who on earth would want to see it  lunatics  i guess . . or imdb reviewers who stay up till  pm and watch any old rubbish on the box while trying to get to sleep . sadly on this occasional i failed  and the horrors will stay with me for quite some time . don  t make the same mistake i did . have a hot milk  or something . .      
misfits at a military school  hmmmm  sounds funny  maybe offensive to some . you have the characters there  the arab thief  the sex crazy teen  the smart mouth  the pot smoker  and not to forget  the guy who burns things . throw in a strict no nonsense sergent  a homosexual sergent and one sexy ammunition teacher and it makes one crazy film adventure .  br    br   i have seen this film and it is funny  because the comedy is revolved around the fact that if you try to work together  things get done .  br    br   these band of misfit students at weinberg military school have been placed in here because  as sgt liceman quotes  because you are outcasts  embarrassments to your families and communities  disgraces .  one of ralph macchio  s earlier performances before the karate kid and my cousin vinny  with appearances from barbara bach as well  this film appeals to teens and young adults .  br    br   great soundtrack keeps the film moving .  
an apparent vanity project for karin mani  who    as a hottie charles bronson going around wiping up the  scum  that mugged her parents  or grandparents or something  and impressing young hunks with her karate skills . in a pivotal scene she intervenes to stop a rape and a moron cop throws her in jail  so after a couple cool shower scenes and some abortive prison  dyke seduction she has to take the law into her own hands blah blah blah . i guess there were a lot of movies like this  the script is dumber than usual if you can believe that . mani comes off as exactly the kind of showbiz type that would co  produce her own death wish starring role  and i find that type sporadically endearing  but the movie is an ungainly apparatus . competent actors would be wasted on the scumbag roles here  and would actively undermine the fantastic mincing  incompetent da and a judge that has got to be the producer  s uncle .  
i loved this flick when it came out in the    s and still do  i still quote classic lines like  say it again  and  you said you  d rip my balls off sir  . ron leibman was hot and very funny  although it was underrated and disowned by mad  i have to say that this little gem will always be a treasure of mine and a movie that i would take with me if sent to a deserted island  i only wish that someone would release the dvd because my vhs tape is about worn out  if you like cheesed out comedy  this is definitely for you and should be considered a cult classic  it is military humor at it  s best and worse  rent it if you can  t own it   
one of those el cheapo action adventures of the early     s that used to fill video rental stores solely to be taken out by adolescent boys in the hope of a cheap thrill .  br    br   woeful down market attempt to cash in on the death wish phenomenon by substituting a moderately attractive woman for the visually challenging bronson . acting is terrible  sets are cheap  the baddies are  well  bad . identification with any of the characters is unlikely .  br    br   only redeeming feature is modest amount of gratuitous female nudity  a smattering of which is full frontal . other than that  you can leave it . . .  
i first caught the movie on its first run on hbo in  probably      and being   years old i thought the movie was hilarious . i remember not seeing the alfred e . neuman depictions shown in the theatrical trailers . when mad magazine satired the movie and abruptly halted half way through with apologies from the  usual gang  for lowering themselves to satire such a piece of crap  i just assumed they were poking fun at themselves  which i  m sure they were  but to seriously find them  and ron liebman  so embarrassed to remove their names from any credits  i was quite surprised . surely there are many worse movies to be associated with . watching the movie on video now  at age    with the mad references restored  i still get a kick out of it . and being a ron liebman fan  hot rock  where  s poppa   i think it  s his crown jewel of performances  say it agaaaain   
begin spoiler fitfully funny and memorable for mr . chong  s literal roach  smoking scene chong coolly mashes a stray kitchen cockroach into his pipe  s bowl  lights up  coughs and hacks violently for a seeming eternity  then with perfect aplomb and not skipping a beat  re  loads the bowl properly  re  lights  re  tokes . end spoiler . alas  i began to lose faith less than half  way through the proceedings . it occurred to me that the lackadaisical duo are way obnoxious and less than relatable . i have come to appreciate the relative sophistication of contemporary stoners  harold and kumar . i simply prefer brighter company . yet  the movie is probably a perfect fit for baked frat bros or those viewers who are so feeble  minded as to be outwitted by a stoner when they   the former are sober . notable guest appearance by paul reubens spouting obscenities in pre  pee  wee form .  
back in my high school days in salina kansas  they filmed something called  the brave young men of weinberg  locally  and the film crews were rather prominent for weeks . eventually  we learned that the film was  up the academy   and was a bit ummm   lower brow  than we had been led to believe .  br    br   i had to see it  since i was there  and the local audiences seemed less than pleased at the showing . i was    and thought it was a rather artless attempt at a post  animal house  type of comedy  right down to the fart jokes .  br    br   watched it many times since  and my opinion has mellowed a bit . it  s dumb  but at times it catches a bit of the  mad  magazine humor  at least as well as most  mad tv  . ron liebman might hate it  but he is nearly perfect  and unforgettable . for me  my favorite moment would have been a brief scene on santa fe avenue  where i had parked my car  while i was buying some guitar strings . too bad my pinto  s brief appearance  usually seems to get cut for tv . haven  t seen the new dvd  but if my old pinto is visible  they  ve got a sale .  
i see quite a few positive reviews on this board  trying to revive this film from its lackluster status and starting a cult following . i see the usual ranting    i guess this movie is just not for the easily offended    this movie is not shakespeare   etc . guess what  neither was  road trip   and i laughed my a off during that movie  there  s a way to make a crude  tasteless comedy and deliver laughs and there  s a way to . . . just make it crude and tasteless .  whipped  tries to be  swingers  without the wit or intelligence . it seems to have been written through the puerile eyes of a    year  old boy . for god  s sake  the characters in this movie are supposed to be white  collar  upright citizens   and they talk like some of the idiots i knew in freshman year of high school  the dialogue is laced   more like drowned   with four  letter words . you would think that people of their status would have some degree of intelligence   and a more extensive vocabulary . just watch a whit stillman film and you  ll see the difference . not to mention the fact that the dialogue sounds totally unrealistic and downright cartoonish . if you know any successful  white  collar businessmen who speak like the characters in this movie   please let me know and introduce me to them . their annoying sexual banter is equivalent to that of standard locker room chat among teens just arriving at puberty . there is absolutely no insight into relationships  sex or . . . anything    it  s just a poor excuse to showcase an array of extremely   and don  t take the word  extremely  for granted  because i mean it with all my heart   crude gags . these are gags with no substance . gags that are meant more for groans than laughs . the scene at the end between amanda peet and her girlfriends was totally un  called for and totally unconvincing . there are some movies that involve interaction among females that were written by  straight  men and play out wonderfully . this scene involves a barrage of sexual metaphors and gestures . it involves the kind of dialogue you can never imagine leaving a woman  s mouth . it was one of those noticeably  written  by  a  guy scenes . i wasn  t believing it for a second .  br    br    whipped  is purely a sick male fantasy that  s as flat as it is annoying . i got  very  few laughs out of this utterly forgettable comedy  and those were probably a result of desperation . when you  re not laughing for a long period of time  you desperately look for humor in the most trivial things . so i wouldn  t mark that down as a positive .  
this is one of the greatest   s movies    it sticks out like a  turd in a punchbowl    i can  t believe mad magazine denounced it or whatever . and yet  they proudly put their name on a show with  stuart    i  speak  a  no  enlish chinese lady  and  ups guy on speed  . what  s up with that  and  i love ron leibman  he  s foxy   wonder why he had his name removed from the credits  it was his funniest role that i know of . of course  he  s not nearly as foxy as he was in norma rae . but  in my opinion  this movie is right up there with national lampoon  s vacation . if you liked movies such as porky  s  fast times  last american virgin  or any of the other   s teen  focused movies  you  ll love this one   rent it and you  ll see what i mean    
this movie will be a hit with those that enjoy sophomoronic  mindless  explicit bragging about sexual exploits and f . . . in almost every sentence . like a good plot  like comedy  like romance or other human values  stay away from whipped . it was so bad i left after about half an hour . i saw two kids slip in that looked to be about     very harmful   this deserves an x .  
i love this movie and have seen it quite a few times over the years . it does get better with every viewing . i agree with all of the positive reviews here . yes  it  s gritty and brutally realistic as life on the prairie was in those days . i found myself doing commentary as i watched it . someone on here said rip torn was miscast . i couldn  t disagree more . he is brilliant as the dour  miserly clyde stewart who says little and works like a slave  workhorse . conchatta farrell is fantastic as the widowed elinor  whom clyde hires as a housekeeper  cook  along with her  old daughter  . lilia skala is excellent as distant neighbor called grandma . also a star is the stark montana prairie . it is both beautiful and brutal country in which to settle . there are some scenes that are both repulsive and necessary . no special effects here  what you see is real  it even has a terrificly perfect music score and a great script . once you see heartland  you  ll never forget it . it deserves all the   s it gets here .  
bad acting . bad writing . this was a poorly written film . it  s too bad because it had some potential . it  s not even close to american pie or something about mary as previous comments might have you believe . rent it at dollar night from you local video store if you  re kind of bored .  
heartland was in production about the same time as michael cimino  s heaven  s gate  heartland cost a fraction to make but is   times the piece of film .  br    br   heaven  s gate was  the biggest and most expensive     mil in       hollywood flops of all time  its failure resulted in the sale of the united artists studio to mgm   imdb entry  br    br   heartland cost a few hundred thousand dollars and benefits from great writing  direction  photography and acting . it easily draws you into the beauty  joys  hardships and sorrow of pioneer life .  br    br   it  s sad that hollywood sometimes would pour millions into turkeys  based on a director  s single big hit  and neglect such a wonderful story .  
i was looking forward to seeing amanda peet in another good role after recently renting  the whole nine yards    easily worth the rental  by the way   but this wasn  t it .  br    br   i remembered that the trailer for  whipped  was somewhat funny and the plot about three oversexed new yorker twenty somethings all falling for and getting manipulated by the charming ms . peet was worth a shot . so  i convinced two friends one afternoon to come see this movie with me . this review is my penance .  br    br   in the first act we have the three lead studs  recounting their conquests in a diner . what should have been funny  or at least telling  comes out rather pathetic . was there any redeeming quality about the three men and their encounters that we were supposed to get out of this   br    br   and while i don  t mind movies that are cheerfully vulgar  i kept wondering why no one in the diner turned around when the studs talk loudly about sexual and scatalogical details . they do this every week at the same diner  you would think someone would complain . oh  wait  i forgot two other diners do notice in one scene . but this is just a setup for a punchline . everyone else in the diner is deaf .   br    br   the second act has the three studs all falling for mia and then developing brain rot  failing to ask each other or her about what  s really happening between the four of them . and i kept asking myself  as the studs keep acting like they have been  what redeeming qualities does she see in them to stick with them longer than one date  does she start out with brain rot  i kept hoping for eric  s character  the married buddy  to become something more than simply the annoying punching bag in this act . his role is clearly to dispense advice on being married . but why do they even bother to talk to him when they won  t talk to each other  and his advice  sheeesh   br    br   the third act resolves what plot there is but by this time i was looking at my watch . my friends told me they were still waiting for something genuinely funny to happen and i had to agree . the scene that explains all was adequate and managed to explain all of the questions and mysterious dialogue bits throughout the movie but we were just checking them off a list .   oh  okay  that  s why brad had that happen and jonathan says this and . . .    br    br   what laughs we made were from the stupidity of the plot than at anything amusing . even the outtakes during the credits weren  t very funny . ultimately i was left with nothing except a desire to warn people away from this movie .  br    br   rating   
fabulous actors  beautiful scenery  stark reality . i won  t elaborate on all of the other reviewers  comments because you get the picture  however  the movie isn  t for the squeamish . reality is slaughtering pigs and other livestock in order to survive . i also have elinore randall stewart  s homestead book . i read it several years ago  i have to reread it  since i just watched the newly  released  remastered dvd of the movie .  br    br   i tried to buy the video for several years  finally bought it used from a video store that went out of business . but yippee  the dvd is now for sale  i purchased it on amazon . com . not cheap  but well worth it to me . this is a movie i will be watching until the end of my days   
  whipped  is   minutes long . this review is   words long . three unlikable new york lotharios  ruthless  scammers   end up wooing the same woman  played by amanda peet  with disastrous results . that applies to the story and the film . too sophomoric to be misogynistic  flaccid and ridiculous   whipped  mixes the philosophies of shock jock tom lykis with penthouse letter fantasies . though technically proficient it  s dated  grating  poorly written  mean  and obvious . people don  t act like this . people don  t talk like this . really .  
first  time director tom kiesche turns in a winning film in the spirit of cutting  dark comedy . shot on a shoestring budget  yet had the flavor of the early coen brother  s film blood simple . . . and throw in some monty python flavorings to boot  needs to seen more than once to appreciate all the elements that carry one scene to the next . expect more good things to come from this writer  director  actor .  
the earlier part of the film was rather enjoyable but towards the end it became trite . although turturro is an actor i generally like  his luzhin often resembled a bad rain man impression and the portrayal of the genius as a semi  autistic man was annoying . overall it seems as if this film is trying to hard and ends up looking pompous in spite of mostly fine performances .  
  heartland  is a wonderful depiction of what it was really like to live on the frontier . the hard work and individual strength that were needed to survive the hardships of the climate and the lack of medical care are blended with the camaraderie and the interdependence of the settlers . the drama was especially meaningful because the story is based on the diaries of real people whose descendants still live there . it was also nice to see the west inhabited by real people . no one was glamorous or looked as if they had just spent a session with the makeup or costume department . conchatta ferrell is just wonderful . she is an example of the strong  persevering people who came to wyoming in the early   th century and let no hardship stand in their way of a new life in a new land .  
this movie lacked . . . everything story  acting  surprise  ingenuity and a soul . fifteen minutes in  i was staring at the screen saying   how could all of these guys get together and consider themselves friends  even without the girl    another fifteen minutes in  i was praying for as much amanda peet as possible . when a bad movie quietly rears it  s ugly head  eye candy is a nice consolation . but there wasn  t much of that  cheated on all fronts   
i saw this   years ago on pbs . it was very difficult to watch . so real . to watch this small family struggle in the winter was heart rending . no time for courting fate has thrown us together and we put our shoulders to the grindstone and make it work . this was based on the woman  s actual diary  which i read many years later . she said in her diary that her parents died when she was little and all their bothers and sisters had to work the farm to feed themselves . she learned to mow  which was not lady  like . she was afraid that no prince charming would want a woman with sun  browned  calloused hands  but this husband was so happy that his new wife knew how to mow  and she was happy to do it . both were widowed and together they worked to build a new home . it was so  so sad when the baby died . of course  if they had it today  i am sure it would have been fine . that only makes the tragedy extra sad . i was crying so hard . but then they went out and successfully pulled out a new calf . spring is on its way  and life goes on . in her diary  she did have two more boys and they lived .  
this film is not funny . it is not entertaining . it does not contain one single second of originality or intelligence  nor does it lead you to take the slightest interest in the characters or situation . added to that it  s about as juvenile a movie as anything in recent memory . it  s as if a group of   or   year old high school kids who had never actually met or had any type of relationship with a real girl had sat down and wrote a movie based on their incorrect fantasies about what being an adult man would be like . this movie is boring  obnoxiously mind  numbing  and at times offensive and disgusting . at most  it contains one or two moments that make you laugh . also  it seems twice as long as its   minute running time .  
haven  t seen the film since first released  but it was memorable . performances by rip torn and conchata farrell were superb  photography excellent  moving story line and everything else about it was of the highest standard . yet it seems to have been pretty much forgotten  br    br   maybe because uk is an odd market for it but i haven  t seen the film on tv or video  which is sad . has it had more success in us where it might rightly be seen as a quite accurate historical drama   br    br   always reckon that    of a good film is the music and though i  m not certain i think the title theme was a simple but moving clarinet solo of  what a friend we have in jesus  . the film then went on to disprove that  am i right or wrong   
for months preceding the release of this movie you saw it advertised in all sorts of print media  so i patiently waited for its video release to see what all the hype was about . after it was over i had to apologize to my roommate for occupying the vcr for the last hour and a half to watch such a horrible movie . it essentially fails because it is a character based movie about unredeemable characters . with the possible exception of amanda peet  whose only redeemable quality is that she is amanda peet  you cannot stand any of them . the film relies on its dialogue which is sophomoric  moronic  and crude . the only slightly amusing character is eric  whose portrayal of the sole married member of a group of friends is dead on . the final twist  designed to make you laugh at the three main characters  only instead inspires the same kind of resentment towards peet . all in all  only rent if you are desperate or possess a dark sense of humor .  
this is a movie that should be seen by everyone if you want to see great acting . mr . torn and ms farrel do an outstanding job . i think they should have it on tv again so a new audience can enjoy it . wonderful performances .  br    br   it gives you a real feel of what the pioneers had to go through both physically and emotionally . great unheard of movie .  br    br   it was done when ms . farrel was very young . i had always thought of her as a comedian  but this certainly is not a comedy and she is just wonderful . there is very little dialogs  but that just make it seem more real . mr . torn as always is a great presence and just his breathing has great feeling . i must see movie .  
  whipped  is one of the most awful films of all time . it is a mean  hateful piece of garbage that had me forcing myself to stay in the theater more than any other movie of      besides maybe  the grinch .  it is not  as people have called it  an insightful portrait of modern relationships . that would be a little film called  high fidelity .  whereas that movie was honest and sympathetic   whipped  is hostile  cynical  misanthropic cinematic poison . avoid this like so many plagues  unless you want to see how truly bad a  comedy  can get .  
i saw the latter half of this movie about a year ago and was very happy to finally find it available on dvd . recently  i watched several of the reality series on pbs about ranching  etc . none of them came as close to telling the story as this movie does . based on real reality  pulling no punches  bleak  happy  tragic and enlightening  this is a movie that should be shown to students or to anyone interested in early frontier life . fine acting on the part of both rip torn and conchata ferrell add to an well done script . the opening credit states that it was done though funds supplied through the national endowment for the humanities . if this is the kind of product taxes could go to i would be happy to see more . i highly recommend it and would encourage people to tell a friend if you have seen it and enjoyed the film .  
hands down the worst movie i have ever seen . i thought nothing would ever dethrone last action hero  but this does easily . the movie is about  single guys who meet on sundays to discuss their sexual escapades from the weekend . a fourth guy  who is married and  that used to be a part of the group shows up and talks about what he and his wife do . nothing works in this movie . the jokes are not funny but they are repeated throughout the movie . the big kicker at the end of the movie is laughable . avoid at all costs .  
this western is done in a different manner than most others . realism is the key here . conchata farrell comes to wyoming to work for rip torn on his ranch . how this is presented makes for a most interesting slice of americana . i would have preferred to see this on the big screen rather than on tape  but it  s worth a look to see just how life was back in the real west . cinematography is excellent . solid  . torn  farrell excel in this movie .  
i just watched this movie last night  and i had to put a warning out for anybody else considering to see this film . in a word  don  t . i seriously feel like this is something that a screenwriting student would have written in a quentin tarantino  eddie murphy phase  i . e . every other word was a curse word . i don  t have a problem with profuse cursing  as in  good will hunting   provided it helps to delve more into the characters . in this case it was just hollow banter with the attempt to draw an occassional gasp or laughter from the audience . the three lead characters are all their own unique stereotype  the wall street jerk  the coffee house jerk  and the  i  m  not  gay  just  in  touch  with  my  feminine  side  slightly  less  of  a  jerk . you just don  t give a damn about any of them  they are all shallow  unredemable losers who you want to see lose . for those who dare  this film does have a couple funny moments  the very beginning  and the very end . the toilet  vibrator scene is funny in a sick kinda  uh  yeah  way . really though  i would only recommend this film to my worst of enemies .  
portrays the day to day stark reality of survival on a ranch in the old west . outstanding acting by both principal actors . this doesn  t even feel like a movie . . . you feel like you  re there . animal activists should beware . . . many scenes are obviously not just realistic . . . they are real .  
i like movies about morally corrupt characters  but this was too much . the acting wasn  t great  but that wasn  t the real problem . the issue was the sinking feeling i got in the pit of my stomach about   minutes into the film . these characters were hollow . they had almost no depth  and what little they did have was devoted to the cruelty they displayed to each other in the guise of friendship . exploring the darker sides of a set of characters can be fascinating  but you have to give those characters actual personalities or they are just cardboard cutouts . these characters were cardboard and the picture they gave was just ugly .  
excellent . gritty and true portrayal of pioneer ranch life on the western plains with an emphasis on the woman  s role and place . a moving film  lovingly made  and based on real people and their actual experiences . low budget  independent film never made any money . definitely not the romanticized  unrealistic hollywood version of pioneer life .  
first and foremost  zorie barber  zeke   might be one of the worst actors i have ever seen . as a character that  s supposed to be a hip  village writer into the martial arts and proud of being mysterious  why is he so hyper  over  dramatic  and plain horrible  did he know anything about his character before they started filming  did the director  don  t the martial arts teach discipline  aside from that  this film misses the target with its lame jokes and seen  it  already gross  out humor . hand in toilet   i  trainspotting   i  . masturbation  hmm .  i  fast times at ridgemont high   i    i  american pie   i   the list goes on . . . bad dialogue in one sequence  eric says  it  s none of my business  i  but   i  . . . .  and   seconds later mia says  why is this any of your business   bad editing at least five minutes worth of film are wasted on nyc traffic shots .  hr  it  s also impossible to believe that the four main male characters would be a tight  knit group of friends in any world . i can  t comment on what makes everyone laugh  but if you enjoy low  brow  basic bathroom humor and insults  by all means  enjoy . if you want something a little smarter but on the same lines  see  i  boomerang   i  . if you want a solid what  goes  around romantic comedy  go for  i  the tao of steve   i  . but anyone who thinks  i  whipped   i  is witty and an accurate portrayal dating  well  i cannot agree at all .  
this is one of the best films ever made . it is a realistic depiction of rural ranching life which was a big part of american history . the setting is     wyoming where life had not changed much since the previous century . the film keeps your interest without the added hollywood myths . the whole family can see this movie and be intrigued about how life was like in america when it was mostly a rural nation . with this film  you will escape the present and witness the daily life of    years ago . in a beautiful  scenic environment you will see the hard physical work that was required to survive  as well as the constant worries and concerns of the elements and the market pressures that will make a difference between success or failure . see this movie and experience life as it was for most of our nation  s history . this film is worth your time to see . my only question is  why aren  t there more films like this one   
personally  while i  m able to appreciate really good movies  i also have a strange ability to somewhat enjoy even the most crappiest of crap . you know  those times when you just want to sit there and watch some horrible cookie  cutter action movie to kill time . this is the only movie that i can remember actually shutting off in the middle  and i have absolutely no intention of going back to finish it . the plot was so contrived and predictable  i was calling out what the next scene would be easily  and i  m usually not very good at this  . the actors were horrible  i  ve seen better acting in middle school plays . even the scene cuts were bad  the flow was all wrong .  br    br   this movie is like a parody that forgot the funny .  
i saw heartland when it was first released in     and i have just seen it again . it improves with age . heartland is not just for lovers of  indie  films . at a time when most american films are little more than cynical attempts to make money with cgi  pyrotechnics  and  or vulgarity  heartland holds up as a slice of american history . it is also a reminder of how spoiled most of us modern  urbanized americans are .  br    br   nothing in this film is overstated or stagey . no one declaims any hollywood movie speeches . the actors really inhabit their roles . this really feels like a  small  film but really it is bigger than most multizillion  dollar hollywood productions .  br    br   the film is based on the lives of real people . in      elinore randall  conchata ferrell  who has never done anything better than this   a widow with a   year  old daughter jerrine  megan folsom   is living in denver but wants more opportunities . she advertises for a position as housekeeper . the ad is answered by clyde stewart  rip torn  one of our most under  appreciated actors   a scots  born rancher  himself a widower  with a homestead outside of burnt fork  wyoming . elinore accepts the position  seven dollars a week   and moves up to wyoming with her daughter . she and her daughter move into stewart  s tiny house on the property . it is rolling  treeless rangeland  a place of endless vistas where the silence is broken only by the sounds made by these people and their animals . it  s guaranteed to make a person feel small . the three characters go for long periods without seeing another human soul . what is worse  stewart turns out to be taciturn to the point of being almost silent .  i can  t talk to the man   elinore complains to grandma landauer .  you  d better learn before winter   replies grandma . grandma  lilia skala  is one of the only two other characters who are seen more than fleetingly . she came out to wyoming from germany with her husband many years before and runs her ranch alone now that she is also widowed . grandma is their nearest neighbor  and the local midwife  and still she lives ten miles away  the other supporting character is jack the hired hand  barry primus  .  br    br   elinore  s routine  and her employer  s  is one of endless  backbreaking labor  where there are no modern conveniences and where everything must be made  fixed or done by hand . this is the real meat of the film watching the ordinary life of these ranchers as they struggle against nature to wrest a living from the land . but despite the constant toil and fatigue  elinore is always looking for other opportunities . she learns that the tract adjacent to stewart  s is unclaimed . impulsively  she files a claim on the property  twelve dollars  or almost two weeks  pay    meaning that if she lives on it  and she must actually live there  and works it for ten years  she will get the deed to it . naturally  stewart learns what she has done . with merciless logic  he points out that with no money  no livestock  no credit  and no assets  she has no chance of succeeding . he then offers a solution he proposes marriage . the stunned elinore realizes that this is the only real alternative  and accepts .  br    br   we think that stewart  s proposal is purely machiavellian    he wants the land and the free labor    but we see that  in fact  he is genuinely fond of elinore  and they grow together as a couple . she becomes pregnant she goes into labor in the middle of a midwinter blizzard clyde travels for hours on horseback through the storm the ten miles to grandma  s and the ten miles back  only to announce that grandma wasn  t there . this is more like real life than is pleasant  folks . elinore has the baby all by herself  with no help whatsoever . their son is still an infant when he gets sick and dies . they lose half their livestock to the vicious winter . they struggle on . the last sequence in the film is supposed to be optimistic the birth of a calf . clyde calls elinore urgently to help him deliver the calf . instead of being head first  the calf is in a footling breech presentation . he and elinore must physically pull the calf out of the birth canal . there is no cgi  animatronics  trickery  fakery or special effects what you see is what happened  folks a calf is born on a bed of straw in a wooden barn by lamplight . with that  the film does not so much end as simply stop  leaving the viewer unsatisfied  but after a while you appreciate the film as a whole  not just for its ending .  br    br   this little gem rewards patience and thoughtfulness . it will be watchable long after most of the films of the last generation have long been forgotten .  
every sunday  a trio of buds get together at a nyc diner to boast about their sexual conquests of the night before . sometimes they  re joined by a newlywed ex  comrade and hoochie hunter who hangs on them like a puling barnacle . they  re unabashed horn dogs  corn dogs and mia  who witnesses them on the prowl  decides that they need to be taught a lesson  dammit . ergo  she  ll date and dump  why not  all three of them   br    br   gasp . what a wild idea . what a radical  naughty gal . women now have the right to date and sleep around as much as they want to . as much as men do  even   br    br   there is one solitary laughable element in  whipped   namely the fact that not once  during the amigo  s detailed discussions of their bodily functions and the tantric talents of the bed partners they trash  do the other customers in the diner turn around and say   dude  we  re trying to eat here .  indeed  a heh  heh gag has an older lady eagerly weigh in on the useful sexual properties of certain beverages . a big fat kermit the frog  sheesh  to that .  br    br   it  s truly unfortunate that a buddy movie with a great setting  a smart  cute heroine and three possible pairings had to have such a cop  out ending .  br    br   p . s .     whip  oosh  sound effects to the screenwriter for use of the phrase  you go  girl  . it was tired in      and it  s tired now .  br    br   save your time and watch some  sex and the city  reruns . . .  
don  t say i didn  t warn you  but your gonna laugh . probably enough to hurt your stomach . sure it  s got some blood splattering  all in good fun though . so  it  s got no budget  who needs a budget when you got a script like this .  br    br   take the time and check this out . well worth a two hour viewing . if everyone could laugh as much as i did during this movie the world would be a much happier place to live .  br    br    
i  m not a huge star trek fan  but i was looking forward to this . i was intrigued by the pre  hype descriptions of the enterprise  its cramped  submarine styling and rough  edged technology compared to the treks we are used to .  br    br   i didn  t see anything all that interesting in this pilot . i found the plot to be convoluted and confusing .  br    br   i will admit that i did like some of the character development  the depictions of the humans as an  adolescent  species ready to outgrow their britches was entertaining .  br    br   and that vulcan babe had one hell of an incredible rack .  br    br   but i don  t think i  m going to get hooked on this series .  br    br        
an excellent series  masterfully acted and directed  but unloved  i am told  by mr deighton and withdrawn by him after a single presentation . it is now only viewable in private collections  and via the british film institute at special request . very unfortunate  as ian holm  s nuanced portrayal of the weary  but  determined bernard samson is superb one of his very best performances . the supporting cast  including the young amanda donohoe and hugh fraser  are superb . with mel martin playing the conflicted and traitorous wife  and michael degen as the mercurial werner  the story positively simmers with the tragic and fateful personal consequences of the great game .  
four best friends young male chauvinist pigs  with the emphasis on pigs  meet weekly at a nyc diner to recount their dating sexploits in this misanthropic and visceral comedy . peet is the common denominator who dates the three bachelors in the group which leads to conflict and the inevitable  whipping  . although the film  s premise has potential and there are some funny moments to be had  overall the flick doesn  t work especially in the end where the girls are made to appear no better than the guys which runs contrary to the crux of the story . one of those one  man band flix with a dozen producers   whipped  is likely to be enjoyed only by the kind of young males who think  the man show  is emmy material .  
i watched the presentation of this on pbs in the u . s . when it originally aired in        . assuming the miniseries was available on dvd i purchased first editions of all three books last year . since then i have been searching for the series on internet movie sites . today i found this web site . i will give up the search .  br    br   i too would like to buy this complete    episodes  miniseries . after buying the dvds i would read each book  then watch the episodes for that book . that is what i did with john lecarre  s karla trilogy and larry mcmurty  s texas ranger trilogy .  br    br   does anyone have any suggestions for great books or book series that became very good tv miniseries  or movie series  that are now available on dvd   
a poorly written script with no likeable characters . as for it being a comedy  i forgot to laugh . it  s about  conceited friends who scam to get women in too bed with them  no sex scenes  and another friend  who is semi  discustingly weird  who sometimes also scams but mainly is considered as being the guy who masterbates . the  friends separately meet and fall for the same woman  amanda peet  . somehow this is done without really any romance . the  guys stop being friends as they separately dated her . she scammed them out of their friendship because they scammed women .   a bad movie  
this series got me into deighton  s writing and the genre when i was younger and i love this presentation of the story . i would however disagree with the above comment . from what i have read in the past  it is not holm  s performance that lead deighton to refuse to have the series released but the butchering that all three books received in the translation to the screen . a great example of this is the rewrite of the boarder crossing that ended samson  s field career . the scene is not in the book  the character who dies in the minefield was never in any of the books and the crossing in sinker was from east germany to west germany  not the polish frontier . this whole storyline is cloth . the changes in set similarly damage the integrity of the story . my perspective on holm  s performance was that he portrayed the disorientation of samson during his wife  s defection excellently and i believe comported himself well in portraying the aging field agent desperately trying to bridge the class divide . samson both pays for his father  s idealism and suffers due to its influence on his life . as clevemore comments  had he gotten himself an education he would have probably been running the department . i think the true loss of performance is due to physical appearance more than anything . holm is diminutive when compared to the samson of the book  a physically impressive man capable of using his size to impose a presence .  
i  ll be blunt and to the point . this film is not good at all . the film buff part of me hated the acting  script  story  direction and almost all of the editing . amanda peet has proven that she can act  as she was a high point of  the whole nine yards  . so she should have avoided this movie with a ten foot pole . however  the infantile part of me found this film to be very funny . if you can forget about how underpar the production quality is  and if you find smut jokes funny  then you should be all right . and for those of you who can  t get off your pedestal  thats your choice . my inner child hasen  t died  and i laughed a fair bit . even then  only a  out of ten  because as a movie  it really does stink .  
i agree with everyone who says that this series was the best of the  spy  genre . my husband and i were captivated by it when it first aired in the us and watched every episode . i tried at that time to purchase the series  i did tape all of it  but was told by wgbh that it was not available . i even considered writing to ian holm to see if he might have a copy  like others  i purchased and read the deighton series  in part to understand the complicated plot .  if the original version ever comes available on dvd  i  ll be among the first in line to snap up a copy . ian holm  s portrayal of the vulnerable but courageous bernard samson was amazing .  he is always amazing .   
it just seems bizarre that someone read this script  and thought   this is funny  i mean  it  s so hilarious it just has to be made   who was this person  is he or she the person really responsible for this  are they the one  s who owe me for my time  more so than the director  writer   br    br   this film stinks in most every way possible . there  s no one shred of good dialogue  and not one likable character . and the story . . .  br    br   i prefer the  nd worst movie ever  hulk hogan  s  no hold  s barred  to this by quite a considerable degree . it seems almost shakespearen in comparison .  br    br   the ending is padded out with several minutes of outtakes  and it  s still under   minutes . the outtakes include cast members laughing at the  hilarious  mistakes they  ve made  and things that went wrong on the set of this  comedy .  glad to see someone laughing in someway  with some connection to this  film .   br    br   nothing in this film is funny . nothing . it just goes on  and on . it  s truly that lame . i love films that are so bad they  re good . this is so bad it  s . . . something  but i don  t know what  and hopefully will never find out .  br    br   amanda peet doesn  t suck outright  and is in fact the only half good thing about this wannabe film . but  that really means little .  br    br   avoid at all costs .  
soap opera about a small town married woman  kay francis  who works at the local newsstand  performs as leading lady in her local playhouse  but dreams of becoming a star on broadway . when a famous actor who is a ham  a windbag  and a womanizer to boot  arrives in town she visits him in his room with dreams of him giving her tips to stardom  he pretends his valet is his  manager  tricking her into believing she has all it takes but  experience  to become a big star . her husband finds out and punches the guy resulting in the actor  s unexpected death  which leads to a murder trial and even more unexpected a life prison sentence for hubby . next thing you know she  s joined a traveling burlesque show in hopes of one day making it to broadway and making enough money to get her man  s freedom  all the while her baby is sleeping in a trunk   br    br   this film has a pretty interesting plot  well  a bit far  fetched perhaps  but very melodramatic  with tons of melodramatic music to make sure you get it   all greatly enhanced by the strong  emotional performance given by kay francis  she just makes this film . also helping here is the well  done acting by minna gombell in her role as a  getting close to forty  older lady who works the burlesque and befriends kay . worth seeing  especially for kay francis fans .  
final score   out of     br    br   possible scene specific spoilers  but who the hell cares    br    br   yes  that  s right zero . and i rarely give   s . even for the lamest of movies i look for things like music  cinematography  imagination  it  s humor  even a good pace to be as objective about the score as possible . looking at it within it  s own genera or subgenera . but there is absolutely nothing redeeming here . i can  t remember another time a movie actually sent me pacing up and down the room when it was over . the only reason i made it to the end was because i couldn  t seem to change the channel  i sat there simply aghast  watching to see what insultingly stupid bit it would come up with next . it was like watching a snake digest a rat .  br    br   but let  s have some fun and pull this baby apart  shall we . first of all  there is nothing technical about  whipped  that works . the visuals are all sitcom style . the cut scenes all just pictures of the street traffic going by at night over and over . the music and score  not only doesn  t contribute anything to the movie  it  s obnoxious . not to mention it doesn  t have anything to contribute to anyway . the acting is as cardboard as it comes  all around and that goes for amanda peet  clearly the  star  that got this train wreck green  lighted  too . these guys  supposedly good friends  have no more chemistry or sense of purpose then if director peter m . cohen had rounded them up at a bus station minutes before shooting .  br    br   on the creative side  there isn  t an original bone in it  s body . it has no imagination . it shows us nothing we haven  t seen a thousand times before . the whole premise  or  twist   of this movie is based on male  bashing and the  idea  that an empowered women can play men  just as they get played  . anybody  that thinks this is somehow a twist or is in any way original has obviously never turned on a tv before . twisted  shallow women are common . male  bashing is the norm . it  s not stealing from anything specifically  it  s worse it  s stealing from clichs . i can  t imagine a women making a movie that depicted other women based so much on stereotypes and with this sense of contempt . makes me want to go rent  in the company of men   or better yet   there  s something about mary  . this movie wants to be a  edgier  version of  there  s something about mary  so bad you can see the sweat .  br    br   the movie has no insights into women  men  dating  sex  or really anything . cohen is simply content to regurgitate myths he has been indoctrinated with from other sexist movies . on the other end  the movie doesn  t work as a satire either  because even though it is ripe with exaggerations one could view as  satirical  it doesn  t have that grounding in reality that satires need . it doesn  t even know what it  s satirizing . then there  s the dialogue  which is little more then the characters screaming obscenities at each other . example character    fk you  character    oh yeah  well fk you   repeat   br    br   and the bottom line  the thing that could excuse all the other discretions there are a lot of movies without plots  without good acting  with morally repulsive characters and obscenity laced dialogue that have been funny and thus  been good .  whipped  ain  t funny . not for a second . it has no comic skills or timing . the situations are all completely phony  not based in any shred of truth  especially enough to wring laughs out of us . the characters all broadly drawn so they will seem relatable to the lowest of the lowest common denominator . just look at  the marquee scene    cult classic  hair gel scene . one of our bumbling anti  heroes opens the medicine cabinet and sees mena  peet   s vibrator . for some reason light shines down on it as if he  s found the holy grail . why cohen thinks men react this way to vibrators i do not know . while he rubs it on himself  he drops it in the toilet and then attempts to fish it out with his bare hands when  oh my  mena walks in on him . oh  my sides .  br    br   but strangely enough  people actually like this movie . of course  people also like  friends  and reality dating shows so i shouldn  t be surprised . all of this has a common thread however .  whipped  is big evidence to me that there is just a huge pocket of people in america that will laugh at any joke just because it is about sex . they will like any show or movie  or think they like it  just because it is about dating or relationships . it  s lack of any quality has no baring on these people . just as people are indoctrinated to want whiter teeth and thinner bodies to sell toothbrushes and weight loss programs  they are also indoctrinated to blindly lap up anything dating  relationship related to sell them cheap  empty  effortless tv  movies and any number of products .  br    br   the only consilation will be that when i die  because i saw this movie  i  ve got a credit to get   minutes of my life back .  br    br    
mendez and marichal have provided us with a serious  cogent and painful analysis of the social  spiritual  economic and political crisis that    years of colonialism have spawned in puerto rico . a beautiful island with the most hospitable people i have met and yet because our nation refuses to faces its imperial responsibilities  puerto ricans are allowed to wither and die .  br    br   the spiritual crisis that the colonial situation of puerto rico has created  if undermining families  and the basic institutions that sustain any society . corruption is rampant to the extent that people are not paying taxes  which has led a fiscal crisis for this nation  and a sense of cynicism and distrust permeate the island  s culture .  br    br   fortunately  a grant allowed this painful yet powerful film to be produced .  br    br   a must see . . .  
this movie really shows its age . the print i saw was terrible due to age  but it is possible that there are better prints out there . however  this was not the major problem with the movie . the problem was that although the film was made in      it was essentially a silent film with only the barest of dialog scattered  only a few sentences  in the film in the most amateur fashion . sometimes the characters  backs were turned or they were talking with their hands over their faces   all in a pathetic attempt to obscure their lips and  cleaverly     hide the fact that the film was dubbed . well  its true that this czech film would need to be dubbed into many languages but to do it this way was really stupid and obvious . it just looked cheap .  br    br   overall  the film looked low budget and silly . it  s really a shame though  because there was a grain of a good story   a young woman who marries an older man who is either gay and  or has no interest in women . but in the   st century  few people would really be willing to sit through this archaic mess . even with a few glimpses of the naked  and somewhat chunky  hedy lamarr  it isn  t worth all the fuss that accompanied the film when it debuted . even by     standards  this film was a poorly made dud . about the only interesting thing about the film is to see how different lamarr looked in     compared with the glamorous image hollywood created when she came to america   she looks like  completely different people .  br    br   it  s such an incomplete looking and technically inferior film  i don  t see how it has gotten such rave reviews . for technical problems alone  the movie can  t rate a   or anything near it .  
  thieves and liars  presents us with a very naturalistic depiction of the levels of corruption that affect many puerto ricans and force them to make difficult if not impossible choices about their and their loved ones  lives . the cast is excellent  considering that some are non  professional actors an excellent choice that augments the level of reality in the film . the photography propels the story without intrusion  as it should be in this type of film . the script captures the idiosyncrasies and attitudes of the  boricuas  in a very deep way . sometimes it feels like you  re watching a documentary  watching this film you feel as if you  ve secretly entered the real puerto rican society and stand invisibly watching it implode . i loved it   
it  s unlikely that anyone except those who adore silent films will appreciate any of the lyrical camera  work and busy  but scratchy  background score that accompanies this     release . although sound came into general use in      there are no more than fifty words spoken to tell the story of a woman  unhappily married  who deserts her husband for a younger man after a romantic interlude in the woods .  br    br   the most vividly photographed scene has the jealous husband giving a lift to the young man for a ride into town  proceeding to drive normally until he realizes the man is his wife  s lover . in a frenzy of jealousy  he drives at top speed toward a railroad crossing but changes his mind at the last moment  losing his nerve . it  s probably the most tension  filled scene in the otherwise decidedly slow  moving and obviously contrived story .  br    br   hedy lamarr is given the sort of close  up treatment lavished on marlene dietrich by her discoverer  but her beauty had not yet been refined by the cosmeticians as they were when she was transported to hollywood . her performance consists mostly of looking sad and morose while mourning the loss of her marriage with only brief glimpses of a smile when she finds her true love  aribert mog   the handsome young stud who retrieves her clothes after a nude swim .  br    br   the swimming scene is very brief  discreetly photographed  and not worth all the heat it apparently generated . the love  making scene  later on  is also artfully photographed with the sort of lyrical photography evident throughout most of the film   artfully so . more is left to the imagination with the use of symbolism   and this is the sort of thing that has others proclaiming the film is some kind of lyrical masterpiece .  br    br   not so . it  s disappointing  primitively crude in its sound portions  including the laborious symphonic music in the background  and certainly miss lamarr is fortunate that louis b . mayer saw the film and on the basis of it  gave her a career in hollywood . he must have seen something in her work that i didn  t .  br    br   it  s apparent that this was conceived as a silent film with the camera doing all the work . the jarring  workers  scene at the conclusion goes on for too long and is a jarring intrusion where none is needed . it fails to end the film on the proper note .  
and that goes especially for lawyers  cops . puerto rico  which boasts of a small  but potent film production firm  brings this multi layered tale of corruption  due to the on going drug cartel that starts in south america  makes a pit stop on the island commonwealth  and then northbound into north america . steven bauer  the most recognizable face on screen here  leads a cast of top notch actors  in a story of  can you spot the only respectable face in the crowd   . ricardo mendez matta moves up from directing mainly action adventure fare for american television  in a screenplay written by matta  along with poli marichal . the rest of the cast  elpidia carrillo  magda rivera  jose herredia  luz maria randon  to mention a few  turn in oh so fine roles  in a film that will keep you wondering  is there any respectable characters here   . spoken in spanish with english subtitles . rated  r  by the mpaa  this film contains outbursts of vulgar language  brief flashes of nudity  adult content  violence  some of which is quite lurid .  
this movie was worth five punches on my  hurter card  . i saw this while stationed in virginia in the mid     s . i saw it alone so i was not distracted while i watched it . it sucked . it was the most ridiculous  total waste of celluloid i  ve ever seen .  br    br   i know that others who have reviewed this movie have thought that it was awesome . i offer you this if it was so awesome what was it  s box office take  end of discussion .  
if you  ve seen this movie  you  ve been to puerto rico . i  ve lived in puerto rico all my life  and have to shamefully admit that we  pr  are living a real chaos right now  drugs being the main reason for the shootings and killings we have almost every day . these people will shoot anyone  anytime and anywhere  and many innocent lives have been lost because of this . we don  t feel safe anymore  and in addition to this  our so  called  justice  is no longer moved by truth and rightness  but by money  influence and power .  ladrones y mentirosos  is based on real  deplorable facts  and truly portrays puerto rico  s three main problems the drug  related killings  money and power manipulating our courtrooms  and innocent people and children being corrupted and even dying because of this . ricardo and his wife poli  with their true  to  life plot and their award winning direction     were brave enough to present all this as bad as it is puerto rico is a beautiful and friendly country  living a nightmare that doesn  t seem to end     they recently won the  copper wing award  for best director in the world cinema competition at the     phoenix film festival .  
this is possibly the most boring movie in history . i was really looking forward to seeing this movie given the actor  director roman polanski . i think i would rather see the three amigos than ever watch this movie again . it promptly went from the dvd player straight into the garbage . my apologies to those of you who apparently liked this movie however you probably liked new coke as well . i am at a loss to see why anyone would have enjoyed this movie  it is slow  dull and has no real plot . you wait for    minutes for the movie to get started . i understand this was made in     however this was an era of bad television all around . thank god disco and three  s company are gone along with stop sign glasses and the bay city rollers . oh well just my thoughts .  
a fragment in the life of one of the first female painters to achieve historical renown   artemisia  tells the true story of a young italian woman  s impassioned pursuit of artistic expression and the vicissitudes she encounters . the film features sumptuous costuming and sets and a good cast and acting . however  it is muddled in its attempt to depict the esoterics of the art and the time and is uninspired in its representation of the passion of the artist as painted on canvas and explored through her involvements with men . a good film for those interested in renaissance painting or period films .  
this movie is terrible . the suspense is spent waiting for a point . there isn  t much of one .  br    br   aside from a few great lines   i found a tooth in my apartment    and the main characters dedication to killing himself  it  s a collection of supposedly eerie sounds .  br    br    
one of my favorite scenes is at the beginning when guests on a private yacht decide to take an impromptu swim  in their underwear  rather risqu for       
while it  s early to say how the series will evolve  i can say that the pilot was less than i thought it would be . there is still potential for the series  however . of course when i first saw voyager i thought it had potential  too  but was sorely disappointed . my gut tells me enterprise won  t be as bad as voyager  however .  br    br   as for the impressions of the pilot . . .  br    br   the pilot had some good ideas and good themes . i liked the introduction . the show  s opening credits were interesting  with the progress of exploration and a fitting theme song . scott bakula is excellent in the role of captain .  br    br   where it fell short for me was largely that the story lacked the  feel  of setting out on a grand adventure . the plot of the episode itself was more a  generic  trek story with the themes of  exploration  and  first step towards space  merely subplot and subtext . were you to edit out the references to this being the first deep space mission  the plot would be hard to differentiate between the eras of enterprise  tos or tng . the central plot didn  t reflect or do justice to the grand theme of the series .  br    br   the plot of launching the first mission would have been grand enough without the  action  . instead of isolated references to the newness of exploration  they could have been the story . get a little more nostalgic and philosophical about it  oh  for a tv show that once again would make us think  . make us feel the excitement of  the wind  and being on  the sea  instead of distracting us with a rescue and a plethora of gunplay . there was way too much gunplay .  br    br   we had the feeling more that humans were the  freshmen  in an established school . new kids on the block  as opposed to venturing into a largely unknown universe . sadly  the klingons landed on our doorstep instead of us finding them . that meeting could have been far more historic and far more sociological . just how do two such different societies interact  don  t just hint about it  show it   br    br   i had to think of it more as trek with an akward crew and limited technology  as opposed to the first brave steps into the unknown  . i wanted to see something newer and fresher . the series promises to have a new concept but so far i haven  t seen this new  great concept .  br    br   i will conclude with reiterating the sentiment that the series has potential . there are some interesting characters . bakula is wonderful . blalock has potential . the overall theme is the most interesting since we first saw kirk in a world before apollo   . if only future episodes can do justice to this grand and wonderful theme  we will have a show which will create new legends .  br    br   you shoot an arrow into the air . . . good luck capt . archer .  br    br   to the producers take more risks and make us think      
i  m fan of art  i like anything about art  i like paintings  sculptures  etc . this movie shows it  so i like it a lot  it shows how a woman wants to paint anything about art  especially naked bodies  but she can  t do it because of her strict family  father   at the beginning of the movie she painted herself naked  but she wanted a man for her paintings  but her family didn  t let her paint naked men because it  s against the moral . even so artemisia could paint her boyfriend and her art teacher completely naked . she falls in love with her art teacher  and it seems the art teacher is absolutely in love with her too  so at the ending he sacrifices his freedom for hers by lying . he said that he raped her  but it wasn  t true . artemisia fell in love with him  but if she says that she will suffer a lot  because in the trial in which artemisia  her father and the art teacher were  somebody was hurting her artistic hands to say the truth . i think this a great movie about art  and an artistic love  it  s worth watching . valentina cervi is great as artemisia  she acts very well  i also like her performance in  the portrait of a lady  as pansy osmond .  .      
extremities  br    br   aspect ratio  .      br    br   sound format mono  br    br   a woman turns the tables on a would  be rapist when he mounts an assault in her home  and is forced to decide whether to kill him or inform the police  in which case he could be released and attack her again .  br    br   exploitation fans who might be expecting another rough  n  ready rape fantasy in the style of day of the woman       will almost certainly be disappointed by extremities . true  farrah fawcett  s character is subjected to two uncomfortably prolonged assaults before gaining the upper hand on her attacker  a suitably slimy james russo   but scriptwriter william mastrosimone and director robert m . young take these unpleasant scenes only so far before unveiling the dilemma which informs the moral core of this production . would their final solution hold up in a court of law  maybe . . .  br    br   based on a stage play which reportedly left its actors battered and bruised after every performance  the film makes no attempt to open up the narrative and relies instead on a confined setting for the main action . acing and technical credits are fine  though fawcett  s overly subdued performance won  t play effectively to viewers who might be relying on her to provide an outlet for their outraged indignation .  
  spoilers    br    br   while the historical accuracy might be questionable . . .  and with the mass appeal of the inaccurate lotr . . such things are more easily excused now  i liked the art ness of it . though not really an art house film . it does provide a little emotionally charged scenes from time to time .  br    br   i have two complaints .  . it  s too short . and  . the voice you hear whispering from time to time is not explained .  br    br        br    br   quality      entertainment     replayable      
hello boys and girls . . . this isn  t your regular movie review  because this is going to be the cold . hard . truth . are you serious  this movie sucked so many balls i couldn  t keep them out of my mouth  they might as well have sprayed me in the eye with monkey semen . you  d need one seriously large douche to pump out all the vaginal fluid from this movie .  br    br   the plot was very lacking . the actors were terrible . i rewound the dance number several times and had to pause it even more because i was choking on my own spit . do boys  everyone   br    br   peace rh besties  lyf  
the film of artemisia may be considered treason  or as true artistic license .  br    br   which might one aver   br    br   in documented history  artemisia gentileschi was subjected to the thumbscrew  and still affirmed that she was red  as mary garrard and gloria steinem have eloquently affirmed .  br    br   in the movie  under a different torture  she refused to condemn her lover  violator .  br    br   how may a movie deviate so much from received history  yet still inform the human heart   br    br   the answer is not so hard to find . in the movie  the director and cast had filled a gaping hole in the historical record  with the power of imagination .  br    br   that led to a conclusion that differs from the record .  br    br   so be it . i find  both  the record and the movie to be compelling .  br    br   in both the movie and  it seems  in history  artemisia was a painter  before all else .  br    br   for that vision  framed in ravishing  sic  film composition  i am truly grateful .  br    br   seldom have i seen a movie that so compelled my eyes .  br    br   david broadhurst  
this is no doubt one of the worst movies i have ever seen . this makes your run of the mill tv movie look like reservoir dogs . based on a book by the one and only britney spears and her mother this is trash with nothing bar a reasonable performance from virginia madsen  i hope you got paid well  to save it . the story of a red neck country gill who wins a scholarship in a prestigious music school is little but a vehicle to pedal ms spears pants music to the consumer and to generally agree that low brow must be the way . there is nothing good going on here with all the beats as predictable as night following day . never ever again .  
i enjoyed every moment of this beautiful film and was intrigued about this female painter i had never heard of before . so i set out exploring her life and work afterwards . as could be expected  i found out that the film was not exactly historically accurate . i was a little astounded however by the very negative comments on the film because of this inaccuracy . come on  guys  a film isn  t and shouldn  t be a biography  nor a novel   . any historical film distorts reality  because it should be a work of art in its own right . a film director is fully entitled to use elements from reality and history to create a world of his own . artemisia is a wonderful film and i think it brought many people  including some that now give negative comments  to explore the life and work of this fascinating artist .  
first of all  this plot is way overdone  girl wants to make it  everyone loves her  snobby girl intervenes  all looks lost  girl pulls through  everyone loves her again etc . throw in the fitting in thing  an attractive male crushing on the heroine  plus single  parent troubles and it  s so predictable that you can practically recite along with it .  br    br   second of all  i really hate how they keep on dissing classical music . they send out the message that everyone involved in classical music is uptight and snobby and close  minded  in fact  i don  t recall the quote exactly  but i remember at one point in the movie  holly says   why do they have to be so uptight . . . so classical   it  s really insulting how label classical music in this way .  br    br   third  i  ve went over it dozens of times  but the only reason that i can think of for making this movie is to promote britney spears . there just isn  t any point at all .  br    br   and oh yeah  while the actress who portrayed holly  i  m not sure whether that was really her singing or not  had a reasonably good voice  it wasn  t as amazing as they were making it out to be  especially when she was belting . she was oversupporting the whole time .  br    br       stars .  
i thought this movie was stunning  with completely outstanding performances by valentina cervi  artemisia gentileschi  .  br    br   cervi portrays artemisia so beautifully  with tentative yet confidant mannerisms  her hands mapping out an idea before moving her models into place . the passion to which artemisia gives to her art is just spectacular to watch .  br    br   although not each character was overtly beautiful  this made the film more realistic as the facial hair and clothing was perfect for that point in time .  br    br   overall i thought this film was fantastic .  
this movie is entertaining enough due to an excellent performance by virginia madsen and the fact that lindsey haun is lovely . however the reason the movie is so predictable is that we  ve seen it all before . i  ve haven  t read the book a mother  s gift but i hope for britney and lynne spears sake it is completely different than this movie . unless you consider ending a movie with what is essentially a music video an original idea  the entire movie brings to mind the word plagiarized .  
the movie looked like a walk  through for  immoral study  . most likely i never got much involved with the burning need of the female artist to immortalize male nudes and thus all that fuss about  now  who drew this penis    sounded a bit gratuitous . dialogues in this movie are rather dreadful  albeit visually this movie got its moments . i almost dig it when tassi got into painting a mental picture but then movie weered back onto penises . highly recommended to those who has not seen one in a while .  
it was a decent movie  i actually kind of enjoyed it . but the ending is so abrupt   there is absolutely no closure and it leaves tons of loose ends . what happens after the concert  what happens with her boyfriend  does she hook up with grant  does she come beck in the next semester  and what about angela  obviously holly  s performance would knock angela down a few pegs  but nothing is shown to indicate how she reacts . there is so much left up in the air and it  s very unsatisfying . i don  t know if it is trying to leave room for a sequel or something  but it is a terrible ending and i think that it really makes the movie a joke . i was very disappointed .  
this is a film about   th century italian artists and one artist in particular  a woman artemisia  an unheard of profession for females at that time  and she dared to paint the male nude detailing his unique musculature .  br    br   the camera work is principally indoors for that is where the artists mainly worked . there are some great shots . close  ups by candle light suggest the beautiful work of the classical painters and it is fascinating to watch the painters and their students supported by elaborate scaffolding brushing in details of religious frescoes . it is not surprising that the artistic elements of the film  costumes  faces  make  up  are quite superbly authentic because the italian churches have preserved all these details in their frescoes for centuries . the beautiful artemisia is urged by her father to study under the great florentine artist  tassi  who has become expert in the art of perspective and landscape painting  something very new  but the unsuspecting artemisia is introduced to more than new techniques in painting . after posing for her  tassi violently rapes her . her father is outraged . court proceedings follow .  br    br   this romantic drama has a fairly simple story with an unsatisfactory ending . the outstanding feature of the film is its artistic presentation and attention to detail . scenes such as women running across a field with the wind billowing their voluminous clothing add wonderful effects .  br    br   artemisia says she paints to please herself her father paints to please others . as for this film  it will please most  i think .  
can any movie become more naive than this  you cant believe a piece of this script . and its ssooooo predictable that you can tell the plot and the ending from the first   minutes . the leading actress seems like she wants to be barbie  but she doesn  t make it  the doll has more acting skills  .  br    br   the easiness that the character passes and remains in a a music school makes the phantom of the opera novel seem like a historical biography . i wont even comment on the shallowness of the characters but the one good thing of the film is madsen  s performance which manages to bring life to a melo  like one  dimensional character .  br    br   the movie is so cheesy that it sticks to your teeth . i can think some   year old britney  obsessed girls shouting  o  do give us a break  if we want fairy tales there is always the brothers grimm book hidden somewhere in the attic  . i gave it  instead of one only for virginia madsen .  
i  m normally a sucker for romantic films which are well  filmed and well  acted out . this is a romantic  period  film set in   th  century italy  but filmed in french with english subtitles . the fact that it is a period film means it will inevitably be slower  paced than films set in the modern day era  so it will bore some . if you can overlook that fact  it is actually a really good film . the scenery  the costumes  and the cinematography are beautiful  and the main actors and actress are very compelling in their portrayals  projecting the intensity of the emotions that are running through the plot . the story is like a sad love story with an unhappy ending . its easy to believe that this is an accurate portrayal of the real  life characters . in spite of the fact that i was really moved by the main characters and the storyline  i decided to check out the validity of the story and found out that the main theme of the movie  s story  that of an sad unfinished love story  was completely fabricated .  br    br   in real life  artemisia was raped by tassi initially  rather than submitting to his advances willingly and passionately as the movie had portrayed . she continued to have sexual relations with him only because he had repeatedly promised to marry her . when they were in court  he had not admitted guilt of rape out of pity for artemisia  s torture  unlike what the movie portrays  . in reality  he had tried to portray artemisia as a loose  promiscuous woman with insatiable sexual urges . in the movie  his sister testified in court that tassi had a wife and had sexual relations with his sister  in  law  and tassi  s character was all the while made to appear as if his sister had been slandering him regarding his alleged affair with his sister  in  law  although he admits to having had a wife back in florence  . needless to say  in reality it wasn  t really like that at all . in fact  far from it . tassi was really responsible in the planned murder of his wife  whom he had begotten from rape . and to add to that  tassi really had sexual relations with his sister  in  law  impregnating her in the process  but all this wasn  t really mutual as well  again  he had raped his sister  in  law before .  br    br   so now we have a clear picture of the real tassi as a multiple sex offender  what do we make of the film artemisia  s portrayal of him as a lover  we take it as an attempt to make this movie into a romantic film . . . that this film was never made to be historically accurate . . . apart from these points just mentioned  there were other historical inaccuracies like in its interpretation of artemisia  s art  in real  life  she was never really influenced by tassi  s painting style  and she was actually considered a much better painter than tassi ever was .  one thing remains true and its the fact that artemisia gentileschi has been credited as the first woman painter in history  and although her mastery of the art rivalled many of her male peers  she had always experienced difficulty in getting enough credit for her work because of her gender as a woman  in   th century italy .  br    br   enjoy this film for its own sake  for it is a pretty good romantic drama  but take its historical references with a grain of salt .  
i actually liked this movie until the end . sure  it was cheesy and pretty unlikely but still it kept my attention on a rainy afternoon . until the end  that is . for her final performance at the prestigious classical conservatory where she has struggled to catch  up to the other classically trained students  what does the main character do  wow them with her grasp and execution of this time honored musical tradition  no . she tortures and butchers the great sensuous habanera from carmen and turns it into an utterly forgettable brittany spears  wannabe pop song . my ears bled  and  in the supreme moment of horror  her teachers gave her a standing ovation  any teacher not in a spears  induced fantasy would have failed her on the spot . save your time  save your ears  skip this movie   
artimisia was on late last night . at first i didn  t think i would like it  but seeing i didn  t feel like sleeping yet and nothing else being on  i continued watching and felt myself intrigued by the young artimisia  a virgin  pure and passionate . her romance with the older tassi envoked recognisable feelings . even though the film is based on a very romantisised level and not reality  i loved it a lot more than the usual biographys or costume drama  s . great play  great camerashots  great music and texts . i loved it and i want more of it      
being a music student myself  i thought a movie taking place in a conservatory might be fun to watch . little did i know . . .  i had no idea this movie was based on a book by britney spears  this movie was implausible throughout . it  s obvious that whoever wrote the script never set foot in a conservatory and doesn  t know a thing about classical music . let me give you just a few examples   there is no way anyone would be admitted to a classical conservatory with no classical training whatsoever  just having a nice pop voice isn  t enough  besides  that  s a different thing altogether  another genre  different technique . it  s like playing the violin when applying for a viola class .   how come the lady teaching music theory was in the singing jury  if she wasn  t a singing professor herself  she would have no say in a situation like that  and if she was a singing professor  why weren  t we told so    being able to read music is a necessity if you  re to major in music .   how did angela get a hold of that video tape  that would have been kept confidential  for the jury  s eyes only . now either she got the tape from one of the professors or the script writers just didn  t have a clue . i wonder which . . .   the singing professor gave holly the carmen song saying she  had the range   which she clearly did not . yes  she was able to sing the notes  but carmen is a mezzo  soprano  while holly  s voice seemed to be much lighter in timbre  not at all compatible with that song .   worst of all not only does the movie show a shocking ignorance when it comes to classical music  but it doesn  t even try to hide it . the aria that angela sings is mutilated beyond recognition  a fact which is painfully blatant at the recital  where it is cut short in a disgraceful way  mozart would roll over in his grave . the habanera from carmen sounded a bit weird at times  too  and the way it was rearranged at the end just shows how little the producers really think of classical music  it  s stiff and boring but hey  add some drums and electric guitars and it  s almost as good as britney spears  i know these are all minor details  but it would have been so easy to avoid them with just a little research . anyhow  i might have chosen to suspend my disbelief had the characters and the plot been well elaborated . but without that  i really can  t find any redeeming qualities in this movie except for one it  s good for a laugh .  
artemisia gentileschi  the daughter of orazio gentileschi  showed an early promise as a painter . taught by her father  artemisia was born in an era that denied talented women the right to have their work seen side by side art created by men . her tragic life is chronicled in this biographic film directed and co  written by agnes merlik .  br    br   having read the novel  the passion of artemisia  by susan vreeland  made us investigate more into the life of this woman  her work  and her legacy . we also read mary garrard  s  artemisia gentileschi   which should be a must read book by all art lovers .  br    br    artemisia  presents the fictionalized facts we have read about showing the early life of the young woman as she starts to paint . she was clearly influenced by the work of her father  by caravaggio  agostino tassi  and other florentine painters of that period . her relationship and love affair with tassi is the basis of the film . artemisia  unfortunately couldn  t go as far as she could have because of the prejudice against women in the arts . it didn  t help either she caused a scandal where she is accused of being raped by tassi . she had to go to rome in order to distance herself from that unhappy time of her life .  br    br   valentina cervi makes a beautiful artemisia . she is a gorgeous creature who awakened passion in men . michel serrault plays orazio  her father . miki maojlovic is seen as tassi  the man who wanted artemisia  but ended up in jail . emmanuelle devos appears for a moment .  br    br   the film has a glossy finish that the camera work of benoit delhomme captures in all its splendor . the scenic locales of the film offer an idea of what inspired that school of painting to show in their canvases . the music by krishna levy serves well what we see . agnes merlik directed with sure hand showing a visual style of her own .  
here we are two travelers from a distant futuristic world arrive on earth . . . one is on a desperate mission to preserve a life  another is an inhuman killing machine determined to eliminate the woman who will give birth to the saviour of an entire race .  br    br   so what could we call this killing machine  it  s almost like he  s some kind of destroyer  or eradicator . . . sort of like an exterminator or something . what  s the word i  m looking for . . . something that  terminates  things  hmmmm . . . .  br    br   anyway  the protector  who swiftly doffs the white tunic he stole from luke skywalker in favour of local clothing  finds the young woman first and impregnates her with a future  born hero  to  be . the evil uhhhh . . .  exterminator  kills some rednecks and steals their guns and clothes  then attempts to locate the woman by visiting her workplace and asking around by looking menacingly into people  s eyes and repeating her name threateningly .  br    br   then begins a desperate race for survival as the seemingly deathless and unstoppable  exterminator  pursues the couple across the countryside . at some point he may acquire boots and a motorcycle  but i  m not sure .  br    br   perhaps  in an exciting finale  he will attempt to crush them under the wheels of an enormous tanker truck full of . . . acid . then the truck will crash . they will be saved . . . but no  he will then re  emerge  as strong as ever . he will kill the protector and pursue the girl into a meat packing plant  where in a terrifying finish  he is pushed into a large piece of industrial chopping machinery  and destroyed once and for all .  br    br   but maybe i  m extrapolating too much . . . after all  i did stop watching this movie after mr . protector magically impregnates sean young by kissing her at a bar  then tells her the child will be born in  days .  br    br   the costumes and effects are great in this movie . . . i loved them the first time i saw them on star trek next generation too  sean young does another great turn as an unemotive replicant  and career sweat  hog stephen baldwin is also on board as young  s fat cop boyfriend . not sure where he fits into the plot though . . . maybe he  s an import from a different james cameron movie   
this was the first movie that joan crawford and clark gable made together and they would go on to make several more . crawford stars a young rich girl who  s father is wiped out in the stock market crash and there is nothing left for her and her brother . they have never worked before and the brother  william bakewell  gets a job with gable  who is a gangster and bakewell thinks it will be an easy job but gets in over his head pretty quick . crawford becomes a reporter at a newspaper but wants to work on the big stories but is given worthless stuff to work on . their is a massacre in which several of gable  s men are killed and crawford was a witness to the whole thing . it  s a good movie but not one of their best .  
okay first of all  i didn  t sit down to watch the premier of a  star trek  series to see a cowboy flying around in space . this is how a normal enterprise episode works  br    br    archer finds a nebula or something aloung the lines of that and wants to take a closer look but it might destroy the ship .  br    br    he sends a shuttle into the nebula and and the shuttle get damaged . . .  br    br   in all of the episodes i have seen  all of the problems are happening because of archer  s stupid mistakes . oh and did you see the preview of one episode showing archer and t  pol kissing              i was planning to watch that episode but after that i totally gave up on enterprise and turned to tv right off . come on     this is star trek                      br    br   also what was with the banana slug   in one episode  hoshi had a banana slug but had to leave it behind for some stupid reason . okay fine  little dumb to bring you pet slug in space but whatever . okay that was what i thought until they left it on a desert planet      a banana slug cannot leave in a desert             how dumb are these writers  br    br   any ways  just saying if enterprise is on don  t watch it       
channel  is a channel that allows more naughty stuff than any of the other channels  this show was certainly a naughty one . the presenter of this sometimes gross adult chat show  four  time bafta winning and british comedy award winning  also twice nominated  graham norton was just the perfect gay host for a good show like this . it had one or more famous celebrities in the middle of it . they basically had an adult idea which would either gross  humiliate or humour the guest  but some are not for the faint  hearted . they had women playing the recorder with their parts  men using their dicks to play a xylophone  women weeing upwards in the bath  men with or without pants under their kilts  and many more gross but hilarious ideas . this is just for adults  but enjoy it  it won the bafta twice for best entertainment  programme or series   it won the british comedy awards for best comedy entertainment programme  also nominated   best comedy talk show  it won an emmy for episode        and it won the national television awards twice for most popular talk show . it was number   on the    greatest funny moments . very good   
the movie  s premise is spooky a woman gets pregnant when kissed by a stranger in a bar .  br    br   but as soon as the movie begins  a horrible opening scene establishes that this is a c type sci  fi tv movie . it  s a big star trek and a bit x  files  but more than anything else it  s boring .  br    br   when the movie kicks into action everything is predictable and cliche . it looked more like a  parter in a bad sci  fi tv series . no suspense and no thrills  but not for a lack of trying . just a lot of predictable dramatic conflicts between the main characters .  br    br   don  t waste your time .  
rock solid giallo from a master filmmaker of the genre  sergio martino . fashioned from a marvelous screenplay by ernesto gestaldi  this shocking mystery often develops fascinating twists until the terrific finale which most might not see coming throughout the film . it  s when everything has fallen into place that we can go   ahh . .  the film revolves around the death of a husband  . . in an airplane explosion  and the million dollars the wife receives from it . there are those with great interest in that money  one in particular being the dead man  s mistress . the wife is lisa  ida galli  and the mistress demanding half the money is lara  janine reynaud  . she tells lisa she knows that the death was arranged by her to get the insurance money . lara says she  ll use her  lawyer   sharif  luis barboo  to get that money . so already  the film produces two possible suspects in the later murder of lisa  who awaiting someone in tokyo . george hilton portrays peter lynch . peter works for a company that investigates those who gain inheritance to see if the pay day was gathered under suspicious means . when  on his watch  lisa is killed by a man dressed from head to toe in black in her hotel room  he is a possible suspect . he decides to do a little investigating himself  while also assisting inspector stavros  luigi pistilli  and interpol agent  benton  tom felleghy  on their quest to find a killer . the killer strikes several times eliminating anyone revolving around the missing million dollars confiscated by the one responsible for the murder of lisa . soon  the film follows a journalist  clo dupont  the delicious  luscious anita strindberg  as she and peter meet for a dinner where she could try and sniff out anything that might break a story for her . soon they fall deeply in love  but it seems like anyone who is near peter is killed . soon someone attacks clo with an intent to kill which pushes the investigation further into uncharted territory . why would anyone wish to harm a journalist with no real facts to damage the one killing off people .  br    br   this giallo is quite clever and exciting to follow . the film never lulls which is quite remarkable since so much happens leaving open the question of the identity of the killer . this film follows the path of gialli with knife slashings because of a certain pattern the killer has taken  the throat and lower torso  . the film  s conclusion wraps up all the complex loose ends and is quite satisfying . the film has some unique camera angles  but delivers the goods in terms of driving the plot and the execution of the mystery .  
i saw this in the market place at the cannes film festival .  br    br   it  s a real cheapo prod  nothing wrong with that but you have to make up for it with a bit of sex or gore or both .  br    br   think larry cohen .  br    br   sean young is an interesting actor  well done to the producers for hooking her i guess .  br    br   the opening scene in the space  ship coming down is hilarious  you could picture all the crew hands shaking it around   br    br   ha ha  but i wish the people who made this well  at least it  s not pretentious .  
the case of the scorpion  s tail is a highly stylish giallo directed by sergio martino  who appears to be a giallo master second only to dario argento .  br    br   ernesto gastaldi wrote this fabulous who  dunnit  quite complex but ultimately very satisfying and entertaining murder mystery . it also makes sense in the end  a big plus   cause that  s not always the case for these giallo  s  as they tend to stretch credibility with their endless red  herrings and ultimate solutions . here  the less you know about the plot  the better .  br    br   pure giallo trademarks present here are the beautiful cinematography  the catchy music score  the gorgeous females  anita strindberg is a goddess   brutal murders  black gloved murderers and explicit sex scenes to name a few .  br    br   in most parts it  s decently acted  goerge hilton his usually suave self and others do fairly well . martino directs with a sure hand  keeps things tight and atmospheric with some terrific set pieces .  br    br   if you  re a giallo fan  this is a must see . if you like well written and suspenseful thrillers in general  this comes highly recommended .  
this is the only movie i have ever seen that has prompted me to write a critique on any internet site  and that is a significant statement from someone who likes  the attack of the monolith monsters .  this movie is perfect for anyone who wants an inoffensive movie . it is devoid of sex and violence  for example . i believe that this movie is safe for children of all ages . this movie is perfect for anyone who does not want to be entertained  challenged  or stimulated in any way . adults could easily catch up on their sleep in front of the tv while the kids watch this movie . don  t be surprise  however  if you wakeup to find the kids have turned the tv off and started a board game . as an adult who enjoys being entertained  who enjoys everything from the mundane to the fantastic in realism  drama  comedy  and action  all of those adult things that reflect real life on earth and  or stimulate the imagination  this movie has nothing to offer .  
a fine martino outing  this is a spirited and enjoyable giallo with fine performances from good looking cast and principally the two leads  george hilton and anita strindberg .  br    br   for me the jig  saw puzzle of a plot is so convoluted and confusing you just sit back and enjoy rather than try to anticipate . just when all seems resolved we are again taken on a further series of twists  enjoyable twists  it has to be said .  br    br   sexy with plenty of gory kills this a well paced movie with london  athens and greek coastal locations . a super finale set upon aegean rocks wraps things up and much fun was had by all .  
bad movie  saw it at the tiff and the movie gives me a sense of  been there done that   it reminds me alot of the movie blow  expect the blow was actually interesting .  br    br   this one story told two ways and both times it is not told that well .  br    br    
lisa baumer  ida galli  is the adulteress wife of a big businessman who inherits   million life insurance when her husband is killed in a plane crash while on a business trip . initially she is suspected of being responsible as her husbands will had recently been changed and so she has an insurance investigator peter lynch  george hilton  and an interpol agent on her tail just to be sure . baumer travels to athens  greece to cash in her inheritance  but insists on having it in cash . . . a dangerous turn of events . lynch who  s identity is now known to baumer tries to protect her against a lover of her husband lara florakis who nevertheless along with her henchman sharif tries to kill them both for a share of the money that she deems she is entitled to . and this is where our masked killer starts his  her brutal killings . lynch as is customary with our hero is at first suspected by the greek police and is warned not to leave athens by police inspector stavros  luigi pistilli a familiar face in giallo and spaghettis  . lynch is then aided by the gorgeous clo dupont  anita strindberg  a local journalist who helps him investigate the killings . to say any more could ruin the film for anyone who has not seen it  so suffice to say there are enough red herrings and most of them plausible to keep mystery  thriller fans happy in this story driven giallo . the no shame dvd has a superb transfer with both english and italian soundtrack . it also has a very catchy score just for good measure by bruno nicolai that will stay in your head for a while . . . . all in all a first rate giallo .  
the premise was intriguing  but sadly this film just doesn  t do any justice to it . the casting was quite good  and it was shot beautifully  but stylistically much of the direction was inconsistent  overstylized fast editing been there done that to no effect . . . . i was waiting for steven bochco to run in the credits followed by a commercial   characters were identified exclusively by on  screen coke usage  and pretty much everything else left to boogie nights for character development   and no personable characters to draw the viewer into the story . a very forgettable film .  
sergio martino has impressed me recently with his giallo classics  the strange vice of mrs wardh  and the unforgettably titled   your vice is a locked room and only i have the key   but even so  i wasn  t expecting too much from this film . the case of the scorpion  s tail doesn  t get mentioned as much as the aforementioned titles when it comes to classic giallo discussion  but i don  t know why  because this is at least as good as those two  dario argento may be the  king  of giallo  but with the five films that he made  sergio martino surely isn  t too far behind . in some ways  he even surpasses the master . all of martino  s films were released prior to the jewel in argento  s crown  the magnificent profondo rosso  so back in the early seventies  martino was the king  the plot here follows the idea of murder for profit  and follows the insurance payout of a wealthy man . his wife inherits   million  and it isn  t long before there  s people out for her blood  when she turns up dead shortly thereafter  an insurance investigator and a plucky  attractive young journalist follow up the case .  br    br   the case of the scorpion  s tail may not benefit from the beautiful edwige fenech  but it does have two of martino  s collaborators on board . most famous is george hilton  who worked with marino on the strange vice of mrs wardh and all the colors of the dark  along with a number of other giallos . hilton has a great screen presence  and every time i see him in an italian thriller it becomes obvious why he is repeatedly cast . the beautiful anita strindberg  who will be remembered from your vice is a locked room  stars alongside hilton and excellently provides the classic giallo female lead . sergio martino does a good job in the director  s chair once again  with several beautiful scenes  the best of which taking place in a room bathed with green lighting  the score by bruno nicolai  wardh  excellently sets the mood  but it is the script that  once again  is the driving force behind martino  s success . ernesto gastaldi  the writer for martino  s other four giallo  has put together a script that is thrilling while staying away from the common giallo pitfall of not making sense thus liberating this film from the rest of the illogical genre . the case of the scorpion  s tail is a quality giallo film  and yet another success for the great sergio martino . if you like giallo  you  ll love this   
the plot certainly seemed interesting enough . how can a real  life brutal murder be turned into a truly boring movie  well  you can watch  wonderland  and find out .  br    br   i had heard of the wonderland murders before this film was released and found it to be an interesting true story of some genuinely sadistic people . unfortunately  there is zero character development  so we never get a chance to understand why any of this was done or get a good sense of the interrelationships between the characters . the pace of the direction was very tedious . this all leads to an extraordinarily boring movie .  br    br   given that dawn schiller  a central character as holmes  s girlfriend  was an associate producer and that holmes  s wife was a consultant on the film  we should have had the opportunity to gain some real insight into the characters .  
sergio martino  s the case of the scorpion  s tail is a scenic giallo from the early    s heyday of the genre . an explosion on an aeroplane results in one million dollars in insurance money for a bereaved but unfaithful wife . the money is subsequently snatched by a black  clad assassin and a series of brutal murders follow .  br    br   scorpion  s tail plays the mystery element  written by giallo specialist ernesto gastaldi  fairly straight . but  being a giallo  the murders themselves are memorable and well  staged . in fact  the violence in this movie is very strong in places  a scene with a broken bottle being particularly graphic . the emphasis on the violence no doubt influencing the giallo genre to move into more and more extreme territory . but like the best films in the genre the brutality is offset by a good score and attractive photography . the music by bruno nicolai is at times reminiscent of ennio morricone  s avant  garde work in the bird with the crystal plumage but is also strong in its own right . the photography is helped by the nice use of foreign locales  in this case london and athens  where martino manages to get in  respectively  the houses of parliament and the acropolis  there is also some inventive camera  work too  the most effective being the use of slow motion in a sequence where a woman runs towards the door where the maniac is prowling outside . in this particular scene martino has the killer hack through the door with a knife in a manner influenced by dario argento  s crystal plumage  however  it also has the killer attempt to flick the latch open with the blade of a knife which is something repeated later by argento in suspiria . so martino  s film is influential in its own right .  br    br   this is a good solid giallo that both genre and non  genre fans can appreciate . the performances are good and the production values are fine  although the plane explosion is  shall we say  somewhat low  budget   . the dvd release by noshame is nice . it has both the english and italian language options which is a real bonus . however  it is worth pointing out that at times you need to be a fast reader to fully appreciate the english subtitle option . this applies to both the movie and the documentary in the extras . this is a minor point though  the dvd release is a worthy addition to any giallo collection .  
val kilmer  solid performance . dylan mcdermott  solid performance . josh lucas  solid performance . three very engaging actors giving decent performances . the problem is  who cares about the plot  john holmes . infamous for his well  endowments  a drug addict  and a guy who  despite contracting aids  continued to make adult films  just does not make an intriguing character .  br    br   the story surrounds the events leading up to and the aftermath of a vicious mass murder that occurred in the late    s in los angelos to which holmes was linked  arrested and charged with murder  and who ultimately was acquitted . just like in the case of o . j .  the guilt factor  regardless of the outcome  ranged quite high in the  he did it  zone .  br    br   there is no one to sympathize with in this film  as everyone is a self  serving criminal . there is just nothing remotely interesting here .  
la coda dello scorpione  a . k . a . case of the scorpion  s tail  was director sergio martino  s follow  up to the wonderful giallo strano vizio della signora wardh . this is the quintessential giallo  featuring all the aspects fans of the genre have come to know and love . twisty plot  beautiful girls  black gloves  sharp blades  and a bit of gore all come together to make one heck of a piece of italian exploitation .  br    br   a group of gialli favorites  both in front of and behind the camera  work to make this one of the best non  argento gialli around . there  s the aforementioned martino adding his touches as director  giallo great ernesto gastaldi as the writer  bruno nicolai creating the music  and a host of giallo stars and starlets  such as george hilton  character actor luigi pistilli  and the fetching anita strindberg .  br    br   with all this talent behind it  does scorpione deliver  you bet . the film works on many different levels . it  s a thrilling murder mystery  a tense and violent horror film  and a suspenseful thriller . all in all one of the best gialli around .  br    br   martino definitely knows what fans want when it comes to gialli . at some points in the film  he almost seems to be channeling argento in his approach . for example  there is a direct rip  off of the scene in bird with the crystal plumage where the killer tries to break through the door  that actually outdoes argento  s flick .  br    br   are there any problems with the flick  hmmm . . . only minor ones . first  any scenes that aren  t following the murders or the budding romance between the two leads begin to bore . but just before you fall asleep  the killer will pop out of nowhere and you  ll be right back in the swing of things .  br    br   also  towards the end  the twists get a little too bizarre . i mean  what purpose did the scorpion pins really serve  if you don  t play close attention to the dialogue  you could easily become lost with the twisting  weaving storyline .  br    br   but these minor quibbles aside  la coda dello scorpione is a tense  suspenseful  classy and all around entertaining film for giallo fans . seek it out   
unlike others  i refuse to call this pitiful excuse for a movie a triumph of style over substance  i don  t want to give style a bad name  . still  it  s the most apt description that comes to mind .  br    br   a pointless  unpleasant and ultimately meaningless assault on the eyes and ears   wonderland  leaves one wondering only why the film was made in the first place and who in their right mind gave the greenlight to this dreary and tangled mess . a biography of porn star john holmes  a study of who the man was  why he went into the business and how it affected him  great . bound to be compelling  bound to be entertaining . bound to be enlightening and fascinating on about a million levels  and i have zero interest in porn  .  br    br   but a confusing  violent  rashomon  style study of a series of murders holmes was connected with after his career ended  who in hell cares  what insights do we gain  this film completely ignores the most interesting aspect of john holmes  s life   that he was a porno star   wonderland  might as well have been about anyone the fact that the main character is the most famous male adult film star in history is almost irrelevant .  br    br   to make matters about a thousand times worse  the picture is loaded down with jerkoff gimmicks   annoying machine gun editing  sloppy dogme    camerawork  unnecessary split  screen graphics and animation  etc . etc .  br    br   in the absence of a compelling story and unique main character  the director  and i use the term loosely  has thrown together a dozen or so techniques from other films and decided to call the resulting mess a movie  among these the trendy  bleach  bypass look of  narc  or  traffic  or  minority report  the frantic  often incomprehensible  throw  the  pieces  of  film  in  the  air cutting style of  natural born killers  or    days later  the fill  every  moment  of  silence  with  an  old  song  to  evoke  the  period soundtrack of  goodfellas  or  blow  the groovy  retro title sequence of  velvet goldmine  or  autofocus  or  catch me if you can .  the list goes on and on and on . pathetic .  br    br   i wanted to like this movie . i had real hopes for it .  wonderland avenue  had been around for years had the context of the murders been emphasized rather than the murders themselves  i think it could have worked . had the murders  and holmes  s growing involvement with seedy l . a . types  signaled the end of a career  or the end of the swinging    s  i think the film could have had meaning it could have served a purpose . as it is   meaningless . pointless . who cares how many perspectives exist on a series of murders generally unknown by the public  the case isn  t famous enough to merit such painstaking examination .  br    br   this film should have been the third act of  the john holmes story .  that  s it . period . and it could have worked . what  s that  oh  right  right  they didn  t want to tell a traditional rise  and  fall story . they didn  t want to make  boogie nights  or  goodfellas  or  star    or  autofocus .  they wanted their film to be different . right   br    br   well  in one sense  they succeeded . there  s a big difference between those films and  wonderland .  the difference is those films are good .  br    br    
sergio martino is a great director  who has contributed a lot to italian genre cinema and  as far as i am considered  his gialli from the     s are the undisputed highlights in his impressive repertoire .  la coda dello scorpione  aka .  the case of the scorpion  s tale  of     is one of these impressive films martino has contributed to italian horror  s most original sub  genre  and another proof that the man is a master of atmosphere  style and suspense . my personal favorite of the martino films i  ve seen so far is still the insanely brilliant  your vice is a locked room and only i have the key  of      followed by  torso        and  the strange vice of mrs wardh         all of which i personally like even more than this one . that  s purely a matter of personal taste  however  as  la coda dello scorpione  is an equally excellent film that is essential for every fan of italian horror cinema and suspense in general .  br    br   the film  which delivers tantalizing suspense from the very beginning has a complex and gripping plot that begins with the mysterious demise of a millionaire who has died in a plane crash . insurance investigator peter lynch  george hilton  is assigned to verify the circumstances the insurance company which is due to pay a large sum to the deceased man  s wife . soon after lynch begins to investigate  a person is brutally killed  which is just the beginning of a series of murders . . .  br    br    the case of the scorpion  s tail  excellently delivers all the elements a great giallo needs . the film is stunningly suspenseful from the beginning  the score by bruno nicolai is brilliant  the plot is wonderfully convoluted  and the killer  s identity remains a mystery until the end . regular giallo leading  man george hilton once again delivers an excellent performance in the lead . sexy anita strindberg is absolutely ravishing in the female lead . the includes the great luigi pistilli  one of the most brilliant regulars of italian genre  cinema of the   s and   s  and alberto de mendoza  another great actor who should be familiar to any lover of italian cinema . athens  where most of the film takes place  is actually a great setting for a giallo . the atmosphere is constantly gripping  and the photography great  and bruno nicolai  s ingenious score makes the suspense even more intense . long story short  la coda dello scorpione  is another excellent giallo from sergio martino and an absolute must  see for any lover of the sub  genre  stylish  suspenseful  and great in all regards   
i am wanting to make a  holmes with doors  pun but i can  t quite string it all together . suitably grubby and over edited wonderland gives kilmer a role that channels morrison at the same time . . . . but how coy is this film about the famous   inches  australian crime films flash it all the time and skip the graphic violence instead . . . . . as someone famous said once about us cinema double standards  kiss a breast and it  s an x  stab it and its an action pg    . . . wonderland is   minutes too long too  and at the end the tawdry spiral we were all glad to escape the cinema . how many films called wonderland are we going to get  there must be six in the last decade . the pixilated violence and muted color sets the seedy tone but the wobble  cam gets tiresome  as if we are gawking at their nostrils all the time . taking a few cues form the doors and taxi driver it all becomes forgettable the next day .  
i  m really tempted to reward  the case of the scorpion  s tail  with a solid   out of   rating  but that would largely be because i think italian horror cinema of the      s is so much better than the cheesy crap i usually watch . but even without an extra point for nostalgia  this is still a genuine masterwork and earning a high rating for its excellently convoluted story  uncanny atmosphere  blood  soaked killing sequences and superb casting choices . in my humble opinion this is actually sergio martino  s finest giallo  and that has got to mean something  as  the strange vice of mrs . wardh    all the colors of the dark    torso  and  your vice is a locked room and only i have the key  are all top  notch genre achievements as well . but this film is just a tad bit superior with its ultra  compelling plot revolving on an insurance fraud gone madly out of control . following her husband  s peculiar death in a plane explosion     lisa baumer promptly becomes the suspicious owner of one million dollars and she  s eager to leave the country as soon as possible . due to the bizarre circumstances  the insurance company puts their best investigator peter lynch on the case and he follows her to greece . there  lisa becomes the target of many assaults and the case  s mysteriousness increases when it turns out several people are hunting for the money . i  m always overly anxious when briefly summarizing gialli because i don  t want to risk giving away essential plot elements . in  the case of the scorpion  s tail   the events take an abrupt and totally unexpected turn before the story is even halfway  and i certainly don  t want to ruin this for you . many red herrings follow after that  but sergio martino always succeeds to stay one step ahead of you and  even though not a     satisfying  the denouement is at least surprising . it  s also a very stylish film  with imaginative camera  work and excellent music by bruno nicolai . everyone  s favorite giallo muse edwige fenech oddly didn  t make it to this cast  she stars in no less than  other supreme martino gialli   but anita strindberg   lizard in a woman  s skin    who saw her die    is a more than worthy replacement for her . the charismatic and hunky george hilton is reliable as always in his role of insurance investigator and  duh  ladies  man deluxe . if you  re a fan of giallo  don  t wait as long as i did to watch this film      
i was excited when i heard they were finally making this horrific event into a movie . the whole era       s southern california  and subject matter  drug and porn industry  is intriguing to me . i thought this would be a sure fire hit . i was not thrilled with the choice of kilmer as holmes  they do not resemble each other in physical appearance or mannerisms . i guess he sells tickets  however  i was willing to overlook this and give it a fair shot . i was a bit shocked that there were only like four other people in the entire theater with me on that first day of showing . now the whole crime and story in the film is hard to do  i will admit that . there were no witnesses to this very violent and brutal act . john holmes was there  but he was also a pathological liar and worried about what would happen to his family  and self  if he talked to police about it . in fact  holmes never really testified about what happened and the crime did go unsolved . so this was still really one big mystery  a mystery that this movie does nothing to cast light on . the person writing the screenplay had a whole lot of discretion and most of the principal characters are dead . however  there is no real storyline  it is fragmented claptrap . the script is light and the actors try to hard to beef up paper thin lines by overacting . the film gives no insight into holmes or the other people involved . kilmer  s character disappears for long stretches  his girlfriend is dull  the police are jokes . even kudrow tries hard to make a flimsy role look substantial . it is a very shallow piece and dare i say  boring . the director even tries to turn it into a love story . which is nice  unless you know anything about what a piece of trash john holmes really was . perhaps a couple of viewings of anderson  s  boogie nights  might have helped here .  boogie nights  was innovative and exciting in all regards . this film on the other hand was flat and without any real charm or style . even the music is out of place  with duran duran being played in a scene that was supposed to have taken place in     . then we have gordon lightfoot  gordon lightfoot  there could have been a great film based on this gruesome event  but i have not seen it yet . i have not seen even a decent one yet  unless you consider the rahad jackson scene from boogie nights  .  
  dance  fools  dance  is an early crawford  gable vehicle from     . crawford plays a bonnie jordan  a wealthy young woman whose life consists of parties  booze  and stripping off her clothes to jump from a yacht and go swimming . this all ends when her father dies and leaves her and her brother  william blakewell  penniless . bonnie gets a job on a newspaper using the name mary smith her brother goes to work for bootleggers . the head man is jake luva  portrayed by clark gable as he plays yet another crook . later  of course  he would turn into a romantic hero  but in the early    s  mgm used him as a bad guy . not realizing that her brother is involved in illegal activity  bonnie cozies up to luva .  br    br   gable and crawford made a great team . her facial expressions are a little on the wild side  but that  along with her dancing  is one of the things that makes the movie fun . look for cliff edwards  the voice of jiminy cricket  as bert .  br    br   it  s always interesting to see the precode movies  and  dance  fools  dance  is no exception .  
anybody who has ever been a fan of the original series  or even has a clue about the storyline should be embarrassed by this series . the borg does not come around until q brings the enterprise to the gamma sector  the klingons are never seen until kirk encounters them  the ncc      was the first ship to carry the enterprise name . . . . need i go on  berman and pilliar have made a mockery of gene roddenberry  s creation . after he died  they only saw  and just went their own way . no wonder majel barrett was in every single episode of star trek until this series . i don  t blame her for not being involved with this mess . poor bakula . he  s a great actor  as are the entire cast . i like them all  but the storyline is tragic and ignores all of the precedents set by the original series . just check the ratings . i think more people watched deep space   which was untimely canceled  .  
well made and stylish while still ultimately making sense this thriller would work better for non giallo fans to get interested in the genre than the later argento entries which go overboard in all directions .  br    br   for fans of these crazed italian thrillers  they will appreciate george hilton and the turns his character takes and what he  s put through . the camera  work is fresh with dashes of graphic violence and odd  but appropriate choices and a good not overblown music score as well . the less you know about the story the better to make it work .  br    br   the only thing lacking in keeping this from being a great sergio martino directed giallo is that the story doesn  t have that extra sexual or psychological  or both element to put it over the top . it  s more a routine mystery  the characters are well defined but live or die according to the plot not according to their own virtues and flaws .  br    br   the recent dvd       release is beautiful looking and definitely the way to see the film  unless these ever get art house screenings which seems unlikely .  
even with a cast that boasts such generally reliable names as val kilmer and lisa kudrow  wonderland fails to yield any sense of depth to this film . it barely brushes the surface of the incidents that happened on that july night in     . kilmer just goes through the motions as john holmes and kudrow and kate bosworth are both hopefully miscast in the other two lead roles as holmes  s wife and underage girlfriend  respectively . the rest of the cast has such small roles that it  s impossible to get any dimensions from them . the film also stars carrie fisher  ted levine  franky g  mc gainey  dylan mcdermott and a cameo from paris hilton .  
  the case of the scorpion  s tail  has all the elements that are necessary in order to make an effective giallo movie . the story is standard giallo . when a man dies in a plane crash his wife  ida galli  collects a   million life insurance policy . the widow heads to greece for the payout but a series of gruesome murders follow her . there are plenty of suspects  including a tenacious investigator  george hilton  from the insurance agency and the widow  s lover . director martino keeps the story moving at a fast pace while the viewer tries to guess the identity of the killer . anita strindberg  also memorable in  your vice is a locked room and only i have the key  and  who saw her die    is a stunning  looking heroine . it  s one of martino  s best films .  
freeway killer  is a madman who shoots people on the freeway while yelling a bunch of mystical chant on a car phone . the police believe he is a random killer  but sunny  the blond heroine  played by darlanne fluegel detects a pattern . so does the ex  cop  played by james russo  and they join forces  and bodies  in the search for the villain who has done away with their spouses . also starring richard belzer  this movie has its moments especially if you like car chases  but its really not a good movie for the most part  check it out if you  re really bored and have already seen the hitcher  joy ride  or breakdown  otherwise stay away from the freeway .  
after dipping his toes in the giallo pool with the masterful film  the strange vice of mrs . wardh         director sergio martino followed up that same year with what turns out to be another twisty suspense thriller   the case of the scorpion  s tail .  like his earlier effort  this one stars handsome macho dude george hilton  who would go on to star in martino  s satanic  giallo hybrid  all the colors of the dark  the following year .  scorpion  s tail  also features the actors luigi pistilli and anita strindberg  who would go on to portray an unhappy couple  to put it mildly   in martino  s  your vice is a locked room and only i have the key        .  i just love that title   i suppose edwige fenech was busy the month they shot this  anyway  this film boasts the stylish direction that martino fans would expect  as well as a twisty plot  some finely done murder set pieces  and beautiful athenian location shooting . the story this time concerns an insurance investigator  hilton  and a journalist  strindberg  here looking like farrah fawcett  s prettier  smarter sister  who become embroiled in a series of grisly murders following a plane crash and the inheritance of   million by a beautiful widow . i really thought i had this picture figured out halfway through  but i was dead wrong . although the plot does make perfect sense in this giallo  i may have to watch the film again to fully appreciate all its subtleties . highlights of the picture  for me  were anita  s cat  and  mouse struggle with the killer at the end  a particularly suspenseful house break  in  and a nifty fight atop a tiled roof lots of good action bursts in this movie  the fine folks at no shame are to be thanked for still another great  looking dvd  with nice subtitling and interesting extras . whotta great outfit it  s turned out to be  in its ongoing quest to bring these lost italian gems back from oblivion .  
takashi shimizu had a great opportunity with a remake of his original film ju  on the grudge . while i haven  t seen that film  i would have to wager that there  s more imagination and originality  or some rip  off originality  in other words skill with known tropes of the japanese ghost movie  than in his own directed remake . maybe the script was written to somehow have some kind of warped appeal  or i would guess accessibility  for an american audience . what starts off with some potential  the hint of something very screwed up going on with bill pullman  s sudden movement  just goes into a total jumble . and as a horror movie  gimme a break .  br    br   tension could have been built on the situation  a nurse going to take care of a disturbed woman in a house that is haunted  but he undercuts everything he wants to get his audience to feel . scares  how  s about some music timed just so you know when exactly to expect something . a black cat  yeah  why not just make the ghost  boy thing sound like a cat for creepiness which  in effect  is only creepy if you want cats . plot  why not just shuffle between past and present without any semblance of an actual flow of how a story could be told  meaning  while the flashbacks are inserted and are meant to be organic with the story overall  they aren  t   or for that matter have us care about anyone in the cast .  br    br   by the time the characters  or those that are there for exposition  get around to telling us what is going on or whatever  there  s little point to care . the film  making is shoddy  i . e . the    degree rule is broken many times over and not in a forgivable or intriguing way   and the performances are wooden even when looking frightened or shocked  gellar especially is disappointing  but pullman  who shows up later after his first scene  is sorely miscast  . even when shimizu tries for some average old  boo  scares  like when the woman is in the office building and chased by the grudge ghost  it  s still silly . just watch when she  s going on that elevator and the ghost is in the background of shots . either you  ll go with it  and if so more power to you  or you  ll laugh hysterically at the results . count me in the latter .  br    br   i  m not totally sure where this project went wrong  was it shimizu having to retool it for the studios  or him not giving enough leeway with his revamp of his vision  or maybe raimi had some say in it and made things more confusing and  or dull than they would be with someone else . the grudge gives us a lot of information that doesn  t make sense or at the least give us some horror  fodder to chew on . it  s cineplex trash of a sad order .  
i saw this film as it was the second feature on a disc containing the previously banned video nasty  blood rites  . as blood rites was entirely awful  i really wasn  t expecting much from this film but actually  it would seem that trash director andy milligan has outdone himself this time as seeds of sin tops blood rites in style and stands tall as a more than adequate slice of sick sixties sexploitation . the plot is actually quite similar to blood rites  as we focus on a dysfunctional family unit  and of course there is an inheritance at stake . the film is shot in black and white  and the look and feel of it reminded me a lot of the trash classic  the curious dr humpp  . there  s barely any gore on display  and the director seems keener to focus on sex  with themes of incest and hatred seeping through . the acting is typically trashy  but most of the women get to appear nude at some point and despite a poor reputation  director andy milligan actually seems to have an eye for this sort of thing  as many of the sequences in this film are actually quite beautiful . the plot is paper thin  and most of the film is filler but the music is catchy  and the director also does a surprisingly good job with the sex scenes themselves  as most are somewhat erotic . overall  this is not a great film but it  s likely to appeal to the cult fan  and gets a much higher recommendation than the better known and lower quality  blood rites  .  
difficult to call the grudge a horror movie . at best it made me slightly jump from surprise at a couple of moments .  br    br   if one forgets the  failed  frightening dimension and looks at other sides of the movie  he is again disappointed . the acting is ok but not great . the story can be somewhat interesting at the beginning  while one is trying to get what  s happening . but toward the end one understands there is not much to understand .  scary  elements seems sometimes to have been added to the script without reason . . .  br    br   so . . .  yawn  see this movie it if you have nothing more interesting to do  like cutting the carrots or looking at the clouds .  
say what you want about andy milligan  but if his family was even    as deranged as the one in this film  well then i guess he could have turned out worse . unfortunately  the video print of this film contains sex scene inserts originally shot by the distributor to boost the picture  s box office appeal . several times during the film milligan  s ugly camerawork and silent film music abruptly ends  and suddenly good  looking stand  ins for milligan  s homely actors take over and start doing it to psychedelic    s guitar rock . it  s pretty easy to fast  forward through if you  re trying to pay attention to milligan  s original film  which  unfortunately  is missing quite a bit of action that was cut to make room for the added sex scenes . what remains  however  is still compelling stuff . i don  t think i  ve ever seen a more hateful mother in any film before .  
spoilersspoilersspoilersspoilers  br    br   there are bad movies and then there are movies which are so awful that they become affectionately comical in their ineptness . such is the case with columbia pictures   the grudge .  this cinematic atrocity began when an otherwise well intentioned american saw a japanese made for tv film  ju  on  and was inspired to remake the movie in english . this began a virtual tsunami of bad decisions which circumnavigated the globe until it washed ashore in orlando on october        .  br    br   the premise  and i use the word loosely  involves a house in tokyo haunted by a skinny momma ghost who looks like a cross between margaret cho and alanis morrisette  along with her ghastly sidekick a chubby  rambunctious but evil second grader . is there anything scarier than a creepy  year old japanese boy  sure there is  count chocula comes to mind . with this whimsical bunch we must add a mysterious black cat who i have affectionately named chim chim .  remember speed racer   as you have already guessed  they were murdered in this domicile of doom and now desire to kill everyone who enters the premises . you see  as explained by a japanese detective  when someone dies in a rage their ghost seeks revenge on everyone who steps on the property lines as defined by the county commissioner or something like that  i forget .  br    br   the story begins innocently enough with acclaimed thespian bill pullman leaping to his death from a balcony . my guess is bill pullman got this job because of his kids begged him for a trip to tokyo disneyland . next we endure the mildly interesting saga of nurse yoko   oh no don  t go in there  screams the audience  but alas she heeds not the dire warnings and is predictably snuffed out like a magic lantern . about   minutes into the movie we finally see its american heroine sarah michelle gellar as karen . sarah michelle gellar might be a competent actress but i could not help thinking of buffy the vampire slayer  so much so that it was distracting . it is the equivalent to having jennifer anniston star in a movie about the adventures of six friends in new york . try as you may  you just can  t stop thinking about the other project which made her famous . but i digress  karen  the nurse is hired as a replacement for the original care giver who disappeared at spooks r us .  br    br   she snoops around  meets the ghosts  coma lady dies  and some other stuff happens . watching the fair haired vixen searching for clues i half expected her to find the ghost and pull its mask off to reveal it was actually old man gower who owned the abandoned amusement park   i would  ve gotten away with it too if it weren  t for you meddling kids and that dog of yours    br    br   director takashi shimizu  who is vying to be the ed wood of asia  made two unfortunate decisions involving sound . first  he choose to use a soundtrack only when someone is about to be killed . this is an excellent devise for obliterating any suspense because the audience gets a two minute warning to prepare for another miserably predictable murder . second  he gave the ghosts a bizarre guttural noise that sounds like a gargling gopher . after the movie  i heard several people exiting the theatre making the sound and laughing .  br    br   sarah michelle gellar ends up being the sole survivor . and of course we learn that the fire she set to burn down the house was extinguished in time for the obligatory next chapter . however  considering the humorous reactions of the audience  they did not want a sequel but an apology .  the grudge  could be easily re  edited into a comedy  perhaps then it will be appreciated for its camp value . baring that  this will go down as the greatest cinematic thriller since  godzilla vs . megalon .  i would suggest waiting until the movie comes to your local discount theatre where it can receive the public ridicule it so richly deserves .  
first saw this movie in about      and absolutely died laughing through it . it became a cult favorite with my circle of friends  and we  d quote from it at the drop of a hat   i  m going home in a bag    . needless to say  the humor is still there    years later . it  s become a tradition at halloween time to expose many of my new friends to this film  good thing you can still buy it off ebay   i  ve found that halloween candy tastes much better with your tongue planted firmly in your cheek . . and this movie provides it all  pathos  suspense  unrequited love  nobility and the list goes on . royal dano provides an amazing heartfelt performance as old man wrenchmuller . i remember seeing him in  the  faces of dr . lao  as a bad guy who met a bad end . here  you really feel for the old guy right from the beginning .  br    br   if you aren  t careful  you  ll miss some of the levels of humor in this movie . the creators got real subtle in many ways with offhand comments  little subtle costume digs at other sci  fi movies  and even a scene ripped from the pages of wile e . coyote   br    br   don  t spend too much thought processes trying to analyze a movie  people  this is fun fare without the need for nitpicking  and shouldn  t be offensive to anyone  well  maybe stupid people  but they won  t know they  re being mocked . .  .  br    br    now if you  ll excuse me  i  m gonna go get a  zag  nut  bar . . . .  br    br    ramsay  rc  cowlishaw  karaoke dj  entertainer  
all the kids aged from      want to see this movie  although you are only allowed at    . they have heard it is a very scary movie and they feel so cool when they watched it . i feel very sad kids can  t see what a good movie is  and what a bad movie is . this was one of the worst movies i saw in months . every scene you see in this movie is a copy from another movie . and the end  it  s an open ending . . . why  because it is impossible to come up with a decent en for such a stupid story . this movie is just made to make you scared  and if you are a bit smart and know some about music  you exactly know when you  ll be scared .  br    br   when the movie was finished and i turned to my friend and told  a bit to loud  him that this was a total waste of money  some stupid kid looked strange at me . these day i could make an oscar with a home  video of my goldfish  if only i use the right marketing .  
after a long hard week behind the desk making all those dam serious decisions this movie is a great way to relax . like wells and the original radio broadcast this movie will take you away to a land of alien humor and sci  fi paraday .  captain zippo died in the great charge of the buick . he was a brave man .  the jack nicholson impressions shine right through that alien face with the dark sun glasses and leather jacket . and always remember to beware of the  doughnut of death   keep in mind the number one rule of this movie  suspension of disbelief  sit back and relax  and  prepare to die earth scum   you just have to see it for yourself .  
imagine that you are asked by your date what movie you wanted to see  and you remember seeing a rather intriguing trailer about  the grudge .  so  in good faith  you recommend seeing that movie . it is the halloween season  after all . and it did boffo box office this past weekend  so it must be pretty good . . . so you go .  br    br   and you  re actually in a state of shock when the movie ends the way it does  and you hear yourself audibly saying   that can  t be the end of the movie . . . .  but  alas  it is .  br    br   and imagine coming out of the movie theater being embarrassed and ashamed for recommending such a dog of a movie . you think that your date thinks you  re a bonehead for suggesting such an atrocity  and your suggestion will certainly end a promising relationship . actually  it was so bad that both of us cracked up laughing at how bad it was . i see no future for miss gellar in the movies  and suggest that she sticks to television in the future . actually  it won  t be long before she is consigned to flea  market conventions selling buffy memorabilia  and it can  t happen soon enough  if you ask me . horrible  horrible  horrible . the plot didn  t make sense continuity was terrible . it  s apparent that the whole ending was contrived to have a  grudge ii   the return of  cat  boy  .   
there are few really hilarious films about science fiction but this one will knock your sox off . the lead martian  s jack nicholson take  off is side  splitting . the plot has a very clever twist that has be seen to be enjoyed . this is a movie with heart and excellent acting by all . make some popcorn and have a great evening .  
if you go see this movie you  ll be holding a grudge against the movie theatre  the director  the producer  the actors and the person that told you to go see it  shame on you  sarah michelle geller  for putting your name and face to this poor excuse of a movie . it may have been more scary if the japanese actors would have just spoken in japanese instead of attempting to  act  in english . i wanted to boo when the movie ended . . . a true disappointment after all of the hype on tv and movie trailers promoting this lame money maker . sarah michelle really didn  t have to act at all to make this movie . . . she just practiced her frowning skills . don  t waste your time or money on this film .  
this movie is just plain silly . almost every scene has some bit of humor running gags  slapstick  and great jokes . the acting isn  t that great  and the plot is cliche  but the jokes more than make up for that . if you have a chance to see this movie  i recommend that you do .  
gee  what a crappy movie this was  i cannot understand what people find so scary about  the grudge  . the director plays one trick  i  d have to admit a very good one  that is brought to life very stylized  and then he repeats it for the rest of the movie over and over again . as a consequence i startled a few times in the first quarter of the movie  but once i knew the drill i practically fell asleep as the grudge grew more and more predictable by the minute . to conclude  i can say that there are a lot better movies in the genre to begin with  that the so  called predecessor  the ring  was way scarier and that buying a ticket for  the grudge  is a waste of money .  
this movie is to halloween what the hilarious  christmas story  is to christmas both are relatively low  budget  no  big  name  stars type films . . . and both are two of the absolute greatest and funniest movies available  both seasonal classics     spaced invaders  comes galloping out right from the start with warmth and humor and a superb cast of characters . . . all five goofy martians  klembecker the realtor  russell the deputy  vern at the  fuel dispensing depot  and so many more  you just have to see this movie to believe it  and  like  christmas story   it just keeps getting better and better with each viewing  and you pick up on fun little things each time   most definitely a ten     
wow  what a total let down  the fact people think this film is scary is ridiculous . the special effects were a direct rip  off of  the ring .  the story  was there one  not in my opinion . . just a bunch of flashy imaging . the entire film was a boring  stupid  mess . i guess there is always a market for bad films with good marketing campaigns . however  this is the worst horror film i have seen in years . and that buffy chick  well  she  s a bad actress  as plastic as barbie and just as talented . . no  wait  that would be an insult to the talents of barbie  i suppose many kiddies helped this film at the box office as it was pg     and had it been rated r  it would have bombed imo  stupid movie   
this is one of joan crawford  s best talkies . it was the first gable  crawford pairing  and made it evident to mgm and to audiences that they were a sizzling team  leading the studio to make seven more films with them as co  stars .  br    br   the film convincingly depicts the downward slide of a brother and sister who  after their father loses everything in the stock market crash  must fend for themselves and work for a living . life is hard in the depression  and soon even their attempts at finding legitimate work prove futile  and they resort to underworld activity .  br    br   joan crawford is excellent as the socialite  turned  moll . she  s smart  complex  and believable . she even tempers the theatrical stiffness of the other actors  early talkie acting style . clark gable is a diamond  in  the rough  masculine and gruff as the no  nonsense gangster who becomes involved with crawford  s character . the same year he would play a similar and even more successful role opposite norma shearer in  a free soul   securing his position as top male sex symbol at mgm .  br    br   if you like crawford in this type of role  don  t miss  paid   which she did a year earlier  which is also among her best early talkie performances .  br    br    
despite a decent first season this series never came close to realizing its potential . set as a prequel to the original  star trek  series it was doomed almost from the start by an executive producer  rick berman  who felt compelled to artificially limit and constrict the definition of what a  star trek  series could be  which made this futuristic show increasingly anachronistic from a dramatic standpoint  . the actual show  runner  brannon braga  didn  t help matters by his uninspired and tired rehashing of previous trek episodes and careless disregard of the franchise  s internal mythology  it was painfully obvious early on that he was in it only for the paycheck  . never have i seen a series  that so consistently did a disservice to a cast of talented actors  jolene blaylock excepted  last so long . it is as if this entire series was produced in bubble existing outside the contemporary television landscape where the audience  even a trekker audience  is more demanding and sophisticated in their dramatic wants and desires . unfortunately it appears as if berman and braga have succeeded in convincing the higher ups at paramount that  enterprise  suffered from  franchise fatigue  and that its core audience was did not walk away but was driven off . produce a quality offering that lives up to the high ideals and standards of its predecessors and they  the audience  will come .  br    br   simply put  in a teevee universe where we are given shows like  battlestar galactica  and  the shield  the powers  that  be must give the viewing public a  star trek  that measures up and is dramatically competitive . it is just that straightforward and easy .  
i found the memorable quotes searching for video clips they forgot one of my favorites . . .  br    br   old person   you know  i remember the first time they played that thing .  br    br   old person   you remember pterodactyls .  br    br   old person   and i can remember you fell for that  hook line and sinker .  br    br   old person   oh  i did not .  br    br   old lady you did so . you put a big bucket on your head and took off with them army boys to fight martians .  br    br   old person   ain  t you dead yet   
this movie was horrible . i could barely stay awake through it . i would never see this movie again if i were payed to . the so  called horror scenes in it were increadably predictable and over played . there was really nothing about this movie that would have made it original or worth the   .   i payed to see it . don  t go see it  don  t rent it  don  t read about it online because any of these things would be a complete waste of your time . sarah michelle geller gave a lackluster performance and really should be ashamed of herself for sullying her good name with this movie . shame on you sarah for being associated with this horrible  horrible movie . horrible movie  no need to ever see it .  
this movie is funny and suitable for any age . it is definitely family  type entertainment . the cast does a fine job playing folks in the mid  western town of big bean  illinois . where we must assume nothing ever happens since the excitement  pre  invasion  of the decade is the new  and only  exit ramp from the interstate . the location appeals as suitably boring and totally unlikely for the invasion of earth by martians . but these martians are totally inept  despite being well  equipped with an arsenal of suitably ghastly and deadly weapons . . . including one set on eradicating the martians  too  the martians dead  pan their lines and throw in just the right accents to make us the viewers and the locals wish to help them . . . leave earth . j . j . anderson playing the very young halloween carnivorous duck has just great lines . watch this movie for laugher and entertainment thought  provoking it isn  t . but subtle and enjoyable it is .  
this movie is really nothing besides an admittedly well  crafted series of tense sequences punctuated with an inevitable  gotcha   at the end of each . really  there is no character development and no real plot to speak of . there are only the most skeletal of motivations for the characters to do anything while they trudge forward to their unavoidable dooms . it  s all just an excuse to show a creepy ghost kid  who seems to have gotten some of the family cat mixed up in his ectoplasm  and his ghost mom  with long black hair hanging in her face kind of like  the ring   take down a bunch of cardboard cut  out  two  dimensional excuses for human characters .  br    br   this english  language version of  the grudge  is the equivalent of cinematic junk food satisfying momentarily  but not really what you ought to be living on .  br    br   not recommended .  
like the great classic bugs bunny cartoons  this movie has humor at different levels . i just introduced this to my   year old daughter and   year old son . both enjoyed the movie  busting out laughing quite a few times . . . and my daughter is not much of a sci  fi fan . the movie kept me laughing despite having seen a few times . . . the adult  level humor  that is  humor that adults will get simply because of greater life experiences  no baudy or r  rated stuff to be found here  keeps the movie equally enjoyable for adults . for example of the adult level humor  the martian voices are based on characters of different movies  actors . the martian pilot  blaznee  has the voice and mannerisms of jack nicholson the scientist  that of peter seller  s dr . strangelove . the special effects are surprisingly good for this film . the lack of top   actors actually works in the movie  s favor  and the actors  actresses play their part well  in fact i would say the producers picked out actors and their skills for the roles  needs over box  office draw power  an excellent example is wayne alexander  s  vern  character  . i had to write this review . . . the kids are playing this for the  rd time in  days over dinner right now . good for a rainy day or a late night weekend there  s  nothing  on  and  i  m  bored movie .  
okay  if you  ve seen the ring  you  ve basically seen the grudge . it  s trying to be scary by just having freaky camera work and loud sounds  but it fails miserably . the plot  if you can call it that  is weak and rather full of holes  for instance  how would the care center have known that yoko didn  t show up for work when the people who lived in the house were not there  and it  s not really clear what bill pullman  s character had to do with anything . he just kind of came out of nowhere to advance the plot . it didn  t make a lot of sense what happened to the original family . who was hanging in the room  the little boy or the dad  and was yoko alive or dead when the care center guy found her  there were too many unanswered questions and i was too bored to think about it more .  
anyone who does not find this movie funny  does not understand simple comedy . this movie is not a complex comedy  it is full of one liners  and sight gags  and will make anyone who wants to laugh  laugh . . . the alien who is doing a nicholson impression will crack you up   
my husband and i went to see this movie  being the horror movie buffs that we are . two hours later i found myself wanting both my money and time back . i was so disappointed . the teasers for this film basically contained the best points of the film . there was nothing very scary about the film other than good timing on surprise entrances  etc . i found most of the  scary  parts to be more comical than anything . after viewing other movies based on the works of japanese writers  i have to conclude that what is deemed frightening in japan is not what is frightening here in the us . my advice if you are a fan of true horror movies  save yourself the pain of sitting through this one . i can  t really say that i would recommend renting it either  unless you have a free rental coming to you .  
if the creators of this film had made any attempt at introducing reality to the plot  it would have been just one more waste of time  money  and creative effort . fortunately  by throwing all pretense of reality to the winds  they have created a comedic marvel . who could pass up a film in which an alien pilot spends the entire film acting like jack nicholson  complete with the lakers t  shirt . do not dismiss this film as trash .  
this movie may seem scary on commercials  but the actual movie was a reason to vomit . this is a below below average   even lower than that  and has no plot . i mean every house can make you feel scared and sure  a dead japanese woman would scare the poop out of you  but so what  make a movie that would appeal to watchers and not just show images of scared people and some hair  dead japanese woman  . can you say  horrible rip  off of samara  the ring    don  t get me started with the  dead child  . not even that scary  so what  he has a cat and he can imitate it  big freaking deal  just bury the poor zombies and save some lives that have the potential of being harmed by the grudge       yuck   .   
normally the best way to annoy me in a film is to include some reference to orson welles . but here is a sci  fi comedy quoting the war of the worlds broadcast . . . . and it is gold  the very concept of a small bunch of diminutive  aggressive and stupid aliens being mistaken as kids in halloween dress is magnificent . don  t be fooled by the notion that because it seems like a kids  movie it is unsophisticated  it isn  t  there  s a lot of hidden treasure . . . a gem   
ok when i saw the previews for this movie i thought it looked really scary and was quite excited to see it as were the group i was with . now living in america especially during this election i see some very deceiving things but i have to say these previews were towards the top of list . i don  t see how so many people could be scared by this movie . i only really noticed two real jump scenes and only jumped at one . the whole movie was extremely predictable and perhaps that messed up some of the jump scenes for me . as for the sound effects so many to be so frightened of i thought they were comical at best . oh and the uhh catboy where did that come from and why  the worst noise in the whole movie had to be the weird groaning . how does that scare someone  i can make that noise easily . now don  t get me wrong i have always loved all those really bad scary movies that your just laughing the whole way through but i didn  t even think this one had that going for it it was just plain out bad .  
this is cult stuff . my friends and i get together once a year to enjoy this movie . its very funny and very dry . i  ve seen this move dozens of times and have yet not to enjoy it . the actors are funny and it gets better with every viewing  if you enjoyed  morons from out of space  you will love this . a great play on war of the worlds . i love the red  neck rampage to get the aliens  the bug on the hood  the dod  the heat seeking populous annihilator  the mine field  the red camo  breaking the speed limit by     mph   i  ll get the bucket   very funny . i would love for this to come out on dvd  forget the negative reviews see it for yourself   
i hate to throw out lines like this  but in this case i feel like i have to the american remake of the grudge is by far the worst film i have seen in theaters in the last  years . there  i said it . and now that i have gotten that out of my system  please let me explain why .  br    br    when someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage  a curse is born . the curse gathers in that place of death . those who encounter it will be consumed by its fury .  that is the premise of the grudge and i will admit it sounds intriguing . unfortunately  the filmmakers take it no further . those who encounter the  curse  are indeed consumed by its fury and that is all you get . you want more  well too bad . some critics and fans are pointing out that the sole purpose of the grudge is to scare you . the problem is that when there is no plot to speak of  creepy images and sounds can only go so far . director takashi shimizu  pulling a george sluizer and remaking his own original film  s   valiantly attempts to build atmosphere in the first hour  by repeating the same scene over and over and over and over . it pretty much unfolds like this  br    br    person walks into house  br    br    something flashes by the camera and  or a strange sound is heard  br    br    person goes to investigate  br    br    sound starts to get loud  br    br    person sees a ghost  br    br    loud scream and  or cat screech  br    br    cut to black  br    br   before the audience is even given a hint of plot  this exact same scenario unfolds  times in the first hour . the first time was actually somewhat creepy . each subsequent use became laughable as the film went on . by the time the end of the film rolled around  my friend and i were laughingly wondering if this scene would end  with a loud scream and a cut to black .  we were never proved wrong .  br    br   the film has no liner storyline  instead unfolding in a series of vignettes that leave the audience jumbled . i have no problem with non  linear storytelling when it is done right . the film jumps from time period to time period with no rhyme or reason . i haven  t seen a movie in such a state since the opening of the theatrical version of highlander  . and this storytelling technique mars any sort of mystery that film could have possibly had . if you already know the ghosts have scared two characters to death  how is it shocking when their bodies are found in the attic  and why should we care when a detective tries to investigate the mysterious disappearances when we already know what happened to everyone   br    br   obviously greenlit the second the american version of the ring made    million its first weekend  the grudge is nothing but calculated imitation disguised as an actual movie . the scariest things about the grudge are that it made    million dollars its first weekend and some people consider it the  scariest movie ever made .  i wonder what happens to those who get consumed by the fury of paying to see the grudge   
basically  this movie is one of those rare movies you either hate and think borders on suicide as the next best thing to do  rather than having to sit through it for two hours . or  as in my case  you see it as a kult hit  one of those movies wherein the humour  the plot  the acting  is actually very hidden but for those of us willing to go looking for it  trusting the director well  the reward is u laugh your a . . of   the fact that u have to find the things mentioned above  actually makes the movie even more funny  because u get the impression the director isn  t even aware of how funny his movie is  which doesn  t seem likely and therein lies the intelligence at the helm of this magnificient project called  spaced invaders    
i am a great fan of david lynch and have everything that he  s made on dvd except for hotel room  the  hour twin peaks movie . so  when i found out about this  i immediately grabbed it and . . . and . . . what is this  it  s a bunch of crudely drawn black and white cartoons that are loud and foul mouthed and unfunny . maybe i don  t know what  s good  but maybe this is just a bunch of crap that was foisted on the public under the name of david lynch to make a few bucks  too . let me make it clear that i didn  t care about the foul language part but had to keep adjusting the sound because my neighbors might have . all in all this is a highly disappointing release and may well have just been left in the deluxe box set as a curiosity . i highly recommend you don  t spend your money on this .  out of   .  
laughs  adventure  a good time  a killer soundtrack  oscar  worthy acting  and special effects  animitronics like none other  what else could you want in a movie  if you see this will be on the telly  watch it  otherwise  run out now to rent it     
lynch . the man has some really great stuff  he knows how to disturb us  then reward us by getting us think in different ways . this  however  is altogether different . dumbland  s reward is   absurd comedy  earned by enduring    stupidity . i may have laughed once  but somewhere around episode  i just started watching on fast  forward . didn  t miss a thing . i felt relieved when it ended  and that  s part of the point with this series . it  s an annoying series about annoying characters in annoying situations  rounded out with annoying animation  voices and sound . but recognizing this and its other absurdist qualities still fails to make dumbland worthwhile .  
this is a gem of a movie not just for people who like fun and quirky premises  but who love the history and traditions of sci  fi and classic hollywood movies . each alien of the martian crew is the embodiment of a classic sci  fi character or member of hollywood royalty and it  s pure pleasure watching them bounce of each other and the residents of big bean .  
i  m somewhat of a fan of lynche  s work  so i was excited when i found this dvd . unfortunately  i was very let down . it  s a series of short cartoons which attempt to show a disturbing and disgusting sort of humor . the animation is very crude  no doubt done using macromedia . each cartoon has a big fat guy beating up his family and generally acting like a jerk to everyone he knows .  br    br   for people who are not familiar with this vein of animation  they will probably be somewhat impressed by it . however  if you  ve spent much time on newgrounds . com  like me  then these cartoons will be no different than any of the other stuff you  ve seen before . many of the popular amateur artists on newgrounds are doing much better work than what was shown on this dvd . if lynch submitted this work to the website  then he would blend in perfectly with some of the better of newgrounds artists . but  since i saw this on dvd  instead of on newgrounds  i give it a      instead of a      as i would have otherwise . these cartoons are fit for the internet  but with a name like david lynch on it  i expected better quality both in story and in animation .  
joan crawford had just begun her  working girl makes good  phase with the dynamic  paid        . she had never attempted a role like that before and critics were impressed . so while other actresses were wondering why their careers were foundering  because they were clinging to characters that had been the  in  thing a few years before but were now becoming passe  joan was listening to the public and securing her longevity as an actress . the depression was here and jazz age babies who survived on an endless round of parties were frowned upon . of course  if you became rich through immoral means but suffered for it  that was alright .  br    br   this film starts out with a spectacular house boat party . bonnie jordan  joan crawford  is the most popular girl there  especially when she suggests that everyone go swimming in their underwear    however  when bonnie  s father has a heart attack  because of loses on the stock market  both bonnie and her brother  rodney  william bakewell  realise who their real friends are . after bob townsend  lester vail  a poor man  s johnny mack brown  offers to do the  right thing  and marry her  they had just spent a night together when bonnie declared  with abandon  that she wants love on approval  she starts to show some character by deciding to get a job .  br    br   she finds a job at a newspaper and quickly impresses by her will to do well . her working buddy is bert scranton  cliff edwards  and together they are given an assignment to write about the inside activities of the mob . rodney also surprises her with the news that he also has a job . she is thrilled for him but soon realises it is bootlegging and he is mixed up with cold blooded killer  jake luva  clark gable  . rodney witnesses a mass shooting and goes to pieces   spilling the beans  to the first person he sees drinking at the bar  which happens to be bert . he is then forced to kill bert and after  wards he goes into hiding . the paper pulls out all stops in an effort to find bert  s killer and sends bonnie undercover as a dancer in one of jake  s clubs .  joan does a very lively dance to  accordian joe   much to sylvie  s disgust  . the film ends with a gun battle and as rodney lies dying  bonnie tearfully phones in her story .  br    br   this is a super film with crawford and gable giving it their all . natalie moorehead  who as sylvie shared a famous  cigarette scene  with gable early in the film  was a stylish  other woman  who had her vogue in the early thirties . william bakewell had a huge career  he had started as a teenager in a douglas fairbanks film in the mid   s  . a lot of his roles though were weak  spineless characters . in this film he played the weak brother and was completely over  shadowed by joan crawford and the dynamic newcomer clark gable  maybe that was why he never became a star .  br    br   highly recommended .  
i saw this movie recently because a friend brought it with him from nyc . after   minutes  i said to him   you  ve got to be kidding . is this some sort of joke   he thought it was good . i told him that i thought it was probably one of the silliest movies ever made .  what was it supposed to be   i asked .  a propaganda movie made for children   the plot is stupid . the acting is the worst ever for most of the principals and frankly people who look at this sort of tripe and think it has anything to do with life  love or even afterlife  of which it offers an incredibly idiotic view . . . need some psychiatric help . please  if someone tries to get you to stick this in your dvd or video player  consider it like you would a virus introduced into your computer . . . it won  t destroy your player but it will destroy your evening . if they had made razzies in the    s  this would have won in every category .  ps . it also goes under the dubious sobriquet of  stairway to heaven .    
i found this to be a so  so romance  drama that has a nice ending and a generally nice feel to it . it  s not a hallmark hall of fame  type family film with sleeping  before  marriage considered  normal  behavior but considering it stars jane fonda and robert de niro  i would have expected a lot rougher movie  at least language  wise .  br    br   the most memorable part of the film is the portrayal of how difficult it must be to learn how to read and write when you are already an adult . that  s the big theme of the movie and it involves some touching scenes but  to be honest  the film isn  t that memorable .  br    br   it  s still a fairly mild  nice tale that i would be happy to recommend .  
there are lots of extremely good  looking people in this movie . that  s probably the best thing about it . perhaps that even makes it worth watching .  br    br    loaded  tells the story of tristan price  jesse metcalfe   a young man who  s about to make his mark on the world . he  s the son of a well  to  do family with a good reputation  and he  s on his way to law school . but like so many such settings  things aren  t quite as perfect as they appear . the expectations in this family far outweigh the love . except for school  tristan  s father rarely lets him leave the house . this seems to be the result of some past traumatic event that shook the family  which is partially revealed through flashbacks but isn  t spelled out until the very end . tristan  s claustrophobic environment causes him to let loose in very extreme ways at the first possible opportunity  when his friends take him out to a strip club to celebrate his graduation . the celebration soon follows some strippers back to a beach house party  and from there  tristan befriends sebastian cole  corey large   who pulls him into a drug dealing underworld .  br    br   while technically well  made  this movie suffers from a lackluster script and a storyline that isn  t very engaging . also counting against this film are some constant camera tricks that generally seemed annoying and out  of  place  such as slow  motion  fast  motion  freeze  frames and echos . these are the types of effects a director might normally utilize to show a character  s perspective while on drugs  except in this case they seem to have been sporadically tossed in at random points  in some cheap attempt at style .  br    br   despite its cast of relative unknowns  performances were good all around  most notably with respect to the main antagonist  corey large  . i suspect we  ll be seeing at least a couple of these people in bigger and better projects in the future .  br    br   of course  when mentioning the actors  i must mention their looks . rating based on hotness  this movies scores an   . the women in this movie are incredible  looking and almost distract you from what a boring movie you  re watching . i  m sure the male characters are also quite attractive  but you  ll have to ask someone else to comment on that .  br    br   overall  i can  t recommend this movie  not for buying  renting  or even seeing for free . it  s unfortunately just not worth the effort it takes to sit through .  
i loved this movie . you have to respect midgets that dressed up like tiny martians . sure the story may have been thin at times  but you can  t take away from the way it was done . i used to watch this over and over again when i was  . its a kids movie  and besides  it has some of the greatest quotes ever . blanzee  s  home on the range  rendition is awesome .  br    br   very well done if you ask me   of   .  
in film  i feel as though it should be more than just art . i think it should be more than that  a way to tell a story on screen . this short from david lynch tells a story but not much of one . i felt that it was funny but too bizarre to be a comedy . it is good film  making but there really isn  t anything else to it . as i  ve said before  i am a huge david lynch fan but i get frustrated by some of his work because i don  t see a need for it at all . this is definitely my least favorite thing he has done so far but i know he  s still got a ton of talent and i am excited to see what he has in store for us in the future . if you like lynch  check this out but don  t be surprised when you don  t like it very much .  
this is a thinking man  s silly movie . if you don  t expect star wars and enjoy british humor this might just turn into a cult classic for you as it has for my wife and i  from casting the  voice  of cary grant and jack nicholson as martians to the overly simplistic populace of big bean this is a movie that you can either sleep through or watch carefully and enjoy either way .  br    br   it  s not for everyone  but if you enjoy relaxing easy humor that takes a quick mind to see the joke as it slips by you will enjoy this movie .  
david lynch  s crude and crudely drawn take on south park presents us with a nightmare of disturbing clichs about suburban middle class families . the father is a hideous monster with three teeth and a disproportionately large circular mouth  hole from which are uttered the most horrendous guttural noises  the son and mother are permanently horrified  incoherent creatures for whom terror is a way of life . a number of equally absurd characters are introduced throughout the series .  br    br   lynch is not famous for his comedies  i . e . on the air  aspects of wild at heart   and i am not particularly fond of comedies in general . however  there were a couple of scenes in dumbland which made me laugh out loud . there are some clever bits of animated cinematography  where lynch conveys wide ranges of reaction in his characters through a syntactical arrangement of shots as opposed to facial expressions  which never really vary in dumbland  .  br    br   i believe lynch was really trying to give his audience a straight  forward  if disturbing  animated comedy here . interestingly  he chose to follow in the footsteps of the recent wave of ultra  low  brow humor  i . e . most will farrell films  while adding elements of vicious social critique and classic cartoon violence and gross  out humor . while the blend doesn  t really work very well here  it is nothing if not lynchian .  br    br   worth seeing by lynch fans .  
if you have trouble dreaming you may give this movie a low rating . but you just have to realize this movie was not made to please everyone   br    br   just people with a sense of humor .  br    br   for those people the movie is great  it plays on old science fiction movies and radio shows long gone  most of witch where b  rated themselves . along the lines of spaceballs and airplane   you may need to stretch your imagination a little bit to get the jokes  but it is well worth it .  
let  s be honest here the only reason anyone bought this  the only reason anyone reviewed this  and the only reason anyone could possibly claim to enjoy this is because david lynch made it and because you want to have david lynch  s children . but guess what  even david lynch can produce a piece of crap .  br    br   maybe lynch wanted you to transcend normality and experience absurdity in  itself as a pure subject  of  knowing . maybe the atrocious  cacophonist sounds  and chicken  scratch visuals are supposed to imply something about humanity  s place in the world  about our relation to the real  about the absurdity of it all .  br    br   instead  it just says one thing to me i just lost    .  br    br   if i wanted offensive for the sake of offensive  i could crank hansen on high and let me ears bleed . if i wanted absurd for the sake of absurd  i could just take a dump on a plate and watch that for   minutes .  br    br   there is a single redeeming quality to dumbland   it is meta  meta funny . that is  it is so bad that it isn  t even funny because it  s so bad . this fact  however  is a little funny .  br    br   if you hate yourself and hate your money  then buy dumbland . if not  spare yourself the agony .  
being from a small town in illinois myself  i can instantly relate to this movie . considering the era it was made in  the townsfolk look uncomfortably like a lot of people i grew up with . yes the plot is so  so . and yes  the acting is not going to get nominated for an oscar anytime soon . but that isn  t the point . the point is to suspend reality and just have fun . and this movie has fun aplenty . from the greedy  uncaring banker to the well meaning  but dimwitted deputy  this movie was made to poke fun at the scifi genre and small town living at it  s best . who can  t smile at the sight of the enforcer drone or the vern droid  and i loved the farmzoid . wish i had one when i was growing up . overall  considering the technology they had available at the time  this is a pleasant romp into one  s childhood  when you could sit back on a saturday afternoon  popcorn in hand  and laugh at the foibles of small town living . this is a movie i would watch again and again  if for no other reason than to poke fun at myself and my small town ways .  
a vietnam vet decides to take over a backwater town run amok  and anyone who steps in his path is eliminated  including women  . released to theaters just prior to  a star is born   which turned his career around  this action  drama mishmash starring kris kristofferson is wildly off  kilter  thoughtless and mean  spirited . filmed in simi valley  ca  the results are truly unseemly  with redneck clichs and mindless violence making up most of director george armitage  s script . armitage has gathered a most curious    s cast for his film  including jan  michael vincent  victoria principal  bernadette peters  and  in a bit  loni anderson however  the center of the whole thing is kristofferson  who is gruff and rude throughout . it deserves points i suppose for being a completely unsympathetic drive  in thriller  but the bad vibes  and the ridiculous climax  coat the whole project like an ugly stain .     from   
  i moved out here to get away from this kind of thing   the small town sheriff laments .  br    br    this happens a lot in chicago   his deputy asks .  br    br   well  no  not really . the plot is that a group of martians mistake a halloween rebroadcast of orson welles  war of the worlds as an account of a real martian invasion  and conclude they need to get in on the action  what follows are a bunch of mishaps involving the martian  s haphazard attempts to conquer the town of  big bean  il  . everyone concludes they are kids in really good costumes  except for the sheriff  s daughter and her friend  a kid in a duck suit .  br    br   the martians themselves are comical  and you get the impression they are no threat to anyone but themselves pretty early on . it  s a fun family movie .  
you wouldn  t expect a movie like this to be good  and it isn  t . it  s a no budget  ultra violent zombie movie filmed with a bad looking hand  held camera . . . and it  s hilarious . the actors obviously have never acted before and it shows in their terrible hilarious readings . there is no plot to be seen . the little plot i could find seemed to be that a government experiment escaped and a group of zombie seems to be terrorizing a couple families . the gore effects are actually some of the most sickening i  ve ever seen . it seems the gore effects people raided a butcher shop for all the body parts  and many scenes involve zombies dismembering people and eating their organs . it  s a funny and sickening film  and it  s about as bad as you can get in terms of any movie .  br    br   my rating bomb   .   mins .  
  spaced invaders  is one of the funniest movies  ive ever seen . i dont understand  why this movie didnt get better critics  its funny  harmless and sweet . i first watched it  when i was    and i really fell in love with it . . .  days later  i got it on vhs   p till today  ive shown it to many friends  and they all liked it  but nobody knew the movie before . i think  thats the problem  nearly nobody knows it  so nearly nobody can like it . . . this movie never got a real chance  thats sad   si  has really the potential of a comedy like  monsters inc .  or  spaceballs  . ok  enough displeasure  what i really wanted to say  is that  if you ever want to laugh your head off  watch it  even if you dont get mad about it  its worth watching     prepare to laugh  earth scum   
a terrible amateur movie director  no  not todd sheets   his new friend and sister explore a cave . the friend and sister fall in and get rescued . meanwhile a gang of horribly acted girls are defending their  turf  . whatever the heck that means . this film and i use the term very loosely is so bad that it  s . . well bad . the humor is painfully unfunny  the  action  merely sad . now i  ve seen some atrociously awful  horror  films in my time  failed to grow jaded in my approach to watching low  budget films  yet i still weep openly for anyone who choose to sit through this . only for the most hardened maschocists amongst you . but the rest run away fast    br    br   my grade f  
i don  t know how anyone could hate this movie . it is so funny . it took a unique mind to come up with this storyline . it  s not your typical alien movie . these aliens are so stupid and confused . you need to rent it at least once .  
wow  this was a very bad movie . . . as read in other comments this movie has no plot  no character development  they possibly had some kind of script but it  s difficult to tell based on the actual end result .  br    br   the editing of this movie was really non  existent  it tends to jump from scene to scene without any connection or anything to assist the viewer in determining what is actually happening .  br    br   all in all this is simply a low budget zombie flick that was not thought out at all  has bad acting  bad dialogue  bad everything .  br    br   the only thing that saves this movie from a  or  is the gore factor  i think this must be where they spent whatever money they had to try to justify making this .  br    br   unless you are  like me  dedicated to finding and watching all the zombie flicks you can find  do not watch this . period .  
this movie is not for everyone . you  re either bright enough to get  it  or you  re not . fans of sci  fi films who don  t take themselves too seriously definitely will enjoy this movie . i recommend this movie for those who can appreciate spoofs and parodies . everyone i  ve recommended this film to has enjoyed it . if you enjoy monty python or mel brooks films  you  ll probably enjoy this one . the voice characterizations are done in a tongue  in  cheek manner and the one  liners fly fast and furious .  
and a        budget and this movie still looks like it was made for    . you can tell from the first frame to the last that he didn  t care one bit about the movies continuity or plot  he was just happy to be making a zombie movie .  br    br   what the end result shows is a lazy film maker who loves zombie movies . it could have been great if he just had of given a care . the end result is endless zoom ins on poorly done gore  and even more poorly produced metal plays over it .  br    br   what happens when you combine high hopes  big dreams  a decent budget  hard work  and one idiot behind the camera .  
looking at some of the negative posts  you really have to wonder what some people do for fun . . . .  br    br   i was lucky enough to see the film during its all  too  brief theatrical run . the audience laughed its heads off . i  m watching a tape of it as i type and it  s still dang funny   br    br   it  s also got a sweet side  with unexpected turns of genuine pathos . the late  great royal dano is especially effective as the lonely  down  on  his  luck farmer wrenchmuller . ariana richards and j . j . anderson are great as the lead kids . and the actors in the martian suits  although limited to mime  do a great job  br    br   another thing to look for is the background details . the film is full of homages  pastiches  and references to other sf and fantasy films . take a look at the martian costumes next time . one of them is wearing a marty mcfly costume  another is a ghostbuster  a third is in a house atreides uniform  and a fourth is wearing a last starfighter flightsuit .  
ok  i really don  t have too much to say about this film  other than this i have seen over      films in my life  and more than      of those were horror films . while i have some difficulty deciding which is the best  as opposed to my favourite  which i can tell you is george a . romero  s dawn of the dead   i can tell you without the slightest hesitation that todd sheets  zombie bloodbath is the absolute worst horror film i have ever seen .  br    br   there is simply nothing positive i can say about this film . the acting  the dialogue  the directing  the make  up  the music . . . every aspect of this film is simply so far below what is acceptable that it boggles my mind that this was ever even released .  br    br   even if you are a horror or zombie movie completist  please heed my warning and do not waste your time on this garbage . there is no pleasure to be gotten from viewing this . you won  t even get any laughs out of the utter ineptitude on display . . . trust me . please .  
after mistaking a halloween re  broadcast of orson welles  classic radio adaptation of war of the worlds for a real martian invasion  a group of moronic martians shows up on earth looking to conquer only their plans go awry as they find themselves truly out of their element and in reality all alone .  br    br   this really is often quite good and funny  with some decent lines  just check the memorable quotes  to boot . it will most likely appeal to sci  fi fans . this has passed the test of time for me as seeing it again recently it proved much better than i expected it to be . despite a cast made up of no  name stars  this may just be the funniest martian invasion ever put to film . interestingly enough  the martians themselves seem to represent almost every classic action hero  sci  fi hero stereotype there is  cool   s teen  fighter pilot  fearless astronaut  brave soldier and kooky scientist  . fun for the whole family .  br    br    prepare to die  earth scum    
i got myself a copy of this film thinking it was the     film with  zombie bloodbath  as one of it  s alternative titles . perversely  this film actually has a better rating on this site than the aforementioned title which may mean that the other one is really bad  this film is pretty bad too obviously you cant go into a film that calls itself  zombie bloodbath  and expect to see a masterpiece  and in fairness it does live up to the title with the amount of gore on display . . . but it all feels very old and tired  which isn  t helped by the atrocious acting and stupid plot line . it  s just your average nuclear spill causing people to turn into zombies etc etc . the film kicks off with a sequence that sees people melting and that pretty much lets you know what you  re in for low quality zombie garbage . there  s plenty of gore in the film  and it  s a real good job otherwise the film would have been really boring . zombie bloodbath looks really cheap too  and was clearly put together by inexperienced filmmakers  the main influence seemed to be romero  s superior day of the dead  although it could really be just about anything that features zombies and gore . it all boils down to a typically predictable and pointless ending and overall i can  t say i was impressed with it   
don  t listen to fuddy  duddy critics on this one  this is a gem  young rich joan and her brother find themselves penniless after their father dies  and now they have to work for a living  she  naturally  becomes a reporter  and he  just as naturally  a driver for the mob  by wild co  incidences their careers meet head on  thanks to gangster clark gable . in the meantime there is the chance for a moonlight underwear swim for a bunch of pretty young things and for joan to do a couple of risque dance numbers  with all the grace of a steam  shovel  .  br    br   but none of this is supposed to be taken seriously  it  s all good fun from those wonderful pre  code days  when hollywood was really naughty . joan looks great  and displays much of the emotional range that would give her career such longevity  thank god she stopped the dancing   . gable is remarkable as a slimy gangster  he wasn  t a star yet and so didn  t have to be the hero . great to see him playing something different . and william bakewell is excellent as the poor confused brother . and there are some great montages and tracking shots courtesy of director harry beaumont  who moves the piece on with a cracking pace  and an occasional wink to the audience  great fun   
viewers gushing over everything including the title sequence  now that is funny  would have us believe this is some sort of cinematic miracle  but  trust me folks  this is one of the most embarrassingly bad films you could ever see  and if you  re not laughing at it five minutes in  i  d say you  ve lost your sense of humor .  br    br   david niven plays a doomed and bravado  besotted raf pilot who somehow thinks it appropriate to engage an impressionable  female  air traffic controller in an emotional conversation about love  just as he  s plunging to his certain and fiery death .  isn  t it romantic . . .  of course  he  s spared by a quirk of metaphysical chance  and washes up on the beach  just as this same air traffic controller is riding by on her bicycle .  they immediately clinch  .  br    br   looking past the bizarre homo  erotic subtexts   so over the top you really need to refer to them as supertexts  from a naked boy sitting bare  butted in the sand playing the movie  s twilight  zone  esquire theme on his little flute  to a celestial courier so campy  queen  y his makeup is caked on more thoroughly than the ladies    the most bizarre aspects of the movie are how it weaves such bad caricatures of national and racial stereotypes into a convoluted attempt to argue some kind of point about the universal nature and power of love . we get it   fly boys like girls in skirts and heels  and girls like  em back  and  apparently  all you have to do is cry a little to make it noble enough for your movie to get   stars on imdb . . .  br    br   as for the quality of the production  the continuity  editing is poor enough to induce cringing  and the lighting is  perhaps  even worse than that  but you hardly have time to notice because the script is so bad . there are games played with technicolor   whatever passes for heaven is in black and white if you can figure out the sense in that   and foreshadowing   so funny my fellow audience member who usually like movies like this actually cheered and laughed when then the doc  s motorcycle finally ended up in a fiery wreck   and freeze  motion   which is funniest of all because the female lead is so poor at standing still you know the stage hands were guffawing off camera  .  br    br   the best shots are the early ones on the beach  but  after that  it  s all downhill . the  moving like an escalator is moving  staircase is hardly the odessa steps  to say the least  and i  d really caution anyone from feeling like they  d have to see this lame attempt at movie  making on their account . the movie overall is bad enough to be funny  and that  s about the best thing i can say for it .  
this movie is an exact copy of a tv series on indian television channel doordarshan which was aired at least   years ago . the series was known as  gubbarre  meaning balloons . each episode was a new short story . the story is excellent and the original is much sweeter and  convincing  abhay doel does a good job but he doesn  t fit the role of a  normal  and  third class  guys  as he calls himself in the movie  . in fact shayan munshi with his hair cut short and without the designer clothes would have fitted the abhays role but shayan just doesn  t have the talent to pull it off .  br    br   i would suggest watching the series if it is available . it is the same story except for the running around with the friends mother and the initial introduction . the acting of the tv actors was much better than these  stars  .  br    br   the only reason this movies is a flop is because the director tried to stretch half an hour  or   minutes  story to   hours . so it has to get draggy . even the nasal singing sensations songs could not make up .  br    br   this movies is good for a lazy sunday afternoon and is really refreshing if you haven  t watched the original tv serial . the script and the ending of the serial was much better  br    br   spoilers ahead spoilers ahead spoilers ahead spoilers ahead spoilers ahead the ending of the original serial was much stronger as the hero himself dumps the girl even thought she is willing to marry him . he is aware and tell her that he doesn  t want to be  repayed  and never helped with that intention . the director or the script writes somehow could not capture the original ending in this film . the original ending would have bought tears to the girls eyes and would have had the guys nodding in agreement . the deliver just wasn  t right .  br    br   but personally i feel this is a pathetic copy . no credit should be given to the director  scriptwriter . the story is amazing and is by one of the famous novel writers int he class of premchand munshi . i am not sure if this is premchand munshi  s story but many of the other short stories int he series feature a few of premchand munshi  s and other great hindi writers stories .  
every once in a while  a group of friends  with a minimal budget but bags of enthusiasm and talent  will create a low budget masterpiece that takes the world of horror by storm . raimi and co . did it with the evil dead  jackson and pals succeeded with bad taste and myrick and sanchez made a mint with the blair witch project .  br    br   director todd sheets and his chums  however  are destined to wallow forever in relative obscurity if zombie bloodbath is anything to go by . a lesson in how not to make a cheapo horror  this miserable effort  about a plague of flesh  eating zombiesnatch  serves as a reminder that  whilst many people these days have access to a video camera  most shouldn  t take that as their cue to try their hand at making a full  length movie .  br    br   it  s not that sheets hasn  t got an eye for a nicely framed shot  some of his camera angles and movements are actually pretty good   but rather that a  he has a lousy script b  he has a lousy cast  and c  he doesn  t realise that he has a lousy script and cast . which means that the final film is amateurish in the extreme  and unlikely to be watched in its entirety by anyone other than zombie film completists  like me  or members of the cast and crew  like those who have given the film favourable comments  .  br    br   zombie bloodbath is obviously aimed at undiscriminating gore  hounds  and sheets  who currently has an incredible   titles under his belt as a director  certainly goes out of his way to please  with buckets of offal and blood thrown about at every opportunity . but whilst these moments are undeniably yucky  they aren  t particularly convincing  and soon get rather tedious .  br    br   so  to summarise  this is a really bad film  with almost no redeeming features . except for two  br    br   firstly  it features the single greatest mullet in the history of film  as sported by jerry angell  who plays larry  as well as several zombies  . the magnificence of his barnet  coupled with a fetching moustache  is reason alone to watch this film .  br    br   secondly  it has  pathetic stealth zombies   flesh  eating corpses that lie in wait for unfortunate victims to wander by  before leaping from their hiding place to launch a feeble attack  which requires almost no effort to escape from . best known for lurking behind a door for hours waiting for someone to open it   pathetic stealth zombies  also occasionally hide behind low walls  or sit in churches posing as members of the congregation .  br    br   normally a film this bad would get     for me  but  in celebration of jerry angell  s flowing locks  i will generously raise my rating to     .  
abhay deol  s second film  written by imtiaz ali  maiden directorial effort by shivam nair . soha probably has her first    meaty role as megha  a girl who has run away from home and is waiting at the delhi marriage registrar  s office for her boyfriend dheeraj  shayan munshi  to meet her . she waits and waits and finally is spotted as a damsel in distress by ankush  abhay deol  . they spend many days together as he extricates her from one distressing situation after another and finally falls in love with her . then the boyfriend returns  aage pardey par dekhiye  sound familiar  this is yet another adaptation of dostoyevsky  s white nights with a tiny bit of borrowing from le notti bianchi  very tiny though  ankush keeps the lovers apart by telling the boyfriend she is dead   . but this is an earthier and more realistic  duh  adaptation than the much hyped and overblown saawariya . i wonder why no one brought this little gem up when we were all discussing saawariya like crazy a few months ago .  br    br   the delhi settings are wonderful  there is the obligatory run through old delhi  shots of jama masjid from a roof top  connaught circus  streets with rickshaws  what  how   . the colorful light fixtures in the hotel are enough to tell you this is a seedy joint with rooms for hire by the hour   br    br   the more i see of abhay the more i like this young man . in this second film he is quite good as the for hire witness who is given a purpose in life by a beautiful woman . soha looks beautiful  and when she smiles she fits the role  but i found her unconvincing in the more serious moments . i am not quite sure that she has it in her to be a great actress  or maybe she will blossom late like the brother . the music by himesh reshammiya is not that great and in fact the movie falters at the songs  they kind of interrupt the narrative and do not sit well with the characters trying to sing them . the supporting cast is excellent and i give this white nights adaptation a thumbs up . btw  the fact that i love abhay deol  s cute dimples has nothing to do with my rating .  
well  i bought the zombie bloodbath trilogy thinking it would be mindless gory fun . that  s what it is  without the fun . this film truly is mindless  it is absent of any plot or character development  or any sort of storyline . the basic problem with this movie is the kills and gore . basically  every kill looks exactly the same . zombies ripping someone apart . yeah  that  s okay  but you need some original kills too . i mean it got really lame  every kill looked exactly the same  filmed exactly the same way . thats what killed me . i love gore  and the gore in this film did nothing for me . it was just boring . no storyline  just the same lame scene over and over again with a different person . i wanted to like this movie  too . i love shot on video gore movies . . . like redneck zombies . but i couldn  t kid myself . this film has it  s good points  but none of those are in the film . i understand that many of the  zombies  helped out with the flood and there were like over    zombies  which is pretty cool how they got so many people involved and helped out in the world . but overall  this is a terrible film .  
this movie was disaster at box office  and the reason behind that is innocence of the movie  sweetness of the story . music was good  story is very simple and old  but presentation of such story is very good  director tried his best . abhay is excellent and impressive and he shines once again in his role  he did his best in comedy or in emotional scene . soha looks so sweet in the movie . rest star cast was simply okay . music and all songs are good  himesh is impressive as an singer here . don  t miss this movie  its a wonderful movie and a feel good one for us . abhay best work till date . i will give     to ahista ahista .  
if todd sheets were to come out and admit that this movie was intended to spoof the zombie genre  i would change my rating to an eight . try to imagine a movie where every scene  line  and even every acting nuance was designed to be a parody . i could probably crap out alphabet soup  rearrange what was left of the letters  and still have a better script . two scenes in particular come to mind when i think of this movie . spoiler alert  one is when mike  s dad and the other dad walk  i repeat walk down a staircase jam packed with zombies . this is a small staircase and even though they brush up against the flailing undead  nothing happens to them . when they reach the end  the ex  marine turns around  says  god you  re a horny bastard   and shoots only one . the other is in the military complex . the girl stabs a zombie with a machete and is immediately surrounded . the camera moves around her for roughly forty seconds  while she is surrounded by zombies at an arm  s length away . she then almost casually runs out from the crowd and joins the other humans . spoiler alert over  these scenes must be seen to be believed . still  i enjoy this movie as much as almost any comedy just because it  s so damn funny . kudos to todd sheets for getting so many people in his movie and having the drive to make it but not really for anything else .  
this is a kind of movie that will stay with you for a long time . soha ali and abhay deol both look very beautiful . soha reminds you so much of her mother sharmila tagore . abhay is a born actor and will rise a lot in the coming future .  br    br   the ending of the movie is very different from most movies . in a way you are left unsatisfied but if you really think about it in real terms  you realize that the only sensible ending was the ending shown in the movie . otherwise  it would have been gross injustice to everyone .  br    br   the movie is about a professional witness who comes across a girl waiting to get married in court . her boyfriend does not show up and she ends up being helped by the witness . slowly slowly  over the time  he falls in love for her . it is not clear if she has similar feelings for him or not . watch the movie for complete details .  br    br   the movie really belongs to abhay . i look forward to seeing more movies from him . soha is pretty but did not speak much in the movie . her eyes  her innocence did most of the talking .  
if you haven  t seen zombie bloodbath  you haven  t . a contest like  make your own horror movie in one day  could not possibly come up with a entry than this outrage of an insult on any viewer  s intelligence . mr . sheets forgot a story  a plot  proper dialog  the fact that people need some basic acting talents and the credited lighting designer obviously forgot to show up . it seems to be recorded on the crummiest of handycams  and copied on even worse equipment . make  up effect consist of black mascara for the zombies and yoghurt being poured over people  s heads in order to simulate their skin melting . this is nothing more than a home  movie  and a really bad one as well . only fun to watch for the friends  familymembers and neighbours that were willing to show up for the filming . i cannot for the life of me understand why this mockery of a product is listed in any serious film magazine or website  i have home  movies of wedding parties that are way better and more interesting . a total waste of time  money and energy . the sequel zombie bloodbath ii is just more of the same rubbish .  
watching film i was in very light mood and also this film is light but the end of the film is just unexpected which leaves a long lasting memories in one  s mind .  br    br   movie starts with abhay and his profession of being witness during registrar marriage . soha comes for marriage and his boyfriend doesn  t  leaving soha alone on to the street she cant go back home and she don  t have any thing to live on here in this situation abahy turns out to be a helper for her  this is the base of story .  br    br   the rest is just watchable and the end of the story is bitter sweet that abhay has to face which keeps you at the edge of the seat .  br    br   dialogues and music are good songs are ok direction is good and so as the screenplay you do feel that movie is slow but looking to the demand of story it is all right .  br    br   a truly watchable especially with light mood i enjoyed this at home with coke and peanuts . my rating for this is      
once again a film classic has been pointlessly remade with predictably disastrous results . the title is false as is everything about this film . the period is not persuasively rendered  and the leads seem way too young and too vapid to even be criminals . arthur penn  s film had style  humor  a point of view  and was made by talented people . even if the     version didn  t exist this would still be an unnecessary film . the     version strayed from the facts  presented a glamorized version of bonnie and clyde  but it was exciting  and innovative for      and it had some outstanding performances that allowed you to care . this     remake seems culled from the original film rather than the truth as known and the actors in this version are callow  unappealing  and not the least bit interesting . by all means skip this one and hope the     version will be better . could it possibly be worse   
ahista ahista is one little small brilliant . i started watching it  and at the beginning i got a little bored since the pacing was slow and the main idea of one guy meeting a girl who is lost was not really new . but as the film went on  i started getting increasingly and gradually engaged by the film  the fantastic writing and the charming romance . the film was extremely simple and natural and after some time i felt i was watching a real documentation of one guy  s life . there  s one very good reason the film got this feel  and it  s the fresh talent called abhay deol . he is extremely convincing as the simple  kind  hearted and struggling ankush  whose new love motivates him to make amends and fight for a better life . throughout the film  he is presented as an ordinary mischievous prankster  but also as a helping and loving person  who  like anyone else will do anything to protect his love . deol portrays all the different shades of his character  whether positive or negative  naturally and with complete ease .  br    br   shivam nair  s direction is very good . his depiction of the life of people in the rural neighbourhood is excellent  but what gets to be even more impressive is his portrayal of ankush  s relationships with the different people who surround him  including his friends and his love interest megha who he is ready to do anything for . i also immensely liked the way nair portrayed his interaction with his friend  s loud and plump mother whom he calls  khala   aunty  . he likes to drive her crazy and annoy her on every occasion  yet we see that she occupies a very special place in his heart and is like a mother  figure to him as evidenced in several scenes . except for abhay  the rest of the cast performed well . though soha ali khan did not stand out according to me  she was good and had some of her mother  s charm . the actors who played ankush  s friends were very good as was the actress who played ankush  s  khala  .  br    br   apart from the performances  the film  s writing was outstanding . the dialogues were sort of ordinary yet brilliant  and the script was also fantastic . that  s mainly because despite a not  so  new story it was never overdone or melodramatic and there were no attempts to make it look larger  than  life . the film  s biggest weakness was himesh reshammiya  s uninspiring music which was unsuitable for this film . otherwise  ahista ahista was a delightful watch and it got only better with every scene . the concept may not be new  but the film manages to look fresh and becomes increasingly heartwarming as the story goes by . the ending was bittersweet  kind of sad yet optimistic . in short  this movie really grows on you slowly  and this can be easily attributed to the wonderful writing  the moving moments  the charming romance  the realistic proceedings  and of course abhay deol  s memorable performance .  
while it contains facts that are not widely reported  it is not exactly the truth . they took a lot of liberties in rearranging events  excluding people  and using sets that do not meet the facts of their lives in the    s . there were more than just bonnie  clyde  and w . d . in the gang at various times  and those people had as much to do with the facts as those included . buck and blanche went to convince clyde to go straight much earlier than the one shootout  and in fact got drawn back into crime . some of the events that were portrayed in daylight actually took place at night . bonnie  s wound was much more severe and never healed right . it was so bad she had to be carried around by someone until it healed up  and even then it stiffened up so she walked stiffly . clyde also walked with a limp because while in prison he cut off a big toe . i know  i  m being nit picky  and it was a tv movie  but even without these factual errors in this  true  story  the movie moves too fast from event to event and comes across more as several separate snapshots of their lives  rather than being a cohesive flowing story .  br    br   i  d recommend reading a book or seeing a documentary if you want to get closer to the truth .  
abhay deol meets the attractive soha ali khan and greets her  hello sister     . this sets the tone for a remarkable debut film by shivam nair . soha  a middle class girl has run away from her home in nainital and come to delhi to marry her lover  shayan munshi . but shyan doesn  t turn up leaving soha heartbroken  alone in the big bad world . . abhay  the lower class next door guy turns protective towards the vulnerable soha and helps her get a job  shelter in an old age home . slowly romance blooms and soha agrees to marry abhay . then shyan re  enters into soha  s life .  br    br   a sensitively made film with a very unusual story  lovingly shot in delhi  revolves around the delicate soha . this well crafted film has moments which will forever remain etched in one  s memory  the awkward first kiss  abhay  s swift apology abhay describing soha as  class wali ladki   hastily adding  that he doesn  t love her   his gifting a churidar to soha  asking her out for a date .  br    br   the music is good  the background music excellent . in a scene where soha rushes  embraces abhay the sound track disappears . the stillness conveys both the awkwardness  tenderness of the relationship .  br    br   the poignant ending makes for a bitter sweet film  the memories of which will linger for a long long time .  br    br   a must see i will rate it  .      
even though this was a made  for  tv production  there  s absolutely no excuse for the rock bottom results of the finished product . this movie did have a budget and it had a casting department  so  if you  re going to make a movie about a true life story  and actually put  the true story  in the title  shouldn  t some effort be put forward to try and capture some realism  first of all  this movie is absurdly cast . these actors belong in daytime television soaps  or in those ridiculous lifetime channel movies  and not in a real  life gangster  criminal tale . everything about them  from their looks to their mannerisms  just screams of the    s  shopping  mall  alt  rock  listening generation . what about the script  two words describes it  stupid and insulting  and again it  s way too   ish sounding . i don  t think the real clyde barrow ever uttered the words  i  m outta here .  it  s as if a bunch of  new kids on the block  fans got together and decided to make a really  kewl flick  about bonnie and clyde  you know  one that would be totally rad and rockin  . well  this sticker doesn  t even rank on the rad and rockin  scale . everything that can be wrong with any kind of film is wrong here  from the casting and acting to the editing and music . every single thing is grossly wrong . . . . and it  s infuriating that the parties responsible for this atrocious turkey had the nerve to put  the true story  in the title . it  s certainly not the true story  but even worse  it  s not even remotely entertaining as a mindless popcorn flick that  s accepted on its own terms . like i stated in my heading  it  s simply horrible beyond words  on every level imaginable . trust me on this  or watch at your own risk .  
the story is about ankush  abhay deol   who is professional marriage witness  in short he acts as a witness for couples in marriage registration office  and megha  soha ali khan  who ran away from her home at nainital to get married to her love interest dhiraj  shayan munshi  . the story starts with megha waiting at the marriage registration office for dhiraj to show up but for some reason he does not show up . so ankush comes in the picture here  who had approached megha with the intention of earning rs .    for his witness job and he ends up helping her by providing shelter to her . ankush grows on his side by working in a bank as an agent      ankush falls in love with megha and she too falls in love with him  or kind of love   both agree for the marriage and dhiraj comes back in the picture . unexpected circumstances happen  actually i should say  expected circumstances with unexpected reactions and then      .  br    br   actually the movie story is bit different than the movies we see and i do not think so it will be accepted by the masses but if you are a movie freak like me and love to watch something different  then you will definitely like the movie . the movie is just an innocent love story drafted very well by the characters of abhay deol and soha ali khan . the characters are so natural that you feel as if things are happening to the guy next door . the background music of the film also plays a very good role  it is just too good . the way delhi is shown is very good and gives a fresh feeling .  br    br   so let  s cut it out and sum it up .  br    br   story a very common story carried very well and transformed to a wonderful experience .  br    br   music well  as it was himesh reshammiya creation  so i did not expect much but still i liked couple of songs of the movie including the qawwali .  br    br   acting abhay deol was the most impressive  very natural and innocent acting but he should stay away from singing in the songs . soha ali khan  she is a doll  a very cute doll i must say . again very innocent and natural acting and these both actors perfectly fit into their characters . apart from these two  shayan munshi needs some acting lessons and may be few layers of fat to cover the bones . other actors did their job well .  br    br   stars i would also give it  .  stars out of  . you will enjoy the movie if watched in the theatre  i would recommend watching it in theatre if you are a movie freak and accept uncommon stories . otherwise wait for the dvd to arrive . the movie will definitely won  t be liked by the masses and the business it can do is from word of mouth publicity .  
here we have  misunderstood kids who never stood a chance against a cruel  poverty riddled existence robin hoods singled out by the police for persecution because they were a trifle wild at times . gad  according to this crap bonnie was the sweetest little thing west of the missouri who was taught to be a psychopathic murderer by a fun loving boyfriend who didn  t really want to hurt anybody . . . . he just wanted things without putting a lot of energy into getting them . badly acted  poorly filmed  unbelievable dialogue  unrealistic use of weaponry  gore that looked more like grape jelly than the real thing . avoid this bilgewater . thumbs down .   stars .  
this period melodrama is one of griffith  s earliest claustrophobic films . characters trapped within a room are prevalent throughout his work and  as time went by  he would become increasingly adept at portraying their helplessness and involving the audience in their terror . in the bluntly titled sealed room there is one major difference to the normal plot line  in that there truly is no escape .  br    br   griffith achieves the claustrophobic effect here in two ways . first is his use of space . while the typical biograph short might utilise a dozen or more sets  the sealed room features only two adjoining rooms  the king  s court and the dove cote that becomes the eponymous tomb . the set design in these shorts is rarely referenced  but here it is crucial . the court is a large interior  with a backdrop hinting at greater depth and showing us a window and a staircase . actors enter and leave from various directions  suggesting the room is not only spacious but also free and open . by contrast the dove cote  s back wall is very close to the camera  and the angles in it suggesting a hexagonal or octagonal shape make it seem even more confined .  br    br   the second technique on display here is the cross  cutting . anyone with an interest in griffith  s work will probably know about his heavy use and development of cross  cutting to build excitement or tension . many will also know that strictly speaking it wasn  t his invention . however what makes griffith  s cross  cuts so effective is the way he paces the opposing images so they complement each other . the sealed room contains a good example of what i mean . the shots of the masons shifting the heavy bricks have a slow  step  by  step pace to them  with tension building as the wall gets higher . this movement is matched by the shots of the blissfully unaware lovers  in which marion leonard tears off flower petals one  by  one . as the couple realise their predicament  their rising panic is complemented by the opposing shot of the king madly thrashing his sword against the wall .  br    br   at this point  griffith was yet to realise that the action could be heightened further by introducing a third strand to the cross  cut . the dramatic  ride  to  the  rescue   here absent  was later to become a standard climax to griffith  s pictures .  
i  ve read a few books about bonnie and clyde  and this is definitely more accurate than the beatty  dunaway version  in that its costumes and locales echo actual photographs taken of the gang . particularly well done is the death of buck barrow  and the capture of his wife blanche . this actress looks looks exactly like the photographs taken that day of blanche grieving over her dying husband . however  this movie is still hollywood  and our anti  heroes stay pretty to the end  even after being shot full of holes  in life  bonnie was badly burned in an auto accident the year before their famous ambush  and did not look like a perky cheerleader at the time of her death  . the script is tedious  and the acting is poor  particularly the leads . very disappointing . stick with beatty and dunaway . their  s may not be  the true story   but it  s a great film .  
by      d . w . griffith had been directing films for the biograph company for about a year  and  working at a rate of two or three per week  was rapidly beginning to develop his skills as a filmmaker .  the sealed room  is a very interesting   minute short  a fascinating piece of gothic melodrama that even drifts slightly into the realm of early horror . the simple narrative was probably inspired by edgar allen poe  s     short story   the cask of amontillado   and concerns a powerful king who conceives a deliciously sadistic form of revenge to punish his wife  s infidelity .  br    br   set in medieval times   the sealed room  begins with the king  arthur v . johnson  overseeing the construction of a windowless room from a sequestered dove  cote  the idea being that he and his wife  marion leonard  will have a completely private place to enjoy each other  s company . he is obviously very much in love with her  always showing his affection  this latest act the crowning achievement of his endearment . however  unbeknownst to the king  his wife has fallen in love with the royal minstrel  henry b . walthall  . during one romantic liaison inside the specially  built room  the wife and the minstrel are discovered  and the heartbroken king conceives a means of getting his retribution on the ignorant couple . silently  he orders his workmen to seal off the only doorway with stone and mortar  slowly descending into cackling insanity as each new stone is placed down .  br    br   d . w . griffith always had an eye for acute detail  and  the sealed room  is an excellent early example of this . the lavish medieval century costumes lend the film a sense of reality  and the castle interior looks authentic enough to be believable . at the time  the director was also pioneering methods of creating suspense  and i must admit that  as the film progressed  i became fixated on finding out what would happen to the hapless young lovers . in the early minutes  griffith restricts his shots to lengthy long  takes from a stationary camera  as was usual at the time   but soon  parallel to the progressively darker subject matter  he alters his editing tactics in a fascinating way . though he may not have invented the technique  griffith was crucial in popularising the use of  cross  cutting   that is  alternating between different events occurring at the same time . not only does this create a sense of continuity  but it also maximises the level of suspense  since we  as the audience  are well aware  not only of the king  s ghastly actions  but also that the wife and the minstrel are oblivious to it all .  br    br   despite these innovations   the sealed room  suffers from many of the shortcomings typical of the era . the entire film takes place in just two rooms  with footage captured from a total of just three positions  and so it is prone to become dull and monotonous at times . the acting performances are greatly exaggerated for extra effect  however  at least in the case of arthur v . johnson  his overplaying actually contributed to recognising the escalating madness of the betrayed king . a moment that i thought particularly effective was when the two lovers attempted to exit the room  only to find their only doorway replaced with a wall of solid stone . their panicked reactions  accompanied by the silent maniacal cackling of the king  serve very well to create an impending sense of claustrophobia . i did think  however  that their supply of oxygen was exhausted surprisingly quickly .  
the crater lake monster is easily one of the most awful  amateurish film i  ve ever seen  ranking right up there with manos  the hands of fate in terms of poor acting  useless direction  and kindergarten  level production values . in this movie a silly  looking claymation  stop  motion animated dinosaur wakes up after a meteor hits a lake in bumblebum  ca  and begins dining on the local hayseeds . in the thrilling climax  the creature  described by one local as  a giant alligator with flippers   drags it  s ponderous bulk over the ground to chase its would  be lunch  before a bulldozer bumps it a couple of times  it dies from boredom . every character in this moovie is a complete moron . one pointless subplot shows a hick go into a liquor store to purchase a   .   pint of ripple instead of simply buying the bottle  the idiot shoots the cashier and another bystander  shoots at a cop  gets chased towards the lake  all so that he can eaten by the monster . unfortunate close  ups of the monster reveal it to be nothing more than a piece of styrofoam . there  s a fake magician struggling with a phony british accent  to make him seem more legit   two overly  bumbling redneck boat renters  some cheesy  pre  historic cave art  done in crayon  and annoying banjo  pickin  background moosic . in one painful scene  the fake magician and his dopey wife  girlfriend  accomplice manage to pad the movie an extra  minutes by cowmenting on how may stars they can see in the night sky  even though it is clearly day time still . even on constant fast  forward  this moovie hurts  and hurts bad . moocow says call the fumigators   cause this cow pie really stinks    p  
i disagree strongly with anyone who might dismiss this film as  just  entertainment . set right after the carefree  roaring   s  during the early days of the great depression  dance  fools  dance is at its heart an earnest cautionary tale  with a clear message about how best to endure these hard times . yet this fast  paced and tightly  plotted film is far from being a dreary morality tale .  br    br   in the   s  hollywood had a knack for churning out one entertaining and enlightening audience  pleaser after another  all without wasting a frame of film . dance  fools  dance   one of four films that harry beaumont directed in       is barely   minutes long  yet its characters are well developed  its story never seems rushed  and despite its many twists in plot  the audience is never left behind .  br    br   with the lone exception of lester vail as flaccid love interest bob townsend  the supporting cast is uniformly strong . worthy of note are william bakewell as crawford  s brother  cliff edwards  best known as the voice of jiminy cricket  as reporter bert scranton  and clark gable in an early supporting role as gangster jake luva .  br    br   but this is joan crawford  s film  and she absolutely shines in it . made when she was just    this lesser  known version of crawford will probably be unrecognizable to those more familiar with her later work . however  here is proof that long before she took home an oscar for mildred pierce  crawford was a star in the true sense of the word  a terrific actress with the charisma to carry a picture all by herself .  br    br   score eight out of ten  
i thought hedy burress  who managed to escape from the watery grave of part one  was going to be in part  guess not . i just think they should of killed her off like in friday the   th part   you know what i mean  .  br    br   this movie like scream   and urban legend  followed movies within a movie .  br    br   this was pure crap  the whole movie within a movie crap .  br    br   bad stay away   
this early biograph short was so much fun to watch . the second on disc one of d . w . griffith  s  years of discovery  dvd set  highly recommended  it features three excellent performances by the main leads  and interesting to see henry b . walthall  the little colonel  birth of a nation  as a campy musician giving a countess the eye  and other things  .  br    br   the countess  husband goes berserk at his wife  s betrayal and has her walled into a little room with her paramour . it  s kind of incredible that they wouldn  t hear the wall going up  but hey  maybe the wine had something to do with it . here mr . johnson  father of silent player raymond hackett  gesticulates wildly and this adds to the melodrama  but in an unexpectedly comical way . the best moment comes at the end . as the lady passes out from shock and fear  once she realizes she  s doomed  henry picks up his instrument and  fans  it over her . the way he did it was so unexpected and in a strange way kind of sexy  and i just lost it  and laughed my head off . the expression on his face  from that moment i was charmed by henry b . walthall .  
a handful of nonprofessional actors are terrorized by a prehistoric creature . this creature appears in about thirty seconds of marginal stop  motion animation  but oh how you will long for that margin when for the rest of the movie the animation is replaced by production assistants waving around an inner tube with teeth . no time for terror when this movie is hijacked halfway through by these comic relief boat rental doofuses  who suddenly become the lead characters but again you gotta admit watching them try to be funny is better than plodding around after the sheriff . only at the end one of them gets eaten and the other one is left sitting on a rock crying tears of loneliness  that  s no fun   
had this movie been made a few years later  i would have given it a lower score . however  for      this was a dandy little movie and still stands up pretty well today . just don  t try to compare this silent film to later silents   the industry changed so radically that the shorts of the first decade of the   th century don  t look at all like movies made in the     s and beyond .  br    br   this movie is   minutes long  about average for most films back then  and is a variation of the edgar allen poe story  the cask of amontillado . while many are familiar with the story  i won  t elaborate further as i don  t want to ruin the film . just suffice to say that it  s very creepy    
a meteor hit  s crater lake  hence our title   awakening a plesiosaur  who proceed  s to snack on the hick population  in california  that hick capital of the world .   br    br   there  s bad movies  and then there  s  the crater lake monster   which somehow managed to escape mst  k . featuring grating acting  a decent stop  motion beast  and more  this is a dreadful piece of      s low budget exploitation  monster movie dreck .  br    br   while the movie is guilty of many crimes  the biggest one is arnie and mitch  two obnoxious rednecks who serve as our comic relief . they bumble around  fight to stock  banjo music   ogle women  and act like pathetic excuses of humanity . the characters are so bad  they should count as a crime against humanity .  
after not having much luck at selling his screenplays to the new movie industry during the first decade of the   th century  in     playwright d . w . griffith got the job that would make him a legend he was hired by the biograph company as a director of movies . it wasn  t really what griffith had expected when he decided to enter the movie business  but he accepted the job  and in less than a year he became biograph  s most successful director thanks to his original approach to film  making and the wild inventive of his narrative . many years later  he would direct  the birth of a nation  in      the movie that would revolutionize film  making and make him one of cinema  s first recognized authors however  a lot of what would make him a great filmmaker can be found in the many short films he made for biograph company in the early years of his career .      s  the sealed room  is one of those  and also one of the few horror movies of that very first decade of the   th century .  br    br    the sealed room  is a story set in the   th century in which a count  arhtur v . johnson  has built a windowless room in his castle . it is a small yet nice and very cozy room  as it is meant to be used to enjoy the love and company of his wife  the countess  marion leonard  in a more private way . however  the count doesn  t know that his wife is not exactly faithful  as she is infatuated with the minstrel  henry b . walthall  at court  with whom she is having an affair . as soon as the count gets busy with his own business  the countess calls the minstrel and both lovers go to enjoy the count  s new room . when the count returns  he discovers she is missing and begins to suspect  finally discovering the two lovers in his room but instead of making a scene  he prefers to remain hidden as he decides that there is a better punishment for his unfaithful wife to seal the windowless room with the couple inside .  br    br   written by griffiths  regular collaborator frank e . woods   the sealed room  takes elements from edgar allan poe  s  the cask of amontillado  and mainly honor de balzac  s  la grande breteche  to create a haunting gothic melodrama based on the themes of treachery and sadism . despite having a runtime of   minutes  woods  screenplay develops the story in a very good way  and plays remarkably well with the horror elements of the story . while a melodrama at heart  woods focus on the character of the count and his sadism creates one of the best horror characters of these early era .  the sealed room  is definitely a very simple and basic story  but woods handling of the dark and morbid thematic of its plot makes the story a very entertaining film that was very different than most griffith  s melodramas .  br    br   in  the sealed room   griffith uses his talents to experiment with tension and suspense in a different way than his usual . while he often played with editing to create thrillers that excited his audience  in this movie his focus was to create desperation and horror  playing with the inherent feeling of claustrophobia that the source stories had . it is interesting how the story starts as another of his melodramas and slowly the pacing becomes faster as the horror themes begin to dominate the plot  culminating in his great use of editing for the final scenes . not being a movie where camera tricks are essential  what shines the most in  the sealed room  is griffith  s talent to direct his actors  as the legendary filmmaker manages to bring the best out of his cast with his usual natural style far removed from the staginess that was the norm in his day .  br    br   as usual  the cast was comprised of usual collaborators of griffith  starting with arthur v . johnson as the count . johnson gives a great performance and truly conveys the character  s transition from loving husband to sadistic monster . his performance is not without a touch of overacting  but actually that adds realism to the character  s exaggerated personality . as the countess  marion leonard looks very good and is also very effective in her acting  conveying a natural charm that makes hard not to sympathize with her in her treachery . finally  the legendary henry b . walthall appears as the handsome minstrel  and while far from being one of his best performances  he manages to give a proficient acting that also adds a nice touch of comedy to the film . while not of real importance to the plot  it  s nice to see other members of griffith  s stock company in the background  like his wife linda arvidson and a young mary pickford as nobles at court .  br    br   while not exactly a masterpiece   the sealed room  is a notable exercise of editing to create suspense and tension like griffith used to do in those days . the movie has very good set design and while of a very low budget  griffith  s care for details makes it look very convincing and works perfectly along with his directing style . the change of focus to horror makes it to stand out among other of his films from that era  and johnson  s performance as the sadistic count makes it worth a watch . while griffith will always be remembered for his highly influential  and controversial   the birth of a nation   the early short films he made before it really give a good idea of the development of the techniques and the style that would make him a legend . simple yet elegant   the sealed room  is a fun movie to watch and one of the few horrors of the first decade of the   th century .      
this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen it  s extremely boring with lots of boring dialog and has some very annoying characters and a laughable looking creature . the only reason i watched this piece of garbage is because it was on that  disc horror set i got . the plot is preposterous and totally stupid as is the finale . no blood what so ever except a few bloody marks on the creature  and a couple of bloody gunshot wounds . the acting is terrible   . richard cardella is terrible as the sheriff and was quite laughable plus his character is annoying . glen roberts is the comic relief and was not funny at all  . mark siegel is extremely annoying and was also not funny  . bob hyman is decent but not much more then that . richard garrison is annoying and had no chemistry with kacey cobb what so ever . kacey cobb is so so here and had no chemistry with richard . overall avoid this piece of garbage at all costs  bomb out of  .  
excellent p . o . w . adventure  adapted by eric williams from his own book  a paperback copy of which forms part of my father  s library  that was inspired by true events it may well be the first film of its kind and  therefore  has a lot to answer for  not just similarly stiff  upper  lipped examples such as albert  r . n .       which i  ll be watching presently   the colditz story       and danger within       but higher  profile releases from the other side of the atlantic  namely stalag         and the great escape       . this  then  sets the basis pretty solidly british soldiers interned in a german camp devise an ingenious plan of escape  borrowing a page from greek legend  burrowing from under a vaulting horse used during physical exercise and in full view of their captors  actually  the film is neatly split into two halves the first deals with the slow process of digging the tunnel  culminating in the escape itself  while the latter stages depict their fortunes outside the camp as they try to make it to neutral sweden . typically of these british films  the cast showcases several established  leo genn   current  anthony steel  and up  and  coming  peter finch  david tomlinson and bill travers  stars  to say nothing of innumerable reliable character actors  anthony dawson  bryan forbes  michael goodliffe and walter gotell  . the three leads  escapees are genn  steel and tomlinson while the first two stick together  the latter goes his own way  only to run into the others on reaching safety . as can be expected  the narrative involves plenty of suspense and excitement as with most male  centered p . o . w . sagas  too  female interest is kept to the barest minimum . director lee didn  t have a lengthy career  with this and the somewhat similar  albeit with a change of both setting and viewpoint  a town like alice       his most noteworthy achievements  but he certainly milked every gripping situation in this case  even if  reportedly  delays in filming saw lee quitting his post prematurelyleaving producer ian dalrymple with the task of tying up loose ends   . anyway  worth special mention is the exquisite lighting  particularly during night  time sequences  throughout .  
man  what a scam this turned out to be  not because it wasn  t any good  as i wasn  t really expecting anything from it  but because i was misled by the dvd sleeve which ignorantly paraded its  stars  as being stuart whitman  stella stevens and tony bill . sure enough  their names did not appear in the film  s opening credits  much less themselves in the rest of it   as it turned out  the only movie which connects those three actors together is the equally obscure las vegas lady        but what that one has to do with the crater lake monster is anybody  s guess  br    br   even so  since i paid   .   for its rental and i was in a monster  movie mood anyhow  i elected to watch the movie regardless and  yup  it stunk  apart from the fact that it had a no  name cast and an anonymous crew  an unmistakably amateurish air was visible from miles away and the most i could do with it is laugh at the jaws  like pretensions and  intentionally so  at the resistible antics of two moronic layabouts  cum  boat owners who frequently squabble among themselves with the bemused local sheriff looking on . the creature itself  a plesiosaur i . e . half  dinosaur  half  fish  is imperfectly realized  naturally  but  as had been the case with the giant claw       which i  ve also just seen  this didn  t seem to bother the film  makers none as they flaunt it as much as they can  especially during the movie  s second half   
this is the true story of how three british soldiers escaped from the german prisoner of war  pow  camp  stalag luft iii  during the second world war . this is the same pow camp that was the scene for the great escape which resulted in the murder of   re  captured officers by the gestapo  and later was made into a very successful movie of the same name  .  br    br   while the other pows in stalag luft iii are busy working on their three massive tunnels  known as tom  dick  harry   two enterprising british prisoners came up with the idea to build a wooden vaulting horse which could be placed near the compound wire fence  shortening the distance they would have to tunnel from this starting point to freedom . the idea to build their version of the trojan horse came to them while they were discussing  classic  attempts for escape and observing some pows playing leap  frog in the compound .  br    br   initially containing one  and later with two pows hidden inside  the wooden horse could be carried out into the compound and placed in almost the same position  near the fence  on a daily basis . while volunteer pows vaulted over the horse  the escapees were busy inside the horse digging a tunnel from under the vaulting horse while positioned near the wire  under the wire  and into the woods .  br    br   the story also details the dangers that two of the three escaping pows faced while traveling through germany and occupied europe after they emerged from the tunnel . all three pows who tried to escape actually hit home runs  escaped successfully to their home base .  . the wooden horse gives a very accurate and true feeling of the tension and events of a pow breakout . the movie was shot on the actual locations along the route the two pows traveled in their escape . made with far less a budget than the great escape  the wooden horse is more realistic if not more exciting than the great escape and never fails to keep you from the edge of your seat rooting for the pows to make good their escape .  br    br   the story line is crisp and the acting rings true and is taut enough to keep the tension up all the way through the movie . the wooden horse is based on the book of the same name by one of the escapees  eric williams  and is  by far  the best pow escape story ever made into a movie . some of the actual pows were used in the movie to reprise their existence as prisoners in stalag luft iii . i give this movie a well deserved ten .  
 . . . and it is this film . i imagine that if indeed there is a negative afterlife  damned souls are tied to a rather uncomfortable couch and forced to watch this movie on a continuous loop for all eternity .  br    br   okay  maybe it  s not that bad  but it is probably the worst film i have ever seen next to  manos  the hands of fate  . . . and i have seen a lot of bad movies  believe you me .  br    br   this is just a crummy b movie  bad film  making at it  s finest  or is it worst   the thing i really didn  t like about this movie is the moronic duo they threw in for comedy relief . now  a little comedy relief is a good thing  but most of the movie is focused on the adventures of these two morons  rather than on the  heroes  of this film  who are actually in it for less time than them   br    br   to be fair  crown international really destroyed the movie by adding bad music and doing a poor job editing . but honestly  this was probably a bad film to begin with  so crown really couldn  t have done that much to hurt it .  br    br   this really needs to be in the bottom    list . i wouldn  t wish this one on my worst enemy .  br    br   actually  it  s my kind of campy b movie . it was bad  but i still liked it  despite my one star rating .  
playing out as a sort of pre runner to the great escape some   years later  this smashing little british film plays it straight with no thrills and dare do well overkill . first part of the movie is the set up and subsequent escape of our protagonists  whilst the second part concentrates on their survival whilst on the run as they try to reach sweden . the film relies on pure characters with simple  effective  and yes  believable dialogue to carry it thru  and it achieves its aims handsomely . no little amount of suspense keeps the film ticking along  and as an adventure story it works perfectly for the time frame it adheres to  so a big thumbs to the film that may well be the first of its type  .  br    br        
  the movie opens with a meteor crashing into a lake . unbeknownst to the locals  a dinosaur egg is also at the bottom of the lake . the meteor heats the lake  turning it into a giant incubator . you guessed it  the egg hatches releasing a dinosaur that proceeds to terrorize the community .  br    br    what utter garbage . it  s not that i mind the stop  motion clay dinosaur  it  s everything else about the movie that bothers me . the acting is atrocious . the dialogue is utterly ridiculous . the comic relief is anything but comic . logic is non  existent . any similarity between the  scientists  in this movie and an actual scientist is purely coincidental . i could go on for an eternity on the bad aspects of this movie  but you get the idea . i feel it  s fairly safe to call this disaster  mst  k worthy  .  
while thinking of  the great escape  i allowed my mind to wander back to this little gem of a movie from my childhood . i had read and re  read the autobiographical novel from     which inspired it  and when it came to the only cinema  we never used that word then  actually  in town that showed  foreign  films  i was first in line to buy my ticket .  br    br   as someone brought up on wartime newsreels and propaganda films during wwii  i had an avid interest in exploring the realities of that conflict as reflected in the memoirs and stories of men who were there in person . that extended later to a keen willingness over the years to buy any book on the subject  and eventually to read the equally compelling novels of hans helmut kirst and erich maria remarque  which provided an even deeper sensibility . the movie versions  however  were unlike this one in that they rarely delivered the goods .  br    br   the medium of black  and  white film has never been served so well as it was in those years . i have never seen any technicolor version of war that seems as authentic as do the deep chiaroscuros of films like  the wooden horse .  if it is true that we are destined always to be captive to the images of our childhood  then i confess it freely .  br    br   and there will never be another the likes of leo genn as the emblematic british war hero on film . not even sir alec .  
well  what are the odds  at the exact right moment that a few redneck amateur  scientists discover cave paintings indicating that some type of dinosaur monster might have inhabited the area thousands of years ago  a burning meteor crashes into the lake and spontaneously hatches a monster  s egg that has been lying there  for over a thousand years  i suppose   the crater lake monster  is a movie that literally must be seen to be believed  but you better do so in the company of many friends and a pile of ganja in order to make the wholesome a little bit easier to digest . yes  this is a terrible film with the utmost ramshackle screenplay imaginable and numerous irrelevant padding interludes that are downright embarrassing  but it  s also irresistibly charming and so clumsily put together that you simply have to cherish some kind of fondness for it . half of the film  at least  revolves on the wacky adventures of arnie and mitch . these two local yokels own and run a boat renting shop near the lake  but spend most of their days picking their noses and quarreling over fascinating stuff like to spell the word  bait  . it is mostly during their prototypic laurel  hardy situations that new puddles of blood or decapitated heads are discovered in the lake . steve hanson  the heroic but not exactly sharp sheriff is on the case  but only if he  s not too busy chasing big city thugs traveling through the area . halfway through the film  there suddenly is an abrupt scene about a thug robbing a liquor store and killing two people in the process . this textbook  wtf  moment appears to take on the complete other side of the country  like in new york city or something  and has absolutely nothing to do with the events going on at crater lake . only like twenty minutes later the robber pops up again in hicksville and there  s an  exhilarating  chase through the woods  ending in the dino  s hungry muzzle . the absurd little details in  the crater lake monster  are too numerous to mention  for example  this is probably the only creature  feature in which the players discover the obligatory gigantic footprint after they already spotted the actual monster . the goofs in continuity should be legendary as far as i  m concerned . it  s like everybody forgot to pay attention to it . night turns into twilight into day and back into twilight  all during one and the same diurnal course  the monster is undeniably the best aspect about the film  especially since it  s accomplished through good old fashioned and adorable stop  motion effects . the cute critter is a plesiosaur meaning an aquatic dinosaur looking like a crossbreed between denver the last dinosaur and an alligator .  crater lake monster  is a unique and unforgettable movie  experience that i can only encourage to track down  the miserable  out of   rating is just out of principle  and because basically  this is a very bad film  should be put into perspective  because i might as well could have given it   out of   for sheer entertainment value .  
the wooden horse is a very clever movie about a very clever and successful escape plan worked out by british pow  s during world war ii . it is superbly acted with a wry sense of humor  especially the lines expressed by the acid  tongues leo genn . anthony steele and david tomlinson  later george banks in mary poppins  are marvelous as the two heroes . the direction is taut and fast  moving throughout . highly recommended .  
we have a lake . we have an animated meteor crashing . we have a killer stop  motion dinosaur with flippers . okay  so let  s call this movie the crater lake monster . what else can we add  hmm  two idiots called arnie  mitch to define the ultimate definition of  comic relief  . we also got to have a sheriff who doesn  t really do a damn thing in this film and whom nobody listens to . aw crap  we  re over halfway through the movie and we forgot to insert a bad guy  no worries  let  s introduce some guy with a moustache  have him rob a store to indicate he  s a bad guy  then have him pop up somewhere near the lake  have him chased through the woods and all this for the sole purpose of him ending up as dinosaur snack food . that should work .  br    br   a complete  clumsy mess  this film . its logic will twist your mind to force laughter out of you . the first film to feature dave allen as a  stop motion supervisor  . after this one  he joined forces with charles band for several years until the the mid  nineties  when band ran out of money to pay him  i guess . the dinosaur effects are charming and the whole film is pretty damn unintentionally funny . unfortunately  that  s about the only good thing that can be said for it .  br    br   good badness  yes . the mind  bending logic in the narrative should be enough reason to put it on the list . if not  arnie  mitch will do the trick .     and      
the wooden horse was one of the first  great  escape stories from world war ii  telling the true story of eric williams and others in their escape from stalag  lufft iii in october of     . i really like this film  but had to by it on vhs from amazon in england and get it transferred from pal format in the u . s . i read the book when i was in hight school  after having seen a portion of the film in the early    s on t . v . the taunt drama of peter and john trying to escape from germany during the war is more realistic than the treck of the escapes portrayed in the great escape . this film is a lost treasure  that should be made more available to american audiences .  
don  t read this review if you want the shocking conclusion of  the crater lake monster  to be a total surprise  br    br   a claymation plesiosaur rises from the depths of crater lake to wreak havoc on a group of local rednecks  not to mention your fast forward button . to call  the crater lake monster  amateurish is to overstate the obvious . if you aren  t a fan of low budget drive  in films  you probably wouldn  t be looking here in the first place .  br    br   the problem with the movie is that when there  s no monster action going on  it really sucks and goes nowhere . the script is very ed wood  ish  in that it  s utterly contrived in the way it sets up the main action sequences . nothing is too outlandish for  the crater lake monster  . it explains its dinosaur by having a meteor crash into crater lake   superheating  the water to the point where it incubates a dinosaur egg that has apparently been resting at the bottom of the lake for millennia . even if we could accept that the egg could have been lying there for so long and remained uncovered and viable  wouldn  t  superheating  the water to such a high temperature cause most of the lake to evaporate  other than some token fog in one or two scenes  we see no evidence of the water being hot  other than a few lines in the script .  br    br   the script is padded rather obviously in a few sequences  and it will do anything to get the characters near the lake so that they can be menaced by the claymation dino . a couple just passing through experiences car trouble and while their automobile is being serviced  they decide to rent a boat and head out into crater lake . hmmmm . . . do you think these strangers in the story could be there so they would run into our title monstrosity  in a sequence that  s just plain bizarre  a drunk robs a liquor store and decides to murder the cashier and a bystander instead of paying four dollars for a bottle of booze . a car chase ensues  and wouldn  t ya know it . . . they end up right by the lake . snack time for cratey  yeah  it  s not hard to figure out  and you  re so far ahead of the script that you  re irritated when it takes another ten minutes for these scenes to unfold .  br    br   the shamelessness of it all is endearing  and i really want to like  the crater lake monster  . i just can  t do it . there  s not enough here to go on  and this is more of a movie to put on during a party  because you could talk right over it and it wouldn  t matter .  br    br   the film has a slim list of the things going for it  the most important being the dinosaur itself  which appears in three forms a shadow puppet  a large model head that is dragged woodenly through the water  and a fully realized claymation insert that actually looks pretty good . there are also a pair of lovable hicks in it  and they carry the majority of the intentional humor in the movie . a downbeat ending leaves us mourning the death of both the monster and one of our beloved hicks  so every good thing about this film is dead by the end of it . why was i so affected by this conclusion  was it the mournful song played over the closing credits  or was i just weeping inwardly for the time that i waste watching films like this   
in      a group of raf officers  including eric wiiliams  decide to escape from a pow camp using a gymnastic vaulting horse in the courtyard . in      it was decided to film his account  and it kick  started a peculiar british film genre  the military prison camp story that reached its apogee in danger within       .  br    br   the wooden horse is one of the quietest films i have ever watched . there are no great dramatic moments  but a steady storyline eventually builds to a climax that has more tension because the story doesn  t give way for unlikely drama  jump cuts or jacked up  somethings about to happen   music . it is utterly of its time and works beautifully .  br    br   leo glenn  anthony steel and david tomlinson lead a curiously low key cast of extras and  i suspect  non  actors . without exception  all are constantly mono  tonal and quiet . they keep emotion out of their roles . as so many were  until recently  ex  service  i suspect they recreated their war time roles as  officers and gentlemen  .  br    br   this unemotional approach does not detract from any dramatic tension . on the contrary  unlike most wartime escape films  the story doesn  t end at the barbed wire and that fact alone keeps me glued to the end .  
 . . . and how they bore you right out of your mind  the crater lake monster is one of the classic bad films from the    s made with no actors of any note  an embarrassing script  woeful direction  and a tireless desire to fuse  horror  with light comedy . this movie introduces a paleontologist who finds drawings of an aquatic dinosaur underneath crater lake . . . a meteor falls from the sky  and an aquatic dinosaur of the claymation variety begins to terrorize and eat the inhabitants surrounding crater lake . the whole matter is taken care of by steve our local sheriff . much of the film  when not showing pools of blood left behind from what we imagine must have been the beast dining  is spent following the bumbling antic of two guys named arnie and mitch who run a boat rental place . they try so bad to be funny  that we get lines like  looking at a business sign  mitch saying to arnie  you spelled bait wrong  it  s spelled b  a  t  e .  the laughs were rather scarce here . we then see them get drunk together and imagine a tree trunk to be the dinosaur . laurel and hardy watch out  the dinosaur looks fake  but the movie is fun in a bad way . and at the very least  the lake is beautiful .  
i saw this movie on comedy central a few times . this movie was pretty good . it  s an interesting adventure with the life of sunny davis  who is arranged to marry the king of ohtar  so that the u . s . can get an army base there to balance power in the middle east . some good jokes  including  sunnygate .  i also just loved the ending theme . it gave me great political spirit . ten out of ten was my rating for this movie .  
return to cabin by the lake does not  in any way  stand up to the original . with only one main character  stanley  returning for the sequal  the film is not even worth the  hours of your time . i am a huge fan of the first film  the story line and acting was really good  but this is one movie that i will never again watch . it is basically equal to what the sequals to urban legends and blair witch were like  but with much worse acting . i  ve personally seen better acting in soap operas  it is so pitiful that you just have to laugh . i  in no way  recommend this movie to anyone  watching it will just detract from the first .  
this unsung quiet gem tells the true story of a pow escape during ww ii . the performances are incredible  especially anthony steele . the movie works on many different levels cerebral  emotional  visual  and literal . the dialogue is ingenious and rings very true . in fact  an unusual all  around authenticity puts this one head  and  shoulders above most war epics .  
firstly i would like to point out that i only know of the show due to my younger sister always watching it . i find it the most annoying program on tv . there is nothing funny about any of the  jokes  and the canned laughter is unbearable . the show would work much better if filmed in front of a live audience . that way the laughter would show just how  unfunny  the show is . however i give credit to the acting talents of the young cast . it sickens me however to think that they  ll look back on the show in the future and see how bad their first tv show was . the show links in well with the overall annoying voices and style of the cbbc presenters . why the youth of today need to be shouted at so much is beyond me . that is all .  
the sexploitation movie era of the late sixties and early seventies began with the allowance of gratuitous nudity in mainstream films and ended with the legalization of hardcore porn . it  s peak years were between     and     . one of the most loved and talented actresses of the era was monica gayle  who had a small but fanatic cult of followers . she was actually able to act  unlike many who filled the lead roles of these flicks  and her subsequent credits proved it . and her seemingly deliberate fade into obscurity right when her career was taking off only heightens her mystique .  br    br   gary graver  the director  was also a talent probably too talented for the sexploitation genre  and his skill  combined with monica gayle  s screen presence  makes sandra  the making of a woman  a pleasantly enjoyable experience . the film never drags and you won  t have your finger pressed on the fast  forward button .  
the twilight zone has achieved a certain mythology about it   much like star trek . that  s because there are many devoted lovers of the show that no matter what think every episode was a winner . they are the ones who score each individual show a   and cannot objectively evaluate the show . because of this  a while back i reviewed all the original star trek episodes  the good and the bad  because the overall ratings and reviews were just too positive . now  it  s time to do the same for the twilight zone .  br    br   while i have scored many episodes    this one gets a  simply because it was bad . the writing was in fact embarrassingly bad . two people from opposing sides in a great war are seen wandering about through the entire episode . after a while  it  s apparent that they are the only two people left on earth   as you learn in the really stupid and totally unconvincing conclusion . usually the twist at the end makes the episode great   this one killed it   
  sandra  the making of a woman  is a standout among exploitation films  and is so for two reasons    an excellent  yet effortless  performance by monica gayle  and    the fact that gary graver was at the helm of the project . these two talents  both of whom are quite underrated  make  sandra  a film that should be seen .  br    br   another key element of the film  s success is its realism   there is nothing fake or  hollywood  about this set  in  california film . it is truly a slice of life . the modest house in which sandra lives at the beginning of the film  the simple dresses worn by the character  the scene where sandra wakes up in the morning to find uschi digart bouncing at her front door  and sandra sits on the couch without make  up  while digart tries to sell her some cosmetics  looking truly as if she just woke up  but nevertheless beautiful   the harmless weirdo sandra picks up who likes to make love with her while he wears a bra  the one  room apartment into which sandra moves   all of these elements of the film seem totally real  and as such  the viewer is drawn into sandra  s little world from the beginning and immediately becomes interested in her and wants her to succeed . sandra also makes her case for free love with eloquence and dignity and she comes off with a lot of class .  br    br   this film could have easily failed in less competent hands  and could have gone off in any of the usual sexploitation directions  but the garver  gale team see to it that  sandra  is not only the making of a woman but the making of an excellent film .  
stan laurel and oliver hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history  and deservedly so  so i am happy to see any of their films . basically a man at a horn factory is the fourth to crack  and soon enough ollie cracks with all the horn noises . he is resting at home with stan by his side  needing quiet  and the doctor  james finlayson  phones to say he is coming over to check on ollie . after realising plumbing and electricity is muddled up by a cross  eyed repairman  the doctor comes in for a check  up  and after some tests  he recommends drinking goat  s milk and getting some sea air on the ocean . after stan practises some trumpet playing  hanging out the window by the phone cord and a car crash  he and ollie to a dock to rent a boat . they keep the boat on the dock trying to milk a goat  and stan has brought his trumpet  meanwhile  the newspaper  s front page reads that killer nick grainger  escaped convict  richard cramer  has escaped  and he sneaks onto the boys  boat while they are sleeping  and the goat chews through the boat rope  drifting out to sea . in the morning  the see their location  and the killer comes out demanding something to eat  and he spots stan and ollie making fake food  e . g . string for spaghetti  soap for cheese  belt for bacon  sponge for meatballs  and he forces them to eat it . when ollie starts choking on something  stan blows his trumpet to help  and ollie  s rage gets him punching the killer  and it keeps going till the police arrive  only to have ollie  s rage get them put in prison too . there were the tiniest moments of comedy  but it isn  t a great black and white film .  well  here  s another nice mess you  ve gotten me into   was number   on    years     quotes  and stan laurel and oliver hardy were number  on the comedians  comedian . okay   
much underrated camp movie on the level of cobra woman  etc . photographic stills resemble rembrandt prints . sometimes subtle dialog and hidden literate touches found throughout .  
saps at sea  br    br   aspect ratio  .      br    br   sound format mono  br    br    black and white   br    br   suffering from  hornophobia   ollie embarks on a  restful  boat trip  but he and stan get mixed up with an escaped convict  rychard cramer  . chaos ensues .  br    br   this feature length comedy  an ok entry which nonetheless unspools like a mere imitation of laurel and hardy  s best work  marked the final collaboration between lh and producer hal roach . episodic in structure  the movie culminates in a memorable ocean voyage after the boys are taken hostage by villainous cramer  who shoots a seagull to prove how tough he is   . the gags are ok  but inspiration is lacking  perhaps due to the recruitment of actor  turned  director gordon douglas  previously responsible for ollie  s first solo effort in the sound era  zenobia  produced in       but whose work here lacks a measure of pzazz . fair  but nothing special . lh regulars charlie hall and james finlayson make guest appearances .  
i just saw this movie for the first time ever and i liked it . her dancing was very entertaining . i read somewhere that she got the part in this movie because she knew how to dance . the scenery was great too . yvonne is such a talented woman and beautiful . we laughed at the silly kissing scenes  but that is what is great about old movies  i grew up with her on the munsters and i am enjoying watching her in her earlier movies . they may not all be the best out there but still worth watching to see her act and sing . i am slowly purchasing all her movies and watching them as i receive them . i have a large collection of her memorabilia .  
i  m a big fan of the old westerns  and do not believe that hollywood is capable of capturing its old glory . but not even ronda fleming and stewart granger can help this     movie which carries nearly all the trite characteristics of westerns of the reformed gunfighter turned good guy . fallen but virtuous woman  bigoted townspeople who must turn to gunfighter for salvation  etc . i can  t help but notice the last names of the writer and young  actor  who plays granger  s son . any nepotism there  i  ve seen better acting in high school plays . chill wills plays a cartoon characterization of chill wills . have i reached the     words yet   
miss decarlo  s starring debut has everything the writers could come up with   from the franco  prussian war to the us civil war  the great american west  san francisco in its heyday  ballet  opera  vaudeville  stage coach bandits  and a chinese junk . just when you thought the plot couldn  t get any screwier  it does . it  s magnificent  taken tongue in cheek . decarlo  s character  here called anna marie   not salome  that  s the role she dances  is loosely based on the career of the notorious lola montez  who was the mistress of the king of prussia and caused a revolution when he gave her the crown jewels . she did escape to the american west . there is a town in arizona called  salome  where she danced   based on the historical fact that lola montez did dance the role of salome there . stagecoach cleve and the russian nobleman who fall under her charms are not historically accurate  nor i assume is the chinese wise man with the scottish accent   but it is one of my favorite all time camp classics and decarlo is breathtakingly beautiful throughout .  
i get the feeling that the producers of this mess were out to make the most painful  ridiculous western ever made .  painful  is the best word i can think of to describe it .  br    br   on the plus side you have nice color photography and beautiful and well  spoken rhonda fleming . my sympathy goes to jacques aubuchon  who played the cripple   who acted well enough in an annoying role  written so atrociously that no actor could give an enjoyable performance . the production values were quite good  which only served to highlight the terrible story and screenplay .  br    br   things i hated stewart granger looked so little like a western figure  what with his british accent  neat tailored outfit  and silly immaculate always  white kerchief tied around his neck . it got tiresome the way the townspeople and his son were constantly haranguing and insulting granger  and he never spoke up or replied back . i know we are supposed to suspend disbelief and appreciate westerns as symbolic morality plays  but this one broke the spell with it laughably unrealistic and predictable scenes  the worst being at the end where granger miraculously  speedily and single  handedly plants dynamite around a canyon pass that the bad guy  s cattle will pass through  and then granger plants himself in the perfect spot so he can shoot the dynamite from a very far distance to create rock slides to bury and spook the cattle and bad guys  seemingly destroying them all  save the two main bad guys . next worst is everything about the plot  which is loaded with soap opera scenes . nothing in the movie seemed believable i couldn  t believe what all the conflict was about . the bad guy was driving his herd through to market and wanted the cows to chew some grass along the way i don  t see why something couldn  t have been worked out . you need a land ownership dispute for that  don  t bother to see it .  
look  this is quite possibly one of the best movies america has to offer the rest of the world . to hate this movie is to hate freedom itself . i remember that the early    s were a time of uncertainty . the economy was weak  communism threatened us all  and nuclear destruction was almost a certainty . out of that confusion came a hero  stroker ace . ned beatty  s performance in this movie showed he was never again to be type cast as a one dimensional victim in the wilderness . his triumph is an inspiration to all . the on  screen chemistry between burt and loni draws obvious comparisons to brad and jennifer . jim nabors is a poet . go see this movie tonight   
let me start out by saying that i used to really like betty grable  particularly from  down argentine way   but by the time she got around to this disaster  she had also got  round  and frankly the whole film was an embarrassment . costarred with douglas fairbanks jnr  who must have been fairly desperate  the story was bad  the colours good  and the film far too long . it had some of the old standbys in it like harry davenport and reginald gardiner to try and stimulate interest but with no success . the music score was woeful  and i have to say not one tune was memorable in any way . . . . as i was such a fan of miss grable  i always wish i had never seen this one   
i love old burt reynolds movies . they  re funnier and better than every other movie combined . they might as well have stopped making movies after  cannonball run    but i guess how could they have known that there weren  t going to be any more good ones  man this movie  s good . burt reynolds has to dress up like a chicken and drive around in a racecar a lot  and the luxuriant loni anderson is on hand  looking extremely hot in an eightiesly way . burt and loni  those were the days  i used to have this magazine that had loni anderson in it advertising for a vaccuum cleaner . i sure loved that advertisement  plus there  s this one part in the movie where the audience at the racetrack is upset at something stroker ace  burty r .  is doing  and it shows one guy in the audience bending over and sticking his finger up his butt to display his disappointment  i laughed so hard i almost passed away into the night  if you can find this movie  rent it  and then never watch another movie again  because i tell you right now there  s no point .  
the final film for ernst lubitsch  completed by otto preminger after lubitsch  s untimely death during production  is a juggling act of sophistication and silliness  romance and music  fantasy and costume dramatics . in a   th century castle in southeastern europe  a countess falls for her sworn enemy  the leader of the hungarian revolt she  s aided by her ancestor  whose painted image magically comes to life . betty grable  in a long blonde wig adorned with flowers  has never been more beautiful  and her songs are very pleasant . unfortunately  this script  by samson raphaelson  taken from an operetta by rudolf schanzer and e . welisch  is awash with different ideas that fail to mesh   or entertain . the results are good  looking  but unabsorbing .     from   
this is a hilarious film . burt reynolds is a nascar star who signs a sponsorship contract with ned beatty  s chicken pit restaurants . the contract has all sorts of humiliating clauses in it  such as forcing burt to wear a chicken suit during the race  jim nabors is his  not quite convincing  chief mechanic . loni anderson  oh  yeah   is assigned by beatty to keep reynolds honest and strictly adhering to the contract . this is a funny film in which burt proves that he ain  t too proud . i like it   
this miserable film is a remake of a     film . they should have let it remain that way .  br    br   what a colossal bomb  douglas fairbanks displays absolutely no charisma here . cesar romero is subjected to a role as a real jerk and bette grable sings with a chorus  what i  ll do to that hungarian   br    br   the ridiculous plot deals with a picture of a woman in a castle in     rome that saved the day by killing a conqueror .  fairbanks  now  let  s fast forward to    years later  where grable  just married to the count romero  faces a similar situation  when on her wedding night  there is an invasion by hungarian soldiers .  br    br   romero acts cowardly and flees before the army arrives . he disguises himself as a gypsy and is made to remain at the castle when his violin playing pleases fairbanks . the ending is worse than the entire wretched film when grable meets fairbanks to tell him the good news  an enraged romero has annulled the marriage .  br    br   this poor imitation of a movie was made in     . as harry davenport  a veteran supporting player who is in it  died in      this must have been his last film . what a bomb to go out with after such a distinguished career .  br    br   walter abel co  stars but he can do little with such poor writing . the costumes look more like those that would come out of the stone age . i can  t fathom what fairbanks was wearing .  
from the view of a nascar maniac like i am  the movie is interesting . you can see many race cars from     . even tough  the racing scenes are not that much realistic . but i have to admit  that i haven  t seen any race before      because before that time  they didn  t show any nascar races in germany   br    br   from the view of a burt reynolds fan like i am  the movie basically is what we are used to see from reynolds in the    s burt behind the wheel of a fast car  like in his bandit movies .  br    br   if you love nascar and burt reynolds  this movie is a must  see . if you only love one of this  things  i also recommend to watch it . if you like neither nascar nor burt reynolds  you still should give it a chance  but remember  this movie was far away from winning an oscar academy award .  br    br   it is the typical humor of the    s . if you like movies like the cannonball movies  and police academy  you will also like that one .  
watching that lady in ermine i was wondering what betty grable was doing in a project that seemed to be aimed for marlene dietrich to do . someone over at   th century fox may have decided one sex symbol is as good as another . darryl f . zanuck should have known better .  br    br   betty plays a   th century italian countess whose domain has been invaded by a troop of hungarian hussars captained by douglas fairbanks  jr . her ghostly ancestor whose portrait hangs in the palace hall along with the rest of her distinguished family tree  sees no small resemblance in doug now and another invader some    years earlier whom she dealt with when armies failed .  br    br   besides that the current betty has just been married to cesar romero and the invasion has come at a most inopportune moment  before things have been consummated . that  s going to give anyone a bad attitude  i guarantee .  br    br   fresh  wholesome all american betty is not the actress to do seductive and mysterious . marlene dietrich might have put this over  but with betty it falls flatter than yesterday  s presidential candidate . she and fairbanks have no chemistry at all  though doug is as charming as ever and someone i can watch in anything .  br    br   frederick hollander and leo robin wrote the score for this film and this is the moment got an oscar nomination for best song . that lady in ermine  s one chance for oscar glory fell to buttons and bows .  br    br   ernest lubitsch died midway during the film and otto preminger finished that lady in ermine . i can  t believe lubitsch had grable in mind for the lead here . neither will you if you see that lady in ermine .  
actually  goldie hawn is from washington  takoma park  maryland   but i digress . this is sort of a mr . smith goes to washington type of movie  with some variations but the same premise . i taped this movie off of cable years ago because i had a huge crush on goldie hawn . the story is interesting  but it  s highly unlikely that some cocktail waitress will get an important job in the government just because she saved some big shot  s life . it made me laugh and made me mad at the same time . it made me laugh because some of the situations she found herself in were so ridiculous  i had to laugh .  possible spoiler ahead  . it made me mad to think that our government would set up an average citizen in the manner she was set up . and the speech she made at the end . . . beautiful . too bad not many people have guts like that in real life .  
a decent sequel  but does not pack the punch of the original . a murderous screenwriter  judd nelson  assumes new identities in order to direct his own novel cabin by the lake . still ruthless killing  but movie seems very tongue  in  cheek . any humor is not of the funny kind . total project seems to have the quality of a quickie and at times nelson is way over the top . this movie is about a script being rewritten before going to the screen . . . this should have happened to this script .  
this movie was not so much promoted here in greece  even though it got good actors  great script and rather good photograph was not a so called  blockbuster  movie in my country . the movie itself is very powerful  it  s about the hard time that a newcomer had to go through when he returns in his home  village after been released from a  yo prison time  drugs  the end is rather sad . . . . mourikis is trying to keep up with his part and he handles it pretty well . . . lambropoulou is great and very sexy in a strange way and of course hatzisavvas is for one more time close to excellency . . .  out of   because very few greek movies can make such an impression   
the movie was a huge disappointment . especially since it was directed by priyadarshan  it was sad to see such dismal standards . poor screenplay  almost non existent  and song sequences with bad songs every minute and at the most odd times killed whatever humor the movie could offer . some of the scenes were funny  but it amounted to probably only  mins of the whole duration . the editing was pathetic . dismal  overall the movie disappointed as the lack of story was only too evident . in fact only a few people stayed to watch the second half of the movie after the interval .  br    br   one wouldn  t miss anything at all if you don  t watch the movie . not worth spending valuable ticket money on this movie . wait till it appears on tv . . .  
this is a dramatic film in the whole sense of the word . it tells a tail that here in greece we live as a routine in everyday life without realizing how sad it is . sure it has some extremes . . but every now and then real life sorrow surpasses art . it is deeply critical of the goals we pursue and the whole social structure build around them . the film has a deeper understanding of greek ways of life  stereotypes  and social structure . unlike most greek films that have a certain fast  food  mainstream audience  this one does not target anyone in particular but while you watch it you feel that someone put the best possible words and pictures to describe your feelings . i am not a big fan of traditional music either but i wouldn  t like to hear anything else when it was played during the film .  br    br   if someone told me to say something against this film i  d define the following  sometimes the transition between scenes seemed sudden or somewhat cut . i guess the editing had to cut it up to fit the  hours and a bit for the theatres . .  br    br   anyway i could write more and more to express my thought over this but i guess u have to see it and discuss it with a friend . a must see  
the priyadarshan  paresh rawal combo has been golden before with the likes of hera pheri and hungama so i went into the movie  at an indian multiplex  with high hopes  especially after the slick promos . unfortunately  like hulchul before it  this movie was a huge disappointment .  br    br   like others have commented  the premise of the movie  which was already stale to begin with  just gets stretched on and on without any development or additional layering . after a while  you just want the movie to end so you can go home  if i had been watching this at home  it would have been much easier to cut my losses  . akshay kumar  s performance is average at best and john abraham should not try doing comedy again . the comedy aspects of the movie overall were pretty week . i only remember giggling like twice the entire movie . definitely no sidesplitting belly laughs that consumed me in hera pheri or even to a lesser extent in awara paagal deewana . paresh rawal had a few of his expected classic moments  but overall  because his role and character wasn  t given much room to grow  he didn  t make much of an impact in this film .  br    br   neha dhupia  who makes only an appearance in the movie  was fun to look at while she was on screen . and some of the songs are fun . especially the opening and closing songs of ada and kiss me baby  respectively . otherwise  you  re better off just passing on this movie .  
perhaps  one of the most important and enjoyable greek films i  ve seen in the last ten years . . excellent performances  especially yiannis zouganelis is great   well  written script and effective direction from a very special  for the greek very average standards  auteur . a film  obviously influenced by sam peckinpah  s straw dogs  that could be a masterpiece if it avoided some evident and exaggerative situations and symbolizations in the end . nevertheless  this is a movie which deserves our attention and belongs to that rare category of greek movies which should be watched outside greece . it  s a shame that in greece didn  t work commercially  in addition with other fake and cursory big productions like politiki kouzina . .  
well  maybe i  m just having a bad run with hindi movies lately . i asked the video store guy for apharan  prakash jha  but being a new release  wasn  t available yet . so i had to settle for this one . it turned out to be the stupidest hindi movie i  ve seen  and i  ve seen quite a few  . no wonder bollywood is the laughing stock of the whole world  if imdb had negative ratings  i would give garam masala a    .  br    br   i remember seeing a tv show about the jazzy premiere they had for its release in mumbai . all the usual celebs and their sideys showed up . for some strange reason  people expect good stuff from piyadarashan . i did not like hulchul  hungama  or his other films . hulchul  probably dubbed from tamil or telugu  came across as very loud  in  your  face fare that again didn  t make much sense except in a bollywood flick . this latest piece of utter cxxp proved that this guy has no brains . who made him a director  even a bollywood director at that     br    br   anyhow  to the film now . what starts off as a romantic escapade turns into a non  sensical woman  hunt . two fashion photographers working for a magazine share an apartment  isn  t it similar to no entry where the  dudes work for a gossip magazine and share an office  jezuz christ  now they  re copying their own stories   well anyways  there  s some cook or chef that tries to help one of the dodos in his quest for multi  lateral love  aka multi  tasking  multi  timing  . what happened in the end  i  ve no idea . i switched off mid  way . what ridiculous junk . i can  t believe they even released it . and how sadistic to wallow in their own filth  for which audience did they make it  the poor illiterate indian masses     mil at last count  or the well  heeled nri desis staying in phoren  either ways it doesn  t matter . neither group has any clue what makes a good movie and probably deserves such god  awful stuff .  br    br   its a short review because there  s nothing to write about but the usual bag of f  grade garbage . bollywood should change its name to follywood . and yes  this review is much better than the movie itself .  
after having seen a lot of greek movies i feel very suspicious against most of them . but after watching this i felt astonished . the movies is great without a big try . you cannot claim that the screenplay is so great or the photography is perfect or something technical . it  s a real story and it is happening in greek rural areas in places forgotten from god . the movie is like a punch in the stomach and i would really wish that things are not like this . it obviously talks about the xenophobia of the greek people  the ignorance  to anything different . the problem of this guy is not that he is an ex  convicted . the problem is that he is not one of these people . he is different and they do not want them  that  s why all the good things he is doing turn boomerang to him  . and also speaks about the apathy of the people  because there are some people who are against the hunting of the king  but they do not dare to say their opinion . in the end you can clearly see the hypocrisy of the society being religious and trying to act like god says  but at the same time acting so unfairly to the king . this shows how easily people rationalize their feelings or their beliefs according to the established system . in the end you can have a positive lesson from this very bad story  meaning that you can understand and be part of this society only if you want to become one of them . if you want to remain different and even alone  you are lost  and it is not far from reality  i think it is tragic that the story is real and this should be a bell for everybody . no comment for the main actor because he is already given an award and i believe that his play was great . small comment for hatzisavvas  plays the policeman   he is like a dinosaur  he has played a lot of roles and i  m sure that this role for him was very easy but he plays it so great that you cannot deny him a big bravo . i definitely recommend this movie to anybody who wants to see a good greek movie .  
contrary to its title  this film offers no spice and thus audience is subjected to a tasteless dish . all humor appears forced  theatrical  mechanical  staged  reminiscent of those pakistani plays available on video  including even the mannerisms . everybody is screaming  shouting and doing odd things for no reason . the premise looks interesting as it is a straight lift from hollywood  s  boeing boeing  . john abraham who is so natural in almost all his films is a complete misfit here . if we keep morality factor aside  even then the bizarre events looks trite . akshay kumar and paresh rawal  two experienced stalwarts try hard to lift the film by being natural but in vain . at least  the characters of three girls should be made contrasting in order to bring some interesting elements but sadly here too all of them appears those brainless  buxomed bimbettes   bs  who talk  behave and even scream in quite similar fashion . the major hole in the plot is what made the protagonist keep the three girls at his same home pretending that they will never get to know about each other  just to do some sex  what else  the same could be done in hundreds of other ways . therefore so much dramabaazi for no reason is not something audience will digest easily . but surely  great flesh show and tempting promos always gives such films a great initial . now for those who call it a situational comedy  i call it a pathetic taste . sense of humor of such cinema going audience is surely gone corrupted and demented to the extent that they are connecting to a sadistic  weird and maddening type of humor  where it is not the characters that they laugh at but rather at themselves and at their own frustrations that look how senseless we have become that in order to laugh we have to bear with such things   
years ago many big studios promoted serial films that were shown in movie theaters  s in between the actual features along with a newsreel of current events  plus cartoons  especially on a saturday afternoon .  the parents loved it mostly   the return of chandu  was a   episode serial where chandu   bela lugosi    the mysterious mr . wong      is a magician with super natural powers and travels to the island of lemuria to rescue the kidnapped princess of egypt   nadji  maria alba   dr . terror  s house of horrors      . princess nadji is held captive by the black magic cult of ubasti  who believe that she is a reincarnation of their long  dead goddess ossana . these    episode serials take you way back in time and are very well produced  considering we are talking about       
i watched the malayalam movie  boeing boeing  made in      which in turn is probably inspired by an english movie of same name  long back . the basic story of garam masala is the same  but it is told in a pathetic way  the classy jokes replaced by routine ones which are found in normal hindi movies  probably the director did this to suit the taste of hindi audience  . . .  br    br   i haven  t seen the english original . but had really enjoyed the malayalam film  made by priyadarshan himself  which was a side splitting comedy  back then . of course the acting by mohanlal  mukesh and sukumari  who did the cook  s role  was so natural and spontaneous .  br    br   probably  i am too smitten by the malayalam film that i cannot tolerate even the smaller flaws in its hindi remake . but i still feel that akshay kumar and john abraham have overacted . paresh rawal has done a decent job  but doesn  t reach anywhere near sukumari .  br    br   but all in all its ok  if one compares it to other recent hindi comedy movies .  
how truly friendly  charming and cordial is this unpretentious old serial i rejoiced in seeing old lugosi . it is disarmingly friendly and lively . it  s the document of a longlost craft .  the best tv series today can hardly compete with these old moderately good serials .  chandu is deeply  deeply optimistic and hedonistic . it refreshes the mind . it  s not stupid stupid are those who do not get the terms on which such serials work . chandu has an irresistible sense of simple  unpretentious and friendly fun .  br    br   without giving away too muchchandu is an occidental sorcerer who goes also by this eastern name and who also loves and protects his niece against a sect of killers .  br    br   chandu exerts his supernatural gifts in a rather discreet and moderate way .  br    br   as to the quite sexy niece  nadji  she is kidnapped by the priest of ubasti the sordid vindhyan . the poor sexy girl is in fact multiply kidnappedin a sarcophagus after being sent asleep with a flower almost kidnapped from a boat by a phony policeman the temple of lemuria and its strange  creepy ceremonies resemble the king kong imageryand are a barbaric mockery of the rcc ceremonies and rituals .  br    br   would you protect a girl as bravely as chandu does   br    br   lugosi looked like an old libidinous and quite heartless  mean drunk  and this only contributed to his performances . he is the prototypical mean drunk uncle  mischievous and cunning and oblique . this might sound like a rather crooked homage to lugosiyet burton  s biopic of wood left me this impression about lugosi and allied to it a strong sympathy for the decrepit actor . i enjoy lugosi  fancy performances .  br    br   this serial is unjustly bashed .  
the first half hour of the movie had a steady pace and introduced the characters . however all of a sudden everything was happening too quick  a lame reason for akshey kumar to date  girls  very loud over acting by both akshey and john abraham . neha dupia was the highlight of the movie  paresh rawal did well but not as good as his performance in hera pheri . overall this movie was the biggest disappointment the film does no justice to its trailer . save your money and don  t watch this movie  watch hera pheri and hungama again   br    br   summarising it a cheap stage show performance and appearance to the film no story or substance  the plot was extraordinarily non  sense good music by preetam the man who bought us dhoom  keep it up  movie shot all in one room  new comers  female cast  were okay as it was their first film but established actors like akshey and john totally disappointed an established director like priyadarshan gives his worst movie ever   
bela lugosi gets to play one of his rare good guy roles in a serial based upon the long running radio hit  which was also the source of a feature film where lugosi played the villain .  lugosi cuts a fine dashing figure and its sad that he didn  t get more roles where he could be the guy in command in a good way . here chandu returns from the east in order to help the princess nadji who is being hunted by the leaders of the cult of ubasti who need her to bring back from the dead the high priestess of their cult . this is a good looking globe trotting serial that is a great deal of fun . to be certain the pacing is a bit slack  more akin to one of principals  the producing studios  features then a rip roaring adventure  but it  s still enjoyable . this plays better than the two feature films that were cut from it because it allows for things to happen at their own pace instead of feeling rushed or having a sense that  hey i missed something  . one of the trilogy of three good serials lugosi made  the others being sos coast guard and phantom creeps  
probably the worst bollywood film i  ve seen .  br    br   no plot line . very little character developments .  br    br   full of silly and pointless humor . the whole film was chaotic and direction  less . there was no proper ending to the story . the airport was filmed in a shopping mall .  br    br   same story chewed over and over again until you want to say  please  just move on with it    even the song and dance was pointless and badly choreographed .  br    br   the only good thing about this movie is that there were hot bods all around . . . but then most of the bollywood movies have that anyways these days .  br    br   btw i  m not from an indian background  br    br        
this movie was one of the best movies that i have seen this year . i didn  t see any cameos in the movie  but it is still pretty good . it is similar to anchorman in the humor department  but i think this is a better put together movie . it actually has a point . if you are going to see a whole bunch of ta you will be disappointed . just a well put together movie     if you have nothing to do for the day or you need a lot of humor  you will find this to be a really good movie . i definitely think that ebert and roeper  s review of this movie is right on . i mean  i don  t really like ebert on most movies  but this is the movie that i will agree about . the movie contains a good enough story that it is actually believable that these type of people are out there . there is definitely something to be said about how they treat virginity in this movie . yea  sure  you get laughed at when it is found out about  but it still suggests that you wait . steve did a wonderful job of portraying the person that he did in this movie and yet  it is still funny .  
it begins on a nice note only to falter quickly and let down expectations .  br    br   mac  akshay kumar  and sam  s  john abraham  characters are not properly built before mac  s boss decides to hitch him with three air hostess . rest of the drama is about how mac  sam and uncle mambo  paresh rawal  deal with situations which at times seem forced .  br    br   about the cast  paresh rawal is a very talented actor  i thought was wasted in the role of a moody cook . akshay kumar is tolerable  john abraham is very bad keeps stumbling over furniture  rajpal yadav is the only saving grace in the movie .  br    br   the second half of the movie is funny at times  but in all a dud  songs are boring  and a major let down if you are hoping for some wholesome entertainment and comedy .  
from the very beginning i was so excited to see this movie . the poster is possibly the funniest i  ve ever seen for a movie . i immediately bought one for my dorm this september .  br    br   every element came together in this movie so beautifully . it  s not often you see a movie with so many penis  gay  and racial jokes so praised by critics . carell and the rest of the cast deliver each raunchy joke sensationally . carell remains sweet throughout the entire movie where by the end of the movie you  re rooting for him to succeed in his relationship more than you are for him to get laid . the supporting cast is brutal  each of them having some problems with the ladies themselves .  br    br   one of the things about this movie is the abundance of memorable scenes we  re given . this is what makes a movie easy to remember fondly . this movie will often be brought up when the words  chest waxing  and  condoms  are mentioned in conversation .  br    br   watching it in the theater i was surprised how many older people were there to watch it . i saw a group of four mid    s women come in . despite an older audience  this movie still filled the entire theater with laughter .  br    br   i think the type of people who will like this are the fans of the office and steve carell . a lot of the jokes remind me of the type of jokes you  d see on family guy  too . the movie is shallow enough for adolescent boys and still sweet and clever enough for middle aged women .  br    br   i don  t recommend going to this movie if you aren  t a fan of profanity or if you are easily offended . however  when you are at the movie  just remember this movie is all in good humor . the jokes aren  t  gay jokes   they  re just jokes . and they  re funny .  
do not waste your time with this movie . this is a total thrash in terms of acting  directing  sound editing  soundtrack . . . there was such a waste of performance by some of the very good actors . the movie does not do justice to paresh rawal who is perhaps one of the most talented actors in bollywood . akshay kumar who is also an emerging star did quite a poor job . john abraham  what is wrong with him  is that what you call acting  i mean he should thank god that he has a pretty face otherwise he  d be winning razzie awards in india if there were any such awards in bollywood . asrani a great talent  but overdoes his bit as before .  br    br   screenplay which was not to mention a rip  off from the      s boeing boeing was quite badly framed . first of all  people in bollywood just can  t make something original . on top of that they don  t even know how to copy well . the jokes in the movie were so overdone  it was getting painful to sit through them . priyadarshan may be a star in the south  but he  s just not fit to make a decent hindi movie . the sound editing is amazingly crappy . i can go on and on this matter  but the bottom  line is that bollywood should be shameful of making such a film .  br    br   the worst part is that some people seemed to love this movie . what is wrong with you guys  this is the reason why bollywood is where it is . did you know that bollywood makes more movies than hollywood every year  however  most of the movies are unheard of abroad  because of movies like this one . i am an indian and i am utterly shameful of bollywood for producing this piece of thrash . movies like dil chahta hai and lagaan were just terrific . they are world class films which are timeless . . . among the best of this decade . garam masala  however  is perhaps one of the worst of this century . period .  br    br   i give it a  out of   .  
steve carrel proves himself to be a great leading man in this wonderful  original  raunchy breath of fresh air . i about wet myself at how geniusly hilarious it was .  br    br   basically the movie  s title says it all andy stitzer is a   year  old male who works at an electronics store . he is a bit of a nerd who loves videogames and comics  and has the biggest collection . his peers that work in the store with him find out that he  s a virgin during a rather sex dialogue filled poker game  and then andy has to go through a rather funny as hell odyessy of rude sexual awakenings  but always screwing up which leads to him not losing his virginity  but he eventually gets lucky in the very end .  br    br   leave the little ones at home  but take the entire family to see this awesome romantic adult comedy . it will have you hooked and cracking up from the very beginning  and by the time it is over  you will be wishing you wore your extra thick absorbent undergarments . only other thing i can say about it is too bad steve carrel wasn  t recognized as a leaving man   years ago . he is definitely gonna win best breakthrough male performance in next years mtv movie awards . you can bet your hard earned dollar on that  people   br    br   i give this one a perfect     
i have to say that this was the worst film of priyadarshan  releasing alongside much better kyonki which was also his directorial venture   it contains no specific storyline and just focuses on body showing by debuting actresses and some silly comedy sequences . i think priyadarshan is becoming too much repetitive in his comedy flicks just like govinda and david dhavan had done in the past after giving some good entertainers they also went on to loose their audiences . so it will be good for him to concentrate more on script and try some variations in his direction . give us more of herapheri  s and malamal weekly  s rather than giving duds like garam masala   
sunny  a cocktail waitress in the d . c . area  is a bit dim  to put in mildly . she drives an old clunker and rents a tiny room from a gay male couple . however  she saves the life of a prominent arab  by taking a bullet in the behind that was meant for the official . she charms the national press with her zany remarks and her sweet looks . sniffing an opportunity  presidential aides get her installed in the protocol department for the u . s . government . even then  she messes things up at times  but she tries hard and learns a lot . she even grabs the romantic attention of a state department official . but  is there another sinister plot in the making  involving an arab man who wishes to take another wife  a blonde one  lol  lol  lol . this movie features goldie as pretty as a picture and as dumb  as a fox   as they say . sunny learns her way around the jungle of the u . s . government very  very well . she even has important things to say about honesty and the lack of it in her protocol surroundings . perhaps  the arab community would be less than thrilled with this work  but for those who like to laugh  rent this today .  
possible spoiler  br    br    return to cabin by the lake  is a useless movie . the acting was not good and the plot wasn  t even remotely interesting .  br    br    cabin by the lake  is a good tv movie . the sequel was not . judd nelson was very good in the first film and put a whole lot more into his character than in this . it seemed as if he wasn  t even interested in doing the sequel . his acting was good but it could have been better . i really don  t want to comment on the rest of the cast because in my opinion  they  re not even worth mentioning . but i  ll do it . the character of alison isn  t even hardly shown in the first part of the film . all of a sudden she  s the center of attention next to stanley caldwell . the role didn  t make sense and it should have been thought out a little better . dahlia salem was absolutely terrible . her acting was way below decent and the casting people should have looked for somebody else  anybody else . the director  mike  was a confusing character . he seemed to have a purpose for being there but it didn  t seem like his death was necessary . the acting for this role was good  nothing great but better than salem  s .  br    br   the plot was real lousy if you think about it . stanley  who is presumed dead  makes his way onto the set of  cabin by the lake   the movie based on his script . he stumbles upon the director and in a short time  the director is dead and stanley is running the show . yeah  out of nowhere the crew is just going to let this stranger come into the picture and finish the film not knowing anything about him . there  s some killings  not a whole lot  and the one  s that are shown are ridiculous . one of the actresses on the set gets electrocuted while filming a scene . another character gets chewed up by a motorboat . and one gets tangled up in a plant before drowning . these writers must have been hard up for excitement .  br    br   i just have to say that i was not impressed with the filming of the movie . the way that it kept changing from looking low budget back to normal started to become irritating very fast . also  the new cabin by the lake was poorly created . we aren  t shown it but only in a few scenes  and the whole thing with the chain in the basement was useless . it worked in the first film only because we were shown the room a lot more  but it didn  t work in this one .  br    br   there were too many characters in this sequel . all of them except for a few had no reason to be there . the acting of what little is showed was really bad and . . . they just didn  t have a purpose in this movie .  br    br   all in all   return to cabin by the lake  is a sequel picking up from where the first left off .  cabin by the lake  i can take but this was just not impressive . judd nelson should have avoided this one and so should you . it  s nothing like the first and it went entirely too slow . nothing happened in the first hour and it continued to drag on for the second . not to mention that the writing was horrible . put this on only if you need some help getting to sleep .  br    br   so  we see that stanley defies death and is still alive and well . by the way he talks  it sounds like there could be a possible third installment to a movie good just by itself . quit throwing in sequels and we may be alright   br    br    did the film makers not realize that they showed us how they filmed the lake scenes from the first one  they were all done in a tank . never  never reveal the secrets of filming .   br    br    
well let me just say something about these actors  they really were a good decision  and from experience  having actors really brings the dialogue to life . if you walk into this even fifteen minutes late  you  ll be in for a shock  the movie will have already began . you don  t want to miss the first few jokes  assuming you came to not miss any jokes .  br    br   wow  i have never seen a movie that ended with such a final ending . not to be harsh  i mean i loved it  but it just surprised me that it really kept going until it stopped  but i  m getting ahead of myself  lets start with the very start of it  when it began . the plot outline goes like this  there is this man  and not to give away any spoilers   spoiler alert      he hasn  t had any sex ever    they use this plot device to set the story moving  and there are  intentionally or not  it could go either way  some funny situations had by the main characters  some containing irony  and jokes  and awkward situations  you know .  br    br   the director uses the advancements in technology by combining the film shot on the set and scripted dialog  some music  and jokes to make a funny movie  designed as a comedy  where he takes us on a journey from the opening credits to the end with an entirely full movie in between . i went into this movie expecting to see a funny comedy because of what i already knew about it  and left feeling as though i had just left a theater that just played a funny comedy . ten stars     
priyadarshan  s hera pheri was a nice situational comedy this film however actually lacks a story but is quite funny but illogical  br    br   in fact they is no proper story yet it somehow manages a nice flow though it isn  t anything great  br    br   the first half has  funny scenes like the one where akshay and john invite neha for a lunch and another when paresh enters  br    br   the first half gets boring slowly but the second half is funnier though they is no script  br    br   the jokes are funny though one does wonder how they never hear each person  s voices from inside the rooms   br    br   the climax confusion is treated like a stage play but it  s quite funny but the film ends abruptly  br    br   direction is okay music is good  br    br   akshay kumar excels in his part which is now become his second skin  but this is his film completely and he overshadows everyone else  br    br   john stumbles throughout and fails in comedy paresh rawal is hilarious rajpal is okay the girls are loud at times and awkward too nargis  daisy and neetu  only neetu is seen now  are good in parts but shriek too often manoj joshi is okay  
the   year old virgin  is about andy stitzer  a forty year old man who works in an electronic store and doesn  t have much of a social life and is very awkward around women . some of his co  workers at the store invite him out one night and they discover that andy  is still a virgin so they plan to help him lose his virginity . one day in the store andy  meets a woman named trish  who gives him her phone number and eventually andy  works up enough courage to go on a date with her and they start to really like each other but andy  is still very awkward when it comes to sex and he is going to have to tell this to trish  much to his embarrassment if he can actually get up enough courage to tell her before things get awkward . the   year old virgin  has good direction  a good script  good comedic performances by the whole cast  good cinematography and good film editing . the film stars and is co  written by steve carell  who does a very good comedic breakthrough performance and his writing for the film is very good too . i was very pleasantly surprised with this film . it is sweet  funny  entertaining  fun  enjoyable  clever  good natured and a good time . this film is just as good as this year  s wedding crashers  and both films are two of the best comedies i have seen in awhile . the   year old virgin  really showcases a lot of talent and it is put to good use and it works as a comedy and a romance and it is sweet and a lot of fun . one of the biggest surprises and one of the best comedies of the year .  
watched on hulu  far too many commercials   so it broke the pacing but even still  it was like watching a really bad buddy movie from the early sixties . dean martin and jerry lewis where both parts are played by jerry lewis . if i were indian  i  d protest the portrayal of all males as venal and all women as shrews . they cheated for the music videos for western sales and used a lot of western models so the males could touch them i usually enjoy indian films a lot but this was a major disappointment  especially for a modern indian film . the story doesn  t take place in india  the uncle keeps referring to when mac will return to india  but i can  t find out where it is supposed to be happening .  
spoilers sex huh  it  s one of the most basic parts of human life . yet  do we ever take it too seriously  people always want more  even those who get it on a daily basis  and if you are unlucky  there are potential life changing  creating  consequences . ironically people claim we are all starting to have sex at a younger and younger age  despite victorians getting married and having children in their early teens   so it must be increasingly difficult for those who get to a point as virgins . in steve carell  s first big screen lead  he plays a man who has gotten to   without managing it . treating us to countless lude and extreme sex related incidents  not to mention more profanity than an episode of  eurotrash   the general plot of the film and it  s principle doesn  t sound funny . it  s a pleasant surprise therefore that for all the inappropriate  failed jokes  there are an incredibly large number of ones which hit the mark and leave the audience in hysterics .  br    br   andy stitzer  carell  is a nice guy with a good job and a pleasant temperament . at the same time though  he blatantly takes life too seriously and after being invited to a poker game as a necessary fifth member  andy  s friends discover his secret . at the age of    andy is still a virgin . now  for multiple reasons  but mostly pity  the three men  paul rudd  seth rogen and romany malco  all offer andy advice with one goal in mind . to put him out of his misery and get him laid .  br    br   one of the few good things about  anchorman   it was only going to be a matter of time before steve carell got himself a lead of his own . impressively  in  the   year old virgin  he doesn  t disappoint . showing the hopeless  shy virgin to perfection  carell is a revelation as he gradually grows increasingly confident as the advice begins to help .  br    br   carell is not alone however in his performance . rudd  rogen  malco and catherine keener as the love interest are all superb . rudd is a personal favourite as the love sick david who falls apart at multiple times and shares the finest scene with rogen as the two argue over homosexuality .  br    br   the biggest surprise about this film is not the way that so many of the jokes hit the mark  but actually the clever way that it flips the message on it  s head . obviously designed for conservative america  the film  s entire tone evolves from a simple story of sexual conquest into one of safe sex and abstinence . the virgin doesn  t need sex to make his life complete  he just needs confidence and true love . a worthy message to preach  and a considerable improvement on the one you expect to see at the beginning of the film .  br    br   it  s weird to see a crude comedy which is consistently funny and well acted  but low and behold     year old virgin  is just that . throw in a well meaning message too and you  re well on the way to a top class comedy . a surprising joy .  
i never understood why some people dislike bollywood films they  ve got charismatic actors  great dance numbers  and heightened emotion   what  s not to like  what i didn  t realize was that i had only seen the upper  crust of bollywood . then i watched  garam masala  . i could tell from the first scene that this was not a movie i was going to like  the film opens with a montage of the two leads driving around a city and apparently happening serendipitously on a series of photo setups populated with gyrating models   but i kept hoping things would improve . sadly  they didn  t . the main problem is that the two protagonists  mac  sam  are completely unsympathetic . they spend the entire movie lying to women   and lying brutally   in order to get them into bed  and the audience is supposed to find this funny  and be charmed . the boys are unscrupulous and inept  and not in a lovable way . mac even goes so far as to have one of the women drugged in order to keep her from discovering his cheating . the script is extremely poor  with repetitive scenes  setups that never lead to anything  and illogical actions and statements by the characters . in fact  the characters are never really developed at all . the males are boorish  greedy jerks  and the women merely interchangeably beautiful . if you go by this movie  you would think that  air hostesses  are pretty easy to pass from man to man . in reality  betrayal is not so humorous .  br    br   the only bright spots i found in the movie were one dance number that had brilliant sets  and a few slapsticky moments involving the french  farce  door  slamming aspects of the story . but bollywood dancing is better enjoyed in movies choreographed by farah khan  and for slapstick you might as well just go straight to the silent comedies of buster keaton and harold lloyd  who seem to have influenced writer  director priyadarshan not a little . priyadarshan also takes false credit for inventing the story the basic premise of the plot is stolen from the     play  boeing boeing .  the original author of that work  marc camoletti  is credited nowhere . at least priyadarshan changed the title for this remake  rather than brazenly using the original without giving credit  as he did in his     version of this same tale .  according to imdb  s credits list .   
as we all know the sub  genre of sex comedies is pretty crowded . simply being excessively raunchy isn  t enough anymore . i  ve seen and heard so many disgusting jokes and actions that a sex comedy really needs to have other positive points to appeal to me these days .  br    br   coming into the   year old virgin i knew basically what to expect i did see the commercials after all  is it true that if you don  t use it  you lose it   what i didn  t expect to find is a heart and honest attempts at character development . there  s still the weird  off  the  wall  characters that we see so much in adam sandler movies and there  s still enough inappropriate language to sink noah  s ark but somehow the movie has a worthwhile love story and yes even a message .  br    br   the main character andy is  unfortunately for me  a person i can relate to . in the first shot i see that he even shares my love for mystery science theater      he has a poster for the movie on his wall  and throughout the movie we get to see his really neat collection of antiquities . andy also has plenty of video games and a working knowledge of films and technology . andy doesn  t want to buy a car because he prefers his bike . most importantly of all andy is a nice person  he doesn  t swear and he respect women so much that he stays away from them . combine all these factors and everybody begins to think he  s a serial murderer . it  s like my life story .  br    br   the other characters each have funny little stories to go along with their slightly exaggerated personalities and they all work on a certain level but not the way andy does . i felt that it was sort of distracting in a way since andy and his girlfriend trish are really the only truly human characters in the entire movie .  br    br   i suppose since i mentioned one flaw i might as well bring the other noticeable one to light . the story is clever but too predictable and as far as romances go it  s quite simple . it deals with andy  s relationship with trish for a long time and we all know what  s going to happen in the end . sure its final detour is a bit different than we may expect but you know what  s going to happen in the end  and i assure you it does . these are definitely small stains on the movie but there  s so much good here that i can easily ignore it  s few faults .  br    br   when i say  good  i mean  bad  of course . this is a sex comedy and it wants to be bad . for the most part i think it succeeded . there are so many hilarious scenes such as andy trying to get rid of an erection after refusing to have sex with trish . or the scene where andy goes with his trish  s daughter to a sexual education class where he ends up asking more questions than anybody else . ah and we must not forget the soon to be classic chest waxing sequence  ooh  como se llama   an interesting little note about that scene the actor steve carell actually did wax his belly and the pain shown is real . of course they only did one take but it was still a very brave thing to do on his part .  br    br   actually since we  re talking about steve carell  i  d like to say that he has now risen on my list of respected comedians which is sort of odd since i didn  t even know who he was prior to seeing this film . i was just so impressed by his writing  acting and timing that i now really want to keep an eye out for his future roles . this man has talent it the   year old virgin proves that .  br    br   to be honest i had doubts about this film but early word was positive and i knew it was something i was eventually going to see . i  m glad that i did too since it  s probably one of the funniest movies i  ve seen in a long time and it doubles as something you feel is worth watching . it  s not simply a series of sex gags lumped together rather it  s a series of sex gags entwined with a very worthwhile character and a truly touching romance . now excuse me while i go puke my guts out i can  t believe i just wrote that . . .  br    br   my review from frider waves http   friderwaves . com  index . php  pagevirgin  
dietrich bonhoeffer  s writings have had a profound influence on my life as a christian  and i eagerly anticipated watching this movie and finding out more about his life . words can hardly express my disappointment . this movie was disjointed . . . it gave no background about his life  no historical context  and nothing about his great writings  except a brief  passing reference to  the cost of discipleship  by a colleague at the beginning of the movie .  instead  we see him enjoying jazz  apparently in the states  and chilling out with his friends before he decides to go back to germany . apparently to show his human side . ok  i  m ready for the dramatic part . the part where he stands up for his faith . instead of emphasizing that  we get a very badly acted romance with a    year  old schoolgirl . whether or not that actually took place  it should not have been a major portion of the movie . now . . . still waiting for the dramatic part  or some narration explaining what his writings were all about . . . or something to make us know a little bit of the greatness of this man . drum  roll . . . . . waiting . . . . . . . . . waiting . . . . . zip . nada . this is the kind of movie that gives  christian films  a bad name . all they had to do was set up a structure for the movie to follow  with some background . . . even some voice  overs  or flashbacks to him preaching from his works . . . some narrative about who he was and where he had been . but no . . . this is what we got . hardly fitting for a hero of the faith .  
this movie starts out hilarious from about the   second mark  and continues it throughout the movie . i cannot recall a scene where i didn  t turn to look at people laughing with me . he is the perfect actor for this roll because of the way he looks and the way he dressed .  br    br   the comedic parts were great to see from actors not very big or popular . as you can see people do like this movie it is currently rated  .  on imdb . i think it should be in    . lets put it this way i haven  t seen this funny of a movie since american pie or the original vacation . see it if you want a laugh . i give this movie  of the highest thumbs up i have ever given since i found out about imdb  great movie site .  
why did the histories of mary and rhoda have to be so dour  divorced women with indifferent daughters . and why very little reference to the original show and characters  the daughter characters were silly and uninteresting . why can  t there ever be daughters who like their mother  s on tv  it makes sense that mary would leave minneapolis  and rhoda would return to nyc  but why couldn  t phyllis or sue ann nivens be guest stars  it just seems a pitiful way to remember such wonderful characters . it was good to see mary and rhoda together of course  but it could have been better  much better . well  there has been a mary tyler moore show reunion  a dick van dyke show reunion  hopefully mary will do better next time if she revisits her old mary richards stomping grounds again .  
this movie is a riot . i cannot remember the last time i had such a great time at the movies . i  ve seen a few good comedies in my time and usually they are pretty funny . but this one is wall to wall great lines . i think best in show is the last movie that i laughed so hard and so much in . the movie was non  stop until the end when they did the  minutes of sentimental plot clean up . other than that it  s a constant barrage of one liners and goofy situations . i  d like to see it again before it leaves the theater because this is like the zucker movies where you don  t get all the jokes the first time around . you have to see it two or three times to get it all in .  br    br   as far as the actual film goes  it could have used a better edit  it  s choppy at times but we have to be forgiving for that . all the characters are great . it  s not like an adam sandler movie where he tries to be funny and everyone else suffers around him and is the butt of the joke . i think i will remember all the main characters for years to come because they are all so likable . no victims in this movie . also  thank god they got a   year old actress to play his girlfriend . catherine keener plays her and she is a sweetheart in this film . you just wish that women like her really existed . she  s not a     like some of the other leading ladies but somehow her smile is warmer than julia roberts overdone overbite .  br    br   if you see the trailer for this film you may not think too highly of it . i assure you  the trailer does not do it justice . they do not give away all the good jokes . just some of the mediocre ones .  br    br   oh and one more thing . i hope critics put this on their top ten list . many of them complain that comedies don  t get the recognition they deserve and then at the end of the year they don  t put it on their list . this means you ebert     
this film is not devoid of charm and also shows a bit of warmth  but ultimately this effort is too vain and too strongly focussed on the leads . there is no doubt that mary tyler moore knows what to do with all her screen time but she takes too much of the limelight away from the rest of the cast .  br    br   another problem is the overburdening of the script with cliches . the daughter who secretly drops out of college  an older woman finding it difficult to get a good job  and first ends up with fairly demeaning work   the sleazy network executive with his executive toys who goes for glitz over substance  the journalist who sticks up for her beliefs  etc . there is nothing really wrong with any of these  i . e . they are all firmly rooted in reality  but in combination they are just too much and leave us with too much deja  vu and too few surprises .  
   the   year old virgin    made me laugh a lot . i don  t care if it is considered to be a very sexual comedy  i just enjoyed many of the jokes and scenes present in this movie . steve carell is perfect as the virgin nerd andy stitzer and i think the scene where andy has his chest hair removed by wax one of the coolest  specially because it is real . many of the actors and actresses present in this movie are well known or already famous  by the way .  br    br   andy stitzer has a peaceful life . he is a little bit strange and collects lots of toys  but seems harmless . one day  while playing poker with his friends of his work  they discover that andy is in fact . . . virgin  and he is already   years old  after this surprising revelation  all his friends are trying to make andy sleep with a woman . . . the problem is the confusions in which andy gets in  specially now that he is really starting to like trish  a woman he met when she was buying a dvd player in the store he works at .  
on the back burner for years  so it was reported  this television reunion of two of the most beloved characters in sitcom history started off badly  and went straight downhill from there . mary richards  mary tyler moore  and her best friend rhoda morgenstern  valerie harper  meet in new york after a long estrangement and catch up on each other  s lives . what a novel concept  but  sad to relate  nothing worth talking about  let alone making a movie about  has happened to either of them in the intervening years . so  instead  the script contents itself with throwing out one hoary old plot device after another  most having to do with older women in the workplace   while completely missing the quirky charm and sophistication that made the original show a winner . the supporting cast is instantly forgettable  the humor is nonexistent  and the chemistry which moore and harper once had together is gone . moore allegedly stalled this project for years  waiting for  just the right script  before committing herself . if this was the one she considered  right   what on earth were the ones she turned down like  it  s not the age of the characters that does this in  for time inevitably marches on   but the almost complete lack of imagination coupled with a blatant disregard for the elements that made the series work . at one time this was intended as a pilot but  all to obviously  it failed to generate any interest among potential sponsors . or for that matter  among potential audiences . quickly and mercifully forgotten  the film is a travesty and an insult to a classic .  
the key to the    year  old virgin is not merely that andy stitzer is a    year  old virgin  but rather the manner in which steve carell presents him as one . in a genre of crass  comedy  that has become typified by its lack of humor and engaging characters  the    year  old virgin offers a colorful cast and an intelligent  heartfelt script that doesn  t use its protagonist as the butt  end of cruel jokes . that andy is still a virgin at forty years old is not as much a joke  in fact  as it is a curiosity .  br    br   carell  a veteran of team ferrell in anchorman and an ex  daily show castmember  uses the concept of the film to expand his character  we get to understand why andy is the way he is . it  s the little things that make this film work . when andy  s co  worker at an electronics store asks him what he did for the weekend  andy describes his failed efforts at cooking . when andy rides his bike to work  he signals his turns . he doesn  t just adorn his home with action figures  he paints them  and talks to them  and reveals that some of the really old ones have belonged to him since childhood . a lesser comedy wouldn  t even begin to focus on all of these things .  br    br   the plot is fairly simplistic  andy  s co  worker pals find out he  s never had sex and they make it a personal quest of theirs to get him in bed with a woman . it  s a childish idea and the film makes no attempt to conceal its juvenility .  br    br   andy  s friends are a complement to his neurotic nature david  paul rudd  has broken up with his girlfriend over two years ago but is still obsessed with her  jay  romany malco  is a womanizing ladies  man and cal  seth rogen  is a tattooed sexaholic . their attempts at getting andy in the sack backfire numerous times  and each time leaves andy feeling less and less optimistic .  br    br   finally andy meets single mom trish  played by catherine keener  and  much to the chagrin of his worrying buddies who claim mothers aren  t worth it  he falls in love with her . they begin a relationship and agree to put off having sex for twenty days  trish being unaware that andy is still a virgin .  br    br   the    year  old virgin was directed by judd apatow  the man who produced anchorman and the cable guy  and began the short  lived cult tv show freaks and geeks . apatow is renowned for his unique sense of humor  and the script  co  written by carell  offers plenty .  br    br   however  in the end the most interesting and  indeed surprising  aspect of the    year  old virgin is its maturity . by now you are probably well aware that the film received glowing reviews from the critics  and even i was surprised by its warm reception . but after seeing the film  it  s easy to understand why . we like andy . we care about him . he  s not just some cardboard cutout sex  comedy clich  he  s a real  living  breathing person . his neurotic traits combine the best of woody allen with childish naivety . his friends are not unlikable jerks and his romance is tumultuous and bittersweet . it strikes a chord with the audience .  br    br   although this is far from being a perfect movie and definitely contains some rather crude innuendo and sexual humor  it doesn  t offend to the extent that other genre entries might have because we have affection for the people on  screen . the best sex comedies work this way  from risky business to american pie  and that is the major difference between something like the    year  old virgin and   days and   nights .  
don  t get me wrong  dan jansen was a great speed skater . if there was one guy who deserved his gold medal at the olympics it was dan .  br    br   but how can it be possible that bill corcoran has made such a bad movie about the incredible dan jansen story  because the real dan jansen story is truly incredible  especially when you look at this movie through the eyes of a sportsman everything is wrong  the way matt keeslar and the other actors skate  their technique  the dimensions of the speedskating oval  it is all wrong   br    br   shame on you  bill corcoran  dan jansen deserves better  a lot better   br    br    out of    
i was really surprised with this movie . going in to the sneak preview  knowing nothing about the movie except for the one trailer i  d seen  i thought it was going to be a dude where  s my car kind of crap fest . i was expecting bad sex jokes and farting and a pathetic lead character who will get laid in the end because that  s just how movies work . instead i got a smart  surprisingly original movie about a decent  average guy who just never had sex .  br    br   yes  the film is chock full o  sex jokes and vulgarity and the occasional hey  look  a  nipple   but it  s done much in the spirit of bad santa rather than sorority boys . all the characters are people you probably know in real life  redeemable friends who are just trying to hook a brother up and live their lives .  br    br   i went in thinking this movie was going to be total crap  and i was very surprised . yea  it  s pretty over the top  c  mon  it  s a movie about a   year old virgin    but it  s very smartly done .  br    br   in the end  you  re really pulling for this guy to get laid  which says a lot about the movie because honestly  did you really care if ashton kutcher found his car or not   
if you haven  t seen this yet  i say just move on  take a walk in the park  don  t waste your time . neither the scenario nor the acting is worth your money . spoilers  i can  t decide which was worse the movie itself or baldwin  s hairstyle  ellen pompeo  s acting talent is very questionable i hope she can improve it over time . the storyline is just unbelievable . loose cannon american cop fighting criminals in europe on his own   infamous slavic mafiosi protected by only two hunks    an emotional art teacher leading a ruthless gang    spanish police executive dumber than a sack of hammers    give me a break . there  s only one good thing about this movie  though at least  the production costs must be lower than  ocean  s     s which was as meaningless and over the top as this one .  
i  m not quite sure if the term  serious comedy  applies to this movie  im not even sure if this can be applied . on the last few years movie theaters have become filled with comedy movies which are way too stupid to even make us grin . therefore  i considered the movies which do not fill these requirements as  serious comedies  .  br    br   does the   year old virgin fit into this guild  that is finally up to you  but in my opinion  this is a very funny movie . you get to laugh a lot  plus it delivers a social commentary through some really great characters and situations .  br    br   i  m pretty there is more than one   year old virgin out there  and even the people whom do not exactly fit this specifications  may feel identified by one of the characters in the movie  especially men .  br    br   the story  as the title says it  is about andy  a shy  silent guy  whom collects action figures  watches survivor with his octogenarian neighbors and whose favorite band is asia .  br    br   kal is andy  s co  worker at smarttech . he believes andy to be a psychopath until andy  s secret is revealed . kal is clearly a sexual pervert but yet he seems to get what he wants with the opposite genre .  br    br   david is the passionate guy who is still in love with his ex  girlfriend  whom ran away with another guy . and jay  a man in a relationship which seems to be affected by his continuous cheating and getting caught acts .  br    br   i  m pretty sure most youngsters from   to   have already watched this film  but it really does not have an age limit to be able to enjoy it . so in case you haven  t seen it and will enjoy a little laugh  with social commentary  than go to your video store and rest from those deep and depressing independent films .  br    br   it also includes dvd bonuses which you  ll really see from top to bottom .  
this effort was like a glitzy tv movie . . . i don  t recall this ever being released in theaters . . . if so  it must  ve died a quick death . watching the dvd  in the comfort of our bedroom  it was obvious this film was meant for not much more . . . ed lauter an art critic with a greed streak  what a fun turn that must  ve been . . . i haven  t seen ed since  the longest yard  . . . everyone else pretty much acted by the numbers  led by baldwin  except for pompeo . . . she had zero charisma and seemed to be sleepwalking thru most of the picture . . . pompeo  s daughter had one dimension . . . she played every scene like a lovable little puppy . . . slowest line delivery of any  year old i  ve seen yet . . .  br    br   the chase scenes gave my wife and i headaches . . . too much quick  cutting and angle  bashing . . . if you  re going to shoot a chase scene in barcelona  you might want a few wide shots to exploit the beauty of your backdrop  right  the whole story was pretty implausible and far  fetched  but hey  we liked it better than  the life aquatic . . .   
a pretty average movie but a brave one from ms hawn to promote this vehicle as exec producer  as a starring vehicle . although she ends up vindicated  she is willing to portray herself as the dizzy bimbo . how many other a listed actresses have subjected themselves to butt injury pratfalls since this movie  not many . does this mean the female butt cannot be funny  goldie surpasses other actresses as she has maintained a screen persona  ventures in projects other won  t . sandra bullock occasionally goes there  for example  miss congeniality but nicole kidman would never cop the pratfall . a wonderful performer . great to see some of my favorite actors  chris sarandon  cliff deyoung notably .  
i watched cabin by the lake this afternoon on usa . considering this movie was made for tv is was interesting enough to watch the sequel . so  i tune in for the airing this evening and was extremely disappointed . i knew i wouldn  t like the movie  but i was not expecting to be perplexed by the use of dv  digital video  . the movie would have been tolerable if it wasn  t for these juxtaposed digital shots that seemed to come from nowhere . i expected the plot line to be tied in with these shots  but there seemed to be no logical explanation .  warning the following maybe a spoiler      the open ending in cabin by the lake was acceptable  but the open ending on the sequel is ridiculous . i can only foresee return of return to the cabin by the lake being watch able is if the movie was shown up against nothing  but infomercials at  o  clock in the morning .  
the   year  old virgin        steve carell  catherine keener  paul rudd  romany malco  seth rogen  elizabeth banks  leslie mann  jane lynch  gerry bednob  shelley malil  kat dennings . hysterically funny high  concept comedy about the titular andy stitzer  wonderfully played by perennial second banana carell in a truly extraordinarily comic breakthrough performance sure to stratosphere him to the a  list   a tech services rep for an electronics store in southern california who is found out about his secretive identity by a trio of well  meaning yet entirely clueless womanizing co  worker buddies  rudd  malco  rogen  each one degree funnier than the next  determined to get their friend deflowered no matter the cost . what follows is an unlikely yet very warm  hearted romance with a vivacious mother  the marvelous keener having lots of fun here  leading to add more fuel to the fires within andy . a surprisingly good  spirited and unapologetically raunchy romantic comedy the funniest since  there  s something about mary  with a shrewdly observant script by director judd apatow and carell that features some astoundingly gut  busting sequences including a scathingly accurate david caruso joke  homophobic debunking ribbing  send  ups of  date  a  paloozas  and demystifying the war of the sexes with cheeky aplomb . a true winner and an instant classic the funniest film of the year .  
this movie makes several mistakes . a few american actors in spain  and the spanish actors speaking english . the  spaniards  english is ok  but the way the acting is performed it makes it all quite annoying . the dialog through the whole script is very weak it may have been a spanish script but translated incorrectly  who knows and who cares . i can only assume that these are famous spanish actors forced into the english language  they may be good  but not in this flop . you will figure out the movie within the first  minutes  thats how pathetic it is . then the rest is just bad . lots of waste of time  lots of un  necessary plots . oh did i mention one of the baldwins  is in this .  
only once in a while do we get an r  rated comedy that gets everyone  s time and attention . it  s an even rarer case when the critics will like it . i just came back from the   year  old virgin and i can honestly say  it was one of the biggest laughs of my life . i went to a      showing and every row was filled . not only that  everyone laughed their ass off the whole time through . it  s two hours of non  stop laughing . i dare you to see this film and to not laugh .  br    br   the plot is simple . a man is forty years old and he is a virgin . yet  behind this simple  five second joke  we are given a deep  complex story that is not only one of the funniest you  ll ever witness  but has genuine lessons behind it . steve carell stars as andy stitzer  the   year  old virgin . we have known steve carell  as  in my opinion  one of the best scene thieves of all time . stealing hilarious scenes from bruce almighty and especially anchorman  steve carell has come a long way  as finally  and proudly  is given his moment to shine as the star . no one will forget his name once they witness this pervasively funny  gut  busting  roll  in  the  aisle hilarious comedy .  br    br   the beauty about the film is it isn  t     stupid . the brilliant writing of judd apatow and steve carell genuinely has purpose and it  s not just one hell of a story to tell . behind the crudeness and vulgar non  stop ride of the film comes an important lesson to be learned . although not presented in the best way possible  the film gives us more than a purely enjoyable time . its gut  busting attitude will have you laughing the whole time through  while we simultaneously see the real life struggles of people like andy and his fellow co  workers . the end couldn  t have been better . not only does it deliver what we are promised but it gives one of the most memorable finishing numbers a comedy has ever seen . it would have been perfect if there was vince vaughn and owen wilson in there cameoing somehow  but you can  t win  em all  now can you .  br    br   finally  i think as roger ebert put it  catherine keener gives an unexplainable perfect performance as trish  the one woman andy has his heart truly for . not only does she also give us laughs but it is crazy to see how brightly she fuels the story . she was cast perfected in the role and her and carell have terrific  not to mention  hilarious chemistry on screen .  br    br   canadian ratings  wise  once again  ontario slips away with a   a  while british columbia  alberta  and manitoba all slapped the   year  old virgin with an   a . the same thing happened with four brothers  in my opinion  the second best film of the year  and i can honestly say that i love ontario more and more so for that . to all you fellow teenagers out there in the states good luck sneaking in   br    br   overall  steve carell gives one of the funniest performances i  ve ever seen and just about everyone in the cast distributes to the non  stop laughter . everyone will love the   year  old virgin this summer and i encourage everyone to see it as fast as humanly possible . it is the best comedy of the year  hands down . it beats all over the longest yard  the wedding crashers  and of course apatow and carell  s last memorable comedy  anchorman .  br    br   it is a comic masterpiece and deserves the remarkable amount of praise from the critics who have been loving it . every single one of my favourite critics loved it and it deserves a spot on the imdb top    right away . steve carell is a huge star . watch one of the brightest ones of the summer right now .  br    br   my rating      br    br   objectively       br    br   subjectively        br    br   eliason a .  
first  i realize that a    rating is supposed to be reserved for the worst of the worst . this movie gets that from me because  as one reviewer points out  it  s not bad in a self  aware  over  the  top sort of way that might allow it to have some comic or cult value . it simply misses its mark on every count . contains possible spoilers the dialog is completely disingenuous . the continuity is so deliberate it  s painful . daniel just finishes speaking of his lost love  and with his final word the flamenco dancers start . the mock  shock of what  s her name  see  i don  t even remember her character  s name  let alone the name of the forgettable actress  when her husband  the baldwin  first tells her that her friend is the bad guy . the car and the motorcycle chases did all the right things . vegetable carts gone flying . cars crashing into each other . motorcycles going down the stairs . people nearly being hit  but remarkably  no one is . oh  that  s right . . . except for the one guy who has been stabbed several times  is obviously stumbling along the curb with knife wounds  and an approaching car apparently didn  t notice him there . hmmm .  br    br   it  s becoming more and more remarkable to me that movies like this can be made . there is so much pressure in the film industry to make money  you  d think that someone in hollywood would think of making good films worth seeing . now there  s a novel idea .  br    br   my suggestion don  t see this film . don  t rent the dvd . don  t watch it on cable . there are lots of other things you could be doing that will leave you feeling more satisfied .  
all right  here  s the deal if you  re easily offended then you might want to stay far  far away from this one . there are some painfully funny moments in the movie  but i probably blushed about as much as i laughed . actually  i probably blushed more than i laughed . and if i wasn  t literally blushing on the outside  then i was blushing on the inside . if there is absolutely nothing in this movie that embarrasses you then you simply have no shame . whether that  s a badge of honor or not is in the eye of the beholder i suppose .  br    br   i will not deny that i laughed quite a bit  but this is a movie that i simply cannot give a blanket recommendation due to its subject matter . if i were to say   this movie is hilarious  go check it out   and some sweet  little old church  going lady heads to the theater and has a heart  attack during one of the graphically explicit sex situations  well  that  s just something i don  t need on my conscience .  br    br   so how raunchy is it  hmm  try about    times worse than the wedding crashers . honestly . my mom would  ve walked out during the first scene . i feel it  s my duty to at least warn you of what to expect .  br    br   there is some cleverly intelligent comedy here  but that  s what i come to expect from the man  judd apatow  who had a hand in both freaks and geeks and undeclared . i  m all for making fun of michael mcdonald the only man whose hair and beard are white enough to give kenny rogers a run for his money . paul rudd proclaiming   if i hear ya mo be there one more time i  ll ya mo burn this place down   is hilarious  but it  s one of those things that the majority of the audience won  t appreciate .  br    br   and when we see a quick   second flashback of steve carrell singing along to cameo  s word up  i laughed for a good two minutes after the joke was over  whereas most everybody chuckled and then forgot about it .  br    br   strangely enough  despite the raunch  there  s an admirable moral to the story . the movie doesn  t portray carrell as some freaky loser just because he  s a virgin . he  s really portrayed as a likable  admirable character . sure  he  s a little weird . after all  he has a framed asia poster   more videogames than an asian kid   and a toy collection that features the million dollar man  s boss  but we  re never led to believe that there  s actually anything wrong with the fact that he  s a virgin . as odd as it may seem  there  s a bit of an  it  s ok to wait  message .  br    br   but man  oh man  please be warned that this pushes its r rating about as far as it can go . that was certainly apatow  s intention . according to him  he just let some of the guys  particularly rogen and malco  improv and talk the way they normally talk  all in an effort to find lots of new ways to be dirty . if you can handle that or talk that way yourself  then you  ll love the movie .  br    br   i  m not a big fan of excessive profanity and sex jokes . i find that subtle  clever humor is much more entertaining than about    uses of the f  word or fratboy sex discussions . but that  s me . like i said  there are some absolutely hysterical moments here  but you have to ask yourself if they  re worth sitting through one of the most vulgar movies you  re likely to ever see at the theater . i just don  t know how interested most women will be in what  s discussed by men while playing poker . honestly ladies  you might not want to know . if you  ve ever been curious why some girls think guys are gross  well  this gives you a good idea .  br    br   there you go  my humble  honest take on what to expect . be that your guide . it definitely should not be seen with your sunday school class  mama  grandmama  any family members of the opposite sex  children of any age  or anybody who is easily offended by excessive profanity or explicit sex discussion . if you  d see it with any of the above then you apparently do not have any concept of what it means to be uncomfortable .  
this film seems to be a rip off of many movies that have dealt with the same subject in the past . let the future viewer be forewarned that  art heist  doesn  t add anything to the genre . director bryan goeres has no clue what to do with the film .  br    br   william baldwin keeps reappearing in films  and frankly  one wonders if he has a great agent  or is it that directors and producers love his unusual goofy looks  complimented by that strange hairdo he sports in most of his movies . the only good movie in which he has appeared  is  the squid and the whale   in which he only speaks two  or three lines . ellen pompeo  his leading lady  doesn  t fare much better there is no chemistry between ms . pompeo and mr . baldwin .  br    br   a movie to be seen at the viewer  s own risk .  
this is one of the funnier films i  ve seen . it had it  s crude moments  but they were full of charm . it  s altmanesque screenplay  brilliant physical humour  and relaxed friendships were a pleasure to watch  and a slice of life most of us can relate to . and i can say with a measure of honesty that i was afraid for steve carell  s nipple . . i truly was . surprisingly  this is a good  natured  unabashed comedy that is essentially about love  and the many relationships we may find ourselves in along the way . catherine keener was terrific as trish  and all of steve carell  s friends were flawed but amiable  and so much fun . the idea that they suspected that carell was a serial killer is a hilarious metaphor for a forty  year old virgin . but the simple truth was that he wanted to be in love first . original  charming  and very funny . highly recommended .  
this is one of the worst movies ever made . trite . predictable . flat .  br    br   the only thing that rated one point was there was a few nice scenes highlighting barcelona . i imagine they would use films like this in guantanamo or some other hidden cia  nsa prison to torture suspects .  br    br   often bad movies have some redeeming features  this has nothing . if i was in it or worked on it  i would change my name . truly a turd . hard to write more than this  but i feel the world  s film watchers needed a head  s up on this . on the other hand it will make a great gift for people you can  t stand .  br    br   you could send it to politicians you dislike  in laws  ex  wives  teachers you hated  former employees  dick cheney  w .  and a host of others .  
steve carell comes into his own in his first starring role in the   year old virgin  having only had supporting roles in such films as bewitched  bruce almighty  anchorman  and his work on the daily show  we had only gotten a small taste of the comedy that carell truly makes his own . you can tell that will ferrell influenced his  comedic air  but carell takes it to another level  everything he does is innocent  lovable  and hilarious . i would not hesitate to say that steve carell is one of the next great comedians of our time .  br    br   the   year old virgin is two hours of non  stop laughs  or  hours if you see it twice like i did   a perfect supporting cast and great leads charm the audience through the entire movie . the script was perfect with so many great lines that you will want to see the movie again just to try to remember them all . the music fit the tone of the movie great  and you can tell the director knew what he was doing .  br    br   filled with sex jokes  some nudity  and a lot of language  this movie isn  t for everyone but if you liked the wedding crashers  anchorman  or any movie along those lines  you will absolutely love the   year old virgin .  
although in many ways i agree with the other reviewers comments . i find that the plot and idea are very good . many of the supporting actors were very good . the fatal problem with this film is ellen pompeo . i am sure  i have never seen a less talented  actor  how this person has ever been in a film or on television  i cannot imagine . in my opinion she would be better as a greater at a wal  mart . to see a person with this low level of talent involved in paying roles  does beg the question . . . . . .  who does she know   i would very much like to see this film re  made with some talent . i do not fault the writer for the failure of this film to be worth the time to view it .  
something about the   year old virgin and the other comedy hit of the summer  wedding crashers  is similar  but they are two different films in some respects . both are romantic comedies that have that kind of over  the  top  crazy sensibility that keeps the teens and guys in their    s along with the usual dating crowd to go see the films . both have some sort of formula to the stories as well . but by the end of the   year old virgin  i think i found overall it was more satisfying than  crashers  . although one can guess where the relationship story with steve carrell  s character andy and catherine keener  s character trish will go to  it isn  t too basic for one to figure out like with crashers  and the characters both leading and supporting are realistic  more rounded than most of the one  dimensional or unexplained people in the other . and  perhaps  it may also depend on how much you identify  or just find the lunacy  in both .  br    br   the thing is some people may go into the   year old virgin not knowing steve carrell as well as owen wilson or vince vaughn  as carrell has built up his cult status on the daily show  one of my favorite shows on now  and in small but unforgettably riotous roles in anchorman and bruce almighty . this is his first starring role  but it  s not treated like some third rate vehicle . he and co  writer  director judd apatow treat the character of andy with a certain level of sincerity that keeps the audience on his side all the way  even early on as he talks to his action figures while re  painting them . it  s also a tricky line to walk on  in lessor hands this could be no more or less entertaining than the lackluster   days and   nights with josh hartnett  also about sexual dysfunction  . as the title suggests  andy is the   year old who is like the nice guy friend with still a little pee  wee herman in him  the opening over the credits of his his apartment is hilarious  a good sign  .  br    br   so  his friends  among them paul rudd  romany mancoy  seth rogen  all very good comic foils  try and devise different strategies and tips to finally break the sort of curse over andy  s head to pop his cherry  so to speak . he almost gets with a overly drunk woman  he almost gets with a freaky kind of girl  and almost with his own boss  jane lynch  also very funny in the mockumentaries  as a  explitive  buddy . but this soon all starts to fade as he gets into a meaningful relationship with trish  who works across the street from him . as they build on a relationship not based at all on sex  one might worry that the plot gear of  how is he going to tell her such and such  might get in the way of the comedy . it doesn  t . in fact  if anything  carrell and the cast build on it to a very high degree . for practically an hour and a half of the film  s two hour length  there was barely a moment i wasn  t laughing  whether big or small .  br    br   the big laughs though make up for not just any kind of formalities with the plot  or one or two little stray stories  the fellow co  workers have their own relationship problems as well  rudd  s being the funniest  . the big laughs come through because of carrell  s reactions  and that the people around him can either back up with their own sort of humor  charm  or that its with some truth . keener gives a very good performance and makes it so that there is a genuine spirit to their relationship  and  un  like  crashers   there isn  t as much that doesn  t make sense character wise  . for someone like me who loves it when a comedian can get laughs just from the way he looks on his face  carrell gets very high points here . and like with a farrelly brothers movie  the more raunchy or outrageous scenes are done with total absurdity the  waxing  scene  which was done for real  by the way  and the sort of aquarius musical number towards the very end of the film  the way it comes out at first is a total  uproarious surprise  . but if you  re willing not to get offended by it  there  s more where that came from . this is one of the funniest films of the year .  
ok  the helicopter shots are fantastic  and the director made good use of some of barcelona  s top sights . otherwise . . . production value was blown in the first few minutes and the rest of the film felt like a movie of the week . ellen pompeo was charming and fun to watch  abel folk had the most depth and was very effective  and william baldwin was . . . well  william baldwin . he got to put his martial art training to good use and be a running  jumping  earnest action figure . the rest of the cast was wooden at best  but mostly paper . so  if you  re nostalgic about spain  it  s a picture postcard with an action twist  and a healthy dose of el greco . if not  skip it .  
i got a free pass to a preview of this movie last night and didn  t know what to expect . the premise seemed silly and i assumed it would be a lot of shallow make  fun  of  the  virgin humor . what a great surprise . i laughed so hard i cried at some of the jokes . this film is a must see for anyone with an open mind and a slightly twisted sense of humor . ok . . . . . this is not a movie to go to with your grandmother  jack palance   or small children . the language is filthy  the jokes are  very  crude  and the sex talk is about as graphic as you  ll find anywhere . what  s amazing  however  is that the movie is still a sweet love story . my girlfriend and i both loved it . steve carell is terrific  but  like the office  the supporting cast really makes the film work . all of the characters have their flaws  but they also have depth and likability . everyone pulls their weight and the chemistry is perfect . i can  t wait to get the dvd . i  m sure it will be up there with office space for replays and quotable lines .  
baldwin has really stooped low to make such movies . the script  the music  just about everything in this movie is a waste of time .  br    br   the sound fx do not sound real  they stick out way too much  technical gadgets etc .  if they are trying to make a movie about things like this  at least try to get real with it and drop those extra bleeps and beeps  because those gadgets don  t really make loud sounds like that . natural sounds like footsteps and such are non  existent  which gives it a void  like atmosphere .  br    br   directing seems to be ok for such a low budget film  i sure hope it was a low budget production   although it does seem fairly amateurish at times .  br    br   most characters seem empty and false  they simply haven  t casted this movie very well . i  d imagine it would  ve been a better idea to make baldwin speak some spanish than to make spanish actors speak english  when we all know that theirs is the language which is more vibrant and alive  that is why the actors performance can suffer greatly if an odd language is used . i mean  could finally someone realise how stupid it sounds to make international actors speak english with a bad accent  it  s should  ve a long ago buried corpse in movie production . the production team ever heard of subtitles  this movie again manages to depict european police as lazy and corrupt  the societies as vulnerable and helpless . i mean if the plot again goes like  the interpol can  t do jack  so let  s call one american to bring down this international syndicate  or whatever .  br    br   sony pictures treads on the same path as columbia before it  just producing movies for the hell of it . i  d imagine them to have some self respect also . are buyers supposed to buy every dirty title just because sony puts out something good a few times a year   maybe they should  ve used the same team as who were making di que si  say i do . it  s spoken in spanish and paz vega and santi millan do a decent job keeping the movie afloat . looks and sounds much better  come on sony  wake up  produce less  sell more .  
steve carell has made a career out of portraying the slightly odd straight guy  first on  the daily show   and then in various supporting roles . in virgin  carell has found a clever and hilarious script that perfectly capitalizes on his strengths . carell plays andy stitzer  a middle aged man living a quiet  lonely life . andy is a little odd  but in an awkward nice guy sort of way . one night  while socializing with his co  workers for the first time  andy accidentally reveals that he is a virgin . his co  workers  david  paul rudd   jay  romany malco   and cal  seth rogen  initially tease andy about his situation . but it  s clear that all three have a certain respect for the decent human being that andy is  and they resolve to help him out by assisting him in ending his virginity . and so begins andy  s quest into adulthood . andy is the quintessential innocent  and the bulk of the humor derives from his naivet to the situations he finds himself in throughout the film . some of the humor is crude gross out stuff  but most of it is just well done intelligent comedy . in addition  i found some parts of the film actually pretty touching as andy finds himself developing both romantic relationships and friendships perhaps for the first time in his life . i  m not trying to portray the movie as a love story or a drama it  s a rolling in your seats comedy . still  every good comedy i have ever seen contains enough heart for you to care about the characters . a good comparison would be  the wedding crashers  from earlier this summer . virgin has a similar humor  but is perhaps a bit more vulgar in some of its jokes . i particularly loved the ending of the film  which i thought was a perfect way to end the flick . without giving anything away  it reminded me of  something about mary  . very light and fun it leaves you laughing and smiling  which is exactly how you should feel when you finish a comedy . i would highly recommend .  
one may ask why  the characters snarl  yell  and chew the scenery without any perceptible reason except someone wanted to make a movie in barcelona . billie baldwin  is that the right one   is forgettable in the cop  estranged  husband  loving  father  of  cute  little  blond  girl role . the story seems to have been cut and pasted from the scenes thrown away from adventure films in the last three years . ellen pompeo  s lack of charisma is a black hole that seems to suck the energy out of every scene she is in . her true acting range is displayed when she takes her blouse off as the movies careens from one limp chase scene to another . unfortunately  the directing rarely goes bad enough to be camp or a parody . it is all just clich  familiar in every respect . the director cast his own daughter as the precocious brat probably because no respectable agent would have permitted a client to ruin a career by being in such a lame  contrived and uninteresting movie . the only heist here is the theft of the investor  s money and the viewer  s time .  
i haven  t laughed this hard at a movie in a long time . i got to go to an advance screening  and was thrilled because i had been dying to see it . i had tears in my eyes from laughter throughout a lot of the movie . the audience all shared my laughter  and was clapping and yelling throughout most of the movie .  br    br   kudos to steve carrell  who i had already been a fan of  . he proves in this movie his tremendous talent for comedy . he has a style that i haven  t seen before . and catherine keener is excellent as always . thank god there wasn  t a cameo from will ferrell  love him  but saw him too much this summer  .  br    br   there were parts of comedic genius in this movie . partly thanks to carrell  and partly thanks to the writing  also carrell  . the waxing scene and the speed dater with the  obvious problem  were absolutely hysterical .  br    br   i will definitely go see    year old virgin  when it  s released . my advice go to see it for huge laughs and an incredibly enjoyable movie on top of it .  
this is another one of those movies that could have been great . the basic premise is good  immortal cat people who kill to live  etc .  sort of a variation on the vampire concept .  br    br   the thing that makes it all fall apart is the total recklessness of the main characters . even sociopaths know that you need to keep a low profile if you want to survive  look how long it took to catch the unibomber  and that was because a family member figured it out .  br    br   by contrast  the kid  and to a lesser extent  the mom  behave as though they  re untouchable . the kid kills without a thought for not leaving evidence or a trail or a living witness . how these people managed to stay alive and undiscovered for a month is unbelievable  let alone decades or centuries .  br    br   it  s really a shame  this could have been so much more if it had been written plausibly  i . e .  giving the main characters the level of common sense they would have needed to get by for so long .  br    br   other than that  not a bad showing . i loved the bit at the end where every cat in town converges on the house  every time i put out food on the porch and see our cats suddenly rush in from wherever they were before  i think of that scene .  
just came out of a sneak preview for this film . it had me laughing every   secs . the ending was so funny that tears were rolling down my face and it had me wishing i hadn  t bought that large coke . there are definitely some lulls  but  overall  highly entertaining . the movie lets steve carell have a chance to shine after stealing the spotlight from both jim carrey in  bruce almighty  and will ferrell  anchorman the legend of ron burgendy  in their movies . paul rudd is hilarious as always . i love that he can be so funny in these broad comedies and continues to work in indie dramas  like p . s .  . i think that seth rogen should be getting more work  because he so freaking talented and engaging . leslie mann also had some incredibly funny moments . i highly recommend it for those who just want to laugh like a maniac . however  if you  re easily offended  don  t see this movie . if you  re a rabid feminist  don  t see this movie . and  please  not matter what  even if you think you  re one of those  hip  parents  don  t take your kids to this movie . sure  you should let your teens go see this movie  just don  t watch it with them . it would make for some incredibly awkward moments .  
  st watched            out of    dir  mick garris   campy vampire  like stephen king movie has so many strange and goofy elements that you start laughing over the extreme weirdness about    the way into the movie and you wonder if this movie might have a cult following for king fans . it  s the story of a mother and son who are sleepwalkers  a shape  shifting feline  like  flesh eating  life needing  near extinct breed of humanoid  who move from town to town searching for virgins to feed on to keep themselves alive . they come across as pretty normal upper  class folk except they are secret lovers and cats hang around the outside of their home  day and night . cats are deadly to them  so they set traps in their yard to try and keep the population down . we get to see them break a couple of their necks when they attack  which is also a first in my movie  going experience     hopefully no real cats were harmed in the making of the film . the boy is after a sweet girl that he has a crush on until he turns into a  sleepwalker  and then he just wants her body . there is so much campy uniqueness to this movie that it might have been better if it was an all  out satirical comedy on suburban life  but the director instead tries to scare you every couple minutes until you wish he  d just get over it and bring out the gore . eventually that happens and the movie winds down to it  s typical stephen king downbeat ending . the movie is interesting because king  s humor comes thru more than usual but his weirdness is also very present and what you have is a movie that his fans will probably like and should have in their collection  but as a worthwhile movie experience it really doesn  t cut it .  
beware spoilers . this movie was okay . goldie hawn and chris sarandon were the best two in it . okay  so the goofie foreign guy who  spoiler here  trades with the biker for his clothes was funny . this guy  s boss was good  too . but the movie really belonged to sarandon and hawn . these two should have had a lot more time on screen together . they  re chemistry was great . the bathroom scene  wow  romantic  sweet  yummy .  br    br   hawn is a goofy cocktail waitress who saves a foreign man and ends up at the whitehouse in the middle of a plot due to the greed of politicians . to talk about sarandon would be to give a lot away . spoilers this is a rather untypical romantic  political comedy  and it satisfies both somewhat  the political side a whole lot more than the romantic . it touches on political issues  and just barely skims on romantic areas .  br    br    
  br    br   i saw this on the sci  fi channel . it came on right after the first one . for some reason this movie kept me interested . i don  t know why  stop asking .  br    br      spoilers    okay . . . it was cheesy how this guy got involved with the making of the movie . in the first movie  he had a  reason  to kill people  but in this sequal  half of the killings  attempted killings were basicly for no reason . stanley killed the director due to creative differences  he captured the co  writer due to creative differences  but what was the deal with trying to kill off the cast  no cast  no movie . he wanted it to  look real when they died   if this was supposed to be such a high budget movie  use the special effects  man . of course like the first one  the captured girl gets away  and stanley ends up getting messed up  and dissapears . woooooow  sarcasm  . this movie had potential . and the saddest thing of all . . . the really sad part . . . i would watch a  cabin by the lake   . only because i like judd nelson  and he  s the only good part about this sequal .  
in the previews   the   year  old virgin  boasts the image of another immature sex romp about a    ish lonely guy who suddenly feels the urge to do the deed simply because he hasn  t . too many past bad experiences have dampened his enthusiasm to the point that he avoids women completely . and then the unexpected happens he falls in love . what  s more  there  s a movie out about it  and it  s called  the   year  old virgin .   br    br   the virgin of the title is andy stitzer  steve carell   who is indeed    works as an employee at an electronics store and collects vintage action figures  which are displayed all throughout his nice bachelor pad for all to see . he has a lovely home theater system and watches  survivor  with his two kind elderly neighbors . he  s a pretty picturesque definition of the lonely guy who needs to go out more and talk to more women .  br    br   now here  s the real novelty with this picture it does the impossible task of actually dealing with its subject matter in a cute  mature fashion . this is a movie that could very easily have turned out a lot differently in the hands of a more transparent team of filmmakers . it could have descended into endless sex gags and jokes but thankfully this picture never stoops that low . sure there are sex jokes here and there and even a few prods are aimed at the gay community  which are  in no way  meant to be taken as gay  bashing   as two of the characters exchange insults towards each other while playing a video game   mortal kombat deception   no less  the ultimate testosterone  driven fightfest for guys  .  br    br   as someone who is rapidly approaching    collects mcfarlane toys action figures and has himself never done the deed  i found this film amusing and touching in a way that a similar  themed movie could never have been . i was able to relate to the character of andy stitzer more than anyone in the theater because i was the only teenager present at this showing everyone else looked like they were all past   . a bit arrogant  i know  but would you   you  is italicized  still be able to relate if you were the only teen present at an afternoon screening of  the   year  old virgin    br    br   of course andy has never had sex and wakes up everyday with  morning rise   don  t ask   and he  s pressured by his buddies to try outlandish methods of gaining the attention of the opposite sex . when it  s first discovered andy is a virgin  at    his three buddies and fellow electronics store coworkers david  paul rudd   jay  romany malco  and cal  seth rogen  all at first assume he  s gay because he  s never been with a woman  which couldn  t be any further from the truth . the truth is  andy loves women  but past traumatic experiences  revealed hilariously one after the other in a flashback sequence  have put him on the sidelines for good .  br    br   david  jay  and cal each embark on a mission to get andy laid  so help them all . but you know that such escapades will only end in disaster  as proved by one date with nicky  leslie mann   who puts andy through the worst drunk  driving experience i think anyone would not want to go through and he has a rather creepy encounter with beth  elizabeth banks   the pretty girl who works in the bookstore and is eventually revealed to be a total sex fiend .  br    br   things brighten up for andy when he meets trish  catherine keener   the friendly woman who works at a store across the street that sells stuff on ebay for people . hmmm . and with that nice  looking collection of action figures  you can go figure that in the end a large financial payoff awaits him  that is if he can ever  do the deed .   br    br   at last  this is the sex romp we  ve been waiting for . it deals with a very real issue a lot of lonely guys probably go through  not that anything is wrong with being a virgin but let  s look at the big picture how many of us  lonely guys  want to be a lonely guy forever  the important thing we  re taught in this picture is that lonely guy must be himself . i don  t think he needs to go through body waxing like andy does  which is side  splitting to be honest  and according to this website and various other news articles  was in fact real  and so was the blood on carell  s shirt afterward  .  br    br    the   year  old virgin  was directed by judd apatow and co  written by himself and carell  which originated as a skit that starred carell . carell is sweet and human  as his character is not some layabout who approaches this thing with his eyes shut . this is probably one of the most intelligent romps i  ve ever seen and is not offensive  a whole lot  because its characters are treated with dignity and respect . even carell  s buddies  who pass off bad advice to cover up their own relationship insecurities  can be related to on a fundamental level .  br    br   the way  the   year  old virgin  plays out is indeed funny in the end  but i  ll leave that up to you  the viewer  to observe . surely  if anyone can go through the things andy does and still have the strength to attract a woman as sexy as catherine keener  then it  s true it is never too late   br    br         
my wife and i both agree that this is one of the worst movies ever made . certainly in the top ten of those i  ve watched all the way through . at least  plan   was enjoyable .  br    br   i did really enjoy  christine    the dead zone    firestarter    carrie   and some of his other films . i didn  t care much for  cujo   only because the sound was so bad on versions i  ve seen and i often couldn  t tell what people were saying   or  pet sematary  pet cemetery   .  br    br   but this mess was a total mistake in every way possible . the  creatures  themselves seemed designed by a   year  old .  no offense to   year  olds .   br    br   even the  one  liners  made us groan and weren  t remotely amusing .  
a classic series that should be at least repeated or released on dvd . billy toth  after realising he is adopted after the death of his parents  embarks on a journey to find his real parents . after various rites of passage  his search culminates in the discovery that his fathers identity was stolen and used by a human trafficker in europe  if i remember correctly  the series ends on the austrian    ski slopes and a cliff top chase resulting in the death of billys fathers betrayer . this series was all filmed on location in various destinations round europe and appeared polished and incredibly well made with some episodes crossing into the realms of film noir and crime thriller . the main arc was often eclipsed by the slices of life that billy went through during his years of toiling to find his mother and fathers secrets . a class act but underrated and forgotten .  
this has to be one of the worst films i have ever seen without a doubt . the only thing interesting in this film is the cameo appearances from some great genre directors and king himself . the film has a great premise  but falls apart about   minutes into the story . i did like madchen amick in this film and think she could have a very good career in film .  
what a relief to find out i am not imagining this programme  the summary from taxman is great . i too remember finding it haunting and not particularly family viewing  i must have been      at the time i watched it . i think for a girl that age part of attraction was lead  s very blond hair  and his permanently sad state . the theme was played on a flute i recall  although i cannot remember how it went . i think the intro showed him playing it  or maybe he played a flute in the programme and especially when he was sad  maybe i am destined never to know how it ended or to see clip or hear the tune  but at least i now know it is not just me .  
  sleepwalkers  is the first film which stephen king has written a script for . given this  and the excellent santo  johnny song that they used as the theme of the movie  you would be expecting a odd  and ultimately fulfilling viewing experience . unfortunately  that  s not what you  d be getting . the thing is  they could have probably made it a good movie . the beginning is intriguing what with it  s small town spooky atmosphere . but something strange happens about   minutes into the film . the film turns funny for no apparent reason  from that moment on the whole atmosphere of  sleepwalkers  is ruined . for those of you who have seen it  who can ever forget good old johnny screaming out  cop kabob    after jabbing the pencil into that one cop  s ear    but don  t get me wrong  the humor has no redeemiing quality . i just rented it again to see if mabye i was wrong the first time around  given how original the plot sounded  but i was right . man  what a waste . i can  t believe they got the rights to that santo  johnny song . i gave this a  .  
barriers seems to be one of those series that have been lost in the mists of time . after it  s transmission in the early   s and one repeat  it  s since sunk without trace . this is a crying shame .  br    br   i originally watched this when it was transmitted in the southern tv region on sunday afternoons and was classic tea  time viewing . although i don  t remember a great deal about the program  a few things stuck in my mind . most notable were the unforgettable titles . the mournful flute music accompanying the attempted escape across an east european border and the subsequent car crash  and that scene has left me with an abiding love of  fintail  mercedes models as they used a merc     . although it wasn  t obvious at the start  the solution to the series  mystery was in these titles .  br    br   the plot about a young music student trying to unravel what really happened when he discovers he was adopted had lots of twists and turns but barriers was a surprisingly  adult  children  s drama . benedict taylor was excellent as billy and it was a shame he didn  t do a lot more .  br    br   this was a quality drama  well overdue for a dvd release and i hope i  ll get the chance to re  acquaint myself with it in the future .  br    br   a fond memory from my childhood  
oh dear me  rarely has a  horror  film bored me  or made me laugh  as much as this one . after a spirited start with an intriguing premise  it descends into not much more than a slasher flick  with some supernatural and sexual asides . the usually excellent alice krige is wasted in this one  and the plot twists are ludicrous . don  t bother unless you  re really desperate . rating     .  
having set the sitcom world alight with  father ted  arthur matthews and graham linehan  s next creation was a forgotten gem for the bbc called  hippies  although created by the pair  the six scripts were written by arthur matthews alone .  br    br   set in london in      ray purbs  a hippy  is the editor of an anarchist magazine . his friends are his flat  mate  the very laid back and cannabis smoking alex  his  girlfriend  is feminist jill and the none too bright hugo .  br    br   simon pegg was superb as ray  but he is superb in everything he is in . this sitcom had a feel of  citizen smith  about it . ray was very much like wolfie smith  trying to beat society  but failing miserably . at last this sitcom is going to be released on dvd in march  i can  t wait to buy it . as it was on in     and has yet been repeated on terrestrial television  my memories aren  t too good of the sitcom  yet i remember two episodes really clearly  the first being the opener  protesting hippies  which i thought was a great start  where ray goes on a protest against sandpaper and the other episode was  hippy dippy hippies  which i think was episode   again quite a clear memory about the police . sadly  the sitcom got a negative reaction from viewers  i can  t think why  . the bbc commissioned another series  but arthur matthews decided against it because of the negative reaction . oh well  i can  t wait for the dvd .  br    br   best episode hippy dippy hippies  series  episode  .  
ok  i first saw this movie like at     on cinemax a few weeks ago and thought it would be award winning  boy was i    d on that . this movie bit the big one . i mean  the mother of the monsters shows her true form only at the end of the movie . i  m going  that  s it  why doesn  t she show it briefly a little bit more earlier in the movie .  the plot being the mother and son feast on the blood of young women . wouldn  t it be better if they just went on  you know  a killing spree killing like a couple of young women each  then having the sheriff or a cop find out about and get into the old find a way to kill the monsters  save the young woman  women  and have  or  more people killed in the process  i think it would be a hell of a lot better that way . it also sucks because the son is the main character and he gets killed first . why not get rid of the mother first  plus  how does she have that strength at the end of the movie when she starts killing people  she said it herself she was too weak . what the heck was wrong with stephen this time  i can never  ever dis the acting on any movie by any actor  after all  they try their best . if it weren  t for good acting  i  d have given this movie a     .     .  
i often wonder why this series was slammed so much . i thought it was brilliant and also very cleverly written and performed . i think in time to come it will be seen in the light it deserves  that is if they ever issue it . many up and coming young comedy actors appeared in this and all went on to greater things . maybe this fact will make people aware of its value and it will have to be issued . sally phillips  simon pegg  peter serafinowicz and not least julian rhind  tutt of the hugely successful green wing . the writers graham linehan and arthur matthews are two of the finest comedy writers of the modern age . anyone that can produce comedy like father ted couldn  t be capable of writing something not worthy of publication . if it is ever issued i will certainly buy it .  
based on the average short story by horror writer stephen king about so called  sleepwalkers  ancient and immortal cat  like creatures that suck the life out of virgins in order that this energy may sustain them they have supernatural abilities  they can make themselves  dim  which means they become invisible and can create subliminal mirages to fool people . they have been fleeing humans for century  s we are told and have one by one been picked off till there are only two left . the film starts when a beautiful mother and her son arrive in a sleepy town  they are the last of the sleepwalkers and they are on the prowl for virgins to feed on . the mother sends her son out to enrol at the local high school so he can find a virgin  he does  madchen amick  and proceeds to try to get her alone so he can suck her dry . it is not made clear why the mother cannot seek out virgins herself  it would make things easier one would imagine as teenage boys are much more apt to follow a older beautiful woman to a secluded area than a teen girl follow a teen boy . however his plans are thwarted as the girl fights back  jabbing a pencil in to his ear . the police are called and the hunt is on  . the son is sick from his injuries and so the mother goes on the rampage killing cops left and right in her hunt for the girl who hurt her son and spouting some painfully unfunny one liners amidst the gore . finally the girl kills the mother  end of movie . this movie is rubbish  . the acting is variable  from the average brian krause to the excellent alice krige . the special effects are average  and showcase some early computer effects which is mildly interesting as it shows how far such things have progressed in such a short time . the direction is muddled and the film falls in to camp in places . the director seems unsure whether we are supposed to fear the sleepwalkers or sympathise with them and when in doubt allows the film to become hysterical . stephen king makes a mildly amusing cameo as an annoying gardener as does mark hamill  as a puzzled cop . alice krige seems to shoulder the film  her character is given depth and she gives an indication of what the film could have been with a better screenplay and better direction .  
i hated the first episode of this show   protesting hippies   so much in     that i shunned the rest . however  when it came on  the paramount comedy channel  i watched it in full and  to my surprise  found it absolutely hilarious  motto never judge a comedy series in its first week    br    br   set in       hippies  stars simon pegg as  ray purbbs   editor of an  oz   like underground magazine called  mouth  . his friends are the feminist jill  laid  back alex  and the half  wit hugo . back in the late     s  there was a feeling of incredible optimism amongst the young  that they could change the world through the printing of magazines nobody read . rather than sneering at the hippies  naivety   hippies  is affectionate towards it . arthur mathews  scripts cheekily parody a number of that era  s icons   hair    woodstock    the graduate   even the infamous  oz  obscenity trial of the early     s . excellent performances from the cast julian rhind  tutt  s  alex  strangely put me in mind of the richard o  sullivan character from  man about the house  . its a shame that there was never a second series  possibly because of people like me . if you missed  hippies   give it a try . once you get past the dire opener  you  re in for a treat   
this film has its share of negative comments and i have to agree with those who consider it one of the worst movies ever made . true  most of the films based on the works of king are pretty bad  but this one goes beyond bad into the realm of horrible . there is not one scary moment in it unless you consider stupidity scary . it is typical king garbage   myths twisted around that made no sense in the first place  mixed with obvious and belabored so  called  scares  that are about as shocking as peewee  s playhouse  which  at least  is entertaining  . it is full of ridiculous moments  not the least of which is alice krige  s character . when she goes on a rampage and starts quipping like the villain in an old batman tv show  it is so absurd as to be sickening . all the people who had cameos in this  including john landis  are lucky they still have careers . but the most absurd part has to be the cat costumes towards the end  which look like cheap rubber outfits someone bought at k  mart . the best part of the movie is the appearance of some real cats who actually out  act the people in the movie .  
when i first saw the romeo division last spring my first reaction was brilliant  however  on future viewings i was provided with much more than masterful film  making . this picture has a singular voice that will echo throughout the annuls of film history .  br    br   the opening montage provides a splendid palette which helmer jp sarro uses to establish his art on this canvas of entertainment .  br    br   sarro truly uses the camera as his paintbrush while he brings us along on a ride that envelops the audience in a tremendous action movie that goes beyond the traditional format we have become accustomed to and dives deeply into dark themes of betrayal  revenge and the importance of companionship . this movie is any director  s dream at its very core .  br    br   however  sarro was not alone in this epic undertaking . the writing  provided by scribe tim sheridan  was just as breathtaking .  br    br   the dialogue was so precise and direct that it gave the actors such presence and charisma on the screen . specifically speaking  the final scene  warning spoilers    spoilers     where vanessa reveals herself to be one of the coalition and a villain all the time  is written in such a dark tone that it is one of the most chilling endings i have ever seen . sheridan is the next robert towne .  br    br   in a final note it is obvious that this production was no small feat .  br    br   therefore much praise must be given to producer scott shipley who seems to have the creativity and genius to walk next to jerry bruckheimer . never before have i witnessed a production so grand with so much attention directed at every little detail . a producers job is one of the hardest in any movie and shipley makes it look easy .  br    br   all in all this film combines creative writing  stunning production and masterful direction . this is the art of film at its best . when the ending of the film arrives the only thing that is desired is more .  br    br   the romeo division is groundbreaking  a masterpiece and  most importantly  the romeo division is indeed art .  
if you  re the kind of movie  goer who enjoys original content and intelligent suspense . . . then look elsewhere  kids  cause sleepwalkers really sucks . usually i  m more eloquent than that  but . . . wow . . . this was bad . i especially love it when charles offers tanya a ride home  she declines  and then he is seen walking home . where  s his car   anyway  just don  t see it  folks . i really want to be more specific  but words escape me . cats jumping on people . a guy getting stabbed by corn . cheesey lines up the proverbial  wazoo  . just don  t see it . wait  i take that back  see it for writer stephen king  s cameo as the guy who owns the graveyard . he  s actually pretty good . even with guest appearances by mark hamill and ron perlman  king gives the best performance of the film . but  other than that . . . wow . . . bad .  
i just want to say that i am so glad somebody finally spilled the beans on this movie . bravo  the spaz   bravo  this movie is a ridiculous farce of film  making . especially for a student film  i just want to give credit to the spazz for taking the absurd amount of time a care to find such a rare picture  and then to comment on it  most people i know don  t have that kind of time  especially so few will end of reading it . kudos to you sir  anyway  the movie follows a thin storyline that is at the least unbelievable and just plain silly . i understand the idea behind creating a satire of charlie  s angels but why hire such atrocious actresses  also  what kind of director has himself act  write  produce and also edit the picture  choose one job and put all your love into it man  it  s such a shame because i hear he made a good movie about a killer toothbrush . again  thanks to the spazz for pulling back the curtain on this film  people like you are a rare find .  
i have nothing against a fast  paced fright  flick  but this stephen king  derived nonsense is too freshly  scrubbed  too bright and modern . the plot  about a new teenage boy in a small town who is a  sleepwalker    sort of a cross between a vampire and a werewolf   and who feeds on the blood of female virgins  begs for a more mysterious  ambiguous treatment . this thriller is given an inappropriately colorful look and feel  with hardly any atmosphere . the kids are predictably pretty and energetic  but the big plus is alice kridge as the boy  s mother kridge  from  ghost story   never broke out of the filler  female mold  and it  s a huge loss that she hasn  t been used more . her performance is creepy and intense  and gives hint that  sleepwalkers  might  ve been a much better film with a different focus and tighter direction . it  s too over  the  top and commercially  driven  with an uneven tone that swings wildly from thriller to comedy to drama . stephen king pops up in a cameo  as do real  life directors john landis and tobe hooper .     from   
i love this movie    out of   hands down  it is that damn good  i am not much of a fan of movies but i gotta tell you this one opened my eyes . astounding color and fast energy . i was fortunate to catch this at a screening during the zoinks  film festival in boston  and the story really enveloped me from the start . it had a lot of adult themes and character and when it ended i wanted more . i hope they make a sequel . that would be fun . my only problem with it is the performance of melissa connor as anya . ugh  she sucks  i  ve seen a block of wood pull out a better performance . i don  t what the director was thinking when he cast her . but if you ignore her you can  t help but give this movie a big ten     
it could have been a marvelous story based on the ancient races of cat people  but it wasn  t .  br    br   this work could have been just that marvelous and replete with mythological references which kept my fascination fueled . the lead characters  charles brady played by brian krause and his mother mary  played by alice krige  were shallowly done  had no depth of personality and were hardly likable or drawing . not even mdchen amick  who played tanya robertson   s character fit into that description .  br    br   however  as i  ve said many times before  when you adapt a stephen king novel for tv  you simply must take into account the fact that his books aren  t written for tv  and his screenplay talent sadly lacks the fire and depth he exhibits as a novelist .  br    br   this is another botched attempt to take the magick of stephen king writing  whether that is of his novels or an original screenplay . to simply cut and paste his work onto the small screen . his novels get completely bastardized in the process and all you end up creating is a nice movie nothing less but certainly nothing more . his screenplays are hit and miss . unfortunately  this screenplay translation was a miss .  br    br   sorry  sorry  sorry movie .  br    br   this movie gets a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
this is a feel  good movie and nothing more . and for that  it is great fun to watch . sure it skims over political issues . but so what  i am sure she wasn  t trying to make  good night and good luck  here . let  s not try to make it anything else but what it is . . . light fare .  br    br   and very enjoyable at that   br    br   do we remember what     was like  we  ve become very sophisticated according to the media as far as what we watch or not . i tend to differ on this point . goldie knew this was fun  fluff and she went ahead and did it .  br    br   like her lightest fare protocol  overboard  housesitter  wildcats  private benjamin  seems like old times  foul play  death becomes her  first wives club and the remake of out  of  towners  goldie knows what she is doing . . . she plays every role for the camp that you can get out of it  goldie just knows herself really well  and she knows what she can do really well .  br    br   she has always made me laugh cheerfully and innocently . i loved her in laugh  in and every thing she  s ever been in . she has never tried to be anything else but who she is . . . and that  s that bubbling  giggly  girl next door who happens to be very pretty and has a smile and a laugh that will always endear me and remind me that life is pretty short and you  ve just got to lighten up because before you know it . . . you are old  wrinkled and suffering from one of life  s inevitable ailments . if it even comes that late .  br    br   i appreciate goldie for what she is a lovable  comic actress .  
if you are planning to see this movie  please reconsider . i don  t usually post my comments about something i  ve seen on television  but this one was such a waste of my life that i needed to do something productive to get that bad taste out of my mouth . critiquing this movie would take far too long as there are so many things wrong with it . i will just simply say  please do not ever see this movie . it was a complete waste of my time and it will be a waste of yours . anyone that wrote a positive review of this movie is one of two things utterly inept  or working for the company that produced it . again  i guarantee that you will indeed regret seeing this movie   
my mother and i were on our way home from a trip up to the north east  mainly massachusetts  when we decided to take a little detour a attend a film festival in boston . now  i don  t know much about film so i thought this might be a bit educational . the first movie we saw was this one  the romeo division . now  i don  t know about you but i thought this was great  i  m from texas and where i come from we don  t see too many motion pictures so this was a pleasant surprise . my mother insisted that it was too violent  but said that i didn  t know much about what she was saying but this was a great picture . i was shocked by the fight sequences they were great . also  i am a big fan when the good guys win so i was thrilled when romeo ladies killed all of the bad guys . this was true brilliance . i  m not sure when it  s getting released on video but if you get the chance you should check it out . i think you  ll be pleasantly surprised . a word to the wise though  it is rather violent and there many cuss words so you may not want to let your children watch . it  s more for adults .  
this movie was so gay like its a mom and son cat that have sex  they also get scared of little kitty cats . they get set on fire by them . the mom cat alien thing kills a guy by stabbing him in the back with an ear of corn  they are bullet proof . invisible . and what not . the star of the movie  clovis  is the cops cat  clovis leads the cops to find the mom alien  and after the mom kills the cops  clovis kills the mom by eating her head then she catches on fire . this movie sucks . it was way way more funny than it was scary  it wasn  t even scaryt at all . the girl hits the alien on the head with a camera  it knoks him out . she then goes and hugs her . the then grabs her and begins to rape her . once again  clovis comes to the rescue  
 . . . here comes the romeo division to change the paradigm .  br    br   let me just say that i was blown away by this short film . i saw it  randomly  when i was in boston at a film festival and i have thanked god for it every day since . i really  truly believe i was part of a happening  like reading a tarantino script before any else did or seeing the first screening of mean streets .  br    br   i am not sure what festival the short is headed to next or what the creative team has on tap for future products  but i so hope i can be there for it .  br    br   again  a truly incredible piece of film making .  
written by stephen king  but this treatment is not as solid as most of his stories on film . a mother and son move into a small indiana town with a secret . they are sleepwalkers  feline type creatures that feed on young virgins . this little story has its share of gore and special effects plus hints of incest .  br    br   alice krige is outstanding as the mother . others appearing are madchen amick  brian krause and cindy pickett . look for very small roles for john landis and clive barker . stephen king cameos as the caretaker of the cemetery .  
i have watched this movie three times . the last time  i kept skipping around confusing scenes to find resolution for the plot . perhaps the plot is not intended to hang together logically . or perhaps these rough spots are in the plot because ann  s recall of distant events is rather faulty .  br    br   take the young ann grant  claire danes  . here is a young woman who has attended an unnamed college with the scions of a rich family . she must have had help to afford this very expensive education  but never seems to have any family ties at all . she never seems to have any relatives she can turn to when the consequences of one of her disastrous decisions take effect .  br    br   ann shares an evening of passion with her great love harris arden  patrick wilson  . then  when harris comforts lila after the tragic death of her brother buddy  ann suddenly finds him repulsive and is disgusted with her own behavior . i must have missed something significant here . ann  s behavior seems totally inexplicable . ann abandons her relationship with harris and eventually marries one of the groomsmen at lila  s wedding . despite ann  s rejection of harris  she continues to hold deep feelings for him on her deathbed .  br    br   it was obvious from his behavior that harris was deeply smitten with ann and would have gladly married her . a scene showing their chance meeting years after lila  s wedding showed that harris still had deep feelings for ann .  br    br   the film showed a pattern for ann  s romantic relationships . she always had a falling out with her men and she rejected them . this pattern held with harris and two husbands . in contrast  lila married a man she did not love and she remained with her husband until he died . perhaps lila was able to build a relationship because she refused to let her marriage fail .  br    br   then came the too convenient reappearance of lila ross at ann  s bedside . apparently ann  s nurse was able to extract enough information from ann  s last few lucid moments to identify and contact lila . none of this communication appeared on the film .  br    br   i kept wondering about the house ann was living in during her final days . how did she afford to buy such a house on the meager earnings of her singing career  ann always seemed one step ahead of financial disaster while raising her two daughters .  br    br   on another level  i enjoyed the film  s setting and music immensely . the seaside mansion was just so heartbreakingly beautiful . claire danes was luminous as the young ann grant . she is really quite a talented singer . i much prefer her natural brunette to the bottle blonde look she had in the film extras . if only those pesky cgi fireflies would go away  i could raise the movie a whole point in my vote   
a charming boy and his mother move to a middle of nowhere town  cats and death soon follow them . that about sums it up .  br    br   i  ll admit that i am a little freaked out by cats after seeing this movie . but in all seriousness in spite of the numerous things that are wrong with this film  and believe me there is plenty of that to go around  it is overall a very enjoyable viewing experience .  br    br   the characters are more like caricatures here with only their basis instincts to rely on . fear  greed  pride lust or anger seems to be all that motivate these people . although it can be argued that that seeming failing  in actuality  serves the telling of the story . the supernatural premise and the fact that it is a stephen king screenplay  not that i have anything specific against mr . king  are quite nicely supported by some interesting fx work  makeup and quite suitable music . the absolute gem of this film is without a doubt alice krige who plays mary brady  the otherworldly mother .  br    br   king manages to take a simple story of outsider  or people who are a little different  okay  a lot in this case   trying to fit in and twists it into a campy over the top little horror gem that has to be in the collection of any horror fan .  
criticism of the film evening  based on the novel by susan minot and adapted for the screen by minot and michael cunningham  has been harsh  so harsh that it may have discouraged many viewers from giving the film a try . the primary criticism has centered on the fact that very little happens in this film about a dying woman  s fretting over a mistake she made one summer in her youth  that famous actors were given very minor roles  that the entire production was over  hyped  etc . for this viewer  seeing the film on a dvd in the quiet of the home  a very different reaction occurred .  br    br   ann grant lord  vanessa redgrave  is dying in her home by the ocean and her medication and memories allow her to share a man  s name   harris   with her two grown daughters nina  toni colette  and constance  natasha richardson  . as her daughters sit at her bedside ann relives a particular summer when she was a bridesmaid for her best friend lila  mamie gummer   a marriage both ann  claire danes as the youthful ann  and lila  s alcoholic brother buddy  hugh dancy  objected to  feeling that lila was simply marrying a man of her class instead of the boy she had loved  harris arden  patrick wilson   her housekeeper  s son who had become a physician . harris  buddy  lila  and ann are woven together in a series of infatuations and romances that have been kept secret until now    years later  as ann is dying . the older lila  meryl streep  visits ann at the end and the secrets are revealed  there are no such things as mistakes  life just goes on .  the film is a delicate mood piece and the script by minot and cunningham is rich in atmosphere and subtle life lessons . yes  there are gaps in the story that could have used more explanation  but in order to maintain the aura of nostalgia of a dying lady  s words  such  holes  are understandable . the film is graced by the presence of not only redgrave  richardson  redgrave  s true daughter   collette  gummer  streep  s true daughter   meryl streep  claire danes  eileen atkins  glenn close  hugh dancy and patrick wilson  but also with an ensemble cast of brief but very solid performances . the setting is gorgeous  cinematography by gyula pados  and the musical score is by the inimitable jan a . p . kaczmarek . lajos koltai   being julia   directs . judge this film on your own . . . . grady harp  
there are no spoilers here . . . because there is no plot to spoil . madchen amick is living proof a face can make a living acting   no talent required . the only bright spot are a few really good one  liners delivered very nicely by alice krige  but then again  she is alice krige . her soft dreamy voice gives the only hint at just how seductively dangerous these odd creatures can be . she is believably creepy in this otherwise unbelievable plot . how they got her to agree to this project remains a mystery . the screenplay writers must have been medicated when they submitted this script . it has major continuity problems  superficial stereotypical characters  horror formula writing  and simply falls short of making any sense what  so  ever . the creatures  while they have neat skills like going  dim   the question of where they come from and what they are is never so much explored .  br    br   don  t waste any time on this one .  
evening is an entertaining movie with quite some depth . all the actors and actresses turn in spectacular performances . with the tremendous cast  though  one expects stellar acting  but in this movie the expectations are exceeded . one can relate to personalities and situations in ones own family . as one watches the interaction of the family members one  s own family memories are immediately brought to mind . this is one of the few movies that inspires one to read the book . usually it is the other way around one reads the book and then wants to see the movie . i will definitely obtain a copy of the susan minot book and read it . the rhode island scenery is spectacular as is the soundtrack . any car buff will enjoy the apparently expertly restored period automobiles . needless to say now  but i recommend evening highly . see it you will enjoy it .  
ok  i taped this off tv and missed the very start . the film was about   or so seconds into the titles  i assume  so if anything happened before that i missed it .  br    br   lots of people say mark hammill is in this  i didn  t see him . i did recognise clive barker  john landis and obviously stephen king doing some really awful acting as the graveyard attendant .  br    br   alice krige looks lovely apart from the scenes where she has the cat face or is in full alien make  up .  br    br   even with the opening titles it  s never really explained very well exactly what sleepwalkers are or where they come from . from the title sequence i assume they are catlike bipeds who live by extracting life  force from humans . i assume they live a long time and these particular  are possibly the last of their kind .  br    br   add to this a very large dose of incest  yes  i thought it was a bit suspect too   shapeshifting  killer cats and invisibility and you have sleepwalkers .  br    br   it  s a very bad story that has no real explanations behind the main  characters and far too many cameo  s to try and distract from the simple fact that not enough is explained to the viewer .  br    br   avoid .  
if you cannot enjoy a chick flick  stop right now . if  however  you enjoy films that illustrate complex characters and provide extraordinary acting  read on .  br    br   ann grant lord is dying . her two daughters arrive to be at her bedside . ann begins talking about people from her past of whom the daughters are unaware  and they question as to whether these lost acquaintances are real or imagined . they come to realize that these people from their mother  s past are  indeed  real .  br    br   the story shifts  basically  between     and circa     with a few glimpses at ann  s life between those years . it was in     that ann met the love of her life and experienced her life  s greatest tragedy .  br    br   one of ann  s two best friends from college  lila  is being married . ann  s other best friend is lila  s brother  buddy . lila and buddy are the children of a rich newport family  whereas ann is a cabaret singer living in greenwich village who wants to be a free spirit but is still bound by many of those      s conventions .  br    br   soon after ann arrives to be maid of honor at lila  s wedding  she meets the person who will become the pivotal character in the lives of the three  harris . he is the adult son of a former servant of the family who grew up with lila and buddy and has gone on to become a physician in a small new england town . ann immediately becomes enamored of harris which adds a complication to the fact that lila has always been in love with harris and continues to be . buddy  also  is in love with harris  but being      he has redirected that homosexual desire for harris to his good friend  ann for he cannot admit to himself that he has a sexual craving for another man . buddy exhibits his inner frustration outwardly by being the alcoholic  wise  cracking bad boy of the family  much to the chagrin of his very proper and uptight parents .  br    br   needless to say  all of these expressed and repressed emotions lead to tragedy  after all this is a chick flick .  br    br   in the present time  ann  s daughters have become distant from their mother and are suffering their own life realizations and doubts . constance is working to emotional exhaustion trying to keep up her roll as perfect mother and wife . nina  having always felt inferior  cannot maintain a relationship .  br    br   stir all of these relationships into a span of fifty years  and you get an intriguing look at society  its values  and its effects upon the personalities and actions of the complex people involved .  br    br   all of the acting in evening is excellent  but there are some extraordinary performances and scenes  along with two unique family relationships  that make this film so very  very special .  br    br   claire danes plays the      s ann  and she does it in a style that clearly shows an intelligent woman of those times who is conflicted by what she is supposed to do as opposed to what she wants to do . her performance is not easily forgettable .  br    br   vanessa redgrave plays the dying ann whose mind shifts from the present  to the past  to flights of fantasy  and of course  redgrave pulls it all off with sterling style .  br    br   natasha richardson  redgrave  s real daughter  plays ann  s daughter  constance  in the film . the scenes between this real life mother and daughter playing fictional mother and daughter are an insightful treat to watch .  br    br   toni collette plays ann  s other daughter  nina . nina spends a good deal of her time being depressed and feeling sorry for herself while shutting out a good man who loves her as well as her mother and sister . collette is perfect for a part such as this  but i have never seen her give a bad or unbelievable performance no matter what part she plays .  br    br   mamie gummer plays      s lila and shows us a woman even more conflicted of her expected role in life than her good friend  ann . she is very good .  br    br   meryl streep  gummer  s mother  plays present day lila . what is there to say about meryl streep other than she always gives an insightful and rewarding performance .  br    br   director lajos koltai states in the dvd extras that he sought out glenn close to play the relatively small part of lila  s mother because he felt she was the only actress he could think of to play one scene in the film . he certainly was right  and close  s performance in that one scene etches it in your mind . all the other scenes in which close is lila  s very proper mother  and you get another performance to treasure .  br    br   there are three other scenes in the film  combined with the one featuring close described above  that make the whole movie worth watching . on lila  s wedding day  ann comes into her room and crawls into to bed with her friend to discuss lila  s misforgivings about her upcoming wedding to a man she clearly does not love . this scene is repeated fifty years later when lila comes and crawls into bed with her dying friend ann to talk about the lives they have lived . in this latter scene  streep and redgrave are enthralling .  br    br   the other memorable scene  at least to me  is when buddy declares his love for ann . hugh dancy as buddy gives us a heartbreaking performance of a young man torn apart by his conflicting sexual feelings . his performance is superior .  br    br   chick flick  yes . a very special film with unbelievable acting  directing  and scenery  definitely . i cannot recommend evening too much .  
 . . . . and after seeing this pile of crap you won  t be surprised that it wasn  t published  br    br       spoilers      br    br   this is a terrible movie by any standards but when i point out that it  s one of the worst movies that has the name stephen king in the credits you can start to imagine how bad it is . the movie starts of with two characters staring open mouthed at a scene of horror   br    br    my god . what happened here    br    br    i don  t know but they sure hate cats    br    br   the camera pans to the outside of a house where hundreds of cats are strung up dead and mutilated . boy this guy is right  someone does hate cats and with a deduction like that he should be a policeman . oh wait a minute  he is a policeman and when a movie starts with a cop making an oh so obvious observation you just know you  re going to be watching a bad movie  br    br   the reason sleepwalkers is bad is that it  s very illogical and confused . we eventually find out the monsters of the title need the blood of virgins to survive . would they not be better looking for a virgin in the mid west bible belt rather than an american coastal town  having said that at least we know of the monsters motives  that  s the only thing we learn . we never learn how they  re able to change shape or are able to make cars become invisible and this jars with the ending that seems to have been stolen from the terminator . monster mother walks around killing several cops with her bare hands or blowing them up via a police issue hand gun    but if her monster breed is immune from police fire power then why do the creatures need the ability to change shape or become invisible  the demise of the creatures is equally ill thought out as there killed by a mass attack of household cats . if they can be killed by cats then why did the monsters not kill all the cats that were lying around the garden  there was a whole horde of moggies sitting around but the monsters never thought about killing them . i guess that  s so the production team can come up with an ending . it was that they started the movie my complaint lies  br    br   we  re treated to several scenes where famous horror movie directors like john landis  clive barker and even stephen king make cameos . i think the reason for this is because whenever a struggling unknown actor read the script they instantly decided that no matter what  they weren  t going to appear in a movie this bad so stephen king had to phone up his horror buddies in order to fill out the cast . that  s how bad sleepwalkers is  br    br    unbelievable as it seems that wasn  t the worst line in the movie . the worst line is   that cat saved my life   
so many wonderful actresses in one film serve as a practical invitation to the local movie house so i duly responded . here are some remarks . .  br    br   vanessa redgrave is great even while lying in bed . she also looks very old and i don  t think this is achieved with much make  up which is a good thing for the film but a sad thing for us cinema  goers . i think her aging got a bit harsh in recent years . claire danes continues her welcome return to the movies and exudes a definite warmth . mamie gummer  s resemblance to her mother merly streep both in terms of physical appearance and acting style is so striking that i lost my concentration to the film for a couple of minutes after her entrance . she is surprisingly good however such a resemblance has the danger of working against her favor . i agree with a previous comment natasha richardson definitely had some plastic job done to her face . she certainly does not look like how i remember her from previous films   nell  for example .  both she and toni collette sadly do not make much impression partly because they do not look convincing as sisters . their interplay is weak . toni collette additionally is way too old for her character . glenn close and meryl streep had to have more screen time . streep  s performance actually is little more than a cameo . her scenes on the other hand have bigger emotional resonance than the rest of the film . eileen atkins provides some welcome dry wit  especially in her second role as an imaginary nighttime companion to redgrave  s character . as for the men hugh dancy enlivenes the film considerably even though he gives a broader performance than needed . as a matter of fact as soon as he exits the story it starts to drag . it is also to his credit that he manages to create the exact necessary sense of boyish charm in the viewer . patrick wilson on the other hand is a complete void at the center of the film . he also has the misfortune that the script is insufficient in explaining why three people  one of them a man  are so much smitten by this man . the backstory to this should have been developed more .  br    br   the cinematography is excellent as expected . however the main summer house set failed to convince me . it does not look natural on the top of that rocky hill  particularly with its grass patch in the front . a bit too cardboard like .  br    br   overall  the film is a classy production  but a seen  it  all  before  cried  at  it  all  before feeling took over me during most of its duration and consequently it failed to make the kind of impact on me that i expected from a tearjerker . however  it still managed to make me thoughtful about the passing of time  about one  s expectations from life and the extent to which these are fulfilled or not . worth trying at least on dvd if not at the movies . . .  
so on the chills network on cable they are having  vampire month   i  m such a dork  but i love vampires . so after a few duds that they showed i was pretty disappointed  but then i noticed sleepwalkers was written by stephen king . so i decided to go ahead and check it out  well much to my surprise  this movie was really bad . most stephen king films are entertaining and some are very scary . while sleepwalkers was bad  it was a beautiful kind of bad . i had a good time laughing at this movie and just taking it for what it was . i  ve never read sleepwalkers  from what i understand this is the only real vampire story by king  so i can  t really compare book to film . i don  t know if it was just my tv  but sleepwalkers looked like it was made for tv . the special effects were corny and the story was a bit far fetched  even if it is fantasy  it had a lot of problems .  br    br   charles brady and his mother mary are vampires who feed off the life force of virgin women . they are considerably more resilient than humans and have powers of both telekinesis and illusion . their one weakness is cats  who are not only able to see through their illusions but whose claws are capable of inflicting severe to fatal wounds upon them . they also maintain an incestuous relationship . charles and mary have taken up residence in a small indiana town . charles attends the local high school  and there he meets tanya robertson in his creative writing class . tanya does not suspect the real reason why charles wants her so much to take her life force for his mother  who is starving . at first  it seems that charles has fallen in love with tanya . on their first date  however  a picnic at the nearby cemetery  charles attempts to drain the life force from tanya while kissing her . as it happens  deputy sheriff andy simpson who had earlier tried to pull charles over for speeding  drives by the cemetery and notices charles  car . when tanya runs to him for help  charles tracks andy down and kills him . when charles then turns to resume his life force  depleting make out session with tanya  the deputy  s cat  clovis  rises to the occasion and nearly kills charles by scratching him in the face and chest . mortally wounded by clovis  charles staggers back home to mary . mary then seeks vengeance on tanya  s family .  br    br   so to sum this movie up basically you should expect the cheese to overflow . the scene where charles attacks tanya for the first time is very clich and you almost vote for charles to win just because tanya is one of the dumbest female leads in horror movies . then you gotta love the scene where mary has a gun and shoots it at a cop car and somehow the whole thing explodes  god bless hollywood explosions and exaggerations . i  m taking the movie for what it is  it  s just so deliciously bad that it turns into a dark comedy for me that i could just enjoy making fun of . i  m not sure if this is what stephen king wanted to see for his story  but he does have his typical cameo in the film . so my suggestion if you watch this movie  just take it for what it is and don  t over think it  it  s mindless entertainment with corny effects  bad casting  a silly story and enough cats to make the crazy cat lady from the simpson  s say  wow  that  s a lot of cats  .  br    br        
the danes character finally let  s buddy have the awful truth .   leave me alone  kiss men if you want to   she screams self  righteously in front of everyone  thus destroying the man who has been in love with her for so long . nice girl . this might be the place to reconsider all of the giggly charm that danes pours into this character . great reason to feel sympathy for her lying in bed and dying  but hey  remember  there are no mistakes  except  maybe  seeing this film .  br    br   wait a minute . this irony is intended  this is actually a masterpiece of ironic wit  yes  but somehow i doubt that  s what the creators of this film had in mind  sadly . maybe there are a few mistakes  after all .  
i liked batman dead end . a dark edgy film  noir setting for batman was perfect . batman dead end is good . this is not .  br    br   first of all let me start off with the acting . none of it is really that good . the best would probably be clark bartram as batman . but that isn  t saying much . he is good at first glance  and then you realize he is what he is  a body  builder who happens to be a tolerable actor . but mainly the problem is that batman doesn  t belong in the daylight  he looks like a freak running around in a bat suit . instead of a horribly scarred man trying to make up for past mistakes . the daylight also reveals an irritating dorky scowl on bartram  s face which never leaves and unoticeable in batman dead end  probably because of the darkness of short which is so desired in this trailer . bartram seems to think that scowling and stubbornly shaking his head is acting  it  s not  it  s quite the opposite . it  s called posing  something real actors avoid like the plague .  br    br   something i never understood why collora casted body  builders as the leads . it makes much more sense to give the role to an actor who can manage it  instead of a bodybuilder who can kinda manage it but hey he looks so much like the comic  of course  they might have done better if collora  s dialouge didn  t leave much to be desired .  br    br   the entire trailer  yes  trailer . there will not be a full  length film  is more centered around superman then batman . but everything on the superman side is corny  cloying and amateur . michael o  hearn  superman  is one of the worst actors i  ve ever seen . he stands around  smiles  says his lines . that  s about it . although i  m not surprised since he is just a bodybuilder they hired and possibly received a few acting lessons . once again i say to collora  cast actors . not bodybuilders . actors will be so much more compelling that we will forgive the fact they don  t look exactly like the comic book .  br    br   the costume is what you would expect superman to wear . as for the batman suit . well  i guess it only looks good in the dark . i say this because in some shots the suit looks like something you would buy from a halloween gift shop .  br    br   superman flies in this movie . but that isn  t a good thing . these shots look especially amateur . this and a lot of the entire  film  looks like it was shot in their backyard with a vhs camera .  br    br   the best shots are a shot of superman catching a car in his hands . and the final shot of two  face and batman at the very end . for those of you who have seen the trailer . you know what i  m talking about . now if only he could have stretched that shot through the entire trailer .  br    br   finally i ask . why if you  re trying to show your ability as a director  would you make a trailer as a short film  this proves nothing when it comes to being an actual director handling story . my only piece of advice for collora here is  there is a difference between the ability to tell a story and being able to work in marketing .  br    br   batman dead end didn  t feel amateur . i can  t figure out where this went wrong .  
after seeing the trailer for evening  you will probably first think about how great the cast is involved   i mean they even got rocky horror  s own brad  barry bostwick  to show the world he is still acting   and the next second about how they just showed us the entire movie . while not entirely true  the film is pretty much summarized nicely in the trailer  and that isn  t necessarily a bad thing . this is a story about a dying woman who is remembering a time very long ago when she met the love of her lifethe one that got away . her daughters hear her reminiscing about people they have never heard of and the story of what happened when she and harris killed buddy soon plays out . no matter what happens  though  the film is not about these people and what they do  good or bad . it is a vehicle to show that there are no mistakes in life . what may be regret could in fact be the one instance in your life that needed to occur in order for the good times that follow to ever happen .  br    br   the story itself is nicely told and very obviously adapted from literature . our filmmakers here decide to tell the story by intercutting between the present  ann on her deathbed   dreamstate  ann hallucinating by combining the present with the past in her mind   and the past  ann meeting harris at her best friend  s wedding  . there are a few times where the cuts are a tad abrupt  and the progression of the past is so good that you may find the present stuff a bit longwinded and boring  but overall it is handled better than at first thought . it  s not as though ann  s life now is uninteresting  it just has less to do with the plot then it does with the morals being learned . while i grant that the parallels to the past help alleviate the problems for ann  s children currently  i was still a bit too enraptured in the wedding to care as much as i maybe should have . there are some nice moments  though  for instance  the crash that awakens ann from slumber being mirrored later on  and the cryptic dreams which bridge both worlds together .  br    br   it is the acting that makes the flashbacks so enthralling and fluid . these performances are completely riveting to the point where you get a bit angry when our time period has changed and we must wait to find out what happens next . no matter how annoying i find claire danes  angry  sad  crying face that exists in every role she plays  the girl is good at what she does . i find myself warming to her talents more and more lately and this one just furthers that thawing . patrick wilson is always great in whatever i  ve seen him in . you must give him credit for picking some really fantastic roles and never doing much more than one film a year . from angels in america to last year  s little children  the guy will soon blow up  but hopefully he will stay true to the craft and not cash  in . heck even mamie gummer is good as the younger version of her real life mother meryl streep   who surprisingly is in the film very little  . she is still rough around the edges  but she was wonderful at expressing the emotional turmoil her character goes through on her wedding day . the real revelation  though  is hugh dancy . i feel i  ve seen him in many things  but in fact it seems only in king arthur . dancy literally steals every scene he is in and the way in which his role of buddy is devastated by love  alcohol  life is etched in his facial expressions throughout . without his performance  the flashback sequences could have fallen into the somewhat forgettable category as the rest of the film and made the experience as a whole much worse .  br    br   while not wholly original in the ways of what the writers are after  evening does bring intelligence and craft to the table . you may be able to fault the length and amount of cut scenes to tie everything together  but you can  t argue that the acting isn  t worth sticking around for . maybe a film version of the wedding alone could have been something to see  however  when it is all put together  there may also be something coming out of it that couldn  t have been achieved without all the other story threads . either way  the payoff is worth the ride for the most part and each plane of reality finishes with its own subtle beauty and lives up to what had come before it .  
giving credit where it  s due  only the technicolor  costumes and sets deserve any honorable mention .  br    br   this is undoubtedly the lowest point in bing crosby  s long career at paramount . the script is about as clumsy as you could possibly imagine and neither the casual bing nor william bendix nor sir cedric hardwicke can do a thing about repairing it .  br    br   bendix looks extremely foolish in a page boy wig . and poor rhonda fleming has a stock costume heroine role requiring her to look adoringly at bing and little else except for warbling a couple of uninspired ballads in a voice probably dubbed for the occasion .  br    br   just plain awful  mark twain  s wit is not evident in any of the screenplay . only die  hard crosby fans can possibly appreciate this mess of a film given uninspired direction . even the extras look as though they don  t know what they  re supposed to be doing .  br    br   summing up dull as dishwater . not recommended  even for children .  
while in her deathbed  ann lord  vanessa redgrave  repeats the name  harris  and recalls the day on the    s when she was an aspirant singer and traveled from new york to be the maid of honor of her wealthy friend lila wittenborn  mamie gummer  in newport . ann grant  claire danes  is welcomed by lila  s alcoholic and reckless brother buddy  hugh dancy  in the wittenborn  s cottage at seaside and he tells her that his sister is in love actually for their friend and servant harris arden  patrick wilson   who fought in the war and has graduated in medicine . later the bride  to  be confesses her true feelings about harris to ann . however  when ann meets harris  she has a crush on him and they have a brief affair during one night stand while a tragedy happens with buddy . meanwhile ann  s daughters  the insecure and unstable nina mars  toni collette  and the happy wife and mother constance haverford  natasha richardson   are worried with their mother and have differences to be resolved .  br    br    evening  has one of the best feminine casts i have ever seen in a movie  with magnificent performances . the resemblance of the stunning mamie gummer with her mother meryl streep is amazing and she has a performance that honors the name of her mother . the locations  costumes  set decoration  cinematography and soundtrack are also awesome . unfortunately the plot is confused and i have not clearly understood the message of this film . why motherhood is so important in the story  was constance engendered in the night stand of ann and harris and he would be her father  why ann and harris have not stayed together  if the guy really loved her like he confesses in their occasional encounter in new york  which issues ann lord has resolved after the visit of lila ross  was buddy wittenborn bisexual or his love for harris was a fraternal love  why nina mars changed her thoughts about motherhood in the end  it seems that the screenplay writers or the director failed since they were not able to make sense and fulfillment to the beautiful love story . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    ao entardecer    in the eventide    
although i have enjoyed bing crosby in other movies  i find this movie to be particularly grating . maybe because i  m from a different era and a different country  but i found crosby  s continual references to the good old usa pleasant at first  trite after a while and then finally annoying . don  t get me wrong  i  m not anti  american whatsoever  but it seemed that the english could do no right and  or needed this brave  oh so smart american visitor to show them the way . it  s a  fish out of water  story  but unlike most movies of this sort  this time it  s the  fish  who has the upper hand . to be fair to both myself and the movie  i have watched it a few times spaced over a few years and get the same impression each time .  br    br    i watched another crosby movie last night  the emperor  s waltz  and that  too  produced the same reaction in me . and to my surprise even my wife  who for what  s it  s worth is american  found the  in your face  attitude of american crosby to be irritating . one too many references to teddy roosevelt  as she put it .   br    br   as for the premise of the movie  it  s unique enough for its day and the supporting cast is of course very good . the scenery and the music is also good  as are the great costumes  although i agree with a previous reviewer that the wig on william bendix looks horrid  picture moe of the three stooges  .  br    br   all in all for me this would be a much more enjoyable picture without the attitude of bing crosby but because he is in virtually every shot it  s pretty hard to sit through this movie .  
  protocol  is a hit  and  miss picture starring goldie hawn as a bubbly cocktail waitress who one night saves the life of a visiting arab from an assassination attempt . the woman immediately becomes a celebrity  and gets a new job working for the u . s . government . will the corridors of power in our nation  s capital ever be the same  hawn is excellent as usual even though  protocol  isn  t as funny as her best film  private benjamin  . but it  s still a good movie  and i did laugh alot .  br    br     out of four   
this movie was made  for  tv  so taking that into account  i  m not going to rip into it as hard as i would a feature film . the script is sub  par  but it does succeed in being mildly humorous in spots  whether it means to be or not . the acting is mostly over  the  top  but that is true for many lower  budget movies .  br    br   the aspect of this movie that i really hated  though  was that       of it is shot on film  but in random places  there will be     seconds where the footage is shot on video . you can tell because there is less contrast  the colors are less vivid  and the footage is clearly   frames per second instead of film  s   frames per second . i  m not sure if maybe these scenes had to be shot later and at that time they didn  t have the money to shoot on film  i assume this is why  anyway   but it is disorienting and really makes the film look shoddier than it had to look .  br    br   anyway  i  ve definitely seen worse movies  but i definitely wouldn  t say that i enjoyed this movie and i can  t recommend that anyone see it .  
i love this film and it is such a wonderful example of a family jeopardy  a romantic love story  and a very sad story plot . everything was just so perfect and excellent about this film . it was such a great mixture of actors and actresses and with some laughs and a lot of cries this film deserves to get plenty of awards . with the mention of beautiful scenario  and although i would relate this film to the notebook and the family stone  it was sort of much more cunning  sad  and brilliant than those films . the evening tells of a love story between an old woman dreaming back to her younger years  and her two daughters stay by her side while she is not well . the story dating back is so strongly told and wonderful i was sitting on the edge of my seat . you really get to know all the characters and by the end  i was wanting to watch it all over again . this is a amazingly sad and vividly acted and plotted movie that is really one of a kind and should be seen by all for how wonderful it really is . all the performances are astonishing and the film captures your attention from the very beginning and never lets go . i loved it  and am so glad that i watched it for it was truly an astonishing film . . .  
this was a  cute  movie at first  then then got too sappy and featured mediocre songs  at best .  br    br   there is too much king james english spoken with is not only annoying in today  s world but not always easy to interpret . can you imagine young people of today trying to listen to this film  forget it .  br    br   bing crosby has some good lines in here and is likable as  hank martin .  rhonda fleming   alisande la carteloise   was  too  in addition to her good looks and beautiful  long red hair .  br    br   it  s a nice movie with a feel  good ending  and i can  t knock that . maybe this is worthy of a rental  for historical sake or if you  re a big crosby fan but  overall  it  s not that much .  
this is not a profound movie most of the plot aspects are pretty predictable and  tried and true  but it was well  acted and made some interesting points about what we might regret  our  mistakes  as the movie calls them  as we look back over our lives . i had not read the book  so didn  t know much other than it was the story of a dying woman who has strong memories from long ago that she hasn  t really shared with anyone . thankfully they got a top  notch cast . . . . meryl  br    br   streep  s daughter  mamie gummer  plays the young lila  and then meryl shows up at the end of the film as the old lila . . . in addition to an amazing resemblance  duh   the younger actress did a great job  perhaps not quite up to her mom  s caliber  but who is   all others in this film were fine  although i wish there had been more of glen close and thought the buddy character was alittle too dramatic .  br    br   this is more of a girls  movie than for the guys  but a good one to see with your mom  or your daughter  and maybe start some dialog going . how hard it is to really know a parent as a  person    
what  s with the murky video in the beginning and sporadically throughout the movie  it  s like someone put muddy water on the camera lens .  br    br   the violence and nudity might turn some people off but  that  along with the mostly bad acting is what makes a good cult movie i suppose .  br    br   my favorite line is delivered by tarquin the vampire   alas  your breed is dumb .  okay  no one should ever say  alas  in a movie line unless they  re english and living in the   th century .  br    br   the acting by the van helsing character and bad girl  rally  isn  t bad . i also liked master little played by ron little . wicked martial arts  don  t take it too seriously and you  ll enjoy it .  
i had the pleasure of viewing this beautiful film last night  with the wonderful addition of a question and answer session with the director following the viewing . i suspect that the first commenter has never lost a parent or someone very close to them in death . i have had many such losses  and this movie spoke to me . one of the major themes is how we don  t deal with questions  issues  stories with our loved ones until it  s too late   they  re too incapacitated or dead before that happens . talk to your loved ones  listen to and record their stories  tell people you love them  resolve differences . i loved the message that there are no mistakes . i love the director  s portrayal of the relationship of the two daughters   as one of six siblings  it  s clear to me he understood how complex those relationships are . his history as a cinematographer also comes through loud and clear   what a beautiful movie  the casting is outstanding   a film not to be missed   
allow me to start this review by saying this i love vampire movies . they can suck  har har pun intended   and i  ll still love them because vampires are just cool in movies . van helsing  considered by many to be a steaming pile of crap  was enjoyable to me because of the fact that there were vampires . you may ask  what does that have to do with this movie   the answer is that i intend to inform you of how horrible this movie truly is  that even a sucker  harharhar  for vampire movies like me can despise a movie like this so much .  br    br   the movie stars van helsing  a college professor guy who isn  t at all convincing . he  s a terrible actor  like everyone else in this movie  and he wrote it  to add salt to the wound . i honestly to not mean to offend him  and i  m sure everyone had fun making this movie  but watching it was actually painful . i  m not sure why i watched the whole thing perhaps it was a morbid fascination  like watching an impending train crash it  s horrible  but you can  t manage to force yourself to look away . its main fault is that it  s just so ing boring  and its plot is so damn ridiculous  even for a science fiction horror movie .  br    br   but  i digress . by the way  van helsing has sex with his mom . of course  he doesn  t know it  s her at the time he just thinks it  s one of his students  which is still illegal and all  but not as disgusting and creepy  .  br    br   if i were van helsing  i would at least pull an oedipus myself when i found out i had done something so gross . it would  ve made for one entertaining thing if he just made some comment on it  but no . the point isn  t even brought up at all  by any of the characters . it  s as if the writer didn  t even think of it . i would  ve at least had another character laugh at him and say  ha ha  you had sex with your mom   which would be mildly humorous  although blatantly immature  . i  m probably running out of room  so a few more words to dissuade you from ever seeing this film there  s a vampire ninja fight with an old man . it would be funny  but the filmmakers expect us to take it seriously . it  s not even worth watching the movie to see how bad it is . stay far  far away from it if you value your time at all .  br    br   i will say one thing positive about the movie the guy who plays van helsing is pretty slick with that knife of his . there  s like  a minute long segment where he swings around his knife and actually does some pretty nifty tricks . it would be boring in any other movie  but here  sadly  it was the highlight .  
i saw this movie sunday afternoon . i absolutely loved this movie . i loved everything about it  from the sappy moments of mothers and daughters to the scenes where mamie gummer  lila  is crying because of her poor decision in marrying a man for her parents and not because she is truly in love . i loved these moments because they were just so real . at first i was seriously scared because i was hoping that it would not end up like bobby  which was a great cast but a poorly written movie with no real meat to it . but during the middle of the movie i felt completely different . you will laugh and you will cry but in the end you will want to see evening one more time . trust me when i say go see it   
an interesting concept vampirism having something to do with a virus .  but done several times by now  overall the movie is too long and drags a bit . the editing could have been tighter . i am sorry to hear about the problem with the credits . maybe the movie was rushed to market . the lighting was too dark in places . but the worst technical problem is the audio . the level was good enough to hear the dialog  but many of the interiors have a echo sound to them  which is very distracting . either they were not careful in the recording  or the sound mixing could have been better . also too much background noise got through . the should have gotten someone to do sound effects for the martial arts scenes . the tinny clank of swords hitting together was not the sound of an epic battle . especially in the combat scenes the editing needed to be tighter .  br    br   also the acting was a bit flat . i am sorry  but when i see that the same person writes and stars in a movie  in my experience it is a red flag .  br    br   but it was a good effort so i gave it a  .  
halfway through lajos koltai  s  evening   a woman on her deathbed asks a figure appearing in her hallucination  can you tell me where my life went   the line could be embarrassingly theatrical  but the woman speaking it is vanessa redgrave  delivering it with utter simplicity  and the question tears your heart out .  br    br   time and again  the film based on susan minot  s novel skirts sentimentality and ordinariness  it holds attention  offers admirable performances  and engenders emotional involvement as few recent movies have . with only six months of the year gone  there are now two memorable  meaningful  worthwhile films in theaters  the other  of course  being sara polley  s  away from her .  hollywood might have turned  evening  into a slick celebrity vehicle with its two pairs of real  life mothers and daughters  vanessa redgrave and natasha richardson  and meryl streep and mamie gummer . richardson is redgrave  s daughter in the film  with a sister played by tony collette   and gummer plays streep  s younger self  while redgrave  s youthful incarnation is claire danes .  br    br   add glenn close  eileen atkins  hugh dancy  patrick wilson  and a large cast  yes  it could have turned into a multiple star platform . instead  koltai  the brilliant hungarian cinematographer of  mephisto   and director of  fateless   created a subtle ensemble work with a  continental feel   the story taking place in a high  society newport environment  in the days leading up to a wedding that is fraught with trouble .  br    br   missed connections  wrong choices  and dutiful compliance with social and family pressures present quite a soap opera  but the quality of the writing  koltai  s direction  and selfless acting raise  evening  way above that level  into the the rarified air of english  french  and a few american  family sagas from a century before its contemporary setting .  br    br   complex relationships between mothers and daughters  between friends and lovers  with the addition of a difficult triangle all come across clearly  understandably  captivatingly . individual tunes are woven into a symphony .  br    br   and yet  with the all the foregoing emphasis on ensemble and selfless performances  the stars of  evening  still shine through  redgrave  richardson  gummer  an exciting new discovery  looking vaguely like her mother  but a very different actress   danes carrying most of the load  until streep shows up in the final moments and  of course  steals the show . dancy and wilson are well worth the price of admission too .  br    br   as with  away from her    evening  stays with you at length  inviting a re  thinking its story and characters  and re  experiencing the emotions it raises . at two hours  the film runs a bit long  but the way it stays with you thereafter is welcome among the many movies that go cold long before your popcorn .  
not your typical vamp story  not bram stoker or anne rice here . a truly original vampyre story . these vampyres are genetic mutants who the sunlight don  t bother . they are pure evil to .  br    br   the film is not perfect . many of the actors are clearly amateurs . the two leads who play van helsing and rally the vampyre chick are pretty good though . the film is intensely violent which may disturb some people . also it is loaded with scientific detail that many will find hard to understand and may get bored with . i was sold on the clever storyline and the couple good performances . no telling how successful this film could be if they had a bigger budget and it got mass distribution  
evening is the beautiful story of the flawed love of a mother . the movie split in time  is magically shot  amazingly acted and has a touching script . vanessa redgrave plays anne grant lord  a woman sun  setting out of life . lying in her bed  her mind remembering and misfiring  she recalls her first mistake . claire danes plays the young anne  giving a youthful vitality to dying bed ridden woman . daughters nina  toni collette  and constance  natasha richardson  try to decipher the real story from the disheartening dementia . her first mistake revolves around harris arden  patrick wilson   the man her best friend lila  mamie gummer  deeply loved . the daughters must come to terms with their mother  s past  and their futures . the cast is glowing in evening . the collective acting energy of this movie could have powered the equipment for the production of this entire film . i am so glad to see claire danes working again  especially in this role . she is so young  and alive  fully living the joys  mistakes and heartbreak of young anne  s first mistake . this is a true feat when you realize she is playing a woman  dying in bed . when her life overwhelms her  you can feel her desire to crack and her hopeless hope that she won  t . some of her facial expressions grinded on me a little  but over all her performance was so radiant  i was left with that only as a side note . toni collette continues to prove that you can be a powerful actress without being a super model . she plays the black sheep of the family a little lost . nina finds a great deal of strength in her mother  s mistake . collette delicately avoids creating a cruel character who revels in the mistakes of her mother  instead choosing the wiser path of learning from her mother  s mistakes . there is a great deal of infighting between nina and her sister constance . their fights remind me of ones i have with my sister all the time . mamie gummer  who plays anne  s youthful best friend  is wonderful . her character is stuck between her heart and her status in society . even when she is crying and her heart is breaking  she is incredibly regal and charming . i can  t wait to see her act in something else in the future . vanessa redgrave  s performance is very hard for me to describe . her talent at making her mental status ambiguous without being wacko or even especially tragic is why it is so powerful . the audience does not know if she is making up the story because she is slipping away or if these events truly happened . physically and emotionally speaking  redgrave is acting in a box . not much physical space and limited emotional range might have been a stunner to a lesser actress but she makes the limitations work for her . i was constantly amazed . the movie is definitely woman  focused but the men in the movie are not just accessories . patrick wilson is mesmerizing as harris . it is no wonder that everyone in the movie is in love with him  i sure was . buddy wittenborn is lila  s brother  spiraling out of control . hugh dancy spirals buddy out of control without sending his acting down the drain . glen close has my favorite scene in the movie . it reminded me of the famous scene from monster  s ball . it is terrible and jaw dropping grief . i was utterly stunned . the one acting disappointment was natasha richardson . while her fight scenes were memorable  most of her acting reeks of melodrama . it would have suited her to take an acting bath before we had to breathe her stink . it  s a good thing she wasn  t in charge of the visuals . the visuals of the movie are sparkling . cinematographer gyula pados couldn  t make a film richer in color  light so perfectly matched to mood and emotion . the visual concepts of the flash back sequences are powerful and resonating . there were many scenes that could have been stopped  printed  mounted and sold as art . i admit it  i cried . evening is a powerful movie . evening is defiantly a chick flick but a really great chick flick . if you want to impress a woman with a movie choice  pick evening .  
i had the opportunity to preview this film as a member of a test audience  and the only thing which kept me in my seat was the chance to fill out the post  screening survey . i felt the film  s biggest problem was its lack of a main plot . instead  it was composed of  too  many sub  plots competing for screen time . as a result  there is not a single character who is developed enough for the audience to form any sort of attachment . what the director and producer failed to do was show us why we should care what happens to the characters . in fact any one sub  plot and the characters associated with it could have been removed altogether without serious detriment to the film .  the time gained would have allowed for the much needed development of the remaining sub  plots and characters .  simply put  the hungry bachelors club  s plate is overcrowded with side dishes and appetizers when an entre is desired .  
i caught evening in the cinema with a lady friend . evening is a chick flick with no apologies for being such  but i can say with some relief that it  s not so infused with estrogen that it  s painful for a red  blooded male to watch . except for a single instance at the very end of the movie  i watched with interest and did not have to turn away or roll my eyes at any self  indulgent melodrama . ladies  for their part  will absolutely love this movie .  br    br   ann lord is elderly  bed  ridden and spending her last few days on earth as comfortably as possible in her own home with her two grown daughters at her side . discomfited by the memories of her past  ann suddenly calls out a man  s name her daughters have never heard before harris . while both of her daughters silently contemplate the significance of their mother  s strong urge to recall and redress her ill  fated affair with this mysterious man at this of all times  ann lapses back in her head to the fateful day she met harris  and in doing so  lost the youthful optimism for the future that we all inevitably part ways with .  br    br   both ann and her two daughters  one married with children  one a serial  commitophobe   struggle with the central question of whether true love really exists  and perhaps more importantly  if true love can endure the test of time . are we all one day fated to realize that love never lasts forever  will we all realize that settling for the imperfect is the only realistic outcome  the subtle fact that the aged ann is still wrestling with an answer to these questions on her deathbed is not lost on her two daughters .  br    br   the cinematography for evening is interesting  most of the film is spent in ann  s mind as she recalls the past  and for that reason i think the film was shot as if it was all deliberately overexposed  to give everyone an ethereal glow  and thus make it very obvious that all of this is not real  but occurred in the past  . claire danes is beautiful  appearing to be really  really tall  though just     in reality   and is absolutely captivating in one climactic scene where her singing talents are finally put to the test .  br    br   you can  t really talk trash about the cast  which leads off with claire danes and doesn  t let up from there vanessa redgrave  patrick wilson  meryl streep and glenn close fill out the other major and minor roles in the film .  br    br   i can  t really say anything negative about this film at all  though hugh dancy  s struggle to have his character emerge from utter one  dimensionality is in the end a total loss . playing the spoiled  lovable drunk offspring of the obscenely rich who puts up a front of great bravado but is secretly scared stiff of never amounting to anything probably doesn  t offer much in the way of character exploration  he had his orders and stuck to them .  br    br   in the end  gentlemen  your lady friend will most certainly weep  and while you  ll likely not feel nearly as affected  the evening will definitely not be a waste for the time spent watching evening . catch it in theatres or grab it as a rental to trade off for points for when you want to be accompanied to a viewing of die hard  or the upcoming rambo flick . it  ll be your little secret that this viewing didn  t really cost you much at all .  
i have to agree with some of the other comments and even go a step further .  br    br   nothing about this film worked  absolutely nothing . delmar our central character makes the decision to become a surrogate mother in order to earn enough money to buy a restaurant but along the way fall for a wise ex  jailbird . at the same time her friend hortense is trying to get her lawyer boyfriend to finally marry her . she also happens to be sleeping with marlon who is desperately in love with her . then there  s delmar  s brother jethro who gets involved with a former coke addict  missy who reveals she was sexually abused by her adopted father . on the sidelines we also have the eccentricmother who has an assortment of equally odd friends  one of whom dies on the couch at the beginning of the film . so far so good but after introducing these characters and story lines addressing life  death  grief and love in the first half  the film simply loses direction .  br    br   if the writer had only selected one or two characters and allowed us to follow their stories maybe things would have been fine but equal screen time is given to all with the result that no one story or character is fully developed . for instance  why does delmar think she will be able to hand over her child in exchange for money  especially when the prospective parents are a creepy bigoted lawyer and his semi alcoholic and depressed wife  why is hortense so desperate to marry a man who is a jerk and clearly doesn  t love her  how is it missy manages to kick her coke habit overnight  is jethro regularly drawn to women with overwhelming problems  or is missy the exception  has delmar and jethro  s mother always been on the eccentric side  or is it a more recent development  why is jethro so keen on cadillacs that he has one in the middle of his living room  why did moses spend years in prison for stealing a car  a relatively minor crime  how does delmar manage to end up giving birth to moses  baby when there is no suggestion that they ever had sex   br    br   these questions are posed in the screenplay but sadly are never answered . i can only assume they were answered in the original novel and that is why the writer felt the need to include it all in the script . big mistake . losing several subplots especially the hortense and marlon story  which adds nothing to the overall film  would have tightened things considerably and allowed more time to develop the delmar  jethro and moses characters who are clearly more central to the plot and underlying themes than anyone else .  br    br   add to that the most pedestrian directing style seen outside of the average soap opera and the result is a huge missed opportunity for all  including jorja fox who does her best to rise above the material . i  m not surprised that this appears to have been the director  s last film as this effort shows no evidence of a visual style or ability to tell a moving and intelligent story .  
since starting to read the book this movie is based on  i  m having mixed feelings about the filmed result . i learned some time ago to see the movie adaptation of a book before i read the book  because i found that if i read the book first i was inevitably disappointed in the film . this would undoubtedly have been true here  whereas in the case of atonement  which is probably the best filmed adaptation of a book i  ve ever seen  it would probably not have mattered .  br    br   i  m trying to figure out what the cause is  and i suspect that i have to point my finger squarely at michael cunningham . much as i respect him for the hours  which i have not read but which i saw and was awed by  i cannot escape the feeling that he not so much adapted susan minton  s book as he did take a few of the characters and the basic premise and write his own movie out of it .  br    br   it  s not that i dislike the movie . i actually love the movie  which is why  since i started reading the novel  i  m feeling disturbed about the whole thing . i feel disloyal to ms . minton for enjoying the movie which was so thooughly a departure from her work . reading it  i can understand why she had such a struggle adapting it . unlike what one reviewer of the movie said  it  s not so much that some novels don  t deserve to be a movie it  s more like some books just can  t make the transition . ms . minton  s novel operates on a level so personal and intimate to her central character  so internally  that it seems impossible to me to place it in a physical realm . even though a lot of the book is memory of real events  it is memory  and so fragmented and ethereal as to be  i feel  not filmable . i think that ms . minton  s work is a real work of literature  but cannot make the transition to film  which in no way detracts from its value .  br    br   i cannot yet report that evening  the film  does not represent evening  the novel  in any more than the most superficial way  since i  m only halfway through  but the original would have to make a tremendous leap to resemble the film that follows at this point . i guess i  m writing this because i feel that if you  re going to adapt a novel  adapt it  but don  t make it something else that it  s not . i  m not sure if michael cunningham has done anything wholly original  but from what i can see so far the things he has done are all based on someone else  s work . we would not have the hours if virginia woolf had not written mrs . dalloway  and we would not have evening  in its distressed form  if susan minton had not had so much trouble doing what probably should not have been attempted in the first place . but it  s too much to say that it would be better if ms . minton had left well enough alone  because evening  the film  is a satisfactory and beautiful work of its own .  br    br   thus my confusion  mixed feelings  sense of disloyalty  and ultimate conclusion that  in this case  the novel cannot be the film and vice versa  and my eventual gratitude to both writers for doing what they did  so that we have both works as they are .  
this movie has a very hard  to  swallow premise  even by this genre  s standards . we are asked to accept not only that a record played backwards can bring a dead man back to life  but that the record also contains hidden messages aimed specifically at one kid  when the singer had no connection to the boy when he was alive  and of course no way of knowing at whose hands the record would end up . anyway  the film is fun for a while  but eventually the silliness and the pointlessness reign supreme . if they were really trying to create a new freddy  like horror icon  they were way off the villain here has no personality  no motivation  and no variety .        
saw this saturday night at the provincetown film festival  and it  s a stick  to  your  bones movie   it  s really stayed with me . adapted very smartly from what is probably an excellent novel  it  s a back  and  forth  in  time drama with fully rounded characters  thoughtful rumination on life choices  and  i  m not exaggerating . one of the greatest casts ever assembled in     years of movie  making . wonderful work from everyone  led by a luminous vanessa redgrave as a dying  deluded newport matron  and claire danes as her much younger self . meryl streep  s daughter mamie gummer is  like mama  the real deal patrick wilson looks like paul newman circa     and doesn  t overplay the charm and what a pleasure to see such excellent stage actors as barry bostwick and eileen atkins contributing sharp  detailed cameos . hugh dancy  also from the stage  doesn  t bring much edge to the somewhat clichd role of an unhappy rich wastrel  and the family issues are resolved perhaps more neatly than real life would allow . but it  s a deliberately paced  visually gorgeous meditation on real life issues  and you can cry at it and not feel like you  re being recklessly manipulated . also  what a sumptuous parade of     s    s automobiles .  
how can a movie have ozzy osbourne and still suck  i just don  t get it . trick or treat managed to do it . this sucks and likes it .  br    br   trick or treat is one of those movies i have to warn people about . it is a vomit  inducing vile atrocity just begging to be viewed so you can feel that much worse about yourself . trick or treat has no redeeming factors .  br    br   for a movie about heavy metal  it sure doesn  t seem to grasp what heavy metal is or what it represents . this movie manages to make heavy metal look lame and this was in      probably one of heavy metal  s strongest hours . that is quite a feat  however negative .  br    br   trick or treat  so bad you will be angry at yourself for having watched it . that simple equation will hopefully keep you away from this brainless and gutless film .  
i  m   years old and i love this cartoon . burt reynolds and dom deluise make a great pair . this movie is really funny and i love the songs . my favorite songs are  you can  t keep a good dog down  and that song about sharing  i think it  s called  what  s mine is yours  . this was the last movie with judith barsi  who played the voice of anne  marie . my favorite character is charlie but i find itchy  s voice is so fun to hear . although some scenes i actually found scary  i still have a hard time watching the scene with charlie  s dream  and carface scares the crap out of me . other characters like king gator i found really funny . the ending was adorable and was actually sad  made me cry a little . i give this movie     .  
skippy from  family ties  plays eddie  a wussy  metal  nerd who gets picked on . when his favorite wussy  metal  singer  sammi curr  dies  he throws a hissy fit tearing down all the posters on his bedroom wall . but when he later gets an unreleased record that holds the spirit of his dead  metal  idol . he first gets sucked into ideas of revenge  but then he doesn  t want to take it as far as sammi does . which isn  t really that far as his main victims only seem to go to the hospital . this movie is utterly laughable and has about as much to do with real metal as say   rock star  . ok  maybe a tad more than that piece of junk  but you get my point . and how anyone can root for a guy played by skippy from  family ties  i haven  t a clue . the cameo by gene simmons is ok  and ozzy osbourne reaches coherency  i applaud him for that  but otherwise skip this one .  br    br   my grade d  br    br   eye candyelise richards gets topless  an a topless extra at a pool party  
the first  side  story  in the universal century gundam universe presents a refreshing new look at the war between earth and the space colonies . the focus is no longer on a small group of individuals who would go on to play pivotal roles in the conflict  but on the everyday civilian population and how the war is seen through their eyes .  br    br   the story does contain some gundam staples  its premise being the attempts by a zeon squad to capture an experimental gundam  but it the execution of the plot that made this show so interesting to watch . this series focuses on the experiences of a young boy named alfred and the relationship between his neighbor  christina mckenzie who is secretly a federation pilot and a newbie zeon pilot named bernie wiseman . alfred develops a sort of  brotherly love  for bernie while our young zeon pilot also falls for christina .  br    br    war in the pocket  proves that you do not need a sweeping epic tale about special individuals to make for a good war story . there are no uber ace pilots or large scale fleet battles to be seen here . this short  episode ova focuses a lot more on character emotional drama over other themes like politics or philosophy and i love how realistically portrayed the characters are . alfred is your typical everyday kid who plays violent computer games and thinks the armed forces is cool . he is then given a crash course in the horrible realities of war . the unlikely friendship and bonding between bernie and christina  each not knowing the fact that they are soldiers on different sides of the war  is played very real without going overboard with the romance drama stuff . same goes for the endearing relationship between alfred and bernie . that being said  i would not want to spoil much of the story here  but it makes it a whole lot more heart wrenching to watch the tragedies that unfold as the show moves along all the way to its emotionally devastating twist ending .  br    br   despite its lack of action  this show never falls into the category of  boring  . the characters are just that engaging enough to carry the whole show . not to worry as there are a number of mobile suit action scenes scattered here and there . each are beautifully animated on a level that surpasses that of an ova and are sure to satisfy the craving for some  mandatory  mobile suit battles in a gundam series .  br    br   normally watching anime in japanese or english  i would leave up to personal preference . but in this case  i strongly recommend the english voice track over the japanese one . not only do the characters  whom all except alfred are caucasian  sound more believable in english but the performances of the english voice cast are on par and even surpass the japanese one  instilling each character with such realistic emotions and intonations that they sound just the acting in some live action tv dramas .  br    br   in short  this show does not try to impress the audience . what it does is conveys numerous heartwarming themes that hit closest to home especially the death of innocence on the battlefield and the horrors of war through the eyes of a child . a truly moving little story that deserves more credit than it is being given .  
return to cabin by the lake just . . . . was lacking . it must have had a very low budget because a fair amount of the movie must have been filmed with a regular video camera . so  within the same scene  you  ll have some movie  quality camera shots and simple video camera shots . it makes for a very odd blend  i think they should have found some way to not do the  home video  type effect   br    br   i think it  s worthwhile to see it if you have seen the original cbtl because then you can compare and see the differences . but if you haven  t seen the original cbtl . . . . you  ll never want to see it if you see this one first  it will probably seem way too cheesy and turn you off from even caring about the original one .  
this is a complex film that explores the effects of fordist and taylorist modes of industrial capitalist production on human relations . there are constant references to assembly line production  where workers are treated as cogs in a machine  overseen by managers wielding clipboards  controlling how much hair the workers leave exposed  and firing workers  stanley  who meet all criteria  as his supervisor says  are always on time  are hard workers  do good work  but who may in some unspecified future make a mistake .  br    br   this system destroys families  stanley has to send his father to a nursing home  where he quickly dies  after stanley loses his job . iris  daughter is a single teen mother who drops out of high school to take a job in the plant . references are made to the fact that now  with declining wages  both partners need to work  the implication being that there  s nobody left at home to care for the kids . iris  husband is dead from an illness  and with the multiple references in the film about the costs of medical care  the viewer must wonder if he might have lived with better and more costly care . iris  brother in law gets abusive after yet another unsuccessful day at the unemployment office when his wife yells at him for buying a beer with her savings instead of leaving it for her face lift and  or teeth job  even the working class with no stake in conventional bourgeois notions of perfection and beauty buy into them  . the one reference to race in the film is through a black factory line worker whose husband is in jail  presumably  he  s also black  and black men suffer disproportionally high incarceration rates  . she remarks that he  like her   is doing time   her family is composed of a prisoner and a wage slave .  br    br   stanley  however  still believes in human relations and is therefore for most of the film outside of the system of fordist capitalism . he cares for his father in spite of the fact that it was his father  s traveling salesman job that resulted in his illiteracy  he has not yet reduced human relations to a purely instrumental contract  as iris  brother in law does  suggesting that he  married the wrong sister   . he does not  as iris says  conform to the work  eat  sleep routine of everyone else rather  he uses technology and the techniques of industrial production in an artisanal and creative way  in a sort of bauhaus ideal . this was the dream of early modernists and      s socialists  such as the bauhaus   to use technology to provide for all basic needs  allowing for more free time for creative human work and fuller human relations . he is also outside of traditional gender relations . he cooks  he cleans  he cares for his family  and he knows how to iron . iris  on the other hand  lives in a traditionally male role  she  s a factory worker  the mains source of income for her  extended  family  and she brings stanley into the public realm  traditionally off  limits to women . by teaching him to read and write  she gives him access to the world of knowledge  also traditionally gendered male .  br    br   literacy here is used as a metaphor for the  traditionally masculine  public realm and the systems of circulation  monetary  vehicular  cultural  that enable participation in the public realm . without this access  stanley is feminized  the jobs open to him are cooking and cleaning . he is excluded from all regular circulations  unable to participate in the monetary  can  t open a bank account   in the vehicular  can  t get a driver  s license  can  t ride the bus   and in the social  he asks if he exists if he can  t write his name  .  br    br   after learning to read  he grabs books on auto repair  farming  and spirituality  the bible  . the word of god is therefore relativized  placed on the same value plane as how  to books . in fact  organized religion in general is only very occasionally present  the bible also appears on a dresser as the camera pans to find stanley and iris having sex . it is  however  acknowledged as a moral force  iris  clearly a character devoted to living a  good  life  mentions at the beginning of the film that her rosary was among the objects lost in a purse snatching .  br    br   once able to read  he enters the system and lands a managerial position with a health care plan  a car  and a house  taking his place at the head of the family  the breadwinner . presumably  he  s an industrial designer  dreaming up products that will require others enduring the drudgery of the assembly line to produce . this ending  probably the only bit of conventional hollywood in the film  is so incongruous with all that has come before that i at least wonder if it wasn  t forced in by some studio exec suddenly worried about the lack of a feel  good ending and its potential effect on the bottom line .  br    br   now that  according to the pundits  we  ve comfortably moved on to post  industrial capitalism  the film also has a slightly nostalgic feel  as though we needed the historical distance to really analyze what happened during that period .  br    br   nevertheless  it  s highly recommended  at least if you want to exercise your brain . disregard the ending  and it  s close to a perfect   .  
nine minutes of psychedelic  pulsating  often symmetric abstract images  are enough to drive anyone crazy . i did spot a full  frame eye at the start  and later some birds silhouetted against other colors . it was just not my cup of tea . it  s about   minutes too long .  
all dogs go to heaven is on a par with watership down for scary kiddies films . both were dark and pretty sinister  but at the same time the most mesmerising experience a child can have . this was one of my favourite films as a kid . i was in love with charlie and at the tender age of about five or six  i  ll admit . . . i had a crush on a cartoon dog . all dogs tells the dark story of lovable cad charlie and his partner in crime itchy . the story starts with charlie escaping from death row and swaggering off to the nearest club to do some gambling . of course  as a child  i didn  t understand the concept of this film . i loved the songs and the animation but as i  ve got older i do begin to wonder why i wasn  t disturbed by this film as a youngster . it deals with pretty adult themes    gambling  murder  hell and prison but in a world of goody  goody disney films  it  s something every child should watch once .  br    br   yes  there  s some sort of crazy transvestite crocodile scene and the hell scenes scare me more now that when i was little  but it delivers such a poignant message that should not be ignored by parents   
this movie does not rock  as others have said . i found it really boring and silly . the story is about this metal high school kid who idolizes this really bad heavy metal singer . the singer dies  but not before making one last album that is to be played over the radio at  of course  midnight on halloween  which would actually make it november  st  a much less potent date to be sure  . the kid gets a copy of the record and it contains secret hidden back  play messages . it also is the key that opens the door so that the really bad metal singer can return to bring havoc and death to the world .  br    br   the first part of this film is not a horror film at all  but rather an after school special . we see the metal kid  the outsider  tormented over and over by the popular kids . and he fails to learn the most important lesson in high school movies when the cool kids who bully you suddenly invite you to a party  don  t go  it is a trap . especially if it is a pool party . anybody surprised when he ends up in the water   it was such an after school special that i kept waiting for melissa sue anderson to show up and teach jody foster a lesson .  br    br   so back to the horror part of the film . so this metal kid gets some powers and instead of using them to kill the bully boys  which would have made much more sense   he freaks out and tries to protect all of the bully boys and girls from harm . what  a sensitive hero  what fun is that in a horror movie  thank goodness carrie white did not follow this lesson . he actually tries to prevent having the music played at the halloween dance  the very music that could unleash a power to kill all the kids who had been mean to him . if it were me  i would have put that music on  and pronto .  br    br   the rest of the movie is about this metal kid going around town trying to kill the horrible metal star he idolized . why not partner with him and really do some damage . why you ask  it seems he is in love with one of the popular girls and does not want her hurt . . more appropriate for a molly ringwald film . is this a horror film or an episode of beauty and the beast  the movie just goes on and on at this point  with no scares  horror  or anything worth watching . if you went to high school in the late   s like i did  this movie is fun to have a little flashback to fashions and big hair  but that is it for this film . skip it and stay home and just listen to some kiss .  
i saw this film when it was originally released in     . i enjoyed it then  and i still do now . but what i realize now is that this is quite  adult  for a film with a g rating  especially the notion of dying and going to heaven . burt reynolds and dom deluise work wonderfully together  and reynolds  singing voice is appropriate for a junkyard dog . there are some good songs ranging from upbeat   let  s make music together   to downright emotional   home to my heart   . i found the plot good  although it does go off on a tangent once or twice . the final scene of the film with charlie and anne  marie is one of the saddest i  ve ever seen in animation . a film worth experiencing .  
istanbul is another one of those expatriate films that errol flynn was making in the last decade of his life trying to support his family and stay out of trouble with the irs . it  s a remake of the fred macmurray  ava gardner film singapore from a decade ago .  br    br   unlike that studio product  istanbul has the advantage of that great location cinematography right at the sight of the golden horn . but errol flynn  who was aging exponentially before the camera in every film  was way too old to be playing these action  adventure types any longer . his scenes with cornell borchers really do lack conviction .  br    br   as for cornell  she plays errol  s former sweetheart who through the trauma of being saved from a fire now has amnesia . she both doesn  t remember errol and is now married to torin thatcher .  br    br   but errol  s got some nasty people led by martin benson and werner klemperer who are after some diamonds which have come into his possession . got to deal with them too .  br    br   best reason to see istanbul is to hear nat king cole sing and play the piano . most people today don  t realize that cole was an accomplished jazz pianist  they only think of him as a singer . actually he was a pianist first  the singing was an afterthought .  br    br   istanbul is a routine action  adventure film for those who are fans of that type of movie .  
okay  i saw this movie as a child and really loved it . my parents never purchased the movie for me  but i think i  ll go about and buy it now . i  m a sucker for pre      animated films . anyway  onto the actual review .  br    br   what i liked there was an actual portrayal of heaven and hell  one of the few i  ve seen in animated films . character development existed  it  s easy to classify characters in this movie  i . e .  charlie is the selfish mutt  itchy is cynical but believes charlie  carface is obviously the relentless villain  etc .  . i also loved king gator  s song . i  ve always loved loud  annoying  flamboyant guys . this song may have been random  but it was so fun . finally  the detail of the animation was beautiful . you could tell charlie was all gruff and stuff and the backgrounds were beautiful .  br    br   what i did not like the actual portrayal of heaven the way charlie reacted to it   no surprises whatsoever   made it actually seem very boring . he denied a place in heaven and still got to return to it in the end . i remember a few lines of certain songs such as  . . . you can  t keep a good dog down    . . . let  s make music forever   and  . . . welcome to being dead  but i can  t remember the majority of any of them . the songs weren  t that catchy  to be honest . whippet angel she  s annoying and that neck  augh   br    br   what parents may not like a few very scary  depending on the viewer  images of hell are shown during the movie . carface is quite threatening . beer is also implied  but not actually dubbed beer . gambling is a key element in the movie . the good guy dies .  br    br   overall i love this movie  even if it is a bit forgettable at times . the scarier children  s animations are always my favorite ones . this was created back in a time when producers and writers weren  t afraid to give kids a little scare now and then . nowadays  this probably would have been rated pg . kids under the age of   or easily disturbed kids  should not watch this . other than that  i give it     .    br    br   happy viewing   
a bad one .  br    br   oh  my . . . this is one of the movies  which doesn  t have even one positive effect . just everything from actors to story stinks to the sky . i just wonder how low i . q . you should have to watch this kind of flick and even enjoy .  br    br   is there something than this is worth watching for  well  there is a lot of nudity involved  but it  s nothing particular . and when you just think that it couldn  t get worse  your realize that all the naked ladies looked like there are forty years old . c  mon guys  where did you search for these actresses . in elderly home  perhaps .  br    br   anyway  the leading actresses has some sex  appeal and knows how to show it . again  too bad  that she is too skinny  old . all in all  skip these one .  br    br    out of    
my dog recently passed away  and this was a movie i loved as a kid  so i had to see it to try to cheer up .  br    br    beware of dog  i mean spoilers .  this movie isn  t just for kids and it  s far from ordinary . it was set in new orleans in     . first and foremost  the dog was not portrayed as an extra family member in this film  but as an adult with his own complicated life to deal with .  br    br   in the beginning  charlie is not too different from his dishonest and brutal business partner  carface . he is money driven  greedy  and just escaped death row  as he states in the start of the feature . the difference between charlie and carface is that charlie can learn and is willing to listen to others anne marie and his sidekick  itchy . carface will not even listen to the fat  ugly dog with the big glasses who happens to be closest to him .  br    br   carface attempts to murder the hero  because he wants     of the profits in their business and won  t settle for only     a highly unusual way for a german shepherd mix to die . also  being eaten by a prehistoric sized alligator who ends up sparing your life because you can sing is highly unlikely whether you are a dog or not . this is a cartoon  and that  s why it is logical here .  br    br   carface  s method of revenge is through murder  while charlie believes success is the best revenge  financial success that is . after surviving death  he starts a business by taking carface  s source of financing  a highly talented girl who possesses the ability to communicate with animals . they win a whole bunch of races  and charlie tells her he  ll give the money to the poor  hint hint charlie and itchy live in a junkyard  and are therefore poor . he uses the money toward his casino  bar  theatre  and not the other  poor .  the reason why anne marie has the ability to talk to animals is that she has compassion  and she listens carefully . she teaches charlie ethics by pointing out his gambling  lying  and stealing . charlie tries to make up for it by buying her dresses . she added the ethics that his business needed  while charlie did management  and itchy provided construction .  br    br   carface uses violence and property damage to tear down charlie  s business  which is unprotected by the government . charlie loses everything and all he has left is this little girl . in the end he had to choose between her life and his own . he first grabs the watch out of self preservation  and sets it down when the girl started to sink . both the girl and the watch were sinking  and he had to choose which one  and he chose the girl .  br    br   the great part about this movie that focuses on a person  s ability to learn right from wrong over time  and a child  s ability to cope with the natural occurrence of death of their pet  is that it never shows anyone dying  the watch symbolizes his life  and the watch is shown being submerged and stopped . all the deaths were suggestive  even for the villain . i didn  t cry during this movie until now  and i have gotten so much more out of it  that i had to write it down and share it with you .  
here is one of those educational short films made to learn the unknown people out there about facts of life . this time the target audience is preteen girls  the fact of life is menstruation . this animated film  created by walt disney pictures  apparently with some sponsoring from kotex .  br    br   it starts with explaining how hormones make you grow and develop . with the help of animation and a female narrator it shows us how the body  especially the ovaries  uterus and vagina  work and why this all leads to menstruation . it is almost amazing  becoming the comic note here  how the subject of sex is avoided . even the word is never mentioned although  furtilized  will pass once . i don  t really know why i saw this  but since it is one of those rare short films that could give an impression of an innocent time  you might want to give it a try .  
first things first  i was never once scared of this underrated gem as a kid   little mermaid  on the other hand . . .  . as my title says this was one of my fav childhood movies that i still love as a teenager . it  s a beautiful  bittersweet movie about a misfit german shepherd called charlie  fantasticaly voiced by burt reynolds  who is killed by his boss  partner in crime  is name ha  ha is carface  . charlie is sent straight to heaven by default because  all dogs go to heaven because unlike people  dogs are naturally good and loyal and kind  . chalie gets sent back to earth  cause he winded up his life clock where he gets into even more mischief with his best friend  itchy and a little orphan girl  anne  marie . i used to watch this all the time as a kid and i still sometimes watch it . anyways  it  s a beautiful bittersweet film as i said before that might just leave a tear in your eye . . .  
antonioni  by making this film  had assumed the role of papa smurf to all the little long  haired  american  radical student  smurfs . he had taken them under the guiding protection of his european communist wings  showing appreciation and support for their confused american ways .  these smurfs are red and wear blue  not the other way around .  the radical smurfs were happy to get the guidance of a wise old man with gray hair who regularly preys to the god of all long  haired smurfs  lenin the communist  another wise old man whose beard made the smurfs take him even more seriously  for it symbolized something wise  though they did not quite know why they regarded the beard to have this kind of deep effect on them . castro  another wise bearded man  has often profited from this confusion and exuded magical powers with his beard over his naive overseas admirers .  not to mention che guevara that beard has a certain je  ne  sais  pas  quoi about it  makes one want to immediately embrace marx and his lovely  pacifistic teachings  the film starts with a muddled meeting of radically stupid radical students  who engage in dialogues that truly redefine the word  confused  . as confused as a blind  folded dog falling of a high  story building into a bottomless pit . suddenly  the movie  s  hero   well  antonioni  s hero  rises up and says something to his pathetic left  wing peers and then leaves  hoping that this display of  mega  coolness  will improve his james dean image and vastly increase his chances of getting laid with the best  chicks  in the next mass hippie orgy . eventually he gets into trouble with cops  i . e . pigs  at a rally  and spends the movie under the blue american capitalist skies  looking for freedom or something like that .  br    br   antonioni  s predictable assault on capitalism is not only intellectually hollow  but has  or had  nothing new to offer it  s just the same old trigger  happy one  dimensional cops  businessmen discussing business deals  and what  s wrong with that  isn  t that how antonioni  s movies get made    and endless shots of tv commercials and billboards advertising the oh  so morally decadent products for the abhorrent  selfish  and greedy right  wing rabble  population who thinks of no one but themselves  their families  their work  and their children .  br    br   papa smurf antonioni  just like his long  haired smurfs and smurfettes of the late   s  failed to notice the most obvious and vital aspect about their silly movement they were allowed to have their laughable meetings and express their anti  establishment opinions freely within that very establishment  whereas the students in those countries whose left  wing systems they admired  did not  and still do not  . by far the greatest irony about the hippies  and antonioni  naturally  failed to realize this as well  his judgment being clouded by cocaine  snorting and an excessive intake of lsd   is that hippies were  are  the garbage  residue of capitalism . this is an incredible irony . only in a successfully  functioning capitalist system can you find that species called  hippie   a spoiled  ungrateful  and selfish bunch of middle and upper  middle class losers .  br    br   the film itself seems to go on forever . antonioni takes his sweet time with getting on with it  while including overlong scenes of pointlessness  with a high dullness factor . his attempts at symbolism are annoying and trite . his statements are highly dubious  at best . this film is antonioni  s way of saying that violent revolution is the solution . and this is what we get from an old  saturated  filthy  rich  fat film  maker who lives in villas and dines in the best french and italian restaurants .  br    br   i don  t remember seeing any major western movie about the tiananmen massacre of thousands of students in china . but when one western student gets shot for waving che guevara  s face into all our faces  we get ten major films about it at once . i suppose this means that a chinese life is worth a thousand times less than a western one  at least to the left  wing hypocrites who infest movies .  br    br   if you  re a marxist neo  hippy and disliked this awful review  please klick  no  below .  
i just saw this film  i first saw it when i was  and could just about remember the end . so i watched it like    minutes ago  and  i may seem like a baby as i am   ha  ha  i started to cry at the ending  i forgotten how sad it was . i think i was mainly sad for anne  marie because she said  i love you charlie  and also  i  ll miss you charlie   just made me really cry ha  ha . it has to be one of me favourite movies of all time  it is just a film well worth watching . watch it ha  ha  thats all i can say xd  br    br   but  i love this film  its a true classic .  br    br   xx maverick xx       
this film is definitely a product of its times and seen in any other context  it is an incredibly stupid movie . heck  even seen in its proper context  it  s pretty bad   mostly  this is due to a silly plot and very self  indulgent direction by the famed italian director  michelangelo antonioni . in this case  he tried to meld a very artsy style film with an anti  establishment hippie film and only succeeded in producing a bomb of gargantuan proportions .  br    br   the film begins with a rap session where a lot of  with it  students sit around saying such platitudes as  power to the people  and complaining about  the man  . considering most of these hippies have parents sending them to college  it seemed a bit silly for these privileged kids to be complaining so loudly and shouting revolutionary jargon . a bit later  violence between the students and the  establishment pigs  breaks out and a cop is killed . our  hero   mark  may or may not have done it  but he is forced to run to avoid prosecution . instead of heading to mexico or canada  he does what only a total moron would do   steals an airplane and flies it to the mojave desert  there  he meets a happen  chick and they then sit around philosophizing for hours . then  they have sex in one of the weirder sex scenes in cinema history . as they gyrate about in the dust  suddenly other couples appear from no where and there is a huge orgy scene . while you see a bit of skin  warranting an r  rating   it  s not as explicit as it could have been . in fact  it lasts so long and seems so choreographed that it just boggles the mind . and of course  when they are finished  the many  many other couples vanish into thin air .  br    br   oddly  later the couple paint the plane with some help and it looks a lot like a peter max creation . despite improving the look of the plane  the evil cops respond to his returning the plane by shooting the nice revolutionary . when the girl finds out  she goes into a semi  catatonic state and the movie ends with her seemingly imagining the destruction of her own fascist pig parents and all the evil that they stand for  such as hard work and responsibility  . instead of one simple explosion  you see the same enormous house explode about  times . then  inexplicably  you see tvs  refrigerators and other things explode in slow motion . while dumb  it is rather cool to watch   sort of like when david letterman blows things up or smashes things on his show .  br    br   aside from a dopey plot  the film suffers from a strong need for a single likable character as well as extensive editing . at least   minutes could easily be removed to speed things up a bit   especially since there really isn  t all that much plot or dialog . the bottom line is that this is an incredibly dumb film and i was not surprised to see it listed in  the fifty worst films  book by harry medved . it  s a well deserved addition to this pantheon of crap . for such a famed director to spend so much money to produce such a craptastic film is a crime   br    br   two final observations . if you like laughing at silly hippie movies  also try watching the trial of billy jack . also  in a case of art imitating life  the lead  mark frechette  acted out his character in real life . he died at age   in prison a few years after participating in an act of  revolution  in which he and some friends robbed a bank and killed an innocent person . dang hippies    
i wish kids movies were still made this way dark and deep . there was  get this  character development  and charlie is the epitome of the dynamic character   plot development  superb animation  emotional involvement  and a rational  relatable  and consistent theme . if not for the handful of song  and  dance routines  you would never have thought this was a kids movie  and this is why i give it such a high rating . this movie is an excellent film  let alone for a kids  movie . which brings me to my second point this has got to be the darkest  kids   movie i  ve seen in quite some time  this coming from a    year  old . i  d be shocked to see any child under the age of  not completely terrified throughout a great deal of the latter half and some of the first half of the movie  and it all ends with one of the saddest endings you could ever come across  ala  jurassic bark   for those of you who are  futurama  fans   and this is what makes this movie so good . just because the movie universally evokes emotions we don  t normally like to feel and assume are bad does not make the movie itself bad in fact  it means it succeeded . good funny movies are supposed to make us laugh good horror movies are supposed to make us scared good sad movies are supposed to make us sad . my point is  good movies are supposed to move you  not simply entertain this movie moved me .  br    br   also  this movie is incredibly violent by today  s standards for a kids  movie and contains subject matter that  by today  s standards  may not be suitable for some children . parents  i  d say watch it first . i  m not usually one to say anything about this kind of thing  but i just saw this yesterday and it came as a surprise even to me .  
antonioni  s movies have aged not well . what always surprised me about them is that  besides an unquestionable plastic beauty  there is a dull and didactic  psychology  of the characters and situations . remember  for instance  the conversations between mastroianni and the  wicked capitalistic  that wants sing up him in  la notte   or monica vitti laughing at the peasants flirting in the train in  la aventura   or ferzetti dropping the glass of ink at the end of the same film .  br    br   i have reviewed yesterday  zabriskie point  . in this film there are a lot of nice and elaborate shots of the rod taylor office  the streets and highways of l . a .  the publicity advertisements  the deserts  etc .  that show the fascination of the author in his american journey  in the same way than wim wenders years later . unfortunately  there are too a lot of hippie  leftist clichs that spoil the movie  the boy leaves the meeting  steals an aeroplane and flies over the desert in order to liberate himself and find  something different  .  the executives in grey suites speak all the time about speculation .  the girl looks at the  object women  in the swimming pool and leaves because she wants not to be like them .  the couple of fat middle  class in the caravan speak  in front of the beauty of the nature  of building a hotel and earning a lot of money .  last but not the least  a lot of couples making love in the desert . what a hippie platitude   br    br   sorry  today  half a century after the  revolution  of  la aventura  we can see that the king is naked  and his films  except  le amiche  and perhaps  il grido   are only a handful of aestheticism and commonplaces .  
this is one of the first films i can remember  or maybe the first one . exactly the beautiful kind of film than introduce a kid  sweetly  into the world of violence and addictions were we live . a little bit of babe  casino and constantine  all this well mixed into a carton  and we get this . i don  t know if its truly rated for kids  but i think it was very cool  very funny and interesting . i hate when a film  spescially a carton  can have a good end and its ruining because every character must have a happy end  even if it sounds weird  im not a bitter person  . but this was ok  he simply goes heaven and they let it in that way .  br    br   all this is just a critic  its a good movie an something new . very touching and i gotta go  
i admit  having come of age in the hippie  dippy age  i am a sucker for these kind of movies . i can enjoy some of the schlock of the hippie genre far more than most  normal  people . however  this movie is simply awful in every conceivable way .  br    br   every trite perception of the hippie silliness is presented as gospel  cops kill a young long hair when he peacefully lands a plane . this movie is so horrible that it is not even funny to watch as a goof on the excesses of the hippie drone . it is like a left wing version of dragnet  except without professional actors . the only reason i gave it two stars was because there are some obscurities of interest on the soundtrack  besides  i couldn  t find a selection for negative stars .  br    br   no actors  almost no plot  sheeze  barely even a script . . . you got it  an  art  movie . . . . all this done at root canal drilling slowness  dragging out each meaningless scene just to fill up time .  br    br   in a bizarre twist of life imitating art  the star  nonactor  of the movie joined a commune in real life and robbed a bank in boston  one of his co  robbers was killed and he was sent to jail where he was killed in a suspicious weightlifting  accident  . . . . . and just think  he got to leave this behind as a legacy . . . . oy vey .  
all dog  s go to heaven is an animated kid  s movie like no other . gambling  drinking  death  guns and hell are all prominent in the plot  and though kids will get very little of it  adults will be scratching their heads as to why this movie was made to feel like some sort of gangster movie . the actual movie isn  t explicit in any way  it  s just an odd combination to make a kid  s movie on .  br    br   charlie barkin  burt reynolds  is a player dog  who owns half a casino with his partner carface  vic tayback  . after getting drunk  a dog . . . . getting drunk . . . in a kid  s movie . it just sounds weird .   charlie is tricked and murdered by carfax . when in heaven  he finds a way to come back to earth  but he will no longer be allowed in heaven . he still goes back to earth and meets up with his old friend itchy  dom deluise   and plans payback on carfax . meanwhile  carfax has a little orphan girl anne marie held captive because of her amazing ability to talk to all species of animals  which helps predict races . charlie and itchy free her  and try to help her find a family  while learning a lot about themselves .  br    br   this movie is one of the few non  disney that will appeal to both kids and adults . kids will enjoy the funny characters and lively animation  while adults will enjoy the nice  sweet plot  and the more than normal developed characters . one thing that keeps this down  is that it  s a musical . normally  that  s a good thing  but the music here is honestly terrible . they tend to jump around  almost sounding ad libbed  with next to no instrumental backing . in fact  these are probably the worst songs i  ve ever heard in an animated movie  but luckily  the rest of the film is strong enough to not fall apart because of some bad notes .  br    br   the ending of this movie works  but i honestly hate it . it  s sad  but happy  but more sad than happy  and makes the movie feel like it needs a sequel . considering how bad the sequel made to this was  i wish the ending wouldn  t have warranted a sequel and it would  ve wrapped up into a nice  super happy ending . this is one of the few movies i feel this way about  but i do .  br    br   overall  this is a nice family film  with odd themes thrown in  but nonetheless  good entertainment .  br    br   my rating  out of  .   mins . g .  
in his     film  blow up   antonioni had his hero question truth against a backdrop of british youth protesters . by setting such questions against a fabric of hippie youth movements  antonioni questioned  intentionally or not  the effectiveness of these organisations . how can you fight for a cause when what you think is true may actually be a lie  on the flip side  the film said that we must fight and actively challenge what we see precisely because others may be deceiving us with false images and false truths . though the hippie aspects were the most tacky parts of  blow up   they created a nice texture and gave the film more meaning than it might otherwise have had . it was a very cautionary and mature little film .  br    br   with  zabriskie point  antonioni throws away all the ambiguities and subtleties of  blow up  and goes full blown hippie . the result is a film awash with bad metaphors  stupid ideas and heavy handed storytelling . how could somebody  who across his career displayed such restraint and intelligence  make something so silly   br    br   the film opens with a nice series of close ups  as we watch a group of radicals discussing the meaning of revolution . suddenly one man  mark  gets up and leaves . he hates the rigid and ordered nature of revolution . he recognises that  though revolutionaries fight for freedom  to bind oneself to such a militant cause is to effectively give your freedom away . and so like jack nicholson in  the passenger   mark just wants to be free .  br    br   as such  mark buys a gun and goes solo . he takes orders from no one . when police raid his university campus mark shoots a guy and runs away . he then flees to a nearby airfield  steals a small private plane and flies out to the desert . antonioni treats the desert as a peaceful utopia  and contrasts it with the ruthlessly capitalist cities  with their billboards and hollow modern appliances . he sees the desert as a sort of garden of eden .  br    br   in the desert  mark meets daria and quickly falls in love . antonioni then gives us a ridiculous sex scene in which hundreds of hippies have sex in the sand . free from the constraints of modern life  these tree  huggers and student radicals can now celebrate their individualism by humping in the sun .  br    br   the film ends with mark dying and daria fantasising about blowing up the mansions and stately homes of the rich capitalists who killed him . it  s antonioni  s challenge to his audience . pick up the guns  pickets and explosives  he says . tear the walls down before they cage you in   br    br   of course the film had no effect on its audience . they recognised  zabriskie point  as being just another self centred commercial attempt at being radical . a sort of commodified radicalism . it felt untruthful and tame .  br    br   thematically the film is pretty stupid . antonioni basically says that if you are unhappy with the modern world  and the fat cats who exploit you  you should either flee to the desert  mark  or actively fight the system  daria  . that  s all well and good . but though artists constantly warn us of such dystopian nightmares  they  re all mostly unable to show us how to effectively administer change . like the end of  fight club   nihilism and violence achieve nothing . in the real world  social change tends to be instigated by humble inventors  spurred ahead by minor technological advancements . i mean  what liberated women more than contraceptives   br    br        a very bad film . the problem is  antonioni does not really believe in rebellion . he is a quiet and contemplative man . an introvert who seems to have made an extroverted film simply to garner more adoration from the counterculture who embraced his earlier film   blow up  . as such   zabrinskie point  comes across as a very pretentious and stupid film . it  s essentially a   year old man say  look at me  i  m a daring rebel    br    br   there are many films in which the audience is encouraged to fight  the system   but they all fall into one of four categories . in the first category you have films like  network    cool hand luke    cuckoo  s nest  and  spartacus  . these all show that the lives of freedom fighters all end in failure  though in each case the  spirit of revolution  survives . the message is that you can not effect change  but by dying or failing  the optimistic notion of change survives through martyrdom . essentially we must keep on failing rather than give up hope .  br    br   then you have films like  fight club    zabriskie point  and  falling down   which simply encourage you to explode . tear it all down . blow it all up . everything is a lie  so you might as well go out guns blazing . these films are borne out of angry  reactionary feelings  rather than any sort of common sense .  br    br   then you have the  flight rather than fight  category . terrence malick and antonioni are the masters of this genre . films like  the passenger    red desert  and  badlands  show human beings running from worlds they do not like and forging islands or peaceful havens for themselves . both directors are pessimists  in that malick has his islands destroyed and antonioni has his islands offering no sense of happiness or solution .  br    br   then you have the fourth category . films like donnersmarck  s  the lives of others   ashby  s  bound for glory  and kubrick  s  a clockwork orange   treat artists as a force of change and rebellion . in these dystopian worlds  in which everyone is content to be a slave to the state  it is the unbridled creativity and freedom of will of the artist  criminal who keeps the system in check . by simply existing outside of the herd  you create waves . your comments  actions and critical eye  challenges the status quo . as such  donnersmarck  s film has novelists and artists undermining nazi germany  whilst kubrick has alex the artist  criminal fighting nazi droogs  painting the town in blood and sperm .  
all dogs go to heaven is the most cutest animated film to have dogs in     . the previous don bluth film the land before time       became a success . dogs are so cute as little mice . aw  i just want to hug them when they  re cute . where was i  oh  yes . its animation is beautiful  the characters are great when they  re perfectly voiced and the songs are cute and touching . it opened in november       the same date as the little mermaid produced by walt disney feature animation .  br    br   the part where charlie got killed by carface was so unforgivable . carface is so mean because he wanted to kill charlie . shame on him  the love survive song performed by irene cara and freddie jackson was so beautiful . all dogs go to heaven is the best animated movie ever .  
there  s nothing i hate more than self  congratulating pretentiousness . kevin smith deserves to be hung up by his toenails for inspiring every white middle  class whiner to make a movie about why they can  t get laid . i don  t really mind inexperience and low  budget productions but when the writing is this obvious and cloying it really burns my potatoes . the money put into this could  ve gone to a real struggling filmmaker who actually has a chance like john gulager . if you watch project greenlight you  ll immediately recognize a talented visionary who is fighting against the system . anybody could grab a camera and make a talkative picture that doesn  t manage to say anything really  at all . when will we be saved from the smithonites and whedonettes of the world  the revolution can  t come soon enough . go watch a real first time effort by buying desperado or searching out friends with benefits . thank you and good day .  
when gundam     became the movie trilogy most of us are familiar with  a lot of it was sheer action and less of anything else . this ova is kinda the opposite . though there  re only half a dozen episodes  it isn  t filled with action  but emotional things . the two main action sequences in this  i believe  are enough to satisfy me . after seeing so many gundam series  movies  and ovas  i was completely ready for a civilian  esquire movie . this movie did a fantastic job of that . what makes this movie stand out is that shows both sides of the war have good and bad people . it made the zeons seem more human rather than the original movies where they  re depicted as the second rise of evil nazis . most people that don  t like anime that i  ve forced to watch this movie  lol   liked it . so  i  d recommend it to a lot of people just for the anti  war story . if you  re a gundam fan  and haven  t seen this  you shouldn  t be reading this you should already be watching it right now .  
preposterous sequel stretches credibility to a great degree as diabolical sociopath stanley kaldwell returns this time infiltrating the movie production of the novel he wrote for the garden drownings  assuming the identity of a second unit director he murdered .  br    br   film pokes gleeful fun at hollywood  with a tongue  in  cheek script taking shots at tyrannical directors who sleep with their actresses  . . looking for a way up the ladder  and dislike anyone challenging them for complete spotlight . brian krause  who i thought was dreadful  overacting to the point where the satire felt incredibly forced  portrays the loud  temperamental director who doesn  t like the fact that his second unit director and screenplay writer  alison  . . played by dahlia salem  seem to be taking over the production . andrew moxham is paul parsons  who is the brother of a victim from the first film . the film  s dark humor this time takes the idea of a serial killer actually operating as director of a movie set and exploits it for all it  s worth . nelson again ably slides back into his psycho role without any difficulty  with stanley as clever as ever  using his brains to commandeer a film production  killing whoever he has to in order to maintain full control of his work  letting no one stand in his way . . that is until alison realizes who stanley really is . alison is the type of ambitious writer who wants to capture the essence of her subject . . what motivated stanley to kill  why would he do such a thing  and what led such a man down this dark path  the humor of alison actually working with that very man is also part of the satire at the heart of this dark comedy thriller . of course  you get the inevitable showdown between alison and stanley  with a really ridiculous  unbelievable conclusion regarding the killer  s fate  . . quite a hard pill to swallow  . unlike the first film  which was photographed with sophisticated polish  director po  chih leong uses unnecessary techniques which are not needed  . . such as shooting an all kinds of weird angles  slow  motion in a sepia color  and several instances which are captured on video  and rather annoy instead of impress . this sequel  to me  just wasn  t on target as much as the original  with a lot of the humor less effective and more obvious .  
i can understand why some people like this movie  and why some people don  t . for me  though  i really like it  even if i noticed some good bits  and not so impressive bits . the animation was actually excellent  like charlie  s dream . the characters were a mixed bag  the best being anne  marie  voiced by the late judith barsi .  i was physically ill when i read what happened to her  also  carface is a very convincing villain  especially voiced by the wonderful vic tayback  i particularly loved  morons i  m surrounded by morons   and along with rasputin and warren t . rat is probably the most memorable of all the don bluth villains . charlie and itchy only just lacked the same sparkle  but i loved king gator and his song . some of the film is very haunting  like annabelle  s  you can never come come back   which kind of scares me still . unfortunately  there were some bits i didn  t like so much . the story had a tendency to become clumsy and unfocused  but disney  s black cauldron suffered from the same problem . also there were some dark scenes  that young children would find upsetting  but the ending is very poignant . however the biggest flaw was the rather bland songs and the way they were sung . none of them in particular stick out  with exception of  let  s make music together  and  love survives   and burt reynolds can  t sing and dom deluise has done much better singing . all in all  a watchable movie  that could have been more  but is definitely memorable  and i would definitely watch it again .     . bethany cox  
think of this film as a saturday morning live  action program from ages ago . even the small tykes will find this one hard to please because it runs like molasses  i can  t fully understand how god awful it is to make something too typical and uninteresting  especially in the costume department  too many warrior  wizard movies out there have used the same old plotline numerous times over  but this is mighty scarce considering its appeal to the little darlings . and who in the world would  ve let a topless mermaid be cast in the first place  i thought this was a  family  movie  mst  k  here  s another fine gem for your     tv season   
i love all dogs go to heaven even though i  m a guy . this and the land before time are the best animated films that don bluth has made  in the movie gharlie barkin  burt reynolds  is helped by his friend itchy  dom deluise  freedom out of the pound in new orleans     . charlie who  s in casino business wants to share equal with his partner carface  vic tayback  . carface who is unwilling to share the equal with charlie pushes a car on a bridge onto charlie killing him  charlie enters heaven and meets annabelle  melba moore  who shows charlie that his time is up by showing him a watch that has stopped and she explains that all dogs go to heaven because all dogs are naturally good  charlie hides the stop watch behind his back and switches it back and he returns to earth alive with annabelle screaming you can never come back  charlie reunites with itchy and they go and explore soon to find out that carface has not only attempted to murder charlie he has also kidnapped a little orphan girl named ann marie  judith barsi  . when carface leaves charlie and itchy help ann marie escape . the next day charlie itchy and ann marie go to look for money  ann marie sees a couple who she thinks would make great parents for her  while ann marie talks to the couple charlie sneaks up behind the man and steals his wallet  charlie ann marie and itchy then go to a horse race where they bet the man  s money that a horse will win the race  the horse they said would win winds up winning and charlie  itchy  and ann marie are payed       for the bet  charlie promises ann marie he  ll use the money to give to the poor but winds up buying a new casino and gambling and buys pizza for his friend flo  loni anderson  and her puppies . soon ann marie has found out that charlie had stolen the wallet from the man and used his money on the horse race and everything  charlie sad about this has a dream about going to hell and the devil  soon charlie awakens and finds out that ann marie is gone  she has left to give the wallet back to the couple who forgive her about the wallet and invite her to breakfast  charlie asks ann marie to leave with him and she does pretending to be sick but are captured by mice who try to feed them to king gator but they manage to escape  soon carface shows up and captures ann marie . he plans to drown her but charlie comes to the rescue and calls on king gator who eats carface . charlie  s time is up and he must die again . itchy with the help of the other dogs finds the couple who took ann marie in and get them to come with them to where ann marie is . they are there in time to save ann marie but are too late to save charlie who  s time has ended  charlie who is awarded for his heroic effort for saving ann marie is welcomed back to heaven but before he enters he says good  bye to ann marie who has been adopted by the couple and asks her to take care of itchy for him . she says yes and tells charlie she loves him and good  bye  charlie enters heaven again as it  s said all dogs go to heaven  filled with wonderful animation  characters  and story don bluth has proved to us again that he is a good animator  it  s too bad this movie was release the same year little mermaid which is my favorite disney movie  they both came out in     which was the year before i was born  i guess i  ll have to call them both the best animated features of        out of     
need a lesson in pure  abject failure   look no further than  wizards of the lost kingdom   an abysmal  dirt  poor  disgrace of a flick . as we all know  decent moovies tend to sprout horrible  horrible offspring  halloween  begat many  many bad    s slasher flicks  mad max  begat many  many bad    s  futuristic wasteland fantasy  flicks and  conan the barbarian  begat a whole slew of terrible  horrible  incredibly bad    s sword  and  sorcery flicks .  wizards of the lost kingdom  scrapes the bottom of that    s barrel  in a way that  s truly insulting to barrels . a young runt named simon recaptured his  good kingdom  from an evil sorcerer with the help of a mangy rug  a garden gnome  a topless bimbo mermaid  and a tired  looking  pudgy bo svenson . svenson   north dallas forty    inglorious bastards    delta force    a long  time b  moovie muscleman  looks barely able to swing his aluminum foil sword . however  he manages to defeat the forces of evil  which consist of the evil sorcerer   shurka   and his army of badly costumed monsters  giants  and midgets . at one point  a paper mache bat on a string attacks  but is eaten by a    hidden sock puppet  pitifully presented as some sort of dragon . the beginning of the film consists of what can only politely be described as bits of scenes scooped up from the cutting  room floor of udder bad moovies  stitched together in the vain hope of setting the scene for the film  and over  earnestly narrated by some guy who never appears again . words cannot properly convey the jaw  dropping cheapness of this film the producers probably spent moore moolah feeding svenson  s ever expanding gullet than on the cheesy fx of this flick . and we  re talkin  brie here  folks . . .   p director hector olivera   barbarian queen   presents this mish  mash in a hopelessly confused  confuddled  and cliched manner  destroying any possible hint of clear  linear storytelling . the acting is dreadful  the production levels below shoe  string  and the plot is one tired cliche after another paraded before our weary eyes . that they actually made a sequel      makes the moocow  s brain whirl . james horner  s   braveheart    titanic    the rock   cheesy moosic from  battle beyond the stars  was lifted  screaming and kicking  and mercilessly grafted onto this turkey  bet this one doesn  t pop up on his resume . folks  you gotta see this to believe it . the moocow says as a cheapo rent when there is nothing else to watch  well  it  s moore fun than watching dust bunnies mate . barely .   p  
this is one of the greatest movies ever maybe even the greatest movie ever . i had forgotten about the movie for about   years . until i saw an add on tv for adgth and it brought back fond memories of me watching it when i was a little kid . and when i watched it a few nights ago i became addicted to the movie . usually i don  t like animated family movies but this one is special it is the perfect family movie .  br    br   the ending of the movie always touches my heart and saddens me very much but that is what makes this movie amazing better than all of the garbage that is coming out for kid movies today . i mean the movie is g rated and it is about  dogs who are involved with gambling  there is a lot of smoking  drinking  murder  death and hell depicted in the movie . which i believe makes the movie from good to great . i mean movies today don  t bring reality to kids and in this movie they did .  br    br   rip judith barsi  dom deluise  
go immediately and rent this movie . it will be be on a bottom shelf in your local video store and will be covered in dust . no one will have touched it in years . it may even be a  .   special  it  s worth ten bucks  i swear  buy it  there aren  t very many films than can compare with this  the celluloid version of that goo that forms at the bottom of a trash can after a few years . yes  i gave it a     but it really deserves much lower .     scales were not designed with stuff like this in mind .  
in my case i liked this movie because when i saw it i found more than i expected . i mean  this is one of the few animated movies that made me think about its themes even long after i finished . it talks about death  vengeance and hell in such a way that it gets to you like a punch in your face  even reaching to suffer with the dream sequence in the mid  point of the film . that  s what makes this movie so good the ability  unique in don bluth  director   to play with the people  s feelings and make them love or hate a character in no time . that  and the fact that it has so many good characters like charlie and ann  marie  that in the sad but happy ending you have to say  i have something in my eye  to hide the others that you cried . all i  ve said are just only some of the good points of this movie . as for the rest  you have to see them for yourself in a film extremely honest . don bluth  thank you .  
if somebody wants to make a really  really bad movie   wizards of the lost kingdom  really sets a yardstick by which to measure the depth of badness .  br    br   start with the pseudo  chewbacca that follows around the main character . . . some poor schmuck in a baggy white  furry  costume that looks as if it was stitched together from discarded pieces of carpeting . work your way slowly  painfully  through more not  so  special effects that thoroughly deny the viewer from suspension of disbelief . add a garden gnome  just for the heck of it  .  br    br   on second thought  skip this movie entirely and find something else to do for an hour and a half .  
all dogs go to heaven is  in my opinion  the best animated film ever made . i  m not really a big fan of animated films  but there  s something about this one that makes it better than any other animated film i  ve seen . the music is wonderful as is the performances of burt reynolds  dom deluise  and especially ken page as the king gator .  let  s make music together  is perhaps one of my favorite songs from any movie musical i  ve seen . this is definitely a must see for people of all ages .  
all these reviewers are spot on . i  ve seen many bad films over the years  believe me  and this beats the lot   br    br   this is not just a  so bad it  s good  exploiter waste of time  but a genuine  hilarious  movie atrocity .  br    br   check out the white furry monster type thing   br    br   wet yourself laughing at thom christopher  s  spell  weaving  acting   br    br   gape in sheer ae  clenching disbelief  at the threadbare sets   br    br   this is one of those  european co  productions  . no wonder we have so many wars . i swear  some of the people taking part in  wizards of the lost kingdom  aren  t actually aware they are appearing in a film   br    br   fact  i originally watched this movie on htv wales late one night while suffering from concussion and sleep deprivation . i had to track down a copy several weeks later to make sure it was really this awful . it is . worse even than lee majors in the norseman  more laughable than all of john derek  s films  this is  truly  the citizen kane of trash .  
  may contain spoilers  br    br    all dogs go to heaven  is a great movie . i saw it in     when i was two years old . i didn  t understand it that well but as i saw it more and more times i started to love it . i love the songs in this movie . my favorite songs are  let me be surprised  and  soon you  ll come home  . those are beautiful songs . the only thing that bothers me about the movie is charlie dieing . when i was little my sister couldn  t even watch that part . other than that this movie is wonderful .  br    br   my favorite part of the movie is when annabelle and charlie are flying around heaven . heaven is beautiful in the movie and the  clocks  are very clever . i also love itchy  in fact i have  dachshunds of my own . they are so cute .  br    br   overall i love this movie and suggest everyone should see it . i give this movie      stars .  
what we have here is a downright brilliant piece of early    s incompetence that will render even the biggest connoisseur of trash  cinema completely speechless   wizards of the lost kingdom  is a very cheap and cheesy fantasy  sword  and  sorcery adventure that doesn  t have an actual plot but does eagerly  shamelessly borrows elements from other films . writer ed naha and hector olivera  who   watched enough similar type of movies to know that they needed a handful of essential characters  but probably figured that all the rest would follow automatically . in order to make a fantasy  adventure you need one super  evil villain  preferably with a black cape   one young hero in training  one lone warrior  one amiable type of furry pet  one wise midget living in the woods  optional  and a whole colorful collection of hideous demons  enslaved dwarfs  and winged gargoyles to serve as filler . the story is phenomenal and so original  with simon the young son of a wizard having to flee from his beloved kingdom after the evil magician shurka takes over the power and killed the king . simon wants to go back and save the people  but therefore he needs his powerful ring which he lost during his escape . simon befriends lone warrior kor  the usually cool dude bo svenson who clearly needed the pay check   who assists simon during the long and devastating journey full of ordeals  dangerous encounters and magical showdowns . admittedly it doesn  t even sound too bad thus far  but that  s merely just because i excluded all the deliciously inept little details . simon has a best friend named gulfax  for example . gulfax is an albino version of chewbacca and evokes incontrollable chuckles whenever he opens his poodle  snout to yelp something incomprehensible . the obstacles during journey back home are hilariously irrelevant to the  plot  and simply serve as padding footage to cover up the lack of actual content . simon has nightmarish visions inside the tent of a suspicious forest nymph  kor settles an old score with the pig  faced nemesis whose sister he refused to marry and there  s the supposedly horrible  suicide cave  where you can only sing your way out of . but the absolute most unequally brilliant sequence  not just of this film alone but in the history of cinema  involves the resurrection of four zombie warriors . simon awakes the legendary courageous warriors  hoping they will assist them in their battle  but the rotting corpses only take a few steps  complain about how tired they are and return back to their graves . that  s it  so much for the zombie sub plot  best sequence ever  i could go on listing unintentionally hilarious little details for several more paragraphs  but you get the idea .  wizards of the lost kingdom  is a tremendously messed  up  so  bad  it  s  good  film . word of advice do not watch this joyful piece of junk alone . invite friends  preferably the dope  headed types with a wicked sense of humor  and watch it in group . it will be a night to remember  
lots of reviews on this page mention that this movie is a little dark for kids . that depends on the kid . this isn  t a movie for a    year old it  s more geared toward the  years and older crowd . i saw this movie when i was    i absolutely loved it . at the time most animated movies were a little too childish for my tastes . this movie deals with more serious issues  and therefore has a little more emotional impact . in this movie characters can die  and be sent to hell  this gives a little more emotional weight to the scenes where characters are risking their lives . the good guys aren  t always perfectly sweet and nice  like other cartoons  . they have  real  motivations  like revenge  and greed  but also compassion and friendship shows that things aren  t always black and white .  br    br   excellent movie  
this movie is truly brilliant . it ducks through banality to crap at such speed you don  t even see good sense and common decency to mankind go whizzing past . but it doesn  t stop there  this movie hits the bottom of the barrel so hard it bounces back to the point of ludicrous comedy behold as kor the beergutted conan wannabe with the over  abundance of neck hair struts his stuff swinging his sword like there  s no tomorrow  and the way he swung it  i really am amazed there was a tomorrow for him  or at least  for his beer gut  . don  t miss this movie  it  s a fantastic romp through idiocy  and sheer bloody mindedness  and once you have finished watching this one  dry the tears of joy  or tears of frustration at such an inept attempt at storytelling  from your eyes because some stupid f   l gave these people another   to make a sequel   
all dogs go to heaven plays on the canine criminal underworld . the film is a delight for children with a comical and dark  but  satisfying and happy  ending storyline with plenty of song and dance . it features outcast charlie  a fellow canine criminal who is murdered but returns from the dead . he meets a homeless human girl who looks up to him  and through this relationship  he realizes the meaning of life and self  sacrifice . this is a cute animation loved very much through my eyes as a child . i would highly recommend this film to children . i  m unsure about how adults would react to it .  i tried to watch it a few years ago on vhs  but those recordings don  t last long  do they    
from the start  you know this is a sam sherman film more than an al adamson film because as the credits roll   a sam sherman production  appears in letters as big as the title credit . not only that  mr . sherman co  wrote the screenplay and it was his idea to use bob livingstone  a washed  up    year old western star of the old hollywood era to be his male lead in a picture that sherman thought would capitalize on the recent success of  swinging stewardesses  .  br    br   now why would you want to have a wrinkled old man as your male lead in what is supposed to be a soft  core exploitation feature  it defies explanation  but that is sam sherman for you . his obsession with old hollywood colored a lot of his films for independent international pictures  and he and al adamson frequently tried to get has  been actors for their films  e . g . j . carrol naish  russ tamblyn  lon chaney jr .  etc .  . but bob livingstone  tell me the drive  in demographic knew who this     s second  rater was it  s ridiculous   br    br   but then again   naughty stewardesses  was a successful picture for them  so we can  t just write this off as a sherman fiasco . still  by any aesthetic standard  it  s an incoherent mess . al adamson wanted out of this picture  and it is easy to see why . first off  it has no genre focus at all and drifts around from super soft core  tits and ass  simulated sex only  to a kidnapping thriller  shades of steckler  s  rat pfink and boo boo    in between  we get subjected to painfully boring sequences of the stewardesses traipsing around vegas to the hackneyed music of sparrow  or richard smedley and connie hoffmann on a photo shoot in san francisco . worst of all  we get bob livingstone as a jack lalanne wannabe in a blue jumpsuit trying to be sexy . . . gag   thankfully  his big sex scene with connie hoffmann was deleted  but you can catch him slurping on her titties on the dvd in the special features section . creepy .   br    br   this is a terrible  terrible movie  but i  ll give it three stars for gary graver  s photography and out of sympathy to connie hoffmann for having to make it with  wrinkles  livingstone .  naughty stewardesses  is for al adamson completists and  or scholars of exploitation film as sam sherman  s commentary offers vital inside info . all others  beware .  
i saw this movie when i was about   years  old and i liked it but it wasn  t until i watched it again at the age of   that i really understood it for what it is a cartoon about a criminal dog with a real heart of gold  adopts  a little girl in order to exploit her for her talents to talk to animals . the dog star  charlie b . barkin  is murdered by his formal business partner  carface   who is absolutely diabolical by the way  . his soul then goes to where else but heaven only to find a golden watch that is really his life  s time  which charlie  being the sneaky but lovable cad that he is steals and rewinds  sending him back to earth . once back on earth  charlie goes about seeking revenge on the evil carface . this is how he comes upon young anne  marie  the lonely little orphan that can talk to animals whom charlie plans to scam for her talents in order to get back at his enemy carface . but scoundrel charlie actually comes to care for young anne  marie and his plans unfoil as he must make up his mind to do what is right after anne  marie discovers what her  best friend  charlie has really been using her to make money for a new and better dog casino . now he must rescue her from the dreaded carface . i still love this movie even at the age of   . the idea and plot really are quite different and original from that of many other animated films . i especially like the idea that a dog plays the role of the villain for once . carface was even better than he was in the all dogs go to heaven sequel . in that picture he appeared quite dubious to his role of villain .  
connie hoffman is very pretty and is attractively topless at times .  br    br   that  s it  folks . the sole reason for even considering whether to watch this film or not .  br    br   these   s sexploitation period pieces are sometimes entertaining by virtue of their very datedness  flared trousers  big hair  zapata moustaches etc .  . this one isn  t .  br    br   the script is bad  the acting is bad  the direction is bad  and the idea of having a senior citizen romantic leading man is exceptionally bad .  br    br   the title  hinting at a sex comedy  is grossly misleading .  br    br   i heartily recommend avoiding this one like the plague .  
when i first watched this  we borrowed it from our local library about a year ago and watched it about  times . we  ve just watched it again and i liked it more than i did the last time i  d watched it         br    br   the film is mainly about two dogs called charlie and itchy  voiced by dom deluise and i love dom deluise   . charlie is half a gangster and half a goodie  which i like . itchy is his sidekick . charlie is killed by his friend  not  and sent to heaven . when charlie comes back to life  it is the start of an amazing adventure .  br    br   the five main reasons why i  m absolutely crazy about this film one i love the characters  except carface  . my favourite three are charlie  itchy and a little girl called anne  marie who comes slightly later . two i love the period of history in which this film is set . it is set during the prohibition in the united states . three the don bluth animation  as usual  is superb . the backgrounds are good too . four there is a strange excitement in this film that keeps me on the edge of my seat . five the songs in this are lovely . my favourite song starts with  i need brazil  the throb  the thrill  . . .  br    br   so  watch this lovely film when you can  you won  t be disappointed          
i sought out this film for one reason   al adamson . he is among the worst directors of all time   right up there with ed wood  jr . and ray dennis steckler and the pantheon of awfulness . however  i was a tad disappointed because although the film was indeed bad  it never approached the levels of awfulness of some of his earlier schlocky movies . because of that  this film wasn  t particularly fun to watch for us bad movie fans .  br    br   now i was wary about watching this film  as the title  naughty stewardesses  makes the film sound like a pornographic film   something i wouldn  t be reviewing on imdb . however  this film appeared to be this at times   particularly the first   minutes . but  you could tell that the script underwent many changes  as for much of the film there isn  t any titillation at all and towards the end of the movie there is a plot that comes out of no where that is violent and certainly not sexy  the result of all this is total confusion .  br    br   sadly  none of the many parts are even good . for example  as a porn video  it shows surprisingly little and it  s incomprehensible why they would put a   year  old guy in some of the love scenes . sure  for a   year  old mr . livingston looked pretty good   but he was still an old man and no one would want to see him getting it on with young nymphet  then  when the final   minutes becomes very violent  as livingston became a rambo  like guy  talk about weird and inappropriate .  br    br   overall  there is little to recommend this sad movie . it  s not bad enough or sexy enough to care about and the film manages to be rather boring even with such a crazy title like  naughty stewardesses  .  
uc      the one year war is almost at an end . a neutral colony of side  has been targeted by cyclops  a zeon task force . their target  a new gundam being built exclusively for newtypes  supposedly built for amuro ray from the original gundam saga  inside . when little boy al izuruha  a fan of zeon ms  encounters a zaku after battle breaks out in the colony  he befriends newbie ms pilot benard  bernie  wiseman . the two become good friends  al is treated as an honorary member of the cyclops team . through the show  bernie acts as a father figure to al  whose real father is always working  and seems to be taken with federation pilot christina mckenzie  but eventually they must meet . . . . in battle . al soon learns that war is not child  s play and bernie must choose to make the ultimate sacrifice to complete his mission .  br    br   for only  episodes  gundam     is a well done show . the mobile suits are extremely well designed  and the animation may look dated but really shows emotion in the characters . if you liked     then check this one out  or if you are new to the gundam world  this is a good show to start with . if you look to a show for drama and character development  this is the one for you  it focuses more on that then mobile suit battle . i would rate it more of a drama than action .  br    br   mobile suit gundam      war in the pocket .  br    br   sometimes you have to lose to win .  
ah  channel  of local mexican t . v . everyday  at     a . m . they air horror movies from the    s to early      s . it was  return to cabin by the lake  the movie that aired yesterday . i regret for watching it .  br    br   the original  cabin by the lake  was a regularly popular low budgeter and it was good accepted . the problem is that this sequel is horrible  not even unintentionally funny and tries to imitate the original . ugh . the plot is really stupid in all the sense of the word .  br    br   the movie at some points looks like a soap  opera because of it  s absurd dialogs  cinematography  and direction .  br    br   my advice is  avoid this one at all costs . it  s a movie that it shouldn  t be watched by anyone . not even for lovers of mediocre film  making .  br    br   you have been warned .  
i can remember this movie from when i was a small child  i loved it then and i still do now . i managed to get it on dvd for my   th birthday and was over joyed because i had found it so difficult to find it previously and it had only be rented when i was younger . my favourite character is charlie because he learns to be a good dog . the movie is filled with fun songs and music . the animation is brilliant and the character voices are perfect . this movie has always been a tearjerker for me but i think that if i hadn  t seen the movie when i was small then i would not find it as brilliant and fascinating as i do although i still believe that i would still like it because i am really into animated movies .  
such is the dilemma  above  that debbie must face at the close of this sam sherman production naughty stewardesses . debbie has just hit town  become a stewardess  slept with an elderly rich man  who she describes is in his    s but obviously hit that mark a decade or two ago   shoots nude scenes for a photographer she just met  and then is the central element to a kidnapping  extortion plot . through it all and amidst all that emotional upheaval and soul  searching  what in heaven  s name will debbie do  well  i cannot give it away completely but don  t expect any real epiphany here . let  s face it . naughty stewardesses is just what it wants to be  at least two  thirds through   a soft core porn film with lots of topless women and a funny in that kitchy    s way film . there is no grand art here . the movie was designed to make money and exploit a growing trend at the time to put nymphomaniacal stewardesses in films so that the audience could live out vicariously their voyeuristic tastes . by todays standards  the film is pretty tame . what this film does do wrong is try to be some kind of statement film at the end . c  mon  anyone here believing that little diatribe by debbie while on the beach contemplating life . she would spend more time picking out which halter top she will wear that day then do that . and what about the ridiculous plot to steal   grand  it didn  t make sense to me so how on earth did these characters  dig  it  anyone buying cal as a member of the plo  something like that  or even as a director for hardcore pornography  he would be luck to get work at seven eleven  this is  as another reviewer noted  more of a sam sherman piece then and al adamson piece . you can tell when al is in complete charge . there is virtually no budget and the film doesn  t look nearly as polished as this . adamson does a decent job directing this time and i have to give sherman credit to a degree . while this film is bad just for what it was meant to be  it has a certain style to it . i liked the opening credits with the animation and photographs . i even liked the music of sparrow .  silver heels  was a somewhat catchy tune . the movie doesn  t look cheap really at all . compare that to any of al  s horror films . as for the cast  yes  bob livingston is a bit old for the lead  but some examination went into his character and the obvious thread that young women are attracted to men with money was explored as well . i had major problems with robert smedley who was just plain awful in his role . the girls have all got great sets  so what else was required of them huh  naughty stewardesses is relatively harmless exploitation film from the    s and will serve as a living time capsule for certain aspects of life during that decade . by the way  did i mention it is a pretty bad picture   
when i was a little girl  and my dad owned a video store   this was among my favorite movies . i hadn  t heard much about it since then  nor did i really remember anything about it  it having been forgotten in the wake of don bluth  s other  probably better films . i managed to track it down a few weeks ago  however  and was pleasantly surprised again . set in new orleans in the     s  the animation is delightful and the songs are memorable . there are a few goofs in continuity if you look hard enough  but they generally don  t detract from the storyline  which leaves you smiling  and maybe even a little misty  eyed  if you are a lover of animals  . the characters are believable  maybe even a little too grown  up for younger watchers   as well . two paws up  and for those of you who haven  t seen it in a while  definitely worth a re  watch .  
working with one of the best shakespeare sources  this film manages to be creditable to it  s source  whilst still appealing to a wider audience .  br    br   branagh steals the film from under fishburne  s nose  and there  s a talented cast on good form .  
an unforgettable masterpiece from the creator of the secret of nimh and the land before time  this was a very touching bittersweet cartoon . i remember this very well from my childhood  it was funny and sad and very beautiful . well it starts out a bit dark  a dog who escaped the pound  and gets killed by an old friend  ends up in heaven  and comes back . but it becomes sweet when he befriends an orphaned girl who can talk to animals . some scenes were a bit scary contrary to other cartoons  like the dream sequence of charlie  but everything else was okay  and the songs were fair . a memorable role of burt reynolds and dom deluise  i just love that guy  ahehehe . and judith barsi of jaws the revenge  may god rest her soul  poor girl  she didn  t deserve to die  but she is in heaven now  all good people go to heaven . overall this is a very good animated movie  a don bluth classic enough to put anime and disney to shame . recommended for the whole family . and know this  if you have the original video of this  you  ll find after the movie  dom deluise has a very important and special message  gotta love that guy  ahehehe .  
greetings again from the darkness . what ever happened to the great barry levinson  he directed two of my all  time favorites in  avalon  and  diner  . he had some fine movies as well   rainman    but always provided something of interest . . . until now . i believe the worst thing you can ever say about a comedy is that it is boring .  envy  is the definition of boring . never of big fan of pure slap stick   dumb and dumber    i was just stunned at how god  awful this movie is . there are maybe  chuckles in the whole thing  if you can pay attention that long . the best part of the film is the running gag of the title song by a redbone sound  alike . if the film had been written as well as the song  it would have been tolerable . rachel weisz is a wonderful actress and i realize they all want to do comedy  even julianne moore   but the real world exposes one weaknesses . snl cast member amy poehler is her usual over the top in her role as trailer park trash turned princess . the disaster of the film is jack black and ben stiller . the first work commute together flashes some promise  but after that their chemistry disappears due to the poor script . this script is like most of jack black  s character  s ideas  not a bad thought  but no hope for success .  
i remember watching this movie with my friends when we were  years old  but the weird thing is that i never watched it after that . the other day i was babysitting and my cousin never saw all dogs go to heaven so we rented both movies and watched them together today and he really loved these movies . so many memories came back watching this movie once again and i have to admit i even cried a little . i  m   years old and the ending still gets to me . all dogs go to heaven is one of the most touching animated films and i  m shocked honestly by this rating of  .   i thought this movie would bring back good memories for others as well . i admit the animation was a bit typical but the story is just so charming and fun .  br    br   charlie is a gambling dog who gets killed by another gambling dog  carface . but when charlie wants revenge he comes back to earth with a watch that can  t stop ticking or that  s the end of his life again . when he and his best friend  itchy  look for carface and spy on him they find out how carface gets all his money  he has a little orphan girl who talks to animals and finds out who is going to win the races . charlie takes the girl  ann  marie  and makes fake promises in order to get the money . but he ends up learning that maybe he should put ann  marie first before himself when carface goes back to him with a vengeance .  br    br   all dogs go to heaven is the perfect family film  it  s not disney  but this is an excellent family film to watch . not to mention that it  s just so cute and touching . i know it  s ridicules and some people call me crazy  but this movie for me when i was a kid made me believe that dogs have souls . how could they not  they  re just so loving  and i think i  m going to cry again . but anyways  i would just recommend this movie for anyone  it  s a fun movie to watch .  br    br        
jack black  s character  tim dingman the  dreamer  in envy  finds wealth and success in the idea of a aerosol spray  vapoorize  that when sprayed on doggie dung  makes the poo disappear into thin air .  br    br   for a moment i was hoping that vapoorize was a real product so that i could spray it on this  stinker  of a movie and make it disappear into thin air as well .  br    br   although envy is not the worst movie that i have seen in the past   months  that honor goes to the cat in the hat   it does get the honor of a close second .  br    br   not funny  not sad  not anything . a real  stinkeroo        br    br   a  .  out of      
all dogs go to heaven is a movie that i have always liked . when i was a kid  i used to watch this every other day . it is underrated if you look at its imdb rating and the comments of many people in general . this isn  t a bad movie like many say  it is a very good movie . this is good and your kids will probably like it . even though it  s rated g  some parents may find this to be a bit violent . it is actually a pretty dark story  where the dogs are similar to mobsters who are involved in gambling  extortion  and even cold blooded murder . the movie follows a dog named charlie who had escaped from the pound  is killed by his old friend  goes to heaven  but ends up coming back to earth . many younger kids watching this movie may feel as though they are watching a big kids movie .  br    br   there are some scenes that may scare little kids  but i  m sure they  ll do fine . every time i watch this movie  it reminds me of when i was a little kid . i  m sure everyone has a movie that reminds them of when they were younger  this is the movie that makes me feel that way . the performances from burt reynolds and dom deluise are great  and this is the last movie that a little girl named judith barsi was in . unfortunately  she was killed at a young age  which is a shame because she had so much potential and didn  t deserve what happened . now that i know her story  i can  t watch this movie the same way anymore because her voice sounds so sad .  br    br   the animation in this movie is great  the voice work is great  and the story is good  but a little bit different from many other kids movies . this was popular at the time of its release  but was over shadowed by disney  s mega popular the little mermaid . this is a movie that isn  t conceived as well by adults  but if you  re a kid  or if you grew up with this movie as a kid  then i  m sure you will enjoy watching it .  
i do not envy barry levinson  rachel weisz  ben stiller or jack black for doing this film . it  s  in one word  boring . maybe the fact that is too predictable  the more  than  exploited ben stiller  s loser role or the not  at  all funny scenes make this film just something to forget . even christopher walken  s appearance finishes in a pathetic way . i was very disappointed . i love ben stiller  s acting . i loved it in most of his films  the last one i saw before this was duplex with drew barrymore and was not that bad . about jack black . . . well  apart from high fidelity i  ve never seen him doing something good . what about school of rock  ooops  frightening .  
i  ve seen this movie when i was young  and i remembered it as one of the first films i have truly liked that was not an action movie or a comedy . so  in my later years i decided to watch it again and see if it was just nostalgia or was there really something in that movie . to my surprise  the movie held to my every expectations . it  s a great movie . emotional in the right amount  some jokes  nice songs  not great though  and that actually explains why i did not remember it was a musical  and all in all a great use to my time . i was surprised because the last movies from my childhood that i have revisited did not even pass my minimal demands of a decent movie and yet this movie  which i first saw in the second grade  made me cry today just like it made me cry then . maybe that  s because my dog died recently and maybe not  but the important thing is that it made me feel  and that  s why filmmakers make films  that and the money  of course  . yes  there are continuity glitches . yes  the script has holes  but it doesn  t matter . the movie itself is fun and smart . so don  t be fooled by cynical people who always look for the bad things in life  because nothing is perfect  and this movie gets a   not because it is perfect . it gets   simply because it made me feel .  
i  m not sure what . i just couldn  t laugh at it . i had an open mind . i didn  t want to be a tight  ss about it . but i seriously just couldn  t laugh at this film . it was just not funny to me . some parts it seemed like ben stiller and jack black tried too hard . just because you put two very funny men together doesn  t mean that this is going to be an excellent comedy . some movies just shouldn  t be made . this is one of them . because it does a lot of old jokes and the acting was just stupid . i know  i know it  s a comedy . sort of at least . but i was just not impressed . i  m sorry  but i cannot give this anything lower than a two . and that  s all i  m giving .  br    br        
i loved this film when i was little . today at   it is one of my all time favorite animated films . beautiful animation and appealing characters are just two of the things to like about this film . although many people might not enjoy some of the songs  most of them are well  done and go along with the story . it focuses on charlie  a roguish handsome german shepard who may seem unlikable to some at first . . . but eventually will win you over .  br    br   not a kiddie film by any means . often very dark and frightening at times . a treat for don bluth fans and animation buffs . but do keep a tissue in handy . adgth never fails to make me cry and will do the same for those who are movie sensitive . arguably one of the greatest non  disney animated films of all time . along with watership down and my neighbor totoro .  br    br   bottom line a heavenly masterpiece .  
i saw this movie last night and even after a couple of beers the only giggle this movie got out of me was when i realized that i was actually watching it . in a word  it is unfunny . unfunny . i totally believe the trivia tidbit about jack black apologizing for making this garbage . i can  t believe that barry levinson didn  t just toss this script when he read the first page . moreover  i can  t believe that i watched more than ten minutes of it .  br    br   i gave it  out of    because i love to see christopher walken make terrible movies for the paycheck . also  the horse  corky   by merely existing as a character in this movie  is actually quite ridiculous .  
all dogs go to heaven is one of the best movies i  ve ever seen . i first saw it when i was like  . now i  m   and i rented it  it makes me think of things and it brings back so many memories  those were  the days  . i love the music  i love when charlie is arriving in heaven  i love the song  let me be surprised  . i love how charlie looks and his voice  bert reynolds could only play charlie  s voice this great . i love this movie  the  st one is the best one because it  s so original and great . it really does bring back memories that no one can describe  not even me . if only i could go back to those days . i love the characters . if this is the way the memories come back when i  m   imagine how i  ll feel when i  m like    i hope i  ll be able to watch this when i  m older . when i first seen this i never knew that i would really look back on it and feel this way  i hope it will be available to watch . i  m so happy that this movie was made and the amazing idea came to mind and heart . on a scale from     i  d give it a perfect   . it  s an amazing movie . it  s so hard to explain the feeling  when i get older and if i have kids  i hope they can experience this feeling .  
envy stars some of the best . jack black  ben stiller  amy poehler  and the great christopher walken . with such a cast  one can only expect the best . however  with  envy   no one could save this disaster .  br    br   tim dingman  stiller  and nick vanderpark  black  are best friends and co  workers at a sandpaper factory . both are making a decent living  but because tim has a better performance at work  he  s able to afford more than his buddy nick . nick is a dreamer who  s always coming up with new ideas for inventions . one day  nick comes up with the idea for a spray can that makes dog poop disappear  yes  i  m serious  . falling in love with the idea  nick decides to really invent this product . he makes an offer to tim to invest in his idea and share the profits      . tim refuses thinking the idea will never work .  br    br   nick  s invention  titled  va  poo  rize   again  i  m serious   ends up making millions . he enjoys spending his money on things like a much larger house  a horse  a personal trainer  and fancy deserts . tim starts feeling envy for nick . hence the name of the movie .  br    br   the concept isn  t bad  but it still turns out awful . this movie contains some of the worst dialog and very poor performances from all the cast . then again  as i mentioned earlier  none of them could save this mess . not even the great christoper walken  playing a homeless character named  j  man   made this movie funny . the movie is bad from the start and only continues to get worse .  br    br   i recommend this movie if you like crap  no pun intended  you want to see jack black in a white tux  br    br   i say  avoid this movie at all costs  but avoid especially if you  re offended by bathroom humor you love animals  
based on robert louis stevenson  s st . ives  the film tells the story of a dashing young french hussar captain  jean marc barr  during the napoleonic wars . captured in battle he is sent to a prisoner of war camp in the scottish highlands  run by major farquhar  richard e grant  in short order he falls in love with a local girl  anna friel   strikes up a friendship with the major  and discovers that his long lost grandfather  who fled from france during the revolution  lives just up the road  spirited performances from all the cast and some memorable lines make this an above average offering .  
i watched  envy  two nights ago  on dvd  at a friends house . the premise of this film is quite promising  jack black and ben stiller in a comedy with a lot of potential  but it completely fails to deliver . i watched it with about five friends and no  one laughed for the entire film . the jokes  which are few and far between  are not funny in any way . . . the story line is crap  and they never answer the question . . . where does the sht go  of course the answer to that is no one cares . this film lacks any sort of comedy value  and as a few other users have said the only thing that makes it even almost worth watching is christopher walken as the j  man . none of the characters are developed  the plots so thin it  s nearly transparent  and is that song throughout the film supposed to be funny    
what a fun movie st . ives is . it reminds me of the type of film made during the    s . classic story  rounded off by characters and a plot that is neither over dramatic nor overtly complicated . in fact it isn  t over anything . robert lewis stevenson  s story  here adapted for the screen  reads like jane austen for men . we do get a tale that has a romance at its heart  but there is plenty of fun too battle scenes  sort of   prison escapes  mistaken identities  swordplay  and the funniest line i  ve heard in years  only in scotland would guests be announced by name at a masked ball .  there is much hilarity  hardship  and not a little heartbreak as st . ives tries to fight and find his way back to a family and life he barely knew .  br    br   the cast is absolutely stellar with the too infrequently seen jean marc barr absolutely perfect in the title role . anna friel is a refreshing delight as the resourceful flora and miranda richardson nearly walks away with the movie as her wise and worldly  been there and seen  it  all aunt susan . richard grant provides comic relief of the highest order .  br    br   this is not going to be the greatest movie anyone has ever seen  but its charms are undeniable and the entire film fairly bristles with an energy that bursts with life .  
stupid  stupid  stupid  i can not stand ben stiller anymore . how this man is allowed to still make movies is beyond me . i can  t understand how this happens if i performed at work the way he acts in a movie i  d get fired and i own the company . . . . . i would have to fire myself . god  this movie was just a plain  steaming  stinking pile of poo  that needs to be vapoorized if that were possible . something else i have to say the guideline about   lines of text in a comment is idiotic . what is wrong with just saying a few things about a movie  i will never understand why sites will require a short novel written when sometimes a brief comment is all that is necessary .  
if you are uninitiated to the gundam world  this is a good place to start . if you are burned out on star wars or star trek  here is a compelling  realistic sci  fi series you can become immersed in . not the simplistic boy  saves  world  in  giant robot story you might have expected  but rather a complex  emotionally compelling space war drama where the line between the  good  and  bad  guys is decidedly less than distinct .  br    br   gundam     focuses on the story of al izuruha  a young  naive boy living in a neutral space colony . he spends his days daydreaming about mobile suits and playing war with his friends . during the course of this series  al befriends an  enemy  soldier  bernie wiseman . by the end  little al learns some hard lessons about the reality of war and the requisite suffering and sacrifice .  br    br   i loved this oav series  with its cool mecha designs  involving story  and likeable characters . i recommend this series to anyone who likes realistic sf anime  or to those who think anime is just silly or sexy entertainment .  
this is the worst sequel on the face of the world of movies . once again it doesn  t make since . the killer still kills for fun . but this time he is killing people that are making a movie about what happened in the first movie . which means that it is the stupidest movie ever .  br    br   don  t watch this . if you value the one precious hour during this movie then don  t watch it . you  ll want to ask the director and the person beside you what made him make it . because it just doesn  t combine the original makes of horror  action  and crime .  br    br   don  t let your children watch this . teenager  young child or young adult  this movie has that sorta impact upon people .  
first of all   st . ives  the film is only fairly loosely based on the robert louis stevenson story of the same name  but for once  this is not a criticism . the original novel was a work  in  progress  unfinished at the author  s death  and in freely adapting it and giving it an ending  the film  makers have brought to life some endearing characters who  although different from stevenson  s originals  would  i am sure  have charmed and amused him .  br    br   it is      capitaine jacques de kroual de saint  yves is a breton aristocrat  orphaned by the revolution  s guillotine  now serving as a hussar in napoleon  s army . we meet him going out for the evening  claiming that since a hussar who is not dead by   is  a blackguard   he  at    is now  on borrowed time   certainly  as he faces a string of challenges to duels  our dashing hero seems in danger  but a surreal prank on his colonel provides him a way out of the duels and into the bed of a beautiful courtesan  singer . unfortunately  it also results in losing his commission . . . further misadventures result in him being taken prisoner by the british  and sent to a pow camp in a scottish castle .  br    br   while carving toys and boxes  jacques catches the attention of flora  the young niece of miss susan gilchrist  a well  travelled woman of the world who lives at swanston cottage . they fall in love  and most of the story concerns flora helping jacques to escape and to find his emigr grandfather  the old comte . of course  there is a problem . jacques  older brother  alain  a dissolute alcoholic  is  perhaps understandably  far from pleased when grandfather disinherits him in front of the whole household  the very instant that jacques has appeared . . . cue treachery  there is also an entertaining subplot of the romance between the awkward  naf but good  hearted major farquhar chevening and aunt susan  who has travelled through most of the ottoman empire and been a prisoner of the turks .  br    br   even allowing for a natural prejudice in favour of any film in which the heroines share my surname   st . ives  is magic  it combines splendidly swashbuckling swordfights  a balloon  flight  comedy and romantic adventure . i would recommend it to anyone who loves  the kind of film they don  t make anymore   fairbanks  colman  flynn   co . the acting is splendid . anna friel makes flora a spirited and appealing heroine  and jean  marc barr is delightful as jacques  a genuinely lovable hero . miranda richardson and richard e . grant are already great favourites of mine  and have great fun as susan and farquhar  whose relationship runs as a comic counterpoint to that of the leads . as the rakish  scheming  but ultimately tragic alain  jason isaacs shows  as he did more recently in  the patriot   that he has the classic swashbuckling style  besides the dashing good looks  please  please will someone cast him as a hero in the genre      br    br   my main quibbles with the film concern settings and costumes . in the book  the castle in which jacques is a prisoner is clearly edinburgh  but the film  shot in ireland  germany and france has  highlandised  the setting  making the retention of place names such as swanston  inveresk and queensferry decidedly incongruous . the costumes too are a real hotch  potch  from     s through to the period in which it is set . while this would not be implausible with more down  market characters  making do   it seems odd for well  to  do ladies such as the heroines to be wearing     s gowns in     . clearly  the costuming decision was sthetic these earlier styles are visually far more appealing and elegant than regency fashions  and they work in the idealised world of the film . as a whole   st . ives  is   minutes of pure delight .  
this is the worst movie i  ve ever seen . i  m not kidding . the next time it comes on  i will just continually run my head into a wall . it would me more enjoyable to sit in an emergency room trying to explain to a doctor why my brain is swollen than attempting to make it through this movie again .  br    br   i hope that black and stiller never work together on a project this bad again . they are both good comedians  so i was shocked this was so awkward .  br    br   if they had to do it all over again  i  m pretty sure that they would decide to not do it . the folks that fronted the money  must have lost a ton . not really  because the special effects  all  of them  were terrible .  
this movie was rather awful vipul shah  s last movie was good this one was just bad although it  s a good story and is handled in a great way aatish kapadia who adapted this movie from another gujarati play  avjo wahala fari malishu  made a good but slow pianful  and a half hours to watch there are a lot of flaws in this movie but it  s still a entertainer songs are rather bleaked out and don  t work well but they  re still good overall not a movie you would enthusiastically watch it  s still a story to take in to account and it  s good if you  re the relationship type pretty good movie with loads of flaws and humor that  s really not needed even one bit  
i usually like comedy movies . i really enjoy them . but i don  t really get the point of  envy  . i mean  it has a dull content  topic  and it  s not really funny .  br    br   although the acting is generally good  it  s not enough for the movie to get at least a bit interesting . stiller and black don  t show all their talent in this movie .  br    br   so  if you  re about to rent a comedy  i suggest you definitely don  t go for this one . unless you want to get bored  and i can see i  m not the only one with this opinion  because even jack black apologized for it  take a look at trivia  .  
i saw two movies over the weekend  one was  kaal  and the other  waqt  . both movies are made in  bollywood  but they are worlds apart . the fundamental difference is the story and the director . vipul shaw made his indelible mark with  ankhen   one of the best comedy hindi movies . his casting of the charecteres is perfect . the story apparently taken from a gujerati play is awesome  the treatment is superb with some exceptions . in bollywood when a movie is put together the first thing a bollywood director is prone to do is sign up a music director and this guy  mediocre malik in this instance  is obligated to drum up six songs to fulfill his contract . so even a good director like vipul shah has to use them to appease the finacier and the grandma  s who just cant get enough of these numbers . no music director can churn out good songs relentlessly as clearly evident in this movie . none of the songs have any melody and they are clearly intrusive to the narration of the story except the background music and the westernized version of the bharat  natyam . the duelling and role playing the father and son is good acting by bachachan and akshay kumar . his stunt scenes are clearly outstanding . a good director surrounds himself with good actors and he is willing to wait till a good story comes along as in this super movie . then we have a cheap classless tasteless producer like sharukh khan who will stoop low as to shamelessly plug and promote a trash like  kaal  to enrich himself at the cost of the betterment of art  and they surround themselves with borderline talent  and they recoup the investment before the word gets around . these are the bollywood locusts who prey on the unsuspected audience to garner  film farce  awards given by bollywood chamcha  s and most of them are in the media .  
it seems that the people behind envy realised that recent comedies  especially ones involving ben stiller and to a lesser degree jack black  have been situation spoofs  which have steadily declined in originality and generally laughs . i found the sheer absurdity of zoolander utterly hilarious when it was released  starsky and hutch was also enjoyable  and then dodgeball kept the laughs going for a lot of people  although personally i was a bit tired of the over  the  top characters  especially when the scenario wasn  t quite so funny  perhaps the comedy of a dodgeball tournament doesn  t quite translate to australia  where it  s rarely played  . so in an attempt to do something a little more original  envy moves away from an absurd scenario and instead revolves around the absurd creation of jack black  s character  i won  t spoil what it is for those who intend to see the movie  . the problem is that the movie seems to drag  i  m not a big enough movie buff to be able to think of examples  but it seems like this set up has been done a thousand times before  and very rarely successfully . so instead of a nice  crisp  enjoyable and fresh comedy  you get a film that seems to just go through the motions . sure the motions can be quite amusing  and they  re centred on an idea that is quirky enough to provide a few laughs  especially with jack black playing the excited and amusing  though a bit  d  creator . ben stiller on the other hand seems a bit lost  he  s asked to play a fuller role than the ridiculous characters of his zoolander breed of movies  but he struggles as a family man  whether his fault or the scripts  there isn  t enough depth to the character and the result is a movie of ben stiller doing those typical mannerisms and generally becoming tedious . the performance doesn  t leave an imprint on the viewer  he  s just ben stiller  jack black manages to actually portray a character  though not a challenging one  . the last annoying element of the movie is christopher walken  s role as  the j man   which is about as typical and two dimensional as characters come  and naturally he becomes monotonous and frustrating very quickly .  br    br   it  s really not as unbearable as some people would have you think  it  s watchable  especially if you  re in the right mood  feeling silly would be a good prerequisite for seeing this film  . hire it on a movie night with friends and watch it after you  ve watched a scary film and feel like something light  hopefully you  ll also be somewhat tipsy by then too . in that scenario i can imagine it would be quite enjoyable  but generally it provides too few laughs to carry itself and most of the time just drags along .  
the basic storyline here is  aditiya  kumar  is the spoilt son of a millionaire  ishwar  bachan  who owns a toy industry  in ishwar  s eyes his son aditya can do nothing wrong  aditya  s mother sumitra  shefali shah  warns ishwar to bring his son to the responsible path before it is too late  for ishwar is a patient of lung cancer and has only  months to live  when his son elopes and marries mitali  chopra   ishwar readily forgives aditya  but when the happy couple aditya and mitali come back from a honeymoon  mitali is pregnant  and this forces ishwar to kick aditya out of the house to make him more responsible  aditya doesn  t know his father is suffering from lung cancer  and he also doesn  t know that his father has kicked him out of the hose to make him more responsible  ishwar cannot bring himself to tall aditya that he is about to die  with a hungry and pregnant wife . it is a race against time so aditya does all he can to prove himself to his father  and the climax comes when aditya gets his big break in the movie industry and his father tells him that he is about to die .  br    br   this movie is absolutely brilliant  this is the breakthrough in indian cinema that was needed for the bollywood industry  shah  s directing is almost flawless  but which movie doesn  t have flaws  the best part if this movie is the father son relationship which is a tearjerker . the song interludes is just placed at the right time  the scenery is good  the only part where this movie fails is where the jokes between boman irani and rajpal yadav the jokes are too long and after a bit they are annoying  but overall this is a brilliant movie  i advise anybody reading this review to go and watch it regardless of other reviews .      
please  someone stop ben stiller from acting in any movie . write the studios  hell  write your local congressman even . i  ve gotten more laughs going to a funeral then i have watching any stiller flick . jack black tries to make something about a comedy about disappearing dog crap  and christopher walken  perhaps on of the greatest actors of his generation  simply looks embarrassed to be there . stiller is his unfunny self  but now even with someone to bail him out  proves that he is way overrated as a comic . it  s no wonder why this movie tanked badly  and was available of the dollar movie theaters after only a handful of weeks . i warn you  and you must warn your friends  do not watch this flick  it is just awful  worst then gothika  personally  i  d never thought i  d say that   worst the plan   worst the ishtar  worst then the golden child . please hollywood  quit allowing ben stiller in your movies  he  s not funny  he  s a god awful actor  and he  s bringing others down with him . the following film was ranked  because there are no negative scores allowed  so while the board says one  i  ll give it a zero .  
this is movie is very touching . i don  t care what people say about this movie  this is a very good movie . the performances by amitabh bachchan  s role has the dying father is great  because he wants to teach his son how to handle life in case something happens to him and akshay kumer was great in his role as the spoiled aditya thakur . the supporting role of shefali shetty who played the role of sumitra thakur was magnificent . priyanka chopra was good in her small role she had in the movie . ragpal yadav as the brain  dead servant and boman irani as the show  off father  in law have a very good connection and the comedy scene  s were hilarious . the direction is very good .  
i can  t say much about this film . i think it speaks for itself  as do the current ratings on here  . i rented this about two years ago and i totally regretted it . i even  tried  to like it by watching it twice  but i just couldn  t . i can safely say that i have absolutely no desire to see this waste of time ever  ever again . and i  m not one to trash a movie  but i truly believe this was awful . it wasn  t even funny in the slightest . the only bits i enjoyed were the few scenes with christopher walken in them . i think this film ruined both jack black and ben stiller for me . all i can think of when i see one of their films now  a  days is this terrible movie  and it reminds me not to waste my money . amy poehler is so very annoying  too .  br    br   overall  well  i think you get my point . the stars are for walken  by the way .  
what a outstanding movie is this i have not words to describe . i don  t know how come the rating of the movie is  .  it should be  .  but anyways no one else can make this movie and the acting by akshay is just outstanding the second half of the movie makes u cry and the movie has a really good unexpected ending which makes the movie perfect . you should watch this movie once  i think twice well it  s up to u . anyways i love this movie and it  s not just sad and funny but it also gives u a really good meanings and what u should be doing so i think this is one of the best movie in the bollywood history . but i know the people has deferent chooses so ya . the only thing i don  t like about this movie is the music well the background music is good but the songs are not good enough i think the music would be better if a r rahman would be the music director but anyways we can  t do anything about that so ya .  
start with the script . i have seen cartoons with more depth than  envy  . anytime characters keep repeating what you have already seen  and was not funny the first time  a movie is in deep trouble  which  envy  certainly is . a movie that relies on one joke had better have somewhere to go with it . here we have a film that goes absolutely nowhere . christopher walken especially would like to forget this bomb  because his character is so weak . ben stiller has been in some pretty good black comedies   flirting with disaster   and  duplex   immediately come to mind . be certain that  envy  is not a black comedy . there are no double meanings  just total nonsense .  envy  deserves it  s low rating  because like it  s subject matter  it stinks .  merk  
time for a hit   br    br   waqt dir  vipul amrutlal shah cast  amitabh bachchan  akshay kumar  priyanka chopra  shefali shah  rajpal yadav and boman irani . written by  aatish kapadia rating    br    br   eureka  we  ve got it  yes  ladies and gentlemenin vipul shah  s  waqt   we have probably found this year  s first bona fide hit . replete with all the necessary ingredients of a commercial bollywood fare   waqt  has all that it takes for a movie to click with the indian audiences . it  s the kinda film that makes a distributor feel happy and contemplate his next phoren visit  in this  saga of indian emotions  then  we have a happy family  isn  t it always   of three . ishwar  amitabh bachchan   the postman  turned  millionaire  don  t ask how  . . . there  s something about selling toys while delivering letters and all thatseriously  who gives a damn    married to sumi  shefali shah  is a doting father to aditya  akshay kumar  . ishwar has to make a serious decision about his son  s careless attitude towards the responsibilities of life . his love for aditya though  results in his procrastination of the grave issue . however  when faced with a situation that will test his race against time  ishwar has no alternative but to throw aditya out of the house  hoping that the new predicament might make him more conscientious of his own life . but this presumed solution becomes a problem in itself  as the rift between the loving father  son increases and the fences continue to grow .  br    br   you don  t have to be a rocket  scientist to realize that such a story provides ample opportunities to infuse comedy and drama alike . so  pre  interval you have the initially funny  later annoying comedy track of boman irani and rajpal yadav and post  interval there are the go for your kerchief moments between aby and akki  writer aatish kapadia  he also penned the original gujarati play  aavjo vhala fari malishu  on which the film is based  does a good job of keeping the narrative fluid . the dialogues tend to get inconsistent at times . it doesn  t help that songs appear like acne on a teenage face and mar the proceedings . clearly  a couple of numbers could  ve been done away with . on the directing front  vipul shows that he possesses a natural flair for story  telling .  waqt   as well as his earlier debut effort  aankhen   manage to keep you interested till the last reel . on a personal note  the seesaw of emotions was a tad jerky for me . but gauging from the audience reactions  it was working to the hilt .  br    br   finally   waqt  is all about its performances which amount to one whole point in the overall rating  amitabh bachchan is dependable as always . his energy is visible and so is his age  shefali pitches in a finely nuanced performance and matches the superstar at every step . boman and rajpal bring the house down with their histrionics . priyanka has little to do than fulfill the perfunctory role of a heroine . when it all boils down though   waqt  is akshay  s vehicle . i have always maintained that akki is as good as the role suits him . put him in a  mujhse shaadi karogi  and he  s fantastic  but in a  bewafaa  he is woefully bad . here  akki is probably at his best . whether it is his comic timing or his emotional renderings  he is near  perfect . there  s also an action scene for his fans  ironically  his previous best endeavour was in  aankhen   with the same director and big b at his side   br    br    waqt  is by no means a memorable movie . it  s not one that will feature in the better films of our industry . but it is one for the masses . and at a time when the industry is waiting desperately for a universal hit   waqt  might just do the trick   br    br    abhishek bandekar  br    br   trivia  this is akshay kumar  s second consecutive film after  bewafaa   in which he performs on stage during the climax   br    br   rating    br    br    poor  average  good  very good  excellent  br    br     nd april       
how can barry levinson possibly assemble white  hot comedy talents ben stiller and jack black  the gorgeous rachel weisz  old pro christopher walken and still deliver such a humourless stinker   br    br   stiller and black are friends until the latter invents a spray to make dog mess vanish and becomes a conspicuous consuming multi  millionaire .  br    br   the premises is thin but sound enough in the right hands to have been a springboard for some great bitching between the two stars but all concerned overplay every hand  every chance they can .  br    br   stiller and black are simply not funny for way too much of the time  weisz looks sensational as always but is criminally underused and  with the exception of walken as a batty barfly who urges stiller  s character to take revenge  it  s a turgid trudge to the end of this strained farce .  
simply great movie no doubt about it . great story and superb performances  be it amitabh  akshay  shefali  priyanka  boman or rajpal . hindi film industry is going shameless with mallika and co  this movie is totally vulgarity free and therefore bound to fail in vulgarity addicted our indian society . but the message and concept this movie carries are absolutely superb . anu malik  boring copy  cat  could have been avoided and ismail darbar or himmesh reshmmiya could have been used as musician . i think vipul shah should have given little bit gujarati touch particularly in music also . anu malik is worst musician around and he thinks himself popstar but this is not the movie where is presence was required  he looks only good with govinda style songs . i felt some nice serious music with couple of good ghazals or sad songs could have made this movie more memorable .  
i admit to liking a lot of the so  called  frat  pack  movies . no matter how bad they are  i can find something to like about ben stiller or owen wilson or vince vaughn or will ferrell or jack black . but  envy  just left me about as cold as the white horse that ben disposed of . this time  it  s ben and jack black as a couple of nutty neighbors  one of whom  black  discovers a aerosol spray to make animal poop disappear and becomes incredibly wealthy while the other  stiller  writhes in envy . that  s supposedly the plot  but then it veers off in other directions that don  t really make much sense .  br    br   i guess the  vapoorize  thing is sort of amusing at first . the problem is  they try to sustain the gag for the whole picture  black has a license plate that reads  caca king   and it gets fairly tiresome . but even ben and jack are used poorly the energy level for both of their performances seems significantly dialed down . the two best performances by far are rachel weisz and chris walken . walken  s neo  hippie  dippie guy is so offbeat and so well  modulated a performance that it really never suggests any of walken  s other familiar nutcase characters . it  s completely unique  yet comes across as unmistakably walken . and weisz is about the best actress in the business that nobody knows about . even with limited screen time  she still dominates every scene she  s in .  br    br   the whole crux of the so  called drama is that ben  in a jealous drunken stupor  accidentally shoots jack  s prize white stallion  and then goes to ridiculous lengths to cover it up  fearing his best friend will find out and cut him dead . but the plot twist isn  t believable because there  s nothing about jack  s character to indicate that he would do such a thing . he plays such a sweet guy that it renders the whole excruciating horse chase null and void . you discount it completely . it  s all filler . and what  s the point of the out  of  control merry  go  round  except that barry levinson wants us to know that he  s seen  strangers on a train   the screenplay is painfully bad and the acting of the two leads poorly directed . someone with levinson  s track record should know better . maybe someone will invent something to make this film disappear . oh  wait  they already have .  
waqt is a perfect example of a chicken soup not exactly for your soul . the broth unfortunately has lost its actual taste thanks to all the excess dilution and garnishing that went into its making .  br    br   what  s surprising and disappointing about waqt is that it comes from a director who stayed away from the usual clichs of hindi cinema in his first venture but who in his second outing gives in for all the stereotype film formulas . while vipul shah had the conviction to show something as implausible as blind men robbing a bank in aankhen  he just fails to induce life in the entire packaging of waqt that is based on something as conceivable as a father  son relationship . adopted from a gujarati play aavjo vhala fari malishu  waqt does have a sensible storyline with a social message to back up . a mature look on the father  son relationship  a father  s unconditional love towards his son and a son  s responsibility towards his family . ishwar chand sharawat  amitabh bachchan  who has established his entire empire on his own from the scratch leads an affluent life with his wife sumitra  shefali shah  . their only son aditya  akshay kumar  never had the need to strive for anything since he got everything tailor  made and spoon  fed in life . ishwar  s pampering has only spoil him all the more .  br    br   aditya dreams to turning into a superstar but does nothing to make his dreams come true . in the meanwhile he marries his ladylove mitali  priyanka chopra  . ishwar hopes that marriage will make aditya a more responsible man but he is disappointed . aditya is still at his blithe best leading a carefree life .  br    br   the endurance limit finally collapses when ishwar expels aditya from his house . the sudden change in the attitude of his affectionate father towards him and his now expecting wife baffles aditya . he has no option left but to strive for the livelihood of his wife and his unborn kid . he starts turning into an independent man but the rift in the relationship between him and his father grows .  br    br   the story is simplistic while the uncomplicated screenplay has a very elementary approach . one can easily identify and relate with the credible characters of both the father and the son . if you are not one of the two  you at least might have come across individuals like them somewhere in real life .  br    br   add to it director vipul shah  s easy handling of the screenplay . with a family affair like this  any other director in his place would have added in tons of melodrama in the proceedings as per the cinematic laws of bollywood family dramas  turning the film into a compulsive tearjerker . however shah excels in the effortless handling of emotions for most part of the film .  br    br   clear  cut example of his unpretentious direction is palpable in the pre  interval scene where the father expels the son from his house in a rather frivolous manner . the purpose of the scene is achieved without blotting a brunt on the audiences  brains . ditto for the scene in the second half wherein the now separated father son have a flippant conversation . that  s what differentiates waqt from a kabhi kushi ghum or an ek rishtaa and in fact places it one level high in terms of treatment .  br    br   but after gaining all the distinction points  one may wonder where does waqt still fail in  the problem lies in the fact that while waqt distinguishes itself from the others in it  s league in terms of treatment  it gives in to the glitches in the terms of packaging . what with the director forcing in song  n  dance every now and then in the first half . there  s a johar kinda shaadi song  a chopra kinda holi song  a father son disco dandia song  a dream song and a dream come true song inducing sufficient yawns in the viewer . picture this . . . the father has just ousted the son from his house and the son is dreaming of a song in moroccan mountains with his wife . out of place  out of reason  and the audience out of seat .  br    br   the film just drags in the first half and the actual story starts only in the second half . the director has wasted too much waqt on unnecessary elements . the much talked about dog chase sequence isn  t bad but is not redeeming either . however akshay kumar  s taandav dance is simply ridiculous . imagine he qualifies for the star hunt in the movie with this  unintentionally  hilarious histrionic . add to it the climax set at the finals of the star  hunt where the son bursts out with emotions . that  s so archetypal  also the editing pattern could have been reversed to conceal the father  s reason for the change in attitude towards his son .  br    br   anu malik  s music is fine though unnecessary in the proceedings . santosh thundiiayil  s camera  work is competent enough though not much demanding . aatish kapadia has come up with some good dialogs for dramatic moments .  br    br   boman irani and rajpal yadav make up or the light moments in the film very efficiently . while rajpal yadav has been going overboard with his comic histrionics in many films off lately  this time he underplays his character and is completely restrained . his deadpan expressions are perfectly complimented with boman  s over  the  top histrionics .  br    br   shefali shah is convincing in the mother  s role . not to be taken as a censure but she is flawless in both playing and  looking  her character . priyanka is gorgeous and performs her part well .  br    br   of course the major applause deserves are akshay kumar and amitabh bachchan . akshay is especially expressive in the scene where his doting father intentionally berates him to make him aware of his responsibilities . though bachchan goes a bit dramatic in a couple of scenes  his brilliance strikes throughout the film .  br    br   to sum up  waqt is like a soup whose ingredients are both tasty and nutritional but the final recipe somehow isn  t as much appetizing .  
  envy  is bad for a number of reasons . yes  there are unlikeable characters . that  s not the problem . it is that they are unlikeable and we do not care for them at all .  the war of the roses  featured unlikeable characters but due to proper introductions we grew to at least find ourselves interested in their fate  whereas in  envy  the introduction is thin  the characters are never believable  and the plot only makes things worse .  br    br   ben stiller is simply repulsive in his role and i  m a fan of his work most of the time . stiller campaigned to have this released straight  to  video and now i can see why . the movie proposes that he  s  best friends  with jack black  but from the first five minutes we are given footage that seems to indicate stiller hates black . i thought this would develop into some sort of one  sided relationship  a la  the cable guy   but it never does  instead stiller insists he  s his  best friend  and i felt confused as he seemed to treat black like  well   poo .  the movie  s plot is ridiculous but it doesn  t matter  because it  s supposed to be an exaggerated morality tale . unfortunately the message is lost in the mess . walken gives a good performance but black is off  key and annoying  and i usually find him very funny  . no  it  s not a horrible film but i still can  t believe barry levinson   rain man    sleepers   is responsible for this  it  s not one of the worst films of all time but it could certainly be a whole lot better . i wish va  poo  rize did exist  so we could make this film disappear forever . . . .  
an excellent movie about two cops loving the same woman . one of the cop  prier  killed her  but all the evidences seems to incriminate the other  montand  . the unlucky montand doesnt know who is the other lover that could have killed her  and prier doesnt know either that montand had an affair with the girl . montand must absolutely find the killer . . . and what a great ending  highly recommended .  
i couldn  t wait to put this movie in my dvd player when i rented it . then after i started it  i couldn  t wait to get it out of my dvd player . actually i watched all of the movie . my wife and i kept waiting and waiting for something funny to happen  but nothing funny ever does . the box read like the it would be really funny . the premise of the movie sound good . ben stiller is funny . jack black is funny . how could this movie miss  well . . . . it does miss  this is the unfunniest  comedy  i have ever watched . nobody i have talked with thought it was even slightly funny . it is just a really lame movie . trust me . avoide it . . . . avoide it    
exquisite comedy starring marian davies  with the affable william haines  . young peggy arrives in hollywood seeking stardom . cameo performances showcase  all the stars in mgm  s heaven  in the famous commissary scene  plus lots of vintage film making detail for the scholar . pic also captures for posterity davies  famous  wickedly sarcastic impersonations of the top stars of the day  her swanson is a beaut   .  br    br    peggy   even catches herself as she encounters the famous star marian davies at tennis  turns up her nose and comments   ohh  i don  t like her    br    br   my print was perfect . story  direction  acting an authentic charm and a must for all silent afficinados .  
this is an action western . james steart leads an all star cast in the scenic northwest  which is filmed in great splendor . the scenery and costumes are great . there is action and adventure . stewart plays a wealthy cattleman who runs afoul of a crooked government in the old nothwest .  br    br   the main drawback is the stereotypical cynic that hollywood has always made into a hero . even when this movie was made  the cynic was the stereotypical hero  and the one stewart portrays really has few saving graces . he is kind to his two partners  and that does give him an extra dimension of credibility and likability .  br    br   however  he is so piggish to everyone else  it is hard to really care for him  or to accept him . he is much like the one dimensional spaghetti western characters  cut not that bad  .  br    br   still  the minor characters are quite enjoyable . walter brennan  royal dano  harry morgan  and others make this worth watching .  
great screenplay and some of the best actors the world has ever produced . montand gives the concept of the  lone wolf  police detective a whole new dimension of intensity and  most importantly  credibility .  br    br   when a typical hollywood cop  heroe loses family  friends and pets to murder he is usually given his minute of grief . but when the sixty seconds are over  he pulls himself together  packs his gun and goes gleefully shooting up his enemies one by one .  br    br   montand  s marc ferrot  however  is really devastated  by his girlfriends murder  of course  but also by finding out that she had another lover . in his confusion and wrath he does not seek revenge but needs to keep going to find the real perpetrator of a crime where his fingerprints are all over the scene . thus all his actions become unescapably logical . this is the main reason why this movie glues us to our seats but definetely not the only one .  
this has to be the most brutally unfunny  comedy  i  ve ever seen in my life . ben stiller  jack black  and christopher walken as a crazed homeless man can  t make me laugh  something  s got to be wrong with this picture . this is the only movie i  ve ever felt like walking out of . i used free passes  and still felt like i wanted my money back . i can wholeheartedly say that the only movie i  ve ever seen worse than this one was house of the dead . the . only . worse . movie . i laughed very slightly at the merry  go  round scene  and that  s it . spending  hours in something billed as a comedy should get you more than one laugh  right  i don  t know  i guess the filmmakers thought that  flan  was a funny word  or something . and the other running joke really is beating a dead horse   literally .  
like his elder brothers  claude sautet and jean  pierre melville  alain corneau began to cut his teeth in french cinema with a series of fine thrillers  la menace        and  srie noire        among others .  police python     is a good example of how corneau conceived and shot his works at this time of his career . they had a splendid cinematography  painstaking screenplays and a sophisticated directing elaborated for efficiency  s sake .  br    br   the police superintendent ferrot  yves montand  is a cop with unconventional methods who usually works all alone . he makes the acquaintance of a young woman sylvia lopardi  stefania sandrelli  and becomes her lover while ignoring that she has another lover his superior ganay  franois prier  . when the latter learns it  he kills her in a fit of anger . ferrot has to investigate the murder and all the clues are inexorably against him . . .  br    br   one could deem that this kind of far  fetched story isn  t exempt from glitches and sometimes  one can see right through it but corneau  s pedantic directorial style helps to conjure up a stifling  dusky atmosphere . the first part of the film before the night of the murder might seem uninteresting and however  it is crucial for what will follow this key  moment . corneau falls back on a sober treatment with rather sparse moments and short appearances by secondary  minor characters whom the viewer will see again during the investigation . in spite of drawbacks  corneau and his scenarist daniel boulanger penned a deft story . mnard  mathieu carrire  who sometimes expresses his surprise because ferrot keeps a relatively low profile during the investigation . but his superior knows that he usually works alone . actually  ferrot has to find solid tricks to muddy the waters and so to exonerate himself . eventually  the chief idea of the film concerns ferrot himself . he  s a cop who bit by bit loses his identity and finds himself in the heart of a terrible depersonalization . it is epitomized by the moment when he throws himself acid on his face so that witnesses won  t recognize him when he is brought face to face with them .  br    br   the backdrop of this thriller  orlans is efficiently enhanced by corneau  s camera and helps to inspire this eerie thriller its pernicious charm .  
this could be looked at in many different ways . this movie sucks  its good or its just plain weird . the third one probably explains this movie best . it has strange themes and just has a strange plot . so who else but christopher walken would play in this no matter how bad  average or even how good it might be .  br    br   the acting was what you would expect especially out of ben stiller . jack black i have always liked so you know what you will get out of him but this is not bad . christopher walken is always off the wall . he is always enjoyable to watch no matter how bad the movie is . comedy wise it is somewhat funny . this of course meaning that it does have its moments  though very few  but can get a little over top here and there which makes me feel like the movie is just desperate for laughs but of course not in a good way .  br    br   the directing was average as well . barry levinson is a slightly overrated director and really did not do a good job here . this movie seemed that it had a lot more potential and he did not do much to reach it . just very average and did not seem like a lot of effort was put into making this film .  br    br   the writing is the key to a good comedy . obviously that means the writing here failed . at best it is below average . considering it does have its moments it was not too horrible . that is never a good thing to say about a movie though .  br    br   if not for christopher walken and it stupid ridiculous ending i would have given it a lower rating . he is always quite a character in his movies . stil this is just a whacked out strange movie with strange characters that really don  t go anywhere . not completely horrible but i would not really recommend it though because it is a very forgettable movie .  
series  has got off to a great start  i don  t think you need to have watched series  to get a grasp of whats happening but like any series its nice to feel some sense of the characters and to care about what happens to them . and this show makes you think like that  these     something women seem to lead glamorous and exciting lives yet the premise is believable and realistic . so the twists and turns that arrive thanks to their love and sex lives are exciting to watch but you also know that these are problems that happen to real women too . its about the decisions we make as women and how sometimes we are led down certain paths in our lives rather than consciously making those choices   
this is my first movie review on imdb . i was forced to register after watching this movie . i cannot in good conscience allow this movie to be unreviewed by me . the people must be warned   br    br   first of all  my rating is   as in  zero    br    br   i love jack black  ben stiller  rachel weis  and christopher walken  and yet  i hated this movie . there is a plot  but who cares when there  s no script . the dialogue is unreal and plain boring  the situations are contrived  the flow of events is slow and somewhat arbitrary  the characters are unsympathetic and uninteresting  and the story  although based on a good premise  is stupid . this movie is a piece of poo .  br    br   never mind wasting money on this movie  it  s not even worth your time spent watching it . please do not see it . . . i beg of you   
this drama is unlike sex and the city  where the women have a few drinks and share their sexual encounters with each other . its much more personal and people can relate to it . its much more engaging and emotional on a new level than other dramas focusing on women and their lives like  sex and the city  lipstick jungle . . . .   br    br   dr . katie roden  is a psychologist with a dark secret  she seems much more depressed and guilt ridden than the rest of her  friends . she is dealing with the death of her former lover who was her patient while tackling his son  s advances on her . her sombre clothes and empty and cold house convey her inside emotions very well .  br    br   trudi malloy  a widow is battling issues with  letting go  of her dead husband from     . and when a handsome stranger  richard shows an interest in her she is suddenly forced to do a reality check by her friends who suggest that she gets back into dating business . the ridiculous and embarrassing courting scenes between richard and trudi are totally funny  it is interesting to note that richard asks her out the day she gets a millions from the     board for her husband  s death . . lets see what his intentions are  br    br   siobhan dillon  a lawyer is fed up of her husband  s love making tactics which only involve  baby making   as they are having trouble conceiving  and she quickly falls for her colleague who offer his  services  a little too willingly to her and she does not hesitate for long  it will interesting to see whether she will continue her affair or patch up with her husband  played by raza jeffrey  jessica  a real estate business woman is single and is straight  until she organizes a lesbian wedding and has an affair with one of them . her character is shown as a bold and provocative woman who before her lesbian encounter is having sex with a  married man   her colleague . lets see where her character venture to . . . .  br    br   the beauty of this drama is that we are shown  totally different women with different scenarios  whose ambitions and inhibitions are shown . its also a good thing that the drama reveals the fact that sometimes friends lie to each other to be  safe    
wow . simply awful . i was a fan of the original movie  and begrudgingly sat through part    was and improvement .    and freddy  s dead were pretty bad . but nothing is as bad as freddy  s nightmares . freddy acts as a rod serlingesq host of this anthology series .  br    br   i can accept how freddy became one punchline after another  but at least in the movies the appeal of freddy carried the movies  but here these were so poorly made  they looked like high school productions of a horror series . the poor actors  if you really want to call yourself that after doing this show were obviously exactly what they paid for . i  m nearly certain this was a stopping point for two types of actors . ones just starting on the hollywood ladder  brand new willing to take any part that would put off their having to take that porn job they were offered last week  or seasoned actors on their way down the hollywood ladder willing to take any part that would put off their having to take that porn job they were offered last week .  br    br   i half expected dana plato to guest star  but she was already dead by the time this was in production .  br    br   to paraphrase nancy  s line in the original elm st   what ever you do try not to fall asleep watching this .   
i wasn  t quite sure if this was just going to be another one of those idiotic nighttime soap operas that seem to clutter prime time but  as it turns out  this is a pretty good show  no small thanks to talented casting  . four female friends with diverse backgrounds get together and share the weekly goings  on of their love  lives . the hour long program follows each of them separately through their often screwed up quests to find love and it does it without being boring or trite . sharon small  s  trudi  is the homemaker one  allegedly widowed after september   th  who gets a little preachy and annoying with her friends  who tend to be a little looser and more creative in their endeavors  . it  s great to see small back on t . v .  as she was great in the  inspector lynley mysteries  . the chick can act . orla brady  s character  siobhan  a lawyer  is perhaps the most damaged but still very sympathetic of the women  as she wrestles with her kind but self  absorbed husband hari  jaffrey  formerly of  spooks   in his driven desire to have a child with her  regardless of her needs . the final two members of the cast are the effervescent jess  shellie conn   an events planner who  s a wild child who sleeps with anyone and everyone  gender not specific  and katie   sarah parrish  a somber doctor who  s affair with a patient and his son have sent her career and love life spiraling out of control . that being said  i  m hooked now and hope that the bbc continues cranking this series out because it  s good  it  s different and it  s got a great cast .  
personally i think this show looks pretty cheaply made . some of the actors are terrible . they over do it  seem fake . i can always tell how it  s going to end within the first   minutes or less of watching because they make it so transparently clear . it  s not very well written either . i love to watch it to laugh at it . you know the saying  it  s so bad that it  s good   well  that saying applies to this show . i also like to watch just to see if i  m right when i guess how it  s all going to end . so far i  ve been right every time . it  s like a little game that i play . it  s nice when you are bored  you feel like laughing at something .  
why this is called  mistresses  is a puzzle  because it  s about four women  three of whom aren  t mistresses except  wait . ah  i see . it  s a salacious title and we all have to merchandise i suppose . the series itself  delicious . most of the characters are hell bent on cutting metaphorical chunks off themselves . great fun . reminds me of lwt  s     miniseries  bouquet of barbed wire   where every character and their dads wielded the machete .  br    br   siobhan  orla brady  is the only actual mistress and she  s getting herself in proper trouble . husband is infertile . so no chance of a baby there then . but at work  there  s dominic  played by uber  sexy adam rayner  who looks so good that there  s no surprise when heavy lust breaks out . dominic  it turns out  has no fertility problems . i expect his sperms do swashbuckling  probably each carries a little sword  and now siobhan is inevitably pregnant that way instead . what siobhan should do is to shut up good and tight  and go with  it  s a miracle . what she actually does of course is say to her friends  i have to tell my husband  . no you don  t . really  you don  t . stop . stop   br    br   katie  sarah parish  was a mistress once  for we learn that she  d had an affair with a married man before the series started . unwisely  she  s now taken up with his son . the father died of cancer and katie  who is a doctor  helped him on his journey . so  she  s an euthanasiarist  has had affairs with two of her patients and is sleeping with the son of the father in carelessly ignoring the incestuous undertones . it  s not going to end well for katie .  br    br   jessica is an experimental lesbian . she arranges events and she  s busy doing a lesbian marriage as the series gets underway . she quickly gets into steamy eye exchanges with one of the brides alex  played by anna torv  and the script hurries along to a lesbonk with great haste . however  it can  t think of a good way of putting the two women in bed together  so it invents a very lame  you  re not having a hen night   well i can  t let you get away with that . i  ll organise one and the guests shall be . . me    which achieves the result but isn  t exactly winterson . i thought script writers were supposed to earn their living . lazy . torv  s interpretation of her character is good . alex treats jessica as possibly unsavoury and alex  s body language always points backwards when she  s moving forward . mind  once she  s over the wall  in she happily goes  and unsurprisingly  for shelley conn is so mouth  watering that so would a good percentage of the human race given the chance .  br    br   which brings us to trudi  who  s a widow . of course there should be plain people in a community but  if you  re going to have a plain character  then you have to invent something to admire in them . it  s quite possible to be a lump and engaging . however  small  s trudi looks like one of those characters that casting put prominently in a medieval crowd scene after the director said  that  s ridiculous  not every single character would be pretty  . more tellingly  you can  t find anything to admire in her . nothing . she  s a turnip in a bowl of apples . appallingly  she does  sexy  from time to time . i won  t forget her appearance in bright red corset with stockings tucked into her crotch for a long time  and for all the wrong reasons .  br    br   so  good  delinquent fun all round . there  s easily enough material here for a second series and i hope that they do one . i trust they learn one lesson though . the characters never take off their underclothes in bed  having spent abandoned hours of unbridled lust  afterwards they surface still wearing their bras  or keep the sheets tight wound round their naughty bits . after several episodes  no nipples yet and you can go beg for a cock . what  s this  early   st century puritanism  so production team  are you listening  your characters will solve some of their mental problems if they do abandon as well as talk it . at least they  ll have more fun in the fun scenes  poor things . in a series dominated by either being in the bedroom  or wanted to be in the bedroom  or having just been in the bedroom  it  s a bit silly  and jars a lot  that the characters bonk in their underwear .  br    br   overall . i was going to score   top end medium   but the series does one trick that  s rare enough . when each episode ends  you always want more  and you look forward to the next one with anticipation . so i score  .  
losing control is another offering in the erotic thriller genre which could be considered as the pulp fiction of the film world . usually  they involve a roundabout route to murderous intent  interspersed with copious disrobing . this is not a complaint  especially when it is done by the stunningly beautiful women who invariably inhabit this make  believe world .  br    br   kim ward  kira reed  is suffering a bout of writer  s block . just by chance   or is it   she meets a man  doug jeffery  who engages with her in ever more risky sexual encounters . the man refuses to divulge any information about himself  yet kim steadfastly refuses to stop the affair . her agent  alexa  anneliza scott  thinks it will do wonders for her book sales . as in most films of this type  the denouement comes near the end but some things do not add up . i have seen enough of this kind of film to think  no change there  then  but i like them . they are so undemanding .  br    br   performances of the cast vary . doug jeffery carries the film as the psycho  sociopath you do not want to cross . kira reed looks good but fails to convince as the woman in peril . clay greenbush as the pi did not convince either .  br    br   finally  a note of caution about the dvd under review . both the cover and the disc state r  rated and running time as   minutes but the run time is less than   minutes . this probably explains why the sex scenes appear truncated and why jennifer ludlow  s performance is cut short just as she  s getting started .  stars .  
when i first read the plot of this drama i assumed it was going to be like sex and the city  however this drama is nothing like it . the stories the characters seem more real and you empathise with the situations more . the concept of the drama is similar  four   something women guide us through there friendships and relationships with problems and strife along the way . katie the gp is a dark and brooding character who you find difficult to relate too and is best friends with trudi a widow . trudi  s character is heart warming as you can relate to difficulties she is having along with the fact she is the only mother of the four . jessica is the party girl very single minded and knows what she wants and how to get it . she is a likable character and is closest to siobhan the newly wed who whilst loving her husband completely can  t help her eyes wandering to her work colleague . over all the drama is surprisingly addictive and if the bbc continue to produce the series it could do well . it is unlike other female cast dramas such as sex and the city  or desperate housewives . this if played right could be the next cold feet . plus the male cast are not bad on the eyes too .  
well  i like to be honest with all the audiences that i bought it because of kira  s sex scenes  but unfortunately i did not see much of them . all sex scenes were short and done in haphazard manner along with all the weird and corny background music just like all other b movies  it just doesn  t look much like two people having sex . there is a tiny bit of plot toward the end  kira  s new lover is a killer . whoa    how shocking    why don  t we nominate this movie for oscar award  i can  t imagine how bad the movie would look like if it were r  rated  mine is imported from uk  rated    . conclusion  put it down and walk away  so yon won  t end up with being a moron like me .  br    br   score      
whatever you become in your life  you must never forget that you have roots . this is the story of true facts that was made into a beautiful and moving movie  i dare to say that this movie is well underrated . this shows us a reality of life . . . the more evil surrounds you  the better person you become . trust in your instincts and be aware that the ideal of life is to live it happy . . . without grudges  without living  under a rock  . the movie concept is more that interesting . . . connecting the storytelling with real life events . . . keeping us aware of everything . . from facts to emotions  bless these people and make everyone happy  see it  i recommend it to all young people . it  s not about racism it  s about how to live your life   
schizophreniac the whore mangler is another example of what happens when you get a bunch of untalented people together to make an  extreme  horror film . any sort of acting  production  storyline  fx  etc . . . go out the window in an effort to create  shock  value  . now don  t get me wrong  i consider myself a connoisseur of  shock  films  and the sleazier  gorier  nastier the better  but it  s still nice to see some sort of talent from someone involved in the film .  br    br   schizophreniac chronicles the life of harry russo  a drug  addicted freak  show who takes orders to kill from his ventriloquist  s dummy  rubberneck . he goes on a few sprees killing hookers and other random people  and screaming about how much he hates  hoo  uhs   that  s  whores  for those of you that don  t speak new york  ese . . .  and how he wants to rape them in the ass . there are a few weak necrophilia scenes  very little gore  and some nudity to mix things up a bit  but nothing that you haven  t seen in a better film . . .  br    br   the only redeeming thing that i can find in this retarded film are the often  unintentionally   hilarious screaming  fits from our main man  harry . he goes on  and  on  and  on about wanting to kill everyone and do them in the ass  and it really becomes quite comical after a while . in fact  i  m almost tempted to believe that there  s supposed to be some sort of homo  erotic undertone to this film  with all the ass talk and constant shots of harry running around with his dong hangin  out . in all honesty  that joker is nekkid more in this film then the few chicks that show some t  and  a  and some full  frontal  for good measure  . schizophreniac is mildly amusing as a   time watch  but i can really only recommend this to those that want to be able to say that they watched a film called schizophreniac the whore mangler . to be honest  the title  by far  is the best thing about this trash . . . a generous  .      
several years ago the navy kept a studied distance away from the making of  men of honor   a film based on the experiences of the service  s first black master chief diver  s struggle to overcome virulent racism . ever eager to support films showing our navy  s best side the u . s . s . nimitz and two helicopter assault carriers  with supporting shore installations  were provided to complement this engrossing tale of a young sailor  s battle with uncontrollable rage . some of the movie was shot aboard the u . s . s . belleau wood .  br    br   antwone fisher wrote the script for denzel washington  s director  s debut in which he stars as a navy psychiatrist treating fisher  played effectively and deeply by derek luke .  br    br   fisher is an obviously bright enlisted man assigned to the u . s . s . belleau wood  lha     a front line helicopter assault platform . fisher can  t seem to avoid launching his own assaults at minimal provocation from his fellow enlisted men . sent to the m . d . as part of a possible pre  separation proceeding  fisher slowly opens up to the black psychiatrist  revealing an awful childhood of great neglect and shuddering brutality .  br    br   the story develops as fisher cautiously but increasingly trusts his doctor and gets the courage to pursue a love interest  an enlisted sailor named cheryl  played by a stunningly beautiful joy bryant .  br    br   fisher reluctantly engages with the doctor by asking long simmering questions but soon realizes he must seek the answers  however painful  in order to grow and move away from conflict  seeking destructive behavior .  br    br   while all the main characters are black  this story transcends race while unflinchingly showing the evil of exuberant religiosity and concomitant hypocrisy in foster family settings . viola davis  a versatile actress seen in a number of recent films  is a picture of sullen immorality but is nothing compared to foster mom  mrs . tate  novella nelson   who in short but searing scenes would earn  if it existed  the oscar for gut  churning brutality .  br    br   films about patient  therapist interaction follow a certain predictability  all that transference and counter  transference stuff  but the earnestness of fisher and his doctor  mentor is realistically gripping . it  s a good story  well told . period .  br    br   while set in the navy   antwone fisher  is not in any real sense a service story as was  men of honor   an excellent movie that dealt with crushing racism directed against a real person . nor is it truly a film about blacks . it  s about surviving terrible childhood experiences and  as fisher says  being able to proclaim in adulthood that the victim is still  standing tall .  the persecutors shrink in size and significance as a brave and strong young man claims his right to a decent life with the aid of a caring doctor .  br    br   my only quibble is that washington is a lieutenant commander but is addressed as commander . with all the navy support people listed in the end credits  someone should have told director washington that his character  like all naval officers below the rank of commander  is addressed as  mister .  not a big criticism  is it     br    br   i don  t know why this film is playing in so few theaters . it deserves wide distribution . derek luke may well get an oscar nomination .  br    br       .  br    br    
there are bad movies  then there are the movies that are so bad  that they become almost art . this is one of those films . my partner and i are still both kind of shell shocked  you know  staring off into space and drooling  you can tell that the people involved  i hope they changed their names to protect themselves  were having a blast  and they definitely weren  t shy . i give this one a three out of ten just because of the gratuitous smut and really bad gore effects . i laughed out loud during most of the movie  so i guess you could say that it showed me a good time . beware viewer  the above words in no way construe that this is a good film  because it is not . all i can say in my defense  is that it was impossible to pass up a movie with such a great title   
  antwone fisher  tells of a young black u . s . navy enlisted man and product of childhood abuse and neglect  luke  whose hostility toward others gets him a stint with the base shrink  washington  leading to introspection  self appraisal  and a return to his roots . pat  sanitized  and sentimental   antwone fisher  is a solid feel  good flick about the reconciliation of past regrets and closure . good old hollywood style entertainment family values entertainment with just a hint of corn .  b   
i was interested to see the move thinking that it might be a diamond in the rough  but the only thing i found was bad writing  horrible directing  the shot sequences do not flow  even though the director might say that that is what he is going for  it looks very uninspired and immature  the editing could have been done by anyone with  vcrs and the stock was low budget video . i would say that it wasn  t even something as simple as mini digital video .  br    br   there are some simple ways to fix a film with what the director has  like through editing etc . but it is obvious that he just doesn  t care . there is as much effort put in to this movie as a ham sandwich . it could be made better  but that would mean extra work .  
there are no people like  show people  marion davies  as peggy pepper  and william haines  as billy boone  . my introduction to ms . davies was a  clip  from this film the delightfully spoofy one in which she lowers a scarf to reveal different emotions . my introduction to mr . haines was in viewing this film  presently though  it  s possible i  ve seen him in a less memorable role . haines makes an incredible impression  when he joins davies for a commissary meal  tossing his hat into the ring with some wonderful bits at the dining table . indeed  haines and davies deliver great comic performances .  br    br   the story starts off with dell henderson  colonel pepper  driving daughter davies into hollywood  certain she will become tinseltown  s newest sensation . indeed  davies and the already arrived haines become comedy stars . but  davies yearns to become a true drama queen . davies leaves haines  and partners up with the dashingly dramatic paul ralli . but  audiences prefer davies in more comic roles perhaps director king vidor is offering up a case for art imitating life   br    br   full of great hollywood location footage  both on the set  and off . full of great  cameos   at a studio lunch  at the stars  table  davies sits between douglas fairbanks and william s . hart . the best  bit  player  however  is charlie chaplin  who has enough nerve to ask davies for her autograph  while the cameos are fun  they  and the episodic sequences  do help  show people  become less of an important film  and more of an important historical document .  br    br    show people           king vidor  marion davies  william haines  dell henderson  
mann photographs the alberta rocky mountains in a superb fashion  and jimmy stewart and walter brennan give enjoyable performances as they always seem to do .  br    br   but come on hollywood  a mountie telling the people of dawson city  yukon to elect themselves a marshal  yes a marshal   and to enforce the law themselves  then gunfighters battling it out on the streets for control of the town   br    br   nothing even remotely resembling that happened on the canadian side of the border during the klondike gold rush . mr . mann and company appear to have mistaken dawson city for deadwood  the canadian north for the american wild west .  br    br   canadian viewers be prepared for a reefer madness type of enjoyable howl with this ludicrous plot  or  to shake your head in disgust .  
this is my favorite movie ever . i have watched it at least   times and i cry every time . my family begs me not to watch it so i wont have a crying fit . i think i love that it is a true story written by antwone himself just as much as i love the movie . the acting is top notch  and the actors were perfect for their role . denzel washington is one of my favorite actors . but this is my favorite movie he has done so far . i took care of a little boy who was also born in jail . he was the most precious little boy i had ever met . he has now been adopted by a wonderful family who fought for him for almost two years . i saw this movie while the fight was still going on and his future was unsure and i am so happy he is safe and loved . and i am so happy antwone  s happy and found his family .  br    br   i would love to know more about him and how it has been since meeting his family . i just cant say enough good things about it    
director ron atkins is certifiably insane . this ultra  low budget film chronicles a few days in the life of one harry russo  john giancaspro  who also co  wrote   a nut  job who receives a rubberneck doll from his bitch girlfriend . he starts to take orders from the doll to take massive amounts of drugs  rape and kill  not always in that order . what starts off as being a balls  to  the  wall exploitation film  well stays like that  but it gets very repetitive very fast . i  m leaning more toward the certifiably insane . it is hard to forget once seen though . kinda like if tom green ever did a horror film .  br    br   my gradef  br    br   eye candy laurie farwell gets fully nude jasmin putnam shows tits and bush  br    br   anti  eye candy seeing john completely naked repeatedly  
saw this film in august at the   th annual national association of black journalists convention in milwaukee  wi  it  s first public screening . the film is great    derek luke is wonderful as antwone fisher . this young actor has a very bright future . the real antwone fisher did a great job writing the film and denzel  s direction is right on the money . see it opening weekend . you won  t be disappointed .  
a  friend   clearly with no taste or class  suggested i take a look at the work of ron atkins . if this is representative of his oeuvre  i never want to see anything else by him . it is amateurish  self  indulgent  criminally shoddy and self  indulgent rubbish . the  whore mangler  of the title is an angry low budget filmmaker who murders a bunch of hookers . there is a little nudity and some erections  but no single element could possibly save this from the hangman  s noose . the lighting is appalling  the dialog is puerile and mostly shouted  and the direction is clueless . i saw a doco on american exploitation filmmakers during the recent fangoria convention . atkins was one of those featured . he spoke like there was something important about his work  but after a viewing of this  i see nothing of any import whatsoever . there is no style  either  and the horrible video effects  like solarization  only enhance the amateurishness . not even so bad it  s fun . avoid .  
knowing what to expect  on the whole  from a denzel washington performance  quality  integrity  gravitas  wry humour  will prepare you for what to expect from his directorial debut . much like robert de niro  s a bronx tale  antwone fisher delivers the moving drama of the life of a young man and the effects of key figures in his life . much as in a bronx tale de niro played one of these key figures to the lead character  himself a character was born to play but was too old too  washington takes a similar role in this as the fatherly councellor to the titular character  a character that seems like he should be played by a washington from   years ago . be thankful washington is too old to play antwone because if he had we would firstly be deprived of the wonderfully measured and intelligently nuanced performance he gives as the navy councellor . however more importantly we wouldn  t get to see the superb  we can only hope star making  turn from derek luke in the title role . inevitably the character comes across as moulded in washington  s shape  however you get the impression this is not just because washington directed it  not that luke was trying to copy him  but that luke is as genuinely powerful and thought provoking an actor as washington . it took far too long for washington to receive the academy award he deserved for malcolm x  philadelphia  devil in a blue dress and the hurricane  let us hope that luke does not have to wait so long . also a great piece of casting was joy bryant as fisher  s girlfriend  cheryl . while the part could have been a forgettable support or a standard  girlfriend  role bryant imbues it with life . tender and intelligent the role transcends stereotyping with bryant inhabiting it  and she makes the part significant and interesting . it doesn  t hurt either that bryant is possibly the most attractive woman you  ll see on celluloid this year  the smile alone could thaw the coldest heart . acting ability and looks  why isn  t this woman in everything being made right now . providing good support in a small role in salli richardson as washington  s wife berta . saying more with a silence or look than many hollywood actresses can manage in an entire film she informs the audience of the entire storylines long before any exposition occurs . as for washington  s directing  as i said  it is the directing equivalent of his acting . taking the story of a man few viewers will have heard of and making it genuinely interesting is a difficult feat which washington achieves with aplomb . the film is neither rushed nor showy  but it never feels slow or dull . it is measured and nuanced  balancing the humour and drama perfectly . antwone fisher may not blow you away if you like big  explosive  plotless hollywood films but for those who appreciate a finely crafted character piece  with excellent performances and steady well handled direction  this is for you .  
whoever made this movie must have done it as a joke . i mean  this was the stupidest movie i think i have ever seen   a killer snowman terrorizes a small town  give me a break . love it when he takes off driving the cop car . more like a comedy than a horror movie . if you want a laugh  rent this . if you truly want a horror movie  stay the hell away from this one    
well  it  s yet again a film that plays with your sentiments and you come out all soft as opposed to a rocky film . but i  m a sucker for those so i gave it a good score . . . the acting was very good and there were a lot of feeling . the violence is kept to a minimal which makes a change . i  d have given it a  if it were not for the salute at the end  all in all a good movie with very good actors .  br    br    
this movie  no correction  this thing  this abysmal abomination from the burning pits of hell should have been killed before it even left the writer  s head . i could not possibly come up with enough adjectives to describe this movie . but let  s try anyway . horrible  bad  nauseating  tasteless  crap  vomit inducing  gut wrenchingly bad  hideous  nasty  putrid  there just aren  t enough words in the english language  the  plot  involves a serial killer who becomes a snow man . don  t ask how  not important . the killer snowman runs about killing people . how  you may ask  can a snowman kill someone  in tasteless ways that make you want to remove your eyes if only so you don  t have to endure that styrofoam snowman anymore . in ways that make you want to fill your ears with hot wax so you do not have to endure his snow puns anymore . don  t watch this movie  destroy it on sight  for the sake of your very soul don  t watch it   
having developed a critical eye for film  and a love for good cinema  i went to see antwone fisher with my breath symbolically held . while i am an unabashed fan of denzel washington  both of his skill as an actor and of his public persona i am an honest enough fan to admit the  very few  times when he hasn  t quite hit the mark in a film or two . and i could be wrong about those  after all  i am not an actor . but this was different  denzel would pour his career  s experience into  and guide  a film handling one of the most sensitive topics known to man  the abuse of a child . as his directorial debut  no less . and develop the film to point that it would successfully present the triumph of a man . i didn  t want to be disappointed .  br    br   and i wasn  t .  br    br   what i did see is a film full of promise that connected diverse audiences  and gave the inexperienced viewer a brief  but truthful eye into the life of a young man whose childhood was a living hell  but who triumphed despite it all . this film did it  and nary a dry eye of any color in the theatre proved it . it takes someone to know the topics in this film to know when truth is presented . it takes a talented filmmaker to tell you the story convincingly when you haven  t experienced it . and if he can further draw an audience in  and cause an audience to emotionally respond  without pity  the filmmaker has done his job . in any film . black  white  purple or polka dotted . that is what makes good cinema . bravo  denzel washington  derek luke  joy bryant and most of all  antwone fisher  you have indeed won .  
this movie may be the worst movie i have ever seen . basically it is right above leprachaun   the only difference is that it missing ice t . the scene where he does the chick with the carrott . . . priceless . oh yeah they made a second one  genius  
having not seen all the films released in      i can  t say that this is the best film of the year . i can say that it is the best film i have seen all year .  br    br   most american films featuring black people either obsess over the american preoccupation with  race relations   or fall into the cliches of the inner city ghetto  with every sterotype imaginable spouting ebonic  phrased slang . antwone fisher stands proudly alone in this regard race is irrelevant  save for one fight that may  or may not  have been provoked by a racial slur .  br    br   antwone fisher  s story is one that should find resonance with any empathic individual . he is understatedly  and thoughtfully  portrayed by derek luke . denzel washington  while obviously using his star power to have the film made  sticks to the background for the most part  and allows the film to be the antwone fisher story .  br    br   at a time when bet  and popular culture in general want to maintain the ghetoization of a large number of americans  and canadians too  you know   this is a film that speaks to the humanity in all of us . i just hope that the non  black audience will go see this film for that humanity  rather than avoiding it because they feel that there are no characters or actors in the movie whom they can identify with . that would be a sad commentary on race  relations in north america in and of itself .  br    br    
this is the crappiest film i have ever seen but in all fairness it  s watchable and rather funny . i don  t think the film  makers intended it to be your typical hollywood blockbuster quality . it  s just a stupid film about a serial killer who gets doused in a load of toxic waste causing a reaction with him and the snow  as it  s the middle of winter  . he then turns into a killer snowman which is enough to to make you laugh on it  s own . this film is really stupid but it  s funny . the killings are hilarious . i wouldn  t advise you to go and buy it  like i did  the cover looked good   but if it happens to be on tv one night and you  re up for a laugh then stick it on .  
he glorified himself as a great supporting actor in glory   he proved he was no malcolm in the middle  mediocre actor in malcolm x   he showed his brotherly love for acting in philadelphia   he pulled a slam dunk in he got game   he pulled no punches and rocked us like a hurricane in the hurricane   he provided us effective thespian education in training day   and now he has demonstrated that he could also direct  denzel washington  s directorial debut antwone fisher  is the most moving film of the year . this tearjerker fish  er story is in no relation to the debacle that happened to the miami dolphins in the  th quarter against the new england patriots in the last game of the     season . unlike that dolphin tragedy  antwone fisher  possesses an emotional joyous conclusion . the movie is based on a true story about a young naval officer who has an anger management problem due to the abhorrent he suffered as a foster child . denzel plays the naval psychologist who helps antwone overcome his rage and convinces him to find his natural mother . derek luke  s debut performance as antwone is the best admirable acting i have seen by a novice actor in some time now . i actually saw some of the detailed eccentricities in luke  s acting as i have seen in washington  s past performances . it was like if washington was telling luke   la la la luke i am your acting father  . ok  i will lay off the star wars jokes before my readers send me to a galaxy far far away . speaking of the great denzel  his work as the psychologist was masterful . but what can you expect from the acting master d  himself . antwone fisher  was written by no other than antwone fisher himself . the emotional pathos he inserted in his storylife  s screenplay was of fisher king  material . i hail to the chief mr . washington  in catching the right bait in antwone fisher  .  excellent  
i am so happy and surprised that there is so much interest in this movie  jack frost was my introduction into the films produced and distributed by a  pix entertainment  and without exception  everything this company deals with is pure crap  first  and this is very important  never ever watch this movie sober  why would you  unlike many other entertaingly bad movies  this one i feel was made intentionally bad . i just can  t get over how fake the snowman is  which is why its always shown only briefly  the way it moves is the best  this movie is waaaaaaaaaaay better than the michael keaton piece of crap  becuz that was made too be a good movie  and that version is as bad as this .  
this movie was incredible . i would recommend it to anyone  much better than what i had already anticipated . it was definitely a heart  wrenching spectacular movie . it is an amazing story  with amazing actors and creators . definitely another great movie with denzel washington .  shouldn  t surprise anyone  derek luke did a wonderful job as well .  
jack frost  no kids it  s not the warm hearted family movie about a dad who comes back from the dead in the form of a snow man . it  s about a sadistic killer named jack frost who is sprayed with some acid fluid and is morphed into a killer snow man . i happened to catch a copy of this movie so i could have a nice sit back and laugh at it . a killer snow man  ha  sounds like the perfect comedy  horror movie  well i was wrong  very wrong .  br    br   jack frost is about a killer who is being transported via truck to jail so he could fry in the chair at midnight . but it  s a snowy night and it collides with a government tanker carrying a new dna fluid . jack escapes only to be burnt to death by the acid and morphs into a killer snowman . he returns to the small town of snowmonton where he was caught by a small time sheriff . here he is ready to kill again  now as a snow man with cooler powers . he can condense into water  shoot out ice cycles as spears  and grow killer fangs . the only question is  who can stop frost  this movie is below the typical b  movie line . the movies begins cheesy but as soon as jack is burned by the acid  it quickly drops below the cheese line and goes flat . the acting for one is appalling  here we have a whole cast of unheard of actors who either can  t act  can act but has a pointless character  or is just here for a few extra bucks . the only good actor is scott macdonald who plays jack . he looks like a young richard kiel combined with frankenstein . sadly his appearance is only reduced to three minutes and all we ever see of him is his new snow man form and his wise cracking voice . plus his wisecracks are anything but funny . groaning  stupid  and bad .  br    br   the plot is horrible  throughout history there have been numerous murderers . a killer in a hockey mask  a killer with a razer glove  a chainsaw wielding moron  a rapid st . bernard  but now we stoop to a tacky killer snow man  oh come on  and the way the characters are introduced are terrible . for one i really wanted jack to kill the sheriffs son  i mean giving his dad oats with antifreeze in them so they won  t freeze  all the characters are dumb and pointless and the deaths are to cartoony . one woman in strangled with christmas lights and has her head smashed into a decoration box and a girl is humped to death in the shower  where is the carrot in that scene eh   .  br    br   and to top of this horrible movie is the special effects . the first big special effect we have is jack  s dna mixing in with snow and boy is it terrible . i mean it looks like a    s fashion of art design  pu  jack looks fake as well . he looks like a person covered with rubber snow man skin . all the blood and gore is cheesy and the film never takes off with greatness but instead stoops to low levels .  br    br   jack frost is one of the worst slasher movies ever made . i thought it would be a riot but no  it doesn  t try to be funny and it actually tries to be scary . jack frost gets  out of    it at least made me laugh from it  s awfulness . don  t even bother with this piece of trash . jack frost d  
unlike other commenters who have commented on this movie  s ability to transcend race  contrarily  i think that this powerful film provides a complex and deep story that addresses institutional racism and the effects thereof . washington directs fisher  s story with a careful hand and critical eye  relinquishing this cinematic endeavor neither to dismemberment of women  s bodies  perpetuating unthoughtful stereotypes  nor satisfying the expectation of the white gaze . i think this film might be a bit too happy in the end however  it is deeply entrenched in afro  american culture and discourse to the point that some white spectators may get the feeling of looking into the life of this afro  american   antwone fisher . i have problems with the naval aspect of the film  but when we look at america  there are not many choices or opportunities for black men who are  were in fisher  s situation or similar situations . viewers may go to this movie expecting a  black movie what is a  black movie    br    br   do stereotypes of pimps  whores  drug dealers  single parent homes  and so forth constitute a  black movie   i think washington as director recognized that afro  americans and other people of color deal with human problems like abuse and displaced aggression to name a few . these problems have   historically and presently   only been given light and validity via  good will hunting  and other white movies it  s high time they were given the same recognition and validity as their white counterparts in and out of the media .  br    br   sad to say though  in this racist country  denzel washington and derek luke will probably have to wait another ten years before they receive an oscar or anything else . they both will have to wait until they direct or star in a movie that perpetuates the usual racist and sexist stereotypes to get an oscar . that is to say  denzel deserved awards for  malcolm x    hurricane  and others before that jive  training day  oscar . that is not to negate or push aside other great actresses and actors of color who are denied their due praise for ingenious work . yet hollywood would rather send the message that racism and sexism and heterosexism are acceptable by perpetuating and even rewarding those stereotypes as they appear in countless films such as  american beauty    midnight in the garden of good and evil    american pie   and even  gone with the wind .   br    br   derek luke is a helluva actor and i wish him best . all of the other actresses and actors gave superb performances hands down  although i do take issue with denzel  s selection of yet another straight  haired  light  skinned sistuh . that said  everyone should watch this film . however  it may not be for everyone . much luv .       
a serial killer dies in a snowstorm and gets mutated into frosty the snowman  s evil twin . then goes on a killing spree . interesting plot . sounds scary . and it is scary . if you  re five years old . otherwise  it  s kind of cheesy . i saw it on cable and i  m glad i didn  t pay money to see it . it has all the charm and style of a low  budget movie which may become a cult film . i  m sure it has a loyal fan base somewhere . i  m just not in it . even though i didn  t like the movie as a whole  there were some scenes i found amusing . such as the bathtub scene and the post  explosion scene with the picasso reference . it was also enjoyable to watch the many ways the heroes try to kill jack and he just doesn  t seem to want to die . in short   jack frost  is a good low  budget b  movie comedy  but a bad low  budget b  movie horror .  
in his directorial debut  denzel washington takes a true story that also happens to be a very difficult story and brings it to the screen with an honesty that we have come to expect from washington  s acting efforts  but now we see this touch as a director .  br    br   recently we have seen some of the disastrous results of kids who have fallen through the cracks of public protection . this story tells of a nightmare existence that leaves terrible scars but suggests the triumph of the human spirit in the end .  br    br   we can nit pick on some first effort problems with too many close ups and not the best of editing these scenes but the simplicity of other scenes that project such power cannot be understated .  br    br   if the academy overlooks this film it will be travesty . this film pulls no punches and goes to the cold hard facts of the story with a purity that usually doesn  t transcend from a novel to the screen . this  of course  is a tribute to the director .  br    br   this is a dandy so go see it and tell your friends to go see it too   
boy this movie had me fooled . i honestly thought it would be a campy horror film with absolutely no humor in it whatsoever  boy i got the cold shoulder that time . this movie was  and i  m truthful  pretty damn good . it was not scary at all but the campiness and the sly humor really mad this movie interesting . some to the horrible acting and clich killings were so painful to watch  i almost laughed at how bad it was  but to some extent i enjoyed it . the killings all vaguely relate to snow sports and christmas  which made things more intriguing . the pov camera angles were awesome .  br    br   the movie is about a viscous killer who dies in a car accident collision with a chemical truck while being transported to prison . he is later resurrected in that very same chemical with snow spliced into the mixture . these were the ingredients chosen to make the perfect killer snowman . he than takes his revenge  as the snowman  on the police officer who convicted him .  br    br   this movie had such bad acting  with the exception of christopher allport  that is was funny . i will say that i am also pretty disappointed that this movie was not a horror  but in fact a dark sitcom . they had a great story with a good plot but it wasn  t executed right . all in all i like the movie at first but now it is really annoying . but this movie is way better and darker than the sequel .  
i finally purchased and added to my collection a copy of  show people  . i cannot comment any more than what previous viewers have stated and to the characters  plot and overall quality of this film without repeating their own words . seeing the cameo  out  of  character appearances of so many m  g  m silent stars is worth the viewing in and of itself . i really like the scene where marion davies plays herself and is encountered by herself playing the main character of the movie  patricia pepoire . make sure you read her lips as there is no title card indicating what she is saying when she sees marion davies but it is something to the effect of  i don  t think i like her   pop the corn  pop in the tape and get ready to go back more than three quarters of a century in movie making history . enjoy   
the five or so really good westerns that mann made are unequaled as an ensemble in hollywood . even john ford never made that many with so much quality . the curious thing about them all is how uneven they are . ford  s my darling clementine is worth about two and a half of any of them . or at least two .  br    br   the real hero of them besides mann and stewart is chase . chase being responsible for the brilliant red river . chase wrote far country  bend of the river  and probably some others . but none of them are as finished as my darling clementine  but then very few films  western or otherwise are .  br    br   each of the five films of mann have huge gaps  or is it six  lets see . bend  far  man of the west  furies  winchester    and yep  six  naked spur . each have magnificent scene after magnificent scene  with fairly glaring lapses . yet so does red river  which is still the single greatest western ever made . so perfection isn  t everything .  br    br   but the far country has huge  huge holes . it  s mawkish  and really comes alive only when stewart and mc entire are locking horns . the rest is pretty pedestrian  with the usual exception of mann  s camera . mann  s camera is a one man course in cinematography . it is about as good an eye as anybody who ever got behind a strip of moving film . it is almost never in the wrong place  never .  br    br   the far country has one amazing moment . and as usual it comes from stewart . nobody in the history of cinema ever received physical punishment with the authority of that man . he is absolutely amazing look at him in bend  far  winchester  and man from laramie in bend has been beaten up and is hanging by a thread so believably and with such boiling hatred he looks like somebody displaced from dachau  in far he is shot off a raft with such violence  it looks so convincing that you wince  and of course when he is dragged through the fire in man  well you find yourself looking for the burn marks . what an actor . not to mention the moment in winchester when he is beaten up early in the hotel room  also as well as anybody ever did it .  br    br   but that was mann  s territory look at gary cooper fighting with jack lord in man of the west . as painful as any fight scene ever recorded . cooper while not being quite as convincing as stewart  nevertheless is somehow his equal in looking exhausted at the end of the fight . in short  nobody but nobody but nobody ever showed the human being in extremis as well as mann .  br    br   what a great  great director .  br    br   see every western he ever made . they are his real monuments  even if all are scetchy . but so what . when he gets roaring with his great scenes they are as good as anybody  including ford . and his six westerns as an ensemble are the best ever done by anyone  period .  br    br   thanks  anthony .  
i went to see antone fisher not knowing what to expect and was most pleasantly surprised . the acting job by derek luke was outstanding and the story line was excellent . of course denzel washington did his usual fine job of acting as well as directing . it makes you realized that people with mental problems can be helped and this movie is a perfect example of this . don  t miss this one .  
the     michael keaton kiddie comedy of the same title was roundly condemned for it  s  um  shoddy special effects  but compared to what screaming mad george cooked up for this horror comedy they  re positively mind  boggling . the killer snowman seems to be made out of styrofoam and his arms look like oversized oven mitts . which they probably were . the cast lays it on thick in this parody of dozens of other  much worse  movies and paul keith as the town doctor is particularly memorable in a small but hilarious role .  
 . . . intimate and specific . yes  a bit of a cinderella story  but only after many convoluted turns  earning it  s way deeper and deeper into antwone  s psyche . only superficial viewing can condemn this film as superficial . this is the stuff that heals nations  this is one of our great national stories . antwone  s path to emotional health encompasses a whole breadth of family history  the history of slavery and its aftermath . in his first directorial effort  first of many i hope  denzel washington confirms once again  that he has a truly beautiful mind and soul .  
you know what kind of movie you  re getting into when the serial killer main character is being transported to the electric chair  in what seems to be a bakery truck   only to have the prison vehicle collide with  and i  m not making this up  a genetic engineering tanker truck . the goo which spurts forth melts him  and fuses his dna with the snow  creating our protagonist  the killer snowman .  br    br   my favorite portion of the movie  however  is an over  the  shoulder shot of the snowman thrashing some poor schmuck  in which his hands look suspiciously like a couple of white oven  potholder gloves .  br    br   mmmmm  schlock . . .  
this film  which is based on a true story  comes from first time director and long time actor  denzel washington . denzel washington has given us some of the best performances of the last decade  as a black soldier in the civil war in glory  and a lawyer in the acclaimed philadelphia . and of course  he made special notoriety last year when he won the academy award for best actor in training day  in which denzel washington became the first african american to receive the award for best actor . i guess denzel wanted a change of pace  so he chose to direct antwone fisher  in which he also stars . fisher is played by derek luke  who is new to the silver screen  but has made some guest appearances on such television shows as king of queens  and he will be appearing in the upcoming film release of biker boyz .  br    br   this is a truly well done film from denzel washington  considering it was his first time directing . undoubtedly  denzel felt some kind of commitment and believed in the real life story of antwone fisher . antwone fisher is about a young african american man in the navy who constantly gets into fights  and after one particular brawl he is sent to see a navy psychiatrist named jerome davenport  played by denzel washington . davenport helps antwone to deal with his troubled past and learn to move on with his life  by finding his birth mother who had to give him up at birth because she was in prison . what makes this film good is the fact that it  s not overly melodramatic . i was expecting something a little more like good will hunting  with a lot of swearing  fighting and vulgarity . not that i didn  t like good will hunting  or the swearing  fighting and vulgarity of the film were out of place . quite the contrary  however  antwone fisher is a true story  and i don  t think that washington wanted to sensationalize the story for dramatic affect in the film . don  t get me wrong  there are moments when we see antwone fighting  carrying on and having moments when it seems like the world is closing in on him . after all  in his first session with his psychiatrist  the character played by washington  devenport asks fisher where he was born  and fisher  s response is  from under a rock   an obvious jab at the pressures waning on antwone fisher  s soul . but i had to appreciate the fact that this film wasn  t sensationalized for dramatic affect . i think it shows real character on the part of denzel washington to deliver a more realistic story and to avoid the typical clichs that are common in hollywood films  even those based on true stories . one other point that i would like to bring up about antwone fisher is the acting . over all  performances were good in the film  but not great . at times  i think it was a bit obvious that the main characters were actors  but overall  to complain about performances in this film would be ludicrous . one actress that i would like to point out in this film is viola davis . she plays antwone  s mother  but she says barely two sentences in the movie at all  but not so much because she appears at the end of the film  but more because she in shock that her long lost son  antwone has found her . what i would like to point out about her as an actress in the lack of use of her . she in basically a character actress  and i haven  t seen her play any really elaborate roles . she made appearances in traffic  out of sight  kate  leopold  and two recent films far from heaven and solaris . in steven soderberg  s remake of solaris  she played a scientist on a doomed space craft orbiting a planet . in that film  she is confronted by george clooney  s character and she drawn to tears by what clooney tells her in a particular scene . when i first saw solaris  i remember seeing her tear up in the scene and thinking  wow  this woman can act . it was as if you could feel the character  s grief . in that brief shot of her face  she gave so much expression and i honestly felt very sorry for her character  s sadness and trouble in the film . i think she has definite potential as an actress and should be used more often perhaps in leading roles  rather than just as a character driven actress . nonetheless  antwone fisher is a very good movie . denzel washington  as always  pulls off a great performance and he gives us a great directorial debut . also  derek luke is a very talented actor . i think that antwone fisher will bring his immense critical fame for his portrayal of the troubled man  but i think that his public popularity will increase with the release of biker boyz  which also stars lawrence fishburn . antwone fisher is based on the book finding fish a memoir   by antwone quenton fisher .   
it  s not just the plot alone that makes this movie an instant turn  off for bored audiences . it  s the terrible direction with a horrible script and mistakes left and right that makes this too agonizing to watch . i  m sorry but i do not see the  fun  in this . just the thrill of pointing the many mistakes and stupid one  liners . well i  m wondering how dumb the directors think of their producing company when this movie was first introduced . probably as dumb as that sheriff who dove into the pickup truck full of antifreeze with a gaping bloody wound . oops  did i forget to mention this sheriff  s not only a poor actor but also can shrug off an impalement with a load of antifreeze drenching the exposed flesh  i guess he kind of forgot when he won a not  so  thrilling victory over the snowman .  
antwone fisher is the story of a young emotionally troubled u . s . navy seaman . his problems lead him to jerome davenport  a psychiatrist who helps him realize that his troubles stem from his childhood upbringing .  br    br   get ready to shed a tear or two . the movie could thaw the coldest heart . i loved the story  which turns from something so very awful to happen to anyone into a positive ending . antwone fisher is a powerful movie  most importantly about forgiveness . other important issues that get you thinking are child abuse  adoption  and foster care .  br    br   oscar winner  denzel washington does an impressive job in his directorial debut . there were many scenes which i enjoyed watching . they included the beginning  dreams of a little boy  check out the gigantic  sized pancakes   and the ending  dreams turned into reality   which beautifully tied the story together .  br    br   another wonderful scene occurred when the doctor encouraged antwone to search for his family to find answers to his questions about his family that abandoned him .  br    br   my favorite scene happened when the young man finally confronted his mother and her reaction towards him . priceless .  br    br   all the actors represented their parts well .  br    br   in addition to directorial responsibilities  mr . washington continues to show why he won an oscar award and is successful in all his acting roles . he had a strong presence in this movie .  br    br   actor  derek luke demonstrated why he was so right for the part of antwone fisher . he portrayed very real and heart  tugging work .  br    br   joy bryant who played the part of cheryl  antwone  s love interest  resembled a ray of sunshine on the screen . the chemistry flowed well between the romantic characters .  br    br   novella nelson who played the part of mrs . tate  a despicable character  deserves special mention .  br    br   although we only see her for a few minutes  the actress who played fisher  s mother gave an outstanding performance .  br    br   everyone should see antwone fisher .  
and this movie has crossed it . i have never seen such a terrible movie in my life  i mean  a kid  s head getting cut off from the force of an empty sled  a snowman with a costume that has the seams clearly visible  this was a pitiful excuse for a movie .  
i just watched antwone fisher on bravo . what an awesome movie and incredible young man . this movie is a must see for anyone who is dealing with how to overcome childhood abuse and abandonment as an adult . denzel washington puts in an outstanding performance as well as the young man who plays antwone fisher . kleenex alert   feel good and tearful . the most heartrending moment is when he finally meets his mother  who he was taken away from at  months of age . and one of the most courageous was when he stood up to his abusive foster mother and sister . i saw this movie on bravo in     and only wish i had known about it years ago . definitely a movie to add to my dvd collection .  
i may not be a critic  but here is what i think of this movie . well just watched the movie on cinemax and first of all i just have to say how much i hate the storyline i mean come on what does a snowman scare besides little kids  secondly it is pretty gory but i bet since the movie is so low budget they probably used ketchup so my critical vote is bomb    nice try and the sequel will suck twice as much .  
  and the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom   anais nin marcel proust says   the real voyage of discovery lies in not seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes .  author and screenwriter antwone fisher joined the u . s . navy to see new landscapes but the demons of his past prevented him from seeing the world through new eyes . based on his autobiography  finding fish  written many years after the events  his story is dramatized in the film antwone fisher  denzel washington  s first directorial effort . it is a heartfelt if somewhat formulaic look at the painful process of moving from being consumed by one  s past to being able to live life in present time .  br    br   required to attend therapy sessions after several outbursts of anger at the base  the painful aspects of his childhood are shown in flashback as the grown up antwone  derek luke  recounts his life in sessions with navy psychiatrist jerome davenport  denzel washington  . he is at first unwilling to talk  but when he begins  the floodgates are opened . after his father was shot to death by a girlfriend and antwone was abandoned by his mother after being released from prison  he was placed in a foster home where he lived for fourteen years  suffering humiliation and sexual abuse . according to antwone  the treatment by his foster mother mrs . tate  novella nelson  who referred to him only as  nigga  and by his cousin nadine  yolonda ross  was in fact much worse than shown on the screen .  br    br   the only friend he has is a local by named jesse  jascha washington  who  later in the film  only adds to his feelings of abandonment . it is difficult to build a film around psychiatric sessions but it was done successfully in ordinary people and good will hunting with a great deal more dramatic interest but it succeeds here because of the dominant performances of washington and luke  though the film  s attempt to compress eleven years into a few months seems a bit too facile . davenport  s humanity and warmth  however  allows fisher to feel safe enough to discuss his difficult past and cheryl  joy bryant   his new girlfriend who is also in the navy  supports him in his struggle to achieve a breakthrough .  br    br   with cheryl  s help and dr . davenport  s counseling  antwone develops enough self  esteem to return to cleveland and begin the journey to try and find his mother in order to complete the past . what comes through in derek luke  s incredible performance is antwone  s longing for acceptance  dramatized in a heartbreaking dream shown at the beginning of the film in which he is the guest of honor at a banquet filled with people who love him . comedian mort sahl once said that  people just have to remember what we  re all here for to find our way home . . .  antwone fisher touches not only on the longing of one young person to find his way home but reaches all those who have cried themselves to sleep  not knowing the joy of being loved .  
well what can i say  there are b  grade movies and there are b  grade movies and this definitely falls into the latter . however since it  s obvious that even the makers of the film know that it  s not a credible movie  take a look at the closing credits  it can be forgiven .  br    br   the plot is basically a convicted psycho killer is killed . he accidentally has his genetic material mixed up with some experimental acid that get combined and then lost in the snow . the killer now takes on the form of a snowman  if you can believe that . the snowman  jack frost  is after the country town sherif who put him behind bars . in doing so  jack frost ends up killing half the town .  br    br   this movie lacks any real scares and the effects alone remind me of the b  grade movies of the    s . this alone makes it worth watching for a laugh . a movie to pass the time away .  
a great story  based on a true story about a young black man and all the difficulties along the road . being that this is denzel washington  s first ever movie that he himself was gonna direct  i have to admit i was a tad sceptical  but who wouldn  t be . .  but then again  he  s a great actor with plently of years of experience  and the end result turned out great . the story is told in a great way  making you that has had difficulties during your childhood  and young adulthood  see yourself in those situations . so  it hits you hard  letting you know your not the only one going through hell . in all  a touching story about a young man trying to make it in this fed up world .  the story is based on the life of antwone fisher  born  . august      cleveland  ohio  usa  whom was also the writer of this movie  strongly recommended .      
a cheap exploitation film about a mothers search for her daughter who has been kidnapped by people who make snuff porno films . the trail leads the mother all over europe as she searches for her child and we in the audience struggle to stay asleep .  br    br   this is one of the countless soft  core sleaze films that are made for people who want the excitement of porno with out the stigma or danger of it showing up on their credit card bill . personally i  d rather have the stigma since those films tend to be more interesting and honest about what we  re seeing . this is suppose to be a sexy thriller but its not . mostly its people talking about things followed by lots of walking from place to place and lead to lead . periodically through out the film various people get undressed and everything has more than a touch of sm to the proceedings . the violence and fetish material is of the sort to provoke laughter rather than horror or even excitement  its all so incredibly fake . worse there is not even enough nudity to keep it interesting .  basically par for the course for many of these films   br    br   you  ll forgive my lack of details but it simply is a dull boring film that i stayed with to the end hoping for something remotely prurient to occur  but there was nothing . the most interesting thing was the blonde haired villainess with the huge over bite and nose the size of a buick . i watched her with morbid fascination wondering what she had looked like as a young girl and wondering whether she had had plastic surgery  not the type of things you should be thinking about in a gripping thriller .  br    br   avoid .  
this is a film about life  the triumph over adversity and the wonders of the human spirit . i defy anyone not to shed a tear by the end of the movie . this is more than just a tear  jerker  its an engaging  thought  provoking drama with excellent performances from all the cast but especially derek luke and denzel washington .  years on  i  m amazed that luke is still a virtual unknown and washington only directed one other film . nevertheless  apart from a slow build  up  the story of this foster child  s trials and tribulations and how it still affects him in adulthood is the sort of movie that stays with you long after you have seen it . like many fox searchlight pictures  this was more of a sleeper hit and didn  t get the mass critical acclaim it deserves . the scene where antwone finally meets his mother summed up the movie for me  there were so many ways that could have been done and it could have been all schmaltzy or it could have been unrealistic but washington struck exactly the right tone  his mother never said a word and could only shed a tear  while antowne asked simply why . her overwhelming guilt prevented her from saying anything  what could she say to defend herself  one of the most moving cinematic scenes i have seen .  
unfortunately the only spoiler in this review is that there  s nothing to spoil about that movie . even if b . mattei had never done any master piece he use to do his job with a bit of humor and craziness that made him a fun eurotrash director . but for the last   years he seemed to have lost it . this film is just empty  nothing at all to wake us up from the deep sleep you sink into after the first   min . no sex  no blood  it  s suppose to be about snuff    no actors  no dialogs  just as bad as an    t . v film . it  s even worse than his last cannibals and zombies epics . so rest in peace bruno  you will stay in our minds forever anyway  thanks to such unforgettable gems aszombi   robowar  rats  l  altro inferno  virus  cruel jaws and few others . so except if you want to see b mattei possessed by jess franco  s spirit  s new film  pass on this one . but if you don  t know this nice artisan  s career track down his old films and have fun .  
this movie describes the life of somebody who grew up in the worst of circumstances but unlike many people he actually grew up to be a respectable person . whats more is that this is a true story .  br    br   antwone fisher is so innocent and yet he was abused such just because he was not white . antwone fisher has been married to the same women for ten years and he never fooled around with women  coke  cigars  weed  alcohol  or any of those things that are very popular in the places he was growing up .  br    br   there is not much more to say about this movie it is excellent . the only rating i can give it is a      .  
this film is terrible . every line is stolen from  mm  the italian dubbed version  at least  . if you like trash . . . real trash  give it a try but beware this ain  t the  so bad it  s good  kind of flick . in its cheapness  it may really look like a porno but  believe me  if you  re looking for  snuff   s  m  hardcore  softcore . . . or even an ordinary erotic thriller  go find something else in store  i  m telling you this   cause the absolutely uninspired and unconvincing shooting  acting  plot  dialogues  the only good lines  as i said before  are the ones they stolen from joel schumacher  s  mm   will bore you to tears in a few minutes and the  happy ending  is absolutely revolting  i  ll give it one star a half for the sudden shot in the back scene  after  the eyes of the victim  monologue  stolen from  mm as well  and a half for mom  daughter  s sexy bodies  that didn  t manage to keep me completely awake while watching this turkey  anyway    
antwone fisher  s story of childhood neglect and abuse is an inspiration to all among us who witnessed or even experienced the plight of foster children . abandoned by a troubled mother  antwone has never met his father . growing up with  church going  abusers who use the  n  word  not only to intimidate and hurt but also as a term of endearment  as a young man witnessing how his best friend is killed in a hold  up  enduring racial slurs and being teased while serving in the navy  antwone  s anger is slowly turned into positive power when counseled by a navy psychiatrist  and a love enters his life .  br    br   the scene where antwone meets his birth mother is one of the most powerful moments in the film . stunned by the unexpected confrontation  the woman listens in silence to hear the young man tell her how he has lived a life without crime  addictions to drugs  fathering children left and right  all despite his utterly adverse circumstances .  br    br   if that scene wasn  t powerful enough  the very next one drives it home  and opens the flood gates   a reception to welcome home antwone dozens of smiling faces and open arms announcing that he is part of this great family .  br    br   one of the messages delivered by this wonderful film is that there are many well  meaning and sincere people working to help orphans and unwanted children . even if some of the homes and administrators don  t seem to care and appear self  serving  many do give it their all . the character who found antwone  s  file  once he disclosed the circumstances of his birth is one of those  bright lights  in the darkness of the system .  br    br   the dvd includes a french language track  various subtitle choices  as well as additional features and information about foster parenting .  br    br   as a clevelander i appreciated the location footage . no matter where you are from  you will be deeply moved by this autobiographical gem .  
veteran sleazeball bruno mattei is at it again with this erotic thriller that clearly echoes joel schumacher  s  mm . but  as expected  mattei does his movie on a minuscule budget  so that it already looks obscure when it  s newly released .  br    br   after her daughter gets abducted  a mother enters the dark world of underground pornography  because the kidnappers belong to an international organization that direct snuff films as long as the exclusive clients pay well . the search for her daughter does not only lead the mother across europe  but also into prostitution . she goes to bed with some guys to get her clues . when she finally reaches contact with the snuff organization lead by the mysterious doctor hades  she  s getting into great danger herself .  br    br   there is not much good to say about this one  even though it starts promising . problem is that the movie is by far not as sleazy or explicit as one might expect from the director who made films like blade violent . snuff trap  which was first released in russia   is neither gory enough nor does it contain the amount of nudity and sex to really keep the viewer  s attention . the plot isn  t that special either  except maybe for the surprisingly many different locations throughout europe . the ending is hugely disappointing . the acting isn  t really remarkable either  except for anita auer who plays doctor hades she looks and acts extremely creepy . you don  t want to meet her like this in a dark alley  or your bedroom  for that matter  .  br    br   all in all  snuff trap only appeals to collectors of bruno mattei  s films . but it  s good to see the man back on the helm again it was his first thriller since      s giallo gli occhi dentro .  
there are some wonderful things about this movie . marion davies could act  given the right property she is wonderful in comedic roles . william haines could act  and you can see why he was one of the screen  s most popular leading men .  until a potential scandal forced him from the business  .  br    br   the story is a bit trite  but handled so beautifully that you don  t notice . king vidor  s direction is one of the principle reasons for this . the producer  the boy genius  irving thalberg .  br    br   it  s about movie making  and you get to see the process as it was done in      the cameras  sets  directors directing and actors emoting . you get to see  briefly  some of the major stars of the day even charlie chaplin does a turn as himself  seeking an autograph . you also catch glimpses of eleanor boardman  elinor glyn  claire windsor  king vidor  and many others who are otherwise just names and old photographs .  br    br   please  even if you  re not a fan of the silents  take the time to catch this film when you can . it  s really a terrific trip back in time .  
i didn  t know whether to laugh or cry at this misrepresentation of canadian history  particularly the disservice done to the history of the mounted police in the yukon .  br    br   i  ll leave it to pierre berton  noted historian  born and raised in dawson city yukon  and author of the definitive history of the klondike gold rush  klondike the last great gold rush           to express my exasperation with this silly movie  br    br   the american idea of an untamed frontier  subdued by individual heroes armed with six  guns  was continued in the far country  another story about a cowboy from the american west  wyoming this time  driving his herd of beef cattle into gold country . the picture is a nightmare of geographical impossibilities  but the real incongruity is the major assumption on which the plot turns  that there was only one mounted policeman in all of the canadian yukon at the time of the gold rush and that he could not deal with the lawlessness . when james stewart and walter brennan reach the yukon border with their cattle  the customs shack is empty .  br    br    where is the constable  asks brennan .  br    br    up on the pelly river . trouble with the chilkats   someone replies . he  s got a real tough job  that constable . he patrols some ten or twenty thousand square miles . sometimes he don  t get home for two or three months at a time .   br    br   the historical truth is that the yukon territory during the gold rush was the closest thing to a police state british north america has ever seen . the northwest mounted police was stationed in the territory in considerable numbers long before the klondike strike . they controlled every route into the yukon and they brooked no nonsense . they collected customs duties  often over the wails of the new arrivals  made arbitrary laws on the spot about river navigation  and turned men back if they didn  t have enough supplies  or if they simply looked bad . in true canadian fashion  they laid down moral laws for the community . in dawson the lord  s day act was strictly observed it was a crime punishable by a fine to cut your wood on sunday and plump young women were arrested for what the stern  faced police called  giving a risqu performance in the theatre   generally nothing more than dancing suggestively on the stage in overly revealing tights .  br    br   in such a community  a gunbelt was unthinkable . one notorious bad man from tombstone who tried to pack a weapon on his hip was personally disarmed by a young constable  who had just ejected him from a saloon for the heinous crime of talking too loudly . the bad man left like a lamb but protested when the policeman  upon discovering he was carrying a gun told him to hand it over .  no man has yet taken a gun away from me   said the american .  well  i  m taking it   the constable said mildly and did so  without further resistance . so many revolvers were confiscated in dawson that they were auctioned off by the police for as little as a dollar and purchased as souvenirs to keep on the mantelpiece .  br    br   in      the big year of the stampede  there wasn  t a serious crime  let alone a murder  in dawson . the contrast with skagway on the american side  which was a lawless town run by soapy smith  the denver confidence man  was remarkable . but in the far country dawson is seen as a community without any law  which a soapy smith character from skagway  he is called gannon in the picture  can easily control .  in real life  one of smith  s men who tried to cross the border had all his equipment confiscated and was frogmarched right back again by a mounted police sergeant  .  br    br   in the movie the lone mountie says  yes i  m the law . i represent the law in the yukon territory . about fifty thousand square miles of it .   br    br    then why aren  t there more of you    br    br    because yesterday this was a wilderness . we didn  t expect you to pour in by the thousands . now that you  re here  we  ll protect you .   br    br    when    br    br    there  ll be a post established here in dawson early in may .   br    br    what happens between now and may  you going to be here to keep order    br    br    part of the time .   br    br    what about the rest of the time    br    br    pick yourselves a good man . swear him in . have him act as marshal   br    br   the movie mountie leaves and does not appear again in the picture . his astonishing suggestion  that an american town marshal  complete with tin star  be sworn in by a group of townspeople living under british jurisprudence  is accepted . naturally they want to make jimmy stewart the marshal he clearly fits the part . but stewart is playing the role of the loner who looks after number one and so another man is elected to get shot . and he does . others get shot . even walter brennan gets shot . stewart finally comes to the reluctant conclusion that he must end all the shooting with some shooting of his own . he pins on the tin star and he and the bully  gannon  blast away at each other in the inevitable western climax .  br    br   to anybody with a passing knowledge of the canadian north  this bald re  telling of the story passes rational belief .  br    br   excerpt from hollywood  s canada  by pierre berton      .  
this movie is great  it touched my stone cold heart . i couldn  t relate about the racial discrimination that antwone has experienced because i  m living in my own country . i guess it is really hard to be discriminated .  br    br   we watched this film in our sociology class in new era university  and i didn  t knew that it was a true story  i thought it was just created by an intellectual who want to bring a fresh air in the industry . it is very good .  br    br   the part that shocked me was when nadine abused antwone  who was just six  sexually . if i were on his shoes  i could have jumped a ten  story high building . i salute him for he being so strong   br    br   the scene that touched me here is when antwone finally saw his mother eva face to face . he did not bitched her or whatever  instead he told her about the achievements that he got within the long years that they have been separated .  i think i  ll do that when i get the chance of tracing my roots .   
i used to always love the bill because of its great script and characters  but lately i feel as though it has turned into an emotional type of soap . if you look at promotional pictures  posters of the bill now you will see either two of the officers hugging  kissing or something to do with friendships whereas promotional pictures of the bill a long time ago would have shown something to do with crime . this proves that it has changed a lot from being an absolutely amazing police drama to an average type of television soap . when i watch it i feel like i  m watching a police version of coronation street or something similar . i have to say i still like the bill as i  m interested in police work and that type of thing but i really miss the greatness that the bill used to have . i want to rate it as  out of ten because you have to admit it has been totally ruined by the people who took the bill over .  br    br   as for the script and characters they have both gone downhill  most of the great characters are gone now  although a few still remain i think  and i  m not saying that the newer characters are poor or anything because they definitely aren  t  its just that they lack the tough looks  personalities and script lines that all of the old characters used to have because most of the new ones are at the moment involved with silly relationships and family trouble .  br    br   overall being one of the only police programs on television these days  the bill will always be a crappily interesting thing to watch  but like i say it has lost a lot of its uniqueness  if thats the right spelling  and would now be classed as a terrible  unreal television soap .  br    br   recommended to watch for a good laugh over the stupidity of the police officers involved       
i was adopted at birth and certainly did not have the problems antwone fisher had in the movie  but i still share some of the emotions and this movie really helped to bring them out and force me to deal with them . it even caused me to realize that i do have a  missing piece  and i am going to seek out my birthparents now .  br    br   i cried for almost a day after i saw this the first time . antwone  s confrontation with his birthmother juxtaposed with his father  s family  s reaction to his sudden appearance are powerful for those of us who don  t know what will happen if we find our birth parents . and his self  confidence and self affirmations to his mother and against the abusers of his past were so powerful . i could really identify with this and my need to tell people  yeah  i was put aside by my parents when i was born . but another set of parents picked me up and loved me . and now i am a success    br    br   it also helped my wife understand me and our adopted children  who did go through tragic experiences before they came to our home . and it helped me to realize just how messed up our social system is . if you remember reading the story last year about the foster kid in florida who was  lost  and then the  miranda  ashley  story in oregon city where scf ignored multiple sexual abuse complaints about the man who ultimately killed them and the week this movie was released  yet another story in new jersey of three kids who were ignored by the system . one died . the state apparently thought the home they were in was ok because the guardian was employed  as a stripper  and  only occasionally  used heroin   br    br   there are just so many issues that are brought out in this movie  and they are dealt with so well by the script and by the acting that antwone fisher should be a  best picture  nominee for sure . no matter if you are adopted or not  it is a heart  tugger that can  t be ignored by anyone concerned about children in our society .  
despite the lavish production numbers and wonderful costumes this film is a chore to watch . the murder  mystery plot is just a vehicle to mount the musical numbers on but it often brings the proceedings to a staggering halt besides not being very involving . although there has obviously been a lot of money spent on them the numbers are badly staged and poorly photographed . it  s obviously a pre  code film because the girls often wear very little clothing and there  s even a song singing the praises of marijuana  the performances are all one  note although it  s nice to see carl brisson in a musical but when victor mclaglen  as the police lieutenent  lurches into view for the umpteenth time on the hunt for clues  you may want to throw in the towel or at least fast  forward to the next number . pity the patrons who were trapped in the cinema on its release though   
not having seen the film in the original theater release  i was happily surprised when the dvd arrived  since this film did not have the wide distribution it merited .  br    br   denzel washington directorial debut and the finished product have nothing to envy other films about the same theme by more accomplished directors . the film has a very professional look . it shows that mr . washington has learned a lot being on the other side of the camera . he brings a different angle to this film .  br    br   one of the best things the film has is  without a doubt  the fine performance by derek luke . he is an actor who  with the right guidance  will go far  no doubt . his take on the troubled young man  at this point of his life  in turmoil and suffering for a bad hand life  up to now  has dealt him  is very true . his antwone is a fine portrait of a man in pain who is basically very good and has so much to give  but no one seems to see that side of his character .  br    br   at the worst time of his despair  antwone is sent to dr . davenport  played by mr . washington  in a very sober  if somehow subdued manner . because of the angst within antwone  he misses the opportunity of opening himself to this man  who wants to help  but because of the constrains placed on his office  just have three sessions and then has to dismiss his patient .  br    br   things work out  as antwone is able to convince the doctor to keep on working with him . antwone  s past is revealed in detail . the abuse he suffers at the hands of mrs . tate  his foster mother  is brutal  to say the least . the attempt at the hand of an older woman in the tate  s household of a sexual molestation  gives antwone a bitter taste that stays with him throughout his adult life  as he has been scarred by the shame he carries with him .  br    br   antwone finds love at last with cheryl  who is patient enough to make him see a different world by the love she and support she gives him .  br    br   the lead performances are very good indeed . denzel washington  s dr . davenport has his own problems too . he is not a happy camper either . he can help antwone  but he cannot help himself  or his relationship with an adoring wife .  br    br   the talent in the film is incredible . joy bryant makes a fine cheryl . novella nelson  who is a fine actress is superb as mrs . tate  the abusing foster mother .  br    br   the reunion of antwone with his unknown family is a bit too sugary and sentimental  but of course  if one is to believe that fisher finds happiness at last  one has to accept that part of the film as well .  
be warned . this movie is such a mess . it  s a catastrophe . don  t waste your time with this one . i warned you   br    br   the acting  story  dialogue  music . . . basically everything is so over the top  it  s absolutely annoying and ridiculous . it made me want to throw up  if the dialogue  acting  story wasn  t doing it  it  s everyone being shot crooked  . you  ll feel like you  re watching a comedy . the problem is  the parts that are supposedly funny isn  t even funny . the acting  story  cinematography  you can feel everything is just trying waaaay too hard   but it never succeeds . practically every shot is canted  but so what   this movie just feels like a student film . no wonder they shot this in hd because it would be a waste to spend more money to shoot this on film .  br    br   if you  re easily amused or like poor acting  writing  editing  directing  full of clichs  everything that  s forced in your face  oh and did i mention poor acting   well  actually  it  s not all the actor  s fault  it  s the director   then i guess you  ll like this movie .  br    br   i had to watch this for a class . i would have turned it off right away if i could . if you still can  t tell by now  i hated this movie . it made me want to throw up and get my time back . . . at least i didn  t have to pay for this garbage .  br    br   jeff goldblum  you know . . . the guy from jurassic park  independence day  is in this movie but he sure went downhill from then   accepting roles for movies like this catastrophe .  
the violent and rebel twenty  five years old sailor antwone fisher  derek luke  is sent to three sessions for evaluation with the navy psychiatrist dr . jerome davenport  denzel washington   after another outburst and aggression against a superior ranked navy man . reluctant in the beginning of the treatment  he gets confidence in dr . davenport and discloses his childhood  revealing painful traumas generated in his foster house . meanwhile  he meets cheryl smolley  joy briant   and they fall in love for each other . resolving his personal problems  antwone becomes a new man . this true familial drama is a touching and positive story of a man who finds a friend and is sent back to a regular life . the direction of denzel washington is excellent  making sensitive  attractive and with good taste  a story about child abuse . in the hands of another director  it might be a very heavy story . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    voltando a viver    returning to live    
you must be kidding     let  s entertain the possibility that parker posey is really an actress  and not just some entry in the  quirk of the month club  of actors . really  unless this is meant to be a tongue  in  cheek satire on david mamet   terse  confusing dialog delivered alternately in machine gun rapidity or monotone  think ben stein  blandness   or a flat out dry comedy this film has got to be in the running for a rotten tomato award    or worse .  br    br   as if the stiff and uncomfortable posey weren  t enough  we  ve got the stiffer and even more uncomfortable jeff goldblum . there  s more wood in this film than a toothpick factory .  br    br   adding to this already bizarre casting  are several other roles  all populated by forgettable actors  who look or sound like escapees from america  s next top model  don pardo  or even the kid  who pronounces the word  been  like  bean   which just brings our attention to the fact that there is so little to like about this film  we are analyzing his accent to guess if he  s canadian or not   i think i laughed heartily in places that are supposed to be serious  and took seriously sections that are meant to be humorous . even the soundtrack sounds like a caricature of alarik jans music for mamet  s  the house of games  . if taken as a spoof  the film is almost droll if taken seriously  just a self  conscious piece of drek .  
every one should see this movie because each one of us is broken in some way and it may help us realize   my life isn  t as bad as i thought it was and   how important it is to adopt a child in need . there are so many out there . to think that the movie was actually based on a real person made us think deep about life and how the world has and always will be . corrupt  but that corruption doesn  t have to reach your home . we all have a choice  definitely recommend this one . . . and while you  re at it  i  d like to throw in  the color purple  and  woman  thou art loosed  by t . d . jakes .  br    br   these are all movies that are based on life and give us a glimpse of life .  
i have been a fervent hal hartley supporter since i saw his short  surviving desire  in high school  and even then was still completely unmoored by his searingly brilliant  henry fool .  but this    year  later sequel is not only unnecessary  it  s disgraceful .  br    br   after a choppy and expeditious start   fay grim  devolves into pseudo  intellectualism  flat out boredom  and finally unwarranted  and unwanted  nihilism . and that  s just the plot .  br    br   the majority of the new faces are as frivolous and poorly  developed as the movie one particularly flat character ends up hogging half the time we spend with the infamous henry fool himself  and it  s his only spoken scene in the film   br    br   jeff goldblum  s agent fulbright  it seems  is the only bright character  a pun surely intended by hartley as well  . how  then  is he left  spoiler dead via a car bombing  easily making this the gentle  natured hartley  s most violent film to date  and tonally all wrong in a film that  s already all wrong from the word go .  br    br   as for the other new characters  angus james  ned fool  or is it grim    not to mention fay herself . . . well  i won  t spoil their fates  as the movie does a good enough job of that all on its own  when it isn  t busying itself with yet another godawful canted angle  which gives the disconcerting impression that hartley is moving backwards from auteur to crappy film student  .  br    br   this piece is a complete disaster  a dreadful mess that isn  t even good  humored enough to revel in its messiness . instead it self  indulgently crams the typically fun hipster pretenses of its director into the  real world   one uglier and meaner than it need be but not nearly ugly or mean enough to come close to having anything to say . in doing so  hartley tracks sht all over my memories of these people and the marvelous world he originally created for them .  br    br   i have rarely been so depressed at the movies  and i  m counting  leaving las vegas   which at least developed fresh new characters we grew to love before destroying them  instead of immediately disregarding characters already beloved .  br    br   grim  indeed .  
a stunning film of high quality .  br    br   apparently based on true events which  as told  has the clear ring of truth about it  this movie is highly emotional and deeply moving .  br    br   an abused and neglected child often becomes wayward in adulthood  as one of life  s failures  be it as a gangster  drug addict or burden on society .  br    br   antwone fisher as a young adult in the navy  is troubled . he is on the brink of being a loser . he is counselled in therapy by a psychiatrist and it is that relationship which takes center stage in the play .  br    br   in flash  backs and therapy the source and remedies to antwones angst are revealed .  br    br   outstanding performances from the whole cast . the story is in effect a family tragedy with emotional and physical torment . all the actors give full blooded performances with conviction and realism .  br    br   one message from the movie is the importance of raising children decently .  br    br   the real antwone deserves success . to have endured wickedness as a child but to rise above that  shows a magnificent character .  br    br   and to all those out there who have endured such torment but to have survived and succeeded you are all winners .   out of   .  
first off  i really loved henry fool  which puts me in a very small pool of movie goers . parker posey is one of best actresses on  screen today . but this film was a full  out travesty . watching hartley and the actors talk about the film in the extras  so full of pride  and making pointless analogies to star wars  was stomach  turning . this was hype on the producers part  hdnet  realized to the max . a true example of the emperor and his new clothes . mostly i feel that hal has spoiled henry fool forever . i don  t think i can ever see it again in it  s pure  innocent light .  br    br   remember hal  you can fool some of the people some of the time . . . etc . the director would be nowhere today if all he did was churn out meaningless garbage . sadly  it  s a pure example of the lesson taught in the film adaptation . the story must be exciting and active  or its box  office hopes are dim indeed . never mind a decent story . for the actors  it was like trying to act in a straitjacket .  br    br   the score  i believe hartley  s  is tasteless . with drum hits walking all over dialog . there was one apple soundtrack loop i recognized that gave me a smile .  br    br   when i saw the trailer  i thought  oh  they  re just trying to grab a new audience . but it  s really this ridiculous ride . i  d be happy to spoil this movie for you  but it  s been done . it  s rotten . the fool franchise is dead . long live henry fool .  
an adaption of the book  finding fish  . this story is about a troubled young sailor antwone fisher  derek luke  who tells the painful story of his past to a psychiatrist jerome davenport  denzel washington  . a brilliant debut performance by derek luke and an always stunning performance by denzel washington .  br    br   this movie was incredible on so many levels and i was disappointed that it didn  t win an oscar  i think it was because it was released at a bad time that  s why it was overlooked . i strongly recommend this film to everyone  you  ll be touched by his story and it really does make the audience become empathetic with this young man that is antwone fisher .  br    br   if you like inspirational true stories  then watch antwone fisher .  br    br   thank you  
this is a low  budget spoof of the espionage genre . to help frame your expectations  you should know that    the acting is wildly heavy  handed . the stars are having great fun delivering their lines with excessive eye movement  frequent hand gestures  and off  key pacing .    the script deliberately lacks continuity and plausibility . oftentimes lines are abruptly jarring and humorous because they have absolutely no relevance to previous plot elements .    shots are frequently framed in off  balance angles  poking fun at genre excesses .    a pop  eyed jeff goldblum delivers complex and classically preposterous dialog in a winningly sarcastic manner .  br    br   the film has a guiding intelligence  deliberately starting with a plot element stolen from the b  films of the      s a secret code with a structure that would defy explanation by carl sagan . the film  s over  the  top acting is used mostly for comic effect during the first   minutes . in an early running gag  fay grim  s son ned is so frequently told to leave that you can  t help chuckling while feeling sorry for the lad . parker posey  s nicely choreographed fall from bed also helps set a humorous tone early in the film .  br    br   the film  s slow pacing does not enhance the comedy elements or the drama elements that later emerge . the film  s impact as drama is significantly lessened by the early comedy . moreover  it is hard to be overly involved with the characters and their fates when the early portions of the film are so sarcastic . the musical score is intentionally heavy handed  and i found this  and the off  kilter camera angles  more irritating than humorous .  br    br   the over  the  top acting  the implausible and nearly incomprehensible plot of conspiracies  counter conspiracies  and the slow pacing will grind on many viewers . the movie is much too long at    minutes .  br    br   that said  fans who are receptive to the film  s sarcasm might want to watch again . . . using closed captioning to best catch the intelligent ridiculousness of the dialog . the film was too slow for me and the sarcasm felt more heavy  handed than light  hearted . but  the comedy may well appeal to your tastes . the film is worth a view for those who enjoy independent films  fans of director hal harley  or devotees of parker posey  who has the most camera time  .  
arthur bach is decidedly unhappy in his life as a multi  millionaire and is attracted to people  below him  in social standing  he pays for a hooker in the opening scenes and then is enormously attracted to a shoplifter .  br    br   he drinks quite a lot too  and sometimes he is driving while drinking  too  which of course is not funny  ever .  br    br   the movie is great but behind the comedy is some reality  too . john gielgud wipes the floor with everyone else on screen and created a character for the ages . talk about deserving an oscar . moore and minnelli have their moments  but its gielgud as  hobson  you  ll remember the most .  
i haven  t seen  henry fool   but after watching  fay grim  i  m not sure i want to . maybe hartley aims to be the  anti  thriller  director    he sure succeeded with this yawner . based on the official description    woman discovers that her dead husband  s manuscript contains material that could pose a threat to national security    i expected a taut geopolitical drama . instead i got flimsy structure  goofy dialog  flabby characterizations  a convoluted plot  and a  tone  that shifts so often it suggests that hartley changed the script according to his mood at any given time . i can hang for a long time with a frustrating  hard  to  follow plot  e . g .  duplicity   because i figure that the loose ends eventually will come together . even when they don  t  or they do but they leave lingering questions  e . g .  duplicity    sharp writing and acting can hold one  s interest . but half  way through  fay grim  i reached a deadly realization    i didn  t know what was going on  and i didn  t care . too bad  because i really like parker posey  reduced here to working with an absurd part that asked her to morph from indifferent  estranged wife and indifferent  clueless mother to tough  shrewd international  player  capable of psychological mano a mano with terrorists . there  s also bad casting . jeff goldblum can be very good  but he  s not capable of overcoming miscasting as a cia operative . he looks almost as uncomfortable in the role as i was watching him in it . his cia sidekick is worse he looks like a refugee from the quarterfinals of  american idol   are there really young cia agents with big licks of hair rakishly draped over their foreheads   . then there  s the sticky question of the characters  ages . goldblum was   when he made  fay grim   thomas jay ryan  who plays  henry fool   was   . neither was made to look or seem older than their actual ages . yet  a key point in the story is that they served as cia agents in nicaragua  back in the    s .  goldblum  s character would  ve been in his   s then henry fool would  ve been a teenager . was hartley being  quirky  or lazy  the problems are too numerous to list . . .  
written and directed by steve gordon . running time   minutes . classified pg .  br    br   it was the quintessential comedy of the decade . it won sir john gielgud the academy award . it was even featured in vh   s  i love the    s .  and it looks just as good today as it did upon it  s initial release . arthur is the acclaimed comedy classic about a drunken millionaire  played with enthusiasm and wit by dudley moore in an oscar  nominated performance  who must choose between the woman he loves and the life he  s grown accustomed to . while the basic plot is one big cliche  there  s nothing trite about this congenial combination of clever dialogue and hilarious farce . arthur bach is essentially nothing more than a pretentious jerk  but you can  t help but like him . especially when he delivers lines such as   don  t you wish you were me  i know i do   he  s also a delineation from the archetypical movie hero unlike most wealthy characters we see on the silver screen  he  s not ashamed of being filthy rich . in one scene  a man asks him   what does it feel like to have all that money    to which he responds   it feels great .  moore lends such charisma and charm to a character that would otherwise be loathed by his audience . and gielgud is simply perfect as the arrogant servant  addressing his master with extreme condescension in spite of the fact that his salary depends on him . arthur is one of those movies that doesn  t try to be brilliant or particularly exceptional it just comes naturally . the screenplay   which also earned a nod from the academy   is saturated with authentic laugh  out  loud dialogue . this is the kind of movie that  when together with a bunch of poker buddies  you quote endlessly to one another . it also looks at its characters with sincere empathy . there have been a number of comedies that attempt to dip into drama by including the death or illness of a principal star  including both grumpy old men  s   but few can carry it off because we just don  t care . when this movie makes the dubious decision to knock off the butler  it actually works  because we genuinely like these people . why should you see arthur  the answer is simple because it  s an all  around  non  guilty pleasure . at a period in which films are becoming more and more serious  arthur reminds us what it feels like to go to the movies and just have a good time .  br    br     classic  
i say  i  d figure  in that line because  frankly  i  ve not seen a hal hartley movie until now . it  s not that i haven  t heard of him though  as he was seen as one of those small ny filmmakers  when i say small i mean even smaller than jim jarmusch   who made ultra  personal projects on limited budgets . in an ironic way  much as with pasolini  s salo  though in a slightly different context  fay grim interests me to see some of hartley  s more acclaimed features  because there seems to be at least present some semblance of talent behind it  as if hartley could be a very good filmmaker who may be so good he  s just taken a big experimental blunder . or  on the other hand  he could just be someone far too impressed with his own idiosyncrasies and would  be godard  like cinematic collisions .  br    br   i can  t quite explain the story  which may or may not be a problem i suppose  however it  s not really in due to not having seen the film that preceded fay grim  henry fool . i think even if i had that experience it wouldn  t make too much of a difference based on the final results . there  s a lot of international espionage  a double plot wrapped inside of another that  s fallen through the fake pockets of the title character  played in an aloof way by parker posey  not sure if that  s good or bad either  maybe both   and also involving a cia operative  jeff goldblum  as usual a solid presence amid the mania  even conjuring some laughs   not to mention an orgy  laden picture box  and author henry fool . it  s not that the script is totally impenetrable  however much it goes into over  extended loopholes just for the sake of it  because there are some touches of witty or affectingly strange dialog .  br    br   quite simply  the direction just sucks . harltey is in love with the third man  which is fine  but he imposes a consistently headache inducing style of everything being tilted in angle  with characters having to get into frame equally oddly . not since battlefield earth  in fact  has a director come off so annoyingly in trying to make the unnecessary choice of titled angles for some bizarre dramatic effect  only this time hartley isn  t amid a cluster  f  he  s mostly responsible for it . this  along with the crazy wannabe godard title  cards that pop in here and there  some a little amusing and some just totally stupid  and the montage segments all in still shots  and a couple of moments involving action that almost call to mind ed wood  undermine any of the potential that is in the script  which is already fairly hard to decipher . in a way  it  s fascinating to watch how bad this all goes  but a kind of fascination that comes in seeing the flip  side to total creative control on a sort  of small  scale story .  br    br   but let it be known you  ll likely not come across a more wretchedly pretentious example of american independent film  making this year .  
i was too young to remmeber when i first saw this movie . but i saw it for like the second time about  years ago . my sister told me i had to see it . now my whole family has it memorized . we quote it at least once a day . i absolutly love this movie . i still laugh after all this time . sure  it  s about a really  really drunk millionare that is irresponsible . the whole point is that he still has the humanity lost in the others that we see in the movie . and that he is willing to give it all up for love . i highly recomend this movie to anyone who wants a laugh . a lot of laughs . its hallarious  sweet  and if your a movie buff  it will truely change your idea of  funny  . watch it with a group of your friends or your family and i promise  you will never have nothing to talk about ever again with some authur lines in your head . it will make you laugh for years to come .  br    br   it is really hard  in my family  to find a movie that everyone likes . but this movie  i feel  made us closer . and i know it will do the same for you    
it  s hard to believe that this is a sequel to henry fool . hard to believe that the same director and actors were involved in both movies . while henry fool is refreshing  witty  comical  fay grim is slow  boring  and doesn  t go anywhere . where has the wit gone  i am baffled .  br    br   it is   years since i saw henry fool and many of its dialogs and scenes are still vivid in my memory . fay grim is painful to watch . this is no fault of the actors  who are good  parker posey  or great  jeff goldblum    the blame lies entirely with the plot  the dialog  and even some of the filming  low budget is no excuse  . a huge disappointment .  br    br   sorry i couldn  t pay attention to the plot  i was so bored  so disappointed . . . if you enjoyed this one you might not enjoy henry fool so much . . . the two movies have absolutely nothing to do with each other . . . there is no continuity in the characters  personalities . . . it  s all a fraud to entice fans of henry fool to watch the sequel .  br    br   i  m switching this off now   henry in some sort of jail with a taliban      
marion davies stars in this remarkable comedy  show people  released by mgm in     . davies plays a hick from savannah  georgia  who arrives in hollywood with her father  dell henderson  . the jalopy they arrive in is a hoot  as is davies outrageous southern costume . davies lands a job in slapstick comedy  not what she wants  but it brings her success . she meets fellow slapstick star william haines  who is immediately smitten with her . well  davies then gets a job at a more prestigious studio   high art studios   and lands a job in stuffy period pieces . a handsome but fake actor  andre telefair  shows her the ropes of how to be the typical pretentious hollywood star . davies abandons her slapstick friend and father for the good life  but of course learns that is not who she really is . marion davies is wonderful throughout  as she  outrageously  runs the gamut of emotions required of a  serious  actress . william haines is his usual wonderful comedic self  and there are cameos by charles chaplin  john gilbert  and other famous stars of the day  including the director of the film  king vidor . this is a silent film with a few  sound effects  as sound pictures were just coming into their own . a treasure of a film .  
sorry  gave it a   which is the rating i give to movies on which i walk out or fall asleep . in this case i fell asleep   minutes from the end  really  really bored and not caring at all about what happened next .  
dudley moore is fantastic in this largley unknown classic . this film is very witty film that relies hugely on the actors talent . without dudley moore  john gielgud  liza minnelli  and a few others  this film could have been a disaster . it is not always well shot and at times has some very corny music that tries to force a mood  the  psycho   like music at the wedding fight   but the acting overcomes it . the character arthur is hilarious  with his drunken comments . but he develops well into a more mature  well rounded character as he learns to live by his own free will . the end is fairly corny  though . i wont give it away  but it could be improved . worth seeing many times .  
despite being a huge fan of fred astaire and ginger rogers  movies  it wasn  t until about  years ago that i first saw  follow the fleet  . i knew all the songs from an old astaire  rogers record  yes  vinyl  but knew nothing of the plot .  br    br   unfortunately  while the songs are catchy and ginger rogers  character is sweet and funny  you just can  t like  bake baker  . while trying to make up to his longtime partner  he continually sabotages her career . his character doesn  t have the usual humour and elan of the other films  astaire characters .  br    br   worth watching for the songs and a great solo tap routine by ginger rogers .  
as drunken millionaire playboy arthur bach  dudley moore is perfect as a grown man trapped in childhood . as it turned out  the role fit moore so perfectly  it trapped him as an actor as well . many disappointments soon followed  including this film  s pale sequel   yet that doesn  t diminish the charm or appeal of this picture  which is cleverly written and directed . some of moore  s drunk scenes are forced  parts of the film are wobbly  but the cast performs with so much relish it  s a difficult movie to resist . it has a very big heart and gives oscar  winner john gielgud a sly  dryly amusing role as arthur  s valet  hobson his relationship with arthur is delicious and they have a miraculous rapport . liza minnelli  as a blue  collar love  interest  is sassy in a low  key and moore is brash  but deft and lively he never shook off the shadow of arthur  but at least we have this document of a career high  point to cherish .  from   
this movie sucks ass . something about a heatwave in some european country  complete trash . there  s nothing going for this movie whatsoever . maybe   seconds of sex but that  s it . there is a very annoying chick who hitches rides with people and really pisses me off . this movie is complete rash and you shouldn  t subject yourself to watching it . i regret it it  s very boring . i would rate it zero but i can  t . no body in their right mind should see this . i  m sure you  ll regret it completely i did . how could they think up something this bad . even mystery men was better . mystery men . that sucks . that movie wasn  t worth being made . complete waste of time . the characters in this are very hard to understand and i good very very very bored .  
  br    br   what can i say  this is one of the most perfect films ever made . its a throwback to the glitxy  sterling romantic comedies of the     s . . but with a modern touch . the screenplay bursts with wit  charm  humor and tenderness  the cinematograpy is breathtaking  nyc never looked so beautiful   and of course there is the cast  dudley moore turns in the performance of his career as loveable  drunken arthur bach . he is also wistful and real . . one of the film  s best lines is his poignant  not everyone who drinks is a poet . . . some of us drink because we  re not poets .  the great sir john gielgud won a much deserved oscar for his splendid performance as hobson  arthur  s valet and caretaker . although he considered it a  take the money and run role   he brings to the character all the talent  experience and bravura of an expert tragidian and a sly comedian . the supporting cast is also out of thisworld  from geraldine fitzgerald  s sassy grandma bach to stephen elliott  s bombastic mafioso .  br    br   the score is also extremely memorable and compliments the film perfectly . the only real problem with the film is the ill fated sequel it spawned .  
what an appalling piece of rubbish    who are all these people who blubber on about how good this is  yes  it  s  arty   and yes  it  s  foreign   but . . . . that  s not enough . the plot is boring and disjointed  like a reality show but not so slickly made .  br    br   the people are intrinsically uninteresting but as characters they don  t have enough depth to feel empathy for them . if they are based on real people then i feel very  very sorry for them .  br    br   the violence  and some of it is very violent  seems quite ostentatious and gratuitous . it  s like the producer has visions of being quenton tarantino . not that i think very much of him  either .  br    br   and oh yes if i had neighbours like these  i  d move   
excellent comedy starred by dudley moore supported by liza minnelli and good  speaking john gielgud . moore is arthur  a man belonging to a multimillionaire family  who was near to get    million dollars provided that he marries to a lady  susan  from another multimillionaire family . in principle  arthur accepted the conditions  but he finally refused when he met nice and poor linda marolla  liza minneli  . arthur was just a parasite because he did not work  he only enjoyed himself drinking hard and having fun with prostitutes . after several serious thoughts in his life and for the first time  arthur decided not to marry susan only few minutes before their wedding . the end was happy for linda and arthur although the latter knew that his life will change in the coming future . this comedy is a good lesson for life for anyone . rich people are not usually happy with their ways of life .  
i didn  t think it could be done  but something has come along and replaced open house  a low budget horror about someone killing over the high price of real estate  as the worst film i  ve ever seen in my short but otherwise sweet life .  br    br   it was touted as the best film in montreal  s most recent film festival  which leads me to believe that every other entry must consist of blank  wall shots accompanied by people reading gloomy poetry .  br    br   watching this movie was like a little slice of hell . it  s from austria  and it attempts to stumble along in the footsteps of short cuts and blue velvet  scenes about various characters living in a suburban area with a dark underbelly . there  s the fat dog owner and his fat maid wife who stripteases for him  the skinny divorcee whose wife still lives with him in a house that includes the untouched room of his dead child  the ber  annoying woman hitchhiker who recites top ten lists . . . the list goes on . forever . much like the two hours plus i spent in that theatre .  br    br   yes  the characters interact  but not in a clever or interesting or even relevant way . i couldn  t say if they were any good as actors  as  according to the subtitles  they were given lines that were the austrian equivalent of  you are so lame   they certainly didn  t have to learn many  as each repeated his or her same lines at least three times in a scene .  br    br   this is no gummo  or any of the aforementioned movies . there is no art to discover  and nothing to dwell on afterwards except maybe whether or not you should change your  never walk out during a movie  policy  which quite a few older couples did during a random orgy scene  and if that sounds appetizing  it  s not  unless you  re one of few who doesn  t find the idea of your parents having sex  and with a few local middle  aged couples  to boot  revolting  .  br    br   this movie was offensive to me . not the flabby nudity  not the cringe  inducing soundtrack  not the shockless scenes involving guns . i was offended that someone actually spent money to make this when there are capable writers and filmmakers out there looking for funding . i was offended that someone from out of town might have gone to see dog days and come out wondering if that was the best us montrealers could find . most of all  i was offended that  somehow  the people involved with the festival duped everyone into believing that the emperor had a gorgeous and mesmerising new outfit when it was painfully clear that he was as naked as the fat maid wife doing a striptease .  br    br    
this is one of my favorite comedies ever . not wanting to condone the uninspiring lifestyle of its hero  but taken for what it  s worth and not as trivializing alcoholism  the movie is simply a lot of fun . it tells the unlikely tale of a perpetually drunk  irresponsible   something bachelor named arthur who is set to inherit a vast fortune  but only if he marries susan  chosen because the family thinks she might make something of him . arthur proposes  but then unwisely falls for linda  a waitress and petty thief .  br    br   dudley moore is perfect as arthur  the world  s most endearing drunk  whose antics are a laugh a minute . admittedly  moore is arthur and i agree with those who can imagine no other actor in the role . the ladies of the piece are also well portrayed . liza minnelli sparkles as linda  and her on screen chemistry with moore is great . jill clayburgh plays susan  the wealthy and more appropriate woman chosen for arthur .  br    br   however  this film is literally made by sir john gielgud  who portrays arthur  s sarcastic but moral butler  hobson . it  s obvious these two have had a great mutual affection during hobson  s longtime employment . hobson is arthur  s best friend and purveyor of unsolicited commentary and advice . the most interesting relationship in this film is not arthur  s romance at all  but his unusual rapport with this witty and of course perpetually disapproving servant . it  s the butler you  ll remember best long after the closing credits roll .  
fragmentaric movie about a couple of people in austria during a heatwave . this kind of movie has been done more often  and most of all  better . the stories don  t really have anything to do with each other  apart from the pathetic finale  people are cruel  . ugly flesh  unpleasant people and a movie that goes on way too long without really making a point . . . ultra  realistic  hardly . . . boring  indeed . not even gorgeous franzisca weiss can save this one       
this has been one of my favorite movies for a long time . recently i was happy to see it on dvd which is a relief from watching the old  grainy vhs versions .  br    br   i hadn  t seen it in years and watched it today to find myself amazed at how well the movie stands up to time . it  s one of those rare  perfect storms of comedy where great writing  truly funny line after truly funny line  is paired with great direction and outstanding performances all at the same time .  br    br   dudley moore got an oscar nomination for  arthur  but lost  although john gielgud won for best supporting actor  . if moore  s performance in  arthur  doesn  t win a best actor oscar  it  s proof that no comedic actor could ever win the title  another example is gene wilder in  young frankenstein   .  br    br   steve gordon crafts the film beautifully keeping true to each of the characters and the warm  hearted tone of the story . quite simply  imho the movie is a rare gem . it  s only sad that steve gordon passed away just a year after  arthur  was released .  br    br   regarding the dvd that is available as of        it  s so  so . although the video quality is a leap over the old vhs copies  there is still no widescreen version available .  br    br   the dvd has a few extras that are nice but it  s just not enough . one example is commentary from the director stating how he greatly wished how certain deleted takes and scenes could have been included  because they were hysterical   but that he had to make tough choices for a final edit . the dvd  being the perfect format to include such material  certainly should have offered it as well .  br    br   this  the original  arthur   is a classic comedy that is one for the books .  
if you are looking for a film the portrays the pointless and boring existence of middle class lives caught in a web of non  communication and false ideals  then this is the film for you . if you also what the film to be engaging and keep your interest  then you should probably look elsewhere . there are many films that do this far better . for example  try some of the darker films by bergman . the filmmaker felt that in order to show the spiritual poverty of the middle class he should subject the viewer to one agonizingly dull and vacuous incident after another until the film finally comes to its tortuous and pathetic end . if you value your time there are far better ways to spend two hours  like cleaning your house  for example .  
i have loved this movie ever since it  s debut in      i have lost track of how many times i have seen it  it never fails to make me laugh or cheer me up if i am feeling down . the three leads are fantastic and the script is priceless  plus how do you not get nostalgic hearing the theme song  i think i quote this movie without realizing it . i basically know the entire script  so when someone is watching it for the first time i have to hold back saying something about how funny the next line it . i can  t even narrow it down  although  sir john  s character probably gets the most memorable ones . the famous  i  ll alert the media  when arthur announces his intention to take a bath is still priceless  but the list is truly endless . the scene  s at arthur  s soon to be fianc  s father  s house are a scream  particularly his interactions with the moose . do yourself a favour and see this movie   
i once promised never to walk out of any film  a personal policy that made me suffer through the most different kinds of dreck  such as rambo   baise moi  deep impact   but mr . seidl almost succeeded . hundstage was a truly awful experience . anyone who sees this movie will think that austrians are a miserable  pathetic bunch of retards . it shows a world where love and humanity don  t exist  a world where people humiliate each other only for one reason  to distract from their own miserable existence . by choosing a documentary  like style with non  professional actors  most of them look like straight from the imagination of austrian shock  cartoonist deix  director seidl wants to make us believe that this is real life in austrian  european  western   suburbs . the viewer is confronted with depictions of sex orgies  violence against women and handicapped people  madness and degradation . but this isn  t social criticism . this is just pure shock without any aesthetic value . instead you get bad acting  bad cinematography  bad filmmaking . if anybody needs a film like this to realize that there are things wrong in our society then this person must have walked through life with closed eyes . this is pseudo  social criticism with a sledge hammer . and it looks down on people in a disgustingly condescending way . it shows ugly people  that is not the reason why i hate it . but it depicts average people in an ugly  misanthropic way . and this is why this film is truly despicable .  
arthur is middle aged rich  kid  who drinks like a fish . arthur does what he feels like and says whatever comes into his mind . he likes to boast about his riches and knows that he is a spoiled brat . he spends money on people he don  t know and finds everything funny . arthur must marry a high class girl to inherit a big fortune but he falls in love with a poor waitress liza minnelli  she looks really weird  .  br    br   this is a damn funny film . i watched this film because a very famous indian film  sharabee  is based on the character of arthur . although  sharabee  is definitely inspired by  arthur  i think they are two different films .  arthur  is just fun . its very corny at times . there are so many fantastic one liners in the film . its not a laugh riot but it has some fantastic moments . my favorite scene is when arthur meets his fianc  s father and he keeps talking about the  moose  . duddley moore sure has some comic timing . he is very good with words and body language . i loved the scene where he talks standing to a seated couple in the hotel about a  small  country and he keeps talking to husband and wife in two different directions . john gielgud got an oscar for this film . i don  t know that actor . i don  t think he did a great job but may be if i watched more of his work i may agree in future . movie has some flat patches but not very long ones . looking forward to watch the sequel .  
earlier today i got into an argument on why so many people complain about modern films in which i encountered a curious statement  the character development in newer movies just isn  t nearly as good or interesting as it used to be .  depending on the film  s  in question  this can be attributed to a number of things  sometimes generic special effects and plot  driven hollywood garbage like war of the worlds  but in the case of over  the  top  uninteresting attempts at social commentary and a desperate struggle to put  art  back into cinema  it  s movies like dog days that are to blame .  br    br   i normally have a very high tolerance for movies  no matter how dull or pointless i find them  ranging from good  long ones like andrei rublev and dogville  to ones i  ve considered painful to sit through a la alpha dog and wild wild west  . i shut this movie off   minutes in  which is   minutes more than i actually should have . i wasn  t interested in any of the characters whatsoever and found nothing substantial beyond a thin veil of unfocused pessimism . in an attempt to say something about the dregs of society  this film too easily falls into being self  indulgent  trite  and exploitative in a very sincere sense . granted  i  ve seen many disturbing movies on the same subject  but there are so many better films out there about depressing  pathetic people  happiness  gummo  kids  salo  storytelling  irreversible  that actually contain characters of great emotional depth and personality . dog days had none more than an eighth grader  s distaste for society  choosing to ignore any true intelligence about the way people actually are  and instead choosing to be a dull  awful  and hopelessly unoriginal attempt at a work of  art .  this isn  t a characterization of the unknown or a clever observation into the dregs of society  it  s just boring and nothing worth caring about .  
  if i wanted to dribble  i  d call a nurse .   br    br    haven  t you had enough   . . .  more than enough .   br    br    you got me a choo  choo .   br    br    if i begin to die  please remove  the cowboy hat  from my head . that is not the way i wish to be remembered .   br    br   some of the wonderfully humorous  and often insightful  quotations from this charming and often insightful film . dudley moore is charming  lovable and rich . sir john gielgud is aristocratic  charming and loving . . . and poor . the two have a non  father  father and son relationship which defines the man whom arthur is to become . will he follow his heart and soul  or just his wealth  over twenty  five years  i  ve returned to this movie  with glee and amusement and joy . it is a movie to return to  time and time again  and remember what is important in life  as short as it is .  br    br   judge miller  
this movie reminds me of  irrversible         another art  work movie with is a violent and radical approach of human nature . i did not like the movie but i cannot say that it is a bad movie  it is just special . i reminds me also of  camping cosmos        where a bunch of low  class figures are residents of a camp at the sea in belgium . the same description of people living together  side by side against their wills and with all the confrontation of characters that do not match together . i also thought about the books by the french writer emile zola who was a writer of the style that is naturalism . i did not like the movie and i also do not like the people who are in it . they all seem so vulgar  without any basic good taste . one could ask the question why do they live  they all seem to be on this planet a a member of a big farce  forced to live against their will . or you could say the hell is on this world .  
my family has watched arthur bach stumble and stammer since the movie first came out . we have most lines memorized . i watched it two weeks ago and still get tickled at the simple humor and view  at  life that dudley moore portrays . liza minelli did a wonderful job as the side kick  though i  m not her biggest fan . this movie makes me just enjoy watching movies . my favorite scene is when arthur is visiting his fiance  s house . his conversation with the butler and susan  s father is side  spitting . the line from the butler   would you care to wait in the library  followed by arthur  s reply   yes i would  the bathroom is out of the question   is my newmail notification on my computer .  arthur is truly  funny stuff    
this film is in no way entertainment but more of a look deep into the depths of the darkest side of human behaviour . loosely linking a half a dozen stories of the worst kind of depravities  perverted sex  greed  violence and intolerance . all the action is played out over a few very hot and sticky days during a heatwave in vienna and the heat is maybe responsible for some of the anger and hate in the film . for me the treatment of the retarded girl by the security equipment salesman was about the worst episode  closely followed by the scenes of drunkenness and perversity in the  slags  flat . you will be gripped and i hope horrified by this film . i hated it but i felt compelled to see it through .     for  fun      for displaying  man  as he sometimes is .  
i  m a huge classic film buff  but am just getting in to silent movies . a lot of silent films don  t hold my attention  but show people is a notable exception .  br    br   marion davies and william haines are simply wonderful in this picture . davies  in particular  shows a wide range as she morphs from a giggly small town girl to a starlet who takes herself a bit too seriously .  br    br   show people is a fast paced film with a fantastic array of cameos by some of the biggest stars of the silent era . the movie captured my attention immediately and i actually forgot that it was a silent film .  i know that doesn  t make much sense  but that  s what happened .  the actors are so skilled in their craft that few dialogue cards are necessary .  br    br   show people is a perfect introduction to silent films . it is a fast paced  interesting film with two of the silent era  s best stars . add in the satire of hollywood and show people should be on the  must see  list for all classic film buffs .  
this movie has beautiful scenery . unfortunately it has no plot . in order to have a plot there must be a conflict . this movie had none . it spent two hours painting a beautifule scene and failed to ever place any activity in it . the picture trys to be artistic but fails to pay attentions to the fundamentals of story telling .  br    br   if you love montana scenery and fly fishing you will find some value in this film just don  t expect a story . there isn  t one .  
this is one of those movies that i  ve seen so many times that i can quote most of it . some of the lines in this movie are just unbeatable . i particularly enjoy watching him stumble and fall while drunk  go out to the fancy restaurant drunk and the part with the moose .  br    br   i don  t know how many times i have seen this sequence but it  s funny every time . from the moment arthur gets to susan  s dad  s place to the bit with the moose  you pretty much laugh the whole time . i remember watching the out  takes regarding the bit with the moose . it went down just like i  d imagined it  d be like . they were all laughing so hard it was difficult for them to film it .  br    br   the late sir john gielgud was a wonderful addition to this . his demeanor  his one  liners and the way he handled arthur were all equally hilarious . it  s always a funny moment when he whacks him over the head with his hat or tells him he  s a spoiled little     . i laugh every time i listen to the  i  m going to have a bath  and the lines that follow .  
the problem i find with this title is that i am not sure if the director is trying to produce a documentary or movie . a blend of the two genres just doesn  t work and that leaves the whole thing hung in the middle of nowhere . this is more so as the director has picked the most extremes of what is supposed to be happening around our everyday life making it an unconvincing documentary . if it is meant to be a thriller  drama this is too dull and monotonous . in either case  what is the moral or the message which the director is trying to convey to the audience  that around us there are people who ill  treat others who are willing to be ill  treated  that there are many crazy lunatics around us  so . . . . . . . . . . so what   
when you see this movie you begin to realise what a drastically under  utilised asset the late dudley moore was . there should be a dozen movies like this in our archive .  br    br   he was already top  notch talent before he went to hollywood  both as a comedian and a musician . but mostly he is remembered for his pairing with peter cook  on television and in one or two indifferent british movies . perhaps the best of these was  bedazzled  .  br    br   he always tended to be eclipsed by cook  who  s jealousy and meanness rifted their partnership and enabled moore to realise his true potential in america .  arthur  is the result .  br    br   this is a truly splendid movie . moore  s clownish comedy as a drunkard is undeniable . the script is perfectly suited to his manner with lot  s of hilarious  almost surreal conversational digressions . there is something so british about him that i  m actually surprised he found such an appeal to american tastes . tommy cooper  an anarchic comedian after the same fashion tended to draw a blank . it is moore  s almost childish vulnerability that is so endearing .  br    br   liza minelli and john guilgud tend to play straight roles against him  but still have some excellent one  liners . john guilgud in particular delivers his with a sarcastic and acerbic authority that is a treasure to watch . he invariably steals any scene in which he features and thoroughly deserved his oscar . correct me if i  m wrong  but he has never played any other comic role .  br    br   there is a follow  up movie called  arthur   on the rocks  . it never attains the same sublime levels of fun that this one reaches  but it is still rather good even so . guilgud only gets a cameo appearance at the beginning and as a ghost . it is darker . and there is some interesting soul  searching . it will disappoint if you watch  arthur  first .  br    br   hollywood seemed to loose interest in cuddly dudley after these two outings . he eventually returned to britain  dejected and apparently dying .  br    br   but  arthur  is a sample of what might have been . we can only imagine the other great movies he should have made .  br    br   your  re sadly missed  dudley .  
documentary about nomadic persians making a treacherous traverse of massive mountains to get their herds to grass . watching this silent  black and white feature  marred in part by a twink  twink  twink oriental music score that could not have been used in the original exhibition  is even duller than it sounds . the spectacular scenery is lost on a small black and white screen  and there is an utter failure to establish any kind of plot line . i loved nanook of the north and march of the penguins  but despised this movie  notwithstanding the similarity of the theme . physical hardships alone are just not that interesting .  
after seeing arthur on tv numerous times i laughed so hard dudley moore  s role as arthur a happy go luck drunken millionaire was hysterical but john gielgud as his servant  father figure hobson was equally charming . i bought the dvd a few weeks ago and watched it  despite the passage of nearly   years it  s still as enjoyable as it ever was liza minnelli  s role as the love interest was fascinating the chemistry between the two was magic .  br    br   arthur bach   moore  is a spoiled drunken millionaire who has a bar bill that reads like the national debt he has no desire to grow up and enjoys acting like a child . his activities are supervised by his dry english butler hobson  gielgud  it appears that nobody really cares about arthur except for him  arthur  s father  barbour  offers an ultimatum if he doesn  t marry the dreadful blonde socialite susan johnson  eikenberry  in four weeks he  ll cut off his son  s inheritance of    million dollars .  br    br   however arthur meets and falls in love with linda marolla  minnelli  a young working class waitress and tie thief  now he faces a difficult decision marry for love or money . when hobson dies arthur finally grows up and breaks it off with susan before the wedding  leaving him to keep both the money and his true love .  br    br   arthur is a truly enchanting romantic comedy for for everyone  
i read the comment of chris  m  grant from united states .  br    br   he wrote   a fantastic documentary of     . this early   th century geography of today  s iraq was powerful .   br    br   i would like to thank chris and people who are interested in bakhtiari nomads of iran  the zagros mountains and landscapes and have watched the movie grass  a nation  s battle for life . these traditions you saw in the movie have endured for centuries and will go on as long as life endures . i am from this region of iran myself . i am a bakhtiari .  br    br   chris  i am sorry to bother you but bakhtiari region of zardkuh is in iran not in irak as you mentioned in your comment . iran and irak are two different and distinct countries . taking an iranian for an irankian is almost like taking an american for an mexican . thanks   br    br   ziba  
although it  s most certainly politically incorrect to be entertained by a drunk  there  s such a charm to dudley moore  s portrayal of lovable lush  arthur bach one can  t help but feel for this unique and wonderful character . how can you not be entertained by that infectious laugh and giggle and utter silliness . although i  m not really a liza minnelli fan  she was really excellent as linda marolla and i couldn  t picture anyone else in that role . sir john gielgud was the heart of the film and deserved his oscar . the rest of the cast also excellent and that great tune  arthur  s theme   wow . truly this was one of the best comedies of the     s . great films get better with each viewing and that is the case with  arthur .   
this movie got extremely silly when things started to happen . i couldn  t care less about any of the characters susan walters was so annoying  and the leading actor  forget his name  also got on my nerves . can  t quite remember how it ended and so forth but the whole idea of aliens possessing human bodies and all just seemed stupid in this film  things didn  t quite carry off . my dad told me it  s s stupid movie . . . i should  ve listened to him .  
i remember trying a few minutes of this film  i  m very surprised i didn  t watch all of it  from director steve gordon  his only film directed before dying of heart failure . basically arthur bach  golden globe winning  and oscar nominated dudley moore  is the happy drunk millionaire with everything he could want  a mansion  a butler hobson  oscar and golden globe winning  and bafta nominated sir john gielgud   and plenty of booze . he is to inherit             if he marries the daughter of fellow millionaire burt johnson  stephen elliott   they woman he and the family have chosen  susan  jill eikenberry  . but instead  arthur finds himself falling for queens waitress linda marolla  golden globe nominated liza minnelli   which of course is threatening the inheritance  and    of his family  s fortune from father stanford  thomas barbour  and aunt martha  geraldine fitzgerald  . after the death of hobson  arthur  on the day of the wedding  disobeys the family  s wishes  but aunt martha still gives arthur the inheritance to live happily ever after with true love linda . also starring ted ross as bitterman  barney martin as ralph marolla  anne de salvo as gloria  hooker  maurice copeland as uncle peter bach  justine johnston as aunt pearl bach  florence tarlow as mrs . nesbitt  marcella lowery as harriet  martha  s maid  john bentley as perry and peter evans as preston langley  party guest . moore is wonderfully funny and a little cringing as the almost always drunk millionaire  minnelli is likable as the woman he loves  and gielgud of course makes a great oscar winning impression as moore  s humorous humble sarcastic servant  a terrific screwball comedy . it won the oscar for best song for  arthur  s theme  best that you can do    it also won the golden globe   it was number   on    years     songs   and it was nominated best writing  screenplay written directly for the screen  it was nominated the bafta anthony asquith award for film music for burt bacharach  and it won the golden globe for best motion picture  comedy  musical . sir john gielgud was number   on the   greatest british actors  and the film was number   on    years     laughs . very good   
although there  s flying guillotines as part of the title of this movie  it has no connections to the original flying guillotines       and its sequel flying guillotines ii       . the two originals are masterpieces of kung  fu movie and still stands out as a classic . this is a much inferior copy of the original  and even as a regular kung  fu movie  it  s below average .  br    br   first of all  this movie doesn  t have much acting . it  s one senseless fight scene after another  and flying guillotine doesn  t even play a major part in them . story is about some shaolin monks who are tracking down some villains who  ve took off with a sacred book  and an evil prince who owns part of this book is part of the plot . the same evil prince has plans to lure the monks in and use the flying guillotines on them .  br    br   there are four movies with flying guillotine as part of its title . this in my opinion is of least quality . the design of the flying guillotine in this movie is different from the other three indicating that this movie was produced by a different entity from the other three .  br    br   the movie has no chemistry asides from being unintentionally funny due to poor production .  br    br   best skip this and watch the two originals .  
i watched this over the christmas period  i don  t know why but it reminds me of christmas so i watched it  so there we are .  br    br   arthur is a film i watch all the way through with a big dumb smile on my face and its a mixture of special performances  great jolly music and a script crackling with wit and charm that causes it .  br    br   dudley moore makes a character that could well be hated very easily  spoiled  rich  lazy drunk who feels sorry for himself  but turns him into someone you love . liza minelli is great as linda morolla a queens waitress who manages to pull off the tough  soft on the inside lady arthur nearly gives up his world for . john gielgud gets all the juicy lines and polishes them off with relish .  br    br   i can watch arthur again and again and it always makes me feel good  check it out if you need a lift its a lovely film .  
      s master of the flying guillotine is an amazing and wonderful film to watch . this isn  t because the fighting is particularly inspired or because the film makes any sense at all . it  s because the film is so silly and so over  the  top that it is a camp classic   bad  but enjoyably bad . the film stars a blind guy who has a frisbee  like device on a chain that chops off people  s heads as he expertly throws this at his foes  who cares that the physics are impossible or that the film features such silly things as fighters with   foot long papier  mache arms or that the guy was blind  it  s just a ball to watch from start to finish   and one of my favorite  bad  films and great to see with friends .  br    br   because of this film  i was eager to see the fatal flying guillotines        though sadly it turned out not to be a sequel but a bit of a knock  off   taking many of the ideas from the original but neglecting to make the film as coherent or watchable . sure  it  s silly fun  but it never comes close to master of the flying guillotine in entertainment value . like the original film  there are these weird flying devices that sever heads  but they are quite different   with circular saw blades and almost a mind of their own . there also is no blind guy but instead are a bunch of baddies who really have no depth nor does the audience understand exactly what  s occurring in this english  dubbed version  as the plot is completely incomprehensible . however  at the same time  some of the martial arts action is very good . while not up to the high standards of most bruce lee or sonny chiba films  the action is worthwhile despite the ludicrous and often confusing plot .  br    br   overall  this is a film that martial arts fans may like  despite its many  many  many  many shortcomings   but also one that others will probably turn off or laugh hysterically at instead of enjoying the action because the film is just so ludicrous . but  most importantly  it never comes close to being as funny or watchable as master of the flying guillotine . too bad .  
arthur has always been a personal film for me for two reasons . a good friend of mine who worked on the film as an extra and to help out with the horses during the stable scene just recently passed away . if you look fast you can see frank graham during the restaurant scene in the background while dudley moore and jill eikenberry are in conversation . frank was a champion equestrian and will be missed by all who knew him .  br    br   secondly though  i actually knew a real life arthur bach . he was not quite as wealthy as arthur  but spent   years of his life basically as a kid . his parents tightly controlled his purse strings  but his rent and utilities were paid for in a basement apartment in greenwich village . he spent a good deal of his time getting himself intoxicated on various spirits and making a public spectacle of himself  just like dudley moore does .  br    br   the wonder with arthur is why anyone would bother with him wealth of not . but that  s the other half of the equation . my friend was a most charming person when you got to know him . in fact it was almost a compulsion to be charming . he couldn  t buy a newspaper or magazine without trying to establish some level of relationship with the vendor . he spent his life being a perfect party guest . the term wastrel which was in common use in the   th century would apply to him .  br    br   and that  s what dudley moore is  a wastrel . unlike my friend moore has john gielgud to clean up after him . that  s a full time job as we see demonstrated in arthur . my friend also never found a liza minnelli  a male liza minnelli in fact because he was gay . still moore  s portrayal of arthur bach is deadly accurate and so real for me .  br    br   arthur    th century wastrel  is being forced to marry another trust fund baby in jill eikenberry . since he won  t work for a living  the threat of being cut off is quite real for him . he only has his butler hobson played by john gielgud and chauffeur bitterman played by ted post to pour his troubles out to . we should all have such troubles .  br    br   john gielgud in his nearly century of life certainly did better work than in arthur on film and in fact gielgud is more prominently known for his stage performances . yet     was a year of sentiment at oscar time . the academy gave henry fonda and katharine hepburn oscars for on golden pond and gielgud the best supporting actor award essentially for the work of a lifetime . that man was amazing  still at his craft almost to the end .  br    br   so to frank graham who worked in the film and to jackie weiss  a genuine real life arthur  i dedicate this review .  
this movie shows us nothing original . every idea or  action  scene can be found in many previously released movies . fabulous nick is completely plain here . even will patton is calm and evil nor good . mr . duvall is ok  but has a very small part . so does angelina  so how can we determine her newly acclaimed stardom  overall  there are too many characters  so that nobody and nothing is especially detailed . this makes the movie easy to forget . too bad  don  t you think   
again  it seems totally illogical  to me at least  that  arthur  merits a mere  .  out of   possible . steve gordon  s one  shot masterpiece herein is the totally  unlikely  if not quite  impossible  melding of wildly disparate elements . that he managed to make alcoholism laugh  friendly rather than tearjerking tragic is  in itself  wonderful . that he gave dudley moore his finest role  and every other cinematic element herein its optimal impact  including the score  seems to me patent and egregious . i challenge anyone to sit through this film and not laugh out loud . but  apparently  nearly a third of its audience has so managed . well  i  for one  found and find gordon  s effort both laughable and lovable  and the iikes of geraldine fitzgerald  s great  aunt and stephen elliott  s murderous would  be father  in  law absolute gems of background characters . even the black chauffeur managed to escape patronization  and the late  sniffish sir john gielgud was right about accepting his fee  but wrong about undertaking his role .  arthur  makes no effort to  underztand   much less rationalize  the scourge of  alcoholism   hey  ifit ain  t booze  it  s other drugs of choice  including meth  and addictions are merely symptoms  not targets   it simply observes in its own quizzical manner .  
this was a horrible film  i gave it  points  one for angelina jolie and a second one for the beautiful porsche in the beginning . . . other than that the story just plain sucked and cars racing through cities wasn  t so new in     . the happyend was probably what annoyed me the most  seldomly seen anything so constructed   
the father of the who  s alcoholic drummer  keith moon  was named arthur . i found so many similarities between dudley moore and keith moon in this movie . liza minelli  who usually overacts  did quite a good job in this one  and was able to turn cheek on dudley moore in every turn . yes  i agree  sir john stole absolutely every scene . it was a very  different  movie  enabling the viewer to have a glimpse into another life . we often try to catch a rerun of this movie on satellite . god rest dudley moore this was such an enjoyable movie . much satire and thumbs down to the rich and snobby  affluent . the close friendship between moore and sir john is rather endearing .  
the remake of h . b . halicki  s classic seventies chase film is simply horrible . along with vanishing point  gone in   seconds represent the quintessential car chase films . the remake takes the original and stands it on its head . whereas halicki gave us    car chase and    supporting drama  in giss     we get    car chase and    supporting drama . cage as super man  saves his brother  kisses the girl . mtv edits  tits and ass . save your money  rent the original . at least halicki didn  t live to see his baby  he wrote  produced  directed  and starred in the     film  degraded in this manner .  
arthur bach needs to grow up  but that is unfortunately not the only thing he needs to do . according to his extremely rich father  arthur has to marry a certain wealthy susan johnson or he  s cut off from the family money      million dollars worth  . the problem is  arthur doesn  t love susan  though i hear she makes some good chicken  and has just fallen head  over  heels for the waitress and part  time shop  lifter linda marolla . arthur is an interesting fellow . he  s really just a big kid  born into riches with at least one person looking after him every second of every day . working just rubs arthur the wrong way  he likes to have fun  womanize  and of course  drink . drinking gives arthur a sort of jekyll  and  hyde complex and while that gets him into all sorts of trouble  it  s absolutely hilarious to watch on screen .  br    br   dudley moore is great here in this film as arthur  earning an oscar nomination and golden globe win for his performance . moore is fantastic with the comedic aspects of the film  turning the already funny lines into unforgettable comedic gold  but he is also great in bringing arthur down to a relatable level and making the character likable . moore has some help in the co  star department  liza minnelli is great as lina  the spirited nobody who arthur can  t get enough of  and john gielgud is terrific as arthur  s butler hobson . gielgud won the best supporting actor oscar for his performance in this film  and there  s no doubting why . hobson has a stone  solid dry wit and stuck up attitude  but he  s always looking out for arthur  and gielgud is perfect in the role . steve gordon  s     film arthur is short and simple  but delivers laughs a  plenty .  
i watched this because i thought there were going to be a lot of car chases and cool cars to gawk at . guess i was lied to . this movie is very boring .  br    br   the movie starts out kip raines  giovanni ribisi  sitting outside a porsche dealership checking to see if they have the right car . when they confirm it  s the right one  kip gets a brick out of the trunk and chucks it at the window  shattering it . he gets the porsche while his friend gets the keys . they start up the car and take off into the night . they deliver it to a warehouse only to have been followed by the police . so  the whole crew ditches all the cars and go their separate ways . then  we get a glimpse of memphis raines . he is giving a little speech to a bunch of kids at a go  kart track . then  he is confronted by atlee jackson  will patton  . atlee tells memphis that his brother kip is in deep bleep . memphis is known as one of the most notorious car thieves in los angeles . memphis heads to a junkyard and meets raymond calitri  christopher ecclesten  . this guy threatens to kill kip if memphis doesn  t deliver   cars within   hours .  br    br   there are a few problems with this film  br    br    . story the first   in  movie hours take place when cage and duvall are looking for a crew and planning everything out . the last   in  movie hours are a waste   br    br    . the cars you see maybe   cars out of the   as the movie advertises . so  where are the other   cars  why don  t we get to see them   br    br    . the chase the chase at the end of the movie was a joke . it was not suspenseful at all .  br    br    . the dog somewhere in the movie  the dog eats the burgers and swallows three keys as well . this is impossible . the keys were flipped open . the keys would have severely damaged the dog  s esophagus  stomach  and large intestines . the guys suggest giving the dog laxatives to help him poop it out . this won  t work . the dog will get a lot of diarrhea but no keys . it was stated in jackass after ryan dunne stuck a toy car up his rectum . take laxatives  lots of diarrhea  but no car . same case with the dog .  br    br    . the cop during the chase when eleanor breaks down for a few minutes  nicholas cage tries desperately to start up the car . you see a police cruiser behind him who isn  t looking at his car at all . but  right when nicholas cage starts the engine up again  the police officer jerks his head to the right  sees the car  and immediately begins to chase after him . it is stupid . so  right when he heard the engine start  and saw the car  he knew that was the car he was looking for . how does he know it  s the right car  he only sees the back of it .  br    br   overall  the movie is boring . there is no action . there are very few cars . the movie is stupid . i have never seen the original but i plan to .  br    br   i give this movie  star out of   . get the fast and furious instead .  
     is in many ways a  lost year  in motion pictures . just as some of the finest films of the silent era were being made in every genre  sound was coming in and  while reaping great profits at the box office  was setting the art of film  making back about five years as the film industry struggled with the new technology .  br    br    show people  is one of the great silent era comedies . the film shows that william haines had comic skills beyond his usual formula of the obnoxious overconfident guy who turns everyone against him  learns his lesson  and then redeems himself by winning the football game  the polo game  etc . this movie is also exhibit a for illustrating that marion davies was no susan alexander kane . she had excellent comic instincts and timing . this film starts out as the beverly hillbillies  like adventure of peggy pepper  marion davies  and her father  general marmaduke oldfish pepper  fresh from the old south . general pepper has decided that he will let some lucky movie studio executive hire his daughter as an actress . while at the studio commissary  the peppers run into billy boone  william haines   a slapstick comedian . he gets peggy an acting job . she  s unhappy when she finds out it is slapstick  but she perseveres . eventually she is discovered by a large studio and she and billy part ways as she begins to take on dramatic roles . soon the new  found fame goes to her head  and she is about to lose her public and gain a royal title when she decides to marry her new leading man  whom she doesn  t really love  unless fate somehow intervenes .  br    br   one of the things mgm frequently does in its late silent  era films and in its early sound  era films is feature shots of how film  making was done at mgm circa     . this film is one of those  as we get charlie chaplin trying to get peggy  s autograph  an abundance of cameos of mgm players during that era including director king vidor himself  and even a cameo of marion davies as peggy seeing marion davies as marion davies arriving at work on the lot . peggy grimaces and mentions that she doesn  t care for her . truly a delight from start to finish  this is a silent that is definitely worth your while . this is one of the films that i also recommend you use to introduce people to the art of silent cinema as it is very accessible .  
this movie has beautiful scenery . unfortunately it has no plot . in order to have a plot there must be a conflict . this movie had none . it spent two hours painting a beautiful scene and failed to ever place any activity in it . the picture tries to be artistic but fails to pay attentions to the fundamentals of story telling .  br    br   if you love montana scenery and fly fishing you will find some value in this film just don  t expect a story . there isn  t one .  
stanley and iris  is a heart warming film about two people who find each other and help one another overcome their problems in life . stanley  s life is difficult  because he never learned to read or write . iris is a widower with two teenage children working in a bakery where she meets stanley . she decides to teach stanley how to read at her home in her spare time . over time they become romantically involved . after stanley learns to read  he goes off to a good job in chicago  only to return to iris and ask her to marry him .  br    br   it  s a really good film without nudity  violence  or profanity  that which is rare in today  s films . a good film all round .  br    br    
this is an art film that was either made in     or      the national film preservation foundation says     and imdb says      . regardless of the exact date  the film definitely appears to be very indicative of this general time period   with some camera  work and pop art stylings that are pure late   s  early   s .  br    br   the film consists of three simple images that are distorted using different weird camera tricks . these distorted images are accompanied by music and there is absolutely no dialog or plot of any sort . this was obviously intended as almost like a form of performance art  and like most performance art  it  s interesting at first but quickly becomes tiresome . the film  to put it even more bluntly  is a total bore and would appeal to no one but perhaps those who made the film  their family and friends and perhaps a few people just too hip and  with it  to be understood by us mortals .  
the late dudley moore had the most famous role of his too  short career in      s arthur  a raucously funny and alternately touching tale that generates warm smiles  big belly  laughs  and an occasional tear if you  re in the right mood . moore received a best actor oscar nomination for his performance as arthur bach  a drunken playboy who  races cars  plays tennis  fondles women  but he has weekends off and he  s his own boss .  arthur is destined to inherit    million dollars when he marries a snooty society girl named susan johnston  jill eikenberry  who is the spoiled daughter of an undercover gangster . things get sticky when arthur meets linda morolla  liza minnelli  a waitress  struggling actress from queens who steals neckties for her father  s birthday . moore lights up the screen in one of the single funniest performances of the last   years . the late sir john gielgud won a best supporting actor oscar for his flawless turn as arthur  s acid  tongued butler and best friend  hobson  whose outward disdain for arthur  s behavior covers more paternal feelings . there are other funny contributions by barney martin as linda  s father . stephen elliott as susan  s father  and geraldine fitzgerald as arthur  s demented grandmother . the film was directed with a keen eye for comedy by a first time director named steve gordon  who  sadly  died the following the year . there was also a forgettable sequel several years later  but this instant classic is not to be missed .  
randall  memphis  raines is a retired master car thief who is forced back into the  game  when his younger brother faces death for not filling an order for british crime boss raymond calitri . the job involves  lifting    cars in   hours or calitri will enact his punishment . so raines quickly assembles a crew he can trust and sets about the task to hand . but the police are on to him and some of the cars on the list are not easy takes . it would seem a near impossible job to complete .  br    br   it  s got quite a cast has gone in   seconds  nicolas cage  angelina jolie  robert duvall  will patton  delroy lindo  vinnie jones  giovanni ribisi  christopher ecclestone  scott caan  timothy olyphant . all of whom deserve better . enough acting horsepower there to propel a porsche    turbo . trouble is  is that this is very much a case of too many cars overstocking the car park  mucho characters  not enough zest . from the off we are in no doubt that this is a bruckheimer  simpson production  bonkers script laced with loud noises and lashings of cheese  scattergun editing  and directed with sledgehammer subtly by dominic sena . it  s essentially a big budget remake of h . b . halicki  s     indie movie of the same name  with the premise offering up the potential for an adrenalin fuelled car based movie . potential that sadly is never realised . there  s one or two high impact moments  daft for sure  but enjoyable none the less . but if you pardon the pun  the film never gets out of first gear  it  s more content to labour with its ream of characters who mope about trying to make the boorish screenplay scott rosenberg work .  br    br   car fans will get something from it the cars are ace on the eye  as will fans of unintentional comedy movies check out ecclestone  s carpenter grief moment . but no  it  s really rather poor all told .      
it  s hard to put your finger on this one . basically i suppose it  s a comedy about an idle rich drunk who falls in love with a  comparatively  poor girl  whom he wants to marry at the risk of being disowned by his family .  br    br   it has funny moments  romantic moments  and touching moments . dudley moore is funny and somehow makes his self  centred character endearing  liza minelli is a convincing foil as the the feisty opposite he attracts  but john gielgud steals the show as arthur  s wonderfully sarcastic butler .  br    br   it  s corny but great fun with a memorable soundtrack  and ran for nearly  months at our local fleapit .  
this review may contain some spoilers .  br    br   the remake of the classic     car chase movie gone in   seconds begins well . actually it is well acted and the plot moves quite well . but even a big hollywood budget doesn  t change the fact that the original plot was more believable . for those who don  t know  the original plot had the thieves working as insurance inspectors . who would suspect them . but even with a change to nearly every aspect of h . b . halicki  s original  the remake is a very good movie  until we get to the final chase scene  the part of the   version that made it great . the one in this version is watered down  only   minutes  and it culminates in a monster special effect that takes all believability out of the chase . where the original chase was very believable  the star was a stunt driver who did all his own stunt  the remake falls flat in the last   minutes . my advice  if you want to watch a classic car chase film  fine the original in the bargain bin at your local rental joint and stay clear of the new remake .  
let  s begin with that theme song sung by christopher cross . the song is  if you get caught between the moon and new york city .  it  s a great theme and song even after all these years  it never gets tiring . it really is a great song about new york city as well . anyway  the great dudley moore cbe stars as a spoiled drunken millionaire who is engaged to jill eikenberry  s character in the film . jill would later star on la law . anyway  he is served by his wonderful british butler  sir john gielgud om who won an academy award for his performance in the film as best supporting actor . arthur falls in love with liza minnelli  s character who is perfect in this film besides her performance in her oscar winning role in cabaret . no  liza doesn  t get to sing . she plays a diner waitress . anyway i love geraldine fitzgerald as the bach matriarch of the family who decides the family  s fortune . anyway  she is fabulous and should have gotten an academy award nomination herself for best supporting actress . barney martin best known as jerry  s dad on seinfeld plays liza  s dad . he  s great too . the movie was well  written  acted  and delivered to the audience who wanted more of it .  
warning review contains slight spoilers  br    br   there  s a parallel universe out there where gone in   seconds is a dark  edgy  controversial independent movie . unfortunately in this dimension gone . . . is a flashy  vacuous  testosterone  fuelled moronfest starring nicolas cage .  br    br   for reasons not really worth getting into  he and his large number of cronies have four days to steal fifty expensive cars  only one of which has an alarm . this crew consists of the guy with the funny  shaped ears who  s rumoured to be the new superman a guy who conducted electricity in the x  files an ex  professional footballer and two token black men .  br    br   their enemies are cops  rival car thieves and bilborough from cracker  his manchester accent suitably flattened and broadened for american audiences who are now used to that sort of thing since daphne in frasier . there  s also angelina jolie  who gets no character save to be a receptacle to men  s sexual desires . she and cage are supposed to be old flames  which is odd  as they never have anything approaching a normal conversation in all of the film  s overlong    m running time .  br    br   in fact  characterisation is so poor that whenever anyone has a  moment  a violin plays in the background to accentuate the  emotion  . it  s no spoiler to reveal that vinnie jones  who recreates his famous paul gasgoine  hand ball  manoeuvre and is quite menacing when silent  only gets one line not because his inability to speak is integral to the plot but because his eloquent summing up of the film  s dubious morality after appearing mute the whole way through is funny . allegedly . after he struggles through it in his  not  quite  acting  but  it  ll  do  london drawl  cage quips  i always thought you were from long island  . my ribs  as you might imagine  were well and truly tickled .  br    br   in fact humour is the most undeveloped aspect  from the tactless comedy policeman to the two token black characters . this sees the biggest aspect of hollywood take hold why is it that a black man cannot appear in a major motion picture without being constantly aware of his skin tone and endlessly refer to it  the younger man  who  like the elder  jive  talks for the whole duration  proclaims  us black people don  t like the cold . . . we  re tropical people  . he then goes on to express an urge to smoke a joint and watch roots . he is  of course  parodying the image of black people  but how funny is that  his older counterpart cannot speak without referring to himself  and thereby his colour  in third person .  my black ass  this   my black ass  that . does anyone know any black people who actually speak like that  thought not .  br    br   the film  s soundtrack is played almost non  stop and with increasing volume  some of the tracks  especially apollo     s  don  t stop the rock   so loud they  re actually more audible than the sound effects and dialogue . the surroundsound system even separates the two to such a degree that it makes them sound like two different films running together . no background music concept here  it  s the aural equivalent of trying to watch a film while someone at the back of the cinema has their stereo turned up full blast .  keep that music down  young man    br    br   this isn  t the worst film in the world and in many ways i enjoyed it . it  s just that it  s predictable  lazy and witless  with minimal effort in its construction . apparently box office expectations are considerably down for this movie . after being force  fed junk for several years it appears the general public are starting to wake up to the fact .  
ok  even if you can  t stand liza  this movie is truly hilarious  the scenes with john gielgud make up for liza . one of the true romantic comedy classics from the   th century . dudley moore makes being drunk and irresponsible look cute and amusing and it is damn fun to watch  the one  liners are the best .  
this movie should be shown to film school students as an example of what not to do . the original kicked some major tire squealing butt  this horrible disaster breaks the cardinal rule of bruckheimer films  which is we all know they suck  but they have great action . this film has no action . this film is boring . where are the cars  where are the chases  where  s the tension  where  s the suspense  where  s the rush  where     this isn  t really a movie at all  it  s a bad commercial .   cars in   hours  that is wrong . they have  days to steal them  the ad is wrong . how bad is that  the leads acting is stiff  wooden and forced . the villain  the cop  the others . . . who cares . they utter their pointless lines  they serve the illogical plot . they slog through it the best they can as the music video director says  don  t worry we  ll make a lot of fast cuts and no one will notice how bad the film is  or  we  ll fix it with lots of loud music  the  script  isn  t really a script at all  it  s more like a list of cliches with an ending that is a total ripoff of        warning  possible spoiler                                       the fugitive . the biggest crime of all is the underuse of vinnie jones  man . . . . this is the baddest  coolest mofo since jules in pulp fiction . and what do they do   they make him a mute who  s hardly in the film  make vinnie the main villain and he could have saved the film . how could they have been so dumb  how  how  why  the original film is very entertaining with a cool trick at the end that gets the driver away . the original has a great   minute chase that delivers  go find the original . or if you  re craving some real car chase action go rent ronin . the chases in ronin raised the bar by which all other car chases will now be judged . bruckheimer and cage had all that money  all those resources  all that experience  and they can  t even come close to matching a film made   years ago for          how can that be  you feel like you got ripped off after seeing this movie . where i was once excited to see coyote ugly  remember the titans and pearl harbor  now i say god help us all .  br    br    
this     comedy still sparkles thanks to the combined efforts of writer  director steve gordon and stars dudley moore and john gielgud . sadly  gordon  only in his early forties  died soon after completing this  his only feature film . it  s an especially unfortunate loss since he shows a truly deft hand at character  driven farce that makes the whole film irresistible . it plays almost like a      s  style screwball comedy revamped for contemporary tastes . the plot centers on arthur bach  a drunken  diminutive millionaire playboy who is at risk of losing his     million inheritance if he doesn  t marry the dowdy and boring susan johnson  an heiress handpicked by his old  money father and dotty grandmother . of course  he doesn  t love her and by chance  runs into linda marolla  a working  class waitress  and of course  aspiring actress  after she pilfers a bergdorf goodman tie for her father .  br    br   the standard complications ensue but in a most endearing way with loads of alcohol  fueled slapstick executed with classic lan by moore . that he makes such a spoiled character likable is a credit not only to his comic talents but to gielgud  s feisty  acidic turn as hobson  arthur  s devoted but reality  grounded valet . it  s the type of role he could play in his sleep  but gielgud makes hobson such a truly memorable character that his fate in the film brings a welcome injection of poignancy in the proceedings . in probably her most likable film role  liza minnelli hands the picture to her male co  stars by toning down her usual razzle  dazzle personality and making linda quite genuine in motivation .  br    br   a pre   la law  jill eikenberry plays susan just at the right passive  aggressive note  while barney martin  jerry  s dad on  seinfeld   steals all his scenes as linda  s slovenly father ralph . the one fly in the ointment is veteran actress geraldine fitzgerald  who overdoes the eccentricities of the grandmother . and i have to admit that i still can  t stand the very dated  overplayed christopher cross song that inevitably won the oscar for that year  s best song . unfortunately  the     dvd  certainly in need of remastering  has no extras worth noting except some photos and production notes .  
minor spoilers  br    br   i am  like many others  a huge jerry bruckheimer fan . so when i saw all the beautiful posters hanging out front  and the trailer coming by before mi   expectations were rising . a jerry bruckheimer production . big cars . nic cage and fresh from an oscar  angelina jolie . what can possibly go wrong  a lot .  br    br   the script is neither funny  which it tries really hard to be  nor exciting . you put in a black person who is constantly making racist jokes about himself and wooh  haa   you  ve got comedy  i don  t think so . excitement is totally out of the picture . first of all  and this is probably said many times  there are no sympathetic characters so who cares who gets killed  if you can stomach the premise that a psycho is gonna kill nic  s brother unless he steals   cars in  days  next thing you know is that kip  the brother  is walking with nic in the streets again . is this excitement  think not . then comes the best bit  the romance between nic and angelina . she actually looks bored having to utter all these stupid lines to nic .  do you have a girlfriend    are you seeing anybody    what went wrong   etc .  br    br   then there  s only one sparkle of hope left the car chases . they  re disappointing to say the least  because the trailer made it look like it was full of them  and there  s only one . a very long one  caught in irritatingly hectic camera movement . i really had trouble following the action .  br    br   so is it an action movie  a thriller  a romantic comedy   there  s no need to decide  just avoid this horrible mess . i  ll give  out of   stars  and i feel like i  m being generous .  
quite simply the funniest and shiniest film  comedy of all time . . . it  s certainly on my personal top  ten list . this one also gets a solid ten on the voting scale . millionaire heir  arthur bach  moore   is a middle  aged  child  who refuses to take the mature path in life and avoids all requisite responsibilities . he also refuses to leave the bottle . one day he and his personal butler  hobson  gielgud   go shopping at bergdorf goodman  s and run into petty larcenist  linda  minnelli  . arthur and linda  s chemistry adds electricity to the rest of the film . there are hilarious set pieces aplenty . in one such scene  arthur  drunk throughout most of the story  knocks on the wrong apartment door and receives ear shattering threats from a human  siren    my husband has a gun      . performances by everyone involved should be duly noted geraldine fitzgerald plays arthur  s loving  yet  ruthless grandmother  sir john gielgud almost steals the entire show with his acidic droll  isms  he took home the oscar for this one   and christopher cross provides the main theme song  oscar winner  best that you can do   . it  s a shame the late dudley moore passed away last month  march      .  
i am one of the biggest fans of silent comedians and have probably reviewed more buster keaton films for imdb than any other person . every film he made from the beginning of his career to the early   s with only two exceptions have i reviewed  so you can tell i am a major fan . it  s because of this that i found this episode so painful and hard to watch . i loved this man  s films and kept thinking  buster  how could you    . well  now that i think about it  i guess i can see why buster keaton starred in this god  awful episode of the twilight zone . he  d lost much of his fortune after a messy divorce in the early     s and his film career as a leading man was long passed as well . now  in the     s  keaton needed the money and loved his resurgence in popularity so he whored himself out to anyone willing to pay   appearing in beach films and this mess of an episode of a great series .  br    br   the biggest problem with the episode is that it is just terribly written and buster deserved much better . the show is supposed to be funny but isn  t and instead of a homage to silent films is just painful to watch   particularly with keaton putting that stupid time travel helmet on as well as all the poorly executed slapstick . do yourself a favor  skip this one   it  s a pale imitation of the greatness that once was keaton  s career     
sadly   simple rules  for dating my teenage daughter  was the last sitcom that john ritter got to work on after his tragic death in     . he was one of my all time favourite actors . he had it all  comedy  who can forget him in three  s company  but he was also an excellent dramatic actor  unforgivable  worth watching tv movie  as much i loved all the other cast members of the show  katey  amy  kaley and martin  john was the star  he was much of the reason i was drawn to the show in the first place  and it was his perfect comedic delivery that was able to crack me up each and every time .  br    br   i loved how the show wasn  t all sugary sweet  as much as i loved the cosby show  come on  they were too nice to each other lol  they portrayed the typical family dynamics brilliantly . it was realistic enough what with all the sibling rivalry and the squabbles between parents  but they still kept it funny . a lot of american sitcoms try and fill the shows entirely with morals and what not  and this show didn  t do that . yes  there were some  like tackling important issues  such as drugs and bullying  but they didn  t try and be anything other than a fun family comedy .  br    br   the way they wrote john  s death in to the show was brilliantly done  i still sob like a baby each time i see it . you could feel how raw the emotions were during those incredibly hard episodes .  br    br   i  m sad the show was cancelled  i still enjoy watching the reruns  and i never get tired of it .  br    br   john ritter  you  ll always be remembered for you hilarious depiction of this over protective father  who would rather lock his daughters up in their room than have them date a boy   you rock ritter     
they played this on the july  th twilight zone marathon and this is  hands down  the worst twilight zone episode i  ve ever seen . it  s completely out of sync with the rest of the series in its tone . even though twilight zone is a pretty uneven series and many episodes end up being groaningly predictable  this one was completely out of place . compare this to legendary episodes like  a stop at willoughby  or  midnight sun   and you realize there is no comparison .  br    br   buster keaton did what he could with such terrible material  and frankly it surprises me that someone of his historic comedy stature would stoop to the level of this episode . even though he seemed to be giving it some effort  he must have needed the money . . . there  s no other explanation .  
  simple rules is a funny show but it also has some life lessons especially one mature lesson about moving on after a lose which was the episode where paul died which was the first episode i have ever watched of the show that comes on abc . the hennessy clan   mother cate  katey sagal   daughters bridget  kaley cuoco  and kerry  amy davidson   and son rory  martin spanjers    look to one another for guidance and support after the death of paul  john ritter   the family patriarch . cate  s parents  james garner and suzanne pleshette  lend a hand . i am glad later in the  nd season of this show they decided to put david spade in this show since he was done with the nbc series  just shoot me  but all and all this show is pretty good . this show reminds me a lot of the classic family sitcoms from the    s and    s that used to be on abc .  
this horrendously bad piece of trash manages to be racist  sexist and homophobic all at once  while pretending to be terribly chic and sophisticated . atrocious performances  a cliche ridden screenplay  and boring direction make this movie one to steer clear of . two scenes were especially offensive  the one in which schaech scrubs his tongue after being kissed by another man  could it really have been that gross   and the scene where eastwood is kissed by schaech  s best friend  who is pretending to be russian . after he leaves the room she exclaims  fking foreigners   so much for her being a cultured artist who dreams of living in paris     br    br   jonathon schaech can be a likeable actor on screen  and is astonishingly good  looking . it  s a shame he didn  t learn more from working with cutting edge gay director gregg araki on an earlier film  and try to salvage this film from descending into a string of gay stereotypes and a mire of homophobia .  
this show is beautifully done . when it first came out i though it nothing more than a light  hearted family comedy with quite a few good one  liners . it seemed to express many families really well too  with different concepts of both parent and child  however  like i said  i never thought any more of it then a good watch on an evening . however  my view was shot out the other window when the tragic death of the fantastically funny john ritter accrued . the programme stood it  s ground and really commended the characters life in a very sensitive way that also touched the hearts of all the admire res of john ritter  a fantastic actor with the talent to do anything . when the show aired after ritters passing  i really wanted to just give my dad a hug and let him know how much he meant to me . i thought this shone threw the acting talents of the three children  particularly that of bridget  s character  who was worried of the last words she said to him . it reminded me that no matter what horrible things i say to my dad  i don  t mean them and it  s very important that he knows this . great show  
yet another insult and slap in the face to gay men everywhere . this lame attempt at a comedy has nothing to recommend it . once again we have an attractive  straight  hero who supposedly can  t get any woman to be interested in him . yeah  right  and we  re also presented with the  sympathetic  attractive  gay friend who is actually a fat  balding  ugly old man whom the lead is supposed to find attractive . even i didn  t find him appealing and i  m a fat  ugly old gay man  but thankfully not balding   whatever acting talent there may be here has been thrown away on a bad script  and truly awful direction . mr . sneedeker should be banned from filmdom  but then he  s no different than the countless other hacks working in hollyweed .  
i originally watched  simple rules on the disney channel uk for the first series and got completely hooked . when they didn  t show it any more  was annoyed  but then abc  satred showing the  nd series . i didn  t think another series would start after i read john ritter had died  however the  nd series wasn  t amazing the latest series is back to it  s old excellent standard . i hope they go on to produce more shows soon even though i could watch each show a thousand times . kaley couco is my favourite character as airhead bridget and also performs amazing in charmed . rory is also good  he shares my name and grampa as well . i  ll keep on watching it until it ends until then i hope it carries on as funny as ever  
one of the worst romantic comedies  nay  worst movies  i  ve ever seen . boy  who works as a phone psychic   must pretend to be gay to move into apartment with woman of his dreams . hilarity does not ensue . boredom  light gay  bashing  and horrible dialogue do . if you read brad meltzer and like his crappy dialogue  you  ll like this movie .  br    br   be smart . avoid this . if you see it  destroy the copy .  
i had seen marion davies in a couple of movies and really couldn  t understand her appeal . she couldn  t dance for peanuts  she didn  t attempt to sing and as for her acting  she seemed in a trance . but i hadn  t seen her silent comedies and this film is wonderful . rather than kidding her own image  as has been suggested here  to me it seems a satire on gloria swanson  who did start off in slapstick comedies  went on to highly emotional women  s pictures and did end up marrying a count . marion  a top mimic  also did a funny rabbit imitation whenever she wanted to be seen as grand  that was gloria swanson spot on     br    br   colonel pepper  dell henderson  has motored all the way from georgia to hollywood  determined to prove that his daughter  peggy   marion davies  will be the greatest star ever . their hope dwindles and they are down to their last   cents when they meet billy boone  william haines  who works at the slapstick studios and promises to get peggy a job . peggy thinks she is going to be a great dramatic actress but the studio think she is a fantastic comic . they convince her to make the film and at the preview she is a great success . charlie chaplin asks for her autograph but she doesn  t recognise him and treats him pretty rudely .  who was that short little guy   when she finds out she faints    peggy and billy get a call from high art studio but only peggy is wanted and suddenly she is on her way . there is a funny scene where she sees a star she doesn  t think much of  it  s marion davies     br    br   she finally gets a chance of being a dramatic actress  but she can  t cry    it is a hilarious scene as the director tries everything to get her to cry and when he succeeds  she can  t stop    her new leading man  andre  paul ralli  convinces her to forget her comedy past and become elite and sophisticated  she even adopts a new name  patricia pepoire    she also seems to have forgotten billy and her dad  she has developed a  star  personality    when the slapstick studio picks the same location as  patricia  s  movie  billy is thrilled to see her but quite unprepared for her snobby attitude . when she calls him a cheap clown he realises that she is not the girl he once knew .  br    br   after a studio luncheon  a magnificent panning shot of some of the greatest stars of the day   patricia  gets a call from the boss . it seems her films are a flop and no theatres want to book them  the public are tired of her mannerisms and want the old peggy back . she and andre decide to get married  she dreams of being a countess  even though billy says that andre used to serve him spaghetti in a little cafe downtown and is no more a count than he is  . on her wedding day  billy visits and after a hilarious custard pie fight she realises that billy is the one for her .  br    br   it was amazing to see all the guest stars  john gilbert is seen going through the mgm gates  lew cody is talking to elinor glynn  who not only wrote  it  but several racy romances that were made into mgm movies . william haines  another actor whose movies i had always wanted to see  was great  especially in the cafeteria scene  he had wonderful comic timing . harry gribbon was hilarious as the comedy director  there were so many hilarious scenes in this film and marion was at the top of them all  i  m giving this film   out of   .  br    br   highly  highly recommended .  
i always felt that a good film should have a plot . this particular film was missing one  and i feel that it would have been more effective with a plot . this was made even worse by the fact that it seemed to go on forever i was anxious for it to finally end . however  i just noticed that it was only    minutes long it felt like four hours . not only was there no plot but the film also lacked a notable conflict . it  s not the worst movie i  ve seen  but i used to say that it was until i saw  the fast and the furious  . so  don  t think this review of mine is from someone who needs nothing but action . i actually hate most action films out today it  s just that this film is all the way on the other side of the spectrum . not much really happens in this movie . however  the scenery and costumes were nice .  
ya . that is what i think . sure it was still a great show with john in it but i personally think that it is way better without .  br    br   i love having c . j . and grandpa living at the house because they are so funny together .  br    br   when john was still around i really didn  t laugh as much as i do now .  br    br   it is too bad that no more are being made .  i don  t think . . .  because i would love to see some new material .  br    br   my favorite character must be rory . poor rory is almost always left out . it is always about bridget or carrie . what about rory       honestly this is a great show and to any one who has never watched it you must go and watch it . i almost guarantee you will laugh . well even chuckle .  
i  ve tried to watch this so  called comedy  but it  s very hard to bear . this is a bad  narrow  minded  clich  ridden movie . definitively not funny  but very much boring and annoying  indeed . bad script  bad acting . it  s a complete waste of time  and there remains nothing more to say  i  m afraid .  br    br    out of   points .  
i love the newer episodes with cj and grandad  i also liked the storyline with kate falling for the principal . i want to find out what happens to rory and kerry and bridget and the family next . i think cj is very funny and i love his scenes with grandad . i have always loved james garner in everything he does  and it is a credit to his acting that i never think of him as james garner or rockford in this series and totally believe in him as kate  s dad . this family is so real and funny . it was terribly sad when john ritter  paul hennessey died  but as in real life these things happen and the way it was written into the series and dealt with was both funny and sad and always extremely sensitively and lovingly dealt with . but generally a very funny show with lots of laughs and fun .  
formula flick of guy who wants girl  guy who will lie to get next to girl  guy who will get best friend to help in outrageous way  comedus reliefus  no   to help deceive girl  etc . this one  s been done to death  and with rare exception of a few z  rated outings  it  s been done better .  br    br   stale plot aside  the leads are attractive and there  s a couple of good moments . jonathon schaech has done better  and his acting here came close to being phoned in . not a complete loss  but nothing new here in this tepid affair .  
i  ll keep it short and brief  the people who wrote the story lines for this show are genius  the actors are just perfect for the roles they play  cj  s character is legendary  and they have so much chemistry on screen which makes it what it is  a very successful comedy .  br    br   when i saw first saw the new episodes which is probably going back just over    months  i wondered what had happened to paul . i was gutted to find out that he had died when i browsed google . he was so funny and played his character to perfection  an over  protective dad  who likes to keep his daughters out of the limelight and away from boys .  br    br   the comedy  i think  has gone from strength to strength  even without paul in it .  br    br   plus  i think most people would enjoy this watching it .  
there  s nothing new here . all the standard romantic  comedy scenes  even down to the taxi sprinting to the airport to stop the woman flying away . the only thing that saves this is the acting of alison eastwood  some of the minor characters  blink and you  ll miss gabrielle anwar   who obviously had some fun .  br    br   turn it off when the pair are in bliss  and you won  t have to go through the inevitable plot pain .  
i can  t believe john died  while filming an episode he collapsed on set  read this   out of his biography online  john ritter was born in burbank  calafornia  on september   th     .  br    br   he landed his last television role in   simple rules for dating my teenage daughter         based on the popular book . on this sitcom  he played paul hennessey  a loving  yet rational dad  who laid down the ground rules for his three children . the show was a ratings winner in its first season and won a peoples choice award for best new comedy and also won for favorite comedy series by the family awards  while working   simple rules   he also starred in his second  to  last film  manhood        br    br   that same year  while john was rehearsing for the  th   rd series  episode of  simple rules  now shortened   he fell ill . henry winkler described it as  john looked like he had food poisoning  . then he collapsed on the set  he was quickly rushed to a nearby hospital  the same burbank hospital where he was born  he was diagnosed with an aorta dissection  an unrecognized heart flaw  he underwent surgery but did not make it . john ritter died at age    just  week away from his   th birthday  leaving his wife amy yasbeck and  children .  
  welcome to collinwood  is kind of a disaster . considering the people involved  it should  ve been multiple times better .  br    br   watching it  if you  re at least somewhat attached to the faith that it  ll get better  will probably make you cry . it  s one of those movies that had potential  but was robbed of this potential thanks to a terrible script and some bad acting  not to mention the strangely annoying and unnecessary george clooney character and the guy who reminds me of richard dreyfuss but about whom i care so little that i don  t even want to know his name .  br    br   the film  s only saving grace is the weird con vocabulary it introduces . i found myself thinking of it time and time again as i watched more crime capers . this is the only reason i gave the film a  . the plot is boring  the characters are neurotic  needlessly offensive  and highly unlikable . they are in a constant state of agonizing stress and they  re all so irritating that i celebrated their obstacles . they yell at each other and swear crassly . the dialogue is insipid at best and insultingly stupid at its low points .  br    br   i find that steven  traffic  soderbergherabracadabrablahblah and george clooney are to blame for this . they should be tried for war crimes  if anyone actually remembers this crap long enough to care .  
eight simple rules started as a very entertaining series . i love john ritter and his character paul hennessey and the relationship he had with his children was the best part of the show .  br    br   i have always preferred kerry to bridget  bridget has been done before  kerry is quite unique and i can relate to her in many ways  although i  m not sure i like the direction her character went in later series .  br    br   early episodes were fun  good simple teenage plots about paul and cate disciplining the kids  however i think the show lost it  s sparkle when john ritter died . i admired the cast and crew for wishing to continue the series but when he died  i felt the programme did to . to me the whole point of the show was based around the guide of the   simple rules of dating my teenage daughter  it was written by a real man with teenage daughters and the relevance and the angle of the show had changed without the hennessey dad .  br    br   bridget seemed to get more annoying  rory stayed the same and cate was always giving her offspring life  s lessons which before seemed funnier when it was all left to paul . i think the granddad is funny  especially when he  s watching great escape  but feel c . j is unnecessary to the show . he is funny in parts but i felt the story lines at the time of his arrival were very similar to other american comedy series . over all the newer ones aren  t bad just missing excitement and does anyone else find it irritating that cate works at the school and c . j and granddad  s always there too  i would always recommend this show to friends as it was very strong at the beginning and well worth watching for paul and kerry  but later ones were about average at best .  
it aint bad  but it aint good . it is just entertaining .  br    br   as a comedy which it is supposed to be  it  s dreadful . not many laughs at all as every joke in the movie has been done a million times before .  br    br   it  s a shame as all the actors in the film are great usually  but none of them really do much . and the ending sucks .  
this show is awesome . i thought that the two episodes where paul died were so sad i actually cried . but the other shows were awesome kerry was my favorite character  because she was in  the dark side .  i also thought that bridget was funny because she was all perky . i also thought that guy who played kyle was really  really cute . i loved it when kerry made sarcastic remarks about everything . the guy who played rory was cute  and paul  played by john ritter  was really funny . this whole entire tv show is funny  and i wish they still showed it on tv . when they did show it on tv  though  i watched it every single time it was on . the next time it shows  i will watch it over and over again .  
it  s a pretty good cast  but the film has nowhere near the grace of the original italian comedy  big deal on madonna street  anyone looking for an entertaining caper film should visit the original . william macy may be one of our greatest living actors  but here he  s put to little use . and his role in the original was played by marcello mastroianni  so i sort of feel sorry for him trying to fill those shoes . might as well try to imitate bogart or a young de niro . the art direction is rich and textured but brings nothing to the story  the extra bits they add to the story feel completely unnecessary and the things they take away are missed . even starting the way they do seems bizarrely gratuitous and takes away from the surprise of the original . sam rockwell has his odd and genial charm and luis guzman has that odd charisma  but the love story part of the movie just seems clunky and flat . it  s too bad nobody has figured out how to make this movie as well as it was first made  but then again it  s too bad we live in a culture where we feel like we need to remake amazing things instead of simply learning to savor the originals .  
   simple rules . . . for dating my teenage daughter   is my opinion  is an absolute abc classic  i  m not sure i haven  t seen every episode  but i still enjoyed it . it  s hard to say which episode was my favorite . however  i think it was always funny when a mishap occurred . i always laughed at that . despite the fact that james garner and david spade were good  i liked the show more when john ritter was the leading man . if you ask me  his sudden passing was very tragic . everyone always gave a good performance  the production design was spectacular  the costumes were well  designed  and the writing was always very strong . in conclusion  i hope some network brings it back on the air for fans of the show to see .  
this film is totally garbage . some imbecilic intellectual comforting himself by making all his best to claim superiority of aristocrat over working class . nothing more than a piece of self  complacence catharsis . disgusting .  br    br   if this kind of a movie is set in us  it will sure make itself a big joke . and simply because it comes out from  the other side   it makes itself a masterpiece  a wonderful amusement for certain brain  washed and  or brain  washing westerns  some george w . maybe  . a typical cold  war sequelae  some kind of joke anyway .  br    br   i would say  if this   like expressed in this film   is all what soviet intellectuals had been thinking about all those years  then maybe they deserve all the miseries they claim they had gone through . but no   cause like many others  i  ve read and watched real masterpieces made by real outstanding soviet intellectuals . for example  something also relevant with dog   white bim black ear    both gavriil troyepolsky  s book and stanislav rostotsky  s movie   is a real masterpiece . real life  real tragedy  real sad  real pride and dignity  one of the real best of the soviet era .  
this was a marvelously funny comedy with a great cast . john ritter and katey sagal were perfectly cast as the parents  and the kids were great too . kaley cuoco was a good choice to play bridget  who was sort of a toned  down version of kelly bundy from married with children . the writing and performances were both first  rate .  br    br   sadly  john ritter died during the series  and it put a damper on things . they had to scramble to change the show and bring in more cast members  and it was obviously an uncomfortable situation  but they handled it well . james garner was a good addition . it could have lasted longer had ritter lived .  br    br   i especially loved it when they brought in ed o  neill in a guest spot . that was great .  br    br    out of   
this film  although not totally bad  should have been filmed where the actual events took place . grand island  nebraska was devastated by no less than seven tornados on the night of june       . grand island is situated in the nearly treeless  flat platte river valley in hall county . the makers of this movie filmed in the tree covered hills of ontario and moved the whole event to a non  existant town called blainsworth . the people of grand island bravely survived this awful night only to be forgotten because of a poorly made movie .  
i  ll be honest with yall  i was a junior in high school when this sitcom first aired on abc i didn  t think i would like it at all . but with john ritter in it i felt that it had a little potential in it  plus their was something else with it i liked . the acting was great  not a lot of horrible  nd rated comedy lines  john ritter always brings his a game when it comes to comedy . this was a great show to watch  and i  ll tell you why it was a great show . my father who never watches sitcoms at all  he just watches movies  sports  and law  order  he actually sat down with my  brothers and  sisters  my mother  and myself  and watched the show i think because john ritter was in it . i honestly think this show would still be running if john ritter god rest his soul i wish he hadn  t passed away .  
tv version of  twister  springs a few leaks but manages to remain watchable . my sister bought this at a wal  mart a few years back when it was released  i saw it back then and thought it was okay . later  twister  with bill pullman and helen hunt comes out  or was it before  i think it was     and did a better job overall . but  twister  was more silly fun this is realistic with a message . it all depends on what you want from a movie with twisters twisters  or a low  budget character study   br    br   john schneider and devon sawa  he  s the reason my sister bought it  star  and devon sawa  who went on to  wild america    final destination  and  slackers  got his big break here . so in a way  i was one of the first people to see him really take off . i don  t know if it  s an honor or a shame  i haven  t seen how he acts in recent films .  br    br    night of the twisters  all depends on personal taste  like i said  it all depends on what you want from a movie with twisters twisters  or a low  budget character study .  night of the twister  has the latter . so you decide .  br    br   i give it a  .    . . .  br    br    john ulmer  
i have not read the book that this was based upon  inspired by . this being some of  the others are film roles  the last work of john ritter  rip   one hopes that it is hilarious . and it is . almost every time he  s present in this  as a matter of fact . most of the cast  supporting as well as regular  play off each other well  and the material tends to be great . he plays paul hennessy  the father of three teenagers rory  the typical guy of that age  kerry  the depressive middle  child who fights for causes and awareness  and bridget  the fashion  loving  popular ditz . sagal makes a return to being the female lead in a sit  com  and her character is far removed from peggy bundy . the show changed somewhat after mr . three  s company passed on  and for a while  they couldn  t seem to make up their minds if they wanted to go for getting laughs  or being poignant and making sure to be respectful . one can wonder how or why it lasted for so long after that it could still be quite good  some of the additions were fortunate  if you like david spade  most of his part consists of him doing his schtick  and had stuff to say . my personal favorite episode is in the last season . the humor is a nice mix of  dumb person  jokes  mainly related to the high  schoolers   silliness  dark comedy and crude material . this dealt with sex and other adult topics  but never in a graphic manner . the language is mild  and  on occasion  moderately strong . i recommend this to any fan of those who made it .      
i have read the book a couple of times and this movie doesn  t follow exactly as it should . i could let this slide  it is after all a movie . however i have serious issues with the setting of the movie . nobody has seemed to mention that this movie and the book it is based on are based in actual events that happened in nebraska . i live in nebraska . i grew up in the town that this movie is supposed to be based on . first of all  the  small  town that is talked about as the setting  is the third largest city in the state . with a population of around       . grand island is the largest city between lincoln and denver . second the scenery for the movie is wrong . grand island is in the platte river valley . which is very flat with very few trees . i tried watching this movie  but it made me mad to see my hometown being treated so bad . this was a real event . large sections of the city were wiped out . in the book they talk about riding bikes from mormon island to fonner park . i guess you could if you don  t mind a   mile ride each way . for anyone who wants to know what really happened go here http   www . theindependent . com  twisters   
back in the day if marion davies had had her druthers and didn  t just listen to william randolph hearst  she  d have done more films like show people and been a lot happier . in fact when you see her get her first big break in two reel comedy  she  d have loved to have done that in her career instead of such epics like when knighthood was in flower and janice meredith .  br    br   what you  re seeing by all accounts in show people is the real davies  a gifted comedienne  a superb mimic and a generous good hearted person . she could really identify with the character of peggy pepper aka patricia prepoire  she put up with her share of pretense in her hollywood stardom .  br    br   if the plot of show people was set in the legitimate stage you would call it a backstage story . i guess it being one of the first movies about the movies you could call it a behind the camera story . marion is eager young hopeful who arrives in hollywood like so many others  looking for that big break . she wants to drama  but her introduction to the movies is as the foil for the burlesque comics . she gets her share of pie and seltzer in the face  but learns her trade . and also wins the heart of young comic actor william haines .  br    br   she does get her first big break  but it doesn  t come for haines as well and marion does get to do legitimate drama with actor paul ralli  playing andre telfair  a pretend no account count of avignon . somebody here was taking a shot at actor lou tellegen  lover and husband of sarah bernhardt and geraldine farrar and others and to hear tell of it  one of the most despised people in cinema .  br    br   show people was one of the first films to have the unbilled cameo appearances of stars as themselves . you will get to see folks like charlie chaplin  douglas fairbanks  william s . hart  mae murray  john gilbert  eleanor boardman etc .  just being themselves in and around the film colony . that in itself makes show people a film worth saving .  br    br   show people also made good use of standard tin pan alley songs like  ain  t we got fun  i  m sitting on top of the world  you  d be surprised  california  here i come . as the film came out on the cusp of sound being introduced  a song called crossroads was introduced in it . it  s not a bad number  but no credit is given to the boy and girl singing it in the soundtrack . i guess since they  re not seen  it was felt no billing was necessary . still i  d like to know and i  m sure you would to if you are fortunate enough to see show people .  br    br   it  s easy to see why marion davies liked this film so much and considered it a personal favorite . she looks so at home in this film and her real life lack of pretense shines through in her performance which makes it a real treat for the audience .  
 . . . to not live in montana and especially not to live there at the end of the   th century .  br    br    a river runs through it  certainly is a well made movie from a cineastic stand  point . great landscapes  redford acting well .  br    br   unfortunately  the story is bad  if there is a story at all  .  br    br   i felt sorry for the narrator  author  who is as dry  narrow  minded a character as his father  a preacher . being driven  not driving his own life  he is left to watch his brother  who is also caged in the small town environment  losing his life . the author never even comes close to undestand his brother  s motivations  but at least realizes  that he is lacking the slightest amount of homour  fun . all there is  is fly  fishing  where he follows even as an old man the style of his father .  br    br   the end is not surprising  it is forseeable from the very beginning .  br    br   definitely not a must  see        br    br    
paul hennessy and his wife  cate must deal with their two teenage daughters and weird son . . . but after the untimely passing of john ritter  the show became more about coping with the loss of a loved one . . .  br    br   i found this show  passing through the channels one afternoon and i have to say i was laughing myself till my ribs ached  simply at the range of characters the witty lines and the situation paul would find himself dealing mostly with his daughters . . . from then on  i caught the rest of the show when i was free and i have to say the writing was very good . . but then i read about john ritter  s death . . . shortly afterwards i watched  goodbye  part  and i have to say i was nearly in tears  watching the emotions of the characters  losing a loved one . . . how rory punches a wall in anger and frustration . . . how cate deals with having to sleep in her bed all alone . . . . briget and kerry talking about what they should have done .  br    br   but the show does move on  bringing with it jim egan and cj barnes who provide great laughs  as cate  s father tries to protect his family and give  man issue talks  to rory . . . but the true gem is cj . . . who is absolutely hilarious as the wild cousin .  br    br   it will always be john ritter  s masterpiece .  
i am not saying that night of the twisters was horrible  but it was far from great . mediocre at absolute best . i seems though that every time one type of movie is released  a second must be around the same time .  think about armageddon and deep impact  volcano and dante  s peak  night of the twisters is really just twister except worse and with mundane special effects .  br    br   i have nothing against the actors who starred in it  even if they weren  t great  it was the movie itself  the directing  the special effects  the whole storyline was just too strange to interpret . a series of tornadoes strike a town and basically the movie is about people trying to find family and friends and deal with the damage .  br    br   i really don  t know why it seems as though duplicates of disaster movies are released almost in sync with each other  but this one would have been better with bill paxton and helen hunt .  
abc has done more for this show by allowing television veterans james garner and david spade to join the cast of this show . at first  the show was watchable and even predictable with john ritter and katey sagal . john  s loss shocked the world . katey and the three kids are really a solid professional cast . the hour lesson after john  s death in real  life struck home to me . i lost my father at   years old and could sympathize and understand their pain and agony . abc should be proud to maintain this show and even preserve this as john  s final wish . this show has matured and developed because of such impossible circumstances . they should be rewarded with emmys .  
for some strange reason the film world is driven by fashion . someone makes a film about a killer shark then all of a sudden the film worlds oceans are awash with giant squids  killer octopusses and sea monsters of every ilk . a man is stalked by an erstwhile lover from hell then every film character is stalked by a cop from hell or a flatmate from hell or a babysitter from hell . then when a major hollywood company produces a big budget fx laden blockbuster about tornados then other film producers jump upon the bandwagon  the fact that they dont have the budget to pull it off doesnt stop them . night of the twisters is a case in point . what struck me about this made for television film is the fact that it tries to hide its lack of budget by cutting to the ad breaks . everytime a tornado appears the camara locks onto the horrified expression of the actors as they scream things like  oh my gawd its heading this way  and  run for your lives  then the screen fades to black saving the producers the need to up the special effects budget . unfortunately night of the twisters budget should have been upped to include better actors . the cast are by no means bad but they are unimpressive and lack the skill to carry a film which is character driven . wheres josh hartnett and elijah wood when you need them   br    br   and the last word on this being a twister clone . . . . . yes nott was released a couple of months before twister but twister had been hyped for several months as being the summer blockbuster of     and nott has a rushed feeling to it which leads me to believe that it was made and released to tie in with the hype surrounding twister  
let me say first that this show was top tier when john ritter was there . upon his death  the show did drop off a bit  but the producers didn  t give up on the show  adding james garner and david spade to the regular cast from     to     .  br    br   the show centers around the hennessy family  paul  john ritter  may he rest in peace   his wife cate  katey sagal   their daughters bridget  kaley cuoco   kerry  amy davidson   and their son  rory  martin spanjers  . when ritter was on the show  i would shriek in laughter  and proud to admit it  i am   but now that he  s gone  i  ll only laugh a little with the occasional hearty laugh . i  m very glad that i fell for this show  s trance after ritter  s untimely death  because it made the eps with ritter so much better .  br    br   ritter  s character is just so well acted and well rounded  that you can  t help but love him . he is always bossing the girls around about dating  but he really wants them to be happy . it  s the ultimate daddy hates boyfriend entertainment .  br    br   katey sagal is great as well  and she too is a likable character . after ritter  s death  her character provides such good influence and strength for not only her kids  but i believe sagal has shaped the lives of cuoco  davidson  and spanjers  because she and ritter had been friends for a long time .  br    br   the funniest person on the show would have to be bridget hennessy  played by kaley cuoco . she is the ultimate blonde gorgeous  slow  dim  witted  yet she is a smart person . she is off the wall hilarious with her innocent  blonde  humor and how conceited she is .  br    br   amy davidson can get a tad annoying as kerry  but that  s the purpose of her character . the only fault of the show is that the show never really gives kerry anything to be happy about . she  s always after bridget  and her character feels like it  s just thrown in there .  br    br   martin spanjers as the lone hennessy son is hysterical  and when ritter is on the show  he  s mostly comic material . upon the death of ritter  the show does provide some story lines for rory .  br    br   david spade and james garner are all nothing but laughs  with the occasional side story for c . j .  spade  s character . garner plays cate  s father  as a bit of background information .  br    br   all in all  i give this show a great review because it is a great show that had a tragic event happen that crippled it . you  ll enjoy it .  br    br         spy  
about the baby why wasn  t big brother assuming he  d be hungry for a bottle or some nourishment or a diaper change  he should have been screaming non  stop after that many hours without care . definitely stupid to take the baby from a safe place when he didn  t need to .  br    br   and why was the road miraculously clear whenever anyone wanted to drive somewhere  didn  t any uprooted trees fall on the roads and block them   br    br   i can  t imagine the cops at the roadblock not immediately following after any young person who would crash it  especially when they said it was dangerous to go there .  br    br   that being said  it was nice to have a movie children could safely watch  for a change .  
  simple rules for dating my teenage daughter had an auspicious start . the supremely  talented tom shadyac was involved in the project . this meant that the comedy would be nothing less of spectacular  and that  s exactly what happened the show remains one of the freshest  funniest  wittiest shows made in a very long time . every line  facial expression  casting choice  scene  all wreaked of perfection . there was not one episode after which i thought   man that wasn  t as good as the rest  . each one was a standout . again  this is the kind of perfectionism that we  ve come to expect from tom . for those who don  t know  tom shadyac is the director of ace ventura  first movie   the nutty professor  first one  and liar liar . quite a rsum . he  s a producer here not a director  but his magic touch is felt in every episode . the family consists of  br    br   the father paul hennessy  john ritter   nice  slightly neurotic  can be a pushover from time to time  works as a sports writer . john unfortunately passed away in     leaving a fond memory and near  sure cancellation contemplations by the suits .  br    br   the mother cate  katey sagal   come on  who didn  t fall in love with katey when she played peg on married with children  al bundy was our hero . we viewers gave him the respect and love he never had . but without peg  s nonchalant  parasitic  lazy lifestyle  al would  ve probably been just another chicago dad instead of the mess that peg  life  actually  caused him to be . katey was a milf back then and still is a brune now  instead of a redhead  and just as buxom as ever . cate is the conservative mom and loving wife . i know it sounds boring  but comedically  she fits perfectly .  br    br   the ditzy blonde daughter bridget  played to perfection by kaley cuoco   almost never has an idiot been played so well . aside of gob on arrested development  bridget may well be a shoe  in for any awards given to this archetype . bridget is shallow  self  centered  not very bright and a tad slutty in his look . she plays the dumb blonde role better than absolutely anyone imo . perfection . one of the high  points of the show .  br    br   the overlooked geeky daughter kerry  amy davidson   a brune and a geek  she gets no love from life or circumstances . feels overlooked  under  appreciated and neglected most of the time . she  s bridget  s younger sister  in reality she  s older than her  and the two  s extremely opposite personalities and brains cause endless clashes  to much of our amusement .  br    br   the son rory  martin spanjers   was the second funniest character imo before the passing of ritter  then john passes  new characters come and rory is not the wise  cracking verbal  trouble  maker that he used to that went mostly to david spade  s character .  br    br   those characters were the main ones at the time of john ritter . unfortunately enough  the insanely hilarious larry miller  one of my favorites  did not get lots of screen time . he played paul  s co  worker  competitor . after an aortic dissection cost ritter his life in      september   th   the show was on hiatus for a while . no one thought it could come back  but it did later on  with a couple of new additions . this began the second phase of the show  and the new characters were  br    br   the strict  confident school principal ed  adam arkin   i saw adam here and there on talk shows . this was the first time that i saw him do anything . impressed  is the word i use . his performance was very impressive . sad he wasn  t brought in earlier . he also plays cate  s potential love interest after paul passes . the gradual progress towards this point  which would  ve sounded crazy at the beginning  earns the creators lots of praise . it was done slowly  carefully and excellently  with constant respect paid to the paul  ritter  .  br    br   the attitude grandpa jim egan  james garner   a surprisingly welcome addition to the series  he was cannon fodder for endless  old  jokes  mainly by . . .  br    br   the    year  old unemployed wise  cracking half  brother of the mom cj  played to insanely funny heights by david spade   i knew spade was funny  i just didn  t know he was this funny . somehow  spade  s very familiar presence is sensed inside his character  as opposed to a separable character   which is understandable  since he  s a comic and he  s on a comedy show . this eerie feeling is kinda like seeing someone borrow lots of material from david spade  s appearances in movies  talk shows and functions  award shows  etc .  and delivering a superb impersonation of spade  s voice and comedy style  except  that it is spade . by that i mean you realize he  s not trying to play someone else  or a whole new character he  s being the goofy  funny spade we  ve come to know  and he takes this pleasantly humorous formula to the absolute top . every line he uttered  every sarcasm he begot  all classics  literally . spade was crazy  funny so  so funny .  br    br   the show  s humor and drama were both upped after the show was back  but audiences thought   john passed  it ain  t gonna be the same anymore  . this is understandable  considering we are talking about a group of people  american viewers  who gave  yes dear  a free ride but caused andy richter controls the universe to be cancelled in no time . as the show  s quality increased  its ratings declined . soon it was no more  sadly .  br    br   and i saved the best for last fans of married with children are in for a treat . and boy  what a treat it was . i still shiver just remembering it . it  s a surprise so good that it would be crazy for me to spoil it  even if i legitimately do it under the  spoiler . . .  pretext . suffice it to say that it  s something you  ll never forget . i know i won  t     
ironic that dr . seuss  fable emphasizing the non  commercialization of christmas should be one of the most hyped  marketed  and successful blockbusters of the holiday season . the general gist of ron howard  s adaptation is that the grinch  s bane against christmas stems from an early childhood incident and that the whos themselves are caught up in the materialism of the season save for cindy lou who  played very well by taylor momsen  . this movie makes an ardent  ambitious attempt to capture the wackiness and sentiment of seuss  story  but the end result is a movie that lurches and never quite packs the emotional punch of chuck jones  animated version . jim carrey is noteworthy in his performance as the devilish grinch  but whether it  s the dialogue  the pacing  or extraneous storylines heaped upon the initial plot  the transformation from bitter miser to gleeful benefactor just does not ignite convincingly . there are some wonderful visuals and the make  up work is amazing  yet beyond the technical triumphs there  s an element or two here that  s missing .  br    br   succinctness   br    br   soul   br    br   or maybe jones did the initial adaptation all too well in his    minute cartoon that howard falls short of in a movie that feels three hours long . howard  carey  and crew are all very capable and talented  but what would seem a winning combination is just weak and plodding in its final product . if you must see the feature  length version  rent it on video with jones  animated version and you can see how bigger and glitzier is not always better . i give this film three cans of who  hash out of five .  
this show was great  it wasn  t just for kids which i thought at first  it is for the whole family .  br    br   the first season was mostly about the father looking after is two daughters and son  he sadly passed away in season   i could believe it when i heard it .  br    br   i am clad they carried on with the show as that what would really happen in really life and i need to mention the goodbye episode it was so well made  it must of be so hard for them to film this  you could tell they were real tears in theirs eyes . i am   year old male and this episode did make me cry me as i know how they felt as my father died when i was   years too just like roy .  br    br   season  and season  had great comedy in there also season  had some of my favorites such freaky friday  secrets .  br    br   i still think the show was strong enough to go on  i was disappointed that it ended  it was one the best no it was the best family comedy show ever since home improvement and it could have been the next friends .  br    br   it should never have ended but still love watching the repeats everyday .  
dr . seuss  how the grinch stole christmas          out of four   br    br   if you desire to see a holiday movie that will inspire your seasonal spirits and continue the traditional dr . seuss classic fable  don  t see  dr . seuss  how the grinch stole christmas .  if you are old enough to read this review  then you are probably too old to get any kind of enjoyment out of this motion picture . it contains lots of colors  creative production design and imaginative set and costume construction  joyous load noises  and the characters are made up to look like the actual inhabitants of the fictional village whoville . unfortunately that is where the movie  s positive elements end the rest of the production is nothing but an excuse for jim carrey to cackle on screen while giving a devilish grin  all while prancing through the overly broad screenplay with nothing much to do .  br    br   many people recognize the story of how the grinch stole christmas from whoville  so i will not waste my time in writing a detailed synopsis for you to read . however  i will say that the movie  s story is executed in three major acts the development of the grinch and setting  the whoville festival  and the dr . seuss vision of the mean one robbing the who  s from their christmas . there are many familiar names within the credits here  but no familiar faces . like in  battlefield earth   i just do not see why the producers would hire expensive actors just to have their identities shielded by unrecognizable makeup and costumes . regardless  there is snl  s molly shannon as betty lou  the wife of bill irwin  the later playing lou lou  the father of little cindy lou  played by taylor momsen . jeffrey tambor is the whoville mayor  anthony hopkins lends his bellowing voice for the film  s narrator  and christine baranski is the grinch  s lone lost lover .  br    br   the filmmakers attempt to bring originality to the story by adding unnecessary subplots and focusing too much on the little cindy lou . the screenplay by jeffrey price and peter s . seaman just feels like it goes everywhere across the movie landscape there is little if any focus by director ron howard and the screenplay is predictable  too extensive  and contrived . the only character given any distinctions here is the grinch himself  all of the other characters are puppets of the plot  shapeless and uninteresting . and the dialogue is overzealous and too corny to be anything but pathetic . example  grinch oh  the who  manity   br    br   the movie  s redeeming factors go out to the gifted production designer michael corenblith  the costume designer rita ryack  and the ample makeup department .  how the grinch stole christmas  is a very good  looking production . the sets and the atmosphere created by the filmmakers are detailed and imaginative it is like the audience is visiting a world as in a dream . the people of whoville are plastered with makeup  to the point in which we cannot tell the actor reciting the humorless lines . although dazzling  i really can  t give credit to the performances  for they are over looked to due the expensive technical department taking their place .  br    br   jim carrey is one actor who i can talk about . his performance is what nearly destroys the movie itself he is way too egotistic as the grinch  too exaggerated and comical to allow the story to be anywhere near recognizable as the work of seuss . surprisingly  although there are a few funny moments due to a few slyly clever sequences  no laughs come from jim carry  s zany silliness . it is almost like the movie was wrote specifically for carry to overplay his part . this factor only leads the movie to a wild but brainless comedy  which is only a pale shadow of the original christmas classic  how the grinch stole christmas .   br    br   after this movie  historians should check the coffin of the late author  dr . seuss may have rolled over in his grave .  br    br    
this has to be one of the best comedies on the television at the moment . it takes the sugary  sweet idea of a show revolving around a close family and turns it into a quite realistic yet funny depiction of a typical family complete with sibling and parent spats  brat brothers  over  protective fathers and bimbo sisters . i  m almost surprised it  s disney   br    br   to its credit    simple rules  knows it  s a comedy and doesn  t try to be more . too many shows  eg   sister  sister  and  lizzie mcguire   think just because its lead characters are now teenagers then they should tackle social issues and end up losing their humour by being too hard  hitting . this is a trap   simple rules  has avoided it does tackle some issues  such as being the school outcast  but it has fun while doing so . in fact the only time it has really been serious was understandably when it sensitively handled the tragic death of john ritter and his character .  br    br   and i think  although john ritter will be sadly missed since he was the reason the show made its mark    simple rules  can still do well if it remembers its humour and doesn  t make cate  s father a second version of paul hennessy .  
ron howard directed this  the     cartoon is charming  teaching a simple lesson to children using a simple plot . in this movie  howard gives us a whoville filled with greedy  manipulative  self  centered whos . jim carrey is terrible  but i  m sure it  s not his fault i imagine the script called for the nastiest person imaginable  so carrey channeled tom green and the result is movie magic . much like danny devito  s penguin in batman returns  carrey  s grinch is so thoroughly unlikeable that any degree of comedy that might be mined from his character simply evaporates . where the     cartoon featured a grinch that we could all identify with  carrey  s grinch is that angry  soulless old man that we  ve all seen at one time or another  sitting in a parked car muttering to himself or tripping toddlers at the supermarket with his cane . this grinch is thoroughly bereft of any degree of humanity  humor  or insight whatsoever  and his redemption at the end of the movie rings false . the whole movie rings false there is some stupid christmas lighting competition  a failed attempt at explaining why the grinch is such a jerk by digging into his childhood  and an indecipherable mystery as to why some of the whos have that weird lip extension and some of them don  t . contrary to the     cartoon  i would imagine children would find this movie tiresome  irritating  and filled with contradictory messages . did we really need to see slutty smurf  aka christine baranski as martha may whovier  in addition  ron howard filled the cast with his untalented relatives . throw in the requisite butt jokes  fart jokes  sex jokes  and other obligatory carreyesque low  brow humor  and you have a movie that is about as far from the     cartoon  or book that inspired it  as george w . bush is from rational  lucid thought . thumbs down on this big fat turkey .  
in     i visited the lake elsinore glider  port and flew a yellow pratt read sailplane . returning to germany the above serious ran on tv and one segment was about the high altitude sailplane flights in california in the early   ies .  the real life pilot was bill ivans  i don  t know who played him in the series  it turned out that the sailplane in the film was the same  same n  number  as the one i had flown at lake elsinore . ever since i saw that segment i have been searching for it and have been wondering if it is somewhere available .  other segments in that serious were about the baker ejection seat an instrument to find avalanche victims etc .  
having been forced by my children to watch this at least   times for each of the last  christmases  i feel adequately qualified to pass judgment on this version of dr . seuss  classic tale  and well . . . it  s not very good . first off  following a classic act like chuck jones  animated tv special is going to be difficult for anyone  but this interpretation is so heavy  handed and padded as to be positively numbing . i will concede that there are a handful of inspired gags  but overall the film comes off as a calculated cash grab  at the same time as it is supposedly decrying the commercialisation of christmas . jim carrey is typically over the top here  but that is completely at odds with the character of the grinch . as characterised by boris karloff  he was a slow burn methodical and sly . there is no method to carrey  s madness  and that is only the most obvious error made . talented actors like jeffrey tambor and christine baranski are utterly wasted here . why  universal  why  i mean  i understand that tony hopkins will take just about any role offered  much like his countryman michael caine   but this one needs to be filed under  films that should never have been made .  this does not bode well for the cat in the hat  an even thinner tome that universal is prepping for this christmas . i get the feeling that i will be making the same recommendation for that one as i am with this one skip it  and either read the book or watch the tv special . this is  hours you can never  ever get back .  
with the death of george nader  on  february      i thought of this most interesting program  which even though it had only a short run  was a tremendous idea with good story lines throughout . generally unseen for over    years it would be worth viewing again . the opening credits showed many differing images  one of which was a snippit of colonel john paul stapp  riding his famed rocket sled  at the point where he was often referred to as  the fastest man alive  .  
  possible spoilers   br    br   someone once asked dr . seuss if they could secure the movie rights to his     christmas classic how the grinch stole christmas . he turned them down  insisting that no one could do better than the marvelous chuck jones tv special from      also in mind  perhaps  was his bitter experience writing the script to      s the      fingers of dr . t  . when the good dr . died in      his widow  audrey geisel  still obstinately refused to sell the movie rights . but with the commonplace use of cgi effects becoming a reality  mrs . geisel had a change of heart . universal made her a generous offer she accepted she also accepted the casting of jim carrey as the title character . supposedly she was satisfied with the final result . well  mrs . geisel  that makes one of us .  br    br   the film was given a             budget  which is more than even heaven  s gate cost  including the adjustment for inflation   which obviously went towards the very elaborate makeup  set design  and special effects  which are undermined  br    br   somewhat by the rather hazy cinematography  . unfortunately  it seems that none of that money was set aside to get a better script than what jeffrey price and peter s . seaman  scribes of who framed roger rabbit   which made much better  br    br   use of a high budget  turned in . whereas the tv special was a trim   minutes without commercials  this film tries to fill a running time of    minutes with more background information about the grinch . it turns out that  as a child  he was the subject of ridicule  including an especially humiliating experience one christmas at the age of eight . so it turns out that everything that ails our poor mr . grinch is directly because of the whos . trouble is  it seems like a rather long    minutes  with too much dead wood clogging up the story . that might not seem so bad if only the grinch were a little more . . . well  grinchy . the character that dr . seuss wrote and chuck jones later animated was a sly fox whose slick attempts to hijack the holiday season were undermined by his sudden change  and exponential growth  of heart . carrey  s grinch is a loud  hyperactive oaf and  at times  a thug who  when made the holiday cheermeister   trashes the whoville town square in anger  br    br    hopefully the scenery tasted as good as it looked  . this undermines the script  s attempt to make the grinch more sympathetic  with all the whos down in whoville so unsympathetic  at least in this interpretation  .  br    br   the whoville of dr . seuss  s vision was a small town populated by honest folk who knew in their hearts the true meaning of christmas . the whoville of the movie is a rather noisy and crowded place populated by spoiled  selfish  materialistic ninnies an obvious attempt to comment on american consumerism . this is offensively  br    br   hypocritical inasmuch as the film industry has benefitted greatly from american consumerism  and as this film contributed to it with a huge merchandising  br    br   campaign .  br    br   the film also expands and redefines the character of cindy lou who  a small but crucial character in the original . the innocent two  year  old waif who walked in on this spurious santa is now older and wiser  constantly questioning the false values of the whos and trying to understand the grinch  s point of view  her one major scene from the original is re  enacted  making it seem out of character  . she  br    br   seems to be the only one who would ever know that christmas is more than just gifts and decorations  thus making her a completely different  and more annoying  character .  br    br   those who celebrate christmas should sooner accept a lump of coal in their  br    br   stockings on the morning of december   than a copy of this overlong  overacted  excruciatingly tedious  ham  handed  crude attempt to turn the children  s classic into a feature film . it proves once and for all that darkness  vulgarity   br    br   manipulation  and heavy  handedness are inadequate substitutes for charm  wit  sincerity  and heart . the folks at universal should get down on their collective knees and thank god that this truly bilious     million stink bomb grossed     million domestically or they  d not be here today . furthermore it made mike myers  the cat in the hat possible   
or released on dvd or screened on a cable channel like amer . life tv network . i have been watching another favorite   voyage to the bottom of the sea   as well as  lost in space  and land of giants  . they  ve been showing them forever but aren  t receptive to suggestions for other shows . my father and i were big fans as i was already a big science  electronics nut   still am  and my father was an old school chum of nader . they both attended oxy together . i still have memories of several of the episodes even though i was only  . more so than any show that old . i think it was televised on sat . after  bonanza  . some of the episodes i recall are the one where he takes the experimental drug that slows down action . or the one where he body surfs the big ones   i did that too   or the one where there was a mine cave in and he conveys how to use mind control to have the trapped people slow their breathing by entering a trance  like state . that is the one show that i wish i could see again . i got my wish with the original  outer limits  and  sci  fi theater . . . john  
how the grinch stole christmas was a wonderful little christmas cartoon that anyone could easily enjoy  i never did see the reason for a remake . not to mention a remake that was made with humans  the cartoon was just perfect enough  what  s the purpose of this film  but it also seemed a little odd for jim carrey to be the grinch . i mean he  s a great comedic actor  but him as the grinch  it just didn  t make any sense to me . his performance was a little over the top and unintentionally laughable at moments . not to mention some of the added dialog was a bit childish and not enjoyable . the whole story of the grinch and cindy lou  who was over done and wasn  t needed . they actually just destroyed the story  period .  br    br   all the who  s in whoville are getting ready for their best christmas season yet where everything is intended to go perfectly . but cindy lou  who is curious and worried about the grinch that lives above them and that he  s not going to get as good of a christmas as the other who  s . he kicks her out and decides that he doesn  t want christmas this year and that in fact he should just steal christmas all together to show the who  s what his version of christmas is all about . but soon he realizes that the who  s may know that it  s a little bit more than what is the materialized version of christmas .  br    br   how the grinch stole christmas wasn  t needed and was a bit over the top . i really recommend that you stick with the cartoon just for the simple fact that this is a pretty disturbing version  at least in my opinion . the make up and presentation of the whole film was just a bit over done  not to mention that how the grinch stole christmas  was more meant to be as a cartoon rather than a version starring jim carry . but at least this version makes you grateful for the boris karloff version that is played every christmas .  br    br        
i recently had the pleasure of seeing the big bad swim at the ft . lauderdale film festival and i must say it is the best film i have seen all year and the only film i have ever felt inspired to write a comment  review on . this film was beautifully directed and combined a script with realistic dialogs  excellent acting  and an inspiring message . ordinary lives come together in an adult swim class and become extraordinary in a celebration of the diversity of life . this is poignantly illustrated by the imagery in the first minute of this captivating film where we see only the legs and torso of individuals in various shapes and sizes enter into a pool of water . this film is brilliantly directed as the actors are placed and positioned in captivating scenes  which hold your attention and imagination .  
some have praised  atlantis  the lost empire  as a disney adventure for adults . i don  t think so   at least not for thinking adults .  br    br   this script suggests a beginning as a live  action movie  that struck someone as the type of crap you cannot sell to adults anymore . the  crack staff  of many older adventure movies has been done well before   think the dirty dozen  but  atlantis  represents one of the worse films in that motif . the characters are weak . even the background that each member trots out seems stock and awkward at best . an md  medicine man  a tomboy mechanic whose father always wanted sons  if we have not at least seen these before  we have seen mix  and  match quirks before . the story about how one companion  vinny played by don novello  fr . guido sarducci   went from flower stores to demolitions totally unconvincing .  br    br   only the main character  milo thatch  a young atlantis  obsessed academic voiced by michael j . fox  has any depth to him . milo  s search for atlantis continues that of his grandfather who raised him . the opening scene shows a much younger milo giddily perched on a knee  as his grandfather places his pith helmet on his head .  br    br   and while the characters were thin at best  the best part about  atlantis  was the voice talent . commander rourke loses nothing being voiced by james garner . although rourke is a pretty stock military type  garner shows his ability to breath life into characters simply by his delivery . garner  s vocal performance is the high point . i  m sorry to say leonard nimoy  s dying king is nothing more than obligatory . additionally  don novello as the demolition expert  vinny santorini  was also notable for one or two well  done  funny lines   but i  ve always liked father guido sarducci  anyway .  br    br   also well done was the computer animation . the background animation  that is . the character animation does nothing if not make already flat characters appear even flatter . aside from landscapes  buildings and vehicles there isn  t much to impress .  br    br   the plot was the worst . some say hackneyed or trite . i  m not so sure about that . any serviceable plot can be made into something new with the proper treatment . shakespeare often started from a known story and plot and was famous only for putting on a new coat of paint . so the treatment is the thing . and  atlantis  obviously lacks that .  br    br   i cannot begin to go into all the logic gaps without a spoiler section . the plot was bad . the plot  s bridges snap like twine and the ending does not make sense . to add to that  the script and the animation is peppered with annoying sloppiness .  br    br    spoilers   br    br   right at the beginning when milo reveals that runic or celtic symbols have been wrongly transliterated and the  coast of ireland  should read the  coast of iceland   we begin to have problems . the writers of the script would need to know the british take for eire or eireann as  ireland   and completely ignore the older  latin term hibernia . but more than this  they need to know of the vikings conspiracy to call the greener island iceland and the icier island greenland .  br    br   by making it the matter of a mis  tranliterated  letter   the writers have doomed themselves to requiring a runic version of english and a post  roman date on the script . since this is long after atlantis was supposed to have sunk into its undersea cave . and without visible clues and less technology than milo had  made the inscription far less trustworthy .  br    br   the shepherd  s journal could not be written before the sinking of atlantis  or it would know nothing about the cave or the crystal lying  in the king  s eye  . it must have been written after the sinking  but without even the technology that milo  s expedition had  how the heck did anybody get by the leviathan . so how could it know more about anything after that  and why would it be written in atlantian   br    br   automatic writing and clairvoyance or astral travel can explain these things . however clairvoyance and astral travel do not require to write in atlantian . so it  s got to be some sort automatic writing . since no  one left in atlantis can read  it must be the spirits of the crystal beaming messages to the surface . this would have made more sense . but could also have been explained within the movie milo could shepherd have discovered that this power had been calling him all his life   appeared in dreams  etc . this needed to be explored in the movie .  br    br   the atlantians should simply not be able to comprehend modern languages . no  one expects that the original indo  europeans would be able to converse in europe  anymore than romans would understand that hard  c  s or their day became french  ch  s  pronounced like  sh  s  no less    br    br   current atlantians were alive before the cataclysm   when apparently they could read  yet now are unable to read what they used to  or operate similar machinery .  br    br   the mass illiteracy points out a crucial flaw in the movie . nothing seems to have happened to this culture . it seems suspended in air until milo can rescue it . even though it appears that life is not a constant struggle for survival  no  one wants to compose poetry or write novels and perhaps it is a combination of atlantian school systems going downhill toward the end and lack of good fiction that caused atlantis to fall into illiteracy .  br    br   kida can be excused for not knowing how to read or operate the machinery if she was so young when the cataclysm of stupidity set in   but any of it hardly qualifies her father for deification   kashakim  s foolishness almost single  handedly wiped his people from existence . killed a bunch in the cataclysm  stalled progress  not a lot killed here  but he oversaw a massive slide in culture and progress  until someone could take the crystal to kill everybody  if they weren  t boiled in lava first because the giant robots weren  t there to protect them .  br    br   a bolt of blue electricity should have shattered kashakim  s likeness  when kida tried joining her father  s image to the circle of great kings of atlantis   br    br   even though milo was the only one who could read atlantian  rourke and others knew enough to look through a book of gibberish and find a page on a crystal   which he knew to be a crystal and not some stylized astrological or  phases of the sun  diagram .  br    br   if milo  s grandfather had told rourke about it  it still does not explain how rourke would have suffered from milo  s reading it as part of the book . ripping out the page   which was dog  eared in rourke  s hand  even though milo found no sign of a torn page in the book apparently   only was there to tip off the viewer that  something was not quite right  . unless the word  crystal  would have set alarms off in milo  s head that somebody would try to steal it  milo would have suspected nothing . it  s just thick  headed foreshadowing .  br    br   the crew  s  double  cross  was not a character change . we learned that vinny  sweet  audrey and cookie had been going along with rourke from the beginning . however  the  change of heart  falls flat . it was a change  and needed to be better motivated . hard to do with characters who weren  t given anything to begin with .  br    br   niggling little bit that the lava flows up over the dome  instead of filling in the rest of the area that we view the sequence from . it  s liquid it will not flow over the protective dome until it fills up all lower areas .  br    br   the ending stinks    and makes no sense other than to appease political correctness . with it  s powersource restored  atlantis is no longer a weak power  needing coddling . the giant robot guardians and the sky  cycles shooting blue lightning suggest that they have less to fear from us than they might . the technology is superior to ours  and definitely to early   th  century . in the end milo needs to teach the atlantians to read  for what  the whole idea is to leave their little quiet  chastened culture alone  not to send it into hyperdrive .  br    br    end spoilers   br    br   perhaps  the lost world plot and the turn  of  the  century setting should give me a hint that this is more an homage to pulps . the failures i find with the film agree with this idea . but i am at a loss why i should pay to see thin characters and plot holes simply because many dime novels had them as well . and pulp stories is part of the  crap they can  t sell adults anymore   anyway . we have become a bit more sophisticated and our pulp needs to grow up as well . raiders of the lost ark lost none of its pulp feel and avoided so much badness .  br    br    out of     the movie is enjoyable but as i think about the plot  it seeps ever lower .  
prior to seeing show people  my impression of silent comedy was essentially slapstick  and slapstick only . i could not imagine how screen comedy could be possible without relying heavily on spoken word or numerous pratfalls . but this masterful film proved me wrong . davies  in my view  was probably the greatest comedic actress to come along prior to lucille ball . i mention lucy primarily because davies  mannerisms and facial expressions reminded me of her to the point that i wonder if davies wasn  t one of ball  s primary influences . this is coming from a   year old who had never before seen silent comedy  and i must say that no matter how much of the period  specific references you actually get  i didn  t  apparently   you will not be bored by this movie . you will probably even laugh more than you would at most talkie comedies . this is not only my favorite silent comedy  but easily among my ten favorite comedies of all time .  
the only good part about this film is the beautiful scenery . this movie was long and boring . the minister should have retired from the pulpit the time his son paul strayed from the teachings he proclaimed . how many times can his boys take the lord  s name in vain in this film being from a presbyterian background  it doesn  t fit . i wished paul was swept down the river without a boat at the very beginning to spare us the silly  smirkish  selfish story of paul  brad pitt  . so norm becomes a teacher and paul becomes a compulsive gambler who norm wants to rescue but doesn  t  so what . it  s very uninteresting . we see the prejudiced whites being stood up to by paul because of his native american girl . that was the only part that had some interest and maybe could have been developed into a real  wild western  . what we only see is a sleepy town where the two minister  s sons have nothing to do but  . norm chase a lame girlfriend and deal with her family and  . paul make up dumb stories at the newspaper shop while scratching his head and take a lot of swigs and tie a lot of flies . i  d rather watch a show about fishing that that film again  which will be never .  
this film is hilarious  original   beautifully directed . i have become a big bad swim groupie  tracking it to film festivals whenever  wherever i can . i  ve seen it about half a dozen times now   each time  enthusiastic audience response has confirmed my feeling that this is one of the best films to come out in years . at nearly every festival it has screened  it has either sold out  or won the audience favorite award . it  s clear that people love this film   even clearer why they do . the cinematography is superb  the characterization  acting brilliant  the ending fantastic   the direction filled with compassion  wisdom  the art of perfect timing . it  s hard to believe this is ishai setton  s first film . i hope it will be released soon so everyone can see it .  
some have praised  atlantis  the  lost  empire  as a disney adventure for adults . i don  t think so   at least not for thinking adults .  br    br   this script suggests a beginning as a live  action movie  that struck someone as the type of crap you cannot sell to adults anymore . the  crack staff  of many older adventure movies has been done well before   think  the dirty dozen   but  atlantis  represents one of the worse films in that motif . the characters are weak . even the background that each member trots out seems stock and awkward at best . an md  medicine man  a tomboy mechanic whose father always wanted sons  if we have not at least seen these before  we have seen mix  and  match quirks before . the story about how one companion  vinny played by don novello  fr . guido sarducci   went from flower stores to demolitions totally unconvincing .  br    br   only the main character  milo thatch  a young atlantis  obsessed academic voiced by michael j . fox  has any depth to him . milo  s search for atlantis continues that of his grandfather who raised him . the opening scene shows a much younger milo giddily perched on a knee  as his grandfather places his pith helmet on his head .  br    br   and while the characters were thin at best  the best part about  atlantis  was the voice talent . perhaps milo  s depth is no thicker than fox  s charm . commander rourke loses nothing being voiced by james garner . although rourke is a pretty stock military type  garner shows his ability to breath life into characters simply by his delivery . garner  s vocal performance is the high point . i  m sorry to say leonard nimoy  s dying king is nothing more than obligatory . additionally  don novello as the demolition expert  vinny santorini  was also notable for one or two well  done  funny lines   but i  ve always liked father guido sarducci  anyway .  br    br   also well done was the computer animation . the background animation  that is . the character animation has not been this bad for disney since the minimalism that drove don bluth out the door . the character animation does nothing if not make already flat characters appear even flatter . aside from landscapes  buildings and vehicles there isn  t much to impress .  br    br   the plot was the worst . some say hackneyed or trite . i  m not so sure about that . any serviceable plot can be made into something new with the proper treatment . shakespeare often started from a known story and plot and was famous only for putting on a new coat of paint . so the treatment is the thing . and  atlantis  obviously lacks that .  br    br   i cannot begin to go into all the logic gaps without a spoiler section . the plot was bad . the plot  s bridges snap like twine and the ending does not make sense . to add to that  the script and the animation is peppered with annoying sloppiness .  br    br    spoilers   br    br    . right at the beginning when milo reveals that runic or celtic symbols have been wrongly transliterated and the  coast of ireland  should read the  coast of iceland   we begin to have problems . the writers of the script would need to know the british take for eire or eireann as  ireland   and completely ignore the older  latin term hibernia . but more than this  they need to know of the vikings conspiracy to call the greener island iceland and the icier island greenland .  br    br   by making it the matter of a mis  tranliterated  letter   the writers have doomed themselves to requiring a runic version of english and a post  roman date on the script . since this is long after atlantis was supposed to have sunk into its undersea cave . and without visible clues and less technology than milo had  made the inscription far less trustworthy .  br    br    . the shepard  s journal could not be written before the sinking of atlantis  or it would know nothing about the cave or the crystal lying  in the king  s eye  . it must have been written after the sinking  but without even the technology that milo  s expedition had  how the heck did anybody get by the leviathan . so how could it know more about anything after that  and why would it be written in atlantian   br    br   automatic writing and clairvoyance or astral travel can explain these things . however clairvoyance and astral travel do not require the shepard to write in atlantian . so it  s got to be some sort automatic writing . since noone left in atlantis can read  it must be the spirits of the crystal beaming messages to the surface . this would have made more sense . but could also have been explained within the movie milo could have discovered that this power had been calling him all his life   appeared in dreams  etc . this needed to be explored in the movie .  br    br    . the atlantians should simply not be able to comprehend modern languages . no  one expects that the original indo  europeans would be able to converse in europe  anymore than romans would understand that hard  c  s or their day became french  ch  s  pronounced like  sh  s  no less    br    br    . current atlantians were alive before the cataclysm   when apparently they could read  yet now are unable to read what they used to  or operate similar machinery .  br    br    . the mass illiteracy points out a crucial flaw in the movie . nothing seems to have happened to this culture . it seems suspended in air until milo can rescue it . even though it appears that life is not a constant struggle for survival  no  one wants to compose poetry or write novels and perhaps it is a combination of atlantian school systems going downhill toward the end and lack of good fiction that caused atlantis to fall into illiteracy .  br    br    . kida can be excused for not knowing how to read or operate the machinery if she was so young when the cataclysm of stupidity set in   but any of it hardly qualifies her father for deification   kashakim  s foolishness almost single  handedly wiped his people from existence . killed a bunch in the cataclysm  stalled progress  not a lot killed here  but he oversaw a massive slide in culture and progress  until someone could take the crystal to kill everybody  if they weren  t boiled in lava first because the giant robots weren  t there to protect them .  br    br   a bolt of blue electricity should have shattered kashakim  s likeness  when kida tried joining her father  s image to the circle of great kings of atlantis   br    br    . even though milo was the only one who could read atlantian  rourke and others knew enough to look through a book of gibberish and find a page on a crystal   which he knew to be a crystal and not some stylized astrological or  phases of the sun  diagram .  br    br    . if milo  s grandfather had told rourke about it  it still does not explain what how rourke would have suffered from milo  s reading it as part of the book . ripping out the page   which was dog  eared in rourke  s hand  even though milo found no sign of a torn page in the book apparently   only was there to tip off the viewer that  something was not quite right  . unless the word  crystal  would have set alarms off in milo  s head that somebody would try to steal it  milo would have suspected nothing . it  s just thick  headed foreshadowing .  br    br    . the crew  s  double  cross  was not a character change . we learned that vinny  sweet  audrey and cookie had been going along with rourke from the beginning . however  the  change of heart  falls flat . it was a change  and needed to be better motivated . hard to do with characters who weren  t given anything to begin with .  br    br    . niggling little bit that the lava flows up over the dome  instead of filling in the rest of the area that we view the sequence from . it  s liquid it will not flow over the protective dome until it fills up all lower areas .  br    br     . the ending stinks    and makes no sense other than to appease political correctness . with it  s powersource restored  atlantis is no longer a weak power  needing coddling . the giant robot guardians and the sky  cycles shooting blue lightning suggest that they have less to fear from us than they might . the technology is superior to ours  and definitely to early   th  century . in the end milo needs to teach the atlantians to read  for what  the whole idea is to leave their little quiet  chastened culture alone  not to send it into hyperdrive .  br    br    end spoilers   br    br   perhaps  the lost world plot and the turn  of  the  century setting should give me a hint that this is more an homage to pulps . the failures i find with the film agree with this idea . but i am at a loss why i should pay to see thin characters and plot holes simply because many dime novels had them as well . and pulp stories is part of the  crap they can  t sell adults anymore   anyway . we have become a bit more sophisticated and our pulp needs to grow up as well . raiders of the lost ark lost none of its pulp feel and avoided so much badness .  br    br    out of     the movie is enjoyable but as i think about the plot  it seeps ever lower .  
a community pool in connecticut is the setting for this  under the radar  film which is charming  funny  entertaining  and appealing . although it won prizes in major film festivals   the big bad swim  was not released to hordes of theaters across america  but was distributed in dvd form  and shown in theaters selectively .  br    br   it is unfortunate that  the big bad swim  never had the marketing hype of a hollywood release  considering how many sinkers hollywood has released this year  such as  i know who killed me .   the big bad swim   a genuinely good independent film  has had to swim upstream on its own .  br    br   nevertheless  in  the big bad swim   actress paget brewster is endearing and believable as amy  the wired  to  breaking point math teacher who not only is being dumped by her husband but also is about to lose her job  and ends up taking a gamble on a new life . tv soap actor jeff branson   who is hot   plays noah  the earnest  vulnerable swim teacher who goes the extra pool length to help his students overcome their fears  and discovers he can learn from his students . pretty  sexy jess weixler  did i just see her in a bank commercial   deftly plays jordan  the swimmer  to  be who works two jobs  one as a pole dancer  the other as a blackjack dealer . her character provides the catalyst for change amongst the ensemble  but is the least understandable of the characters  because of a lack of a  back story  or motivation as to why she does what she does . jordan is young enough to still live at home with a ubiquitous  video  camera  toting younger brother who spies on her . however  her parents are not shown to be involved with her life in any way  which seems odd . there  s no drunken mother or abusive father here to explain why a normal  attractive girl from a connecticut suburb would choose to be a self  medicating pole dancer who debases herself for loutish bachelor parties .  br    br   despite this quibble   the big bad swim  succeeds  in large part  because it is a happy  feel good film .  br    br   as one might expect  learning to swim is the metaphor for life . ultimately it  s better to jump in with both feet  and get in the swim  rather than sit on the deck  because life happens to you anyway .  br    br   the big bad swim is a great date movie  a great dorm movie  a great  what haven  t i seen  movie  and men like it as well as women .  
i went to see this one with much expectation . quite unfortunately the dialogue is utterly stupid and overall the movie is far from inspiring awe or interest . even a child can see the missing logic to character  s behaviors . today  s kids need creative stories which would inspire them  which would make them  daydream  about the events . that  s precisely what happened with movies like e . t . and star wars a decade ago .  how many kids imagined about becoming jedi knights and igniting their own lightsabers   seriously don  t waste your time  money on this one .  
i think i usually approach film festival comedies with the low expectation that they will invariably be  quirky   and that any intended humor will be derived solely at the expense of the characters  simplicity in the face of a complicated context . what was exceptional about big bad swim was that the director was able to maintain the integrity and development of his characters in his film while still finding laugh  out  loud humor in scene after scene . there was a sophistication  maybe due also in part to the sharp work of the dp  i  ve rarely seen in an indie film  and even more rarely in a comedy . of special note here paget brewster  s turn as amy the math teacher . after seeing this performance i cannot understand why brewster hasn  t been  discovered  by a larger audience . she brings the necessary mix of anger and likability to the role that really helps this picture reach its potential . this is a terrific work deserving of a larger audience . i look forward to more from the director and this cast   
if the makers of atlantis had something to say in this film  its theme was  literally  drowned out by the emphasis on  special effects  over characterization . almost as if in an attempt to  keep up  with the rest of the summer action blockbusters  disney has ditched the character  driven  movie  with  a  message approach in favor of a star wars  shoot   em  up  with stereotype heroes and villains .  br    br   the art is cartoony and the producers think that they can rely on computer generated images  cgi  of flying fish  craft and submarines to fill the gap . they are wrong  and the days of beautiful  handcrafted animation is fast flying out the window in favor of assembly  line cgi .  br    br   this movie is all spectacle with no heart . at times the film comes close to being a good  worthwhile movie  but frustratingly misses the mark so many times by copping out of talking about something meaningful and instead choosing to go with the glitz .  br    br   another problem with the movie is the pacing . it starts confusingly and then begins to rocket along with a choppy story editing style that is not appreciated . the viewer is rushed out of the door along with milo thatch  voiced well by michael j . fox  and is left thinking  gee there must be an awful lot of stuff that  s going to happen once we get to atlantis  . unfortunately  not much happens . the secret of atlantis remains a secret with the story  tellers not really knowing how to explain the legendary island  continent . they are afraid to commit to saying where atlantis is  even in a fictional story . is it in the atlantic  is it in the mediterranean sea  who knows  nothing is hypothesized  even from a purely fantasy  based point of view . the viewer will leave the theatre asking themselves  now what was that all about  what was the point of the movie  why couldn  t the surviving atlantean  s remember how to read when many of them lived through the disaster to the  present  day  and why did atlantis sink   and then promptly begin to forget about what they saw . there is nothing left to think about or mill over . . . except the loss of money in their wallets .  br    br   the characters and their motivations are equally unfathomable . from the eccentric zillionaire who founds the expedition with seemingly more money that existed on the entire planet in      to the  spoiler  collective consciousness that enters kida and voluntarily deserts its people    the crew are a collection of quirky    dimensional people of anachronistically  for      p . c . race and gender . the demolitions expert talks like he came right out of a warner brothers  bugs bunny short . most of the jokes are gross one  liners that are largely missed by the audience for two reasons they are delivered at lightning  speed pacing and usually mumbled . the way these supporting players do a moral turn  around near the end of the movie is hard to believe .  br    br   while we applaud disney for trying to create animated movies for adults  and this is the first disney not to have cute  talking animals or objects  it fails to make the transition . younger children will be frightened by some of the action scenes and be left in the dark by the large amount of subtitles  when the characters speak atlantean  . in the first five minutes of the expedition  approximately    people are killed without a second thought . obviously disney thinks that if you didn  t know who those people were  then why should you care  again  the movie has no feelings on any level .  br    br   mulan and tarzan were the last animated movies produced by disney that were done extremely well . sadly  atlantis harkens back to those failed attempts in the past such as the black cauldron and hunchback of notre dame . disney needs to get back to their roots . a sequel to peter pan is coming out shortly but one never knows what the results will be until you see it for yourself . and now that disney has discovered science fiction one hopes that they will realize that that genre must have more than spectacle to it . we also hope that the upcoming  treasure planet   a sci  fi adaptation of robert l . stevenson  s  treasure island   will have more heart to it than the unfathomable  atlantis the lost empire  .  
this indie film looks at the lives of a group of people taking an adult swim class in connecticut . the plot is fairly thin . what drives the film is the characters  excellently played by mostly unknown actors . standouts in the cast are brewster as a high school teacher experiencing marital problems and weixler as a casino dealer who moonlights as a stripper . the two actresses give natural performances and work well together . this is an impressive feature film debut for writer schechter and director setton . the latter keeps the narrative moving at a fast clip . the film title and poster suggest something raunchy  but this is a marvelous little comedy  drama .  
final score  an average of various classic cinematic qualities  acting  visuals  creativity  payoff  humor  fun  ect    br    br    .   out of     br    br   had  atlantis the lost empire  come out a few years ago it would have seemed like a bold  serious new direction in disney animation . however  it comes just a year after the innovative and nearly genius  the emperor  s new groove  and marks a step back in freeing disney from it  s repetative  disney formula  . i  m a big fan of the feature length disney animated films . have to see them all love it or hate it .  atlantis  is an animated throwback to        leagues under the sea  and similar live  action sci  fi adventures of the   s and   s . problem is that this version hardly contains one original idea . it feels like a remake of something  even more so than actual disney remakes  tarzan  the hunchback of notre dame  . the characters are little more than a walking cliches of the usual suspects that typically populate these type of films  the oddball mechanic  the gung ho general  the sassy tough women  . beyond milo thatch  fox  and rourke  garner  the supporting cast is flat  out obnoxious . the movie also suffers from it  s succinct pace . instead of fleshing it out into an epic story  disney jams a lot in the usually brief running time brushing over opportunities to develop . . . suspence  characters  anything really . they thow us into this new and wonderous world and barely let us get our barings . the awkward pace sometimes makes confusing what is a relatively simple story . the animation is dark and dreary and cheap . this thing looks like a slapped together saturday morning cartoon . let  s hope they haven  t forgotten that  d traditional animation can still be wonderous .  the iron giant  among others proved that .  br    br   negatives the visuals  pace  and sheer lack of originality .  br    br   positives quite possibly the coolest death scene for a disney villain in a long time . it  s the creative highlight of the movie .  
i saw the big bad swim at the     temecula film festival  and was totally caught off guard by how much i was drawn into it .  br    br   the film centers around the lives of a group of people taking an adult swim class for various reasons . a humorous idea in its own right  the class serves as a catalyst for greater changes in the students  lives .  br    br   what surprised me about the film was how real it felt . rarely in ensemble pieces are characters treated so well . i enjoyed the scenes in the class immensely  and the drama that took place outside was very poignant . nothing seemed out of place or out of character  and ultimately it left a very strong feeling  much like attending school or summer camp  where you find fast friends  form strong bonds  and make discoveries about yourself  yet have to depart all too soon .  br    br   my only complaint was that the character of paula had a very strong and unusual introduction  which made you want to know a little more about her than was ultimately revealed . i suppose you don  t get to meet everyone in class  though . . .  br    br   aside from this  i found the film very well  rounded and quite enjoyable . see it if you get the opportunity .  
follows the usual formula in putting a new recruit   this time the first african  american  cuba gooding  after president truman desegregates the armed forces   through the u . s . navy  s deep  sea diver training program that is run by a racist zealot  robert deniro  . if the program weren  t bad enough  it  s got to be located in bayonne  new jersey .  br    br   there  s nothing wrong with the performances . robert de niro activates his southern accent and shouts gibberish effectively . cuba gooding  raised by a stern father as a poor black farm boy in the south  is the expectable paragon of rectitude . the girls   one could hardly call them women   are charleze theron and lonette mckee . they have minor roles and are mostly there to argue that their men should exercise common sense . other decent performers   powers boothe and hal holbrook   have even more perfunctory roles .  br    br   that  s about it . almost everything else could have been assembled by a computer . a ship is called a boat . robert de niro salutes indoors  uncovered . after a brutal assault on hospital personnel  he  s transferred out of his outfit instead of being busted . somebody shouts  i  m outta here  in the early     s .  maybe it was a common expression at the time . if so   my bad .   people address each other by rank    lieutenant    boatswain  s mate    commander   as they do in the army  whereas in the navy they are simple  mister   if an officer  or addressed by their last name  if enlisted  . i didn  t bother to check if there was a rank called  senior master chief  in     .  br    br   cuba gooding has a tough row to hoe . everyone in the navy  it seems  hates negroes except for one guy from wisconsin . he stutters and is held in contempt by the others in his class . it  s like the scene in  animal house   in which the applicant to a tony fraternity is asked to wait in a room with a sikh  a black man  and a blind kid .  br    br   gooding is an enlisted man  a second class petty officer . he manages to marry a beautiful woman who has just graduated from medical school . in one of their arguments she pleads with him . she just wants to be a doctor and he should join her  quit the navy  and lead a quiet life .  and just let life pass you by    he retorts . yes . yes  just be a doctor  s spouse and let life pass you by . you can wave to it from the golf course in boca raton .  br    br   these kinds of flicks were common enough in world war ii .  bombardier    airial gunner   that sort of thing . cheap as they often were  they had some educational features . you learned something about becoming a bombardier or a gunner . here  the technical details are skipped over  perhaps because the writer knew nothing about them  except boyle  s law  which we learned in high  school chemistry  .  br    br   i couldn  t follow what was happening during some of the emergencies without which a movie like this wouldn  t exist . if i got the mechanical problems right  it was because i guessed correctly . the direction is no help either . the movie abounds in close ups  so many that they lose any dramatic impact they might have had . and the emergencies are confusing because they  re ill focused .  br    br   why go on  want to see a better example of this kind of movie  almost any will do   except maybe  g . i . jane   in which the abused hero is a heroin . try the training camp scenes in  the young lions .  there the victim is a jew . or try  from here to eternity   in which no easy sympathy buttons are pushed and the victim is a grown man who refuses to bend and who is active in bringing the conflict on  just like  cool hand luke .  no easy excuses are offered  because easy excuses are too easy .  br    br   thoroughly formulaic  and not well done .  
writing something genuine and true is challenging . knowing how to shoot it and putting it together without making it trivial is even better . ishai setton  s movie is one of those where you can recognize life in all its simplicity and beauty . i have been touched by  the big bad swim  and from now on  i will promote it as far as i can . it is just a shame that i can  t have something to show to my friends  you know  such as a dvd      because talking is good . . . but giving something to see is better . everyone can  t go to festivals to discover pearls like that and this movie  s really worth to be put out there  a big thank you to the staff of this master piece  and i am waiting for it to be distributed .  
chinese ghost story iii is a totally superfluous sequel to two excellent fantasy films . the film delivers the spell  casting special effects that one can expect  but fails painfully on all other fronts . the actors all play extremely silly caricatures . you have to be still in diapers to find their slapstick humor even remotely funny . the plot is predictable  and the development is sometimes erratic and often slow . towards the end  the movie begins to resemble old godzilla films  including shabby larger  than  life special effects and a  well  yet another  ghost with a godzilla head . maybe i would have grinned if i was expecting camp .  br    br   it is astonishing to see what trash fantasy fans have to put up with  in this case because somebody thought they could squeeze a little extra money out of a successful formula . they won  t be able to do it again the cash cow is now dead as a dodo .  
this independent film was one of the best films at the tall grass film festival that i have ever seen there i loved it there are so many things that was great about the film on top of all that the cast and crew that i had the opportunity to meet were absolutely phenomenal . i thought that avi did a great job in his role . and ricky ullman was absolutely true to his role for a disney actor i was amazed at his talent to be able to go from cheesy teen comedy to such an adult role with no problems the talent in the film was just amazing the cinematography was just great if you want to see an independent film this is one really that you should see . i think that mr gruver would have been so proud to have such a submission in his festival and his parents loved the movie so much when it won the audience favorite they went and saw it again . this truly was a great film it was dark and funny and sad and truly emotional it was just fabulous . i am honestly just so enthused by this film and i really don  t want to spoil it for any one just see it and truly be amazed at it i think that these film makers really have what it takes to go places and i hope to see more work from them in the future .  
spoiler warning .  br    br   when the main character  s sister is pushed down the stairs  the killer breaks a glass of vodka next to her  to make it appear that she  s been drinking . but right before she is killed  tells her sister  s business partner  teri garr  on the phone that she hasn  t had a drink in  days . yet the police never mention the results of a toxicology report  and  the characters talk about her being drunk when she fell down the stairs . huh  really bad mistake in this movie  which is pretty awful  overall .  br    br   surprisingly bad  considering the great cast . some faults the writing isn  t very good  the music is made  for  tv bad  and there is no tension at all because we already know the answer to the mystery from the first scene in the movie .  
i had the pleasure of screening  the big bad swim  at the     new london film festival last week . the festival highlights some of the best independent and non  mainstream films from the past year . it was my assumption that  the big bad swim  was chosen for screening at this festival for the simple reason that it was shot locally in and around eastern connecticut . however  as the credits began to roll i could only think about how well  the big bad swim  compared to the others featured during the festival . by far it topped my list  followed by  the puffy chair    who killed the electric car  and  transamerica  .  br    br   the  the big bad swim  is an engaging  truthful and often  humorous look at several adult education swim class pupils and their likable yet troubled instructor that has a depth that i  ve not seen on screen in quite a while . the interweaving character development and plot lines derived from something as absurd as adult  swimming lessons works in subtle and endearing ways which i found refreshing . the plot doesn  t beat you over the head with a direction rather it builds and grows organically with a pace that was spot on . i was never bored . i never cringed . i never stepped out of the story on the screen .  br    br   the humor of the film is something like  napoleon dynamite  meets  old school  . the acting from a group of relatively unknown actors was credible and their dialog never seemed awkward or contrived . obviously not being a multi  million production the camera shot weren  t all awe  inspiring and clear  but adequate and well done for the budget . the lighting and filming technique for scenes filmed in the strip club setting were particularly eye catching because of a more realistic approach than a similar themed scene found in  closer  . i also found shots filmed underwater of the class from the waist down seemed to be just as much a portrait of character as a shot from the shoulders up could be .  br    br   i sure it  s said over and over from many in the independent film industry  but i have to say it if  the big bad swim  isn  t picked up for some kind of distribution i would extremely disappointed .  the big bad swim  needs to be seen . if you have the chance to see this film  see it  disappointment is impossible   
the first half hour or so of this movie i liked . the obvious budding romance between ingrid bergman and mel ferrer was cute to watch and i wanted to see the inevitable happen between them . however  once the action switched to the home of ingrid  s fianc  it all completely fell apart . instead of romance and charm  we see some excruciatingly dopey parallel characters emerge who ruin the film . the fianc  s boorish son and the military attach  s vying for the maid  s attention looked stupid   sort of like a subplot from an old love boat episode . how the charm and elegance of the first portion of the film can give way to dopiness is beyond me . this film is an obvious attempt by renoir to recapture the success he had with the rules of the game  as the movie is very similar once the action switches to the country estate  just as in the other film  . i was not a huge fan of the rules of the game  but elena and her men had me appreciating the artistry and nuances of the original film .  
the big bad swim has a low budget  indie feel about it . so many times i start to watch independent films that have had really good reviews only to find out they are pretentious crud  voted for by people who are so blinded by the idea of the film and its potential to be provocative that they forget that film is a form of entertainment first and foremost .  br    br   i do not know if the big bad swim has any message or higher meaning or metaphor  if it does then i missed it .  br    br   from the get go bbs felt right  it was easy and warm and human  there were no major dramas or meaningful insights  i just connected with the characters straight off . and when  as with all good films the end came around i felt sadness at the loss of that connection .  br    br   if you are looking for something big  or fast or insightful look elsewhere  look for a film trying to deliver more than it can . bbs delivers a solid  enjoyable  real experience and i felt rewarded and satiated having watched it .  
where to begin   br    br     amitabh  s son  played by akshaye khanna  is   .  br    br   amitabh  s been in prison for    years . . . he  br    br   a  telepathically transmitted the sperm home   br    br   b  asked a nice pakistani guard to mail it for him   br    br   c  they allow conjugal visits in secret pakistani jails  br    br   d  all of the above  br    br   e  the producers were having a little too much bhang at  br    br   the time they approved the script   br    br      amrita rao  yummm   wants khanna  he  s yum  yum  yummy . . . and apparently he wants her  who wouldn  t  right   . . . but  when her dad gets ratted out  and then killed  i hardly think this is a  spoiler  as you  d have to be brain  dead and blind not to see this coming in the film  he  s pretty emotionless towards this catastrophe and with the tip  metaphorically  of his hat  leaves her behind to save his dad  never mind her loss  and says  paraphrasing   if god wills it  we  ll meet again  . . . basically meaning   i  m gonna get my dad and my job done  sorry for your loss  cya  buh bye    callus beyond even low  life hollywood standards . . .  br    br      there are so many holes in this horrible waste of time called a movie  that you can drive all the jeeps  trucks camels and any extra stuff through it . pass  really  complete and total waste of time  oh  there is a great dance sequence  yes  only one  as in dance sequence  regardless of quality  great belly dancing  but not worth watching just for this .  br    br   rent veer  zaara or lakshya  will hrithik roshan ever take acting lessons   for better indo  pak conflict movies . . . in fact  veer  zaara is pretty damned good   .    i  d say   
i don  t know why i picked this movie to watch  it has a strange title and from the description it just looked like something different . every once in a while its good to try a film that  s slightly different from the mainstream hollywood hero  thriller flick and this film certainly was different . right from the beginning this film had me intrigued but i couldn  t figure out why until the end if the film when i realized that the movie was great because the characters were so real . i thought the acting was superb and the character development really makes you care about them and hope things turn out well for them in the end . i think that everyone who watches the film could in some way relate to one of the characters and this makes for great viewing and some good laughs at the sheer ordinariness of the actors .  br    br   at the culmination of the movie you definitely get a sense of well being  and are left with the  things are going to be ok  type of a feeling . i  m sure this will have wide appeal and should be given a chance .  
come on  get over with the pakistan bashing guys . bollywood can not only make brilliant movies  but can seriously affect a generation of viewers .  br    br   i am a huge bollywood fan  but anti  pakistan movies just make me wince too much to enjoy screenplay  cinematography  action sequences  everything .  br    br   i  m really happy to see that viewers on both sides of the border are rejecting propaganda  and there are movies like main hoon na out there that have done brilliantly not only because they deserved to because of the quality of its bollywood masala  but also because it tries to say give peace a chance and shows that there are crazies out there on both sides who do not represent the masses .  
sunday july        pm the castro  san francisco  br    br    as a southern colonel your make  up is very indiana   br    br   the yammering gossips of hollywood have managed to sling more than a little mud in marion davies direction over the years . that she had fame handed to her and was undeserving  is often speculated . considering the mawkish dramas she was so often pushed into  this criticism would seem to have some validity . as a comedienne however  her star shone very brightly . left to pursue a career in light comedy and slapstick she might have rivaled mabel normand . one of her better outings was king vidor  s show people        which survives and is so well known largely because mgm filled it with star cameos . this happy coincidence inadvertently saved what is surely among the best work of its two stars  davies and that notorious joe college wise  cracker  william haines . rumor has it show people was loosely based on the life of gloria swanson  who began in sennett comedies and rose to grand drama  and don  t think she didn  t spend the rest of her life reminding everyone   with von stroheim  walsh and demille . coincidentally  the comedy studios used in this film are the original digs keystone had abandoned the year before  think of who worked there   .  br    br   colonel marmaduke oldfish pepper  dell henderson  drives his daughter peggy  davies  from georgia to hollywood to star in the movies . these two country hicks are unsuspecting fodder for incorrigible billy boone  haines     a custard pie artist   who descends on their cafeteria table in an outrageously funny entrance  watch for the bit with the noodle   and then helps peggy land a part in his next picture . what she thinks is high drama turns out to be screwball  but a job is a job and billy convinces her  . . all the stars have to take it on the chin   . at the preview  billy and peggy bump into  . . charlie chaplin  who asks for her autograph  she pushes the little fellow aside and a horrified billy grabs the book and makes her sign . chaplin climbs in his car and billy tells peggy who shes just snubbed  so naturally  she faints . it  s so very funny  considering davies character isn  t supposed to recognize this guy  peggy soon moves on to work at the high art studios  changes her name to  patricia pepoire  and leaves poor billy behind . davies does a wonderful send  up of a serious actress  with all the prerequisite fluttering eyelashes and quivering lips . vidor throws in a parade of stars eating lunch in a long tracking shot  and they  re all sitting shoulder to shoulder  facing the camera   that includes polly moran  who  s also sensationally funny playing davies  maid   louella parsons  one of the friendly vampires   estelle taylor  claire windsor aileen pringle  the comedy duo of karl dane  with his arm in a sling  and george k . arthur  pretending he  s stealing the silverware   leatrice joy  amused by arthur  s antics   renee adoree  rod  eating and smoking  la rocque  mae murray  john  in a robe  gilbert  who also appears driving through the mgm gates early in the picture   norma  eeeww   talmadge  looking bitchy and aloof as usual  and patricia dressed like marie antoinette  sandwiched between douglas fairbanks  as he does an amusing trick  and william s . hart  protecting her from doug  . billy runs into the high art crew on location when the comedy troupe disrupts their filming  with predictably nutty results . vidor even works himself into the final scene as the director of peggy  s current production . also worth noting are harry gribbon as the comedy director doing a great caricature of eddie sedgwick  sidney bracy as the dramatic director who can  t get peggy to cry for her screen test and then can  t stop her once she does  and paul ralli as andre  her dramatic love interest and a hilarious phony . when her character tries to  act  its as though davies is poking fun at all the awful dramas she  d been forced into and she  s brilliant doing it .  br    br   while it  s true show people is a hokey satire of the  good ole days  ten years hence  it remains a highly entertaining example of quality work from mgm  irving thalberg  and their tremendous wealth of assembled talent . what a shame so much has been lost . there are also far too many examples of great films like the patsy        vidor and davies  hugely successful comedy from earlier that same year  languishing in vaults when they could be seen and enjoyed .  
the story by norman maclean is a masterwork redford  s film is a mediocrity . he adds banal scenes of the maclean brothers going over a falls and of them double  dating in a seedy bar that were not even hinted at in the story . the cipher  brad pitt  trying to play the charismatic paul maclean  a genius outdoors  proves either risible or depressing  depending on what the original story meant to you . some of the fly casting scenes are beautiful . also  tom skerritt as the father and craig sheffer as norman are strong and masculine  as men were once expected to be . none of the women make an impression in the film  which is regrettable  because maclean loved the women in his story and made this clear  even poetic .  
i was really impressed with this film . the writing was fantastic  and the characters were all rich  and simple . it  s very easy to get emotionally attached to all of them . the creators of this movie really hit the nail right on the head when it comes to creating real life characters  and getting the viewer sucked right into their world . further  the music is terrific . they employed some independents to do the score  and some of the soundtrack  and they do a fantastic job adding to the movie . if you have a chance to catch this movie in a small theater or at a film festival  like i did   i highly recommend that you go see it . also  on a personal note  paget brewster is beautiful in this movie . that  s reason enough to go check it out .  
the writing of the journalists and the required over eager reckless press officer and sobbing grandma was ham  fisted and clich ridden .  br    br   i cant blame the actors  but surely someone must have said  are you joking i cant say this    br    br   this episode had a press perspective and police perspective  while the police perspective was standard enough  the press perspective and characterization was overdrawn exaggerated and at points insultingly unbelievable .  br    br   i notice that this was an hbo co production  if so then perhaps the sledgehammer stereotypes can be explained in that light   br    br   i was completely cringing during the press conference scene . it lacked any credibility and did not remotely ring true .   minutes into the first episode and i am still waiting for the suspense .  br    br   skip five daysthis . the       production with these characters is far better and more suspenseful even if the crime is over the top .  br    br   this story had unforgivable moments which can only be described as staggeringly unbelievable .  br    br   for a press officer to start a press conference without an investigating officer present to take press questions .  br    br   so unbelievable it felt like amateur hour .  br    br   i then began looking for journalists called  scoop  and for perry white to make an appearance .  br    br   i saw the     hunter before  five days  made it to australia  not realizing it was a prequel and was looking forward to bonneville and mcteer going around again .  br    br   head shakingly awful .  
i actually thought this is a comedy and sat watching it expecting to laugh my ass off . pretty soon in became clear this is no comedy  or at least not a  jim carrey type  one . what kept we watching was the characters  the movie starts with some pretty grim  troubled people  gathered together to try and fight one of their basic fears  fear of water  fear of swimming . we start to get bit by bit into their lives  witness their troubles  guess of their thoughts .  br    br   actually i made it look much darker than it actually is  and besides the chain of events soon brings some light and hope to their lives .  br    br   i probably wouldn  t have watched the movie had i known its not a comedy but rather a drama  but i had good time  enjoyed the story and don  t mind i spent about   minutes with it .  br    br   many films treat the alienation between people in the western world  this movie shows how people can get together and help each other  br    br    and if in the light of dying day you meet her  don  t let her pass you by and leave  don  t loose her  she is your gift from the sun . . .   br    br        br    br   peace and love  
i cannot believe that i wasted five hours of my life on this rubbish . the previous five day offering by this author was highly enjoyable and i was really looking forward to this . but most of the dialogue was completely incomprehensible . suranne jones was the principal culprit since she either mumbled or gabbled her lines  but most of the rest of the cast followed her example . notable exceptions were bernard hill and anne reid  old stagers whose diction was exemplary . do producers not listen to productions before they are aired to make sure the dialogue is audible  as a result i suppose i lost track of what was going on  and since the original plot line seemed to metamorphose into to the standard them  and  us thing between muslims and the rest i soon lost interest . the ending was a complete anti  climax . a complete dud .  
i consider myself a huge movie buff . i was sick on the couch and popped in this film . right from the opening to the end i watched in awe at these great actors  i  d never seen  say great word . the filming was beautiful . it was just what i needed . i hope that this message is heard over any bad comments written by others . the director has a heart and it beats with his actors throughout . thanku for making a film like this one . just wonderfully awkward  beautiful kind characters who are flawed and graceful all at once . just great . i can  t submit this without   lines in total so i will simply go on to say that i wish for more from this director  more from all the actors in this film and more from the writer . i didn  t want it to end . the end  
if you don  t mind having your emotions toyed with  then you won  t mind this movie . on the other hand  if you enjoy british crime mysteries  following clues and seeing how they all logically fall into place at the end  you  ll be very disappointed .  br    br   here are some of the logical inconsistencies that lead to that disappointment  br    br    while the police utilize the cctv cameras early on to gather clues about the mystery  the huge truck that stopped and blocked the children  s view just before her disappearance doesn  t get caught on camera . this is a critical piece of the mystery . it  s inconsistent to have the car the children were in caught on camera and not the big truck that is so critical to the mystery .  br    br    the movie goes to great lengths to show the sophistication of the equipment in tracking down the children  s movements but misses the opportunity to utilize the same sophisticated equipment is tracking down vehicles that may have entered the crime scene from camera  visible locations adjacent to the crime scene as part of developing clues .  br    br    in england  driving is on the left . the director goes out of his way to have the car at the crime scene park on the right  several meters away from the flower kiosk  when it could have easily parked immediately behind  or even on the side as the huge truck did .  br    br    the police forensics team is so meticulous as to find a discarded cell phone in a sewer drain several miles from the scene of the crime  but can  t find any blood evidence from the head injury right at the crime scene  even though they secured the scene just hours after the disappearance and with no intervening rainfall .  br    br    search dogs were not used at all to find the missing children this from the country that is well known for developing the hound dog for search and hunting .  br    br    it is illogical that such a highly publicized news story would not turn up the presumably innocent truck driver that stopped at the flower kiosk .  br    br    it is illogical that the mother would go to such extremes and expend so much effort to leave carpet fiber clues under her fingernails for her eventual murder investigators even coaxing her daughter to do the same   while she simply could not have crawled out of the unguarded mobile home . if she had enough sense about her to ask her daughter to get carpet fibers under her nails  she could of just as easily asked her daughter to call out for help or even leave the mobile home that was in a crowded residential park .  br    br    the suspect that abducted the little girl was portrayed as mentally slow  dimwitted   justifying his unknowingly drowning of the mother but  he was smart enough not to cooperate with the police and also fully exercise his rights not to self  incriminate .  br    br   there are more inconsistencies like this that will lead to a true sleuth aficionado  s disappointment .  five days  is a very weak british crime story .  
i had the opportunity to see this film twice at the     moving picture festival in birmingham  alabama . i enjoyed it so much that i watched it a second time when they had an encore screening .  br    br   when i think of the films that are shown at festivals  i usually expect them to be edgy and offbeat  often with the feel of an elaborate student project . there  s nothing wrong with these types of projects of course  and i enjoy the unique styles of independent films  but sometimes i want to see a more mainstream approach to independent film  making . by  mainstream   i mean more like a film produced for national release  in other words  a movie that you would see in a regular movie theater .  br    br   the writing  directing  cinematography  casting and acting in this movie are all totally pro . there is nothing typically independent about this film . as an aspiring director  i am always looking for movies that will motivate me to stop procrastinating and push harder to get my career going . this is one of those films . as i watched the big bad swim  my motivation level was incredible . i felt like my adrenaline had kicked in . the reason i felt this way was because i was so impressed with every aspect of this production . i left the theater excited and ready to start writing that long put  off project . when a movie makes me feel like that  i know it  s really good . this is the first feature  length project from ishai setton and i found myself wishing that it had been my project . for me  that  s really rare .  br    br   see this film . it  s beautifully shot and directed  and the casting is excellent . paget brewster delivers a very believable and likable performance . she has a quality about her  a charisma  that really draws you in and keeps you focused on her any time she is on screen . she makes you feel like you know her personally as a friend . that  s a gift . i think the industry is really missing out by not utilizing her acting abilities more often . jeff branson and jess weixler also did top  notch jobs . i can not say enough nice things about the big bad swim . i look forward to future projects from all of those involved in its production .  
what a let down  this started with an intriguing mystery and interesting characters . admittedly it moved along at the speed of a snail  but i was nevertheless gripped and kept watching .  br    br   david morrissey is always good value and he suranne jones were good leads . the muslim aspects were very interesting . we were tantalised with possible terrorist connections .  br    br   but then morrissey  s character was killed off and all the air left the balloon . the last episode was dull  dull  dull . the whole thing turned out to be very small beer and the dnouement was unbelievably feeble .  br    br   five hours of my life for that  my advice watch paint dry instead .  
this is an excellent film about the characters in a adult swimming class  their problems  relationships and interactions with each other . it should have managed a wider distribution as it  s much better than similar films from major studios out at the same time .  br    br   the swimming instructor is an almost  olympian  reduced to teaching adults basic lessons  and often the target of horndogging from his female students . he attempts  more or less  to fend them off  with varying results .  br    br   the students characters are mainstream u . s . a teachers  policemen  college students and retired people  all of whom haven  t learned to swim for some reason . the movie covers their relationships  including friends  relatives and romantic conquests as they go through the class . several subplots provide amusing fodder  including a teacher going through a divorce  some high school students making a documentary  and a girl who is only in the class to meet guys .  br    br   this is a good date movie  or just one to watch when you  re in the mood for a romantic drama with overtones of reality .  
i have grown up with scooby doo all my life  my dad grew up with scooby doo . we have just watched the first episode of the travesty that calls itself shaggy and scooby get a clue . what planet are warner bros on allowing this shambles to air . the characters could have been drawn better by my younger sister . the story could have been better written by my  year old twin cousins  who are scooby doo fans too  . scooby and shaggy just aren  t      if anyone but casey kasem does the voice of shaggy it just isn  t gonna work folks     trust me .  br    br   this program was disgraceful . what  s new scooby doo is much better . why change a winning format . bin this piece of garbage and go back to the true scooby  
this final voyager episode begins   years in the future . voyager has made it back home . in the many years it took to return tho  the vulcan tuvoks  mind has been destroyed . he carried a disease they were too late getting home to cure .  br    br   captain janeway comes across aliens who have time travel technology . she realizes  there  s a warp conduit in the delta quadrant that could bring voyager home immediately  if she could go back in time and notify voyager . there  s one problem . the conduit is deep inside borg space .  br    br   janeway visits tuvok . he  s like a child . he scribbles tho  obsessed  working on math problems or movie reviews or something  he  s convinced are important somehow . in the institution  tuvok cries  asking for  janeway  to please  please come back to him .  br    br   janeway decides to commandeer a federation shuttle and equip it with weapons technology   years ahead of the borg  in the hopes of going back in time and using this new technology to guide voyager to the warp conduit .  br    br   when she goes back in time and links up with voyager  janeway meets her younger self . the two captains disagree  arguing about the plan . the real  captain visits tuvok asking him if it  s true he has a brain disorder . tuvok admits it  s true  but it can  t be cured by the facilities on the ship so he  s kept it to himself .  br    br   the young captain agrees to the older captains  plan . to increase their chances of success the older janeway plans to distract the borg with her shuttle craft . the borg actually capture janeway and her shuttle . the borg queen personally assimilates captain janeway . but janeway  s expected this  the borg queen has assimilated a virus into herself that kills her . with the borg queen dead voyager makes it thru the warp conduit back to federation space .  
i thought  what  s new scooby  doo  was pretty bad  yes  i  m sorry to say i didn  t like it   since hanna  barbera didn  t produce it and it took a drastic step away from the old series . when i heard  shaggy and scooby  doo get a clue  was in the works  i thought it could be better . but when i saw a pic of how scooby and shaggy were going to appear  i knew this show was going to be bad  if not worse . i watched a few episodes  and believe me  it is just yet another  teen titans  or  loonatics unleashed   wannabe . no longer are scooby and shaggy going against people wearing masks of cool  creepy monsters that rob banks . now they are going after a typical super  villain whom wants to destroy the world . shaggy and scooby  doo have become more brave  too . also  since shaggy is not going to be a vegetarian in this series  casey kasem  whom actually is a vegetarian   the original voice of shaggy  will not voice shaggy . he will only voice shaggy if he doesn  t eat meat  and that was just a stupid corporate  done change to update the franchise  as if the internet jokes weren  t enough . so scott menville  whom previously voiced red herring on  a pup named scooby  doo   voices shaggy here . believe me  the voice is really bad  it makes shaggy sound like a squeaky    year  old  and i must agree the voice definitely fits his new ugly look . however  kasem does voice shaggy  s uncle albert  which is a sort of good thing . scooby  doo  on the other hand  does not look that well . he seems to have been designed to look more like the cgi scooby  doo from the live  action movies . also  scooby  s frank welker voice  need i mention brain the dog again   still hasn  t improved . robi  the robotic butler  is practically worse than scrappy  doo  he tries to be funny and does  comical  impressions and gives safety tips   remember kids  don  t stand under trees during a thunderstorm     but it just doesn  t fit into a scooby  doo cartoon . again  the hanna  barbera sound effects are rarely used here . however  on one episode   lightning strikes twice   they use the  castle thunder  thunderclaps during it  almost extensively   although they do still use the newly  recorded thunder sound effects  too .  scooby  doo hasn  t use  castle thunder  sound effects since     . but my question is  why use  castle thunder  on  shaggy and scooby  doo get a clue   while not use it on the direct  to  video movies or even on  what  s new scooby  doo    two episodes of wnsd used it  and it wasn  t enough  unfortunately .  if wnsd and the dtv movies used it  then they might be better than this crappy cartoon . the day this show premiered  i watched the first episode  and it was so bad i turned it off after only five minutes  to get my mind off of this poor show  i rented  scooby  doo  pirates ahoy   which came out around the same time . and you know what  the  pirates ahoy  movie was actually better than  shaggy and scooby  doo get a clue   and even better than  what  s new  scooby  doo    and it looks like the new designs that the characters have isn  t permanent to the franchise . the direct  to  video movies coming out while this show is being made use the regular character designs  thankfully . but  whether you loved or hated  what  s new scooby  doo   i don  t recommend it . but if you hate the old series  then you  ll love it   oh god  i hope the old scooby  doo cartoon stay better than this new    anyways  like wnsd  a really bad addition to the scooby canon .  
i was not really a big fan of star trek until past    years . thanks to the advent of netflix and post     video technology distribution  i am able to embark into the past of all the great star trek episodes . for those that don  t really watch every single episode and know them by heart  through tng  ds   voyager  etc .  general popular consensus will say    i like the next generation  the best . that  s because captain picard and his crew were fresh when they first appeared after decades of star trek starvation . but to be quiet honest  i appreciate the creativity of voyager  s episodes more than tng . voyager  s episodes also progresses through time unlike tng . granted data from tng is great but it eventually gets old but voyager  s doctor   now that  s creativity  instead of making artificial intelligence awkward and jerky  give him the freedom to express beyond anything you imagined . not only is picardo such a great actor but the premise setting for his expansive  self growth  as a doctor  self realization now that is science fiction at its best  endgame portray him as a husband married to an  organic   inventing neuro  implant transceiver for human  machine interface  and even   in the episode before endgame  to disobey captain  s order and make  human  mistakes . unlike ds  which are blessed with  beautiful women right from  st episode  voyager has to survive  seasons without jeri ryan and i believe it is picardo that carried them with his personality . of course the rest of the voyager  s cast chemistry just flows effortless  harry kim and tom paris   very natural . i love tuvoc occasional humor  despite being a vulcan . finally  i  m so glad they got rid of that original female captain   oh  if you get to watch the rare footage   thank god for kate  she has developed through the  years into an extremely confident  believable  and respectable female captain . what a great job  thank you star trek for making voyager  i enjoy every episode  the creative exploration of possibilities  of morals  and of our cosmic expanse .  
as a mother of  young children who are or should i say have been growing up with the many reincarnations of scooby i feel well positioned to comment on the historical and current version of scooby .  br    br   if as a family we had not seen any episodes prior to shaggy and scooby get a clue we may have enjoyed it as a light weight  nothing special saturday morning cartoon . but that in essence is the problem it is in it  s current format so light weight that it will not have the longevity of the  old  scooby and gang . i  m sure it may succeed in a quick monetary return but i  m sure the long term buy in of old and young is in very real danger of being lost . my  year old son on seeing the new version was really disgruntled and without any prompting said that it looked really badly animated and why wasn  t it anything like the last series  where are you  .  br    br   scrappy doo was an anomaly but still infinitely better than this . let  s hope get a clue will be apropos with reference to the producers .  
spoilers . like other posters  i felt that the ending was a bit abrupt . i would have liked to have seen the crew adjusting to life back on earth after their return . i suppose the writers anticipated this problem by  front loading  some voyager on earth sequences at the beginning of the episode .  of course  that time line has been eradicated  so it  s all moot .  i did like how admiral janeway died for the voyager crew . as fans  we get to have our cake and eat it to  by having janeway both make the ultimate sacrifice and live on . i admit that the scenes of janeway and her older self having conversations was bizarre and so easily could have crossed the line into camp . fortunately  mulgrew  s  pulled it off .  
i am    and i still like most of the scooby doo movies and the old episodes . i love the     s movies  and recently we were treated to one of the better direct to dvd scooby doo outings of this decade  scooby doo and the goblin king  which i wasn  t expecting to be as good as it was . anyway  back to get a clue  i watched some episodes  expecting something very good  but from what i saw of it  i wasn  t impressed at all . first of all  i hated the animation . it was flat  deflated and very saturday  morning  cartoon  standard  easily the worst aspect of the series . even some shows i really hate had slightly better animation . even worse  shaggy and scooby looked like aliens  and i really missed fred  velma and daphne  as they added a lot to the old episodes  when scooby doo was positively good . i also hated the character changes  because it seemed like instead of solving mysteries  shaggy and scooby were now playing superhero  something they would  ve never had done in the movies or in the scooby  doo where are you  show . the theme tune wasn  t very good either  i can  t even remember it  and the jokes were lame and contrived . though  i do acknowledge that there is a very talented voice cast  had they had better material  and hadn  t been told to sound as different to the original voices as humanly possible  which they did  might i add . in conclusion  i personally thought it was awful  and i am not trying to discredit it  it  s what i personally feel .     bethany cox  
this is a great ending to the show . the fact that adm . janeway was able to do a double switch on the borg was great . the fact that she allowed herself to be infected  thus infecting the queen with a  poison  that in  essence  ended the borg was great . the way they ended it also left some  not a lot  for a reunion movie . however  they did bring them  home  and the way they did it was fantastic   it was sad to say good bye to a part of my family . ending it with tom and b  lanna having their baby just as they enter the alpha quad . was a great way to show a new beginning . it would be nice to have a reunion movie of some type  just to see where their characters would be today .  
shaggy  scooby  doo get a clue . it  s like watching a much  loved relative in the final throws of a degenerative illness   clearly the work of people with no soul  no love or respect for the original work . what in the name of all that  s holy were they thinking of  it seems they were trying to go all post  modern and ironic . instead it  s just abysmal swill   what  s the point in taking up a successful franchise like  scooby  doo  if you just going to flush it down the toilet  my son loves the original series  and even some of the spin  off movies  but he can  t stand this drivel  and let  s face it  you can  t argue against the tastes of a seven year  old  
the past few months i have collected voyager seasons  to  on dvd  i only had  to  on video before that  because kes is my favourite character  and have just reached the end . i saw them when they were originally shown on tv here in the uk but had forgotten most of it . am i satisfied with the ending  i think i am . naturally as i fan i would have liked to have seen more about what happened to the characters when they got home but that  s left to our imagination . in many ways  endgame  is similar to next gen  s  all good things  the involvement of the crew in the future  but mainly the captain . a new romance starting in the finale  troi and worf in next gen and seven of nine and chakotay here   which results in death in the future . i truly loved  endgame   fair to all characters  neelix appears although he left the ship two episodes earlier . b  elanna gives birth to her daughter with loving husband tom . tuvok is ill but returning home means he can be cured . harry has always been the most anxious and determined but admits the journey is important . the doctor  in the future  is well respected by all and finally chooses the name joe  but of course the captain has the largest role  meeting her future self who wants to get the crew home earlier to prevent casualties . the borg are involved  as they have played a massive part in this period of voyager . alice krige plays the borg queen again fantastically  just her voice and acting method are magnificent . i feel sorry for susanna thompson though  the tv borg queen replaced by the movie borg queen . maybe she wasn  t available though . the special effects are fantastic  the borg sub space hub and the borg queen falling apart  it  s very tense . especially when they come out of the borg subspace corridor and say their location is right where they thought they  d be after they  d said they  d have to go in a corridor that leads back to the delta quadrant . and what a wonderful idea to get inside a borg sphere for protection  on the dvd special features they say it was like the trojan horse . voyager could have continued . if it was more popular they would have stuck with their original idea of the crew realising the ship is their home  like in harry  s speech and what tom said because his wife and child are there . and then they could have got home in a film   br    br   overall  voyager was a bit hit and miss . the sixth season seemed to be one good one followed by one less than good one . the two episodes set in the holographic irish village are horrible  my perception of seven of nine was that she took over  it all revolved around her  which wasn  t true . when she first appeared  season  was focused on her for too many of the episodes but it evened out after that . and her character is ingenious at times    years as a borg drone gradually rediscovering her humanity . i like her  especially in  someone to watch over me    imperfection   and  human error .  when naomi wildman was scared of her initially but then became her friend often by her side  that was lovely . chakotay became my least favourite character . gone was the chemistry with janeway  will they  won  t they   and you  d never think he was first officer  he  s completely pushed aside most of the time . i loved seeing tom and b  elanna  s relationship blossom against the odds . i always liked neelix a lot . tuvok was good at times  especially when he lost his logic  gained emotion and was friends with neelix . harry was annoying at times but a okay character at other times . the doctor is probably my favourite  seeing how far he comes and comedy situations he creates   tinker  tenor  doctor  spy  is fantastic   . janeway is my favourite captain of any series and you can tell kate mulgrew is really enjoying it .  br    br   i wish there was more  i love voyager   
the animation looks like it was done in   seconds  and looks more like caricatures rather than characters . i  ve been a fan of scooby doo ever since the series premiered in     . i didn  t think much of the scooby doo animated movies   i  m talking about the tv series  not the full length movies .   but some of them were pretty cool  and i like most people found scrappy doo to be an irritant  but this series is pure garbage . as soon as i saw the animation  and heard the characters   and i use that term loosely  speak  i cringed . also  mystery inc .  was a team  and without the entire crew to compliment each other  it just seems like opening up a box of chocolates to find someone has already ate the best ones  and the only thing left are the ones nobody wants . what  s new scooby doo was better than this . if you  re going to have a scooby doo tv series  include the elements that made the series endure so long . the entire cast of characters  and quality animation . they need to put this one back under the rock from where it came .  
perhaps the funniest  backstage at hollywood  movie ever  especially for a look at comedy short factories like keystone .  br    br   marion davies should get a medal for bravery for taking a part where acting poorly in front of a camera is part of the role . plenty of cameos for film buffs .  
this film  the alamothirteen days to glory  is utter rubbish . the acting is awful  it is far too patriotic and its historical accuracy is not always at its best  historians would have a field day  . it does have a few good moments but not enough to keep interest because it is far too long . rating  out of  .  
diane keaton has played a few  heavy  parts in her many years on the big screen but she  s mostly known for the  light and fluffy  stuff with woody allen  such as annie hall . she deserves an oscar for best actress in a drama for this effort and it doesn  t really matter what the competition was the year it was first shown . try and find a scene in which she doesn  t appear . and it was all heavy drama  exhausting in its pace and retakes  action  all at full speed . the make  up made her as young as possible and she fit the   s age category even in close  ups  but she was playing half her age and at a very fast pace . the movie  overall was fairly well done  staged and shot well with a strong supporting cast but keaton carried the load .  
i grew up with scooby  kinda the re  runs of where are you  i hate scrappy  love daphne  and feel its not complete with out the whole gang . but this is sad  scooby doo is mystery solving comedy  not bad totally spy  s jap anime . i like  whats new   they had to give danger  prone daphne a makeover sometime   and try to lose the sex drug jokes of many a generation  but this  get a clue  is flat out crap and should not have the scooby name attached . they even tried to do some lame punk thing with the theme song . now i  m gonna go watch my dvd of scooby doo where are you to wash the filth of this new series off my eyes  
a single mother  diane keaton  finds herself working several minimum  wage jobs . when she gets fired  she finds that she is unable to support her sons  michael seater and colin roberts   the latter of whom has asthma . then she goes to her friend and starts selling drugs . soon enough  she gets addicted to the drugs that she is selling . her life comes crashing down  especially when her kids  namely her oldest son  find out the truth and threaten to leave her . then  she struggles to redeem herself with the help of her kids but can she protect her family from the drug lords who she worked for   br    br   wow  this lifetime movie has some of the best acting i have ever seen  diane keaton overacts a lot  and her character comes off as crazy but she was extremely convincing . she is much better suited to drama than to comedy . however  the best performance in the movie comes from michael seater  who plays her oldest son . he is perfect as the responsible son who is still young but trying to be the adult in the family . his acting was especially great in the scenes where he confronts his mom about the drugs . colin roberts  who plays the younger son  also does a great job .  br    br   a movie well worth watching  especially because of the acting from michael seater and diane keaton   
scooby doo is undoubtedly one of the most simple  successful and beloved cartoon characters in the world . so  what happens when you  ve been everywhere and done everything with the formula  you switch it up right  wrong . you stop production and let it rest for a decade or so and then run it again  keeping the core of its success intact . that is to say  stick with the formula for the most part but add your particular flavour to it . this to me is why  what  s new scooby doo  worked  they want back to the classic scooby doo formula which had only successfully resurfaced a decade earlier in  a pup named scooby doo  but for the most part had not been tapped since the original  scooby doo where are you  .  br    br   the first sign  to me  of a weak offering is the inclusion of extraneous characters there might be a few fond memories from past iterations but generally if you think  scooby doo  you aren  t thinking of film  flam  scrappy doo or scooby dum . even worse  the exclusion of the other core members of  mystery inc  generally indicate a group of production people who don  t understand from a kids point of view how the show works . the basic premise has always been a group of people who are diametrically opposed getting together and through their own individual  stereotyped qualities manage to surmount the tasks given at hand .  br    br   this next paragraph is just my theorizing so skip it if you want i hope that i can explain why i think fiddling around with the basic elements of the show are detrimental with my interpretation of what the gang represents and how they contribute to the whole fred represents the driver  i think in general it is the purpose of fred to give the group direction  organization and sub  tasks . fred isn  t a happy  go  lucky teenager  he  s your boss  your teacher  your dad  your authority figure . fred moves without hesitation and is driven by tasks  problem always equals solution for fred  . in many ways fred is the antithesis to shaggy . shaggy is your best friend  that guy who is just a little more afraid of things than you are  he enables you to be brave  to not be at the back of the pack . shaggy represents emotion and is frequently showing emotional extremes from elation to fear . velma represents rational thought  she applies logic but as we see time and again on the show she requires clues that for the most part are collected in pieces by the other members of the show . left on her own would velma solve a mystery  the group often finds itself in situations where truths aren  t obvious and only through chance encounters do they achieve the necessary information to complete their task  chance is represented by daphne . at one point  i think it is the first scooby doo series  she was known as  danger prone  . writers have used daphne to link unrelated events together through accident . she frequently is the one who finds the secret door  collection of objects or some other detail that can help the gang link clues together . finally scooby himself represents us  the participant . he is always in the centre of events  capable of all the things the rest of the gang are capable of  yet handicapped because he is not human and much like us the television viewer is unable to truly participate . scooby doo works because all these personified elements of problem solving are immediately identifiable and entertaining .  br    br   maybe i  m over thinking things but  in my life i  ve seen a lot of scooby doo  being a   year old self  proclaimed nerd  it kind of rolls with the territory  . to me there is a magic with the classic  scooby doo  formula that should never be messed with .  br    br   as many have pointed out scooby doo is not a great work of art nor is it completely trite  it falls into the category of programming that can be watched by young eyes with a hearty bowl of breakfast cereal . messing about with the raw simplicity transforms it into something else  something lesser .  
i got to see the movie  on thin ice  on the television in india . . i must say the movie was really well done  and really sent a chill down my spine . . the basic story makes me ponder what makes certain addicts decide to move on where as others still remain addicted . . .  br    br   however  i felt that diane keaton was at her best . . . the scene where she has cravings  and begins rummaging her home for cocaine . . . was the best . . . the two boys are good  and lynda boyd also showed what a good actress she is . . . . the script is well done as is the cinematography and direction . . and casting  br    br   a must must watch movie . . . . . for everyone  
scott menville is not casey kasem . that is the first  most important  and most disturbing thing about this attempt at re  imagining scooby  doo and company .  br    br   shaggy  s voice is squeaky and does not sound anything like he has ever sounded in any of the previous incarnations of the scooby shows . they  ve also changed the outfit and the classic mode of walking from the original .  br    br   i  m not sure what they  re on about yet with the villain angle  but it surely isn  t following the formula used in any of the previous scooby shows .  br    br   and the animation style is very bizarre and distorted . i like it  but it  s not real scooby  doo type animation . but the weird animation used for other wb shows grew on me this might  too .  br    br   it  s worth a glance at   once   if you can handle the lack of proper shaggy voice . that right there is enough to jar one out of enjoying the show properly . besides  i am trying not to be an inflexible  nitpicking fan . evolve or die  as the saying goes . we  ll see how it looks after two more episodes   by then i  ll have formed a much more solid opinion .  
since this movie was based on a true story of a woman who had two children and was not very well  off  it was just scary as to how real it really was  the acting is what gave the movie that push to greatness .  br    br   diane keaton portrayed the main character  patsy mccartle who had two sons whom she adored . her performance is what made the real life story come to life on a television screen . it was very hard to watch some of the scenes since they were so real as to what happens when one becomes addicted to drugs .  br    br   just watching this very loving mother go from sweet to not caring at all was hard  but so true . i have known people who have gone through withdrawl and it was very much like what happened in this movie  from what i remember .  br    br   i also thought that it was very risky for the director to want to make a movie out of what happened to this woman . yet it was done so well . i applaud the director for making this movie .  br    br   i highly recommend this to anyone who has known someone who has ever been addicted to drugs or to just learn what can happen to you if you do become addicted to them .  
the first episode of this new show was on today  and it was horrible . not only did shaggy have a squeaky new voice that made listening to his lines torture  but it  s so far away from the original concept and animation style that it  s barely recognizable as a  scooby  doo  show .  br    br   even back in the dark days when fred and velma were gone and scooby  s nephew scrappy was there  the team still solved mysteries . this new show instead features shaggy and scooby battling a james bond type super  villain and his henchmen while living in a mansion . there  s not even a van called  the mystery machine   and the teaser for the next episode which promised a transformers type robot car did not put my mind at ease  . how can anyone take scooby doo and make this   br    br   the show earns two point for two scenes featuring the whole scooby doo gang  all of whom speak with the correct voices except shaggy  and even then i  m being far too generous .  
i thought this movie did a down right good job . it wasn  t as creative or original as the first  but who was expecting it to be . it was a whole lotta fun . the more i think about it the more i like it  and when it comes out on dvd i  m going to pay the money for it very proudly  every last cent . sharon stone is great  she always is  even if her movie is horrible  catwoman   but this movie isn  t  this is one of those movies that will be underrated for its lifetime  and it will probably become a classic in like   yrs . don  t wait for it to be a classic  watch it now and enjoy it . don  t expect a masterpiece  or something thats gripping and soul touching  just allow yourself to get out of your life and get yourself involved in theirs .  br    br   all in all  this movie is entertaining and i recommend people who haven  t seen it see it  because what the critics and box office say doesn  t always count  see it for yourself  you never know  you might just enjoy it . i tip my hat to this movie  br    br        
first  let  s get it out of the way . . . yeah  this film steals a lot from  darkness falls        . the plot for  darkness falls  goes something like this the tooth fairy  a murderous woman who hides her face due to disfigurement kills people who look at her out of revenge . in  the tooth fairy         the disfigured tooth fairy  who  yeah  hides her face  unleashes her furious vengeance on just about anyone . a little too similar to be coincidence .  br    br   but  what must be asked is this if you  re going to directly steal the exact plot from a movie  why choose something as mediocre as  darkness falls   sure it made a few bucks at the box office  but that was strictly for the fairly okay theatrical experience the film delivered . a low  budget  straight  to  video movie will not have that same effect . and it didn  t .  br    br   as i watched the opening      minutes of the film  my expectations actually rose . there seemed to be at least some production value . the story didn  t seem terrible  just blatantly ripped off . past the first scene  we get an okay cast of characters including an ex  doctor with secrets  played by that guy who looks like a busey  and some hot veterinary student  jenifer from argento  s  masters of horror jenifer   . after those few minutes  however  the film just slowly goes down the drain . it serves all the basic horrible clichs including  but not limited to some crazy old person with an unheeded warning  the buff dumb jock  the psychic  and the stripper with the heart  of  gold .  br    br   one of the biggest problems this film had was its inability to stick with a target audience . it  s kind of like the filmmakers wanted to change the tone for whatever character was on screen at the time . when the adults were on screen  it had a more mature feel . when star  the stripper  and whatshisface  the jock  were on screen  the dialogue went down to a more stupid  err immature  level . when the kid was on screen  it felt like an episode of  are you afraid of the dark   . . . only less scary .  br    br   technically  the film is all over the place . the visuals range from fairly good to plain boring . the writing is subpar  as is the acting for the most part . on the plus side  there  s some excessive gore at parts  including a fairly cool  yet painfully predictable   woodchipper scene and a pretty vicious nailgun scene . also  if you  re looking for a bit of the sexy stuff  there  s a brief topless scene  but if you want to see this chick topless  there are better films to do that  . other than that  there  s not much to bother with when it comes to this film .  br    br   if you  re a huge fan of  darkness falls   do those exist    maybe you can check it out to see the story done in a different way . . . but  that  s about the only reason i can find to see this one .  br    br   final verdict      ap    
just the kind of movie i love . some very good british actors as well as the one and only sharon stone . catherine tramell  stone  masterfully manipulates a well educated group of people  s lives  playing on their frailties to collect experiences to write a murder mystery book . she plays the female psychopath quite well while using her ample sex appeal to convincingly portray what could be considered one of the ultimate black widows . tramell is use to dark places within society and freely partakes in sadomasochistic flings in the  never visit after dark  side of town . from the beginning  there is nothing short of an r rating here from the dialog alone . stone could also be described as a sort of female hannibal lecter  an emotionless femme fatal without the meal plan .  
this movie is so stupid it simply goes around the corner and becomes ridiculous . i wanted to watch  darkness falls  actually and thought that this was the movie . boy  what a mistake  i fast  forwarded as much as i could and still i couldn  t get rid of the boring moments . i just envy the people who was paid to play in or work on this movie . they were actually given money for this crap . isn  t that amazing  i mean in this movie a man gets killed and chopped in a wood  grinder to little bloody pieces and few minutes later the mother and the kid talk calmly at the table as nothing happened and drink coffee . please  come on  who gives money for such crap movies  oh  and the  tooth  fairy  was lame . not scary at all and was obvious that it is a bored stuntman wearing a badly made make  up .  
really  i think this movie is more an example of an easy target than a truly bad film . in fact  the movie is done very well in many respects and is very entertaining .  br    br   yes  the script is a little convoluted  but that  s the genre . the film has a noirish atmosphere centered around a femme fatale . just like all the old noir classics  this  too  has a screenplay that twists you around so that you don  t always know how to make sense of it at first  and it can be a stretch if you think too deeply and try to put all of the pieces together . that  s the genre . in general  the script has enough surprises and turns to keep the viewer guessing and  in turn  surprised  without abandoning the viewer .  br    br   sharon stone is also an easy target . the truth is she looks great and she speaks her double  entendre laden dialog in such a way as to zhuzh it up into something mysterious  sexy and fun .  br    br   the direction is more than passable  because let  s face it   you have to keep an audience interested in the  did she or didn  t she   question for two hours . in addition to a twisty script and a fun performance by stone  this is done effectively through the direction by the creation of a noirish atmosphere that is both dark and very stark and modern at the same time  with straight industrial lines to go along with stone  s sexy curves . the frame is always beautiful   press pause anywhere and there is something interesting to the eye .  br    br   the film also effectively builds on things that were gimmicks in the first film and turns them into something a little more real  particularly the sex .  katherine tramell is bisexual . . . how shocking   becomes treated more matter  of  factly here  and typically  the sexuality of the film is used to better effect . it is still titillating  but not done so readily for shock value and buzz as done in the first . i won  t say that it isn  t still somewhat of a gimmick because  let  s face it  this film is supposed to be fun .  br    br   and a fun film it is . it may be an easy target  but if you watch it for what it is a noirish  femme  fatale driven  twisty  sexy  did  she  or  didn  t  she who  dunnit  you  re bound to enjoy it  no pun intended  .  
this movie has one redeeming feature . at one point  after a character is attacked by an ax  wielding fairy  his brother asks him   why is your dick over there  chuck   after suffering through almost an hour of bad film  this almost made my drink come out my nose .  br    br   some of the acting isn  t too bad  but the kids all stink and p . j . soles should be ashamed of herself for doing this film . the story is weak and nobody does what you think  or what common sense dictates  they should .  br    br   of course  there are a lot of story points that don  t add up . for example  in one scene the ghosts of young children must concentrate hard to move a physical object so they can prove they exist  a difficult feat since they apparently can  t interact with physical matter . however  minutes later they all pick up branches off the ground and beat the tooth fairy with them . apparently they can sometimes move matter and sometimes they can  t . go figure .  br    br   lots of blood and guts  though . . . a few nice boobs . but this doesn  t make up for the deficiencies .  br    br   if you want a movie about the tooth fairy  go rent  darkness falls  . i think it  s great  though a lot of other reviewers don  t share my opinion . at least it sets a mood .  
yes i  ll say before i start commenting  this movie is incredibly underrated .  br    br   sharon stone is great in her role of catherine trammell as is morrissey as dr glass . he is an analyst sent in to evaluate her after the death of a sports star . glass is drawn into a seductive game that trammel uses to manipulate his mind .  br    br   the acting was good  apart from thewlis   br    br   stone really has a talent with this role . she  s slick  naughty and seductive and doesn  t look a day older than she did in the first . she really impressed me  like in casino  . morrisey was also good . he showed much vunerablitity in a role that needed it . thewlis however was lame . he ruined his character and was over  the  top the whole way . he really sucked .  br    br   overall  this movie not as good the first but stone is a hoot to watch . just ignore thewlis .  
i was enjoying this movie most of the time  but i kept getting the feeling that i was watching a children  s movie . i honestly think that somebody wrote a pg script and then  while filming  decided to add in some blood  nudity and language . it was a big let down . there  s that believe the children magic that exists in movies like  babe   the pig  or  angels in the outfield  that defeats the evil tooth fairy . the parents end up believing their daughter about her ability to see the ghost and utilize this skill to supernaturally defeat the tooth fairy . when i bought this movie  i thought it would be a b  film response to the dreadful darkness falls somehow manage to make a better film with    of the money  but they don  t . they made a worse film and will probably lose the same proportion of money lost on darkness falls .  
i heard tell that madonna was briefly considered for the catherine tremell role . compared to sharon stone  madonna is too coarse and bauerisch . she  s not even close .  br    br   evil incarnate sharon stone is a bit long in the tooth  the ameliorative effects of modern chemistry and surgery notwithstanding . however  she artfully treats us to a frightening personification of evil beyond redemption . in the obligatory sex scene  she projects pure  crystalline lust . especially her hooded  luminous eyes and a face flat with pleasure . thanks to brilliant use of lighting and other stage techniques  the harsh lines of age are only occasionally manifest . rather  she seems to have a slight golden glow  yes  yeats  .  br    br   the locations gave us a view of london that is a welcome departure from the usual londonscapes . the catherine character is so powerful and menacing that i thank my lucky stars that our paths never crossed . i wouldn  t have had a chance .  br    br   the original basic instinct attempts at censorship i must briefly comment on the original     film  set in san francisco  a beautiful city worthy of this film . it is outstanding  from the music to the locations to the sets  and so on . paul verhoven pulled striking performances out of the cast and crew .  br    br   that the main baddie was a woman did not escape the scrutiny of bay area gay and lesbian activist groups . attempts at censorship were vehemently denied . swell . these philosophical pygmies demanded editorial control over the script  insisting on re  writes that would promote their political and psychiatrically driven agendas . example sanctimoniously alleging sexism and misogyny  they demanded that the lead role be switched from bad girl to bad guy .  br    br   on locations in san francisco  the gentle  tolerant activists did their best to sabotage filming of the scenes with noise  flashing lights and other tactics . the executive producers  mario kassar and andrew vajna  vowed to fight any efforts to restrict the artistic freedom guaranteed in our democracy and obtained restraining orders against the disruptive tactics .  br    br   blowback thanks to the fulminating activists  the film got huge national press coverage  millions of dollars worth of free advertising . their calls for viewers to boycott the film resulted in a backlash that had customers waiting in long lines wherever the film was launched . it also received widespread critical acclaim . it was  in the words of the reptilian hackett in network   a big  titted hit   sorry  gentle reader i just couldn  t resist that one . yes  it  s a gibe .  br    br   in conclusion  i believe that both basic instinct  and   with their brilliant musical scores  aesthetics and acting  are works of art  br    br   that deserve protection under our constitution .  
where to begin . this movie started out as something that seemed like a rip  off of  darkness falls  . an old  disfigured woman living in the woods  giving kids presents for their teeth . sound familiar  then it changes . in  darkness falls   the tooth fairy only killed you if you saw her . the tooth fairy in this movie killed you no matter what . why did they need the rocker  his hippie girlfriend or the bubbas and their sister  i think the movie would  ve been fine without them . it seems like the producers sat around and decided that they needed to put extra people in the movie just so the tooth fairy would have people to kill . although  it  s nice to see a pretty blonde girl not being portrayed as a bubble  head for a change . okay to rent  but i wouldn  t suggest buying it .  
let me be up  front  i like pulp . however it is like one of these  easier dives  that you see at the olympics . it has to be marked down a little because it is easier to give a cheap thrill than drag you inside the world of  say  a late medieval painter .  br    br   this is only a two hour ghost train ride and while often  or more accurately  most of the time   ludicrous and unlikely it always goes forward and it always entertains . if not always in the right way . check out the memorable quotes section for a chuckle .  br    br    however quite why it has been given a  worst film  razzie is baffling  i bet there was a thousand worse films made in      but this film got the treatment because it was viewed as a fashionable victim .   br    br   head case and popular novelist catherine tramell  sharon stone  is now over in london writing a novel  but death and destruction follow her around like flies follow a horse during a spot of hot weather . god heavens  she can  t even visit the toilet without tripping over at least two corpses and i am sure if she opened the closet in her vast penthouse flat one would come tumbling out in grand hollywood style .  br    br   yes  clearly a very dangerous lady to be circling around  if you like your pulse to be above zero   but is she personally responsible  i mean why would anyone put two  and  two together and start thinking she might be a murderer  equally her reaction to such accusations seems very casual . however is this just a personality disorder  some form of b  s risk addiction  or further evidence of her guilt   br    br   for reasons i cannot fully understand or explain stone is assigned to psychiatrist michael glass  david morrissey  for evaluation rather than taken down the cells following another  lover found dead in mysterious circumstances  . thankfully  for stone  he is far crazier than any of his patients and has a troubled home  working life of his own . in the blink of an eye the relationship changes from doctor to patient and then it is hard to tell because it all becomes something of a revolving blur .  br    br   in to this heady mix comes roy washburn  a strange welsh sounding david thewlis  who tells the love struck doctor  in his capacity of policeman of many years standing  that the lady in question may be dangerous . i mean  hold the front page . however glass is now too glassy  eyed to realise or care . like a dizzy boxer in front of a prime  time mike tyson he ripe for the big take  down  however not before finding that washburn might have a secret or two himself .  br    br   now comes millena gardosh  charlotte rampling  a fellow psychiatrist and a rare example  in this film  of someone who isn  t barking mad or else a murder suspect . presuming that she has actually watched the finished film she must look back with nostalgia when her underwear came off with the ease of stone  s  thankfully  for us at least  those days are long gone . strangely she doesn  t think stone is quite as dangerous as everyone else  or else she doesn  t think the script is good enough or her cheque large enough to do any proper acting .  br    br   after several laps of the track roughly outlined above it comes to a climax that mixes provincial rep with a cliff  hanger  twist  that while as farcical as the rest of the movie  gives us enough elbowroom for basic instinct   highly unlikely this may be at this point in time .  
the tooth fairy is about the ghost of an old deformed witch that lures children to her house to get a prize for their loose tooth and then takes their lives . the first few minutes introduce you to the     beginning of the legend of the tooth fairy and then switches to present day . the worn out horror plot is pretty much saved by the solid acting . they could have done without the hammond brothers and a few other scenes  but overall the gore scenes were bloody but quick which had a minimizing effect . the eye candy is pretty good for both genders . camera work is good . dialog is fair but cheesy . i expected the film to be a bare bones  low budget  slasher with very few redeeming factors . i was surprised by the quality of the film .  
  show people  is an absolutely delightful silent directed by king vidor and starring marion davies and billy haines . what gems both of them are in this charming comedy about a young girl  peggy pepper  whose acting is the talk of savannah trying to make it on the big screen . though she  s a success in comedy  what she wants to do is make  art  so she moves up to high arts studio . soon she becomes patricia pepoire and is too good for the likes of her friend billy .  br    br   many stars of the silent era have cameos in  show people   including davies herself without the curly hair and makeup . i  m sure when people saw the film in      they recognized everyone who appeared in the elaborate lunch scene sadly  nowadays  it  s not the case  even for film buffs . in one part of the film  however  she does meet charlie chaplin in another  author elinor glyn is pointed out to her  and vidor himself has a cameo at the end of the film . other stars who pop up in  show people  are john gilbert  douglas fairbanks  william s . hart  leatrice joy  bess flowers  renee adoree  rod laroque  aileen pringle  and many others .  br    br   davies was adorable and a lively comedienne . it  s a shame william haines quit the movies  he was cute and energetic  deservedly an enormous star back in the day .  br    br    show people  is a simple story told in a witty way . it  s also a look back at an exciting era in hollywood  s history and contains performances by two wonderful stars .  
slow and riddled with inaccuracy . over  looking its flaws this is still an interesting account of the famed and heroic siege of the alamo during the texas fight for independence from mexico . james arness as jim bowie . brian keith as davy crockett . alec baldwin as col . travis . raul julia as general santa anna . this made  for  tv project also stars david ogden stiers  kathleen york and jim metzler . very good original music by peter bernstein .  
this picks up about a year after the events in  basic instinct  . catherine tramell  sharon stone  is now in london . while having sex with a soccer player while speeding about in a car going at    miles  hour  don  t ask  she goes off the road and ends up in the thames . she survives   he doesn  t . the police hire psychiatrist michael glass  david morrissey  to see if she  s mentally competent to stand trial . naturally she starts playing with his mind instead and plenty of murders and sex follow .  br    br   this movie was doomed before it even opened . it took forever to get a cast and director  script problems were constant and the cast was not happy  morrissey complained about the movie often  . still it  s not too bad . it  s a lot like the first   there  s a lush music score  beautiful locations  plenty of sex and nudity  this had to be edited for an r   a nicely convoluted plot and good acting   but there  s no impact . it feels like a retread of the first . people are being killed here with a choker leash  i believe  . . . just like people were being killed by an ice pick in the first . in one cute moment stone picks up an ice pick and looks at it longingly . she  s also playing mind games with a man and might be getting him implicated in murders . the similarities are too apparent .  br    br   this is also very r rated   there  s plenty of explicit sex talk  male nudity  morrissey looks a lot better nude than michael douglas   female nudity  stone still looks great  and some bloody murders . the acting is good across the board . stone is just fantastic here morrissey looks miserable but is ok charlotte rampling and david thewlis are good in supporting roles .  br    br   so   this isn  t at all bad but feels like a remake of the first . still i recommend it . people just attacked this because stone is not well liked and they thought it was stupid to do a sequel to  basic . . .    years after it was made .  
i tried to finish this film three times  but it  s god awful . case in point mom and daughter drive up to the bed and breakfast  mom stops for gas  crazy gas station weirdos mad at her hubby whose running the bb try to rape her . she escapes  heads to bb and instead of hubby going ballistic and she wanting to call the cops  story just continues with lukewarm behavior on both their parts . wow .  br    br   other action logic deficits abound . acting is also lukewarm  and the next door neighbor  s warning is delivered in a really corny  badly acted moment .  br    br   moments of intense gore  death unevenly interwoven with lukewarm scenes of time  filler interplay between characters .  br    br   less focus on gore  more focus on mood and story would have been appreciated .  
just came back from the first showing of basic instinct  . i was going into it thinking it would be crappy based on preview critics and i was pleasantly surprised  if you liked the original basic instinct i think you will enjoy   just as much if not more . great story that always keeps you wondering and thinking . the music is superb  reprising the original  s theme . don  t go expecting academy award material  go to see it for enjoyment and fun . that  s what movies are designed for   escapism . i can  t think of a better way to escape than to escape with sharon stone who is as sexy as she ever was . am thinking about going to see it again this weekend . go see it   
 . . . the child actors were annoying . also it seems as if the makers on this film were struggling to fill   minutes . decent death scenes  though . if not for the death scenes  this movie would have a very disneyish feel to it .  br    br   the main child protagonist didn  t seem nearly as scared as she should have been . if i was in the middle of the woods with a tooth fairy ghost killer type individual  you can bet your arse i wouldn  t be out wandering around and riding my bike .  br    br   overall  i  ve seen worse  i . e . it waits  but it  s nothing i would watch again  or recommend anyone bothering with it unless you  re an avid horror collector .  
what a thrill ride  twisted and thought provoking . once again  sharon stone pulls off her drop dead gorgeous  spellbinding character of author catherine tramell impeccably . the original basic instinct takes place in san francisco . the sequel takes place in london  where catherine has now relocated . both bustling cities known for excitement  haute couture  and a perfect place for someone like catherine trammel to take residency . david morrisey    derailed    plays the smooth role of psychiatrist dr . michael glass . the character david thewlis plays as roy washburn with scotland yard  is a refreshing departure from his role as lupin in the harry potter series . flashy cars  designer clothes  sex  drama  humor  tension   all of the  basic instincts .  mind bending throughout . great screenplay . from the climactic opening scene to the surprise ending  this film is anything but boring  everyone in the theater was glued to the screen .  
the only scary thing about this movie is the thought that whoever made it might make a sequel .  br    br   from start to finish  the tooth fairy  was just downright terrible . it seemed like a badly  acted children  s movie which got confused  with a  wizard of oz  witch melting and happy kiddies ending combined with some bad gore effects and swearing .  br    br   half of the cast seem completely unnecessary except for conveniently being there to get murdered in some fashion . the sister of the two brothers  cherise the aura reader and mrs . mcdonald have entirely no point in the film  they could have included them in the main plot for some interesting side stories but apparently couldn  t be bothered . the people watching the film know the characters are there for some bloody death scene but come on  at least try and have a slight plot for them . the story in general is weak with erratic behavior from the characters that makes you wish they all get eaten by the witch .  br    br   add the weak plot and the weak acting together  the children are particularly wooden  and the movie ends up a complete failure . if only mst  k could have had a go at this one . . .  
we start all of our reviews with the following information . my wife and i have seen nearly    movies per year for the past   years . recently  we were honored by receiving lifetime movie passes to any movie any time at no cost  so we can see whatever we want whenever we want . the point of this is that critics count for zero . your local critics or the national critics like ebert are really no different than you or me . the only difference is that they get to write about the movie and are forced to see hundreds of movies whether they want to or not . therefore  it is our belief that if you get your monies worth for two hours of enjoyment that is good enough for us  we never ever listen or read the critics . we only care about our friends and those who we know like the same things as us . well enough about that .  br    br   this movie is very good . not just good but very good . the critics are a bunch of morons . just because there is nudity and language they hated it . it was worth the price of ticket and that is all you can ask for . is that not right  every movie cannot be an academy award nominee . sharon stone is gorgeous and does a great job in the movie and it mystifies me as to what in the hell the critics want  
this movie is similar to darkness falls  and the boogeyman       but it  s also much more graphic than both  and not as good as either . it  s also slow and fairly predictable . it  s also got shades of deliverance and the amityville horror . plus  we get some new age flavour thrown in the mix and some of those scenes come off as a motivational  inspirational sermon . really  this movie is a hodgepodge of almost everything . even though it is gory  the makeup effects are not very realistic looking . in fact they look kinda cheap . aside from all that  there is some really awful clichd dialogue . and i won  t say when  but there is a point where a couple of the character  s actions were not authentic or believable  given the circumstances . nobody in their right mind what would have acted this way . once you watch the movie  you  ll know what i mean . there  s also some gratuitous nudity for nudity  s sake . it just wasn  t necessary at all . the good news is that the acting was actually pretty good . better than this movie deserves . so  after carefully weighing the evidence  id say this movie was passable  but not good . my verdict for the tooth fairy      
i cannot accept the negative comments of other reviewers . they are too critical  perhaps because they are stuck in the past . i would like to see a comment from someone who had never seen basic instinct   perhaps someone very young  i left the cinema feeling glad that i had not been swayed by the imdb reviewers .   hours later i am still trying to find flaws in the plot but i cannot think of anything serious . my advice to everyone is see it for yourself and make up your own mind .  br    br   it follows a similar pattern to basic instinct  but the plot is less confused . it still left me wondering at the end but in a more satisfactory way . sharon stone is as sexy and evil as before and wears her   years extremely well this remains her defining role . david morrisey was satisfactory even though he is no michael douglas . of the supporting cast i particularly liked david thewlis as the police detective .  
when i saw this movie cover  the first thing i thought was that it was made for video . the second thing that came to mind was how similar this looked to another terrible movie  darkness falls   the tale of this dumb witch who killed people in the dark . unfortunately  darkness falls was quite the masterpiece compared to this pile of garbage  and this movie should not have been made .  br    br   the film starts off with a small back story for the witch  or  more like a pointless introduction of two little kids who are going to go meet the tooth fairy in hopes of her giving them a shiny new bicycle for their tooth . the opening is filmed poorly  and like the rest of the movie  it  s certainly not scary . in present time  the movie is about peter  lochlyn munroe  . peter  s renting out his house  and his ex  girlfriend darcy  chandra west   and her daughter cole come to stay there . cole meets a neighborhood child  and they talk of the tooth fairy  and how you shouldn  t lose your tooth  or she  ll come for you . unfortunately seconds later  it looks like the tooth fairy steals her bike and knocks her tooth out  how ironic  . will cole survive the wrath of the tooth fairy  and will her mother and peter be able to save her  and rekindle their romance . . . this is a bad movie  you could probably figure it out .  br    br   one of the main problems with this idiotic film is how undefined the tooth fairy is . they say she kills you if you lose your tooth  but nope . she  s more like a serial killer who kills at random  and if you lose your tooth  you  re definitely going to go . she steals a bike  so apparently she  s a thief too . i said earlier that the idea for this movie was based on darkness falls  but where did they get the inspiration for the tooth fairy  s appearance  let  s see . she looks like a burn victim  and she previously went around the neighborhood slaughtering children . hmmm . . . it  s almost as though she  s an exact rip  off of freddy krueger from the  nightmare on elm street  films . and this is not the worst part of this awful mess  the climax is . this movie might have the most laughable climax  not literally laughable because i found it more sickening than funny  i  ve ever seen . don  t see this .  br    br   just a little trivia . lochlyn munroe was in scary movie  and jianna ballard was in scary movie   and they both were in this  so apparently scary movie stars are forced to end out their career with bad scary movies .  br    br   my rating    out of  .   mins . r for violence .  
i found this movie to be very good in all areas . the acting was brilliant from all characters  especially ms . stone and morissey . tramell  s character just gets smarter and more psychologically twisted by the minute . the plot is interesting even though  this movie is more for the mind playing between the main characters and how catherine continues her writing with new ways and twists for her novels . the setting was also fabulous and the whole atmosphere of the movie was that mysterious  thriller like masterpiece . go see this film now  it deserves better than what it got from the audience  which was misled by some faulty terrible reviews about the movie  before it even started  . . . . . you won  t regret it  if you go see it . . .  
stephen j . cannell apparently decided a few years ago that he would broaden his horizons and dabble in horror . the result   dead above ground   is an abysmal piece of junk . now  had i noticed his name in association with this particular film i  d have put it back but no  i didn  t have my glasses on and therefore i missed it  damn  i really do need to bring those with me while video shopping . first question would be  who the heck is the target audience for this  it  s almost like a  scary  kids movie  but then again there  s topless babes and some gore and some bad words spouted here and there . the main characters are so cute that you want to see someone  anyone  go after them with farm implements of some kind . seems that a guy opens a bed and breakfast that has a checkered past  a child  murdering witch that collected children  s teeth lived there . probably something the real estate agent failed to mention . of course now in the modern day there  s a little girls ghost around to warn the real  live little girl that now lives there that something bad is going to happen . it does  and there  s also two bubbas that were squatting on that property when the new owner took over so they  re out for revenge too . this whole thing has the feel of some made  for  cable junk that  s for the kids at halloween except for  of course  the things that aren  t suitable for little kids  so not only is this mediocre  it  s confused  too . a big boo and hiss to anchor bay for putting this out too  considering their usual track record with fine releases this is a new low . the uk gets a phantasm box set  we get  the tooth fairy  . hardly seems fair .  out of    absolute garbage .  
i am not a usual commenter on this website but seeing how underrated this movie is  i endeavour myself to write some comments and remarks about it . i had fun watching this movie  perhaps because cat is everything i wish i could be  i am not going to post spoilers or reveal plots but there  s are things that i really found amazing  the way she manipulates people it  s just so divine . this is a very underrated movie  i lack of arguments here  i usually go enjoy and then speak little about it  when you go to the movies is to have fun  and i really enjoyed the  h   i stayed in the dark room . a must seen over and over again until the delight fades away . let  s try not be so critical about it . thank you for reading .  
i was duped into seeing this movie after reading a positive review from another website and man was i p . o  d    it took me at least   minutes to pick it up off the shelf b  c i didn  t want anyone to see me . then another   minutes to build the courage to take it to the counter and actually use real money to rent it . i thought that all my stress would pay off by the time i got home to and watching the movie b  c the review i read said the movie was a pleasant surprise what a joke  if you can make it through the first hour of the movie then your in luck  b  c it  s not until then the movie turn  s into a horror . don  t bother with this one folks  your better off watching  dankness falls   
i don  t understand why the reviews of this film are so universally bad  unless i  m just off my rocker . i found it sick  brilliant  twisted  and psychologically sophisticated . you won  t get deeper into the mind of a criminal psychopath in a hollywood film than this one . it has layers within layers  nuanced acting by stone  and a plot that will keep you guessing even after it  s over . people need to get over the fact that sharon stone is    and that michael douglas isn  t in this one . i predict that this film will be a huge hit on dvd once people see it for themselves and stop paying attention to the drivel professional reviewers put out . give it a shot  you might be glad you did   
darcy and her young daughter pamela are heading out to the country where her mum  s boyfriend peter left his doctor  s position in the city to become a writer and fix up a bed and breakfast inn . although this inn has a terrible past and pamela learns from one the girl  s who lives in the town that a deformed witch once reside in that house . they called her the  tooth fairy  as she would kill kids after getting their last baby tooth . this work on the inn  has awoken the  tooth fairy  . now she has her sights on pamela and her last baby tooth  but if any gets in the way they face the same fate that awaits pamela .  br    br   this flick  s old folk myth of the  tooth fairy  doesn  t paint her in a very generous way  as you would believe when you were a child . don  t they just love turning happy childhood memories into nightmares  another one which did fall into the same category was  darkness falls        . i can  t compare how similar they are in the premises  because i haven  t seen the latter  but i mostly read they have basically share the same idea . for a little straight to dvd film  this dtv effort looks good and has some promising images surrounding the senseless and traditionally by the book plot device . low expectations are needed  as i wouldn  t class it as an success  but i found it be to marginally entertaining .  br    br   cory strode and cookie rae brown  s story or background for this  tooth fairy  character is completely bare with it leaning more towards a slasher vehicle than anything really supernatural . silly is a good way to describe what  s happening in this poorly scripted story  but it never really feels like a fairytale horror . the dialogues can seem rather redundant and morally hounded . while the acting is simply sub  par with the bland characters they have to work off  but director chuck bowman offers up some inventive blood splatter and terribly nasty jolts . this kinda makes up for the lack of suspense  the zero scares and generic tone . his direction is reasonably earnest and visually able  where he gets some atmospheric lighting contrasting well with its slick photography . the promising opening scene is creepily effective . his pacing can slow up in parts and there  s the odd and unnecessary slow  motion scene put in  but nonetheless it never gets too stodgy with something active occurring which made sure that i wasn  t bored .  br    br   the make  up special effects provided the goods  as there  s enough repulsive gruel and the tooth fairy  s appearance is especially gooey . the figure of the tooth fairy can look threatening in its black robe  bubbling make  up and swift movements . being on location helps carve out a more natural feel and can get atmospherically rich in its sense of eeriness . child actors can be incredibly annoying  but nicole muoz was decent in her part . lochlyn munro and chandra west are somewhat solid  but can be a little too causal in their performances as peter and darcey . the radiantly gorgeous carrie anne fleming is one of their lodgers . p . j soles shows up in small part as a superstitious neighbour who tries to warn them about the evil that lurks at the inn .  br    br   i thought it was a okay time  waster that has a sound concept  which just isn  t fleshed out enough and the execution is pretty textbook stuff . watchable nonsense  but at the same time extremely forgettable .  
so  every year there is at least one movie  that hasn  t got any chance of being a box office success  because from the moment of production  even before one simple shot is filmed  everybody  s picking on this movie . . . there is a long list of these kind of movies  and in the end  some are really bad  battlefield earth         some may have their flaws but are quite enjoyable  catwoman        elektra        and then there are a few  which actually are really great for what they are  but no one admits  i mean  my gosh  just because the wide crowd does have to have a victim each year they can pick on  not everybody has to join them . so yeaaah  maybe those movies aren  t perfect  but c  mon  how many movies are  not every movie is supposed to be a new the lord of the rings  not everybody will enjoy these movies  but i bet there are more than who admit they do . hudson hawk        who is just hysterical funny  color of night        which may not be oscar  worthy  but is definitely a not dumb at all thriller with some nice twists  swept away        which i thought is a great mix of sick humor and a beautiful romance  gigli        which was great entertainment with some really memorable lines and not badly acted at all from the former  bennifer   couple  and this year it  s  basic instinct    well  when i heard the rumors of a sequel to one of my favorite movies i was very sceptically  and although i really love sharon stone i stayed sceptically until i  ve finally seen this movie . and really  i was very positively surprised  i can  t understand why it gets such a bad press and such a bad voting here . it never simply copies the original  it has a quite clever story  has tension  action  humor and the absolutely stunning sharon stone reprising the role of her life  with   years when shooting the movie she looks hotter than many stars in their   s  but it  s more than her being beautiful  it  s brilliantly acted  with all her looks  her famous smile  the way she speaks and moves . . . from the very first frame she  s in you can  t take your eyes off of her . it  s simply a pleasure to watch her as catherine tramell  and all of the other actors deliver solid performances  too  so i really can  t see what  s wrong with this movie . . . it has a dark  thrilling  sexy and gritty look  strong performances  and you never felt bored  maybe the story isn  t oscar  caliber  but it never even tries to be  it  s an entertainment  movie  and by this standard it absolutely delivers in my opinion  so give it a try   
the tooth fairy is set in a small town somewhere in northern california where peter campbell  lochlyn munro  has brought a farming property which he is renovating  planning to turn into a holiday inn  he is joined by his girlfriend darcy wagner  chandra west   her young   year old daughter pamela  nicole munoz  who arrive to help for the weekend . while exploring the property pamela meets another young girl named emma  jianna ballard  who warns her that evil lurks within her new home  she tells a tale of an evil old witch known as the tooth fairy who takes baby teeth from children  then kills them . pamela is worried  becomes even more so when she falls off her bike  her last baby tooth falls out  it  s not long before the evil ghost of the tooth fairy has her eyes on pamela  s tooth  just for kicks she also decides to kill anyone she comes across . . .  br    br   directed by chuck bowman i thought the tooth fairy was just another poor straight  to  video low budget horror film that fails to distinguish itself from the countless other  s which litter video shop shelves  fill late night obscure cable tv schedules  basically it  s not very good . the script by producer stephen j . cannell  corey strode  cookie rae brown is a complete snooze  fest for the first   odd minutes  nothing of any great interest happen during this period at all  is basically dull exposition as if this stuff was going to surprise anyone . it introduces the character  s  sets the tooth fairy legend up  that  s it . the second half of the film improves slightly but even then it  s hardly spectacular stuff  there are a few decent set  piece gore scenes but apart from that it  s all very predictable  forgettable stuff . the character  s aren  t great  most of them are there purely to be killed off  the story has inconsistencies like the story of the tooth fairy herself  it says she kills children after they give her their baby teeth so why does she go on an indiscriminate killing spree that has nothing to do with teeth  what happened to her after the prologue set during      why has she come back as a ghost  despite being a ghost of some sort she seems very human having to open doors herself  using weapons to kill people  there is no attempt to make any use of the supernatural elements except the ghostly children who are played for maximum sentiment .  br    br   director bowman does ok  it  s reasonably well made  there are a couple of half decent scenes but nothing to get that excited about . there  s nothing i would describe as scary or atmospheric in here  don  t take any notice of the comparisons between this  darkness falls       as besides the teeth thing they  re quite different . the gore is ok  someone is shoved into a wood  chipping machine  there  s a decapitation  someone has their penis chopped off  the best scene when someone is nailed to a door  then has their stomach hacked open with an axe  their guts slide out .  br    br   with a supposed budget of about           the tooth fairy is generally well made but there  s nothing special on show here . the acting isn  t anything great but it  s not too bad  unusually i didn  t find the child actors that annoying so that  s something i suppose .  br    br   the tooth fairy is the usual just below average low budget modern straight  to  video horror fare that seems everywhere these days  if you can find a cheap copy then it might pass   odd minutes if your not too demanding otherwise it  s pretty poor  forgettable stuff .  
frankly i don  t understand why this movie has been such a big  flop  in publicity . sharon stone certainly has not lost any of her charisma and  touch  since  basic instinct  . i voted this film   and i tell you why game opens in london this time . london is the city where catherine tramell has moved since the events in bi  . again she proves to be a mastermind manipulator of her own class  unchallenged . she is  screwing your brain  as catherine with such a skill that in the end you don  t be quite sure who is the real villain .  br    br   as for the technical part of the film only real setback is the b  rate crew of actors . sharon stone is the only really big name in the cast compared to her and michael douglas etc in the first part . i also think bi  would have been better had sharon stone been a bit younger but she is still quite stunning in her looks and has only improved concerning her charisma . her b  rate  assistants  are not so bad either although i would have wanted some bigger names to the cast .  br    br   i think there are quite good improvements in the basic plot . i think this is a far better thriller than many of the run  off  the  mill crap hollywood so readily distributes these days . the plot is great  it  s easy to see technically  you don  t snore in the half way through the film and most important  the heath is on .  
just saw this film and i must say that although there was shown in the beginning some effort to produce a decent film  this was absolutely horrible   but not in the sense that was intended i  m sure .  br    br   it was like a child was directing this insult to intelligence with the belief that all would  be viewers are morons or extremely hard up for entertainment or both . . . . thank god for fast forward  i can  t imagine the type of viewer the producer had in mind when making this film . i mean  you have actors trying to be serious  albeit barely  and a script that cries for a total rewrite  . . . . i just can  t say anymore . if harlequin romance decided to do horror films  this would be a good effort .  br    br   if you found this movie to be entertaining  then i strongly suggest that you seek out some guidance as to the purpose of movies . there is much better fare out there . join a club  read reviews  but above all  avoid crap like this .  
this for me was a wonderful introduction to the talents and beauty of marion davies . she is not only gorgeous but hilarious in this film .  i believe that lucille ball may have modeled her later career on davies  style  that could be termed  zany beauty  .  vidor  s direction is light but sure  handed  the story is a chestnut of course but the acting is marvelously contemporary  and the star  watching element for fans of the silent era  with many cameos  adds to the overall fun . it combines the elements of slapstick with adult drama and good old timeless romance quite well . for all movie fans who have a knee  jerk reaction to watching silent films  sit through this one and it may change your attitude .  br    br    
this movie is flawed on many fronts . like many before it  it portrays more of the mythology of the alamo than the history . the production is poor  overall giving the impression of a welfare project for lots of actors who might have otherwise had to work on hollywood squares . this to me was the greatest flaw  i know the ages and general personalities of the real alamo protagonists and the geriatric ensemble of tv actors chosen to portray them never let any hint of believability intrude .  br    br   as a native texan  i grew up with the mythology . i later learned more about the history . i can accept a decent production from either perspective  although i prefer more historical accuracy   but this never gave me a chance to enjoy it . even john wayne  s or fess parker  s versions had more life than this stolid mess  while being only slightly less accurate .  br    br   very disappointing  avoid it .  
finally  after years of awaiting a new film to continue the sexual mayhem of  basic instinct   we have been given a great sequel that is packed with the right elements needed for a franchise such as this  i remember everything about the original  the steam  the romance  the sex  the interrogation  the music  by the master jerry goldsmith   and everything else from violence and murder  to intense confrontations of all kind  make no mistake   basic instinct  was a real winner for audiences everywhere . i can remember in     when we were first given the news about such a sequel . five years later  we have it . i never would have thought it to end up such as this . when it was declared a dropped project  time sure couldn  t tell if it was ever a real possibility to begin with . well  i guess we now know anything  s possible in this case . even if the original director  or writer are not present  all we need is the glamorous  always reliable sharon stone  and we have a done deal  please  hear me out . . .  br    br   when people say that this film is bad  i think it is only due to the fact that the style is extreme  and slightly dated . i use the word  dated  only because we have not seen a certain film of the like in many years  and audiences have become adapted to the pointless  boring storytelling seen in other movies that actually make money  and the only reason they make such big numbers is because those films are family friendly . who needs hole some and clean  of course it  s a pleasant thing to have  but c  mon  escapism is really seldom these days  and  basic instinct   gives us real fans what we  ve been expecting . this film is not an academy award winner  nor does it try to be . it simply delivers the die  hard fans what they have been expecting . it  s a film for fun . movies today seem to take themselves way too seriously  but this film is just loose and fun  not taking itself seriously  not too seriously anyway . that said  i shall evaluate the film .  br    br   the film is a fast  paced film from the first second  as we see cathernine tremell in a car  speeding at    mph  and enjoying lustful thrills doing so . perhaps sex and driving does not mix  because our sexy novelist takes a bad turn and . . . well  she gets away unharmed  but her studly partner doesn  t fare too well . once again  tremell is the primary suspect of the accident  and will be put under analyst  s and psychiatrists . dr . michael glass  morrissey  is automatically drawn to to her from the first moment he meets her . like another criminal investigator before him  he is entranced and seduced  slowly  and surely . his denial of it all begins to crumble around him as she weaves a spell only she has the power to do . tramell is possibly more dangerous now  than she was before  but like the first one  we  ll never really know  will we  once the seduction is in motion  jealousy  rage  drugs  and a plateful of erotic scenery ensues   br    br   this film does not recycle the first one  but rather mentions the previous films incidents briefly from time to time . this is a good thing . it lets us as an audience know that the script has been written to bring the level up a notch or two . sharon stone dazzles us again  as though   years has not come to pass . her second run of the deceitful novelist is right on the spot as earlier . just awesome  david morrissey is well cast  and manages pretty well . the fact that a non  popular star was chosen  makes his performance all the more enjoyable because we as an audience have no background on him  just what we see him perform . my final thought   .  to  out of   . so it  s not the first one  nor can it live up to the first ones prize winning place . it can  however  live up to the standards set by the first film  and it does folks  it does .  
watching this film for the action is rather a waste of time  because the figureheads on the ships act better than the humans . it  s a mercy that anthony quinn couldn  t persuade anyone else to let him direct any other films after this turkey .  br    br   but it is filled with amusement value  since yul brynner has hair  lorne greene displays an unconvincing french accent  and the rest of the big names strut about in comic  book fashion .  
i have no idea what people are complaining about . i saw this movie yesterday and i really liked it . stone once again delivered a great character . she was just as good as she was in the first basic instinct . she still has those smart but tricky answers . although sharon may be   years old . . . she looks amazing  i don  t care if she  s as fake as a barbie . she looks good and that  s that . basic instinct  gives you everything you want from the first . sex  violence  and a great ending that will leave you thinking and talking about it for hours  half the people commenting on this movie haven  t even saw it . so don  t listen to them .  
this film is deeply disappointing . not only that wenders only displays a very limited musical spectrum of blues  it is his subjective and personal interest in parts of the music he brings on film that make watching and listening absolutely boring . the only highlight of the movie is the interview of a swedish couple who were befriended with j . b . lenoir and show their private video footage as well as tell stories . wenders  s introduction of the filmic topic starts off quite interestingly  alluding to world  s culture  or actually  american culture  traveling in space  but his limited looks on the theme as well as the neither funny nor utterly fascinating reproduction of stories from the   s renders this movie as a mere sleeping aid . yawn . i had expected more of him .  
i don  t understand your objections to this movie . it is a taut  thrilling extension of the character created in  basic instinct  . the only part of the story that is the least bit unrealistic  is the fact that sharon stone  s character is still alive and not in jail at this late date .  br    br   spoiler alert as the movie progresses  we are presented with three theories of what is going on   sharon stone  s character is killing all these people because she  s crazy  risk addicted     david thewlis  crooked cop is killing these people in order to frame sharon stone  s character   david morrissey  s analyst is killing these people for revenge . what upsets most people about the movie seems to be that none of these theories are ever explicated as the  real  story .  although the analyst is in a psychiatric care facility for killing the cop the only killing that occurs on screen .   br    br   i think this is a brilliant plot device in the spirit of       a space odyssey .  who cares what is real  the blonde really is crazy  the cop really is crooked and the analyst really wants revenge . what  s important is the interactions between these and other characters in the story . like real life  everyone is more complicated than anyone thinks and reality is more complicated than a movie . get over it   
this really doesn  t do the blues justice . it starts out badly with images from the voyager probe and blind willie mctell  or was it blind lemon jefferson  someone blind anyway  apparently narrating from outer space    and telling us the life stories of various blues musicians . corny as it is  this might be the visually most interesting part of this documentary . afterwards the only thing to see is actors incompetently mouthing the classic tunes  filmed in fake   s black and white intercut with the likes of beck and shemekia copeland raping the same songs afterwards . this is a good device to show us why the old blues greats were really so great  but it doesn  t make for compelling viewing . there is hardly anything in here that could justify making it a film and not a radio play . nobody should be forced to see these badly done reenactments . it  s a shame for wenders  scorsese and especially for the blues . avoid at all costs .  
i never trust the opinions of anyone regarding a film . that goes for critics as well . sure  if it gets positive reviews that  s ok and a plus  but most films that get critical rave i hate . i enjoyed this film for what it was  an entertaining film . it takes you out of your life for a couple hours and into a fictional character . . . that being catherine trammell . sharon stone is awesome in this role  just like she was in the first one . anyone who says she is horrible in this film must have felt the same in the first one b  c she is back acting the same way she did in basic instinct  . catherine is hers and she plays her to perfection . her one liners are great  much like in the first one . who can forget in the first film when she tells the cops   if you  re gonna arrest me do it . . . otherwise get the fk out of here   great scene  and believe me  she does it again in this one . i was captivated by her . her outfits  the way she smoked her cigarettes  believe me  its worth the price just to see stone  s performance . i cannot wait for this film to be released on dvd  uncut  because i can only imagine how much better it is going to be . and yes  there are lots of twists  as in the first one  including the ending   
mario van peebles pops up for less than a five second cameo . glenn plummer shows up a little longer but its a ladies show all the way . stacey dash and lisa raye have been in better projects . bobby brown leers and mugs through his little time on screen . this is how it was pitched . . . five tough women shootin  and lovin  in the wild wild west . four black and one asian . oh and lil  kim is a tough talking  heartbreaker and marie matiko can bring in the pacific rim market . we can shoot it for less than   million . straight to video and we  ll double but more likely triple our dollars .  br    br   greenlight that puppy .  br    br   you got it boss .  
i think the reason for all the opinionated diarrhea on this movie is that most people have it out for sharon stone being around   and getting naked while playing sexy . no one cared when the golden girls sat around eating cheesecake and discussing their first orgasm  but to see someone post menopausal getting digitally pleased while driving i guess is just too much for some to handle . let  s face it  she looks good  she  s light years hotter than my mother who  s the same age  it  s not an oscar or a cult classic like the first  but ever since the turn of the century that  s all movie goers seem to expect a cinematic experience that will touch your soul . as such  it never claims to be either . it  s an erotic thriller that is both erotic and thrilling  and is a continuation of a brilliant character that we all love to hate . it  s the character of catherine trammell that helped give way for this sequel . fans of the first movie want to see more of that frosty ice queen .  br    br   the cinematography and art direction were lush and extravagant and made me want to move to britian for sure . the score is amazing as well .  br    br   sure there  s some overacting from some characters but there  s some brilliant work from david morrissey who  s virtually unknown .  br    br   there  s a setback in that the script is virtually the same as the first movie only plugging in a psychiatrist in place of the cop . as well as the criminal decision of the mpaa to force the movie to be cut down even more which takes away from the guilty  pleasure raunchiness that the story is known for .  br    br   at the very least it  s entertaining and fun to look at it  and that  s the movie  s only intentions . so if you  ve got beef with mizz stone  maybe you should actually see the movie and draw your own conclusions before you spew forth your projectile vomit   
some people have made a point of dissing this movie because they question the plausibility of black people in the old west  asian people in the old west or women with guns in the old west period . get a grip and read a book . there were quite a few asians  chinese   there were quite a few blacks  freedmen  and everybody outside of the gentile class had ready access to guns it is the second amendment you know . and as far as the use of modern language goes  none of those westerns people have waxed nostalgic about actually used language that was consistent with the era depicted . americans had different accents  used different inflections  spoke at a very different pace and used plenty of words and phrases that would be unrecognizable today . don  t blame historical inaccuracy for the fact that you just didn  t dig it . be honest . maybe you  re just uncomfortable with what you  re seeing .  
it seems that it is becoming fashionable to rip  basic instinct    to the point that a significant part of the audience  including critics  found it terrible even before it was released . it seems even more fashionable to trash sharon stone wholike all of usis now fourteen years older  andunlike most of usstill looks wonderful . first comments on this movie were so vicious that i had to see for myself . in my opinion  this sequel is not nearly as good as the original film  but is not as bad as most comments pretend . michael caton  jones is not paul verhoeven  neither henry bean and leora barish are joe eszterhas .  basic instinct   is just an entertaining  average thriller  and besides the addition of jerry goldsmith original score  keeps little resemblance to its predecessor . even stone gives her character a different dimension  creating a lustful  devilish catherine trimell  who can perfectly well rank among other monsters like hannibal lecter . she is an intelligent actress who is not afraid of taking risks and can play with camp at her leisure . unfortunately  she seems to be the main target for those who enjoy trashing this flick . she became too successful  too much of a main icon  and like all those actors who have reached that level  her time has arrived and she is now bound to be destroyed by hollywood audiences .  br    br   the rest of the cast is outstanding  giving performances that are far better than the material deserves . david morrissey is a much better actor and by far more interesting than michael douglas his acting is flawless  giving a dense  complex dimension to an otherwise one dimensional character . since he has more screen time and is the axis of the movie  he can keep your attention from beginning to end .  br    br   i am not recommending  basic instinct   as a great movie i am just expressing my disagreement with most of the comments on this site and my conviction that agendas other than the movie itself are shaping the opinion of most spectators .  
to be completely honest  i haven  t seen that many western films but i  ve seen enough to know what a good one is . this by far the worst western on the planet today . first off there black people in the wild west  come on  who ever thought that this could be a cool off the wall movie that everyone would love were slightly  no no  completely retarded  secondly in that day and age women especially black women were not prone to be carrying and or using guns . thirdly whats with the asian chick speaking perfect english  if the setting is western  asia isn  t where your going . finally  the evil gay chick was too much the movie was just crap from the beginning . now don  t get me wrong i  m not racist or white either so don  t get ticked after reading this but this movie  this movie is the worst presentation of black people i have ever seen   
the man who directed  the third man  also directed the  who will buy  sequence in  oliver   now that is talent .  br    br   i raise my hat to carol reed .  br    br   i know there are  second units  involved  but still . . .  br    br   and he had to deal with orson welles and oliver reed . . .  br    br   i suppose quality will out .  br    br    it does show in the final scene with nancy  avoiding spoiler  everyone has to see oliver  for the first time sometime  .  how many lines do i need to type .  br    br   encouraging people to type too much is not to be encouraged .  br    br   i hope this counts as the    th line  .  
how is it possible that a movie this bad can be made . bad acting . bad script . just an embarrassment all around . this is just one bad clich after another .  br    br   this movie actually has some big name stars in it . unfortunately they  re singers and not actors .  br    br   this movie made hardly any money for a good reason . the appeal of black cowboy movies just isn  t there . it  s a shame they didn  t have a good story to tell .  br    br   this movie actually has some big name stars in it . unfortunately they  re singers and not actors .  br    br   this movie made hardly any money for a good reason . the appeal of black cowboy movies just isn  t there . it  s a shame they didn  t have a good story to tell .  
i really love this movie . i remember one time when i was in  nd  grade  my teacher showed it to us on a   mm film reel . this movie  however  can be a little frightening for  nd graders such as the scene where bill murders nancy and seeing fagin  s face for the first time on the screen . one of my relatives is sick of seeing this movie because she studied over it in music class . if i were a teacher and could grade the people who produced this wonderful film  i would give them an a .  
wait  don  t tell me . . . they threw out the movie and kept the out takes . you know  this movie could have been shot in a back alley in new york . the  gangster bangster  i guess . gangster rap  designer gangster duster clothes including the kerchief which somehow got moved from the neck for protection from the dust storms to the head . i guess it was to protect the head from the heat filtering through the k  mart hats .  budget rent  a  horsie   it seems  supplied the horsies . the one bedroom scene where the girl was talking and the guy was mouthing her words . . . . i though it was him talking . you know  watching this movie just confirms that  it isn  t about the acting anymore . . . its about looks and it  s about the money . couldn  t have been too much of that where this movie is concerned . well  all in all  i think that this movie will go down as the all time worst movie ever made . just one more thing though  where was ice t  did he finally get to go on oprah   
this production of oliver is masterful in showing layers of evil in the human soul . what makes the story remarkable is a brilliantly bright unseen character  who pierces this darkness as he leads an innocent boy through the gravest dangers safely into the hands of his own relative . yea  though oliver walks through the valley of the shadow of death  he fears no evil . a rod and staff are there to comfort him . in the end  he is saved from the dregs of humanity . at the bottom is fagin  the most wicked of the lot . fagin contemplates repenting of his ways not once  but twice  yet declines because he is unwilling to pay the price . fagin is worse than bill sikes  because he raises little pickpockets who become murderers . in the middle is oliver . his innocence is unsullied  but untried as well . the best is nancy . lacking in judgment  she ignores bill sikes  violent nature out of her deep need for love . yet unlike fagin  at the probable cost of her own life  she does repent of her sins by saving oliver from bill . things are not as they seem . in my opinion  this quality is what makes art worthwhile  unpredictability . i would give this film a      but its     s made  for  tv soundtrack and ambiance were distracting . overall  a fine parable and a thoroughly appropriate story for all audiences .  
pathetic is the word . bad acting  pathetic script  cheezy dialog and hip hop music  fashion . . . what the hell was up with that  the directer of this movie acts as bad as the movie he made . if someone would have taken some time and effort to rework the whole thing  it may of had a chance . bet the studios are still trying figure out how they could screw up up so badly .  br    br   the absolute best thing about this movie was stacey dash . . . the asian chick wasn  t too bad neither . these too gals carried the whole movie . if it weren  t for them i would have destroyed my copy of this movie .  br    br   if any of those who have not seen this yet and had a notion to  don  t waste your time . . . you  ll only regret it later .  
me and my girlfriend  annette  watched this together and we  ll both comment .  br    br   both of us really enjoyed watching this even though it took some liberties with dicken  s work . a lot of dicken  s works are somewhat dark and dreary  including oliver twist   but this movie changed all that . it was fun  colourful  both visually and musically   and the characters were more lighthearted .  br    br   travis normally  i don  t care a lot for musical and dance movies  but the tunes in this production were catchy and lively  and the choreography was awesome .  br    br   annette that  s really saying a lot coming from travis . i can  t emphasise enough how really good the dance numbers were . you can tell  for example  that those boys really worked hard getting the routines down to perfection .  br    br   travis three actors really stood out imo nancy  shani w .   bill sykes  oliver reed   and artful dodger  jack wild  . man  that oliver reed can really do a good villain . that one scene where you see his eyes thru the mail slot gave me chills down the back . . . awesome . and that kid jack wild was a perfect artful dodger . and nancy was fantastic  man  i felt bad when she got killed  . she can sing too  kudos to the casting department on their choices there . i hated the oliver twist kid tho . he was just too whiny and wimpy for my taste .  i kept wishing bill sikes would drop him off into the mud during the chase scene .  and they shouldn  t have had him sing either .  br    br   annette acting was truly superb . in addition to the three stars travis mentioned  i felt ron moody  fagin  did a tremendous job . he was so funny  and at the same time lightly sinister too . the supporting actors were great too . harry secombe carried his mr . bumble role extremely well . and he has a wonderful singing voice . i saw mr . secombe perform in another movie entitled  davy  where he played an opera singer with pleasing results . the talented harry secombe should have been in a lot more movies .  br    br   travis as i mentioned earlier the story isn  t quite true to the book  but imo it was more robust . this movie was not boring either  as some musicals seem to be . and the continuity kept you moving right along with the characters . the tunes did not detract from the plot or put you to sleep by being too long .  br    br   annette any musical movie which travis watches completely has to be a rare find . and this one is indeed a rare find . it is a very easy  to  watch production which carries the viewer smoothly and enjoyably through to the end . in a day when movies all seem to be effects combined with pretty faces  this was a refreshing interlude .  br    br   our combined rating for this was  .  of   .  we  ll round up to  in this case .  .  br    br   travis i rated this a  mainly because the oliver twist kid  mark l .  irritated me  and his songs were torture to my overly sensitive ears . otherwise  it was an outstanding movie .  br    br   annette my rating is a   . movies don  t get much better than this . and you can tell everyone involved in this production really worked hard to make it what it was . . . a masterpiece .  br    br   please don  t miss this one . . . even if you normally don  t like musicals . it really is a rare treat .  
hmm  hip hop music to a period western . modern phrases like  cool  and too many others to keep track of .  the sistahs are in tha house    french manicured nails on hard riding girls . microphone packs clearly visible on li  l kim  s back . i just can  t go on with the litany of errors made by the director and editors .  br    br   the acting isn  t as bad as i  ve ever seen . the women did well enough with a poor script .  br    br   it was weird hearing louis mandylor speaking in his native accent .  br    br   the girls are beautiful . the costumes fabulous albeit completely incorrect . i just can  t believe they would dumb down what could have been a great story . i would feel offended to believe that this movie was loaded with such trappings that it would play well in the inner city .  br    br    
  wisecracker   the biography of actor william haines  offers a gratifying anecdote about the former star when he was past   and long retired from making movies . the old gent was not sentimental and rarely watched his own films  but in     he was persuaded to attend a los angeles museum screening of show people  the late silent feature in which he co  starred with marion davies . beforehand  haines was worried that this comedy would provoke the wrong kind of laughter  but he was pleasantly surprised  and no doubt relieved  at how well it held up and how much the young audience enjoyed it . watch the film today and you can see why show people is a delightful hollywood satire that retains its charm because it lampoons its targets with wit and flair  yet without malice . it  s still funny and its satirical points still resonate . needless to say  the technology of movie  making has changed vastly since the silent days  but the pretensions and follies of the filmmakers themselves haven  t changed all that much .  br    br   show people also stands as the best surviving work of marion davies  a first  rate comic performer who deserves a prominent place in the pantheon of great comediennes . where her career was concerned davies was both blessed and cursed by the patronage of her paramour  the newspaper magnate william randolph hearst . it  s well known that hearst exerted enormous influence over davies  choice of roles  and well known too that  despite her gift for comedy  he preferred to see her play dignified heroines in period costume dramas . by the late    s  for whatever reason  marion was permitted to strut her stuff in several exuberant light comedies  including the red mill and the patsy   but show people  directed by the great king vidor  stands as her most enjoyable showcase . william haines gives an engaging  likable performance as her boyfriend and co  star billy boone  but this is the leading lady  s show all the way .  br    br   marion plays southern belle peggy pepper  an aspiring actress who storms hollywood accompanied by her father  determined to become a movie star .  her dad colonel pepper is played by actor  director dell henderson  a veteran of griffith  s biograph dramas whocoincidentally  resembled hearst   one of marion  s funniest bits  often excerpted elsewhere  is her audition at the comet studio casting office . while dad helpfully suggests emotions to portray   sorrow  . . . joy    and drops a handkerchief across her face  peggy assumes the appropriate expression and posture . she  s hired  only to discover that comet makes low  brow comedies  the kind of comedies where people squirt each other with seltzer and inept cops tumble over each other racing to the rescue . of course  comet is intended as a take  off of mack sennett  s keystone  but the true nature of the satire becomes clear as the story unfolds . as peggy pepper rises in the movie star hierarchy she leaves comet for the more prestigious high art studio  assuming the name  patricia peppoire  as more befitting her new station in life as a serious actress . at some point it may occur to us  as it surely did to viewers in      that davies  rival gloria swanson started out in keystone comedies before rising to prominence in serious dramas for cecil b . demille . and as miss peppoire takes herself more and more seriously  giving the high  hat treatment to former colleagues such as lowly comic billy boone  davies  performance takes on an element of wicked parody seemingly aimed squarely at swanson herself . this is especially notable during an interview sequence  when miss peppoire  s spokesman spouts pretentious nonsense while the star delivers a spot  on impersonation of swanson . i suppose this was intended as a friendly spoof  but i have to wonder how friendly relations were between gloria and marion after this movie was released .  br    br   in any event  show people is a delicious treat for buffs  who will relish the parade of star cameos throughout . charlie chaplin contributes a nice bit  sans makeup and looking quite distinguished  eagerly seeking patricia peppoire  s autograph   and in a show of good sportsmanship marion davies herself puts in a self  mocking cameo appearance  evening the score for poking fun at swanson by poking fun at herself .  this is a silent film that viewers not especially attuned to silents might appreciate  at least those viewers with a taste for movies about the movie business . show people surely belongs in the company of such classics as sunset boulevard and singin  in the rain  among hollywood  s most expertly produced  enjoyable exercises in amused self  examination .  
while being a great james arness western  this film has gone down as the worst alamo film ever made . the story was terrible  inaccuracy all through it  and just downright untruths to boot  continuity was cast to the four winds . anybody catch the cannon sequence  the mexicans were dumb enough to fire cannons that obviously had mud and ramrods still sticking out of the tubes . come on  then there is brian keith  s ridiculous hat  costumer must of been away or something . or just out of their mind   
one of the last great musicals of the   s . i was  years old the first time i saw this movie  and it  s always been a favorite since then . the musical numbers are all memorable . in the   s the people who were cast in musicals actually had musical talent  unlike a certain academy award nominated current musical based in a large midwestern city  . all of the main roles were beautifully cast . . . ron moody shines as fagin  as does shani wallis as nancy . oliver reed was a menacing bill sikes  who thankfully has no musical numbers  lol   and mark lester as oliver and jack wild as the dodger were great too . mark lester comes across as an innocent waif  which was what dickens intended when he wrote the book  then  of course there are the dozens of dancers who perform in  consider yourself    i  d do anything   who will buy  and  be back soon   many who were children  this is a great show for the whole family .  
i should have known when i looked at the box in the video store and saw lisa raye  to me  she  s the female ernie hudson a . k . a .  le kiss of death  for any movie . its almost guaranteed the movie will be bad  e . g . congo  if hudson is in it  with the exception of the ghostbusters films  which were intentionally campy and bad  . despite my instincts  and the fact that i just saw civil brand  yet another cinematic  tour de force  starring lisa raye  i rented it anyway . after all  i ignored my  hudson instinct  on oz and ended up watching a very quality series so i figured i  d give this movie a chance .  br    br   if you are a lover of bad movies  this is a definite must see  this has got to be the most unintentionally funny movie i  ve seen in a loooong time . the plot is fairly straightforward racheal  s  monica calhoun  sister is killed by a band of brigands  led by bobby brown   and  like many an action movie before this  she straps on her guns one last time and vows to avenge her sisters death . to do this  she reassembles the titular gang of roses  supposedly based on a true story of a female gang  and they go out and exact revenge and  along the way  there  s some subplot or something or other about some gold that might be buried in the town . one nice thing i will say about this movie is that from what i could tell  the stars did their own riding and they looked great galloping .  br    br   the funniest  albiet unintentionally funny  scenes  look for when they introduce stacy dash  s character or when calhoun  s character rescinds her vow not to strap on her guns  replete with a clenched fisted cry to the heavens  or lil  kim  s character joking with lisa raye  s character or stacy dash  s character being killed or lil  kim  s character convincing lisa raye  s character to rejoin the gang or the asian chick or macy grey  s character talking bout  the debt is paid   etc . with the exception of calhoun  s racheal and bobby brown  s left  eye  i can  t even remember the names of the other characters cuz i was laughing so hard when they were introduced .  br    br   if the director had gone for parody and broad comedy this would have been a great movie . unfortunately  he tries to take it seriously seemingly without first taking exposition  sound design  in his defense  hip  hop is notoriously difficult to work into a period piece   set design  script writing nor period historical research  was it me  or were these the cleanest people with the whitest teeth in the old west   seriously . usually when i see a movie that  s not so good  i ask myself  could you have done any better   this is the first time in a long time where the answer is an unequivocal  yes    
as a child i always hated being forced to sit through musicals . i never understood why people would break out into song like that  and i was far too young to appreciate the artistry  choreography  set design  costumes  pacing  behind it all . carol reed  s  oliver   was the one musical i remember oddly enjoying as a child  probably because it is one of the darker ones and is appropriately drenched in the spirit of dickensian squalor . this is a musical about ghetto life in victorian london  and while the scenery and set designs are stark  dark  and true to that way of life  it is flat out bizarre for people to be breaking out into such ridiculous songs amidst their misery . upon a recent viewing  my first since childhood  i have some new thoughts and insights into why this musical  works  in that bizarre breaking out into song kind of way  and why most just don  t do it for me .  br    br   when musicals work or really say something  it is because they realize their own inherent strangeness . lars von trier  s  dancer in the dark  as tragic and operatic and over reaching as it was  worked as a musical because the musical numbers were the products of the imagination of the protagonist  an immigrant obsessed with hollywood musicals . likewise  the very cynical and enjoyable  chicago  worked on a similar level because the musical numbers were the products of a homicidal ingenue singer  dancer . musicals don  t work when they take their own musical  nature too seriously  like in  moulin rouge   or are simply too much fluff about nothing  i . e . something pointless like  mary poppins   . upon viewing  oliver   for the first time as an adult  i saw it in a new light . told mostly from the point of view young oliver  i saw the musical numbers as the products of his childhood imagination and his way of coping with the horrors of ghetto life around him . the best musical number was probably when nancy got everyone in the tavern signing and dancing about the joys of getting drunk  as a cover to help poor oliver escape the clutches of the evil bill sykes  . it was undeniably catchy and sounded like a real pub tune that drunks might start singing around a piano . there are other great and classic tunes to be heard here  and the direction and acting from the leads to the dancing extras are all top notch .  br    br   still  for all its bleakness  although it does have a happy ending for oliver at least  though certainly things didn  t end happily for nancy  and unless you think a life on the streets being a pick  pocket is fun  it wasn  t a necessarily a good ending for fagin or the dodger  despite their peppy closing tune  i wouldn  t really classify this as a family film  though i don  t think showing it to kids over the age of seven or eight will do any harm . this is a harsh tale about an unfortunate orphan trying to survive on the streets and find some happiness . i think it would be very interesting to see a modern update on this some how  perhaps a revisionist take on it  where people on the streets of compton break into happy songs about their horrible lives . i  d like to see a hard  edged hip  hop version of  oliver   . i always thought dickens would translate well in those regards . as it stands   oliver   was probably the last of the great film musicals and maybe the strangest g  rated film i  ve ever seen .  
sistas in da hood . looking for revenge and bling bling . except da hood is a wild west town in the late     s . i do not remember any westerns like this when i was growing up . what would randolph scott say  if he saw lil  kim  he might say   alright  i have to admit that i tuned into this just to see her . bare midriffs and low cut blouses are not the staple of the usual cowboy flick  but these are the cowgirls  and they are fine .  br    br   now  don  t go looking for any major story here  and the usual stuff of ghetto crime drama are here in a different setting . and  when  s the last time you heard john wayne call someone   dawg   and  i don  t remember the earp brothers hugging and kissing before they marched to the ok corral .  br    br   i watch this on bet  so i missed the action that got it an r rating  but i doubt if i will buy the dvd to see it unless i can be assured it was lil  kim in that action .  
this was my favourite film as a child  and i have been in the stage production a few times so it will always remain my favourite muscical and i doubt anybody could ever re  make the story of oliver twist on screen  any better than this one did .  br    br   my all  time favourite   bad guy   has to be oliver reed as bill sikes . not only did he scare the life out of my when i watched it as a  year old  but now as a woman i can empathize more with nancys character  the bar maid  prostitute who helps oliver get the life he deserves .  br    br   jack wilde as the artful dodger  was fantastic  and i don  t think anybody could ever out  do him  as the street  pocket picker  and best friend of fagin . the music is fantastic  especially fagin  s numbers  i  m also quite thankful they didn  t give bill sikes a musical number  it wouldn  t of worked with him being such a sinister character .  br    br   i think carol reed did an excellent job of nancy  s sticky ending  keeping it a g rated movie by disguising her beating  but giving enough away to show the violence of bill towards her .  br    br   this movie is both charming  and charismatic as a musical sing  along  as well as being a moving drama that follows a young boy as he tries to find where he belongs in life .  
who  what  where  when  why  the acting was terrible . very robotic  rehearsed . i have seen all of the actors in this film in better roles . the screenplay was very elementary . by the end of this film  the story line was tied up . and jeane claude lamarre should be tied up  too . so that he never attempts to write  direct another film .  
i saw this recently on a cable channel . the movie is great it  s one of the few musicals i have seen that doesn  t shy away from the light and dark . it portrays some of the splendour of the age along with a lot of the squalor . some of the set piece dance sequences so much is going on  i didn  t know where to look next . one day i shall go and see this on the big screen  just so that i see what  s happening . but what really lifts this to another level is oliver reed  s performance as bill sykes . not only is a thoroughly mean and menacing man but there is something else  some inner demons . he gave me the impression that if you pushed him into a corner  he was capable of anything . it was almost as if the sykes character was on the edge of madness  just awaiting the trigger . i have seen the robert newton  s bill sykes from the     movie  and i thought he was  just  a bad egg  but oliver reed  s performance intimidated me in my own living room .  
oh  come on people give this film a break . the one thing i liked about it was . . . . . . . . . sorry  still thinking . oh yeah     when john wayne came and shot up the the bad guys . oh  sorry  wrong movie  i was thinking of a better quality film . let me see now  i  m still trying to defend it . oh yeah  the chick that was from clueless was in it . don  t put down stacy dash . i mean  we all make mistakes . but boy  stacy  you made a dooooosie .  br    br   hey  one thing that has never been done in a western  even an all female cast  they actually hung a woman from the gallows . that might be a western first . even though her neck should have been broken and she survived the ordeal  still  you  ve got to give the director some effort for trying a western first . also  i  ve never seen a woman lynched from a horse in any western  although that didn  t happen in this movie  i just thought i would give the director another idea for gang of roses   which should be made right after ed wood  s bride of the monster   . maybe that was what the makers of this film were going for . orginality  especially with an all african woman cast and an oriental cowgirl .  br    br   heeey  if the makers of gang of roses want to make a sequel to this mess  you could have such slang like   hey  don  t you be takin about my homegirls  and  talk to the hand  baby  talk to the hand .  you could also have a surfer dude type deputy marshal that says things like   that gunfight was totally rad man  totally .  you know things like that .  
one of the finest musicals made  one that is timeless and is worth seeing time and again . delicious  the acting  especially by ron moody as fagin  is superb . costumes are exquisite . . . . even the shabby ones .  br    br   the two young lads who play oliver and the artful dodger are wonderfully talented . oliver reed does a great job portraying bill sykes to where you can  t help but hope he comes to a terrible end . . . . which he does .  br    br   the dancing is cleverly choreographed and is mesmerizing . oliver can hold its own with the likes of my fair lady  the sound of music  oklahoma  etc . a film for the entire family .  
an absolute steaming pile of cow dung . it  s mind  blowing to me that this film was even made . hip  hop and old westerns just don  t seem to mix . what target audience were these people thinking of when planning this trainwreck .  br    br   not only is the concept and plot a joke  but the acting is atrocious and the fact that some decent actors were even in this nightmare of a film makes their entire careers a laughing stock . the chick from clueless should never be forgiven and she is stripped of any remaining dignity she had . after reading the first ten pages of dialogue she should have been asking which one of her friends was playing this sick joke . after some research  i actually found a list of some other actors who passed on this film jada pinkett  smith  denzel washington  brandy  monique  kim kardasian  jenna jameson  oprah  and finally marge simpson .  br    br   simply put  i would rather stare at a blank tv than watch this movie again .  
im not usually a lover of musicals  but if i had to choose what would be my favourite it would definitely be oliver . this film is so well made  the characters are well depicted  the costumes are spot on the acting is good and the songs are great  my favourite being  reviewing the situation  sung by ron moody who gives a brilliant portrayal of fagin . i wasn  t old enough to see oliver when it was released in the late   s but my sisters were  so for weeks on end i had to put up with them singing the bloody songs  usually it was  who will buy my wonderful roses  so i already knew all of the songs before i saw the film . its a timeless musical you definitely couldn  t remake it  it stands on its own . its not accurate to the book and i don  t think it would have worked so well if it had been . i don  t think charles dickens would be disappointed  as he wrote oliver to depict the poverty in london  the orphanages  the work houses and about what the poor had to resort to in order to survive  and the film portrays this very well . also another great reason to watch this film is bullseye the old type english bull terrier  notice his long thin legs  this was bred out of the breed many years ago  they must have hunted high and low to find a specimen like him  and he is exactly how an english bull terrier would have looked in victorian times . notice he has scars which is probably makeupon his face  bill sykes had probably used him for dog fighting or for the rat pit . a victorian bull terrier had a record amount of kills in a rat pit . his a beautiful dog any way  and notice he disobeys bill sykes after he has killed nancy  he obviously has his standards his not the chunk head bill sykes thought he was . this is a great musical to watch if you like musicals  and if you don  t like musicals give it a try any way  there  s something for everyone in this film .  
the costumes  the dialog  historical accuracy are terrible . for instance   stacey dash and the hanging scene . the noose was accurate  as for as i could tell   but that type of noose broke the person  s neck . ms . dash is left hanging at the end of the rope with no ill effects until the rope was shot . this type of not did not strangle the person  it killed them at the end of the drop .  br    br   and right before they go in to rob a bank  in a flashback   they pause on the street for a group hug  with their bandannas hiding their faces  that would have been obvious to people on the street .  br    br   the poor editing  that is a battery pack under that shirt and it is obvious  the clip of the  long ride  shows them riding along  then reverses the film .  br    br   i did like the fact that they kept the scene with the horse taking a crap  it seemed symbolic . the entire movie was crap .  
a tour deforce  ok the kid that plays oliver is a bit toooooo sweet  starting with the great cinematography  color  costumes and most impressive performances this is a must see movie . i have seen several adaptations of this great novel  but this one stands above them all and its a musical to boot  it is a masterful fagan  never leaving his character to do a song . you never really know if you like him or not  the same feeling i got in the book . in other versions you hate him from start to finish . bill sykes . . . . when you read the book hes a mean one  and so he is in this movie . oliver reed was masterful . his wife directed this masterpiece . i went and saw his last movie  gladiator based on his many fine performances  not to see the headliners . the music fits the times and the mood . who will buy this beautiful movie  you should   
must have to agree with the other reviewer . this has got to be the worst movie  let alone western i have ever seen . terrible acting  dialogue that was unimaginative and pathetic  let alone completely inappropriate for supposedly being in the     s   and oh  did i mention a battery pack prominently displayed on the back of one of the characters  i was waiting for the boom mike to fall in the middle of a scene . and the ending  the least i can say is that it was consistent with the rest of the movie . . . completely awful . and yes  it did contain every clich in the book from the slow walk down the empty dusty road to the laughable  let  s remember when  shots when a main character dies . luckily i saw this on free tv . don  t waste your time .  
that movie was awesome  i can  t get over it  s songs . i think i  m a little too old for musicals  but that movie deserves some credit here  guys  my especial favorite was jack wild . me  being a british actor lover  you can  t restrain me from all those nice  looking fresh faced  young men . i never knew that when jack was doing that movie he was sixteen  he looks like an eleven  year old . he  s short  that  s what helps . try posting up your replies  fellow posters  so i can relate to your experiences . oh  and about oliver reed  that guy  bill sikes  i think that drone look is really familiar . any idea where he  s starred in before  if so  post it up  i  d really like to know .  
this was an excellent idea and the scenery was beautiful but that  s where it ends . it seemed like a lackluster set it off meets the west . the plot barely made any sense . there were so many characters and not enough time to develop their personalities . there were too may unnecessary things going on that didn  t pertain to the plot nor did it help further the story along . there were also long blank moments where the plot could have been explored but was used for silence or unnecessary conversations . the script should have made more sense as well as the directing . i had a huge question mark on my head watching this movie . but the casting was great in my opinion . if you  re only watching for eye candy then this is the movie for you .  
first off  i  d like to make a correction on another review of this film which said that the last musical to win the best picture academy award was  gigi  in     . that is misinformation as  west side story  won in       my fair lady  won in     and  sound of music  won the year after that . that said  this film is absolutely fantastic  the story from the novel has been somewhat altered  but that  s more because of the limitations that they had on a stage that they just didn  t change back for a filmed version . however  i don  t mind . in fact  i rather think the whole production flows better than the novel does . i like nancy bringing oliver to the bridge with her and being killed there instead of later in the apartment . the subtle things in this film are the ones that make me laugh . i love the moment mr . bumble and mrs . bumble start coming out at the beginning from the governors office . the underscore for that moment is brilliant . my three favorite actors for this film were jack wild  who plays the best dodger in any film version of the story  ron moody  a playful and humorous fagin  this character is worked out much better than he is in the book   and shani wallis  who is the strongest  most distressed version of nancy . the only reason i  m giving this film a  instead of a   is because of the two big production numbers which are  concider yourself  and  who will buy .  i always hate when the choreography in musicals in meant to look like people doing everyday chores and jobs . it looks awful and cheesy  especially when they  re dancing at the london meat co . they should  ve just done regular choreography for these scenes . however  this film is a rare treasure that will stay with us  hopefully  forever .  
alright  i got passed the horrible acting . i got passed the fact that lil kim was blasting some cannons and her arms or hands weren  t moving  i got passed the weaves  i got passed the colored contacts .  br    br   this is what killed it for me in the scene where the four roses were sitting at the table arguing . lisa  raye and monica calhoun stand up and  and then lil kim gets up to break up any hostilities by saying   whoa  whoa  whoa  hold up . let  s chill out here for a hot second .  i am a fan of the western movie genre  and i never heard anyone talk slang like this in any of clint eastwood  s movies .  br    br   if anyone thinks this movie deserves over a  rating  please tell me another movie that  s worse than gang of roses .  br    br   i  m through .  
i admit not being that fond of oliver  as a young child   it  s long  and the story is a little slow  moving because of all the musical numbers . as a teenager i discovered that the fun of this movie is the experience itself . rather than thinking of it as an adaptation of oliver twist  think of it as a celebration of the classic story . the adaptation is loose at best  but really  if you  re watching a musical  you ain  t there for the story .  br    br   the music is the core of this movie  and an overwhelming majority of it is stellar and very catchy . most or all of the cast was involved in the stage version of the musical  and it shows in their performances   and i consider this a plus . the performances are all in a more  stagey  style of acting typical of much older films  and they are very entertaining . the exception is the kid playing oliver  whose job seemed to be to look cute and stay out of the real performers  way .  br    br   fagin and the dodger are the real stars of this movie . oliver reed also does a fantastic job maintaining an intimidating screen presence as the menacing bill sykes . even sykes  dog bullseye puts on a good performance .  br    br   this movie isn  t for everyone . people who hate musicals will despise it  as will those who take musicals too seriously . nitpicking over faulty historical details or mistaking exaggerated stage  type acting for bad acting will ruin anyone  s enjoyment . just sit back and enjoy the entertainment   it  s much better if you remember that  as a musical  it  s a fantasy loosely organized around the book  not a strict adaptation .  
i would have liked to give this movie a zero but that wasn  t an option   this movie sucks    the women cannot act . i should have known it was gonna suck when i saw bobby brown . nobody in my house could believe i hadn  t changed the channel after the first   minutes . the idea of black females as gunslingers in the western days is ridiculous . it  s not just a race thing  it  s also a gender . the combination of the two things is ridiculous . i am sorry because some of the people in the movie aren  t bad actors  actresses but the movie itself was awful . it was not credible as a movie . it might be  entertaining  to a certain group of people but i am not in that group . lol . and using a great line from a great  great movie . . .  that  s all i have to say about that .   
oh it  s so cool to watch a silent classic once in while  director vidor is simply delightful and even makes a lengthy  at least for      cameo as himself . the story is about having success in life and the way it changes you . marion davies plays a girl that leaves its friends in a little comedy studio to be part of a larger  drama  studio . she becomes a big star and the consequences are she really alienates from the real world . for a moment she even denies her  poor  past  the cameos are simply hilarious  certainly the scene where the main character  marion davies  sees . . . marion davies in the studios and concludes she doesn  t seem that special . . . it  s got to be one of the first movie  in  the  movies here and for real freaks it  s awesome to see the cameras and material from way back then . a must  see if you ask me    
burt kennedy used to be a very good director  but you  d never know it by this lumbering mess . not only does this film look cheap  it is cheap   most of the battle scenes are lifted from the far superior  the last command  from      and that footage  shot   years previously  looks more contemporary than anything in this picture . the few action scenes that were actually shot for this movie are disorganized  confused and incompetent  looking just as shoddy as the rest of the picture . this has the look and feel of a bad student film  and the budget didn  t seem to be a whole lot more  . it moves like molasses  the acting for the most part is either over  the  top ham or under  the  top comatose   although raul julia comes off better than most of the rest of the cast   and it  s chock full of annoying historical inaccuracies . on top of that  it  s way too long . if you  re going to make a boring film  do it in an hour or so and get it over with   don  t stretch it out over three hours  like this one does . if you want to see a good movie about the alamo  check out john wayne  s     version  or even the     film from which this movie stole its action scenes . hard to believe it took six producers to make a movie this lousy . skip it .  
the great cinematic musicals were made between     and     . this twenty year spell can be rightly labelled the golden era of the genre . there were musicals prior to that  and there have been musicals since but the true classics seem invariably to have been made during that period . singin  in the rain  an american in paris  the band wagon  seven brides for seven brothers  oklahoma  south pacific  the king and i  and many more  stand tall as much cherished products of the age . perhaps the last great musical of the golden era is carol reed  s     oliver . freely adapted from dickens  novel  this vibrant musical is a film version of a successful stage production . it is a magnificent film  winner of six oscars  including the best picture award .  br    br   orphan oliver twist  mark lester  lives a miserable existence in a workhouse  his mother having died moments after giving birth to him . following an incident one meal  time  he is booted out of the workhouse and ends up employed at a funeral parlour . but oliver doesn  t settle particularly well into his new job  and escapes after a few troubled days . he makes the long journey to london where he hopes to seek his fortune . oliver is taken under the wing of a child pickpocket called the artful dodger  jack wild  who in turn works for fagin  ron moody   an elderly crook in charge of a gang of child  thieves . despite the unlawful nature of the job  oliver finds good friends among his new family . he also makes the acquaintance of nancy  shani wallis   girlfriend of the cruellest and most feared thief of them all  the menacing bill sikes  oliver reed  . after many adventures  oliver discovers his true ancestry and finds that he is actually from a rich and well  to  do background . but his chances of being reunited with his real family are jeopardised when bill sikes forcibly exploits oliver  making him an accomplice in some particularly risky and ambitious robberies .  br    br   oliver is a brilliantly assembled film  consistently pleasing to the eye and excellently acted by its talented cast . moody recreates his stage role with considerable verve  stealing the film from the youngsters with his energetic performance as fagin . lester and wild do well too as the young pickpockets  while wallis enthusiastically fleshes out the nancy role and reed generates genuine despicableness as sikes . the musical numbers are staged with incredible precision and sense of spectacle  onna white  s oscar  winning choreography helps make the song  and  dance set pieces so memorable  but the lively performers and the skillful direction of carol reed also play their part . the unforgettable tunes include food glorious food  consider yourself  you  ve got to pick a pocket or two  i  d do anything and oom  pah  pah  all immensely catchy songs  conveyed via very well put together sequences . the film is a thoroughly entertaining experience and never really loses momentum over its entire    minute duration . sit back and enjoy   
this could be a strong candidate for  the worst flick ever  . perhaps without the presence of john hurt  it could be tolerated as a kid  film . however  the tragedy of this entire endeavor  is that john hurt  one of the screen  s greatest actors  diminishes himself in this . . . . i gave it two points just because mr . hurt showed up . . . i take away  points  because he didn  t run from it fast enough . as far as the rest of the cast  they are  simply  terrible . janine turner  as pretty as she might be  cannot act to save her soul . and the lead actor is  for all intents and purposes  awful . if you can spare yourself this embarrassment  please do so . it  s so bad  it almost hurts .  
yes  as unbelievable as it may be  in     a musical won the academy award for best picture  and it was the third musical to win that award in a five  year period  the first being my fair lady in     and then the sound of music in     . the difference between my fair lady  the sound of music and oliver  however is that oliver  is immeasurably better  no comparison . the first two movies are insipid wet noodles compared to the remarkably robust oliver  . the acting is great the songs are great the story is great and the dancing is great . this movie is dynamic  topical  relevant to the human experience and unlike the overblown gangs of new york  oliver  offers a portrayal of poverty in   th century london  england that evokes sympathy without being condescending . oliver reed was a great actor and he proves it in oliver  the other actors and actresses  especially ron moody and shani wallis  are equally wonderful and offer powerful portrayals of characters who evoke sympathy and warmth without being caricatures .  
so what  s the big fuss out of making an indiana jones wannabe when you have an actor who  s cast as a fictional dude from adventure storybooks who doesn  t want to go out on an adventure    whoever wrote the script for jake speed was probably fired  but for whatever reasons possible  this movie greatly lacks in excitement  that doesn  t mean it has no action  but look on the dark side of the picture . this has got to bare no resemblance to indiana jones or other action  adventure thrills containing cliffhangers and narrow escapes  and jake speed was promoted that way using clever propaganda to make me and several others interested in it  besides  i  ve never heard of the guy  so who needs his attention   
i  m really getting old   am in the midst of watching this   year old flick  and wonder what my grandchildren will be watching   years from now   its an old saying   but they don  t make em like that anymore . . it  s not only the story  its the music  the acting both by young and old . . the cast  it would seem  were born to play their roles   young oliver   old fagin . . too many to mention them all  the role played by the judge oliver stands before  i  ve seen in other roles over the years . . the artful dodger   ron moody as fagin   mr and mrs bumble   the movie not only won  oscars   but took a few golden globe awards too . . if you decide to see this film . . do yourself a favor   take a few if not all the children  to see this masterpiece  
don  t let the name of this film deceive you  in reality jake speed the character is quite possibly the laziest action hero ever known to film . when jake speed is not saving virgin girls from evil madmen  which he is often not  he  s seriously relaxing . perhaps this adds to his charm  but in my opinion an action hero is not suppose to  chill out  whenever he gets the chance . furthermore  unlike other daring heros who usually have an impressive list of talents  this man has none  unless of course you call sleeping a talent . anyhow  this movie is basically worthless  the writing is sub par and the action  when there is some  is very lame .  the machine guns on the jeep weren  t bad  but that  s about it  so  if you  re in the mood to watch a movie that is a cure for insomnia  then this piece is perfect for you  it has a hero that not only puts himself to sleep  but also his audience .  
this is a musical adaptation of dicken  s  oliver twist  . for the most part  the original story has been maintained  though for the flow of the film certain subplots  such as the summer he spent recuperating and the half  brother  are omitted . the biggest difference in the film and the story is that by the end of the book  fagin is hanged   an ending very different from this musical film .  br    br   this is a one of a kind musical   one whose style and scope really hasn  t been matched before or since . not only are the songs often quite singable and memorable  but the choreography of the film is a sight to behold . whereas in most musicals a few people or perhaps even a small group are choreographed dancing  here the numbers often run into the hundreds or perhaps more . it  s truly a sight to see and i was fortunate enough to have seen it in the theater when it debuted and is one of my earliest childhood memories . having just seen it again a few moments ago  i would have to say that the film only got better over time . great sets  wonderful acting and singing   this is a special treat that is hard not to love .  br    br   by the way  when i saw the film again tonight  i was surprised by just how high and feminine mark lester  s singing was for the film . well  according to imdb  his singing was dubbed by a girl and this would definitely account for his voice .  
franco rossi  s     six  hour italian mini  series of quo vadis is a very curious beast  creating an absolutely convincing ancient roman world shot in matter of fact fashion  very few long shots  no big cityscapes   but playing the drama down so much in favour of allusions to classical literature and history that the story constantly gets lost in the background .  br    br   the shifting structure  much of episode one is played out via voice over letters  and lack of narrative urgency makes the full six  hour version simultaneously demanding and undemanding  and certainly far too often uninvolving  but it has something going for it . the two main strengths are the characterisation of petronius  a thankfully dubbed frederic forrest  whose own voice would almost certainly flatten his dialogue  as a man whose spent so long looking for an astute angle to survive court life that he  s become incapable of experiencing emotion  and klaus maria brandauer  s unique take on nero as a wannabe actor whose every move and action is calculated on how his  audience  will receive it . elsewhere  max von sydow briefly appears in a few episodes  being rewarded with the show  s most impressive and genuinely moving scene here he encounters a child as he attempts to leave rome . it  s the kind of thing the show could do with more of  but it seems all too often to flatten every potentially emotional  inspiring or exciting moment under it  s relentlessly low  key direction .  br    br   unfortunately francesco quinn makes a staggeringly anonymous hero  blending in with the walls and coming over less as a roman officer than that quiet  slightly gormless but inoffensive guy who works in the same office as you who never says much at office parties  you know  the one who you think is called dave or something like that . the budgetary limitations are very visible once its meet the lions time for the christians and ursus battle with the bull is so determinedly low key that it just passes over you before the show just abruptly loses interest and suddenly ends .  br    br   not a trip i can particularly recommend  i  m afraid  but if you do embark on it it  s one not entirely without its small rewards .  
oliver twist was to have controversy as well as success following it after dickens published it in     . his picture of life in the urban ghettos was something shocking and new  and his making the central figures of the novel include criminals was another innovation .  br    br   one day he was walking in london and passed a young woman he had been friendly with . he said hello  but she was rather stiff with him . he could not understand this . a few days later they met again  and he asked what he had done to upset her .  well  if you must know  i did not like your last novel .   she said .  really  everyone else thinks highly of it .  he was puzzled  what  s wrong with it    oh  charles   she said   i  m jewish . how could you make up such a character like fagin    he had not expected this  well . . . you know that trial last year of ikey solomon  the thief trainer . he  s a model for fagin and he was jewish .   br    br   dickens found that did not settle things .  yes   she replied   he got what he deserved . but charles  they did not call him  solomon the jew  like you call fagin  the jew   moreover  solomon did not plan a murder . fagin does .  dickens had to admit that he might have gotten carried away . he left thinking about what she said .  br    br   oliver twist was published in several editions . dickens tried to improve on fagin a bit . then he got an idea . he reworked the chapter called  fagin  s last night alive   showing the fears in the man as he faced hanging . he also added some additional details .  br    br   he let his female friend know about his resolve to change fagin . a day or so later he met her at a friend  s house . she looked at him as though he was crazy .  didn  t you like the changes    he asked .  charles  what changes  he  s still a vile villain called  the jew     she replied .  yes  i did keep those in  but didn  t you see how frightened he was in the death cell in prison .  the young woman had noticed this  but felt that he was so vile he deserved to be suffering such fears .  ah . . . then i was right about that . . . and did you see the little details i added    he asked .  what details    she replied .  when you first see fagin now he is cooking himself dinner . . . you read that    dickens looked at her expecting a sign of recognition . instead the lady looked confused .  i read he was at the fireplace  but i must have skimmed the passage .  dickens smiled as though he was brilliant   he is cooking a pork sausage for his dinner .   a what   she exclaimed .  he  s eating pork  my dear . . . see  he  s not a good jew   his friend looked at him  shook her head  and to his dismay left their friend  s house . she didn  t speak to him for years .  br    br   dickens never totally shook off his own bigotries  but the situation did lead to a partial attempt at amends in his last completed novel . in our mutual friend       he has a minor character  mr . riah  who is used by an unscrupulous landlord to collect high rents from poor tenants . the landlord figures that mr . riah will be blamed because he is jewish .  br    br   but mr . riah is a good man . he is a very good man . he is a very  very  very  very good man  so good as to be unbelievable . if fagin saw mr . riah in action he  d probably chase him away with a stick .  br    br   the anti  semitic image of fagin lingers to this day . it is a measure of dickens  genius as a writer that the novel overcomes it . however  in presenting the story on film it still causes problems for screenplay writers and directors how  after the holocaust  can one do a film treatment of a worthy novel without inflaming bigotry  david lean showed how by having alec guiness appear in one or two scenes showing a human side and in confronting a mob at the end with true dignity . sir carol reed  in his musical version of the novel did it better yet  due to a rewrite in the original musical  s script .  br    br   oliver had been made into a west end musical hit in the middle     s  and then taken to broadway where it was again a hit . with a wonderful score by lionel bart  including  food glorious food    i am reviewing the situation    consider yourself    boy for sale    who will buy    as long as he needs me   it deserved it  s success . reed did well in his casting the roles  including his nephew oliver reed as sykes  ron moody as fagin  mark lester as oliver  jack wild as the dodger  shani wallis as nancy  and harry secombe as mr . bumble . there had been no big musical successes in hollywood for a decade  the last musical to win the best picture oscar had been gigi in     . oliver won it in     .  br    br   and fagin  how to handle the eternal problem of the caricature  well in the musical fagin is not captured  tried and executed for the murder that is committed . after all  even lean showed fagin tried to control his confederate in his actions . but here fagin realizes that he is getting too old to depend on this kind of chancy life . although he loses his treasures  those stolen items he kept because he knew their value  and admired their beauty   he decides he can reform . he is allowed to do so  accompanied by his faithful acolyte  the artful dodger . i don  t think dickens would have appreciated the change  his female friend might have   but a modern audience certainly accepts it as fitting .  
this film  originally released at christmas       was long thought lost . a very poor copy has resurfaced and made into a cd  now for sale . don  t buy it  the film is unspeakably terrible . the casting is poor  the script is awful  and the directing is dreadful .  br    br   picture roland young singing and dancing . and that was the highlight .  br    br   perhaps this movie was lost deliberately .  
i just saw this recently  after an interval of nearly forty years . it holds up well  especially lionel bart  s outstanding songs .   who will buy  with it  s magical counterpoint  just one of many standouts .   br    br   i disagree with the other post that decried its g rating . the ratings system  brand new at the time  never intended the g  general  rating to mean  completely devoid of conflict  .  br    br   characterizing it as unsuitable for kids reminds me of the description i once saw of the wizard of oz a girl arrives in a strange land and kills the first person she encounters . she then goes on a road trip with three male companions and kills again .  
well i just paid a dollar for a dvd of this movie  and it wasn  t even worth that . it seems to be from a poor print and is in the public domain  i am guessing .  br    br   neagle  despite her glory  awards  and reputation  is a homely british gal who can  t sing or dance or act .  br    br   some of the fine old hollywood character actors on display here must have thought they were doing a classic . director herbert wilcox  neagle  s husband  always thought anna was the most exciting and talented femme on the screen . he was mistaken . she was improbably popular in britain before and after wwii . her  serious  roles are even more ludicrous than her musical appearance here .  br    br   only a couple of the famous songs are included and neither one is well presented . skip this one and find the one that stars doris day . at least you get some real comedy and professional style dancing   
simply put  oliver  is one of the greatest musicals of all time . it is filled with memorable songs   food glorious food    oliver     consider yourself  and  oom  pah  pah  to name just a few  and equally memorable characters .  br    br   the film is a musical adaptation of charles dickens  classic novel and much like the story of oliver twist itself  it is a perfect family film . there are some frightening moments  the villain bill sykes played by oliver reed is scary enough on his own  but overall  the film will appeal to children of all ages as well as adults .  br    br   the story  which almost everyone is surely familiar with by now  revolves around a little orphan boy named oliver and his life growing up in london . at first he lives in the workhouse with the rest of his fellow orphans but after daring to question mr . bumble  the overseer  he is sold to a family as a servant .  br    br   after a series of mishaps and close shaves  he meets the artful dodger  superbly played by a young jack wild  who gives his all in the role  and through him  the greedy fagin  ron moody   who trains young boys to pick pocket treasures which he keeps for himself .  br    br   the film was shot solely in studios and on soundstages at shepperton film studios but this does not translate at all to film . the sets perfectly replicate victorian london  as do the costumes worn by the characters . a multi  oscar winner and a massive success on its release  oliver  is a worthy contender for the best musical all of time and will delight anyone who loves film .  
this sad little film bears little similarity to the     broadway revival that was such a  nostalgic  hit . keep in mind that when burt shevelove directed that revival  he rewrote the book extensively . i have a feeling that this screenwriter wrought as much of a change from the original     version as well . i played the  innocent philanderer  jimmy smith on  stage in      and thought this   dvd would bring back memories . not a chance . even the anticipated delight of seeing  topper  roland young play  my  part was a major disappointment . three songs from the play remain  and are done very poorly . even the classic duet   tea for two   is done as a virtual solo . the many familiar faces in this     fiasco do not do themselves proud at all  and the star  anna neagle  just embarrasses herself . when i feel gypped by spending a dollar  i know the film must be bad . another commentator mentioned the doris day version  which is actually called  tea for two  and is about doing the stage play  the original  of course   so those who are seeking the true  no no nanette  might find a more recognizable version there .  
as a lifelong fan of dickens  i have invariably been disappointed by adaptations of his novels .  br    br   although his works presented an extremely accurate re  telling of human life at every level in victorian britain  throughout them all was a pervasive thread of humour that could be both playful or sarcastic as the narrative dictated . in a way  he was a literary caricaturist and cartoonist . he could be serious and hilarious in the same sentence . he pricked pride  lampooned arrogance  celebrated modesty  and empathised with loneliness and poverty . it may be a clich  but he was a people  s writer .  br    br   and it is the comedy that is so often missing from his interpretations . at the time of writing  oliver twist is being dramatised in serial form on bbc television . all of the misery and cruelty is their  but non of the humour  irony  and savage lampoonery . the result is just a dark  dismal experience the story penned by a journalist rather than a novelist . it  s not really dickens at all .  br    br    oliver    on the other hand  is much closer to the mark . the mockery of officialdom is perfectly interpreted  from the blustering beadle to the drunken magistrate . the classic stand  off between the beadle and mr brownlow  in which the law is described as  a ass  a idiot  couldn  t have been better done . harry secombe is an ideal choice .  br    br   but the blinding cruelty is also there  the callous indifference of the state  the cold  hunger  poverty and loneliness are all presented just as surely as the master would have wished .  br    br   and then there is crime . ron moody is a treasure as the sleazy jewish fence  whilst oliver reid has bill sykes to perfection .  br    br   perhaps not surprisingly  lionel bart  himself a jew from london  s east  end  takes a liberty with fagin by re  interpreting him as a much more benign fellow than was dicken  s original . in the novel  he was utterly ruthless  sending some of his own boys to the gallows in order to protect himself  though he was also caught and hanged  . whereas in the movie  he is presented as something of a wayward father  figure  a sort of charitable thief rather than a corrupter of children  the latter being a long  standing anti  semitic sentiment . otherwise  very few liberties are taken with dickens  s original . all of the most memorable elements are included . just enough menace and violence is retained to ensure narrative fidelity whilst at the same time allowing for children  sensibilities . nancy is still beaten to death  bullseye narrowly escapes drowning  and bill sykes gets a faithfully graphic come  uppance .  br    br   every song is excellent  though they do incline towards schmaltz . mark lester mimes his wonderfully . both his and my favourite scene is the one in which the world comes alive to  who will buy  . it  s schmaltzy  but it  s dickens through and through .  br    br   i could go on . i could commend the wonderful set  pieces  the contrast of the rich and poor . there is top  quality acting from more british regulars than you could shake a stick at .  br    br   i ought to give it   points  but i  m feeling more like scrooge today . soak it up with your christmas dinner . no original has been better realised .  
this version is likely available at your local dollar store on dvd . the print is not great  nor is the sound  but if you have   .   and   or so minutes to spare  you  ll get your money  s worth  which is not saying an awful lot  . anna neagle is extremely vapid as nanette . whatever her charms may have been back in the day  they are not evident in this film . a great number of fine character actors appear in this film  helen broderick  zasu pitts  even arden   but the material falls remarkably short of their talents . still  it is interesting to see how such accomplished performers make the most of the weak writing . the musical numbers  there are really only two  are quite horrible . clearly the studio did not feel compelled to cash in on the rich musicality of the original  no  no  nanette  . for what it  s worth  the dvd can be had for   .   . it  s worth that much just to say you  ve seen it .  
in cinema retro magazine    it is revealed that mark lester  s voice was actually dubbed by a   year old female  kathe green . although leste was considered perfect for the title role  director carol reed was not at all pleased with his singing abilities . the secret was revealed by on a     uk documentary titled  oliver  after they were famous  . greene was paid    pounds for her work and she had to agree to keep her participation secret  as did mark lester . they kept their word and only revealed this fact as part of the tv show decades after release of the film . for the record  mark lester retired from acting and is a practicing osteopath in england .  
my roommate got the no  no  nanette soundtrack as a dub on a tape and she proceeded to listen to it non  stop . after it finally totally brainwashed me into submission  i found the songs to be irresistible  especially the famous  i want to be happy  but i can  t be happy . . . but of coarse from the soundtrack i had no idea what the film was about . so the other day i saw a copy of it at the video store and i rented what was supposed to be a long lost version of the film . i was thinking that it was going to be amazing  because the soundtrack is so cute . unfortunately most of the songs that i loved were nowhere to be found in the video i saw . now i  ve never seen the     version of the musical but this version was sadly disappointing because there was very little singing and practically no dancing and beside that the sound was really bad through out and you couldn  t really understand what people were saying a lot of the time . really the only highlights of this film were the outrageous      s fashion . nanette wears this crazy hat with two feathers that stick out like rabbit ears and kansas kitty has this bizarre feather muff that she keeps on her fore arm and then has herself wrapped in this net scarf . the one dance sequence is a little weird too with nanette doing this weird ballet stuff with pin  up girl imagery superimposed on top of her . actually one more bright spot of the film was the artist guillespe who dreams of being a fine artist but it currently condemned to drawing pin  up girls for money . i like how guillespe keeps it old school  and disses nanette when his masterpiece  the piece that was to make his career  is sold by nanette for a paltry      . doesn  t she realize that that piece was his immortality  silly rabbit  girl with your feather rabbit ears on your hat . when will you learn  why doesn  t he just pencil in a cigarette before the ad men take the work away   
oliver  the musical is a favorite of mine . the music  the characters  the story . it all just seems perfect . in this rendition of the timeless classic novel turned stage musical  director carol reed brings the broadway hit to life on the movie screen .  br    br   the transition from musical to movie musical is not an easy one . you have to have the right voices  the right set  the right script  and the right play . all signs point to yes for this play . it almost appears that it was written for the screen   br    br   our story takes place in jolly old england where a boy named oliver manages to work his way out of the orphanage . he winds his way through the country to london where he meets up with a group of juvenile delinquents  headed by dodger  the smart talking  quick handed pick  pocket . the leader of this gang is named fagin  an older fellow who sells all the stolen goods .  br    br   but all is not well in london town when bill sykes played by oliver reed and his loving girlfriend nancy get tangled up with oliver  fagin and his young troops  and the law . what ensues is a marvelous tale of love  affection  and great musical numbers .  br    br   whether or not you like musicals or not  one listen to these tunes and you will be humming them all day long . oliver  is a triumph on and off the stage and is a timeless work of art .  
at the end of this episode holmes asks watson not to record the case for posterity . for a good reason  the super sleuth left his little grey cells  sorry agatha  at home for this tale . there is no deductive reasoning  no acute analysis of signs at crime scenes . holmes bumbles along fifty yards behind the plot . the dastardly cam is finally dealt to by an old frail  in a manner that would have made charles bronson  s heart swell with pride  six bullets in the breadbasket . in an ensuing chase a pursuer gets hold of one of watson  s shoes . mercifully the writer didn  t decide to tack on the story of cinderella to lengthen the film . the murderess  holmes and watson  escape scot free . oh well  it is a bit of a change of pace in late victorian london . a bit of sixgun law    
i  ve seen hundreds of silent movies . some will always be classics  such as nosferatu  metropolis  the general and wings  but among them  my favorite is this film  it may not be the best   but a favorite  yes  . in fact  when i looked it up on imdb  i noticed i immediately laughed to myself because the movie was so gosh  darn cute and well  made . marion davies proved with this movie she really had great talent and was not just william randolph hearst  s mistress .  br    br   the story involves a hick from georgia coming to hollywood with every expectation that she would be an instant star  her experiences and the interesting cameos of stars of the era make this a real treat for movie buffs and a must  see   
this is a terrible movie  terrible script  bad direction and nonsensical ending . also  bad performances  except from clancy brown who is criminally underused here  and michael pollard . watching this movie was purgatory   you do it to unload enough bad movie karma to actually see a good one further down the line .  br    br   the movie presents a father and son who look like they couldn  t every possibly have been related . the part of the male lead is not well written and seems uncharismatic in this role . you can see the plot points a mile away . the actions of the female lead and that of her brother  the cop  also make no sense . so  a major action on her part at the end of the movie makes no sense script  wise .  
i just read the comments of tomreynolds     and feel i have to jump in here . i understand he doesn  t like the film  but his reasons are not evident . my feeling regarding this film is that it is not afraid to travel the darker roads of loneliness  failure  disappointment and sorrow . each of these two people  as portrayed  have plenty of reasons to be bitter and angry  yet find tenderness and comfort in each the other . only great acting could make this work without becoming an emotional quagmire  sentimental and sappy . i really became interested in these people because of their overwhelming humanity given to them by such strong performances . i have every reason to dislike jane fonda for her vietnam era actions  but personal feelings apart  she is fabulous in this role . robert deniro is superb as a man whose intelligence and goodness begins to fail him in a world indifferent to his abilities . this is the first i have seen deniro using tenderness rather than toughness to sell a character and i really like it . this film was a big surprise when i first viewed it and i look forward to seeing it again .  
i am a big fan of arnold vosloo . finally seeing him as the star of a recent movie  not just a bit part  made me happy .  br    br   unfortunately i took film appreciation in college and the only thing i can say that i didn  t like was that the film was made in an abandoned part of town and there was no background traffic or lookie loos .  br    br   i have to say that the acting leaves something to be desired  but arnold is an excellent actor  i have to chalk it up to lousy direction and the supporting cast leaves something to be desired .  br    br   i love arnold vosloo  and he made the film viewable . otherwise  i would have written it off as another lousy film .  br    br   i found the rape scene brutal and unnecessary  but the actors that got away at the end were pretty good . but the sound effects of the shoot  out were pretty bad . there are some glitches in the film  continuity  but they are overlookable considering the low  caliber of the film .  br    br   all in all i enjoyed the film  because arnold vosloo was in it .  br    br   jackie  
if you like adult comedy cartoons  like south park  then this is nearly a similar format about the small adventures of three teenage girls at bromwell high . keisha  natella and latrina have given exploding sweets and behaved like bitches  i think keisha is a good leader . there are also small stories going on with the teachers of the school . there  s the idiotic principal  mr . bip  the nervous maths teacher and many others . the cast is also fantastic  lenny henry  s gina yashere  eastenders chrissie watts  tracy  ann oberman  smack the pony  s doon mackichan  dead ringers  mark perry and blunder  s nina conti . i didn  t know this came from canada  but it is very good . very good   
robert deniro plays the most unbelievably intelligent illiterate of all time . this movie is so wasteful of talent  it is truly disgusting . the script is unbelievable . the dialog is unbelievable . jane fonda  s character is a caricature of herself  and not a funny one . the movie moves at a snail  s pace  is photographed in an ill  advised manner  and is insufferably preachy . it also plugs in every cliche in the book . swoozie kurtz is excellent in a supporting role  but so what   br    br   equally annoying is this new imdb rule of requiring ten lines for every review . when a movie is this worthless  it doesn  t require ten lines of text to let other readers know that it is a waste of time and tape . avoid this movie .  
i took part in a little mini production of this when i was a bout  at school and my mum bought the video for me . i  ve loved it ever since   when i was younger  it was the songs and spectacular dance sequences that i enjoyed but since i  ve watched it when i got older  i appreciate more the fantastic acting and character portrayal . oliver reed and ron moody were brilliant . i can  t imagine anyone else playing bill sykes or fagin . shani wallis  nancy if the best character for me . she put up with so much for those boys  i think she  s such a strong character and her final scene when . . . well  you know . . . always makes me cry  best musical in my opinion of all time . it  s lasted all this time  it will live on for many more years to come          
i found the pace to be glacial and the original story blown way out of proportion to the content . my wife slept through most of it and i did not try to wake her because i felt she was not missing anything .  br    br   when holmes and watson enter the house and then are potentially caught  it is unclear how they could hide all of their entry and burglary tools so quickly . it is also unclear how the door to the study is locked  preventing the servants from getting in .  br    br   the thing that puzzled me was right at the end when there was a glint in the eye of the broken statute . i have no clue what this was supposed to represent .  
i was lucky to see  oliver   in     on a big cinema screen in boston when i was a young teenager . later  during the summer of      i was pleased to see this film was still playing at a prominent cinema in leicester square  london  after it had won the academy award for best picture of the previous year .  br    br   th success of  oliver   on both the stage and screen reminded me that not all talent begins on broadway and ends in hollywood . this legendary story by charles dickens  which is part of the literary heritage of all english  speaking people  was admirably brought to the london stage by lionel bart of great britain . his charming musical then became a hit in new york and throughout the world . the film adaptation was made in england during the summer of     and then released in     . the sets and musical numbers are mind boggling . the song  who will buy   required hundreds of actors and the british film director truly deserved his oscar for putting it all together in a seamless manner . some canadian and american talent is also part of this wonderful production  but mostly it is a tribute to the fine craftsmanship of the british film studios  such as shepperton . good show  other film studios at elstree  boreham wood  bray  denham  and ealing have also given the world many films to treasure over the years .  
why were there so many people crowding into an evening showing of roberto moreira  s  up against them all    contra todos   at the san francisco film festival   it  s about a hit man   my friend said .  well . . . and it  s brazilian   i added . beautiful multicolored people  tropical weather  lush rhythms  and a hip gangster plot  ample enticements no doubt .  br    br   somebody forgot to tell us one little detail this is a very bad movie  really pretty horrible  and as unpleasant to watch as it is poorly made .  br    br   so how on earth did  contra todos  get to make the rounds of berlin  melbourne  london  manila  stockholm  cairo  chicago  numerous smaller local festivals  and now san francisco  apparently  because of the way the promotional process and the film festival circuit work .  br    br   first of all  it won first prize at the rio film festival where it was called the best brazilian movie of the year . it must have been a bad year they  ve had much  much better ones . next  snappy synopses in catalogs plus imaginary buzz lead to crowded auditoriums and   since the movie isn  t featured anywhere and so avoids close scrutiny by critics   it keeps going the rounds .  br    br   festival blurbs aimed at promotion sometimes goose it up a lot . a chicago festival one called  contra todos   a speedball cocktail shot straight out of brazil  and referred to claudia  s s boyfriend as the  stud of the slum  like neighborhood .  soninha is  teodoro  s nymph  like teen  aged daughter of burgeoning sexuality .  the movie is  shot with the urgency of a frequently hand  held camera  and the director  works up a genuine and palpable sense of frustration borne from domestic desperation and decay .  the effect is  unbearably raw and honest   and the movie hurtles  toward a conclusion as dead  ended as the lives on display .  not the best writing  but it sure pumps up the excitement for a certain kind of potential viewer .  br    br    contra todos  does concern a hit man  two hit men actually  and a wife and daughter and a born  again christian girlfriend . it  s shot   in execrably ugly digital video with no talent behind the camera  work   mostly in a barren  looking poor suburb rather than in one of the teeming  favelas  or village  like brazilian city slums where such wonderful films as  black orpheus    pixote   and  city of god  were made  and not in rio this time  but so paulo .  br    br   the hit man with family problems is teodoro  giulio lopez  and his partner with a drug problem is waldomiro  ailtan graa  . both actors have a little tv experience as does the actress who plays teodoro  s sluttish blonde wife cludia  leona cavalli  and silvia loreno who plays his pouting  ready  to  revolt daughter soninha . these actors might make it through the back corners of a few telenovelas . who knows    in a better directed film they might even be good . aside from them there are some young men who get bumped off by teordoro or  when he  s busy  gangs of thugs . the principals don  t work up much presence  even though the camera magnifies their pores .  br    br   a couple of observers  one at the berlin festival and one at london  s  did see this movie  s failings but alas they  re buried in the web hinterlands . henry sheehan noted from berlin that the  film   his quotes  was  the worst of the video works  shown .  the filmmaker seems to have chosen video simply because it was a cheap alternative to film   sheehan wrote   and hasn  t made any creative use of the new medium    nor  he adds  done anything else creative .  br    br   sheehan pointed out the movie  s first big mistake it  starts off as a domestic drama that  s supposed to ratchet up when  half an hour into the action  moreira reveals that the father and one of his friends are professional hit men . waiting the thirty minutes adds nothing to the movie it seems like a perfectly arbitrary decision and is  at the very least  a waste of time . but ratcheting up is all moreira ever does  like a little kid who  s gotten a tool kit for his birthday  and goes around banging everything in sight without rhyme  reason or skill .  devastating  but true .  br    br   writing about the     london festival for kamera . com  metin alsanjak tried to look at the positive side but nonetheless gave away the lack of redeeming features in calling the performances  easily the film  s best feature .  yes  very easily  given that everything else is so bad . alsanjak admitted that  this low  budget  violent and seedy account of the lawless in sao paulo is devoid of any likable characters  and as a result  of hope . too dark and cynical to be a telling account of the human condition  the film is not helped by poor subtitling . . .  alsanjak  s connecting contra todos to  dogme  and mike leigh didn  t help matters .  br    br   apart from that meaningless first half hour in which nothing redeems the boredom of our wait for the first acts of violence   which  when they come  are just  banging everything in sight without rhyme  reason or skill    moreira clumsily tries to redeem his abrupt finale by adding what appear to be outtakes right after it  followed by an implausible ironic concluding scene where one of the characters gets married . no doubt the director wanted to exhibit the  banality of evil  of low  level hit men in working class neighborhoods  but he can  t make the characters  which he sees generically  come alive for us . and the structure of the film shows that he also can  t edit his material .  br    br    seen at the san francisco international film festival on april        .   
to a certain extent  i actually liked this film better than the original vampires . i found that movie to be quite misogynistic . as a woman and a horror fan  i  m used to the fact that women in peril are a staple of the genre . but they just slap sheryl lee around way too much . in this movie  natasha wagner is a more fully  realized character  and the main bad guy is a gal  arly jover  who played a sidekick vamp in blade  is very otherworldly and deadly . jon bon jovi . . . okay  yeah  no great actor  but he does ok . at least he doesn  t start to sing . catch it on cable if you can . it  s on encore action this month .  
a shaky hand  held camera was used  presumably to give the film a documentary look  but the effect was so exaggerated that i started to get motion  sickness just from watching it . it looked like someone with cerebral palsy was holding the camera  no offense meant to cp sufferers  but i don  t think you would expect to get much work as a cinematographer   the camera work was so nauseating  and so distracting  that my wife and i considered it unwatchable and gave up on it after   minutes of torture . i checked back a while later  it was showing on tv   and it hadn  t gotten any better . i suggest giving this one a miss unless you need to get rid of any bad sushi you may have eaten   
the main problem of the first  vampires  movie is that none of the characters were sympathetic . carpenter learned from his mistake and this time used a likable vampire hunter and a charismatic vampire . the female vampire una certainly is the coolest vampire since blade  s deacon frost . unfortunately while there are some good concepts like a cool slow motion restaurant scene  why didn  t carpenter use more of this    this movie is nowhere near as good as it could have been . i expected to see strong vampires in action and at least one longer lasting nicely choreographed fight sequence  for example inside a city  and was left somewhat disappointed . while  los muertos  proceeds at a faster pace than its predecessor  it still drags a little in some parts  though nowhere near as bad as  vampires  did  . much like  vampires  however this movie  s climax near the end is not very intense .  br    br   most of the above may sound like  los muertos  is a bad movie but it definitely isn  t . it is generally enjoyable and ranks among the better entries to the genre . it is neither an unoriginal dracula remake  like almost every other vampire movie out there  nor is it an unintelligent action spectacle like blade ii . it simply could have used a bit more excitement .  br    br   i  d really like to see a third installment made by carpenter but it  s probably not going to happen .  br    br   spoiler warning the ending was way too predictable . una should have gotten away  that would have made the movie quite unusual .  
for all its visual delights  how much better renaissance would have been in live action . the animation is fantastic in the big picture  yes  but the characters are cold and hollow  much like the story and the style of this film . with real actors  perhaps the world of the film would not have felt so lifeless . there is much to admire here  but at the end i found that all i could do was admire . i did not enjoy the movie that much  and it clarifies something that i did not see before that the visual elements can be the defining positive aspect of a film  but without a good story and strong characters  it can all be for nothing . i will not go so far as to say that this movie comes to nothing  but sometimes it comes dangerously close . i love dark sci  fi thrillers . blade runner and dark city are two films i thought were wonderful . but blade runner had its tragic villain and dark city had its thought  provoking story arc . renaissance has shadow and light  but little else . i wish i could have liked this movie more  but the weak story and the empty characters stood in the way of that . the renaissance was a historical and artistic burst of color and life . how ironic  then  that one of the most bleak and lifeless movies i  ve seen this year takes its title from the renaissance .  
i admit that i am a vampire addict i have seen so many vampire movies i have lost count and this one is definitely in the top ten . i was very impressed by the original john carpenter  s vampires and when i descovered there was a sequel i went straight out and bought it . this movie does not obey quite the same rules as the first  and it is not quite so dark  but it is close enough and i felt that it built nicely on the original .  br    br   jon bon jovi was very good as derek bliss his performance was likeable and yet hard enough for the viewer to believe that he might actually be able to survive in the world in which he lives . one of my favourite parts was just after he meets zoey and wanders into the bathroom of the diner to check to see if she is more than she seems . his comments are beautifully irreverant and yet emminently practical which contrast well with the rest of the scene as it unfolds .  br    br   the other cast members were also well chosen and they knitted nicely to produce an entertaining and original film . it is not simply a rehash of the first movie and it has grown in a similar way to the way fright night ii grew out of fright night . there are different elements which make it a fresh movie with a similar theme .  br    br   if you like vampire movies i would recommend this one . if you prefer your films less bloody then choose something else .  
i read the book a long time back and don  t specifically remember the plot but do remember that i enjoyed it . since i  m home sick on the couch it seemed like a good idea and hey   it is a lifetime movie .  br    br   the movie is populated with grade b actors and actresses .  br    br   the female cast is right out of desperate housewives . i  ve never seen the show but there are lots of commercials for the show and i get the gist . is there nothing original anymore  sure  but not on lifetime .  br    br   the male cast are all fairly effeminate looking and acting but the girls need to have husbands i suppose .  br    br   in one scene a female is struggling with a male  for her life  and what does she do    kicks him in the testicles . what else  women love that but let me tell you girls something . . . it  s not as easy as it  s always made to look .  br    br   it wasn  t all bad . i did get the chills a time or two so i have to credit someone with that .  
almost too well done . . .  john carpenter  s vampires  was entertaining  a solid piece of popcorn  entertainment with a budget small enough not to be overrun by special effects . and obviously aiming on the  from dusk till dawn   audience .  vampires los muertos  tries the same starting with a rock  star jon bon jovi playing one of the main characters  but does that almost too well . . .  i haven  t seen jon bon jovi in any other movie  so i am not able to compare his acting in  vampires los muertos  to his other roles  but i was really suprised of his good performance . after the movie started he convinced me not expecting him to grab any guitar and playing  it  my life  or something  but kill vampires  showing no mercy and doing a job which has to be done . this means a lot  because a part of the audience  also me  was probably thinking  . . . just because he  s a rockstar . . .  . of course bon jovi is not james woods but to be honest it could have been much worse  and in my opinion bon jovi did a very good performance . the vampiress played by arly jover is not the leather dressed killer  machine of a vampire  leader we met in part   or in similar way in  ghosts of mars   . jover plays the vampire very seductive and very sexy  moving as lithe as a cat  attacking as fast as a snake and dressed in thin  light almost transparent very erotic cloth . and even the optical effects supporting her kind of movement are very well made . it really takes some beating . but the director is in some parts of the film only just avoiding turning the movie from an action  horrorfilm into a sensitive horrormovie like murnau  s  nosferatu  . you can almost see the director  s temptation to create a movie with a very personal note and different to the original . this is the real strength of the movie and at the same time its weakest point the audience celebrating the fun  bloodbath of the first movie is probably expecting a pure fun  bloodbath for the second time and might be a little disappointed . make no mistake  vampireslos muertos  is a fun  bloodbath but it  s just not all the time this kind of movie . just think of the massacre in the bar compared to the scene in which the vampiress tries to seduce zoey in the ruins the bar  massacre is what you expect from american popcorn  entertainment  the seducing  zoey  in  the  ruins  scene is almost european  like cinema  the movie is eager to tell us more about the relationship between zoey and the vampiress  but refuses answers at the same time . because it would had slow down the action  showed the audience a vampiress with a human past  a now suffering creature and not only a beast which is just slaughtering anybody  . and that  s the point to me which decides whether the movie is accepted by the audience of the original movie or not . and also is the  from dusk till dawn   audience really going to like this  i  m not sure about that . nevertheless tommy lee wallace did really a great job   vampireslos muertos  is surprisingly good . but i also think to direct a sequel of a popcorn movie wallace is sometimes almost too creative  too expressive . like he  s keeping himself from developing his talent in order to satisfy the expectations of audience . in my opinion  wallace  talent fills the movie with life and is maybe sometimes sucking it out at the same time .  vampires los muertos  is almost too well done .  i give it  of     
not that i was really surprised . . . . movies are never as good as the books that they originated from . i was looking forward to seeing this movie because this is one of my favorite books  even though i knew it would probably suck . i was hoping to be pleasantly surprised . however  they strayed from the book  s storyline too much  and the movie version did not convey how horrible this house really was . ending was different too . lara flynn boyle looked terrible due to some really bad cosmetic surgery . the acting was unremarkable at best . perhaps if a theatrical version was made so that they wouldn  t have to stay so much in lifetime  s  made for tv movie  box  it would be a better flick . if you saw this movie i highly encourage you to track down the book and read it . i doubt you  ll be disappointed and hope you enjoy it as much as i do every time i read it .  
at this point it seems almost unnecessary to state that jon bon jovi delivers a firm  strong  seamless performance as derek bliss . his capability as an actor has been previously established by his critical acclaim garnered in other films  the leading man  no looking back  . but  in case anyone is still wondering  yes  jon bon jovi can act . he can act well and that  s come to be expected of him . it  s easy to separate derek from the guy who belts out hits on vh   .  br    br   i generally would not watch a horror movie . i  ve come to expect them to focus on sensationalistic gore rather than dialogue and plot . what pleased me most about this film was that there really was a viable plot being moved along . the gore is not so much as to become the focus of the film and does not have a disturbingly realistic quality of films with higher technical effects budgets . so  gore fans might be disappointed  but story fans will not .  br    br   unlike an action film like u     where the dialogue takes a back seat to the bombast  we get a chance to know  the good guys  and actually care what happens to them . a few scenes are left unexplained  like derek  s hallucinations  but you get the feeling certain aspects were as they were to lay the foundation for a sequel . unfortunately  with the lack of interest shown by hollywood in this film  that sequel will never happen . these few instances are forgiveable knowing that vampires could have been a continuing series .  br    br   is this the best film i  ve ever seen in my life  no . is it a good way to spend about two hours being entertained  yes . it won  t leave the person who fears horror movies with insomnia and it won  t leave the horror movie lover completely disappointed either . if you  re somewhere in between the horror genre loather and the horror genre lover  this film is for you . it reaches a happy medium with the effects and story balancing each other .  br    br    
it would help to know why it took so long for a book as movie  ready  as  the house next door  to be adapted for film or television . the book was copyrighted in     . one reason could be problems designing  the house  . the house in this lifetime film is really so ugly that i can  t imagine anyone buying it . in fact it  s so ugly that someone would probably have come and destroyed it as soon as it was built .  br    br   i  m not crazy about horror genre books  but this one was hard to put down when i came across it around ten years ago . the main characters are not the kind of people to look for anything occult in life  and this is one of the book  s strengths . they are not people who would conclude that the architect was some type of demon . .  or the devil personified  without witnessing and analyzing the events described so well in the book . however  it is a downbeat book for the most part  and i don  t think that appeals to the people who run lifetime . maybe someone will come up with another version of the book in years to come . a better house . . better music . . a better screenplay and darker lighting . . . would certainly help .  
my personal opinion is that this movie had no real story line to the first john carpenter  s vampires but i don  t care i loved it . jon bon jovi  derek  was great in this movie . he really mad me believe that he was the person you would never think he was a famous rockstar . there were some bad things about this movie . like the story line  there should have been more to the movie . there should have been a sequel to the movie that followed the movies story line and they should have kept the same main characters in all three vampires movies . i really liked the clothes that the people wore and the setting they pick in mexico . i liked how it was old mexico and not new mexico . with the clay houses and the old fashion churches . i was a little confused with the vampires and how they were able to walk in churches but it was cool how they didn  t follow dracula vampire rules .  
the cast is ok . the script is awkward at times  and it takes a while to figure out what the point of the movie is . i found myself looking forward to doing the dishes . the shehan bit is a cheesy statement on the war . i guess we were supposed to not notice it . . . we did . its a house  you did nothing more than kill forty five minutes . the shower part . . . huh  what was that about  literally  it is i have a client   ok you can use our shower .  yawn . the angles are trying way to hard . there was a set of woods  suddenly its gone cause you can see right through  then next it is deep and animals are dying . in the end this is a horrendous movie of boring proportions .  
the original vampires       is one of my favorites . i was curious to see how a sequel would work considering they used none of the original characters . i was quite surprised at how this played out . as a rule  sequels are never as good as the original  with a few exceptions . though this one was not a great movie  the writer did well in keeping the main themes  vampire lore from the first one in tact . jon bon jovi was a drawback initially  but he proved to be a half  way decent slayer . i doubt anyone could top james wood  s performance in the first one  though . . . unless you bring in buffy   br    br   all in all  this was a decent watch  i would watch it again .  br    br   i was left with two questions  though . . . what happened to jack crow  how did derek bliss come to be a slayer  guess we  ll just have to leave that to imagination .  
no mention if ann rivers siddons adapted the material for  the house next door  from her     s novel of the same title  or someone else did it . this lifetime  like movie was directed by canadian director jeff woolnough . having read the book a long time ago  we decided to take a chance when the film showed on a cable version of what was clearly a movie made for television . you know that when the critical moments precede the commercials  which of course  one can  t find in this version we watched .  br    br   the film  s star is lara flynn boyle who sports a new look that threw this viewer a curve because of the cosmetic transformation this actress has gone through . from the new eyebrows to other parts of her body  ms . boyle is hardly recognizable as col kennedy  the character at the center of the mystery . this was not one of the actress better moments in front of the camera . that goes for the rest of the mainly canadian actors that deserved better .  br    br   the film has a feeling of a cross between  desperate houswives  with  the stepford wives  and other better known features  combined with a mild dose of creepiness . the best thing about the movie was the house which serves as the setting .  
paul  grace hartman are my husbands grandparents . they were both deceased when we met so watching old movies is a good way to see them and their work . i have always enjoyed old movies and was very happy to discover that this was also a very good one .  
this is not an entirely bad movie . the plot  new house built next door seems to be haunted  is not bad  the mood is creepy enough  and the acting is okay . the big problem i had is that  being familiar with lara flynn boyle  from twin peaks and other shows   i couldn  t get over how different she looks with her apparently new  big lips . i kept staring at them . they look so out of place on her face  they make her look completely different  and not better  .  br    br   mark  paul gosselaar  the actor who plays kim the architect who designs and pours his heart and soul into the house  does a fine job . and lara  as col  is also quite good  but those lips   as the owner of the house next door . her husband  walker  colin ferguson  is appropriately wooden . the various characters who live in the house were also fine . i particularly liked pie  charlotte sullivan  and her husband  buddy  stephen amell   the first people to move into the house . the attempt to involve us in the overall neighborhood vibe fails  unfortunately  as the other neighbors are not particularly likable .  br    br   for some reason the director was unable to make the  haunted  house particularly ominous . other movies  such as amityville horror  the legend of hell house  manage to achieve that spooky feel  but it just doesn  t happen here . the closest is when col paints a depiction of the house .  br    br   another thing that didn  t work for me is the plot twist that occurs with kim  the architect . initially  he appears to be a victim of the house like the others  it has sucked him dry of inspiration   but later he seems to have joined forces with it in evil .  br    br   overall  not a bad movie for horror fans if you can take your eyes off those big lips   
updated from a previous comment . the great and underrated marion davies shows her comedic stuff in this late       silent comedy that also showcases the wonderful william haines . davies plays a hick from georgia who crashes hollywood with help from haines  a bit player in crude comedies . they appear together in cheap comedies until marion is  discovered  and becomes a big dramatic star .  br    br   a great lampoon on hollywood and its pretensions . davies  haines are a wonderful team  and the guest shots from the likes of charlie chaplin  douglas fairbanks  william s . hart  john gilbert  elinor glyn  norma talmadge  mae murray  rod larocque  leatrice joy  dorothy sebastian  estelle taylor  louella parsons  renee adoree  aileen pringle  and marion davies  you have to see it  are a hoot . a must for any serious film buff or for anyone interested in the still  maligned marion davies  dell henderson plays the father . polly moran is a maid . paul ralli is the slimy leading man .  br    br   show people was said to have used the career of gloria swanson as its model  i think mae murray is closer  . davies and swanson were friends . but this film  s story does parallel the rise of swanson from one  reel mack sennett comedies with charlie chaplin to star in cecil b . demille films of the late teens and early   s .  br    br   davies and haines were huge mgm stars and friends . odd that mgm never teamed them up in a talkie . they  re great together  a sweet romance and delightful spoof of early hollywood . greta garbo and bebe daniels are mentioned but do not appear .  
that reviewers liked this movie surprises me . the plot is a muddle . the characters are wooden . michael bowen spends most of the film spying on the other characters and misjudging all of them . no one has any redeeming quality or point  of  interest . this is not an edgy work . it is not imaginative . it is not ironic . it is no clever . there is nothing straight forward about this tedious work . that is missed theatrical release is not surprise . that the  this network  airs it diminishes that venue . i definitely recommend turning to a rerun of the garden smart show on pbs or even a good informational if you encountered this mess on late night television . if you encounter it on daytime television  take a long walk . even if you walk in smog  you will feel better not having suffered through this shambles . life is short . this movie is long .  
i thought this movie was pretty good . some parts were corny but that  s understandable since it was made more than   years ago . i thought the best performance in the movie was given by michele morgan who played millie convincingly . jack haley is also really good as mike o  brien . even though i  m not a big frank sinatra fan  i think he was very good in this movie . if your have a craving for a silly  over the top musical comedy  higher and higher is the movie for you .  br    br    
oh  it  s the movie  i thought i waited too long to take out the dog . . . i can  t believe i watched the whole thing . i guess i was optimistically anticipating that it was going to get better . horribly disjointed dialog  pathetic acting  and totally improbable events . like toby  s mom hanging herself in the time it takes col to walk upstairs and back down in a room with a    ceiling and no chairs  counters or anything around her motionlessly suspended body that she could have possibly used to climb on to do herself in . the little girl that played the daughter of the last family was the best actor in the whole movie  and the puppy of the first couple was a close second . the basic storyline has potential and with a good script and director could be a seriously creepy flick  but this version sadly is not it . i get more scared when i open my electric bill every month .  
if you have never viewed this film and like old time veteran actors  this is the film for you . seeing frank sinatra when he was very young and extremely thin with sunken in cheeks and a wonderful voice which sang some great old songs . michele morgan   millie pico  gave an outstanding performance with plenty of dance and musical numbers . leon errol   cyrus drake  gave a great supporting role along with victor borge   sir victor fitzroy victor  who performed classical piano and no slap stick comedy like he did in his career . this is not a great musical  but frank sinatra was a great joy to see at the beginning of his career in the      s .  
this movie is pure guano . mom always said if you can  t say anything nice . . . but even mom would say i had to do my part to warn others of this movie .  br    br   i can guarantee this is the film that geoffrey rush wishes would just go away . i would hope that greg kinnear fired his agent . . from a cannon for giving him the script . after this ben stiller is probably praying for someone to pitch  there  s still something about mary .  i have always been a fan of wes studi  s  thank whatever you hold holy that he wore a mask through the film so maybe people won  t identify the film with him .  br    br   it starts of promisingly with a stylistic spoof of the cinematography of the batman films and then just loses something . . . like a coherent plot and half decent effects .  br    br   the jokes are telegraphed an hour before the punchline comes  and even then they fall flat . if you want to see an effective spoof of the comic book world see  chasing amy  .  br    br   run  don  t walk away from  mystery men    
this is one of my all  time favorites . great music and some funny bits . i laugh every time at millie  the maid pretending to be a dbutante  holding her dainty hankie while chatting  and mindlessly polishing furniture with it as she chats . i just never can get past her french accent never being a problem as they try to pass her off as the boss  s daughter .  br    br   seeing a teenage mel torme and the very young frank sinatra singing is such a treat . my mom saw frank sinatra at a theater about the same time this movie came out . she said they couldn  t clear the  bobby  soxers  out between movies  in those days you didn  t have to leave between showings  . this movie shows you how attractive and appealing the young frank was and allows you to appreciate his early talent as well . and victor borge gets in a bit of his routine in  which is a bonus .  br    br   this is a fun movie with a sweet  simple storyline . very enjoyable .  
life in some future fascist or near fascist state which severely restricts personal freedoms is a recurrent theme both in modern literature and for film makers . such works post us warnings about undesirable trends in our society to watch out for but to be effective they must also be entertaining . unfortunately most of the books are probably more effective in posting the warnings than in entertaining us enough to become really widely read whilst with the films the problem is usually the other way round . the first such work to become really widely known was probably george orwell  s        first published in       and this is still readily available both in the form of a book and as a film .  br    br   watch or read it and then  when you are feeling a little depressed by man  s inhumanity to man  reach for cinderella     . this is a feather light low budget film comedy based on the same theme which provides effortless but unrewarding viewing and as with     the calendar has now passed beyond its erstwhile period . most of the comedy is laid on with a trowel although there are just a few genuinely funny moments . to exercise your mind in the long intervals between these you can focus it on the question of whether this film will gain a new extension of life by being released as a dvd or whether it will finally disappear into oblivion as existing tape copies deteriorate past redemption . there are many worse films appearing as dvd  s these days  and frankly i do not care much what happens either way .  br    br   so far the best of the films of this genre has probably been  the handmaiden  s tale   but i would very happily swap them all for a well made film of jack london  s towering novel  the iron heel  . ambitious as this would be  it still seems incredible that no modern film maker has yet dared to attempt it  imdb only lists a b  w silent version made in russia in      .  
in frank sinatra  s first three films  he was purely a speciality act ostensibly playing himself  he merely shows up to croon a song during a nightclub sequence in somebody else  s movie . in his fourth film  the very enjoyable  higher and higher   young blue eyes transitions into an acting career by playing an actual role . . . a task made easier because he  s playing himself in a fictional story that gives him a chance to croon a few numbers .  br    br   sinatra  s entrance is quite funny . michele morgan hears a knock at the door  and asks who  s there . from outside  a hoboken  toned voice answers  frank sinatra  . sure enough . . .  br    br   the opening credits of  higher and higher  may confuse some viewers  as the names of songwriters rodgers and hart are prominently displayed . in fact  they only contributed one song to this musical  disgustingly rich   which this cast manage to toss off as a sort of intro to an entirely different song   i  m a debutante  . interestingly  that rodgers  hart song   one of their weakest   is perhaps the least enjoyable song in this movie  s score several others are lively up  tempo numbers  notably  it  s a most important affair    when it comes to love  you  re on your own  and  i saw you first  .  br    br   sinatra  s good in this movie  but he would do better work  and sing better material  elsewhere . the real merits of  higher and higher  are the delightful turns by some performers who rarely made films . paul and grace hartman were an extremely popular husband  wife dance team who starred in several broadway revues genuinely graceful ballroom dancers  they put plenty of physical comedy into their dance material .  here  grace does a high kick that knocks a shoe out of paul  s hands .  grace hartman  who died of cancer at age    did almost no film work  so it  s a real pleasure that this film gives us a rare chance to see her close  up  to hear her beautiful singing voice and to notice how sexy she looks in her maid  s uniform . after grace hartman  s death  her husband had a long career as a character actor  just occasionally dancing solo .  or alongside ken berry in one memorable episode of  mayberry rfd  .   br    br   also quite attractive in a maid  s uniform here in  higher and higher  is the vivacious teenage singer marcy mcguire . why didn  t this talented girl make more movies  perhaps she was just a bit too similar in personality to betty hutton . i enjoy hutton  s performances but i like marcy mcguire even better . near the end of  higher and higher  there  s an amusing bit of physical business featuring mcguire and mary wickes as waitresses  taking it in turns to move from table to table in a nightclub . the alternating strides of short mcguire and tall gawky wickes are hilarious  regrettably  although leon errol plays a large role in  higher and higher   he is given almost no comedy business not once does he do his famous rubber  legged dance . jack haley  despite his prominent billing  is also wasted .  br    br   very well  represented here is dooley wilson  inevitably remembered as sam from  casablanca  . in that film  wilson did his own singing but faked his keyboard performance of  as time goes by  .  in real life  wilson couldn  t play piano .  here in  higher and higher   he sings pleasingly and gives some amusing reactions to the other players . less enjoyable is mel odious  i mean mel torme . victor borge gives a rare film performance here  handling his dialogue deftly but never doing any of the keyboard comedy which he later did successfully in his stage shows .  br    br   the plot  forget it .  higher and higher  is nobody  s idea of a  great  musical  but it  s an enjoyable delight  and i  ll rate it  out of   . director tim whelan  who worked in britain as well as in hollywood  deserves to be much better known .  
this film is roughly what it sounds like a futuristic version of the cinderella legend but with songs and  fairly tame  sex scenes  the film is not sure what it wants to be and pretty much ends up a mess . it  s more expensive looking than most of director al adamson  s films but it  s not at the same budget level that viewers have come to expect from sci  fi films . the actors are pretty bad and unlike most adamson films  there are no former big namers or b actors . some of the music is ok but it  s easy to see why cinderella     has been forgotten for so many years .  
mel torme and victor borge  in their younger years  serve to make this film interesting  and especially viewing a young sinatra  on the sunny side of    and definitely conveying that this was his  yes  i  m a popular singer  but hardly an actor yet  stage . michele morgan is an annoying  inane presence  and jack haley is an actor whose appeal has always been totally lost on me . leon erroll is silly  as always  but overall pretty funny .  stars of a potential   is about the right  grade   because with the combination of its positive aspects  along with the lack of much of a story  and a silly one at that  and the fore  mentioned annoyances  it is overall average at best . most of the fascination is from the viewing of the three entertainment icons in their early years .  
i remember loving this show when i was a kid . i thought the helicopter was the coolest thing i  ve seen . it was ultra high  tech for it  s time . it could repel enemy fire  do all sorts of acrobatics in the air  and take down nearly anything in it  s way . now i go back and watch it today and am surprised how lousy this show really is . the casts members are hardly compelling  there are a lot of cheesy moments  and the fight scenes are incredibly fake looking . and nearly every ending has the same helicopter fighting crap with the obvious reuse of grainy low quality stock footage . lot of the footages appear to date from the vietnam war era .  br    br   airwolf has basically the same theme as knight rider  except the crime  fighting vehicle of choice is a helicopter instead of a car . after watching a few episodes  i found myself utterly bored . i do  however  love the theme music .  
this may not be one of the best movies ever made but overall it  s a very enjoyable  light  hearted piece of froth in which everyone involved seems to be having a good time . highly recommended for it  s feel  good factor alone . ok  so frank sinatra  s  acting  leaves a lot to be desired but his singing is a great redeeming feature and the songs fit in perfectly with the romantic atmosphere of the film . sinatra went on to make many more films where his undoubted acting ability shone through but in this  his first venture into hollywood  his voice  not his acting  is his main contribution to this movie . i  ve just watched it again on tv and it still lifts my mood as much as it did the first time i saw it many many years ago .  
i really looked forward to this program for two reasons i really liked jan michael vincent and i am an aviation nut and have a serious love affair with helicopters . i don  t like this program because it takes fantasy to an unbelievable level . the world speed record for helicopters was set at    mph by a westland lynx several years ago . the only chopper that was ever faster was the experimental lockheed ah   a in the      s . it hit over    and was a compound helicopter  which means it had a pusher propeller at the end of its fuselage providing thrust .  br    br   in short  no helicopter can fly much over    because of the principle of rotary wing flight . and the bell     the  actor  that portrayed airwolf wasn  t very fast even by helicopter standards . and it didn  t stay in production very long .  br    br   there was a movie that came out during this time period called  blue thunder  that was much more realistic .  
higher and higher was one of rodgershart  s lesser broadway musicals it only had a run of   performances on broadway in     . yet it yielded one of their bigger hits it never entered my mind .  br    br   nevertheless except for one minor song  so disgustingly rich  the entire broadway score was scrapped when rko bought the film rights . instead a whole new score by jimmy mchugh and harold adamson was written  mostly to accommodate one francis albert sinatra who was making his feature film debut .  br    br   sinatra who had done some vocal cameos in previous films  takes a leaf from the page of his singing rival bing crosby . when bing did his feature film debut in the big broadcast  he played bing crosby . frank sinatra took on the role of frank sinatra and i can  t think of anyone who could have done a better job .  br    br   the chairman of the board is billed third here behind stars jack haley and michele morgan . he  s the butler and she  s the scullery maid to leon errol . in fact errol is a millionaire who hasn  t paid his help for seven months . mainly because he  s about to go belly up into chapter   or so he informs the staff .  br    br   errol  s a delightful old soul to work for and none of the staff want to lose a good thing . they pool their resources and get michele morgan to impersonate errol  s daughter who  s over in switzerland with her mother . the idea being to snag a rich bankroll in the hopes rescuing the family fortune . only michele starts looking at another .  br    br   it  s a slight plot and certainly no worse than a whole lot of musicals  but rko invested this film with a good cast of players . barbara hale and elizabeth risdon play another dbutante and her mother who suspect something  s not right  victor borge is a fortune seeking no account  dooley wilson  paul hartman  grace hartman  marcy mcguire  mel torme and mary wickes  play others of the errol household staff . not a bad bunch at all .  br    br   sinatra sang three good ballads all of them had some kind of commercial success  the music stopped  a lovely way to spend an evening  and i couldn  t sleep a wink last night . the last one was nominated for an oscar for best song  but lost to alice faye  s you  ll never know .  br    br       was the year of the musician  s union strike against the recording industry . to get their material out  frank sinatra recorded the songs from higher and higher with an acapella chorus for columbia . bing crosby recorded songs from his film dixie in the same manner for decca . both of them were denounced by the president of the union  james c . petrillo as strikebreakers and both did not cross the picket line again . the strike wasn  t settle completely until     although decca broke ranks earlier from the other record companies and settled earlier than columbia  rca victor and the others .  br    br   the strike provided some anxious moments for sinatra . he had just left the tommy dorsey orchestra when the strike was called . it closed off a needed venue for his artistry when he wasn  t sure whether leaving dorsey would prove to be a right career move .  br    br   fortunately higher and higher was received well a legend was launched .  
warning may contain spoilers my huge problem with this movie is how totally self  centered and self consumed the adulteress wife is   after having a one night stand with a slimy psycho she is being stalked by him . he calls her constantly and threatens her and even sends a video of their night together . he is obviously crazy and very dangerous . the problem is she only thinks he is dangerous to her  and exposing her secret  . not for one second did she ever have one thought of concern for her husband  did she even for a moment think of him possibly being in danger from this psychotic   as soon as she realized how mental he was she should have warned her husband no matter what the consequences . maybe there wouldn  t have been a movie then but there really wasn  t one anyway so what  s the difference .  
after reading only two of the comments herein  as a lifelong bronte fan  beginning with olivier  s heathcliff and enduring with the many versions of charlotte  s  rochester   it is more than eye  opening to see that it is the unsung bronte sister who gave the lie to the male  chauvinist period the trio inhabited . of course  the  miracle  in all three versions of   th  century british domesticity is that the  girls  were all  spinsters  and their only realistic brushes with  men  were their vicar father and their wastrel  brother . that said  finally  it is anne bronte who has  in her single assay   proved the  feminist  point  way way ahead of contemporary types  and including the  voting franchise  ranks . however  history evinces more than a few who preceded  including the greek heterai and sappho and the likes of an ancient emperor  s yang kuei  fei . and how about  eve  and her apple   
the plot is plausible but banal  i . e .  beautiful and neglected wife of wealthy and powerful man has a fling with a psychotic hunk  then tries to cover it up as the psycho stalks and blackmails her . but  what develops from there is stupefyingly illogical . despite the resources that are available to the usual couple who has money and influence  our privileged hero and heroine appear to have only one domestic  their attorney and local police  who say they can do nothing  at their disposal while they grapple with suspense and terror . they have no private security staff  only a fancy security system that they mishandle   household or grounds staff  chauffeurs  etc . not even  apparently  the funds to hire private round  the  clock nurses to care for the hero when he suffers life  threatening injuries  leaving man and wife alone and vulnerable in their mansion . our heroine is portrayed as having the brains of a doorknob and our hero  a tycoon  behaves in the most unlikely and irrational manner . the production is an insult to viewers who wasted their time with this drivel and a crime for having wasted the talents of veteran actors oliva hussey and don murray  what were they thinking   . and  shame on lifetime tv for insulting the intelligence of its audience for this insipid offering .  
i loved it so much that i bought the dvd and the novel at the same time . the chemistry between the actors  including little arthur  is amazing and thrilling .  br    br   it could have used a bit more screen time for the yummy frederick lawrence  played by james purefoy  . and gilbert markham was amazingly  on it  from the very start of the movie .  br    br   the one who most thrilled me via surprising shock and awe and wonder was rupert graves as arthur huntingdon . i adore him in forsyte saga  and all else i  ve seen him in . but he outdoes himself here as arthur . in my wildest dreams i could not have pictured him playing a demented psycho such as arthur huntingdon . but he does . and i love it . and i love him .  
don  t get me wrong  this is a terrible  clichd film  but it is a delight for fans of olivia hussey  quite possibly the most intoxicating beauty ever to grace the silver screen . one poster stated that she was unpleasant to look at  i wonder what his ideal woman looks like  paris hil  slut  blockbuster should really establish a sub  genre to this type of film  as the fatal attraction plot has become a genre unto itself . when will blockbuster adopt the  adultry  section  it will fit in quite nicely between the drama and action sections  right  this film revolves around olivia hussey  who spends a night of passion with an unstable yacht owner who may have murdered his ex  wife  who looks remarkably like ms . hussey . this ne  er  do  well proceeds to stalk olivia and thus make her life a living  hell . i like olivia hussey  but i have no sympathy for characters in movies that cheat on their spouses  so i really wasn  t rooting for olivia to make it out o this stinker alive .  br    br   violence   there is a smattering of violence in the film . don murray and anthony john denison get involved in a fisticuffs when denison says that he will not stop seeing olivia  murray  s wife  because she is just too good in bed . olivia also gets to handle a shooter and might get to squeeze off a round  i  ll let you watch  .  br    br   nudity   olivia is the queen of brief nudity and supplies a little here . she has a love scene with anthony john denison and also has a shower scene  shot at a distance  .  br    br   story   we  ve seen this plot before  a hundred times over  and oftentimes done much better . the true culprit  when trying to decipher why this film was a dud  is william riead . the man  s dialogue is sophomoric and moronic . the man has no story  telling abilities and fails to build believable human reactions to the plot . these people  of the upper strata of society  talk like middle school kids  with a habit of sleeping during english class . i have placed riead on the never  to  be  viewed  again list  .  br    br   acting   the acting wasn  t  phoned  in  as the insiders say  but was hindered a great deal by riead  s juvenile script . olivia hussey resorts to calling anthony jonh denison  weird  and  crazy  to his face when he begins to stalk her . hussey  who is still beautiful  delivers the best performance here but denison was equal to the task of portraying a demented  love  crazed stalker . don murray was basically just there  his character not fleshed out  and edward asner  a terrific actor when given something with substance  is ill  used in this film  .  
the way the story is developed  keeps the audience wondering what is the tenant  s dark past . we get some clues during the series  but enough to keep us interested in the mini  series . the characters are all believable and i personally felt immersed and surrounded by the story .  
oh man  this s  u  c  k  e  d sucked . . . . i couldn  t even get any camp value out of this . . . . . . and i sat through the whole thing on showtime . . . . don  t bother waiting around for the  naked  scenes either . . . . . it  s too late and only plastic jenna jameson is involved . . shows how much discretionary cash must be laying around hollywood just to get your name on the closing credits . . i guess showtime had to throw something in at  am . . . next time i think i  d even rather be watching espn loop around every   minutes . . .  
the great and underrated marion davies shows her stuff in this late       silent comedy that also showcases the wonderful william haines . davies plays a hick from georgia who crashes hollywood with help from haines . they appear in cheap comedies until marion is  discovered  and becomes a big dramatic star . a great lampoon on hollywood and its pretentions . davies  haines are a wonderful team  too bad they never made a talkie together  and the guest shots from the likes of charlie chaplin  douglas fairbanks  william s . hart  john gilbert  elinor glynn  and marion davies  you have to see it  are a hoot . a must for any serious film buff or for anyone interested in the still  maligned marion davies   
iberia is nice to see on tv . but why see this in silver screen  lot of dance and music . if you like classical music or modern dance this could be your date movie . but otherwise one and half hour is just too long time . if you like to see skillful dancing in silver screen it  s better to see bollywood movie . they know how to combine breath taking dancing to long movie . director carlos saura knows how to shoot dancing from old experience . and time to time it  s look really good . but when the movie is one and hour it should be at least most of time interesting . there are many kind of art not everything is bigger then life and this film is not too big .  
contains spoilers   br    br   i saw an advert for this on a video . then my sister discovered that we had the book so i read it . i rented the video on the same day i finished the book . i thought it was very memorable as was the book . the cast was brilliant . tara fitzgerald was excellent as helen and rupert graves was hateful as arthur . the costumes  music and settings are stunningly beautiful .  br    br   warning  dont read any more if you havent watched this  br    br   on the downside there are some sex scenes that have been added in and some violence . this is why the video is rated   . there are some other things that have been thrown in . after the first part  i felt that the accuracy went downhill . while the book is better than this  i am glad i have seen it and would reccomend it to people who have read the book  are fans of bronte or like costume dramas  i am all    as long as you fastforward through the sex scenes . the book is rather underated . anne brontes books dont seem to be that widely read or well known as jane erye or wuthering heights which have made it into television and film several times . another thing . when i read the book  i was surprised at how much religion ther was in it  but here they had axed that all out   br    br        
this seems like two films one a dreary  pretentious lengthy saga about an ac  tor who is taken over by the parts he plays the other a brilliant social comment about a middle aged divorce who is picked up by a waitress . shelley winters is wonderful as a waitress with another business on the side . she drops heavy hints about the need for connections  her certificate in massage and her desire to get into the modelling game . i love the glimpse of her seedy flat with a kitchenette behind a curtain  and her terrible seducing outfit of navel  revealing  puff  sleeved crochet top .  br    br   do actors get oscars for shakespeare  we know they oscars for impersonating disabled people  wearing a lot of prosthetics  or pretending to be mad . the shakespearean scenes  which go on and on  are embarrassing and dated . and so are the  going mad  scenes where tony looks distracted while listening to his own voice  over .  br    br   by the way  anthony john is not aristocratic . he makes it quite clear in an early scene that he used to be a chorus boy . when he quotes his father  s advice  he slips into a cockney accent .  
i imagine victorian literature slowly sinking into the mire of the increasingly distant past  pulled down by the weight of its under  skirts . along comes television at its best  it has a redemptive power  and with dramatisations like those the bbc produce so finely  victorian literature gets a new stab at life . the religious themes  the moral overtones  may be increasingly ill at ease in a world no longer easily shocked  and acquainted with cohabitation  affairs and domestic violence . but those old  well  told stories have enduring power  and this is one  s a hidden gem .  br    br   it  s hard to gauge today just how forceful  feminist and extraordinary ann bronte  s masterpiece   the tenant of wildfell hall   actually was . emerging from the primeval slime of restrictive corsets  bodily  mental  societal  her heroine  helen huntingdon  escapes a miserable marriage  flees brutality and alcoholism  braves not only her abusive husband  s fury  but society  s pinched intolerance and malicious gossip  to wreak change in her life . she pays a price but retains her self  respect she falls in love along the way she emerges battered but victorious  and strong . i just love watching women like these on screen .  br    br   the actors are superb  the best brits have to offer . the love story is beautifully handled  with real passion and feeling by well  matched actors . tara fitzgerald inhabits every aspect of the complicated heroine  and as has been said here by other reviewers  no less sharply defined and beautiful a face could survive that petrifying hairstyle . toby stephens  striking sparks off her  contributes just the right combination of headstrong  handsome youth and passionate  yearning vulnerability . rupert graves  one of my favourite british actors ever  enjoys himself as the charismatic villain  so much so that you  re almost with him at the end . no one  s perfect  . the supporting cast ably create a world into which you sink without feeling that coarse compromises have been made to modern tastes  and without having felt preached to . another bbc classic  highly recommended this is how romantic literature should be dramatised .  
ronald colman won a best actor oscar for showy performance as a popular stage thespian who completely loses himself in his roles  particularly as shakespeare  s othello . critically  lauded george cukor film has a marvelous pedigree  having been written by the estimable team of ruth gordon and garson kanin . unfortunately  the witty banter comes off as self  conscious here  and the backstage business is overripe . mikls rzsa also won an oscar for his score  and shelley winters has a few fine moments a tough waitress  when theatrical colman breathlessly addresses her  she asks him   what are ya  some kind of nut    . otherwise  this scenario is awfully obvious  surprisingly draggy  and not very funny .     from   
the only complaint i have about this adaptation is that it is sexed  up . things that were only hinted at in the novel are shown on  screen for some weird reason . did they think the audience would be too stupid to understand if they were not shown everything out  right  other than that  this is very good  quality . all the actors do marvelous jobs bringing their characters to life . for the shallow women out there  it  s worth watching at least because toby stephens as gilbert is the sexiest thing ever . if i were helen i would have conveniently forgotten i was still married the minute i laid eyes on him . . .  br    br   sort of a spoiler  the ending scene is a funny reversal of what happened in the book .  
man  this gets a lot of good reviews in the review books . frankly  i found it too slow and unappealing right from the start . i kept waiting for it to pick up a little steam but that never happened . this movie is vastly overrated .  br    br   shakespeare  with the king james english  has never appealed to me  anyway  so it may just be me . there is a fair share of the latter in the first half of the film as they show ronald colman playing the role of othello .  br    br   the good points of the film include  thanks to a restored print  some decent cinematography and a young  slim and attractive shelly winters .  br    br   overall  this is simply too boring  too much repetition in some of the scenes to watch again . besides  we all know that most actors are nut  cases  anyway  but kudos to hollywood for demonstrating it here in this story .  
spoilers . . . . .  br    br   i saw the original on tv sometime ago and remembered this production as less gripping than most beeb costume drama . i rewatched on dvd this week and still have the same impression of it . it  s a good story at first  but weakens when the heroine becomes oh so terribly brave and noble and returns to her utterly vile husband when he  s ill and i got so totally irritated with her saintliness . i suppose this was the  right thing to do  when the story was written as well as contributing plenty of angst  and it was difficult for a woman to be independent of her husband as marriage made her no more than his possession  let alone to carry on scandalously with a lover as i expect a lot of the modern audience would have liked to see . but it  s hard to take the santimoniousness nowadays and especially when this heroine had a strong  brave admirer ready to defend her against anyone and everyone . so re the story as in the film i  m equivocal . it  s well done as per the novel  but somewhat irritating as per today  s kind of life .  br    br   steadfast hero gilbert was certainly a saint to put up with his ladylove  s variable and often cryptic behaviour and persistent self  denial and to be so consistently supportive . so i felt it a great shame that when helen was at long last free to be with him  the script didn  t allow him a bit more than about one minute to fall on each other for a quick hug before the titles came up . this was completely ridiculous when we  d been waiting all this time through all that dripping sentiment over the undeserving husband for a decent bit of dialogue and a good embrace between hero and heroine . instead  the ending was as though the film makers had run out of time or finance or just couldn  t be bothered .  here you are  one minute  do what you can in that  then cut as the director wants to go home now . . . . .  i was left feeling totally dissasatisfied .  br    br   however  very high commendations to the acting of toby stephens a perfect and very handsome hero  and rupert graves a superbly nasty and self  pitying villain . tara fitzgerald was satisfactory within the confines of the script that forced her to be a depressing and rather sanctimonious victim so much of the time .  br    br   that said  i love these classic dramas and virtually all of them are a sight better than much of the  modern  drama on tv these days . so  stars because in spite of the irritations it  s still a good watch .  
as the summary says you just made the most ignorant comment i have ever heard on an rpg . you seriously thought they were gay  are you retarded  if you went to go save your best friend and someone decides out of the goodness of his heart to help you then you are in a serious debt to that man . lavitz was a good person and each time they helped each other it made them closer as friends . they weren  t gay lovers like your bitching about . and to let you know the game is set in a medieval time period . back then  women did just prepare meals while the men fought . do you even know your history  do you know how long it took for women to be accepted in the army in present day  this game contains a lot of realism even though your too damn slow obviously to catch it  and you really need to spit out some solid proof instead of ignorant assumptions based off your misguided act to interpret the story .  
i loved this mini series . tara fitzgerald did an incredible job portraying helen graham  a beautiful young woman hiding  along with her young son  from a mysterious past . as an anglophile who loves romances . . . this movie was just my cup of tea and i would recommend it to anyone looking to escape for a few hours into the england of the      s . i also must mention that toby stephens who portrays the very magnetic gilbert markham is reason enough to watch this wonderful production .  
trying to cash in on the success of deal or no deal and  versus    comes this lame excuse for entertainment  show me the money  in which   sexy  dancers  shimmy out in shiny red hooker attire . a contestant is given the beginning of a phrase  such as  which team lost . . .  with three choices  a  b  or c  each which completes the phrase . the contestant has three chances to give an answer to one of these  choices . the host  william shatner  at his obnoxious smarmiest  asks the contestant if he wants to  lock into the answer  and when the contestant says yes  he picks a  dancer   to whom he yells  show me the money   she opens a scroll that has an amount  and if his answer was right  he adds that amount to his winnings if he was wrong  the amount is subtracted .  so theoretically  it is possible for a contestant on this dreary debacle to actually wind up owing shatner money .  there is also a  killer card  and if the contestant picks the girl who has that vile scroll  but he has answered properly  nothing happens . if he  s answered wrong  the game goes into sudden death and has to answer another question . if he gets that one wrong  he leaves with nothing .  br    br   before going to commercials  shatner yells   let  s dance  and shatner  the contestant and the   dancers shake booty . at the end of the show  shatner asks the ladies for  a last dance  and they all shake it some more .  br    br   i give this show  episodes at the very most  at which time hopefully this pathetic excuse for a game will be shown the door .  it could  ve been worse  they could  ve somehow bribed cuba gooding jr to be the host  although i bet he  s a better dancer than  shat   as they call him these days .   br    br        guess what  i was wrong  it lasted for only  episodes . there is hope for the world .  
anne brontes epic novel the tenant of wildfell hall should be studied and read throughout schools and libraries and peoples living rooms . its a fantastic story and tells the  real  truth on alcoholism and ruined marriages and a mothers fight to keep her son away from her brutal husband . its so alike todays stories that we see and hear and i believe people can learn a lot from reading this book . based on possible true experiences that the author had back in the     s .  br    br   do watch this film  its a great version of the book and very moving indeed . i  m sure anne herself would have been happy with the way it was produced .  br    br   excellent acting and great locations .  
my wife and i are semi amused by howie mandel  s show . . i also like shatner  even when he  s at his most pathetic . .  br    br   but this is absolutely the worst show on television .  br    br   please cancel this show . it sucks a .  br    br   the only positive thing i can say is that the girls are hotter on this show and seem to wear less clothing than deal or no deal . . .  br    br   the questions are a mixture of way too easy and incredibly obscure . and watching shatner or the contestant say  show me the money  makes me want to vomit . .  br    br   this one will not last .  
i first saw this mini  series a number of years ago on british television and was immediately captivated by the story . this rather surprised me as i am not a great fan of either  jane eyre  or  wuthering heights   i consider the heroine of the former to be a self  righteous bore  and the latter piece of work as overblown claptrap .  br    br    the tenant of wildfell hall   like the aforementioned works  is also somewhat depressing in parts . however  the darker parts of the film were offset by the excitement of helen  s escape  the breathtakingly wild and beautiful landscape of yorkshire  and the sexual magnetism of toby stephens .  br    br   this film successfully portrays the frustratingly restrictive lifestyle of all women of the time . at best they suffered from a form of minor domestic tyranny as portrayed by the treatment of the womenfolk in the markham household . at the other end of the scale  there is the unfortunate helen who is married to a wealthy man of high estate  but is exposed to brutality and humiliation alternating with long periods of neglect . she runs away and experiences a brief moment of freedom but  as a women of mystery living alone in a rural community  she inevitably becomes the subject of spiteful gossip and speculation .  br    br   tara fitzgerald is excellent as the long  suffering helen markham . not only incredibly beautiful  in spite of that terribly unflattering hairstyle  with the most amazing cheekbones  she is also more than capable of playing the central role in the film . tara is dignified and aloof while  at the same time  allowing us to see that helen is still dangerously vulnerable . rupert graves is the depraved  yet curiously attractive arthur huntingdon  after seeing him  i could never imagine another actor playing that part . pam ferris deserves special mention for her role as gilbert  s indulgent mother  as does the actress who played his sister rose  and simon carter who is the uncharitable vicar with a taste for the good things in life . finally  i could watch this film for toby stephens alone he is so good  looking  rugged  sexy  sensitive  but not in a nauseatingly sentimental way  . i am not even sure if he is a good actor as my hormones prevent me from judging him objectively   br    br   if there is a fault with the film it is the use of flashbacks which i felt both interfered with the flow of the story and made it slightly confusing . other people  who have watched this film with me  also had problems with this  and i found i had to explain to them that certain scenes were in fact retrospective .  br    br   i am extremely grateful for the people responsible for making this film . not only did i puchase the video  a rare occurrence   but it led me to buy anne bronte  s superb novel . naturally  this was better than the film  but only by a narrow margin . i recommend that anyone interested should watch the film and then read the book in that order .  br    br    
there was such a hype about a game show with bill shatner . . . and especially right in the wake of deal or no deal and  vs    . so  of course everyone had to tune in to see what all the fuss was about on the new game show . what a disappointment  as ben stein so stoically and nasally says   wooww  .  br    br   the only thing likable about this show was the fact that you knew it would eventually be over . sitting through a full hour of it was like going to the dentist . . . you find yourself looking at the clock in what you think are   minute intervals  only to find out that only a minute has passed  but seemed like an eternity  since you last glanced at the clock . so  why didn  t i just switch the channel  well  probably for the same reason most other people didn  t . . . out of sheer optimism . i mean  no one really wants to think that a show with bill shatner could actually be so bad .  br    br   personally  from the first   minutes  i never thought this was the kind of vehicle that would showcase the talents of william shatner . my chief complaint was that the set was so dark . watching it left me feeling depressed . you kept on wanting to get ahold of a little excitement  but there was just none to be had . there was not even enough light on the set to get a feel of energy from the audience  who you couldn  t even see  .  br    br   dear network people do not watch game shows to cure their insomnia . . . they watch game shows to be excited and have a good time . please do us all a favor and lose this in the vault .  
what can be said of the compelling performance of tara fitzgerald  she is utterly believable as the injured mrs graham  hardened by experience  sharp and strong  willed  yet not immune to the passionate attentions of mr markham . through every mischievous glance and every flare of temper  every flicker of discernment in his eyes and telling facial expression  toby stephens is a master of his character . he is the force of passion and hope that will restore helen  s injured spirit . graves  huntingdon is a perfect performance of the unreformable rogue . yet despite all he has done  there is an undeniable human dignity in his refusal to play the hypocrite at the end he is at least aware of his own failings and how they have brought his ruin . helen  s attempt to save his soul   after leaving him and taking their child at a time when this was unheard of   is a triumph of hope  hope and faith in the worth of every human life and soul  however misguided  however sinful that person may be . markham  s constancy may then be seen as her reward for her faith and unyielding moral character . though the opinionated ideas of morality so strongly presented in tenant seem outdated by today  s standards  the story is imbued with integrity  passion  and conviction which still make an impact . tenant is far more believable than wuthering heights or even jane eyre here is an adaptation that does the novel justice . i highly recommend viewing it   
unlike endemol usa  s two other current game shows  deal or no deal and  vs .      the pacing in this show is way too slow for what is happening on the screen .  br    br   dond and  vs .    can get away with slow pacing because the games can change pace   or end   at any moment . there is risk involved in every action the player takes  the rewards are wildly variable  and it is difficult for the players to leave with a significant amount of money . suspense is usually put to good use .  br    br   show me the money  on the other hand  is just too slow  paced . when a question is revealed and it is obvious that the player knows the correct answer  you can rest assured that absolutely nothing exciting will happen in the next few minutes . it would greatly help the pace of this show to reveal the correct answer first  and then have the player select a dancer  instead of shat wasting time talking about what will happen if the player gets an answer wrong when we all know they  re right . the random dancing is filler that actually feels like filler . too much time is wasted while not enough is happening . . . and the fact that players cannot choose to quit the game early guarantees that there will be a lot of time wasted .  br    br   oh  and i have no interest in watching shat shake his groove thang  especially right after i  ve eaten dinner .  br    br   i am a lifelong game show fan  but even i had a lot of trouble sitting through an hour of this . it either needs major changes or early retirement .  
burlinson and thornton give an outstanding performance in this movie  along with dennehy . although it is at first thought to be only about love  it really goes down deeper than that . the beauty of nature captures this movie  placing among one of the best i have ever seen . the horse scenes are absolutely fantastic   any horse  lovers out there will love this movie   br    br    
on the surface   show me the money  should have at least finished a full season . you had the always entertaining william shatner as your host  surrounded by a baker  s dozen of beautiful leggy models collectively called  the million dollar dancers .  you had knowledgeable contestants who had interesting stories to tell of their lives and who presumably knew a lot of pop culture trivia . and you had big money  so  what went wrong   br    br   the format of this game was the failure . a good game show needs at least two of three things very simple rules  exciting pacing and the ability for the viewer to play along at home . the best  most enduring ones have all three .  br    br   unfortunately  smtm had none .  br    br   the rules for this game were among the most complex of any prime time game show in history . let me try to explain how the game worked  as briefly as possible .  br    br   a contestant began with a single word or short phrase followed by the choice letters a  b  c  subtle plug for the network   . each letter was connected to a separate question  all starting with that word or phrase . once a contestant chose one of the letters  they could either answer that question or pass and select a second letter . if they passed  they got to view the next question  and had the same option . however  if they passed the second question  they were required to answer the third option .  br    br   after they answered and before they found out if their answer was correct  they then had to select one of the   dancers on stage  each with a different amount of money in a scroll by their side . they revealed their dollar amount  ranging from        to          and depending on if the contestant answered right . . . or answered wrong . . . that amount would be added to or subtracted from their pot .  br    br   still with me so far  in addition  there was one dancer who held something known as  the killer card .  if you selected the dancer with the killer card and you had gotten your question right  you were safe  and the game continued . if  however  you were incorrect  you had one final question to answer . if you got that final question wrong  you were out of the game . if you got it right  then  the game continued .  br    br   there was no quitting  no walking away with the money earned until you either answered six questions correctly or got six questions wrong or you were so far in the hole you couldn  t earn enough money to get back out . got it  okay   br    br   the biggest problem  as i saw it  was a complete lack of tension  because of the design of the game . a contestant could pass questions they knew they didn  t know  and answer many questions they did know  making the pressure even less . then  they could still find a low dollar amount  even after knowingly missing a question  which meant there still wasn  t any  drama .  and the fact that they could answer five questions wrong and still have a chance to win was a big mistake . and the pacing of the questions was deadly slow often the questions were so obvious  it was ridiculous to try to create tension  as if there was any doubt about some of the most common answers .  br    br   the pacing  the lack of any real tension at any point during the show and those very complicated rules prevented this program from working  despite shatner  s terpsichorean talents .  
as a horse lover one can only appreciate this movie . there are few movies that show horsemanship as this one does . i would love to know if brian does his own riding in the film . would also like to know if he enjoys horses . brian has been in a lot of movies where he has ridden . where did he learn to ride  the only part that is hard for me to take is that the riding scenes are always full tilt  like a horse can run forever at full steam . the camera  work is first rate and captures the horses in a way that shows how dangerous things can be on top of a horse . it would be very interesting to know how they went about casting this movie to find all of the very good horseback riders .  
i don  t see enough tv game shows to understand the attraction of show me the money  but i suppose it holds some appeal for undemanding audiences . ostensibly a quiz show  it offers contestants huge sums of money for answering a few simple questions . however  its quiz elements play only a small part in the proceedings  which i find tortuously complicated . for example  before answering a question  a contestant selects which question is to be asked by choosing from among random  a    b   or  c  choices . does this serve any purpose other than to slow the game down  it would be a lot quicker simply to start with  a .  contestants can pass on questions  but must answer one of the three questions in each category .  br    br   after responding to a question  the contestant is then asked to  lock in  the answer   another delaying tactic . the contestant  s next task is to name which woman from about a dozen go  go dancers in cages is to unveil a card that indicates how much the question is worth . a correct answer adds the card  s dollar figure to the contestant  s running total a wrong answer subtracts the same sum . this time  consuming step actually has some entertainment value  as it allows the audience to get a close look at the scantily clad and uniformly gorgeous dancers . meanwhile  the contestant is reminded that an unlucky selection of the  killer card  will end the game instantly . this naturally makes the contestant sweat and causes further delays as the nervous contestant contemplates the sudden loss of the hundreds of thousands of dollars . my suspicion is that the possibility of sudden disaster is the show  s chief audience appeal .  br    br   meanwhile  the whole process is slowed down even more by a lot of empty banter between host william shatner and the contestant  along with occasional routines by the caged dancers . all these delays burn up so much time that it might be possible for audiences to forget what the original question is by the time the correct answer is revealed .  br    br   a typical    minute episode of jeopardy often gets through as many as   questions . the first   minutes of smtm that i watched got through only six questions  many of which pertained to other tv shows  . no one in his right mind would watch this show because it  s fun to play along by answering the questions at home . that leaves three possible reasons to watch the show .  br    br   a . to see how a contestant responds to being on the verge of winning as much as one million dollars  only to lose everything in one stroke .  br    br   b . to look at gorgeous young women performing sexually suggestive dance routines .  br    br   c . to enjoy william shatner  s scintillating banter .  br    br   my choice is  b   but the women aren  t on camera long enough to justify suffering through an hour of this show .  
a give this movie a      because it deserves a      . two of the best actors of their time  walter matthau  george burns collaborate with neil simon and all of the other actors that are in this film  director herbert ross  and all of that makes this stage adaption come true . the sunshine boys is one of the best films of the    s . i love the type of humor in this film  it just makes me laugh so hard .  br    br   i got this movie on vhs  days ago  yes  vhs because it was cheaper  only    . i watched it as soon as i got home  but i had to watch it again because i kept missing a few parts the first time . the second time i watched it  it felt a lot better  and i laughed a lot harder . i  m definitely going to re  get this on dvd because i have to see the special features .  br    br   it  s very funny how that happens . two people work together as entertainers  actors  performers . they get along well on stage  but really argue off stage  they can  t survive another minute with each other  then some   years later  you want to reunite them for a tv special . you can find that in this film . matthau  burns were terrific in this film . it  s a damn shame they died . george burns deserved that oscar . he gave a strong comic performance . he was also   when this movie was filmed . so far  he  s the oldest actor to receive an academy award at an old age . jessica tandy breaks the record as the oldest actress . richard benjamin was also fantastic in this . he won a golden globe for best supporting actor . he deserved that golden globe . although many people might disagree with what i am about to say  everybody in this film gave a strong performance . this comedy is an instant classic . i highly recommend it . one more thing whoever hates this film is a  putz   
that  s not the sound of bees  that  s the effect induced by watching this extremely long  extremely boring  badly acted movie . how i ever made it through all     hours without falling asleep i  ll never know . the plot is simple . . .  thoroughly unlikable morons talk about sex for     hours . and you thought rohmer was deadly . this is even worse  if that  s possible .  i must really be a masochist if i could watch this entire movie without turning it off . . . or killing someone .  
the man from snowy river ii doesn  t reinvent the wheel but is a crowd  pleasing beautiful film that hits some great notes .  br    br   for those fans wanting the elements that made the original man from snowy river film a hit   breathtaking scenery  sweeping score  sweet romanticism and cracking action  this film really delivers . this story picks up a few years from the end of the first  jim  tom burlinson  has been away gathering his fortune in a brood of stock horses . he returns to pick up where he left off with his pluckish well  bred sweetheart jessica  played by aussie divine lady sigrid thornton  who is still attempting to break out of her corseted upbringing on her feather  s cattle station  harrison is now played by american brian dennehy  . the foil to jim and character that shakes the plot is the well  to  do upper class snob alistair patton  nicholas eadie  who has his sights on jessica . add to the mix some social tension surrounding landholdings and the stallion with a bad attitude from the first film and that  s the plot .  br    br   the best thing about this film is the acting . tom burlinson fits snugly into jim  s wide brim hat and laconic humour . sigrid thornton is a lovely heroine and the two manage some real chemistry on screen . filling the solid shoes of kirk douglas was never going to be easy and brian dennehy stomps and shouts but never feels very authentic in this part .  br    br   the music is sweeping and lush and the cinematography could be a roll from a victoria tourism reel . there are moment however that feel very self  indulgent  like the director wants just one more helicopter shot of the riders to show how gorgeous the landscape is without some personal human drama . a little more grit would have sufficed here  we are aussie  s  we can take it   there are some very jawsish moments with the stallion that defy belief . however the funny thing about this film is that in amongst some glaring clichs  there are some really inventive and touching scenes . jim putting the saddle on the stallion  very horse whisperish before its time  jim and jessica setting up home  the fabulous scene where jim shows up alistair  s riding with his trusty whip . i can see why this character is such an icon .  br    br   altogether a very pleasing sequel . here  s hoping everyone involved wants to make another . the man from snowy river iii the craigs . i  m sure we  d all love to see how jim and jessica are doing on their farm .  br    br   the aussie dvd has a couple of extra scenes in it . worthwhile if you are already a fan .  
the comment by  eliz        hits the proverbial  nail on the head  for this turkey of a program . but it is a hoot to watch william shatner  cavort  and  dance   yes  the   marks on the word dance are necessary for what bill does  . this show would be a great skit on snl or mad tv  and it does rate a few stars for one viewing  or so  to see shatner  who seems to have taken  camp  to new heights  whether in a role or as himself . but the guy is funny .  br    br   the girls who are in the cubicle areas with the game data scrolls  will be pretty much out  of  luck when this turkey is canceled  unless there is a revival of the whiskey  a  go  go genre  with a resurrected demand for shapely young women to dance in elevated cages once more .  br    br   i watched the first contestant  who was annoying  and literally  dumber than a post   yet through sheer luck  walked away with a quarter mil or so . the second contestant  somewhat more intelligent  but who  d be lucky to gain       on jeopardy   got zonked by the card which requires answering a special question  which he didn  t know  and thereby left with zilch .  br    br   this plethora of game shows  which dangle  and sometimes award  large sums to everyday individuals  are admittedly a cheap effort  overall  to attempt to woo viewers . even if the host is well  compensated  and they give away six figures in an average episode  i suppose that the revenue versus costs can be favorable  since you don  t have a sitcom cast where several stars are getting six or seven figures  per episode  with some big residual deals as well .  br    br   but i suspect even the better ones will wear thin before long . this one has already pretty much reached this point . i think his offerings  especially with james spader  and the others on  boston legal  should give us a satisfying quantity of bill shatner  s offerings .  br    br   again  the above rating is simply appropriate to view bill hoot and prance  perhaps one time that should be sufficient .  
such a masterpiece as the first of these two snowy river films was  the sequel to the man from snowy river is everything that a follow  up should be . it does not tread on the toes of its predecessor  preferring to leave the legend that was the first film live on in some unique immortality .  br    br   the man from snowy river ii is based upon the return of jim craig to the snowy river country after a three year absence . the film subtly tells a tale of change in the nineteenth century  of australian history  legend and horses . the storyline demonstrates a touch of hollywood in lighter shades  an aspect that was absolutely absent in the first film  yet this blends uniquely with the a distinct sense of australian patriotism . the plot is far more vibrant than the first film  and much more showy  with particular aspects of the previous incorporated into the film  yet the man from snowy river ii possesses every essential characteristic of the first film sensationally beautiful cinematography  a stunning focus of the australian high country  the second most impressive footage of horses ever filmed  and a fantastic and deeply moving soundtrack by bruce rowland which equals the first in every way . geoff burrowes has done a superb job with this film  and it is highly worthy of recognition  especially with regard to the quality of the australian film industry . the lead cast  from tom burlinson to sigrid thornton  and a well  replaced brian dennehy  carry off their parts with as much passion and distinction as the first film . as far as sequels can go  the man from snowy river ii is a masterpiece a deeply moving and inspirational experience yet again .  
while william shater can always make me smile in anything he appears in   and i especially love him as denny crane in boston legal   well  this show is all about glitz and dancing girls and screaming and jumping up and down .  br    br   it has none of the intelligence of millionaire  none of the flair of deal or no deal .  br    br   this show is all about dancing and stupid things to fill in the time .  br    br   i watched it of course just to check it out . i did watch it for over   minutes  then i had to turn it off .  br    br   the best part of it was william shatner dancing on the stage . he is a hoot    unfortunately  this show will not make it .  br    br   that  s a given  
  br    br   human body    wow .  br    br   there are about       sunrises in human life . . . .  br    br   hardly one thousand sunrises will be watched by    of humans on this planet . . . .  br    br   our days are limited . . .  br    br   excellent movie for all women . . . . makers of human body . . .  br    br   thanks and regards .  br    br    
i gave this two stars for the awesome dv shot clarity  which lends to the cold and dark sterility of its character . that was being generous  i know .  br    br   this film fails on all accounts . i can not recommend this  for it is neither poetic  nor blunt . neither dramatic  nor suspenseful . neither controversial  nor ordinary . it is just a wretched piece of trash that no horror or exploit fan can recommend in good faith .  br    br   do not watch this  whoever you are . . . please  just stay away from this awful product .  br    br   thank you .  
actually  the answer only occupies a tiny portion of this excellent imax movie that educates us on our delicate selves . c . g . and special cameras   assisted by imax   incredibly display the inner  and outer  workings of an average human  be it adult men and women  boys and girls  or babies . nearly every human body part aspect is specifically detailed digestion  reproduction  featuring a marvin gaye hit   the heart  etc . some especially revealing moments include how an infant can be immersed underwater and also how the brain  s impulses look . it is amazing how we function .  br    br   the subject matter skips around an awful lot . but at all times we still learn a hell of a lot about our bodies that we should be required to know .  
if i could give it less that  i would . do not bother to rent if someone gives you the dvd burn it .  br    br   this is horrible movie making . a total waste of even digital  film  . i have seen better on youtube made by   year old boys . lommel claims to have written this  if that is the case he is a classic case of someone who is illiterate in two languages . the story line is none existent  the dialog is mainly screaming  the camera work is some sort of attempted arty flairs with nonsensical cutting of totally unrelated jumps to either industrial transportation scenes or some sort of odd angry young woman rift .  br    br   i can usually follow a less than obvious plot or see the purpose in a  creative  film  i like david lynch .  br    br   this one is either so far beyond my limited powers of comprehension i missed it or it is totally pointless . i think this is a  lets see if we can grab a title that will be coming out soon and do a weird rift on it and see if we can grab some of the bucks  con job .  br    br   i cannot see why lionsgate even bothered with this . totally worthless  it is so bad i will not rent any other by this same director .  
i  ve never been huge on imax films . they  re cool  but once you get over that initial rush of  whoa  it feels like flying   the movies themselves are usually pretty corny and ordinary .  br    br   the exceptions have been the powerful  everest   the exhilarating  wild california  and now the bbc  s  the human body   a super  sized look at the insides of our bodies .  br    br   our bodies are machines of a complexity that is simply inconceivable . this   minute film could be   hours long  and still wouldn  t get to all of the systems working in tandem just as i type this review and listen to my radio  and most of us take it all for granted .  br    br   here you can see the inside of a pumping heart  looks like an alien spaceship   the inside of your lungs  the tiny hairs in your eardrum that process sound  the development of a baby inside a mother  s womb  and surprisingly  a few of the . . . um  less attractive functions that i thought it would shy away from  pimples  the churning of acids in the stomach . . .   br    br   this film also has a rather funky style to it  which sets it apart from other imax documentaries . for instance  we  ve all seen sperm finding its way to the egg  but have you ever seen it set to the tune of marvin gaye  s  let  s get it on   it  s creative moments like that that make  the human body  not just a health lesson  but fun as well .  
really  really bad . how does a film this bad get made  i kept waiting for some redeeming plot point  interesting camera work  or at least some gratuitous nudity but i got nothing . i had just watched cabin fever and i thought it was an train wreck  except for the nudity and pancakes  but it looks like genius compared to this dreck . the best script doctor in the world couldn  t have saved this putrid pile of of stinking poo .  br    br   the only thing going for this  film  is that it ended .  br    br   i  ve got a headache just thinking about this movie and trying to write something . ugh  i  m glad i only paid   for it and it will soon end up in a landfill .  
well i am going to go against the grain on this film so it seems . being a self confessed horror fan i sat down to this not quite knowing what to expect . after  or  mins i actually found myself scared  quite rare  . the film obviously has a small budget and is set around charing cross station but the films lack of money does not distract from the story . yes the story is a bit far fetched and doesn  t explain itself very well but the creep is a class act and proceeds to slash and dismember anything that comes its way . message for ladies    there are certain parts of the film you should close your eyes at or at least cross your legs   you will understand when you see it .  br    br   all in all a good film and it makes a change to see a good slasher movie that actually scares  
i have been learning about the zodiac for four years now . and i  m not saying i know much more than anyone else . . . in fact out of most of the people who know and read and learn about z  i am prolly the one with the least knowledge . . . but i do know or at least i think i know that most of the stuff in this wouldn  t happen . . . from how he signed his name . . . to how he killed people . . . i thought that godfather was the worst film ever . . .  br    br   the cinematography was that of a five year old . . . not saying that my films are any better but i am not someone who is making movies for the mass population . . .  br    br   the acting i thought for the most part was pretty good really i did . . . the lead didn  t talk that much on camera or at all i forget and don  t know because i stopped watching . . . his voice overs where good . . .  br    br   but really spend the four dollars and   cents on something else . . . like a large pizza or something . . .  br    br   until i learn how to write a review  psycho phil  
  small spoiler herein    br    br   when i looked at the votes for  creep  today  i was surprised about so many imdb  users rating this movie    . i am wondering what do people expect of such kind of movie  are there so many people watching a movie without knowing anything about it   br    br    creep  is a horror movie and it is a pretty good one  this automatically means it has a absurd story full of holes  outrageous hazards and simple one  side  characters . so why complain about it  just take some popcorn and coke  make yourself comfortable in your seat and then . . . . . . enjoy to be scared to death  the first   minutes when there is almost nothing else than kate and a lonely subway station are incredibly scaring . there is suspense and fear in every corner of the screen and you will give some jerks just because of a sudden sound of a blinking neon lamp in the back of you .  in my opinion the sound editor did the best job in this movie .   br    br   when kate meet her pursuer the quality of the movie drops but it still doesn  t become a bad movie . the second part of the movie is not scary at all  but the gore effects are well done and the story is quite well developed .  . . . as long as you keep in mind that it is a horror movie you are watching and not the discovery channel   so  if you want to make yourself a very  very scaring hour . just watch the first hour of  creep  and then leave the cinema or turn of your tv . you know the rest of the story anyway  don  t you  the bad guy will die and kate will be the only survivor . but even if you watch this movie up to its end  you will not be disappointed .  br    br   . . . and if you want to push anxiety to the next level  do what i did after watching this movie leave the cinema by dark night  go to the next subway station and take the last train home . . .  
the film is about a young man  michael  who cares for the elderly . one day he decides to kill some of the relatives of his clients . around the same time he decides to model his killing after the zodiac killer of the    s . he gets in touch with the author of a book about the zodiac killer and they form a friendship . michael has a gun  aparently the only gun  as it seems to be in the hands of some of the other actors  only not portrayed as the same gun .  and he goes out a  killin  . original .  br    br   this is a great film if you like b movies . i thought the idea of the movie was good  but the editing and the acting really drowned the plot . i thought the  blood  was just too fake  the lighting was horrible in some places  and the dialog was just too standard . the movie was shot on video  which is okay  but the editing of the film just made for some weird  plan   scenes . not a bad movie for fans of the b  movie genre  but if you want something with a bit more polish  move on to something else .  
christopher smith is an obvious horror fan and this is made clear in his debut horror flick  creep  .  creep  although a little bit loose on information  proves itself worthy of a true gory classic . a little less glossy than recent us horrors  amityville horror remake  house of wax remake  this dark and gruesome tale follows kate  franka potente  through the labyrinth of underground tunnels and disused railways as she  and a number of others along the way  try and flee a murderous attacker . though some bad reviews have slated this film  i truly believe that on a tight budget and for a uk production from first time director smith that  creep  truly does live up to its name . it delivers fast  paced gory action more or less from the beginning  sometimes too fast as the story is patchy in some areas  but with a perfect location and the best character  reaction  at  the  end i  ve seen in a while   creep  delivers some scenes that are definitely the stuff of nightmares .  
if i could give it a zero  i  d change my mind and give it a    instead . absolutely horrible movie with no movie plot  doesn  t make sense of what is happening . just plain boring . please don  t waste your money on this one . pleaseee    this movie could have done so well if it truly depicted the real zodiac killer  s story  but nopes  i didn  t feel anything but disgust while watching it . do yourself a favor and rent some classic movies instead  its better to watch a movie you  ve already seen like    times than watch this crap  i don  t understand why people even bother to make such movies when they know its not going to do well . zodiac killer should be called  boriac killer  instead     
this film exceeded my expectations . i thought and have heard that it was going to be rubbish  so i wasn  t expecting much . however  i was pleasantly surprised . at first i didn  t take well to the lead girl and didn  t really care if she lived or died . after a while she definitely grew on me and became a likable character . it  s not just some slasher film where people die for no reason . there is a background story that only takes a few seconds of the film  but explains a lot . i would recommend this film to everyone . if you  re not sure just watch it anyway  it  s only an hour and a half of your life . you  re going to live for   years anyway .  
why would anyone want to see this   if this was a film posted on youtube by a teenager  i might have applauded the teen in doing so much with his mommy  s video camera . i might have also congratulated his family and friends for doing a good job acting . sadly  it was made by a very experienced film maker and these were  apparently  professional actors   making this a very  very sad film . sad . . . and very pathetic  actually . as i said  it has a definite made directly to video look about it . it also has narration and acting that just scream  unprofessionals    how could this be   the film is filled with lots of corpses and blood . normally this would turn me off completely  as i hate ultra  violent films and don  t like seeing all that gore . however  given that none of it is that realistic  it  s bearable . however  i should warn you that there are a few scenes that are still pretty disturbing . for example  the scene with the kid throwing a radio into a lady  s tub and watching her naked and frying is pretty bad . there are also scenes where you can hear the thought of psychos as they fantasize about killing women . with a level of misogyny that is pretty awful . the people who wrote this are pretty sick   like killing women is meant to be for our entertainment .  br    br   after a bunch of senseless murders  the film goes to a dining room table   around which are a bunch of goof  balls wearing black hoods without eye holes  they are talking  with pride  about all the murders they have committed and chant . it  s all very funny  though i am not sure that was the scene  s purpose .  br    br   then  the film talks about various sex crimes and killings and even vampirism and cannibalism . why  i don  t know   perhaps because they people made this got off on this sort of crap . and  once again  you see and hear the thoughts and actions of a creepy german  looking man as he tracks down people and kills them .  br    br   by the way  considering the film used what i must assume are professional actors  i wondered why so many people were chosen who were clearly germans . while they tried to act like americans and the film was supposed to be in california  the accents are strong . perhaps german audiences watched this and marveled at how  realistic  the acting was  but to any american it  s obvious these folks ain  t their fellow americans  considering that there really was a zodiac killer  who was never captured   i do wonder why anyone would want to make a  fan film  of sorts for the sick menace   i mean . . . was this film meant as a snuff film for pervs  i just can  t see anyone else wanting to see this or enjoying it . in fact  i wonder what would motivate anyone to make such a stupid and offensive film   worthless and deserving to be in imdb  s bottom    list .  
firstly  i would like to point out that people who have criticised this film have made some glaring errors . anything that has a rating below     is clearly utter nonsense .  br    br   creep is an absolutely fantastic film with amazing film effects . the actors are highly believable  the narrative thought provoking and the horror and graphical content extremely disturbing .  br    br   there is much mystique in this film . many questions arise as the audience are revealed to the strange and freakish creature that makes habitat in the dark rat ridden tunnels . how was  craig  created and what happened to him   br    br   a fantastic film with a large chill factor . a film with so many unanswered questions and a film that needs to be appreciated along with others like   days later  the bunker  dog soldiers and deathwatch .  br    br   look forward to more of these fantastic films    
this movie was almost intolerable to sit through . i can get beyond the fact that it looks like it was shot with a home video camera and that this movie is supposed to span over weeks in time yet the characters do not once change outfits  but the acting broke the  th wall to pieces for me . i  ve seen better acting in a  th grade play . aside from that the plot is unrealistic . if the man suspected the guy he would have turned him in . i was also heavily disappointed that all the killings were done with a gun what kind of gore is that . that is not a copycat the zodiac did not kill using just a gun the authorities would have known it wasn  t him . another thing that really bothered me was that they called disassociative identity disorder dsm  when that is the name of the book used to diagnose people with mental disorders not the name of the disorder . overall i think this movie is not the kind of movie that could be done with a low budget at least not as low as they had or they could have made sure they had better actors or more gore . plenty of people have went the low budget route with out having to use horrible actors look at easy rider that had dennis hopper and jack nicholson and a low budget .  
the neil simon  s sunshine boys starring walter matthau and george burns is a funny comedy on the strange bond to the life and its shortness  but the laughter always bitter taste . seeing willy clark  matthau  and al lewis  burns  two big theatrical comedy actors now reduced on the imbecility from the hard and unceasing old age you can feel only anger and blue . willy not ever surrender and continue to look work  while al is tired for players and he is retired to the country in the house to his daughter . the couple in his old time was truly funny and harmony  but out the scene was a continue squabble and to quarrel  and for eleven years after their broken they not talk between . now if they would work  they must return together another time for do one of his best old sketch for a comedy story tv show . the meets is explosive and liberating for the old questions . the neil simon  s screenplay give a certain corrosive spirit to the story and the melancholy and blue overwhelming the many gags and laughter succeeded to generate a good mix also thanks to a great couple walter matthu  nomination academy award as best actor  and george burns  won the academy award as best support actor  . the two actors are very believable and real and the their harmony seems almost as they real work together for all that time and that realty they not bear between them . the movie is very touching also for its all consuming reality as the story is narrate and how the report love  heat that bind the two actors is totally real part to the strange but at the same time ordinarily comprehensible things to the life . my rate is  .  
well  as goethe once said  there really isn  t any point in trying to pass a negative judgement that aspires to be objective on  something that has had a great effect  .  la maman et la putain  has surely passed into history as an influence on much of what  s been done in france and elsewhere in the past thirty years and no one interested in the history of film  certainly  should be dissuaded from watching it . to express a purely subjective judgement  however  i feel compelled to disagree with almost every other review posted here and say to people  don  t watch it it  s a waste of hours of your time that will just leave you feeling rather sick and angry .  and by that i don  t mean  sick and angry  about  the human condition  or anything so general and profound as that  because that is exactly the line that most critics have adopted in their fulsome praise of the film   an ordeal to watch in its ruthless dissection of our emotional cowardice and cruelty  and so on  and  if it really managed to put across a universally or even broadly relevant message of this sort  then the director would have good reason to be satisfied with himself  however pessimistic his conclusions may be . my beef with the film is rather that i don  t see this hours  long record of empty vanity and petty treachery as being justified or excused by any generally relevant message at all . all three main characters are deeply morally unattractive individuals alexandre to the greatest degree  of course  because we see by far the most of him and because he seldom shuts up for more than thirty seconds marie perhaps to the least degree  because we see the least of her . alexandre  s affected and pretentious monologues have a kind of amusement value  of course  but the amusement wears thin as one comes more and more clearly to realize that jean  pierre laud is most likely not even acting and that  with absurd remarks like  un homme beau comme un film de nicholas ray   he really was just reproducing word  for  word opinions that were accepted as authentic and profound by the milieu in which he  along with the director eustache  had been living for about ten years by the time of the making of the film . i suppose if the tone of relentless superficiality and triviality had been sustained throughout     of the film  it might have worked as a long sardonic comedy about a particularly shallow  worthless and despicable post     milieu . what made  however  this viewer at least extremely angry with the director was his granting of at least one lengthy scene each to alexandre and veronika in which we are clearly expected to empathize with and feel for them as if they shared a moral universe with us . if a man can get away with living in the flat of and professing to love one woman  sleeping  mostly in this very flat  with another  and running around paris proposing marriage to yet a third  well  i suppose i can wish him the best of luck in the dog  eat  dog world he  s chosen to create for himself . what i can  t  however  in all conscience do is listen even for a moment to maudlin monologues from him in which he speaks about his  anxiety  and his  despair  . the same goes double for the even more despicable veronika  whom we are shown barging drunk into the apartment and even the bed shared by marie and alexandre and behaving there with an infantile inconsistency tantamount to the most savage and heartless cruelty . as i say  if  la maman et la putain  is intended to be nothing more nor other than a portrait of alexandre  veronika and marie  three individuals whom any even halfway decent person would never admit into their company let alone their home  then i suppose there is a kind of legitimacy in praising the director for being  unflinching   though why one should even feel like  flinching  once one had consciously opted to create such thoroughly repellent characters to filmically observe i can  t imagine  . the problem  however  is that the director is clearly convinced  and appears to have succeeded in convincing generations of critics  that alexander  veronika and marie are somehow representative of human beings in general and of the limits of human beings  emotional capabilities . this latter idea  however  is arrant and offensive nonsense . there may indeed be an inherent fallibility and tendency to tragedy in human relations in general and sexual relations in particular . but the nature and degree of this fallibility and tendency to tragedy can only possibly be determined by people who make a sincere and serious effort to make such relations work . it surely needs no cinematic or authorial genius to convey to us the information that a man who behaves like alexandre is going to end up hated  miserable  and alone  or that women who insist on expecting love from a man like alexandre are going to end up disappointed and bitter . watch  la maman et la putain  if you  re historically interested in what passed for culture and human interaction in a certain post     parisian milieu which was probably  unfortunately  not restricted to just a few particularly anti  social types like these . but please don  t make the mistake of believing that what is recorded here has any general relevance for humanity in the way that a film by jean renoir or martin scorsese might be argued to have .  
creep is a straight up serious horror film set in real time that wants nothing more than to just show people get attacked in a empty subway platform by a mutant for   minutes . and it does just that . nothing more  nothing less . director christopher smith draws out the drama a far as he plausibly can by introducing a series of characters that would actually have a reason to be in the subway after it is locked . he also leaves the origins of the titular creep deliberately vague  unlawful experiments happening in the   s underground are hinted at  and that little bit of mystery works for the most part . sadly  he undermines himself toward the end by actually holding back from a twist ending where more genetic malformations would appear  they are hinted at as well  . yes  you heard me right  i wanted a clichd twist ending  franka  run lola run  potente is good as the terrorized female lead and the rest of the cast is fine .  
this is easily the worst movie i have ever seen . i  m not exaggerating  i told the guy at blockbuster that they should take it off the shelves . the only thing interesting about this movie is the box . on the box it says  from the director of the boogeyman  so i figured . . . eh whatever  if this was made recently i  m sure the directing at least won  t be too bad     but after i saw the movie and looked at what  boogeyman  they were talking about  it  s some nonsense from the early      s that he made . great way to rope in unsuspecting viewers .  br    br   anyway  i think that they just liked the name  zodiac killer   and didn  t bother to research any of the actual zodiac  s crimes or his mo  or even the years that he was active . all of the crimes they talk about have nothing to do with the zodiac and the  stories  about the original zodiac take place several years after the actual zodiac  s crimes did . they also compare the zodiac to  vampire of dusseldorf  fritz haarman throughout the movie and talk to fritz  s  son  quite often . the zodiac and haarman were nothing alike  and it makes more sense to compare him to btk who also shot people  not a man who killed people by chewing through their necks . none of the haarman facts are correct either  just a bunch of jumbled nonsense . his son even says  don  t forget  his name was fritz haarman with  t  s  . . . his actual name just has one  i think that the writer  director simply typed in a google search for serial killers and the quickest ones that came up were the zodiac killer and fritz haarman .  ooh those sound like cool names  let  s make a movie about them without doing any outside research  great idea    br    br   perhaps my favorite inconsistency in this movie is the way that the experts as well as the young killer describe suffering from dsm  iv and getting cured of it .  i was also diagnosed with dsm  iv and have since recovered   etc . for those of you who don  t know  dsm  iv is the psychological manual for mental disorders . if anybody suffers from the book itself then they must have some serious problems  haha .  br    br   anyway  my point is that this goes on the bottom of my top  worst movies of all time list  and it  s rare that a movie ever reaches that point . but  if you are interested in watching a totally non  fact based story about serial killers that happens to be nothing more than boring  full of inexperienced actors  and not completely rational  i  d say check out this movie .  br    br   . . . oh  and i liked how the killer  tear gassed  a few of his victims with dry ice . nice touch . . .  
  creep  is a new horror film that  without a doubt  will please many genre fans simply because it  s so down to the point and unscrupulous  it has many genuine shock  moments  a whole lot of repulsive gore  sequences and a rare claustrophobic tension . what it hasn  t got is logic and a solid plot but  to tell you the truth  that didn  t bother me for one second . when the end  credits start to roll  there are still many unanswered questions to ponder on but director  writer christopher smith  in his debut  seemly preferred to fully focus on tension and adrenalin  rushing action instead of long  soporific speeches and theories that could explain the existence of the  creep  in the london subway . the story revolves on the young and haughty kate  who leaves her own party in order to go and meet the famous actor george clooney who  s in town to present his new film . she falls asleep in the subway  misses the last train and she finds herself trapped in the underground subway network . things really get terrifying when she encounters a mad  raving lunatic who lives in the old tunnels and kills  kidnaps people to experiment upon . even experienced homeless people  security guards or sewer  workers can  t rescue her from this ravenous monster  i really dug the creep  character  he  s nauseating  hideous and primitive but in a strange way fascinating . christopher smith only leaves us clues and hints  and it  s merely up to the viewer to guess this vile creature  s origin and background . i reckon this isn  t very original  and i  m sure many people won  t appreciate the lack of content  but i forgive smith and i think it  s better this way than going over the top completely   jeepers creepers   style  that particular film started out great as well  but as soon as the creeper  s identity was clear it turned into a very mediocre horror effort  . the obvious aspect  to  love is the outrageous gore  there  s some severe butchering going on in this film and the make  up  as well as the sound effects  are very convincing . the ominous setting of the abandoned london subway during night is effectively used . there also is some acting  talent present in this film  with franka potenta  run lola run  returning to graphic horror nearly five years after the cool german film  anatomie  . creep is terrific entertainment when you  re in an undemanding mood and christopher smith definitely is a director i  ll keep an eye on . make sure you don  t have to take the subway right after watching this film . . .  
well i  ll start with the good points . the movie was only   minutes long  and some of it was so bad it was funny . now for the low points . my first warning sign came with an actual  warning  on the film . when it started the following  warning  was displayed  the film you are about to see contains graphic and disturbing images . because contrary to popular belief being killed is neither fun  pretty or romantic .  i should have saved myself the   minutes and turned it off then . the first words of the film were  i  m at the glue factory .  it was some guy talking on his phone  and he was referring to a nursing home as a glue factory . i don  t know why . so the basis of the movie is some kid is obsessed with the zodiac killer and starts imitating him . the budget for this film was at least   bucks and they must have used the cheapest cameras they could find . the acting was worse than me reading straight from a script . that  s what is looked like they were doing . the script was horrible  and the big  twist  was that this guy who wrote a biography on the zodiac killer was actually the zodiac killer . of course they tried to show this subtly but made it totally obvious within the first   minutes . without any more painful details of the plot  here were some horrible highlights of the movie . they try to make the zodiac killer compare himself to an  army of one  because soldiers are really just murderers . then they tried to make an attempt at  satanic worship  by showing some guys in black hoods in a meeting . the great  computer hacker  was able to get this kid  s address when someone gave him the kid  s name and phone number . for some reason he had to hack into the fbi to get someone address . i  m not sure why he didn  t just look it up in the phone book or use whitepages . com . there was also a random allusion to     for no reason . i also learned that no matter where you get shot  blood will come out of your mouth within seconds .  br    br   so if you like really bad acting  sub  par scripts  bad camera work and an obvious plot  you  ll love zodiac killer   
star rating  unmissable  very good  okay  you could go out for a meal instead  avoid at all costs  br    br   stuck  up career bitch kate  franka potente  heads to the london underground to catch a train to take her to meet george clooney . however  after a hectic working day  she dozes off and awakens to find herself alone in a deserted platform . as she races off on a situation taking her from one daunting encounter to the next  however  she learns of something far more malign and evil waiting for her out there .  br    br   in a lot of ways  the british film industry is really becoming one on it  s own  especially in the horror thriller department  with films such as creep and the successful   days later  which this has strong echoes of in parts .  in terms of succeeding in what it set out to do  creep does cleverly create  especially at the beginning  a scary sense of isolation and tense fear . at it  s clever running time  it also  though inadvertently  i suspect  manages to pay homage to some of those pioneer high  concept horror films from the   s that rely on shocks and fear through  out without really focusing too much on character development and such .  br    br   of it  s weaknesses  some scenes are a little predictable  but these don  t really succeed in making it less scary or effective in any way . i  m not sure if the ending was meant to make it come off as some sort of morality play and it  s not exactly perfect  but it  s certainly very effective and serves it  s basic function very well .   
zodiac killer .  out of   . worst acting ever . no really worst acting ever . david hess  last house on the left . no the one from the seventies . rent it it  s really good  is the worst of the bunch  pretty stiff competition but he is amazingly god  awful .  one would be hard pressed to find a home movie participant with such an awkward camera presence . the film actually screeches to a stunning painful halt when he is on the screen .  br    br   not that the film actually has any redeeming qualities for mr . hess to ruin . it is filmed with a home movie camera and by the looks of things a pretty old one complete with attached boom mike . no post production either . come on there has to be some shovelware a five year old computer could use that could clean up this picture . throw in bizarre stock footage pictures of autopsy  s and aircraft carrier takeoffs and this is one visually screwed up picture . the autopsy pictures are interjected the way italian cannibal films interject those god  awful real life animal killings . and the navy footage is supposed to be some anti war statement  cause we know all the bloodthirsty maniacs join the navy  what in the world is lion  s gate is doing releasing this garbage  it would embarrass troma . the plot is about the zodiac killer  last seen in dirty harry  . no the one from the seventies . rent it it  s really good  somebody gets shot in the stomach in la and the cops assume the zodiac killer is back  uh  huh . what can you expect from a movie that doesn  t know that dsm iv is a book not a psychiatric disorder and where the young killer older man relationship resembles that of a congressional page and closeted congressman  yeah eighties haircuts and production values meet a nambla subplot . sign me up .  
i just saw this film last night at toronto film festival where it was playing under the midnight madness section . to tell you the truth  the only reason why i went for this movie was because it shared its name with the radiohead song  and also because my friend had bought the tickets so i really didn  t have a choice   d i went in expecting it to be something like the silence of the lambs  but it turned out to be semi  gore flick . somebody has already mentioned that none of the characters are likable  and that is absolutely correct . i really couldn  t care less if potente  s character got her entrails ripped out by the creep . i was rooting for the homeless to make it out alive with potente  s character getting her just desserts . christopher smith has certainly done a great job with the visual aspect of the film . however  the story is rather weak  but then again the whole point of the movie was to scare the crap out of you and it did that quite effectively . the score by a bristol band called the insects was top notch . that  more than anything else  really scared the crap out of me .  br    br   the director was a really decent chap and was quite entertaining during the qa session . i really do hope he gets to make better films in the future .  br    br   this one is strictly for genre fans  but i  d recommend non  fans to give this a try anyway . it was a fun ride .  
awful  awful  awful .  br    br   a condescending remark at the start and a few nasty autopsy photos does not a good movie make . once again i  m amazed at the determination and skill that some people have in achieving a movie production and yet they don  t have the pride to realise that what they have made is an utter pile of crap .  br    br   i sat and tried to think of a redeeming feature so that i could at least balance my criticism but the only one i could think of was that the opening track by pink was pretty good . . . . i wonder if she has seen this   br    br   watch this at your peril  the boredom may kill you .  
this is good little shocker not perfect by any stretch of the imagination  but tight  competent and disturbing . an excellent example of a simple idea developed into a compelling   minute script .  br    br   the set up requires no bells and whistles  no lengthy exposition or wordy back story kate  franka pontente   a young german business woman living in london  drifts off whilst waiting for the last tube train . she awakens to find the place deserted  but quickly comes to realise that she is far from alone . someone  or something  is down there with her and it  s intentions are wholly malicious .  br    br   in fact she encounters several other characters in her quest to survive  including a lecherous work colleague  a homeless couple and a caged sewage worker  all of whom add pace and substance to the plot . there is a slightly awkward gear change somewhere in the middle of the film when tension thriller mutates into gore fest  but nothing so clumsy as to slow the hectic pace . for those of you with weak dispositions this is likely to be a harrowing ride for those of you who relish a bit of well executed carnal mayhem this should press all the right buttons .  br    br   the climax of the film is perhaps less successful than the main body of the film  but it is punctuated with a nice moment of unexpected social commentary which provides a satisfying conclusion .  br    br   some may find themselves feeling somewhat cheated of a clear explanation as to the exact nature and history of the threat encountered by kate and her confederates  however  for me this was not the case . a horror film writer should not need feel compelled to dot every i and cross every t  in the same way a writer of political thrillers might be expected to . there are enough clues here to give you a very pretty clear idea of what brought this evil into existence  making a detailed and conclusive solution superfluous . the retention of a certain sense of mystery is to be welcomed and reminds us that in this film the ride was always going to be more important than the exact destination .  br    br   my understanding is that the budget for this film was  to say the least  minimal  in which case our applause for this british horror should be all the louder  for at no point does one have the impression of corners being cut or effects failing to deliver .  br    br   if this sounds like your kind of film then it probably is . buy a ticket and climb aboard .  
this movie is bad . i don  t just mean  bad  as in  oh the script was bad   or  the acting in that scene was bad  . . . . . i mean bad as in someone should be held criminally accountable for foisting this unmitigated pile of steaming crud onto an unsuspecting public . i won  t even dignify it with an explanation of the  plot    if i can refer to it as that . i can think of only one other occasion in some    odd years of movie watching that i have found need to vent my spleen on a movie . i mean  after all  no one goes out to intentionally make a bad movie  do they  well  yes . apparently they do . . . and the guilty man is writer  director ulli lommel . but the worst of it is that blockbusters is actually renting this to their customers  be advised . leave this crap where it belongs . stuck on the shelf  gathering dust .  
emory is a cincinatti steel worker like his father before him and for most of the   th century the twin pillars of his family  s existence have been the steel mill and the union . the mill  which once employed        has seen its numbers dwindle to      recently and now   as the plant just shut its doors  leaving a single security guard . at first  newly  unemployed emory and his pals enjoy their independence  hanging out around town and carousing at their favorite bar  where they down  depth charges  with reckless abandon . they think the mill will reopen after listening to their union rep  s optimistic spiel  but reality starts to sink in when they find themselves selling their personal vehicles in a struggle to put food on the table and stave off foreclosure of their homes . emory  s father  a dedicated union man  is sure the plant will reopen and recalls for his son all the short  lived closures during his own   years at the mill . meanwhile  some of the unemployed men take demeaning make  work jobs or hop in their trucks and take off in a desperate search for employment .  br    br   finally the union admits its helplessness  as emory explains to his stubborn father that times have changed and that the mill won  t ever open again . emory tearfully asks  what did i do wrong   as a lifetime of hard work and devotion to job  union  church and family have left him with nothing and nowhere to turn . he hits rock bottom when in a drunken rage he manhandles his young sons and knocks his wife to the floor . tossed out of his own home and stinging from the plant manager  s comments that he and his men didn  t work hard enough to justify their substantial paychecks  emory recruits the steel workers still left in town to do something that will demonstrate to all what they are capable of . early in the morning they break into the mill  fire up the furnaces and work harder than they ever have in their lives  producing in one shift enough high  quality steel pipes to fill the loading docks from wall to wall  top to bottom  something the plant manager thought was impossible .  br    br   arriving at the suddenly  reopened plant  the stupefied manager looks around him at the tremendous output that came from a single day  s work  realizing that production like this could make the plant profitable again . the manager asks emory  can you do this every day   emory is forced to nod  no  and the manager asks  then what were you trying to prove   emory explains that the workers  decades of hard work  honesty and devotion to their jobs had meaning and that by showing how much they could produce in one day  we just spit in your eye .  emory bids a tearful farewell to his wife and kids as he takes off with his buddies to look for work down south  promising to relocate the family when he finds it .  br    br   this is a powerful and honest treatment of the plight of american workers displaced by foreign competition and gives a realistic view of the costs they bear for the short  sightedness of concession  demanding unions and greedy plant owners who extracted every penny they could from their factories but never gave back by modernizing them . peter strauss as emory  john goodman as his best friend  gary cole as his college  boy brother  pamela reed as emory  s sympathetic wife and john doucette as his dying father all turn in excellent performances in this fine picture .  
this movie must have been the absolute worst movie i have ever seen . my sister and her boyfriend went to rent zodiac       and got this one by accident . thought it was a joke before the actual movie . this was terrible i was waiting for it to get scary and it never did . this movie had not actual facts about the real zodiac killer . the filmmakers clearly didn  t even bother to research anything on the killings . . . they only liked the name . . . so they decided to write a script about nothing true to its name . i am upset i didn  t realize it wasn  t the movie sooner . i try to like something out of every movie  i don  t hate movies . . . ever . . . except this one . if you could have given it no stars  i definitely would have .  out of   .  
while the soundtrack is a bit dated  this story is more relevant in the u . s . now more than ever . with not only blue collar jobs but everyone  s jobs being outsourced by u . s . corporations while the government profits and american suffer .  br    br   peter strauss is emory  a steel worker who works the same job his father did for   years . his wife is well  portrayed by pamela reed  who is very realistic  trying to support the family with two children when emory loses his job . the mill is closed under the pretext of mismanagement  but there is also embezzlement and cheaper wages where they can pay one steelworker in one month  outsourcing  what they would have to pay strauss  emory in a day . never mind that these men are all good loyal workers who have values and try the best for their family .  br    br   john goodman  gary cole  as strauss  brother  and a few other co  workers are also affected . it is very disturbing and realistic . some scenes between emory and his father are moving . emory hopes his local union will be able to re  open the mill  as they promise to do so .  br    br   emory  s brother  lee already sees the writing on the wall . there are no jobs left in the rust  belt  ohio  and they must move on . however where in the u . s . can they move to  . where will it be better for a blue  collar steel worker  .  br    br   there is a triumphant scene at the end where emory and his crew fill the loading dock with steel products . the guard allows them to do this as a final gesture  one of the men committed suicide and he has empathy .  br    br   overall  a good message film about hard times right here in america . something that few care to face until personally affected .     .  
i can  t believe that this movie even made it to video  and that video rental stores are willing to put it on their shelves . i literary asked for a refund . take away the fact that the movie has no historical truth it  and it is still the worse movie ever found in a video store . it is not even good enough to be called a b rated movie . do not waste your money or your time on this movie . just listing to the voice over and the horrible music made me sick . anyone involved with this movie should be pulled from the union  gives the industry a black mark  but after watching most of this movie i really don  t think anyone involved is a union member .  
this movie struck home for me . being    i remember the     s and my father working in a factory . i figured  if i worked hard too  if i had pride and never gave up i too could have the american dream  the house  a few kids  a car all to call my own . i  ve noted however  without a degree in something  unlike my father that quit at ninth grade  and a keen sense of greed and laziness  you can  t get anywhere .  br    br   i would like to know if anyone has this movie on dvd or vhs . it  s made for tv  and i just saw it an hour ago . ic an  t find it anywhere  i  d love to show this to my friends  my pseudo friends  family and other relatives  see what they think and remind them that once upon a time  americans would work for the sake of feeling honor and that we had pride in what we accomplished   i think the feeling is still there  but in a heavy downward spiral with so many things being made overseas . . .  
i don  t want to go off on a rant here  but . . . . . this is the worst  film  i  ve ever seen . worse than the avengers . incompetent directing  disjointed writing  and awful acting are the only consistent elements throughout . shot on very cheap video  it looks like a high school project  but without the emotion . the lighting frequently looks like a single sun  gun . the sound is slightly better than a single mic on the camera  but everything else about this thing is just awful . the plot heads off in strange directions with no foundation or later resolution  the techie elements are patently absurd  and the editing looks worse than a rough cut . it  s not even bad enough to be funny . it  s just bad . btw  the packaging is intentionally misleading .  br    br   lion  s gate owes me   .   .  
a brutally depressing script and some fine low  key performances by peter strauss and pamela reed and some good location shooting in ohio power this fine tv movie about hard times in the rustbelt . as the mills close and the union jobs disappear  the blue  collar workers are threatened by everyone management  owners  their wives and children . strauss is completely believable in his role  and pamela reed is  as always  wonderful . see if you can recognize john goodman before he put on weight .  br    br   the heavy metal score   was someone making a pun    is  at times  obtrusively annoying  but the cinematography by frank stanley is knockout  particularly the mill scenes .  
  is being pretty generous here . i really enjoyed boogeyman  even though it is not really the boogeyman promoted on the dvd cover and we all know it  it creeped me out . but this film  it is something else . for being directed by a guy who has been around a long time and directed a lot of movies  it looks like it was shot on a vhs camcorder by a   year old  the story and acting are atrocious  david hess  you have let me down too . after playing one of the most menacing villains in film history  you have resorted to this  the story and acting may have been able to be forgiven however  if anyone had taken the time to make the video look somewhat professional . there are a lot of shot on video films out there that don  t look like it  or at least aren  t so obvious that it detracts your attention from the film . i can  t say it is the worst movie ever  because i couldn  t make it through the entire film  but it is certainly close .  
this movie is pretty cheesy  but i do give it credit for at least trying to provide some characterization for it  s principles . there are some great moments in the film and the dialogue has some great moments as well .  br    br   the aerial assault sequence is perhaps the best part of the movie .  br    br   i guess i really like the idea of what lengths a veteran will go for a fellow veteran . sure it  s not all that well done  but the premise is not at all bad .  br    br   tom  
at least i was able to enjoy mocking the movie which is surprising since i was barely able to sit through it . in all honesty  my guess is the cover to the dvd case cost more than the entire movie . and saying that it is the same director as the boogeyman  when a new version of that just came out . . . nice touch guys  it was misleading enough to rope me in . the only thing that frustrated me more than the insufferable acting of the copycat was his haircut . usually you only see that kind of hair on a ten year old boy and the character acted like it . the film looks like it was shot by a d grad student of some film school excited to use every film technique he ever learned while attending classes . . . . sometimes  less is more buddy . through out i would get lost by random plot twists that led nowhere or were unexplained . all this makes a bad movie but when the ending doesn  t even come close to pulling it together  well  that makes it an exceptionally bad movie . without a doubt this is the worst movie i have ever seen  and that includes my friends  french final video for senior year of high school  but hey maybe i  m a bit biased  i mean i did get to play an extra . p . s . i don  t even think this deserves a star . . . not even a half . none for you    
first off  i dislike almost all neil simon movies . but there is something about this that is unique  that draws me in  and i would say it is among the most entertaining comedies i have seen . the second time i watched it  the connection was clear . when did neil simon meet my grandmothers   br    br   ah  afraid they might sue  so he changed them into men . and how dull would it be if they were only housewives  show biz stars is more fun . well this is a personal review  and my still living grandmother at age    she even outlived walter matthau  s magnificent impersonation of her   would deny it   but some of you must find resonance in these characters .  br    br   secondly  i have little tolerance for george burns  but somehow he turned in one of the finest supporting performances i can recall  and my late grandmother even enjoyed it  although failing to recognize the remarkable similarities she shared with the film character  .  br    br   very ethnic in flavor  and over the top  you will either laugh and laugh or turn this off . for me  the pleasure lingers .  
the perfect murder is foiled when a wife  played by mary ellen trainor  once the wife to director robert zemeckis  who helmed this episode   who murders her husband with a poker  has the misfortune of receiving a visitor as she is about to move the body outside . . an escaped insane madman dressed in a santa claus suit  played by a deviously hideous larry drake  . she fends for her life while trying to find a way of hiding her husband  s corpse . she decides to use an ax  once she downs the santa killer who misses several chances to chop off the woman  s head  to frame the killer for her husband  s murder . santa killer locks her in a closet and pursues the woman  s daughter as she tries desperate to free herself to save the child .  br    br   this episode of tales from the crypt just recycles tired material involving the old  santa kills  theme while also adding the oft  used  add nauseum  woman  murders  her  husband  for  a  man  she  s  been  cheating  with routine . it  s essentially trainor trying to find a way to avoid being caught with a dead body she kills while also keeping a safe distance from a maniac . there  s nothing refreshing or new about this plot which pretty much goes through the motions . not one of the show  s highlights .  
everybody  s got bills to pay  and that includes christopher walken .  br    br   in vietnam  a group a soldiers discover that the war is over and are heading back home when they spot a bunch of pows  including christopher walken . following a mad max     thunderdome fight  and a short massacre later . walken and some colombian guy split a dollar bill promising something or other .  br    br   cut to the present        and colombian guy is leading a revolution against el presidente . he  s successful at first  but after el presidente threatens to crush folks with a tank  he  s forced to surrender and is shot in the head on live television . this is shown in full gory detail as a news flash on american telly  which leads walken to assemble the old squad  even though he wasn  t actually part of that squad to begin with   in order to invade colombia and gun down thousands of people .  br    br   mcbain is a monumentally stupid film  but for all that it  s also a good laugh  and action packed too . this is one of those movies where logic is given a wide berth  how else could walken shoot a fighter pilot in the head from another plane without suffering from decompression  or even breaking a window  also  it seems that these guys can gun down scores of drug dealers in new york without the police bothering .  br    br   there  s plenty of b  movie madness to chew on here  from michael ironside  s diabolical acting in the vietnam sequence  to the heroic but entirely pointless death of one of the heroes  to the side splitting confrontation between walken and el presidente  and let  s not forget the impassioned speech by the sister of the rebel leader  being watched on television in america  nearly brought a brown tear to my nether  eye  that bit  .  br    br   it  s out there for a quid . buy it if you have a sense of humour . see how many times you can spot the camera crew too .  
not that  a film by ulli lommel  filled me with hope  but i must confess that zodiac killer managed to sink beneath my lowest expectations . there is a recent trend among young filmmakers of utilizing digital video for their early projects  which is all well and good for giving these kids the opportunity to create work without spending all their money on expensive film stock . but many of these young filmmakers have also wised up to the notion of filtering the finished movie so that it appears qualitatively more like celluloid . the effect is never perfect  but it helps . unfiltered digital video really only works for the  mockumentary  style  because it never looks like anything other than video . therein lies the primary trouble with zodiac killer . watching the movie feels like watching a daytime soap opera about a murderer . it does not feel like watching a movie . and what  s even more unforgivable is that the lommel is not a young filmmaker . he ought to know better . he ought to know that it  s virtually impossible to generate horror  or even suspense   on video . for the love of god this guy has been directing since the sixties  he may be the only director who has failed to improve over a forty year career in the business . and lucky us  he wrote the script too  so you can expect convoluted actions that mean nothing  unjustified behavior  and at least one truly pretentious plot element that will leave you utterly unsatisfied . please  please miss this film . you  ll thank me later .  
ah  mcbain the character name is immortalized and forever ridiculed by  the simpsons  but it will also always  to me personally  at least  remain the name and title of a tremendously entertaining and outrageously violent early    s action flick directed by the cool dude who brought us  the exterminator  and starring two of the most ultimately badass b  movie heroes christopher walken and michael ironside  the latter with a cute little macho ponytail  . i guess  mcbain  will largely have to be labeled as a guilty pleasure  because there  s no way i can convince anyone this is an intellectual motion picture . the film is unimaginably preposterous  most action heroes take on a small gangster posse  mcbain takes on an entire country  and yet takes itself way too seriously . the script is a non  stop and incoherent spitfire of clichd situations  nonsensical twists  compulsory sentimental interludes  grotesquely staged action sequences and utterly implausible character drawings . it  s a totally delirious movie i loved it .  br    br   vietnam pow mcbain  s life is saved by fellow soldier roberto santos on the very last day of the war . they each keep half a dollar note as a symbol that mcbain is in santos  debt . eighteen years later  santos is a spirited rebel leading the revolution against the corrupt president of his home country columbia . santos initial attempt to take over the power fails and he  s publicly executed on el presidente  s balcony . his sister travels to new york with the dollar note and turns to mcbain for financial assistance and manpower . mcbain and his former vietnam buddies  who all coincidentally happen to be fed up with the injustice in this world  charter themselves a miserable little plane and fly to columbia to open a gigantic can of whoop  ass .  br    br   okay  let  s not fool each other here . the fact you  re reading a user  comment on  mcbain  already indicates that you have some sort of interest for low  budget b  movie action . one of my fellow reviewers spent quite some time composing a list containing all the main stupidities and insensible moments of  mcbain  . this list is totally accurate and i can only concur with it . heck  i could even add some more senseless sequences to that list  like the preposterous and needless heroic self  sacrifice of a soldier who doesn  t even have any affinity with the goal of the mission and the rest of mcbain  s squad   but what  s the point  you definitely know not to expect a     coherent and plausible masterpiece . we know from beforehand this will be a silly and exaggeratedly flamboyant movie  and it  s maybe even the exact reason why we want to check it out  this is a terrifically outrageous and exciting movie about a bunch of former vietnam buddies turning into mercenaries and declaring war against the corrupt columbian president and the national drug cartel . please don  t expect another  apocalypse now  . this particular motion picture relies on the ruff  n tuff acting performances of the macho leads  a whole lot of explosions and gunfights and  last but not least  a fantastic soundtrack in which joan baez sings a cover of  brothers in arms  .  
as there was nothing wrong with the acting etc etc the writing for the episode is way off for this series phantom or no phantom . it was a waste of   minutes to see the martian man hunter . you have to know that in the middle of the  th series no matter what happens it is not true what is going on and really brings nothing to the story of the series except meeting the martian man hunter again and to waste   minutes to do this is by far another case of bad writing in the soap opera of smallville . i really like the show but mainly due to the cast and the  or so good episodes each year but who ever is on the writing cast that works or used to work on the soaps needs to be canned . this was by far one of the worst . with in the first  minutes you know that what is going on is bogus and anything happening is a dream based on clark  s infliction obviously caused by a phantom zone character and when he wakes up he will win and blah blah blah so the writers don  t have to really create a villain that will progress the story line any this week . may as well have added another villain to die in the last episode the martian man hunter was in and made him fly away again or come back and tell clark he forgot his sunglasses to get a closer look like in this episode and call it a day .  
i don  t have much to add to my summary  this film ranks right up the there with top gun as one of the funniest films ever made while not trying to be . i for one don  t think it should be taken seriously when watched as it is very enjoyable .  br    br   i don  t think it brings christopher walken  s reputation down either as his reputation was on the wane back then anyway . it took pulp fiction to wake him from the slumber he had been in . as for michael ironside  he has been in some of the great funny while not trying to be serious films . total recall  top gun . what i think is amazing is the budget this movie had . the scenes and actors and explosions etc . are quite amazing so obviously someone liked it quite a lot and was willing to risk a lot of money . whoever he or she was i like them because i love this film   br    br   if anyone reads this looking for information on mcbain  and i seriously doubt there  ll be too many  just know that it is a hilarious movie and should be viewed with a smile on your face   
this waste of time is a completely unnecessary remake of a great film . nothing new or original is added other than perry  s backflashes  which are of marginal interest . it lacks the documentary feel of the first film and the raw urgency that made it so effective . also painfully missing is the sharp quincy jones soundtrack that added to much to the original film . i can  t understand any high ratings for this at all . it  s quite bad . why does anyone waste time or money making crap like this and why did i waste time watching it   
first of all i  d just like to say this movie rawked more than any of the recent crap that hollywood has cooked up out of its bowels . mcbain is a true action film with more violence than most viewers can handle . it has all of the classic elements of a late    s  early    s action film . . . . the random gratuitous acts of violence  ie . when walken and crew go in to confront the drug dealers to get money they just show up and kill them rather than letting them live and just taking their money   the snapping of necks  the guys on fire  the guys that get blown off buildings  and of course the guys who are on fire that get blown off of buildings . walken is at his finest in this picture delivering memorable lines such as   let  s go sit . . . . . . . . . . out on the deck .  and others that make this film a top buy off of the clearence rack at the local video store . if you have a bloodlust for unnecessary random acts of violence rent this movie today and satisfy your thirst .  
why do they insist on making re  makes of great movies like  high noon   from here to eternity  and this one   br    br   why do they think that color is more engrossing to a viewer than stark black and white   br    br   why did robert  s insist on wearing that dopey  broad  billed  baseball cap  . . . it made him look like jim varney .  br    br   why would anyone spend four hours suffering through this   br    br   watch the original . then you won  t have to ask yourself why .  
when i first heard about the title  i thought of  the simpsons   just like so many other reviewers  but when i saw the cast  i was completely stunned  that so many great character  actors would actually be in this  first of all  we have christopher walken  deer hunter  pulp fiction   who plays the title character  mcbain . he is rescued from a vietnam pow  camp by some of his buddies  one of which is santos  chick vennera  yanks   who splits a hundred dollar bill with mcbain  vietnam soldiers are loaded with cash apparently   and tells him that he can re  do the favor to him  if he ever gets into trouble .  br    br   then    years later  santos and his sister christina  maria conchita alonso  the running man  predator   join the rebels in colombia trying to get rid of their evil dictator  el presidente  victor argo  taxi driver  king of new york   and when santos fails the mission  christina goes to mcbain for help .  br    br   mcbain then asks his good ol  vietnam buddies to help him . first there  s the token tough black guy  eastland  played by  american ninja   s steve james  who was also in director james glickenhaus  previous movie   the exterminator   where the exterminator  s real name also was eastland  coincidence  i think not . there is also a lot of other references to the exterminator  among other things  the most notable one being that mcbain himself wears a welders  mask when christina sees him for the first time  when he is working on a welding  job on top of a bridge   br    br   the other guys in the vietnam  pack are the rich guy who can afford all sorts of equipment for the team  frank bruce  michael ironside  total recall  starship troopers   and then there  s the doc  dalton   played by jay patterson  who doesn  t look like the guy the imdb is linking to  and i haven  t seen him in other movies  so who knows   and last but not least  there  s the cop  gill  who has had enough of his unsatisfying job  he  s played by thomas g . waites  who some of us might remember from the warriors and the thing .  br    br   and in other big roles  we find luis guzmn  boogie nights  carlito  s way   as a small  time drug  dealer who can  t get a decent job . also  there is dick boccelli as the drug  dealing kingpin who gets hung up in a crane on top of a roof by the mcbain  gang  almost exactly in the same way he got hung up over a meat  grinder by john eastland in the exterminator  movie  now  i haven  t seen glickenhaus   shakedown  blue jean cop  yet  but i  m almost ready to bet half a hundred  dollar bill that boccelli gets hung up in that movie too   br    br   well  back to the plot of this movie . . they go off to colombia and saves the day  yay  but who cares about the plot anyway  the cast is great  and the action  scenes are very well done  and you  re never bored while watching this movie  highly recommended to all action  lovers   
in cold blood was one of several   s films that created a new vision of violence in the hollywood film industry . capote coined the phrase  nonfiction novel  to describe the book on which this film is based  and the spirit of that form was carried over into the film script  which he co  wrote . despite the fact that we were well into the era of color film  richard brooks elected to present this film in black and white to underscore both the starkness of the landscape and the bleakness of the story . this is the first problem with the tv remake   color changes the tone of the story . in addition  the confinement of shooting a film for tv makes reduces the options of how the shots are framed and focused . as a result  we lose the dramatic clash which makes the second part of the original film  police interviews  trial  imprisonment  and execution  so claustrophobic . on the small screen  it  s just another version of law and order spin  offs .  br    br   hollywood  s search for scripts continuously takes it back to movies that were successful in another age . usually  that  s a mistake  and this is no exception .  br    br   all of the actors are competent . the script is ok . the directing doesn  t get in the way . it  s just that the movie doesn  t work as well as the original precision instrument . it doesn  t hook the viewer into the ambivalence toward smith and hickock that the original film provokes . at the end of the tv version  we are left with the feeling  ho hum  who cares    br    br   see the original first  on as large a screen as you can  then watch the tv version simply to understand why the first one was such an important film in     .  br    br   wouldn  t hurt to also go on line and read a bit about capote and the original book . it will help you to understand the extraordinary effort he put into the material  and also some of the controversy surrounding both the book and the movie .  br    br   i actually only gave this a  because i save the bottom  rankings for true bombs   the kind that enrage you about having been sucked into spending an  
this is according to me a quite bizarre movie with a lot of humor in it . i wouldn  t say that it is very scary  but more fun i guess . that is if you like horror movies . scarecrow kind of remembered me of  children of the corn   but still not . if you compare these two movies this is much more fun to watch    
there is absolutely no reason to waste your time with this  film  . the original said it all and still holds up . either read the book or do some research about the story  and you  ll realize this remake is ludicrous . eric roberts as perry smith  his sister could have done a better job  having been to holcomb  edgerton  ks where the story takes place  the sets and locations looked nothing like kansas . the original is riveting  from the location filming to the use of the actual participants  weapons and victims belongings . unforgettable performances by scott wilson and robert blake . soundtrack by quincy jones and cinematography by conrad hall . . . the original is available on dvd in widescreen now . let this turkey die a quick death .  
i don  t think most people give this movie as much credit as it deserves . i love low budget horror movies and this takes the cake  especially for originality . yes the scarecrow is a kung  fu fighting frightner  but why not  no one else is willing to go that far . i really haven  t had this much fun watching a movie since candyman . so the town picks on this one kid calling him scarecrow  even his mom doesn  t care about him . then he gets killed and the spirit is infused with in the scarecrow  who then goes on a killing spree . his demise is relatively easy to assume once the movie gets going . the dedications at the end go straight to a bunch of horror directors  but with most dedication towards dario argento really struck me as cool  these folks who wanna make movies of a newer genre . over the movie has a lot of arnold rip offs  with one liners you  ll definitely laugh at like stick around and he kills the sheriff with a stick . i would say  grab a pizza some friends an laugh your a off with this movie . i love it for its originality  most fun .  
anyone who loved the two classic novels by edward ormondroyd will be disappointed in this film . all the magic and romance have been modernized out of his original story of a girl who does a good deed for a mysterious old lady  and given  three  in return . three what  not three wishes  but three rides into the      s on a rickety elevator . . .  br    br   the first novel is time at the top . the second is all in good time .  
there wasn  t a day in     where i wasn  t chased by a scarecrow i felt that this film handled a serious issue well  br    br   it brought back a lot of memories as it was so realistic  br    br   even today i have nightmares about corn on the cob  and can  t even go near the tinned stuff in fear of my life  br    br   i have to admit though  at one point in the film i did have to turn it off as it hit too close to home  br    br   for those of you who have never been attacked by a scarecrow  by watching this film you could be educated about how it felt for us victims  br    br   this film teaches us not to take life for granted or to mess with corn  believe me  i  ve been there and i have the scars  br    br   watch the film  its amazing and educational  
sorry to go against the flow but i thought this film was unrealistic  boring and way too long . i got tired of watching gena rowlands long arduous battle with herself and the crisis she was experiencing . maybe the film has some cinematic value or represented an important step for the director but for pure entertainment value i wish i would have skipped it .  
this film is an interesting take on the killer scarecrow genre  amazingly it manages to rise to become greater than the sum of its parts . average montage scenes     somethings playing teenagers  and some excellent facial expressions combine to become one of the  new  wave  of modern classics . as a viewer  i came away from the film with the same sense of  shock and awe  as when i first saw the godfather in     . tiffany gardner  s startling portrayal of the morally bankrupt judy was deserving of her grammy nomination  which was well documentedly stolen by ricky martin and restless hips . unfortunately  the none of the sequels could live up to the expectation of the original  unlike the godfather series which got better with each installment  and should culminate in     with godfather   eat my rage .  
i can find very little thats good to say about this film . i am sure the idea and script looked good on paper but the filmography and acting i am afraid is not the standards i would expect from some very talented people . i would doubt that this features highly in their cv filmography . michael caine appeared wooden at times in his role as the doctor  and at no time no did i actually believe in his character . the plot was unbelievable especially with regard to the victims son . some of the scenes were very reminiscent of other films  that at times i wondered if it was actually a spoof thriller . the lighting at times was dark and this added to the feeling of watching a low budget movie with some big named stars  wondering why i bothered to watch it at all .  
what a fun b  movie  shepis is absolutely beautiful and the scarecrow is a distinct and original . he really brought me back to the monsters of the    s . the budget is obviously low and not everybody is pacino behind the lens but it doesn  t matter because it never once takes itself seriously . from the trailer trash redneck to the high flying martial arts moves of the scarecrow  this is truly a b  movie gem . grab some refreshments  snacks and a couple friends and kick back and relax . i enjoyed this film so much i went out a purchased all  scarecrow films . sure  they  re not for everybody but to each his own . sometimes you just have to set the thinking cap down and smile .  
a call  girl witnesses a murder and becomes the killer  s next target . director brian de palma is really on a pretentious roll here his camera swoops around corners in a museum  after lingering a long time over a painting of an ape   divvies up into split screen for arty purposes  practically gives away his plot with a sequence  again in split screen  where two characters are both watching a tv program about transsexuals  and stages his  first  finale during a thunderous rainstorm .  dressed to kill  is exhausting  primarily because it asks us to swallow so much and gives back nothing substantial . much of the acting  with the exception of young keith gordon  is mediocre and the  second  finale is a rip  off of de palma  s own  carrie    not to mention  psycho  . the explanation of the dirty deeds plays like a spoof of hitchcock  not an homage . stylish in a steely cold way  the end results are distinctly half  baked .  from   
first  an explanation despite my headline  i  m giving this film only  stars because overall this is not one of the best films ever made . all the criticisms registered here have valid points . also  be warned that to enjoy the script you really need to appreciate neil simon  s brilliance with finding the wit within real human banter . he does have a distinctively new york ear for dialogue   especially dry  jewish  love  suffused sarcasm   and if you have trouble accepting sarcasm as an expression of love  then you might have trouble accepting the optimism at the heart of this movie .  br    br   so much for warnings . here  s my main point walter matthau is flat  out perfect  even beyond perfect  in this movie . i have never seen him funnier  or more touching for that matter   because at the same time that he shows us the hilariousness of this character who refuses to give up his big star self  image or insufferable attitudes even as his coherence is in decline  he also shows us the more vulnerable  maybe even heartbreakingly scared person inside the grouch . and he only barely shows us that sad part   it  s just enough to really get to you if you happen to be coping with your own father  s or husband  s mental decline right now  i mention this as a warning   but artistically  it  s just enough pathos to give this character the most authentically deep roots i  m seen in possibly any film performance . this is beyond method acting   matthau  s performance is exquisite as character work and a pure delight as comic delivery . this is a masterpiece of comic acting .  br    br   about richard benjamin i personally find his acting annoying in general  and his work in this movie is no exception   although he has some fine moments here .   chicken is funny . . . .  is one of them .  so if you like him  you should like him here  and if you don  t this movie won  t change your mind .  br    br   about the     oscars . . . i agree that matthau was unfortunate to be up against nicholson in  cuckoo  s nest  that year . it was a killer year for leading  actor competition if only there were separate oscars for comedy and drama  then i think the best actor oscars would have gone to al pacino for  dog day afternoon  and to walter matthau for  the sunshine boys    not to dis jack  s fine work as mcmurphy  but i think that pacino and matthau were each clearly more masterful and astoundingly effective and downright legendary in their performances than nicholson was that year . also  i believe that burns got the supporting actor oscar more for sentimental reasons than for the quality of his performance   i mean  he was good in this movie  but not that good .  burns  s fine  as  ever but unexceptional  in  itself return to show biz beat brad dourif  s truly brilliant debut in  cuckoo  s nest   not to mention chris sarandon  s stunning debut in  dog day afternoon    which i think proves my theory .   br    br   oscar theories aside  here  s my bottom line review if you like matthau  s comic acting  then see this movie and savor his powerhouse tirades and wonderful grandmother  inspired gestures  fleeting facial expressions and seemingly unscripted asides .  but if you  re currently dealing with the pain of watching an old person lose his grip  then be warned that this movie might either be the comic relief you need or a dose of reality too painful to watch right now .   
i jumped at the chance to view this movie uncut and uninterrupted  remembering rahs and raves for it . but wherever it seemed about to slip into being truly scary  it backed off and went somewhere else . the dripping water throughout the house  the black rain  the prophetic dreams  taking the wrong turn in raw sewage were dropped before they could work up to a scream .  br    br   what a disappointment . chamberlain  s nearly expressionless mask of a face offered little but confused disbelief  something i found myself mirroring as the film wore on . what could have been eerie aboriginal chanting and instruments in the background were instead a cacophony seemingly designed to beat terror into one  s head . the ideas that modern people can embody ancient gods  that the aboriginal peoples believe red  haired white men were the first priests  and many other possibilities are passed along more like a shopping list than a hint at another dimension  the dream time  .  br    br   spoiler in the final scene  it wasn  t clear to me what the director was trying to tell . is there a big wave  so what  how big  a tsunami  yeah  okay . that  s devastating but not apocalyptic . is it the end of the world  from a wave  the last wave  that  d have to be a pretty darn big wave . why  was the world that bad a place  it didn  t seem so awful in this movie . actually i didn  t think the wave came off  since the shadow left burton  s face that had been cast by the wave . was it only burton  s apocalypse  heck  that happens every day to people who lose it . it wasn  t of any interest if it was only him .  br    br   the most frightening scene  and the one that gives the best indication of weir  s potential  was in charlie  s apartment where burton has gone to confront the old man for scaring burton  s wife . charlie keeps asking him  who are you   and it becomes truly disturbing after a while . unfortunately  the movie never followed suit .  
this movie is not your typical horror movie . it has some campy humor and death scenes which can be sort of comical . i personally liked the movie because of its off  beat humor . it  s definetely not a super scary movie  which is good if you don  t want to be scared and paranoid afterwards . i liked the performance of the hillbilly guy and of lester . . . very believable . i think i  m going to dye my hair red like that girl in scarecrow  very cool  anyway  overall worth renting for the campy humor and non typical horror experience .  
a repressed housewife  an annoying lisping angie dickinson  whose body double treats  horrifies us with an extreme closeup of her delicates  is sexually bored by her husband and decides to branch  out . this directly results in a string of murders that soon involve a high  class prostitute  nancy allen  clearly i am in the wrong business if she can bring home     a night  and her psychologist  michael caine  . if you are going to watch de palma rip off  excuse me   pay homage to   hitchcock  watch  sisters  instead of this .  dressed to kill   while loaded with style and technical skill  is one of the tackiest thrillers i have had the displeasure of sitting through . the plot is absurd and tired . it does feature some surprisingly effective jump scares and nasty graphic murder sequences that should please any horror fan  as long as they can get past the silly story line  that must have been dated even in     .  
this unpretentious horror film is probably destined to become a cult classic . much much better than    of the scream rip  offs out there  i even hope they come up with a sequel   
the only film i  ve ever walked out on . amazing  since i paid for myself and my date and i  m really cheap . but my brain couldn  t stand any more of the dreck being piled on  particularly since i could have written funnier material while tie up and gagged .  br    br   from the beginning to the end this film offends . worse  it ain  t funny . it wasn  t funny then  and it sure ain  t funny now . but even worse  is that this film represents the beginning of the end of really smart  sophisticated comedy . it  s juvenile  really sophomoric script and ideas began an era  which continues to this day  where cheap laughs  and sexual innuendo dominate the culture of comedy in film .  br    br   sexual olympics  what high school kid hasn  t thought of that  the beginning of the end .  
first off i  ll be the first to admit that the scarecrow himself is quite a bit over  the  top . a toned down maybe less acrobatic scarecrow would  ve made this movie much less cheesy . but overall i think it  s one of the better b  movies . tiffany shepis is absolutely wonderful  not to mention incredibly beautiful . though this movie is missing the all  important nude factor  there are several other movies at which to view her . but here she gets all evil  hotness  especially towards the end as she  s walking away from the engulfed scarecrow . also richard elfman does a great job as sheriff and as the drunk boyfriend . yes it  s a low budget b  movie . but out of all of them i  ve seen  this is definitely one of my very top favorites .  
i read all the reviews here after watching this piece of cinematic garbage and it took me at least  pages to find out that somebody else didn  t think that this appallingly unfunny montage wasn  t the acme of humour in the   s or indeed in any other era  if this isn  t the least funny set of sketch comedy i  ve ever seen it  ll do till it comes along . half of the skits had already been done  and infinitely better  by acts such as monty python and woody allen . . . if i was to say that a nice piece of animation that lasts about   seconds is the highlight of this film it would still not get close to summing up just how mindless and drivel  ridden this waste of   minutes is . seminal comedy  only in the world where seminal really does mean semen . scatological humour  only in a world where scat is actually feces . precursor jokes  only if by that we mean that this is a handbook of how not to do comedy . tits and bums and the odd beaver . nice . . . if you are a pubescent boy with at least one hand free and haven  t found out that playboy exists . give it a break because it was the early   s  no way . there had been sketch comedy going back at least ten years prior . the only way i could even forgive this film even being made is if it was at gunpoint . retro  hardly . sketches about clowns subtly perverting children may be cutting edge in some circles  and it could actually have been funny  but it just comes off as really quite sad . what kept me going throughout the entire   minutes  sheer belief that they may have saved a genuinely funny skit for the end . i gave the film a  because there was no lower score . . . and i can only recommend it to insomniacs or coma patients . . . or perhaps people suffering from lockjaw . . . their jaws would finally drop open in disbelief .  
verry classic plot but a verry fun horror movie for home movie party really gore in the second part this movie proves that you can make something fun with a small budget . i hope that the director will make another one  
hearing about how hilarious this movie is  i finally rent it at  br    br   the video store and for   minutes maybe i laughed  times . this  br    br   movie  a collection of skits that make fun of television is an  br    br   incoherrent mess . the jokes fall flat  the humor deals with  br    br   issues from the      s that just aren  t relevant anymore  and  br    br   the jokes go on way too long  almost like the new snl skits the  br    br   past few years  . yeah  chevy chase is in this but maybe of all  br    br   about  or  minutes . i liked the fact that this was very  br    br   raunchy and had nudity galore but couldn  t it be funny  do  br    br   yourself a favor and rent kentucky fried movie which is a far  br    br   superior film made in the  
the scarecrow was on of the funniest killers i have ever seen in the act  plus he  s really bouncy most of the time he jumped around  which was awesome  also he had an excellent voice i mean it was just perfect for him . the story lines was excellent too . i like how the kids soul was transferred into scarecrow that was cool  plus he did have a reason for all that killing i mean after what those people did to him . . . . . i would be angry too  scarecrows look was really good  his look gives that person an  omg   reaction when they see him  which was great the stares he got were funny  those people were stupid  who would stare for that long  they should of glanced and ran for their lives . . . even though that wouldn  t of made a difference   
oh dear . while chevy chase and the gang at snl set new highs with the sketch show format this fails miserably at every level . fortunately chevy is barely in this at all and can  t be blamed for this utter tripe . it seriously is very  very bad . while meant to be a political comment on usa at the time of it  s release       it still remains neither funny or acutely observed . the sketches are all way too long and any satirical impact they may have had is lost as they  re all drawn out to the point of complete boredom . this is credited as chevy  s movie debut and i  m pleased to say that everything he did after this bettered it . avoid even if curious .  
fearful symmetry is a pleasant episode with a few faults . the first thing about the episode is that it takes place near mountain home air force base in southwest idaho . season one  s  deep throat  takes place near ellens air base  also in southwest idaho . i  m wondering if the air force bases are one and the same but they decided to use the real name in fearful symmetry . mulder and scully have some good dialog  always a plus . ed meecham  the zoo keeper  reminds me of cranky  old school teachers . they must have liked children at one time  you just can  t imagine how . just like he must have cared more for animals at one point . i liked the concept of the episode  but i felt it had some inconsistencies . if aliens are so adept at abducting humans and returning them safely  why can  t they put the animal back in the right place  and the aliens are just now having problems returning the animals  i don  t buy mulder  s theory of a problem with the space  time continuum . as if he  s an expert on that . i also thought jayne atkinson  s performance as willa ambrose was not well done . besides those nitpicks  i still enjoyed this episode because of the intriguing concept of aliens harvesting animal dna as well as human dna .  
rented it last night . the opening       ran waaaaaaaaay too long . the hitchiker scene served no purpose . some skits were just retarded . i knew beforehand  chevy chase was on for less than  minutes . no problem . here are the best parts  br    br   koko  uranus  babs commercial  curtis mayfield song  br    br   total  minutes of good material out of a   minute movie  br    br   everything else was either unfunny or stupid as hell .  br    br   let me give you some advice if you want a crude movie spoofing tv and movies  rent  kentucky fried movie  . if you want a less crude movie spoofing tv and movies  rent  amazon women on the moon  or  uhf   br    br   otherwise  don  t bother renting this movie . you  ll save    dollars .  br    br   imho ken shapiro  s best movie is still  modern problems   
it  s easy to forget  once later series had developed the alien conspiracy plot arc more  that once upon a time  the x  files  wrote episodes like  genderbender  and  fearful symmetry   where the aliens weren  t all little grey men or mind  control goop  but could actually surprise you .  br    br    fearful symmetry  starts with an  invisible elephant   actually an elephant somehow dislocated in space and time  not a mile away from  the walk   and ends with a pregnant gorilla being abducted . and it  s very much an episode of wonderful moments . the subplot is annoyingly worthy  yeah  we get it  zoos are bad except when they  re not  but the ideas that within it are fascinating  visually powerful  and very memorable  and it covers an angle on abduction that is largely overlooked  why would humans be the only things that aliens are interested in   br    br   in the end  it wasn  t an instant classic  but it was enjoyable viewing while it lasted  again  very memorable  and mainly  it  s something that you couldn  t imagine many other shows doing .  
after two long  long opening skits  one of which my brother saw the conclusion coming of and the other totally joke free  we start the fast  forward fest that it groove tube proper . naturally  uber  stupid frat boys who still mainline jackass or tom green will find the idea of fecal matter coming out of the some tube  sex olympics  i really don  t need to give you details  do i   and a clown who basically does the  not very endearing clown  bit i think i  ve seen approxiately ninety times now will eat this up like dung beetles well  more power to you .  br    br   i just want to express that  despite what you  ve heard  this movie was in no way a model for the many infinitely funnier movies like kentucky fried movie or what not . the skit movie had already been done in and now for something completely different  everything you always wanted to know about sex  and so on . and done way better .  
whilst it is universally acknowledged that fearful symmetry was heavily influenced by the kolchak episode they have been  they are  they will be  whether this makes it a rip  off or a homage is an altogether more controversial point . as a huge fan of both series i subscribe to the latter belief  although the less charitable may not do . james whitmore was brave to take on the task of directing such a difficult episode  invisible elephants and gorilla suits sounds like a recipe for disaster  but he pulls it off with style  the teaser being an absolute gem . lance guest does a great job of making a credible character out of kyle lang and jack rader seethes with menace as ed meecham . forget fearful symmetry  s dubious originality and just enjoy it as a deeply satisfying x file .  
straight to the point  the groove tube  is one of the most unfunny  unclever and downright horrible films ever made . this  comedy  is so void of anything remotely resembling a trace of wit that it  s almost incomprehensible that it was even made . i said almost because there are fans of everything after all .  br    br   this film isn  t even  good  bad or  enjoyable  bad . to put this movie on the same level of entertainment as  plan   or  robot monster  would be a crime to those films . films like that you can actually watch and get a kick out of . but this film is so bad  so poorly made  acted and scripted and so incredible stale  that there just isn  t even a trace of  camp  or  schlock  to be found .  br    br   even though this was made before saturday night live premiered  comparisons were probably inevitable . i  m not a big fan of snl  but this film is worse than the worst snl skit you can find . and man  that  s bad . just to keep the men viewers from leaving  shapiro throws in a pair of breasts every so often  but poorly  filmed breasts from     aren  t going to excite anyone these days . truthfully this film is so poorly made and is such a sleep  inducing excursion  i doubt if they excited anyone in     either .  br    br   a man named ken shapiro made this film . i swear to god  any ten  year old with a video camera could have made something funnier and more clever . it  s just downright unreal  this is truly an unbelievable film . the  jokes  and  gags  are so infantile that even little boys who like to sneak dad  s porno mags out at night won  t laugh .  br    br   i will give this film one thing  the very last sequence  the  dancing man  sequence  where a guy  shapiro  on the streets of nyc dances to a tune  is easily the best thing in this horrible film . not that the  dancing man  sequence is that great either  it definitely has its moments of not being clever as shapiro desperately tries to fill in the time for the entire song  but it actually was somewhat watchable . the part of this sequence where the cop starts dancing with the man is the one sole trace of cleverness in the entire film . no wonder shapiro put this sequence last  again  while not so great itself  it easily beats anything else in this  film .   br    br   otherwise  this film is such a complete piece of crap  it  s unfathomable as to how an actual human being can be so downright cleverless . the name of this film should have been  ken shapiro  s craparama .  it  s amazing that this was made  but many truly talented filmmakers can  t get in . however  i will say that i bet the geniuses at nyu would love this movie . total garbage .  
     . the sleepy small southern town of clarksburg . evil sheriff roy childress  the almighty vic morrow in peak nasty form  cracks down super hard on speeders by forcing said offenders off a cliff to their untimely deaths on an especially dangerous stretch of road . childress meets his match when cool young hot rod driver michael mccord  a splendidly smooth and brooding portrayal by martin sheen  shows up in town in his souped  up automobile with the specific intention of avenging the death of his brother  sheen  s real  life sibling joe estevez in a brief cameo  . director richard t . heffron  working from a taut and intriguing script by richard compton  the same guy who directed the    s drive  in movie gems  welcome home  soldier boys  and  macon county line    relates the gripping story at a brisk pace  neatly creates a flavorsome    s period setting  and ably milks plenty of suspense out the tense game of wit and wills between childress and mccord . the uniformly fine cast helps a lot sheen radiates a brash james deanesque rebellious vibe in the lead  morrow makes the most out of his meaty bad guy part  plus there are excellent supporting performances by michelle phillips as sweet diner waitress maggie  stuart margolin as a folksy deputy  nick nolte as amiable gas station attendant buzz stafford  gary morgan as buzz  s endearingly gawky younger brother lyle  janit baldwin as sassy local tart sissy  britt leach as stingy cab driver johnny  and frederic downs as the stern judge j . a . hooker . the climactic vehicular confrontation between childress and mccord is a real pulse  pounding white  knuckle thrilling doozy . terry k . meade  s sharp cinematography  the well  drawn characters  for example  childress became obsessed with busting speeders after his wife and kid were killed in a fatal hit and run incident   the groovy  syncopated score by luchi de jesus  and the beautiful mountainside scenery all further enhance the overall sound quality of this superior made  for  tv winner .  
the gospel of lou was a major disappointment for me . i had received an e  mail from the theater showing it that it was a great and inspirational movie . it was neither great nor inspirational . the cinematography was pretty iffy with the whole movie . a lot the scenes were flash backs that were done in a way that couldn  t tell at times what they were about . the voices were often distorted for no reason . also many of the people in the movie were far fetched . the relationship he has with his ex  son is never made clear . also the whole movie has most him one way  and then all of a sudden bam  he is cured and inspiring people . the whole movie seems to show that boxing is one of the things that is bad in his life  making him live his life the way that he is living it  but when he changes  he doesn  t leave boxing  he teaches others how to box . thumbs down .  
i caught this movie about  years ago  and have never had it of my mind . surely someone out there will release it on video  or hey why not dvd  the ford coupe is the star . . . . . . . if you have any head for cars watch this and be blown away .  
i went to go see this at the esquire theatre in cincy  oh  and  i hate my life now .  br    br   christopher reeves would have been a more believable boxer .  br    br   as a film it was painful  but seeing bret carr in person was to see desperation at its pinnacle .  br    br   my favorite part of the movie was seeing bc slammed in the face with what appeared to be a  c  battery . the jury is still out on this . it was from a dildo and it was in slow  mo . yep .  br    br    shoot the left side of the face only . . . people become famous by demanding things    bret carr b . carr donned a chicken suit for a bit of reverse psychology  roaming the streets of clifton bashing his own film . he should . this is correct to bash the film .  br    br   my soul felt chafed after this movie .  br    br   bret carr is not charismatic enough to be the leader of a cult  or smart enough for that matter . that is the feeling you get from the what the bleepesque trickle of brainwashed  impressionable neo  yuppies that came to see this bret carr piece of work .  br    br   it  s an emotionally draining experience just thinking about writing about this film  so goodbye .  br    br    anonymous  
i  m    so you probably would think i have never heard of george burns or walter matthau or anyone like that . boy are you wrong . i had heard that george burns was in this movie and that he won an academy award for it . i have been a fan of george burns since i was ten . i saw the movie oh  god recently and loved it . this one was also very awesome . george burns did a great job . so did walter matthau  this is the first time i  ve ever seen him perform  . and even though they had really small roles  phyllis diller and steve allen did a good job . that special they were filming would have been awesome if it was really done . let me say this  if you are a fan of george burns or walter matthau  you should see this movie right away   
i gave this film  stars only because dominic monaghan actually put effort through in his acting . everything else about this film is extremely amateur . everything associated with the direction of this film was very poorly executed . not only should the director rethink what she is doing for a life career but maybe she should watch a few films . as dominic monaghan is a very credible actor  placing him in a film of this caliber makes him look awful . whomever the  actor  was that played jack  s best friend should never have stepped in front of the camera . i didn  t expect much from such a small film  but perhaps a little more time and effort should be put into the characters and their surroundings . don  t waste your time or money on this film  like i did  you will be sorely disappointed .  
martin sheen  michelle phillips  stuart margolin and the late vic morrow are the human stars of this movie about a young man looking for answers about his brother  s death . mr . sheen  mr . margolin and mr . morrow all turn in first rate performances in their respective roles ms . phillips has the slightly less than enviable task of trying to spice up a made  for  tv movie  twenty  five years ago   by supplying the  sex interest  in an otherwise sexless film . the real star  however  is the  california kid   a     ford coupe  borrowed from  jake  jacobs  put before a camera and given a workout that  ll leave the viewer panting  gasping and holding the edge of the seat with breathless anticipation .  br    br   the action scenes are spectacular   although some of the dialog is a bit lame  making for a fine evening  s diversion . this is how all  car movies  should be made .  br    br   try to catch this one on the late movie channel it  s well worth the missed sleep .  
after too many bad memories  i took to skipping this episode each time it showed up in the season  sequence . i recently watched it again just to remind me why . i  ve always considered this the worst sttng episode  with the exception of  shades of gray   which barely counts as an episode at all  .  br    br   i keep listening to the clunky dialogue and thinking of the script red  penciled by the author  s writing    teacher  show  don  t tell   from deanna troi  s pronouncement  and everyone else  s constant elbowing reminders about what a charming  dangerous rogue okona is  to guinan  s explanation about how funny her droid joke is  it isn  t   to the who  cares resolution to the conflict  there isn  t a plot point that isn  t highlighted and triple  underlined for our edification  and there ain  t a believable moment in any of it . unfortunately  bill campbell  a charming actor in other circumstances  is too puppy  dog huggable to be the center of the machinations of the plot . on the other hand  it could be that no one short of john barrowman  jack harkness from  doctor who   could pull of this underwritten placeholder of a role .  br    br    zero points  by the way  to the data subplot . while i think joe piscopo stopped being funny decades ago  he and brent spiner had nothing to work with here . although the jerry lewis bit was funny in a stupid way .   br    br   on a good day  you may be able to think of this as a charming little homage to a lesser original series episode . me  i  d rather skip ahead to  time squared  or  q who .   
for those of us baby boomers who arrived too late on the scene to appreciate james dean et . al .  martin sheen showed us the way in this great feature .  br    br   the premise is easy enough cool hood meets small town sheriff and all  hell ensues  but the nuts and bolts of this movie enthrall the car nut in all of us .  br    br   no  this isn  t casablanca  nor is it great literature  but it is a serious movie about cars  rebellion  and the genius that is martin sheen .  br    br   enjoy this and appreciate it for what it is  and for what martin will become . i loved this movie growing up as a teen in the    s  and you will too .  
i had two reasons for watching this swashbuckler when it aired on danish television yesterday . first of all  i wanted to see gina lollobrigida  and here i wasn  t disappointed . she looked gorgeous . second of all  through reading about the film i had gotten the impression that it featured absurd humor not unlike that which can be found in philippe de broca  s films . on this account  however  i was sadly disappointed . i found the jokes predictable  apart from a few witty remarks on the topic of war  and the characters completely one  dimensional . also  the action scenes were done in a strangely mechanical and uninspired fashion  with no sense of drama at all . i kept watching until the end  but i got bored very quickly and just sat there  waiting for the scenes with lollobrigida .  
i was about thirteen when this movie came out on television . it is far superior in action than most movies since . martin sheen is excellent  and though nick nolte has a small part  he too provides excellent support . vic morrow as the villain is superb .  br    br   when sheen  tests the water  in his    ford  cool  along the mountainous highway it is spectacular   br    br   the ending is grand .  br    br   i  m disappointed in the low vote this received . i figure the younger generations have more interest in much of the junk that is coming out these days .  br    br   good taste eludes the masses   
i rented this movie tonight because it looked like a fun movie . i figured that you really couldn  t go wrong with a concept of ex girlfriend with super powers .  br    br   . . . but the movie was confused and pointless . . .  br    br   it seemed that at every turn the writer kept throwing junk in . also the writer kept throwing in way too much toilet humor and sexual situations that only a teenage boy could love .  br    br   it seems that it could have been so simple to draw a story out of fatal attraction super hero . . but i guess not .  br    br   this is not a fun romantic comedy it was advertised to be . you could not take a child to see it and you would be embarrassed seeing it a date .  br    br   if the writer could have done a basic story around the high concept and cleaned it up  the movie might have a fighting chance .  br    br   a serious waste of time .  br    br   b  
in      clarksberg was a famous speed trap town . much revenue was generated by the sheriff  s department catching speeders . the ones who tried to outrun the sheriff  well  that gave the sheriff a chance to push them off the clarksberg curve with his plymouth cruiser . for example  in the beginning of the movie  a couple of servicemen on leave trying to get back to base on time are pushed off to their deaths  if i recall correctly . then one day  a stranger drove into town . possibly the coolest hot rodder in the world . michael mccord . even his name is a car name  as in mccord gaskets . in possibly the ultimate hot rod . a black flamed    ford coupe . the colors of death  evil and hellfire . he gets picked up for speeding by the sheriff on purpose . he checks out the lay of the land . he is the brother of one of the sheriff  s victims . he knows how his brother died . the clarksberg government is all in favor of the sheriff . there  s only one way to get justice served for the killing of his brother and to fix things so  this ain  t a  ever gonna happen again to anyone   recreate the chase and settle the contest hot  rodder style to the death . he goes out to the curve and practices . the sheriff knows mccord knows . the race begins . . . this is a movie to be remembered by anyone who ever tried to master maneuvering on a certain stretch of road .  
oh my god . oh my god  i cant get over this movie . it was god  awful . horrible  terrible  don  t even waste your money to buy it in the   cent bin . no  avoid it at all costs i  m warning you     br    br   it was the worst movie i  ve ever seen . in my life . in my life    br    br   first of all  g  girl  are you kidding me . get real that sounds like some kind of new barbie doll . . super women  are you kidding me . it was so fake fake fake fake . the people of the town didn  t even seem to care that there was a flying blonde just zooming her way around the town saving a fire . . ohh big   br    br   jesus  was it just me or did this movie seem offensive   i guess what you need to be a super hero is a couple of double d  s  blonde flowing hair  no glasses and a leather skin tight suit    br    br   if it was trying to be romantic . . . than . . god  i don  t know . it was horrid  if love means taking some one to an art show and than having sex in a bed and in the air . . than they totally had love   br    br   it was pathetic  everything went too fast . first that guy was single  than he was dating g  girl . . than they broke up than he dated that hannah girl . . and . . it just goes on .  br    br   i have to say this movie made me wonder . . how the hell did they get this in theaters      br    br   avoid this movie at all costs .  
another channel  great canned long before it  s time . compelling acting from phil davis and the rest of the cast . sexy  intelligent and funny . i remember watching it at the time and even then  asking around  no  one had really heard of it . but trying to find someone now who can recall it is even harder . perhaps channel  don  t do their job well enough in drumming up the enthusiasm needed . either that or the general public is too interested in the tv vomit that is big brother . i suspect the latter . downloading of garth merengie  s dark place prompted channel  to release a dvd of that series . let  s hope the same can happen with north square .  
first off  i would like to point out that the reason why i gave this movie  star out of   is because there is no option to give it no stars  it really is that bad  i was never eager to see this film after i saw the ads for it  i ended up seeing it only by chance because some friends of mine had tickets and had one spare so i tagged along . before seeing it i had a fairly good idea that it wouldn  t be genius  the premise seemed far too silly and stupid for anything good to come out of it  but at the back of my mind i was thinking  but there must be something good about it for uma thurman and luke wilson do to the film . . .  not that i think either of them are particularly terrific but they are big  named stars who would normally only do films that would enhance their reputations . however  about      minutes into the feature i realized that the movie was probably worse than i had at first anticipated . i was shocked at how terrible the script was . it really gave the actors nothing to work with  so much so that they really looked like they didn  t know what they were doing  especially luke wilson  . the story was completely predictable  if you  ve seen the ad then you  ve pretty much seen the movie  and there was nothing original about it  it pretty much borrows from every  super  hero  story that has ever been which would be acceptable had the film been set up as a satire of that genre  but alas it wasn  t . the direction seemed to be of realism . i got the feeling that the director wanted the film to feel completely realistic and not satire at all  and yet there were some moments in the film that were so unbelievably unrealistic that it would have worked if it were a satire . at one moment in the movie two of the characters seem to die and one of the surviving characters has a line like  oh well  she  s dead . . . time to move on  and he says it in such a droll voice that it completely didn  t make any sense . i found myself checking my watch after about   minutes to see how much longer i would have to sit through it . and then it struck me . . . i began to think  i wonder if the studio have made this picture as a test to see if they can make the worst possible movie ever made  and still pull a large audience . . .  i couldn  t think of any other reason why this film would be made . for movies to be made these days  the script goes to a massive screening process and very very few scripts actually make it to the production stage . . . i can  t comprehend how this one got past the first draft stage . . . by the end  and exceedingly  dumb  founding  ly stupid climax  i was laughing heartily  just not at what the film  makers wanted me to laugh at  but instead at how ridiculous and stupid the movie was . thank god i didn  t have to pay money to see it . . . because that would have really annoyed me    oh  and could i just add  that of the two wilson brothers  i have always preferred luke because i think he is a better  more versatile actor . . . but if he wants to step even further into owen  s shadow then this is exactly the way to do it . . . i doubt that he will get many more job offers after this crappy waste of  hours    and remember  it only got a generous     because i couldn  t select    
saying a film is depressing isn  t necessarily a bad thing . i  m very willing to watch a depressing film if there is a point to be made and this one certainly has one . it  s the often heartbreaking story of a chinese man and his family as they experience many years of both hardship and plenty . but  i must warn you that this might just be about the most depressing film to come out of hollywood in the     s   because peasant life in china was tough to say the least . be prepared to watch segments about famine  death and disease .  br    br   about the only negative other than the persistent tone of misery is that the lead is played by paul muni . while he was an exceptionally talented man  it  s just a real shame that hollywood always cast people of european descent to play asian leads during this era . if you are paying attention at all  it  s pretty obvious that muni is wrong for the part .  
i have to admit when i went to see this movie  i didn  t really have high expectations . but even with my low expectations i was totally and utterly disappointed . . .  br    br   basically luke wilson is a hot shot who tends to go out with slightly crazy girlfriends . there  s slight mention of a girl stalking him but that  s pretty much it for that character . which i don  t quite mind cause it would probably be just as underdeveloped as the rest of the movie .  br    br   so while on a subway rainn wilson  who i actually liked before this movie  convinces him to talk to a  hot  girl  uma thurman . this is strange to say the least  as everyone can clearly see that uma thurman does not belong under the category of  hot  .  br    br   rainn wilson  s performance is also far from  hot  . normally i  m all for his acting  but even he couldn  t salvage this movie . his character was jumpy  unrealistic and rather annoying . you could never tell if the writers were trying to make him the comical token closet gay guy  or just desperate . it was almost painful .  br    br   but anyway  someone steals her purse as she goes to leave the subway  and luke wilson being the charming savior he is runs after the robber . now we all know that uma thurman is the superhero  or  g  girl  as they like to call her in the movie . it still baffles me as to what the  g  stands for  but we  ll leave that for the message boards to debate .  br    br   the sex scenes i assume are supposed to be funny  but i find myself asking who has sex like that  they nearly throw the bed through the wall because of uma thurman  s  passion  let  s say . it makes my head hurt  but not in the  i  m thinking really hard to understand this  way .  br    br   when uma insults anna faris  calling her a  whore  i had no debate with that . apart from the fact that she can  t choose movies properly  she can  t act and relies souly on the fact that she  s blonde and typical .  br    br   overall i would  ve walked out of the theater if i hadn  t paid   .   to see it . the characters are typical and have absolutely no chemistry  especially uma thurman . someone should let her know that just because you move your head a lot doesn  t mean you  re acting .  br    br   also  the script and storyline could  ve used either a lot of work or a match and some lighter fluid . i actually started to feel embarrassed for the actors  and their dying careers . overall  if you value your money  and your self respect do not waste your time with this pathetic attempt at a movie .  
the good earth is a great movie    everybody must see . . . it is tear  jerking and very heart warming . it caters to the enhancement of values  formation on perseverance  humility and the love of family . . . the story can be related to our life today especially that poverty is at the threshold . the way on how we respond to such problem is very crucial and if a person is not strong enough to face such  he may be left defenseless and useless . i am very pleased on how the characters justified their roles even the young actors . . . their emotions has captivated the audience . the movie may have been done in black and white  but the story is so captivating that you do not want to end . that makes it really great  there should be a re  make for this very nice movie .  
well i must say this is probably the worst film i have seen this year  the jokes were extremely crude  wasn  t expecting it from as pg movie   rated pg in canada  and they weren  t funny  with this great cast i at least expected some good acting but i didn  t even get that . i am a huge rainn wilson fan and this is the first time i was extremely disappointed by his performance . neither luke wilosn or uma thurman  s characters are the least bit likable and i really could have cared less what happened to either of them . i didn  t expect this at all as in the past i have really liked other movies by this director  six days  seven nights for example  this movie was not worth the    it cost me and i strongly encourage you not to see this movie . i guarantee that you will be like me begging for this movie to be over .  
this timeless proverb reverberates in this movie and in my heart . so many years have i waited to see this eternal story  i was not ready  perhaps . it is possible that my sensibilities would not have appreciated its power . so i now gratefully welcome it into my soul with gladness .  br    br   my respect and admiration for paul muni has been long . his is now a legendary luminescence . but now i have finally discovered the priceless gifts of luise rainer  s splendid talents . oh  how many faces can speak as did hers  some have said that it was wrought from her silent years  and this well might have been but her speech  is eloquent enough when it is given a chance . she amply deserved her oscar .  br    br   this movie is in an epic in the most classical proportions . all parts equal  necessary and perfect . naysayers may walk away if they wish  but they would be shunning a storytelling which stays with one a lifetime .  br    br   the good earth enriches one in ways that one does not expect . but all will not come from it with the joy that i did . but i can only hope that this film will be remembered for many years .  br    br   do not prod me with mere technicalities regarding the race of the principal players . these are expectations of modern times when we are obsessed with utter perfection . but i dare a million score of newer films to tell pearl buck  s story with such poignancy  power  conviction and grace .  br    br   if any modern artist would dare to re  film this masterpiece  i warn them that they will never come close to the aromatic fragrance which still emanates from the core of this telling . time will not diminish this effort nor will progress improve upon its greatness .  
needed an excuse to get out of the house while paint dried  left the movie after an hour to return and watch the paint dry .  br    br   i don  t recall ever walking out on a movie before  but i really tried to stay . the script was not up to the cast and just kept  going and going  badly  come on  uma thurman doing this stuff  fairly lame special effects . these were older characters and actors doing superficial horny    something lives  just sort of annoying and wrong feeling .  br    br   this review is base only on the first hour  it might have gotten better . i just had to get home and see if the paint dried a darker shade than when it went on .  
this adaptation of pearl s . buck  s film is certainly a classic . a true hollywood epic  it has all the things a great hollywood film has birth  death  happiness  sadness  exhilaration  despair  and so on . there is only one thing that irks me . i know it was a sign of the times  but neither of the two main characters are played by asian actors . paul muni was a great actor  and he does an admirable job as wang lung  the owner of a farm in china . luise rainier plays olan . she does not even look chinese  i think she tried to get the role  but they should have put anna may wong in the role . i know why they didn  t  and ms . rainier is very good in the film  but they hardly tried to make her look  authentic  . stillm its a great film  especially if you read the book  i did in high school  decades ago  . its a must see  just look beyond the casting . i think you can .  
i went to see this film yesterday and although i didn  t have high hopes for this film  i was still bitterly disappointed  i actually cant believe i spent   minutes of my life watching this film . . . it was that bad    the storyline was disgraceful and the acting was terrible  even though it had big names such as uma thurman in it  . this film heavily relied on its special effects . . . but they personally had no effect on me . i honestly wished id never watched it and i strongly warn everyone against seeing this film . it is a total waste of money and you  ll only end up being disappointed afterwards . my advice is to save your money  go shopping  treat yourself  just don  t go and see this film . . . you  ll live to regret it lol   
pearl s . buck was a brilliant author that was a first american lady won nobel prize in literature in     and received her prize with enrico fermi an italian physit .  br    br   she wrote this romance in     which was a second one after her first novel  east wind and west wind  in     and her beginning in literature was fantastic upon her premier novels .  br    br   she won in      pulitzer prize  in literature on her eternal novel  the good earth  which made a brilliant panorama on the life of chinese peasant  wung lung  and his wife  o  lane  and their efforts to face the hardness of hard positions in their earth to reach for their big fortune by their shoulders .  br    br   paul muni succeeded in this role as chinese peasant that he prepared himself in this role upon his sittings with chinese people in san francisco in their town to be chinese exactly as a real and true .  br    br   shara reiner succeeded in her role as  o  lane  by this brilliant evidence that she won an academy awarded as a best actress in     .  
i  m a huge fan of ivan reitman  i loved evolution and who didn  t like ghostbusters  from the trailer you already know that uma  s character will get dumped by luke  s . so the build  up is obviously towards the moment when she unleashes her superpowers on him . but the pay  off is just not there . the shark tossing did manage to get a  slight  giggle but once again  it was all in the trailer .  br    br   no one does breathless quite like uma and luke is diet owen on his good days . if not for riann wilson you would sit there with a constipated smile until your cheeks start to cramp . this is a comedy  right   br    br   it  s not awful  it just sits there like a stale cracker behind the fridge . this could have been such a brilliant send  up of superhero movies and feminism but fails on both counts . let  s see if jason reitman can salvage the family name .  
at first this looked like a boring comedy like the odd couple  but when i got into it it turned out to be a really funny film . basically forgetful ex  comedians willy clark  golden globe winner  and oscar and bafta nominated walter matthau  and al lewis  oscar winning  and golden glove nominated george burns  were a great comedy duo  and a brought back together to revive their hospital sketch for a tv show . willy  s nephew  ben clark  golden globe winning richard benjamin  is confident they can get together again with no hard feelings for each other  how wrong he is . they cannot get on all the time  they are both forgetful  especially during conversation  but they do it eventually . also starring lee meredith as nurse in sketch  miss mcintosh   carol deluise as mrs . doris green  al  s daughter  rosetta lenoire as odessa  willy  s nurse and muppets from space  s f . murray abraham as mechanic . i think the best line of the film is burns mentioning that matthau called him  a son of a bitch bastard  . it was nominated the oscars for best art direction  set decoration and best writing  screenplay adapted from other material  it was nominated the bafta for best screenplay  and it won the golden globe best motion picture  musical  comedy  and it was nominated for best screenplay . very good   
this movie is a   minute ramones concert with brief periods of stupidity and absolute boredom . what kind of high school is this anyway   br    br   unless you are a major ramones fan  do not and i repeat do not waste your time like i did . this is utterly unwatchable from start to finish . this movie should be called ramone fever . everyone appears to like them in this movie . there is not a plot to be found in this flick . as far as teen comedies go  you are scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one .  
the quote i used for my summary occurs about halfway through the good earth  as a captain of a chinese revolutionary army  played by philip ahn  apologizes to a mob for not having time to shoot more of the looters among them  as his unit has just been called back to the front lines . of course  the next looter about to be found out and shot is the main character of the film  the former kitchen slave girl o  lan  for whose portrayal luise rainer  now    years  old  won her second consecutive best actress oscar  .  br    br   the next scene finds o  lan dutifully delivering her bag of looted jewels to her under  appreciative husband  farmer wang lung  paul muni   setting in motion that classic dichotomy of a man  s upward financial mobility being the direct inverse of his moral decline .  br    br   for a movie dealing with subject matter including slavery  false accusations  misogyny  starvation  home invasion  eating family pets  mental retardation  infanticide  exploited refugees  riots  civil war  summary mass street executions  bigamy  child  beating  adultery  incest  and insect plagues of biblical proportions  the good earth is a surprisingly heart  warming movie .  br    br   my parting thought is in the form of another classic quote  from o  lan herself  while putting the precious soup bone her son has just admitted stealing from an old woman back into the cooking pot after husband wang lung had angrily tossed it to the dirt floor on the other side of their hut    meat is meat .   
it  s easy to see how this below  average screenplay got by in the early sales  pitch meetings at regency films  and later with fox   cross the superhero genre with a comedic take on  fatal attraction  . . . voil  i don  t know how on earth a talented director like ivan reitman got involved  unless the pay was just too tempting . a dateless employee at an architectural design firm in n . y . c . meets a girl on the subway and asks her out despite the fact she  s distracted and unpleasant  he eventually gets her into bed   only to find out later she  s the big apple  s resident superhero  g  girl . this distaff superman  with powers bestowed upon her by a fallen meteorite  isn  t a fantasy heroine  however . . . screenwriter don payne has conceived her as a needy  possessive  vindictive bitch  he telegraphs this to us from miles away  though uma thurman still plays the role for sassy laughs  . this is the kind of worthless movie that can  t let an insult slip by . our introduction to leading man luke wilson  talking with rainn wilson on the train  is accompanied by a sour dig at gays  it prods at us to be assured these two buddies are strictly ladies  men  . after being approached by g  girl  s nemesis  who wants to zap her powers  wilson is told this will make her just an ordinary woman scorned . . . and isn  t that better after all  thurman  s early performances in films like  henry  june  and  jennifer   showcased an intelligent woman with angular grace and hypnotic poise her films with quentin tarantino helped expose her sinewy hardness and intensity  but that came at a price  the actress has seemingly lost her graceful touch  . the picture is exceedingly well  produced and shot  with expensive  seeming special effects  yet nobody bothered to find the humor in this scenario . it  s pushy  leering  ugly  and badly  cast . bloated  frozen  faced wilson can  t tell any of his co  workers that he  s dating g  girl because she made him swear he  d rather have a chainsaw stuck up his rectum . i wonder if writer payne actually thought that was hilarious . . . or  indeed  if anyone involved did   from   
  st watched            out of    dir  sidney franklin   well told account of farmers in china and their rise to prominence and struggles with what mother nature throws at them . this movie is based on an award winning novel and chronicles a family starting with the son  s arranged marriage to a slave girl . the movie does a good job of keeping your interest despite a somewhat hammy performance by the lead played by paul muni . it chronicles  wong long  the character played by muni  and how he works the land  buys more land  eventually becomes very rich but then returns to the land where he originally started . the relationship between him and his wife  played by luise rainer  is the main thread of the story  besides the land itself  and despite the obvious non  chinese actors it does a pretty good job of displaying the country and it  s people . it  s obvious that mgm used it  s money to create a really good epic with this one in an era where they could probably afford it . the scene with the locusts is done exceedingly well and the rest of th movie really looks good warranting the best cinematography award at the oscars in that year . the definitive definition of an epic is what this story is and it  s pulled off pretty well .  
this movie is being shown over and over on cable lately  so . .  br    br   there is no excuse for these  attractive women to fight over either luke wilson or the equally vapid  villian  in this movie . the female actresses are very cute  and that  s the only reason to watch this movie . i suppose it is  funny  that luke  s even uglier  dorkier  stupider friend is around  but well  that is what we get .  br    br   neither of the female leads would ever  ever talk to any of the males in this movie for more than  minutes . what we get is them sobbing and crying and fighting and so on over  guys that were best described in friday the   th  . dead   
i first read pearl s buck  s splendid novel in my ninth grade history class  and i enjoyed every thrilling page of it . it was almost inevitable that hollywood would get hold of it  and considering that it was made in      the results are excellent .  br    br   certain things have to be accepted in     there was no question of casting asian actors in a major hollywood film . in a way this renders the end product rather more interesting than if they had been able to use a more authentic  looking cast .  br    br   with that obstacle to overcome  executive producer irving thalberg and director sidney franklin  among others  took the trouble to hand  pick a splendid and stellar cast . paul muni plays wang lung . muni was at the peak of his powers as an actor during this period  and could very nearly play anything he put his mind to . once you get past the makeup  it  s good  but no one is going to really mistake him for a chinese man   his performance has all the verisimilitude of his best work .  br    br   then there is luise rainer . coming off an oscar win the previous year for her performance in the great ziegfeld  the viennese actress  s star was on the rise and she was given the plum role of o  lan despite her lack of experience in hollywood . her performance won her a second consecutive oscar  the first time in history that happened .  br    br   much criticism has been leveled at rainer  s performance  and her oscar win here . she has been called wooden and one  note . there is a small grain of truth in that . however  that being said  all you need to do is go back to the book . for rainer  though not chinese  played o  lan pretty much as buck wrote her it is in fact a splendid performance  and one of the best transfers from book to screen i have ever witnessed .  br    br   as for the rest of the cast  well this was mgm . they had the biggest roster of stars and character actors in hollywood at the time  and a big budget to pay for the best  and in the end they got the best .  br    br   the film softens wang lung  s marriage to o  lan somewhat . in the novel  with wealth come the lusts of the flesh and he takes on a concubine  a move which devastates his wife but her feelings as a mere woman do not concern him . in the film  a contrite wang lung returns to his wife on her deathbed the two pearls he had taken from her years before  realizing too late that she was his true love .  br    br   corny  yes . but that  s hollywood . considering the obstacles they were up against  the film might well have opened to screams of laughter . but despite the noticeable dearth of real asians in the cast  this film has worn surprisingly well with the passage of seventy  three years . in fact the most amazing thing about this film is how good it is  when it might so easily have been a disaster .  
what a waste of time and money  my hubby and i saw this movie  after seeing the previews and thinking it  might be funny  . wrong  this movie is about   minutes too long . the actors are trapped in a poorly written script and can  t get out . the jokes are weak and tired  and not even seeing wilson  s naked behind can redeem any part of this film . the special effects . . . . . aren  t . i half expected to see the harness and wires holding up uma in her flying scenes . and when the effects people apparently could not master the superhero  s faster  than  a  speeding  bullet flying or fight scenes  they covered over everything with a swirling vortex of blurred screen  which hid the awful effects quite nicely . wilson  s sidekick was a lame excuse for a man and wilson had no chemistry with either uma or his office co  worker . the sex scenes weren  t sexy and the funny scenes weren  t funny . i guess i just expected too much from these actors . none of the characters were really sympathetic  so i ended up not caring a flying fig about any of them . the only memorable performances were the kids who played bedlam and g  girl as teenagers  at least they had some chemistry . overall  a super stinko movie  i wouldn  t even recommend it as a rental  it would still be a waste of money   
this film was an interesting take by hollywood on the novel by of the same name by pearl s . buck . while some today might think it is rife with racial stereotypes  for the time the very idea of chinese protagonists was progressive in and of itself . i found that the white actors playing chinese was not as bad as i expected  that it wasn  t the asian equivalent of blackface . back then there were not really any asian actors in america  not even george takei was acting  and rainer did a good job with her part . it wasn  t the greatest performance i have ever seen but for old  school pre  method acting it was nice . the locust scene was very well shot and contained convincing special effects .  br    br   i wonder that the timing of the release during the great depression sort of turns this film into an allegory . especially the political upheaval bewildering the peasant farmers and how them seem to be left behind by all of it .  br    br   the film had some parallels to the john ford style  but i think the eastern influence affected it as well . if this had been an western family  the locusts would have won at the end  punishing the farmer for his pride  lust  and gluttony . however here he learns his lesson  then wins .  
at what point exactly does a good movie go bad  when does a movie go from  watchable  to  where  s that      off switch   thank goodness for dvds  like this one  that can be borrowed from the library  for free  likewise  thank goodness for the  fast forward  switch on the dvd player . i feel sorry for those people who were duped at the box office .  br    br   at one point  i  ve forgotten exactly when because now it  s all just a blur   our  hero   luke wilson starts running through traffic i think he was looking for a cab . it was at that point when i gave up  realizing i couldn  t care whether he found his ride or got run over by a garbage truck .  br    br   the last time the movie was interesting was when luke wilson climbs out of the dumpster  hair dryer in hand  and first meets the  heroine   uma thurman . that scene ended with the purse  snatching criminal dangling helplessly from the fire escape far  far above the departing luke and uma . that was the last time the movie was funny  and when was that scene  ten minutes into the flick   br    br   every time the movie tried to become  funny   it couldn  t . every time the movie approached  excitement   it fizzled out  heading in the opposite direction . when a musical score might have helped squeeze life out of this dullard  the sound track stayed empty and silent .  br    br   the sex scenes were not needed and were beyond lame the damage to sets and props unnecessary and childish . when uma turns into the crazy ex  girlfriend  i felt like i was watching  the   year old virgin meets pulp fiction   that  s when i realized that there was no turning back because i thoroughly disliked  the   year old virgin  and  pulp fiction .   br    br   luke wilson  s sidekick  rainn wilson  also seen in the dreary  the last mimzy   adds nothing but insult to injury in this awful movie . rainn wilson  the king of television boredom  should stay with that equally awful medium . hey  rainn wilson  leave full  length motion pictures alone  every time uma  s rival  anna faris  came on screen  i expected jason or freddy or some fright flick monster to jump out from behind the scenery once you see anna faris in  scary movie   that  s all you ever see  no matter the movie  no matter the medium . the character played by wanda sykes was just plain awful and was so out of place in this flick .  
my main problem with the film is that it goes on too long . other then that  it  s pretty good . paul muni plays a poor chinese farmer who is about to get married through an arranged marriage . luise rainer is a servant girl who gets married to muni . they live with muni  s father on a farm and they are doing pretty bad . when he finally gets some money to buy some more land  a drought hits and nothing is growing . everybody stars to head north by muni stays behind at first . when they leave and arrive at town they find that their are no jobs and they are worse off than before . they even think about selling their youngest daughter as a slave for some money but decide against it . when a bunch of people start looting the town  the military show up and start executing people . paul muni does a good job and luise rainer won a second oscar for this movie .  
if they gave me the option of negative numbers i  d use it . this movie was truly god  awful . i went into the theaters expecting it to be horrible  and it somehow managed to exceed my expectations .  br    br   the script was weak  the acting was painful . i wanted to walk out but my friend was driving and wanted to get her moneys worth  i think we were both disappointed .  br    br   the growing of the breasts when the girls got their super power and changing of the hair color was just wrong . eddie izzard just seemed wrong for the part of super villain  he came off as oddly weak and silly . jenny johnsons  uma thurman  came off as psychotic and strange  as did matt  s  luke wilson  friend vaughn  rainn wilson .  
sidney franklin  s  the good earth  has achieved classic status thanks to a timeless story and superb acting  especially from luis ranier  who won an oscar for her portrayal of o  lan . rainers performance is so complete  she is nearly unrecognizable . having very little dialogue throughout the entire film  and it is a long one   rainer relies instead on facial and body language . she looks and acts chinese to the point that anyone unfamiliar with her work could easily mistake her as such .  br    br   the film remains relevant today because it explores the rags to riches story and the universal themes that come with it . when lung and wife o  lan finally achieve financial success after years of famine and poverty  they find a life full of possessions but lacking in meaning . it is only when they return to the earth after fighting off a swarm of locusts  the special effects used to create them are still incredible and beautiful to watch  that they again find fulfillment . a common formula told with the unique perspective of a chinese family  especially for      makes the film a classic . money isn  t worth anything without friends and family  a point that the film drives home perfectly in it  s last   minutes with an emotionally fulfilling conclusion .  
this is one of the worst movies i have seen recently . when a man says that he wishes he had a super power of being able to orally pleasure himself i pretty much consider the movie to be in the realm of childish   year old male fantasies . the bed room scene was over the top and reduced an intimate moment into a farce of biological functions akin to passing gas in public . from the first every other scene was a discussion about how little sex they where getting  how long its been since they got some  when their next sexual liaison will be  and with whom it should be with . on top of that the dialogue and acting was very poor and very forced  not felt  and they filled their lack of content with sleazy sex scenes . this could have been really funny because the concept is actually interesting but it is poorly executed here . please  do not even think about taking anyone under   if you have to go and see it .  
faithful to the work of pearl s . buck whose years spent in china as a child of missionary parents that provided her with deep insights into the chinese culture and its philosophy  this film adaptation is brilliantly done  both in technically artistry and acting .  br    br   wang lung is a humble farmer grateful for the basics of life to survive off of his land and to be newly wed to olan  a servant to a rich and powerful family in the village area . despite wang lung and olan  s best efforts to farm the land  raise kids  and build savings and wealth  a famine threatens to wipe out everything they have worked for . choosing not to sell their land  a traditional asian belief  they instead journey to a major city to wait out the famine . while in the city  they are reduced to begging and being just one of hundreds of other unfortunate homeless families . although not a looter  olan gets caught up in a mob looting at a rich man  s house . she  s summarily rounded up for execution by the army  but is saved at the last minute . her good fortune  however  is that she found valuable jewels at the looting site that affords her and her family the opportunity to return to their farm to start over again . the newly found wealth transforms wang lung . he becomes selfish  self  centered and takes credit for the find . he becomes a very rich farmer but that only makes matters worse as he increasingly becomes more unappreciative  arrogant and difficult to reason with . he loses touch with the basic things in life that money can  t buy loyalty  commitment  trust  fairness and honesty . as punishment  nature once again turns the table on wang lung by sending a plague of locust to destroy everything he has . brought to his knees  wang lung enlists the aid of all friends  former friends  workers  and family . with all that help  he succeeds in saving the farm . from that experience  he once again returns to humbleness and an appreciation for the basics in life .  
ivan reitman is something of a savior . the most tired plots  ghostbusters  evolution  come to life in his skilled hands . even his occasional flop  six days  seven nights  show signs of life and humor that make it worth viewing . so i was disappointed that reitman could not take a fairly original plot  man dumps superhero  superhero gets superpower  fueled revenge   and shape it into something enjoyable .  girlfriend  is an exercise in pointlessness . the one  trick pony plot is long in the tooth after the first   minutes . the film can  t decide whether to be romantic comedy or superhero drama . the result is a film the flip  flops between both  with neither aspect being very well done . uma thurman is tops  as usual  and luke wilson pulls off his role too  though his slacker antics quickly grow tired . what  s even more maddening is that  in certain scenes  such as when a very turned on uma knocks a headboard through a wall   you sense a witty  raucous reitman opus practically screaming to get out . but seconds later  the magic is lost  gone as quick as the superheroine whose movies disappoints in almost every way .  
this film was released the year i was born and will be  like me    in     . i watched it again last night having not seen it since high school . while it was full of    s sentiment and the acting was a bit stereotyped  nevertheless  it was superb . pearl s . buck  s story did come alive through the magic of the chemistry of luise rainer and paul muni . the novel which earned ms . buck the nobel prize for literature comes alive under the baton of sydney franklin which along with an excellent script recounts the story of peasant farmer  wang lung  whose father obtains a bride for him  a slave girl from the kitchen of a local landlord . in buck  s story  wang  s success is underwritten by his willingness to listen to his wife  most of the time  and the love of the land . in the end he comes to realize that his wife  like the land  is the source of his wealth  happiness and immortality . buck  s stories always had strong women cast in a critical spot to influence the outcome of events in the pre  feminist world . the german  born luise rainer brings a tentative but determined peasant chinese woman to life in her portrayal of olan . muni likewise captures the naive but honorable wang  eventually caught between the two worlds of the wealthy and the peasant . other classic characters include charlie grapewin  dorothy gale  s kansan uncle henry from the wizard of oz  walter connelly as the mewing  conniving uncle and keye luke as number one son   but this time  not charlie chan  s .  br    br   a classic might be defined as a movie you can watch time and again and never tire of . if that  s indeed the case  this film is a classic  no doubt whatsoever .  
matt saunders  luke wilson  thinks he has found the perfect woman in jenny johnson  uma thurman   who seems like a quiet but pretty woman  though he soon learns that she  s needy and possessive  oh  and she  s also the superhero g  girl  though you wouldn  t know it from the things she does to matt after he freaks out and breaks up with her .  br    br   a promising premise is ruined by a mediocre execution . my super ex  girlfriend is still an enjoyable comedy however it relies too much on cheap sex jokes and it ends up being a forgettable experience . what went wrong  the cast and the director could not overcome the weakness of the script and i didn  t like the way they played it out . i was expecting the guy to be a jerk and it could have been a female fantasy revenge film . however  they made the guy likable and they made the superhero a psycho . it just wasn  t very fresh and after about forty minutes  the film wore out it  s welcome . sure  there were a few funny lines however the weak middle and horrible ending kept it from really breaking out .  br    br   director ivan reitman has lost his touch . after a successful run in the eighties and early nineties  he started making crap like evolution and father  s day . i wouldn  t say my super ex  girlfriend is a complete bust but i don  t give him credit for any of the quality the movie holds  which isn  t too much . don payne did an awful job with the screenplay . the majority of the jokes were lame and most of the supporting characters were just one  note . he also kept reusing a lot of the same jokes making the thing really tedious at times .  br    br   a few of the actors were good enough to save the film . uma thurman was great as g  girl and she had many funny lines . luke wilson was a bit pale and not very interesting . i don  t think he makes for an appealing leading man and he  s better in supporting roles like in the family stone . anna faris was just doing her  scary movie  routine and it  s getting a little old . she needs a challenge or at least some better scripts . wanda sykes is either hit or miss for me . she was great in monster  in  law and she was bad in clerks  . here  she is just annoying and doesn  t bring anything to the movie . eddie izzard was alright  nothing special . rainn wilson was just annoying and not funny . overall  i was disappointed with the movie . it wasn  t awful yet it had so much potential and the final result was just so average . rating      
from the upper shelf of great classic books  comes this masterful story written by pearl buck . the book like the movie is called  the good earth .  it relates the story of wang lung  paul muni  a simple chinese farmer who begins his day with a trip to the  great house  where he has taken a slave woman called o  lan  luise rainer  and made her his wife . almost from the beginning  she begins to adapt to his kindness by saving a small peach seed and planting it near her new home . during the following years  o  lan proves her worth by steadfastly sharing her husband  s toil  troubles and changing fortunes . through the passing years  they raise a family and watch their simple household weather both feast and famine . indeed  it  s at the lowest point in their lives that each discovers the value of companionship  loyalty and love . with the changing times  their growing family is both aided and threatened with friends and relatives  like their uncle  walter connolly  who is a scoundrel and charlatan  but is compassionately tolerated . wang has his  old father   charley grapewin  to advise and remind him of life  s fragile and fickle nature . two notable actors who make impressive appearances in this film are keye luke who plays wang  s elder son and phillip ahn who plays a nationalist soldier . the film is in black and white and is wonderfully adapted from the novel . highly recommended for all audiences .   
what an awful show . science fiction fans seem to watch anything anymore regardless of quality . it shocks me that something exceptional like firefly lasts one season  while garbage like the battlestar galactica remake spawns a spin off . this spin off is pitiful in every aspect of the show . the acting is juvenile and uninspired . the characters are cardboard clichs of everything that has ever been in a bad sci  fi series . the story is bad . the dialog is worse than a prime time soap opera . the direction is shoddy and the sets are awful . caprica is a waste of film  a waste of time and a waste of effort . this is one spin off that should have never been made .  
  the good earth  is a great movie that you don  t hear much about anymore . there are a lot of big disasters and events  but it is also a non  passionate love story . all of this happens in a little over two hours  which is short by today  s standards . the special effects and costumes are very good for the time period .  br    br   i am surprised that luise rainer received an oscar for such a limiting role . she basically only has three emotions submissive  hungry  and heart  broken .  br    br   the performances by the asian and asian  american actors are terrific .  br    br    
of course i was watching bg . i loved s   i liked season   season  was ok  and loved the final one . yay  there is a spin  off show  i didn  t know about this at all  one of my friends told me about this . i was really excited .  br    br   i watched the first  episodes . . . what a piece of rubbish  teenage girl drama fest . there is no science fiction . . . well  hardly any . at the end of every episode we can catch a glimpse of a cylon . that  s all . who cares this  did they decide that the next show  s target audience will be females under    boring religious nonsense talking  moaning  bitching . . . and some more .  br    br   it is just sad that there is nothing out there at the moment to watch . stargate ruined  bg over . . .  
the sunshine boys is a terrific comedy about two ex  vaudevillians who reluctantly reunite for a tv special despite the fact that they despise each other .  br    br   the comic genius of two masters at work  george burns and walter matthau are stellar  some of the best scenes are when the duo is fighting over the silliest little trivial things  the material is fast  paced and witty  appealing to all ages .  br    br   mild spoiler alert there are some mildly sad moments toward the end of the movie that deal indirectly with the affects of aging that gives the film a soft  sincere  tenderness that shows to this reviewer that what the pair really need the most for success  are each other .  br    br   if anyone loves the odd couple  you  ll adore this movie . an excellent film   
horrible film with bits of the ramones strewn about . your worse than average      s     s comedy format of the cool kids taking over the school with some whimsical plan . this movie is terrible . the plot consists of a girl who enjoys the ramones and a school bent on fighting against their oppressive administration . forget this movie and watch something like wild zero starring guitar wolf if you want an entertaining b movie . terrible acting  terrible writing  terrible plot with the stamp of approval of the ramones who probably needed some money quick so they said yes to this movie . that is the only logical thing i can think of because this movie blows .  
this is where the term  classic film  comes from . this is a wonderful story of a woman  s bravery  courage and extreme loyalty . poor olan got sold to her uncaring husband  who through the years learned to appreciate her .  yeah right  a pearl     br    br   luise rainer was the beautiful star who had won the best actress oscar the year before for her small role  and what a waste of an oscar  in  the great zigfield  . it really didn  t show what  if any  talent she had other than her exotic beauty . but in  good earth  she shows that she can really act  her beauty was erased and she had no great costumes either . people say that she didn  t show any real emotions in this film . like hell . her character olan is a shy and timid woman  with inner strength . she is quiet during parts of the film with only her eyes and body to convey her emotions . example those scenes during the fall of the city and when looters were being shot . if you people are saying that she doesn  t act well in this film  you are not looking   br    br   paul muni shows that he can act as well . his character is not a likeable one to me . he never sees her for what she is  until the very end of the story . a sweet loving and dedicated wife and mother  with her own special beauty . the greatest one of all  the beauty from within  like a pearl .  br    br   if you get a chance to see this film  watch it . you will see one of the best films that the golden age of hollywood created .  
i realize it  s not supposed to be bsg and i can handle slow  paced shows if they  re interesting but i find myself completely uninterested and bored with this series .  br    br   the formula for bsg seemed to be action  adventure  scifi  suspense  mystery  drama  br    br   the formula for caprica seems to be bland drama  moderate scifi  br    br   maybe it will get more interesting but as of episode  i can barely watch it . in fact  it  s at the bottom of my to  watch list for the week . this is a sad state of affairs . the syfi channel really destroyed their friday night lineup . whatever happened to the glory days of sg   stargate atlantis  and bsg on friday nights  they had a good thing there .  
what irving thalberg did in making this film today would never be attempted again . making a chinese story with occidental players even if they are of the caliber of paul muni  luise rainer  charley grapewin  and walter connolly among others .  br    br   perhaps it  s partly because the story was written by a westerner  pearl buck who got a pulitzer prize for her novel in     . ms . buck  daughter of chinese missionaries  probably brought china closer to the consciousness of america than any other person . not the political struggles of china  but the lives and toil of the every day people we find in the good earth . unfortunately later on  pearl buck became an apologist for the kuomintang china of chiang kai  shek in all its virtues and excesses . the rest of her literary output never matched the good earth .  br    br   in the sundowners there is a great description of comparing china to australia by peter ustinov . when asked the difference  ustinov said china was very big and very full and australia was very big and very empty . that  s what you see in the good earth  china very big and very full of people  more than she can deal with at times .  br    br   the good earth tells the story of wang lung  paul muni  as a young man who purchases a wife from a large house where she was a slave . the woman o  lan  luise rainer  bears him two sons and sees him through all the good times and bad they have  drought  famine  revolution  and a climatic locust plague .  br    br   luise rainer won the second of two consecutive oscars for portraying o  lan . she may have set some kind of record in that it has to be the leading player oscar performance with the least amount of dialog . everything she does practically is done with facial expressions  her performance could have been on a silent film with very minimal subtitles . i think only john mills in ryan  s daughter had fewer words and he was playing a mentally retarded man .  br    br   muni is not always appreciative of how supportive she is in that male dominated culture . rainer helps in the field  bears and raises the kids  does the housework . when muni becomes a man of property he takes a chinese second trophy wife who causes him a lot of grief . still rainer stoically bears it all . still muni is not a bad man and it  s a tribute to the film and his acting and buck  s writing that you don  t hate him and the culture gap is bridged .  br    br   we  ve got a group of oriental players now who do more than just kung fu movies . i  m surprised the good earth of all films has not been remade at this point . i  ll bet the chinese government would even let some american company do it on an actual location .  br    br   till then we  ve got this great classic to appreciate and enjoy .  
i remember watching the bsg pilot . i can describe that night exactly . i remember what chair i sat in . that show was magic . it came alive . i enjoyed the first two years of bsg . i enjoyed parts of the third year even  and i watched every episode of the fourth year  totally faithfully in great hopes that it would somehow turn around . well  it didn  t .  br    br   i watched the caprica pilot and was enthralled . there was hope for something good here . then i started watching the regular episodes  and they are getting more and more boring .  br    br   it  s too obvious  too predictable . it reminds me of the droll political correctness of his last failed show  virtuality .  br    br   much of his line work on ds  was good . when he focused on bsg in an organized way  it was good . this was especially true early on when they more or less followed the pattern of episodes set by the first bsg series . when they departed from that after meeting up with admiral cain and the pegasus  it all went to pot . it was like he wrote the rest of the show without knowing where he was going .  br    br   maybe it will improve . maybe it was just a few weak initial episodes . but i am very  very nervous .  
i watched this movie with some curiosity . i wanted to see if   paul muni could play chinese and   luise rainer deserved her oscar . i came away from the film thinking yes  having seen muni in only one film where he was quite hammy  i expected the same type of performance here . i was happily proved wrong . although some might criticize him as being too childlike and stereotypically simple in the hollywood idea of asians  i thought he was just right in the role . keye luke  if he  d been given the chance to play a lead role  might have played him in much the same manner .  br    br   i was particularly impressed by the camera work and the use of crowd scenes  especially during the sacking of the palace where o  lan was once a slave . the graphic and grim atmosphere of the firing squad and the drought made this an epic quite unlike others of the same time where it was all glitz and glitter . i watched this film from beginning to end enthralled . i can  t say the same for the  epics  of today .  
basically   caprica  is the cylon origin story . the premise of the show is interesting . however  the writers follow so many story lines and clog it with too many pov characters that it bogs down the storytelling . the plot creeps at glacial speeds dissipating what tension it might have had . in any given episode  little or nothing happens .  br    br   daniel graystone  eric stolz  is a military contractor working on a robotic soldier using a stolen chip . unfortunately  his only working prototype is driven by the ai version of his dead daughter zoe  who died in a suicide bombing caused by soldiers of the one  sto   an underground monotheist extremist group .  br    br   meanwhile  joseph adama  father of  battlestar galactica   s commander adama  is struggling to hold his family together while searching for the ai version of his daughter  who also died in the bombing  in a machiavellian virtual version of caprica  which strongly resembles     s chicago  .  br    br   in addition to the vapid writing  caprica suffers from a similar problem as many origin stories . we already know how it ends  i . e . the cylons develop their own civilization and rebel against humanity  .  
this is a bit long   hours    minutes  but it had a a lot of the famous pearl buck novel in it . in other words  a lot of ground to cover .  br    br   it was soap  operish at times but had some visually dramatic moments  too  capped off by a locust attack at the end of the film . that was astounding to view . considering this film is about   years old  the special  effects crew on this film did a spectacular job .  br    br   paul muni and luise rainer were award  winning actors in their day and they don  t disappoint here  both giving powerful performances . the only problem is credibility as all the asians are played by caucasions and some of them  like walter connolly  just don  t look real . i  d like to see a re  make of this movie with all  asian actors  not for pc reasons but to simply make the story look and sound more credible .  
if you like a syfi soap opera this show is for you  as fare as i am concerned it does not work for me and after watching  episodes i just can  t watch it anymore . it is boring and slow and for a show that the timeline is based around    .     years ago if you base it on battlestar galactica  s timeline for arriving on earth they sure seem to have all the same stuff around like the    .    year old chevy vans driving down the streets and people watching the    .    year old popular name brand lcd t . v . sets . it also goes the same with the rest of the sets as well on the show  there is just to much of today  s stuff involved in it to not overlook  i think they could have done a lot better of a job to get around these issues and yes battlestar galactica had some of the same issues but not nearly as bad . as fare as the rest of the show it is not nearly as good as bsg was and it is a poor pre sequel to it .  
sure    years have passed since thalberg  s last production was filmed . but fellow imdb members  come on  this movie is surely one of the masterpieces of the    s  it is a   .  br    br   this was the first movie i saw at new york  s museum of modern art  around      i was a teenager  . expensive looking yet with scenes of such poverty  masterfully photographed  often thrilling  and always engaging  to me it was mgm movie  making at its best . what did audiences feel when they glimpsed a locust attack  the person by person destruction of a mansion  the horrific poverty and then the splendor of wealth .  br    br   last week  those watching the academy awards had a glimpse of the  senior  oscar winner in attendance  luise rainer . how grand to see an actress who arguably delivered one of the most masterful  haunting performances in history electing to return for a celebration .  br    br   ok  so she should not have won the year before  great ziegfeld   but don  t blame luise . talkies were only a decade old when this was released  and her dialogue limited . but as olan  her use of visual and vocal is memorable .  br    br   large scale and touching  what more could a movie lover want   
i had to endure teen  aged  high school angst and family conflict for almost all of the show . i really do not care about high  school girls fretting about their relationships . i  ve spent my time in hell dealing with such issues and i care nothing about fictional teenies going through  lite  versions of the horrors i endured . i want science fiction . that  s the only reason i  m here . there were a few seconds of science fiction late in the show . we finally see a proto  cylon . it was good but with one problem . its red eye  dot would lock onto an object of interest . we all know that cylon eyedots always scan back and forth  giving the machine a map of the world . the red eye  dot does not ever stop moving back and forth .  br    br   i really hope the writers fix this abuse before the second episode .  
let  s eliminate any discussion about the use of non  asian actors playing asian roles . the movie is   years old . in     studio chiefs believed that any actor could  should be able to play any role . actors were under contracts  and did not always have a choice about what role they played . end of story .  br    br   this is a truly great epic story of love  individual rights  class strata  and men  women issues . the centerpiece of the film is two brilliant performances by luise rainer and paul muni .  br    br   muni plays wang  a chinese farmer  who is about to take a wife  rainer  . from the start  he treats her with respect  during a time when women were looked on as little more than hired help . without giving too much of the movie away  they go through the highs and lows of all relationships  and even though the story may take place in late   th  early   th century  the story and much of their feelings  seems credible .  br    br   other than the fact that the movie is about     minutes longer than it needs to be  and the performances of charley grapewin and walter connolly are typical      s cartoon characters  this is a really wonderful movie that  unfortunately  has become a victim of political correctness .  br    br    out of    
battlestar gallactica was so great because it had tight writing  a great look  excellent actors  and interesting stories . . . and yeah  had hot men and women running around in and out of uniform .  br    br   caprica was just lazy . lazy writing . actors smoking up a storm to give them  character .  outdoor sequences that ruin the feeling of being somewhere else  yes  that is a ford focus sitting in the background  . lots and lots of teenage angst . lots of gyrating naked women  but in the background . which i  m sure will be cut for the series  and a token view of some men in towels . none of the actors except polly walker took my attention at all . at an hour and a half  i was still wondering when it was going to be over .  br    br   so what exactly is it that  s supposed to bring me back  the science fiction  it  s awfully light on that . the actors  besides polly walker  s fine turn  there isn  t much interesting being done here . there aren  t even any  hotties  in the cast  except for maybe esai  although for the younger set he  s pretty old  since he  s over   .  br    br   i loved bsg . i was skeptical when i heard about caprica  and unfortunately  i think i  m right . i predict a very short run for it as a series unless they really sharpen their pencils over at scifi and get to work making this more than the oc on another planet .  
with the advent of the imdb  this overlooked movie can now find an interested audience . why  because users here who do a search on two  time academy award winner glenda jackson can find  the return of the soldier  among her credits . so can those checking out oscar winner julie christie . fans of ann  margret can give the title a click  as will those looking into the career of the great alan bates . not to mention the added bonus of a movie with supporting heavyweights ian holm and frank finlay . any movie with so many notables in it is rewarded by the imdb  given all the cross  referencing that goes on here . so  why isn  t this movie out on dvd  don  t the producers realize the internet movie database is a marketing gift for such a film  and  the return of the soldier  is definitely a gem waiting to be discovered . get with it  people .  
as a huge fan of only the first  seasons of bsg and the stand alone feature bsg razor i was hoping that this release would return the franchise to its original glory days . usually i have no problem with science fiction that is mostly dialog driven as opposed to a visual bonanza of special effects . if the script is tight with some original ideas delivered by good actors one can create a profound film with little cgi money spent . this prequel has none of those aforementioned requirements going for it . the virtual reality world created by the terrorist teenagers was both ridiculous  unbelievable . this scene was simply put there to raise the release rating to restricted . not that teens don  t love virtual reality mosh pits filled with sex  violence  heavy dance music . its the part about those same teens having the intellectual depth  reason or political  religious passion as to create such futuristic software or become suicide bombers that perplexes me . these kids are definitely not from this planet . the movie plays out like a soap opera with only the last   minutes being slightly interesting . the scene with eric stolz giving his cyborg a devine conscienceness via the student firmware upgrade was amusing if not entertaining . but this old concept was far better portrayed  much more believable in the brilliant  classic original  frankenstein  with boris karloff . caprica rips off its only interesting idea from an old hollywood horror film . no surprise there  overall this movie was bland  unoriginal  cheap looking  using recycled cgi of caprica from bsg . i doubt i  ll be watching this space soap when it premieres on the sci  fi channel . unless of course i happen to be suffering from a bad bout of insomnia at which time this show would definitely be the cure . zzzzzzzz  
this movie has been poorly received and badly reviewed . the book by rebecca west was written in      soon after wwi  when shell shock and trauma  induced amnesia were not clichs  as the reviewers call it many books and movies later . it is difficult to go back in time and live  as the characters lived  the realities of the time the war and the horror of the experience of the first war to use lethal gas  the british class system the wife thought all  important  the hopeless spinster  and the lover from the past still seen with the eyes of love being as young and as beautiful as she was   years ago .  br    br   alan bates as the amnesiac soldier who  will die  if he isn  t allowed to see margaret  the girl of his youthful dreams  builds on the devotion his character showed in  far from the madding crowd  . having seen that performance  it is possible to sense his strong romantic attachment to the girl who didn  t live up to the family  s and society  s expectations . margaret says   we quarreled  and as you rowed away  you turned your face away from me .  so we know that the breakup was something that he instigated  that it brought him shame  but that he forgot the shame in his memory of his time with margaret . i haven  t seen all his films  but in the ones i  ve seen  he imparts a strong masculinity  which shines through even in this role as the disabled soldier .  br    br   i didn  t even recognize ann  margaret at first and feel that her performance has been underrated . not having read the book  i wondered whether the child who died was the result of acting on a borderline incestuous feeling between jenny and chris  though jenny does state that she  is a cousin  . the way kitty keeps jenny in the nursery in the hair  drying scene  the fact that kitty says she always dries her hair in that room seems more a way for kitty to keep the coals of anger hot than the orientation of the room to the sun  or sentiment about a lost child  and the statement she made that she wished chris hadn  t felt it necessary to preserve the room exactly as it was when the child was alive made her seem uncaring toward the memory of the child . also  jenny is shown as living in the house in a subservient role  as high society would have done to a fallen member at the time .  br    br   having recently been the recipient of the intense fantasy of a lover  non  sexualin keeping with the mores of the time  from   years ago  i couldrelate to margaret  s and her husband  s dilemma . i  too  was cast aside because i wasn  t good enough for his family  and upon his rediscovery of me via the internet  i was burdened with helping him deal with his still very horrifying vietnam experiences and a marriage to a woman above his class whom he didn  t believe he loved . my husband  like margaret  s was very understanding  but the strain was very real . the lover was finally able to reconcile his real  life situation with his fantasy of loving only me .  br    br   i thought that it was a good decision to show very little of the reliving of the war experience that was happening in chris  s mind . i thought of  mrs . dalloway  with the wwi soldier who acts out very violent memories and commits suicide versus chris  s joy in his fantasy of margaret . in contrast  the actiona of the soldier in  mrs . dalloway  seems overwrought .  br    br   showing that the psychiatrist understood very little of what was happening to chris underlines what a major problem the whole group faced . everyone seems to get their life back  but was it the right choice   
i was expecting a lot better from the battlestar galactica franchise . very boring prequel to the main series . after the first   minutes  i was waiting for it to end . the characters do a lot of talking about religion  computers  programming  retribution  etc . . . there are gangsters  mafia types  who carry out hits . however  caprica doesn  t have the action of the original series to offset the slower parts .  br    br   let me give you some helpful advice when viewing movies as a general rule  if there is a lot of excessive exploitive titillation  then you know the movie will be a dud . caprica has lots of this . the director  writer usually attempts to compensate for his poor abilities by throwing in a few naked bodies . it never works and all it does is demean the  very  young actresses involved and i feel sorry for them . directors  writers who do this should be banned from the business .  br    br   if you want to be bored for an hour and a half  by all means  rent caprica . there  s  free  porn on the  net if you really want to see naked bodies . otherwise  move along  nothing to see here .  
just saw this exquisite     movie return of the soldier  based on rebecca west  s novel . its about a shell  shocked fortyish captain who doesn  t even tell his wife he has returned to british soil  but remains in a hospital in london . he  s lost his memory and is a boy again  with a lingering yen for the lower class sweetheart he pursued   years earlier . its a delicate story . he is lingering in his boyhood  while the reader discovers his wife is an unbearable  aspiring socialite who wants him to resume his place in society . living with them is his cousin jenny  who loved chris baldry the soldier  when they were growing up as playmates  but has settled into spinsterhood . the lower class woman  played by glenda jackson  is margaret gray . it is she who is notified that chris is back in england . chris  wife kitty is shocked when mrs . gray comes to tell her that chris is in a hospital in london . kitty  julie christie  is vacuous and snobbish . why  she asks herself  was this other woman sent a telegraph about chris rather than her  chris has forgotten totally about kitty . he wants to renew his relationship with margaret . the now married margaret is reluctant to meet him  but then does and continues to meet with him . there is a psychiatrist  ian holm  who warns kitty and jenny that chris  temporary happiness with margaret will disappear if he  cures  him . jenny realizes how empty kitty is for chris and forms a secret loving alliance through margaret . they both are in love with him . jenny wants to help . late in the film kitty reveals that chris and she had a boy who died five years ago . telling chris this  weighs the shrink  will certainly restore him to  normal .  but is this a good idea  chris  barely aware that he and kitty were ever married  is unaware of his child and the child  s death . the psychiatrist  just learning of the child  believes such knowledge will restore chris . jenny and margaret have chris all to themselves because kitty believes he is faking and refuses to accept chris  s illness in reverting to his youth in his forties . the film leaves her mostly out of consideration concerning whats to be done with chris .  br    br   but jenny and margaret  in the child  s perfectly maintained bedroom  with kitty too in the novel  but not in the screenplay  discuss what they believe should be done about chris from their separate perspectives . margaret is the critical one here  because  though married  she has half fallen in love with chris again . jenny  s social stature  jenny believes  will be threatened if chris does not right himself . she does not reveal this to margaret  however . margaret decides  looking ahead  that chris cannot maintain his fantasy over time  but must return to something like a real life . while kitty and jenny look on from the window of the house  margaret approaches chris outside and tells him of his lost son . the buoyant war victim  s head sinks  his shoulders slump  he looks away . he walks dejectedly toward the house . fin  br    br   i read some criticism of this first novel of rebecca west . the novel was written something after the first war . the movie is never quite clear who jenny is  his cousin or his sister . it would be more rousing if she were his sister  of course . the criticism doesn  t make it clear either . i  m sure west in her novel  makes sure jenny is her cousin  not her sister . west is no henry miller nor an anais nin  whose book incest  about her relationship with her father as an adult to get even with him for molesting her as a child  i considered reading  but then decided against . rebecca the author has a need to restore chris too . she too has outposts in her head for the society her novel excoriates first but finally embraces once more .  
i was hoping for some sort of in  depth background information on the apollo   mission and what i got was some decent interview material with buzz aldrin gene krantz and other people involved in the mission  linked by over  hyped disaster  predicting sensationalising voice  over in the worst tradition of tv production .  br    br   if you could cut out the voice  over and change the spin of the program to a positive testament of how people can overcome setbacks to achieve a goal out of the ordinary then this could  ve been great  but i feel i  ve wasted about   minutes of my life whilst watching a   minute programme . i want those minutes back .  
this is superb  the acting wonderful  sets  clothes  music  but most of all the story itself .  br    br   i am amazed there aren  t more reviews of this movie  certainly one of the best of the     s .  br    br   it  s also a wonderful movie to see in tandem with the great  random harvest  which has much the same opening crisis  br    br     a middle aged  unknown english w . w . i officer is in a hospital toward the close of the war  suffering from shell shock and complete amnesia without any idea of his name  origin  or anywhere he belongs  he proves to be a very wealthy established man  when he  recovers   he will not remember the years before the war    br    br   but there the movies  resemblances end .  br    br   my warmest thanks to all who participated in the movie  particularly the actors ian holm  alan bates  ann margret  what a great and surprising casting choice   glenda jackson  julie christie .  br    br   this one stays with you forever .  
warning possible spoilers  not that you should care . also  sorry for the caps .   br    br   starting with an unnecessarily dramatic voice that  s all the more annoying for talking nonsense  it goes on with nonsense and unnecessary drama . that  s badly but accurately put .  br    br   we know space travel is a risky enterprise . there  s a complicated system with a lot of potential for malfunctions  radiation  stress  related symptoms etc  and unexpected things are bound to happen in largely unknown environments . they knew stuff could go wrong . in fact  stuff had gone wrong . it  s called learning . granted  appollo   wasn  t safe by today  s standards and there was immense political pressure  but the overall performance of the technology on the mission was impressive .  br    br   assorted mistakes  comments i hadn  t even to look up  br    br     nixon prepared a speech in case something went wrong . well duh . that  s what i would  ve done . it was the apex of a propaganda war  after all .  br    br     nasa gives green light despite the fact that appollo   will probably blow up .  this is  only  implicit  though .  yeah  that  s why they let people and press watch in almost  real  time .  br    br     the capsule ejection wouldn  t work . like it didn  t work the time a chimp was in it . the one that survived  it was a test launch and the rocket exploded  the capsule accelerated away and landed with a parachute . there  s a video of it  you can probably find it on youtube or at least look it up somewhere .  br    br     one interviewed guy says an explosion would have wiped out a fair part of florida . i can only assume it was meant as a hyperbole   cause if not  i  m just aghast how he could get it so wrong .  br    br     the technology then was primitive compared to today  s standards . actually  relatively primitive software and hardware is used even today  the reason being that it must not crash . it  s even worse for spacecraft  because their computers must be built of comparably large components that aren  t that susceptible to radiation .  and the craft itself must be pilotable manually anyway  so a complex steering system like the b   s wouldn  t do .  what  s with the fact that they were using  tv screens  rather than  computer screens   it  s the same damn technology . actually tv monitors were and are produced with a significantly higher definition .  br    br      if that object wasn  t part of the rocket  it could be only one thing .  we see where this is going . apart from the fact that the statement is wrong  who says it wasn  t a rocket part  at least an interviewee clears up that if a thing is flying and you don  t know what it is  it  s by definition an unidentified flying object .  br    br     the voice  over as well as some misquotes make it seem as though the lander  s radiation foil was actually its hull . which would make it thinner than a space suit .  br    br     neil armstrong  s near death during a practice flight is footage i can appreciate i hadn  t seen it before . as i said  any piece of manifest technology can go wrong  especially if it  s not been tested sufficiently on account of being  you know  unprecedented .  br    br     the trajectory discrepancy of the descending lander  due to irregularities in the moon  s density  was at no time acutely life  threatening . neither was the  fifteen seconds of fuel left   which was  in fact   fifteen seconds of fuel left before having to abort the mission and returning to the command module  .  br    br      a  catastrophic chain of events  usually results in catastrophe . i really don  t know how to put it any simpler . this  however  is a prime example of the rhetoric used .  br    br      there  s a short sequence of one of the astronauts walking and hopping around aimlessly like a gleeful kid  followed by the voice  over telling us that the reason for this strange behavior  can now be revealed  . turns out  he was walking and hopping around aimlessly like a gleeful kid . hilarious stuff .  br    br      it  s mentioned that during re  entry  all contact was lost . this is a perfectly natural phenomenon and it was as well known at the time as it  s impossible to circumvent with contemporary technology . again  the gravity of this is implicit  but very purposely so .  br    br      there was never a shuttle lost in space itself  while the voice  over presents this  fact  as evidence that appollo   was a pile of crap . appollo   was a near  loss  but the two real disasters happened during liftoff and re  entry  respectively . in any case  comparing shuttles to saturn rockets is somehow . . . well  okay  just plain stupid . even ignoring that  the successful shuttle missions seem to not have been deemed of interest to the audience .  br    br      what the hell  s up with the ufo  even in the context of the movie  it makes no sense . unless you assume it was made for entertainment purposes  aimed at a specific audience  which seems to include people with next to no understanding of either history  science  or rhetorics  .  br    br   even the point of the movie is somewhat obscure . catch  phrases like  covered up until now    publically revealed here for the first time   come up  but the film doesn  t place any blame or offer a lesson or anything  which could be expected of a film so emotionally done . in the good old tradition of sensationalism  there are numerous interview shots and recording fragments that are often out of context or with people that we know nothing about except  nasa scientist  . wow  so the astronauts were very nervous before the endeavor  fancy that . what does this have to do with the point of the movie again  oh yeah  which point .  br    br   in summary  in addition to being either willfully or incompetently inaccurate  it  s not even good entertainment . and believe me  i  m a guy who enjoys his crappy documentaries this film isn  t funny  witty  quaint  it  s nothing .  
walter matthau and george burns just work so well together . the acidity of willy with the perplexed amnesic al is a mixture made in heaven . the scene when they meet again in willy  s flat is a gem and the final scene rounds up the film to perfection . walter matthau gives a superb performance as the irascible semi  retired comedian as only he can  the intonation in the voice and the exaggerated dramatics coupled with his general misunderstanding of what is going on form a great characterization . george burns timing is legendary and nowhere was it better than in this film  his calm aplomb with desert dry replies are memorable . watch for the scene near the end when al and his daughter ask something of the spanish caretaker  and al  s reaction  priceless .  
i could never stand watching happy days after chachi joined the cast  so i knew i was in trouble when the best scene in this movie featured scott baio  a skateboard chase scene   . jodie foster in her first  grown  up  role turns in her usual professional performance but that is no excuse for this boring mess . two hours out of my life that i  ll never get back  no noteworthy characters  unbelievable storyline  questionable editing and horrendous cinematography but worst of all  i couldn  t have cared less . the story of california teens in the      s  where the kids live miserable lives and all their parents are idiots . don  t waste your time watching this ugly excuse for a movie .  
  stanley and iris  show the triumph of the human spirit . for stanley  it  s the struggle to become literate and realize his potential . for iris  it  s to find the courage to love again after becoming a widow . the beauty of the movie is the dance that robert deniro and jane fonda do together  starting and stopping  before each has the skills and courage to completely trust each other and move on . in that sense it very nicely gives us a good view of how life often is  thus being credible . unlike some other reviewers i found the characters each rendered to be consistent for the whole picture . the supporting cast is also carefully chosen and they add a depth of character that the main characters get added meaning from the supporting performances . all in all an excellent movie . the best thing i take from it is hope .  
this movie was terrible . at first i just read the plot summary and it looked ok  so i watched it . the acting was terrible . it was like the actor were almost camera shy . everything seemed fake . i feel bad for edward furlong  terminator  was my favorite a few years ago . . i  ve watched it at least   times . . . .  br    br   the plot was also crap . the writers were probably sleep deprived when they came up with the lines .  br    br   on the plus side  it  s the good kind of bad movie . the one you keep watching just to see how much worst could it will get  so that later you can tell other people how you couldn  t believe how terrible the movie was .  br    br   i think everybody should watch this  so that then we could appreciate better other  real  movies .  
before she went into politics or public service  glenda jackson was one of britain  s finest film actresses . this film displays her talent despite having a supporting role in a stellar cast that includes julie christie as kitty  the wife of a british royal captain who has lost his memory of the last   years  and jenny played by american ann  margret in an almost unrecognizable role as the doting sister . alan bates plays the captain who suffers from memory loss triggered by the shell shock during world war i . sir ian holm has a smaller role as the doctor treating him . you see familiar faces like sheila keith  patsy byrne  and frank finlay . you can  t help but watch glenda play a dowdy housewife and the first true love of the captain but they came from different classes . it  s not the greatest movie but it  s good to see glenda  s amazing talent . she is still a fantastic actress  comedy or drama . she makes margaret grey into a likable character and you see why a regal captain fell in love with her .  
you  d think the first landing on the moon would be dramatic enough without needing to make up stuff about it . however  this documentary seems to need to cast everything in the scariest possible light . it talks about the risks associated with the lunar module and mentions armstrong  s nearly fatal accident with the training vehicle  as if the trainer and the spacecraft had anything to do with each other . it makes the computer overload problem  the     and     alarms  encountered during the final landing sequence sound like a near  catastrophe when it was just an annoyance and not a risk to the crew at all . and it takes the  thirty seconds  call to mean thirty seconds of fuel left before running out  when it  s actually thirty seconds before an abort is mandatory .  br    br   if you want to see a documentary or dramatization of apollo    go for  from the earth to the moon  or one of the pbs documentaries  but skip this one .  
forget neo and bourne and all those half  baked made up modern heroes . they only look   year  oldish to please the wide audience of geeks that want to be their heroes . since they cannot be rambo or mcclane or even indiana jones  hollywood allowed a bunch of fakes that have no beard and yet fulfill teenagers wishes to see something that looks very much like an action flick .  br    br   however  their  action set  pieces  are just painful to watch and any girl may challenge their masculinity without question . this explains the recrudescence of oldies on our silver screens over the past few years . for better  rocky  rambo  or worse  die hard   where john mcclane  brace yourselves . . . . had no beard     br    br   i say it is high  time a new hero walked up and put their reign to an end . this  largo winch  movie is far from perfect  and perhaps too predictable at times  but at least tomer sisley delivered a very promising performance as an action  hero . and the only one time where he was weakened is when mlanie thierry shaved his beard  i rest my case .  br    br   i didn  t know it when i entered the theater room  but this might be the movie i  ve been waiting for a decade . for the first time in france since belmondo  can a movie be both well  crafted and rooted in b  genre without blushing over its performance . in the meantime all we had to chew on was either a gigantic pile of dung or something too restricted to reach a wider audience . . . in other words it was  le pacte des loups  or  dobermann   i like dobermann  mind you  . . . i believe  largo winch  has what it takes to be both popular and quality film  making .  br    br   i exited the theater room very pleased  and hungry for more .  
bernard rapp passed away last year and was a very cultured journalist . cinema was one of his biggest passions  he penned a vast worldwide dictionary of films  and so he was bound to wield a camera at least one time in his life . but the films he left garnered lukewarm reviews  tir  part        in spite of terence stamp  s sensational performance was very caricatured in the depiction of the characters   une affaire de got        was a slick affair even if bernard giraudeau delivered a perverse performance   pas si grave        was another let  down and  un petit jeu sans consquence  is as underwhelming as its predecessors . its comic potential is exploited in a flimsy way .  br    br   and however  the starting idea let predict a twirling  spiritual comedy . a couple held by yvan attal and sandrine kiberlain who invited their friends is in full moving in a lascivious mansion . to play with their guests  they pretend to part company with each other . and things don  t go as planned because the announcement of their separation doesn  t surprise them . the two lovers start to ponder about the validity of their couple .  br    br   in spite of lush scenery and the promising material he had at his disposal  rapp  s undistinguished directing can  t manage to give life to this game with unexpected consequences . the plot follows a well  worn pattern with characters who have specific well  known functions and masks that are unveiled about who they really are . verbal or situation comic effects often fall flat . a bad editing fades a little more the film with this bad habit from rapp to abruptly cut many sequences . even the actors  sincere input in the venture is debatable . they seem to be bored and to recite their texts than to live them  especially sandrine kiberlain . the audience is soon caught in a deep torpor .  br    br   it  s regrettable to say it bernard rapp  s films never lived up to his intentions as  un petit jeu sans consquence  bears witness .  
when i sat down to watch  largo winch  i expected nothing more than action scenes and fascinating cars . when i stood up  i  ve seen both of these and more .  br    br   karl roden was finally not the antagonist in a movie  to start with . kristin scott thomas played her role well  but the real two stars in my opinion were tomer sisley and miki manojlovic  both acting superbly . in radivoje bukvic portrayed goran well .  br    br   the mixed linguistics brought a nice color to the movie  but i understand why people would get bored with it .  br    br   the scenery of hong kong and especially the stunning croatian seaside both amazed me  and i hardly wanted to take my eyes off the screen when largo entered the unbelievably beautiful island .  br    br   rolls royce phantom mercedes s     and bmw   if anyone loves expensive limousine  type cars this is their movie . it is also a movie for people who love action sequences  good acting  landscapes of extremal beauty  and above all  a fast  paced  well written action movie  with dazzling combat and a thoroughly twined inner drama .  br    br   my vote  as it has enlightened a gloomy day is       
ugh . this is a terrible film  full of disastrous comic relief  no scares  and scary leaps in story and plotline . the only creepy thing here is the leading lady  s hats . lugosi was on his downhill slide and it shows . i give this a   and this ain  t no fun .  
i  m not aware of  largo winch  as a comic book  or is it graphic novel  i actually don  t know   but i have to admit  hearing about an agent  hero movie  i did expect quite something different  than what i actually got .  br    br   while it was startling to watch this at first  it was nice watching this move along . you could never really tell where it would go  some twists are foreseeable  but in general  you can never really say  were it will end up going  . a more than stellar performance from the lead actor and a really good support cast  make this an enjoyable watch . not as action packed as some might hope or expect for a movie like that  but a really good mixture .  
bela lugosi is an evil botanist who sends brides poisoned orchids on their wedding day  steals the body in his fake ambulance  hearse and takes it home for his midget assistant to extract the glandular juices in order to keep bela  s wife eternally young . some second rate actors playing detectives try to solve the terrible  terrible mystery . bela lugosi hams it up nicely  but you can tell he needed the money .  br    br   this film is thoroughly awful  and most of the actors would have been better off sticking to waiting tables  but the plot is wonderfully ridiculous . tell anyone what happens in it and they tend to laugh quite a lot and demand to see the film . i got the dvd in a discount store  for    which i think is a pretty accurate valuation  anyone paying more for this would be out of their mind .  
who doesn  t know largo winch in the france  belgium  luxemburg trio  the three countries where the french  bd  or  bandes dessines  are massively published     years after the publication of the first comic book  which is itself an adaptation of a series of novels  it had to be adapted on screens . after a first  and failed  attempt with a tv show  the real thing begins .  br    br   first of all  and that  s what most of the fans didn  t get  the goal of this movie is not strictly to adapt the comic book series . some essential parts  characters and actions of the original are missing . the movie itself offers an alternative and more modern version of the series . as a  st class  fan of the comic book  i must confess i was nicely surprised . the actors are good  so is the scenario  though it might seem too fast . i thus recommend this movie to all those interested by financial  political thrillers  but it is clearly not an alternative to james bond or jason bourne series as i could read over the internet .  
i bought this video at walmart  s   bin . i think i over  paid    in the     s  bela lugosi made a long string of  rd  rate movies for small studios  in this case  monogram   the ones who made most of the bowry boys films  . while the wretchedness of most of these films does not approach the level of awfulness his last films achieved  ed wood  classics  such as bride of the monster and plan  from outer space   they are nonetheless poor films and should be avoided by all but the most die  hard fans .  br    br   i am an old movie junkie  so i gave this a try . besides  a few of these lesser films were actually pretty good   just not this one .  br    br   lugosi is  what else  a mad scientist who wants to keep his rather bizarre and violent wife alive through a serum he concocts from young brides . they never really explained why it had to be brides or why it must be women or even what disease his wife had   so you can see that the plot was never really hashed out at all .  br    br   anyways  a really annoying female reporter  a lois lane type without jimmy olsen or superman  wants to get to the bottom of all these apparent murders in which the bodies were stolen  so  she follows some clues all the way to the doorstep of lugosi . lugosi  s home is complete with his crazed wife  a female assistant and two strange people who are apparently the assistant  s sons  an ugly hunchbacked sex fiend and a dwarf  . naturally this plucky reporter faints repeatedly throughout the film   apparently narcolepsy and good investigative journalism go hand in hand  eventually  the maniacs all die   mostly due to their own hands and all is well . at the conclusion  the reporter and a doctor she just met decide to marry . and  naturally  the reporter  s dumb cameraman faints when this occurs . if you haven  t noticed  there  s a lot of fainting in this film . or  maybe because it was such a slow and ponderous film they just fell asleep   
set in world depression era prague  this is the story of an ambitious store clerk who is falling in love with a mystery woman with whom he has exchanged romantic letters  only to discover that the mystery woman is none other than the sales girl from his shop  who seems to be constantly bickering with the colleague . add a little twist  the owner is convinced that his favorite employee  stewart  is having an affair with the owner  s wife   leaving stewart briefly  fired   along with an admission that the sales girl  liked  stewart all along  the happy ending is inevitable .  br    br   although very dated  references to poverty and  i have a wife and two kids to consider  are over  used  along with the indication that many small objects of pleasure  like a musical cigar box  are out  of  reach for common people  s enjoyment   this film is much more effective  and more credible  than the     s re  make  you  ve got mail  . in the re  make starring tom hanks and meg ryan  the actual odds of the chain  of  events are so unbelievable that the viewer  s intelligence is grossly offended .  br    br    shop around the corner  is an innocent stroll down memory lane into a less complicated  less hectic  and more romantic time and place known as a novelist  s utopia . lovers of classic romantic comedies will enjoy this picture   
bela lugosi as creepy insane scientist who uses orchids to woo brides in order to steal life essence for aged wife . the midget in this film is hilarious   a lot of freaks  plus a lot of padding and no plot makes watching this film a nightmare . i loved how all the pieces fell together in the end in typical hollywood fashion . the story never gets interesting  and you feel helpless as you watch .  br    br   usually i  d score bore flicks like this one low  but the midget added just enough creepiness and entertainent to gain a couple more points .  
would that more romantic comedies were as deftly executed as this one  i never thought anything as mundane as the simple sale of a music box could leave me catching my breath with excitement . margaret sullavan makes a marvellous saleswoman  and she and james stewart always brought out the best in each other . this movie sports what i think is frank morgan  s most winning performance  and with  the wizard of oz  and  tortilla flat  under his belt  that is saying a lot . the way he finds a christmas dinner partner left me giddy with joy . director ernst lubitsch might have thought  trouble in paradise  his favorite  but this one he must surely consider a triumph . with some of the wittiest dialogue american movies of the    s has to offer .  
bela lugosi is great as usual but the movie is nothing compared to dracula . he is probably the only one that played a perfect part in this movie but not even a legend like lugosi could save the badness of the idea of this movie and unlike most old unspenseful horror films this movie doesn  t set the mood very well . even at its worst any of bela  s movies is only mediocre though .  
i recently bought this movie with a bunch of other laserdiscs from ebay . usually  i am into war and action movies but occasionally i enjoy romantic comedies .  br    br   if you are bored by today  s special fx films and high gloss romantic comedies you should check out shop around the corner on a quiet evening . what i like about the movie is that the characters have a lot of decency . there is nothing fake or pretentious about them . take mr . matuschek for example when he finds out that his wife is cheating on him with one of his own employees he tries to shot himself . not just because of the humiliation but because he has been unjust to the character of stewart .  ok  weired example .   br    br   yes  the focus of the movie is narrow and the plot is predictable . yet still  i liked it a lot . if you likes notting hill then you will like shop around the corner . in fact  hugh grant reminds me a lot of jimmy stewart .  
bela lugosi plays dr . lorenz who loves his wife so much that he will do anything to keep her young . this film starts off with a wedding as the bride is about to take her vows she suddenly collapses . she is pronounced dead and taken away by undertakers . trouble is that these are not real undertakers but body snatchers . a wave of bride deaths at the altar and their body disappearing confounds the police . enter reporter patricia hunter to solve the case . she does track down dr . lorenz but he also decides to use her youth to keep his wife young also .  
a warm  sweet and remarkably charming film about two antagonistic workers in the same shop  james stewart and margaret sullavan  who are carrying on a romance via mailbox without either of them knowing it . the key to this film  s success is that ernst lubitsch keeps any syrupy sentimentality absent and calls on his actors to give low  key  unfussy performances . as a result  you fall in love with virtually all of them .  br    br   there  s a strong undercurrent of melancholy running through this film which i appreciated . loneliness is a major theme  most obviously represented in the character of the shop  s owner and manager  played wonderfully by frank morgan . he discovers that he  s being cuckolded by his wife  and realizes that the successful life he  s created for himself isn  t enough to keep him from feeling lonely when he doesn  t have a partner to share it . this makes the timid romance between stewart and sullavan all the more poignant  because they  re both reaching out to this unseen other  who each thinks of as a soulmate before they  ve even met . of course we know everything will turn out right in the end  but the movie doesn  t let you forget the dismal feeling either of them would feel if they found that the reality didn  t live up to the fantasy .  br    br   lubitsch fills his movie out with a crackerjack cast that has boatloads of chemistry . the little group of shop employees refers to itself throughout the movie as a little family  and that  s exactly how it feels to us as well .  br    br   this is a wonderful  unsung romance .  br    br   grade a  
a number of brides are mysteriously murdered while at the altar  and later their bodies are stolen en route to the morgue . newspaper writer patricia hunter decides to investigate these mysterious killings . she discovers that right before each ceremony  the bride was given a rare orchid  supposedly from the groom  which contained a powerful drug that succumbed them . patricia is told that the orchid was first grown by a dr . lorenz  who lives in a secluded estate  with his wife . in reality  dr . lorenz is responsible for the crimes  by putting the brides in a suspended state  and using their gland fluid to keep his wife eternally young . patricia  along with dr . foster  who is working with dr . lorenz on the medical mystery surrounding his wife  try to force dr . lorenz  s hand by setting up a phony wedding  which eventually leads patricia into the mad doctor  s clutches . this movie had a very good opening reel  but basically ended up with too many establishing shots and other weak scenes . the cast is decent  walters and coffin deserved better  but that  s life . russell steals the show  even out hamming lugosi  who does not give one of his more memorable performances  even considering his monograms  as countess lorenz playing the role with the qualities of many of the stereotypical characteristics of many of today  s hollywood prima donnas . weak and contrived ending as well . rating  based on b movies   .  
i have passed several times on watching this since i figured it was some dumb  sappy  dated romantic comedy . well  it is a romantic comedy  and maybe a little dated . however  it is not overly sentimental  touching as it does on themes of office politics  adultery  and loneliness . you think you know exactly where things are headed  but there is an element of unpredictability that keeps your interest  and not everything turns out quite as you had expected . but  there is enough wit and charm to touch the most inveterate cynic . if you meet someone who doesn  t like this movie  seriously consider how well you want to know them .  
patricia hunter oh  professor  do you also make a habit of collecting coffins  dr . lorenz why  yes  in a manner of speaking . i find a coffin much more comfortable than a bed .  br    br   interesting bela lugosi  glen or glenda  dracula  vehicle where he plays the mad scientist . i was especially creeped out when he appeared in the bedrooms of his guests when they were sleeping .  br    br   luana walters  girls in prison  was really appealing as a sensual reporter  patricia hunter  who was to be a victim  but woman  power trumps evil scientist every time .  br    br        angelo rossitto and creepy frank moran  who liked to stoke the women  s hair added to the film .  br    br   interesting look at a   s horror film .  
two great comedians in a great neil simon movie based on his hit play .  br    br   great combination  especially when the comedians in question are matthau and burns . small wonder why burns won an oscar for this he  s as sharp and as funny as ever . and matthau is every bit his match  if a tad more crotchety .  br    br   this is familiar simon territory two old vaudeville partners reunite for a tv special but still can  t stand one another after all these years .  br    br   it  s a delight to watch these two pick at each other  their scenes together make this film an absolute delight . myself  i especially enjoyed the  knock  knock  knock  enter   scene . and if you  re a fan of either burns or matthau  you  ll enjoy it  too .  br    br   in fact  you  ll enjoy the whole movie .  br    br   ten stars . put a little  sunshine  in your life .  
maybe you shouldn  t compare  but wild style and style wars are original hip hop . beat street does have a lot of the original artists of early hip hop  but they  ve been obviously made clear that this could be their big break  of course for some it was and that  s nice . but if you view this as original hip hop culture you  re wrong . it  s overproduced and has a hollywood sauce . rather look for the first two movies i mentioned . they have convey the grittiness that comes with life in the ghetto . yes  the rating for this movie is low  but the reviews are mostly positive or even raving . this is probably because although the story  the acting  the dialogues and the direction all are dreadful  the music and dancing is what the people love about it . me  i do love the dancing but at the time thought that electro was the death of hip hop  i was so glad when round    a new generation of now classic hip hop artists appeared  like krs one  public enemy  ultramagnetic mc  s  jungle brothers  bizmarkie to name a few   and i still don  t like most of the beats in this movie and that is why it doesn  t work for me . i mean  wild style has not much of a story but the music there is great and authentic . of course tastes differ and that  s alright . but as far as i  m concerned  this movie is trash except for the break dancing and some of the music and so i can  t rate it higher than a  out of ten .  
so much has been written about the film  s plot  the wonderful acting performance  the script  the melancholy  bittersweet atmosphere  the superb direction  what can i add  just watch for one of the most heart warming  beautifully acted  poignant scenes ever filmed . it is christmas eve and frank morgan  s character  the owner of the shop  mr . matuschek  is recovering from his broken marriage and a suicide attempt . as each of his employees leave he invites them to a christmas dinner . each and everyone of them politely turn him down . they all have plans for their own christmas eve . at this stage there is a deep sadness to this moving scene . frank morgan gives the performance of his career and this scene easily brings me to tears . thankfully we have a happy denouement to this very special scene . the new employee  the errand boy  is the last to exit the shop into a beautiful snowy street scene . desperately mr . matuschek approaches this boy and asks him how he would love to spend the evening with him  he will treat him to all the wonderful christmas food that this errand boy has probably never seen  the chap is overwhelmed  he too is obviously as lonely as mr . matuschek and together they can have a wonderful christmas meal . every time i see this scene it moves me . if you manage to get the delightful dvd look at the great trailer with frank morgan introducing himself as mr . matuschek and an appearance by the director of the film  the talented ernst lubitsch . this film is a joy from beginning to end .  
now i love bela lugosi  don  t get me wrong  he is one of the most interesting people to ever make a movie but he certainly did his share of clunkers . this is just another one of those .  br    br   lugosi plays dr . lorenz  a doctor who has had his medical license pulled for unexplained reasons . he is however doing experiments to keep his wife young and beautiful . it  s revealed that she is      years old yet lugosi looks to be in his mid    s so why he is married to this old woman is never really explained .  br    br   anyway these treatments or experiments involved giving brides who are at the altar being married some sort of sweet smelling substance whereby they pass out but are thought to be dead . then lugosi and some of his assistants steal the body on its way to the morgue and take it back to his lab where it  s kept in some sort of suspended animation or catatonic state . then the stolen brides have a needle rammed somewhere in their bodies  maybe the neck  and then the needle is rammed into the body of lugosi  s wife to bring her back to youth and beauty . we never really see where lugosi sticks the needle or what it is that he draws out of the brides but it somehow restores his wife . apparently old age makes you scream with pain because lugosi  s wife does a lot of screaming until she gets back to her younger state . helping lugosi in his lab is the only good thing about this movie . . . . a weird old hag and her two deformed sons . . . . one son is a big lumpy looking slow acting fellow who likes to fondle the snoozing brides and the other son is a mean little dwarf . . . . little person  to be politically correct in today  s world . at night these three just sort of pile up and sleep in lugosi  s dreary downstairs lab . who these  are and how they came to be lugosi  s scared assistants is  like a lot of stuff in this film  never explained .  br    br   so anyway a female reporter is given the assignment by her gruff editor to find out where all the stolen brides are going to . she quickly figures out that the one common thing among all the stolen brides is a rare orchid that is found on them . so she asks around and is told that there is a world renowned orchid expert living nearby who just happens to be the one who developed this particular orchid . this expert turns out to be creepy dr . lorenz . she quickly tracks him down and upsets his little house of horrors . i  m not sure where the police were during all this but they came in to mop up after the reporter had done all the dirty work .  br    br   it seems that lugosi  s movies always had some sort of unnecessary silly plot line that just made the whole thing stink to high heavens . i mean a world famous orchid expert kidnaps brides by sending them a doped up orchid he himself is known to have developed  d  oh   br    br   and then later it  s revealed that the young ladies don  t even have to be brides for the procedure to work so why would lugosi keep kidnapping brides from heavily guarded churches for his experiments and create all the attention and newspaper headlines  why not just grab a prostitute off the street like a normal weirdo pervert would do  this clunker reminded me a lot of another lugosi stinker   the devil bat  . . . . same silly plot lines and bad acting and same silly  reporter gets bad guy  deal .  br    br   but lugosi is always good   he is creepy and sinister enough to keep you interested at least enough to keep watching him . the woman playing the reporter was just a terrible actor . . . . she had no emotion whatsoever  she just delivered her lines like a machine gun  spewing them out as quickly as she could . everyone else pretty much blew too  when it came to being good actors .  br    br   but this thing is watchable  if only for bela lugosi fans . lugosi was always so intense even when the picture was a dog . he must have known he was doing terrible pictures but maybe he also knew that if he gave it everything he had a little of that intensity might shine through past all the bad plots and bad acting which surrounded him .  br    br   and he was right     we horror fans will always have a love for bela lugosi . he gave it his all every time he was in front of the camera . we do give two fks for you  bela .  
  the shop around the corner        is a pleasant romantic comedy  not the sort that i will hold dear to me until the end of my days  but nonetheless a film thoroughly deserving of its reputation . by      director ernst lubitsch had long ago taken hollywood by storm  and his famed  lubitsch touch  had become a sparkling commercial trademark . this film was planned for a     release  but scheduling conflicts meant that james stewart and margaret sullavan were unavailable for filming . rather than substituting either of his main stars  lubitsch decided to postpone production  in the meantime directing greta garbo in  ninotchka       .  when it was finally completed   the shop around the corner  appears to have been met with relative indifference  receiving zero oscar nominations despite an excellent screenplay by samson raphaelson and fine performances from its two leads and frank morgan in a supporting role . time  nevertheless  has betrayed the film  s massive and enduring influence  with high  profile remakes including  in the good old summertime        and  you  ve got mail       .   br    br   at its surface  one might assume  the shop around the corner  to simply be the story of two lovers  klara novak  sullavan  and alfred kralik  stewart   who love each other without knowing it . however  lubitsch  s film runs much deeper than that . it  s the story of matuschek and company  a stylish gift shop in budapest  and the various human relationships that make the store such a close  knit family . when store  owner hugo matuschek  frank morgan  begins to suspect his oldest employee of having an affair with his wife  we witness the breakdown of two families  both at home and at work . there  s absolutely no reason why the story should not have been set in the united states  perhaps in the blustery streets of new york  but lubitsch was deliberately recreating the passions and memories of his former years in europe  the quaintness of love and life before war brought terror and bloodshed to every doorstep . this subtle subtext brings a more meaningful  personal touch to the film  in fact  even as i write this review  i  m beginning to appreciate the story even more .  br    br   sullavan and stewart are both lovely in their respective roles  but i think that it  s the supporting cast that really make the film . each character brings a distinctive personality to the mix  and their interactions are always believable and enjoyable . i especially liked how lubitsch knowingly directed much of our sympathy towards hugo matuschek  who  in any other film  would have been restricted to an underdeveloped  two  dimensional portrayal . matuschek may have lost the love of his family  but he recaptures it in the affection of his employees  and you feel a heartwarming glow when  in the bitter cold of a christmas eve snowstorm  he finds companionship in a freckle  faced young errand  boy  charles smith  . this genuine warmth towards a supporting character strikes me as being similar to several of billy wilder  s later creations  for example  boom boom jackson in  the fortune cookie        or carlo carlucci in  avanti        .  of course  it doesn  t really need saying  but billy wilder learned from the best .  
  bela lugosi revels in his role as european horticulturalist  sic  dr . lorenz in this outlandish tale of horror and dementia . the good doctor  s aging wife needs fluids harvested from the glands of young virgins in order to retain her youth and beauty . what better place for the doctor to maintain his supply than at the alter  where he kidnaps the unsuspecting brides before they can complete their vows  sedating them into a coma  like state  he brings them to his mansion to collect his tainted bounty   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis . that brief description is much more entertaining and imaginative than the movie .  br    br    the corpse vanishes       wallace fox  bela lugosi  luana walters  elizabeth russell  
in budapest  margaret sullavan  as klara novak  gets a job as clerk in a gift shop there  she bickers with co  worker james stewart  as alfred kralik  . the two don  t get along on the job because each has fallen in love with a unseen pen pal . watching ernst lubitsch direct these stars through the inevitable is predictably satisfying .  br    br   even better is a sub  plot involving shop owner frank morgan  as hugo matuschek   who suspects his wife is having an affair . hiring a private detective  mr . morgan confirms his wife of   years is having sex with one of his younger employees . morgan  painfully realizing   she just didn  t want to grow old with me   and the supporting characters are what keeps this film from getting old .  br    br    the shop around the corner          ernst lubitsch  james stewart  margaret sullavan  frank morgan  joseph schildkraut  
bela lugosi plays a doctor who will do anything to keep his wife looking young and beautiful . to this end  he drugs brides during their wedding ceremonies to make it look as if they are dead so he can steal their bodies . i  m not exactly sure what he does with the bodies . i don  t remember it ever being fully explained . all i know is that he extracts something from them and injects it in his wife .  i  ll just guess that it  s spinal fluid . spinal fluid was all the rage of mad scientists in the   s .  you can pretty much guess the rest from here .  br    br   there are a couple  well  really more than a couple  but i  ll only write about two  of problems that i have with this movie . one is the way bela is used . sure  he does a decent enough job in his own overacting sort of way  btw  the rest of the cast is simply abysmal  . but  to have him hiding in the back of a hearse or having him creep into the female reporter  s bedroom to do nothing is just silly . also  why have him beat and  or kill every henchman he has  is it to make him look evil  well  someone who is kidnapping comatose brides doesn  t really need to be made to look more evil .  br    br   the second problem i have is the idea of drugging brides . why brides  wouldn  t any female under the age of   do  watching bela go through these gyrations to get his victims  i was reminded of the idiotic fisherman in i still know what you did last summer . in each case  there would appear to be an easier way of reaching your objective than employing a seemingly impossible plan that depends way to much on circumstances out of your control .  btw  an alternate title for this movie is the case of the missing brides . i guess that partially explains the need for  brides  .   
the location of the shop around the corner is precisely stated at the start of the film  balta street in budapest but it could really be in any place . the small number of sets reflect a middle european design but it could be a shop around any corner . the film is not about budapest or the retail leather goods business but about the ups and downs of love  reflected in most of the main characters .  br    br   alfred kralik and klara novak are sparring partners at work but their anonymous letters to each other are full of hope and aspiration and romance  and the story unwinds to bring these two aspects together beautifully . hugo matuschek  the owner of the shop  is having trouble with his wife  she only a voice at the end of the phone . ferencz vadas has a secret affair . ilona novodny has a gentleman friend who buys her fur garments . mr pirovitch  s life is centred around his wife and children . pepi katona  plays santa claus  to a girl at christmas . you even sense that quiet flora katchuck  while staying at home with her mother dreams of someone .  br    br   the script is a masterpiece of comedy and drama . it moves effortlessly from scene to scene . it is one of those quiet films that repays looking at again and again  simple yet profound . the dialogue reflects the character speaking which is not common these days .  br    br   all the acting is magnificent . even the minor characters like the waiter in the cafe and the policeman in the street are perfect . james stewart and margaret sullavan play off each other perfectly . he was really getting into his stride as an actor then and gives a sweet and sharp performance . margaret sullavan was a terrific actor and under appreciated these days . some of her other films are worth catching . as mr matuschek  frank morgan is amazing . his moment of truth is very moving . gold stars all round to the performers .  br    br   it is a well worn phrase that they don  t make them like they used to  the vague re  make  you  ve got mail  was dire  but in this case it is true . the director lubitsch is not in farce mode thankfully but delivered a classic film of spirit  charm and warm humanity .  
brides are dying at the altar and their corpses are vanishing . no one knows why or who  but an investigative reporter  luana walters  notes that each bride was wearing a strange orchid and she goes to interview its creator  dr . lorenz  bela lugosi  . now dr . lorenz is a mad scientist with some strange habits  including sleeping in coffins and injecting his elderly wife  elizabeth russell  with the fluid of young brides to keep her young .  br    br   the corpse vanishes has an interesting premise and a short enough run time that it shouldn  t be able to get boring . unfortunately  while it starts off quite well  it does start to drag before the halfway point and gets rather boring with its clichs and predictable plot .  br    br   there are some good things about it  bela lugosi is charming and evil and performs brilliantly elizabeth russell is also a beautiful  suave  aloof and very creepy countess and i  m always a fan of angelo rossitto . luana walters is also convincing as the reporter here .  br    br   it maintains a bit of a gothic atmosphere and the sets are decent .  br    br   but overall  it just didn  t manage to hold my interest through the whole picture  and for that  i have to rate it poorly .  
two warring shop workers in a leather  goods store turn out to be secret sweethearts as they correspond under box  number aliases . within this simple idea and an everyday setting  lubitsch produces a rich tapestry of wit  drama  poignancy and irony that never lets up . stewart and sullavan are perfect as the average couple with real emotions and tensions  and the rest of the well  developed characters have their own sub  plots and in  jokes . although wrongly eclipsed by stewart  s big films of       destry  philadelphia story  mr smith  this is easily on a par and we enjoy a whole range of acting subtlties unseen in the other films .  
just looking at the sets  staging and editing it is easy to tell this project lacked a proper budget . maybe bela lugosi is meant to take your mind off of things like that . young brides drop dead at the altar after saying  i do  . their corpses are stolen by a renowned horticulturist dr . lorenz  lugosi  and a couple of his freakish minions as his aging wife  elizabeth russell  needs injections of the glandular fluids of the young virgins to remain forever young . . . forever beautiful . an eager local cub reporter  luana walters  realizes that each missing bride wore the same rare orchid to the altar an orchid in which dr . lorenz would be most knowledgeable . a typical horror movie storm brews making a visit to the lorenz estate a bit spooky especially with a dwarf and a slobbering hunchback on the premises . other players angelo rossitto  tristram coffin  minerva urecal and frank moran .  
after seeing you  ve got mail and feeling disappointed  i decided to see the original movie which inspired this one  the shop around the corner . i was amazed at this movie . it  s a true gem and from this moment one of my favorite movies of all times . the acting is so perfect  the story is so beautiful  that if you haven  t seen it  i wish to urge you to see it today . i  m not against re  makes and sometimes i like the new version more than the original one  but this time have to admit that you  ve got mail is a poor adaption of this classic . don  t miss it  go to your video store and rent the shop around the corner today   
only the glandular secretions   and please don  t ask for any more details   of young virgins can keep the rapidly deteriorating body and mind of the crazed old amateur horticulturalist  s wife fresh and youthful . since  like most people except those taking part in medical trials  virgins seldom give up their secretions willingly  dr . lorenz  bela lugosi  arranges for them to be abducted and preserved . he  ll do the extracting himself .  br    br   what a great cheese ball of a premise for a low budget horror movie . if the corpse vanishes turns out not to be the havarti of horror  as a plain limburger it leaves an interesting aftertaste .  br    br   sure  the acting is almost awful except for the actors fortunate enough to be playing the crazed dwarf  angelo rossitto  who later played the master in mad max beyond thunderdome   his crazed brute of a brother  angel  frank moran   who grunts a lot and has a fetish for the virgins  hair the crazed mother of the two  minerva urecal   the crazed wife  elizabeth russell   who sleeps in a plush coffin and  of course  the crazed doctor  lugosi  .  br    br   an enterprising young reporter  patricia hunter  luana walters  tracks down the doctor because of a strange orchid with a peculiarly sweet odor that had been worn by the victims . when the doctor and his wife invite pat to stay the night  a raging storm immediately breaks out . that clue tells us some raging violence is about to erupt inside . since it  s well known that in hollywood at this time all unmarried young women were virgins  pat may have some unpleasant surprises to deal with . they include dark passages  a crusty laboratory where a near dead virgin is stored  a basement mausoleum and  later  a direct threat to patricia  s own glandular secretions . if she survives  what a story she  ll have to give her editor .  br    br   if you sample this moist slice of moldy velveeta  and why not  don  t be superior   don  t judge bela lugosi by the company he keeps here . he had a huge impact in dracula        but my favorite movie of his is the black cat       . as dr . vitas werdegast he  s a sad  ironic man protective of his two young friends . when he finally takes a scalpel to hjalmar poelzig  boris karloff  and begins to flay the man alive  ah  well  it  s a great scene .  
has there ever been a movie more charming than this  one of the reasons everything works so well is that the group of actors really seem to interact and have an effect on each other  s lives . the center of it is the  romance  of james stewart and margaret sullavan  who work together and can  t get along face to face but who completely connect with each other anonymously as pen pals . but there are also supporting characters and unlike a lot of romantic comedies  including  you  ve got mail   the recent update of  shop   they  re not just whipped up to support the two leads and their needs . everyone gets to be an intricate part of ernst lubitsch  s rich tapestry of charm . one of the most heartwarming scenes in movie history takes place when the near  tragic frank morgan casually and humbly searches for someone to have christmas dinner with . a must see   out of   
the poverty row horror pictures of the     s and    s depress the hell out of me . god knows i have nothing against low  budget films  but the ones produced in that period have such a dreary  shabby look about them   and  in the final analysis  just aren  t very good .  the corpse vanishes  is slightly more entertaining than bottom  of  the  barrel dreck like  the invisible ghost  and  the ape man   but it  s no classic . bela lugosi  long past his  dracula  heyday  plays yet another mad doctor the unbearable elizabeth russell plays his wife . they sleep in coffins because  as lugosi explains to a doubtful young female reporter  luana walters   a coffin is much more comfortable than a bed . ho hum . angelo rossitto and minerva urecal are also on hand  which might please hardcore fans of    s and    s films .  
every time i watch this movie i am more impressed by the whole production . i have come to the conclusion that it is the best romantic comedy ever made . everyone involved is perfect script  acting  direction  sets and editing . whilst james stewart can always be relied upon for a good performance  and the supporting cast are magnificent  it is margaret sullavan who reveals what an underrated actress she was . her tragic personal life give poignancy to her qualities as a performer where comedy acting skills are not easy to achieve . lubitsch managed to get the best and he obviously gave his best . watch for the number of scenes which were done on one take  breathtaking .  
brides are dying at the altar  and their corpses are disappearing . everybody is concerned  but nobody seems to be able to figure out why and how this is happening  nor can they prevent it from happening . bear with me . bela lugosi is responsible for this  as he is extracting spinal fluid from these young women to transfuse his ancient wife and keep her alive . continue to bear with me . finally  the authorities figure out that somebody must be engineering the deaths and disappearances  but of course  they can  t figure out the improbable motive . let  s just ignore the ludicrous pseudoscience and move on . . . if you can get through the first twenty minutes of this mess  you will be treated to lugosi whipping his lab assistant for disrespecting one of the brides he has murdered  explaining that he finds sleeping in a coffin much more comfortable than a bed  and other vague parodies of real horror films  the kind with budgets and plots  . anyhoo  a female journalist follows her nose to the culprit  and remarkably the inept police are nowhere to be seen    and then the fun really starts .  br    br   the cinematography and acting are ok . there are a lot of well dressed  very good looking people in this film . the directing is fair  and the script is a little better than the material deserved . nevertheless  this film fails to sustain the interest of all but the most hardened b  film fan . the best thing about it . . . . it does eventually end  but not soon enough .  
the shop around the corner is one of the sweetest and most feel  good romantic comedies ever made . there  s just no getting around that  and it  s hard to actually put one  s feeling for this film into words . it  s not one of those films that tries too hard  nor does it come up with the oddest possible scenarios to get the two protagonists together in the end . in fact  all its charm is innate  contained within the characters and the setting and the plot . . . which is highly believable to boot . it  s easy to think that such a love story  as beautiful as any other ever told  could happen to you . . . a feeling you don  t often get from other romantic comedies  however sweet and heart  warming they may be .  br    br   alfred kralik  james stewart  and clara novak  margaret sullavan  don  t have the most auspicious of first meetings when she arrives in the shop  matuschek  co .  he  s been working in for the past nine years  asking for a job . they clash from the very beginning  mostly over a cigarette box that plays music when it  s opened   he thinks it  s a ludicrous idea she makes one big sell of it and gets hired . their bickering takes them through the next six months  even as they both  unconsciously  of course   fall in love with each other when they share their souls and minds in letters passed through po box    . this would be a pretty thin plotline to base an entire film on  except that the shop around the corner is expertly fleshed  out with a brilliant supporting cast made up of entirely engaging characters  from the fatherly but lonely hugo matuschek  frank morgan  himself  who learns that his shop really is his home pirovitch  felix bressart   kralik  s sidekick and friend who always skitters out of the room when faced with the possibility of being asked for his honest opinion smarmy pimp  du  jour vadas  joseph schildkraut  who ultimately gets his comeuppance from a gloriously righteous kralik and ambitious errand boy pepi katona  william tracy  who wants nothing more than to be promoted to the position of clerk for matuschek  co . the unpretentious love story between  dear friends  is played out in this little shop in budapest  hungary  in which kralik  s unceremonious dismissal and subsequent promotion to shop manager help the two lovebirds  to  be along . it  s nice that everyone gets a story in this film the supporting characters are well  developed  and matuschek  s own journey in life is almost as touching as the one alfred and clara share . his invitation to new errand boy rudy  charles smith  for christmas eve dinner  made in the whirling  beautiful snow of a hungarian winter  makes the audience glad that he is not alone we come to care even for the characters whose love story it isn  t this film  s business to tell .  br    br   aside from the love story  i must say that james stewart is truly one of the best things about this film . he doesn  t play the full  fledged jimmy stewart persona in this film  c  f  mr smith goes to washington  for that   in fact alfred kralik is prickly and abrupt and not particularly kind . he  s rather a brusque man  in fact  with little hint  until  perhaps  the very end  of the aw  shucks down  home boyish charm stewart would soon come to patent . when he finds out before clara that they have been corresponding in secret  in fact  kralik doesn  t  fess up   he waits it out to see how far he can take the charade  especially since he quickly realises  given his stormy relationship with clara as boss and underling  that loving the person he knows through the exchanged letters might not equate with loving the person herself . his description to clara of the fictional matthias popkin  what a name   who was to become her fiance is hilarious in the extreme  but also his way of proving that the letters don  t reveal all there is to a man  just as her letters don  t reveal all there is to her . stewart plays this role perfectly   he keeps his face perfectly controlled whenever clara insults mr . kralik  as she is often wont to do  even  and especially  to his face . and yet one believes  underneath the brusqueness and professionalism  that he could reveal his identity with as much earnestness and sincerity and sheer hope as he eventually does .  br    br   special mention must be given to the other members of the cast as well . margaret sullavan fares rather less well in the first half of the film  but she really comes into her own in the closing  shop scene on christmas eve  when she almost gets her heart broken again by alfred  s most vivid description of her mailbox sweetheart . frank morgan turns in a great performance as the jealous hugo matuschek driven to nervous breakdown  the man who has to rediscover his meaning in life when he realises that his wife of   years does not want to  grow old with him  . and felix bressart plays the role of the meek but loyal pirovitch wonderfully  a lubitsch regular  since he appears as a hilarious russian ambassador in ninotchka    of particular note is the scene in which he helps his good friend alfred get the christmas present the latter really wants . . . a wallet instead of that ludicrous cigarette box clara is so hung up on .  br    br   ernst lubitsch really does himself proud with this film   for example  the famously lavish and meticulous care given to detail in the creation of the matuschek shop is well worth the effort  right down to the hungarian names on the door  the wares and the cash register and so on . but even though lubitsch chose to have the story set in hungary  the setting is actually universal it could happen anywhere it could happen to you . therein lies the charm of this simple story  these believable characters who really are people . the snow on christmas eve is real as well  or at least as real as lubitsch could make it  he had snow machines brought in at great expense  . it is this desire to make everything appear as real as possible that helps make the story even more believable  that gives this entire film a dreamy realism that cannot be replicated .  no  not even in a remake like you  ve got mail .   br    br   this is really the jimmy stewart christmas film that people are missing out on when they talk about it  s a wonderful life . not to detract from the merits of that other film  but there  d be no harm  and in fact a lot of good  done in watching the shop around the corner this christmas instead . it  s sweet  funny  charming  and stewart is impeccable in his role . we should all be so lucky as to have the romance depicted in this film the best thing about this film is that we come away from it feeling that we very possibly could .  
what can i say about seven pounds . . . well i watched on a flight from seattle to tokyo and as that flight was long and boring the movie definitely didn  t help . will smith  s character ben thomas is almost completely unlikable even with his redemption in the end . the movie  s two hour plus run time wastes most of the screen time with random garbage that just strings the plot along as slow as possible . in the movies defense rosario dawson  s character adds a little life to the film although not much . i don  t understand how anyone could actually cry during this film when all i wanted to do was turn it off . also will smith kills himself with a jellyfish at the ended proving that killing yourself with a jellyfish is the stupidest way to die .  
  the shop around the corner  is one of the great films from director ernst lubitsch . in addition to the talents of james stewart and margaret sullavan  it  s filled with a terrific cast of top character actors such as frank morgan and felix bressart . they  re the type of character actors that hollywood sadly no longer employs . in fact  the film itself is the kind of movie that hollywood doesn  t make anymore .  the makers of  you  ve got mail  claim their film to be a remake  but that  s just nothing but a lot of inflated self praise .  anyway  if you have an affection for romantic comedies of the      s  you  ll find  the shop around the corner  to be nothing short of wonderful . just as good with repeat viewings . enjoy   
seven pounds emotionally flat  illogical  morally disturbing  br    br   the movie was distributed in italy as  seven souls  . i was curious about the original title and  after some research  i found out that it refers to shakespeare  s merchant of venice  where the usurer shylock makes a terrible bond with the merchant antonio  who will have to give him a  pound  of his flesh  in case he is not able to repay his debt . whereas the italian translation makes ben  s plan something deeply human  characterized by human sympathy  the original one  though cultivated enough to remain unperceived by anyone  makes it  just in its reference to the flesh  something cold  rational  deep  rooted in the physical side of man . unfortunately  i think that the real quality of ben  s plan is revealed by the original title it  a a cold machination  aimed at  donating  parts of his body  but lacking any authentic human empathy  at least the audience is not given the chance to see or perceive any pure relation of souls within the whole movie . the only exception is the love  story with the girl  which seems to be a sort of non  programmed incident  to which ben yields  but incapable of conveying true emotional involvement . i really didn  t like the idea at the core of the movie the idea that a person  however devoured by the pain for the death of his beloved and of other people he himself has caused  takes the resolute decision to expiate his sense of guilt through suicide besides being improbable  it makes no sense . i would have liked  and i think it would have been more positive if  in the end  ben had decided to abandon the idea of committing suicide and go on living  thus helping those same people  and maybe many more  just standing near them  and helping them through his presence . he wouldn  t have saved their lives miraculously  of course this would have probably caused more suffering  but i think it could have been more constructive from a human  and moral point of view . there are many illogical and disturbing things the initial reference to god  s creation in seven days  which  by the way  according to the bible  are six    what does it mean  and what about a woman suffering from heart  disease which prevents her from running and even from singing without feeling bad  who can have normal sex with a man who  feeling  as it should be  destroyed by the death of his wife and having donated organs and pieces of his body  doesn  t seem to feel so much tried  both emotionally and physically  from his impaired condition  the movie is saved by good acting  but all the rest is pure nonsense  not only from a logical point of view  but also from a human and emotional one .  
as a study of the frailties of human nature in the context of old age  this film is without parallel . it is  quite simply  brilliant . full marks to everyone  from the scriptwriter to all involved in the finished product . you can only marvel at the perceptions inherent in the characterisation of the two ageing performers .  
hilariously obvious  drama  about a bunch of high school  i think  kids who enjoy non  stop hip  hop  break dancing  graffiti and trying to become a dj at the roxy   or something . to be totally honest i was so bored i forgot  even people who love the music agree this movie is terribly acted and   as a drama   failed dismally . we  re supposed to find this kids likable and nice . i found them bland and boring . the one that i really hated was ramon . he does graffiti on subway trains and this is looked upon as great . excuse me  he  s defacing public property that isn  t his to begin with . also these  great  kids tap into the city  s electricity so they can hold a big dance party at an abandoned building . uh huh . so we  re supposed to find a bunch of law breakers lovable and fun .  br    br   i could forgive all that if the music was good but i can  t stand hip hop . the songs were   at best   mediocre and they were nonstop  they  re always playing  it got to the point that i was fast  forwarding through the many endless music numbers .  cut out the music and you haver a   minute movie   maybe  there are a few imaginative numbers   the subway dance fight  a truly funny santa number and the climatic roxy show . if you love hip hop here  s your movie . but it you  re looking for good drama mixed in   forget it . also how did this get a pg rating  there  s an incredible amount of swearing in this .  
james stewart and margaret sullavan play co  workers in a budapest gift shop who don  t really like each other  not knowing they  re really sweetheart pen pals who have yet to meet .  br    br   a very charming romantic comedy  very engagingly played by it  s two likable stars and a very eager  to  please supporting cast . the story is well written and the film has that romantic innocence  don  t quite know how to explain it  that films today just don  t have . this can obviously be compared to the recent you  ve got mail  and the original wins in every way .  br    br   this is mandatory viewing each christmas  i can  t think of a better way to jumpstart a christmas feel than this little gem .  
i considered myself to be quite melancholy  especially when i watch a great touching and tear  jerking movies . but not for this one  which surprised me   and it is also really surprising me to see how many people praised this movie so highly .  br    br   there are several disturbing facts throughout the movies  . despite guilt  ridden ben  s real intention to save  lives to redeem his past  i find it disturbing that the film seems encourage this type of suicidal action . some people may perceive this is a heroic action and some others think he behaves cowardly  in the end this was a disturbing action to me .  br    br    . the movie story line is over  dramatized  but the logic is over  simplified . medically  blood type match is required to be an organ donor . toward the end of the film we learnt that emily had rear blood type that limited her chance to get the donor within short time period . nevertheless  it seemed that ben had the rare blood type  same as hers which allowed him to be her donor and conveniently  despite the rarity of ben  s blood type  he was able to donate not only his heart  but also his kidney  his cornea and his bone marrow which in all cases require not only matching blood type but also tissue antigen .  br    br    . why the doctors allow ben  s organs being donated despite the jellyfish venom he used to kill himself   br    br   i might be over  analyzing the whole story as after all this is just a movie . however  some disturbing facts outlined above hopefully will help you reconsider your plan to go to watch this movie . if you go for a soap  opera type of film  go for it . but it you go seeking for an intelligent entertainment  give this one a miss   
this is a beautiful movie that is wonderfully acted by all players . it will make you laugh and it will make you cry . the very end of the movie gets me to mist up every time . if you want to see a great movie  this is it . jimmy stewert supplies a wonderfully witty performance and frank morgan as mr . matuschek is spellbinding . morgan  s diversity of character is nothing short of amazing . william tracy as pepi is terrific comic relief and delivers some of the movies most important lines and performances . felix bressart delivers a fantastic performance as perovitch  a stumbling bumbling shop worker who  s life  s ambition is to please those he works with . it is a simple story of how close co  workers can become and how two people who have great animosity towards each other fall in love though unusual circumstances .  
quite frankly it seemed like seven hours of boredom as well . what is it  what is it about will smith that i just can  t stand any longer  i guess he just seems too hellbent on being taken seriously and obtaining an oscar . i understand how bias this is  but unless he undergoes some new acting lessons i can  t ever see him winning one . he  s a huge name and is therefore generally confused with being a talented and diverse actor . he  s just not . i give him credit for trying so hard  and being able to cry at the drop of a hat . that  s about it .  br    br   seven pounds was kind of an eyeroller for me  right from the start . the suicide    call didn  t intrigue me in any way . i wasn  t curious to know why he was calling in his own suicide . there were absolutely no surprises . the best i can say is that will smith and rosario dawson had some decent on screen chemistry . also  i don  t know her name  but the hispanic woman did an excellent job with her role as a scared and beaten wife . woody harrelson had very limited screen time  but i  d say he stole the show whenever he was on .  br    br   all in all  just an extremely run of the mill unoriginal plot . i couldn  t help asking myself the whole way through why i cared about any of these people . never once felt sorry for  tim  ben  . he killed himself with a jellyfish  was the only survivor in an  person accident  geewiz . . didn  t see any of that coming . . .  br    br       is pretty generous .  
back in the day of the big studio system  the darndest casting decisions were made . good old all american james stewart appearing as a hungarian in the shop around the corner . had i been casting the film  the part of kralik would have been perfect for charles boyer . his accent mixed in with all the other european accents would have been nothing . stewart had some of the same problem in the mortal storm also with margaret sullavan .  br    br   margaret sullavan was his most frequent leading lady on the screen  he did four films with her . but is only this one where neither of them dies . sullavan and her husband leland heyward knew stewart back in the day when he was a struggling player in new york . in fact sullavan  s husband was stewart  s good friend henry fonda back then .  br    br   i think only clark gable was able to carry off being an american in a cast of non  americans in mutiny on the bounty . stewart in the mortal storm was german  but all the other players were american as well so nothing stood out .  br    br   but if you can accept stewart  than you  ll be seeing a fine film from ernest lubitsch . the plot is pretty simple  a man and woman working in a department store in budapest don  t get along in person . but it seems that they are carrying on a correspondence with some anonymous admirers which turn out to be each other . also employer frank morgan suspects stewart wrongly of kanoodling with his wife .  br    br   though the leads are fine and frank morgan departs from his usual befuddled self  the two players who come off best are felix bressart and joseph schildkraut . bressart has my favorite moments in the film when he takes off after morgan starts asking people for opinions . he makes himself very scarce .  br    br   and joseph schildkraut  who is always good  is just great as the officious little worm who is constantly kissing up to frank morgan . you really hate people like that  i  ve known too many like schildkraut in real life who are at office politics   hours a day . sad that it pays off a good deal of the time .  
although in some aspects seven pounds is solid and interesting in some of its narrative style  gabriele muccino  s project is rather mediocre . the movie becomes more and more sappy and manipulative as it move toward the end hearts human and emotional  eyes physical and metaphorical . seven pounds is more of an amateurish imitation of alejandro gonzlez irritu  s amores perros and   grams  with lots and lots of flashbacks . the problem is the story is quite predictable from very easily on through the movie . that  s too bad  because seven pounds could have been as authentically  good  if ben and emily had been put in the right hands .  
of the three remakes of this plot  i like them all  i have all three on vhs and in addition have a copy of this one on dvd . there is just enough variation in the scripts to make all three entertaining and re  watchable . in addition has any other film been remade three times with such all star casts in each  of course the main stars in this one are great  but the supporting actors are also superb . i particularly like william tracy as pepi . he was such a scene stealer that i have searched to find other movies he is in . he appeared in many  but most are not available . as the other comments  i also say  buy this one .  
i go to ucsb and take some classes with the executive producer  alison anders . she  s a superb teacher and director so anything she put her name on  i thought must be pretty good . this film as a selection at the santa barbara film festival seemed like a good choice .  br    br   while this movie included some nice shots and cinematography  the lack of story and coherence really took away from anything the it was attempting to accomplish . my main problem was that this was someone  s first film and you could obviously tell . bad acting and an even worse screenplay stopped this film from getting off the ground . the soundtrack had some nice music that gave a sense of the main characters struggle to cope with the sadness that lead to his leaving and now returning the place he grew up . i just have to say that despite some of the better craft of the film  it  s lack of story and performance really prevented it from being some good .  
this is a truly classic movie in its story  acting  and film presentation . wonderful actors are replete throughout the whole movie  miss sullivan  and jimmy stewart being the foremost characters . in real life she greatly admired  and liked jimmy  and indeed gave him his basically first acting roles  and helped him be more calm with his appearance on the set . the  chemistry  between the two was always apparent  and so warm and enjoyable to behold . she was such a beautiful  young woman  and so sweet in her personality portrayals . the story of these two young people  and how they eventually come together in the end is charming to watch  and pure magical entertainment . heart warming presentations are also given by the other supporting actors in this marvelous story  movie . i whole heartily give miss sullivan a perfect   in this golden age cinema classic  that has a special appeal for all generations . a must see for all   
this film concerns the story of eddy as mentioned in the title and his homecoming to old friends in a seaside community . the plot involves the group of friends as it comes to light that eddy left as a means to deal with death of a friend in which he feels in some way responsible . but this is inconsequential  as the choices made in the production are extremely poor and not fully realized . screenplays not always need be  chatty   but they should at least assist the development of the story . here one line attempts such as  he just took off  or  i know you don  t have love in heart  just do fully evoke something worth the audience  s time . also whenever the writer feels at a loss to where to go to next he cuts to a music montage of the protagonist walking through fields to some indie mood music . talk about trying to hard . if you are interested in a good film  the type that gives quality and substance over just style then this is not the film for you .  
this  despite not being the original  it began life as a play in central europe  has weathered the several incarnations that followed  mgm  s own remake with period songs in the good old summertime  the broadway show she loves me  even the excellent theatre revival in paris a couple of years ago  and remains the definitive version and the one they all have to beat . several previous commenters have identified the contributing factors that make it so successful and memorable not least being the prevailing fashion in   s and   s hollywood for lavishing attention and detail on ensemble playing rather than just two leads as so often happens today  try  for example  removing ugarte  ferrari  renault etc from casablanca and yes you  d still have rick and ilsa and viktor lazslo but they  d just be frosting without the rich cake mixture below . jimmy stewart and maggie sullavan were both ideal and irreplaceable leads but how much brighter they shine when their performances are reflected in those of frank morgan  felix bressart  joseph schildkraut and andy hardy  s sara haden and this is before we factor in that lubitsch  touch  . okay  maybe they were a tad more naive  innocent even  in that jurassic age but how many genuine film lovers  sated with scatology  screwing and in  your  face sex  turn back to those days of stories  style  slickness and skill and wallow in great movies like this one . by far the best thing about this technological age is not csi but dvd that can at one and the same time make these classics available to nostalgics and show the matrix freaks how the big boys used to do it .  
if i hadn  t been forced to watch this for work reasons i never would have made it past the first   minutes . and even then i admit i fast forwarded through parts . the    film version was vastly superior in all regards . yes  i  ve read this one is more faithful to the original play  but what a wise thing it was for the writer to change the script in     it  s overlong  it drags  the songs that are in this version and not in the film version are boring and unimaginative . the version of  kids  in the    version was very funny and a true classic of sarcastic parent humor . in this version the kim is way too old  the conrad is absolutely horrible to behold  when someone ripped his shirt off him i shuttered in disgust . . . the director of this version has no idea what sexy is .  . this conrad can  t dance  can  t sing  he can  t even stay in tune  and is simply repulsive . if elvis presley had really been like that his career would have been over before it began . as for the other actors  well i kept waiting for alexander  s toupee to fall off as he danced and daly was totally over acting as momma . see stapleton  s performance in the film version to see the same role properly executed by someone who understands comic timing . this tv version is nothing but a total waste of anyone  s time .  
much about love  life can be learned from watching the folks at the shop around the corner .  br    br   ernst lubitsch had another quiet triumph added to his credit with this lovely film . with sparkling dialogue  courtesy of his longtime collaborator samson raphaelson  and wonderful performances from a cast of abundantly talented performers  he created a truly memorable movie . always believing in playing up to the intelligence of his viewers  and favoring sophistication over slapstick  the director concocted a scintillating cinematic repast seasoned with that elusive  enigmatic quality known as the lubitsch touch .   br    br   although the story is set in budapest  and there is a jumble of accents among the players  this is of no consequence . the beautiful simplicity of the plot is that any great american city or small town could easily be the locus for the action .  br    br   jimmy stewart  margaret sullavan are wonderful as the clerks in love with romance and then with each other  without knowing it . their dialogue  so adeptly handled as to seem utterly natural  perfectly conveys their confusion  quiet desperation as they seek for soul mates . theirs is one of the classic love stories of the cinema .  br    br   cherubic frank morgan has a more serious role than usual  that of a man whose transient importance in his little world is shattered when he finds himself to be a cuckold . an accomplished scene stealer  he allows no emotion to escape unvented . additionally  morgan provides the film with its most joyous few moments  near the end  when he determines that his store  s newest employee  an impoverished youth  enjoys a memorable christmas eve .  br    br   joseph schildkraut adds another vivid depiction to his roster of screen portrayals  this time that of a toadying  sycophantic lothario who thoroughly deserves the punishment eventually meted out to him . gentle felix bressart has his finest film role as a family man who really can not afford to become involved in shop intrigues  yet remains a steadfast friend to stewart .  br    br   sara haden graces the small role of a sales clerk . william tracy is hilarious as the ambitious errand boy who takes advantage of unforeseen developments to leverage himself onto the sales force .  br    br   in tiny roles  charles halton plays a no  nonsense detective and edwin maxwell appears as a pompous doctor . movie mavens will recognize mary carr  mabel colcord  both uncredited  in their single scene as miss sullavan  s grandmother  aunt .  
jason alexander is a wonderful actor  but it  s ridiculous to cast him as a cuddly romantic lead . the fact that he dances so well  croons so effectively  and throws himself into the part so completely somehow just made him seem all the more creepy . in his more cutesy moments  with the girl in the train station  in the final number with rosie   i couldn  t take my eyes off him he was so repellent . you keep expecting him to drop the nice  guy act and start snarling . vanessa williams was the real star  the only performance that was better than the     movie . by the way  if you see a production of the stage musical  the     movie and this     movie  you  ll see three versions that have more revisions  different songs  same songs assigned to different characters and in different situations  than any other musical i  ve ever seen .  
calling this a romantic comedy is accurate but nowadays misleading . the genre has sadly deteriorated into cliches  too focused on making the main couple get together and with very little room for ambience and other stories  making it formulaic and overly predictable .  br    br   the shop around the corner does not suffer from these illnesses it manages to create a recognisably middle  eastern  european atmosphere and has a strong cast besides the  also strong  nominal leads i avoid using the words  supporting cast  as for example mr . matuschek  frank morgan  has a central role to the film and his story is equally if not more important than the romance .  br    br   the     film you  ve got mail borrowed the  anonymous pen  pal  idea from this film and has therefore been billed as a remake . this is not correct and in fact unfair to the new movie  it shares the genre and borrows a plot element  but that is all .  
why  because for one reason  there has never been a more adorable scene in any film than ann margret singing  bye bye birdie  at the opening . she reprises it again at the ending  too  in a different mood   . both wonderful . rent it and see . even if that  s all of it that you watch . you  ll agree  i  m sure .  br    br   everything about the original was so excellent it just didn  t need a remake  sorry  jason and vanessa gave commendable performances  as well as tyne and chynna . in fact  all the actors and singers in this new version were giving their  all   but it  s like trying to improve on  casablanca    it just can  t be done  it  s even annoying finding yourself comparing the two mentally as you try to appreciate the remake  and it just falls short  through no fault of the actors .  
i just watched this on turner classic movies last night  for the first time ever seeing it  and i loved it . i like lots of the older films  especially because of the absence of all the filthy language  and excessive violence  nudity and sex in most of today  s films . i also think they were made much better in many  but not all  cases . jimmy stewart is a special favorite of mine . i just thought this movie was a lot of fun to watch  and i enjoyed it thoroughly . if you feel the same way about the older films i don  t think you can go wrong with this one . i believe  you  ve got mail  is a remake  even though slightly different and also a very enjoyable film .  of this film . for a relaxing evening with a movie you don  t have to be ashamed of if your kids or anyone walks in on your viewing  get this  or catch it on one of the classic movie channels .  
needless remake  and it can  t come close to capturing the charm of the original . the extreme length causes more than a few yawn inducing parts . this version is ridiculously politically correct . the film lacks style  and mostly it lacks talent  not just with the acting  but the direction  sets  costumes etc . are all below par . it has a blatant disregard for period detail . vanessa williams is the only cast member that shows any flair  tyne daly isn  t too bad . they should have left well enough alone . the singing ranges good  vanessa williams  to poor  everyone else  . watch the original     version and skip this one . there is not much here to recommend .  
sweet romantic drama  comedy about stewart and sullavan writing love letters to each other without either one knowing who the other is . naturally  they work together and can  t stand each other . you can guess the rest . it  s beautifully acted by the entire cast  especially sullavan  stewart and frank morgan   has a witty  intelligent script and looks absolutely stunning . it takes place in budapest and was shot in hollywood  but i found myself believing i was seeing budapest  everything looks so perfect and dream  like . a one of a kind film . don  t miss it   
in my humble opinion  this version of the great bdwy musical has only two things going for it  tyne daly and the fact that there is now a filmed version with the original script .  ok vanessa williams is good to watch .  but to me that  s all there is . most of the cast seem to be walking through the show  chynna phillips has no idea who kim really is and no wonder people walk over harry mcafee when it  s played by george wendt who looks like he  d rather be back on a bar stool in boston . jason alexander is passable  but that wig has to go and i saw better dancing in bugsy malone . as i mentioned  it  s good to have a version of the stage script now  but i hope the young out there  who have never seen a musical  don  t judge them all by this .  
much like the comedy duo of its title   the sunshine boys  has become a forgotten classic    odd years later . it  s hardly mentioned alongside other great film comedies of the     s . this makes no sense given the singular specialness of this film  perhaps the best neil simon ever wrote .  br    br   walter matthau plays willy clark  once half of a legendary vaudeville comedy known as lewis and clark  now a bitter    year  old solo act who can  t get a job in a potato chip commercial . his nephew and agent ben  richard benjamin  is sure he can get work if willy will only agree to reunite with his estranged partner al lewis  george burns  for an abc  tv celebration of show business nostalgia .  br    br   nostalgia is what  sunshine boys  has going for it in spades  right from the start when a series of     s film clips showcasing various entertainers from long ago flickers before us to the accompaniment of cole porter  s  be a clown  . then there  s the film  s present  day setting in manhattan  where flared trousers and wide polyester ties abound . the periods collide in willy  s glorious mess of a manhattan apartment  where framed photos and cartoons of long  dead celebrities stare out from the walls at lurid tabloid headlines and empty zabar grocery bags . if you were alive in the     s like me  you might even feel like you were in that apartment .  br    br   willy clearly has been living there too long . he  s sleeping in front of the television when the kettle in the other room boils . willy wakes up and picks up the phone .  br    br    hello  who is this   a pause .  never mind  it  s the tea .   br    br   old men living alone can be sad material in almost anyone else  s hands  but simon  s deft wit and unerring feeling for character turns this adaptation of his     stage hit into comedy gold . the amazing thing about  the sunshine boys  is how much it rubs your noses in willy  s almost existential condition without turning you off at all .    years old and just like that  he dies of nothing   willy says of one old songwriting friend  before deciding the man probably died from writing a song that rhymed  lady  with  baby  .  br    br   burns won an oscar for his understated performance as the gentle but steely lewis  but it  s matthau who brings this one home  his make  up and proud but ragged bearing really selling you on the idea he was already   when he made this . willy is obnoxious in the extreme  fully deserving ben  s description  crazy freakin  old man   but you root for him throughout  enjoying his small victories even when they come at the cost of others  patience . his lines kill you  too  especially when he  s trying to kill lewis  for whom the tv reunion turns out to be a bad idea .  br    br    you  re out of touch   willy tells lewis at one point .  i  m still in demand . i  m still hot    br    br    if this room was on fire you wouldn  t be hot   lewis replies .  br    br   director herbert ross shoots everything in a very casual and understated way  with low lighting and mid  range shots even in emotional moments so as to leave room for the comedy and the film  s overall zen message of grace through quiet acceptance . you never get the feeling you are watching a movie  one of  the sunshine boys  many charms  and ross  s direction  like the acting of the three principals  goes a long way toward achieving that end .  br    br   comedy is hard  especially when the subjects are people watching life pass them by  but  the sunshine boys  makes it all seem a pleasure  because  for us watching  it is .  
closer to reality and containing more depth than  breakdance   stan lathan  s  beat street  is still a pretty dull show . again this pic is really only cashing in on the  breakin  craze but at least we get a little bit of entertainment from the plot  which concerns the lives of three young friends and a younger brother  all growing up in queens  new york . each has their own unique talent . one is a hustler  one a d . j .  another an artist who creates  burners   while little bro  lee is a hot  hip hop  dancer .  br    br   lathan is unable to generate any real audience interest in the story though  and his young cast are likewise struggling with their characters . therefore it is left almost entirely to the funky music and the  fresh  dancing to save the day .  br    br   choreography is again sharp for both club and street scenes  but this alone is not enough to lift   beat street  to greater heights . unfortunately the film really falls flat late on  after showing a glimmer of hope that it just might get interesting .  br    br   sunday  august         video  
a wonderful film  filled with great understated performance and sharp  intelligent dialogue . what really distinguishes the film  however  is that undercurrent of sadness throughout . the story is underscored by affairs  loneliness  suicide  disappointment  the fear of losing ones job in a world where that had disastrous consequences . most of all it was set in a world that no longer existed  having been ripped apart by the beginning of world war ii . in fact  the film is barely a comedy at all if you compare the percentage of serious scenes to the comic scenes . yet funny it is   listen to margaret sullivan  s harsh dismissal of jimmy stewart and watch his pained expression as he replies that her comments were a remarkable blend  of poetry and meanness  . it  s funny  pointed  and sad all at once . a remarkable achievement and one of the ten greatest screen comedies ever made .  
i guess i am coming late to the party . i just saw this     version of bye bye birdy on sky tv . i didn  t know it existed and was fully prepared to see the     film version when i turned it on .  br    br   i played albert a long time ago and i am thinking of putting on an amateur production of the show because i remembered it as being so much fun to do . i was not impressed with this newer version . it just wasn  t enough fun . it was not colorful . it lacked the exuberance of youth . the lighting was bad . no one seemed to mention this fact . this is not a moody musical  it is bright and up beat . the lighting decision was a poor creative choice .  br    br   bye bye birdy is a farce  a comedy of errors . i got no sense of that in this version . the lighting was awful and it dulled the overall performances . the dance numbers seemed anemic as well . we do have music videos these day . at least the dance numbers should have measured up to some of the best of those  or how about some of the best of broadway . the choreographer was asleep at the wheel it seemed .  br    br   although all the actors were supremely talented  there were some really bad casting choices . vanessa williams is not latin  and with so many talented latin performers out there  wouldn  t it have been more correct to cast one of them in the role of rosie . vanessa is african american  lovely and talented  but bad casting . jason alexander  s effort was astounding  he always does intelligent work  but he just wasn  t albert . he was miscast and i think that is obvious to most people who see this version .  br    br   the medium of film is not the medium of stage . there needs to be translation from one medium to another . the exuberance and the flash of stage musical must be translated to film . there is no merit being faithful to a stage script when it is being filmed . the spirit  the essence of the production must be brought forth . to me the     film production of bye bye birdy was bright and lively  while the     production was as gloomy as the lighting and as lackluster as the dance numbers . it turned out to be an unfortunate waste of effort by many really talented people .  
this is a movie that gets better each time i see it . there are so many nuanced performances in this . william tracey  as pepi  is a delight  bringing sharp comic relief . joseph schildkraut as vadas  is the only  villian  in the movie  and his oily charms are well used here . frank morgan  is delightful as the owner of the title shop  mr . matuschek  and his familiar manner is well used here . i especially liked the performance of felix bressart  as pirovitch . very believable in every facet of his role .  br    br   the two leads are equally accomplished  with margaret sullivan doing an outstanding job of portraying a slightly desperate  neurotic  yet charming and attractive woman .  br    br   this movie belongs to jimmy stewart though . the movie is presented from his point of view  with the action rotating around him . mr . stewart is more then up to the task of carrying the movie  with an amazing performance that uses a wide range of emotions . just watch stewart  when he is fired from his job  because of a misunderstanding . he is able to convey the shock  anger  fear and embarrassment that so traumatic an event causes  so perfectly . in my estimation  james stewart is  without question  the greatest film actor in the history of the medium . there is no one else that has ever been captured on film that is able to so completely convey what he is feeling to an audience . at the time he made this movie  he still had most of his career ahead of him  yet he is completely the master of his craft . this is one of jimmy stewarts best movies  and also one of the sweetest  most enjoyable romantic comedies you will find . i greatly recommend this movie  especially for those that appreciate the work of stewart .  
i wanted to see an action comedy with a satirical twist  as this film was touted  but this one failed me miserably . for me  the plot was a bit confusing to follow and i rapidly lost interest . i feel so sorry for john cusack  joan cusack  ben kingsley  marisa tomei and hillary duff for getting involved with this movie . i  ll remain a fan of all of them but only time can heal my feeling over this one . the one thing i can say positively about the film is that hillary played yonica  s character so well that i didn  t even recognize hillary it took me a few scenes to realize that it was her . luckily i rented it for   through red box had i paid to see it in on the big screen  i would be really fuming    
the cast really helps make this a pleasant surprise and a cut above the normal man  vs .  woman  argue  all  the  time  but  wind up  in love  type of hollywood screwball romance  comedy .  br    br   i usually don  t go for those type of films and that tiresome storyline but this one was refreshing  fun to watch  and oozes with charm .  br    br   jimmy stewart and margaret sullavan play off each other well and make a very handsome couple . the supporting cast is outstanding  from the always  likable felix bressart to the villain joseph schildkraut .  br    br   frank morgan also plays one of the most interesting characters i  ve ever seen him do in his career . he takes the film and turns it around into a whole different mood for awhile when something dramatic happens to him . that  twist  is another reason this film rises above others of its kind .  br    br   once again  when a film has a good mix of categories  it usually succeeds . this is a great example of that . in this movie  it  s romance  comedy and drama and it  s well done . i  ll take this over the re  make  you  ve got mail   any day . no comparison .  
this film tried to be too many things all at once stinging political satire  hollywood blockbuster  sappy romantic comedy  family values promo . . . the list goes on and on . it failed miserably at all of them  but there was enough interest to keep me from turning it off until the end .  br    br   although i appreciate the spirit behind war  inc .  it depresses me to see such a clumsy effort  especially when it will be taken by its targets to reflect the lack of the existence of a serious critique  rather than simply the poor writing  direction  and production of this particular film .  br    br   there is a critique to be made about the corporatization of war . but poking fun at it in this way diminishes the true atrocity of what is happening . reminds me a bit of three kings  which similarly trivializes a genuine cause for concern .  
i have lost count of just how many times i have seen this movie  i probably know the entire dialog backwards  yet i am drawn to it time and again .  br    br   set in hungary  a young jimmy stewart plays the eligible bachelor  kralik  who becomes the secret admirer of margaret sullavan  s innocent  klara  . kralik secretly becomes klara  s pen  friend  and at work together klara confides in kralik about the content of his  kralik  s  letters . clearly kralik is besotted with klara  but is unable to make his feelings known whilst he is in competition with the  pen  friend  . confused  well you wont be  this story has a sweet  almost sugary ending  but we all know it is the ending we all want .  br    br   other characters worth mentioning are frank morgan playing his usual role  this time as the shop  s owner  hugo matuschek   felix bressart as  pirovitch   kralik  s confidant . joseph schildkraut as the womanising arrogant  vadas   so well played that you cannot help but hate him right from the beginning .  br    br   finally william tracy who manages to endear himself to us all with his over  confident upstart of a shop junior  pepi katona  .  br    br   recently re  made as  you  ve got mail  starring tom hanks  meg ryan for me is not as good as the original  although i suspect younger audiences would disagree .  br    br   if this film is on in your area over christmas  i suggest you pour yourself a nice glass of wine  put a log on the fire and have a box of kleenex handy .  
first things first i  m not a conservative . and even though i would never refer to myself as a liberal or a democrat  i was opposed to the war in iraq from day one . i think it  s safe to say john cusack and i would probably see eye  to  eye on politics  in fact  i  m sure we  d become drinking buddies if we ever got to talking about how great adam curtis  bbc docs are . my point is this don  t discredit this review by thinking i  m not a part of the choir cusack is preaching to in war  inc . there  s no question wi  s politics are tailored to appeal to my demographic  but the problem is  the tailoring is substandard and the the film cusack co  wrote  produced and stars in  fits worse than a cheap suit .  br    br   as they say  the road to hell is paved with good intentions .  cusack  his co  writers  director joshua seftel and even the actors involved  no doubt had every intention of making an anti  war film every bit as biting and funny as robert altman  s mash  unfortunately for the viewer  they ended up with one as unfunny and unintelligent as michael moore  s canadian bacon .  br    br   the current state of us politics  foreign policy and the war  effort  is already absurd and  as a result  tragic  pathetic and  regrettably comical   just watch the daily show and see for yourself . the bottom line is you can  t write material as funny as what the bush administration provides us on a daily basis  so why try to compete   br    br   the main problem with wi is that it feels it was put together in a hurry . to get it done  cusack basically cannibalized grosse pointe blank  one of his best films   changed the setting and crammed in a shopping list of ideas lifted from the collected works of naomi klein . most of these ideas are rammed down your throat in the first twenty minutes of the film and what makes them so obnoxious is none of the jokes or gags or deliberately obvious references to halliburton  the neo  cons and the us occupation of iraq  are imaginative  clever or funny . the writers are so blinded by their own dogma they felt that by simply referencing these issues the film would be funny and subversive . the trouble is . . . it isn  t . by now these ideas are yesterday  s news and unless you  ve been living under or rock or are so blinded by ignorance  denial and sheer stupidity  read a right  wing christian   these jokes insultingly simple .  br    br   perhaps wi would work if it was more nuanced  subversive  offensive and fattened up with detailed research  insights into the occupation . as it is  the jokes and sight gags are all surface and are so bad  with so little finesse  subtlety or satirical wickedness  they did little more than make me groan . homer simpson once said  it  s funny  cause it  s true  and the daily show proves this every night war  inc . however proves that just because it  s true doesn  t make it funny . the bottom line hyperbole isn  t required when it comes to lampooning us  neo  conservative politics . . . it  s already a big enough joke .  br    br   http   eattheblinds . blogspot . com   
ernst lubitsch  s contribution to the american cinema is enormous . his legacy is an outstanding group of movies that will live forever  as is the case with  the shop around the corner  . this film has been remade into other less distinguished movies and a musical play  without the charm or elegance of mr . lubitsch  s own  and definite version .  br    br   margaret sullavan and james stewart worked in several films together . their characters in this movie stand out as an example of how to be in a movie without almost appearing to be acting at all . both stars are delightful as the pen pals that don  t know of one another  but who fate had them working together in the same shop in budapest .  br    br   the reason why these classic films worked so well is the amazing supporting casts the studios put together in picture after picture . in here  we have the wonderful frank morgan  playing the owner of the shop . also  we see joseph schildkraut  felix bressart  william tracy and charles smith  among others  doing impressive work in making us believe that yes  they are in budapest .  br    br   that is why these films will live forever   
with this cast and budget you will expect more .  br    br   john cusack has made a number movies that border on the strange  yet still work . neither he  his sister  nor sir ben could do anything to save this travesty of trite poorly written garbage .  br    br   the movie is nothing more than a series of sight gags and poor ones at that . the plot goes nowhere  the writing is contrived  senseless and the characters paper thin . if you think of a movie as being three dimensional where the story and characters bring a depth to the imagery  this stinker comes across as flat as steamboat mickey .  br    br   dan akroyd  s appearance in this brought back memories of another truly awful movie       s nothing but trouble . frankly this movie is the type of project that kills careers and gets agents fired .  
shall we dance is an excellent film because it shows how something  like dancing  can rejuvenate the life flow in the human spirit .  br    br   dance is seen as the expression of existence  and the birth of individuality . the is certainly the case with aoki . at work he is a humble office denizen  but place him on the dance floor and all his bottled up intensity is released . surprisingly  this release is frowned upon in japan  due to the rigid culture of conformity . at the start of the film  all the characters are ashamed or frightened of their desire to dance . they will be scorned  or deemed perverted  for expressing their passion through dance .  br    br   this film is well worth watching to witness the rebirth of human emotions and passions . it will leave a smile on your face for days .  
just utter trash . i  m a huge fan of the cusacks  this being the sole reason i watched this movie  but the only reason i can see for their presence was the reprise  in complete and depth less quality  their exact roles from grosse point blanc . apart from that  the films  role as a political satire fails miserably as being too obvious for even the most moronic out there to serve any purpose . and to bill it as a satirical satire would be just plain insulting even to chimps . imitation is  apparently the highest form of flattery  but seeing as though this is nothing near grosse point blanc and in the same league as meet the  watch if your a moron  spartans in terms of political satire  lets leave well enough alone and let this one fade into the obscurity it absolutely deserves .  
i thought this film was just about perfect . the descriptions  summaries you  ll read about this movie don  t do it justice . the plot just does not sound very interesting  but it is . just rent it and you will not be sorry    
quite possibly the worst movie that i have ever seen . when has hollywood ever made a successful movie that attacked republicans  why don  t they learn . the dixie chicks haven  t . these lefties live in their own elite bubble interacting among themselves oblivious to the fact that most of america is much further right than they are .  br    br   the best hollywood productions are not partisan and are rarely political at all .  br    br   dan akroyd  s imitation of cheney was bad .  br    br   i would have thought cussack could have landed better movies .  br    br   it wasn  t funny .  
this is far more than the charming story of middle  aged man discovering the pleasures of ballroom dancing  although it is that as well  . it  s the tale of one person learning to love life again  pushing past all the pressures of work and money to discover joy once more . the bonus in this film is a fascinating insight into the slowly changing attitudes of modern japan toward everything from ballroom dancing to physical contact . there are scenes that will make you laugh out loud . . . a few where you  ll want to get up and tango . . . and many others where you  ll just feel good .  br    br   this is a great introduction to contemporary japanese filmmaking for those who might be under the impression that all japanese movies are  heavy  and inaccessible .  br    br    
even the first   minutes of this movie were horrific . it  s hard to believe that anybody other than john cusack would have put money into this . with a string of anti  military  anti  war movies already being destroyed at the box office  it  s almost inconceivable that a studio of any kind would want itself associated with this script .  br    br   at first  it may have seemed like some kind of politically motivated derivative of grosse point blank with akroyd and cusack  s  all over again . but only about   seconds into the movie  it becomes obvious that this is a talentless attempt at dr strangelove .  br    br   i liked so many of cusacks movies that i thought i would risk seeing the dvd of this one . i have to say that i don  t know if cusack is sane enough for me to even watch another feature starring him again unless somebody else can vouch for it . cusack seems to be so irreparably damaged by his hatred for george bush and the iraq war that he is willing to commit career suicide . tom cruise was never close to being this far gone . not even close .  
this film revolves as much around japanese culture as it does the lives of one modern japanese family . physical contact is frowned upon for those over   especially in public  hence all that bowing instead of hugging even when you are close friends  relatives . ballroom dancing involves putting your arms around someone else and that in public too  never the less ballroom dancing is  on the quite  immensely popular . people who do ballroom dancing in japan are viewed a bit like nudists in the west . . . many more would like to than do but are inhibited by the culture . a delightful family film  which any amateur dancer would enjoy for the dance sequences alone . i understand that it was more popular than titanic in japan . i guess the japanese are just like the rest of us  they like to be hugged too .  
war  inc .  corporations take over war in the future and use a lone assassin brand hauser  john cusack  to do their wet  work against rival ceos . a dark comedy satirizing the military and corporations alike . it was often difficult to figure out what exactly was going on . i kept waiting for things to make sense . there  s no reason or method to the madness .  br    br   it  s considered by cusack to be the  spiritual successor  to grosse point blank . i . e .  war is more or less a knock  off . we again see cusack as an assassin protecting spoiler the person he  s supposed to kill as he grips with his conscience . to be fair  john cusack looks kind of credible taking out half a dozen guys with relative ease . the brief fights look good . the rest of the film does not . it  s all quirky often bordering on bizarre . war inc  s not funny enough to be a parody  and too buoyant for anyone to even think about whatever the film  s message might be  which i suppose might be the heartless ways that corporations  like war factions compete and scheme without a drop of consideration given to how they affect average citizens . interesting  but the satire just doesn  t work because it  s not funny and at its heart the film has no heart . we  re supposed to give a damn about how war affects cusack  s shell of a character rather than the millions of lives torn apart by war .  br    br   john cusack gives a decent performance . his character chugs shots of hot sauce and drives the tiniest private plane but quirks are meant to replace character traits . marisa tomei is slumming as the romantic sidekick journalist . there really isn  t a lot of chemistry between them . hilary duff tries a russian accent and doesn  t make a fool of herself . joan cusack just screams and whines and wigs out . blech . ben kingsley might have to return the oscar if he doesn  t start doling out a decent performance now and again . pathetic .  br    br   it  s not a terrible movie  but in the end you gotta ask  war  what is it good for   absolutely nothing . c   
i approached this film with low expectations but was very pleasantly surprised . it is very well done and it beats hands down the ballroom dancing movies of recent years  especially  strictly ballroom  . while the music is nice and the dancing colourful  for me the movie is not about dancing . it is about the very japanese institution that gives male office workers long commutes to work and free time after work for entertainment that does not involve their families . here we have the man with the complete family and the large mortgage and a flagging zest for life . he is drawn to the attractive image of a young woman in a dance studio he passes during his commute and this leads him to try ballroom dancing . also japanese is the fact that the lecherous motives that initiated his new passion are made plain but somehow accepted  at least eventually  by family and audience . attitudes to ballroom dancing  as conveyed in the film  are definitely non  western  though the discipline and the music are clearly cultural imports to japan . the cultural contrasts are thus intriguing . even without the cultural insights  the colour  the dance and the enthusiasm of the players all make this a fun film to watch .  
i really wanted to like this  but in the end it  s a poorly made film with too few laughs .  br    br   the politics are spot on  it  s gonna offend the hell out of republicans but that  s what it  s designed to do . that alone gives me reason to chuckle .  br    br   the problem is  it looks like it was made in a real hurry  like about a week  . and it contains a stupid subplot about some bimbo singer  which seems to be completely off topic .  br    br   turiqistan is obviously iraq  or afghanistan  or any other number of countries the us has fked with since the   s . the humour is a little dark  amputees dancing with prosthetic legs made by tamerlane corporation  but it is on the mark  especially with the corporations cashing in on the reconstruction   democracy lite     br    br   however like a lot of satire criticising the us  it seems terribly heavy handed and laboured . i guess it  s running counter to so much bs propaganda so it has to bludgeon people over the head to make a point . who knows . i prefer more of a nudge  wink approach  a bit of subtlety . but that  s just me .  br    br   anyway i might watch it again  perhaps i missed something .  br    br   i  m hoping  w  is more on the mark .  
walter matthau and george burns were a famous vaudeville comedy act  lewis and clark  who haven  t spoken in over   years . burns retired and matthau took it personally and has held a grudge ever since . such is the premise of this hilarious neil simon play made into a movie . of course  what makes it so good is matthau and burns in their prime  and the material is funnier than anything you can find today . richard benjamin shines as matthau  s nephew and agent . there  s even old clips of actual stars of the golden era to get you into the groove of the film  and character actor fritz feld starts it all off with a  pop .  rosetta lanoire  who started out in the   s in theater with orson welles and later was grandma on  family matters   is great in a small role .  br    br   the only problem i had with it  and maybe i  m being too picky and  or serious  is the way matthau treats burns when they first meet . granted  he  s had a lot of resentment festering in all these years  but some of the things he does would be considered rude or just plain bad manners taken out of context . also  i  m used to seeing matthau act that way in other movies  but not to george burns . and  matthau  s bellowing tends to get a little old .  br    br   all in all  if you need a consistently funny film to help and forget your troubles  put in  the sunshine boys .  they  ll lift your spirits and make you think of a simpler time and way of life .  br    br   benjamin  you have to slide it .   br    br   matthau  wait  wait . i think you have to slide it .   
yes  indeed  it could have been a good movie . a love biangle   sorry for the poetical license  but is not a triangle   an interesting story  unfortunately badly told . the image is sometimes weird  sometimes ok  the picture looks crowded and narrow  sighted . the sound needs more attention  it usually does in romanian movies   the light and color filters are sometimes badly chosen . the soundtrack is short and is not helping the action . about the acting . . . sorry but the best actress is the landlady . the others are acting immaturely and cannot convince the viewer . the acting is poetical when it should be realistic  and realistic when it should be poetical . it  s a picture for adults  told by the children . bother only if extremely curious .  
absolutely stunning  warmth for the head and the heart . the kind of movie western movie makers are too rushed  too frenetic to even attempt . my kids watched it  and they loved it too . what real people   goes to show you how cultural differences  the japanese setting  is less important than the human similarities . go see it  whether you like dancing or not .  
assassin hauser  s  john cusak  mission is to whack a mid  eastern oil minister  whose name happens to be omar sharif  neikov   in the country of turaqistan which is run by american interests . hauser poses as trade show producer to allow him to get to omar .  br    br   sometimes a satire can be so overdone it becomes most annoying . here it does too much the government  politics  music  war  people not generally accepted by society  and did i mention  war .  and  that is what we have here  a most annoying movie that borders on a very bad nightmare brought to life . i am still asking myself why i continued with the dvd . also  there are so many cusak family members in this that john cusak appears embarrassed by the family just being there  or is that just me   br    br   it used to be that a john cusak movie  while a little offbeat  was  in the end  rather good . not here . believe that john cusak had a hand in the writing and producing of this mess . make of that what you will .  br    br   there is too much going on in the movie accompanied by constant gun  fire  bombings  and shouting that you really cannot focus or was that the point  probably . it just takes too long to set up the hit  which is largely forgotten until the last    minutes . in the meantime we have meaningless banter among all in the cast . and  chemistry between john cusak and marisa tormei  i don  t think so  but you know the boy  girl thing and they needed something to take up more time .  br    br   yes  for what they were supposed to be   offbeat and annoying  the performances of duff  and kingsley were good . but  when i saw dan aykroyd  s character  in the beginning of the show  sitting on a toilet taking a dump  i knew the rest of the show would go to the tank as well . i was not wrong . i am sure some will sing praises of this effort  but if a rose is still a rose by any other name so  too  is a mess  br    br   i now remember why i continued with the dvd . i was hoping that the story would somehow level out and save itself . never did .  br    br   violence yes . sex no . nudity no . language yes .  
masayuki suo  who directed this fine film  is on a role . after the decent  fancy dance  and the classic  in japan  anyway  college  sumo comedy  shiko funjatta   suo has followed his own huge footsteps with a smashing success .  br    br   the story is engaging . we both laugh often  naoto takenaka is hilarious  as he is in suo  s two previous films  and really root for the characters . but to me the big bonus is the look this movie gives the viewer into japanese society  real life in japan . suo has a knack for showing real  life activities with entertaining flair . the result is a movie that will pull you in  make you laugh  make you think  and both entertain you and give you insight into today  s japan .  br    br   also look for the the main  actors from shiko funjatta  as they all appear again in various roles  from supporting characters  takenaka  to short cameos  many  .  
i had the displeasure of watching this movie with my girlfriend  who  like me  is a fan of the first . this movie down right sucked  it lacked the magic of the first . you could actually understand every word the mice said  the animation is crappy  the palace is much much different from the first movie  there  s new characters that were never mentioned before and were terrible  luckily the prince didn  t have many lines which kept him from sounding stupid . basically its like the lion king     except its different stories all told by the mice . the reason i  m giving this a  out of   is because the songs not sung by the characters were the most enjoyable .  
this is a very real and funny movie about a japanese man having a mid  life crisis . in japan  ballroom dancing is not approved of . but when shohei sugiyama becomes obsessed with meeting the beautiful young girl he sees in the window of a dance studio  he suddenly finds himself enrolled in dance classes . no one is more surprised when he begins to like it than he . but he must keep his secret pleasure from his coworkers and family . when the truth comes out it is quite funny .  
if you are under the age of  or   then you  re going to really enjoy this movie . my youngest daughter is glued to the tv when she watches it . as an adult  i can  t stand it   i  m all up for sequels . . . . when they have a decent storyline . but this is nowhere near up to standard . please forgive me for slating what is after all a kid  s film  but when you have to sit through it nearly every day when your kids who love it so much  you  ll understand why . my daughter would watch this film over and over again on the same day if we let her .  br    br   i  ve given this film  out of   purely for the fact that it keeps my youngest entertained .  
it is not the same as the other films about dancing . a few normal people found themselves from dancing . unlike the dancing films in hollywood  the characters in this film are not handsome or hot young people . they are someone that you may see everyday in your offices . they are some depressed about their lives and finally find themselves and their dreams from dancing . this touches me very deeply .  
i grew up watching the original disney cinderella  and have always loved it so much that the tape is a little worn .  br    br   accordingly  i was excited to see that cinderella  was coming on tv and i would be able to see it .  br    br   i should have known better .  br    br   this movie joins the club of movie sequels that should have just been left alone . it holds absolutely none of the originals super charm  it seems  to me  quite rough  and almost brutal  right from the  don  t  sing  a  longs to the characterization .  br    br   while i remember the character  s telling a story through a song  this film  s soundtrack was laid over the top  and didn  t seem to fit . jaq  s transformation into a human is a prime example where he was walking around eating an apple and adding a few little quips in here and there  he should have been dancing around and singing about how great it was to be tall  and in the ballroom  there  s old barn dance type country music . it  s as though the writers forgot where and when this story was set . the upbeat fiddles certainly didn  t fit .  br    br   even the artwork and animation in cinderella  isn  t up to scratch with the original . the artwork in this film seems quite raw and less detailed . and we see part of cinderella  s hoop skirt  which doesn  t feel right .  br    br   the movie itself could have been it  s own story  i think that it should have been just that . i wouldn  t say that i hate it  but i believe that it had many shortcomings . it seems to downgrade in a significant way from the beloved cinderella original .  
a sweet and totally charming film  shall we dansu  made me laugh and cry . at first appearance  sugiyama  san was not terribly appealing   an uptight salaryman  seemingly devoted to his family  but all too easily captivated by a face in a window . the object of his obsession is distant and cold . but by the end of the movie  i was in love with him  her  his wife and daughter  all the dance instructors and dance students . this uncomplicated story of transformation and renewal is a little jewel that i would enjoy seeing again .  
i  ve always thought that cinderella ii was the worst movie i  ve ever seen   followed by peter pan   and some other sequels like the lion king  and the hunchback of notre dame   . all these movies are made with the same idea because the movie has no plot  they try to make up for that by filling it with jokes . i  m not saying the jokes are bad  but they make up most of the movie . the first time i saw the movie  i would have given it a     . but now i think about it  most kids don  t care how good the original movie was  they just care that the movie is entertaining . i still think the movie was a bad sequel  but that doesn  t mean it  s horrible . now i think it deserves a     .  
  shall we dance    a light  hearted flick from japan  tells of an overworked accountant and family man who is attracted to a dance studio by a beautiful woman he see  s from the train during his daily commute . what he finds in the studio are lessons in dancing and  most of all  himself . funny  poignant  and utterly charming   swd  is an award winning film well worth a look by more mature viewers .  b   
i  ve got a question for those who thought of this idea . why  what made them think to make a second movie of this . if memory serves  didn  t cinderella end with  they all lived happily ever after   i  m pretty sure it did  or it was implied . wait a minute  if they all lived happily ever after  how could there be a sequel  unless they were trying to make the most boring story in history  there couldn  t be a sequel . i mean sure  they could have cinderella singing about nonsense for two hours  but why  a movie that ends in  happily ever after  can not have a sequel if it does then they don  t live happily ever after  something  s got to go wrong which causes problems with the first ending  why  that  s not right  it  s evil . that  s my final word on the matter .  
i just saw this delightful japanese feature film at the  th annual roger ebert overlooked film festival in the historic virginia theatre in champaign  illinois .  br    br   although this film  subtitled in english  has ballroom dancing as its heart  the film actually shows the world outside of japan how the rigid structures of family  employment  salaryman   and recreation still exist in modern day japan .  br    br   writer  director suo masauki i follow japanese custom of presenting the family name  last name  first and the given name  last   uses the not so very popular theme of ballroom dancing to show the societal structure of japan .  br    br   also  i shall not use the movie character names when world readers may not be familiar with japanese formal names which may confuse . i will refer to the  br    br   actors by their professional acting name as listed in the internet data movie base .   br    br   he enlists the aid of his real  life wife  professional ballet dancer kusakari tamiyo in her first and  so far  only motion picture . she is a dance teacher at her father  s dance studio . yet  her real ambition is to compete once more in an international dance competition which she was disqualified from in the past . no  i won  t say  why .  see the movie .  br    br   salaryman yakusyo koji is the main star of the film . a veteran of about   films since      he gives a sterling performance of a    s something companyman  br    br   who has a lovely wife  teenage daughter  and just purchased the house of his  br    br   longing .  br    br   and  yet  something is missing from his own inner happiness . see this film to learn how he becomes  involved  with ballroom dancing and secretly goes to  br    br   lessons . most of the dancing characters are liberated from the traditional  br    br   japanese hierarchy of social structure . they are friendly and warm and inviting . of course  this is in sharp contrast to how japanese society is structured with it  s  place for everyone and everyone in its place  philosophy .  br    br   the movie has so many funny moments . the almost      theater goers broke  br    br   into spontaneous laughter during many of the comedic moments . this proves  br    br   that comedy has no foreign language .  br    br   veteran actor takenaka naoto is funny and brilliant as well as watanabe eriko . they are two funny character actors .  br    br   one could purchase and read a college text book regarding the structure of life in japan  or  you could watch this fine film and begin to understand how the  br    br   people of japan grow up in a fairly rigid societal structure . watching the movie  shall we dansu   is a quick immersion into further study and viewing other  br    br   japanese films .  br    br   i recommend this film to all . it  s funny  it  s charming  it will make you cry a little  and it will warm your heart .  br    br    
i  ll just put it out here  that was the worst sequel to a classic disney film i  ve ever seen . in      disney released what i hail as one of his greatest films of all time . now take away the great songs  add a poor plot that resembles that of a lost tv show .  put it together and what do you get   the biggest load of crud i  ve ever seen . after i saw this  i thought it was all over for disney . cinderella should  ve ended with   and they lived happily ever after .  not this garbage . this film did not deserve a sequel like this . i thought it would be like  a twist in time  which was moderate but better than this . also  what do we care of anastasia  she switched sides like iago did  but it didn  t help anyone .  
i lived in tokyo for  months . knowing the reality of long train commutes  bike rides from the train station  soup stands  and other typical scenes depicted so well  certainly added to my own appreciation for this film which i really  really liked . there are aspects of japanese life in this film painted with vivid colors but you don  t have to speak japanese to enjoy this movie . director suo  s tricks were subtle for the most part i found his highlighting the character called tamako tamura with a soft filter  making her sublime  a tiny bit contrived but most of the directors tricks were so gentle that i was fully pulled in and just danced with his characters . or cried . or laughed aloud . wonderful . a .  
the original is a relaxing watch  with some truly memorable animated sequences . unfortunately  the sequel  while not the worst of the dtv sequels completely lacks the sparkle .  br    br   the biggest letdown is a lack of a story . like belle  s magical world  the characters are told through a series of vignettes . magical world  while marginally better  still manages to make a mess of the story . in between the vignettes  we see the mice at work  and i personally think the antics of jaq and gus are the redeeming merits of this movie .  br    br   the first vignette is the best  about cinderella getting used to being to being a princess . this is the best  because the mice were at their funniest here . the worst of the vignettes  when jaq turns into a human  is cute at times  but has a lack of imagination . the last vignette  when anastasia falls in love  was also cute . the problem was  i couldn  t imagine anastasia being friendly with cinderella  as i considered her the meaner out of the stepsisters . this was also marred by a rather ridiculous subplot about lucifer falling in love with pompom .  br    br   the incidental music was very pleasant to listen tohowever i hated the songs  they were really uninspired  and nothing like the beautiful tchaikovsky inspired melodies of the original .  br    br   the characters were the strongest development here . cinderella while still caring  had lost her sincerity  and a lot of her charm from the original  though she does wear some very pretty clothes . the duke had some truly funny moments but they weren  t enough to save the film  likewise with prudence and the king . as i mentioned  the mice were the redeeming merits of the movie  as they alone contributed to the film  s cuteness . i have to say also the animation is colourful and above average  and the voice acting was surprisingly good .  br    br   all in all  a cute  if unoriginal sequel  that was marred by the songs and a lack of a story .     for the mice  the voice acting  the animation and some pretty dresses . bethany cox  
i always look forward to this movie when its on tv . have to get the dvd i guess . the range of different types of people is great . it says to me that anyone can be a dancer if they try hard enough . my favorite character must be mr . aoki . he is so quirky but so full of emotions . it is a perfect movie with wonderful dancing . unfortunately we never get the chance to see them go to blackpool . would make for the perfect sequel if they had . but i guess it leaves it to your imagination to what could of happened .  br    br   a very simple and innocent story . he stays loyal to his wife and daughter .  br    br   i haven  t seen the hollywood remake . not sure if i want to . i don  t really enjoy jennifer lopez . i think richard gere more matches the original than lopez . i have a feeling that the remake is not as simple and innocent .  
possible spoilers  perhaps . i must say that  cinderella ii dreams come true  is one of the worst movies ever made . first of all  the movie was made during the height of disney  s sequel rampage . it was created around the same time as  the little mermaid ii    the jungle book ii   and  peter pan ii   all of which were disservices to their original film classics .  disney also made  the hunchback of notre dame ii  and  atlantis ii   but i  m going to drop that topic because their original movies were never really classics in the first place .   let me go ahead and say that i am an avid supporter of good disney films  and i absolutely adore the original disney  cinderella .  the sequel to  cinderella   however  was a waste of time . the character of cinderella in the sequel was so very unlike the original girl that i grew up watching . in the original  cinderella was kind and loving . the new cinderella had very out  of  character moments with current  era phrasing like   i  m going to do this banquet my way   let me also tell you that new cinderella  as i have affectionately named her  says   ewww   that is the anti  cinderella . i try to find the best in people  but in the sequel  anastasia  one of the stepsisters  is good  what the heck  why  they made it all out to be like lady tremaine and drizella are just horrible family members for poor little anastasia . my question to the world did the people at disney watch the original  cinderella  when making this sequel  well  it surely doesn  t seem so . if i remember correctly  anastasia was just as abusive to cinderella as drizella and lady tremaine . i am all for redemption and forgiveness  but there was no point of redemption for anastasia in this movie . in the first one  anastasia was evil . in the second one  she is good . one just can  t leave a story like this . i hope disney realizes that this movie  among other movies  is shaming walt disney  s name . perhaps now that michael eisner is gone  things will start shaping up around the house of mouse .  
everyone in the cast  from sugiyama to aoki and toyoko is someone we know in everyday life . they were so natural  and sugiyama  s transformation is incredibly believable . the score is so moving  it brought me to tears . the choreography was beautiful without seeming athletic . mai  s graceful dancing and charm gave me goosebumps . tamako is such a wonderfully delightful character . you can almost see the charmed schoolgirl in her face as she reminisces about seeing  the king and i  . aoki  s character is both hilarious and pitiful . masako is so overwhelmingly natural as the bewildered wife  you almost want to hug her to reassure her that everything will be all right .  br    br   this film is truly a keeper .  
well  the big money machine has done it again  disney very shrewdly takes advantage of morons like myself who feel we must own every video  good or bad  stamped with the disney moniker . why is it that i continue to look forward to these  sequels  which make don bluth on a bad day look like leonardo davinci  cinderella  consists of three storylines  already a poor choice   doesn  t one of the most endearing disney creations at least deserve a linear story  of these three  only the last comes anywhere near the quality of animation and storytelling that i would expect . the music is atrocious and modern  meaning in  years it will already be dated  and adds nothing to the story . why does everything have to be updated  you know  the original cartoon is still popular because of its timelessness  so why not be respectful and true to the original with songs that reflect the same style  gee  i can  t wait for a sequel to sleeping beauty . instead of music based on the themes of tchaikovsky  we  ll get music inspired by britney spears    so disney  if you  re listening  remember we  re not all indiscriminate children out here . how about throwing a bone or two to the fans who  ve been around long enough to know the difference between craft and crap   
an old vaudeville team of willy clark  walter matthau  and al lewis  george burns  were one of the best known but they broke up hating each other . over   years later they agree to get together for a tv special . . . but find out they still hate each other . willy  s nephew  agent  richard benjamin  tries to get them to work together .  br    br   a big hit in its day and it won george burns an oscar for best supporting actor . i  somewhat  liked it . it was written by neil simon so its non  stop one  liners . some of it was funny but making jokes of willy and al  s senility was not . also i never liked matthau . i never thought he was a good actor and something about him just rubbed me the wrong way . also his character here is so caustic you get sick of him quickly . all that aside this was fun . burns is just great tossing off one  liners with ease and even matthau was good matching him . their verbal battles are the best sequences in the movie . also benjamin is very good as willy  s nephew trying to get the two of them to work with each other . for me it  s worth seeing for burns alone . this jump started his career in a big way and two years later he had another hit with  oh god  . so  this is good . just good   not great . matthau  s character really makes this hard to love . i give it a  .  
considering that this movie had a serious and quite successful launching campaign  i would have expected something to be worth the fuzz . . . from the opening scene on  in which the two brothers  sensually  caress each other  laying naked in a bed  it goes rapidly downwards . . . nothing to get the attention  not a mind  catching thing in the whole plot  baaad baad acting  a few minor exceptions  but artificiality is at its best  . incest and lesbianism are promising themes  but the script analyses none of the two in depth  mind that a possible excuse of the makers  saying that they aimed for a subtle movie would be hilarious  unless subtle and superficial mean the same thing . . .  . the too curious viewers will not get any interesting scene . . . at this point  that could have saved some of the movie . . . so you can imagine how bad it is . many other things could be said . . . but please watch the movie yourselves . . . i am an egoist and i would like as many people as possible to waste about     h of their lives . . . like i did    
if you are tired of films trying too hard to be fairy tales  the  pretty woman  variety love story   here is a beautiful film in which a japanese businessman is pulled free from his robotic  dispassionate life when he falls in love . . . with dancing . wonderfully drawn characters bring to life a story that is at once deeply funny and poignantly moving .  
you will recognize the plot immediately . daughters of a divorced couple trying to get mom and dad back together again . yes  that was the theme of the parent trap in the   s    s and   s . but here  s the spooky thing . even though deanna durbin was younger than the   year old hayley mills while playing the doting daughter  s  roles  durbin looks much older  as in adult . and so do all of her so  called siblings .  br    br   and this confusion between adult and child goes throughout the film . the girls are dressed in cute little sailor outfits but look ridiculous in them as the director seems to take pains to point out their ample tops and tushies throughout the film . so you  re constantly torn between thinking of them as children or women . when ray milland and others start  hitting on  them you get the feeling as if they  re pedophiles  and you might be one  too for noticing those tushies and tops the director was pointing out . teens or temptresses  little girls or little foxes  you are never quite sure what you  re supposed to be thinking of them as .  br    br   the parents  too  seem very old and the whole film seems very dated .  br    br   it is a rusty version of the parent trap and you should avoid it  or at least ensure your tetanus shots are up to date if you don  t believe me .  
funny . sad . charming . these are all words that floated through my head while i was watching this beautiful  simple film .  br    br   it is rare that a movie truly moves me  but  shall we dance   accomplished that with grace to spare . gentle humor mixed in with occasional subtle agony made this easily one of the best experiences of my movie  viewing history . it left me with a quiet sense of exultation  but with a small touch of sadness mixed in .  br    br   and the dancing  oh yes  the dancing . even if you are not a lover of the art  or can  t put one foot in front of another  the steps displayed here will take your breath away  and make you want to sign up for classes as fast as you can . it was absolutely enchanting  even the parts that show sugiyama  s  touchingly portrayed by koji yakusho  stilted steps when he was first learning to dance were lovely in a humorous  child  like way . and yet  this film was not entirely about dancing  but more about the subtleties of human behavior and feelings . we witness a shy man learning to express his repressed feelings through dance  a beautiful dance instructor rediscovering her love for the art  and the personal growth of every member of the wonderful supporting cast .  br    br   beauty . pain . emotion . all the love and little agonies of life are here  expressed with the delicate feeling of a fine japanese watercolor painting combined with the emotional strength and grace of the culture .  br    br    
this is an hybrid creature born at carl macek mind . with robotech the second generation  robotech masters  and megazone   into one miserable movie  that have no logic  the story is very  very bad  and you cannot forgive the action of megazone when have nothing to do with robotech . if this movie have so high rank is for the tv series and not for itself   i did said it  the name cannot save this   
there were some great moments of reality in there depicting modern day life  not only in japan  but everywhere  . it shows how stifling ones culture can be  and wanting to break out of the mold its created for you .  br    br   the dancing was just a vehicle for saying  do what you love even if its against the norm  . rather billy elliot like i would say . i enjoyed that film as well .  br    br   the humour was well timed  and the touching moments felt so real  you could feel the awkwardness between sugiyama and his wife  the tantrums in the dance hall . i loved aoki  him and that wig and his excessiveness on the dance floor made me simply howl   br    br   the actors all did a wonderful job  the story was well written . i watched it a second time and caught some little nuances that i missed on the first viewing . good entertainment   
this film tries to be immensely clever  and tarantino  like  br    br   before you try that though  you need solid filmic fundamentals . these include good sound  editing  set design etc . . .  br    br   lets talk about the sound in this movie . absolutely atrocious . i have never been more distracted by a sound track  ever  br    br   and before we talk about low budget  film made in chile etc . . lets bear in mind that desent sound these days is far more achievable than it ever has been . anywhere . and more info on technique is available then ever before  br    br   the sound in this movie is plain bad . the foley in particular is out of place and inappropriate throughout  the atmos is equally terrible . i heard at least four loud clicks during the movie  which are the result of poor sound editing . the sound inside cars is awful  the sound of car doors closing is awful . the sound of the lady singing is wrong . foley is either overboard  or simply not there like the sound person just got bored and gave up . the spaces are wrong . everything about it is wrong  br    br   and yet  not letting limitations of creativity get in the way  at the same time the movie tries boldly to be clever . for example the sound of the aquarium is used in the following street scene . we hear sound when we  re not supposed to . sound edits precede visual cuts . every trick in the book is used  and yet the foundations are just not there  br    br   editing  wise we have scenes using heavy jump cuts  we have tinkering around with the time line etc etc etc  yawn . all of these techniques are imitated to a splendidly low standard  br    br   overall the mix is crap  the sound is crap . and so  the film is crap . how can a movie with so many fundamental flaws be considered for awards and high praise  chile  s cinematic new wave  the best creative output that chile has to offer  i hope not  and i think not .  br    br   my theory is that chile  s more selective and better talent avoided this film like the plague maybe due to its risqu content . equally  the film has likely received so much unwarranted critical acclaim from so called  world  cinema  enthusiasts for the same grubby reasons . they likely revel in it  s trashiness . of course film critics rarely pay attention to technical details and quality  br    br   this film is rubbish . it  s all mouth and no trousers and is never deserving of a  .  rating . the film has all the production quality of a cheap tarantino  new wave inspired porno   
this movie was charming . an accountant wants more from life than the approved conventional success . what makes it work so well  and makes it so different from the standard dance movie is that it really isn  t about becoming  great  it is simply about finding a way to express one  s self . the big triumph at the end is not the winning of a contest  not the discovery of a whole new life style  but the simple joy of doing what you want to fulfill the other parts of your life . no one is discovering their passion  they are finding their quiet soul .  br    br   the japanese background makes the subtle oppression and  secret life  of ballroom dancing both understandable and personal . we can all see ourselves in the everyman .  
the   d featured in  the man who wasn  t there  stands for dumb  dumb  dumb  this inept comedy features lousy   d effects that makes the   d effects in  jaws     amityville    and  friday the   th part   look better by comparison . not to mention the movie is asinine to the extreme . this was one of many     movies to feature the pop  off  the  screen effects . steve guttenberg and jeffrey tambor got trapped in this mess  but at least it didn  t kill their careers . tambor would go on to star on hbo  s  the larry sanders show  and ron howard  s box office smash  how the grinch stole christmas   while guttenberg followed this flop with  police academy  and  cocoon  . what them in those projects instead of them here in  the man who wasn  t there  . if you do  you  ll regret it .  br    br        out of four   
i have seen this movie many many times and i will never get tired of it . it is a classic in every sense of the word . the movie is hysterically funny and yet quite touching all at the same time . for those of you who are not a fan of  subtitles  or of foreign film in general  open your mind . this is a great movie for  the beginner  because the story is so entertaining . don  t get me wrong  it is     japanese  and that is what makes it work   but everyone will get something out of it  even if it is just a great laugh at one of the main characters called mr . aoki  one of the funniest characters i have ever seen    br    br   i can  t even think of this movie without smiling   i love it . . . and i think most people will too .  
let me confess . i found this video used and bought it because guttenberg looked so sexy in his underwear on the jacket . but inside was another story . besides the fact that the movie was basically a parody of  invisible  man  genre special effects  highly visible strings and other such paraphernalia   the script wasted no chance   in fact it went out of its way   in insulting all non  wasp races and real  or  imagined homosexuals . every insult aimed at a person in the script was either homophobic or racist or both . it starts to grate on your nerves  along with the shaky sound  candid  camera style photography and melodramatic story . however  the end is somewhat of a surprise . but by the time you get there  you hardly care less . too bad  it could been a reasonably good movie .  
the accountant shohei sugiyama  kji yakusho  is feeling bored with his routine life  limited to hard work and stay at home with his wife masako sugiyama  hideko hara  and his teenager  s daughter . one night  while traveling home by train  he sees the beautiful face of mai kishikawa  tamiyo kusakari  in the balcony of a dance school  and a couple of days later  he decides to visit the school and secretly take ballroom dance lessons every wednesdays night . however  he becomes ashamed to tell his family his secret . meanwhile  masako feels the changes in the behavior of her happier husband  and hires a private eye to investigate whether shohei is having an affair .  br    br   i have just finished watching  shall we dansu   and i really loved it . what a lovely and delightful movie  the story is amazingly good  with drama  comedy and romance . the cast is excellent  and i was particularly impressed with the cold beauty and graciousness of the wife of the director masayuki suo and professional ballet dancer tamiyo kusakari . on last september   th  i saw the american remake of  shall we dansu   for the first time  and i found it a delightful entertainment . but now i can say that it is another unnecessary remake  and i recommend this original film instead . my vote is ten .  br    br   title  brazil    dana comigo     dance with me     
goodnight  mister tom begins in an impossibly exquisite village in the south of england where the sun always seems to shine . before we have much idea of the period we hear a radio announcement of the declaration of world war ii . soon a train blowing clouds of steam brings refugee children from london and when shy little william is billeted with reluctant  gruff old tom  who you just know will turn out to have a heart of gold  our tale begins .  br    br   and what a load of sentimental claptrap it is . in fact it  s just the old odd  couple buddy formula . aren  t any new stories being written   br    br   as i suggested there  s hardly any period feel in the village and not much more in london apart from the odd old ambulance rattling around . and certainly no hint of the horror of the blitz as london  s citizens file politely into air  raid shelters . even when the local schoolteacher  s husband is declared missing presumed killed  he is later restored to life .  br    br   i found goodnight  mister tom  cliched and obvious and john thaw  s accent conjured up a picture of ronnie barker of the two ronnies with a straw in his mouth doing his country bumpkin  accent .  br    br   incidentally my wife enjoyed this movie for all the reasons that i disliked it and looking at fellow  imdb reviewers i seem to be in a minority of one .  br    br    
this movie is among my favorite foreign films  some of the others are amilee and my life as a dog . the similarities with those movies as with so many great foreign films  is that it takes a mundane slice of life and transforms it into a profound heartfelt lesson .  br    br   in japan  a man who is bored with his mundane life and the rut of his married life  sees a beautiful japanese woman staring out the window of a dance studio . in the instant that it takes his train to pass  he is enthralled by her . but is it only by her beauty  by her faraway glance  or a connection that they will both discover that they share   br    br   shall we dance has memorable wonderful characters who have to deal with painful realities by transcending them through the world of dance . breaking traditional moulds and stereo types of japanese society  they risk all for happiness and find that joy is not too far away . it is one of those movies that is so magical and meaningful and  in itself  transcends the mundane by showing the true magic and miracle that life can be .  
i have been familiar with the fantastic book of  goodnight mister tom  for absolutely ages and it was only recently when i got the chance to watch this adaption of it . i have heard lots of positive remarks about this  so i had high hopes . once this film had finished  i was horrified .  br    br   this film is not a good film at all .  goodnight mister tom  was an extremely poor adaption and practically  .     of the book was missed out . particularly  i found that a lot of the characters and some great scenes in the book were not in this . there was not much dialogue  it was rushed and far too fast  moving  but i was mostly upset by the fact that you never got to see the bonding and love between william beech and tom in this film which was a true let down . the casting was not all that good  either . i thought this could have been really good  but it was so different to the book  anextremely poor adaption  one of the worst i  ve seen . this deserves a decent remake that  d better be     times better than this pile of garbage .  
okay . as you can see this is one of my favorite if not favorite films . this is a character drama which is absolutely hilarious . the main character is a business man who is stuck in a  same thing  different day  mentality . he sees a woman looking melancholy out a window of a dance studio from his train everyday and wonders about her and decides to find out more about her . he decides to join the dance class only to find out she is not the instructor . from there he bonds with four other dancers and learns to enjoy dancing as well as finding out about the mysterious woman .  br    br   there is no gratuitous  or any  sex involved  just how a small group of people learn how friendships are formed and developed .  br    br   this film was remade with richard gere and jennifer lopez and the new one while appealing is nowhere as enjoyable as the original . the movie never made it big in america because it was not eligible for the oscars since it was broadcast on television in japan  movies cannot be released on tv or they are disqualified for oscar nominations  . it did win numerous awards in japan for best film  cast  director etc for their  oscar  awards .  
siskel  ebert were terrific on this show whether you agreed with them or not because of the genuine conflict their separate professional opinions generated . roeper took this show down a notch or two because he wasn  t really a film critic and because he substituted snide for opinionated . now  when ben lyons comes on i feel like i  m watching  teen news    you know  that kids  news show  hosted by kids for kids  manckiewitz is not much better . it  s obvious they  ve encountered only a steady diet of mainstream films their entire lives . the idea that these two rank amateurs have anything of interest or consequence to say about motion pictures is ludicrous . if they are reviewing a non  formula film  they are completely lost . show them something original and intelligent   they just find it  confusing  . wait   i think i get it . . . abc is owned by disney . . . disney makes movies for kids . while siskel  ebert  and roper promoted independent films and were only hit  or  miss with the big budget studio productions   what a surprise these two guys love the big studio schlock and only manage to tolerate a few indies . plus everyone knows the age group tv advertisers are aiming for . the blatant nepotism is the icing on the cake . in what alternate universe do these guys qualify as film critics   
i don  t like  grade inflation  but i just had to give this a   . i can  t think of anything i didn  t like about it . i saw it last night and woke up today thinking about it . i  m sure that the hollywood remake that someone told me about  with j lo and richard gear  will be excellent  but this original japanese version from     was so emotional and thought  provoking for me that i am hard  pressed to think of any way that it could be improved  or its setting changed to a different culture .  br    br   a story i found worth watching  and with o fist  fight scenes or guns going off or anything of the sort  imagine that   br    br   all the characters seemed well  developed  . . . even non  primary characters had good character  development and enjoyable acting  and the casting seemed very appropriate .  br    br   it  s always hard to find a good movie  musical in our day and age  and perhaps this doesn  t quite qualify  there is plenty of learning how to dance  but no singing  but i really think that gene kelly and others who championed a place for dance in our lives would have thought so very highly of this film and the role of dance in helping to tell a story about a middle aged man  successful with a family in japan  looking for something . . . he knows not precisely what .  br    br   to the team of people in japan who contributed to this film  thank you for creating and doing it .  
i can clearly see now why robin hood flopped quickly . the first episode of it is probably the worst ever thing bbc has aired . the opening scenes were about as intense  meaningful and intelligent as two monkeys fighting  robin hood had no character  and the sword fight was just laughable . the worst part of the episode was robin hood snogging some cow clad in make  up at the beginning of the episode  how many people wore eyeliner in the   th century  nobody . the series may have improved drastically since then  but this first episode quickly put people  s hopes down  and is essentially a pile of crp . a great hero of england has been disgraced .  br    br    will you tolerate this   i won  t  that  s for sure  unless the bbc start to understand what is a wise investment .      
first  there is no way the remake can be as good  because japanese society is quite different from ours and plays such a major part in this film  as explained in the opening narration . it adds to the humor as well as warmth of this movie . there is slew of different supporting characters  personalities . each does there part in making this movie wonderful . this movie is full of comedy that isn  t vulgar in anyway like most of today  s  gross  out comedies .  yet it can still have you laughing out loud . the reality is  in real life  you don  t have a choice of who you work with or go to school with . . . etc . this movie truly emphasizes that and shows that the natural good in people can overcome petty differences . not to mention  it makes for a great sub  plot and much of the humor . this is a story about dance that actually has a story  and a good one at that . there are a few back stories that are not out of place  but actually support the main storyline . truly a well written film . the dancing is great  too . i happen to be a fan of any movie with dancing of any sort  for that aspect . however  this movie goes beyond any other with dance  in the fact that  it is a story first and just happens to be written about dancing in japanse society . highly recommended .  br    br     out of   .  
well  it  s robin hood as  geezer  all right . . . just as advertised  that didn  t sound very hopeful  and alas  it was worse than i  d suspected .  br    br   a laddish robin i can take a robin who tangles with a pert dyer  s daughter i can credit but a robin who exchanges not  very  funny banter with his single henchman is harder to swallow  and a robin and entire cast who seem to be having difficulty managing their lines is the kiss of doom . how could anyone let such laboured delivery pass without re  shooting the scenes  again and again  much sounds as if he  s struggling with half  comprehended shakespeare rather than letting loose with a salty quip i hoped at the onset that it was just a failed comedy trait in a character clearly destined for the role of comedy sidekick  but then it started spreading throughout the rest of the cast .  br    br   whatever else you say about errol flynn in the role  he had the knack of delivering high  flown dialogue as naturally as if he  d just thought it up on the spur of the moment . . . and as this production shows  that  s not at all as easy as it sounds  if they were going to cast the characters as cheeky chappies  the actors in question should have been given appropriate lines they sound as if they haven  t a clue how to handle them .  br    br   i  m afraid i didn  t even like the pantomime sheriff  for a similar reason the lines are clearly not intended to be taken seriously but delivered  and in this case written  with a nudge and a wink at the audience . they  re out of place all right   fourth  wall  busting stuff   but really not that funny .  br    br   this much  promised production reminded me of a limping school play . the only actor and character i felt any appreciation for at all was the one playing guy of gisbourne  who was the sole one who appeared to have any handle on  a  credible villainy and  b  credible characterisation   but frankly  i wouldn  t have said that was a very good augury for the future of the series  as of the time of writing  i  ll give it another shot in the hopes that things may improve and bed down a bit by next week  with less stilted scene  setting required and perhaps the actors more at ease with the dialogue after all  the opening episode of  doctor who  wasn  t exactly a show  stopper  though it was nowhere near as bad as this . but if i see no improvement after episode   i  m afraid the series has almost certainly lost one viewer .  br    br   which would be a pity  because i  ve got a soft spot for the  robin hood  legend on screen  from the adventures of douglas fairbanks to the sturdy reliance of richard greene . but this robin fails to stir my blood in the slightest .  
the word  classic  is thrown around too loosely nowadays  but this movie well deserves the appelation . the combination of neil simon  walter matthau  possibly the world  s best living comic actor   and the late lamented george burns make for a comic masterpiece . it is interesting to contemplate what the movie would have been like had not death prevented jack benny from playing george burns  part  as had been planned . as it is  the reunion scene in matthau  s apartment is not likely to be surpassed as a sidesplitter . definitely one of my desert island films .  br    br    enter            
i am not so much like love sick as i image . finally the film express sexual relationship of alex  kik  sandu their triangle love were full of intenseness  frustration and jealous  at last  alex waked up and realized that they would not have result and future . ending up was sad .  br    br   the director tudor giurgiu was in amc theatre on sunday      pm on          with us watched the movie together . after the movie he told the audiences that the purposed to create this film which was to express the sexual relationships of romanian were kind of complicate .  br    br   on my point of view sexual life is always complicated in everywhere  i don  t feel any particular impression and effect from the movie . the love proceeding of alex and kiki  and kiki and her brother sandu were kind of next door neighborhood story .  br    br   the two main reasons i don  t like this movie are  firstly  the film didn  t told us how they started to fall in love  sounds like after alex moved into the building which kiki was living  then two girls are fall in love . it doesn  t make sense at all . how a girl would fall in love with another girl instead of a man . too much fragments  you need to image and connect those stories by your mind . secondly  the whole film didn  t have a scene of alex and kik  s sexual intercourse  that  s what i was waiting for . however  it still had some parts were deserved to recommend . the  ear piercing  part was kind of interesting . alex was willing to suffer the pain of ear piercing to appreciate kik  s love . that was a touching scene which gave you a little idea of their love . also  the scene of they were lying in the soccer field  the conversation express their loves were truthful and passionate .  
this film is about a man who has been too caught up with the accepted convention of success  trying to be ever upwardly mobile  working hard so that he could be proud of owning his own home . he assumes this is all there is to life until he accidentally takes up dancing  all because he wanted to get a closer look of a beautiful girl that he sees by the dance studio everyday while riding the subway on his way home .  br    br   his was infatuated with her at first  going to the dance class just to idolize her  but he eventually lets himself go and gets himself into the dancing . it eventually becomes apparent to him that there is more to life than working yourself to death . there is a set of oddball characters also learning in the studio  giving the film a lot of laughs and some sense of bonding between the dejected .  br    br   there is also revelations of various characters  including the girl he initially admired  giving some depth to them by showing their blemished past and their struggle to overcome it .  br    br   the dancing was also engaging  with the big competition at the end  but it is not the usual story where our underdog come out at the top by winning it . instead  there are downfalls  revelations and redemption .  br    br   all these makes it a moving and fun film to watch .  
gods . . . where to start . i was only able to stomach about the first   minutes before i turned it off in disgust . aside from the actor playing robin hood himself  the rest were just terrible . and  i can only stretch my suspension of disbelief only so far .  br    br   from the very opening of the first episode  i lost count of how many errors  plot holes  and horrible costumes there were . it began with some poor peasant trying to hunt for a deer to feed his family . all well and good . however  the poor blighter must have been mostly deaf  because a handful of soldiers  in full armour  on horseback  were able to sneak up on him to within about   feet .  br    br   then  as he  s running away  he goes from having them   feet behind him  to a shot where you cannot even see them at all  immediately followed by them about   feet behind him again . then  he runs into some bushes  and is immediately manhandled by two of the soldiers . . . who just mere seconds before  were galloping on horseback  dozens of feet behind him .  br    br   the  armour  on the soldiers is so painfully obviously cloth which they tried to make look like maille  and miserably failed . not to mention  the lead soldier  s  armour  being about  sizes too big for the poor fellow . seriously  he looks like he is a small child wearing his father  s over  sized armour  finally  robin manages to fire about   perfectly aimed shots all around one soldier  s hand  in the span of about  seconds  from what appears to be a recurve bow . no human alive could make those kinds of shots  in that short amount of time  with a scoped rifle  much less a bow .  br    br   after that  they escape the soldiers and stop to help an amazingly well dressed and clean  peasant  with digging a ditch . . . something that all noblemen were willing to do all the time  right  how this sorry excuse for a series ever got a second season is beyond me . the production costs  at least for what i saw  must have soared in the dozens of dollars  or euros  . . .  br    br   seriously  i think a highschool drama class could have put on a better rendition . this was so bad  even that terrible kevin costner version of robin hood was better .  br    br   i highly suggest you skip this monstrosity  and go rent or buy the mid     s  robin of sherwood  series . much better written  acted  costumed  and produced .  br    br   for shame  bbc . . . for shame . . .  
how many of us wish that we could throw away social and cultural obligations and be free  most of us  i suspect . shall we dance  is not a movie about dancing . it is about learning about ourselves  recognising what we are looking for in life and having the courage to go in search of it . mr sugiyama is a middle  aged member of a japanese society where ballroom dancing is viewed as unsuitable behaviour .  br    br   one day mr sugiyama sees a beautiful girl leaning out of the window of a dancing acadamy . he is fascinated by her and eventually signs up for dancing lessons . he is ashamed of his dancing and afraid of ridicule . he hides the fact that he is attending dancing classes from his colleagues and family .  br    br   there is a hilarious scene in the mensroom at the office when sugiyama and watanabe  a workmate who also dances  are interrupted practising some dance steps . there are many other funny and warm  hearted scenes .  br    br   the ending is not a fairytale  but it leaves the viewer feeling good .  br    br   this movie helped me to understand the japanese people a little better . it is a warm and very worthwhile film to see .  
ira levin  s broadway smash comes to the screen with hardly any meat on its bones  a mystery plot with just a few tricks and twists but nobody worth caring about . frustrated writer michael caine plots to steal the work of a brilliant young man and pass it off as his own his devious plan may include murdering the talented kid  which has caine  s flighty spouse up in arms . the first act in which everyone is introduced is excruciatingly dead  with caine doing everything an actor can to keep the pacing up . dyan cannon is miscast as his wife  she  s too smart and clever herself to be passed off as a ditz  and christopher reeve  in the middle portion of the film  seems extremely uncomfortable in the role of the better writer . these three characters  and irene worth  s bothersome neighbor  are so undefined that what happens after the set  up barely even registers until well after the second act has begun . sidney lumet  s direction is stagy and fuzzy  the set design unconvincing and poorly  lit  and the finale is a total disaster . the actors struggle to give the script some substance  but with such thin material all we see are their laborious efforts .     from   
i was so surprised when i saw this film so much underrated . . . i understand why some of you dislike this movie . its pace is slow  a characteristic of japanese films . nevertheless  if you are absorbed in the film like me  you will find this not a problem at all .  br    br   i must say this is the best comedy i have ever seen .  shall we dansu   is often considered a masterpiece of japanese comedies . it is very different from hollywood ones  e . g . austin powers or scary movies  in which a gag is guaranteed in every couple of minutes . rather  it is light  hearted  a movie that makes you feel good .  br    br   i love the movie because it makes me feel  real  . the plot is straightforward yet pleasing . i was so delighted seeing that sugiyama  the main role  has found the meaning of life in dancing . before i watched the film i was slightly depressed due to heavy schoolwork . i felt lost . however  this film made me think of the bright side of life . i believed i was in the same boat of sugiyama if he could find himself in his hobby  why couldn  t i  it reminded me of  exploring my own future  and discovering the happiness in my daily life .  br    br   it is important to note that the actors are not professional dancers . while some of you may find the dancing scenes not as perfect as you expect  i kinda like it as it makes me feel that the characters are really  alive   learning to dance as the film goes on .  br    br   over all  this film is encouraging and heart  warming . as a comedy  it does its job perfectly . it definitely deserves   stars .  br    br   and yes aoki is funny   d  
i do not believe all the praise for this movie . the play and movie were a ripoff of sleuth . michael caine wishes he were olivier  and reeves wishes he were caine . caine even had the nerve to do a remake of sleuth with jude law playing his original part . jude law  you mean the one that did the remake of  alfie    br    br   this movie was made during a period of caine  s career when it was obvious he needed to pay off gambling debts . he would do anything for money . he would star in such award winning movies such as this  and  beyond the poseidon adventure  . what seems to be driving the praise for this movie is reeves death . he deserves better than to be remembered for this lousy movie . and so does caine . this movie can be found in the   .   bin at walmart . along with gems like  the island   and  blame it on rio  .  
i simply love this movie . it is a perfect example of the well  rounded surprising stories that come out of asian cinema . there was a recent hollywood remake of this movie  with richard gere and the simply awful jennifer lopez . please do not confuse the two movies . the original japanese film is touching  subtle and wonderfully acted . the hollywood version is the exact opposite . i was aghast when i first saw the trailer for the remade us version and who was starring in it . it  s typical hollywood unoriginal crass commercialism at it  s worst . the remake cements the argument that some foreign films can never be improved upon . the only reason the original film did not become more widely viewed is the us audience  s aversion to subtitles .  br    br   one of the main reasons this movie would never work in an american telling is that the reserved  ultra socially conservative character of the public japanese persona is at issue in this movie . certainly the main character awakens to a more full understanding of living a vivacious life through dance  but half of the movie  s tension comes from the stereotypes and ridicule ballroom dancers face in japan .  br    br   please try to see this movie in it  s original form  not the terrible full screen . and please do skip the us remake . . . . it  s a shallow travesty in comparison to the original japanese movie .  br    br   yes  i know the  original  movie is much older  and this is simply a japanese take on the story  but the only two people are likely to see any time soon are this one and the new us remake .  br    br   speaking of foreign films  i  ll make a few quick recommendations  . monsoon wedding  i list this first for a reason  outstanding film   . johnny stechino  very funny italian mistaken identity flic   . shiri  a korean action pic that mixes both asian flare  us style plot  . run lola run  a german film that integrates it  s techno score ingeniously .  br    br   well  just a quick list anyway     
shame really  very rarely do i watch a film and am left feeling disappointed at the end . i  ve seen quite a few of ira levin  s adaptations   rosemary  s baby  and  the stepford wives   and liked both them  but this just didn  t appeal to me .  br    br   when i read the plot outline  an award winning playwright  michael caine  decides to murder one of his former pupils  christopher reeve  and steel his script for his own success  i was excited . i like thrillers  michael caine  s a good actor  sidney lumet  s a good director and ira levin  s work is generally good .  br    br   i won  t spoil it for anyone who hasn  t seen it yet  but all i  d say is there are loads of twists and turns . so many its kind of hard to explain the film  s plot line in detail  without giving it away . i enjoyed the first . . .   minutes  before the twists and turns began to occur and at that point my interest and enjoyment began to fade out . though i have to give lumet credit for the very amusing ending which did make me laugh out loud .  br    br   the main cast  michael caine  christopher reeve  dyan cannon and irene worth  were all brilliant in their roles . though worth  s obvious fake russian accent got on my nerves slightly  nothing personal irene  i think any actor  s fake accent would irritate me  . not sure if cannon  s character was meant to be annoyingly funny but dyan managed to annoy and amuse  at the same time .  br    br   anyone reading this  i don  t want you to be put  off watching this because of my views  give it a chance  you may like it  you may not . it  s all about opinion .  
watched this last night and was bowled over by the heartfelt story line  the excellent character development  and the good karmic vibe emanating from the acting and movie as a whole .  br    br   without giving away too much of the plot  it begins with an ordinary joe who commutes to his office job every day who becomes inspired to take dance lessons . along the way the protagonist and the assorted characters he meets in his quest to be smooth on the dance floor learn lessons about others and about themselves .  br    br   the story has a prologue about what dancing in japan symbolizes sociologically  so it isn  t exactly as simple to learn to dance in japan as it is here in the u . s .  br    br   the film is lighthearted you  ll laugh out loud at some of the sight gags . yet it is also dignified in a way hard to describe . all of the film  s characters are taken seriously  as they are  and none are diminished because of their  imperfections .   br    br   i  ve been thinking about taking social dance classes with some friends . it just so happened a friend lent me the video on learning to dance . is this synchronous or what  i think so because now i  m really geeked to give it a try .  br    br   watch this wonderful family film  small children might not get it  but teens certainly would  and smile at the genuine caring you see shown in it time and again .  br    br   why they would make a remake of shall we dance is a mystery  as it is perfect as  is .  
i thought maybe a film which boasted a cast including peter o  toole  susannah york  michael craig  harry andrews might be worth watching . alas  i was wrong . utter pretentious nonsense from beginning to end with both o  toole and york overacting wildly . i watched it twice and still have no idea what is was about . i  ve a feeling o  toole plays the laird of a scottish castle who has a drink problem and likes reliving childhood games with his sister  york  . he is also barking mad . but apart from that  your guess is as good as mine .  br    br   the film has no redeeming feature whatsoever . i can only assume the cast and director were blackmailed into making this dreary  unimaginative  stagy piffle . clearly a waste of the time of a talented cast and director . risible .  
viewing  impulse  is a very satisfying experience . unpredictable films are such a rarity  when one comes along like  impulse   it is something to embrace . the script is logical  and extremely creative . meg tilly  tim matheson  hume cronyn  and bill paxton  give believable performances . this could have played out like a zombie movie  but  impulse  is far superior to any boring  zombiefest   and originality shines through in almost every scene . you get the feeling that something like this could have actually happened  even though the script is pure fiction . from the  grabber  opening till the credits roll  you will be fascinated . very entertaining and definitely recommended .  merk  
this movie was a rather odd viewing experience . the movie is obviously based on a play . now i  m sure that everything in this movie works out just fine in a play but for in a movie it just doesn  t feel terribly interesting enough to watch . the movie is way too  stagey  and they didn  t even bothered to change some of the dialog to make it more fitting for a movie . instead what is presented now is an almost literally re  filming of a stage  play  with over  the  top characters and staged dialog . because of all this the storyline really doesn  t work out and the movie becomes an almost complete bore  and obsolete viewing experience .  br    br   it takes a while before you figure out that this is a comedy you  re watching . at first you think its a drama you  re watching  with quirky characters in it but as the movie progresses you  ll notice that the movie is more a tragicomedy  that leans really more toward the comedy genre  rather than the drama genre .  br    br   the characters and dialog are really the things that make this movie a quirky and over  the  top one that at times really become unwatchable . sure  the actors are great peter o  toole and susannah york  amongst others but they don  t really uplift the movie to a level of  watchable enough  .  br    br   the story feels totally disorientated . basicaly the story is about nothing and just mainly focuses on the brother  sister characters played by peter o  toole and susannah york . but what exactly is the story even about  the movie feels like a pointless and obsolete one that has very little to offer . like i said before i  m sure the story is good and interesting to watch on stage but as a movie it really isn  t fitting and simply doesn  t work out .  br    br   the editing is simply dreadful and times and it becomes even laughable bad in certain sequences .  br    br   more was to expect from director j . lee thompson  who has obviously done far better movies than this rather failed  stage  play translated to screen  project .  br    br   really not worth your time .  br    br        
im not a big tim matheson fan but i have to admit i liked this film . it was dark and a small bit disturbing with some scenes a bit edgy  i don  t know were to classify this film its a bit sf and a bit horror slash thriller . i saw this at about  .   am or so on my local channel there was nothing else on so i decided to watch it . if you have not seen this film id recommend it its not really that bad  the characters are interesting enough but not really explored to their full potential which could have made this film even more better . i don  t know if this film went to the cinema but it felt like it was made for tv or went straight to video  i for one would buy this if it  s on dvd it fits well with my type of film and has a small bit of the x  files story attached to it . government undertakings or shifty corporations involved in dodgy shadowy dealings . overall a good film .  
contains spoilers .  br    br   the british director j . lee thompson made some excellent films  notably  ice cold in alex  and  cape fear   but  country dance  is one of his more curious offerings . the story is set among the upper classes of rural scotland  and details the strange triangular relationship between sir charles ferguson  an eccentric aristocratic landowner  his sister hilary  and hilary  s estranged husband douglas  who is hoping for a reconciliation with her . we learn that during his career as an army officer  charles was regarded as having  low moral fibre  . this appears to have been an accurate diagnosis of his condition throughout the film he displays an attitude of gloomy disillusionment with the world  and his main sources of emotional support seem to be hilary and his whisky bottle . the film ends with his committal to an upper  class lunatic asylum .  br    br   peter o  toole was  when he was at his best as in  lawrence of arabia   one of britain  s leading actors  but the quality of his work was very uneven  and  country dance  is not one of his better films . he overacts frantically  making charles into a caricature of the useless inbred aristocrat  as though he were auditioning for a part in the monty python  upper  class twit of the year  sketch . susannah york as hilary and michael craig as douglas are rather better  but there is no really outstanding acting performance in the film . there is also little in the way of coherent plot  beyond the tale of charles  s inexorable downward slide .  br    br   the main problem with the film  however  is neither the acting nor the plot  but rather that of the theme that dare not speak its name . there are half  hearted hints of an incestuous relationship between charles and hilary  or at least of an incestuous attraction towards her on his part  and that his dislike of douglas is motivated by sexual jealousy . unfortunately  even in the swinging sixties and early seventies  the date of the film is variously given as either     or      there was a limit to what the british board of film censors was willing to allow  and a film with an explicitly incestuous theme was definitely off  limits .  the american title for the film was  brotherly love   but this was not used in britain was it too suggestive for the liking of the bbfc   these hints are therefore never developed and we never get to see what motivates charles or what has caused his moral collapse  resulting in a hollow film with a hole at its centre .      
i saw this movie back in      we first started watching  this is spinal tap  and after  minutes we were ready to fall asleep . so we went instead to see this movie . if you have any conspiracy theory  s going around in your head  you will want to watch this one .  br    br   the question you have to ask yourself when watching this movie are do you think the government would be capable of doing this   in my opinion there is no doubt that they could   br    br   but i don  t want to give out too much information as that would be a spoiler and i think that you should view the movie for yourself .  br    br   but  just to let you know  we still talk about this movie   years later and trying to explain it to people is not the easiest thing in the world to do .  
to die for       was just another d . t . v . feature that made an appearance on cable ad nasuem during the early nineties . the only thing notable about this feature was the last movie duane jones appeared in . other than that there  s no reason to watch this vampire flick unless you like pseudo chick flicks masquerading as a horror film . a tired vampire longs for love and searches the back streets of l . a . looking for it . will he succeed or will vlad just strike out again like he has for the last century   br    br   this movie must have been big because a couple of sequels soon followed . they  re so bad they make this one look like a classic . i know this is a movie about vampires but the film makers could have used to lighting .  br    br   not recommended by me because i didn  t like it .  br    br    nuff said   
i saw this movie on tv late one night years ago  but it was a disturbing experience that has stayed with me to this day .  br    br   the premise may seem a bit unoriginal  due to an earthquake  a hidden underground store of a toxic nerve agent in the hills above a small town is breached  and a microscopic amount of the substance finds its way into their food supply . the inhabitants of the town begin to lose their ability to exercise restraint over every whim and base desire that floats through all of our minds from time to time  and that normally we know we simply must not act upon .  br    br   the pace of the movie is slow  but for me that only added to the creeping unease as the townspeople  s behaviour slowly starts to unravel . there are several surreal and very unsettling scenes that have remained etched in my memory all this time .  br    br   it raises interesting questions about what we could all be capable of if we gave in to our most feral instincts . did i enjoy it  i  m not sure  enjoy  is the right word . did it make me think  definitely . i  m still thinking about it . scary stuff .  
having read another review  i thought this movie would actually be good . i do enjoy the  b  movies  but this couldn  t even be classed as such . the photography is probably the only half  way decent thing in the movie . but the editing left much to be desired . it was very choppy and staccato . whoever chose the music and sound did a terrible job . the music was awful  specially anything atmospheric or scene setting . if the acting had been better  they could have pulled the movie off . unfortunately  i  ve seen better acting in porn flicks . if you want to see a  b  vampire movie  check out  blood ties  . you  ll be much more entertained .  
ok  first of all  ignore the last person  review . they admit to falling asleep through it so it  s no wonder they didn  t understand what was going on    as thriller  horrors go  this film ain  t too bad  it is certainly very watchable . right from the opening scenes you get a general idea exactly what is going to be the cause of all the craziness that follows  and come the end you are proved right with everything being made clear .  br    br   i enjoyed this movie  it was quite eerie at times and as old films go it was passable . great to watch late at night  i give it a generous  out of   .  
i usually enjoy loretta young  s early movies her acting back then was light and breezy  and she sure knew how to wear clothes . but this one is just a loser from the word go except for a funny supporting turn by glenda farrell . young is a hatcheck girl who talks her writer  husband  paul lukas  into becoming a championship bridge player . it  s not the most cinematic of games  and the long  talky middle part in which their marriage falls apart just about kills the film .  br    br   there  s one interesting bit though . as lukas and ferdinand gottschalk start their climactic game  a series of quick shots show airplanes  trains  football games  even a diver in mid  air  freezing in anticipation of the event . it  s the earliest use of a freeze frame i  ve seen in an american film . wish the rest of it were that inventive  and funny .  
question how do you steal a scene from the expert of expert scene stealers walther mathau in full  furious and brilliant grumpy old man mode  answer quietly  deadpan  and with perfect timing as george burns does here .  br    br   i know nothing of vaudeville but this remains a favourite film  the two leads are hilarious  the script funny  the direction and pacing very fine . richard benjamin is very funny as straight man  trying to get at burns through the window etc . even the small parts are great .  br    br   there are so many funny scenes  mathau messing up the commercial  burns repeating his answers as if senile . . .  br    br   a delight .  br    br   enterrrrrr   
i am not so much like love sick as i image . finally the film express sexual relationship of alex  kik  sandu their triangle love were full of intenseness  frustration and jealous  at last  alex waked up and realized that they would not have result and future . ending up was sad .  br    br   the director tudor giurgiu was in amc theatre on sunday      pm on          with us watched the movie together . after the movie he told the audiences that the purposed to create this film which was to express the sexual relationships of romanian were kind of complicate .  br    br   on my point of view sexual life is always complicated in everywhere  i don  t feel any particular impression and effect from the movie . the love proceeding of alex and kiki  and kiki and her brother sandu were kind of next door neighborhood story .  br    br   the two main reasons i don  t like this movie are  firstly  the film didn  t told us how they started to fall in love  sounds like after alex moved into the building which kiki was living  then two girls are fall in love . it doesn  t make sense at all . how a girl would fall in love with another girl instead of a man . too much fragments  you need to image and connect those stories by your mind . secondly  the whole film didn  t have a scene of alex and kik  s sexual intercourse  that  s what i was waiting for . however  it still had some parts were deserved to recommend . the  ear piercing  part was kind of interesting . alex was willing to suffer the pain of ear piercing to appreciate kik  s love . that was a touching scene which gave you a little idea of their love . also  the scene of they were lying in the soccer field  the conversation express their loves were truthful and passionate .  
i think that that creator  s  of this film  s concept deserves a lot more accolades than they probably ever received . it isn  t an oscar caliber film of course  but  at least for me  this film has left a lasting impression since i first saw it back in      in the theatre  .  br    br   i don  t think this is  and hope it isn  t  a spoiler  but imagine acting on your impulses . doing the first thought that pops into your head  saying the first words on your lips . . . no restraint  no conscious  nothing holding you back from saying or doing the things that  as intelligent adults  we know we shouldn  t actually say or do . if anything  this film only scratches the surface  it doesn  t go as far as it could go .  br    br   in a time when hollywood seems obsessed with remaking older  classics  to try and cash in on today  wouldn  t it be nice to see them remake an older film of modest success  for the sake of taking it to the next level  a bit further  or even to explore what the original crew didn  t  wouldn  t or couldn  t deal with   years ago   br    br   that  s just my opinion anyway . o   
this film breeches the fine line between satire and silliness . while a bridge system that has no rules may promote marital harmony  it certainly can  t promote winning bridge  so the satire didn  t work for me . but there were some items i found enjoyable anyway  especially with the big bridge match between paul lukas and ferdinand gottschalk near the end of the film . it is treated like very much like a championship boxing match . not only is the arena for the contest roped off in a square area like a boxing ring  there is a referee hovering between the contestants  and radio broadcaster roscoe karns delivers nonstop chatter on the happenings . at one point he even enumerates  one . . . two . . . three . . . four . . .  as though a bid of four diamonds was a knockdown event . and people were glued to their radios for it all  a common event for championship boxing matches . that spoof worked very well indeed .  br    br   unfortunately  few of the actors provide the comedy needed to sustain the intended satire . paul lukas doesn  t have much of a flair for comedy and is miscast lovely loretta young and the usual comic frank mchugh weren  t given good enough lines glenda farrell has a nice comic turn as a forgetful blonde at the start of the film  but she practically disappears thereafter . what a waste of talent   
a real classic  ten out of ten  every actor is perfect  the screenplay is a haunting succession of suspenseful scenes . scenes in car and scenes in the mountains are breathtaking . wonder if this film is already out in dvd  because it must be seen in widescreen version . saw this film in the late fifties  maybe three or four times  and never since then forgot it . i remember it was one of the first warner like cinemas cope features  process called warnerscope which gave a very neat cinematography . shelley winters and jack palance deserved an oscar for their performances . the only thing i could criticize is not having been directed by someone like  say nicholas ray  to increase its rhythm and tension .  
this movie surely has one of the strangest themes in history   right up there with ed wood  s impassioned defense of cross  dressing in  glen or glenda    br    br   the subject playing bridge . the park avenue set plays it the bohemians play it . the russians   who speak very questionable  russian  and have most unconvincing accents when they speak english   play it at the restaurant where they work .  br    br   if one isn  t interested in bridge  one   even despite the great cast   isn  t likely to be much interested in this bizarre movie .  br    br   loretta young and paul lukas are fine .  well   frank mchugh is an unlikely ghost writer   as lukas is an unlikely russian .  but they are all sunk by the fetishistic script .  
mad dog  earle is back  along with his sad  sack moll marie  and that fickle clubfoot velma . so are babe and red  doc and big mac  and even the scenery  chewing mutt pard . the only thing missing is a good reason for remaking raoul walsh  s high sierra   years later without rethinking a line or a frame  and doing so with talent noticeably a rung or two down the ladder from that in the original .  instead of walsh we get stuart heisler  for humphrey bogart we get jack palance  for ida lupino shelley winters  and so on down through the credits .  the only change is that  this time  instead of black  and  white  it  s in warnercolor sadly  there are those who would count this an improvement .  br    br   i died a thousand times may be unnecessary  and inferior  but at least it  s not a travesty the story still works on its own stagy terms . earle  palance   fresh out of the pen near chicago  drives west to spearhead a big job masterminded by ailing kingpin lon chaney  jr .  knocking over a post mountain resort . en route  he almost collides with a family of oakies  when he  s smitten with their granddaughter the smiting holds even when he discovers she  s lame . arriving at the cabins where the rest of gang holes up  he finds amateurish hotheads at one another  s throats as well as winters  who throws herself at him  as does the pooch  . biding time until they get a call from their inside man at the hotel  palance  to winter  s chagrin  offers to pay for an operation to cure the girl  s deformity  a gesture that backfires . then  the surgical strike against the resort turns into a bloodbath . on the lam  palance moves higher into the cold sierras . . . .  br    br   it  s an absorbing enough story  competently executed  that lacks the distinctiveness walsh and his cast brought to it in      the year bogie  with this role and that of sam spade in the maltese falcon  became a star . and one last  heretical note those mountains do look gorgeous in color .  br    br    
bottom of the barrel  unimaginative  and practically unwatchable remake of the road warrior . this film follows the exact plot as the filipino film stryker and is worse by far  bad acting  dialog  effects  dubbing  pacing  action sequences . . . the list goes on and on . italy made literally dozens of road warrior rip  offs in the early    s  some good  some bad . this is the worst by far  no contest . not only was the mood of the film completely bleak and miserable  the experience of sitting through this one is a bore and a half . there was   one  good chase sequence towards the beginning of the movie  and a cool shot of a man holding a hand grenade exploding . but everything else about this movie seriously reeks  for actual post  nuke fun  go track down a copy of endgame  after the fall of new york  or escape from the bronx instead . they  re much more enjoyable than this rubbish .  
it is often only after years pass that we can look back and see those stars who are truly stars . as that french film critic  whose name escapes me  said  there is no garbo . there is no dietrich . there is only louise brooks   and there is  thank heavens  louise brooks  this is the third of her european masterpieces . but it is also an exceptional film for being one  if not the  first french talkie  for following a script written by famed ren clair  for reportedly being finished  the direction  that is  by georg pabst  and for incorporating the voice of edith piaf before she was well known  so much talent working on and in a film  how couldn  t it turn out to be a masterpiece   and that  s what this film is . it  s a shame louise brooks was blackballed by hollywood when she came back to the states   so much talent cast so arrogantly by the wayside  in the film  in addition to getting to watch louise brooks in action  it  s great to see pictures of paris ca .     and to hear piaf  s young voice . i never get tired of this film   
if you rent a movie titled  exterminators of the year       the odds are good you know what you  re getting yourself into . i myself was sold by the promising descriptions of  nuke mutants    motor  psychos   and of course the  exterminators  themselves which  according to the back of the movie  store case  are all cavorting around a post  apocalyptic barren wasteland wreaking all sorts of mayhem . let the wacky hijinks and low budget buffoonery ensue   at least  such were my hopes for this  film .   br    br   now i like the occasional terrible movie  and if you  re reading the comments on exterminators of the year      you probably do too . that being said  i rated this film a solid    awful     not because i completely hated the film but because it is one of the most legitimately dreadful efforts at movie  making i have ever seen . the dialogue  the acting  the cinematography  the sound  editing  the editing in general  the plot  etc .  etc .  etc   all are worthy of what must surely be low spectator expectations given that marvelous title .  br    br   so what is really  good  about this bad movie  it does have several of what my circle affectionately terms  quality kills .  a quality kill  for those few of you unfamiliar with the phrase  isn  t a hard and fast term  but in general refers to someone killed in a particularly gruesome  creative  or ridiculous fashion .  br    br   exterminators of the year     also has a fair supply of  dialogue  so  bad  it  becomes  funny   provided in great part by crazy bull  the aptly titled leader of the hapless motor  psycho gang   who incidentally also provide most of the quality kills  if you  re hoping for big things from the nuke mutants  think again  they play essentially zero part in the movie . . . shucks   . crazy bull  however  is all you could ask for in a b  movie motor  psycho . shakespearean paraphrase and oddly pg  style insults are all he knows how to say . . . and that  s terrific .  br    br   despite its quality kills and bad dialogue  however  if you  re looking for a truly entertaining bad movie  exterminators of the year     does disappoint somewhat in that with its draw limited to things like silly and outdated special effects  quality killing  and bad dialogue  there is simply not enough to justify a full feature length  owing principally to the forty minutes or so in which the audience is forced to follow the characters in protracted and boring car  chases  and long desert hiking sequences . . . all in all  a pretty good awful movie  but hey  it  s no death race     .  
i think i truly love this film .  prix de beaute  was originally a silent film but later dubbed into french in     . despite having someone else  s voice dubbed over hers  this remains a stunning tour de force for louis brooks . the fact that her singing voice is dubbed by the legendary edith piaf helps to mollify us purists about the dubbing deception .  br    br   this is the story of lulu and we first see her at a resort with her macho boyfriend  andre  georges charlia  and their friend antonin  augusto bandini  . lulu enters the frame as a pair of legs we see her inside the car changing into her bathing costume . lulu is very free with showing off her body and this does not sit well with the irksome andre . when lulu considers applying for the title of  miss europe  we know that a happy ending is not going to be sitting at the end of easy street .  br    br   the film seems to focus a lot on men ogling beautiful women . we see plenty of bathing beauties and the reactions of the men staring at them . but at the center of it all is the magnificent louise brooks .  br    br   if you don  t mind watching films from the bygone eras  then consider checking out this one . louise brooks is not a name that most average movie buffs may readily know but as soon as you see her you will be mesmerised and you  ll want to know more . also check her out in  pandora  s box  if you can find it .  br    br   be wary of the us kino dvd release . i don  t know if their projection speed is correct . a lot of the scenes appear to be shown at too fast a speed . this may have been the way they were shot . i don  t know . but since it  s the only way to see this film  it  s worth swallowing that one minor bitter pill .  
it  s hard to believe people actually like this dreck  i do think kids can enjoy it  but to me it  s the kind of kid film parents can  t bear to sit through . predictable plot  boring belushi  and possibly the worst kid actor of all time . i will give the director some of the responsibility for the kid  but she was truly painful to watch . i feel embarrassed for her now  having people know it was her . when she sang the star spangled banner i had to turn the sound off   then i came here and discovered they did that because she won star search . i  ve always felt jim belushi should be ashamed to trade on the name of his wonderful  sadly missed brother  and this crap shows why . zero stars .  
this is full of major spoilers  so beware .  br    br    prix de beaute  always suffers in comparison to the two films louise brooks made with g . w . pabst   pandora  s box  and  diary of a lost girl   but in some ways   prix  is the quintessential brooks film . here she has a chance to be charming without the dark side of her pabst collaboration . what  prix  has that the pabst films don  t is music . in this early french film  the whole louise brooks mystique is fleshed out powerfully with a conjunction of image  song and music . the charleston is what seems most associated with brooks  she was the first to dance it in europe   but the essence of the actress comes across more strongly in the tango . the tango also plays a plot point in  prix   being the music she danced with on her short rise to stardom after becoming miss europe . later  when she has forsaken her fame in favor of a mundane existence as the wife of jealous husband andre  the longing for her forsaken fame becomes apparent when the same tango record is seen on her apartment record player . so appropriate is the tango to brooks it is used to accompany the documentary about her life   looking for lulu   a film narrated by shirley maclaine . the brazen and forceful quality of the tango epitomizes louise brooks  strong  headed but elegant and erotic individuality .  br    br   the song   je n  ai qu  un amour  c  est toi   adds an immense amount of pathos to what is not a great film  but a very good one  . by the way  brooks  voice was not dubbed for the film by edith piaf as some have claimed . piaf was born in      and wasn  t discovered until     . the song  however  is what brooks  character  lucienne  sings to andre at the beginning of the film to cheer him up and express her deep affection for him . and at the climax it is the song she sings for her screen test  which she views with the producers and managers who intend to shape her career . it continues on screen after husband andre  who has followed her to the screening room  shoots and kills her . in a single shot  with lucinenne  s dead body in repose at the bottom of the screen while her screen test continues above with the song she once sang to andre  the essence of what movies do that other art forms do not is perfectly characterized . as andre watches his now dead wife sing to him on screen  the murder weapon still smoking  he subtly smiles . she is now his forever  and by association  ours .  br    br   coincidentally  louise brooks real life career crashed and burned after  prix de beaute   so it was also the death of her final starring roll as well . this film really seals the brooks mystique more so than the pabst films  which are superior films  no doubt  . it also points out what it is about the movies that create the whole idea of the  cult  of the movies  where people like brooks  james dean and marilyn monroe live on more intensely after their death than when they were alive .  
carlos mencia continually  violently  hatefully screaming  bch   at women is like screaming  nger   at black people  except it  s worse . remember  the b word  unlike the n word  is the only pejorative term that is still associated on a daily basis with violence .  bch   is the last thing women hear before they are raped  beaten  or murdered . this guy is perpetuating violence by hatefully using the language of violence . sounds like he may be a gay guy trying to cover by woman  bashing  so that he will sound like a hetero . and how about all the nazi white guys in his audience giving the fascist salutes while their stupid little bimbo white women whimper tee hee hee at their side  clearly terrified to protest this tidal wave of woman  hating . tee hee hee . bet mencia doesn  t believe or support free speech for them  come on  carlos  do you want women to have the free speech to bch  slap you as loudly and violently and big  mouthed as you do  or do you think  free speech  is only for men to crap on women     
a story of obsessive love pushed to its limits and of a lovely swan whose beauty is the very ticket to her own premature demise . placed at the beginning of talkies  prix de beaute walks a thin line in being a full  on silent film   which is still is at heart   and flirting with sound and sound effects . the effect is a little irritating for anyone coming into this film because the recorded audio is extremely tinny and just doesn  t help it at all . hearing sound stage conversation edited over the beginning sequence which takes place in a beach  for example  is as part of the movie as the actress who dubs louise brooks  dialog and in doing so robs the audience of a fine performance . other than that  the movie rolls along more or less well  with little jumps in continuity here and there   something quite common in films from this era   and has that vague sped up feel typical of silents . in a way  this is an experiment of a movie  and closer to the style of sergei eisenstein in visual presentation and near  intimate closeups that elevate it from what would be a more pedestrian level . louise brooks here plays a character less flapper than what she was known for she  s a stenographer who on a lark decides to enter a beauty contest despite the furious opposition of her extremely smothering boyfriend . her role is quite thirties and contemporary for its time the last of the flapper  jazz baby roles were being shown on screen and now  with the onset of female independence  women as professionals were being represented in film . that brooks  s character decides to leave her boyfriend  even if she does  reconcile  with him later  is also a little ahead of her time . however  her character  s fatal flaw is its willing to believe what isn  t there   that her boyfriend wants her to succeed   and this is what leads to her end at the movie theatre . this final sequence looks like something straight out of hitchcock in its heightened suspense  seen in the man who knew too much  and cuts from brooks  her image on screen  and the murderous boyfriend . even more dramatic is the placement of the still singing  live  brooks with the now dead one   a chilling effect to a chilling  powerful movie .  
perhaps the worst thing about carlos mencia  s comedy is that every joke needs to be followed with an insult at the people in the crowd that aren  t laughing . if there  s anybody who  s insecure  it  s a comedian who won  t shut up about his audience .  br    br   then again  perhaps the worst thing about carlos mencia  s comedy is that he doesn  t get off his free speech high horse . if you want to be funny  just make a joke  don  t explain all the reasons why you  re saving the american way with your failed attempts at generating laughter .  br    br   hmm . . . actually . . . the worst thing about carlos mencia  s comedy is that it substitues meanspirited jabs at ethnicities for legitimate humor . avoid this like the plague .  
we saw the silent version of this film  and it is quite simply shimmeringly beautiful . it  s quite hard to see how a sound version could have been created  since it is shot with pure silent technique  long wordless sweeps of narrative without a single intertitle   save for a few disconcerting sequences where louise brooks  playing a french typist  is quite visibly speaking in english . . . the only section that obviously cries out for sound is the final scene  where brooks is watching the rushes for her test  for a sound film   footage which plays constantly in the background as the action unfolds  with her mouth moving in ceaseless soundless song . i was unsurprised to learn afterwards that this passage alone in the talkie version had been hailed as an exemplar of new technique   br    br   in the sunny beauty of its opening scenes and the fairy  tale inevitability of what follows  the film resembles a dream . as a  louise brooks movie  it was not at all what i was expecting  either from her hollywood comedies or from g . w . pabst  s german melodramas i found the idiom more fluent and enjoyable than either  and brooks herself is a different creature  a sturdy laughing young animal rather than a shop  window vamp or manipulated doll .  br    br   but what gives this film greater depth than at first appears is the unexpected second half repelled by the rich parasites who cluster around her beauty  the pauper princess returns to a tear  stained reunion with her humbly  born true love . . . and the tale might very well have been ended there . fairy  tale  however  turns to tragedy . the dilettante grabovsky  confident in his ability to manipulate the woman he desires  is yet all too correct in his self  interested prediction   the young lovers cannot make each other happy   and andr  ironically  was right to mistrust the social influence of beauty contests after the intoxication of her moment  s glory  lucienne frets herself to despair over the humdrum routine of married life while her husband  in turn  is driven wild by any reminder of the whole affair . if it were a simple case of a mis  matched marriage  that would be one thing . . . but the true tragedy is that they do love each other .  br    br   in many ways  prix de beaut  reminds me of murnau  s  sunrise  . but if so  the fairground and photographer scenes here would form a distorted mirror  image of the joyous reconciliation in  sunrise   no dream but an alienating nightmare . and the following dawn brings not a miraculous reunion but an empty bed and deserted home . leaving a letter to say that she loves him and will always love him  lucienne vanishes again from andr  s life in quest of brightness and freedom and this time she will never come back .  br    br   gossip columns confirm all andr  s worst convictions  as he learns of his wife  s whereabouts through reports coupling her name with grabovsky . when the young workman penetrates at last to the lavish sanctum of the screening  room  it is with drawn gun   to be greeted by the sight of his rival courting and caressing a laughing lucienne  the same woman who had pledged her undying affection as she left him . he kills her  but even as he kills is transfixed by the living image on screen  lucienne in all her transformed glory as he never saw her . the two women are juxtaposed in an endless  powerful moment  as andr is seen  seized  unresisting  and pulled away the dying girl and her singing self still projected above  caught unknowing out of time into celluloid eternity  playing on unconscious of life or death or love beneath her . . .  br    br   the main jarring element in the film is the character of andr  s co  worker antonin  who appears to serve no role throughout other than to be the licensed butt of his contemporaries  malice . he is the ugly one who can never get the girl  the ungainly wimp who is tripped and tormented in the washrooms and at work  and must take it all with an uncertain ingratiating smile in his fruitless hope for social acceptance a typical product of the bullying of the more gifted and popular  in other words  but one the audience is apparently being invited to laugh at along with his tormentors . unless the intention is to expose a darker side to the protagonists  for which i perceive no sign   the character seems to exist merely as comic relief  but comic relief with a distinctly nasty edge . when we know him only as an inept peeping tom at the waterside  it  s easy to laugh  although the others  revenge seems a little over the top when we discover that he is no chance  met stranger but andr  s colleague and regular sidekick  the continuing attacks rapidly cease to be very funny .  br    br   but it is the images that remain . beauty  nightmare  and dream .  
the first noticeable problem about this awkwardly titled film is its casting . ann nelson plays the grandma here . three years after this  she would star in  airplane   as the woman who hangs herself while listening to robert hays pine for julie hagerty . i could not get that image out of my head .  br    br   matt boston is a fifteen year old with problems . he has headaches . his mother had a nervous breakdown . his grandfather had a massive heart attack . a chain smoking psychiatrist decides to find out what the devil is going on with this family . first she hypnotizes grandma nelson . nelson tells a tale in flashback that fills the entire first half of the film .  br    br   she and grandpa bought an rv  cheap  and drive it around to all the tourist traps in desert california . the rv soon has a mind of its own  going off the road and such . then  large boulders begin hurling themselves at it . the elderly couple are appropriately afraid  but stay in the vehicle in order to move the plot along .  br    br   eventually  grandpa has a heart attack after being stranded on the rv roof when it goes for another unplanned ride .  br    br   boston  s mom begins talking to some native american mummies she has lying around the house . she fancies herself an author  and makes copious notes about the musty corpses . the psychiatrist reads the detailed notes  and uses her imagination to fill in the blanks . we see the mother semi  flip out  but her mental breakdown occurs offscreen  much like gramps  heart attack .  br    br   finally  the patient de resistance  little matt . matt goes under the hypnosis gun and tells his own tale . he thinks mom is wigging out  this was made in      . apparently  mom is making the astral bodies of the native american mummies sort of fly through the air . one hits matt like a bee hits a windshield  and matt begins acting all crazy .  br    br   the psychiatrist takes grandma and matt into the desert . matt is inexplicably in a wheelchair now  and the trio confront the unseen  and unexplained  forces .  br    br   flocker has no sense of scene construction . the one pro here involves the rv stranded in a salt flat in the desert . in the distance  the couple notice some boulders rolling toward the rv . this is a pretty creepy little scene that is eventually overplayed . as the boulders begin hurling themselves toward the vehicle  the special effects become obvious .  br    br   the scenes where the rv runs off the highway  then back on again  take forever . the scenes where grandpa is trapped on the rv roof as it careens down a dirt road takes forever . mom  s conversations with the mummy take forever . matt  s out of body experiences take forever . this film takes forever .  br    br   i was tempted to hit the fast forward button at least a dozen times . as scenes dragged on  it was obvious flocker was padding . cut the fat here  and this would have clocked in at an hour . the final  explanation   that the mummies  spirits were trying to kill those close to matt never holds water . did they inhabit the rv  the film maker never brings up the fact that the spirits are no good at their murderous ways  they never kill anybody   br    br   as i kept thinking of nelson in  airplane    i also thought of other movies . anything to keep me from falling asleep during this one . boston is terrible as the kid  playing a fifteen year old as a cute ten year old who has a smart alecky line for all these adults who fall over themselves loving him .  br    br   in the end  flocker has written and directed a mess . the title is just the beginning of this exercise in making the audience feel ill at ease . this is not scary  and like the ghosts  you too can still walk . . . away from this tape at the video store .  br    br   this is unrated  and contains some physical violence and mild profanity .  
with lots of sunshine  gauzy light and shadow filtering through windows and into rooms  tracking shots moving through crowds with hand  held camera  quick  paced editing and extreme close  ups here and there  the photography is the thing in this interesting  artistically done film .  br    br   the plot of this film starts out as a bit of fluff about a beauty contest . the film begins on a warm sunday at the local swimming pool  where we meet the lovely lucienne aka lulu  played by louise brooks   a bit of a show  off in front of the gawking men by poolside  she soon decides to enter herself to represent france in the miss europe beauty contest  much to the chagrin of her very jealous  stick  in  the  mud fianc  a pretty annoying fellow  really  . strutting down the runway the ten contestants display themselves in swimsuits  while the winner is chosen as the contestant who receives the longest applause  i was wondering  couldn  t the girls just walk slower to prolong their length of time  and thus applause  on the catwalk    . lulu is soon being chased by a prince and a maharaja  but her hot  headed beau doesn  t like the attentions paid to her by other men or her adoring public  for that matter  i guess he just wants her in his house  cooking his meals  and staying out of sight  eh    .  br    br   louise brooks is beautiful and charming  her presence helps enhance this film  but it  s really the way it is photographed that held my interest the most . a bit distracting is the odd dubbed sound  which is a bit off . the print on this version looked very clear and full of nice contrast though . watching this i just tried to overlook the sound problems and watch the film visually  and i found the movie to be excellent  well worth seeing .  
i would have enjoyed this movie slightly more had not been for jason  herb  evers constant harping on experiment . many early reviewers of the seven samurai accused toshiro mifune of overacting . yet  as more and more critics viewed that film they saw it as being purposefully done . jason evers is obviously not toshiro mifune  and his overacting is exactly that .  br    br   most of the actors in this b classic were rather good actors  minus evers and the showgirls . if you watch this movie  you would have noticed evers shouting almost every line  that is until he is smoking and blowing the smoke coolly out his nose .  br    br   the special effects were par for the course in a b movie such as this one . in hindsight  there isn  t much that stands out in my mind as fantastically good or bad for this movie .  
prix de beaut was made on the cusp of the changeover from silence to sound  which came a little later in europe than in hollywood . originally conceived as a silent  it was released with a dubbed soundtrack in france  with a french actress speaking louise brooks  lines  but was released as a silent in italy and other parts of europe . i was lucky enough to see the cineteca di bologna  s flawless new restoration of an italian silent print at the tribeca film festival . i haven  t seen the talkie version yet  but i think it  s safe to assume the silent version is much more satisfying  since by all reports the dubbing is poorly done  louise brooks is clearly speaking english  so there  s no way her lips could be matched .  also  the film is made entirely in the silent style  with few titles and little need for dialogue . prix de beaut tells its story visually  with exciting  imaginative camera  work . the opening is instantly kinetic  with rapidly  cut scenes of urban life and swimmers splashing at a public beach . throughout the film there is an emphasis on visual detail  on clothing  machinery  decoration  and symbolic images such as a caged bird  a heap of torn photographs  a diamond bracelet . this is silent film technique at its pinnacle .  br    br   louise brooks  of course  is responsible for saving the film from obscurity . seeing this makes it only more heartbreaking to reflect that this was her last starring role . lustrously beautiful  she dominates the film with her charisma and also gives a perfectly natural yet highly charged performance . her role here  more than in the pabst films for which she  s best known  is a woman we can fully understand and sympathize with . she plays lucienne garnier  a typist with a possessive fianc  who yearns to get more out of life and secretly enters a beauty contest  with immediate success . she is then torn between the excitement of her glamorous new life and her love for the man who insists she give it all up or lose him . all of the characters are drawn with nuance . the fianc inspires pity and is not merely a brute he loves lucienne  but is a limited man who can  t cope with her having a life apart from him or attracting the attentions of other men . even the  other man  in the story is not the simple slimeball we first take him for  though his intentions may be just as possessive as the fianc  s .  br    br   warning spoilers below  br    br   the film has many fine set pieces  including lucienne  s triumph in the  miss europe  contest  shown through the comic reactions of assorted audience members  who wind up pelting the heroine with flowers her misery as a housewife  peeling potatoes while the pendulum of the cuckoo clock marks time behind her a nightmarish trip to a fun  fair  in the silent version  this occurs late in the film  after her marriage  at which lucienne  crushed among the low  lifes and depressed by her husband  s macho antics  decides that she can  t go on with her present existence and especially the final scene in the projection room where she views her talkie screen test . louise brooks may never have looked more beautiful than she does here  with the projector  s beam flickering on her alabaster profile  her shoulders swathed in white fur  her face incandescent under the black helmet of hair as she watches herself singing on screen . the double shot of her exquisite corpse and her still  living image on the screen is particularly poignant louise brooks  image  like lucienne  s  remains immortal despite her frustratingly aborted film career .  
i just loved watching it though and having fun with it  s total badness of a film . i saw this film through the helpful sarcasm of mystery science theater     and i have the dvd . if you flip the to the other side of the dvd  they show the actual movie  so i gave it a chance . seriously  folks this is grilled cheese .  br    br   the acting  special effects  and plot in general is very cheesy and unrealistic .  doesn  t she need lungs  said crow noticing how the head can still talk while it doesn  t have a body  and tom servo just wistfully remarks  no  she  s got neck juice   . the ending is just classic and no one can touch this soundtrack with k  porn  i loved the  cat fight  between the two strippers . that  meow  after the fight or scene  whatever  was classic . so  in some ways this was a fun movie . i think for horror fans  you  ll probably enjoy it . for a good time  watch the mstk  version  you  ll get a great laugh .  br    br   mst  k version      the brain that would die      
the sunshine boys was the hilarious     screen adaptation of neil simon  s play about a retired vaudevillian team  played by walter matthau and george burns  who had a very bitter breakup and have been asked to reunite one more time for a television special or something like that . the problem is that the two still hate each other and want nothing to do with each other . richard benjamin appears as matthau  s nephew  a theatrical agent who has been given the monumental responsibility of making this reunion a reality . this warm and winning comedy is a lovely valentine to a forgotten form of entertainment . . . vaudeville and it works mainly thanks to one of neil simon  s better screenplays and outstanding work by matthau  burns  and benjamin . burns won the best supporting actor oscar for this  but i think matthau walks away with this film with his flawlessly hilarious performance as willy clark . matthau was nominated for best actor but didn  t stand a chance against nicholson for one flew over the cuckoo  s nest however  in another year  this was an oscar  worthy performance . matthau commands the screen and there is not a false note in this beautifully timed performance . the scene where he is auditioning for a potato chip commercial and can  t get the name of the product right is a classic . the sunshine boys is a warm and winning neil simon comedy which shines thanks to unbeatable chemistry between matthau and burns .  
this is a movie that relies solely on the somewhat controversial image of incest and lesbianism to get noticed . that is it . the dialogs are pathetic and the sensuality of the  sex scenes  is absolutely absent . the acting and the dialog are more suited for high  school children  yet the subject is intended for adult audiences . it is a gutless and shallow movie . it could have been way better if it had a story and more drama . ah and on top of that  one more thing why are inner monologues so excessively used  makes it seem so cheap . all in all an embarrassing movie for romanian cinema as well as for mature audiences attempting to view it . i know the means are scarce but  that is not always an excuse for a movie flopping as this one does . and please start using some good actors in your movies and stop recycling them from musicians  tudor chirila   they can  t act   
louise brooks gives a wonderful performance in this well  made french melodrama . she plays a typist named lucienne who  despite being in love with a man named andre  dreams of rising above her position in life . she sees opportunity in a beauty contest for miss europe  but andre is furious when he discovers that she  s entered  then demands that she withdraw . she tries to take back her entry only to discover that she  s already been chosen as miss france and will now go on to the main pageant .  br    br   this is a story of love  loss and decision played out to its passionate end . the movie is very energetically filmed by director augusto genina and cinema tographers rudolf mate and louis nee . the filming style is more like modern movies than the hollywood flicks of the    s  and shows the different style employed by europeans . there are many fast cuts and traveling shots  mostly done with great skill and verve . the high energy of the movie  s first third dwindles a bit in the middle but picks up again in the last   minutes .  br    br   the performances were very good by all the principals  but that of louise brooks is especially memorable . louise leans heavily on her silent screen skills even though this is a talkie  but because her silent style had a surprisingly contemporary  understated feel  she makes the transition to talkies very well . the long early scene at the fair was especially poignant as louise used her remarkably expressive eyes to convey her growing sense of misery and alienation  of being trapped in a life she no longer wants . i doubt it  s ever been done better .  br    br   the film builds to a superb finale  artfully shot  powerful and stylish . this is really some of the best stuff of the early days of film . and the tragic storyline only underscores the greater tragedy that this is the final starring role for louise brooks . she wasn  t just a great beauty who looked fantastic in a swimsuit  she really was a major acting talent who basically threw it all away . we are all the poorer for that .  br    br   this movie is less well known than her german films with g . w . pabst  but i think it  s a better one . i think this crew is just better at storytelling than pabst  and while prix de beaute may lack the deep moral complexity of the pabst films  it  s much easier to follow and is overall a more streamlined  focused piece of work . and it doesn  t hurt that louise  s singing parts are done by edith piaf  either .  br    br   bottom line  this is a classic louise brooks film well worth looking for .  
where to begin  there  s so much wrong and horrible about this movie i am not sure where to start . okay  the two stooges who wrote this crapper . joseph green and rex carlton  first they couldn  t make up their so  called minds for a name . my guess they split the difference  that  s why the main title is brain that wouldn  t die  but the end screen says head that wouldn  t die . neither one knows anything about the medical profession . after all doctors take oaths to  do no harm  . killing a woman for a head transplant would be considered  harm  . plus  a little thing called blood and tissue matching . rejection would spell death for jan in the pan . plus who keeps a patch work monster . what medical school did bill graduate from  frankenstien university  old fu  or mad scientist tech  the monster had no name  that bugs the hell out of me . plus  the brilliant surgeon doctor bill cortner doesn  t know how to keep a patient sedated  all and all a disaster of a movie  it  s incredibly stupid and unwatchable  except on mst  k . i give it the thanksgiving turkey .  
  br    br   artisticly shot  actors portray exactly their role . you get a real feeling watching lucienne ascend from poverty to the most beautiful girl around . a sense of tragedy to triumph to tragedy again . all in all i have seen this film at least   times . and can very well say that prix de beute   the beauty prize  miss europe  is a major favorite in my silent film collection . the expressiveness of louise brooks is perfect and i recommend this film to anyone who appreciates artistic beauty coupled with a tragic story line .  
i saw this movie thinking that it would be one of those old b movies that are fun to watch . i was so wrong  this movie was boring and obviously aimed at males who like looking at corpulent women . the story was so ridiculous and implausible that it lost my interest altogether . it seemed to be in the same genre as the ed wood films  bottom of the barrel .  
this superb film draws on a variety of talented actors and musicians at the top of their form  levant  crosby  martin  rathbone  manone are completely at home in the story that apparently was supplied by billy wilder . one would love to know more about how much he had to do with it  because it  s an exceptionally clever variation on the sterile master  fertile servant tale  nearly an allegory of the entertainment industry  run by dried  up numskulls  but made into a vibrant world of art and play by an exploited underclass of nobodies and non  wasps . looking at the last six decades of music  tv  and film in the us  it  s hard not to see the underlying insights of this film as prophetic .  
i bought this dvd for   at walmart . after seeing it  i might just return to the store and try to get my money back  the only reason i gave the movie a  and not a  is that the story has a few novel story elements  though it really never rises to the level of being interesting . this film has all the earmarks of being a made for the drive  in theaters market   ultra  low budget  amateurish acting and a liberal dose of sex  for an early   s film  . in fact  i wonder if perhaps the only reason the film was made was to make a fast buck and because someone knew some strippers they could use as extras . the film is about a wacko doctor who wants to transplant his girlfriend  s severed head onto the body of an unsuspecting donor . most of the potential donors are skanky strippers or a model   whose only real purpose in the film is to titillate as they remove most of their clothes . however  they keep too much on to make the movie even worth watching for the naughty bits and the film isn  t quite awful enough to merit watching by bad film buffs .  
billy wilder is co  credited for the story  and his unsentimental touch is noticeable in this quite original tale of ghostwriting songwriters who both work for burnt  out music legend oliver courtney . the obvious misunderstandings are gotten out of the way quite quickly  thank heaven  and what remains is a witty and breezy concoction with some fine songs  and some more forgettable ones   crosby at his most charming  a great turn by broadway legend mary martin and basil rathbone and oscar levant providing most of the cynical barbs  levant is in rare form and his quips haven  t dated at all  . a delightful surprise  and recommended for all fans of the genre .  
this film was really bad whether you take it as a sci  fi movie  as a horror one or even as a comedy . the whole thing is ridiculous .  br    br   the film looks  and is  definitely cheap  the actors have no idea of what acting is and the script shows clearly that it was being made along with the shooting . it is obvious that the monster in the closet was added because the living head was not scary at all  she was even pretty  and they thought they needed something more impressive they failed here too  the make up is awful even for the late    s  rather funny  .  br    br   the film shows clearly why director joseph green  s career as such and also as a writer never materialized he was really bad at both . same goes to the actors  leading and supporting .  br    br    the brain that wouldn  t die   s best achievement is its short running time .  
while a pleasant enough musical  what stuck with me about this movie was the unexpected comedic chemistry between basil rathbone  as the has  been composer  and oscar levant as his assistant . playing a high strung  distracted artistic type  a far cry from his more familiar roles as either menacing villains or the coolly logical sherlock holmes   rathbone  s character looks like he couldn  t find his way out of bed without help . and that help is starbuck  played with his usual droll humor by oscar levant . upon hiring crosby  s character as his ghost song writer  rathbone introduces him to starbuck by saying   he does all my thinking for me .   to which levant responds   ah  it  s only a part  time job .  of course this goes right past  or over  rathbone  who  s too busy fretting about where his next hit song will come from . as another reviewer said  who knew rathbone could be so funny  too bad he didn  t have more opportunities to display his comedic talent .  
this movie is a loose collection of unintelligible analogies and ill conceived plot devices .  br    br   movie history the director of this film was a pervert who drove around town filming random women . when his wife discovered the film reels  he was forced to quickly contrive a story . he claimed he was making a movie called  the brain that wouldn  t die .  eventually  his wife demanded that he show her his  so called movie .  that night he quickly filmed some extra scenes with a friend and  the brain that wouldn  t die  was born .  br    br   i hate this movie  plot synopsis the main character  s fianc is killed in a horrible car accident  that he caused by ignoring the clearly posted road signs  . he grabs her head from the wreckage and reanimates it . after reanimating the head  he goes and picks up a bunch of hookers . that is pretty much what happens for the rest of the movie . at the end  he fights and is killed by a monster that lives in the closet . the monster appears with little to no explanation . however  the monster saves a hooker and i assume that they live happily ever after .  br    br   side notes the end credit screen claims that the movie is called  the head that wouldn  t die  .  br    br   i hate this movie   
poor basil rathbone  an egotistical composer who  s lost his muse . he  s been faking it for some time  buying his lyrics and his music from various sources . trouble is that two of the sources  bing crosby music  and  mary martin words  happen to meet and fall in love . and then they discover what they  ve been doing . complications ensue  but all is righted at the end .  br    br   crosby and martin sing terrifically . mary had signed a paramount contract and also at the same time doubled as a regular on crosby  s kraft music hall radio show . for reasons i don  t understand  movie audiences didn  t take to her  so she went back to broadway and did one touch of venus in     and stayed there .  br    br   basil rathbone in one of the few times he played comedy does it very well . his ego is constantly being deflated by sidekick oscar levant and again i  m surprised they didn  t do more films together .  br    br   as in most of crosby  s paramount vehicles  no big production numbers  but i agree with the previous reviewer about the title tune being done as an impromptu jam session in a pawn shop . good job by all .  br    br   a surprisingly original plot and great entertainment .  
 . . . or an audience . a quick recap . . . .  br    br   so you  ve got this doctor who  s been experimenting with stolen body parts for some vague reason . he wants to perfect transplants  but feels he needs to do this in his basement . wtf    and then suddenly  unfortunately  and conveniently  his fianc gets her head cut off in a traffic accident that he  s responsible for . agonized with grief  he preserves her head in a lasagna pan  or is it strudel   and pumps it full of  adreno  serum   sic  to keep it alive . and then she awakes  talking her head off  so to speak  even though her neck was obviously severed at the vocal cords  and she has no lungs so she couldn  t speak even if she had  em . seems the ungrateful btch doesn  t appreciate all that her fianc has done for her . just like a woman . . . . .  br    br   then his grief turns to horniness as he sees the possibility of grafting his beloved  s head onto the body of the first sleazy bimbo he can pick up off the street . meanwhile  the doctor  s assistant  a sort of dime  store igor  gets into philosophical arguments with the head  who has struck up a telekinetic friendship with the  monster in the closet   every mad scientist has one  . eventually the screenwriter realizes that he can  t keep inflicting his misogyny and fear of intimacy issues on the audience ad infinitum  so he kills everybody  then presumably goes to the bank to cash the check before the movie  s financial backers have a chance to stop payment on it .  br    br   have i mentioned that i think this is a bad movie   br    br   someone should tell turner classic movies to stop showing that edited version without the gory stuff . the sight of the assistant with his arm ripped off  pirouetting around the house without leaving much blood anywhere is just too precious .  
and what a combo . two of the century  s great singers star together in this underrated musical . he writes music  she writes lyrics  and they both work for basil rathbone who can  t write either because his wife died  actually she just got fat   . best scene is the pawn shop number where bing sings an impromptu number while the swing band gets their instruments out of hock . just wonderful . and this is a rare starring role for broadway legend  mary martin  and she  s quite good . charley grapewin  john scott trotter  william frawley  oscar levant  once again the manic pianist   charles lane  and helen bertram co  star . and who knew rathbone could be funny   
 . . . but it  ll make you wonder if we had any in the first place  this movie is just as bad as any of today  s horrible horror . a man goes around ogling semi  clad ladies  trying to decide which one to kill so he can give his girlfriend a new body . one scene involves a man staggering around and spurting all over the set for a full three minutes  coating everything what what must be well over ten gallons of  blood .  the movie also attempts to create a sense that what the man is doing to his girlfriend is wrong and against nature  but the movie is so badly done it  s impossible for the audience to dredge up any feeling of shock or outrage . aimlessly dark and unimpressively sinister  this movie can  t even get its own title straight   the beginning credits say  the brain that wouldn  t die   but the end credits list it as  the head that wouldn  t die .   
i enjoyed the story by itself  but the things that i learned about wwi planes  boats  make this movie a must see . the close  ups on the plane  the torpedo boat  how they were used were completely new to me . i heartily recommend .  
i bought this film on dvd so i could get an episode of mystery science theater     . thankfully  mike  crow  and tom servo are watchable  because the film itself is not . although there is a plot  a story one can follow  and a few actors that can act  there isn  t anything else . the movie was so boring  i have firmly confirmed that i will never watch it again without tom  crow and mike . as summarized above  however  it was better than the film featured in the mst  k episode that preceded it mitchell .  
with very little screen time and money  dan katzir manages to do so much . this movie  in its heart  warming simplicity  touches the beauty of love from a fresh angle . rejuvinated lust  
following a car accident  a mad scientist  jason evers  keeps the head of his fiancee  virgina leith  alive . he then goes on the prowl looking for the perfect body to make her whole again . pretty lame all the way around  nothing redeeming here . also in the cast are leslie daniels  bonnie sharie and bruce brighton . someone should have helped put this one out of its misery . let it die .  
excellent film . i cried when she cried  i loved when they loved  i was frustrated when they were . this film touched my heart . it was a reality check for me since this is reality for me  a   year old soldier  
this movie tells the tender tale of a demented scientist who  after his fiance is decapitated  goes around ogling strippers so that he can find a suitable body to attach her noggin to . everyone in this movie exudes more slime than a snail  particularly our protagonist .  
taking over roles that jack albertson and sam levene played on broadway  walter matthau and george burns play a couple of old time vaudeville comics  a team in the tradition of joe smith and charles dale who seem to have a differing outlook on life .  br    br   walter matthau can  t stop working  the man has never learned to relax  take some time and smell the roses . he  s a crotchety old cuss whose best days are behind him and his nephew and agent richard benjamin is finding less and less work for him .  br    br   what hurt him badly was that some   years earlier his partner george burns decided to retire and spend some time with his family . a workaholic like matthau can  t comprehend it and take burns  s decision personally .  br    br   benjamin hits on a brain storm  reunite the guys and do it on a national television special . what happens here is pretty hilarious .  br    br   the sunshine boys is also a sad  bittersweet story as well about old age . matthau is on screen for most of the film  but it  s burns who got the kudos in the form of an oscar at the ripe old age of   .  br    br   burns brought a bit of the personal into this film as well . as we all know he was the straight man of the wonderful comedy team of burnsallen who the monty python troop borrowed a lot from . in     due to health reasons  gracie allen retired and george kept going right up to the age of    . or at least pretty close to as an active performer .  br    br   the sunshine boys is based on the team of smithdale however and if you like the sunshine boys i strongly recommend you see two tickets to broadway for a look at a pair of guys who were entertaining the american public at the turn of the last century . the doctor sketch that matthau and burns do is directly from their material .  br    br   and i do think you will like the sunshine boys .  
light spoiler alert the story sounds good and if you  ve read the novel  then you  re probably expecting a deep and intense movie that could offer some insight for some interesting and insufficiently explored human relationships .  br    br   true enough  the script tries to do that  the director tries to do that  but the main cast fails miserably . maria  s acting is so dry that lacks any feeling whatsoever  her most intense moments seem almost comical . sometimes she seems to be nervous due to the camera . her only really feeling scene is near the end where she gets dumped by her girlfriend .  br    br   ioana seems even more tense than maria and even worse  she doesn  t seem natural at all . maria had the attitude  even if it was artificially pushed towards being obvious  but she had it and her character received some credibility . and to make matters worse  we don  t have an insight on her where does she come from  how come she got involved in the lesbian relationship  how did the relationship evolve  we only get some bits from her parents and their relationship just seems to  be  there it has a content and and end  but no beginning . just like her partner maria  she has only once scene that is truly touching  the scene where she dumps maria  s character kiki .  br    br   tudor is the only person in this movie  aside from the landlady  great acting there  who manages to prove some acting talent . he has his character  s attitude and it fits him . only once or twice he seems to falter  the scene at his parents  meal  he tries to be obvious when it wasn  t necessary at all  .  br    br   i love the story  tudor chirila is ok there  the landlady actually acts and puya delivers his couple of lines with style  but this doesn  t save the movie . too bad  the entire setting had huge potential and the romanian cinematography could  ve used a movie on this theme .  br    br   oddly enough  the incestuous relationship between brother and sister seems to have more credibility than the no  background no  feeling  well  maria  s spoken interludes are a nice try in this direction  lesbian relationship of maria and ioana . i  m quite sorry for spending money on a ticket  i  d rather had watched it from the comfort of my room .  
touching well directed autobiography of a talented young director  producer . a love story with rabin  s assassination in the background . worth seeing   br    br    
possible spoilers ahead  br    br   jason  a . k . a . herb  evers is a brilliant brain surgeon who  along with wife virginia leith  is involved in the most lackluster onscreen car crash ever . leith is decapitated and the doctor takes her severed noggin back to his mansion and rejuvenates the head in his lab . the mansion  s exterior was allegedly filmed at tarrytown  s lyndhurst estate the lab scenes were apparently shot in somebody  s basement . the bandaged head is kept alive on  lab equipment  that  s almost cheap  looking enough for ed wood . some of the library musicthe movie  s high pointlater turned up in andy milligan  s the body beneath . leith  s head has some heavy metaphysical discourses with another of ever  s misfires  a mutant chained in the closet . meanwhile  the good doc prowls strip joints looking for a body worthy of his wife  s gabby noodle . the ending  in uncut prints  features some ahead  of  its  time splatter and dismemberment when the zucchini  headed monster comes out of the closet to bring the movie to a welcome close . this thing took three years to be released and then  audiences gave it the bad reception it richly deserved . between this  plan  from outer space and a few others      should have been declared the year of the turkey .  
shakespeare said that we are actors put into a great stage . but when this stage is israel the work that we interpret multiplies for ten and all the actions we do are full of a hard style . dan katzir manages to do a spectacular portrait of a part of life in tel aviv  but besides  katzir manages to penetrate into the heart of the israeli people and  this people  far from being simple prominent figures  they speak to us from the heart . katzir  s film allows israel escape from dark informative crux in which they live  and this wonderful country arises to the light as a splendid bird which is born of his ashes . it is very great for me because the reality of state of israel  which the europeans only know for the informative diaries or the newspapers  appears as a close and absolutly human reality  the reality of million people who looking for his place  exploring the whole state  the whole culture with the only aim to feel part of it . katzir constructs an absolutely wonderful documentary and he demonstrates that when a man films with passion the deepest feelings are projected with force  and these feelings cross our hearts . thank you dan for open our eyes and give us one of the most beautiful portraits of the most wonderful countries of the world .  
a doctor who is trying to complete the medical dream of transplantation is experimenting secretly on corpses from the hospital with varying success . his final best chance comes when he lovingly wraps his girlfriend  s head in his jacket as he rescues it from a burning vehicle .  br    br   i was looking for cheese and with this premise i believed i found it . it has everything everything that bad movie hunters look for  chest and brain surgery with the surgeons leaving with pristine white scrubs  unique camera angles  i always love watching the rear passenger wheels of cars   cheesy clarinet stripper music  and one of the longest death scenes in movie history . but unfortunately these so  bad  they  are  good moments can  t overcome the too  bad  they  stink stretches .  br    br   jan in the pan annoyed me  with her droning monologues in a hoarse whisper  the somewhat less than evil laughter  and the fact she was kept alive with some columbian home brew coffee and  dd batteries .  br    br   i couldn  t even entertain myself with dr bill  s horrid overacting and moral self righteousness . usually such ham makes these movies a must see in my opinion  in this case i was bored with it .  br    br   the best part of the movie in my opinion was the      s version of  body shopping  and i even found myself nodding off during that .  br    br   don  t spend money on this one  there are better bad movies out there to entertain your sick sense of humor .  
dan katzir has produced a wonderful film that takes us on a roller  coaster ride through a real romance set in the troubles surrounding modern israel .  br    br   for anyone who  s ever been in love  the film brings back the uncertainties  the insecurities and heartache that make love so bitter  sweet . the atmosphere of fear and isolation that came with the difficult times in israel at that time just serve to intensify the feeling . instantly  you are drawn in to dan  s plight  and you can  t fail to be deeply moved .  br    br   you can  t write drama and passion like this  the contrast between the realities of dan  s desperate  snatched relationship with iris  and the realities of a state in turmoil make this eminently watchable . if you have an ounce of passion  and have ever been in love  see this film .  
another movie that relies upon the trite  worn  out clich of the mad scientist gone madder . the movie centers around a surgeon whose life  s ambition is to bring the dead . . . back to life . i know  i know . . . you  ve never heard that one before  of course  as all of these movies go  the experiment goes very  very wrong and creates a maniacal  bloodthirsty creature . for this promising setup  you  d think that it  d be at least a bit suspenseful . wrong . like many movies of this era  the idea is nice  but the execution and the script is mediocre . not the worst horror movie i  ve seen  no  abominator the evilmaker  still takes the cake  . . . but not one of the gems  either .  
i  ve watched this movie twice  and i plan to see it again . it is the movie that puts you in the director  s place  regarding his romantic relations and the political situation in israel . it also makes me cry because of remembering the wonderful time it was  and the horrible murder described there . it is really worth watching .  
a demented scientist girlfriend is decapitated so he brings her head back to life . honest this is the plot of the movie . he try  s to get her another body he searches through the sleaze area of town for that perfect body . for some reason he has ugly looking monster in a closet at his cabin . the sleaze style of the movie is laughable . no one in the movie can actually act including the head . the closet monster is a man with a mask tie on and you can really tell . the plot is slow  weak and the ending is so badly done . watch the mystery science theater     version of this move . believe me folks i wouldn  t watch this movie on its own .  
one of the best records of israel  s response to the murder of rabin . extremely true and natural  it captured the spirit of the nation . especially important was the response of young people to the trauma of israel  s loss and the feeling that we shall overcome .  
neat premise . very unrealistic . what i learned from this movie is that speeding crazily out of control to go to the weekend cabin may not be the best idea after all . i loved how bill conveniently rolls out of the car and down the hill with no injury at all  unfortunately  the same can  t be said for his gal . oh  and the police never seemed to find the car or trace the owner of the wreck .  br    br   lots of dragged out scenes including a plain stripper  still have nightmares from that scene  . poor assistant guy and his crummy useless hand . i admit i was intrigued to see what the mysterious  thing  was behind the door  but when it appeared  i just laughed . ha ha ha   the girl really seemed sadistically angry about being revived . personally  i really would want a new body after an excruciating experience like that   
i loved it  fred macmurray is wonderful as skid johnson  a somewhat conceited  proud yet at the same time very vulnerable saxophone player who is in love with maggie  carole lombard   who  s always there for him . they meet in panama after maggie comes off a ship and end up in a bar with anthony quinn . tony gets punched in the nose after her insults maggie by thinking her a loose woman  all because she took off her hat in public . big brawl and maggie ends up stuck in panama . romance . carole and arthur are great together . maggie is always there for him whenever he needs her . she urges him to go to ny where  well watch the movie and find out  . they have these wonderful scenes together where she sings in his arms while he plays the saxophone . i definitely recommend it .  
the brain that wouldn  t die is one awful piece of film that stinks from the opening credits . it  s got all the classic signs of being bad unbelieveable plotline  terrible acting  low  grade sets and lighting . the plotline goes like this when a doctor and his fiancee get caught in an accident  she gets decapitated and he picks up her head and takes her to his lab  where he sets up her head in a pan with some special liquid that keeps it alive . i  ll bet virgnina leath  who played the head in a pan had to spend a lot of uncomfortable time wearing that pan around her neck and squatting under a table . anyway  the doctor then tries to find her a new body  and hires two strippers so she can chose one to have her new body . bad all the way through  so bad it was torn to pieces on mystery science theater     .  
 . . . so what  s in those missing   minutes that were so horrible they had to cut them out from the original film  we were three years into the film production code . . . barbara stanwyck had starred in the original play  but here  carole lombard plays maggie king . co star fred macmurray is probably best known for  double indemnity   with stanwyck  as well as his hit tv show  my three sons  . keep an eye out for a young dorothy lamour  bob hope movies  and the too  fabulous franklin pangborn  who spiced up just about every film put on tape . of course  he works in the beauty salon on the ship  add the sublime charles butterworth and anthony quinn . good timing and clever banter at the beginning . maggie  s buddy ella is played by jean dixon  who was the best friend in  holiday  and  my man godfrey  . in  swing high   maggie the tourist meets a soldier who is leaving the army . maggie misses her boat when it leaves port and gets tangled up with the soldier . the dashing    something quinn has a small scene at the local bar in panama where johnson  macmurray  has been playing the trumpet . maggie  harry  butterworth   and skid band together and try to figure out how to get back to the states . some good singing by lamour . good  but brief  acting performance by cecil cunningham as  murph   the wise  helpful owner of the local saloon in panama . while others have lamented at how bad it is  it wasn  t so awful  and is even a little exotic  with the fake central america locale setting for the first half of the film .  
the brain  or head  that wouldn  t die is one of the more thoughtful low budget exploitation films of the early     s . it is very difficult to imagine how a script this repulsively sexist could have been written without the intention of self  parody . and the themes that are expressed repeatedly by the female lead  ginny leith  a detached head kept alive by machines  i  vs and clamps  seem to confirm that the film was meant to simultaneously exploit and critique gender stereotypes . shades of the under  rated boxing helena .  br    br   the genderisms are plentiful  and about as irritating as an army of angry ants . the dialog is hyperbolic  over  dramatic and unbelievable  and the acting is merely ok  but not consistent  . why have i given this film a   because some thought clearly went into it . i am really not sure what point the film was really trying to make  but it seems clear that it strives for an unusually edgy and raw sort of horror  without the blood and guts today  s audiences expect  .  br    br   another unique and interesting aspect of the brain is that there really are not any heroes in this film  and none of the characters are particularly likable .  br    br   all considered  this is a fairly painful and disturbing look at early     s american pop sexuality  from the viewpoint of a woman kept alive despite her missing body after what should have been a fatal car crash . her lover is threatening to sew a fresh  high quality  body onto her and force her to continue living with him . she is understandably non  plussed by all of this and forced to befriend a creature who is almost as monstrous as her boyfriend . oh  there are also some vague references to the     s    s clich about the evils of science run amok .  br    br   recommended for b sci fi buffs and graduate students in gender studies . o  w not recommended .  
i am quite the mitchell leisen fan so it was a great anticipation that i rented this movie but the print i got was extremely bad  so worn down from use and scorched seemingly beyond repair  the movie was so dark . so dark that in certain scenes that are cinematographed in the dark  you can  t see a single thing . that said  i believe i share the same opinion as the first review of this movie . it starts out unusually and does not tote the lines and rhythms of your typical hollywood    s movie . heck  not even your typical hollywod movie of any era . it seems the director has been influenced by the europeans because there is a certain caustic realism to the proceedings from the opening shot which is so crafted in camera movement and placement as maggie  carole lombard  and skid  fred macmurray  meet . you half expect them to start singing  make believe  from show boat . it starts with a few laughs and poor anthony in a one scene role where he speaks not a word of english gets slapped around by freddie . skids is a bum who doesn  t care that he  s a bum . that  s why he signs up in the army where he can hide from the world . he  s just been released though and in a set of screenplay shenanigans  she misses her boat for new york . this is when the movie kicks into high gear and we begin to get those french movie of the sixties vibes to the whole proceedings . the scenes are so well acted by lombard and cecil cunningham  the movie gains a pulse . macmurray is good too as he and lombard fall for each other as she nurtures his talent for the trumpet . then the temptress arrives in the form of dorothy lamour . enough with plot . the movie has fantastic montage sequences that dazzled me . they are very good . and lombard scores a home run in this movie but in the second half  a bit more is called of freddie and he fails to deliver the goods . with a heavily melodramatic ending and an actor you don  t believe  the movie falls short but since it is not your typical movie in structure  set design  and direction . it is worth a look . for what is what it was one of the   hits of the        season . i don  t know its exact rank though .  
this one hearkens back to the days of the matine  when kids with nowhere else to hang out took their dates to the balcony after dumping their younger siblings below . it didn  t matter what was on the screen  the little kids would sit through it and the big kids would ignore it . the adults  of course  would never see it .  br    br   but they put it on video  anyway  along with most of the other creaky  low  budget  b  horror flicks of the golden age . . . of television . this film  s inherent and unintentional humor is derived from stale ideology  the  bad girls  harvested to replace poor jan  s crushed body  they had it comin    overused plot  a mad scientist  trying to play god   violent yet conscientious monster  whose presence in the heretofore  normal  seeming scientist  s rural lab is never fully explained   and acting that polarizes at wooden or over  the  top .  br    br   this is a great party film  assuming your guests enjoy adding dialog and commentary to otherwise abominable cinematic exploits . in fact  should you or your guests prefer more passive entertainment  this film is also available on video in its  mystery science theater      treatment  in which the host and puppets of the cult tv series make the necessary additions for you .  
the third fred macmurray  carole lombard film is a bit more serious than hands across the table and the princess comes across . it  s yet another adaption of the play burlesque which apparently was popular back in the day .  br    br   the original play burlesque ran on broadway in the          season for    performances and it  s the role that carole lombard plays that barbara stanwyck originated on broadway that brought her to hollywood . a version starred nancy carroll in the early days of talkies and later on betty grable and dan dailey did still another version of it in when my baby smiles at me .  br    br   in fact i have a vinyl album of a radio version that al jolson and ruby keeler did for the lux radio theater . that  s an interesting work  believe me .  br    br   anyway macmurray and lombard do fine by the old chestnut  the story is now set in a nightclub where lombard is a singer and macmurray is a jazz trumpeter . note a nice performance by dorothy lamour as the latin vixen who gets between fred and carole . also anthony quinn is in one of his earliest films as a wolf on the make for lombard .  br    br   swing high  swing low holds up real nice today and i wouldn  t be surprised if we see yet another version of burlesque for the twenty first century .  
a scientist and his girl friend are out driving when his speeding causes a car crash . he escapes unharmed but she is decapitated . he saves her head  brings it to his house and keeps it alive       . he then proceeds to search out models and strippers for the perfect body for the head . his crippled assistant watches over the head which starts talking and has a telepathic  or telepathetic  link to a deformed monster kept in the closet . . . .  br    br   as you can see  this is pretty stupid stuff  but i had a certain fondness for it . when i grew up in the late     s  a local tv station showed this movie about   times each year  no exaggeration  . they showed it always on saturday afternoon tv   uncut . seeing this on tv back then was great  explicit blood and gore along with a gruesome monster and sleazy sexploitation   who cares if it was good  seeing it now i realize how lousy this really is .  br    br   the acting is perfectly wretched  the production values are nonexistent  the script is pretty dumb and  aside from the still pretty disgusting gore  this is dull stuff . there  s also a mild cat fight between two women and the admittedly great monster at the end . also add in an ending which leaves tons of loose ends . on one hand this is an interesting example of a     s exploitation film . on the other its utter trash . either way  it  s not a good movie but is a must  see  for one time only  for horror and gore fans .  br    br   also the head  s laugh is pretty creepy . note the end credits which gets the title wrong  calling it  the head that wouldn  t die     
i first came across this film when i read a book  written in the     s  about the career of mitchell leisin . i have to admit that over the years i have watched many of his films and find his best work really high quality . swing high  swing low was supposed to be one of his best . while it did not bore me  it did not impress me as much as hold back the dawn  death takes a holiday  kitty  or even golden earings . i suspect it just dates too much now to be well liked .  br    br   working at paramount leisin had a problem in those films that he did which were musicals . most of the scores he worked with were fairly mediocre . it  s true that twice standards appeared in his films  but they were really rare cases  cocktales for two  appeared in murder at the vanities  and  mona lisa  came out of captain carey  u . s . a . but the rest of the score for murder at the vanities was forgettable .  mona lisa  was the only tune in captain carey . it shouldn  t have been this way  leisin  s studio had rogers and hart working for it in the early     s . why couldn  t he have been assigned to a project with them  the score for swing high  swing low  is pleasant but forgettable . unfortunately  the movie is centered in the entertainment world  as fred macmurray demonstrates great talents as a trumpet player  he even works carole lombard into his act by looping his arms around her when he blows his trumpet  . the song  sung by lombard  about how her lover  s playing thrills her  is important to the plot . it works in the film  but it would have been better if the song was more memorable .  br    br   there is a picaresque style to the film  it begins on an ocean liner that lombard works on  as a manicurist . she is constantly being bullied by her boss franklin pangborn  the ship  s barber  . then the ship is entering into the panama canal  and we see macmurray as a soldier  who  s enlistment is ending shortly . their first scene together has a nice leisin touch in it macmurray is talking to lombard  she on the deck of the boat and he on the edge of the wall of the lock . nice way to keep the action going while the dialog hits a dull bit .  br    br   the film follows the rise and fall of the skid johnson  macmurray  as he meets lombard  and begins his reputation as a trumpet player  but meets the  other woman  in the film  dorothy lamore . the best moments in the film deal with the collapse of the relationship with lombard  and his collapse as a jazz trumpeter  his appearance and need for alcohol is very untypical for a macmurray character  even his darker figures like walter neff or mr . sheldrake or the naval officer who pushes the caine mutiny did not demonstrate a reliance on alcohol .  br    br   lombard is good as the woman loved but wronged by macmurray . lamore has little to really do  possibly the film had more scenes with her in it  but one stands out is her attempt to get macmurray onto the wagon again . in his opening bit pangborn is fine . rarely noticed in films  small part actor carl judels is effective as a fair weather fan  friend of macmurray  who drops him as he goes under  though he gives him a hand  out  .  br    br   charles butterworth is as trivial in this film as usual  but he does have one moment when he looks sheepishly at his hands on the keyboard of a piano in the rooms he  his girlfriend  macmurray  and lombard share  his red faced appearance is due to embarrassment about a lie that macmurray is insisting is true . it was a nice  subtle moment . if only his subtlety had been in his acting rather than his moments of diffident humor .  
i caught  sorrows lost  at the new york film and video festival and i guess i had some high hopes for this film . sadly  this is just another visual fx calling card . the story is pretty lame . the bad lighting and camera work  along with the less than great editing and music all make the film seem low quality .  br    br   is it really too much to ask that fx shorts have better stories and have the rest of the technical production be on par with the fx  you can  t just get away with cool fx in shorts anymore  it  s been  years since      made a big splash . at least that short quick  cool and was even a little funny  none of that can be said about  sorrows lost .   
simon  s carefully written dialogues are truly electrified by matthau and burns . you can literally hear the script crackle . there are few movies out there that can develop such a relationship between the actors and the script . for example  the famed reunion scene could have been a lot duller with less  quality actors involved . matthau seems to had been born to play willie clark  of course  oscar moreso in the odd couple   and with all of the little idiosyncracies and mannerisms that matthau crams into the character  the line where he is arguing that he is with it since he lives in the city whereas lewis lives in the country that lewis is  out of touch  is the quintessential example of this  make this one of the best performances i  ve ever seen of any actor in any role  be it comedic or drama or whatever else . period . matthau and burns work excellently together the contrast they portray accentuates simon  s superb knack at creating comedic conflict . this movie is simply one of the ultimate  must  sees  and does demand a rightful prestigious place in the pages of film history .  
it might have been a good movie if it had explored something more interesting rather than just the surface of a lesbian relationship if this was the meaning of the movie . . . it is quite predictable not mentioning that the two girls resemble the russian group t . a . t . u . . . . coincidence  i don  t think so . there is nothing original in this movie to support it so they had to use something which is already famous . you know the recipe . the other actors . . . well  i just don  t know what their role is supposed to be . most of them are well  known people in romania and i must mention some of them are not even actors  e . g . mihaela radulescu  . so to summarize it  girl band tatty  desperate  publicity needing  actors   a non  existing plot the occasion to use bad language in order to shock love sick . . . . too bad . . . the idea was good  though . . . and i am seriously holding myself from commenting the title . . .  
this may not be a memorable classic  but it is a touching romance with an important theme that stresses the importance of literacy in modern society and the devastating career and life consequences for any unfortunate individual lacking this vital skill .  br    br   the story revolves around iris  a widow who becomes acquainted with a fellow employee at her factory job  an illiterate cafeteria worker named stanley . iris discovers that stanley is unable to read  and after he loses his job  she gives him reading lessons at home in her kitchen . of course  as you might predict  the two  although initially wary of involvement  develop feelings for each other . . .  br    br   jane fonda competently plays iris  a woman with problems of her own  coping with a job lacking prospects  two teenage children  one pregnant   an unemployed sister and her abusive husband . however  robert deniro is of course brilliant in his endearing portrayal of the intelligent and resourceful  but illiterate  stanley  bringing a dignity to the role that commands respect . they aren  t your typical charming young yuppie couple  as generally depicted in on screen romances  but an ordinary working class  middle aged pair with pretty down to earth struggles .  br    br   i won  t give the ending away  but it  s a lovely  heartwarming romance and a personal look into the troubling issue of adult illiteracy  albeit from the perspective of a fictional character .  
what was with all the turkish actors  no offense but i thought it was all for nothing for all these actors . the film had no script to test any actors acting skill or ability . it demanded next to nothing i bought this film to see michael madsen . he is one of my favorite actors but this film was another failure for him . the script was so bad . their was just nothing to sink your teeth into and all the characters were two dimensional . madsen tried to act like a hard ass but the script and direction didn  t even allow him to do enough with his character to make it more interesting or  dimensional .  br    br   even the sound effects of the gunfight at the beginning of the film sounded like the noise of paint ball guns when they are fired in a skirmish . it was really weird and they didn  t sound like real guns . a video game had better sound effects than this film . there was also a really annoying bloke at the beginning of the film who was a member of the robbery gang . he had this american whining voice like a girl shouting lines like  lets get the fk out of here  and what are we going to do man  . he sounded like a girl . as a positive it was funny to watch and it made me laugh too . for a few seconds . whoo hoo  dumb film . poor madsen . he will bounce back . . .  
the    black and white half  hour episodes of the early situation comedy  mr . peepers  were originally broadcast from        on nbc . like a lot of baby boomers this and  ding dong school  are my earliest memories of television . since both ran later in syndication it is hard to tell how many of these memories are actually tied to the original broadcasts .  br    br    mr . peepers  is worth checking out for more than its nostalgia value . it represents a very different style of situation comedy than shows like  the honeymooners  and  i love lucy  . the genre could have gone in two different directions in those days and ended up taking the loud abrasive path of those two shows which is probably why they still seem contemporary .  br    br    mr . peepers   which was differentiated by its intelligent restrained tone  may appear slow and dull in comparison . but it  s really more a matter of adjusting to the different style . once you get into the characters it will win over most intelligent viewers . credit should be give to the show  s producer  fred coe  a key figure in early television whose dramatic anthologies are also worth checking out   philco television playhouse    lights out    playhouse      producers showcase    playwrights      fireside theatre   etc .  even on kinescope .  br    br    mr . peepers  offered a much more gentle style with wally cox  to be the voice of  underdog  a few years later  in the title role  robinson peepers  a mild  mannered high school science teacher . his glasses were his trademark and a symbolic link to his name and role as a passive observer .  br    br   the series provided cox with an outstanding supporting cast . tony randall played his brash best friend  history teacher harvey weskit . jack warden played frank whip  the loud gym teacher whose mild bullying gave the show most of its conflict elements .  br    br   there is some love interest competition involving the school  s nurse  nancy remington  patricia benoit   with viewers quickly aligning with mr . peepers who seems a much better match for the gentle nancy . their on  screen marriage near the end        season captured national attention  an early version of the  who shot j . r .   frenzy .  br    br   then again  what do i know  i  m only a child .  
i love bad shark movies . i really do . i laugh hysterically at them . and the scifi channel was having a marathon of them  culminating in the premier of their new original picture  hammerhead shark frenzy . based on the previews  it looked like it was going to be highly amusing . essentially a remake of benchley  s creature  really . it was prefaced by a showing of shark attack   megalodon  which is shark movie hilarity at its best . i was in the mood i was ready to go . bring it on  hammerhead  mad  scientist  man  oh  god  was that movie wrong .  br    br   wrong  wrong  wrong .  br    br   sick . twisted . messed up .  br    br   this is theoretical reproduction at its very worst  my friends . when a drugged  out girl is brought out of suspended animation and strapped to a table screaming her head off because the shark  human hybrid fetus the absolutely insane  scientist  deliberately implanted in her womb wants out . . . jesus monkeys . that  s what i call disturbing .  br    br   that  s really how the plot works hmmm  thought the mad scientist . my son died of cancer  but i brought him back to life by combining his dna with that of a hammerhead shark  because sharks don  t succumb to cancer and further hammerheads reproduce via placenta . oh  look  a perfect amphibious being  i  ve created the next evolution of the human race  i know  let  s make him reproduce  but darned if all those shark genes have  t made my son bloodthirsty instead of raping the hot babes i keep sending into his little jungle paradise  he keeps eating him . but check this out  among the random people who have  by way of some unimportant plot twist  ended up on my research island  is the woman to whom my son was engaged before he died  i bet he  ll do her  all this leads up to an extremely touching and heartfelt reunion woman you  re going to impregnate me  mad scientist no . he is .  indicates thrashing shark  person in tank  how sweet .  br    br   do not watch this movie . ever .  
i  ve just finished viewing the  st disc in a   disc    episodes  collection created in conjunction with the ucla film  television archive  s  more entertainment  inc .  . so far  aside from the  st episode   the image quality is quite good . the dvd box is shown on the title page here on imdb .  br    br    mr . peepers  is just as charming as when i first saw it    years old at the time  and wally cox is truly endearing in this role . if you  re in the mood for quiet comedy that sneaks up on you  as opposed to hitting you over the head  you  ll treasure this chance to experience all the wonderful characters you might remember from your childhood . although some of the gags are a bit corny  most are ingenious and well  executed . . . and even the corny ones are fun . this is one tv series that lives up to my early childhood memories of it .  
horror  sci  fi that is interesting as it is laughable . f  x pretty good . . . for what you manage to see . a made for tv thriller that is not as bad as the worst of them . jeffrey coombs plays a brilliant although misguided scientist that tampers with stem cell research and manipulates human dna with that of a hammerhead shark . the horrifying results give birth to one hell of a killing machine . a group of scientists led by william forsythe and hunter tylo are invited to a remote island to check out the brilliant new experiment . of course  after laughing and stammering in awe . . . coombs  creation  by the way is his own son fused with a hammerhead  is let loose to hunt down one by one his father  s colleagues . revenge is not always rewarding . also in the cast elsie muller  g . r . johnson  arthur roberts and velizar binev .  
i must have been only   when mr peepers started . it was a must see for the whole family  i believe on sun . nights . repeating gags were rob opening his locker  he had to use a yardstick or pointer to gage the right spot on another locker and do some other things  finally kicking the spot whereupon his door would open   and taking pins out of a new shirt  at the start of an episode he would open up a package with a new dress shirt and for the rest of the show be finding one pin after another that he missed when unwrapping the shirt  timing was everything and the pins got lots of laughs .  i remember an aunt that drove a rio like jack benny and always wanted  sonny  to say something scientific . he would think and come up with  semi permeable membrane  or osmosis causing her to say how brilliant he was .  you had to have been there  . marion lorne stole the show every time she was on screen . why they didn  t continue the series from her pov when wally quit  he was afraid he was being typecast but by then it was way too late  i  ll never know . i saw somewhere that the  st tv wedding  big one anyway  was tiny tim on the carson show . horsecocky . it was rob and nancy  did i ever have the hots for her  and i remember it made the cover of tv guide and got press in all the papers and major magazines . a trip to the museum of broadcasting in nyc years ago was disappointing in that they had very few episodes then and those might be gone now . i still remember it as wonderful and wish i had been a little older .  
this movie makes me think the others i  ve seen with combs were an accident . the plot had more holes than i think i  ve ever seen in a movie purporting to be something more than a  b  movie . the acting was so laughable that not even the memories of combs  past campy triumphs were enough to save it . considering the script i have to imagine that there was not enough money in the budget for things like continuity and original ideas . i am thoroughly upset that i paid blockbuster prices for this trash . the fact that it was made for television was something that would have helped me avoid this atrocity and frankly something that movies this poor should be required to warn you of . avoid this movie no matter what .  
i  too  loved this series when i was a kid . in     i was  and my family always watched this show . my favorite character was the one played by marion lorne as a rather stuttering  bumbling and very lovable  aunt  type person . i can still recall her  ubba bubba um um  type comments as she would try and say something important . and then when she came back and played aunt clara in bewitched it was great casting   br    br   it was the first time that i can remember seeing walter matthau whose career i followed as a fan for many many years .  br    br   i have a question if anyone can verify was the title or end credits music the  swedish rhapsody  by hugo alfven  every time i hear it played on my classical radio station here in southern california it brings back memories of the image of mr . peepers walking away with his back to the camera . i  m not even certain if this image in my mind  s eye is correct .  
note to all mad scientists everywhere if you  re going to turn your son into a genetically mutated monster  you need to give him a scarier name than  paul .  i don  t care if he  s a frightening hammerhead shark with a mouthful of dagger  sharp teeth and the ability to ambush people in the water as well as on dry land . give the kid a more worthy name like   thor    rock   or  tiburon .  because even if he eats me up i will probably just sit there laughing   ha  get a load of this    paul the monster is ripping me to shreds       that  s the worst part about this movie is  this shark  thing is referred to as  paul  throughout the entire flick . it makes what could have been a decent  scary horror movie just seem silly . not that there aren  t other campy and contrived parts of  hammerhead shark frenzy .  the scientists spend the entire movie wandering along this island  and all of a sudden one of the girls starts itching madly from walking in the lush forest  and just has to pour water on her feet to relive the itching  which of course allows  paul  to come out of the water and kill her . the one thing scifi channel did right in this movie was let the hottie live . but that  s a small silver lining in an otherwise disappointing movie .  
i think that the movie was kind of weird . in the opening scene  a person is killed for no reason . he doesn  t get mentioned again . the special effects could have also be better but i enjoyed watching an older horror movie . it isn  t the best example of a classic horror movie but it still was an alright movie . i give it about a  out of   of the scale .  
i love sharks . and mutants . and explosions . theoretically  with those parameters in mind  hammerhead shark frenzy should have been the best movie ever .  br    br   it is not .  br    br   the monster looks like a villain from power rangers  and has approximately the same range of rubbery movement . this might be okay if the makers weren  t quite as proud of its design as they seem to be . that is to say  for a guy in a big rubber suit in an action  scifi  horror flick that could benefit from some mystery  the shark gets a lot of screen time . granted  it is usually shaky and erratic . i guess you  re supposed to assume that it  s so scary that even the camera guy freaks out .  br    br   the camera goes to a person about to get eaten  the camera goes to the shark . the camera goes back to the person about to get eaten  only now they are screaming and armless . and so on .  br    br   the costuming is bad  the acting is poor  and the special effects are sub  par  but the writing is by far the worst . things happen completely randomly so that more people can be eaten  or so something can explode . because let me tell you  the people who made this movie definitely went in with a more explosions  more better mindset . characters shoot cars and there is a massive explosion . they shoot helicopters  there is a massive explosion . barrels  rocks  trees  whatever  they all explode  so much so that the freaking shark even explodes at the end .  br    br   speaking of which  i don  t care how crazy a person is  i find it hard to believe that anyone would think trying to make a giant half  person half  shark have sex with a woman in order to make freaky shark people babies is a good idea . that is  unless that person is the mad scientist in this movie .  br    br   the bad thing is  the movie is so random  and at times  boring  that even its badness is not really enough to hold a person  s prolonged interest . it might be a good one to mst  k with your friends  but past that  if you happen to catch this bad boy on  do yourself a favor and change the channel .  
your average garden variety psychotic nutcase  deliciously essayed with unhinged glee by stephen sachs  knocks off various dim  witted young  adults   to use the term very loosely  in dayton hall university  which is being closed down for demolition . featuring dreadful acting by the entire cast  daphne zuniga makes her ignominious and inauspicious film debut here as debbie  a bimbo who has her head crushed by a car    a hefty corpse tally of    okay make  up f  x by matthew mungle  a few bloody murders  baseball bat bludgeoning  chicken wire strangulation  your standard drill through the head bit  that sort of gruesome thing   a downbeat surprise twist ending which was later copied in  intruder   a creepy score by christopher   hellraiser   young  a slight smidgen of gratuitous female nudity  and endearingly incompetent direction by jeffrey obrow and steve carpenter  who also blessed us with  the power  and  the kindred    this entertainingly abysmal slice  n  dice atrocity sizes up as a good deal of delectably dopey and drecky low  grade fun .  
this type of plot really does have a lot of potential  but it was butchered here . honestly  i sensed the cheese element in the beginning  but i thought it would get better after the grotesque birthing . whoa  i was wrong  so mad scientist makes a monster  wants to brag to his old cronies before he kills them  but of course they escape . after that  it  s really bad . i should  ve counted the times the rubber shark mask peeked out from behind some foliage  but i most likely would have lost count .  br    br   pan down to the blood  dripping  from  severed  leg to show us how the shark  man finds the folks . i hate being spoon  fed every aspect of a horror film .  br    br   oh  and after being nearly killed by a mutated shark  man and trudging around a jungle  esqe island  there  s nothing more cheerful than a middle  aged man reciting shakespeare . . .  br    br   this is one where you  ll find yourself rooting for the monster . . . if you can bear to watch this poor excuse for a flick .  
don  t believe all of the negative reviews this movie receives . yes  it is cheaply made . yes  the gore is laughable . and  yes  the acting is sub  par . however  this is a textbook example of an early slasher flick  and if that is your  thing   its mine   then you will enjoy this one . there are enough good aspects to this movie to more than compensate for the drawbacks . for one  the score by a then unknown christopher young is very creepy and accents the violence perfectly . the ending is a welcomed break from the predictable upbeat endings of most movies . and last  but not least  the setting is what made the film for me . the makers of this film could have done a much better job  dressing  the set to make it more believable as a college dorm . however  if you can overlook this flaw  the setting is great . four collegiates all alone in a huge  abandoned  condemned building just waiting to be torn down . . . . it reaks of possibility . when watching  allow your imagination to do some of the work and you may enjoy this film as much as i did .  
a scientist on an island is in deep sorrow about the loss of his son who died of kidney cancer . so he thinks why not turn my dead son into a hammerhead shark . well  who wouldn  t  it  s a little hard to cope with the fact that the hammerhead shark that  s killing everybody is constantly being called  paul  . also  william forsythe  s cast as a macgyver  kick  ass  savingtheday  kinda hero lacks credibility . on the other hand there are a few hot chicks who make you actually look at the screen while shark paul bites another one to death . as a matter of fact i find bad b  movies quite amusing . but for my taste it would have been a much better movie if it was made for say        bucks less . then it might have been fun .  
not a bad word to say about this film really . i wasn  t initially impressed by it but it grew on me quickly . i like it a lot and i think its a shame that many people can  t see past the fact that it was banned in some territories  mine being one of them . the film delivers in the shock  gore and atmosphere department . the score is a beautiful piece of suspense delivering apparatus . it only seems fair that chris young went on to be one of the best composers in the business . the acting in this film is of a somewhat high standard  if a little wooden in some spots  and the effects are very real and gritty . all of this is high praise for a good slasher film in my book . i  ve noted in some reviews that the film has gotten serious flack having the famous killer  s p . o . v shot . and i ask what  s wrong with that    it is a classic shot that evokes dread into any good fan of the genre and is a great to keep the killer  s identity a secret . the only thing that stops this film getting top marks in my book is that the surprise twist  killer revealed  is not handled with more care  i mean it just happens kind of quickly  though the great performances make it just about credible . aside from that pranks is a great movie  though i prefer the original title  and its a shame that so many people knock it off as just a cheap piece of crap . its more than that  but only few know that as it seems to have gotten lost in the haze of early   s slasher . what a shame . . . . its a really good movie people  believe me   
hammerhead is a combination between the mad scientist and killer shark movie genres . in a bit of type  casting  jeffrey combs plays the aforementioned mad scientist who develops a human  hammerhead shark creature . bizarrely  this being is in fact his son  who he has turned into this monster to prevent him dying from cancer . or something .  br    br   a group of associates are invited to the scientist  s private island . they end up being used as shark bait or shark mate . for some unknown reason the head of it has been brought along as part of this team . who knows why  luckily  he turns out to be a resourceful  if somewhat overweight  ramboesque hero . i  m working on the assumption that he learnt how to handle an assault rifle as part of his day job working in  st line support . a normal day for this it man presumably involves fixing someone  s network connection followed by a call to gun down gun  toting evil  doers . or perhaps a call to fix someone  s pc has to be scheduled between physical confrontations with land  based human  shark hybrids  anyway  he  s amazing and saves the day . he even get  s the girl .  br    br   the shark  man is a slightly lame creation but ok  i guess  judging by the effects in general in this film . and the movie moves on at a decent pace . it  s complete hokum of course but if you buy a movie called hammerhead and expect it to be a complex drama about the emotional conflicts experienced by a man turned into a land  based killer fish  then really you have no one to blame but yourself . as it is  there are guns  gore  girls and possibly even an exploding helicopter . it  s rubbish but not as bad as some might say .  
college girl joanne murray takes on the unenviable job of readying the student housing building to become apartments  which includes selling the unneeded furniture this takes place during a break  so a mysterious psycho is stalking the nearly  empty premises on campus .  dorm that dripped blood  is a low  budget slasher flick that is quite entertaining . the acting is pretty bad  the plot is predictable  but the gore effects are quite good . the film was made by ucla film students stephen carpenter and jeffrey obrow for next to nothing . soon a dreamy ambiance kicks in  very similar to the enveloping forests of jeff leiberman  s fantastic  just before dawn  .  out of   . it  s great to see daphne zuniga of  the initiation  fame run over few times by a car .  
jeffrey combs is an insane scientist whose stem cell research has morphed into a diabolical scheme to create a hybrid hammerhead shark humanoid life form  hoping to breed a brand new species using hunter tylo  s womb . it won  t be easy for tylo is a tough broad and her boyfriend  william forsythe  isn  t about to give her up without a fight .  br    br   you see tylo and forsythe are two of business executive arthur roberts  employees  brilliant minds who meet combs  . . a scientist who once worked for roberts  and whose vacated position went to tylo  at his island fortress where he conducts his research and experiments . this island affords him the opportunity to recruit fresh victims for his work and  son  . they think it  s a professional affair in regards to a breakthrough in stem cell research which could lead to cures for a variety of diseases . combs  son was dying of kidney cancer when he decided to perform his mad science on him  creating this blood  thirsty  flesh  eating creature which can both swim and walk on dry land  . . although  at first the hammerhead could only remain outside for short time periods  . tylo was dating combs  son  hence the connection besides the two having worked for roberts  who brings along his trophy wife  mariya ignatova . also accompanying tylo and forsythe  roberts and ignatova  are their colleagues  elise muller and gr johnson . combs traps them in a conference room  but they are able to escape onto the island as he sends after them his well paid mercenaries and hammerhead shark son .  br    br   like similar sci  fi channel creature features of it  s type  hammerheadshark frenzy has some rather unappealing computer generated effects and the attacks  . . where the shark rips apart limbs  are shot in a quick  edit  frenzied camera format where you have a hard time ever seeing any of the ensuing gory carnage . you have this vague notion that a person is being eaten  . . ripped to shreds   but the attacks themselves are shot in a very erratic fashion which  truth be told  is rather infuriating . the monster itself is never seen in it  s entirety  just momentary glimpses of an eye or a body part being gnawed on as the victim screams out in horror . one thing  s for certain  you do see teeth . we do get cgi shots of the hammerhead shark swimming toward the screen  all menacing  ready to feast on flesh . a constant is while  . . and after  victims are attacked  we see a great deal of blood and bits of flesh bubbling to the water  s surface  . . this is really director michael oblowitz  s main cue as to inform the viewer that those being torn apart are goners  .  br    br   combs doesn  t break new ground as the scientist  but he  s always had an ability to convey a quiet madness under this cold  blooded resolve . it  s fun seeing forsythe in a rare clean  cut hero role  very against type as an electronics wiz  . . to his credit  he actually pulls it off  who must assume a leadership position when the group faces unprecedented peril . tylo is also in a very different kind of role  a scientist who can defend herself quite well . roberts can play the millionaire businessman roles in his sleep  and it  s kind of neat seeing him firing off a machine gun at combs  soldiers  . . although  his fate is not pleasant  . mentioning that  it was also really entertaining watching forythe and tylo downing combs  hired goons with confiscated automatic machine guns . as expected  the screenplay allows those who created the murderous fiend to put themselves in unnecessary danger just so that they can pay for their sins . . i mean  seriously  would these people knowingly leave themselves so vulnerable to attack after seeing just what damage to the human anatomy it could do  beautiful exotic setting is quite a nice backdrop .  
in my opinion  this is a pretty good celebrity skit show . i enjoyed seeing greg kinnear as the host . there are many reasons why i said that . even though hal sparks was an okay host  i sometimes wish that greg kinnear hadn  t left . if you ask me  it seems that nobody stays with a tv show throughout its entire run anymore . still  i enjoyed seeing the various hosts and other people spoofing celebrities . if you ask me  that was pretty darn funny . before i wrap this up  i must say that i kind of miss this show . now  in conclusion  i highly recommend this show to all you die  hard sketch show fans . you will really enjoy it .  
if you read my review of syfy  s  dinoshark   you know that i can appreciate the low  budget schlock that these made  for  television movies can provide . they  re stupid . . . they  re silly . . . but they  re still pretty fun in a  so bad  it  s good  kind of way . so  still smacking with guilt for liking  and recommending  the undeniably hokey  dinoshark   i sat down to watch  hammerhead shark frenzy   a syfy original movie about a half  man  half  hammerhead monster terrorizing people on an island . with the syfy channel  s sure  fire recipe for creating b  movie creature features and a cast that includes william forsythe and hunter tylo  how could it possibly go wrong  well  to my surprise  it actually misses the mark . . . not by much  but enough to make me not recommend it . why  well  first of all  its titular monster  the dreaded hammerhead  human hybrid  takes a backseat to a bunch of faux  military thugs who really become the movie  s primary villain . though the hammerhead does rack up the body count  he  or it or whatever you call the thing  only arrives just before someone is going to be munched upon and leaves directly after . the rest of the movie is filler  pitting our heroes against the aforementioned soldiers . that  to me  is just not as compelling as watching a walking hammerhead eat people   br    br   please read the full review on my blog www . horrormoviejournal . blogspot . com  
neil simon  s the odd couple set up a model for many of his later plays . felix unger and oscar madison were the unsuitably paired roommates in the original  the former being picky and neat  the latter being slovenly and loose . simon would rewrite  less successfully  the play in the     s as the new odd couple  with female roommates . he made it a mixed couple  a woman with her daughter  and a man  in the goodbye girls . he also gave it an additional twist in     with the sunshine boys  a broadway hit starring jack alberson and sam levine as al lewis and willie clark  the aged  semi  retired vaudevillians . here the  apartment  problem is reduced to a teaming of two men who can  t stand each other . the     film starred walter matthau as willie  and george burns as al .  br    br   in actuality  al probably does not think totally badly of willie  willie is pathological on the subject of al . first al had little habits  such as accidentally spitting slightly when pronouncing words beginning with the letter  t   and slightly jabbing willie with his index finger  on stage . secondly  al retired when his wife died . willie was not ready to retire  and has been forcing his nephew and agent  ben  richard benjamin  to try to get him jobs in commercials . but willie can  t remember lines unless they are funny  and keeps flubbing them . so he rarely is able to stay to the end of a rehearsal for a commercial .  br    br   ben is asked to get the two back together for a live scene of their most famous sketch on a television show about american comedy . he does bring al to see willie  and the sparks begin flying  as neither can figure out what the other is doing  and this is just in rehearsal . on top of that  willie is insisting on changes  minor ones  but they throw off al  such as saying  enter     when al knocks on the door . the initial rehearsal is a failure  but ben manages to get them to the taping of the show . the question is if they will complete the scene in the finished program or will willie wring al  s neck   br    br   the three leads  matthau  burns  and benjamin  do very well with the one  liners  frequently reminiscent of vaudeville patter  example  chest pains . . . i  m getting chest pains uncle willie . every thursday i come here and get chest pains    so  come on fridays    . benjamin strives to prove his deep affection for his uncle  although matthau  s rough outer shell makes it difficult  he only smooths down when he discusses the glory days of vaudeville  . matthau has a little better grasp on reality  at first  than burns  who seems senile by his repeating himself  but in actuality matthau  s sense of rejection by the world that once applauded him make him less willing to behave properly . burns is not senile  he takes things slowly . but he seems far happier in accepting his retirement .  br    br   i call this a final  voyage of discovery  for our modern lewis and clark . al and willie transcend their old skits  as they gradually end up realizing that they have more in common in their old age than they thought . even the irascible willie admits that al may be  to him  a pain in the ass  but he was a funny man .  br    br   burns was not the original choice for the part of  al lewis   supposedly dale of the team smith and dale  . jack benny was . benny probably would have done a good job  but ill  health forced him out  he died in      . burns  whose last involvement in any film was in the solid gold cadillac in     as the narrator  turned in such a fine performance that he got the  oscar  for best supporting actor  and was to have a career in movies in the next decade in such films as oh god   oh god  you devil and going in style . he died in     age     having proved that he was more than just a brilliant straight man for his wife gracie allan .  
  the crush  is a pleasant enough    something friends romantic chick flick for the first two  thirds or so  as it tries to be a brit  sex and the city  .  br    br   i particularly enjoyed the turn  around of the trophy young hunk whose character is not much fleshed out  come to think of it we didn  t see all that much physical flesh of him either and kenny doughty is worth seeing more of  .  br    br   they sure make a lot more deal of young man  older woman than was made of the opposite in either version of  sabrina   neither movie do i like  or for that matter with the douglas  zeta  jones or dion  svengali nuptials .  br    br   surrounding andie macdowell as an ex pat otherwise are welcome familiars from brit dramas and comedies  such as tart  tongued anna chancellor .  br    br   the plot twists towards the end feel very deus ex machina . but it wasn  t until the credits came up at the end that i realized what might really be wrong . just as with  sex and the city   the writer  director is male  here first  timer scot john mckay  and i think he really wanted to do a script about three gay men  probably about them coming out in relation to their lovers and at work  the characters are a school principal  a cop and a doctor   which would have been a better and more interesting movie . the working title for the film was  the sad fcker  s club  which would have made its parallels with the gay  broken hearts club  even more obvious .  br    br    originally written           
i can  t believe how many people hate hal sparks  he was my favorite host of the show  hands down . i hate celebrity gossip and generally dislike talk shows  but when hal sparks hosted talk soup  it was must see tv for me . i rarely missed an episode during his run  and was saddened when the guest hosts started pouring in  although most of the guests still did a fine job  .  br    br   anyway  for all the people who dislike hal sparks  i imagine they must have never seen the weekend specials . they were hour long episodes of talk soup that comprised the best clips from the entire week  and were padded out by sketch comedy bits . the original bits that hal sparks did were hilarious . in one he got possessed by a bad comedy demon  and in an exorcist like scene his head spun as he told dated jokes about airline food . one episode was dedicated to making fun of multiplicity  as a bunch of cloned hal sparks kept multiplying through out the episode  over  running the studio .  br    br   ok  maybe these don  t sound as funny when i describe them  but all i know is that besides talk soup  the only other two shows i watched consistently during those years was the simpsons and late night with conan o  brian . so if you like the comedy stylings of those shows  then you  d probably like talk soup during the sparks years .  br    br   that said  henson and tyler were both great hosts as well . all three hosts brought something different to the table but they were all fine comedians in my opinion . of course  throughout the tyler and guest star years  my interest in this show began to wane  but every now and then i catch the soup  the show  s spiritual successor  and sure enough  the new host can bring some pretty unexpected laughs from time to time .  br    br   ok  i  ve wasted enough time talking about a tv show that isn  t on the air anymore and on a channel that i generally despise . go watch something else   
this was a really funny movie .  br    br   every  in the movie was trying to be serious that is what made this movie so funny . i mean come on a shark  s head on a human body . can it get any funnier . good job sci  fi keep the comedy movies coming . i never thought movies could get anymore retarded . if they keep it up they will have to rename the sci fie channel the comedy sci fi channel or something like that .  br    br   i cant wait  the next blockbuster movie from sci fi .  br    br   ill be ready with a bowl of popcorn and a case of beer or a bottle of liquor and ill be ready to laugh it up again     
i don  t watch a lot of tv  except for the office  weeds  entourage and e   s soup . i think i hold this show in good company .  br    br   i love the scathing review of pop culture that this show gives . soup also helps me stay on top of what people in the office are referring to when talking about a sanjaya or heidi montag  sp   .  br    br   the best part is that soup shows clips of the highlights of these shows  which are usually the funniest or most controversial moments  c  mon  most people get hooked into watching american idol because of the freak show that are the auditions   which is why most people claim to watch . and that means  i don  t have to suffer through the other    of these mind numbing talk shows or  reality  shows  for one nugget of  funny  or  shock .  the only reason why soup doesn  t get a   in my opinion are sometime the sketches are not that funny  and on an even rarer occasion  the commentary isn  t always up to par . but they can  t all be home runs either  if so  soup wouldn  t be on e  .  br    br   joel  s quick wit and soup  s writing team  which includes mchale  make for a great show . i happen to enjoy the laughing and comments from the crew who are off  camera . even when they  re being blatantly obvious by giving occasional courtesy laughs  it  s hilarious because it is forced . they  re obviously being ironic . and that  s part of what makes this show funny .  
hahahaha       funny  that sums this movie up in one word . what the crap was this  thing   since it might kill me to use the word movie      i hope the director  writer  and producer didn  t mean for this to turn out good  because it sure didn  t    a scientist turning his son into a hammerhead shark  and the shark killing a bunch of people the scientist invited to the island    oh my gooooooodddd     i hate this film so much that when i was watching it i laughed at all the serious parts  because they were so corny and unprofessional . . . . and they couldn  t have made the shark look more unrealistic  even though this  thing  had a bit larger budget than most low  budget movies . all i have to say is watch this movie expecting to laugh at all the bad acting  and stupid corny dialogue  because if you are expecting a good movie you  ll be highly disappointed .  
e  tv is a great channel and talk soup is so funny  in a flash you can view the episodes change . we want more funny writings by the best writer ever stan evans . . the patron saint of the mindless masses . . . he is a truly talented  gifted writer  actor  comic  producer  director  and creative consultant . anna nicole loved him  but he was not a billionaire so he left him for a billionaire . many super stars wanted to make films with the actor stan evans  who has a  humphrey bogart  clark gableacting style . he should make many more movies . maybe with stephen spielberg  or perhaps many other talented producers . we wish him a moment of fame with a great fortune to gain . has he produced any mock  u  dramas  or perhaps any docudrama    a project about bernie madhoff would be a great tv movie written by stan evans . how many screenplays has he written   is he under billion contract with disney   he should earn more than    million . . . he could also write a tv movie about the late king of pop . . michael jackson . we want to view a lot more of and by stan evans in the movies and on tv . thank you so very much . elvis has left the building       
this low budget b horror  s plot comes with all the amenities  mad scientist complete with sidekick  malicious corporate greed of pharmaceutical industry  eccentric and extreme genetic engineering  and information technology . . . . can  t leave that out .  br    br   start with strange sequence of hot looking nameless boaters that foolishly decide to take a dip in the waters near an uncharted island and end up chum for swarming hammerhead sharks . . . . .  br    br   cut to weak back story implying the stock decline of a generic pharma corporation which motivates its wicked shakespeare quoting ceo to entertain an un  solicited offer made by a former employee  scientist that was jilted out of his job as head of research and who also happens to be a nut . . . of course  total herbert west wannabe  . he is offering up a new stem cell technology that could make tons o  cash . . . or so it seems . . . this lures in several employees to his moreau  ish island  must have been quite an impressive exit package from the company when he was let go for him to afford an island  to validate his scientific findings including the ceo and  co  incidentally  the ex  fianc of the mad scientist  s son now morphed sharkuman  how convenient  . . . .  br    br   the plan  sort of  is to rekindle lost love between the former nuptials while exacting revenge on the former colleagues for his termination .  sheez  how can this guy be bitter  he has his own friggen  island after all . . .  .  br    br   soon  everyone is on the run  from endless supply of security guards toting heavy weaponry  from mutant plants  can there be an uncharted island without man  eating plants   from sharky son  s appetite for carnage  from quack daddy  s breeding plans  and from lack of a cell phone signal  . . . and they all must learn to work together to get off the island alive   br    br   will anyone escape  will a new species be created  watch it and find out .  br    br   there is some entertainment value in this movie  but don  t expect much . . . for the true combs fan  this is not to be missed .  br    br   don  t say i didn  t warn you .  
wow this was a movie was completely captivating i could not believe that i started awake so late to watch it but it came on late ounce i started watching i couldn  t stop it had a full range of very good cast members wow even eartha kitt and ruby dee forrest whittaker and james earl jones and many more well known actors and actresses this was more than a glimpse into history it was eye opening into another part of society that people don  t know of and may even be embarrassed to talk about . i  ve never heard of a book or movie about this before and this is something that black history never addresses only looks down on because they were privleged and mixed race  i highly recommend this movie  
where the hell are all these uncharted islands where prehistoric monsters lurk  evil doctors perform their experiments  madmen hold the ultimate karate championship  and the uber  rich hunt humans for sport  i had no idea there were still so many uncharted islands out there  but if you take into account the number of movies that utilize one of these mysterious islands as a location  you  d have to assume that there are at least   of these suckers out there . it always winds up feeling so damned convenient and i immediately deduct points from any movie that uses this hackneyed device . hammerhead is the story of a mad scientist who is conducting experiments on one of these uncharted islands  so the movie already had a lot to make up for before it even began .  br    br   the island in this movie used to belong to dr . moreau  but has recently been purchased by the re  animator himself  jeffrey combs . old jeffrey is doing some kind of cutting edge stem cell research  which has led him to start working with sharks while searching for a cure for cancer . if that sounds familiar  that  s because this is roughly the same basic set  up as the smart shark facility in deep blue sea  not to mention a host of other nu image movies . so apparently  jeffrey  s son was dying of cancer which prompted our mad doctor to start experimenting on his progeny . he did some kind of super fancy gene splicing and so forth  turning his son into a shark  man .  br    br   william forsythe leads a crew of unknown actors to the island to look into the doctor  s experiments . if someone would have given him a sailor  s hat  william would have been a dead ringer for the skipper from gilligan  s island . in typical bond villain fashion  the doctor decides that all of these intruders would make nice chum for his son . not chums  like buddies . . . chum  like shark food . so enter shark  boy who starts stalking the skipper and his cohorts all over the island . they  of course  make half  hearted attempts to escape and are thwarted over and over again while being chased by a guy in a rubber shark  man suit .  br    br   the movie didn  t make up any of the points that it lost for taking place on one of those dastardly deserted islands . it  s funny that this movie is called hammerhead  it made me think of an old joke . why do you hit yourself in the head with a hammer  because it feels so good when you stop . that  s pretty much how this movie is . the only reason to watch it is because it feels so good when it  s over .  
my family goes back to new orleans late      s early      s and in watching the movie i knew it was a history my grand  parents never talked about  but we knew it existed . i have cousins obviously black aka african americans and others who can  pass  as white and chose not to . it  s a hard history to watch when you realize that it  s your family they  re talking about and that cane river is all a part of that history . it makes me want to cry and it makes me want to kick the  arse  of my great grandfathers who owned those plantations and wonder in awe of how my great grandmothers of african heritage lived under that oppressive and yet aristocratic existence . . . and at the same time had i not come out of that history  i probably wouldn  t be the successful business woman i am today living successfully in a fairly integrated world . the acting was both excellent and fair depending upon the actor  but it is a movie that needed to be made . anne rice is incredible and i ask myself  why is she  symbolically  writing about my family and i  m not . i recommend this movie to everyone . leza  
this movie wasn  t absolutely atrocious  but it was pretty bad . the acting actually was pretty good  jeffrey combs did a pretty darn good job as the mad scientist  which is sort of his specialty if you don  t know such things d . bill forsythe . . well  i  m not exactly sure why he was in this film . he  s way too good for this kinda stuff  and his role wasn  t exactly demanding . i rented this on the strength of those two leads  and i wasn  t really disappointed . i mean  heck  it  s a movie about a half man  half shark . it ain  t shakespeare folks . other than the plot  which is full of holes  and the poor dialogue  i would like to note that the cinematography also left many things to be desired . there were shots were they were trying to look  cool   but it ended up obscuring the scene or just coming off plain cheezy . they also blew it many times when they had decent dialogue and cut away prematurely before the person could even deliver the line . it was pretty bad . but if you are a jeffrey combs fan  this one is worth checking out . he gives a great performance and does what he can with the character . forsythe ain  t bad either  and either is the female lead . heck if i can remember her name though . bottom line  i wouldn  t otherwise waste your time .  
i  ve bought   the feast of all saints   and it  s not truly a horrible movie  but a lot of things could have been better . it had a lot of historical value  played out by very talented actress  actors  and it  s not an everyday occurrence that actors can play out such a role and have it be somewhat believable . there were some parts that were a little mediocre and confusing  but i wouldn  t say that the entire movie was horrible . once you think about that  capturing      s new orleans  and making something out of it  it pretty hard  and much harder to get actors who can strongly signify those parts . but the only big problem i had with the movie was that most of the actors who did play the free people of color  were mostly light skinned africans  not very universal in casting others who weren  t light skinned one of the old creole stereotypes that still exists . whomever did the casting could have picked a wider variety when it came to hue  despite many creoles are color conscious . rather picking actors that looked near white in a sense  could have been more thought out . the actors did a great job  the script could have better written  and overall i found the performances were very believable .  
this is a sad movie about this woman who thought her ex who she loved so much was probably dead  but really his scientist dad had just put a spell on him to turn him into this really cute shark  guy . kind of like in beauty and the beast . it could probably use a ballroom dance scene and maybe some singing candlesticks  but there are some pretty gross plants instead . they make this one girl really itchy  so she lets herself get eaten by the shark  guy instead of scratching through the whole movie . the scientist guy is a good dad who tries to reunite his fishy shark son with the woman he was engaged to  he even arranges for them to have private time for s  e  x  but the woman in this is a really shallow snob and thinks the shark  guy is an ugly  icky monster and wants nothing to do with him . she gave up on love  just because he was a shark  i thought it was pretty sad how all she had to do was kiss him and he  d turn back to normal and they  d live happily ever after  but it  s not that kind of movie .  
historical drama and coming of age story involving free people of color in pre civil war new orleans . starts off slow but picks up steam once you have learned about the main characters and the real action can begin . this is not just a story about the exploitation of black women  because these were free people . they may not have had all the rights of whites but they certainly had more control over their destinies than their slave ancestors . the young men and women in this story must each make their own choice about how to live their lives  whether to give into the depravity of the system or live with optimism and contribute to their community . i enjoyed all of the characters but my favorites were christophe  anna bella  and marcel .  
i am a lover of b movies  give me a genetically mutated bat and i am in heaven . these movies are good for making you stop thinking of everything else going on in your world . even a stupid b movie will usually make me laugh and i will still consider it a good thing . then there was hammerhead  which was so awful i had to register with imdb so i could warn others . first there was the science of creating the shark  man  which the movie barely touched on . in order to keep the viewers interested they just made sure there was blood every few minutes . during one attack scene the camera moved off of the attack but you saw what was apparently a bucket of blood being thrown by a stagehand to let you know that the attack was bloody and the person was probably dead  what fabulous special effects  . back to the science  i thought it was very interesting that the female test subjects were held naked and the testing equipment required that they be monitored through their breast tissue . anyway this movie had poor plot development  terrible story  and i  m sorry to say pretty bad acting . not even william forsythe  hunter tylo or jeffrey combs could save this stinker .  
i am normally skeptical about watching films or mini  series based on novels because the screenplay is always different from the novel . fortunately  i was wrong  the screenplay was very close to the novel  i guess it helps that the author was an executive producer and writer  huh    br    br   the cast is outstanding . i can  t describe how much i enjoyed seeing such a wide range of actors  from ossie davis and ruby dee to robert ri  chard and bianca lawson  .  br    br   the location setting . . . i was expecting to see the homes and cottages i imagined in my mind what i saw on screen was slightly different . however  it wasn  t enough to make me dislike the mini  series .  br    br   i recommend this for anyone who has read the novel you will not be disappointed if you have .  out of   stars   br    br    
as the faux  russian scientist says two  thirds of the way into the movie   i came for the science .  this pretty much sums up the reason i watched this movie  anything that involves a half  man  half  hammerhead shark definitely deserves a serious empirical investigation on the part of an impartial aspiring scientist . or  as they say in the biz  my girlfriend  s brother had the remote and the rest is history . to say that the special effects were bad would be a disservice to the field of special effects . this is      it is not that hard to film a car scene without a cheesy bluescreen background . yeah  this was charming and state of the art when hitchcock was filming  the birds  but in     it just looks low budget . spare me the cheap attempt at sci  fi and do me the service of actually making an attempt at the willing suspension of disbelief .  br    br   however  having seriously defamed the overall concept of this film  let me tell you again that  as sad as it may sound  this is probably worth your time . if nothing else  it is a tour de force of bad sci  fi  worth the education for the new movie buff and certainly worthy of a refresher course for those who have seen a few movies in their day .  br    br   the crazy hunchback mad scientist with a hammerhead transceiver who thinks it is a good idea to spoon canfuls of blood into the nearby water makes me question not only the intelligence of mankind  but also the ability of  b  movie writers to come up with remotely plausible plot lines .  br    br   this film also pretty much fulfills one of my longtime bad movie contentions  bad guys always wear sunglasses .  br    br   if this weren  t      i would be deadset on the fact this film was some sort of insanely poor metaphor for the cold war . i mean  you might as well have khan on the bridge of a klingon bird of prey inserting leaches into chekhov  s ear .  br    br   one of the most moving lines of the movie is when the chick without the bra insists that the charlton heston lookalike   wait for tom  as he is trying to lift the escape helicopter off the ground . the thing is  tom is wasting the bad sunglass guys with his never  ending banana clip attached to his kalashnikov  or ak     in layman  s terms .  br    br   as the mad scientist says near the end of the film   my goal is to evolve the human species   suffice it to say that this movie contributed only to a devolution of humankind . the faint freudian references uttered by the mad scientist as he prepping the female protagonist to be mated with a hammerhead shark are a simple reminder that even in the worst of science fiction we can all find something to laugh about .  
i know that originally  this film was not a box office hit  but in light of recent hollywood releases  most of which have been decidedly formula  ridden  plot less  pointless   save  the  blonde  chick  no  matter  what  drivel   feast of all saints  certainly in this sorry context deserves a second opinion . the film   like the book   loses anchoring in some of the historical background  but it depicts a uniquely american dilemma set against the uniquely horrific american institution of human enslavement  and some of its tragic  and funny  and touching  consequences .  br    br   and worthy of singling out is the youthful robert ri  chard  cast as the leading figure  marcel  whose idealistic enthusiasm is truly universal as he sets out in the beginning of his  coming of age   only to be cruelly disappointed at what turns out to become his true education in the ways of the southern plantation world of louisiana  at the apex of the antebellum period . when i saw the previews featuring the  dreaded  blond  haired ri  chard  i expected a buffoon  a fop  a caricature   i was pleasantly surprised .  br    br   ossie davis  ruby dee  the late ben vereen  pam grier  victoria rowell and even jasmine guy lend vivid imagery and formidable skill as actors in the backdrop tapestry of placage  voodoo  creole  aristocracy   and haitian revolt woven into this tale of human passion  hate  love  family  and racial perplexity in a society which is supposedly gone and yet somehow is still with us .  
i do admit that my review is from a     point of view  nearly   years after the making of this movie and at the time of its conception  it may have been a brilliant horror  thriller movie .  br    br   beginning on halloween night       year old michael commits the brutal murder of his   year old sister . michael is committed to a mental institution and   years later escapes and returns to his home town to murder again .  br    br   from this point it is clear that the movie will follow a basic and rudimentary path that is highly predictable . the beginning of every scene is easily predictable in the way it will end whilst the music for each scene containing michael  the murderer  is exactly the same throughout the movie  thus alerting the viewer to the likely events to follow .  br    br   for the horror  thriller enthusiast  there is a severe lack of blood  gore compared to modern day films although i am not akin to the amount that is displayed in this day and age . a happier medium could have been found .  br    br   from a half hour into the movie  not one scene is unexpected . the acting for a horror  thriller film is fairly typical of the era and thus lacks any punch for the modern day enthusiast .  br    br   a positive for the film is its lingering camera shots and dark lighting which creates a frightening atmosphere . a second positive would be the character of michael  s doctor  who provides clues to the probability of where the story may lead .  br    br   however  it is clear that the star  in jamie  lee curtis  is in the infancy stages of her acting career and thus fails to provide a truly frightened central victim .  br    br   it is hard for me to rate this film as it was in its day  but from other horror  thriller films of indeed the   s and to a lesser extent  the   s  it falls far short of a truly great horror  thriller film .  br    br   i suggest you move on and find a classic from the   s . cheers   
this movie was a fascinating look at creole culture and society that few african americans are aware . my own two children are by products of a paternal grandmother whose father was a member of the gens de couleur libre and a black skin woman whose parents were ex  slaves . he married outside of and against his culture and was cut off from all of his family except for one sister who took pity on her brothers plight raising  children during the great depression of      providing the family with food whenever she could . of course she clandestinely aided this family fearing for her own ex  communication . my daughter was fascinated by the movie . we have made it a part of our library .  
perhaps one of the most overrated so  called horror classics ever made  halloween does feature the memorable michael myers and some great acting by jamie lee curtis .  br    br   however  its rewatchability factor is very close to zero  as there is an unforgivable amount of time spent on dullness  culmination to the actual events .  br    br   this is the sort of movie you can walk away from to microwave popcorn and not miss anything at all .  br    br   how it spawned so many sequels  i will never comprehend .  br    br   thank god rob zombie is remaking this . and generally  i hate remakes .  br    br   surely he will more than compensate for all the random time  filling gaps with some quirky points of interest that the original severely lacks .  br    br   this is a movie we feel we have to like  much like the way we  re taught that we should enjoy dickens .  br    br   don  t assume this is a classic .  
i remember originally seeing this film at radio city music hall when it came out . i didn  t really understand the humor back then  but this movie can make me laugh out loud .  br    br   with all due respect to george burns  rip   walter matthau really deserved the oscar for this film . his performance is amazing   given the fact that he was   years younger than his character  willie clark . his mannerisms are first  rate .   you know what kind of songs he wrote  sht   and when speaking to the spanish  speaking guy at the front desk  no  no  no enchilada     absolutely hilarious   br    br   kudos to richard benjamin  who played straight man to matthau .  br    br   i just wish this was on dvd  because my vhs recording is getting a bit old .  br    br   i had no interest in seeing the remake with woody allen  because in no way can it match the original .  
i was gifted with this movie as it had such a great premise  the friendship of three women bespoiled by one falling in love with a younger man .  br    br   intriguing .  br    br   not  i hasten to add . these women are all drawn in extreme caricature  not very supportive of one another and conspiring and contriving to bring each other down .  br    br   anna chancellor and imelda staunton could do no wrong in my book prior to seeing this  but here they are handed a dismal script and told to balance the action between slapstick and screwball  which doesn  t work too well when the women are all well known professionals in a very small town .  br    br   and for intelligent women they spend a whole pile of time bemoaning the lack of men  sex  lust in their lives . i felt much more could have been made of it given a decent script and more tension  the lesbian sub  plot went nowhere and those smoking  drinking women  all  in their forties     were very unrealistic  even in the baby scene  screw the baby  gimme a cigarette  right .  br    br   like i said  a shame of a waste .  out of   .  
we tend to forget that the master  slave context of the past centuries lead to more than well  tended estates  powered by large groups of enslaved people  and a lot of money for the white owners . it lead to a group of people caught in the middle  the offspring resulting from slave owners interferring with their female slaves .  br    br   some of these children just became more slaves  and others were free . . . but free and coloured  which back then meant anything but  relative to the lot of their sires .  br    br   a class formed around these offspring  the gens de couleur libre or free people of colour  and that class was able  to a certain extent  to own property  raise themselves from downtrodden to educated  and to attain a comparative dignity . that is to say  they weren  t slaves  but they were still exploited to a certain extent .  br    br   often  the women lived as mistresses to the white plantation masters and men of wealth  set up in their own houses  with allowances  schooling paid for for their children  and a kind of gentility  dependent on the respectability they chose to impose on their families . in essence  they were prostituting themselves to ensure their own prosperity  and relative independence from labour  an arrangement called plaage .  br    br   feast of all saints is a beautifully written story about the children of one such woman  the result of just such an arrangement with a local gentleman  and the people who touched on their lives  in both a negative and a positive way . the tale was an eye  opener for me  a new zealander  with no real conception of the black  white lines  let alone that grey area in the middle where the gens de couleur libre trod gingerly .  br    br   the characters are very three dimensional  and have been well  rendered in this adaption of the novel  by anne rice . the parts are well  cast  the costumes are wonderful  and the brutal way the lines are drawn out  with the blurred areas made all the more distinct by the conflicts the protagonists go through . the gens de couleur libre could not marry the whites  the slaves could not help themselves  and the whites  even the sympathetic ones  couldn  t bear to face the economic reality of doing right by the people they depended on .  br    br   i recommend this story  both the novel and the miniseries  to everyone  unreservedly . if you can  t handle the truth you  ll cringe and cower through some parts  as one injustice after another is meted out on those of colour  both by their white oppressors  and by their own people . bear in mind though that this is nothing more than reality  and this tale is an absorbing way to learn about it .  br    br   i know it may sound callous  but this miniseries both entertained me and enthralled me  despite the sour taste i found in my mouth at what went on  and i thoroughly enjoyed it . watch it . if not read up on the period  because there  s a lesson to be learned from it all .  
what the hell is in your minds  this film sucks  each minute i was getting more and more bored . i strove to watch the end because i hope something at least would at last happen  but instead of that  i got amazed how dull the end was treated . . . what is this story about this bloody  bogeyman   how comes he doesn  t die  he is a bloody human being for god  s sake  a mere boy that killed his silly sister   years ago . then what  his stay on a psychiatric hospital made him immortal  this film a fascinatingly stupid . . . it  s a must of silliness . i  m gonna resell it right now to some silly guy who will understand this silly film .  
one night i stumbled upon this on the satellite station bravo . initially out of curiosity i decided to watch it . to be perfectly honest i wasn  t disappointed . the main character is beautiful and her body is shown off well . you would think her talents would be wasted as a executioner but apparently not after watching the whole film  my only real gripe is the acting of the supporting cast particularly the actor who plays melnik . christ its bad  the prison guard hank is woeful too . all he ever does is get drunk and make ill attempted passes at his co  guard wanda though fortunately for us the viewer and for hank he gets down and dirty with wanda near the end . the music used is pretty tense and creates the perfect atmosphere for the executions . this movie is well watching alone for the beautiful  talented and very sexy jennifer thomas  
i  m sorry  but this may have been scary in     when it came out  but in modern times it just doesn  t hold up . the only interesting scene in the entire movie is the opening scene where michael kills his sister  judith  wearing his halloween mask . the most startling moment in the whole film is when his parents rip the mask off to see their son killed their daughter . the film goes downhill from there and doesn  t pick up until the last fifteen minutes  but by then it  s too late  we the audience have lost all interest in the story . there is barely any character development  and people always rave about laurie being such an exceptional heroine  when there really isn  t much to her . i  m sorry to disagree with everyone terrified by this movie  but if you want a great horror movie go watch the shining or rosemary  s baby . those are the two best horror films ever made . halloween is certainly not in their ranks . i can  t believe roger ebert gave it four stars  for there is no way this film could ever deserve such a high rating .  
i loved this movie it was one of the years best pornos i remember watching it on starz or some god damn thing but it was great . i only saw like half of it and i taped it and all i can say is i loved every minute of what i saw . i didnt sleep for weeks after i saw this movie  although i was very tired .   
carlo verdone once managed to combine superb comedy with smart and subtle social analysis and criticism .  br    br   then something happened  and he turned into just another dull  holier  than  thou  director .  br    br   il mio miglior nemico can more or less be summarized in one line  working class  kind and warm  while upper  class  snob and devious . but love wins in the end  .  br    br   such a trite clich for such a smart director .  br    br   there isn  t really too much to talk about in the movie . every character is a walking stereotype the self  made  man who forgets his roots but who  ll become  good  again  the scorned wife  the rebellious rich girl who falls for the honest  but  poor guy . . . acting is barely average .  br    br   severely disappointing under every aspect .  
a movie you start watching as a late night cable porn . . . . . it is hot in that department but it has even a lot more . . . . it has a sense of humor . . . some action in and out of the  bed  and it has reasonable acting as well as a story worth watching . . . a definite adult only movie but well worth watching . . .  
trite  clichd dialog and plotting  the same kind of stuff we saw all through the     s fantasy movies   hokey music  and a paint  by  numbers characters knocks this out of the running for all but the most hardcore fans .  br    br   what saves this film from the junk heap is the beautiful crutch of bakshi  s work  the rotoscoping  and the fact that frank frazetta taught the animators how to draw like him . this is frazetta . . . in motion . the violence is spectacular and the art direction and animation are unlike any other sword  sorcery movie of the period .  br    br   i like to watch this with the sound off  playing the soundtrack to the first conan movie instead .  
a female executioner  played by the sexy jennifer thomas ii  has the fun job of fulfilling all the fantasies of all the men on death row before they meet their maker . and what a way to go . lucky this film is not real  or we would have a lot more people in this world on death row .  br    br   it starts out real slow . low light and bad acting  like most  b  films . it gets better as it moves along . and ends with a bang .  br    br   i would rate it very high on the low cost  very sexy movies of the    s . it  s a must see once the kids are away or in bed .  
i first saw this when i was around  . i remembered what i believed to be a vague outline of what took place . turns out now    years later  that i remembered everything with great accuracy because it seems the writers never got beyond making an outline to the story . there is no plot to this movie  cartoon . there is no character development  no back story  no character arcs  nothing . the good guys do things because they are good  while the bad guys do things solely because they are bad . one unintentionally hilarious part is when someone who you would think to be important dies and nobody cares in the least . they just shrug their shoulders and move on . there  s barely any dialogue either . if you cut out the fight scenes and the running scenes  you lose    of the movie .  br    br   watch this because you want to see some good animation and for no other reason . or if you like to look at scantily clad hot cartoon chicks  or scantily clad hot cartoon dudes  .  
i am completely shocked that this show had been cancelled . ity only lasted one year . i just recently started watching it and i love it . its a show that could of gone as far as friends went . it had the humour and was extremely enjoyable .  br    br   it is about  brothers and  sisters living under one roof without their parents . kurt  joey lawrence  plays the part of the oldest sibling and takes on the more fatherly role .  br    br   this should of lasted much more than year as it was fantastic . amazing show with all the best actors .  br    br         
honestly i can  t understand why this movie rates so well here  nor why bakshi himself thought it was his finest film . i  m a huge fan of bakshi  s earlier work  particularly  heavy traffic  and  wizards   but frankly  wizards        was the last good film he made . after that he turned to the mainstream  beginning with the diabolical  lord of the rings  and then knuckling down with sword and sorcery heavyweight frank frazetta  for  fire and ice  .  br    br   what can i say  the story is puerile  the animation is tv quality  i insist that it  s considerably worse than his    s stuff  and whereas  wizards  had real imagination  quirkiness  some gorgeous background art  and an underground  adult sensibility   fire and ice  is just designed for   year old boys  and has the intellectual clout of robinson crusoe on mars .  br    br   yes  if you liked the gor books  you might like this . in my view though  this was just another blip in the slide in quality after  wizards  from which bakshi never recovered  though he  s done some decent tv stuff fairly recently   br    br    .  out of    
i am surprised at imdb  s low rating of this movie . with all due respect  its low rating is representative of the iq level of those who rated it so poor . they would rather see a movie with cheap thrills  a bigger budget  and more gore .  br    br   the first misconception by people is that this is a horror film . it is not  nor does the film mislead you into believing it is one . it is a psychological thriller . it is for people who actually want an intellectual experience when watching a movie . reel . com  s review is the perfect example of how i feel about this movie . all the other negative reviews doesn  t make much sense . it  s almost as if trying to make an original movie for a change  very rare these days  is something bad and not worth it .  br    br   i will reveal some spoilers for the morons who said it was boring and didn  t make sense . martha was brainwashing herself and performing experiments on herself to be a caring mother while she really was an evil nazi who would kill without warning . the evidence is all in the pudding and the fact that at first viewing  we sympathize with this cold  blooded monster for the duration of the movie is a testament to the film  s direction and writing .  br    br   i definitely feel that this movie should at least be rated in the   s range on originality alone . i recommend this movie for the people on the other end of the iq scale  aka smart people  since this movie is obviously being butchered by those who would rather watch scream or freddy  s nightmare .  br    br   kudos to the acting as well . for such a low budget film  you are amazed that this movie didn  t hit your local cinema with the great direction  writing  and acting . please don  t be fooled by the rating by imdb . this movie is worth it . i actually recommend buying the film since a first viewing on a rent will not do this justice .  
dd films were damn corny  damn stupid and had a plot which seemed wafer thin but those days they was a plot at least  br    br   this film isn  t just a comedy but a mix of melodrama  romance everything  br    br   every drama scene is blown out of proportion  br    br   the comedy is funny but corny too yet the film keeps you entertained  those days govinda films were loud  crass yet they had some funny moments people enjoyed  br    br   david dhawan does a okay job music is okay  br    br   govinda acts well in comedy and drama karisma is decent in parts and annoys in parts kader is as usual gulshan  prem chopra are typecast shakti is hilarious  
this one will get reviews all over the map because it doesn  t comfortably fit any mold . it  s horror   but not a splatterfest . it  s equal part suspense as well as horror   yet without the usual hollywood screams and jerky camera .  br    br   the feel of the movie is spare and lean with next to no special effects because i think you should listen and watch the faces of the characters .  br    br   forget that brendan is a graduate of the buffy universe . that  s a red herring . he is acting here .  camp  is a misreading of the tone of this story . adrienne barbeau is giving a rock solid performance   so she must believe the script has something to say . we all know the sorry excuses where the actors plainly don  t care anymore and are just waiting for the director to snap  cut  and get their paychecks . this is not the case  here .  br    br   forgive the fact that the bodies begin to fall with almost mondo  funny regularity . i don  t think the intent was humorous   but to keep you off balance .  br    br   think of it less of a horror  movie  and more of a horror  play  on a stage   that decrepit whitewashed house . then you might see it  s really about paranoia  fear  and spiralling madness set in an isolated someplace  usa .  br    br   and it is twisty . time travel  mind control  secret experiments and nazi  s who may not be dead . . . yet .  br    br   i say rent it and give it a try if you  re in the mood for something a little cerebral . this would be a good choice for a saturday midnight sit down .  
every once in a while  someone out of the blue looks at me a little sideways and asks  what  s with snitch  d   i know immediately they have a case of barely  hidden amusement  horror . you see  i was the cinematographer on the film .  br    br   let me clarify some points regarding this  interesting life experience  .  br    br   originally  snitch  d was called one hard hit . i met james cahill in july of      a day after i wrapped triangle square  a great little   mm feature that like so many indie features of the era never got distribution despite festival accolades . . . it fell eternal victim to the fine print of sag  s notorious experimental feature contract . but i digress . . .  br    br   i though i was on a roll  and when james asked me to shoot his little gangster flick in   mm with a shooting budget of about         not wanting to break pace  i took it . after all  clerks  el mariachi . . . i too believed the myth back then .  br    br   let  s just chalk it up as  film school  for many involved  myself included . snitch  d was shot over two weeks in august       in aliso viejo and santa ana  ca . cahill taught drama at a high school in the latter city  yes  he is a drama and english teacher . . . consider that while watching the film  or even observing the use of apostrophe in title   hence the locations and cast .  br    br   of note in his cast were the only known dramatic appearance of l . a .  s channel  morning news weather girl vera jimenez  and of greater impact  the debut of eva longoria  who had just arrived in hollywood and was as eager as i to get a film under her belt . i must say her professional dedication  focus and  let  s do this  attitude kept me inspired and was a foreshadow of her stardom  yet  to  come .  br    br   snitch  d suffered from poor optics  few lights or electricity  several boom operators du jour  and delivery of an uncorrected offline for duplication . none of that overshadows the actual content  which speaks for itself .  br    br   anyway  by      the film was sold to distributors  at a net loss  i understand  who inexplicably had no photos of eva on the box  by then she was a rising  working name  but who did manage to obtain a clear photo of what appears to be an authentic latino gangster to lend credibility to snitch  d . since cahill  s other passion is antiquarian book dealing  it appears to confirm he believes you can  in fact  judge a book by it  s cover . . . as so many have picked up this dvd based on it  s sleeve .                  one year later  eva  now on a soap  and i met james for one day to shoot a simple short film he had concocted  split second  which i think has never seen any play despite festival intent .  br    br    years later  i was hired to shoot another cahill film titled juarez  mexico . i though he had worked out the process my participation was contingent on casting  script and crew control  and the resultant film actually looked promising in dailies  for what it was . . . a cheap detective story surrounding the mass murders of girls in juarez despite claims here and elsewhere  the film has never appeared in any festival or venue  although cahill has repeatedly claimed the film has distribution and was simply awaiting release to coincide with the dvd release of two studio pictures on the same subject  virgin of juarez and border town .  
the main problem i see with this film is its score  which screams with every note   this is a cheap  ass movie .  there  s not much more to say here . the score just plain sucked .  br    br   the second problem  which i see as quite severe as well as it involves the unwinding of the plot near the end of the film  one of the the money shots  if you will   is the dialogue between martha  adrienne barbeau  and the sunflower man  richard ziman   in which martha is revealed to be the leader of the experiment . at all times during this dialogue  the viewer is very much aware that s  he is listening to a movie dialogue . in other words  suspension of disbelief breaks down here . the integrity of a believable dialogue between two people is sacrificed for a willy  nilly stuffing of information the movie makers wish to impart to the audience .  br    br   the third problem was the casting of adrienne barbeau . while i honestly believe her to be a fabulous actress within her oeuvre  i feel that this part may have been too much of a stretch . the main point of her performance that didn  t seem to mesh was the spectrum across which the character moves through the film from a loving mother of a troubled family to an almost rambo  like woman on a mission . this aspect of the script would obviously have been a stretch for any actress  and one cannot place too much blame  therefore  upon barbeau . to the degree that she fairly competently acted her part  however  i would only call this a moderately severe problem to the film as a whole .  br    br   finally  the film did a wonderful job in the first half building a creep factor  most notably during its horror flashes . i feel that the film would have benefited by more of a commitment to these flashes as a mechanism for preventing a fizzling of the creep factor in the second half of the movie .  br    br   so what  s my holistic grading of this piece  i  d give it a solid c to b   depending upon how much credit you  re inclined to give the makers for producing this film on a limited budget . even with two severe and two moderately severe problems  the film is premised on the solid plot of the jungian side of nazi mysticism . i see no problems with plot development or coherence the dialogue  with the noted exception above  is downright brilliant in places  especially the all important keystone scene between mother and daughter at the beginning of the movie as mentioned  the creep factor was well crafted  if a bit fizzly in the second half and nicholas brendan  who also associated produced  delivered a wonderful performance .  br    br   all in all  this film is definitely worth the view    see it with a nazi you love .    
this movie is weak  the box  cover says east la  s toughest gang and it is really santa ana  s  james cahill acts like a closet queen taking down all the tough guys in the tough chlo gang . it is fake  boring  senseless and whack  i tried to get my money back from the video store this movie was so bad . it was also on the homo  erotic tip far from what the video  box proclaims . james cahill should act in gay porno . james is in every scene  he cannot act to save his life . the film features eva longoria who is hot but james can  t even score with her          i felt at times i was watching gay porn and was turned  off by the whole film . james clearly want  s to be with men but rather then submit to his gay desires he beats up gang members over and over and over again . his martial arts skills are minimal at best  some real gang members would take him and his weak skills and rip him a new one .  
i  ve read some terrible things about this film  so i was prepared for the worst .  confusing . muddled . horribly structured .  while there may be merit to some of these accusations  this film was nowhere near as horrific as your average dvd programmer . in fact  it actually had aspirations . it attempted something beyond the typical monster  slasher nonsense . and by god  there are some interesting things going on .  br    br   ms . barbeau is a miracle to behold . she carries the film squarely on her shoulders .  br    br   this is not to say that it  s a masterpiece . unholy ultimately collapses under the weight of its own ambition . there are just too many  unexplained  subplots trying to coexist . and the plot loopholes created by time travel are never really addressed for example  if hope knows that her mother is evil and that she will ultimately kill her brother  then why doesn  t she just kill ma in the film  s very first sequence  seems like it would have beat the hell out of traveling into the future to do it .  br    br   still  i give unholy points for trying . a little ambition is not a bad thing .  
maybe this isn  t fair  because i only made it about halfway through the movie . one of the few movies i have actually not been able to watch due to lameness .  br    br   the acting is terrible  the camera work is terrible  the plot is ridiculous and the whole movie is just unrealistic and cheesy . for example  during a coke deal  the coke is just kept loose in a briefcase  i  m no expert  but i think people generally put it in a bag .  br    br   they use the same stupid sound effect whenever a punch is thrown  it  s that over the top  crunching  sound  and they use toy guns with dubbed in sound effects .  br    br   worst movie ever .  
a hilarious neil simon comedy that evokes laughs from beginning to end . the late walter matthau is the grouchy ex  comedian who is persuaded to join together with his ex  partner  the late oscar  winner george burns  for a final reunion show on stage .  br    br   benjamin martin is matthau  s agent and nephew  and the two have just as much chemistry as matthau and burns . i love matthau  s grumpy character   he  s just the same as he always is  and yet also very different .  br    br   burns  as the absent  minded old man  is just as funny as matthau .  br    br   matthau want some crackers  i  ve got coconut  pineapple and graham .  br    br   burns how about a plain cracker   br    br   matthau i don  t got plain . i got coconut  pineapple and graham .  br    br   burns okay  br    br   matthau they  re in the cupboard in the kitchen .  br    br   burns maybe later .  br    br   or how about this  br    br   matthau when i did black  the whites knew what i was saying   br    br   you  ve got to see it in the movie to understand it   br    br   all in all  a refreshingly hilarious  sweet  heartfelt  warm  belivable character comedy with a heart and some of the most memorable quotes of all time .  br    br   they just don  t make them like this anymore  in a time when all the newest comedies are crude  juvenile and stupid  this leans back towards the tender core of what comedy really is   funny characters  smart and funny dialogue  and grand entertainment .  br    br   one of the best buddy comedies of all time  right up there with  planes  trains and automobiles    lethal weapon   and  the hard way .   br    br   you may have a hard time finding this for rent or on tv  but trust me  it will be worth your time   br    br    .    stars .  br    br    john ulmer  
as a single woman over    i found this film extremely insulting and demeaning to single women over    not to mention every other woman  of any age . it was a sad  pathetic attempt by a man to write and direct a  chick flick   and it failed miserably . andy mcdowell isn  t much of an actress to begin with  but given the non  existent  plot   i hate to even refer to it as a plot  in this  she didn  t have a chance . there was no character development  no reason to feel sympathy  empathy for any of the characters  and no attempt to make the film in any way realistic or believable . and then there  s the obligatory male  fantasy of an attractive straight woman suddenly deciding to give lesbianism a try   please .  br    br   not only do i wish i could get my money back for the dvd rental  i also want those    minutes of my life back . what a ripoff .  
i  ve been looking for the name of this film for years . i was   when i believe it was aired on tv in     . all i can remember was it was about a teenaged girl  alone  having survived a plane crash and surviving the amazon . i remember people were looking for her  family  and that she knew how to take care of herself    she narrates the story and i vividly remember about her knowing that bugs were under her skin . i don  t remember much else about this movie  and want to see it again   if this is the same one   and if any of you have a copy  could you email me at horsecoach  hirehotmail . com  i  d be curious to attain a copy to see if it is in fact the same film i remember . it was aired on thanksgiving  us  in      and i was going through problems of my own and this film really impacted heavily on me . thanks in advance   
if you want to see a retarded homosexual karate expert beat up a bunch of try hard wannabe mexican gangsters repeatedly for an hr  then this is the film for you . if not then choose another dvd from the   c bin which is the only place this film belongs . the acting was so horrible that i had to force myself to watch it to the end . the cover makes it look so cool but its just another cheap  b grade gangster film along the lines of  g  s and a key  bloody streetz and menace . i would not buy or rent this film unless you are planing to get stoned and plot  editing and acting really don  t matter to you . it is truly the worst film in the history of humanity     
i have seen  miracles still happen  now at least four times . i never tire of this fantastic movie . from the very beginning  it holds a person  s interest . as the movie progresses and the plane crashes the story becomes very intense as we watch this young girl trying to survive alone and frightened in the amazon  following a plane crash in which she was the only survivor . losing her mother in this plane crash as well makes this movie even more dramatic as we see the perils this young girl had to endure during her ten days in the amazon . to think this really did happen is just unreal and to think that anyone could actualy survive this is unspeakable as we see the wild animals  snakes and other reptiles  the enormous forests and wildlife as well as countless insects . as the movie progresses we see the many dangers this girl has to face as she tries to follow the river in hopes of it leading her to a town . remembering what her father told her about how a stream will always lead to a river and then into an even larger river and this means it will eventually lead to a community  this young girl keep track of the tiny stream which eventually lead into a huge river all throughout the movie . at times having to swim in dangerous waters  alone  frightened  injured  she always managed to keep going . towards the end of this movie it was obvious she would not have been able to continue much longer as she had not eaten in ten days and only had water to drink and was very sick and tired from her perils . eventually as she sees a canoe  she realizes there has to be a village and men find her and they take care of her and then take her to a hospital where her father comes to see her  after fearing she was dead along with the many other passengers . such a dramatic movie and so heartwarming to see her father  s face when he sees his daughter is actually still alive after all this time in the amazon  movies like this aren  t made much those days . i will still see it again and i know i will never tire of it  to think this girl was the only one single survivor of this airplane is just unspeakable  also the fact she only maintained a few very slight injuries was even more remarkable  whereas everyone else on this airplane perished in the horrific crash into the wilds of the amazon . a brilliant movie  superbly acted out indeed and one i will treasure forever and love to continue watching  strongly recommended by me for sure   
all i can say after watching snitch  d is please stop mr . cahill . it is painfully clear you have no understanding of what you make movies about . if you insist on making movies about gangsters i urge you to do research . it  s comical to watch movies with absurd gangbangers that even sound more absurd when they speak .  br    br   i laughed at the part when mr . cahill goes to a school with only  students and proceeds to kick their butts in kung fu fashion . this movie was tough as an after school special . who had the idea to have hats worn that say where a particular gangbanger was from  . i suspect real gangbangers do not wear hats claiming there gang . that would be stupid considering new laws that add length to a prison term if a person is gang related .  br    br   snitch  d is the worst gangbanger movie ever made .  
i saw this when i was   and haven  t seen it since . the  cbs late movie  used to show it on a regular basis at one point . i remember how sad and upsetting it was  it truly made me sick to my stomach . effects then weren  t what they are today  but nevertheless  it conveyed the feeling of being alone in the amazon  after losing both parents and searching for a way out  very well . i remember the bugs and maggots the most  so realistic they were  eating her flesh . it  s a dark film which was controversial subject matter at the time  even though likely it was strongly edited for tv . i wish i remembered more details  and if i ever get the chance to see it again  i can comment more . i have been looking for this for years . i believe it may have been shown on cbs under yet another title . i have no idea whether it was ever released on video .  
i watched this . . . . let me rephrase . . . suffered through this because i  m a fan of eva  s . i don  t think this is a flick she  ll put on the back of her head shot photos . i like gangsta flix but this wasn  t even close . the budget couldn  t have been more than a few hundred dollars  and that money was probably spent on the caterer .  br    br   the premise was interesting  but the first victim died before you get the chance to care about her or not .  br    br   i won  t bother saying who did what and how  because it isn  t worth the effort . i  m only glad that because of my monthly rental plan at the local video store that i didn  t have to actually pay for this garbage .  br    br   oh   before you flame on me  i love movies  i thought a lotta flix were good that some of you have jammed  so for me to jam this tells you all you need to know .  
i first saw this movie back in the      s and now in     this movie still is one of the best movies i have ever seen  i would recommend anyone to look at this movie . you will not be sorry . it is well acted out  so real and never a dull moment . the acting is superb and the location makes the movie seem like you are there . from the beginning right up to the end  this movie is the type that makes you lose your attention . the actress does an excellent job of portraying the girl who survived this horrific plane crash in the amazon and it shows how she managed to survive in the amazon all alone . it is unbelievable that anyone could survive under such conditions . this is why this movie is so appealing . the fact that this is a true story makes the movie even more interesting and to think that a young girl could survive from this ordeal is overwhelming . i find this movie one that i can watch over and over again and one that i never get tired of . this is indeed quite a compliment as i have hundreds of movies  i would say this is probably my favorite movie and the best i have ever seen   
worst movie ever     can  t believe i wasted   min of my life watching this crap . the only reason i didn  t turn it off was i wanted to see the gangster dude on the cover and he wasn  t even in it talk about false advertising . the people that gave this movie a ten are either dumb  stupid or cast members or friends of cast members .  br    br   i gave it a solid  because no one else did  br    br   i have to write more and i don  t even want to . wasting my time talking about this rubbish . please don  t watch it and if you did then vote so this movie can go where it belongs . bottom    movies . i can  t even tell you how bad it really is . think the worst movie ever that you  ve seen then times that be ten and thats this movie . it sucked   if you just think i  m being bitter then watch it i dare you   this movie should be used to torture war criminals or terriosts . if they watch this even two times and they  ll be spilling the beans and begging for mercy    
while the  special effects  and technical attributes of this movie may in fact be laughable to some  i have never been able to erase the images this movie etched on my young and impressionable mind when i first saw it at around  years of age . the story of this girl  s survival and of the trials she endured have stayed with me all these years  and i have thought back on more than one occasion about how the girl made it out of situations far beyond anything i have seen .  br    br   the fact that this is a true story  and the fact that i was only a child when i first saw this may be the reason behind my high rating of this movie . each time this movie aired on television in the   s and   s i would be riveted to the television  drinking in each scene with an interest i cannot explain . i suppose watching this for the first time as an adult  and with a jaded view of the world  it may not be as enjoyable to some . i actually went out of my way to obtain a copy so i could show this movie to my son .  br    br   this  like many other movies  is not for everyone . if you are impressed by remarkable human survival stories  are partial to peru  macchu picchu and  or the amazon  then i believe you might enjoy this movie as much as i have been enjoying it for the past   years .  
i bought this dvd for   and now i realise why . the acting was the worst i  ve seen in a long time . the lighting and sound are shoddy at best . the plot makes little sense even when sober  warning i don  t advise watching this film when sober .  this film feels like you  re watching the home movie of someone who doesn  t get out much . it really is a shame that all the very little money spent on this project went to such a waste  i look forward to seeing if any of those envoled still have a career  other than eva longoria who is the only  star  of this film that was apparently not hit with the bad acting stick . i  m sorry that none of this criticism seems constructive but i will say one thing to james cahill  don  t try it again . in the words of squirlyem  its severely lacking in the good department  .  
i liked this movie very much because it is a true story set in the amazon  a part of the world that always has intrigued me . i believe a condensed form of the book was published in  reader  s digest  soon after the actual event occurred .  br    br   because i am a  baby boomer   the character and the actress are my contemporaries  and for this reason i related to the film . i also believe the movie is valuable for teaching survival skills if the viewer observes the character  s following the streams that lead to the river and to the coastal settlements where she can get help  as well as other survival techniques . most important was her will to survive and to maintain a positive attitude . in conclusion  i hope viewers learn something from it  in addition seeing it for entertainment .  br    br   i do wish the movie would be released in vhs and dvd soon as i should like to add it to my video collection . it also should be shown more often on the satellite movie channels .  
i bought this movie and after i watched it i decided that i did not care for it . the acting was bad . was the principal a robot  he had no personality and his facial expression didn  t change through the whole movie . at times the voices didn  t match up . people talking and their lips didn  t even move .  
the thing i remember most about this film is that it used to air on local ktla tv  ch .   during every christmas season during the mid to late   s  mainly due to the fact that the true story took place on or near christmas eve . it was always a bit disturbing to see the hell that this girl goes through  being the lone survivor of a plane crash in the peruvian jungle . the graphic scene of this young girl pulling leeches out of her infected leg made quite an impression on this young viewer . not quite the kind of christmas cheer i was used to seeing at the time . definitely not a rankin  bass production .  
i don  t really know where to start . the acting in this movie was really terrible  i can  t remember seeing so many  actors  in one film that weren  t able to act . not only the acting was bad  the characters were incredibly stupid as well .  br    br   then there  s the action . i believe that even children know that when someone gets shot  there  s blood involved . but when someone gets shot in snitch  d for ten     times  there  s no blood at all . well  i guess that  s just me .  br    br   to make a long story short  because believe me  i can go on for hours about this film   this is without a doubt the worst film i ever saw . this film should be number  in the bottom    without a doubt .  
it was considered to be the  swiss answer to the lord of the rings   but it is much more than that . it isn  t an answer to anything  it  s in itself something new  something funny and sometimes it  s downright stupid and silly  but was monty python any different than silly   br    br   the beginning immediately makes the statement that this film is low budget and not meant to be taken entirely seriously . cardboard clouds on strings knock into the airplane in which the main character is seated . but  to compensate the missing special effects  the landscape does the trick . it is absolutely beautiful and stunning  who needs new zealand  switzerland has it all .  br    br   what i liked about the film was the simple approach and the obvious passion and energy that went into it . it isn  t brilliant yet it  s got some good humorous parts . edward piccin as friedo is absolutely convincing  it would be enough to go and see the film because of him  there are some good jokes  some of them are very lame  some of them won  t be understood by people outside of switzerland . i liked the idea of having  urucows  instead of uruk hai i loved the scene where friedo decides to take  pupsi   a telehobbie  with him on the journey . also very funny is the scene when rackaroll  the sword  fighting knight  decides to show off with his sword  and subsequently smashes it into a wall  breaking it . and there is this one scene where the  nazgul  ish  characters do a wonderfully comic scene that includes a toilet brush . . . i didn  t approve of the idea of the ring being used by schleimli  the  gollum  character  in order to  seduce  the ladies . that was a bit far fetched . the idea of lord sauraus wanting to cover the lands with fondue wasn  t that brilliant either . original  certainly  but not brilliant . but most of all did i dislike the idea of a gay dragon  that really wasn  t necessary . all in all i recommend to see the film simply because it is so crazy and totally trashy . don  t expect a lotr parody like  spaceballs  was for star wars . but if you go to the flicks thinking that this is going to be an amusing evening out  with absolutely no ambitions  then you  ll enjoy . i am not sure if it works in other languages  because it does live from the swiss dialects as well as from the jokes and actors .  br    br   all in all hat off to the courage of the swiss crew who did that   
i got this dvd from a friend  who got it from someone else  and that probably keeps going on . .  even the cover of the dvd looks cheap  as is the entire movie . gunshots and fist fights with delayed sound effects  some of the worst actors ive seen in my life  a very simple plot  it made me laugh till my stomach hurt  with very few financial resources  i must admit it looked pretty professional . seen as a movie  it was one of the   in a dozen wannabe gangsta flicks nobodys waiting for . so if youre tired and want a cheap laugh  see this movie . if not  throw it out of the window .  
as this movie is completely in swiss dialect  it  s probably hard for most german speakers to really follow this movie . i  m not from switzerland  but i worked there for some years  so i had the chance to understand this great spoof of the lord of the rings . i  ve seen a lot of movies of this kind  eg . scary movie  loads of scifi spoofs etc .  but this one is the best one of that kind  i  ve seen so far . i give a  of   . the only reason i can  t give a   is  because there are some little details which could have been done better and because they supplied no subtitles in any language on the dvd  so there  s almost no chance for non  swiss to understand .  
the video quality is awful . the sound quality is pathetic . the acting is horrific . the dialog is painful . the lighting is dismal . the editing is laughable . i could go on  but it would be pointless . snitch  d is a third rate amateur video being passed off as a feature film . this one is best left to collect dust in the video store bargain bin .  
i guess this movie will only work on people who were all turned off by the giant hype of lord of the rings . well  so i was . and so i really love this movie . especially i like all those flawless superheroes from lotr being so perfectly and disrespectfully parodied . most brilliantly is the counterpart of gandalf  the brave and wise and completely humorless know  it  all wizard   almghandi  the cowardice and brain dead transvestite . sauron  s counterpart   sauraus  from east germany  of course  is wearing a simply bucket with eye holes as a helmet . aragorns alter ego is yet another accident prone idiot who tries to fix his broken sword   ulrike  the legend  with scotch tape . and  strunzdumm   the counterpart of wormtong  indeed has some strong resemblance with brad dourif  and don  t forget grmpfli and heidi . . . huh  huh  
the plot has already been described by other reviewers  so i will simply add that my reason for wanting to see this film was to see gabrielle drake in all her undoubted glory .  br    br   miss drake has to be one of the sexiest  prettiest examples of  posh totty  to have been committed to celluloid . of her era and ilk  only the equally exquisite jane asher comes close . what was it about actresses with musical brothers   nick drake and peter asher  for those who like me have admired gabrielle  her scenes in this movie will not disappoint . she has a magnificent figure and none of it is left to the imagination here .  br    br   as a whole  the movie is very poor and being of its time  very cheaply made . the song that covers the opening credits seems to go on forever and is appalling .  
in one of neil simon  s best plays . creaky  cranky ex  vaudeville stars played by walter matthau and george burns are teaming up for a tv comedy special . the problem is they haven  t even seen each other in over a decade . full of zippy one liners and inside showbiz jokes  this story flies along with a steady stream of humor . good work also by richard benjamin as the harried nephew  rosetta lenoire as the nurse  and howard hesseman as the tv commercial director . steve allen and phyllis diller appear as themselves . trivia note the opening montage contains footage from hollywood revue of     and shows marie dressler  bessie love  polly moran  cliff edwards  charles king  gus edwards  and the singing brox sisters .  
not a woman film  but film for the gang . one of the worst films ever made by a male director about woman . director andy mckay simply doesn  t know woman . peaks of bad taste  american pie  s humor style  crude story  no sense  groundless story  refuted characters . vulgar fantasies came to life on screen . insulting and definitely not funny . i wonder how three good actresses accepted to take part in it .  
my abiding love of italian actress lucianna paluzzi  who helped jump  start my puberty with her performance in      s  thunderball   has led me to some fairly unusual places . case in point  this british curiosity from       carlton  browne of the f . o .   which features lucianna in one of her earlier roles . she plays a princess in this one  although the picture is actually a showcase for the talents of terry  thomas and peter sellers  both of whose stars were certainly on the rise at this point . in this cute  often very funny film  we learn of the madeira  like island nation of gaillardia  which had been a british colony until     and then universally forgotten . forty  three years later  however  it becomes the center of worldwide attention and international espionage when valuable cobalt deposits are discovered there  and her majesty sends the bumbling carlton  browne of the foreign office to take charge . terry  thomas underplays this part nicely  as does sellers in his role as prime minister amphibulos of the tiny country .  this was sellers  second film of     concerning a tiny country matching wits with the world  the other being  the mouse that roared   of course .  ian bannen almost steals the show here as gaillardia  s suave king  and my girl lucianna is as appealing as can be in her minor role . the film exhibits much in the way of very dry humor  although there are some belly laughs to be had  the reception at the gaillardian airport  for example  and especially that may day  style parade of gaillardian strength  . and sellers  seedy prime minister  with his cracked english and seemingly perpetual sweat stains  is yet another memorable character in this great actor  s pantheon . despite the occasional instance or two of indecipherable  stiff  upper  lip british gibberish  i found this picture to be a winningly modest entertainment  and well presented on this crisp  looking anchor bay dvd .  
the  saucy  misadventures of four au pairs who arrive in london on the same day in the early     s . there  s a swedish girl  a danish  a german and a chinese . the story contrives to get the clothes off all of them  involve them in some carry on  type humour and couple them with various misfits from the british film and tv culture of the time  including man about the house star richard o  sullivan  future coronation street rogue johnny briggs and horror film stalwart ferdy mayne  playing a sheik  . there  s a pretty risqu amount of female nudity on display  for those who like that kind of thing  but obviously nothing hardcore  .  br    br   most of the film is pretty thin and inconsequential the girls are stereotypes  and german anita especially suffers from some kind of infantalising disorder  she  s a moron obsessed with colour tv who acts like a kind of uninhibited child  dresses to deliberately show her private parts in another more serious film  she would be a psychiatric case . the most interesting section of the film involves the swedish girl being taken to a club in london where some dodgy types are still trying to swing  being seduced by a middle  aged rocker  losing her virginity and realising that the scene is not for her . these sequences have some energy in them and point to a more intriguing film than we  ve ended up with  in which promiscuity and the dregs of the music business and upper classes live soulless and seedy lives  there  s a fine turn by john standing as an impotent public school rou  . the strangest of the stories has the chinese girl  future cannibal film veteran me me lay  getting off with her childish piano prodigy employer  falling mutually in love with and then leaving in the middle of the night for no good reason at all  except some orientalist notion that  chinese birds are inscrutable  ain  t they    the film is pretty demeaning to its women characters and there  s a smattering of homophobia in the dialogue and one of the characterisations . the end is striking  as mayne  s sheik for no earthly reason  except they have to end the film somehow  whisks all of the girls away to his arab kingdom for what looks to all the world like a future in the white slave trade  which they are all delighted about .  br    br   stuff and nonsense for the most part then  but directed with a fair amount of skill by veteran val guest  which puts it as a piece of film  making a notch above most of the   s brit sexploitation flicks .  
another comedy about a plucky little country struggling through the jungle of the modern  for the forties  global world with only native wit and pluck to guide them  this is a fine entry in the ealing cannon . terry  thomas sparkles as usual in the lead  as a feckless ministry man led to the brink of disaster when a nation he is supposedly in charge of starts attracting the interest of the world  ian bannen makes a great romantic lead  peter sellers puts in one of his quieter performances as a corrupt politico and the uber  suave john le mesurier plays against type as a rugged revolutionary leader . lots of fun is had by all  especially the viewer perhaps not in the very top echelon of ealing classics  but pretty high up .  
i remember rather enjoying this a few years back but coming to it again  i wonder why . i guess it always looks good and the girls do rather well but the men do rather let the side down . why oh why in so many english films about sex do we have to have such inept men along side the pretty girls  what is more this begins predictably enough as a sex farce similar in vein to the confessions films but about a third of the way through  whilst we are beginning to enjoy the presence of the lovely me me lai  the film asks us to start taking it seriously . not only that but the central rock club and cannabis sequences are very forced and just look stilted . in short this is neither as innocently silly or as intelligently serious as it seems to intend . richard o  sullivan maybe  as such a central figure  could have helped but i reckon this to be one of his worst performances . just worth it for the ladies .  
partially from the perceived need  one feels  to include a conventional love story in the plot to make the film more marketable to a      s movie  going public .  br    br   the film starts with some wickedly funny characterizations of the upper  class bureaucrats running the foreign office    the british are pilloried in the way that only the british can pillory themselves . but after that  the film loses its way in a conventional farcical plot . terry  thomas watchable as always  but the great talent in the cast  peter sellers  et al  is largely wasted .  br    br   a diverting  but not great film .  
i caught this film at the edinburgh film festival . i hadn  t heard much about it only that it was a tightly  paced thriller  shot digitally on a very low budget . i was hoping to catch the next big brit  flick . but i have to say  i was severely disappointed .  this is not a love song  follows two criminals  who  after accidentally shooting and killing a farmer  s young daughter  become embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse when the locals decide to take matters into their own hands and hunt them down .  br    br   the real problem is that this is yet another example of style over substance in a british film . the camera angles and editing are completely at odds with the story  as are the over the top performances  and the appalling use of slow motion  which only serves to make the whole thing look like an expensive home video . there are repeated attempts to make the film look edgy and gritty  which instead come over as hilarious and over the top  cue a pathetic  obligatory drug scene  and countless  pointless camera zooms  . no amount of cliche  s such as this can disguise the fact that this is a pretty bad story .  br    br   we  ve seen this kind of thing many times before  and made a hundred times better  particularly in john boorman  s masterful  deliverance .  but while in the latter film  we actually cared about the characters  in this film  i found myself just wanting them to be hunted down and killed as quickly as possible . even this wouldn  t have been so bad if their adversaries had been frightening or worthwhile  but instead  are merely a collection of stereotypical  inbred  looking countryfolk . again  another offensive  overused cliche  coming to the fore . surely there are some nice people in the country  filmmakers   br    br   in its defense   this is not a love song  does contain a couple of good  suspenseful moments  but it  s hard to see this film doing anything other than going straight to video  or  at a push  getting a very limited cinema release . it  s not a patch on last year  s low  budget hunted in the hills movie   dog soldiers  . maybe british cinema could actually get kick  started again if the right money stopped going to the wrong people .  
i thought the whole movie played out beautifully with fresh images and interesting cinematography the whole way through it . the actors were on top of their character  s backs in nearly perfect timing and looked great . the music was lush and well  thought  out . it even had a decent twist of an ending . so what  s with everyone voting it down  the story wasn  t entirely fresh  felt like a remnant of  running man  with the whole television show idea   but the attitude towards christianity and judaism about how the public picks their messiah certainly sounded true enough . it made sense to follow this one man who was put before a modern crowd and to put him on a pedestal because of his opportunity .  br    br   it  s possible that christians or other religious people pick this up because the movie has the word  god  in it  but that shows what the filmmakers were trying to do is to teach a possibility to people who maybe never saw the world like this  especially in the modern world where christianity has been more and more accepted and forgotten about by some .  br    br   i gave it a     stars here on imdb . i thought every ounce of the movie was entertaining and original  for the most  part . check it out if you  re not too offended to see an entertaining film from madrid  spain  about possibilities of the coming modern messiah to a tv near you .  
it doesn  t even merit a review  other than as a warning to potential viewers . it  s a somewhat generic ghost story about an actress haunting a studio during the filming of a wwii period drama . there  s no fear involved  no suspense whatsoever  nor any surprises . one shocking moment that looks a bit too silly to be shocking . the visual style is very flat and dull  although there is some really nice editing once in a while . the story never comes together  and the films is really just a total bust .     .  
the only explanation i can muster as to why this film isn  t widely distributed is because it hits too close to home for some . this movie was a genuine happy surprise  the satire is genius . this film turns the lights on in the dark that is organized religion and big media  and the roaches scurry for cover . rent the dvd and watch it for yourself if you haven  t yet  this film succeeds where many have failed  dogma comes to mind  to poke it  s nose under the tent  both by using humor and very clever analogies coupled with telling backdrops and locations . can  t comment in depth without revealing some significant spoilers  there are some surprises in this film which even the seasoned film buff will be caught off guard by .  
there are two points i need to make clear right at the beginning . first of all we all know what this year  s oscar  s were really all about this year . it was the academy  s way of showing people that they are no racist  and never have been . they wanted to clear all preconceived notions about themselves . secondly  it  s kinda pointless to make remarks about the show  because really  what difference will it make  but  it  s fun to write about it . this is the year i became fed  up with the oscar  s  i will never watch the show again . every year they do something wrong . before crowe wins for  gladaitor  when they real winner should of been ralph fiennes for  sunshine  . if you haven  t seen this movie yet  watch it and you  ll agree .  eyes wide shut  when released receieved no nominations . and as far as this year goes  well  the bad choices were all over the place  baz lurhmann gets no  best director  nomination  are you joking    a beautiful mind  is up for  best make  up       training day  gets nominated   the movie was awful  and it seemed like washington didn  t even turn in a performance  all he proved was  he knows how to use four letter words  that  s what h won the award for  take away the language and i bet he was almost playing himself  i liked  gosford park   i really did  but why  nominations  and how on earth could they not give it too altman  i mean  c  mon  if there just giving the award to people to clear up any bad feelings  what about altman  the man has been in the public  s eye for   years now and no oscar  there were many  many things that bothered me about this year  s oscar  s  but  i  ll live with it  as long as i never have to watch another show again  the highpoint  and the only one  of the show was when woody allen made his first appearance ever to the award show . that will go down as one of the greatest moments in he history of the show .  
salva and his pal bigardo have been at the margin of the law during most of their lives . we see them panhandling in a car of the underground  where their pitch to get donations is so lame  no one gives them anything  salva  who is a hardened petty criminal doesn  t even have any redeeming qualities  that is  until he discovers a reality show on television that gives him the idea of what to do next . religion and show business prove to be a winning combination  something that salva capitalizes on .  br    br   he and bigardo have been in jail after the accidental death of a priest that was critical of the duo . salva shows he is a natural for the reality show . he transforms himself into a christ  like figure who is an instant success in the program . espe  who is a no  nonsense woman who is show  s producer  can  t escape from the way salva pays her unusual attention . ultimately  salva is the victim of his own success in the end .  br    br   jordi molla  whose first directorial job this movie is  had some success in the way the film satirizes the role of television . spain  which was vulnerable to these types of programs  has seen its share of the bizarre  which is what the director felt is an assault on the viewing public and wanted to set his story from the point of view of the people that are making a fortune out of the naive audience .  br    br   the ensemble cast has some good moments in the film . mr . molla  like any actor who decides to direct his first feature  would have been more effective concentrating on the picture in front of the camera . candela pena  a good actress  is one of the best reasons for watching the movie . juan carlos villedo  david gimenez cacho  franco francescoantonio  florinda chico and the rest responded well to the new director .  
this movie is not the same as the     version with judy garland and james mason  and that is a shame because the     version is  in my opinion  much better . i am not denying barbra streisand  s talent at all . she is a good actress and brilliant singer . i am not acquainted with kris kristofferson  s other work and therefore i can  t pass judgment on it . however  this movie leaves much to be desired . it is paced slowly  it has gratuitous nudity and foul language  and can be very difficult to sit through .  br    br   however  i am not a big fan of rock music  so it  s only natural that i would like the judy garland version better . see the     film with barbra and kris  and judge for yourself .  
a wonderful surprise of the spanish cinema . i never thought jordi molla could be such a great director  after all  i really don  t care much for his choice in movies . however this film was absolutely fantastic and not predictable at all . . . something i always enjoy  it hasn  t enjoyed much good press and i really don  t think it  ll ever be released in the us market . we  ll have to content ourselves with the dvd or vhs if even that . . . i don  t want to say much about the story because i don  t want to spoil it for you but basically the movie is about a homeless drunk who becomes the new messiah just for kicks and to get some money out of it  like sooooooooooo many   before he knows it he is immerse in a life he was not counting on .  
i never saw the original     version with judy garland  so have no means of comparison . also  it  s been some years  but i found this tale neither gripping nor its romance captivating . the movie tells the story of two lovers whose musical careers are headed in opposite directions . john norman howard is a worn out  disillusioned rock star on the decline  embarking upon a romance with a fresh  talented new singing sensation  esther hoffman . her dramatic success only serves to emphasize his decline .  br    br   the lead actors  kris kristofferson and barbra streisand  are adequate in their roles  but neither their chemistry nor the plot left much of a mark with me . the film is noteworthy to me for only one aspect  streisand  s beautiful rendition of the oscar winning song  evergreen  . she truly has a powerful and magnificent voice .  
i  m disappointed at the lack of posts on this surprising and effective little film . jordi moll  probably best known for his role as diego in ted demme  s  blow  writes  directs  and stars .  br    br   i won  t give away any plot points  as the movie  at least for me  was very exciting having not known anything about it . . if you have a netflix account  or have access to a video store that would carry it . . . i highly recommend it . it  s a crazy  fun  and sometimes very thought provoking creation .  br    br   moll  s direction is quite impressive and shows a lot of promise .  br    br   unpredictable  with amazing imagery and a great lead performance spoken in beautiful spanish  no somos nadie   god is on air  is an amazing film you can show off to your friends .  br    br   see it .  
kris kristofferson  at his drugged  out peak in the mid    s  finds himself barely able to squeeze on to the screen alongside la streisand  s humongous ego and discount  store feminism .  br    br   none of the characters are really likable i was  so  glad when kristofferson  s ferrari went over that hill and crashed .  br    br   if you want to see a good movie about rock and roll stardom  try  the buddy holly story   made only about a year and a half after this dreck  .  
a surprising rent at a local video store  i was pleased to find a media satire worthy enough to challenge oliver stone  s  natural born killers .  and almost as disturbing . i think it went well with my viewing to be in late     watching the republican machine do it  s magic on the majority of america  s television viewing populous . it brings up the question  are we really that manipulative    br    br   it definitely skewed my view . there was also a larger theological question being provoked  the story of christ . could word of mouth and overwhelming dependence on something exploitive as television produce a messiah  could the story of christ been exaggerated  could it have been completely fabricated  it  s something the movie puts in a extremely perceptive light .  
this film is a huge steaming pile .  br    br   i have no idea why anyone felt that the garland  mason version needed to be redone  nor why striesand would have been a first choice to star .  br    br   for that matter  i have no idea why our people  gay americans  tend largely to regard striesand as some kind of treasure . at least in my opinion  she had peaked professionally with with funny girl  and bogdanovich  s what  s up doc .  br    br   do yourself a favor and rent the judy classic  or even the original  a fine film in its own right   but please  please  please skip this stinkpot   
i enjoyed watching brigham young and found it to be a positive and largely true portrayal of the lds faith . i think that a remake of this epic journey across the plains would be beneficial  since many people today are not familiar with the trials and persecutions faced by the early mormon church . it is an incredible story of a strong and devoted people .  br    br   as a member of the church  the single most disturbing aspect of the film  most of the historical inaccuracies did not bother me much  was the portrayal of brigham young as one that had  knowingly deceived  church members into believing he had been called to be joseph  s successor as the prophet . although i understand the dramatic reasons for this plot line  it creates the impression that his doubts in this regard are historical fact  when in reality  both brigham and the bulk of the church members understood and believed firmly that he had been called to lead the church . brigham did not knowingly deceive the saints rather he led them confidently by inspiration . the point is important for mormons because on it hinges an important aspect of our faith that god truly speaks to prophets today  and that brigham young  like joseph smith  was an inspired prophet of god .  br    br   whether or not you believe this statement or not  just know that the film does not accurately portray what brigham himself believed .  
this is a horrid disaster of a film . from beginning to end  it  s filled with bad acting and even worse direction and editing . the only redeeming parts of the film are a few numbers by streisand  because the kristofferson parts are impossible to watch or listen to . the main problem of this film is that we never see kristofferson  s character at his peak or streisand  s character struggling . the first should be seen in decline and the second rising . the final streisand number  could have been  one of the greatest finales in film  if it was directed and edited properly . the single framed shot of her face for the duration of the song was a terrible mistake . had the band  audience and wide shots of the stage been shown  this number could have been dynamic and interesting . this film must have been directed and edited by an nyu film school dropout . the only thing worse may be the wretched screenplay . the final musical number is the only redeeming part of this film  and even that is botched completely by misguided technical decisions .  
the sunshine boys is one of my favorite feel good movies . i first saw it when it as the christmas attraction at radio city music hall when it first came out and loved it ever since . i ended up seeing it  times in the theaters  and if it was playing today i  d go out to see it again .  br    br   now a lot of the reviews here mentioned the wonderful performances of the leads . matthau was brilliant  but had the misfortune of being nominated against jack nicholson  s oscar winning performance of randall p . macmurphy in  one flew over the cuckoo  s nest . burns did win  though richard benjiman deserved at least to be nominated as well . even the smallest roles were played to perfection  like fritz feld auditioning for the potato chips commercial .  br    br   which brings me to my reason for reviewing this film  the direction of the greatly underrated herbert ross . ross who previously brought a two person play   the owl and the pussycat  to the screen and made a full movie out of it  does it again . he opens the plays out without making them look like a photographic stage play . he fleashens out the story and the characters .  br    br   here we  re   minutes into the film before we get to the scene that opens the play  where ben clark comes to see his uncle and tell him about the comedy special . though there are dialogue from the play during the first twenty minutes  the sequence itself is totally new . a few years ago i did see at the broadway revival of the play with jack klugman and tony randall  which was wonderful . but i think that ross and screenwriter  playwright simon improved on it . it  s just a wonderful film .  
the worst thing about crush is not that it  s acted pretty bad  or that the plot is virtually non  existent  and it  s not even that bad that the camerawork could have been better .  br    br   no  the worst part of this movie is that it has a few absolutely brilliant moments that keep you hoping that there are more to come .  br    br   but in the end  it  s too little  too late . if you are a fan of violin  music and cheap tearjerking scenes of    women crying and hugging and talking about babies and marriage  then by all means  don  t miss it .  br    br   i myself am not exactly thrilled to see the things listed above in a movie  and as a result i had a pretty horrible time . the few absolutely brilliant jokes can not make up for the rest of it .  br    br   the verdict     . guilty of wasting my time .  br    br    
this is a wonderful movie about the struggle of the mormons and their final settlement in salt lake  utah . the beginning and the ending are especially powerful  and the message is one we all have to be reminded of  god doesn  t talk  but he communicates  if we would only listen . as i am writing this in the midst of the horrors going on in new orleans and the surrounding area due to katrina  i was especially moved by the mormons having to leave everything behind and move on after joseph smith was assassinated . people came to this country to escape religious persecution  and yet they could not . the struggle of the mormons to cross the country  the cost in lives  the hardship they suffered was truly awe  inspiring  demonstrating their tremendous strength . as far as the actual beliefs of mormons  this is not heavily gone into  and polygamy is mentioned but is not a centerpiece of the film at all .  br    br   the cast is top  notch  though others who have commented know more about the actual characters and can talk about how true the portrayals were . but as actors  dean jagger  mary astor  brian donlevy  john carradine  jane darwell all do excellently with the script they were given .  br    br   though the film could have easily stood on its own  and certainly does today  tyrone power and linda darnell were added to the cast to get the crowds into the movie theaters to see a film about the mormons . power is magnificently handsome as a young mormon  and darnell  as zina  is not a mormon but stays on with the family after her father is killed . power does not have much to do until the end of the film  when he has a big scene  and darnell  still a teenager at the time of the filming  has even less  though they make a lovely couple . their fate is left unclear regarding her conversion  and one does wonder about the polygamy in their case . you can  t beat either one for eye candy  however .  
rock star john norman howard  kris kristofferson  turns lounge singer esther hoffman  barbra streisand  into an overnight singing star . esther  s star rises while john  s goes into decline  thanks to drugs and alcohol . after about two hours  john does the self  destructive  red  converible      mph  crack  up  on  a  desert  highway thing . the best thing about this movie is the music  especially the song   evergreen .  barbra streisand sings well  but you can  t take her seriously as an up  and  coming star  when she is already a star . the very first time she appears  singing in a back alley bar  she looks like an established singing star who is slumming for the night  not like a struggling unknown who is trying to launch her singing career . she is too confident  too professional . her apartment looks like a page out of  apartment living   not some hole  in  the  wall apartment where a real struggling singer would live .  br    br   kris kristofferson handles the self  centered  out  of  control rock star role like . . . well  like a singer who is trying to be an actor but doesn  t have much acting talent . the direction is tepid  the story is slow and dull .  br    br   but the worst thing about this movie is not the acting  or the lame direction  or the slow story . it  s the hair  after staring at kristofferson  s and streisand  s awful    s hairdos for   hours  your eyes hurt .  
i find alan jacobs review very accurate concerning the moviehowever i had the opportunity to rent the dvd from blockbuster with a commentary from byu  s curator  motion picture archives james d  arc . the then lds prophet heber j . grant approved of the movie understanding the deviations from historic content for dramatic expression and telescoping events . for example the movie showed joseph smith on trial . despite brigham young  s great oratory in defense of joseph smith he was convicted anyway . then joseph was killed . historically joseph smith was never convicted of anything . brigham young was in boston when joseph smith was arrested for this particular trial . joseph smith and his brother hyrum where both killed before the trial took place .  
really an amazing pile of pap   br    br   a predictable  slow moving  soul destroying  mind numbing movie to which  slitting your own wrists with a rusty bread knife seems . . . well  almost necessary .  br    br   the acting is over done for the thin dialogue  every scene is at least twice as long as it needs to be  the intricate details of how this career is collapsing or that career is rising is just far too dreary and mundane for words . the music would be good if you didn  t have to sit through the movie  but really  three good songs is not enough reward for the effort required to watch the movie .  br    br   watching this film i prayed to god for narcolepsy or for someone to shoot me .  br    br   never  ever  ever again .  
henry hathaway was daring  as well as enthusiastic  for his love of the people of the early days in us history . however  to critique historical inaccuracies of his film about brigham young and the mormon people are not necessary or useful in commenting for this film . in my opinion  hathaway did superb direction that conveys what a mormon people were in the early history of the church of jesus christ of latter  day saints during the time period beginning with the martyrdom of joseph smith to the date of film release . in often subtle filming and dialog delivery  he covered mormon philosophies and teachings in many of the segments and scenes .  br    br   i remember watching this movie on many saturday mornings during my youth in the early      s . that was just over   years after the films release and before the los angeles temple was completed  which i watched being constructed and instilled more curious wonder of who mormons were . i recently purchased this film and will enjoy the following messages that hathaway interpreted in his film .  br    br    . love for all people  regardless of their personal beliefs   . charity to those in need or not   . family is high in importance   . listen respectfully and carefully  because even opposing messages have important points to consider and adopt   . work hard  both individually and in community   . prepare and store for future days of need   . hope is a binding link to a higher being  and for our daily lives   . and  that there is a unique quality to any group  and appreciate those that are identified as beneficial .  
so i had heard from a few people that this film had brought them to tears in the theater . as i watched it for the first time i was expecting another romantic  tear  jerking barbra streisand film something like the way we were . i was certainly wrong . the chemistry between the two main characters  esther hoffman and her john howard  was nonexistent  making it impossible to get attached to the characters . there wasn  t anything romantic about it . streisand  s character fell for an alcoholic drug addict who couldn  t sing a single note without making me want to hit the fast  forward button . at one point her character finds her husband in bed with another woman and she forgives him about five minutes later . there  s nothing romantic about a deadbeat rock star and a woman who can  t seem to realize it until he actually dies . parts of the movie seemed to drag on and on  and i kept asking myself when it was going to end .  br    br   the death of john howard was completely predictable . there was totally obvious foreshadowing of his reckless behavior early on in the movie  and when he died i felt no emotion whatsoever . it wasn  t a tragic accident  it was him basically being an idiot . not to mention throughout the movie i was distracted by his hideous beard .  br    br   the only parts of this movie worth seeing are the streisand songs . the ending of the movie when she sings  with one more look at you  watch closely now  was my reason for giving this film a whopping     . those  minutes were the only part of the movie i actually felt an emotion other than irritation and anger .  
i rented this film because of my interest in american history  and especially the somewhat weird story of the mormons . this movie attempts to make some sense out of how joseph smith could turn his  vision  into a major world religion . it first focuses on the troubles the mormons had in their settlement at navuoo  illinois . it portrays the trial of joseph smith . within the course of that trial  brigham young stands up to tell of his conversion to mormonism  and of his belief in the spiritual message of smith . then smith is assassinated  and young must deal with his own doubts about whether he has been chosen to lead the mormons to a new land . despite his grave doubts  he perseveres  and finally has a vision  that utah is the place for his colony  that gives him confidence in the rightness of his leadership . later  as crops are destroyed by crickets  he again doubts that he has truly been chosen   however  a miracle occurs  which cements his place in history .  br    br   i found the performances to be moving  and the story to be convincing and interesting . i would love to know whether mormons believe that this is an accurate portrayal . polygamy is a part of the story  but the reasons why this is central to lds are not raised . the issue is not emphasized .  br    br   i  m sure people stay away from this movie because of its religious subject  matter  but it has a great cast and will hold your interest throughout .  
to grasp where this     version of a star is born is coming from consider this its final number is sung by barbra streisand in a seven minute and forty second close  up  followed by another two  and  half  minute freeze frame of ms . streisand   striking a christ  like pose   behind the closing credits . over ten uninterrupted minutes of barbra  s distinctive visage dead center  filling the big screen with uncompromising ego . that just might be some sort of cinematic record .  br    br   or think about this the plot of this musical revolves around a love affair between two musical superstars  yet  while streisand  s songs are performed in their entirety   including the interminable finale   her costar kris kristofferson isn  t allowed to complete even one single song he performs . nor  though she does allow him to contribute a little back up to a couple of her ditties  do they actually sing a duet .  br    br   or consider this streisand  s name appears in the credits at least six times  including taking credit for  musical concepts  and her wardrobe  from her closet    and she also allegedly wanted  but failed to get co  directing credit as well . one of her credits was as executive producer  with a producer credit going to her then  boyfriend and former hairdresser  jon peters . as such  streisand controlled the final cut of the film  which explains why it is so obsessed with skewing the film in her direction . what it doesn  t explain is how come  given every opportunity to make the great diva look good  their efforts only make streisand look bad . even though this was one of streisand  s greatest box office hits  it is arguably her worst film and contains her worst performance .  br    br   anyway  moving the melodrama from hollywood to the world of sex  drugs  and  rock  n  roll  streisand plays esther hoffman  a pop singer on the road to stardom  who shares the fast lane for a while with kristofferson  s john norman howard  a hard rocker heading for the off ramp to has  beenville . in the previous incarnations of the story   norman maine  sacrifices his leading man career to help newcomer  vicky lester  achieve her success . in the feminist seventies  streisand  co . want to make it clear that their heroine owes nothing to a man  so the trajectory is skewed she  ll succeed with or without him and he is pretty much near bottom from scene one he  s a burden she must endure in the name of love . as such  there is an obvious effort to make the leading lady not just tougher  but almost ruthless  while her paramour comes off as a henpecked twit .  br    br   kristofferson schleps through the film with a credible indifference to the material making little attempt to give much of a performance  and oddly it serves his aimless  listless character well . streisand  on the other hand  exhibits not one moment of honesty in her entire time on screen . everything she does seems  if not too rehearsed  at least too controlled . even her apparent ad libs seem awkwardly premeditated and her moments of supposed hysteria coldly mechanical . the two have no chemistry  making the central love affair totally unbelievable . you might presume that his character sees in her a symbol of his fading youth and innocence  though at age    streisand doesn  t seem particularly young or naive . the only conceivable attraction he might offer to her is that she can exploit him as a faster route to stardom . and  indeed  had the film had the guts to actually play the material that way  to make streisand  s character openly play an exploitive villain  the film might have had a spark and maybe a reason to exist .  br    br   but i guess the filmmakers actually see esther as a sympathetic victim they don  t seem to be aware just how cold  blooded and self absorbed she is . but sensitivity is not one of the film  s strong points note the petty joke of giving barbra two african american back up singers just so the film can indulge in the lame racism of calling the trio the oreos . and the film makes a big deal of pointing out that esther retains her ethnic identity by using her given name of hoffman  yet the filmmakers have changed the character  s name of the previous films from  esther blodgett  so that streisand won  t be burdened with a name that is too jewish or too unattractive . so much for ethnic pride .  br    br   the backstage back stabbing and backbiting that proceeded the film  s release is near legendary  so the fact that the film ended up looking so polished is remarkable . nominal director frank pierson seems to have delivered the raw material for a good movie  with considerable help from ace cinematographer robert surtees . and the film did serve its purpose  producing a soundtrack album of decent pop tunes  including the oscar  winning  evergreen  by paul williams and streisand  . but overall the film turned out to be the one thing streisand reportedly claimed she didn  t want it to be  a vanity project .  
fox  s epic telling of one a america  s greatest pioneering efforts comes to dvd with some truly outstanding  extras  . brigham young  the  frontiersman  was added for the european release   telling the story the great pioneer leader  who under inspiration brought members of the mormon faith  church of jesus christ of latter  day saints  out to the salt lake valley in      after mobs murdered their prophet  leader  joseph smith  played by vincent price   was brought to the screen in      just as america was about to enter world war ii . it was a daring move on fox chief  darryl f . zanuck and it was a breath of fresh air to the mormon people  as this was the first film attempt to favorably show their faith on the screen . now fox  working with james d  arc  curator of the excellent motion picture archives at brigham young university in provo  utah  has brought this film to the dvd format in an outstading edition . mr . d  arc  who some years ago did his doctoral dissertation on the film  has provided one of the most in depth commentary tracks ever done for a dvd . he seperates the fact from the fiction and lets listeners understand why this films was so much appreciated by church leaders even though embellishments to the truth run throughout the film . one of the fun bits of information deals with dean jagger  the actor who plays the title role . many years after the film he married a latter  saint woman and was eventually converted to the lds faith . there is much to be learned from d  arc  s knowledge and it is great to have this as part of the dvd  there are over    pictures from the fox  byu archives included on the disc  plus newsreel footage of the incredible premiere at seven theatres in salt lake city . thanks fox for another outstanding dvd   and thank you  james d  arc for your great commentary   
ok  people  honestly . . . this gotta be one of the worst movies about show biz that  s ever been made  but i  ve been laughing myself silly  which may be why i enjoyed it  . basically  it  s all about sex  sex and a way to get your own personal   minutes of fame . did i mention that sex was a major issue in this movie  if you have a thing going for bizzzzare characters and easy entertainment  watch this movie when you get the chance  and don  t have something better to do  .  br    br   attention spoilers     the funniest thing on the movie was the guy who asked jerry whether he could marry his goat    on the show and flashing his wallet with his love  s pictures . a triple a for bad taste and fun   
not a bad martial arts film . fight scenes were good . michel qissi did a good job directing his first film without van damme . story worked without foul language and too much blood . screenwriter jeanette francessca has a good line to the story that works . it would be great to see something else from her in the same genre . she likes the art and having strong women promenant . it was definitely worth watching . i recommend the film to all drama and martial arts lovers .  
was this movie stupid  yup . did this movie depth  nope . character development  nope . plot twists  nope . this was simply a movie about a highly  fictionalized springer show . it shows the lengths that some people will go to get their mugs on tv . molly hagan did a great job as jaime pressly  s mom . jaime is . . . . well . . . gorgeous  this flick wasn  t so much made to be a  breakthrough  movie  rather  it was intended to life in a trailer park  i live in a trailer park and ours is nothing like the one in this movie  where everyone sleeps with everyone else  all the girls get pregnant by different guys  and all the guys drive rusted  out    ford pickups  exaggeration  of course  but that  s the picture everyone sees when you mention  trailer park   . some people over  analyze movies  case  in  point star trek freaks  . i watch movies purely for the entertainment value not to point out that the girl is wearing a different shirt in a different scene  read the  goofs  bit about connie  s shirt . could it have been better  sure . but it was funny as hell .  
did not know what to expect from from van damme  s partner  friend  trainer  and his fight choreographer for most of his films . it was nice to see him act as  tong po  in  kickboxer and other van damme  s films . now he  s on his own . he and his wife make a great team . in this one qissi is the action director and lead bad guy and he  s good . really meanacing . his wife was the writer  producer and directed most of the scenes which didn  t require action . she also did good job editing the film . together they did a great job . the story made sense  the fight scenes were edited well  the leads were real fighters and looked good together  the story came together well  and if you can beleive it . . . no bad language  no sex  just action . a new one on me . check it out     
i will admit that i have seen maybe five minutes of  jerry springer  . i don  t consider myself a snob  but i really think that i am above watching what  s on his show . you should try to elevate yourself above that too .  br    br   i saw this movie as part of a social studies event i was conducting . i was told that this movie really had little to do with springer himself  rather it centered on the lives of those who would appear on  springer .  handled better  this movie might have actually been a fascinating look at how pathetic these people  s lives actually are . i will admit  i felt a twinge of empathy for connie  molly hagan  . this is all she has in life . how sad that she feels she must go on jerry  s show in order to resolve this .  br    br   i really feel sorry for molly hagan appearing in this . have you noticed that after this movie  she has mainly been relegated to  b  roles on tv  i will say this about hagan . she is an extremely beautiful and intelligent woman . i have no doubt that she is very earnest in her acting and she tries to play her roles with a lot of empathy . the problem is that hagan can  t carry a scene on her own . she just doesn  t have what it takes to do a lead role . her best work will always be angel on  herman  s head   a show that was not great  but its heart was in the right place  and when she guested on  seinfeld  as sister roberta .  
sarafina was a fun movie  and some of the songs were really great . sarafina was very entertaining . i don  t normally like music things like this  but the singing was not lame like it looked like on the box . the movie was useful for learning about history because it was an interesting perspective of the soweto rioting of     . it showed you things from the perspective of the students in the rioting and showed you that they were real characters . because you got to see them as real characters this makes you like them more as an audience  and makes you more sympathetic to them as totally the victims of the white government  who you can not sympathise with . the singing of the students is correct because we know from accounts that the students in the riot were singing and dancing before it became violent . the clothing of the students in sarafina is very similar to the clothing shown in photos from soweto . they made the movie actually in soweto  which is why it looks very accurate in many parts . all these things make the film more accurate for someone using it to learn about aparthied . as viewers we must be critical of the way the history of apartheid was presented . as i said before  you become sympathetic to the students  this makes it potentially less reliable and objective . also  it changes some of the details from other accounts . in sarafina it turns to chaos when the policeman comes into their classroom and shoots the students . the police and army were very aggressive at soweto  but this is probably an exaggerated event . the police and army did shoot students  but there is not evidence of them going into schools and executing people like this . the fighting was more in the streets and had looting and crime . this is done in the movie probably to make you feel more sorry for the school students . the movie would have been more useful if it had some different information about aparthied . the teacher was arrested for being against the government  and the mum goes to work in a white persons house . but there is not any information about the government and why they were doing it or any details about the racist policies and laws .  by george s  chris and finlay  
i think that  deep down in the darkest  slimiest part of their heart  everyone likes jerry springer just a little bit . while his show is undeniably offensive and stupid  it also gives us a chance to see that  relatively speaking  most of us have it real good . when you look at the trailer park livin   dollar whiskey drinkin   incest lovin  people on the springer show  it makes even your worst day seem like a walk in the park . jerry is performing a public service  and we should be grateful . he ditched a political career to host the show  just for us .  br    br   what we should not be grateful for in any way is the piece of garbage movie  ringmaster  .  ringmaster  shows what life is like for people who wind up being guests on the show  or so they would like us to think . the movie follows the pre  requisite springer story line love triangles . one triangle involves connie  her daughter angel  and her husband rusty . the other involves starletta  vonda  and demond . when the two hapless groups meet up in la  their lives intertwine and collide head  on  all culminating in an explosive episode of the springer show . it  s like what  short cuts  would be if robert altman had had a severe crack habit .  br    br    ringmaster  is true to the show  as it is stupid and offensive from start to finish . it also makes me very glad that i don  t live in the squalor it  s characters do . but the movie has a problem . it  s billed as a comedy  but it just isn  t very funny . what laughs there are to be had are few and far between . maybe some people watch this and laugh non  stop . if you think blow jobs and rape are funny  well then i guess you  re one of those folks . personally  i laughed two or three times and spent the rest of the movie in utter awe of the agonizing horrors of white  trash life .  br    br   the jerry springer show just isn  t meant to make the leap from tv to the silver screen . what  s funny in an hour long show  less  when you count commercials  isn  t necessarily going to be funny in a ninety minute movie . movies have to tell a story  and that  s something else  ringmaster  has trouble with . the story is threadbare . there are so many plot holes and continuity errors that any attempt at telling a cohesive narrative is quickly put asunder . and even if there weren  t such problems  how much fun can you pull out of a story of stereotypical people in a stereotypical story  even the hollywood formula couldn  t make this better .  ringmaster is so bad  it even screws up the best part of the springer show the final thought . somehow  even the smartest and simplest aspect of the show wound up blowing harder than the slutty women the film is built around .  br    br   the worst offender in all of this is springer himself . he  s such a bad actor that he can  t even play himself convincingly . watching springer play springer is sad . it  s like he was going for a  what if woody allen played jerry springer  vibe  and he failed . miserably . he went to the trouble of producing this disaster  the least he could do is try to make it just that much better .  br    br   not that i  m saying everyone else in this movie put in an award worthy performance . just the opposite . they all suck . not so surprisingly  no one in this movie went on to greatness . the best any of them was did was molly hagan landing a job on a nickelodeon sitcom . apparently  nickelodeon has no problem with hiring a woman who starred in the most vile film of the     s to star in a children  s program . it makes you wonder what kind of things the other adults on that channel have done in their pasts .  br    br   here are my final thoughts what we have here is a group of people with no self respect and a man with money to burn  who have met and put their resources together to produce a film that shows how much they hate themselves and how little they think of the intelligence of their viewing audience . should we accept people who make movies that treat us like severely brain  damaged lumps of goo  i say no . somewhere out there  in this crazy  mixed up world  there is a perfect movie for each of us . we just have to keep looking for it . until next time  take care of yourselves and your loved ones . and don  t ever watch  ringmaster  .  
i believe sarafina is a tremendous effort of whoopi goldberg . besides her  there are no other stars in the film and her role is smaller than the title character  sarafina . since i work in a high school with urban children  i think this is an important film to show south african history of apartheid . sarafina is a movie about education and a teacher  s relationship with her student  sarafina . i bought the video for practically nothing at a videostore . i watched it and fast forwarded through the musical numbers . but i strongly recommend this film to educators and their students to understand . now while i don  t know the other actors and actresses in the film  i assume that they are very popular in south africa and i am glad that they filmed with a south african cast and crew with the exception of goldberg in a small role but if it gets people to see this movie  than whoopi reaches worldwide appeal .  
you don  t need to write a script for this trashed outrage  you just sit back and watch a pair of moonshine women and guests duke each other out before a riotous audience exposure at  the jerry show   violent and obnoxious  this cash  in on the real jerry springer program reveals everything that the over  rated hyped talk show doesn  t show to you on the air   unless you have a collection of uncensored videos made by the producers of  cops  . even the outside world of springerland reveals the most amateurish acting of the decade  this goes to show you that the gong show movie had a central character in a motion picture turkey . change the channel  rejected  br    br    
i bought this cheap from the rental remnant at our local store . it was in almost mint condition  and i  d never heard of it before . clearly nobody else had either .  br    br   i can  t believe my luck . you go through the whole realm of emotions and it attempts to get over a complex message  the very moral and non  triumphalist stance of the mandela party  undoubtedly . despite its enormous length  i had to watch it in two sittings   it was like a book one couldn  t put down . perhaps the songs are not all that memorable  but the spirit of the thing glows on forever . i cannot understand comments that a musical  clearly designed for stage  is not realistic  i  ve seen  south pacific  and read the book too  and can guarantee that musical is not realistic compared to the book . i  ll treasure this little find until it wears out . one day they  ll make this again on a better budget .  br    br    
for the life of me  i cannot get why they would want to make a movie about the  jerry springer show  . it  s so incrediably trashy . some ways  sadly it  s a guilty pleasure . we all have to admit that we  ve seen at least one episode . it  s part of our pop culture . i saw this on usa recently . it  s pretty bad . i will admit that . jerry does a horrible job of what i think he meant as acting . or something like it . jamie pressley is in it . she  s playing herself basically . all she needed was her lover boy  kid rock . it would  ve been perfect then . so  i would recommend skipping  ringmaster  . just watch the  jerry springer show  . it  s more enjoyable than this .  br    br        
this film reminds me of   nd street starring bebe daniels and ruby keeler . when i watch this film a lot of it reminded me of   nd street  especially the character eloise who  s a temperamental star and she ends up falling and breaks her ankle  like bebe daniels did in   nd street and another performer gets the part and become a star . this film  like most race films  keeps people watching because of the great entertainment . race films always showed black entertainment as it truly was that was popular in that time era . the dancing styles  the music  dressing styles  you  ll love it . this movie could of been big if it was made in hollywood  it would of had better scenery  better filming  and more money which would make any movie better . but its worth watching because it is good and micheaux does good with the little he has . i have to say out of all micheaux  s films  swing is the best  the movie features singers  dancers  actresses  and actors who were popular but forgotten today . doli armena  a awesome female trumpet player who can blow the horn so good that you think gabriel is blowing a horn in the sky . the sexy  hot female dancer consuela harris would put ann miller and gyspy rose lee to shame .  br    br   adding further info . . . popular blues singer of the    s and    s cora green is the focus of the film  she  s mandy  a good  hard working woman with a no good man who takes her money and spend it on other women . a nosy neighbor played by amanda randolph tells mandy what she seen and heard and mandy goes down to the club and catches her man with an attractive  curvy woman by the name of eloise  played hazel diaz  a hot  cha entertainer in the    s  and a fight breaks out . then mandy goes to harlem where she reunites with a somewhat guardian angel lena played by one of the most beautiful women in movies dorothy van engle . lena provides mandy with a home  a job  and helps her become a star when temperamental cora smith  played by hazel  i guess she  s playing two parts or maybe she changed her stage name  tries to ruin the show with her bad behavior . when cora gets drunk and breaks her leg  lena convinces everyone that mandy is right for the job and lena is right and a star is born in mandy . tall  long  lanky  but handsome carman newsome is the cool aspiring producer who lena looks out for as well . pretty boy larry seymour plays the no good man but after lena threatens him  he might shape up . there are a few highlights but the one that sticks out to me is the part where cora smith  hazel diaz  struts in late for rehearsal and goes off on everyone and then her man comes in and punches her in the jaw but that  s not enough  she almost gets into a fight with mandy again . in between there  s great entertainment by chorus girls  tap dancers  shake dancers  swing music  and blues singing . there  s even white people watching the entertainment  i wonder where micheaux found them  there  s even a scene where there  s blacks and whites sitting together at the club  micheaux frequently integrated blacks and whites in his films  he should be commended for such a bold move .  br    br   this movie was the first race film i really enjoyed and it helped introduced me to oscar micheaux . this movie is one of the best of the race film genre  its a behind the scenes story about the ups and downs of show business .  br    br   no these early race films may not be the best  can  t be compared with hallelujah  green pastures  stormy weather  cabin in the sky  carmen jones  or any other hollywood films but their great to watch because their early signs of black film  making and plus these films provide a glimpse into black life and black entertainment through a black person  s eyes . these films gave blacks a chance to play people from all walks of life  be beautiful  classy  and elegant  and not just be stereotypes or how whites felt blacks should be portrayed like in hollywood . most of the actors and actresses of these race films weren  t the best  but they were the only ones that could be afforded at the time  micheaux and spencer williams couldn  t afford nina mae mckinney  josephine baker  ethel waters  fredi washington  paul robeson  rex ingram  and more of the bigger stars  so micheaux and other black and white race film  makers would use nightclub performers in their movies  some were good  some weren  t great actors and actresses  but i think micheaux and others knew most weren  t good actors and actresses but they were used more as apart of an experiment than for true talent  they just wanted their stories told  and in return many black performers got to perform their true talents in the films . for some true actors  actresses race films were the only type of films they could get work  especially if they didn  t want to play hollywood stereotypes  so i think you  ll be able to spot the true actors  actresses from the nightclub performers . these race films are very historic  they could have been lost forever  many are lost  maybe race films aren  t the greatest example of cinema but even hollywood films didn  t start out great in the beginning . i think if the race film genre continued  it would have better . if your looking for great acting  most race films aren  t the ones  but if your looking for a real example of black entertainment and how blacks should have been portrayed in films  than watch race films . there are some entertaining race films with a good acting cast  moon over harlem  body and soul  paradise in harlem  keep punching  sunday sinners  dark manhattan  broken strings  boy  what a girl  mystery in swing  miracle in harlem  and sepia cinderella  that not only has good entertainment but good acting .  
spoiler the young lover  jed  is kicked out by the spinster  kate  andie mcdowell   because she wrongly believes that jed is having an affair with one of her two catty girlfriends . kate thought she caught them en flagrante delicto . kate throws jed  s shoes out the door . jed reluctantly leaves  and then sits in the middle of the road to put his shoes on . then he gets run over   crushed   one of the meaning of the title  by a truck . and dies .  br    br    and then he gets run over by a truck .  can you imagine a screenwriter actually submitting a script with this plot element  up to then  its a comedy that intends to be frothy  but lacks any real fizz . everybody but jed is just annoying . and then they kill jed  and everybody  s sad  until the end where the gals learn to love one another and be supportive  instead of destructive . i give it  ugh  s .  
a damn good movie  one that is seriously underrated . the songs that the children sing in the movie gave me a sense of their pain  but also their hope for the future . whoopi goldberg puts in a good performance here  but the best performance throughout the whole movie is that of the actress who plays the title character . i wish she was in more movies .  br    br   this movie should have a higher rating . i give it a      .  
oh dear  jerry may be the undisputed king of talkshow but the movies are a whole different ball game  and he  s way out of his league . the script for this film is so poor it has to be seen to be believed and its sad to see such vaguely familiar actors as michael dudikoff     s action b  movie king   michael jai white  last seen in the sci fi flop spawn   as well as surviving the games  william macnamara  who is involved in the only half funny situation in the whole film   stoop this low for employment . if you are a fan of jerry then stick to his tv show as this is a total waste of and hour and a half . after i had finished sitting through this i managed to catch the last half an hour of rocky  on tv  which looked like a cinematic masterpiece in comparison  i think that says more than enough     br    br    
i saw this movie  and the play  and i have to add that this was the most touching story that i had ever seen . until i saw this movie i was unaware of how awful life was and probably still is for the south african children and adults that were and are living in that era . it brought tears to my eyes and much sadness to my heart that any human being should have to struggle like that just to stay alive  and to bring the children right out of that area and teach them to act and preform and turn them loose to tell their own story is simply amazing . this simply surpass a five star  i rate it a ten . thank you mr . mbongeni ngema for such a astonishing story . although it has been   years since this story has been told  it is still one that lays heavy in my heart . if there is a vhs  or dvd out there on the play  please notify me asap . thank you . ps there was nothing wrong with the kids wanting to bring awareness of their problems and conditions to the attention of other countries in hopes that some one would have a heart and offer assistance .  
the ringmaster stars jerry springer as a tv talkshow host called jerry  but its not the jerry springer show  his guests are trailer trash  but not the trailer trash you get on the jerry springer show  they attack one another  but not like on . . . . . what is the point of making a movie about the jerry springer show and pretending its not the jerry springer show  and on top of that this is a very boring film  
although not one of vonnegut  s better known works  it is a definite  must  see  . interestingly thought out  i especially like how the director filmed the couple in love .  
i can  t quite say that  jerry springerringmaster  is the worst film i have ever seen . the film would be better off if it were  because at least the worst film i  ve ever seen   prom night ii  interested me enough for me to hate it . my only reaction after leaving the theatre happened when i looked up at the clock and discovered that only   minutes had passed . it had seemed much more like years . it is an endless repetition of poor people   or what jerry springer seems to believe poor people are   screwing each other  hitting each other  insulting each other  and then repeating the process with the same attention to duty the rest of us use when shampooing . the plot  which covers how a group of stupid people mangle their lives badly enough to provide grist for the jerry springer mill  advances solely because of the idiocy of the characters . this makes it impossible to care what happens to them . it never mattered to me whether they got on the show  or what they said  or who slept with whom . maybe i  m not supposed to care about them . maybe i  m supposed to look at them as some kind of comic type   to see their outrageous behavior as inherently funny . too bad it isn  t . the humor is not outrageous . it  s innocuous . it  s predictable . humor has to have something behind it  some kind of painful irony or life experience  in order to function . scatology is not wit . an example . a mother catches her daughter and her husband in bed . to take revenge she marches across the trailer park and gives oral sex to her daughter  s boyfriend . since i was over the shock of jerry springer  s show a long time ago  i had the same reaction i had to andrew dice clay  s obscene nursery rhymes not laughter  just yawning . lastly  i found springer  s pose as a populist tiresome and unconvincing . if he really were an advocate of the poor  he would bring on a single mom from bed  sty to talk about trying to raise her kids in new york city on        a year . or  failing that  he would at least give the participants of his shows a cut of his profits . jerry springer gets millions for his shows  his movie  his book and videos . his guests just get round trip air fare  hotel accommodations  and a chance to humiliate themselves . if he liked poor people so much  he  d give them at least some of the money they earn for him . it appears that springer wanted to make this movie to grab some legitimacy for himself . jeez  with all his fine work  you  d think he  d have earned our respect already . anyway  the film is weak and boring . it doesn  t even succeed at being offensive . if you want to have a better evening  videotape a bug zapper for a night and then watch that .  
i felt drawn into the world of the manipulation of mind and will at the heart of the story . the acting by nolte  lee  arkin and the supporting cast was superb . the strange twists in the vonnegut story are made stranger by odd details .  
ok  let me say that i didn  t expect a film starring jerry springer to be cinematic gold  all i asked for was it to be cinematic . . . and it wasn  t even that . it looked like someone  s bad home movies . poorly acted  scripted  and filled to the brim with nudity of the most unnattractive people i  ve ever seen .  br    br   the film  s  plot  focuses on a low  class family who decide to go on the  jerry farrelly show  to discuss multiple affairs between a mother  daughter  stepfather and the daughter  s fiancee . from there  the movie fizzles and develops into a unique experience white  trash pornography . there  s redneck sex  interacial sex  even sex between jerry and his wife   yuk   this film encouraged me to want to run out of the theater and get a second circumcision . at least it was mercifully short . disgusting and degrading . african  americans and working class america should be offended .  howard stern should be pleased however  he didn  t squander his attempt for film stardom . his was smart  funny and entertaining   br    br   my grade f  the daughter was hot   
vonnegut  s words are best experienced on paper . the tales he weaves are gossemar  silken strands of words and expressions that are not easily translated into a world of marilyn manson or jerry bruckheimer explosions . his words have been treated well once before  in the remarkable slaughterhouse   .  br    br   mother night is probably one of the three novels vonnegut has written i could take to a desert island  along with slaughterhouse   and bluebeard .  br    br   the film version deserves a    but the books are so permanently part of my interior landscape that i just can  t do it . . . some of the scenes left out of the film are part of my memory . . .  
to preface this review  i must say that i was  i suppose  a little curious about this movie . . however  i probably would not have seen it had i not had my arm slightly twisted .  br    br   in my opinion  this movie shows just how depraved man can be . in my eyes  the worst thing about this whole springer phenomenon is not that type of people on the  jerry springer show  act as they do  which in itself is eminently reproachable   but that many people are so curious and excited to watch them and hear about their lives  yes  i suppose that includes me . . to whatever extent it is true  . if not glorifying that kind of behavior  as some might say  at the very least we may be subtly corrupting our minds and  or desenstizing ourselves to this type of behavior .  br    br   but enough soapbox  sort of  . here  s the skinny the movie has an r rating  and while it may deserve only that  i did look away at some scenes  so i  m not completely sure   i feel that an nc     tip of the hat to the other reviewer  might be a little more appropriate for the immense sexual content  a cynic might comment that the movie was just one big excuse to show sex on the big screen  . the plot is very bizarre  tying together the stories of an absolutely dysfunctional family and a group of stereotypical blacks upset who will appear on different springer shows . at the end  the movie leaves one with some resolvement  and springer rhetoric about the need for us to see the real world  evidently as seen through his show  . i agree with him there  it is important to know how the world really is so that we can seek to effect positive change . having said that  let me just tell you  the world  s pretty bad  glance in a newpaper or the news to see that  but let  s not shell out good money to support the kind of sensationalistic and perhaps formulaic titallition that springer seeks to give us .  
i am a huge fan of vonnegut  s work and i  m very fond of this movie  but i wouldn  t say that this is a film of the  mother night  that i read . when people say that vonnegut is unfilmable  two things come to my mind . one is that many of his themes are very near the knuckle or even taboo  despite the accusation sometimes used against him that he chooses relatively  easy  targets for his satire . this means less every day that passes as far as filmability is concerned . directors these days appear to revel in breaking taboos and i have high hopes for the version of  bluebeard  now in production . amazing to think that an innocent piece like vonnegut  s  sirens of titan  would probably have been the equivalent of  r  rated if filmed when it was published back in the   s  for its violence  language and sexual and thematic content  though it  s a tragedy that nobody  s come up yet with a filmable script for it . and in the present economic climate  i also hope some director out there is looking closely at  jailbird    galapagos  and  hocus pocus  .  br    br   the other thing is his narrative style  heaping irony upon irony upon irony but still making it hilariously funny . it seems impossible to objectify  and that appears to be the biggest obstacle to making great films of his great novels  because the little authorial comments that colour our response as readers are just not possible in movies without resorting to too often clumsy techniques like  talkovers  . vonnegut suggested that there was a character missing from filmed versions of his work  himself as author  narrator . to its credit   breakfast of champions   the movie  tried to keep the comedy and came a bit of a cropper for its pains . as did another turkey made from a vonnegut novel   slapstick  in an even more spectacular way .  br    br   still  there  s nothing wrong with a director giving us his subjective interpretation of vonnegut  and  mother night  is an excellent example of how  as another reviewer put it  a good director can add a visual poetry to a source like this . but so much of the humour is lost that though it  s the same plot  it  s not really from the same novel i read . if it had been  i  d probably have been rolling in the aisles laughing a few times watching it . for a reader of the novel  i think a chuckle even at the end is forgivable . the end of the film  however  is truly poignant  and i think one of the film  s successes is that it can genuinely leave you feeling that you  ve watched someone walk a razor  s edge between good and evil  and the jury is still out .  br    br   standing alone and of itself it  s well worth a look . technically there are some minor but glaring errors  notably in continuity  and it too often looks drab and theatrical  but most of the time it hits an acceptable note and occasionally shows considerable imagination and resourcefulness . the acting in general is of a high order  even if maybe the dialogue is by today  s standards a little stilted .  br    br   it survives quite well watching back to back with  slaughterhouse     and there is actually quite a bit more  good  filmed vonnegut out there  mostly versions of his short stories   harrison bergeron    who am i this time   and some other things like  of course  the misfiring filmed version of his very funny but disposable play   happy birthday wanda june  . also there was an interesting piece  if it still exists  done in the   s called  between time and timbuktu  which vonnegut apparently didn  t like much  although he was involved in its production  because he felt it misinterpreted him in its generality . he said it reminded him of the bizarre surgical experiments performed in the hg wells tale  the island of dr . moreau   but it did for many people serve as an excellent introduction to his work .  br    br   but if the films don  t make you want to go to the superior source material  they  re not doing their job .  br    br   as the man said  more or less  the big show is inside your head .  
i love watching jerry as much as the rest of the world  but this poor excuse for a soft  core porno flick is needlessly offensive  lacks anything resembling wit  and serves merely as a vehicle of self  promotion for springer . even though it runs a quick   minutes  the film drags hideously  and i should have had the common sense to walk out . simply atrocious .  
it takes a little while to get used to nick nolte  s nebraskan locutions before we can easily accept him as a famous intercontinental playwright . once you get past the bar  it turns into a fascinating story of a man who loses everything while trying to do good .  br    br   nolte  an american  moves to germany  marries a famous actress  and is a satisfied success in every respect until war is about to break out . he  s visited by a jovial american  john goodman  who persuades him to accept a post as an anti  semitic radio broadcaster for the nazis . nolte has no politics but thinks it  s a challenge to write a role that  s almost impossible and then play it himself . another american secret agent will modify nolte  s radio scripts   inserting a cough here  a sneeze there   that will serve as a code for the transmission of intelligence to the allies . there  s a catch  though . nobody will know about nolte  s real role as an american agent except goodman  donovan  and roosevelt himself . if he  s ever uncovered  he  ll be refused recognition by the americans .  br    br   nolte plunges ahead and his vicious broadcasts are wildly popular in germany . his adored wife  sheryl lee  knows nothing of what  s going on  nor does she care . nolte and lee live in what he repeatedly refers to as  a nation of two .  the war ends and the trouble begins . he  s captured by americans who are bitter because of his betrayal . they beat him and leave him in the mud . he  s rescued by goodman  his  fairy godmother   who sends him to an anonymous existence in greenwich village and sends him a little cash now and then .  br    br   by      he manages to cultivate a friendship with his neighbor  the painter alan arkin  who has also lost his family and claims the two now belong to a secret brotherhood . but his location and his identity somehow leak out and he is more or less adopted by a group of ancient aryan racists   led by a dentist and a priest . his house front and mailbox are painted with swastikas and accusations . he  s beaten senseless by an ex  gi . but   miraculously   his beloved wife is returned to him by the ancient aryans . another catch it turns out later that it  s not his wife  but rather her younger sister who has loved him since adolescence .  br    br   the ending has him typing his memoirs in an israeli jail in     before his trial for crimes against humanity . it  s not a happy ending .  br    br   nolte can talk with  but not see  the occupant of the cell above his in jail . it  s adolf eichmann . eichmann seems pleasant enough . he advises nolte that it  s a bad habit to type for fifteen straight hours .  it  s important to relax . you must learn to relax .  nolte laughs out loud and shouts   that  s how i got here .  the film is filled with such ironies . at one point in their relaxed conversations  arkin tells him that  in spite of everything i still think people are good at heart .  i don  t know if the movie was a commercial success but if it wasn  t  that  s the sort of thing that might have torpedoed it for a younger audience of theater  goers who may never have heard of anne frank let alone that supposedly final statement in her diary .  br    br   the fact is that it  s a movie for adults  and patient adults at that . the story moves slowly  there  s very little violence  no car chases  no shootings  and people don  t seem subject to manic speech pressure . a lot of it will probably slip past viewers who don  t open themselves to its deliberate approach . nolte refers to the war  time relationship between him and his wife as  a nation of two .  this is a pretty compact phrase . no doubt anyone could come up with a glib definition but it takes a little concentration to grasp its emotional import .  br    br   it  s a story of a man who loses everything   his ability to write  his identity  his wife  twice   his sole friend  his country  his self respect . at one point he stops walking along a crowded new york street and simply stands there until after dark  when he is moved along by a curious cop . the reason he stopped is that he simply has no place to go . what vonnegut is describing is far more than depression . i don  t mean to sound condescending but it  s the sort of feeling that  s hard to understand in your youth . adolescents might like to think they know what  s holding nolte in that one spot  but it really requires maturity and the quickened sense of finiteness that only maturity can bring .  br    br   remember robert frost  s line about home being the place that when you go there they have to take you in  well no place will take nolte in .  
ringmaster  jerry springer  s pathetic excuse for wasting film that should be recycled as toilet paper recently destroyed my confidence in the art of film . first of all  it was made . second of all  people went to see it . third  some people voted it the best movie they have ever seen . if a monkey could make a movie  i  m    percent sure that it would be  billion times as good . most crappy movies have their moments   even godzilla had a few cool special effects  this film  s moment was when i left the theater nauseated . the only thing that possibly could  ve made this movie any worse would be if jerry springer was the star . if i want to stare at crap for an hour and a half  i  ll take a dump in a can . if anyone didn  t utterly despise this movie  i pity you  and your children  and your children  s children  s children however  contrary to springer  s beliefs  i clearly don  t condone children having sex .  
i have not read the novel  or anything other by kurt vonnegut  but i am now intending to start . this grips you from the very first frame  and does not let go until the end credits start rolling . taking you places you don  t expect  the plot is interesting throughout . the pacing is spot  on  nothing lasts too long  and this does a perfect job of balancing between unexpected twists and allowing the viewer to process what we  ve seen . it is well  told and well  thought out . i  ve never watched a film that i feel i could particularly compare this to . it is intense and exciting  as well as funny and sad . the acting is excellent  nolte absolutely shines  goodman again proves that he doesn  t have to go for laughs  and lee and arkin are spellbinding . i could go on  really . . . no role is treated to a less than stellar performance . the editing and cinematography are marvelous  and all of the visuals are great  with a couple of unforgettable and astonishing ones . i am going to go for other movies directed by keith gordon  as well as the other two apparently related to this  through the author of the books . there is one scene of sexuality  and a lot disturbing and unsettling content in this . i recommend this to anyone who can appreciate it it is not pleasant .      
please avoid this movie at all costs . this is without a doubt  the worst movie i  ve ever seen . most movies have at least one redeeming value . this has none . totally horrible   
i haven  t yet read kurt vonnegut  s mother night  though i  ve read other books of his  all outstanding pieces of satire and game  changing novel pieces  . after seeing keith gordon  s film adaptation of his book  it will be an immediate must  read in the near future . it  s the kind of material that i  m sure if it wasn  t made in        as a film  it would be picked up right away today in the time period when many period post  present  holocaust  ww  movies are quite popular . except that this is much darker  though even more resonant  about the nature of playing roles and the real underlying horror of living with life after war than say the reader . it  s about the very real danger of pretending in wartime  which is what being a spy in ww  is really all about .  br    br   it would be one thing if mother night had a script with a lot of emotional depth and complexity about the moral choice and constant role  even after the war ends  for howard w . cambpell  nick nolte   which is does . but it  s also just a really strong feat of cinematic technique . keith gordon is not someone i usually think of as a director of really strong material  more  so i think back to him as an actor  oddly enough featured briefly with vonnegut himself in back to school   but this is a revelation . he takes the story of campbell as a story of a fractured life a german propaganda master  the  only american left in berlin    who is actually a spy for the americans but can never have his identity revealed  and was before a playwright who really belonged to  a nation of two   himself and his wife  sheryl lee  . it follows him from his prison cell  awaiting trial in israel in      as he writes his memoir and tells of his disillusionment about being a  pretend  nazi  and then in     in semi  hiding in a new york apartment  which is where the bulk of the film takes place .  br    br   mother night can be quite heavy  like on a level one might associate with the pianist  but on another more emotional  cerebral level than the stark poetry of that film . gordon  by way of vonnegut  is trying to give us a strong look at a man who has nothing  except the memory  and then later a weird transposition  of his long lost love in a  sister  who has come back to him in nyc  so he  s left to his own devices when he befriends a painter  alan arkin  very very good here   and then is found out as a nazi  in  hiding by a white supremacist newsletter  leading wackos to his apartment . on the surface this should be just a straightforward spy story  but not a thing is straightforward . the  something  of this man  s life is staggering  but it  s ultimately of his own choosing . campbell is one of those characters that could be analyzed for hours on end  but the same conclusions might be reached  and  in a way  mirrors the line goebbels said   the bigger the lie  the more people believe it . that is except for the select few who started the lie and know its secret and power .  br    br   but oh  it would be one thing if it were just a wonderful and tragic  comic tale  or another if it were featuring some really fantastic performances  which is does nolte is at his very best here  and sheryl lee  who we might remember from twin peaks as laura palmer  stuns in multiple roles  especially in the scene when she reveals she  s not  really  helga  . it  s also a gorgeously shot film  with brilliant lighting and shots that reflect the state of mind of the character  or just the starkness or sickening colors of the time  watch the scene where an old campbell watches a film of his younger self spouting out a rant  the juxtaposition of faces is great  . and the music selections rise the level of tragedy . it could be argued some of the music is too much  but at other times it elevates the material past its own usual dramatic dimensions and makes it operatic  solemn about human nature .  br    br   it  s not always an easy film to take emotionally  and some of the twists do have that tinge of  whoa  as in any spy story . but it  s the subversion from vonnegut that sticks through  the way of taking appearance and performance  of life imitating art imitating life imitating death  and making it into something worth remembering . i have no idea just yet if the book is better than the film  or the other way around   but at the moment it  s hard for me not to recommend this to anyone looking for a masterpiece of post ww   holocaust storytelling .  
meaning if this movie got pitched  scripted  made  released  promoted as something halfway respectable given the constraints  yeah  i know  springer  sex  violence   where is he   br    br   reminded me of porn movies i saw in college  plot and dialogue wise . . . . shoulda just done something for the scurrilous porno market  showed penetration and be done with it   would have made more money  the ultimate point of this exercise . . . .  
i have just recently read the novel  mother night   i  ve owned the dvd for some time now  and watch it every so often . few movies i own and have seen have made me think and question as much as mother night has  i am amazed at the brilliance not only of vonnegut  but of the translation of his text to screen .  br    br   do not rent or watch this movie on vhs  it must be done on dvd  and it must be accompanied by the director  s commentary on the film . to see how they took a fairly simple story  yet complex in its substance and dialogue  and made it work so well  i think any viewer will be amazed .  br    br   the omissions in the movie are few from the text  and do not detract from it much  the movie might as well be the book  and is the best adaptation i have ever seen . i so highly recommend both the book and movie together that it does a disservice to merely say go watch it .  br    br   it will change you if you do .  
lets make a movie about a talk show that already exists and basically have everything that happens on the show  well if that idea doesn  t intrigue you  which it shouldn  t  stay away from ringmaster . i had the displeasure of seeing this in the theater and actually being able to sit through this mess of a movie . i guess jerry springer doesn  t play himself as it shows from the cheap props for his show  yes it looks even cheaper than the real jerry springer show  and he is only known as jerry in the film . the plot  if you can call it that  is about a daughter while living with her mother decides to start sleeping with the mother  s live in boyfriend . so the mother  s brilliant idea is to call the jerry springer show as well as getting it on with her daughter  s boyfriend .  is it any coincidence they live in a trailer park  . meanwhile somewhere else in america a woman finds her cheatin  man with her friend in bed together . so of course call america  s therapist jerry springer  i  d talk about the rest of the film but even thinking about the film now is giving me a headache . jamie pressly who plays the daughter looks totally unattractive in the movie . and remember michael dudikoff the kick ass karate master from the american ninja series  well take a look at him now as a white trash drunk . the thing is he really looks too horrible and out of shape to call it  getting in touch with his charecter  . but if your idea of fun is seeing jerry springer sing a country song about his own show or guys hooking up with transvestites . . . well . . . just watch the show instead  . . . at least steve was smart enough to stay out of this flick .  
  br    br   one of the best films i  ve ever seen . robert duvall  s performance was excellent and outstanding . he did a wonderful job of making a character really come to life . his character was so convincing  it made me almost think i were in the theater watching it live  i give it  stars .  
andie mcdowell is beautiful as the    ish woman whose late start at a serious relationship leads her to a considerably younger man and a subsequenet falling  out with  long  time best girldfriends .  br    br   seeing a gigolo  gold  digger in the sincere young man  the  girl  friends   dead  set on terminating this  silly relationship   go over and beyond the call of duty in  helping out  their friend  who obviously is blinded by this gigolo  s tricky game  .  br    br   a short succession of situations is absolutely ridiculous . far fetched no longer covers it . without these unbelievable scenes  there may have been hope for a sweet love story . instead  all the viewer is left with is an involuntary shaking of head   these things just don  t happen  without giving away cliff  hanger details  i warn the viewer of having high expectations for this film most  like me  will be very disappointed . on a scale of  to    this one ranks a weak  with me . there is much better material out there . this one isn  t worth your time .  
the movie is a bit  thin  after reading the book  but it  s still one of the greatest movies ever made . sheryl lee is beautiful and nick nolte is really  vonneguty  . he makes great job expressing the feelings from the book to the film . not many films engage the feeling of the book as well as mother night does .  
the only thing that kept me from vomiting after seeing this movie was the fact that these are just actors and not the freak show that usually appears on the tv show . this is also the main reason that fans of the tv show won  t like the movie  but not the only reason . this movie has about as much entertainment value as getting a root canal . it approaches the abyssmal depths of bad movie making  and then gets even worse . i won  t waste your time describing this movie in further detail suffice it to say that i pity the poor camera people who had to suffer through watching this cp the first time .  
i  ve just finished listening to the director  s commentary for this film  and i think the one big thing i got from it that i agree with is that this film  like mann  s the insider  is completely subjective . it  s from howard  s pov . so  any review or attempt at contemplating a set of comments about it  as ebert did  is really about nolte  s character actually . if you feel  as he did  that the film  does not work   then you  re saying  i think  that howard does not work . and  to be frank  you might be right . howard  s reasoning and personality really wouldn  t stand up to professional mental treatments and analysis .  br    br   but  hey  that  s the nature of people .  br    br   andrew .  
somebody could probably make a great documentary about the jerry springer show  but this fictionalized version merely succeeds in draining anything authentic and interesting out of the trash  tv phenomenon . there are dozens of famously bad movies  e . g .  manos the hands of fate   that show more creativity and spirit than this dreary  witless waste of film .  br    br   seriously  why not a documentary about the jerry springer show  that would begin to answer some of the real questions like who are these people  what happens to their lives after they appear on this show  how did the mayor of cincinatti find himself here   br    br   one good line during an  orientation  session for guests  people  i can  t emphasize this enough no weapons    
nick nolte gives an excellent performance in kurt vonnegut  s dark tale . notle plays howard w . campbell who was a double agent working in propaganda during world war ii . after the war  he lives anonymously until competing factions wish to dig up his past . as with much of vonnegut  s work  this is a meditation on the absurdity of war and those who use propaganda for their own aims . nolte is fantastic  self assured and confident as the younger campbell  and then broken and haunted as the older man who is forced to atone for the sins of his past .   out of     
i  m not a regular viewer of springer  s  but i do watch his show in glimpses and i think the show is a fine guilty pleasure and a good way to kill some time . so naturally  i  m going to watch this movie expecting to see  jerry springer uncensored .  first of all  jerry appears in approximately twenty minutes of the film  s running time . the other hour and twenty minutes is spent building up this pseudo  farce about trailer  trash  jealousy  incest and deception . jaime pressley  who looks hot as hellll  is a trailer  trash slut who sleeps with her stepfather  a very unusual  looking  chain  smoking  drunken michael dudikoff who finally strays from his action hero persona  . the mom finds out about the affair  they get into a fight  they want to take it to the  jerry  show  that  s right  no springer  . and then we have a parallel story with an african  american couple . they take it to the  jerry  show . the characters collide . blah  blah  freakin  blah  trash has rarely been this borrringg     i was wondering why the hell springer has millions of fans  yet none of them checked out his movie . well  now it  s totally obvious   whether you love him or hate him  you will hate this movie  how can i explain  it  s a total mess of a motion picture  if that  s what you call it  . it  s so badly edited  with scenes that just don  t connect  and after a period of time the plot virtually disappears and it  s simply all over the map  just imagine a predictable soap opera transformed into a comic farce . with seldom laughs .  br    br   my only positive note is a hot girl  girl scene . that  s as risque as it gets . don  t get me wrong  the scene  s pretty risque  but if you look at the overall film comparing it to the material on springer  s program   this disastrous farce seems extremely sanitized .  br    br   my score   out of     
i have yet to see a film with nolte in it that i did not like . however  this being said  he  s made a lot of films and i  ve seen just a few . in my minds eye i am keeping the images of his performance here and the one in  the thin red line  . nolte has a a full range of acting talents . when it  s necessary to shout he roars like a wounded lion . his best moments are the ones i treasure in actors when he just emotes through facial  hand and body gestures  without saying anything . having come to the conclusion that our present generation of actors  by and large  have no appreciation of what an actor can do without speaking  having no conscious appreciation of the mastery of keaton and chaplin  this generation of actors relies far too much on the mechanical wizardry of computers . of course it is also just a sign of the times we live in . had chaplin lived in our times . . . . who knows  he just might as well have become an aficionado of cgi tools .  br    br   i have not read the vonnegut novel from which this film comes to the screen . however  the plot is not so far fetched or convoluted that we cannot follow the path laid  even with all its surprises . of course on the outset it appears preposterous . however  it is also not impossible .  br    br   consider these for starters a spy at the heart of the third reich he extraordinary life of fritz kolbe  america  s most important spy in world war ii by delattre and prichard  look at amazon for more details  . consider history undercover piercing the reich american spies inside nazi germany dvd  i saw this here http   store . aetv . com  html  product  index . jhtml  id       seems to be a history channel production .  br    br   so  is the story ridiculous  far fetched yes  impossible  no . back to the plot . nolte  s character is recruited and accepts an impossibly dangerous mission and unfortunately the script does not give us an adequate reason why he accepts . was it a type of passivity  that he got sucked into this role as it says because it was the best story he had ever written and he got to play the part  that  s a hard thing to imagine any of us would grasp . but  it was an unusual time and people did extraordinary things .  br    br   the acting throughout the film by the entire cast is excellent and as people have pointed out alan arkin  always fantastic  is very good in a small role .  br    br   i was really shocked by the ending of the film  no  i won  t spoil it  and it made me feel terrible about the choice . did this person feel that the road was finally over and that he had spoken all that was necessary and that any more would be chapters added to a life already filled with many burnt pages  hard to say but it really jolts .  br    br   nolte gives one of the finest performances you can expect . . . . the premises of the film make you wonder about a lot of things . it  s very entertaining and provoking . what great movies should be . a bit long but worth it . by the way  the movie music has selections from one of the best living composers arvo part .  
this wasn  t the major disaster that i was expecting  but that is about as positive as i can be in my description of the movie . i  m not sure what was meant to be funny about this movie  but i suppose it  s all a matter of taste . personally  i don  t find it funny to watch morons living their idiotic lives or making fools of themselves on television  but then again  i  m not a fan of jerry springer  s pathetic daytime talk show . i didn  t get too bored watching this  but i was definitely never enjoying it  either . if you  re in the mood to see a bad movie  but one that isn  t too painful to sit through  this is a good choice .  
although i like kurt vonnegut  i  m not particularly interested in spy stories and i didn  t know this one . the only reason i watched it was nick nolte  who is one of my favorite actors since i saw  breakfast of champions  and  hotel rwanda  . but the film brought me a pleasant surprise . of course nolte was great  but so was the plot . there was relatively little political intrigue  and much more focus on the moral question by reading his anti  semitic radio commentaries with hidden secret messages to americans  he in fact contributed to the general attitude of germans  and  as it later turns out  americans  towards jews or hitler . which carries more weight  his service to his country or his unconscious contribution to anti  semitism  the dilemma is even more prominent as these words are never spoken  not even as narration . howard campbell jr .  nolte  is a person who learnt to hide his feelings so perfectly that he doesn  t open up  not even in his memoirs . the inner conflict of such a character is almost impossible to portray  but with the help of excellent acting and photography  this film manages .  br    br   there are other points to it  such as the humor or the ironical use of romantic clichs  like the song white christmas   that make it real different from average american movies . i recommend it to everyone who is bored with hollywood spy movies .  
well  i hate hollywood  but love cinema so i have to watch these cruddy movies in theaters . and  i was hoping vanilla sky would be good . i was hoping that they would either keep the original  open your eyes  exactly the same  or they would make it their own . well  it happened to be a little bit of both  and it sucked .  br    br   it started out good . i love radiohead . i wish there was more of that . but by the end we are listening to good vibrations by the beach boys . talk about a wide range of suck between . they had one or two good songs in the club and maybe a couple others  but why oh why did they have to blare gv during the climax . it was more annoying than confusing or blatant . especially when it has nothing to do with the plot . at least put some meaning behind the songs . kid a  primary . whatever .  br    br   he also did a bang up job with the club scene . that was cool . otherwise the movie was one big ball of arrogance . as if audiences would get the movie . the ones that would get it read subtitles  and the rest won  t . its as simple as that . the motivations got all screwed up . i didn  t comprehend the diaz motivations  hadn  t they done the chicken soup night before   and some of the others . and i hate kurt russell . stay overboard . tom cruise can  t act  especially in these types of movie i . e . eyes wide shut  . and the elevator . i get it . anyways they tried improving the original with a crappy american rock soundtrack and crappy angles and good film print and glossy processing and it would have helped if crowe hadn  t screwed it up .  br    br       major disappointment .  
american playwright howard w . campbell  jr .  played with a musty obsolescence by nick nolte  lives happily in germany with his actress wife  helga noth  sheryl lee  before the beginning of world war ii . at the peak of his life  howard is drafted by an american agent  john goodman  to become a spy on behalf of the allies forewarned of the risks the job holds  howard has everything to lose  but finds the offer irresistible . following the death of his wife and the end of the war  campbell camouflages himself with the anonymity of a solitary life in new york city  which muddies his neuroses even further . the central question  indeed  a question that has frustrated many critics  of the movie and kurt vonnegut  s source novel is   is campbell a hero or a traitor   director keith gordon and screenwriter robert b . weide offer us clues  but no answer  and this ambiguitythis not knowingis what keeps  mother night  fresh and interesting throughout . at the beginning of the film  nolte portrays campbell as intelligent and confident by the end  he  s either scared and uncertain  or scared and completely certain of his contribution  debt to humanity for the role he played in the war . gordon applies a certain icy sheen to the images of the film  s first half  which complement his portrait of the nazi bourgeoisie and captures vonnegut  s dramatic side . on the flip side  when campbell is confined to his lonely new york apartment  which he affectionately calls  purgatory   only to be discovered by a group of nazis  the humor produced also is purely distinctive of the author  and provides a temporary respite from the dramatic tension that unfolds . the moral  even spiritual  paradox  mother night  presents doesn  t lend itself to simple resolution  and to a degree  should be left ambiguousthe black  and  white scenes of campbell staring wearily into space as he is imprisoned in israel suggest an unspoken contemplation we are not made privy toas campbell is a character whose inner workings we wind up knowing very little about the war changes him  coming back to america changes him  and meeting up with the nazis in new york compels him to prolong the facade of his  act  even further  to the point where he can only stare wearily at an image of himself projected on a wall  spewing anti  semitic bile . perhaps that  s the best reaction we could hope for .  
a remake of alejandro amenabar  s abre los ojos  but this time with a living  breathing mask as a lead . for the dubious advantage of an english sound track  we endure tom cruise  s soulless performance  as usual  with zero depth . yes  the character is identified with his persona  but we usually are given some character underneath that to hold our interest . his empty posturing negates any erotic energy that could have been between his character and cruz or diaz .  br    br   there is an acting exercise that involves using masks to free the actor to enrich his presentation of character by verbal and body language means . cruise  s masking only painfully emphasizes his inadequacy as an actor . do see the     original amenabar open your eyes   
if you  ve read mother night and enjoyed it so much  as i did  that you just have to see the movie  understand that you have to understand a fundamental element of vonngut  s writing  that beyond his story lies vonnegut himself  and that you can  t put a human mind on the screen . his whit and humor just cannot be transcribed by a screenplay or even the best acting performance . i believe that this movie exceeds in asking the key questions that vonnegut poses in his book  but those frequent cynical moments of satire found on the page are not found on the screen . does this mean that the movie misses the mark  of course not . in my opinion  the movie succeeds because it does not try to recreate the experience of reading the book  this is not a medium for those too lazy to turn a page  . it succeeds because it takes the fundamental elements of a story created by one of america  s true artistic treasures and presents it in a a framework without pretense . i  ve seen other movie versions of vonnegut books where the director obviously tries to channel vonnegut  s genius and loses grip on his own craft . i would not place this movie as one of the best i  ve seen  but it stands on its own legs as one well worth watching . by taking vonnegut  s  voice  out of the movie  s narration or trying to insert it however it can  mother night tells his story brilliantly  and preserves the story  s fundamental lessons without confusion  distraction  or disappointment .  
class of     br    br   aspect ratio  .      br    br   sound format stereo  br    br   in      class members from the west point academy are torn apart by the outbreak of the civil war .  br    br   gregory hoblit  s ok historical drama makes an obvious point  virtuous men are rendered blind by conflict  though the production seems a little stilted  despite authentic period detail and a cast of talented newcomers  clive owen  christien anholt  josh lucas  andre braugher  laura linney  etc .   toplined by dan futterman as a conscientious southerner who takes up arms in defence of slavery  pitting him in direct conflict with his former northern friends . the movie  s emphasis on such a misguided  though sympathetic  character is particularly brave  but the drama is otherwise flat and superficial  and hoblit  s direction is efficient rather than inspired .  
while the movie does feel a bit long at times  it is well worth it . gordon directs in a style that reminds you of vonneguts writing styles . merciless  thoughtful  ironic  quirky  and dark  this is a film which will stay with you for quite a while  begging for answers to impossible questions . nolte  goodman  and arkin are all incredible . sheryl lee is wonderful as well  in a role that will remind us lynch fans of her laura  maddy days . do not miss this one   
  the vampire bat  is definitely of interest  being one of the early genre  setting horror films of the      s  but taken in isolation everything is a bit too creaky for any genuine praise .  br    br   the film is set in a european village sometime in the   th century  where a series of murders are being attributed to vampirism by the suspicious locals . there is a very similar feel to james whale  s  frankenstein  and this is compounded by the introduction of lionel atwill  s dr niemann character  complete with his misguided ideas for scientific advancement .  br    br   the vampire theme is arbitrary and only used as a red  herring by having suspicion fall on bat  loving village simpleton herman  dwight frye   thus providing the excuse for a torch  wielding mob to go on the rampage  as if they needed one .  br    br   this is one of a trio of early horror films in which lional atwill and fay wray co  starred  also  doctor x  and  the mystery of the wax museum   and like their other collaborations the film suffers from ill  advised comic relief and a tendency to stray from horror to mainstream thriller elements . taken in context though   the vampire bat  is still weak and derivative .  br    br   all we are left with is a poor  quality frankenstein imitation  with the vampire elements purely a device to hoodwink dracula fans . but for the title the film would struggle to even be considered as a horror and it is worth noting that director frank strayer was doing the  blondie  films a few years later .  
mother night is one of my favorite novels and going to see this i was expecting a huge disappointment . instead i got a film that perfectly portrays the irony  humor  elequence  and above all else the crushing sadness of vonnegut  s novel .  br    br   this is certainly nolte  s best preformance to date . he captures the defeat and selfloathing of howard cambell jr . consistently from the subtle intonations of his speech to the held back tears behind his eyes .  br    br   alan arkin is absolutly hilarious as george kraft . sherryl lee is haunting in her detachment from reality as cambell  s young lover . john goodman is understated and more than effective as cambell  s  blue fairy godmother .   br    br   this pinnocioesque story of cambell trying to be his own ideal hero and unwittingly becoming his ideal tragic villian is a mature and vivid look into what we are as people . and aside from that  it is one of the most deeply romantic films i have ever come across . cambell is the incarnation of both foolish and wise love . and at the films sastifyingly painful conclusion  he finally learns what it means to be a real boy as his blue fairy godmother grants him his wish . and he realizes that . . . well  watch the movie and you  ll see .  br    br   mother night is without a doubt in my mind one of the best films ever made . it is a beautiful poetic story that digs deep within our emotions and is completely faithful to its original author .  
the vampire bat is set in the small german village of klineschloss where gustave schoen  lionel belmore  the burgermeister is holding a meeting with inspector karl brettschneider  melvyn douglas  from the local constabulary about all the recent murders  six victims have been discovered in as many weeks all drained of blood  bearing the same two puncture wounds on their necks . brettschneider doesn  t have a single clue but the superstitious elders of the village believe the deaths to be the work of a vampire . brettschneider isn  t convinced but the scared villagers keep telling tales of seeing a large bat  meanwhile the latest victim martha mueller  rita carlyle  has been found . brettschneider comes under increasing pressure to solve the murders but can he really believe that a giant vampire bat is responsible  if it is how  s he going to stop it   br    br   directed by frank r . strayer the vampire bat was a cheapie from majestic pictures to cash in on the success of it  s two stars atwill  wray  their success in the previous years doctor x        is more of a murder mystery rather than a horror as the exploitative  enticing title may have lead you to believe  quite frankly it  s rather dull . the script by edward t . lowe jr . takes itself rather seriously  sets up the basic story that something is killing local villagers  that something could possibly be a vampire  then for most of it  s duration the film focuses on brettschneider  his incompetent investigations which are  not to put too fine a point on it  boring . the vampire bat also has a bit of an identity crisis as it doesn  t quite know what it wants to be  the title would suggest a horror film while the majority of it could easily be described as a thriller with the final few minutes descending into silly sci  fi . there is no vampire bat  the attempts to fool you are pathetic  all the character  s are broad stereotypes  you can tell the villain of the piece straight away  as a whole there is nothing particularly exciting or entertaining about the vampire bat . i know it  s old but that  s not an excuse as cinema has moved on a lot since      a bland  flat  dull  boring  misleading film such as the vampire bat just doesn  t cut it these days  just look at the original king kong       released the same year  how brilliantly that still holds up today . i didn  t like it  i doubt many modern film  goers would either  it  s as simple  straight forward as that .  br    br   director strayer doesn  t do anything special but this is a case in point where i can cut the film some slack because of it  s age  as a whole it  s pretty much point  shoot  hope for the best stuff . there isn  t much in the way of atmosphere or scares although some of the sets which were already existing ones taken from the old dark house        universal  s european set on their back  lot are nice  add a certain ambiance to things .  br    br   technically the vampire bat can  t compare to anything even remotely modern  for the age of it it  s alright i suppose but again i draw your attention back to the original king kong . speaking of king kong it  s star fay wray has a role in this as does horror icon lionel atwill  i  ll be kind  say the acting is ok .  br    br   the vampire bat will i imagine fool a lot of people into thinking that it  s a horror film about vampire bats when in fact it isn  t  personally i thought the whole thing was a bit of a bore . it  s short  it tells it  s story reasonably enough but i must admit i  m not a fan .  
before this  the flawed  slaughterhouse five  was the best . but this screen adaptation of  mother night  is very true to the book and keeps the comedy  mystery  and tragedy intent . thankfully it wasn  t hollywood  ized or idiotized a la the movie of  breakfast of champions .  another good thing about this movie is that you don  t have to be familiar with the book to follow it  as i think you do for slaughterhouse five  . that  s probably true of breakfast of champions also but they did such a bad job of that you  re better off just reading the book and not seeing the movie  nick nolte did an excellent job in this film .  
boy what a dud this mess was . but it only lasts an hour and i only paid a buck for it so i  ll live . . . . unlike the entire cast of this     clunker who are all dust by now .  br    br   so anyway a small village starts having bodies turning up that have been drained of all their blood . the local yokels start talking about vampires  of course  and a little more loudly after each body is found . the town sheriff or constable or whatever he is  played by awesome actor melvyn douglas  tries to tell them otherwise . when he mentions the fact that the dead have one large hole on each side of the neck  instead of two holes close together  the locals simply then say it  s a giant vampire bat . the constable insists that vampires do not exist and it must be a human culprit doing the killings .  br    br   but melvyn doesn  t seem too bothered either way . he spends most of his time trying to get into the pantaloons of his sweetie  played by faye wray . also in this mix is the town simpleton  played by dwight frye  who always seemed to have played the same role in every movie he did . he further freaks out the townspeople by catching bats and drinking his own blood . lionel atwill plays the town doctor who seemingly is trying to help the constable solve the crimes . and boy does he ever stink as an actor . atwill is as close to cardboard in this role as he could get . and lionel barrymore is also in this thing . . . . lots of big names to be such a pile of guano .  br    br   other than the terrible mis  title this movie has  the alternate name   the blood sucker  is much better  this movie is also dull and plodding and just silly .  br    br   for me the high point of the movie is watching frye  he nails the freaky town weirdo but other than him this movie didn  t offer much . and then when you find out the reason for the strange deaths and see the special effect thing that required all this blood you  ll really be let down .  br    br   bela lugosi did a lot of awful pictures but at least he was fun and interesting to watch . think of this movie as a really bad lugosi clunker without lugosi and you  ll get a feel for how miserably bad this mess was .  br    br   if you can  t make a good      s horror film at least put lugosi in it .  
robert duvall is a direct descendent of confederate general robert e . lee  according the imdb . com movie database . after seeing this film  you may think duvall  s appearance is reincarnation at it  s best . one of my most favorite films . i wish the composer  peter rodgers melnick had a cd or there was a soundtrack available . wonderful scenery and music and  all too  true  to  life   especially for those of us that live in  or have moved to  the south . this is a  real moment in time .  life moves on  slowly  but  strangers we do not remain .   
was this meant to be a comedy or a serious drama  this film starts with a light  hearted banter between three women . fine . it moves into a conflict between the women when one of them meets a man . fine . there are a few antics between them . fine . but when the plot thickens and finally becomes black i started to wonder whether i had misinterpreted the first part of the movie . it continues in this vein for a while until  in the end  it tries to go back to the original light  hearted banter . but by now it  s too late . it  s hard to see why these women would still be talking to one another and the finale is unconvincing . truly a lesson  for british filmmakers anyway  of how not to make films . difficult to see how the producers ever convinced themselves this film would work . and the box office proved it to be a real flop  because i  d never heard of this film until this weekend  four years after its release  .  
hard to categorize the film  perhaps it  s an avant garde spy thriller  mother night is a very good vonnegut novel  and most certainly one of his easiest novels to adapt into a feature length film . the film adaptation is very faithful to the original book . the  indie  approach to how this film was produced is probably more effective than having a big hollywood studio financing it . these days  i doubt an intelligent novel like mother night would ever get the green light from the big hollywood grindhouses . and normally that is too bad  but not in this case . mother night has tight direction and a solid cast . nick nolte who seems to be getting better roles as he gets older  still has that  everyman  persona that allows him to take on a wide range of different characters . sheryl lee is beautiful and great as always . i always thought she deserved better than she got out of the entertainment industry . i guess making your debut as a dead girl  twin peaks  with little air time isn  t the choicest of roles  even if the tv show becomes a minor phenomenon . anyway this film is totally enjoyable and you don  t have to read the book to understand the movie . in fact  given today  s geopolitical realities  the novel  s premise may appear dated  and some younger viewers with little knowledge of history will be utterly confused by the events unfolding  i am talking to you  fellow americans who are students and scoring the lowest in the industrialized world in geography  history  and lord knows what other subjects   .  
it  s the nature of businesses to try to capitalize on others  success . here we have a movie taking elements from the earlier  dracula        and  frankenstein          in a germanic town the village leaders believe that vampires  in the shape of bats  have been the cause of recent deaths of bloodless victims . even though shot at universal  and at the bronson caves   it  s a poverty row feature it  s not fair to compare it with those earlier  more expensively made and superior films .  br    br   from the familiar and exciting  chilling music of the main titles  which must have been by mischa bakalienikoff   through the talky but well done opening sequence  we anticipate the arrival of lionel atwill  fay wray and dwight frye to give us a good   s mystery film . unfortunately  it doesn  t happen . that  s the disappointment .  br    br   we get little more than the formulaic elements of such films but with slow pacing  low budget  not enough of dwight frye  the overdone presence of maude eburne  aunt gussie   and the premise for lionel atwill  dr . von niemann  to require human blood or how he exhibits mind control over his servant emil  robert frazier  never made very clear .  br    br   do not watch the technicolor  dr . x          which also stars lionel atwill and fay wray but as father and daughter   before watching this the way i did it  s an oscar winner by comparison . so watch this one first . structurally   the vampire bat  still isn  t that good . it plods along with too much talking or unnecessary comic relief  without focusing strongly on the vampiric villainy .  br    br   besides  dr . x  and  mystery of the wax museum   both     and co starring fay wray   lionel atwill  s most famous appearances are as the one armed gendarme in  son of frankenstein        and as moriarity in  sherlock holmes and the secret weapon        . dwight frye steals all his manic scenes in  dracula        . as the  young lovers   melvin douglas and fay wray have a nice kissing scene  but that  s about it . he can be seen in  the old dark house         and fay gets dragged around by joel mccrea in  the most dangerous game        . then there  s her     classic  screamer .  too bad more time  money and rewrites weren  t available for this film to better showcase the talents and chemistry of lionel atwill  fay wray and dwight frye . sadly  then  this drearily disappointing film only gets a  .  
there are numerous films relating to ww   but mother night is quite distinctive among them in this film  we are introduced to howard campbell  nolte   an american living in berlin and married to a german  helga noth  lee   who decides to accept the role of a spy more specifically  a cia agent major wirtanen  goodman  recruits campbell who becomes a nazi propagandist in order to enter the highest echelons of the hitler regime . however  the deal is that the us government will never acknowledge campbell  s role in the war for national security reasons  and so campbell becomes a hated figure across the us . after the war  he tries to conceal his identity  but the past comes back and haunts him . his only  friend  is wirtanen  but even he cannot do much for the avalanche of events that fall upon poor campbell . . .  br    br   the story is deeply touching  as we watch the tragedy of campbell who although a great patriot  is treated by disdain by everybody who surrounds him . not only that  but he also gradually realizes that even the persons who are most close to him  have many secrets of their own . vonnegut provides us with a moving atmosphere  with campbell  s despair building up and almost choking the viewer .  br    br   nolte plays the role of his life  in my opinion he is even better than in  affliction   although in both roles he plays tragic figures who are destined to self  destruction . sheryl lee is also excellent  and the same can be said for the whole cast in general .  br    br   i haven  t read the book  so i cannot appraise how the film compares to it . in any case  this is something of no importance here my critique is upon the film per se  and the film wholeheartedly deserves a     .  
think  stage play  . this is worth seeing once for the performances of lionel atwill and dwight frye . compare the melvyn douglas in  ghost story  with the melvyn douglas of this film . are there vampires at loose in this  bavarian  village  or is there a more natural  albeit equally sinister  explanation  dwight frye is herman  a red herring  who is cast as an especially moronic character . it  s fun to look at his different facial expressions in what is really a stock character . not much happens for a long time  but then we discover that atwill  s pipe smoking doctor is the real murderer . there is too much  comic relief  but that is par for the course for this era . fay wray looks really good .  
at first  i hadn  t read the novel so far and i hadn  t hear anything about the author yet . but as i casually saw this movie  i was totally captive by the story . already as the jewish watchman primary said  that he knows no one  who have a bad conscience about the war except from howard w . campbell junior  was such amazing objective and dissociates from simply moralizing the war . terrific  and the fictitious story about  the most effective spy for the usa in wwii   who have lost everything  that was important for his life  is wonderful emotional transcribed . this is the best story about the duality of humanity  i  ve ever heard about  the questions  this movie is introducing  are in my opinion very important for our society when does someone bear the guilt of something  what is guilt  who is a hero and who is a felon  what is important in our life  can you live without paying attention to the political changes  is the protagonist guilty or not  these questions are more up to date than in the last   years . this is a must see for everyone  who have to think about the acception of war  this movie is a must see for everyone  who meditate  what matters in life and what doesn  t . . .  
  when a small bavarian village is beset with a string of mysterious deaths  the local  magistrate  demands answers into  sic  the attacks . while the police detective refuses to believe the nonsense about vampires returning to the village  the local doctor treating the victims begins to suspect the truth about the crimes   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   an inappropriately titled  dramatically unsatisfying  vampire mystery .  br    br   curiously  the film  s second tier easily out  perform the film  s lackluster stars stoic lionel atwill  as otto von niemann   skeptical melvyn douglas  as karl brettschneider   and pretty fay wray  as ruth bertin  . the much more enjoyable supporting cast includes bat  crazy dwight frye  as herman   hypochondriac maude eburne  as aunt gussie schnappmann   and suspicious george e . stone  as kringen  . mr . frye  ms . eburne  and mr . stone outperform admirably . is there another movie ending with a mad rush to the bathroom   br    br   magnesium sulfate epsom salts it  s a laxative   br    br    the vampire bat       frank strayer  dwight frye  melvyn douglas  maude eburne  
i haven  t yet read the kurt vonnegut book this was adapted from  but i am familiar with some of his other work and was interested to see how it would be translated to the screen . overall  i think this is a very successful adaptation of one of vonnegut  s novels . it concerns the story of an american living in germany who is recruited as a spy for the us . his job is to ingratiate himself with high ranked nazi  s and send secret messages to the american  s via his weekly radio show . but when the war ends he is denounced as a war criminal but escapes to new york  where various odd plot twists await .  br    br   if mother night has a problem it  s that it tends to get a little too sentimental at times . but for most of the film the schmaltz is kept to a minimum and the very strange plot is carried through with skill and aplomb . and there are some fabulous moments of black comedy involving three right wing christian fundamentalists and a very highly ranked nazi in a prison cell . very much recommended .  
and the oscar for the most under  rated classic horror actor goes to  dwight frye . seriously his name should be stated with the same awe as karloff  lugosi  and price  and this movie proves it . his character herman was one of the  reasons i can give to watch this movie . dwight gave this somewhat more than slightly disturbed misfit a lovable yet creepy demeanor that led you hoping for a larger role the entire movie .  br    br   the other reason is the comic relief of m . eburne . being in the medical profession myself i have to give kudos to the expert performance of a self  pity prone hypochondriac . though other  medical mistakes  did give a brief chuckle especially when the good doctor samples his fellow physicians medication . . .  well continue giving it to her  unfortunately these  outstanding performances could not keep me awake through  attempts of sitting through this unbearably slow movie . the plot is predictable with only few minor twists . the filming while pulling off a legitimate spooky atmosphere was more productive at making me yawn  yes you can use too much shadow .  br    br   my recommendation  watch this once to see frye and eburne  but only when wide awake and with lots of caffeine .  
this is a very chilling  and for the most part  a well thought out drama . i am very impressed at the film  not just for the plot and superb acting  but that such a unique movie was made . most movies involving a spy or a war are filled with a slick talking brit or a mighty battle  but not this . this isn  t about this kind of war  its about the war between a man and his position in life  an american spy in germany  posing as a supporter of an evil no one will ever forget . when the war is over  campell thinks he will come home as a hero  but his true heroic stance must remain a government secret . going back to america  campell meets nazi supporters as well as nazi haters  providing for interesting conflicts  both internally and externally . nolte more than pulls off the role  and fits the plot quite well for what it  s asking .  
now  i won  t deny that when i purchased this off ebay  i had high expectations . this was an incredible out  of  print work from the master of comedy that i so enjoy . however  i was soon to be disappointed . apologies to those who enjoyed it  but i just found the compleat al to be very difficult to watch . i got a few smiles  sure  but the majority of the funny came from the music videos  which i  ve got on dvd  and the rest was basically filler . you could tell that this was not al  s greatest video achievement  that honor goes to uhf  . honestly  i doubt if this will ever make the jump to dvd  so if you  re an ultra  hardcore al fan and just have to own everything  buy the tape off ebay . just don  t pay too much for it .  
i haven  t read this book  but all through the movie i was awestruck with only one thought in my head this is so vonnegut . i have never seen an author  all of the intelligence and life behind the workings of a novel  translated so well to film . this movie had the same complexities found in vonnegut  s novels the jokes were often meaningful and symbolic  and the dramatic events and symbols were often also jokes .  br    br   campbell was also a very vonnegut character  portrayed perfectly by nick nolte . he had all of the earmarks of a vonnegut  hero   lack of concern for political boundaries  ironic dark humor giving way to dumb inactivity in response to stress  and an unwillingness to push his version of reality on those around him .  br    br   overall  i was constantly surprised and impressed as i watched this movie . it was the same feeling i had reading  cat  s cradle   my first vonnegut novel  as if the most perfectly oddball thing that could happen  he thought of that  and he made it real and important . yes  he has nothing but army surplus  white christmas  albums . so it goes   
well that  s   minutes of my life i won  t get back . this movie makes teen tv show  california dreams  look like  almost famous  . the acting was horrid and storyline unrealistic . don  t even get me started on the actual band at the forefront of this story  lame songs  look etc . . you had to believe that they were one of the hottest bands in the country  and there isn  t enough irony in the world to accept that one . the guitarist is seen to be a heroin user  not that i blame him  if i was around such a putrid band with stale songs and wooden acting i  d be injecting the horse too .  br    br   if you take music remotely seriously  avoid this at all costs .  
the folk who produced this masterful film have done fine service to a novel that stands as perhaps the best fiction work centering upon human guilt and human responsibility ever published . nolte takes the role of howard w . campbell  jr .  and makes it his own  remaining true to vonnegut  s depiction of a man who has lost all  to and  for love .  br    br   no weaknesses in this fine adaptation .  
when setting out this film  director mary harron seemingly had the goal of clearly documenting the progress of bettie page  s career  from early modelling days to leaving modelling to go back home after the senate hearings on juvenile delinquency and her religious rediscovery in the   s  and so intent is she to get all of these facts on screen in the time allowed she seems to have missed out on taking any time to explain anything in depth .  br    br   when you think of someone who had page  s career you  d think that there would be plenty to discuss  her reasons  decisions  life event  personal traumas  but harron avoids any kind of personal exploration of the character . in the first fifteen minutes or so of the film there are brief hints of child abuse  domestic violence and a gang rape  but these are all rushed past and then never referred to again . you get the impression that harron and guinevere turner  co  writer  wanted to gloss over anything that wasn  t glamorous and flattering . you go into this film expecting to gain an insight into who the person behind the posters was  but all you are given is a list of things that she did and recreations of some of her most famous photo shoots .  br    br   all in all the film really frustrates you as you watch  desperately waiting for some extra layer to reveal itself . how did she balance her religion with her job  what made this young tennessee girl move from modelling into bondage photography . the film simply shows her going to another modelling agency and putting on whatever she  s told  but surely it would have involved some shock and deliberation  this was after all the   s .  br    br   it seems to me that harron is trying to make a point about how tame all this is by today  s standards  page never took any photos of explicit sexual actions  and how the reaction some gave this kind of thing was really overzealous and although this is true  she never actually makes it seem sordid in the eyes of others . today we look at a young girl posing topless and think nothing off it  but we should have got some sort of feeling about how shocking it would have been to a contemporary audience . this woman was a central part of a senate hearing on juvenile delinquency  but no one is ever really shown as shocked .  br    br   basically i left this film just thinking how tame it was . harron and turner have managed to avoid anything that might be unpleasant to a viewer . they come across as two lifelong fans of miss page and are desperate to make sure that nothing  absolutely nothing  could possibly put a bad light on their heroine  and have therefore avoided any in depth probing into who she really was .  before and after her career there are reports of her violent nature and mental problems  and all that  s left is the string of events that made up her career  without any substance whatsoever behind it .  
this movie pleasantly surprised me . it has a touching  slightly off  center approach that never loses your attention . this is a movie i never heard about  but if you want a  sleeper   this is it . great writing  production  and acting . i highly recommend it for audiences who want something thoughtful . nick nolte  sheryl lee and alan arkin are marvelous . why wasn  t more made of this movie   
i have only seen gretchen mol in two other films  girl   donnie brasco   and don  t really remember her  but she did a great job as a naive girl who posed for pictures because it made people happy .  br    br   she really didn  t think what she was doing was wrong  even when she left the business and found her religion again .  br    br   the photos she made were certainly tame by today  s standards  and it is funny seeing men with cameras get all excited  and politicians pontificating on the evils of pornography . david strathairn  good night  and good luck  played a super part here .  br    br   mary harron  american psycho  wrote and directed an outstanding biopic of the most famous pinup girl ever .  
it  s so rare to find a literary work adequately translated to the screen that i may have rated this film higher than it deserves  but not by much . as a long  time student of vonnegut  s works  i have no hesitation in recommending the film to his readers  at least to those that love him as i do . the casting is inspired nolte is understated in triumph  bewildered in defeat  decisive in judgment . sheryl lee is luscious throughout  but her handling of the treacherous resi and her tragic crescendo almost makes you forget her beauty . alan arkin delivers a totally lovable  but equally treacherous  soviet spy .  br    br   do not feel you have to read mother night to appreciate the film though  if you haven  t read mother night  you will probably want to after viewing the film .  br    br   notice the shifts from color to black  and  white and back again  and don  t miss the final symbolism of campbell  s noose . watch  also  for kurt vonnegut  s cameo near the end of the film .  br    br   bing crosby  s  white christmas  will never sound the same  i write in mid  december  when the song is getting heavy radio play  and it  s driving me nuts  .  
who is bettie page  i certainly didn  t find out while watching this movie . from what i have gathered from other sources  ms . page was highly in demand in the post  world war ii period as the queen of  naughty  pictures and that is exactly what this film depicts . i never did get to know bettie  the woman  though . her childhood in tennessee was a combination of an evangelical christian upbringing and a sordid home life which is only hinted at . the film glosses over her personal life and gets right down to the purpose of the film  the  naughty  pictures . characters are introduced and abandoned within a few frames but there is frame after frame of bettie in her pointy bras  bettie in her girdle and stockings  bettie in bondage . . . etc . the movie slides from black and white to color every time ms . page visits miami beach . then back to her shades of gray life in new york we go . gretchen mol portrays bettie as one of the most dimwitted young ladies you could ever meet . when bettie confides to a friend that she missed being her high school valedictorian by getting an a  rather than an a one can only assume that there were only two students in her senior class . the most interesting part of this movie is how quaint ms . page  s  naughty  photos seem in     . it is truly sad that seeing a woman trussed up like a pig on a spit wouldn  t even get a hit on my space or you tube . i  m not sure if this movie was written poorly or if some crazed editor cut the thing to shreds . i would only recommend it as a source for persons studying the history of odd undergarments .  
i  m a rather pedestrian person  with somewhat lowbrow tastes . however  i occasionally try to raise the bar on my cultural awareness . this movie was one of my attempts . i was in awe throughout the entire movie . i liked it so much that i got my own tape so i could see it again . this is a very thoughtful and emotionally striking movie . i saw it as a huge question to the viewer what is the depth of sacrifice to duty one can accept  can be asked to accept  should accept  as a military member  this is of course an important question to me . this question weighs heavily on the viewer of this movie .  br    br   recommended .  
sadly  marry harron decided to do a fictional account of bettie page  s life to go along with her own issues with men . as typical in all her work  every major male character is portrayed as weak  bumbling  or twisted . to add to her fiction  she projects ideas and issues that are not true  according to bettie page herself . bettie did not leave the biz because she thought it was morally wrong or had religious issues  though she became a born  again later in life  through the influence of her  rd husband  a minister  . she left it  because she was in her late    s  her acting career had gone nowhere and she felt she was losing her looks . the hints of molestation and rape are unvalidated and denied in bettie  s own words and are the director  s attempts to claim that any woman who did what bettie did must have been victimized by men . harron fails to point out that bettie designed her own clothes in almost all her shoots  not handed to her by  sick  fetishists  . harron also fails to make a point that bunny yeager  who did many famous photo shoots of bettie  also did many  naughty  shoots with bettie and was not the morally upright professional photographer portrayed in the film .  br    br   the only saving grace is gretchen mol looks very much like bettie . otherwise  there are other movies and documentaries more accurate and honest to her life and the people in it .  
  convicts  is very much a third act sort of film . all the dialogue and character interaction that occurs within it comes out of the long wind  down of a late southern day . and  by extension  the life of its main character  soll  robert duvall  .  br    br   this is the first collaboration of director peter masterson and writer horton foote . six years earlier  the worked together on  the trip to bountiful   a film that seems almost action  packed in comparison to this one . masterson is not necessarily a good director . in fact  he  s just barely this side of adequate . the slow pace leaves a lot of room for cinematographer toyomichi kurita  who infuses the film with just the right sense of fragile light  warmth .  br    br   because this is essentially a filmed play  with little in the way of editing or directing prowess  it all comes to the acting . as far as i  m concerned there  s no flaws here . robert duvall and james earl jones  two of the best american actors  both born in january       create characters that are wholly real  uninterested in anything besides living . lukas haas  a young actor who i was familiar with from  testament  and  witness   plays a character very much like his other early roles . he is quiet  withdrawn  slightly scared and sad  somehow . these are qualities that seem natural from him .  br    br   perhaps a title like  convicts  is a disservice to this film . that title  along with the opening scene  seem to create an image of a far more high  strung western type picture . if slow  paced stage productions don  t interest you terribly  you  ll want to pass on this one as well . otherwise  this might be exactly the film you wish they made more often .  br    br   enjoy .  
i thought it was a new  york located movie wrong  it  s a little british countryside setting .  br    br   i thought it was a comedy wrong  it  s a drama . . . . well  up to the last third  because after the story becomes totally  abracadabrantesque   the symbolic word for a french presidential mandate . it means  close to nonsense even it the motives would like to bring a sincere feeling .  br    br   what do i have left  maybe  a good duo of actress yes  i know  they are  friends  but the redhead policewoman is a bit invisible for me . the tall doctoress surprises by her punch  and mcdowell delivers a fine acting as usual  all in delicate  soft and almost mute attitude . this gentleness puzzles me  because as other fine artists or directors  the same pattern is repeating over and over . in her case  it  s like  whatever the movie  it  s always the same character defined by her feelings  her values  who lives infinite different stories . i still don  t know how to set the limit  or the fusion  between the artists and the works .  br    br   another positive side of this movie is its feminine touch  the interesting different points of view . the women have each their own way of living  even if they are all single . it brings a lot of tolerance and learning to witness how a same and unique reality can be perceived in as many ways as people .  br    br   finally  the movie is quite viewable  but the great final cuts the desire of a next vision .  
as alan rudolph  s  breakfast of champions  slides into theaters with little fanfare and much derision it makes me think back to     when keith gordon  s  mother night  came out . now for all the talk of kurt vonnegut being  unfilmable  it  s surprising that he has gotten two superb cinematic treatments  the other being  slaughter  house five   .  mother night  is certainly one of the most underappreciated films of the decade and i cannot understand why . it  s brilliant  it stays almost entirely faithful to vonnegut  s book  without being stilted or overly literary  and adds to it a poetry that is purely cinematic . how many film adaptations of any author  s work can claim that  vonnegut himself even puts in a cameo appearance towards the end of the film  and can you ask for a better endorsement than that  not only is it a beautiful film  it is a beautifully acted  written and directed film and it is among my picks for the top five or so american films of the     s . it  s a mournful  inspired  surreal masterpiece that does not deserve to be neglected . i would sincerely encourage anyone to see  mother night   it doesn  t even take a familiarity with vonnegut  s work to fully appreciate it  as  slaughter  house five  sometimes does  . it is a powerful  affecting piece of cinema .  
the ultimate goal of big brother  that we know what to think before we think it  has been realized . is it some kind of miracle  or sinister joke  that people don mental straight jackets of their own volition  twist themselves into contorted shapes  and grin like apes  movies  art  no longer risk the unknown  but are forgone conclusions  drained of life .  br    br    the notorious bettie page  is a bland case history  fit for a freshman college feminism course . its lesson is schematic  right  angled and linear  see how women are objectified  exploited  abused  then tossed on the trash heap  by a male  dominated society .   br    br   bettie page  supposedly  was the  pin  up queen of the      s   the ass millions of men ejaculated to .  all reviewers repeat that phrase   pin  up queen of the      s   like a choir of monkeys .  her history as an american sex bomb is familiar southern  abused by her father  raped  etc . in this movie she is a naf  an innocent unaware of the prurient interests she serves and shamelessly profits from . although she believes in jesus  she enjoys frolicking nude before a camera lens   just the wholesome girl  next  door sex  slave american males supposedly fantasize .  br    br   from the mouth of writer  director mary harron herself  oxford  educated and ex  punker  do you smell the combined rot of privilege and  hipness  as i do     i feel that without feminism  i wouldn  t be doing this . . . . i don  t make feminist films in the sense that i don  t make anything ideological . but i do find that women get my films better .  what a cozy clique .  br    br   the movie merely goes through the motions of telling the story of a human life  it  s subject and purpose having been eulogized and interred well before the movie began . ms . page has a boyfriend  but we are shown next to nothing about their relationship . in fact  there are no intimate or detailed relationships in the film .  br    br   one can  t ignore its smug simplicity . in new york  where ms . page tries her best to fit into and appease a man  s world  letting herself be tied up in the ropes of bondage and tightly laced into the black leather boots and bodices of s  m  the movie is black and white . but down in miami  where she goes to get away from it all  gleefully takes off her clothes  and is photographed by a  liberated  female  the movie turns into color .  br    br   like hell harron doesn  t  make feminist films   doesn  t  make anything ideological .  ideology has become so internalized  so assumed  so programmed  that it  s almost invisible . big brother must be smiling .  
probably the two main significances of  elmer  s pet rabbit  are that the wacky leporid featured in  a wild hare  now has a name  and that he utters his famous  of course you realize this means war   for the first time . mostly  the termite terrace crowd was still trying to figure out what exactly to do with this long  eared rascal . it  s certainly a must  see for hard  core fans of this genre  but others will probably have little reason to take interest .  br    br   but make no mistake  it  s quite hilarious what bugs bunny does to the eternally gullible elmer fudd . clear shades of things to come abound throughout the cartoon . i recommend it .  
on the   th of september     a short dumpy   year old woman stood trial for the attempted murder of leonie haddad  a lady whose husband had recently died and had agreed to take in a lodger who came via a housing authority for the elderly . haddad was not made aware that her new lodger had  in fact  come fresh from the patton state mental hospital where she had been incarcerated for an inexplicable knife attack on a married couple three years previously . haddad soon realised that something was  rotten in denmark  when the woman began to lock herself in the bathroom with a tape recorder reciting prophesies about  seven gods  . haddad  s fears were confirmed one night when she awoke to find her lodger sitting astride her chest holding a bread knife announcing that  god has inspired me to kill you  . haddad managed to knock her assailant out with a telephone but not before she had lost a finger and suffered deep lacerations to her face and chest . it was a miracle she survived . the lodger was judged to be innocent by reason of insanity but sent  kicking and screaming  back to the laughing academy . ten years later she was released and found that she was now a celebrity but not for the brutal attacks on her innocent victims  but for her incarnation of   years earlier when she was known as the  queen of the curve  s  the  tennessee tease  and  miss pin up girl of the world   the notorious bettie page .  br    br   director mary harron  mainly known for  american psycho  takes us back to the glory days of a legendary cheesecake and bondage model  played solidly enough by gretchen mol  who inadvertently wrote the blue print for fetish iconography and whose influence can be detected in everything from comic books to catwalks . t . n . b . p is day  glo fun ride through an evocative depiction of the      s where page  with the familial help of good intentioned boyfriends and photographers  becomes the number one star of pocket sized men  s glossies with titles like wink  tab and parade . her real dream of movie stardom evades her and a brush with the authorities over obscenity charges in     is the inciting incident which leads her to retire from modelling and give herself to god . the overall style of the film is light and frothy and only darkens momentarily with an allusion to her father  s incestuous attentions and a sexual assault which inexplicably appears to have no discernible effect on her . mol plays page as she seems in her photographs  happy  carefree and fun  even the bondage shots betray little more than a good humoured incomprehensibility . the film ends on the upbeat with page cheerfully handing out bibles in a park with no indication of the real life unhappy marriages  personal tragedy and decent into murderous insanity which lay before her avoiding what i think is the essential core of page  s story  rebirth and resurrection .  br    br   having emerged from a decade of incarceration page found that her cult had been in the ascendance since the mid      s and that she had become a huge underground icon  during which  many were asking  whatever happened to bettie page  . her  mysterious  disappearance fed the fires of any number of conspiracy theories only adding to the allure of her legend . when the world  s media finally caught up with her she gave no hint of her darker past and she was soon giving interviews for magazines  t . v and being photographed at playboy parties with the likes of pamela anderson and the equally tragic anna nicole smith . she found that she was now more famous than she ever was in her  glory years  but in the glare of this  resurrection  it was only a matter of time before the full story would come to light .  br    br   the only notorious thing about the notorious bettie page is they left out the part when she became truly notorious .  
just watched this early bugs bunny  first time he  s named here  and elmer fudd cartoon on the thadblog as linked from youtube . this was chuck jones  first time directing the  wascally wabbit  and as a result  bugs has a different voice provided by mel blanc than the brooklyn  bronx one we  re more familiar with . in fact  according to thad  he  s channeling jimmy stewart  his  shy boy  type personality of that time  . anyway  after elmer buys his pet  bugs goes all obnoxious on him by turning the radio real loud  pretending to die after his master repeatedly throws him out of his shower  and saying  turn off those lights   whenever elmer catches him in his bed . even with the different voice  bugs is definitely his mischievous self and i laughed myself blue the whole time  according to thad  there was an additional scene at the end of elmer just giving the house to bugs after the hell he went through but that was probably considered too sad since he suffers a mental breakdown at that point so it  s just as well that cut scene is lost . anyway  i highly recommend elmer  s pet rabbit .  
first of all i must admit batman the animated series is the best batman series by far . we watched it when it used to be on tv . i didn  t realize that there was a season four . actually there wasn  t . btas ends with season   and it should have stopped there .  br    br   why did they have to mess with a good thing . catwoman and poison ivy now have terrible grey faces . the joker looks beyond scary  it seems that each time they revise his appearance he looks more and more creepier . he doesn  t seem to have pupils anymore  and now he doesn  t even look remotely human  although he is  .  br    br   bruce wayne is voiced by kevin conroy who does the best batman . although he now looks like superman . there is nothing that sets him apart because they both look the same  bruce wayne now has blue eyes .  br    br   night wing really needs a haircut  please  alfred just has pupils from eyes  looks more like a character from the    s .  br    br   i have watched three episodes from disc  in the series and i already find that this version is more violent and graphic  there is blood in every episode  .  br    br   if you are a fan of batman the animated series  there is no batman season  . they just included this series as season  for marketability . if they just released it as the new batman adventures i don  t think as many people would have bought it .  br    br   save yourself the disappointment and stick to seasons    .  
this is a very  very early bugs bunny cartoon . as a result  the character is still in a transition period   he is not drawn as elongated as he later was and his voice isn  t quite right . in addition  the chemistry between elmer and bugs is a little unusual . elmer is some poor sap who buys bugs from a pet shop   there is no gun or desire on his part to blast the bunny to smithereens  however  despite this  this is still a very enjoyable film . the early bugs was definitely more sassy and cruel than his later incarnations . in later films  he messed with elmer  yosimite sam and others because they started it   they messed with the rabbit . but  in this film  he is much more like daffy duck of the late   s and early   s   a jerk who just loves irritating others   a true  anarchist  instead of the hero of the later cartoons . while this isn  t among the best bug bunny cartoons  it sure is fun to watch and it  s interesting to see just how much he  s changed over the years .  
if this series supposed to be an improvement over batman  the animated series  i  for one  think it failed terribly . the character drawing is lousy . . .  catwoman  for instance  looks awful . . .  but what really annoyed me is that it made batman look like a sort of wimp who just can  t take care of himself in a battle  without the help of two  even three sidekicks . i mean  he  s batman  for god  s sake  i know the comic books  i know that nightwing and batgirl are supposed to be batman  s allies  besides robin  but still . . . making batman say that he needs help from them . . . what  he can  t handle a few punches  in btas  he could face a dozen adversaries without any problem . . . he  s getting old  come on . . .  br    br   and another thing i really don  t think that batman would allow a kid like tim drake to go into battle that soon  without years of hard training . one  it  s irresponsible  and batman is everything  but irresponsible   and two  it  s not what happened in the comics  if we are to remain faithful to them .  br    br   batman  the animated series made history  with its animation  its stories and its characters . . . that really was a legend of batman . the new adventures series turned the legend into just another batman flick .  
 . . . hawk heaven for lovers of french cinema and by extension french screen actors  actresses . at its worst it  s an indulgence  actors getting to bitch about other actors  question the validity of acting as a profession at all  etc whilst at its best it  s a glorious celebration  send  up of some of the finest actors currently working . from a simple premise  jean  pierre marielle  s request for water being ignored in a restaurant  blier spins off in all directions and allows the cream of french cinema to strut their stuff before the camera even throwing in nods to those no longer around  jean gabin  lino ventura  including the director  s father  bernard  one of the great stalwarts of french cinema  from whom he fields a celestial phone call at the end of the film . discursive and prolix  yes  guilty as charged but also something of a guilty pleasure .  
poor paul mercurio . after landing the role of scott hastings in strictly ballroom  the best film in history  he managed to find himself doing a lot of rubbish . none of the characters in this film is very unlikable  or even hateable  but mercurio  s lead is the sort of person you prefer to ignore  completely unloveable and he wears overalls . big mistake in costume design  that one .  
there  s some very clever humour in this film  which is both a parody of and a tribute to actors . however  after a while it just seems an exercise in style  notwithstanding great gags such as balasko continuing the part of dussolier  and very good acting by all involved  and i was wondering why blier made this film . all is revealed in the ending  when blier  directing claude brasseur  gets a phone call from his dad  bernard blier   from heaven  and gets the chance to say how much he misses him . an effective emotional capper and obviously heartfelt . but there isn  t really sufficient dramatic tension or emotional involvement to keep the rest of the film interesting throughout it  s entire running time . some really nice scenes and sequences  however  and anyone who likes these  mosntres sacrs  of the french cinema should get a fair amount of enjoyment out of this film .  
pointless boring film with charismatic mercurio completely wasted . released for a minute on a thursday in maybe one local cinema and avoided by the entire population of sydney except me and four others back of beyond is a project seemingly created by a producer looking for a fee . local actors like john polson and terry serio deserve better  well polson has morphed into a director of lame thrillers like swimfan and hide and seek  and terry serio seems never to get a guernsey apart from thug roles . but paul mercurio should have become one of australia  s greatest exports on screen . roles like this are major disappointments and films like this are just a waste of talent and time .  
  les acteurs  is the absurd story of jean  pierre marielle desperately waiting for a cup of hot water  the story of a conspiracy against actors  the story of aging actors whose careers are slowly less active than they used to be  but a stunning tribute to french actors and their cinema .  br    br   supported by a solid reflection about cinema and acting  the fourth wall  the hidden cameras  to play or not to play   the story of this film in which most of those famous actors play their own role  not to be mixed up with living their life in front of the camera  the film is not voyeur  is quite vague  and follows the actors in series of episodes which make the film quite amusing . as andr dussolier quits the film and leaves josiane balasko to play his part  great actress  she  s hilariously serious especially when  in dussolier  s role  she bitches about herself   as actors run in each other on the street  asking for autographs  as fights and gossip happen  we recognize pastiche of other scenes in which each  or others  have played .  br    br   actually  for whoever does not know the actors  most of them being at least in their   s  or does not know french cinema  this movie has less interest  since most of the references will be missed  but it will still offer a good track of reflection on aging  on acting  on public life . . .  
  back of beyond  takes place at a dive diner  gas station in the middle of the australian desert run by tom mcgregor  paul mercurio   a shy guy who suddenly finds himself in a spot of trouble when some visitors unexpectedly arrive . we get what  at first  confusingly seems like a flashback in which he and his sister  though their relationship to each other is better understood later in the film  are speeding through the desert on his motorcycle . afterwards  he appears as a terribly quiet  and sometimes  moody character in the presence of the arrivals .  br    br   we know one thing is for sure and that is mcgregor  s sort of spiritual sense  his foresight of danger and such   his clairvoyance only slightly relevant to the story  the bulk of which concerns three diamond thieves who  s car breaks down and who rely on tom to help them out of spot without getting in their way . of course  tom falls for one of the thieves  a young woman named charlie  and suddenly  it pits all three already mistrusting allies against each other . but not in a way that really results in anything of much mystery or action . in fact  the whole movie all the while seems to want to build up to something significant  but really fails to do so . even the ending  of which plays out like a trite campfire tale  and one that really reveals a lot of narrative flaws   is almost just as ridiculous .  br    br   it may be worth trying if you don  t mind the terribly slow pacing  but are in the mood  at least  for something a little different than the usual .  
there  s something about every  hammer  movie i see that really takes me into a new fantasy world . in the world of  hammer  movies  anything can happen .  guardian of the abyss  is one of those types of movies . it adventures deep into the occult and hypnosis to bring a different type of horror fantasy . all in all  an unforgettable movie .  .     .  
i turn on    club once in awhile and only agree with some of the statements made  i  m one of many believers that is considered liberal by most christians and conservative by most non  christians . i vote my mind  and its usually not rep . or dem .  i don  t believe    club tells people what to believe  but that it represents many older christians that grew up in very conservative backgrounds . i think many folks misunderstand what is said on    club . it bums me out to hear name calling either direction . i think    club folks really do love jesus but are so busy trying to get people to vote conservatively that they  ve forgotten to show love to certain people and promote peace like jesus did . please don  t judge jesus based on ignorant individuals that believe on him and let  s also not be as ignorant with our comments about them . why are people so mean to each other   
i love occult horror  and the great british hammer studios  who delivered one of their greatest films with  the devil rides out         have proved to be more than capable in this field of horror . this occult tenth episode of hammer  s short running tv  series  hammer house of horror          guardian of the abyss   is indeed a creepy entry to the series . director don sharp  who had previously enriched the hammer oeuvre with  the kiss of the vampire        and  rasputin the mad monk        and furthermore directed two  fu machu  movies starring christopher lee  is doubtlessly one of the better  known names among the hhh directors  and he also delivers here . antiques dealer michael  ray lonnen  stumbles over a mysterious old scrying glass . the scrying glass happens to be the object of desire of a devil  worshiping cult  who want to use it for their satanic rites . when he shelters a beautiful young girl named allison  rosalyn landor   who is to be sacrificed by the cult  michael gets into deeper trouble with the cult and their sinister leader  john carson  . . . while this is not one of my absolute favorite episodes of  hammer house of horror   the best one clearly is the brilliant seventh episode   the silent scream    it is a very creepy and atmospheric one . the plot has several interesting twists  and stays suspenseful and uncanny throughout the film . ray lonnen makes a good lead  young rosalyin landor is convincing as the innocent beauty  and john carson is truly creepy as the leader of the satanists . overall   guardian of the abyss  is another interesting and creepy hhh tale  and my fellow hammer fans should not miss it .  
here are some examples of pat robertsons dubiously claimed  relatively good track record  on predictions  br    br   in his widely reported comments from the january  edition of the christian broadcasting network  s the    club  during which he predicted that there would be  very serious terrorist attacks  and  mass killing  in the united states in the  second half  of      host pat robertson boasted that he had  a relatively good track record  on earlier predictions . but a review of robertson  s     new year  s predictions undermines that claim . he predicted  for example  that  br    br     president bush is going to strengthen .  wrong  br    br     the fall elections will be inconclusive  but the outcome of the war and the success of the economy will leave the republicans in charge .  wrong  br    br     the war in iraq is going to come to a successful conclusion . we  ll begin withdrawing troops before the end of this year .  way wrong  br    br   further  as a january  associated press article reported  robertson has a history of making dubious predictions  br    br   the broadcaster predicted in january     that president bush would easily win re  election . bush won    of the vote that fall  beating democratic sen . john kerry of massachusetts . wrong  br    br   in      robertson predicted that bush would have victory after victory in his second term . he said social security reform proposals would be approved wrong yet again   br    br   he claims to speak directly with god . . . if so god has quite the sense of humor watching pat make a fool of himself again and again . .  
whoever said that horror wasn  t an educational film genre  huh  thanks to this marvelous hammer short movie  i now at least know never to offer a strange visitor any wine and a slice of bread with salt in my own house  because he might just be hypnotist and this combination will give him the power to control my thoughts  mind forever  thank you hammer  the tenth episode in the house of horror series is another one i  ve been looking forward to seeing  mainly because the guy in the director  s chair was don sharp one of britain  s finest filmmakers but still sadly underrated . sharp was responsible for some very cool hammer films  like  kiss of the vampire  and  rasputin the mad monk   as well as some overlooked independent productions like  dark places  and  psychomania  . his contribution to house of horror is easily one of the best in the series  with a complex yet fascinating plot outline and revolving on delightful occult themes . the plot centers on two antique dealers that stumble upon a strange object resembling a mirror  but it  s actually an ancient scrying device that can be used to summon choronzhon the demonic guardian of the abyss . the mirror is heavily desired by a satanic cult since they need it for their ceremonies  but michael is reluctant to sell it before knowing the real value of the device . when he picks up a clearly petrified girl who  s running from the cult to avoid being sacrificed  michael is drawn even deeper into an occult conspiracy . satanic cults and the carnal sacrifice of young women are typical british horror topics  but david fischer  s screenplay is never dull and offers plenty of neat plot twits  among which a highly inventive climax . there  s also plenty of tension to admire  the dialogs are wit and the acting performances are splendid  especially john carson as the leader of the cult is genuinely eerie  . recommended   
before i start . . . let me say that i fully believe in god . i believe in heaven and in hell . kay now that thats out of the way  i just wanna say that what in the world do these morons that call themselves  hosts  think they are doing   the last time i checked a host doesn  t discriminate  spew hatred filled rants on tv  or try to shove their own beliefs down every unfortunate soul that ventures onto the channel . all of these that crazy  idiotic  conservitive  bible thumping  fred phelps lover pat robertson does daily . i am all for free speech  but since when does that cover a guy who pretty much says that if you venture off his ideal way of life you are right away sent to hell  this is just a perfect example of why religion is the cause of soooo many problems . one day in my class room we had a substitute teacher in so we decided to watch some tv since the teach didn  t give us any work . and we  against many of us  s will  watched     s club  and of course that jerk pat was on ranting and raving about the bible  and he said simon along the lines of  god says homosexuality is a sin  and i actually heard a kid go  hmm i guess he  s right .  wtf    seriously  if the host is trying to make people think that someone else  s sexual orientation is a huge sin  then they seriously need to take that host  duct tape them  and throw them off of a cruise liner in the middle of the arctic .  
in today  s world of digital fabrication  there is no computer than can replace the actor and writer . alas  this type of  character driven  film is far too rare these days . duvall  s performance as well as james earl jones are faithful to their audience  s high expectations . i wonder if this movie was made for tv  it has a  close  up  personal quality to the narrative . it is an understatement to say that the performances are all outstanding . the only thing that keeps it from being a cinema masterpiece is the lack of a great cinematographer  but pretty pictures are not everything . how can talent the likes of jones and duvall continue to produce such fine work in an age where actors pose for the digitizing   
caught this on ifc yesterday  and can  t believe the positive reviews  am i the only one who thought these  ladies  were anything but  kate tells jed she could get fired because she  s supposed to be a pillar of the community  but puts out for him  then they suddenly decide they  re in love  and she  s so devastated over his death  she doesn  t go to his funeral  much less  tell his family the  good news   by the way  how did an american get to be the headmistress of a very proper british school  janine should have been kicked off the force for her inexcusable abuse of power  but nothing happens  and she winds up boffing a con she brought in for questioning  and the less said about molly  the better   br    br   as for the guilt janine and molly feel over jed  please  it  s the punk  s own damn fault he got turned into roadkill  where  s the guilt over poor gerald  who gets puked on  if only i could do the same to the bozos behind this  movie    
if you fast forward through the horrible singing  you will find a classic fairy tale underneath . christopher walken is very humorous and surprisingly good in the role . his trademark style of acting works well for the sly puss in boots . the other actors are well for their parts . i did not find any of the acting terribly fake or awkward . the king in particular appears a real dunce though  and i wonder if he is supposed to be . i can not remember the original tale . the special effects are typical of the eighties  but at least they are not overly fake like some of the computer generated fare that we see today . overall  i recommend this movie for children and adults who are a child at heart .  
i saw this dvd in my friends house and thought that this was a turkish action movie with some hollywood  not very big  names in it . interested enough i decide to give it a shot later . . it was a tough to bear experience believe me . then  after finally seeing the credits roll i tought  we turks really suck at hollywood style film making . . this is an insult to the heisthostage movie genre . .  but then wait  i checked some names and no  they were not turkish names and no  this was not a turkish movie on the contrary it was literally shot in america with an american director  crew  that made me thinking  again   how on earth can you persuade names like micheal madsen  edward furlong or even arnold vosloo to take part in such a project  with money probably . . that kept me thinking further . . how can you raise such amount of money to offer them and a supposedly international cast  then all my meditation paid off and i came to find the answer . by hiring the cheapest equipment and crew that you can find . and if you still have to difficulty in adjustin your budget then by writing and directing the movie you are trying to produce  or vice versa i don  t have any information on that  . so bottom line this is not a bad movie as everybody are so anxious to present as . . it makes you think  in my case even meditate  and there are a lot of movies outthere that doesn  t give even that affect . . this one at least makes you think it makes you wonder . . it leaves you with disbelief . . and then it makes you wonder again . .  
this movie has so many wonderful elements to it  the debut performance of reese witherspoon is  of course  marvelous  but so too is her chemistry with jason london . the score is remarkable  breezy and pure . james newton howard enhances the quality of any film he composes for tenfold . he also seems to have a knack for lost  days  of  youth movies  be sure to catch his score for the recent  peter pan  and the haunting gothic music of  the village .  i first saw this film at about   or   and now i don  t just cry at the ending  i shed a tear or two for the nostalgia . show this movie to your daughters . it will end up becoming a lifetime comfort film .  
  the    club  has to be the single most bigoted television program in the history of television itself . to make matters worse  it  s been on the air since      implying that thousands if not millions of people are buying into its hate and lies . headed by pat robertson  the unscrupulous  megalomaniacal founder and leader of the christian coalition   the    club  takes us from misinformation to misunderstanding  broadcasting  news  as they like to think of it and trying to convince its audience that all of the world  s problems are to blame on homosexuals  wiccans  new age spiritualists  muslims  jews  hindus  non  fundamentalist christians  democrats  single mothers  foreigners  feminists  evolutionists  environmentalists  nasa scientists  and anyone else who doesn  t share their fanatical religious views . it  s actually the best fake news since  the daily show  or the  weekend update  segment of  saturday night live   or since  fox news   for that matter . of course  pat  s always the one who makes each of the decisions  saying whatever comes to mind and not giving a damn who it offends or hurts . in the meantime  he continues his part in the struggle to transform the united states into a militarized police state by having the religious wrong stick their noses in everything they can and asking for one donation after another  no less than a measly     to become a member  by the way  to fund pat  s african diamond mines and buy oil from companies reprimanded by the government in the past for their abuse of the environment . no  never mind that pat was good friends with the genocidal dictators of zaire and zimbabwe in order to help him acquire such wealth it  s all for the greater glory of god  don  t you know  and of course  the hosts of  the    club  are always willing to read letters  written by viewers  as they like to put it  coincidentally each typed in the same format and all on the same color of paper by  viewers  supposedly healed of various afflictions by the said hosts  they claim to have  words of knowledge  come to them  but who never appear on the program to say what happened to them . honestly  how can anyone take a show seriously when they  re using a poor applause recording  it should make people wonder why there  s no studio audience .  br    br   the sad thing that pat  s cronies and viewers don  t realize or just don  t want to realize are the horrible things he  s done and said . this is a guy who agreed with jerry falwell that the september        terrorist attacks on the united states were the result of god punishing us for our acceptance of homosexuality and feminism . ironic  considering that pat has twice publicly referred to the implementation of a nuclear weapon in the state department i have little doubt it was his wealth that kept him from getting arrested for such statements . his rants against homosexuals  single mothers  and any number of sexual practices he considers  sinful  are interesting  considering he was known to frequent a number of brothels during the korean war . as the bible says  be fruitful and multiply  so congratulations  pat  thanks to you  there  s probably a number of children born to single korean mothers . then  of course  there was the time he called for the assassination of venezuelan president hugo chavez  not that he  s a saint  but still  . oh  yes  and let  s not soon forget the time this  crusader for human life  supported forced abortions in china . very  christian  of him  wouldn  t you say   br    br   and just in case pat has forgotten  i haven  t forgotten his little speech that evangelical christians today are  being treated exactly as the jews were in nazi germany .  honestly  to compare his  plight  to the horrors of the holocaust is almost unforgivable . speaking of which  need i mention about how he blatantly lied that homosexuality ran rampant among the nazi party in a pathetic attempt to discredit homosexuals  of course  history shows us that the nazis acted toward homosexuals the same way they acted toward jews . pat robertson is one of the biggest liars in history . if he was pinocchio  his nose would encircle the earth .  br    br   unfortunately  more and more people continue to believe him every day . this is your wake  up call  people  the    club  is one of the most if not the single most vile program in television history . it  s evil masquerading as good it  s a wolf  in  sheep  s  clothing . it  s bigoted filth that tries to look clean  pretty  and loving . it  s living proof that hateful  dangerous religious views aren  t confined to certain groups in the middle east . even those who are not of the christian faith know that it goes against everything jesus taught  and if jesus was to appear to this  club   he wouldn  t be emulating them . instead  he  d be chastising them as he did the pharisees of his time and overturning the money bins of their telethons as he did in front of the synagogue in his time . all i can say is thank god that pat had no chance of becoming president if he did  he  d be the harbinger of armageddon  and not on the side of the good guys .  
really . . . and incredible film that though isn  t very popular . . . extremely touching and almost life altering . . . was for me at least .  br    br   definitely worth seeing and buying . . . . . added to my favorite movie list . . . . it  s number one now . . . .  br    br   this is a very touching movie that all people should see . .  br    br   the man in the moon . . . . . we  ll it  s just incredible . it  s now my favorite movie and i only saw it today and i  d recommend it to anyone above   as long as you  re somewhat mature . . . . . . if you don  t really try to feel the characters emotions then you  ll never get the true meaning and value of this movie . . . . but it really is incredible . . . . just watch it because it  ll alter the way some people look at life . . . . worth seeing     
does anyone think that this show actually helps some people  or does it only anger the people who watch it  when i am flipping through the channels and come upon this show i half to watch out of morbid curiosity . i understand that pat roberson is not all together . what i do not know is if his viewers are like him or if they are good people and think they will have a better life if they listening to what he has to say . pat roberson is of little consequence . he is an old man who thinks in an old way . fear of damnation no longer has the same affects as it once did  thank god  . now if someone will please answer my question i will be dodging lightning bolts for the rest of eternity .  
reese witherspoon first outing on the big screen was a memorable one . she appears like a fresh scrubbed face  tween  slight and stringy  but undeniably reese .  br    br   i have always liked her as an actor  and had no idea she started this young with her career  go figure . i actually gained some respect for reese to know who she was so early on . i say that because whenever i have watched her perform  the characters thus far  in each portrayal she also seemed to have her own persona that lived with that character  quite nicely in fact .  br    br   anyway  my first film experience with reese was the little red riding hood parody reese did with kiefer sutherland  somehow i assumed that was her first time up  at bat  not so  well done reese  
hear are some of the interesting things our combat hero faith healer pat  his son gordon  t . v . ministry seems like a family business .  and terry meeuwsen  won miss america in     by wearing a swimsuit and showing her legs . oh my goodness gracious   say when our poor viewers are sick and need help .  br    br    . someone with an  abscessed right tooth  has just now been healed .  . someone with  twisted intestines  has been healed .  . then terry said there was a person with a  strange condition    you mean god doesn  t know   a burning in the legs  who has just been healed .  . then gordon said there  s a man  that narrows it down   with swelling of the sinuses in his right cheek  with much pain behind the right eye  but he is now healed .  . someone with a problematic right hip  limited mobility from a stroke  is now able to walk .  . terry said she saw someone with severe with severe stiffness in the neck bone  but didn  t know the exact ailment  god doesn  t know    that the person is now healed .  . someone paralyzed on the right side  particularly  not exactly    the right side of the face has now been healed .  . a man  that narrows the world population down again .  with a plate in his skull is having a continual problems  and the doctors just don  t know what to do . terry said she saw the bone reforming around the plate  the funny bone    and the mans pain is gone  he was now healed .  br    br   hers how our war hero pat helps our sick and poor people .  . there  s a woman in kansas city  missouri or kansas but that narrows it way down .  who has a sinus the lord is drying it up now thank you jesus .  . there  s a man with a financial need  i think a hundred thousand dollars .  i think their god needs to go to school or something   that need is being met met right now  and within three days  the money will be supplied through the miraculous power of the holy spirit . thank you jesus .  . there is a woman in cincinnati with cancer of the lymph nodes .  br    br   i don  t know whether its been diagnosed yet  ask your vengeful god pat   but you haven  t been feeling well  and the lord is dissolving that cancer right now   what     . there is a lady in saskatoon  i assume canada .  in a wheelchair  curvature of the spine  the lord is straightening that our right now  and you can stand up and walk   if you have this condition ignore pat   just claim it and it  s yours . thank you jesus  amen  amen   br    br   when pat robertson had prostate cancer did he go to peter popoff   oral roberts   benny hinn   terry or gordon  no  on february        pat went to a real doctor to have his surgery   you mean he doesn  t trust his faith healing friends  terry or his own son gordon     br    br   when lt pat robertson was in the marines during the korean war he was a liquor officer  responsible for keeping the officers supplied with liquor . he was known to drink himself and frequent prostitutes and he feared he contacted gonorrhea .  should of asked a faith healer for help    br    br   the reason pat got out of combat was because his daddy absalom willis robertson  d va from         was chairman of the senate military appropriations committee .  br    br   terrorist attacks  september        we have imagined ourselves invulnerable and been consumed by the pursuit of health  wealth   pats worth between    and    million dollars folks   material pleasures  a mansion in virginia beach virginia with a helicopter launching pad   and sexuality  he had had sex with his future wife before marriage which they had a son   . it  terrorism  is happening because god is lifting his protection from us .  statement released on september        .  pat robertson reminds me of burgermeister on santa claus is coming to town and his evil vengeful god reminds me of venger on dungeons and dragons .  br    br   spoiled brat gordon does what daddy pat tells him to and terry is a paid yes woman who neither have minds of their own   br    br   this will really grab you  the september      edition of the    club included a report christian broadcasting network correspondent gary lane from outside new orleans convention center which has housed mostly impoverished black disaster victims throughout the weekend .  a number of possessions left behind suggest the mindset of some of the evacuees  lane said  they include this voodoo cup with the saying  may the curse be with you .  a shot of a plastic cup souvenir cup from one of the new orleans countless trinket shops appeared on the screen .  also music cds with the title guerrilla warfare and thugs  r  us .  lane stated  pointing out a pile or rap cds strewn on the ground .  his bigoted daddy absalom has taught pat racism well    br    br   if any of you good people ever think of donating to these sexist bigoted people please in the name of god don  t  sponsor a softball or basketball team  give to a food shelf  be a big brother or sister to a child but please don  t give to these people because they have been around for over   years and solved nothing .  br    br   if you still don  t believe me type pat robertson overheard during commercial break on the web and hit search and once you hear what hes really like  i know for sure that you will not give one cent to these conning liars  and by the way terry once had a divorce and pat has talked against divorce many times on his shows .  br    br   i like to say hello to the folks in dover pennsylvania  orlando florida  and to the nice folks who got hit by hurricane katrina and i hope its a pleasant day . has operation blessing been helpful to new orleans   i doubt it   please let our readers know  i do  by the way folks if your sick  go to a real doctor and lets everybody laugh at these liars and someday burgermeister pat  gordon and terry can go someplace else and take their angry god venger with them   
the man in the moon is a warm and moving coming of age drama centering around a farming family in the      s . the main story follows a    year old girl  reese witherspoon  who develops a crush on a    year old neighbor  jason london  who ends up falling for her older sister  emily warfield  and how an unexpected tragedy alters this family  s dynamics forever . the      s are lovingly evoked here and the screenplay gives you characters you come to care about almost immediately . witherspoon already begins to show the oscar  winning talent she would develop in this early role and london makes a charming leading man . warfield lends a quiet maturity to the role of the older sister that is effective as well . kudos to sam waterston and tess harper who play the girls  parents and gail strickland  who plays london  s mom . i was unexpectedly moved by this quiet and affecting drama that stirs up strong emotions and gives deeper meaning to the phrase  family ties .   
except people apparently buy into this garbage  as shows like  moral orel  have shown  even if you tried to make the most outrageous  over  the  top parody of evangelism you could possibly think of  it wouldn  t come close to the hilarity of this show . it  s hard to tell what  s even going on when you  re watching it . is it a news show  a talk show  who knows   they start out by reporting on various international news stories  but at seemingly random points  the news is interrupted by this odd  troll  like little man with a forehead bigger than his entire face  mumbling and laughing and generally being creepy .  br    br   pat robertson doesn  t even seem like such a bad guy at first glance . he just seems like a senile  yet harmless old coot stuck in his archaic beliefs  like most of our grandparents  . but this is a man who has called for an assassination  who has befriended and offered aid to not one  but two murderous dictators  who has illegally used donation money to run diamond mines  who has supported forced abortions in china  and who regularly implies that caucasians  straight american male caucasians in particular  are superior to all other races .  br    br   still  this would all be funny  except that he apparently has a large enough fan base to keep his little show on the air   years later  either that  or enough money to bribe some tv executives who don  t give a damn what they show  . the idiocy of the show becomes alarming when you realize that some people  somewhere  must be watching it and hanging onto every word . even when robertson has repeatedly shown how corrupt he is  people still listen to him . i don  t know if it  s funny or scary . i guess a healthy mixture of both .  
i thought this movie was very well done . taking place in the mid      s  everything looked accurate to me . it was well cast and believable . i don  t usually care much for this type of movie  because they just don  t have any depth  but i felt this movie delved in to the characters and you could feel how they felt  you got to really know them and care about them . it did take me back to my youth and let me reminiscent about a more innocent time . this movie could be enjoyed by both male and female and by all age groups . after the movie was over i wished there was a part two . i wanted to know what happened to dani and her family . this movie is bound to be a classic . if you haven  t seen it you should try to catch it when it is on tv or rent it . . .  
i don  t believe there has ever been a more evil or wicked television program to air in the united states as the    club . they are today  s equivalent to the ku klux klan of the   th century . their hatred of all that is good and sweet and human and pure is beyond all ability to understand . their daily constant attacks upon millions and millions of americans  as well as billions of humans the world over  who don  t happen to share their bigoted  cruel  monstrous  and utterly insane view of humanity is beyond anything television has ever seen . the lies they spout and the ridiculous lies they try to pass off as truth  such as the idea of  life after death  or  god  or  sin  or  the devil  is so preposterous that they actually seem mentally ill  so lost are they in their fantasy . sane people know that religion is a drug and shouldn  t let themselves get addicted to that type of fantasy . however  the    club is in a class by itself . they are truly a cult . while i believe in freedom of speech  they way they spread hatred  lies  disinformation  and such fantastic ideas is beyond all limits . i hope that one day the american psychiatric association will finally take up the study of those people who delude themselves in this way  people who let themselves sink so deeply into the fantasy land of religion that they no longer have any real concept of reality at all . treatment for such afflicted individuals is sorely needed in this country  as so many people have completely lost their minds to the fantasy of religion . the    club though  is even more horrible as it rises to the legal definition of  cult  but due to the    club  s vast wealth  conned daily from the millions of americans locked in their deceitful grip  they are above the law in this country . for those of you who have seen the movie  the matrix  you know that movie was a metaphor for religion on earth the evil ones who are at the top of each of the religions who drain the ones they have trapped and cruelly abuse for their own selfish purposes  and those millions who are held in a death sleep and slowly being drained of their life force represent those many people who belong to religions and who have lost all ability to perceive what is really going on around them .  br    br   in less civil times  the good townsfolk would have run such monsters as those associated with the    club out of town with torches and pitchforks . but in today  s world where people have lost all choice in their choices of television that is presented to them  we have no way to rid ourselves of the    club plague .  br    br   the television ratings system and the  v  chip on tv  s should also have a rating called  r  for religion  so that rational people and concerned parents could easily screen such vile intellectual and brutal emotional rape  such as presented by the    club every day all over our country  from themselves and their children .  
i thought this was a very good movie . it would have been nice to have seen a little more into the movie about the  sisters knowing about each liking the same boy before he was killed off . i  m sure if the movie had been done this way there would have been a very different ending  that  s why this made this move such a good movie . it shows that no matter what happens in your life with your siblings that you can always get thru it and that if it  s  sisters dealing with a boy   the same boy  that working thru the pain and hurt makes things to seem better and easier to work out between the  of them . it  s nice to see love stories that have a terrible thing to happen in someone  s life that you can still get thru it become even closer after its over . i really enjoyed watching this movie  and i still do now when it comes on . i seem to find myself watching it every time it comes on . it would have been nice if there would have been a part  for this movie  maybe having the older sister to come up and have his baby  this would really have made a great finish to the story since he died  this way it would keep him alive even though he  s dead .  
this movie made me feel as if i had missed some important scenes from the very beginning . there were continuity errors and plots that stopped as abruptly as they started . i was very disappointed because i love whoopi goldberg  danny glover  in addition to that have always trusted  respected danny glovers taste in his choice of roles   grand canyon  for example . i just could not finish this movie  after what seemed an eternity  but was probably just a little over an hour we had to turn it off . there was no comedy  there was nothing about the characters to make you empathize or sympathize with them  there was no evoking of emotion at all regarding this movie and the clips of their past were poorly edited  confusing  and unnecessary . what could have been a great idea for a movie  even as a drama  not a comedy  although i think a comedy in this situation would have been better  because i love to watch white people freak out  start acting like complete idiots  it makes me laugh  became a waste of my   credit at the video store .  
had never heard of the man in the moon until seeing it last evening on this hdtv channel . look  my taste is like any others   eclectic . my favorites run from blue velvet to dr . strangelove to the ghost and mrs . muir thru the wizard of oz and the loved one  eraserhead  repo man  and the spy within .  br    br   the man in the moon is superbly made  a gentle hearted  joyous and tragic film  beautifully filmed  one in which the actors truly live in the moment rather than act . this sweet tale shortly will be in our private library . this beautiful story of life in a far finer era in rural louisiana literally transports you to its pastoral setting .  br    br   it  s hard to remain stoic during the film  s last moments  particularly when the young girl the extent of her older sister  s heart searing private pain and forgives all .  br    br   rather than spoil the enjoyment or bore you to sobs with my dull prose  will end now with this suggestion from one who enjoys films which speak from the heart to ours .  br    br   if you purchase no other film  please  purchase the man in the moon . this moving story is one you  ll enjoy reliving time and again . it is a joy and a gem  a film all too scarce in this world of hardening hearts .  br    br   the simple virtues evinced in man in the moon are a joy to behold .  br    br   paul vincent zecchino  br    br   manasota key  florida  br    br     april       
i find myself wondering what the people who gave this a   saw in it that i didn  t . this movie has a very hard time following and  or staying to a plot . if someone tells you it  s a comedy  don  t be fooled  it  s about    percent odd  drama and   comedy . all actors turn in a great performance  that cannot be denied  however it seems like it really lost something somewhere . don  t know if the original script was good and it had to be edited down or what . this had potential  and instead it was really a flop . i would really like the hour and a half i invested in this movie back  but the video rental place doesn  t do returns on time . save your money and see something else .  
i must say this movie is truly amazing and heartwarming . reese witherspoon is so charming and jason london  s not so bad either  it is so sweet watching dani fall in love and it breaks my heart and yet warms my heart at the same time watching court fall in love with maureen . however it is even sweeter watching how much he cares for dani . i must admit though i did kind of want him to fall for dani in the end . it is just so cute watching her fall for him i did not want her to get her heart broken so badly . but the biggest tragedy i have ever seen occurred in this movie . watching him die made me cry for a whole day . i just could not believe it . however never a more loving relationship has been shown in a movie then maureen and dani . they really can make it through anything . i am giving this movie a  because i didn  t want court to die but it was still one of the most amazing movies i have ever seen .  
i was true to my regard for mr . glover and ms . goldberg . i watched the entire film with my family and some friends . i have no idea what the movie was about . after much discussion  we all agreed that this was not one of their better efforts .  br    br   it doesn  t hang together very well . it is too choppy  and there is little comedy . i am disappointed . it could have been much better .  br    br   i waited months to see this film based on the liner notes .  br    br   don  t waste your money unless you are a completist and just want to see all of mr . glover  s and ms . goldberg  s films .  br    br   it was a poor way to spend an evening .  
i checked this out as an impulse when browsing through the movie store and couldn  t have been any more pleasantly surprised  my mom and i watched this film together  and we thoroughly enjoyed it . it isn  t the typical  chick  flick  with a sappy love story and tears all the way through  but it definitely touches a nerve in the twist at the end . it  s an ending where  although unexpected and tragic  the movie  s overall effect is not harmed by it . i think reese witherspoon was a great actress even in this film  her debut  and this is definitely worth watching  i didn  t recognize many of the supporting actors  but they all play their important supporting roles well .  the man in the moon  is such an believable story about a young teenager falling in love for the first time . most women can definitely relate to everything  from witherspoon  s words  her subtle glances  and her not so subtle emotions  raging like the typical teenage girl  . while she  s playing a character confused about love  she does not come across as silly and immature  which was much appreciated considering many movies today .  
ok  the box looks promising . whoopi goldberg standing next to danny glover parodying the famous farmer and his wife painting . then you pop this baby in the dvd player and all hope is lost in less then five minutes . supposed to be a comedy . and i must admit i did laugh once about ten minutes before the ending . this movie has the following elements a battered and abused next door neighbor  a boring legal trial  racisim  talk of lynchings  and death and arson . hilarious  huh  no  please  if you never listen to anyone  s reviews  please do here . you cannot even force yourself to watch this crap . crap  i said it  crap  whoever put there name on this should indeed sue .  
it was life  changing  it really was    the man in the moon is a breathtaking experience to watch . the acting was fabulous  the story line was great  and this was a perfect start for reese witherspoon  s career . i don  t see how anyone couldn  t love this film . sure  it  s not the best movie ever  even though it was close to it  but it was highly amusing to watch  and i even had a big laugh at one of the jokes  and a lot of other little laughs . of course  there was some cry your heart out moments too  but this movie was enlightening  and it brightens up your day  although you have to get a little depressed from the story every now and then . i can  t believe this movie didn  t win at least one award  and i also can  t believe that it  s been seen by so little people on this site . see this movie if you haven  t for it is definitely touching .  
i have a high tolerance for the weird  but frankly some movies go way  way beyond weird   so far that they make your brain hurt . this is such a film . trying to understand it or even explain it is impossible and i think the film is best understood while taking drugs   it  s that incomprehensible .  br    br   the film begins with some very cute japanese animation involving a cat . however  out of the blue  tons of twisted and occasionally disturbing things occur   making me wonder if i am losing something in the translation . however  even if this is so  why did we need to be treated to images of a magic trick involving dismembering a lady with a clever  defecation  puking  lighting animals on fire  etc . . all this really seemed random and pretty awful . oddly  and i don  t know why  some see this as a work of genius . i just don  t get that .  
when i first saw this film on cable  it instantly became one of my favorite movies . i  m a big fan of james earl jones and robert duvall . the movie paints an accurate picture of the south and the racist attitudes . most of the attitudes came from soll  an old plantation owner who uses convicts for labor . soll is what makes the move  his funny ramblings give us insights in to the way the south was back then . i suppose that if soll lived today he would be diagnosed with alzheimer  s disease . none the less his attitudes towards a little boy who comes to work for him and the convicts is complex . while he has racist views  he  s grown to trust some of the convicts who are all black . the two convicts he trusts most are jackson  mel winkler  and ben  james earl jones  . the conversations between ben and soll are the best in the movie  they have real chemistry . james earl jones and mel winkler both but in great performances as well as hass .  br    br   this movie should have gotten more notoriety . however it  s on dvd and worth the money .  br    br   rayvyn  
this was awful . andie macdowell is a terrible actress . so wooden she makes a rocking horse look like it could do a better job . but then remember that turn in four weddings  equally as excruciating . another film that portrays england as full of chocolate box cottages  and village greens . i mean that school  how many schools apart from maybe hogwarts look like that  the twee police station looked like the set from heartbeat  a nauseating british series set in the   s  . this film just couldn  t make its mind up what it wanted to be  a comedy or a serious examination of the undercurrents in women  s friendships . if it had stuck to the former then the graveyard sex scenes and the highly stupid storming of the wedding might just have worked  i say just  . but those scenes just didn  t work with the tragedy in the second half . i also find it implausible that kate would ever speak to molly again after her terrible behaviour . a final note  what is a decent actress like staunton doing in this pile of poo  not to mention anna chancellor . macdowell should stick to advertising wrinkle cream .  
i was so surprised by how great the man in the moon truly was . i mean at first i was kinda expecting a cheesy  and predictable film  but i decided to put that aside when watching . well  when it was over i was just left stunned  mainly in tears   by how great the man in the moon turned out to be . this movie is so entertaining and is so aware of its tone  and its just a fabulous film . the acting was great especially from reece witherspoon  who was so cute and lovable   and everyone else . there wasn  t anything that really bothered me  i felt the ending kinda predictable  but very well done at that . also i felt some things to be plain or as if it had been done before  but still a great film . overall i must say i don  t to much to say about this film  not that it was bad  its just a film you either like or don  t like . i would however recommend this to any and everyone  even if you don  t like these type of films  its still an enjoyable film .  br    br    .  out of   stars  
this was a truly insipid film . the performances are third rate  and the dialogue is so stilted that at times it seemed to have just rolled over and died . my reason for renting this was simple find a movie with scriptwriting . i needed a visual aid for my presentation  so i figured why not use a clip  boy was i wrong . after searching my local video store  i came upon this  where it was suspiciously titled  starstruck  . i thought   what the hey   and decided to give it a try . well  i was very unhappy with my results . there was maybe one scene i could use  and meanwhile  i was practically falling asleep because of the sheer banality of the flick . so . . . . . i took this back and picked up ed wood . there  s a movie i can use as an example . then again  anything would be presentable compared to the drivel that is  starfucker  .  
reese witherspooon  s first movie . loved it . the plot and the acting was top notch . you are emotionally involved with the characters . in my opinion  a must see .  br    br   after watching this movie you will see why reese witherspoon  s acting career has been so successful .  br    br   the other cast members do a great job also .  br    br   the movie flows extremely well . there is not a boring moment in the whole picture . the man in the moon  s length is just right .  br    br   as i said earlier  i think this movie was excellent . i have seen it numerous times  and have enjoyed every one of the viewings .  
the acting may be okay  the more u watch this movie  the more u wish you weren  t  this movie is so horrible  that if i could get a hold of every copy  i would burn them all and not look back  this movie is terrible    
a young man named court is loved by everyone . his painful bloody death brings everyone closer . you can find other symbols and allusions throughout the movie . whether predictable or not  and irrespective of ecclesiastical beliefs  this is a moving story  full of milieu and sensuality .  br    br   one other thing  someone mentioned that his fate was so quick that it didn  t seem plausible . but the elements for this are set up subtly . note what his mom says about bringing his lunch out to the field . note how he is holding the steering wheel and his gloves . he is sweaty and operating dangerous equipment . to this day  tractors are pretty dangerous .  
this is one of those movies where i wish i had just stayed in the bar .  br    br   the film is quite frankly boring . what story there is is very flimsy and you pretty much have to guess at it . the film indulges itself with pretentious camera techniques that seem intent on causing migraines and makes it look like a student film . did i say it was boring already  if all the characters had suddenly died at the end of the movie i would not have cared less as i had no emotional attachment to any of them .  br    br   there are about  good minutes in this movie  but that was about it . this is the first time i have ever considered walking out of a cinema during a performance  but i held on believing that it had to get better . i was wrong .  br    br   the sort of film you could threaten naughty children with .  
this  coming of age  film deals with the experiences of two young girls  dani and maureen  as they learn about life and love one fateful summer .  br    br   directed by robert mulligan  famous for his superb work in  to kill a mockingbird   the film never hits a false note . all the acting is superb . as dani  reese witherspoon makes a stunning film debut . watching this beautifully photographed and superbly directed and edited film  i felt like i was looking through a window to reality  rather than watching a movie .  br    br   i have watched this movie at least  times  and can honestly say that it is one of the single best movies ever made about being young  being in love  and going through the feelings  challenges  and changes of young adulthood . families with children between   and   should watch it together  and use it as a discussion piece  as it raises a number of issues about sibling rivalry  how to deal with being in love  the responsibilities of a parent  etc .  
shintar katsu gained tons of fame playing the wonderful character  zatoichi . the zatoichi films had a weird and unbelievable concept   a blind guy is the greatest swordsman in japan and spends each movie righting wrongs and exacting retribution on evil doers . he  s a heck of a nice guy and the films are exciting and addictive  i  ve actually seen every movie  . it is because of this i saw this final installment of the hanzo the razor series  as i assumed it would be very similar . . . . and boy was i wrong  it turns out that the hanzo films are extremely sexual in nature and they also promote the rape of  women who deserve it  . you see  hanzo is a policeman from the meiji period and he regularly takes evil women into custody and interrogates them by violently raping them with his  penis of steel  . how he made his member so strong is something you have to see to believe  but it certainly is not for the squeamish .  br    br   overall  i just can  t recommend anyone sees these violent and misogynistic films . however  from looking at the other reviews  i can see that they are still very popular . . . and that is pretty scary . despite some decent acting and amazing fight scenes  the films just are like brain pollution   and i  d hate to imagine how the films might have contributed to violence towards women .  
i had heard good things about this film and was  you guessed it  a bit disappointed . reese witherspoon is as promised surprisingly good  surprisingly confident  at a young age really all the  small  cast are quite solid  in their simple   s american setting . the reason i didn  t rate this film higher is mainly that towards the end  the grief shown by the older sister didn  t seem so real and this pulled me out of the film a bit . perhaps we are expected to fill in the plot  or perhaps the film needed to be a bit longer . maureen  s character is quite underdeveloped i think . it is understandable that dani  reese w .  the younger  would be traumatised and angry  but why is her sister shown to be more upset  because she  s a few years older  hasn  t the end rather undermined the rest of the film  the pacing of the movie makes it seem that maureen and court have only just met  when he gets tractored  warning this scene is surprisingly brutal  in retrospect it seems like it might have been trying to shock a bit . well it works   . it depends what you want  if you want the girls  happy story of young love that it seems like you  re going to get  you  re in for a surprise . man in the moon is both quaint and dreamy and a harsh coming of age film  a rather awkward combination  i liked the character of court though  i can see what girls watching this might be watching . and i loved that they had the courage to both let him hurt the younger sister  most men would  most films wouldn  t  and get killed .  br    br       on my pretty harsh ratings scale . for some reason i found jason london on a tractor funny .  
plot synopsis when his wife  a news reporter  is kidnapped  replaced with an android double  secret service agent eric phillips tracks her down  uncovers a plan by an arms dealer to create an army of invincible androids to assassinate world leaders .  br    br   i wasn  t expecting much when i first saw this sequel to richard pepin  s low  budget sci  fi  action hybrid  cyber tracker  . that film was nothing special  not to mention a blatant rip  off of both  the terminator    robocop  . this sequel is the same as before  with an all  out action sequence opening the film . there are plenty of explosions  heavy gunfire  a huge bodycount  as well as some martial  arts moves courtesy of the film  s star  don  the dragon  wilson . the whole film seems like a series of action scenes strung together with minimal plot . on the acting front  wilson is a bad actor . he really needs a personality transplant .  
there is so much of worth in this movie that it is hard to know where to begin with praise . let me begin by expressing my admiration for a perfect portrayal by reese witherspoon . that her performance stands out in the excellent cast is praise indeed . robert mulligan has seldom disappointed those of us who have admired his work . every frame of the man in the moon is evidence of film making at its best .  
years have gone by since don wilson used his martial arts expertise to take down a robot who was programmed to destroy him  he  s also married to the blonde reporter  stacie foster  who led the rebellion in the first film  now a new conspiracy is in the works  one that involves look  alike droids who frame our two heroes  and a corporation looking to rule the world  there is no plot to back any of this up  and cyber tracker  becomes a virtual replay of the first movie . i admit that i have bought dvds from the bargain bin that were made by pm  pm was a company that specialized in cheap  jack action flicks  like this  which had tons of explosions  little story and overall nothing but mean edged action . some of these titles have been  mildly  enjoyable  last man standing and the sweeper  however cyber tracker  is stuck with the casting of the charisma  less don wilson . when comparing the protagonists of similar pm efforts both jeff wincott and c . thomas howell are oscar nominees when compared to don wilson . another telling sign is that this was directed by richard pepin who has none of the flair joseph merhi seems to have in crafting action sequences that feel much more expensive than their budgets . then again though both c . thomas and wincott are probably more expensive to obtain . cyber tracker  is a rip off with a capitol r  there are so many steals from better movies  robocop  terminator  universal soldier to even halloween iii   that it  s almost as if richard pepin is trying to infuse a sense of identity to the pedestrian material yet without the intelligent ideas or at least the mindless zip of great action  cyber tracker  falls flat . there is literally no good idea that isn  t borrowed from a better movie and the supporting cast overact . the only exception comes from tony burton who is miles better than the material . also stacie foster looks like she could be better with far better material . however cyber tracker  comes off mainly as noisy  bland and lackluster as its leading man  however with no real martial arts sequences to fall back on  all there is  is lots of cars tipping over and that alone is no substitute for the bankruptcy of ambition expressed here .  br    br       out of    poor   
i watched this movie by chance  get curious by the trailer on tv . i like when i discover movies like this  little  tender stories about ordinary people . even if the end is tragic   the man in the moon  has some funny moments  especially in the first characterization of dani  with her innocent and pure love affair with court . it  s really a beautiful  moving love story with  high points the performance of reese witherspoon  who maintained her promises in the world of cinema  the beautiful cinematography by the  old lion  freddie francis and the fantastic score by james newton howard  which is really the soul of the movie . his themes  which deserved an oscar nomination  are so intimate and lyric that it seems they had transformed the screenplay in music .  
having read during many years about how great this film was  how it established ruiz among the french critics  specially the snobbish cahiers crowd   when i finally watched it about a year ago  i found it pretty disappointing  but then  i guess my expectations were sky  high  . shot in saturated black and white  this deliberately cerebral film  made for tv  and mercifully  only an hour long  is told in the form of a conversation between an art connoisseur and an off  screen narrator as they ponder through a series of paintings  which are shown in the style of tableaux vivants  and try to find if they hold some clues about a hidden political crime .  the awful kate beckinsale film uncovered has a similar argument  . borgesian is a word i read a lot in reviews about this movie  but i would say almost any borges story is more interesting than this film .  
loved the film  this was my first glimpse at both reese witherspoon and jason london  both of which are two of my favorites . must say that no matter how many times i  ve seen this movie i can  t help but tear up . one of those movies that should become a classic for all .  
the direction had clearly stated that this film  s idea and plot is totally original . . . . however  as to those who have read  slam dunk  comic  we can clearly see that the characters are very similar and even some jokes . . .  br    br   another note is jay chow himself do not know kung fu  it just won  t impress anyone if he tries to act like he can  many people today can see the differences . . luckily the movie do not contain much of kung fu fighting and much are enchanced by stunners and visual effects . . .  br    br   i think that jay  s acting is still a pain to watch  especially when almost everyone else in the film is so much better . the only reason i think why jay is the main actor is simply is for his popularity .  br    br   despite how hard i wish to stop anyone from watching this thus making this  orginal  movie getting what it shouldn  t have  it has became one of the best budget films in china for this year .  
i saw this movie as a teenager and immediately identified with reese witherspoon  s portrayal of dani trant  a    year  old tomboy in rural louisiana circa     . she feels that she will never be as beautiful as her older sister  maureen  a now rarely seen emily warfield   and feeling out of place in terms of her conservative baptist upbringing . then seventeen year old court foster  jason london   the son of her mother  s close friend  gail strickland  moves in next door  dani experiences her first crush  while court enjoys her company  and willful spirit . dani succeeds in getting her first kiss from him  but as soon as he sees maureen  he falls head over heels for her  leaving dani behind . the sisters  close bond is fractured severely by the rivalry that erupts  which only deepens when court dies in a tragic accident . the girls then are made to realize how much they need each other .  br    br   sam waterson and tess harper are just perfect as the loving parents  trying to balance their daughters  individuality  at the same time trying to keep the family together . the beautiful cinematography  and the wonderful soundtrack featuring elvis presley  the platters and many more contribute wonderfully to the film  s atmosphere of a simpler time .  br    br   a touching coming  of  age film with a timeless message .  
kid found as a baby in the garbage and raised at a martial arts academy has a knack for sinking baskets . with the help of the man who found him he gets in to college and is promoted to the championship as he searches for his real parents . infinitely better in pieces action comedy is a real mess as a whole . it seems to be striving for a hipper basketball version of shaolin soccer  but the comedy is scatter shot  its focus wanders more than a chihuahua with add on quadruple espresso . i kept asking  what am i watching  . i watched it from start to finish and i still don  t know what the hell happened . its a shame since there are some great action scenes  some amusing jokes and the occasional moment  but nothing  none of it ever comes together  i  d take a pass .  
  br    br   it  s a generic coming  of  age story   think  the member of the wedding    summer of       a summer place   even  little women    and there are moments where mulligan might have omitted the soupy music  not used slow  motion  or played down the golden  lit prettiness of the setting . otherwise  it  s done with rare emotional perfect  pitch . nothing  s forced  every line has feeling  and the pacing is just right . even the below  a  list casting helps bigger movie stars with more recognizable personalities might have overwhelmed the material . in particular  witherspoon is excellent her line readings are fresh and original  and her body language is just right for a gawky  hoydenish    year  old on the eve of womanhood . waterston is also very fine  even if he has to spend much of the movie climbing in and out of the family truck .  br    br   one senses that the film  s makers were aware of its unpromising commercial prospects   no big stars  no big car crashes  no special effects   and consciously decided to make the best possible movie  box office be damned . it  s intimate and honest  and it sticks to the ribs . if you find yourself misting up at the end  you don  t have to feel you  ve been duped .  
lot of silly plot holes in the film . first we see him watching his master practice kung  fu  and die in the midst of his practice . that  s fine with me . and then at the end of the film  we see him use the kung  fu that he learned just by watching his master when he was still a kid . is that even possible  i don  t think so .  br    br   this show is purely for jay chou fans  and the film lacks a depth in terms of character development  cinematography styles and unfolding of plot .  br    br   anybody notice that the captain of the basket team  forgot his name  and the idolized player li xiao look so similar to each other  to the extent that you  d think they were the one and same person  long hair  sunshine  boy look  tall and strong . the two of them looked like they came out from a mass production factory designed to churn out products that makes teenage girls scream wild in orgasm . not that those two actors had anything of value to contribute to the movie as a whole for the movie industry at all .  br    br   the jokes were lame and not funny at all .  br    br   the scene with regards to the  masters of jay chou coming back to help him out in the basketball court  degenerated into a pointless plot when they started bashing their opponents ala royal rumble style . worse of all  when the  masters won the fight  the crowd began cheering  and the match continued . it was truly a wtf  moment .  br    br   at the end of the show  when they win the match  all thanks to jay chou  s excellent kung fu skills . how he acquired those kung  fu skills is a mystery  because the show somehow shows him acquiring the skills just by observing his master .  br    br   and then his long  lost father comes out of the woodwork to acknowledge jay chou as his long  lost son seemed just a tad too quick of the director to wrap up the film .  br    br   in short  this is a jay chou  flick  instead of the usual  chick flick   . watch it only if jay chou is your fan . if you are one of those whose tastes in movies coincide greatly with those in the list of imdb  s top    films of all time  then this film is not for you .  
this is a very enjoyable film with excellent actors and actresses evoking a range of emotions . it contains some really excellent humour which the whole family can enjoy . you get to know the characters quickly and experience their ups and downs . and  it ends very upbeat  
this starts off bad  what with the three women acting like simpering junior high school wussies sitting around giggling with their gin  endless cigarettes and a caramel chocolate treat for the one who tells the best  man  story  and then it gets worse    spoiler alert    what with andie  s character falling for the young organ player who used to be her student when he was    she  s the headmistress of an english school  believe it or not   only to have him destroyed thanks to her bitch  from  hell  girlfriend  . . . and then from there  it  s basically unwatchable claptrap she forgives her  friend  and has the organ player  s love child and the  women end up as they started  drinking more gin and smoking more cigarettes blah blah blah . andie  s character throws the caramel chocolates out in the street  in a pathetic attempt to symbolize growth . have mercy .  
not only is this movie a great film for basic cinematography  screenplay  acting  setting  etc .  but also for it  s realism . this movie could take place in any farm or rural setting . it makes no difference if the movie takes place in louisiana or if it would take place in kansas . the story and the messages it includes would remain the same . this movie shows family values and connections for an older audience  while at the same time it shows youthful behavior for the younger viewers . everyone who watches this will walk away with something having touched them personally  i know i did . the ending hits way too close to home for me not to burst into tears every time i watch it . the ending stresses the importance of farm safety  and everyone who has ever worked on a farm needs to see this film . not paying attention and carelessness gets you into dangerous situations .  br    br    
this movie is made for asian  chinese market  targeting particularly fans of jay chou  one of the biggest music star in asian .  br    br   jay chou is a very talented song writer  singer . he is mediocre as an actor  although he did appear in several big  budget productions   initial d    curse of the golden flower   . amazingly  he won both golden horse  taiwan  and hong kong film awards for  initial d  .  br    br   the supporting cast are very well chosen  which appeals basically everyone from china . the cast including many famous movie  tv actors  singers  even sport commentator  huang jianxiang from china  . however  they were not given enough time to show their talents .  br    br   the biggest mistake is that chu took over both director and writer position . he has a reputation of making shallow and brainless movies based off non  coherent scripts . with his poor directing and lam story  the whole talented cast  fancy vision effects and tones of production money was wasted .  br    br   however  the terrible movie successfully cashed in over   million dollars  maybe even more in asian  which made this one of the biggest box office success in asian .  br    br   the bottom line is you can watch this movie only if you want to see how money and talents are wasted  or if you are simply accompanying your kids who are fans of jay chou .  
here  s the kind of love story that i do enjoy watching . and mostly  it  s for two reasons . one  it concentrates of young people  very young people . people who are still in their teens and are experiencing love for the first time  or at least think they are . all of us have been there in our lives and  the man in the moon  is a magnificent reflection upon our memories  maybe adding on a few more details and enhancing it further than any of us have experienced . the second reason is that is a love triangle . and i do believe that as teens  it  s the most dramatic . and the story is so well developed that you believe the characters could really be in love  or are just so new to love that they just strongly believe they are and after a tragedy or so occurs  will believe it for the rest of their lives .  br    br   the cast of  the man in the moon  is full of great talented names . it stars sam waterston  who is truly a versatile actor  well capable of playing tough district attorneys as well as strict  yet caring and wise fathers as in this film . also there is tess harper  jason london  and a young  young reese witherspoon . you look at the young  talented actress as she is at age fourteen and you think that about ten years down the road  she  s going to win the academy award . all members of the cast pull off great performances and with the dialogue of the compelling screenplay  they are enhanced into looking like real people in real situations . as if it all really happened . this the kind of movie that i would like to see come out more often . love story or not . i would love to see films that make everything look real and is not phony or disbelievable in any way .  
i can  t believe this show is still rating a  out of   . i could see if those votes were in the first  seasons  but what would possess anyone to continue to rate it high after that  i was a huge fan the  st season . i was hooked  all the mystery  suspense  unexplained events . you never knew what was going to happen next . by season   i was still watching faithfully  but was getting a little frustrated that some basic things had yet to be explained . and instead of giving you more answers  it just seemed like more questions . i love suspense  but you have to throw people a bone every now and then to keep them watching .  br    br   now  i can  t even remember what finally turned me off  but somewhere in season   i had enough . i  m not a big fan of appointment viewing  and you clearly can  t miss an episode to stay up on what  s happening . so  it was no longer worth the effort to me .  br    br   it  s a shame that they couldn  t have been a little smarter and more considerate of the loyal fans . i agree with some of the posters that it appears abc just got greedy and decided to see how long they can stretch this show out . don  t they realize that in the end  they are going to lose more fans than they could possibly gain .  
that magical moment in life  that point between the beautiful innocence of childhood  and the confusing whirlwind that marks adulthood . . . this is what this movie is all about .  br    br   danni  wonderfully played by reese witherspoon  is right at that moment in life when the movie starts . she swoons over elvis  playing his records and wishfully thinking about love . maureen her sister will soon be off to college  has no trouble with attracting boys  is beautiful  and seems to have it all figured out although she doesn  t . she dates a local loser whos father is also after her  and just wishes she could find a decent boy and be swept off her feet . danni like most young teenagers wishes she could be anyone else but herself because most teenagers think that who they are just isn  t good enough . she wants to be maureen but doesn  t see that she is beautiful herself .  br    br   the moment adulthood begins to intrude itself upon her life is when she meets court foster for the first time . court whos father has recently died has moved to their old farm to work it with his mother and two younger brothers . he has been thrust responsibility when he should be having fun . on one particular hot day he goes to the pond and jumps in only to find danni skinny dipping . they yell and argue and danni leaves . but they see each other a day later when courts mother is invited to danni  s to visit old friends  danni  s parents  . danni becomes attracted to court  and court to danni . she is a tomboy and is spunky  has attitude and says whats on her mind .  br    br   court is   and danni   and he knows it but they continue to grow closer with their days at the pond between court working the farm . by the time court kisses her one day  danni is smitten . danni  s father tells her to invite court to the house and he does . but things are uncomfortable for court on his  sort of date  . the silence though is broken by his meeting with maureen who has yet to see court . one look between the two and its all over . the looks of pain and defeat on danni  s face are both beautiful in their trueness to life and painful at the same time . the rest of the movie i will not tell but the movie has more to it than a relationship between a boy and two sisters .  br    br   the greatness of the movie is in its depiction of lifes moments both beautiful and painful and the relationship between two sisters whose love is tested by both a boy that they love  and the pain they must endure both together and individually . danni eventually marks her entrance into the world when she sees that the world is unfair  painful  and maybe even a little less hopeful than when the movie started . few movies can truly capture the wonder of childhood and the pain of adulthood so perfectly . this movie has since the first time i watched it stuck in my mind . its in the my top    movie list and deservedly so . i only wish more movies like this were made  because if so . . . my faith in hollywood would be a lot better .  
i searched video store everywhere to find this movie  being the huge elvis fan that i am  and i found it to be a huge disappointment . kurt russel had most of the  elvis moves  down and the voice imitation was great  but the dubbed in singing voice of elvis just didnt work for me . the voice didnt always match up with russels mouth  and it was hard for me to get lost in the plot because it bothered me that it was noticeable . also  there were so many freaking discrepancies in the film  people who dont know much about elvis would probably think them to be facts . songs are sung by him earlier than he recorded them in real life  the time when he got his first guitar is wrong  im pretty sure his brother jesse garron was buried in an unmarked grave  not one with a huge headstone reading jesse garron . i know it was just a tv movie  but they skipped over important events  like the come  back  special  and dragged some scenes out for way too long . if you want to see a good movie that shows elvis in his prime rent thats the way it is  or another elvis concert . hearing and seeing the real elvis preform is the only way to truly see his talent .  brilliant statement i know  but still . . . go out and rent a good elvis flic .   
  the man in the moon  is a pretty good movie . it is very touching at times and is very well done in all respects . i wouldn  t say the film was terribly original  but what is these days   br    br   the cast members all did a great job with their respective roles . i really enjoyed seeing reese witherspoon at such a young age  and does quite a good job . jason london does a fine job as well . and the only other person i recognized was sam waterston  who did a fantastic job with his role . i really liked sam  s character  matthew trant  a lot . at times he seemed to be the kind of father you dread  but in the end you really like his character . the rest of the cast was very good as well .  br    br   if you  re into touching movies about growing up and dealing with what life throws at you  then you ought to watch this film . i  d suggest reading the plot synopsis and if that sounds like something you  d be interested in  then go for it . anyhow  hope you enjoy the film  thanks for reading   br    br    chris  
jim belushi is having a mid life crisis  nothing is going right  when his car goes out on him . . he goes into an empty bar where michael caine shows him what life wouldve been like if one event in high school had come out differently . . a good premise with some moments . . but mostly flat and uninteresting . on a scale of one to ten . .   
as i watched this movie i began to feel very nostalgic . as a child growing up in a rural area i felt as if i was a kid again  the swimming pond  it  s called a  tank  in central texas   the running through the countryside like a wild free spirit  the story was very believable and i totally lost it and cried toward the end . through the pain we go through in life . . . life goes on and there can be forgiveness .  
i agree with other users comments in that the two main roles were well acted  that being the guy that played gary gillmore and giovanni  s role . too bad the story was so boring . not hearing about the story i knew nothing of gary gillmore before the movie so i didn  t know what to expect . i thought it would be something like dead man walking or the chamber but how wrong i was . the whole movie was just talking  talking and talking about their mom and dad . the only cool scenes were the flashbacks where the dad would lose his temper . that was the only interest i got from this borefest .  
reese witherspoon plays dani  a young country girl that falls madly in love with the new   year old neighbor  court  played by jason london . court tries his best to make dani realize that the difference in their ages would make a love relationship improbable . soon the nubile charm of dani starts winning over court  s will . next enters the meeting of dani  s older sister  played by emily warfield  and the beginning of a short lived love  jealousy problem .  br    br   tess harper and sam waterston round out the cast . this is a fresh  free spirited but heartbreaking drama that touches down deep . feel free to cry .  
the first scanners may not have been a great movie  but at least it was original . there is no such novelty to this one . the acting is worse  in my opinion  and the story is slower and nothing special . i also didn  t like the dialogue . and the special effects are no better than in the original . this is movie is inferior to the first one in all ways . the only thing different about it  is that it is loud and chaotic at times . but that doesn  t make a good movie . if they had done something better with the story and made it interesting  this could have been a decent movie . i actually couldn  t get through it all without fast forwarding through it . to me  this is a forgettable movie  and not much more . despite all that  there are worse movies . being in a generous mood  i  ll give scanners  a     .  
dani  reese witherspoon  has always been very close with her older sister maureen  emily warfield  until they both start falling in love with their neighbor court  jason london  . but it is not after a terrible tragedy strikes that the two sisters realize that nothing can keep them apart and that their love for each other will never fade away .  br    br   this was truly a heartbreaking story about first love . probably the most painful story about young love that i have ever seen . all the acting is amazing and reese witherspoon gives a great performance in her first movie . i would give the man in the moon  .      
dr mordrid is terrifying . i would not recommend any adult or child see this unless they are rampaging murderers already . there is so much filth in this movie it hurts my yes . speaking of eyes  there are eyes in the sky  against a backdrop of stars . only the devil himself could have imagined such a wicked thing . i rented out every copy i could from local video stores and crushed them with a  pound crucifix . that movie should remain locked in a cellar behind the  th dimension with all the other disgusting beasts of hell . that is where this movie belongs . i suggest if you want some scandalous entertainment  go and rent all dogs go to heaven  or angels in the outfield . those movies are worth seeing . if you want to commit a sin and love terrible movies  you need to see dr . mordrid .  
a   year old girl develops her first serious crush on the   year old boy that lives near by  while simultaneously trying to overcome her feelings of inadequacy in comparison to her older sister . that is the simple premise of this beautiful  poetic coming of age film from director robert mulligan . mulligan is famous for previously directing summer of    in     and to kill a mockingbird in      two giants of the coming of age genre . here he directs newcomers in the principal roles reese witherspoon  in her film debut  as the   year old girl emily warfield  as the older sister jason london  as court  the   year old boy . reese witherspoon is astonishingly good in her film debut  displaying every emotion that a   year old girl feels in experiencing young love and hurt  never striking a false note . warfield and london are both equally good as well . the film accurately depicts each adolescent  s thoughts or feelings in regard to love with heartfelt sensitivity  never crossing over into maudlin excess even once . kudos to the autobiographical screenplay from jenny wingfield this is one of the very few films about young love that is honest and consistent in tone without being emotionally dishonest or sensationalist . the music is wonderfully simple  accentuating the tone and mood from scene to scene  but never becoming intrusive . the beautiful cinematography is by famed horror director freddie francis  who was in his    s when this was shot . tess harper and sam waterston play the girls  parents with dead aim accuracy for      caring  strict  and emotionally simple . gail strickland is good also as the boy  s mother . there are feelings to sort out  lessons to learn  and truths to face in this sweet  natured film that packs an emotional wallop . to date  this is robert mulligan  s last film . this is one of the very best films of     .  of  stars .  
this motion picture comes straight out of the dark dungeon of full moon entertainment . this production company gained fame and fortune during the first half of the    s by producing terribly bad and cheesy horror movies . the most famous disasters in their ouvre are  subspecies    seedpeople  and  trancers  . none of these are recommended and neither is doctor mordrid  actually . hyperactive director charles band did come to the right company for his film . doctor mordrid is amazingly dumb and cheesy and almost completely humourless . i only saw it because it stars jeffrey combs . i learned that it can have several disadvantages if you  re a fan of him . for every good movie  it seems like he has made  inferior ones . anyways  the story is about the battle between  ancient sorcerers . one good one who  s here since    years to protect the humans  jeffrey as dr . mordrid  and one wicked one called kabal . he wants to destroy every form of human life for some reason i already forgot . combs gets his instructions from mentor . that  guy  only exists of a pair of eyes in space . very very cheesy  that is  every once and a while a blinding lightflash is shown on the screen but that  s about the only form of special effects this movie has got . the whole thing is just a piece of whining and nagging and when the two wizards finally face each other  it  s over before you know it . . . i would have expected for the wicked wizard to at least fight back a little  but nooooooo . . . . in some scenes  you really can detect some originality and creativity  like for example jeffrey  s lecture about the influence of the moon on criminals  and if you really pay attention  you might even find some very small but nice aspects  like the raven which is called edgar allen  but overall  it  s a terrible waste of time and energy . i  m a big fan of jeffrey and maybe he is a superhero in my eyes . . . but he sure doesn  t have to put on a stupid maillot for that .  
perfect movies are rare . even my favorite films tend to have flaws  rear window looks a little stagey at times  chris elliot  s character in groundhog day doesn  t work  the music score in best years of our lives is too cheesy  the beginning of nights of cabiria is a little too slow  but this film is perfectly executed from start to finish .  br    br   the script is brilliant  the acting is superb all around  although reese witherspoon and sam waterston are amazing  the whole cast shines   the directing and the photography are inspired  and the music score is touching without being intrusive  like some miramax scores that are too manipulative  . every sad moment is truly moving  every light moment makes me smile . this truly is one of the best films i have ever seen and i wish there were more films like it .  br    br   i am glad that reese witherspoon has gone on to stardom after this film  but i am sorry to see that her recent movies are so much more escapist and silly than this serious film which is about real people  real feelings and real problems . brilliant  a must  see .  
i saw this recently and i must say  i was moved by the factual basis of the story . however   holly  as a movie did not quite work . i am however  looking forward to watching the documentary which the producers who organised this project had made because i think that would be a much more compelling work than this film .  br    br   the international cast was composed of b  class actors but their acting was appropriate  and i must give a special mention for the young actress who played holly . this was her first movie role and she did a very nice job  considering hers is the most challenging part .  br    br   ron livingston was adequate but bland as patrick  the american whose quest is to  save  holly  but chris penn was good in this  his final role . unfortunately  despite my mostly favourable opinion of virginie ledoyen and udo kier  both of these actors were very much forgettable and did not do their best work in this film .  br    br   i believe in the film  s message and intention  but i have to be fair  so i rate  holly   stars based on its shortcomings as a movie . but i think the subject matter deserves serious consideration and i am pleased that the people behind this movie have made a documentary as well which i hope will have its debut on bbc and other tv networks .  
  the man in the moon  is a beautifully realistic look at life through the eyes of an adolescent . director robert mulligan magically re  creates screenwriter jenny wingfield  s autobiography of her childhood with gorgeous cinematography and a haunting  lyrical musical score . this film hits home as one of the most powerful and emotionally affecting films in recent times .  br    br   this film is incredible  all the acting first rate  especially sam waterston and an astonishing performance by reese witherspoon in her film debut . you will feel every emotion as this life changing summer in     on the trant family farm comes to a conclusion .  br    br    the man in the moon  was a limited release in      and you will love the fact that most of you  re family and friends will probably have never heard of it . buy this dvd and enjoy    minutes of pure poetic art . this film is truely the essence of filmaking at its finest .  
when they killed off john amos  s character they killed the show . he was the vital part of the info structure . you had a story of an inner city family  s struggling to make it the best way they knew how . they were poor  they were black  and they were living proof that if you have jesus and your family that nothing is too hard . sure james would lose jobs and jj would fail in school but the family always managed to find a way .  br    br   james was the strong male role model that earned the income and disciplined the children . florida was the strong lady that would everyone including james when he needed a shoulder to cry on or hug to make it . the kids had personalities and input which made them important as a family unit . their neighbor willona was also a key element because she represented not only a friend but some dear enough to be family . things were bright  gritty  funny  and honest until they changed the course of the program . james dies and jj took over the show .  br    br   flo was still mom  thelma was blossoming into a lady and michael was still the militant midget but jj was the show . we were expected to believe that the family with no father or prominent bread winner was going to be able to stay in the apartment . i guess james  s paycheck didn  t do much for the family . they were only threatened with eviction because they said they were moving and not because no one in the house was working . i know that jj  flo  thelma and even michael eventually got jobs but come on here be for real . james worked so much that you could feel for him but the others weren  t realistic at all and that  s a shame .  br    br   jj was the comic relief but i felt the show need substance . it  s ok to be funny but they had a chance to show a real family and what it took to survive in the real world and they threw it all away on a few laughs . michael  s character almost disappeared while the rest of the cast slipped into the shadows of the jj evan  s show . i mean really  here was a guy that was failing in school  he kept getting laid off  and he painted for money in about two episodes . james had always been there to encourage his talent but flo and the rest of the family didn  t seem to care .  br    br   why did it take him so long to understand that painting was what he was meant to do  he could have sold painting  s on the street or worked for people that print billboards and cards .  he did but something went wrong with that .  why did he not make it and why did the others give up on their dreams  i  ll tell you why  it was because they didn  t have a father in their life to care and to cheer them on and their mother stopped being their to support their dreams . the show stopped teaching us about growing  building and learning and started teaching us about gimmicks and catch phrases . they should have kept james . if any show needed a father it was that one .  
what a delightful movie . the characters were not only lively but alive  mirroring real every day life and strife within a family . each character brought a unique personality to the story that the audience could easily associate with someone they know within their own family or circle of close friends .  br    br   the story has a true  to  life flow that the viewer can assimilate into and be part of the drama  the laughter and tears as the plot of the movie develops . the script does a good job of capturing the common emotions  actions and reactions of the characters to conflict  opinion  and resolve .  br    br   not an epic  but it is a very nice movie to watch with loved ones . plenty of knowing head nods and  ahhh  moments to share and enjoy .  
this had to be one of the worst films ever . when kate shows up and jed is with a bunch of guys and they all start clapping . . . so hollywood . another bad scene was when kate was running her hands over the pavement it appeared that she was examining the texture of the pavement . andie  s acting is so bad in this film  i could not connect with them or feel there love for each other . the other  women however were very good and overshadowed andie . anyway this was such a campy movie . i usually like these type of films but i just couldn  t get into this film . too many unlikely situations and again andie  s acting didn  t help the film . also  she is all gums . lancome must put her makeup on with a putty knife because she looks glamorous in the commericals .  
this show is good . i like the acting  funny bits and the cuteness of it . the actors  lee pace  ann friel . . . etc  they all did great in the show . the show started off great with its funny  illogical basic idea of bringing dead people back in the first series and honestly  as what people said  the first few episodes of the second series were a bit of a let down but it later came back looking good anyway . and now i really hate the fact that it  s going to be cancelled . why doesn  t abc just let it finish until the very end when all the episodes are already done   i really wanna know how the story  s going to be . i think it should be given a chance as there  re still so many viewers who love it .  
i liked how this started out  featuring some decent special  effects especially for a film   years old . there was some pretty impressive scenery . however  the film bogs down fairly early on with some very dumb dialog as the males all try to flirt with anne francis  altaira morbius .    br    br   viewing this in the    s after a long absence  it was fun to see francis again  an actress who has done mostly television shows since this film was released . . . . and is still acting . it also was interesting to see a young  looking leslie nielsen   dr . john j . adams    who i wouldn  t have recognized had it not been for this voice  br    br   i watched half of this movie before the boredom came almost overwhelming and i had a strong desire to go to sleep . i appreciated them re  doing this vhs tape in stereo . but it was a weak effort . this is one those overrated film where  elites  think is so  heavy  and  thought  provoking .  that  s nonsense . it only appeared  intelligent  because the rest of the    s sci  fi films were so stupid    br    br   some if the early scenes would have looked great on wideescreen  which i didn  t have at the time of this writing . perhaps another look  this time on the  .     widescreen transfer would make me change this review .  
at first i was weirded out that a tv show  s main character could bring the dead back to life  but then i thought i  d give it a shot . guess what  i love  pushing daisies  and look forward to wednesday nights just to watch it  then for the next week i watch it a few more times on my dvr . the colorful characters  witty banter  fast  paced dialogue  and new unique situations draws me in and captivates from beginning to end . ned and chuck charles  relationship is interesting to watch as they work their romance around the fact that they cannot have physical contact . even detective emerson cod  s character has continued to grow in complexity . and olive snook  jiminy crispies  she cracks me up  the narrator  s voice is fun to listen to and the cinematography gives me the impression that i am watching a movie instead of a tv show . i have recommended my family and friends to turn on  pushing daisies  and they are hooked too    the show is well worth waiting a week for a new episode and if you have not seen  p . d .   i highly recommend watching it   
i wouldn  t rent this one even on dollar rental night .  
  imagine if you could bring things back to life with just one touch  as soon as i first heard that  my attention was locked on the trailer  and after the first episode i found my self in love with this show . a modern day fairy tale that brings my spirits up and holds my attention throughout the entire show . i think the acting and casting is just perfect  each character brings something unique to the show that adds to it  s perfection . even the one time villains manage to overflow with a unique sense  from the bee man to the guy who can swallow kittens  they never seem to let me down . and the deaths that would normally lead to a depressing moment often end up being purely comical  such as an exploding scratch  sniff book   br    br   even with the large amount of crime shows we have now a days  daisies is one of the few that really stands out from the rest  being not just a mystery but a love story  comedy and a fairy tale with a hint of drama all baked into one wonderful pie . . . . . err show .  br    br   what really shocked me was the fact that it was on abc  for years i never had a reason to turn to abc  but this brought me back each week with a smile on my face . it was as if pushing daisies brought abc back to life for me . but just like that  after two seasons  a few awards  a large fan base and positive responses from critics the show has been dropped . it seems as though ned has touched abc again and forever killed it for me . i will always be a fan of this show though  and i recommend this to anyone who likes a lot of talking and a lot of love from the shows they watch .  
what was the purpose of this film  i suggest it was to make a handful of actors and their producers and director a big payday for doing nothing . even my favorite actor  bruce dern  couldn  t keep my interest in this boring movie . a braindead ex  pugilist falls in with a weird woman and her relatives . he starts out as a fix  it man for the woman  and winds up beating a man and getting caught up in a kidnapping scheme . it was so confusing i can  t even write a decent critique . if you see this one  my sweet  make sure it is after dark so you can go right to sleep .  
i recently started watching this show  and i have to say that it really made me laugh . you have to appreciate the unrealistic aspects of it  along with everything else . some other people said this show should have more realistic reactions of the dead  among other things . if you are going accept that ned can bring the dead back to life  you have to accept that the other completely crazy bits of the show . i couldn  t help smiling after every episode i watched . i really think it  s great there is a show out there that can take a very strange subject and really make it great to watch . i absolutely love the narration  i think it adds that extra bit of wonder to the whole show . you can  t always compare old shows by a writer to his new ones  you have to take everything as it  s own entity . definitely give it a chance  and just enjoy the ridiculous parts as they are .  
a dreary  hopelessly predictable film set in a most unpleasant setting  lower coachella valley  . acting is as amateurish as any i  ve seen . looks like a screenwriting    script . however  it does function as a great sedative .  
pushing daisies truly is a landmark in television as an art form . everything seems to pay homage to amelie and tim burton  but so what  in a world where fresh ideas are distinctly rare  this show will guarantee that you do not care about whether its fresh or not . it is just brilliant .  br    br   i have been captivated from the start  the intelligent writing  the directing to the backdrops and dialogue make this show the most incredible masterpiece since the shield and the wire  ok not exactly good comparisons but the beauty of pushing daisies is that it has no comparisons on television  .  br    br   truly addictive and an absolute pleasure . perhaps like one of the piemakers pies that get mentioned in such tantalising ways .  
this had high intellectual pretensions . the main lead intends to give a  deep   meaningful  rendering  with voice over for his frames of mind naturally  and he was certainly influenced by the fifties  sixties  method   which  when the script and the direction were worthwhile did give stunning results  see clift  newman  winters  . but here the story is abysmal . besides it moves too slow  you could edit at least   minutes  including pointless flashbacks  and the plot line would not be changed . at times  it  s very doubtful that bruce dern believes in his  uncle  character and his portraying often verges on parody . an interesting side is only skimmed overthe relationship young boy  hero  if we admit that the hero is himself some kind of child  when he says to the young kid that he would let nobody do harm to him  some welcome tenderness emerges . but it  s botched and only the final scene returns to it .  br    br   word to the wisetake foley  s  at close range  insteadit has two great actors  christopher walken and sean penn together    it  s also an offbeat movie  but it  s gripping  suspenseful . here my hitchcockometer points sullenly towards zero throughout .  
that  s what t . v . should be . and pushing daisies lives up to those expectations . a beautifully crafted and well  designed show  pushing daisies is one of the few shows left on prime  time that has integrity  is good for the entire family and sparks your imagination . it  s not about the normal action  sex  money or murder angles of every other show on t . v . it  s a show that makes you think and laugh  but although the basic plot may seem impossible  the concepts are real to us all . wanting something you can  t have  hoping for someone to want us  running away from your past and searching for family  even in the most unlikely of places  etc . . .  br    br   i realize that abc has basically canceled this wonderful show at this point  and will most likely replace it with some show beyond the point of integrity . i suppose everything does come back to money . . . it  s too bad that there are now no other shows on abc that actually make you feel good after watching .  
a film so insecure the creaters perhaps hoped to milk an original film noir classic title   farewell my lovely   thinking the gullible would assume it a remake . the characters are so foul and unappealing that it deserved its cold reception when first released . time only adds to it its absurdity . having none of the guile  cinematography  desperation or despair of classic noir it relied instead on a convoluted and senseless crime plot that would have easily resulted in several arrests within hours . as if that weren  t enough it threw in an utterly sexless attempt at erotica in which at least one of the participants hadn  t bothered to bathe in several days . this only made this mess all the more painful to watch . find a good classic forties or fifties film noir instead of wasting two hours on this failure .  
when i first heard about the show  i heard a lot about it  and it was getting some good reviews . i watched the first episode of this  forensic fairy tale   as it so proclaims itself  and i really got hooked on it . i have loved it since . this show has a good sense of humour and it  s fun to see a good show like this . the cast is excellent as their characters  and i wouldn  t want to change them in any way .  br    br   for those unfamiliar with this show  pushing daisies centers around a man named ned  aka the pie maker  played by lee pace  who discovered a special gift when he was a boy he could bring the dead back to life with the touch of a finger . he first did so with his dog  digby . however  there is the catch if he keeps a dead person alive for more than one minute  someone else dies . he learned this when he brought his mother back to life  and his childhood crush  s father died in ned  s mother  s place . the other catch is if he touches the person again  they  re dead again  but this time for good . he learned this when his mother kissed him goodnight . his father took him to boarding school  and when he left  ned never saw his father again .  br    br   almost   years later  ned owns a pie bakery  cleverly titled  the pie hole .  a co  worker of ned  s  olive snook  kristin chenoweth  has a crush on ned  but ned rejects her moves  trying not to get close to anyone  learning from past experiences . private investigator emerson cod  chi mcbride  discovered the gift that ned has  and decides to make him a partner in solving murders . ned touches the victim  asks who killed them  and when the minute is up  he touches them again  and they solve it . that  s how they usually solve it . throughout the episodes  the murders have very interesting plots and be what people least expect .  br    br   one day  ned discovers that his next murder to solve is his childhood sweetheart  charlotte  chuck  charles  anna friel  . he brings her back to life and decides to break the rules and keep her alive . in her place  the funeral director  who stole jewelery from the corpses  died . when emerson finds out  and when chuck wants to help with solving the murders  he doesn  t agree a bit   for a while  we hear him call chuck  dead girl  . this is all kept in secret from olive  chuck  s aunts vivian and lily  ellen greene and swoosie kurtz  respectively   and everyone else for that matter  in case anyone recognized her from obituaries  the news  etc . vivian and lily  formerly synchronized swimmers  hadn  t left the house in years . emerson  ned  and chuck agree to work together . ned and chuck grow to love each other  though they can  t touch each other ever again .  br    br   this show is funny  has terrific characters  contains great plot twists  and will definitely get your spirits up . i hope it doesn  t get cancelled at   episodes .  
i read some gushing reviews here on imdb and thought i would give this movie a look . disappointed . on the plus side the male leads are good  and some interesting photography but as a whole this movie fails to convince . seems to be full of its  own self indulgent importance in trying to say something meaningful but falls way short and all in all the picture is an unconvincing mess .  br    br   it is one of those films classified as a film noir which can be defined as follows  br    br    a film noir is marked by a mood of pessimism  fatalism  menace and cynical characters  .  br    br   well that is the story here  losers stumble upon each other with their collective problems that include mental illness  alcoholism  laziness  indebtedness etc and together they conspire to kidnap a child and outwit each other .  br    br   would have been a much better movie if the story was confined more to the kidnap instead of the character failings of the kidnappers . i thought the female lead was way out of her depth and came across as an amateur actress .  br    br   whilst some good moments  i finished up feeling i had wasted my time .  br    br       .  
this show was appreciated by critics and those who realized that any similarities between  pushing daisies  style and anyone else  s was not a steal .  yes  i  ve seen  amelie .   pushing daisies  is somewhat similar but still different enough to be original .  rather  there are too few shows on tv that have this kind of quirky charm . the greatest similarity is to  dead like me  but  p . d  comes by that similarity honestly bryan fuller created both shows .  both shows involve an  undead  young woman  for example .  this show never stopped being funny and charming  and it was always odd  yet was consistently humane .  br    br   i must say a word about the conventions of on  going story lines . some people have complained that this show lacked a moral center because in the first  and several subsequent  episodes ned seems to get away with causing the death of chuck  s father without consequences of any kind . first of all  this must be a new definition of  without consequences of any kind  because  in spite of the fact that ned was only a boy and did not realize that he had caused the death of chuck  s father  he nevertheless felt guilty from the moment he realized what he had done . further  about a dozen episodes into the series  ned finally did confess to chuck that he had caused her father  s death with his gift . now  there are no police to charge people with magically causing one person  s death by bringing another person back to life  so the questions of absolution and restitution have to be taken up without societal guidance . in other words  it  s between ned and chuck  who was not inclined to forgive ned anytime soon .  br    br   but this does point out a problem with continuing story lines in network dramas . i remember when david caruso  s character on  nypd blue  did something wrong and it seemed he got away with it   for a whole year   then he got caught and was forced to resign from the job  and left the show  . the point is  viewers should learn by now and not assume that just because a regular character does something wrong in a single episode  and is not caught in that episode  that he has gotten away with it . there is always next week   and maybe even next year .  
i dunno what the hype around this is . . . this is really a bad movie . . . it did nothing to me  the only descent scene is where everyone comes together at the party  and a nice song is playing  uplifting beat and nice cinematic shots that make you move . . . . that was the best part of the movie . . . otherwise this film lacks everything to suck the viewer in there  s no story  there  s nothing to think about like some people say  there  s no cohesion between the different stories . . . it was more of an attempt to re  do anderson  s  magnolia  which was brilliant  but it fails blatantly . . . okay it  s light and easy to watch  but that are movieclips too . maybe first write a story before you make a movie . . .     one of the worst belgian movies i  ve seen  
many of these other viewers complain that the story line has already been attempted . that may be so  but the addition of the narrator and dr . suess like scenery makes this show a must watch . with adult innuendo throughout the series and a touch of childhood through the set  the show is both reminiscent and invigorating . the investigative portion of the show is not what drags viewers in . the twisted plot and love lines scattered throughout this seeming paradise are what keep loyal viewers coming back for more . this is a success that abc should never let go of . bravo abc . lost was getting old  way to revitalize prime time .  episodes prior to the writers strike left audiences wanting more .  
how is it possible that no journalist or critic reminded us of the resemblance with that other better flemish movie  congo express         there are also some characters in congo express put together without having really a relation to each other jean   de congolees   the workman  the two taxi  drivers  the street  singer  roger  guy  lucienne and gilbert . of course  tom barman is a star and luc gubbels wasn  t . that should not be a reason to pardon the flaws in the script  if there is a script  of anyway the wind blows . the joke  the only one   at the party about the ice in the refrigerator is taken from that great flemish movie  de witte        where de witte is putting too much salt on the potatoes . some accidents happen in the movie but there comes no explanation after . tom barman delivers us here a movie that is more like an experiment to watch at the television than a movie for the theatres . another missed chance for flemish cinema .  
i love this show . now  i  m not a big fan of many science fiction shows  so if it bares any resemblance to them  i didn  t notice . i like the storybook quality of the cinematography . i even like the love story  even though as i am enjoying it i wonder in the back of my mind how the heck that part of the story can truly develop seeing as ned cannot touch chuck or else . . . well  you know . i even like chuck  i don  t find her annoying at all  and i generally hate overly sweet  nice  perfect characters . i even like the narrator  s voice  even if it bothers one of my family members and bares some resemblance to some walgreens commercials . i could nitpick about all the other things about ned  s predicament and how the writers are going to address it in the future but i just rather watch and wait and see what tale the writers weave .  
this whirling movie looks more like a combination of music  clips at mtv than as a real movie . there is no real story and as the movie goes on you ask yourself  what is going to happen    but nothing happens . the story around eric cloeck  the frustrated writer  is the only good thing . the other persons seem to have nothing in common then why bring them together in a movie . with music you can make watchable the worst movie . when i open the tap and there comes water out with the music of bach then most people will like to look at it but this is not a movie . the director should learn how to write a script for a movie of    minutes or more before starting to direct a movie .  
i actually found this movie  interesting   finally one worth my time to watch and rent . it is true . . . some scenes were over the top on emotionalism  shouting  etc .  but what movie doesn  t stress its agenda  genre or  ax to grind   almost none  what surprised me is that i read a review elsewhere done by a s . fran reviewer on another review site  but found his negative review instead a more accurate description of his  own  review of the movie not of the movie at all . anyone that watches this movie will realize that it is great to recommend to family and friends no car chases  yea   being  in  an italian family myself  i can fully relate to the environment portrayed on the screen . the movie has its tear jerking parts as well . it is what real life can be in such an environment . nice movie .  
this film is a calculated attempt to cash in the success of sex in the city and four weddings and a funeral . in fact  if they  d called it sex at a funeral  they might have done better at the box office .  br    br   but the film falls between two stools and can  t get up . the characters spout improbably bright dialog  but never act in any way remotely recognizable as human . one arbitrary  senseless action follows another to advance what passes for a plot  and one soon tires of the falsity of the whole enterprise .  br    br   andie macdowell gets points for acting her little heart out  but the performing honors are stolen by imelda staunton  as of all things  a police detective  don  t they have a height requirement over there   . ms . staunton seems unable to make a false move . would that we could say the same about the writer  director .  br    br   if notting hill annoyed you as being bogus  stay away from this one . phonus bolognus on the half  shell .  
i instantly fell in love with  pushing daisies  . this show manages to put a smile on my face with it  s great storytelling  witty dialog and great acting . but that  s not all it also manages to keep you until the end . the basic idea behind the show  bringing people back to life with one touch  ending the undead status with a second  is interesting and could still be in later seasons . but the suspenseful murder cases  the unique look of the show and the highly proficient narrator add to the experience . but  pushing daisies  is more than it  s parts . it has a certain charm that i really enjoy and i  m looking forward to enter the world of ned and chuck for a second season .  
the story is about the life of common people from antwerp  living their lives . so i said it  and there is nothing more actually to tell about the story . the movie is fast  like an mtv  flick  and well photographed and we feel that the director is talented and should do more films . so let  s forget about this one and hope for the best with the next deus  barman picture .  
this is indeed a funny show  done in a creepy sort of way  much like a tim burton film . it  s worth a look  as it  s far more creative than most of the shows this season . best of all  it  s not a  reality  show . i  m wondering why the viewing public is so ready to accept shows like that  which lack creativity  and ignore wonderful shows like this that actually have a creative bent .  br    br   while some decry the premise  i think it  s really unusual . much more enjoyable than  ghost whisperer  and  medium  . i think it  s the funniest thing on the tube since  my name is earl  .  br    br   oh  and the narration and music are wonderful . if you enjoy shows that are a bit off the beaten path  i  d recommend it . it  s not as strange as twin peaks was  but it  s got a serious kink to it .  
okay . . . it seems like so far  only the barman fans have commented on this film  time for a counterpoint . beware  this writeup is long .  br    br   for those not in the knowing  mostly the non  belgians   tom barman  director of this film  is the frontman of deus  one of the better known rock bands of the late    s here in belgium . basically  they made a couple of very adventurous and innovative albums and quickly rose to fame on the national scale . then  egos started hurting and the band basically fell apart  with barman and a couple of others remaining to go on making albums under the deus  monicker . the way it always happens in such cases  the post  breakdown deus was a lot tamer and less interesting than the original . they tried to go for an international breakthrough with their album  the ideal crash  in      presenting a much diluted form of their earlier style of songwriting . they didn  t quite make it . however  egos were still pretty big it seems  big enough for barman to consider himself enough of an artist to try on movies .  br    br   more often than not this sort of thing is a very big mistake  and this film does not make the exception . and barman clearly went for art on this one  another very big mistake . for one thing  he  s a musician  not a movie director . for another  deus at it  s best made fun and provoking music  but never anything close to what i would consider art . it shows .  br    br   so  what  s this movie about  basically  it tells the story of a bunch of completely uninteresting people  doing equally uninteresting things over the course of a totally uninteresting friday in antwerp  as even more uninteresting stuff happens to them in the act of being uninteresting . the characters are shallow  the plot totally pointless and the film just doesn  t have any other redeeming qualities to make up for these shortcomings . humor  the whole film made me smile  slightly  about  times  and actually managed to provoke a single   second laugh  not quite loud  . mood  the film just doesn  t seem to show any kind of emotion or feeling at all . mystery  well   minor spoiler  the idea of the  wind  man   inspiring the name of the film  is as enthralling as a banana pepper pizza  not very  and has been done a thousand times before  anyone remember johny destiny  one of tarantino  s worst appearances on film to date   end minor spoiler  . and well  its artistic  so don  t expect any kind of real action to make up for all the previous . in other words  except for the few smiles  it bored me out of my shorts .  br    br   so what remains  well  the soundtrack is pretty good  though it suffers from some of the same problems that other ost  s have shown lately  first  it makes the movie seem like nothing more than a commercial for the cd . second  it gives the impression that barman is trying to hide the weaknesses and lack of emotional content in the film behind the content quality of the songs  which simply doesn  t work . in the end  it makes the film look like nothing more than an illustration to the songs . and sadly  it  s barmans own contribution to the soundtrack which gets the most attention  though it is the weakest part of the whole soundtrack as far as i  m concerned . all in all  it just stands to show that barman knows more about music than movies . camera work is okay as well  though not anything that would make you scream out with joy .  br    br   the only thing about this movie that kept me watching was the sight  seeing factor . since i originate from antwerp  it was fun to play a kind of  guess  the  location  game . i would hardly consider this as a quality though .  br    br   all in all  another chance lost for flemmish film . i keep on noticing that lately  the best belgian movies have been coming from the french part of the country . this is mostly because at least  they have something to tell and manage to tell it in way that is both sharp and emotional  the brothers daerden come to mind  . maybe the flemmish art  house filmmakers should try that too .  
i watched the pie  lette last night and the word that comes to mind is  original .  it is a word not used much in tv as they all tend to copy whatever the other network is doing and you end up with seven nights of crime shows  unfunny comedies  and reality crap .  br    br   the first thing that hit me like a brick was the presence of jim dale . those not familiar with the british  carry on . . .  series or those who have not listened to a harry potter book  may not be familiar with dale . i am not sure whether his presence as narrator adds or distracts . i will have to tune in more  but it does give the show a  harry potter  atmosphere . maybe that  s a good thing .  br    br   lee pace  infamous  the white countess  has a gift . it never explains where he got it  but he can bring someone back from the dead for a minute . he teams with chi mcbride   boston public   roll bounce  to solve murders using this talent . everything is fine and funny until he comes across a childhood love  anna friel  goal  the dream begins  timeline  and things really get complicated . he can  t send her back and he can never touch her . boy  would that make a relationship difficult .  br    br   i will be tuning in to see where this series goes in the expectation that it will continue to entertain .  
i don  t know what would be so great about this movie . even worse  why should anyone bother seeing this one  first of all there is no story . one could say that even without a story a movie could be worth watching because it invokes some sort of strong feeling  laughter  cry  fear  . . .   but in my opinion this movie does not do that either .  br    br   you are just watching images for     hrs . there are more useful things to do .  br    br   i guess you could say the movie is an experiment and it is daring because it lacks all the above . but is this worth  hrs of your valuable time and  eur of your money  for me the answer is no .  
thank god abc picked this up instead of fox . the best description  for those in the know  is really wonderfalls meets dead like me in the best way possible .  br    br   i  m not sure whether an experience with death and destiny early in life makes me a fan of brian fuller but i certainly enjoy his productions . i also enjoy checkered floors  pies  talking toys  gravelings and other mischievous items   while a bit  burtonesque   i certainly think this enjoys its own niche that doesn  t require j depp or hb carter to be a wonderfully imaginative playground . here we can find the joys and sorrows of childhood and adulthood crashing into each and actually making sense and making us want to live life to the fullest   
what we have here is a classic case of too much patriotism . this is what happens when you live in a small country with very little  next to none  even  cinema history . whenever somebody does come up with a slightly more ambitious film project  other than the usual dramas about struggling farmer families or long feature slapstick movies of local comedians  everybody feels obliged to love it and even responsible to spread favorable reviews across the countries  borders . this is especially the case when the writer  director of this particular film is already a nation  s sweetheart  because he  s also the founder and lead singer of a popular rock band .  any way the wind blows  is by no means a bad film  but it  s definitely overrated  if that is even possible within the boundaries of a small country  and has absolutely nothing new or even remotely original to offer . this is basically the flemish version of classic movies such as  short cuts  and  magnolia  and illustrates a mosaic of characters whose daily lives initially appear to be unrelated but eventually come together in the end . the only thing that seems to unite the eight protagonists at first is the city of antwerp  where they all live and work  but gradually the deeper relationships between them become transparent and near the climax they all gather for a party . the main problem with  any way the wind blows   at least according to yours truly  lies with the characters . they really are random  uninteresting and honestly don  t experience anything that could be considered out of the ordinary . it was presumably writer  director tom barman  s intention to depict the average  regular inhabitant of antwerp but then  seriously  what is the point  one of the characters gets fired from his film projectionist job  another one is a failed novelist struggling with a marriage crisis  two siblings recently lost their father and the most  mysterious  one of them all is followed by the wind wherever he goes . there are a couple of more characters regularly walking through the screen  but they  re even less worth mentioning . these people simply drivel on and on about very random topics  like life in the    s  dates and each other  s bowel motions  and philosophy about matters nobody cares about . some of the dialogs do evoke mild chuckles  especially the interactions between the two twenty  something guys from ghent  but still nothing extraordinary or even memorable . the film actually works best as a touristy video to promote the city of antwerp and as an extended  versatile music documentary . there are several stylish  nifty sightseeing images of antwerp and there  s always beautiful music playing  whether really loud or subtly in the background . generally speaking  any way the wind blows  is a competently made and stylish effort  but too mundane and slightly boring  and i honestly wonder most of its fans would even had bothered to watch if it weren  t a flemish production .  
i  m one of those people who usually watch programs and keep my feelings about a show private . however  pushing daisies is my exception . i became curious about the program from the commercials that aired which gave glimpses of the premise of the show . i was skeptical about it at first  especially after the finale of six feet under was still in my head . here we go again  i thought . i watched the first  second  third and all the other episodes . wow  first of all  i thought it took the subject of death and presented in a way that was palatable without being morbid . the characters were engaging and i like the thought of ned the main character not being able to literally touch the love of his life  chuck without the consequences of her dying .  br    br   most of the characters have a longing for things they can  t have . besides ned and chuck  olive longs for ned . lily and vivian longs for their niece chuck and emerson is always longing for the monetary rewards from the mysterious deaths they solve . i think the characters are picture perfect and believable . i like how emerson who is black plays off of the rest of the characters since as an african american i like the subtle cultural humor that sometimes comes from him .  br    br   all in all  this visual fairytale is one of the most valuable pieces of entertainment that i  ve seen out of the     season . i think the show has enough romance for the romantics and enough who  done  it for the mystery buffs . i just wish the writers would get back to work  so that the show can continue to evolve .  
to me this just comes off as a soap opera . i guess any depiction of profligate people can be considered  social commentary .  but in the final analysis  i simply don  t care how you characterize this film . none of the characters are very likable or engaging . i felt no chemistry between hudson and bacall . if there is a love story here  it is lost in the malaise . and despite the twist ending provided by a complete and immediate  and therefore  incomprehensible  reversal by dorothy maguire on the witness stand  the story is insufficient to hold my interest . no matter how much freudian symbolism and psychology are throw in  this story is sleazy  melodramatic and trite .  br    br   rock hudson is nobly wooden . this is lauren bacall  s least engaging role and one of her poorest performances . dorothy maguire and robert stack deliver more inspired performances  but her character is vile  and his is pathetic . robert keith  as the loving  out  of  touch father of two miscreant adult children  is the most sympathetic character . most interesting of all  however  is the severe  looking robert wilke in a small role as the bar owner . he is best remembered as a nasty henchman in countless westerns  but here he is an honest  likable fellow .  br    br   i take my social commentary with an interesting  engaging story and a few likable characters  thank you .  
i really enjoyed the first episode and am looking forward to more . a little soft on the crime front  it  s almost an afterthought and not terribly suspenseful or fleshed out  but thought the romance angle was wonderfully charming . will be watching again for sure   br    br   i  m hoping that they  ll have a bigger role for the aunts who are wonderful actresses and were somewhat underused this time around . the actress who plays the assistant  waitress  also from bewitched i think  is very sweet and bubbly and comes off as nicely dorky and sweet instead of dumb and annoying which is very nice .  br    br   check it out .  
i watched written on the wind starring rock hudson  lauren becall  robert stack  dorothy malone  robert stack was terrible  just bloody horrible  he was supposed to be a charming jet  setting millionaire  instead he came off like a jerk from the word go  the plot was stupid and overwrought and the   romantic  leads had no chemistry . somehow dorothy malone won an oscar for best supporting actress  although her campy tramp character was boring  think the older sister from splendour in the grass filled with malice and bitterness and lacking charisma . director douglas sirk has the entire cast overact their way through dialogue that felt forced and the end result was a waste of   minutes . had a cameo by the actor that played the chief on get smart  
very sweet pilot . the show reeks of tim burton  s better films . . . edward sissorhands  big fish  charlie  the chocolate factory . the cinematography  the narration  the music  the external sets all scream tim burton . there has to be a connection  or a strong influence  i just haven  t researched enough to know where it is .  br    br   as i  ve seen in the forums  yes anna friel is playing a poor man  s zooey deschanel . every time i see her on the screen i see zooey . don  t get me wrong  anna friel does a great job . her character is very sweet and lovable and you easily get attached to her . it  s more of a distraction that i keep thinking  why didn  t they get zooey deschanel  .  br    br   lee pace does a great job too . i kept trying to remember where i knew him from and just looked it up . wonderfalls    great  short lived series from     . if you enjoy pushing daisies you must go rent wonderfalls  which is another brian fuller creation . hmmmm  br    br   loved seeing swoosie kurtz  world according to garp  and ellen greene  little shop of horrors  again . two underrated character actresses that never fail to bring it with their performances .  
i saw this film for the first time not too long on tcm  s  essentials  series . the eye of the beholder clich was never more apropos . this beholder saw little of value in this one . i was puzzled by the infinite attraction that lucy  lauren bacall  possessed . granted  ms . bacall was a beautiful woman  but in this film her character comes off more mousy than attractive . i would think men like mitch wayne and kyle hadley would more likely ignore lucy than fall into an instant infatuation with her . in bacall  s defense  this film was made at the time of humphrey bogart  s last illness and the weight of his deteriorating health may have affected her performance . of course part of this mousiness on the part of lucy was to contrast her to slutty marylee  played to the hilt and beyond by dorothy malone . the scene where she engages in a wildly sensual dance while her father wearily climbs the stairs to a fatal heart attack is far and away the best scene in the film . malone  s performance outshines the rest  although jasper hadley  s weariness at the disappointing behavior of his two children is brilliantly portrayed by robert keith . generally  though  i would have to say that i  m just not much of a fan of melodrama . the cartoonish behavior of the characters just makes for a story too implausible for my tastes .  
i have been a fan of pushing daisies since the very beginning . it is wonderfully thought up  and bryan fuller has the most remarkable ideas for this show .  br    br   it is unbelievable on how much tv has been needing a creative  original show like pushing daisies . it is a huge relief to see a show  that is unlike the rest  where as  if you compared it to some of the newer shows  such as scrubs and house  you would see the similarities  and it does get tedious at moments to see shows so close in identity .  br    br   with a magnificent cast  wonderful script  and hilarity in every episode  pushing daisies is  by  far  one of the most remarkable shows on your television .  
first  let me state that i am a big fan of ashley judd that  s why i was curious to check out this  her debut role . no argument that her talent is apparent and her performance excellent . i guess i can also see how the professional critics liked the aesthetic content of the story . however  i like to think that movies are meant to entertain us and that is where this movie fails .  br    br   by the halfway point  i found myself thinking   how much longer do we have to watch a bored shop girl  idly standing around a deserted souvenir shop  rearranging the merchandise   it seemed to go on forever   br    br   then  i thought  maybe this is one of those movies where the director tries to lull the audience into a relaxed state before hitting them with some dynamic event . no such luck . the movie continues it  s bland  boring  uneventful story all the way to the end .  br    br   i  m not saying this because i  m an action  junkie . i like all kinds of movies  especially romantic  comedies . but i expect to be entertained .  br    br   add the fact that the cinematography and sound quality are comparable to your neighbor  s bad home movies . depressing   br    br   i just don  t get how anyone could like this movie . zero  entertainment value . the longest    minutes of my life .  br    br    
this show is quick  witted  colorful  dark yet fun  hip and still somehow clean . the cast  including an awesome rotation of special guests  i . e . molly shannon  paul rubens  the  stapler  guy  from  office  space  is electric . it  s got murder  romance  family  and zombies without ever coming off as cartoony . . . somehow . you really connect with these characters . the whole production is an unlikely magic act that left me  something of a skeptic if i do say so myself  totally engrossed and coming back for more every wednesday night . i just re  read this and it sounds a little like somebody paid me to write it . it really is that good . i just heard a rumor that it was being canceled so i thought i  d send off a flare of good will . this is one of those shows that goes under the radar because the network suits can  t figure out how to make it sexy and sell cars with it . do yourself a huge favor  if you haven  t already  and enjoy this gem while it lasts . ok so one more thing . this show is clever . what that means is that every armchair critic   writer  in hollywood is gonna insert a stick up their youknowwhat before they sit down to watch it  defending themselves with an  i could  ve written that  type speech to absolutely nobody in their lonely renovated hollywood hotel room . in other words the internet . this is a general interest  anonymous website . before you give your wednesday tv hour to dirty sexy money or next hot model reruns or whatever other out and out tripe these internet  critics  aren  t commenting on  give my fave  show a spin . it  s fun . good  unpretentious fun .  
ashley judd  in an early role and i think her first starring role  shows her real  life rebellious nature in this slow  moving feminist soap opera . wow  is this a vehicle for political correctness and extreme liberalism or what   br    br   being a staunch feminist in real life  she must have cherished this script . no wonder left wing critic roger ebert loved this movie it  s right up his political alley  too .  br    br   unlike the reviewers here  i am glad judd elevated herself from this moronic fluff to better roles in movies that entertained  not preached the heavy  handed liberal agenda .  
it is a pleasure to see such creativity on tv again . this show is poetic  artistic and good fun . the characters relate well and the writing is not bad  i think it will improve as they get their legs  . definitely worth a look .  br    br   the girls steal the show so far in this series . chuck is adorable as is olive . the two aunts are a delight . i sincerely hope they write them into bigger parts as they are magic .  br    br   well  that  s all the news that is fit to print . go make yourself a big bowl of popcorn and enjoy something fun in an old fashioned way . this is like dr . seuss for adults .  
there was a great film to be made about steve biko . sadly this wasn  t it . denzel washington  never the most flexible of actors  is totally unable to convey the great charisma that biko had . attenborough  s big crowd scenes are laughable . the soweto massacre wasn  t like this  three neat lines of children  some doing cartwheels   marching happily into the guns of the soldiers . with biko dead the film rapidly descends into farce . if the struggle against apartheid was anything it was a black people  s struggle yet somehow we are all supposed to be gripped by the escape of a white man and his family . i  m sure donald woods was a decent man and he would be the first to say that biko was important while he wasn  t . penelope wilton  s accent is pure hampshire and she seems completely unaware that she is in south africa at all . at all . the wood  s family dog gets more lines than the black maid . as the family make their escape one the women i saw the film with  incidentally one of only about a dozen black people in a large  full cinema  whispered  this is like the sound of music .  she had a point .  br    br   overall this is a film by a well  intentioned if somewhat inept white liberal about a radical black people  s struggle . and really south africa needs well  intentioned white liberals like it needs a hole in the head .  
i  ve always knew anne desalvo was a great character actor  now i know she is a great writer  director also . i have been a fan since i first saw her in the movies  perfect    my favorite year    dc cab  and  stardust memories  .  br    br   it  s so rare to see lee grant these days in anything . she has been missing from the screen for far too long . it  s also wonderful to see cloris leachman in something other than a sit  com . this is her best work since  the last picture show  . if you grew up in an italian american family you will love this movie . i wasn  t expecting a lot when i started watching this movie  so i was pleasantly surprised when i fell in love with this movie . if you get the chance  watch it .  
this film was choppy  incoherent and contrived . it was also an extremely mean  spirited portrayal of women . i rented it because it was listed as a comedy  that  s a stretch   and because the cover said andie mcdowell was acting up a storm in it . she wasn  t . i  m a gal  i watched this film with two guys  and we spent an hour afterwards exclaiming over how bad it was .  br    br   warning plot summary below  rampant spoilers   br    br   the movie starts out with a fairly hackneyed plot about an older woman who takes up with a younger man  to the severe disapproval of her two jealous single girlfriends . they want her to marry a boring guy their own age who is kind of in love with her . but she  s so happy with her oversexed puppy that you  re rooting for them to stick it out  and sure enough  she decides to marry the guy . but her harpy girlfriend  aided by the wishy  washy one  sets up a plot to trick our heroine into thinking the guy is cheating on her . it works . she has a fight with him  he runs out of the house and is crushed by a truck  remember the movie  s title   so now he  s dead  two  thirds of the way through the film . and although our heroine is a school headmistress who spends her time watching over girls  she apparently forgot to use birth control and is pregnant .  br    br   she  s already broken off relations with her girlfriends  because they were so unsupportive . alone and pitiful  she decides to marry the boring guy . did i mention that the boring guy who kind of loves her is a minister  she had asked him to marry her to the young guy  nice  huh    but now she tells him she  ll marry him  and apparently he has no objections to being dicked around in this fashion . but her girlfriends rescue her at the altar and take her home  where they not  quite  confess that they were mostly responsible for the love of her life getting smushed . she has the kid . in the final scene  they leave it in a crib inside her house while they go out on the porch to drink  smoke and be smug . i kid you not  it  s that bad . i left out the part about the cancer red  herring and the harpy  s ridiculous lesbian moment .  
i for one have shamelessly enjoyed every episode of pushing daisies this season  and hope that the writers  strike won  t brutally end the beginnings of a very good show . ned is a pie maker who owns a restaurant in the middle of town and has a secret talent . emmerson is a private investigator with his own unique quirks like his love of knitting . charlotte  chuck  is the once  dead  but  not  anymore childhood friend and sunny spot of ned  s life . olive is the jealous but good  hearted waitress . oh  and add the dog . jim dale brings all the characters together with his wonderful narration of the show . chuck  ned  and emmerson along with olive and occasionally the dog solve multiple murder mysteries with the assistance of ned  s special gift of bringing dead people back to life . the show is funny  clean  and romantic in a very cute and good  hearted way  and i  d recommend it to anyone .  
this show was laughably bad . the writing sucked  the dialog sucked . the guy who played craig couldn  t act his way out of a paper sack . being it was on thursday night  this was definitely great to watch with some beers . cool music  bad acting  poor writing  all came together for my entertainment .  br    br   it was a drama  unintentional comedy . i don  t care what happened to any of the characters  they were all boring and stupid . the first five episodes were the worst  since they couldn  t reveal who the victim was  they had to write the dialog around it  which was terrible . i mean  the eulogy at the funeral was ridiculous . actually  all the scenes that occurred in the present were utterly horrible .  br    br   so  let  s review . everything happening in present time sucked . the flashback scenes  only the writing  dialog and craig  s acting sucked . the music ruled though .  
first i want to clarify that the average user  s inability to appreciate imagination is appalling . what makes this show so unique is the hyper  reality it creates . you don  t need to know why ned can bring people back from the dead  or why it can only be for a minute . where has the wonderment of childhood whimsical tales gone  much like a wrinkle in time .  br    br   i say it is refreshingly original because it is a polar opposite to the masses of lay  it  all  out television that leaves no room for imagination or wonder .  br    br   it  s nice to add a bit of escapism to the television experience .  br    br   the hyper  reality is my favorite aspect of the show . the      s  esque setting  the innocent and rare characters  and the scenery and physical setting which are not meant to be taken as pure reality .  br    br   this show masks the morbid nature of death  while others embrace it . while entertaining  other television shows have taken a back shelf to this series . it truly has restored a sense of curiosity  imagination and wonder to television .  br    br   pushing daisies quickly made it to the top of my list .  
i have no idea how anyone managed to stay awake during this show . the acting was ham  fisted and amateur  the story was old news  and plot development  or lack thereof  invariably had my eyelids sagging less than halfway through each episode . that  s about all there is to say of it  because it genuinely lacked substance of any kind .  br    br   how can you people like crap like this  it  s freaking stupid  it  s an insult to your intelligence . i don  t even know how to further explain it . . . it  s as if some of you will stare mindlessly at junk like this solely because you like the way some of the actors look  or because  for whatever crazy reason  you haven  t seen the same formulas in dozens of shows a million times before .  br    br   i just . . forget it . this show sucked  and thankfully it  s gone forever . i wish they  d get to work on demolishing the o . c . once and for all .  
i have to say  when  pushing daisies  came out i was immediately won out by the fairy  tale like setting of such grimness . the narrator made a cake out of the whole ordeal by making death seem as routine as  well  ned  lee pace  baking pies . and that bringing them back to life was just as routine .  br    br   the trio of ned  emerson cod  chi mcbride  and charlotte  chuck  charles  anna friel   plus sometimes  sidekick olive snook  kristin chenoweth  who made the musical wicked such a delight  made for some fantastic dialogue and silliness . it definitely deserves the title of a  romantic  comedy  drama .  br    br   ned and chuck made for a shy and not  quite  ready  for  love couple who are still exploring their feelings even though they cannot touch  an obstacle that seems to be truly no obstacle with aids such as gloves  cellophane  and quirky schedules around the apartment . but despite the awkwardness presented as they work their feelings around a strange secret which only a few know  they still manage to show their on screen chemistry in touching scenes like when ned gives chuck the beehives . the presence of olive  though  makes for some break  out  in  song moments in the pie shop and unforeseen complications for the couple .  br    br   second season sharply declined  putting a damper on a show that had real potential . on some of the episodes  the plot line was rushed and awkward  making you ask  what just happened   in both the overall dead  person  of  the  week plot and in the overriding plot line . the addition of chuck  s father plus two half  brothers for ned didn  t help  and at least one of the plot lines felt almost recycled  didn  t the episode  comfort food  feel like the episode  bitter sweets  in the fact that the dead  person  of  the  week died in food   . a few touching moments  the beehives  happened to help advance the relationship between chuck and ned  but every time they got close  the writers decided to throw in another monkey wrench rather than let the relation develop  oliver comes back from the monastery  chuck  s dead father comes back to life and doesn  t go back  you get the picture  .  br    br   shame it didn  t work out  but the concept was good and seemed surreal in a good way  just enough pleasantvillesque color  happy  smiley going on and implausible scenarios to remind you that it  s not  dead like me .  then again  it  s in  pushing daisies time   according to creator bryan fuller  so it makes it plausible again .  br    br   it should have lasted longer  but it  s merely wistful thinking at this point . kudos to whatever new show attempts to replace this short  lived gem .  
crude  some times crass  to me that  s the summation of madhur bhandarkar  s latest work  page  . he has no point of view  just shallow  funny digs at stereotypes . what is the movie about   is it about reporting a clan of people  so called page  types  who are so busy socializing and progressing their profiles in life  that they have no time for anything else . and you are either in it or out of it . is it that there is no press at all to report everyday incidents . madhur bhandarkar forgets that there is a main newspaper and page  is just a supplement perhaps an entertainer for checking out who  s who and what  s what . don  t mix the two . and then there is power play  that would happen in every walk of life . so what have you told at the end of it all  nothing  just a few crude jokes strung together in an otherwise direction less movie .  
  pushing daisies  for sure is one of the best tv shows of its genre in the last  years  agree you with that or not . bryan fuller  the creator  has an amazing creative mind . he  s the mind behind other great tv shows as  dead like me          wonderfalls         and the other one not as great as these ones  but also interesting   heroes        . it  s a mix of the marvelous worlds brian fuller created in previous tv shows  mixing once again an amazing fantasy world with real kinds of people disguised into colorful images and exaggerated feelings  something that a fairytale always is . so  being a kind of fairytale  you cannot expect more than a unrealistic world and unexpected situations  or also situations a lot expected but not in a way that it would usually be told .  br    br   a gift always comes with a curse  and what is sweet can also be bitter . that  s so  ned  lee pace   the piemaker  is a simple guy with an interesting gift other than being an amazing chef he can give life to the dead with just a touch . this could be a power that everybody would die  or live  for if wasn  t for another simple and very sad thing he can also gives the forever dead if he touches it again . the curse of this amazing gift doesn  t stops there . . . everything has a compensation and if he brings anything to life for more than one minute  another specie of that one would die instantly . he  s a guy full of unfortunate events in life in a way that he grown up introspectively  always afraid to touch everything and lose once more things he one day used to love . till the day he could finally be close to his biggest childhood love  chuck  anna friel   if wasn  t for another sad fact she was dead . he gave her life again and she loves him so much as he does  but this love is untouchable . the truly kiss of death . and that  s how this beautiful modern fairytale starts .  br    br   when i heard about  pushing daisies  for the first time it was promoted as something very familiar  or maybe some kind of tribute  to everything that tim burton has created since  pee  wee  s big adventure        to  big fish        and  charlie and the cholate factory        . the results could not be better . the world around the pie hole was magnificent . the stories around ned and detective cod  chi mcbride  to solve unsolved crimes can be a lot common in tv  but this is just a way to guide people thru amazing stories surrounding characters as chuck and olive  kristin chenoweth  in a wonderful world full of beautiful and dreamy images that you can almost sense the taste of the colors . not only that  you are merged into a bunch of amazing and charismatic gentle characters  even those ones with the most deep dark humors .  br    br   forgetting the trivial concept of murders and unsolved crimes  the show brights and is triumphant in a lot of other things . the actors here are top of note . lee pace is tender  soft and contained as the character asks for . anna friel is the muse of the show as her character is supposed to be . but the most superb times are always with the supporting actors as chi mcbride  detective emmerson cod   swoozie kurtz  as lilly charles   ellen greene  as vivian charles  and kristin chenoweth  as olive snook  . swoozie kurtz shines performing a so dried character drowned in a impossible dark humor that could frighten a clown  for sure she has the best dialogs and her expressions and body languages are mesmerizing . but if the best dialogs are given by swoozie and her character  the best funny moments are given by kristin chenoweth . seems that she  s improvising all the time  she  s so naturally fun that every single scene is a show aside . kristin shines so bright in the show that winning the     emmy for her supporting role in the show was totally fair and deserved . also there  s the chemistry between actors and their characters  that are also amazing .  br    br   there are no words to express what this tv show really is and what it was meant to be . for those ones who think this show is a waste of time or claimed to find no sense in it  for sure needs to open their minds and comeback to a time that they probably never had childhood .  br    br   truth be told . . . tv has never been so daring in a tv show as with this amazing one .  pushing daisies  was a huge step forward in terms of great artistic entertainment and its sudden death was a lot disrespectful . it  s true that tv doesn  t respect great tv shows as those ones bryan fuller created  except  heroes  that  s still on air and is far from being so amazing as the other ones .  
madhur has given us a powerful movie chandni bar in the past . his next film page  was one of the worst movies of all time . it apparently tells the story of some high class people in india . after seeing a scene where the man forces another man for sexual reasons to star in a movie . i felt like spitting and breaking the dvd . coincidently i did . the reason why was the movie contains scenes of child pornography and molestation . i literally vomited and was shocked to see a movie showing naked children . very disturbing stuff  there was no need to show the children fully naked . one of the rich guys likes to kidnap poor children and sell them to foreign people  british men in this movie . i am shocked to know this film was a hit in parts of india  otherwise super flop in uk  usa and australia . i  m from uk  and this kind of stuff makes me sick  shouldn  t of been released in uk .  
it was such a treat when this show was on because it was such a fresh  innovative  and original show . this makes every show i  ve ever watched look plain boring . the moment the first episode aired i was entranced and i became attached to all the characters so easy  which usually never happens because i always hate a few characters  . it is a pity this show won  t have a third season  because it has to be one of the best shows i have ever seen and that isn  t exaggerating my feelings for the show at all . nothing can ever replace pushing daisies  because what could abc possibly find to replace this show  this is easily the best show on television .  br    br   i came for kristin chenoweth and i stayed because i fell in love with the entire show .  
i do not even want to call this thing a film  it is a movie that should not have won any awards . the acting was horrible as were the silly scenarios . this is exactly the sort of film that so many folks think caters to an nri audience but is in fact loathed abroad for its awkwardness and the overwhelming sense of  trying  throughout the movie .  br    br   i find it strange that so many actors conversant with the english language have such a hard time doing so convincingly in front of the camera . i  m sure many readers know what i am talking about  all those token english phrases thrown into a movie  in hindi and in regional cinema for cool points . there are few indian movies in which the english seems completely genuine  being cyrus was a recent one . although not a great film  it was a good film and the language did not seem  put on  .  br    br   i feel ashamed that p  was awarded the nfa in     . the only semi  enjoyable parts of this rubbish were konkana and a somewhat catchy background score . other than that  do not even waste your time with this film .  
 . . . but i enjoyed this show anyway . i  ve been reading some of the comments prior reviewers have had to say about this show  and i  m having a hard time completely nullifying all the criticism in my own head  except one that the show was stale this program was anything but stale  . a lot of the stuff people take issue with about this show is on the money pretentious forced overwrought desperate for attention self  satisfied annoying ever  present narration . but you know what  i really liked it . it was different  it was original  it really  really tried and that made up for all the minuses . the show was bright  verbal  quick  witty  interesting  fun to look at . . . you know  it was only on once a week  i could take it once a week and look forward to it and enjoy it . i will mourn its passing . but i guess nobody will be bringing this back to life .  
i  ve almost forever been against the inclusion of songs in a movie . my belief was that the quality of the film would automatically be improved if only those extremely annoying songs would be axed . however  things have quickly changed after watching that horrible black  no songs   this movie  page   plenty of songs  . while black was weak to an extreme  page  delivers a gripping story with some strong acting  good direction . the songs were almost incidental  blended in almost seamlessly with the film . there certainly weren  t any women getting sprayed with water for no apparent reason from mysterious water sources while gyrating wildly on the streets at night .  br    br   i was pleasantly surprised with the bold and unabashed approach used by the director . there was no glossing over of anything and almost every scene was completely believable .  br    br   i  d recommend this films for hindi  speaking people with at least a slight understanding of mumbai life . the former because the english subtitling was below par and contained many errors which  at times  completely reversed the meaning of the actual statement . the latter because you  ll definitely appreciate the accuracy of the depiction once you  ve lived it yourself .  br    br   i  d definitely rank this as a work worthy of international recognition . the scenes with the gossiping drivers was a nice touch and it served simultaneously as a source of genuine humour as well as another perspective on the whole mishmash . the movie does fall short in a few places though  where the characters sometimes say the most inexplicable things which detract from the overall direction of the film .  br    br   i also thought that a couple of the sadder scenes were not done very well . it was a touch amusing to watch  rather than arouse any feelings of sadness  the whole scene tended to come across as a bit foolish . these are minor issues though  because the film  on the whole  is truly a rare treat to watch .  br    br   overall  it  s a cynical  pessimistic outlook and a refreshing one at that  actors  not  heroes   that  s the key . a chance to glimpse believable human beings in an extraordinary setting  everyday life . a behind  the  scenes look at the extent of the depravity and a rare ray of hope for indian cinema .  br    br       .  
pushing daisies was a wonderful show . much like dead like me and wonderfalls  you can tell was created by bryan fuller . i can understand how people who don  t have much of a love for theater  cinema  musicals and the like would be annoyed . this is not a typical television program and the fantastic is too much for some . these people seem to need some a little more linear and muted tone to keep them happy . this program explodes with color  winks at old movie scenes  hums with incredible music and talented performances . there is nothing random about the choices that are made from costume to leitmotif . the story takes many twists and turns but all very accessible because the conversations are about love  honesty  courage  loss and so many other things we face every day . the only unfortunate aspect was the ending of the show and that was rushed because pushing daisies was canceled . don  t approach this as a typical tv show . think of it as an evening at the theater  then sit back and enjoy   
the film was made in     and with world war   around  the movie industry decided to capitalize on the fact that spies were around .  br    br   the film is fun to watch due to the fabulous dancing of eleanor powell . the late miss powell was certainly a great hoofer in every sense of the word . she is again paired with a very young looking red skelton here . the two of them also starred in  i dood it .   br    br   moroni olsen  who  years later  was superb as the interrogating police officer in  mildred pierce  again appears as an officer asking powell to deliver an item . trouble is that olsen and his rogues are really the japanese spies .  br    br   bert lahr is his usual brilliant self here and he gets ample support from virginia o  brien .  
after having read two or three negative reviews on the main page of imdb for  pushing daisies   and having literally minutes ago finished watching the final episode  i thought it was about time i said what i thought of pd .  br    br   first off  to address what some of the issues that i have seen other people having with this show something along the lines of  i expect the people who have been woken from the dead to have a more realistic reaction  . realistic  on this show  pushing daisies is  truly  pure and utter escapism . it  s colour palette  the dialogue used  the scenarios  situations  music all of it  to me  is just an escape from everyday life . an escape from the mundane and boring . it is here where pushing daisies exceeds exceptionally well pushing daisies isn  t for everyone a large majority of the television audience don  t  get  it  for some people it  s just too out there and silly . but for people like me  even from the first episode i watched of it  season   s  frescorts   and i was just blown away by the show . from then on  i bought both the box sets and they have barely been out of my dvd player . other people i know can  t stand it  it really seems to be like marmite .  br    br   the show follows the adventures of ned  the piemaker  with a magic finger  who brings back childhood sweetheart charlotte charles  works in association with private investigator emerson cod  owns the pie  hole and employs waitress olive snook . completing the main cast members are aunts lily and vivian  whom charlotte  chuck  is never allowed to see . they live in a fantasy world where the dead are brought back to life  everything is shown with a wonderfully bright splash of colour  and narrated by jim dale .  br    br   other than outlining the basics of the show  i really can  t praise it much more without saying just watch it . despite being screwed over by the writer  s guild of america strike  with only   episodes ever to be made  it provides wonderful plot twists  story lines  characters and situations while providing  for me  a satisfying ending  yes  i could tell it had been tacked on the end and rushed  but i was still happy with the way it went out  . whether it is creative or just pretentious  for a lot of people  me included  it made the most addictive and wonderful viewing  and i hope for the future of television that more shows like this are created so i  m not left with just      minute memories of what true entertainment can be .  
let  s hope this is the final nightmare . this is the epitome of a good thing gone bad . okay  there is still some enjoyment to be had  but only in the most mundane sense . rachel talalay had been there for the duration of this franchise  had been on the production staff and produced even . i don  t know what she was thinking  but this debacle comes complete with the human video game boy and a guest appearance by  br    br   tom and roseanne arnold  i wish i had a clue what she was thinking when she wrote  directed this disappointing piece of garbage . she even tried to distract her audience from the fact that this movie was nothing more than an over  glorified popcorn movie instead of bearing any resemblance to horror  with the contrived use of a  d ending . aren  t those glasses nifty  and you get to keep them  it  s the equivalent of  you just spent   .   making me rich . here  s   cents . now  don  t you feel special   sorry  but for me  it just did not make me feel special .  br    br   and freddy  s had yet another face  lift . this one was for the worst  i think . all the beautiful artistry that went into his  look  in the earlier films has been replaced by an obviously cheaper  less detailed set of prosthetics . he looks . . . less like the burn victim he is supposed to be  and more like he has a skin disorder . changing the lead  s makeup like that so far into a series is about on the same level as changing the lead actor . but wait  they  ve done that  and done that . so i guess it doesn  t matter . but it mattered to me . freddy is no longer scary . he  s just . . . another low  rent monster like the leprechaun .  br    br   it  s more . . . a dark comedy than the horror classic this series promises riddled with what you can only hope the writers thought were witty one  liners and clever repartee  sadly  it fell short on both accounts  .  br    br   so there  s nothing more to say than grab the popcorn and get ready to laugh  because there was not one scary or suspenseful moment in this entire film .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
pushing daisies is just a lovely fairy tale  with shades of  amelie   s aesthetic and romance . it  s got a beautiful palette  its shots well thought out and detailed  its names and dialogue whimsical and too cutesy to be real  its imagination great  and its romance deep .  br    br   watch the blue in the sky pop out at you  as blue can  t be found in the rest of the sets or shots  with few exceptions  .  br    br   watch a weirdly natural and totally satisfying song break out of a scene .  br    br   its score is gorgeous  its cast is supremely likable  there  s great music  and the two leading romantic stars can  t touch each other or she  ll die . how much more sexual tension do you need   actually  i had wished they found a way around this one  but c  est la vie  .  br    br   it is simply a show that it is a pleasure to spend an hour with  and i recommend it highly . there hasn  t been other television quite like it  and i would like to see more . it got me through a flu one crappy week  as it makes for good company .  br    br   bring it back   
in the future of      freddy is after the last surviving teenager of elm street . forsaking any scares whatsoever for unfunny attempts at humor and needless celebrity cameos  come on . . roseanne    tom arnold       wtf    this is tied with part  is the worst the demon child rapist ever got . wow was this a piece of crap . not even the great legendary alice cooper could make the stench of this movie go away . and when they hell did freddy ever have a daughter   the whole film is severely retarded in ever single conceivable way  shape  form . rachel talalay  you stink to high heaven  babe .  br    br   my grade d   br    br   dvd extras cast and crew bios jump to the  d sequence and jump to a nightmare options  more extras for the film can be found on the seventh disc of the nightmare collection dvd set   br    br   dvd  rom content trivia game screenplay and web link  
i think if you were to ask most jw  s whether they expect a miracle cure because of their faith  you will find they do not . i know i do not . what you will find instead is that they believe the promises christ made of a resurrection . so  even even if the worst were to happen and we die while holding onto our integrity  jehovah can  and will correct this .  br    br   it really gets down to a simple question is god real to you or is this all just make believe  if he is real  and you trust him  you will follow his directions no matter what the short term outcome may be .  br    br   i had a heart attack about a year and a half ago . one in my family was horrified when she saw the words  no blood  written in large letters over my chart . i reasoned with her that if i were in a position that only a blood transfusion would save my life  would that be a good time to anger the only one could return me to life when the time came  she didn  t get it   god just isn  t real enough to her . too bad . i wish she could have the comfort a strong faith gives .  
it was supposed to be the last freddy movie  and it was for over   years    you would think they would have tried to get a good movie done . but they turned out giving us the worst of the series  and that  s saying a lot  . the plot made no sense  i seriously can  t remember it   all the main characters were idiots  you really wanted them dead  and freddy  s wisecracks were even worse than usual . the only remotely good bit about this was a brief  and funny  cameo by johnny depp  the first  nightmare  movie was his first  .  br    br   also i originally saw it in a theatre were the last section  reaccounting freddy  s childhood  was in   d . well   the   d was lousy   faded colors and the image going in and out of focus . also the three flying skulls which were supposed to be scary  i think  had the opposite reaction from my audience . everybody broke down laughing . looks even worse on tv in   d . pointless and stupid   very dull also . skip this one and see  freddy vs . jason  again .  
a wonderful movie  anyone growing up in an italian family will definitely see themselves in these characters . a good family movie with sadness  humor  and very good acting from all . you will enjoy this movie   we need more like it .  
the fine cast cannot uplift this routine tale of a secretary murdered by her married paramour . in fact there are more questions than answers in this one  sided tale of romance and murder and since we are only provided with the prosecution  s side  none of these questions will be answered . this is the type of fare that appeals to the  he woman  man hater  clubs of america . as presented  it is the tale of an innocent woman who just happens to be  caught up  in a romance with a married  high  profile attorney . is it possible that if  she had not been two timing her boy friend and having an affair with a married man  the whole nasty murderous  sordid incident could have been avoided  when you watch this  don  t worry about going to the  fridge  you won  t miss anything .  
felt it was very balanced in showing what jehovahs witnesses have done in protecting american freedoms . it also showed the strong faith of two families who were first generation witnesses . i also appreciated how it showed how by becoming a jehovahs witness affects non  witness family members and how hard it is for them to accept the fact that they don  t celebrate holidays  the sad part is that non  witness families do not think of having their witness family over for family dinners  visits or give them gifts at any other times but for holidays or birthdays . when it comes to medical care the witnesses want and expect a high standard of medical care  what people forget is that blood transfusions allow for sloppy medical care and surgeries whereas bloodless treatments causes the medical team to be highly skilled and trained  which would you prefer to treat your loved ones  i highly recommend this video   
this is going to be the most useless comment i have ever put down  but yet i must do it to warn you about the atrocity to cinema that  freddy  s dead  is . it is not only the very worst chapter of the nightmare series  but is right up there with the worst horror sequel of all time  it was boring  pointless  and nearly death free . the horrible   d ending and over  the  top corny kills are enough to drive this  film  into the ground . however  it doesn  t stop there  just add bad acting  a terrible script  and a number of cheesy cameos and you  ve got yourself this heaping pile of guano  it  s no wonder why freddy  as always played by robert englund  has made two postmortem appearances . i would too if i went out like that . this is a strictly fans only movie  don  t stare at our shame .  
i am one of jehovah  s witnesses and i also work in an acute care medical facility . over the years i have seen people die from hemolytic reactions to blood transfusions  have attended numerous conferences on blood born pathogens  and have seen several patients become seriously ill from pathogens induced by transfused blood . i have also heard several jehovah  s witnesses being told that they will die if they refuse blood and after   years in the field i have never actually seen it happen  leaving the question   is it really unreasonable to refuse blood transfusions or is the community at large benefiting from the battle on this issue   the issue for jehovah  s witnesses is a moral one .  you must abstain from blood  is not an ambiguous statement . thank you for this movie and allowing comments on it .  
this movie is easily the worst of the series . though new line might just be looking at sales  they all know the only reason this one made more money than the one prior was due to its  d ending . it wasn  t that the   d was good either  because it was    s  d with the red and blue lenses  anaglyph .  it was just the fact that people wanted to see what it would look like . beyond that this movie was so poorly done  bad script  bad characters  bad acting  worse directing . this movie is trying to push the camp factor almost to the point of being like a  looney tunes  episode .  br    br   seriously  not for horror audience  because it is corny and not scary  and not funny or amusing for comedy crowds . just a total mess with some really bad cameos that are still trying to play this whole thing as camp and having it fall way short of what they probably wanted .  br    br   i remember most of us who had been fans of this series were just praying that it would end at this point because of how bad it had gotten . this is one of the movies that helped take horror out of popularity and ride a fad of belief that audiences really wanted to laugh with some stupid comedy than see a good and scary horror film .  
the young dr . fanshawe  mark letheren   an avid archaeologist  is dispatched by his museum boss to the large country home of squire richards  pip torrens   where his task is to find provenance for and catalogue the collection of antiquities and curios belonging to the recently deceased father of the squire . the squire is surprised by the arrival fanshawe  he hadn  t been expecting him for another week  but none the less welcomes him and gets his only servant  patten  david burke . . of dr watson fame   to show him to his room  as fanshawe must stay over for some days in order to finish his rather large task . patten it would seem is not the friendliest sort and seems to resent the extra work that fanshawe  s visit will entail  the large empty house providing an endless amount of cooking  cleaning and maintenance for him . fanshawe is a fussy sort  very neat and precise with everything having its place  whether they be his clothes or his books and papers and he is rather disgusted by the dirt in his room . needless to say he is rather eager to begin his work  but unpacking he finds his binoculars have been damaged in transit  so he asks the squire for a replacement pair  the squire who is a modern thinking man but also it would seem rather uncultured with such matters  is also eager to get rid of the clutter around the house  so he obliges and walks fanshawe to the top of the hill so that he can survey the estate and the surrounding villages  there the squire directs him to points of interest  including gallows hill  where locals were hung for their crimes and misdemeanours  his interest is also taken by a local abbey which the squire describes as a ruin  but fanshawe can see through the binoculars that it clearly isn  t  he investigates further and pays a visit to the site of the abbey and is shocked to find that there are but a few stone remnants  fanshawe doesn  t have too much time to think about this conundrum as he darkness falls he feels he is being watched  he feels a presence  he begins to see moving shadows in the woods  startled he runs home . over dinner he imparts details of his harrowing day to the squire  patten overhears the story and suggests an explanation for it . . the binoculars  they used to belong to a local man called baxter  whom it would seem collected bones and skulls from gallows hill  boiling them up for some concoction or other  baxter had disappeared mysteriously one night  the late squire had acquired his belongings  including a mask made out of a skull and some old etchings of the area . these etchings fascinate fanshawe as they portray the abbey he seen through his binoculars  but he learns that the abbey had been destroyed during the reign of henry vii and so it would be impossible for baxter to have drawn the sketches  never the less they are signed and dated by baxter to the recent past so he concludes that the binoculars have some special power . that night he has horrifically vivid dreams  when he wakes  he sets off with the binoculars to have a closer look at the abbey through them  what he finds surprises him but has he put himself in perilous danger by doing so  fanshawe finally becomes trapped in his dangerous obsession  as darkness falls the squire and a search party go in search of the now missing archaeologist  they are alerted by dozens of loudly cawing crows circling above gallows hill  they quicken their speed  but will they be in time to help or save fanshawe from his destiny  the ghost story for christmas series of films made by the bbc sadly ended its initial run of films in     with the ice house  they were for the most part based on the work of the great m . r . james . in     and     the series was revived briefly and thankfully a view from a hill also marked a return to the work of james  whose ghostly writings have haunted many generations of readers . director luke watson being new to the series might have worried fans of the older films  but he returns to the period setting abandoned by the later films which immediately sets the tone for a great ghost story  his direction is assured as he stays true to the mood of the masters works and gradually builds up the fear factor to a terrifying climax  all the while keeping what the viewer sees to a minimum  thus upping the tension and mystery . the autumn countryside provides oodles of atmosphere  the falling leaves and low lying sun providing an unsettling backdrop for the sinister events to come . the cast it must be said are all superb and are perfectly cast in their respective roles . the idea behind the binoculars is simple but very effective  the use of a man made object to see supernatural beings and events that the naked eye cannot see  may even have influenced lex de la iglesia in his film la habitacin del nio       of the following year  with which it bears striking similarity . i had heard mixed reviews of this particular film  but i must say i found it at all times intriguing and it even raised a few hairs on my head and gave me a few shivers  something that doesn  t happen much these days  i think any negativity surrounding the film can only be attributed to its pacing  which to my eyes is perfection but to modern audiences it will be seen as deathly slow . plenty of time is given  even within its brief   minutes running time  for character development and plot expansion and i must say its a new favourite of mine and certainly one of the better films of the decade .  
the first in the series was brilliant  easily one of the best horror films of all time . this is the crappiest . when i sat down to watch this  i was actually thinking that how bad the fourth and fifth ones were  this would have to be good after the previous terrible ones . boy was i wrong . incredibly wrong .  br    br   when i watched the first ten minutes of it  i was actually really tempted to turn it off  but i thought no  maybe it  ll improve . it didn  t .  br    br   not only is this just a dire film by itself  it didn  t need another sequel  because the last two  fourth and fifth  had already been terrible enough  also  how many times can you bring freddy back   the acting in it was terrible  the story  line was predictable and crap and it also had flaws in it as well . the way they made springwood was just totally wrong . pays no respect to the first one at  all . to add to this  the whole thing seemed really over  the  top .  br    br   some people are saying that this film was  funny  . this film is not  funny  at all . since when is freddy krueger supposed to be  funny   i would call it funnily crap . this film is supposed to be a horror film  not a comedy . if freddy had a daughter  wouldn  t that information have surfaced like in the first one   the ending was also just plain stupid and cheesy  exactly like the rest of it . this one completely destroys the essence and uniqueness of the first one . just shows itself up .  br    br   such a shame that wes craven created something so good in the beginning  yet it has to be dragged down because of this trash that belongs in the bin . they shouldn  t have even bothered making this film . nor any of the other sequels  except the third one . the third one  s the only decent one out of all the sequels .  br    br   if this was a dvd by itself and not part of the nightmare on elm street dvd set that i got  i would have chucked it out when i got it .  br    br   summary a pathetic and poor attempt at a sequel .  br    br    a complete mockery of the first film  br    br   so please  don  t waste your time on this worthless junk .  
this adaptation of m . r . james  s short story  a view from a hill  was first shown on british television in      on the little watched digital channel bbc  . i saw that it was being repeated again on bbc   and decided to give it a go  remembering the bbc  s successful      s adaptations of other m . r . james stories including  whistle and i  ll come to you my lad  and  the signalman  . though not in the same class as these masterpieces   a view from a hill  is nonetheless an enjoyable and at times suspenseful drama .  br    br   a historian arrives in a small rural village to look over the collection of a recently deceased collector of antique artifacts . whilst out in the countryside  he sees an abbey that has been in ruins for hundreds of years . but what does this have in connection with an old pair of binoculars and a gruesome legend about the ominously named gallows hill  and what do the brusque country squire and his servant know about the situation  whilst not scary in any way  i enjoyed this little production  and had the running time been longer than   minutes it could have become a truly great adaptation . as it is  it all feels a little rushed and a bit more exposition to set the mood would have been welcome .  br    br   i give it  out of   .  
this movie was just terrible  the first movie wasn  t that great i mean it  s ridiculously stupid if they didn  t have enough with the first  films you had to add another one  why just not make this into an ongoing series like james bond  i  ll tell you exactly why because the bond films are actually very very good and these films just stink  i don  t understand  was this supposed to be a cross between to genres like horror and comedy for goodness sakes my  year old niece wouldn  t be scared of such a ridiculous attempt at horror  a spit in the face of people who at least want to be scared at some point in a so called horror film . please no more of these movies .  
i must confess to not having read the original m r james story although i have read many of his other supernatural tales . i  ve also seen most of the previous bbc christmas ghost stories and this one  in my opinion  surpasses most of them  only equalling the signalman .  br    br   i can  t really fault a view from a hill  the direction and  mood  is perfect  as is the acting  lighting and  of course  the story and writing . i thoroughly enjoyed this and can only hope for more of this quality from the same director and production team . i understand that the bbc plan to make some more  not necessarily based on m r james stories  so that  s promising .  br    br         
  freddy  s dead  did the smartest thing it could  ve done after the disappointment of the fifth film . it started from scratch . sure  this  final  film in the saga is silly but at least it  s original . some of the visuals are even a bit breath  taking . and the story of freddy  s kid  lisa zane  returning to town to face her evil father is unique .  br    br   overall  the movie is nothing but another cartoon made to get kids in the theater . it has a bunch of good actors  zane  yaphet kotto  and lezlie deane  who basically look dumb and wander around like sheep ready for slaughter . it  s one  sided  it  s a magic  trick  and  in the end  it  s nothing but goofy  childish entertainment .  br    br    
jeff wincott is not only a hunk  he can kick butt  this movie has some of the best martial arts moves i  ve seen in a very long time . ok  so maybe bridgette nielson isn  t the first person i  d hire to play a ruthless politician  she did a great job nontheless  and let  s not forget that wincott has a partner in this movie played by martial arts expert  stuntwoman karen sheperd . so she  s not cynthia rothrock  who cares   she  s just as good  if not better   just check out her fight scene at the end of the movie  one word ouch    . my suggestion would be to buy this movie as soon as possible  because if you haven  t seen it  you  re really missing out on some great martial arts action .  
this movie is just bad . bad . bad . bad . now that i  ve gotten that out of the way  i feel better . this movie is poor from beginning to end . the story is lame . the   d segment is really bad . freddy is at his cartoon character worst . thank god they killed him off . and who wants to see roseanne and tom arnold cameos   br    br   the only good thing in the movie is the little bit of backstory that we  re given on freddy . we see he once had a family  and we get to see his abusive  alcoholic father  alice cooper  .  br    br   other than that  all bad . there are some quality actors in here  lisa zane and yaphet kotto   and they do their best  but the end result is just so bad . the hour and a half i spent watching this movie is and hour and half i can  t ever get back .  
this movie  with the alternate title  martial law   for some reason  introduced me to jeff wincott for the first time . and it was a great introduction . although i had never heard of him before  he seemed to be an excellent fighter . the action scenes in this movie are great  there are lots of them too  by the way . the recruit fight at the peacekeepers hq is especially good . there  s just something about one single guy beating the crap out of a bunch of people that  s really fun . and for the rest of the cast brigitte nielsen was a good choice for the villain . roles like this fits her  but others don  t  . matthias hues also did a good job  as always . he  s a great fighter and macho  like character  and was a good rival for wincott in this movie .  
i am a fan of the nightmare series but this one is horrible . the deaths are so trendy . if you were to watch this   years later the whole nintendo scene is outdated . i did like the flashbacks . i think they should have just made a prequel about when he was still alive . that would have been more interesting . this is a movie you can take or leave . depends on how much spare time you have .  
i could not take my eyes off this movie when it showed up on cable . the dialogue and costumes are of a quality most readily associated with soft  core porn . in this case the expedient plot serves as a vehicle not for sex but for serial thrashings with nunchuks .  perhaps for sex as well  but not on indian tv  anyway .   br    br   not being a fan of the genre i couldn  t place jeff wincott  and had no leads to search from . only once brigitte nielsen traded in her futuristic  nurse coif  so mayoral   for the high  top fade we remember from beverly hills cop ii did i make the positive id on her .  br    br   this movie will no doubt entertain any admirer of early    s couture or nod  and  wink schlock  la paul verhoeven . can we add a genre tag for  so  bad  it  s  good    
this movie had a good story  but was brought down because it didn  t have enough horror film elements and violence . it was like watching a live action cartoon . it would of been better if this story is what they planned from the start of the first movie so they could of played seeds for where the series was going .  
the plotkurt harris  jeff wincott   a bitter  ex  cop goes undercover in the  peacemakers  after his friend is killed by their leader . while there  he discovers that the woman wants to run for mayor  and will do anything to achieve this goal  even murder . the cast is good  jeff wincott is a good martial artist and good actor  . . . brigitte nielsen plays a sexy antagonist together another bad guy plays matthias hues also him good martial artist . the direction is good  the fight scenes also  . the rest is ok  with tony burton who plays a friend of kurt killed from nilsen  and cyndi pass plays a bad girl . from producers of another action  martial arts film  bounty tracker with lorenzo lamas  a good action film . the best film of martial law series .  
okay this is stupid  they say their not making another nightmare film  that this is the  last  one . . . and what do they do  they go on making another one  not that the next one  part   was bad  but why do they play us . anyway this movie made no sense what  so ever  it was extremelly dull  the characters were highly one dimensional  freddy was another joker  which is very stupid for such a good series . the plot is very  very bad  and this is even worse than part  and  . i didnt get the movie  its a stupid tale in   d  pointless  id say . i hated this film so much i still rmember all the parts i didnt like which was basically the whole film . this is so different than the prequels  it tries  and tries  but this one tried the hardest  and got slapped back on the face . again there were hadly any death scenes  although they were different  they sucked bigtime . how can they have gone this far  didnt they see they made the biggest mistakes at parts  and   yet they make this  its all bout the money  do not see this sad excuse for a nightmare series .  br    br   i gave a nightmare on elm street six     out of   .  br    br   good points of movie had potential with plot .  br    br   bad points of film terrible acting  lack of deaths  too funny to be classified as horror  very confusing .  
this movie really rocks  jeff wincott is terrific in the film  his fighting incredible  he is such a fast martial artist  brigitte nielsen  matthias hues was very good  mission of justice is an action packed movie that is never boring  if you like fighting movies with incredible non stop action then check out mission of justice today   
sixth escapade for freddy krueger in which he has finally managed to kill off virtually every youth in springwood now he wants to broaden his horizons and  spoiler  needs a family member in order to do it .  br    br   a failure as a horror movie because it simply ain  t scary at all . works better as a dark  macabre black comedy  to tell you the truth . freddy krueger has now been stripped of all of his ability to chill this viewer .  too many wisecracks  that  s for sure .  the actors aren  t interesting  save robert englund  as always  and an obviously slumming yaphet kotto  and there are simply far too many visual effects . the finale is ok but doesn  t provide as many sparks as i think one might hope .  br    br   in adding a new twist to the familiar dream killer  s story  it provides englund the opportunity to do more non  makeup scenes than ever before .  br    br   there are cameos worth noting a joint cameo by then  couple roseanne and tom arnold that is devoid of entertainment value  an appropriate appearance by veteran shock  rocker alice cooper  and a funny cameo by johnny depp that also sort of acknowledges the pop icon that he had become .  br    br   film debut of breckin meyer  who plays spencer .  br    br   one of the best things about it is the replaying of key scenes from earlier entries during the closing credits .  br    br        
it is a rare occasion when i want to see a movie again .  the amati girls  is such a movie . in old time movie theaters i would have stayed put for more showings . was this story autobiographical for the writer  director  it has the aura of reality .  br    br   the all star cast present their characters believably and with tenderness . who would not want mercedes ruehl as an older sister  i have loved her work since  for roseanna  .  br    br   with most movies  one suspends belief because we know that it is the work of actors  producers  directors  sound technicians  etc . it was hard to suspend such belief in  the amati girls  . one feels such a part of this family  how i wanted to come to the defense of dolores when her family is stifling her emotional life . and wanted to cheer lee grant as she levels criticism at cloris leachman  s hair color . the humor throughout is not belly laugh humor  but instead has a feel  good quality that satisfies far more than pratfalls and such .  br    br   the love that is portrayed in this cinema family is to be emulated and cherished .  br    br   it is no coincidence that the family name  amati  translated from the italian means  the loved ones  .  
i very nearly walked out  but i  d paid my money  and my nearly  as  disgusted friend wanted to hold out . after the endearing  wide  eyed innocence of  a new hope  and the thrilling sophistication of  the empire strikes back   i remember awaiting  return of the jedi  with almost aching anticipation . but from the opening scene of this insultingly commercial sewage  i was bitterly disappointed  and enraged at lucas . he should have been ashamed of himself  but this abomination undeniably proves that he doesn  t have subatomic particle of shame in his cold  greedy heart . episode i would go on to reinforce this fact   your honor  i call jarjar binks  but please issue barf bags to the members of the jury first  .  br    br   from the initial raising of the gate at jabba  s lair  this  film  was nothing more than a two  plus  hour commercial for as many licensable  profit  making action figures as lucas could cram into it   the pig  like guards  the hokey flesh  pigtailed flunky  that vile muppet  pet of jabba  s  the new and recycled cabaret figures  the monsters  etc .  etc .  ad vomitum . then there were the detestably cute and marketable ewoks . pile on top of that all of the rebel alliance aliens . fifteen seconds each on  screen  or less  and the kiddies just gotta have one for their collection . the blatant  exploitative financial baiting of children is nauseating .  br    br   lucas didn  t even bother to come up with a new plot   he just exhumed the death star from  a new hope  and heaved in a boatload of cheap sentiment . what an appalling slap in the face to his fans . i can  t shake the notion that lucas took a perverse pleasure in inflicting this dreck on his fans  i  ve got these lemmings hooked so bad that i can crank out the worst piece of stinking  putrid garbage that i could dream up  and they  ll flock to the theaters to scarf it up . plus  all the kiddies will whine and torture their parents until they buy the brats a complete collection of action figures of every single incidental undeveloped  cartoonish caricature that i stuffed in  and i get a cut from every single one . it  ll make me even more obscenely rich .   br    br   there may have been a paltry  partial handful of redeeming moments in this miserable rip  off . i seem to recall that harrison ford managed to just barely keep his nose above the surface of this cesspool . but whatever tiny few bright spots there may be are massively obliterated by the offensive commercialism that lucas so avariciously embraced in this total  absolute sell  out to profit .  
it  s a great american martial arts movie . the fighting scenes were pretty impressive for american movie made in    s . of course the fighting scenes aren  t that good as in honk kong movies  actually only few american movies have fighting scenes which are as good as in honk kong movies  even nowadays . when you watch american martial arts movie  you are expecting to see less impressive fighting scenes  but still having some nice moves  which can be surprisingly good sometimes  or at least that  s what i  m expecting from these movies . i was impressed by this film . some fighting scenes were really impressive  the acting  direction and the plot were good enough  so it  s a really worth watching movie  if you like american martial arts films of the    s .  
freddy  s dead the final nightmare starts as dream demon freddy krueger  robert englund  leaves a teenager  shon greenblatt  on the outskirt  s of springwood with no memory of himself  who he is or why he is there . the local police pick him up  take him to a youth centre where child psychiatrist maggie burroughs  lisa zane  interviews him  she finds a newspaper cutting in his pocket which leads the two to elm street in springwood where they discover that no children live there  therefore no victims for freddy kill anyone . it all turns out that it  s an elaborate plan by freddy to find his daughter  use her to escape springwood . when maggie realises what freddy is up to her  some kids decide they have to kill freddy once  for all . . .  br    br   directed by rachel talalay this was made with the intention of being the final a nightmare on elm street film which by this time had reached five  of course as any horror film fan know  s if there  s still money to be made from a franchise or a character then there  s no way in hell freddy  s dead the final nightmare was going to be the last one which  of course  it wasn  t . the a nightmare on elm street series has been a franchise of diminishing returns as the films dropped in quality as the series progressed until we got here  freddy  s dead the final nightmare which for my money is probably the worst out of the lot of them . the film moves at a reasonable pace  it  s rarely boring but it  s so silly  childish  feels like some sort of live  action cartoon with some awful set  piece horror scenes that seem a million miles from wes craven  s suspenseful  effective early    s original . the sequence where stoner spencer is trapped inside a video game being played by freddy is terrible on it  s own but then we are treated to shots of his body back in reality bouncing around the house from wall to wall  floor to ceiling which is quite the most ridiculous thing i  ve seen in a while  or maybe the early scenes when the john doe kid falls from a plane down to the ground just like the coyote cartoon character in the road runner cartoons or the absurd sight of freddy threatening the deaf carlos with pins that he intends to drop to the floor to make a loud noise or when he eventually kills him by scraping his knives across a blackboard . you can  t take this seriously  i was just sitting there not quite believing what i was seeing . when they do finally try to kill freddy the hero is given a secret powerful special weapon  yeah that  s right a pair of cardboard   d glasses  the character  s are poor  the dialogue is poor  the plot is confusing  it doesn  t really stick to the elm street continuity  overall the film is a bit of a mess  the best thing i can say about it is that it has quite a bit of unintentional humour  you can certainly laugh at it .  br    br   the film has major tonal problems as it tries to be dark  scary  sinister yet it  s so silly  simply looks ridiculous at times that any attempt at being serious falls completely flat . there  s not much gore in this one  there  s some cut off fingers  some stabbings  someone falls on a bed of nails  that  s about it . the body count is extremely low here with only three death  s . the final twenty or so minutes of freddy  s dead the final nightmare was in fact shot in   d although the version i saw presented this part as normal so i can  t comment on how well this does or doesn  t work but you can definitely see shots which are meant to be seen in   d which take advantage of the process . the special effects vary  some are quite good actually while other  s are terrible  freddy  s burnt make  up this time looks quite poor .  br    br   this apparently had a budget of about            it had an opening weekend box  office take of              the film has a few nice visual touches  gags which makes the thing feel even more cartoony than it already is . the acting is really poor from the main leads although there are a few odd cameos including tom arnold  roseanne  johnny depp  rocker alice cooper .  br    br   freddy  s dead the final nightmare is probably the worst of the entire series  apart from some unintentional laugh value there  s not much here to recommend or enjoy . fans of the series will probably like it  defend it but for me this is about as far from wes craven  s original classic shocker as it gets . followed by new nightmare       which tried to take freddy krueger  the series in a new  different direction .  
i suggested renting this movie to my friend and he obliged since he had already seen the film and he said it was okay . i thought the title was a bit campy since the version at our store was called  the fearhalloween night  . i expected this movie to be somewhat of a halloween rip off with a killer wooden guy . but it opened with a good scene and the killer murdered two victims immediately and flashed forward twenty years later where his son who had witnessed him kill the two people  including his mother  and he even witnessed his fathers suicide is going to a secluded cabin in the woods with his friends and his girlfriend where he attempts to face his fears until a wooden statue comes to life with his fathers spirit . pretty good for a sequel and i never even seen the first .  
i  m not a huge freddy krueger fan  but that doesn  t mean that i don  t like robert englund and his other nightmare on elm street movies . i think that robert is a very good actor . nobody plays a better freddy krueger than he does . but  no offense robert  this movie sucked . the acting is terrible  the plot is really weak  and freddy krueger is the only part of the cast that  s even worth watching . sometimes sequels can be better than the first  such as the friday the   th franchise  i thought the remake was the best in the series .  but this isn  t one of those movies . the original was good  the  nd in my opinion was better  the  rd was okay but i haven  t seen the others . whatever you do  don  t make the same mistake i did by watching this piece of crap .  
just watched this after my mother brought it back from america for me  was dreading watching this after all the negative comments on here but i have to say  yes the acting is cheesy  some of the effects are laughable .  br    br   but you have to remember this was meant to be     not      and for such a low budget i thought it was quite good . i enjoyed this version much more then the spielberg version i saw last week .  br    br   i have read the book so many times  and found myself going  ahh yes that  s in the book  almost all the time  with the other version hardly anything of the book existed .  br    br   so well done for at least trying to make a true version .  
unimaginably stupid  redundant and humiliating closure to the  nightmare on elm street   series  part  is so incompetent that it looks like director rachel talalay intentionally wanted to turn wes craven  s initial premise into one big bad and tasteless joke . this isn  t just the worst entry in the  elm street  saga it  s also one of the most embarrassing horror movies ever made and it downright offends fans of the genre  the story is dumb  the character drawings are ridiculous  the structure is all murky and  most of all  the special and visual effects resemble those of a tom  jerry cartoon . the sequences in which freddy krueger murders his victims are endless and very uninteresting . were we supposed to be petrified when a jabbering freddy turned breckin meyer into a video game  character and pogo  sticked him around the walls of a house  the story takes us back to springwood and it appears that freddy all of a sudden has a middle  aged daughter . you  d think he would mention that in one of his previous adventures  but no there  s only one teenage  survivor in springwood and krueger uses him to get into contact with his long lost daughter . another reason why this final installment is so awful is the completely illogical structure . the john doe  boy is introduced as the leading character but then all of a sudden he dies and the plot continues to revolve on two adults  how about that freddy krueger  who spent five entire films killing nothing but teenagers  eventually gets beaten by two adults wearing  d  glasses  sort of like ruins the whole essence  doesn  t it  as far as i  m concerned   nightmare on elm street  has always been a dreadfully overrated series but  up until now  even the weakest entries had at least some redeeming elements .  freddy  s dead   however  is simply unendurable and nobody should waste his  her precious time watching it .  
pendragon pictures  new film  h g wells  war of the worlds   the first faithful adaptation of the original novel  has been in development for about  years . a theatrical release was intended for earlier this year  march       but this never happened . the dvd was rushed out to coincide with the release of spielberg  s version  which hits theatres june   .  br    br   i liked this film  with certain reservations .  br    br   how faithful is the adaptation  it  s not quite     faithful to wells  book  but       faithful is good enough for me . at least several scenes were totally new  such as ogilvy the astronomer  s confrontation with a farmer  and the unnamed writer  narrator awkwardly having tea with his cousin . but on the whole  this film follows the book very closely   certainly much more than the classic     version by george pal .  br    br   its greatest fault is that it was obviously made on a very cheap budget . the majority of it seems to have been shot blue  screen and composited with digitally rendered backgrounds . this is particularly annoying during most of the interior shots  and scenes of crowded city streets . the overviews of     london look like something from a video game . numerous scenes in horse  carriages were faked   i guess they couldn  t afford to rent a horse . the only scenes shot for  real  seem to be those in open fields or forests .  br    br   but within those budget restrictions  they managed to do quite a lot . artistically  the film looks right . the martians and their tripods are quite well done  and very true to wells  descriptions . i was particularly impressed with the heat ray . although the thunder child sequence  which should have been one of the film  s highlights  is very disappointing . it  s a great shame that they couldn  t afford more actual sets  or better quality animation .  br    br   the acting and direction won  t win any oscars . for the most part  they are competent  not bad  but not outstanding . the music is quite good also  though not on a par with any of the major hollywood composers .  br    br   i  m actually glad this didn  t get a theatrical release  because the budget limitation would have made it look much worse on a big screen . as it stands  i would rate this similarly to a bbc  tv adaptation of classic literature .  br    br   a few nitpicks most of the scenes are presented with various colored filters  mostly red  . this may have been an artistic choice  but it is used very inconsistently  and seems more like a sloppy job of mastering the dvd . and the writer  narrator  s obviously fake moustache mutates from scene to scene .  br    br   bottom line   is it worth seeing  if you can look past the technical and budgetary limitations  and get into the story  i think you will enjoy this  especially if you  ve actually read the original h g wells novel . if  however  you are easily put off by cheap production values  you  d best pass on this  unless you  re a mst  k fan  . be warned  however that the film runs a full  hours  so i don  t recommend watching it all in one sitting .  br    br   btw an entirely different version of war of the worlds  aka  invasion   came out on dvd the same month that spielberg  s hit the theatres http   imdb . com  title  tt         . this was also made on a budget  but is updated to the present day like the spielberg film  but it  s much better  and to top it off  jeff wayne is making an animated film of his best  selling album from      but that won  t be out until     .  
warning review contains mild spoilers  br    br   a couple of years back i managed to see the first five films in this franchise  and was planning to do an overview of the whole elm st . series . however  just two years on and i find i can  t remember enough about them in order to do it  i guess they couldn  t have made much of an impression . from what i do recall  some of the sequels  dream warriors in particular  weren  t as bad as is often made out  though even the original was no classic . generally  the predictability of the premise  if people fall asleep they get murdered in their dreams  doesn  t lend itself to narrative tension . but while i cannot recall much of the first five films  i do know they never plumbed the depths of freddy  s dead .  br    br   an indication of how sick of freddy the public was at this point can be judged by the fact that the film was promoted solely on the character  s demise . the fact that the movie  s conclusion is not even hidden  but in fact the entire purpose for the film  s being goes to illustrate how vacant  soulless and cynical this venture was .  br    br   taking the morally questionable idea of having a child molester as the charismatic villain  robert englund  s in  no  way  scary interpretation booms with laughter . i always thought freddy  s mockery of the teenage victims was less aimed at the characters than at the teenage audience that could ever watch this tripe . it  s like englund  s crying out  we know this is garbage  but you  re paying to see it  so who  s the one laughing   and i  m sure victims of child abuse would be disheartened to see such an insensitive depiction of their plight . was freddy  s appearance in the films always so rudimentary  all he gets to do here is a few  haaaaaaaaaaaaaarr  har  har  hars  and that  s it . if this was the only elm st . film you  d ever seen you wouldn  t get to know the character at all . even as the character pre  death in a flashback englund plays him as a boo  hiss pantomime villain with a slop of transatlantic  ie . overstated  misplaced and not at all funny  irony .  br    br   acting is almost universally poor . just look at how many times breckin meyer overacts with his hand gestures and body language . only kananga himself  yaphet kotto  keeps his dignity . and when roseanne  tom arnold and alice cooper show up  you can almost visibly see the film sinking further into the mire . the script  too  is absolutely lousy  almost wholly without merit . carlos  ricky dean logan  opens a road map  upon which the noel coward  like freddy has wittily written  you  re fked  . when prompted for the map  carlos responds  well the map says we  re fked  . who wrote the screenplay  oscar wilde   br    br   or how about the scene where carlos is tortured by freddy  his hearing enhanced to painful levels  so freddy torments him by threatening to drop a pin  a potentially fatal sound  given that all sounds are magnified . oddly  the fact that carlos shouts at the top of his voice for him not to drop it seems to have no effect .  nice hearing from you  carlos   quips freddy  hoping some better lines will come along . it  s also worth noting that dream sleep doesn  t occur instaneously  so being knocked unconscious wouldn  t allow instant access into freddy  s world . though as part of the narrative contains a human computer game and a   d finale plot logic isn  t that high on the list of requirements .  br    br   the teenagers heading the cast this time are really the most obnoxious  dislikeable group in the whole series . tracy  lezlie deane  is the only one who gets to greet freddy with  shut the fk up  man  and a kick in the scallops . and was incongruous pop music always part of the ingredients  freddy  s dead . no laughs . no scares . no interest . no fun .  br    br    
the year     saw no fewer than  filmed productions of h . g . wells  great novel   war of the worlds  . this is perhaps the least well  known and very probably the best of them . no other version of wotw has ever attempted not only to present the story very much as wells wrote it  but also to create the atmosphere of the time in which it was supposed to take place the last year of the   th century       using wells  original setting  in and near woking  england .  br    br   imdb seems unfriendly to what they regard as  spoilers  . that might apply with some films  where the ending might actually be a surprise  but with regard to one of the most famous novels in the world  it seems positively silly . i have no sympathy for people who have neglected to read one of the seminal works in english literature  so let  s get right to the chase . the aliens are destroyed through catching an earth disease  against which they have no immunity . if that  s a spoiler  so be it after a book and  other films  including the     classic   you ought to know how this ends .  br    br   this film  which follows wells  plot in the main  is also very cleverly presented  in a way that might put many viewers off due to their ignorance of late   th  early   th century photography . although filmed in a widescreen aspect  the film goes to some lengths to give an impression of contemporaneity . the general coloration of skin and clothes display a sepia tint often found in old photographs  rather than black  . colors are often reminiscent of hand  tinting . at other times  colors are washed out . these variations are typical of early films  which didn  t use standardized celluloid stock and therefore presented a good many changes in print quality  even going from black  white to sepia  white to blue  white to reddish  white and so on  as you  ll see on occasion here . the special effects are deliberately retrograde  of a sort seen even as late as the     s  and yet the martians and their machines are very much as wells described them and have a more nearly realistic  feel  . some of effects are really awkward  such as the destruction of big ben . the acting is often more in the style of that period than ours . some aspects of victorian dress may appear odd  particularly the use of pomade or brilliantine on head and facial hair .  br    br   this film is the only one that follows with some closeness wells  original narrative  as has been noted . viewers may find it informative to note plot details that appear here that are occasionally retained in other versions of the story . wells  description of the martians  a giant head mounted on numerous tentacles  is effectively portrayed . when the martian machines appear  about an hour into the film  they too give a good impression of how wells described them . both wells and this film do an excellent job of portraying the progress of the martians from the limited perspective  primarily  of rural england  plus a few scenes in london  involving the narrator  s brother  . the director is unable to resist showing the destruction of a major landmark  big ben   but at least doesn  t dwell unduly on the devastation of london .  br    br   the victory of the martians is hardly a surprise  despite the destruction by cannon of some of their machines . the narrator  traveling about to seek escape  sees much of what wells terms  the rout of mankind  . he encounters a curate endowed with the victorian affliction of a much too precious and nervous personality . they eventually find themselves on the very edge of a martian nest  where they discover an awful fact the martians are shown to be vampires who consume their prey alive in a very effective scene . wells adds that after eating they set up  a prolonged and cheerful hooting  . the narrator finally is obliged to beat senseless the increasingly hysterical curate  who revives just as the martians drag him off to the larder  cheers from the gallery british curates are so often utterly insufferable  .  br    br   this film lasts almost  hours  going through wells  story in welcome detail . it  s about time the author got his due  in a compelling presentation that builds in dramatic impact . a word about the acting don  t expect award  winning performances . they  re not bad  however  the actors are earnest and they grow on you . most of them  however  have had very abbreviated film careers  often only in this film . the narrator is played by hunky anthony piana  in his  nd film . the curate is john kaufman  also in his  nd film as an actor but who has had more experience directing . the brother   henderson   is played with some conviction by w . bernard bauman in his first film . the artilleryman  the only other sizable part  is played by james lathrop in his first film .  br    br   this is overall a splendid film  portraying for the first time the war of the worlds as wells wrote it . despite its slight defects  it is far and away better than any of its hyped  up competitors . if you want to see h . g . wells  war of the worlds  and not some wholly distorted version of it  see this film   
actually  they don  t  but they certainly did when trying to think of a singular line that adequately summarises how terrible this entry in the series really is . there were some moments that could have been good  but they are mostly outweighed by their own conversion into missed opportunities  and don  t get me started on the bad .  br    br   the wasted opportunities are pretty obvious  but i will recap them here in case anyone cares . anyone who hasn  t seen the film and genuinely gives a toss would be advised to stop reading at this point . the first  and potentially the biggest  wasted opportunity  was the plot with freddy  s long  lost child . now  the extreme mental illness that freddy appears to suffer  and i might hasten to add that less than one percent of mental patients are a threat to other people  leave alone to this extent  is hereditary  so why not a mystery  type slasher in which lisa zane  s character dreams of freddy murdering the teens  only we later discover it  s actually her doing all the killing  sound like a good plot idea to you  obviously it was above the heads of talalay and de luca .  br    br   then there  s the trip to springfield  where the entire adolescent population has been wiped out  and the remaining adults are experiencing a kind of mass psychosis . funnily enough  said mass psychosis was actually depicted in a realistic and convincing manner  although this has a fair amount to do with the fact that we are never shown too much . we are just given quick visual hints of the massive loss of connection with reality that would stem from the grief of every youngster in town dying for reasons beyond one  s comprehension and control . the essential problem with this plot element  however  is that the town is abandoned too quickly  and with no real answers . this collection of scenes would have been far creepier with ten minutes of say . . . one sane citizen explaining to these visitors why the springfield fair looks like a horror show .  br    br   of course  horror films are never noted for their character development  unless they  re the kind of horror films john carpenter used to direct  but how are we supposed to really care when characters we know next to nothing about die  at least wes craven took the time to set up his characters in the original  and used a few cheap tricks to draw the audience in . that  in a nutshell  is probably the biggest problem with freddy  s dead it just doesn  t try at all  leave alone hard enough .  br    br   on a related note  i feel kind of sorry for robert englund  now that he is more or less inextricably linked with the freddy character . he has played far better characters in far better productions  the science  fiction miniseries  v   for example   and to be forever remembered as  the man who played freddy  is selling him rather short . it seems he will never break the mold of horror films now . as for the rest of the cast  well  i think their performances here speak for themselves . they deserved to be permanently typecast as little more than b  grade horror props . even yaphet kotto doesn  t escape this one unscathed  as his character is one of the most childishly written in the history of b  films .  br    br   all in all  freddy  s dead gets a  out of me . i  d vote lower  but the imdb doesn  t allow for that . fd is really a testament to how a writer  s inability to exploit a concept to the fullest extent can ruin not only a film  but an entire franchise .  
i honestly think that that was the best version of war of the worlds i  ve every seen . it was funny but it was also educational i learned whole lot the movie and if i could i would by that movie . my favorite part was when the soldiers killed on robot and another one came right from behind it . in the last movie war of the world i think that it should have been more like the first one and it would have been better . but any way i give this movie  thumbs up .  br    br   and if they where to make another movie like this i will definitely watch it .  br    br   thank you  
freddy  s dead the final nightmare  the sixth installment of the nightmare on elm street series and once again another bad sequel . i think this is tied up with the last sequel of the dream child . i was lucky enough to get the nightmare on elm street series box dvd set for my birthday  so i got to see all the sequels . may i say that i  m just getting more and more disappointed though with these sequels  at least the past two  it just seems like freddy lost his edge . it  s almost like the writers were trying to give freddy a soul and they  re just destroying it instead of reinventing the story . this was a sequel that wasn  t needed  sorry to robert englund  but this was very much below what freddy krueger represents .  br    br   freddy is back  but he  s got something we don  t know about  a daughter . maggie  she  s not aware that he is her father  but soon she finds out what his dark secrets are and he wants her help . she has to do her best to resist his powers  but it  s hard with all the good memories she has of her loving father . ironic  isn  t it  but freddy isn  t giving up without manipulating her into his ways .  br    br   freddy  s dead the final nightmare is also presented in   d  radical  huh  note the sarcasm . this is one of the worst sequels  it  s tied up with the fifth sequel of the nightmare on elm street series  i  d rather watch the second nightmare on elm street to be honest . this just had bad acting  stupid editing  and just over all a bad idea for a story . i didn  t like the concept of it and it just ruined the whole idea of who freddy krueger really is  the death master of nightmares  not father knows best .  br    br        
all of the people reviewing this film  and probably many professional film reviewers  just don  t get it . this film was made with matting sequences and art techniques quite like the works of the great czech filmmaker  karel zeman . if you want to know what i  m talking about  i suggest you get any of zeman  s films  such as the fabulous world of jules verne  baron munchausen  journey to the beginning of time  or on the comet . if you are unable to locate a film  then read the reviews in amg . they will explain the processes used . if one were to look at zeman  s work and try to compare it to any of the other sci  fi fantasy films of the time  viewers probably wouldn  t have gotten it then either . it is unfair to compare either of these filmmakers  styles to the standard technologies of the day  because both zemen and hines  do not compute  . they have a style that is unique to them and should be judged for their creativity only . if you look at this film from a perspective where you know that he intentionally tried to create a pastiche collage of mattes mixed with live action  you could easily come to the conclusion that he did a masterful job . it isn  t easy making a bunch of computer cutouts flow . i thought that the creatures were also quite good  also considering how they were made . hines took a great gamble  and i think his film will not be fairly judged for years to come . someone promoting the film should have tipped the audience off as to what they would be seeing  rather than let them blindly go into the theater expecting the usual cg work . regarding the actors  i think hines also took a page from zemen  s book  in that many of zemen  s actors were somewhat expressionless at first  but became much more engaging as the film and action went on . it is totally refreshing to me to have this movie in my library . i will watch it for years to come  all three great hours of it .  
george brent is a reporter sent to interview an heiress . she is supposedly the heir to a face cream fortune . he interviews her on her yacht . they fall for each other in bathing costumes .  br    br   it turns out  quite early  that she is not an heiress . she part of an advertising campaign for the cold cream .  br    br   the movie follows the ups and downs of their romance .  br    br   the supporting cast does little to buoy it up . davis and brent carry the picture . though it  s fairly predictable  it is also fairly entertaining . it  s far from her best . but  especially considering its obscurity in her oeuvre  it  s not one of her worst  either .  
i have waited a long time for someone to film a faithful version of h . g . wells  classic novel   war of the worlds  . timothy hines has finally done it  i just couldn  t believe how good it was  from the acting  to the costuming  the out  of  this world special effects  i just can  t say enough  it was wonderful  dramatic  intense  full of first  rate performances by a top  notch cast  it  s got to be seen to be believed . i sure didn  t . and i  ve read all those negative comments by the others  and can  t believe what they were saying . we must  ve been watching a different movie  huh  and those real bad comments by that vepsaian guy  guy whoever he is  well  he just doesn  t know what he  s talking about .  br    br   keep up the good work  mr . hines .  
this movie stinks . the stench resembles bad cowpies that sat in the sun too long . i can  t believe that so many talented actors wasted their time making such a hopelessly awful film . whew   
this movie is a lot better than the asylums version mainly its war of the worlds . the tripods look pretty cool but their walking and deaths could have been better . the action scenes were really cool . walking . . . walking . . . walking . . . walking    oh my god stop walking please or i  m going to kill myself . the thunder child scene was my favorite sequence mainly because a ship rammed bunch of tripods . good movie i recommend it for people ho have read the book . the music is awesome and the directors cut looks pretty cool .  br    br   pros . good soundtrack    to the book cool violence tripods and handling machines are cool to look at  br    br   cons . some bad acting cheesy looking london  
why would any legitimate actor having read the script participated in this piece of crap  my god it is actually embarrassing to even watch it . i can  t imagine the shame these people must feel for being a part of it . also  there is apparently some controversy as to whether river phoenix had a cameo in the movie . he was uncredited but his list of roles here  imdb  does give him credit . btw . . . rain is his sister for those who have were asking before . this film is proof that no matter how many big  names  you have . sow  s ears don  t make silk purses . i love lorraine bracco but this was just sad  sad  sad . . . maybe somebody someday can explain to me the reason for this kind of film . it has no endearing  entertaining  or even comedic properties in comparison to it  s bad everything else .  
the h . g . wells classic has had several incarnations . the    speilburg version and the classic    version but only this one stays completely true to the book . nothing is changed nothing is removed .  br    br   originally released as a   hour film . the director re  cut the film down to   hours of pure excellence . its got a chapter by chapter visualization of the novels pages that  wells would be proud of  the story is as everyone remembers . martians invade the earth with capsules containing an army of tripod walking war machines . the people of   th century earth are ill  prepared to repel the alien forces and fight back with canons and guns who mes shells bound right off the walkers and when humanity is no longer a world wide power they are saved by the smallest of organisms on earth .  br    br   the film is an excellent accomplishment for director timothy hines who has great potential as he brought this vision to life with a meager  million budget . today b  movies have larger budgets .  
i  ll admit . i think uma thurman is the most beautiful woman on the planet and have made it a mission to see every movie she has been in  unfortunately that includes the horrible films batman and robin  the avengers  and this one .  br    br   this has to rank as the worst movie i  ve ever seen .  yes it ranks even lower than the avengers  . everyone looks lost in it and it is incoherent beyond belief .  br    br   even if you think uma is a goddess like i do  please please don  t subject yourself to this movie . you  ll hate yourself the following morning for it .  
growing up in a multi racial neighborhood back in the    s and    s  i grew up very close to most of the italian families living there . this move brought back so many pleasant memories . this is a movie most people would like who enjoy seeing more true to life movies .  
after being hugely entertained by mr . brosnan  s performance as a cad in  the tailor of panama   which i rate      across the board casting  acting  script  story  editing  pace  music  emotional impact  etc .   i enthusiastically anticipated this film . i was hugely disappointed . it is a script reading not a film  vulgar for the sake of being vulgar  bankrupt in every way that  the tailor of panama  is rich and satisfying . blame it on the screen writing and directing . i sat in the theater waiting for the  good part  it never came . i neither laughed nor cried  although one line of dialog did make me smile . worth    hardly .  
i didn  t mind all the walking . people really did walk places back then . it loaned an air of authenticity to this period piece and some perspective on the technology of the martians . i too was disappointed by the effects  in particular the  thunderchild  scene  which i regard as one of the most exciting in the book . but i can  t praise this film enough  for its faithfulness to wells  s story  it  s about time . the actors are likable and the performances are charming . also this film is very much worth seeing just to hear jamie hall  s truly great musical score . it was interesting to see the same actor play both the writer and his brother in london .  
when it comes to movies  i am generally easily entertained and not very critical  but must say that this movie was one big flop from the start . i gave it   minutes and then rewound it . what a waste of some great talent  i was very disappointed with this movie  as it was not what i expected .  
  the classic war of the worlds  by timothy hines is a very entertaining film that obviously goes to great effort and lengths to faithfully recreate h . g . wells  classic book . mr . hines succeeds in doing so . i  and those who watched his film with me  appreciated the fact that it was not the standard  predictable hollywood fare that comes out every year  e . g . the spielberg version with tom cruise that had only the slightest resemblance to the book . obviously  everyone looks for different things in a movie . those who envision themselves as amateur  critics  look only to criticize everything they can . others rate a movie on more important bases  like being entertained  which is why most people never agree with the  critics  . we enjoyed the effort mr . hines put into being faithful to h . g . wells  classic novel  and we found it to be very entertaining . this made it easy to overlook what the  critics  perceive to be its shortcomings .  
im not surprised that even cowgirls get the blues if this movie is anything to go by . i expected something better from uma thurman  which was the reason i suffered my way through this experience in the first place . an awful film with only the music as a redeeming quality . its just a shame that we are incapable of giving  out of   in these reviews . this movie deserves it .  
for a long time   the menagerie  was my favorite  star trek  episode though in recent years it has been eclipsed by  city on the edge of forever .  what i used to prefer about  menagerie  was that it  s more hard  core star trek with this fascinating back  story to the then  current trek storyline . i still think it  s fairly ingenious the way gene roddenberry incorporated the original pilot into a two  part episode . though the  new  part of the story is largely an excuse for kirk and a few others  and us  to watch the pilot  the idea of spock being court  martialed is a clever one . you can poke holes in the plot if you want . for instance  given the talosians  mind  control abilities and captain pike  s condition  why is it even necessary to physically bring pike back to their planet  and there are other confusing questions about pike and commodore mendez . . . best to not think too hard about the details and just enjoy st  s only two  parter .  
there are movies like  plan   that are so bad they have a charm about them  there are some like  waterworld  that have the same inexplicable draw as a car accident  and there are some like  desperate living  that you hate to admit you love . cowgirls have none of these redemptions . the cast assembled has enough talent to make almost any plot watchable  and from what i  ve been told  the book is enjoyable .  br    br   how then could this movie be so intolerably bad  to begin with  it seems the director brought together a cast of names with no other tie than what will bring in the   somethings . then tell them to do their best kevin costner imitations . open the book at random and start shooting whatever is on the page making sure to keep the wide expanses of america from being interesting in any way . finally give the editing job to your brother  in  law  because the meat packing plant just laid him off . he does have twenty years of cutting experience .  br    br   this movie now defines the basement for me . it is so bad  it isn  t even good for being bad .  
imagine that you could have anything you wanted  go anywhere you wished  be anything you  d ever dreamed of being  through thought alone . now imagine yourself sharing this gift with the love of your life . what would you do  would such powers be worth your soul  this is the dilemma presented to captain christopher pike in  the cage  the now  legendary pilot episode of the original star trek series . famously deemed  too cerebral  and  too cold  by nbc brass and rejected   the cage  was nevertheless the most ambitious and costly pilot ever made in the history of the network at the time  and gene roddenberry did not want to let all that effort and expense go to waste  with the result being this truly classic star trek episode  which embeds  the cage  into a frame story which deepens and extends the emotional and philosophical depth of this haunting tale  a landmark in tv history and one of the first truly serious sci  fi stories ever filmed for the small screen . . . star date      the uss enterprise diverts to starbase   after mr . spock receives an urgent message from the former commander of the enterprise . surprisingly  the message cannot be from captain pike after all  as he is now confined to a wheelchair  mute and horribly disfigured after a tragic accident . kirk and starbase commanding officer commodore mendez attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery  but before the matter can be cleared up  spock  for reasons as yet unknown  commits an act of open mutiny  kidnapping the helpless captain pike and hijacking the enterprise via a brilliantly thought  out and timed plan aided by a few vulcan nerve pinches . soon  the enterprise is headed for the remote  forbidden planet of talos iv . mendez informs kirk that talos iv is under interdiction  and any contact with the planet by starfleet vessels or personnel carries an immediate death sentence  meaning that spock appears to be deliberately destroying himself  and kirk as well  given that the captain will be held responsible for the ship  s activities . appalled  kirk and mendez give chase in a shuttlecraft  which itself becomes dangerous when the enterprise refuses to answer their calls or pick up the craft until power and oxygen are nearly gone . spock  knowing that kirk must be the one following the ship  is of course unable to consign the captain to certain death . after ordering the craft to be retrieved and the occupants beamed aboard  spock reveals what he has done to mccoy and demands to be arrested  after having set the starship on an irreversible course to talos iv . upon reassuming command  kirk demands an explanation  whereupon spock requests immediate court martial by a tribunal of starfleet commanding officers  of whom there are three on board  mendez  kirk  and the crippled invalid captain pike . spock  s encyclopedic knowledge of starfleet regulations enables him to manipulate the tribunal into allowing him to present otherwise inadmissible evidence . spock presents video recordings of the only contact ever made between the federation and the inhabitants of talos iv  a journey taken   years earlier by the enterprise itself under pike  s command . kirk expresses doubts about the authenticity of the video due to its extreme detail  but the reality of the events depicted is confirmed by pike himself  who turns out to have been lured to talos iv by a distress call from the alleged survivors of a federation research vessel which crashed there   years previously . among the survivors is vina  a stunning beauty said to have been born just before the disaster . pike is attracted to the girl and allows her to lure him to an isolated spot  whereupon he is waylaid and captured by the talosians  a race of androgynous humanoids with enormous cranial capacity and the power to transform thoughts into virtual reality . after pike  s capture  the rest of the  survivors  vanish as none of them really existed except vina . the episode ends when the tribunal learns that spock  s  evidence  is in fact being transmitted to the enterprise directly from talos iv  in violation of starfleet regulations . starfleet orders an immediate halt to the transmissions  and we wonder what will happen next . . . to be continued in a review of  the menagerie part ii    
this is a candidate for the single most disappointing movie experience of my lifetime . cool title  excellent director  i saw  to die for  and  drugstore cowboy  before this   and hey  uma thurman in the cast . how can you go wrong  well  that is a question that throbbed in my temples for hours after i watched this turkey .  br    br   disjointed and unfunny in an attempt to be offbeat  this is a dead  zone of a movie that should be avoided at all costs . its critical lambasting was well deserved . you have here one of those rare films that does not contain a single redeeming quality . zero out of  .  
it is a well known fact that when gene roddenberry first pitched star trek to nbc  the original pilot episode  the cage  was rejected for being  too cerebral  . when the series was given another chance  roddenberry thought it would be fun to establish the events of the rejected episode as canon  and did so by writing the menagerie  which has the unique distinction of being the sequel to what was still  at the time  an unaired episode .  br    br   this time  rather than exploring a new planet  kirk and his crew are on starbase    paying a visit to the former commander of the enterprise  christopher pike  sean kenney   now horribly disfigured and paralyzed because of an accident . pike joins his successor on the starship  where an unpleasant surprise awaits spock  who used to serve under pike  has effectively hijacked the vessel and set the course for talos iv  a planet which is off  limits  the punishment is death  since pike and spock  s last visit there    years earlier . naturally  being a logical creature  spock turns himself in and arranges a court  martial so that he can justify his actions .  br    br   there  s no need to say more about the plot  since the rest will play out in part  . what really impresses is how roddenberry creates the connection between the cage and the rest of the star trek universe  by coming up with a particular type of flashback  to say more would be too much  that allows everyone  on screen and off  to see what could have been of trek  had nbc not turned down the original project . in particular  it  s fun to see jeffrey hunter  who was unable to return in the menagerie  play pike as a more serious captain than kirk usually is and nimoy  s early days as spock  whose personality hadn  t been fully established yet this is the only time in the entire series that everybody  s favorite vulcan spontaneously grins .  br    br   in short  not just a great  mystery  episode  but also a treat for those who can  t be bothered to track down the cage in its original form  it  s available as part of the season  box set  .  
certainly one of the dozen or so worst movies ever released in any form  featuring a bizarrely abominable performance by rain joan of arc phoenix  river  s sister  inevitably   as bonanza jellybean plus inconceivably awful voiceover narration by tom robbins  the author of the novel  which had  retains its peculiar sweet  loopy charms .  
in the old commercial for blank audio cassettes  the tag line was  is it real or is it memorex   the same might be said for the events in this episode  a compilation and remix of  the cage   the first pilot of star trek . mr . spock has cleverly commandeered the ship to take it to the forbidden planet talos iv in order to allow capt . christopher pike  his first captain who has been burned and paralyzed  to return there . why the finagling  because to have any contact at all with talos iv invites a death sentence . why this is so is never explained  that bothered me tremendously  but  if nothing else  it adds to the story . after he has gotten the ship to travel to talos iv  mr . spock turns himself in to dr . mccoy  the senior  most officer present capt . kirk was off the ship  for arrest and says   the charge is mutiny  dr .  i never received orders to take over the ship .  what follows is a court martial in which  thanks to the talosians  we learn why it was so important  besides the obvious paralysis  for capt . pike to get to talos iv even at risk of mr . spock  s death . the illusions the talosians create  the background music and the entire storyline are fantastic . and meg wyllie as the keeper  the head talosian  is wonderful . call me sexist but it never occurred to me to have a woman in that role but she was perfect  the talosians  having given up almost all physical activity and becoming almost completely reliant upon the power of illusion  are also unisex you can  t really tell if they  re male or female and it really doesn  t matter . this episode  more than almost any other in the series  makes me hope and pray there are other worlds out there and that there are civilizations that are so far advanced  what a neat thing if this were so  this is one of my favorite episodes and  no matter how many times i  ve seen it  i even have it on video   it never fails to fascinate me . meg wyllie looks like an alien and i do not mean that unkindly .  
i watched this film because i  m a big fan of river phoenix and joaquin phoenix . i thought i would give their sister a try  rain phoenix . i regret checking it out . she was embarrasing and the film just has this weird plot if thats what you want to call it . sissy was just weird and jellybean just sits on a toilet who both sleep with this old man in the mountains  whats going on  i have never been so unsatisfied in my life . it was just total rubbish . i can  t believe that the actors agreed to do such a waste of film  money  time and space . have sissy being  beautiful  didnt get to me . i thought she was everything but that . those thumbs were just stupid  and why do we care if she can hitchhike  whats the point     out of    shame the poll doesnt have a   doesnt even deserve a  . hopefully  rain is better in other films  i forgive her for this one performance  i mean i wouldnt do much better with that film .  
the menagerie parts one and two was the only   parter during the   year run of the original trek series and it was because roddenberry was able to insert most of the footage from the  st pilot  the cage .  the move was made out of necessity  to combat deadline problems in getting episodes produced  such a sf show back in the     s was a hassle to get done on time  . one positive outcome back then was that audiences  unaware of the pilot produced almost a couple of years earlier  were treated to a whole new crew and captain for these two episodes on top of the regular cast of characters  as if the producers had spent double the money on these episodes to present a tv epic spanning a dozen years of starfleet history  though they still used terms such as  united space fleet  in these early episodes  .  br    br   the wraparound story begins as a space mystery plot the enterprise is diverted to starbase   for unknown reasons and very soon spock is a suspect in these shenanigans . astonishingly  though even mccoy belabors the fact that spock  s vulcan heritage makes subterfuge on his part impossible  it does turn out that spock is indeed acting out some mutinous scheme to shanghai our precious starship and kidnap his former captain  pike  now horribly crippled . well  spock is half human  we tend to forget . or has he simply gone mad  it may very well be  for he  s directing enterprise to talos iv  a planet so off  limits it  s the subject of the only known death penalty on starfleet  s books . when the jig is up  there  s a great scene of spock surrendering to a flabbergasted mccoy  as uhura looks on in shock . even kirk  usually steady as a captain should be  doesn  t know what to make of his first officer  s illogical conduct .  br    br   in the  rd and final acts  we begin to see transmitted images of a mission of the enterprise from   years prior  when capt . pike was commanding and spock was one of his officers . we really don  t know where all this is going and what spock hopes to accomplish  and that  s another thing that makes this a very good   parter  we really need to find out what it  s all about in the  nd part . not only is spock facing severe penalties  but it looks like kirk  s career may be finished  as well . double jeopardy  folks . this is also the  st televised episode to feature one of those shuttlecrafts  none were available in the earlier  the enemy within  when the crafts were really needed  . there  s also one of those neat matte paintings to convey the ambiance of a futuristic starbase  this was the only way to visualize such things back then . finally  check out kirk  s smug approach at the start of the episode  boy  do things go sideways on him as the story progresses .  
i missed this movie in the cinema but had some idea in the back of my head that it was worth a look  so when i saw it on the shelves in dvd i thought  time to watch it  . big mistake   br    br   a long list of stars cannot save this turkey  surely one of the worst movies ever . an incomprehensible plot is poorly delivered and poorly presented . perhaps it would have made more sense if i  d read robbins  novel but unless the film is completely different to the novel  and with robbins assisting in the screenplay i doubt it  the novel would have to be an excruciating read as well .  br    br   i hope the actors were well paid as they looked embarrassed to be in this waste of celluloid and more lately dvd blanks  take for example pat morita . even thurman has the grace to look uncomfortable at times .  br    br   save yourself around   minutes of your life for something more worthwhile  like trimming your toenails or sorting out your sock drawer . even when you see it in the  under    throw  away bin at your local store  resist the urge   
i have a six month old baby at home and time to time she fights sleep really bad . one morning she was having a particular difficult time getting to sleep when the doodle bops theme song came on t . v . she stopped crying almost instantly  and for the rest of the show was content . i sat her in her bouncy seat and watched her kick her legs  swing her arms  and actually laugh at this show . the kept her entertained and happy the entire time . i also got a video of them so that at times when my little one is flustered i have something to calm her . granted  late at night if she awakes with colic to fuss the doodle bops are not her cup of tea  but they sure do come in handy when i need a little time to do housework  etc . the biggest surprise about the doodle bops is that my child doesn  t even like watching t . v . she  d rather be in the floor playing with a toy or with our small toy poodle than watch t . v . yet  the doodle bops have totally captured her attention . i don  t know if she will continue to like them in the future but for now she  s attached .  
i couldn  t believe how lame  pointless this was . basically there is nothing to laugh at in the movie  hardly any scenes to get you interested in the rest of the movie . this movie pulled in some huge stars but they were all wasted in my opinion . i think keanu reeves must  ve taken some acting lessons a fews years after this movie before he stared in the matrix . uma thurman looked very simple  humble . luckily i got this movie for a very low price because its certainly not a movie to remember for any good reasons . i won  t write anything about the story of the movie  but as you should know that she is meant to be the most famous hitchhiker across america because of her huge thumb . i would give this movie a     . before i watched this movie i was wondering why this movie has only got a  .       now i know why . a very disappointing movie . don  t buy it even if you see it for under   .  
i love the doodlebops . my son has been watching them for over a year . we went to the doodlebops concert last year as well as one concert yesterday  connecticut  . he loves them . the doodlebops do not teach the alphabet or numbers but who cares  are you being serious  the tv isn  t suppose to teach your children about numbers or the alphabet . the parents should . get over it . the doodlebops actually can sing . deedee has a beautiful voice and in concert you can tell all  of them have nice singing voices and do not lip sing . imagine  they dance  jump around and still sing . they have talent  the kids love them i even enjoy watching the show . this show is by far the best show on tv for kids . and a rock band for children . how amazing is that  why are people saying chad  rooney  is gay  where did you hear that from  whether he is or not  he is awesome  leave him alone . its not like he or anyone else is promoting homosexuality to our children   
no one should ever try to adapt a tom robbins book for screen . while the movie is fine and the performances are good  the dialogue  which works well reading it  is crap when spoken . or  to put it another way  no one would be likely to suggest that hearing someone else  s name was like seeing it written in radium on a pearl .  br    br   overall  the movie feels like a badly  adapted cliffs notes to the book  most of the parts have been hacked down to a fifth of their size in the book  in terms of backstory and current story  and the ending is wildly  and unpleasantly  different from that of the book . most of the plots from the book have gotten lost  including the one that makes everything make sense at the end  and there  s more than one reference that makes sense in the book that makes the viewer say  huh   not a worthy effort  unfortunately  the script should have been read  compared to the book  burned  and all the actors sent off to do something far better . i admire gus van sant tremendously  but not even someone of his calibre could have made a decent movie of such a complex book without making a miniseries .  
i work with children from    years old and they all love the doodlebops . the doodlebops are energetic  vibrant and appealing . once they start singing    we  re the doodlebops we  re the doodlebops we  re the doodlebops oh yeah come and join the fun because we  re laughing and we  re singing all day  it is almost impossible not to join them in song . the doodlebops brings the viewer into a world of color and fun . each show is an adventure  the doodlebops do not try to change the world with preachy messages all they do is have fun while sorting out everyday life challenges that the young child may relate to . the doodlebops is an refreshing  high action alternative to regular children  s television programs .  
uma thurman plays sissy  a young woman with a gypsy spirit  and freakishly large thumbs  who hitchhikes cross  country  eventually finding her true place amongst a group of peyote  enlightened cowgirls on a ranch devoted to preserving the whooping crane rain  bow  phoenix is their lesbian leader  bonanza jellybean  who falls in love with sissy  thumbs or not . gus van sant directed and adapted tom robbins  book  but his satire has no primary target and just skitters all over the map  like sissy  maybe that was his goal  but it  s not involving for an audience  . notorious box  office flop wasn  t so much panned as it was ignored  and one can see why it  s a series of sketches in search of a plot  and the performances  directorial touches and cinematography are all variable . thurman is a stitch posing alongside the highway trying to get a ride  but this pretty much put the kibosh on phoenix  s career . writer buck henry  who didn  t write this  but perhaps should have  gives the most assured performance as the doctor who works on one of those thumbs .  br    br   two thumbs down .  
can scarcely imagine a better movie than this  br    br   hey  before you all go  chick flick  on me . i am a very large strong  masculine  macho man  who happens to think this was one of the better movies of the last   years .  br    br   the acting was superb and the story was marvelous . this is wonderful medicine for the heart and soul . the acting could not have been better nor the movie better cast .  br    br   i have known for a good while that mercedes ruehl  along with holly hunter  joan plowright  dame edith evans  sissy spacek  judi dench is among the greatest actresses ever to appear on film . and of course cloris leachman  also in this film  in my view may in fact exceed them all in the shear magnum of her talent and varied roles she has appeared in over the years . . at any rate this was an amazing cast . this film was like a book that you cannot lay down  and when you have reached the last page wish for more . . . still more . i cannot for the life of me understand why this film here on the imdb only rates a  .   br    br   that rating here is utterly amazing to me . or perhaps not . perhaps in fact i do understand it ever so well and that is what makes me really sad . it makes me ever so sad that films like  american beauty   leaving las vegas   sexy beast  and  fight club  ratings skyrocket off the charts in popularity when they in fact at least in this viewers opinion should have received an  r  rating . . . r that is for  rubbish  . hey o . k .  i realize there are a lot of different stories in this world for a lot of different audiences  but it is a sad commentary when this lovely  powerful . . . extraordinarily  directed  acted  and written film seems to be over looked .  br    br   it obviously was at the academy awards as well . . . . how sad . and how predictable . my summation is that if you want to see a powerful  happy  sad  beautiful story  watch . . . . . . preferably own this film . . .  
a cinderella story made for adults who live in dreamland . the romance is very unrealistic  fluttery  lovey dovey  perfect etc . the cinderella plot till the very end and shahid kapoor is the only reason for my stars . if you  re looking for a dreamy romance with a twist  this is definitely you  re movie  but for the rest of us real world people  i  d highly recommend saving your three hour watch time . wake up people   br    br   four out of the five people that saw the film with me would not recommend the film . we had a great time bashing majority of the unrealistic scenes . maybe i  m missing something . . i just can  t believe a movie like this can beat a classic like hddcs    
my  year old likes the doodlebops show  it seems to keep his attention for awhile . the characters are interesting  vibrant with primary colours and all . there  s not much educational content that the intended target audience could benefit from  but they do seem to have a theme each show and try to teach kids about sharing and respect and other basics  so i like it for that . it  s well produced with high production values . but it  s really just an average show like most of the shows on tv these days . we don  t buy into the merchandise angle and have our son wearing everything dooblebop . i don  t think we  d spend money to go to a live show  if they ever came to town . going to the zoo or the science centre is a far better experience for everyone involved and in my opinion is money better spent .  
i absolutely love all of tom robbins books  so i was very excited and interested to see a movie made after one of his books . i knew that there would be no way that the movie would capture even half of robbins  magic  but after seeing the movie  it made me never want to read the book again . the movie even cowgirls get the blues doesn  t include an eighth of the content in the book  and it seems to focus more on the love connection between bonanza jellybean and sissy than anything else . along with the incredibly weak plot line in the movie  i think that better actors definitely could have been chosen to play the characters . the only actors in the movie that i thought played their roles fit to robbins  descriptions in the book were julian  s friends  in their five minute clip in the beginning of the movie . those who haven  t read the book might enjoy the movie  but as a huge tom robbins fan  this movie was nothing but a disappointment .  
my husband and i enjoy the doodlebops as much as our  month old baby does . we have bought him dvd  s and cd  s just so we can watch and listen to them ourselves . they are fun  energetic  and very entertaining . they encourage children to be active  share and care . they always have a positive message along with fun entertainment . every time our son hears the theme song he quickly turns his head toward the television and starts bouncing up and down in excitement . dee dee is a wonderful singer  she has a great voice . moe is a great dancer . i would recommend the doodlebops to anyone with children . our favorite song is the bird song . you just can not help but smile and want to dance when you hear it .  
i love movies . i love independent efforts and major studio productions . i love films with stars and i love those featuring unknowns . i love dramas  comedies  action  adventures  science fiction  mysteries  westerns  any genre except horror . i love foreign films as well as those in english . i love good movies and i even love bad ones  because almost no film ever fails to entertain or amuse on some level . except for  even cowgirls get the blues .   br    br   when i attended a late  night showing of  cowgirls   i joined an audience of around   . less than halfway into it  i alone remained . soon not even i could tolerate the disturbing mess unfolding before my eyes  and i left as well . to this day  cowgirls  remains the only movie i have ever walked out of .  br    br   i don  t quite know how to describe this incoherent  vacuous  trashy  meaningless film  or how to adequately convey its lack of redeeming value . suffice to say that it ranks as one of the worst major films of all time  preposterous and inexcusable on every level . it tries to be clever  but its conception of feminism seems hopelessly anachronistic . it tries to be funny  but its humor is coarse and cringe  worthy . this is one of the few films which manages to profane its own ethos  by depicting protagonists in so off  putting a manner that you revolt against them and their values . if you want to watch a movie  watch  waterworld    ishtar   anything but this . except for the new  alexander .  if you  re choosing between that and this  read a book instead .  
i have a    month old and got really tired of watching care bears all the time . rooney is a great dancer  who cares if he is gay . this guy must have been a cheerleader or something .  br    br   beats barney  cant get the songs out of my head . . . . must . . . stop singing . . . . . . . . doodlebops songs . . . . . . . . now .  br    br   must have   lines of text so i must continue . . . . . what about when the say all the canadian stuff like ooout aboooot . whacky canadians . . . . . jazmine is rhyming too much  she must be dutch .  br    br   knock knock  who  s there  dee dee  super hottie  br    br   bus driver bob cannot dance  take lessons from rooney  
we actually watched this twice in the theater because we could not believe how bad it was the first time . maybe we  d missed something . . . nope  what  s missing was missed from the beginning of preproduction . i actually went back to robbin  s novel to see if i could find the problem  and i discovered that what i thought was funny and exciting back in the day is now just so much disconnected and fuzzy  headed junk .  br    br   so  the initial problem with the film was deciding to do it at all  and the rest of the train wreck progressed from there . absolutely nothing works  not a blessed thing . some beautiful exterior photography gets steamrolled by random camera placement in interior shots . all of the actors look at least uncomfortable  angie dickenson looks positively mortified  except for rain phoenix  who gives the impression that she is too unaware to realize how awful her performance really is . the dialog is one  long  unwavering cringe . scenes don  t make sense from second to second  and the connections between them are nonexistent . and yet  the movie stumbles blindly on  convinced that it is saying something profound .  br    br   this is too bad to even be funny it is simply excruciating . gus van zant has done other good  to  great movies which i encourage you to see  and i  m happy he survived  and appears to have learned from  this mess .  
this episode is certainly different than all the other columbos  though some of the details are still there  the setup is completely different . that makes this columbo unique  and interesting to watch  even though at times you might wish for the old columbo . i liked it a lot  but then  i like almost any columbo .  
i read tom robbins  even cowgirls get the blues as a teenager . i loved every word . it was sexy  funny  and full of glamorous scenery and beautiful writing . but when i saw the movie  i could not believe what a dull  sour  joyless piece of junk it was . how did this happen  i think someone in hollywood read this book and filed it under  gay pride   women   lesbians .   that  s the library of congress subject heading .  now anyone over   who reads the book will know it has nothing to do with real lesbians  any more than star wars is about real space travel . the book was obviously   and i do mean obviously   written by a heterosexual male who loves the idea of lesbians  in the nude  all the time  but has never really met one .  br    br   still  someone in hollywood said   uh oh  better give this to a gay director or gay people will make trouble .  so they handed it to gus van sant . nothing against the man  but   however gay he may really be   he has not a clue as to how to make a funny film . gus van sant took a straight man  s playful fantasy of guilt  free girl  girl action and male voyeurism turned it into a dull  literal  minded lesbian power recruiting poster . it  s like turning an oscar wilde comedy into an arthur miller tragedy . not pretty .  br    br   the main clue that gus van sant had absolutely no idea what to do with the source material is the riotously bad casting . his clout allowed him to hire the very best . his ignorance of the novel  s real subtext  a straight man  s fantasy  not a gay pride recruiting poster  caused him to make choices that were not only bad  but bizarre .  br    br   let  s meet the cast of even cowgirls get the blues .  br    br   pat morita as  the chink  okay  there are few name  recognition asian actors . and pat morita  in happy days  was fairly funny . but casting him as the chink was wrong  wrong  wrong . pat morita has no idea that the chink is a very funny man .  gus didn  t tell him .  pat also doesn  t seem to know that the chink is . . . well  sexy    in the book he  s not wise old mr . miyagi . he  s more like hugh hefner  he  s a randy old goat and he knows a lot about pleasing the nubile and responsive sissy and bonanza jellybean .  you see  in the book  they aren  t really lesbians . do you get that this is a straight man  s fantasy yet    br    br   john hurt as  the countess .  okay  he  s a gay friendly man . but he is a serious  shakespearean actor     you need someone who is fun  and camp  for this role . for john hurt to be cast as a goofy guy like the countess is tragic and sad . i kept expecting paul scofield to wander in all dressed up as thomas more  and sadly shake his head .  now  richard  you know you  ve lost your soul entirely . for shame  my former student   and yes  john hurt was funny  and pretty gay  as caligula . but that was black humor  not playful and breezy humor like the book .  br    br   rain phoenix as  bonanza jellybean .  no talent  no training  no problem . except that in the book bonanza is funny  playful  cheerful   mostly  heterosexual  and loving . in the movie she  s sullen  passive  expressionless  and dull . as for her taste for women  robbins in the book puts it like this .  god knows i love women  but nothing can take the place of a man that fits .  uh  gus  did you read this book   br    br   uma thurman as  sissy hankshaw .  this is a tough role . in the book sissy really is an unusually passive and timid heroine . still  a more accomplished actress might have manufactured a twinkle in her eye  or a sway in her walk  to imply some sort of hidden strength or hidden enjoyment of her adventures . uma doesn  t pull it off  probably because gus never told her sissy is supposed to enjoy being a hitch hiker with a beautiful body and giant thumbs . uma plays it more like she  s in a tv movie about a girl dying of leukemia .  br    br   this movie is sour and dull . and i accuse you  gus van sant   
nice  pleasant  and funny  but not earth  shattering . it does a good job of showing the  behind the scenes  world of theater groups and the lives of the actors . the three witches are great  both on  and off  stage . i would assume the movie works wonderfully  lots of apparent inside jokes  if one was involved in theater  which i  m not  .  
this movie was strange . . . i watched it while ingesting a quarter of psilcybe cubensis  mushrooms  . it was really weird . im pretty sure you are supposed to watch it high  but mushrooms weren  t enough . i couldn  t stop laughing . . maybe lsd would work . the movie is a bunch of things morphing into other things  and dancing . its really cheesy for todays standards but when it was released im sure it was well . . . one of a kind . i could see how some people would think this movie was good  but i didn  t think it was very interesting  and i was on mushrooms at the time . if your having a party or something and everybodys pretty lit  pop it on you  ll get a few laughs .  
though it had the misfortune to hit the festival circuit here in austin  sxsw film  just as we were getting tired of things like shakespeare in love  and elizabeth  this movie deserves an audience . an inside look at the staging of  the scottish play  as actors call  macbeth  when producing it to avoid the curse  this is a crisp  efficient and stylish treatment of the treachery which befalls the troupe . with a wonderfully evocative score  and looking and sounding far better than its small budget would suggest  this is a quiet gem  not world  class  but totally satisfying .  
could this be by the same director as don  t look now or bad timing  poorly  br    br   acted  clunkily edited . you only have to compare the various accident scenes in this with similar ones in don  t look now to see how much roeg has lost his  br    br   touch .  br    br   even the generally reliable teresa russell  looking a bit chunky these days  i  m afraid to report  cannot save this one . the plot is pure pseudo  religious hokum  the acting is wooden and roeg  s attempts at his trademark dislocation of time are pitiful .  br    br   avoid this one like the plague .  
this is a very entertaining film which follows the rehearsal process of a ny production of macbeth . although it has a lot to say about power  jealousy and ambition  the themes of macbeth  in our modern world  the film works best when it is not taking itself too seriously . recognizable actors such as john glover  gloria reubens and david lansbury do nice jobs in the main roles  but the highlight for me was the hilarious scene where the  murder  of banquo  john elsen  is rehearsed . probably a more entertaining film for those involved in theatre  but anyone who enjoys shakespeare should enjoy this film .  
just saw this movie on tv and i have to admit  i was a bit surprised it was even on . there were so many goofs  mess  ups  and bad editing that an old episode of sesame street would have been better to watch . the acting was ok  but please  you can really feel the  straight to video  feeling . the cast  crew made this movie a bad melodrama . yes  there is a message in the movie  but just wait until ten minutes before the ending to hear it . trust me  you wouldn  t even tell the difference .  
having seen and loved greg lombardo  s most recent film  knots   he co  wrote and directed that feature as well   i decided to check out his earlier work  and this movie was well worth the effort and rental . macbeth in manhattan is a tongue in cheek  excellent take on the shakespeare favorite  updated and moved to nyc . i was impressed by the underlying wit and intelligence of the script and was wowed by the way the storyline of the production in the movie mirrors the storyline of the play itself  and very cleverly at that . the trials and tribulations of life in manhattan parallel many a shakespeare play  and central park was rarely put to better use than as the woods around macbeth  s castle . mr . lombardo obviously has a fond place in his heart for new york and new york stories  knots is a funny and warm sex comedy about six thirty  something new yorkers set primarily in a charming brooklyn neighborhood  with manhattan offices and a downtown loft thrown in for good measure  and has spent considerable time around the plays of shakespeare . the movie is well  paced and the story reflects a deep understanding of the essential drama at the core of macbeth . it reminded me of al pacino  s  looking for richard   another wonderful shakespeare  play within a movie .  i highly recommend checking out macbeth in manhattan .  
nicolas roeg  he directed the classic supernatural thriller dont look now didnt he  strangely the aforementioned movie was broadcast on bbc television at the weekend which did tonights screening of cold heaven no favours what so ever .  br    br   you see its impossible not to compare cold heaven with dont look now since they both have the same director and the same structure and for the first third of cold heaven i thought they also had the same plot except a dead husband had been substituted instead of a dead child  in fact my mind was set on this movie revolving around a grief stricken widow seeing her late husband running around venice wearing a red anorak . this doesnt occur but about one third of the way through the running time theres a massive plot twist and despite being an essential plot twist its not explained in any great depth . in fact very little is explained in cold heaven which ruins the movie  br    br   people have mentioned the rather poor production values of cold heaven and its impossible not to notice them . if i didnt no different i would have thought this was a tvm since its got a made for television feel to it right down to white capital letters in the title sequence . roeg also tries to inject art house pretentions via spoken thought processes but again this doesnt help the movie at all . one cant help feeling roeg should have put all his effort into the plot twists which are totally flat on screen  br    br   cheap production values  disinterested directing and a really bizarre premise and screenplay make for a bad movie  
i really enjoyed this movie . it took a pretty dark story  that of shakespeare  s macbeth  and wrapped it in a quirky  often funny and poignant modern yarn .  br    br   kudos to the way the filmmaker brought the very different worlds of modern nyc and macbeth  s scotland together under one roof . the opposing worlds act to  br    br   really bring out the intrigue and comedy of the play and you have to love harold perrineau as the chorus  a part which doesn  t exist in the play but really helps to jazz things up . the ending stands out among little indies i  ve seen for it  s closure and originality .  
being a fan of movies like  fire sale    where  s poppa    airplane  i saw this because it was mentioned favorably in the context of real comedies and satires like the aforementioned . well  wrong conclusion   br    br   not only is this not funny  it makes you angry because it isn  t bad in a schlocky  likable way but in a really bad way . it  s bad  bad . the script does not contain a single funny line which is rather in the way when you  re trying to entertain your audience with humour .  br    br   adam arkin  s speech impediment is probably the single most annoying thing in this movie . still this cruelty of nature doesn  t prevent him from being smug throughout the movie and he has a hard time not looking into the camera . this amateur without charisma fits in nicely with the constant continuity errors and bumbling along of the story  if you can find one .  br    br   ed mcmahon  i had to think of jay leno  another late night talk show person  who always refuses to call himself an actor . well  i  ve seen a few leno movies and he  s laurence olivier compared to mcmahon .  br    br   kenneth mars is good  though . in the few lines that he  s given . i  m not easily frightened by bad comedies so i kept watching and looking for all the quasi  jokes every  minutes or so .  br    br   the movie actually becomes sort of a comedy as soon as alan arkin takes over  he literally does starting   minutes into the movie he  s in every scene . but it  s too little  too late .  br    br   when movies try to fool you into believing their lack of professionalism is the reason you  re supposed to like them because they have the right intentions they remind me of pupils that haven  t prepared for an exam . in those cases you have to remain strict and the grade has to be an  f  .  but please don  t assume i  m a teacher . that is a profession with a respectability somewhere between politician and child molester  .  br    br   if you actually look for a likable schlocky horror  scifi movie that is fun to watch and does contain jokes try  man with the screaming brain  by bruce campbell . or watch sunshine  core if you prefer modern loud shallow scifi schlock . those are equally funny  albeit involuntarily .  
this was a hit in the south by southwest  sxsw  film festival in austin last year  and features a fine cast headed up by e . r .  s gloria reuben  and a scenery  chewing john glover . though shot on a small budget in nyc  the film looks and sounds fabulous  and takes us on a behind the scenes whirl through the rehearsal and mounting of what actors call  the scottish play   as a reference to the word  macbeth  is thought to bring on the play  s ancient curse . the acting company exhibits all the emotions of the play itself  lust  jealousy  rage  suspicion  and a bit of fun as well . the games begin when an accomplished actor is replaced  in the lead role  by a well  known  pretty face  from the tv soap opera scene in order to draw bigger crowds . the green  eyed monster takes over from there  and the drama unfolds nicely . fine soundtrack  and good performances all around . the dvd includes director  s commentary and some deleted scenes as well .  
what is this   is it a comedy  a horror movie or just nothing   this is by far the worst movie i have ever seen . especially the scene in romania when he becomes the werewolf  that must be the worst scene that has ever been made . this movie isn  t funny  it isn  t scary and not entertaining at all . please do yourself  and me  i don  t think anyone should suffer through this movie  a favour and don  t watch this movie   if you get is a present  just throw it away and chop it in to pieces .  
i watched this on the movies with my girlfriend at the time and i can say that i didn  t have the best time mainly because i didn  t know about ned kelly or his story .  br    br   but since this is a biopic  it  s important to at least know what to expect from the character .  br    br   i don  t know if the manner the events are told are true  or if it everything is fictional . but the way ned kelly is portrayed as a hero and a fighter for justice really makes me want to believe everything is true . i don  t think he  s portrayed as a redneck criminal or thief  but that  s just my opinion .  br    br   this is a solid western  type movie for everybody  s tastes . heath ledger is great as always and the sexy naomi watts charms the screen .  br    br   give this movie a chance if it airs on cable . otherwise  i don  t think i could recommend it .  
i won  t say this movie was bad  but it wasn  t good either . i expected something good but i guess hum aapke hain kaun was much better than this . this was completely old fashioned . at every stage of this movie  i hoped for some twist and what do i get  the girl gets burned and wins her aunt  s love .  br    br   despite of being engaged  they have to take permission for every little move they make . they are so darn shy even after so many meetings . i expected the aunt to be much more brutal than that . all she did was crib madly .  br    br   hey  we have kids too  but we don  t watch them and have tears in our eyes always . this movie is a dream . happy family  one cruel woman  good in  laws and a man who loves her to death . in hahk anupam kher was the poor bride  s father and now it  s vice versa . and i somehow knew that mohnish behl would be in this movie . anyway i believe i wasted my time . i give it a     .  
ok  so the musical pieces were poorly written and generally poorly sung  though walken and marner  particularly walken  sounded pretty good  . and so they shattered the fourth wall at the end by having the king and his nobles sing about the  battle  with the ogre  and praise the efforts of puss in boots when they by rights shouldn  t have even known about it .  br    br   who cares  it  s christopher freakin  walken  doing a movie based on a fairy tale  and he sings and dances . his acting style fits the role very well as the devious  mischievous puss who seems to get his master into deeper and deeper trouble but in fact has a plan he  s thought about seven or eight moves in advance . and if you  ve ever seen walken in any of his villainous roles  you know the ogre bit the dust hard at the end when walken got him into his trap .  br    br   a fun film  and a must  see for anyone who enjoys the unique style of christopher walken .  
i rented this one on dvd without any prior knowledge . i was suspicious seeing michael madsen appearing in a movie i have never heard of  but it was a freebie  so why not check it out .  br    br   well my guess is that mr . blonde would very much like to forget he  s ever taken part in such a shame of a film .  br    br   apparently  if your script and dialogs are terrible  even good actors cannot save the day . not to mention the amateur actors that flood this film . too many non  native  english  speakers play parts of native  english  speakers  reading out lines from a script that should have been thrown away and not having been made into a movie . it  s unbelievable how unbelievable all the lines in the movie sound . the music is awful and totally out of place  and the whole thing looks and sounds like a poor school play .  br    br   i recommend you watch it just so you would appreciate other  better  movies . this is why i gave it a  instead of the  it deserves .  
i do see what my forebears saw in the youthful bette davis . she  s splendid throughout this almost  madcap political comedy which actually stars warren williams as the political operative constantly behind on his alimony . vivienne osborne is brilliant as his ex  and i found myself rooting for her throughout . the williams character is not at all sympathetic  and he  s not even a decent op .  br    br   guy kibbee is one of the best at what he does . as a candidate dragged out of his sleep at a political convention and nominated to be governor in order to prevent a rival candidate from being nominated  so this whole mess is borne of internecine political warfare in a party called the  progressive party .  if you  re of a political mind  you will probably see a party other than the one with which you are affiliated reflected in the fictional  progressive party  of williams and kibbee . i could draw exact parallels  but we  re not here for that .  br    br   this is a good movie for those of us who love these old comedies . if you  ve ever watched any of the old wheeler  woolsey titles  half shot at sunrise  the rainmakers   you  ll find frank mchugh  as williams  s right arm  looking and behaving a lot like bert wheeler . he had me fooled .  br    br   yes  both my wife and i recommend this one .  
no  this wasn  t one of the ten worst films of the      s  but it certainly skirts the bottom    somewhere . this movie looks like it was put on the shelf for two or three years and then released in     . how else would you explain special effects pre  dating  an american werewolf in london   disco still being considered cool  and ronald reagan not being the   th president of the united states  while we  re at it  let  s not overlook those      s hairstyles in the      s and     s . i  ve seen more of that here than in  happy days    laverne  shirley  combined .  br    br   the one woman who elevates this movie to the  so bad  it  s good  category was the late  great elizabeth hartman  but just barely . biff plays as miss montgomery  the mousey high school teacher who becomes a sexpot  a stereotype that  s been done to death and is still being churned out by hollywood today  but even as a  hot chick  she retains her mousey qualities . her call for help is evidence of this . she also looks much better as miss wimp .  seven bucks at the beauty parlor  shot to hell .  she wasn  t kidding .  br    br   this isn  t to say that there aren  t any good parts elsewhere  they  re just few and far between  and i  m not just saying that because i like hartman . incidentally   teen wolf  was better than this .  teen wolf too  was better than this  and that wasn  t even so good .  br    br    
guy kibbee gives the viewer a lot of laughs . like most candidates  he knows almost nothing . warren william  a very  under rated actor  is superb in giving instructions to kibbee that is  he teaches him to say something which means nothing to the voting public . a campaign based on no comment   i  ll take it under advisement   and  maybe yes  but then again  maybe no   is the nearly perfect way to win an election . succinctly  the dumber the candidate  the greater the chance he or she will win . after all  the public can identify with such a person . with respect to the movie  it makes for a lot of comedy .  
i  ve seen better teenage werewolf movies in my time  this one however  takes the cake . more comedy than horror   full moon high  puts the  c  in cheese  fest . the star quality in this movie is not bad . just the way it was made just sends in rolling downhill . adam arkin plays tony  an all  american high school football player of the    s who ends up not aging due to a werewolf bite in transylvania . the most annoying part of the movie was the violin player . he drove everyone batty  ed mcmahon plays his ultra  conservative father who met his end of his own bullet . adam  s father alan plays a shrink who seems to be not top of his game . after all these years tony seems to be very out of place due to the attack  and then he  ll get the chance to catch in his state . more laugh than blood shed  this movie is just a start in the    s   teen wolf  was an improvement from this   out of  stars .  
the main reason to see this film is warren william  who is in top form as the shyster campaign manager . he is electric  constantly finding ways to fool the public and defeat the opposing party in the midst of the biggest disasters . william is a great actor   i feel he never got his due . bette davis as his girlfriend also shines in an under  written role . personally  i found guy kibbee not quite right as the lame  brained candidate that william and the others are trying to foist on the public . he seemed more like an empty canvas than a person . i would have preferred to see a real character emerge rather than a non  character . the story itself is implausible  silly and clichd . but warren william and bette davis are well worth watching .  
a surprising misfire from the usually reliable larry cohen  god told me too  q  etc .   full moon high tries so hard to be funny and fails miserably  even with decent turns by ed mcmahon    and kenneth mars . alan arkin looks embarrassed throughout his performance and son adam simply looks numb . this makes teen wolf look like a comedy classic .  
i must warn you  there are some spoilers in it . but to start it off  i got  spanish judges  on february i think . it was mention it was the last copy  but as i see  it wasn  t back  ordered . but either way  i have it . i thought it was good . i wanted to see this mainly because of the great actor  matthew lillard  i  m surprised no one on the reviews mention the scar  although it is kind of low budget  getting enough money to make this film would be worth spending . man  what a good actor .  br    br   the story it about a con artist known as jack  matthew lillard  who  claims  to have merchandises called the spanish judges . if you don  t know what spanish judges are or haven  t seen the trailer for this and this is the first review you have read  i won  t even say what they are . i figure it would be a big twist of no one knew what it was . he needs protection  so he hires a couple who are also crooks  max and jamie  vincent d  onofrio and valeria golino  as well as a crook that goes by the name of piece  mark boone junior  . he has a girlfriend who won  t even tell anyone her name because she  s from mars  as she said . so they  mainly jack  call her  mars girl  . everything starts out fine  but then it turns to one big game . a game that involves some lust  lies and betrayal .  br    br   there was some over acting in it  matt and valeria  as well as tamara  were not one of them  . there were some scenes they could  ve done better and the score could  ve been a little better as well . some of the score was actually good . the theme they used for the beginning and the end  before the credits  was a good song choice  that  s my opinion . the fight scene in the end could  ve been a little longer and a little more violent  but what can you do  one more comment on matt damn  he plays a smooth  slick con man .  br    br   i know this is a review  but i need to make a correction towards necro  one of the reviewers valeria golino is not a newcomer . according to this site  she has been acting since     . to me  and hopefully to others  she is well known as charlie sheen  s italian love interest in both the  hot shots   movies . but good review .  br    br   although i think it  s one of the rare films i  ve seen and it  s really good  which is why i gave it   stars above   i will give the grade of what i thought when i first saw it .  br    br        
whack    i got this movie because elizabeth hartman was in it . i was disappointed to find out she was in like two short scenes towards the end . other than that i was basically hitting the fast forward button the entire time . some teenager goes on a trip to romania with his dad and gets bitten by a wolf and turns into a werewolf if there  s a full moon . he kills his father and friends . about   years past but he doesn  t age a bit and enrolls in a high school . there he meets a shy teacher whom he ends up biting and then has kids with her . this movie sucked and i don  t recommend it to anyone . read war and peace instead . only ms . hartman did a great job . check out a very young bob saget in this one    
im a huge m lillard fan that  s why i ended up watching this movie . honestly i doubt that if he wasn  t in the movie i would of enjoyed it as much or even watched it but once i did watch it realize the story was pretty decent . a bad ending i must say but i did see it coming . it  s a low budget movie and some of the actors weren  t really good but all in all i rated this movie     .  br    br   the suspense of wondering what lillard was actually up to was what really keeped me interested in this movie .  br    br   its a good rental   br    br        
man  was i disappointed .  br    br     adam arkin is more whiny than ross geller from  friends   br    br     a great cast is wasted  kenneth mars  alan arkin  ed mcmahon  pat morita  louis nye  with this amateurish script .  br    br     the movie suffers from horrible pacing . it jumps around through in a jumbled  confusing manner .  br    br     the story doesn  t even make sense . why does he want to break the football streak  what about the stupid violin music  none of it is explained .  br    br     it  s not even funny . it  s like a bunch of accountants trying to do improv  saying  lookit me  lookit me i  m being funny   this was a bad attempt at making another  love at first bite  .  br    br   i like larry cohen movies  but man he failed here . i couldn  t wait for the credits to roll . horribly disappointed .  
wow  i can  t believe i  m the first and only one to post a comment on this great movie .  br    br   although the movie itself seemed interesting enough the real thing that attracted me to this one is matt lillard  granted most people probably either think he  s too caffeine happy or just plain sucks but we  re both the same age and from the same generation and i  ve watched this guy so many times that he  s one of my favorites now . this is one of the few movies where he is the big shot and main star kind of like in slc punk  another great lillard film .  br    br   baiscally this is storywise your usual heist movies but with more twists than anything  which start to amount to craziness . also very notable in this movie is another great actor named vincent d  onofrio  a very under appreciated person in the film industry . the woman in the movie is a newcomer and she isn  t too bad although you know they hired her mainly for her accent and the nude scene    br    br   it  s a game of jack vs jill vs bob as each want to reap the rewards but share with no one . they all try to get eachother to kill off the other and it  s a timebomb waiting to explode . matt shows his true prowess as the scheming jack who initially starts the whole scheme . vincent and woman play a couple of art thieves who are in need of money due to a lack of business . vince  s character is a bit deranged and skitz  s throughout the movie but that only add to the intensity of the film .  br    br   the surprises left and right are well welcomed and the ending is very non cliche and makes you feel happy  well maybe that depends on the type of endings you like . this movie kept me very interested besides the fact matt was in it  it  s a great movie and i  d highly recommend it to anyone who likes movies . critic  s probably won  t like this movie  but they don  t watch movies cause they like movies anyway .  
this movie deserved a working over on mystery science theater . even though it has nothing whatever to do with king solomon it  s worth a watch because it is an unintentional laugh  riot . really  it  s worse than  destroy all monsters .  be sure to check out the following the cheesy medallion  looks like the shriners have been here   the obviously polyester norfolk jacket on  allan quatermain   david macallum  s badly done stutter  which does draw attention away from his even worse acting   the incredibly bad process work on all the  monsters   the monsters themselves  the hand puppet which menaces the little girl  the giant snake that menaces macallum while he sinks in oatmeal  the red  lighted eyes on the motorized crabs  the amazingly hilarious boat  oh  brother    which appears to be made of plywood mounted on an old sand dredge and looks like a leftover from a jr . sr . prom   voyage into the future with the class of       the phoenician city  where they wear roman imperial armor but which inexplicably has egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions   the phoenicians invented the alphabet  come on    and worst of all  macallum and ekland  with her fright wig  playing smoochy  face  oh the horror  the best parts are that the intrepid explorers manage to lose the comic frenchman  and the african guy  snuffleupagus or whatever  evidently chose to die heroically rather than be in any more scenes .  
this is best showing of what i think jesus really was like . most movies show jesus as being effeminate  lobotomized  or tortured . this jesus laughed  played  and was serious when it was necessary . this is the kind of jesus people could be attracted to  not the usually hollywood version .  br    br   the movie took some liberties  attempting to  fill in the blanks .  but the fillers didn  t seem impossible  or even improbable . one thing i might argue  was that it never really explained what the romans had against jesus  movie portrayed that the romans were the main driver of jesus  death  not that the jewish authorities were against the idea  .  br    br   it seemed that the movie was researched well . one example was the offhand comment to a teenage boy who was called  mark .  it is believed that mark  or john mark  was the boy referred to at the garden of gethsemane whose cloak was pulled off and ran away naked  mark       . i get the feeling that they tried to make the movie as accurate  even in spirit  was much as possible .  
from the mind of harry alan towers comes another piece of cinematic sludge . supposedly based on the work of h . rider haggard  the only similarity it bears to anything haggard actually wrote is that it takes place in africa  albeit an africa that has dinosaurs  which our intrepid adventurers use to pull their canoes    and has some characters with the same names .  br    br   our heroes  david mccallum  patrick mcnee and john colico  set out to seek treasure  armed only with a medallion  and end up precisely where the treasure is  purely by chance . on the way  they meet a motley assortment of extremely lame monsters  pick up a french chef  and mccallum has an affair with the queen of phoenicia .  br    br   it  s so ridiculous  it  s a hoot . that  s the only reason i didn  t give it a  .  
the first time i saw this film  i loved it . it was different .  br    br   i am a christian  bible believing  . i don  t go along with the crowd of right wing believers . i dropped out of that atmosphere .  br    br   to me in their attempts to take over our government they are doing what judas tried to do . i call it the judas syndrome .  br    br   judas didn  t get it  even though jesus said his kingdom was not of this world .  br    br   this film certainly showed some of that .  br    br   i also liked that jesus enjoyed the simple pleasure of playing games and jokes with his disciples .  br    br   also he was a very gorgeous jesus .  br    br   it  s a watch  over and over movie .  br    br   very satisfying .  
i watched this today  partially attracted to the all  star cast and partly because i have enjoyed so many other films of this ilk . however  this is one to avoid . there are dozens of badly cut scenes where the continuity just does not flow  the billiards challenge at the start  for example . the fighting scenes with the natives are about as good as you would remember in those old black and white tarzan movies  you know where you see a spear fly through the air and camera cuts to a dead native lying motionless on the floor with it sticking from his thigh . is that instantaneous death  there are also several quite unnecessary scenes which have nothing to do with the plot  like the little girl being rescued while collecting flowers . the really badly animated clay toys are too painful to watch . if you do see this movie the crabs which inch forward at about  kph are the highlight . somehow one manages to creep up on david mccullum and give him a nip . its as if there was no time to get out of the way  like when the obelisk in the city falls over  the native has all the time in the world to take a  step to the left  but no he screams and it falls on him . i only give this a  because of ekland . and why does mccullums voice develop a stutter as the movie progresses   
any one who has seen mel gibson  s the passion of the christ and was bothered by the gory violence would want to see this film instead . though it wasn  t a success in th box office or tv ratings  the fox movie channel still finds a real good motive to show this anually . i liked the way that they trained chris sarandon and the men who portrayed his disciples to sing in hebrew . though sarandon didn  t have long hair like any other jesus would in other films  his looks are pretty close to what a jewish man would appear . what surprised me or startled me was the scene where caiaphas told jesus about pilate  and don  t ever forget  that you are a jew   though that may have not been a racist remark  colin blakely was trying to make chris sarandon look like garbage in the eyes of the prominent men of those days . keith michell  s portrayal of pilate was hulking  comparing with his previous performances in  the story of jacob and joseph  and  the story of david  . but if you compare his portrayal of pilate with telly savala  s or hurd hatfield  you can say that he really painted well the impression of a roman procurator .  
this movie is about a young scientist who creates a serum that re  animates the dead . he first uses it on his brother when he is shot dead in a drive by . his brother then infects the other gang members . in some scenes the zombies are seen walking very slowly and in other scenes they run pretty fast which makes little sense . the acting is mediocre but the story doesn  t help the film . the makeup consists of blood on the face of the zombies . the budget for this film i  m sure was very limited . i believe the film could have been better made had the story been more original and with a better budget . if you wan  t to see a good zombie flick don  t see this one .  
this movie has problems in its presentation  may even be offensive to people who are looking for temporal and cultural faithfulness  but it challenges the watcher to reflect on a variety of issues . one of these is the nature and character of the relationship between jesus and judas . another is that of the historical nature of the bible and faith . and third  is the humanity of jesus . the tension of the christ  betrayer relationship is developed and held through the movie . judas  passion is presented as a darker parallel to that of christ . when judas takes his own life  the viewer can sense the angst . peter  s denial and guilt  however moving  are not as powerfully portrayed as the judas drama . chris sarandon offers a novel and provocative christ  whether believable or not . i would like to find this movie on dvd or even vhs  to use in study or discussion groups .  
it was a painful experience  the whole story is actually there so i won  t go into that but the acting was horrible there is this part in the very beginning when the scientist brother goes to work he actually wears a white coat at home before leaving to work  i thought working with biohazard material meant that you should wear sterilized clothes in a controlled environment and the lab itself looks like a school lab there is this monitor on top a file cabinet that has nothing to do with the whole scene its just there to make the place look technical and a scientist is actually having breakfast in the lab and next to him is a biohazard labeled jar and his boss walks in on him and doesn  t even tell him anything about it . . . not to mentioned bad acting very bad can  t get any worst than that my advice don  t watch and i thought nothing could be worse than house of the dead apparently uwi boll  s movies look like classical shakespeare compared to this   
fantastic movie . one to excite all  senses . is not a true historical report and not all information is to be taken as factual information . true hollywood conventions used  like playing a list and very attractive actors as the  heroes   such as naomi watts  julia cook  ned kelly  s lover   heath ledger  ned  and orlando bloom  joe byrne  ned  s right hand man   and unattractive  sorry geoffrey rush  actors play the drunken and corrupt victorian police force . this also instills a very unreliable love story into the mix between ned  ledger  and julia cook  watts  to entice all the romantics  females being especially susceptible . even from the first scene  when ned saves the fat youth from drowning and his dad calls him  sunshine  and had a  glint in his eye as he looked down at me  his hand on me shoulder   it is very romanticized and persuades viewers to side with ned kelly  the underdog . besides  don  t all aussies love an underdog   
i never like to comment on a good film but when it comes to a bad movie  i gotta come really hard on it . talking about vivah  this guy  sooraj badjatya  seems to have completely lost it . after success of hum aapke hain kaun  he thought he can make money with cheesy wedding videos . vivah is so so cheesy that badjatyas have left johars and chopras behind .  br    br   there was not a single moment during the movie where i can say  oh  at least this thing is good  . aloknath does clich in a role of girl  s father  shahid kapoor looks fat and shahrukhed  amrita rao is another disaster in addition to ugly looking sets  bad costumes  hackneyed storyline  monstrous stepmother  trying  hard  to  act actors  cacophonous background music  cheap soundtracks .  br    br   now the spoiler  i  m warning you guys that as happens in all his other movies  after a calamitous incidence movie ends on a happy note .  
this movie is one of the most provocative jesus movies i have ever seen . it does not seek to tell the whole story  but only to portray an interpretive expression of the last day of jesus christ . it is darkly witty  playful and seriously faithful to elements of the jewish tradition and to modern scriptural interpretation . judas is much more ordinary than other portrayals  not the dark and sinister evil that we sometimes imagine  but a grossly mistaken man  horribly misguided in his zeal . chris saranden  s jesus is playful and serious  faithful and committed   very human while also divine . the final dialog is thoughtfully done and serves as the kind of small talk that two powerful men might do when they have just committed an atrocity . i would watch this movie again and recommend it to others .  
hood of the living dead and all of the other movies these guys directed look like they got together and filmed this with their buddies who have zero talent one afternoon when they were bored  lines are completely unrehearsed and unconvincing  . i find that    of amateur movies and    of home video footage is better than this film  although the similarities between them warrant the comparison  .  hey lets see if anyone is dumb enough to buy our movies   . hopefully nobody else wasn  t . my apologies to those involved in the flic as this review is somewhat harsh but i was the dope who read your fake reviews and purchased the movie .  
this movie strikes me as one of the most successful attempts ever at coming up with plausible answers for some of the nagging questions that have cropped up in recent scholarship concerning the  passion   suffering and death of christ  accounts in the new testament .  what motivated judas if money was not the issue  what could bring the sanhedrin to meet on a high holy day  why did pilate waffle   it is a movie for the serious  thinking christian fans of  the passion of the christ  will no doubt be disappointed by the lack of gory spectacle and arch characterization . as for myself  i find the portrait painted here   of the willingness of ordinary people to so blithely sacrifice common decency when their own self  interest is at stake   far more realistic and deeply unsettling .  the disinterested   just doing my job  look on the face of the man who drives the first nail in christ  s wrist is as chilling as any moment in film .  the film makes no claim to  authenticity   but the settings and costuming invariably feel more  right  than many more highly acclaimed efforts . it is a slow film but  if you accept its self  imposed limits  it is  after all   the death    not the life    of christ    ultimately a very rewarding one .  
hood of the living dead is about a young scientist named rick who lives with his brother in the town of oklahoma where drug dealers and prostitutes fill the streets . then one night  rick  s brother gets shot by a gang driving down the street who fought with him earlier . desperate  rick calls his scientist partner to bring over the latest formula they  ve been working on that brings sick blood cells to health . the formula hasn  t been tested on a human  or even a dead body but rick is determined to bring his brother back to life . he gives the body a double dose of the formula but nothing happens . so rick calls    and the body is carted away only for it to come back to life and feast on human flesh . now rick must find his zombie brother before the whole hood is transformed into a neighborhood of the dead . hood of the living dead is one piece of trash . the plot is a direct rip off of resident evil  the acting is just horrible especially with rick  s fake crying for his brother  the guns are so fake because every time the weapon is fired it sends sparks out  and the make up is just lame . it  s only fake blood covered over the actors face . the zombies are also modified . they run  growl  and must be shot in the heart to die  zombies should only scuffle  moan  and must be shot in the brain to die  this film is so horrible  the outtakes is the only true good moment of this film . hood of the living dead gets a  out of    a little entertainment here and there but it only succeeds as a low budget cringe fest .  
i feel monarch cove was one of the best written and acted out  drama  series to come on any network in a long time . this show had great potential and i couldn  t wait to view it each week . this could be developed into a great primetime soap . people look forward to this type of acting as we are being  reality tv  overkilled . i long for the type of writing and acting that shows like dallas  knots  landing  dynasty  melrose place  etc . provided . monarch cove updated this concept quite well and i anticipated it only getting better . there  s so much to expand on with these characters and they were all very interesting and captivating in their own right . it would be a loss to not explore this and develop these characters after having drawn and hooked us into their world . i absolutely loved this show because it was mysterious  interesting and sensuous without going overboard or offending . loved it .  
this movie is yet another in the long line of no budget  no effort  no talent movies shot on video and given a slick cover to dupe unsuspecting renters at the video store .  br    br   if you want to know what watching this movie is like  grab a video camera and some red food dye and film yourself and your friends wandering around the neighborhood at night growling and  attacking  people . congratulations  you  ve just made  hood of the living dead   now see if a distribution company will buy it from you .  br    br   i have seen some low budget  shot on video films that displayed talent from the filmmakers and actors or at the very least effort  but this has neither . avoid unless you are a true masochist or are amused by poorly made horror movies .  
love the tv show . was hooked first time i saw it . wish i was there acting in with them . it touches reality when you love someone and you are thinking that you want to spend the rest of your life with  then at a turn of events that you meet someone else and that person is more of who you want to be with . you are in a situation were you have to choose one or the other . someone is going to get hurt  there  s no stopping that . making the decision is hard but  do you want to go on being unhappy when you could have been . why go on and live a life that you thought that you wanted or thinking you are doing the right thing and you both be unhappy . that other person isn  t going to wait a life time waiting  they have a life a well . making the decision that you really want will be better in the end . making the best of what you have is a good thing a well . money  cars  houses  etc . . . . don  t make you happy  having the one person that you really want to be with to share it with does .  
may contain spoilers a few weeks after i had originally wrote my review for hood of the living dead i realized that i may have been a bit too harsh on this movie . which is why i decided i would do something i had never done before . review the same movie again . don  t get me wrong  i still don  t like the movie  i still think it  s dreck  and i still think the zombies don  t look all that zombie  ish . the story in the movie is still in my opinion  weak and rather lame . the story is about a guy named rick  who works as a scientist  that just happens to be working on a serum thing that heals sick cells  in animals  and his brother germaine  the two aren  t exactly on the best of terms  my my  an original plot point  and argue a lot . one day germaine is shot in a drive  by shooting  and rick calls up his scientist buddy to bring the serum to try to resuscitate germaine  whereas most people would  ve called     but whatever   naturally the serum fails and germaine  dies   if that didn  t happen there  d have been no movie   after the police and the coroner  until the end of time i will still think that maybe the paramedics should  ve shown up  leave the scene shows the coroner van  which i still believe was just someone  s van with a  coroner  decal thrown on the side   and germaine returning to life to attack and kill the paramedics . i would talk more about the plot  but i feel that if i reveal more about the story you wouldn  t want to watch it  and we wouldn  t want that now would we    but suffice to say that the story  in my opinion at least  meanders and is rather slow moving  pun not intended  . as i  ve previously said in my review the zombies don  t look all that much like zombies  i still think they look like they  ve been in a bar fight . that  s not to say that they should all be decaying and whatnot  but still there should at least be bite marks on the victims . also i still don  t like the fact that the director  s  continually switch up the pace at which the zombies move . they couldn  t really seem to decide on whether or not to have the zombies run or shamble  as most zombie movies do   don  t get me wrong  i  m all for running zombies but make up your minds people . in one scene the zombie runs toward the living  and in the other he just shambles to them . and sometimes they just don  t seem believable  yes i know their fictitious creatures but still   i am of course referring to the zombie that runs his hand on the wall as though he were walking through a dark living room  and i still don  t like the zombie who is lying on the ground  gets shot  then jerks like he was just shot . the sound in the movie also bothered me  mainly the music  which while it may have just been my copy of the film seemed pretty much non  existent . music in a movie is important folks . especially when the sound editing does sound like the director just took a friends camcorder and shot a little zombie flick . the acting is still atrocious  in my opinion  and is on par with the american  actors  from the japanese zombie movie junk . the movie is still bad  almost house of the dead bad  it  s better  no doubt about that  but then again that  s not saying much . it  s not the worst movie out there  and it is better than a lot of direct to video movies that are out there but at the end of the day wasn  t good . i also think the movie moves really really slow  despite the fact that it is only an hour and twenty or so minutes  and yes  i still don  t like the opening song  . this is the type of movie i think is well  suited to be premiered on the sci  fi network . which is why i am obligated to give this debacle of a film a one out of ten . but think of it this way  at least it  s not a negative one .  
monarch cove was one of the best friday night  s drama shown in a long time . i am asking the writer to please write a long series and air it on lifetime  soon . each person was very interesting and did a wonderful job with their lines to make the plot come true . however  the movie needs to continue for a long time . i would love to see bianca and jake  s child grow  up and get a major role in the movie  along with the new grandparents planning for her educational future . also  bring kathy back to see her niece and help foster her life . it was great seeing the grandparents work out their problems  but the family business needed to be restored to working status  and let us see how jake and bianca survive through the marriage years .  
i happened to spot this flick on the shelf under  new releases  and found the idea of a hip  hop zombie flick far too interesting to pass up . that  s how it was billed on the box  anyhow  and i thought to myself   what a great idea   plus there  s a  welcome to oakland  sign on the cover  too . how could i resist  unfortunately  the hip  hop part only lasted for as long as the opening theme . neither hip  hop music nor hip  hop culture had much of a role in the movie . having lived in oakland myself  i know that there are many aspiring hip  hop artists there  so the low budget of this flick was no excuse not to have a fitting soundtrack . any number of struggling artists would have jumped on the opportunity to contribute to this flick . why the quiroz brothers didn  t take advantage of this is beyond me .  br    br   once the film got rolling  it was a completely typical zombie movie with a cast that just so happened to be completely black and latino . you might think that this would put an unusual slant on the movie . . . but it didn  t . somehow  the quiroz brothers vision of  urban culture  boils down to drive  by shootings and dropping an f  bomb in every line in the movie . the rapid  fire use of the word  fuck  is probably this movie  s most distinguishing characteristics there were single lines that contained the word three or four times  and no line didn  t contain it at least once . i  m not at all squeamish about swearing in a movie  but the feeling here was that it was the result of a lack of ideas on the part of the writers  also the quiroz brothers   and the script was generally very poor .  br    br   the film was generally a disappointment . it would have been interesting to see a genuinely  urban culture  zombie flick  but  hood of the living dead  doesn  t deliver on that count . the characters in the movie could just as easily have been white or eskimo or anything else . there was no distinct flavor to the movie . it  s just another run  of  the  mill low budget flick with bad acting  lousy writing  amateurish direction  bland cinematography  a cheap soundtrack  and nothing at all to recommend it .  
i am totally addicted to this show . i can  t wait till the week goes by to see the next showing . it  s a great story line and it has the best actors and actresses on the show . i will tune in every week to watch it even if i am not home i always have my vcr set to tape monarch cove . simon rex is the best actor on the show . it is suspenseful and exciting . i think this show should stay on the air and i believe everyone should tune in to watch it . i saw the very first episode and actually i wasn  t going to watch it but i was watching lifetime one day and i decided to watch it because it was on and i absolutely love it and right now it  s my favorite show . i am really mean it .  
 . . . you know the rest . if you want a good zombie movie  don  t rent this movie . if you want a documentary  esquire look at  hood life  you  re at the wrong place as well . if you  re looking for a laughable piece of film  this is a real winner  the acting is as flat as a piece of paper . the best example of this is definitely the officer investigating the drive  by . i can tell that he did the voice for the    operator as well by the flat tone of his voice . if i could hear a cardboard box talk  it  d probably sound like this guy . oh yea  and the  zombies  did their best snake impression which is on par with their fantastic acting overall  note sarcasm . . . how did this not win an oscar for best make  up  the quiroz . . . . . . did not do any sort of directing . i felt like i was watching an improvisational period piece  the period is more like      s la  the direction is however one  uped by the worst script i think to ever grace a movie . i haven  t heard such lovely lines  like the epic one word beginning to the movie  fk    since ice grill which was another  urban  thriller . this only works of course in conjunction with the also  epic hip  hop soundtrack  all  or so songs of it  all in all  what the hell did you expect from a movie entitled  hood of the living dead   i rented this movie with full intention to laugh at its every scene  and boy it delivered and more  i would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to get together with a bunch of guys and laugh at a low budget horror  yea right . . .  movie for the night . a memorable experience for sure   
yeah  it  s a bit of a silly film  so if you are looking for an oscar performance  forget this one . . . . . . but  if you love john candy  s humor  this is a must  see . we lost john candy before he made enough of his great brand of comedy  and he is only better in one movie planes  trains   automobiles  with steve martin  . excellent supporting performance by eugene levy  perhaps his best work ever as the hot  headed sal dipasquale . also good acting by richard libertini  alley mills  pat hingle . you must see this obscure and out  of  print film if you are a john candy or eugene levy fan .  
  stars  and i  m being generous .  minor spoilers  look  this is a low budget zombie movie set in gangland oakland . as the plot goes  a scientist wants to bring his dead brother back to life after being killed in a drive  by .  br    br   the main problem with this movie what zombies   all the  zombies  do is growl  which doesn  t sound even remotely scary  and drip fake red blood from their mouths  no scary eyes  no decaying flesh  just a bunch of people growling pathetically and running around like idiots .  br    br   the cover is also misleading . there are only about  zombies in the whole film  so it  s not like the whole  hood  is plagued with zombies or anything  it  s just a few  and is contained in no time .  br    br   the acting actually is so bad it  s hilarious . no one can act at all in this movie  except maybe one of the gang members  and it really seems like a bunch of friends got together  decided to cast their family  and made a movie one weekend .  br    br   final note since when do doctors wear tracksuits   skip this one  please   
  going berserk  is actually one of the funniest candy films i have ever seen  period . sure  it  s kinda low budget  but it  s a non  stop comedic tour de force . there are tons of memorable quotes . for instance  when his soon  to  be father  in  law asks him how much he earns  candy says  oh  i pull down anywhere between thirty and . . . eleven thousand dollars a year  sir .  oh course  it is candy  s delivery that sells it . just classic stuff . eugene levy also turns in a hilarious performance as a sleazy filmmaker . a clip of his horrible low budget movie  kung fu u  will have you rolling .  br    br   so if you are a candy fan and want to rediscover a forgotten gem  i can  t recommend this movie enough .  
this was without a doubt the worst thing i have ever spent money on . i feel dirty for admitting that i rented this  movie  and actually paid money to see it . this does not even rate trash . no no . this is the juice that collects at the bottom of industrial dumpsters located in particularly foul neighborhoods after an extraordinarily humid summer . to call it trash would be to degrade trash everywhere . it was so bad i felt i had to register at imdb and warn my fellow man . this luvahire character claims this movie is great . one has to question his grasp on reality . let  s take some of his comments and analyze them .  br    br    the actor who played ricky  i forgot his name  did a very good job .   br    br   i see . well  if the director envisioned his audience cringing and wincing at every sentence uttered by ricky or alternately bursting into uncontrollable laughter at moments when most directors would want a more somber reaction from their viewers  then yes ricky did an outstanding job .  br    br    i  m an aspiring actor myself taking theater at my school and i had to do a play where i had to cry and it  s not easy to be emotional in a scene so i give props to actors who have to do an emotional scene and can pull it off .   br    br   wow . i too must give props to actors who can pull off emotional scenes . luvahire  you may want to look into another line of work there buddy if you think these chuckleheads pulled it off . still  they can help you if you need to practice crying . just watch the movie . ha . ha . ha .  br    br    bring on the sequel   br    br   if i was your theater teacher at school i  d fail you based solely on this comment alone .  br    br   i am too disgusted to continue . i shall now turn over the movie bashing to my associate  mr . bangla .  br    br   howdy  if you  ve continued to read this far  i take it for granted that you  ve already seen the movie  and you  re now looking for one of two things in this comment   additional vitriolic debasement of what you agree was an exceptionally poor movie .   additional vitriolic debasement of what you feel was a good cinematic effort which needs defending against such libelous scum as myself . whether you want help articulating your disgust or ammunition for a stirring repartee  if i say anything good it  ll only disappoint you   so let me assure you  there is little chance of such disappointment .  br    br   the other negative comments here at imdb have already enumerated the particular failings of the movie  e . g . the acting  the soundtrack  the directing  the dialogue  the editing  etc .   however all of these faults can readily be forgiven  in and of themselves . few people will rent a movie titled  hood of the living dead  if they require these elements to be top  notch . the ultimate failure of  hood   however  is its failure to deliver on the abundant promise of its name .  hood of the living dead  practically leaps off the shelf at the video store with its implications of corny one  liners and gruesomely creative kills . here was a chance to mix the cheesy gore of the zombie movie with the realism of life in the ghetto  to have gangsta  thug zombies bombin  on the innocent living while rockin  do  rags  to have undead pimps drivin  over all  too  mortal po  lice in their tricked  out rides . the mixture of the two genres could have been hilarious . instead  the movie is more like watching middle school kids timidly deliver the lines to a play they are performing  but don  t understand . to avoid a feeling of betrayal on the part of their video  rental audience  i suggest that the quiroz brothers re  release the movie with the following new title  hood of the living dead a home  made horror video we shot on our camcorder with some friends over a weekend last summer because we were bored  . or perhaps they could release it as a documentary .  the day creativity died an exploration of how a low budget movie can still be perfectly devoid of clever or original thought despite lacking ties to a major motion picture studio .   br    br   the potential renter whose interest has not been quelled  should find the following blurb on the back of the video case  the quiroz brothers have proved once again that watching things which you can easily do yourself is not very interesting .    mr . bangla  
one of john  s funniest  eugene levy is great in this one as well  just wish the studio would figure out that this one needs to be on dvd  i have it on video tape  but feel that this film deserves dvd  and extras would be great  the kung fu uuniversity  kung fu u  skit is so very funny  as is the entire film  also the scenes he has with his girlfriend and her family are great  this movie never seems to be on tv  but it loses most of it  s hilarity when edited for broadcast tv  if you can find the video i would suggest you buy it  ebay is a good place to find a copy  i will keep my vhs until one day we get to see it on dvd . there are so many great movies out there that still have not been released to dvd  and this is one of them .  
the first mistake you make in titling a film is to use  of the living dead  without really having a budget for real zombie fx . sure  this was a low budget zombie flick  really low budget . i thought it was a film school project . amateur actors and amateur effects .  br    br   it was really not too bad considering the above  and it presented an interesting twist to the zombie genre . if you are going to get an  r  for violence  you might as well give us some good shots of the babes being attacked . the women were so little used in this film that it could almost be classified as  gay interest .   br    br   and  i am staying out of oakland . there was a heck of a lot of shooting going on and no cops in sight   
besides planes  trains and automobiles and uncle buck  this is john candy  s funniest movie . when he gets hypnotized with the playing card  similar to the manchurian candidate  and becomes a horny guy who does not know what he is saying  he makes two very memorable quotes  both deal with the male anatomy  . the love scene involving grocery items has to be seen  it cannot be described .  br    br    
i simply give this a three because it fulfilled what my buddies and i hoped it would do entertain .  br    br   i wasn  t stupid enough to rent this thinking it would be a zombie film up there with the likes of romero or fulci  but what i rented it for was a laugh .  br    br   if you are looking for a film for amusement  or a film to make you shake your head in embarrassment  go for it . this is perfect for junior   mystery science theater  fans  but the only downside is that it is so bad  it makes fun of itself .  br    br   i  personally  think it is a shame to relate this to any other hollywood title that we may know  because when a film sucks like this  it has its own genre .  
i  m tired of people judging films on their  historical accuracy  . it  s a movie people   the writers and directors are supposed to put their own spin into the story  there are a number of movies out there that aren  t entirely accurate with the history . . . . braveheart  wyatt earp  gangs of new york  geronimo an american legend  the last of the mohicans . . . . all fantastic films that are mildly inaccurate historically . if you want to see a few great actors do what they do best  then i suggest you see this film and don  t worry about the accuracy of the facts . just enjoy the quality of the film  the storyline and one of the greatest actors of our time .  
in director sooraj barjatya  s vivah     something delhi boy shahid kapur finds himself smitten by the demure  small  town girl his father has selected for him to marry . drawn to her innocence and simplicity  shahid agrees to the marriage barely moments after he  s met her at her home in madhupur  and the young lady in question amrita rao seems equally floored by her charming suitor . the marriage is fixed for six months later  and the couple find themselves in the first throes of young  budding love  their geographical distance notwithstanding . but amrita  who  s been raised by her uncle and her aunt after her parents  death  is struck by a horrible calamity just hours before the marriage . and then  it  s up to shahid to play the honourable lover and to embrace her unconditionally . much in the same vein as hum aapke hain koun and hum saath saath hain  barjatya  s new film vivah too is on one level a family drama with an extremely idealistic premise . but sadly  the plot of this new film comes off looking way too outdated  even more far  fetched than those regressive ekta kapoor soaps . and the problem is clear  you just can  t relate to such squeaky  clean characters who don  t have one bad bone in their bodies . there are many things that work in favour of and against hindi films  and timing is one such important factor . twenty  five years ago  perhaps the plot of vivah may not have felt like such a stretch  but today it just seems like the product of a mind stuck in a time warp . perhaps the film  s only saving grace is the fact that it oozes sincerity from start to finish  you can make out right away that the filmmaker  s intention is not to deceive . judging both by barjatya  s previous films and by closely examining this new one you can safely declare that barjatya believes in a perfect world  he believes in his good  as  gold characters  he believes that large families can live together happily under the same roof without the slightest bumps . but alas  he  s unable to translate his vision to the screen . it  s difficult to overlook how one  dimensional his protagonists are  shahid and amrita  both virtuous and virginal  i mean  think about it  the first time they hold hands is an hour and twenty minutes into the film . barjatya may think he  s returning to his maine pyar kiya roots with vivah  but truth is that the reason we embraced salman and bhagyashree in that film  or even salman and madhuri in hum aapke hain koun is because they had such fantastic chemistry . because although they were created out of the same mould as shahid and amrita in vivah  those pairs had mischief and masti . shahid and amrita are just insipid and boring . for a film that relies so heavily on music to narrate its story  the filmmaker chooses a string of   s  style tunes that only further slacken the film  s deadening pace . but if i had to choose just one reason to explain why vivah doesn  t work for me  it  s because i  m not sure i can relate to any of the characters who inhabit barjatya  s story . to some perhaps  vivah will give hope  that a perfect world like this is actually out there somewhere . but i  m a little cynical i guess . so  give me the coquettish madhuri of hum aapke hain kaun  give me the bratty salman of maine pyar kiya  i  ll even take that mischievous karisma kapoor of hum saath saath hain . but save me from these dullards . you know  some marriages aren  t made in heaven . this one  s vivah   
if you enjoy the subtle  yes  i said subtle  actions and reactions of john candy  you can  t help but like this film  pronounced  fillum  by salvatore dipasquale  . the unobservant  and uninformed  watcher always saw candy as a broad actor  a big buffoon . and sometimes he was  see  stripes  and  splash   . but  when given the opportunity  he could really be razor  sharp and quite subtle . it  s too bad he was cast in so many roles that only showed his broad side  because we  ll never get to see more of the other . oh  yeah  the movie . one can watch  going berserk  over and over  i know i have  with the frequency of  caddyshack .  it  s just that good . the plot  although a little convoluted  is actually fairly deep for a farce of this kind . it allows candy and the always under  rated joe flaherty and eugene levy to bounce off of candy . . . and they bounce hard . definitely worth a glance for anyone who enjoyed sctv or candy  s other work .  
i usually comment only on movies that i like  figuring  everyone to his  her own taste   but here i want to make an exception . the premise of this movie  which somehow seems to get lost in the shuffle  is that these two self  centered adults have a perfect right to go off to las vegas  get drunk  get married  and inflict incalculable suffering upon their respective broods of children . even allowing for the culturally sanctioned inebriation  they have neither the courage nor the sense of responsibility to wake up the next morning and undo what they have set in motion . after all   love  is all that  s important  isn  t it  to hell with everybody else . whether or not things  work out in the end  is really not the point in fact it  s quite irrelevant . the point is that disrespect for others  especially if they are young persons  and especially if they are in a position of dependency  is made light of and thereby reinforced by this movie . there are far more innocuous behaviors these  parents  could have performed that would have brought down an army of social workers on their heads in a heartbeat .  
you should not take what i am about to say lightly . i  ve seen many  many films and have reviewed a great deal of them  in print . so when i tell you that this film has the single funniest scene i have ever seen in a movie  you might want to listen to me . there  s a lot of diversity of opinion as to what makes this incredibly stupid movie as funny as it is . and to those who just didn  t get  well  i can  t blame them  too much . the scene i speak of  comes at about the   minute mark and involves a dead convict shackled to john candy . up until that point  i had found the film dumb  confusing and it was beginning to lose me . when this scene came up  i laughed so hard  i peed my pants . no movie has ever done that to me before . when the project began   going berserk  was supposed to be the sctv movie . i remember it being announced . as time went on  the cast was whittled down to john candy  joe flaherty  eugene levy . there also must have been a regime change at universal  while it was being shot  because upon being released  it was shown in nearly zero theaters . when watching this a second time  i listened to the theme song  which actually flaunts how incomprehensible the plot is  in the lyrics   relaxed my logic nerve and figured out what was going on . aside from the aforementioned routine   going berserk  has many other hilarious scenes to recommend it . this is almost a  stooges flick  except it  s much funnier . director david steinberg has razor sharp timing  and he must have been laughing all through this . as for candy  who  s basically in charge here  he has never been funnier . with all the plot devices and explanatory scenes thrown out the window  he absolutely runs wild . flaherty and levy follow him effortlessly . there is a plot  but it  s a plot like  animal house  had a plot  and yeah  the script is uneven  and a little slow to start . once you know this  however  you can well appreciate the full sctv style craziness that transpires . it is stupid  but it  s stupid on purpose  and you need to remember that when you see it . do see it  and discover for yourself  if it has the funniest scene of all time in it .  
with this abc family attempt of the hit blockbuster  cheaper by the dozen  comes an obnoxious amount of corny dialogue  shallow plot lines  and cheesy comebacks . with about two good actors among many wanna  be  s  this movie was a major disappointment . its a hollywood  wannabe ditto of an already bad plot . then  because they needed a lot of actors  that meant that they  d probably be more lenient . so the acting wasn  t five  star . the plot moved fairly fast  and the twists were bad and had horrible timing . the junction of characters and the  end relationships  were also too mushy and clichd for me . spare yourself and rent something better .  
yeah  it  s low budget . yeah  it  s one of candy  s earliest films  but it is maybe his funniest  john candy was not so far removed from his sctv days in  going berserk  and it shows . if you don  t crack up when candy tries to help a guy with his groceries while being hand  cuffed to an escaped cohort in the process of having sex with his girlfriend with only the apartment door separating them  huh   see the movie    or the way euguene levy  the creator of kong fu yu  is talking to his mom on the phone  or just the countless number of facial expressions that only candy could deliver you better check your pulse  if you like the john candy of  only the lonely  this is may not be a movie i would advise you to see  but if you enjoy the sctv days of john candy  this movie is a must see   
this movie does not really promote kids to be nicer and have better attitudes  as a family movie should  and this wouldn  t be considered family anyway because it has some things in it that children shouldn  t be seeing . not the best abc family film if you ask me . if there were less sexual themes in the movie  then maybe it would be better . hollywood isn  t doing anything to make a movie better by adding in sexual situations . there  s really no reason for them . at least this is a tv movie . i wouldn  t want to waste my money on this garbage by renting it . if you have other things to do other than watch this movie  please proceed to them .  
once in the life means that once a hoodlum  always a hoodlum  and nobody gets in or out of the life  for free . neighborhood hoodlums in new york sell drugs and run scams because they can  t make it in the legitimate world  maybe because they have a criminal record  or a drug habit  or because they  re just lazy . this simple story with a couple of twists about mostly despicable characters manages to draw compassion out of the audience for its main players because of their loyalty and compassion for each other . the film is written  produced  and directed by laurence fishburne  who also stars as      mike  all hoodlums have nicknames   and is based on his play  riff raff .  it feels like a play from beginning to end  especially during the longest scene where the three main players square off to decide who can be trusted . often times the dialog comes very fast  much faster than it would on stage  and i think it  s the film  s biggest flaw . mixed in as flashbacks throughout the film are poems from the street  a sort of iambic pentameter rap  that is violent and evocative of the world this movie discloses . the poetry makes it difficult to dismiss these men  these hoodlums who murder  cheat  and betray each other  as unworthy of our attention or below our contempt . the disturbing thing about this film is that its realism shows us not only how these people live  but how they suffer for the same reasons as us all . one is too stupid  another a junkie  and the last suffers from conscience while the audience wonders  or even laughs  at the irony of executioners demanding from him hanging in the gallows to tell jokes in the midst of his demise .  
i got this film from a private collector and was very curious about it . it had a    in imdb   votes only  and some external comments were pleasant . but i have to say that it is a very usual and uninteresting giallo . yes  great cinematography  the film is well directed  but it never freaked me out . it starts well  but although it not bored me at all  the story is so ordinary and the things that occur so normal  that i didn  t like it very much .  br    br   you can make a few laughs . and you can see some little tits . but if you like the kind of giallos i like  bizarre  surreal  nonsenseful  gory  atmospheric  brutal murders . . .  you won  t appreciate much this film .  br    br   i give it a  for the good directing and editing  and the final twists  that make the film entertaining . but it could be much better .  
three scumbags get their just deserts after wasting their lives in greed  drugs  ego  and bad attitudes . interesting and well done this style of film always makes me wonder where reality leaves off and imagination takes over . even though these folks were the scum of the earth i still found myself pitying them . they never really stood much of a chance .  
if this documentary had not been made by the famous french director  louis malle  i probably would have turned it off after the first   minutes  as it was an incredibly dull look at a very ordinary midwestern american town in     . this is not exactly my idea of a fun topic and the film footage closely resembled a collection of home movies . considering i didn  t know any of these people  it was even less interesting .  br    br   because it was a rather dull slice of life style documentary  i wondered while watching what was the message they were trying to convey  perhaps it was that values aren  t as conservative as you might think   this was an underlying message through many of the vignettes  such as the republicans whose son was a draft resister as well as the man and lady who thought sex outside of marriage was just fine  . or  perhaps the meaning was that there was a lot of bigotry underlying the nice home town   as several ugly ideas such as blaming jews for financial conspiracies  anti  black bigotry and homophobia all were briefly explored .  br    br   the small town of     was explored in great depth and an idyllic sort of world was portrayed  but when the film makers returned six years later  the mood was depressed thanks to president reagan . this seemed very disingenuous for several reasons . first  the     portion was almost    of the film and the final    only consisted of a few interviews of people that blamed the president for just about everything but acne . what about the rest of the folks of this town  did they all see reagan as evil or that their lives had become more negative  with only a few updates  it seemed suspicious . second  while it is true that the national debt doubled in the intervening years  so did the gross national product . and  while malle shows     as a very optimistic period  it was far from that  as the period from          featured many shortages  gas  sugar  etc .   strikes  high inflation and general malaise . while i am not a huge fan of reagan because government growth did not slow during his administration  the country  in general  was far more optimistic than it had been in the ford and carter years . while many in the media demonized reagan  a popular sport in the   s   the economy improved significantly and the documentary seems very one  sided and agenda driven . had the documentary given a more thorough coverage of     and hadn  t seemed too negative to be believed  after all  everyone didn  t have their lives get worse   this defies common sense   then i might have thought otherwise .  br    br   overall  not the wonderful documentary some have proclaimed it to be   ranging from a dull film in     to an extremely slanted look at     .  br    br   by the way  is it just me  or does the film drop dead gorgeous seem to have been inspired  at least in part  by this film  both are set in similar communities  but the latter film was a hilarious mockumentary without all the serious undertones .  
i caught this movie on ifc and i enjoyed it  although i felt like the editing job was a little rough  though it may have been deliberate . i had a little bit of a hard time figuring out what was going on at first because they seemed to be going for a little bit of a pulp fiction  style non  linear plot presentation . it seemed a little forced  though . i certainly think that the movie is worth watching  but i think it could have used a little cleaning up . some scenes just don  t seem to make sense after others .  br    br   i  m surprised to see the rating here as low as it is . it  s not outstanding  but it doesn  t have any really serious problems . i gave it a     . the movie did show at least that laurence fishburne can act when he wants to . they must have just told him not to in the matrix movies .  
 spoilers    br    br   what is this movie offering  out of control editing and cinematography that matches up with a terrible plot . it is sad to see denzel washington  s talents go wasted in trashes like this . we are certainly hinted how the mexicans cannot save themselves  outside forces needed  possibly militaristic  american ones . and we know the father is a shady character  he is a mexican after all  unlike the wife who appreciates creasey more because he is american . he killed all of them thinking she died . and did she  of course  she won  t  she is a young kid and you are not supposed to hurt the sensibilities of the hollywood fan . the trade off scene was the only thing that prevents me from rating it below the  implausibly successful   as some critic pointed out   taken  . the nausea of such movies will take time to go . it is in the rating of such movies that we have to doubt imdb  s credulity .  .  for a movie like this and  .  for my own private idaho . go figure  mine will be in the range of  .    .   
  once in the life  is a very good movie . however it  s not good for everybody  due to the extensive use of vulgar language and the violence of some of the situations . the movie manages to represent in an anecdotic  believable way the  life  in nyc neighborhoods where drug problems are important . this depiction is in turn used as the decor for a most thoughtful and suspenseful drama backed up by powerful dialogs  however i had a hard time understanding some of them because english is not my mother tongue . on video it  s ok  . there is a little overplay sometimes  but i think it fits quite well to the general orientation fishburne gave to the movie  which gives matter for reflexion more than just being a good style exercise  notably in the time  action management . the characters  even though not simple  are easy to relate to and actors do a fine job at impersonating them . by the way i much enjoyed the soundtrack  b . marsalis  . if you  re not too prude  you should enjoy seeing that movie once  twice  three times . i rated the movie     .  
trust me  this is one let down movie that you want to avoid and this comes from one huge denzel washington fan . the frustrating part is that it  s    of a great film . the first part of this movie does an exceptional job of setting up the characters and the new relationship between creasy and the girl he  s paid to protect . the trailers to this movie all mention that she is kidnapped . so  i  m giving nothing away when i say that the film degenerates into an almost unwatchable mess after she  s kidnapped . whatever the director was trying to accomplish  all he succeeds in doing is making the audience literally nauseous . rapid  frantic and choppy cuts follow for the next half  hour as creasy tracks down the perpetrators . these cuts are so unnatural and nauseating that all they do is to jolt you out of the story . i  m sure the director thought that this unsettling way to present the story signified a change in creasy  s character and signified that a different movie was to follow . well  he was right . the movie that followed was complete and unsatisfying crap . the result of which is a depressing ending that ruins even the quality first forty minutes of the movie .  
this is really a great unknown movie . perfect dialogue without the typical clichs . this movie relied on the actor  s talent and it was pulled off . it even had a little bit a comedy in it  but it wasn  t overdone . once in the life is what a crime drama is supposed to be  not the typical special affects garbage with sex thrown in . i especially loved the interracial aspects of it all .  br    br   now onto the actors themselves . laurence fishburne was superb at playing a career petty criminal . it  s a shame that he  s only allowed to show his talent in his own movie . titus welliver was fabulous as fishburne  s junky half  brother . eamonn walker added flavor to the already perfectly spiced film . paul calderon was perfect as a grease monkey  drug lord . i loved his acting since  king of new york  . but the best acting in this film came from gregory hines and michael paul chan  who were paired perfectly as two of calderon  s henchmen .  br    br   once in the life is for sure a keeper .      out of  .  
don  t get me wrong  i love action and revenge flicks  i  ve seen many of them since i was a kid  including dolph lundgren  s latest  the mechanik  which is quite good . and tony scott certainly know how to use a camera and even might be a genius shooting and editing films .  br    br   but with  man on fire   and even more then with  domino    scott shows that rather than using his film  making  genius  skills intelligently  he uses it puposelessly to show off and compensate a lack of substance that his material doesn  t offer him .  man of fire  is close to  hours and half when it really should have been at least an hour less .  br    br   the way scott shot and edited this film also makes you wonder if he really wants you  the audience  to sit through his film because his constant camera moves and flashes really are a torture for the eye and makes you wanna leave the theater or turn it off after  minutes into it .  br    br   at times where the mpaa and studios have questionable attitudes regarding ratings  violence and making pg    movies  i find also suspicious that a    million movie is made of a b  movie script with a character who cuts fingers  puts a bomb in a man  s ass and blows a guy  s hand with a shotgun  all this to avenge the death of a little girl who isn  t even dead  go figure then why a studio will pass a better script because of the language or violence . . . thus said . . .  
as an old white housewife i can still appreciate that laurence fishburne is one of our finest actors . anyone who appreciates his work like in deep cover might enjoy watching the incredible acting range of this actor . since i think this is his directorial debut it might prove even more interesting . all of the acting is quite good . if you can  t take lower manhattan junky worlds or the reality of crime life  not glorified action shoot  em ups  then this is not a film you would enjoy . it is mr . fishburne  s usual contribution to incredibly subtle relationships . i would love to see larry and anthony hopkins go at each other some day in a movie .  
the thing viewers will remember most is the bad headache the movie has given them due to the overly flashy  shaky  camera  work and the fast  confusing cutting . i am not against those kind of stylistic devices if they are done right like oliver stone and steven soderbergh proof with most of their movies  but in this case there was way too much . it seems like the jump  cuts and light flashes that accompanied every flight over mexico city and every important scene were there to distract you from realizing that the story is quite thin and the whole thing was very predictable . the biggest disappointment lies in the fact that you can easily figure out how the whole thing is going to end . for a movie that pretends to be violent  ruthless and morally corrupt it is inexcusable that it  s story has been told so many times and with a lot more depth and character development . that is another disappointing aspect of the movie . if i want to watch an over the top action flick i do not need any justification  but this movie tried to justify the killing spree of denzel washington  s character and poorly failed in delivering any believable performances . the first half hour or so nothing much happens except that dumb archetypes and clichs are portrayed and when the action machine starts rolling it is so quickly cut that you do not know what really happens . so the movie does not work either on the level of a believable drama  thriller  nor as a pure action movie . of course the movie is not as bad as some oft the totally messed up blockbusters of the last years  but i absolutely cannot understand why so many people claim this movie to be something fresh and so cool . for a video clip it is way too long and for a movie it has too little substance .  
if you loved deep cover  you might like this film as well . many of the poetic interludes fishburne recites in deep cover are from the lyrical script of  once in the life   a screen adaptation of a play that fishburne wrote . if you love larry as much as i do  you  ll love this film that is all larry  all hot  and all fleshed out . of course there is gun play and illicit substance use  this is a gangster movie of sorts  after all  but the script is beautiful and the story is touching  even a little on the chick flick side .  br    br   amazing film . . . dark  frightening  sexy  and exciting . if you ever sneaked out at night or hung out in a clubhouse  you  ll get the proper impact of the cramped sets  metephorically echoing being trapped in the life  . full of clever foreshadowing and complex relationships  this film is tight . . every sentiment mirrored in the set dressing and camera shots . good work   
scary . . yes scary   jam  packed with nudity  from fat people to skinny people   maslin beach takes place on a nudist beach in s . a .  br    br   i first saw this film two years ago  it  s safe to say it made a bizarre topic of discussion at school the next day . this film was horrible  hardly a romantic comedy  just a showcase of nudity  this movie hit its lowpoint with one of the new  age characters staring down between a girls legs .  br    br   girl you  re not going to find god in there  guy nah  but i think i found heaven .  br    br   steer clear of this one  unless you want to hear amateur actors discuss topics such as farting  adultery and the process of superlguing one  s genitals together . avoid   
i thought that this film was very well made  heath leger was very convincing and his irish accent was flawless . orlando bloom and naomi watts were also really good and believable . how true it is to what really happened i have no idea  but it did portray why people sometimes become what they do . maybe those in authority have always been corrupt and i did find it interesting that over       signed a petition for ned kelly not to be hanged  so maybe there was more truth in this film than at first thought  in many ways it reminded me of cold mountain which was another good historical film . all in all i would highly recommend this film and i am somewhat baffled why it didn  t do better in the cinemas .  
from a poorly contrived plot line that makes almost no sense to bad dialogue and disjointed scenes to the ultimate downer  bad acting  even peter falk can  t find his way   finding john christmas  is better left lost . ms . bertinelli  s performance is without depth or emotion as are her co  stars  william russ as brother hank and david cubitt as love interest noah . jennifer pisana as soccoro  the daughter of single dad noah is almost unbearable to watch let alone listen to singing . but who can blame them with material like this . michael j . murray  s script is juvenile at best .  br    br   each year at this time i search the tv guides and wait anxiously for some of the really classic christmas and inspirational holiday films to appear on the small screen . films like  miracle on   th street   ernst lubitsch  s delightful  the shop around the corner  and  of course the     version of  scrooge  . there  s frank capra  s classics  it  s a wonderful life  and  meet john doe  . hey  forget the classics . what about  home alone  or  home for the holidays  with holly hunter and a great performance by robert downey jr .   br    br   my present to you is by way of advice . your time would be better spent searching out these films than finding  finding john christmas  . merry christmas   
this a casper the friendly ghost short from my childhood  and i re  watch it on youtube  thank god  for you tube   after that i love this short  and it is one of my favorite casper shorts .  br    br   i love how the short starts off spooky with frank gallop  s haunting narration until we get to see casper sitting by his tombstone in the cemetery  reading . while every ghost rose from the graves to  boo  people  casper decides to leave in search for a friend . but in trying to make a friend  anyone who sees casper runs away . poor casper sat on a log and weep until a little fox cub comes up an nuzzles him . casper and the little fox quickly bond and he quickly names the cub ferdie and considers him to be his very best friend .  br    br   casper and ferdie  s relationship is put in tremendous jeopardy however when casper is not keeping a close eye on ferdie while they are playing a game of hide and seek . while ferdie is hiding a hunter and two of his hunting dogs come and try to kill little ferdie and ferdie is running as fast as possible until he is out of breath and starts panting . while the hunter is firing gunshots towards ferdie casper notices they are trying to kill him and flies in the hunter  s direction and pleads that the hunter leaves ferdie alone . and the hunter and dogs are terrified of casper . casper yells to ferdie that the hunter and the dogs are gone and that everything is fine . but casper sees ferdie  s body is not moving and asks if he is ok . when casper sees ferdie has died he starts mourning in pain because he lost  the only friend he ever had in his whole life .  casper returns back to the cemetery where he has buried ferdie and has made a gravestone for him next to casper  s gravestone . casper continues mourning in pain until he sees that ferdie has resurrected as a ghost himself . ferdie starts licking casper on his cheek . casper screams for joy because he has been reunited with ferdie .  br    br   overall  it is a really good short though surprisingly disturbing  showing death in a family  oriented cartoon .  
when i began watching the muppets take manhattan  the choppy presentation and dialogue had me convinced i was watching something recent  so you can imagine my surprise when i came to the imdb and read that it was made in     . jim henson may have ended the muppet show when it was at its peak  but spin offs like this and muppet babies  which apparently is based upon a very terrible sequence in this film  are the absolute nadir of all things muppet . i used to wonder why muppets attracted such derision from such film reviewers as mr . cranky  so i am glad that the muppets take manhattan  henceforth tmtm  set me straight on that one . of course  many series have had a massive drop off in quality when the third episode came around aliens  robocop  the evil dead  even night of the living dead . so while it is no surprise that tmtm is less than the muppet movie or the great muppet caper  the surprise lies entirely in how much less than the awesome debut or its slightly lesser follow  up tmtm is . not only is the music far less satisfying  the scenes that link it all together are utterly terrible .  br    br   there are  of course  some redeeming and genuinely funny moments  but they are few and far between . the swedish chef is great in any scene he inhabits  so thank the spirit of small mercies that he appears in one sequence where his eccentricity is exploited to the fullest . the problem is that there are just no scenes that work . the story  such as it is  revolves around a broadway musical kermit is attempting to get produced . he goes through many trials and tribulations along the way  including the sneaking suspicion the viewer has that we have seen this all before . the biggest problem is that kermit does not have a decent antagonist to work off this time . charles durning was cinematic gold as doc hopper  the proprietor of a fast food chain who wants to exploit kermit for his business . charles grodin was dynamite as nicky holiday  a jewel thief the muppets must fight in order to save miss piggy from a lifetime in prison . the saying is that a hero is only as good as his antagonist  and these two are at least half responsible for the greatness of the previous two films .  br    br   charles grodin also highlights what is wrong with tmtm . namely  the music sucks . the opening number of the manhattan melodies show that is at the centre of tmtm  to put it nicely  makes the drivel that now dominates the airwaves seem coordinated . i might just be letting my peculiar sensitivity to the sounds of words and phrases getting to me  but songs like the rainbow connection inspired tears of joy  not irritation . grodin  s big solo during the great muppet caper  while not having the same resonation  he lifts the tone of the film eight steps on his own . he is all class . and if there is one thing tmtm could use  it is rising eight steps in addition to attaining a semblance of class . tmtm also feels severely time  compressed  with the story leaping from scene to scene without any consideration for making sense or giving the story cohesion . maddox himself pointed out that transition and cohesion make a film feel like a coherent whole rather than a mess of thrown  together pieces . see if you can find them in tmtm .  br    br   while tmtm does have its guest stars  they are either poorly utilised  brooke shields and john landis   or totally out of their element  liza minelli  dabney coleman  . to call this a waste of time for puppeteer and actor alike is flattery . the absence of an end credits routine is especially sore here  after animal  s  go home  postscript for the muppet movie in particular . which highlights another problem . the characters are poorly written at best  with none of their individual quirks to be seen or heard . animal shouts singular words at times  but they have nothing to do with the plot  or the conversation going on around him . say what you will about set pieces designed to show off characters  but think of animal  s moment after eating the instant growth pills  or his  sowwy  after the incident when he pulled the window down on top of his fellow muppets . now see if you can remember a single memorable moment with an individual muppet other than swedish chef  s hilarious misunderstanding of three  dimensional film involving popcorn . give up  then you have proved my point .  br    br   given that labyrinth  one of the henson company  s best and most timeless products outside of the muppets  arrived some two years later  it makes tmtm all the more puzzling . perhaps this misfire convinced jim henson to rethink his strategy regarding character development and usage . or perhaps the misfire can be attributed to frank oz  who at the time had just finished working with george lucas on what many would agree is the most childish episode in the original star wars saga . the writers were also involved with the great muppet caper  so i will let them off the hook for this in spite of the fact that a script is one of the most essential pieces of a film . the production is also substantially improved here  with muppets appearing capable of moving in ways that were previously beyond them . had the story and script been better thought  out  tmtm might have been at least comparable to the great muppet caper . as it stands now  it is a great answer to the question of whether muppets write under the influence  or excrete .  br    br   for that reason  i gave the muppets take manhattan a three out of ten . two to denote its actual quality  and a bonus for the swedish chef  s moments . without him  this film would be unwatchable .  
famous was  famous  for their tension and release style of cartoon where the semi  main character is in terrible peril  only to be rescued by the hero at the last second . this particular casper is the only one i can remember where death actually takes a hand . but even in death  there is still a happy ending .  br    br   the constant in famous studios cartoons is that  virtue always triumphs  . popeye always gets to his spinach in time  baby huey always out  foxes the fox  little audery always  learns her lesson  . and some fs cartoons are really dark and depressing .  br    br   you have to give them credit . as much as i love looney tunes and  tom and jerry  i don  t think anyone was putting out a better cartoon product at that time than paramount . color  animation  music  the great winston sharples   editing  voices . they were consistent and a glowing example of the best that the art form had to offer .  
as a turkish man now living in sweden i must confess i often watch scandinavian movies . most if them i never understand . i think actors from scandinavia work best in hollywood . last week i watched a film called  the polish wedding  together with a polish friend of mine and we both said it was the worst movie we ever watched . unfortunately i was wrong this movie  house of angels  is even worse . none of the actors can act  absolutely not the female so called star helen bergstrom . the plot is so silly nobody can believe it . i think the whole thing is a mess from the start . lots of bad acting except from selldal and wollter . ahmed sellam  
i remember casper comic books  but don  t remember any cartoons . maybe they weren  t memorable i don  t know but at my advanced age  here i am watching this very early casper animated short yesterday . afterward  i was shocked to read the user  comments here . did people miss the ending   br    br   i have to learn all over again that casper isn  t like the other ghosts  who like to go out each night and scare the c   p out of everyone .  he sees no future in that   according to the narrator here . instead  one night he goes out to the rural section of town  inadvertently scares some animals and can  t find any friends . it brings him to tears  until a little fox hears him bawling and befriends him . the two become buddies but soon  the fox is running for his life with a fox hunt in progress .  br    br   other reviews have all mentioned what happens  so i  ll touch on that  too . the fox is killed by hunting dogs  not shown  and casper is in tears for losing  the only friend i ever had .  but  nobody mentions the happy ending to this story .  ferdie  the fox becomes a spirit  figure like casper  jumps on his lap  licks his face and the narrator comments  they lived happily ever after .  both characters look overjoyed .  br    br   what is so sad about that  this is a nice story with a nice  happy ending .  
not much to say on this one . a plot you can pretty much peg  in the first   minutes . nothing overly wrong with this film  very little action for an action film . there was a chance to explore the characters emotions occasionally . whether an action film is the right genre to do that with  i  m still undecided . sniper was one of the easiest films to watch without giving full attention to  as it had little twists and a straightforward plot . i was probably guilty of that  so with a second watch or with undivided attention it may be better .  br    br        but the best of my  out of    s   
i was about   years old when i saw this classic  casper the friendly ghost  cartoon . figured it was an early one since casper didn  t look right  the same way porky pig doesn  t look right in the old      s cartoons . but i digress . . .  br    br   anyway  this episode in the friendly phantom  s afterlife concerns him befriending a young fox todd whom he names ferdie . i remember being happy to see casper have a friend  as those who have watched the cartoons are wont to know that most people run away from him  screaming  a ghost    br    br   casper and ferdie have some fun together until someone else shows up . . . i hate to leave you with a semi  spoiler  but the cartoon is only seven minutes long  so you can  t really be too ambiguous . besides  anyone who reads the imdb synopsis of the cartoon can deduce what happens next . . .  br    br   the finale is a bit heartbreaking . in fact  it  s probably the saddest i  ve ever felt watching a cartoon . but that only means that it moved me  which probably explains why i decided to write a comment on this particular cartoon and not very many others . or heck  the fact that i actually remember this cartoon at all is due to its emotional effect on me   i haven  t seen it since . but the cartoon does end on an upbeat note  and i was pleased to see casper and ferdie happy again .  br    br   i  d give this cartoon  out of   stars . second only to the warner bros . cartoon  peace on earth   this is the most i  ve ever been moved by an animated short .  
despite its interesting premise   sniper  is quite tedious . with a tighter script and sharper directing it could have been electrifying instead it plods along with little tension .  
i  ve often wondered just how much casper was meant for children . . . with all the issues revolving around his identity  in this film we are lead to believe that he is the spirit of a dead child  as his home is a cemetery plot   as well as the disturbing message brought by this particular film . maybe casper was meant more as a morality play  or famous studios felt like breaking new ground in  reality  cartoons .  br    br   there  s good boos tonight is a well  animated project  no doubt there . but  the plot development involving the fox  who becomes casper  s friend  but meets a tragic end  is a concern .  br    br   give famous studios credit   they tackle death with respect . . . but  the stark image of casper  s mourning is rather graphic and disturbing for children  though the denouement does offer a happy ending  but i won  t give away the ending   and the violence is rather steep  even for      s standards .  br    br   this might be a good cartoon for parents to use in helping explain death to children   but i wouldn  t pop it into the vcr for a perky cartoon break .  
realistic movie  sure  except for the fact that the characters don  t look like to be scared . when billy zane tries to kill someone  he feels bad . . . but he doesn  t look like to . that  s why i don  t like his performance in this movie . tom berenger is again playing a soldier . no good thrill  realistic sequences . not always shooting  that is one great thing . well filmed . i hate the helicopter sequence  cause only one terrorist kills almost the whole marine bunch . . . i give it and a half out of   
i never thought an old cartoon would bring tears to my eyes  when i first purchased casper  friends spooking about africa  i so much wanted to see the very first casper cartoon entitled the friendly ghost        but when i saw the next cartoon  there  s good boos to  night        it made me break down  i couldn  t believe how sad and tragic it was after seeing casper  s fox get killed  i never saw anything like that in the other casper cartoons  this is the saddest one of all  it was so depressing  i just couldn  t watch it again . it  s just like seeing lassie die at the end of a movie . i know it  s a classic  but it  s too much for us old cartoon fans to handle like me  if i wanted to watch something old and classic  i rather watch something happy and funny  but when i think about this casper cartoon  i think about my cats   
i will warn you here i chose to believe those reviewers who said that this wasn  t an action film in the usual sense  rather a psychological drama so you should appreciate it on that basis and you will be alright .  br    br   i am here to tell you that they were wrong . completely wrong .  br    br   well  no  not completely it is very disappointing if you are looking for an action flick  they were right about that . but it is also very unsatisfying on all other levels as well .  br    br   tom beringer wasn  t too bad  i suppose  no worse than usual but what possessed them to cast billy zane in this  was it some sort of death wish on the part of the producers  a way to made their film a guaranteed flop  in that case  it worked .  br    br   if they were actually aiming for success  then why not cast somebody who can act  oh  and might as well go for a screenwriter who knows how to write . ah  yes  and a director who knows how to direct .  br    br   as someone who sat through this mess  actually believing it would shortly redeem itself  i can assure you it never did . pity  it could  ve been a good film .  
generally i like something light and fun  so this film shouldn  t have appealed to me . but it grabbed me from the start . the story of a family  s choices and challenges seem obvious  but it raises the question over and over  what if it was my family  my choice   i cried and laughed when they did because i really felt what the people involved felt . it was in places difficult to watch  but more difficult to turn away . the story is true  and life is sometimes difficult to watch  it shows what film  makers can do without sex  violence  or special effects a good story is a good story all by itself . the best and most unpredictable stories are all true ones . like real life  you really don  t know what  ll happen next  or why people do the things that they do   
i  ve seen about    movies released between         and the informer is the worst major release i  ve seen from that time span . awful  despicable  unpleasant  unhappy  unredeemable saga of a complete loser . watch a     b western instead .  
to say this film is simply a demonisation of catholics and a misrepresentation of history is untrue . that is not what this film is .  br    br   what this film is is a comment on the abuses of the church  although this could be substituted for any powerful body   the ways that this abuse affects people and families and the way so many people choose to simply allow and often participate in the abuse without thinking for themselves . the fact that it is the catholic church which is in the wrong is simply because of the nature of the true story the film is based upon . to label this as propaganda against catholics seems to miss the truth about what the catholic church has done at times its history is often not great and is something that films like this highlight and that needs to be highlighted . yes we should comment on the abuses committed by other organisations but that is not for the remit of this film .  br    br   it is an amazing film which brought me to tears and well worth watching   if we do not study the past  we are bound to repeat it   
well  i  ll start by admitting i  m not a john ford fan .  i watched  the informer  only because i  m trying to work my way through a list of the  greats .   so if you are  just move along   cause you  re not going to agree with me .  br    br   what an overwrought and dated piece of silliness this is  i will say that there is a good idea for a movie here  it made me think about how few films there are about the irish revolution  but  as usual  ford is determined to bury it under over  acting and cheap sentiment . i suppose it  s somewhat interesting to watch for a while in order to see the less  than  seamless transition that was being made from the silents to the  talkies    the acting styles of some of the principals have that overbroad quality endemic to early films and movie does feel as if it might play better with title cards than spoken dialogue .  of course  title cards would prevent ford from restating every bit of emotion six times .  what dialogue there is usually has a  they  re always after me lucky charms   quality that is aggravated by the fact that each actor seems to have been allowed to use his or her own personal version of an irish accent . of course  as bad as they are  the accents are helpful in reminding us we  re in ireland because the sets mostly look as if they were dragged in from from some german expressionist piece being filmed on the next soundstage over .  it feels as if  with an eagle eye  you might see some villagers off to torch dr . frankenstein in the background .   br    br   techniques change . tastes change . so i won  t go off on how crazy it seems that this film was so acclaimed in its day . but it  s not one of the classics that hold up    more just  fair warning  about the kind of over  simplified malarkey to which ford was going to devote his career .  
this was a gem . amazing acting from the leads liam cunningham  orla brady and all the supporting cast . the movie raises a subject not only pertinent to ireland and irish history but to many communities around the world and many marriage units within those communities . with intensity and sincerity the movie shows how the religious convictions and traditions drove a wedge on a loving and passionate family . the title  love divided  couldn  t capture it any better . even though it was a true story and happening in ireland of the   th seeing how the life of the whole village erodes and  pogroms  are starting reminded me of russian history . the intolerance and prejudice are still too powerful in the world and unfortunately it  s deeply hidden inside the human nature . just like in the movie the liam cunningham  s character says  the hatred had always been there under the surface  . it was interesting to watch the moral choices people were making in this story . also the character of a catholic priest and what happened to him in the end of the story was quite meaningful . the story however gives hope that love of two people can conquer everything and love makes us better  stronger . liam cunningham  s character goes through the whole transformation in the course of the story becoming a man he always wanted to be . again acting is a top notch . story is fast  paced . irish countryside is as beautiful as ever . highly recommended .  
this infamous ending to koen wauters  career came to my attention through the  night of bad taste  . judging by the comment index i wasn  t the first and i am not to be the last person in western europe to learn that this musician  undoubtedly one of the best on our contemporary pop scene  even the dutch agree on that  tried to be an actor . whether he should have made the attempt or not cannot be judged .  br    br   in  intensive care  he  s quite likable  but he seems to be uncomfortable with the flick in which he is participating . no one can blame him . it deserves its ranking in verheyen  s hall of fame by all means  standards . the story of the murderous maniac who is supposed to have died in an accident but is alive and wrathful has been told dozens of times before  and even without original twists a director can deliver a more than mediocre story through innovative settings and cinematography .  br    br   ic contents itself with a hospital wing and a couple of middle class houses . the pace is dull . the tension looses the last bit of its credibility to the musical score  for every appearance of the murderer is accompagnied by a tedious menacing melody  followed by orchestral outbursts during the murders  which or largely suggested and in any case as bloodless as a small budget can make them . the sex scene is gratuitous but not in the least appealing . the couple from amsterdamned could have made it work  though . while dealing with the couple subject  the whole subplot between wauters and the girl does not work . a more effective emotional connection could have been established on screen if they had just been fellow victims  to  be  who loosen their nerves halfway through physical intercourse . i will not even grant the other cast members the dignity of a mentioning  for they should all have been chopped up into tiny greasy pieces . as a matter of fact  most of them do . the ones i recall where obvious for the genre  a pretty nurse and two cops .  br    br   hence  in a slasher  the cavalry only comes in time to need rescue itself . the  anti   hero has to take out the villain  mostly through clever thinking  for former red berets don  t often get parts in these films they might overcome the illusion of invincibility that surrounds the killer . translated to the events  wauters kills the doctor and saves the dame in distress .  br    br   no people  i am not finished . this is not how the story goes . wauters makes his heroic attempt but gets beaten up with a fury that comes close to  a clockwork orange   so it is up to the girl to pick up the driller killer act and pierce through the doctors brains . though this method ensures the killer  s death more than the usual rounds of  mm bullets  the doctor survives in order to enable ic to reach the   min mark .  br    br   i should have made my point by now . intensive care is a bad movie  which can only be enjoyed by bad taste lovers  who can verify verheyen  s catchy statements and make some up for themselves and that way try to sit through it . for example  the  unintended  parody value of the doctor  s clown mask  halloween  and the final confrontation in the park  the chase at the end of friday the   th  .  br    br   however  let me conclude by giving an overview by a few measly elements which give ic a little credit . george kennedy is not one of them . all he has to do is endure a horrible monologue by a fellow doctor  french actor and look horrified when they let him go down in flames in order to tag his big name on a stand  in . he could have played his naked gun part again  to end up as beef  but with a longer screen time . the finale may be one of them . i had never seen a maniac being brought down by launching fireworks into his guts in order to crush him against a flexible fence . it is good for a laugh .  br    br   name one good truly point about intensive care . . . koen wauters learned his lesson and devoted himself entirely to his musical career . it makes me wonder how many editions of the paris  dakar race he has to abort before coming to his senses .  br    br    
oh dear . yet another example of  oireland  and religion . no doubt we  ll be seeing some depressing nonsense featuring some  hunky and macho freedom fighters  from the ira . well that was my initial reaction when the credits started but just over an hour and a half later i was in a state of shock . what a superb movie  br    br   the story starts on the day of the wedding between sean cloney and sheila kelly in the     s . there is a slight problem since they  re getting married in the catholic church and that is sheila is a protestant but in order for the wedding to happen sheila takes a pledge that her children will be brought up catholic and attend the catholic school when they  re old enough . the story  which is set in the     s  then jumps forward a few years when the cloney daughters are about to start school but sheila has decided they  ll be attending the local protestant school much to the disgust of local priest father stafford . from there things escalate  br    br   let me put my cards on the table and state that despite having both irish catholic and scottish protestant heritage i was brought up as agnostic and have considered myself as an atheist throughout my adult life . in fact when it comes to religion i consider myself a marxist and religion is a cynical weapon used to manipulate people . a love divided shows what happens when self appointed moral guardians take it upon themselves to tell other people what to think and believe . may i have the temerity to state that if karl marx saw this movie he  d love it and call it a masterpiece  perhaps i shouldn  t since the drama of this story shows what happens when other people do your thinking for you  br    br   in reply to the couple of reviewers who have claimed this movie is propaganda of the worst sort i don  t claim to know the exact details of what happened in county wexford and there  s no denying that father stafford and his flock of catholic sheep are portrayed as being the bad guys but sheila isn  t blameless herself . think about a woman living in a rural village in     s ireland who takes a pledge to bring her children up as catholics then changes her mind and believes there will be no consequences of this  this is a warning against taking pledges and not keeping to them . not only that but she disappears to let other people pick up the pieces of their shattered lives . there  s also something that no one else has picked up upon and that is that the only character with any type of moral sense is former ira man andy bailey who is shown as being gallant not because he was a former ira member  that makes a change . we  re not talking about the devil  s own here  but simply because he is an atheist who has decided to think for himself  br    br   a love divided is a superb movie that has a lot to say for itself  all of which i agree with . if there  s any sort of criticism it  s that it feels too much like a tvm rather than a cinematic movie but believe me i can live with that and is essential viewing to anyone who thinks religion is the opium of the masses  
  intensive care  by dorna von rouveroy is easily one of the worst horror movies ever made . this extremely cheap dutch slasher flick offers some gore and plenty of absurd situations . a horror veteran george kennedy is completely wasted as as professor bruckner . the acting is abysmal  the action is slow and the climax is laughable . a famous surgeon has a car accident . he lies in a coma seven years and then he wakes up and goes on a bloody rampage .  intensive care  is clearly influenced by american slasher films including  halloween  and  friday the   th  series . the killings are hilarious and the dialogs are painfully stupid . still if you are in the right mood you can give this piece of trash a look . you  ll laugh until it hurts with this one  you can believe me   
definitely one of my favourite movies . the story is good  acting is great  all technicals  especially cinematography  are sharp and the script is clever .  br    br   heath ledger is terrific as edward   ned   kelly . he is gripping as the legendary outlaw  and is supported well by geoffrey rush  naomi watts and orlando bloom . all action sequences are on point  br    br   the film is edge  of  your seat stuff right up to to the end . one of my favourite films from the late legend heath ledger  who has been the highlight of every film he has starred in . and makes no mistake here .  br    br   an excellent film all round .  
william russ is the main character throughout this made for tv movie . he left his family behind to only reappear and begin paying off his debts . but he tries to keep away from his family . thats where peter falk  colombo  comes in  playing several different roles  to convince him to come home .  br    br   the story is average and they actually managed to get a former star  peter falk  and use him to a fairly nice degree . but william russ wasn  t truly a star . however  it appears his acting is still ok .  br    br   i found the delivery and story very cheesy in how everything was predictable . in fact  the last   minutes i could almost dictate word for word before it happened . a good movie should never be like that .  br    br   overall  it was a sub  par movie . in a letter grading system  it would receive a  d  .  
oh wow . i saw this film at the irish international film fleadh in manhattan on   march     . both stars were in attendance and were available for questions afterward . what a gorgeous film  although set in ireland amid catholic  protestant antagonism  the story could have happened anywhere between any two groups of people who hate each other . the horror of how quickly people can get carried away when they are given a chance to vent their hate and anger was woven beautifully with a moving love story drizzled with humor and fun . if this one does not get picked up in the usa  it would truly be most unfortunate .  br    br   as for the stars and supporting players . . . first rate . they call orla brady the irish meryl streep  i heard . it is my opinion that she is better than meryl streep . they should be calling meryl the american orla brady  and  liam cunningham  s steady and powerful portrayal of a simple and private man sucked into a political war was brilliant .  br    br   see this movie .  
koen wouters is a flemish singer and presenter . in the early ninety  s he tried his hand on movies as well . but this unbelievable piece of junk ended his acting career once and for all . it also ended the acting career of dutch actress nada van nie who went on being a football  wife a tv presenter and program  maker . i actually did see this in an  almost empty  theatre because i used to be a fan of the band of koen wouters  clouseau . i so regret spending money on it . it looks cheap  it is a terrible story and it is executed bad in every possible way . some people think it  s so bad it  s funny . i am not one of them . i just found it an incredible waste of time and money .  
i never fail to be amazed and horrified by the evil that has been predicated in the history of the world in the name of religion  and it seems that the machinations of the catholic church in twentieth century ireland rank right up there near the top  considering that the wisdom of history and modern times should have had some sobering effect .  br    br   a love divided is the story of a real family scarred by ignorant intolerance and prejudice all in the name of an inane church doctrine . at the beginning of the film  we are offered a view of the bucolic life in a small irish village in which sheila and sean cloney are happily married with two young children . sean is catholic and sheila is protestant  but she has no qualms with their children being raised as catholic . there is no sign of any animosity between the catholics and protestants in the village . the peaceful and loving relationships are soon shattered when sheila expresses the desire to have their older child attend the protestant school . the local priest takes it upon himself to forbid this  sin  and soon has sheila  s husband and the entire catholic population of the village turned against her as well as her father  the local dairy farmer . in an act of defiance and desperation  sheila kidnaps her two daughters and flees from the area .  br    br   special note should be given to orla brady who plays sheila . she gives an extremely powerful performance in which the viewer is drawn in to the emotional trauma in which she decides to reject the wishes of a husband she deeply loves in order to express her fervent desire to establish herself as independent from the pressures of the establishment . on an equal footing is liam cunningham who plays sean for he gives a realistic portrait of a man not nearly as complex as his wife who is torn between his love for her and the influence of church and community .  br    br   if fiction  this film would have been a compelling and interesting drama . considering it is true  it changes to a horrific tragedy . in real life  the people and the village never fully recovered from the events that took place there . it took almost half a century for the church to acknowledge its negative role in the events  and even though sheila and sean lived out their lives in the area  they never fully recovered from what was done to them by the religious leaders and their fellow villagers .  br    br   whether it be denying basic rights to education of choice  crashing planes into buildings  subjugating women  condemning whole races  or just plain on torture and murder  we humans certainly have the ability to use religion as a powerful negative force in our society .  
i thought  intensive care  was quite bad and very unintentionally funny . but at least not as bad as i thought it might be . sometimes it  s somewhat suspenseful  but never a good shocker .  br    br   spoiler ahead  br    br   the fun lies in ridiculous moments . but the all  time classic moment is this peter  koen wauters  is stabbed and beaten by the killer . he lies moaning in the corner of the hallway . amy  nada van nie  kneels beside him and asks  poor peter  shall i get you a band  aid   .  br    br   this movie was shot in dutch and english . to spare costs  all license plates are usa  and the background in the news studio is a skyline of manhattan . very funny if you  re dutch and watching the original version in dutch .  
this movie is about a side of ireland that americans don  t normally see  the narrow  minded religiously prejudiced side of the  friendliest race in the world  . the movie  by the admission of the inhabitants of fethard who are old enough to remember the events  is fairly accurate  though they insist that the film  makers invented some of the more violent scenes just to spice up the action  .  br    br   the movie was very unpopular in ireland as it portrayed the catholic church in a bad light  but the simple fact is that representatives of the catholic church did organise vetoes of minorities  before protestants it was the jews  .  br    br   the film is a fascinating insight into the whole issue of religion in ireland  
i don  t know why i keep doing this to myself   i keep on defending the dutch and belgian cinema and claim that it should get more credit and chances . . . and then they smack you around the head with junk like this  intensive care is a terrible production and probably the worst thing that was ever made in the dutch  speaking countries . it  s a dutch attempt to create our very own horror franchise  clearly based on mainstrain american slasher classics such as friday the   th and halloween . the producers and writers aimed really high with this  but fell really low . intensive care became an embarrassing product to everyone who was involved and therefore a true cult flick here . it  s almost impossible to hunt down an original copy of this and it  s only showed on special occasions  like  the night of distaste  . for exactly  minutes  intensive care tries to tell a story and even to create a plotline . . . then it changes into a lame and low  brain slash  n stalk movie with gruesome  yet very hilarious and cheap  make up effects . the acting of the entire cast is abominable  even though there are a few respected names involved . the leading male role is played by koen wauters . . . this guy might as well be the most famous and loved artist in belgium . he  s a beloved singer  host of tv  shows and idol of many young girls . he never ever mentions this thing he starred in  though . like everybody else in the netherlands  he  s trying to convince himself intensive care never happened .  
this movie might not put the catholic church in the best light but it is telling a story based on true events . unfortunately not everything in life  including religion  are all nice and rosy . sometimes people and groups do things that at the time seem like the right thing but in retrospective do not look as great as they once did .  a love divided  tells the story of a family  yes it does incorporate religion  but really the story is about a family  and that family  s ability to stay together no matter what is thrown at them . this film is also based on true events which is not to say that this story  scene by scene  is true  but if you were to look at news articles from that time period you would be able to see that neither churches handled the incident in a way that was helpful towards the family . both churches are at fault here  the catholic church for forcing such a regulation on the family in the first place and not responding to the violence that came with it and the protestant church for telling the mother that she should just obey her husband and his priest and not put up a fight . in this case both let this family down . i believe that the film does a good job in showing this struggle in both the church and the family . it in no way shape or form is putting down the catholic church  just the opposite  it shows how one incident can change the course of that religion  s ideas and how one person can have an effect far more reaching then just themselves .  
this is not just a bad film  it  s one of the worst films ever . it  s so bad that i found it to be quite enjoyable . the acting  oh my god  the script  you gotta be kiddin  . how can you imagine the writer coming up with things like  a kid who makes fireworks in school  fireworks so powerfull  that when someone gets hit by it  they fly a hundred yards backwards and explode .  a girl is trapped in the celler  the killer is trying to break open the door . she gets a drill  but the wire isn  t long enough . she first makes an extension cord  oh the horror  and then  when she  s done  she drills through the door and drills through the head of the killer . wow  and there are plenty more examples like that . oh yeah  and what happened to george kennedy  he used to be great  thunderbolt and lightfoot  cool hand luke   
  george lopez   in my opinion  is an absolute abc classic  i haven  t seen every episode  but i still enjoy it . there are many episodes that i enjoyed . one of them was where amy  sandra bullock  walked into a moving piece of machinery . if you want to know why  you  ll have to have seen it for yourself . before i wrap this up  i  d like to say that everyone always gave a good performance  the production design was spectacular  the costumes were well  designed  and the writing was always very strong . in conclusion  even though new episodes can currently be seen  i strongly recommend you catch it just in case it goes off the air for good .  
two houses  one street  one phone booth  one car  a girl next door  a boy next door and a zombie . this list of ingredients should suffice for a great horror movie . all you need is some blue light  ambient music and . . . done . not in the hands of dutch director van rouveroy though   br    br   i like to organize  bad movie evenings  from time to time . the concept is really simple get some booze  get some film  loving friends  and immerse yourself in the worst cinema can offer . for such an evening this peace of filth is one of the best . laughs guaranteed   br    br   the bizarre thing is  van rouveroy is still defending her film as if it were a great achievement . to be a witness to this you  ll have to listen to the dvd  s commentary track . again disbelieve and laughs guaranteed   
i really like this show . that is why i was disappointed to learn recently that george lopez is a racist  and that he fired masiela lusha off the show  simply because he discovered that she wasn  t a latino emigrant  but was an emigrant from albania . i learned this from people on the show . she was really one of the better parts of the show  and thus  to learn that even among those who you would think would be sensitive to racism  that they can also hate someone  just because of the country where they were born  is really disappointing . i really like this show . that is why i was disappointed to learn recently that george lopez is a racist  and that he fired masiela lusha off the show  simply because he discovered that she wasn  t a latino emigrant  but was an emigrant from albania . i learned this from people on the show . she was really one of the better parts of the show  and thus  to learn that even among those who you would think would be sensitive to racism  that they can also hate someone  just because of the country where they were born  is really disappointing .  
hello  can anybody hear me  i don  t know why you came to this page  but if you  re a fellow viewer of this movie join the fanclub  this movie was so unbelievably bad i couldn  t stop laughing when i saw it . i think it  s a must see  it  s bad in a nice way . every cliche ever invented for a horror movie can be seen here . i  m afraid it  s very hard to get a copy of this movie  but it should be in the top   of worst movies ever made .  
from the beginning of the show carmen was there . she was one of the best characters . why did they get rid of her   the show not the same as before . its way worse .  br    br   the best episodes were with carmen in them . you can  t replace someone from the beginning  that is like south park without kyle or child  s play without chucky  it  s not right  the niece who replaced her is just  ugh  awful . she doesn  t fit into the storyline at all . she was one of the main characters  and the niece can  t replace her . she was an awesome actress . way better than the niece . get her back  or you  ll lose a ton of viewers .  
rajkumar santoshi without any doubt has directed the greatest movies and biggest box office hits of indian cinema .  br    br   this movie falls short of all expectations as this movie stars two great actors mr . amitabh bachchan and akshay kumar and when you have these two actors in the same movie you have to make a magnum opus .  br    br   in the later part of the movie you can make out that amitabh bachchan  s voice has been dubbed by some other person which was due to his illness .  br    br   still the movie did  nt had proper character development plus cinematography was  nt good too and one thing that bollywood should learn is that they should use visual effects only when it is needed and when applied should be done with a high budget . the script had so many flaws which gives the viewer excuses to attend his phone calls rather than watching the movie .  br    br   the new comer shakes the leg well but could not act well but where the movie loses big time is the storyline screenplay and cinematography .  br    br   a talented actor like bhoomika chawla has been wasted in the movie as well as sushant singh .  br    br   but every director once in a while in his career makes a bad film .  br    br   so watch it only if you are a fan of multi  starrer flop movies .  
george lopez never caught my interest in his stand up comedy and he still doesn  t . but this show is a work of art . it  s not ever show where the jokes keep you laughing every time you remember it  and jokes that re memorable at that  . this show just has an upbeat look to it and the characters range from an old  short drunk to an dyslexic teenager . i don  t know who writes this show but that person does a great job . if they had just continued the show i  m sure that it would get a positive response from the critics of this great country . if you are looking for a good  traditional comedy  then george lopez is the show for you  the one bad thing is the title . george lopez  really  imagine the fresh prince of bel  air being  will smith  . c  mon man  but otherwise  this show is genius        
after watching khakee i felt i  ll get to watch another good film but sadly the film is a joke and actually trying hard to introduce aryeman afterall his father keshu is the producer  br    br   rks spoke so highly about the film during promotions  saying the film has meat unlike films released that time  i wonder which films was he talking about  br    br   the film is actually a typical masala film with loads of comedy  romance  action everything jumbled  br    br   the ease at which the kids kidnap the family  is one of the funniest parts ever  imagine kids kidnapping dawood  s family  br    br   the end is a complete jumble mumble with sudden change of characterization  br    br   rks gives his weakest film till date  except some bachchan scenes the film is a bore  br    br   music is boring  br    br   amitabh tries to give the role his all  he does his part well  though not his best though he contorts his face too much when pulling a trigger and does a weird look while smoking the cigar his dubbing too isn  t matched properly at times  br    br   akshay is there for some minutes and just repeats his act and hams  br    br   aryeman seems expressionless  tries too hard but overdoes it in some scenes  br    br   bhumika emerges the best of the lot  br    br   the rest are okay  
yes  it  s over the top  yes it  s a bit clichd and yes  constance marie is a total babe and worthy of seeing again and again  the jokes and gags might get old and repetitive after a while but the show  s still fun to watch . since it  s a family show the humour is toned down and the writers have incorporated family values and ideals in between the gags .  br    br   george lopez is funny . don  t take him seriously and the show  s a winner . i  m sure he didn  t intend his character to be serious or a paragon of virtue . his outbursts and shouts of glee are hilarious . . .  br    br   i do have to say that the one big  dark  bitter spot is benny . i hate the character . . . so much so that anytime she  s on for more than   seconds i mute the tv just so i don  t have to hear her . there is nothing funny about her dialogue or her jokes . as a mother she has to be the worst out there and i am just shocked and surprised that george  as the character  would stand by such a deplorable person for so long .  br    br   even so anytime i get ticked off at seeing benny i think to myself seeing her is a lot better than having to watch the bill engvall show . now there  s a bad sitcom . . .  
the premise and subject about making a criminal realize what his victims went through by capturing his family hostage sounds promising and interesting . but this is the only interesting part which was also dealt   years ago with quite finesse by director ravi tandon in his film  jawab        too . the problem here is ace director rajkumar santoshi found himself in some sort of confusion as to whether to make it a fast paced action  thriller  viz . khakee  or an emotions  rich heavy duty drama  viz . damini  and this confusion is quite evident in the final outcome . if we ignore two of his  pukar       and lajja        this brilliant director has always given us fairly engrossing films with high entertainment value . therefore this film comes as a surprise  as to what made this script sensitive director going for half  baked characterization of both of his protagonists  amitabh bachchan and aryeman . as the film is getting over  audience didn  t know whom to hate and whom to sympathize with and this factor is the major limiting force in the complete narration . therefore what starts as a war between a common man and an underworld don ends on a strange note of self  realization and regret by the don about what went wrong with his own family . the revelation of don  s son as a real baddie does not come as a surprise element in the climax which if compared to similar situation in  khakee  worked so effectively with aishwarya  s character . that is not all  there is more to it . the whole dramatization of life of an underworld don  operating from abroad looks quite illogical . his openly landing up at mumbai from where he is suppose to be absconding as well as running after his enemies and shooting them himself does not look believable . pitching a mediocre  newcomer actor like aryeman opposite mr . bachchan is again not a good idea . but nonetheless film has some plus points . ashok mehta  s fine camera  work  two good fight sequences  co  ordinator abbas ali moughal   some light well  acted scenes of akshay kumar in the ist half  santoshi  s fast  paced slick treatment and of course mr . bachchan as usual trying hard to put some life into his lifeless character . but all these put together does not make this viewing an exciting experience for you and your family   
when i saw commercials for this i was thinking  no what has nick at nite done   because it was taking up  fresh prince  slots . well  i still love the fresh prince . but george lopez is a surprisingly good show . i love how not  stereotypical benny is . carmen is a pretty good character  its really funny to see how stupid and overemotional she can be sometimes . i feel bad for the guy who plays max  he looks much younger then he actually is  but max is a fun character  and acted well . and yeah  angie is a little stereotypical  but she has her funny moments . ha ha george does have a big head  nah but he can be really good too . funny show  it definitely should be on more often then home improvement .  
bashki should be congratulated for attempting to convert one of the great works of english fiction into a movie  and then slapped silly for this attempt . the animation was poor  the characters looked ridiculous  the music was overwhelmingly blaring  and the film was a ramshackle blitz through the first book and a half of tolkien  s masterpiece . i can still remember my sheer disappointment and loathing for the movie when i first saw it . now i realize that any attempt to convert a book into a movie is bound to fail in many ways  simply because of the medium  but this movie  regardless of the source of the story  is just plain pathetic . bashki is capable of much more .  
i didn  t know what to expect from  ned kelly   but absolutely loved it . it was dark  dramatic and gripping . it also felt very authentic  i felt that i had been transported back to the      s . i  ve never been much of a heath ledger fan  having only seen him in teen type movies  however he is quite compelling in this role . ledger plays ned kelly with dignity and intensity  showing us how an highly spirited boy became australia  s most notorious killer . naomi watts is great in a supporting role as kelly  s society lover . highly recommended  and that  s from an aussie   
the silent one  panel cartoon henry comes to fleischer studios  billed as  the world  s funniest human  in this dull little cartoon . betty  long past her prime  thanks to the production code  is running a pet shop and leaves henry in charge for far too long   five minutes . a bore .  
i have been watching this show since i was   and i  ve loved it ever since . i love this show because it  s just plain funny  you will enjoy this show a lot because it shows something new and funnier everyday and my favorite part is when benny always has her last comments on george after every punchline about his fat giant head . laughs i would laugh and i  d watch it with my friends at home it  d be like we were watching a funny movie but short . love george lopez . funny  talented  funny  spectacular . this is a cool  funny  family comedy series enjoyable to everyone and you will definitely enjoy it   i did  and if you haven  t watched it yet i suggest that you start watching because you wouldn  t want to stop watching it . even though there aren  t anymore brand new episodes i still enjoy the re  runs . still funny . never wears off .  br    br        
i watched peter jackson version of lord of the rings when i was half way through reading the two towers and i thought it was absolutely brilliant .  br    br   at this time the animated version of the lord of the rings was released on dvd but i told myself that i will finish reading the two towers and return of kings before watching it  as i thought it showed the whole of the trilogy  .  br    br   so when i did finish the trilogy i went and brought the dvd  which was a stupid idea because it was absolutely rubbish .  br    br   i was acturly bored   minutes in to it which was really strange because i love the book and i am shooked that the maker of this film could of even thought of fitting at least  and a half of the books in to a  hour  minute film .  br    br   none of the characters had any emotions when they were talking and they seemed to be reading it of a page  even my favourite character who is gandalf did not seem interesting at all .  br    br   the animation was the only okay in parts of the film except for the orks  they looked awful  and aragorn and sam face .  br    br   i don  t know way this film was released because there was not even a proper ending  but maybe it was good that the maker ran out of money because the film couldn  t of got any better .  br    br   i just hope that nobody judges the books by this film .  br    br        
george lopez is a funny man even without the sitcom . the first episodes i saw of this too often made jokes at the expense of his mom . as i have watched this more  there has been more  more variety . no one on the cast is really safe from his wit now .  br    br   it seems to me as this season has progressed that george is getting more comfortable with the family sitcom dad role . at first he wasn  t  but he is getting more  more into a groove . this makes both him  the shows progressively funnier . they had added a couple of characters for george to play off this year too . his wife  s dad is getting more  more involved in the plot .  br    br   his mom is still there  but not as central as past seasons . i think it is prudent to say with george  s sense of comic timing   abc  s lack of good sitcoms  george lopez has a good chance of being here on abc long after george w . bush .  
this movie causes more unintentional laughter than anything else i  ve ever seen . really  if you are a tolkien fan  rent it just to laugh at it with your friends . i won  t be the millionth person to rip apart its flaws . . . all i will say is that the movie  for me  anyway  lost major points for turning my favorite character  sam  into a bumbling idiot . shame  shame . . .      
it  s a good show  and i find it funny . finally the bad latin stereo types are over  gracias  seor lopez  i love this show  and i just started watching it about three months ago . the whole concept about a latin family tv show really amazed me . i am surprised that finally latinos have a good shot to be on tv . this show is probably one the best i  ve seen  it  s funny  heartwarming  touchy  and nice .  
watching this again recently  i found it heartwarming to see the way they sincerely tried to bring the book to the screen  even if the shoestring budget and hammy actors meant inevitable failure . by any objective measure this was a disaster  but i found it easy to imagination how good a lord of the rings movie could be if someone was to make one sincerely  and with the money to employ the most talented artists and script writers . unfortunately  thanks to jackson  that will not be possible for a long time .  br    br   watching this movie left me with the impression that with any sort of budget at all  then this story simply couldn  t be stuffed up . fantasy just provides so many opportunities for making an interesting film . there were many moments in this film that were potentially more interesting than the way that peter jackson did it  although of course you always have to use your imagination due to the poor execution . the way they tried to show the wraith world from frodo  s point of view for example . or the way that galadriel showed sam what was happening back home for another .  br    br   another thing i really appreciated in this version  the silent moments . there were moments when dialog was spoken with no background music against a still back  drop . compare that to the grandiose swooping camera of the jackson films  and the intrusive score which seemed designed to stress how each and every scene was the most poignant and powerful scene we had ever watched . jackson  s films were full of their own importance  this was quieter and a lot more modest .  br    br   jackson and co hit this with more than us    million dollars in production costs  at least    million dollars more for marketing  a massive tax break from the nz government  and also gained massive savings from filming in nz not the usa . however  despite the marketing claims  the intention to be faithful was never there . this is well documented . philippa boyens said as much in an interview  when she said they deliberately didn  t re  read the books before writing the script . jackson also stated that they originally intended to make a fantasy film  along the lines of  the lord of the rings  and that the one he really wanted to do was return of the king  because it had a lot of battles but no character development .  br    br   in contrast  this film tried to be more true . of course a lot of things were wrong  the acting was awful and pretty much sunk everything  and the pace was too fast . naturally they cut a lot  and adapted other scenes  and for this they deserve credit . while jackson added a lot of action scenes that served no plot purpose  bakshi cut book scenes which did nothing to advance the plot anyway . there  s actually a curious similarity between the structure of the jackson and bakshi films near the beginning  in that they both deviate from the original books in the same way  although of course some of this could be coincidence .  br    br   this was not a good film  but the potential was there . bakshi said in an interview to the onion av club that only animation could do the lord of the rings justice . his version didn  t work  but he might have been right .  
the film notes describe the main role family  as turkish immigrants which living in denmark . however  it is so clear to understand that the fact is  the behavior and the culture point the family is absolute kurdish . similar social pressures and even cultural murders keep going on turkey today on kurdish ethnicity societies . what a worry . . .  br    br   it is widely accepted issue in turkey today  the kurdish immigrants living in european countries today  which have moved from turkey at    s are culturally connected to the feudal moral laws system  by growing daughters and women under pressure  are giving harm to the turkish international image . also  as same as widely accepted another issue is the turkish or kurdish immigrants on these countries are the reason negative aim about the community europe nominee .  
i might have given this movie a higher rating before peter jackson  s trilogy came out  but seeing the two of them side by side there is simply no comparison . the pace of this movie is rushed  many important scenes from the book are left out  and there is little character development . the animation is a strange mixture of traditional cartoon drawings and live action scenes that were painted over  which i found distracting . and the most disappointing thing about this movie is that it breaks off in the middle of the story and was never finished . there are some good points  the battle scenes are exciting to watch  and the dialogue follows the book pretty much to the letter . watch this one if you  re in a hurry and can  t spend   hours watching the new trilogy . but if you haven  t read the book you  ll probably be confused  because there is a lot missing from this version .  out of   .  
cinematography   compared to  the wrestler   a degree of verite and cinematic skill that disarms the viewer  and then hypnotizes as well .  br    br   acting   the dialogue is minimal  but the pauses and silence poignant .  br    br   story   the conflict in a  balkanized  denmark is volatile  as we saw recently jihad murders in the netherlands and riots in france . while i harbor no love for islam  the departure from the west from christian values holds no cause for celebration .  br    br   the director of this film managed to mirror the two societies in a way that belabored neither  emphasizing the development of aicha as an individual who became a champion  not so much in the ring  but to all those around her . even her worst . . . i will stop here to avoid the spoiler .  
i haven  t seen this movie in a while  so i  m afraid i can  t be very specific about details . . . it did have some interesting points . ralph bakshi  s attempt at an animated adaptation of j . r . r tolkien  s masterpiece was a very ambitious project  so ambitious in fact that it went bankrupt at some point during the production . therefore  not only does it stop abruptly somewhere around the middle of the second book of the trilogy  with sort of a shade of a hint of a sequel that was never made   the film itself seems less than finished . it seems that some characters were animated while others were filmed  but whether or not it  s intentional is hard to say . the whole thing seems shabbily made and undone  especially the orcs and the nazgul . another problem  of course  is the huge gaps in the plot . bakshi was in a rush to finish this movie  and he somehow hoped to cram a book and a half in little more than two hours  the new trilogy by peter jackson does it in about twice that time .  far too many important bits were left out  and i don  t refer only to tom bombadil  which  i think  was lovely in the book but would look silly in a movie .  and of course  the ending  which is completely sudden and out of place . i  m not even sure if bakshi originally intended to end the film there  or if he even had any idea where he  s going to end it .  br    br   the characters . . . well  most of them were okay . the hobbits don  t look so bad  except for the gay sam . did you know that the producers of the new trilogy originally wanted to make sam a woman so there would be a feminine lead character   if you  re a tolkien fanatic  like me   watch this movie  though i  m not too sure about buying it . what special features does the dvd version have  anyway   but know in advance that you  re not going to watch a real  lord of the rings movie  but not much more than a historical curiosity  which probably looks not much better than the   s version would have had the beatles carried on with their plan  i actually think a psychedelic lotr could have been quite cool . the idea was to cast george as gandalf  paul as frodo  ringo as sam and john as gollum .  if you didn  t read the book or didn  t like it much or don  t like animation films or don  t want to see a half  finished movie . . . stay away .  
it  s a rather good movie  but too americanised in it  s predictability . change the kung fu for football and the turkish family for a pakistani one  and you get to watch bend it like beckham       almost scene for scene . a nice feature the serves as the backbone of the movie is the progression of fights with the mysterious ninja under the highway  beginning with miserable losses and slowly progressing until the last fight is a win against oneself  as the kung fu master stressed several times . on a different level  the danish life is revealed quite different than the image it has by outsiders the non indigenous immigrants that make a large proportion  actually  the majority  of the danish citizenry  the graffiti in the copenhagen suburbs  the taunting of the immigrant girl in the begging of the movie . all portray a different picture than one has in mind when one hears the word denmark .  
i remember going to see the movie in the summer of    with my parents  and being pretty into it at the time . of course  i was seven at the time .  br    br   right before the jackson movies came out  my wife and i rented this movie since she had never seen it and i was feeling nostalgic .  br    br   ralph bakshi ran out of money about mid  way through the animation process for this movie  and was forced to drastically cut corners on this production . since this movie was done primarily with rotoscoping  the animation technique for people on a budget  this is saying something . much of this movie is animation only in the very loosest sense of the word . there are some scenes which are very obviously just people standing in front of a screen  with maybe some animation effects superimposed on top of them .  br    br   because of budget constraints  the movie   already a compression of  the fellowship of the rings  and part of  the two towers    was pared down even more . what you get is sort of like a film  strip version of the cliff notes of the books .  br    br   its not all bad  though  the animation brings a warmth to it  that i found lacking in the jackson movies . its nice to imagine what it could have been like with decent funding .  br    br   this movie is also noteworthy for having the sequel which never came . several years later  a half  hearted half  hour long tv special was aired  which was meant to wrap things up . all i will say about that is that it was a musical .  
when i went to watch this movie my expectations were really low  but i was pleasantly surprised .  br    br   i thought i was going to watch a boring teen  flick  but in fact the plot is interesting and well executed  the acting was somewhat convincing  especially from melville who really shows his talent in this movie  and the fight scenes were  for a low budget movie  very well done .  br    br   i think this movie deserves a broader audience than it has received . it is a movie  which can be seen by the whole family  maybe not the smallest of kids  since it contains some rather rough scenes . a movie about love  and the problems that can occur  when you go against your family traditions .  br    br   yes  the movie is very much like  bend it like beckham   but i actually think this movie pulls it off better .  
i saw this movie during a tolkien  themed interim class during my sophomore year of college . i was seated unfortunately close to the screen and my professor chose me to serve as a whipping boy  everyone else was laughing  but they weren  t within constant eyesight .  br    br   let  s get it out of the way the peter jackson  lord of the rings  films do owe something to the bakshi film . in jackson  s version of the fellowship of the ring  for instance  the scene in which the black riders assault the empty inn beds is almost a complete carbon copy of the scene in bakshi  s film  shot by shot . you could call this plagiarism or homage  depending on your agenda .  br    br   i  m sure the similarities don  t stop there . i  m not going to do any research to find out what they are  because that would imply i have some mote of respect for this film . i  m sure others have outlined the similarities  look around .  br    br   this movie is a complete train wreck in every sense of the metaphor  and many  many people died in the accident . i  ve decided to list what i can remember in a more or less chronological fashion  if i  ve left out anything else that offended me it  s because i  m completely overwhelmed  confronted with a wealth of failure  and  at high points  mediocrity  .  br    br   due to heavy use of rotoscoping  gandalf is no longer a gentle  wise wizard but a wildly flailing prophet of doom  whose hat inexplicably changes color once or twice during the course of the film  .  br    br   saruman the white is sometimes referred to as  aruman  during the film  without explanation . he wears purple and red for some mysterious reason .  br    br   sam is flat out hideous . the portrayal of his friendship with frodo is strangely childlike and unsatisfying . yes  hobbits are small like children  but they are not children .  br    br   merry and pippin are never introduced   they simply appear during a scene change with a one  sentence explanation . the film is filled with sloppy editing like this .  br    br   frodo  sam  pippin and merry are singing merrily as they skip through along the road . one of the hobbits procures a lute at least twice as large as he is from behind his back   which was not visible before   and begins strumming in typical fantasy bard fashion as they all break into  la  la  la  s . awful .  br    br   aragorn  apparently  is a native american dressed in an extremely stereotypical fantasy tunic  no pants   complete with huge  square pilgrim belt buckle . he is arguably the worst swordsman in the entire movie   oftentimes he gets one wobbly swing in before being knocked flat on his ass .  br    br   the black riders appear more like lepers than menacing instruments of evil . they limp everywhere they go at a painfully slow pace . this is disturbing to be sure  but not frightening .  br    br   the scene before the black riders attempt to cross the ford of bruinen  in which they stare at frodo  who is on the other side on horseback  goes on forever  during which time the riders rear their horses in a vaguely threatening manner and . . . do nothing else . the scene was probably intended to illustrate frodo  s hallucinatory decline as he succumbs to his wound . it turns out to be more plodding than anything else .  br    br   gimli the dwarf is just as tall as legolas the elf . he  s a dwarf . there is simply no excuse for that . he also looks like a bastardized david the gnome . it  s a crude but accurate description .  br    br   boromir appears to have pilfered elmer fudd  s golden viking armor from that bugs bunny opera episode . he looks ridiculous .  br    br   despite the similarity to tolkien  s illustration  the balrog is howl inducing and the least  threatening villain in the entire film . it looks like someone wearing pink bedroom slippers  and it  s barely taller than gandalf .  purists  may prefer this balrog  but i  ll take jackson  s version any day .  br    br   the battle scenes are awkward and embarrassing . almost none of the characters display any level of competency with their armaments . i  m not asking for action  packed scenes like those in jackson  s film  but they are supposed to be fighting .  br    br   treebeard makes a very short appearance  and i was sorry he bothered to show up at all . watch the film  you  ll see what i mean .  br    br   alright  now for the good parts of the film .  br    br   some of the voice acting is pretty good . it isn  t that aragorn sounds bad  he just looks kind of like the jolly green giant .  br    br   galadriel is somewhat interesting in this portrayal like tom bombadil  she seems immune to the ring  s powers of temptation  and her voice actress isn  t horrible either .  br    br   boromir  s death isn  t as heart wrenching as in jackson  s portrayal of the same scene  but it  s still appropriately dramatic  and more true to his death in the book  though i don  t believe jackson made a mistake shooting it the way he did  .  br    br   as my professor pointed out  between whispered threats   the orcs  mainly at helm  s deep  if i  m correct  resemble the war  ravaged corpses of soldiers  a political statement that works pretty well if you realize what  s being attempted .  br    br   while this isn  t really a positive point about the film  bakshi can  t be blamed for the majority of the failures in this movie  or so i  ve been told   the project was on a tight budget  and late in its production he lost creative control to some of the higher  ups  who i  m sure hadn  t read the books  .  br    br   let me be clear i respect bakshi for even attempting something of this magnitude . i simply have a hard time believing he was happy with the final product .  br    br   overall  i cannot in any way recommend this blasphemous adaptation of tolkien  s classic trilogy even for laughs  unless you  ve already read the books and have your own visualizations of the characters  places and events . i  m sure somebody  somewhere  will pick a copy of this up in confusion if you do  keep an open mind and glean what good you can from it .  
when you are in a gloomy or depressed mood  go watch this film . it shows a lot of beauty and joy in a very simple everyday setting  and it is very encouraging  in particular from a feminist and a humanist perspective .  br    br   when you know both the turkish language and either the danish or the german language  go watch the film in any case . half of the dialog is danish in the original  synchronized to german in the translated version  the other half turkish  subtitled in danish or german  respectively . when i watched it in mannheim  germany  the reaction of the turkish  speaking audience proved that there must be a lot of humor in the turkish dialog  which  deplorably  mostly escaped me  being only imperfectly rendered in the subtitles . still  the film is interesting even if you lack knowledge of the turkish .  br    br   esthetically  the movie is playing a lot on the theme of speed and slowness . on first sight  there is lots of corporeal movement fast as lightning  making it a quick  an agitated film . in particular  even though this is a kung fu movie  watch out for the running scenes  beautifully expressing a wealth of emotions . but there are quite a few very slow  emotionally intense scenes  too . and above all  the characters develop at a much slower pace than you would expect in a drama about the coming of age still  there is some movement in the characters to closely watch the villain omar  whose part and acting i liked very much .  br    br   the contrast of speed and stillness nicely contributes to the depiction of human rage and dignity  shown at once  in the same characters  at the same time .  
some people don  t like the animation . personally  i think the animation was quite remarkable given when this movie was done . there are lots of older cartoons that i just love . my problems with this movie are not the animation  but basically the way it was constructed . the characters are all just . . . well  goofy . and for this movie  they shouldn  t be . apparently  everyone in lotr has a limping problem  for starters .  just the way they acted in general annoyed me . my two sisters and i were laughing through most of this movie . i think that if many people had seen this before seeing the newer ones  they wouldn  t have gone . i  m glad i rented this and didn  t buy it . there are few movies that give me a headache . this was one of them . however  this isn  t the worst movie i  ve ever seen  although it ranks up there . or down there  depending on your view .  
when i took my seat in the cinema i was in a cool mood and didn  t plan on changing it . but this movie is a dramatic powerhouse . i was all in sweat and needed a shower afterward . so what have we  theoretically a coming of age story of a teenage turkish girl living in copenhagen  denmark . it came to my mind soon that the plot seemed pretty much completely borrowed from  bend it like beckham   where we had an indian girl playing football and spoiling the wedding of her sister . here we have it transferred to a turkish girl spoiling her brother  s wedding by doing kung fu . and we have a love story and a competition of course  too . after i accepted this  this really turned out to be a gripping  emotional drama and it shows off some beautiful kung fu  i  m not an expert  though  . the lead actress semra turan is not only denmark  s female champion but she also delivers an excellent performance  so that it appears to be safe to assume that we have quite some autobiographic impressions here taking into account that this is her first movie and that she has no education as an actress . rest of the supporting cast is okay  camera good  kung fu intense . sidenotes  the male turkish audience showed respect so that they must have done something right .  the audience burst into cheers when our heroine finally fought back and attacked the boys who were gravely beating up her brother in revenge .  xian gao  a chinese cinematic kung fu instructor  actor  hidden tiger  crouching dragon  played the lead role  s master  br    br   if you get the chance to see this in cinema do it  you  ll probably have a good and intense experience and i don  t know if this works on small screen as well  
i cant describe how terrible this movie is . am i the only one here who finds the way its animated totaly disgusting  the men of rohan look     fake with their poorly colored hair  that doesnt even come close to matching what the actors look like . the orcs looked terrible . why does gandalf walk with a bad limp  why cant they pronounce things correctly  saruman isnt aruman . there were other what sounded like terrible pronounciationsp of tolkiens characters . all and all im glad the studio who made this pulled the plug out from the sequal  it was just a terrible terrible adaptaion . go watch the hobbit cartoon for a better cartoon of tolkiens work . hell  even the cartoon version of rotk is better then this dribble .      
a beautiful and touching movie that deserves a wider viewing than it is likely to get . semra turan plays aicha  a second generation turkish immigrant  who tries to break the mold . neither entirely at home with her moderately conservative muslim family  nor with her liberal danish friends  aicha  s martial arts experience becomes a fight to find herself and have the strength to allow herself to be who she wants to be in spite of both family and friends .  br    br   director natasha arthy manages to balance introspection and narrative so that it has depth without becoming ponderous philosophical discourse  and drawing on xian gao  s choreography skills pays off in spectacular fight sequences . in the end  however  it is semra turan  s stunning debut performance that gives this movie spirit . raw charisma and requisite martial arts skills are complimented by heart to make her personal drama believable .  br    br   well worth your while .  
obviously  i didn  t care for things to come  aka  the shape of things to come   as much as most viewers . that means that there is a good chance that you  ll enjoy it more than i did . at any rate  you might find it useful to hear the film described from another point of view .  br    br   directed by william cameron menzies  who had as much experience as a production designer and even more as an art director  this is a film adaptation by h . g . wells of his own novel by the same name . in my eyes  it helps demonstrate why a great novelist may not necessarily turn out to be a great screenwriter .  br    br   the film opens in     in a london  like  everytown  . war is brewing and the citizens of everytown are worried that it might reach them . it does . and it turns into a decades  long affair that basically destroys civilization . wells and menzies keep jumping forward in time to show us different scenes related to the war and its aftermath . we see two pilots  one downed  coming to terms with the consequences of their fighting . we meet a post  apocalyptic community ruled over by a would  be warlord . we meet a man from a burgeoning futuristic society . we see the way that technology is changing . and finally  we  re taken to the full realization of that futuristic society circa      where the leaders are debating the merits of sending man to the moon .  br    br   that might all sound potentially very exciting  but it just does not work as a film . structurally  the film is far too episodic  with little to dramatically tie it together . by the third segment  i completely lost interest in trying to keep track of the characters . i had barely been able to sort them out in the first couple segments . there  s a constant parade of new faces . we don  t get to learn anything about any of them .  br    br   it doesn  t help that the individual segments  with a couple exceptions  tend to be awkwardly directed and edited . they are also occasionally manipulative   it can almost begin to feel like a propaganda film . but maybe contradictorily  the segments are also a bit cold and dry emotionally .  br    br   in fact  one overlong section is more like a music video  industrial promotional video . if features shots of building the futuristic city  with lots of large machinery  lots of welding  and so on . at one point  a guy who looks like an astronaut waves at the camera through some kind of futuristic glass . the music for this section is somewhere between militaristic and an overblown horror score . i can  t say that things to come consists of engaging material in terms of drama .  br    br   but the common cry in support of things to come is that it is  a film about ideas  . that may be true  but there are a couple problems with it if looked at that way . one  it still doesn  t make it work  as a film   that is  as a visual and aural dramatic artwork  and two  there are far too many ideas presented here .  br    br   the principle idea is that of war and what it does to civilizations . that  s a fine thing to make a film about . it  s also remarkably prescient of world war ii  as the things to come was scripted and filmed in      released in      . wells has some interesting things to say about war  some of which go against the usual interpretation of the film . for example  the ending seems to suggest that another war is breaking out  or will at any moment . the overall message seems a trifle pessimistic . wells seems to be showing that war is simply a part of human nature that cannot be excised  although it doesn  t preclude  progress    in fact  maybe it fuels progress  at least indirectly .  br    br   that would certainly be enough for one film . however  there are many more ideas here . the scene between the two pilots is one of the more poignant scenes of the film . it deals with a complex dilemma . one pilot has shot the other down  but is now coming to assist him . but the pilot who was shot down was carrying a poisonous gas that is now billowing across the field . they can  t both breathe the gas without harm . a girl comes along . they only have two functioning gas  masks between them . the pilot who was shot down offers his mask  as he says he  s dying anyway . what to do  it  s not that this scene itself could be stretched out to feature length  but the ideas   the bizarre complex of both helping and trying to hurt each other in the midst of a war   are enough to build a film on .  br    br   another example . during the scenes featuring the would  be warlord  in the post  apocalyptic environment  there is a nasty contagious disease called the  wandering sickness  going around . it turns victims into something like drunken zombies . the usual procedure is to shoot victims on site in an attempt to stave off the disease . this material is dealt with as if it were an afterthought . it  s a great idea and deserved its own film .  br    br   similarly  wells presents the future society as having controversial socialist ideas . that was enough for its own film  too . it  s just impossible to effectively deal with so much stuff in    minutes  especially when it  s supposed to be the crux of the film in lieu of dramatic attraction .  br    br   still  there are reasons to give things to come at least one viewing . if you  re at all a sci  fi buff  this is a historically important film . given menzies  background  the production and set designs are interesting  even if the cinematography seems extremely dated . it  s also interesting to see how wells was either prescient or retrospectively humorous in his  predictions  . i particularly enjoyed the means of propulsion to the moon  which was strongly reminiscent of george mlis      a trip to the moon  aka le voyage dans la lune  . just don  t expect too much from things to come .  
the only reason i wanted to see this was because of orlando bloom . simply put  the movie was spectacularly average . it  s not bad  but it  s really not very good . the editing is good the film is well  paced . the direction is competent and assured . the story is plodding . the film is averagely acted by ledger  bloom  and the normally great watts and rush . the accents are impenetrable if you  re from the us so just sit back and enjoy the scenery  or as i like to call it  orlando bloom  . by the end of the film  i was neither bored nor moved . some people have asked what happened to ned kelly at the end of the movie . i have to say  i so did not care by that point .  br    br   really  the only reason i can recommend this is that orlando bloom kind of  sort of shows some hints of range  although the oft  present  i  m pretty and confused  look is prominent   so fangirls may find it worth the matinee price . other than that  just don  t see it . it  s neither good enough nor bad enough to be entertaining .  
beyond a shadow of a doubt mysterious planet is one of the worst movies ever made  yet retains an affection in my heart because the poverty of its special effects and astoundingly awful sound track in the first   minutes  and to be honest that  s all you need to see  combine to create something that is hilariously side  splitting .  br    br   the opening scene in  space  is just about as unfathomable as cinematography gets  as washing  up liquid bottles whiz past your eyes to muffled dialogue . before you  ve had time to work out whether it  s you who  s gone mad  the credits roll and the action struggles to life .  br    br   and aside from the double  headed plasticine giant snail that terrorises our heroes  you also get the added double bonus of having both the original actors voices and the dubbed voices at the same time . pure genius .  br    br   the sad thing for fans of this kind of fare is that i  ve only ever seen one copy  so the chances of ever seeing it yourself is highly unlikely . perhaps i own the only copy in existence .  br    br    
hamlet is by far my favorite of all of shakespeare  s works . branaugh is one heck of an actor . his portrayal of this was just amazing . his soliloquies were breathtaking . for as long as it was it is rare for a film to hold my interest  however i was engrossed in this particular piece . i recommend this to anyone both fan of shakespeare and those not so much . this has everything the modern world looks for in its films murder  betrayal  and deceit . not to knock mel gibson  s version  but branaughs touches the whole work . this leaves no stone unturned . when you finish the film it will feel as if you read the play yourself . um how you say  two thumbs up  .  
i really wanted to like this movie  but it never gave me a chance . it  s basically meant to be spinal tap with a hip hop theme  but it fails miserably . it consistently feels like it was written and acted by high  school kids for some school project  and that  s also the level the humor seems to be aimed at . there is no subtlety and  more damningly for a mockumentary  it never once feels like a documentary . and while the lines aren  t funny in the first place  an attempt at dead  pan delivery would have helped   certainly  anything would be better than the shrill overacting we are subjected to .  br    br   i  d recommend this to people who like  comedies  in the vein of  big momma  s house  or  norbit   people who think that words like  butt  are inherently hysterically funny . other people should stay away and not waste their time .  
kenneth branagh  s  hamlet  hits all the marks . the acting is magnificent  the   mm cinematography is gorgeous  the oscar  nominated costumes and sets are stunning  and patrick doyle  s score  also oscar  nominated  is sensitive and moving . oh yeah  the screenplay  by some guy named will s .  isn  t too bad either . film critics ribbed branagh for receiving the films  fourth oscar nod for  adapting  the screenplay  but his decision to use the full text was a gutsy one . i can  t think of many better ways to make four hours fly by .  br    br   nearly every decision branagh makes works brilliantly the use of england  s blenheim palace for exteriors  the edwardian dress  and the staging of  to be or not to be  in a hall of mirrors  to name a few . the casting of hollywood luminaries such as robin williams  billy crystal and jack lemmon in minor parts can be distracting  but that  s nitpicking . the principal cast excels derek jacobi captures the conflicted nature of claudius kate winslet acutely depicts ophelia  s descent into madness julie christie brings passion to her portrayal of gertrude richard briers is pitch  perfect as the conniving polonius and nicholas farrell elevates the potentially thankless role of horatio to the apotheosis of true friendship . every speech  every line  every word is delivered with passion and conviction there isn  t a wasted moment in the entire film . the final scenes magnify the extent of shakespeare  s tragedy in a way not possible with theatrical adaptations .  br    br   branagh  s  hamlet  is a bold  ambitious  and ultimately successful attempt to match the grandeur and poetry of shakespeare  s language with equally eloquent imagery . it  s arguably the greatest shakespearean adaptation ever filmed  strong praise  but well deserved .  
there are probably more people afraid of the dentist than of  let  s say  little monsters or scary looking dolls . which makes it a perfect subject for a horror movie  really .  br    br   dr . feinstone  corbin bernsen  has been a successful dentist for several years now  but when he catches his wife cheating on him with the poolguy he snaps  and he brings his anger and frustration to his work . well  give a mad dentist a drill and a mouth  and you can probably guess what happens next . . .  br    br   as i said  brilliant idea but not delivered as well as it should . in particular the ending is a huge let down . last note watch for mark ruffalo  you can count on me  eternal sunshine . . .  in this one .  br    br       .  
it would require the beauty and eloquence of shakespeare to do justice to this outstanding cinematic feat . nevertheless  i  ll give it a go .  br    br   as far as adaptations of hamlet go this one is already at a better starting point than all other versions since it encompasses the entire play . still this is no guarantee for a first  rate movie  or even a good one . usually i  m not much for movies that are overlong and the trend that seems to be prevalent in hollywood today  namely that movies should be at least two hours long  preferably three  is one that hopefully won  t last long . few stories are strong enough to withstand such extensive exploration and could do with some cutting . making a four  hour  long movie and keeping it interesting is no small undertaking  but kenneth branagh pulls it off with flying colours . he has managed to make a very long movie seem no more than any average movie . i was completely engrossed from start to finish .  br    br   the cast is excellent with kenneth branagh himself as the tormented prince giving a strong and memorable performance . he manages to convey his feelings admirably through his voice and one does not have to be an expert on shakespearean verse to catch the myriad of emotions that are waging inside him . kate winslet was a positive surprise  i must say . i didn  t know what to expect really . i  ve always liked her well enough as an actor  but wasn  t sure she could pull off playing shakespeare . well  she certainly eradicated all doubts with her performance . she is the best ophelia i have seen and lent such depth to the character and was simply wonderful . other brilliant performances are derek jacobi as claudius  richard briers as polonius and nicholas farrell as horatio to name but a few . i liked the fact that branagh used some internationally more famous stars to play in some of the minor roles i especially enjoyed the sparring between hamlet and the gravedigger played by billy crystal .  br    br   the setting of the play in the   th century gives a welcome change to the usually gloomier gothic settings . it is overall much lighter than other versions i  ve seen  more colourful and lavish  but this does not distract from the tragedy of the play . it is exceptional  stylish and aesthetically pleasing  a definite delight to the eye and other senses as well . the music by patrick doyle is as always magical and thoroughly in tune with the movie . one can only feel a deep sense of satisfaction after having seen this . i am shocked and appalled that this exquisite work of art did not win an academy award for best picture  even more so that it wasn  t even nominated . there is no way there was a better movie made that year  or any other year for that matter . this is as close to perfection as you can hope to get .  br    br   to sum up  a stunning work of pure genius and i cannot see how anyone could top this . my hat  s off to you mr . branagh .  
well  i do like the gore in this movie  it is genuingly unsetteling . anyone that  s been to the dentist will know why . the story really isn  t that bad  corbin bersen  s character  s motivations do make a lot more sense than in most horror movies .  br    br   i  ve seen worse acting  directing  script  etc . but at the end of the day this is still a bad horror movie . so it comes down to if you enjoy that type of thing or not . i tried to watch the sequel  but it was exactly  exactly the same thing as this movie . just keep in mind if you enjoy people getting tortured at the dentist  then this is the movie for you   
william shakespeare would be very proud of this particular version of his play . not only is it the best movie version of it  but it  s also the only complete version of hamlet . kenneth branagh  s hamlet is simply genius . not only because it was written by shakespeare  but also because it had the guts to do the whole thing  even if it went just over four hours .  br    br   we all know the story of the prince of denmark and his plot to avenge his father  s death  so i won  t go into the details of the story . i will  however  tell you that the best part of this hamlet version is not the breathtaking sets or the stunning photography  but the actors  interpretations of each character . i doubt you  ll find a better polonius than richard briers  delicious portrayal . plus  you can  t go wrong with julie christie and jack lemmon . also  derek jacobi  a regular among shakespeare adaptations is magnificent as the antagonist to hamlet .  br    br   of course  we must talk about kenneth branagh . he wowed audiences when he came onto the scene with his first outing with shakespeare  henry v . he outdoes himself with hamlet . sure  olivier  s presence was captivating  but i think branagh  s performance is wonderful . when you watch him on screen  it  s almost as if he knew exactly how shakespeare wanted the role to be played . how he wasn  t nominated for an oscar is a total mystery . at least the movie got a few nominations and even an odd choice for screenplay . i guess they know good writing when they see it though .  br    br   all in all  you  ll never find a more rich and lavish production of the bard  s best play . to say that the technical aspects were awesome would be an understatement . if you love this play and are a fan of shakespeare  you definitely need to check this movie out . even if you don  t really care for shakespeare  the visuals will keep you occupied for the duration of the film . you may not think you  ll be able to sit through all of it at once  but you  ll soon find out that pausing this movie will make you want to see it even more .  
i don  t know how to describe this movie . it  s definitely one of the weirdest movies i  ve seen in a long time . it is very unsettling at times but also boring in other places . the scenes of dental torture are very elaborate and may attract anyone who  s into gore  splatter . i found myself holding my teeth during some of the aforementioned scenes . the clever thing about the movie is that it plays with our fears and the dentist is therefore quite unsettling .  br    br   the humor of the film is somehow hidden and may not be recognized by everyone . but if you  re a fan of weird and strange entertainment and teeth getting drilled to dust this is just the film you were looking for .  br    br   if you read the comment and feel somehow attracted by this kind of entertainment  give it a try   br    br   my rating      maybe a little too weird for my taste   
one of the best movie  dramas i have ever seen . we do a lot of acting in the church and this is one that can be used as a resource that highlights all the good things that actors can do in their work . i highly recommend this one  especially for those who have an interest in acting  as a  must see .  there are several scenes of note . for one  the graveyard scene when hamlet encounters yorick  everyone knows about that scene by just going to elementary school   and his interaction with the skull was extremely well done . the logic used in this scene was tremendous   i suppose a testament to shakespeare more than anything else . for a second  i very much enjoyed the scene where hamlet  horatio and the character played by robin williams discussed the upcoming duel .  
loved part one  the impossible planet  but whoops  what a disappointment part two  the satan pit  is . the cliffhanger of something apparently rising out of the pit was  nothing coming out of the pit . then ages spent crawling round air vents to pad out the story  the beast a roaring thing empty of intelligence  so no doctor  villain confrontation i  d been anticipating . the tardis is somehow inside the pit despite the pit not being open till long after the tardis fell through the planet crust . and finally another ready made solution which existed for no logical reason  i mean  why not plunge the beast into the hole as soon as the pit opened  why not plunge him in all those years ago instead of imprisoning him anyway . why not  i could go on but i  ve lost interest . . .  
a lot of people don  t think branagh  s hamlet film is all that good  but i must admit i think it is splendid . like virtually every production of shakespeare  it has problems and it has had to make hard choices  not all of which work out . the thing about the  secret doors everywhere   for instance  simply doesn  t work . that element never achieves the ominous feeling of metaphor or analogy that it attempts to  which results in the play being too gaudy and losing its trademark sense of a thousand mysteries looming . this is the biggest problem with this production . and while it  s a biggie  i  m also inclined to say that it  s the only problem . almost everything else works out absolutely beautifully . all right  so branagh is a mite too old for the title role . and the relationship with ophelia seems a little forced . and he gets too hysterical at times . but that  s it . no other complaints . even with these faults  i think this version is a seminal one  and if it  s not as powerful a drama as it ought to be  it  s every bit the literary work that it equally ought to be . we get the complete text of the longest version of the play  innovatively and expensively brought to the screen  mostly enunciated in perfect and modern and highly understandable voices  even if they sometimes speak too quickly in order to get the massive text over with . but in a staging of shakespeare  it simply is not possible to speak slowly enough for the audience to really appreciate the full depths of the language . for that  one must delve into the print versions of the plays .  br    br   all the actors of this version are simply mesmerizing and utterly and instantly classic  incl . jack lemmon  . julie christie as gertrude is surely one of the best ever  and even the american actors are astounding  esp . charlton heston as the player king  who would have thought it    a story is going around that heston once played hamlet on stage  and when a critic in the front row couldn  t stand his hammy acting and said out loud   this is terrible    heston reportedly retorted right from the stage  well  i didn  t write this crap   of course it may not be true  but it  s a funny story  and if true  a bold and ironic choice for branagh to include heston here .  robin williams as  young ozric  is perhaps not young enough for the part  but he makes it a comical one  which is warranted .  br    br   overall it is a very well  produced version  with most of the key scenes being  to my mind  supremely memorable . of course  i watched this movie just as i was becoming interested in shakespeare  and around the same time as luhrmann  s formidable romeojuliet   and it made a great impression on me  which must account for some of my fondness for it .  br    br   all things considered  i must pronounce branagh  s hamlet to be my favorite one  with derek jacobi  s     bbc version a close second . i probably like branagh  s shakespeare work more than most  finding him an expert interpreter and popularizer  with an attractively casual attitude to the words and a deep and appropriately and unashamedly enthusiastic appreciation of the text . in the world of shakespeare acting  the two brightest luminaries remain olivier and branagh  and while olivier is the superior actor  branagh brings shakespeare down from the pedestal of snobbery and artifice  and transforms it into churlish  easy  going  populistic worldliness while compromising none of its dignity . branagh  i believe  brings out a truer shakespeare than the world has yet seen .  br    br   and so    out of   for an absolutely tremendous hamlet .  
this would be a watchable hollywood mediocre if it had a good editing . it relies on the typical american thriller plot   who is going to outsmart everyone  . acting is below average  but with shining appearance of the detective who is the best actor in the film and he is mostly responsible if the tension in the film rises . film was completely suffocated by blank video and sound shots and most of it looks like raw film material . all in all  if you don  t mind watching a movie that looks like a student film project  this is a film to watch . i guess that would be enough to say on this film  everything else could really spoil the tension that is probably low enough .  
i have never observed four hours pass quite so quickly as when i saw this film . this film restores the power and art to hamlet that it was always meant to have . even those oh  so famous speeches are done in new and inventive ways . and the cast is incredible  brannagh the brightest star . it is his charisma  power and command of the role that defines the movie . making it a full and complete version fills so many holes and allows for new appreciation of the tragedy despite the length . where one would expect the dark  gloomy cliched castle  we are treated to a sumptuous feast for the eyes . the only gloom comes from hamlet himself  as it should . well worth your time  all four hours of it .  
there  s been a vogue for the past few years for often  as  not ironic zombie  related films  as well as other media incarnations of the flesh  eating resurrected dead .  fido  is a film that  s either an attempt to cash in on that  simply a manifestation of it  or both   and it falls squarely into the category of ironic zombies . the joke here is that we get to see the walking dead in the contrasting context of a broadly stereotyped  squeaky  clean  alternate  history  we are in the wake of a great zombie war  and the creatures are now being domesticated as slaves  version of a     s suburb .  br    br   it  s a moderately funny concept on its own  and enough perhaps for a five  minute comedy sketch  but it can  t hold up a feature  film on its own . the joke that rotting corpses for servants are incongruous with this idealized version of a small town is repeated over and over again  and loses all effectiveness . the soundtrack relentlessly plays sunny tunes while zombies cannibalize bystanders . the word  zombie  is constantly inserted into an otherwise familiarly homey line for a cheap attempt at a laugh .  br    br   the very broadness and artificiality of the representation of  the nineteen fifties  here can  t help but irritate me . it is so stylized  in it evidently  pleasantville   inspired way  that it is more apparent in waving markers of its     s  ness around than actually bearing any resemblance to anything that might have happened between     and     . there is something obnoxiously sneering about it  as if the film is bragging emptily and thoughtlessly about how more open  down  to  earth  and superior the     s are .  br    br   because the characters are such broad representations of pop  culture     s  types   it  s difficult to develop much emotional investment in them . each has a few character traits thrown at him or her   helen is obsessed with appearances  and bill loves golf and his haunted by having had to kill his father   but they remain quite two  dimensional . performances within the constraints of this bad writing are fine . the best is billy connolly as fido the zombie  who in the tradition of boris karloff in  frankenstein  actually imparts character and sympathy to a lumbering green monster who cannot speak .  br    br   there are little bits of unsubtle allegory thrown around   to commodity fetishism  racism  classism  war paranoia  et cetera  but none of it really works on a comprehensive level  and the filmmakers dont really stick with anything .  br    br   unfortunately  this film doesn  t really get past sticking with the flimsy joke of  look  zombies in  leave it to beaver    for a good hour  and  a  half .  
why didn  t this pick up a bag full of oscars  it is an amazing interpretaion of an oft  filmed  performed piece . the visuals are breathtaking  especially in wide  screen . . . the pan  scan really kills this film  s wonderful cinematography and sets  . every frame is a painting . astounding . the play is almost completely intact  and branagh  s passion for it is clear from the opening titles on . no zefferelli here  just great storytelling the way only film can  but rarely does . jacobi is especially perfect as hamlet  s murderous uncle he doesn  t play him as a mustache  curling evil villian  but a charming politician  allowing us to see why only hamlet suspects foul play . branagh also nails the subtlety of the line between hamlet  s fake  real madness and the burning revenge inside him . and the many cameos come off quite well  everyone from billy crystal and robin williams to gerard depardeu and charlton heston  unobtrusive if you are sucked into branagh  s vision the way i was . a mesmerizing piece .  
this movie gets both a     rating from me  as well as a     . here is why as a standard horror movie for the standard horror crowd  where action and gore and scares are taken into consideration  this movie will bore you . it  s basically a family drama similar to what you  d see on the lifetime channel  but put in a horror universe . the story and formula are age  old  retreaded hundreds of times . if you  re looking for any originality in the plot structure or the minimal conflicts  you  ll be disappointed . take away the zombies and you  ll have something just as melodramatic as a beautiful mind  tripping on cheese . this is the     .  br    br   however  the basic synopsis and idea is pretty original and over  the  top . it  s literally something you and your friends would joke about when you  re half  drunk . . . but that joke actually got a theatrical release . the idea gets a     from me . the only reason it isn  t perfect is because they could have taken it even further  but they didn  t .  br    br   the mix of both is mixed . i thought it was funny  but as with most all comedies  it wasn  t that funny . i had my mom and little sister watch it with me and the jokes we made about it were funnier than the jokes scripted . there were moments of utter genius  but there were also moments of pure boredom .  br    br   i sincerely hope that other movies take this kind of over  the  top risk and original ideas . i just can  t say it was perfect  or even near it  because of the lack of originality to the plot .  br    br   a great family movie . a great movie to watch with a bunch of guys  or girls  . a great movie to watch with anyone . . . but if you watch it alone  it will be a bit boring . other people always make this kind of movie funnier and richer .  br    br        
i went to see hamlet because i was in between jobs . i figured  hours would be great  i  ve been a fan of branagh dead again  henry v . i was completely overwhelmed by the direction  acting  cinematography that this film captured . like other reviews the  hours passes swiftly . branagh doesn  t play hamlet  he is hamlet  he was born for this . when i watch this film i  m constantly trying to find faults  i  ve looked at the goofs and haven  t noticed them . how he was able to move the camera in and out of the hall with all the mirrors is a mystery to me . this movie was shot in   mil . it  s a shame that columbia hasn  t released a widescreen version of this on vhs . i own a dvd player  and i  d take this over titanic any day . so columbia if you  re listening put this film out the way it should be watched  and i don  t know what happened at the oscars . this should have swept best picture  best actor  best direction  best cinematography . what films were they watching  i felt sorry for branagh at the oscars when he did a tribute to shakespeare on the screen . they should have been giving a tribute to branagh for bringing us one of the greatest films of all time .  
this wasn  t all that great . not terrible or hateful or anything  just forgettable .  br    br   it had a sort of  um  hesitant  diluted air  like it never properly knew whether it wanted to go for laughs or for sweetness or for satire . so we were left with weak mix of the three . the actors seemed kinda lost .  br    br   also  the ideas were really tired and recycled  almost zombified themselves . how many more times do we have to be told the    s in the states were infected with a banal sense of conformity  and that this was perpetuated by aggressive consumerism  and that emotional repression in men is a baaaaad thing  old hat .  br    br   its biggest crime in my eyes though was just how detached from reality it was . i know it was a comedy and all  but  especially in a full movie where you must keep the interest of an audience for a prolonged period  you still need some sort of emotional anchor  some relatable guide through the story  to make it engaging . for the  hero  kid to watch an old woman  two fellow school pupils and ultimately his father die painfully at the hands of zombies or whatever and for him to greet it all with a cheery smile and a shrug of the shoulders  then i just struggle to deal with that in any sort of positive way . the mum was the same . if you make your two main characters so inhuman on that level  then you risk losing me and that  s what happened .  br    br   biggest positive i can offer is that i love the look of that sort of apple pie suburbia and this captured it well enough  it was a handsome film  especially some of those wide angled shots of the street and inside the robinsons  house . also  the opening newsreel was cute  in a been  done  before  but  still  funny sort of way .  br    br   and i thought billy connolly was ok and that comes from someone who isn  t a big fan of billy connolly movie star . i just had this fear he was going to be hamming it up and trying to steal every scene  but he played it pretty low  key for him and probably came out the most sympathetic character in the whole film .  br    br   all in all  not great though .  
this is the definitive movie version of hamlet . branagh cuts nothing  but there are no wasted moments .  
i suppose if you like endless dialogue that doesn  t forward the story and flashy camera effects like the scene transitions in the television show  angel   you  ll enjoy the film . me  all i wanted was a nice  tight little story  and it wasn  t there . the pacing was practically backward  plot points were buried under a sea of unneeded dialogue  and there was absolutely no sense of dread  or tension  or anything .  br    br   is it the redneck  is it the wendigo  no  it  s a cameraman on speed . that  s not scary . it doesn  t generate a single note of tension or atmosphere unless you  re scared by mtv . like those reviewers before me  i too noticed that by the end the movie invokes derisive laughter from the audience .  br    br   terrible film .  
how could i possibly pass up the chance to see orlando bloom and heath ledger together  well  i couldn  t and so  i rented this mess of a movie .  br    br   i had never heard of ned kelly and was surprised by what i found out about this young man  s legend . i was also surprised at how mediocre this movie was . perhaps the fact that it was very  very late and at the end of a  hour movie marathon or maybe it was because it really is a little slow  i found this story difficult to follow . not because the story is complicated  but because it is slow . even with a slow story  ledger and bloom managed to create interesting  dimensional characters .  br    br   though i flounder to recommend this as a must see  it is a great story of australian history  considering how young the country is  this is very rare and should be appreciated  and the film does have some good actions sequences .  br    br       see it for historical value . . . .  yeah right . . . and that  s the only reason to see it . . .     
this is blatantly a futuristic adaptation of jules verne  s  mysterious island  . the sound editing is pretty bad . you hear the dialogue on set and you hear the voices being recorded on a recording booth at the same time  this is an amateur film with actors from boston and shot around new hampshire . for those living in new engalnd and who is reading this comment will be wowed with a capital w . this film is full of flaws . you get to hear the director  s voice giving directions and giving out directions to the actress .  ok now stand up .  as for the other characters . there is this guy who talks with his mind instead of his voice and this blue alien . the alien guy talks with a deep voice . when he is yawning or grunting when he is fighting you hear the actor  s voice . as for the special effects  man  this was brett piper  s early work for crying out loud  the creatures are good but the animation is jerky . really jerky . sort of like karl zeman animation in journey to beginning of time       . the special effects are imaginative . thge music is good . bottom line  this film makes equinox or planet of the dinosaurs look like a ray harryhausen epic . did you know mysterious planet was a home movie and was on a shoes string budget  a must watch for aspiring film makers .  
after the initial shock of realizing the guts of mr branagh to film this  i was literally shaking with the excitement of having this epic just ahead of me . i was not disappointed . so true to shakespeare and yet so accessible . it blew my mind . i always enjoy seeing  or rather listening to  branagh and it made me wonder . . . is this movie dubbed in other countries  that would be like painting a moustache on the mona lisa .  
i  ve seen many horror shows over the years  like nightstalker  that dealt with the wendigo legend  so i was looking forward to an angry spirit causing mayhem to add flavor to the halloween season . man was i mistaken . the whole movie creates this sense of events about to happen that will be scary and creepy  but then delivers a very simplistic tale of revenge and murder over the loss of some property . ve  ery scary  not  this movie has a lot in common with cold creek manor  another total loser .  br    br   it  s getting harder and harder to believe anything hollywood puts forward about scary movies  since they rarely come through with anything original and spooky anymore . what idiots pay for such a bogus movie to be made  go back to the drawing board fellas  and do something useful with those millions of greenbacks you have to throw around .  
i had never read shakespeare  s hamlet before watching it but i did have a shakespeare book with me and could follow the dialogue through it . my view on the movie may be partially biased since i had never read the play before  but i got pulled into this movie  s grasp . shakespeare is undoubtedly one of the best writers ever to have lived and the story of hamlet is definitely one of his best achievements .  br    br   but now on to the movie . . .  br    br   i found that all the actors in the movie had a firm grasp of what they were saying and thus  were able to articulate it quite well . leonardo in romeo and juliet is nothing compared to kenneth branagh and the king . the thing i liked about this was that it worked very well as a  movie  and not as a play you are studying . you don  t need to be affluent with shakespeare to relate to all the misery hamlet has to go through . i would recommend this movie to a wide audience .  br    br   that  s my two cents .  
i remember back when i was little when i was away at camp and we would campout under the stars . there was always someone there that would have a good story to tell that involved the woods that surrounded us and they would always creep me out . well  when i found wendigo at the library  i checked it out hoping to be one of those films that had a supernatural being haunting people in the woods much like the stories that were told at camp . well  much to my dismay  i was so far from the truth . wendigo is really bad . the story starts of when a family of three is driving to their winter cabin  which looks like your normal suburban home and nothing like a cabin in the woods  and they run into a deer . well  it seems the local rednecks were actually hunting this particular deer and are pretty upset at our city folk . the movie spends far too much time following the families everyday activities instead of getting to the point of the film . it wasn  t until about the last   minutes that we actually have some action involving the  wendigo .  my suggestion is that you stay very far away this film . it will leave you wanting your hour and a half back .  
kenneth branagh shows off his excellent skill in both acting and writing in this deep and thought provoking interpretation of shakespeare  s most classic and well  written tragedy . kenneth plays the role of hamlet with such a distinct emotion that provokes tears . kate winslet  s performance is also of great note .  
anyone who actually had the ability to sit through this movie and walk away feeling like it was a good film does not appreciate quality movies . this movie was an insult to watch  the direction was high school film class quality as well as the cinematography . the blair witch project had better cinematography and i hate that move with a passion  the storyline had the potential to be a very intense very good movie but it fell flat from the first   minutes through the rest of the movie . someone mentioned that this film was about a child  s imagination  okay thats all good and fine . but they still could have done better things with this script than what they did . i mean come on  the indian in the store . did the kid look at the little idol and suddenly imagine the indian and the entire story about an indian spirit called wendigo  which they mention to the store employee and she casually says there is no one but me that works here  so you think okay creepy ghost scenario  but then she just barters for the amount on the idol and we forget about the little kid seeing this guy . that was so lame it goes beyond pathetic . the ending left you wondering not only what happened to otis in the hospital but also with the feeling of omg    why the hell did i just waste my time watching this   this is a move that i recommend not to watch  there are definitely better quality films out there that won  t insult your intelligence  thank god i never had to pay to see this movie  i would have demanded my money back  for those that were easily entertained by this movie . . . . it  s very sad that you lowered your standards to this level of film making to actually say that it was a good movie .  
when i first read hamlet  i couldn  t help but think of the ending of outrageous fortune  where bette midler puts down the play because of how indecisive he is  and says   give me romeo any day .  five acts of a man trying to decide whether or not to kill his uncle or not  seemed like overkill to me . but upon further reading  i grew to really appreciate the play . i  ve seen the olivier and gibson movie versions  and part of the nicol williamson version   and all of them take their model from olivier the melancholy dane . olivier at least did it without being self  indulgent about it  but gibson and  from what i saw  williamson  looked like they went to the  look  ma  i  m acting  i  m acting   school .  br    br   now here comes kenneth branagh  s version  which is breathtaking from start to finish . it finished   on my top ten of      behind the english patient  and ahead of lone star  jerry maguire  fargo  secrets  lies  everyone says i love you  flirting with disaster  big night  and looking for richard   and it  s the best hamlet  and maybe the best shakespeare  put to film . obviously  branagh  s talents as a filmmaker  for making the full  length version  in   mm print  and not losing our interest for four hours  is great  but what seems to get overlooked in discussions about this film is his performance in the title role . this was my favorite performance of the year by far . branagh avoids the melodrama which actors seem to get trapped in by playing hamlet as a normal  regular human being  and makes us understand his actions and feelings each step of the way . and unlike olivier  who depended mostly on his voice  branagh uses his entire body to demonstrate the range of emotions that hamlet goes through  but since he plays him as normal  none of it seems like scenery  chewing .  br    br   the rest of the cast is top  notch as well . i didn  t even mind jack lemmon  though i agree he was the weakest member of the cast . the most surprising turn came from charlton heston i  ve always found him stiff as a board  but he  s quite commanding as the player king . the other big surprise was billy crystal i thought i  d find him all wrong as the  st gravedigger  but he was his usual funny self while being in character . all in all  a glorious film   
if my grandma did films they would probably do much better figure than this one . . . incredible bad . . . the main characters  the mom  the dad and son  are ok . specially the mother she  s a nice actress and the kid also proves to be a nice one specially on the scenes where he is supposed to be scary . but does the the director know the meaning of the words plot point  triller and good script . the script hasn  t any evolving atmosphere to become a suspense thing . if you like being chased by trees you can probably enjoy it  otherwise just stay at home and sleep . oh . . . actually there was something funny the movie  s from     but we couldn  t realize it since the image is so bad  like on mini  dv  and the cars are so old  like   and    s  .  
there were a lot of things going against this movie for me before i watched it .  br    br   first  i was a typical high school senior  in a shakespeare class i didn  t really even like  much less understood half of  shakespeare would be no more than unintelligible without me pouring all my concentration into his almost encrypted plays . . . encrypted with his extremely difficult to understand language . . . . and then i still wouldn  t get most of it .  br    br   second  it was  hours long  i never thought that could be a good thing .  br    br   well let me tell you something . this movie was so masterful  so beautiful  i actually understood all the language as it was being performed . now  the script was followed to the letter in this movie  the same script that was incomprehensible to me in shakespeare class . and here i was my mind opening and me understanding it . i was doubting myself while watching the movie almost  but lo and behold . . . when performed  and only then  shakespeare comes to life . so this version of hamlet showed me that shakespeare is indeed a master  who wrote great stories . when i saw it on the big screen  especially in the high budget major motion picture style  with beautiful cinematography and photography   and acted amazingly by brannagh and cast  somehow . . . . i understood what was going on . what was being said . the language is awesome and passionate . it allows for more raw emotion . . . when words can  t describe something  maybe shakespeare  s words can .  br    br   i still hold to this day that fist of the north star  animated  english dub  is the greatest movie ever made . no movie provides more sheer entertainment . but for a movie to come close to dethroning fist from that position  which hamlet did   it came close  is truly amazing . . . . awe inspiring . it wasn  t a movie . it was an event .  br    br   even more amazing  it made me appreciate shakespeare . wow . powerful . powerful is the word . one of the rare  truly powerful movies out there .  br    br   this gets  hundred trillion stars out of infinity stars . yes yes .  br    br   by the way  all you kids out there in a shakespeare class . . . forget it . you  re wasting you  re time . you have to see the plays performed . only then will justice be done to them .  
as i was watching this movie i was thinking  ok it  ll get good any moment . . . i was wrong . the real best part of this movie was when it was over . a complete waste of   minutes . all seriousness aside the best part was when the wendigo finally showed up which was at the end and you couldn  t really even see him that good . and the tail end was really kind of dumb as well . there was too many sections in the movie where you thought something was going to happen but was a let down . the worse part is there was more talk of the wendigo then there was wendigo . for the creature to be so bad  you definitely couldn  t tell it by this movie .  
branagh is one of the few who understands the difference between a film and a play . hamlet is probably the most faithful adaptation of shakespeare to a film and yet is a very dynamic film  almost an action thriller . the scene of hamlet  s meeting with his father  s ghost won  t leave your mind .  
i was disappointed . the film was a bit predictable and did not live up to the hype plastered all over the box . having said that  the characters were well developed  the windego myth was used in a unique premise and the house was pretty spooky but it just missed for me . i kept waiting for that big ahhhhh or boo  but it never came .  br    br   furthermore the movie was plagued with poor filming of poor special effects . thus showing to much of a bad thing and not using atmosphere and viewer imagination to create the horror and suspense . try movies like session  or the cube if your looking for a low  budget but well conceived horror movie .  
this was the second of two filmed  hamlets  in the nineties  the first being franco zeffirelli  s  starring mel gibson  from     . zeffirelli  s version  like laurence olivier  s from      was based upon an abridged version of the play  with much of shakespeare  s original text being cut .  i have never seen tony richardson  s     version  but as that ran to less than two hours  shorter even than zeffirelli  s  i presume that was also abridged  . kenneth branagh was attempting something much more ambitious  a film based on the complete text of the play  with a running time of around four hours .  br    br   with his  henry v   branagh claimed olivier  s crown as the cinema  s leading shakespearean  confirming his claim with his brilliant  much ado about nothing   a rare example of a great film based on a shakespeare comedy .  hamlet  was his third shakespeare film as director  he also acted as iago in oliver parker  s      othello   and  as one might expect  it is very different to  much ado .  . the earlier film  shot in a villa in the hills of tuscany and the beautiful surrounding countryside  is a joyous  summertime film about everything that makes life worth living .  br    br    hamlet   by contrast is set in the depths of winter .  the flowers in the description of ophelia  s death suggest that shakespeare himself thought of the action happening in summer  . the look of the film is particularly striking  both sumptuous and chilly . it was filmed at blenheim palace  possibly england  s most grandiose stately home  but also a rather forbidding one . the snowy exterior scenes are cold and wintry the interior ones formal and elaborate . the action is updated to the mid nineteenth century the female characters wear the elaborate fashions of that era  while the principal male ones mostly wear splendid military uniforms .  there is a contrast here with zeffirelli  s film  where both the interiors and the costumes were deliberately subdued in tone  . the play is dominated by images of corruption and decay branagh  s intention may have been to contrast a splendid surface with the underlying  something rotten in the state of denmark  .  br    br   the film is notable for the large number of big  name actors  some of them in very minor roles .  blink  and you might miss john gieldgud or judi dench  . apparently  an all  star cast was required by the production company  who were nervous about a four  hour film . some of the imported hollywood stars  such as robin williams  osric  did not really come off  but others  like charlton heston  s player king or billy crystal  s first gravedigger  played their parts very well . yorick  normally only seen as a skull  is here seen in flashback  played by the british comedian ken dodd . brian blessed  who often plays jovial characters  is cast against type as the ghost  and makes the scenes in which he appears genuinely frightening .  br    br   of the major characters  perhaps the weakest was kate winslet  s ophelia . branagh  s leading lady in his first two shakespeare films was his then wife emma thompson  but their marriage ended in divorce in     . i did  however  find myself wishing that thompson had been cast in the role although winslet came into her own in the ophelia  s mad scenes  she seemed weak in the earlier ones where her character is still sane .  i preferred helena bonham carter in zeffirelli  s version  . richard briers plays polonius with a greater dignity than he is often given  a wise and experienced counsellor rather than a prating old fool . julie christie also brings dignity to the role of gertrude there is no attempt here  as there was with gibson and glenn close in the zeffirelli version  to suggest an incestuous attachment between her and hamlet .  an interpretation which owes more to freud than it does to shakespeare  . the age difference between christie and branagh is great enough for them to be credible as mother and son  which was certainly not the case with close and gibson .  olivier  s gertrude  eileen herlie  was  bizarrely  thirteen years younger than him  .  br    br   branagh stated that his intention in restoring those scenes which are often cut in cinematic versions was to  reinforce the idea that the play is about a national as well as domestic tragedy .  much stress is placed upon the war with norway and the norwegian prince fortinbras  a subplot ignored altogether by zeffirelli . this emphasis on national tragedy is perhaps best shown in the character of claudius  sometimes played as a one  dimensional villain . there is something about derek jacobi  s performance which suggests that claudius could have been a good man under different circumstances  but that he allowed himself to be led astray by ambition and lust . he could have been a good and loyal servant to his brother  but chose to rule as a bad king . although he is tormented by guilt  he can see no way to make amends for the evil he has done .  br    br   branagh  a wonderfully fluent speaker of shakespeare  s verse  is superb in the main role . like gibson  he has little time for the old concept of hamlet as indecisive  passive and melancholy . his is an active  physical  energetic hamlet  something best shown in his fatal duel with laertes . his guiding principle is not world  weary despair  but an active disgust with evil and corruption .  br    br   it was a gamble for branagh to make a four  hour epic  and the film did not do well at the box office . it was  however  praised by many critics  james berardinelli being particularly enthusiastic . my own opinion is that  whatever the financial returns may have been  branagh  s gamble paid off in artistic terms . by concentrating on the full text  he was able to bring out the full meaning and full emotional power of shakespeare  s most complex play . when i reviewed his  much ado   i said it was the greatest ever film of a shakespeare comedy . his  hamlet  may just be the greatest ever film of a shakespeare tragedy .       
for all the subtle charms this student film may contain  was anyone else bored to death waiting wendingo to show his paper macho face    br    br   the anti  climax pretty much ruined any sort of momentum we had speed actioned to develop .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i  m all into exploring america  s dark underbelly  but this is a turd  a  flamb that gets a nod to watchable only for the fact that p . clarkson looks hot taking it .  br    br   sadly  from a guy from wings .  br    br   the best  minutes the film has to offer .  br    br   if you felt like ripping off deliverance  you could do better .  
grand epic as it is  kenneth branagh  s monumental rendering of what is perhaps william shakespeare  s most popular tragedy suffers under the weight of its four hour playing time and certainly takes some real staying power . two entirely separate sittings would most likely be better in order to fully appreciate what is certainly high class film making . while i absolutely acknowledge this masterpiece as such  i must confess to a lack of enthusiasm for the old bards flamboyance  his rhetoric  and he sends himself up so well  and his many flourishes . thus  hamlet  loses its impact as it loses its grip .  br    br   from patrick doyle  s music to alex thomson  s cinematography to tim harvey  s exquisite sets  the movie is a feast of visual and aural delights  which compliments a fine cast . branagh has taken on three huge mantels  adapting  directing and playing . his adaptation is superb  his direction strong  but by the time he got to the role of hamlet  the strain seemed to be showing yet still he does a fine job in what is an incredibly taxing role . derek jacobi gobbles up the sinister claudius with glee  and julie christie is most dramatic as his queen  gertrude . richard briers is marvellous as polonius  and charlton heston is once again a strong screen influence as the player king . many others drop by  including jack lemmon  superb in a very small role   billy crystal  dame judi dench  sir john mills  sir john gielgud  sir richard attenborough and gerard depardieu . the acting prize though must go to one of the great thespian discoveries of recent years  kate winslet . hers is a moving portrayal of the most tragic figure in this whole affair  ophelia .  br    br   to finish  before this review goes on longer than the film   i must say it is the length that really tests the viewer in this movie . branagh has directed with purpose  giving many important  impacting scenes . too many of them outstay their welcome . watching this film holds a fantastic reminder of the many pearls of wisdom we have garnered from it .  neither a lender nor a borrower be  or  be true to thyself  . and of course  to be or not to be  .  br    br   the opening two hours does take some perseverance  but if you do manage to stay tuned you are sure to be treated to a rousing finale which gathers momentum from the tragic funeral onward .  br    br   monday  june        hoyts croydon  
if you want to know the real story of the wendigo  i suggest you pick up a copy of algernon blackwell  s original story . this movie was not only bad but had nothing to do with the book .  br    br   i loved the book when i read it as a kid  in  campfire chillers  by e . m . freeman  and was so excited to see a movie based on it come out . i was so disappointed when i finally saw it . another thing is that there were too many pc  politically correct  undertones throughout the movie that had no place in the film . when the book was written pc didn  t even exist .  br    br   my suggestion is don  t waste your time or money   if you see it on the video store shelf leave it there .  
the image of movie studios being financially  driven instead of creatively is not without truth  in fact  it  s more true than false  . this begs the question why castle rock entertainment allowed kenneth branagh to create a full  length  uncut version of  hamlet  with his complete creative control among other things . of course  branagh had to agree to some concessions  a star  studded cast  and a  .  hour version for wider release   but why would the film studio allow branagh to spend money on a  hour version that they knew few would see  could they have  at least in this case  had enough respect for the material and branagh  s vision to create something for only a few people  that is not a question that i can answer . whatever the reason  this is a glorious vision for those who are willing to spend four hours watching  hamlet .  everyone knows the story  so i will not spend much time on that . however  unlike other productions of the play  stage included  this is a completely uncut production  which has never been done before . according to some  shakespeare never intended for the play to be produced uncut  leaving the decision of what to include to the director  s discretion . that being said  i have no doubt that had he been able to see it  the bard would have been overjoyed with branagh  s production .  br    br   the film is top  heavy with film stars  although most have mere bit parts . all play their parts equally well . i would have thought branagh too old to play the part of hamlet  and while he still may be  his performance more than makes up for it . hamlet is a complex part  displaying every emotion from grief to anger  happiness to madness  and everything in between . branagh nailed it . derek jacobi is terrific as the wily claudius  whose deception and treachery sets all these things in motion his unique voice is perfect for the role . julie christie is also very good as gertrude  hamlet  s caring mother who doesn  t realize what is going on until late in the game .  br    br   the classical actors are cast in bit parts  judi dench is on for all of   seconds and has no lines   but at least they  re in it . surprisingly  no one takes this to heart everyone gives it their all  and it shows . special mention has to go to jack lemmon and billy crystal  who are excellent . robin williams is a little too silly  but he  s not bad  his part is pretty small anyway  .  br    br   yet  this is undeniably branagh  s show . he adapted one of the most famous plays in history  and in so doing  he took on a whale of a project it  s impressive that he got it done  but the fact that the film is this good is a monumental achievement . what i really liked about this film is that you don  t have to be a shakespeare scholar to enjoy it . as most people know  shakespeare is difficult to digest  but branagh and his cast understand this .  hamlet  is still immensely enjoyable to just sit and listen to the actors deliver the brilliant dialogue and excellent acting .  br    br   this is a must see for anyone and everyone . it may be four hours long  but it  s definitely worth it .  
this movie is s  l  o  w . spent most of the movie actually waiting for it to  begin  .  br    br   the setting was bleak  the script was bleak  the cinematography was bleak  the plot was bleak  the budget was low  not that all low budget movies are bad  but this one had no redeeming features  .  br    br   the plot was more consumed with a vengeful  slightly deranged hunter than the actual wendigo which made a very brief appearance toward the end of the movie . this in itself was disappointing as this  wendigo  was just a bizarre mix of a tree and a stag . everything about the movie was uninspiring .  br    br   the parents of the little boy appeared to be rather aloof and at times seemed completely detached from their son . whether this was down to bad acting or a bad script i  m not sure  but it only heightened my disappointment and boredom levels .  br    br   there was no food for thought  nothing to pique an interest . with no real intrigue or chill factor  this movie creaked along so painfully  you just couldn  t care less what happened by the end .  br    br   wendigo  s ambiance reminds me of the dull movie shown at the awards ceremony toward the end of  mr bean  s holiday   a movie which is artistic and nonsensical  trying too hard to to be deep and meaningful  but coming across as pretentious and boring .  br    br   i would never want to watch this again . i only watched it to the end in the vain hope that something interesting might happen . . . but it didn  t .  
  sorry for my faulty language  i am no native speaker . . .   br    br   yes  this is a movie that almost demands an overwhelming reaction . personally i agree upon all those superlatives that are around . but i won  t use this rather sematically void way myself to describe the movie here . because those  perfect  the one  and  only  best  ever    reviews make some people turn away  including me  .  br    br   so if you are looking for another  hamlet  that has the potential to rival with many theatrical and all cinematic ones  then don  t miss this one  if you happen to find it anywhere .  unfortunately not too many people will have any chance to see it . it seems there is no dvd out there  and the german language version  which is quite well done  is not available in any format .   br    br   just in case you decide to get a copy spare out that cut down two hours  or so  version of this movie . it is no use and no fun  and gives a wrong impression of a movie  that deals in an interesting way with flow and architecture . and its also crippled down to    aspect ratio .  br    br   greetings from germany  f . l .  
i first learned of the wendigo many years ago in one of alvin schwartz  s  scary stories  books according to that story  the wendigo  after calling your name in the wind  drags you along  and then pulls you up into the sky and pulverizes you . while it sounds like a pretty bizarre notion  schwartz  s story turned it into a fairly coherent idea .  br    br   the movie  wendigo  doesn  t . it basically consists of every horror flick clich family moves to new house and strange things start happening  anyone who harms them is asking for it  and everyone had better listen to the old indian guy . i  ve seen this stuff so many times that i no longer bother to count .  br    br   anyway  avoid it . patricia clarkson and erik per sullivan  dewey on  malcolm in the middle   have done far better than this .  
i loves this movie  because it showed that they were not killing for fun but to save the ones they loved  heath ledger and orlando bloom did a great job portraying ned and joe . it has a few quick inappropriate scenes but is all right other than that . the language is very mild and sometimes don  t even know it is there . this movie shows that just because they are outlaws does not mean that they are vicious killers  i hope that people will watch this movie and learn about important times in history like this one . there is one thing that fascinates me about this movie is that they got their inspiration for their armor from a book ned looked at  also that that is how people remember them  from their armor . i hope that people will watch this movie and get interested as i have .  
it was     pm last night at my friend  s camping trailer and we were so hyped to watch south park  a new episode  . the thing is  in my country  south park airs at      pm and we decided to kill time by watching the show now airing  father of the pride . i  ll start by saying that i have only watched to episodes . the first time i watched it  i found it unfunny and crude for nothing  so i thought   holy sht  i have a football game early tomorrow  so i have to stop watching stupid cartoons   . but yesterday  i tried to give father of the pride a second chance . i find that it  s a complete rip  off of the simpsons  only replacing yellow human characters by lions instead .  br    br   the second thing is i wonder why it got it  s tv    rating . i find the simpsons a lot more vulgar  and the only real vulgarity in this show is a few homosexual  unfunny  jokes . the simpsons is also a lot more violent  halloween specials  and crude . i also heard that the creator of the series has also directed shrek   well i  ve got news for him shrek  was way better and i think he stayed too much in the family thematic . however  i must admit that father of the pride did make me smile  even burst out laughing once  three or four times .  br    br   all in all  i don  t mind father of the pride . i don  t hate it  but i don  t like either . i  ve seen way better from   the simpsons   .  br    br    .      
first  what i didn  t like . the acting was not really up to the hamlet standard . branagh was really over  the  top  doing a lot of yelling mostly . in my opinion  those actors who were not big  name celebrities generally did a better job though i would except billy crystal and robin williams .  and charlton heston  too  but i wasn  t sure if he was playing at being a hack .  a lot of the ambiguities in the play were clearly resolved one way in the flashbacks .  br    br   what i think speaks very much in this play  s favor is that it is accessible . shakespeare is hard to understand for the vast majority of people nowadays many people are not even inclined to try  because of its reputation as serious literature and its archaic english . if they see this film they will understand clearly at least one man  s interpretation of the play . they will be seeing it more as shakespeare  s audiences saw it a play with sword fights and battles  and mighty kings and nobles  murder and incest and evil schemes and ghosts   and great art  if one cares to look for it  but in shakespeare  s day most didn  t  any more than most people do now . branagh  s overacting  and his forcing of his interpretation of the story on the viewer  may detract from shakespeare  s art somewhat  but it is better that modern audiences get a piece of it  rather than nothing .  br    br   i  ve got to say one more thing though . some people are complaining that  it  s set in the   th century and that wasn  t shakespeare  s time  . well  in shakespeare  s time their costume and scenery was that of their own day for all of their plays . shakespeare may have said it  s in the days of ancient rome or medieval denmark or whatever  but he didn  t dress his characters up like they were  he used the costumes of his own time . for the same reason his plays are full of anachronisms . for example  in king john the english and french have cannons   in robin hood  s day . in julius caesar they talk of chimneys  which wouldn  t be invented for another thousand years  and in henry iv they talk about machiavelli  who wasn  t even born yet then . so i think this objection is silly   you might as well complain that the play isn  t in danish  after all they live in denmark don  t they   .  
the opening scene of this film sets the pace for the entirety of its ninety minutes . the shots are generic  conventional  and of television movie quality . the snow drenched scenery is gorgeous  yet the characters held with in it have a similar quality to that of looking at a photograph of such scenery  the overwhelming feeling being that of distance . some of the editing is fairly high quality and the work of an veteran professional  the dialogue however is clunky and artificial  having little bearing on  real  conversations at all seemingly . any emotional insight is displaced in favour of swearing  which is of course the way in which everyone shows their true feelings . the action is slow and underwhelming  the overall feeling being one of someone trickling cold water over your head  but so slowly that you barely notice  yet eventually you feel pathetic and slightly sorry for yourself for being caught in such a incomprehensible situation .  br    br   the mixture of genres that the fessenden has seemingly tried to use psychological thriller  horror and family drama  although commendable suffers from a serious lack of tension and interesting dialogue . the way in which the husband  wife and child trio interact is particularly unrealistic . the themes of family relationships being played out in haunting setting have been covered countless times before by far superior films  an instant example being that of the shining       . the family unit here are torn by innocuous troubles which are hard to understand or sympathise with considering the relative ambiguity of the script .  br    br   the family unit is hardly stalked throughout the film  fessenden playing down the thriller possibilities of the narrative in favour of a slow family drama for the majority of the running time . the  stalker  figure otis has few apparent motives for his behaviour and despite being perhaps the most interesting and well acted character is still very underdeveloped . the main characters are empty husks of people who it was extremely hard to relate to  their relationships with each other being particularly void of any sentiment or feeling . although the ignorance of the erik per sullivan  s young character by his parents is presumably part of the story  surely any reasonable person would question their son if he allegedly spoke to someone who seemingly doesn  t exist  people can accept this film as intelligent because of its relative lack of conventional aspects regarding creature based horror movies but this film fails in respect of whichever genre you wished to pigeonhole it in . you can read deep psychological meanings into every single minute detail of anything if you should so wish to but i think people would be better off over analysing their carpet for some deep emotional meaning  rather than these vacuous sub  human creations .  
i admit i  ve only seen about three of shakespeare  s plays  romeo  juliet  macbeth   of course hamlet  one i liked  the other i found so  so  macbeth   and hamlet i just found a masterpiece . i  m pleased to tell you that this adaptation is every bit as good as the intense and dramatic play . the acting is extremely strong  with a cast that features kenneth branagh  robin williams  and billy crystal how can you lose   and the change in time period  looks like somewhere between the   and      s  plays off beautifully as the characters move about and say their infamous lines straight from the script itself that any fan of the shakespearean play will get chills from . if you  re into this popular drama i highly urge you to watch this powerful     adaptation from shakespearean admirer kenneth branagh .  
i had never heard of larry fessenden before but judging by this effort into writing and directing  he should keep his day job as a journeyman actor . like many others on here  i don  t know how to categorize this film  it wasn  t scary or spooky so can  t be called a horror  the plot was so wafer thin it can  t be a drama  there was no suspense so it can  t be a thriller  its just a bad film that you should only see if you were a fan of the blair witch project . people who liked this film used words  like  ambiguity  and complex and subtle but they were reading into something that wasn  t there . like the blair witch  people got scared because people assumed they should be scared and bought into some guff that it was terrifying . this movie actually started off well with the family  meeting  the locals after hitting a deer . it looked like being a modern day deliverance but then for the next   minutes   well over half the film   nothing happened  the family potted about their holiday home which was all very nice and dandy but not the slightest bit entertaining . it was obvious the locals would be involved in some way at some stage but essendon clearly has no idea how to build suspense in a movie . finally  when something does happen  its not even clear how the father was shot  how he dies   the nurse said his liver was only grazed   and all the time this wendigo spirit apparently tracks down the apparent shooter in a very clumsy way with  rd grade special effects . the film is called wendigo but no attempt is made to explain it in any clear way  the film ends all muddled and leaves you very unsatisfied  i would have bailed out with   minutes to go but i wanted to see if this movie could redeem itself . it didn  t .  
the actors play wonderfully  especially kenneth branagh himself . it  s good that robin williams got the comedy role of osiric  otherwise it could be a bit strange to see him in such a production . it is really great that kenneth decided to use the fullest version of the text  this happens definitely not too often . . . thanks to that the viewers can see the whole  not the chosen  by the director  parts . also  thank god that the film is in a classical form no to surrealistic fanfaberies  although  tytus andronicus  was impressive nevertheless  but still hamlet is a different story  at least that  s my point of view .  
  spoilers galore  this is an absolutely awful film . first of all it has that guy from medium . i guess he  s made a career out of playing super doting dads . it was ok the first time he tried to scare his son by pretending to be a monster . . . but then   minutes later they cloyingly did it again  and so it goes  this film moves in excruciating real time . at one point  i started imaging it was days later  until i was reminded that the story line was only at the next day . . . in the early afternoon still  i  m not really sure who this couple is supposed to be in real life . first of all they are presented as sort of a manhattan yuppie couple who grew up and had a kid . but they drive an old blue volvo . those types stopped driving volvos decades ago . today they drive priuses . but in      i  m sure they still weren  t driving volvos .  br    br   ok  then there  s wendigo . a  mysterious indian man  gives the boy a little magic wendigo statue and tells him of its powerful magic . c  mon . . . are we still doing ancient indian mysteries . just to drive it home  they pan across every indian statue in their tourist trap upstate new york town . american indians are portrayed in a manner not seen for decades in this film  oh  and about wendigo . he is not actually the cause of the horror . he doesn  t kill the kid  s dad which is the most horrible thing in the film . . . he  s just killed by an ordinary hick with a grudge and a high powered rifle . the wendigo only comes out late in the film to avenge the guy who killed the dad . . . oh  but wait  it seemed earlier that wendigo was kind of mad at the dad  maybe because he killed a deer . . . so then wendigo must have been happy that the dad was killed . . . but . . .  br    br   and so it goes . . . insulting  boring and nonsensical . there is no reason to watch this film at all .  
still being of school age  and having to learn shakespeare almost constantly for the last four years  which is very off  putting of any writer  no matter how good   i didn  t really expect to enjoy this film when my english teacher put it on i thought it  d be the typical english lesson movie bad acting  awfully shot  badly edited and the dreaded awful old dialog  so  as you can tell  i was all but ready to go into a coma from the go . however  i watched and  much to my disturbance  found myself not only paying attention  but actually enjoying the movie too . this production of hamlet is possibly one of the best drama movies i have seen in a long time  and it really brings to life what i expect shakespeare wanted his plays to be like  well  with the difference that this is cinema  much better than my english teacher harking over the text ever possibly could . the story is good  the dialog seems to flow with an unexpected grace that is far from boring  though a little hard to keep up with if you aren  t used to shakespeare  s language  and even the smallest parts are performed with a skill you wouldn  t expect mainly  perhaps  due to the staggering number of cameos this movie has . brian blessed and charlton heston are as great as you  d expect these two veterans to be  even in such small parts  but it is robin williams as osric and billy crystal as the gravedigger who really stand out  giving such minor parts an unexpected zest  as well as offering some comic relief amidst the tragedy .  br    br   the main stars  of course  are also wonderful . kenneth branagh excels as hamlet  bringing not only the confusion and pain required to the roll  but also a sort of sardonic air which plays beautifully in the comic scenes  making the movie as a whole much more watchable . the other major players are also good  but it is kenneth branagh who stands head and shoulders above the rest in the title role .  br    br   the set pieces  too  are often quite stunning  giving a refreshing change to the danky old castle corridors we  re used to seeing in shakespeare productions  as well as a real sense of the country around them .  br    br   of course  the movie  taken as a movie in its own right  is not without faults  but no major ones  the pacing is the only real problem i can think of offhand  as well as the prose for anyone not used to  as i said  shakesperean language  and  especially when compared to the sort of shakespeare productions i  m used to seeing in class  it really is quite brilliant . it  s even made me rethink my previous typical teenager stance on shakespeare  that his plays are boring  i came to the conclusion it  s not the plays that are boring  merely the teachers who recite them in class  . if only they made all of his plays into movies such as this one  english students in schools everywhere might have a higher opinion of the bard .  br    br   overall      
unspeakably discombobulated turkey  a mix of anti  nazi musical      pre  war americana and agatha christie whodunit spoof with one big  big problem it  s deadly unfunny . besides the single  digit i . q . plot and dialog  the most amazing aspect of  lady . . .  is the berserk casting . gene wilder  star and co  writer  tries hard at it all he plays a romantic lead  with his looks   and his age   he and woody allen should start a club for clueless  mirrorless ageing comedians   and he tries to be moving and funny and poignant and smart  and tries to sing and dance  and succeeds in none   a looong shot from his good old days with mel brooks .  br    br   for a while i thought i was having a myopia fit  because everybody in the movie keeps saying cherry jones is this pretty hot chick  and that michael cumpsty is this impossibly handsome stallion   the guy who plays claire bloom  s male secretary is a bespectacled balding thin actor as sexy as a chair and is the object of passion of the two leading ladies   mike starr  s over  the  top acting as the most incompetent  phoniest cop you ever saw deserves to rank among the   most abhorrent performances in recent film history . the saddest note is to see wonderful claire bloom and barbara sukowa completely miscast and offensively wasted . at least i hope both stars payed their bills back home  and subsequently fired their agents  with this flop . no wonder acting prodigy sukowa returned to germany after she saw what hollywood had in store for her    br    br   if you want to see how to accomplish a really bad film out of a really bad script with a berserk casting director  study this one  otherwise stay away          
olivier  kosentsev  richardson  coranado  zefferelli  and almerayeda have all directed hamlet but branagh  s the only one who got it right .  br    br   this is the only film of  hamlet  that contains the full four hours of william shakespeare  s masterpiece and gives a unique feel to the whole story .  br    br   not many directors could pull this off without boring their audience but branagh  s skillful use of bravora film style and stunt casting allows people to see the importance of the scenes that are usually cut out .  br    br   examples of this include gerarde depardue as ranyaldo whos entire purpose in the film was to simply say  yes my lord  as polonius asks him to spy on leartes . this also included billy crystal as the grave digger  robin williams as osric  jack lemmon as marcellous  and charlton heston as the actor .  br    br   branagh  s performance of the act  scene  soliloquy  which again is usually cut out  is nothing short of c cinematic marvel as the camera slowly pulls back as the intensity grows . it is a scene that literally made me want to jump out of my chair and start applauding .  br    br   branagh is the only film maker that understood the importance of every scene in this film and knew how to convey that importance to the general audience .  br    br   this is a must see for everyone who enjoy  s good story telling  brilliant acting  and incredible direction . all of these part of william shakespeares greatest triumph .  
i still can  t believe that wes craven was responsible for this piece of crap . this movie is worse than  deadly friend  . the plot is stupid  the acting is mediocre and the film is deadly dull . i don  t know why wes craven hates his debut  last house on the left   an absolute masterpiece of the genre and likes  probably  this turkey . don  t get me wrong  i really like some of his movies  but it was a real torture sitting and watching this .  
what an ambitious project kenneth branagh undertook here and how well it was realized  this is the first filmed version of  hamlet  to use the full text of shakespeare  s play  but branagh didn  t do it just because  it was there .  his intention  i believe  was to make the play accessible and understandable to the general viewer without dumbing it down  so to speak . in return he asks viewers to put in a little work themselves  a fair enough proposition and one that  s a bargain .  br    br   the setting is a generic   th century european one and this does more than work well  it keeps a modern or ancient look from possibly distracting from the work itself . the production design and cinematography and both outstanding  which helps immensely when you  re watching a four  hour movie . branagh  s casting once again is inspired and the acting is likewise . the direction accomplishes the heavy task of making this a movie rather than a deluxe version of a play . since so much of  hamlet  is based on interior monologue and there are relatively few duels  battles  etc .  this can be a daunting task . but everything branagh tries to do seems to work .  br    br   branagh has always been one of the most interesting actor  writer  directors  if not always the best  since he made his big splash with  henry v .  one quibble i had with him was what i saw as a tendency to ham it up at times . in his portrayal of hamlet here he might be accused of that again  but there is a method at work . let  s face it   hamlet  is not an easy work for the average person to understand and if one has never seen it performed before  he or she needs help even if they  ve read the play . hamlet has the most lines of any shakespearian character and branagh makes sure that his viewers know what this man is thinking and feeling throughout the film  even if you don  t know the literal meaning of every arcane word . this performance by branagh was at the very least worthy of an oscar nomination .  br    br   there are so many other outstanding performances here they  re almost too numerous to mention  but some of them must be acknowledged . derek jacobi as claudius is superb but even he takes a back seat to kate winslet when it comes to handing out praise . her portrayal of ophelia is awesome in its depth of feeling  made only more outstanding by the knowledge that she was only about   years old at the time  she looks to me like the finest young actress around . other super performers in no particular order are richard briers  nicholas farrell  michael maloney  and reece dinsdale and timothy spall as guildenstern and rosencrantz  respectively . honorable mention goes to julie christie  charlton heston  and robin williams  who manages to do his thing here successfully . even billy crystal as a gravedigger works . the one cast member who doesn  t  inexplicably  is jack lemmon . in the very opening scene he appears  and while the other three actors do a great job at setting the tense mood  lemmon sounds like he is just running lines in rehearsal as a favor . you know this must have been a real dilemma for branagh  since everything else about the movies screams out that it  s the work of a perfectionist .  br    br   not to be facetious when speaking of a four  hour movie  but it does seem just a tad too long . some monologues and conversations do tend to go on a bit  if i may be so bold  and a little bit of judicious pruning would be welcome .  br    br   did i forget anything  other than patrick doyle  s score  no doubt i did . i  ll just sum up by saying that kenneth branagh may have made the definitive film version of  hamlet   and it will be a truly monumental production that tops this one .  
there is only one use for a film such as bulletproof it reminds you just how bad bad can be . we often see films which we describe as  pretty awful  or  not much good   but then you come across a film like this and you can see that although all those other films aren  t  good  they are no way as stinkingly bad as bulletproof . this was a birthday gift from someone who spent less than two seconds rummaging thru  the dvd bargain bin at our local superstore to fulfil an obligation  i . e . to give me a present  . it could have been a serendipitous find but it wasn  t this is so utterly clichd  so badly written  so poorly directed  so badly acted that i  m surprised everyone involved hasn  t been arrested and sent down for   years . god  it  s awful . i suspected as much from about   seconds in  but carried on because sometimes  sometimes  bad films are so bad they can be enjoyable . this isn  t one of them . it is simply bad . i stopped watching after   minutes  and tomorrow i shall throw it in the bin .  
it  s hard to say anything about a movie like this because there isn  t enough words to give this magnificent  stylish and unique film the veneration it unquestionably deserves . they should make this the official and only true real hamlet  movie because all the previous films out of the same immortal spectacle are being overshadowed by kenneth branagh  s  hamlet  .  br    br   it  s a perfect  complete version of the play  potent  massive  earthshaking first  class masterpiece shakespeare would have been proud of . they  ve packed over a dozen of world  famous top actors in the same film and everyone of them is having one of the greatest performances of their career . every moving and charming sequence leaves behind a comprehensive sense of satisfaction .  br    br   the cameras embrace gracefully the enchanting coulisses . branagh is phenomenal in the leading role . his sharp  irresistible performance is the only one of it  s kind and will be permanently part of the glorious movie history . every second in this presentation is feast for the movie lover from beginning to the very end . branagh  s version of  hamlet  is among the ten best motion pictures ever .  
what happens when an army of wetbacks  towelheads  and godless eastern european commies gather their forces south of the border  gary busey kicks their butts  of course . another laughable example of reagan  era cultural fallout  bulletproof wastes a decent supporting cast headed by l q jones and thalmus rasulala .  
i must say that  looking at hamlet from the perspective of a student  brannagh  s version of hamlet is by far the best . his dedication to stay true to the original text should be applauded . it helps the play come to life on screen  and makes it easier for people holding the text while watching  as we did while studying it  to follow and analyze the text .  br    br   one of the things i have heard criticized many times is the casting of major hollywood names in the play . i find that this helps viewers recognize the characters easier  as opposed to having actors that all look and sound the same that aid in the confusion normally associated with shakespeare .  br    br   also  his flashbacks help to clear up many ambiguities in the text . such as how far the relationship between hamlet and ophelia really went and why fortinbras just happened to be at the castle at the end . all in all  not only does this version contain some brilliant performances by actors both familiar and not familiar with shakespeare . it is presented in a way that one does not have to be an english literature ph . d to understand and enjoy it .  
take  rambo   mix in some  miami vice   slice the budget about     and you  ve got something that a few ten  year  old boys could come up with if they have a big enough backyard  too much access to  penthouse .  cop and ex  commando mcbain  busey  and with a name like mcbain  you know he  s as gritty as they come  is recruited to retrieve an american supertank that has been stolen  hidden in mexico . captured with the tank were hardbitten sgt . major o  rourke  jones   mcbain  s former love devon  fluegel   the officer in command  now meat for the depraved terrorists  spies  drug peddlers  who have no sense of decency  blah  blah  blah . for an action movie with depraved sex  there  s a dearth of action and not much sex . the running joke is that mcbain gets shot all the time  survives  keeping the bullets as souvenirs . apparently the writers didn  t see  the magnificent seven    the man for us is the one who gave him that face    nor thought to give mcbain even a pretense of intelligence . even for a budget actioner  the production values are poor  with distant shots during dialog and very little movement . the main prop  the tank  is silly enough for an ed wood production . fluegel  who might have been a blonde julia roberts  she had a far bigger role in  crime story  than julia   has to go from simpering to frightened to butt  kicking  back again on an instant  s notice . jones  who  s been in an amazing array of films  pretty much hits bottom right here . both he  busey were probably just out for some easy money  a couple of laughs . look for talented  future character actor danny trejo   heat    once upon a time in mexico   in a stereotyped  menacing bit part . much too dull even for a guilty pleasure   bulletproof  is still noisy enough to play when you leave your house but want people to think there  s someone home .  
to me  the final scene  in which harris responds to the press corp  is worthy of viewing this intelligent and timeless slice of politics  especially the campaign phase  . if only the  real  life  pols would respond in the intelligent  articulate manner as did mr harris  then the arrogant  self  serving members of the press would perhaps think twice before surfacing irrelevant  confrontational  garbage  that has absolutely nothing to do with a candidates abilities to effectively handle the challenges of the office for which he  she is pursuing .  
what an incomprehensible mess of a movie . something about a cop who extracts bullets from himself after he gets shot and keeps them in a glass jar in his bathroom  and from the size of the jar he  s been shot about fifty times by now  and a top secret tank guarded by five or six incompetent soldiers who for some reason drive it into mexico . whether they were sent there intentionally or just got really really lost is never made clear . and you  ll never hear another screenplay feature the word  butthorn  either . gary busey tries out the mel gibson role from  lethal weapon  and while busey is a serviceable actor the screenplay damns the whole movie to mediocrity . william smith does another turn as a russian soldier  the same character he played in  red dawn  a few years earlier . after playing biker heavies for most of the   s it was sort of nice to see him expand his range playing communist heavies . sadly he  ll probably always be remembered best as the guy who clint eastwood whupped in  every which way you can .   
hugh  ed harris  is a hotshot  bachelor senator determined to run for president . one day  however  he happens upon an old high school classmate named aggie . aggie  diane keaton  is an accomplished and award  winning author with a lovely face and an independent spirit . hugh is smitten . he convinces aggie to become his fianc . but  will aggie have to sacrifice her principles of honesty in the world of politics  where things are not always what they seem to be  and  will she be able to withstand the rigors of a harsh media blitz  this is  mostly  a nice romance for those who adore tales of affection . hugh and aggie are absolutely in love and their banter and conversation are a good view . however  although the movie tries to show the political life in its reality  it doesn  t completely succeed . nevermind . the production values are high and the script is very elegantly written . with these advantages and the handsome personages of keaton and harris  those who sit down to the film will find it to be good entertainment .  
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   mcbain  played by gary busey  before the name became synonymous with the character in the simpsons  is a  typically  unorthodox cop who gets results but winds his superiors up something rotten . avoiding the clich of his partner being killed at the beginning of the film  the plot instead takes a different turn and sees him assigned to travel to mexico where a top secret american super tank with incredible firepower and imaging capabilities has been smuggled through  only to be taken hostage  along with the crew  by a gang of terrorists .  br    br   this cheap looking  even by   s standards   boring little action film was a bizarre career move for gary busey after making an impression as the flame haired villain mr joshua in lethal weapon . he just goes through the motions with his cardboard character here  edgy and zany as ever  with  butthorn  being his trademark put down for the bad guys   but without the material to back him up . henry silva has presence as a screen villain  but he  s totally miscast here as an arab leader  in a red beret   and the awful script gives him some really clunky lines of dull dialogue that make his performance come off as laughably wooden . he  s just one of a host of action film character actors  including l . q . jones and lincoln kilpatrick  who pop up but fail to add anything to the mix . after a dull first half without much exciting action  things do pick up a bit at the end  but it  s too little too late and none of it manages the task of being any fun .   
  ned kelly  is a wonderfully made australian film honouring a true australian hero . we are taken into the world of ned  his best friend  joe byrne  and the other members of the kelly gang  as the film explains and perhaps justifies ned  s actions .  br    br   there is an exceptional cast present  who all give stellar performances  which brings the film to life .  great job  heath   orlando bloom was fantastic as joe  playing the role of quiet  loyal ladiesman very well . i was swept up in the moment . for a moment i almost believed the gang would win the battle at glenrowan  alas  it was not to be .  br    br   some aspects of the film are fictional  and as an avid ned kelly fan  and supporter   was slightly disappointed by this . perhaps also the film could  ve gone longer  to cover more of the kelly gang  s  ned  s life  i felt not enough was covered .  br    br   regardless of a few flaws  this is a moving film  which stirs all sorts of emotions .  and hey  i  d assume this film would be better to watch rather than mick jagger trying to portray ned . . .   
when will the hurting stop  i never want to see another version of a christmas carol again . they keep on making movies with the same story  falling over each other in trying to make the movie better then the rest  but sadly fail to do so  as this is not a good story . moralistic  old  fashioned  conservative happy  thinking . as if people learn . the numerous different versions of this film prove that we dont .  
those of the  instant gratification  era of horror films will no doubt complain about this film  s pace and lack of gratuitous effects and body count . the fact is   the empty acre  is a good a example of how independent horror films should be done .  br    br   if you avoid the indie racks because you are tired of annoying teens or twenty somethings getting killed by some baddie whose back  story could have come off the back of a count chocula box   the empty acre  is the movie for you .  br    br   set in the decaying remnants of the rural american dream   the empty acre  is the tale of a young couple struggling with the disappearance of their six  month  old baby . as the couple  s weak relationship falls apart  a larger story plays out in the background . at night  a shapeless dark mass seethes from a sun baked barren acre on their farm and seemingly devours anything in its path  leaving no sign that it was ever there .  br    br   the film is loaded with enigmatic characters and visual clues as to what is happening  and ends with a well executed ending that resonates with just enough left over questions to validate the writer  director  s faith in an intellectual audience .  br    br   there seems to be a sub  text concerning the death of the american dream  but i would hardly call the film an allegory . riveting  well acted  and technically astute   the empty acre  is a fantastic little indie that thinking horror fans should love .  
what a sad sight these tv stalwarts make  running out the clock on their careers stumbling about a little rusting hulk of a ship  boat might be more appropriate . the whole production feels cheap and shabby  and it  s not helped by a  big name  star who is barely capable of spitting out the few lines that he  s given in a credible fashion .  br    br   at no time do the supporting cast rise above the material they  re clearly watching the clock here . bang out the scenes  get the pay cheque  go home  and try to forget all about it .  br    br   it  s not particularly badly scripted or filmed there are no real clangers  it  s just utterly anodyne  and shot in a very limited number of cramped sets with a small cast of extras . the pacing is a little bizarre an embarrassingly tentative romantic sub  plot is only begun after the main action starts  which makes it feel irrelevant .  br    br   maiden voyage scores a couple of points for being competently scored  and for being a fun game of  spot the kiwi bit parters   most of the cast are graduates of shortland street or xena warrior princess . the saddest thing about this production is that this film probably constitutes their big break .  
budget limitations  time restrictions  shooting a script and then cutting it  cutting it  cutting it . . . this crew is a group of good  young filmmakers thoughtful in this script  yes  allegorical  clever in zero  dollar effects when time and knowledge is all you have  relying on actors and friends and kind others for their time  devotion  locations and getting a first feature in the can  a   in      thing . these guys make films . good ones . check out their shorts collection  heartland horrors  and see the development . and i can vouch  working with them is about the most fun thing you  ll do in the business . i  m stymied by harsh  insulting criticism for this film  wondering if one reviewer even heard one word of dialogue  pondered one thought or concept  or if all that was desired of this work was the visual gore of bashing and slashing to satisfy some mindless view of what horror should mean to an audience . let  the empty acre  bring itself to you . don  t preconceive what you expect it should be just because it gets put in the horror  thriller genre due to its supernatural premise . it  s a drama with depth beyond how far you can stick a blade into someone with a reverence for a message that doesn  t assault your brain  s visual center  but rather  draws upon one  s empathetic imagination to experience other  s suffering of mind and spirit . mark ridgway  curtis   the empty acre   
maiden voyage is just that . i  d like to say straight away that i watched  mins of this before i just couldn  t stand it anymore . as already stated in another comment  this film doesn  t fall into the whole  so bad it  s good  thing  it  s just bad . the acting is awful  the sfx are poor  and the story is bland and stupid . even the extras suck  the  bag guy guards  and such appear to hold their weapons like water pistols .  br    br   don  t even bother watching this film  the only thing special about it is that  no matter how low your expectations are  you will still be disappointed .  
this is one of the funniest shows i have ever seen . it is really refreshing to watch and i was in stitches many times . i guess there is a social awareness factor to this too which makes it quite interesting . if these were white girls would they get the same reaction  maybe they would  maybe they wouldn  t  the characters know no limits  check my lyrics  and do not exclude anyone from their twisted sense of fun  there are so many funny sketches . my favorites is the bob the builder one . it  s so silly it  s genius . if you like twisted black comedy then this is for you . if you like keeping up appearances it probably isn  t .  non blonde  s is yet another hilarious british bbc comedy shown on tv  it is such a funny show and the characters unleashed on the unsuspecting public are laugh at loud funny  it would be impossible to keep a straight face watching the crazy characters and the reactions of the public  this series easily adds to the excellent comedies being produced   
i think i  ve seen worse films  so i  m giving this a   but it  s a struggle to remember what they could have been   possibly xtro  nasty  dull  or possibly creep  just plain dull   but it is a struggle to think of something worse . it  s difficult to know where to start . let  s just say it  s a poor man  s under siege  starring an even poorer man  s jean claude van damme . the only redeeming feature was seeing casper van dien  i always wondered what happened to him after starship troopers . yes  he was johnny rico  if you really want to know .  br    br   judging from this site  he  s been stuck in tv movie hell . . . . casper  be more selective . . . . please             arghhhhh  i  ve just turned over and there  s a half decent film on called criminal law . . . . . . now i  m beginning to get really resentful about the last  .  hrs     
typical    s comedy  situational comedy similar to our modern day  my family  . thatcher being the height of most political jokes  bill  belinda lang  blames thatcher for anything she can .  bloody thatcher  possibly shared with most of us . david the typical teenager  cutting up brains with bread knives  jenny  the moody older teenage child  only interested in boys and more boys . bill and ben working as much as they can to keep their family afloat struggling within the economical climate of the early    s . granted the first two series were not as successful as the latter however  series  onwards is where it all kicks off with more laughs that i care to count . overall this show didn  t get the best viewing times and they ought to have held on a bit longer . clearly they couldn  t have carried on after gary olsen died but i think they should get rid of  catherine tate   the office   little britain  and bring back the classics   
a truly dreadful film . i did not know initially that this was a kiwi effort  but very soon i started to realize that all the characters were speaking with hardly disguised kiwi accents under the fake american ones . why did it need to be set n america anyway   it could have been set in nz and then the actors could have used their normal voices . surely someone in the production team could hear the dreadful attempts at speaking with american accents  a bad bad film . i am surprised it has lasted this long  how did it make it out of the can  it just seemed like a very poor attempt at a segal  willis type action man flick . a total waste of money  if there was any taxpayer money in this piece of trash  i would be leading a revolution to have all the money put back into the treasury . i am still reeling  get it  pun  reeling   at the absolute garbage i have just seen . why did i continue to watch  well  i am a movie fanatic and cant help  myself   
this first two seasons of this comedy series were very strange and they weren  t very funny and had a drama element where bill  the mother  was struggling with all the usual problems in life but that element was a bit depressing and didn  t mix well with th comedy elements which is probably why it was dropped . after that it soon became one of the funniest comedy series the bbc have ever made  the chemistry between bill and ben  s character  s were very funny and there was always so many brilliant and memorable sketches in each series . the christmas specials were hilarious and a real treat for christmas .  br    br   the show came to a stop when the main actor gary olsen playing bill passed away which was very sad because he was a brilliant actor in films such as up  n  under and a very funny man rip  br    br   this underrated show has sadly disappeared from our television screens and doesn  t to be repeated that often  though it does appear on uktv gold once in a while but it should be repeated on bbc one or two to show this brilliant comedy to a new audience  
what a joke . i am watching it on channel  and i think watching paint dry is much more entertaining . what happened to caspar van dien that got him roped into this nightmare . terrible acting  very boring plot and terrible direction . it so terrible  it  s funny . it  s suppose to be full of suspense  but it more a comedy . if you want to see terrible acting  ridiculous script writing and sub  par plot  check this movie out . if i was van dien  i would not only ask for my    from my agent  but fire the bastard in the process . what a turkey . it  s not even fit to be on mst  k   it would be a good movie to cure you insomnia . i especially love the part where van dien is throw overboard and then makes it back in just a few minutes  i can only image that this was written by non  union writers taking advantage of the writer  s strike . what a horrible movie     
a weird  witty and wonderful depiction of family life  writer andrew marshall has written something that is funny  foreboding and occasionally frightening  yes  don  t be fooled by  point  children  s cheerful tune and bubbly characters the show has a dark side  and at times can be quite chilling . and that  s what  s so good about the show  it  s not just a simplistic sitcom where every character is a  d comic device  the case with my family  . instead the characters are fully rounded individuals that show the full roller  coaster of human emotions . the occasionally dark moments such as bill being supposedly haunted by a curse and ben waking up in a bizarre village are two examples of the show taking a surreal  dark turn  that help add a little depth . of course the show is also incredibly funny  and is a guaranteed to make you smile . it  s a real shame eureka video have stopped releasing this comical gold on dvd . veoh . com is your last hope to get hold of episodes unavliable in the shops .  
problem with these type of movies is that literally dozens of them are being made each year . luckily for use only a handful are given a theatrical release  while the others are being pushed straight to video or tv  such as this movie .  br    br   the foremost problem of this movie is really its originality . it  s one of those movies which uses the  die hard  formula of a tough but troubled guy being at the wrong place at the wrong time . in this case it  s a character played by casper van dien  who works for a security agency that thoroughly test safety procedures for companies and individuals . in this case he  s being send to a cruise ship  which of course gets hijacked . you can see this movie as a sort of mix of  die hard  and  air force one  and the movie doesn  t even try to conceal that those two movies were probably its biggest source of  inspiration  . so really  you can  t regard this movie as an original one at all . it uses all of the clichs out of the book and this movie really doesn  t offer any surprises or anything that remotely resembles anything original .  br    br   like you can expect from a movie such as this  it has a very weak script . or rather said  it features some very lazy writing . like i said before  the movie features nothing original but also the actual story itself features some elements which are far from likely and are just plain ridicules truthfully . i mean  hijacking an huge cruise ship with only about  guys  of which halve only carry some small guns and then ask for a ransom of  only    million dollars  for a ship that is about worth   times that amount is itself already quite ridicules . how do they even intend to split that money afterward  every person gets just over a million or something  that  s hardly profitable for such a big and risky undertaking . and then there is the case of taking the passengers hostage . somehow they manage to take all passengers on the huge ship hostage and they manage to put them inside one room  with only one guy with his pistol  which he can  t even seem to be able to hold right  watching them . you never see more than like   hostages however  as if they were all the people who were aboard at the time . also when the van dien character goes looking for his son and vice versa  no matter which room they walk in through on the huge cruise ship  they always bump into each other instantly . just some examples of the lazy writing within the movie .  br    br   but it of course is an action flick  so the story of course becomes secondary . but then again  it  s not as if this movie features any good action at all . halve of the actors look as if they had never hold a weapon before and the movie is filled with some ridicules slow  motion . it really becomes laughable at points .  br    br   of course the movie also doesn  t feature the best actors  though i must say that casper van dien really isn  t a bad  action hero  and actor  as far as the genre and b  movie circuit is concerned . he just however also suffers from the same problem as tom cruise no matter how old he is  he just never looks convincing enough to play the father of a teenager . van dien once started out as a promising new young actor but starring in movies like this really doesn  t help his career much . he  s probably capable of something better  though he is never really given the right opportunity to show it . all of the other actors also do a fair enough job but their characters are just so formulaic that they never truly become interesting .  br    br   oh well  it  s not the worst genre movie i have ever seen but it also ain  t exactly the most original or memorable one either .  br    br        
no rubbish  no where even near rubbish . not an original  thats the last thing that could be said of   .  children  . predictable  certainly not  although it was somewhat an unusual series for the bbc  it was hilarious  funny  and witty . i particularly liked belinda lang and john pickard  who i believe preformed wonderfully . gary olsen was also very good and so were all the other cast members . . i never quite new why it was can  celled till reading here today about gary olsen  s death at a relatively young age . i do wish that they would make more of comedy of this type  much more of them  and show them here in israel  . thumbs way up   
i would list this film under the horror film genre . i did this because i am not aware of a genre called horrible . since the genre horror comes the nearest to horrible i have decided to put it in this category . the acting was amateurish . you know who the villains would be at the first scene . the heroine is as ugly as the movie . students of movie making should take this movie as an example for the lesson what not to do in a movie . it is that bad . man the word bad is an understatement . the villains hijack an ocean liner and want   million dollars . they want the money to be delivered on an inhabited rose island in the middle of the pacific . they would be sitting ducks after they got the money . is there no getaway plan . how dumb . the female cruise director is a former cop  navy seal  kung fu i am scared . the hilarious part is the way the defuses the time bomb . he says he knows what he is doing and he keeps pulling all the wires one by one . he then puts it in his pocket and according to the movie with all the connections in place . is he mad  as mad us who watched this ridiculous . if you have a m  i  l whom you do not like . to annoy her rent this movie and pretend you enjoy it . i assure you she will definitely tell your spouse that you have such bad taste and that her son  daughter has married a person below her family standard .  
indeed drug use  warehouse shoot   em  ups   matrix   esque bullet dodging  a futuristic city with a mix of asian races  and a lonely vampire   all in the same movie   seems like a story that could only be envisioned by a japanese pop  rock star . and that is exactly what  moon child  is  and more . while all these elements combined may sound like the perfect subject for a campy b  movie of the week   moon child  pulls it off with but a few expected bumps and hitches along the way .  br    br   the film has a gritty  definitely independent feel to it  jumping from one scene to the next not in smooth transition  but rather sporadic leaps and bounds  giving glimpses into the characters  lives and barely scraping at a true plot . but the film makes no excuses  instead turning the story into one of friendship  love  trust  and betrayal all sugar  coated in the aforementioned elements of a futuristic society  warring gangsters  and vampires .  br    br   hyde as the somber vampire  kei  is excellent  giving depth to the character and balancing  out the overly  zealous acting of gackt as  sho   an orphan who befriends kei . lee  hom wang also shines as the vengeful  son  who becomes friends with a grown  up sho . the story revolves around these characters and their extended friends and family through different periods in their lives  and how simple friendship can so easily be turned into grief and betrayal .  br    br   while the action at times is all  too unrealistic and special effects appear just to show  off  one thing the film never does is presume to be about the immensely popular asian singers it features . the superstars as actors have their flaws  and so do their characters . the movie rarely gets boring  and ends where it should  after jumping about quite a bit .  moon child  is rather enjoyable  humorous at times  and even very touching it is definitely worth your time   
there is only one problem with this website  you can  t give a negative rating . additionally a mate rated this as a d grade movie . i say he was being too nice . a piece of wood could show more emotion that the actors in this movie  and the money used to produce this movie would have been better used to start a fire . this is absolutely terrible   hours of life that anyone who endures this untalented bloodbath will never get back . after watching  minutes  myself and the boys wondered if sinking bulk heavies would make this anymore entertaining . half a carto and a bottle of    later i finally found some of this g grade acting remotely funny . it  s an insult upon this entire planet that the director thought anyone could find anything beneficial from this more  he should go and buy a rope . and to the actors in this flick  i hope you got paid well to be in this joke because i doubt you will ever work again . in summary i fine everyone in this movie    grand and   demerit points off your acting licence .  
i picked this up in the  danger after dark  box set  and watched it solely because of my interest in the performance of hyde and gackt . i expected a corny horror film that was a huge gore  fest and with very bad dialogue . which is exactly what it would have been if it had been made in america . instead i found myself intrigued by the good development of the characters  and the way that sho  gackt  develops through the movie as a person . the acting skills of both stars was surprisingly good  considering they aren  t professional actors  and the director did a marvelous job with it all  setting it in the future minus the flying cars and holographic billboards .  br    br   on a side note  taro yamamoto  s performance was very surprising . the only other film i  ve seen him in is battle royale  where he plays shogo kawada  and in this film he seems to be the exact opposite of shogo . toshi is bright  exuberant and hyper  serving as a sort of comic relief with his antics . shogo was the big tough guy on the island who killed without thinking anything of it . so  watch out for his performance  if you  re familiar with battle royale  you  ll be very surprised by him .  br    br   but don  t be thrown off by the summary on the back of the box  because this isn  t really a vampire movie . it  s just a movie with a vampire in it . that hyde  s character is a vampire is almost a background fact with what  s really going on in the foreground  and you guys will love the last scene . it  s a really moving picture at some points  the photography is really well done . it  s definitely something to pick up the next time you  re at blockbuster .  
forgive me for stating the obvious  but some films are good and some films are bad . of course  there are extremes within those two broad categories . films such as the godfather  saving private ryan  and star wars slot comfortably into the good category . at the other end of the spectrum there are those films that simply don  t deserve to be mentioned by name . occasionally however  someone produces a truly woeful film . a film that should be singled out as a demonstration of how awful a film can be . a film that is more than bad . such a film is maiden voyage .  br    br   briefly  maiden voyage is a story about a luxury cruise ship that is hijacked by a gang of evil criminals who demand a ransom from an equally evil  scheming ship  s owner . of course  there is an all american hero on board  complete with chiselled jaw and sculptured chest  who saves the day .  br    br   this is a production that plumbs new depths . everything about it is bad . the acting  the direction and the so  called plot are breath  takingly poor . in short  it is an insult to the intelligence of any unfortunate viewer . even an american viewer would be annoyed by its shortcomings .  br    br   yes  it  s that bad .  br    br   i will resist the temptation to compose a list of things that angered me about this film . however  its dumber  than  dumb conclusion should serve as an adequate example of what i mean .  br    br   imagine in your mind that you are an evil hijacker and you are stood in an open lifeboat on a calm sea . you are in company with the hero who holds a ticking bomb . said hero throws the bomb to you and dives overboard . what would you do  i don  t know about you  but i would throw the bomb as far as i possibly could into the sea . not this guy . he watches as our hero swims away and then he tries to disarm the bomb with unfortunate  for him  results . enough said . such a demise would merit a mention in the darwin awards website and might also be a suitably apt conclusion to the production team  s lives .  
this film was amazing . it had an original concept  that of a vampire movie meets yakuza mob film  . it is a humorous and yet highly dramatic and tragic movie about friendship  love  immortality  death  and happiness  and comments subtelly on society . on the part of gackt camui  the role of sho was excellently delivered  and hyde was surprisingly good for his first film as the tortured yet humorous vampire  kei . i also laughed and cried at the happy  go  lucky character  toshi  who grew up with sho . i loved each and every second of this this film  especially moments such as the funny cigarette scene  the fighting scenes  and most of all  the heartrenching ending .  
the cast of this film contain some of new zealander  s better actors  many of who i have seen in fabulous roles  this film however fills me with a deep shame just to be from the same country as them . the fake american accents are the first clue that things are about to go spectacularly wrong . as another review rather astutely noted the luxury cruise ship is in fact an old car ferry  decorated with a few of the multi colour flags stolen from a used car lot . most of the cast appear to be from the  great  long running new zealand soap shortland street . it  s as if this movie was dreamt up at a shortland street cast christmas party  the result of too many gins  and possibly a bit of salmonella . imagine  under siege  meets  the love boat   staged by your local primary school and directed by an autistic and you get the idea .  br    br   if you are an actor  i recommend you see this film  as a study on how to destroy your carer .  
i have seen the trailer for this movie several times over  and i have to say that ned kelly looks like it is going to be a wonderful film . when i saw the trailer for the first time  i could not take my eyes away from it  it got my attention for sure  . heath ledger sticks to what he knows and what works for him  period pieces . not to mention orlando bloom  who is seen for a split second looks fantastic . i think that this movie will be a hit  and will be seen over and over again my many people .  
saw this movie in my english class this afternoon and was surprised by how bad this version was . don  t get me wrong  george c . scott was terrific as scrooge  but the rest of the cast fails so very badly . sometimes i couldn  t stop laughing at the stupid acting and the repeated line  merry christmas to everyone   other times i almost fell asleep .  br    br   the movie is based on a charles dickens short story about a rich guy  who don  t think christmas is nothing but humbug . after   minutes  the rich guy is visited by three ghosts  who persuade him to celebrate christmas after all .  br    br   i can not understand how this movie  with a script so bad it must have been written in five minutes  can be so well  rated . instead of this piece of garbage  i recommend to you  the bill murray comedy scrooged . that at least  was funny . . .  
although this was obviously a low  budget production  the performances and the songs in this movie are worth seeing . one of walken  s few musical roles to date .  he is a marvelous dancer and singer and he demonstrates his acrobatic skills as well  watch for the cartwheel   also starring jason connery . a great children  s story and very likable characters .  
i have to congratulate the genius who approved this one . edward furlong  you  re not as good as you think mate  you can  t grab on every piece of low  cost amateur crap  which sole intention has to be to get some bucks .  br    br   the filming is bad  and i mean bad . anyone with a camera would get the same result  or better .  br    br   the acting  lets just say don  t go to the supermarket looking for actors . the good ones usually come with a degree or  at least  have some damn experience  the director . . mr . jon keeyes  please find your purpose in life  as a director you simply suck . your directing is poor  the angles are all messed up  not in a good way   the lines seem as if they  re being read out of toilet paper  and the damn music . . it always comes up when it shouldn  t and goes out for no apparent reason . and don  t go for writer either  by the way . making movies isn  t like serving on a coffeshop  it requires art and skill  things i really doubt you  ll ever have .  br    br   instead of making a badass shootout movie  you should  ve shot this one back to oblivion and wait  till something good came up . . or just go find a job on a coffeshop . you  ll have less stress and you  ll save movie goers some money and a bad night .  br    br   vote      my first one   
 . . . would probably be the best word to describe this film  in my opinion  . besides one great heck of a fan service for fan girls  well  that was redundant   it was the story that blew me away . hurray for takahisa zeze and gackt  and i know some people will disagree with me on this one  but it wasn  t any of the big three actors  the guys that played sho  son  and kei  that gave the best performance  for me  anyway  . it was taro yamamoto  boy   from battle royale   br    br   don  t get me wrong  i like hyde  i worship his voice  but the problem was that some of his scenes came a little bit  off   but i loved that scene where he danced with the dead guy  s body killing the other guys . and gackt wasn  t at all that bad too  i preferred how his character was kind of aloof from the start . nothing much i can say about my background on lee  hom wang  i won  t pretend to know him  but he carried his own weight with the star  studded cast .  br    br   this movie paved the way for one of the best collaborations i  ve ever heard  orenji no taiyou  forgive my spelling if it  s wrong  . while the complete song lasts about nine minutes  you wouldn  t notice the length because you  d be enjoying hearing gackt and hyde together .  br    br   anyway  this movie is a must  see not only for the fans  huge fan base  but for those who enjoy sci  fi  futuristic movies  asian  style .  
van dien must cringe with embarrassment at the memory of this ludicrously poor film  as indeed must every single individual involved . to be honest i am rather embarrassed to admit i watched it from start to finish . production values are somewhere between the original series of  crossroads  and  prisoner cell block h  . most five year olds would be able to come up with more realistic dialogue and a more plausible plot . as for the acting performances  if you can imagine the most rubbish porno you have ever seen  one of those ones where the action is padded out with some interminable  story  to explain how some pouting old peroxide blonde boiler has come to be getting spit  roasted by a couple of blokes with moustaches  you will have some idea of the standard of acting in  maiden voyage  . worse still  you can  t even fast forward to the sex scenes  because there aren  t any . an appallingly dreadful film .  
i  m a fan of both actors  singers especially gackt and when i first discover this movie and watch the trailer  i just think this is a silly one . after a long waiting time  i watched it at last and here  s my comment . . .  br    br   i consider everyone knows the storyline and not going to mention about it  instead of it my first applause goes to acting  generally that japanese movies hasn  t got brilliant and acting . yet in moonchild  s all cast is simply wonderful and got into it  especially gackt reflects his characters emotions and changes pretty well  i like many of his scenes both dramatic and humorous ones  as for hyde part  his acting is good but he deliberately staying in background as an actor  respectively as his character do  throughout the movie . i didn  t like some cinematography especially lighting and some colors but due to small budget  it still has brilliant moments  but the real jewel of the film is story . it has some cheesy moments but it  s ok for me  and the friendship theme of the movie is really well developed and touching at sometimes  on the other hand story points out a cruel world which no ones life guaranteed and with some memorable death scenes it reflects this theme to the visuals . an interesting note aside  this movie has some similarities with excellent vampire movie interwiew with the vampire which is also played by the most beautiful  not handsome  beautiful  actors of american cinema  actually moon child is somehow can be seen as brother with interwiew  yet original on it  s own . only problem that moonchild is it  s a bit slow sometimes  i  m a japanese movie fan and i used to that but it  s not change moonchild has some useless scenes or characters . but all in allthis movie is really good and very emotional sometimes  as for actors  singers duo i hope to see their other movies in future  and i recommend this to everyone who likes vampire  action  sci  fiction and romance films      
i saw this on tv the other night or rather i flicked over to another channel every so often to watch infomercials when i couldn  t stand watching it any longer . it was bad . really  really bad . not  so bad it  s good  just flat out bad . how did it get funded  who thought this was a good idea  an actor friend of mine auditioned and was told he wasn  t good enough to play a bad guy but i think what they meant was  save yourself and runaway from this steaming pile of  .  i bet the rest of the cast had been given the option . to be fair the acting was hard to judge because of the appalling fake american ascents . the shooting was dullllllllllll . the action was awkward and stilted . the dialog was inane . by far the saddest thing was ship . in real life the interislander ferry is a shabby boat and on film it doesn  t scrub up well . instead of trying very unsuccessfully to make it look like a new crews liner with bits of tinsel wrapped around rusting polls  i kid you not  they could have change the script to explain or even celebrate the shabbiness . dumb  dumb  dumb . don  t watch this movie  not even as a joke .  
this movie surprised me  not ever having heard of hyde of gackt i was not expecting much  the reason i wanted to watch this movie was because somebody mentioned that the movie contained some serious action scenes in john woo style  normally i am very careful when this is claimed  there is only one john woo and til this day there hasn  t been one director that comes close to his brilliance when it comes to action  the fact that  moon child  would feature a vampire convinced me even more  how can you go wrong with gun blazing vampires  sounds promising and interesting  the first thing i noticed about this movie that the pace was considerably slow  it takes it  s time to set the mood  this movie contains some nice hong kong style action scenes  but  moon child  isn  t an action movie  it is a drama about friendship and loyalty  the focus is on the characters and their relation to each other  the pop singers hyde and gackt do a good job in acting and are very believable as friends  the only problem i had was with the plot  a couple of times the movie seems to skip a few years without explaining what happened and why they had to skip  examplewhen one member of the gang dies  very dramatic moment  alexander wang sees kei  hyde  drinking blood of one of the attackers  without warning and explanation the movie skips  nine years and most of the friends aren  t together anymore  also without a proper reason given son  alexander wang  and sho  gackt  have to kill each other  i know that this is done to add some serious drama  because of the actors it is very effective but sometimes it does feel forced  apart from the flaws in plot this movie has an ambiance and slickness that makes it hard not to like this movie  it is hard to explain why this movie is wonderful  but it just is  the overall experience you get is heartwarming and sincere   
yet another die hard straight to video rip off with cardboard villains how many more of these god awful cheaply  and badly  made rip off of the more popular action movies of the late      s and early      s are there still lurking out there  for the record  not that you will care really  this one is yet another blatant rip off of a combination of die hard  under siege and speed  complete with a full complement of clichs and predictability .  br    br   the non descript villains are the usual selection of cardboard cut out gun toting thugs who are dispatched by various means as the film progresses  the hero naturally is an ex cop or something that has family and attitude problems and of course he brings along to the party not only the usual emotional baggage but also a matching piece of eye candy and his annoying son .  br    br   the supposed luxury cruise liner that is running between florida and mexico is carefully described as a cross between a liner and a ferry  this goes someway to explaining how come they appear to be larking around on a rusty cross channel ferry  in new zealand  the acting is as wooden as the deck  the script woeful  the one liners predictable  the villains utterly inept and the plot has holes in it you could sail a boat through .  br    br   there seems to be a never ending tide of this sort of rip off straight to video rubbish polluting the late night slots of television and the dvd bargain bins of supermarkets everywhere  although even this film is so bad it has yet to see a dvd release yet but give it time   is there any chance of something at least half decently made  semi believable and most important original    no  i thought not . .  
i am extremely picky about the films i see . i  d heard about moon child completely by accident . i  ve been a fan of l  arc en ciel for some time and a fan of gackt and mizer only recently .  br    br   i finally found out the film was being re  released and picked it up without a second thought .  br    br   being as critical as i am about films  i will admit  the action scenes can be somewhat hokey at times . . . but they  re meant too be  as another user suggested  it  s the quintessential calm before the storm  quoting gary oldman from leon . . . without getting into the spoilers  the film hit me extremely hard  because you realize that the boundaries of friendship are limitless and as they often say  true friendship is loyalty and like marriage  it  s until death do you part .  br    br   hyde and gackt give performances that showcase why they are able to commit such depth to their song lyrics  their passion for music happens onto the big screen and in the process it creates an exemplary film that will reach into one  s soul and evoke response emotionally .  br    br   upon seeing the film for the first time  i realized it will probably remain in heavy rotation as far as my collection goes . i want to encourage anyone reading this post to pick up the film if you want to get away from the current hollywood trend in film . . . this takes an entirely new direction using classic yakuza film elements and how can you go wrong with a cameo from ryo ishibashi of takashi miike  s  audition  and  suicide club  fame   br    br   man . . i just can  t say enough about this film  but i  ll stop here .  br    br         
what a poor excuse for new zealnd movie making . i  m ashamed to call myself a new zealander when this movie exists and is currently playing on new zealand satellite tv  aug      . the cast is made up of a large number of local soap stars . the ship  in real life  is one of the inter  island ferries that travel daily between the two main islands and even has the company  s logo  a dolphin  still all over the set including on the ship  s funnel . the ship is supposed to be a cruise ship  ferry between the usa and mexico . it has obvious signs of rust and old age all over the place yet is supposed to be a luxury ship on it  s maiden voyage . one of the scenes shows the snow capped peaks of new zealand  s south island in the background for god  s sake  must have been a very cold time on the usa  mexico area  the story is weak  the acting is weaker and the new zealand  american accents just don  t work . i expect the new zealand tax payer contributed to the production cost of this movie and that was a waste of money better spent on a real production . i know high school kids in new zealand who could make better movies with their cell phones . goof there is a truck in the hold with tagging on it and they stuck a taco company sign on the door of the truck  presumably to make it look like it was american . but some of the sign is over the top of the tagging  you  d think they would have noticed that in the props department before attaching it . i  d love to go on but it just isn  t worth the trouble in any way .  
when i first saw this movie  the first thing i thought was this movie was more like an anime than a movie . the reason is because it involves vampires doing incredible stunts . the stunts are very much like the matrix moves like the moving too fast for bullets kinda thing and the jumping around very far . another reason why i the movie is good is because the adorable anime faces they do during the movie . the way gackt does his pouting faces or just the way they act  very anime . i think that it  s a really good movie to watch .    the action in this movie is a    not to mention gackt and hyde too are a    .    if you are gackt and hyde fans  you have to see it .  
having the in  laws over for the weekend  then this is the film to hasten their departure  failing that it will induce a catatonic state to bring a welcome relief from constant nagging .  br    br   the film is supposedly set on board a luxury cruise ship  which is more superannuated car ferry the plot has more holes than the average colander and a cast dredged from the depths of the celebrity d list . an interesting piece of added amusement is playing  spot the villain  as passengers join the ship . you won  t be wrong     with a script that sinks faster than a brick  clichd set pieces and copious amounts of raspberry jam doubling as blood this film attempts to encompass the genres of thriller  action movie and gore  fest and simultaneously fails to fulfil any of them .  br    br   a must watch film  if only to laugh at how bad it is .  
many people judge it as a fan service film because a lot of super star starring in this movie  gackt  hyde  and wang lee hom is very famous singer in japan  . but don  t judge it before you watch  is what i say . gackt and staff are very serious when made this film  and they worked so hard . it  s a good film with a touchy story inside . several scenes can be so fun and some others are so sad . they made it so good until i can  t stop watching this all over again .  br    br   the story has written pretty well but i admit that their act are little disappointing . this is especially for hyde because his skill of acting is under from the other and it is weird to hear the way when he speaks with other language except his native language  japan  . but  it  s comprehensibility because this is their first time to act in the movie .  br    br   i think gackt trying to show us about how someone can be so weak when they lose the most important person in their life . when toshi was killed  when sho asked kei to turn yi  che to being vampire like him because he won  t let her die  when sho  s brother died  kei shoot son die  and the best and beautiful scene is when sho pass away even i told that hyde  s skill is still weird but i give him two thumps up at that scene    br    br   there  s a time where the plot goes too fast like they didn  t tell the reason why son can join the local mafia and being sho  s enemy because they are a good friend at the past and also son is sho  s brother in law .  br    br   whatever  i love this movie  very much   .  br    br   this is an action movie with a touching beautiful story .  
i  ve seen enough of both little richard in interviews and in performances and enough of poor leon pigeonholed into these   s    s musical bio pics to know that leon was not the right actor for this role . leon was so right as david ruffin in the temptations  but fails utterly to capture the essence of little richard in this film .  br    br   actor miguel nez who played little richard in  why do fools fall in love   was a much more suitable choice  having pulled off the musician  s powerful but effeminate persona .  br    br   if the performances are unconvincing then the film will be as well . and this is what has happened here . glossed over or missed entirely are lr  s forays into homosexuality and voyeurism . what  the temptations  did so well in capturing the rise of the group  warts and all  this film misses by a wide mark .  br    br   what is going on with director robert townsend who started off so well with  the hollywood shuffle   he  s a talented  funny guy but hasn  t delivered anything near that first effort .  
moon child was one of the more symbolic movies i  ve seen . what i really liked about it was the illustration on immorality  mortality  and the obstacles and guidances through life . the movie depicts a great deal of vampire kei having the power of immorality and the advantages to it . whether if it is having supernatural abilities or everlasting life  these are what humans usually wish for . moon child shows the pain and disadvantages of being immortal  since the feelings towards loss impacts almost all the characters especially to the main characters sho and kei . the meaning of the title  moon child  reveals as the film comes close to the end where it clearly shows that everyone is a moon which shines other people  s way  giving guidance . i personality quite like that moral the movie depicted on . the weaknesses of the film lies in some parts of the acting and special effects since it made the film less authentic . the scene where character toshi dies could have been more powerful and realistic if more authentic emotions in the acting were put into it . some scenes with special effects like the gun shots also could have been more authentic without making it seem too much like an action video game . the sparks that came out of the guns appeared too fake and i think that could have been eliminated or fixed . nevertheless  i think moon child should be a movie everyone should consider watching . the symbolic ideas and images the movie brings out would be easily accepted by everyone and may interest many viewers . it is quite a thoughtful film and also entertaining to watch .  
i know that the real story of little richard is a lot more thrilling than this maudlin and thoroughly average biopic . but then producer little richard was probably too reluctant to bring to light any sordid details of his life and just gave us a forgettable facsimile of his career highlights from the   s and   s .  
moonchild is a very difficult movie to categorise . it  s easiest to think of it as several snapshots of the lives of the two central characters . the fact that these characters are members of a street gang set in an multicultural city of the near future and that one of them is a vampire does not preclude them from having moments like any other people  and this is one of the places where this movie is different to anything else i  ve ever heard of . it doesn  t get wrapped up in the fact that one of the main characters is a vampire  it  s just something that has to be dealt with like any other problem . the way the characters interact is surprisingly realistic  there are embarrassing relatives and tricks that are meant to look cool that just don  t work  which leaves the film with a lovely sense of not taking itself too seriously for the most part .  br    br   the other area that really stood out to me is the languages . the fictional city of mallepa contains various cultural groups  and characters speak the language that they would be expected to speak . japanese gang members speak japanese to each other  but chinese when talking to characters of chinese descent . possibly the most amusing exchange involves an australian and is conducted in english . the actors of the four arguably main characters have three separate mother tongues between them and speak varying levels of each others  languages  so it  s quite a feat that the movie was made at all . which  i suppose  brings me to the lead actors .  br    br   much has been made of the fact that the movie stars two of japan  s biggest rockstars  gackt and hyde  as well as taiwanese superstar lee  hom wang  whether it is to praise them for their acting or criticise it or simply fangirl about them . in my opinion  lee  hom is the best at playing a straight and realistic character . however  any lack of acting ability on gackt  s part is mostly masked by the fact that the character he plays is prone to being over  dramatic . i wasn  t sure if hyde  s character was supposed to be as sulky and sarcastic as he came across  but it doesn  t really detract from the movie either way .  br    br   there are several scenes which take rather melodramatic turns  which made it difficult for them to affect me much emotionally  although this doesn  t seem to stop a lot of people  . i found it  s best to just enjoy the movie for what it is and not take it too seriously  it  s perfect for getting out and watching with a group of friends . it does have its flaws  but overall it was very enjoyable and i  d highly recommend it to anyone who doesn  t mind a few subtitles .  
this is not a good movie . it  s disjointed  all the acting is bad  and has a lame story you  ve seen a thousand times done much better else where . not to mention you can see every plot point coming from a mile away . worst of all  no one bothered to tell lonette mckee she can  t sing . but who cares  she  s sooooo damn good looking . but i digress  nothing new here . bottom  line  hot girl group gets taken advantage of  some one gets hooked on drugs  someone gets hooked on a guy  some one gets the hell out  and then the horrible stuff happens . surprise  surprise . welcome to the music business . i can  t believe so many people out there think this is a good movie . so many of you seem to want to use a sliding scale when it comes to grading black movies . i don  t play that  if you want to support these films by going to see them  great  if you enjoyed it  super  to each his own . but don  t try to tell me it was good . pleeeease  i wish colored folks would not fawn over these kind of movies just because they feature black actors . wanna see a good african  american movie  see love jones . ray . or the color purple . those would be great movies no matter what the color of the actors skin . why  because they told compelling stories with great acting  that made you feel something long after you left the theater . just because it  s our experience does not automatically make it a good film . it  s only good   when it  s good . period .  
this movie is amazing . the plot was just . . . wow .  br    br   i was very surprised by gackt  s and hyde  s performance  after growing up in the american world of the actors who can  t sing and singers who can  t act .  br    br   in this movie  a young sho  gackt  comes across a vampire  kei  hyde  . over time  they form an unlikely friendship . kei is suffering because of how he is forced to live off others  the half  life of a vampire .  br    br   it  s a sad movie  but not sappy . the plot was very unique  and contrary to your typical vampire flick . the storyline was thick with twists and turns and very entrancing .  br    br   the only fault i would say the movie had  despite it  s lack of a happy   albeit peacefulending  would be it  s multiple languages . i had the unsubdued version  i  m lucky that i understood it all save some of the cantonese   so i would recommend getting something with subtitles .  br    br   all in all  the movie was just awesome .  
about time they released this movie on dvd . i know some say wb rush the release of this movie because of the dreamgirls movie . but  how can you rush the release of a movie that  s been in you catalog since     .  br    br   i  m very disappointed with the dvd release of this movie  no special feature  no  .  dd sound . come on wb  you can do much better then this . the audio and picture quality on this movie needs some serious help .  br    br   seem wb didn  t place as much time and attention to this movie because it is a black movie and my have okay sales . they could have kept the cd which by the way dose not have all the songs the original cd has .  br    br   would i recommend this dvd for purchase . yes  because it is a classic film . but wb need to go add some more special feature . take notes from other group movies  the five heatbeats  or the temptation were you may view just the performance  and the sound on both are much  much  much better than this dvd .  
vampires  sexy guys  guns and some blood . who could ask for more  moon child delivers it all in one nicely packaged flick  gackt is the innocent sho  who befriends a vampire kei  hyde   their relationship grows with time but as sho ages  kei  s immortality breaks his heart . it doesn  t help that they both fall in love with the same woman . the special effects are pretty good considering the small budget . it  s a touching story ripe with human emotions . you will laugh  cry  laugh  then cry some more . even if you are not a fan of their music  see this film . it works great as a stand alone vampire movie .  br    br    out of    
just in time to capitalize on the long  awaited movie version of  dreamgirls  is the dvd release of this semi  forgotten     musical melodrama that also takes the rise of the supremes as its inspiration . released five years before the broadway opening of  dreamgirls  and partially set in the same period  it has a predominantly black cast and a story revolving around an up  and  coming girl group  and that  s where the resemblance basically ends . written by joel schumacher well before he became a big  league director of mainstream studio product   batman forever    the phantom of the opera    this movie seems grittier on the surface . true to form  however  schumacher weakens the storyline and character development by injecting an abundance of clichs and eye  rolling one  liners . with little affinity for staging musical numbers  sam o  steen  a highly regarded film editor but neophyte director  helms the production like a low  budget tv  movie with a frustratingly episodic structure .  br    br   the story follows three harlem sisters  sexy sister  self  righteous delores and sweet sparkle  as they sing in the church choir  meet smooth  talking but well  intentioned boys stix and levi  and then find their first taste of success as a singing group  first as a sweater  wearing quintet called the hearts and then as a glitzy trio known as sister and the sisters . but naturally there are problems beyond the silly name for the group  sister gets involved with nasty drug dealer satin struthers who beats her and turns her into a cocaine junkie levi goes to prison for getting caught in a drug pick  up for satin stix gets frustrated by failure and unwisely turns to some jewish mobsters for financial help delores just gets plain fed up and poor little sparkle has to decide what kind of future she wants . a big plus is that rb great curtis mayfield wrote the atmospheric songs  some catchy and one   look into your heart   a real winner .  br    br   the solid cast does its best under the contrived circumstances . lonette mckee  s valiant attempt to make sister a tragic figure is undercut by some of the ham  fisted plot turns  including a sad billie holliday  like turn at the mike . before they hit it big on primetime tv  philip michael thomas and dorian harewood portray stix and levi with boyish vitality if not much credibility . the best work comes from mary alice in a relatively silent turn as the girls  patient mother and a pre   fame  irene cara who effortlessly exudes sincerity in the title role  though her costumer and hair stylist should be shot for the hideous look she achieves in the final scene  . the dvd just comes with the original theatrical trailer complete with an unctuous voice  over by dj casey kasem and a bonus cd of five of the film  s songs performed not by the original cast but by aretha franklin off her     recording of the soundtrack . it  s not a terrible movie  just an interesting if lacking curio that happens to cover the same ground as  dreamgirls  .  
those who know who know the kelly  legend   are hoping that this film would be an accurate depiction of his life may be disappointed with the creative license taken with this film  eg . naomi watt  s character never existed in reality   but if you look at it purely as a piece of entertainment  it holds up pretty well . ledgers performance in the title role is quite solid  taking the mantle of cinema  s best ned  not hard considering the previous ned  s include yahoo serious  mick jagger  former carlton champion  australian rules football  bob chitty  a great footballer but a poor actor . some location shooting film in the area i live  bacchus marsh outside melbourne as well as clunes  ballarat .  
having seen three other versions of the same film  i am afraid for me this is by far the weakest  primarily due to scott  s rather dull and leaden performance . his emotions throughout are so bland it makes it difficult to engage in the film . alistair sim portrayed the role infinitely better . when scrooge was at his meanest  you don  t get the sense scott is saying the dialogue with much conviction and when he undergoes his metamorphosis he is similarly unconvincing . i cannot think of any actors in this film who match those from the alistair sim version . even the musical version  and frankly the muppets  take on this are better executed . very disappointing .  
moon child is the story of two brothers and a friend trying to make it in a futuristic  economically  unstable japan . after a cunning disaster gone wrong  someone new enters young sho  s life  a special friend by the name of kei . years later they have grown rather close  and have found ways to combine both their talents into one unstoppable team . during another escapade  they encounter a new friend and his mute sister who become part of their band of friends . before long disaster again strikes and the group falls apart . alliances turn to enemies and their worlds are all turned upside down . regrets and hopelessness claim some while power and success take others . tragedy claims still others . truths are revealed and lives are forever changed .  br    br   and you will never see a more beautiful sunrise .  br    br   this movie is a gripping tale of undying friendships  webs of relationships  and a team that not even death can keep apart for too long . moon child combines sci  fi  drama  and action with the perfect cast and talent to create the most sensationally moving movie of the time  and great for most audiences . it minimizes the everyday romances and puts more emphasis on the important values we can all relate to such as friendships  loyalty  and believing in yourself . nothing could possibly compare . i personally have never seen anything quite like it  and i don  t suspect i ever will again .  br    br   it appeals to the wider population in many ways and is a must see for all .  
this tv film tells the story of extrovert frannie suddenly returning to silk hope to visit friends and family  but unaware of her mother  s death . her sister runs the family home  but is intending to sell it and move away with her new husband . frannie strongly objects to the idea  and vows to keep the family heirloom as it were  by getting a job and maintaining responsibility .  br    br   in comes handsome ruben and the two soon fall in love  as you do   and it  s from this point that i sort of lost interest . . . .  br    br   there is more to farrah fawcett than just the blonde hair and looks  she can portray a character extremely convincingly when she puts her mind to it  and it is certainly proved here as well as some of her previous efforts like extremities and small sacrificies  a great performance from the legendary charlie  s angel .  br    br   silk hope is the type of film that never shies away from its cheap and cheerful tv image  and you know there was a limit to the budget  but it  s not the worst film ever made . the positive aspects are there you just have to find them .  
i went looking for this movie in typical fan obsession . i just wanted to check it out . i was not expecting much of anything . after all  a musician  an actor and a screenplay writer  not possible for so much talent to reside in one person . right    br    br   wrong   obsession aside  it quickly became one of my favorites  the story line and characters are not lost in the typical hyped up hollywood special effects . the story plucks at your emotions and pulls you along . as the credits roll by  you suddenly realize you were glued until the end .  br    br   at times  the acting seems a little over the top . i do  however  believe it  s done with comedic intent and very fitting of the character . otherwise  i wouldn  t have expected the level of acting witnessed .  br    br   it  s worth seeing more than once . i find myself laughing hysterically or gasping unexpectedly over something i either missed or forgot about the first time or two around .  br    br   i completely recommend this movie . feel free to go in with your doubts  but i  m sure it will find a place on your shelf .  
director fred schepisi  roxanne  directs this well intentioned  but inferior comedy about albert einstein  matthau  trying to hook his scientific niece  ryan  up with ordinary guy tim robbins in order to get her to relax and enjoy life in the      s . to get ryan to like robbins  einstein tries to make robbins look like a brilliant scientist . the idea is cute  but the film falls flat with corny situations and silly dialogue . tim robbins  meg ryan  and the terrific supporting cast do their best to keep this silly comedy afloat  but are unable to rescue the film . its unfortunate that so much talent went into producing such a lackluster movie . i would not recommend to anybody unless they are huge fans of meg ryan .  
being a huge fan of the japanese singers gackt and hyde  i was terribly excited when i found out that they had made a film together and made it my mission in life to see it . i was not disappointed . in fact  this film greatly exceeded my expectations . knowing that both gackt and hyde are singers rather than actors  i was prepared for brave yet not really that fulfilling performances  but am delighted to say that both of them managed to keep me captivated and believing the story as it went on . moon child has just the right amount of humour  action  romance and serious  heart  wrenching moments . i can  t say that i  ve ever cried more at a film and these more tender moments are admirably acted by the pair  in my opinion  definitely proving their skills as actors . the fight scenes are absolutely stunning and although there are a few moments of uncertainty to begin with  you are quick to get into the movie and begin to bond with the characters . i thoroughly recommend this film to anyone  especially those who are fans of gackt and hyde .  
tim robbins is oddly benign here  cast as a garage mechanic in     s new jersey who falls in love with a perky blonde who turns out to be albert einstein  s niece  although he  s on  screen much of the time  robbins cancels out the inner  workings of his intense persona and fades into the background  it  s easy to forget he  s even in the picture   . lumpy romantic comedy with a gimmick  that being walter matthau playing einstein  who does what he can with a cartoonishly conceived character  . otherwise  it  s sugary and sunny  directed rather drowsily by fred schepisi  who shows heart but no wit or brains . meg ryan is her usual affable self and the chemistry between she and robbins is charming  like that of an affectionate sister and her big brother .  from   
beautifully done . a lot of angst . friendship may not endure all  but in the end it  s all that matters  or so a group of friends learn . i have watched it over and over again . the music is also amazing . when kei loses the one friend he has he gives up until he meets sho  an orphan boy who is not repelled by his true nature . in the lawless streets of mallepa they struggle for their own place among a melting pot of asian races  and learn that sometimes being on top can cost you more than you are ever ready to pay . a surprise ending that grips as much as the whole movie does . i couldn  t get enough of it . gackt and hyde do a wonderful job of acting  proving they are more than pretty boys who sing .  
when i first saw this film  i thought it should have come from the children  s section  it  s very fun and at times humorous  and is actually quite a good story  but it severely lacks the  romantic chemistry  that actors like meg ryan and tim robbins are capable of delivering . i must note that walter matthau is perfect for the part of albert einstein  and his performance is extraordinary  but that  s the sole exception . this film appears a bit forced  the directing lacks substance  and oh yeah . . . the music is ridiculously awful  it didn  t put me in a very good mood . but if you are not expecting a smart  well  crafted comedy  romance tale  then this certainly can be entertaining  like i said . . it should be in the children  s section . einstein and his buddies are a good relief from tim robbins  boring  almost tense quest to steal meg ryan  s heart . a very conflicting film  but as long as it  s not taken seriously this can be an alright movie .  
i voted  for this movie because of some minor childish flaws . other than that  this movie is one of my favorites  it  s entertaining to say the least . the shooting scenes are ridiculous though  and i think gackt  who wrote the book  takes a little bit too much of his  matrix obsession  into it . it seems like their enemies just stands there . . . waiting to get shot at . however  this movie is touching and it always makes me cry . it has a lot of great humor in it so it makes me laugh as well . gackt is a superb actor i must say . . he shows so much emotion . this was hyde  s first time acting and he did okay . the role fits him . wang lee hom is absolutely great . the whole cast is what i would say  perfect for this movie . don  t miss it  you  ll regret it   
i loved dewaere in series noir . his talent is trivialized in  the waltzers  aka  going places  . okay  it  s a couple of guys flaunting convention in the most absurd and irredeemable ways many folks find such behavior amusing . this was a boring  pointless exercise designed to shock . i find the smirk on blier  s face  the face behind the camera  annoying . series noir was a valid expression of personal liberty and licentious behavior . from the first moment when we see patric dewaere prancing in the abandoned lot we get an idea of the bewilderingly beautiful anti  hero we  ll be spending time with for the next couple of hours . when we see him chasing the hapless middle aged female with his buddy depardieu in  going places  we have fair warning that two hours spent with these chaps will be soul  draining . i have trouble eking even a    for this annoying distraction .  
moon child  starring japanese rockers hyde and gackt  was a better movie then i expected . in fact  i was very impressed and it immediately became one of my favorite movies .  br    br   set in mallepa  the story follows a group of street orphans  sho  sho  s brother shinji  and toshi who rob and murder to make a living . on one of robberies  sho encounters hyde  s kei vampire burning in the sunlight . through the coarse of events kei  s true nature is shown  yet no one shuns him away .  br    br   the time passes and implies that the immortal  never  changing kei has raised sho  and the two have a an extremely close bond . sho and kei then encounter son in an outrageous gun fight  and they become quick friends . both kei and hyde fall in love with son  s sister  yi  che .  br    br   time skips ahead again and shows a grown sho  this time void of kei . it also explains that sho and son have become enemies .  br    br   through tragedy after tragedy this movie dives into the reality of life and all it  s hardships  focusing on friendship and love . it is a truly touching movie that is sad yet beautiful at the same time .  br    br   as for the acting  i think gackt did a magnificent job . hyde did an amazing job for a first timer .  br    br   the shots were beautiful  but the movie did have it  s rare and short gruesome shots .  br    br   all in all  i must say this movie is amazing  moving  and i highly recommend it .  
this movie is an abomination  and its making should have been considered a capital crime .  br    br   one of the great mysteries of film  making is why nobody ever has made a faithful movie adaptation of this wonderful mystery . it is a tale of a really gripping mystery  nice old  fashioned romance  and dry english humor . why did the makers have to change richard gordon from a scotland yard policeman to an amateur detective  introduce the idiotic role and caricature of his english servant  change the part of the main storyline about the murder charge and circumstances of gordon  s struggle to save the accused  etc .  etc .  these producers and directors who always think they can make a better story than the one in the book should write the original script themselves and not to rape another person  s product .  
based on the idea from gackt  moon child took place in a poverty  stricken country called mallepa . in a futuristic timeline  the story followed the lives of the two main characters  kei  hyde  and sho  gackt  and their friends growing up together .  br    br   despite some actions might be overly done or perhaps humorous  i strongly believed that this is a movie about friendship . even amongst all the hardships between each character  in the end  each of them wanted to have someone on their side  to have friends .  br    br   unlike most vampire characters  kei portrayed a vampire that loathed the idea of having to kill in order to live . a vampire found friendship in the hand of a young boy  sho who  s not afraid of kei . regardless of what some might  ve thought  i see kei as a fatherly figure to sho . kei was there throughout the earlier life of sho  he took care of him  and taught him to live in a world where power between gangs controls their lives . on the other hand  sho who perhaps can be seen as an innocent enthusiastic style young man  he grew up to be a man who realised that life isn  t all about fun and games  that death exists and able to take away his loved ones .  br    br   i love the part where lee hom  the actor who played son  first appeared on the screen . the way they met up was quite cool indeed . son also has a big part within this movie  the fact that he  s from a different race  a taiwanese  made quite an impact to the friendship theme within the movie . the way how friendships were developed despite background differences was portrayed excellently in this movie .  br    br   i believed that each actor did a great job considering that this was their first time to appear in such big screen movie . both hyde and gackt managed to act quite well and created quite believable characters . unlike movies that had musician turned actors and filled the movie with songs  they  ve done great acting jobs  moon child really made an impact for me  it has given friendships a new meaning and consideration  that we have to appreciate every friendship in our lifetimes . the movie shows a lot of hope  despite all the bad things that happen in their lives  that there  s always hope . life can be cruel  that it seems hope doesn  t exist anymore . it also shows a very strong sense of friendships between each other  even when son became the enemy  sho did have some sort of  fun  at their last battle . every single one of them desired peace in the end  no matter how far apart they  ve become . the ending scene showed it to us .  
sadly i don  t remember the book anymore  but i do recall that i was captivated by the stories of edgar wallace . this film represents a typical german production of low quality . it does not hold my attention  although the story itself is good  it is just badly adabted . at the center of the misery are the characters that are overly simplyfied and exaggerated  they have no nuances in their performances . even the well known and liked german actors joachim fuchsberger and eddy aren  t cannot rescue this poor spectacle . however there  s hope . . . i  ve been told that the films following this one are getting better and better . so in conclusion i must say that this film doesn  t deserve the cinematic screen but may be enough for a lazy afternoon .  
i got this movie from netflix after a long waiting time  so i was anticipating it greatly when it arrived . my worst fears were that it would be plodding  as well as . . . well  you know what all the screaming fan girls were babbling about  gacktnhydehawt yaoi love  that sort of thing  dreading it . i was very  very pleasantly surprised . the movie was surprisingly watchable  even if the filming and music did make it feel like someone was going to bust out a pair of nun  chucks every two scenes  and the acting on gackt  s part was quite good . hyde  being  um  hyde  acted as a quasi  romantic friend  gang member character that anyone who saw him on stage would hardly be surprised by . he  s one of my two major beefs with the film itself . but the rest of the cast  including the child actors in the opening scene  were very good at doing what they did  which was  mostly  get shot at and yelled at . but my second problem was very minor  having to do with the goriness . it seemed way too suspense  horror to me  like every scene where someone is shot they either slump over  really most sincerely dead  or lay there burbling for a rather long time . but sho just . . . takes the shots  repeatedly  keels over  bubbles a lot while he talks  and makes hyde cry . all in all  if you  re a fan of any of the actors or just a j  film fan  it  s definitely worth a watch .  
this movie is the perfect illustration of how not to make a sci fi movie . the worst tendency in sci  fi is to make your theme an awful  sophomoric  pseudo  orwellian  huxleyan  whateverian  vision  of  the human future .   br    br   science fiction filmmakers  and authors   as geeks  take themselves very seriously given the high crap  to  good  stuff ratio of their genre . i think other genres with a high ctgsr  yes  i just made it up  relax   like horror or action or even romantic comedy  seem to have a little better grasp of the fact that they are not changing the world with some profound  message .   br    br   sci fi can certainly be successful on a serious level  as numerous great filmmakers have proven . but there is an immense downside to the whole concept  which is represented by  robot jox   with its low  rent construction of  the future   lone good design element the bizarre  slick  looking billboard ads all over the place that encourage women to have more babies  and its painfully heavy  handed  iliad  parallels  he  s named achilles for god  s sake  i actually didn  t pick up on this until i saw the film for like the tenth time  but i went to public school  so the filmmakers are not exonerated .   br    br   of course  if you  re a crazy movie freak like me  this downside has a great upside . i absolutely love movies like this  because bad movies are quite often more fun and sometimes even more interesting than good ones . it  s kind of a lester bangs approach to movie viewing  i guess .  br    br   note the lead in this movie  gary graham  is that his name  i refuse to go check .  is really not that bad . he makes a go of it . he  s kind of cool  especially when he  s drunk  hung over .  
this is  by all categories  the best movie i have ever seen . forget hollywood  their movies always sucked  this is art  moon child  s story starts with kei  a japanese vampire  who loathes what he has become and lives in denial . his wish for final death leads him to mallepa  where refugees from several asian countries live . here  he meets sho  an orphan living on the street .  br    br   from here  the movie is an intense experience which bases on the visual and emotional part of the movie . it has everything you laugh  you cry  you get angry  excited  sad  happy . . . never has a movie touched me the way this movie do . and the actors are amazing  never have i heard anyone speak so many languages without it sounding strange . a big praise to the editor for creating this masterpiece . . .  br    br   a last comment on this brilliant movie  is that it stars gackt  ex  vocalist of malice mizer  and hyde  vocalist of l  arcenciel  in excellent roles as sho and kei . i am amazed at how gackt can change his way of speaking and acting depending on what age he is acting out .  br    br   this is a must see . if you never see any films  see moon child  the crow  brandon lee  and the newly released masterpiece final fantasy vii  advent children . all in their original languages  of course   
think a darker version of one of those kid shows such as  power rangers  and you have this film from       robot jox  . a movie where you fight with giant robots  two men enter the arena and whoever comes out their country wins . the robots are huge and look like slightly better versions of the ones from said shows mainly because they are less colorful so while this movie is not good  it isn  t all bad to watch . there are as i recall two robot fights in this one  one that ends badly and the final showdown . there is a plot twist part way through as a traitor is revealed  but in the end the plot is nothing that is going to stick with you for any amount of time after the picture is done . the fights themselves look like giant toys on the rampage  but still somewhat fun to watch . this movie would also spawn a couple of other films with similar plot devices such as the giant robots and the tournament . so it is worth checking out once  but probably not more than that .  
this movie is really special . it  s a very beautiful movie . which starts with three orphans  sho  his brother shinji and their friend toshi  they  re poor children  s  living on the street  but one day they succeeded to steal a bag full of money  and then their able to live on  to buy a house  and their life seems to become much better . they  re making new friend  life  friends . but something went wrong and they  re becoming enemies and it all ends up with them killing each other .  br    br   i was negative about this movie in the beginning  because when singers  gackt  solo  ex  singer in malice mizer  hyde  solo  singer in l  arcenciel  both very famous in japan and wang lee  hom  taiwanese singer  trying to become actors  but this isn  t like the other singers  going  actors  movies . they  re doing a great job  and with no earlier experience in movies  except for lee  hom  who had been in two movies before  .  br    br   this is absolutely one of my favorite movies . maybe that  s a little because i  m a very big fan of hyde  but  it was this movie who made me discover him .  br    br   well  gackt  playing the main character  the orphan sho  was a part of the group who wrote the script  and it was he who insisted that hyde should play sho  s friend  the vampire kei . at that time they didn  t know each other  at least not like friends . but after the movie they became really good friend  and that shows us too that they really worked hard on this movie and that they had good cooperation .  br    br   the movie have many different feelings running trough the story  love  hate  sadness  pain  loneliness  happiness and so on . i think the first hour are the best  it  s so beautiful . after that people are dying  kei  s leaving and it all changes so much . but still it  s a great movie  it  s the only movie who has ever made me cry  it ends up so sad  but still beautiful .  br    br   so if you haven  t seen this movie  you really should . because it  s wonderful  but sad . you won  t regret it .   
i actually paid to see this movie in the theater .  br    br   it would get a   rating  but the fight scenes between the robots are okay  and there  s a surprise .  br    br   i realize that some movies have larger budgets than others . i don  t have a problem with that . unfortunately  science fiction movies probably suffer the most on a small budget for obvious reasons . but  one way this movie fails is that just about every piece of each set looked cheesy and cheap . i mean  couldn  t they even make it  look  good   br    br   the other major reason this movie is horrible is the acting if i watched the movie now and knew what to expect  i might just enjoy it for the cheese  factor  but at the time  i was expecting a good movie and had no clue as to how horrible it would actually end up being .  br    br   thankfully  the experience was over in only   minutes .  
  had ned kelly been born later he probably would have won a victoria cross at gallipolli  . such was ned  s bravery .  br    br   in australia and especially country victoria the name ned kelly can be said and immediately recognised . in greta he is still a hero  the life blood of the town of jerilderie depends on the tourism he created  but in mansfield they still haven  t forgotten that the three policeman that he  murdered  were from there .  br    br   many of the buildings he visited in his life are still standing . from the old melbourne gaol where he was hanged  to the post office he held up in jerilderie . a cell he was once held in in greta is on display in benella and the site of ann jones  hotel  the station and even the logs where he was captured in glenrowan can be visited .  br    br   evidence of all the events in the movie  except for his love interest  can be found all over victoria  in police records and even in the sash that ned was awarded with for rescuing dick shelton from drowning . none of this is wrong  and whats left out would further justify neds actions . the horse that ned  stole  was actually stolen by wild wright  the man who ned boxes with after getting out of jail  . ned was already in prison when the horse was reported stolen so he couldn  t have stolen it .  br    br   the jerilderie letter is more than what has been stated before . it is not self justification it is ned  s biography  an outline of what he stood for and who he was protecting . so go ahead and read it  watch the movie and then make up your mind about what ned stood for .  
i was sooooo excited to see this movie after finally reading the book this week . my   year old son was looking forward to it too . i rented it and snuggled down to enjoy a classic holiday story brought to life on screen .  br    br   boy  was i disappointed . this movie veered off from the book more times than is forgivable . george c . scott is an excellent actor but in this  it seemed that he was fully into character only about    of the time . the rest of the time he was quite flat .  br    br   i realize that this was made in     pre  cg effects  for the most part . but it looked to be very b  movie quality  especially the encounter with jacob marley .  br    br   the biggest disappointment was the fact that they left out one of the most moving parts of the story when the spirit of christmas present takes scrooge on the whirlwind tour of the world  observing people in the bleakest of circumstances still having the light and love of christmastime .  br    br   i will admit that mr . scott did a good job with the  reformed  scrooge at the end . that was a refreshing portrayal .  br    br   i wish that bob cratchit had been portrayed as a little more ragged and down  trodden . and tiny tim . . . oh don  t even get me started on bad child actors . . .  
despite what others had said  cough   this is my favourite movie of all time . i don  t know how long i had been waiting to see it  but once i finally did  i immediately fell in love . sure  it  s strange  but that just gives it more of an exciting flavour . for those who don  t know  moonchild is one of gackt and hyde  s first movies . they haven  t done very many at all  maybe  or  tops each . so  give them some credit . we all know that adam sandler wasn  t the best at first either . i do believe that they do throw some odd situations in there  but i over look that to find the best points of this movie  the emotions displayed and whatnot . therefore  i have given  and always shall give  this movie a   out of   .  
ok this movie had a terrible premise . be serious according to the movie they had just been through an apocalyptic war yet they have money to buy huge robots and pit them against each other . each country decides instead of investing into rebuilding their country they would rather fight with robots no one could afford . here  s a better idea  lets rely on our most inept resource  jocks  to fight our battles .  br    br   everyone says what about the director  what about him . he makes a good movie  he makes a bad movie . there is no reason to give this movie some credit just because of the director  maybe he was asleep  i thoroughly enjoyed this movie  because it was so cheesy and ridiculous i had to laugh . i actually had a good time watching it  well except for the cowboy mentor who turns out to be an assassin  trust me no one would see this guy as an assassin  so it is a surprise  however lame  what kind of training exercise is a jungle jim anyway . i was sad to see mst  k had not done this one . i am giving a two star rating however because nothing could be as bad as  manos the hands of fate .   br    br   the budget does not matter either  i have seen plenty of reasonable movies that had nothing for budgets like cube . the storyline was not even plausible and i have seen better acting in school plays . surly they could have afforded an eleven year old from any middle school play .  br    br   anyway pick it up  it is a fun movie to watch .  
i must admit  the only reason i bought this movie was because i am a big fan of gackt and a huge fan of hyde . i was expecting a good movie with a lot of shots that were  shall we say  pleasing to the feminine eye but a slightly cheesy story . i mean  the synopsis sounded really out there . and now that i have just finished watching it  i feel the need to tell the world of its brilliance  hyde and gackt both gave heart  wrenching performances  and my eyes are still hot from the crying that lasted throughout the last half of the movie . you get sucked into the story  and you really feel for the characters by the end . the element of vampirism  which i love  but is very easy to overdo or to ruin a movie with  is subtly mixed into the storyline as to make it something merely exotic  normal to this setting  rather than a random unnecessary addition to the story . i ranked it at a  out of   at first . . . and then i went back and tried to think of why i wasn  t giving it that last point . came up with nothing . so a ten out of ten it is . after all  i  m not much of a critic  the fact that i  m bothering to write a review at all means i either really hate the movie or really love it . you can tell what side i  m on with moon child .  
there are a number of problems with this movie  but the bottom line is that it tried to do too much with too little . the base story is quite good  but the money just wasn  t there to do the story justice . the non  existent budget really killed this movie . stuart gordon  the writer  director  has writing credit on  honey  i shrunk the kids   which was a box office smash . however  that movie had some serious cash backing from disney . honestly  this is a good example of when to not make a movie . had he waited a few more years  technology would have made it cheaper to do many of the effects .  not to mention he could have found a company with money .   
i must admit  at first i wasn  t expecting anything good  at all . i was only expecting a cheesy movie promoting gackt  s and hyde  s image  but i  m glad to say it has much more to offer .  br    br   yes  the acting is not that great  but it doesn  t suck either  all the cast  s well disciplined and they bring enough strength to their characters . effects lack consistency but action scenes are satisfying enough .  br    br   what really hooked me up was the essence of the storyline  although it merges fantastic elements  it also displays a crude reality . the developing of the characters  their doubts and their feelings really got on to me and i think that  s the key of this movie . it puts you to think and it does well transmitting all the angst .  br    br   it fulfills any expectations for a good drama . i would definitely recommend it to everyone .  
what an awful movie  the idea of robots fighting each other is cool  but the storyline is ridiculous  real human action laughable  acting non  existent and special effects  on which  this type of movie must depend  are archaic . i thought it must have been made around        and was amazed to see it was from     . that  s  years after aliens  ok  lots of people said it was good considering the low budget  but i just think  what  s the point   . it looks totally unbelievable . i wouldn  t mind seeing a remake with modern special effects and a completely re  written story because i still like the idea of huge robots beating crap out of each other .  
when i first heard about moon child  i thought it was a joke . after a few months  i figured i guess it  s for real . the few reviews i read that weren  t made by squealing fangirls were not very promising .  br    br   when i was given the opportunity to watch it  i was fully prepared to groan  wince  and otherwise need to close my eyes to avoid the silliness .  br    br   i was more than a little surprised  and in a good way .  br    br   yes  moon child has its moments of cheese  camp  and general dorkiness   i think that  s kind of impossible to avoid when it involves gackt camui  a man not known for his sanity   but all in all  it was wholly enjoyable .  br    br   no  it is not a work of cinema genius but it is very  very heartfelt  amusing  with fun choreography  a touching score  and a fun cast . i know little of japanese cinema so i can  t really judge the acting but considering the fact that the cast was speaking a language or extreme dialect foreign to them at one time or another and that a couple of them have almost no acting experience  i was rather impressed .  br    br   if you can enjoy a good action movie  a good drama  a good comedy  see this film . at least rent it since it  s coming to region  .  br    br   on a side note  there is zero homosexual  homoerotic content in this film . i didn  t even see much of a subtext . don  t let people that read too much into things ruin this for you .  
r o b o t j o x .  br    br   burn the master .  br    br   grotesquely horrible .  br    br   no ending no closure .  br    br   completely and utterly the worst movie ever made .  br    br   replaces  the adventures of pluto nash  as the worst movie of all time .  br    br   i hate this utterly unacted  unedited  unscripted  undirected  unproduced mess of a thing called  robot jox   and i just found out  they made a second one     i apologize to adma sandler  zohar the beauticin  and eddie murphy  pluto nash  for hating their movies . this mess of a thing makes those movies only bad  not terrible horrible and grotesque like this thing . this is the only movie for which i have ever said this  remove it from netflix  now          out of   people found this comment helpful .  
i did not expect the performances of gackt and hyde to be as well done as they were  nor did i expect them to be cast in such an artistic well  developed movie with enough plot to keep you interested and enough diversity to make it original . this movie was an unexpected masterpiece for me  and i  ll be on the lookout for the next movie like it . i especially like the fact that it is a vampire movie  but it wasn  t a cheesy vampire flick  nor did it over embellish that fact . the characters all had human traits . the way it shows the growth of the characters was incredibly tasteful  and it makes you actually feel sorry for them throughout their lives . i give this movie two thumbs so far up . definitely the best movie i have seen in the past five years .  
title robot jox        br    br   director stuart gordon  br    br   cast gary graham  anne marie johnson  paul koslo  br    br   review stuart gordon who we usually associate with extremely gory horror films such as re  animator  from beyond  dagon and castle freak  took a small detour here and did a little sci  fi flick . i stress the word  little  since this is a very low budget flick  and there in lies its main weakness .  br    br   the story takes place in the future . a world in which the great superpowers  that according to this movie are the united states and russia  duke out their differences not by going on a full blown world war . . . but by fighting gladiator style battles with gigantic robots . our hero achilles must go up against the evil russian robot fighter called alexander . lots of cheap stop motion animation ensues .  br    br   well  the idea is awesome i guess . the great nations settleling territorial disputes with giant robots  interesting premise and one that could have been handled properly if the proper budget had been available . unfortunately what could have been a fun movie ends up being an embarrassment for an otherwise great director .  br    br   i as a kid loved this movie  and i guess if you want any enjoyment out of this movie  you  ll have to revert back to little kid mode to have some fun with it . i showed this film to some of my friends and as the movie progressed my friends where like  what the hell is this piece of crap franco   and i  m like well this movie is a sci  fi by one of my favorite directors stuart gordon   but as the movie progressed into corny territory i almost felt like pressing stop and not having them go through that torture . i could go through it  cause i loved this film as a kid  and there  s still a little nostalgia attached to watching it . but everyone else was just not going to get it .  br    br   and i myself realized that the movie isn  t really that good . first off . the movie is about giant robots kicking the hell out of each other . and in order to achieve this in a credible fashion you  d have to use some damn good special effects to make it work  expensive effects that would help us the audience suspend disbelief . but unfortunately this being a small scale movie  from a small scale company  empire pictures  which went bankrupt after making this film   the effects only help us giggle and laugh at them . heck even the sets and some of the wardrobe looks unfinished or half assed .  br    br   ok granted  once you accept that you are watching a mixture of moderate stop animation and miniatures well you can sort of give in to the film and even enjoy the big robots kicking the hell out of each other . there are certain scenes when the robots are fighting that are kinda cool  and made me go  thats why i liked thid movie   but every know and them  some crappy effect will take you right out of that protective little cocoon you were trying to hide in . and boom  your right back into realizing this film just doesn  t live up to its premise .  br    br   and heres another thing that sort of bothered me a bit about the movie . this movie is basically a movie for kids . you know  giant robots duking it out  stop motion animation  hello  but this movies dialogue had a lot of sexual innuendos and the violence gets a little bloody . so i kept asking myself is this a kids movie or not  after a while i just came to the conclusion that basically this was a kids movie with adult sensibilities  which really isn  t a good mix .  br    br   so for those of you who don  t feel that certain naive childlike charm of watching two robots fighting each other and if you don  t have a nostalgic connection to this movie  like i do  well id suggest you steer clear away from this one . gordons a great director  but this movie he made  just didn  t do it for me . well  at least not now that i  m a full grown adult .  br    br   rating  out of   
tony hawk underground came at a point where the series was really starting to lose its luster  tony hawk pro skater  did not live up to expectations and left the series really up in the air on what neversoft and activision could do with the series that would be different and interesting .  br    br   underground introduced the storymode  which was very cool because it made a whole new world for tony hawk pro skater fans . another feature introduced which fans pretty much argued for and that was being able to get off the skateboard  which is nice because now you can actually climb  run  and do all sorts of new things .  br    br   the levels are good  neversoft also improved on an issue that started with pro skater  and that was the length of the level designs . the first two games for the ps   n   and dreamcast were great because the levels were nice and long and some hidden features in some . pro skater  and  were shortened because of a handful of features that were added and really pushed the systems too their limits . in this version  they shortened those features  there isn  t as many people wondering the streets  in fact there are almost none in some levels  and the graphics and the skating physics are toned down a little but not a lot .  br    br   this game does have one con  the storymode is a little short  of course this is neversofts first time doing this with tony hawk pro skater  so that is understandable . however  with that being said you will definitely finish this game within a day .  br    br   overall  a great addition that was very refreshing .  
this movie was  as homer simpson would have put it   more boring than church .  maybe i don  t understand it well enough  and i thought it started out pretty well  but after  start of spoiler  hermann braun is sent to jail and maria starts working  sleeping with her boss it just started to drag  and i struggled to keep awake . again  maybe it symbolizes something  but the explosion at the end seemed very forced and out of place .  end of spoiler  . in the end  i fail to see why others think it  s so great  as i found it extremely boring . by the way  i did not watch this movie by my own free will  as i was required to see it for a film class .  
it  s awesome  in story mode  your going from punk to pro . you have to complete goals that involve skating  driving  and walking . you create your own skater and give it a name  and you can make it look stupid or realistic . you are with your friend eric throughout the game until he betrays you and gets you kicked off of the skateboard team  you can pick a team to be on  and you then start your own team  there are many levels like new jersey  manhattan  and even school ii  not part of story mode though  from tony hawk  s pro skater  . you can unlock secret skaters like iron man  gene simmons  and another skater . you can create your own goals like skate letters  combo letters  tricktris  gap  and much more . you can create the goal pedestrian and write what they speak . if you get bored of doing that  you can do the premade goals in premade parks . the only thing i didn  t like about this game was that sometimes it was hard to drive the cars .     .  
i disagree with much that has been written and said about this supposed  masterpiece  of the german new wave  br    br     there are major flaws in simple exposition  in the basic communication of critical plot points  as relating to maria  s abortion and the secret contract between oswald and her husband . how many viewers understood that the husband agreed  in exchange for substantial financial remuneration  not to return to and reclaim his wife until oswald was dead   br    br     the ending is highly unsatisfying because arbitrary and accidental . the original screenplay called for maria to commit suicide after the reading of oswald  s will  on finding out that her husband had in effect sold their marriage to oswald . in the final version  however  maria only runs water from a faucet across her wrist in a gesture of suicide . maria is then summarily blown up  rather than having to confront and live with the consequences of her self  delusion and moral compromise .  br    br     fassbinder seeks to forcibly superimpose the public on the private  the political on the personal . contrary to what the critics and  experts  assert  i don  t think it works . merely intruding historic radio news or the sound of the jackhammers of german reconstruction in the soundtrack on the dramatic events of the movie does not make those historical events integral to the drama .  br    br   the selfish ambition of maria  s rise from poverty to prosperity is meant to parallel the so  called economic miracle of postwar germany . maria is thus intended to be a woman specific to and reflective of her time and place  but is in reality unoriginal and nonspecific . women have been asserting their independence by using sex for self  advancement for ages .  br    br     lastly  there are several instances of inexcusable sloppiness and amateurishness   fassbinder  s drug addiction and consequent impatience and inattention have had their effect . unknown people talk off screen without ever being seen music is clumsily intrusive in places and melodramatic posturing sporadically substitutes for acting .  br    br   strangely  for a movie condemning a country for willful collective amnesia of the holocaust  it itself never mentions it once .  
this is what i call a  pre sci fi sci fi  movie . it gets no better than lugosi  karloff in this incredibly good  mood  type motion picture . these two genuine artists are at their very best  as is the story line .  br    br   karloff does an amazing job as a scientist that sees himself caught in a vise of vanity  pride  and scientific competition . i was caught up in the idea of watching a man as he drowns himself in the three previously mentioned concepts . i was saddened and at the same time fascinated with the two stars as they do themselves in .  br    br   this is the sort of motion picture that begs for a remake . this time put harrison ford in the karloff part and maybe kieffer sutherland as the bela lagosi role . it might be possible to do it almost as good .  br    br   this is one of the very best that hollywood ever produced . as i said . . it gets no better . no way .  
this movie was packed pull of endless surprises  just when you thought it couldn  t get worse  they added more joints and more pink fuzzy  lined vans with raunchy sex scenes . as you can guess  i was a victim of the original version . we were tricked into watching it thinking it was supervan  the host box which promised lasars  jail breaks  and much more . who would have thought a dollar store christmas present could have been so much fun   
so many consider the black cat as the best karloff  lugosi collaboration . i disagree . the invisible ray is their best . a great storyline  fantastic special effects  and classic karloff over  acting . i love it    
the van is a feelgood movie about a guy who tries to lure girls into his new van  in order to seduce them . the only thing this movie doesn  t fail at is precisely depicting the van fad in the us in the late   s . it looks like it was totally made by amateurs . it  s trash  but i loved it  i have to admit i am a fan of   s trash  hope this one makes it to the imdb bottom      br    br     
  the invisible ray  is part science fiction and part horror . it was also the third of seven karloff  lugosi features . in this entry the dominant role goes to boris karloff .  br    br   through specially designed astronomical equipment  dr . janos rukh  karloff  demonstrates to colleagues dr . felix benet  bela lugosi   sir frances stevens  walter kingsford   his wife lady stevens  beulah bondi  and their nephew ronald drake  frank lawton   that a meteorite containing a powerful element  landed on the african continent many millions of years in the past . rukh impresses his guests who invite him to accompany them on an expedition to africa to find the mysterious element .  br    br   rukh goes off on his own and discovers the place where the meteorite landed and the element which he names  radium x  . due to rukh  s long absences  his comely young wife diana  frances drake  becomes attracted to drake and the two fall in love . meanwhile rukh becomes contaminated by radium x to the point that anyone he touches will die instantly . the contamination causes his skin to emit a bright glow in the dark .  br    br   rukh goes to benet for help . benet devises an antidote which if taken on a daily basis  will provide temporary immunity to the element . unfortuneatly  the deadly element also affects rukh  s brain  slowly turning him into a vindictive murderer .  br    br   while rukh is continuing his work  sir frances takes news of the discovery back to france . diana and ronald accompany him . when benet informs him of this action  rukh accuses the party of betraying him and his discovery and secretly plans his revenge . when he returns to france he learns of the healing power of radium x as he cures his mother  s  violet kemble cooper  blindness and of benet  s work in curing the maladies of his patients .  br    br   but rukh  s madness intensifies . first he murders an innocent man whom is identified as rukh . upon hearing of rukh  s apparent demise  diana and ronald marry . this angers rukh and he begins to exact his revenge on the five other members of the expedition . one night he is lured into a trap set by benet and . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   karloff is excellent in the lead role moving from a happily married ambitious scientist to a raving maniac . lugosi has a straight role for once and does what he can with the limited part .  br    br   at   minutes this film was the second longest of the six karloff  lugosi collaborations . karloff  s film all the way .  
bobby is a goofy kid who smiles far too much and wants sex . so he buys a van to aid in this quest . the acting is lame  the comedy is pathetic and the script is no more than a loosely strung chain of clichs and cheap thrills . the makers of the film obviously wanted to capture some of the out there craziness of other films of the time  but fell a long way short . they even resort to bobby slipping on a banana skin  because this will supposedly add comedic value .  br    br   i  m struggling to find a redeeming feature of the film . if you like devito  this is another classic devito kind of role  but he  s only a supporting actor and there for clich value .  
the performances were superb  the costumes delivered a unique feeling for the period and being a victorian living historian  i was impressed with the accuracy of weaponry and attention to detail .  br    br   i wouldn  t say you need any knowledge of the kelly saga to stay with the flow of this movie but to comprehend the happenings and attitudes of the time you will require a bit of basic historical knowledge . do not expect  as some rather silly people do  any of the characters to have the auzzie accent as we know it  it was  at that time  a country during infancy .  br    br   ok  the story had some elements of fiction but these are required for a wider following of the film . gregor jordan said in the extra feature on the dvd that he wanted his movie to  inspire an interest   and that is exactly what happened with me so this movie gets the thumbs up here .  br    br   see it and you will not be sorry  
uninspired direction leaves a decent cast stranded in a handsome but bland adaptation  in which dialogue seems recited rather than heartfelt  and cash strapped appearances by the ghosts fail to round up any sense of awe or magic edward woodward  as the ghost of christmas present  wobbles around on stilts and seems to be doing an impression of bernard cribbins . as scrooge  george c . scott is too wry  and he never seems to truly believe in it  which robs his performance of its effect . the scenes in which he  s shown his past have as much impact as if he was half  heartedly flicking through his family album . no one else seems to be putting any effort in  except frank finlay  who chronically overacts .  
one of the joys of picking up the recent bela lugosi collection is getting to see delightful movies like the invisible ray . boris karloff and bela lugosi team up in a movie that delves into meteorites and radiation and while the science is all perfectly absurd  especially the camera technique karloff  as janos rukh  uses to determine the site of a certain meteorite  and downright laughable  i didn  t care in the lease because the movie is thoroughly enjoyable . the effects are done well for the time  the acting is great  and the finish is particularly strong . it reminds me of the pulp sci  fi comics and novels of the     s and    s  complete with ray guns and ridiculous science . you must watch this movie   
this film was abysmal . and not in the good way as some have claimed . first off the main character is a very unattractive gingerman . second  wtf is going on with this van love . the plot  basically  is boy wants sex so buys a van  which  in fairness is quite cool  . unbelievably given that he looks like a newt he scores with lots of chicks  and he fails with some . then he scores with a really hot chick and realises he loves this dowdy bird who played hard to get . then he drag races with the hot chicks boyfriend . and he tips his van . at which point danny devito saves the day . although he didn  t need to because in tipping the van the ginger kid crossed the line first . i gave this    s as i  m willing to assume that there  s some sort of    s vanning subculture i  m not getting and also because there  s some    s boobage too .  
really good horror flick featuring to of the greatest  boris karloff and bela lugosi . dr . janos rukh  karloff  is on an expedition in africa trying to find an ancient meteorite . after finding it  rukh is poisoned by the its radiation . all he touches dies and the dark side of rukh makes him become an egotistic murderer . his friend  dr . felix benet  lugosi  finds a limited remedy to the problem and at the same time realizes the radiation could be used for the good of mankind by curing diseases . the two fiends will battle over the radiations possibilities . pretty good special effects . others in the cast frances drake  frank lawton  beulah bondi and frank reicher .  
the title song for this movie . . . . . . . . . . . is the greatest free spirited ballad ever written           br    br   i first saw this movie back in        when i first subscribed to cable . in     cable was just starting to become common place in homes .  or at least that when it was becoming common here in missouri  .  br    br   this might very well be the first movie i ever watched on the pay channel called  the movie channel   which was called  the star channel  back then  they changed the name to  the movie channel  in the early      s . . . . . . . . i received a free month of  the star channel  with my new cable subscription .  the van  was one of the movies that was in heavy rotation on that network at that time .  br    br   i remember watching this movie back then  and thinking it was a typical teen flick  along the same lines as other medium budget teen flicks  . . . the ones where the plot revolves around nudity and parties .  br    br   i totally forgot that this movie even existed until i recently seen this movie again after having not seeing it for decades  i found a copy of it on dvd for sale in cheap bin  i recognized it  and bought it for a mere   .   .  br    br   seems like i had remembered this film being much better that it was  is  . however watching it back then was a different experience than watching now     years later  .  br    br   it was fun to see the kids listing to rock n roll music  smoking weed  and having sex in the back a fancy van  often all at the same time  . this is what a good teen party movie should be .  br    br   there isn  t much of a plot other than the fact that the main character fantasizes about having sex with his arch rivals good looking girlfriend . . . he blows all of his college savings money to purchase a tricked out dodge van  with shag carpet walls . mirrored ceiling and a water bed in it  to get her attention  and he eventually gets to have sex with her . but his arch rival finds out and comes looking for him  so that the two of them can settle their differences by drag racing their vans  . . . . he and his arch rival end up wrecking both of their vans  and instead of stealing away his arch rivals girlfriend  he wins over the heart of a preppy  lesser attractive  girl that he half  ass dates through most of the movie and he decides he is happier  better off and the movie ends .  br    br   the movie does have it  s funny moments . but watching this movie    years later  it becomes more of a trip down memory lane . because i still can remember pizza parlors  pinball arcades  it also brought back memories of cruising around a small town while we smoked pot as we would yell at good looking girls and hoping to get laid  sometimes i  d get lucky and get some decent looking girl to share a joint with me and we  d screw in the backseat afterwords  i also remember many of the songs in this move  when they were new  . . . . . . this movie serves as a perfect time capsule for that era in those regards  brought back lots of memories   br    br   the one thing that is depicted in this movie that i honestly can not remember is . . . . i never remember a time when full sized vans were as popular as this film depicts them as being . i remember that era very well  and i don  t young men going around wishing they had a van . instead i remember young men in the    s  self included  wanting a pontiac trans am  chevy camaro or a hot rod ford mustang  but never a van . this movie makes it appear as if vans were most popular item going and that every young man wanted one  which just wasn  t true of that era   
the third collaboration for karloff and lugosi sees a move away from poe and into the realm of the science fiction serial . karloff plays dr . janos rukh  creator of a device that can capture light rays through his telescope in the carpathian mountains and translate them into pictures that form a visual history of the universe .  br    br   before several guests  including lugosi as dr . benet  an astro  chemist who had previously scoffed at rukh  s theories  he demonstrates the existence of an unknown radioactive element  here termed  radium x   contained in a meteor that fell to earth in darkest africa several thousand years ago . karloff joins the expedition to prove his theories  but radium x is a tricky compound  it levels mountains at long range  and cures blindness at short range . rukh is careless  however  and poisons himself  glowing in the dark rather like those old ready breck commercials  dr . benet is on hand to devise a counter  active for the radiation  but combination of poison and cure drives rukh insanely paranoid . convinced he has been cheated  he seeks out the members of the expedition in paris  including his estranged wife  and his very touch while in his radioactive state means death . . .  br    br   along the way we get the old pseudo  scientific idea that a dead person  s eyes record the image of their killer  a remarkably distinct karloff   and the radium x device used to symbolically melt statues that represent the expedition members . and even a touch of james whale in a cockney landlady in paris   br    br   the invisible ray is great fun  aside from the gothic opening it  s interesting to see universal move the action around to africa and paris . the film lacks pace  but is always absorbing . karloff slightly overdoes his performance but lugosi is terrific . universal used the basic story outline again in man made monster  this time with lon chaney jr . as the glowing menace  this time caused by electricity  and lionel atwill as a much madder doctor than lugosi is here . the invisible ray is a sombre and clever little film with much to admire . not as famous as other universal horrors  perhaps  but it works and is highly entertaining .  
the cult of personality has elevated the status of roger corman  sam arkoff  lloyd kaufman etc . as kings of the b  s . because the folks at crown international were so key  they haven  t been elevated to the status they richly deserve . a film like the van may now seem like a disposable piece of drive  in esoteria  but it was a sizable hit when it was released  not to mention subsequent re  releases as a double feature with other crown hits  .  br    br   the van was a perfect example of crown  s hit strategy of seizing upon the mood of movie  goers at the time of a film  s release . here  it was sex  drugs  rock  n roll and the brief  custom van  fad . as others have noted  it is ironic that the  hit  song in the film refers to a chevy when the title vehicle is a dodge in the film itself . i had a town selectman where i was at the time even declare these vans to be  dens of sin on wheels   a perfect ad line for the film   br    br   there are the usual assortment of  good  and  bad  girls  muscle  heads and low  brow hijinks  including a supporting bit by danny devito  . in many ways this isn  t much different from the old beach party movies of the    s  but now spiced up with nudity and drug use . obviously done on a limited budget and a limited schedule  the film coasts along pleasantly enough with a breezy charm that compensates for some  by today  s standards certainly  un  pc views of women .  br    br   the classic touch is a toaster for bobby  s den of sin on wheels . yes  a toaster  hey  you gotta have something hot for those munchies   br    br   grindhouse fest .  
horror gods boris karloff and bela lugosi should be more than sufficient a reason for any genre  lover to watch a film  and  even though the most convincing one they are not the only reason to watch this particular little sci  fi  horror gem . while lambert hillyer  s  the invisible ray  of     does not nearly share the brilliance of other contemporary films starring karloff   frankenstein   bride of frankenstein    the mummy   . . .  or lugosi   white zombie    island of the lost souls    dracula   . . .   or both   the black cat    the raven   . . .   this is doubtlessly a highly entertaining film that no lover of cult cinema should consider missing . compared to other universal horror pictures  the storyline seems a bit silly  but in a delightful manner . karloff and lugosi  of course  shine as always  and the film furthermore profits from great sceneries and an excellent photography . karloff plays dr . janos rukh  a brilliant scientist who has invented a technique to look into the past through a telescope  and finds out that a meteor has hit the earth thousands of years ago . stunned by rukh  s invention  the celebrated french scientist dr . felix benet  bela lugosi   invites him to join an expedition in to find the meteor . in africa  rukh makes a discovery that is capable of causing great beneficence and great destruction alike . . . it is somewhat odd that karloff  who was in fact british  plays a hungarian scientist here while lugosi  who was hungarian  plays a french scientist  but they are both excellent as usual . as far as i am concerned  these two horror deities could have probably been filmed reading the telephone directory  and i am sure they would have made something out of it  either man is an icon of the horror genre  and seeing them together is a treat for every fan of the genre . by the way  this is one of the few films  if not the only one  in which it is obvious that lugosi was actually taller than karloff . frances drake makes a very good female lead in her role of dr rukh  s beautiful young wife . the rest of the performances are also good  if not particularly worth mentioning . other than the casting of karloff and lugosi  the film  s greatest qualities are probably the atmosphere due to great settings and photography  as well as the wonderfully cheesy and highly entertaining storyline . my main complaint is that i would have wished for more screen time for lugosi  and for his role to have a bit more significance . he is fantastic as always  but his role could have been bigger  and more sinister . otherwise   the invisible ray  is a wonderfully entertaining film which should satisfy every lover of classic horror  sci  fi cinema  and a must  see for all my fellow lugosi  karloff fans .  
i agree with most if not all of the previous commenter  s tom  bighouseazyahoo . com  . the zatoichi series is a great character study combined with great sword fighting and excitement .  br    br   i have seen zatoichi            i believe   has not been released on zone   usa  . zatoichi the outlaw was disappointing . the story line was complicated  and seemed to be a hodgepodge of many previous zatoichi story lines . at one point  i was wondering if i was not seeing a remake of a previous zatoichi film .  br    br   this film was disappointing because it started to depend on effects  a head rolling  limbs severed  blood  and less on the nobility of the zatoichi character . all the previous films succeeded based on the storyline and action  and won a great following without having to resort to effects .  br    br   i am just hoping that the remaining zatoichi films do not follow the same trend . this is the first zatoichi film from his studio . i highly recommend all the previous zatoichi films   and recommend them .  
scientist working frantically in seclusion finds a way to locate the impact crater of a meteor carrying a new radioactive element . all  pseudo  science and breakthrough technology talks of the     s are right there  including the idea that radioactivity could heal any illness if properly harnessed . when he summons his rivals  who had cast him out of the scientific community and ridiculed him  to witness his discovery  they propose a  joint  expedition to africa . . . of course they end up stealing much of dr . rukh  s original discovery  giving him only residual credit . in addition to that  an effeminate weakling who looks like a supporting comedy actor from the worst abbotcostello  lawton  literally steals dr . rukh  s young trophy wife  drake   who falls head over heels for that scrap of a human being . having grown horns like a deer wasn  t going to make dr . rukh  karloff  any friendlier  so he embarks in an undercover revenge mission . . . killing  of his foes and friendly dr . benet  lugosi   the only one who had helped him . . . finally succumbing to the deadly radiations that had allowed him to embark in his revenge to start with but  to my utmost dissatisfaction  sparing the adulteress and that poor excuse for a human being she had married . acting is mostly fine  with karloff  lugosi being very good . check the hysterical chambermaid scene . . . other characters aren  t worth mentioning . . . recommended  much like all old universal horrors . . .  
 some spoilers   br    br   this movie is sometimes subtitled  life everlasting .  that  s often taken as reference to the final scene  but more accurately describes how dead and buried this once  estimable series is after this sloppy and illogical send  off .  br    br   there  s a  hey kids  let  s put on a show air  about this telemovie  which can be endearing in spots . some fans will feel like insiders as they enjoy picking out all the various cameo appearances . co  writer  co  producer tom fontana and his pals pack the goings  on with friends and favorites from other shows  as well as real baltimore personages .  br    br   that  s on top of the returns of virtually all the members of the television  s show varied casts  your old favorites as well as later non  favorites .  br    br   there was always a tug  of  war pitting quality  conscious executive producer barry levinson  fontana  james yoshimura and the rest of the creative team against budget  conscious nbc execs  who simply wanted a another moronic police procedural like  nash bridges   which regularly beat  homicide  in the ratings . the pressure told as the show bounced between riveting realism that transcended its form  and sleazy sensationalism that demeaned it .  br    br   unfortunately for this movie  fontana  co  writers yoshimura and eric overmeyer and director jean de segonzac simply threw in the towel . they took the most ludicrous story are from the series  topped it with an unlikely and artistically unfruitful new plot line  and laid the burden of carrying the whole mess on one of the weaker cast members .  br    br   briefly  some time has passed since the last episode of the show . the former heart of baltimore  s homicide unit  yaphet kotto as lt . al giardello  is now a kurt schmoke  like candidate for mayor  and schmoke himself makes a cameo appearance . but this promising start immediately and improbably takes a tragic turn .  br    br   the spotlight shifts to giancarlo esposito as giardello  s son mike . a handsome man who has done good work elsewhere  esposito was one of the pretty faces brought in late to supposedly enliven the tv series . but the question for viewers always was is mike that uncomfortable as gee  s son  or is esposito that uncomfortable in the role   br    br   to be fair  esposito doesn  t get a chance to play out the main story without interruption . that  s because the writers choose this moment to revive another storyline that spat on the intelligence of the show  s loyal voters .  br    br   an apparent snuff streaming video was promoted  and then seemed to actually take place  on the internet . after some red herrings  the detectives arrested a repellent suspect . but zaljko ivanek  s harassed and overworked deputy states attorney forgot to file motions in time  and the suspect was released  only to be murdered later .  br    br   let  s summarize he forgot to file the paperwork because it wasn  t the most sensational case of his career  because the mayor  the attorney general  the governor  the entire maryland legislature  the u . s . attorney general  nbc  court tv  the bbc  ap  reuters  people  the sun  the washington post  the new york times  the la times  time magazine  the times of london  the economist  the johannesburg mail and guardian  l  osservatore romano  le figaro  paris match  l  equipe and computer world weren  t calling every   minutes to ask about the status of the case .  br    br   nevertheless  the old gang of detectives and associates flocks back to baltimore to help out . there  s quite an array of talent on display . unfortunately  with the limited amount of dialogue to hand out  some of them are merely on display .  br    br   two of the strongest actors  clark johnson and melissa leo  are criminally underused  while time wasted on jon seda and michael michelle could be better spent on commercials . the writers do seem to satirize this  presenting jason priestley as the latest big  deal detective . on the other hand  they give easy  come  easy  go michelle forbes a very affecting scene .  br    br   there  s some other sly casting  with actual lt . gary d  addario  the center of the book that gave rise to the show  playing another detective . guests drop in from other shows  like whitney allen doing her deadpan and clueless  miss sally  from the children  s show beloved by the inmates on fontana  s  oz .  dina napoli of wbal tv turns up as herself .  br    br   even when entertaining  though  these guests can be distracting . ed begley jr . actually advances the story in his brief appearance  playing dr . victor ehrlich from fontana  s  st . elsewhere .  he  s still a vivid character  and fits in a hospital setting . then you remember  didn  t st . elegius turn out to be an autistic boy  s fantasy   br    br   the most useful cameo reflects corporate synergy . this movie was made when court tv bought re  run rights to the series . that network contributed legal waif helen lucaitis  who had interviewed the homicide team and later appeared on  oz .  the tv correspondent does an efficient job summarizing the news  that is  plot points for latecomers .  br    br   although she  s so thin that she disappears when she turns sideways  lucaitis also adeptly handles a bit of physical comedy with esposito . he shows more juice in his scenes with lucaitis than with any of his usual colleagues . perhaps those two should have done a spin  off .  br    br   as the movie winds down  the cream of the cast rises to the top . although they are saddled with a loser script  andre braugher and kyle secor overcome it . their performances remind viewers what made homicide  for considerable stretches  the best show on the air and one of the best television productions ever .  br    br   it  s fun to watch top pros do their stuff it  s just a shame this movie doesn  t give them more of a chance . die  hard fans may want to see this movie anyway  but you can live without it .  
prof . janos rukh  boris karloff  discovers radium x   a powerful force to be used for atomic power . unfortunately rukh has been contaminated by the radium and starts to glow in the dark   and his touch causes instant death . dr . felix benet  bela lugosi  develops an antidote   but rukh starts to go mad due to the radium and the antidote and sets out to kill all he believed wronged him .  br    br   the plot is silly and the  effects  that make karloff glow in the dark are laughable  but this is still a fun little chiller . it moves quickly  has some great atmosphere  notice rukh  s  house  and the movie starts on a dark and rainy night  and karloff and lugosi  as always  give great performances . there is also good acting by franic drake  as rukh  s wife  and violet kemble cooper  as his mother  . so it  s ok but just a notch below all the other karloff  lugosi movies . the plot is just too far  fetched for me to swallow . still i did like this . i give it a  .  
just like last years event wwe new years revolution     was headlined by an elimination chamber match . the difference between last years and this years match however was the entertainment value . in reality only three people stood a chance of walking out of the pepsi arena in albany  new york with the wwe championship . those men were current champion john cena  kurt angle and shawn michaels . there was no way vinnie mac would put the belt on any of the rookies carlito or chris masters . and kane  kane last held the wwe championship in june      and that was only for one night . it was obvious he wasn  t going to be the one either . last years match was a thrilling affair with six of the best wwe had to offer .     was a predictable and disappointing affair but still the match of the night by far .  br    br   the only surprise of the evening came after the bell had run on the main event . out strolled vince mcmahon himself and demanded they lift the chamber . it was then announced that edge was cashing in his money in the bank championship match right then and there . with no time to prepare and just off the back of winning the elimination chamber match john cena did not stand a chance and dropped the title after a spear to one of the most entertaining heels in wwe . this was the only entertaining piece of action that happened all night .  br    br   the undercard  like last year  was truly atrocious . triple h and the big show put on a snore fest that had me struggling to stay away . hhh picked up the win but that was never in any real doubt was it  any pay  per  view that has both jerry lawler and viscera wrestling on the same card will never have any chance of becoming a success really does it . the king pinned helms  who books this stuff   and big vis tasted defeat against the wasted shelton benjamin with a little help from his mama .  br    br   the women of the wwe also had a busy night . there was the usual diva nonsense with a bra and panties gauntlet match which was won by ashley and the woman  s championship was also on the line . in a match  i thought would have been left to brew till wrestlemania   mickie james challenged trish stratus in a good match . trish won the contest but it was evident that this is going to continue for the foreseeable future .  br    br   the opening contest of the night pitted soon to be wwe champion edge against intercontinental champion  ric flair . this could have been better but it was a battered and bloody flair that retained after a disqualification finish . edge obviously had bigger fish to fry .  br    br   so new years revolution kicked off the     pay  per  view calendar in disastrous fashion . the only good thing from that is knowing that for the wwe the only way is up . they don  t get much worse than this .  
the thirties horror films that are best remembered are always the likes of dracula and frankenstein and there  s a very good reason for that  but there were a number of smaller but nevertheless excellent productions  and the invisible ray is certainly one of them . the plot is not particularly original and similar plots have been seen many times before  even way back in      but the way that everything is put together is certainly very imaginative and director lambert hillyer has created a very nifty little original horror film . the plot focuses on the good hearted dr janos rukh a man who has discovered a way to recreate the history of the earth . his discovery leads him to believe that there may be an unknown radioactive element somewhere in africa and so he sets off along with a team of esteemed colleagues to find it . however  tragedy strikes while on the expedition and the good doctor ends up becoming exposed to the element which makes him glow in the dark  and also sends him mad . . .  br    br   the biggest draw of the film is undoubtedly the fact that it stars the two biggest horror stars of its day  boris karloff and bela lugosi  and both give excellent performances . karloff really shows what a good actor he is and his character has plenty of meat for karloff to impress with . bela lugosi has a role which is extremely different from what we  re used to seeing him in  and it  s a great performance from him also it  s nice to see a bit of versatility from lugosi . the film does get off to a rather slow start but things soon start to pick up . the second half of the film is the best and that  s really when the film gets exciting and karloff gets a chance to shine  literally  . the film does not put its focus on big special effects and largely relies on the actions of the central character to keep things interesting and it does work very well . the film remains interesting throughout and boils down to a very decent climax that wraps everything up nicely . overall  the invisible ray may not be one of the very best horror films of the thirties but it  s a very good one and comes recommended .  
my wife and i just finished watching bsu aka the booth . she fell asleep during some parts of the movie . i really wish i had taken a snooze with her  but the unfortunate fact is that the main character  s voice is so loud and grating that it was impossible for me to sleep . when our protagonist speaks  it makes me want to hear regis philbin and william shatner sing karaoke . he also has no redeeming qualities . i was hoping he  d get hit by a bus five minutes into the film .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i love asian horror cinema  but the booth is extremely irritating and full of scenes that really make no damned sense at all . if you want some good asian cinema  check out a tale of two sisters or into the mirror . avoid the booth like the plague  especially if you suffer from frequent migraines .  
boris and bela do well together in this film  whether they are against each other  or paddling the same boat . i saw this one in      and just purchased it from borders this year . this time watching it with my children  i took note of  things it held the attention of a    and  year old and i caught a few things i hadn  t when i first watched it . very swift story with an unpredictable end . a must for movie buffs     
after eight moto films the series had run its course  as this last entry demonstrates . peter lorre was clearly weary of trying to pump some sort of human interest and entertainment value into the wispy character of moto  and the dreadful idea of pairing him with a  funny  british sidekick utterly defeats all his efforts here .  
there are so many good things to say about this b movie .  br    br   b  maybe in connections  but not in commission . this is about the best of its genre that i have ever seen . a grade a effort by universal . the script is well done  imaginative  and without fault . writing credits howard higgin original story  douglas hodges story  john colton  screenplay  . director lambert hillyer handled the complex story and story locations very well . no skimping on the loads of extras and locations . i loved beulah bondy  jimmy stewarts mother in it  s a wonderful life . the fem lead  frances drake is a beauty and handled her part with grace and pathos for her karloff husband . lugosi likewise was correctly underplayed . i think this is the best part i remember seeing him in . as i said there were so many good things the african discovery of the radium x  the melting of the stone statues   somewhat reminiscent of the ten little indians in and then there were none  agatha christie   the barry fitzgerald version    the glowing of karlof in the dark . karloff  s mother played by violet kemble cooper with elegance . and because of all these virtues  i found myself believing in the science it portrayed . i guess that  s the mark of a good piece of art .  
between     and      twentieth century  fox made a ton of mr . moto films . however  towards the end of the series  it was obvious that the studio had  jumped the shark   so to speak . this phrase indicates that a tv show has passed its prime and the executives in charge decided to invigorate the show by fundamentally changing the formula . for example  with  the brady bunch  they introduced the annoying  cousin oliver  and with  family ties  they introduced a freak baby who grew up six years in only one season  with the moto films  they  d jumped the shark by introducing comic relief because they thought that these intelligent films needed to be re  tooled . in the previous film  warren hymer played an annoying wrestler . and  in this film the character archibald featherstone appears . featherstone might just be one of the most annoying examples of comic relief ever  as you kept hoping someone  preferably moto  would kill him just to shut him up   although he  s supposed to work for the famed scotland yard  he shows all the intelligence and acumen of a brain damaged turnip . again and again  his scenes were boorish and unnecessary and peter lorre just looks pained as he stands there and watches this buffoon  act  . it  s so bad that it truly destroys what could have been one of the better moto films due to its clever plot .  br    br   as for the plot  the crown of the queen of sheba is discovered in the opening scene . moto  now more of an international policeman than the amoral character he originally was  is on hand to protect the precious item from being stolen . in a great twist  several thieves all try to steal the crown independently of each other .  br    br   overall  the film is watchable but is also ample evidence that the moto series should have ended here . with wwii approaching  the films couldn  t have survived much longer anyway  as having a sympathetic japanese leading character simply wouldn  t have been accepted in the us or in allied countries .  
for real film people  this film is a must  since it works as a perfect little allegory for the movies themselves . janos rukh  boris karloff  s science has to do with capturing and projecting light from cosmic phenomena . this light can do harm  or it can be harnessed to do good . on the one hand it blinds his mother  on the other it is used to cure blindness   i can see   shouts a young girl on whose eyes this light is projected  . when rukh  karloff is himself poisoned by the uncanny power of this light  we see him actually emitting a ghostly glow on his hands and face like a badly developed negative  drawing attention to the fact that the man we are watching is a projection  an entity viewed on film  only visible  as in a movie theater  when the lights are out  .  br    br   there is a wonderful passage near the beginning where karloff  rukh explains his research as being informed by the fact that everything that happens is captured in light which rolls through space for millions of years  as the light from andromeda was emitted from that galaxy at a time when the earth was still molten rock .  br    br   there are passages in the film when this new science is juxtaposed to older cultural vehicles that of the writer  in the persona of beulah bondi  arabella stevens and religion  emblemized in the sculptural figures on the local cathedral karloff blasts with his projector  ray gun .  br    br   one has to wonder here if this film was meant to glance at what was going on in germany at the time  and particularly at riefenstall  s use of film the year before to promote a regime that certainly would go on to do a lot of harmtriumph of the will .  br    br   happily in the end  mother  violet kemble cooper  intervenes  reminding janos rukh of the first rule of science .  br    br   if only more movies made you want to stand up in the theater and shout  i can see    
has to be one of the worst wastes of   mm movie film ever unleashed on the public  the sequel to the at least entertaining pseudo  documentary original film  the legend of boggy creek  . bad script  worse acting  etc .  etc .  dawn wells had to be hoping that gilligan would come rescue her and take her back to the island just to escape from this piece of clap  trap .  
the story of ned kelly has been enshrouded in myth and exaggeration for time out of hand  and this film is no exception . what ensures ned kelly has a permanent place in history is the effort he went to in order to even the odds against the policemen hunting him . during several battles  he marched out wearing plates of beaten iron  off which the bullets available to police at the time would harmlessly bounce . indeed  it is only because there were a few bright sparks among the victorian police who noticed he hadn  t plated up his legs that he was captured and hanged . the story has been told in schools and histories of australia for so long that some permutations of the story have  ironically  become boring . the more the stories try to portray kelly as some inhuman or superhuman monster  the less people pay attention .  br    br   which is where this adaptation of our sunshine  a novel about the kelly legend  excels . rather than attempting to portray a ned kelly who is as unfeeling as the armour he wore  the film quickly establishes him as a human being . indeed  the reversal of the popular legend  showing the corruption of the victorian police and the untenable situation of the colonists  goes a long way to make this film stand out from the crowd . here  ned kelly is simply a human being living in a time and place where in order to be convicted of murder  one simply had to be the nearest person to the corpse when a policeman found it . no  i am not making that up . about the only area where the film errs is by exaggerating the irish versus english mentality of the battles . while the kelly gang were distinctly irish  australia has long been a place where peoples of wildly varied ethnicities have mixed together almost seamlessly  a scene with some chinese migrants highlights this  .  br    br   heath ledger does an amazing job of impersonating australia  s most notorious outlaw . it is only because of the fame he has found in other films that the audience is aware they are watching ledger and not kelly himself . orlando bloom has finally found a role in which he doesn  t look completely lost without his bow  and geoffrey rush  s appearance as the leader of the police contingent at glenrowan goes to show why he is one of the most revered actors in that desolate little island state . but it is naomi watts  appearing as julia cook  who gets a bit of a bum deal in this film . although the film basically implies that cook was essentially the woman in ned kelly  s life  but you would not know that from the minimal screen time that she gets here . indeed  a lot of the film  s hundred and ten minutes feels more freeze  dried than explorative . once the element of police corruption is established  in fact  the film rockets along so fast at times that it almost feels rushed .  br    br   unfortunately  most of the film  s strengths are not capitalised upon . rush barely gets more screen time than his name does in the opening and closing credits . ditto for watts  and the rest of the cast come off a little like mannequins . i can only conclude that another fifteen  or even thirty  minutes of footage might have fixed this . but that leads to the other problem  in that the lack of any depth or background to characters other than the titular hero leaves the events of the story with zero impact . one scene manages to do the speech  making thing well  but unfortunately  it all becomes a collage of moments with no linking after a while . if one were to believe the impression that this film creates  a matter of weeks  even days  passes between the time that ned kelly becomes a wanted man on the say  so of one corrupt policeman  and the infamous shootout at glenrowan . annoyingly  the trial and execution of ned kelly is not even depicted here  simply referred to in subtitles before the credits roll .  br    br   that said  aside from some shaky camera  work at times  ned kelly manages to depict some exciting shootouts  and it has a good beginning . for that reason  i rated it a seven out of ten . other critics have not been so kind  so if you  re not impressed by shootouts with unusual elements  and what could more more unusual than full body armour in a colonial shootout    then you might be better off looking elsewhere . especially if you want a more factual account of ned kelly  s life .  
the premise of the movie has been explained and if you  ve gotten this far you don  t me to pretend that i  m a movie critic . with that being said my own opinion of the movie is quite low . i  m a fan of takashi miike but this goes down in the category of his not so great work along with doa  and   and some others  many  .  br    br   the movie seems to get a free pass because it is a takashi film and nothing takashi does can be wrong . this is a highschoolers approach to cinema . for the rest of us we  ll find and hour and a half of a kid screaming for no real reason completely annoying  and yes  this does take away from the film   the pace of the film almost reaching levels of rigomortis  and the acting . . . well . . . hmmm .  br    br   if one is a takashi fan you  ll see it regardless to peak your interests . it lacks any originality  see the neverending story  or any character development from the lead character in the face of conflict other then a quite superficial one .  br    br   as it has been pointed out this is the first film miike has been credited with co  writing  but that doesn  t mean much as non of what we  d hope would be miike  s personality would spill over into the screen . all we get are some of the token miike shots vis the director of photography .  br    br   the movie had the potential to be something great . the premise is not a difficult one to run wild with . but this one seemed to have been run into the ground .  br    br   my suggestion is if you  re just getting into miike is go with some of the standards like gozu  ichi  and audition . then movie into his works like blue  s harp  fudoh  rainy dog  bird people of china .  
while not as famous as some of their other collaborations  such as the black cat and the body snatcher   this is a dandy little horror film even though the casting decisions were a bit odd . boris karloff plays dr . janos rukh  a weird scientist who lives in the carpathian mountains   near where the dracula character  s home town . bela lugosi plays dr . benet   whose nationality was never discussed though the name certainly sounds french . i really think it would have made sense to have the two switch roles  as the carpathian role seems tailor made for lugosi   especially with his accent . however  despite this unusual twist  the two still did excellent jobs . karloff  s was definitely the lead role  but lugosi acquitted himself well as a relatively normal person   something he didn  t play very often in films   it seems that dr . rukh is a bit of a pariah  as other scientists  especially benet  think his theories are bizarre and nonsensical . however  over the course of the film  rukh turns out to be right and benet is especially generous in his new praise for rukh . but  unfortunately  the wonderful new element that rukh discovered has the nasty side effect of turning him into a crazy killing machine  don  t you hate it when that happens   . while this could have just been a simple nice scientist turned mad story  the plot was well constructed  the characters nicely developed and the mad rukh was not a one  dimensional killer  but complex and interesting .  br    br   this film is bound to be enjoyed by anyone except for people who hate old horror films . you can really tell that universal pictures pulled out all the stops and made a bigger  budget film instead of the cheap quickies both lugosi and karloff unfortunately gravitated in later years . good stuff .  
i thought i had seen this movie  twice in fact . then i read all the other reviews  and they didn  t quite match up . a man and three young students  two girls and a boy  go to this town to study alleged bigfoot sightings . i still feel pretty confident that this is the movie i saw  despite the discrepancies in the reviews . therefore i  m putting my review back if you like the occasional  b  movie  as i do  then return to boggy creek is the movie for you  whether it  s setting the sleep timer  and nodding off to your favorite movie  bomb  or just hanging out with friends . boggy creek  the mute button  and you  ve got a fun night of improv . look out  is the legend true  i think we just might find out  along with a not  so  stellar cast . will there be any equipment malfunctions at particularly key moments in the film  does our blonde  manly  young hero have any chest hair  will the exceptionally high  tech technicolor last the entire film  you  ll have to watch to find out for yourself .  
okay  note to the people that put together these horror acting legends dvd  collections i truly am grateful and i hugely support the initiative  but  have you even watched the films before selecting them as part of the collection  when i purchased the boris karloff collection there were several films in which the star only played a supportive and unessential role   tower of london    the strange door   .  the invisible ray   however  is part of the bela lugosi collection and here it  s actually boris karloff who overshadows bela  this actually would have been a great title for the boris karloff collection instead  bela lugosi  s character is quite possibly the most good  natured and earnest one he ever portrayed in his entire career and good old karloff actually plays the mad and dangerously obsessed scientist here .  the invisible ray  features three main chapters . the first one  set in dr . janos rukh  s carpathian castle is pretty boring and demands quite a lot of the viewer  s patience  but of course the character drawings and the subject matter discussed here are fundamental for the rest of the film . dr . rukh  karloff  demonstrates to a couple of eminent colleagues  among them bela lugosi as dr . benet  how he managed to capture extraterrestrial rays inside a self  manufactured device . the scientists are sincerely impressed with his work and invite rukh and his lovely wife diane along for an expedition in the heart of africa . there dr . rukh isolates himself from the group  discovers the essential element  radium x  to complete his medical ray and goes completely bonkers after being overexposed to the meteorite himself . the third and final act is obviously the best and most horrific one  as it revolves on a good old fashioned killing spree with ingenious gimmicks  melting statues  and a surprising climax . karloff glows in the dark and  convinced the others are out to steal his discovery and even his life  he intends to eliminate them using his deadly touch . the narrative structure of  the invisible ray  sounds rather complicated  but the film is easy to follow and entertaining . the story is rather far  fetched but nevertheless compelling and director lambert hillyer provides several moments of sheer suspense . boris karloff is truly fantastic and so is lugosi  even though he deserved to have a little more screen time . their scenes together are the highlights of the film  along with the funky images of the glowing boris .  
never saw the original movie in the series . . . i only hope it was a much better movie than this or the sequel made in the      s as if it is not how were these two terrible sequels even justified . this movie had a really good lead in when they were advertising it to be shown on one of those old independent stations that are a thing of the past now . anyways it looked like it would be a pretty good scary movie . it was  however  a movie that would make some walt disney movies look dark . really  this movie was just a bunch of light fluff with virtually no boggy creek creature to be seen . the only real sighting is near the end when you see its shape during a very heavy rainstorm  other than that there is virtually no sign of the creature which was really disappointing as a kid . the story is basically the old evil hunters must kill anything they see and are after the boggy creek creature and kids are out to help it or just some random hairy guy in the woods that likes to pull random boats through the water . not really worth watching i would however like to see the original  granted the maker of that would make the also bad boggy creature of the    s  but he also made a very good slasher movie in the    s  the town the dreaded sundown  .  
with a special telescope  dr . janos rukh  boris karloff  successfully proves that years ago a meteorite landed in africa containing an unknown  but extremely powerful element . dr . benet  bela lugosi  form an expedition led by rukh to locate the element . unexpectedly  rukh discovers  radium x    even more powerful than radium and very radioactive and karloff becomes contaminated and can kill anyone by just touching them . the sparks really fly between lugosi and karloff in this classic science  fiction film during the post  world war ii era . director hillyer used a few standing sets from  flash gordon  series which was being filmed at the same time and also inserted some footage of electrical machines from frankenstein . universal kept the public unaware of the special effects being used in this great classic film . karloff and lugosi were at their very best and they both enjoyed working together and will be enjoyed by future generations .  
 . . . not that all disney films are garbage .  br    br   anyway  i saw  legend of boggy creek  first and absolutely loved the film . when i heard it had  sequels  i was ecstatic . i finally found a copy of this and watched it one night . i don  t see how they can make a g  rated sequel to a horror film . the original is a movie  documentary about the fauke monster  and can scare anyone .  return  is for kids and should not be watched by anyone . i don  t remember the plot too well  as it  s been quite some time since i watched it and i will not watch it again  but . . . it  s about these hunters coming to town and they go looking to kill bigfoot . three little kids sneek out of the house to stop them . a big monsoon comes through . the hunters get hurt  are saved by the kids . then they all hide out in a boat with a big piece of tarp on top and try to wait out the storm . then all of a sudden  bigfoot comes and does something really sick . i don  t wanna ruin the ending for any of yas  but it  s not scary . well . . . .  
boris karloff and bela lugosi made many films together  but on the whole  interestingly enough  karloff usually is the better man of the two . the real exception is  the black cat        where karloff is playing the evil head of a devil cult  and lugosi is seeking revenge on him for destroying his life . but more usual is  black friday   where  whatever his motive  karloff is trying to improve brain surgery while lugosi is a murderous thug . in  the raven  lugosi is a sadistic surgeon  who blackmails karloff to assist his evil plans until karloff finally has had enough . rarely are they both negative characters totally . in  the body snatcher   karloff does kill lugosi  but lugosi is trying to blackmail him .  br    br   the one exception where they are both extremely sympathetic but at cross purposes to each other is this     film  which i feel has rarely had the audience acceptance of some of the other movies i have mentioned . in it karloff  s dr . janos rukh is a hard driven scientific genius who has been sneered at by the  official scientific community  for his theory that a rare form of radium is in nigeria on a meteorite that landed centuries ago . he has finally gotten the support of a well financed expedition led by sir francis stevens and his wife lady arabella stevens  walter kingsford and beulah bondi   and has another scientist  a frenchman named dr . felix benet  lugosi   rukh  s young wife diane  frances drake  and a friend and protge of the stevenses named ronald drake  frank lawton  .  br    br   before they leave  rukh is warned by his mother  violet kemble cooper  that he is possibly seeking wisdom that he shouldn  t and it may end in tragedy . he tries to dismiss this  but he is worried by what she says  his scientific standing  and whether or not he is going to get his due credit .  br    br   what he gets is a disaster . he finds the substance  but is infected by it  s remarkable radioactivity . he finds that he is slowly burning up  and if he tries to touch people or animals they die . he  s actually built up a friendship or understanding with benet  who figures out a type of radioactive fighting cocktail for rukh to use to counter the danger . but there are two things that are unbeatable here . the antidote can only last for a certain amount of time  and has to be replenished . and the radioactivity has affected rukh  s brain . he is increasingly jealous of diane  s friendship with ronald  encouraged  unfortunately by sir francis and lady arabella   and he is equally upset that  due to his having to pretend to have died  the effects of the radioactivity are like that  benet and several others are collecting the kudos of the wonders that  radium x  is giving to man . soon rukh is on a murderous rampage that destroys many lives  ending with his own .  br    br   the film certainly picked up on science to an extent . madame curie had died recently from cancer she got due to work with radium . few fully understood the dangers of radioactivity in      but some idea of it was coming out . the wave of murders by rukh cause the newspapers to talk about a  curse  on the expedition . of course  with the idea of a  cursed  expedition  on the continent of africa  for a hidden treasure buried centuries ago  financed by a titled englishman  we have entered archeology not physics or geology  paging howard carter and lord carnaevon  .  br    br   on the other hand  benet tries to settle the cause of the string of deaths  and reverts to an idea that was actually demolished in     in england . during the whitechapel murders  sir charles warren ordered the retinas of several of the dead victims to be photographed to see if the last image on the retinas was jack the ripper . it turned out he only got the photographs of the retinas of dead prostitutes . but the idea did not die . jules verne used it in his novel  the brothers kip  in      and here dr . benet uses it . as this is a science fiction story  he finds the image of rukh on the the plate  but benet drops the plate accidentally and it shatters .  br    br   the film is good on many grounds  the most interesting that for a change karloff and lugosi are not unsympathetic towards each other . there is a type of tragic fatalism in this story that is missing from their other films . the other performances are good as well  in particular ms kemble cooper . she is best remembered as basil rathbone  s frightening sister  jane murdstone  in  david copperfield  . here her final act is the only way to bring this tragedy to an end  and who can say it did not hurt her more than her target .  
talk about your waste of money . . im just wondering why michael would star in such a turkey of a movie . . michael is a great actor especially in the movie where he plays a man dying of cancer . . that was wonderful . as he tapes himself for his son to see it once he grows up . . michael is such a talented actor . . so what made him do this one    i watched it and thought it was really dumb . . i guess at one time in their career they have the crappy movies . . especially  the squeeze  i didnt understand that one at all  and i feel his best performance was in  pacific heights   his character really creeped me out . . and i really enjoyed  multiplicity  . . that one was so hilarious    and he was just perfect for the role of  batman  . . and i kind of liked  night shift  and i love  johnny dangerously  too . . just too bad some of them end up doing lousy movies . . like this one was . . .  
there is no doubt that during the decade of the   s  the names of boris karloff and bela lugosi became a sure guarantee of excellent performances in high quality horror films . after being universal  s  first monster  in the seminal classic   dracula   bela lugosi became the quintessential horror villain thanks to his elegant style and his foreign accent  sadly  this last factor would also led him to be type  casted during the   s  . in the same way  boris karloff  s performance in james whale  s  frankenstein  transformed him into the man to look for when one wanted a good monster . of course  it was only natural for these icons to end up sharing the screen  and the movie that united them was      s  the black cat  . this formula would be repeated in several films through the decade  and director lambert hillyer  s mix of horror and science fiction   the invisible ray   is another of those minor classics they did in those years .  br    br   in  the invisible ray   dr . janos rukh  boris karloff  is a brilliant scientist who has invented a device able to show scenes of our planet  s past captured in rays of light coming from the galaxy of andromeda . while showing his invention to his colleagues  dr . felix benet  bela lugosi  and sir francis stevens  walter kingsford   they discover that thousands of years ago  a meteor hit in what is now nigeria . after this marvelous discovery  dr . rukh decides to join his colleagues in an expedition to africa  looking for the landing place of the mysterious meteor . this expedition won  t be any beneficial for rukh  as during the expedition his wife diane  frances drake  will fall in love with ronald drake  frank lawton   an expert hunter brought by the stevens to aid them in their expedition . however  rukh will lose more than his wife in that trip  as he  ll be forever changed after being exposed to the invisible ray of the meteor .  br    br   written by john colton  who previously did the script for  werewolf of london     the invisible ray  had its roots on an original sci  fi story by howard higgin and douglas hodges . given that this was a movie with karloff and lugosi  colton puts a lot of emphasis on the horror side of his story  playing in a very effective way with the mad scientist archetype and adding a good dose of melodrama to spice things up . one element that makes  the invisible ray  to stand out among other horror films of that era  is the way that colton plays with morality through the story . that is  there aren  t exactly heroes and villains in the classic style  but people who make decisions and later face the consequences of those choices . in many ways   the invisible ray  is a modern tragedy about obsessions  guilt and revenge .  br    br   a seasoned director of low  budget b  movies  filmmaker lambert hillyer got the chance to make  films for universal pictures when the legendary studio was facing serious financial troubles . thanks to his experience working with limited resources  hillyer  s films were always very good looking despite the budgetary constrains  and  the invisible ray  was not an exception . while nowhere near the stylish gothic atmosphere of previous universal horror films  hillyer  s movie effectively captures the essence of colton  s script  as he gives this movie a dark and morbid mood more in tone with pulp novels than with straightforward sci  fi . finally  a word must be said about hillyer  s use of special effects for an extremely low  budget film  they look a lot better than the ones in several a  movies of the era .  br    br   as usual in a movie with lugosi and karloff  the performances by this legends are of an extraordinary quality . as the film  s protagonist  boris karloff is simply perfect in his portrayal of a man so blinded by the devotion to his work that fails to see the evil he unleashes . as his colleague  dr . benet  bela luogis is simply a joy to watch  stealing every scene he is in and showing what an underrated actor he was . as rukh  s wife  frances drake is extremely effective  truly helping her character to become more than a damsel in distress . still  two of the movie highlights are the performances of kemble cooper as mother rukh  and beulah bondi as lady arabella  as the two actresses make the most of their limited screen time  making unforgettable their supporting roles . frank lawton is also good in his role  but nothing surprising when compared to the rest of the cast .  br    br   if one judges this movie under today  s standards  it  s very easy to dismiss it as another cheap science fiction film with bad special effects and carelessly jumbled pseudoscience . however  that would be a mistake  as despite its low  budget  it is remarkably well done for its time . on the top of that  considering that the movie was made when the nuclear era was about to begin and radioactivity was still a relatively new concept  it  s ideas about the dangers of radioactivity are frighteningly accurate . one final thing worthy to point out is the interesting way the script handles the relationships between characters  specially the friendship and rivalry that exists between the obsessive dr . rukh and the cold dr . benet  as this allows great scenes between the two iconic actors .  br    br   while nowhere near the gothic expressionism of the  frankenstein  movies  nor the elegant suspense of  the black cat   lambert hillyer  s  the invisible ray  is definitely a minor classic amongst universal pictures  catalog of horror films . with one of the most interesting screenplays of   s horror  this mixture of suspense  horror and science fiction is one severely underrated gem that even now delivers a good dose of entertainment courtesy of two of the most amazing actors the horror genre ever had boris karloff and bela lugosi .      
gung ho was a good idea  however it is to much to ask americans viewers to understand the dynamics of american jobs and foreign competition . in this movie the main character hunt stevenson  michael keaton  goes to japan and convinces a japanese auto company to come to america and help his dying pennslyvania town . two things come at you . first why would a japanese company come to america to make cars when they do so  and so well at that  secondly can anyone understand that american companies of all types go to third world nations to have their products made to escape american labor costs  it makes the film  s premise then that the number one maker of cars in the world would go to one of its  top competitors  aside from germany  and put a plant there as unrealistic . keaton was still in his comedy mode by this time . but he gives a credible performance all the same as he could prove that he could go from comedy to drama in a matter of seconds and still not embarrass himself but director ron howard can  t keep this from becoming a tv movie which it ends up being anyway because they have to give the unlikely story a happy ending the politics and problems of japanese and american relations not withstanding . gung ho has a happy days and laverne and shirley feel to it as the producers of both tv shows made the film and then made the tv version of this movie as well which gives the film its  lightweight feel . the japanese manager gets to love his american workers and feels he and other japanese people can learnfrom americans . his no .  man saito who supposedly doesn  t like americans all that much doesn  t think so . i would have prefered all the japanese characters been like saito than the soft goofball characters they made the japanese out to be . it would have made the film more interesting .  
the invisible ray is an excellent display of both the acting talents of boris karloff and bela lugosi . karloff pulls off a flawless performance as a sullen and conflicted scientist who appears to put his scientific achievements ahead of his relationships with others  even his wife . his already loner personality becomes unbearable as he becomes paranoid .  br    br   lugosi plays the consummate professional  who is passionate about his work but still finds time to maintain on good terms with everyone  but still seems to have no real close friends . this was one of his few roles as a good guy and he plays it very well . it is hard  however to hear his accent and believe he is french .  br    br   the biggest problem with the movie was that it was all based on  junk science  but  in a way  even the junk science makes it work well . since the ideas and theories are completely idiotic  they are as  relevant  today as they were when the movie was made . and they are also as forward reaching  and always will be .  br    br   this is a perfectly delightful movie to watch again and again . i saw it maybe  times this weekend and i could easily sit through it five more times . the acting is marvelous and the science is amusing . i highly recommend it .  
there are laughs in this film  that is for sure . michael keaton is a talent and he used to be funny  before he decided he was a serious actor  . however  what bothers me so much about this film  is how unlikable practically all of the characters are . other than the main two leads  everybody is a jerk . i mean  these small town losers are about as uncouth as you can get . you just watch and think  man  these losers should be unemployed . moreover  the american factory worker is portrayed as a lazy and ungrateful slob . it made me wonder if this film was made by japanese nationalists . oh sure  in the end they all come together as one  but i just did not enjoy the trip to get there .  
this is just about in the same league as the black cat   although i  d give this a  rather than a   . that  s praise indeed for a film that has been so badly underrated that it is amazing   br    br   the invisible ray  is part horror  part drama and certainly part sci  fi . for a movie made in     the sci  fi elements were a good deal ahead of their time . the mixture of horror  drama and sci  fi are a perfect blend  while the acting on the part of lugosi and karloff couldn  t be better .  br    br   director lambert hillyer captures a lot of elements that james whale did so often . what i  m saying is that this film is eerie and well shot . the scene with the gargoyles outside of lugosi  s room is a perfect example of the mood . it  s a standout moment in the film  which is so sadly missing in today  s movies of the genre .  br    br   as with the black cat  and island of lost souls   i can  t understand why this film has yet to be released on dvd . when you consider some of the junk that  s already been transferred to dvd it  s that much more puzzling .  br    br   anyway  watch this film if you get the chance . when it  s released on dvd grab it fast and put it in an honored spot within your dvd library .  
this movie is an idiotic attempt at some kind of action thriller . a tour bus on its way to las vegas is attacked by a group of white trash hijackers driving dune buggies . they drive them out into the desert and then steal all of their valuables . the plot changes constantly . one minute they are looking to kidnap a rich ranchers daughter  the next they are looking for a collectible stamp worth       dollars . the dialogue is horrible .  br    br   please don  t watch this movie .  
one doesn  t get to enjoy this gem  the     invisible ray  often . but no can forget it . the story is elegant . karloff  austere and embittered in his carpathian mountain retreat  is janos rukh  genius science who reads ancient beams of light to ascertain events in the great geological pastparticularly the crash of a potent radioactive meteor in africa . joining him is the ever  elegant lugosi  as a rare hero   who studies  astro  chemistry .  frances drake is the lovely  underused young wife frank lawton the romantic temptation and the divine violet kemble cooper is mother rukh  in a performance worthy of maria ospenskya .  br    br   the story moves swiftly in bold episodes  with special effects that are still handsome . it also contains some wonderful lines . one rukh restores his mother  s sight  he asks   mother  can you see  can you see    yes  i can seemore clearly than ever . and what i see frightens me .  even better when mother rukh says   he broke the first law of science .  i am not alone among my acquaintance in having puzzled for many many years exactly what this first law of science is .  br    br   this movie is definitely desert island material .  
i haven  t seen it in over twenty years . oj was the bus driver  arte johnson was the tour guide  lorenzo was the kidnapper .  br    br   yea  lorenzo looked very much at home as the villain  a natural . i think i watched it back then most for oj  who i had seen towering inferno and cassandra crossing  but also to see arte johnson .  br    br   i was a little bored that johnson was so serious .  br    br   and yes  it shifted plots . in reading other posts  i remember that was some plot that they were going to kidnap some rich girl  but then that priceless stamp business turned up out of the blue .  br    br   i was going  a stamp  if it came on as a late movie  i would probably record it to check it out again  but i wouldn  t be nostalgic over it . not yet anyway .  br    br   there are better movies from the seventies like this to check out .  
karloff and lugosi  together again  this is one of those films that casual fans will pass over and tend not to appreciate as much . it  s not an all  out horror film like the duo  s previous two hits  the black cat and the raven . but  it is very worthy of both  s talents and is a fun film when re  visited .  br    br   the invisible ray was directed by lambert hillyer  a director who mainly made westerns  but curiously in these final days of the laemmles  reign at universal  he found himself helming this and the laemmles  final horror film  dracula  s daughter . both are crisp  clean  cut fantasies that are very light on horror content despite the fantastic elements .  br    br   just as lugosi went wild in the raven  much needs to be said of karloff  s hamming in the invisible ray . the one aspect of the story that is particularly unsatisfying is that karloff  s character  rukh  acts so madly before he is poisoned by radium x  that there really isn  t much of a change once he starts glowing . this is very similar to the complaint people have about jack nicholson in the shining  he  s basically a loony right from the start . there isn  t any real transformation . same here . halfway through karloff simply has an added purpose for revenge in his mind . i still enjoyed his performance  though  just as i did lugosi  s over  the  top antics in the raven .  br    br   meanwhile  lugosi completely surprises you and gives a restrained  and thoughtful turn as rukh  s rival in science  dr . benet . lugosi also has some of the best lines in the film  including a memorable warning to the police trying to catch rukh  of which i am in alignment with horror film writer john soister on   and if he  rukh  touches anyone   the inspector inquires . lugosi hesitatingly replies  in a way that only lugosi could deliver   they die  . just as lugosi could be so off  he could also be more perfect than any actor . this is one of those moments .  br    br   therefore  karloff and lugosi  s interactions are all very good as we get the mad antics of karloff pared off against the cool logic of lugosi . karloff would go on to play similar mad scientists many times  however  one wishes lugosi would have gotten to play more straight roles like this one . he only had one more chance  ninotchka  .  br    br   the invisible ray is a fun film  and a real treat to the true karloff and lugosi fans . it is one of those films that improves on each viewing  not because it is a masterpiece  but because of the charisma and talent of its  stars and how this story complements the darker  more horrific pairings they had . the special effects  by the always innovative john fulton  are terrific and the supporting actors are all adequate . frances drake looks as beautiful as she did in mad love and plays a strong woman  something seldom seen in classic horror films . the scene in the end when karloff stalks her and she doesn  t scream is one of the most haunting moments of the film . a terrific  fun film   
the fact that this movie made it all the way to the rentalrack in norway is bizarre . this movie is just awful . this image quality is just one teeny bit better than you get of a mobile phone and the plot is soooo bad . the main character is just plain annoying and the rest just suck . every person affiliated with this movie should be ashamed . the fact that the people that made this movie put their name on this is extraordinary . and the distributors did they even see it   this is probably the worst movie i have ever seen . to label this a comedy is an insult to mankind . i urge you not to support this movie by buying or renting it .  
the wonderfully urbane ronald coleman is show  cased here as in few other of his films . he is literally in every scene and this comical movie remains fresh because of him  not in spite of him . he is handsome  witty and very clever here as he remains a step ahead of his wandering  lovely wife   played perfectly by anna lee . the movie is based on a french play and brings all the best qualities of that farce . most of the supporting cast is well known  at least by face if not name . . . and are absolutely perfect for this very funny film . the fantastic mr . coleman is a combination of sean connery and clark gable as he stays a step ahead of the other characters . his multi  talents can be further appreciated in the classic  lost horizon  which every film buff must see .  
my friend bought the movie for    its is not even  cent worth   because they wrote it was like american pie . but we would soon find out that there is a long way from american pie to that piece of crap . it is not even a comedy  its more like a really really really bad documentary . not only the story is bad  the picture and sound also sucks to . they put in some alcohol  chicks  dwarfs and drunken teens . and the result is a disaster . if you see this movie don  t buy it  rather spend your money on something else  and better . if you are gonna torture yourself  then don  t invite your friend  s  unless you hate really much and you want to get rid of them .  
i  m sure that not many people outside of australia have ever heard of the legend of ned kelly . i once saw a documentary about the man  but that  s the only time i once saw or heard anything about him . and i guess that this might be the biggest problem this movie will have to face . no  one knows anything about it and probably not many people will care about the subject .  br    br   the movie tells the story of ned kelly  s life . the irish immigrant has lived in north  west victoria all his life  but has never been very welcome by the authorities . the police always accuses him of everything they can think of and they keep harassing his family . when kelly is fed up with the way everything goes  he forms a gang with his brother and two other men . they start robbing banks and even hijack an entire town for  days . all this violence leads to a man hunt organized by the police and when they kill three policemen  they are outlawed . finally they take over a pub in glenrowan  where they have a party with all the visitors  waiting for a train full of police to derail at a part of the track that they tore up . but the train is able to stop in time because someone warns them and what will follow is a battle on life and death between the police and the four gunmen . . .  br    br   it  s very hard to tell whether all of what is shown in the movie is true or false . i guess nobody really knows  because there will always be two camps who will each tell their own truth one camp says he was a hero  some kind of robin hood  the others will say he was an ordinary criminal  a murderer and a thief . i really couldn  t tell you which of them is right  perhaps both are  but what i can tell you is that the facts in the movie as well as is the documentary were about the same .  br    br   this movie was a nice addition to the documentary i once saw and i really enjoyed the performances of all the actors . heath ledger  orlando bloom  naomi watts  geoffrey rush are all actors who are pretty well known  but even the lesser known actors show in this production that they all know what good acting should look like . i really enjoyed this movie and i give it a  .      
ah  bait . how do i hate thee  let me count the ways .  . you try to be funny  but are corny and unenjoyable every joke is predictable and expected  and when it comes  does not inspire laughter . instead  i want to hurl .  . you try to be dramatic  but are unbelievable the woman overacts to a terrible degree  and the  bad guy  looks like bill gates  and is about as scary as . . . well  bill gates .  just try to imagine bill gates trying to intimidate somebody with a gun . doesn  t work  does it  a lawyer  maybe  but not a gun . doesn  t fit .  as for jamie foxx  well  just watching him try to deliver a dramatic and heartfelt dialogue is ludicrous  and makes me want to hurl .  . you try to be action  packed  but instead are dull and dragging too many times . and when the action heats up  the tripod for the camera must have been lost  for the scenes wobble more than those in the blair witch project  and i find myself nauseated  and once again i want to hurl .  . you try to be a good movie  but you failed  you failed  you failed  i would rather walk barefoot across the sahara with a pack full of beef jerky and no water  no sunscreen  and only meryl streep for company . this hell would be lovelier than a single minute more spent watching everyone in bait overact their way through an idiotically written story with bill gates for a bad guy  and let  s not even talk about the massive bomb that goes off in a car that jamie foxx  s character has just driven off a cliff  but somehow manages to escape . . . just kill me now  or do the right thing and promise me that somehow i  ll never have to watch a movie that is this bad  ever again .  
this is truly one from the  golden age  of hollywood  the kind they do not make anymore . it is an unique  fun movie that keeps you guessing what is going to happen next .  br    br   all the actors are perfectly cast and they are all great supporting actors . this is the first movie i saw with ronald colman in it and i have been a fan of his ever since . reginald gardiner has always been a favorite supporting actor of mine and adds a certain quality to every movie he is in . while he played a different kind of character here  he still added something to the movie that another actor cast in this character would not have added .  
it was the tag  line  in the tradition of american pie  that fooled me into renting this movie . what i got was a piece of junk in the style of jackass  with the major difference that compared to this jackass the movie seems like a citizen kane .  br    br   this movie made me regret that i rewarded other movies with  out of    because now i can  t go beneath that . this one makes quite some bad movies look like cinematic feats .  br    br   i actually turned it off after   minutes  and that  s something i very rarely do . but it was just too plain boring  stupid  uninteresting and unnecessary .  br    br   can  t believe some people actually reward this with   out of   . what did your parents do  drop you on the head when you were just a child  or was it the very first movie you ever saw  so you got nothing to compare it to  are you still a virgin and are breasts all you ever think off  something must be wrong  at least .  br    br   my advice stay clear of this one . even if your in the mood for a simple movie that doesn  t require thinking  choose something else  or you  ll regret it for sure .  
this almost unknown gem was based on a french farce   which shows  and i mean that as a compliment .  br    br   caroline  lee  is being courted by a wealthy argentinian  roland   who asks her father for her hand in marriage . but caroline is already married to anthony  colman   who has just arrived by plane and launches immediately into an audience  directed reminiscence about the last time caroline decided she was in love with someone else a dilettante  ish sculptor  gardiner  . the film plays out the story of anthony  s strategy in uncoupling caroline from her sculptor  and how that experience aids him with her argentinian .  br    br   it is perfectly cast ronald colman is at his most sophisticated and charming  reginald gardiner is at his most priggish  gilbert roland is at his most exotic  and anna lee is just deliciously whimsical . the film is wonderfully directed by lewis milestone  who also produced   the whole production feels like a labor of love . there are wonderful touches  such as colman breaking frame and addressing the camera  and exceptional use of a sliding bar  cabinet door . it is a sin that it hasn  t been released on dvd   this is the kind of film that can singlehandedly awaken interest in classic film .  
mislead by the terrible lie on the cover   fun as american pie   my girlfriend and i sat in front of the tv waiting for a comedy . . . and this is definitely not one . you probably won  t laugh one time if you  re not one of those jackass  like ever  teeny minds . it  s not even an erotic movie  which would at least been something  given that it  s about sex . . .  br    br   so  what is this  the erratic plot deals with a guy who wants to lose virginity  zero in originality  i remember  losing it  for one  and his gang of friends . the rest of the characters  i . e . the girls  just come and go for no credible reason . come on  there are even dwarfs  so simple  dwarves are fun ho ho  . . .  the acting is very tv  like  as is the video look throughout the movie  and definitely amateur in the case of most of the girls . . .  br    br   awful movie . amateurish  badly produced  and over all not funny . kids and teens will love to watch it with friends because of the swearing and sex jokes . other than that  don  t even think of renting this movie .  
fatal error is a really cool movie  robert wagner  antonio sabato jr .  janine turner  jason schombing  malcolm stewart  and david lewis are in the film . the movie  s cast all acted really well . robert wagner played his role good . the relationship between saboto jr . and turner was a nice one . there maybe a big age difference there but they are a unique couple . the two actors really worked together rather well . the music in the film is really good by ron ramin and fits the flick very well . there is a bunch of stuff that happens in the movie which you don  t know what is going on and what is going to happen next and this movie keeps you going from beginning to end . if you like robert wagner  antonio sabato jr .  and janine turner then watch this excellent movie   
this is listed as a documentary  it  s not  it  s filmed sort of like a documentary but that i suspect was just because then they get away with a shaky camera and dodgy filming . this has just been released in the uk on dvd as an  american pie style comedy  it  s not that either .  br    br   basically it follows around a group of teens on spring break as they go to mexico for cheap booze and with the quest being to get there virgin friend finally laid . throw is a couple of dwarfs  also on the same sort of quest and you have a non  hilarious tale of drunk teens trying to get some girls .  br    br   considering the   rating this has very little nudity  and practically zero sex scenes  mainly i guess the rating is for swearing of which there is plenty .  br    br   if you like crude jackass behaviour without the humour  then this may be your thing  if you have any brain cells left then i would probably avoid this   
i really liked this movie despite one scene that was pretty bad  the one when samantha and nick are flirting in the hotel  . the story is so cool and can  t wait to read the book  bravo for the super station   
bad . bad . bad . bad . bad . what else can i say . kate jackson must have been desperate to direct . may be she should go back to acting . . . on second thought she was a bad actress to . who would put money in to producing something this bad . i like anti  christ movies and usually have a good laugh and the odd scare but this one is just bad bad bad . the acting by the stars was worse than what you find on a soap opera . the special effects  if you can call them that  where laughable . i would not be surprised if you played the scenes in slow motion you would see the tubes the blood shoots out of . we had to turn the disc off after only   minutes . this so called movies original prints should be destroyed  all disc  and tapes destroyed and all the people associated with the making of the movie have to pay back money to the people that rented the movie . then those people should never be allowed to act  direct or film any thing but their own home movies .  
the way this story played out and the interaction between the  lead characters may lead me to believe that if the x  files continues without mulder and scully  these would be a pretty good replacement duo .  
honestly i am not even joking when i say that this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen  this film dosen  t have a single ounce of originality in its flimsy dialog or its blatantly plagiarized story line . i can not even begin to count the number of things in this film that are obviously ripped off from  the omen  and other movies like it . for example the nanny  lucy  in this film is actually one of the devil  s minions sent to guide and protect the spawn of satan . . . . . does this sound a lot like mrs . baylock to anyone else . another thing is that the orphanage were they first got the child burned to the ground just a few months after he was adopted  just like in  the omen  . however luckily one priest survived the blaze and escaped with sever burns all over his body . . . . yet another coincidence       and to top it all off the burned priest is staying in a hospital room with pictures of jesus all over the walls  much like the priest in  the omen  having pages of the bible plastered on the walls like wall  paper . please don  t even get me started drawing comparisons between the ending of this movie and  the omen  for you because as i  ve stated above there are far too many to mention here .  
the movie wasn  t all that great . the book is better . but the movie wasn  t all that bad either . it was interesting to say the least . the plot had enough suspense to keep me watching although i wouldn  t say i was actually interested in the movie itself . janine turner and antonio sabato jr are both gorgeous enough to keep you watching   they have a few cute scene  s that should appeal to the romantic  s . overall i  d give the movie a  or  . it wasn  t bad  just a little lacking plot wise .  
this movie is quite possibly one of the most horrible horror flicks i  ve seen . the length wasn  t nearly long enough to include a good storyline . also  the way the foster parents died was just plain ridiculous . the mother suddenly dies from falling through a shower after tripping over an action figure  and the dad is shot by a police officer  i can see where some originality might have been what they were going for  but it could have been better . also  the cheesiness of it all made me want to press stop before it was over . after hearing all of lucy  s name and figuring out it was  lucifer   i wanted to gag . yes  it  s interesting that lucifer was a woman  but look at the name . it  s a male  s name . it should be given to a male character . all in all  the movie was a bore  and could have used a better plot .  
and a made for tv movie too  this movie was good . the acting in it and the plot was just so great . this one of the only movies i  ve seen that i felt warped my mind because after seeing it i was afraid of reaper coming to kill me through my computer screen . there were just a few minor things wrong with this movie  but it  s very easily over looked .  br    br   antonio sabbato jr did an excellent role in this movie along with janine turner and robert wagner . this movie just has so much suspense and it made me wanting more because i never thought a low budget tv movie could be so powerful . after viewing this i read the novel this movie was based on  four times  and it too kicked was great . if you ever see this movie come on tv  i  d watch it . the effects in this movie were pretty well done  i honestly don  t know what a live calcifying human would look like but with the way the fx team did this movie i was impressed and all it shows is that all these bad made for tv movies out there with low budgets shouldn  t suck so bad .  br    br   watch it . it  s really good  no really  it is   
well  it  s all been said about this movie and i hate it when writing reviews where everyone else already said what  s to be said . but the thing is  i have seen zillions of movies and i am working on writing reviews on all the movies that i  ve seen . so  i have to write something .  br    br   the acting is stupid . it  s truly stupid how the news anchor expresses her sadness towards the plane crash . the nun is nice though and the professional assistant who comes to take care of the child . the three main killings in the movie are just so weak that you wonder how stupid can the makers of this movie be . don  t they realize that even rip  offs can still be scary . we don  t see how the granpa is killed . the dentist and his assistant made me feel they deserve to die  you just don  t sympathize with them . and uncle tony in the garage dies in a way that could have been worked better . we just hear him scream and we see nothing   
i  myself am a kid at heart  meaning i love watching cartoons  still do  i remember watching bugs bunny when i was a kid  he was my favourite still is . i thought man  this was a great  new  show on tv  and than my dad said   bugs bunny  i remember watching him when i was younger  and i  m like   dad  bugs didn  t exist when you were younger  . so i guess he  s definitely pleased more than one generation  possibly  . i love the show it  s great for kids and adults  ok  everybody . it  s very funny  me and my husband  both in our   s  love watching the shows  and we don  t mind the re  runs either . this show brings back a lot of memories  happy ones . i love the christmas special too with tweety as tiny tim  it  s cute . i can  t pick my favourite looney toons character  because they  ve changed over the years . when i was little it was bugs of course  and porky pig . pepe is cool  i always loved him . actually  i have to say there all my favourite . i  m giving this show a   out of    because it  s a great show for all ages  very funny  voice acting is incredible  the only flaw is that unfortunately it came to an end   decades ago  but the re  runs are great   
i actually like asylum movies . i  ve made it a habit to see as many as possible . even the rip  offs they  ve done have been cool like exorcism and when a killer calls . this is just plain lame . i can  t believe that the same people who made dead men walking and dracula  s curse actually made this movie too    it  s not even laughably bad like jolly roger or alien abduction  which  by the way are pretty bad  . this is just bad  i mean  i can appreciate and  or forgive bad acting or lame special effects in an asylum movie  but this film takes itself way too seriously . i really hope that snakes on a train is better . now that  s a movie i can  t wait to see .  
i married a japanese woman   years ago . we  re still together .  br    br   however in the      s it would never have been as easy .  br    br   life in the military had been mined for action  drama  and comedy for years by this point . mined to death . the mixed relationships gave it new ground to cover . this is old hat today  but then . . .  marrying an asian back then meant you either owed somebody something or you were a freak of some sort . this touched on both possibilities along with the third . maybe it is love   br    br   brando did his usual good job . garner did a better job than he usually does . he  s good  but this showed how good he could be . umecki  chan had a helluva debut here and while i think she earned her statue  she didn  t really stretch . it was a role that no one who hadn  t been overseas would have recognized and the newness was the corker .  br    br   the real scene stealer was red buttons . red was the best thing in this film . bank on it . and the japanese lifestyles were shown in an admirable light as well .  br    br   a classic .  
i was supposed to review this for a website  and i watched this with optimism that perhaps it would at least be a cheesy yet entertaining rip off  and it didn  t even do that well enough .  br    br        the child  is probably one of the worst supernatural thrillers i  ve ever seen  even worse than  godsend   with scenes that rip from  the omen  without shame . the ending is even very similar to the way  the omen  ends .  br    br   not to mention that the acting  writing  and story are all just hackneyed . if these movies make money  i  m sad to see where asylum is headed . it  s embarrassing .  
having borrowed this movie from the local library a couple of weeks ago intending to originally see this on or a few days after memorial day  i finally got to seeing sayonara just this morning . in this one marlon brando plays major lloyd  ace  gruver  a general  s son who  s been raised a certain way  being transfered from korea to japan where his girlfriend eileen webster  patricia owens  conveniently happens to be . before leaving  he tries to persuade one of his men  a joe kelly  red buttons   out of marrying japanese woman katsumi  miyoshi umeki  since that  s a violation of military fraternization laws . with the romance of him and eileen on the outs  however  ace not only becomes the best man at joe and katsumi  s wedding  he falls for an asian himself after he and captain mike bailey  james garner  go out on the town and watch headlining entertainer hana  ogi  miiko taka  on stage . bailey himself is dating one of the dancers  fumiko  san  reiko kuba  . eileen herself seems to have a fancy for one of the kabuki performers  nakamura  ricardo montalban  . i  ll stop right there and say that this was a mostly compelling drama about the prejudices concerning american  asian relations of romance that was very touching from beginning to end . even seeing hispanic montalban playing an oriental isn  t too embarrassing  though it  s a good thing his part is short  . and there  s some nice touches of humor like that of brando  s head hitting the top of button  s and umeki  s inside doorway more than once . red and miyoshi themselves deserve their oscars especially red with his defiant and proud emotions throughout . rookie garner  before being cast in his legendary role on tv  s  marverick   is fine in his scenes with brando and miiko taka shows great restraint in her initial characterization as an anti  american . while i  ve read there were some changes from james michener  s novel  i can  t imagine director josha logan  who had previously adopted another michener work into the broadway musical  south pacific  and would eventually make that into a movie as well  not staying true to the original source . he certainly provided some inspiration with the ending scenes that made the heartbreaking earlier tragedy in the film a somewhat necessary plot twist . some of the production numbers may have made the movie a little longish but otherwise  sayonara was wonderful educational experience about the    s mores that permeated america and japan at the time .  
well this just maybe the worst movie ever at least the worst movie i have ever seen . they have tried out these    child of satan the anti christ kinda movies about     times and none of them is good and this just maybe the worst of them . they think that it  s going to be better movie as more they use that fake blood . this movie doesn  t have any idea in it  actors and filming is just terrible . cant even make out that   line minium of this movie . really nothing to tell about but that it  s just horrible . how they can make movies like that in their right mind just can  t understand that . this cant be a hollywood movie  is it  just don  t go watch this use your money more wisely .  
there are few films that leave me with the feeling that gregor jordan  s  ned kelly  film did . initially i had heard only half hearted recommendations  and decided to see it for myself . since then  i have acquired both the video and soundtrack  and have to say that after several viewings  i am still very impressed with the underlying character of this film . it is also wonderful to see something australian  i appreciate its down to earth quality  that if you ask me is a rarity  as well as the absence of tackiness that takes away from so many films . this film proves that you don  t necessarily require fancy costumes and a glamorous set that absorbs how many millions of dollars to make a point . the cast was a bonus  including a variety of well known  and might i add  good looking people who did well to slip into the role of such unique characters . it is interesting to note  that much of the criticism regarding this film has been about who played what  and how they only said so many lines . however  if any criticism is due  it should constructively focus on the fact that a number of basic elements of the original events were excluded . in reality  these functioned to made it the hallmark that it is in australian history . for example  on a closer examination it can be discovered that there was much  much more to the relationship between joe byrne and aaron sheritt  and that this was in fact responsible for many more of the final outcomes for the gang than were explored in the film . also overlooked was the fact that it was not only aaron sheritt  s efforts alone  that provided the victorian police with their insights into the unfolding mystery . yes  this is their interpretation of the story  and it is understandable that true stories require sensationalism and at times the modification of the original plot to grab the viewers attention . i feel that in this case  this is the only limitation . however  i can accept that perhaps historical accuracy is only of significance to those who have a particular interest in the realistic events behind a situation . it certainly inspired me to look more closely . so  watch it and decide for yourself . you might not like it at all  thats your opinion  and thats fine . maybe it is a film that appeals largely to an australian audience  for me  i  d call it a breath of fresh air   
are you familiar with concept of children  s artwork  while it is not the greatest picasso any three  year  old has ever accomplished with their fingers  you encourage them to do more . if painting is what makes them happy  there should be no reason a parent should hold that back on a child . typically  if a child loves to paint or draw  you will immediately see the groundwork of their future style . you will begin to see their true form in these very primitive doodles . well  this concept of children  s artwork is how i felt about fuqua  s depressingly cheap and uncreative film bait . while on all accounts it was a horrid film  it was impressive to see fuqua  s style begin emerging through even the messiest of moments . if you have seen either training day or king arthur  you will be impressed with the birth of this director in his second film bait . while foxx gives a horrid  unchained performance  there are certain scenes  which define fuqua and demonstrate his brilliance behind the camera . sadly it only emerged in the final thirty minutes of the film  but if you focus just on those scenes  you will see why fuqua  s name appears on so many  best of  film lists .  br    br   i will never disagree with someone that fuqua  s eye behind the camera is refreshing and unique . his ability to place a camera in the strangest of places to convey the simplest of emotions is shocking . i am surprised that more of hollywood hasn  t jumped aboard this bandwagon . even in the silly feature bait  you are witness to fuqua  s greatness . two scenes that come directly to mind are the explosion scene near the middle of the film and the horse scene close to the end . in both of these scenes i saw the director fuqua at work . alas  in the rest of this film  all i saw was a combination of nearly every action film created . the likable hero down on his luck that suddenly finds his life turned around by some unknown force is a classic structure that just needs to die in hollywood . we have seen this two often  and no matter who you are  unless you are charlie kaufmann   you cannot recreate the wheel . it is just impossible with this genre  and it is proved with bait . i was annoyed with fuqua for just sitting back and allowing this to happen  which could explain why it took me three viewings to finish this film . i was just tired of the structure  and while i hoped that fuqua would redefine it  he did not .  br    br   then  there was the acting . while jamie foxx has never impressed me as an actor  i was willing to give this helmed vehicle a try . i wanted to see if he could pull off another dramatic role similar to collateral . i was under the impression that perhaps this was the film chosen to show producers that foxx could handle the role in collateral . again  i was disappointed . foxx was annoying . not in the sense that it was the way that his character was to be  but in the sense that it felt as if neither fuqua nor foxx took the time to fully train foxx on what should be ad  libed and what should be used to further the plot . instead  we are downtrodden with scene over scene of foxx just trying to make the audience laugh . adding second long quips and culture statements just to keep his audience understanding that he was a comedian first  an actor second . fuqua should have stopped this immediately . foxx  s jokes destroyed his character  which in turn left me with nothing solid to grasp ahold of . instead of character development  he would crack a joke . neither style worked  no joke was funny . the rest of the cast was average . by this i mean i have seen them all in similar roles . they were brining nothing new to the table  nothing solid to the story  and nothing substantial to the overall themes of the film . they were pawns filling in dead air space . fuqua had no control over this mess  and the final verdict only supports that accusation .  br    br   overall  this was a sad film . with no creativity in sight and unmanaged actors just trying to upstage themselves  what originally started as a decent story eventually sunk faster into the cinematic quicksand . foxx was annoying  without character lines  and a complete bag of cheese . in each scene i saw no emotion  and when emotion was needed to convey a message  he chose to take his shirt off rather than tackle the issues . are my words harsh  i don  t think so . when you watch any movie you want to see some creativity  some edible characters  and themes that seem to hit close to home . bait contained none of these . while i will give fuqua some credit for two of the scenes in this film  the remaining five hundred were disastrous . apparently  i took the bait when renting this film  but now having seen it  hopefully i can stop others from taking that curious nibble .  br    br   grade  out of   for his two scenes that were fun to watch   
brando plays the ace jet pilot  just back from shooting migs down in the korean war . on leave  he discovers his madame butterfly  falls in love . the lovers both see the folly of racism and the cruelty which conservative cultural norms can bring to human relations .  br    br   this film is an excellent romance with a nice twist which rejects the racist  conservative standards  dominant at the time it was made in     .  sayonara  will make you laugh and cry . beware though  sometimes the musical background will make you wish it was not there  although  irving berlin  s title song will entice your memory for a very long time after your theatre lights come on again .  
well i watched this last night and the one thing that didn  t make it completely terrible is that it was straight forward . there was no beating around the bush that this kid was the anti  christ . however the movie was just poorly written . for example  they never explained how they made the dentist incident an  accident  or at the end how the cop just miraculously ended up at the house in time to save the kid without the police even being called yet . the death scenes were just really bad and not entertaining at all . the kid they chose to play the anti  christ was boring and they really could  ve picked a better kid . just don  t waste your time watching this .  
released in december of      sayonara went on to earn  oscar nominations and would pull in  wins . red buttons won the oscar for best supporting actor in his role as airman joe kelly who falls in love with a japanese woman while stationed in kobe during the korean war . oscar nominated for best leading actor  marlon brando plays major lloyd gruver  a korean war flying ace reassigned to japan  who staunchly supports the military  s opposition to marriages between american troops and japanese women and tries without any success to talk his friend joe kelly out of getting married . ironically marlon brandos character soon finds love of his own in a woman of japanese descent . this movie highlights the prejudices and cultural differences of that time . filmed in beautiful color and with stunning backgrounds i found this movie to be well worth watching just for these effects alone . good movie  gimme more . . . gimmeclassics  
     the child starts as a plane crashes  the only survivor of flight    was a young boy named donald  boo boo stewart  who is adopted by news reporter erika  sarah lieving   her cameraman husband scott lawson  adam vincent  after they covered the incident for channel  news . at first donald seems like any normal kid but death seems to follow him around  after warnings from a nun  vicar scott begins to believe that donald is evil  the cause of all the deaths . . .  br    br   this straight  to  dvd horror flick was directed by jake perez under the pseudonym jake jackson  one has to say     the child is really rather poor . whenever i see the asylum is responsible for a film i get worried  i get very worried since their track record is awful . they seem to specialise in making   or distributing low budget horror films which are usually rip  offs of some recent successful big budget horror film  in the case of     the child you don  t need a degree in rocket science to realise that it  s a complete rip  off to cash in on the recent the omen       which was released the same year . the script by benjamin henry  austin laurel is terrible  simply can  t match the ambitions of the the hollywood equivalent  i mean just what exactly does donald the antichrist expect to achieve from a middle class family in a small town  it  s hardly a great starting point to bring about the destruction of thew world is it  every character in     the child is some form of the main character  s from the omen  the adopted parents  the priest who tries to warn them  the sinister babysitter . there  s a real lack of incident  there  s barely any gore  the plot is poor . i mean donald killing a dentist because they were trying to fix his teeth is just so random  needless  what were all the disgusting pictures donald drew all about  where did the babysitter come from  there  s just nothing that ties everything together  it  s just a disjointed mess that just becomes very boring very quickly . the references to the number  also becomes annoying  are very unsubtle .  br    br   director perez does alright i suppose  it  s competent if nothing else . there  s virtually no blood or gore  there  s a few sprays of blood  a cut off hand  someone gets a circular saw stuck in their face but it sounds a lot better than it looks on screen . it  s certainly not scary  there  s no atmosphere thanks to a throughly bland contemporary setting in a suburban house  there  s no tension because we never really know what donald is trying to do  there fore there  s no threat from him .  br    br   technically the film is alright  it  s reasonably well made but since the actual film is so poor it makes little difference . the acting isn  t that great but at the same time i  ve seen worse .  br    br       the child is a poor mans the omen rip  off  i  d sooner watch either the original or the remake over this any day of the week . not good  definitely not recommended . followed by the sequel     the beast       which also went straight  to  dvd .  
this is one of the greatest love story movies i have ever seen . yes  i can agree that some parts may seem dated  but this does not distract from the film . one should try to observe  criticize and enjoy any art form from the perspective of the time . clearly by the  sex in the city  standards  charlie chaplin was horribly boring . however  when judged from the prospective of     america  he was fantastic . likewise sayonara is a breakthrough film in its look into a mixed  race love affair  american  manifest destiny  arrogance and prejudice  and the complexity of different cultures . it is a natural next step to such films as gentleman  s agreement . its purpose  however  was not just social commentary  rather  it is entertaining and enjoyable  with innumerable lines that one just doesn  t forget .  br    br   however  even when taken only as a love story  it is terrific . although  some attack brando  s accent  he is at his near best in nuance and characterization . buttons and umeki  who both won oscars  and the rest of the supporting cast add much to the film .  br    br   taka  the real star  does a fabulous job making you feel the passion she has for brando  while being torn by her sense of obligation and loyalty . her speech when she first meets and speaks with brando is a classic and something rarely if ever matched in cinema . the dialog between taka and brando in her dressing room in tokyo at the film  s end is equally good . of course  it doesn  t have the mouth  sucking  spit  swapping and worse  that exemplifies love in today  s movies  but that makes it all the better . it portrays true love and passion  and not just  heat .  if this movie doesn  t touch you  then you are just too young  too cynical or dead .  
let me start out by saying this movie has  funny point at the very beginning with the exchange between the narrator and george narratorhuh  wait a minute  who the heck are you  george me new george . studio too cheap to pay brendan fraser . narrator how did you get the part  george new george just lucky  i guess .  br    br   sadly  that  s the only funny part in the entire movie .  br    br   it was still entertaining . . . but then again  i  m easily entertained . . .  br    br   i wouldn  t say this is the worst movie i  ve ever seen  that title goes to the terribly un  funny disaster movie . . .   this movie falls   on my bottom   list . . .  br    br   if your a small child who is easily entertained  you  ll enjoy this movie . if you  re a movie  watcher who wants a good  funny movie  you  ll end up shooting yourself halfway through this one . .  
i have seen several comments here about brando using a southern accent  some of which felt it was a mistake . when this movie was made  racism and discrimination were very strong in the south . the jim crow laws were still in effect . civil rights was in it  s infancy . could this have possibly been a subtle social commentary  a southern man in love with a woman of another race  the same way mash was a subtle criticism of the viet nam war  any thoughts   br    br   another comment was made about myoshi umeki appearing  cold  . anyone who has been in japan would understand . the japanese people  at least in my experience  did not tend to show emotion in front of strangers . there were strict social rules  especially for men meeting single women . americans in japan were totally foreign to this culture  and the blunt attempts to meet women were shocking to the ladies . one trait of the japanese was to smile when embarrassed or uncomfortable  which many american servicemen took as a sign that their advances were welcomed . also remember that at the time represented in the movie  japan had just been defeated  and the occupying forces were treated with reluctant acceptance . i think myoshi umeki gave a very credible performance of what her situation would have been . watching her interaction with the american actors brought back several memories of my own experiences in the country . i was able to meet a pair of lovely young ladies who  after i convinced them i was not the typical american male  taught me their language and their culture during my time in their country .  
this movie was on t . v the other day  and i didn  t enjoy it at all . the first george of the jungle was a good comedy  but the sequel . . . . completely awful . the new actor and actress to play the lead roles weren  t good at all  they should of had the original actor  brendon fraiser  and original actress  i forgot her name  so this movie gets the  out of ten rating  not a film that you can sit down and watch and enjoy  this is a film that you turn to another channel or take it back to the shop if hired or bought . it was good to see ape the ape back  but wasn  t as fun as the first  they should of had the new george as georges son grown up  and still had bredon and  whats her face  in the film  that would  ve been a bit better then it was .  
personally  i think sayonara was the greatest movie he ever made . it touched every emotion from anger to romance to complete tragedy . and brando should have won for best actor . anyway  the movie is awesome  the man is attractive to both men and women and now you have no reason not to see it  do so  and fall in love .  
when i go to see movies i would stay up and watch it or if i did not like it  i would go sleep  but this was pure crap  i actually got up and walked out  . . . . this was poorly script and put together  i hated it . also  they should not have taken brendan frasier off  he was much better . this was not as good as i had expected  considering that i really liked george of the jungle   and the graphics weren  t as good as the first one  for instance  the bird  and when ever he crashed in a tree . i hope that the director of this takes heed  and next movies he make  he needs to reconsider . . . horrible  i really would like to give ursla a job well done  as she made the movie worthwhile  until i walked out  . . . overall i give this movie a  out of    
i really enjoyed this movie about the relationships that sometimes developed between american servicemen and japanese women in post  war japan   as well as the obstacles that prejudices created for them . brando goes from having contempt for the japanese  which is natural considering ww   to falling in love with a japanese woman and wanting to marry her . his performance is okay  i am not a major fan of his acting style  and the movie is marvelous throughout . red buttons received an oscar for his touching performance of another gi who falls in love in japan  though the japanese women who plays opposite him also did a remarkable job  .  br    br   i don  t want to spoil it but the movie is a good one to watch with a box of tissues .  br    br   this movie manages to say something and be entertaining at the same time . a mostly underrated gem .  
there are just so many things wrong with this movie .  br    br   to begin with  the first twenty minutes of the film could have been compressed into just five or maybe ten . the overall movie is  mercifully  short already  but this could have been made up for by giving a little more attention to the mean lion  how did the miss a reference to  the wiz  on that one   and working his subplot a little more closely into the main plot . in short  the script had the seed of a good idea  but needed quite a bit of reworking .  br    br   second  it could have done without the crude humor . the original also had some that it could have done without  but at least there it was almost an afterthought   here  flatulence and urination abound .  br    br   third  the show is a little too self  aware . the original series had that well enough  as did the first movie  but here it  s just way  way too much . the brendan fraser in  jokes were just a bit over the top  and why no mention of the  new ursula    . other gags with the narrator  especially a couple of interactions near the end  also exceed good sense .  br    br   fourth  a bit more attention could have been given to the cgi work . in the first it was hard to tell that shemp wasn  t a real elephant  except by behavior  of course   but here the cgi stands out like a sore thumb . ideally special effects should merely tell the story whether they  re good or bad  and they at least do succeed on that count  so it  s a relatively small problem  but it  s still there .  br    br   all that said  christopher showerman  s performance as george is decent enough . it lacks brendan fraser  s charm  but christopher only really fails in that specific comparison   he even managed to give george a bit of personal depth  which should have been a major foul in a jay ward  inspired movie but wasn  t here . julie benz as the new ursula surprised me as being even better than leslie mann in the original .  br    br   most other performances were pretty standard  not standing out in my mind as either good or bad .  
any film that deals with bigotry in a positive manner is a film that should still be seen by current audiences as the message and moral of the story will always be relevant as long as we have a world full of bigotry .  br    br   aside from that  the film is really an old  fashioned love story . . boy meets girl . . boys loses girl . . . boy gets girl back . . . .  br    br   the weakest role goes to the late kent smith as lt . general webster  riccardo montalban is a close second  . . . my question would be how did he ever get to be a   star general . . . the character is such a wimp in the presence of his wife and military subordinates  it  s a wonder they show him any respect at all .  br    br   brando  s southern accent is a little overdone  and some scenes have a few holes but overall  i enjoy the film every time i see it .  br    br   red buttons is great . . . i always love seeing comedians in dramatic roles . . . as in button  s case  often a comedian can better portray the tragedy of a person than a more traditional dramatic actor .  
caught part of george  on tv recently  but couldn  t get myself to watch it through to the end . just awful  i can  t even remember the plot . all i know is that george and ursula were not the george and ursula of the first movie  which was bad enough . there  s a lot of scrambling around  but the direction and editing were so shoddy and choppy  it was like watching outtakes or deleted scenes . having the original voice of ape the ape back was not nearly enough to make me warm up to this . george  is probably the single worst sequel i have ever seen  and that is saying something . jeez  because of imdb  s   lines rule  i have to keep typing when i have nothing more to say about this crapulastic made  for  tv sequel . disney  hang your head in shame .  
the books of james michener taking readers to faraway places with strange sounding names were probably at their most popular in the     s and     s . his tales of the south pacific became a major blockbuster broadway hit for rodgershammerstein . south pacific was directed by joshua logan and he was a natural to do the film adaption of another michener success  sayonara .  br    br   it was only a decade before that american films during world war ii did not portray the japanese kindly . i  m sure it wasn  t easy for people who fought the pacific war to change attitudes overnight . that and a general no fraternization policy with occupied peoples in general are at the crux of this story about interracial romance .  br    br   sayonara is a relevant film today . the military has always butted in to the personal lives of its personnel in ways no civilian employer could get away with legally . in america at the time sayonara was made there were still miscegenation laws on the books in many states . today gays in the military is a big issue . someone may one day do a sayonara like film on that issue .  br    br   joshua logan was on familiar ground . south pacific also had racism as a component of its plot . with a sure hand  logan assembled a great cast and crafts a beautiful story .  br    br   marlon brando  patricia owens  james garner  kent smith some of the occidental players do a fine job . but the picture is stolen by the orientals here . miko taka hits the mark beautifully as brando  s love interest . but the real stars are the two that one both supporting players oscars  red buttons and miyoshi umeki .  br    br   buttons is your everyman enlisted man air force member . he falls passionately in love with katsumi played by miyoshi umeki . they marry and the military cruelly does everything they can to break them up . they presume to know what  s best for buttons and umeki . buttons was a tv comedian and a fair talent  but he never got a part as good as this the rest of his career .  br    br   and miyoshi umeki  s oscar was the first one given to an oriental . it got a great deal of attention because at the time of the academy awards  miyoshi was starring on broadway in flower drum song . i was privileged to see it on broadway  it was the first broadway show i ever saw . i still carry the memory of it .  br    br   that oscar symbolized something else too . our war with japan was really over and we saw in sayonara a great nation with a proud tradition and culture .  br    br   ricardo montalban plays nakamura  a kabuki theatre actor . if sayonara were done today  logan would never get away with it . but montalban is fine .  br    br   good location photography and a grand story . this film should be revived more often it has a great moral .  
annoying  static comedy with a painfully miscast peter sellers as a smarmy  self  centered casanova who always has his way with the ladies . a major blemish on sellers  filmography  and  even worse  a film that seems to have been made solely to satisfy the ego of its star .     
in this sequel to the     action  comedy classic k    detective dooley james belushi and his dog jerry lee return to fight crime  but this time they are teamed up with another detective christine tucci and her partner  a mean doberman named zues who does not get along with jerry lee very well . dooley does not get along with his new partner much either . that all changes as the movie goes along . the movie is intense as their is a guy that really wants to kill dooley for the way he treated him in the past . there is some dramatic scenes dealing with the death of dooley  s wife that don  t really seem to be with the tone of the movie because the rest of the movie is action sequences  dog poop jokes  fart jokes  and jokes about dogs biting bad guys in a certain area . i know that that seems like very low humor  but some of it is actually very funny . i didn  t see this movie for the jokes  i saw it for two reasons . the first reason is because i am a big james belushi fan and the second is for the action sequences . james belushi is funnier than he was in k   and the action sequences at are better too . it would have been nice to see more characters from k   to return  but it  s still a fun movie . if you are a james belushi fan  you  ll love this movie .  
dear me . . . peter sellers was one of the most oddly talented actors there has been . but his choice of films  say  after      was very unfortunate . he didn  t seem to realize how to use his talents . he would have been better off working with more of the kubricks of the film world than the people he did . of his later films  only  the optimists of nine elms  and  being there  have impressed me of those i have seen .  br    br   that said  the boultings and sellers had made a few films prior to this that hardly sound that bad  i have yet to see  carlton browne  and  heavens above    at least in the sense of using sellers well to a degree . but   there  s a girl in my soup  really is a poor film and a dire choice on sellers  part in terms of character . in his films from         you can usually expect at least some very inventive twist and always an enigmatic conviction in his roles . here  you have peter sellers trying to play a typical romantic lead . it  s almost sellers playing a niven cad without the joviality . he certainly does not convince  try as he might  or create an interesting character . he should have left such parts to masters of suavity such as cary grant  and concentrated on those intriguing dramatic and comic roles that he was famed for .  br    br   hawn and sellers really do not establish any genuine chemistry this is no easy  genial romance of the like perfected by william powell and myrna loy . it is very artificial seeming  all the way through  i know that it is part of danvers  character that he is a dry procurer of ladies  but he doesn  t really change from that in a way that convinces . sellers has a very grating way of playing  charm  as well . . . this character really has no depth  and really does not gain the viewer  s sympathy or interest . sellers goes through the motions in a way one would not think possible when remembering the magnificence of his shifty  iconoclastic performance in  lolita  .  br    br   there really is nothing to say about the plot  direction or characters  as frankly they leave little or no impression . this is truly one of the most anaemic  complacent  misguided and lightly dull films i have ever seen . a nonentity of a  vehicle  for sellers  undisputed talents .  br    br   rating         
this film to me is a very good film    br    br   i have a german shepherd myself and i wish to god he was like jerry lee   i hope too that there is another k   in the running   with jerry lee and dooley in them   i don  t care what any one say these two films were excellent    
peter sellers  one of my favorite actors  is mildly amusing in this     turkey  but the script is so lame and insulting that even goldie hawn  s youth  just after her oscar win  cannot begin to pull this one out of the mud . as a skirt  chasing celeb in his    s  sellers mostly embarrasses himself to the nth degree .  br    br   a  out of   . best performance   nicky henson plays a young study type .  br    br   i hope hawn and sellers were paid well  because i see no other reason for tripe like this in      a very good year for films  catch     m . a . s . h .  husbands  joe  wusa  five easy pieces and many others  . you can  t win them all   
due to reading bad reviews and being told by friends that they couldn  t believe how bad it was  i didn  t go and see this film at the cinema . after watching it on dvd  i have to say i regret that now . i  m not saying it is brilliant  but i would venture to say that it is a good movie . i enjoyed it .  br    br   people have skulls thicker than ned  s helmet if they go to see a movie like this and expect it to be a documentary . if you read up the actual history behind most movies based on historical figures  there is usually a huge difference between the fact and the fictional portrayal . i don  t think ganghis kahn has ever once been portrayed even remotely close to historical fact . what kind of man ned kelly actually was is a matter of debate  and quite passionate it seems . in spite of the efforts of governments and some historians  ned kelly has become a legend . legends are stories  and stories say as much about those who tell and listen to them as they do about the actual figure himself . ned kelly has become such a popular identity because he does represent that aspect of australian culture that doesn  t trust or accept authority . a society in which there is no dissent or challenge to authority is crazier and more dangerous than any bushranger .  br    br   so not expecting this to be an accurate recreation of the historical kelly gang  i actually found it a surprisingly unencumbered and refreshing movie . it was sentimental and romantic  but thankfully not anywhere as cheesy as it could have been for my fellow australians  watch  the lighthorseman  and you will see what i mean  it is a pity the way that story was treated so poorly  . perhaps the love affair business could have been forsaken for a bit more detail in other areas  such as the shooting of the troopers . ironically  i actually enjoyed the movie because of that  because it would be those details that most of the focus on ned  s story would dwell . and they are the details of the story that are best discovered by reading the different viewpoints given by the various historians .  br    br   this movie was always going to have a hard time  having make a compromise of appealing to a global movie market  to pay the pills  and the legend as it means to australians perhaps a little of ned  s spirit is in this movie  because i think it rebelled against people  s expectations  and unfortunately missed both targets . fortunately it made for an enjoyable quirk of a film . for me it was an unexpected kind of movie about ned  and that is why i liked it . orlando bloom  s performance did a lot for the movie too  he really added something . i think he would have enjoyed being the monster instead of the pretty elf  for a change .  br    br   when you consider some other movies that are far worse than this one  your opinion of this movie should be reconsidered . send me this on dvd for christmas rather than croc dundee or the man from snowy river anytime .  
what  is jamie foxx supposed to be funny  does he really believe he is funny  well  it  s funny watching his confidence in being funny . the man has no identity whatsoever . . . i mean you can immediately see who his idols are  denzel washington and martin lawrence  because he tries really hard to imitate them in most of his movies . the only problem is that he does it bad  uneven  and what comes out are some parts where he somewhat looks like denzel  with that macho  st attitude and then abruptly goes to being martin lawrence  the funny and clumsy  silly comic . there  s no personal touch to all that  i mean he contributes nothing to the personality he tries to sell  and i  m sure he has nothing to say personally . he really is mr . dull  boy in person .  br    br   i was really hoping hollywood  and the black community in america would find somebody better to launch into super stardom  like don cheadle for example  but perhaps the pathetic jamie better represents the generation that remixes the old .  
well  this is probably one of the best movies i  ve seen and i love it so much that i  ve memorized most of the script  especially the scene in the storage unit when jerry lee breaks wind  and even with the script in my head i still like to watch it for jerry lee  that german shepherd is hysterical and really is put to the test to see who  s smarter . the tag line holds true as well . not to mention the acting is great  though christine tucci sounds different in a whisper  check filmography under csi if you don  t know what i mean  . it  s too bad that this movie only contained the single issue dooley and jerry lee had to work with  it would have been pretty cool to see the tricks that zeus and welles had up their sleeve .  
i read that  there  s a girl in my soup  came out during peter sellers  s low period . watching the movie  i  m not surprised . almost nothing happens in the movie . seemingly  the very presence of sellers and goldie hawn should help the movie it doesn  t . the whole movie seems like they just randomly filmed whatever happened without scripting anything . maybe i haven  t seen every movie about middle  aged to elderly people trying to be hippies  but this one gives such movies a pretty bad name .  br    br   all in all  both sellers and hawn have starred in much better movies than this  so don  t waste your time on this . pretty worthless .  
arrrrrggghhhhhh  some people take life far too seriously    watch this film for what it is  sit back  relax and have a giggle . the film does not take itself seriously  so neither should we . if you like james belushi  you will like this film . if he is not your cup of tea  give it a miss .  br    br   i like james belushi  so i liked this film . so simple isn  t it       
with goldie hawn and peter sellers in a movie you figure this one won  t go wrong . but what can i say  this was a horrible misfire . the movie is about peter sellers as an older gentleman who suddenly finds himself in a relationship with a really strange young not to mention attractive hippie in goldie hawn . the movie is incredibly disjointed and i did not understand anything about it . peter sellers and goldie hawn are very funny people but this movie does not prove it .  br    br   that song about arabella cinderella  is pretty cool  but that is it . i only recommend this movie to people that like to watch an extreme novelty movie  this is almost the definition of one . i guess this movie more than anything else is a sign of the times  in terms of it  s definite experimentalism and all around unconventionality  the problem is the quality is completely shot and the writing  not to mention the direction is just so out there .  br    br   peter sellers in particular is very hit and miss  he will go from dr . strangelove and being there throughout his career  to dumb movies like this and the magic christian  which was very similar to this one in context and style  but that movie did have a few funny moments . this one is senseless  and i am sad that someone as great as peter sellers was in this movie . not recommended for anyone .  
i thought it was a very funny movie . i love dog movies and comedy movies so combined they were twice as good . k    k      and k   pi are my favorite movies . jim belushi is hysterical and jerry lee is hilarious and adorable they make a great team . the only downside is that i really didn  t understand how dooley  s wife died . she died before this movie but how  if they said it i must have missed it . other than that i give it two thumbs  tails up  those dogs  jerry lee and zeus  must have had a lot of training . they were so funny and all the noises jerry lee would make when dooley was talking to him was so funny . my favorite was when jerry lee sang and when he would bite peoples privates to get information very very funny lol  
this movie delivers . the best is when the awkward teenage neighbor tries to bike away from the babysitter and in the background looks like he  s never been anywhere near a bike in his life as he attempts not to fall off .  br    br   but this movie doesn  t stop there  when less than  minutes later it delivers a scene of nothing but an arm reaching through a fence and into a cooler pulling out a beer .  br    br   stereotypical grilling dads  several plot lines that go nowhere  and a former seaquest actress with a bluetooth cell phone all add up to making this the perfect saturday night at home .  
when my    year  old daughter and her friends get together for movie night  there  s one movie they insist on watching over and over again you guessed it  k      the third installment in the highly successful k   franchise starring everybody  s favorite tv dad  jim belushi .  br    br   folks  i knew it was possible to wear out a vhs tape  but a dvd   this has been played so often that it  s starting to skip no joke  but of course you  ll have that when you own a film so charming  so brilliant .  br    br   of course  we have to thank the one and only tom hanks for introducing us to the beloved cop  dog genre with turner and hooch however  even that film doesn  t measure up to the sheer excellence presented in all three k   movies .  br    br   some nay  sayers say belushi ran out of steam with this third movie in the series . poppycock  i say . while you might suspect that a third installment  direct  to  video  at that  may not seem like something worth watching  you  d prove yourself wrong after watching this quality movie .  br    br   i won  t give away the plot  but i will say that belushi and his panting partner give their best performance yet  one that will have you howling with laughter  it  s a shame john belushi isn  t alive to see what great strides his brother has made in the acting world .  br    br   i highly recommend your teenage daughter introduces this film to her bffs at her next slumber party . don  t forget the puppy chow   
if you have plenty of time to waste . . . it  s ok . it moves at a good pace but to pull this movie off it would need to be a little longer with a little more background on the sitter .  br    br   the acting is ok . mariana klaveno as the sitter does the best job and is the most believable .  br    br   william r . moses played a pretty good part as the husband .  br    br   gail o  grady  as the wife  had a weak part and the reasons for her going back to work were not developed .  br    br   the ending is sort of silly . like most of these sitter movies . . . there are parts that are interesting . . . but overall it leaves you wondering why you spent the time .  
ten years after the first movie  james belushi  one of the most gifted  and over looked light comedic actors of the last twenty years  returns as detective dooley for this movie .  br    br   if you are expecting more of the same from the first movie  you will be disappointed  but this is still a good movie . realizing that all the dog vs . man battle of wills scenarios had probably been used up in the first movie  this one turns slightly more psychological in its approach as it concentrates on a criminal with a fixation with dooley  s recently deceased wife after she rejected his book  and blames dooley for her death .  br    br   the script may not be the best  but the movie allows both belushi and christine tucci to show their good acting ability  while still retaining enough of the light humour of the first movie to make it work  and the chemistry between the two stars is there for all to see .  br    br   an easy  light going movie  which  while maybe not worth a purchase unless you are a true fan of either the first movie or belushi  definately worth a watch when it comes on tv .  br    br    
i know that movies aren  t necessarily supposed to mirror reality  but this one got on my nerves . it perpetuates ignorant stereotypes about  psychological trauma  and mental illness . the  psycho mom  thing has been done too many times before  and usually done better  and much of the rest of the plot is far  fetched as well . the acting was not horrible but nothing to rave about .  br    br   one highlight i am a long  time fan of general hospital and it was a trip to see one of the roles played by former gh regular  jon lindstrom .  br    br   anyway  if you can overlook the bogus psychoanalytical part of it  in the same way a person must suspend reality  judgment when watching a lot of movies  then this movie might be tolerable . if you have nothing better to do and fairly low standards .  br    br   i  m sorry i spent my time watching it .  
i rented this film from netflix for two reasons  i was in the mood for what i thought would be a silly    s sci  fi  asco and because it is the first feature  length superman film . needless to say  after about   minutes i found myself thoroughly engaged and very pleasantly surprised .  br    br   an experimental oil well has penetrated about six miles into the earth and is being shut down by the sponsor . lois and clark show up to get the scoop but are disappointed that the deepest well ever drilled will no longer be in operation . a day later  strange events at the well make for a story more appropriate for superman than clark kent . it seems that the radioactive mole men have invaded from their six  mile deep home near the earth  s core .  br    br   supermen and the mole men is a simplistic but well  made piece of social realism . released in      starring a lead actor who served in world war ii  the moral of the story seems to be that americans are just as capable of becoming fascists as anybody else . to drive this point home in a typically straightforward superman manner  reeves even accuses the lynch mob hunting the mole men of being  nazis  at one point .  br    br   even in the     s  the science underlying this film was nonexistent . six miles of drilling through continental crust would not have even penetrated the upper mantle  let alone the  hollow center of the earth   which  in any case does not exist . forgivable  keep in mind that this film is based on a golden age comic book .  br    br   the film is a little unevenly paced . although the molemen are interesting  a bit creepy  and nicely portrayed  there are several corman  esquire scenes which spend too much time redundantly showing us their odd behavior . the script is intelligent and economical . by today  s standards  the costuming is poor to fair  but for its time  this film  s special effects and costuming were quite good . the cinematography is also generally very good  and the acting is much better than one might expect . i was particularly impressed with reeves  jeff corey and walter reed .  
this really doesn  t match up to castle of cagliostro . lupin isn  t as funny or wacky or as hyperactive . the scenery and music are uninspired and plot just isn  t interesting .  br    br   the only good thing about this  un is the nudity  only in the uncut version  provided by fujiko . it helped spice up some of the tedious scenes . coc had a formidable villain and set up the movie for some imaginative set  pieces . the locations in tsotg are not very vivid or engaging .  br    br   zenigata  goemon and jigen don  t even provide decent sideshow entertainment this time . it  s like they were just filling a contractual obligation by appearing .  br    br   the dvd is in full  frame with dolby stereo sound . it has a decent amount of extras  including quite a few trailers . but one curious thing . there is no chapter selection on the disc or timecode displayed on the player once inserted . though you can still skip to the next scene number using the remote .  
i am of  the christopher reeve generation  it is fair to say that he was the best actor to play superman yet  but that doesn  t stop me from enjoying other actors in the role  and george reeves makes a pretty good bid to knock chris off the top  though he just barely falls short . that doesn  t stop me from enjoying this film  it has a lot going for it . it has all that a movie needs  a plot with beginning  middle  and end  plus all those parts are intelligently written . the film is edgy both in acting and storyline  something a film  noir but with tights . the story is both exciting and meaningful  this is a movie with a message that isn  t too preachy . i am still amazed this was shot over   days  oh the glory days of hollywood  when we didn  t have to wait  years just to see if the movie would fall into development hell . . . the film is polished and expertly made  directed by lee  roll  em  sholem  best known for directing with both speed and efficiency . it never lets the constraints of technology slow it down  in fact there is some creative things done to create the effect of flight  including putting a camera on a boom on a truck and shooting high and traveling fast to make it look like we are seeing it from superman  s point of view  also a few closeups of george in process work  and a long shot of an animated superman .  br    br   this is now available on dvd as an extra feature on the first season of the george reeves television series . a dvd worth owning in its own right  the inclusion of the film as its original whole  is icing on the cake .  br    br   give blood today god bless   
the waterdance       the main character of the waterdance  played by eric stoltz  finds himself in a rehab center with some others similarly injured . and there he must face an harsh new life  confined to a wheelchair . it  s an interesting  and promising premise  but unfortunately  it fails to deploy . what ensues instead is largely hollywood schmaltz  with some interesting moments . certainly the cast  eric stoltz  william forsythe  wesley snipes  et al  is brilliant  and perform well here as one would expect  but their talents are wasted . the characters are mainly stereotypes of one kind or another  and most of them are thoroughly unlikeable  the snipes character being the exception  . i suppose this is some kind of attempt to break through people  s ideas about the handicapped being  crippled  or  weak   by depicting them  for the most part  as in  your  face pricks  but it makes for an entirely annoying experience . admittedly it will show you something of what those with permanent disabilities go through  in a way that is not softened or romanticized  which is useful  and a good idea  but while the process being depicted can make one a difficult person to get along with  and that  s worth dealing with  it is not part and parcel to that that these characters must be  to varying degrees  despicable . they wouldn  t have to be disneyfied  either surely there  s a middle ground somewhere . by the film  s conclusion  the eric stoltz character has come to accept his status as a handicapped person  but since he is such a flaming narcissistic monster from the beginning of the film to the end  we couldn  t care less .  br    br   in addition to its character problems  the film suffers from that weird syndrome that so many hollywood movies suffer from the syndrome doesn  t really have an official name  but you might call it  inexplicable forgiveness syndrome  . it goes something like this characters abuse the crap out of each other  and then without so much as an apology  all is forgiven  an especially obnoxious example of this is in the movie the breakfast club  in which one character spends most of the film verbally bullying everybody within earshot as a resultthey love him . in one of the the latest examples  spiderman   supervillain the sandman lays waste to a chunk of manhattan  then wails on spiderman for what seems like about   monotonous minutes before being waved off with what amounts to  bye  now   . the most egregious example of ifs in the waterdance is a sequence in which  after being called the n  word by william forsythe  s racist biker character and his friends in the previous scene  the wesley snipes character whoops it up with the same forsythe character in the next scene  as if nothing had just happened just a short time hence . again  without so much as an  oh yeah  sorry about that business back there where i  you know  called you the n  word  . it makes me wonder  do these people actually watch these movies before they release them  or do they just film them with their eyes closed  kind of slap them together in the editing room according to scene number  and call it a day  s work   
my father grew grew up watching george reeves as superman and when i was a little kid he had episodes on vhs and let me view them including this movie  passing them down in the family if you will   and i loved it .  br    br   clark kent and lois lane get sent to a small town with and oil mine and from the mine emerge mole men radioactive and targeted by the town assumed to be deadly and it  s up to superman to stop this mayhem .  br    br   it  s just so wonderful and fun to view . the old style special effects and sound  the crew pulled off such a beauty with such little technology . george reeves was my hero when i was a little kid  and i  m   now  it just goes to show how timeless and classic these adventures are .  
this story had a different angle that intrigued me  enough to buy a previously  viewed vhs sight  unseen . that was a mistake .  br    br   in what could have been a very nice story  about badly crippled people at a hospital  and their various personalities  turned quickly into a very profane soap opera with unlikeable characters .  br    br   we have  bloss   william forsythe  the stereotype racist white person  who says the f  word every other sentence and is so despicable they didn  t give him a first name in the movie . he  s a lot of fun to be around . then  there is  raymond hill   wesley snipes   a fast  talking womanizer . snipes must have liked those fast  talking  hip  arrogant roles because he played in a number of them  like in  white men can  t jump .  then there is sweet helen hunt playing  anna  that wonderful caring  loving person who is having an adulterous affair with the leading character in the film   joel garcia   eric stoltz  .  br    br   yup  this is heartwarming  feel  good type stuff . it just makes my heart melt watching these nice folks . but  if you are one of those who loves sleazy characters portrayed by sleazy people in this sleazy film . . . . . you might really like this  add in a dose of hollywood political correctness and there you go  what more could anyone want   
superman and the mole men is quite possibly superman  s toughest adventures ever .  br    br   lois lane and clark kent are sent to silsby  home of the world  s deepest oil well . while there  some radioactive mole men come up through the oil well and explore the town . jeff corey and many other townspeople try to dispose of the invading mole men . can superman change the people  s ways in time to save the mole men  can superman warn the people in time about the radioactive danger the mole men bring   br    br   in my opinion  superman and the mole men is a very intelligent  well  written and well  acted movie . even though we only get to see superman fly once briefly  it still makes a great superman adventure . a must see for anyone .  br    br        stars  
to summarize this movie without a real plot  this movie consists of   minutes of deranged characters either drinking or making bad jokes . the music is just awful  the humor isn  t funny and all the female characters slutty idiots or total geeks . it seems to me  that the movie has actually been written by a   year old boy  who thinks that drinking is cool  women are designed to please men and all that oppose that view are geeks . also  the movie has nothing to do with the original american pie movies  other than a few names and mr . levenstein who is a minor character in this one . the only good thing about this movie are the nice looking girls . don  t watch this movie and don  t be fooled by the  .  rating  because it obviously overrated and doesn  t deserve anything above  .  
it must have been several years after it was released  so don  t know why it was at the movies . but as a kid i enjoyed it . i just found a vhs tape of superman and the mole men at the flea market and decided to watch it again  it  s been a lot of years  . i wasn  t expecting much  now knowing how the b movies were made at that time . but i was pleasantly surprised to find the movie very watchable and the acting by all outstanding . usual acting in these type movies leaves a lot to be desired . surprisingly  the writing wasn  t bad either . forget the fact that superman went from sequence to sequence and could have kicked all their butts in the beginning  because then the story would have ended  right   ok  the mole men costumes were hokey and not very scary  they didn  t even scare me as a kid  . however  making allowances for the probable low budget for background and costumes  it was a job well done by all . i recognized the sheriff right away as the old ranger from death valley days and plenty of supporting roles in tv westerns . j . farrell macdonald played old pop and was always a great supporting actor in more movies than i can count . walter reed and jeff corey were familiar faces as well from other movies . did you recognize the old doctor as the captain of the ship that went to get king kong  did you recognize the little girl rolling the ball to the mole men as lisbeth searcy in old yeller  some of the mole men were famous too . jerry maren has played mayor mccheese for mcdonalds  little oscar mayer  was the munchkin that handed dorothy the lollipop  was on a seifeld episode and a wealth of other work . billy curtis played an unforgettable part with clint eastwood in high plains drifter  was one of the friends met by the star in incredible shrinking man  he had a part in a movie i just luckily grabbed at a flea market titled my gal sal with rita hayworth  wizard of oz and plenty of other parts  great actor . john brambury was also a munchkin . phillis coates  who played lois lane in this movie  was without question wonderful in the part and george reeves as superman  clark kent was superman . he did a great job of playing the strong man . bottom line to all i  ve said is that this movie is worth watching because of the cast and writing in dealing with a pretty flimsy idea for a movie . but it was the    s and anything was possible from intruders from outer space to mole men from inner space . it is definitely worth seeing  there isn  t a bad actor in the group . whomever put the cast together was very  very fortunate to get so many gifted actors into a b type film . some already had a wealth of experience and some were about to obtain a wealth of experience  but all were gifted . so if you get a chance to see the film  forget the dopey costumes and just enjoy the excitement and acting . is it a bird  is it a plane  no  just a good  old fashioned movie to enjoy   
i have to say that i used to be a huge fan of the series . the first  were great and the others had their moments  but this new beta house is one of the worst movies i have ever seen . it is a shame since this was a great series and it just keeps getting worse . i know they are made for dvd films but some effort would be nice .  br    br   there are no laughs  just a couple of good one  liners that will bring a smile if that . there is pretty of nudity and very hot chicks . but neither the sexy stuff nor the jokes really work .  br    br   to add to all that this is a racist film too or as racist of a film one can make without asking to be called racist . i am not one of those people who think everything should be politically correct . but the portrayal of minorities is very offensive .  br    br   i wouldn  t waste any time on this garbage . see the previous versions  they will make you laugh not sick .  
spoilers all too  in real life as well as in the movies  familiar story that happens to many young men who are put in a war zone with a gun  or rifle  in their hands . the case of young and innocent  in never handling or firing a gun  jimmy davis  franchot tone  has been repeated thousands of times over the centuries when men  like jimmy davis  are forced to take up arms for their country .  br    br   jimmy who at first wanted to be kicked out of the us army but was encouraged to stay  by being belted in the mouth  by his good friend fred p . willis  spencer tracy  ended up on the front lines in france . with jimmy  s unit pinned down by a german machine gun nest he single handedly put it out of commission picking off some half dozen german soldiers from the safety of a nearby church steeple . it was when jimmy gunned down the last surviving german  who raised his arms in surrender  that an artillery shell hit the steeple seriously wounding him .  br    br   recovering from his wounds at an army hospital jimmy fell in love with us army volunteer nurse rose duffy  gladys george . rose was really in love with jimmy  s good friend the happy go lucky fred despite his obnoxious antics towards her . it  s when fred was lost during the fighting on the western front that rose  thinking that he was killed  fell in love and later married jimmy . when fred unexpectedly showed up in the french town where jimmy  now fully recovered from his wounds  was stationed at things got very sticky for both him and rose who had already accepted jimmy  s proposal of marriage to her   br    br   with wwi over and jimmy marrying rose left fred  who  s still in love with her  a bitter and resentful young man . it was almost by accident that fred ran into jimmy on the streets of new york city and discovered to his shock and surprise that he completely changed from the meek and non  violent person that he knew before he was sent to war on the european western front . smug and sure of himself  and his ability to shoot a gun  jimmy had become a top mobster in new york city  s underworld  not only that but as fred later found out his wife rose had no idea what jimmy was really involved in with jimmy telling her that he works as a law abiding and inoffensive insurance adjuster .  br    br   jimmy  s life of crime came full circle when rose  after she found out about his secret life  ratted him out to the police to prevent him from executing a  valentine day  like massacre  with his gang members dressed as cops  of his rival mobsters . while on trial jimmy came to his senses and admitted his guilt willing to face the music and then  after his three year sentence is up  get his life back together .  br    br   spoiler alert hearing rumors from fellow convicts that rose and his best friend fred were having an affair behind his back jimmy broke out of prison ending up a fugitive from the law . it  s at fred  s circus  where he works as both manger and barker  that jimmy in seeing that rose as well as fred were true to him that he  like at his trial  had a sudden change of heart . but the thought of going back to prison  with at least another ten years added on to his sentence  was just too much for jimmy  it was then that jimmy decided to end it all by letting the police who by then tracked him down do the job  that he himself didn  t have the heart to do  for him   
i love jamie foxx .  br    br   and i enjoy    of all movies i see .  br    br   and i walked out of this one .  br    br   now  i admit  it may have had something to do with the two middle  aged white women in the back of theatre who laughed at every little thing   oh no  jamie  s knocking on a door  hee hee hee     but . . . this was just so incredibly annoying . there could be no sustained camera shot  and no camera shot from a conventional angle . . . everything had to be in  your  face  loud  and annoying .  br    br   the bad guy tried to be smooth and malkovich  like  but at this point  it  s just old and tired . he brought nothing new or interesting . from all the characters  too many lines you saw coming  too many you  ve heard before  and too many  tough guy  lines . . . and i don  t mind that sort of thing  really  as long as there  s a bit of originality to it . in fact  pretty much the entire supporting cast just sucked .  br    br   i love jamie foxx  and i think he  s really funny  and i thought he was funny in this movie . . . but not nearly funny enough for me to endure everything else .  br    br   this movie needed less shoot  em  up  less annoying camera shots  more emotion  more feeling  and more jamie foxx . i gave it a  .  
i say the domino principle is an enormously underappreciated film . anyone who has taken the time to investigate our contemporary history of conspiraciesjfk  rfk  mlk  g . wallace and in fact numerous others can only draw the conclusion that the author of the domino principle really knew what he was talking about . roy tucker could be lee harvey oswald or james earl ray or sirhan sirhan or arthur bremer maybe even john hinkley or timothy mcveigh . to mention a few . the conspiracy scenario involving spies  big business and political assassinations is not really a fiction but an ominous part of our convoluted existential history . god help us  but the domino principle is more fact than fantasy . if this causes a little loss of sleep  maybe it should . don  t take my word for it  investigate for yourselves .  
well its official . they have just killed american pie . the first  were absolutely hysterical  but this one and the others have been awful . i mean the story is about two college fraternity  s who battle each other for its houses  i mean come on talk about a weak plot  the first three dealt with growing up  change and marriage  which are all worthy points of development in human society .  br    br   the new stifler is the biggest joke  i know its hard trying to compare yourself with the steven stifler but so no cigar . i give this movie a  because there is    funny bits in the film .  br    br   the best character in this movie of course is jim  s dad i don  t know why he keeps continuing to do these poorly developed films .  
people are being too hard on the film . sometimes we should just sit back and enjoy the story without attempting to  review  it .  br    br   the whole thing comes together when hackman decides not to pull the trigger but his target still goes down . then the fun begins as everyone about him also  go down  .  br    br   just think jfk and all the people associated in any way with his assassination  who  s lives ended abruptly and in questionable ways and you  ll appreciate what is implied in this film .  br    br   i think it  s an excellent interpretation of what may well have occurred . though the exact story line my not have been followed  hindsight here after reading jim maars  crossfire   but it  s what is implied that is of interest .  br    br   i  d love to get a copy of it to view it again . in light of what is known today  the domino principle is right on .  
first off to get my own personal feelings out of the way let me start by saying that i hate so called comedies where every single character is written and played as being so stupid that you wounder if they  re all the result of inbreeding .  br    br   now i will say this i did see the first three american pie movies and while they weren  t the most amazing movies that i  d ever seen they were all right  and outright masterpieces compared to the three  american pie presents  films   i still feel compelled to ask what the hell were they thinking when they made this movie   br    br   i also have a few other questions too .  br    br   who thought that this was an acceptable use of studio funds and production resources   br    br   who approved the final script  and what was that person smoking when they approved it    br    br   and lastly why did anyone think that it deserved to be released into theaters where the average cost of admission is between   and   dollars depending on where you live when it should have gone straight to the discount bin at blockbuster or wal mart   br    br   there is so much wrong with this movie that i can  t write a really comprehensive review of it because it would exceed the maximum allowed words on this forum so i  ll just touch on the biggest things wrong with it .  br    br   the plot is generic uninspired and stupid and characters are all about as interesting as watching paint dry for eighty minutes but the biggest thing that i can see wrong with this movie is the acting .  br    br   while most of the cast are talentless no namers who will probably be forgotten in a few years   br    br   the one and only big name in this movie is eugene levy who spends almost all of the time he is on screen with this knowing smirk on his face that says to the viewer  i know this isn  t funny and i  m wasting my talents but hey i  m getting payed for it so who cares  he doesn  t even try to make any of his jokes funny  he really deserves better than this garbage  .  br    br   as i mentioned above most of the rest of the cast are horrible even though some of them have been in some really great tv shows  tyrone savage  from the classic canadian series wind at my back  plays a character who is so unbearable unlikeable and irritating  there are things that he could teach to tropical skin diseases  that you almost wish he  d die a slow and painful death on screen  christopher mcdonald  ncis  law  order  just hangs around on screen and wastes what talent he does have by being in this film .  br    br   maybe the next film in this series will just be a soft core porn with a story line so they can get around the mpaa and get an r rating this movie goes all out with pointless nudity vulgarity and pointlessly offencive sexual content that it should have gotten the x rating  the ratings board must have been drunk or on drugs when they reviewed this film for its rating  .  br    br   it  s interesting that twenty five years ago when wes craven submitted a nightmare on elm street to the mpaa for a rating review they forced him to cut twenty five seconds of footage  i believe that it was part of a death scene that had a silicone casting of a breast in it  to avoid getting an x rating and he had no other choice but to do it or the film wouldn  t have been released   br    br   but this kind of needlessly offensive trash can get the r rating today because it  s all done in the name of comedy  if this movie was a drama or horror film with this kind of content there would have been a huge stink over the content and it would havegotten the dreaded x rating .  br    br   the last thing that really annoys me is the writing  this movie is written to play out like the wet dream of some twelve year old kid with an extremely overactive sexual imagination its quite juvenile and extraordinarily crass  nearly every expository situation that is supposed to move the corpse that this movie calls a plot along is so telegraphed that any intelligent viewer can see it coming a mile away and and the so called characters are just stereotypes of stereotypes of stereotypes  never mind the often repulsive sexual references and constant unnecessary scenes of deviant sexual behavior it feels like this film was written by some incompetent first year hack in a low rent film school script writing class .  br    br   the long and short of it is its time to kill this series before it gets any stupider more crass and offensive  this pie is filled with road apples .  
in the aftermath of watergate  a number of conspiracy movies appeared  such as this one  written by the late adam kennedy  based on his novel  .  br    br   gene hackman plays ex  vietnam veteran  roy tucker   a loser who has wound up in prison . he receives visits from marvin tagge  richard widmark   who claims to represent an organisation designed to assist the wrongly convicted . they offer him freedom  and despite distrusting tagge he accepts . but he brings along a fellow cell mate by the name of spiventa  mickey rooney  . exactly why is hard to see  as spiventa is an irritating little man who drives tucker mad with persistent talk of sex  not what you want to hear when you are behind bars .  br    br   tagge  s benefactors kill spiventa before tucker  s astonished eyes . reunited with wife ellie  candice bergen   and given a new identity  strangely  he does not attempt to change his appearance . shaving off that cheesy moustache would have been a start   he settles down  but finds there is a catch  tagge wants tucker to do no less than assassinate the president of the united states . he refuses  so tagge has ellie abducted . . .  br    br   i will leave the synopsis here  but i am sure you can guess the rest for yourself . the script has enough plot holes to make you want to read the book  neat trick that   . the people tagge represents are never revealed . the allusions to j . f . k .  s killing are unmistakable . despite the findings of the warren commission  the doubt as to whether lee harvey oswald acted alone persists to this day .  br    br   this was stanley kramer  s first movie in years  and while no turkey  it lacks the grip of say john frankenheimer  s  the manchurian candidate  or alan j . pakula  s  the parallax view  . being a left  wing conspiracy movie  it tends to skirt around its subject matter instead of getting to grips with it . i prefer right  wing ones myself  they are funnier   domino  has the look and feel of a made  for  t . v . movie  and boasts what must be the easiest prison escape in movie history not to mention an ending copped from the michael caine classic  get carter  .  br    br   what makes it watchable are gene hackman and richard widmark . the latter  who sadly passed away earlier this year  is superb as the mysterious tagge  who initially appears to be behind the operation until he too is ruthlessly eliminated  beginning a chain of deaths designed to remove all trace of evidence as one by one the perpetrators of this evil plot fall  just like dominoes . as tucker  the innocent pawn  hackman is marvellous . you have to wonder though why he chose to hide out in such an obvious place . in his shoes  i  d have fled to the other side of the world  anywhere to get away from these fanatics . hackman  s love scenes with bergen slow the plot down  and it is almost a relief when she gets snatched . presumably the producers thought so too  which explains why it opens with a bizarre prologue setting out the film  s entire premise  voiced by british actor patrick allen  warning the audience that  they  are out there  and that  they  are out to get us . comedian les dawson later spoofed this opening in his b . b . c . show  the dawson watch  .  br    br   mickey rooney had earlier worked with kramer on  its a mad  mad  mad  mad  mad world  . his  death  scene here resembles like an outtake from that picture  with the actor looking as though he has been stung by a wasp rather than shot dead .  br    br   conspiracy movies used to be only made by the left  but now the right are getting in on the act too . last year   taking liberties   an absurd concoction of lies and half  truths about tony blair  s government turned out to be britain  s answer to  reefer madness  . at least   domino  had lovely candice bergen . the best chris atkins  film could offer was anne widdecombe   br    br   surprisingly   the domino principle  was made by sir lew grade  the legendary british television mogul behind  the saint    jesus of nazareth  and  the muppet show  . he worked with adam kennedy again in     on  raise the titanic    whose failure was so great it sank grade  s ambitions of being the new louis b . meyer . being somewhat open  minded  i would not rule out the possibility of a conspiracy .  
just finished watching american pie beta house and i gotta say  this was such a garbage pile of crap . the first  american pies were hilarious  the last  were a joke and should not have been called american pie .  br    br   as you figured out from the title of the movie  beta house  is about a fraternity  freshmen  girls and  the most original part of them all  falling in love . of course  the guy that has his way with the chicks is stifler  who  along with his mates  tries to complete another apparently impossible task . it was unrealistic and super fake . its just really predictable and the plot is so weak . both sides of the college battle to see who gets the whole thing  something like that  to sum it up awful acting  dull script  wrong use of the american pie franchise  total waste of time  this movie is unbearable . i give it a two out of ten  although most of it sucked there were lots of nudity and pretty girls  like  funny scenes    
the greatest games of kasparov or fischer can be a mess for a total rookie . this is a great movie . there is no special agency involved in the plot . this is the clue  this is a private plot  built as a private enterprise . this is a self  destructive and a self organized plot . as a conclusion  the scenario described the perfect professional plot private  self organized  self  destructive  with no trace at the end . anyone can be behind the plot a smart  director  with some money . all can be done just by delegation . the  director  must be just trigger . if the normal viewer cannot see the essence of the plot in the explicit sequences of the movie  a real plot has fewer chances to be discovered . all the actors  performances are well done  with some special mention for gene hackman and mickey rooney .  
another american pie movie has been shoved down our throats and this one is the worst one of them all . it doesn  t deserve the name american pie . they should have stopped at  the wedding  .  br    br   this movie feels like just a stupid porn movie which they slapped the title american pie on . when i was watching this i felt like i was watching a different series . it doesn  t fell like american pie at all . it has different humor and it is much more rude and has many more sex scenes then the other american pie movies .  br    br   i don  t recommend it ever . actually i don  t recommend any of the  american pie presents  movies . just stick with the nice original trilogy .  br    br        
the film starts out very slowly  with the lifestyle of wallace napalm  an attendant at a photo  service drop  off station . his wife has been restricted to her home with an ankle bracelet as the result of a sentence for arson . wallace is a member of the volunteer fire department  and takes firefighting seriously .  br    br   as we watch wallace  s rather dull life proceeding  suddenly there comes something new and jarring a traveling carnival comes to town . one of its stars is wilder napalm  wallace  s brother . he  s a clown  but he has a special talent .  br    br   so does wallace . they  re both pyrokineticists or  pyrotics   people capable of starting fires through mental energy . wallace keeps his powers secret wilder lets his acquaintances know what he can do .  br    br   spoiler some of their differences go back to a childhood incident where they inadvertently caused the death of a vagrant . wallace holds back from using his powers wilder wants to go public on national tv .  br    br   complicating the matter  wilder wants wallace  s wife  whom they both dated years earlier . she becomes a bone of contention  and becomes one of the reason that the brothers finally have a literal firefight .  br    br   the film is entertaining  but not laugh  out  loud funny . i think enough of it to have a copy in my library . it  s a good offbeat film .  
so  american pie beta house is the  th american pie movie in the series . although  it really has nothing to do with the original three american pie movies except some of the characters are supposed to be related to the characters in the original trilogy and eugene levy is in it  can  t that guy get better gigs   .  br    br   there is very little to compliment this movie on . there aren  t any funny jokes . the acting is painful to watch  especially the girl with the  southern  accent which sounds more like a canadian  s impersonation of a british woman pretending to be a hillbilly by using the word  ya  ll .  this movie makes me feel like such an idiot . why didn  t i apply to a college where nobody goes to class  but everybody gets good grades   girls consistently take their clothes off in public  everybody has promiscuous unprotected sex without the burden of babies and stis  and you can ejaculate all over a girl  s family photos without her minding  really  this series has lowered itself to the standards of softcore porn . maybe for the next one  they  ll finally break down and hire ron jeremy as the lead . i  m sure they can just tie it in to the series by making his character stifler  s  rd uncle once removed or something like that .  
here  s a rare gem for those of you that haven  t seen or most likely not even heard of this . during the   s  dennis quaid was a hot commodity  but in the early   s  dennis quaid disappeared from the scene . in      he burst back onto the big screen with three movies  all of which unfortunately bombed . two of those films i liked very much  and let me elaborate on one of them .  br    br    wilder napalm  is a crazy flick about two brothers  wallace  quaid  and wilder  arliss howard   whom are . . . fire starters yes they have the power of pyrokinetics .  br    br   wilder has decided not to use his power anymore  for anything not useful anyway  after a fatal incident during his youth  where he and his brother blew up an abandoned house which killed a man who was inside unbeknownest to them . nowadays  wilder is a firefighter and is married to the wacky vida  debra winger   who is under house arrest for  guess what  arson  see the movie to understand this better  . wilder also hasn  t spoken to wallace in  years  because wallace set his hair on fire during his bachelor party .  br    br   wallace loves his pyro power and uses it for amusement . he also runs a carnival and is the head clown . when the carnival comes to wilder  s town  wallace decides to reunite with his brother and also to see vida  whom which wallace has been in love with  vida  s house arrest sees its end  but wilder is preoccupied . so  wallace steps in and the fun begins . brother vs . brother . . . fighting fire with fire   br    br   some great fireball throwing in this flick . . . eat your heart out  drew barrymore   br    br   the film also has some really weird  yet funny elements  like wilder  s fire unit sings songs acapella during firefights and after wards . jim varney  globally known as  ernest   pops in as wallace  s redneck carnival buddy .  wilder napalm  is brilliantly shot . . . and cleverly put together . . . very off the wall and avant  guard .  br    br   give this one a look . . .  
this was the worst film i have seen for a long time .  br    br   not only that it has nearly nothing to do with the other american pie movies  the story is obvious  flat and absolutely not funny .  br    br   the girls are nice though  but spending your time watching a cheap soft porno would possibly be greater than watching this film .  br    br   this film seems to be a very bad made sex ad  made for an audience that is not older than   .  br    br   i never visited an american college  but i would seriously doubt that anyone who did could really laugh about any of the scenes .  br    br   save your time  do something else .  
the characters were alive and interesting  the plot was excellently paced  the pyro effects were masterfully accomplished  and it takes a basic love triangle story and tosses in a science  fiction element into it . i could identify with many of the characters and their motivations made logical rational sense in the framework of the story .  br    br   the camera  work was great  the audio clear and accurate  the background music perfectly chosen for effect  the singing firemen a nice talented memorable oddity  the sets brilliantly crafted  and the special effects performed with a skilled talent .  br    br   i am a tad puzzled how an entire mini  carnival in a chain  store  s parking lot could be powered by one single lamppost outlet . that seems impossible to say the least . the fight between the brothers near the end of the movie was brilliant though . having jim varney in a non  clown role was a wonderful touch too as played the semi  serious role of a carny very well .  
let  s cut to the chase this movie is softcore pornography marketed for the masses under a name that the studio is milking every last penny out of the american pie teat . period .  br    br   the whole plot  and that shouldn  t imply that there  s a whole lot to go around  serves as a vehicle to show the audience more boobs and sex scenes .  br    br   if you  re a tween guy  and you  re too squeamish to purchase actual pornography  then this is the movie for you . otherwise  the movie doesn  t have much to offer at all .  br    br   the acting is sub  par  the character development is virtually non  existent  and the story is a nonsensical knarl of nudity  binge drinking and pranks  none of which are particularly memorable  .  br    br   go buy real porn if that  s what you want to see  and if not  go watch a good movie . animal house  kids  or even the original american pie are all great cinematic works  and all of them contain heavy alcohol use and nudity .  br    br    it  s not how much  it  s how you use it   
found this one in the video store and rented it . it  s one of those quirky  quasi  comedies that  s more interesting and weird than funny . it  s a good one at that . it reminds me a lot of being john malkovich . if you enjoyed that movie you will most likely enjoy this one .  
ok so there  s nudity  but hey  there  s free porn on the internet for whomever likes it . and its just silly how they forced tits into every frame . i mean i was embarrassed  not from the nudity but from the far  fetchessness of the producers  writers of this piece of crap .  br    br   the movie is not funny at all  its just extremely predictable all the time . there is no plot  no dramatic content at all . this is way waay worse then the other pie  films and they arnt that great either  if you  re really drunk or maybe a   year old buy who are really obsessed with tits this might be acceptable  otherwise not .  br    br   may it forever roth align with crap of the same magnitude with regards erik the questmaster flash mc  
brothers with psychokinetic powers  yes  really  duel not just for debra winger  s affections but really over a secret from their childhood that left them at odds over their powers .  br    br   there are surreal touches  the fire brigade that act like a singing greek chorus   but there is also humour and romance . the soundtrack is great similar to the way american werewolf in london used every great wolf song they could get  but with fire  and i don  t think i  ll ever forget dennis quaid  mmmmm dennis quaid   setting his own trailer a rockin  to  she  s a lady   priceless    br    br   best line missing from the quotes section btw   once you  ve had a clown  you never go back    br    br   i love this movie  i ordered the dvd from the us  and if the comments written by the kind of people who  d be happier with legally blond  don  t put you off  give it a try    
band camp was awful  the naked mile was a little better  and this third straight to dvd in the american pie franchise seems the same quality as the predecessor . basically erik stifler  john white  split from his girlfriend after losing his virginity  and now him and mike  cooze  coozeman  jake siegel  are joining erik  s cousin dwight  steve talley  at college . with the promise of many parties  plenty of booze  and enough hot chicks at the beta house  they only have fifty listed tasks to carry out to become official privileged members . but a threat comes into sight with the rivals  gek   geek   house  led by power  hungry nerd  and sheep shagger  edgar  tyrone savage  offering bigger and better than what beta have . to settle it once and for all  beta and gek go into battle with the banned  for forty years  greek games to beat each other in  with the loser moving out . the last champion of the games  noah levenstein aka jim  s dad  the only regular eugene levy  runs the show  which sees the people unhooking bras  a gladiator duel floating on water  catching a greased pig  russian roulette in the mouth with cartridges of aged horse spunk  wife carrying and drinking a full keg of alcohol  with puking not disqualifying  . it all comes to the sudden death  with a guy getting stripper lap dancing  and they have to resist cumming  beta house win when edgar cums with a girl dressed as a sheep on his lap . also starring flubber  s christopher mcdonald as mr . stifler  meghan heffern as ashley  dan petronijevic as bull  nic nac as bobby  christine barger as margie  italia ricci as laura johnson  moshana halbert as sara coleman  sarah power as denise  andreja punkris as stacy and jordan prentice as rock . the nudity amount is very slightly increased  as is the grossness of the jokes  and i could guess it being rated one star out of five  but i like it . adequate   
brothers with psychokinetic powers  yes  really  duel not just for debra winger  s affections but really over a secret from their childhood that left them at odds over their powers .  br    br   there are surreal touches  the fire brigade that act like a singing greek chorus   but there is also humour  wit and romance . the soundtrack is great also . and similar to the way american werewolf in london used every great wolf song they could get  but with fire and i don  t think i  ll ever forget dennis quaid  mmmmm dennis quaid   setting his own trailer a rockin  too  she  s a lady   priceless    br    br   best line missing from the quotes section btw   once you  ve had a clown  you never go back    br    br   i love this movie  i just ordered the dvd from the us  and if the comments written by the kind of people who  d be happier with legally blond  don  t put you off  give it a try    
for those with little time on their hands  i  ll sum it up quickly  in one word . . . pathetic . there are a lot of good examples as to why this movie fits perfectly under that description . so much so that you can barely go through  minutes of screen time without seeing something completely stupid and pointless forced upon you . want a fully naked woman in the first   minutes  you got it  the reason she appears is so pointless though that it really sets the tone for the rest of this piece of juvenile crap . you can almost glimpse into the deluded minds of the   year old boys that wrote this piece of garbage just by watching this crap that they expect the public to actually pay for         br    br   i  ve watched many a movie franchise decline over the years  but american piebeta house has to be one of the worst offenders when you consider that despite the average nature of the original movie  it  s still a thousand times funnier than this dreck .  br    br   the plot is predictable  and sometimes you actually feel like you  re watching a school play . the things that happen in this movie are so unrealistic that it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to actually watch it  we  re talking star wars levels of suspension  like the kind you need to convince yourself jar jar is real   br    br   the plot is paper thin and mostly the events that transpire are only there to show another pair of breasts or set up yet another pathetic joke . there is no acting talent to speak of  all you get is a bunch of pretty boys trying to make us laugh . and ohhh how they fail     every gag falls flat and the only thing i laughed at was how socially unaware the scriptwriters appear to be . how else can you explain the bullst they try to pass off as a story   br    br   they pass up every opportunity to do something worthwhile and entertaining in favour of badly written  lowest common denominator nonsense . the characters have to complete a set number of tasks before they are accepted as members of beta house  but this is dealt with mostly by a series of very brief montages that imply that they are completing the tasks but we see little to no evidence of it actually happening . its a very lazy way of telling a story . it also misses opportunities to be funny in doing so .  imagine say the wizard of oz where all the important events happened offscreen instead of on it  and all we see is dorothy high  fiving the scarecrow every now and again and saying  gee that sure was a great adventure we just had back then   lazy . lazy . lazy      br    br   the female characters have little or nothing to say . all they do is get naked for no apparent reason and are used as visual props through most of the movie . you braindeads that only seek ta will not be disappointed  but for that reason alone shame on you . if you buy this on dvd you will be contributing to the downfall of society in your own special way . congratulations .  
sandwiched in between san francisco and captains courageous two of spencer tracy  s greatest parts is this very curious film about war and the effects it has on some people . they gave him a gun stars spencer tracy and franchot tone in the only film they ever made together and gladys george as the woman who loves them both .  br    br   tracy and tone are a couple of world war i draftees  tone is a weak character who almost goes over the hill in boot camp  but tracy stops him . tracy is still playing the lovable blowhard  younger wallace beery type that mgm envisioned for him when they signed him away from fox .  br    br   over at the front tone gets an opportunity and takes it when during a fight he manages to get to a church tower that peers down on a german machine gun nest . he  s learned to shoot by now and he does a sergeant york . but alvin c . york was never changed by the war the way tone has .  br    br   wounded in the fight tone convalesces at a hospital with gladys george looking out for him . tracy goes awol himself to visit his pal and he and george get something going . later on when tracy is reported missing in action  tone and george marry . tracy  s brokenhearted when he comes back and learns of the marriage  but takes sit in stride .  br    br   the rest of the film is dealing with tone applying the the wartime skills he  s learned to the gangster trade . he  s a hit  man now and george doesn  t really know what he does for a living . i think you can figure the rest out .  br    br   the part of the film that gave me some trouble is that i can  t believe gladys george couldn  t figure it out . she  s a street smart girl  her part is very much like the one she played in the roaring twenties opposite james cagney .  br    br   speaking of the roaring twenties  humphrey bogart  s character development there is similar to tone  s although he was not the central character of the movie . in fact there are elements of they gave him a gun that are to be found in taxi driver and in clint eastwood  s classic  the unforgiven .  br    br   the world war i battle sequences are very well staged by director woody van dyke . for some reason leonard maltin panned this film  i think it  s a lot better than he gave it credit .  
this is the first time i ever saw a movie with jamie foxx  and i bet it will be my last . i failed to see why he was funny  although people in the audience thought it was very funny when he made a face to the camera  or for saying  i am going to take a shower  .  br    br   the plot is completely predictable . the bad guy comes after the good guy . the good guy has a woman  so the bad guy uses her . in between  the officials screwing up . the final scenes are utterly unbelievable . you spend  years and millions of dollars chasing a guy  but you don  t do your home work to solve a trivial riddle   br    br   there  s no great acting  there isn  t much of a plot or storyline  and the shooting is done mtv style . don  t waste your money on this one .  br    br    
the people who are bad  mouthing this film are those who don  t understand film to begin with . these are the people who love movie blockbusters and adverse to any movie that doesn  t star leonardo dicaprio . wilder napalm is a neat little film that may seem quirky and maybe even stupid at first  but what it lacks in plot  it more than makes up for in substance .  br    br   one thing in particular about the movie that impressed me was it  s use of music  which plays a large part . those students of film music will notice how important music is in the movie  both in vida and wilder  s life  and in the background . wilder  s theme  vida  s theme  and wallace  s theme are all heard in the opening sequence  and it is funny how some of the lyrics play out . for instance  in the scene where the men are singing  duke of earl   vida is with wilder when the men sing something like  she is my girl   and then she goes over to wallace to give him something when the men sing the lyric  she will be my girl  cleverly showing the tension between the two brothers there are all sorts of little intricacies like this inside the movie  and while it may look like a flop on the outside  the real student of film will notice how good this movie really is .  
american pie has gone a long distance from the first . at first i believe the actors don  t have a clue what their doing and instead it  s just a remake of a college party gone nuts . story sets out as two freshman college guys  featuring the young stifler  setting out the dreams of attending college just to experience the late night parties  sex and of course the booze . the plot is stupid and comes along way away from the original pie . in fact they didn  t once again feature an apple pie somewhere in the film .  br    br   luckily i work in a video store and can rent for free . but please remember it is a waste of time unless you enjoy brainless sex films with absolute nudity and insane drinking . i  m a teen myself and i believe even evan almighty would  ve been a better choice instead .  
offbeat and rather entertaining sleeper concerning two very different brothers who are both not only so  called  fire starters   think stephen king  s snore  fest of a book with the same name   but also forever at odds with each other over a woman who has a rather nasty habit of being a pyromaniac  good special effects  especially towards the end   quirky performances from a pretty talented trio of actors and topped by a really interesting and oddly appropriate soundtrack ultimately make  wilder napalm  a unique treat of a film to watch . . . if you can find it that is  on a personal note  i was fortunate enough to snatch it up  so to speak  from the two  dollar bin at my local video  rental store .   out of    
for starters  i would like to say that i  m a fan of the american pie series . even though  the naked mile  and this one are the two worst  this one seems to be the downfall of the whole series .  br    br   first of all  the best part of the film was that it was an american pie film  which is always appreciated .  br    br   however  there are tonnes of bad things to say about this film . first of all  the story has a very stale  arc  structure . first  there is the introduction of the characters  then the pledging of the beta house and finally the greek olympiad . each of which has exactly   minutes of length . apart from the general staleness of the plot  there is little to no character development  which makes a double whammy of a bad plot .  br    br   apart from that  i deeply disliked the stereotyping in this film . that is  showing the jocks as the extremely cool  only  thinking  about  sex guys  and explicitly displaying the geeks as inferior . also  it shows females only as sexual objects  and males as only wanting to treat the females as sexual objects .  br    br   apart from that  the acting was also poor . with perhaps the exception of steve talley .  br    br   so  in the end  a generally horrid film  if seen from a critical point of view . if seen from a teen point of view  i guess that it  s better  but this film is rated    in most countries  so it shouldn  t really be seen by minors .  
i used to watch this on either hbo or showtime or cinemax during the one summer in the mid    s that my parents subscribed to those channels . i came across it several times in various parts and always found it dark  bizarre and fascinating . i was young then  in my early teens and now years later after having discovered the great arliss howard and being blown away by  big bad love  i bought the dvd of  wilder napalm  and re  watched it with my girlfriend for the first time in many years . i absolutely loved it  i was really impressed and affected by it . there are so many dynamic fluid complexities and cleverness within the camera movements and cinematography all of which perfectly gel with the intelligent  intense and immediate chemistry between the three leads  their story  the music and all the other actors as well . it  s truly  cinematic  . i love arliss howard  s subtle intensity  ambivalent strength and hidden intelligence  i  m a big fan of anything he does and his interplay with debra winger  s manic glee  they are of course married  has that magic charming reality to it that goes past the camera .  i wonder if they watch this on wedding anniversaries  . . . . . . .  big bad love  should be the next stop for anyone who has not seen it it  s brilliant .  and  dennis quaid in full clown make  up  sneakily introduced  angled  hidden and displayed by the shot selection and full bloomed delivery is of the kind of pure dark movie magic you don  t see very often . quaid has always had a sinister quality to him for me anyways  with that huge slit mouth span  hiding behind his flicker eyes lying in wait to unleash itself as either mischievous charm or diabolical weirdness  here as both  . both howard and quaid have the insane fire behind the eyes to pull off their wonderful intense internal gunslinger square  offs in darkly cool fashion . in fact the whole film has a darkly cool energy and hip intensity . it  s really a fantastic film  put together by intelligence  imagination  agility and chemistry by all parties involved . i really cannot imagine how this got funded  and it looks pretty expensive to me  by such a conventional  imagination  less system  but i thank god films like this slip through the system every once in awhile . in a great way  with all of its day  glo bright carnival colors  hip intelligence  darkly warped truthful humor and enthralling chemistry it reminds me of one of my favorite films of all time  grosse pointe blank  . . . . . . . now that  s a compliment in my book   
stifler  has finished running his naked mile and is now attending beta house . crazy stuff happens  people run around naked and nerds are made fun of and this series is dead in the water . the naked mile was a crap film  but i found it to be significantly better then band camp . it seems they  ve gone back to what didn  t work for them and it shows that they don  t care either . you can tell where the target audience is and they nailed it perfectly . young teenage boys who like to see naked women  crude humour and beer drinking will love beta house  everyone else can pretty much look away .  br    br   star wars became a massive success that stunned audiences with it  s ahead of its time special effects . lord of the rings created an entire world of mythical creatures and massive battles that dazzled the eye . the matrix changed the way action and sci  fi films were made  specifically with the cutting edge special effects . with all the advancement in technology  we eagerly await the next big thing that will have our jaws dropped to the floor . then comes american pie beta house  which pushes the boundaries of what technology can do . when people have created spaceships  landscapes and creatures using cgi  beta house decides to use this technology to create semen . yes  the thing that creates life  the thing you see so many times in pornography films is created and time slows down to show us the white residue shoot across the room onto a teddy bear . is this funny  disgusting  neither  beta house shows more nudity then the naked mile  which is surprising considering the previous installments title . does the film need it  of course not  does it ever advance the plot  does it ever  does it ever get a laugh  does it ever get young boys aroused  yes the women are beautiful  but if i am the one who thinks there is too much nudity then you might as well just have made a porno .  br    br   the female who catches the affections of our main character is pretty and doesn  t annoy the viewer  like previous girls have done in the series  but not once did i ever believe this character would ever do what she does . i  m pretty sure every action from the characters in this film are far from realistic . the american pie series has fallen from a realm of reality into a fantasy world . none of the events in this film would ever happen  if they ever did then i need to attend this school immediately . is this film suppose to make people feel like they are having a good time  well it doesn  t  we are watching them have a good time  by the end of the film we hate them for all the fun they are having .  br    br   there is a  deer hunter  scene in the film  but to make it  funny  for today  s audience they decided to substitute bullets wit horse semen . are you laughing yet  instead of shooting themselves with said semen in the head  or face  they place the gun in their mouths . are you on the floor laughing yet  the first time we are introduced to stifler  s roommate  he  s having sex with his girlfriend . are you cheering at the nudity yet  the film at first seems like it will be about the boys trying to get into the frat house  but then it shifts to them already being in the frat house  but needing to perform certain tasks . then it shifts to a competition between nerds and the boys . it goes a little  revenge of the nerds  on us for a bit and it seems out of place . i honestly do not know what these film is about because it goes all over the place .  br    br   most of the comedy seems forced for shock value . even at the beginning with the dad showing his son the list of people he has had sex with . the joke is in there somewhere  i think it might be the fact that his wife is not the last name on the list  or it could have been that one of his son  s friend  s mother was on the list . either one  it doesn  t work .  br    br   i guess if you haven  t guessed it yet  this film is not funny . nor does it seem to be focused  the story is pathetic and the so called crude humour that the series has been known for doesn  t shock . skip this lame installment and any future ones as well . i do not know why i have seen all the entries in the series  but for some unknown reason they seem to have found their way to my eyes .  
it does come out of left field  and really isn  t what you  re expecting . but i love that . the most memorable movie experiences come from being surprised  if you ask me . if you haven  t been tipped off about the mysterious  thing  that makes these brothers so odd . . . you  re in for a treat .  br    br   the cast is fantastic  but not stretching so much that it  s palpable . the special effects come out of nowhere  seriously  it  s like an oddly dark romantic comedy until they do   then wow  and they  re great . the overall cinematography is easy on the eyes  the editing and sound are very good quality  and the twisted story unfolds without clichs . while none of these aspects individually make it a blockbuster  the  what the hell   factor alone makes it a film treasure .  br    br   the people who bash this movie make no sense . it  s one of those often  overlooked flicks of the    s that you  ve either never heard of  or love so much you jump at the mention of its title .  br    br   i  m in the latter group .  
american pie beta house is sort of in limbo between genres . on the one hand  it  s a comedy with no plot and few genuinely clever jokes . on the other hand  it  s porno that  s a tad too soft  core to actually turn on any viewers . essentially beta house is a collage of sex scenes  some humiliating  others just lame attempts at humor  with a couple thin plot points thrown in an effort at cohesiveness . the characters are barely even two  dimensional  most development relies on knowledge of naked mile  and the  important  plot scenes are so far apart that you wonder why the writers even felt the need for a story .  br    br   in all fairness  i did not go into this movie without expectations . i liked the original three american pie movies  and thought band camp and naked mile were solid rentals . i thought naked mile was almost good enough to be released in theaters  and so when i saw that some of the same characters were returning for beta house  i was excited to see this installment . i was aware that there would be numerous scenes of debauchery and sexual humiliation in multiple forms . and i was fine with it  because in the past  these scenes were backed by the story and were well integrated into the plot . in beta house  however  it  s almost as if the writers forgot why the formula in the other ap movies worked . they spent too much energy working in the nudity that they forgot to actually write a story .  br    br   this movie is a disappointment and not even worth a one  dollar rental . the jokes are lame  the story is non  existent  and the porno  aspect is too tame if that  s all you really care about seeing .  
this movie took the jerry springer approach to super  human power .  wilder napalm  is the kind of theme  based movie that i love  addressing the idea that prodigies in america are defined either by their gifts or by attempts to hide them . at the same time  the movie points out that every prodigy is only human  and no more to be feared or worshipped than any other human being . this was a great comedy  fun and human with that slight satiric edge .  
although it  s an r rated movie  i really doubt that you  ll really enjoy it unless you  re a teenager  br    br   why  because there  s no real plot  no character development  no funny jokes .  br    br   the only thing that this movie has plenty of is nudity . tons and tons of naked or almost naked chicks  pretty nice ones i might add  to feast your eyes on .  br    br   i really can  t understand why this movie has the american pie title since it  s only a bad combination between an erotic movie and a comedy without succeeding in being either of them .  br    br   my suggestion is to watch this movie only if you want to see some naked chicks  but you  re too shy to rent  buy an erotic movie .  br    br   gave it     for the  smiles i had in the entire movie and another     for the nice chicks  
brilliant adaptation of the largely interior monologues of leopold bloom  stephen dedalus  and molly bloom by joseph strick in recreating the endearing portrait of dublin on june         bloomsday  a day to be celebrated  double entendre intended  bravo director strick  screenwriter haines  as well as casting director and cinematographer in creating this masterpiece . gunter grass  novel  the tin drum filmed by volker schlndorff       is another fine film adaptation of interior monologue which i favorably compare with strick  s film .  br    br   while there are clearly recognized dublin landmarks in the original novel and in the film  there are also recognizable characters  although with different names in the novel . for example  buck mulligan with whom dedalus lives turns out to be a then prominent dublin surgeon .  br    br   this film for all of its excellence is made even richer by additional viewings .  br    br   brian invinoveritas  aol . com   june      
are you kidding that was awful     br    br   but that notwithstanding i got given this film and  others and they were all on dvd . the film starts of pretty much an ok movie but goes downhill from about the middle onwards .  br    br   and the ending well let  s just say it was one of the most anti climatic endings in recent film history . lots of gore in the end sequence and if you like a dose of schlock horror then this is the film for you . . . .  br    br        
the film adaptation of james joyce  s ulysses is excellent . the actors  the voice overs  the direction  it all captures the feel of the novel without sacrificing its own merits . the milo o  shea does an excellent job as leopold bloom  the cuckolded man married to the sassy molly . i absolutely love this picture .  
dear god  i kept waiting for this movie to  get started  . . . then i waited for it to redeem itself . . . and when it did neither  i just sat there  dumbfounded that   it could possibly be this bad  and   that i had just wasted a couple of hours on just sheer stupidity . i had faith that drew couldn  t possibly have made this bad of a movie . . . and boy  did i ever lose my faith  don  t bother with this one  drew tried  but the movie was poorly written  poorly acted  and just poorly conceived  i can  t believe a script this bad ever got funded  it had a million chances to actually do something with the idea   the word  concept  is too big for this movie to even qualify for   and it still didn  t go anyplace  its just pitiful  where the other reviewer got the idea that it wasn  t the worst  baffles me  because believe me  if it got any worse i  d have slit my wrists before finishing it   
ulysses as a film should in no way be compared with the novel  for they are two entirely different entities . however  that being said  the film still manages to maintain many of the elements that made the book work  but since it is a visual medium  it is more difficult to pull of stream  of  consciousness . i think this is the best film they could have made with the material . . . and this is from someone that routinely rants about films not being like their literary counterparts . i recommend the book  but the movie is still entertaining .  
drew barrymore is an actress that has gone through bad periods  not only in her career  but in her personal life too . after being a prodigy child actress she descended into obscurity with mediocre films of low quality . while she has recovered from that dark past  this movie stays as a reminder of drew barrymore  s worst days .  br    br   the movie starts with an interesting premise  very reminiscent to brian de palma  s  raising cain   with a plot dealing with multiple personality disorder that sets the story for a horror  thriller . barrymore stars as holly gooding  a young woman who is trying to make a new life in california after a traumatic event of her past in which apparently her other personality killed her mother .  br    br   suddenly  her past returns to haunt her as her evil personality is back in her life willing to ruin her new found peace and her new found love . in the middle of the chaos his new boyfriend  patrick highsmith  george newbern   will try to help holly to face the demons of her past .  br    br   unlike de palma  s underrated thriller   doppelganger  is for the most part a mediocre film that not only never fulfills it  s purpose  it also concludes in one of the worst endings of movie history . while barrymore is definitely not at her best  she manages to keep her dignity with an above average performance . the rest of the cast however range from mediocre to painfully bad over  the  top performances  although leslie hope manages to be among the best of them .  br    br   the script is full of clichs and de palma  s influence is quite obvious . while the movie tries to be original by making literary references in almost every line  the dialogs are dull and the wooden acting certainly doesn  t do any good . it has a fair share of nudity and for strange reasons  and excessive use of special effects .  br    br   the make  up effects are done by the outstanding knb and are really among the few good things in the movie . however  the bizarre over  use of the effects in the totally out of context ending decreases the impact of knb  s work and makes cheesy what in a different movie would be amazing .  br    br   the fact that this is a b  movie is no excuse for it  s low quality  as with a better and more coherent script this could had been an interesting movie . sadly  all we have here is a mediocre film that gets worse every second . worthy for barrymore  s beauty .      
as if the film were not of value in itself  this is an excellent way to get an overview of the novel as a preface to reading it . in the summer of     i saw the film in nyc that fall in graduate school  i read the book for the first time . some of the pleasure in reading the novel was my memory of the scrupulously detailed film . and for better or worse   and i  ve now read and taught the novel for over three decades   milo o  shea is still leopold bloom .  
even in a bad film  there is usually some redeeming feature  something that you can say yes it was terrible  but there was that performance  or that part of the script  or that special effect  this was just simply terrible all over . the acting was laughable  the script terrible  complete with many inexplicable breakfast at tiffany  s references  and even the special effects were shoddy at best . this was a very bad film and one that even drew barrymore wishes was expunged from history . watch it if you want to a  suffer harsh self inflicted pain . b  see just how bad a film can be . this is one film where i can use the clich  there  s ninety minutes of my life i will never get back  with some justification   
having enjoyed joyce  s complex novel so keenly i was prepared to be disappointed by joseph strick  s and fred haines  s screenplay  given the fabulous complexity of the original text . however  the film turned out to be very well done and a fine translation of the tone  naturalism  and levity of the book .  br    br   it certainly helps to have read the original text before viewing the film . i imagine the latter would seem disjointed  with very odd episodes apparently randomly stitched together  without a prior reading of the text to help grasp the plot .  br    br   it  s amazing to see how  filthy  the film is  given that it was shot in dublin in     . the irish film censors only  finally  unbanned it for viewing by general audiences in ireland as late as      it was shown to restricted audiences in a private cinema club  the irish film theatre  in the late     s  . joyce  s eroticism is not simply naturalistic and raunchy  it offers many wildly  perverse  episodes . never mind that so many of these fetishes were unacceptable when the book was published in      they were still utterly taboo when the film was made in     .  br    br   it is astonishing and heartening to watch the cream of the irish acting profession of the     s  respected players all  daring to utter and enact joyce  s hugely transgressive text with such gusto .  br    br   bravo   
i got the dvd very cheap and i  m a total drewbie  and thats probably the only constellation where this movie could ever interest anyone .  br    br   an early drew movie  she  s looking great  and she gets a quite lot of really cute scenes of her  like a shower scene  a sexy dance scene  quite a number of sexy outfits etc . she does never show the friendly charm we know from her more recent movies .  br    br   the movie itself is pretty average or sub  average  and much more looking like being made for the tv than one for the cinema . there is no real horror or tension built up and the dialogs are often cheesy .  br    br   the most interesting part is probably the end because i honestly don  t understand it . but maybe there is nothing to understand about it anyway . but at least you don  t get the end you would be expecting  and it also comes much sooner than one would have expected .  br    br   overall i think this movie is exclusively for drewbies .  
for a danish movie  i have to say  that this is very good movie .  br    br   it  s in a class of its own  yet it has an international potential .  br    br   the movie has a big budget  and is starring famous danish actors  and a few newcomers  who play very well . it can be watched by anyone who like adventures  and a little bit of  ghost  movie .  br    br   don  t be afraid  be thrilled   
photography was too jumpy to follow . dark scenes hard to see .  br    br   had good story line too bad it got lost somewhere . too noisy for what was really happening bottom line is it  s a baddddd movie  
i never saw this when i was a kid  so this was seen with fresh eyes . i had never heard of it and rented it for my  year old daughter . plus  the idea of christopher walken singing and dancing made me curious . the special fx are cheesy and the singing and dancing is mediocre . but the story is great . my daughter was entranced . i loved watching walken in this role thinking about what the future held for him . very amusing to see him dance  and if the songs weren  t great  at least they weren  t disney over  produced saccharine sweetness . the ogre scene in the beginning was a little scary for her  and she was a little nervous when we saw him again at the end  but it was mostly benign . interestingly  we had recently read  puss in boots   and i had wondered about the implausibility of the story . but while staying true to almost every aspect  walken  s acting made it believable . great fun . i  d watch it again with my daughter .  
sometimes a movie is so comprehensively awful it has a destructive effect on your morale . you begin to really ask yourself  what does it mean for our society that the standard is so terribly low  can they honestly expect that we  ll endure this many clichs and still be entertained   br    br   of course  it is still a hollywood mainstay to make the gun the major character  plot device  and the source of all conflict and resolution in films . character needs a gun . gets a gun . can  t do that because he has a gun . puts his gun down first . oh my god what are we going to do   he has a gun  he waves it around  acting more malicious than real human beings ever do . he pushes it in someone  s face for   minutes  shouting questions . the hallmark of any conclusion will be the comforting sound of police sirens .  br    br   it  s a real challenge to make such a tired  hackneyed formula work again a film has to be very clever and well executed . this one is neither . it has no life and no personality  and it will suck these components from you . it will make you feel worse about living in the time and space that you do . really  who needs that   so yes  i  ll say it i think this may well be the worst film i have ever seen . anyone who was involved in the making of this sub  mediocre soul killing trash should be publicly embarrassed for the disservice they  ve done to us all .  
at the height of the  celebrity big brother  racism row in      involving shilpa shetty and the late jade goody   i condemned on an internet forum those  c . b . b .  fans who praised the show  after years of bashing  racist      s sitcoms such as  curry  chips    love thy neighbour  . i thought they were being hypocritical  and said so .  it ain  t half hot mum  was then thrown into the argument  with some pointing out it had starred an english actor blacked  up . well  yes  but michael bates had lived in india as a boy  and spoke urdu fluently . the show  s detractors overlook the reality he brought to his performance as bearer  rangi ram  . the noted indian character actor  renu setna  said in a     documentary  perry  croft the sitcoms  that he was upset when he heard bates had landed the role  but added  no indian actor could have played that role as well as bates .  . indeed .  br    br    mum  was perry and croft  s companion show to  dad  s army   also set in wartime  the sedate english town of walmington  on  sea had been replaced by the hot  steamy jungles of india  in particularly a place called deolali  where an army concert party puts on shows for the troops  among them bombadier solomons  george layton  his first sitcom role since  doctor in charge    camp gunner  gloria  beaumont  melvyn hayes   diminutive gunner  lofty  sugden   lah de  dah  gunner graham  john clegg   and gunner parkins  the late christopher mitchell  . presiding over this gang of misfits was the bellicose sergeant  major williams  the brilliant windsor davies   who regarded them all as  poofs  . his frustration at not being able to lead his men up the jungle to engage the enemy in combat made him bitter and bullying  though he was nice to parkins  whom he thought was his illegitimate son   . then there was ever  so english colonel reynolds  donald hewlett  and dimwitted captain ashwood  michael knowles  . rangi was like a wise old sage  beginning each show by talking to the camera and closing them by quoting obscure hindu proverbs . he loved being bearer so much he came to regard himself as practically british . his friends were the tea  making char wallah  the late dino shafeek  who went on to  mind your language   and the rope pulling punka wallah  babar bhatti  . so real indians featured in the show  another point its detractors ignore . shafeek also provided what was described on the credits as  vocal interruptions   similar to the     s songs used as incidental music on  dad  s army   . each edition closed with him warbling  land of hope  glory  only to be silenced by a  shut up   from williams . the excellent opening theme was penned by jimmy perry and derek taverner .  br    br   though never quite equalling  dad  s army  in the public  s affections   mum  nevertheless was popular enough to run for a total of eight seasons . in      davies and estelle topped the charts with a cover version of that old chestnut  whispering grass  . they then recorded an entire album of old chestnuts  entitled  what else    sing lofty   .  br    br   the show hit crisis point three years later when bates died of cancer . rather than recast the role of  rangi   the writers just let him be quietly forgotten . when george layton left  the character of  gloria  took his place as  bombadier   providing another source of comedy .  br    br   the last edition in     saw the soldiers leave india by boat for blighty  the char wallah watching them go with great sadness  as did viewers  .  br    br   repeats have been few and far between  mainly on u . k . gold  all because of its so  called  dodgy  reputation . this is strange . for one thing  the show was not specifically about racism . if a white man blacked  up is so wrong  why does david lean  s     film  a passage to india  still get shown on television   it featured alec guinness as an indian  and won two oscars   . it was derived from jimmy perry  s own experiences . some characters were based on real people  the sergeant  major really did refer to his men as  poofs   . i take the view that if you are going to put history on television  get it right . sanitizing the past  no matter how unsavoury it might seem to modern audiences  is fundamentally dishonest .  mum  was both funny and truthful  and viewers saw this . thank heavens for d . v . d .  s i say . time to stop this review . as williams would say  i  ll have no gossiping in this jungle    
here we have a movie which fails in pretty much every way it is possible for a movie to fail . terrible script  lousy acting  amateurish directing  laughable special effects . . . it  s just an utterly awful movie . not to mention the fact that when you get to the end you  ll realize the whole thing doesn  t make a lick of sense . after spending the whole movie wondering what in the world is going on here when things are finally explained you realize the story has been built on a foundation which is ludicrously impossible . in one of those hideous  villain explains the whole movie  sequences we are told that our villain has done something which quite simply can  t be done and which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever . oh  and after that we see that there also appears to be some kind of jell  o monster involved . i  m sure drew barrymore would very much like to pretend this movie never happened . if for some ungodly reason you are ever tempted to sit down and watch this movie may i suggest instead taking that time to bang your head against a wall for    minutes . that would prove to be a much more pleasurable experience than sitting through this garbage .  
this wartime sitcom written by jimmy perry and david croft  who wrote tv  s best programme ever dads army  was not as good as dads army  but still very  very funny .  br    br   it is about a concert band in india . most episodes were about bsm williams  windsor davies  trying to get the concert party  who he referred to as a bunch of puffs  posted up the jungle . he was always unsuccessful as the vague colonel reynolds  donald hewlett  and the stupid captain ashwood  michael knowles  were big fans of the concert party . the concert party consisted of bombadier solomans  george layton   ginger rogers impersonator gunner  gloria  beaumont  melvyn hayes   university educated piano player gunner  la de da  gunner graham  a . k . a padarouski  john clegg   singer gunner  lofty  sugden  gunner parkins  christopher mitchell   williams thought parkins was his son  he was quite wrong   big eater gunner  nosher  evans and animal impersonator  s  kenneth macdonald   he was no percy edwards . also  heavily involved in the adventures were faithful indian servant rangi ram  michael bates   with the char  wallah and the punkah  wallah  dino shafeek and babar bhatti  giving ram wonderful support .  br    br   the show  just like dads army left many catchphrases . rangi ram used to say to his punkah wallah  don  t be such clever dickie  and he ended a lot of the shows saying  here is a very old hindu proverb e . g when wife is having affair with best friend  it doesn  t stop your house from catching fire  it was williams though who had the most catchphrases . he would always shout  shuddup        say  oh dear  how sad  never mind  and when talking to gunner graham  he would always sarcastically talk in a posh accent .  br    br   this show doesn  t enjoy the same recognition as dads army did . this is probably due to a question of taste this is seen as being crude . williams is homophobic calling his men  puffs   though it has to be said williams is a bore . also  some people think there is a racial element in the humour  using the fact that michael bates was blacked up to play rangi ram  bates was actually born in india though and spoke urdu before he spoke english   so the bbc will feel a bit uneasy putting it on  even though the vast majority of people who have actually watched the show would agree that the show isn  t racist  i know someone who is half indian  and they weren  t the slightest bit offended and agreed like i did that it was a very funny show . when i see an episode for the first time  i laugh probably more than i do for any other sitcom  but when i see it second time round  i don  t laugh all that much  but no matter how many times i see dads army  i laugh many times in an episode .  br    br   best episode the road to banu  series   episode   
i have just watched the movie for the first time . i wanted to watch it as i like drew barrymore and wanted to see one of her early movies .  br    br   the movie is about a girl  played by young and beautiful drew barrymore   who moves from nyc to la in order to get over her recently troubled loss . short after moving to a guy who falls in love with her  it becomes obvious that she has an evil twindoppelganger  who haunts her .  br    br   the movie is quite poor and lousy . both the dialogs and the acting make the film not really worth seeing it . summing up it is just something for the fans of drew barrymore .  
ever watched . it deals so gently and subtly not only with aids  which is only alluded  and gay life  but also with old age  dying and death . it  s a deep and beautiful movie   also visually   of a very special director . highly recommanded   
drew barrymore keeps seeing her alter  ego all over town and it  s really starting to become a pain in the butt .  br    br   after dee rents a flat from a hack writer  her encounters with  the other drew  become more frequent . writer  dude feels that it  s his responsibility to snap  the real drew  out of her stupor  so he does what he can to help including seducing her as soon as he has some free time . not very interesting  and even less scary  but drew is sexy as usual  especially when she gives a group of rude construction workers the finger . . . yeah drew  that  s hot   br    br   best scene just might be where drew stabs her real  life mom  jaid  with a big kitchen knife . . . hmmm . . . and how was your day   
unfortunately  the director amos guttman died from aids  related illnesses the year after making this film  so we don  t know how many more gay  related films we might have had from him . i found this used dvd  from cinevista  on amazon  but it looks like none of his other works are still available . hessed mufla  amazing grace  contains full frontal male nudity  at least in magazines  which turn into a wishful dream sequence . and some drug use . this is the story of two families getting by  or trying to  but the mothers  the daughters  and the gay sons all have their own problems to figure out . jonathan  played by gal hoyberger  meets up with the next door neighbor thomas  who has his own problems  of course . either the translations are a little weak  or maybe guttman kept the conversation sparse on purpose  for a little mystery . watching this  i get the feeling we  re not getting the whole story  but that  s ok . throw in a cute gay roommate ex  lover miki  aki avni  who went on to do many projects  mostly isreali tv  lots of smoking . lots of worrying by the mothers . a great blues song  all night long blues  done by an unknown female artist if she is listed in the credits  sadly it was not translated to english . nice to see mothers and siblings treating gay relationships with respect  like any other relationship . but then  usa always has been years behind other countries in this way . a good way to spend   minutes . . . i wanted to see even more of it . won awards at several film festivals  acc to imdb and the film jacket .  
i was interested in the topic  and only fans of drew barrymore  s dancing on david letterman  s desk will find anything remotely interesting in it . ok  she shows some breast  or maybe a body double does  . the plot is slashed to bits and the acting is horrible . neither lead has any material to work with  as the direction of the film leads nowhere . don  t waste your time . see donnie darko instead if you want a creepy drew barrymore film  and if you want to see another  skip this and see darko again .  br    br   the treatment of the doppelganger legend is absolutely criminal as well . refer to charles williams  novel  descent into hell  for something worth considering instead . this is just an excuse to make a b film to go straight to video and suck some life out of people at blockbuster .  br    br   what makes any of these people think the acting here was praiseworthy  give me a break .  
  amazing grace  has a languid feel to it as it tells a contemporary story of various lives in an apartment building . the language spoken is hebrew  but the drama could take place in any modern city . it observes family values  romantic relationships  and age group characteristics with equal aplomb . it does not judge the characters  only present them in a straight forward manner  as they strive to work out their individual problems in this modern world . the quality of acting is very good  and the observations made on the characters are astute and sharp . i appreciate this flowing film very much .  
doppelganger has its moments  but they are few and far between .  br    br   essentially  this is a grade b blend of pop  psych thriller  ghost story and horror . drew barrymore plays a young woman who is haunted by the demons of her past  most of her family has been murdered and she was  in at least one case  the prime suspect   or does she just have a really bad case of multiple personality disorder  george newbern is her new room mate  and most of the action centers on him .  br    br   newbern  s character is pretty sympathetic  and both he and barrymore do decent work  though not exactly good  . the mediocre to  at times  totally horrendous script and the unimpressive directing seem to have combined to sink the rest of the performances into oblivion . leslie hope  s character is memorable  but so irritating that you will want to forget her .  br    br   the plot eventually disintegrates into a bifurcated  one story arc is psychological realism  the other is supernatural horror  outlandish climax which is so badly conceived  acted and photographed that it effectively counteracts most of what value the film had achieved previously .  br    br   overall  the film has the feel of what might expect to be the result of m . knight shamalyan  s first undergraduate film class . the acting and script for the two leads are just good enough to make you care a little about them  at least until the film derails utterly and completely .  br    br   my recommendation  send your doppelganger  but avoid a first  person encounter .  
this is the touching story of two families in israel and the relationships within each family . each family has a gay son . the stories are interrelated at that point but this film is about all of the family members  not just the two sons . the portraits of each of the family members in both families are well drawn and the story is consistently interesting if a bit bleak .  
although i recently put this on my   worst films list  i have to say it  s probably no worse than burt reynolds in  the maddening  or any of the  look who  s talking  sequels . still  it  s pretty nauseating  even with sexy drew barrymore playing something of a horror  movie answer to holly golightly  relocating from new york city to los angeles but finding out she  s being stalked by a murderous look  alike . poor sally kellerman  a quirky actress of great acclaim in the    s  is reduced here to a paltry supporting role  and barrymore  s leading man george newbern is the worst type of sitcom actor  always pausing for a laugh after every line . the picture is swill  but drew  s bloody shower scene boasts showmanship  and the identity of the psycho  although right out of a  scooby doo  episode  is interesting . but as for the finale . . . get real  who had to clean up that mess   from   
maybe some people may consider this a slow movie . however  it  s precisely this  slow burning  that allows it to profoundly affect the viewer . like that marvelous first scene first  we can hear the voices then  we are allowed to see the characters finally  the camera slowly pans back and to the side and we see another character  a young man who is just sitting there  apparently not even listening to the conversation or  at least  not really caring . the fact that this young man will be the leading role shows the movie  s strategy allowing the character to develop and be determined by the environment surrounding him but without remarking the points more than necessary . people come and go  flow in and out of his life . although most of the movie follows him  and most of the supporting characters are only seen when close to him  defined according to the relationship maintained with him   we are induced to believe that we are being objective  so subtle is the director touch .  
drew barrymore plays young holly gooding  who moves in with aspiring hack screenwriter patrick highsmith  george newbern  and completely disrupts his life by claiming that her  doppelganger   or evil twin  is out to kill her and her family .  br    br   this silly horror film is kind of hard to take seriously  even if the film  makers and actors themselves seem to be dead serious .  doppelganger  is muddled  with some unpleasantly dumb dialog .  br    br   some viewers will note that drew  s character  s name is drawn from audrey hepburn  s role in  breakfast at tiffany  s   and that newbern  s character  s name is a play on the name of famed author patricia highsmith  he is actually trying to re  write  breakfast  as a horror film  believe it or not   .  br    br   i suppose that it deserves some credit for not being quite your typical horror film  i mean  writer  director avi nesher seems to genuinely care for his characters  and gives his film more plot than standard slasher fare .  br    br   after a silly villain  explains  everything  to  the  audience confrontation  the film goes on to submit a hideous  out  there climax that has to be seen to be believed . this film certainly does not skimp on the gore .  br    br   but hey  drew kills her mother in this one . no  i  m not joking . jaid barrymore shows up near the beginning only to get violently slaughtered .  br    br   drew is always very watchable  and very sexy in this one . newbern comes off as a likable  enough   nice  sort of guy . but the highpoint of the film has to be the scene with sally kellerman  an attractive veteran who  s very professional in her one scene as a former nun who  s started a phone sex business         .  br    br   the film is basically junk but fairly amusing on a sleazy  sordid little level .  br    br        
the season finale sent mix messages  i felt feelings of joy  and also feelings of being lied to and deceived . roseanne tells all her viewers that the entire season nine was a lie because her husband  dan  had died . she also admits the family never won the lottery  and what season  was a lie just being how she wished or wanted it to be . i  m still confused about when she said becky ended up with david  and darlene with mark because becky and mark admit to being pregnant . so i believe that is just how she wanted it to be  but it wasn  t . so the season finale was good  but sent mixed feelings . i will always be a fan of the show .    
i watched the film recently and it poorly resembles the book is based on . i blame this on poor screenplay and direction . some parts were forcibly introduced  the gay rape scene  for no apparent reason . i actually read the book after watching the movie and some   years or so after reading it for the first time . i found it hard to read and somewhat clumsy . too many disparate ideas introduced for no benefit at all . . . other than sensational parts for the time . as it covers stuff that was deemed  sensitive   to say the least  during communism  i can see the fascination it produced at the time . that isn  t the case anymore though or maybe i see things differently now or a bit of both . the film tries too much to cover many aspects from the book  the result being a concoction of scenes that may make some sense to someone who read the book . even so this is a film that is difficult to watch and maybe should have never been made .  
the final season of roseanne was a roller coaster ride of crazy . this final episode does just what a previous comment says  it tells us that as much as we might have thought we knew the characters we did not . roseanne reaches back to season one  and tells us that this show has been her rendition of her life . she says in this final episode that she changed events and people as she sees fit . scott was not really with leon  but he existed . mark and david married opposite wives in real life  and dan died when she made him live . as events happened in her life  she changed them in her writing . don  t we all wish we could do that . don  t we all have a moment in time that we wish we could just use an eraser and change to our liking . this is what she did with the entire episode . and to another comment i would say that i don  t feel cheated  the family was real in my mind  she just changed the way that events happened in their lives . an a ending to an a show      
my    year  old daughter  alexandra  writes  br    br   i thought it was very boring  and i thought it was just a repeat of stuff from     dalmatians .  i couldn  t wait for the movie to end . the best part was the credits at the beginning  they were cute and well done . the rest of the film is not worth watching . thank you .  
i  m writing this  years after the final episode was aired and i am still reeling from the impact wildside has had on me .  br    br   it has effectively gone where numerous other cop dramas have gone and succeeded . but it took it further and didn  t stray from the realism of the streets  often portraying life events and characters down to a t .  br    br   i am sorely missing this series  instead we have are given the stupid  underbelly  which is over dramatised and acted creating a whole load of american  esquire garbage .  br    br   wildside stayed true to the uniqueness of sydney and for that i am truly indebted to this wonderful series . the acting was a  grade and it  s a shame to see only a few actors have furthered their career whilst others have faded into obscurity .  br    br   i don  t want australia to forget this wonderful piece of their television history  thus i ask the abc to release the complete series on dvd  not the first three . give this series the ending it deserves .  
this movie provided nothing new or worthwhile . after seeing it  my wife and i both agreed that the studio simply churned this out and could have cared less if it was entertaining . this is a good example of a  concept only  film   they have a concept about a film and the other details are unimportant because execs know it will make  just based on the initial concept .  br    br   the movie starts with cruella getting out of prison and going on parole . she no longer hates puppies but has been programmed to adore them   she simply couldn  t hurt a flea . this doesn  t last too long after her release and she  s back to her old ways . period .  br    br   the most annoying aspects of the movie were the supporting characters . eric idle as the voice of waddlesworth the bird made me hate him   and that is tough considering i am a die  hard python fan . it was obvious he did this because they gave him lots of money  there can  t be any other reason  . cruella  s low self  esteem servant  tim mcinnerny  was funny in the black adder shows but here he is totally wasted and unfunny . and it must have cost a few bucks to get grard depardieu but he was utterly wasted as well . there were some other supporting actors as well but given how poorly written the characters were  i am trying to block them out of my mind .  br    br   overall  you  d be better just to let your kids watch television than bother letting them see this drivel .  
wow  a danish movie with this kind of content  i mean  the actors  the story  the pictures  the efx  everything was where it should be .  br    br   and a danish efx house producing those vfx  wow  this is like the  nd or  rd time a danish fx has produces visual effects in that quality .  br    br   spoiler ahead the twist with the ghostly children in the submarine was quite good  but generally i did not feel the big chill which i would expect from a ghost  movie . end of spoiler  br    br   but anyway  this is a danish movie which i as a dane can be proud of .  br    br   the only  bad  about this  is that it wasn  t a danish director  but a swedish . . .  
well  i can and will be very short . this is a wrong  balanced  non  convincing film that could have been a little bit better . the script seems to not know which way to go . . . from funny to cliche  wise serious . . . it  s a bit silly . that plus too much sentences we have heard before  the hacker is in florida  or no  he is in madrid  no he is in . . .  he is screwing the signal  .  br    br    out of    
in the ten years since wildside aired  nothing has really come close to its quality in local production . this includes the two series of the enjoyable but overrated underbelly  which have brought to life events in the recent criminal history of both sydney and melbourne . the miniseries blue murder  which also starred tony martin  but as someone on the other side of the law  may be the exception .  br    br   wildside is currently being repeated late at night on the abc . having not watched the show in quite a while  i  m still impressed by its uncompromising story lines and very human characters . the cast is excellent tony martin as a detective haunted by the disappearance of his son  rachael blake  who later hooked up with martin in real life  as a community worker struggling with alcoholism  and alex dimitriades as a young cop whose vice is gambling . equally good support roles are provided by aaron pederson  jessica napier  mary coustas  yes  effie herself   and a young abbie cornish .  br    br   the abc inexplicably released only the first three episodes on dvd a couple of years ago . the logic of this sort of marketing is beyond me  but i  m guessing it may have something to do with licensing disagreements with the original producers .  br    br   a great series which has aged remarkably well . here  s hoping the abc  s dvd department gets its act together .  br    br    according to a moderator on an abc message board  some sort of further dvd release is due in december       
    dalmatians walt disney i wasn  t a fan of the previous installment and this effort has all the weaknesses of the first  a silly padded storyline  terrible over acting by glenn close  who hams up every scene as though she  s playing for her own amusement  and incredibly borring and uninteresting lead actors . once more the dogs are the only  actors  that seem  real  and thats a stretch . another wasted effort here . grade d  
this is widely viewed in australia as one of the best cop dramas ever produced here . . . and for my money  anywhere . it  s raw  gritty  the characters are real  the situations are believable and it doesn  t shy away from the darker side of life confronted every day by cops and the criminals  victims  lawyers and other people in their various orbits .  br    br   this show ran for  seasons and was discontinued because the show didn  t sell well overseas . we are all sorry for its loss however  like fawlty towers  we will be able to revere this as a limited  length series of uniformly high quality .  
conventional wisdom is that a sequel is seldom as good as the original movie . there are occasional exceptions  but this is not one of them . disney should have quit while they were ahead . this was a real disappointment after a reasonably entertaining    dalmatians .  
this is a film that was very well done . i had heard mixed reviews while it was in production and have been waiting for its release  cheers to the director and all the actors . the supporting cast gave eva mendez what she needed to take this to the top . as everyone else here states  the latter portion of the film is riveting . katie cassidy did an amazing job with her character  being she had not done a lot of work when this film was made . she has quite the career ahead of her . i was amazed at her performance . i completely enjoyed the film  questioned my values in life and priorities  and am a better person for it  a great message lies within the film . release it so all can enjoy   
only reason i have seen    dalmatians was its nominations for original song and costume design for the oscars . i must admit that i was less than impressed with this film . in this sequel  cruella devil  by the way glen close pulls off this role very well  is released from the hospital due to her good behaviour . she likes all sort of animals and locks all her furs away . from that point  we only wait until she starts having crises . soon enough  she does and tries to make the best coat of fashion world  of course for herself and from fine dalmatian fur . apart from glen close  i found all cast quite silly but from a child  s eye funny . that is fair enough as its target market is  i assume  children under   . quite a good entertainment for children and families  but didn  t do much for me .  out of   
this movie probably would only get a  or  from me to tell the truth if i had seen trailers or had any kind of knowledge of what the film is all about . since it was virtually all a surprise it was almost a perfect piece of edgy entertainment that gets a strong  from me .  br    br   i read through some of the comments briefly and saw that someone else had almost the same experience as me and he advised to just watch it . it was good advice . read the rest at your own risk of spoiling .  br    br   eva mendez plays a head  strong  success  starved network tv programmer that took a joke made by a co  worker while brain  storming tv program ideas about russian roulette seriously . the story follows her in a documentary style on her pursuit to make this happen .  
this sequel is thoroughly uneven  incoherent and rambling in  plot   if there really is one  and tries too damned hard to be modern  ridiculous  out of period and character   st century style songs predominate  and cute  yawn there are too many manufactured  belaboured jokes with animals .  the actors in his film are secondary to the juvenile plot . even glenn close  and she is normally very good  sweeps through this film  parodying herself as the original de ville and the lead from sunset boulevard  it  s a film that isn  t even good to look at . this is a very good example of a bad and pointless sequel . even basic instinct  had a plot  characterisation and acceptable acting . this doesn  t . it is bad .  
why has this not been released  i kind of thought it must be a bit rubbish since it hasn  t been . how wrong can a girl be  this film is  in a word  enthralling .  br    br   you will be captivated . it holds your attention from the start and its pace never slows .  br    br   the final part of the film  the  episode  as it were  not giving anything away  you saw that in the trailer  is also unmissable . you will chose a favourite  you will be shocked  you wont be able to go and make a cup of coffee because you need to find out what happens . the adrenalin rises and you cant not watch . cudos to the actors  it  s very believable . and it doesn  t stop there  they have a final shock for you .  br    br   it also makes you question reality tv and if you would watch . and how far away from this are we  really  endemol  who make big brother  made a tv show in holland last year offering a dying woman  s kidney to patients in need of a transplant . the show was revealed at the end to be a hoax  ostensibly to raise awareness of organ donation  but are we getting too close for comfort   
a sequel to  actually a remake of  disney  s     live  action remake of    dalmations . cruella devil  glenn close  is released from prison after being  cured  of her obsession with fur by a psychologist named dr . pavlov  ugh   . but the  cure  is broken when cruella hears the toll of big ben  and she once again goes on a mad quest to make herself the perfect coat out of dalmation hides .  br    br   this movie is bad on so many levels  starting with the fact that it  s a  thanksgiving family schlock  movie designed to suck every last available dime out of the disney marketing machine . glenn close over  over  over  over  acts as cruella . with all that she had to put up with in this movie   the lame script  the endless makeup  getting baked in a cake at the end   i hope they gave her an extremely  large paycheck .  br    br    speaking of which  where in the world are you going to find a fur coat factory  a bakery with a rube goldberg assembly line  and a candlelight restaurant all located within the same building   as you do in the climax of this film   of course  the real stars of the movie are supposed to be the dogs . they serve as the  macaulay culkin  s  of this movie  pulling all the stupid  home alone  gags on the villains .  biting them in the crotch  running over their hands with luggage carts  squirting them with icing  etc .  etc .  etc .  ad nauseum .  i have to admit  the dogs were fairly good actors   much better than the humans .  br    br   gerard depardieu is completely wasted in this movie as a freaked  out french furrier . the two human  dog lovers    rehashed from the earlier film  but with different actors   are completely boring . when they have a spaghetti dinner at an italian restaurant  the movie cuts back and forth between the two lovers  and their dogs at home  watching the dinner scene from  lady and the tramp .  i thought to myself   oh please  don  t go there   i half  expected the humans to do a satire on the  lady and the tramp  dinner scene   as charlie sheen did in  hot shots part deux    doing the  spaghetti strand kiss   pushing the meatball with his nose  etc .  br    br   and don  t get me started on the annoying parrot with eric idle  s voice .  br    br   the costumes were nominated for an oscar  and the costumes in the movie are good . but they are the only good thing in the movie . the rest of it is unbearable dreck .  
while in a plane  flicking through the large choice of movies  i came across live  almost accidentally . oh boy  what a choice .  br    br   i remembered vaguely seeing the trailer over a year ago and completely forgot about it expecting no more than another cheesy nonsense movie about a stupid reality show . now i can easily say this has been a hell of a ride . i don  t remember last time i have been so excited  terrified . not sure if it was the high altitude playing with my senses  but the suspense grow gradually through the movie until reaching a climax where you can  t turn away from the screen  literally sitting on the edge of your seat and biting the remaining nails you  ve got .  br    br   you will first go through a personal moral assessment of where you stand about the righteousness of the show . you will drift from thinking  how come the human being can be so vicious  to  why not after all   . ask yourself would you do it . then learn about the contestants  their motives and start guessing . you will then watch contestant pulling the trigger one by one and get excited even though you know the first candidate is safe .  br    br   good acting  good directing  with a movie experience that reminds you those old movies where you knew what would happen in the next scene but still were craving for more .  br    br   spoilers couple of things i would have changed  br    br    the casting of the contestants . i have really been moved by the farmer and we should have had a bit more like him . the idea of a rich writer who wants to be famous is a bit stupid  it felt like you didn  t care about some of the contestants . although this might have been done on purpose  i think the audience should have been able to associate with the majority of the contestants .  game rules  a big glitch   br    br   what happens if the  th contestants doesn  t die when he pulls the trigger . do you seriously think the last standing guy will pull the trigger and execute himself    they should have given a chance to all contestants to live  ie if  th is a blank too  then no one dies .  br    br   interestingly i haven  t been bothered too much by this bad points cause i really had a good time . just wish i had some popcorn with me   
i don  t know why  but for some sick reason  i think since i  ve been on the disney sequel binge  i decided to just go ahead and see    dalmations . the first movie that was a remake of the disney cartoon classic starring glenn close as cruella de vil  it seemed like a sure hit  but it was just a bomb . i think the reason why these movies don  t work is because    dalmations  the original  was a cartoon  it just worked better and was more appealing to the kids as well as adults . this was not really that fun because it  s adults running around trying to act like cartoons instead of just actual human beings  i understand they  re trying to make sure that it  s appealing to the kids  but it  s ridicules to see the way these actors are behaving in the film . and    dalmations  s story isn  t really that good .  br    br   cruella de vil has been in prison for a while  but things change when she is proved that she now loves animals and is a pleasant human being . but her reputation is now damaged as a puppy  napper  but she buys a man  s dog shelter and is all of a sudden is being loved by everyone and it looks like she  s changed . but when she sees her probation officer  s dalmatians  she goes crazy and starts seeing spots  and she looses it . she  s back for revenge on puppies and is still determined to get that dalmation coat she  s always wanted .  br    br   glenn close is such an amazing actress  very under rated  but her taking on cruella de vil  she  s good  but let  s face it  this movie made the fun villain just more of a silly nut case . also  as cute as the puppies were  it just works more for the animation  it sounds stupid  but it  s just not as believable without the cartoon and their personalities being in the mix . i wouldn  t really recommend    dalmations  it  s alright  but if you agree that the first movie was just a waste of time  this is just the same thing .  br    br        
the lion king     is a very cute story to go along with the lion king . it basically follows the original story of the lion king but with a couple of twists . in the movie  e vents are explained by a different characters point of view . this story is still an original plot .  br    br   as far as sequels go  disney isn  t all that great at making worthwhile ones . this one  being the third part to the lion king  simba  s pride is the second .  actually has an original idea to it while still involving the fun of the first . timon and pumbaa travel along looking for the ideal place to live . after searching far and wide  they find the place of  hakuna matata  . they then meet a small lion named simba  and go through many things that parents today go through .  br    br   i think this is a very good movie  and i  m happy to add it to my collection .  
remember the name kevin lime  and please  please never let  br    br   him direct again . timing  pacing  editing all hopelessly wrong .  br    br   three or four decent professionals  next time  guys  walk off the  br    br   set  can do nothing to save this film from amateurs like alice  br    br   evans  and the kind of production standards you  d expect from  br    br   teen  produced children  s shows on british tv .  br    br   greatest mystery the music . a score so inept  inappropriate and  br    br   ill  matched to the tone of the film that one seriously wonders if it is  br    br   a case of sabotage . add an acoustic that booms apparently  br    br   unengineered from a single mike  and a director who only  br    br   intermittently remembers to add auditory action offscreen  and we  br    br   have what must be on of the greatest ratio of money to result of  br    br   recent years .  
i watched lion king more times that all my friends put togther . having a baby sister . . you know how it is . by now i memorized both the plot and the lines . after lion king  came out i was like ok well let me see . . . the second one was significantly weaker . . . then i saw an ad for lion king  and    . . . i was like ok there we go again . after watching the     i was like wow . all my expectations  for repetitevness  were broken . a truly lovely and original plot keeps you glued to your seat for the entire time . i have noticed that the cartoon was filled with so many comical moments that roflmao will apply here     .  br    br   i definetly recommend seeing the cartoon .  
this film was pure pain . sitting in the theater for x  amount of minutes  i was wondering when the film was going to start . all the setups were in place typical love story  characters have to overcome their short  givings  villain has to emerge  but none of it ever initiated . by the time these things happened  i was already bored stiff and the devices were completely ineffective . in scenes that required immense tension and buildup  it felt like necessary frames were cut . kid  s stuff does not have to be this way . children  s films can be as riveting and engaging as adult ones . the excuse   hey  its for kids   is bull . i  ll take  sword in the stone  any day . this was terrible . i  m getting the feeling that disney will put out anything these days . and as for the kids  the    year i saw this with will agree . . . pure trash .  
possible spoilers not sure  br    br   while watching the lion king      i couldn  t help but have mixed feelings about the whole film . it is definitely a good way to spend about an hour and   minutes . but there is nothing about it that would give you the same sort of feeling that the lion king did . the story  for those who haven  t read the other reviews  is about how timon and pumbaa meet  and how they affect events in the original lion king .  br    br   there are actually some very funny jokes in the movie . my favorite part is when they show the pair raising simba . however  for me the worst parts have to be when they show timon and pumbaa directly interfering with the events of the original . i can never look at the  circle of life  or  can you feel the love tonight  sequences the same way again  i  m okay with the  i just can  t wait to be king  sequence  .  br    br   the voice talents are excellent . nathan lane and ernie sabella do a wonderful job  as do matthew broderick  the guy who does rafiki  and the hyenas . even the actor who does young simba sounded enough like jonathon taylor thomas for me . but why did they even include a voice actor for zazu  he literally had only  lines  and neither were very necessary . the additions of julie kavner and jerry stiller only add to the talent  although you still can  t hear timon  s mom  s voice and not think of marge simpson .  br    br   there are some scenes that seem to not fit in with the original  the one coming to mind being when they are pride rock at the end . how did they have time to fit in the initial fight with the hyenas   br    br   as for the dvd itself  you can  t help but feel that for a  disc set  the special features are especially lacking . they could have easily fit a commentary  or another aspect ratio on the  st disc . i enjoyed the  who wants to be king of the jungle  game  even if it is the most shameful example of cross promotion i  ve ever seen . some of the questions are actually difficult .  br    br   overall  a good movie  though not nearly as good as tlk or even tlk  .  
 . . . because this was simply awful .    dalamatians was funny even if formulaic  but this is nothing more than puerile drivel . the same plot except with the story excised from it the world  s most intelligent and horribly annoying macaw tim mcinnerny proving that he really can  t do comedy  everone remembers percy in blackadder but that was his high spot  it  s all been downhill since then   direction so poor that if a group of college students had made this you  d throw it in the bin and tell them to do it again  properly this time . ieuan grufford better go back to hornblower sharpish  whilst glenn close and gerard diepardieu ought to go into hiding for several years .  br    br   perhaps i could be too harsh after all i didn  t manage to sit through the whole film . it gets      only because i can  t give it  .  
if the lion king was a disney version of hamlet  then the lion king   hakuna matata is a disney version of guildenstern and rosencrantz are dead . just like tom stoppard  s beguiling film  we get to view the action from the point of view of two of the minor characters from the original timon  the meerkat with a penchant for breaking into song at the drop of a hat  and pumbaa  the warthog with flatulence issues . by following their story  rather than simba  s  we get to see why all the animals bowed down as simba was presented from pride rock . we find out what made timon and pumbaa decide to follow simba back to pride rock to oust scar . and we find out how they dealt with the hyena  s once and for all . nathan lane as timon gets most of the best jokes  but he is ably supported by ernie sabella as pumbaa . it is also good to hear matthew broderick and whoopi goldberg reprising their roles . julie kavner and jerry stiller lend their distinctive voices to two new characters timon  s mother and uncle . the only downside is the constant stop  start  rewind  fast  forward device which doesn  t always help to progress the story . having said that  there is a brilliant zoom near the beginning of the movie . with more laughs than any other third  in  a  disney  series movie  hakuna matata is worth watching  if only for the hot tub scene which is still funny despite being a little bit predictable .  
it is a good film for kids who love dogs . it runs a bit slow early on but ends if a flurry of gooped up de vil . the basic plot is the same as the first movie . the bright side of the movie for adults is the talking bird that thinks it is a dog . the bird talks like a human  eric idle of monty python  and barks like a dog . it is the comedy that the film needed more of . see it in the matinee so you don  t have to pay full price or wait for it to appear on disney .  
i went to see this movie expecting a nice relaxing time in the theater with my younger sister . instead  i had to really control myself in order to convince her that i was not scared . in many ways still a childrens story  but with a screenplay that has a lot of potential . could have been one of the scariest movies if planned for another audience .  
jamie foxx is fun but this movie has been done before . the bad guy plays a  malkovichian  character from  in the line of fire  . the cops will do anything to find the bad guy  and of course the good guy has two sets of bad guys and one set of cops after him  all the while he is just trying to turn over a new leaf . . .  
what a pleasant surprise a disney dtv  direct to video  sequel that  s actually good .  the lion king      is a comedy affair that involves everyone  s favorite meerkat and warthog  timon and pumbaa . it starts out with them watching the original movie and making comments  until timon complains that  we  re not here yet  . after fighting over the remote  timon and pumbaa decide to tell the audience  their story  . they start the new movie  and the laughs begin .  br    br   to be honest  i was losing hope in disney . most of their direct  to  video fare has been aggressively awful  with the story lines desperate to cash in on the original .       decides to try something different it tells the original story from a new point of view . okay  it adds some stuff  like where timon came from and how he and pumbaa met  but it  s an interesting concept . nathan lane and ernie sabella perfectly recapture the bond and friendship that made us love them in the first movie . there  s also some neat movie parodies  including one scene that simultaneously spoofs  the good  the bad  and the ugly  and  cool hand luke   and the script is filled with funny memorable lines .  br    br   added to the cast are julie kavner   the simpsons   as timon  s worry  wart mom  and jerry stiller as timon  s slightly crazy uncle max . matthew broderick shows up as simba  and his  teen  scene reminded me of ferris bueller . everyone does well  especially robert guillame  is that how you spell it   as rafiki  who exudes more and more yoda  speak in this movie  timon comments on this several times  .  br    br    the lion king      is a perfect alternate choice for those of you getting tired of the shrekification of animation .       
after seeing the     remake  i thought it was the funniest way to see cruella de vil getting her punishment for torturing animals just for their skin . the whole movie was quite funny  and on my view  better than the animated one . but there was actually no need for a second one . first of all  if cruela is returning  don  t cure her and make her insane again . just make her break away from jail and that  s a rap . i thought it was not very funny . it  s supposed to have only one original puppy returning . i  d expected that it should be lucky  since he was the most appealing  and besides  having roger and anita back too . however  they decided to have a complete recasting and adding not really one hundred  not even one hundred and two  but only three puppies  and a parrot that thinks he  s a dog  clever  . gerard depardieu  s part was pointless . at the end  cruella suffers way too much  way too humiliating and way too exaggerated to be true . she gets baked inside a giant cake . that was a desperate attempt of physical humor  trying to imitate the same effect from the first one . that just didn  t work . it was too much over the top  and not too funny . i actually felt sorry about cruella .  
disney have done it again . brilliant the way timone and pumbaa are brought back to life yet again to tell us how they came to meet and help simba when he needed them . i love this film and watch it over and over again . it shows how timone lived with his family and fellow meerkats before setting off to find his dream home and adventure . then he meets pumbaa and things do change . together  they search for the home timon wants and repeatedly fail  which is funny as timone gets more and more crazy . then simba turns up and we see more of his childhood than we did in the previous  films . the rest  you already know .  
i wouldn  t bring a child under  to see this . with puppies dangling off of buildings squirming through dangerous machines and listening to cruella  s scary laugh to name a few of the events there is entirely too much suspense for a small child .  br    br   the live action gives a more ominous feel than the cartoon version and there are quite a few disquieting moments including some guy that seems to be a transvestite  a lot of tense moments that will worry and may frighten small kids .  br    br   i don  t know what the disney folks were thinking but neither the story nor the acting were of their usual level . the puppies are cute but this movie is spotty at best .  
everyone  my name may sound weird  but there was nothing else   br    br   any way  i haven  t seen anything like this before so it was crazy  of course that  s a good thing . it is a humorously interesting movie and my absolute all time favourite thing is how they intertwine other things into one  like chicken little   the fish pretending to be king kong and runt the pig saying   twas beauty who killed the beast   war of the worlds scene and more . walt disney company has not lost his touch maybe not for this one . also  how they made it like they were watching a movie and it was like a home cinema .  br    br   however some parts don  t fit . like in the original lion king  weren  t timon and pumbaa with simba when he beat scar  in this movie  they are not  they were fighting the hyenas backstage . ther  s more  the reason being why pumbaa isn  t so confident is because he was pushed away by the other animals and also  it  s just timon  timon  timon . anybody realise that only timonn  s story was told  whereas pumbaa only had flashbacks   br    br   but apart from that  it  s great   
    dalmatians       dir . kevin lima   br    br   believed to be cured  cruella de vil  close  is released from prison and sets out to make a new start in life . things are going well for cruella who is busy helping homeless dogs off the street . when the clock strikes on big ben  things turn bad . the hypnotic cure is reversed and cruella is back  and this time she is determined to make that spotted coat she always wanted .  br    br   glenn close reprises her role as cruella de vil and once again is the highlight of the film . every scene with her in is worth watching in this dull sequel  which feels more of a repeat of the previous film  rather than a new story .  br    br   she  s changed .  ken sheperd  ioan gruffudd   
i actually like the original  and this film has its ups and downs . here  s just a few  br    br   ups most of the original voice cast returned .  br    br   downs i didn  t like the voice of timon  s ma . i know she did a voice in the simpsons  but that show is just plain stupid .  br    br   ups we get to see simba as a  teenager .   br    br   downs they wasted it with a slug  slurping contest between timon and simba .  br    br   ups it was rafiki who told timon about  hakuna matata .   br    br   downs how did pumbaa find out about it   br    br   ups songs again .  some of the original songs were there  but they were just background music .   br    br   downs but stupid songs .  a . k . a . timon  s solo .   br    br   overall  this is a pretty good movie . i  d recommend it for fans of the original . but if you don  t like the original  chances are you won  t like this one .  br    br   my score      
sly stallone is hardly the finest actor in the world but compared to his brother  frank . . . well  roll out those awards now  mullet haired  muppet frank seems to think that every part he plays  calls for him doing the role as an american  italian wise  guy refugee from the  godfather .  please  somebody make him an acting offer  he can refuse   this film just stinks the place out  even by the terrible overacting in this  frank still steals the acting dishonours . all the people compensate for their lack of talent by shouting their lines and throwing their arms about  gesticulating wildly in a style that went out of fashion back with silent films .  br    br   the plot  what there  is  makes no sense as a meteor lands and turns all the women into sex  crazed nymphets but as this is   certificate film  that just means they strip to their underwear and make moaning sounds like dogs on heat . what happens in the end  i  m not quite sure as i was losing the will to live long before the film finished .  br    br   avoid this like the plague and watch  deep impact  for a reasonable film about a meteor about to hit the earth .  br    br   n . b . point of order when one of the female leads strips down to her underwear  she has her knickers  panties under her suspenders  garter belt  it  s knickers over the suspenders to allow women to go to the toilet with less fuss . a trivial point  perhaps  but shows how dumb this film is when they can  t even get this right   
in this film we have the fabulous opportunity to see what happened to timon and pumbaa in the film when they are not shown  which is a lot  this film even goes back to before simba and  presumbably  just after the birth of kiara .  br    br   quite true to the first film   lion king     or lion king  in other places   is a funny  entertaining  exciting and surprising film  or sequel if that  s what you want to call it  . a bundle of surprises and hilarity await for you   br    br   while timon and pumbaa are watching a film at the cinema  with a remote control   timon and pumbaa have an argument of what point of  the lion king  they are going to start watching  as timon wants to go to the part when he and pumbaa come in and pumbaa wants to go back to the beginning . they have a very fair compromise of watching the film of their own story  which is what awaits . . . it starts with timon  s first home . . .  br    br   for anyone with a good sense of humour who liked the first films of just about any age  enjoy  lion king          
to say this film stinks would be insulting to skunks . as the other commenter says  this movie is insulting to anyone over the mental age of   it is especially  incredibly insulting to gays  . it is awful  and not in a  so bad it  s funny  sort of way either  it  s just plain awful . no  i have to say it it stinks   sorry skunks  .  br    br   from the opening credits to the end titles there is hardly more than   seconds of this movie worth opening your eyes for . the  plot  is incoherent  the characterization non  existent  the acting is of the over the top mugging  look at me i  m being funny   school and so it goes on . the set pieces are clumsily set up  if at all  and are badly executed  it  s just awful on every front  apart from the music maybe  i don  t remember thinking the music stinks  apart from the songs  .  br    br   to be fair to the makers  they lay their cards on the table pretty quickly the opening credits include the title  also starring ertha kitt as the voice of betty the meteor   since as the meteor in question turns out never never say anything but make an occasional purring noise they may well have lifted ms . kitt  s contribution from one of her records  and the second line of the movie runs something like  . . . and scientists have discovered new facts about the rings around uranus .  uranus   your anus  geddit  geddit  huh  huh   your anus  the humour really is that cheap .  br    br   it says strange things about the  comedies  of that period in that it was perfectly permissable for the hero to deliberately shoot people dead in the street but not say  sht  out loud .  br    br   i paid fifty pence  about   .    for this movie in a sale . i feel ripped off .  
surprisingly not terrible and well animated for one of disney  s straight to video throw away sequels . like the previous sequel  the lion king   i was glad that disney brought back most of the original voice actors which makes a big difference and they kept a good level of traditional animation . the plot wanders around for a while but we are distracted by an unending string of jokes ranging from hilarious to dull . to break up the detached plot and jokes they gave us some silly musical sequences  which much like the jokes  range from entertaining to a quick trip to the fridge . for the most part the mst  k  like moments are bland and full of untapped potential and really don  t add a whole lot to the movie other than to act as a vehicle for an hour  long flashback . the new characters are at least likable  and the old characters are out doing their thing so i can  t fault them there . overall this movie in not bad and it makes for a nice frivolous filler between the more serious lion king titles .  
this film is horribly acted  written  directed and produced . but it  s so campy it  s actually semi  watchable . that  s semi watchable .  br    br   the storyline  what little there is  makes virtually no sense whatsoever . the barney drum character is the only real comic relief in the movie and that gets tired after about   seconds .  br    br   many of the canadian supporting cast can be found in tv commercials . . none of them went on to anything else that i  m aware of . and of course sly stallone  s even less talented brother well . . . . .   br    br   trivia it was filmed almost entirely in and around the little village of claremont  ont .  about   miles n . east of toronto  i recognized many local landmarks  intersections  buildings . i think the drive  in scene was filmed at the now demolished  oshawa drive  in  just before it was torn down .  
  lion king      is the funniest non  theatrical release from disney . i recently saw this movie again after not seeing it in many years . i remember first time i saw it i didn  t had any expectations at all and were pleasantly surprised by this watchable and highly entertaining movie .  br    br   is it better than  simba  s pride   in many ways  yes . though  simba  s pride  wasn  t exactly bad  it did suffer some problems lack of an good script and bad characterizations  which made impact of what otherwise a okay film .  br    br   anyway it  s nice to see timon and pumbaa  s personalities blossom again in the way that we  or certainly me  loved about them in this film in  simba  s pride  they were completely annoying and i didn  t liked the  timon and pumbaa  series neither .  br    br   this film could easily have been a stupid one  but fortunately the filmmakers didn  t took the wrong turn and instead focused to make this film at times extremely hilarious . there are a few jokes that adults can enjoy on their own . the score is quite good . there are two new songs  which are catchy and two new characters  timon  s mom   voiced by recognizable marge simpsons  julie kavner  and uncle max  which are enjoyable . the friendship between timon and pumbaa are touchingly portrayed . the emotional scenes are well integrated in the comical story and doesn  t feel out of place  which it could have easily done  especially in comedies  .  br    br   but is there something that distracts this picture from getting   votes from me  yes  there is . although they fortunately doesn  t impact too much  but i  ll mention them  . many of the scenes from the first film are used in this one . personally  it was weird to see the old scenes integrated with the new ones .  br    br    . during the climax  some of the jokes becomes lame .  br    br    . storywise  this is timon  s story and although the filmmakers try to integrate his tale with simba  s  it makes the screenplay feel a little rushed at times .  br    br   but hey  those details doesn  t impact this otherwise amusing movie . it is the only really acceptable disney sequel  which should be in every movie collection .  
i saw this movie years ago in a group tradition of fast forward film festivals  where we would set out to rent a bunch of b  movies and vote for who picked the worst .  br    br   the night we watched this  it was voted the best  due to semblance of plot and fun costuming .  br    br   this is certainly a silly  kitschy  movie  to be watched under the full understanding that you are watching low  budget fluff . personally  however  i wouldn  t recommend additional substances . . . this movie will leave it  s own mark on you .  br    br   it made enough of an impression on me that i  ve actually been trying to get my hands on a copy for a few years .  br    br   a good choice if you are setting out to watch bad movies . this one is fun  and i remember bouncy music . . .  
finally  timon and pumbaa in their own film . . .  br    br    the lion king      hakuna matata  is an irreverent new take on a classic tale . which classic tale  you ask  why   the lion king  of course   br    br   yep  if there  s one thing that disney is never short of  it  s narcissism .  br    br   but that doesn  t mean that this isn  t a good film . it  s basically the events of  the lion king  as told from timon and pumbaa  s perspective . and it  s because of this that you  ll have to know the story of  the lion king  by heart to see where they  re coming from .  br    br   anyway  at one level i was watching this and thinking  oh my god this is so lame . . .  and on another level i was having a ball . much of the humour is predictable  i mean  when pumbaa makes up two beds  a big one for himself and a small one for timon  within the first nanosecond we all know that timon is going to take the big one . but that doesn  t stop it from being hilarious  which  imo  is  hakuna matata  in a nutshell . it  s not what happens  it  s how .  br    br   and a note of warning there are also some fart jokes . seriously  did you expect anything else in a film where pumbaa takes centre stage  but as fart jokes go  these are especially good  and should satisfy even the most particular connoisseur .  br    br   the returning voice talent is great . i  m kinda surprised that some of the actors were willing to return  what with most of them only having two or three lines  if they  re lucky  . whoopi goldberg is particularly welcome .  br    br   the music is also great . from  digga tunnah  at the start to  that  s all i need   an adaption of  warthog rhapsody   a song that was cut from  the lion king  and is frankly much improved in this incarnation   the music leaves me with nothing to complain about whatsoever .  br    br   in the end  timon and pumbaa are awesome characters  and while it may be argued that  hakuna matata  is simply an excuse to see them in various fun and assorted compromising situations then so be it . it  s rare to find characters that you just want to spend time with .  br    br   am i starting to sound creepy   br    br   either way   the lion king      is great if you  ve seen  the lion king  far too many times . especially if you are right now thinking  don  t be silly  there  s no such thing as seeing  the lion king  too many times    
this bomb is just one  explosion  after another  with no humor and only absurd situations . really  pyrotechnics to the extreme . reality is not one of its strong points . i give it a  out of   . i would have made it a zero but that option wasn  t permitted . sorry  but lithgow and sutherland deserve better roles . but then at times we all need to have money . and i still recoil at that tim burton farce about mars . nicholson was brave enough to admit that was a turkey . but if that was a turkey  this movie then is not even a gizzard . i wish i could say   give me back my money  . you can bet i would if i could . but that is the trouble with premium services  the subscription variety .  
i think lion king     is one of the best sequels ever as if not the best out of the three lion king movies  in the movie timon and pumbaa tell us where they came from and having trouble fitting in with others such as timon having trouble digging tunnels with other meercats  timon and pumbaa journey off into finding their dream place and find it and soon find it and also simba who they raise but soon they must choose between their dream place or helping simba face his evil uncle scar and proclaim his right as the lion king of pride rock  filled with wonderful new characters like timon  s ma  julie kavner  and uncle max  jerry stiller  . i think my favorite character was uncle max because he was very funney and was voiced by a funney comedian jerry stiller the father of ben stiller . disney was smart to cast stiller in that role  filled with wonderful characters  animation  and story and music lion king     is in my opinion the best of any sequel and better than simba  s pride even though i will admit i really did like that one too  lion king     is a great disney sequel the whole family can enjoy  it  s got a good story and is very funney    out of     
the director sidney j . furie has created in hollow point a post  modern absurdist masterpiece that challenges and constantly surprises the audience .  br    br   sidney j . furie dares to ask the question of what happens to the tired conventional traditionalist paradigms of  plot  and  characterisation  when you remove the crutches of  motivation  and  reason  .  br    br   the result leads me to say that my opinion of him could not possibly get any higher .  br    br   one and a half stars .  br    br   p . s . nothing in this movie makes any sense  the law enforcement agents are flat out unlikeable and the organised criminals are full on insane .  
i wasn  t sure when i heard about this coming out . i was thinking how dumb is disney getting . i was wrong . i found it to be very good . i mean it  s not the lion king but it  s cool to see another side from a certain point . it was very funny . also it wasn  t one of those corny disney sequels were the animation sucks  it was just like the lion king animation . the only thing that eritated me was the whole movie theater thing through out the movie . not to give anything way but you  ll know what i am talking about . i also fun that it was cool to have most of the cast from the original to return . it was a very good movie over all .  
hollow point is an alright movie worth a half price rental or if nothing else is on a good time waster with no thought required . there are the requisite explosions and hammy acting and pretty ladies . a pretty good cast with donald sutherland  john lithgow  and the lovely tia carrere . this cast plus a light hearted touch make for a not a great movie but a fun one . . on a scale of one to ten . . a   
spoilers spoilers  br    br   this movie   the divers   is really interesting . all i roughly knew about it was that it would involve nazi history  underwater scenes and everybody would be speaking danish . but i decided to check it out for one reason  the fact that the story evolves around a sunken wwii german submarine . i  ve got a fetish for german subs  especially wrecks that can be dived upon . so i was a bit sceptical about the danish part  but reasoned that the sub could weigh up that part . knowing that nordic films aren  t always that good and not sure of the budget size i was  to say the least  very sceptical .  br    br   upon viewing i was . . . surprised .  br    br   i had some thoughts on the actors being inadequate  seeing how some are very young  the two main actors in particular . this was not an issue  they both perform very well . as do the other actors  who mostly consist of people in their    s and beyond . this makes for some interesting interaction between young and old  not often seen on the screen . not unique in anyway  but somewhat rare . and it  s all good .  br    br   as for the danish language  it is nearly impossible to understand . but this was no problem  it had subtitles .  br    br   another issue was the submarine itself  i suspected there would be interior shots as well as underwater exterior shots of the submarine . having decided their budget was slim  i thought this could turn out adequate at the best and down right awful at it  s worst . again i was surprised  the exterior scenes of the wreck are beautiful and the interior scenes are very realistic . having a fetish for german subs  i knew what the sub should look like  especially inside  and was not let down . the team has done some serious research . it  s all good .  br    br   i suspect more people than myself will watch this movie just to see some sub wreck scenes so i feel i must issue a  warning  . the submarine in the movie is not an actual model that existed during the war . it  s a special purpose sub . but to give you a hint of what to expect  it  s a crossing between a type vii  type ix and a japanese transport sub similar to i    . it  s god a good design and makes a nice wreck .  br    br   the setting is on a danish island or peninsula  i can  t remember . it  s summertime and two brothers travel to their grandfather to celebrate the coming of summer as they do every year . their grandfather is a mariner of sorts . the cinematography is quite nice  a lot of pretty summer scenes at the island docks  some newfound teenage love  nice diving weather and a general feeling of  perfect  . once again  it  s all good .  br    br   plot  wise the island gets some visitors of the suspect kind  a gathering of men hire one of the boats  an old minesweeper and it  s crew . one of the visitors  a man in his    s  has the german eagle and swastika tattooed on his back . the island  s senior citizens all remember when a german u  boat was sunk towards the end of world war ii and ever since then there have been rumors of nazi gold in the depths . the grandfather was one of the young men who searched for the sunken u  boat shortly after german bodies started floating ashore back in     . no submarine was ever found .  br    br   what to expect  br    br   key elements are nazi experiments  nazi history  treasure hunting  secrecy  competition  teen love  conspiracy  and . . . a surprise .  br    br    warning  spoiler   br    br   i had not expected some elements of the supernatural to appear in this movie and it caught me off guard . not being a big fan of supernatural events  it nevertheless fitted well into the story and poses no problem . it  s not like  from dusk til dawn  where everybody turns into vampires towards the end . this is a bit more subtle .  br    br   overall  really good movie  i gave it an  . some due to the fact that it isn  t a hollywood movie with unlimited resources . i later learned that it had a fair budget and that some of the actors were seasoned danish veterans . but even if this had been a hollywood production  i would give it a  or  . definately worth your while . yes  a child  s story in a way  but then again a mature tale . it has a lot of suspense and a grand aura of adventure  which i found very appealing . and  again  the cinematography is really nice .  br    br    medusa      br    br    
jamie foxx is my favorite comedian . however  i feel that he sold out in order to gain his first big budget lead role . foxx follows in the footsteps of the likes of chris tucker  martin lawrence and dave chapple  who have all seen their talents wasted by stereotyping producers who think black males who commit pretty crimes is a funny concept  see money talks  blue streak  .  br    br   okay i laughed a few times and granted all of these comedians continue to pick up hilarious roles  but i would love to see these guys branch out ala marlon wayans portrayal in requiem to a dream . or in living color  s tommy davidson and damon wayans moving performances in spike lee  s satire bamboozled .  
  the lion king  is without a doubt my favorite disney movie of all time  so i figured maybe i should give the sequels a chance and i did . lion king     was pretty good and had it  s good laughs and fun with timon and pumba . only problem  i feel sometimes no explanations are needed because they can create plot holes and just the feeling of wanting your own explanation . well  i would highly recommend this movie for lion king fans or just a night with the family . it  s a fun flick with the same laughs and lovable characters as the first . so  hopefully  i  ll get the same with the third installment to the lion king series . sit back and just think hakuna matata  it means no worries   br    br        
spoiler alert    personally i don  t understand why pete did not help to save williams life  i mean that would be great to know why william was motivated  or forced . i think secret service members are every day people  and there is a rumor the writer was a member of the secret service  now he  s motivations are clear  well known . but as a rental this film will not satisfy you  cause the old but used twists  the average acting  these are just things in this film  only for keep you wait the end . clark johnson as the director of s . w . a . t . did a far better work like this time  and i still wondering how the producers  for example michael douglas  left this film to theaters .  
if the lion king is a serious story about a young lion growing up to avenge his father  s death  the lion king  and a half is the total opposite  full of whimsy and cheer . the lion king told the story from the side of simba the young lion   and a half is from the view of timone and pumbaa  a less than perfect duo made up of a meercat who left home because he could not dig tunnels without burying his friends and neighbors and a warthog who has an odor issue . the movie is a little short on substance  but disney does a good job of filling time with various sketches starring timone and pumbaa as they  watch  the movie with us . my favorite is the sing  along that happens halfway through the movie  make sure you watch the bouncing bug  disney has advertised  and a half as  the rest of the story   though it really isn  t . it is just a different perspective of the lion king  without all of the serious stuff that pervaded most of the second half of the original disney classic . credit nathan lane as timone and ernie sabella as pumbaa for their voice work  without their efforts  the movie may not have worked . the sing  they entertain  and they make us laugh . they also give us a reason to avoid a hot tub with a warthog .  
a bum gives a secret serviceman a tip about a secret service man in the presidential detail who plans to kill the president . baloney . how did the bum know  the script then turns to a most detailed examination of how the secret service works  but who cares . most of this just slows down the movie . all the chases that follow are this film  s version of the tiresome car chases of many movies . then  after a lot of impossible athleticism in which our hero outruns and out  guns all his buddies  we have a shootout in the toronto city hall . the canadians are clearly marked with maple leafs  but how did they get into this  finally  all is worked out . but it still makes no sense .  
  if you  re a kid   if you claim to be an adult . this semi  sequel to the lion king sees to spin off side characters timone and pumba  retelling the original story through their eyes  including the story of how they met . in the grand tradition of disney  inferior sequels are made  and occasionally tv series featuring the adventures of minor characters from their biggest hits . you can be as sceptical as you want about this  but kids and fans of the series will likely not care their are enough jokes and songs and interesting things to ensure that this is one of the few above average sequels . this works because of the charm of the much  loved central characters  the quick pace  the in  jokes involving the first film  and for older viewers there are some funny gags . the animation is as good as ever  if a little less flamboyant than the original  but the plot here is all about taking it easy  hakuna matata .  br    br   timone and pumba decide to watch the events of the first film  frequently stopping mid  film to joke about parts of it  like a real audience . we see how timone is a near outcast  he feels he does not fit in and decides to go looking beyond what he sees to find his ideal home . on the way he meets pumba  another outcast and they become friends . soon they meet simba  a lion cub  natural predator of t and p  but they form a trio . however  when simba realises he must follow his own destiny and leave the group  it is up to the others to decide whether to help or not  and how . of course the usual disney elements and themes are here  friendship  good versus evil etc . the plot is simple but works on many levels  making it smarter than your average animated movie . as the cg movies appear  disney  s traditional form must become smarter  but not forget the roots which made them popular . toy story and all that have come since have been clever  with jokes to suit all ages  and it seems this is the way the market is shifting . however  there will always be a place for films like this  and you cannot go wrong buying this for the youngsters .  br    br    out of    
it saddens me to rate a movie with a lot of my favorite actors  locations and genres  i . e . douglas  sutherland  washington  d . c . and political thriller  but  the sentinel  really hits a low . it  s like they had a great idea up front  signed the right cast and had some great city shots and then took a holiday letting the remaining crew improvise the rest . and i wish i could blame it on yet another bland performance from basinger  not only do i feel she  s one of the worst actors in hollywood  but i  m still steaming more than a decade later that she was the only one  and definitely the only bad actor in the film  to win an acting oscar for  l . a . confidential .   but she wasn  t the only problem . sutherland  who i love as jack bauer on     once again playsjack . i miss his old  a time to kill  or  a few good men  days . douglas certainly took a hiatus from acting and phoned this one in . plot someone  some secret service traitor  wants the president dead and douglas is  haphazardly  being framed . will someone believe him  actually  no spoiler here as quickly as they came up with that subplot half  way through  it  s over before you know it . and why did someone  s  want the president dead  is that to be revealed in the sequel  too many plot holes  too many doors opened and never closed and too predictable  the sentinel  is . if you only see one movie a year  you may not know who the mole is  but anyone who  s familiar with these types of movies or even just seen one  law  order  episode you  ll know in the first few frames . was it terrible  not really  the cinematography was good  and despite sutherland playing jack again  he  s still got it .  
i have to be honest  i was expecting a failure so bad  because it really did sound like they were trying to milk the original movie to get money . but that wasn  t the case with this pretty funny  sometimes odd  movie . i loved how they told the story of timon and pumba  the story with simba and him having trouble sleeping was funny . the jacuzzi bubble  and when pumba leaves  the bubbles stop . it  s all harmless fun  good for kids and some adults . i think this movie will last for a while because it is rather good for a straight to video and dvd movie . while the movie does seem a little odd and kind of trails off toward the end  it works .  out of    
i saw the trailer of the film several times at theater and i excited . it looked like a classic action thriller like the ones made in      s . it recalled me also fugitive movies  a cat and mouse chase between douglas and sutherland . however  the sentinel is the most tasteless action thriller of all time . as i see  many people say that this is like a tv movie . not exactly . firstly  there are much more better tv movies in this genre . secondly  tv movies might be very fun sometimes  but this film is the exact opposite of having a good time . it is not stylish at all visually and the most important  the tone of the movie is unappealing . this is not an action movie  there are two action scenes consist of a chase and a clash . also they are not big action scenes  but the worse is that those action scenes are very tasteless like the whole movie . the love affair between douglas and bassinger was very unnecessary . besides  the assassination plot to the president is the most clich story in this genre either  but they insist on that . and this is not a cat and mouse film as it is supposed to be . although  douglas is very old now  he has still potential for acting in an action thriller . in the film  michael douglas cannot be like tommy lee jones  for example . sutherland is a wrong choice either  because you feel as if you watch jack bauer and somehow  its character is one of the reasons which make the film like a tv movie  eva longoria parker is a strange choice  of course she is too passive or straight in this movie  because she is a soap opera actress . the movie was not fun even one second to me  so i could not get over for a while .  
lion king     is a very fun and addictive sequel . don  t expect the production values of a theatrical release  but do expect the highest quality of direct to video release .  br    br   it is set up as timon  pumba begin watching the original lion king in a darkened theater and abruptly switch tracks and begin narrating their own story . this is done with frequent comedic interruptions . for example  during one particular tense moment a home shopping commercial pops on and a chagrined pumba realizes he has sat on the remote . these little moments pepper the movie  and whether you find them entertaining or not will greatly depend on your sense of humor . if you are particularly bothered by movies that deliberately remind the viewer is watching a movie  than this may not be your cup of tea .  br    br   animation is the best they  ve invested in the disney dtv line  and is integrated almost seamlessly with the original material . the newer  independent material uses a lot of the artistic style of the original . the voice talents are all well performed  though i couldn  t help thinking of marge simpson every time i heard julie kavner .  br    br   many of the jokes in the movie will be well recognized by viewers as recycled over the generations  but are presented more with the familiarity of comfortable quirks of old friends than annoyingly repetitive .  br    br   the music has made me realize how much i enjoyed and miss a good musical integrated with a disney feature . the toe  tapping opening feature of  dig a tunnel  is well choreographed and hilarious . timon and pumba  s take on the lion king  s opening sequence and their introduction to paradise are also amusing . the only problem was the reprise of the  dig a tunnel  at the end of the movie  switching its lyrics and tune from defeatist to uplifting .  br    br   story line is pretty well done  and the integration of new plot elements is done almost perfectly  though the final bit during the hyena chased stretched the storyline credibility a little . the new story doesn  t seem to handle saccharine or emotionally charged moments to well  and does better when it is resorting to full comedy .  br    br   overall  worth purchasing . if you like all the bonus features that come with a typical   disc set  then go for it . for the penny pincher who still is willing to invest on a good flick  wait until it drops four or more dollars and go rent it right away .  br    br   damion crowley .  
not to be confused with the above average supernatural thriller  the sentinel  . the sentinel was a big bore of a movie for me  not delivering the consistent action  a couple of critics promised on the back . to me it seemed like everyone was halfassing it  and only there to make some quick cash  because this felt very much like a made for tv film . the sentinel is a rehash of several better films  like  in the line of fire  this does not have any originality in it  and watching michael douglas run around  felt kinda silly in my opinion . the main problem besides it  s unoriginality  had to be the poor pace . i often got distracted while trying to view this movie  while looking how much run time was left  more then once . not only the miscasting with eva longoria  who couldn  t convince worth a lick .  br    br   performances . michael douglas is usually a dependable actor  here is obviously going through the motions . he does not convince as a man on a run  or a secret agent . his chemistry with bassinger  was also off . i  m a big fan of kiefer sutherland  but here he is only ok  nothing more then that . he tries to come across as a gruff  but managed to be more bland then anything else  and to be honest  he didn  t seem that interested . eva longoria parker is pretty mediocre . she does not convince in her role  and was pure eye candy . kim basinger is pretty terrible as the  st lady . she looks bored to tears  and her role is a throw away  more then anything else . martin donovan has a big part in the end  but not enough to matter for me .  br    br   bottom line . the sentinel is yet  another political thriller  that bored me to tears . it  s too old  too tired  and most importantly the lack of effort sucked . not recommended .  br    br        
my take a funny take on the lion king  posing as a sequel . surprisingly amusing .  br    br   surprisingly   lion king      is actually another funny straight  to  video  that  s worth a theatrical treatment . i don  t see why disney released this straight to video  and release crappy movies like  chicken little  and  return to neverland  theatrically . those movies are better off seen in the video stores  in the  new releases  area   rather than seeing their theatrical posters outside the theaters .  br    br   this one is merely a spoof of the first film  although the events in  simba  s pride  hasn  t taken place yet   on timon  voiced by nathan lane  and pumbaa  s  voiced by ernie sabella  point of view . we get to see them make fun of the events in the first film . original voices from the first film  like matthew broderick  woopie goldberg  cheeche martin and robert guillaume  return to their voicing roles from the first film  while julie kavner and jerry stiller give some hilarious comedy relief as timon  s mom and grumpy uncle .  br    br   so doesn  t this sound fun . maybe not now  but go watch it for yourself . the fact that it  s not that serious in its plot makes it the more enjoyable . it  s kinda like mst     with timon and pumbaa .  br    br   video movie rating     out of  .  
i  ve been willing to put up with a lot from late  spring  summer action fluff movies  but in general that  s been due to the fact that most of them have reasonable payoff  i . e . cool special effects  interesting plot twists  comic value  steve buscemi  etc .  . this movie  however  had none of this . all that we got was the cheap thrill of several minutes of eva longoria  s cleavage  an issue of maxim is cheaper than a movie ticket  . there is an embarrassing lack of plot  suspense  back story  character development  continuity  etc . i would get into specifics  but quite frankly i  ve already  maybe willingly  forgotten most of the movie .  br    br   the entire time i was in the theater  i was kicking myself for not just spending the afternoon watching a   season on dvd . save your money on this one  folks . unless you really  really  really like eva longoria  s cleavage .  
the lion king series is easily the crowning achievement in disney animation . the original lion king is the greatest masterpiece in cel animation . lion king iisimba  s pride is the by far the best direct  to  video sequel that disney  or any other studio  has made for an animated feature . it deserved a theatrical release . the same can be said for this movie . it has the original cast  songs by elton john  a hilarious story  exciting action  and touching character moments . everything you  ve come to expect from this series . not so much a new story  but filler and extended background on timon and pumbaa  and their place in this story . what impressed me the most  was the care taken in the animation . all to often  disney shorts on the animation quality of their video and television efforts . but here  they seamlessly blend new animation with footage from the original film . the scenes never seem out of place . nathan lane and ernie sabella are in full swing as timon and pumbaa . matthew broderick  robert guillame  and moira kelly reprise their roles as simba  rafiki  and nala  respectively . we even get a return visit by whoopi goldberg and cheech marin as the hyenas . there are many big laughs in this movie . so if you love lion king  you need this movie . the story is just not complete without it .  
i saw the film tonight at a free preview screening  and despite the fact that i didn  t pay a dime to see this film i still felt ripped off . ladies and gentlemen  time is money and if you see this film you are leaving a benjamin on your seat . the acting is torpid at best kiefer sutherland phones in his worst impersonation of jack bauer  and michael douglas looks like he realizes he made a bad choice leaving catherine zeta  jones for the duration it took to shoot this turkey . eva longoria is a non  entity she looks like she  s reading her lines off a teleprompter . and if you can  t spot the  mole  within the first   minutes  then you just landed on this planet from a world without tv and recycled story lines . if you truly want to see a good secret service thriller  rent in the line of fire . if you see and buy into this one  you  ll start to fear for the president  s safety because the secret service looks and acts like the grown  up versions of the kinds from      . no matter what your feelings about w  let  s hope this  art  does not imitate life .  
this is a straight  to  video movie  so it should go without saying that it  s not going to rival the first lion king  but that said  this was downright good .  br    br   my kids loved this  but that  s a given  they love anything that  s a cartoon . the big shock was that i liked it too  it was laugh out loud funny at some parts  even the fart jokes   had lots of rather creative tie  ins with the first movie  and even some jokes that you had to be older to understand  but without being risqu like in shrek   do you think he  s compensating for something     .  br    br   a special note on the fart jokes  i was surprised to find that none of the jokes were just toilet noises  in fact there were almost no noises  imagery at all  the references were actually rather subtle   they actually had a setup  punchline  etc  and were almost in good taste . i  d like my kids to think that there  s more to humor than going to the bathroom  and this movie is fine in those regards .  br    br   hmm what else  the music was so  so  not nearly as creative as in the first or second movie  but plenty of fun for the kids . no painfully corny moments  which was a blessing for me . a little action but nothing too scary  the secret of nimh gave my kids nightmares  not sure a g rating was appropriate for that one . . .   br    br   all in all i  d say this is a great movie for kids of any age  one that  s     safe to let them watch  i try not to be overly sensitive but i  ve had to jump up and turn off the tv during a few movies that were less kid  appropriate than expected   but you  re safe to leave the room during this one . i  d say stick around anyway though  you might find that you enjoy it too    
seriously  i don  t even know where to begin . it  s like somebody gave a bazillion dollar budget to an autistic third  grader and said  make me a movie about the secret service  . the editing is ridiculous  the cinematography was random at best  every single syllable of dialogue was completely retarded and the directing . . . well  was there even a director there  everything was just so pointless and lame and pointless . . . and random . . . . and lame .  br    br   here  s a spoiler for you this movie is the dumbest thing you  ll ever see .  br    br   however  if you liked this piece  you  ll also enjoy deterrance  dark blue  and a partial frontal lobotomy .  
one of the best movies for all ages . you will never be able to look at lion king again without thinking of the extra history this movie adds . nearly   years old  i watched this with my wife and two sons after work tonight  i have not laughed  enjoyed a movie so much in a long time .  br    br   take time out and watch this with the kids . it will remind you of how disney used to be when you were a young one .  
there is good . there is bad . and then their is the sentinel  a bottom  barrel political  thriller  that ranks among the worst movies i have ever seen . the plot of a mole in the secret service is a good one  but never has a movie with so much potential been so utterly butchered . directed with ham  handed  edginess  by clark johnson  every actor in this film seems to be working on autopilot . even the great michael douglas looks bored here . i can honestly say i have never  in all my life  viewed another film with so many glaring plot holes . the twist is predictable from square one  and the character  s motives are so utterly ridiculous that they inspired laughter from the audience . avoid this at all costs . this is a catastrophe of a movie with no redeeming value .  
being a fan of the first lion king  i was definitely looking forward to this movie  but i knew there was really no way it could be as good as the original . i know that many disney fans are wary of the direct  to  video movies  as i have mixed feelings of them as well .  br    br   while watching the lion king    i tried to figure out what my own viewpoint was regarding this movie . am i going to be so devout about the lion king that i will nitpick at certain scenes  or am i just going to accept this movie as just another look at the lion king story  most of the time  i found myself embracing the latter .  br    br   the lion king   definitely has its cute and funny moments . timon and pumbaa stole the show in the first movie and definitely deserved a movie that centered around them . people just love these characters  my favorite parts of the movie include the montage of timon  pumbaa taking care of young simba and the surprise ending featuring some great cameos .  br    br   i could have done without many of the bathroom jokes though  like the real reason everyone bowed to baby simba at the beginning of lion king  . i guess those types of jokes are for the younger set  which after all is the target audience . i don  t think many kids are really concerned about disney  s profit margin on direct  to  video movies .   br    br   however  i will say that i was somewhat annoyed when they directly tied in scenes from the original movie to this movie . i  m just too familiar with the original that those scenes just stuck out like sore thumbs to me . something would be different with the music or the voices that it would just distract me .  br    br   as for the music  it wasn  t too bad  but don  t expect any classics to come from this movie . at least lk  had the nice ballad   love will find a way .  as for the voicework  it was well done in this movie . nathan lane and ernie sabella did a great job as always  and even new cast members  the classic comedic actor jerry stiller and julie kavner  best known as marge simpson   did a great job also . you can even enjoy these great voice talents even more by checking out the virtual safari on disc  of the dvd . that feature is definitely a lot of fun    br    br   so all in all  the lion king   isn  t a perfect movie  but it  s cute and entertaining . i think many lion king fans will enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is  a fun  lighthearted look at the lion king masterpiece from our funny friends  perspectives .  br    br   my imdb rating     . my yahoo  grade b  good   
lets first start this review with the fact that i signed up just to write the review and warn people to save their money    br    br   this was one of the worst pieces of trash i have seen since the hulk . the storyline was the most predictable garbage you could possibly come up with . if you are expecting   but on the big screen  flush that expectation down the toilet immediately along with the money you would use for a ticket . . you may get more enjoyment that way . the acting was terrible  the plot was completely unrealistic   along with the so called  twist  in the end . i must say this . . the ending did surprise me . i am not referring to the plot twist that surprised me  but instead the effortless manner that they put together what could be considered the only scene of somewhat decent action in the entire movie . they rushed the ending so quickly that i didn  t even realize that it was over until i saw the credits rolling and at that point i considered burning the reel of film if i could just figure out how to get into that screening room .  br    br   casting was awful for a few reasons . first of all  they must have accidentally switched the character assignments  because michael douglas played the roll that clearly keifer sutherland should have been playing . while douglas was sneaking around agents  tapping phone lines  hacking into systems and taking out people who are chasing after him  sutherland plays the less capable agent who is always in a bad mood even when things aren  t going that badly for him . he plays a very bland agent  nothing like his jack bauer type roll us   fans love .  br    br   i can just about promise you that this movie will disappoint in all areas . it can be best compared to a remake of the  the fugitive    in the line of fire  but written by people with mental disabilities  
this was a strong poirot  suchet  television mystery selection . the characters were vivid and well  acted . the plot and the main setting   a student hostel   were excellent . japp was nothing special but for me did not distract from story . one significant point  many poirot watchers don  t recognize good acting or good characterization . i also think they are rather harsh in their judgments of some of the poirot mysteries . finally  i have read few christie novels   none in recent years   and find it annoying that so many viewers are upset about changes from the novel . please  viewers  consider what is presented to you on film  not what you think should be there . that said  the poirot mysteries vary in quality  but not as much as reviewers and raters would have you believe . with the singular exception of the five little pigs which was fabulous in plot  character and theme  the longer poirot films are neither that good or that bad . for the record  i have seen all the longer poirot  suchet films . finally  films without lemon  hastings  and  or japp are neither good nor bad because of their absence . there presence  however  is either obtrusive  almost always with japp  or irrelevant with hastings . lemon is in the middle .  
after a day at work  i sat down to relax and turned on the movie channels . the movie came up on the guide and sounded interesting so i tuned in just before it started . the first   minutes were enough to make me interested  but the lack of acting ability in jamie foxx and the slow plot movement made me want to get up and find food during the movie . if there is any credit to be given for acting in this movie it should go to david morse who at least tries to make the movie interesting . all in all  don  t plan on impressing your friends by picking this one as a renter for a movie night .  
evidently  not many people have seen this movie  because no one is posting any more comments . this is not a movie to be missed . after all  it has won the george peabody award as well as the humanitas award . paul winfield should have won an award for his awesome performance in this movie . eugene logan who was a co  writer on this made for tv movie also was part of another movie on humanity  or loss of it  by being a technical adviser to truman capote  s movie the glass house . this movie is now available on dvd . if anyone is interested  i will post another letter telling how it was that eugene logan came to be the technical adviser to a movie of such an amazing person as truman capote . thanks for reading this and i hope you will find a way to view these two movies .  
trying to conceive of something as insipid as the sentinel would be pretty difficult . the problems are many . the result is terrible and loaded with plot holes .  br    br   michael douglas stars as pete garrison  a secret service agent who  took one  for reagan during the attempt on his life . years later we find pete assigned to the whitehouse family  mainly as a guard for the first lady  kim basinger  l . a . confidential  . troubles arise as we see pete  s close involvement with the first lady  and a sudden threat against the president himself  david rasche  united    . when pete fails a polygraph test  he  s singled out as a disgruntled agent by investigator david breckinridge  kiefer sutherland    tv series  .  br    br   as the presidential assassination plot unfolds  pete finds himself on the run from his own people . his only confidant is the first lady  and she  s reluctant to tell anyone about their affections for one another  which is why pete failed the polygraph in the first place  . but is pete really innocent  or is he simply trying to buy time until he can kill the president  if he is innocent  how can he help prevent the assassination attempt while running from the secret service   br    br   the one  big  overwhelming problem with this film is that there  s no justification for the reason behind the presidential threat . isn  t that what the movie  s supposed to be about  one would think so  but the audience is never let in on why the assassin  s  want to kill the prez . hmm . someone forget to put that in the script somewhere   br    br   and what  s with david breckinridge  s  kiefer  s  new partner  jill marin  eva longoria  carlita  s way   seems that she was put in the film strictly as a piece of a  candy . what was her purpose again  did she do anything other than look nice in tight pants and a low  cut blouse   br    br   there are so many problems with the basic premise of the sentinel as to be laughable . the action is too easily stymied by the  what the . . .   responses sure to be uttered by those unfortunate enough to watch the movie .  
green eyes is a great movie . in todays context of supporting our troops  it is interesting this movie showed the lack of respect soldiers received from doing their duty  during this period . from a historical view  the end of the vietnam war left all of us with something to remember and learn from . gene was very proud of this movie  and he deserved the credits he received from writing  green eyes  . i agree  i do not understand why this movie is not shown more often  or at all . this movie is the kind of movie that should be shown on tv every year  much like the wizard of oz . the dedication of one man towards his lost son is entirely moving . i was a friend of gene logans and i was proud to know him . rocky  
almost every plot detail in this movie is illogical and implausible . it carries no semblance of a genuine human story  dead and dull . it is a parody of hollywood  with trumpet musical bits that remind you of a denzel washington movie  wobbly camera shots and focusing  racist stereotypes  absolutely unnecessary and comical shots and gestures of famous people in clothing catalogue poses . it is made to cater for the multitude of zombies whose meaning in life derives from watching celebrity names . the only good thing in the movie is the end credits and funky song that accompanies it . i feel like an idiot for watching this  save yourself .  
truly this is a  heart  warming  film . it won the george peobody award  winning over  roots   so that may tell you something of the essence of this film . i am looking on the internet how to order this movie since my former father  in  law  eugene logan  the co  writer of this film has been deceased for a few years now so i no longer have the opportunity to receive information from him . i would love to have his only grand  daughters  my daughters  see this film  as well as to pass this wonderful story on to his great  grandsons . my oldest daughter was seven years old at the time it was aired on television and i since have been looking forward to seeing it again . one of my friends said it was her favorite movie . i won  t  spoil  this movie for you .  
slow  slow  slow . . . there is no mystery or excitement in this film . if you don  t figure out who the  mole  is in the first ten minutes you must be brain dead . the secret service must have been too  because it took them the whole film to put it together . there are no compelling characters in the movie  not film  . the pace of the movie is slow there is no tension . the hired killer is an excellent shot unless he is aiming at michael douglas than all he seems to be able to hit is large panes of glass . the funniest scene in the movie is when the presidents wife says the code word at the anticlimactic ending . it is laugh out loud ridiculous . at least six people got up and left the movie early . i would have joined them if i were not sitting in the middle of the row . i would not recommend this film to anyone .  
i really can  t say too much more about the plot of the movie that hasn  t already been said . i haven  t seen the movie in about   years and the memory of it has never left me . i have been searching for it every where . i have done net searches for it in the past but came up empty . last night i was thinking about the movie again and was trying to remember who was in it but i was only about   or   when i last saw it and i wasn  t even sure if i had the right movie name so i decided to do another search and i finally found this sight . i was right . if any one knows where i can get a copy of this wonderful movie to share with my family could you please let me now at tawnyteelyahoo . com i would really appreciate it . and to anyone who has not seen this movie and has the chance to it is well worth it .  
this  for lack of a better term  movie is lousy . where do i start . . . . . .  br    br   cinemaphotography  this was  perhaps  the worst i  ve seen this year . it looked like the camera was being tossed from camera man to camera man . maybe they only had one camera . it gives you the sensation of being a volleyball .  br    br   there are a bunch of scenes  haphazardly  thrown in with no continuity at all . when they did the  split screen   it was absurd . everything was squished flat  it looked ridiculous .  br    br   the color tones were way off . these people need to learn how to balance a camera . this  movie  is poorly made  and poorly done .  br    br   the plot  you got to be kidding . if i was an ss agent  i  d sue the producers . looked like the marks brothers with radios and guns . sutherland was in his     mode  i can see this for free . eva longoria would have been better with a little less on  and a lot more showing . as an action bimbo she wasn  t much .  br    br   i couldn  t see a real plot  other than douglas boinking the presidents wife . never did say why the mercenaries were trying to kill the pres . i just don  t see the president of the united states running for his life in the utility tunnels of a building  like a rat in a maze . p  l  e  a  s  e .  br    br   hollywood is dead . this movie is the proof . i like  the big screen  . have since i was a kid . many more  movies  like this and i  ll quit going . whats the matter hollywood  made so many chick flicks  forget how to make a real movie  if i owned a theater  i  d start running the old movies . the one with real actors  good story lines  and good cinemaphotography .  br    br   this  movie  is a dog . don  t waste your time or money on it . i rate this  movie  a zero  douglas isn  t suited for this role . i can over look his age  but his just is to much of a wimp to carry this off .  
i don  t know what it is i find so endearing about this film  but the first time i saw it  i wanted to see how it ended . i  m not a big fan of paul winfield nor of war  dramas  but i was truly wondering just how and when winfield would find his child . all he knows is that the boy has green eyes . truth be told  i have not seen this movie in years nor has it been shown on tv in a while  but this movie is somewhat of one man  s odyssey after the pains of war . winfield shows a very sympathetic and heart warming portrayal of a man lost by his memories . there is an underlying message in this movie that he is looking for the last shred of human morality in the aftermath of this war and the reality that he does confront . why this movie is not yet on dvd or video is a mystery to me .  
the sentinel represents everything about the soul  lessness of hollywood and the saddening lack of imagination present in so many movies these days . i cannot possibly think of one good thing about it  it  s all so generic  so factory  made and so lazy assembled that it really only exists as an infomercial on how to make money from the unsuspecting  undeserving public .  br    br   a plot about a secret service agent planning to assassinate the prez could well be entertaining . if handled by a good director or caring cast that is . douglas is the one who is framed . basinger is the first lady  with whom he is having an affair  an undeveloped  unresolved plot contrivance  . sutherland is the best pal who believes his guilty because there would be no movie if he didn  t . and longoria is nothing . a woman with a fortune of maybelline and . . . that  s it . i guess there are less requirements for women when entering the secret service . as usual in a film like this the role of the prez himself is nothing more than a tool  a token and is very badly written .  br    br   clark johnson  s  he who gave us the equally as pathetic swat back in      mechanical direction lacks any kind of signature and has all the visual sophistication of a cheap tv  movie . douglas  basinger and sutherland look incredibly bored and phone  in their performances from afar . eva longoria  the most over  exposed woman of the   st century  is basically only in this to attract to the desperate housewives audience . her role is     pointless and she does absolutely nothing to further the plot or add to character development . she barely has  lines to rub together . a truly shameless marketing ploy .  br    br   if you  re a glutton for punishment then don  t let me stop you . but it is time and money you won  t be getting back .  
no movies have grabbed my attention like this one has . you see  i have wanted to watch this movie again for over twenty  five years . the one and only time i saw it was as a teen  ager which may have been the year it was released      .  br    br   what i do remember of the movie is that it touched those deep  held emotions so profoundly that there is still an overwhelming desire to watch it again . the intrigue this movie provides by the human element of father  son seeking and searching is sure to touch every human soul who watches it . why this movie has not been brought out of storage and shown as often as many other movies of lesser depth  i do not know .  br    br   postscript received copy of movie and after watching it again was delighted to see that my memory held true . rating reflects movie content . would like to watch this movie on dvd as seeing this     production on a used vhs tape took away from the overall quality .  
the final pairing of nelson eddy and jeanette macdonald is basically a complete misfire . the script is weak and has been presented badly . the film just has no life in it . eddy and macdonald would have been better off just making a filmed concert for their final pairing . there  s nothing wrong with their singing  its just everything else in this turkey thats overcooked .  
i think the majority of the people seem not the get the right idea about the movie  at least that  s my opinion . i am not sure it  s a movie about drug abuse rather it  s a movie about the way of thinking of those genius brothers  drugs are side effects  something marginal . again  it  s not a commercial movie that you see every day and if the author wanted that  he definitely failed  as most people think it  s one of the many drug related movies . i  however  think something else is the case . as in many movies portraying different cultures  audience usually fully understands movies portraying their own culture  i . e . something they  ve grown up with and are quite familiar with . this movie is to show what those  genius  people very often think and what problems they face . the reason why they act like this is because they are bored out of their minds   they have to meet people who do mediocre things and accept those things as if they are launching space shuttles on daily basis . they start a fairly hard job and excel in no time . they feel like  i went to work  did nothing  still did twice as better as the guys around me when they were all over their projects  what should i do now with my free time . and what  s even more boring  when you can start predicting behavior not because you  re psychologist  but instead because you have seen this pattern in the past . so  for them  from one side it  s a non challenging job  which is also fairly boring sometimes  and from another they start to figure out people  s behavior . it  s a recipe for big big boredom . and the dumbest things are usually done to get out of this state . they guy earlier who mentioned that their biggest problem is that they are trying to figure out life in terms of logic  math describes logic   while life is not really a logical thing  is actually absolutely right .  
when anyone comes into a film of this type of film it  s not without saying that an overdose of that great over  the  counter brain  medicine  suspension of disbelief  comes in mighty handy .  br    br   jeanette macdonald plays two roles anna  brigitta  the woman who nelson eddy has ignored since the beginning of time  but who also is   an angel sent to earth .  br    br   my reaction when i saw this was a mute gasp of  hunh   where have i seen this before  it turns out  i have seen it before  but in a movie made much later than this one . date with an angel  a forgettable pile of dreck made in      cashed in on the ethereal beauty of one emmanuelle beart who had no speaking lines  also wore a blond wig  and made life hell for soap  actor michael knight . much worse in every conceivable angle with ultra  low   s values but more than likely an updated version of this     turkey .  br    br   anyway  not to elaborate  this is not a memorable film and stands as a doorstop of information because it was the last time macdonald and eddy  neither very good actors but terrific singers  would be together playing up the  innocence  and  clean  cut  romance that they were known for . after that you may need a cold shower  not because there are any steamy scenes here  but to get rid of the memory .  
this movie can be interpreted on many different levels . don  t listen to the other comments bashing the movie and saying that it is a played again story or w  e and that it is just about drugs . it has very overt superficial metaphors about drugs however  the rest of the movie  and why i think it was personally made  is really not about that at all . it is really mocking psychology and the conditioning of society . it shows  for a split second  that the main character  s brother is watching those sick videos online . why  my interpretation is that it is to demonstrate that all of this gruesomeness that we are exposed to makes it easier for us to be mechanical in our professions instead of seeing people as people . as far as the scene about logic  it is also reaching out to the people who were in the federally mandated   smart classes who are confused and frustrated because life isn  t as predictable and mathematical and logical as it seems on a macroscopic level . you have to apply heisenberg  s uncertainty principle  along with all the other laws and principles of uncertainty  not just to physics but to life and leave room to change your plans and adjust along the way . one of the best movies i have ever seen . it just might go way above your head it isn  t for you it is for those people who are are having trouble coping with life not working out like a math problem . when you are critically analyzing a movie or writing your critical review  s try not reading the back cover first  written by marketers and parapsychologists   
i  ll say one thing for jeanette and nelson   even when stranded in a mirthless  witless  painfully inept musical like this  there  s still that twinkle in their eyes . yes  the chemistry between the famous duo is there even when the material is paper thin . even when the score is practically a throwaway  non  existent one depending on just a couple of catchy tunes . and even when the circumstances are so unbelievable   yes  even for a fantasy .  br    br   truth to tell  she has more chemistry with nelson than with her own real  life husband gene raymond in smilin  through  which  nonetheless  was a considerably better film .  br    br   sorry  i love jeanette and nelson as much as the next fan  but this is the bottom of the heap . jeanette is more than embarrassing in her one  hep  number with binnie barnes   and nelson can only come up with a blank stare when faced with the most ludicrous situations .  br    br   one can only wonder what this was like on broadway in     . surely  it must have had more wit and style than is evident in this weak mgm production . edward everett horton fizzles in an unfunny role and none of the supporting players can breathe any semblance of life into this mess . it  s like amateur night at the studio even with the few professionals sprinkled among the supporting cast .  br    br   summing up painfully clumsy rendering of a rodgers and hart musical . can  t recommend it  even for fans of macdonald and eddy . and even if jeanette  s close  ups still glow with her gossamer beauty  this film is jaw  droppingly bad .  
really the tale of two cocky brothers and their respective falls from grace  via drug addiction  and later redemption . one brother  a self  proclaimed genius played by james franco is your typical sensitive but intelligent man  child . the other brother is a hard  working future doctor who becomes less judgmental as he himself falls prey to addiction while dealing with the stress of living up to his family  s expectations for both children . not too heavy handed as drug fables are want to be  and all in all a pretty realistic sketch of the family dynamics that drug problems bring about . i  d recommend it to anyone interested in such character studies and commend james franco for his efforts in what was obviously a labor of love .  
i just finished reading a book on anita loos  work and the photo in tcm magazine of macdonald in her angel costume looked great  impressive wings   so i thought i  d watch this movie . i  d never heard of the film before  so i had no preconceived notions about it whatsoever . thought it got off to a cute start with eddy as the playboy and macdonald as the secretary he doesn  t know exists . the scene where she shows up at the costume party in her simple angel outfit with an uncooperative halo and wings that won  t stay on was really endearing . i was even with the film when eddy goes to sleep and imagines her as a real angel . but after a while it just started to fall apart for me . eddy stays  asleep  for the entire rest of movie  so it  s all a dream . whatever happens from there on doesn  t really matter  because he  s just dreaming . the rest of it was pretty much plot less and pointless . i had to force myself to stick with it . and the final number where macdonald goes from musical number to musical number in some mad hallucination was just plain freaky .  br    br   had eddy  woken  a sooner and the original story continued  or had he really married an angel  i think it would have been a lot more interesting . i wanted to see more of her real character .  br    br   there weren  t really enough musical numbers to call it a musical . the first few songs were good  but the jitterbug number that macdonald performs was like nails on a chalkboard . completely wrong for her operatic voice . even so  eddy and macdonald still manage to shine  showing what true stars they were .  
walking with cavemen  hosted by alec baldwin  is a look back at all the hominid  that  s us   species of the past  million years who they were  what they were like  and how they died out . along with being a very interesting scientific look at the information we have on these species  walking with cavemen also examines what it is that makes us human . i waited several weeks to watch this  and i was not disappointed .  
my wife and i started to watch this movie with anticipation . it looked warm and touching . it started out well but  soon became boring and frankly idiotic after a while . it got so bad that we turned it off the movie was poorly acted and honesty  we couldn  t really understand or wanted to understand what exactly why or how the hell they could put up with this woman  you lost sympathy for her after she was rude and acting wackos singing and cleaning . i would have had her committed . and  of course  like most movies and t . v series made in hollywood we have to throw it a token  gay  character  this movie was boring . i was expecting more from diane keaton   
hickory dickory dock was a good poirot mystery . i confess i have not read the book  despite being an avid agatha christie fan . the adaptation isn  t without its problems  there were times when the humour  and there were valiant attempts to get it right  was a little overdone  and the events leading up to the final solution were rather rushed . i also thought there were some slow moments so some of the mystery felt padded . however  i loved how hickory dickory dock was filmed  it had a very similar visual style to the brilliant abc murders  and it really set the atmosphere  what with the dark camera work and dark lighting . the darker moments were somewhat creepy  this was helped by one of the most haunting music scores in a poirot adaptation  maybe not as disturbing as the one in one two buckle my shoe  which gave me nightmares . the plot is complex  with all the essential ingredients  though not as convoluted as buckle my shoe  and in some way that is a good thing . the acting was very good  david suchet is impeccable  i know i can  t use this word forever but i can  t think of a better word to describe his performance in the series  as poirot  and phillip jackson and pauline moran do justice to their integral characters brilliantly . and the students had great personalities and well developed on the whole  particularly damian lewis as leonard . all in all  solid mystery but doesn  t rank along the best .  .     bethany cox  
 . . . that jamie foxx would ever deliver such a wonderful  oscar  winning performance . one of the reasons why i was so impressed with foxx  s performance in  ray  was because from watching his hammy  obnoxious acting in movies like  bait  and  booty call   i would never imagine he would ever hold the oscar . if people told me five years ago that jamie foxx was one day going to win an oscar  i would laugh right in their faces . who knows  maybe he  s better off sticking to drama  because if you watch  bait   it  s clearly evident that comedy is not his forte . i swear  jamie mugs so much in this movie that i  m surprised his face didn  t fall off . and why does he have to do those stupid voices at every chance he gets  anyone familiar with comedians like bob newhart and steven wright knows that doing comedy doesn  t require being loud and obnoxious . if a joke is funny  it  s funny . if it  s not funny  then doing some crazy accent is not going to make it any funnier . the problem i have with some comedians who decide to try acting is that they favor getting laughs over being in character . in real life  normal people don  t always have witty comebacks and quips . like albert brooks said in an interview discussing his character in  taxi driver   it  s important to be funny as your character  rather than be funny as a comedian . a prime example of jamie violating that rule is the nauseatingly awful scene where his mug shots are being taken  and he starts posing for the photographs like a model . if a regular person were being thrown in jail  would he really be acting goofy while having his mug shots taken  and wouldn  t the police try to scold him if he was  there are many scenes like that throughout the film . another awful sequence is one where jamie is on the unwittingly on the phone with the villain  and he starts doing a phony caribbean accent . not funny  not to mention jamie never seems to acknowledge the timing of a joke . giving a comedic performance requires patience  whereas he goes straight to the punchline  whether it  s the right time for it or not . i  m not even a big mike epps fan  but even his performance is good in comparison to jamie  s . as a matter of fact  this is the first time i felt somewhat relieved whenever he would appear on screen . epps has the same flaws when it comes to comedy  but at least he chooses a more low  key approach . one of the few bright spots in this clunker of a comedy is david morse  a highly underrated actor mostly known for his supporting roles as villains . he seems to be the only actor in the film concerned with grounding it in reality . however  fellow  green mile  star doug hutchison is disgustingly over  the  top as the villain . a big surprise  considering he gave a superb performance in  the green mile   also playing a heavy . antoine fuqua has proved his directing chops in movies like  the replacement killers  and  training day .  even in  bait   he shows he can direct a hell of an action sequence . his only problem seemed to be in disciplining jamie foxx  who probably improvised half the script with one bad joke after another . unless you  re a die  hard fan of foxx  please don  t take the bait .  
besides the fact that my list of favorite movie makers is   stanley kubrick   god allmighty   the rest . . . this movie actually is better than the book  and the tv miniseries though this is an easy feat  considering the director  . the flawless filming stile  the acting and  kubrick  s all time number one skill  the music  make it the masterpiece of horror . i watched the tv miniseries a few years ago and liked the story and i had my hopes about this when i got a hold of it . it blew me away    it is far better than i ever imagined it . it starts slow  kubrick trademark  and has a lot of downtime that builds up the suspense . the intro scene is a classic by all means and i watched it about   times just for the shear atmosphere it induces to the whole film . also the film doesn  t offer a lot of gore  it has just enough and it is by no means tasteless  a trend that i hate in recent day horror films . just watch it   
as i sat subjected to this televised mediocrity  i wondered why  why did dianne keaton agree to this trash  the movie uses meaningless  contrived plot lines to deliver trash to homes of thousands . the movie takes a political agenda to a new level . the movie was meaningless  and all creditability was lost to the excessive use of stereotype .  br    br   it was obvious that keaton tried to make this movie worthwhile  but in the end she needs to remember the age old adage that you cannot polish a turd . i hope that you did not waste your new year  s day watching another mindless made for tv movie . i now know why the networks started airing series on sunday night  to rid us of trash   
that  s right . the movie is better than the book . don  t get me wrong  i love the book . but the movie is just so much better . this film has jack nicholson and shelly duvall at their best .  i haven  t seen scatman crothers and obviously danny lloyd in anything else .  some of the ideas used in this movie are better than the ones used in the book . but i already talked about those in my comment on the mini series . but  i missed a few . the film is shot at a better location than where the mini series was shot . and the redrum scenes are creepier than those in the book . so if you  re looking for a great movie  get stanley kubrick  s the shining . but count on having nightmares every night for  weeks  
the first   min of the flick was choppy and hard to know just what was going on  unless you read the book  which i had not  .  br    br   if you can stick with the first half  the second half is sweet  predictable  yes  but sweet none  the  less .  br    br   the way it was shot one would think it was produced in the early    s  not     .  br    br   no stand  out moments  bland  but it moved along without boring me .  br    br   i would like to know why keaton selected this role  her part would have been better cast with a player more at the level of the other actors to keep the balance .  
why can  t more directors these days create horror movies like  the shining   there  s an easy answer to that modern day directors are not stanley kubrick . kubrick proved once  and  for  all with this movie that he is truly one of the greatest directors and auteurs of all time .  br    br   so  the plot is fairly simple . a man named jack torrance  played brilliantly by jack nicholson  and his family move into a large  secluded hotel to watch over it for the off  season . the kicker is that the previous caretaker of the hotel savagely murdered his wife and two girls . what follows can most readily be summed by the title of the movie  but you have to watch it to see what i mean .  br    br   this is the first movie in a very long time to strike me as  scary  . it  s some seriously messed up stuff  but in a good way . one of the things that adds to the scare factor is the amazing music . music has been a major part of kubrick  s movies       a space oddysey and a clockwork orange  just to name a couple  and he definitely doesn  t disappoint with this one . the score completely sets the tone and this film would not be the same without it .  br    br   finally  i must comment on nicholson  s legendary performance . jack is terrifyingly convincing as a crazy killer . in fact  just his stare steals a few scenes of this movie . this is top  notch acting that must be seen to believe .  br    br   there will never be a horror movie that quite matches this one . r . i . p . stanley .  
i can  t believe we watched this total piece of crap but we did and i feel obligated to warn others to avoid it at all costs . when one of the main characters announces that he  s gay twice in the first five minutes  don  t ignore it as typical pc nonsense and figure it has to get better because it won  t . if his faggoty boyfriend hanging all over him doesn  t make you sick  then be thankful the freak who wrote and  or directed this grossout is somehow attempting a little restraint . i mean  get real . it  s one thing for there to be a gay character appearing in a movie in such screwed up times as these but quite another to have it continually slapped on the screen and examined up close and personal when the the liner notes clearly state the flick  s supposed to be about a mother seeking some sort of  closure  over the sudden death of her daughter . what does one thing have to do with the other  one might be tempted to ask  apparently  the two issues are inextricably interwoven . and if that weren  t bad enough  there  s the bearded lady at the ice cream parlor . i mean  seriously  hasn  t that poor woman ever heard of electrolysis  why must she go around like that  at the very least  how about shaving the ugly thing off  and while you  re at it  have those horrible moles removed  too . would you slurp up some ice cream she just served you  i think not . it must be a new jersey thing .  br    br   you  d think diane keaton might save this piece of drek  but think again . was she actually trying to put lipstick on a corpse  i don  t even wanna think about it . so what if the body was supposed to be that of her own dead daughter . this grotesque excuse for cinema is slop from the word go and that  s all there is to it . one wishes that each of these characters would simply walk out into the waves and just keep going . none of these flaky people even remotely gain our sympathy for an instant . trust me   pass this piece of crap up . it  s not about death  a mother who inadvertently suffocated her daughter  or even the other much more unsavory issues it keeps bringing up no matter how little you want to hear it . it  s a load of perverted trash from a misguided and talentless director .  
kubrick proved his brilliantness again  now in a suspense  horror film based on stephen king  s book titled the same way . jack torrance is a man in his forties  married  with one child  and with a past of trouble and alcoholism . the overlook hotel in colorado suspends service during the winter because of its extreme weather  and there is a well  paid job for the person who takes care of the facilities during those five months and torrance  who was looking to become a writer  found it perfect . but  the manager advised torrance about the loneliness in this place during the winter  potentially dangerous  and told him that some caretaker in the past went crazy and murdered his family . even before they got there  his son danny  who has some sort of imaginary friend who illuminates him the future  shinning   knew the place wasn  t good and didn  t want to go . once they installed themselves in the hotel  things started right but within a month  jack began acting strange  irritated  and depressed . at this point  we know something is going to happen  but don  t know when and how . scary things happen such as the appearance of two twin girls talking to danny  and someone who attacked him violently . they are not alone in this place . later on  jack started to see other people and immediately felt good with them  like if they were his family among them the famous psychotic caretaker  delbert grady . grady tells torrance that he must kill his family because they are  intruders  in the hotel . obeying this order  jack went for the objective and many of the most scary things i  ve ever seen happen here . the ending is spectacular and the viewers will stay interested and shocked until the last minute .  
i could not believe how awful this film was i rarely watch commercial tv  but thought  well  diane keaton is always worth watching  . i stand corrected . everyone involved should be hanging their heads in shame .  br    br   i realize there are not a lot of great roles for women of a certain age  but the script to this was so inept  clichd and baffling that i am surprised it ever got into development or that ms . keaton thought she could make a silk purse out of this sow  s ear . none of the characters had a shred of believability and were so incredibly unlikeable . the acting looked like exercises in a beginning class  i stared in open  mouthed horror through most of this wondering  what were they thinking   . very  very sad that it has come to this . don  t waste your time .  
everyone should totally see this movie  it  s freaking scary  but doesn  t resort to lame  jump  out  at  you  just  to  surprise  you  and  pass  it  off  as  scary  things . it really is great . see this freaking awesome movie    the director is stanley kubrick  easily the greatest director who ever lived . every single one of his movies are masterpieces  including this one . the shining is about this family that goes to a hotel in the colorado rockies as caretakers for the winters  and get snowed in . well  the house is haunted . the kid is psychic . the husband is easily impacted by evil haunted hotels  and . . . well . . . hilarity ensues     not really . it becomes this gripping thriller where stuff gets thrown at the viewer from all different directions  and it gets scary . not just the classic   here  s johnny  scene . it  s memorable  but can  t speak for the whole movies . it  s one of those things where words don  t explain it adequately  and you just gotta see it . so go on netflix  and get it  geeeeeetttttttt itttttttt         
although the casting for this film was admirable  particularly dianne keaton and tom everett scott  the quality of the writing was so poor that it would be impossible for any actor or director to make this film worth watching .  br    br   my wife and i decided that the reason we watched the entire film was that it was like a train wreck  and it was almost impossible to turn away . it may have been that we  hoped  that the message would eventually make itself apparent  and that we would be able to glean some meaning from this effort . unfortunately  this did not happen .  br    br   of course the audience may have been able to  make sense  of this convoluted tale  a credit to the ingenuity of the human brain to make sense of the absurd . the writers  however  did nothing to facilitate this innate need we seem to have for finding meaning .  br    br   it was apparent that those involved were simply going through the motions of their respective crafts  and that any intrinsic passion for the characters or the story was either secondary or non  existent .  br    br   unfortunately  made  for  tv movies have seemed to devolve over the years . whereas communicating a message to the audience may to have been the primary interest of the writers in the past  present  day writers and producers seem condescending to their audience  concentrating primarily on manipulating us to  stay  tuned  through the incessant advertising which seems to be the only reason movies such as surrender  dorothy are made .  
the shining is a weird example of adaptation it has very little in common with the source novel  written by stephen king  yet it is widely remembered as one of the best cinematic renditions of the horror master  s work . this is due to two factors stanley kubrick  s masterful direction and jack nicholson  s chilly acting .  br    br   nicholson plays jack torrance  a writer who accepts to take care of the overlook hotel in canada during the winter period  unaffected by the gruesome stories surrounding the place he claims a nice  isolated location is just what he needs to finish his new book . therefore the overlook becomes the new home of the torrance family jack  his wife wendy  shelley duvall  and their five  year old son danny  danny lloyd  . the boy in particular senses right from the beginning that something  s wrong he has been told by the cook  dick o  hallorann  scatman crothers  that he is endowed with a mysterious psychic energy  the titular shining  which allows people like him and dick to see flashes from the past and the future  among other things . because of this  gift   the forces that inhabit the hotel immediately take an interest in danny  even though he is quite capable of resisting them . that is not jack  s case  however  as he gets increasingly paranoid regarding his wife  s affections and seeks comfort in the company of what can best be defined as ghosts  triggering a chain of insanity and dread which is very hard to break .  br    br   the shining works as a horror movie because kubrick  though having never worked on this kind of film before  knew exactly what was effective and what wasn  t  hence the larger focus on atmosphere and psychological shocks than gore and creative bloodbaths . king criticized the director for changing most of the story  omitting most of the jack  danny subplot  merely hinted at in the film  that led to the book  s emotionally strong climax  and while his disappointment is valid  the omission was actually necessary the novel dealt with redemption  albeit in an unconventional way  and redemption is a theme kubrick  one of the most famous analysts of human decay  never had a soft spot for . what he is interested in is the mental  and subsequently physical  unbalance that threatens the characters  and he keeps the creepy tone even thanks to a very cold approach and expert use of the steadicam shot  danny  s encounter with two ghostly twins being the best example  .  br    br   another criticism king raised was about the actors  especially nicholson in the writer  s opinion  his trademark grin at the start of the movie seemed to indicate jack already was insane  thus undermining the rest of the story . now  it is true that nicholson looks a bit goofy from the very beginning  but it is equally true that martin sheen  king  s ideal choice for the role  probably would not have been able to deliver a performance as terrifying as nicholson  s from the moment he starts grinning in a more unsettling way than before to the immortal  here  s johnny   scene  it is impossible to picture another actor playing that part  and even though the tv version of the shining from     isn  t bad the torrance character is indelibly linked to the one flew over the cuckoo  s nest star . as for duvall and lloyd  both add terrific support  the latter especially deserving a place alongside harvey stephens  the omen  s damien  and haley joel osment as cinema  s great horror child icons . one might complain about duvall being completely different from the book counterpart  blonde and beautiful  and not having much else to do but scream and run  but two things ought to be considered a  back in     the  scream queen  clich wasn  t one yet b  rarely has any actress looked so genuinely terrified on camera  making the book  movie differences secondary compared to the real fear that emerges from wendy  s eyes .  br    br   irvine welsh  the author of trainspotting  once said there is no such thing as a completely faithful adaptation of any literary work  and he should know  given the liberties danny boyle took when his junkie masterpiece was brought to the screen   yet that doesn  t mean the movie is necessarily bad . the shining proves said point to perfection very little from the novel  approximately    is included in the film  but in kubrick and nichlolson  s hands this masterclass in loose cinematic translation becomes one of the finest  most original horror pictures of all time  which really is saying something given the genre  s current poor form .  
    for this diane keaton farce .  br    br   someone should tell ms . keaton  enough with your annie hall philosophy and hats .  br    br   this flick is just too much as keaton  s daughter  sara  dies in a traffic accident  while her boyfriend survives .  br    br   keaton  who could not be reached by phone at first  as she was in the sack with her pal and had pulled out the phone plug  grieves in a new way for grievers .  br    br   she retreats to the summer locale where all of sara  s friends are staying . she cleans the house  sleeps for two days and then begins to reveal things which were better not to be revealed . it appears that sweet sara slept with her girlfriend and the guy who ultimately married the latter . in addition  she had an abortion thanks to this guy . we  re all now put on this guilt trip .  br    br   her only hope is to find the elusive diary that sara kept . she also hopes that boyfriend  adam  who is a playwright  will not include all this in another play .  br    br   when the diary is found  it has been written in japanese . sara had a ph . d in this language . it  s not that great news for mom when an excerpt of the diary is translated by a japanese cook in a japanese restaurant .  br    br   naturally  everything seems to tie up nicely in the end .  br    br   the title of this shmaltz comes from the wizard of oz . every time mom and sara would speak  they would both utter surrender dorothy .  br    br   as if this isn  t enough  during the course of this bizarre extravaganza of mourning  keaton tells adam not to be another woody allen in his film  interiors  where he tried to successfully emulate ingmar bergman . ms . keaton also tries drugs with the group . come on  folks  can we realistically believe that anyone in his right mind could mourn like this   br    br   fair to mediocre best sums up this film .  
at times  this overtakes the thing as my favourite horror film . while carpenter  s film is the more efficient and more entertaining flick  kubrick  s is more artistic  more thought  provoking  and probably scarier . it  s one of the few films where i can look past its flaws and truly and wholly love it . i try not to compare it to the book  which i  ve only read once  a number of years ago  and which scared me to death  because the two don  t have a lot in common  besides the story and characters obviously . it  s almost as if kubrick was banking on people  s love of the novel in order to make his film more frightening . and it that way  it  s certainly one of the most interesting book adaptations ever made  as well as one of the greatest horror films .  br    br   what makes the film so terrifying is not the jump scares  not the blood and gore  not the various ghosts that pop up from time to time . it  s the destruction of jack torrence . some people have complained about the casting of nicholson in this role  saying that it  s too obvious that he  s going to go crazy in the film  given his past roles and his appearance . i disagree . we know he  s going to go crazy  since most of us have read the book  and jack  s appearance only furthers this notion . but it  s the way he acts at the beginning that makes us truly scared . he  s calm  quiet  patient . he engages in inane small talk with the hotel managers and even with his own family . and with a wife and son as irritating as his  it  s a small wonder that he manages to do so . but once he gets to the overlook  he changes . he becomes irritable  angry  on edge . the scene that always shocks me is when wendy interrupts him typing  and he utterly loses it  telling her to  leave him the f alone  . this is the first f  bomb dropped in the film  and it  s a shock to the system . from then on  all bets are off .  br    br   another thing i love is the multiple interpretations present in the film . we  re never really sure if what we  re seeing is actually happening . many critics have noted that whenever jack talks to a ghost  there  s a mirror present  showing that he may as well be talking to himself . but what of the other characters  wendy never sees anything until the film  s climax  until she is given a tour of the hotel  s many ghostly inhabitants  but she is well aware that something is wrong  while danny connects with the place almost immediately . his psychic powers are not in question  how else would hallorann know to come to the hotel   but does he ever see any of the ghosts that his parents witness  it  s easy to claim that jack merely loses it  being trapped in a hotel with his family  and wendy later does as well  seeing your husband attempt to kill you with an axe will do that  but what of danny  it appears that his body is taken over by tony  but how do we know for sure  none of these characters are reliable witnesses . hallorann probably would be  and he warns of the dangers in     but he  s killed as soon as he arrives at the overlook  a scare kubrick achieves by playing on the assumptions of fans of the novel  . and that final shot . has there ever been a more enigmatic ending in cinema  has jack really been there before  or was his body merely  absorbed  into the hotel  when talking about the acting in this film  any discussion begins and ends with jack nicholson . shelley duvall gives one of the most annoying performances in cinematic history  probably on purpose  to give jack  s character more of a reason to snap  and danny lloyd is no better  but jack is a powerhouse . part method  part improvisation  he  s simultaneously terrifying and appealing . for better or for worse  he  s the character with whom we identify with  not the annoying kid or nagging wife . we all want to have a hotel to ourselves for a season  be able to do whatever we want . who cares if it  s haunted  of course  the technical aspects are terrific . kubrick  s long takes  strange angles  and bizarre imagery all contribute to the horror . the use of colour  mirrors  long hallways  and every other motif only heightens this . and don  t even get me started on that score . i don  t know if the film would be half as scary without that haunting  electronic tune . its strangeness perfectly reflects the hotel  the mood  and the entire film itself .  br    br   i know king doesn  t like this film  but king  s input on cinema is nothing to brag about . as great of a novel writer he may be  his screenplays are terrible  and his attempt at directing is better left unnoticed . this is not a very faithful book adaptation  but it doesn  t need to be  and it really shouldn  t . part of the horror of the film is that the viewer doesn  t have the book to fall back on there  s no reassuring source material . kubrick masterfully alters the narrative to terrify the audience even more . if only for that  this is one of the most innovative films in any genre . and it  s got everything else on top of that .  
  very light spoilers  maybe .   br    br   normally a fan of diane keaton  i tried to watch this tonight . i had to switch it off before the second hour because i found myself with absolutely no sympathy for daughter or mother . both came across as self  absorbed with little regard for others  with the daughter also adding in rude  disrespectful and reckless to the mix . when the daughter died  the only thing i thought was   at least we won  t have to watch her anymore .  keaton did a good job of moving into her stunned state and into the grieving  but it was too far gone for me by then . i simply wasn  t enjoying it  so i stopped watching . if you want me to care for the protagonist  you need to get me caring about the characters much sooner   if it  s nearly an hour in and i don  t care  it  s too late .  br    br   the supporting cast was sincere and well played   i felt for them     and the gay best friend was wonderful  but even combined  that wasn  t enough to carry the film for me .  
  nothin  . there ain  t nothing  in room    . but you ain  t got no business going  in there anyway . so stay out . you understand  stay out .   br    br   never has there been such a feat of psychological horror as this film achieves . this is the highest rated horror film of all and rightly so . jack nicholson is a superb actor and this is one of the greatest performances in cinema .  br    br   its about a family moving to an isolated and deserted hotel for  months over the winter . then the father  jack  becomes almost possessed by the horrors in the hotel .  br    br   kubricks direction is nothing short then perfect . the tense tracking shots  agonising music  mystical messages and perplexing plot makes this the best horror film ever made .  br    br   throughout the film there is constant references to danger  death and horror . red is used in every scene . is the red purposely put in by kubrick  of course  .  br    br   this is a definitive kubrick classic and this is the third of his films i have given      . he is a perfectionist in his direction and you can see it in all his films . he loves to perplex his watchers in everyone of his films .  br    br   i will be talking about this film for months to come . it has infinite depth .  br    br   in conclusion  this is the cornerstone of horror and tension . a masterpiece of terror       
i waited for this movie to play in great anticipation . assuming it would be more accurately portrayed like the movie   the christmas box  based on the book by richard paul evans . i sent out many emails to friends and family asking them to please watch this show  hoping they would better understand a tiny amount of my  new  life . after seeing this movie i was so disappointed . as a mother who lost her only child in november     and really knowing the pain  i had hoped that this movie would shed light to parents who  think  they understand the grief a parent goes through who has lost a child . this movie was a very light hearted movie and the silliness of diane keaton was a slap in the face to parents who have buried a child . it was very unrealistic from start to stop . i had a few calls after the movie  each call the same   that was so off the mark and made it appear that in a short time you are back on the road and listening to songs on the radio and life is back  what a bunch of bull  it is clear that the director and keaton have never lost a child because neither would have ever made the movie to be so off the mark . i guess that  s hollywood .  
kubrick again puts on display his stunning ability to craft a perfect ambiance for a film . mainly through cinematography  but also using an ingenious score  he creates a chilling and ominous tone that resides over the entire film and thoroughly gets my spine tingling from the start . it really is this flawless ambiance that makes the shining the masterpiece that it is  in my eyes . of course it doesn  t hurt that jack nicholson gives one of the greatest performances i  ve ever seen . a frighteningly authentic portrayal of a mind gone mad . duvall and lloyd are artificial  to be nice  but it  s easy to look past those two when the rest of the film is so brilliant . plus it features the actor with the greatest name of all time  scatman crothers  .  
watching cbs  s  surrender  dorothy   i kept wondering why diane keaton would want to be in it  not because it  s a television movie   with the dearth of enticing roles for slightly older actresses  it isn  t any wonder why academy award winning performers such as keaton turn to tv   but because it offers no opportunities for keaton to shine  . a single mother  grieving the sudden death of her twenty  something daughter  imposes upon   and gradually becomes friends with   the group of young people her daughter was close to at the time of her accident . adapted from the novel  this teleplay gives us a group of self  absorbed characters one would cross the street to avoid . aside from being coarse and dim  these phony people are incredibly unconvincing  as is the tidy scenario and the bungalow near the beach where the kids reside  one young man  who wears muscle shirts to tell us he  s gay  hears diane keaton say   surrender  dorothy  and actually asks   that  s from  the wizard of oz   right   . . . no  genius  it  s from  citizen kane    . keaton may have wanted to do this material based on the subject matter of confronting death . she tries turning this distinctly unlikable woman into a shadow of her own personage  lots of kooky outfits   but it doesn  t sit well with the viewer since keaton has always been warmly likable and flexible in a flaky way . here  she  s a crazed harpy who doesn  t learn many lessons on her journey of self  discovery  the movie quickly forgets it  s about a dead young woman and becomes an odyssey for the nervous wreck of a mom  who appears to be an overage hippie who has never lost anyone close to her  . this is the kind of film actors promote on talk shows with the caveat   it should help a lot of grieving mothers out there  . i can  t imagine it helping anyone since it is intrinsically a downer  muddled and baffling . it  s deranged .  
the shining starts with jack torrance  jack nicholson  driving to an isolated hotel named the  overlook  situated high in the colorado mountains for an interview with it  s manager stuart ullman  barry nelson  about becoming the winter caretaker . ullman tells jack that he will be responsible for the basic upkeep of the hotel but will be almost totally isolated from the rest of the world for six months as the harsh winter sets in . together with his wife wendy  shelley duvall   young son danny  danny lloyd  jack moves into the hotel  at first everything seems fine  it  s a beautiful hotel  absolutely huge  whatever they need is at their disposal . however the overlook hotel has a murky past with a previous caretaker murdering his entire family before committing suicide  danny has the ability to  shine  which means he has psychic powers that let him see  hear things  ordinary  people can  t . as the days  weeks  months begin to pass jack become more  more insane  danny keeps  seeing  things  people while wendy becomes frantic as she doesn  t have a clue what  s happening to her family  as a heavy snowstorm leaves them trapped jack finally loses it . . .  br    br   this english production was co  written  co  produced  directed by stanley kubrick  is a fine horror film . it appears that the shining is another film that exists in two distinct different versions  the one i will be commenting on is the shorter european cut that runs just under  hours in length . the script by kubrick  diane johnson  is based on the novel by stephen king which i have not read so i can  t compare them  goes for psychological horror rather than visual with only one murder during the entire film . there are very few character  s in the shining with jack  wendy  danny the only ones that really matter  since the film concentrates on them almost exclusively you care for them  become involved with them  what they go through . the pace is somewhat slow but this is one film that didn  t feel that long  keeps you interested throughout . on the negative side i don  t think the reasoning behind jack going crazy  wanting to kill his family was strong enough to convince me  the fact that jack escapes from the freezer without any explanation bugs me  i don  t know if i missed something but that ending didn  t make any sense to me whatsoever  i  m still trying to work out what that picture is all about  there is very little in the way of violence or gore  a couple of rotten zombie ghosts  someone is killed with an axe but the shining is a horror film that doesn  t need to rely on blood  special effects as it has a gripping story . with a budget of about            the shining is technically flawless as you would expect from an obsessive filmmaker such as kubrick  the cinematography is brilliant with some fantastic free  flowing  smooth steadicam shots as the camera effortlessly follows the character  s around the maze of corridors  the sets look absolutely real  instead of clichd old haunted house themes like dark corners  basements  cobwebs kubrick brings things right up  to  date with brightly lit corridors  massive open expansive spaces  a modern decor  well    s modern  just check that red toilet out   . the acting is good from everyone involved although as usual in horror films the little kid is highly annoying  nicholson seems crazy from the very start . the shining is an absorbing film that i enjoyed watching although i  m not sure i  d watch it again anytime soon . for those looking for explosions  fancy special effects you will be disappointed  for those looking for a good haunted house type horror with a strong story i definitely think the shining is for you  well worth a watch in my humble opinion .  
i  m sorry but this is just awful . i have told people about this film and some of the bad acting that is in it and they almost don  t believe me . there is nothing wrong with the idea  modern day japanese troops get pulled back in time to the days of busido warriors and with their modern weapons are a match for almost everything . when the troops first realise something strange is happening does every single person in the back of the transport need to say  hey my watch has stopped   imagine lines like that being repeated    times before they say anything else and you have the movie  s lack of greatness in a nutshell .  
a series of random  seemingly insignificant thefts at her sister  s boarding house has miss lemon quite agitated . a ring  light bulbs  a rucksack  a lighter  a stethoscope  a shoe  there seems to be no rhyme or reason to any of it . miss lemon asks her employer  the great belgian detective hercule poirot  to look into the matter . but what poirot sees is something far more sinister than miss lemon could have imagined . and poirot  s fears are confirmed when one of the students living in the boarding house if found murdered . it  s up to poirot to bring a killer to justice .  br    br   hickory dickory dock is a solid  but not spectacular  entry in the long running poirot series . i appreciate how faithful the script is to agatha christie  s original story . i realize that certain liberties had to be taken  but i appreciate the effort nonetheless . the major points of the mystery are all there  the petty thefts  the boarding house  the students  the ripped rucksack  and  of course  poirot  s ability to see something sinister going on before it actually happens . with a few exceptions  the cast of students is almost as i pictured them . damian lewis and jessica lloyd standout among the group . as mush as i always enjoy david suchet  s poirot  i get a real kick out of the episodes with phillip jackson  s inspector japp and pauline moran  s miss lemon . this episode is a real treat as miss lemon gets more screen time than usual . finally  i enjoyed the use of the ever present mouse as an observer of the activities in the hostel . it  s a fun little play on the hickory dickory dock title .  br    br   i realized while re  watching hickory dickory dock just what a tremendous influence agatha christie  s work was on the highly stylized italian mystery films  or gialli  of the   s and   s . take the murder of mrs . nicoletis as an example . if you were to bump up the graphic nature of the scene  you would have something straight out of an early   s giallo . in fact  the entire plot of hickory dickory dock could have been used in a giallo . it  s just convoluted and interesting enough to have worked .  
the plot of this terrible film is so convoluted i  ve put the spoiler warning up because i  m unsure if i  m giving anything away . the audience first sees some man in jack the ripper garb murder an old man in an alley a hundred years ago . then we  re up to modern day and a young australian couple is looking for a house . we  re given an unbelievably long tour of this house and the husband sees a figure in an old mirror . some    year old woman lived there . there are also large iron panels covering a wall in the den . an old fashioned straight  razor falls out when they  re renovating and the husband keeps it . i guess he becomes possessed by the razor because he starts having weird dreams . oh yeah  the couple is unable to have a baby because the husband is firing blanks .  br    br   some mold seems to be climbing up the wall after the couple removes the iron panels and the mold has the shape of a person . late in the story there is a plot about a large cache of money  the husband murders the body guard  a co  worker and steals the money . his wife is suddenly pregnant .  br    br   what the hell is going on   who knows   nothing is explained . was the    year old woman the child of the serial killer  the baby sister  why were iron panels put on the wall  how would that keep the serial killer contained in the cellar  was he locked down there by his family  starved to death or just concealed  who is mr . hobbs and why is he so desperate to get the iron panels   he  s never seen again . why was the serial killer killing people  we only see the one old man murdered . was there a pattern or motive or something   why does the wife suddenly become pregnant  is it the demon spawn of the serial killer  has he managed to infiltrate the husband  s semen  and why  if the husband was able to subdue and murder a huge  burly security guard  is he unable to overpower his wife  and just how powerful is the voltage system in australia that it would knock him across the room simply cutting a light wire  and why does the wife stay in the house  is she now possessed by the serial killer  is the baby going to be the killer reincarnated   br    br   this movie was such a frustrating experience i wanted to call my pbs station and ask for my money back  the only enjoyable aspect of this story was seeing the husband running around in just his boxer shorts for a lot of the time  but even that couldn  t redeem this muddled  incoherent mess .  
when i first went to watch the shining i was expecting a decent film from what i had heard about it and i liked a lot of stanley kubrick  s other work but when i started to watch it it was so much better than i thought it would be . at times i seriously felt ridiculously uneasy and i couldn  t take my eyes of the screen still there  s something very disturbing about everything in the film . now some people don  t like kubrick  s version of the shining since it doesn  t entirely follow stephen king  s book but in my opinion both kubrick  s version  the mini  series and the book are all great . jack nicholson gives an awesome performance . if you are looking for a good original movie that will keep you thinking even after the movies over then watch the shining .  
the subject notwithstanding  this is an amateur  exhibitionist movie   or an effort at one   which is about as interesting and daring as a moody high school student  s composition book full of death  poetry  . to be sure  it will disturb viewers who are hell  bent on being disturbed  but the success will be attributable to themselves  not to the director . to genuinely get under somebody  s skin requires sensibility  discipline  technique  and talent  as well as an eye and an ear . the film does contain one evocative image  shown as a still  and also used on the video case   but with no development leading up to or away from it . if the director had had an eye  he would have seen it as a possible starting point for an interesting movie   that is  a movie .  
 . . . this isn  t the first time stanley blurred the distinction between genres to such great effect  either . in dr . strangelove you had a comedy about a horrific situation  and here the basis is a terrifying scenario which actually yields some very funny moments . slow  burning madness and attempting to kill one  s family isn  t hilarious of course  but the dialogue is very knowing   five months of peace is just what i want . . .   and there is a terrific drinking scene which would be riotous if you included just one type of spirit  but is spine  chilling when you factor in the other .  br    br   i disagree with those who say that the hotel has a negligible effect on jack torrance in the filmed version . the cues nicholson provides the audience as an actor merely hint at the potential for madness  which is only reinforced when we learn that the head of the family has struggled with alcoholism and is emotionally distant from his wife and son . the environment that he is in  however  then absorbs those personality defects and unleashes them upon his consciousness . in much the same way as buildings are sometimes thought to soak up events that happen there  the hotel feeds on the frailties of a troubled but sane man  and uses his weaknesses against him to eventually take him beyond the point of no return . he may have dormant flaws in his personality before he arrives  but to me the overlook itself is the trigger that sets them off .  br    br   kubrick  s cold and detached approach to directing works splendidly for a chilly horror film  and the unpredictable force of nature that is jack nicholson teeters all the time between making you giggle and scaring the wits out of you . when he explodes  you won  t be sure how far he can go . together they made a great team and with a blend of their talents gave us a classic . if you want a great viewing experience  then this is an example that well and truly shines . . .  
german nut case jrg buttgereit apparently has fans  but i don  t know why  and i  m definitely not one of them  the only buttgereit film i  d seen previously was nekromantik and i hated every minute of it  but  shockingly  this film is worse  der todesking is pointless in the same way as nekromantik  but it  s a worse film because it  s boring in a way that few movies have ever managed  it  s not far off the blair witch project  seriously  . some people say that this film is  sick  and  shocking   but it really isn  t . the director may have been making a point about death  but only he knows what it is . how anyone could watch this film and be anything other than bored with it is completely beyond me . the film revolves around the theme of suicide  and follows the deaths of seven different people over the course of a week . yes  that means we have a pointless and boring episode for monday  a pointless and boring episode for tuesday  a pointless and boring episode for wednesday etc etc . this film manages to be even more boring than my average week   br    br   der todesking is apparently an  art  film  although this would appear to be a reference to the way that not very much makes sense rather than a reference to the film bearing any resemblance to  art  . each segment of the film is meant to tell a separate story  but it doesn  t  we just get a quick little sketch on suicide  and it only makes you wonder what the point is . the film feels like it should be deep  but there  s a great big void where the intelligence should be and nothing there to fill it . buttgereit uses a few evocative images but i  m unlikely to remember any of them for more than a week or so because this film just isn  t that memorable . there  s a shot involving a decomposing man  s body that features fairly often  but that gets old pretty quick and all you  re left with is the rest of the film  which is unfortunate . if i were to struggle for good things to say about this crap  all i can think of is this the title sounds cool . as i mentioned  nekromantik is the only other film i  ve seen from this amateur director i have copies of schramm and nekromantik   and now i  m really in no rush to watch either . der todesking is a dull film with no point and anyone that calls it  art  is very much mistaken . give it a miss .  
    spoilers      br    br   before i begin this  let me say that i have had both the advantages of seeing this movie on the big screen and of having seen the  authorized version  of this movie  remade by stephen king  himself  in     .  br    br   both advantages made me appreciate this version of  the shining   all the more .  br    br   also  let me say that i  ve read mr . king  s book   the shining  on many occasions over the years  and while i love the book and am a huge fan of his work  stanley kubrick  s retelling of this story is far more compelling . . . and scary .  br    br   kubrick really knows how to convey the terror of the psyche straight to film . in the direction of the movie and the writing of the screenplay  itself  he acquired the title  magus  beyond question . kubrick  s genius is like magic . the movie world lost a great director when he died in     . among his other outstanding credits are eyes wide shut       full metal jacket       barry lyndon       a clockwork orange            a space odyssey       spartacus      and many more .  br    br   the torrences  jack  wendy his wife and danny  their son  are living in the overlook hotel for the winter jack has been hired as the caretaker . it is his job to oversee the upkeep of the hotel during the several months of hard snow  until spring when the overlook reopens its doors . it seems there are many wealthy and jaded tourists who will flock to the colorado mountains for a snow  filled summer getaway .  br    br   the hotel was an impressive piece of architecture and staging . it lent to the atmosphere  by having a dark  yet at the same time  welcoming  atmosphere  itself . the furnishings and furniture was all period  late    s  early    s   and the filmography of the landscape approaching the hotel in the opening scene is brilliant . it not only lets you enjoy the approach to the overlook  it also fixes in your mind how deserted and isolated the hotel is from the rest of the world .  br    br   the introduction of wendy and danny  s characters was a stroke of genius . you get the whole story of their past  danny  s  imaginary friend   tony  and the story of jack  s alcoholism all rolled into this nice  neat introductory scene . there was no need in stretching the past history out over two hours of the movie obviously  kubrick saw that from the beginning .  br    br   closing day . again  the scenic drive up the mountains to the hotel  this time  with family in tow   the interaction between jack and danny was hilarious while also portraying a very disturbing exchange .  br    br   the initial tour through the overlook is quite breathtaking  even as the  staff  is moving things out  you get a chance to see the majestic fire places  the high cathedral ceilings and expensive furnishings  dormants and crown moldings in the architecture .  they did a good job  pink and gold are my favorite colors .   wendy torrence  even the  staff wing  is well designed and beautifully built .  br    br   the maze was a magnificent touch  reminiscent of the labyrinth in which the minotaur of crete was guardian . when jack nicholson stands at the scaled model of the maze and stares into the center  seeing wendy and danny entering  it  s a magickal moment one that tells you right away  there are heavy energies in that house there  s something seriously wrong  already starting .  i wouldn  t want to go in there unless i had at least an hour to find my way out .   the hotel manager   br    br   scatman cruthers  as dick halloran  was genuine and open in his performance . his smiles were natural and his performance was wonderful . you could actually believe you were there in the hotel  taking the tour of the kitchen with wendy and  doc .  his explanation of  the shining  to danny was very well delivered  as was his conversation with the child about tony and the hotel . it was believable and sincere .  br    br   the cut out and pan scan of the hotel itself  with the mountains looming behind  the cold air swirling about  mist coming up from the warm roof of the snowbound hotel  adds so much to the atmosphere of the movie . it also marks the  half  way  to  hell  point  so to speak the turning point in the movie .  br    br   shelley duvall  s portrayal of wendy torrence was masterful .  so what if she also played olive oyl   it just shows her marvelous diversity   honestly  before i saw the movie on the big screen in      i said   what  olive oyl  lol  popeye was also released in     .  but i took that back as soon as the movie started . she  s brilliant . in this fiend  s opinion  this is her best performance  to date   although i did love her in steve martin  s  roxanne       .   br    br   once kubrick has established the pearly bits of information of which you  the viewer  need to be in possession the torrence  s past danny  s broken arm tony the history of the hotel itself the fact that danny is not  mental   but rather clairvoyant instead  and the general layout of the hotel all of which you get in the opening  sequences the movie never stops scaring you .  br    br   the two butchered daughters of the previous caretaker  delbert grady  the girls having appeared several times to danny  first by way of tony in the apartment before the family ever left for the hotel  were icons with which danny could identify  and of which he was afraid  at the same time . they were haunting  and haunted   themselves and showed danny how and where they were killed  in a rather graphic and material way .  br    br   kubrick  s tony was written as an attendant spirit  like a spirit guide which he acquired as a result of his arm nearly being wrenched off his body by his own father . he was . . .  the little boy who lives in my mouth .  he would manifest in the end of danny  s finger and physically spoke through danny in order to speak to danny . not like in the book  i realize  where tony was intended by stephen king to be the projection of danny as an older boy  trying to save his father . kubrick left out that little twist and it somehow made it more frightening when tony  took . . . danny . . . over .  the idea of danny  s older self projecting back to his younger self isn  t . . . scary .  br    br   the  woman in the shower  scene  done by lia beldan  about whom i can find no other credits for having done anything before  or since  as the younger woman and billie gibson  who also appears to suffer from a lack of credits for works before or since   was seductively obnoxious and thoroughly disgusting . it was dramatic  and frightening . abhorrent and scary . when nicholson looks into the mirror and sees her decomposing flesh beneath his hands the look of sheer terror on his face was so complete and real .  br    br   jack quickly embarks on his trek from the  jonesing  alcoholic to a certifiable insane person . the degradation of his character  s mental state is carefully and thoroughly documented by kubrick . jack  s instant friendship with lloyd the bartender  as only alcoholics  would  be mental patients and drug addicts do  portrays his pressing need of the atmosphere to which lloyd avails him namely  alcohol . . .  hair of the dog that bit me .   jack torrence  in jack  s case  it  s bourbon on the rocks  at no charge to jack .  orders from the house .   lloyd the bartender  nice play on words .  br    br   when wendy find  s jack  s  screenplay  is nothing more than page after page of the same line typed over and over  albeit in  or  different creative styles . . . when he asks from the shadows   how do you like it   and wendy whirls and screams with the baseball bat in her hand . . . is so poignant . it  s the point where she realizes how messed up the whole situation is . . . how messed up jack is . it  s very scary  dramatic and delivers a strong presence . that coupled with danny  s visions of the hotel lobby filling with blood  imposed over the scene between jack and wendy  and with the confrontational ending to this scene  make this possibly the strongest scene of the movie .  br    br   the  redrum  scene . wow . what do i say  what mother would not be totally freaked by awakening to find their young  troubled son standing over them with a huge knife  talking in that freaky little voice  exclaiming  redrum  over and over  even if it had no meaning  it would still be as scary as the  th level of hell . it was something everyone could  and has  remember  ed  . speaking of memorable scenes . . .  br    br   nicholson  s final assault on his family with an axe was perhaps one of the scariest scenes of movie history . his ad  libbed line   heeeeere  s johnny   was a stroke of brilliance and is one of the most memorable scenes in the history of horror . it also goes down in horror movie history .  br    br   the ending . .  kubrick  s ending was perfection . i felt it ended beautifully . no smarm  no platitudinous whining  no tearfully idiotic ending for this movie . just epitomized perfection . that  s all i  ll say on the subject of the ending .  br    br   who cares what was taken out   look what kubrick put in . rent it  watch it  buy it . it  s a classic in the horror genre  and for good reason . it rawks    br    br   me being me . . . take this movie  and sitck it in your stephen king collection  and take the      authorized  version done by king and stick it down in the kiddie section . that  s where it belongs . .  this movie rates a  .   from the fiend  .  
another movie to suffer without an adventure to run  no enigma to solve . just an illness man  acting like an animal . no a good reason to take this journey . pitt and lewis are great actors magnificent michelle forbes but a weak david duchovny performance . . .  
sometimes it takes a film  making master like kubrick to bring that extra little something  that unique  untractable and elusive ingredient that transforms a great movie or a great script into a masterpiece  one for the ages .  br    br   it  s not just that stephen king  s story has enough meat and potatoes making it difficult for even the most workmanlike of directors to miss . heck  even king himself didn  t fare so bad . it  s how kubrick perceives king  s universe  how he transforms the page into screen time  that renders the shining both a visual feast and a compacted masterclass in directing .  br    br   kubrick  s miss  en  scene is  as usually  terrific . the movie progresses with a brisk  sharp  lively pace  even though it  s neither fast nor heavily edited and it clocks at no less than    minutes . the camera prowls through the lavish corridors of the overlook hotel like it is some kind of mystic labyrinth rife for exploration  linear tracking shots exposing the impeccably decorated interiors in all their grandeur . there  s a symmetry and geometrical approach in how kubrick perceives space that reminds me very much of how japanese directors worked in the sixties . as if what is depicted is inconsequential to how all the different elements are balanced inside the frame .  br    br   certain images definitely stand out . the first shot of jack  s typewriter  accompanied off screen from the thumps of a ball  like drums of doom coming from some other floor or produced by the typewriter itself as though it is an instrument of doom all by itself  later on proving to be nothing short of just that . a red river flowing through the hotel  s elevators in slow motion . jack hitting the door with the axe  the camera moving along with him  tracking the action as it happens instead of remaining static  as though it  s the camera piercing through the door and not the axe . the ultra fast zoom in the kid  s face thrusting us inside his head before we see the two dead girls from his pov . and of course  the bathroom scene .  br    br   much has been said of jack nicholson  s obtrusive overacting . his mad is not entirely successful  because  well  he  s jack nicholson . the guy looks half  mad anyway . playing mad turns him into an exaggerated caricature of himself . shelley duvall on the other hand is one of the most inspired casting choices kubrick ever had . coming from a streak of fantastic performances for robert altman in the seventies   women  thieves like us  nashville   she brings to her character the right amounts of fragility and emotional distress . a terrific and very underrated actress .  
in an interview  david duchovny said he hasn  t been able to watch even the first hour of this film  and neither should you . the scene where he asks the owner of a house where a murder was committed if he can look around  change the name he gives and he could had lifted his performance from just about any episode of the x  files . he  s on autopilot for the whole film . brad pitt overacts appallingly .  
even though the shining is over a quarter of a century old  i challenge anyone to not get freaked out by jack nicholson  s descent into madness . this is a rare example of something so unique that no one has been able to rip it off instead it has been referenced time and again in pop culture . the twins  the elevator of blood  redrum  the crazy nonsense  writing  . . . this should be seen  if for nothing else  to understand all the allusions to it in daily life . the film is simultaneously scary  suspenseful  beautiful  and psychologically intriguing . it has the classic mystery of hitchcock and the terror of a modern thriller . and it has what horror movies usually lack a great script .  
distasteful  cliched thriller has young couple doing cross  country research on america  s most infamous murder sites  becoming road partners with a dim  witted young woman and her snarling boyfriend   who is an actual psycho . arty and alienating  the film  s tone alternates between pouty pseudo  irony and silly flamboyance . handsomely  made perhaps  but ultimately laughable . brad pitt  s performance as the low  rent killer is godawful .  from   
the shining  you know what  s weird about this movie  this is the movie that everyone  for people who claim to not like horror films  will always say that the shining is a terrific film . this is stanley kubrick  s classic vision of stephen king  s horror tale of madness and blood . this is just an incredible film and wither you have seen it or not  you have heard of it  know a few lines from it  and know some of the classic images . who could forget jack  s  here  s johnny    who could forget  all work and no play make jack a dull boy   who could forget that chilling ending  this is the film that is unforgettable and honestly in my opinion is kubrick  s best work . i know there is a lot of argument in that department  a lot of people say it  s      a space odyssey or clockwork orange or even dr . strangelove  but if those film pioneered film making  then the shining perfected it . this is the tale of isolation  madness  terrifying images  and the ultimate ghost story that will crawl underneath your skin .  br    br   jack torrance  jack  s son danny  and jack  s wife  wendy arrive at the overlook hotel on closing day . the elderly african  american chef  dick hallorann  surprises danny by speaking to him telepathically and offering him some ice cream . he explains to danny that he and his grandmother shared the gift they called the communication  shining .  danny asks if there is anything to be afraid of in the hotel  particularly room    . dick tells danny that the hotel has a certain  shine  to it and many memories  not all of them good  and advises him to stay out of room    under all circumstances . danny  s curiosity about room    finally gets the better of him when he sees the room has been opened . danny shows up injured and visibly traumatized after jack tells wendy that he loves his family . seeing this  wendy thinks jack has been abusing danny . jack wanders into the hotel  s gold room where he meets a ghostly bartender named lloyd . danny starts calling out the word  redrum  frantically  and scribbling it on walls . he goes into a trance  and withdraws he now says that he is tony  his own  imaginary friend .  jack sabotages the hotel radio  cutting off communication from the outside world  but hallorann has received danny  s telepathic cry for help and is on his way . wendy discovers that jack has been typing endless pages of manuscript repeating  all work and no play makes jack a dull boy  formatted in various ways . horrified  jack threatens her and she knocks him unconscious with a baseball bat  locking him in a storage locker in the kitchen . jack converses with grady through the door of the locker  which then unlocks releasing him . danny has written  redrum  in lipstick on the door of wendy  s bedroom . when she looks in the mirror  she sees that it is  murder  spelled backwards . jack picks up an axe and begins to chop through the door leading to his family  s living quarters .  here  s johnny    and jack  s legendary image is born .  br    br   the shining is one of those films that you seriously have to make time to see  this is an incredible film and still gives me nightmares . jack nicholson  s performance is timeless and unforgettable . but one i also feel is extremely overlooked is shelley duvall  her scene of finding jack  s rant all work is incredible  that  s a look of horror and you can see that fear in her face after realizing her husband is mad . also another incredible scene is when jack sees a ghost woman in the bathtub  it  s honestly one of the most terrifying scenes in horror cinema . the reason this film is so well known is because it  s a film of perfection  it  s been on the simpsons  it  s been shown in other films and it  s a film that will forever stay with you when you see it  trust me .  br    br         
i was expecting to love this movie   film noir  serial killer  dark irony . i was baffled by many choices the characters made   hey  i know they  re creepy looking  but let  s hook up for a cross  country road trip anyway     found the pacing to be glacial  and the emphasis on moody lighting to take the place of original thought by the director and cinematographer .  br    br   thinking about it now  this would have been a much better movie if someone had just run the script through the common sense  o  meter      model  before starting to film . . .  
okay  okay  maybe not the greatest . i mean  the exorcist and psycho and a few others are hard to pass up  but the shining is way up there . it is  however  by far the best stephen king story that has been made into a movie . it  s better than the stand  better than pet sematary  if not quite as scary   better than cujo  better than the green mile  better the dolores claiborne  better than stand by me  just barely  though   and yes  it  s better than the shawshank redemption  shut up  it  s better   i don  t care what the imdb top    says .  br    br   i read that  a couple of decades ago  stanley kubrick was sorting through novels at his home trying to find one that might make a good movie  and from the other room  his wife would hear a pounding noise every half hour or so as he threw books against the wall in frustration . finally  she didn  t hear any noise for almost two hours  and when she went to check and see if he had died in his chair or something  i tell this with all due respect  of course   she found him concentrating on a book that he had in his hand  and the book was the shining . and thank god  too  because he went on to convert that book into one of the best horror films ever .  br    br   stephen king can be thanked for the complexity of the story  about a man who takes his wife and son up to a remote hotel to oversee it during the extremely isolated winter as he works on his writing . jack nicholson can be thanked for his dead  on performance as jack torrance  how many movies has jack been in where he plays a character named jack    as well as his flawless delivery of several now  famous lines  heeeeeere  s johnny     . shelley duvall can be thanked for giving a performance that allows the audience to relate to jack  s desires to kill her . stanley kubrick can be thanked for giving this excellent story his very recognizable touch  and whoever the casting director was can be thanked for scrounging up the creepiest twins on the planet to play the part of the murdered girls .  br    br   one of the most significant aspects of this movie  necessary for the story as a whole to have its most significant effect  is the isolation  and it  s presents flawlessly . the film starts off with a lengthy scene following jack as he drives up to the old hotel for his interview for the job of the caretaker for the winter . this is soon followed by the same thing following jack and his family as they drive up the windy mountain road to the hotel . this time the scene is intermixed with shots of jack  wendy  and danny talking in the car  in which kubrick managed to sneak in a quick suggestion about the evils of tv  as wendy voices her concern about talking about cannibalism in front of danny  who says that it  s okay because he  s already seen it on tv  see  it  s okay  he saw it on the television .   .  br    br   the hotel itself is the perfect setting for a story like this to take place  and it  s bloody past is made much more frightening by the huge  echoing rooms and the long hallways . these rooms with their echoes constantly emphasize the emptiness of the hotel  but it is the hallways that really created most of the scariness of this movie  and kubrick  s traditional tracking shots give the hallways a creepy three  dimensional feel . early in the film  there is a famous tracking shot that follows danny in a large circle as he rides around the halls on his big wheel  is that what those are called    and his relative speed  as well as the clunking made by the wheels as he goes back and forth from the hardwood floors to the throw rugs  gives the feeling of not knowing what is around the corner . and being a stephen king story  you expect something to jump out at you . i think that the best scene in the halls  as well as one of the scariest in the film  is when danny is playing on the floor  and a ball rolls slowly up to him . he looks up and sees the long empty hallway  and because the ball is something of a child  s toy  you expect that it must have been those horrendously creepy twins that rolled it to him . anyway  you get the point . the shining is a damn scary movie .  br    br   besides having the rare quality of being a horror film that doesn  t suck  the shining has a very in depth story that really keeps you guessing and leaves you with a feeling that there was something that you missed . had jack always been there  like mr . grady told him in the men  s room  was he really at that ball in      or is that just someone who looks exactly like him  if he has always been the caretaker  as mr . grady also said  does that mean that it was him that went crazy and killed his wife and twin daughters  and not mr . grady  after all  it  s one thing for a film to leave loose ends that should have been tied  that  s just mediocre filmmaking . for example  the amityville horror  which obviously copied much of the shining as far as its subject matter  did this . but it is entirely different when a film is presented in a way that really makes you think  as mostly all of kubrick  s movies are  . one more thing that we can all thank stanley kubrick for  and we should thank him for  is for not throwing this book against the wall . that one toss would have been cinematic tragedy .  
honestly  if anyone has a brain  there  s not  positive thing  br    br   to say about this movie what so ever .  br    br   i lost my   renting this . i  d rather laugh at will smith saying  if you got a dream  you got to protect it  .  br    br   all the actors must  ve been bored or had no fame at the time . even matthew mc conahay however you spell it was better then all the actors in this movie  when he played a psycho in texas chainsaw  . if you see this movie  and have anything good to say  you iq  must be extremely low  with such bad taste in movies  it hurts . thank you . . . and the truth  has been spoken   br    br   save yourself from the misery .  br    br   get devil  s rejects  now that  s a classic .  
i was never a big fan of horror movies . they usually try cheap tricks to scare their audiences like loud noises and creepy children . they usually lack originality and contain overacting galore . the only horror movie i like was stir of echoes with kevin bacon . it was well  acted  and had a great story . but it has been joined and maybe even surpassed by stanley kubrick  s the shining  quite possibly the scariest movie ever .  br    br   the movie follows a writer  jack nicholson  and his family who agree to watch over a hotel while it is closed for the winter . there were rumors of the place being haunted and the last resident went crazy and murdered his family . but jack is convinced it will be ok and he can use the quiet to overcome his writer  s block . after months of solitude and silence however  jack becomes a grumpy and later violent . is it cabin fever or is there something in the hotel that is driving him mad   br    br   one of the creepiest parts about the movie is the feeling of isolation that kubrick makes . the hotel is very silent  and the rooms are huge  yet always empty . it is also eerily calm when jack  s son is riding his bike through the barren hallways . jack nicholson  s performance is also one of his very best  scaring the hell out of me and making me sure to get out once in awhile . my favorite scene is when he is talking to a ghost from inside a walk  in refrigerator .  br    br   the shining is tops for horror movies in my opinion  beating the snot out of crap like the ring and the blair witch project . it may be a oldie  but is definitely a goodie .      
kalifornia is disturbing . i believe there is no reason for this story to be told . it is neither entertaining nor does it have social value . technically  the movie is very well make  the performances are top rate and first class . the story develops in an intriguing way that holds interest . but at the end this movie sickens and is abhorrent to decency . i recommend kalifornia to no one .  
chilling  majestic piece of cinematic fright  this film combines all the great elements of an intellectual thriller  with the grand vision of a director who has the instinctual capacity to pace a moody horror flick within the realm of his filmmaking genius that includes an eye for the original shot  an ice  cold soundtrack and an overall sense of dehumanization . this movie cuts through all the typical horror movies like a red  poker through a human eye  as it allows the viewer to not only feel the violence and psychosis of its protagonist  but appreciate the seed from which the derangement stems . one of the scariest things for people to face is the unknown and this film presents its plotting with just that thought in mind . the setting is perfect  in a desolate winter hideaway . the quietness of the moment is a character in itself  as the fermenting aggressor in jack torrance  s mind wallows in this idle time  and breeds the devil  s new playground . i always felt like the presence of evil was dormant in all of our minds  with only the circumstances of the moment  and the reasons given therein  needed to wake its violent ass and pounce over its unsuspecting victims . this film is a perfect example of this very thought .  br    br   and it is within this film  s subtle touches of the canvas  the clackity  clacks of the young boy  s big wheel riding along the empty hallways of the hotel  the labyrinthian garden representing the mind  s fine line between sane and insane  kubrick  s purposely transfixed editing inconsistencies  continuity errors and set mis  arrangements  that we discover a world guided by the righteous and tangible  but coaxed away by the powerful and unknown . i have never read the book upon which the film is based  but without that as a comparison point  i am proud to say that this is one of the most terrifying films that i have ever seen . i thought that the runtime of the film could  ve been cut by a little bit  but then again  i am not one of the most acclaimed directors in the history of film  so maybe i should keep my two  cent criticisms over a superb film  to myself . all in all  this movie captures your attention with its grand form and vision  ropes you in with some terror and eccentric direction  and ties you down and stabs you in the heart with its cold  eyed view of the man  s mind gone overboard  creepy atmosphere and the loss of humanity .  br    br   rating      
do not be suckered into renting this movie . it has nothing to do with an escape from death row  despite the  english  title . i can  t think of a single good thing to say about the movie . poor acting  poor editing  poor directing . . . laughable  plot   and the sound  music was so irritating  it  s a wonder this movie doesn  t come with a warning label . the only possible way to sit through this movie and enjoy it is for it  s historical cheesiness quality . they just don  t make films this bad anymore .  
this tale set in wellington  new zealand suburbia  tawa  home of the renowned tawa college  is mccarten  s first feature .  br    br   with a contemporary new zealand flavour via satellite abounds with absolutely hilarious situations which develop in the  adult  family context . at the same time it manages to invoke intense emotions of sadness and despair .  br    br   one of the most moving and humourous movies of the year  not to be missed   
i  m rarely moved to make a comment online about a film . but i can  t understand how this one got made . who made it  how could they have possibly thought they were capable of making a feature film  did they do a weekend course at some film school  get a nice big cheque from daddy and kidnap david badiel  s family one by one until he agreed to be in it  or was he by any chance a longtime family friend  distant relation doing this out of sheer  misplaced kindness  i don  t care  don  t want to know . even he looks utterly embarrassed to be in it  mumbling his lines and hiding his face from the camera . meanwhile the dop must have been the gaffer from neighbours  there seemed to be absolutely no sound design  the script  the direction and editing were all abysmal  and quite frankly the apathy that overwhelms me right now means that i can  t be bothered to spend any more of my life thinking about this film .  
this story was never among my favourites in christie  s works so i was pleasantly surprised to quite enjoy this adaptation . the mouse motif was effective if a little overdone  the bones of the story are there although more emphasis is placed on the  crime in the past  subplot . the students were all pretty much as i imagined them although its a pity they weren  t a more cosmopolitan bunch  perhaps the revised thirties setting didn  t allow for that  i thought some very daring risks were taken with the filming perhaps its because i  ve not long re  read the book but it seemed pretty obvious to me who the murderer was from their appearance in some reveal shots quite early on .  br    br   humour was much more prevalent in these early poirots . sometimes it works but i found a lot of it rather heavy handed in this episode  though i did smile at the  lemon sole  throwaway line  . altogether though  a solid entry in the series though not one of the best .  
you  d better choose paul verhoeven  s even if you have watched it .  
i think via satellite is one of the best new zealand made movies around . i loved the way the movie delt with all the characters within the entire movie . it was brilliant  and a heartfelt movie .  br    br   a well made movie  one which i will always remember  and watch again .  
there is no way on earth you are going to care about any of these characters . a bunch of spoilt middle class overgrown kids take some drugs at a party and get off with each other and argue . i  ve just seen this on tv and i didn  t think it was a  film  as such  more a post   this life  indulgence that really has no resonance or proper drama to it . stuff like this will get commissioned for time immemorial unfortunately  irrelevant middle class  lifestyle  crap that takes itself far too seriously . it  s got david baddiel in it and that bird out of  cold feet   you know what to expect . there was a lot of this stuff about in      it was a particularly british malaise . . .  they  re educated and doing drugs  friends  but kinda dysfunctional and with incestuous relationships  sounds great   . this kind of nonsense  and post  guy ritchie comedy  gangster stuff . . . dark days . if you have taste  this will annoy you to the point of violence .  
anthony mcgarten has adapted his play  via satellite  and directed the best comedic film to come out of new zealand for a long time . chrissy dunn  danielle cormack  is a drop  out . she hasn  t achieved much in her latter years and has grown resentful of her family since her father  s deathbed confession . her twin sister  carol  also portrayed by danielle cormack  is basking in the media limelight as she represents new zealand in swimming at the olympics . a middle  aged  desireless and desperate director  brian sergent  and his good  natured cameraman  who is also chrissy  s one  night stand from the night previous  paul  karl urban  film the dunn family  s proudest moment watching carol swim to victory . this wouldn  t be so bad but chrissy  s family is the epitome of embarrassing . first of all there is the matriach of the wellingtonian dunns  joyce  donna akerston  . she makes fairy cakes and cocktail sausages for the all  important film crew and refuses to change the way she is . her oldest daughter  jen  rima te wiata  is desperate to be something more than common . she has a nice home  with bedroom walls painted  blackberry sorbet    expensive tastes and a nasty parasitic attitude to match . she is also nearing   and desparate for a child . her husband  ken  tim balme  is an electrician and forces himself on jobs that don  t need doing . . . as well as doing jobs that need to be done  ie jen . the middle daughter  lyn  jodie dorday  who won best supporting actress at new zealand film awards for this portrayal  is a  knocked  up  tart who has a dubious history with ken . both older sisters clash  the mother is in a state  ken is as bad a tooltime tim taylor  carol is fuelling her olympic desire and chrissy is aware all of this is to be splashed on national tv  why shouldn  t she be embarrassed  it is great to see some famous new zealand faces perform in the suburban comedy that has witty lines to spare . i loved the sparring between jen and lyn . one is like an adult mona  my  biological  clock  is  ticking  away  the other a narcisstic tramp who has what her sister desires  a bun in the oven . climax of the film is quite sentimental and is nicely done . the performances are a treat and the film works perfectly . a great way to spend an hour  and  a  half .  br    br    
may contain spoilers  br    br   the titular topless heroine rescues another beautiful babe and her father  an eccentric professor whose stock pith helmet is broken in one shot and whole in the next  from a moth  eaten  dime  store mummy and nasty nazis out to   what else    build a fourth reich . misty  s costume  like those of some other wimmen  gets skimpier as the movie rolls on . the last portion of the movie is devoted to protracted lesbian action this footage actually gets real boring  real fast  which says more about the critters behind the camera than the curvaceous creatures in front of it . misty gets its nominal plot out of the way first and fast  then gives undivided attention to nudity and soft  core sex . this makes mummy raider a throwback to movies made in the     s by guys like stan borden  david f . friedman and harry novak . just think if this wonder  work had been cranked out four decades ago  it would have played for years on   nd street along with wham bam thank you spaceman and kiss me quick . as it is  misty mundae mummy raider went straight to home video . grab yours  quick  before it goes out of print .  
  journey of hope  tells of a poor turkish family and their odyssey of hope which spirals downward into despair as they travel to switzerland in search of prosperity . although this oscar winning film is fairly well crafted  it is lacking in substance and has many implausibilities . much of the film  s  .  hour run time is get on the bus  get off the bus  get on the boat  get off the boat  get in the van  get out of the van  etc .  time which could have been better spent or left out completely . the story has a predictable conclusion  especially for those who have an awareness of the common crime of trafficking in illegal immigrants . a worthwhile and reasonably entertaining watch but over  rated .  
i can  t say i  m all that experienced in misty mundae flicks having seen only a handful  but it  s obvious that this was made on a shoestring  and while it might have been respectable that the filmmakers were able to make a tomb raider rip  off inside a garage  it isn  t because it  s completely obvious that this is what they were doing . the film only runs for forty five minutes  and this is definitely a good thing as there isn  t nearly enough plot here to stretch it out for any longer . it has something to do with an evil nazi scientist  who looks about as evil as a porn star playing a nazi scientist ever could   a mummy  which is clearly a man wrapped up in toilet roll and misty  this film  s version of tomb raider  who keeps her top on for much less time than angelina jolie did in the big budget version . i have to say that even in spite of its shortcomings  this film could have been better . it  s got misty mundae for a start  and even better than that if you ask me is the fact that it also stars the even hotter darian caine . the pair gets to engage in all the lesbian sex that you would expect from a seduction cinema film and this is at the expense of the nonexistent plot  although that isn  t really a bad thing . obviously  this is a rubbish film  but the fact that it  s short is to its credit  and if you  re after a bit of lesbian sex  you could do worse .  
the journey of hope       is about a trek that many nomadic and poor turks make so they could live the good life in switzerland . these people are so desperate to live like westerners that they  ll give up their life and lives in an attempt to reach the promised land . so many of them are swindled by greedy crooks who make their living off of charging huge fees for desperate people who are in a no win situation . one family braves the cold  the treacherous mountain range and predatory criminals only to discover that there  s not always a shining white light at the end of the tunnel . this problem exists world wide  not just in america . some people tend to forget that . a heart breaker of a film that  ll leave you wondering why at the end .  br    br   highly recommended .  
not long enough to be feature length and not abrupt enough to a short  this thing exists for one reason  to have a lesbian three  way . there are worse reasons to exist . one sad thing is that this could have made a decent feature length movie . misty fits snuggly into her outfit and is a very cocky girl and when people are so infatuated with a game character  like lara croft  that they make nude calenders of her  you know that a soft  core flick is set to explode . unfortunately  this is pretty pathetic . especially the painfully fake sex scene between darian and misty  where you can see her hand is fingering air . watch this if you just can  t get enough of misty or ruby  who makes a nice blonde and has zee verst jerman akcent ever .  
if the redundancy of getting off the boat  on the boat  off the bus  on the bus . . is a way to waste time then you should go back to the hollywood films that wrap this part up in one montage in order to get to the money shots . and in doing so leave you unconnected and in the cinematic limbo that results from not really showing the realities of life . the long drawn out travel sequences actually allow the viewer the same frustration and  wait  in  line  feeling the characters must endure . frustrating  yes . vital  indeed . the limbo of that travel is the key to the  rootlessness  of this turkish family . beautiful film with great acting . sad  but worth it .  
someone had a great idea let  s have misty mundae do her own  r  rated version of lara croft  firing two guns not only in skimpy outfits  but topless as well . it was indeed a great idea . the problem is that the people who had it couldn  t come up with any sort of script or budget to support it . therefore  we get a  film  that barely reaches medium length by replaying many of its parts  often in slow  motion   and was apparently shot entirely inside a garage . the appeal of misty mundae is still evident she is unbelievably cute and has a natural girl  next  door beauty . however her two female co  stars here  with whom she shares a lengthy lesbian scene  are nowhere near her league . if  mummy raider  was presented as a youtube video  i  d rate it higher  but as a  film  destined for dvd consumption it cannot get more than    a  out of  .  
frustrating to watch because of one man  s stubbornness to leave his native country for the dream land in switzerland and what he does to achieve that creates heartache for all those involved . along the journey he encounters scumbags who take advantage of other human suffering and desperation .  
this movie is not for the faint or weak of heart . it couldn  t decide if it was going to be porn or legit . it was neither one . it was just bad . there was nothing in this movie to make me want to see anything else made by these people again .  
everyday we can watch a great number of film  soap . . . on tv . sometimes a miracle happens . a great film  with real feelings  with great actors  with a great realisator  director . for me there are two films that everyone needs to see  the first is the pacula   sophie  s choice  with meryl streep . the second is  journey of hope  . as human beings  we need to learn about humility  about love of the others  about acceptation of other civilisation  other way of living . we also have to struggle against racism and fascim . we must avoid judging  criticize we only have to love our earth companion . this wonderful film  helps us reaching john  lennon  his dream  imagine all the people living live in peace . these two films are difficult to see  watch these  but sure you will be hurt  but better . great film  great actors  terrible story  pain and cry guarantee  but also better understanding of the others . enjoy it .  
possible spoilers  br    br   this straight  to  video mess combines a gun  toting heroine  grade  z effects  nazis  a mummy and endless lesbian footage and it  s still boring the video  s   minute running time only seems like eternity . the only good part is one of the blooper outtakes  wherein the bad guys force a     pound egyptologist into a chair   and one villain  s foot almost gets crushed under a chair leg . take this snoozer back to the video store and watch televised golf  bowling or tennis instead .  
this film takes you on one family  s impossible journey  and makes you feel every step of their odyssey . beautifully acted and photographed  heartbreakingly real . its last line  with its wistful hope  is one of the more powerful in memory .  
it  s a really cheesy parody of tomb raider and some indiana jones  the humor  s cheesy  and so is the acting . but after all it is a soft core movie  which is expected and doesn  t matter because what you really want is the sex . which gets me to the biggest problem of all  there barely is any of it . which makes you feel like you  re watching tv at  am and the independent movies are playing and the one that is on was made by some college kid that  s going nowhere in that industry . you  re left a very long time waiting for an actual sex scene  a lot of times you are thinking something is going to happen  then just left hanging . the one  maybe two  or one with two parts  that actually goes somewhere is very pleasing though . i personally can  t recommend this unless you found it in a clear out bin for a dollar or two . if you lucking for a good movie with a plot and good acting  you don  t want this . if you looking for a good soft core lesbian film  you don  t want this either .  
hey now  i can  t claim to have seen all of the films of jesse  jesus  franco  and there sure seem to be a lot of them  but this is one of the better  and weirder  of the lot that i have seen . i  d say most likely he was in his prime back in the late sixties  early seventies and anything lately has been a bit too strange for me  and it takes a lot for me to declare that . anyway  this is like one big bad dream where parts of it seem to come true at various points . this woman is an actress or something  performs in some theater in berlin where acts of  fake  torture are performed for an appreciative audience     and she seems to have this problem with dreaming . the catch to what  s real and what  s not in this movie is apparently the real stuff is in sharp focus and the dream stuff isn  t . she seems to exist in a state of deja vu . i won  t say this makes a whole lot of sense but it is pretty wild and weird and entertaining . shots of berlin make it seem like a lonely and creepy place  so that adds to the atmosphere . the ending is extremely abrupt though  the film just ends and the tape went black  i guess no need to let you know it was over at that point . my copy was from the anchor bay euro  trash collection  and i say  give me more euro  trash  i can  t get enough of that crap . but it  s good crap .  
nothing positive to say . meandering nonsense  huffing and puffing with a  message  . new russian  post  soviet  films can be very good  cuckoo comes to mind   yet many have the bouquet of cardboard and the aftertaste of asbestos  nochnoi dozor would be a good example  . this is a  dozor  type of emptiness . acting would be horrible if not for the saving grace of utterly unappealing direction and incompetent editing that sometimes is so awful that it distracts from the impotence of the actors . special award to the cameraman for making sure that every shot is shaky  would someone please realize that blair witch has had its   seconds of undeserved fame   and takes are geared towards attention  deficit pre  teens who subside on counterstrike and masturbation . the female lead poses and tries to look seductive too often  male antihero need a diction coach  although genetics aren  t bad rather expressive eyes .  one  middle  finger for this irrelevant pile of non  art . anyone who reviews this positively better be a  distant  cousin of the  auteurs  .  
delirious  near plot  less mood piece and if it  s more lsd inspired than the devil then we must remember when it was made  after a startling sm opening  which even itself is not what it seems  we move to soft focus and dream or imaginings or remembering . lots of literary and cinematic references and indeed this is the franco film that lang himself praised . beautiful and mesmerising the film unfolds at a leisurely pace but has a richness within each fold . a rare movie to languish within . old jess could make  em when he tried . fine central performances too including the indomitable jack taylor and howard vernon . i haven  t even mentioned the lisbon locations  ah   
  spoilers ahead  russian fantasy  actioner   and i use the term loosely  that i  ve been trying to watch for over a year . i  ve finally gotten to the end and now i wish i didn  t put in the repeated effort .  br    br   in an effort to save two hours of your life i  m going to tell you he plot  a guy who has the ability to project a long blade out of his arm returns home to see his mom . things turn ugly after he is beaten up by the mafia boyfriend of an old girl friend . he takes revenge on the guy when he brings the girl home . the guys mafia mom sends her men out to get revenge while the cops begin looking for him as well .  br    br   very little is said . no explanation is really given for anything  like why they lock id girlfriend in an asylum  and the action  for the most part is all off screen . the film essentially consists of a guy who looks like adrian brody looking intense and not saying anything  killing people  off screen  most of the action happens off screen  . it looks good  is well acted and had there been some form of reason for what is going on it might have been a good film . hell  i would have liked some sense of real character development or back story  all we know is that the guy was picked on as a kid  . the movie runs the better part of two hours and it feels like its six . if they weren  t going to tell us anything they could have at least picked up the pace so it seemed like it was moving too fast . no instead we get the hero on a boat . the hero in a bus  the hero walking  the hero looking disturbed . hero with his girl . it really annoyed me since i think this could have been a good film if they had simply done something or had someone actually say something meaningful other than give instructions to  get this guy  .  br    br    out of   . its about four hours  all my attempts to see this  i  ll never get back . only for those who want to see a brooding russian action film with very little action  
it all begins with a series of thefts of seemingly unrelated objects in a hostel for students on hickory road  london . concerned for her sister  who is the housekeeper there  miss lemon asks hercule poirot to look into the matter . he agrees  but soon the stakes get higher when a girl  who had admitted that she was responsible for most  not all  of the thefts  is found murdered .  br    br    hickory dickory dock  is a solid brain exercise  without being as mind  numbingly complicated as  one  two  buckle my shoe  . murder  theft and diamond smuggling are the crimes involved  and the final twist that ties everything together is revealed only in the last  minutes  the characters are interesting  particularly the psychology student colin mcnabb and the mysterious american girl sally finch  inspector japp has his funny moments  in perhaps the closest this series has come to  toilet humor    and miss lemon gets a more integral part to the story than usual .     
the episodic version of robert heinlein  s starship troopers plays out at a deathly slow pace  following johnny rico leaving his parents  the  not very attractive  girl he lusts for  and joining the mobile infantry . the aliens in the show are nothing like the barbaric bugs from the film  instead being squid  like monsters that shoot lasers out of their mouths .  br    br   throughout watching this version  i was continually amazed at just how fruity they  ve managed to make the whole thing . the show is concerned mostly with the relationships between the recruits  and the aching  prolonged gazes they give each other through their battle armour visors  with   s synth pop sometimes arriving during the sparse battle sequences which at last turning up in the final few episodes . in terms of construction  it owes a debt to top gun  sharing much in terms of pacing and content  and all that implies  .  
lorna green  janine reynaud  is a performance artist for wealthy intellectuals at a local club . she falls prey to her fantasies as the promise of romantic interludes turn into murder as she kills those who believe that sex is on the horizon . it  s quite possible that  through a form of hypnotic suggestion  someone  . . a possible task master pulling her strings like a puppet  is guiding lorna into killing those she comes across in secluded places just when it appears that love  making is about to begin . after the murders within her fantasies are committed  lorna awakens bewildered  often clueless as to if what she was privy to within her dreams ever took place in reality .  br    br   if someone asked me how to describe this particular work from franco  i  d say it  s elegant  difficult . by now  you  ve probably read other user comments befuddled by what this film is about  since a large portion of it takes place within the surreal atmosphere of a dream . franco mentioned in an interview that he was heavily influenced by godard early in his career  as far as film  making style  and so deciding to abandon a clear narrative structure in favor of trying to create a whole different type of viewing experience . and  as you read from the reaction of the user comments here . . some like this decision  others find the style labouring  dull  and bewildering . i  ll be the first to admit that the film is over my head  but even franco himself  when quizzed by critics who watched  succubus   admitted that he didn  t even understand the film and he directed it  some might say that  succubus  was merely a precursor to his more admired work   venus in furs   considered his masterwork by franco  faithful  because it also adopts the surreal  dreamlike structure where the protagonist doesn  t truly know whether he  she is experiencing something real or imagined . in a sense  like the protagonist  we are experiencing the same type of confusion . . certainly   succubus  is unconventional film  making where we aren  t given the keys to what is exactly going on . and  a great deal of the elusive dialogue doesn  t help matters .  succubus  is also populated by beatnik types and  poet  speak   corman  s film   a bucket of blood  poked fun at . my personal favorite scene teases at a possible lesbian interlude between lorna and a woman she meets at a posh party . . quite a bizarre fantasy sequence where mannequins are used rather unusually . great locations and jazz score . . i liked this film myself  although i can understand why it does receive a negative reaction . loved that one scene at the posh party with lorna  a wee bit drunk  writhing on the floor in a gorgeous evening gown as others attending the shindig  . . equally wasted  rush her in an embrace of kisses .  
brokedown palace is not the kind of movie i would ever like to see . i also did not like the movie when some aussie man smuggled drugs in thailand and accused claire danes and kate beckinsale of drug smuggling . i would not go to that country no matter what after i saw this movie . in fact this movie stinks . i prefer to visit germany to meet beautiful single women . germany is the country i tolerate . i also would rather stick to the united states instead . after i saw some of the movie in the theatre including the false accusation of drug smuggling  i left the theatre and had my money refunded because i cannot tolerate this movie . if you are going to to thailand to meet someone there who could be a drug smuggler  forget this   
as you probably already know  jess franco is one prolific guy . hes made hundreds upon hundreds of films  many of which are crap . however  he managed to sneak in an occasionally quality work amongst all the assembly line exploitation .  succubus  isn  t his best work  thats either  the diabolical dr . z  or  vampyros lesbos    but it has many of his trademarks that make it a must for anyone interested in diving into his large catalog . he combines the erotic  alternating between showing full  frontal nudity and leaving somethings left to the imagination  and the surreal seamlessly . this is a very dreamlike film  full of great atmosphere . i particularly liked the constant namedropping . despite coming off as being incredibly pretentious  its amusing to hear all of franco  s influences .  br    br   still  there are many users who don  t like  succubus  and i can see where they  re coming from . its leisurely paced  but i can deal with that . more problematic is the incoherency . the script here was obviously rushed  and within five minutes into the film i had absolutely no idea what was going on  and it never really came together from that point on  . those who want some substance with their style  look elsewhere . also  if its a horror film  it never really becomes scary or even suspenseful . still  i was entertained by all the psychedelic silliness that i didn  t really mind these major flaws all too much .        
a very good story for a film which if done properly would be quite interesting  but where the hell is the ending to this film   br    br   in fact  what is the point of it   br    br   the scenes zip through so quick that you felt you were not part of the film emotionally  and the feeling of being detached from understanding the storyline .  br    br   the performances of the cast are questionable  if not believable .  br    br   did i miss the conclusion somewhere in the film  i guess we have to wait for the sequel .  br    br    
i haven  t seen all of jess franco  s movies  i have seen   i think  and there are more than    of them . so maybe it  s a bit early to say so but  necronomicon getrumte snden   better known as  succubus   but that is the cut version  is according to me if not the best  certainly on of franco  s best . franco is best known  although  known  might be slightly exaggerated  for  vampiros lesbos   a weird cultish movie that got more acclaim in the mid    s when people found out jess franco was also an interesting composer . through the soundtrack a happy few discovered the man and found out what was to be expected after seeing the video clip of  the lion and the cucumber    vampyros lesbos ost    jess franco is an overwhelming director . when the phone rang during  vampiros   i let it ring . i just wanted to see more of the movie . since that moment franco never could grip me that much . but then i stumbled on this movie . it is even better than  vampiros lesbos   i think . franco is looking for what he can do with a story and a camera . we find out he can do a lot . i certainly didn  t expect to find  necronomicon  that great its beginning didn  t impress me at all . remember  i had seen  vampiros lesbos  before  although chronologically that came only three years later  and both movies kinda start the same . but then the story went on  puzzling and gripping  beautiful camera work and the stuff you would like to see godard do if he weren  t so occupied with spreading his political messages . later on in the movie i heard a dialogue about which art was or wasn  t old  fashioned . the man says that all movies have to be old  fashioned because it takes weeks before the audience sees what got filmed . but the girl replies that  bunuel  fritz lang and godard yesterday made movies for tomorrow  . janine reynaud is an interesting lead actress and of course howard vernon  a franco regular  is also there . luckily the acting is good  something that can spoil a lot of franco movies for you  but not this one  . but certainly watch out for the dummy scene . the erotic tension  the wild directing and the fact that it  s a yesterday  s movie for tomorrow make it a movie a lot of people should see . the fact that it is a bit more accessible than  vampiros lesbos  certainly helps .  
i had been looking forward to seeing this film for a long time  after seeing  return to paradise   which i found to be gritty . i was so disappointed . the most realistic thing about it was the unpredictable ending which i think was partly stolen from  return to paradise .   br    br   maybe i was expecting too much .  br    br   on the positive side danes  beckinsale and pullman were fantastic in their roles . although i didnt like danes  s character and first and found her very annoying .  br    br   i couldnt see anything realistic about the film . it could of been done so much better  for example there could of been more emphasis on the prison conditions and the sheer horror . it was too cheery a movie to be realistic . there could also of been more action and tension  br    br   the best thing about this film is the  tragic  ending . i couldnt of predicted that . but by that time i really didnt care what happened to them .  br    br        
franco proves  once again  that he is the prince of surreal  erotic cinema . true  much of his work can be viewed as entertaining sleaze but with succubus  necronomicon  he shows what he is truly capable of when he lets his warped creativity run riot and gives us a film that is both hypnotic and enigmatic whilst still maintaining the delirious eroticism intrinsic in his work . jerry van rooyen  s splendid score pulsates as the viewer is thrown from one bizarre scenario to another as we follow the trials of a striptease artist  reynaud  who may be schizophrenic  or may indeed  as one mysterious character states  be a devil  attempt to come to terms with the world she inhabits . a beautiful and enigmatic piece of cinema highly recommended to anybody with even a passing interest in alternative cinema .  
have you ever wondered what would happen if a couple of characters from beverly hills      were thrown into a thai jail  if so  this is your movie . this is midnight express for the mtv crowd . that would be ok  but the story was poorly executed . contrived plot twists  poor dialogue and unresolved issues abound . this slight film did not earn the right to be as cryptic as it ends up being . potential spoiler and impossibly preposterous plot line  the faux tension filled moment when the hotel employee discovers the girls do not have a room there and is about to kick them out .  this moment is innappropriately played with the same solemnity and gravity as the moment when they are arrested at gunpoint  . later the same hotel employee is somehow found  and bangkok is a big city  mind you  ive been there  and testifies against the girls  as if a couple of free mai tais warrant   years in prison . c  mon . rent another day in paradise instead .  
i thoroughly enjoyed this film for its humor and pathos . i especially like the way the characters welcomed gina  s various suitors . with friends  and family  like these anyone would feel nurtured and loved . i found the writing witty and natural and the actors made the material come alive .  
i  ve found the movie offensive for americans which lost somebody in the towers  for american people in general . pretending to be an homage to horrible facts happened last years  each director takes the opportunity to polemize with old facts  which have none to do with a terrorist attack   or criticize american  s political behaviour  or compare different political situation as they have in own country having this nothing to do or to share with the atrocity of september   . shame on them .  
this is actually one of my favorite films  i would recommend that everyone watches it . there is some great acting in it and it shows that not all  good  films are american . . . .  
i have never panned a film on  line  but i felt moved to do so  after seeing this one . one doesn  t show up at someone  s funeral and say to the bereaved   my relatives died  so why should i care about yours    br    br   minus the propaganda  there was little  if anything  that could be called  art .  as the daughter of deaf parents  i was particularly annoyed by the use of deafness as a gimmick . any deaf person feeling a vibration of that immensity would likely have investigated  not ignored it .  br    br   the word  chutzpah  comes to mind . as a writer  there are few subjects i would stay away from the holocaust is one this is another . i wish these movie makers had not been so arrogant  and inept  .  
la teta y la luna is a symbolic spain film . everything that in this film occurs has a symbolic meaning . it is totally different to the usual movie that one has access .  br    br   this film is good but it will be good only for the people who want look for the meaning of everything in the film  s tale . i must advice that this is not a sample film .  br    br   please enjoy     
first of all  i ain  t american or middle  eastern . second of all  i don  t have a religion . the closest thing to a religion i have are sports and movies . henceforth  i believe i would be best served to supply an opinion of neutrality and free from bias .  br    br   most of these short films are an utter disgrace . this dreadful event should be used to commemorated all those innocent people whom were murdered by  some  barbaric and uncivilized morons . instead  most of what i saw in these short films were conceited attempts to score varied political points . examples  br    br     ken loach  s segment . sure  we are all sad that this dude had a hard life in his country but what has that got to do with the innocent victims of      two wrongs don  t make a right   whatever  this film should have a subtitle for those who have trouble listening to a partially incoherent chilean  english accent .  br    br     most disturbing is youssef chahine  s segment . it is obvious that he has trouble with logic . he justified the murders due to  america being a democracy and because some americans voted the politicians in power  then all americans in the end are responsible for the actions and decisions made by their leaders on the middle  east . helloooo  is this guy for real   some americans don  t even vote  some americans don  t even know where the middle  east is some don  t even know what religion is practiced there and majority don  t know the real political issues that are played behind the scenes .  mr chahine  the reason why we have all these problems in the world is because there are too many people with your kind of logic . the innocent victims in the twin towers came from around the world . the murdered firefighters  rescuers  office workers  by  standers and flight passengers have nothing to do with politics . and yet  we are not allowed to go about our lives because  some  people think everyone has to choose a side or a religion . we are perceived as fair game for the extreme politics .  br    br     the israeli segment showed their own bombed victims . another filmmaker using this event to push their own political agenda . sometimes  it is not about you . some people always think about the  me  me  me .  sometimes  it is about other people .  br    br     idrissa ouedraogo  s segment is a joke and another political point scorer . they obviously want money from the international community by highlighting their poverty . blah  blah  blah .  br    br   this movie denigrates the memory of  sept .   th       victims .  br    br   the best thing for it is the trash can .  
no other movie has made me feel like this before . . . and i don  t feel bad . like  i don  t want my money back or the time that i waited to watch this movie   months  nor do i feel bad about using two hours of a sunny summer day in order to view this       . the reason i say        is because no matter how hard i wrack my brain i just can  t seem to come up with a word in any of the seven languages that movie was in to sum it up . i have no idea what was going on the entire time and half way through the movie i needed a breather . no movie has ever done this to me before . never in my life have i wanted cauliflower  milk  and baguettes this much . thank you .  ed  br    br   uh . clears throat no words . no thoughts . i don  t know . i truly don  t know .  cait  
eleven  great  filmmakers  eleven pieces of garbage . eleven minutes each of sheer tedium  sophistry  condescension  self  indulgence . treats for people of all nations . yussef chahine of egypt giving a  hip hip hooray   for terorism in his amateurish segment . across the green line we have amos gitai of israel  using his eleven minutes to show a terrorist act and focus on a jerky newscaster . alejandro gonzlez irritu of mexico concentrated on the twin towers but seemed to forget to turn on his camera . sean penn not knowing that there were no buildings within the shadow of the trade center on     . shohei imamura of japan ignoring the whole thing . claude lelouch focussing on a trivial and cliched love affair . ken loach of the uk focussing on chile . etc . etc .  
 spoiler    br    br   i saw this gr  film a few years back  its a lovely story about a young fella who wants to drink his mothers milk at the breast but she thinks he is to old for it . he ends up lusting after another ladies breasts and ends up in competition with his brother who fancies her . throw in a jealous husband of this woman who cannot get  aroused  and you have a cheeky yet warm story about love  friendship and lovely pairs of jugs hehe  br    br   its brilliant  br    br   dont be put off by sub  tit  les hehe   
in order to avoid confusion  let me clarify a couple of points i am not a red neck . i am not even a moderate nor a conservative . quite on the contrary  i am a radical a libertarian . i  m not a wasp either  i was not even born in the states .  br    br   jorge luis borges used to say that there are some kind of folk who do not feel poetry  and that these sad people usually earn their living teaching poetry . this movie was made by and for people who do not feel poetry  by and for show  offs and i dare say  by and for people who have no sense of decency or  for that matter  respect for other people  s life or death  especially when the victims are thought to be mostly  bloody imperialists  killed in yankee soil .  i even find the original marketing idea of the eleven episodes of eleven minutes  nine seconds and one frame as particularly hideous and repulsive . just plain awful . why didn  t they assign a budget of as many dollars per episode as individuals were brutally murdered in the attack  the whole idea rests somewhere between mere stupidity and reckless fascism . anybody who is serious about film  making  and serious about life and death  should have angrily declined to participate in this recollection of innuendoes and non  sequiturs . with two exceptions the episode of burkina faso   almost amusing    and the one from india   which documents the story of a man who was unfairly and wrongly investigated in relation to the attack  on the basis that afterwards he didn  t return home and that he was an american muslim  and  truth be told  when the facts were known he was honored as a hero  . all other nine episodes  essentially and extremely boring and emotionless  can be listed in two different categories  br    br   first  i don  t care about the thousands of victims americans  foreigners  children  youngsters  adults  old  timers . . .  and can be resumed in pure boredom and lack of emotion . makhmalbaf  s  iran   lelouch  s  france   i  m afraid i  m going to commit an heresy since it  s lelouch  s  but maybe  his episode might be considered built upon an idea which could be regarded as almost original tanovic  s  bosnia  herzegovina   gonzalez inarritu  s  mexico   gita  s  israel   penn  s  usa   br    br   second  the bloody yankees deserve it  . and can be resumed in frustration and hatred . chahine  egypt  vindicates the suicide bombers loach  uk  considers the     reckless attacks were some kind of punishment for the alleged support of the usa to the chilean dictatorship headed by the serial  killer augusto pinochet  in fact someone should inform mr . loach that the victims of pinochet were not related to al  qaida and that chile is a south american country which sole existence mr . bin laden should have ignored  he ought to be informed too that the american government sanctions against the chilean dictatorship were harder than any other ciountrie  s and  imamura  japan  windingly points out that wwii is related the attack to the wtc . imamura has at least been coherent in this the supposed cause effect linking is entirely nonsensical  which plays well with his episode including a man who believes himself to be a snake . it pretends to be obscure . it is  instead  quite ludicrous .  br    br   there  s some kind of error shared by many  including some americans  and it consists in the belief that this movie wasn  t commercially screened in the states because of some kind of censorship . nothing further from the truth this movie wasn  t screened in the states because it is a complete fiasco . a fiasco of the wackyest kind . even in buenos aires  where peronism and other forms of fascism are nearest and dearest to the hearts of a sizable number of its inhabitants  and anti  americanism is in vogue  the movie was screened in living rooms hurriedly converted into theaters  and was applauded by a very select public the usual sad few who routinely lend their applause to other equally  quaint  spectacles . like the sight of a mcdonald  s fast  food restaurant or  perchance  an elderly jew  being burnt to ashes .  
this is a warm  funny film  in much the same vein as the works of almodovar . sure it has a   year old boy sucking milk from breasts  but the style is so playful that i can  t understand at all those readers who found it sick or perverted  but would i be willing to let my    year old son play the part  not so sure   .  br    br   spanish cinema is often quite sexual  but in a very open and healthy way that leaves the viewer without any sense of voyeurism or kink . i think that we if we northern european types had the same attitude  we  d be much better off as a result .  br    br   this liberal attitude is also seen in the hilarious  fartman maurice  character . as his lover says to him  most people are embarrassed about farting . you turn it into an art form .   
now  i  m no film critic  but i truly hated  september    . this film was  on a general basis  bad . with the exception of alejandro gonzlez irritu  s segment  which was the most effective and direct about the subject matter  the short films were at best boring  and at worst offensive . the worst in my mind was youssef chahine  s pretentious segment in which he compared palestinian suicide bombers to american soldiers  even going so far as to suggest the suicide bombers were fighting for a greater cause . the segment was completely off topic and  considering chahine  s seeming lack of any decency whatsoever  a waste of my time and patience . the idea of getting eleven different directors from different countries to make a movie featuring their views on a tragedy was good on paper  but in practice  it was tasteless .  
i loved dedee pfeiffer  is that spelled right   in cybil . haven  t seen her for awhile and forgot how much i missed her . i thought she did a great job in this . the supporting cast was pretty good too . in some angles  the daughter even looked like a young nicole kidman . the abductor was pretty creepy and the story generally had some good twists . the young boyfriend was a hottie . i thought the husband definitely had something to do with it for sure .  br    br   just got the lifetime movie network for christmas and am loving these movies . kept my interest and i  ll watch it again when they rerun it . can anyone else recommend any similar movies to this  you can post on the board or send me a private email if you want . thanks in advance . aboutagirly .  
  how is it that everyone can understand each other perfectly without devices like universal translators or translator microbes  did the creators of this show realize that people who were taken from different parts of the earth  in different time frames  attilla the hun wasn  t a contemporary of preliterate hellenic cultures  nor were the vikings contemporary to the pyramid builders  speak different languages and can never develop a language so similar to modern day english  except for the inflections they  do not  use   which has been influenced by latin  ancient greek  danish and french   br    br    cultural differences can  t be overcome so easily  trust has to be won  yet everywhere the team arrives they are welcomed without any suspicion and start ordering people around like they are their appointed leaders . of course real fans would comment that they are perceived as gods . the people they meet should be shocked by their technology and accuse them of witchcraft and the like .  br    br    historical background none . visually it might vaguely remind you of greek or viking culture  but anyone can dress in a bunch of tablecloths or run to a local costume rental for a plastic helmet with horns and claim to look the part . a small  town theater group probably has better props .  br    br    boring  another lame canuck production  which inexplicably ran for ten long years . as a kids show it could make the grade  but anyone who has a little knowledge about human behavior and language couldn  t bear to even watch the first twelve episodes of season   like i just did . i very much wanted to believe i had found a decent sci  fi show  otherwise i would shut it of and cleansed my computer of this refuge after the first five minutes   
la teta i la luna  the breast and the moon  describes the life of a     year old boy named tete who is obsessed with breasts growing up in catalunya . i love this movie because the characters are very honest and very human  like all the characters in bigas luna  s movies  also director of jamon  jamon  . tete reminded me of how intriguing and exciting life can be at that age . also being from catalunya  north  east of spain  it brought lots of memories to my mind . this movie shows how beautiful catalunya is  nice people  nice life and specially lots of non  uptight people .  
hey if you have a little over an hour to kill and find paint to be too exciting i  d suggest it . if thou you happen to like cheap b  movies like me it  s good for a giggle  other than that i wouldn  t suggest that you rent it  i  d wait till it comes on the tube say round  am on the free access channel of your cable  satellite supplier . the band that did this sound track by the way was on the road after for about two years after this flick  and no they sounded just as bad live according to the two small town reviews i could find on them . so once again good if you find grass growing to much fun but good to watch if you like to see how not to shoot a low budget movie .  
probably bigas luna  s finest achievement for it achieves a delicate balance between sleaze  eroticism and surrealism . the delicious mathilda may  who spent most of tobe hooper  s  lifeforce  in the buff  is the object of young biel duran  s pre  teen lust . he can  t get may  s breasts out of his mind and wants so badly to suckle them and suckle the breasts of his own mother  too . his pursuit of may is the film . as in luna works such as  lulu  and  jamon  jamon    the director brings a slightly warped sexual sensibility to his strange but beautiful tale . the usual suspects will be offended  but those with open minds will enjoy this frothy erotic poem to the female breast . jos luis alcaine  s images are gorgeous and nicola piovani  s score is sweet and rich . a gorgeous cinematic confection with a delightfully anarchic sensibility that the spanish do so naturally .  
richard farnsworth is one of my favorite actors . he usually gives solid performances  such as in the straight story  and the grey fox . he also does fairly well here  but the rest of the film suffers from a low budget  poor writing  and so  so photography . the miller  movie formula gives it a  . richard gets a  .  
i enjoyed a lot watching this movie . it has a great direction  by the already know bigas luna  born in spain . and it is precisely in spain that the movie takes place  in catalua  to be more precise .  br    br   luna explores once more the theme of an obcession  in this case the obcession of a young boy for the women  s milk . there are some psychological concepts in this story such as the rejection complex that the elder son feels with the birth of his brother . in the movie this is what leads to the obcession of the young boy who suddenly sees all his mother  s milk go to the recently born son . so he starts trying to find a breast who is able to feed him . he finds it in a woman recently arrived and from here on the movie is all around this .  br    br   this movie lives a lot on imagery  more than the story itself  the espectator captures certain moments  unforgettable moments  and certain symbols  the movie deserves a thourough analyses on almost everything that happens because it usually means something . . .  . the surroundings  the landscapes  typical from the region as well as the surreal behaviors of the characters  also symbolic  and the excelent ambiguous soundtrack by nicola piovani transport us to another dimension  not parallel to the real world  but which intersects it from times to times . . . worth living in that world  worth watching this movie  even though we may eventually and for moments get tired and a bit sick with the excessive obcession  which is perhaps taken beyond the limits . . .  br    br   i also enjoyed the performance of the protagonist . . .      
nacho vigalondo is very famous in spain . he is a kind of bad showman who can make you feel sick . . . very embarrassing . nacho had made some commercials in tv  i remember one in which nacho was looking for paul mc carney around madrid  the commercial was about a mc carney cd collection  .  br    br   this little movie is like a nacho  s commercial bad storyline  bad directing  and awful performances . i can  t believe that a disgusting movie like this was in the kodak theater . poor oscar . . .  br    br   nacho could made this movie because of his wife  the producer of this      a woman very well connected with spanish tv business men .  
though the story is essentially routine  and the  surprise  ending is nothing but a bad joke on the audience  you can see what attracted these good actors to the project  it offers them the kind of roles in which good actors can shine  and shine they do . the film is impeccably made  for its time . it was remade in     as  under suspicion  and if you only want to see one version of the story  that  s all it deserves  really   i recommend the latter one  with hopkins  up  to  date direction and the more explicit references to plot points that the original could only hint at . the ending  however  still blows .        
  br    br   although the lead actress is strikingly beautiful  the plot stands little chance of acceptance because too many distracting details face the audience during the unfolding of the story .  br    br   one may believe that middle  class teen  age school girls in the      s easily gave away their virginity without thought of marriage to    year  old  s they barely know  but i doubt it .  br    br   one may believe that young high school teens are highly self  confident and self  assured as they interact with their elders in complex social situations  but my experience has been  more often than not  teenagers feel very awkward and act clumsy as they experiment in the adult world .  br    br   one may believe that a experienced medical doctor would not know the pungent oder of stroptomycin   the smelly fermenting byproduct of busy earth microbes   and not detect that some lifeless bland powder is fake  but i think not .  br    br   one may believe that    something  year  old troublemakers can enter into  and hang around inside  a public school rec hall during a school social and make trouble  but i think that school socials are traditionally a protected environment and parents  chaparones and school staff would be around to prevent this .  br    br   one final nit  throughout hey babu riba the five teenage friends referred to themselves as the foursome . there is probably an explanation why the five were the foursome  but because it was never detailed  each reference distracts from each scene .  br    br   this movie did not ring true for me .  
garde  vue has to be seen a number of times in order to understand the sub  plots it contains . if you  re not used to french wordy films  based upon conversation and battle of wits rather than on action  don  t even try to watch it . you  ll only obtain boredom to death  and reassured opinion that french movies are not for you .  br    br   garde  vue is a wordy film  essentially based upon dialogs  written by audiard by the way  and it cruelly cuts the veil of appearances .  br    br   why does matre martineau  serrault  prefer to be unduly accused of being a child murderer rather than telling the truth  because at the time of the murder he was with a   years old girl with which he has a   years sexual relation . his wife knows it  she  s jealous of it and he prefers to be executed  in     in france  there was still death penalty  rather than unveiling the sole  pure and innocent  aspect of his pitiful life .  
warningit contains spoilers . if a movie starts with a sex scene then it  s a bad movie .  see for example     . this one confirms the above lemma . the second scene constitutes the spinning center of all the action . the fact that we know the end makes the movie boring . even more  other plots are revealed as the story goes back and forth several times . and this made more frustrated . to compensate the consequent lack of suspense  we learn more and more about how unbalanced are the characters . and oh yes  they have lots to show . andy  p . hoffman   for example  is a drug addict  more   he is cheating his wife  more   he plans to rob his father  more   his wife is cheating with his brother  more   he doesn  t regret his complicity to his mother  s death  more   he is a serial killer  more  etc etc it  s not enough space to write here . . . i wonder how could he have a top job . and why his wife didn  t leave him before . on the other hand i enjoy much the performances of the actor hoffman .  br    br   even here psh saves what is left from my   spent for this absurdity . why absurdity  because it doesn  t have sense  why should i care for the despicable characters  another broken lemma is that a movie should have a sympathetic  at least pleasant  character .  br    br   also it  s a lot of sentimentality  for example we are supposed to care for the sufferance of the widowed father without knowing anything about the parents  lives before the crime .  
what keeps us going  or at least what i feel the writer wanted us to keep us glued at an early point is our desire to know whether martinaud has done the dirty deed . without spoiling so much  of course there is a red herring and a twist . but then we discover that this is the story of martinaud  s imperfections and his difficulty in coping . when there is the revelation  we begin to sympathize and pity him because as the story progresses we are made to think he is the sick  perverted pedophiliac that we  re predisposed to have in mind . one of those things he has to cope with is the distant gap he and his wife have even though they live on the same roof . these problems of course are given their denouement in the film  s shocking finale .  br    br   this movie demands your patience and it has certainly tried those of restless teenagers sitting at the rear . they were heckling obviously because they aren  t partial to  central location  films . although there is a bit of travelling  when we get to the woods and the beach . and we realize that gallien isn  t as clever as we are made to think he is .  br    br   the inquisitor is     
when i go out to the video store to rent a flick i usually trust imdb  s views on a film and  until this one  had never seen a flick rated  .  or above on the site i did not enjoy .  br    br   sidney lumet  a legendary director of some of the best films of the   th century  really misstepped here by making one of the biggest mistakes a filmmaker can filling a film  s cast with thoroughly unlikeable characters with no real redeeming qualities whatsoever .  br    br   i like films with flawed characters  but no matter how dark someone  s personality is we all have a bit of light in there too  we  re all shades of gray with some darker or brighter than others . mr . lumet crossed this line by filling this movie with totally unsympathetic and almost masochistic pitch  black characters .  br    br   ethan hawke  s hank is a    something whining  immature  irresponsible man  child divorced from a marriage with a wife that hates him and a daughter who thinks he  s a loser  which he very much is . his indecisiveness and willingness to let others do the dirty work for him because he  s too cowardly to do it himself leads directly to their bank robbery plan falling apart and mother getting killed . by the time he stands up to his older brother at the end of the film  it  s more pathetic than uplifting . ethan hawke plays his character well  but isn  t given much to work with as he is portrayed as someone with a boot perpetually stamped on their face and he doesn  t  particularly care that it  s there .  br    br   speaking of which his character  s wife is equally as bad . just about every single shot of the film she  s in is her verbally berating him for rent and child support money and further grinding in his already non  existent self  esteem with insults . seriously  that  s just about all the character does . her harpy  like behavior borders on malevolent .  br    br   albert finney plays their father charles  and while mr . finney has been a great actor for many decades  he spends about    of this film with the same mouth open half  grimace on his face like he  s suffering from the world  s worst bout of constipation . for someone who  s been an actor as long as mr . finney  you think he  d be more apt at emoting . even though he doesn  t show it much  his character is supposedly grief stricken and anger  filled . and when he smothers andy at the film  s conclusion it  s akin to dr . frankenstein putting the monster he helped create out of it  s own misery .  br    br   marisa tomei isn  t given much to do with her character . stuck in an unhappy marriage with andy and having an affair with his brother for some unfathomable reason . when andy  s world begins to spiral out of control she logically jumps ship  but it really doesn  t make her any less selfish or self  serving than any other character in the film  but probably the one with the most common sense at least .  br    br   and finally we come to andy  played by the always good philip seymour hoffman  is the only reason i rated this film a  instead of a  . his performance of the heroin  addicted  embezzling financial executive who  s  perfect crime  of robbing his parent  s insured jewelry store goes awry is mesmerizing . his descent from calm master planner of a flawed scheme to unstable  deranged homicidal maniac is believable and tragic . hoffman  s character ends up being the film  s chief villain  but it  s hard to root against him given the alternatives are an emotionally castrated little brother and a father who  s self  admitted poor early parenting led to his son  s eventual psychosis and indirect  unintentional murder of his mother .  br    br   ultimately this film is really only worth watching for psh  s great performance and it  s family train wreck nature . just don  t expect there to be any characters worth cheering for  because there really aren  t .  
police  investigations  murder  suspicion we are all so acquainted with them in movies galore . most of the films nowadays deal with crime which is believed to involve viewers  to provide them with a thrilling atmosphere . however  most of thrill lovers will rather concentrate on latest movies of that sort forgetting about older ones . yet  it occurs that these people may easily be misled . a film entirely based on suspicion may be very interesting now despite being more than   years old . . . it is garde a vue  a unique movie by claude miller .  br    br   is there much of the action  not really since the events presented in the movie take place in a considerably short time . but the way they are executed is the movie  s great plus . jerome charles martinaud  michel serrault  is being investigated by inspector gallien  lino ventura  and insector belmont  guy marchand  . it  s a new year  s eve  a rainy evening and not very accurate for such a meeting . yet  after the rape and murder of two children  at the dawn of the old year  the door of suspicion must be open at last . in other words   more quoted from the movie   it must be revealed who an evil wolf really is . to achieve this  one needs lots of effort and also lots of emotions from both parties . . .  br    br   some people criticize the script for being too wordy . yet  i would ask them what should an investigation be like if not many questions and  practically  much talk . this wordiness touches the very roots of the genre . in no way is this boring but throughout the entire film  it makes you  as a viewer  as an observer  involved . moreover  the film contains well made flashbacks as the stories are being told . not too much and not too little of them  just enough to make the whole story clearer and more interesting . the most memorable flashbacks  for me  are when chantal  romy schneider   martinaud  s wife  talks about one lovely christmas . . . but these flashbacks also contain the views of the places  including the infamous beach . it all wonderfully helped me keep the right pace . and since i saw garde a vue  i always mention this film as one of the  defenders  of french cinema against accusations of mess and chaos .  br    br   but those already mentioned aspects may not necessarily appeal to many viewers since they might not like such movies and still won  t find the content and its execution satisfactory . yet  garde a vue is worth seeing also for such people . why  for the sake of performances . but here don  t expect me to praise foremost romy schneider . garde a vue is not romy schneider vehicle . she does a terrific job as a mother who is deeply in despair for a lost child . she credibly portrays a person who is calm  concrete  who does not refuse an offered cup of tea but who does not want to play with words . her part which includes a profound talk of life and duty is brilliant  more credible than the overly melancholic role of elsa in la passante de sans souci . it is still acted . however  romy schneider does not have much time on screen . practically  she appears for the first time after   minutes from the credits she  as a wife and a different viewpoint  comes symbolically with the new year  at midnight . her role is a purely supporting one . who really rocks is lino ventura . he is the middle aged inspector antoine gallien who wants to find out the truth  who is aware that his questions are  missiles  towards the other interlocutor but does not hesitate . he is an inspector who  having been married three times  is perfectly acknowledged of women  s psyche . he is the one who does not regard his job as a game to play but a real service . finally  he is a person who does not find it abnormal to sit there on new year  s eve . michel serrault also does a fine job expressing fear  particularly in the final scenes of the movie . but thumbs up for mr ventura . brilliant   br    br   as far as memorable moments are concerned  this is not the sort of film in which this aspect is easily analyzed . the entire film is memorable  has to be seen more than once and has to be felt with its atmosphere and  which i have not mentioned before  gorgeous music . for me  the talk of chantal and inspector gallien is the most brilliant flawless moment . you are there with the two characters  you experience their states of mind if you go deeper into what you see .  br    br   garde a vue is a very interesting film  a must see for thrill lovers and connoisseurs of artistic performances . new year has turned and . . . is it now easier to open the door  you  ll find out when you decide to see the memorably directed movie by claude miller .      
i know john singleton  s a smart guy  coz he made boyz n the hood  so how did he write and direct this  it  s like the pilot of a bad  going away to college for the first time  teen soap  a parade of boring stereotypes and cliches with some gratuitous violence thrown in to make it a commercial proposition  i guess . who would  ve guessed the date  rape victim would dump sausage for seafood  the angry loner would be preyed upon by a group of neo  nazis  and would be roomed  up with a black and a jew  just for laughs   even laurence fishburne  s creepy reactionary history professor just irritated me and i love the guy  it  s like everyone involved with this movie just lost the plot . except busta rhymes  of course . big ups .  
nothing revolutionary here just impeccably elegant  restrained cinema .  br    br   garde a vue is confined almost exclusively to a drab police station  and mostly to one interrogation room  but director claude miller  who made the wonderful film this sweet sickness  among others  intercalates spare glimpses of exterior tableaux as minimalist locale scenography . miller  s restraint  especially early on  is breathtaking  and his exquisite handling of the consequently  pivotal interior mise  en  scene makes for captivating viewing .  br    br   lino ventura is superb as usual  succeeding to legitimize a character that  on paper  is cliche the laconic  hard  nosed  world  weary homicide detective . ventura lives the role  making it completely believable  even though the script allows us little access to his inner workings the film ends at the very moment it appears he will be forced to confront his failure for the first time .  br    br   michel serrault is equal to the task as the suspected child  killer who shrewdly spars with the single  minded flic . the exchanges between the two are more  often  than  not pregnant with tension and the aura of a constantly metamorphosing playing field for a battle of wits . serrault  s character is by turns deplorably haughty and cunning  and pitiable then later . . . .  br    br   the  message  of garde a vue  if one were to search for one  is a condemnation of police methodology and the kind of pressures that make a cop over  zealous to  if necessary  close cases at the expense of justice . for most of its length though the film shines as nothing more than an exemplar of how to turn a potentially soporific set  bound scenario into a suspenseful drama of the utmost cinematic economy .  br    br    
based on the personal experiences of director john singleton  s time at the university of southern california  comes higher learning . a film centered on the racial politics that occur at modern day colleges .  br    br   there are three main characters to which the film bases its foundation around for its story malik williams  an carefree lowbrow athlete who is an african american male . kristin conner  a sheltered soft white girl  and remy  a unsophisticated unconnected white male . all three are overcome by the sudden realities that college life is not as good as it is advertised as all three go through disappointment by being unprepared  malik   by being naive  kristin   and by being unwanted  remy  .  br    br   one good thing about the film is that it does show that modern american colleges are just high schools writ large . the colleges are not places to build character  develop potential  or enhance personal advancement  but they are institutions used to gather all sorts of students in a one  size  fits  all atmosphere . it is an experience that usually is built for failure for most students . it would have been good if the film built it story about this travesty rather than racial politics .  br    br   but it didn  t and that  s where the films falls apart . singleton  it seems  had a pretty bad experience at southern california . through this film he lets it all hang out . there is no need to beat around the bush here . singleton lets the heroes and the villains of this piece be easily seen .  br    br   the black characters in the film are pretty much seen as the heroes here while all the whites in the film are seen as the villains  save for kristin  who was raped by a fellow white student .  br    br   who can understand the inconsistencies of this film  black gang members who come to the aid of a white girl after she points out to them who supposedly raped her  the ease that the black gang members have at the university while a bunch of skin heads meet in a dark small dorm planning violence   br    br   the performances of omar epps  malik  and kristy swanson  kristin  are disappointing . they do seem like the third choices for the roles that they played in this movie  tupac shakur and drew barrymore were supposed to play malik and kristin but were unavailable  . o  shea jackson aka ice cube  busta rhymes  and regina king were all irritating in their respective roles . and laurence fishburne was woefully miscast here as the history professor . only michael rappaport did well in this film and he did considering that his character  of the three main characters  changed the most in the film .  br    br   john singleton wanted to take on the matter of race and inequality in american college life with this film . and he did so quite badly . it was sort like killing a fly with a shotgun . life is far more complex than it seems and people are alike all over and he should know this . higher learning is proof that he did not understand this at all . seeing the film  then and now  would only confuse  disappoint and enrage the same public he would wish to speak to . not to mention it would not entertain them in the slightest .  
i liked the movie a real lot . wanted to see it just for dara tomanovich  but the plot and story were ok too . a very cool change in plot when you least expect it .  
this movie shows how racist john singleton is . he portrays whites and other races that are not black as the evil that exists in our educational system . how quick he forgets that it is this same educational system that made him what he is and failed at it . ice cube  s character is the epitome of an instigating black man that was responsible for most of the violence in this film . singleton barely touched on the relationships between the white and black characters that were trying to reach out to each other . when omar epps says  i need to be with my people   that racist remark spoke volume . and john  don  t think for a minute that the picture of thomas jefferson in the tower stairwell did not get my attention . nice touch   
there are other reviews here so i don  t need to say how great it is or what it  s about . . . my point is i heard about this movie ages ago  before it was shown . i can  t even remember how  i just know it was through the internet . the distributors went under before it ever hit  for months i moped and complained . please note that on this page there  s a link to buy this film and the only highlighted area is vhs at amazon . com in germany . you can use alta vista  s babelfish to translate . i know it  s pal format and they did change the text on the screen to german and there  s a tiny little bit of narration at the beginning that  s also been dubbed in german  but as hilarious and campy as this film is  it really only makes it funnier  if you want to see this movie and you have a place nearby that does conversions it  s so worth it  it cost about twenty dollars or so to get to the u . s . from germany . trust me  it might seem like a lot to spend on a film  but if you  re into corny b  flicks you  ll be blowing money left and right getting conversions for your friends   
i haven  t read a single imdb comment for this movie that mentions how the jewish character in this movie jumped up and down like a little baby as a gun is pointed in his face by a racist skinhead while the movie  s lead black character looked in sternness down the barrel of a gun .  br    br   i don  t know how anyone could perceive this as a balanced account of university life . i agree universities are not bastions of tolerance like they are supposed to be and the title would be fitting if singleton didn  t make his characters such broad caricatures .  br    br   on the surface he tries to portray ice cube  s character as a bad guy  provoking remy to become a racist skinhead . but who graduates at the end in the movie  s redeeming epilogue  it seems singleton points at white as either unable to empathize  i didn  t say sympathize   with his fellow black student or only able to take the path of a racist skinhead . many people who have been bullied by people of another race do not turn to extreme bigotry .  br    br   nor do women who have been raped immediately turn to lesbianism  which is portrayed more as a cult than a lifestyle . quite honestly what was the point   
i  m a fan of tv movies in general and this was one of the good ones . the cast performances throughout were pretty solid and there were twists i didn  t see coming before each commercial . to me it was kind of like medium meets csi .  br    br   did anyone else think that in certain lights  the daughter looked like a young nicole kidman  are they related in any way  i  d definitely watch it agin or rent it if it ever comes to video .  br    br   dedee was great . haven  t seen in her in a lot of things and she did her job very convincingly .  br    br   if you  re into to tv mystery movies  check this one out if you have a chance .  
having seen the first ten episodes  i must say this show sucks .  br    br   what bothers me the most  is that the show was shot in canada . i know it  s cheaper  but they should have shot it in california  so we could have had scenes in the desert . that would have been more true to the movie . the first scene where they are outside in another world is in the mountains  with lots of pinetrees where it looks cold . that does  nt feel very egyptian . what worked so well in the movie was that it felt like you were in the ancient egypt . here it feels like they  re running around fighting aliens in a canadian forrest . and it  s so lame that appaerantly  on other planets  the fall comes as well . you can see leaves on the ground in the forrests that all look like forrests outside vancouver . it just makes the show even more unbelievable and dumb .  br    br   and then there is richard dean anderson . he is no kurt russel . sure he does a decent job and he tries to copy russels performance a little bit  but he is just not as cool as russel . and not nearly as good an actor as russel . and russells way of playing o neill  well he was much more cynical . andersons o neil  is way too soft . i liked it that russels version just did  nt give a s and had no trouble detonating the bomb until the very end of the movie .  br    br   michael shanks does a really good job as jackson though taking over from james spader .  br    br   teal  c is a really annoying character . he is jaffa . not a jaffa . just jaffa . aaaarrgh   a former bodyguard of a pathetic ra character  seen only in the pilot and in one other episode so far . teal  c speaks talks and acts like a robot . i  ve seen better acting from jean claude van damme .  br    br   and the fact that teal  c and the ra character and the people they saved in the movie  can speak english all of a sudden is also incredibly dumb . what made the aliens so scary in the movie was that they spoke an ancient language and were real monsters .  br    br   as for the special effects  they are really good in the pilot . but the very rare effects in the actual show are badly done and looks cheap . especially a planet they visit with crystals . it  s so obvious they walk around on a soundstage with a badly made painting in the background . it  s an insult to us viewers that they made it look so cheap . especially when they could have made it in front of a bluescreen with cgi backgrounds .  br    br   the x  files had better effects when they aired their first episodes in     . that was  years before sg   started . and they did  nt have the apparent two million dollar budget per episode  that sg   supposedly had . they must have spend all the money on catering . because i don  t see it on the screen .  br    br   incredibly boring and pointless show  that could have been great if they had shot the show in hollywood with a bigger budget and better writers and better characters .  
when i was a kid i watched this many times over  and i remember whistling the  happy cat  song quite often . all the songs are great  and actually memorable  unlike many children  s musicals  where the songs are just stuck in for no real reason . the scenes and costumes are lavish  and the acting is very well  done  which isn  t surprising  considering the cast . christopher walken is very catlike  and doesn  t need stupid make  up  or a cat costume for the viewer to believe he  s a cat transformed to a human . and jason connery  s so cute  as the shy and awkward miller  s son  corin  who falls in love with beautiful and the bold princess vera . this is a really fun  enjoyable  feature  length movie  where unlike most fairytales  the characters are given personalities . some of my favourite parts are when puss makes corin pretend he  s drowning at the ball when everybody starts dancing a country dance  as it  s  all the rage abroad   when walken is in the kitchen  dancing on the table  he  s a pretty good dancer  too    and when vera tells corin all the things she used to do when she was young  like pretending she was a miller  s daughter . i  d recommend this film to children and parents alike  who love magic and fairytales . and it actually is a movie you can watch together  as it won  t drive adults up the wall .  
assuming this won  t end up a straight  to  video release  i would have to say void this title at all costs . unless you  re bored of good  well  executed movies  that is . i saw this last night at afi dallas  and i left with   minutes remaining  simply because i didn  t care anymore  about the plot  not about insulting the director . . . that is awkward  . when you can spot a goof only  minutes into the movie  a shot out  shattered window before any shots are fired . . . and then the window breaks with the first shot   things are going to bad . let  s just say this is only an indicator of things to come . . . unfortunately .  br    br   i  ll spare you all the details  but this is sub  par in every manner  even the half  assed acting by michael madsen is disappointing when you  re expecting half  assed acting from him . and the rape scene . . . christ   shut up and take it  should never be used in a rape scene . ever .  br    br        
we fans of ed wood tend to be an obsessive bunch in the first place  but this movie in particular has driven me to a level of fan  dom that i have never before approached  one of the most intense thrills of non  mainstream movie adulation  at least as far as i am concerned  is the pleasure of unearthing the obscure . i remember how  as a teenager  i longed to see eddie  s  revenge of the dead   a . k . a .  night of the ghouls    which at that time had been vaulted for a couple of decades . likewise such arcane masterpieces of low budget filmmaking as doris wishman  s  a night to dismember  or half the works of jesus franco  however  recent years have seen video and dvd rendering these once unfindable treasures almost too accessible  even for those of us on the  wrong     side of the atlantic . . . .  br    br   and then  behold  there was  i woke up early the day i died   a movie that should have been so  big   yet which disappeared into the ether even before fangoria printed the first fairly lengthy article on it that first whetted my appetite . the     s needed a hard  to  find movie though which would really be worth hunting out and this  to be sure is it . . . . i don  t especially wish to add too much of a commentary on all those marvellous aspects of the film  its classy  yet  kitsch cast  its haunting yet often hallucinogenic visuals  its wondrous moments of  pure cinema   in the sense of the     s french cineastes  and surrealism  or even its resoundingly memorable soundtrack  since this has all been described most eloquently by other users here .  br    br   what i do wish to mention  briefly  is the pleasure that i have received also from hunting down certain obscure artefacts relating to this almost  lost  to  us  but  thankfully  not  quite movie  i think the german video  which i picked up while in cologne on a cold crisp winter  s day  is fairly well  known to ed wood  s followers now . it is also quite common knowledge that a promotional poster for the film was released . however  there is thankfully more to be found    firstly  there are a number of reviews available from the film  s german theatrical release  i have used several of these in my translation classes in an attempt to  woodify  my students . . . . . some of these reviews are positive eulogies to the film  s artistry and entertainment value  and most interesting of all is that most critics placed it squarely within both the american trash and european arthouse traditions . secondly  there is the score by larry groupe   which can be acquired from the man himself  many of the tracks exert a truly emotional pull on the listener  particularly if you are contemplating the film  s currently  vaulted  status and growing a little melancholy at the same time . finally  for now  i wish to mention the promo soundtrack that cinequanon put out in extremely limited numbers . beg  borrow  steal  kill or do whatever it takes if you get the chance to acquire one of these       it features   tracks from the film  including eartha kitt  s ballad  the late darcy clay  s  jesus i was evil   two versions of which are also available on cd from new zealand  although that is another story again    the cool radio music to which christina ricci dances  and also those amazing techno drops by minty and zhv  the latter being billy z  s very own techno band  . . . . .  br    br   become obsessed  let ed wood rule your life .  
despite  or perhaps in part because of the clever use of music to underscore the motivations and ideologies of each of the major characters  stereotypes are in  and verisimilitude and characterization are out in this not  too  subtle cinematic screed .  br    br   one gets the sense that john singleton was dabbling in post  structuralist literary theory because it was the flavor of the day  and  higher learning  was the tendentious result . the low point of the movie is the  peace  rally  in which the symbols of the     s  free love  movement are reappropriated for what much more closely resembles a  take back the night  rally with live  stridently identity  conscious musical acts in tow . perhaps in his prim revisionism the director was trying to assert that identity politics is the new vietnam  ooh  how adrienne rich of himand remy  s firing into the crowd is a nice touch  if you  re into rich  s sort of political posturing .  br    br   i wish i could give this movie negative stars . i can recommend it only to those interested in the     s as history  a time when radical feminists brought the academic trinity of race  class  and gender to popular culture and declared man  hating  a viable and honorable political option  . where  s camille paglia when you need her   
this     film was based on a script by the late edward d . wood  a script that featured no dialogue in the tradition of films such as the thief . while much of wood  s work was quirky low  budget entries into various genre  film traditions  his first released feature glen or glenda was a truly visionary attempt to express the inexpressible through primitive avant  garde techniques . i woke up early the day i died represents that side of ed wood  the experimenter  although this film is a comedy  a nightmarish comedy  however    while the cross  dressing theme of glen or glenda was taken so seriously by wood that there was not room for comedy there . from the first few seconds of this film i knew that i was being taken to a new cinematic world  and i can  t really compare that world with anything else . the technical side of the film   production design  sound design  music scoring  photography  etc .   is groundbreaking on any number of levels . in particular  although the film has no  dialogue  there is sound of all kinds and also  language   but you  ll have to see how it  s done yourself  as the cleverness and surprise of the methods provides a level of excitement throughout . the glen or glenda  esque technique of juxtaposing stock footage for surreal effects works well in the film and is kept to a minimum . the whole film is played at a hysterical fever  pitch  and billy zane provides an amazing tour  de  force performance that shows what a brilliant physical comedian and actor he is . in a just world  he would have been given some award for this performance . he even looks like ed wood  and as played by zane this character is at various timesfunny  sleazy  tragic  sympathetic  and anonymous  sometimes simultaneously     . what a shame that this film was caught up in legal troubles and never received a north american theatrical or video release  only playing a few festivals . right now  it  s only available on video in germany  in fact  my copy is from a german source   the excerpts from wood  s screenplay that are shown on the screen from time to time are translated into german  although the newspaper headlines  that great low  budget technique of giving plot elements  especially those that would be too expensive to film  via newspaper headlines is used here in the wood tradition  that zane sees are in english  . i think that this film could have gotten a word  of  mouth following had it been played at midnight in some large cities with some careful promotion . and if played off city by city slowing on the art  film circuit  it could have done well . in fact  if the legal issues can be resolved  i  d like to suggest that the film should still be given a theatrical release  especially a midnight  cult  release . this is a classic waiting to be discovered .  br    br   did i  understand  every scene  no  but i  felt  every scene emotionally . did everything  work  in the film  perhaps not . i  ve only seen it twice  and the first time i saw it i was interruped a number of times . however  with all the assembly  line junk playing the multiplexes and with so much  alternative  film being fetishistic or pretentious shot  on  video film  school rejects  we need actual hollywood  made experimentation like this . the recent bob dylan film  masked and anonymous  took similar chances as did something like steven soderbergh  s full frontal . this film could find an audience much larger than either of those . if you are reading this review a few years from now and the idea of this film sounds intriguing  see if it has ever been released on video . you will not be bored . invite some friends over . . . make it a party . play the amazing soundtrack loud . i have a feeling that  wherever he is in the afterlife  ed wood is happy with this film and feels as though his unique vision has been justified and validated somewhat by the making of this film . wood  s probably also laughing that  just like he always seemed to get the bad breaks in life  the film made in tribute to him after his death is held up in lawsuits and sits unreleased in the country of its making .  
first of all yes i  m white  so i try to tread lightly in the ever delicate subject of race . . . anyway . . . white people hating black people  bad but black people hating white people  ok  because apparently we deserved it    . where do i start  i wish i had something good to say about this movie aside unintended comedy scenes the infamous scene were ice cube and co . get in a fight with some really big  really strong  really really angry and scary looking neo  nazis and win    the neo  nazi where twice the size    and the chase  the chase is priceless . . . this is not a movie about race  tolerance and understanding  it doesn  t deliver . . . this is a racist movie that re  affirm all the clich stereotypes  the white wimpy guy who gets manhandled by his black roommate automatically transform in a skinhead . . . cmon simply awful i do regret ever seeing it .  br    br   save your time and the dreadful experience of a poorly written  poorly acted  dull and clearly biased picture  if you are into the subject  go and rent american history x  now thats a movie  
ok  so i know of this movie because of a friend of mine  s in it and i actually visited the set when they were filming  so from a personal stand  point  i was intrigued to finally view this obscure little gem . if you dig at all on info regarding this movie  you  ll find it  s mired in legal troubles  even over  years after being filmed  so  if you are at all like me   then you  ll do whatever it takes to obtain a copy . my source  ebay . about    but i felt ripped because when i got it today in the mail  it was a very rough  grainy copy of a  screener only  release  complete with annoying top mini time  code but alas  i could still enjoy it but not as much as if i had a proper copy  something i suggest you obtain if you want the full impact this film may or may not have on you . from what i have gleaned  it  s been released on dvd in germany  now spain . with that  good luck  happy searching  bidding . . .   . the score  sndtrk is worth it alone . very eclectic and varied  somethinbg rare these days imho in film    i think that will be my next sndtrk  score to locate  but i digress . . .  br    br   now  onto the review . the film opens as billy zane  s character is injecting a nurse in the mental ward he is apparently locked up in . he steals her clothes  even shoes  and quickly moves into a series of holding up a bank  loan shop but after escaping with the loot  well  i guess this is where the  plot  begins   he inadvertently looses it . after perpetrating several campy over  the  top crimes  dalliances to various a to c  list celebs to locate the money  he finds himself somehow in a cemetery where a funeral   i think for the dead guy he shoots in the loan office  bank  and   even with      s police cars and cops looking all over for him steadily throughout   he never gets seen or nabbed .  he sees daily newspapers reporting his  crimes   this i liked  because it gave the thin plot an extension . after all  it  s a movie  see fiction   director iris iliopulos does what i think is everything possible to   bring wood  s vision to fruition and   give it an updated feel  yet have shots of authentic    s police cars intertwined with  ahh  local l . a . .    stores   so well hence my  rating . if the period and props were authentic   i would have given it a   . now it wraps it self up kinda weird and i won  t spoil it for anyone but let  s just say the final ending is somewhat disappointing for it  to me  it had promise  action and comedy   all up till the end  so . . . with all that said   locate a copy at your own discretion .  br    br   just realize that  as there is no dialouge  except for some narration and singing  this may be up your alley   maybe not   but i definitely think it  s worth a watch . the actors all do fine performances and it  s only the inconsistency in proper period pieces that really made me long for just that correction   then i would say by all means check this film out for it  s not like anything these studios put out these days  or will in the future  too  i am sure .  
singleton has some serious issues he has to come to grips with . i get the feeling that he thinks he is pretty smart however  this movie is almost comically transparent and self righteous . in addition  there are a bunch of  might  makes  right  messages like when our local nazi jerks get beat up . i mean  who in their right mind is going to root for a bunch of nazi jerks  however  he way singleton portrays the  fight  is downright silly and seems to be designed to show us more the superior fighting qualities of the black protagonists than anything else . there is another  bad guy   in reality a drunken frat boy  who rapes one of the movie  s protagonists . in this instance  i think that singleton actually does a nice job portraying what is probably an all too common situation when the woman involved asks the frat boy to use a condom and he either does not have one or does not want to use one . in any event  he does not accede to her demands that he stop and he proceeds to have intercourse despite her pleas . i think that this type of rape is all too common and in fact many uniformed people refuse to accept the fact that it is even a rape . well  no means no  this is a rape  which probably occurs a lot in universities across the country .  br    br   having established the rape  how does singleton deal with it  when the frat boy tries to call the woman  her roommate refuses to put the victim on the phone  at which point the frat boy calls the roommate a  black bitch .  the aggrieved roommate appears to appeal to a counsel of ice cube  et al  who then proceed to physically humiliate and abuse the frat boy into repeated and prolonged  apologies  to roommate for his racist remarks however the  apparently in singleton  s mind  lesser crime of rape is not mentioned . again  no one really should feel sorry for the frat boy however  singleton seems to be sending a dual message that a racist comment is a greater offense then rape and in any event violence is justified against jerks .  br    br   what is so ultimately so disappointing is that this movie could have truly been about something important but singleton  while no doubt a talented director  does not appear to have the maturity or depth to pull of something of this magnitude .  
i am not a huge fan of camp kitsch and the  so bad it  s good  type of viewing . however  i really like this film for its fun factor and  believe it or not  it  s innovation .  br    br   the whole thing has a ring of john waters and is boundlessly enthusiastic  but with some superb actors and considered direction making the most of the slapstick and styalised movements . billy zane moves with incredible expression  see the scene on the bus for a text  book lesson in how to use movement  and is framed by some unexpected stars .  br    br   you may not like this film  you may not enjoy it  but if you get the chance to watch it  then spare the time because chances are you will end the film with a confused smile on your face  and a new perspective on the sense of humour of some big stars . highly reccomended .  
minor spoilers   br    br   well i just sat up late and watched this film  mainly because i enjoyed and rated some of singleton  s earlier work like  boyz n the hood  . however  i have to say this was a major disappointment and is everything i hate about contrived  clichd  so  called  message  movies .  br    br   the acting is mainly poor   pop stars and models do not necessarily make good actors . . . take note   the situations hard to swallow   rape victim becomes overnight lesbian  . . . please    but worst of all it reinforces every screwed up stereotype you can think of . by the second half of the film it has become cartoon like in its characterisation  making you lose any shred of empathy you may have had for its one  dimensional players .  br    br   not once is any valid point made about the inherent causes of racism and cultural  sexual and political ignorance . as a result it merely ends up sensationalising the results of these problems . it  s message is contradictory  resulting in a sense of confusion and a general lack of plot cohesion . as for the films conclusion i found it predictable  embarrassing  exploitative and mildly offensive . for a film called  higher learning  i have to say all i learned is to avoid seeing this ever again .  br    br   if you want a true comment on some of the themes that this film completely fails to elaborate upon then go hire  american history x  . . . . unless you were just watching it for tyra banks then go hire a life .  
i  ve been disappointed  if not surprised  at the lack of appreciation this film has received . once again  billy zane proves he  s more than just a hollywood pretty boy in a silent performance that combines spastic slapstick with understated pathos . calling this a silent film is inaccurate  as there  s a lot of music and sound . it has a manic pace and is full of the goofy inventiveness that ed wood is finally beginning to be appreciated for . look at the cast listing  and realize that everyone shines . no one is there just to show their face . i believe they  re all in the movie to show their appreciation of wood  and to do a broad  physical kind of acting not seen much these days .  br    br   but  today  reviewers try to guess what  s going to become a hit much more than they show any kind of esthetic appreciation for a movie . and iwuetdid has no discernable target audience . it was made mostly out of love for wood  s script . even after his death  the trendy social parasites have dealt him another serious blow  and deprived the world of a minor classic . this is a highly entertaining and a genuinely experimental film that really deserves to live  at least on dvd .  
i don  t understand why people would praise this garbage . its wrong  stupid  unrealistic  awful  and just about everything else . the film is a view on life  racial issues  prejudice  and everything else that strangely goes on in college . this is where it fails . it has no grasps on reality . from many questionable non  sense scenes in the movie such as for example  br    br   a black man chasing down a white man with a gun  the black man and stopped by the security guards handcuffed and carried out while the gunman runs right past them .  br    br   the same white man snipering down people from a roof topic which is stopped and beaten down by the same black man is then stopped and given a rodney king style beating while the gun man runs free while a moment later being chased back down by only one of the four guards .  br    br   as one previous reviewer pointed out several white    lbs men being beaten down by several black men weighing around    lbs including the    lbs bust a rhymes  br    br   another critical flaw in the film are the shallow uninteresting main characters . from the scared and confused white people and the mean  angry  and yet rightful    black people . its almost as its an insult to both black and white people . i am a white male and i know many black and hispanic people who agree that this movie is wrong to portray characters and giving them those characteristics exclusively due to their race .  br    br   the storyline which i will explain now revolves around three characters . one a black athlete  the other a confused scared white girl who questions her sexuality  and the third is a white man who is also confused and scared  then blames his problems on black people in which he becomes a nazi later in the film . they all have their share of problems and adventures including sex  rape  fights  love  hate  prejudice  racial war  and oh yeah don  t forget education . which all comes down at the end for the fatal shoot out . in which after they go back to their boring lives and think  being white is bad  . does this sound alot like your college years  didn  t think so . i don  t think the director attended college especially if he were to make this awful mess .  br    br   overall this is a really bad  bad  ugly movie . if you want to see a more accurate view or racial issues go see american history x . if you want to see a more accurate view of college rent porkys . just avoid this mess .  
this is a script that ed wood worked over   years on trying to get made . aris iliopulos finally got the chutzpah to film a script that wood saved from his burning home at the expense of other  more transitory valuables .  br    br   this is a dialogue  free movie  that some may foolishly describe as silent . in fact  it is a quite noisy film  without the inane chatter of most flicks . in the hands of these filmmakers  the music and sound effects provide a rich audio experience that works better than almost any grist from the hollywood script mill  particularly that stupid boat movie billy zane last was in   watch out     oh no    j . cameron . . . . ick . . .  i  ll take zane  s wonderfully communicative monosyllabic grunts in this film over empty dialogue any day .  br    br   billy zane heads a team of players who obviously really wanted to be in this film . ricci is radiant as always  and the gods are shining when you can put sandra bernhard  rick  y  schroeder  eartha kitt and andrew mccarthy  s name on the same poster .  br    br   the design is perfect  the pyramid set exquisite  and ron perlman  s beastly performance is simply wonderful . overall  this is a chaotic  visceral masterpiece lovingly crafted by fans of ed wood jr .  auteur and cinenephile . a must see for anyone who really loves movies the way that the first rate iliopulos and his cast obviously do . a film to make you wish you had made it yourself .  
higher learning says its ok for blacks to torment white people because they  re all oppressors . most blacks in this movie are portrayed as ignorant savages . stunning that this is supposed to be a positive movie about race . incompetent acting  direction  and production values all contribute to this toothache of a flick . an appalling piece of trash . the perpetrators of this dreck should be ashamed . higher learning says its ok for blacks to torment white people because they  re all oppressors . most blacks in this movie are portrayed as ignorant savages . stunning that this is supposed to be a positive movie about race . incompetent acting  direction  and production values all contribute to this toothache of a flick . an appalling piece of trash . the perpetrators of this dreck should be ashamed .  
i saw this film at the international film festival of brussels . i also met the director of the film . i heard that ed wood wrote the story in   years  i  m sure he thought his would be his masterpiece  his triumph .  br    br   well  if you take the film seriously  like mr . wood did  it is really one of the worst films you will ever see . and this is cool . the big joke of i woke up early the day i died is that it doesn  t even try to be a decent film .  br    br   this makes the film very  very good . the script is filled with nihilism and anarchism  a lot of black humour . billy zane  s role is absolutely excellent . you see  this is either high art . . . or low rubbish .  br    br       
yes  people are racist . people are even racist in college . that  s a good point  and the issue of racism has been dealt with many times before in countless films . what sets higher learning apart from the pack is that it deals with the issue of racism in the most ham  fisted and predictable way possible  oh yeah it  s in college too .  br    br   this film deals with this problem of racism the way frankenstein deals with most problems  it bashes you over the head repeatedly in a brutal and sluggish manner . most of the characters are cartoonish  one  dimensional  caricatures  lesbian feminist  angry black man   that react to situations as dramatically and predictably as possible . instead of defying stereotypes this film is overpopulated with them . the angry black men feel cheated  feminists hate men  etc .  one feminist even holds a sign that reads  dead men don  t rape .  see what i mean   i don  t want to give anything away  but in this movie if someone seems like a shifty loner or a date rapist they  ll probably behave exactly how you expect them to . the changes the characters go through seems obvious to everyone but the people in the movie . the big twist in the plot hinges on whether or not the violent neo  nazis will act like violent neo  nazis . i  ll guess you  ll just have to watch to find out what happens .  br    br   another problem i have with this movie is that it  s supposed to be  gritty  and  hard  hitting   but they make nazis the bad guys . i agree nazis are evil  but that  s my point . everybody thinks nazis are bad we  re not breaking any new ground here . nazis have been portrayed as villains since the      s . the film doesn  t challenge any viewpoints or make bold statements . it just deals with issues we all know about in a clumsy  after  school  special like  manner . being anti  rape  anti  racist  and anti  nazi isn  t exactly taking a hard stance on a controversial issue .  br    br   higher learning is predictable  cartoonish  and in a word stupid . avoid at all costs .  
cor blimey . this film really surprised me as it is a comedy masterpiece . billy zane is stunning as the central character  and everyone manages to play it straight enough for the comedy to be natural and easy .  br    br   the soundtrack is really good  and the set pieces are a joy to behold . i recommend that you watch this film with a bunch of mates  a few bottles of your liquor of choice  and prepare to be astonished and highly entertained .  br    br   this carries on so perfectly from kitsch masterpieces like plan  from outer space that it is in the true  b  movie tradition . but what makes it more than that is the caliber of the people who took part in the film . ron pearlman for example . i still find my self giggling at the scene where zane prances down a set of steps for no apparent reason in an almost ballet style . all a bit mad  and all the better for it .  
this is one of the most putrid movies of the    s . i would not recommend it if you have something better to do .  br    br   this picture presents african  americans as savage  uncultured  violent  inarticulate  reefer  smoking sociopaths . fudge  ice cube  and his posse of homies are continuously disrespectful toward others in the dorm  not just the white people  but asians too  and are never disciplined for their actions . despite all that tolerance they keep on whining and crying about the evil white oppressors who run their lives and stand in their way . in fact it is fudge  s influence that causes remmy to bond with the skin heads  to drop out of college  and eventually to kill malik  s girlfriend .  br    br   the skinheads are presented as a covert group of underachievers who share a pad off campus and generally stay away from everyone else . they never blast their music to annoy people nor do they taunt the police . they do commit serious crime such as battery and rape  yet they  re not as repulsive nor as threatening as fudge and dreads  busta rhymes  are .  br    br   there  s a lot of material in this film which almost offended me or made me giggle . some of it is as follows below .  br    br   fudge and dreads are stated as students at the columbus university yet we never see them in class and it is completely unclear how they pay their tuition . one is only left to speculate that the weed they smoke has something to do with their finances . though they are students at what looks like a private university  they cannot utter a single line of proper english . their characters are developed only through their compulsive whining and xenophobia .  br    br   it appears that drunken kristen  kristy swanson  knew exactly why drunken billy was taking her to his house . she even asked him to get a rubber so that they could begin . the fact that he penetrated her without a condom became a rape whilst it would be great sex only if he had one handy . later kristen was assured by taryn  jennifer connely  that she holds no accountability in that matter  and despite willfully jumping into a guy  s bed she wasn  t ready for sexual intercourse and was viciously taken advantage of by a sexual predator . then a week or so later she met  and slept with  an ultra  sensitive do  gooder who knew how to avoid raping and brought a condom . the director stressed contraception thoroughly .  br    br   this movie is complete and utter garbage that makes black people look like pricks and women look stupid and frail . cole hauser  s acting  and laurence fishburne  s accent are the only reasons i can think of to watch it . the writer  director is obviously a man of limited intelligence . go ahead and limit your own by watching this crap if you want  but keep in mind that neurons don  t grow back . just follow the advice at the end and unlearn .  
after being sent to prison for no less then   nor more then   years for being busted with drugs and refusing to give up her accomplishes  jackie  erica gavin of russ meyer  s  vixen  and  beyond the valley of the dolls   in her last film role  has to get accustomed to life in the big  doll  house  or at least try to  in this early film by jonathan demme . due to it  s tawdry nature and sheer watchability  i would also rank this as one of his best films  right below  silence of the lambs  and  stop making sense   but so far above any of his other movies . this minor classic is just campy  sleazy  and fun enough to be an amazingly good guilty pleasure and thankfully never once goes overboard into all out parody of the women in prison genre . it almost washed out the rancid bad taste of the ludicrously preachy  philidelphia  from my mouth . however  the film is not without it  s downfalls  the  un  talent show is a huge chore to sit through and goes on far too long  barbera steele is sadly wasted  among other small things  but don  t let those gripes stop you from watching an otherwise enjoyable movie .  br    br   my grade b   br    br   dvd extras  minute roger corman interview cast  crew bios original trailer and trailers for  candy stripe nurses   with nudity    big bad mama     big doll house   with nudity     crazy mama   br    br   eye candy juanita brown  cheryl  rainbeaux  smith  erica gavin  roberta collins  ella reid  lynda gold  and some others all show skin  
this movie masquerades as a social commentary  when in fact it is every bit as ridiculous as the very racism it condemns . the premise of this movie african  american  strong . . . any other race  weak . the worst part is when rapaport pulls a gun on omar epps and a jewish guy . the jewish guy  in stereotypical fashion  crumbles in fear and starts pleading for his life . . . but the big  strong  defiant omar epps stands strong with no fear . we also have the condemnation of every fraternity member as being a arrogant preppie drunk or rapist . the raped white girl  of course  begins considering lesbianism since she  s just a weak white girl after all . when the nerdy white guy is rejected by the fraternity members he of course must fall in with the skinheads  who are incredible cowards especially the big muscular guy who is beaten down quickly by the strong black men . wait . . . busta rhymes beat up a guy twice his size    yeah  right .  br    br   of course the black men never reject their own people and omar epps moves in with them easily . the scenes where ice cube threatens his white roommates and keeps them in line are just stupid   of course he is the dominating one while his weak white roommates sit in fear of him and eventually move out . this movie was just terrible and the ending made me actually laugh out loud . the overly long slow  motion between epps and banks gets hilarious with the faces they make   it  s like watching my nephew and cousins making faces at each other  and they  re all under   . do yourself a favor and skip this crapfest .  
to finally see what many consider to be the greatest women  in  prison film of all time  i felt like i had accomplished something as ridiculous as that sounds . boy  it sure contained the elements i expected  and delivered so much more . a constant i  m discovering in these films is the toughness and grit of the actresses in the roles of prisoners preparing for escape while their threshold  tolerance  and resolve  . . not to mention sanity  being tested by their superiors . while most of them were hired for the way they look naked  because the nature of the genre demands such gratuitous elements  something else emerges  other attributes  such as attitude and guts  that i ultimately respond to .  br    br   this  as you may know all too well  was demme  s debut for his mentor roger corman  and he provides the target audience with exactly what they desire while putting his own stamp on the proceedings . for instance  there are bizarre dreams certain characters have which define their current psychological states  . . there  s a particular number featuring warden barbara steele where she reminded me of alex de large of a clockwork orange  .  br    br   the film has female prisoners planning a daring escape  tired of the crazed antics of their wheel  chair bound warden and her nutty prison doc  randolph  warren miller  . juanita brown is maggie  the tough  sassy sister who is fed up with the environment and will do whatever it takes to get out . she  s the one all the girls fear to cross . erica gavin is jacqueline wilson  the newest prisoner who was busted by police and sentenced for the murder of a cop  unwilling to give up the names of those she was involved with . roberta collins is belle  a serial kleptomaniac  best pals with pandora  ella reid  . belle becomes the obsession of randolph who promises superintendent mcqueen  steele  that through a surgical procedure he can remove her violent tendencies . drugging her up  randolph takes nude pictures and sodomizes her  whimpering like a little girl due to his own mental deficiencies while hugging her naked body in his arms . cheryl rainbeaux smith is lavelle  in prison for life for murdering a scumbag whose relative was a senator . lavelle receives work in randolph  s office and is the one responsible for relating his dirty antics to pandora . demme effectively builds the movie to the expected finale as a planned break  out  using those behind the various traumas inflicted on the prisoners as hostages  with gunfire erupting .  br    br   i was quite impressed with the photographic work of long time demme collaborator  cinematographer tak fujimoto  as he is able to establish some visually arresting moments within the cramped confines of the prison  cells and rooms  not an easy task . the prison is appropriately crummy and the girls  despite being quite attractive  look the part of desperate inmates longing  yearning from the very pits of their souls  to escape such horrid entrapment . steele is superb as the warden  understanding how to take the role close to the brink without going to far  candidly able to express the madness of her repressed character within a restraint . . notice how she works her glasses and settles herself without blowing her top particularly when certain behaviors she has contempt for push her teetering to the edge . cale  s bluesy score is incredibly depressing  while also casting a wink to the audience that the movie is still fun  and  games . . i think cale  s score mirrors demme  s handling of the material . cale and demme  s partnership is an uncanny alliance that presents the setting as a sad  isolating  oppressive place  while  almost simultaneously  showcasing a humorous tone that permeates due to the colorful characters thanks in part to the personalities of the cast . my favorite scene happens outside the prison  as two of our girls  . . joining forces with a third  interrupt a bank robbery already in progress . . the kicker is it was a bank they were planning to rob  as you might expect  you get naked women in showers  prisoner in solitary  a cat fight  shootouts  attempted escapes which go awry  and other exploitative elements  . . such as a horrifying shock therapy session  not to exclude the shocking aforementioned sequence where the screwy doc takes advantage of belle  . interesting enough  demme relates the film to the audience without a whiff of pretension  understanding exactly the kind of movie he was making .  
the only way to get anything out of this film is to approach it as a comedy . seen in that light  it does deliver .  br    br   if you  re looking for a serious movie  look somewhere else . this film has absolutely no depth and offers little more than a cursory and one dimensional examination of  issues  with no insight whatsoever .  br    br   making a movie about stereotypes and then making every single character in your movie a stereotype is an extremely poor strategy  especially when those same characters only break their hackneyed molds in predictable  stereotypical ways .  br    br   busta rhymes and ice cube make the film almost watchable  and michael rappaport turns in a good performance  but the script is so awful and the social commentary is so trite  it  s hard to find anything redeeming .  
i have to say  seventeen  missing is much better than i expected . the perception i took from the previews was that it would be just humdrum but i was pleasantly surprised with this impressive mystery .  br    br   dedee pfeiffer is emilie  a mom who insists her daughter  lori  tegan moss   not attend a so  called graduation party one weeknight  but lori ignores her mother  s wishes and takes off for the party anyway . when lori does not come home  emilie knows something is wrong and she begins to have visions of her daughter and the events that led to her disappearance .  br    br   seventeen  missing is better than so many other tv movies of this type  as it is not so predictable . pfeiffer is the reason to see this movie  and most of it comes off as believable . this lmn original movie premiered last night .       
im watching it now on pink  serbia tv station  and i must say this is a crap . shallow  no acting  effects too sloppy i mean  who made this series   br    br   this was a stupid attempt of the studios to make some more money on the success of the film . ok . the film was great in     when it came out . but the series   br    br   some times you can see how idiotic the lines are in the speech of the characters . i mean  did they actually pay someone to write that  was that someones relative at the studio  this is no scifi .  br    br   the film was the bomb  the series suck .  
this is not my favorite wip   women in prison    but it is one of the most famous films in the sub  genre . it is was produced by roger corman  who at this point had already produced a few wips . it is obvious that the film tries to play with the established formula . the movie takes place in an usa prison  not in a  banana republic  like most wip films . i  m not sure if that was a wise move  but it is an acceptable change of pace . writer  director demme really gets into his job  always digging for new ways to present a familiar scenario . in fact  he is a little too ambitious for his own good . the filmmaker creates a few surreal dream sequences that are borderline pretentious but it is fun to see how hard he tries to put this film above your average chicks  in  chains flick . but do not worry  demme still operates within the parameters of the sub  genre . there is plenty of nudity and violence  something that will satisfy hardcore fans . the film is a little slow  but it is very entertaining . the cast is good . roberta collins is a wip veteran  so she does not need an introduction  and barbara steel is a hoot as the wheelchair  bound crazy warden . pam grier is sorely missed  though .  
somehow they summed up the    s  ten years that radically changed our country  in four hours . and what a painful four hours it was . they trivilized the major events and happenings and they  claimed  it was about two families yet you barely saw the african  american family . if i were nbc i would be ashamed and embarrassed for airing such trash . what was amusing was this happy  go  lucky family you saw in the very beginning was tortured in so many ways  but managed to attend every major    s event through the country . and the second family was such a non  factor . they devoted maybe five or six scenes total to this family . that poor son . . . please nbc  do not make any movies about any other eras . . . . leave that to pbs and the history channel  
when i think  women in prison   my mind often goes to sleazy italian  spanish productions by directors such as jess franco and bruno mattei and while these films are often very sleazy  they  re also very samey and once you  ve seen one you might as well have seen them all . i have to admit that these types of films generally aren  t my favourites but in fact the idea of women behind bars has been done very well on several occasions outside of italy and spain and roger corman  s new world pictures is responsible for some of the best of them . caged heat is the directorial debut of oscar  winning director jonathan demme  and it  s a well done little flick with plenty of entertainment value  naturally  the film centres on the story of a girl who is caught committing crime and sent to a women  s  prison where she is introduced to a host of violent inmates . this prison is ruled over by the stuff wheelchair bound superintendent mcqueen and she takes offence to a play put on by the girls leading them to plot an escape .  br    br   this film is much lighter on the sleaze than i  m used to in a women in prison flick but this is more than compensated for by some great action scenes and dialogue and that  s what ensures caged heat entertains throughout . it does have to be said that the plot is not particularly original or ambitious and basically follows a structure similar to many other women in prison films that came before it but that  s not such a big problem . the film never gets boring and is peppered with standout scenes including an escape attempt while out working in a field and a bank robbery . the film is helped along by assured direction from the man who would go on to helm the masterpiece the silence of the lambs and a great cast with plenty of standouts including best of all the legendary barbara steele in the role of the head prison warden . overall  caged heat may not leave the viewer with much to think about by the end but it  s a brilliantly entertaining little grindhouse flick and anyone that enjoys this type of film will surely want to track it down .  
even if you could get past the idea that these boring characters personally witnessed every significant moment of the     s  ok  so katie didn  t join the manson family  and nobody died at altamont   this movie was still unbelievably awful . i got the impression that the  writers  just locked themselves in a room and watched  forrest gump    the wonder years   and oliver stone  s   s films over and over again and called it research . a canadian television critic called the conclusion of the first episode  head spinning  . he was right .  
jonathan demme  s directorial debut for roger corman  s legendary exploitation outfit new world pictures rates highly as one of the finest chicks  in  chains    s grindhouse classics to ever grace celluloid . beauteous russ meyer starlet eric   vixen    beyond the valley of the dolls   gavin gives a robust  winning performance as a brassy  resilient new fish who does her best to persevere in a grimy  hellish penitentiary . the always fabulous barbara steele offers a deliciously wicked portrayal as the mean  crippled  sexually frustrated warden  her erotic dream about doing a slow  steamy striptease in front of the lady inmates is a real dilly  . longtime favorite    s b  movie actress roberta   the arousers    unholy rollers   collins delivers a hilariously raunchy and endearing turn as a cheerfully forward  foul  mouthed kleptomaniac felon who tells a gut  busting dirty joke about pinnochio . lynda gold  a . k . a . crystin sinclaire of tobe hooper  s  eaten alive  and curtis harrington  s  ruby   makes her lively film debut as uninhibited wildcat crazy alice . and the ever  cuddly cheryl  rainbeaux  smith does a lovely  touching reprise of her fragile frightened innocent role from  lemora a child  s tale of the supernatural .   br    br   although this picture does deliver the expected ample amount of coarse language  nudity  rape and violence  it  s still by no means a typically crass and sexist piece of lurid mindless filth the movie very effectively explores the many ways in which men cruelly exploit women and strongly asserts the pro  feminist notion that women can overcome any obstacles if they band together into a group so they can bravely face their misogynistic oppressors as one mighty fighting force . demme  s zesty  confidant direction comes through with a glorious abundance of astutely observed incidental details and delightful moments of engagingly quirky human behavior . furthermore  both tak fujimoto  s vibrant cinematography and john cale  s marvelously dolorous oddball blues score are     on the money excellent . patrick wright  sheriff mack in the uproariously awful cheap  rubber  monster  suit creature feature howler  track of the moonbeast   has a sidesplitting bit as a jerky cop who has his car stolen by a trio of prison escapees when he stops at a gas station to use the bathroom . lively  rousing and immensely enjoyable   caged heat  qualifies as absolutely essential viewing for    s drive  in movie fans .  
the    s is an occasionally entertaining film  most of this entertainment is from laughing at the film . it is extremely uneven  and includes many annoying elements . take for instance the switch between black  white  and color . if done right  this could of been fairly effective  but because it was done poorly  it turned into a nuisance and only detracted from the already bad experience much of the film had an odd feel to it . the acting wasn  t extremely bad for a made for tv flick  but then again it was downright embarrassing at other times . many of the events were not coherent  and ending up being confusing . how did this family somehow end up being at many of the big events during the      s  the ending was much too sappy for my tastes because it was hollywoodized  everything had to turn out right in the end . i would advise you to not waste your time on the    s and do something else with your time . i  m glad i watched this in class  and not on my own time . i think i can safely say that the best part of the movie was the inclusion of bob dylan  s music . those are just my rambling thoughts on the flick . i hope you take my advice  and stay away from this .  
wilson  erica gavin  is nabbed by the cops and sent to prison in this slick and amusing example of prime    s exploitation  marking the directing debut of jonathan demme . after writing and producing a few of mentor roger cormans  new world films  demme was afforded the opportunity to direct for the first time  and he delivers a movie that not only delivers the expected and tasty doses of nudity and violence  but has an appealing tongue  in  cheek quality to it as well it  s often as funny as it is flashy .  br    br   standout scenes include a lewd and crude vaudeville style act performed for the prisoners  as well as a potent dream  fantasy sequence for uptight and obviously very repressed superintendent mcqueen  horror icon barbara steele  doing a marvelous turn in this antagonistic role  . i also enjoyed a bank robbery scene gone haywire and a carjacking scene that was simply uproarious . as in other movies of this kind  it  s also commendable that it  s as much a portrait of female empowerment as it is pure exploitation . these women are tough  they take no garbage from anybody  and they  re more than capable of handling themselves .  br    br   our attractive cast here makes the most of their roles juanita brown as the aggressive maggie  roberta collins as the sassy belle  rainbeaux smith as the cute and timid lavelle  gavin as the wide  eyed newcomer  and lynda gold  a . k . a . crystin sinclaire  in a bright appearance as an accomplice on the outside .  br    br   as our climax plays out  demme comes up with a tense  beat the clock  finish as our heroines race to save belle from being lobotomized by predatory dr . randolph  warren miller   the type of man who thinks nothing of taking advantage of women .  br    br   bouncing along to john cales  flavorful score   caged heat  is upbeat entertainment and a guaranteed good time .  br    br        
i like a lot of the actors  actresses involved in this project so being insulted by the movie felt even worse than if they used a unknowns . the main problem was this movie was clearly just a concept created to appeal to baby boomers . in   or   years nbc will probably do a movie just like this about the early    s . i can see it now a black family where the kids are involved with the la riot  s and the white family has the kids rebel and listen to grunge rock music . the soundtrack will feature bands like nirvana  n . w . a  public enemy  soundgarden etc . the movie like this will be just as cheesy as the    s and i gurantee you nbc will do it . see the biggest problem with period pieces when done buy networks is that when you are living in a certain time period you aren  t thinking i am living in the    s or whatever decade is trendy retro at the time . next time someone does something like this they should put more weight into there project  
this was one of those wonderful rare moments in t . v . that i wished i  d captured forever on vhs . won  t it ever air again   br    br   it was so creative and i remember it was aired once a week and the wait for the next episode was excruciating . i want to see it all again . i want to buy it . i want what i can  t have . not even on ebay .  br    br   so  having ranted enough it was  by far  one of the best series the    s put out . it should be considered a classic but is lost in space . at least this website and wikipedia mention it . sob .  br    br   it was utterly appealing  funny  flirtatious  and original . maybe not like sherlock holmes original  i actually think quintin is far more attractive and has a better chance with his leading lady than the stiff and chalky holmes ever could .  
the   s       d mark piznarski . josh hamilton  julia stiles  jerry o  connell  jeremy sisto  jordana brewster  leonard roberts  bill smitrovich  annie corley  charles s . dutton . nbc mini  series  later released to video  dvd as full length feature film  about the treacherous     s  as seen through the eyes of both a white family and a black family . the film  s first half is driven by the excellent performance of dutton as reverend willie taylor and evenly spreads the storyline between the families . however  dutton  s character is killed halfway through and the black family is completely forgotten in a dull  incoherent  and downright awful  nd half . rating  out of   . not rated  later rated pg    for video  dvd release  .  
q . e . d . was a brilliant tv series and it truly was one of the very few worth scheduling for  i suspect that in this era of tivo and recording devices that it would fare much better than it did in     . i am eagerly awaiting its availability on dvd   br    br   while it is true that it has some in common with other television shows like the wild  wild west  the bearcats and the adventures of brisco county  jr .  all of which i am a huge fan of  q . e . d . had a much more intellectual quality to it . it did not suffer for that  however  the dialog was witty and the action was high . the show ran in the uk as mastermind  and it did have something of the bbc feel to it  but with better production values than bbc typically had in that era .  br    br   i was a nineteen year old lad when this series ran initially  and had much too much to do in my life to make time for television . i remember my dear mother  however  calling me to remind me that q . e . d . was on  and we would sit on the phone and watch it together . wonderful memories .  br    br   truly  q . e . d . is a sad loss and  if it could be done with the same quality and values today  i would love to see it make a return .  
the      s were a time of change and awakening for most people . social upheaval and unrest were commonplace as people spoke  out about their views . racial tensions  politics  the vietnam war  sexual promiscuity  and drug use were all part of the daily fabric  and the daily news . this film attempted to encapsulate these historical aspects into an entertaining movie  and largely succeeded .  br    br   in this film  two families are followed one white  one black . during the first half of the film  the story follows each family on a equal basis through social and family struggles . unfortunately  the second half of the movie is nearly dedicated to the white family . admittedly  there are more characters in this family  and the story lines are intermingled  but equal consideration is not given to the racial aspects of this century .  br    br   on the whole  the acting is well done and historical footage is mixed with color and black and white original footage to give a documentary feel to the movie . the movie is a work of fiction  but clips of well  known historical figures are used to set the time  line .  br    br   i enjoyed the movie but the situations were predictable and the storyline was one  sided .  
everything i remember about it was excellent . . . great cast with sam waterston  george innes  before he became more familiar to us audiences  . . . . excellent scripts as only the english can do  edwardian sherlock holmes  lord peter wimsey  albert campion type mysteries  but with a jules verne twist . sort of like macgyver would have been had it been in england   years earlier . . . right at the beginning of the scientific  technological revolution of the   th century .  br    br   i  ve often wondered if the creators of macgyver saw these shows . macgyver first aired about  years later .  br    br   i still have  episode on a much deteriorated tape .  
is there any other time period that has been so exhaustively covered by television  or the media in general  as the     s  no . and do we really need yet another trip through that turbulent time  not really . but if we must have one  does it have to be as shallow as  the    s    br    br   i like to think that co  writers bill couturie and robert greenfield had more in mind for this two  part miniseries than what ultimately resulted  especially given couturie  s involvement in the superb hbo movie  dear america letters home from vietnam  which utilized little original music and no original footage  letting the sights and sounds of the time speak for themselves . this presentation intercuts file footage with the dramatic production  but it doesn  t do anyone any favours by trying to do too much in too little time like so many of its ilk  it  s seen from the point of view of one family . but the children of the family seem to be involved tangentially with almost every major event of the    s  it  s amazing that one of them doesn  t go to the rolling stones gig at altamont   making it seem less like a period drama and more like a cliff notes version of the decade .  br    br   the makers rush through it so much that there  s little or no time to give the characters any character  with the stick figures called our protagonists off screen for ages at a time  the children  s father is especially clichd  and then when they  re back on blammo  it  s something else . garry trudeau could teach the filmmakers a thing or two about doing this kind of thing properly . in fairness  jerry o  connell  jordana brewster  jeremy sisto  julia stiles and charles s . dutton give their material the old college try  but they  re wasted  especially the latter two   it  s undeniably good to see david alan grier in a rare straight role as activist fred hampton  and rosanna arquette  in an uncredited cameo in part   is always welcome .  br    br   what isn  t welcome is how  the    s  drowns the soundtrack with so many period songs that it ultimately reduces its already minimal effect  and this may well be the only time an american tv presentation about post    s america never mentions the british invasion  no beatles  no rolling stones . . . then again  there  s only so much tunes you can shoehorn into a soundtrack album  right   . capping its surface  skimming approach to both the time and the plot with an almost out  of  place happy ending   american dreams  and  the wonder years  did it all much  much better . nothing to see here you can  t see elsewhere  people . . . except for julia stiles doing the twist  that is .  
i can  t remember many details about the show  but i remember how passionate i was about it and how i was determined not to miss any episodes . unfortunately at the time we had no vcr  so i haven  t ever seen the series again . however i can remember strongly how i felt while watching it and how thrilled i was every time it came on . sam waterstone was my favorite actor these days  i think i was almost in love  and he remains one of my favorite actors to the day  mostly due to his appearance in the series . i would gladly buy  steal  download this series  i think i would go to great lengths in order to see it again and revisit a childhood long gone . . . any ideas  does anybody knows of a site devoted to the series or has the episodes on tape from their first airing   
do we really need any more narcissistic garbage on the baby boomer generation  technically  i am a boomer  though at the time when all the  idealistic youths  of the    s were reading marx  burning their draft cards  and generally prolonging a war which destroyed tens of thousands of lives i was still in grade school . but i remember them well  and  out of   were just moronic fools  who would believe anything as long as it was destructive .  br    br   this is just another excercise in self  importance from the kids who never really grew up .  
last year we were treated to two movies about truman capote writing the book from which this film was made  capote and infamous .  br    br   i cannot imagine a movie like this being made in     . a stark  powerful and chillingly brutal drama elevated to the status of a film classic by the masterful direction of richard brooks  elmer gantry  cat on a hot tin roof  the professional  blackboard jungle  .  br    br   it is interesting that robert blake  who starred in this film  has had so many problems of late that may be related to his portrayal of a killer in this film .  br    br   this is a film that stays with you after viewing .  
this is the least scary film i have ever seen . how the blob manages to eat anyone is the biggest mystery of the film . the blob moves so slowly that an o . a . p in a zimmerframe could escape it . the blob has a large slice of luck coming across a typical horror film woman who instead of running away stands still for half an hour so that she can be eaten . if you havent seen this film i recommend you do  its far too funny to be taken seriously .  
i saw this film after watching capote and infamous . it is just incredible how the homosexual relationships between author and protagonists are sublimated in the movie . the reporter is straight  the protagonists are more beatniks than gay .  br    br   the film starts slowly  but on reviewing it a second time  we get all sorts of interesting information from similes that the writer  director brooks creates .  br    br   notice the incredible cutting at the beginning where killers and to  be  killed are linked . cutter on the phone is matched  cut to perry on the phone . cutter washing his face is matched  cut to perry washing his face . only perry  s looking in the mirror and seeing his eroticized male body sets off a fantasy of his playing a guitar in las vegas to empty chairs . this failure  fantasy matches the failure  fantasy that perry tells us about his father who built a beautiful motel in alaska only to find it perpetually empty .  br    br   dick talks about shooting pheasants and the fact that the pheasants don  t know that that they  re going to die . we cut to the clutters .  br    br   perry talks his dream about a yellow bird   taller than jesus  who attacks the nuns who have persecuted them .  the nuns begged for mercy   he tells us   but the bird slaughtered them anyway .  the bird lifted perry to paradise . strangely  perry says that he has an aversion to nuns  god and religion . this echoes later in his last words when he wants to apologize but does not know to whom .  br    br   the director puts in all sorts of what  ifs and only  ifs .  br    br   nancy cutter gets an offer to sleep at a friends house . she is holding a horse . perry will comment on a picture of her and the house later on . nancy can  t sleep over at her friends  house because her boyfriend is coming over for dinner . the decision seals her fate .  br    br   perry talks of bogart in  treasure of sierra madre  . but it is another bogart picture   beat the devil  which truman capote co  wrote  where a fictional treasure hunt is the mcguffin . but dick knows that the protagonists of that film ended up with nothing . dick wants the hard cash  the        he thinks is in the clutter  s safe   which ironically turns out to be as much as a fantasy as perry  s mexican treasure .  br    br   cut to herb clutter signing a        life insurance policy . he  s thinking about mortality at the moment . ironically his mortality is about to end in a few hours . the insurance agent on behalf of the company wishes him a long life  again ironic when we know what will happen in a few hours .  br    br   dick has said that they wanted no witnesses so nobody would remember them . later  in fact  it is because they eliminated all the witnesses that they were remembered .  br    br    there was one witness   the detective keeps telling dick later . but was that witness the jail  house friend  dick  perry  truman capote  or god  the viewer becomes the witness after watching the movie .  br    br   fascinating film .  
when a small glob of space age silly putty lands on earth it soon begins consuming earthlings and putting on weight . the only part of this senseless drivel that i enjoyed was all the cool classic cars . this dog had so many holes it could be sliced and sold for swiss cheese . this thing actually made   million bucks  and mcqueen  s salary was  k  all were vastly overpaid . the  monster  looked a lot like a large beanbag and the  teens  looked as though they could have children approaching their teen  age years . and those blasts from the shotgun sounded like a pellet rifle with a sound suppressor . the ending was pitifully trite obviously the producers were leaving the door open for a sequel . . . . and there were many . thumbs down .  
it  s all about mitzi . i loved her in this . and didn  t she look fantastic   i love these lifetime sunday afternoon popcorn movies . this is like one of those nailbiters where they always go to commercial at the most annoying times . the richard character was completely creepy . i  ve dated guys like that . well  not totally like that lol . i wish zack hadn  t have gotten killed . he was a cutie and very easy on the eyes . i love these stalker type stories . it always makes me get up and make sure my doors are locked . my husband doesn  t usually like these types of movies but actually sat through the entire thing with me and actually enjoyed it . i can  t wait to see what mitzi does next   
i cannot believe how popular this show is . i consider myself an avid sci  fi fan . i have read countless sci  fi novels and have enjoyed many sci  fi movies and tv shows . i really wouldn  t even consider this true sci  fi . every episode i have sat through was like a lame  watered down version of a star trek episode  minus anything that might make it interesting or exciting .  br    br   it  s basically a bunch of people standing around in army fatigues  talking about something boring  who occasionally go through the stargate and end up on a planet that looks just like earth  with people who look and sound just like humans  it seemed extremely low budget . the characters are all forgettable one dimensional cutouts  and the many attempts at humor fall flat . it reminds me when you see a commercial with a famous athlete in it  trying to be funny  but he is not . it is just sad .  br    br   the movie was terrible as well . there is so much you can do with a portal through space  yet every place the army people go is boring  this shows no imagination  i actually thought the tv series  alien nation  from a few years back  based on the movie alien nation  was much better . that show actually had good story lines and decent characters . i wasn  t crazy about  alien nation   but compared to this overrated crap  it was great   br    br   also  unlike the great new  battlestar galactica  series   stargate  copied the look and feel of the lame movie too closely  they should have at least updated the cheesy  toilet flushing  special effect of whenever somebody goes through the stargate .  
in cold blood has to be ranked as first  rate movie  making  even if the subject matter is about as grim as it gets in the world of make  believe  but film noir fans should definitely find this one a gripping piece of work  based as it is on a true  life crime spree .  br    br   it opens with quincy jones  music under the credits and starkly dramatic views of a highway bus heading toward kansas city  effectively setting the mood of the film even before the credits end . the bw photography of conrad hall does a superb job right from the start .  br    br   also clear from the start robert blake and scott wilson are natural born actors . they do a great job of portraying free spirited buddies looking for the next thrill .  ever see a millionaire fry in the electric hair  hell no . there are two kinds of rules in this world . one for the rich and one for the poor   says wilson  taking a swig of alcohol behind the wheel .  br    br   both are destined to cross the path of a farm family  showing no mercy and leaving no witnesses behind .  br    br   blake  reminiscing about movies  and thinking of hunting for gold in mexico  says  remember bogart in  treasure of the sierra madre     an ironic moment  because blake himself was in the film as a little boy selling lottery tickets  .  i got you pegged for a natural born killer   wilson tells blake .  br    br   john forsythe is one of the lead detectives on the case  discovering that all four family members were tied up  shot in the head and one had his throat cut .  don  t people around here lock doors   asks paul stewart .  they will tonight   is the terse reply .  br    br   after the murders  the killers discover that there was  no big fat safe in the wall   like their prison informant told them . so  in the end  it was truly a stupid  senseless crime . the question is why did they do it  and this is something the second half of the film explores in depth . it takes an hour and a half into the movie before the detectives catch up with the killers and begin the interrogation .  br    br   it  s these final scenes that carry the most conviction and the most interest as the boys are told they  ve made numerous mistakes and left a living witness . the actual events up to and including the murder are saved until the end .  it makes no sense   blake tells forsythe .  mr . cutter was a very nice gentleman . i thought so right up until the time i cut his throat .  the screenplay by richard brooks is concise and to the point   and so is his direction .  br    br   summing up brilliant depiction of two aimless young men on a crime spree that made no sense then or now for a mere    . chilling .  
the blob starts with one of the most bizarre theme songs ever  sung by an uncredited burt bacharach of all people  you really have to hear it to believe it  the blob may be worth watching just for this song alone  my user comment summary is just a little taste of the classy lyrics . . . after this unnerving opening credits sequence the blob introduces us  the viewer that is  to steve andrews  steve mcqueen as steven mcqueen   his girlfriend jane martin  aneta corsaut  who are parked on their own somewhere  witness what looks like a meteorite falling to earth in nearby woods . an old man  olin howland as olin howlin  who lives in a cabin also sees it  goes to investigate  he finds a crater  a strange football sized rock which splits open when he unwisely pokes it with a stick . laying in the centre of the meteorite is a strange jelly like substance which sticks to the stick  if you know what i mean  it then slides up the stick  attachs itself to the old man  s hand . meanwhile steve  jane are quietly driving along minding their own business when the old man runs out in front of steve  s car  steve being a decent kinda guy decides to take the old man to dr . t . hallan  alden  stephen  chase as steven chase  at the local surgery . dr . hallan says he doesn  t know what the substance on the old man  s hand is but it  s getting bigger  asks steve to go back where he found him  see if he can find out what happened . steve agrees but doesn  t come up with anything  upon returning to dr . hallan  s surgery he witnesses the blob devouring him . the town  s police  lieutenant dave  earl rowe   the teenage hating sergeant jim bert  john benson  unsurprisingly don  t believe a word of it  end up suspecting steve  his mates al  anthony franke   tony  robert fields   someone called  mooch  miller  james bonnet  of playing an elaborate practical joke on the police department . however as the blob continues to eat it  s way through the town steve sets about finding proof of it  s existence  convincing the police about the threat it posses not just to their town but the entire world   br    br   directed irvin s . yeaworth jr .  an uncredited russell s . doughton jr . i was throughly disappointed by this  the original     version of the blob . the script by kay linaker as kate phillips  theodore simonson is an absolute bore  extremely dull not making the most of it  s strongest aspects . the blob focuses on the tiresome dramatics  conflicts between the teenagers  police  in fact the majority of the blob is spent on steve trying to convince the police of the blob  s existence . for most of the film the blob itself almost seems inconsequential  somewhat forgotten . it only has two or three scenes for the fist hour  a bit until the less than exciting climax when the adults  teenagers have to work together to defeat the blob  have a new found appreciation of each other afterwards  yuck  why couldn  t the blob just eat the lot of  em  no explanation is given for what the blob is or it  s origins other than it came from space  how long did it take them to come up with that  the dialogue is clunky  silly as well  as are people  s actions  decision making  i love the part when a nurse named kate  lee paton as lee payton  did anyone use their real name in this thing   is confronted by the blob  she throws some acid over it  calmly proclaims  doctor  nothing will stop it    how does she know  nothing  will stop it exactly  there  s no blood or violence so don  t worry about that  the special effects on the blob itself aren  t too bad considering but it barely has any screen time  moves very slowly  a bit like the film in general actually . the acting is terrible  mcqueen is supposed to be a teenager when in reality he was   years old  it shows  he looks old enough to be his own dad  same thing goes for most of the other  teenage  cast members  everyone generally speaking are wooden  unconvincing in their roles . technically the blob is very basic  dark static photography  dull direction  forgettable production values . the blob is one of those films that probably sounds good on paper  is well known as being a  classic  but is in actual fact a huge disappointment when finally seen . this is one case when the remake the blob       is definitely better than the original . the original blob is slow  boring  the remake isn  t  the original blob contains no blood or gore  the remake does  the original blob has incredibly poor acting  casting decisions  the remake doesn  t  the original blob itself gets very little screen time eating only three or four people throughout the entire film  the remake features the blob all the way through  it virtually eats an entire town . the choice is an easy one  the remake every time as it  s a better film in every respect . i  ll give the film two stars  give that wonderful main theme song one on it  s own . definitely not the classic many seem to make out .  
the real story  took place in kansas in      of a murder  perry and dick  two ex  convicts who broke into a remote house on a rainy night to steal and kill everyone they met  . richard brooks directed the chilling and disturbing capote  s book about the reasons that drove these kids to the crime  are they natural born killers   . the crime scenes are very brutal and haunting because of the lack of senses and reasons for what we witnessed . stunning black  white cinematography from conrand hall  excellent country  road music score from quincy jones  amazing performances in two principal roles from robert blake and scott wilson and first time in a movie a sad comment about capital punishment at the last moments before their deaths . jones  hall and brooks  as director and as writer for adapted screenplay  are academy award nominees . gripping  superbly directed and frightening  one of the best films of this decade  
i  m a big fan of   s sci  fi  but this is not one of my favorites . while the concept behind the movie was a natural vehicle for a classic teeny bopper sci  fi flick  the director counted too heavily on it to carry the movie . it  s clear he was working with no money  because the entire movie is loaded with bloated dialogue that goes on and on forever . i have never seen so much time  killing in a movie .  br    br   there are probably less than   seconds of  blob footage  in the entire movie  and most of the rest of it is people engaging in a lot of poorly  written  run  on dialogue . it was fun to see steve m . and anita c . together  but good heavens . . . how could casting have thought anyone in their right mind would believe them as teenagers   
this recreation of the infamous     murders in kansas  based on the capote book  is starkly filmed by brooks and cinematographer hall in black and white  giving it a documentary feel . there are good performances from blake and wilson as the killers and forsythe as a cop who pursues them . the scenes leading up to the murders  filmed at the actual house where the crime occurred  with a soundtrack of whistling winds  are quite intense and chilling . brooks directs with a lot of verve and uses several interesting transitions between scenes . the only complaint is that it is a bit overlong  with the denouement dragged out and somewhat preachy .  
for the big thinkers among us   the intruder  is a maddeningly incoherent movie from france that gives so  called  art films  a bad name . the story is something about a bitter old coot  louis trebor  michel subor   who goes searching in tahiti for a heart transplant  but beyond that  i have no idea who any of the people in the movie were or why they were doing what they were doing . with no coherent storyline to boast of  the movie loses us early on  though i  m perfectly willing to admit that there might be somebody out there who actually gets some deep message out of this film .  br    br   this muddled  snail  paced drama runs a full two hours and five minutes  though i seriously doubt anyone with any kind of a life will still be hanging around by the closing credits .  
in cold blood is masterfully directed and adapted by richard brooks . however  it  s also so bent on being realistic  it  s sometimes more clinical than entertaining . recounting the brutal killing of a midwest family  author truman capote focused on minutia  wrapping himself and the reader up in the subject and subjects  brooks departs wildly from that approach in favor of something closer to docudrama . although he films on actual locations  he keeps his distance . the murderers are portrayed as depraved imbeciles  which surely they were . they  re not seen as misunderstood souls  as in the capote book  and the savagery of their act is horrifyingly blunt . scott wilson and robert blake are excellent as the killers as is the supporting cast  including john forsythe and paul stewart as the reporter  the capote  character    the landmark photography is by the great conrad hall .  
claire denis  s movies seem to fall into one of two categories the violent and bloody or the quiet and intimate .  l  intrus  definitely falls into the first category  but it  s not so awful as  trouble every day  or  j  ai pas sommeil .   br    br   now  ever since i saw  chocolat   i  ve made it a point to see every new movie denis makes . and i have always been disappointed .  l  intrus  was no exception . she has yet to make a movie as personal and as moving as her first one .  br    br   you get a lot of the denis regulars an older but still magnificent batrice dalle who seems to be in the movie only to show off her full lips  the gap between her teeth  her ample cleavage  and a couple of nice coats the black guy from  trouble every day  and  j  ai pas sommeil   grgoire colin  and that lithuanian or russian girl . michel subor  s character was interesting enough  but the camera lingered on him at such length that i got annoyed by that curly forelock of hair hanging over his forehead and was relieved when  somewhere in korea  i think  he finally got it cut .  br    br   there was certainly some action   gruesome murders  a man  s search for a son   and there may even have been a plot  but one viewing wasn  t enough to figure it out  and two viewings are  i fear  out of the question . for one thing  the score was jarring and obtrusive  as in  beau travail   . for another  the seasons changed too abruptly  leaving you even more confused about what was going on . oh  there were a few pretty shots  and if you liked  friday evening  with its shots of the folds in heavy drapes and bedsheets  you might appreciate the aesthetics of  l  intrus .  otherwise  steer clear .  br    br   i saw this movie in french and it  s possible i missed something crucial . but the dialogue in a denis movie rarely amounts to more than five pages  double spaced and with ample margins . in  chocolat  the silence is sublime in  l  intrus   it  s just dull .  
many of the classic films of the late    s haven  t retained their ability to disturb and confront the audience .  in cold blood  hasn  t lost an ounce of its power . its exceptionally well made yet forces the viewer to think . some have complained not only about the film  but about truman capote  s source  non  fiction novel   that the central message is unsubtle . that may be true  but this is definitely a case where the lack of ambiguity doesn  t detract from the film at all . its refreshing  especially considering today  s simplistic and manipulative moral dramas  to see a film with a convinced political voice unafraid to force the audience to consider its viewpoint . to be honest  i  m not sure if i agree with the film  s central message  but i admire its audacity nonetheless .  br    br   even if you disagree with the anti  capital punishment message  there  s plenty to admire about the film . the acting from the two leads is terrific . scott wilson  still one of the most underrated actors ever  is chilling as the nihilistic leader  one who uses his charisma to hide his weaknesses . robert blake is also chilling as the more submissive of the two and the one with a conscience . his character obviously has a voice of reason  but is terrified to go against wilson  theres a good amount of homoerotic subtext on his character  s part  . the cinematography is terrific  sleek yet gritty and really giving the impression the viewer is watching a documentary . add another classic score from quincey jones  and you have a masterpiece .        
i would like to say that unlike many of the people who disliked this film and found it impossible to understand i was fully able to understand it for what it is . . a very incoherent attempt at a plot line .  br    br   i don  t like to toss this word around but in this case it fits very well . the director firstly presents the material in an extremely  arrogant  way and worse  extremely incoherently . it is incoherent in that it presents the material in a messy dislodged order  making us think that the director was too drunk to remember which scenes come first  and arrogant in that at  hours long they expect us  the viewer to care by the end of it .  br    br   i respect surrealist cinema for what it is .  creating a story around a more than real world that does not tie to real life  but there is nothing surreal about having a story placed in ordinary modern times  and a modern day earth setting  that is most importantly not able to engage the audience but furthermore  simply a dislodged series of events that barely tie together . the most accurate way to describe the experience of viewing this film is like viewing a story perhaps even a very good story as it was based on a book  but being frustrated by the fact that the camera doesn  t seem to capture the necessary moments and tie together any means of coherence .  br    br   let  s compare stylistic cinema . compare gaspar noe  s  seul contre tous  to this . he gave us a coherent  extremely engaging and intellectually deep story . this movie offers no intellectual study  and while it is very stylistic in it  s fragmented presentation  the director has ultimately abandoned the essential art of good storytelling and all we are left with is a mess of events that barely tie in together .  br    br   yes indeed it is possible to make sense of things . . . . to a point . but as i said earlier the viewer will reach a stage where they simply say  who cares .  it plays out like watching a drab mundane story of a man going to a supermarket and buying groceries in uncronological order . even with murders it is completely uninteresting and unengaging . too many people these days will give high marks to something they are unable to understand or make sense of simply for fear of looking foolish  and in every way this film tries to make the viewer look foolish .  br    br   if you have too much time on your hands  then please watch this film  taking into account what i have said of it . it is a story based on a book that could have been presented in a much more effective way and that is my bottom line reasoning .  
  in cold blood   adapted by director richard brooks from truman capote  s famous novel  deals with the brutal and senseless murder of a family of four by a pair of hapless criminals . the film excels as a character study of the killers  particularly trigger  man perry smith  robert blake  .  br    br   the cast includes few recognizable names but they nevertheless bring the story to life with ease . robert blake and scott wilson are excellent together as two criminals with disparate personalities . they play off of each other effortlessly while blake also gets plenty of opportunities to explore his character  s idiosyncrasies . the rest of the cast is merely average and isn  t worth remarking on .  br    br   richard brooks received oscar nominations for both his script and his direction . in my opinion  both were excellent  though the script does miscalculate with some ill  advised narration in the late stages . the oscar  nominated cinematography by conrad hall is also top  notch  as is the editing . also worthy of note is the jazzy score by quincy jones which secured the last of the film  s four oscar nominations .  br    br   unlike so many other crime films  this one doesn  t glamorize violence . brooks turns the killers into pitiable characters rather than flatly condemning them . whether or not you agree with that sentiment the film does present an interesting alternative to the usual hollywood approach . i recommend the film for this reason and also for the expertise with which the technical aspects are handled .  
chesty gringo telly savalas  as frank cooper  is a us  mexico  border cop  . he serves as a father figure to young immigrant danny de la paz  as benny romero   who wants mr . savalas to be best man at his impending wedding . savalas is tough  but boss eddie albert  as commander moffat  may be tougher . tough is what you need to stop smuggler michael v . gazzo  as chico suarez  . alliances may be in flux .  br    br   if you find the possibility of hearing  kojak  and  oliver douglas  uttering expletives to be repulsive  you ought to steer clear of  the border  . if not  you may not have the stomach for the  realistic  cow slaughtering scene . although it doesn  t end up being worth much  mr . de la paz and cecilia camacho  as leina  steal the show .  br    br    the border       tony richardson  telly savalas  danny de la paz  eddie albert  
this movie is up there with the all  time classics . the music  camera shots  and acting are excellent . showing the movie in black and white gave it a much better appearance and complemented the music perfectly  like psycho . its surprising how so few people have commented on this movie . my guess is that its a hard movie to find . i gave the film a  . see the movie and you  ll know what i  m talking about .  
considering its pedigree  this should be a far more enjoyable film than it is . even with a lip  smacking collection of eccentrics in the cast  what aficionado would not eagerly anticipate a movie which brings together lemmon  lanchester  kovacs and gingold   the entire event is dully paced  drearily shot and  more often than not  witless .  br    br   kim novak  s gifts were not essentially comic  as she went on to confirm in kiss me stupid . james stewart was a fine comedian  as he ably demonstrated in movies from ranging from the philadelphia story to harvey . i think he comes out better from this mess than anyone else does . except maybe the cat .  
one of the best true  crime movies ever made and very faithful to truman capote  s book which invented the true  crime novel genre . haunting quincy jones musical score and terrific acting by scott wilson and robert blake as dick and perry  the killers . why wilson didn  t go on to be a big star after this movie is a mystery to me .  br    br   the black and white cinematography and editing in this movie are top notch . the re  creation of the murders is frightening and since it leaves the actual murders to your imagination  even more scary than if they had shown the shotgun going off . the movie was filmed in the actual clutter house which had been sold to another person after the murders . the movie has a very documentary feel    besides the scenes at the actual clutter home other scenes were filmed at the gas stations and stores the killers actually went to . nancy clutter  s beloved horse  babe  is even in the movie . will geer has a great turn as the prosecutor in the short trial scene which is not only filmed in the actual courtroom but has several of the real clutter murder jurors portraying themselves as the jury for the movie .  br    br   this is a solid movie  scary every time you see it .  
this oddity in the new doris day collection doesn  t really need to be included as she is only in the film for less than   minutes . what she does do however  is shine when she  s on screen . the near plot less movie is just an excuse to showcase some warner contract players of the day . jancie rule shows promise and it  s a shame she didn  t become a big star . ruth roman handles the role of the  go  getter  with aplomb . better if this was in color . the travis air force base locations with some rear projection work well . what  s best about the movie are some wonderful musical interludes . if you enjoyed thank your lucky stars and hollywood canteen you  ll like this one .  
simply one of the best ever  richard brooks  adaptation of truman capote  s non  fiction novel is truly an artistic achievement . stunning black and white cinematography  that should have won an oscar   a haunting quincy jones score and tremendous performances by robert blake and scott wilson as the oddly  matched killers . this film was  for  at the academy awards and wasn  t even nominated for best picture while dr . doolittle was . go figure   br    br   although you don  t get to know the clutter family as well as you do in the book  it was a good decision to focus more on perry and dick and the pain  staking process of tracking these guys down . john forsythe is also impressive as alvin dewey . there are simply no flaws in this one .   out of   . best performance  scott wilson with r . blake a close second . highly recommended   
it  s nothing more than a weird coincidence that i decided to watch starlift on the   th anniversary of the day in june     when president truman  s ordered us forces into the korean war . starlift  you see  is set largely at travis air force base in california in the years when it was being used as a staging post for soldiers being shipped out to fight in korea . but you  d need to do your own research to know this because not once during the film is the name  korea  mentioned . we see transport aircraft flying out fresh troops and returning with wounded soldiers but there  s no mention of where these men will be fighting or getting injured . which is kind of weird for a film designed to wave the flag and salute america  s men in uniform . released in december     by warner brothers  starlift is a very obvious effort to replicate the success of the studio  s star  studded world war two home  front morale booster  hollywood canteen .  this     crowd  pleaser told the story of two soldiers spending their last three nights of leave hanging out at the famous armed forces nightclub in la hoping to get a date with joan leslie . but really it was just an excuse for warners to trot out every star under contract  from joan crawford  john garfield  and barbara stanwyck to peter lorre  bette davis  sydney greenstreet and more . starlift features two air force soldiers hoping to meet fictional starlet nell wayne  a mask  like janice rule  and persuading a bunch of warner bros stars to put on a show for the departing troops . but in place of crawford  garfield et al the best the brothers warner could scrape up in     were doris day  ruth roman  gordon macrae  virginia mayo  gene nelson and phil harris with fleeting appearances by james cagney  randolph scott  and a clearly embarrassed looking gary cooper . this threadbare cast  whose combined star power would struggle to illuminate a standard lamp  is perfectly matched by the crummy production values . presumably in an effort to save money several long scenes were shot using really really bad back projection . how bad is it  you can see the join where the screen meets the floor of the soundstage  to describe starlift as a sloppy  lazy and third rate movie is to do a disservice to films which are sloppy  lazy and third rate . it  s just terrible . avoid it .  
i voted excellent for how well the acting was  not for the content . it still gives me chills after reading the book  then watching the movie . two ex  cons are traveling to their destination to rob a family of money from a safe one of the cons learned about while in prison . during the ride  the tension begins to mount  as the soundtrack in the movie adds to the overall anticipation . after the killers are done with their work at the farm  the following morning the family  s remains are found by the daughter  s church friend . the blood  curdling scream  as the scene pans onto the telephone with the cut cord  really made my blood run cold and gave me chills . that the killers met their just fates is a small comfort for this doomed family . robert blake was excellent in his portrayal of perry smith . the book was also excellently written by truman capote .  
actress ruth roman  s real  life philanthropic gesture to help entertain troops arriving from and leaving for the korean war at an air base near san francisco jump  started this all  star warner bros . salute to patriotism and song . many celebrities make guest appearances while a love  hate romance develops between a budding starlet and a painfully green and skinny air force corporal  ron hagerthy  who looks like he should be delivering newspapers from his bicycle  . seems the corporal has fooled the actress into thinking he  s off to battle when actually he  s part of a airplane carrier crew  flying to and from honolulu  you  d think she  d be happy he was staying out of harm  s way  but instead she acts just like most childish females in     s movies  . doris day is around for the first thirty minutes or so  and her distinct laugh and plucky song numbers are most pleasant . roman is also here  looking glamorous  while james cagney pokes fun at his screen persona and gordon macrae sings in his handsome baritone . jane wyman sings  too  in a hospital bedside reprise following doris day  s lead  causing one to wonder   did they run out of sets   for undemanding viewers  an interesting flashback to another time and place . still  the low  rent production and just  adequate technical aspects render  starlift  strictly a second  biller .     from   
loved it but still have nightmares over the hotel manager . the movie  was presented well  with the choice of actors carrying their roles to reality of the writing . many scenes gripped the imagination and created a nail biter . the progression of situations were cleverly written  making me believe the story was headed one way only to find a new twist on what i thought might be the obvious . too bad there have to be commercials . i have told many friends to watch for further showings and i of course will view again . i enjoyed the scenery of the film and felt this added to the plots and intrigue . husband and wife heated discussions  or should i say fights   were very realistic . the initial situation is a common one but the escalation into the story presented fortunately is not . i want to thank all who were involved in this great entertainment film . thank you  looking forward to the next films    when  whidbey  
when i was younger i really enjoyed watching bad television . we  ve all been guilty of it at some time or another  but my excuse for watching things like  buck rogers in the   th century  and  silver spoons  is this i was young and naive ignorant of what makes a show really worthwhile .  br    br   thankfully  i now appreciate the good stuff . stargate sg   is not good . the   year  old me would love every hackneyed bit of it  every line of stilted dialogue  every bit of needless technobabble . the writing is beyond insipid so bland and uninspired it makes one miss star trek voyager . if your show makes me long for the worst trek show ever  you  re in trouble .  br    br   the film stargate is a wonderful guilty pleasure  anchored by two solid performances by james spader and kurt russell  full of fascinating egyptian architecture and culture  a wonderful musical score  and cool sci  fi ideas . with the exception of a little of the original music  none of what made the film fun appears in this show . even richard dean anderson  who made macgyver watchable and legend interesting  seems like he  s half asleep most episodes .  br    br   the budget must have been very low because the sets sometimes look like somebody  s basement . the cinematography isn  t much better  as vanilla and dull as the scripts . it amazes me that shows with a lot more style  like farscape  and substance  like the reimagined battlestar galactica  have smaller  less rabid fanbases than this pap . it just doesn  t deserve it .  
i saw this in the theater during it  s initial release and it was disturbing then as i  m sure it would still be . it was the first part of    and this was still making the rounds in towns across america and there had recently been a mass  murder in my hometown where i saw this where a man went on a shooting rampage . the freshness of that close  to  home event combined with this dramatized true story made for a very disturbing theatrical experience . it really brought to life the excellent acting of robert blake and scott wilson . i was familiar with the novel based on the true event by truman capote and the screenplay and direction by richard brooks wove the event and truman  s interpretation into compelling gritty cinematic adaptation . music from quincy jones effectively scores it  s story . i  ve only seen this a couple times since . it was too real . almost like being a witness to the crime itself and riding along with the killers . i would give this a  .  of a possible   . society is so desensitized to violence and crime today that this probably seems slow and tame and could be viewed with less effect but to anyone over   this will be a hallmark into the examination of the criminal psyche .  
whoa boy .  br    br   ever wanted to watch a documentary about a megalomaniacal jerk ruining his own life and alienating everyone around him  well they exist  in many forms . but have you ever wanted to watch said documentary about one who didn  t ultimately succeed in doing anything despite everyone  s praises about how much of an artistic  genius  he is  well you could probably just grab a camera and find someone like that in any local scene  i know they  re everywhere and i don  t even follow the local scene   or you could save yourself the trouble by spending money watching this tripe .  br    br   the premise is good and  honestly  it  s not as if the filmmakers knew precisely where it was going considering that  s one of the difficulties of doing a documentary . we are made to follow two bands  the brian jamestown massacre  lead by anton  and the dandy warhols  lead by courtney . i  ve heard of the dandy warhols before watching this movie . . . not so the brian jamestown massacre . why  well from this documentary  s perspective  because the brian jamestown massacre  s intergroup dysfunction refused them the ability to really make it in the music industry . however  instead of this becoming an analysis of the two separate bands and how one was able to succeed  the focus becomes much more on anton and his insanity .  br    br   because  see  anton is a  genius .  because he plays rock music . he really  understands the evolution of music  . . . because he plays rock music with a lot of different instruments . his music is considered  post  modern retro but the future  . . . because it  s rock music . he wants to bring out a  revolution  . . . through rock music . okay so let  s face it . . . twenty minutes in and this is one of the stupidest kids i  d care to watch a documentary about .  br    br   the documentary itself doesn  t really lend itself to showcasing any of anton  s talent  because in the nature of editing down     hours of material into a quarter short of two hours we don  t really have the time to focus on that . so instead we watch anton   the genius   the socio  maniacal loser  be a jerk for the two hours and are just told to understand that he made really great music . whether he did or not i won  t know  because its not like the documentary had enough time to prove it . what i do know is that then we  re left with a story about some self  centered obnoxious twerp running around the country calling himself a god of music and doing nothing to back it up . why even bother watching that  people like anton don  t deserve the attention they seek  the hope and admiration of all those different people  and especially a post  failure paean to lost potential . this movie plays like a two  hour rough  cut vh  special for a reason he goes on and on about the music  but it  s all about the image and the attention . look at the guy  look at how he dresses  look at how he acts  look at how he tries to create controversy because he can  t afford marketing .  br    br   honestly the only interesting character in this film is joel  and that  s because of anyone in this documentary  joel is the only person who seems to have any fun . maybe it  s because he  s the tambourine man . the rest of them are all  rock stars   they deserve our attention  and admiration  and interest  and engagements  they are out there to  save rock and roll .  do you remember when the white stripes were supposed to  save rock and roll   yeah  that was because of anton  and it  s  selfish of them not to mention me  anton  as an inspiration .  what a load . people like anton are best left forgotten . this documentary explains why mainstream music is so dull   because music execs have to deal with people like anton for a living and ultimately can only really throw their support behind someone safe and passionless . thanks a lot  anton . your antics ruined music for everyone you touched  whatever the opinion to the contrary is . and if people  in the know  about anton disagree and he really was a genius  it still shows how bad this documentary is that it cuts it down that way .  br    br     polarisdib  
sorry  i don  t have much time to write . i am not a psychologist but have known one for   years . she said that scott wilson portrayed a sociopath  no conscience  extraordinarily well . i agree  she also said that robert blake portrayed a person with anger and impulse control who had a conscience but couldn  t control himself superbly . i agree  what a chilling and tremendous film . i have seen over     films and would rank this in the top    . my lifelong friend deals with clients such as these regularly . my only criticism was the preachy narration at the end of the film . many people grow up in less than ideal circumstances but only one in a million will behave as these  losers did .  
truly bad and easily the worst episode i have ever seen . . . . ever .  br    br   they tried to make up for it by giving it the   we know we are doing this  routine . that would have been funny if it weren  t for the fact that  the simpsons  had already done it . and it still wouldn  t make up for it if they had come up with the idea in the first place .  br    br   the flashbacks took place as part of the usual character  s  mainly j . d  s  fantasies . the flashbacks weren  t even of actual events that occurred  just compilations of say  j . d falling over or  i don  t know . . . . elliott falling over . if i wanted to watch a scrubs compilation i  d go on youtube and not waste half an hour of my life .  br    br   scrubs has ultimately fallen into the trap that most sit  coms have to  and it disappoints me  they managed to go  and a quarter seasons without an episode like this .  br    br   i was hoping that scrubs wouldn  t have to be that kind of sit  com .  br    br   and just as a passing thought  why the hell was dr . cox bald   
herbet clutter  wife bonnie  and their teenage children kenyon and nancy were much liked and respected in their tiny town of holcomb  kansas   but in the early hours of   november     all four were brutally murdered . rather unexpectedly  the crime made an impression on author truman capote  who rushed to the scene and followed the course of the case to its conclusion . the result was the book in cold blood . controversial  shocking  and exceptionally well  written  it became an international best seller and it remains a touchstone for crime writers to this day .  br    br   the     film version of capote  s work is almost as remarkable as the book itself . filmed in black and white in many of the real  life locations  it has a slightly documentary quality  icy and detached   and the overall cast is exceptional . this is the film on which robert blake  s reputation as an actor rests  and deservedly so . as killer perry smith  blake traps you between a profound distaste and the shock of unexpected sympathy it is a masterful performance from start to finish . as richard hickock  scott wilson is no less fine .  br    br   like capote  s book  the film opens with smith and hickock as they travel to kansas and brings them to the clutter home   only to suddenly flash past the crime to detail the investigation that finally resulted in their arrest and conviction . the centerpiece of the film has always been the moment at which we at last see what occurred in the clutter home actually filmed in the clutter house itself  it is a spinechilling sequence  horrific and deeply disturbing .  br    br   director and writer richard brooks guides the film with a very powerful sense of deliberation  erring only in the sense that he allows the film to become slightly preachy . given the overall power of the film  however  this becomes a trivial annoyance . strong stuff   and recommended .  br    br   gft  amazon reviewer  
when  my deja vu  my deja vu  aired last season  i was pleased . scrubs  i thought  is doing something clever and unique in regards to the clip  show concept . instead of replaying footage  they  re replaying jokes in a self  aware manner  and i really enjoyed it .  br    br   i found it really unfortunate that i was wrong . one season later  they succumbed to that which almost all sitcoms inevitably do  the clip show . . . and it looked like it was put together by the work  experience kid . dr cox  s shaved head shows just how lazy the editors were in putting it together  as it doesn  t appear again until  my long goodbye  some  episodes later . i can  t imagine that a wig is too much effort when it comes to maintaining the continuity of what was once a well  constructed sitcom . who knows why it was slotted there  it just seemed lazy and out of place  reminding me  largely  of episodes that have aired within the past year .  br    br   three second clips jammed together with background music is a dvd extra for a  very  rainy day  not an episode of prime  time television .  
the premise to this movie was one which focused on the polarization of of ideologies in the united states . . this was a highly combustible scenario in america whereby two entirely different cultures collided . what justified such heinously depraved actions anyway  . . as this film presents the scene   while hickock and smith drank  these two men were not intoxicated  nor were they under any kind of influence of drugs   it was a clear cut case of cold and calculated deliberation . . basically  these violent acts were the end result of emotional and social neglect . . . anytime past      we as a nation have nurtured an empathy for deviates who have been victimized by their environment . . . however  this incident takes place in       this dreadful revelation sideswiped us  and mired the nation into a tailspin of conflicting ethics   with the recent release of the movie  capote  based on truman capote  who was the creator of the documentary  in cold blood   the american people have cultivated a new found fascination with this film   robert blake played the role of perry smith  one of the villains in this movie . . . this is seemingly appropriate given the notoriety he has been involved with concerning his personal life    in cold blood  centers on the element of the unexplained . . . there was no vengeance involved  there was no material gain to be acquired  there was no potential for social advancement here either  this is merely an instance of a latent and insidiously belligerent anger which ends certainly did not justify the means   the situational diatribes which hickock and smith lamented about were always ambiguous   under the circumstances  why then should they take their frustrations out on an anonymously unsuspecting and innocent kansas family  . . will geer  grandpa walton  plays the prosecuting attorney who is sickened by this act of macabre capriciousness   his argument is thoroughly convincing . . . his contention being  these two men who demonstrated no mercy are now asking for yours  this is a line of logic which would induce me to render a verdict of a conviction if i were to be one of the members of the jury   absolute disdain for your precarious plight in life does not serve as vindication for orchestrating a capital crime   it was capote  s instincts that dictated that such a deranged act of violence should have been brought to the american public  s attention   as it turn out  it was a harbinger of things to come . .  in cold blood  did just that   this incident was the calm before the storm relating to a pertinent aspect of emergence to the radical      s   such a lethal charade also served as an insight to the isolated interests which would besiege many typical americans for the future     br    br   truman capote does a tremendous job on authenticating this savage occurrence with his book   which was a best seller  and  with this documentary as well . . . the acting in this film by robert blake and scott wilson  as well as people like john forsythe  was incredible   the director  richard brooks    cat on a hot tin roof    blackboard jungle   elmer gantry  and  key largo  to name but a few    was outstanding in his collaborative efforts in this movie   i think that  in cold blood  is one of the best films in the history of movies   the film depicts two reprehensible spawns of depravity who delved into demented theatrics  and wound up captivating a trite gratification for being acknowledged at a pejorative nationwide level   . . . . this movie pinpoints a psychological discontentment which spurs on an emerging bevy of counter culture purveyors of violence   our nation  s ideologies are incredibly different now  than they were in       this movie introduces the american people to the emotional and vacillating culprits who initiated such a precarious metamorphosis in our overall value system   i recommend to everyone that they see this movie . . .  in cold blood  was the focal point to the film  capote   think about it  making a movie about a movie constitutes a rare and coveted accolade in hollywood   in the case of  in cold blood  it is an extreme example of a movie which is vicariously clairvoyant  intellectually elevating  and  of course  it goes without saying   in cold blood  was utterly spellbinding  as well as a totally remarkable movie    
i debated as to whether or not i should tick the spoiler box . since    of this show has probably already been seen by any follower of scrubs it probably doesn  t come under the category of a spoiler .  br    br   clip shows . grrr . we all knew friends was going down the tube when they started with clip shows . . . and five and a half years into scrubs they  ve gone and fallen down that hole .  br    br   i have to wonder if the writers just couldn  t be bothered writing that week and just said to themselves  let  s show the other funny stuff .  it didn  t work .  br    br   for starters  showing all the times that people have fallen down isn  t funny when taken out of context . it  s not funny to see todd dangling by his banana hammock unless we know why he was dangling by his banana hammock .  br    br   second  for what was supposed to be a compilation of jd  s fantasies  one was turk  s dream  another also wasn  t his fantasy  although i forget which .  br    br   and that  s the problem . this episode is totally forgettable . we  ve seen all these things before . and the collection of clips of people dancing  why  that  s not funny .  br    br   finally  i must admit two of my favourite scrubs moments were shown in the last compilation . . . dr . cox realising that ben died . . . and jd telling him how proud of him he is .  br    br   but even seeing those moments again didn  t save the episode . the summary says it all .  br    br   worst episode ever . bill lawrence  please don  t let your show go the same way as friends  keep it fresh  keep it funny . . . or wrap it up .  
easily one of the ten best movies of the   th century . in cold blood is brilliant in the simplicity and realism of its storytelling  and absolutely riveting .  br    br   robert blake walks away with the film . the story seems to be presented almost entirely from perry  s viewpoint  despite dick being the leader and planner of the pair . the viewer will invariable perceive dick as being more unstable  immature  and generally feel like perry would not have been pulled into this nightmare but for dick and his need to be somebody and pull off a big score .  br    br   based on a true story with particular attention to accuracy  in cold blood depicts the story behind the brutal and senseless murder of a rural kansas family one cold  windy night  because dick has bought into an age  old rural myth about prosperous farmers having a safe full of cash in their home . as  prosecutor   a character that isn  t given a name in the script   played by will geer  so astutely points out  their lives are bought for only    a head . director richard brooks wisely chooses not to share with us the gruesome details of the murders until the end of the film  prior to this we only know it has happened and watch the lives of dick and perry slowly unravel as they attempt to escape not only being apprehended by law enforcement  but also perry  s own ever  escalating sense of impending doom . he repeatedly makes remarks   no one ever gets away with a thing like that   and  i can  t help thinking we left something behind that belongs to us .  dick is neither mature nor moral enough to feel any compelling sense of guilt over their crime  only irritation at perry  s . indeed  after they are caught  it is dick who breaks first  and suddenly faints when finally confronted with irrefutable proof that places the two men at the scene of the crime . i felt somewhat sorry for perry from the very beginning of the film  and more  so as events progressed  but i only loathed dick .  br    br   the genius of the film is the engaging manner in which the story is played . we do not for a moment think we are watching actors portray characters  but that we are watching the actual participants and events as they occurred . the story is unrelenting  taunt  the run time slightly in excess of two hours feels more like just a few minutes .  br    br   for those of you who are interested in such things  i noticed a couple of the  goofs  listed here on the imdb page for in cold blood are incorrect or exaggerated . such as the  reversed  process shot  at the beginning of the film  as dick and perry are driving across the bridge into kansas . to begin with  this isn  t even a process shot  the camera is actually positioned in the backseat and the image you see beyond the windshield of the car is real . a large cargo truck located to the left front of dick  s pontiac creates the optical illusion that they are going backward because it is traveling at a greater rate of speed  but closer examination will reveal that they are indeed going forward and it is an actual shot filmed from a moving vehicle .  br    br   as i previously stated  this is one of the ten best works of   th century cinema  not recommended for the very young due to some course language and implied and inferred violence  no actual in your face gore as a modern film would resort to   but a thoroughly excellent film .  
but  lets face it . . . it got a few nostalgic sighs out of me .  br    br   the show is just so consistently great that it is allowed to have a few hiccups . i get a new season  and just power through them like i have   days to live . i like the idea of wrapping it up  but it was much more of an end of season episode which would explain the following  br    br   dr . cox isn  t supposed to be bald for a couple more episodes  only explanation i can think of is they changed the rotation of the episodes or had to re  shoot the beginning .  br    br   and that my friends  is why the hell cox is bald .  br    br   anyways  the show is awesome . . . bring on the  th season .  
the actual crime story at the core of in cold blood might seem a little  tame  for those who are weened on the classic serial killer stories  gein  bundy  dahmer   or just the more notorious cases out in hollywood  oj  manson  . the essential facts in the case don  t amount to anything terribly convoluted perry smith and dick hickock  here played by robert blake and scott wilson respectively  met by some luck  conspired to rob a man  s farmhouse safe out in kansas  and after killing a family of four with a shotgun and dagger came away with   dollars . aside from their returning to the us after fleeing briefly to mexico  there isn  t a whole lot of mystery to the resolution either . they were caught by some stroke of ironic chance  a cop followed them and stopped them for having a stolen car after smith and hickcock helped out a boy and his old man collecting bottles for change   and sentenced to hang by the neck until dead . the story ended in     .  br    br   but it  s the handling of the story  moments of moot  the performances  a pure cinematic touch that brooks and his absolutely marvelous  the late  great  dp conrad hall provides in crisp widescreen black and white  and a storytelling style that feels realistic without going into too much naturalism or too much melodrama  save perhaps for near the end  which is pitch perfect  . the air of tragedy hangs over the story  and not so much because of the killings themselves  no matter how brutal they are as the  third  man that is conjured up  as the narrator observes  by smith and hickcock teaming up  but because of the inevitability of the story . you feel somehow for these criminals  who in any other hands would be just be conventional figures or something out of a b  movie . these aren  t good people  but they aren  t necessarily monsters either  at least all the way through .  br    br   it  s also an excellent  road  movie  as we see smith and hickcock on the road down to the clutter residence  the actual night  time scene of the crime taking place late in the film   then on to mexico  then back to america towards las vegas . we get to soak in the personalities of these two  probably even more than that of the police detectives who at first have no leads and then finally get a break with an inmate . it  s actually kind of disturbing to get this close to these two  sort of akin to the aimless quality of malick  s badlands characters   and it  s also a sign of daring for the period . there  s no sermonizing  like  he did this because of that and this or the other .  we see how smith had an abusive  psychotic father  but that smith loved and hated him . the complexity there is too much for the movie  maybe even too much for capote  s book  which  i should confess  i  ve still yet to read  though i plan to  . and we see hickcock is this creature of slick confidence  i . e . getting the suit and other things with bad checks   but without any deep  rooted explanation to it all .  br    br   the streak of fatalism in in cold blood is some of the starkest of the   s  and it  s the luck of brooks to have its stars as blake in his top  of  the  pops performance  this and lost highway  oddly enough considering his real life saga in recent years  his quintessential pieces of work   and wilson  s breakthrough before becoming a character actor . while they  re surrounded by fine supporting work  they themselves are eerily absorbing  driven more or less by greed and fantasies of escapism with treasure  and staying pretty much grounded in their situation through the death row and on through their ends . is this a morale of the story  if there could be one  that it  s more horrifying to confront the possibility that those who kill can  t be classified  of good vs evil getting smudged  smith apologized for his crime before being hung  and he points out   but to who   this is a story bound to give the most hardened fans of true  crime the bonafide chills  and it  s quite possibly the best american film of     .  
i thought it was not the best re  cap episode i  ve every seen  though my viewing partner handed me a tissue in anticipation of the brendan fraser moment . . . sigh  . it was nice to see cox outside of the incessantly brittle  coxism state  he is in these days  if only for brief moments . i also enjoyed trying to place the episodes included by the length of the character  s hair  or height  in case of jd  and the youthfulness of the earliest episodes . i can also see how zach might be well on the way to a very chevy chase  or is that matthew perry  prat  fall induced chemical slide  already acknowledged on conan  . a little side note  the song  now stuck in my head  from the janitor  induced dance montage was  diner  by martin sexton .  
a unique film . . . one of the best of all time . acting  script  quincy jones  score  cinematography  editing  etc .   just fantastic . as most viewers know  this movie is based on truman capote  s book about the famous murder of a kansas farm family  the clutters  by a couple of young guys during a misguided robbery . i  ve never seen a movie that so brilliantly turned a true story into a riveting film .  br    br   the actors are solid across the board  but the focus is on the killers  dick and perry  and the law enforcement team pursuing them . scott wilson  as dick hickock is amazing . cocky  twitchy  and devoid of compassion he comes across so charming  oily and plausible . robert blake as perry smith is extraordinary as well   lonely  and at once empathetic and cold  blooded . who could fold these characteristics into one individual and make us buy it  he does  and it  s brilliant  a key point of the book is how it took the intersection of these two very differently sociopathic individuals to create the critical mass to commit such a stupid and heinous crime  and these two actors make it work beautifully . both had moments in their subsequent careers  but these performances are high water marks  and that stands for acting period .  br    br   the cops are wonderful too . leading the investigation is john forsythe  but the other three detectives are great as well . unlike contemporary movies where producers feel it necessary to endow police with superhuman assets or foibles  these are just genuine flatfeet  working the case with determination and competence . they seem so real . i  ve never seen cops on the screen so powerful in their authenticity and i  ve seen most of the crime classics going way back . really one of a kind in this respect .  br    br   partial spoiler coming  this movie  s unique in that you already know what  s happened  but i  m warning for the record  .  br    br   of course  the best scenes from the best crime shows and movies are the interrogations   the intellectual fencing matches between the cops and the crooks  mano a mano . this movie has hands down the best interrogation scenes you  ll ever see on film . watch dick and perry try to bluff their way through and slowly unravel  unaware the cops have the goods on them . but the cops need to deftly prep their suspects to fracture their alibis and hopefully elicit confessions . this is some of the best acting you  ll ever see . think glengarry glen ross without the showboating .  br    br   to help translate the sad and horrific angles of this true story  icb was filmed at the actual clutter house  and i  ve heard the clutters were played by film students to give them a genuine feel . it works . these seem like decent  simple folk . it makes the crime so palpable and sad .  br    br   i  ll stop here . it  s not a feel  good movie  but it is one of the best movies ever made  and so unique  it  s mandatory viewing for every film buff .  
the only reason i am commenting is because i finally figured out why dr . cox was bald . although we probably all realized it at the same time this week  dr . cox is bald because they showed these episodes in a different order than they filmed them . the latest episode when our favorite grumpy  jesus  loving nurse roberts dies dr . cox shaves his head . the must have showed them out of order for some odd reason and forgot they slipped up the continuity . for shame  scrubs . they  ve made mistakes like this before . i remember when elliot is trying to date scott foley and her hair is wet  seconds before water hits her . i try not to notice these things  but my favorite show needs to step it up .  
the movie was gripping from start to finish and its b  w photography of the american heartland is stunning . we feel we are right there with them as they cross the big sky country and then into mexico and back to america again . near the end of the movie  the reflection of the rain on robert blake looks like small rivers of sweat and tears rolling down his face . in the end  we follow them up the stairway to their final moment .  br    br   the two criminals  performed by robert blake and scott wilson  as perry smith and dick hickock could be seen on any street in any town . hickock is a smiling boy next door and smith  the guy with stars in his eyes from the wrong side of town . this point is made in the movie and it always surprises us that criminals are no different in appearance than anyone else . evil  even the most vile  is part of the human condition . these two delusional men kill an entire family  looking for a safe that isn  t there . once on the run  they start writing bad cheques  carving out a trail for the authorities .  br    br   there are many fine supporting actors . i like john forsyth as the detective on the case  alvin dewey . also  will geer shines in a brief but excellent scene as the prosecuting attorney .  br    br   i have often wanted to see this movie all the way through  having only caught it in short snatches i did finally get to it after buying the dvd . the result is the finest classic crime movie i have ever seen .  br    br   don  t miss this brilliant movie . to me  this is what great film  making is all about .  
there are no spoilers in this review . there  s nothing to spoil .  br    br   no plot  nothing most clip shows at least try to tie the clips into the plot by some tenuous stretch  but this didn  t even do that . clips  three lines to lead into the next interminable sequence of dull clips . . . ok  so perhaps they were short on production time  but they  d have been better off skipping this episode entirely . what a waste of time .  br    br   i  m not sure how this got made  in fact . scrubs is usually much better at subverting tropes  but somehow this got through . . . .  br    br   thank heavens they were back on form by the next episode .  
i haven  t seen this in over   yrs but i still remember things about it .  br    br   this film could not have been made in color . the stark grays are what make it  and was life really that simple in the      s   what stands out the most in my memory is perry smith going to the gallows . his breathing under the hood just before they sprung the trap . i don  t think i could watch that again . . . . . once is plenty . it  s like that unnamed guy at the beginning of  papillon  who is dragged out in terror to the guillotine . the guy that said watch this on a double bill with  dead man walking  should have added the last   minutes of  i want to live  as well .  br    br   some of my ancestors being  aristos  went to the guillotine in        so my feelings on the death penalty are rather intense .  
trash  bad movies usually ain  t bad because i will find them enjoyable . this one is so bad that i am out of words to describe it  its below  bad  . there is an instruction in the beginning of the film that tell you what to do during the movie . needless to say  the instruction and a dozen of beer couldn  t help me seat through the entire film . one tagliner compares this one to killbill which is certainly unthinkable and an insult to our intelligent . obviously . this tagliner had a plan to tempt you into buying this dvd .  br    br   if you are considering renting this one  put it down  if you are thinking of buying  dont think  if you unlucky to have this dvd  dont play it  throw it in trash bin immediately .  
criminals perry smith and richard  dick  hickock believe mr . clutter of holcomb  kansas keeps a large supply of cash on  hand in a safe . on november        at two a . m . they end up murdering mr . and mrs . clutter and their teenage son and daughter . after a little police investigation the two men are found and sentenced to be hanged . in cold blood       is directed by richard brooks . now  i haven  t read the truman capote novel this movie is based on  so i can  t make any comparisons . the movie does a brilliant job telling of those horrific events that actually took place . robert blake is excellent as perry . of course  blake had the murder case of his own a few years back  being accused of murdering his wife . he  s free now  but we still don  t know the truth . what ever that may be  he  s still a very fine actor . scott wilson does remarkable job as hickock . john forsythe is terrific as alvin dewey . paul stewart is very good as jensen . jeff corey is marvelous as mr . hickock . same thing with charles mcgraw who plays tex smith . john mcliam portrays herbert clutter  ruth storey is his wife bonnie  brenda currin is the daughter nancy and paul hough is the son kenyon . great job by each of them . there is much to remember from this film . let  s start from the lighter side . it  s pretty great when perry wants to go hunting for gold in mexico and says to hickock remember bogart in treasure of the sierra madre   and blake himself was in that movie as a boy  and it  s a fun moment when they  giving a ride to that boy and his granddad  collect bottles and turn them in for refund money . those darker moments are the most haunting ones . the flashback sequence  where you see the murders happening  is extremely terrifying . when perry goes to kill the girl  nancy last  and she says  oh  please  don  t  . . . the brutality of man  it  s impossible to explain . then the hanging scene . first there goes hickock and then perry  first talking to the minister . in the last image of the movie we see perry hitting the end of the rope . sure movies  and books may try to sympathize these villains . especially perry  s character is someone you could feel sorry for . he thinks of his mom  and dad who he hates  but still loves . but it doesn  t change the fact both of these men these actors portray are brutal murderers  who don  t feel sorry for anybody . they go to this house and murder an entire family  in cold blood . how could you sympathize these people   
i have no clue as to what this was shot on but you can definitely tell that they had no budget . bad acting  horrible cinematography  and lame plot and some decent special effects do not make a good movie . the wwf style cinemtography will make you cry . . . where  s the tripod   the filmakers aimed high  but sorely missed their mark .  
it  s hard for me to criticize anything that mitzi kapture does . she just radiates beauty and grace on the screen and is a phenomenal actress . that notwithstanding  yes  the plot was predictable . i think perhaps if jill had slept with richard then it may have made him a little crazier than he already was  which would have added more to the suspense . it would have also been nice to see jill and her husband find out about richard  s little problem with his ex  wife  maybe a bit more back story . i was a little disappointed with the ending of the movie . i would have liked to have seen more closure with zack  s death and possibly closure with her husband . i do have to say though  i will never be able to look at a flare gun and not picture her standing there . it was a very fitting end for richard . of course  mitzi rocked  i am so looking forward to her future projects .  
the sign of a classic movie is that it ages like a fine red wine . this movie is no cabarnet and certainly no casablanca . i agree with the other reviewers that the children in the movie are an unfortunate mutation that now plagues us nightly in sit  coms and the dialogue is stilted and preachy . but let  s look at the obsolete theme of the movie .  br    br   with the passage of sixty plus years of history comes wisdom . since watch on the rhine  author lillian hellman has been exposed as a bidenesque plagiarist with her so called real  life story  julia  from her book  pentimento  . as one of the most odious of a plethora of western  based ussr apologists  it is obvious her theme in the play and movie was to stir america to action to save the bloody soviet dictator stalin and international communism from the fascists  who had just proved their military superiority in spain .  br    br   as one reviewer correctly noted  this is not a pro  american play and movie  as lillian went to her grave an american  loathing communist . this film chronicles that familiar smug stupidity of the intellectual elites that made up the american left then  just as now the full mooner left of the daily kos and michael moore has bought into the conspiracy theories and once again given aid and comfort to those who would destroy america .  
tremendous black   and  white nighttime cinematography  and plenty of it  highlights this supposedly  true life account of a     s murder in kansas in which an entire family was wiped out by two men .  br    br   the story was written by truman capote  so you get the very liberal anti  death penalty message at the end of the film  which is ludicrous knowing the facts of this case . robert blake and scott wilson play the two atheist losers who have twisted outlooks on life and who unnecessarily murder this nice family .  br    br   despite the annoying slant at the end  this is a riveting story from the start and the cinematography makes this even more fascinating . famed photographer conrad hall did a fantastic job on this . it makes me wish more modern  day films were made in black  and  white . see it on dvd .  br    br   blake  wilson  john forsythe  jeff corey and the entire supporting cast are excellent in here . my third viewing of this film came in early april of      shortly after blake  in real life  was pronounced innocent in the murder trial of his wife . one can  t help but look at blake and this film differently after that .  
i still don  t know why i forced myself to sit through the whole thing . this  film  wasn  t worth the memorex dvd  r it was burned on i thought i was watching the end result of a group of middle schoolers stealing their parents  camcorder . this is by far the worst movie ever made . i truly  from the bottom of my heart  want to sue aaron yamasato for the two hours he stole from my life .  br    br   so apparently  it  s supposed to be bad on purpose however  if you should end up in hell and are forced to watch this    minute coil of doo  doo  you  ll see that yamasato is really trying hard to make an awesome flick . the actors attempt dramatic kick  ass performances comparable to crimson tide but come closer to the marine .  br    br   the crap acting is just the tip of the iceberg . the camera angles are awful . the story is c  movie at best   the plot isn  t even good enough to be considered b  movie caliber . the dialogue attempts to be dynamic and witty  but is crap like everything else . rumor has it that a hard copy of the screenplay actually attracts flies . plus  the techno score is annoying . . . not because it  s techno  but because it  s non  stop . that  s right  the music plays in the background the whole time  acting as a subliminal reminder of how bad this thing is . i don  t care what the disclaimer claims  i don  t buy it . bots was not made this bad on purpose  because it takes itself way too serious for what it was a joke .  br    br   this  film  was very low  budget . but that is no excuse for its record  setting suck factor . great films are born of substance  not budget . bots had neither .  br    br   allow me to further articulate the overwhelming power of this    minute waste of time if i were having a three  way with jessica alba and jessica biel in front of a tv and blood of the samurai came on  i  d be out of there quicker than steven seagal in executive decision .  br    br   undoubtedly  some people will try to defend the movie . two  maybe three . they  ll say   it  s grindhouse chop  socky   or  cheesy in a good way   or  it  s so bad  it  s good   those people are idiots . a movie is either good  or it  s bad . there  s no such thing as a good bad movie . but there are such things as idiots that like crappy movies . don  t get me wrong there are lots of cornball not  to  be  taken  seriously movies out there that are enjoyable and entertaining . slither is one . bots is not .  br    br   this suckfest runs about an hour and a half  and in my humble opinion  it  s   minutes too long . the best thing about this  film  is the dvd cover  so next time you  re near the wal  mart dvd bargain bin  take a look at it   don  t touch it  just look   and quietly walk away .  
as i have matured  my fascination with the academy awards has evolved from intense interest to casual amusement . as in a few other comments that i have written  the bizarre results of academy award voting are often difficult to explain . the omission of  in cold blood  in     as one of the five best picture nominees is one of those inexplicable instances  especially when one of the nominations that year went to the wretched and unwatchable  dr . dolittle .  while only an insomniac or masochist would tune in to that rex harrison disaster  richard brook  s powerful adaptation of truman capotes non  fiction novel retains its ability to capture the viewer  s attention and leave him or her completely drained by the final fade out . while there is nothing particularly graphic or gruesome on screen  the film is definitely adult material . based on a nebraska multiple murder in the      s and filmed in the actual locations where the murders took place   in cold blood  was filmed by master cinematographer conrad hall in stark black and white  and his screen compositions demand to be seen in their correct widescreen aspect ratio . together with quincy jones  s unsettling score  hall  s work should have been credited above the title with brook  s screenplay as the three pillars on which this intense classic is built . the performances are fine as well . scott wilson is all cold charm and robert blake intense introversion as the two killers .  there is an inside joke at one point when blake speaks of bogart and  the treasure of the sierra madre  while the duo are driving to mexico . as a child star  blake sold the lottery ticket to bogart in that john huston film .  the film  like the book  is definitely slanted towards the killers and has an anti  capital punishment tilt  although the remorselessness of the murderers somewhat negates that sentiment despite the difficult  to  watch final scenes . some have criticized the film because it does focus on the criminals  their backgrounds  and lives  while the clutter family  which was literally murdered in cold blood in the middle of the night  come across as one  dimensional characters of little import . this lack of balance comes from the book as capote spent much time with the two killers while they were on death row . the clutter family was apparently not researched to the same depth . however  whatever feelings one may have for or against capital punishment   in cold blood  will leave you mired deep in conflicting thoughts . run a double bill with  dead man walking   and you may not speak for days .  
spoiler   i love branagh  love helena bonham  carter  loved them together in  mary shelley  s frankenstein   but this   br    br   i can understand an actor  s desire to stretch  to avoid the romantic stereotype . well  they did  but really  the script droned on  bonham  carter  s clothes were tres chic  and the occasional speeded  up  madcap  sequence could have been an outtake from a beatles  movie  or the old rowan and martin laugh  in .  br    br   i never got the point  other commenters say the branagh character was a dreamer . i never felt that . he was a loser  and not very bright  and certainly not endearing . the business with the bank robber disguise was merely painful to watch . certainly not amusing .  br    br   bonham  carter  s realistic  one supposes  attempts as realistic speech were harder to understand than the first   minutes of lancashire accent in  full monty .   br    br   the poetic ending  with him high on a hill with her buried under the monstrosity of his airplane was too orchestrated . was there a choir of angels  or merely a soundtrack   br    br   go back to the classics or something with a spine and an arc to it . donate this to pbs .  br    br    
richard brooks excellent     film of truman capote  s novel in cold blood is a perfect companion piece to philip seymour hoffman  s oscar winning performance in the     capote . they really play well together  try them on separate nights  . it is unusual to find films made   years apart that mesh so well . these two truly enhance each other . even though different actors play the roles of killers perry smith and dick hickock  the two pieces blend well . only the part of the writer  played by paul stewart  in the brooks films is weaker  as they give him a different name then capote . i  d suggest watching capote first  followed by in cold blood . it makes for a powerful experience   
i just happened to stumble on this film channel surfing . my first reaction was   oh god not again   . it  s so hip to play a retard these days it has become pretentious and frankly despicable . for some reason  though  i stayed and watched it  til the end . maybe it was my faith in the actors  hoping they  d give me something to cheer about .  br    br   and surely  ken and helena can act . also  the movie progresses into something better towards the end and actually does make a point .  br    br   helena bonham carter also surprised me with her character . jane has a mean side that she uses to keep distance and repel pity . then again she has a soft side that  s just looking for love . the only thing that surprised me even more was branagh  s character . . . this was a triumph of acting  the movie itself is nothing unique .  br    br   see if you are an acting student . . . if you  re looking for pure entertainment you can skip this one . it  s sean penn serious  oh my  that was a bit harsh it does feature a couple jokes . . . not for escapists though .  
in the year       in cold blood   a riveting thriller from      has two new interesting contexts that it did not previous have . first  and most chillingly  is the fact that it  s star  robert blake  was recently on trial for murdering his wife . second  the recent oscar winning biopic   capote  showed the muddled back story of this haunting true crime tale  s author  truman capote . these two new twists make the film timely for a modern audience .  br    br   as a stand alone film from it  s era   in cold blood  is top notch in every way . most notable is the stunning black and white cinematography from conrad hall  later of  american beauty  and  road to perdition  fame  . many of the stills from this film of the kansas farm house at night or the tree  lined back country roads could be sold as fine art photography . combined with the cracker  jack direction from brooks and superb editing in the early scenes  where we see the mundane daily life of the innocent family about to be senselessly slaughtered beautifully intertwined with the plotting of the two hapless killers   a rich brooding atmosphere is created that sets the stage for riveting suspense  even when everyone knows how this is all going to end due to the fact its all based on real life events  . it  s also great to see in this day and age how brilliantly staged a harrowing murder scene can be depicted where the graphic nature of the act is transmitted to the viewer subliminally with nary a drop of blood shown on screen .  br    br   the film is also anchored nicely by robert blake  s eerie performance as the more sympathetic yet senselessly brutal side of the killing duo . the flashback scenes to his horrible childhood are extremely well done . then there is the scene towards the end of the film where he is speaking to the reverend before being sent to the gallows and he makes his last  confession  so to speak . it  s one of those classic movie moments that is a perfect marriage of gritty acting  superb writing  flawless direction  and haunting photography . i dare you to erase from your mind the stark image of the rain  s reflection from the window flowing down robert blake  s pallid face in lieu of actual tears .  br    br   the only thing hampering  in cold blood  is the slow moving middle act where the killers are on the lam and the forced nature of the social commentary at the end . the tacked  on political message about the death penalty is secondary to its compelling depiction of the mad killers and their prey .  
i have to admit i did not finish this movie because it was so amazingly stupid and not worth watching . i watched it with a room full of kids  who also were not laughing at the stupid and crude humor . the director  bob dolman  seems to be so obsessed with sphincters and genitalia that it overrides the real story that i grew up with . this is not a good film for kids  besides the fact that the content is so crude  the movie is just stupid has bad flow and has no intelligence behind it . what a waste of a perfectly good story . if you read the book when you were younger and loved it  then don  t waste your time watching a movie that so badly botches it that it makes you angry . buy your kids the book instead .  
remarkable  disturbing film about the true  life  senseless  brutal murder of a small  town family  along with the aftermath  and examination of the lives of the killers  dick hickok and perry smith .  br    br   no matter how much time goes by  or how dated this film may look  it still resonates the utter incomprehensibility of criminal acts such as this .  br    br   this really traces multiple tragedies the tragedy  brutality and senselessness of the murder of the clutter family  a decent farm family in small  town holcomb  kansas and the wasted  brutal and sad lives of hickok and smith .  br    br   an interesting point is made in the film that neither of these two immature  scared  petty criminals would have ever contemplated going through with something like this alone . but  together  they created a dangerous  murderous collective personality one that fed the needs and pathology of each of them . they push each other along a road of  proving  something to each other . that they were man enough to do it  to carry it out neither wants to be seen as too cowardly to complete their big  score   an unfortunate and dangerous residue of the desolate lives they led . these were two grown  up children  who live in a criminal  s world of not backing down from dares who constantly need to prove manhood and toughness . in this instance  these needs carried right through to the murder of the clutters .  br    br   the film contains a somewhat sentimentalized look at the clutter family  but the point is made . these were respected  law  abiding  small  town people  who didn  t deserve this terrifying fate . the movie also gives us a sense of the young lives of hickok and smith . perry smith  whose early life was filled with security and love  but watched in horror as alcohol took his family down a tragic path . hickok  poor and left pretty much to his own devices  not able to see how he fit in  using his intelligence and charm to con everyone he came into contact with .  br    br   an interesting  and maybe the first  look at capital punishment  and what ends we hope to achieve . is this nothing more than revenge killing for a murder that rocked a nation at a time when we had not yet had to fully face that there might be such predators among us  or does putting these guys at the end of a rope truly provide a deterent to the childish and brutal posturing of men like these  is it possible to deter men who live lives of deceit  operating under the radar  believing they fool everyone they come into contact with  to be deterred  you must believe it  s possible you will be caught . is it possible to deter these men who believe they are too clever to be caught   who have committed hundreds of petty crimes  and got away with them  this was supposed to be a  cinch    no witnesses  .  br    br   when caught  hickok finds he can  t charm and con the agents the way he had department store clerks . smith  who believes he deserves such a fate anyway  who seemed to be the only one who truly grasped the gravity of what they had done  willingly tells the story when he learns that hickok has cowardly caved in . hickok blinked first . a silly game of chicken between two immature  emotionally damaged  dangerous men .  br    br   fascinating psychological thriller  telling a story of a horrendous crime in this nation  s history . stunning portrayals by robert blake and scott wilson . these roles made their careers .  
i was bored  around   pm  so i watched this movie . and i could not stop laughing . everything was so ridiculous . the way the kids were acting like they were older than   just cracked me up . one of the kids had a ring  that supposedly killed people after  or so years . it gave me the impression that he wanted to be a gangster .  br    br   it  s pretty hard to take little kids seriously  especially when it has to do with eating worms . they act like everything is such a big deal  like if billy  the main character  doesn  t eat the worms then the world will end .  br    br   this is a good movie for little kids  excluding the fact that a  year old says  penis    but not for teens or adults who don  t want to waste their time .  
i  ve seen a great many films  but  in cold blood  stands alone in a class by itself . it excels in every department . the fact that it contained few big stars helps push it over the top as you pay closer attention to the characters and their story  rather than the name on the marquee . blake and wilson turn in stellar performances of the killer duo . the fact that much of the films is filmed in the actual locations where the crime took place  even inside the very house  add additional chills . the black  white photography darkens the mood and the photography is magnificent . there are many outstanding cinematic works out there  but if i could only vote for one to top the list  it would most probably be  in cold blood  .  
squeamish    year  old luke benward  as billy  worm boy  forrester  moves to a new town . at his new school  young benward is picked on by the other boys . they put worms in his thermos . getting his gag reflex under control  benward tosses a worm on freckle  faced bully adam hicks  as joe guire  . benward bets he can eat   worms in one day  without regurgitation   br    br   tall  teased hallie kate eisenberg  as erika  erk  tansy  uses her archery skills to help benward . director and former sctv writer bob dolman promises   no worms were harmed in the making of this movie .  in a related note  sctv star andrea martin has one funny scene .  how to eat fried worms  is loosely based on thomas rockwell  s popular novel . pre  teen kids into gross  outs should enjoy the film .  br    br    how to eat fried worms          bob dolman  luke benward  adam hicks  hallie kate eisenberg  alexander gould  
imagine turning out the lights in your remote farmhouse on a cold night  and then going to bed . there  s no need to lock the doors . the only sound is the wind whistling through the trees . sometime after midnight a car with lights off inches up the driveway . moments later an intruder beams a flashlight into your darkened living room .  br    br   what makes this image so scary is the setting a remote farmhouse . . . at night . based on truman capote  s best  selling book  and with bw lighting comparable to the best      s noir films   in cold blood  presents a terrifying story  especially in that first act  as the plot takes place largely at night and on rain drenched country roads . it  s the stuff of nightmares . but this is no dream . the events really happened  in     .  br    br   two con men with heads full of delusions kill an entire kansas family  looking for a stash of cash that doesn  t exist . director richard brooks used the actual locations where the real  life events occurred  even the farmhouse . . . and its interior  it makes for a memorable  and haunting  film .  br    br   both of the lead actors closely resemble the two real  life killers . robert blake is more than convincing as perry smith  short and stocky with a bum leg  who dreams of finding cortez  buried treasure . scott wilson is almost as good as dick hickock  the smooth  talking con artist with an all  american smile .  br    br   after their killing spree  the duo head to mexico . things go awry there  so they come back to the u . s .  stealing cars  hitchhiking  and generally being miserable as they roam from place to place . but it  s a fool  s life  and the two outlaws soon regret their actions . the film  s final twenty minutes are mesmerizing  as the rain falls  the rope tightens  and all we hear is the pounding of a beating heart .  br    br   even with its somewhat mundane middle act   in cold blood  stages in riveting detail a real  life story that still hypnotizes  nearly half a century later . it  s that setting that does it . do you suppose people in rural kansas still leave their doors unlocked . . . at night   
i was dreading taking my nephews to this movie  as i didn  t think it was going to be well done . the kids  ages  and   were set on seeing it  so i caved . i must admit that it was not nearly as bad as i had thought  but was still a far cry from the book . the movie seemed right on with the   year old  s understanding and sense of humor . i found that the  year old understood what was going on and he was presenting solutions to the issues that were taking place . i eventually had to explain that sometimes the movies don  t show the best solutions to the problems because it is more fun to watch what happens if they make the  silly  or  stupid  choices .  
although it was released way back in      in cold blood still remains the benchmark by which all true  crime films are matched . veteran writer  director richard brooks  elmer gantry  adapted truman capote  s non  fiction book into a chilling docudrama that retains a disturbing power even today  thirty  five years later .  br    br   robert blake and scott wilson portray perry smith and dick hickock  two ex  cons who  on a tip from hicock  s old cellmate floyd wells  broke into the holcomb  kansas home of herbert clutter  looking for a wall safe supposedly containing        . but no safe was ever found  and the two men instead wound up killing mr . clutter  his wife  and their two children  getting away with only a radio  a pair of binoculars  and a lousy forty dollars . two months on the run  including an aimless  vacation  in northern mexico  ended in las vegas when cops caught them in a stolen car . but it eventually comes out  after merciless grilling by kansas law enforcement officials  that these two men committed that heinous crime in holcomb . tried and convicted on four counts of murder  they stew in jail over a five  year period of appeals and denials until both are hanged to death on april        .  br    br   blake and smith are absolutely chilling as the two dispassionate killers who show no remorse for what they  ve done but are concerned about getting caught . john forsythe also does a good turn as alvin dewey  the chief detective investigating the crime  as does gerald s . o  laughlin as his assistant . in a tactic that is both faithful to capote  s book and a good artistic gambit all around  brooks does not show the murders at the beginning instead  he shows the two killers pulling up to the clutter house as the last light goes out  then cuts to the next morning and the horrifying discovery of the bodies . only during the ride back to kansas  when blake is questioned by forsythe and narrates the story  do we see the true horror of what happened that night . we don  t see that much blood being spilled in these scenes  but we don  t need to . the shotgun blasts and the horrified look on the clutters  faces as they know they are about to die are more than disturbing enough  so there is no need to resort to explicitly bloody slasher  film violence .  br    br   brooks wisely filmed in cold blood in stark black  and  white  and the results are excellent thanks to conrad hall  s expertise . the chilling jazz score by quincy jones is the capper . the end result is one of the most unsettling films of any kind ever made  devastating in its own low  key fashion . it is a     minute study of a crime that shook an entire state and indeed an entire nation  and should be seen  though viewer discretion is advised the  r  rating is there for a reason .  
i knew it would be  but i gave it a rent for some laughs and maybe some mindless fun . anyone whose read a few of my reviews can see that i  m pretty easy to please . i really didn  t think i  d end up feeling this negatively towards it .  br    br   the plot is about an ancient army of dragons lead by a huge serpent that will destroy the world unless some chosen heroes who inherited the responsibility can become one with a good dragon or something i don  t know . it was so stupid  i didn  t bother to put much effort into retaining it .  br    br   it features a really dumb story full of ridiculous moments and goofy concepts . so many of the events just felt totally random and sudden .  br    br   i assume there was studio interference or something because the biggest problem i have with the movie is the fact that the story seems like it  s trying to be so grand and epic  yet everything happens so fast and goes by so quickly . i feel like i  ve just been hit with a million plot points and action sequences in one big ball . the film is like a punch in the face . it doesn  t take much time at all to establish characters or drama . imagine the  lord of the rings  trilogy in   minutes you could have most of the epic battle sequences  but there would be absolutely no buildup and you  d hardly care about the outcome of those battles . that was the case with dragon wars   minutes of me not giving a crap  waiting for it to be over .  br    br   fantastic cgi with some okay directing  but horrible acting  speedy pacing  and dumb story made this very hard to enjoy on any grounds . i probably would have loved it when i was  .  
this film  i thought  was the great journey that forrest gump should have been . it  s a rare treat to watch a cable movie in the middle of the day and come across a foreign film that is done so well . this film is very well acted  and i strongly suggest it to anyone who can take sub  titles .  
this movie only gets a second star because i work downtown and liked seeing it destroyed . the effects were pretty good  i hear it was the most expensive korean film ever made . being the most expensive and still absolutely horrid makes it a massive waste of money . i rented it so i won  t complain too much about what i paid  but it was a couple hours that i  ll never get back . plot holes abound . terrible acting all across the board . i do not recommend giving up the time to watch this movie  life is too short . if your friends want to watch this  run away . i can  t stress enough how bad this film was .  br    br   where the hell did the second dragon come from  why didn  t he show up sooner  how did they have rocket launchers on dinosaurs just    years ago   
a good picture is worth all the words . this film has the most poetic scene ever dreamed of about people with down  s syndrome . and i won  t spoil it by telling you . you  ll want to see it yourself .  br    br   pasqual duquenne is an amazing actor . i did not need to understand a single word he said to understand his meaning .  br    br   the film has a magic of it  s own . after watching it i understood better that we put too much value on achievement and not enough on the people we love . passion and simplicity is all we need .  
this movie was so very badly written . the characters had no depth . they should have never made a movie of this . my   yr old son could write a better screenplay then hyung  rae shim .  br    br   the only actor that didn  t suck was the zoo guard . he was the only funny and believable one of the lot .  br    br   i love movies and try to give them the benefit of the doubt  but this one was up there on my lame list at number  . number  being demonicus .  br    br   for those of you who actually thought this was a good movie  you are in serious need of brain surgery .  br    br   most of the creatures in the movie weren  t even dragons . . . so why did they call d  war   
i watch most movies that nick mancuso is in because  frankly  i love the guy  even though as he ages he is typically cast as the baddie  long  time fans should note that he is for some reason blond in this flick  . it  s a fairly familiar movie in terms of plot  but then most movies these days aren  t exactly original   but rick roberts is appealing as the imperfect husband  martha macisaac is equally appealing as the daughter  and mitzi kapture does a good job  if that was her goal  of being angry and sometimes pretty hard to like . nick has still got it in terms of being able to demonstrate both charm and psychosis . however  too much of the plot takes place off  screen   like motivation  prior behaviors  good times and bad times   and things that seem apparent to the characters never quite make it to the audience  i . e .  me  . the final scene leaves everything to be desired in the  but what about . . .  category  and overall  i can  t say that i cared much about any of the characters . that being said  it was what it was   a reasonably entertaining way to spend the afternoon   and i still like nick .  
there seems to be little in the way of middle ground where watch on the rhine is concerned . one either likes it very much  applauding its sincerity  its liberal point of view and fine acting  or else loathes its obvious propaganda  mediocre dialogue  cardboard characters and overall tendentiousness . i fall very much in the latter category  and found the film and play    concerning the activities of european refugees in washington during wartime   a crushing bore  worthwhile mostly for the acting  and even then only intermittently . that author lillian hellman was on the side of the angels is irrelevant . her plays were written for people who shared her point of view  and she seldom explored ideas that weren  t already held by the author and audience except to point out how dreadful the  other side  is . even when i find myself in one hundred percent agreement with what she has to say    as in rhine   i still can  t stand the way she says it . her characters are unreal  and while her ear for dialogue shows a certain facility for the way people talk she possesses no real brilliance or originality . she really had nothing new to say . i thoroughly agree with the late mary mccarthy  s long overdue dismantling of hellman reputation some years ago . for those who think the theatre is dead or in extremis and yearn for the good old days  i urge a peek at watch on the rhine  as bad in its way as angels in america  which only goes to show that the theatre had one foot in the grave sixty years ago .  
this is the kind of movie the us doesn  t make . it  s why people rent foreign films . it  s a great story about how one person  even if he is retarded can make a person find reason in an empty life . everybody can learn from georges . it also shows how people that are mentally challenged suffer in their life and shows them in a very realistic way  i think  . as its classic in foreign films this movie has a bittersweet ending  but that only makes it a better movie .  
based on the korean legend  unknown creatures will return and devastate the planet . reporter ethan kendrick is called in to investigate the matter  and he arrives at the conclusion that a girl  stricken with a mysterious illness  named sarah is suppose to help him . the imoogi makes its way to los angeles  wreaking havoc and destruction . with the entire city under arms  will ethan and sarah make it in time to save the people of los angeles  written by anonymous i think he should have included the following  br    br   this is the worst movie i have ever seen the best actor in the whole thing was the cg dragon and overall it s u c k  ed i am p i s s  ed at not only with the people who made it but myself for watching save yourself the time read a book or something maybe a little dr seuss that should be more stimulating .  br    br   no wonder the guy is anonymous sorry for the format this site has a lot of rules this is the only way i could get this out without adding more  
this is one of my favorite movies of all time . i loved rain man with dustin hoffman and tom cruise . this movie is in some ways similar  but makes rain man seem artificial  shallow  unemotional  and trivial by comparison .  
i hate to even waste the time it takes to write   lines on this atrocity . hyung  rae shim is lucky that bad film  making isn  t a capital crime or he  d be put to death twice for writing and directing this disaster . i  m amazed that this film had a    m budget  but actually glad in the sense that it was such a tremendous flop  that shim will hopefully  never get to make another movie the rest of the life and  therefore  not waste any more of filmgoers time . i would think the actors would have gotten together and lynched him by now .  br    br   with the effects resources available to them  a great film could have been made with this budget . as usual  the failure should have been spotted at the very beginning with the terrible script and story .  transformers  was another visual feast with a weak script  but this makes it look like  citizen kane  .  
though the plot elements to  the eighth day  seem like they have been done plenty of times  the film still has much of the spark  mystery  and symbolism that jaco van dormal  s first film had . though not as good as  toto the hero   which will always remain on my favorites list  the movie still leaves us with lots of emotions . daniel auteil  from      s flavorless  the closet  downplays his part  afraid to overact  rightfully so  the role could have easily been ruined if the actor was overly dramatic  . however  i felt the part needed a bit more realism to it  focusing more on the character itself instead of simply the character  s growth .  br    br   don  t walk into this movie expecting the dark humor and unexpected twists that you got from  toto the hero  because you will be disappointed . however  the film still serves as a decent  if not flawed  movie  
whatever his name is  the writer and director  should be locked away in hopes garbage like this is never made again . this one is in a battle with some of the most awful movies of all time . sometimes movies are bad in a way that they  re actually sort of good . not this one . this was so bad i got angry . seriously . a drunken   year old could have come up with a better script . what a waste . all the actors were completely uninspired to work at all  the cgi was barely acceptable  the sequences of scenes were completely retarded and hurt the little bit of story there was  it  s like he just decided   i want this to happen and this to happen  but i don  t care how we got there  just shoot it and put it in . whatever  i  m going back to my trailer to pick my nose  if anyone calls for me  i  m not here .  shame on you whatever your name is . shame on you .  
my all  time favorite movie  i have seen many movies  but this one beats them all  excelent acting  wonderful story . you will  as a  normal  caring person start to love george . altough he is an actor  he is also himself and a very lovable person . and maby most important thing you will learn to respect  look different to people with down syndrome .  
first off i  d like to point out that sam niel is nowhere to be seen in this film . what  s a movie without sam niel . did anyone see event horizon . d  wars did have potential a movie about a dragon that controls lizards with rocket launchers does sound cool but sadly isn  t . nope  no sam niel  no good movie . i recommend taking the  dollars or so it takes to rent d  wars and adding   to that five and buying a sam niel film  apparently to submit this i have to have ten lines of text so heres a list of sam niel movies i recommend  br    br    jurassic park  dead calm  hunt for red october  event horizon  not jurassic park three  br    br   overall d  wars is a pile  
i really love this movie  saw it again last week after  years or so . this movie is perfect  great acting  great story  great directing  camera  work  music . it is a gift to show it to someone you love . too bad jaco van dormael did not make more movies after this one . top  work . really    br    br   today  it  s  years and  days later then the comment above . it was never posted because it was not more than   lines . anyway  i saw  le huitieme jour  again yesterday . this is with no doubt in my movie top  . together with  cinema paradiso  which is also a masterpiece . the soundtrack is also really good . i am really curious about  jaco von dormael  s  new movie . i hope it will complete my movie top  . if you see this movie  rent it . or even better . buy it . because you will want to see it again .  
my original review of this film was simply the word sht written     times over . although this was a very accurate critique  i felt my review should be a little more descriptive .  br    br   i will start with the lead actress her facial expression doesn  t change once in this film  she doesn  t show fear  happiness or depression . her skills in body language pretty much come down to darting her eyes left and right and looking like she don  t know jack . she is an emotionless husk who i  m guessing has had too much botox . her lack of facial expression through out the film is outmatched however by the deplorable love affair with the lead actor which seems to spring out of nowhere and has them making out on a beach and falling in love within a couple of hours of meeting one another . the lead actor  whose hair demands more attention than he did  was mediocre at best and did not once make me feel like he was genuinely in peril .  br    br   the only thing that tops the hideous acting is the directing  storyline and inaccuracies in plot . i have seen tampon ads with more structure than this movie . the is no development in character  they just seem to say and do things that i could never believe a real person would .  br    br   this film would not have been bad if it was trying to be crap on purpose like snakes on a plane but it was trying so hard to be a serious action flick that i couldn  t even laugh . i believe i now have a brain tumour from watching this film and thinking up all the different ways i could have used that budget and cg team to create something far superior . if i bought this on dvd i would smash the dvd to pieces  burn it then dissolve it in hydrochloric acid for good measure . don  t watch this film   
when i first saw this movie  i thought it was the typical  love thy neighbour  stuff . . . . the more the movie was going on  the more i got involved . acting is magnificent from both actors  direction was great  the story unusual . cried my eyes off  first time in my life for a movie . a real must have in any serious videoteque .   out of    
this is the sorriest collection of clichs  strung together on a straight line  with no discernible plot or any decent way of acting i  ve seen in a long time . canibalising scenes from star wars  reign of fire  godzilla  lord of the rings and harry potter  it went for an all out war on the viewer intelligence . was this movie good  it wasn  t a movie at all   br    br   even if it doesn  t go so low to actually be funny and achieve cult status as a comedy  the movie does offer some laughs . the trick is to put the copied scenes in the context of their original films . gandalf can be funny talking korean  the basilisk looking snake hilarious if you compare it to a kitten and the evil henchman can provide a lot of fun switching back and forth between sauron and jaja  bing  or whatever his name was .  br    br   bottom line any pleasure derived from this movie is completely dependent on the state of intoxication and imagination of the viewers  not on the director  writer . shame on you  shim   
i picked this film up based on the plot summary and critics  quotes on the back of the box . i  m not big into foreign films  and didn  t know what to expect . i don  t really care for subtitles either . but i absolutely loved it  it has a simple  lovable quality that leaves you feeling good about life . i found myself laughing out loud repeatedly . i  d recommend this picture to anyone  even those who abhor foreign films with subtitles . this one makes it worth the effort .  
rant start i didn  t want to believe them at first  but i guess this is what people are talking about when they say south korean cinema has peaked and may even be going downhill . after the surprisingly fun and moving monster movie  gwoemul   aka  the host   of       which actually succeeded in making a sharp satire out of a b  movie genre   successive korean blockbusters have become more and more generic  even though their budgets  mainly spent on special effects  have become more and more fantastic . do south korean movie  makers really want to squander all the audience and investor goodwill  which their industry has built up since the     break  out film  shiri  swiri   by making a whole series of big budget mediocre movies like mainland china did  rant end  br    br   the only  reason  i can fathom for making this movie is to dupe the investors into financing the most detailed and fluid digital animation of a korean  east asian  styled dragon i have seen to date  for the final scenes . now if they had introduced that dragon at the beginning and given it more personality and purpose like in the      dragonheart   the movie might have had a few more redeeming qualities other than having lots of digitally animated dragons . remember  dungeons  dragons  in      hasn  t anyone learnt that the trick is not how much special effects you use  but how well you use it  i hope there are more  and better  korean legends they can use  because they have just killed a lot of international interest in korean dragon legends with the way they filmed this one .  br    br   in short  i agree with all the negative reviews gone before and wonder how koreans felt about having their folk anthem  arirang  being played at the very end . as a creature feature  i would have given it at least  stars out of   if the special effects or action sequences had been worth it  but i  ve seen many video games with better camera work and scripting  just less dragons  .  
if you would like to see a film of different kind  if you feel the love in your heart  even if you miss the lord  this film makes you think . although georges is mentally handicapped  you can see the ultimate intelligence at the end  when love gives you directions not the brain . i am not emotional  but this film makes you feel the human being . the film is as good as forrest gump in my belief . the foreign movies are sometimes more interesting  yet there is not enough advertisement to make them popular .  rang  e khoda   the color of the god  by majid majidi is another example of such foreign movies  almost with similar taste .  
i am a guy  who loves guy movies . . . i was looking forward to seeing a dragon fighting with the army with cool special effects . all of this happened  however  this movie was the worst movie i have ever seen in my life .  br    br   the story was standard  but the portrayal of the story was terrible . the scene transitions were the worst i have ever seen . why would you walk out to a beach to relax if your life was in danger  the serpent dragon  s actions itself was very poorly written . . . and the serpent dragon  s attack capabilities varied widely throughout the movie  several times the main characters should have died .  br    br   the director attempted to infuse a love story in the middle of the movie during the most stressful times  this movie was obviously not watched after it was made  i love movies  but had to force myself to finish watching it  thank god i did not buy this  i borrowed it from a friend .  br    br   do not buy this  do not rent it  just watch discovery channel . . . much more exciting .  
this film is about the unlikely friendship between a businessman and a man with down syndrome .  br    br   the character development in this film is excellent . we get to believe that harry is a businessman who neglects his family  and georges is an innocent man who craves loving and care from the  normal  society . acting is excellent  and the cannes best actor award is well deserved .  br    br   the fantasy scenes in the film highlights the fact that georges misery towards his abandonment by his family  and his desire to be treated like a normal person . the song that gets played repeatedly also reinforces this message . the film shows that people who are mentally handicapped are good natured . we have been treating them with discrimination and neglect  a fact that is highlighted by the scene where georges gives a present to the waitress in the kitchen  . if we get to understand and share these people  s world  both we and the mentally handicapped can become very happy .  br    br   i was so drawn into the film and the characters  emotional experiences . it is a touching film for good natured souls .  
i  m giving this movie a  because there are no negative numbers in imdb rating system . this movie was horrible . it was very badly acted  the story was poorly written  the action was unbelievable . i doubt even the salvation army could battle as poorly as the troops did in this film . i won  t even write any plot spoilers because the movie just isn  t good enough for plot spoilers . to write comments on the plot would be pointless . if i were to compare this movie  i  d have to compare it to reign of fire  however although i didn  t like reign of fire either  that movie at least was better than this one .  br    br   some of the people in the theater left before the movie was even halfway done . the only reason i didn  t was because i simply didn  t think to do it . i was hoping for a feast of cgi and fighting masterfully done  but that isn  t what happened . the martial arts lasted all of   seconds and that was from an exercise routine done during the flash  back scene  very disappointing . the cgi was not done well either . one scene comes to mind . during one of the earlier tank battles  the troops are firing away at . . . . . . nothing . someone forgot to cue the animation guys on that bit of film so the street was totally devoid of bad guys . i  m also thinking the bad guy  s voice was dubbed by the voice  over of imotep from the mummy movies . had that same scraggly echoing thing going on .  someone owed some royalties  here   since i mentioned the fight scene  i  ll say yeah that might be considered a spoiler  but only to the purists i suppose .  br    br   don  t go see it  don  t buy the dvd when it comes out either . you have been warned .  
the number of times i  ve had tears in my eyes when watching a movie are few . and there is only one time when i have really cried and that was when i saw this movie . this movie has some kliches but i really don  t care . i cry even as i write this and it was quite some time since i saw it . it is perfectly acted and all the production values are good  but what really matters is the simple and wonderful message . we all know it in our hearts  but it is not always easy to remember that the only thing that really matters in life is love in all it  s forms . it  s only when we love that we  re truly alive . i know how sentimental i sound and i promise i  m not usually like that . i  m quite a cynic . this movie has brought out stronger feelings of both sorrow and happiness in me than any other movies and it will probably always be the first movie i recommend others to see .  
hilarious  laugh out loud moments . . . and yet not a comedy . i particularly liked the planted gag of the ambulance soaking the  filthy bum  who then shouts after them in anger  you filthy bums   i mean wow  someone  s online degree in literature is paying off  the worst script imaginable  with plot introductions in an instant  ridiculous movement in the story  zero character development  even between the characters who meet . . it  s as if they all have known and trusted each other for years  dodgy voice over with added echo effects  and plot holes . . oh god are there plot holes   to be honest i write this not even having watched the entire thing  but i certainly expect the last   mins or so to not exactly enhance the already pathetic attempt in cinema . . . thank god we  ve got a good looking lead to somewhat make us forget that the film is a load of . . . well . . . use you imagination for the conclusion of that particular sentence   
this film starts out with a family who were all going in different directions and their teenage daughter martha macissac  olivia dunne  was very much in love with joe macleod   zack  . the mother is played by mitzi kapture   jill dunne  who suddenly walks in on her daughter and zack making out and then all kinds of problems seem to surface . jill dunne has a husband who is always traveling or staying away from the home quite often . there are also big problems that occur when the family decides to go on a camping trip which their daughter olivia dislikes and just cannot adapt to sleeping outdoors and requires a tent to be kept out all the bugs . in many ways  olivia does an outstanding performance as the teenage and nick mancuso   richard grant  gives a great supporting role as a hotel owner . this film will keep you guessing how it will end and you will enjoy a film filled with plenty of horror and terror . enjoy  
it as absolutely incredible to me that anyone could make the comment that this film is not preachy . it is not only oppressively preachy  but absurd  stagebound  dramatically straight  jacketed  and painfully overwrought . watching it  one feels like an  year old child being punished by having to write  i will not become a fascist  on the blackboard    times .  br    br   now i understand that it was made during the height of ww   and was intended to be a brave condemnation of hitler and the terrible suffering he brought about   which anyone would whole  heartedly applaud  and i  m sure it accurately captured the mood of the day . but it is presented in such an immature  over  obvious  sledgehammer way  it fails abysmally as a work of art .  br    br   the only good performances here are from paul lukas  who brings sincerity and intensity to his role as a quietly heroic anti  fascist and lucile watson as the amusingly ill  mannered rich grandmother who slowly comes to realize how dangerous the world has become . though their rootless upbringing has subjected them to all kinds of hardships  the children are ridiculously shown as robotically well  behaved little snips . they do not even remotely resemble real human beings . and bette davis  a great actress  here is so one dimensionally noble i cringed every time she was on screen . her every word  her every gesture is meant to convey how supportive and understanding she is of the sacrifices her husband has to make and the great cause he is fighting for  that she must  ve been wired to receive a painful electric shock if she dared allowed any hint of doubt or shading to surface in her portrayal .  br    br   so yes  this is a very important film  just not a very good one .  
everyone we meet influences our thinking  modifies our ways  a little bit of that person rubs off onto us .  the eighth day  takes up this theme  compare  rainmaker   . in this film harry  daniel auteuil  a businessman expert in sales psychology meets up with georges  pascal duquenne   a down  s syndrome child on the run . winning performances from both these actors give this film its main strength . the opening sequence is excellent where georges relates his theory on the creation of the world and in the closing scene we discover what god created on the eighth day . there are some moments in the story that are very frustrating for harry . for example  georges who is completely uninhibited demands a pair of expensive shoes and hasn  t enough money . it  s the kind of scene where you laugh through your tears . i liked the scene where the down  s syndrome group on a trip to the art gallery escape on a bus and gate  crash the paradis fun park . the most humorous of all the embarrassments is the scene where harry and georges pass a horse  float on the highway and  looking back  georges gives the driver a rude salute . but there are some gentle scenes as well  especially the impressive use of close  ups of hands  hands feeling the sun  wind and rain  hands reaching up  hands reaching out and clasping in love and friendship . this is true cinema which touches the heart . there are very moving scenes where georges proposes to nathalie  where georges cradles harry  s head in his arms  where georges keeps calling for his dear mom  where georges teaches harry to laugh . . i felt there was a profound message in the film that life is beautiful  the very presence of grass  did you know it cries when you cut it    the trees overhead  the song of birds  the little insects  all nature  s miraculous creatures . they are all there to be enjoyed if we but lie back  like harry and georges  look around us and listen . . . . . . a beautiful film .  
i knew it wasn  t gunna work out between me and d  wars from the moment we met . first its title was lazy . d war . like writing out dragon was too much for them . also . . . you really can  t be that blatant with your title unless your blue monkey . blue monkey can do whatever the hell it wants .  br    br   the second sign of a rocky relationship between us was the story  s insane progression . here  s the film  dreamy reporter guy reports on big snake tracks  flashes back to a time he and dad wandered into what must have been the competition for the store in gremlins and dreamy kid reporter finds a box that glows . old shop keep reveals several terrible truths . that bauraki a supposedly evil snake was cheated out of his chance to be a god . tells the kid that he  s a reincarnated warrior and that somewhere in la is his reincarnated lover and gives him a junk piece of jewelry . shop keep also reveals that despite his obvious whiteness he  s a    year old asian .  br    br   fifteen years later dreamy reporter remembers this perfectly and starts acting half crazy trying to find this random girl . cgi hijinks follow and in the last ten minutes my brain melts out of my nose . why  continue on dear reader if you have the balls .  br    br   so sarah  the reincarnated lover  has her own flashbacks . i have the benefit of having an asian best friend and in the scene where she starts to freak out and make a bunch of posters with asian characters on them he tells me that whoever made this movie has no idea what their doing . its a korean legend and she  s reincarnated from a korean princess but everything is in chinese . later that night her dragon tat starts to hurt  she calls the police cause it looks like she  s having a heart attack . see  in this mixed up crazy world they apparently handle heart attacks differently because the next time we see her she  s locked in her room with a guard outside and a nurse claims she  s crazy . i have a new phobia now  and its that if i  m ever in trouble the first responders will just assume i  m crazy .  br    br   i have another point of contention with my harsh mistress  dwar . there is a scene when patrick dempsey jr  dreamy reporter  is in a caf  with sassy black friend . in the scenes prior miffed near divinity bauraki has killed an elephant  slithered through a suburb and killed one of sarah  s friends . see  people were afraid to come out after     happened but we must have all toughened up after that deciding coffee and pastries were worth risking our lives for . business as usual  no way a giant snake will stop me from getting my caffeine on . if i stay inside and fear for my life the terrorists and serpentine divinities win .  br    br   after being given a satisfying dragon on helicopter battle my cruel lover dwar treats me to a pi and vinegar filled scene to end it all with . bauraki has a fortress of his own and its right under la i guess . they don  t really say but dreamy reporter and sarah get knocked out in a car crash that would kill lesser men and when they wake up  yep dragon palace . some retarded dialog later a good dragon snake god pops out of nowhere and the snakes wrestle  make love whatever . and i  m not kidding good snake out of nowhere . maybe you think i  m blowing it out of proportion  i  m not there is no mention of this thing in the movie then suddenly . . . there  few seconds later and good dragon becomes dragon god  sets baurki on fire  sarah turns into a ghost and goes with dragon  god  dreamy reporter left in the middle of nowhere roll credits . . . thank god  br    br   now our relationship as rocky as it was had its good times . there was a guy that look like shredder from turtles and talked exactly like a tuskan raider from star wars . i  ll call him tuskan shredder . he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to it just could never be useful . he could walk through a wall in a scene where that wasn  t helpful . he could go in your dreams when that wouldn  t do any good and he could light ten random soldier guys on fire but not when it mattered . he was also allergic to touching that junk jewelry . i like him cause he was hit by a car twice in the same scene and made fantastic tuskan raider noises .  br    br   the actors for the most part were great . . . if great somehow meant terrible . jason behr  whom i thought was awesome in roswell i slowly find out can only act one way and that  s pretentious  spacey and patrick dempsey  ish  .  br    br   the one thing i love about this filthy prostitute dwars is its lead actor  bauraki . that giant snake acted his heart out . i  d dare to say that he was better at playing a cgi serpentine demi  god of evil then john barrymore was at playing richard the iii or hamlet . there was emotion in every scene  stealing the thunder from his lesser mortal supporting cast . when he ate an elephant i felt like no one past  present or future would ever eat an elephant with as much feeling . he was more then an actor  he was a force of nature and he put his heart and soul into every second of this cursed project . yes damn it  my favorite actor in this film was a cgi snake . i  ve got the balls to admit that  do you   br    br   here  s to hoping bauraki get  s more work and isn  t type cast  that jason behr finds a range of emotion other then dreamy stare  and that i never have to watch blue monkey again .  br    br   so  d  war its over . i want my cds back and let  s just be friends  
i saw this film first on my way home from paris to newark aboard air france in august     . the film itself i believe is quite a masterpiece . it  s the kind of film that people should be making . i still think daniel auteuil is one of the sexiest actors around . in this french film  he plays a divorced father and businessman who has lost his zest for life until he across a down syndrome man who lives in an institution with other down syndrome patients . the actors including the actor who actually has down syndrome create a believable friendship and relationship between these two unlikely men . daniel  s life and ours changes forever with the down syndrome man . he realizes that life is not just work and not play but for the living and loving and that  s what life should be all about . the ending is kind of silly though but i still think it  s one of my favorite movies . it  s enough to bring a tear to your eye .  
everyone does things that they later regret . things that they wish they could blame on drugs or alien possession . things that although seem rational at the time  later reveal themselves to be engraved invitations for suffering and endless recriminations of stupidity .  br    br   for some people it is signing the note for the new hummer  for others it is picking up a homicidal hitchhiker  for still others it is sending their bank account information to third world millionaires mysteriously strapped for cash .  br    br   for me it was a film .  br    br   d  war dragon wars in hindsight  i should have guessed how environmentally friendly and thoroughly recycled this movie would turn out to be from its stuttered and repeating title . but with my willing suspension of disbelief intact  and a naive faith stemming from the cool looking poster in the lobby  i really wanted this film to work . sadly  by the time the old man in the pawnshop explained the entire backstory  fifteen minutes into the picture  i had the sudden  sinking revelation that comes from knowing every plot point of a still unseen film . and worse i knew just how badly every point would all suck .  br    br   let me be perfectly clear here  the english language lacks sufficient nuance and depth in the field of ultimate evil to properly describe just how bad this film really is .  br    br   as for knowing all the twists of movie  i was wrong . in the spirit of the old godzilla films  whose scales this one is not worthy to fill  it conveniently sprouted extra sub  plots every time the main characters were threatened by the specter of meaningful dialogue .  br    br   it was infested with close calls  miraculous escapes  and concentrated deposits of poorly explained angst .  br    br   this film is what would happen if you gave the produces of the mighty morphing power rangers access to the national defense budget . and lots of liquor .  br    br   let me try to explain .  br    br   imagine you could get a hold of all the coolest  looking set pieces from successful action movies of the last decade first take the rasta  talking army of amphibians from star wars episode one and remove their prozac until they are ready to club navy seals .  br    br   next  take close approximations of kira knightly and tom cruise  you can even call him ethan as a  subtle  nod to the mission impossible franchise .  and give them lots of film noir narration  so no one get confused while trying to follow the wading  pool depths of their thoughts .  br    br   finally add a raspy  voiced villain in pointy armor worthy of a lord of the rings yardsale and a couple of giant cobras  angry at having their scenes deleted from latest edition of king kong  and lay them all out in no particular order in modern day los angeles .  br    br   now run to the drugstore to find something for your sudden migraine . when you return  puree these ingredients until any overlooked hint of originality is dissolved into a homogenized mass of cheese and serve semi  gelatinous .  br    br   at several points during this picture  i found myself saying out loud   make the bad movie stop   and breaking into tears .  br    br   to call this a b  movie would be giving it an undeserved promotion . after summer school  and a lot of physical therapy  it might possibly pass for a c level film if you could somehow sleep through most of it .  br    br   in short  if you ever find yourself with money and brain cells to burn  and the need to punish yourself for hideous  unspoken sins against humanity  dragon wars might just be the film for you .  
this film is close to be my favorite piece of celluloid . there is really not much i  d need or want to say here . except maybe  see this film  and  enjoy the excellent work by daniel and pascal   who carries you through this neat  funny and heartbreaking story about  spending your eighth day   your own day   br    br   seeing this film made me think seriously about how i spend my eighth day  my life  it appears  that some of us are wasting precious time doing things we think we need to do . either if it  s pleasing a career or just consuming tv  shows and ballgames . what we tend to miss is the satisfaction of being something for another person  make a difference . about taking room and time to be spontaneous and live  now   on the eighth day  . . . at least that was what i got from  the eighth day  .  
 . . . there  s no one else watching the movie . my husband and i went to watch it last night . it  s just a small theater  but there  s usually a decent amount of people there . not this time  my husband and i were the only people watching dragon wars last night  now we know why .  br    br   the movie was by far one of the worst i  ve ever seen . yes  the cg was good  but that was it . the acting  script  dialog  directing  editing  etc . was god  awful  since we were alone in the room  we felt free to talk during the movie . that is  we talked about how bad it was  that it reminded us of the mighty morphin power rangers  godzilla  mortal combat and the lord of the rings . it was like we expected to see rita and lord zed portraying commanders of sauron  s army .  br    br   the creatures were ridiculous . you can  t just introduce legions of dino  dragon  lizard things loaded down with cannons without explanation . the lord of the rings has a wide spectrum of characters  but it introduces and develops them over  movies  not in an hour and a half .  br    br   the scene transitions are horrible . i didn  t fall asleep during the movie  but even though it was an overly simple plot  i found myself getting lost in the plot holes .  br    br   the characters were caucasian americans  but spoke almost with broken english because of the badly written dialog in the script .  br    br   the final scene that could have redeemed some value of the movie . . . failed . ethan didn  t cry when sarah died . . . though he hadn  t known her for very long during this life anyways . he didn  t seem too upset to be left in  mordor   not knowing where he was or how to get back . we couldn  t for the love of god figure out where he was or how he got there either  but if he wasn  t upset we shouldn  t be either .  br    br   oh  and why did the dress that sarah  s spirit was wearing look like she borrowed it from queen elizabeth  one more thing . . . all  of the main hero characters were reincarnations brought back to finish the job . sarah completes her task and moves on to the afterlife . jack does this as well . then why does ethan get screwed  he  s left alone  without the girl  without a map  compass  helicopter to help him get back . what  s he supposed to do  send smoke signals  and if he gets back home  does he just go back to his job  he should have been given the same mercy of getting killed out of the movie that the other heroes had .  br    br   don  t waste your time or money on this movie . we only stayed til the end because we  d paid for it  but as soon as the credits hit  we were out the door .  
people tend to complain about the number of films being made about mentally disabled people . i don  t see this as a valid criticism  no more than complaints of too many films about any sort of people . jaco van dormael does a wonderful job with the script and direction . daniel auteuil and pascal duquenne work perfectly together  with duquenne basically playing himself . the film covers a surprisingly large ground of events  and isn  t simply content to go over what was seen in  rain man  . the ending is rather depressing  but it doesn  t ruin the wonderful story that has come before .  br    br    .  out of    
i went in to see d  war on a whim and with very low expectations . the movie failed to meet them .  br    br   i don  t mind stories that stretch credulity  remember reign of fire   but i do expect them to be internally consistent . this film leapt from howler to howler without pausing for breath  all interspersed with special effects that lagged far behind the likes of lotr or even godzilla .  br    br   a shape  shifting mystic warrior from korea  curiously metamorphosed into a caucasian antique dealer and popping up like deus ex machina to get the hapless protagonists out of their latest mess . a special agent from the fbi who seems to be completely boned up on ancient korean folklore because of the fed  s excellent  paranormal division   which has gone unremarked up to this point . lovers kissing on deserted beaches where one exclaims  i never meant for this to happen .  a reincarnated pair of long dead koreans who  died like star  crossed lovers .  mystic pendants  faceless hordes of robotic soldiers  that owe a lot to peter jackson  s orcs  and a serpent who wastes so much time roaring that every time its chosen prey is within reach something comes along to distract it .  br    br   the dialogue is appalling  the acting wooden and the effect of the whole was  to be honest  tedious . however  for me the crowning moment was at the end  after the finale  when the music for the closing credits was  arirang  this is rather like akira kurosawa closing  ran  with a karaoke rendition of my way  and let me be clear that i am in no way comparing director shim to kurosawa .  br    br   in short  a self indulgent  lackluster collection of clichs and narrative non  sequituurs which may appeal to the sense of the melodramatic so prevalent in koran popular culture but should not be worth the price of the ticket to any serious movie goer  or even a not so  serious movie goer . i would suggest that this bypass the movie theaters altogether and go straight to video  but i  m not even sure that it  s worth that much .  
on the eighth day god created georges . but the same as an eighth day doesn  t fit into the week  georges doesn  t fit into the modern world he has down syndrome and is therefore marginalized by society  shunted off to an asylum after his mother  s death four years ago . she was the only one who loved him .  br    br   harry is another man that isn  t loved anymore . his wife has left him  for reasons that she is unable to explain . he loses the love of his daughters  too  when he arrives too late at the railway station to collect the two kids  who wanted to spend the weekend with their father .  br    br   harry is a highly ranked businessman . he knows all the rules that enable us to succeed in our modern meritocracy . but he has entered a state of crisis  which reaches a climax after the loss of the love of his daughters . he questions the sense of his life  without obtaining any definite results .  br    br   harry and georges meet . at first harry tries to get rid of georges  the same as all the others do . but georges can  t be shaken off . and it gradually dawns on harry  how much he needs georges  if he wants to get over his identity crisis . it is georges who opens a new access to the world for him and who makes him view his life with different eyes . friendship and human warmth take the place of calculating striving for success . it is no surprise that harry now cannot avoid failing in his job .  br    br   georges helps harry to regain the recognition of the daughters . even his wife has to admit that the fireworks which he organized were worth seeing . nonetheless a reintegration into the old life is no longer possible . and the new one turns out to be nothing more than a dream with a time limit  which unstoppably will reach its end . the camera watches harry and georges from above  for one long minute  as they are both lying down in the grass  just savoring the moment . but the same as this minute will unavoidably go by  the friendship of the two men  which came into being in such a wondrous fashion  will not be long  lasting . georges is destroyed by the impossibility of love to the opposite sex and can see no other way out but to commit suicide . harry turns into a city tramp  who asks the car drivers that are waiting in front of the traffic lights for charity .  br    br   the movie describes modern meritocracy as a disastrous mechanism which devours positive values such as human warmheartedness or friendship . it is georges  the mongol  who seems to be capable of showing the way out of the dilemma  but unfortunately his plea comes to a bad end . however  his failure does not necessarily have to mean that it is impossible or not desirable to reach the aspired goal . the way he shows us is surely passable  although it requires a huge amount of willpower and  above all  the courage to apply a radical nonconformism .  
first off  i have no idea how this movie made it to the big screen . its not even the low budget sci  fi channel movie  its just awful . me and my friend who love action movies  independence day  jurassic park  lotr  etc . went to see this movie expecting this movie to me a transformers with dragons  mindless entertainment . all we got was a mindless hour and a half . the cg was not as bad as i was expecting  but the plot is so awful along with the acting  it made up for it . its basically a chinese legged of dragons returning every    years . . . sounds like a good remake of rain of fire  no  the plot tries to be deeper than it should be leaving not only plot holes  but with magic  and a very small actual war between dragons  rather big snakes  it just gets ridiculous . the director attempted to add a bit of humor in the movie which fail . me and my friend laughed through the whole thing  along with all  of the audience   and cant believed we spent money on this . the short trailer on tv makes up for most of the action while crap makes up the rest . i  ve seen a lot of b movies like reptilian  the cave  spider  and others  but i have to say if you want a non stop laugh for an hour  watch this .  br    br   story     cg     acting      br    br   i don  t drink . . . but it would have helped before watching this movie  
this is the french and belgians doing what they do best . it  s quirky  visually inventive  exhilarating and emotionally challenging storytelling . director jaco van dormael takes us into the world of georges  a down  s syndrome sufferer and his quest for a meaningful relationship with someone  just anyone . this is not done in a patronising way but with a great sense of fun and also honesty . georges  interplay with corporate management guru  harry is dazzlingly handled  shifting from comedy to tragedy back to comedy again with breathtaking ease .  br    br   the eighth day puts similar hollywood fare like barry levinson  s oscar winning rain man or robert zemeckis  s forrest gump well and truly in the shade . at times  it evokes the humour of milos forman  s one flew over the cuckoo  s nest with shades of dennis potter thrown in for good measure .  br    br   as the emotionally blunted and desperately lonely yuppie  harry  daniel auteuil turns in yet another sublime performance . but it is matched by the brilliant pascal duquenne as georges . it  s a movie with uniformly strong performances and so many  memorable set pieces  the shoe shop scene  car showroom scene  george  s dance to genesis  s  jesus he knows me   the conference scene  the fireworks scene . if you haven  t seen it  there  s only one thing to do . just rent it or attend a screening at a retro cinema near you and see what you  ve been missing . better still  buy this movie . sheer genius . . . . .  
how this movie got made with a supposedly    million budget and without being completely retooled is beyond me . the storyline and dialogue are beyond amateurish . characters say things no real person would ever say and almost never react to things that were said before . no one seems to be grounded in the real world . the acting of the leads is fine given that the writing is such a dud . . . but several actors in supporting roles really drag the production down . the hero  s hair probably should  ve gotten its own credit  it was so oddly attention  grabbing . . . not to mention that it gave one of the better performances in the pic . finally  for a movie about l . a . being besieged by giant reptiles  this film is shockingly boring . what a shame  if you do see this  your mind will be constantly racing  thinking up ways that you could have taken the sfx scenes and built a far better movie around them . sadly  it wouldn  t have taken much .  
for anyone with a moderate sensibility  a moderate feeling of the human and humane condition  for anyone capable of getting above the hollywood ilk  for anyone who is satisfied seeing cinema which does not have a series of seagals  willis  van dammes blasting the brains out of anybody or seeing who gets into bed with whom  for anyone whose intellectual level reaches a capacity to grasp  sympathise with  comprehend  laugh with  cry with natural tender heart  warming hilarious compassionate human beings  le huitime jour  is waiting for you . jaco van dormael has not achieved simply a masterpiece  that would have been too simplistic he has achieved one of those rare monumental works of art in the cinematographic world which defies any kind of encapsuling . is it a drama  is it a comedy  no it is the story of georges  a wonderful funny pitiful laughable loving frightened beautiful personality  a sufferer of the downes syndrome . it is a story which has you laughing through your tears  but this is not one of those classic tear  jerkers this film moves through a world that has you at once mixing your feelings of compassion or pity or even shame with those of admiration  warmth and even love . a successful banking salesman  harry  bumps into georges they were both going in opposite directions with absolutely opposing ideas  problems and priorities skillfully van dormael melts these two unlikely men into a warm friendship  but which is so much more than the good buddy friendship of those having a beer down the road . this is a relationship which develops into a profound needing by both for the other . the cuasi  surrealist scenes fit in perfectly georges recalls  or invents  past scenes of his life while either day  dreaming or sleeping even the almost phantasmagorical final scene is totally correct . the only scene which might be considered a little out of place is when they steal a bus and drive it out of the show  rooms . however  this does not detract from the whole . this film is a monument . even if your french is not up to much  please bear seeing it with sub  titles . le huitime jour  is worth the trouble . as for anything else  well  just read the following commentaries  i go along with all of them . this film is a joy  it is majestic  it is unique . if you have seen rain man  which i consider an excellent film  you must see this one it is far superior because it has not the superficial veneer of famous hollywood  produced world  renowned actors it has pascal duquenne and daniel auteuil  ten oscars for these two  and three more for jaco van dormael . who cares  yes   out of   if the imdb rating doesn  t break down under the strain .  br    br   magnifique  chapeau   
i went into this movie with high hopes . normally  i  m not too picky about my movies and creature movies are always fun to watch  or so i thought . i  ll list the good parts of this movie  the creature effects . all of the creatures were well  done  their movements were realistic  and they fit into the other imagery well . to be honest  the creature effects were the only reason i gave this movie a  rather than a  . now  the bad things  the acting . good lord  i  ve seen bad acting  but this movie takes the cake . not a single one of the characters is even close to believable . it  s like the director sent out a casting call and picked all the worst try  outs from it . i tried very hard not to giggle too loud  cause i didn  t wanna upset anyone else in the theatre  but the acting really was that bad .  the storyline the entire story is full of plot holes from beginning to finish . you can pick at least  plot holes out of any given   minutes of film . the plot holes  of course  are complimentary with the cheese . this is probably one of the most clichd  not thought  out  and outright dumbest stories i  ve ever seen put on screen since i had the grave misfortune of sitting up one night and watching parasite on the scifi channel .  the dialogue this is a world where everyone says the cheesiest and most clichd thing they possibly can  at every chance they possibly can . in this world  it seems like every line has been spoken before in at least   other low  budget creature movies . it is the world of cheese and clich .  the special effects . while the creature effects were downright awesome  the special effects fail miserably . yes  they are better than those seen in other movies  but a lot of it is in the presentation . and this movie has no presentation whatsoever . it looks kinda like the special effects used on the power rangers tv show  to be honest . to sum up dragon wars is worth neither your time nor your money . the concept is good  but it is trapped in the bad directing  acting  dialogue  and cheesiness of the film . wait til the next big monster movie comes out . it  s gotta be better than this  cause dragon wars is absolutely horrible .  
gregory peck gives a brilliant performance in this film . the last   minutes  or thereabouts  are great and peck is an absolute joy to watch . the same cannot however be said for the rest of the film . it  s not awful and i  m sure it was made with good intentions  but the only real reason  if i were to be honest  to see it is peck . for the rest you are better off just reading the old testament .  
this movie is likely the worst movie i  ve ever seen in my life   surpassing the previous most god  awful movie   spawn of slithis   which i saw when i was about   .  br    br   bad acting  stilted and ridiculous dialog  incomprehensible plot  mishmashed cut scenes  even the music was annoying . did i leave anything out  well  the special effects weren  t bad   but cgi does not a decent movie make .  br    br   i can  t believe i actually spent money to see this movie . if anyone has the contact info for hyung  rae shim  the director   please forward it to my user name  at gmail   and i  ll contact him to personally demand a refund .  
other than susan hayward  s wooden delivery throughout this film it was as good as any biblical film made . henry king handles this film with the respect of an epic in all of the small scenes  and peck is  as always  impeccable . the stirring alfred newman sound score  with the stirring twenty  third psalm is unforgettable even after these many years . the scene with goliath is a bit on the hokey side  but not all that badly done for the era in which this film was made . this goes well alongside the lesser bible epics of the day   the song of ruth  and  esther and the king .  it is worth watching  and raymond massy is excellent as the prophet nathan . the film is rounded out by the always fine james robertson justice as abishai and jayne meadows as michol  david  s estranged first wife .  
this movie was horrible .  br    br   they didn  t develop any of the characters at all and the storyline was played out horribly . it was a definite sleeper . you  d expect the action scenes on a movie like this to be its strong points but d  wars surprises you with even a let down in that department .  br    br   also  the acting was just a step above the level of a low budget porno flick . and i seriously mean that .  br    br   i was actually happy to see the end credits on this one cause it was just that bad    please  whatever you do people  don  t waste your time and money on a crappy movie like d  wars .  
this film has all the size and grandeur of many of the great biblical epics of the      s and     s . but it is also perhaps the first that really humanizes the biblical characters themselves . the best thing about it is that it does not diminish them in the eyes of the viewer . this is a unique and compelling balance that helps us to realize that even great people like david are flawed people who find their faith and greatness in facing their flaws .  br    br   the actors are all first rate in the film from gilbert barnett as david  s second son absolom through to the wonderful susan hayward as bathsheba . hayward is at her best in this film . her own truthful but larger than life style of acting is quite at home here . she is ever the seductress  but she plays the role in such a way that you sympathize with her .  br    br   raymond massey does a great job as nathan the prophet . as a child when i first saw the film  massey seemed like he truly had just conversed with the lord himself and was an awesome sight . no doubt helped also by the great music composed by the always amazing alfred newman who also had great successes in other biblical epics like  the robe  and  the greatest story ever told  along with perhaps    other films too  the cinema photography by leon shamroy is well done and adds to the size but also the intimacy of the film . henry king  a truly underrated film director who like william wyler never really pigeon  holed himself into any one genre  pulls together a larger than life production that never loses sight of the love story between david and bathsheba and david  s own deep struggle with his faith in god . the path tread in this film could have been very hokey  but king keeps it real and interesting all the way . plus we never lose the sense of mystery about trying to understand the will of god  just as david himself is struggling with the same . from the first scene where a soldier dies trying to save the ark from destruction . david is not satisfied with nathan  s answer   to paraphrase  that no one can understand the will of god . this is the journey we embark on right through to the powerful ending where david is finally confronted with himself .  br    br   finally this film belongs to gregory peck who wonderful as king david . his david is a man you can believe could rule a country ruthlessly but was at one time a faithful singer of psalms . this is one of his best performances .  br    br   i don  t see this movie on television much anymore  but when i do i never fail to watch it . i think it still holds up very well today .  
this movie serves as a timely warning to anyone who thinks they can both write and direct their own movie . face it  you can  t . because that way there  s nobody around to tell you when you hack great holes in your plot  have meaningless transitions  trite  unmemorable dialog and manage to turn a fairly cool korean legend into a steaming pile of celluloid turd .  br    br   i wanted to like this movie as a trashy popcorn movie  really i did i like lots of crappy movies . but once i  ve been forced to ask myself what the hell just happened and why  dear lord  why  more than a few times  i really can  t take it any more .  br    br   also  i would love for someone to explain how la became mordor for the last scene .  
when you actually find a video game to be scary or disturbing  you know that the developers have done some very serious and hard work to make the whole thing work . undying used the unreal engine but had very little resemblance to that game when it came to actual gameplay . speaking of gameplay  the pace is slowed down and the sheer difficulty in progressing through the very hard to kill enemies makes for a very unqiue gameplay experience . the production values are so high that you may even forget that it is a video game . the game itself is also packed with loads of secrets that you have to uncover using special vision . the level design in fantastic and the weapons as well as the enemies will really shock you .  
the characters are cliched and predictable  with everyone being either snow  white pure or wholly evil . the acting is too stilted for it to be bad in an amusing  over  the  top way . it  s doubly disappointing if you  re a bette davis fan  because her character is not a typically fun bette  davis  type character she just gets to frown pensively a lot .  br    br   on the whole  neither my wife nor i found the movie to be interesting  moving or enjoyable at all .  
watching davidbathsheba is a much better way of getting your bible lesson that going to sunday school . despite a script that at times is unintentionally funny the film is highly entertaining . the studio system had its faults but it spared no expense when a lavish production was called for . peck portrays king david as a lusty but tormented poet who commits what is tantamount to murder to bed a sexy bathsheba  susan hayward . raymond massey as the prophet nathan delivers his usual saturnine and ferocious performance . look for the silent screen star francis x . bushman as king saul and a young gwen verdon as a dancer . hooray for the old testament and hollywood .  
hollywood hotel was the last movie musical that busby berkeley directed for warner bros . his directing style had changed or evolved to the point that this film does not contain his signature overhead shots or huge production numbers with thousands of extras . by the last few years of the thirties  swing  style big bands were recording the year  s biggest popular hits . the swing era  also called the big band era  has been dated variously from     to     or     to     . although it is impossible to exactly pinpoint the moment that the swing era began  benny goodman  s engagement at the palomar ballroom in los angeles in the late summer of     was certainly one of the early indications that swing was entering the consciousness of mainstream america  s youth . when goodman featured his swing repertoire rather than the society  style dance music that his band had been playing  the youth in the audience went wild . that was the beginning  but  since radio  live concerts and word of mouth were the primary methods available to spread the phenomena  it took some time before swing made enough inroads to produce big hits that showed up on the pop charts . in hollywood hotel  the appearance of benny goodman and his orchestra and raymond paige and his orchestra in the film indicates that the film industry was ready to capitalize on the shift in musical taste  the film was in production only a year and a half or so after goodman  s palomar ballroom engagement  . there are a few interesting musical moments here and there in hollywood hotel  but except for benny goodman and his orchestra  s  sing  sing  sing   there isn  t a lot to commend . otherwise  the most interesting musical sequences are the opening  hooray for hollywood  parade and  let that be a lesson to you  production number at the drive  in restaurant . the film is most interesting to see and hear benny goodman and his orchestra play and dick powell and frances langford sing .  
david and bathsheba is a lavish hollywood biblical picture produced out of   th century fox by darryl f . zanuck  directed by henry king and starring gregory peck king david  susan hayward  bathsheba   raymond massey  nathan   kieron moore  uriah  and jayne meadows  michal  .  br    br   the film is based around the second old testament book of samuel from the holy bible . it follows king david  who as a child had slain the giant goliath  and now we find him in adulthood as the second king of israel . a tough and assured king  david however has affairs of the heart causing great problems . for once he spies bathsheba taking a shower rebath  it  s the start of a journey encompassing adultery and betrayal a journey that will end in the judgement of god being called upon .  br    br   typically for the genre  david  bathsheba is a large  grandiose production . from its excellent set designs to it  s positively gorgeous technicolor photography leon shamroy  it has enough quality to warrant sitting along side the best the genre has to offer as regards production values . untypically  tho  the film is sedately paced and relies on    of its worth being driven purely by dialogue . this is not one for action fans or anyone who needs some swash to go with their buckle . this is a very humanist picture  in fact lets not beat around the burning bush here  it  s a biblical love story flecked with sins of the heart . but that is no bad thing at all  because breaking it down we find it  s very well acted peck has a stoic yet vulnerable thing going on real well  hayward is pushing it to the max  and it be a fine story directed with knowing skill by the often forgotten henry king . and although some of the dialogue is admittedly cringe inducing  the character flow is never interrupted as phillip dunne  s  the ghost and mrs . muir  oscar nominated screenplay holds the attention throughout .  br    br   sometimes a forgotten picture in terms of the biblical  swords  sandals genres  most likely because it is a talky piece that has heart as its main selling point   but really it  s well worth the time of anyone interested in the most lavish of genres .      
the movie was to be shown here in bangkok with all the fanfare and even in the theater  it failed miserably .  br    br   apparently the story writer just don  t hold water . something was definitely missing . in my opinion people must have a reason why they watch it other than historical glimpse of the past . accuracy of history is not what we look for in entertainment .  br    br   the movie just lack any substance . the only way to do this movie right was somehow make changes where it stands as some kind of a legend instead of just a story . and a legend will have certain elements that tries to tell you something that people have forgotten through time  such as the meaning of sacrifice  nationalism  etc . it is called the central theme .  br    br   the movie fails to answer  why would i watch it anyway   br    br   at least some strange legendary flying elephants  psychic king  or the eccentric king such as  the king and i  would have been lovely  something would have added greatly to the movies  appeal . i guess there was no appeal other than a plain vanilla movie .  br    br   once you got the appeal  then the story is the next thing we concentrate on . in marketing terms  we call it  must see  . upon hearing the title of the movie people would say  oh  i must see it . now where  s the appeal in kingmaker  why not just redo the title and call it   how not to be a king   and make a black comedy of the old siamese days  to the style of  dr . strangelove  . that would have been much more interesting . narrative  like experiences of the foibles of the king from first persons goofs off would have made the movie extremely funny .  br    br   most movies today have that  must see  appeal  such as spiderman  men x  these titles speak for themselves . if they don  t have familiar characters  some other movies such as  the island  had an appeal itself when the advertising asks  do you still believe there is an island   .  br    br   or for the movie  retitled  how not to be a king  might ask the question   so do you still want to be a king    br    br   parhat  
i  ve always believed that david and bathsheba was a film originally intended for tyrone power at   th century fox  although gregory peck does give a good account of himself as king david  the monarch with a wandering eye .  br    br   a whole lot of biblical subjects get covered in this film  adultery  redemption  sin  punishment and generally what god expects from his followers .  br    br   when you  re a king  even king in a biblically prophesied kingdom you certainly do have a lot perogatives not open to the rest of us . king david has many wives  including one really vicious one in jayne meadows who was the daughter of saul  david  s predecessor . but his eyes catch sight of bathsheba out in her garden one evening . turns out she  s as unhappily married to uriah the hittite as david is to quite a few women . uriah is one of david  s army captains . david sends for bathsheba and him being the king  she comes a runnin  because she  s had her eye on him too .  br    br   what happens  an affair  a pregnancy  and a carefully arranged death for uriah in a battle . but an all seeing and knowing deity has caught all of this and is not only punishing david and bathsheba  but the entire kingdom of israel is being punished with drought  disease  and pestilence .  br    br   the sexist law of the day calls for bathsheba to have a stoning death . david shows weakness in his previous actions  but here he steps up to the plate and asks that the whole thing be put on him . he even lays hands on the ark of the covenant which was an instant death as seen in the film .  br    br   my interpretation of it is that god admires guts even if you  re wrong and he lets up on david and forgives them both . bathsheba becomes the mother of solomon and she and david are the ancestors of several successors in the divided kingdoms of israel and judah until they  re both conquered .  br    br   susan hayward is a fetching bathsheba caught in a loveless marriage with uriah played by kieron moore . the only thing that gets moore aroused is a good battle . i liked kieron moore  s performance as a brave and rather stupid horse  s rear .  br    br   no one can lay the law down like raymond massey . his nathan the prophet is in keeping with the john brown character he played in two films  same intensity .  br    br   so when his own law called for death  why did god spare bathsheba and keep david on the throne . maybe it was the fact he just didn  t want to train a third guy for the job . he  d replaced saul with david already .  br    br   but i think the christian interpretation might be that this was a hint of the new testament forthcoming  that one might sin and receive mercy if one asks for it penitently . i  ll leave it to the biblical scholars to submit interpretations .  br    br   watch the film and you might come up with an entirely new theory .  
warning spoiler . . . i have to agree with you  it was almost there . this was such a bad movie  about such and interesting true story . it had such promise  but the acting was ridiculous at best . some sets were beautiful and realistic . others are something out of a theme park . i found myself laughing as i watched  what was suppose to be  serious scenes . i really wanted to like this movie  but i couldn  t . the best part was the fight between friends that ended with the  king  dying . i liked the queens  punishment . and  the final shot made a beautiful picture  though . there are so many better movies to watch . i don  t recommend this .  
there  s no shortage of bad dialogue in david and bathsheba   i was quite a hand with a slingshot    the king of all israel out there in the darkness exposing himself to the enemy   full marks to dennis hooey for delivering that one with a straight face    go and sit with the concubines .  and somehow i doubt a bored david ever told the prophet nathan  whatever you say .  he even tries the old  my kingdom doesn  t understand me  routine on desperate housewife bathsheba at one point . so it  s probably a tribute to henry king  s direction that the film isn  t at all bad despite the pitfalls much of the first third provide . maybe it  s the censor  baiting nature of the plot  a married man kills a femme fatale  s husband and gets away with it   but king brings out the growing moral and theological complexities in phillip dunne  s script rather than upping the sin and sandals hokum . this is the conflicted david on the downhill slope  abandoned by a vengeful god he no longer understands  and the film doesn  t back away from the awkward unanswerable questions about why a loving deity would choose to wreak vengeance on the innocent rather than the guilty . it even offers a genuinely surprising criticism of the sexual inequality of the law  where the failings of husbands result in the punishment of their wives .  br    br   unlike king david  which sidelined the king in favour of the admittedly more interesting saul  david is firmly at the centre of the drama and despite an interesting display of shoulder twitching and a frankly gormless overlong close  up when visiting the site of saul and jonathan  s death  gregory peck  s performance grows in stature as david shrinks . susan hayward is pure hollywood pro  raymond massey is an appropriately theatrical prophet  why be naturalistic when you  ve got a voice that makes the very heavens quake   and kieron moore  s uriah such an intransigent unreconstructed chauvinist that you can  t exactly blame david for putting him in harm  s way  but despite threatening to soft peddle the film doesn  t allow david a moral get out of jail free card over his death . with surprisingly strong but subdued design and technicolor photography this is definitely a cut above most   s    s biblical epics .  br    br   fox  s new dvd is a good transfer  including an incredibly hokey  candid  behind  the  scenes short and a trailer with brief shots deleted from the film  s sole battle scene .  
up to this point  gentle rain was the movie i found the worst in history . it has been supplanted by this  blockbuster  out of asia . it has one  star  and it is john rhys davies . he is way out of shape to be the swashbuckling  magical flying baddie he is cast here . the rest of these people couldn  t act their way out of a junior high school play . no clichs were missed in the dialogue  and the special effects were phoned in as often as possible .  br    br   it is fairly easy to see that somebody in asia had some bucks and needed to create a vehicle for some actors they wanted to throw money at . or maybe it was a director or a writer that needed a credit . my guess is that any career with this movie in it  s credential  br    br   do yourself a major favor and don  t watch this movie . a hundred thanksgivings couldn  t consume this turkey .  br    br   the one funny scene was unintentional . the brother of the king appears on the scene . the king  a handsome  older  short asian actor .  bad actor .  the brother  a six foot european .  also a bad actor .  no excuses were made for this . they just expected us not to notice that this poor man  s jet li  s brother was a wannabe pierce brosnan in a cheap dimestore  injun  wig right out of an old western movie from the forties .  
to me movies and acting is all about telling a story . the story of david and bethsheba is a tragedy that is deep and can be felt by anyone who reads and understands the biblical account . in this movie i thought the storytelling by gregory peck and susan hayward were at their best . to know and understand the story of david and his journey to become the king of israel  made this story all the more compelling . you could feel his lust for a beautiful woman  gregory peck showed the real human side of this man who in his time was larger than life . susan hayward  s fear  reluctance  but then obedience to his authority as her king was beautifully portrayed by her . one could also feel david  s anguish the nigh that uriah spent the night at the gate instead of at home . as well as the sadness when he was killed in battle . raymond massey  s powerful and authoritative condemnation of the king made me feel his anger . the sets were real enough  and the atmosphere believable . all in all i think this was one of the best movies of it  s kind . i gave it a rating of ten .  
this is just a bad movie . with what seemed to be quite a nice budget it had potential to be much better . it almost were . with the heroine beautiful almost like salma hayek  hero fighting almost like jackie chan  battles and duels almost like in crouching tiger . . .  music almost like in  say  conan . . . etc . almost . but in the end it  s just dull and it is hard to find anything interesting in it . maybe apart of john rhys  davies flying in duel like those warriors in hero or before  mentioned crouching tiger . . . i am really ashamed of poor old john . he is after all quite a good actor and deserves much better . so as you  so if you still have a chance just watch something else .  
old movie buffs will know why i  d call this one  the man in the grey flannel robe .  most bible  based movies are basically schlock  what might call forth smiles and giggles here is how peck  tries to raise consciousness on a variety of psychological and social issues with the spear carrying neanderthals all about him . as a great romance  it falls flat as unleavened bread . but there is something gripping about this movie . of all the big hollywood bible pictures it most strikingly conveys the ambivalent attitude of the average american towards belief in the biblical god . billy sunday  s thesis is duking it out with h . l . mencken  s antithesis all through the script . who gets the better of it in the heavenly chorus  backed synthesis depends on your point of view . other than that  d  b boasts a good performances by peck  especially in the closing repentance scene  and by jayne meadows as his bitter first wife michol  vivid  moody atmosphere  good idea to set most action at dawn or night   and the rousing rendition of the twenty  third psalm at the end .  
this was the worst acted movie i  ve ever seen in my life . no  really . i  m not kidding . all the  based on a true story  historical references  aside  there  s no excuse for such bad acting . it  s a shame  because  as others have posted  the sets  costumes were great .  br    br   the sound track was typical  asian  style  music  although i couldn  t figure out where the  modern  love song came in when fernando was lying in his bed thinking of maria . i don  t know who wrote  sang that beautiful song  but it was as if suddenly norah jones was transported to the     s .  br    br   the hershey syrup blood in phycho was more realistic than the ketchup spurted during the kwik  n  ez battle scenes .  br    br   but the acting . oh  so painfully sad . lines delivered like a bad junior high play . if gary stretch had donned a potato costume for the county  h fair he may have been more believable . towards the end he sounded more like a little italy street thug . at times i half expected him to yell out  adrian   or even  you wanna piece of me    .  br    br   favourite line when the queen says to her lover  after barfing on the floor   i  m going to have a baby .  he responds  a child   i expected her to retort  no  jackass  a chair leg  duh .   
this film is famous for several qualities a literate script  for once in partly  religious film  making  by philip dunne  some very good performances  a first  rate production in every department and its intelligent direction by veteran henry king . if one were making a film  then getting such talents as leon shamroy as cinematographer  lyle wheeler as art director and alfred newman as composer of original music would guarantee a quality production . add the cast of this film  including gregory peck and susan hayward as the title characters  james robertson justice  raymond massey  kieron moore  jayne meadows and john sutton plus a dance by gwen verdon and expectations might be raised that the resulting film could be made into something special . but in a biblical subject script  usually a sub  genre prone to illogical motivations and miraculous interventions  everything would ultimately depend on the author  s skills . philip dunne here has supplied human beings  a rare achievement in biblical films . david is a man in this film  many  sided  not someone doing mythical deeds on paper in the old testament . gregory peck makes him curious  passionate  self  controlled  self  deprecating and appealing . as bathsheba  hayward is scarcely the perfect choice but conveys a good deal of common  sense earthiness and emotional normalcy that helps one see why the king of israel would risk so much for her . the rest of the cast is stalwart and capable by turns . the familiar storyline provides them little to work with  but author dunne and the cast do as much as is possible with the human situations . david  s youth is told in flashback how he was chosen by a prophet of yahweh to be king of israel  and earns his way to be second to the king  saul  by defeating goliath the phiiistine in battle when all else are afraid to beard the giant warrior . thereafter  he finally is driven from the court of king saul of israel  becomes a famous warrior  and returns to claim the kingdom and become the instrument of death of jonathan  the king  s son  formerly a friend . his wars are successful   the film opens in fact with a successful attack scene but his life is empty since his wife michal  jayne meadows  is saul  s daughter and is cold to him . he turns to bathsheba  whom he sees from the palace roof bathing naked later she admits she had hoped he would see her . but she has a husband  uriah when she becomes pregnant  it becomes necessary for uriah to come in from the battlefield and spend time at home he instead asks david to set him in the forefront of the battle  even after being aroused by verdon  s dance . david agrees . he is killed  a war hero but this does not solve the infidelity question . drought comes to israel  and the king  s infidelity is blamed for the phenomenon . at last  david places his hands on the ark of the covenant  recently brought to jerusalem and housed in a temple  which has caused the death of others who accidentally came in contact with it  inviting his god to punish him   and nothing happens . . . david exits the temple  and finds that rain has come to his parched land . this film is always interesting  varied in its types of scenes and physically beautiful . the director and author make use of the observer principle  and are frankly more successful in humanizing the characters than in almost any film outside the grecianized  near eastern canon  wherein the feat is a bit easier since neither miraculous nor religious themes are made central in such adventures . . well  remembered for its glowing realization  fine performances and intelligent dialogue  this dramatic effort bears repeated study .  
the king maker is a film about a series of real  citation needed  events that occurred during the portuguese occupation in indochina .  br    br   although the costumes and art direction are commendable  the movie still fails to impress the viewer . the acting  in particular  was extremely poor . some of the actors are trying hard to let tears down and the accents  both real and fake  are extremely irritating . the storyline was also too dumb and too stupid to be true and it seemed more like a history lesson . the movie couldn  t even capture that sort of regal and century  old air and it looked more like a botched attempt to make an asian version of elizabeth .  br    br   final say  costumes and art direction give the film a breath of fresh air  but the execution was extremely poor and the actors couldn  t even give natural bursts of emotion . in short  the movie sounded more like hullabaloo than a script .  
to some  this biblical film is a story of judgment and condemnation . . . others see it as a story of grace  restoration  and hope . . . it is actually both  henry king illustrates the portrait of a mighty monarch almost destroyed by his passion  his downward spiral of sin  and his upward climb of healing . .  br    br    david and bathsheba  is an emotional movie full of vividly memorable characters who attain mythic status while retaining their humanity . . . henry king handles the powerful story  taken from the old testament  with skill . . .  br    br   david   the lion of judah   having stormed the walls of rabgah  saves the life of one of his faithful warriors uriah  kieron moore   and returns to jerusalem . . .  br    br   back at his court  his first wife complains of neglect  and offends him for being a shepherd  s son  distinguishing herself for being the daughter of king saul . . .  br    br   one evening  and while walking on the terrace of his palace which evidently held a commanding view of the neighborhood  david  s eyes happened to alight upon a young lady who was taking a refreshing bath . . . she was beautiful and attractive . . . david could not take his eyes off her . . . he finds out later on that she was the wife of one of his officers . . .  br    br   sending for her  he discovers that she  too  is unhappy in her marriage . . . by this point  it  s apparent that david  s intentions shift from an interest in taking bathsheba as a wife  to just plain taking bathsheba . . . as usual  sin had its consequences  and david hadn  t planned on that possibility . . .  br    br   when a drought sweeps the land and there is a threat of famine  david suspects that the lord is punishing him and his people for his sin . . . but when bathsheba tells him that she is pregnant and fears that she may be stoned to death according to the law of moses  david tries to cover up his sin . . .  br    br   he sends word to joab  the commander of his army  and ordered him to send to him bathsheba  s husband . . . david did something that was abominable in god  s sight . . . he sends the man to the front line where he would be killed . . .  br    br   the soldier is indeed killed and with him out of the way  david marries his beloved bathsheba in full regal splendor . . .  br    br   god punishes the couple when bathsheba  s child dies soon after birth . . . meanwhile  a mighty famine has spread throughout the land and the israelites  led by nathan  blame the king for their plight . . . they storm the palace and demand that bathsheba pays for her sin . . .  br    br   peck plays the compassionate king whose lustful desire outweighed his good sense and integrity . .  br    br   hayward as bathsheba  is a sensitive woman who begins to believe that every disaster occurring in her life is the direct result of her adultery . . . the sequence of her bath which could have been a great moment in biblical film history  is badly mishandled  and the viewers eyes are led briefly to hayward  s face and shoulders . . .  br    br   raymond massey appeared as nathan the prophet  sent by god to rebuke david after his adultery with bathsheba gwyneth verdon is queen michal who tries to resist the ambition and greed that have become integral to david  s personality and kingship ex  silent screen idol  francis x . bushman  had a brief part as king saul . . .  br    br   the best moments of the film were the ark en route to its permanent home when god breaks a young soldier who tries to touch the sacred object the defining moment in david  s life when he confesses his sin and is prepared to accept his punishment of death and for the film  s climax  inserting it as a flashback  david remembering his fight with the giant goliath . . .  br    br   with superb color photography and a masterly music score   david and bathsheba  won oscar nominations in the following categories music scoring  art and set direction  cinematography  story and screenplay  and costume design . .  
unfortunately  this has been showing on star movies here in thailand for the last week or so . it  s complete rubbish acting . as another member said  this movie is a good example of  how not to act .  i haven  t seen a movie so poorly acted in a long time . the actors  can you call them  actors    are completely flat and deliver their lines with the passion of a dead dog . i would say that in order to truly understand how bad the acting is  you would have to see the movie . . . but that would be akin to torture .  br    br   i cringe as the leading lady delivers her lines  and the rest of the cast with their accents  fake or contrived  is equally heinous . another actress with the fake british accent was pretty  yes  but good lord was her accent terrible . mix that with her  lack of  acting and you have a disaster . she should just have said nothing and i could have accepted her as the pretty girl . oh my  we just got to the scene where the leading lady  s lover says  really me   after a forced crying scene from her . laughable . no  really  i just laughed out loud .  br    br   the sets and the art directors offer some saving grace to the film . some of the sets are colorful and some of the scenes are rather nice  minus the actors  .  br    br   the old magic potion lady  what   another member mentioned the  modern  love song that was in the movie . totally inappropriate for a period piece set some    years ago .  br    br   i understand the movie was considered  big budget  in thailand at the time of it  s production . i would be seriously upset if i were the producer of this movie . just goes to show that money does not necessarily make a good  or even mediocre  film .  br    br   i would give the king maker a  out of    but the costumes and sets make save the film from such a rating .  out of   .  
i saw this with few expectations and absolutely loved it  bend it like beckham is a fairly typical coming  of  age movie about a fairly atypical girl . this is parminder nagra   er    s breakout role  playing jess  a teenager in england who is caught between her traditional indian family and her love of football  that  s soccer to us north americans  . and even though she  s actually much older than her character  she plays the role pitch  perfect .  br    br   this is a movie about friendship  specifically jess  s friendship with jules  keira knightley   her teammate who is also going through family issues  especially with her mom  who wears purple nail polish and little bows on her shoes  and who wants jules to be more feminine  wear lacy underwear and flirt with boys and is terrified that playing sports means her daughter is a lesbian . jules and jess both love playing the game and have issues trying to convince their families to let them go after their dreams . they also  unfortunately  both love the same man  joe  their coach  played by jonathan rhys  meyers  . the love triangle causes some strain in their friendship .  br    br   in some spots  bend it like beckham falls into clichs . in others  scenes drag on far too long  and this movie probably could have benefited from overall tighter editing .  br    br   but this was a refreshingly fun film about growing up  culture clash  and the love of football . it  s about female empowerment  chasing your dreams  and supporting your friends . funny  charming and fun  bend it like beckham is the little film that could . . . and did .  br    br   excellent .     .  
this movie seemed to have it all going for it with good camera  sound  film  sets  music  costumes . . . but drum  roll  gary stretch spoke  i don  t know if it was his poor acting or simply a bad script  but would say it was both . considering the casting of him in this role  i found it difficult to root for him even to the very end . i wished he  d have died in battle or one of the sword  knife scuffles .  br    br   then  the tinder for the plot to kill the king was because the king didn  t have dinner and sex with his queen  pretty lame . and to go to the extreme to kill her own son  and to then push up her lover as succeeding king  i see a thread or two here and there of historical bytes  but the manner in which this was all presented was farcical .  br    br   i don  t recognize gary stretch from anything else  but he was dreadful . i read another user  s comments about audio being dubbed  but don  t think his was dubbed . . . after all  he speaks english  right  it really was awful . the lines were read right off the coroner  s table . . . flat  line . it could be he just doesn  t have the voice to carry tone fluctuations .  br    br   aside from this  i did watch it to the end  so the movie had at least an  interest .  it could have been more if the script  lines and casting had been given more work . the scenery and filming crew along with very good quality film is what really made this movie above all else . the cast and story were all secondary . i give the film crew a   .  
to  bend it like beckham  may not mean much to us americans who know very little about the other football  soccer   but to english sports fans  it is equivalent to  hit it like bonds  or  dunk it like jordan .  any young soccer player dreams of bending a soccer ball around one player and into the net for a goal  much like star player david beckham does  much like the young indian girl  jess  parminder nagra   does in the film bend it like beckham . jess loves to play pick up soccer games  the kind forbidden by her traditionalist mother . however  while playing one day  a passing friend named jules  keira knightley  sees her play and invites her to try out for a traveling  all girls soccer team . after satisfying the coach joe  jonathan rhys  meyers   she makes the team  something she knows her mother would not approve of . the movie is not about disobeying parents  but rather a girl doing what she wants to do  even if that goes against culture  not just the parents . there is humor thrown throughout the movie  especially when jules  mother thinks she  s a lesbian . the movie does resort to a bit of a clich moment  as the big soccer game is the same day as jess  sister  s wedding  but it does not come off a cheesy  but rather fun and light . the soccer action looks good  so sports fans will enjoy it  and a story about girls growing up in a boy  s world  the world of soccer will inspire some in the audience . bend it like beckham is not just about soccer  but rather a girl trying to find herself and please her parents at the same time  something that proves to be rather difficult .  
evidently when you offer a actor enough money they will do anything . i am not sure how much john rys  daves got  but most of the money he made should go to his fans as an apology for even being associated with such a rotten movie . the special effects were worse then effects from the      s b movies and the acting of the rest of the cast was even worse . as to how bad the acting was a child gave the second best performance in my opinion . the english was terribly accented and i think no one could really even speak english they just memorized how the words should sound instead of memorizing the script and trying to make their character both  life  like  and real .  
not being a fan of first person shooters i was very hesitant to play this game . after having played the demo however i was sold .  undying  really manages to pull you in the game and be part of the universe that your character is in . you have this green amulet  called the  gel  ziabar stone  that has special powers and warns you of particular events or things to look at . with a special spell  the scrye  you can see certain things that otherwise would be invisible to you . walking in a hallway you suddenly hear the magical stone whisper  look   with the stone glowing at for example a painting . and then using the scrye spell you can see some weird and creepy stuff on the painting . let me tell you to witness something like that is scary as hell . people who expect to finish this game in a few hours can forget about that even with the use of cheats . this game relies on the character using wits and walking carefully around . because like in any horror movie your surroundings are usually pretty dark . and ghosts and monster appear at random when you don  t expect them and can kill you very quickly . there is this one scene where you want to enter a room where you are pushed back with such great force that it takes moments for you to realize what happened . this was a scene that could have come straight out of the horror classic  evil dead   to experience something like this is a real accomplishment . there are a lot of elements that take  undying  to the level of the best classic horror movies ever produced . but sadly i have to report that there are some flaws . for one thing the universe you are playing in is huge . you start out in a big mansion with all sorts of hidden  secret rooms and even a hidden hell dimension called  oneiros  . that is all fine in the beginning . but with all the loading times and some difficult enemies in between that can become frustrating . and there is no map . the game demands you memorize your surroundings . so patience is required . also there are some jumping puzzles that you have to do otherwise you can  t progress . i don  t mind jumping on platforms in third person adventures . but in first person mode that can be an annoying task . luckily you can save at anytime and anyplace . and trust me you will need it . overall  undying  is an extraordinary first person shooter that deserves to be played by any horror or game fan .  
lillian hellman  s play  adapted by dashiell hammett with help from hellman  becomes a curious project to come out of gritty warner bros . paul lukas  reprising his broadway role and winning the best actor oscar  plays an anti  nazi german underground leader fighting the fascists  dragging his american wife and three children all over europe before finding refuge in the states  via the mexico border  . they settle in washington with the wife  s wealthy mother and brother  though a boarder residing in the manor is immediately suspicious of the newcomers and spends an awful lot of time down at the german embassy playing poker . it seems to take forever for this drama to find its focus  and when we realize what the heart of the material is  the wise  honest  direct refugees teaching the clueless  head  in  the  sand americans how the world has suddenly changed   it seems a little patronizing   the viewer is quite literally put in the relatives  place  being lectured to . lukas has several speeches in the third  act which undoubtedly won him the academy award  yet for the much of the picture he seems to do little but enter and exit  enter and exit . as his spouse  bette davis enunciates like nobody else and works her wide eyes to good advantage  but the role doesn  t allow her much color . their children  all with divergent accents   are alternately humorous and annoying  and geraldine fitzgerald has a nothing role as a put  upon wife  and the disgruntled texture she brings to the part seems entirely wrong  . the intent here was to tastefully  tactfully show us just because a  wwii  era  man may be german  that doesn  t make him a nazi sympathizer . we get that in the first few minutes the rest of this tasteful  tactful movie is made up of exposition  defensive confrontation and  ultimately  compassion . it should be a heady mix  but instead it  s rather dry  eyed and inert .  from   
great movie  i loved it . great editing and use of the soundtrack . captures the real feeling of indian life  yet we can all relate . a well chose cast with some great characters . the movie develops all the characters so that you real care about them all and you feel like you know them . the use of the indian music and drums in some of the soccer scenes is great and the direction really works as everyone comes off as real and natural . you just can  t help but to root for jess in this film  the acting was really good  even the tomboyish walk and body posture of both leading ladies is very convincing as a someone that played lots of soccer .  
the king maker will doubtless be a success in thailand where the similar  but superior   the legend of suriyothai  set box office records . the film directed by lek kitaparaporn after a screenplay by sean casey based on historical fact in     siam has some amazingly beautiful visual elements but is disarmed by one of the corniest  pedestrian scripts and story development on film .  br    br   the event the picture relates is the arrival of the portuguese soldier of fortune fernando de gamma  gary stretch  whose vengeance for this father  s murderer drives him to shipwrecked  captured and thrown into slavery and put on the bloc in ayutthaya in the kingdom of siam where he is purchased by the beautiful maria  cindy burbridge  with the consent of her father phillipe  john rhys  davies   a man with a name and a past that are revealed as the story progresses . there is a plot to overthrown the king and fernando and his new siamese sidekick tong  dom hetrakul   after some gratuitous cgi enhanced choreographed martial arts silliness  are first rewarded by the king to become his bodyguards  only to be imprisoned together once queen sudachan  yoe hassadeevichit  reveals her plot to kill the king and son to allow her lover lord chakkraphat  oliver pupart  to take over the rule of siam . yet of course fernando and tong escape and are condemned to fight each other to save the lives of their families  tong  s wife and children and fernando  s now firm love affair with maria  with the expected consequences .  br    br   the acting  with the exception of john rhys  davies  is so weak that the film occasionally seems as though it were meant to be camp . the predominantly thai cast struggle with the poorly written dialog  making us wish they had used their native thai with subtitles . the musical score by ian livingstone sounds as though exhumed form old tv soap operas . but if it is visual splendor you  re after there is plenty of that and that alone makes the movie worth watching . it is a film that has obvious high financial backing for all the special effects and masses of cast and sets and shows its good intentions . it is just the basics that are missing . grady harp  
this was an adorable movie . a real feel  good movie when you need one . the story is light  this is no gone with the wind  but sometimes  one needs this kind of plot . funny and warm characters  fantastic acting and beautiful costumes  wardrobe .  br    br   parminder k . nagra  also from the tv show er  is wonderful in this role . she is definitely a new shining star for hollywood . all should keep an eye on her  she  s going to be big in the future .  br    br   also impressing was the soundtrack for this movie . a nice mix of modern and indian tunes . i was dancing throughout most of the movie .  br    br   highly recommended if a fun movie is what you need .  
this is a movie which attempts a retelling of thai history  set in the ancient city of ayutthaya . i decided to watch this film because i thought it was along the lines of many thai films i  ve watched and enjoyed  one that has thai actors speaking thai and martial arts craziness . well  it  s none of that . this film is shot entirely in english  is chock full of anglo actors  and has production values so terrible it is laughably bad . . . . but not funny  who can we blame for this rubbish  the acting  dialog  and most of the sets were quite bad . some of the fight scenes looked like they were choreographed by the local high school drama club . the special effects were also mostly bad  but a few were just cheap animation patched onto the screen that provided an especially cheesy effect . it has one large  epic  style outdoor battle scene  where a few thousand extras get to run across a field in costume  but when we see the two armies collide in combat   ha  what a joke  the film does feature a couple of beauties . what a pity they didn  t show a little more skin . at least that would have been something for the guys to appreciate . don  t bother .  
  bend it like beckham  is a film that got very little exposure here in the united states . it was probably due to the fact that the movie was strongly british in dialogue and terminology and dealt a lot with football   soccer here   which some may have trouble relating too in the u . s . it  s unfortunate because this movie is absolutely fantastic and deserved much more coverage over here . i think the basis of the storyline   following a dream   is something many people can relate to and in the end   bend it like beckham  proves to be a good  feeling film with a source of inspiration and really good acting . i was not overly excited about seeing this film initially but now i regret not seeing it sooner . i highly recommend this movie   
just saw the movie this past weekend  i am upset  and disappointed with it . basically  the movie tells you that immigrants  the ones from former soviet union especially  come to this country  bring everyone they can with them from the old country  and invade and take over what americans have been working for . which is a very wrong way of looking at immigration  and a much worse way of telling people about it . that  s the main thing . another thing  the overall writing  directing and filming is on the level of village amateurs . the actors did pretty well  but it wasn  t up to them save this bunch of crap . a few jokes were funny  but most were bad and cheesy . couldn  t wait to get out of the theater  want my money back .  
not one of your harder  hitting stories  and that  s a real strength of this film . there are at least two relationships in which less confident writers would have added some all  too predictable romantic tension . they not only spare the audience this  but throw in some surprises at the same time . there are a few disney  ish moments  particularly near the end  but they are manageable . overall  it was worth the rental and it was good  relaxed fun .  br    br   btw  if you get the dvd  watch the segment where the director teaches you how to make aloo gobi . we followed her directions and it was brilliant  next time we will make it the day before we plan to eat it  because this is one dish that definitely gets better with a full night in the fridge to let the spices out   
i went on a visit to one of my relatives a while back  and we popped by a theatre  so we  d thought we  d go in and give this film a go . what a mistake  this film is awful in every department . i  d never heard of the film before  and literally everyone still hasn  t . no wonder  this is as rank as it gets . it  s a comedy  so it says  well the only thing funny is the ability  or lack of it  of the director to make such a film . getting so close to christmas  this should be titled how to under  cook a turkey in nearly one and a half hours  or however long it was  as i walked out . at the end of the film  you  ll come out feeling as though you  ve been food poisoned on a sick turkey  and regret you wasted your time on such dribble . who knows why such things get made . some people had walked out from the theatre before the film was well over  and i blame myself for not walking out a lot earlier . it really annoys me that you pay good money to see something decent  and all that you come out and see is a poor tv movie that should be showed at  o  clock in the morning  in fact  it  s that bad  day time tv shouldn  t be showing it . what else can a say . . . probably not enough bad words could do it justice .  
nagra comes from conservative indian family that isn  t exactly into girls playing competitive soccer . but our attractive young star can play some serious soccer . rhys  meyers coaches nagra and encourages her to perform  while knightley is supportive teammate and friend . when sis  wedding is scheduled for the same day as the ultimate soccer match  what  s a girl to do  similar in its own unique way to bfgw as nagra tries to push the envelope on traditional family ways . here it  s dad  well  played by kher  who can see both sides of the issue . docked an entire point for a hokey late sexual preference non  crisis  if they needed filler they could have gone elsewhere . nice final wrap up to the whole deal .  
my husband and i are the parents of an autistic little boy who lives in the same township as the screenwriter of this movie . we were very upset that the jcc is bringing this movie to its jewish film festival because of the way that the mentally disabled character frankie is portrayed . we went to see this movie at the local theater when it came out . we demanded out money back . we would encourage the screenwriter to donate a portion of the funds to the jcc  s achad program to apologize .  br    br   we did not like seeing frankie  a mentally disabled and perhaps even autistic teenager  as part of a joke in which he keeps dropping something to look at the nanny  s breasts .  br    br   there was no point to frankie  s character other than to say  hey  being mentally disabled is funny .  challenges like frankie  s are a serious matter . families like mine are truly suffering .  br    br   the screenwriter needs to explain herself . does she know families with disabled kids  does she see the families with disabled kids week after week at the jcc pool   
  bend it like beckham  reminds me of the best of those    s teeny  bopper movies directed by john hughes . everything takes place in a bubble  gum colored world where everyone is attractive  there are some easily  resolved conflicts that occasionally take away from the mostly happy proceedings  and vast amounts of plot are summarized by montages set to bouncy pop tunes . nothing wrong with this  however .  bend it like beckham  is an absolute treat from beginning to end . my wife and i found ourselves totally won over by the cornball cheesiness even as we were making fun of it  and at the end  as embarrassing as this is to admit  we applauded  and we saw this  by the way  in our living room  not in a theatre  . watch this movie and enjoy .  br    br   grade b  
i know that some films  i mean european films   that are very bad films  are being regarded as great cinema by certain  critics   only because they  re non  american . i saw the  .  imdb score for this film and noticed the fact that this was being selected for certain big festivals . don  t let this fool you  unless you  re one of those people that likes mind  numbing films like this  and call it great art afterwards  skip it  the film contains one hilarious scene after another  a similar  italian  film popped into my mind  the terrible preferisco il rumore del mare  i prefer the sound of the sea   . the problem with these films is that they  re not only boring  like some other strangely praised films  but that they almost play like camp . i mean  let  s face it  the acting is horrible  i mean soap opera  level   the story has not one surprise  this has been done endless times before  connecting several storylines short cuts  magnolia  playing by heart  only much better   not one realistic character in it  some true freak  seeing along the way  notice the hilarious zombie  like daughter   and so on and so on .  br    br   as if that  s not enough  the film is    min .  count it   long  and at the end the director opens his can of sentimentality . after a film with such hilariously bad dialogue and scenes that made the public at the preview screening laugh at so much incompetence  well . . . this is an insult to cinema  and only receives high ratings because it happens to be in  another  language  in this case spanish . strange world we live in . . .      
what surprised me most about this film was the sheer audience it attracted . similar films such as anita and me have never caused as much hype as this film has  though i think that  s probably because of the mention of  beckham  in the title more than anything else .  br    br   it  s a brilliant film putting across a brilliant message  you can do anything if you  re determined enough  and put your mind to it  which is such a positive message to anyone watching this film .  br    br   i think this is one of keira knightley  s better films  and i think she  s a brilliant actress  and was excellent for the role . parminder nagra was brilliant too . sadly  i can  t say this for jonathan rhys  meyers  because i don  t think that he was that much of a good actor  and to be honest  his eyes were a little scary .  br    br   all in all  a brilliant film  and a brilliant story  
okay  i  m not going to critique this film in depth . i note the many elogious reviews in advance of me  and as i generally like maria de medeiros  i have been long hesitant to make a disparaging comment  and in such fashion nearly a year has passed . but each time i see that dvd on my shelf  i sense an inner groan . anyway  let the elogious voices override me  but for other cinephiles like me  beware .  br    br   expressed in simplest and gentlest terms  here  s my stance  br    br   the political turmoil and overthrow providing the backdrop for this film also served as a backdrop for a certain period of my life  via newspapers i read daily in my local middle  european pub . at that time  i followed the newsreports  but never fully grasped what the heck was transpiring . the reporters tended to report either in non  partisan terms  or with a conservatism which frowned upon any groups disturbing the peace or fomenting rebellion against the establishment . those were times when other winds of unrest swirled through paris  berlin  prague  and various places in the u . s .  all of whose issues i understand clearly at the time  but dictatorship or not  my papers tended to treat the govermentment of portugal simply as the establishment  not as a well  fleshed out  evil empire   to use flippant star war terms .  br    br   so  week after week  i read of disturbances  but never found an intelligent editorial that might provide the history behind them  or evaluate the practices and social  economic impacts of the dictatorship  etc .  br    br   so  in purchasing this film  i had at least two hopes to finally understand the details leading up to the social unrest  and to enjoy a well  conceived drama . this film gave me neither .  br    br   the film presupposes that viewers already have ample knowledge and deep emotions regarding the historical facts . and the drama  well  as i said  i want to encourage maria de medeiros and the portugues film industry  but  it was trite and shallow .  br    br   i obtained my copy of the dvd from france   selection official cannes      un certain regard  . the box shows smiling clean  shaven actors  the lead giving the victory sign in a fashion that reminds me more of the playboy bunny . after seeing the work  i wondered what the french could have thought of it  though as a shallow piece of  cinema verite   with sensitive ethnic content  i can understand their natural inclination to praise it for its  honesty  but . . .  br    br   look at the back of the box  un regard chaleuruex sur la revolution   a warm regard  try describing allende  s overthrown and murder with a a  warm regard   try it with czechoslovakia in      try it with the whole line  up of overthrows  and civil rebellions   br    br   another review maria de medeiros a renoue  avec son pays  son enfance et son histoire .  rubbish  rubbish  rubbish  at least for me .  br    br   i love portugal . in all of europe  lisbon  barcelona and prague are my favorite cities . but my love for a city and a country doesn  t flesh out a vacuous film . i  ll hang on to my ancient vhs tapes of capas negras and a cancao de lisboa  meanwhile  i  m stuck with a zone  by the above title that might as well go in the trash .  
originally i rented this film for my daughter since she is keen on soccer  and i was not disappointed that way  except the plot interfered with the soccer scenes  . as a dad i suppose i was a little surprised at the introduction of the topic of lesbianism  but i have to admit that as a parent these issues are completely available to children nowadays  as uncomfortable as i feel with the topic  . in a way this emotion was a segue right into the main premise of the film  that at some age you must trust your children to make their own choices . this dilemma is introduced by a young british  born teen girl  jasminder  jess   of east  indian heritage who dreams of playing professional soccer . the pending marriage of her older sister in a traditional hindu marriage provides many rich opportunities for her to explore  in a nice way  her hopes and fears for her future .  br    br   the multi  cultural challenge was a very interesting technique to explore jess  s frustration with her parents expectations for her  again no different in substance than most child  parent relationships .  br    br   in summary  the soccer scenes are great  lots to learn in slowmo  and while i didn  t need the storyline  something was needed to keep the movie going .  
by the numbers story of the kid  prince   a singer  on his way to becoming a star . then he falls in love with apollonia  appolonia kotero  . but he has to deal with his wife  beating father  clarence williams iii   and his own self  destructive behavior .  br    br   i saw this in a theatre in     . i was no big fan of prince but i did like the three big songs from this movie    purple rain    let  s get crazy   and  when doves cry  . the concert scenes in this movie are great   full of energy and excitement . unfortunately that  s a very small portion of the movie .  br    br   the story is screamingly obvious and have been done many times before   and much better too . the subplots are  to put in nicely  badly handled . the love triangle between the kid  appolonia and morris day was so predictable and tired that i actually became insulted . his wife beating father is needed for the story  but the scenes are so badly handled  in acting and direction  that i couldn  t believe it . the script is terrible   lousy dialogue and some truly painful  comedy  routines . and there  s tons of misogyny here   the kid  s mother getting beaten the kid hitting appolonia and  for no reason  appolonia strips and goes topless to swim in a dirty river . also williams  and princes  characters treat women in a horrible manner constantly .  br    br   the acting is where this movie really fails . appolonia is sweet and beautiful   but no actor . and prince is  easily  the worst actor i  ve ever seen . his blank face and wooden dialogue delivery are so bad i couldn  t believe it . this movie only comes to life during the concert scenes but there aren  t really that many . the  dramatic  scenes are so badly acted and handled that they make this movie a chore to sit through . they should have just made this a concert film . i give this a    only for the music .  
this is a so called  feel  good  movies  however it made me sad in a way . why  because i had the talent  but my parents didn  t let me study at the sports academy  as well the fact that at the age of   i decided to quit soccer .  br    br   and soccer is the red line in this movie . together with the struggle youngsters have with the expectations parents have . an english  indian girl and her parents  with their traditions and strong family ties  and on the other hand the english family with a daugther who dresses like a boy  and plays soccer . . . a combination which worries her mother  this movie also lines out the lives of ordinary people  as well as the indian community in england . it is about believe in your dreams  and live your one life  where did we hear that before  .  br    br   paraminder nagra  a beautiful women   plays yasminda  a girl who is not interested in boys  new clothes  make  up and the typical   year old girl stuff . in contradiction with her sister pinky  complete the opposite of yasminda .  br    br   a real must it is  to see how a young beautiful girl struggles with the traditions of their parents  and finds her luck eventually . with great music from blondie  curtis mayfield  texas  melanie c  as well as indian hit songs .  br    br   pleasant to watch  but if you  as myself  ever played soccer  and never made it to the top  then this movie will make you melachonic .  
much has been written about purple rain  the apparent  quin  essential  musician bio movie  however i  m here to tell you that the movie does not deserve it  s high praise .  br    br   first of all let  s get one thing straight prince is a great musician and music is the one area where purple rain excels . even the score is mesmerising  and if this was shot purely as a concert film it would be a great experience unfortunately it  s not and as such the movie has some problems .  br    br   first of all is the horrendous acting  writing  prince  s character  the kid  is supposed to come off as some type of mysterious loner of few words unfortunately this just comes off as corny and incensere . a good loner character should at least have some talkative moments  unfortunately prince  s character rarely has over a few words of dialog in the film and it  s hard to believe that he  d get the girl this way . everything just seems a little off here  which is a shame because you can tell this is a character that  s terribly conflicted and lives a very complicated live  but we aren  t ever allowed to get inside of it .  br    br   a surprising aspect of this film is just how much of this takes place in concert . prince and morris  s lives seemingly take a back seat to the performances here  which i guess makes sense from a business perspective  but it  s exhausting to have a  hour movie where seemingly half of it takes place on stage  especially when the character  s back stories get pushed aside for it .  br    br   so to sum it up this isn  t a very good movie .  
bend it like beckham is packed with intriguing scenes yet has an overall predictable stroy line . it is about a girl called jess who is trying to achieve her life long dream to become a famous soccer player and finally gets the chance when offered a position on a local team . there are so many boundaries and limits that she faces which hold her back yet she is still determined and strives . i would recommend it for anyone who likes a nice light movie and wants to get inspired by what people can achieve . the song choices are really good   hush my child  just move on up . . . to your destination and you make boundaries and complications .  anyway hope that was at help to your needs in a review . bend it like beckham great flick  
savage island       is a lame movie . it  s more like a home video shot with very minimal lighting and horrid acting . not only that the storyline and script was wretched . i don  t know why this movie was made . i have seen a lot of flicks in my time and the ones i really hate are movies that make me angry . this one made my blood boil . the situations were inane at best . if i made a movie like this it would have been a short . really because those backwood  idjits  wouldn  t have been in the picture .  br    br   don  t be fooled by the cover on the d . v . d . i am an avid watcher of bad cinema . but this movie is virtually unwatchable . i don  t mind movies being shot on d . v . but if you  re going to do that make the movie enjoyable  not some tired retread of superior horror films  sans wrong turn  .  br    br   i have to not recommend this waste of disk . if you come across this one in the rental store pass on by .  br    br   movies that make yours truly angry get an automatic  .  
i gotta say  clive barker  s undying is by far the best horror game to have ever been made . i  ve played resident evil  silent hill and the evil dead and castlevania games but none of them have captured the pure glee with which this game tackles its horrific elements . barker is good at what he does  which is attach the horror to our world  and it shows as his hand is clearly everywhere in this game . heck  even his voice is in the game as one of the main characters . full of lush visuals and enough atmosphere to shake a stick at  undying is the game to beat in my books as the best horror title . i just wish that this had made it to a console system but alas poor pc sales nipped that one in the bud .  
i  m trying to picture the pitch for dark angel .  i  m thinking matrix  i  m thinking bladerunner  i  m thinking that chick that plays faith in angel  wearing shiny black leather  or some chick just like her  leave that one with us . only  get this   we  ll do it without any plot  dialogue  character  decent action or budget  just some loud bangs and a hot chick in shiny black leather straddling a big throbbing bike . fanboys dig loud bangs and hot chicks in shiny black leather straddling big throbbing bikes  right    br    br   flashy  shallow  dreary  formulaic  passionless  tedious  dull  dumb  humourless  desultory  barely competent . live action anime without any action  or indeed any life . sf just the way joe fanboy likes it  in fact .    
gurinda chada  s semi  autobiographical film       is a gentle  poignant comedy set in the ethnically diverse community near heahthrow airport in west london .  br    br   like the airliners which constantly arrive and depart from overhead  we follow the ups and downs of the two main characters jess bhamra  parminder nagra  and jules paxton  keira knightley  as they strike up an unlikely friendship which centres around their mutual passion for soccer and their technical infatuation with david beckham .  br    br   much of the comedy grows out of the misunderstandings of the families of these two talented girls as they break all the expectations and conventions of their very different family backgrounds .  br    br   somewhere in the middle  as broker  peacemaker and blighted athlete  joe  jonathan reece  myers   team coach for the hounslow harriers  intercedes in times of crisis  while at the same time remaining the main object of affection of both the main characters .  br    br   eventually  and not without many obstacles and triumphs on the way  we finally see our dedicated and beloved soccer heroines soaring away to realise their dreams .  br    br   with great performances from bollywood veteran anupam kher  mr bhamra   shaheen khan  mrs bhamra   juliet stevenson  mrs paxton  and frank harper  mr paxton  this really is a film that captures the urgent passion of adolescence and crosses all ethnic frontiers .  br    br   pinky bamrha  archie panjabi  and  taz  trey farley are struggling their own struggles  but nevertheless contribute greatly to our understanding of the main characters in the film .  br    br   in it  s own special way  this film tells an important story that in quite incidental the football . it celebrates the evolution in the understanding of ordinary people in ordinary families and the innate ability of the young to teach the old .  
julia  kristina copeland  travels with her husband steven harris  steven man  and their baby son alex to spend a couple of days with her family in savage island  an island of their own . the couple expects to resolve their issues along the weekend in the remote island . while waiting for the boat  julia and steven meet two weird men in the harbor  and when her brother peter  brendan beiser  arrives  he explains that a family of hillbilly squatters is living in the island . the reckless peter smoke pot while driving the truck in the night and turns the headlight off to show off however  he accidentally runs over the young son of the savage  s family  but in the dark he believes he has hit an animal . later  the savage family claims alex as a compensation for their lost son . the young family does not accept the trade  and they initiate a deadly war between families .  br    br    savage island  is a very low  budget movie  with a stupid screenplay  amateurish cinematography but surprisingly good acting . the flawed story is totally absurd  and there are many unbelievable situations . for example  how could two men leave two women with the baby alone in the road during the night with the menace of the deranged family  the logical procedure would be going immediately to the continent and bringing police force to rescue peter . then the young family vanishes julia and steven leave their car in the continent and their house and friends  and nobody chases them  peter calls his sister julia of alex when he arrives with the boat in the beginning . there are so many flaws in this flick that i could spend many lines writing about this subject . i believe this film was filmed with a home video camera so awful the images are . the good cast deserved a better material to work . my vote is four .  br    br   title  brazil    ilha de sangue    island of blood    
this is one of my all time favorite movies and i would recommend it to anyone . on my list of favorite movies  mental list  mind  the only ones on par with it are movies such as the lord of the rings series  spirited away and fly away home .  br    br   i can really relate to the main character jess . at the start of the movie she  s a shy girl with a slightly odd background who has a lot more friends who are boys than that are girls . she really sucks you into her life . i also certainly can  t fault any of the protagonist  s acting  or anyone else  s in the film .  br    br   the soccer was interesting to watch even for someone like me who has no idea of the rules . the movie is never boring . the romance is really cute and didn  t make me blush tooooo hard  one thing that really made it though was the indian factor . jess  parents are indian and there are many colourful indian conventions throughout the film providing a very interesting cultural insight as well as everything else . the indian people are also hilarious  essentially this is a coming of age film about choosing the path you want and fighting for it .  br    br   feel good comedies are becoming my favorite movie genre thanks to this film . they  re funny  they  re refreshing and they make you feel good      
as with most of the reviewers  i saw this on starz  ondemand . after watching the preview with my girlfriend  she decided not to watch it from how bad the preview watched . i  on the other hand  thought it looked weird enough to warrant a watching . i mean  the design of dr . meso alone warranted at least a brief sweep over this title . after watching it  i can say that while there are some interesting aspects to it  namely the browsing over the notebooks and trying to figure out the incomprehensible story   it  s best to pass over this one .  br    br   major spoilers ahead after making their first video for their as  yet  unfinished cd  the lead singer  cassidy  kills herself in an attempt to get her boyfriend neil to notice her .  months later  the band is trying to decide if they  re going to finish the album or not . to try and see what cassidy would have wanted  they go to see an old psychic friend of hers  dr . meso  and try to contact her through him . in his card reading  dr . meso turns up four straight death cards for the four remaining band members . bad times are ahead .  i just wanted to make a point that later in the film  they do explain that the death card really just represents change . kudos to them on that at least .  even without the approval of their deceased friend  they decide to go ahead and finish the album . but while in the bathroom  cassidy  s best  friend  dora  catches a glimpse of her deceased friend . when another band  mate goes in to check on her  dora is standing in the dark  requesting his sunglasses . that  s when the killing begins .  br    br   my main problem with the film from the very get  go is that it seems to be heavy stylized to a fault . too many warping effects  unnecessary zooms  and a plethora of other cheap effects riddle this film . an incoherent storyline doesn  t help anything either . while the narrative hangs together for the first part  once cassidy is resurrected  everything falls apart . we have jump  cuts between cassidy and dr . meso  who mysteriously was able to get into a locked building   which show they are connected in some way or another . however  within a few minutes of that revelation  we find that cassidy really is an independent being from meso . she then turns on the guy who had been helping her revenge and he scurries away in a way that calls to mind jack nicholson as the joker . but not in a good way .  br    br   from this point on  the whereabouts of cassidy are shown  but there are strange lapses as character moves from place to place almost out of sequence . one scene we see cassidy standing at a desk  when a character enters in the next  she  s nowhere to be found . as he moves behind the desk  we see her at the end of a hallway . then in another room grabbing the keys  which neil already has   then back again . not to mention that from one moment to the next  cassidy  s mood seems to go a complete    without a catalyst to it . one moment  she wants to kill everyone  although she  s only wounded    of the characters   the next she  s apologizing to everyone and walks out the door to die again . sound confusing  that  s because it is . it  s a jumbled mess that i  m sure the writer couldn  t even figure out .  br    br   as for the performances  most are particularly wooden . some though are interesting  but overall this isn  t a piece that would be known for it  s acting . the story is the driving force behind this piece .  
i love this movie . it is great film that combines english and indian cultures with feminist  type issues  such as girls wanting to play sports that were previously reserved for men . it shows the struggles of both an indian person wanting to break outside her cultural barriers and women wanting to break outside the gender restrictions found in sports  especially in england at the time . i feel that the cultural struggles are more emphasized than the other issues .  br    br   in contrast to the other comment  i do not think this movie is anything like dirty dancing or any other such chick flick . this move is loved by many types of people  men and women  young and old alike .  
studio     aka the possessed in the uk  is another sub  par slasher that has the appearance of a straight  to  dvd movie .  br    br   whilst many of the straight  to  dvd movies are fast  paced or unintentionally hilarious in the so  bad  it  s  good sense  studio    is a lamentable failure .  br    br   at the time of writing  every comment on the first page includes a negative rating and a negative review . every one of these people have hit the nail on the head .  br    br   the two people  at the time of writing  who wrote comments with a rating of   out of   should not be taken seriously . obviously they  ve seen few slasher movies and have an even more limited understanding of horror .  br    br   the only really positive point i can make about this movie is that it does fare better than the choke and one of them  two extremely mediocre slasher movies that i would not wish on my worst enemy   br    br   the plot of this movie must have been done hundreds  if not thousands of times . the movie only has a slight twist  and one that is badly handled  to the usual expectations . a depressed singer commits suicide . soon after  her spirit returns to possess one of her surviving friends . the said possessed friend goes on a killing spree . the rest of the plot really is too bizarre to sum up . you  ll just have to see it for yourself  providing your interest has not yet waned to the point of extinction of course .  br    br   the acting in the movie is very poor for the most part . the actress who played dora was an exception to this . her character was always interesting and seductive when she was on the screen . she helps to elevate the movie above similar contemporary efforts . unfortunately  some of the lines she was given to say were badly written to put it mildly and thus prevent her from saving the movie .  br    br   the direction was equally poor . the villains did not seem the least bit menacing  every killing was totally devoid of suspense or tension  atmosphere was non  existent and the camera  work was incredibly basic . some of the special effects  if you can call them that  reminded me of the tv series  ghost stories . unfortunately for the producers of this movie  ghost stories had intelligently written scripts  believable performances and made superb use of camera angles . maybe if the producers had watched that tv series closely  they  d have picked up some more techniques that might have saved this excuse for a movie   br    br   the music is completely unsuited to the tone of the movie . it  s just rock music and not the best examples of this type either . don  t get me started on that awful song played at the beginning   br    br   some aspects of the movie  particularly dialogue  are unintentionally funny . unfortunately they are not funny enough to move the movie up  or should it be down  to the so  bad  it  s  good level .  br    br   overall  studio    is a mundane mediocre slasher with very little noteworthy aspects . i recommend this only to those who are fans of straight  to  dvd movies and have a desire to see every single slasher ever made .  
it  s such a shame that because of it  s title this film will be avoided by people who hate football . bend it like beckham is much more than a cheesy sports flick . the story line is touching and intelligent without being soppy  the jokes were laugh out loud funny  and the characters are well acted . parminder nagra and keira knightley are brilliant as teenagers jess and jules  putting in great performances both on and off the pitch . anupam kher is wonderful as jess  worried father  and jonathan rhys  meyers  who was so amazingly evil in  ride with the devil   comes across so well as the nice guy for once  making full use of his gorgeous irish accent  even if you don  t like football  go see this film . if anything it  ll make you smile .  
this ranks way up there on my top list of worst movies i  ve seen so far on starz on demand . they seem to pick up every straight to dvd crap  fest they can find and put it on here .  br    br   why  who knows  apparently anyone with a digital camera and a shoestring budget can come up with a horror movie and get it put on tv . to be honest  this looked terrible from the moment i saw the trailer   but i did give it a real chance .  br    br   i always try to have an open mind about low  budget movies . some of the best movies i  ve ever seen were films that worked around their low budget or in other cases only required that low budget to be great .  br    br   this is not one of those movies .  br    br   you know the plot by now  i  m sure  if you  re reading this . either you heard about it on starz on demand or for whatever reason you ended up on this page out of boredom . it  s about a pathetic and whiny girl we get to know for all of  minutes in an incredibly bad  heavy metal  music video . whoever put it together must have thought it looked really interesting  but it really  really doesn  t . anyway  she kills herself . then she possesses someone . then some killing starts . it  s really unmemorable and as completely average and boring as possible . when the first gunshot goes off in her apartment it quite seriously sounds like a piece of popcorn popping . was that the best sound effect they could come up with  i could find a better sound effect to use for free   with no copyright   on the internet . . . right . now .  br    br   don  t let the other reviews claiming this is a   star movie fool you . they are obviously either distributors of the film or maybe even the director trying to con you into thinking this piece of junk is worth buying .  br    br   laughable .  
how can a movie be both controversial and gentle  this one does it with a near  perfect structure . no one wants their daughters to be athletes . apparently most cultures don  t want their daughters to be small  breasted  either . here we see a bunch of superb actors we  ve never heard of before portray folks of different cultures living fairly humdrum lives until their female children want to  and have the potential to  become professional soccer players . the structure around the parallelism of the two cultures is wonderful . there is no condescension . both cultures are seen as modern and valid .  and yes  both are silly  too  . one flaw the hindu wedding ceremony seemed to involve hundreds of relatives but not one child among them .  
well  because i  m a musician i thought  maybe i  ll check this movie out on tmc  nothing else good on . one of the worst mistakes of my life so far  and it  s only half done . i seriously thought it was one of those soft core movies with crappy plot and crappy acting  crappy filming and crappy effects . but nope  i don  t even get the pleasure of that . even the  musicians  weren  t very good . i was hoping for maybe some laughs  but i wasn  t sure if they were attempting to throw in one  liners or not . but now i have to sit here and watch the rest just until pulp fiction starts . or maybe something better . and now i get to sit here typing until i have   lines  
i love playing football and i thought this movie was great because it contained a lot of football in it . this was a good hollywood  bollywood film and i am glad it won   awards . parminder nagra and kiera knightley were good and so was archie punjabi . jonathon rheyes meyers was great at playing the coach . jazz  parminder nagra  loves playing football but her parents want her to learn how to cook an want her to get married . when jazz starts playing for a football team secretly she meets juliet  kiera knightlety  and joe  jonathon rhyes meyers  who is her coach . when her parents find out trouble strikes but her dad lets her play the big match on her sisters pinky  archie punjabi  s  wedding . at the end her parents realise how much she loves football and let her go abroad to play .  
cassidy  kacia brady  puts a gun in her mouth blowing the back of her head out on boyfriend neal  jason dibler  . cassidy was the lead singer of a  demons and death  rock band who couldn  t shake the sad feelings of her boyfriend  s neglect towards her  you know  i can find other reasonable ways to solve this other than putting a bullet through your head  . she returns  however  possessing the soul of dora  jill small  her friend who is to replace her on vocals so that the group can finish the album halted by cassidy  s untimely death . but  cassidy made a deal with the dark one and souls are to be collected . . she  s consumed by this anger towards mainly neal  but all the band members or anyone within the music studio get dead when they fall prey to whom they believe is a rather distraught dora . . not cassidy returning for payback .  br    br   lousy micro  budget horror flick looks cheap  has a cheap cast who should make plans in another line of work  and boasts cheap kill  scenes which aren  t effective one bit .  
this movie explores the difficulties that strain hopes  dreams  love and friendship  and incorporates humour beautifully . along with a stunning cast and brilliant filming  the sound track enhances and amplifies the atmosphere and mood of this work of art . all actors and actresses give an extremely good performance  surpassing expectation in every way . parminder nagra is brought on to the big screen for the first time in this film  and she is exceptional  capturing the vividness and vitality that this movie is all about . keira knightly also works well with her co  stars  and this is her best work so far .  br    br   all in all  this is brilliant film  and one that everyone should make the effort to see at least once .  
for the most part  on demand delivers some pretty horrible horror movies  and only offers other horror movies everyone has already seen  and already have an opinion on . it was either this  or invinicible  i like mark wahlberg movies   which i haven  t seen  and i was actually in a movie watching mood  which doesn  t happen often anymore because i  ve already watched all the movies i own a million times  and that  s a lot of movies  and i don  t have much interest in new movies  and boy  this movie made me regret it . i  m not going to put in any spoilers  i  m just going to tell you that only a few of the very few actors in this movie  are half way decent . i think the main girl  the dead one who kills everyone  is very annoying looking  but convincing i  d take her for psycho bitch anyday  so she fits her roll well  though it is lame . the blood isn  t that great  only a few of the kills  or may i say  woundings  are alright  but you don  t see much and there are no body part props in the movie to make the injuries look more convincing . towards the end of the movie i was begging my girlfriend to turn it off  and being a band member  the  recording  parts weren  t very interesting either  though what happened would truly happen when going about recording . i  m done  if you want to watch this  suit yourself .  
      for this film .  br    br   i  m a british india doctor  currently in india . the word beckham put me off   cos i  m a die hard liverpool fan  and personally think that owen is really cool . since liverpool and man utd are rivals  i was dead sure that i wouldn  t watch the film .  br    br   but then i was in delhi to meet some friends  and i had an early morning flight  so i thought   what the heck  let  s bide time by watching this film    cos it was a late night show .  br    br   what a moron i was . i should  ve seen this film the day it was released . i guess using beckham  s name was to draw audience attraction  which had back  fired in my case      but then i really can  t think of a better title for the film .  br    br   and nagra  knightley  drop dead gorgeous   and rhys  myers did a superb job .  br    br   if you hate football  dislike manchester united  or england for that matter   then this is definately the film for you . in fact  i  m just   yrs old  a psychiatrist by profession  but a kid at heart . this film has knocked  star wars  off my no .  position .  br    br   surprisingly  there aren  t very many comments on this film by indian  brits like me . i wonder why   br    br        for this film .  
i am a major fan of the horror genre  i love horror  slasher  gore flicks of all kinds . some of my favorites are the really  good  bad horror flicks . but this movies has nothing to warrant it  s viewing   i  m not going to spend a lot of time talking about everything that  s wrong with it .  br    br   the script is horrid . the acting is horrid . the fx are not even worth discussing . the  set  is an absolute joke   the sad thing is i think there may be some real potential in a couple of the actors  but this vehicle left them nothing to work with     br    br   suffice it to say i saw it for  free   feel i was robbed   the time you  d waste watching this would be better spent flossing your cat .  
jess is    very smart and wants nothing more than to play football  when she joins a local team she has to lie to her parents again and again  as they would never approve of her chasing her dream  they want her to settle down with a nice indian boy and learn how to cook .  br    br   bend it like beckham is a very funny feel good movie that doesn  t need to be deep and complex  it  s just fine as it is . the cast are all very good and they play their roles very well  the story is simple and predictable  but it works perfectly and the script is very realistic and very funny .  br    br   a great family movie      
this movie is bad . if you are thinking about watching it  there is only one decent scene in the movie  and it lasts about  seconds  amanda carraway  s topless scene  . the rest of the movie is horrible . i think high school plays probably have better acting . the plot makes no sense at all . the set was pretty lame  and it wasn  t even good to make fun of . it was just dull and very very bad  i watched this on starz so i thought it had to be at least decent . the mini description sounded like it  d be alright . the girlfriend kills herself for apparently no reason at the beginning of the movie  after you have to watch some horrible music video . the transitions between scenes are very abrupt and its like someone just put a ton of clips into a movie without even thinking about how to transition them . just cuts from one scene to another  no smoothness . kind of like my random switching from talking about how bad the movie is  to explaining why the plot sucks . the audio gets low at some points  where you can barely hear it  then gets loud with gay  horror screams  thrown in at random points in the movie . it is the same sound every time . this is now officially the worst movie i have ever seen  br    br   acting     effects     storyline     music      br    br   lame  meter               
as an anti  football person  i  on the surface  grudgingly took my younger brother to see this film  although secretly i hoped it might be east is east ii . the trailers looked fun so i thought i  d give it a go .  br    br   it took about ten minutes but after that i was glued to the screen  and that wasn  t anything to do with the neck cramp caused by sitting too near the front due to a packed auditorium . the acting was fresh and vibrant  the characters engaging  and the jokes genuinely funny . the entire auditorium was laughing out loud every minute or so . football fan or no football fan  sport became irrelevant to the main principles of love  friendship  family  independence and rivalry . add a dash of sikh culture and you have the formula for the best british comedy i  ve seen in a long time  dare i say it . . . . better than east is east .  br    br   this film trots along nicely at a lovely pace  never dwelling on anything longer than necessary nor leaving anything unfinished  keeping the viewer entertained and mentally engaged . though not a characteristically twisting  and  turning film  there are some pleasant surprises on the way and things don  t always happen as you would expect .  br    br   saying that  there were elements of predictability but these were exploited satirically more than used as script  fillers . i suppose depending on your particular penchant for happy  endings you could be either delighted  let down by the ending . personally  if there was any other outcome i would have written a strongly worded letter to the script writers .  br    br   as for the actors  i would have to say that juliet stevenson  paula  put in the finest performance . i never knew that people like that existed but she her realism with sometimes bizarre concepts has convinced me that they possibly do  prize for the most unconvincing  of the main characters  goes  unfortunately  to kiera knightley  jules   but don  t get me wrong  even she offered a great performance  it  s just that someone has to be last of the best and sorry kiera  this time you  re it .  br    br   tip don  t leave before the credits . once the lights came back up i realised to my horror that perhaps i shouldn  t have watched this film after all . my beloved but forgotten ice junkie had melted into a sugary blue juice . oh  what am i saying  it was absolutely brill and i can  t recommend it enough . i will definitely buy it when it comes out and add it to my collection of  videos . i  m a student . i only splash out if it  s really worth it .  
whoever wrote the script for this movie does not deserve to work in hollywood at all  not even live there   and those actors need to find another job . the most dreadful hour and some minutes of my life . . . and i only kept watching to see if it would get better which  unfortunately for me it did not .  br    br   even at the end  the credits gave me anxiety . i guess there weren  t a lot of people behind the movie so they had to roll the credits slowly . . . very slowly .  br    br   this movie is definitely a great  how not to make a movie  guide . too bad i can  t give a  .  
i love the way that this game can make you literally jump out of your seat while you are playing it . the way that the screen jumps and flashes when you get hit  its very realistic while at the same time you have to remember that its just a game and your not really there . the sound effects and audio are amazing . there are a lot of weapons and different spells to cast and you can even choose which spells to make stronger or not . you get this stone that can knock back enemies while you recover mana to blast your foes with even more magic . the best part is that the whole time you are playing it you are really jumpy and afraid of what might lurk around the next corner or what might jump out behind you . if you want to get the full experience  try playing it with head phones on .  
wow  here it finally is the action  movie  without action . in a real low  budget setting  don  t miss the hilarious flying saucers flying by a few times  of a future seattle we find a no  brain hardbody seeking to avenge her childhood .  br    br   there is nothing even remotely original or interesting about the plot and the actors  performance is only rivalled in stupidity by the attempts to steal from other movies  mainly  matrix  without having the money to do it right . yes  we do get to see some running on walls and slow motion shoot  outs    secs approx .  but these scenes are about as cool as the stupid hardbody  s attempts at making jokes about male incompetence now and then .  br    br   and  yes  we are also served a number of leads that lead absolutely nowhere  as if the script was thought  out by the previously unseen cast while shooting the scenes .  br    br   believe me  it is as bad as it possibly can get . in fact  it doesn  t deserve to be taken seriously  but perhaps i can make some of you not rent it and save your money .  
emilio miraglio  s  the red queen kills seven times        is just about the most perfect example of a giallo that i have ever seen  mixing all the requisite elements into one sinister stew indeed . first of all  and of paramount importance for me  it has a complex  twisty plot that ultimately makes perfect sense  and the killer here does not come completely out of left field at the end . the story  concerning a series of gruesome murders  you already know how many from the film  s title  right   that takes place in seeming fulfillment of an ancient prophecy concerning two sisters  is an involving one  and the murderer  a red  cloaked figure with the insane laugh of a madwoman  is both frightening and memorable . every great giallo requires some lovely lead actresses  and here we have quite an assortment  headed by the ridiculously beautiful barbara bouchet as one of the two sisters and  in one of her earlier roles  sybil danning  as a lustful tramp at barbara  s fashion house . another necessary ingredient of a superior giallo is a catchy  hummable score  and bruno nicolai provides one for this film that should stay with you for days . gorgeous scenery  check again . filmed largely in wurzburg  germany  the picture is a treat for the eye indeed . ok  ok  but what about those murders  after all  isn  t that what gialli are all about  well  i  m pleased to report that most viewers should be well satisfied with the various knifings  shootings  impalements and other carnage that this film tastefully dishes out . . . not to mention the crypts  freaky dream sequence  rats and bats  and lots of  em  too    the drug references  a rape scene  the obligatory red herrings and  in the person of ugo pagliai  a hunky leading man for the female viewers . as i said  a perfect giallo . and even better  this dvd is from the fine folks at no shame  and you know what that means a gorgeous print and loads of extras  to boot  thanks  guys   
terrible movie . nuff said .  br    br   these lines are just filler . the movie was bad . why i have to expand on that i don  t know . this is already a waste of my time . i just wanted to warn others . avoid this movie . the acting sucks and the writing is just moronic . bad in every way . the only nice thing about the movie are deniz akkaya  s breasts . even that was ruined though by a terrible and unneeded rape scene . the movie is a poorly contrived and totally unbelievable piece of garbage .  br    br   ok now i am just going to rag on imdb for this stupid rule of   lines of text minimum . first i waste my time watching this offal . then feeling compelled to warn others i create an account with imdb only to discover that i have to write a friggen essay on the film just to express how bad i think it is . totally unnecessary .  
david beckham is a british soccer star and the husband of victoria beckham   posh spice  of the spice girls  . his trademark is a goal shot that curves across the pitch and into the net . the soccer equivalent of an unhittable curve ball in baseball .  bend it like beckham  means making that type of spectacular shot . apart from that  and a little shrine to him in the main character  s bedroom and a faux  cameo at the very end  the movie has nothing to do with him .  br    br   the movie is full of little soccer in  jokes  such as the present that one of the characters  parents give her of a jersey with the number  on it  property of the great mia hamm  to those in the know   references to  posh  n  becks   the video homage to the wusa one of the characters plays for a disbelieving friend   they have that      lesbian gags  sports  bra gags  and so on .  br    br   the story is about a teenage girl in england who idolizes beckham and wants to be a soccer star . she has a real gift  but the two seemingly insurmountable obstacles she must overcome are the absence of a professional women  s league in the uk  hence their fascination with our wusa   and her parents  who are indian immigrants set in very old  fashioned ways that do not allow daughters  among other things  to engage in contact sports . the girl  s family are portrayed as figures of ironic fun  but with great affection   think my big fat greek wedding . the girl loves and respects them enough to go through sitcom hell to conceal her growing soccer stardom from them .  
one of my best friends brought this movie over one night with the words  wanna watch the worst horror movie ever   i always enjoy a good laugh at a bad horror flick and said yes . i had expected your typical cheesy b  slasher but this was beyond b . this is z  slasher  the lowest of the low . with obviously low budget  extremely bad acting  bad lightning  no plot  really bad so  called  special effects   shaky cameras and a horrible soundtrack this makes movies like house of wax look like oscar  winning masterpieces . the only good thing about it is about   seconds of one of the characters getting topless  she had some very nice tits . most of what i said during this film was along the lines of  wow this is actually so bad    this is the worst movie ever  and  i  m not drunk enough for this  . so in conclusion don  t waste your time  or money   .  
my scalp still smarts from the burning coals heaped on it when i vowed i love this film . bring on the coals i  ll walk over them as well to say again that i love  bend it like beckham .  granted  there  s a lot of  in spite of  in that confession . it  s a bit movie  of  the  week the screenplay is on the paint  by  numbers side . and  most troublingly  the director  s commentary implies that in this film beauty can be found primarily amongst the white of skin .  br    br   the film  s genius is not in what  s obvious to the syd field  doctored eye character arcs  themes  construction . it  s in both the surface and what lurks deep beneath  but not in those layers of artistic topsoil that reviewers seem most often to scratch at . powerful  sometimes semi  clad female bodies not simply on display but kicking the crap out of a football do a better job of naturalizing female strength and agility than lara croft or zhang ziyi will ever do . these are real bodies  keira knightley  s excepted  whose work is not to look great first and kick butt later . they are working bodies whose beauty is in their movement and self  determination . and  in my book  lead actress parminder nagra is one of the most gorgeous creatures ever captured on screen  not only because she can lay claim to that hackneyed adjective   luminous   but because her performance has an honesty and un  bookish intelligence that  s utterly compelling .  br    br   the result is a film women can enjoy without feeling like they  re making a pact with the devil to do so . as in chadha  s  bride and prejudice   the relationships amongst women sizzle with a chemistry that can  t be neatly slotted into the stodgy  sweet valley high categories of  best friends  or  sisters .  perhaps chadha is even right in her commentary to disavow the film  s flirtation with lesbianism .  bend it like beckham  has an electricity that can  t be reduced to the simple hetero  homosexual love triangle its conventionally structured script would suggest . the precise nature of its pleasure is  ultimately  a bit of a mystery  and is all the more seductive for it .  br    br   oh yes  and did i mention that it  s hilarious   
after a quasi  gothic  all  fruity music video  the movie starts with cassidy the lead singer killing herself . in a perfect world that would be that and the end credits would roll . we don  t live n that world . the insipid band members decide to go to some clown to contact her dead essence . when i say clown  i mean actual clown . he tell them they  re all going to die via cassidy  s ghost  the spirit possesses dora  one of the band  mates  we couldn  t care less as the characters are all boring  vapid  and extremely horribly acted . written by adam hackbarth  an incredibly apropos surname if there ever was one   and directed by corbin timbrook  who after the attendant  and tower of blood  has to know that he keeps making crap for a living   this movie s a constant battle between the film  s incompetence and the viewer  s need to stay awake . not enough blood to appease gore  hounds  nor enough nudity to satisfy pervs . this movie in fact has absolutely nothing to recommend to absolutely anyone .  br    br   my grade f  br    br   eye candy amanda carraway gets topless  br    br   where i saw it starz on demand  
as someone who  s never been into sports  it seems like it would be hard for me to get into the football  or as we americans inexplicably call it  soccer   themed  bend it like beckham  . but i gotta say  this was one cool movie  anglo  indian jesminder bhamra  parminder nagra  and her wasp friend juliette paxton  keira knightley  love to play football  yes  i  m going to say it the british  and international  way  and just adore football player david beckham . but jesminder  s traditional sikh parents don  t approve  her mother offers a really whacked  out description of football early in the movie  . okay  so maybe it was sort of a clich in that sense  but you gotta love this movie  and if like me  you go to this movie not knowing the definition of  bend  in football . . . don  t worry  the movie explains it  i  d also never heard of david beckham prior to this movie  . and we all know that keira knightley hit it big a few months after  bilb  came out in the states  she starred in the equally cool  pirates of the caribbean the curse of the black pearl  .  
i think that if i went to a first school somewhere deep in the countryside and asked the bottom set of english to come up with a script  it would make more sense than this . i could then go to the first year drama group and they would act it out better than the jokers in this film . this sounds really mean  but i  m certain that they made this as a joke and are entirely aware that they possess  see what i did there   neither the skills to act or to write anything  ever .  br    br   watch this only if you  re incredibly drunk  high or in need of a good excuse as to why your decaying corpse was found with slit wrists . i will now go to my fish bowl and collect all of the poo at the bottom . after that  i will mould it into the shape of a disc and put it into my dvd player  fully expecting it to produce something far better than this trumpery .  br    br   acting      plot  lol    breasts       
as a former  time okinawan karate world champion  i like movies about sacrifice for sport . but this movie is about so much more . this movie is so good and so deep . i have recently been plagued by very serious injury and pretty much a disastrous lack of passion . almost lights out for me . and this silly little movie touched me so deep that like out of a daze it reminded me about what life is supposed to be about . this is a movie about living . living your life for yourself and respect for others . empowerment . god  bless  bend it like beckham  i believe it is a true gem .  
considering the limits of this film  the entire movie in one setting  a music studio  only about  or  actors total  it should have been much better made . if you have these limits in making a film  how could the lighting be so bad  and the actors were terrible  were talking a hair below the acting in clerks  except that was an enjoyable movie  this had no substance . well it tried to  but really fails .  br    br   it makes attempt to be self  referencing in a couple parts  but the lines were delivered so poorly by the actors it was just bad . and the main character neal guy  what a pathetic looser . clearly like   people total made this  film  and they all knew each other  and it probably was a real rock band that they had  but unfortuntly these people really have no idea how terrible they are all around . this was made in      but they all look so naieve it smacks of just pre  grunge era .  br    br   thankfully i didn  t pay to see this  starz on demand delivers again   but it was under the title  the possessed  not studio     it doesn  t matter what you do to the title  it can  t help this . this could have been a much better made movie  there is no excuse for this bad film  making when you have the obvious limited parameters the filmmakers had when they made this  working within those limits you should make the stuff you can control and the stuff you can work with the best you can . instead they figured mediocrity would be good enough . and that music video  wow that was bad  i fast fowarded through that .  br    br   so     is fair  if you are into the whole b  movie crap i suppose you  ll go and see this .  
the title of this film nearly put me off watching it . not being a manchester united fan  the mere mention of beckham was a bit off putting  however i put my prejudices behind me and i  m glad i did .  br    br   i wasn  t expecting much of a film  but i was pleasantly surprised . the film sped along with me never looking at my watch and i enjoyed every second of the film . if you liked east is east then you  ll love this film . ok so the storyline is nothing new  and the classic storylines are contained within the film but it  s all done very funnily  and with a breath of fresh air . the film moves very fast and keeps the audiance entertained . the occaisional funny moments are a good chuckle and not some poor attempt at humour  and best of all it  s a good british comedy .  
i  ve probably been spoilt by having firstly seen the     version with michael jayston and sorcha cusack so the     adaptation is such a disappointment . i just didn  t get any chemistry between the  main stars . a lot of staring and theatrical acting just doesn  t do it for me  and what was all that about putting tim in the role of rochester . had the casting director actually ever read the book . very strange  he  s a fine actor but mr . rochester he definitely isn  t  and zelah was just  well  strange  bit of a mix matched couple . in it  s favour the supporting cast were pretty good and the lowood scenes for me were the best of the adaptation  but overall didn  t capture any of the magic of the novel . certainly wouldn  t ask anyone to watch it as a true adaptation of the novel . a real let down   
wow  i can  t believe i waited so long to see this film . i just never got around to watching it . the plot has nothing that interests me . i know nothing about soccer  football .  i am one of those american fools that has no clue . i had never even seen david beckham before this film . i chose to ignore the buzz surrounding this film at the time it was released in america . enough about me .  br    br   truth be told  it was a mistake to ignore this little piece of movie  making heaven . what a fun film . it  s full of color and exuberance . i had a goofy grin on my face through the whole movie . parminder nagra is so sweet and lovable  you can  t help but root for her . no wonder why the american television show e . r . has snatched her up . i have a new appreciation for indian culture . those people know how to have a good time . the wedding scenes are dazzlingly beautiful .  br    br   the only problem i had was deciphering some of the british slang and dialogue through the accents . i turned on the english subtitles to make sure i didn  t miss anything .  this is not a criticism of the film   i  m sure audiences worldwide have trouble understanding the constantly changing slang in american films as well .  br    br   this is a perfect date film . it has a great sports plot like rocky  and a strong sense of feminism that is empowering for women . i watched it with my wife  and sixteen year old niece  and we all loved it . i highly recommend it .  
this adaptation positively butchers a classic which is beloved for its subtlety . timothy dalton has absolutely no conception of the different nuances of rochester  s character . i get the feeling he never even read the book  just sauntered on set in his too tight breeches and was handed a character summary that read  grumpy  broody  murky past .  he plays rochester not as a character or as a real person but as an over the top grouch who never cracks a smile until after he gets engaged at which point he miraculously morphs into a pansy . there is no chemistry . the only feeling that this adaptation excited in me was incredulity and also sympathy for charlotte bronte who is most definitely turning in her grave . go and reread the book . rochester has a personality . and by the way a  passionate  love scene does not mean you have to eat her face .  
okay  first of i hate commenting on this thing but i felt like i had to stand up for this movie . so many people were bashing on it and i felt like people who might want to see it should get a second opinion .  br    br   first off  bend it like beckham is not meant to be the most profound movie of the century . if that  s what you  re looking for go somewhere else . just because it is an independent film does not mean it has to be artsy . it  s supposed to make you feel good and you  re supposed to have fun watching it and those two things are handily accomplished .  br    br   secondly  the acting though not  halle berry in monster  s ball  is still good . the movie doesn  t need acting like that honestly so don  t look for it . it  s a family movie . if that  s what you wanted you wouldn  t or shouldn  t even be looking into this movie honestly .  br    br   lastly  it has a really cute story . i think it  s thought out well and it  s entertaining to watch . it  s also very true to life for the most part for that culture so if you want to sit down and watch a movie that you can enjoy and feel good about when you  re finished . if you  re looking for something with deep thought out plot lines and big dramatic scenes this is not for you .  br    br    lyndsay  
the worst kind of film . basically  the us declaration of independence was replaced with a plasma screen and this fooled the museum  s security for several days . eh   br    br   the plasma screen that would theoretically run for less than  seconds off that watch battery  assuming it had a low enough internal resistance to deliver the required current  which it wouldn  t .  br    br   it would be possible with a dozen large car batteries and an inverter  but that system wouldn  t fit into the case . sorry to be anal  but this isn  t even close to being plausible . the rest of the film wasn  t a great deal better and i  m left wondering why the budget couldn  t have been donated to charity or me .  
i caught the last half of this movie on cable one night and was struck by just how morbid it was . even when one of the two victims is at his most deteriorated  the camera keeps going . the lingering shots of his corpse being uncovered and his concentration  camp figure being zipped into a body bag are both moving and depressing . don  t watch this movie if your already depressed . then again don  t watch it if your feeling really good .  
michael callan plays a smarmy photographer who seems  nonetheless  to be regarded as a perfect  catch  by any woman that runs across him could this have anything to do with the fact that he also co  produced the film  he  s a  hero  whom it  s very difficult to empathize with  so the movie is in trouble right from the start . however  it  s troubles don  t end there . it has the production values of a tv  movie  check out that head made of clay or something  near the end   and the ending cheats in a way that i can  t reveal  in case anyone wants to see the movie  highly unlikely  . let  s just say that the killer knows more than we were let to know he knows .        
this film is not morbid  nor is it depressing . it  is  sad  because aids in the early    s  was  sad . but its real message is one of love and perseverance .  br    br   mark and tom were in a long  term  loving relationship . their devotion to each other is evident right away  and as the ravages of aids escalate and become the focal point of their lives  you see strength and commitment that are truly heartwarming .  br    br   when  silverlake life  was originally released  i was deeply involved in hiv  aids education and health care  volunteering as a counselor at an hiv  aids clinic . the film spoke to me like no other aids film of its day could  because mark and tom were real people  living the very experiences that i saw on a daily basis in real life . i knew from firsthand experience what it was like to watch aids eat away at formerly vibrant  young  healthy people seeing it happen to mark and tom in the film was very much like watching my real  life friends deteriorate . it touched me in a way that  even all these years later  still affects me .  
a cast of      s tv movie and tv series guest stars  misty rowe  pamela hemsley  clevon little  seymour cassel among several others  in the story of a photographer who has dreams about killing his models . of course the models and other people start turning up dead causing all sorts of complications .  br    br   over done not very good thriller has enough nudity and violence to get an r rating but not enough good material to engender any real interest . this is best described as the sort of movie that gave the cable channel cinemax the alternate name of skinamax . i really can  t see the point of watching this unless you need to see every sleazy thriller out there .  i also have to comment that this film is filled with smoking  to the point that it becomes laughable when anyone lights up   
the saddest thing about this film is that only  people cared to leave a review of it and no  one felt it worthwhile leaving a comment on the message boards .  br    br   made the same year as philadelphia . . . the tom hanks oscar  winner . . . this is the film that people really should have seen and given awards to . there is more humanity  life  love  tenderness and beauty in these two people than in just about any other gay film i have seen . . . and it is all true .  br    br   in order for this to be printed i need to leave a few more lines of text suffice it to say that anyone who really wants to know what it was like to be gay in the    s and    s  and to understand just what aids was like before the modern drug  cocktails  allowed people to breathe a little easier . . . this is the film to see .  br    br   oh  and i will add a personal comment about aids . despite everything  there actually has been a silver lining to all the horror . when aids first arrived  it was called the  gay cancer   and governments preferred to  let them die  rather than spend a red cent on research to help save a bunch of fags . then it became clear that aids would also be a heterosexual disease . but the government wasn  t ready for that so when straight people began getting ill too  the only organizations and associations that were available to them were those which had been set up by gays themselves  examples the names project the quilt memorializing all those who died of aids act up etc  the result is that people who probably would never have come in contact with gays in their ordinary lives suddenly found themselves counting on them and needing them  because no other organizations existed . this close contact  in my estimation  is what finally broke down the barriers of prejudice and allowed the straight world to finally accept gays as equals . when aids first came on the scene  many of us thought that the straight world would use it as a way to come down even harder on us . . . and that probably would have been true if straights didn  t suddenly become ill too nevertheless  the strides that have been made in gay liberation  to the point that  as i write this  there are at least  countries in the world that accept gay marriage  these gains would probably have taken a lot longer without aids to bring us together . it is sad to think that all those people  both straight and gay  had to die before our common humanity became more obvious  but if what i am writing here is true  and i think it is  then there is a bit of comfort to be taken in realizing that all those people did not die in vain .  
when i look back on my college days at ohio university  there will always be one event in which i will remember with fond memories . channel   is ou  s local access channel and until the last few years  pretty much played anything they were sent . this included many diy movies ranging from a guy microwaving marshmallow peeps and then scanning pictures of them online  to a version of macbeth starring  th graders who had apparently just learned how to make squibs .  br    br   however  the king  in my opinion  of the channel   lineup was midnight skater . the first time i watched it was around  am . i should have been studying . or sleeping . or watching regular tv . but no  all that is for pussies . my roommate and i watched midnight skater  and when it was complete  i don  t think either of us believed that any of the movie had just happened . but sure enough  it was on a few nights later  and we had to come to grips that this movie did  in fact  exist .  br    br   i could go on and on about how awful it is  but its the sort of awful that makes life worth living . the plot is disjointed  the acting terrible  the everything soul scarring  but by god  if there are others watching with you  its impossible not to have a good time watching it . its sort of like the first time you hear  guts  by chuck pahalniuk . you hear it  you  re disgusted and shaken  but five minutes later  all you want and desire is to make someone else experience the abject horror you just endured .  br    br   long story short  midnight skater  for all of its epic flaws  makes for some very late night fun . plus  i desperately want the theme to midnight skater . kudos to whoever wrote it and sang it . sweet god i love that song .  
undying is a very good game which brings some new elements on the tired genre of first person shoot em ups . it tells the story of patrick galloway an expert of the occult and a formidable fighter who is summoned by a friend to his estate in ireland to investigate some weird phainomena . the game is set in ireland after world war one so don  t expect to find weapons like chainguns or rocket launchers . all the weapons in the game can be considered antiques but the real fun in the game are its spells and the system they operate on . our hero is ambidexterous so he can use both his hands at the same time he casts spells with his right arm and uses his guns with the left . so you can shoot and cast spells at the same time which as you understand very fun and also unique to this game  the graphics are great and they can run very well on a medium power p . c . . level design is also cool and atmospheric . mostly the game revolves around the covenant estate and the mansion but there are many other locations waiting to be discovered as you progress . thanks to the talent of clyve barker the game has an excelent storyline and plot  something very rare for a first person shooter  and i said before a great and very spooky atmosphere the voice acting is also good but not excellent . but the game has two main flaws . first of all it is quite linear so when your mission says for example go to that room all the doors in the house will be locked apart from those that lead to the room of your mission this may save time but it restricts your liberty of exploration . secondly the fact all the weapons are antiques may not appeal to most fps players who are used to high tech weaponry . as far as difficulty is concerned the game is very well balanced . most of it is of medium difficulty but sometimes it gets more difficult but not frustratingly difficult . overall undying is a great game . definitely one of the best fps out there .  
god  i was bored out of my head as i watched this pilot . i had been expecting a lot from it  as i  m a huge fan of james cameron  and not just since  titanic   i might add   and his name in the credits i thought would be a guarantee of quality  then again  he also wrote the leaden strange days . .  . but the thing failed miserably at grabbing my attention at any point of its almost two hours of duration . in all that time  it barely went beyond its two line synopsis  and i would be very hard pressed to try to figure out any kind of coherent plot out of all the mess of strands that went nowhere . on top of that  i don  t think the acrobatics outdid even those of any regular  a  team  episode . as for alba  yes  she is gorgeous  of course  but the fact that she only displays one single facial expression the entire movie  pouty and surly   makes me also get bored of her  gal wit an attitude  schtick pretty soon . you can count me out of this one  mr . cameron   
this documentary is incredibly thought  provoking  bringing you in to the lives of two long  time lovers who are in the final stages of aids . the past footage of their twenty  some  odd years together really brings their final moments home .  br    br   if this movie doesn  t make you feel the pain and agony of these two fascinating people  you don  t have a heart .  
i  m surprised about the many female voters who even give this film better marks . my thought about this film was that the target audience is adult and male . whipped and tortured women  merciless revenge and a high body count are typical ingredients  introduced into film history by the spaghetti subgenre . the opening and the hand  smashing are django rip  offs . the shooter however lacks the style of e . g . django . score  acting and cinematography are mediocre at best but if you look for the above mentioned ingredients you are in the right place here . and the actors don  t have an italian accent .  br    br       .  
silverlake life  the view from here  is an absolutely stunning movie about aids as well as about a gay love relationship . some images are indeed really hard to take  especially when one is gay or fears about aids  and probably for any sensitive person watching it . it  s not easy to make a movie about such a terrible illness and its consequences about not only one  but two people  s lives . this movie teaches how to care for each other in such hard times  but it never gets too morbid  it still shows life at any time  reminding you that outside of the theater or of your room  life goes on  whatever the destiny of some people may be . the characters are incredibly endearing  while we watch their intimacy in shots that never go beyond a very strict limit  never unveiling anything too private or offensive . children should certainly not watch this movie  but grown  ups whether they have to deal with such situations or not  should do it  and will not regret the tears they shed .  
will they ever make movies without nudity and sex  this came on at     on sunday afternoon and i couldn  t believe what they showed . thank god my son was outside or i would have been freaked out if he had seen the soft  medium porn  do people who make movies not care who they offend or corrupt  kids could have been watching after church and that is what they show       the acting was good and i enjoyed the suspense but gee  there was violence and bad guys but that is to be expected in a western movie . randy travis was really good in his role . if the writers  directors and producers would just quit putting on so much uncalled for sex scenes . what has to happen to get them to quit going in that direction  where can i complain   
  silverlake life  is a documentary and it was plain and straightforward . actually  it was more like a home movie  and if you want dramatic illuminations  see something else . and it  s by no means a tearjerker . but i mean that in positive ways . it shows two men who love each other and how being afflicted with aids is affecting the quality of their every  day lives . it  s almost difficult for me to say whether this was a quality film or not  because it was so undressed that i had to look for other ways to respond . it  s an admirable film  actually one of the most admirable  sincere documents i  ve ever seen . these two men have incredible integrity as their lives are reduced to the most basic parts . it makes hollow  wood productions on aids seem hip and heartless . these men made this movie for themselves  which is one of the best reasons to create something . the scene where tom sings  you are my sunshine  to mark and tells him goodbye is the real thing .  
i saw this film recently in a film festival . it  s the romance of an ex  alcoholic unemployed man who just came out of a big depression and a single middle  aged woman who works in an employment office  inem  . i found the story very simple and full of clichs  taking the  social  theme of the movie and turn it in to a romance comedy . the lead actor did a good job  he definitely looks like an alcoholic man  but ana belen is not believable as a working class woman  she looks  acts and talks very much like a  high  standing  woman . what i mean is that ana belen plays herself . she does it in all her movies anyway . the whole mise  en  scene of the film was very poor . the photography is ugly  not using well at all the panoramic aspect ratio . the dialogue sounds totally scripted and dull most of the times . the comic situations are typical from gomez pereira  but in this case they are not funny at all and are resolved poorly . in my opinion this film is not worth watching . only if you really love pereira  s previous films you might enjoy this one a little bit . anyway  i walked out of the theater because i felt i was wasting my time . the film  maker was by the door . i wonder what a director feels like when he sees someone walking out of one of his films  specially one that is made to please everybody .  
this is a complex documentary that shows many things about early gay life . to put it in perspective it was when gay was the word used for the homo  sexual revolution  and not just gay as a descriptor . or is it still used that way today  i believe most of the film comes from circa     to     . it was released in      so it  s been around .  br    br   i was touched by the documentaries capturing of one man  s love for another over a   some odd year period . a love expressed in ways that only true love can be . there are many scenes of incredible empathy and pain  along with scenes of joy and pleasure . there are scenes of life as a homo  sexual and life as a gay . the film itself was a work of love  and i believe it to be a diamond .  br    br   at the very least one will get out of this film an understanding of the devastating impact of aids . as i write this  i am thinking how much earlier this film seems to me to have been set . the advances in medical  political  and social sciences and culture that have taken place since this film was set  some   years ago  are amazing . however  obviously  in the case of the disease of aids itself  we are not done yet . heck i guess we aren  t done on all fronts .  br    br   anyway  it  s just a pretty darn good documentary . i  d encourage anyone that feels that they don  t quite understand gay life  gay issues  or the devastation of aids to watch this film .  
normally i would never rent a movie like this  because you know it  s going to be bad just by looking at the box . i rented seven movies at the same time  including nightmare on elm street    and wes craven  s new nightmare . unfortunately  when i got home i found out the videostore  guy gave me the wrong tape . in the box of wes craven  s new nightmare i found this lame movie .  br    br   this movie is incredibly boring  the acting is bad and the plot doesn  t make any sense . it  s hard to write a good review  because i have no idea what the movie was really about . at the end of the movie you have more questions then answers .  br    br   on  max power  s scale of  to    i rate this movie   br    br   ps i would like to correct corinthian  s review  right below mine  . he says robert englund is ripping off lingerie  riding horses naked  etc . the guy that did those things was mahmoud  played by juliano mer  not by robert englund .  
this is the finest film ever made to deal with the subject of aids . it  s a documentary about two men living with and dying of this illness . the film is beautiful  heartbreaking  funny  and incredibly moving . above all  it is an amazing true love story . be sure to have a few hankies ready before you watch this movie    you will need them . extraordinary .  
  st watched            out of    dir  tobe hooper   scary  yet sadistic  which makes sense  portrayal of a relative of the marquis de sade carrying out the same sadistic acts and enjoying it that supposedly his predecessor did . this tobe hooper film really doesn  t do a whole lot different than his similar in style freddy krueger movies with the same star  freddy himself  robert englund  playing a dual role  the marquis de sade and his relative  . it is also seems like it wants to really poke at christianity but then loses that in the end much to my chagrin but leaving an inconsistent feel to the movie . could have been much worse if excesses were taken in sex and violence  but they try to keep this at a minimal despite some disgusting scenes . my final thought is why would hooper want to make this movie . it obviously took awhile to actually get distributed  then it has to be advertised gruesomely and with hooper  s name in the title to hopefully make some money on his name and his gore . it  s obvious this didn  t work .  
cannot believe my eyes when read quite a bunch of other comments and reviews . as if it were a mediocre movie of some run  of  the  mill dudes .  br    br   the movie is great  funny  crazy  over  the  top violent though with minimum gore  and all the way energetic to the core . loved every single bit of it . can  t remember anything insane like this made for laughs and martial art showing off . and now the most important thing  at least to me   it is computer effects free . when i watch some hollywood actors duking it out on screen in modern high  resolution and damn high  budgeted action  fuflo   a russian word that means  bullbeep    i understand that any beep child can do it  you can adjust the wires to the body  add some cute pc effects  and stuff it into the action film . here it is different . i don  t think that there will be even a dozen of physically advanced action stars worldwide  who can repeat the brawl that takes place at the end of the film or the  chinese football  play . and it is just a little hong kong cinema made for fun  not pretending to be  star wars  .  br    br   having a dvd with english soundtrack is not a problem with this movie . it does not spoil the atmosphere to me .  br    br   can  t help mentioning a very neat theatrical play . some of you  suppose  won  t like it . as to me  it  s amazing . have a look at the dragon  s friend who is talking in a brave manner to the criminals and all of a sudden gets a fist punch in his left side of the head . his face expression changes into something whimsical and he comes up to dragon with a baby expression . and take a look at the menacing size of his mouth  it  s nearly from one ear to the other long when he makes grimaces .  br    br   this movie deserves a higher rating and a thousand comments from people all over the world . very thankful to our russian industry for the releases of classic jackie chan movies . his modern ones are much weaker in my humble opinion and do not deserve much hype .  br    br   total   out of    a legendary movie in its genre . thank you for attention .  
poor robert englund makes another flop and to the expense of tobe hooper who usually makes pretty good horror movies but he failed pretty bad at this one . englund plays the well known marque de sade who in the   th century was enprisoned for his obsession of pain and the pleasure of bringing pain upon himself as well as watching others also be in pain . the story is so confusing with the flip flop from one century to another and i became confused as to what was going on and what was the purpose of this movie . all i saw was a young lady that became entrapped by a strange lesbian who desides to keep her to herself and the young lady became fascinated by this arabian with alot of money and finds out that he  s out to have her killed and then englund steps in from one century to another claiming to be a descendent of the de sade and tries to kill her because she reminded him of the madam momoselle  spelled that wrong  or whoever it was in the picture above de sades wall . the movie was terrible  i am surprised at hooper for hireing englund in this film and the special effects were so fake and laughable  especially the part about the eyes . englund tries to make a comeback from his once hit move  nightmare on elm st .  by using these pull in and out needles to put out peoples eyes . terrible  absolutely terrible .  
this is an above average jackie chan flick  due to the fantastic finale and great humor  however other then that it  s nothing special . all the characters are pretty cool  and the film is entertaining throughout  plus jackie chan is simply amazing in this  . jackie and wai  man chan had fantastic chemistry together  and are both very funny   and i thought the main opponent looked really menacing   however the dubbing was simply terrible  . the character development is above average for this sort of thing   and the main fight is simply fantastic   plus some of the bumps jackie takes in this one are harsh  . there is a lot of really silly and goofy humor in this  but it amused me  and the ending is hilarious   plus all the characters are quite likable . it  s pretty cheap looking but generally very well made  and while it does not have the amount of fighting you would expect from a jackie chan flick  it does enough to keep you watching  plus one of my favorite moments in this film is when jackie  dragon  and wai  man chan  tiger   are playing around with a rifle and it goes off  . this is an above average jackie chan flick  due to the fantastic finale  and great humor  however other then that it  s nothing great  still it  s well worth the watch  . the direction is good . jackie chan does a good job here with solid camera work  fantastic angles and keeping the film at a fast pace for the most part . the acting is very good  . jackie chan is amazing as always  and is amazing here  he is extremely likable  hilarious  as usual does some crazy stunts  had fantastic chemistry with wai  man chan  kicked that ass  and played this wonderful cocky character  he was amazing   i just wished they would stop dubbing him  .  jackie rules       . wai  man chan is funny as jackie  s best friend  i really liked him  he is also a very good martial artist . rest of the cast do ok i guess . overall well worth the watch  .  out of   
this is one of those movies you see in the video store that you just have to get because it just looks so horribly bad . and indeed  we couldn  t take most of it . there was a lot of fast  forwarding going on .  br    br   but then we came across a scene where robert englund seduces the female protagonist  her name somehow slips my mind at this time  . cripes . i  ve never watched a single scene from a film so many times  i  m estimating forty or so  . and i  ve never laughed so hard in my life . you see  englund has this thing for showing off his loins . i last saw the film a couple months ago  but i can  t stop laughing as i type . anyway  the scene is a montage of shots   englund ripping off the lingerie of the girl  englund riding a horse naked  and some mysterious woman fellating a snake  s head . this is absolute genius . you  ve got to see it for yourself .  
this review is for the extended cut of this movie .  br    br   i first watched dragon lord when i bought it on dvd many years ago . i always liked this movie and you can read some of the more positive reviews of it to get the general idea .  br    br   that being said . i  ve always found the storyline a bit confusing . the movie is  after all  a love story . and it always seemed strange to me that a love story should end with a   minute fight scene .  br    br   well  in the extended version this is no longer so . the old  original  version begins off with a huge barrel  climb  rugby  like sequence which is the new ending sequence in the extended version . the opening sequence is dragon  jackie chan  hanging around his house and pretending to be training and reciting whenever his father is around .  br    br   other sequenced have also been shift or prolonged in the extended cut and the story makes a lot more sense when you watch it . the pacing is also better and overall it just works better . it feels more like a love story and doesn  t leave you asking questions about why it ends so drastically and dramatically as the regular version does .  br    br   i suggest everyone who is a hong  kong cinema  or just plain jackie chan fanatic to get a hold of the extended version and watch the movie the way it was originally intended .  or at least that  s how i think it was intended . why else would they make it and rearrange some of the scenes  when i was done watching it  i felt like i had watched a completely new jackie chan movie although most of the sequences were the same .  
tobe hooper is quite possibly the biggest fluke the horror genre has to offer . like any other horror fan  i loved the texas chainsaw  but i think that in order to put your name in front on a movie title  you should have at least more than one hit movie . i can  t really think of any other movie hooper has done  on his own  don  t count poltergeist  that has really made an impact on the horror genre or film world . and this movie  night terrors  just backs up my point .  br    br   poor robert englund  i give him credit for at least doing a good job with the awful material he was given . he did what he could . as for the movie itself  pure drudge . unnecessary nude scenes every five minutes  a story that must have been penned in an our  and really just awful scenery  music  and cinematography . nothing in this film is redeemable . don  t waste your time .  br    br   overall   out of   . i feel sorry for hooper  his career seems like it was over before it really ever got started . i hope that he  s able to pump out at least one more good flick  that way he can do his cult status some justice .  br    br    
  dragonlord  sees chan returning to his role of  dragon  from  the young master  . not much has carried over from the first film though .  tiger   his older brother  is nowhere to be seen neither is the marshall  his daughter or his son played superbly by yuen biao in the original film . dragon does have the same master though  presumably all the other students have moved on to other things .  dragon  s laziness at training is portrayed heavily in this film  so maybe he  s still studying    br    br   originally titled  young master in love   this film sees dragon  for the first sixty minutes at least  pursuing a villager girl in various idiotic and slapstick ways . his rival for her affection is his friend  inappropriately named  cowboy   played comically by the longtime chan stunt  team member mars . we see various scenes where their silly schemes backfire . it is one of these scenes that we  thankfully  find  dragon  in over his head .  br    br   this film is notorious in that it failed expectations at the box office . that said  i  m sure the expectations were pretty high  and i feel that this film has never had a fair judgment based on it  s own merits . but even when i try to do this  i still feel that there is a problem with the film . it seems quite unfocused  sometimes rushed  and i think the action is too sporadic and not as brilliant as chan  s other work from this period .  br    br   the thing that really saves the film is the ending sequence . as in  the young master   there is a fantastic final reel that it full of incredibly exhausting action  you really feel every blow . and again  chan goes up against the same rival from  the young master   is it the same character    and the timing and energy here is brilliant . chan  s style of using every last bit of his environment to help defeat his opponent  not just relying on pure physical ability  is as apparent here as anywhere else . the barn they fight in is full of clever little prop gags and improvisations . this is an absolute highlight of the film and one of chan  s incredible career .  br    br   it  s not necessary to see the prequel before seeing  dragonlord   in fact  it might even raise more questions than what it hopes to answer . but it must be said that the original film is the superior film  and  dragonlord   with it  s focus on girl  chasing and team  sports does seem baffling . luckily  the few fight scenes it offers  plus a fantastic shuttle  cock scene  push it over the line as a must  see film in this genre .  
genie  zoe trilling  arrives in egypt to visit her hypocritical  bible  quoting archeologist father  william finley  and attracts the attention of a group of cultists led by a descendant of the marquis de sade  robert englund  . englund also plays de sade in flashbacks  ranting in his cell . genie is led astray by mohammed  juliano merr   who rides around naked on a horse and sabina  alona kamhi   a bisexual who introduces her to opium smoking  which leads to a wild hallucination featuring topless harem dancers  a woman simulating oral sex on a snake  an orgy and her father preaching in the background  meanwhile  black hooded cult members decapitate  gouge out eyeballs and slit throats . when genie is slipped drugs in her tea  she imagines de sade hanging from a cross  a gold  painted woman in a leafy g  string and herself bloody on a bed covered in snakes . it  s all because she  s the reincarnation of de sade  s lost love .  br    br   this typically sleazy harry alan towers production is redundant  seedy and pretty senseless  but the sets  costumes  cinematography and location work are all excellent and at least there  s always something going on .  br    br   score  out of    
this movie is bufoonery  and i loved it  the  dragon lord   jacky chan  and his buddy   cowboy   totally made the movie fun  meaningful  and just plain silly . the movie is a rare blend of a good vs . evil fight and  somehow  the wonders and fun that is growing up . long shao ye takes the viewer through the daily activities of the young  dragon lord   so named because he is the son of a wealthy family  and  cowboy   which include implementing clever  elaborate ways to escape studying  with the help of the entire household  including the tutor   competing in rather boyish  and idiotically interesting  ways to gain the affection of a local girl  competing in  soccer   you will see what i mean  and the list goes on . somehow they find themselves in the midst of a fight to save the a shipment of valuable antiques and the lives of several people .  br    br   the movie has its serious moments . but they do not depress  but rather inspire . the playfulness of the boys are not lost in this exchange  but is actually employed against evil . what i really loved about this movie is how it ends . not the typical confrontation  which in itself was awesome   but well  you  ll see . let me just say it truly captures the spirit of the movie .  br    br   silly  witty  meaningful  and nostalgic . great movie .  
the marquis de sade  egypt  ancient gnostic cults  robert englund in a dual role  gratuitous sex and nudity  murder and mayhem . . . on paper tobe hopper  s night terrors sounds like it should be at least a fun  entertaining flick given the ingredients . it  s not . it is a plot less  incoherent shambles that brings little entertainment . there is basically no plot beyond some vague stuff about a cult that follows the work of de sade who for some unclear reason feel the need to seduce the daughter of a local christian archaeologist and kill her . that is pretty much it  i think it has something to with the gnostics but who knows what the writers were thinking . most of the movie is a meandering mess as the heroine is exposed to various weirdness  dream sequences and erotic encounters  intercut with scenes of englund as the imprisoned de sade in the   th century chewing the scenery . it seems like the makers were trying for something serious but whatever their pretensions were they are buried in the cheesiness  bad acting  sleaze and fake looking decapitated heads .  br    br   there aren  t too many good points . robert englund is fun to watch  as always and the lead actress  zoe trilling  whilst not very talented  is attractive and in various stages of undress through the movie but watching night terrors is a chore . at least i got to see the movie from which the  when you  re as criminal as i  bit from the australian film certification ratings guide that was on the front of so many vhs tapes from the nineties came from .  
this game was really great and quite a challenge . it has a great  spooky story line and the graphics are also very good . i would recommend this game to all horror fans and is very gripping from start to finish . the only problem with this game is that i would have liked more weapons but thats just me .  br    br   a truly great game for rpg and shoot  em  up fans .  br    br     
awful  simply awful . it proves my theory about  star power .  this is supposed to be great tv because the guy who directed  battlestar  titanica is the same guy who directed this shlop schtock schtick about a chick . b o r i n g .  br    br   find something a thousand times more interesting to do  like watch your tv with no picture and no sound .      i rated it so high b  c there aren  t any negative scores in the imdb . com rating system .   br    br    zaphoid  br    br   ps my theory about  star power  is the more  star power  used in a show  the weaker the show is .  it  s called an indirect proportionality quality    star power   less  sp  makes for better quality  etc . another way to look at it is  more is less .    br    br    z  
this film has to be viewed in the right frame of mind . first  the central father  son relationship makes it pretty clear that the film was intended as a prequel to his wong fei hung film  drunken master   ideas from this film recur in  drunken master ii   and not  young master   that chan backed away from this plan and renamed the characters indicates that he himself was not convinced the material was coming together properly and  indeed  the film conveys a sense of being incomplete for instance  the romantic relationship around which half the plot turns is left utterly hanging at the end of the film .  young master   from the same period  also feels underdone  but at least all its central threads are tied together at the end . this film feels as though chan wrestled with the plot and characters trying to find his central theme  only to abandon the effort  possibly due to time and budget .  br    br   or perhaps the film is simply over  ambitious . this is an important turning point film in chan  s career  because he commits himself to development of the central character above all other concerns  which is why there  s such a lack of kung fu throughout the film . chan wants to make an historical romantic comedy that just happens to have kung fu in it . but both the historical element and the romantic element come across as little more than plot  twists .  br    br   that leaves us with the comedy . since chan  s concern is character  development  the comedy is largely character driven  as in the conflict between chan  s character and his best friend  an argument over a girl . but there  s plenty of slapstick as well . frankly  i find the comedy amusing enough to forgive the incompleteness of the plot .  br    br   this film represents an effort on chan  s part to find a viable formula that he can use and develop over time . it doesn  t quite work  and chan would only find that formula after abandoning the historical elements of his earlier films  with the making of the contemporary action comedy  police story  . but going back to view this film is still very informative as to how chan worked his way through the historical genre  and perhaps why he abandoned it .  
i don  t know much about tobe hooper  or why he gets his name in the title  but maybe he shouldn  t have bothered . as another commenter mentioned  there isn  t really enough horror or erotica to bring in fans of either genre . the plot is incoherent  the sade sequences are gratuitous  and most of the acting is so  so . englund was doing his best with weak material  and zoe trilling has a really great bottom  but neither is enough to carry this film . this one  s a tape  over . grade f  
despite louis b . mayer reportedly not being interested in signing the young greta garbo to a contract  this first american and mgm film for the actress looked quite beautiful . it  s obvious that the film was assigned some amazing talent to film the production and make matte paintings  as it has all the nice polish and artfulness you  d expect from the best pictures the studio could produce . it simply looks beautiful   even   years later .  br    br   as for garbo herself  like her other very early american films she  too  looks different . while she  s quite recognizable  her makeup is much softer than it would become just a year later   giving her a less severe look and a gentleness about her you just didn  t see in subsequent films . i kind of wish they  d kept this look  but considering how famous she  d become with the trademark look  who am i to say they shouldn  t have gone that route   the film is about garbo and how she and her family are unfairly forced off their land by the landlord . while the landlady  the much esteemed doa bernarda  claims it  s because the bank has demanded payment  it  s because her son has fallen for garbo   and what better way to get rid of her than to force them out on the streets  nice lady  huh   years pass and by now garbo has become a new singing sensation who is world  famous . when she returns to her hometown years later  her old boyfriend  who had promised to marry her but wimped out when his mother  doa bernarda  refused to allow it  sees her . his new love for another lady is now tested   will he be content to marry this lady who is the heir to a huge pig fortune or will he want his old flame  and  more importantly  will garbo even take him back after he behaved so spinelessly  in the meantime  a huge rainstorm hits . the land begins to flood and homes soon are being washed away by the deluge . cortez and a friend make a mad dash as the dam breaks  in a scene where they obviously superimposed his row boat over the cascading stream  he eventually makes it out alive and to the home where garbo is now staying . she welcomes them inside and they stay with her until the storm passes . then  he admits that he still loves her and had braved the storm to make sure that she was safe . she tells him to get lost  next  you see ricardo about to get married to his second choice  the daughter of the pork king . he obviously has little enthusiasm for this   and you feel sorry for the lady  as she did nothing wrong . soon  cortez is seen wandering back to garbo  s home   he  s love  sick and needs her . in this scene  garbo is quite luminous and can  t tell him to leave   as they dissolve in each other  s arms . once again  he tells her of his love for her .  br    br   when doa bernarda learns of this  she is not pleased . evidently  a pork queen is a better catch than an internationally known singer . because of the meddling of this nasty old lady  garbo leaves   unwilling to come between the mother and her wimpy son . but  cortez comes running   announcing he must have her and won  t rest until he has her as his wife . moments after making this proclamation  a family friend talks to cortez and convinces him to give her up for the good of his career and reputation . so much for  won  t rest until he has her for his wife   huh   despite cortez being a wimp through and through  for some reason she cannot bring herself to hate him . and so  he marries the pork queen and lives a very dull life . when years later garbo meets cortez again  he is a dull looking middle  aged man   while she is as beautiful as ever . and  not surprisingly  she tells him  once again  to get lost .  br    br   at the time this film was made  garbo was not a star in the us and cortez was . so  in light of this  it  s surprising they gave cortez such an unlikable character to play . instead of the usual confident valentino  like role they  d been giving him  here he is an indecisive wimp   a huge wimp . and  from here on  his career was on a slow downward spiral . as for garbo  the role helped establish her as a big star   as she was the focus of the film and played a character much like her later personas .  br    br   as for the film  the new music composed for it was very nice  though a tad repetitive . the print  oddly  was nearly perfect throughout except for the intertitle cards   which could use some restoration .  br    br   a most enjoyable film   expertly constructed  wistful and worth seeing . and  for one of the few times i can think of it  i have no real complaints in this excellent film .  
i only saw this movie once  and that was enough for me . the movie has very little if any plot and seems to be nothing but continuous scenes of psycho  sadistic violence and very little of anything else . i wanted to see this movie because it starred zoe trilling of the second  night of the demons  and i wanted to see her playing someone normal . unfortunately  the tobe hooper script barely begins and goes nowhere as robert englund dominates the film and chews up the scenery and plot . zoe  i know where you are now hiding from this film   
the film torrent was a first and a last for greta garbo . it was her first american made film at mgm  the only studio in the usa that she would ever work at . it was also the last time that someone else was billed above her in the credits  that being her leading man her ricardo cortez .  br    br   torrent is based on the popular spanish writer  s vicente blasco ibanez  s work entre naranjos . it concerns a pair of mismatched lovers  garbo and cortez  who can  t quite get together  mostly due to the machinations of cortez  s mother marta mattox .  br    br   mattox is a wicked woman who has some set ideas about who her son should be marrying . remember this is spain and such arranged marriages were still even in those times quite proper . mattox has gertrude olmstead in mind as a daughter  in  law  she  s the offspring of mack swain a man grown rich in hog raising . swain provides a few moments of comic relief with his tender concern for the piglets before they grow into big old hogs to be butchered .  br    br   blasco ibanez had previous novels the four horseman of the apocalypse and blood and sand previously filmed with rudolph valentino in the lead . it might have been interesting if valentino had done this one with garbo  but he might have been beyond film making when this was done . in any event  one of the valentino wannabes ricardo cortez fills in with the male lead .  br    br   one reason valentino might not have wanted this film is because clearly the lead character is garbo  s unlike the other two works previously mentioned . when she gets done dirt by cortez who is doing what mattox and her  adviser  banker tully marshall tell her  she leaves spain and goes to france where she becomes a great opera star . and leads quite the scandalous life there .  br    br   when she returns to spain and tries to rekindle things  mattox is even more outraged . she has a political career in mind for her son . cortez is now running for the spanish parliament which curiously enough is called the cortes .  br    br   the title refers to a flood and a dam breaking causing all kinds of havoc in the countryside . cortez in fact braves the torrent in a row boat trying to rescue garbo from harm  s way . when they do get together they have a brutally frank discussion  the brutality coming from garbo .  br    br   the special effects here  primitive though they seem now are quite remarkable for their time . they look very similar to the shots used in   th century fox  s the rains came that came out in     and that won an oscar for special effects . unfortunately for torrent it came out one year before oscar made his debut .  br    br   i  m not going to give any endings away so you  ll have to see the film to find out if cortez and garbo get together in the end . garbo rightly won rave reviews for her performance and in an age when exaggerated gestures was the norm in silent screen acting  she was remarkably subtle in her role . so she would be the rest of her career  she had a remarkable face for closeups .  br    br   although greta garbo would go on to do far better work than torrent  this film is still a fitting debut for her on the american big screen and holds up very well for today  s audience .  
omg this is one of the worst films iv ever seen and iv seen a lot i  m a film student . i don  t understand why angelina jolie would be in this movie  did she need the money that badly  i love aj and have seen almost everything shes ever been in so i watched this  tick another one off . it was soo bad  not even good bad  just bad bad . it had  or  funny little moments but all in all it was bad n a waste of    minutes . i cant even say aj looked good in it because well she didn  t . the plot is predictable unless you r expecting a re  telling of romeo and juliet then its not . all round disappointing . maybe if your   this could be a good film otherwise i really don  t recommend it .  
mgm were unsure of how to market garbo when she first arrived in hollywood . mayer had a lot of faith in her and her appearance in  torrent  justified that . she did not speak a word of english so she must have found it difficult to work  also ricardo cortez did not make it very easy for her .  br    br   the torrent of the title is the river juscar that winds through a sleepy little village in spain . leonora  greta garbo  hopes someday that her voice will bring great wealth and happiness to her struggling parents . leonora and don rafael  ricardo cortez  are in love but he is under his mother  s thumb and cannot get her to consent to his marriage . meanwhile dona brull  martha mattox  has evicted leonora  s parents from their home and they send leonora to paris hoping to give her a chance to further her singing career . leonora sends a note to rafael  urging him to remember his promise and come with her . his mother is enraged and forbids him to go  so of course he caves in to her request .  br    br   years pass . leonora has a new identity  she has become la brunna  the toast of the paris opera . rafael has turned out just as his mother wished  he is running for office and is courting a  safe  young girl  remedios  gertrude olmstead  who is a  hog  heiress . mack swain plays her father . leonora decides to visit her old home  and i agree  why hasn  t she helped her mother out . her mother is still living at the family home  working as a skivvy and taking in washing . leonora and rafael meet but leonora is full of ridicule . garbo is so enchantingly beautiful  it is hard to believe that he could be happy with remedios .  br    br   the dam is bursting and the torrent is flooding the town . leonora  s house is in the path of the raging river but when rafael attempts to rescue her he finds she is quite safe . they then re  kindle their romance . there is a  horizontal  love scene in this film  very similar to the one in  flesh and the devil  .  br    br   dona brull goes spreading gossip about how leonora really got her wealth and leonora  s mother believes her and tells leonora to go . rafael meets leonora just before she is about to tour america . again he intends to go with her but again he lets her down . he spends so much time listening to other people destroy her reputation   what will she do for you but drag you down  . the irony is she has just secured a top government job for him if he comes with her . they meet again  years later  she is as fresh and vibrant as ever  he looks older than his years  bowed down by mediocrity .  br    br   it is certainly a good film with a positive message to follow your heart .  br    br   lucien littlefield does a good job as cupido  the barber and leonora  s old and faithful friend .  br    br   highly recommended .  
well  tivo recorded this because of angelina jolie . it had  .  stars . it seemed promising . it went downhill fast .  br    br   there is much overacting  even from angelina . she  s about   and playing a   year old . there are three characters that are supposed to be italian . everyone else is italian  american . the native italian accents were good  i thought . the young male lead is cute  my wife says . everyone else in this movie is a fat italian woman . even the men .  br    br   i should have known that when dick van patten was cast as a randy doctor  that that was a bad sign . the two couples chasing their kids around are like the four italian stooges .  br    br   my wife would not let go of the remote . hopefully she was not taking makeup  clothing or decorating tips . it was a sick and twisted combination of hideous and garish . it was hidegarishous .  br    br   cutting off my left ventricle was not sufficient to distract from the pain of watching this movie . if this movie shows up on your tv  do yourself a favor and ram your head through the tv screen instead . you  ll be glad you did . the only movie i  ve ever seen that was worse than this was  hamburger the movie  . or maybe  deadly friend  .  
greta garbo  s american film debut is an analogy of how our lives can be swept off course by fate and our actions  as in a torrent  causing us to lose a part of ourselves along the way .  br    br   greta plays leonora  a poor peasant girl in love with ricardo cortez  s character don rafael  a landowner . ricardo is in love with her too  but is too easily influenced by his domineering mother . leonora ends up homeless and travels to paris  where she becomes a famous opera singer and develops the reputation for being a loose woman . in reality  part of her attitude is bitterness over rafael  s abandonment .  br    br   she returns to her home to visit her family and eventually confronts rafael . surprisingly  no one knows that she  s the famous la brunna  and garbo acts up her role as the diva she truly was and re prised with such cool haughtiness in her later portrayals .  br    br   ricardo cortez reminds one a lot of valentino in looks in this part  and he was groomed to be a valentino clone by mgm  though he never thought he could be in reality and he was right . he is believable in an unsympathetic part as a weak willed mama  s boy  and allows himself to age realistically but comically at the end of the movie . he fails to win leonora when she returns home  and later when he follows her  his courage is undermined .  br    br   this movie is beautifully shot  with brilliant storm sequences and the sets depicting spain at the time are authentic looking . there are also some fine secondary performances by old timers lucien littlefield  tully marshall  and mack swain .  br    br   although this is a story of lost love and missed chances  i don  t think leonora and rafael would have been happy together  as he needed a more traditional wife and she was very much a career woman  and i don  t think would have been happy in a small village . the ending is true to life and pulls no punches .  br    br   see this one as garbo  s american film debut and a precursor of things to come  
i  m a big porsche fan  and the car was the best star in this film .  br    br   haim  the now dried up drug abusing child star of the    s is bland as per usual  and commenting on back up from minor characters  actors would be pointless needless to say they were all very average . it  s a cool movie as a trip down memory lane into the    s  with some weird clothes  some good shots of the colorado backdrop and a very harmless albeit mind numbing plot .  br    br   all in all  please don  t waste your time watching this unless you love    s movies  corey haim  or like myself  love old school porsches  this one in particular looks great  because life  s too short to watch crappy movies .  
this film was quite a surprise . i wasn  t expecting much  to be honest . greta garbo  s first hollywood film  so what  probably something rough and with the usual exaggerated arm  waving and facial contortions that low  grade silent films so often show .  br    br   well  was i mistaken . greta garbo must have just shocked the studio people as much as she did me  because this film made her a star  and deservedly so . she instinctively understood the power of just standing still  or of simply holding a meaningful expression for a long  lingering moment so its effect could be felt and not just seen . i kept thinking to myself  how did this modern actress get into a creaky silent film  she was just years and years ahead of her time .  br    br   the story isn  t all that interesting  it is the usual tale of love found and lost . it is only the performance of garbo as leonora  the poor village girl who makes good in the big city and then returns to get the man who got away  that gives it life . co  star ricardo cortez is serviceable  but his character is never really developed and he is demeaned by the script throughout . at one point he is made to wear garbo  s clothes  leave in a huff  then ignominiously return and give them back . and let  s not even talk about his horrible final scenes with garbo and then his wife . way too ordinary  he didn  t have much of a career after this and i can understand why . but he suffices as the somewhat mystifying object of leonora  s obsession .  br    br   there is one utterly fantastic line in this film that just says it all .  leonora  you are becoming conspicuous .  yes  conspicuous indeed .  br    br   if you really want to know what it  s all about without seeing the whole film  just watch the last   seconds or so  garbo  s glance as she sits quite alone in her luxurious car says everything .  she must be so happy  she has everything she wants   yes  garbo  s face says it all about that . i have to see this one again  garbo is just amazing .  
this week  i just thought it would be fun to catch up with corey haim  with just having seen the two  lost boys  films last week and all . not that i  m a fan  boy  not by far  but i did like those two coreys in some films back in my early teen days .  br    br   so  i prepared myself for three films starring him . unfortunately  i picked  dream machine  as a first  never seen it before   and it was so godawfully horrible  i just decided to lock corey back in my closet and let him sober up again first  before i pop in something else of his . but i managed to struggle my way through this film first . i had the impression it desperately wanted to play in the same league as  ferris bueller  s day off        but got caught up in its own delusions . practically the whole film it wants to be a comedy and near the end it hopelessly tries to be a thriller . the only good thing about  dream machine  is the premise a dead body in the trunk of a porsche . all the rest fails so badly  it  s embarrassing . even the most for haim . i can dig him being his young  enthusiastic self  but at least when he comes with some form of directorial guidelines . this clearly wasn  t the case in  dream machine  . so  we have a perfect car  yes  that black porsche . haim  s perfect girlfriend  just a blonde chick who hardly has any lines in the film . the perfect murder . . . almost  some dude that falls flat on his ass as the villain of the film  trying the whole movie to steal the body back out of the trunk  never really succeeds  and then at the end of the film thinks he  s michael myers  minus the white william shatner mask  and mistakes corey haim for jamie lee curtis . don  t think they could have made this flick any lamer if they tried . a stupid  unfunny film with a story that leads to nowhere directed by a director that doesn  t know how to direct his cast . great accomplishment   br    br   one last question for mr . haim who  s idea was it to have you smile directly into the camera in that last shot of the movie  yours or the director  s  so not done .  
i was given the opportunity to see this     film in a magnificently restored theater that was once part of the extensive paramount chain of vaudeville houses . this paramount has a mighty wurlitzer  organ  also magnificently restored   that was used to accompany the silent films of the day .  br    br   we were fortunate enough to have dennis james  a key figure in the international revival of silent films at the mighty wurlitzer playing appropriate music and thematic compositions fitting to the action on the film . the print was a nearly perfect digital copy of the rapidly decaying nitrate negative and the entire experience was a once  in  a  lifetime chance to see a silent film as it was meant to be seen .  br    br   this was greta garbo  s first american film . she was only   years old but already had  swedish films in her repertoire .  br    br   it is somewhat ironic that this is a silent film about an opera star even though the mighty wurlitzer added immensely to the mise  en  scene  it was necessary to leave much to the imagination .  br    br   modern audiences  for the most part  do not understand silent films acting was different then  with expansive gestures and broad facial expressions . therefore audiences laugh at inappropriate times  the acting is seen as hammy  and over  done  but it was simply the style of the period .  br    br   garbo  with all her subtlety  did much to usher in the new age of acting she could say more with a half  closed eye and volumes could be read into a downward glance or a simple shrug . she exemplifies the truism that a picture is worth a thousand words .   br    br   even though this is garbo  s first american film it is pretty obvious the studio knew what they had on their hands this was mgm filmmaking at its best . the sets and costumes were magnificent . the special effects  which by today  s standards are pretty feeble  were still electrifying and amazing .  br    br   the script by vicente blasco ibanez  from the novel by entre naranjos  would seem to be tailor made for garbo it showcases her strengths  magnifies her assets and there is no pesky language problem to deal with a swedish actress can play a spanish temptress with no suspension of disbelief on our part .  br    br   her co  star was mgm  s answer to rudolph valentino ricardo cortez . he does an admirable job and did something that few romantic stars of the day ever would have done in a film allow himself to look unnactractive  appear foolish and to grow old ungracefully .  br    br   there are some fairly good character parts that are more than adequately acted  especially when you consider the powerhouse that was garbo . notable among them are lucien littlefield as cupido  and martha mattox as doa bernarda brull .   br    br   this is when the extraordinary cinematographer  william h . daniels  met garbo  they went on to make   films together .  he was the cinematographer on    films and his career spanned five decades   he was able to capture her ethereal beauty and it was his photography that was primarily responsible for the moniker by which she became known the divine garbo . without his magnificent abilities she would not have been the success that she was .  br    br   seeing this film is an all  too  rare opportunity if you ever have the chance  do not miss it .  
i hope the viewer who regards  dream machine  as one of corey haim  s finest and the  best movies of the century  was kidding . undetected sarcasm on my part  i sincerely hope so .  br    br    the dream machine  marks the first of a long line of mediocre capers that would plague the rest of corey haim  s career  except  prayer of the rollerboys  which was surprisingly decent  . here  haim plays nonchalant college boy  bernie  who supposes that a cool car will attract his dream girl  s attention . lucky for bernie  a rich woman aiming to get back at her cheating husband  hastily decides to reward her faithful piano tuner   bernie   with a gift a slick porsche turbo . however  unbeknownst to the woman  and unfortunate for bernie  is that her dead husband was murdered and his body was hidden in the trunk . now  being that in this movie  bodies don  t seem to decay or possess a rather foul funk  bernie is unaware of this . in fact  the oblivious boy has no idea that something suspicious is afoot despite several odd circumstances that arise . in particular  a grizzly man follows him around  desperate to get hold of that body relatively undetected .  br    br   this is a low  grade action fizzle as many of haim  s films like this are  see the double o kid  . despite being part action  part romantic comedy  this movie fails to offer the viewer much of anything of interest for at least the first forty  five minutes in which the filmmakers take more than enough time to show the immediate problem  i . e . bernie being in possession of a car and a dead body  and a hit  man finding out that the porsche is going to be hard to find  . after which  and thanks to poor acting by haim  i loved this kid  too  but it  s not exactly sacrilegious to admit the times when he obviously couldn  t act well  and the lack of real immediacy and emergency between bernie and the villain that makes much of the events unconvincing and as a result  inappreciable . to add injury to insult  the soundtrack was unbelievably laughable and sounded more like self  evident songs you would hear in team america  see the  date  montage  .  br    br   loyal corey haim fans  however  should not be disappointed to see their boy in abundance . however  others understanding that haim  s career probably peaked when he was   or   and never recovered  might expect mediocrity  as will viewers just looking for early   s b  comedy fluff to pass the time .  
this is probably one of the worst movies ever made . it  s . . . terrible . but it  s so good  it  s probably best if you don  t watch it expecting a gripping plot and something fantastically clever and entertaining  because you  re going to be disappointed . however  if you want to watch it so you can see   million vases and goro  s fantastic hair  bad english  you  re in for a real treat . the harder you think about the film  the worse it gets  unless you  re having a competition to spot the most plot holes  screw ups  in which case you  ve got hours of entertainment ahead . i  d only really recommend this film for the bored or the die  hard smap fans . and even then  the latter should be a bit careful  because goro  s japanese fans were a bit upset about it  they thought he was selling himself out .  he wasn  t really  not when johnny kitagawa  who was the executive producer  can do that for him  .  
the story at the outset is interesting slavery in the  late    th century from west africa to the arab middle east . the problem with it is that it intentionally castigates two of director richard fleisher  s favorite enemies arabs and germans . to make us believe that very arab  looking men would be free to roam around and easily catch blacks in west africa is as believable as whites hunting for slaves in  roots  . obviously both trades are  were run by locals and involve  d  much more sophisticated networks . while arab countries are complicit in today  s child and sex slave trade  israel is one of the worst violators according to amnesty international . so why only point out arabs and then choose a german as the only european buyer  it  s obvious bias and hatred of those people by a jewish director .  br    br   the acting is above average  especially by peter ustinov  suleiman  and kabir bedi  malik  . michael caine  dr . linderby  is good as always .  
after tracking it down for half a year  i finally found a copy and it was not disappointing .  br    br   not disappointing because i  m one of those die hard smap fans who need to see all their works and i finally got to see the so called hot film of goro . but i couldn  t believe goro was forced to make a movie as such . in his respectable self now  i  m sure he cringes that he made this movie . nevertheless  they found the perfect person for looking embarrassed  ill at ease and half depressed most of the time .  br    br   man  i still can  t believe he made this movie . . . i had to cover my eyes at many parts not believing he really made such a movie . . . . hahahaha . . . .  br    br   but i  m glad to have watched it . thank goodness he has grown up . . . .  
there seem to have been any number of films like this released during the    s . and the fact that i cannot recollect the title to a single one of them off  hand is a measure of their impact . these are what novelists would call  pot  boilers  . they are scarcely more than a vehicle for keeping movie  stars in the public eye .  br    br   we have micheal caine  peter ustinov  omar sharif  rex harrison and william holden more than enough names to get bums on cinema seats . every taste in hero is catered for . though one suspects that most of the audience still went away disappointed .  br    br   their talents are simply thrown away  and i wonder that stars with so much money and such reputation can be yet so desperate or lacking in good sense . this sort of movie hardly adds gilding to a cv . sometimes maybe actors should choose their director instead of the other way round .  br    br   it was pretty obvious that it would be crap even from the outset . that ludicrously mismatched jaunty  jazz theme music  which also percolated up every time some incidental noise is needed  had all the atmospheric conviction of elevator muzak . who imagined employing a jazz band when a scene depicted the steamy jungles of central africa  or the endless sahara with camels and palms as a backdrop  definitely a serious goof  ball . ennio morricone would have known what to do and his results would have oozed enough atmosphere and tension to raise my rating a good two points . this director should have taken the trouble to watch  lawrence of arabia   or even sergio leone  s westerns he might have learnt a few things . but then again  probably he wouldn  t .  br    br   alfred hitchcock played the disappearing wife theme to good effect in his film  frantic  . it was later remade with equal panache staring harrison ford . in each case the confusion surrounding her loss and the tension of the chase was tangible . here  when michael caine might be otherwise compelled to employ a little brain and bravado  rex harrison kept popping  up out of no  where like some wily old genii  to put him back on track whenever the narrative stumbled .  br    br   at least the photography was rather good  with excellent use of the often beautiful environment . but then the dumb music must pipe  up and blow to atoms what little ambiance this created .  br    br   action scenes were also contrived and stilted  with such ineptly choreographed fight sequences that they might have been staged in a first  year drama class . and  of course  the players must fight to a jazz accompaniment  as you do .  br    br   and that  s about as much comment as this item deserves . except to say that the script was pretty wretched as well .  br    br   stick with your hobby on this one . even if it contained your favourite movie  stars  you  re sure to be disappointed too .  
without a doubt  private lessons ii is the greatest movie i have ever seen . a japanese import  poorly  translated into english  its a joy to watch . not much of it makes sense  but that doesn  t matter . it  s the greatest comedy around without ever being intentionally funny .  br    br   the film is rare and unavailable on video  but i have caught it a couple of time late  late at night on pay cable . my taped copy has been watched dozens and dozens of times as i slowly  person  by  person  introduce this film gem to the world .  br    br   joanna pacula plays the tutor  lover to ken  our hero .  she apparently was just working for her check .  ken is played by goro inagaki  of the japanese pop band smap  who gives it his all and has great hair through out the movie . stacy edwards  of  in the company of men  fame  shows up in the movie too and is probably happy that she found other film work afterwards .  br    br   it takes at least three viewings to sorta figure out what the plot is . on repeating viewing you can enjoy elements like the abnormal amount of vases ken has in his house  at least    or that ken is wearing a shirt with embroidered husks of corn in the movie  s finale .  br    br   the movie is predictable  but highly quotable . my friends and i reenact entire scenes . yes  it sounds like we  re lame losers and we are . . . but we  re lame losers who have seen  private lessons ii .  be one of ten people in the world who have seen this movie . you  ll thank me for it .  
the worst  and chock full of people who really ought to know better   the cast have six oscars between them  . it  s set in  contemporary  africa   it was made in       and is about the slave trade . it  s appallingly scripted and acted   michael caine  peter ustinov and william holden reach a career low in this one   and completely lacks excitement never mind any moral focus . it  s also ludicrously plotted . you don  t for a minute believe that any of the characters would behave in the way they do under these circumstances . richard fleischer directs but you get the impression it was over the telephone . this is as bad as it gets .  
this is undeniably the scariest game i  ve ever played . it  s not the average shoot  everything  that  moves kind of fps  which i usually don  t care much for   but the acceptable gfx  interesting weapons and magic  great surround soundeffects   scryeeee  scryeeee . .   and above all incredible atmosphere . i love the scrye  which enables you  at certain places in the games  to see or hear events that happened there in the past . the only game i  ve had to take regular breaks after a few minutes of playing just because of the intensity of the atmosphere . i  m a great horror fan  escpecially of clive barker  s stories and movies  and participating in a horror story like this makes me yearn for more games that emphasizes atmosphere and a more involving story .        because i  m no fps fan  and perhaps the game was a bit short    
what was an exciting and fairly original series by fox has degraded down to meandering tripe . during the first season  dark angel was on my weekly  must see  list  and not just because of jessica alba .  br    br   unfortunately  the powers  that  be over at fox decided that they needed to  fine  tune  the plotline . within  episodes of the season opener  they had totally lost me as a viewer  not even to see jessica alba   . i found the new characters that were added in the second season to be too ridiculous and amateurish . the new plotlines were stretching the continuity and credibility of the show too thin . on one of the second season episodes  they even had max sleeping and dreaming  where the first season stated she biologically couldn  t sleep .  br    br   the moral of the story  the one that hollywood never gets   if it works  don  t screw with it   br    br   azjazz  
the extraordinary rosemary forsyth is the main reason to see this flick . why she never became a bigger store may never be known . but she is exceptional and steals every scene she  s in . garson kanin directed this piece of fluff and the cast is first rate  with robert drivas and brenda vaccaro especially memorable . a    out of    .   
if ashanti had been a serious attempt at a film about the institution of slavery  still prevalent in third world countries the film might have been better received . instead it turns into a star studded disaster of a movie where the stars came in  said their lines  and picked up their paychecks without much conviction .  br    br   michael caine and his wife beverly johnson work for the united nations world health organization and are busy doing their humanitarian thing in east africa . along comes peter ustinov who can barely summon enough ham in him to make a go of the part as a moslem slave dealer . as johnson is black he grabs her anyway along with a lot of children and a few adults as well .  br    br   of course caine doesn  t take kindly to the kidnapping and the rest of the film is spent in a rescue attempt . the rest of the cast has such folks as william holden  rex harrison  omar sharif and indian film star kebir bedi in parts and looking so incredibly bored with the whole thing .  br    br   usually in something like this talented people like those mentioned above will just overact outrageously and feast on a diet of scenery . but ashanti doesn  t even have that going for it .  br    br   what an incredible waste of time . the aroma of tax write off is permeating the air .  
i stumbled onto this movie when i was ebay  ing caesars palace stuff  as i  m enamoured with its rich vegas history as the last of the original luxury resorts still standing in good condition  unless you count bally  s  the original mgm grand  . in that respect  this movie delivers full  force . you  re given a grand tour of the caesars property  which in spite of all the renovations and additions they  ve done over the   years it  s been open  looks alarmingly similar . as a film overall  the plot is somewhat difficult to follow  thanks in large part to the horrendous editing . and when i say horrendous  i  m not using that word lightly . there  s a lot of spliced  in  second  long snippets of vegas traffic  casino crowds  and even a scene where the robert drivas character is having a conversation with his father about how much he  s grown up  and without any explanation  he  drivas  goes  in those infamous snippets  from being himself  to a baby  to a little boy  and then back to himself while talking back and forth with his father .  that doesn  t give away any plot details if anything  one can be prepared for it and maybe they won  t be as flabbergasted as i was by the editing .  the film has aged well otherwise  and has a good message about the inherent differences between a father and his son that most guys could relate to in some form or fashion .  
i saw this recently with my wife and discovered it  s better than caine believes  although it  s not much cop . britain  s greatest ever screen actor does not seem too interested in this role  which is a pity as he might have elevated it with more conviction in his playing . rex harrison seems even less bothered  perhaps unsurprisingly  as his character is very poorly written . william holden is better  but his screen time is fleeting and  again  his character is not well scripted .  br    br   beverly johnson is as beautiful a woman as i have ever seen  but is given very little to do  the film might have gained a great deal by concentrating more on her story . ustinov steals the show  but basically by playing a comic character quite out of keeping with the film  s serious tone . the music is poor and omar sharif makes one of his many pointless cameos  his career has been based on this for decades now  .  br    br   richard fleischer has to be blamed for not directing this more effectively  he was an infuriatingly unpredictable film director  and this is one of his weaker movies .  
i saw this movie in     when it was first released at the cameo theater on south beach  now the famous crowbar night  club . it was the last year of the wild   s and this movie really hit home . it  s got everything the generation gap  the sexual revolution  the quest for success  and the conflict between following one  s family  traditions  to those of seeking ones own way through life .  br    br   it was a fast paced  highly enjoyable movie . vegas was at it  s hippiest peak  sin city in all it  s glory . beautiful women  famous cameos  laughs  conflict  romance  and even a happy ending . a very enjoyable time over all .  br    br   the poster from this film rests on my bedroom wall . i look at it and i go back in time a time of my youth and my times with my dad  a great time in my life .  
michael caine has always claimed that ashanti was  the only film  he  did purely for the money  as well as  the worst film he ever starred in  . hold on  michael  weren  t you in the swarm and hurry sundown  and weren  t both of those films a good deal worse than ashanti  perhaps caine remembers only too begrudgingly the physically punishing demands of filming an action film in searing    degrees fahrenheit temperatures  the director  richard fleischer  was hospitalised as a result of sun  stroke during the shoot  . what ashanti actually emerges as is not the career low  point of michael caine . instead  it is a very average chase thriller with a talented cast  exotic locations  boring stretches and a highly formulaic storyline .  br    br   dr . david linderby  caine  is a w . h . o medic who is left devastated when his black wife anansa  beverly johnson  goes missing during an aid trip to an african tribal village . linderby gradually realises that his wife has been snatched by slave traders  led by suleiman  peter ustinov   and he sets off on a continent  wide pursuit which eventually leads to the middle east .  br    br   along the way  big stars pop in for ineffective and superfluous guest roles . william holden has a poor cameo as a chopper pilot omar sharif displays little of his customary charm or grace as a pampered arab millionaire rex harrison looks rightfully bored during his brief role as a helpful contact who assists caine in his quest . the film is based on a best  seller entitled ebano  by the little  known author alberto vasquez  figueroa  but the suspense that made the book so popular is largely absent in this adaptation . ustinov is charismatic as the slaver  he seems in all his movies to be incapable of giving bad performances   and caine generates believable anguish as the man who thinks he  ll never see his wife again . there are occasional flashes of action  but on the whole ashanti is quite slow  moving . all in all  it is a resistible piece of action hokum  not by any stretch as awful as caine has frequently suggested  but not a very inspiring film and certainly a let  down from all the talent involved .  
just re  saw this movie after thirty seven years . i was eleven years old and caught this flick on south beach at the long gone cinema theater on washington avenue . in      i thought where it  s at  was a very good movie . now  however  after almost forty years  it  s not as good as it was . times have changed  and this movie is now a tired old re  hash of the war between the generations . it did however  catch a place in time which is just a memory . it  s really interesting to see the mod fashions  the old vegas  a slim don rickles  chain smoking  and a hip opening song . the acting was decent  the script somewhat out  dated  but the memories were still fresh . where it  s at  may not be where it  s at for you  but for me  it was still a nice and entertaining trip down memory lane .  
with a bo derek movie  the audience get just what they expect . a paper thin plot and a few shots of mrs . derek in no clothes .  ghosts can  t do it  is just that . the first fifteen minutes is ordinary tv drama  as long as scott anthony quinn is still alive . he is a very good actor with long experience in a lot of different roles  but it seems as even a famous actor need to work just for money sometimes . bo derek is the opposite  always playing a strikingly handsome young woman with or without clothes . the movie is a complete waste of time . if you want to see quinn  rent lawrence of arabia or la strada . if you want to see nude women or bad acting  rent any porno movie .  
i haven  t seen much german comedy  but if this film is anything to go by  i  m compelled to see more  the simple but effective storyline takes two very different people on a trip from germany to italy after eva  an unemployed mother of two  discovers that her artist husband is having an affair with the wife of a wealthy lawyer . i won  t reveal anything further  but what results is a very funny series of events with the perfect conclusion . my interest in international cinema has expanded since i first saw this film . i recommend it to anyone  any adult . . . don  t let the inclusion of the young children fool you into thinking it  s a family film  who love comedy  even those unfamiliar with the language .  
i  ve now watched all four bo derek vehicles directed by her husband  john all are quite terrible  of course  but this is certainly the pits . featuring the usual flimsy plot  bad scripting  by the director  naturally  and acting  not to mention gratuitous nudity by the star  it deals with her losing much older husband anthony quinn  she accepts his shotgun suicide by saying he had always admired hemingway    but who continues to appear and talk to her . in fact  he wants to come back in another  younger bodybut actually does so only in the very last scene  derek is lovely as always  and still playing nave     especially during a muddled mid  section which has her pursued by a hired killer at a spa . quinn  too  is typically larger  than  life  read hammy  here  but this easily constitutes his nadir besides  for much of the duration  he acts from behind a piece of shiny plastic  presumably suggesting his being in some sort of limbo   his  replacement   then  is obviously a handsome  looking stud who hasn  t a lick of talent or even personality . also featured in the cast are hollywood veterans don murray  as quinn  s best friend and bo  s business consultant  and julie newmar  as quinn  s guardian angel in the afterlife   plus a surprising cameo appearance by billionaire donald trump  who presumably needed this on his resume    it also goes without saying that john derek was his own cinematographer on the film  that the end credits are filled with useless  and corny  expressions of gratitude to the many people who lent a helping hand  and that ghosts can  t do it swept the board at the     razzie awards   
thanks should be given to the hong kong vcd  dvd distributors that i only paid us  .  and i could have such a surprisingly delightful enjoyment .  br    br   adultery  how common in our modern days . eva grabbed her two children and kidnapped nick to chase after luis and charlotte to italy . she wants her revenge done but at the end  she also commits the same crime of luis she had sex with nick .  br    br   in this small indie production  vivian naefe dealt with the teething problems in modern marriage with a light heart . how can one dare treat marriage seriously in this fast  food time where people are now of higher mobility in physical  mental and technology areas  conjugal commitment asks for too high a price that most people would choose to succumb to circumstances . nick once trusted charlotte but he fell for eva after that kidnap journey which forced him to experience much growth .  br    br   most viewers may feel happy about the ending because eva and nick come together  well  this should be the greatest retribution to the unfaithful act of their spouses . however  i want a sequel  i want to see how the four would develop after this exchange . perhaps they may exchange back  how can one be so sure about the shaky love relationship .  br    br   good acting and good scenery . the two little child  actors should not be neglected especially the boy when he cries at the reception of the hotel in venezia . and of course  how can we forget the  bella  bella  scenery of the city .  
the dereks did seem to struggle to find rolls for bo after     .  br    br   i used to work for a marine park in the florida keys . one day  the script for  ghosts can  t do it  was circulating among the trainers in the  fish house  where food was prepared for the dolphins . there was one scene where a  dolphin  supposedly propositions bo  or bo the dolphin   asking to  go make eggs .  reading the script  we  lauuughed  . . .  br    br   we did not end up doing any portion of this movie at our facility  although our dolphins  were  in  the big blue    br    br   this must have been very close to the end of anthony quinn  s life . i hope he had fun in this film  as it certainly didn  t do anything for his legacy .  
recap zandalee is a young woman that feels more and more trapped in her marriage with thierry . thierry himself is struggling with the death of his father the previous year and has lost his way . he has submerged himself in work  laid of his writing  and zandalee desperately misses the attraction between them . into this enters johnny  and old friend of thierry  s who once were artists in exile together . but johnny has kept on painting  and just have a day job for the rent . he takes the day as it comes and leaves tomorrow to its destiny . there is an instant raw attraction between zandalee and johnny  and they enter into an affair . but zandalee struggles with her lust to be desired and her conscience and love for her husband . but none of them  not zandalee  not johnny and not thierry can stop the relationships between them to spin totally out of control .  br    br   comments it is set as a thriller . but maybe more a thriller of heart than a normal thriller where it  s about life and death  and threat of violence . not that a thriller of heart can  t take on fatal proportions  but the threat comes from a different angle . and it is not really until the second half in zandalee until the thriller emerges  and even though the foundation for it is laid in the first half  i can  t really describe the genre as a thriller then . much more of a romantic drama than anything else  but with the underlying currents of other genres . the developing thriller is there  but it also has more than a little tint of a sensual erotic kind . because that is what it is all about  what drives the characters and therefore the entire story . desire . the need to have  and the need to be .  br    br   in my opinion it is quite good  definitely a lot better than its current   .   rating anyway . it takes its time but it grows a good feeling of suspense  and it handles the erotic part very well  with taste . it is always an integral part of the story  needed to be there to give the story it  s needed weight  and i never felt it was an excuse to show a naked breast or anything like that . but unfortunately the climax of the story comes well before the end  and the end itself feels kind of flat  even if in its own way kind of dramatic .  br    br   the cast is impressive  spearheaded by known actors like nicholas cage and judge reinhold . but the show is almost completely stolen by erika anderson . beautiful and very adept at acting out the sometimes subtle feelings of desire  she excels were both cage and reinhold sometimes goes a bot overboard and become a little rough . her career afterward is too thin for the talent she shows in zandalee  i can only hope it is because of her own choices . also two personal favorites appear in small roles that give some extra edge to the movie  it is steve buscemi and joe pantoliano .  br    br   when you  re in the right mood this is a very good movie  it could have used another end to get the credit it really deserves .  br    br        
i saw this obvious schlock fest on a video store shelf . and before i got my first vcr i figured i  d christen it with this little gem and it  s bad film  making at it  s finest   br    br   the dialog is inadvertently hilarious . and it contains a cameo with donald trump . anthony quinn is in it inexplicably . and much like christopher walken seemed to want to star in every bad movie in his later years . this movie is mr . quinn  s country bears .  br    br   it features lines like   shut up and let me fight      br    br   and  you  re saying a lot of sh  it    br    br   and the priceless comeback  unfortunately it is sh  it  tough angry sh  it    br    br   you  ll be awed by a fight scene as bo does a sommersault across a billiard table  and does a nice kung fu kick when she comes up from the roll  chop socky action and t and a thrills     br    br   what schlock movie fan could ask for more  oh  and when mr . quinn  s character commits suicide and and comes back to haunt bo as a ghost she asks him why he killed himself rather then deal with his debilitating illness  he says   real men don  t eat quiche .   br    br   uh  aaa  yeah . if bo was a smart cookie she woulda called for an exorcist right then and there   
bored and unhappy young babe zandalee  a winningly sultry and vibrant performance by luscious brunette knockout erika anderson  feels trapped in a stale and loveless marriage to failed poet and decent  yet dull businessman thierry martin  a solid and credible portrayal by judge reinhold  . zandalee has a torrid adulterous fling with sleazy and arrogant artist johnny collins  deliciously played to the slimy hilt by nicolas cage  . can the relationship between thierry and zandalee be salvaged  or is everything going to fall apart and go to seed  director sam pillsbury and screenwriter mari kornhauser lay on the tawdry soap opera  style histrionics something thick while attempting to tell a wannabe serious and insightful story about desire run amok and its potentially dangerous consequences the plot goes gloriously off the rails in the laughably histrionic last third . the dialogue is likewise hilariously silly and vulgar  sample line  i wanna shake you naked and eat you alive   . better still  this flick certainly delivers plenty of tasty female nudity  the gorgeously statuesque anderson looks smoking hot in the buff  and sizzling semi  pornographic soft  core sex scenes  johnny and zandalee doing the dirty deed in a church confessional booth rates as a definite steamy highlight  . the tart  n  tangy new orleans setting adds extra spice to the already steamy proceedings . with his long  scruffy black hair  greasy mustache  foul mouth  and coarse manners  cage  s johnny is an absolute hoot as the single most grossly unappealing  romantic  lead to ever ooze his way onto celluloid . the cast deserve props for acting with admirable sincerity anderson  cage and reinhold all do respectable work with their parts  with fine support from joe pantoliano as zandalee  s merry flamboyant homosexual friend gerri  viveca lindfors as theirry  s wise  perceptive mother tatta  aaron neville as friendly bartender jack  and steve buscemi as a funny  blithely shameless thief . walt lloyd  s sharp and gleaming cinematography gives the picture an attractive glossy look . the flavorsome  harmonic score by pray for rain likewise hits the spot . a delightfully campy and seamy riot .  
the derek  s have over the     s produced a few decent bids to acquire the title  worst movie of all time   and this is probably their prime achievement in these stakes . in fact  this film can be regarded as belonging to the  so bad  it  s good  category  right up there with the products of the likes of edward wood jr . or doris wishman . this explains the imdb voting pattern for this film with some people handing out top marks .  br    br   anthony quinn made the odd dodgy film in his time  but this performance as a randy ghost is so incredibly bad  it has to be seen to be believed .  
new york i love you is full of love and power . not for everybody  however  but is a beautiful movie .  br    br   it has the likes of shia labeouf  seen in transformers  disturbia  charlies angels  i robot  indiana jones  and many more   maggie q  kevin bacon  blake lively  natalie portman  and many more . with a star  studded cast  this movie is without a doubt  brilliant .  br    br   from many top  notch directors around the world  it does not fail to impress . the diversity from one story to another is creative and unique .  br    br   it is safe to say that new york i love you is a popcorn movie  and should be watched on a big tv  this time  trust the imdb rating  because it is an excellent film .  br    br   eagerly waiting shanghai i love you in     .  br    br   watch ny ily  you won  t be disappointed .  
skip mission galactica and watch the original living legend episodes instead . the network took parts    of living legend and jammed them into one plot with the awful fire in space episode . although galactica suffered from network  controlled writing and a lack of time to prepare for a proper production  living legend is the best of the     tv series . fire in space  on its own  is one of the worst episodes . as a historical note  watch galactica  the original star trek  and then the revival trek series  and you  ll see the difference in quality between network  produced sci  fi and syndicated sci  fi .  
i saw this movie at an advance screening and found it excellent .  br    br   new york i love you is a true spin on a romance that explores clever  funny  and sometimes shocking situations around the human race  s most powerful emotion .  br    br   the cast is huge  a veritable oceans   with andy garcia  ethan hawke  shia labouf  natalie portman  bradley cooper and others . they all give stand out performances in one way or another .  br    br   that  s not to mention that there is a who  s who of directors interweaving stories in clever and interesting ways . brett rattner  shaka kapur  natalie portman  i mean  wow  this movie is not a straight ahead romance or romantic comedy even though it is both romantic and funny . it also has serious stories and notes . but that  s good in my opinion . go see it for yourself and reply to my review  i want to hear what others have to say .  
this movie  s one of my favorites . it  s not really any good  but it  s great to laugh at . the dialogue can become incredibly ludicrous and poorly acted  eg   manji  can we ask you a few questions    sure .   we think you can help us with the answers .   any fighting is more or less surrealistic . make sure to watch for brock  the oafy white guy who attacks the main characters . he only has two lines  but he  s one of the best guys in the movie   
  the days  is a typical family drama with a little catch  you must relate to the character  s emotions in every way possible in order for you to truly appreciate the show .  br    br   possible spoilers for those who are unfamiliar with the show  br    br   the story  obviously  for all the people who has watched the show  is the world of cooper day  the middle child of the family . he records his days with his family and hopes to become a rich and famous writer one day because of his observations . his family includes a mother  a father  a perfect sister  and a genius  little  brother . the first episode  which is going to sound a bit stupid since john scott shepard has created this situation  both the sister and mother gets pregnant . that  s the first situation the writer hits . then the father quits his job at the law firm . the youngest son gets a panic attack . the middle child gets in a fight with the sister  s boyfriend . this is all in a day  s work .  br    br     spoilers  br    br   i admire this show . i don  t know . it  s a bit crappy but i like it . first i thought the camera  work was a ripoff but then i got used it and started to like it . i liked the quiet conversations under a dark light . i liked the intimate feeling of the show . i liked the low  budget style . i liked the acting . i admire the story . then i find myself wanting a second season of the days . i slowly became a fan of it as the   episode airing on abc came to an end . it  s a really good show and it  s nothing like the oc . the two have nothing in common . so i hope fans will stop comparing them .  br    br   and if you can relate to either abby  jack  natalie  cooper or even nate  you  ll like this show . a lot .  
to movie  this movie felt like one of those after school specials  only lower budget and lower everything else . i guess this was supposed to an inspirational movie of some sort  but it didn  t work for me . yet some how it comes across as preachy . it has very pale shades of flash dance  but so what  there just isn  t any excitement in this movie . the dialogue is contrived and clichd to death . of course  the whole movie feels like a bad    s clich . the acting was less than stellar  though that has a lot to do with what the actors were given  or in this case  not  to work with . on top of that is the poor song choices  with really bad lyrics . i felt embarrassed for all the actors involved . they are all talented  but you can  t tell from this movie . this is just my opinion of course  but i have to give flying aka dream to believe a      
i just saw a press screening of this film and i was pleasantly surprised . not often is it that i get to see all of my favorite actors in one film at one time .  br    br   i really enjoyed the pick pocket scene and it was good to see rachael bilson and hayden back together . i think their chemistry on camera is a direct result of their time together off camera . my favorite scene was by far  surprisingly so  bret ratner  s piece . . . without giving too much away  i  ll just say that there is a surprise that leaves you hanging . . .  br    br   the old couple were really good together and you actually got the impression that they had spent a lifetime together .  br    br   both the chris cooper and the ethan hawke segments packed a punch with surprises that seem realistic and similar to experiences that i  ve had in the big apple . over all the film is a great place to take a date . . . especially if you  re already fond of the city itself .  br    br   i can  t wait for the next in the cities of love .  
two old buddies are sent to japan to get back results of a genetic research containing videotape  which is stolen by the black suited ninjas at the beginning of the movie . first they just have to learn some ninja skill  because  only ninja can beat the ninja .   br    br   sakura killers tries hard to be enjoyable ninja  flick but fails that badly . the whole movie is just so hollow and predictable that is hard to say anything good about it same plot has been seen in different variations dozens of times before  characters are too briefly drawn  direction is dull and script doesn  t offer anything surprising  even in the ending scene  which by itself reduced movie  s  trash  value .  br    br   even    s ninja  flick  fan  who understands the esthetic of trash  movies  is hard to find this movie even barely enjoyable . it simply doesn  t offer anything new to viewer  neither in visual level nor in plot . shurikens are thrown and katanas are swinging  but it  s not enough to lead the movie direction it meant to be and recurred similar fighting scenes numbs even the most calloused viewer after the first   minutes .  br    br   it  s hard to recommend movie to anyone . even franco nero  s clumsy performance in  enter the ninja  falls behind sakura killer  s american  ninjas . even in visual level movie doesn  t have any balls and it  s waste of time to try to find any great fighting scenes in this movie there isn  t any . in all  one of the most futile ninja  flicks  i  ve ever seen . doesn  t interest even in curiosity . trust me on this one .  br    br    out of   .  
as a fan of paris je  taime  i went to see new york  i love you with very high expectations . i gladly walked out with all my expectations met . it was funny  sweet  fast  paced  and entertaining . the film starts out with two cab hoppers  bradley cooper  justin bartha  trying to get to the same area but arguing which way to go . that was funny  and then the film goes into some of the best skits i have ever seen anywhere . there were four amazing ones out of all the good ones . those four i will start talking about . one features shia labeouf as a bellhop at a hotel who finds love in an old lady . the next one features orlando bloom as a music maker who is doing business with a woman played by christina ricci . another one features anton yelchin and olivia thirbly as two people going to prom  thirbly  s character being handicapped . the best one features eli wallach and cloris leachman as a bickering old couple . i will bring to your attention that nataile portman makes an impressive directorial debut directing  and writing a skit about a caretaker  and ethan hawke and maggie q are excellent as a flirting man and a hooker . new york  i love you is definitely as good  if not better than the     paris je  taime . the skits are well  paced  and the film shows how indie films should really be . the film  however  does not have as many famous directors as paris je  taime  which is why it was fantastic to live up to its excellence . if you want to laugh  see some great dramatic effects  see an amazing amount of great performances  and just plain be entertained then definitely go see new york  i love you .  
sakura killers    outta  stars  maybe in     this movie might have seemed cool . . . if you had never ever seen a good ninja movie . cheesy    s music . . . cheesy dialogue . . . cheesy acting . . . and way  beyond  cheesy martial arts sequences . the coolest scene is at the beginning . . . with an aged chuck connors playing golf on a beach . . . several black clad ninjas try to sneak up on him and it looks like he is too intent on hitting his ball to notice . . . suddenly he reaches into his golf bag and . . . naw  i won  t spoil it for you . . . if you ever have the misfortune of seeing this movie you  ll thank me . the story is a lot of nonsense about some stolen videotape or something . a bunch of dim  bulb caucasian heroes are trained in the ways the ninja because  only a ninja can fight a ninja  or something like that . strange  these guys don  t seem to fight any better after their training than before . . . oh well  the movie does move along pretty briskly . the fight scenes may not be great . . but they are plentiful . . . and the overdone sound effects are good for a few chuckles .  
new york i love you just like its predecessor  paris je t  aime  is a compound of various stories that reflects the different kinds and aspects of love but unlike it the rhythm is much faster and the stories much shorter . the movie offers a unique view of the city of new york with its various and different landscapes . new york  i love you offers a first class cast  featuring such great actors like shia labeouf  natalie portman  ian mckellen  hayden christensen  chistina rcci and orlando bloom  ethan hawke  james caan and robin wright penn among others and some excellent writers and directors like brett ratner and anthony mingella .  
i  m in awe  wow  prepare to be blown away by the uncanny ways of the ninja . watch them as they pounce  crawl along the ground  on their backs or stomachs  like a caterpillar  fly through the sky  climb buildings  hide and spring from trees  throw about ninja stars  role out blue welcome mats  disappear in smoke bombs  make a lot of swoosh noises with their blades and quickly sneaking or trotting about on their toes . what a sight  really i could go on about the many traditional actions  but i  ll be here all day . oh not to forget we even get the legendary chuck connors popping up now and again  and watch him dispatch some ninjas with his shotgun with little ease . what class  what a badass  anyhow the ultra  cheap  sakura killers  is some stupid  but cheesy ninja action fun that only fanatics of the genre would get anything out of this shonky b  grade debacle .  br    br   a genetic lab in america has a very important video that  s stolen by a couple of ninjas . two americans are sent to japan by the colonel  chuck connors  to retrieve it .  br    br   the opening of the feature sets it up nicely . get ready for the laughs  afterwards it slows down  but soon after the two main protagonists learns about the ninja and goes through the training it gets a head of steam as they break in costumes and fled after the stolen beta tape that contains a very important formula . this is when the violently swift action and aerobic marital arts really come in to play . it  s not too shoddy either   like the moronic script and daft performances  . the final climatic showdown is very well done .  br    br   in the slow stretches it has the two americans  mike kelly and george nicholas  looking in to the case  sharing brainless conversations and encountering some minor problems . what made me laugh was how the ninjas were put off by how brave and clever these two were . these were supposed to be professional killers  director dusty nelson   effects         does an earnest job with what he had and plays it for what it is . he centres the on  screen activities around striking taiwan locations . the score is a chintzy arrangement .  
if you  re not in the mood for more than an hour long movie than this film could give you some variation . what i love is the ongoing surprises . it  s not only once that you want one or more of the short film in  new york i love you  to be continue . yeah  some of the short films makes you curious  some of them very short  some of them longer  some of them has it definite ends  some of them don  t .  br    br   most of the story presents the sad side of the capital city . it shows many different nationality background . many of it  make it feels the same way where i have been once went to a capital city in other countries for a year where it has many people came from different countries . this movie explore many type of things you might have known  but for all the characters it  s a new things . maybe some of you have traveled abroad alone to stay for a year or two just to feel something new  meet new people feel dreamy  sad  but the kind of sad you looking for because it is just that bored you were in your own home . you might want to reliving it again  by watching this .  
oh yes  sakura killers is a goofy  horrible ninja movie  make no mistake . but it  s also an incredibly enjoyable one . this is largely thanks to the awesome presence of one chuck connors  who is billed as starring in the movie but really only shines in a few scenes . i suppose he  s supposed to be sort of an obi wan kenobi type   the tough ninja  buster   the box copy exclaims  but his  wisdom  is laughable .  move without thinking     my friend says this is the sign of mental retardation  not of supreme concentration .  br    br   but really  his two aides  sonny and dennis  have such horrible dialogue that  brooklyn   as we call the colonel  tends to shine in comparison . especially watch for dennis  logic regarding the  genetic splicing  the sakura are involved with . if you know anything about cloning you will die laughing . and yes  this is a major plot point  folks .  br    br   a terribly fun movie  sakura killers is a hard  to  find gem . i won  t spoil the  trick  ending for you either  except that it  s a perfect set up for a sakura killers  . too bad chuck connors died .    because he does have a the smoothest ways of blowing away ninjas .  
i saw  new york i love you  today and loved it  i was really looking forward to seeing this after watching  paris je t  aime  and overall i think i liked this one much better . . . perhaps i need to watch  paris je t  aime  again i don  t know . . . i read few of the reviews here about nyily and yes  the movie is not without its faults . when you  re paying tribute to a city like new york  it can get rather overwhelming and nothing seems fair enough to do the city due justice . . . so without elaborating on any of the film  s shortcomings  i  ll just write about what i liked .  br    br   unlike  paris je t  aime  in which each director  s short film was properly segmented and titled  nyily isn  t and many reviewers over here have found the seamlessness of stories and overlapping of characters here annoying and even confusing . i thought otherwise . i loved how the stories just flowed one after the other and i especially liked the overlapping of characters  it might be gimmicky because it  s done so often in films now . but i still liked it because i didn  t find it forced . and the idea that we  re all connected in the end has a wistful  even whimsical quality to it  which some might find corny but i find beautiful .  br    br   i liked all the films but the one that touched me the most was the one by yvan attal with robin wright penn and chris cooper . it was so well  acted and scripted that the reveal in the end  again not unused in the past  brought me to tears and i was crying throughout the segment that followed . i always liked wright penn and now i  m also a fan of chris cooper . those precious initial few seconds when he  s standing alone outside the restaurant  just before he gets the call  speak volumes about cooper  s ability to convey a character by just being there without saying anything .  br    br   most of the stories in this film involve characters who are either meeting each for the first time or have met each other just recently with the exception of    stories in which the characters have known each other for a long time . it seemed to me  and i might be wrong  that the stories were different but they were all trying to drive home the point  the need even  to just step back and view in a new light the people and the things we  ve known in our lives for a long time to see the people and the things around you with the eyes of a stranger and appreciate them just as you did when you met them and saw them for the first time .  br    br   the other films that i liked were the ones by shunji iwai with orlando bloom and christina ricci  by natalie portman with carlos acosta and taylor geare  by brett ratner with anton yelchin and olivia thirlby  by shekhar kapur with julie christie  shia labeouf and john hurt and once again the one by yvan attal with ethan hawke and emilie ohana when they  re in the caf . i really need to see more work by yvan attal as i seem to like him a lot   br    br   overall  watch this movie with an open mind . don  t read the reviews before watching it  it might not live up to your expectations of what a movie on and about love in new york should be and i doubt any movie will really live up to that conception . just watch this movie for some good music  beautiful landscape cinematography  some slice  of  life comfort and a story or two that might just tug at your heartstrings .  
this is one of the very worst films clark gable made . only parnell was obviously worse . it is just so painfully clichd and the dialog is so lousy that it is something neither gable nor jean harlow should have been proud of making .  br    br   gable is a heel whose illegal activities result in his girl going  to the slammer  like the gangster talk   . she holds out hope that he  ll do the right thing but he just leaves her there   unknown to either of them  gosh  that she  s  in the family way  . eventually  the rogue returns to do the right thing and somehow they tie this all together into a happy ending  they seemed to have forgotten about gable  s needing to take the rap and spend several years in the hoosegow . leonard maltin says  the stars are at their best here  . by what standard  best at producing unintended chuckles  gimme a break   br    br   ps   after saying this  my wife thinks leonard maltin is going to find me and kick my butt . hmmm . however  despite my comment  i think mr . maltin is the finest reviewer and human being on the planet  i hope that appeased him  .  br    br   update         . because i disliked this film so much the first time  especially the ridiculous ending   i decided to watch it once again . after all  sometimes when i watch a film again i like it much more and realize that i was a bit too harsh . while that has been the case with several films in recent months  i still disliked this film   even the second time . most of it was not because of the first half of the film . in the first half  harlow  s character was amazingly stupid but at least it was believable . but when she was sent to prison  it was all clichs until the final ridiculous marriage scene occurred . the bottom line is that this sequence is embarrassingly dumb   it just makes no sense at all and is akin to turning the movie into some wacky fairy tale instead of a love story about two cons . i stand by my original review  despite all the  not helpfuls   and think that aside from parnell and possibly polly at the circus  it might just be the worst gable film .  
new york  i love you finally makes it to our shores  but its   short stories on love somehow didn  t find reason enough to be released over valentine  s  probably due to the fact that this year  s festival also falls on lunar new year  and with that comes the usual lny blockbuster films from the likes of jackie chan  no  not the spy next door  and local filmmaker jack neo who has traditionally released his latest film over that period to resounding success . so why fix a formula that hasn  t been broken   br    br   continuing in concept where paris  je t  aime had begun in spawning the city of love franchise  shanghai will be next  so says the end of the closing credits here   the buzz here is definitely about the intertwining stories set in one of the cities of the world to allow for various interpretations from filmmakers all over to come up with stories based on love as a theme  although someone probably forgot to tell scarlett johansson some of the finer points in the sandbox ground rules  and her short was unceremoniously dropped from the theatrical edition for being unable to fit into everything else  well  it was shot in black and white   but here  s hoping that it would make it to the dvd at least .  br    br   structurally  this series is less compartmentalized compared to its predecessor  which if memory serves me right had individual stories set within its own confines and never really breaking out of its artificial borders created . here a little more leeway is given  where characters from various stories interact in short filler segments used to bridge scenes together  and not just solely reliant on pick up shots made up of buildings and landscapes  in hopes of making things look a little bit more serendipitous with the idea of chance encounters amongst strangers  though one story craftily adopted this mindset for its own narrative to deliver a surprise  though already seen in paris .  br    br   one of the top draws for sitting through a film like this one  is definitely the creative forces behind the stories  from writers  directors and cinematographers from various geographies and backgrounds mirroring the makeup of the cosmopolitan city  coming together for a concept film . and what more the star  studded cast too  with big names amongst the lesser known ones all upping the ante through picture perfect performances  be it for the entire length of the short  or as a support to build upon . you can  t deny the initial star  gazing in recognizing the notables  from irrfan khan to natalie portman  who also had writing and directing duties   rachel bilson  looking quite like bardot  to spielberg  s blue eye boy shia labeouf  who surprisingly can act  and shows off more in his few minutes here than his entire filmography to date .  br    br   story wise  like any anthology  you  ll find some which will automatically appeal to you  and with others that don  t . some are straightforward in nature  while others have to come up with gimmicky twists that thankfully worked . but these   stories plus   because randall balsmeyer was given duties to integrate everything together for a more organic feel instead of just plain pick up shots of lesser known areas and established landmarks  somehow lacked the more  anything goes  spirit from its predecessor  with stories more rooted in reality  compared to some fantastical elements in the previous film  elijah wood  s dalliance with a vampire anyone    or even less adventurous with its narrative style  christopher doyle  s  and tom tykwer  s starring natalie portman  . here it seemed that the filmmakers opted very much for safe  with none venturing into that spirit of adventure and experiment .  br    br   minor quibbles aside  i still enjoyed almost all the shorts here  contrary to what many others have felt about it . the short film format is still very much alive  and having them strung together into a feature under the city of love banner works fine  and left me wondering which other cities are or have been included in its lineup . i am hoping that perhaps the franchise will catch on and spread its influence here . we surely have enough prolific filmmakers to be stringing together a singapore  i love you  so here  s crossing my fingers that maybe something will materialize down the road . otherwise there  s always the sawasdee bangkok route of just making it without any attachments to franchise house rules .  
this movie down  shifts from  th into  st without bothering with  rd or  nd  grinding gears all the way to the sappy  b  movie finish  line . the con at the beginning is easily the best and cleverest part of the movie . that is worth seeing . the scene with harlow in the bathtub occurs so fast  you may miss it . definitely not worth all the ballyhoo provided by robert osborne in his tcm intro to this bad  to  mediocre confusion . there is no real conflict  and all of the characters in this supposed fringe society turn out to be saints  especially the unbelievable character  al . i wonder if he  s got a job for me in cincinnati   
i  m not a writer or an critic . . . i  m just a student that has seen this movie few minutes ago . . . . and i want to thank people that worked on creating this movie  it is not the best or the most . . . . but it touched my heart . . . why    i would like to understand it myself . . . it is easy and accessible . . it is a movie that makes you feel good after a bad day without any regret about the time wasted on watching it  it is about love and caring  about the life that we have but we miss it sometimes because of material stuff . . . . . . . look at all the time that we have but we miss it . . . . why a fuk do we do that    we need to live like were dying . . . care about every second and rememberif we do good things  good things come back to us  happiness is real . . . and it has a special taste in new york . . . i love this town and the world the we live in     thank you very much for the movie and sorry for my mistakes  english is my second language  . . .  
what a dreadful film this is . the only reason you would want to sit through this mess is the pleasurable sight of miss eleniak . the painful overacting of mr mcnamara  which became embarrassing at times  ruined what might have been a reasonable film if the correct actors had been cast . mr mcnamara is no tom cruise  the actor he obviously wants to be .  
as it is generally known  anthology films don  t fare very well with american audiences  i guess they prefer one standard plot line  . new york  i love you  is the second phase of a series of anthology films dealing with cities  the people who live  love in them . the first was  paris  j  taime   which i really enjoyed . the film was made up of several segments  each written and  or directed by a different director  most of which were french  but there is a very funny segment directed by joel  ethan coen  . like  paris   this one is also an anthology  directed by several different directors  fatih akin  mira nair  natalie portman  shakher kapur  etc .   and also like  paris  deals with new yorkers  and why they love the city they live in . it features a top notch cast  featuring the likes of natalie portman  shia labeouf  christina ricci  orlando bloom  ethan hawki  and also features such seasoned veterans as james caan  cloris leachman  eli wallach and julie christie . some of the stories really fly  and others don  t  although i suppose it will depend on individual tastes    i won  t ruin it for anybody else by revealing which ones worked for me  which ones didn  t  . word is that the next entry in the series will be shanghai  china  is rome  italy  berlin  germany or athens  greece out of the question   . spoken mainly in english  but does have bits of yiddish  russian with english subtitles . rated  r  by the mpaa for strong language  sexual content  
this is simply the worst movie i  ve ever seen . neither of the three central characters has any charm  and erika  s good looks aren  t enough to carry the film . the lamest plot i  ve ever had inflicted upon me . also the most unconvincing military comedy ever . why did they bother   
new york  i love you is a collective work of eleven short films  with each segment running around   minutes long . the shorts don  t exactly relate but they all have something in common  love . every short is about finding love  either if it  s about a couple or just two strangers chitchatting . the film stars an ensemble cast  among them shia labeouf  natalie portman  hayden christensen  orlando bloom  chris cooper  andy garcia  christina ricci  irrfan khan  robin wright penn  julie christie  ethan hawke  bradley cooper  rachel bilson  and anton yelchin . with such a stellar cast and such an interesting premise  i was expecting a tremendous film the problem is new york i love you doesn  t add up . it remains the sum of its parts . some of the segments are funny  original and interesting but others are so meaningless  orlando bloom  christina ricci and ethan hawke  maggie q segments  that it  s appalling . the film is definitely uneven and has a very experimental tone . story  wise  it seems like something a few film students could put together . having said that  the film has some great moments as well  one of the best being the segment about an old couple  played by eli wallach and cloris leachman  walking along in brooklyn on their   th wedding anniversary . and it  s moments like this  that made me as a viewer  wish the film was more consistent  because  there  s a lot of potential here . but  as unsatisfying as the overall story ends up being  for me  the cinematography and soundtrack saved the all thing . the editing was perfect  the way the film was shot was very impressive and the ethereal soundtrack  couldn  t be more fitting . in the end  new york i love you feels like an experimental film  and as in most experiences there  s highs and lows . it  s how one looks at the film as a whole that will determine if he enjoys it or not . it might be worthwhile for some and a waste of time for others .  br    br        
 . . . so i thought i  d throw in a few words about william mcnamara . not a bad way to spend a couple of hours if you want to see him in his tighty  whities   it  s obvious he pumped up for this role and he looks pretty darn good in them   or less . there  s an extended sequence in a cave where he has to strip down to his undies . there  s a nice bit where he has to chase after miss eleniak in the buff  with only his hands cupped over his groin . william mcnamara is naturally a little on the skinny side  but he has a nice  generous handful of a booty . also  there  s a moment when he  s getting out of bed that if you pause the action at just the right moment you can see the whole enchilada . if you  re inclined to do so  and come on  half of the people who choose to watch a movie about navy men on a  road trip  are . i  d just like thank dennis hopper for his equal opportunity gratuitous nudity . can william mcnamara act  heck if i know .  
i cannot say this movie is a disappointment because i read some reviews before watching and it did not do as well as i thought it would have . the bar was not set that high  so the fact that my expectations were met is not saying much .  br    br   the good the city of new york . if you live in the city like me  you  ll recognize certain places and understand that the city is supposed to be more than just a setting  rather one of the main characters . there are genuinely tender moments  humorous conversations  and plot twists left and right which all keep things interesting .  br    br   the bad the first thing i thought after leaving the theater was that i wanted more  but not in the positive  leave them wanting more  fashion . certainly the good skits  scenes outweigh the bad  but there are a lot of skits that fall within the  in  between  category  too many in fact  which is what ultimately brings the movie down . also  new york city  s diversity  though hinted at though the many distant pans of the city and mentioned in conversation throughout the movie  is never really realized or analyzed to the point of doing the city justice . for example  many of the skits involve well to do middle aged whites . i mean i know the city is home to many of the said demographic but come on  paris je  taime  s plot and character diversity makes new york city look like lancaster  pa  or someplace really white . it is just disappointing to see the city shortchanged on its heritage like that .  br    br   still  even after having said this  i would recommend giving new york  i love you a view . who knows  maybe you  ll disagree with my opinion and maybe you won  t . you will never know until you see it for yourself . this review is not meant to deter anyone from watching this movie  as everyone  s opinion on art differs . i  m just giving you a very vague heads up on what to expect .  
a comparison between this movie and  the last detail  is made by some  but  chasers  is flatter than a stretch of interstate highway in west texas . and like the scenery in the desert  there  s nothing much to distinguish it  not even the fact that a female prisoner is being transported by two navy escorts this time around . no one in the cast comes off too well with this lame script that  s not surprising . dennis hopper  the director  won  t give much space to this one if he ever writes a memoir  i don  t think .  
the one and only season has just aired here in australia and i thought it was absolutely brilliant  i love it  all the story lines are so good  and its a much more realistic view on teen and family life today . yet it still kept strong family values of sticking together and being there for each other . their problems were real  and it really drew you into the show . the show is basically about this family called  the days  and their lives . the family consisted of abby day  mum   jack day  dad   natalie day  sporty daughter   cooper day  outsider son   and nathan day  boy genius son  . each episodes a day of their life  with coopers perspective on things throughout it . i loved cooper his insight through out the show was just great . he was by far my favorite character . it ended with so many things it could  ve continued with  i  m really sad another season wasn  t made . it was a great show i  m gonna miss it .  
i only today  picked this up at the   cents only store today  and i still think i got ripped off .  dream to believe  is a pretty boring and unrealistic gymnastics drama and   is just too freakin  expensive for this . this film is probably only notable for  things  . it has a young keanu reeves . and  . it  s directed by paul lynch  the man who also did promo night . now onto the movie .  br    br   it  s about a girl named robin  played by olivia d  abo  who is badly injured from a car accident that also cost her father  s life . so the accident prevents her from competing in gymnastic tournaments  she is often picked on during her classes and eventually she meets some wild kid named tommy  played by keanu .  robin  when not in training  works part  time  along with her mother and stepsister  at a laundromat owned by her abusive stepfather . eventually she is chosen to compete .  br    br   overall  keanu alone and some catchy   s tunes are what prevent me from giving this  star  and it  s also not one of the worst movies ever  but still far from good . the dvd itself is not getting any medals either as it appears to be sourced from an old vhs and towards the end  the sound goes out of sync and when the end credits are almost over  it fades to black  even though sound can still be heard . so this can probably be passed as a bootleg . the dvd artwork makes no sense either as it has what appears to be recent photos of keanu and olivia and the background has nothing to do with the movie  as it  s also not in the movie itself  so the cover  s obviously photoshopped . in any case  avoid at all costs  unless you  re a keanu fanatic . i probably won  t be hanging to it any longer . i  m probably gonna give it to the cinema snob  who  s a great yt critic btw . hey  if any of you have any crappy movies that they no longer want in their sight  feel free to donate to him to keep his show running .  
the japanese  run lola run   his is one offbeat movie which will put a smile on just about anyone  s face . fans of run lola run  tampopo  go   and slacker will probably like this one . it does tend to follow a formula that is increasingly popular these days of separate  seemingly unrelated vignettes  all contributing the the overall story in unexpected ways . catch it if you see it  otherwise wait for the rental .  
if i had realized john wayne was in this movie  i would not have watched it . it  s demeaning to the japanese  unfortunate for hollywood and embarrassing to any thinking person . but then  most john wayne movies are like that . hollywood in the fifties still believed that everybody in the world loved americans when the truth was  and still is  somewhat different . the movie deals with the nineteenth century isolationism of japan . maybe it  s hollywood that should be isolated . to put it as succinctly as possible  this film is appalling jingoistic claptrap .  sort of a madama butterfly with bad music .   
japanese indie film with humor and philosophy where the three main characters run literally almost through the entire film  chasing each other due to strange circumstances and comical coincidence . as they are running  we see what is going on in their minds and how they got where they are at the moment . the act of running is a metaphor for these down  on  their luck people  s lives . in some way  what they  re really chasing for is not what they were originally chasing  but for meaning in their lives and an escape from their personal problems and broken dreams . running makes them all feel truly alive . the big life  altering running adventure comes to an end when they accidentally get in the middle of something big  violent  and so absurd that it  s funny in a clever way . one of my favorite films of all time by genius director sabu .  
there are often badly  matched couples  in the general sense of the term   in huston  s movies   african queen   heaven knows mister allison   roots of heaven   misfits  . . .  the barbarian and the geisha   check the title  is another good example  so to speak . it seems that japanese stuff was trendy at the time as such works as  sayonara   the world of suzie wong  and  the teahouse of the august moon  bear witness . huston  s effort might be the worst of this rather bad lot  with the exception of  susie  maybe  . john wayne perfectly fits in ford  s world  in huston  s he  s like a bull in a china shop . his japanese partner is totally bland . even the dramatic scenes  cholera epidemic  do not save the movie from absolute boredom .  br    br   only those utterly enamoured of huston  s every work need to choose this  among all his other great movies around .  
this movie has a very simple yet clever premise  an unemployed man trying to steal from a convenience store  and the store clerk catches him in the act . . . the thief runs away with the store  clerk right after him . all the while  the store clerk is in trouble with a low  rank yakuza chinpira  gangster  . along the chase for the thief  they catch the eye of the yakuza who  s been looking for the convenience store clerk . the story then moves into high gear in the form of a tom  jerry  cat  mouse   but is added with the dog chasing after the cat . the entire  nd act of d . a . n . g . a . n . runner  can be translate to english as  pinball runners   is about the chase  and the chase goes on  on to the point that by the end of the  nd act  the bum forgets why he is running away  and the yakuza don  t remember which of the  guys he is chasing  nor does he remember why they  re running away from him .  br    br   similar to sabu  s later film postman blues  the bulk of the film is simply all chase and action  with plenty of physical comedy and dark humor injected to keep the audience engaged . what falls short is the ending  to which the chase stops when the three men run out of steam  and into one of the most chaotic mexican stand  offs you  ll see on film that looks almost as if sabu was paying homage to tony scott  s true romance  written by quentin tarantino  .  
this is is a thoroughly unpleasant  if slickly made  movie . i tried it because it stars richard dreyfus and jeff goldblum  two good actors  and because the plot line  a mob boss is about to be released from a mental institution  sounded promising . the movie is billed as a comedy  sorta . what we have is an endless series of shots  you should pardon the pun  of people in dimly lit and elegant  if somewhat surreal  interiors  shooting each other  in the head  stomach  kneecap  foot  heart  no part of the anatomy is avoided  it seems  while uttering vague and cryptic dialogue  some of which is supposed  evidently  to be humorous in a sort of post  modern way . goldblum  s dialogue for the whole movie could fit on a  x  card  and he wears a single facial expression  a sardonic grin  throughout . ellen barkin and gregory hines do the best they can . burt reynolds does a cameo . the credits list rob reiner and joey bishop  but i somehow missed them  good move on their part  . the whole thing is cold  sterile  mechanical and unsavory an heir  i suspect  to the style of  pulp fiction    fargo  and  natural born killers  . if you liked those  you  ll probably like this .  
i finally saw this film tonight after renting it at blockbuster  vhs  . i have to agree that it is wildly original . yes  maybe the characters were not fully realized but it isn  t one of those movies . rather  we are treated to the director  s eye  his vision of what the story is about . and it does not stop . and to be honest  i didn  t want it to . i do believe that sabu had to have influenced the director  s of  lock  stock  two smoking barrels  and  run  lola  run  . but i absolutely loved the way the three leads see the beautiful woman on the street to distract them momentarily . i really need to see this director  s other work because this film really intrigued me . if you want insight  culture  sturm und drang  go somewhere else . if you want a laugh  camera movement and criminal hilarity  look here .  
vic  richard dreyfuss  is a mob boss  leaving a mental institution  back to his world of gangsters . how can a director have a cast with richard dreyfuss  ellen barkin  jeff goldblum  diane lane  very gorgeous   gabriel byrne  gregory hines  kyle maclachlan  burt reynolds  billy idol and a make such a waste of time  this movie is a comedy that is not funny  having a constellation in the cast . my vote is four .  br    br   title  brazil    prazer em matar  te     pleasure in killing you     br    br    
a lot has already been said on this movie and i  d like to join those who praised it . it  s a highly unique film which uses elements of different genres drama  comedy  gangster film without making a mess of it . at points you just laugh out loud  at other points you feel for the characters whose mistakes and failures you watch . sabu  s genius can be shown with regard to some sequences of the movie . one is that where all three men chasing one another have an erotic day dream about a young woman that they just passed by on the street . this sequence is beautifully done and illustrates the characters of all three runners very well . it is erotic and funny at the same time . another example of sabu  s genius is the part of the film where the runners get tired . first one of them  the typical loser among the three guys  hallucinates that the woman that left him for someone else is back again and you see them dancing with one another and in the next shot him dancing with himself which is deeply moving . all of the runners get to this point where they think that have something back they lost or are on track again . and at one part of the movie they stop chasing each other  running in line  just laughing . so here is it all the beauty and the ludicrousness of what we call life which sabu manages to show throughout the film . his characters fail  do they at the end   but he doesn  t rob them of their dignity .  monday  and  postman blues  that do justice to sabu  s claim that he is a genius . go watch them   br    br    
dreyfuss plays a mob boss who lost his mind  but now he  s  fixed .  lane is his girl who  s been messing around with his number one  goldblum   who  s supposed to have something going with lane  s sister  barkin  .  br    br   with what anyone could consider an all  star supporting cast  burt reynolds  gabriel byrne  kyle maclachlan and even an appearance by richard pryor  can  t help this plot  as dreyfuss proves he  s not  fixed  and tries to kill just about everyone in sight .  br    br   you know  it  s not like you didn  t know what was coming . the first ten minutes were nothing but guys trying to tell goldblum what was in store for him when dreyfuss gets out  but i  ll save you all the trouble skip this movie .  br    br   the actual reason i picked this movie is because i  ve been on a diane lane kick lately and have been trying to see all her movies . the real let  down for me wasn  t just the terrible plot  but also the fact that she doesn  t show up until the last fifteen minutes of the movie  although we hear about her all through the movie  . even being a fan of over half of the cast can  t help me enjoy this film . the parts where the suspense was supposed to mount found me laughing at what was actually going on .  br    br    out of   stars .  
an entertaining and substantive film  non  stop has drawn deserving comparisons with  run lola run  . the film quickly develops into a chase sequence  during which the viewers learn about the three main characters through flashbacks and daydream sequences . the chase serves not as as a fast  paced climax  but as a journey that makes up the majority of the film . during the  run  we see the characters grow and momentarily forget about their dreary lives  about the  macho  roles they  ve bought into  and eventually forgetting about why they started running in the first place . much like fighting provided a  clarity  for the characters in  fight club   running provides this film  s characters with a means to step away from the false values that we all allow society to create for us . their running serves as way to truly taste life from an unclouded perspective  and all three find some level of clarity and joy in the process .  br    br   my appreciation and enjoyment only wavered slightly in the ending of the film  where instead of learning from their experience  the characters seem to revert to acting out those false macho roles i thought they had escaped from through their journey .  br    br   still  the only true problem with this film is that it wasn  t distributed outside japan sooner .  
  mad dog time  . . .  trigger happy  whatever you wanna call it . . . simply doesn  t hit the mark . maybe its just me  maybe i just don  t like gangster comedies  as i thought oscar  johney dangerously and mafia also sucked  it  s probably more  witty sharp wordplay  than all out comedy  only its not as witty and sharp as it  or the other reviewers  make it out to be .  br    br   the rick  mick  vic thing was old to begin with making it a running gag was at times painful to watch .  br    br   there wasn  t enough changes of location or feel for the period they were supposed to be in . the majority of the film was either set in  dreyfus  s club  or a variety of offices  dim rooms . . .  what was with that sit down gun stand off thing goldblum kept winning    br    br   the supporting cast was . . . on paper excellent  great to see silva  drago  but characters were killed off before they had time to develop . and richard pryors cameo was a joke  the romance and love element of the film also bogged it down .  br    br       i don  t think i  ll return to it anytime soon .  
this is one of the movies that get better every time you see them . it  s packed with so many original and unconventional ideas that you always find a new detail . as in sabu  s subsequent movies  i didn  t see  unlucky monkey  yet  but the other ones are as great  failure  chance and humanism play great roles . the cutting and montage is inventive and artistic  without the movie being an  art  picture  but a highly entertaining one . when comparing it to  run  lola  run  you have to keep in mind that  dangan ranna  was made some years before and was shown on german tv as early as     . . . so it  s more probable that it served as inspiration for tom tykwer  s movie  and not the other way around . complementary to the other reviews i have to add that i like the acting and the ending very much . this movie is a lot of fun in many ways  and it manages to deliver a message without being annoying or pretentious .  
so i rented this from netflix because somebody gave me roger ebert  s book  i hated  hated  hated this movie  and he gave this one a rare zero  star rating in the book and said at the end of his original review  mad dog time should be cut up to provide free ukulele picks for the poor  . so i figured from ebert saying that i would see if it was really as bad as he said it was . i know most society says not to listen to critics and to judge for yourself but i could not express how much i hated this piece of junk like ebert did and never since ebert  s review of rob reiner  s  north  where he said he hated that movie ten times had i ever heard such a brilliant hatred movie review . here we have richard dreyfuss as a gangster which i don  t think it would be terrible to see dreyfuss as a gangster if the screenplay for this movie were written well . but above all the other things that were awful about this  movie  i can certainly tell you the script was not written well at all . while the movie starts off with jeff goldblum saying that he enjoyed watching dreyfuss  s girlfriend while dreyfuss was at a criminal hospital the movie starts off with some decent dialog after the opening credits . but after that first  or  minutes the other   minutes just consists of dumb characters talking pointless garbage for   seconds then someone gets shot . then there are a whole bunch of jokes about dreyfuss being mentally ill . haha . not funny . then we get an unpleasant and unfunny scene parodying frank sinatra  s  my way  sang by gabriel byrne apparently to insult dreyfuss . of course because the screenplay was written on the level of a sixth grader dreyfuss shoots byrne over five times and byrne just will not die . are we as the audience supposed to even care or find that mildly funny  i can certainly tell you i did not care or find that funny . not only am i disappointed in dreyfuss  who i admire much as an actor  for producing and starring in this tripe but i am also extremely disappointed in jeff goldblum because this was released the same year that  independence day  was the top grossing film of the year and ultimately one of the most successful films in history . did goldblum feel that  independence day  would be a flop and then just take the next role that was offered to him to make some money if  independence day  were a bomb  what did an oscar winner and the star of two of the biggest money making films in history find remotely enjoyable about this  the opening sequence of  mad dog time  says that the movie is set on another planet . i only wish now that i have wasted   minutes watching this trash that it would have stayed and opened in theaters on the planet where it supposedly takes place so that way everyone on this planet would never here of this ridiculous waste of   minutes out of my life that i will never get back . ebert saying the movie should have been cut up is not good enough i am afraid . every copy of  mad dog time  should have gasoline poured all over it and be lit on fire . i have yet to top a worst movie i have ever seen because this one has won it  s honor as the worst movie ever .  
as part of our late     s vocabulary  we well knew the ponderosa  little joe  hoss  ben cartwright  etc . on that great show  bonanza .   br    br   it came saturday night and everyone was glued to the television set . this was a real show depicting family values . there may have been a weekly crisis  but it was the strong family atmosphere that pulled everyone together .  br    br   lorne greene was dominant as the patriarch of the family . his words depicted wisdom . we often were left to wonder that ben cartwright  a widower  must have been the best of husbands to that poor wife of his who had died . he reared wonderful sons .  br    br   naturally  we all wondered why pernell roberts left the show . the show was a gold mine and roberts surrendered loads of money when he departed . his career never took off as he was associated as a cartwright son . he should have tried to get back into the series . he certainly lost a bonanza by dropping out .  
i  ve seen plenty of sci  fi channel original movies ever since i started watching them back in      my first one was sabretooth  which actually is one of the more entertaining sci  fi channel features in my opinion  . their quality varies . some of them are average but decent  sabretooth  dragon fighter  never cry werewolf  swamp devil   some are laughably bad  and then there are some that are truly terrible . raptor planet lies in the latter .  br    br   raptor planet  a loose sequel to the     sci  fi channel original raptor island  is a barely watchable mess of a film with truly horrid acting and lazy scriptwriting . the effects that bring the dinosaurs to life  a combination of puppetry and animatronics as well as cgi and stock footage from raptor planet  are some of the worst looking effects i  ve seen in a low budget film . the gore effects are even unconvincing .  br    br   the plot involves a bunch of commandos who for some reason  i forget why  travel to a planet of alien dinosaurs . that  s right folks  the dinosaurs are aliens . dinosaurs in outer space . what  s next  sharks in space    the rest of the plot is simple . the human cast are picked off and eaten . by now  we  ve come to expect this in the numerous dinosaurs movies and novels that are released  but this is the first killer dinosaur movie i  ve seen where i actually became bored with all the dinosaur attacks .  br    br   there are a few chuckles in it though . there  s one scene that stands out in which a man is being munched by a carnotaur  brought to life by stock footage from the original film  that seconds later becomes a giant raptor . also  a bit of trivia  this is the scene where steven baur is shooting at his own death scene from the first movie .  br    br   while raptor island wasn  t a good film to begin with  its a masterpiece compared to its sequel .  br    br   believe me when i say  this is quite possibly the worst movie syfy has ever aired . it  s darn near unwatchable .  
bonanza had a great cast of wonderful actors . lorne greene  pernell whitaker  michael landon  dan blocker  and even guy williams  as the cousin who was brought in for several episodes during     to replace adam when he was leaving the series  . the cast had chemistry  and they seemed to genuinely like each other . that made many of their weakest stories work a lot better than they should have . it also made many of their best stories into great western drama .  br    br   like any show that was shooting over thirty episodes every season  there are bound to be some weak ones . however  most of the time each episode had an interesting story  some kind of conflict  and a resolution that usually did not include violence . while bonanza was a western  the gunfighting was never featured as the main attraction . while i am a fan of the rifleman and wanted dead or alive those shows usually ended with a gunfight . gunfights were how many westerns resolved every conflict  and bonanza was very different in trying to seek peaceful resolutions and harmony instead of killing .  br    br   in the early years of bonanza  there are some interesting episodes that do feature a lot of gunfights . those episodes stand in contrast to the rest of the series  but they are pretty good in and of themselves . in      when pernell whitaker wanted to leave the show  guy williams was brought in to replace him . williams was playing the role of a long  lost cousin . unfortunately  whitaker decided to stay one more year  and thus williams was written out of the series when he moved away to marry adam  s old girlfriend . if williams had stayed on for the duration of bonanza  one can only wonder how much better the series would have been in the years after      when pernell whitaker left the show .  br    br   undoubtedly  once pernell whitaker left the series  the stories focused more on comedy and country hijinks . whitaker had often played the heavy in many episodes  and his absence left a void in the cast . little joe always wanted to play the nice kid  and hoss always wanted to play the good old boy with a heart of gold . since ben was the kind and wise patriarch of the family  that did not leave too much room for any gunfights .  br    br   at some point they hired a ranch hand called candy  david canary  who became their fourth member of the cast  but candy was never featured in any gunfights  and he was hardly more than an older version of little joe . for a year or two they also had ben take in some other lost cousin  jamie  played by the forgettable mitch vogel  who was a teenager that was usually getting into some kind of trouble with someone .  br    br   apparently by adding the teenager  the studio was looking to attract younger viewers . it also gave the writers a chance to write episodes about teenage problems  alcohol  delinquency  etc . those kind of preachy episodes were popular in the     s as a reaction of the establishment media to the counter  culture movement . dragnet was probably the most popular source of law and order tv  though hawaii     the f . b . i . and many other shows also tried to jump on the bandwagon by doing tv shows that featured irresponsible teenagers causing mischief  mayhem  and crime .  br    br   the addition of a teenager to the cast gave the cartwrights more chances to show up and solve problems  but those episodes feel very contrived and are not very good in general . after dan blocker died  the series limped along for another year or so before it was canceled . the last season was pretty bad  as it featured little joe tracking down the killers of his wife  and most of the episodes were somewhat depressing because little joe was usually drinking or otherwise remembering how much he loved his wife  and how unfair it was that she was killed .  br    br   i don  t think i have ever seen the last episode of the series  and i wonder if they ever officially wrapped it up in some way . by the last year  there was only ben  lorne greene  actually living on the ponderosa  as adam had moved away  and never came back even once as a guest  and hoss had died and little joe had left after his wife  in the series  had been killed by drifters .  br    br   overall  the era from          is the best of this series . once adam left  it slowly declined . most of the shows before     are pretty good too . by      the series was trying to hard to be hip and topical  and it had lost a lot of its western flavor . the addition of candy and the teenage kid also diluted the general quality of the show  and the death of hoss  dan blocker  was the final nail . bonanza is probably the best western series ever made  and of the    episodes that were produced  at least one hundred of them are excellent western drama  that is a pretty good record . even the worst of bonanza is better than a lot of other tv shows .  
this has to be one of the worst movies of all time . the graphics were horrendous  the acting was b  movie and the effects were just plain nintendo   qualified . you would think that they would put a little more effort into it . of course  it is a scifi channel movie so you have to expect it to be low rate  but this one takes the cake . hell  i  m still laughing . so  as a shake  your  head in disbelief movie  this one does well .  br    br   although it appears to have some  known  actors and actresses in this  it is difficult for me to believe that they did not realize that the quality of this movie was worth their time and effort .  br    br   the graphics might have been good in the     s or even early     s but come on  this is      i wont give spoilers out  let  s just say that if you have played  jurassic park  on the nintendo   you will be very familiar with what you see in this film  br    br   it is definitely not worth the  hours it took to sit through the thing  
i know this sounds odd coming from someone born almost   years after the show stopped airing  but i love this show . i don  t know why  but i enjoy watching it . i love adam the best . the only disappointing thing is that the only place i found to buy the seasons on dvd was in germany  and that was only the first two seasons . that is disappointing  but that  s ok . i  ll keep looking online . if anyone has any tips on where to buy the second through   th seasons  please email me at darkangel      yahoo . com . i already own the first one . the only down side is that the dvds being from germany  they only play on my portable dvd player and my computer . oh well . i still own it   
it  s made in     and the cg is bad for a movie made in     . at one part in the movie there is a stop motion shot of a dinosaur that actually looks good  but this just makes the extremely amateur work on the cg stuff look even worse .  br    br   the writing  acting  directing and everything else in this movie is just terrible . this is as bad as  if not worse than raptor island and    million bc . . . pure crap  again  as with the other movies  the only scary part about this movie is that it actually got made and is now being aired on the sci  fi channel .  br    br   i still can  t understand how they somehow get people who do have some acting skills to act in these movies and then somehow get them to act as terrible as everyone else in the movie .  br    br   for those of you who are unsure  the other poster is obviously being sarcastic in his review . . . or he is one of the people who worked on this movie .  
i would just like to say  that no matter how low budget the film is  it needs to be shown throughout this world the point to these movies . we don  t read that much anymore  instead people want to see movies . having this series out on dvd  has made me want to read the whole series  and want more . please make all  movies . please don  t change any of the characters either  it ruins the effect . because i have grown to love the actors who have played the characters . please make all  movies . i want to see the message  and watch the message that these books and now movies are here to portray . we don  t get that enough anymore . awesome job     
it  s not really about gymnastics swap out the occasional training montages and it could just as easily be about archery  or microbiology  or a booger  flicking tournament . instead  like every other rocky  flashdance derivative that flooded the   s market  it  s about conquering adversity with stick  to  it  iveness  rendering all social  personal realities irrelevant by your lonesome  with love interest standing by of course . ronald reagan top to bottom  in short so as a piece of cinema it  s down to the details . some of the actors are quirky enough to liven things up  especially the love interest  brought to you by none other than mr . keanu reeves  warming up for ted heroine olivia d  abo  s hateful alkie dad and big  hair stepsister are more interesting than the sickly mom or her utterly inert bitch  nemeses  teammates  one of whom appears to be made of porcelain . it  s my instinct to be appalled by the comic  relief black guys  but on the other hand at least they  re in the movie . but d  abo doesn  t quite convince with her awkward  girl shtick  and in the absence of any other narrative focus the lack of interest in the gymnastics themselves really does matter it  s all just bodies hurtling around  and not only is the outcome of the big tournament a foregone conclusion  it  s all performed by an obvious double .  
it ran from          . its more than its longevity that says a lot for this series . its also that it survived changes in fashion and taste from the    s  psychedelic    s and remained popular in the    s .  br    br   i remember repeats of this series . it was a successful combination of all its elements from stories  cast and productions that made it exceptional . lorne green had his defining iconic character from this series . its appeal was across generations . all members of the family could enjoy this . it balanced morality with violence  humour with seriousness . a cartoon series was made as a spin off from this as a result of its impact . the shame is that this series is no longer repeated and many will not know its significance .  
this movie only got a  because you can  t give a zero  if you have a weak tummy at all don  t watch . animal rights people you don  t want to watch either . it makes people vegetarians i swear i witnessed it happen  the only cool parts are the case and the fact that its a true story . its really really super creepy that this guy worked at adt while he killed people  still feel safe when you punch in that little code  i don  t  he had access to every code in kansas       i hated the movie it was not scary it was mentally scaring  do your self a favor and dont rent  buy this movie i think it cost about    to make that includes their over paid actors      
i love this show and my   year  old daughter and i love watching it together . it teaches good old fashioned values in a fun  adventuresome and entertaining way  albeit with a somewhat predictable story most of the time  . it  s also really fun to make fun of . . . you know  rewind and insert your own dialog  in place of the actors  .  br    br   i have my dvr set to record all the episodes and i happened to catch the tail end of an episode  just prior to the next one starting . . . so i don  t know what episode it was  but there was an absolutely terrible sequencing mistake  adam had handed sheriff coffee a small swatch of  leather   which was torn from some outlaw  s coat as he tried to make his getaway  i suppose .  br    br   well  roy happened to have the coat  so he laid it out on his desk and placed the swatch right where it had been torn from . the swatch was exactly rectangular . . . which i reckon would be nearly impossible to tear from a piece of leather  post       s naugahyde  yes . leather  i don  t think so  . well  the swatch lined up perfectly and the mystery was solved .  br    br   not   seconds later in the scene  we see the coat again  still lying on roy  s desk . but this time the swatch is more like the shape of north carolina and is now in a completely different place on the coat  but still perfectly aligned with the hole in the coat  and the seam  which was smack  dab in the middle of the swatch  is now gone . . . as is the seam in the coat . my daughter enjoyed a good laugh as we played the short scene over and over and over again  it  s prime for youtube  i tell ya   br    br   we still totally love the show though and the sequencing errors make it lots of fun   
i can not believe i wasted my money to rent this movie . i thought it was a porn flick when it started and it never got any better . the acting  the music drowning out the actors . horrible . save your money  you have to read the movie all the way through bc they knew the music would drowned out the speaking lines . i never got the part about the slaughterhouse or the need to continue to show cows and pigs being butchered . what did that have to do with the  real  btk killer  i understand why there were no famous actorsactresses in this movie . the script would have turned me away within the first page of reading . you would be better off watching paint dry .  
my comment is limited generally to the first season         .  br    br   this superb series was one of the first to be televised in color  and it was highly influential in persuading americans that they had to buy a color television set  which was about     in      the equivalent of more than       today . how many of us would pay that much for the privilege of watching a show transmitted by a cathode ray picture tube on a    inch screen  i was eleven when the series began  and i watched it from the beginning .  br    br   watching it now    years later  several things come to mind . first  many of the story lines involve the comstock lode and the heyday of silver mining  which dates to     . for      the weapons and clothes are  for the most part  not authentic .  the haircuts are left out of the discussion .  that  s basically a nitpick .  br    br   and  it would have been impossible for ben to have arrived in the lake tahoe area in     and to have amassed a     square mile ranch in the next twenty years . pioneers were still trying to solve the sierra nevada problem as late as      and the gold rush did not even begin until two years later .  br    br   indians are not played by native american actors . john ford was using native american actors in the     s . the bonanza producers could have easily done so thirty years later . that is a major nitpick for me .  br    br   there are other time  line problems . in season   mark twain appears  and he is depicted as a middle  aged man . mark twain was   years  old in     . the stories also vacillate between           pre  civil war  and what was more suitable for an     time  frame . there are continuity problems  over and over .  br    br   it is somewhat off  putting  too  that there is so much killing in the first season . in time  the killing was reduced .  br    br   many of the episodes take a socially liberal slant  which would be hard to believe  given the time  line  but give the writers credit for anticipating the seismic shifts in the nation  s attitudes beginning in the     s .  br    br   having said all that  the acting is good  and i have come to conclude in my latter years that adam  s character was drawn better than any other  s . i don  t think pernell roberts ever got the credit he deserved . also  season  reinforces the fact that dan blocker  hoss  was a good actor .  br    br   many of the stories trace real historical events . the guest stars were interesting .  br    br   this was great family entertainment  and the series stands up very well by any measure .  
somebody needs to send this uli lommel guy back to movie school . who ever told him he knew how to make a movie  can just anybody make movies these days  in the past  it always required talent before someone could make a movie . after watching this lame btk movie and the others he  s made  it seems blatantly obvious that the poor guy has about as much business making movies as i do . actually i think even i could make better movies than uli lame  all . this movie has absolutely nothing to do with the btk killer  other than the names of the victims and the killer . that  s it . where did this guy get the big idea that btk killed people with rodents and all the other preposterous crap that  s in the movie  this is a classic example of someone trying to lure people into watching their movie based on the term  btk  because of the fame it has achieved . absolutely pitiful . the only serial killer movie i would consider worse is that lame  dahmer  movie . that kid smoked so many cigarettes it made me nauseous . whoever made that one needs to be shot .  
although this show has been off the air since      after viewing a dvd set i borrowed at our library  i felt compelled to say a bit about it .  br    br   i can remember when it was the only color show on television in the     s  and sometimes there would be a little  sunday night party  with friends to watch this on nbc on one of the few color televisions .  br    br   i really enjoy history not so much for the names and dates but how it influences us today and how so much can be so profound based on the most inconsequential actions of the time . case in point virginia city  nevada  which became one of the richest cities in the world because of the silver  got its name from a character named  old virginny   who  in the town  s early days  stumbled out of a saloon  fell and broke his whiskey bottle .  br    br   old virginny didn  t want to waste the occasion so as the precious liquid was seeping into the dirt he decided to christen the town  virginia town  . the area became known as the comstock lode because another character  henry comstock  had the reputation of trying to jump everyone  s claim and the area became known as the comstock lode .  br    br   i just watched an early episode that dealt with these  subjects . other episodes dealt with mark twain  s literary rise while a reporter for the territorial enterprise . . .  br    br   it was wholesome  and frequently educational  family entertainment . as someone else remarked  each episode would really be considered a movie in its own right  rich scripts and characters .  br    br   one thing it twisted the truth on was the proximity to virginia city and the ponderosa . in truth  to ride from the ponderosa  all of northern lake tahoe   one would have to ride his horse about      feet       meters  down the spooner summit to the high desert             feet  of the carson valley then another      miles to virginia city .  br    br   needless to say the cartwrights would have some sore rear ends doing this on a regular basis . but every writer should have some leeway with the truth .  br    br   how i miss that show  even today .  
i was glad to watch this movie free of charge as i am working in the hotel industry and this movie came lately to our movie library . nothing against low budget movies  but this movie has horrible acting and directing . how can a movie as this one ever be made . the director should be blacklisted  and for all the poor actors  it is for sure not a jumping board into a career . please make sure that you  ll not watch this movie  the acting is lame  the camera and directing awful . there are just a few more movies out there which deserve to be called the  low    . another example would be  dracula      . people who make money with this movie should give it to charity  so at least it serves for a good reason .  br    br   in this case i would watch it even another    or at least one more time  .  
it got to be a running joke around bonanza about how fatal it was for any women to get involved with any cartwright men . after all ben cartwright was three times a widower with a son by each marriage . and any woman who got involved with adam  hoss  and little joe were going to end up dying because we couldn  t get rid of the formula of the widower and the three sons that started this classic tv western .  br    br   perhaps if bonanza were being done today the writers would have had revolving women characters who came in and out of the lives of the cartwrights . people have relationships  some go good  some not so good  it  s just life . and we  re less demanding of our heroes today so if a relationship with one of them goes south we don  t have to kill the character off to keep the survivor  s nobility intact . but that  s if bonanza were done today .  br    br   but we were still expecting a lot from our western heroes and bonanza though it took a while to take hold and a change of viewing time from nbc certainly helped  the secret of bonanza  s success was the noble patriarch ben cartwright and his stalwart sons . ben cartwright was the ideal tv dad in any genre you want to name . his whole life was spent in the hard work of building that immense ponderosa spread for his three children . the kids were all different in personality  but all came together in a pinch .  br    br   the cartwrights became and still are an american institution . i daresay more people cared about this family than the kennedys . just the popularity that bonanza has in syndication testifies to that .  br    br   pernell roberts as oldest son adam was written out of the show . rumor has it he didn  t care for the noble cartwright characters which he felt bordered on sanctimonious . perhaps if it were done now  he  d have liked it better in the way i describe .  br    br   this was just the beginning for michael landon  how many people get three hit tv shows to their credit . landon also has highway to heaven and little house on the prarie where he had creative control . little joe was the youngest  most hot headed  but the most romantic of the cartwrights .  br    br   when roberts left . the show kept going with the two younger sons  but when big dan blocker left  the heart went out of bonanza . other characters had been added on by that time  david canary  tim matheson  and ben cartwright adopted young mitch vogel . but big  loyal  but a little thick hoss was easily the most lovable of the cartwrights . his sudden demise after surgery left too big a hole in that family .  br    br   so the cartwrights of the ponderosa have passed into history . i got a real taste of how america took the cartwrights to heart when i visited the real virginia city . it doesn  t look anything like what you see in bonanza . but near lake tahoe  just about where you see the ponderosa on the map at the opening credits  is the cartwright home  the set maintained and open as a tourist attraction . like   baker street for sherlock holmes fans  the ranchhouse and the cartwrights are real .  br    br   and if they weren  t real  they should have been .  
this film is so bad it simply defies reality . the filming is grade school material at best  the acting is pathetic and the director should forever be banished from film making in any form . so bad it can  t even be watched as comedy such something along the lines of showgirls . the only thing this dvd had going for it was the cover art .  br    br   all i can write to those of you who haven  t had the misfortune to witness this is to please do yourself a well deserved favor in advance and don  t waste your time or your money on this piece of garbage . if you want to see a movie for the comedy aspects  there are many other more worthy in such a realm than this trash .  
when i was born  this television series was the number one show on t . v .   america epitomized the feat of the ultimate fatted calf country with big ambitions  limitless potential  and a very comfortable economy   after a big sunday dinner  why not sit back and watch  bonanza   in color    this homey western evokes an american tradition which accompanies the complacency of the typical u . s . household during the era in which it was viewed . . the breathtaking cinematography of lake tahoe symbolized an infinite prosperity of the emerging american culture   western movies were so popular that western television shows followed suit   this was a period in time in our country which yearned for a concise reflection on our own country  s struggle for survival   the end result of the trials and tribulations at the ponderosa ranch  as demonstrated in this series  sparked a realization that americans are now auspiciously enjoying the fruits of the cartwright  s painstaking labor    br    br   the t . v . show  bonanza  was popular for so many different reasons  mostly on account of the fact that the late fifties and early sixties had not yet established the divisiveness of two different cultural mindsets which was ready to surface with our nation  the unification of ideologies in the united states which prevailed during the debut of  bonanza  was a big reason for the show  s success   in the show  s later years   bonanza  had established a firmly entrenched core market television audience   the cast to  bonanza  became famous  and the wholesome entertainment of  bonanza  encompassed a camaraderie for the all  american idealist   everybody liked  bonanza  and a lot of americans totally loved it   reflecting on rough and tumble family values is a favorite past time of many americans  and the television show  bonanza  was perfect for that frame of mind   i liked the show a lot  and most people i know like it as well   certainly  my entire family loved  bonanza    this show was one of the all time american classics in the history of television    
generally i don  t do minus  s and if this site could i would give this movie   out of   meaning i really hated this movie . i thought uwe boll  s alone in the dark was the worst i  ve seen yet but at least i gave it a  .  out of   in my opinion  stephen dorff shooting at nothing made me laugh so i boosted the ratings a bit  . hell if it was if compared to bloodrayne  bloodrayne would win a oscar for best movie if they were competing .  br    br   now to the plot  this movie is about the btk killer which is fine but they  ve could have done better . the start looked ok but that  s it i had to fast forward most of it because the death  s where boring . i like killer movies and even if they suck they could still get some cool deaths . i  m not a fancy movie expert but believe me he would have shot himself if did see this . sorry for rambling but there  s nothing good to say about it  because it looks like someone took a camcorder and film this . . this . . thing of disaster . uwe boll your movies are no longer on my list of worst movies ever this took the cake .  br    br   well sorry i couldn  t explain the plot  if there was one  but that was the best i could . now if you don  t mind i  m going to crawl into a corner and move back and forth and reminding me of how bad this movie scared me for life . . . . ok not for life  
i grew up on this classic western series  and as a child always considered it a treat being allowed to stay up late on sunday evenings to watch it . bonanza is still infinitely re watchable in re runs .  br    br   the series chronicles the adventures of the cartwright family  who live on a ranch near virginia city  nevada around the civil war era . their ranch  called the ponderosa  is run and defended by the widowed father  ben  and his unmarried three sons  adam  hoss  and little joe . these three brothers have different mothers  all of whom have passed away years earlier .  br    br   the cartwrights are a hard working  prosperous  and honourable family  highly respected in those parts . the ponderosa is large so reaching its extremities requires a lot of horseback riding . also  trips away are often necessary in order to buy or sell cattle and so forth . needless to say  few of these excursions pass uneventfully . although hospitable  much of the cartwrights  energy must be spent defending their ranch from interlopers  or protecting themselves from townsfolk jealous of their prosperity and stellar reputation . the cartwrights do a fair bit of firing their guns up in the air and such  but only shoot to kill when deemed absolutely necessary . they are involved in various town affairs  even the political life of the nevada territory .  br    br   one of the main assets of the series is the underlying warmth that is always present  despite occasional disagreements  between ben and his three sons  and  despite frequent disagreements  between the three brothers . now  one brother might beat up another every now and then  but generally has a good reason for it at the time and his anger never lasts long  the characters are all very well drawn . ben is portrayed as a successful and noble man of great integrity . the oldest son  adam  the most rational and suave of the brothers  left midway through the series . the middle brother  hoss  is a gentle giant of a teddy bear  who has an insatiable appetite for food and is a little shy around the ladies . the youngest  little joe  is a hot headed  handsome charmer who  by contrast  has quite a way with women . this trio of brothers enjoy various romances but their love interests are typically killed off by the end of the episode or else marriage proves impossible  for whatever reason .  br    br   the actors are all stellar in their roles  including pernell roberts  adam   dan blocker  hoss   michael landon  little joe   and of course lorne greene as the principled family patriarch  ben . i also love the ranch cook  hop sing  played by victor sen yung .  br    br   this is a wonderful action packed western with great values . the cartwrights are always the noble heroes and most of the bad guys quite villainous . if only there were more programs like this vintage western on tv these days   
no words can describe my utter hatred for this appalling rendition of the btk killer . rating this film one out of ten compliments this truly disastrous excuse for a film . from start to finish  there was not one single highlight . the entire thing was horrendously put together the script  acting  plot  lighting  direction  acting  factual information  acting  just to name a few . a number of scenes are literally laugh  out  loud  funny  for the atrocious way in which the entire thing is put together . this review may seem like an unjust and scathing attack on a low  budget film  but this is not the case . just thinking about the movie i have just seen makes my blood start to boil . how this film was ever granted rights for production i will never know . i am almost tempted to actually recommend btk  because it is truly a stand  out in regards to how pathetic  and disturbingly awful it is . i can honestly say  in all my years of film  going  this is the worst . movie . ever . i wasted over an hour of my life on this useless garbage  and would gladly have jumped off the nearest building beforehand  had i known what i was in for . zero out of ten .  
i lost my father at a very young age . so young in fact  that i have no recollection of him . over the years i have learned many things about him . one of those things was that he loved westerns  and watching bonanza every sunday evening was an absolute ritual for him . i  myself  remember the tail end of the series  run  having been  years old when the show ceased production in     . watching this show over the years somehow makes me closer to my long ago lost father . it has all the right elements to make a show successfullaughter  tears  edge of your seat suspense  and it even angered you at times . my most vivid memory of the show  s original run  came shortly after the death of our beloved  hoss  cartwright  dan blocker . one particular episode  and the end of the closing credits  flashed a picture of blocker  and faded to black  and i can also recall my oldest sister with a tear in her eye at the sight of this . i can remember this as though it were yesterday . on behalf of my late father  who is not here to say so himself  we love bonanza . long live the cartwrights .  
i was lying on my bed  with a really bad cold or flu or whatever . i figure maybe i  d kill some time watching some horror movies my mom bought for me a little while ago . i wish i never picked this movie  after i watched it i felt even more sick and i wanted to throw up . afterwords  when i got better of course  i did some research on dennis l . rader and i noticed that the dennis in the movie was nothing like the real one . i hope that no one ever watches this movie but if they ever do don  t eat or you  ll feel the way i felt after i first watched it . i think you would have a better time watching the santa claus  . at least that movie had better reviews on this site .  
first of all i need to say that i  m portuguese and it  s not usual to me spend my time watching portuguese movies  probably one each year or even none . . .  br    br   . . . and the reason is the almost generalized idea between the portuguese people that the national pictures are awful  really close to the worst ever made  however  in the last decade  it starts to surprises me when we get back the funny of the   s when  leo da estrela  e  costa do castelo  were among the worlds best of their time  with movies like  pulsao zero  or  sorte nula   both from director fernando fragata and also with some actors and music in common .  br    br   this one is also good  not of the same kind because it isn  t a true comedy in fact it  s officially a drama  a woman  s drama the has some unexpected funny parts  cause of humorous characters or hilarious things that happen to them  like the hypothetical travel to the caribbean just to get laid .  br    br   the plot works and can surprise us a few times the actors are fine  the locations regular as the score but the truth is that it all make sense  then we can count it as a nice effort for the national cinema  that seems to be starting from the ashes as the phoenix .  br    br   if you want to watch a portuguese movie  surely you can take better option  but it stills one to be measured .  
this is actually an insult to the victims and their families of the btk killer . the events in this movie are not even close to the truth . why they couldn  t make a movie of the real events doesn  t make any sense since the real events are more interesting then this made up farce . don  t even waste your time watching this for free . low budget and a shameful depiction of the events which should not be made a joke of  which is really what this movie did . if they would allow me to give a    to this movie i would . the acting sucked and it looks like it was shot on an old vhs video camera from the   s . save your time and money by not watching this movie .  
first off  i want to say   thanks  disney  for finally releasing the  cinderella  movie on dvd  now you have all the disney animated films on dvd  including the     limited editions   what are you going to do next  you  re going to disney world       well  technically  i mean  look at the castle        br    br   anyways  disney remains magical in his     animated classic film  cinderella   the movie that put fairy tale movies on the map . we are all familiar with the story of cinderella  her stepsisters  her date  the glass slipper  the pumpkin that turns into a carriage just for saying  bippity  boppity  boo    and of course  trying to head home by midnight   br    br   what i like about this film it  s a grand old fairy tale that children like  now in a movie form  as well as on dvd as well        br    br    cinderella   thank you  disney        stars .  
story goes like this  netflix was late sending me my dvds so i went on down to the the analog rental place known as  blockbuster video  they suck you know . real bad  they have    copies of the latest lame movies for your viewing pleasure yet i never want to see any of those . so i saw btk killer there on the shelf  all by its lonesome self . i like seeing films based on serial killers . its just a part of humanity that i will never understand  therefore i wanna see that kind of stuff . anyways i put this dvd in and all the sudden from the very first second  it sucks . i  m sitting there with my b . f . and we are like   what is this kind of crap   unsteady camera operation  horrible acting   the first scene in which a woman gets killed you wonder if she would rather just calmly gab instead  then a rat gets stuffed down her throat . i really wonder if the director has a hard  on for this crap . there is nothing decent about this  film  . all i have to say to the director is  do you own a freakin  tripod   every shot was brutally unstable . the music was awful . it was like they just decided one day to make a movie . they were probably gathering people from walmart to show up and  act  for them . just plain awful . if you make a movie like this then directing is your hobby  not what you should be doing for a living  should not make it to the dvd renal outlets for movie buffs like myself . better left at home for your friends when you are having a party and run out of interesting things to entertain them with . . . . then you break out your btk killer film and say   wanna see this crappy movie i did once    
i read many commits when it was in the theaters and they were all bad . . . . i think you have to be a certain type of person to enjoy these movies . if you are not a person that enjoyed the waltons or little house . . . u will not understand nor enjoy these movies . . .  br    br   now about loves abiding joy . . . i knew he was bad news from the start of the movie . . . . i wish it would have shown more of the end instead of letting you just think it . this movie has a lot to do with jeff . . . . it is  years later so you know he will be interested in girls .  br    br   i want to say that i have enjoyed all  movies so far . . . . was not crazy about the books . . . cant wait until the next movie . the way clark talks will get you every time . i would love to see january jones do an appearance . . . maybe a family reunion or something .  
what an insult to olivia d  abo who plays the film  s heroine  robin  to have keanu reeves appear so large on the box art of the film  and at least on recent reissues  to have only reeves appear on the box   considering that she was the star . i realize that it is his name that will ultimately sell this long  forgotten after school special  but at least give the woman some credit .  br    br   despite that  this has to be one of the worst teen sports  themed films that i have ever seen  and it strives very hard to add not only every teen and sports movie clich from the class warfare between the feuding gymnasts to the teen romance . and  in striving to somehow deliver itself as an amateur alternative of flashdance  with the music in one of the warehouse dance scenes is even quite close to michael sembello  s notable  maniac  which was made famous by flashdance  or was it the other way around   . it includes similar dance sequences and worse yet  even the   s dance and sports traditions of corny dance  offs between the heroine and her antagonist  s   the one who doubts her successes and abilities on the team . we saw this in trashin   a vert ramp joust  and rad  bmx dancing at the prom  although it wasn  t much for competition  but rather for fun  for example . in fact  this movie is chock full of unrealistic corniness  such as the somewhat homo  erotic rolling in the clothes at the salvation army with robin and her friend from the team .  br    br   nonetheless  the film is about a young girl who comes from a rather poor background . to top it off in a massive need to squeeze from audiences as much sympathy as possible  she lives with her ailing mother  her obnoxious sister  and her careless  and slightly abusive  stepfather . needless to say  homelife is not so appealing . add to the mix  a talent for gymnastics  but several obstacles to joining the team  including the nuisance of her arrogant  snobby teammates  and a coach who also eventually doubts her abilities to compete well  . and  of course  we can  t forget that she  s got eyes for one of the pretty boy preppies who is dating one of the obnoxious teammates  nor that she doesn  t have a steady boyfriend  although keanu as tommy later enters the picture  . could this kid be any more pathetic  and it seems that one mess after another comes along to embarrass herself in her painfully long  redundant  and clichd quest to prove her worth to everyone .  br    br   but  even the major moments of cheesiness which comprise most of the film  are hardly worth mentioning considering that the biggest distraction to this film is the horrible acting and dialog .  i like how the gym coach suddenly appears at the diner in the middle of the dance  off to scold the teammates  . it makes episodes of  amazing stories  look like shakespeare .  br    br   i imagine anyone able to locate this film and watch it these days is probably drawn to it mostly because of the nostalgic factor . for that you might be satisfied  but it is also an incredibly forced drama . so  caveat emptour .  
this movie is wonderful . it always has been always will be . i  m mean really what is better then a house maid falling in love . walt really out did him self here . and the music  a dream is a wish your heart makes is beautiful  what else can you say besides terrific  i can  t wait until the special edition comes out it will be so awesome  i can  t wait to hear all of the deleted songs  this movie is done so beautiful and smart  it is lovely . what about the cute mice too  i know i keep saying the same things over and over and over again but hey this is a great movie  woods was terrific in this beautiful beautiful beautiful movie  
oh my god  please  for the love of all that is holy  do not watch this movie  it it   minutes of my life i will never get back . sure  i could have stopped watching half way through . but i thought it might get better . it didn  t . anyone who actually enjoyed this movie is one seriously sick and twisted individual . no wonder us australians  new zealanders have a terrible reputation when it comes to making movies . everything about this movie is horrible  from the acting to the editing . i don  t even normally write reviews on here  but in this case i  ll make an exception . i only wish someone had of warned me before i hired this catastrophe  
comment  like my comment is necessary  we are talking about all time masterpiece  for all seasons and all generations . this is only type of movies that i still have patience to watch . in this  like in other disney  s movies is some kind of magic . all characters are in some way   alive  and  real  so it  s easy to understand message  even if you don  t understand language   like i didn  t understood when i first watched movie  because i was about six years old  . maybe my english is not so good  but i learned what i know mostly from this kind of movies  and this is one more great dimension of this kind of movies  which in present time are rare . but there is a one big shame . in my country is now impossible to watch this  or any other disney  s movie  we don  t have copyrights  so our children are disabled to enjoy and learn from this kind of movies . so  we will watch this movie again  once upon a dream  or . . .   
i rented this horrible movie . the worst think i have ever seen . i believe a  st grade class could have done a better job . the worse film i have ever seen and i have seen some bad ones . nothing scary except i paid  .   to rent it and that was  .   too much . the acting is horrible  the characters are worse and the film is just a piece of trash . the slauther house scenes are so low budget that it makes a b movied look like an oscar candidate . all i can say is if you wnat to waste a good evening and a little money go rent this horrible flick . i would rather watch killer clowns from outer space while sitting in a bucket of razors than sit through this flop again  
in my opinion  this is an absolutely romantic disney masterpiece . if you ask me  the stepmother  voice of lucille la verne  was truly diabolical . you  ll have to see the movie if you want to know why . on the other hand  despite the fact that she did a lot of housekeeping  cinderella  voice of ilene stanley  was a very beautiful lady . to me  the scenery was beautiful  the cast was well chosen  and the writing was strong . before i wrap this up  i  d like to say that everyone involved in this film did very well . now  in conclusion  i highly recommend this absolutely romantic disney masterpiece to all of you who haven  t seen it . you  re in for a good time  so go to the video store  rent it or buy it  kick back with a friend  and watch it .  
this is by far the worst horror  thriller i  ve seen in my   years . if someone offers this to you for free tell them no . this movie makes you a dumber person for knowing you watched it . the plot isn  t even the worst part of this movie . . . . . its the acting  camera work  lighting  and sound . there is absolutely nothing to like about this movie . whoever paid to have this film made is broke now . i hope the director never gets the greenlight for another movie . in its defense this movie was made quickly to try to capitalize on the actual btk killer  s capture but i  ve seen movie of the weeks that looked like oscar winners compared to this .  
this is one of disney  s top five animated features  in my opinion . cinderella was a perfect return to the full  length feature animation film  as opposed to the compilation films of the    s   and expensive depth via the multi  plane camera returns to the film in no other way . although disney adapts the story somewhat liberally  you gather the idea of the era via the dress and set stylizations    a clear time period the story takes place .  br    br   cinderella is more mature than snow white  and a multi  dimensional character . actually  all of the characters are somewhat well  developed  except for the prince   left the most flat   we know he has a sense of humor  and a great smile  but that  s about all . like snow white  disney has some permanent impact on the story in popular culture    in most versions of cinderella  the stepsisters are attractive  just not as pretty as cinderella  and their character takes away from their otherwise nice appearance .  br    br   favorite disney additions the mice  also  appreciated the continuity   cinderella always loses her shoe throughout the film . the addition of the homemade gown as well as the following assault from the stepsisters was always horrific as a child   i remember view master showing this with a black background and a large red light on it  the broken slipper shows the unwillingness of evil lady tremaine to give up her hold over cinderella and admit defeat    audley would go on to characterize the most wicked of all disney villains  satanic witch maleficent  in sleeping beauty .  
this movie features a gorgeous brunette named danielle petty . she has stunning green eyes  and is in the first few scenes and the last scene . she is the only thing about this movie that is not repulsive . she may not have a future as an actress  because this kind of movie is the kind of offensive disaster that kills careers .  br    br   the movie itself has absolutely nothing to recommend it . it is not a good horror film  or a good fake journalistic report  or remotely well done . there is no skill apparent in it  s production . it is like a bad student film . the story  s horrific elements do not make you sick  it is the fact that it is so poorly done that makes you sick . i would give this movie zero stars if i could .  
cinderella is a beautiful young woman who is treated cruelly by her wicked stepmother and stepsisters . one day  a ball is to be held in honor of the prince  but cinderella has no chance of going  because her stepmother and stepsisters won  t let her . with the help of her fairy godmother and her animal friends  she is off to the ball  with the warning to return home by midnight . at the ball she meets the handsome prince charming . when the clock strikes midnight  she runs home  leaving behind one of her glass slippers . with the help of her animal friends  her true identity is revealed . she and the prince later get married  and they live happily ever after .  br    br   cinderella  released   years ago  was a huge box office success  and it continues to charm audiences to this day . it has a well  written script . the characters are memorable . the songs  including  a dream is a wish your heart makes    so this is love   and the great  bibbidi  bobbidi  boo   help tell the story . this was my favorite movie growing up  and it hasn  t lost any of its charm . a true disney masterpiece  recommended .      p . s . the recent dvd release is the best way to appreciate this film  including featurettes  deleted scenes  music video  vintage radio programs  and a restored print of the movie   
this movie start quite gruesomely with a female being bound and psychologically tortured . there  s male full frontal nudity  dead animal parts  dogs licking nipples  the female loosing control of her bladder . all shot in a gray cold color . effective  but a little too much . we then move on to seeing the btk killer  s youth as well as the present and his history of crimes . the tension is entirely psychological and the scenes of the killer entering the homes of his victims and talking to them lasts for quite a long time and it  s creepy . here we don  t see fancy or good imagery  it looks as if shot with your home camera . it doesn  t look horrifying  but in a way seeing a criminal engage his victims for quite some time before killing them is quite unusual and chilling . what this movie doesn  t have is any drama  really . there are some cop scenes every once in a while  but there  s no excitement in terms of them finding the killer . there isn  t much of an arc to this story . this could have been an effective psychological thriller  a study of madness . unfortunately  the movie is filled with real slaughterhouse footage . it  s dispersed throughout the movie and comes on suddenly again and again . sometimes you don  t know it  s coming and don  t have enough time to look away . and that i have to reject . i  m all for low budget horror movies but i don  t tolerate animal suffering . it was unnecessary  excessive  and comes without warning . i  m glad that lionsgate releases stuff that no one else does  but they should have passed on this movie or edited out the animal gore . stay away from this garbage .  
cinderella in my opinion greatest love story ever told i loved it as a kid and i love it now a wonderful disney masterpiece this is  of my favorite movies i love disney . i could rave on and on about cinderella and disney all day but i wont i ll give you a brief outline of the story . when a young girl  s father dies she has to live with her evil step mother and her equally ugly and nasty step sisters drusilla and anastasia . made to do remedial house chores all day poor cinderella has only the little mice who scurry around the house and her dog bruno as friends . when one day a letter is sent to her house telling all available women to attend a royal ball . cinderellas evil step mother and step sisters try to prevent her attendance cinderella finally gets her dream and wish and is able to attend her captive beauty  genorisity and beautiful nature help her win her prince .  
this is the biggest piece of crap ever . it looks like they spent more time  effort  and money making the dvd cover than they did on the actual movie . i really thought the dvd had been switched out with someone  s homemade porno until i recognized one of the actors from the cover . this movie looks like someone made it with a hundred bucks and a camcorder and they spent half of that on rats . the picture is really clear  but that  along with the very unfortunate lighting  cinematography  if you can call it that  production  acting  if that is actually what they are doing  and script  if they had one  makes this movie look worse than an old porno . at least the old porno has a point . this just looks like some peta members got together and decided to make a really disturbing  pointless psa about animals rights and feelings . this is so not worth the money or the time . it has nothing in common with the actual btk serial killer other than the name of the killer and that of some of the victims . the people who made this movie should be glad he  s not still free  or he might have come after them just for screwing up this movie so bad .  
the story of cinderella is one of my favorites from charles perrault  with sleeping beauty which was also made into a disney film in      this film is a sweet  enchanting masterpiece from disney .  br    br   the film has a great soundtrack that  s one i like in a movie is a very good soundtrack  and i love the songs too my favorite song is the romantic  so this is love .  i love the mice from the film too  they are cute . my favorite scene is the scene after the narration  the little birds tried to wake cinderella up in the morning i also love it when cinderella  s animal friends  the mice and birds  fix up cinderella  s birth  mother  s dress  so she could go to the ball . . . until drizella  anastasia tore it to bits  the bes   
i question the motive of the creators of this fictional account of the btk killer  s motives . are they attempting to portray animal rights activists as sick monsters  who is responsible for this  don  t they think the people involved with this monster are hurting enough  what a blatant disrespect and exploitation of the victims  it was like a personality experiment what disturbs you more  the slaughterhouse or the human murders  they used actual names of some of the victims . . . . this movie was hideous  disrespectful and insulting  the creators of this movie used this tragedy for their own agenda  people need to awaken and redraw the line   
i don  t think i need to tell you the story . for it has been told for years and years . so i will just share my feelings . i first saw cinderella was when i was five years old . from then on i was a disney child in a good way . the animation now seems childish and old fashioned  but that is part of its charm now . now  in the age of high school musical and computer generated images  it seems like people have forgotten the genius and magical essence of early disney movies . thankfully i was born before that so i was introduced to this classic . and it seems no matter how old i get  i turn back into that five year old watching it on vhs . which is the true magic of disney .  
my mother worked with dennis l . raider for eleven years  not to mention shared an office with him . when it was announced he was btk  she was shocked . the whole day was just her telling stories about how she never would have seen him as the wichita killer . i  ve heard her re  tell them many times . i  ve inquired her about a lot of things  and gone to all the interviews that she was asked to go to . i  ve read the entire book written about raider  wichita is my hometown and i was surprised that such a thing could happen in kansas .  br    br   there was another btk movie on tv not too long ago  and i thought this one would have been better at portraying dennis  killings  maybe even have some intelligent touches to his motives .  br    br   i  m going to be very blunt with the flaws in this movie . this is based on my mom  s portrayal of him  all my readings on him  and the video tapes i  ve seen of him talking .  br    br   first of all  the camera angles were horrible . it looked as though it had been shot on a home video camera . the acting was terrible and i couldn  t even bear to watch it .  br    br   dennis raider never had long hair . dennis raider was a  very anal man  and was a  follow the rule book  kind of guy . he wasn  t as nice as the movie made him look  he was very polite and abrupt  business like . same goes for his killings  as far as we all know . if you  ve seen his confession in court  you can already guess .  br    br   and as for the obsession with the slaughter house  no . never have i read or has dennis raider confessed to having a problem with animal cruelty or people squishing bugs . in fact  he practiced on cats and dogs for choking methods . yet through  out the whole movie he was putting animals in his victim  s faces and acting like he cared about the well  being of them .  br    br   dennis raider never killed the people that he knew  he confessed this  but in the movie in his first killing he tells the lady he knows her also .  br    br   i really don  t even want to go in to this movie  and i  m already ranting . this is not what you want to watch if you are interested in the actual happenings of btk . this is not what you want to watch if you want a good horror movie . if you want a badly shot half  porno with some slaughter scenes served the side  then this is your kind of movie .  
for quite a long time in my life  i either did not like this film  or i liked this film but not as much as many more . i watched it recently  at a sleepover  funnily enough  and i liked it more than i had done since i was under  or something . i now appreciate it more  as i do with a few other disney classics that i have watched recently  including  sleeping beauty  and  pinnochio  or however you spell it  .  br    br   i now very much appreciate the animation  the clever  disney  plot turns  the humour from the mice  the emotions expressed and the plot . the animation is very well done  often it seems you are wherever the other characters are  watching them . the animation also does well portraying the styles of the backgrounds  including the town  which is shown twice briefly  . disney changes this from the original fairy tale in a surprisingly good way  injecting clever plot turns  such as the mice making the clothes and the key part  usually i do not like disney films very much if they are not that similar to the original story  but with this i am not overly bothered . i feel they made necessary changes to make this a good disney film . often i do not think disney changed the book in a good way in some of their films  .  br    br   you know the story already  cinderella is a girl working for her horrible stepmother and stepsisters . she goes to a ball with the help of her fairy godmother and loses a glass slipper . . .  br    br   this is a film very much to be watched with other people . immediate family is not good enough . to enjoy this  i recommend you watch it with friends  and immediate family  if you like .     .  br    br   i recommend this to people who like disney at least a little bit  people who like fairy tales and for people who like mice . enjoy      
don  t see this movie . bad acting and stupid gore effects . a complete waste of time . i was hoping to see a lot of cool murders and hot chicks  instead the director depended on animal slaughter videos to shock you  the watcher . disgusting . the murders are pretty lame  basically strangulation . one woman he stuffs worms in her mouth  one he puts raw hamburgers on her face and strangles her . btk  btk broiler  burger king  s  killer  new sandwich . . . . ha ha . i don  t think this movie relied too much on actual facts . i mean  he real btk killer didn  t carry around a bunch of rodents  scorpions and worms . . and oh yeah . . . a slaughtered cow head too . go figure .  
worry not  disney fans   this special edition dvd of the beloved cinderella won  t turn into a pumpkin at the strike of midnight . one of the most enduring animated films of all time  the disney  fide adaptation of the gory brothers grimm fairy tale became a classic in its own right  thanks to some memorable tunes  including  a dream is a wish your heart makes    bibbidi  bobbidi  boo   and the title song  and some endearingly cute comic relief . the famous slipper  click for larger image  we all know the story   the wicked stepmother and stepsisters simply won  t have it  this uppity cinderella thinking she  s going to a ball designed to find the handsome prince an appropriate sweetheart  but perseverance  animal buddies  and a well  timed entrance by a fairy godmother make sure things turn out all right . there are a few striking sequences of pure animation   for example  cinderella is reflected in bubbles drifting through the air   and the design is rich and evocative throughout . it  s a simple story padded here agreeably with comic business  particularly cinderella  s rodent pals  dressed up conspicuously like the dwarf sidekicks of another famous disney heroine  and their misadventures with a wretched cat named lucifer . there  s also much harrumphing and exposition spouting by the king and the grand duke . it  s a much simpler and more graceful work than the more frenetically paced animated films of today  which makes it simultaneously quaint and highly gratifying .  
this was the worst movie i have ever seen and i  ve seen a lot of bad movies . first of i  m from kansas this movie does not have a shred of truth in it at all . its like they took btk name and made up the rest . on top of that it looks like someone was like i  ve only got    bucks here take it and make a movie and oh yeah don  t worry about researching btk at all just make up something . seriously pure dookie no one should ever see this movie . the slaughtering cows scenes and making his victims eat stuff and describing animal slaughter btk did none of these things but the movie does so for the love of god never see this god awful movie . the made for tv ones are way better and way more accurate  
we loved the movie . i am a mother to two little men . i love having a movie i can watch with them where men have integrity and character . moveis where money is not the most important thing . and family  s are forever and love means more then words .  br    br   i do wish we saw more of the davis family . but over all i loved it left me with the same feeling the others did  please don  t be over  . we both wish actors would not change . the new actors were good replacement tho .  br    br   my  year old son loved this movie too . asked me to go buy them all . he is a movie critic so for him to say this tells me something . family should all see this move buy it for friends . help bring back a time of values . we will be reading the books now that we are hooked . really hope to see more . be blessed happy moving  
as an altman fan  i  d sought out this movie for years  thinking that with such a great cast  it would have to be at least marginally brilliant .  br    br   big mistake .  br    br   this is one of altman  s big  cast mishmashes  thrown together haphazardly and improvisationally  or so it feels  with the hope that it would all come together in the editing room . it doesn  t .  br    br   as maltin points out  this turkey is notable only for the debut performance of alfre woodard  who outshines the vets all around her . but other than that  avoid at all costs .  which is pretty easy to do   it  s never been released on video   to my knowledge   and its cable appearances have the frequency of halley  s comet .   
  cinderella  is one of the most beloved of all disney classics . and it really deserves its status . based on the classic fairy  tale as told by charles perrault  the film follows the trials and tribulations of cinderella  a good girl who is mistreated by her evil stepmother and equally unlikable stepsisters . when a royal ball is held and all eligible young women are invited  read the king wants to get the prince to marry   cinderella is left at home whilst her stepmother takes her awful daughters with her . but there is a fairy godmother on hand . . .  br    br   the story of  cinderella  on its own wouldn  t be able to pad out a feature  so whilst generally staying true to the story otherwise  the fairly incidental characters of the animals whom the fairy godmother uses to help get the title character to the ball become cinderella  s true sidekicks . the mice jaq and gus are the main sidekicks  and their own nemesis being the stepmother  s cat lucifer . their antics intertwine generally with the main fairy  tale plot  and are for the most part wonderful . admittedly  the film does slow down a bit between the main introduction of the characters and shortly before the stepsisters depart for the ball  but after this slowdown  the film really gets going again and surprisingly  since  cinderella  is the most worn down story of all time  probably  ends up as one of the most involving disney stories .  br    br   the animation and art direction is lovely . all of the legendary nine old men animated on this picture  and mary blair  s colour styling and concept art  she also did concept art and colour styling for  alice in wonderland    peter pan    the three caballeros  and many many others  manage to wiggle their way on screen . the colours and designs are lovely  especially in the fairy godmother and ball scenes  as well as in those pretty little moments here and there .  br    br   overall   cinderella  ranks as one of the best disney fairy  tales and comes recommended to young and all that embodies the disney philosophy that dreams really can come true .  
i have never watched a movie in so little time . the only salvation was the fast forward function on the dvd unit . it was like watching a poorly produced cbc film . there was obviously no money for lighting  filming  sets  location  scriptwriters  editors  actors . . . oh  there was absolutely no story either  i need to write ten lines of comment . . . bad  awful  horrible  wretched  anguishing  tortuous  bilious  nauseous  sickening  fromage  disgusting  flimsy  icky  yucky  pukey  stinky  smelly  vile  putrid  all  thumbs  down  and i don  t know if i can keep on going to complete all ten lines of just how bad this piece of crap  o  matic production was   
walt disney  his  old men put their own     spin on the classic fairy tale of cinderella  which i guess you could say helps form an unofficial  fairy tale princess trilogy  from the classic disney years .  br    br   the plot cinderella is a nice girl who can  t catch a break . she is the daughter of a nice  wealthy widower who loved her dearly  but her mother passed away when cinderella was very young  and cindy  s father felt she needed a mother figure  so he eventually married the woman who would become known as lady tremaine  herself a widow with two daughters about the same age as cinderella  anastasia and drizella . at first they all seemed to get along  but then cinderella  s father died  and lady tremaine  s true nature was revealed  she was a cold  cruel  callous  heartless  mean spirited woman  and she passed those traits on to her daughters  who were spoiled  bratty  and equally mean spirited . anastasia  drizella hate cinderella because they know deep down that she  s better looking and an overall nicer  more attractive lady than themselves  i . e .  more appealing to men   and their mother  lady tremaine  hates cindy for pretty much the same reasons . as the years passed lady tremaine began to squander the family fortunes in a stubborn but futile quest to improve  refine her awkward  unattractive daughters  to call them  homely  would be an insult to homely people everywhere  while all three relegated cinderella to being the multi  tasking servant of the house  abusing her  mistreating her and humiliating her every chance they get  they are particularly fond of increasing her already absurd workload  . that brings us to cinderella in the present  where she has blossomed into a good looking young lady who somehow manages to remain kind hearted and nice despite her abusive step family and holds on to the hope that one day the tables will turn in her favor .  br    br   cinderella gets her shot at freedom  happiness when a royal ball is held to introduce the local prince to an eligible young maiden so that he can take her as a wife  settle down  start a family  etc . naturally  her step family tries to keep her from attending  even going so far as to physically assault her and rip up the dress she had procured for herself  with a little help from her mice friends  the dress belonged to her biological mother  . finally pushed beyond her breaking point  cinderella runs out into the courtyard and cries in despair . it is at that point that her fairy godmother  a short  plump  jolly woman  arrives and provides cinderella with transportation and a transformed dress  after all  cinderella wouldn  t make a very good impression at the ball if she entered the scene looking like she had just gotten gang raped  . cindy arrives at the ball  the prince falls hard for her  but that pesky midnight rule gets in the way  forcing her to flee  but leaving behind a glass slipper . make a long story short  after a long harrowing quest to find the mystery girl via trying on the glass slipper  cinderella is found and she and the prince get married  giving her the happy ending she deserves .  br    br   overall  an enjoyable disney classic . not without its flaws  the most glaring of which is that the prince is little more than a macguffin to help push the plot along  he has very little screen time and even less dialogue  so we never get to know him very well or get a good look at his relationship with cinderella  which is unfortunate since  according to the making of documentary  the prince was originally meant to play a bigger role   and a few additional scenes to help flesh out cinderella herself might have been helpful  there was a song that showed her fantasizing of turning into an army of maids to clean up the house as well as eavesdropping on her step  family post ball to show her amusement at their jealousy  which was cut because walt himself thought it made her look spiteful  . still  cinderella herself is a likable enough heroine  even if she is upstaged by her mice friends  and there  s a sweetness to the film that is becoming harder to find these days . of course  if this were being made now  cinderella would probably put up more of a struggle against her family during the dress ripping scene and would probably free herself in the climax  either by picking the lock herself or making an impractical yet exciting jump down from her window  but this is beside the point .  br    br   and for all those who say cinderella sets a bad example for young girls  well  consider this  at least cinderella didn  t go around getting publicly drunk and indecently exposed  unlike some modern day  princesses   you know who i mean  .  
this movie was so ridiculous i never even finished watching it i actually thought someone had made their own version and dubbed it onto the dvd from the movie store . this movie made me sick not because it was gory  but because i wasted    on it     it looks like my brother and i went into a house and made the movie ourselves and edited slaughterhouse footage into it  i am so ticked off  even the btk killer deserves more credit than that it was not even accurate i mean come on the cow head was obviously made out of play dough or bubble gum omg i cant even get all the words out to explain it do not watch this movie         
cinderella was one of the first movies i ever saw  and to me it is timeless . it is a lovely looking film  with gorgeous animation . my favourite animation scene was the dress scene  i just love those mice . the songs are also lovely  not as good as snow white  s  but they are a delight to sing  and are reminiscent of tchaikovsky . a dream is a wish and so this is love  are standouts . the characters are also a delight . cinderella is idealistic and strong  and the mice provided great comic relief . the stepsisters were also well done  as well as lucifer . but i loved the stepmother the best  she was really evil  in comparison to a great character in the name of the fairy godmother . it is true  the movie drags slightly  with the antics of the mice  but they were genuinely funny  so i don  t care . i don  t think it is overrated  underrated don  t you mean  it rarely plays on television  but the really bad sequel does on cinemagic on a regular basis . if you want a great cinderella adaptation  try the wonderful ever after  or the lavish slipper and the rose  which isn  t as good . but whatever you do  avoid the sequel  which i have the mistake of owning  because you  ll thank me .     . bethany cox  
this movie is the biggest steaming pile of you know what  being from and growing up in wichita kansasi know for a fact    of the movie was bogus . aside from the names of some of the victims  nothing else much was correct . the movie looks like it was made with dad  s handy  cam  it had footage that i believe came from another film along with stock footage from a slaughter house . i usually enjoy watching bad films for the fun of it  but due to the bad acting  poorly prepared or non existent sets and a very dull and short ending . it was a struggle to watch it through to the ending . i recommend that you not waste your money on this film or you will be sorry . crunch  
  cinderella  is a film about a young girl whose mother passed away and her father remarried . once her father died  cinderella  s stepmother became very mean to her and made her do all of the chores around the house  like cleaning up after her two evil stepsisters . one day the king sent out a message to all of the single women to attend the royal ball in honor of his son  to find a wife . of course  cinderella didn  t get to go  but her stepsisters did . cinderella was very upset and thought that there was no way she could attend the royal ball  until her fairy godmother appeared . so she did some magic and made cinderella into a beautiful woman  but she had to be back by midnight because that is when the magic changes back . while at the royal ball  cinderella loses track of time and the clock strikes midnight  so she runs out of the palace and loses her glass slipper . then the king orders the duke to find the women who wore that slipper . the duke searched every house  but finally found the women who it belonged to  cinderella .  br    br   clyde geronimi  wilfred jackson  and hamilton luske directed one of the best animated disney films in     . this film is about a magical fairytale . in the beginning of the film cinderella was a servant to her own family and had nobody to love her  but with a little bit of magic her whole life changed around and finally found love .  br    br   my favorite thing about  cinderella  is the music . when cinderella  s fairy godmother appeared doing her magic  she sang the song bibbidi bobbidi boo . when i was a child  it was one of my favorite songs to sing around my house  so i will never forget it . i also loved the part when cinderella and the prince were singing the song so this is love while they were dancing because they realized that they are in love . overall this film was my favorite film when i was a little child because every little girl wants to live a fairy tale life .  
this movie is just so awful . so bad that i can  t bear to expend anything other than just a few words . avoid this movie at all costs  it is terrible .  br    br   none of the details of the crimes are re  enacted correctly . lots of slaughterhouse footage . weird cuts and edits . no continuity to the plot . the acting is absolutely the most amateur i have ever seen .  br    br   this bomb of a movie was obviously made to make some money without any regard to the accuracy of it  s content . the camera work is out of focus at times and always shaky . it looks as if it was shot on video .  br    br   in fact  now that they  ve got dennis rader with life in prison  i wish they would put the guys that made this horrible movie into prison as well .  br    br   seriously  don  t even think about watching this one . i  d give it a negative star if i could .  
out of all the princess stories disney has put out there  cinderella probably has the most enduring appeal . i can  t really say why  but for some reason  generation after generation thrusts her to the top of their lists . as a little girl  i wanted nothing more than to be cinderella with her glass slipper  it was my absolute favorite costume .  br    br   honestly  i don  t think there is any story that more realizes the longings of the human heart than cinderella . who has never wanted to run away from the drudgeries of daily life and find someone who sees you as no one else ever had  the story is older than the english language and somehow it still rings true .  br    br   as for the characters  if nothing else  disney can make a wonderful villain . lady tremaine is evil to the t  in a wonderfully calculating  not overtly physical way . her cutting tongue and eyes do the work for her  she doesn  t need staffs of lightening to strike fear into your heart . the animal friends tend to grate  especially that idiotic gus . i would have cheered had he met his fate in lucifer  s jaws . cinderella herself was no pushover  making some justly catty remarks at times . however  she just lacked the drive to make her entirely sympathetic . sure  she was nice and fed animals  but what was keeping her at that place  we never know . even if she only became a maid in another house  at least she  s be getting paid and have a shot at respect . it seems the only reason things work out in the end for cindy is that everything sort of falls to place in her lap . she never works for her dreams that she sings so fondly of .  br    br   which brings me to the music  which is lovely  as ever . ilene woods has a lovely  rich voice  probably my favorite of any disney heroine . some big standards originated here  a dream is a wish your heart makes  so this is love  bibbidi bobbidi boo . . .  br    br   cinderella is a wonderful heartfelt story with a ton of musical highlights . while it is lacking in some character development  it does provide some classic villains and excellent voice work . if you are feeling sick at heart  pop it in  it  ll warm you up and make you hum mmm mmm good   br    br   quote of the film  br    br    surprise  surprise   duh duh duh  happy birthday   
as i work at a video store  i found it to be my solemn duty to talk about the worst movies i  ve ever seen  and warn my friends and co  workers of it . amidst one day of particularly heated debate of what is the worst movie  my friend dared me to watch b . t . k . killer  even stating that if i could watch the whole movie and still claim my previous choice was the worst movie ever  then he  d watch it . i lost . i believe that even i made better videos than this in high school  and those were hardly great feats of a young genius . this film not only lacked in what seemed to be production value  it looks like it was shot on a bad camcorder  although it is surprisingly clear   but also in acting  wooden  hollow  and pathetic don  t scratch the surface   as well as just generally bad movie feeling . i can remember a scene where i heard glass smash  suddenly  i was reminded of some bad high school plays  i know that i reference high school too often here  but this film did seem very juvenile  both in terms of the set  which seemed far too fake  but also as if the people were reading their lines from the script  not entirely sure what was actually going on . my review doesn  t do this film justice  because i can  t describe how utterly horrid the time i spent watching this was . it  s almost ironic that i do a pathetic job describing a pathetic excuse for a movie .  
when it comes down to fairy tales  cinderella was the one that made you cry the most . poor cinderella is a girl who had her whole life stolen by  evil and ugly stepsisters and a slave  driving step  mother . and thanks to mr . walt disney  we got to witness cinderella in animation .  br    br   before the story begins  cinderella and her father are lonely  and rich beyond their needs . to share his wealth and to give his daughter some sisters  cinderella  s dad marries a woman  but then dies soon after . the stepmother  only seeing dollar signs in her eyes and slavery in her gorgeous step  daughter  cinderella .  br    br   so for many days  cinderella is a slave to her step  mother and her step  sisters . she has hope however  thanks to her friends  the mice of the home  sounds like cinderella wasn  t playing with a full deck .  she has hope that one day she  ll find her prince . the chance eventually comes when the prince of the kingdom needs a girlfriend .  br    br        
i can  t really say what i think about this movie  its against the guidelines  i  ve watched many many films  and this has got to be the worst one yet  extremely low budget  i  m guessing all the money went into the slaughter house scenes  cause i could of did a better job with a bw  mm camera and a crew of monkeys . it was so bad i registered just to leave a comment  cause i had to tell someone  movie rental place wasn  t enough . but this is my  cents worth  i suggest borrowing it from some poor sap who rented it and watch it yourself . cause i sure wouldn  t waste the money on it myself again . now i leave you with this comment . i hope your not made at the rental place when they wont refund you your money . .    
cinderella is a beautiful film  with beautiful songs of course . in fact  it  s one of the best films of the      s .  br    br   i think all the characters are portrayed amazingly . you can see the cruelness of cinderella  s stepsisters and her stepmother  the sweetness of cinderella . the mice are funny and sweet too .  br    br   i think they changed the tale a bit  but i think it  s for the best . it  s such a nice film  and i don  t think anyone could resist it deep down .  br    br   i give it a     . i don  t think it  s the best disney film . but it sure is a true classic .  
horrible  horrible  horrible do not waste your money to rent this movie . its like a low budget made for tv canadian movie . absolutely the worst movie i have ever seen and there have been many others out there . this movie is not worth the time it takes to put it in the dvd player or vcr .   . is it possible to write ten lines  the acting was horrific . it had absolutely no flow . i saw the made for tv movie on the btk killer and it was much better  in comparison to this one  . i am not sure what they were going for in producing this film but if it was to educate us or tell a story about the btk killer they missed by a mile . it appeared to be more of a infomercial for animal rights .  
cinderella is one of disney  s greatest films  one of those films i think you appreciate more the older you get . disney creates a magical adaptation of the classic fairytale . i consider the film to have been the greatest of his films at the time of its release . the characters became more dimensional than earlier films  creating more depth to appreciate the characters more . cinderella herself is  in my opinion  one of the greatest characters disney ever created . with her kindness and dash of dry humor  she is extremely likeable however  it is the inspiration she provides which makes her memorable . like many people she is an endless dreamer  and she holds onto her dreams  never giving up . even in the most adverse of situations  her dreams endure  and she won  t let anyone take that away from her . her example should serve as inspiration to everyone  and encouragement to never let go of your dreams .  
i just watched this movie today and not only is it  terrible and awful but it looks like the director just got a few friends together to make a movie about a sick man . i also think that this movie has the look of a porn video with it  s clear crisp just filmed view .  br    br   thank heavens i work in a video store and i didn  t have to pay for it cause this movie is crap x infinity . . do not buy or rent this movie      you  d have a better time watching dude where  s my car than this piece of crap  and that  s not saying a lot for that movie either .  br    br   the acting is lousy and the movie is just very unwatchable . i was watching this movie and i wanted to kill myself during and after the movie .  br    br   i walked home and threw up after watching this piece of dirt movie  i then took a shower and burnt my clothes .  br    br   if i had half a mind i would of took the movie outside and burned it too cause no one should be subjected to it . . . well maybe members of al queda . . especially the ones we have in custody and also child rapists who are in prison on life sentences with out parole . . . . just make a set up like a clock work orange  and then force these cheese head to watch it over and over again .  
any child old enough to sit up in front of a screen will be absolutely captivated by the beautifully drawn images and wonderful music in this heartfelt and humorous re  write of the grimms  fairytale . they  ll be singing  bibbity  bobbity  boo  before they can even formulate a complete sentence and will continue singing it till their dying days . it is a classic for all children  especially those adults who are young at heart .  
to compare this squalor with an old  low budget porno flick would be an insult to the old  low budget porno flick . the animal scenes have no meaning nor do they represent this man and his crimes even in the broadest sense of abstractions . the synopsis on the back of the dvd case says in part   gripping retelling of the btk killer  s reign of terror .  this is not a retelling . a retelling would suggest that you are being told the truth of what happened or how or why . none of these things are true . i  m an enthusiastic studier of serial killers and have seen some pretty crappy movies about them and honestly  this is not one of them . this isn  t even about the btk killer . save yourself some time and a few bucks and rent dahmer instead . that serial killer movie is accurate and true . however  if you just have to see this movie for yourself  check it out for free at your local library and even then  you  ll still feel cheated .  
might not consider this having a spoiler  but i  d rather be cautious than careless i never saw this movie when i was little . i fell in love with it the first time i saw it with my three year old daughter . i can watch it over and over again .  br    br   for the little acting ilene woods did in her lifetime  she was a wonderful voice for cinderella very appealing very believable . the music really fit the movie perfectly . the acting was great loved the mice   you really  hated  lady tremain and the step  sisters they were just awful . the cartoonists depicted the spoiled behavior very well .  br    br   this is a wonderful movie  especially if you are into love stories . my daughter has seen the movie about   times and still gets excited at the end .  
the case is the best part of the movie but it alone is not worth the purchase price . i expected a  based on the true story  movie only to find a shot on home video hodge  podge of poorly shot clips tied together with pathetic acting and non  related slaughter house scenes . the video scenes had numerous rewind situations which were used probably to extend the length of the feature rather than for effects . i started this review before i was even halfway through the movie and waited till it was over just in case it had a better ending but  low and behold it only got worse . if i could mark it any lower it would have been a negative ten . learn from my mistake and save your money and time with this one .  
this movie was so great  i am a teenager  and i and my friends all love the series  so it just goes to show that these movies draw attention to all age crowds . i recommend it to everyone . my favorite line in this movie is when logan bartholomew says  rosy cheeks   when he is talking about his baby daughter . he is such a great actor  as well as erin cottrell . they pair up so well  and have such a great chemistry  i really hope that they can work again together . they are such attractive people  and are very good actors . i have finally found movies that are good to watch . lately it has been hard for me to find movies that are good  and show good morals  and christian values . but at the same time  these movies aren  t cheesy .  
there was nothing of value in the original movie  this one was even lamer . the fact that i even found it to rent was absolutely amazing . anyone connected to this film has to be high on something  so what was the story line  what was with the girl  was the viewer supposed to get the story line in the first four minutes of the film . sadly  i tried several times to watch this . i even borrowed a kid from someone to get some feedback . kid said it was stupid  and he was four years old . i find that possibly some credit could go to the filming director  as possibly some of the shots made the movie more than a b film . that might be pushing it . i did love the theme song . good thing it was only a dollar  it was worth it . i suppose you might enjoy the film if you were high as the cast and crew would have to be . is pot legal in france   
the   th animated disney classic is a reasonable movie told through a simple story . even though a little dated  it deserves a place in the list of disney classics .  br    br   it  s not among disney  s top works  but is satisfying . one of disney  s most  simple  works  yes  but keeps a certain magic and enchantment  which old disney is well known for  . this was an important movie because it saved disney from a delicate situation . if this was a failure  there wouldn  t be any more disney animated classics .  br    br    cinderella  is somehow like a return to disney  s  st animated classic   snow white and the seven dwarfs   because it brings back the fairy tale genre . it  s not clear where the story takes place  but i suppose it  s somewhere in france because this is based in a tale by charles perrault .  br    br   there are plenty of likable characters  such as cinderella  the prince  bruno  the dog   jaques and gus  the two main mice   the fairy godmother  for a fairy she sure is funny   the birds  the king and the grand duke .  br    br   jaques is very smart and amusing . i love his voice . really has that mouse  like quality . gus might not be that smart  but he  s humorous .  br    br   the king is hilarious  but i think that what makes him so funny is his short temper . the grand duke is a very cool chap and funny too . they  re two of my favorite characters in this film and responsible for many of the most amusing moments .  br    br   the prince is certainly one of the most charming in disney . no doubt that prince philip from  sleeping beauty  was inspired on this prince  because they are very similar  looking .  br    br   on the other hand  lady tremaine  the stepmother  isn  t supposed to be likable because she  s cold  jealous  bitter and cruel . her daughters  anastacia and drizella  aren  t much better than her . however  the stepmother isn  t as annoying as her ugly and selfish daughters . cinderella  the main character  has nothing to do with them . cinderella is gentle  kind  pretty and lovable . by the way  i think her beautiful pink dress is much nicer than the one given by the fairy godmother .  br    br   lucifer  the cat  is hilariously malicious . the way he walks  sticking up his nose in the air and those arrogant and snobbish facial expressions make him funny . ironically he  s very much like the stepmother when it comes to personality . he always agrees with the stepmother  s attitudes towards cinderella . lucifer has the right name for him because he  s such a devilish and mean cat . yet  there  s nothing annoying about him .  br    br   the soundtrack is simple but pleasant  although not among disney  s best . the best song in this movie is  bibiddi bobiddi boo  .  br    br   there are plenty of well known talented voice actors in this  such as james macdonald  marion darlington  eleanor audley  verna felton and luis van rooten .  br    br   despite being simple  looking  the movie has good artwork  as well as its nice details  although never something  out  of  this  world  . however  the king  s palace is a spectacular masterpiece  being truly majestic and colossal .  
the past creeps up on a rehab  addict when he reconnects with his ill brother and a former girlfriend after what he hopes was his last stint in detox .  life  s dramas   presented here in the most simplistic way imaginable  not even the writing has any bite or wit  . the cast is made up of attractive looking actors smiling glumly at one another  and the music and photography are lugubrious  a couple of the visual effects are laughable  indie  clich touches that reek of a puny budget  . although written and directed by a man  this was produced by a woman  and i  m not sure but i think this may be a distinct reason why this picture about two men  estranged brothers growing closer  never quite gels  never feels natural or seems lived in . it  s an attempt to get inside a male relationship  but the careful  sterile presentation is a cheat . no one  s heart is in this  living  breathing  or bleeding this material .  the perfect son  is quickly diffused by too many cooks in the kitchen .  
we watched this on  the wonderful world of disney  on abc last night  and i came to the conclusion that things must be tighter there at  the mouse  than usual .  br    br   since this movie only runs   minutes  and they had to pad it out to  hours of broadcast television time  they had  and i  m not making this up  commercial breaks that lasted  to  minutes . and during these commercial breaks  they had another advertisement in the guise of a  tv show  hosted by the oh  so  annoying kelly rippa that loudly proclaimed the magical wonders of  cinderella   dreams come true  .  br    br   again and again  break after break  disney took time out of the real movie to tell us  the loyal viewers  that we needed to get a copy of the sequel . thank you  disney  for doing us the service of creating a sequel to your beloved gem of a movie .  br    br   anyway  all this commercialism and cash  register  ringing made it a difficult task to get into the actual movie of  cinderella   because by the time the commercials were over  i had forgotten where the story had left off .  br    br   but of course  the original  cinderella  still maintains its magic  and the story is still a good one  though we  ve all seen it countless times . it  s a shame they had to cheapen it with all the marketing for what looks to be a lame follow  up .  
i  m starting to write this review during a break as i watch the movie . it  s the first time i  ve tried doing that  but i  m having trouble getting through this one without occasional breaks . that  s not because it  s intense but because it  s bad .  br    br   it  s almost painfully tedious and unbelievable  especially when the preternaturally robust dying brother ryan  colm feore  is on screen being tragic and bitchy  self  indulgent and self  pitying . this would have been a much better movie if they  d just left that character out of the story .  br    br   he adds nothing but mawkish  maudlin  very irritating melodrama . maybe somebody decided that if they couldn  t make ryan believable they  d just make him obnoxious . the problem with that is who cares if a spoiled  whining  obnoxious jerk is dying  not me .  br    br   the only thing this character has going for him is the fact that he  s dying  and sorry  but that  s just not enough . dying doesn  t make anybody special . we  re all dying  sooner or later . it doesn  t give anybody the right to expect sympathy while acting like a jerk .  br    br   the other two characters  and the actors playing them  david cubitt as theo and chandra west as sarah   are very much more interesting  and their story  without ryan  s self  pitying interruptions  would have made a much better movie . but it  s not over yet  and it  s time to hit play again . maybe something great happens before the end . . . .  br    br   nope . sorry . this rented turkey goes back tonight   
cinderella . . . .  br    br   i hadn  t watched this film for about five years the last time i saw it . the magic remains . there is something that definitely contains that storybook feel  the songs entertain and the secondary character  s all please . the villains in the form of step sisters are perfectly evil and vile . then there is the most magical of all disney  the mice making the dress and well you know the rest . to sum up the four of the disney princess movies are all great but this is a charming magical experience  watch and enjoy . oh and of course  cinderella is wonderful as the main character in the movie .  br    br   if you think about it disney movies can really lost their charm . with elene wood and others the movie has such a feel to it  you simply can  t help but smile  br    br   they say the moral of this story is that dreams come true . of course in the real world some are believers others are hoper  s . in this film it  s even more the magical when her rainbow comes smiling .  br    br   and of course the rest is . . . cinderella  
ursula andress  naked body is one of those things that make you believe in god . the other two women  especially the one who plays the maid  have great bodies as well . then why is the higher grade that i can give to a film with such quality and quantity of nudity only  out of    because  to get to ursula  s unbelievable body  we have to sit through a movie that is otherwise unfunny and boring  keep in mind that i watched the full     minute version  not the    minute american one which probably cuts out a lot of the extraneous material  . in typical italian  comedy tradition  most of the characters are exaggerated caricatures  the army freak  the  latin lover   the constant drunk  the naive maid  that are not funny  simply overacted . final word watch this  but keep your finger on the fast  forward button  you  re gonna need it .     
walt disney  s cinderella takes a story everybody  s familiar with and embellishes it with humor and suspense  while retaining the tale  s essential charm . disney  s artists provide the film with an appealing storybook look that emanates delectable fairy tale atmosphere . it is beautifully  if conventionally  animated the highlight being the captivating scene where the fairy godmother transforms a pumpkin into a majestic coach and cinderella  s rags to a gorgeous gown . mack david  al hoffman  and jerry livingston provide lovely songs like  a dream is a wish your heart makes  and  bibbidi  bobbidi  boo  that enhance both the scenario and the characters .  br    br   even though cinderella  s story is predictable  it provides such thrilling melodrama that one shares the concerns and anxieties of the titular heroine and her animal friends . both the wicked stepmother and her dreadful cat lucifer present a formidable menace that threatens the dreams and aspirations of cinderella and the mice . it is this menace that provides the story with a strong conflict that holds the viewers  interest . the film  s suspense  however  is nicely balanced by a serene sweetness  especially in the musical numbers . it is in these segments that reveal the appealing personalities of cinderella and her friends  moving the viewers to care for them . overall  walt disney  s cinderella is wonderful family entertainment that has held up remarkably well after half a century .  
what was this supposed to be  a remake of fisher king  why do we care about sandler  s character  what a slow  dreary  boring  who  gives  a  damn  about  these  people movie    just simply painful to sit through  i turned it off before it was over . it  s so obvious that cheadle needs help as much as sandler like i said can you say  fisher king   and how does this psychotic character function in his daily life  we aren  t supposed to think that deeply  i guess . why does cheadle continue to give sandler a chance to turn violent on him  if they were such good friends  how did they grow apart  if cheadle is so in control  why does he keep seeking the advice of the shrink on the street  we are never told . that  s why fisher king was a better film on so many levels and why this just sucks . nearly  out of   average score  i don  t agree . at all . even the top films are lucky to get such a high average rating  and this crap doesn  t deserve to be in the same universe with them .  
as a young boy  i always sort of hated  cinderella   since i was outvoted by my two sisters when my parents were considering what disney movie to buy . i wanted  dumbo   but my sisters won out  and we got  cinderella .  they thoroughly enjoyed the movie while i sulked in the back of the room playing with my star wars action figures .  br    br   a lot has changed since then . my love of the disney theme parks landed me an internship at walt disney world  and i now have two young nieces . i like to showcase disney to them as much as i can  and we recently watched  cinderella  together . with my newfound appreciation for all that is disney  i watched  cinderella  with a new perspective and was impressed with what i saw .  br    br   from the beginning of the movie  though  i didn  t quite understand why cinderella was trapped in such a horrible predicament . why was she such a slave to her stepfamily  and why couldn  t she just run away  i wasn  t too sympathetic to cinderella  but as the story progressed  i found myself becoming immersed in the story . maybe the eye  catching animation or the fun  loving characters drew me in  or maybe it was the timeless songs . listening to songs like  bibbidy  bobbidy  boo  and  a dream is a wish your heart makes  sort of whisked me back to the theme parks . i can picture myself in that carefree and fun atmosphere while looking at the awe  inspiring cinderella castle .  br    br   something about this movie just evokes the magic of disney . that may make many people scoff  but go to the magic kingdom and see all the little girls dressed up like cinderella that are excited to be in this fantasy world  and you  ll know what i  m talking about . the images of cinderella and the glass slipper  as well as mickey mouse  winnie the pooh  and tinkerbell  embody why disney is one of the most beloved companies in the entire world .  br    br   while  cinderella  may not be the strongest story  it is sort of iconic in disney and movie history . it represents that fun  idealistic  and fantasy  like wonderment we held when we were kids . i imagine this movie holds a lot of meaning to many  many people out there . it may not be my favorite disney movie  but it does represent all that i love and admire about the company .  br    br   my imdb rating      . my yahoo  grade a  outstanding   
i admit the problem i have with the much  celebrated ealing films i  ve seen so far could be mine . to my taste  either they are black and rippingly funny  or so light in tone to be unsatisfying as comedies or stories . that  s a self  important way of saying i wanted to like  the man in the white suit  but found myself struggling to sit through its short run time .  br    br   textile worker sidney stratton  alec guinness  may be meek in manner  but he is doggedly committed to progress in the form of his attempts to invent a strand of fabric that can  t be broken or made dirty . using a factory lab for his latest experiment  he toils against limitations both material and human  the latter being the benighted mill bosses who don  t understand what he is up to  then figure it out and become even more committed to stopping him .  br    br    it  s small minds like yours that stand in the way of progress   sidney complains  practicing in the mirror what he struggles to say to the man .  br    br   one problem with  man in the white suit  is that sidney  s vision of progress is awfully small  minded  too  more so even than that of the bosses or the laborers who also resent his work . my problem is more elemental for a comedy   white suit  is not funny . it  s a rather earnest script which too often tries to mine its feeble attempts at humor from spit  takes  double  takes  triple  takes  and dizzy takes .  br    br   the best joke is the sound of the machine sidney toils at  going  bleep  blop  bleep  bop  endlessly and fetching queer looks from every visitor until sidney either extracts his miracle from it or blows it up trying . like every other bit of stray humor that functions decently in this film  it  s leaned on too long .  br    br   i  ve never seen guinness less affecting in a movie  even though he looks impossibly young and earnest  though actually in his mid    s  . he seems so bloodless  even more so than the wax  faced general he played in  doctor zhivago  he  s the same cold fish whether he  s ignoring the sad affections of the affecting mill girl who offers to give him her life savings when he loses his job  pan  faced vida hope as bertha  or the more sultry charms of young daphne birnley  joan greenwood   his one real ally in his fight against  shabbiness and dirt   as she puts it  making those words sound as impossibly sexy as only greenwood could .  br    br   supporting players make  white suit  work as well as it does . ernest thesinger of  bride of frankenstein  fame plays a singularly nasty captain of industry who looks like nosferatu and makes a laugh like a death rattle . howard marion  crawford as another factory leader is as memorable here as he was playing a blinkered medical officer in  lawrence of arabia  . then there  s the undeniable charm of mandy miller as a little girl who steals her few moments on camera right from under everyone else .  br    br   but most of the scenes are played so straight that one wouldn  t think director alexander mackendrick had ever worked on a comedy before  his previous ealing comedy  whisky galore  doesn  t reverse that impression  alas  . roger macdougall  s play posits the notion of scientific progress as potential disaster  but fails to present dull sidney in anything other than the most blandly pleasant of lights .  br    br   ealing comedies are remembered for capturing the human side of comedy . yet the ealings i  ve seen never seem to do this  working only when they play aggressively against our own sympathies .  kind hearts and coronets  and  the ladykillers   mackendrick again  go figure  are classics this way .  white suit   on the other hand  is a pointless ramble that falls apart when it should cohere  just like that unfortunate suit .  
cinderella takes me back  when i was a little girl i loved the princesses of disney . cinderella was one of my favorites because i always was so enchanted by the story . any child or family members will enjoy this wonderful and magical story .  br    br   we have cinderella who is a beautiful girl enslaved by her wicked step mother and ugly step sisters . she cleans and cooks for them without ever receiving thanks . the only friends she has in the world are the mice in the attic that are so charming and musical . when the ladies receive an invitation to the king  s ball to find a lady for his son  the prince  a . k . a . prince charming  they all get excited  cinderella overhears the exciting news and asks if she could come too . her step mother makes a false promise and says if she does her chores and such  she can come too . of course  she doesn  t keep her promise and destroys a beautiful dress she and the mice made for the ball . leaving poor cinderella behind  a wonderful thing happens  cinderella  s fairy god mother appears and creates a beautiful dress and carriage out of things from around the house and even makes the mice and horses into elegant horses and a driver for the carriage . when the prince sees cinderella at the ball  he has fallen hard for her . all the ladies are jealous  including her step mother and sisters . but cinderella must return home at midnight when the spell is broken  all she leaves behind is her glass slipper . the next day the prince is on a hunt to find this girl who fits the slipper and is making a stop at cinderella  s house where her step mother has found out about her night and locks her in her room .  br    br   can she escape in time to tell the prince that it was her at the ball  you  ll just have to find out . trust me  this is a true disney classic with beautiful animation and classic music that is so charming . you can  t help but fall in love with this masterpiece . a dream is a wish your heart makes  this movie captures everything a girl could want .  br    br        
the premise of this movie is revealed on the dvd box . a textile worker develops a miracle fabric that doesn  t degrade . but the movie fails to get on with it . instead it pads for   minutes  noodling around a preamble before he makes the big discovery . since audiences don  t benefit much from seeing a whiz kid figuring things out  it  s a strange choice the movie has successfully been prevented from engaging any topic . once the fabric is discovered  the movie too rapidly establishes that both industry bigwigs  and blue  collar co  workers want the invention squelched  leaving the movie with just two flimsy movements inventing the chemical  and running from oppressors .  br    br   i can  t understand why anyone would describe this as comedy . the tone isn  t funny or comical . it  s more like serious social criticism of the day that capitalism warps both supply chains and production . which in turn prevents innovation from reaching and improving the world . yes  that  s probably true  but without some toying with an attitude towards that fact  the movie is simply an earnest argument . you  ll need an extremely broad definition of comedy to find any here .  br    br   this is more like a british meet john doe  meet nigel doe   .  
people criticise disney  s animated features of the     s for being overly glossy  set in landscapes that are much too pristine . that criticism is just . and yet it can  t be the whole story  because the two least glossy   alice in wonderland  and  peter pan   are also the weakest .  cinderella   on the other hand  set in a world in which the very dirt sparkles  is clearly the best .  br    br   it does look good . the backgrounds are subtle and consistent the colours are pure without being too bright . the animation varies a bit . i  ll swear that some of the humans are rotoscoped  but then  the rotoscoped humans  including cinderella herself  aren  t full  blooded characters in the script  so this approach works well enough . it  s really the animals that make the movie . i think the studio had never quite used animals in this way before  as totems rather than sidekicks . the mice  for instance  are the creatures who draw us into the story but they are really representatives or allies of the more colourless cinderella . the cat  lucifer  is a kind of witch  s familiar to the wicked stepmother .  the cat is brilliantly conceived and animated  one of the best feline creations of all time . the supervising animator was ward kimball and he modelled it on his own cat . i wonder how he put up with the animal .  this approach allows the animals to steal the show without drawing our attention from the main story . their actions are of maximum interest only in the light of the main story .  br    br   among the supporting cast the notable humans are the king and the grand duke . the king is a one note character  he wants grandchildren and appears to have no other desires at all  but the note is struck in a pleasing fashion . the grand duke is a put  upon character who deserves to be lifted out of his sphere as much as cinderella does .  although he  of course  is richer .   br    br    cinderella  is disney  s return to features after an eight  year hiatus  and neither with it nor with any subsequent movie would he recapture the raw brilliance of his early years . moreover he made things hard for himself by picking  cinderella  . she  s a passive heroine and there  s not much anyone can do about that .  maybe i  m wrong on this score  i haven  t seen the recent  ever after  .  nonetheless it is remarkable how successful disney was in bringing this unpromising story to life  without cutting across the grain of its spirit .  
i couldn  t bear to sit through he entire movie . do families like this really exist somewhere  there have been many comments describing this family as akin to llbean models and such  and i think that that is a great description of how they behaved .  br    br   more absurdly unbelievable writing  acting occurs as we meet a character referred to in high school as  pigface  who  of course  has grown into a drop  dead gorgeous    year harvard  educated plastic surgeon  but only to do good in the world  not for the money   and she beds steve carrel on the first date . that  s when i quit watching . . .  br    br   if you can completely suspend your disbelief for two hours  then perhaps you  ll enjoy this sentimental  self  indulgent waste of time .  
legendary movie producer walt disney brought three of the world  s greatest fairy tales to the screen . they remain among the most popular animated films of all time . the first was his groundbreaking classic  snow white and the seven dwarfs  released in     . the last was the then  under appreciated  sleeping beauty  which made it  s debut in     . in between these two was perhaps his most satisfying adaptation of a classic fairy tale  cinderella        . of the three films   cinderella  is the one most faithful to its origins . ironically  unlike  snow white   which for better or worse  became for many the definitive version of the story .  cinderella  did not follow the same path . although it was a hit and  like  snow white   was responsible for restoring the dwindling disney fortunes  it never achieved the same audience recognition which it certainly deserved . disney  for once  did himself proud  electing not to tamper with a classic  instead elaborating and adding substance to the tale  rather than rewriting it for the screen . the result was enchanting .  br    br   a combination of superb animation  in beautifully soft technicolor  and the perfect voice talents brought the story to life with a radiance that endures to this day . ilene woods  who was a radio performer  recorded demonstration discs of the songs as a favor to the authors of the material  al hoffman  mack david  and jerry livingston . when disney heard them  he knew he had found his cinderella . and indeed he had . woods heartfelt renditions of  a dream is a wish your heart makes    so this is love  and  oh sing sweet nightingale  are perfect . eleanor audley  who would go on to voice maleficent in  sleeping beauty   masterfully captured the icy cruelty of the stepmother  while rhoda williams and lucille bliss were convincingly nasty stepsisters . luis van rooten admirably performed as both the king and the grand duke  and james macdonald was endearing as both jaq and gus  cinderella  s devoted mice . william phipps has little dialog as the prince  future talk show host mike douglas provided his singing voice  but film  and disney  veteran  verna felton was born to play the fairy godmother  and she made the best number   the oscar  nominated  bibbidi  bobbidi  boo   her own show  stopper .  br    br   among the artists responsible for the  look  of the film  was mary blair  whose inspired use of color was greatly admired by disney . her elegant french  period backgrounds add tremendously to the quality of the movie . but  most important of all  are the believable characters   from cinderella  right down to lucifer  the stepmother  s deliciously evil cat . they bring both life and vibrancy to the often told story  something very difficult to create in an animated film .  br    br   in conjunction with the film  s    year anniversary   and  not so coincidentally  the coming holiday season   cinderella  has just been released on a special edition dvd . it simply has never looked better . the fully restored film must be seen to be appreciated   suffice it to say  it looks wonderful . an enhanced stereo soundtrack has been added  and serves the music well . the dvd extras  now a standard part of disney platinum editions  are too numerous to list here  but as usual  some are directed towards children  some are slanted to adults  and the rest fall somewhere in between . but real fans will want to get the deluxe gift set  because  along with an actual cell from the film and eight character sketches  it includes a     page hardback book  which not only incorporates most of the material found in the book with the     special edition home video release  but much more as well . as usual for disney   cinderella  will only be available for a limited time . so  if like me  you are a  cinderella  lover  get it now  this edition is truly a  dream come true .   
there  s little to get excited about  dan in real life  . first off  the whole setup is incredibly contrived . did you really believe that during that very long first meeting conversation at the restaurant  marie wouldn  t have told dan where she was going  and since dan did all the talking during that conversation  why would she be so attracted to him  for that matter  i never figured out why marie was so attracted to dan throughout the movie . he  s very narcissistic and does little to convince us that he  s truly a good guy  for example he lies to marie in the bookstore  ridicules his brother about his past girlfriends and tries to make marie jealous with a  blind date   . there  s more contrivance such as that ridiculous scene at the bowling alley where dan and marie are caught making out by the whole family . yeah like that could really happen . dan in real life is slow  paced  sappy and manipulative . even chick flicks like the jane austen book club get higher marks than this predictable  tearjerker  .  
what would happened when a depressed cop works with a shrink on probation  may be a lot of fun . . . this movie set a benchmark in the action  comedy genre of the argentinean cinema . dearable characters  probable story and a pace that between laughs has some thrill . i recommended it for a pleasant time of entertaining . peretti and luque join their efforts to fight against a cold and daringly foe in a time when it  s difficult to trust someone . this movie will surprise you  the other side of the coin of  analyze me   but not alike  with nothing to envy . and if you like to know bs . as there where few scenes of downtown and the city center .  
wowwwwww  about an hour ago i finally finished watching this terrible movie    i wanted to turn it off within the first like   minutes but i figured i  d give it a chance because it just hadddd to get better . or at least have some redeeming qualities  like i figured at the very least it would be a make you think type movie  or like really intelligent  or very well filmed or something . . . needless to say  that was not the case and i wasted about an hour and a half of my life . im not even going to get into why its terrible because its a waste of my time to explain that this  may contain spoilers  . . . imdb  you should calm down on the spoilers thing and pay more attention to making sure that the people who rate the movies and comment are not paid to write good reviews or involved somehow in the movie or anything else like that . i thought it would be humorous after this terrible film to come see hoe bad the rating would be and i was very very shocked to see the fairly high ratings . . . all the ratings with about     stars clearly must be about some completely different movie . . . im still a big imdb fan  but seriously rethink this rating process because this movie should be rated no higher than maaaybbbeee like a  .  
very intelligent humor excellent performing i can  t believe how people could think it deserves a      i hope this movie will be shown everywhere so everyone can enjoy it if you ever have the opportunity  watch it . . . don  t miss it there is a part when the principal actors are driving and singing  happy birthday  and  el payaso plinplin   an argentinian song for kids  i think . . . it could also be south american  i  m not sure   . this two songs that have the same melody . . . but people don  t usually realize that . . . it  s just grate  i tried to write this in both spanish and english  because it  s an argentinian movie . . . but the page wouldn  t allow me   hope you enjoy it   
seriously what the hell was this movie about   simply stupid   i  d give it  but      awful  is the lowest you can go   seriously this movie is not worth watching   waste of time  i don  t know what the hell is wrong with you guys voting this movie  out of     i seriously can make a better movie than this  hire some other unemployed people    n i promise i  ll make a movie better than this   this movie was so bad   that i  ll never watch a movie starring steve carrel again  bottom line don  t waste your time to download it off the net or rent it   i  d nominate this movie for the worst movie of the century i mean the worst is something gotta give but after that this is the second  
i love all of the movies by michael landon jr . and michael landon jr  s casting of dale midkiff as  clark davis  could not of been any better . dale midkiff has the ways to pull off this character .  br    br   this movie kept me spellbound from start to finish .  br    br   the death of missie  willies baby girl with the timing of clarks visit was only gods timing . how they dealt with the death and how clark helped them do so was that of a fathers love .  br    br   although there are  movies before this one  love comes softly  loves enduring promise  loves long journey  i feel you can see this movie and understand it easily . yet leave and want to see the previous  movies due to the history all the characters have behind them .  br    br   michael landon jr . is an excellent director  br    br   i look forward to many more movies from him in the future .  
what made the original killer tomatoes fun was it was made by people with no budget who were just being wacky for a couple of days . . .  br    br   this was something with a budget  but it just wasn  t as much fun . john astin of adams family fame is actually making an effort here to be comedic  but he is supported by lame actors  cheap special effects and unfunny gags .  br    br   the plot . dr . gangrene  astin  escapes from a french prison and decides he is going to put a pretender on the throne of france . . . the hero  his french girlfriend and the gizmo  like  fuzzy tomato  decide they are going to stop him . . .  br    br   forgettable direct to video nonsense . . .  
and here  s yet another piece of evidence to claim that we should all worship the italian giallo and acknowledge it to be the absolute most unique sub genre in horror . emilio miraglia  s  the red queen kills seven times  is a totally mesmerizing wholesome of original plotting  stylish production values  enchanting music  great acting talents and inventively gory murder sequences . it  s a fabulous giallo  released in the golden year      that belongs in the top  five of every fan of italian cinema . the storyline doesn  t just introduce your average black  gloved  sexually frustrated killer  but blends good old  fashioned revenge motives with the macabre myth of the murderous  red queen  . at young age  their grandfather tells the constantly fighting siblings kitty and evelyn about an uncanny lady who  once every    years on april  th  kills seven people of which her sister is the inevitable last victim . fourteen years later  kitty has become the successful choreographer of a prominent modeling agency  even sharing her bed with the general manager  when suddenly the killing spree begins . sister evelyn would be the obvious culprit  but she moved to the states recently . . . or has she  complex yet compelling and involving red herrings are thrown at you every couple of minutes and the red queen character is definitely the most fascinating killer in giallo  history . her face can never be seen  but she wears a blood red cloak and produces the most ghastly laugh whenever she made a new victim . she  s not exactly gentle either  as her victims are barbarically stabbed with a dagger  dragged behind cars and even impaled on fences  that latter one is truly one of the greatest   most gruesome  acts of violence i  ve ever seen  what more could you possibly request  some classy and tasteful nudity  perhaps  the gorgeous female actresses got this more than covered  among them barbara bouchet and a young sybil danning . emilio miraglia isn  t the most famous giallo  director  as he only made this one and the equally recommended  the night evelyn came out of the grave   but his influence and importance should not be forgotten .  
this film is terrible . you don  t really need to read this review further . if you are planning on watching it  suffice to say  don  t  unless you are studying how not to make a good movie  .  br    br   the acting is horrendous . . . serious amateur hour . throughout the movie i thought that it was interesting that they found someone who speaks and looks like michael madsen  only to find out that it is actually him  a new low even for him    br    br   the plot is terrible . people who claim that it is original or good have probably never seen a decent movie before . even by the standard of hollywood action flicks  this is a terrible movie .  br    br   don  t watch it    go for a jog instead  at least you won  t feel like killing yourself .  
should this be an american movie i  d rate it   we  ve seen this before . being this an argentinean movie  and being myself argentine  i  d like to give it a    since it  s the kind of quality i  d been hoping  rather than expecting  for . it  s superb quality is astonishing  given all the limitations imposed by the  rd world . . .  br    br   i can  t forget the scene when daz forces silverstein  s fianc to confess  you know what i mean if you saw the movie . i think that  s the key moment of the movie  not surprising maybe  yet original . that  s when the real action begins .  br    br   before watching a movie i always try to gather some previous information . being this a mainstream  satyric  commercial one  i press  play  and make a suspension of reality and logic  i  d say the best state of mind to enjoy movies like this . it  s impossible to discuss the plausibility of the whole plot  yet it  s believable in a certain way . as for me  i couldn  t stop laughing at every single joke and commentary   sos malo    you  re mean   . . . put in the mouth of daz  the greatest one .  br    br   i  m rather tired of seeing movies  designed for  peretti . i know he  s a superb actor  but sometimes i feel his roles unfairly opaque the rest  luis luque  s role in this case . i  m not very fond of argentine television  so i haven  t seen much work from luque  but it  s pretty obvious that he  s an excellent performer . his physical role  his stares  his content attitude in this movie made me fall in love with his performance . i think his role should need some upgrading  just to let him show us how great he can be   br    br   i don  t know whether szifrn is planning to make a sequel or not . i know he won  t make it if it  s to follow the rule that  second parts were never good   so if he makes it  i  ll surely go see it . and i hope that  in the future  takes into account the possibility to give peretti  s counterparts the same chances to develop their roles .  br    br   great movie  great performances  and lots of laughs   
i have a  minute rule  sometimes i  ll leave leway for    . if a movie is not good in the first  or   minutes it  s probably not going to ever get better . i have yet to experience any movie that has proved to contest this theory . dan in real life is definitely no exception . i was watching this turkey and thought wow  this is not funny  not touching  not sad  and i don  t like any of the characters at all .  br    br   the story of an advice columnist  widower raising three young daughters  who falls in love with his brothers girlfriend . i suppose the tagline would be  advice columnist who could use advice   i don  t know . dans character in no way struck me as someone qualified to give advice . i guess that  s the irony  i don  t know . he goes to see his parents  brothers  sisters and their kids at some sort of anual family retreat  which seems very sweet  and potential fodder for good comedy  story lines . . . none which ever emerge . the central story is basically how he loves this woman  but can  t have her . anyone with a pulse will realise that eventually he will get her  but you have to suffer through painfully unfunny  trite  lifetime movie network dialogue  murderer of love  to get to the inevitable happy ending .  br    br   this is truly one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen .  
tiempo de valientes fits snugly into the buddy action movie genre  but transcends its roots thanks to excellent casting  tremendous rapport between its leads  and outstanding photography . diego peretti stars as dr . silverstein  a shrink assigned to ride shotgun with detective diaz  luis luque   who  s been assigned to investigate the murder of two minor hoods who seem to have been involved in am arms smuggling conspiracy . diaz has been suspended from duty  but he  s the best man for the job and must have professional psychiatric help in order to be reinstated . silverstein and diaz soon find themselves enmeshed in a conspiracy involving argentina  s intelligence community and some uranium  and the film separates them at a crucial point that allows silverstein to develop some impressive sleuthing skills of his own . peretti and luque are excellent together and remind me of screen team terence hill and bud spencer  though peretti isn  t as classically handsome as hill . remarkably  even at almost two hours in length tiempo de valientes doesn  t wear out its welcome  and indeed writer  director damian szifron sets up a potential sequel in the film  s charming coda . all in all  a wonderful and very entertaining action comedy that neither panders to the lowest common denominator nor insults your intelligence .  
the fact that there are positive comments about dan in real life on the imdb just makes me realize that their junket staff are hard at work trying to get people to watch this utterly horrific film .  br    br   i have no words  no idea where to start to describe the truly awful film i sat through last night  dan in real life . steve  s characters in previous films led me to believe that i would feel something for his character and enjoy the dialog but like other posters i felt uncomfortable and embarrassed for the cast .  br    br   the dialog was so contrived  the family was this cookie cutter walton  s family and the film has been so many times before that i am shocked someone thought it was an original idea .  br    br   do yourself a favor and take a pass on this terrifyingly bad movie and don  t believe everything you read on the imdb since the first comments were clearly written by folks sitting in a different theater watching a good film .  
i sit through movies like  tiempo de valientes  and i want to talk about cinema for hours . the admiration this movie caused me is beyond my own limits of explanation  because i  m watching the scenes of the film and i search inside my thoughts for film  making ideas and dialogue innovations that could emerge from something bigger than damian szifron  s mind .  br    br   looking the environment  so uncompromised  so simple  i  m thinking this man is a genius . no wonder he created what is probably the best television show argentina ever witnessed  and then a first movie full of elements some contemporary directors haven  t still achieved .  el fondo del mar  is the name and  it awakened  a few years ago   my enthusiasm for our everyday cinema .  br    br   starting his journey from people  s daily real lives  szifron goes where pablo trapero never could in  el bonaerense   the federal police department  s life . trapero  s film was a journey into a man  s mind and experiences  not into the places he saw . yes  there was a detailed training and lots of crime situations  but szifron in  in there   his is more of a detective story  like the ones we know and love  with the mysteries and the thrilling music .  br    br   but there  s a lot of humanity in his writing  and he shows us his investigation through the eyes of his main characters  alfredo daz and mariano silverstein . there are a lot of actors of great caliber in the film  but these two actors are the ones the film can  t do without . the first character  luis luque  is a detective that has just found out his wife cheats on him and has to work on a case .  br    br   the second one is a psychiatrist that is assigned the treatment of the detective . he wants to deal with him in regular sessions but the sheriff takes advantage of the time disposition and suggests he joins daz in his routines  it  s nothing  the usual stuff no problem  . but it is bigger than that  and it will unfold a part of the doctor  s personality he didn  t know .  br    br   the relationship developed between the two leads can  t be explained unless it is observed  because it regards such a complexity that demonstrates how talented are some men like szifron that are trying  today  to leave a signature in our history . reaching points of unbelievable spontaneity  during a high pressure situation  daz tells silverstein  how do we continue our treatment    and silverstein answers  no  i  m not your doctor . you call me to have dinner i  m your friend   we laugh because we can  t help it .  br    br   and we can  t help laughing when daz crashes a car in the street and doesn  t gives importance to it  or when he trespasses all the red lights in the street  or when he smokes pot in his police patrol and silverstein can  t believe it  but then smokes it too because he  s screwed up   or when silverstein tries to be friendly with daz  s robber friends . magic from diego peretti is what we receive there . he  a psychiatrist himself  gives a performance in plan  locas de amor   but impresses with all his range . luis luque on the other hand  is back on track with a top  notch portrayal that reminds us the great actor he is .  br    br   there  s a passion i have for this  and as i said  i could write about it for hours  but unfortunately that  s not the way it works and i have to be precise and summarize . although i have to watch a lot of the old movies and study them  i could assure that  tiempo de valientes  is the comedy argentina had been waiting for and never gotuntil now .  
spoiler bunch of passive  aggressive people having family reunion . the script has them saying and doing things people would never do  at least anyone with a shred of decency . the hero falls for a woman he sees as his soul mate at a bookstore the day of the reunion  unaware she will show up as his brother  s girlfriend at the reunion . he tries to defer to his brother  s claim  but she  knowing our hero is clearly infatuated with her  teases him mercilessly by wearing sexy clothing and behaving like a stripper  rubbing all over the brother in a ruse excuse that she is showing him how to stretch . at one point  she actually disrobes and gets into a shower with him . he tries to cover his eyes . his heart is breaking . she thinks it  s funny  until she suddenly decides she doesn  t want the brother and leaves the reunion .  br    br   the movie really drags . the audience coughed and fidgeted its way through the long haul . the writing is unintelligent and unbelievable . we almost walked out  but kept thinking surely something would happen that would perk things up  but nooooo . all the lovely reviews must have been written by paid shills  out to dupe poor suckers like me into seeing crap like this . comparing it to little miss sunshine    jeez . shame on them  the writers  the actors  the producers  and the theaters for letting anything this bad make it to the screen   
tiempo de valientes is a very fun action comedy . after his great fist movie called el fondo del mar and the spectacular tv pro  gramme los simuladores  damian szifron made another great work . tiempo de valientes looks  for moments  a movie made in hollywood . diego peretti and luis luque are two great actors and here  they have great performances . the movie is very fun and funny and it has superb moments . tiempo de valientes is a very fun action comedy that i totally recommend if you wanna have a great time . and i have to congrats szifron for all the talent he has .  br    br   rating   
oh dear . this movie could have been sub  titled  when writers go on strike   what a stinker . i had really high hopes for this  mostly after reading imdb reviews  which makes me wonder about the whole imdb rating system  but that  s a separate matter . i loved steve carrell in anchorman  bruce almighty  the office  etc so i was expecting great things . to say i was disappointed is the understatement of the year . there are so many things wrong with this movie  but i  ll confine myself to  a  the implausibility of any family behaving like these people do  a mass aerobics workout  what planet is that real life on    the clunky script  a murderer of love  please   and the fact that the character of dan is so unlikable  you find yourself wondering what the girl saw in him to make her fall in love with him  this movie was filled to bursting with clunky dialogue  creaking direction  ridiculous set  scenes and it was slow  slow  slow . we would have walked out after half an hour if we  d not been with my parents  who don  t get out much and don  t like to waste money . unlike the makers of this movie  who would have been better off throwing all the cash spent making this movie into a bonfire  that would have been more entertaining . if you like movies  avoid this like the plague .  
this movie is damian szifrn  s second immersion in movies after his excellent character study in  el fondo del mar  . with  tiempo de valientes  he creates extremely well done characters  far away from prototypes and with an unprecedented chemistry between them . i  ve seen szifron  s talent to present every character in a lighthearted way but just enough to involve us emotionally with them . his control over them is magnificent  so he restores on the movie a great direction and an overall brilliantly polished script  the characters laugh and cry with real sentiment and invite the viewer to join them in their emotions and their evolution on screen .  br    br   the spanish takes over the english  the buenos aires urban landscape at night replaces hollywood sets and the premise is just as interesting as any other  so we have a film daring to compete over hollywood  s machinery .  br    br   but i want you to see the movie mainly because i  ve never dealt with such endearing characters  all of them . it seems the script suits perfectly to the actors and vice versa . i really believe with a film making like this argentina is really up to the competition .  
if  in the first   minutes of this film  you don  t realize that the main character  who writes a life advice column  is going to have the tables  oh  so  cleverly  turned and learn some valuable life lessons himself  then there is probably something wrong with you . the set up is so predictable as to ruin the movie  even if the rest of the movie was good  which it isn  t   br    br   there  s almost no chemistry between the leads  and steve carell  s stalker  ish behavior is embarrassing  not funny . it  s hard to believe binoche  s character would have any interest in him . then in the end it  s all wrapped up so wonderful and everyone lives happily ever after . isn  t that great america   
this is a very funny movie  easy to watch  that entertains you almost all the time . the work of the director is recognizable and the type of humor is his trademark . the movie is a typical police partners history like lethal weapon  but the jokes and comedy are of argentinian sort . the twist is that one of them is a psychologist played by peretti and has to go with detective diaz  played by luque  on his assignments while he also assist him  diaz is troubled because his wife cheated on him  . some of the dialogs are hilarious worldwide understandable and laughable anywhere . is very good overall  it would deserved an   but i rated  because it gets a little down at the end . on a personal remark i must add that is a  bravo  for argentinian filmmakers  considering the little good is coming lately .  
expectations were somewhat high for me when i went to see this movie  after all i thought steve carell could do no wrong coming off of great movies like anchorman  the   year  old virgin  and little miss sunshine . boy  was i wrong .  br    br   i  ll start with what is right with this movie at certain points steve carell is allowed to be steve carell . there are a handful of moments in the film that made me laugh  and it  s due almost entirely to him being given the wiggle  room to do his thing . he  s an undoubtedly talented individual  and it  s a shame that he signed on to what turned out to be  in my opinion  a total train  wreck .  br    br   with that out of the way  i  ll discuss what went horrifyingly wrong .  br    br   the film begins with dan burns  a widower with three girls who is being considered for a nationally syndicated advice column . he prepares his girls for a family reunion  where his extended relatives gather for some time with each other .  br    br   the family is high atop the list of things that make this an awful movie . no family behaves like this . it  s almost as if they  ve been transported from pleasantville or leave it to beaver . they are a caricature of what we think a family is when we  re  . it reaches the point where they become obnoxious and simply frustrating . touch football  crossword puzzle competitions  family bowling  and talent shows are not how actual people behave . it  s almost sickening .  br    br   another big flaw is the woman carell is supposed to be falling for . observing her in her first scene with steve carell is like watching a stroke victim trying to be rehabilitated . what i imagine is supposed to be unique and original in this woman comes off as mildly retarded .  br    br   it makes me think that this movie is taking place on another planet . i left the theater wondering what i just saw . after thinking further  i don  t think it was much .  
a hilarious action comedy in which damian szifron takes into the lives of daz  a cop whose wife has cheated on him . he is living in a hotel feeling guilty about his wife  s unfaithfulness  falling into depression he stops caring  running red lights just for fun  feeling sorry for himself . and silberman  a jewish shrink on probation  a leftist liberal who does not trust cops at all . he is told to accompany daz in his daily duties  unable to refuse due to the terms of his probation . soon the situation reverts when silberman himself finds out his wife is cheating on him  and ends up being comforted by the very person he was supposed to help  a person he did not trust at all in the beginning . a nuclear conspiracy  car thieves  international spies  a hysterical wife . weird characters in a delightful comedy about friendship and heroism .  
  might contain spoilers . . . but believe me  this movie spoils itself from start to finish .  br    br   i walked into this movie with high expectations . it was my own fault . i had put too much stock in steve carell  s record to date .   year old virgin . . . little miss sunshine . . . the office . and i also made the mistake of coming to imdb and seeing a  .  user rating before going to the movie . it  s always been a very good predictor in the past  but something is definitely off lately . the last time i felt this embarrassed and in this much pain in a movie theater was watching  blue steel  in     .  br    br   this flick fumbled from start to finish . the script was flunky material . awful writing all around .  murderer of love    love is an ability   whoever wrote this crap suffered from the same affliction that struck american beauty  s writer  s  . . . trying waaaaayyyyyy too hard . the entire flick was peppered with three  s company  ish moments like the awful and contrived shower scene . or the pointless  confusing aerobics scene . or the awful laundry room scene . right when you think something serious and  or real is about to happen  they toss in one of these terrible moments . and it happens over and over and over again .  br    br   and what  s with carell  s character  the guy meets some lame broad at a book store and is suddenly head over heels in love  let  s face it . their conversation sucked . they both should have said their goodbye  s after a few minutes . pay close attention to the initial conversation when you have the misfortune of watching this movie . . . . carell  s character is trying to say something which is absolutely random and un  funny  i think the exact line was  this one time when i was a kid  . . . that  s it . seriously   but both are laughing so hard that coffee is about to spout out of their noses . the actors themselves looked like they were in pain  wondering why they  re being directed to do what they  re doing .  br    br   back to the imdb thing . . . you guys need to figure out a way to keep a movie  s promotional team off this site . i know it  s impossible  but it  s painfully obvious the first   or so ratings  reviews were either posted by   year olds  or by flunky  s hired by the studio . check out the family stone  s rating . . . if that  s a mid   then this absolutely has got to be a  . . . and that  s pushing it .  
in conception a splendid film  investigating the tensions that occur in family life in the idyllic setting of galiano island off the coast of british columbia   the lotus eaters  is marred by the fact that it has been packaged as a made  for  tv movie  diminishing itself throughout by the addition of chirpy music over potentially powerful scenes  as if to get ready for the interruption of commercials . a pity  really .  
frequently voted china  s greatest film ever by chinese critics  as well as chinese film enthusiasts from the outside  and  frankly  i don  t get it at all . what i saw was one of the most generic melodramas imaginable  blandly directed and acted  with a complete shrew for a protagonist . wei wei  don  t laugh  is that shrew  a young married woman who has suffered alongside her tubercular husband  yu shi  for the past several years . it is post wwii  and they live with the husband  s teenage sister  hongmei zhang  in a dilapidated home with not much money  the man had been wealthy when they married  . along comes the husband  s old best friend  wei li   who also used to be the wife  s boyfriend when they were teens . she considers running away from her husband with this man  while the husband pretty much remains oblivious  thinking he may engage his little sister to his friend . that  s the set  up  and it doesn  t go anywhere you wouldn  t expect it to . i  ve actually seen the remake  directed by blue kite director zhuangzhuang tian . it runs a half hour longer  and is actually kind of dull  too  but at least it was pretty . this supposed classic is pretty intolerable .  
a journey of discovery  this film follows the lives of one family living in a sleepy  island town in british columbia . languorous and dreamy  the inhabitants are satisfied to allow life to go on around them until a young  fresh  faced teacher  with new ideas arrives and brings with her life from the mainland . slowly  their indolent state is awakened  the father  and principal of the local school  looks for excitement  the mother for stability  the oldest daughter for love  and the youngest for power . while not an incredible or ground  breaking piece of cinema  the movie is quietly enjoyable and good for a tired night when the wind is blowing . unfortunately  i doubt anyone outside of canada will find it easily accessible .  
based on one of the books by gabriel marquez and it might be brilliant literature  this cinema  adaption really sucks as it  s more like fighting against sleep rather than enjoying some cinematographic delices . the story is about an old couple whose son died and living a life that is heavily dominated by poverty  and wherein the main character is a cock that hopefully one day brings some money for a forthcoming cockfight . i am in no mood to spill more words on this useless pretentious piece  just perhaps that you can see salma hayek in here  but sitting   minutes in front of your screen for just that  no gracias . . . . .  
i love paul mccartney . he is  in my oppinion  the greatest of all time . i could not  however  afford a ticket to his concert at the tacoma dome during the back in the u . s . tour . i was upset to say the least . then i found this dvd . it was almost as good as being there . paul is still the man and i will enjoy this for years to come .  br    br   i do have one complaint . i would of like to hear all of hey jude .  br    br   also paul is not dead .  br    br   the single greatest concert dvd ever .  br    br    out of  .  
watching tom hanks as a hit man for the irish mob is a little like seeing jimmy stewart as a serial rapist it just doesn  t work . i had a really hard time accepting this . not that i don  t think tom can  t act he can i  ve been following his career since mazes and monsters but for some reason this fell flat for me . maybe because i  m such a fan of the graphic novel and at the risk of sounding like a fanboy  the only form of life lower than a fanboy is a cockroach  the movie as a whole fails for me . the additions jude law  and the subtractions everything else left me feeling cold and more than a little disappointed . i was expecting a great crime movie more in the vein of bonnie and clyde mendes took all the heart out of the story and left us with nothing but the bare bones . there are things to like in this flick however the cinematography is breathtaking filling the screen with beautiful images paul newman is as usual excellent and i really did enjoy the score  but tom as  the angel of death  sullivan was completely flat .  
edmund burke said that  all evil needs is for good me to do nothing .  hollywood often gives us trash because not enough families go to see quality films . this movie was uplifting story of the loss and restoration of faith . it had no violence  no lewdness  and did not deserve a pg rating . the western scenery was filmed well  and some of the vistas were simply breathtaking . actors were a bit young for their parts  but otherwise believable and talented . music score was too loud  and in some places drowned out the dialog completely . i  m seldom surprised by movie endings any more  but i was pleasantly surprised by this one . sometimes the good guys do win  and they win by honest efforts . we liked the movie and the message  and would recommend it for the entire family .  
killer tomatoes movies have this special kind of humor  you either love it or hate it . i personally like it  but in this fourth movie the feeling is gone . the tomatoes aren  t the same  jokes are lame  even the actors aren  t as funny . because that  s the only thing this kind of movies are supposed to be  funny .  br    br   so now following the plot made to laugh  is annoying . they really shouldn  t have done the fourth part to the killer tomatoes trilogy .  
this is a great film for mccartney  s and beatles fans  a splendid time is guaranteed for all . the audience  feat some celebrities such as nicholson  cuzak  michael douglas  is  as always  quite amazingfrom small children to old campaigners of the sixties . they know the words to all the songs by heart  and some of them are crying when paul breaks into  blackbird   yesterday   all my loving  and all the treasures of his catalog  who  except john lennon and dylan  can claim such a repertoire   . there are two particularly moving moments  br    br    the double tribute to lennon and harrisonfirst  here today  performed solo  the title was included in  tug of war      and was its best track   then  something  when paul uses an ukulele .  br    br     the long and winding road  rendition  a key moment  when paul  s voice cracks  as he is moved to tears by the hearts the members of the tour crew hold in front of the stage .  br    br   i remember  in the early seventies  when people used to despise paul  cause he was not involved in politics  as his ex  partner was . they had to change their mind for paul is a committed artist  fame is great cause it allows charity  . the film shows different aspects of paul  s activities  an artist who is anything but selfish .  
the highlight of this movie for me was without doubt tom hanks . as mike sullivan  he was definitely cast against type and showed that he can handle an untraditional  for him  role . hanks is usually the good guy in a movie  the one you like  admire and root for . sullivan was definitely not a good guy . it  s true that in the context of this movie he came across as somewhat noble  his purpose being to avenge the murders of his wife and youngest son . even so  he was already a gangster and murderer before those killings . so hanks took a role i wouldn  t have expected him in  and he pulled it off well .  br    br   hanks  good performance aside  though  i certainly couldn  t call this an enjoyable movie . after an opening that i would best describe as enigmatic  it wasn  t entirely clear to me for a while where this was going  it turns into a very sombre movie  about the complicated relationships sullivan has developed as a gangster  largely raised by rooney  paul newman   who  s a sort of mob boss  and trying to raise his own two sons and to keep them  clean  so to speak isolated from his business . after the older son witnesses a murder  the gang tries to kill him to keep him quiet  gets the wrong son  and the mother   and leaves sullivan and his older son  mike  jr .  on the run . it becomes a weird sort of father  son bonding movie .  br    br   although it ends on a somewhat hopeful note  at least in the overall context of the story  it  s really very dark throughout  that mood being reinforced with many of the scenes being shot in darkness and torrential rainfall . i have to confess that while i appreciated hanks  performance  the movie as a whole just didn  t pull me in .      
this is one of the finest music concerts anyone will ever see and hear . i grew up when all my lovin  was brand new and to hear it again today by the original artist today is a measure of sir p mc  s power to spellbind any crowd of any age . this doco goes way behind the scenes to show us life on the road not just for the band but everyone down to the roadies . i saw this guy live in aussie     and can assure you his performance here on this dvd is no less than he gave almost   years ago . i have a huge  .  surround sound system that does do this justice and would recommend this anyone especially a beatles fan . this is the closest you will get to a beatles concert today . singer  songwriter  lead  rhythm  bass guitar  piano  ukulele  just pure genius . there are few entertainers who can stand alone with one instrument and hold the crowd in his hand . if you want note perfect music  buy a studio recorded cd . if you want to hear raw music as it is intended and spontaneous to the crowd  with all the excitement and emotion of the crowd  this dvd is for you .  
this film is overblown  predictable  pretentious  and hollow to its core . the settings are faithful to the era but self  conscious in their magnification by prolonged exposure . the lingering over artifacts stops the action and cloys almost as much as the empty dialogue . tom hanks seems to be sleepwalking much as bruce willis did in hart  s war . tom  you can  t give depth to a character simply by making your face blank  the content did not warrant the histrionic acting by paul newman . this is a dud wrapped in an atomic bomb casing .  
we toss around the term  superstar  way too lightly these days  but here  s one guy that truly deserves it .  br    br   i was glued to the set this entire show . the song selection was perfect   it only contained the songs i actually wanted to hear and cut in with documentary footage during the weaker new songs . i loved that the band was just a five guys on stage in a very minimalist environment .  with songs of this strength  you don  t need a circus to be entertained  .  br    br   the shots of the crowd were amazing  too . how many performers can affect the original beatles fans  now in their    s and beyond   get young kids to jump up at the opening lines of  can  t buy me love  and impact everyone in between   br    br   while watching  i also realized that in the wake of john lennon  s tragic death  paul mccartney instantly became an afterthought . paul not only lost john and george  no matter what their final relations were  it must be hard to lose someone with whom you changed the world   but he also lost his wife linda and never really seemed to garner the acknowledgment lennon  s murder received . i agree that lennon  s murder was horrible  but only now did i realize that paul was sort of forgotten in the aftermath . i was very happy that he  s found love again in heather .  br    br   as for those complaining about the audio  video quality  i had no complaints whatsoever both were crystal clear on my set . i think these same people will complain about the quality of dvd when the next format comes out they  ll never be satisfied .  br    br   my only regret was not buying a ticket to this show when i had the chance . thanks to this video i was able to enjoy it .  br    br   when people remember john lennon  they will first remember his murder and then his music . i now have a new appreciation for paul mccartney  because  if nothing else  he will be remembered for his music first . and let  s hope another lunatic won  t change this  because the mccartney catalog is pretty good .  
  meatball machine  has got to be one of the most complex ridiculous  awful and over  exaggerated sci  fi horror films that i have ever came across . it is about good against evil and a coming  of  age tale  with the aim of to entertain with bloody  sleazy and humorous context . because of that the violence isn  t particularly gruesome and it doesn  t make you squirm  but the gratuitous bloodletting and nudity does run freely . the performances by issei takahashi and toru tezuka is the worst i have seen  if that was not enough it is also directed by an unheard of director called yudai yamaguchi . this movie just have it all  it is bad to the bone   a must see for every b  movie freak    . . . simply an enjoying and rare gem .  
  this man  s navy  is  as other comments have indicated  a rare and well  filmed look at navy lighter than air  lta  activities . the lta crews were justly proud that the convoys they shadowed never lost a ship to submarine attack . and the filming at the various nas locations give a valuable glimpse at a type of aviation that is long gone . however  the first half of the movie is all about beery  his relationship with his service pals  and him meeting the tom drake character and his mother  and getting drake  s leg fixed . only then does the second film start . the second film is mostly ltas in action  taking on a surfaced sub  guys get killed and much damage is caused . the look is fairly gritty and realistic  i imagine . then we shift to southeast asia . did the navy have ltas there  never mind  this part is really wild  with a blimp being used to extract some downed aircrew from the jungle . and the japs are shooting like mad . shades of vietnam  except the getaway is oh  so leisurely . this is a blimp we  re talking about . in the end  a feel  good wwii drama about a very unusual part of the war .  
it is of course very nice to see improvements on turkish movie industry  however  i would have expected something more creative from togan gokbakar . starting from the script  which i believe it was not a wise written one as some may think . especially the cheesiness of the dialogs  which were putting the audience in a position that  as if they were not smart enough to understand the situations  which  most of the times makes the movie unbearable . it also has an obvious ending you can easily guess the murderer from the beginning . the weakest part of the scenario is that the impossibility of seriously mentally ill patients to act like normal people  like professionals right away    did they ever search for the possibility of patients who are on heavy medicals  to act like professionals and use all the medical terms that even normal people cannot use            also in the scene where staff was searching for the most dangerous patient  with out any weapon to protect themselves was another weird point of the film . and that scene was so suitable for  dikkat sahan cikabilir  title   those are not the only weak parts of the movie . there were also a lot of preciosities in the film . the depiction of the most dangerous patient was an exact copy from hannibal  also appearance of togan in the very end is obviously the worst mistake that he could have done in his first movie  the fuss about the greatness of the movie and the interviews that actor  s gave just made people to be curious and force them to see it . gen is a total disappointment . i would have wonder  if sahan was not this famous  would togan be able to shoot this movie  with this much of budget amount   i hope togan would realize that it is not fashionable to play in a role as a director as he said in an interview . it was hitchcock who did it wisely and night shyamalan continued it successfully  he should be aware of the fact that he is not hitchcock nor shyamalan yet     hoping him to be more careful and creative next time in this big industry   
not many movies were made about the lighter  than  air  lta  aspect of aviation  but this is one of them and it  s damn good . just a fun film to watch .  br    br   most of the movie takes place at the navy blimp operations at nas lakehurst  with nas tustin playing the role  . wallace beery plays a likable but munchausen  like senior chief ned trumpet  an enlisted pilot  whose tall tales have gotten so frequent nobody really believes him . half the fun is near the end of the movie when events start proving that most of his more outlandish tales are actually true .  br    br   set during wwii  the main plot centers around bachelor trumpet wooing a local widow only to end up having a father  son relationship with the widow  s crippled son  jess . told he would never walk without crutches by doctors  chief trumpet pulls some strings and a navy flight surgeon helps in restoring the lad  s crippled leg . jess goes on to join the navy to become a flight officer  flying blimps back at lakehurst and facing a whole new set of challenges .  br    br   a very well  done movie  albeit not without some corny hollywood dialogue slipping past the technical advisers  and beery  s apparent inability to march in step . otherwise this movie gets good grades for technical accuracy  and gives a rare look into the navy  s lta operations . the cash register scene  an exchange between trumpet and jess  s future love interest cathy  is an absolute hoot .  
the title above is used to introduce the film  gen  to its audience . gen is about a young doctor  doga rutkay  with an ill mother . the film starts with her leaving her mother behind to start her new job . while she drives  we realise that she is not that close home as the hospital is in a remote area . as soon as she steps into the garden of the hospital  she sees the death body of a patient . this is the beginning of a nightmare for the next few days .  br    br   two policemen comes to the hospital so as to investigate the suicide . in fact  they will have to stay in the hospital because all roads are cut off due to bad weather conditions . all their communication with outside world is cut off too . there is no way out   in those few days  there will be more nasty murders . now everybody suspects from each other .  br    br   in my opinion  the idea is brilliant . it could have been very scary indeed . there are positive sides of the movie of course . i really like the beginning of the movie . especially  when she drives to the hospital and her first moments in the hospital . actings are okay . some of them are trying too hard to be mysterious and scary though . i think the final shock should have been spread into the through out of the movie . what i am saying is  it was a good twist but instead of showing it as a parody in the end  we should have realised that was coming when we see what is happening . the director needed to explain it altogether which i think didn  t work well . also the most dangerous patient in the movie is supposed to be at least   years old but his body looks so young and fit for someone who spends most of his life in this hospital . lastly  i would like to say a few things about the director . i am sure he will improve . this is his first attempt . i have recently found out that he is only   years old . that made me feel more positive about him and his future films . i am not going to rate this film  out of  though .  
bunny comes home  this man  s navy  deserves more credit than it gets  a clever script by borden chase  directed by  wild bill  wellman  the film has just the right feel for early post ww   euphoria and goodwill  and none of the blind terror that came into play few years later . produced in      the japanese defeated  the battle scenes a little dj vu  tom drake  s melancholy attraction for radiant young jan clayton has solid chemistry  plays real and validates drake  s career at metro . the following year jan opened on broadway in  carousel .  wally beery  a little bleary  eyed  boasts to an always incredulous jimmy gleason his memories an improvement over reality  and give beery a ulysses  like shadow to play against . the navy lta  lighter than air  shots are authentic  photographed at tustin and lakehurst  and the p    squadron is out of march afb . lot  doubled for india  and bunny  s u  turn bunny comes home gives back to beery an authentic slice of his past  something he had wanted to believe was true then  the future we spin into again is fantastical now on a grander scale  a newly designed navy lta with launch capabilities for a reconnaissance plane how expensive  blissfully optimistic still   you got to believe in it  that  s the way you make things come true   
it  s a bad movie  it seems like there is only  police in hk  they were not using there gun and this makes me feel like a jacky chan  s movie . all the time they were using their gun to point at the suspect only . when they finally use their gun is when they kill each other  what a funny movie . in the movie  it  s like all the good guys died without a reason .  br    br   they story line of the movie also sucks  the story jump here and there and bored people . but if you wanted to see a bloody movie  i think this is only a ok type of movie  i think u . s . made zombie movie is more bloodier than this one  
of all the movies i have seen  and that  s most of them  this is by far the best one made that is primarily about the u . s . naval airships  blimps  during the ww  ii era . yes there are other good lta related movies  but most use special effects more than any real  time shots . this man  s navy has considerably more real  time footage of blimps etc . true  lots of corny dialog but that  s what makes more interesting hollywood movies  even today . p . s . i spent   years  out of    and have over      hours in navy airships of all types  from     through     . proud member of the naval airship association etc . atc  la  ac  usn retired  
this is the worst movie i have ever seen in my entire life . the plot and message are horrible . there are too many mistakes in this movie that it  s impossible to keep up . i don  t even understand how this movie can get any nomination  let alone  . here  s why   sam lee portrays a angry  irrational detective which was caused by the disappointment from his dad . pros he  s angry alright . cons when it comes to the explanation scene  he cannot convey the sadness  disappointment he has in his father . the crying scene was too fake and it seems like he is literally squeezing out tears from the corner of his eyes .  br    br     to connect the movie to the title  there were barking or dog wimping sounds during the fight scenes and rape scene  which is totally irrelevant and confusing to the viewer . i understand that it  s supposed to be a metaphor or what not . . . but it  s just sooo dumb    why the heck did the cops not shoot the killer  what the heck is wrong with this movie . when the killer started stabbing an officer  shoot him . he  s already dead  what the heck  there were lots of opportunity that the killer could be killed  but i do not know why he wasn  t    during the scene where the girl had her foot hurt . in the scene  it was very clear that the left foot of the girls was hurt  so how the heck in the next scene that she  s lending all her weight on her left foot  and this is the actress nominated as the best new performer  wtf    the sounds in the movie are off sync .  br    br     i am guessing that this movie is trying to bring awareness of the brutality and violence among children in south east asia  so why does the bad guy wins and then the cop was joining the fight    this movie is just too violent without a purpose . cops are beating ci to a pulp and then if they cooperate  they give them marijuana and coke  this is overall the worst movie . i truly feel that the person who wrote this movie is a sadist and sick person . i have never seen a more disgusting movie in my whole entire life . worst movie ever   
while this movie isn  t a classic by any stretch  it is very entertaining as i remember it . i saw it about   years ago on hbo and loved the movie . it was written by the same guy that wrote and directed  arthur  and though it isn  t as funny as that movie  it does show the potential that steve gordon reached with  arthur  .  
as it is often the case  the impressive and explosive trailers of asian films add up to nothing more than lackluster stories . similar to unleashed  which was great   dog bite dog tells a story where men are raised as ferocious savage dogs that carry out their master  s bidding . the main characters  an emotionally undeveloped  amoral killer who is matched against an equally unstable police officer  are far from the common heroes and villains we often see . in fact  by the end  you lose track of who you  re supposed to empathize with  failing to feel even the slightest emotion for either of the men  whether that was the failure of the director or perhaps the underlining message he was trying to tell is up to you to decide .  br    br   although the beginning of the film was filled with intrigue and unpredictability  by the half  way point it slopped down to a humdrum story of survival and revenge . the suspense which was evident at first soon disappeared because of a grossly mismatched music score which brought down the potentially effective story telling . and in the end  you were left feeling that all that detailed background information and introspection of the main characters was somehow very unnecessary .  br    br   on the plus side  the transition in story from point a to point b was quite atypical compared to us movies  so those who aren  t familiar with asian films and are tired of hollywood  s predictability should check it out .  br    br   the white balance seemed off throughout most of the film . it was like looking into a picture shot on fluorescent when it was supposed to be set on tungsten . maybe i  m the only one  but it strained my eyes .  br    br   the movie also enjoyed playing tricks on you  an interesting build  up gave me hope for the slow moving story until it was diverted to a low budget  low speed chase scene . and just when you think you were going to get an unanswered indie ending with a mix of shakespearean tragedy  you realize that it  s not an ending at all  but rather a transition into a wacky country  music montage about peace and serenity .  br    br   throw in some grisly from  behind choke scenes  a moment of redemption unexpectedly brought back into savagery and back again the other way  asians  fascination with bodily fluids and a horrible music score that didn  t match the film  and you get the average bland asian thriller .  br    br   i just don  t get why every fight scene was overlaid with clips of roaring lions i thought they were supposed to symbolize dogs  ultimately  in the end  we are reminded about a true killer that still lurks amongst us  tetanus .  br    br        
 . . . i saw this on cable back in the late      s as i was a big wrestling fan since     . i saw this on vhs in a  for sale  bin and bought it .  br    br   in      i started training as a wrestler after the air force and would always go back to watching this to see how it was a very accurate portrayal of people that are involved with wrestling  families and friends that wouldn  t understand us  the travel  the heartbreak  etc .  . henry winkler is funny and sometimes sad to watch as nobody else can understand what a genius he is creatively . a great way to separate himself the fonz character he played on happy days at the time . plus  look at the cast . . . william daniels  knight rider   polly holiday  alice   and wrestlers roddy piper and chavo guerrero sr . if you get a chance  watch it .  
after watching this film  i was left with a two very annoyances about this film why did they make chen  s character this  mcguyver hit  man  and lee  s character such an incompetent idiot  chen  s character  s background is that he was raised in an underground cambodian orphanage for blood thirsty fighter where they learn to brawl it out to the death like wild  dogs .  this detail is pushed early on during a scene where he gets into a cab and as it starts to drive  he shows how he is unfamiliar with a seat belt . soon after this scene  he has a similar situation at a dim sum restaurant . not only is he uneducated  he is starving . this is not a reference to chen  s scrawny physique but to the two early scenes in the film where he is scarfing down food  one of which  being rice porridge off the floor of the lower deck on an old ship . si in the first ten minutes of the film  it is established that chen is malnutrition  ed  unmodernized  and has only thing going for him  his  dog  brawling fighting style of some sort . despite this situation  chen manages to out  shoot every policeman  even managing to ricochet a bullet off a metal pipe to hit a guy in a head  whom was holding chen  s girlfriend hostage  and has somehow attained a super human strength  swings a   lb block of concrete  plastered on the end of a metal pipe  to the head of the police chief as he is getting shot in the chest  by said chief  .  br    br   now lee  s character . . . okay  i get it  he  s depressed  he  s got some baggage  but wow  can he do anything right  one moment  they try to make him cool  composed and ready to take care of business  and the next moment  he just got beat again . first scene he runs into chen  and he manages to misses him  from approx   ft  multiple times . toward the end of that scene  lee watches chen as his close friend and coworker gets slowly stabbed in the neck with a long knife for a good full  seconds  while holding a gun to chen face  at a   ft distance . even at the end of the movie  lee manages to get stabbed to death and fails once again .  br    br   and my biggest problem with this movie is that it is presented in a manner that film makers are trying to get the audience to sympathize with chen  s character and that he is just  killing to survive .  that would be a lot easier if i didn  t just watch chen kill innocent people throughout the whole awful movie . of the numerous people he killed  only two people had the intention of trying to kill him  the police chief and lee . others were just people who were eating  boat owners  taxi drivers  and policemen trying to arrest him  not kill . overall  chen  s character is a just a cold blooded killer who kills for what he wants  even if its just a free ride .  did i mention he is carrying a wad of hundred dollar bills throughout most of the film   my  stars go to some of the interesting director  camera work who got in some nice shots .  br    br   bottomline one made for the nut  hugging chen fans . for me   dog bite this dvd   
i saw the film twice in the space of one week  both times the at a cinema in orpington  kent  uk . the place was packed both times and people had to be turned away . from the start of the film with henry winkler getting  injured  on the football field the whole audience was in uproar with laughter  laughter that lasted until the credits .  br    br   for those who love american wrestling this film is a must  but be ready to see henry winkler as you have never seen him before . also look out for a very well known actor whose trademark wrestling move is a head  but   br    br   if you get a chance watch this movie and it is family comedy entertainment at its best   
geez  as a gay man who lives in nyc i can gratefully say that i have never seen the underbelly of gay culture that is portrayed in this film  and i am glad of it    was this film broadcast on tv across the united states there would be a great anti  gay backlash and i cannot say that i would blame them . the people in this film do not represent the average gay american or even the average trandgender american  what they do represent is a sheer and utter nightmare . the inclusion of obviously underage characters is appalling and the obvious racist sentiments  anti  white  are blatant and unsettling  society cannot be blamed for people who have chosen drugs  unemployment and rejection of education on the part of the film  s  cast   the actions of these people are not acts of desperation  but rather a rejection of anything resembling personal ambition and a willingness to make something out of one  s self .  
zombie chronicles isn  t something to shout about  it  s obvious not a award winning movie but it is a entertaining b  movie directed by brad sykes who directed camp blood which was another entertaining low budget flick . the acting is bad like most cheaply made movies but that  s what makes it more entertaining  the zombie make  up is cool and effective especially with the budget  the gore is also great and gross  the film is sort of like a zombie version of tales from the crypt since we get two tales about zombie encounters in the woods  the stories are fun and do leave you guessing especially the first tale . zombie chronicles is a lot better than some low budget zombie movies out there  if you love low budget b  movies or cheaply made zombie flicks then check out zombie chronicles .  
film version of sandra bernhard  s one  woman off  broadway show is gaspingly pretentious . sandra spoofs lounge acts and superstars  but her sense of irony is only fitfully interesting  and fitfully funny . her fans will say she  s scathingly honest  and that may be true . but she  s also shrill  with an unapologetic  in  your  face bravado that isn  t well  suited to a film in this genre . she doesn  t want to make nice   and she  s certainly not out to make friends   and that  s always going to rub a lot of people the wrong way . but even if you meet her halfway  her material here is seriously lacking . filmmaker nicolas roeg served as executive producer and  though not directed by him  the film does have his chilly  detached signature style all over it . bernhard co  wrote the show with director john boskovich their oddest touch was in having all of sandra  s in  house audiences looking completely bored   a feeling many real viewers will most likely share .     from   
well i guess it supposedly not a classic because there are only a few easily recognizable faces  but i personally think it is . . . it  s a very beautiful sweet movie  henry winkler did a great job with his character and it really impressed me .  
wow  i  m shocked to learn that it  s a small world and that we are all interconnected . what a waste of   minutes . john dunne put it much better in one sentence .  no man is an island .  the acting wasn  t bad . the kids gave it all they had but at times the thread got so thin i couldn  t follow it and the only real  hero  in the film ends up in jail after being tormented by a meter maid . i don  t know . i just don  t get it . oh well .  
the one and only was a great film . i had just finished viewing it on encorew on directv . i am an independent professional wrestler  and i thought this was a good portray of what life is like as a professional wrestler . now this film was made  years before i was born  but i don  t think the rigors of professional wrestling traveling has changed all that much . sad  funny  and all around great         
the story concerns a genealogy researcher  mel harris  who is hired by her estee lauder  like cosmetic queen aunt . her aunt  by marriage we are left to presume  is trying to track down her long lost family in europe . all they have to go on is a photo of a young girl standing by an ornate music box . the researcher heads to europe and conducts her search in places like milan  budapest  and vienna . the scenery is the real thing and is actually shot on location  unlike a murder  she wrote where jessica is supposed to be visiting a far  flung locale and lansbury never left burbank  . anyway  she meets a young man who is also searching to solve a family mystery of his own and they team up to track down clues and menace bad guys . the dialogue  particularly the romantic dialogue  is terrible . i watched this because of the scenery but the script was so bad that i stayed on just to see if it would get worse . it did . acting was also off . i can see why mel harris  s career never really took off after thirtysomething  but she is adequate  seems too old for her co  star though  . but  the supporting players are straight out of the community playhouse . i also lost count of how many times they say  budapest  to each other . yes  it is pronounced bood  a  phesht . we know  okay  i realized halfway into the film that this had to be one of those harlequin movies and sure enough it is . guess that says it all .  
this movie is a perfect example of a film that divides people into  groups . . those who get the joke and those who don  t . people usually attack what they don  t understand . this film has a comic style and charm that has been unparalleled since . it  s a great comedy . . and a great romance . it  s a perfect date movie . a perfect movie for someone who wants a good lighthearted laugh . and if your perspective is too tense  maybe this movie isn  t for you  and you may need counseling . it is an injustice that paramount has kept this film on the shelf since the early    s  having never seen the light of day on dvd . yet they feel an urban version of  the honeymooners  is a good idea . i find it odd that my two alltime favorite romantic comedies have never been released on dvd . the other being gene wilder  s  the world  s greatest lover  which fox has sat on since the early    s as well . . . yet   from justin to kelly  is in nearly every video store in the country . there is no justice in the world . maybe those who took the time to bash this will enjoy  from justin to kelly   i  m sure that one is watered enough for them to  get  . sometimes with age people lose their sense of humor . . . or sometimes it just goes stale and they find comic satisfaction in reruns of  full house  .  
take young  pretty people  put them in an exotic locale  stick in a few bad guys  have the two lead characters find romance after a couple of heavy breathing scenes  create the flimsiest of plots  then work out a happy ending for everybody  other than the three or four who get murdered  of course  that  s the classic  and successful  format of the harlequin romance . it  s not very good but then it  s not very bad either  like most of the little yellow pocket books . and the location stuff in budapest is especially interesting  even if they didn  t use the wonderful old train station  designed by gustave eifel  or show the city  s famous thermal baths .  
eddie murphy really made me laugh my ass off on this hbo stand up comedy show . i love his impressions of mr . t  ed norton and ralph cramden of  the honeymooners   elvis presley  and michael jackson too . the ice cream man  goony goo goo  is also funny . i saw this for the first time when it came out in     . i laughed so hard  i almost fell off my chair . i still think this is very funny .  br    br   eddie murphy  when he was on  saturday night live   made me laugh so hard  he is one of the best people to come out of  saturday night live  .  eddie murphy delirious  is his best stand up performance next to  eddie murphy raw  .  br    br   i give  eddie murphy delirious   thumbs up and      stars .  
the plot was quite interesting  with the russian revolution background . i also enjoyed seeing budapest as the movie was partly filmed there . sadly  there was zero chemistry between the  main characters so it was hard to believe the love story between them . the love scenes were forced and mechanical . jordan kirckland was really stiff  almost icy . rob stewart was quite charming and boyish  so she looked like his older sister rather than his girlfriend . the ending  when we finally figure out who was actually after them  was quite weak and made no sense whatsoever . i think i would have enjoyed this movie a lot better if the relationship between the  actors was slightly more credible .  
rated nr  would be rated r for pervasive strong language and crude sexual humor  . quebec rating     should be     canadian home video rating   a  br    br   eddie murphy delirious is eddie  s first stand up comedy routine . this came out in     . back then he starred in the movie   hrs and trading places and he was on saturday night live . eddie made two stand up comedy films . delirious and raw . i preferred raw because i just found the subject matter to be more humorous . delirious however is also very funny with eddie talking about his childhood and making fun of celebrities such as mr . t and singers such as michael jackson . any fan of stand  up comedy films should see eddie murphy  s delirious .  
there was something here with the female lead having this perfect life she  s always wanted after the worst life possible  beginning as a child prostitute and winding up with eric roberts . but her background makes it impossible for her to trust dean cain and this utterly destroys it in the end . it sounds weird  but i like the position dean cain was in at the end and the choice he made . he can  t hurt her because he loves her and she  s the mother of his child  i think the time frame makes it clear it  s his child and not his brother  s   but at the same he can  t forgive her for all she  s done  sleeping with his brother  which shows the love and obligation he felt was pretty much one way  and then being part of his death . in better hands this would have been a better movie  but for something i caught on late night cable  it  s not bad .  
during eddie murphy  s stand up a women from the audience yells at eddie and a man from the audience responds . what is said is   women  do mr rob  this is a character from saturday night live   the man responds with shut up bitch . unlike the previous post saying the women yelled do gumby  this is incorrect  although the post  er said he was there they must have a hearing problem  despite what the post  er says about not being able to here it on dvd have a close listen as you actually can hear it on the dvd  do mr rob     i hope this helps anyone curious out the outburst cheers gaz                                                                                     
after reading several good reviews as well as hearing nice things about it by word of mouth i decided to rent come undone . i must say i was rather disappointed . the story was hard to follow because the film is set as a series of flashbacks between the present and recent past that are very poorly executed . the characters  despite the actors best efforts are flat and uninteresting . the sex is and nudity are more explicit than they need to be . i  ve never seen a film where they seemed so unnecessary to the plot . the ending is very anti  climatic and leaves many unanswered questions to a story line that wasn  t explained well to begin with . in my opinion  a waste of time .  
 . . . it even beats the nasty  raw  . almost twenty years old is this show and still i laughed very much when i was watching it last night . it shows eddie murphy dressed in tight red clothes  old school  and he jokes with everything from celebertis to his family . he was only    years old then and this is a must  see   br    br        
it seems there  s a bit of a curse out there when it comes to gay cinema . namely  happy endings aren  t very common . beautiful thing excluded  gay films tend to end in broken relationships or untimely death . and some  like come undone  just end . . . period .  br    br   the creators of this horrid piece of nonsense have a thing or two to learn about plot  direction  and timelines . within the first ten minutes of this film  i found myself a bit confused  and even more so after the first glimpse of jeremie elkaim  s character having a little psych session . it seems this film was randomly pieced together without the slightest attempt at continuity or consistency . there  s no real way to tell when you  re viewing the present or some sort of ethereal flashback . i could only take so much before it became truly unappealing .  br    br   stephen holden of the new york times called this film  . . . shimmeringly beautiful and utterly real .  well  it seems that stephen invested in beer goggles prior to viewing  as this is truly far from beautiful . due to all the praise this film received  i expected something worth watching . sadly  the film lived down to its title . and by the end of the movie  which provided no resolution whatsoever  i might add  it  s plain to see that the writers  the director and the film have all come undone .  
this video is so hilariously funny  it makes everything else  br    br   by eddie murphy seem very disappointing  even beverly hills cop and the nutty professor  which just goes to show you how good this really is  . to be honest  i don  t think that i  ve ever  br    br   laughed at something as much as this  including naked gun and the rarely seen bargearse . this show is amazing  although it must be said that it is certainly filled with the word beginning with f that is four letters long  plus its extended version beginning with m  but it didn  t bother me . see it  the funniest thing i  ve ever seen and probably the funniest you ever have too .  
somewhere  out there  there must be a list of the all time worst gay films every made . one  s that have overlong camera shots of the stars sitting and staring pensively into space  or one  s where they focus unbearably long on kitty kats eating spaghetti . this motion sickness picture is a story of a boy and a boy and they live and love and swim and get stuck in grottos and one of them has a depressed mother and another has no mother and they talk and walk and swim and have sex and get drunk and then break up and someone goes to the hospital for eight days and then gets out and there is a lot of fast forward and rewind and there are long pensive shots of one of them looking into space or just sitting and doing nothing . i think it  s some sort of gimmicky film making technique or maybe it  s that the film is so bad they have to fill it up with long  wasted shots because otherwise if they had to rely on plot or story the film would be about   minutes . don  t get me wrong  this is about the   th gay film i  ve watched in the past  months and some of them  most of them  have been very formulmatic  predictable and boring but this is one is really a terrible waste of time . the best one so far was  beautiful thing  . so  i watched this and after the very first opening shot which lingered and lingered i thought  oh  no  its going to be creative sinny mah  but i gave it a chance and watched it and then when it ended i tossed the dvd in the trash . sorry i didn  t like it and if you did  sorry if i offend .  
eddie murphy delirious is easily the funniest stand  up concert film i have ever seen . most stand  up acts usually have lulls at some point  but not this one folks . for   min there is not one moment that is not side  splittingly funny . from the moment eddie does a hilariously dead  on impression of mr . t  the laughs are non  stop .  br    br   sadly  this was done in      and eddie hasn  t done anything nearly as funny . it  s unbelievable that the man who wrote this phenomenally brilliant show  wrote a movie called harlem nights which was not very funny at all .  br    br   eddie  if you  re out there  please go back and do a concert film in the vein of delirious . believe me your fans will love you for it . and i think you know that .  
i  d really  really wanted to see this movie  and waited for months to get it through our blockbuster total access account . when it showed up in our mailbox  i threw it straight into the dvd player .  br    br   i was very sadly disappointed  which in turn made me mad . i  ll give any movie a chance  even if i want to walk out of the theater  press  stop  . i watched it all the way through  but didn  t get anything from it but frustration .  br    br   the acting was very  very good  but that was about it . nothing is explained while we understand that mathieu becomes depressed and lands in a psych ward of some kind  we  re never given insight to his  downfall  . while we understand that he and cedric break up  again  we don  t see it happen or why it happened . during an interview with mathieu  s doctor  cedric reveals that he  d cheated on him once  but it was no big deal . i expected to see this in flashbacks  but no   nothing . we also gets the hints that cedric was the one to bring mat to the hospital   but again  we don  t see it .  br    br   i know some movies are a  take it as it is  basis  but this movie honestly ticked me off . when pierre  cedric  s ex shows up in the club and starts trouble  we don  t see hide nor hair of him until near the end  and it took me a good chunk of time to figure out that pierre was the ex . his personality at the club and when mat finds him are entirely different . i might even be wrong saying this  it was that confusing .  br    br   the film expects you to know everything and move along with its disjointed  out  of  place and confusing pace . i can keep up with films like  pi    citizen kane  and other films that have flashbacks  flash  forwards left and right  but cu didn  t capture and hold onto the style . at the end of  citizen kane   you know what  s going on and discover the answer to the main mysteries . cu just leaves you hanging . it has an air of pretension in its  we  re not gonna tell you a damned thing  figure it out for yourself  presentation . it  s like reading a book with the chapters switched around and pages missing .  br    br   good acting  like i said . i liked the characters  but the whole story was just too disappointing .  
this was the funniest piece of film  tape i have ever witnessed  bar none . i laughed myself sick the first three times i watched it . i recommend it to everyone  with the warning that if they can  t handle the f  sharps to stay far away . at his best when telling stories from a kids point of view .  
not funny  how can anyone link this to monty python  that is absolutely ridiculous  there are no laughs . this is not funny . over the top  but ugly  weird just for weird sake and it seems to me these people were on something all the time . unfortunately something that did not make them funny .  br    br   it should be given some points for effort etc . whatever . actually it appears there is a laugh track  or is there one  hummm . . . . since there are barely any laughs that  s a debatable question .  br    br   maybe i  m doing it injustice  maybe it  s some sort of exercise . some sort of art  in that case anything goes  never mind .  br    br   but these guys playing women with high  pitched voices  turned  up noses . come on    not funny .  br    br   there is only one heir apparent to monty pythons intellectual wit and that is stephen colbert  and maybe jon stewart .  
okay  first of all i got this movie as a christmas present so it was free  first  this movie was meant to be in stereoscopic  d . it is for the most part  but whenever the main character is in her car the movie falls flat to  d  what       it  s not that hard to film in a car    second  the story isn  t very good . there are a lot of things wrong with it .  br    br   third  why are they showing all of the deaths in the beginning of the film  it made the movie suck whenever some was going to get killed    watch it for a good laugh  but don  t waste your time buying it . just download it or something for cheap .  
i saw this by chance showing on cable on wanted to like it as i thought sandra was quite funny from what i remembered . the only facial movement i had throughout the movie was jaw dropping stunned at how awful a movie i just suffered through .  br    br   the person who said this is one of the funniest movies of all time please point out one line  just one scene  that is even worth a chuckle .  br    br   she is a much better singer than i remember her to be  but i didn  t want to watch a lounge act .  br    br   i think this is a movie try hard to like since they think they should and don  t view it objectively .  
the film is side spliting from the outset  eddie just seems to bring that uniqueness to the stage and makes the most basic thing funny from having an ice cream as a child to the long old tradition of the family get together . the film is very rare in this country but unsure of availability in other countries i have searched through a lot of web sites and still no luck  phoned companies that search for rare videos and there are year waiting lists for it . so hints are very welcome . if any one likes eddie murphy as a comedian and see  s the video get it  it is worth the money and can  t go far wrong .  
i like british humor  i believe it  s one of the best in the world . i like almost every british sitcom  okay . . . maybe not monthy python  some of the jokes were great  but some of them i didn  t understand .   but this league of gentlemen is just something good to make you sick . this show was good in some way it helped me lost some weight because watching this piece of garbage make me feel i  m not hungry anymore . this is really just disgusting  sick and not even funny tv show and i wonder who is actually laughing at this stuff . i watched it for about   minutes and turned it off . it was so disgusting  watching men dressed in the woman with yellow teeth and urinating on the car . . . i mean . . . what  s so funny about that    it makes me wanna puke . no humor  just disturbing images and cheap  toilet laughs . . . i don  t know . . . if you like this stuff . . . you go ahead . . . watch it . . . but to be honest  people watching and enjoying this must have some emotional problems . garbage .  
eddie murphy delirious is undoubtedly the funniest thing i have ever seen in my life . when i saw it for the first time about  years ago i was in stitches for weeks after it . to date i have seen it a further   times and i still laugh my ass off each time . for those who dont know eddie murphy was a brilliant stand up comedian before he was a hollywood superstar . there is not one dull spot in this piece of genius unlike eddie murphy raw which was released in     which goes flat during the middle . if you are not the sort of person who can  t stand swearing then i wouldn  t advise you to see it as you will probably hear swearing of some form every     seconds . i gave this a   out of   because it displays the greatest comic genius of them all at his best .  
the sitcom  the league of gentlemen  follows the lives of several bizarre inhabitants of the fictional village  royston vasey  . the different scenes are linked together by their common setting .  br    br   in the first series  a sketch show  the main plot deals with a new road which is going to be built through royston vasey . consequently  more foreigners visit the small town . but edward and tubbs  the owners of a  local  shop  which is actually far away from the town  do not like foreigners . whenever a visitor enters their shop  they kill him . in my opinion some scenes are kind of tasteless and not funny at all  for example  when the couple absorb two engineers who want to build the new road . edward drums  while tubbs is dancing half naked around the victims .  br    br   moreover pauline lives in royston vasey . she works at the local job centre . although pauline hates the people she has to work with  the woman does not want to loose her job . so when an unemployed man gets an interview as fireman  she does not allow him to go because he is not ready for the job yet .  br    br   then there is barbara dixton  a transsexual taxi driver who goes into great detail about  her  sexual conversion .  br    br   furthermore the vet  mr . chinnery  always kills animals instead of curing them . in one case  he comes to a farm and is leaded into the sitting room  where a dog lays in his basket . the farmer goes outside . on the assumption that the dog is the sick animal  mr . chinnery euthanizes him . a second later  the farmer opens the door  holding the  real  sick animal  a sheep  in his hand .  br    br   some more inhabitants are a husband and his wife who are visited by their nephew  his friend is killed by the shop owners  by the way  . the couple is very tidy . they have  for example  towels in different colours . each colour stands for one part of the body . besides  they have thousands of keys  marked with different colours and precisely classified .  br    br   in my opinion  the actors play very well . by playing women  the scenes become comical . the costumes are suited to the actors  too . tubbs is wearing a scarf and some crazy characters  for example edward  have unappetizing black teeth . the show has a great deal of dark humour  typical british . the set design reflects the mood of the series . the village and all the houses look grey and are decayed . around the local shop there is often fog which strengthens the threatening effect . even the village sign is ominous  welcome to royston vasey . you will never leave .   br    br   although i think that the actors do a great job  this type of series is not my taste .  
i have seen my fair share of comedy and standup movies but this one is so original  so fresh  it will make you wonder why you always walked right pass it in the video store . murphy has some pretty raunchy jokes but this is just too funny to pass . if only every movie could be this funny . it should be called     minutes of the most incredible comedy  murphy is a comic genius in this film and will make you say  this is the guy that did dr . doulittle   he talkes about the ice cream man  shoe throwing mothers  his aunt with a mustache  racism  and everything else you could possibly think of and the ones you couldnt . please if you ever see one comedy in your life this is it  if only all movies could be delirious .  
not that he  d care  but i  m not one of simon pegg  s friends . if i was  there  s a good chance we  d fallout if he continued to make dross like this . the trouble is  he found a successful formula as the bumbling  ordinary guy  next  door type in shawn of the dead  run fat boy run etc  but it  s starting to wear thin . here his character has no discernible qualities  he  s rude and obnoxious  and thinks he  s funny when he frankly isn  t . when transferred to new york from london  and i presume this link is meant to appeal to viewers on both sides of the atlantic   he proves equally out of place with his new colleagues . still  is it any wonder when amongst his jolly japes he hires a transvestite stripper to appear at an editorial meeting an act of revenge for his boss . yet somehow  kirsten dunst starts to warm to him  even though he  s done nothing nice . oh  and because he  s a superficial male he falls for megan fox at first sight  possibly because her character is as shallow as his . it all makes for a predictable film conclusion  although i can  t see any viewer expressing how this mirrored their life . the shame is that on paper this is a cast supposedly worth watching . pegg  though  plays himself  kirsten dunst seems to just go though the motions  creating no on screen chemistry  and megan fox isn  t stretched at all . the one huge plus is miriam margolyes  as pegg  s new york landlady  now if she had been on screen longer . . . . .  
if you ever see a stand up comedy movie this is the one . you will laugh nonstop if you have any sense of humor at all . this is a once in a lifetime performance from a once in a lifetime performer . this is a stand up standard .  
if you have read the book  do not set your hopes high  if you have not  go read it  and never watch the film . it is strange to learn that toby young was actually involved a lot in the writing of the script  as he claims himself in the post script of the book  . because the film is very different from the book .  br    br   what the film seems to be aiming at  taking a rather thought provoking and entertaining piece that combines philosophical ideas with plain funny sarcasm and simplifying it so that everyone would understand it  it achieves with perfection . the film is full of bad and cheap jokes suitable for a sitcoms  and has lost any meaningful message that it could have had .  br    br   you are better off not seeing it .  
and gi joe go stuck in the water  i die of laufther every time i see this movie  and then a big brown shark came  this is comedy at it  s best  this blows away the kings of comedy and anyone else  andrew dice clay  jerry  tucker  rock  they can  t thouch the man the myth the legend eddie murphy   br    br   yo eddie we want more  br    br   more more more more more more                            
simon pegg stars as sidney young  a stereotypically clumsy idiot brit working as a celebrity journalist in this us comedy . after getting a very lucky break he starts work at the highly respected sharps magazine run by a reliably on form jeff bridges in new york . it  s more the devil wears prada than shaun of the dead . the unlikely love interest is provided by kirsten dunst who works well with pegg for the laughs but they don  t exactly set the screen ablaze with their passion .  br    br   sidney goes through some emotional challenges while trying to decide if he should forget about his journalistic principles in order to get material in the magazine . of course he  s eventually seduced by the glitz and glamour of the world of celebrities especially the young starlet sophie maes  transformers  megan fox  . fans of shaun of the dead  hot fuzz and spaced will wonder if pegg himself ever experienced similar feelings in real life with this film and to an extent run fat boy run as one of the uk  s best comic talents being ruined by the us .  br    br   all in all this is a forgettable comedy . please come back to us simon  we can forgive and forget .  
eddie murphy delirious is by far the funniest thing you will ever see in your life . you can compare it to any movie  and i garuntee you will decide that delirious is the funniest movie ever  this movie is about  hr .   mins .  and throughout that time  there was barely a moment where i wasn  t laughing . you will laugh for hours after it is over  replaying the punch lines over and over and over in your head . eddie murphy has given so many funny performances over his career    hrs .  trading places  beverly hills cop  raw  coming to america  the nutty professor  shrek  etc .   but this is by far his most hilarious moment . i have seen this movie so many times  and it is funnier every time . it never loses its edge . from this day forward  every great stand up performance will be emulated from delirious .  and two thumbs up   
  rating   by the film snob .   see our blog what  to  see  next for details on our rating system .   br    br   here  s a movie that will have you clawing at your own face in an attempt to earn release from the on  screen tedium .  br    br   you  ll not be wringing your hands  nor rolling your eyes  nor sighing into your popcorn . no indeed . for a movie of this averagousity  only clawing at your own face will do .  br    br   when you begin to claw your own face   as begin you must    start in at the lower portion . you  ll need your upper portion  with its handy tear ducts  intact for the truly tear  jerking third act which may bring you to your knees if you haven  t clawed your way clear of the entire theatre by then .  br    br   in a season celebrating joe six  pack and hockey moms as the new gold standard for leadership and foreign diplomacy  permaybe a movie this tedium will be welcomed as a thing that anyone could create . watching it  however  is a much more dangerous undertaking .  br    br   here  s our story . . .  br    br   sidney young  the london publisher of a fourth  tier celebrity  entertainment magazine is just about to see his magazine go under . he needs a miracle  and what he gets is a phone call from new york city  in the usa .  br    br   the publisher of sharp  s magazine  clayton harding  played by jeff bridges  says  come work for me   with his own employees carrying out the fax machine out of his apartment  office in the background  saying  yes  is a no  brainer .  br    br   soon sidney is at work in new york city  doing allllllll the wrong things . his interviews consist of asking broadway musical directors if they are    jewish  and    gay .  br    br   he kills the pet dog of sohpie maes  the industry  s hottest movie star  when she leaves it in the magazine  s offices during a business luncheon .  br    br   this is a spot of bad luck for everyone  for  among other things  sidney imagines that he is in love with maes  before he wakes up to the dunst character .  br    br   worst of all  he totally alienates alison olsen  played by winsome scripting  confusion by kristen dunst   a colleague assigned to show him the ropes of the magazine and the big apple .  we have  of course  been to a movie before  and so we know how this relationship is going to end up . this is therefore why we  ll need intact tear ducts for the movie  s third act .   br    br   the problem with the thing is  the script just never jells  excepting for the one tear  duct set piece in which true love prevails .  br    br   publisher harding is supposed to be a son  of  a  bitch who also wants to just throw the whole job over . the script never comes down firmly on one or the other sides of this dichotomy  however  and bridges is left to twist and waffle in the breeze .  br    br   alison olsen is supposed to despise sidney young  but whenever he comes up to her  as he does constantly  she makes a point of engaging him in conversation  instead of attempting to discourage his existence .  br    br   the  comedy  of early scenes is built around a piglet destroying an expensive hotel room  and then taking the elevator downstairs to urinate on the expensive high heels of a celebrity at a cocktail reception .  br    br   the hot starlet maes confesses that she is attracted to young because he is  wounded .  the character never shows us why he is wounded  however . this is yet another resultant of the movie  s mortally wounded script .  br    br   at one hours and fifty minutes  this thing feels longer  and more deadly  than napoleon  s retreat from moscow . it is uninspiring  unfunny  unredeemable  and not even rentable . run away  
if only eddie murphy were born   years later . then we  d all remember it . but even i was only  when it came out . if you haven  t seen it yet  rent dr . dolittle  showtime  i spy  pluto nash and all eddie  s family comedy movies  then watch this . hands down  you  ll laugh    of the time . the other    you  ll be wiping the tears from your eyes .  br    br   it really needs to be watched more then once to understand all the jokes . from crude humor to a joke for kids   if you  ve seen it you  ll laugh here   you  ll love his stuff . if you can   or are a big fan  try to download clips from eddie  s acts . allot of the shows are different as you  d imagine and he has even more funny jokes .  br    br   but this is like the  best of  eddie murphy  x  rated  if you will .  br    br   and all i can say is please don  t watch delirious if you don  t like comedy  don  t have a sense of humor or are not fun to hang out with . you will only put down this great eddie murphy classic and possibly make someone miss out on it .  br    br   if you wanna know how eddie got beverly hills cop and got famous from it  delirious is it .  
i too was intrigued by the high   .   rating for this film  and was very disappointed . i had just seen a couple of good foreign films and was looking forward to making it three in a row  but it was not to be . i went with a spanish speaking friend who felt the same way . there is not much of a plot  if any . i don  t necessarily need that in a movie  but it needs to somehow entertain or bring me in . the best i could say would be that it aspires to be an altman  esque film  albeit with an extremely small ensemble . sure  there are moments  but a few moments easily get thinned out by   slow minutes of nothing . i do not understand the high rating for this film . i give it a  .  br    br    
i know it  s crude  and i know that it isn  t at all pc  but it  s so funny . if you can put it into perspective that it  s from the early    s and it carries all the stereotypes of the time   and the movie still makes you almost pass out with laughter   than it is truly a good comedy . going with the tradition of what comedies have been for thousands of years  the subject matter of this film is exagerated . if you can suspend your political correctness for an hour and a half  just to have an all  out laugh  than please watch this .  br    br   p . s . would someone please put this out on dvd  it  s so hard to find on vhs anymore .  
an attempt at crossover to appeal to those who don  t appreciate opera  exploiting the fame of one of the greatest opera singers of all time  it fails badly . all that is desirable in this movie is the opera  and one can best find a recording of pavarotti doing what he does best . the plot revolves around a romance with a doctor who heals his throat which has suddenly become troublesome .  br    br   only because it came out so long ago is it largely forgotten . like most opera stars  pavarotti is a decent actor and has stage presence aside from his singing talent  and nothing that he does in this movie negates that opinion . his culpability lies in not rejecting the horrid script . perhaps because great operas can have silly stories he tolerated this one .  br    br   who knows  except those involved  do we need to know   br    br   the plot is weak and trite . this movie is like trudging through cold mud to pick off a few juicy tidbits  the opera music  hanging above the mud . we have other ways in which to appreciate the great pavarotti  and this one isn  t one of them . just get one of his many superb opera or vocal  concert recordings and recognize the master tenor where he is most suited .  br    br   it would be one of imdb  s    worst films if more people remembered it and gave it some votes it would fit neatly in a list including several efforts of singers  actors  models  and athletes to exploit their popularity through film . very often it all goes badly wrong due to incompetent acting or a horrible script . pavarotti would have been a decent actor had he not shown such a superb voice . however effective he is as an actor  opera requires it   not even jimmy stewart could have rescued this turkey of a script .  br    br   i give it a polite  of   because someone may have become a fan of pavarotti  s singing and of opera because of this movie .  
so terrific  so good . i have never seen a man be more funny than eddie murphy . in this stand  up  comedy you will see a lot of imitations more done by anyone   br    br   if you have seen raw       you will have to see delirious . it  s so funny  it  s so professional   
by my  kool  aid drinkers  remark  i mean that these are such devoted fans of the man pavarotti that they make no attempt to objectively rate this film . giving this a   is akin to giving wally cox the award for mr . universe or putting a velvet elvis painting in the louvre    when this film debuted  i remember the savage reviews with headlines such as  no  giorgio  and some said it was among the worst films ever made . this is definitely overstating it as well . while bad and far from a great work of art  there was a lot to like about the film and the movie  s biggest deficit was not the acting of pavarotti nor his girth .  br    br   believe it or not  the brunt of the blame rests solely on the shoulders of the writers  who  i believe  were chimps  . it is rare to see a movie with such clichd dialog or goofy scenes like the food fight  but even they aren  t the heart of the problem . the problem is that the writers intend for the audience to care about a  romance  that consists of a horny married middle  aged man and a seemingly desperate lady . perhaps european audiences might be more forgiving of this  but in the united states in     or today  such a romance seems sleazy and selfish   especially when pavarotti tells harrold that he loves his wife and  this is just fun  . wow  talk about romantic dialog   sadly  if they had just changed the script a little bit and made pavarotti a widower or perhaps had his wife be like the wife from a couple classic hollywood films  such as from all this and heaven  too or the suspect  where the wife was so vile and unlikable you could forgive the husband having an affair or even killing her  . instead  she  s the loving mother of two kids who waits patiently at home while her egotistical hubby beds tarts right and left   as pavarotti admits to having had many affairs before meeting harrold .  br    br   sadly  even the gorgeous music of pavarotti couldn  t save this film . towards the end of the film  there are some amazing scenes in new york where the set is just incredible and pavarotti  s singing transcendent . for that reason  i think the movie at least deserves a  . i really wanted to like the film more  but it was a truly bad film   though not quite as rotten as you might have heard .  br    br   sadly  from what i have read  this film might be a case of art imitating life  as pavarotti  s own life later had some parallels to this film  though this isn  t exactly the forum to discuss this in detail .  
eddie murphy is one of the funniest comedians ever  probably the funniest . delirious is the best stand  up comedy i  ve ever seen and it is a must  have for anyone who loves a good laugh   i  ve watched this movie hundreds of times and every time i see it  i still have side  splitting fun . this is definitely one for your video library . i guarantee that you will have to watch it several times in order to hear all the jokes because you will be laughing so much  that you will miss half of them  delirious is hilarious   br    br   although there are a lot of funny comedians out there  after watching this stand  up comedy  most of them will seem like second  class citizens . if you have never seen it  get it  watch it  and you will love it   it will make you holler        
as others have said   no  luciano  is a more apt title or response to this movie title . for entertainment  the great opera singer should stick to singing . . . . . not that he  s a terrible actor . it  s just that this movie stinks .  br    br   the first   minutes were fine  a nice family movie  as it were  but after that it  s nothing but a boring soap opera .  br    br   appropriately playing a singer  pavarotti  as  giorgio fini   loses his voice a few times and the doctor   pamela taylor   kathryn harrold  comes to the rescue . the singer then falls for the doctor  the doctor slowly falls for the singer  the two argue all the time and on and on and on it goes .  br    br   pavarotti has a winning smile and is a likable guy . it  s harrold that spoils things and after watching her here i am not surprised she didn  t become a star .  br    br   there is nice scenery in the movie to enjoy  good shots of san francisco and italy  at least in the first half of the film . i got bored and don  t remember much about the second half of it .  
what could be more schlocky than the idea of private detectives getting involved with the women they  re supposed to be spying on  and most of the dialogue as written is perfectly banal .  br    br   but the actors turn the dialog into something that makes sense . you can see real people behind the unreal lines . and the directing is wonderful . each scene does just what it has to and ends without dragging on too long .  br    br   i showed this to several friends in the mid    s because i was perplexed at how such bad material could be made into such a good movie . the friends enjoyed it too .  
this movie is basically about some girls in a catholic school that end up getting into trouble because of putting red dye in one in one of their school mates shampoo and after being reprimanded for this act they decide to take off to florida for a vacation . on their way there they meet up with some guys in a local diner and decide that they would both meet up with each other in another location later on . the girls end up on a road side near the woods and stop for awhile and while one of the girls decides to walk around a bit she sees a murder happen in which the local sheriff himself is involved . she becomes scared and runs to tell the others what happened . the other girls decide to go take a look with her and two of them get killed by the killer . then the two remaining girls are caught by the killer and are placed in local jail cell . the deputy sheriff meanwhile is keeping watch over the girls and despite their insistence that the sheriff is the killer he ignores them both and acts as ignorant and everybody else in this movie who just can  t put two and two together much less some lousy detective work at that . the best part was the rape scene between the killer and one of the girls where he decides to rape her in her jail cell and it seems that the girl actually wants to be raped by this man and the bare chest scene i admit was good but before their lips meet he has other things in mind . this movie reminds me of the low  budget thriller  blood song  with frankie avalon staring in it  the same motive just a different character part . it  s not a movie worth renting not even for an    s low  budget movie and the ending was the worst ending i have ever seen in a movie and it left me wanting my money back   
the first time i came upon delirious  i only heard it . i listened to the entire comedic performance and never have i laughed so much in my life . eddie  s ability to paint hilarious pictures in our minds and do great imitation is captivating . when i finally got to see him perform this act  i had to have it . eddie murphy  s performance on delirious shows his genius  with it being the new millennium  his acts in     is just as funny today as it was then . my parents loved it as teenagers and i  age eighteen  love it as well . from that point on  i had to view murphy  s other movies such as coming to america and harlem nights . there will be no other comedian like eddie .  
i saw this movie when i was really little . it is  by far  one of the strangest movies i have ever seen . now  normally  i like weird movies  but this was just a bit too much .  br    br   there  s not much of a plot to the movie . if anything  it starts out like toy story  where toys come to life  and raggedy ann and andy go on an adventure to rescue their new friend  babette . from there  craziness ensues . there  s the greedy  the looneys  a sea monster named gazooks  and a bunch of pirates singing show tunes  all of which just made the movie weirder . also  i can  t help but feel that babette is annoying and a bit too whiny . she definitely didn  t help the movie .  br    br   now  even though i didn  t like this movie  there were a few cute parts . i liked the camel  s song . even though it was a song about being lonely  it had a friendly feel to it . then  there was sir leonard . while most of the looneys were just plain nuts  sir leonard was the most interesting and probably the funniest . king koo koo was just a little dirtbag that made dr . evil look like a serious villain . also  there was raggedy andy  s song  no girl  s toy . it was definitely good song for little boys who wanted to act tough . but  honestly  even these things didn  t make the movie any better .  but remember  this is just my perspective .   br    br   while i personally wouldn  t recommend this movie  even i have to admit  it does have its charming moments . see it if you  re interested  but only if you  re in the mood for something  really  out of the ordinary .  
this is the ultimate one  man show in which eddie murphy is at his very best . just forget the nutty professor and the distinguished gentlemen  this is the real eddie murphy . his imitations of mr . t .  pretending he is gay   michael jackson and other artists are killers . i think it  s also quite daring to make fun of artists who where really popular in that time . my favorite act is the one where he is at his annual bbq with the family and plays his drunken dad and aunt bunny who falls from the stairs .  br    br   this show is the best medicine when you feel down  if you watch the sequel  raw  don  t be disappointed . it  s quite good too but doesn  t match  delirious  .  
i hadn  t heard of this film until i read an article about it on the unknown movies website  which made me curious . as a cartoonist and illustrator myself  i  m an admirer of richard williams  s work  i rate ziggy  s gift as one of the finest christmas specials of all time  and even though who framed roger rabbit stopped being one of my favourite films when i got past the age of sixteen  i still have the highest of regard for the amount of work  care and attention to detail that went into creating the visuals  but it seems the man has his faults  most notably a propensity for going over budget and over schedule  and this film is a testament of just how far wrong even a super  talented individual like williams can go  given the right circumstances .  br    br   raggedy ann and andy is a strange confection that tries to be weird and experimental and off the wall within the confines of a children  s cartoon . it tries also to be a musical . it tries to be a thousand and one other things as well  is it a freakout  is it a mind  blower  is it a paean to the innocence of childhood imagination   until it finally collapses under the weight of its own limitless ambitions and aspirations . it  s beautifully animated  for the most part  though the bland backgrounds could have used a little more attention  but even that doesn  t count for much when you  re confronted with the hallucinogenic absurdity that constitutes much of the  action  here .  br    br   there are a number of problems with the film  but let  s start with raggedy ann and andy themselves . they  re the stars of the show  yet they have no personalities . actually  we get the message that andy is a wannabe tough guy   i  m no girl  s toy   he sings  and that ann has a unique perspective on things because her owner  a little girl called marcella  carries her upside down  but that  s all we get to find out about these dull  as  mud characters because the overwhelming weirdness of this film kicks in not long after . i use the word  weirdness  advisedly  because some weird films can be hugely entertaining  but this is just flat  out strange . the toys and dolls in the playroom are supposed to be cute and lovable  but they  re actually bizarre and disturbing . the two marionettes who do and say everything in sync are a prime example of this . but even they  re relatively normal compared to the constantly sneezing pirate captain  whose moustache becomes erect and whose groin visibly swells when he first catches sight of a glamorous french doll . yes  this is supposed to be a children  s film  then there  s the music  none of which is memorable  and all of which is sung by actors who can  t sing . and to add insult to injury  there  s a lot of singing in this film . when ann and andy finally make it out of the playroom  the first thing they do is sing a long number in the woods about how scared they are  about how they  ll always have each other and . . . yes  we get the message . this seems to go on forever  but at least it brings some semblance of normality back to the film . not for long  though  because the camel with the wrinkled knees leads us into a bizarre world where everything looks like it  s made from worn and faded denim  and  bad enough that he  s clearly a paranoid schizophrenic  he also starts hallucinating . but this is nothing compared to the scenes that follow . the greedy  a living  breathing . belching  farting  constantly eating pool of taffy  is so trippy  creepy and ultimately disturbing  you  ll hardly believe what you  re seeing  this is as close to a drug  free psychedelic experience as i  ve ever seen on film . then  after a l  o  n  g time spent with the greedy  along comes the psychotic sir leonard looney and his master king kookoo  whose throne resembles a urinal . i can  t believe i  m actually writing a capsule description of a real film here  i just had to rub my eyes and remind myself that i  m not blogging about an overwhelmingly whacked  out nightmare i had . part of the sequence in looney land resembles one of the old winsor mccay  little nemo cartoons  for no good reason other than somebody felt like doing it  probably . all this would be fine if there was some kind of rhyme or reason behind it  but there isn  t . these scenes are just strange  and very  very long . surrealism only works when there  s a strong idea behind it  or takes place against some semblance of reality . but nothing in these scenes points towards any kind of reality . take away this element  and you  re left with pure self indulgence .  br    br   as the final scenes unravel  even the animation begins to look less impressive  the pirate ship  ludicrously detailed  jerks about on the water in a manner that suggests some of the cels went missing during the production  and there  s a non  event of an ending that simply suggests money ran out . even at a meagre   minutes in length  the film feels like a never  ending ordeal  and it  s understandable why it flopped on its original release . animation buffs will probably scratch their heads and wonder just how williams managed to flub this one so spectacularly  but he did  and there  s nothing anyone can do about it .  
lol    delirious was so funny . . i was in tears . eddie murphys impressions are absolutely spot on . the best impression was of james brown and mr t  so funny   its weird how eddie murphy was back then and how he is now delirious is a must see but if u don  t like foul language don  t watch but amazing and so funny . . i have seen it    times and still pee myself every time . . this is eddie murphy at his prime and you can see where he got the humour and ideas of movies such as nutty professor from . he does impressions of his family as well  which is real funny .  br    br   if only i was there . . .  
this is hands down the worst movie of all time . a combination of whoopie goldberg  the worst actress  person in history  and a talking dinosaur ala jar  jar  binks add up to a painfully bad movie . that was an understatement . this movie is unwatchable . for the love of god  do not watch this movie .  
i think this still is the best routine . there are some others  like rock  s  bring the pain   and allen  s  men are pigs  that are hilarious  damon waynes last stand  is also funny in a tearful way  but this routine has no errors . all the jokes are funny  and the time limit of   minutes is perfect . just long enough to last   years . i just love how he allows the audience to be totally themselves and unrestricted . i  m a fan of the classics and for a guy who watched a lot of of jim carrey growing up  watching a more laid back comic is pretty cool . not putting in a category with ellen and newhart  but something you can watch if you  re bloated . thanks eddie  god bless .  
in theodore rex poor whoopi goldberg is set up as a tough police cop who gets to work with a pathetic dinosaur on a case . the movie tries to be funny  and tries to make a story about abductions and more but it never works . the movie is far from funny  and the story is ridiculous . i voted      
this is hands down the greatest stand up show ever . i  ve seen a lot of stand up shows  been to a lot of stand up shows  and watch bet  s comic view  but i have never seen anyone who could match the skills of murphy on this show . the impressions are excellent  the skits are great  and the timing is perfect . you can even tell the crowd gets really into . when he did raw a few years later it was also really good  but this is   in my book . also shows that at one time  particularly the early  to mid eighties  that murphy was funny . my favorite parts of the show is when he is retelling the family barbecue and  ice cream    mooommmm   the ice cream man is coming      another great part is where his mom is like clint eastwood .  
i can say nothing more about this movie than man  this sucks      if you really hate yourself and want to do some severe damage to your brain  watch this movie . it  s the best cure in the world for taking away happiness . when i started watching this film  i was completely happy . afterwords i could feel my brain melting  like it was struck by molten lava . god  i hate that stupid dinosaur . so if you want severe brain damage watch this movie  it will do the trick .  
i watched this film a few times in the    s and nearly split my sides laughing each time . i love eddie murphy as an actor  but this stand up is some thing else . he is so funny . even the p . c . brigade would find this hilarious . it  s a must watch  and even better if you  ve got the guys or girls in for a drink . the take off of michael jackson is so like him  if you close your eyes you believe it  s him singing . the things he describes are true to life and you would seriously have to have a humour bypass if you thought this was not funny . my local video stores do not stock this video any more but i would love to get my hands on a copy to show my husband and boys when they are old enough to appreciate the humour . anyway  highly recommended  hope you enjoy .  
i watched this movie when joe bob briggs hosted monstervision on tnt . even he couldn  t make this movie enjoyable . the only reason i watched it until the end is because i teach video production and i wanted to make sure my students never made anything this bad . . . but it took all my intestinal fortitude to sit through it though . it  s like watching your great grandmother flirting with a   year old boy . . . excruciatingly painful .  br    br   if you took the actual film  dipped it in paint thinner  then watched it  it would be more entertaining . seriously .  br    br   if you see this movie in the bargin bin at s  mart  back away from it as if it were a rattlesnake .  
i  ve never laughed and giggled so much in my life  the first half kept me in stitches the last half made me come completely unglued  i think i giggled for   minutes after the tape was over .  br    br   his timing and delivery for his stories is almost unequaled . and though he talks fast  you catch every joke . which is probably why my  laugh center  was so overwhelmed it took an extra   minutes to laugh at everything .  br    br    
i must say that during my childhood i  m quite proud of a lot of the movies i  ve rented . the exception being theodore rex . talk about the all time swindler movie in any actor  s resume . could you just imagine what whoopie  s fired agent must have told her to sign on to this piece of crap  hey whoop  you ever seen that show dinosaurs  yeah well they  re making a movie out of it  and you get to see germany   after that that agent must have referenced star wars a lot .  br    br   this movie was so bad i figured whoopie must have bought out every copy of this film and had it destroyed . i just wish she could have done the same thing to my memory  because my sister still gives me crap for watching that movie . i mean c  mon  i  ll even admit i watched mr . nanny and kazzam in theaters  good reasons why i gave up on both hulk hogan and shaq for awhile   yet this one sticks out in my mind as the worst of my childhood  and the biggest rental regret of my life  and that was   years ago . i  m   now if you want to do the math .  br    br   whenever i think of my all  time list of worst movies i don  t even mention this one  because like a raped step  child  i try hard to repress that it ever happened . screw you whoopie  just be glad people only acknowledge eddie and sister act  as your worst you lucky stiff .  
if you haven  t seen this  you do not know what you are missing . the first time you do  you will litteraly be in pain lying on floor throwing up from laughing so hard  and having probably wet yourself as well .  br    br   it is that funny . there hasn  t been a single comedic performance to this date that i have seen that tops this or even comes close . so many classic one liners  stories  and segways . .  br    br   the drunken uncle at the bbq  gi joe  mr t  goony goo goo  ice cream man  you say any of these things to anyone who has seen this performance and i  ll bet you dollars to doughnuts they will not be able to keep a straight face and will burst out in laughter  or recite the rest of the dialogue from the act .  br    br   pure classic   shame you can  t get it on dvd . .  br    br   rating    out of    
there have been very few films i have not been able to sit through . i made it through battle field earth no problem . but this  this is one of the single worst films ever to be made . i understand whoopi goldberg tried to get of acting in it . i do not blame her . i would feel ashamed to have this on a resume . i belive it is a rare occasion when almost every gag in a film falls flat on it  s face . well it happens here . not to mention the sfx  look for the dino with the control cables hanging out of it rear end       halfway through the film i was still looking for a plot . i never found one . save yourself the trouble of renting this and save   minutes of your life .  
it should be against the law not to experience this extremely funny stand up show with eddie murphy . i have never seen anything like it .  br    br   murphy goes on for almost   minutes about dicks  pussy  tits and insaults so many famous people including his own  family  . among the people who gets it by murphy are elvis  mr . t  michael jackson  stevie wonder  mick jagger  luther vandross and james brown . i have seriously never laughed so hard of anything my entire life . i mean  when a person doesn  t know who mr . t is  but still laughs so hard of murphy as mr . t  there  s something about it . at the time i saw the show i couldn  t remember who mr t . was but still laughed . now i know who he is and that just makes it so much more funny . because that  s what eddie do  he can make those impressions so good that it don  t matter who the hell he  s trying to do  it  s still hilarious . and on top of that  we learn that murphy actually is a very good singer . please watch it . .  
this movie was amazingly bad . i don  t think i  ve ever seen a movie where every attempt at humor failed as miserably . let  s see . . . the acting was pathetic  the  special effects  where horrible  the plot non  existant . . . that pretty much sums up this movie .  br    br    
this is the funniest stand up i have ever seen and i think it is the funniest i will ever see . if you don  t choke with laughter at the absolute hilarity  then this is just not your cup of tea . but i honestly don  t know anyone who has seen this that hasn  t liked it . it is now   years later and my friends and i still quote everything from goonie goo goo to the fart game  aunt bunnie to the ice cream man  ralph and ed to get out   there are just so many individual and collective skits of hilarity in here that if you honestly haven  t seen this film then you are missing out on one of the best stand  ups ever . take any of robin williams  damon wayans  the dice  george carlin or even the greats like richard pryor or red foxx and this will surpass it . i don  t know how or where murphy got some of his material but it works . that is what it comes down to . it is funny as hell .  br    br   could you imagine how this show must have shocked people that were used to eddie doing buckwheat and mr . rogers and such on snl  if you listen to the audience when he cracks his first joke or when he says the f  word for the first time  they are in complete shock .  br    br   his first time he says the f  word is when he does the skit about mr . t being a homosexual .  br    br    hey boy  hey boy . you look mighty cute in them jeans . now come on over here  and f me up the ass    br    br   the crowd erupts in gales of laughter . no one was expecting the filthy mouth that he unleashed on them . but the results were just awesome . i have never been barraged with relentless comedy the way i was in this stand  up . in fact  the next time my stomach hurt so much from laughing wasn  t until     when i saw south park bigger longer and uncut . that comedy was raw and unapologetic and it went for the jugular  as did delirious . i don  t think it is possible to watch this piece of comic history and not laugh . it is almost twenty years later and it is still the funniest damn thing on video .  br    br    i took your kids fishing last week . and i put the worm on the hook and the kids put the fishing pole back in the boat and slammed their heads in the water for two minutes gus . normal kids don  t do shit like that gus . then they started movin their heads around like this and the mf come up with fish . then they looked at each other and said goonie goo goo  i said can you believe this fn shit     br    br   see it again and be prepared to laugh your freakin ass off   br    br     out of    
wow . . . what would you do with    m  let me give you a choice you can either a  shred it and flush it down the toilet or b  make a film based on the premise of whoopi goldberg as a hard nut futuristic cop partnered with a rubber dinosaur who uses terms like  i didn  t butt trumpet  and blows raspberries on the basis that this is funny . that  s right  you would choose the option that has more merit  flushing down the toilet .  br    br   this has to be seen to be believed . i cannot even find the words to describe how bad this film is . it doesn  t even fit into the  so bad  it  s good  category . i actually have it on the television as i write  and whilst watching i felt the need to come onto imdb and register my disgust .  br    br   considering jurassic park was made a couple of years before  how on earth did they think that audiences would any longer tolerate a man dressed in a rubber suit  wg should have simply walked and damn the consequences . everyone concerned will go to hell for this criminal waste of money .  br    br   i have to stop writing  i am about to implode .  
a critical and financial flop when first release  the critics have turned around and stated that this film ison of the director  s best . a la ronde like feel to the film quickly develops as the guys from a detective agency  ben gazzara  john ritter and blaine novak  persue  fall in and out of love with some of the most quirky and beautiful women seen on film  audrey hepburn  colleen camp  dorothy stratten and patti hansen  . much of the script was ad  libbed or re  written on the day of shooting which gives the film a breezy feel . ben gazzara is excellent as the head detective persuing audrey hepburn after dropping singer colleen camp and seeing cab  driver patti hansen on the side . john ritter ineptly follows dorothy stratten and immediately falls in love with her . blaine novak has a few girls he is chasing  including joyce hyser and elizabeth pena  . this film has some great performances by a supurb cast . standouts are audrey hepburn  she doesn  t have a line in the first half of the film  . ben gazzara has never been better  and an inspiring choice for a romantic lead  and colleen camp has one of her best roles as the manic country singer christy miller . she is a delight to watch as she fires off her lines in a rat  a  tat  tat delivery . highly recommended   stars   
shallow grave begins with either a tribute or a rip off of the shower scene in psycho .  i  m leaning toward rip off .  after that it gets worse and then surprisingly gets better  almost to the point of being original . bad acting and amateurish directing bog down a fairly interesting little story  but the film already surpasses many in the  yankee comes down south to get killed by a bunch of rednecks  genre because it is actually shot in the south .  br    br   a group of college girls head to ft . lauderdale for summer vacation and are waylaid in georgia by a flat tire after getting off the main road .  note to yankees stay on the highway when you go to florida .  sue ellen  lisa stahl  has to pee so she heads into the woods . when she finally finds a good spot to do her business she witnesses the local sheriff  tony march  strangle his mistress  merry rozelle  to death .  note to yankees do not wander off into the woods when in the south not because you might witness a murder  but you may run across a marijuana plantation .  this is the point where the story  not the movie  actually comes close to being good .  br    br   while tony march will never have to practice his oscar speech  his sheriff dean becomes a creepy facsimile of a normal guy torn by what he has done and what he must do . tom law is likable as deputy scott and is as authentic a southern deputy as i  ve seen since walton goggins  deputy steve naish  in house of     corpses .  br    br   a few scenes in the movie are worth the mention . the girls stop at a bbq in south carolina and display their racism when a big black guy checks them out . sue ellen runs into a barn to hide behind some hay bales and in a shockingly realistic moment a large snake is hiding in the hay with her .  br    br   and in the strangest scene  sheriff dean makes like he  s about to rape patty  carol cadby  and tells her to take off her clothes . dean has turned the radio up to drown out the noise of what he  s about to do . the preacher on the radio needs to go back and read his bible . his sermon is about how jezebel is saved by the blood of jesus christ . i feel sorry for this preacher  s flock . jezebel was in the old testament a few thousand years before christ was born and by no means is she one of the five people you are going to meet in heaven .  
if you were ever sad for not being able to get a movie on dvd  it was probably  delirious  you were looking for . how often do you laugh when watching stand up comedy routines  i was too young to see richard pryor during his greatest time  and when i was old enough to see eddie murphy  s  delirious  and  raw   not as funny  i never knew where eddie got a big part of his inspiration . now that i  m older  and have seen both pryor and many of the comedians after murphy  i realize two things everybody steals from eddie  while eddie lovingly borrowed from richard . that  s the huge difference eddie was original  funny  provocative  thoughtful  and more . he was something never before seen . he was all we ever needed . these days eddie murphy is boring and old  but once upon a time he was the king  and  delirious  was the greatest castle ever built . truly one of the funniest routines of all time .  
i watched this movie when joe bob briggs hosted monstervision on tnt . even he couldn  t make this movie enjoyable . the only reason i watched it until the end is because i teach video production and i wanted to make sure my students never made anything this bad . . . but it took all my intestinal fortitude to sit through it though . it  s like watching your great grandmother flirting with a   year old boy . . . excruciatingly painful .  br    br   if you took the actual film  dipped it in paint thinner  then watched it  it would be more entertaining . seriously .  br    br   if you see this movie in the bargin bin at s  mart  back away from it as if it were a rattlesnake .  
yeah  it  s a chick flick and it moves kinda slow  but it  s actually pretty good  and i consider myself a manly man . you gotta love judy davis  no matter what she  s in  and the girl who plays her daughter gives a natural  convincing performance .  br    br   the scenery of the small  coastal summer spot is beautiful and plays well with the major theme of the movie . the unknown  at least unknown to me  actors and actresses lend a realism to the movie that draws you in and keeps your attention . overall  i give it an     . go see it .  
do not see this movie if you value your mind . at the end of our collective viewing  me and my friends estimated that we each lost   of our brains during its course . the only person involved with its making that was not clinically insane was the set designer .  br    br   most movies leave a bad taste in your mouth . i realize now that instead of a feeling of revulsion  this movie has bred a deep hatred within me . i hate this movie so very  very much .  br    br   some might say this movie is not meant to be taken seriously . if only it didn  t take itself seriously . but it does . the plot is a warmed over version of blade runner  esque universe melded with the cheap rubber suits so prevalent in bad dinosaur movies . the dialogue is not only puerile and meaningless but often literally painful . whoopee goldberg isn  t even trying  but george newbern as the voice of theodore rex is like fingernails on the soul . and whether its juliet landua with her off again on again british accent or richard roundtree  aka shaft  as the blustering commissioner  you will sink into an ever increasing sense of incredulity and disillusionment .  br    br   i recommend this movie only to anyone who wishes to see the depths of stupidity to which mankind may fall .  
judy davis shows us here why she is one of australia  s most respected and loved actors  her portrayal of a lonely  directionless nomad is first  rate . a teenaged claudia karvan also gives us a glimpse of what would make her one of this country  s most popular actors in years to come  with future roles in the big steal  the heartbreak kid  dating the enemy  risk and the acclaimed tv series the secret life of us .  incidentally  karvan  as a child  was a young girl whose toy panda was stolen outside a chemist  s shop in the     drama going down with tracey mann .  if this films comes your way  make sure you see it   rating       . see also hotel sorrento  radiance  vacant possession  lantana .  
from watching only the trailer to theodore rex  you would think this is a bad buddy cop comedy with whoopi goldberg and a guy in a dinosaur costume . that is true  but this is mostly a futuristic story  which looks a lot like batman forever with it  s direction style and weird character designs . it was mismarketed  and should have been marketed as a futuristic tale  instead of just a lame cop comedy . whether or not this movie is mismarketed  it  s still a horrible movie .  br    br   in the future  dinosaurs have been brought back to life through amazing technology  and they talk and walk around like humans . teddy is a dinosaur detective who is never taken seriously  but after a dinosaur is murdered  he  s given the case to work on  but he has to be partners with the toughest cop of them all  katie coltrane  whoopi goldberg  . it  s up to this mismatched duo to solve the murder  and it  s up to the audience to stay awake long enough to make it through this piece of crud .  br    br   teddy starts the picture as a normal acting character  but by the end he is unbearable to listen to . for some reason along with being a detective  he  s also a bad comedian and a bad impersonator . he does imitations of famous people and accents  and has some truly awful lines . whoopi blames him for farting and he says   it  s not my butt trumpet   wow  what a puerile  immature line  even for a kid  s movie of this caliber . whoopi is also annoying and rude to everyone . i was hoping teddy would bite her head off the entire length of the film .  br    br   this movie never knew what it wanted to be . when the futuristic scenes and action occur  there is no comedy or humor . in any non  action scenes  the characters try to be as funny as they can  which just results in nonstop straight faced boredome . the action scenes don  t work as they  re too weird and not violent enough  and as stated earlier  the comedy is just a bunch of massacred jokes . nothing ever works here .  br    br   having a dinosaur  human detective duo seems like a pretty original movie  if nothing else . nope  this movie is a huge rip  off of who framed roger rabbit . just replace dinosaurs with cartoons  and set it in the future  and it  s the exact same plot . a man is killed  a dinosaur is killed . a dinosaur and detective solve the murder  a toon and detective solve the murder . the bad guys in roger rabbit are christopher lloyd and weasels . the bad guys here are a guy who sounds like christopher lloyd and guys who act just like the weasels . the club scene in roger rabbit where jessica rabbit walks down the stage is imitated with dinosaurs . this is a huge rip  off of a much better movie   br    br   overall  this is a bad movie  not even deserving of it  s straight to vhs stature .  br    br   my rating    out of  .   mins . pg for mild violence  language and crude humor .  
this is not the stuff of soap  operas but the sort of conundrums that real people face in real life . a testament to the ensemble and director for the powerful story  telling of fallible characters trying to cope but not quite succeeding .  
these reviews that claim this movie is so bad its good are going way overboard with that one . this movie does not have the guilty pleasure badness that leonard part   battlefield earth and gigli had . those movies were entertaining in their awfulness but this pile of dinosaur dung is so bad its painful . i haven  t been in this much pain watching a bad movie since i watched baby geniuses and superbabies . before i start the review let me tell you the story . theodore rex is a    million dollar bust the new line cinema refused to put in theaters . they cut the losses sending it straight to video making it the most expensive straight  to  video movie in decades . whoopi caved in to be in this disaster after a huge paycheck .  br    br   plot a millionaire clones dinosaurs so he can launch missiles at the sun which would kill mankind and start another ice age . a female cop named katie coltrane and an idiotic dinosaur named theodore rex reluctantly team up to stop him after the death of a buddy dinosaur .  br    br   the plot is given to you in the beginning of the movie which robs the movie of all its mystery . then you have to deal with the fact that this movie is actually quite awful . whoopi looks agitated and is trying to wing it with her performance but to no avail . theodore rex is flat out annoying and his bumbling behavior wears thin after five minutes on screen . most of the jokes revolve around him threatening to bite people and hitting people with his tail  on accident and on purpose  . i thought burglar was bad but it takes a backseat to theodore rex the worst movie of whoopi  s career .  br    br   don  t let anybody tell you this monstrosity is bad enough to be enjoyable . i didn  t see that when i watched this movie . all i saw was a train wreck that was written by people that must have had some sick admiration for movie howard the duck . the humor is on that level and theodore rex looks like the inbred cousin of barney . utterly painful from start to finish .  
this film  though  critically acclaimed  has of course not yet been released in the u . s . on dvd  like another great  christine lahti  s  housekeeping   out the same year . but if you can support region   australian  dvd  s  this little masterpiece should be in your collection . there are still some vhs copies available on the internet as well . davis is complemented by a great story  as well as memorable performances from her supporting cast  especially claudia carvan and the late  great jan adele . amazingly  or maybe not  this film and its stars went unacknowledged at academy awards time  as did  housekeeping   but treat yourself to both of them  you will be glad you did   
i watch lots of bad films  lots       it  s kind of a hobby  really . almost every saturday nite a group of friends and i get together and watch trash from around the globe  anything . turkish super hero movies  vampire flicks from brazil  italian gorilla transplant movies  kevin costner films  anything  except maybe raising helen  but ihave never seen a worst film than theodore rex . never . and it  s not even entertainingly bad in an ed wood kinda way  it just sucks . now this film was famous in hollywood at the time it was made because whoopi took off the gloves and made it clear to the press and anyone else who would listen that she hated this piece of crap  she tried to get out of her contract  she whined  she moaned but nonetheless they pour her fat butt into this leather skin tight futuristic cop uniform that is ghastly to see  yikes     and you can just see her seething during takes  doing everything but looking off camera for her agent so she can scream at him . the dinosaur has about three facial expressions and the script is so horrible a third grade class could do a better job if promised cookies .  
there  s a certain allure i  ve always found in discovering the great  semi   unknown film . these discoveries have nearly always been dramatic films  in my experience  unknown sci  fi  action and horror are unknown for very  very good reasons . i found  high tide  on video at a junk store  mixed in amongst countless dozens of tapes of varying quality . of course  that  s the only place i would find it  as it is still not on dvd .  br    br   while i was watching judy davis  as lillie  throughout the course of this film  i was somehow certain i was watching a great undiscovered performance . yes  i had previously seen davis in several small parts  and one starring role in  a passage to india  . but  although she was superb in the aforementioned film   high tide  is a different animal entirely . since recently watching gillian armstrong  s later film   charlotte gray   i was acutely aware of the sort of actress which impresses her . davis draws much more than a passing resemblance to cate blanchett  in both manner and sensibility .  br    br   judy davis  performance is stunning  i cannot say enough good things about it . she shares an amazing on  screen relationship with young claudia karvan  as ally   this film  s other great actress . there  s a lot of drama and quiet humanity they share together  the details of which i won  t presume to reveal here  see it for yourself   . there  s too much good in  high tide  to cover in one review . indeed  i would hardly care to  the film speaks well enough for itself . in conclusion  i would like to praise screenwriter laura jones for her stunning dialogue  director gillian armstrong for her understanding of actors  and the great russell boyd for his brilliant  understated cinematography  please see his work in  tender mercies   .  
poor whoopi goldberg . imagine her at a friend  s dinner party  and she adds a comment to the in  depth political discussion going on . people just look at her and say   oh what would you know  you were the star of  theodore rex   . how could anyone take her seriously after she lowered herself to be the star of this appalling piece of crap  even little kids would be cringing in horror at this thing . it reminded me of a particularly bad episode of  sigmund and the sea monsters  . actually  come to think of it   sigmund  was vastly superior to this .  br    br   and however did it get made  by plying the producer with an illegal substance before telling him about it  watch this hideous abomination at your own peril .  
there are very few performers today who can keep me captivated throughout an entire film just by their presence . one of those few is judy davis  who has built a successful career out of creating characters that are headstrong in attitude but very vulnerable at heart . she takes roles that most other performers would treat melodramatically and adds a fiery  deeply emotional intensity that pulls attention away from everything else on the screen .  br    br   her skills are well displayed in  high tide   a film that matches her up a second time with director gillian armstrong  who gave davis her first major success with  my brilliant career .  in that film  davis played a young woman who was determined to make it in the world  despite the suffocation she felt from her community and upbringing . in  high tide   however  davis  character  lillie  is roughly the opposite she gave up on any hope for her future when she was young  and  after giving birth to a child  runs from her responsibilities and takes up a life without direction or meaning . when she finally meets up with her daughter years later  the thought of taking care of her child is petrifying she knows this is her chance to atone for her failures  but how can she be honest with her daughter and still gain her respect   br    br   gillian armstrong  s films usually relate stories about characters who desperately want to communicate with each other  but face obstacles set up by their own personal habits and addictions .  oscar and lucinda   for instance  was about a man and a woman who desperately needed each other  s love but were always blindsided by their craving for chance  represented by their gambling addictions . here  we are immersed in the world of a family torn apart by the mother  s inability to commit to a settled life and her struggles to redeem herself despite being fully convinced that it  s too late to change for the better . this is not simply a film with a great performance at its center  but also a rare achievement a fully convincing story of redemption .  
from the what was she thinking  file whoopi goldberg plays a cop in the future who is teamed with a talking dinosaur    for a crime case involving a madman who wants to start another ice  age . straight  to  tape oddity is embarrassing and ridiculous  a high  concept in search of itself . apparently this was a labor of love for its writer  director  jonathan betuel  who also served as one of the producers   sadly  the end results are anemic  to be charitable . goldberg  s mere presence on  screen can often spark good will and laughter no matter how poor the script  but here she  s drowning and you can see the unfunny results . no stars from   
witty and disgusting . brash and intelligent . baseketball redefines comedy  sports with a pot spoof of an easy target . makes other so called comedies like dead boring . one of the best of all time  trey parker and matt stone play their roles as losers with apt perfection .  
what a mess   why was this movie made  this  and other movies of its  caliber  should be teaching tools on how not to make a movie . children may like it  but anyone over   may or will disapprove . to make matters worse was the fact that such great talent like whoopi goldberg and armin mueller stahl were entirely wasted in a film unworthy of any notice .  
a comedy of epically funny proportions from the guys that brought you south park  and most of the guys from orgazmo . this vulgur  obscence movie has utterly disgusting  eggotistical  and satirical content . it portrays incredibly cruel treatment of humans and animals . i love it      this is some funny stuff . really funny . two loser friends create a game in thier driveway  which explodes into a national sensation . corruption and greed and blackmail turn the sport sour  and its up ta coop ta fix it . and along the way  you will laugh . alot . that  s all there is . enjoy      
this movie was astonishing . it is beyond atrocious . i often get together with a group of friends and go to the movie store to find awful movies to watch for their comedic value . my friend suggested this one  but as we watched it  people began to leave . i really wanted to finish it  just so that i could say that i had  but i was unable to . it  s that bad . horrible running gags  lame acting . the main characters are an annoying dinosaur klutz and whoopi goldberg . i would rather watch costener  s the postman twelve times in a row than see a fraction of this movie again . i think they try to deal with some dinosaur discrimination issues  but the part of the movie that really stands out is the dinosaur constantly knocking things over with his tail  and then guffawing about it . it hurts . watch it if you  re an aspiring masochist  otherwise  leave this one alone .  
it was a saturday night and a movie called baseketball was on tv . i had always wanted to watch it but never got around to it when it was in the cinema . boy was i mistaken . words cannot describe how funny this film is  starring the creators of south park  who share a natural on screen chemistry when being funny . i taped the replay the next day and exactly one week after watching it for the first time  i have seen it  times   . im obsessed with it  and i know anyone who appreciates trey and matts work will appreciate this movie . a must see  this is my   comedy of all time  
no matter what anyone tells you  there is a mere fact to the word  possession  in film circles   such as  what possessed you to greenlight this film   religion doesn  t have anything to do with it  but common sense does . that is  if your head is clear and you are of sound mind to make a judgment .  br    br   on many levels i tried to rationalize where this film would entertain . . . . or even interest the average consumer . the star  the story  the unique idea  a buddy movie that kids would love with a dinosaur and a black woman  on  my goodness  i am sure when this was an  idea   it sounded good . but somewhere during the course of development . . . someone should have pointed out where the idea could not translate into a piece of entertainment anyone would wish to watch or pay for . . . unless they were very much deeply under the influence of alcohol or drugs and saw something the rest of us could not see .  br    br   regardless  this is a complete mess . mess  mess  sin and a mess .  br    br   who cares about the plot  what plot   et al . whoopie got a paycheck  but i would have been embarrassed to take it . i sure hope she fired her agent  manager  publicist over this career move . obviously not  she went on to make more bad films . and more bad films . sad .  
bogdonovich  s  mostly  unheralded classic is a film unlike just about any other . a film that has the feel of a fairy tale  but has a solid grounding in reality due to its use of authentic manhattan locations and  true  geography  perhaps the best location filming in nyc i  ve ever seen . john ritter reminds us that with good directors  bogdanovich  blake edwards  billy bob  he can be brilliant  and the entire ensemble is a group you  ll wish truly existed so you could spend time with em . one of the few romantic comedies of the last   years that doesn  t seem to be a rip  off of something else  this is the high point of bogdanovich  s fertile after   success  career  when his best work was truly done   saint jack    at long last . . .    noises off  .  
i got this movie because i worked at a movie store so i got free rentals . it came in  and the cover made it look alright . hot chick  carrying a weapon  alright  i  ll check it out .  br    br   oh man  bad move . this was so horrible  i spent half the movie watching in fast  forward to get to the nudity  which was minimal . i think maybe three scenes of partial nudity .  br    br   cheesy dialogue  crappy violence  poor excuses of characters . i feel bad putting this movie down  because i know it was made on a cheap budget  but so was  clerks  and it became a cult classic and a franchise .  br    br       .  
well the main reason i tuned in to watch this film is because it was done by trey parker and matt stone of south park fame . however as soon as the film started the laughs started erupting from my belly . from the subtle gestures towards a joke  to the blatant toilet humour throughout  along with a constant reliance on some very witty innuendo . this film could ruin event he sternest mans poker face  let alone his poker underwear . some of the funniest blink and you  ll miss it jokes ever portrayed in hollywood  along with constant critique of themselves thrown into the bargain .  br    br   i just goes to show that not only is trey parker adept at writing he  s not too shabby at the old acting game either . i was surprised with the amount that i was absorbed in this film . however i  m quite worried that it is not available to buy over the internet  here in the uk . sort it out boys   br    br   i am  and will continue to show it to all my friends annoyingly pointing out the funny bits  and occasionally snorting into my lager . all in all an excellent film if you are a fan of unnecessary comedy . however if you have no sense of humour about silly or rude things steer well clear  however i  m sure the inclusion of jenny mccarthy and jasmine bleeth could have you gurgling past those prejudices .  
this is  without a doubt  the single worst movie ever created . there  s no arguing here . this is it . end of story . the story is juvenile and sub  moronic  looking like it was created by a three  year  old fascinated with dinosaurs . the entire concept is just plain dumb . it  s inconceivable how someone could possibly come up with something so stupid and think it was entertaining . the jokes are also completely lame . if you haven  t seen this movie yet  consider yourself lucky . if your morbidly curious as to how bad this movie is  please don  t make me describe it . words can  t express how completely awful this movie is . this isn  t just bad as in being a bad movie . even those have cohesion  if not entertainment value . this . . . this is . . . ugh  think of the worst story ever told and multiply its badness level by       and you still haven  t come close to how awful this movie is . after giving pokemon the movie one point  giving this movie one point seems like nothing short of charity . that  s how bad it is . did the producers and directors even take film classes  because this is a perfect example of how not to make a film . it looks like some amateur high on paint thinner made this film . if you rented this  please take it back and ask for a refund . and don  t even think about renting it again .  
this is the only david zucker movie that does not spoof anything the first of its kind . the funniest movie of   with night at the roxbury right behind but i did not think theres something about mary was funny so that doesnt count except for the frank and beans thing he he . dont listen to the critics especially roger ebert he does not know solid entertainment just look at his reviews . anyway see it you wont be dissapionted  
i was babysitting a family of three small children for a night and their mother gave me this to show for them having just grabbed it at wal  mart earlier in the week . all three children actually got physically ill while watching it . i  m pretty sure it was the pizza they ate  or something they all had picked up from school  but really it could have been this film . absolutely disgusting . how any one can produce this caliber of trash is beyond me . fortunately  i turned off the film when i noticed the children were not responding and acting strangely . for any parents out there  i strongly advise you to refrain from letting young children view this movie .  
parker and stone transplant their pacy expletive  ridden humour from their animated masterpiece to a feature length live action film with generally good results . much of the film is trey and matt running amok with their new toy box . the plot is simplicity itself two average guys invent a new sport  a blend of driveway basketball with baseball scoring which becomes a national craze . along the way they encounter numerous sporting movie cliches and send them up  along with any other bit of popular culture that comes into their sights . it runs like a stretched south park episode  with the usual machine  gun dialogue  toilet humour and homilies from the heart .  br    br   if this film has a weakness it is the association with the team that gave us  airplane  and the  naked gun  series . this influence is clearly seen with the heavy use of lame sight gags and the presence of a glossy and rather two  dimensional yasmine bleeth in the role usually given to priscilla presley . robert vaughn does a little better playing the corporate btard that has been his party piece ever since  bullitt  and ernest borgnine overacts as only he can  but one must admit he  s perfect for the role of the lunatic team owner .  br    br   for those who haven  t noticed yet  parker and stone seem to be more comfortable as rock star wannabes than comics . this manifests in the prominence given to the soundtrack in just about everything they create . as usual  they give a good selection here including the obligatory track by their own ultra  non  pc vehicle dvda .  br    br   a special mention must go to dian bachar  who deserves some sort of award for enduring the difficult job of playing stan to parker and stone  s rampaging pair of cartmans .  br    br   in summary  this is an entertaining comedy which is held back from its full potential by too much reliance on the  naked gun  airplane  formula . parker and stone could do something truly brilliant  or absolutely awful  if given full control over a future film . america  either lock these guys up or put them in charge .  
movies about dinosaurs can be entertaining . so can whoopi goldberg movies . but whoopi and dinosaurs   br    br   after the first   minutes of  theodore rex   i had come to one conclusion this movie is evil . evil  vile  wicked and reprehensible in its spite for the audience . nothing this bad is made by accident this is the visual equivalent of a torture chamber .  br    br   first of all  whoopi does not make good action movies  watch  fatal beauty  if you think i  m lying   but the film makers don  t care  she  s a tough cop here  yet again .  br    br   seen a million cop buddy flicks this week  well  here  s number one million and one  pal .  br    br   don  t like cute  humanistic animated dinosaurs since that spielberg tv show about them  too bad  here  s another one and he  s a cop  too   br    br   you one of those people that hates car chases  shoot  outs  sloppy dialogue  boring futuristic fx and seeing talented people  goldberg  mueller  stahl  roundtree  stuck in a movie that looks like a tax write  off  a big tax write  off   br    br   and you read this review all the way to the end . you deserve a sequel . seriously .  br    br   no stars  not a one . and if they really make a sequel to  theodore rex   hollywood deserves to be attacked a whole herd of wise  cracking foam rubber dinosaurs .  br    br   now  i  d pay to see that .  
the creators of south park in their own film here  this is a brilliant film with a huge entertainment factor . if you like naked gun films and are not young and not too mature or serious on your humor  you  ll love this .  
ever since i started visiting this site  and voting for movies  i have never given any movie a rating of  . even the disturbing  dance  workout with barbie  got a  . there is a reason for this .  br    br   any time i find myself watching what i think is a really bad movie  i have to stop and ask myself the following question  is this movie really as bad as the horrific soul  sucking beast that is  theodore rex    and i  ve never been able to answer  yes  .  br    br   i would give anything within reason to know what crackhead said  hey  let  s remake  blade runner  with barney in the harrison ford role   and decided it was a good idea to actually spend the time and money to commit it to film . furthermore  i want to know what the hell kind of market they were going to sell this towards if it hadn  t gone strait to video . this is that rare monster a movie that is way too violent for kids and way too insanely stupid for adults . i  d ask  what were they thinking   but in this case  it might actually be redundant .  br    br   anyhow  all you need to know is that you should only expose yourself to this monstrosity if you  re one of the five or six rabid fans of  howard the duck   or if you are curious to see the most evil insane movie of all time  or you want to really punish yourself .  
baseketball is an extremely funny movie that delivers acting that generally makes the movie alot funnier  comedy material that is more than crap in your pants funny  and a pretty good plot despite the fact that its the classic slackers v . s the evil rich guy . the one and only thing i didnt like about baseketball  was that that kid wasnt really needed in the movie  but  if the kid wasnt in the movie  some of the funny scenes wouldnt have existed . if you have read any pro reviews about this movie  exclude them all because basically all the reviewers didnt like this film . baseketball is a great comedy that gives everyone what they want .  out of   .  
laughed a lot  because it is so incredibly bad  sorry folks  but definitely one of the worst movies i have ever seen . . . i know it is low budget  but anyway the actors behave like playing in a soap  the dialogues are absolutely crappy and the last time i have seen such odd pictures was at a trash nite at some youth video festival ten years ago . i really appreciate that people gather together and shoot cheap movies  but at least a certain amount of quality should be accomplished . but at least one good thing the first three minutes of the movie were quiet interesting and looked okay  and the score was really worth listening to . the dvd cover promised a lot  but that is by far the best this film has to offer . . .  
very possibly one of the funniest movies in the world . oscar material . trey parker and matt stone are hilarious and before you see this i suggest you see  south park  one of the funniest cartoons created . buy it  you will laugh every time you see it . pure stroke of genius . if you don  t think its funny then you have no soul or sense of humor .   out of   .  
this movie was kind of interesting . . . i had to watch it for a college class about india  however the synopsis tells you this movie is about one thing when it doesn  t really contain much cold  hard information on those details . it is not really true to the synopsis until the very end where they sloppily try to tie all the elements together . the gore factor is superb  however . even right at the very beginning  you want to look away because the gore is pretty intense . only watch this movie if you want to see some cool gore  because the plot is thin and will make you sad that you wasted time listening to it . i  ve seen rumors on other websites about this movie being based on true events  however you can not find any information about it online . . . so basically this movie was a waste of time to watch .  
baseketball is awesome  it  s hilarious and so damned funny that you will wet your pants laughing . i have seen it so many times i have stopped counting . but everytime it gets funnier .  br    br   trust me on this one . . . baseketball is a surefire hit and i loved it and will continue to love it . i hope one day there will be a special edition dvd brought out     br    br   ten thumbs up     
i can  t understand all the hype about this movie . ok  if you like cheap splatter  you will love this movie  but if you like good stories and good actors  don  t watch this . personally i really disliked the actors in this movie  they seem to be hired straight from the street . the dialogs are completely flat and you always know what  s coming up next . the overall quality of this movie lacks of the supposable very low budget . when we saw this movie  me and  other people  we all had in mind  that this movie was made by some people who needed to do this  just to get their graduation at a film school  with the lowest effort . another issue that really lessens the whole experience is the bad cam  very shaking  and the bad sound  the whole movie seems to be recored with a single microphone .  
ernest borgnine was so wasted in this movie . there was no point in putting this great actor in this movie . one of the greatest actors in the world wasted  and for what reason  none what so ever  so america if you want to put classic actors in movies don  t waste them  
yet again one of the most misunderstood goddesses of my country has been twisted by  westerners  who cannot understand the esoteric symbolism of the mother goddess in her dark forms . the mother takes on the frightening form of kali mata to destroy our inner demons  and to terrify our egos . and though blood sacrifice is given to kali and durga  the events depicted in this film are just absurd . the mother takes on a wrathful form to be wrathful to our inner demons  limitations  and ego when no other form will suffice . it  s also in her wrathful form that she burns away all your karmas in the  smashan  fires that you cultivate in your heart for her to dance on if you love her  and she will bring you to reality and truth . reality and truth has a dark side as well as light  which serves a purpose . the mother is the embodiment of the physical universe as well  she is nature . nature can be cruel and destructive to maintain balance . you cannot have growth and life without death and destruction . kali represents the force of destruction for the purpose of new growth and life both mundane and spiritual in the universe . it  s very outrageous to me that people who know nothing of india or it  s divinity can just take one of our beloved goddesses and use her like a cheap prostitute to make some low  budget  talentless horror film . how dare they take our beloved mother and portray her as a horror that makes people chop their eyelids off   she is only horrific to those who are attached to their ego and who live in delusion  greed  anger  and other inner  demons . it  s very clear to me that the person who wrote this movie must have a very serious self  deluding ego  and serious inner  demons to see kali as so horrible and terrible . when the ego drops away she becomes a form that is enchanting  beautiful  and young  a beauty that is so enchanting to behold that she enchants the entire universe with it . kali maa is an ancient mother  not to be trifled with for the sake of entertainment  let  s just hope that in her endless compassion and mercy that she does not take on wrathful form to those involved with this movie .  br    br   the audacity that westerners have in using religions like my own  or the religions of the caribbean islands such as santeria  and vodou which are actually very positive  and other such religions to twist and exaggerate misunderstood elements that the western mind cannot comprehend  is totally ridiculous . it  s clear that there is no respect for what people live  breathe and believe in when it comes to these kind of flicks .  br    br   kali maa in reality is a caring and compassionate mother  whom we shed tears at her beautiful feet in devotion and love for . and i am happy that my mother takes on wrathful form sometimes to protect her devotees from themselves and from outside forces .  br    br   many praises to the real kali maa  who has shown many the path of god and realization .  
sometimes i just want to laugh . don  t you  no analyzing  no critiquing and no looking for deeper meaning . rent this movie  watch it all and laugh your ass off . don  t want to admit you liked it  fine . but don  t trash it here when you and i both know you liked it . it  s damn funny   
ignoring  if possible  the tediously gratuitous marijuana smoking  which seems to be mandatory in australian government  funded films  the cast of this movie gives a reasonably credible performance . that  s a far as it goes . the rest is simply awful . the plot  s overburdened with  wow  symbolisms which are meant to look good on film but go nowhere . a gross example is the giant peach float  obviously left over from a town parade and donated by the local canning factory . it was just too tempting to waste what was hopefully a free  but nevertheless irrelevant  prop  the peach is given a cursory  unexplained wash  down at one stage but that  s where it ends .  br    br   similarly  the contrived  black spot  road sign where steph  s parents were killed  is intended to symbolize the eventual escape from her past  but her escape to what  she  s had a pretty good deal where she was  especially considering her visual disability and the unending  loving patience and care of her understanding young female guardian .  br    br   the guinness  prize for corny melodrama  however  goes to the characterization of alan . alan successfully aspires to the noble role of trade union shop steward but  rats  on his fellow workers by becoming a supervisor for a wicked multi  national  hiss  hiss  as a supervisor  alan performs the boss  villainous dirty work . he implements redundancies until  surprise  surprise  the whole plant is closed and alan himself is left as a pathetic  unemployed failure . no clich  free zones here  mate  not only this  but alan also loses the seductive steph from the most unlikely relationship you  d encounter . if you think the plot is melodramatic and didactic  don  t ask about detail . what  s the significance of the shaving cream on steph  s seductive leg  why doesn  t the hotel  where the couple makes love  eventually twig that someone  s gaining illegal entry to one of its grandest bedrooms and  among other pandemoniums  the sheets are regularly soiled  quite spectacularly on one occasion . summing this movie up in one word avoid  avoid  avoid .  
this movie is about two guys who made up a sport on the spot trying to get  get the hot chick . baseketball becomes a nationwide sport . joe cooper  trey parker  is the beloved captain  but is hated when he loses the nba to some other rival team . he meets the girl of his dreams yasmine bleeth  and in the end they kiss . the first time i saw this movie i wet my pants it was so funny . a definite must see for all comedy fans . if you love south park you  ll love this  maybe don  t watch with kids it is bit inappropriate for little dudes . some duds give it     out of ten  i give it   out of ten . i like coop he rocks i gotta go bye bye thanks for reading this  
the story is very trustworthy and powerful . the technical side of the movie is quite fine . . even the directing of it . the main problem is with the castings  that turned that movie into almost another local and regular clich with a great lack of impact and even greater lack of impression . beside the small role of the father  rafael  played impressively by asi dayan   all other actors were unfortunately not in their best . the role of the elder blind girl  played by taly sharon  was fresh but without any intensity as the leading role . therefore the figure she acted had become mild and low profile . there were moments and episodes that looked more like a rehearsal then a real movie . but after all it  s a good point to begin from and to make big improvements in the future .  
sublimity is the way we have to reach for the beauty . and sublimity is the stuff this film is made of . if not his best  it  s my most loved of all bogdanovich movies .  br    br   this unique masterpiece remind us  as most of the other films from the director  what life is  or should be  about love  lost  or failure  and hope and faith and charity . as the song from whom the films takes its title  gershwin  s well known composition  the film makes the impossible true  and tries to make us aware that no  one is able to judge anybody all this with the lightness of a comedy and the timing of a masterful direction  the first ten minutes  with the detectives following the ladies  almost without a line of dialogue  constructed upon the looks and views of the characters   with that  bogdanovich touch  based on the point  of  view   is a class on cinema language  something that p . b . learned well from his admired directors from the golden age of the movies  . with a superb cast and a glorious soundtrack  including the best of sinatra  s  trilogy    this movie  full of self  consciousness and compassion  and far away from self  indulgence and emptiness  as some critics wrote   deserves a better place on the history of american cinema than where it have been placed . it  s not  long on style  short on substance   it is complex in its simplicity  and beautiful  absolutely beautiful .  
despite the high ratings given to this film by imdb users  this is nothing more than your typical girl  with  a  bad  childhood  obsessively  stalks  married  man film . the attractive justine priestly  s brief nude scenes may attract voyeurs  but the film is hackneyed tripe .  br    br       out of   
i thought that baseketball was one of the most funniest films i have ever seen  it  s witty humour made me giggle all the way through  and the fact that trey and matt are so over the top  boosts the film  s comedy .  br    br   i have just bought baseketball on dvd and its just one of those movies where you would never get tired of watching it . i have a very short attention span and i think this film has so any funny bits that it keeps me entertained throughout . the humorous quotes are memorable  and can make me laugh for hours if i remember them later . .  br    br   so overall i think that baseketball is brilliant movie which everyone should go see  especially if you  re younger like me as it will keep you laughing for a long time afterwards .  br    br   p . s does anybody think its weird for me to like them both  hehe  
i am a back batman movie and tv fan . i loved the show  new and old  and i loved all the movies . but this movie is not as great as some people were hopeing it to be . in my opinon  it is a big let down . i think the problem was it had no drama . batman mask of the phantasm and batman beyond return of the joker had a lot of drama . and batman  mr . freeze sub zero had some drama too . also  i think this movie is to light for batman . the only scene that seems a little dark is the big fight with bane at the end . anyways  it  s an ok batman movie . but i would just rent it .  
i found this movie to be very funny  i loved how it made of the politics of modern day sports . this movie is not as funny as south park but it is pretty funny . and since i am a sports fan i loved how they made fun some of the more ridiculous things in sports . this movie is great for non sports lovers too  probably better for them actually since they have to go through life wondering why people follow sports so closing when there are so many insane rules and intricacies to sports and the fact that it means absolutely nothing . i also found the actual game they came up with to be interesting  it is sort of like horse with bases and psyche outs  for the person shooting  . overall i highly recommend you see this movie  and believe that you will end up loving this movie . however if this style of comedy is not your favorite you probably won  t like it .  but that is with any comedy movie   
batman mystery of the batwoman  is  in a word  stale .  br    br   the plot goes that a mysterious female vigilante   batwoman   is intruding on batman  s turf  and while batman is trying to combat a penguin  bane  rupert thorne threesome  he  s trying to figure out who the mysterious batwoman is .  br    br   there is nothing strikingly wrong about this  but there is nothing really special about it either  noting really made it stick out .  br    br   mask of the phantasm had bruce  s long lost love re surface and mess with his head .  br    br   subzero was a major event in the life of mr freeze .  br    br   even the batman beyond movie spin off  return of the joker  dug deep with the characters involved .  br    br   but mystery of the batwoman had some minor subplots  a lot of formula topped off by a mediocre setpiece on a cruise boat . frankly  this thing is more scooby doo than dark knight  lacking the punch and bite that the animated series had in it  s prime .  
i must admit i am a big fan of south park and was expecting basketball to be funny but nowhere near as good as it turned out to be  i think this is what happens when you mix david zucker  matt stone  and trey parker together . this movie has so much replay value and at no point bothers to take itself seriously . the slap stick style humor mixed with stone and parker just works flawlessly . the kind of humor present in basketball was not popular upon the time of it  s release and had it come out today it would be a hit . don  t bother trying to be critical  just leave your brain at the door and expect endless laughs to come . recommended to anyone with a good sense of humor .  
my teacher taped this and showed it to us in child care to demonstrate how teen pregnancy affects people . it just demonstrated how teen pregnancy affects a childish jock not properly educated on how sex works and a whiny  unloved girl who throws fruit when angry and couldn  t tell she was with the wrong man even if he wore a sign stating he was such . i wouldn  t be surprised if the father of the baby had about eight girlfriends in the first edition of the script . stacy  s  the carrier of the baby  mother is a riot . she is oblivious to the fact her daughter is past the age of four and is seemingly unshaken when people spy on her through her dining room window . bobby  s  the father  best friend  s name is dewey  and is an obvious rip off of sean penn  s character in fast times at ridgemont high . this movie is horrid  simply because none of the characters are believable . thank goodness it  s only made for tv  limiting the public  s chances of viewing it .  
here is one movie that is genuinely funny at every single moment that it covers . how can it not be given that this movie stars the creators of south park and is directed by david zucker  when i first saw this movie  i did  nt immediately realise that coop and doug were really matt and trey but their talent in acting and writing came out as quite impressive . i was pleasantly surprised to learn that they were really matt and trey  later on . the humor is sometimes crude  sometimes foul  sometimes brilliant  sometimes subtle  sometimes loud and sometimes stupid but overall  this is one hell of a movie that is without doubt  under rated . well actually  its insane . totally insane .  
i have two very major complaints regarding this film .  br    br    . that my local rental store shelved what is very clearly a soft core porn in the  suspense  category .  had i known what it was  i would not have wasted my time renting it in the first place . and yes  this movie is a soft core porn .   br    br    . the title has nothing to do with the movie . no one in this movie does anything that is either deviant or obsessive  let alone a combination of the two .  br    br   actually  make that three major complaints  br    br    . that i for some reason watched the movie long enough to discover point number two on this list . boy do i regret that . stay away from this movie . learn from my mistake . this movie is valueless on virtually every level .  
this film is excellently paced  you never have to wait for a belly laugh to come up for more than about a minute and there  s much more going on than the initial premise of the film . throughout it there are mockeries of the traditional schmaltzy local  boys  done  good  overcoming  adversity genre of which this parodies . don  t let anyone tell you that they  re trying to get cheap laughs just by using obscenities  sure  there  s plenty of that but it  s all contextual  not gratuitous . i loved this film and it only cost me   .   on dvd  so in terms of entertainment value for money  it has been the best film i  ve seen this year .  
i  m a nice guy  and i like to think of myself as genre  tolerant . and  i guess by that  i mean i try to consider a movie in the context of the genre that it resides in . if nothing else  that saves me from feeling like i should be saying really nasty things about people or films  which i don  t like doing .  br    br   the plot in this one was patently obvious  the production values very low and sets  uhm  simplistic . the acting rose into  good for a high school play  territory from time to time . my feeling was this was filmed in a day   please tell me it was .  br    br   worst of all  the sex  while reasonably plentiful  was fairly mundane  hampered by  at least in my copy  a  sound  over  that was inconsistent with the action  climatic moans and shrieks while lying on a bed undoing a bra     . there was definitely no  edge  to it at all   nothing distinguishing or interesting  and with surprisingly quick cuts .  br    br   my vote is a    then  with the following summary statement would have been better if the filler stripper material at the club was expanded  and the rest of the movie condensed .  
trey parker and matt stone  the creators of the show  south park   return with something entirely different . they create a new sport that combines baseball and basketball . this sport is known as baseketball . it  s like basketball except that the rules of baseball are involved and there  s another letter e in the title . here  s how you play you just shoot the ball while these two guys try to distract you from making the shot . sounds simple . in fact  i might try it one day . after the game hits the streets  it soon becomes a huge success . who would  ve known that  immature friends could invent a sport that became so successful   br    br   my opinion  br    br    baseketball  is a very crude and silly spoof filled with lots of slapstick violence  yet it actually delivers some laughs and plenty of entertainment . a definite recommendation for those of you who like slapstick and rude humor .  
i watched this immediately after seeing hillside cannibals so anything would have been an improvement . on top of that it stops me from comparing zombi  to   days later and its sequel . unfortunately the more i watched it the more i realised how well made danny boyle  s original was and how much this movie influenced   weeks later  br    br   one can  t help noticing how much the   franchise has dated this type of italian horror movie . i was totally convinced zombi  must have been made in     or     at the very latest  in which case i would have called my summary   years later  geddit    but wasn  t until i came to this page to find it was released in     . all the production values scream that it  s a low budget splatter flick from the very early part of that decade . i might have enjoyed this movie as a fifteen year old schoolboy in     as would have my peers but not now  br    br   much of the problem involves a lack of internal continuity . for example some of the zombies shuffle about with the pace of a snail while others can run very fast and posses self awareness which leads to a ridiculous end scene involving a dj . likewise some can be killed by a kick to the face while others remain alive even if they  ve had their head chopped off  wait till you see the fridge scene  you might just die laughing . even the serious characters suffer from this type of contrived sloppy scripting where a character suddenly reveals he  s a helicopter pilot which leads me to ask why the army have been employing him to drive jeeps for a career  br    br   obviously you  re reminded of the earlier film the crazies which also reminded me of the later   films . bunch of terrorists break in to scientific base leading to all sorts of disaster with the military being the bad guys trying to kill both the infected and the survivors and long before the ending you  ll have worked out that basically everyone dies . the problem with this is you  ll instantly be reminded of how the british franchise did it so much better on a bigger budget . not just that but the   franchise will appeal to a thinking audience who may have little interest in the average horror movie . zombi  will appeal to no one but a hardcore splatter audience  
for a comedy this has a decent and inventive plot and trey parker and matt stone  s comic timing is perfect . there are dozens of funny moments to this fantastic movie . i especially like the multitude of colors and the way the clash in the sports arena scenes . robert stacks unsolved mysteries spoof is also very amusing .  
miraculously  this is actually quite watchable . i mean  it  s bad . it  s really bad . but whereas the original was so  bad  it  s  ruining  my  life bad  this is so  bad  it  s  mildly  entertaining bad . right  that  s enough faint praise . production values are rotten across the board  the acting is excruciating and the romero  wannabe satire can  t make its mind up which side of the ecology fence it  s mocking . internal logic takes a back seat to heads propelling themselves out of fridges  virus incubation times fluctuating as the  plot  requires  bullets working against the zombies or not  zombies having the power of speech or not . gore is the draw  obviously  but the framework is so slapdash it  s annoying . the dialogue sounds like it  s been translated by the same computers that mangle instruction manuals  and the scale of the zombie infestation is implied with none of the ingenuity of romero  s films . it  s all topped off with a horrendous synth score . absolute rubbish .  
there are so many words i want to use to describe this movie  but can  t really do that can i  this movie is a movie to watch if you just want to sit  laugh  cry and then pee . i  m serious . don  t watch this movie if you  re easily offended by profanity  sex  nudity  homosexuality . . . and everything else associated with nature . being a woman  and that might not even be a factor  i can watch this movie over and over again . trey parker and matt stone are absolutely brilliant . along with all their other debuts  i think baseketball is the prize winner . i  m laughing now just thinking about some of the stupid things they do in the movie . watch the movie   that  s all i  m going to say . it  s sort of hard for me to leave this comment because i  m one of those people  like ozzy osbourne  who has a curse word in almost every line that blurts out of their mouth when they speak . so i  m keeping it professional . best movie . heck yeah    
title zombie         br    br   directors mostly lucio fulci  but also claudio fragasso and bruno mattei  br    br   cast ottaviano dellacqua  massimo vani  beatrice ring  deran serafin  br    br   review  br    br   to review this flick and get some good background of it  i gotta start by the beginning . and the beginning of this is really george romeros dawn of the dead . when dawn came out in    lucio fulci decided to make an indirect sequel to it and call it zombie  . that film is the one we know as plain ole zombie . you know the one in which the zombie fights with the shark  ok so  after that flick  named zombie  in italy  came out and made a huge chunk of cash  the italians decided  heck . lets make some more zombie flicks  these things are raking in the dough  so zombie  was born . confused yet  the story on this one is really just a rehash of stories we  ve seen in a lot of american zombie flicks that we have seen before this one  the best comparison that comes to mind is return of the living dead . lets see . . . there  s the government making experiments with a certain toxic gas that will turn people into zombies . canister gets released into the general population and shebang  we get loads of zombies yearning for human flesh . a bunch of people start running away from the zombies and end up in an old abandoned hotel . they gotta fight the zombies to survive .  br    br   there was a lot of trouble during the filming of this movie . first and foremost  lucio fulci the beloved godfather of gore from italy was sick . so he couldn  t really finish this film the way that he wanted to . the film was then handed down to two lesser directors bruno mattei  hell of the living dead  and claudio fragasso  zombie   . they did their best to spice up a film that was already not so good . you see fulci himself didn  t really have his heart and soul on this flick . he was disenchanted with it . he gave the flick over to the producers and basically said  do whatever the hell you want with it   and god love them  they did .  br    br   and that is why ladies and gents we have such a crappy zombie flick with the great fulci credited as its  director  . the main problem in my opinion is that its just such a pointless bore  there  s no substance to it whatsoever  after the first few minutes in which some terrorists steal the toxic gas and accidentally release it  the rest of the flick is just a bunch of empty soulless characters with no personality whatsoever running from the zombies . now in some cases this can prove to be fun  if   the zombie make up and zombie action is actually good and fun and   there  s a lot of gore and guts involved .  br    br   here we get neither  well there  s some inspired moments in there  like for example when some eagles get infected by the gas and they start attacking people . that was cool . there  s also a scene involving a flying zombie head  wich by the way defies all logic and explanation  and a scene with zombies coming out of the pool of the abandoned hotel and munching off a poor girls legs . but aside from that . . . the rest of the flick just falls flat on its ass .  br    br   endless upon endless scenes that don  t do jack to move the already non existent plot along . that was my main gripe with this flick . the sets look unfinished and the art direction is practically non  existent . i hate it when everything looks so damn unfinished  i like my b  movies  but this one just really went even below that  its closer to a z  level flick  if you ask me .  br    br   the zombie make up  pure crap . the zombies are all asian actors  the movie was filmed in the philippines  so you get a bunch of asian looking zombies . but thats not a big problem since they movie was set in the phillipine islands anyway . its the look of the zombies that really sucks  they all died with the same clothes on for some reason . and what passes for zombie make up here is a bunch of black make up  more like smudges  on their faces . one or two zombies had slightly more complex make up  but it still wasn  t good enough to impress . its just a bunch of goo pointlessly splattered on the actors faces . so not only is this flick slowly paced but the zombies look like crap . these are supposed to be dead folks  anyhows  for those expecting the usual coolness in a fulci flick don  t come expecting it here cause this is mostly somebody else  s flick . and those two involved  mattei and fragasso  didn  t really put there heart and souls into it . in fact  when you see the extras on the dvd you will see that when fragasso is asked about his recollections and his feelings on this here flick  he doesn  t even take it to seriously . you can tell he is ashamed of it and in many occasions he says they  just had a job to do and they did it  . and that my friends  is the last nail on this flick . there  s no love  and no heart put into making this film . therefore you get a half assed  crappy zombie flick .  br    br   only for completest or people who want to have or see every zombie flick ever made . everybody else  don  t even bother  rating  out of   
baseketball is one of the funniest movies i have ever seen . it is an off  the  wall movie starring south park creators matt stone and trey parker . they play two slacker friends who create a sport in their driveway which goes on to become a national sensation . most of the gags are indeed hilarious but the funniest parts of the movie is when players attempt to  psyche  out  other members of the opposing team . there is no rule about what is not allowed  so naturally they do the craziest things possible . one flaw of this movie is that the pace is way too fast  and after watching for about half an hour i found myself asking  wow this this over already   another hilarious part of the movie was how joe and doug continuously harass squeak  who is a hyped  up little guy . baseketball is a comedic classic with some very quotable lines  and it is very fun to watch   
i  m a big fan of horror flicks  and zombie films are a particular favorite of mine . that said  zombi  is one of the absolute worst films i have ever seen . so needless to say i really enjoyed it  it  s the best bad movie i  ve seen in a long while . the story has some similarities with dan o  bannon  s  return of the living dead   but whereas that film was intentionally funny  this one is the opposite . it has some of the most laughable acting i  ve ever witnessed  especially from the main scientist character . his scenes with the general were just hysterical . also  the effects are subpar and in many cases sloppy  and the death scenes are often just downright stupid . this  of course  makes it all the more fun . possible spoiler  the worst is the scene where the guy opens the refrigerator door and sees the severed zombie head  which then opens its eyes and somehow flies out of the fridge  obviously pulled out ineptly with a bit of string   latching onto the guys neck  killing him . zombie heads have the ability to float in the air now  it defies every law of physics known to man  and it  s one of the most absurd things ever filmed . that  s just one of many really goofy moments in the idiotic mess . i can  t believe it  s gotten so high a rating here . if you are a fan of bad movies  do yourself a favor and rent this sucker .  
there really isn  t much to say about this movie . . . . it  s crude  but fun .  br    br   plot outline  from imdb   br    br                                         br    br   two losers from milwaukee  coop  remer  parker  stone   invent a new game playing basketball  using baseball rules . when the game becomes a huge success  they  along with a billionaire  s help  form the professional baseketball league where everyone gets the same pay and no team can change cities . coop  remer  s team  the milwaukee beers is the only team standing in the way of major rule changes that the owner of the dallas felons  vaughn  wants to institute .  br    br                                         br    br   the acting is pretty good  since there arn  t many big stars in this movie . although i am not a big fan of  southpark   parker and stone do a pretty good job in their first real movie .  br    br   there are so many funny moments in this movie i can  t come close to naming them all . it never really lets up  and they don  t try to put some cruddy drama in to make it more serious .  br    br   and my favorite aspect of this movie the soundtrack . it  s great . i especially like  take me on  and  beer  by reel big fish . very underrated .  br    br   overall  a crude  but extremely funny  movie .       br    br   james  black wolf  johnston  
  gone with the wind  is one of the most overrated movies in history . it is a film loved by mothers  grandmothers  and shut  ins who go to the movies once every five years . as a zombie movie  it blows . there isn  t a shambling corpse in sight  and it  s terribly light in the gore department .  zombie    on the other hand  is big on shambling corpses and quite generous with its blood  spilling   therefore  it is better than  gone with the wind  . it is also not overrated . most reviewers are under no delusions that it is rubbish . it is  however  not boring rubbish . after a terrorist steals a virus  he drops it while being pursued by a helicopter  and the chemicals leak into the ground . the terrorist  who has been exposed to the nasty concoction  hides in a hotel room where he slowly morphs into a flesh  eating zombie . one of his first victim  s is a cleaning lady . once she  s bitten  lucio fulci  s brand of hell breaks loose . as usual for a fulci flick  the acting is atrocious  the storyline is riddled with plot holes  and the gore is plentiful . turns out the film was directed by fulci and bruno mattei  so that explains its rather schizophrenic nature . it is badly shot  too  poorly edited  and the sound design is flat . still  it is saved by its gleeful adherence to the goriest of murders and its impatient pacing . definitely worth picking up if you  re an undead completest . or don  t like  gone with the wind   undoubtedly the worst zombie movie of all time .  
i am glad other people enjoyed this movie  cause i know it doesn  t have the greatest reputation and it made no money at the box office . i thought it was terrific and there are several reasons why  bogdanovich directs with the lightest of touches  the cast  especially coleen camp  is perfect and the big bad apple never looked better on film . you  ve seen worse movies   
for the record  this film is intriguing but its hardly original . back in     a movie starring talia shire called the landlady had almost the exact same plot but with younger characters .  br    br   the story is amanda lear has had a bad life  abusive father  horny doctor  mental homes  etc . she  s finally released from the happy home under the guidance of her perverted doctor . . . who she anally abuses and kills the poor guy .  now that was original  the doctor had financed a mansion for her before she killed him and buried the sucker in the backyard . after moving in she falls in love with a stud named richard  who just happens to be married to a blues singer . if you  ve seen the landlady you know the rest  she kills or tries to kill anyone that gets in between her and richard  including a roadie  .  br    br   much of the idea  s came from the previous movie  same idiot sidekick that sticks his nose in  same spying on the guy with a bowl of popcorn  same flying a bodypress . it did have some original material  the beer bottle thing was brutal . the highlight of the movie was amanda  s beautiful breasts in the hot  top scene . somewhat of a ripoff but not a total waste of time .  br    br    out of    
this movie is just funny . mindless  but funny . to enjoy this movie completely you can  t have a perception of how a film like this goes and just enjoy all the side jokes and puns which are involved with the film . i still find the bit at the start funny when he says  want a beer . . . . . . . . cock  . funny stuff . but what makes the film decent is the fact that it doesn  t try to hard to create a serious spin on the film  too many comedies try to have serious aspects which you just don  t believe . but this is different and just focuses on being funny . i must say though  yasmin bleeth is terrible in the film and adds nothing but the  main guys  coop  remer and squeak are very funny to watch and make the film great to watch  
in     lucio fulci released his film zombi . however  due to the earlier import of george romero  s dawn of the dead  which had gone by that name for its italian release  it was retitled to zombi  .  which also had the bonus of letting the audience think this was a sequel to the second romero movie  . continuing this theme  the second zombi film  which would have been called zombi   was then consequently titled zombi  . in the uk  the original zombi film  that is  zombi   was titled  zombie flesh eaters  . to continue this theme  the second zombi film  zombi   was then titled  zombie flesh eaters   for its uk release .  are you following all this   so if zombie flesh eaters was fulci  s dawn  then is  his day of the dead  while this is only a flippant observation  this tale of military compounds  helicopters and a plodding narrative certainly does bear a vague thematic resemblance .  br    br   some of fulci  s european direction compels in a film like this  but the acting  dubbing and exposition  heavy script are absolutely horrendous . its ecological message is so forced and overstated it can no longer be considered a subtext  while there  s an  unintentionally  hilarious birds homage . combining this last element with mor   s rock is not a good idea . for some reason i couldn  t stop thinking of time of the apes  q . v .  the whole time i was watching this . this is obviously not a good thing .  br    br   while there  s nothing here to rival topless scuba  diving  shark wrestling zombies and eyeballs on a splinter  fulci  s misogynistic leanings do get a work out with a hotel cleaner  s mouth being ground into a mirror until it gushes blood . his fannish gore predilections also see a hand severing . both themes are combined when a woman  s face is ripped off  first by one zombie  then a zombie foetus that tears out of a pregnant woman  s stomach .  br    br   production  wise  this is obviously a step up from zombi  coming five years later .  nine years in worldwide release terms  . but without the original  s low  key charm it struggles  while stefano mainetti  s music is inappropriate and uninspired . fabio frizzi  s score was one of the best things about the    movie . here zombie attacks are played out to what sounds unnervingly like bonnie tyler  s  holding out for a hero  . in the middle of this carnage we get an irksome love interest  and roger and kenny  two bland macho types who do everything with acrobatic urgency and constantly state the obvious .   we  re out of ammunition  to a stalling gun is a particular standout  . but where it also falls down is in the zombies themselves . low key or not  fulci  s original had truly magnificent  rotting zombies . skull faces  worms in eye sockets . . . they really were something to behold . by contrast  this dull follow  up opts for the more traditional  men with a bit of paint on their faces  option .  br    br   the climax rips off too many romero movies to even be funny  while the use of the dj is a crass and cheap narrative device . not containing the same elements of outrage and gratuitous nudity of the first  this is unlikely to have the same cult appeal .  br    br   it turns out that fulci actually walked out on the project after reportedly directing just fifteen minutes  the rest filmed by bruno mattei . i  m fairly sure that even fulci would have balked at the ludicrous  flying zombie head  scene  and so credit to the director for having the good sense to leave . unfortunately  however  it  s his name that  s above the film title on releases  so the majority of people will be left with the impression that this is a fulci film through and through . on that scale then it  s a major setback for him  for this movie commits what you imagine fulci would regard as the worst crime of all that of being boring .  
why the crap is this movie rated so low   i  ve seen this movie over   times  i know every line to this movie . it  s obvious that i love this movie . trey parker and matt stone  creators of south park and the new puppet masterpiece team america  star as the main characters joe cooper  or coop  airman  cooper  and doug remer  or  sir swish .  mainly they  re just referred to as coop and remer throughout the movie . right as the movie starts it reminds us of the money hungry corrupt world of overpaid sports starts  they even go as far as to make one up called  townsell .  i must quote this portion of the movie since it is true with some sports starts  and after playing for new england  san diego  huston  saint louis  a year for the toronto arganauts  plus one season as a greater at the desert inn i  m happy to finally play here in the fine city of miami .  his agent leans over  minnesota .  let us not forget this important piece of the movie . so it starts that coop and remer are at a high school reunion party and realize they are still nothing as they talk to their old classmates . outside they create the sport baseketball after being challenged by what probably was high school basketball heroes . after shaming them the sport goes pro in about a year . during this time they manage to recruit their third team mate squeak  which is actually a day after they invent the game . as the movie follows we find out that coop  remer  and squeak are the only virtuous sports heroes left . the story follows with zany blackmail  the milwaukee beers cheerleaders  and humor so absurd it  ll leave you crying for more . watch it dude  it  s hilarious .  
this movie was recently released on dvd in the us and i finally got the chance to see this hard  to  find gem . it even came with original theatrical previews of other italian horror classics like  spasmo  and  beyond the darkness  . unfortunately  the previews were the best thing about this movie .  br    br    zombi   in a bizarre way is actually linked to the infamous lucio fulci  zombie  franchise which began in     . similarly compared to  zombie    zombi   consists of a threadbare plot and a handful of extremely bad actors that keeps this  horror  trash barely afloat . the gore is nearly non  existent  unless one is frightened of people running around with green moss on their faces  and the english dubbing is a notch below embarrassing .  br    br   the plot this time around involves some sort of covert military operation with a bunch of inept scientists  ie . an idiotic male and his stupid female side  kick  who are developing some sort of chemical called  death one  that is supposed to re  animate the dead . unless my ears need to be checked  i don  t even recall a reason for the research of  death one  . it seems to exist only to wreak havoc upon the poor souls who made the mistake of choosing to  star  in this cinematic laugh  fest .  br    br   anyway   death one  is experimented on a corpse  whom i swear looked like yul brynner   and after it is injected into his system  he sits upright and his head explodes  the sound effects are also quite hilarious  as the corpse  s face bubbles with green slime  the sound of  paper crumpling  can be heard . the  death one  toxin is transported outside and is  hi  jacked  by a group of thieves where one makes off with it  but infects himself after cutting himself on an exposed vial .  br    br   needless to say  the guy turns into a zombie  but not before he makes his timely escape to a cheap motel  infects a lowly porter and murders a maid by pushing her face into a bathroom mirror    . the military catch wind of this and immediately take action before  eliminating  everyone who is unlucky enough to be within the  contamination zone  and turn the motel upside down . they find the infected thief and burn his body  only to have the smoke infect a flock of birds that are flying over the chimney stack    .  br    br   we cut to the introduction of a group of men who are on leave from the army  listening to  groovy music  that is coming out of a little dinky boom  box while trailing a trailer  load of slutty girls who are leaning out of the windows and showing off their chests . can someone say  zombie food   we also have a sub  plot involving a girl and her boyfriend driving a car who stop to inspect a group of birds lying on the road . . . the same birds that were infected by the  zombie  smoke   br    br   the birds attack the boyfriend and the girl drives off to a deserted gas station to seek water . this is one of the most incredibly hilarious moments of the movie . she walks around this old dirty  rusty and obviously abandoned building where she continues to ask aloud   hello  is there anyone here  please  i just need some water   she encounters a group of zombies  one of which is chained to a wall    and the other is swinging a machete . after a bit of rumbling and tumbling around on the ground  she escapes but not before blowing up the gas station with her lighter .  br    br   meanwhile  the birds attack the trailer  load of whores and one girl gets pecked and infected . they all pull up to the same motel where the original infection took place  and this is where the second most hilarious moment of the film takes place . after a matter of hours  a day at the most   the same motel is now caked in dust  has vines growing throughout it  and looks like it has been sitting derelict for years . anyway  what better place to take refuge than this particular building  needless to say  the group begins to break down as several people walk off together to get themselves stuck in an incredibly stupid situation involving a zombie attack .  br    br   the third most hilarious moment concerns a man and a woman who explore a deserted village  of which the woman comments   this place is a dump   she then proceeds to get  pushed  off a balcony by a zombie into pirahna    infested water where she has her legs bitten off and turns into a zombie within seconds  meanwhile  her friend back at the motel who got pecked and infected hours earlier is still turning into a zombie   br    br   unfortunately  there are just too many inconsistencies in this movie that makes this movie just too stupid for words . for example  the time rate concerning infected people being  zombified  differs greatly . sometimes it takes seconds  other times it takes hours . some zombies run  others drag their feet and walk really slow . some even do kung  fu moves  while others hide under stacks of hay to surprise people . some of the zombies even talk  the funniest moment of course is the infamous  zombie head in the fridge  gag which  elevates  itself in mid  air and  attacks  a stupid man who goes looking for food . funnily enough  his girlfriend gets her throat torn out by it  s  headless  counter  part  lmao   .  br    br   the biggest disappointment for me though was the lack of story  lines involving the people who are in fact killed by zombies . we never get to see them come back as zombies  in fact the only ones we do see  zombified  are the ones pecked by the birds and the one girl who gets her legs bitten off . other than that  i was at least expecting the couple who were killed in the kitchen and  or the guy who was killed on the bridge to come back as zombies . it is also amazing that these zombies only take a  few bites  and then move on to their next victim .  br    br   the most laughable moment was of course the zombie fetus . a pregnant woman who has been infected lies on a bed in a hospital . a woman who seems to have a lot of  medical knowledge  tries to deliver the baby    and has her face pulled off by a zombie  before having her head pushed into the woman  s stomach where a hand bursts out and proceeds to rip the rest of her face off . timeless   br    br   as usual  all the characters are perfect stereotypes of this genre . the megalomaniacal military officer  the pathetic useless squealing women who scream to get killed  the obvious characters who are about to get killed  ie . watch for the man chasing a chicken   i guess this movie really is a comedy . there were many laughable scenes  such as the shed that gets blown up with a hand grenade  obviously the scene where the entire budget was spent  and a climatic scene where a man screams   i  m thirsty . . . . thirsty for your blood   . the costumes are really bad  the same zombies reappear throughout the course of the film  wearing the same  asian  like  clothing that may be found in a bruce lee film  and watch out for the blue    s skirt the girl at the motel is wearing when she and her boyfriend bump into the infected man .  br    br   the end of the film leaves open the door as usual for the apocalyptic story  line . a radio dj who narrates throughout the whole movie turns out to be a zombie himself and warns his listeners about the  beginning of the end  while the two survivors take off in a helicopter . hardly  dawn of the dead  material if you ask me .  br    br   regardless  this movie does deliver many laughs . the gore is minimal  and what gore there is  it is very unconvincing  let alone unimaginative . the usual mix of black blood  thick green goo oozing out of weeping sores and  zombie make  up  consisting of green moss .  zombi   makes for a good rental for a sleep  over party or a night of beer and popcorn . other than that  horror fans should stay away .  br    br    out of    
i thoroughly enjoyed this flick . i am of the firm belief that matt stone and trey parker are comic geniuses of our time . they have the uncanny ability to add this level of absurdity to pop culture and make it rediculous but in a realistic way . . . if that makes any sense . this is mainly what makes south park soooo funny . once you get past the fact that it is probably the most vulgar and indiscreet cartoon ever  you see in every episode the message that is being conveyed . that is apparent in baseketball . although it is directed by david zucker and is utterly rediculous  it has a sincere message about corporate america and the disgrace that is major league sports . i am also a fan of sports so i find this movie hilarious at times because it is so true in that bizarre way that people hate to love . the opening prologue is brilliant . . . tears from laughter form everytime i see those football players begin riverdance  some may not like this movie because it  s just not everyone  s cup of tea . . . but  just like south park  once you look past the absurdity . . . it has a really genuine message that is conveyed through literal comic genius . i gave this movie  out of   stars .  
zombie review    br    br   spoilers  br    br   few films are actually  so bad they  re good   and zombi  is not just bad  it  s wretchedly  unforgivably bad in so many ways that a whole new language may be needed just to describe them all  br    br   more than that  it  s a film credited to lucio fulci that even by his standards has absolutely no coherency  sense or reason . however we can  t blame fulci as it wasn  t really directed by him but by bruno mattei  who doesn  t even have fulci  s sense of style to help carry the film . mattei seems to have brought little to the film but staggering ineptitude .  br    br   so  i  m ashamed to say how much i enjoyed every worthless minute of zombi  . it has no redeeming features  in a genre known for thin characters  weak story  and lack of film making skill  zombi  pushes the boat out but in doing so it  s even funnier than nightmare city .  br    br   the  action  starts when the  death   gas is stolen from a military base  and damaged in the escape . who is the thief  why did he steal it  and why did the us military think that creating cannibalistic legions of the living dead would be a good idea  all these questions and more will fail to be answered in zombi  . . . .  br    br   after hiding out at a hotel  the infected thief goes mad from all the green plastecine growing on his face before being tracked down by the army who somewhat foolishly decide the best way to dispose of his corpse will be to burn it  sending  death   up into the atmosphere resulting in . . . zombie birds  who then attack people and turn them into zombie people     if zombies are cannibals  why don  t the zombie birds just attack other birds    br    br   then we meet our  heroes   a trio of horny gis and a coachload of girls . there  s a couple of other guys with them too  but they  re not important  no one is important here . you  ll be hard pressed to remember anyone  s face  let alone their name or find a reason to care about them . they end up hiding out at the same hotel as the thief   a week ago this place was buzzing with life  now it  s buzzing with flies    but there  s no escape from the undead .  br    br   by this point you  ll either be completely sucked in or you  ll have turned the damned thing off . the script is so appalling even the greatest acting in the world couldn  t save it  so it  s just as well they have some of the worst  and not just the human characters  the zombie acting here is an all time low . there  s no consistancy in how the zombies behave  some shamble about in the time honored style  others engage in full on fist fights or charge around with machettes  not to mention the zombies who are still able to talk  a gimmick that gives the film it  s horrifying twist ending  . they die from gunshots to the chest  rather than the head  and even get knocked out by a good left  hook . how can you punch out a zombie         in fact the emphasis on badly done   s action often makes it resemble an episode of v . . .  br    br   the zombies also spend a lot of time hiding  seemingly waiting for hours in ridiculous places on the chance some poor sap will pass by and get the fright of their life . they hide in bushes  in garages  in huts  on roofs  in the water  and even underneath pregnant women . at one point a zombie follows a woman up the stairs . to kill and eat her  no  to push her into the water  those zombies and their wacky sense of humour   br    br   there is plenty of gore though . limbs are hacked  wounds ooze green pus  and there  s much in the way of flesh eating and people getting their faces mushed in . there  s nothing to match the originals eyeball piercing  but if bad make up effects are your bag you won  t be let down .  br    br   all this and i  ve not even mentioned the awful music  the inexplicable flying zombie head  the scientist whose acting actually manages to stand out as really bad  or the final chilling punchline . . . . in an ingenious twist on the originals radio station being overrun by zombies  zombi  gives us an actual zombie dj    he  s gone over to their side   our escaping hero  s cry  before vowing to continue fighting against the undead in a sequel that sadly never came .  br    br   zombi  is rubbish  it would be no loss to the world if every single print was destroyed and all records of it  s existence erased  yet somehow i feel my life is richer for having seen it .  br    br   did i say richer  i meant   minutes shorter . . .  
baseketball is indeed a really funny movie . david zucker manages to make us all laugh our heads off again  in a really silly  but many times smart  comedy .  br    br   the  creators of south park  the main actors in this film  play very good  surprisingly good actually  but this is the first time i see them as actors . the movie oftenly reminded me of south park  one of my fav shows .  br    br   it  s a really good and funny film  so don  t miss it .  br    br   vote  .  out of   .  
zombi  starts as a group of heavily armed men steal a experimental chemical developed to reanimate the dead  while trying to escape the man is shot at  the metal container holding the chemical is breached . the man gets some of the green chemical on a wound on his hand which soon after turns him into a flesh eating cannibalistic zombie . within hours the surrounding area is crawling with the flesh easting undead on the look out for fresh victims  kenny  deran sarafian   his army buddies find themselves in big trouble as they stop to help patricia  beatrice ring   her friend lia  deborah bergammi  who has been pecked by zombie birds    . general morton is in charge of the situation  has to stop the zombie plague from spread throughout the whole world  but will he  his men succeed   br    br   this italian produced film was to be directed by italian zombie gore film auteur lucio fulci but the story goes he suffered a stroke  therefore couldn  t finish the film so producer franco gaudenzi asked second unit director bruno mattei  writer claudio fragasso to step in  complete the film . apparently mattei  fragasso did more than just finish it they actually disregarded a lot of the footage fulci shot  added a lot of their own  zombi  ended up as nearly a straight      split . the script by fragasso is an absolute mess  none of it is well thought out  is just as stupid as it gets . the scenes of zombie birds attacking people are not only technically inept but the whole idea is just absurd . the zombies themselves have no consistency whatsoever  look at the scene where patricia is on the bridge  the zombies are slow as they shuffle along but then look at the scene earlier on where she was attacked by the zombie with the machete because that one runs around like it  s on steroids  then for no reasonable explanation about   minutes before the film finishes the zombies suddenly develop the ability to speak which also looks daft . there are so many things wrong with zombi   scene after scene of terribly thought out  ineptly directed action  awful character  s  really dull broken english dialogue which doesn  t make sense half the time . then there  s the embarrassing scene where the zombie head inside the fridge suddenly develops the ability to fly through the air  bite someones neck  the scene when the guy  s in white contamination suits at the end are about to kill kenny  roger but instead of using their automatic rifles they decide to try  kill them by hand  even when kenny picks up a gun himself they still refuse to use their rifles  when kenny starts to shoot them all they still refuse to use their rifles  it  s one of the most ineptly handled scenes ever put to film  then there  s the end where kenny takes off in the helicopter but can  t rest it down on the ground for literally a few seconds to pick his buddy up  then a load of zombies suddenly spring up from under some piles of grass  what  since when did zombies hide themselves yet alone under piles of grass  this all may sound  fun  but believe me it  s not  it  s a really bad film that is just boring  repetitive  simply doesn  t work on any level as a piece of entertainment except for a few unintentional laughs .  br    br   it  s hard to know who was responsible for what exactly but none of the footage is particularly well shot . it has a bland lifeless feel about it  for some reason the makers have tried to bath every scene in mist  the problem is they clearly only had one fog machine  you can see that at one corner of the screen the mist is noticeably thicker as it is coming straight out of the machine  thinning out as it disperses across the scene . since a lot of it is set during the day it doesn  t add any sort of atmosphere whatsoever  when they do get it right  the mist is evenly spread across the screen it just looks like they shot the scene on a foggy day  the direction is poor with no consistency  it just looks  feels bottom of the barrel stuff . even the blood  gore isn  t up to much  there  s a gory hand severing at the start  a scene when something rips out of a pregnant woman  s stomach  a legless woman  what actually took her legs off in the pool by the way  why didn  t it take the legs off the guy who jumped in to save her    a few ok looking zombies is as gory as it gets . for anyone hoping to see a gore fest the likes of which fulci regularly served up during the late    s  early    s will be very disappointed  there aren  t any decent feeding scenes  no intestines  no stand out  head shots   very little gore at all .  br    br   technically the film is poor  the special effects are cheap looking  the cinematography is dull  the music is terrible  the locations are bland  it has rock bottom production values . this was actually shot in the philippines to keep the cost down to a minimum . the entire film is obviously dubbed  the acting still looks awful though  the english version seems to have been written by someone who doesn  t understand the language that well .  br    br   zombi  is not a sequel to fulci  s classic zombie gore fest zombi         it has nothing to do with it at all apart from the cash  in title . i  m sorry but zombi  is an amateurish mess of a film  it  s boring  it makes no sense  it  s not funny enough to be entertaining  it lacks any decent gore . one to avoid .  
david zucker has directed one of the most enjoyable comedies of the year with this goofy farce . yes  it  s a matter of acquired taste and depends upon a wealth of sophomoric gags  but it is consistently funny throughout unlike some recent comedic efforts . the film is loaded with all kinds of jokes ranging from the blatantly obvious to the more subtler kind that you must pay attention to everything in the frame or you  ll likely miss them . like his previous efforts which include  airplane     top secret    and  naked gun   the humor flies out almost every second . there are so many moments that work  it  s easy to overlook the few that fall flat . what sets this movie apart from other pale imitations in the spoof genre is that it has an actual story line . while others have depended upon making fun of too many famous scenes in almost random movies  take  mafia    please   this film tells a new story with likable characters . it touches upon sports films in general as well as satirizing the real sports industry instead of lampooning any specific movies . even for people who don  t care for  south park   its creators  matt stone and trey parker  make a good pair of leading actors with natural chemistry . the film also makes extremely effective use of cameos of athletes  sports announcers  and other celebrities  especially a hilarious bit with robert stack of  unsolved mysteries .  by the way  stay through the credits for a final joke with bob costas and al michaels . all in all  zucker has achieved  in words perhaps applying to the movie  s mix of sports  a home dunk .  
i admit that the majority of this film was uninspired  but i was still entertained . it has a wonderful sense of frenetic energy  above average music  and the women in the film fiercely defend themselves  there  s no prissies here . i can think of dozens of other films that were way worse  at least this one had an intriguing plotline along with some social commentary . they allude to how the military deals with viral epidemics  destroy everything in sight  even if it means the people you  re supposed to be saving . also  how dangerous martial law can be since at that point democracy ceases to exist . fulci seemed to attempt to combine his earlier work  zombie  beyond  gates of hell  in an effort to somehow improve on them . he failed  but definitely not miserably  like a number of people would have you think . i have a soft spot for zombie films  so i admit that i  m somewhat biased when it comes to reviewing them . all i  m saying is that this movie is good for one time around  if there wasn  t so much descension in the making of this film  fulci quit and bruno  i can hack with the best of them  mattei took over  it could have been much better and more focused . it  s going to stay in my collection as fulci  s zombie swan song . one surprising note  is that there is a scene in zombie  that cemetery man actually ripped off  i couldn  t believe it myself  check it out you  ll be surprised .  
the whole point of making this film  one of the earliest and best international color releases of cinematic opera  was to make it more accessible to the masses . and it succeeded admirably in doing so . the general public would not sit still for a love story about two young exotic lovers in ancient egypt if played by the typical    pound over   tenor and soprano with the vocal equipment to sing the glorious music properly . hence the visual substitution of the beautiful principals  a young loren  handsome della marra  and a slinky ms . maxwell  who make the story much more believable  giving those not familiar with the plot or the music a better chance at being wooed into the lovely arias who otherwise might not be . altogether  an enchanting introduction to one of verdi  s great works . i remember seeing this when i was in junior high school and it certainly awakened my interest in opera  a form with which i was then not well acquainted . i still regard this film fondly and would recommend it highly to those who might appreciate the great music accompanied by better than average visuals . luciano della marra was a standout as radames  and unfortunately for audiences did not appear in any other films .  
when i finally had the opportunity to watch zombie   zombie flesheaters  in europe  on an import region  japanese dvd  i was blown away by just how entertaining this zombie epic is . the transfer is just about immaculate  as good as it  s ever going to look unless anchor bay gets a hold of it . the gore truly stands out like it should and you can really appreciate the excellent makeup and gore fx . the sound is also terrific . it  s only  channel dolby but if you have a receiver with dolby prologic   you can really appreciate the cheesy music  actually a very good score   and the effective although cheap sound effects . it never sounded so good  and the excellent transfer adds to the overall enjoyment .  br    br   i never realized just how much blood flows in this film  it  s extremely brutal with exploding head shots  exploding puss filled mega pimples  a cleaver to a zombies throat  a woman  s burned off extremities  how come it did  nt burn the guy also   intestinal munching  zombie babies and so much more i lost track .  br    br   this is no doubt for hardcore zombie action fans  especially of the italian kind . there is some excellent set pieces and cinematography to be found  i think people don  t give it enough credit  if you see a clean print  and not some horrendous pirate copy  it  s a whole other experience entirely .  br    br   this film never lets up for a second  and i realize it  s inconsistent plotwise  the dubbing is horrible  the acting is stiff  and it  s sense of irreverence is celebrated in grand fashion  but that  s part of it  s charm .  br    br   to me this is one of the best horror films ever made  you can  t make a film this bad  so good  on purpose . it  s accidental genius of the highest order . if they played it for laughs it would have been a disaster  but they played it straight as an arrow and the result is a terrific cult classic that thumbs it  s nose at any and all traditional moviemaking standards .  br    br   tons of action sequences  exotic locales  excellent set design  good  sometimes great cinematography  wonderfully cheesy acting  and inconsistent but still interesting plot  great makeup effects  beautiful women who can kick butt  excellent music  and sometimes hilarious  sometimes creepy  but always entertaining zombies . how can you go wrong with this film  it has it all  a cult classic that stands the test of time .  
i  m amazed we see even one nay  sayer criticizing this old film . we don  t ordinarily get good opera films  and here is a true grand opera rendition . understandably  the visuals are not great . it  s dated . but as opera it can  t be faulted and i  m an opera buff . i can  t even detect one lip  sync if we didn  t know that was tebaldi in the audio nothing would convince me it isn  t sophia loren . she does everything with flair  her dark makeup is fine and she brought the role to gorgeous life  the rest of the cast is wonderful  as is that stunning ballet troupe . most of the actors are excellent loren truly marvelous . her rival amneris is also terrific . whoever didn  t care for this     job is shamefully remiss . verdi would have enjoyed it  naturally  renata tebaldi as aida is the engine behind the scenes . i love this old movie   
where do i begin  i wanted to enjoy this movie  and i did . still  i wanted to be able to enjoy it for being another zombie film that was worth my loot  and it wasnt . this was a different kind of enjoyment . this was unhealthy  a perverse glee that i partook in watching one of the most ridiculous films id seen yet . and i dont much care for whatever fulci  s excuses were  there was no excuse for this film going how it went . this was a bad film all the way around  yet i still cant give it below a  out of ten  which is what i gave it  because well . . . at least i was able to laugh at this misfit of a movie .  br    br   i had to imagine these zombies  that were all over the ceilings of these buildings everywhere . . . had to imagine that they were either bored as hell so they crawled up on the beems  and perched themselves high on stone erections  or they saw the fleshy living motley band of jerk  offs coming around  so they took it upon themselves to stage numerous aerial ambushes . hell  what else is there to do when youre dead   br    br   i had to laugh at some zombies performing what looked to be martial arts swings  kicks  and jumps  and some shambling about like traditional meatlovers . i feasted my eyes on a floating head that was never explained . i watched in pure horrific delight as the land they were in  the phillipenes  was absolutely engulfed in fog  heavy doses of fog  and that the ponds were as they were boiling castle moats . i had to even cringe when i saw that the design for a cure for this plague was sketched on a chalkboard as an octagon with lines stretching from each angle  with  dead one  written in the middle . i had to ask myself . . . if the science of curing zombies is that easy  then i wonder if i could come up with a little something to start a zombie outbreak here   br    br   all in all the effects were overboard  the dubbing horrid  im sure the original acting as poor  the story absurd  the zombies inconsistent  even in a bad way they couldve all been similar  and the women ugly  but i found myself enjoying this thing . it was a fun watch . it turned out to be a very very bad film  and i would not recommend this thing unless one is into bad directorial exploitation films  but still  again i say . . . it was worth a good laugh . i crave zombie films no matter what  but when this had fulci  s name attached to it  it shouldve been much better . let me dare say  zombie holocaust was better .  
this is the weepy that beaches never was . as much as i wanted to love beaches  it always seemed too hurried for me to  feel  for it  its soundtrack is one of my favorite albums though  . stella  on the other hand  moves at a slower  and occasionally too slow  pace and though it  s somewhat manipulative in its tears  inducing tale about a self  sacrificial mother  it works because bette and the rest of the cast turn in great performances .       
the dubbing  translation in this movie is downright hilarious and provides the only entertainment in this otherwise dull and derivative zombie flick . i haven  t laughed so hard in my life as i just did watching zombi   and i  ve seen some really bad dubbing in my life  believe me  . seriously  the filmmakers could re  edit this movie and release it as a comedy and make millions of dollars . it  s just that funny .  br    br   but . . . if falling off your couch laughing at the dubbing in a fulci zombie movie isn  t your cup of tea  then avoid this at all costs .  
the original with barbara stanwyk is saved only by stanwyk  s performance . the story and the other performances are too sickeningly sweet and the film itself is too dated to be really enjoyed today . bette midler  s version is much more interesting . she is stella claire  an independent  free  spirited single woman who gets pregnant and refuses help from her boyfriend  stephen collins  or her friend  john goodman in an underrated performance  . she raises her daughter jenny played so sweetly by trini alvarado and then comes to the conclusion that jenny  s father can do better for her and ultimately makes a life  altering decision . through out the film  there are plenty of laughs  tears and memorable moments mostly between midler and alvarado . marsha mason co  stars as jenny  s would  be stepmother  who though wealthy turns out to be a very good influence on her . if you like midler  goodman or just good films with plenty of emotion you  ll enjoy bette midler  s version of stella .  
first off i really enjoyed zombi  by lucio fulci . this film was utter trash . i couldn  t stand to watch it . the storyline was a joke  the acting was a joke  and the fact that zombi  has nothing to do with zombi  is even more a joke .  br    br   we jump from voodoo to death  the harmful agent brining people back to life . whatever  this movie isn  t worth the   .   it cost to rent it . i really enjoyed lucio fulci movies but this one was horrible . if zombi  is an indicator for how zombi  and  are going to be i think i will just skip them .  br    br   zombi  is an awesome flique tho .  
first off  i would just like to say what a big fan of bette midler  s i am . stella is a very good movie with a wonderful cast  bette midler  john goodman  trini alvarado  stephen collins  marsha mason  this is one of my favorite films of all time . it deals with a mother raising a child on her own  she goes through a lot of things that are out of her way to bring up her daughter jenny played wonderfully by trini alvarado . this movie is very good and i suggest that you pick up a copy to watch it . roger ebert gave is     stars  and it deserved   wonderful  i give it  out of    
although the likeliness of someone focusing on this comment among the other    for this movie is low  i feel that i have to say something about this one . i am not the kind of movie  watcher who pays attention to production value  thought  provoking dialog  or brilliant acting  directing . however  i claim that this movie sucks . i don  t know why i don  t like it . . . i mean it has almost everything i want out of a horror movie blood  outrageousness  unintentional humor  etc . according to this evidence it should be my favorite . still  zombi  is a baaad movie .  br    br   there are just too many things that compels you to yell at the screen . like when the girl leaves the army guy when their car breaks down to find water  this spoils nothing so don  t worry  . she walks into what i see as an abandoned hotel or something . did she not see that there was a friggin  lake in the middle of the building    yes she  s looking for water and passes up a lake . why  cuz she wants to know why the people  who aren  t there cuz the place is abandoned  won  t answer her when she calls out  is anybody there   oh this is just a little  insignificant piece of the big picture i  m painting .  br    br   there is a reason  though  why i gave this film more than  star . it  s one of those movies where if you forget how bad it really is  like i have a few times  you  ll want to watch it again because it  s just so over  the  top in every aspect . i called it blood in the first paragraph  but this movie has no blood  it has an ocean of gore . also  it has pretty weird creatures in it as well a zombie  baby  with an adult  size hand     and a magically flying head to name just two .  br    br   you know when you try to think of the worst and cheesiest movies ever made and you come up with     s sci  fi movies  i believe that zombi  and movies like it should top those . it has all the elements scientists arguing with the government  warnings of the apocalypse on the radio  armies battling monsters  and so on . this is the plan  of the     s  while i won  t say that this is a waste of money if you want to buy it  just expect the very worst . and when you find out that expecting the worst is underestimating zombi   it won  t be all that bad . you might actually like it  i  m not saying that  s impossible .  br    br   don  t think i hate this movie  i don  t . . . really . oh  p . s . killing birds  aka zombie   rules   did i just blow my credibility    
new york has never looked so good  and neither has anyone in this movie . while the script is a bit lightweight you can  t help but like this movie or any of the characters in it . you almost wish people like this really existed . the appeal of the actors are what really put it over  john ritter  colleen camp and the late dorothy stratten are particularly good .  go ahead and rent or buy this movie you  ll be glad you did .  
daraar got off to a pretty good start . the first scene really left me at the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next . other than that  the first half of the movie is a total bore . all the first half of the movie is about is rishi kapoor falling head over heels in love with juhi chawla . by the way  don  t you think he  s a little old for her     br    br   things finally start to spice up towards the middle of the film when juhi tells us about her previous husband and wow what a lunatic is he  he was an over  protective  neat  freak with a really hot temper  he used to beat up poor juhi for no good reason  one of the reasons i really don  t like this movie is because i can  t stand to see juhi  my favorite actress  get so abused . this film in general has way too much abuse and bloodshed i find it so sickening     br    br   anyway  all i  m trying to say is if you  re thinking about renting daraar  you should put it right back on the shelf where you found it and pick something else   
i think it was ebert who gave stella four out of four stars but  other than his  i have never read a positive review of this sadly misunderstood drama about class divisions  love  and sacrifice  three themes most great romantic stories or films have in common  .  br    br   here the major theme is class division . stella is a story from depression era america . that said  it was translated to the screen then in such a memorable fashion that this remake  if you ask a stanwyck fan or two  was not exactly appreciated . fans of the original never gave it a chance . furthermore  this version of stella was made in the     s  not exactly a time of great financial trouble in america  as the depression was  .  br    br   now is the time to remove the rosy  coloured glasses  in the midst of a new era of recession and poverty in america  and see that this powerful story still rings true  is as timely and relevant as ever  in its updated format .  br    br   yes  class divide is the major theme here . stella is among the working poor  single  with big dreams but little hope of realizing those dreams . she works in a bar  doesn  t have much money  lives in a crummy apartment . you get the drift . in the morning  she doesn  t really want to get out of bed . on her wall  pictures of movie stars she idolizes .  br    br   a man sees her dance at the bar . he  s wealthy  educated  from one of those upper class families that has nothing in common with stella  s . his major concern is what ivy league college to attend  her  s is how to pay the rent  how to be  happy .  they have an affair . they like each other . stella ends up pregnant . stella tells the guy the news . his response   how about an abortion   she replies   i just wanted a room full of balloons .  he supplies the balloons  and the proposal  but she sees his heart is not in it  and has too much pride to accept . she sends him packing .  br    br   her daughter is eventually torn between the two lifestyles   the love she has for her mom and the advantages and happiness and love held out to her by her wealthy father . stella  alone and unloved  and not wanting her daughter to become as unhappy as her someday  makes the ultimate sacrifice . she gives up the only love and happiness she has ever known to ensure the happiness of her daughter  and perhaps live vicariously  and with hope  knowing that at least her daughter found something to live for .  br    br   now  for the movie . everything is right about it . beautiful score  artful cinematography  great set design  contrast between the two lifestyles the messy apt . and the decorated mansions   wonderful and heartfelt performances by the whole cast  with bette midler  in particular  oscar  worthy .  br    br   this is a film which is much more significant and well  made than you  ve been led to believe .  
ohhh man  now this is what i  m talking about  as far as bad  cheesy horror flicks go this movie was truly in a class of its own . a real gem   br    br   first off  the film wasn  t originally in english . that  s okay because the voice dubbing was truly exceptional  here is my favorite excerpt from the dialog  and there is plenty more where this came from    i  m feeling a little better . i  m just thirsty for your blood    br    br   and what drama  here is a play by play recap of the interaction between the military and scientists  br    br   scene   scientist  you can  t do that it  ll be a disaster     military officer  that  s just science fiction   he then proceeds to cause a complete disaster just like the scientist predicted  .  br    br   scene   scientist  if you do that many people will die       military officer  you don  t know what you  re talking about .   he does it and many people die  .  br    br   scene   scientist  don  t do that it  ll kill everyone     military officer  that  s nonsense   he then proceeds to kill everyone   br    br   scene          you get the idea  .  br    br   if that wasn  t enough there were a few scenes that really stood out as instant classics  in one scene  the military has literally   guys pointing guns at two unarmed men . the leader yells   go get  em   and all   army guys  one at a time  drop their guns and fist fight the two adversaries  instant classic   br    br   and don  t worry . no attention to detail was left out  this movie even had a hip  upbeat     s keyboard  synth soundtrack to set the mood   br    br   and trust me i realize this review might contain some spoilers  but there are so many goodies in this epic i really only scratched the surface . a movie of this caliber only comes out once a decade  a true movie watching experience  a masterpiece  wow   
i bought this while i was playing chess in hastings . i am from denmark though . it is very good . definitely with an understanding of the horror genre . the monster towards the end is very scary . people who criticise this on imdb should recall that it was a huge succes among serious horror critics .  br    br    
i am an avid fan of lucio fulci  and yet i must say that  zombi    aka .  zombie flesh eaters    of      which he made with two other directors  bruno mattei and claudi fragasso  was quite a disappointment . especially compared to its great predecessor  fulci  s very own gore classic  zombi    aka .  zombie felsh eaters    zombie   of      this is vastly disappointing . sure  the low rating of  .  already suggests that it  s not a good film  but  these low ratings usually come from people who are not into italian zombie flicks  and as enthusiastic fan of italian horror films and low  budget exploitation cinema  i love many films that have only been rewarded with much lower ratings . also  many of my fellow italian horror buffs seem to think of this film as underrated  which i sadly cannot agree with . not that the film was a complete disaster . it has some redeeming qualities  above all fulci  s nauseating gore effects  that are always a pleasure to watch for an italian horror  gore buff . the basic idea behind the film is also not bad  allthough far from original  and i liked the ruthless portrayal of the military . sadly  that  s about it . while the great predecessor  zombi   was extremely gory  but beyond that also genuinely creepy  this is not creepy or scary for a minute  and the nauseating and often grotesque gore is the only true reason to watch  zombi   . the film is sometimes fun to watch  but only for the gore  and as an unintentional comedy . i guess that it was mainly the gore that came from fulci  and the disappointing rest that came from mattei and fragasso  the first of which was involved in a bunch of nasty cult  flicks  such as d  amato  s  porno holocaust    and the second of which is responsible for one of the worst movies ever made  the god  awful  troll   . overall  this is definitely watchable for the gore  but  out of all fulci films i  ve seen so far  this is definitely the worst  and i  ve seen the majority of this great filmmaker  s repertoire . i am a fulci fan  and i always will be  but this sure isn  t his magic moment . it may be fun for the gore  but i recommend to watch any other fulci film before this   
it appears even the director doesn  t like this film  but for me i think he  s being a bit harsh on himself .  br    br   sure it  s not perfect  but there are some atmospheric shots  and the story is good enough to keep you interested throughout .  br    br   it  s shot in what appears to be quite a pretty village which adds to the atmosphere as well .  br    br   if you like horror films shot in england  give it a go .  br    br   i have just seen a trailer for this directors latest film  the devil  s chair  which looks quite amazing .  br    br   there aren  t enough english horror films for me  so any that come along deserve our attention  and this one isn  t as bad as you may think  
next to the slasher films of the     s and   s  ones about the walking dead were probably the second most popular horror sub  genre . while slasher films had  black christmas  and  halloween  to get the whole thing going  zombie flicks had george romero  s  dead  films . and unsurprisingly soon after the success of his first two in the series  other directors wanted to cash in . a lot of italian directors were especially interested  such as lucio fulci who brought us  zombie  a year after romero  s  dawn of the dead   known as  zombi  in italy and some other countries  and it was there that fulci  s film was known as  zombi   . apart from the walking dead it has no relation to romero  s film  but is a good film in it  s own right . it was a big success in europe and  years later a sequel was born .  br    br   pros lots of beautiful  lush scenery . awesome score . the acting isn  t exactly good  but the cast is game and seem to be enjoying the experience . after kind of a slow start  the pace moves along like that of an action flick . plenty cheese and unintentional hilarity for bad film lovers . good job on the make  up effects . lots of blood and some decent gore .  br    br   cons virtually plot less . nothing you haven  t already seen before . blatantly rips off some things from the first couple of  return of the living dead  films . cardboard characters . hasn  t aged too well due to the bad     s rock music  not that i  m saying all rock music of that period is bad   clothing  and overall feel of the movie .  br    br   final thoughts first of all  this is not a true sequel to fulci  s cult classic . in fact  i don  t know if it was ever meant to pick up where that film left off . for those that don  t know  fulci was ill during production and ended up leaving and was replaced with bruno mattei . mattei  s films are pretty laughable  but like this film many are good campy fun . and that  s all this film really is  just something to watch for fun .  br    br   my rating  .     so  bad  it  s  good rating      serious rating   
apart from the usual stereotypes of the thirties  eugene pallette as the gruff police detective  jack la rue as the  swarthy  italian and of course  james lee as  the chinese cook   this film is the great mystery of a murder in a locked room . for an early      s film  this step by step  peeling of the veneer of the mystery  is similar to the columbo series  except in this film  you don  t have the advantage of knowing who the killer was in advance .  
i thought that zombie flesh eaters  was quite a good horror film when a terrorist  s body  infected with a stolen chemical  is recovered by the us military  the corpse is then cremated  releasing the virus into the atmosphere over a small island . soon the infected locals turn into flesh  hungry zombies  and a group of soldiers on leave must team up with a group of tourists and board themselves up in a abandoned hotel as they try to fight off the aggressive living dead . i did not find this film to be as good as the original film  zombie flesh eaters . but it was still an ok horror film with some good action . i did not think that it was one of the best in the series .      
whereas the hard  boiled detective stories of dashiell hammett and raymond chandler have fitted to cinema like a fox in a chicken coop  indeed creating the definitively modern american genre and style in the process  those of what might be called golden age fiction have made barely any impression whatsoever . the problem with books like those of agatha christie  dorothy l . sayers or s . s . van dine  on whose work this film is based   is that they are low on action or variety  whereas sam spade or philip marlowe traverse the mean streets of la  working class tenements  bars  offices  wealthy mansions  and meet all sorts of exciting dangers and violence  golden age fiction is generally fixed in location  the scene of the murder  usually a lavish country house  and the action is limited to investigating clues and interviewing suspects . this is a very static procedure  plot reduced to puzzle .  br    br   this  of course  is as much ideological as anything else  the golden age stories dealing with a society hostile to change and movement the hard  boiled novels recording an urban reality increasingly moving away from a centre  both of authority  and of a city   dividing itself up into hostile  ever uncontrollable and lawless camps . another major problem with golden age fiction is character  because we cannot know the answer to the crime until the end  we cannot gain access to characters  motivations or emotions  being defined solely by their potential need to murder . the detective  unlike the anxious  prejudice  ridden private eyes  are simply there to be brilliant  and maybe a little eccentric .  br    br   the problem with most films from golden age books is that they try to be period recreations of the merchant ivory  jane austen school  and end up looking silly . there have been successes  for example the radical reworkings of ellery queen and others by claude chabrol . in the english  speaking world  there have really only been two . the alistair sim classic   green for danger   works because it pushes the form almost into parody  while never betraying the integrity or interest of the mystery .  br    br   before that came michael curtiz  s brilliant  the kennel murder case  . the narrative is pure golden age . a repulsive character is introduced who gives a number of potential suspects reason to kill him . he is duly murdered in a seemingly foolproof manner  indicating suicide  slumped in a locked room . the caricatured policemen fall hopelessly for the bait . it is up to philo vance  gentleman and amateur detective  neither old nor fat  to read the clues more insightfully  open the case out of the confines of the room  and eventually solve the case  the corpse being little more than the pretext for intellectual stimulation .  br    br   what is interesting is not this detective plot  which can only ever be unsatisfying as all solutions are  although it is rarely less than entertaining  and full of comical bits of business . there isn  t even really an attempt to  subvert  the image of the perfect detective  there is one alarming scene where a brutal sergeant threatens to rough up a suspect  with no protest from vance  but that  s about it .  br    br   what marks  kennel  as a classic is its modernity . curtiz is not generally considered a great auteur  because he has no consistent themes or evidence of artistic development . but he was hollywood  s greatest craftsman  and he is on sensational form here . if the golden age detective story is mere puzzle  curtiz takes this idea to is logical extreme  creating an abstract variation on his source  reducing narrative  character and location to geometry  a series of lines  from the beautiful art  deco sets to the glorious camera movements which suddenly break from a static composition  and  as they glide furiously at an angle  jolt the dead decor to life .  br    br   this treatment is appropriate to a story that resolutely refuses realism  it is a pattern that turns the detective plot into a hall of mirrors  like the two central brothers  or the original crime itself  borrowed from an  unsolved mysteries  book . this fantasy world of nasty rich men who collect oriental relics  shades of  the moonstone     inscrutable chinese servants  ex  cons turned butlers  dog  loving fops  runyonesque cops  is the perfect habitat for vance  a man who will drop a cruise to europe on a fanciful hunch  who knows the social world of these people  and yet is tainted by his interest in crime and association with the police  or would be if he wasn  t anything more than a thinking machine  william powell  the greatest american comedian of the decade  bravely subsuming his idiosyncratic humanity .  br    br   but if the treatment is rarefied  the climax is spectacularly brutal  involving vicious dogs and attempted murder . the police and the detective  supposed to be preventing crime  are guilty of inciting one .  
i  ve now seen this film twice  and i must say i enjoyed it both times . it  s fast paced and fun  but ultimately daft . having said that it deserves to be trashed because of screwing up what could have been a good follow up to the seminal original . it is clear for those who have seen the awful  zombie creeping flesh  that the films massive shortcomings can be owed to bruno mattei  and that the little that is commendable about it can be owed to fulci . this is not idle fulci sycophancy  the directors styles are starkly contrasted throughout  and you can tell who directed what  particularly in mattei  s case .  br    br   the film is centered around the outbreak of a virus  oddly referred to as  top secret  by a scientist  it  s secrecy apparently being more noteworthy than its potentially apocalyptic effect on mankind  somewhere in south east asia . the virus causes zombie like behaviour in those affected  and the virus quickly spreads across a seemingly arbitrary area of land . our protagonists unwittingly wander into the danger zone  and have to fight for their lives against hordes of infected asians .  br    br   the film seems to be stuck half way between being a zombie gore flick  and an out and out action adventure  and this confusion is captured most clearly by the zombies themselves . they do not appear to have a set of characteristics common to all . some are of the regular soulless shuffling variety  so well rendered in the original  and probably fulci  s creation here . the other main group consist of those who in being infected with the virus lost all sense of themselves  but incurred a savage aggression and a desire to earn a black belt in ninjitsu indecisively leaping around unsure of whether to continue honing their upper roundhouse technique or engage with their brethren in what looks like a mass tickle fest on their hapless victims . martial arts skills aren  t their only talents either  they are well versed in guerilla tactics  hiding on rafters and under bales of hay  and sometimes inexplicably falling from nowhere but the heavens themselves . this is all definitely the work of mattei .  br    br   there is a third  more chatty  variety of zombie . this type apparently retain a sense of irony as well  i  m really thirsty . . . for your blood  . the ridiculous twist at the end in which the dj turns zombie but continues to preach ad libbed gibberish about the fate of mankind  only serves to enhance the wtf factor and obliterate any hope of a serious resolution .  br    br   then there  s the infamous zombie head which slowly propels itself through the air  a jokerish skeletal grin wrought across its face  as if to say  yeah we know how bad this looks  .  br    br   the characters are all utterly one dimensional as you would expect . but its the pseudo comical dialogue and dubbing that really prevents us from taking their plight seriously . having said that the first soldier to die does put up an impressively valiant display against an unstoppable zombie menace . indeed this is the first and perhaps only time we hit real zombie agro  and one of the only effective scenes in the film .  br    br   the guy who played the chief scientist has heart  but no talent  utilising pauses in his lines entirely at random  so he ends up sounding like a confused asthmatic . the scientists  on screen attempts at finding an antidote are totally unconvincing  now lets put these two molecules together    br    br   there are a few moments that stick out as genuinely effective however . in an early scene a female protagonist explores an abandoned garage . upon entering a room we are confronted with a hazy view of a shifting figure in the corner and a squirming mass on the floor  all shot in an atmospheric diffused light . the silence is interrupted by the appearance of a speedy machete wielding zombie who trashes everything in his wake in his alarming desperation to have her . his sheer aggressiveness is one of the few moments of real horror in the film . the before and after theme conveyed through the hotel that plays host to the happenings of the earliest stage of the outbreak  and later as a refuge to our protagonists is imbued with an thick humid ambiance . there is a scene in which one of the soldiers cautiously approaches a boarded up room that clearly houses hordes of the undead  and this is quite tense . things become more dramatic when they board themselves in the hotel unknowing to what lurks upstairs . but this is sloppily handled and not nearly as effective as it could have been .  br    br   all in all i would say this film may just about deserve to be called a royal screw up of a potentially effective tropical zombie fest  rather than simply a through and through bad film . if nothing else it has plenty of the unintentional laughs that i  ve come to expect from just about anything italian and gory from the eighties .  
if you love the thin man series  you will love this movie . powell  s character of vance is very similar to his character of nick charles . there are even dogs . . .  br    br   the chemistry between powell and astor may not be as fabulous as powell and loy  but it isn  t half bad .  
only on a very rare occasion does an episode of the x  files fail to generate any excitement or does the episode contain anything which is just totally boring to watch . a detective and his former partner both die in unexplained circumstances . the deaths are linked to the presence of a little girl who was there when the deaths took place . mulder has devised a theory that a policeman murdered by his colleagues has come back reincarnated as the little girl and is exacting revenge . now for the bizarre bit . the little girl has no connection at all and seems to just a random person chosen as the reincarnation . i think this was slightly lazy writing by the writers and this episode ranks as one of the worst in x  files history   
the film starts in the long island kennel club where is murdered a dog  later is appeared dead as a case of committing suicide a collector millionaire called arched  but sleuth debonair philo vance  william powell  to be aware of actually killing . there are many suspects  the secretary  ralph morgan   the butler  the chinese cooker  the contender  paul cavanagh  in kennel championship for revenge killing dog  the nephew  mary astor  facing off her tyrant uncle  the italian man  jack la rue   the brother  the attractive neighbour . . stylish vance tries to find out who murdered tycoon  appearing many clues  as a book titledunsolved murders . the police inspector  eugene palette  and a coroner are helped by vance to investigate the mysterious death . the sympathetic forensic medic examines boring the continuous body  count . who  s the killer  . the public enjoys immensely about guess the murder .  br    br   the picture is an interesting and deliberate whodunit  it  s a laborious and intriguing suspense tale . the personages are similar to agatha christie stories  all they are various suspects . they are developed on a whole gallery of familiar actors well characterized from the period represented by a glittering casting to choose from their acting range from great to worst . powell is in his habitual elegant and smart form as philo . he  s protagonist of two famed detectives cinema  this one  and elegant nick charles along with nora  mirna loy  make the greatest marriage detectives . special mention to mary astor as the niece enamored of suspect sir thomas  she was a noted actress of noir cinema  maltese falcon  . the movie is magnificently directed by hollywood classic director michael curtiz . he directs utilizing modern techniques as the image of dead through a lock  door  a split image while are speaking for phone and curtain  image . the tale is remade as calling philo vance       . the film is a good production warner bros  by vitagraph corp .  
born again is a sub  standard episode from season one . it deals with the subject of reincarnation and just doesn  t fly . i  ve never been big on reincarnation and that could be part of my apathy toward this episode . it does reference the tooms case which is some nice continuation from the previous episode . but the positives end there . which is unfortunate because that takes place at the beginning of the episode . i think it  s ludicrous that a dead guy would chose to reincarnate in the body of a completely unrelated girl . and he waits until the girl turns eight to start exacting revenge . there  s even a serious lack of witty mulder  scully dialogue to keep the episode afloat . if you  re into reincarnation  maybe this episode is up your alley . if you  re not  then at least you can learn what bradycardia is .  
william powell is philo vance in  the kennel murder case   a     film also starring mary astor  paul cavanagh  eugene palette  helen vinson and ralph morgan . a dog show in which philo has entered his scottish terrier captain serves as the background for a locked room mystery with too many suspects . the mystery is very clever and the denouement both complicated and interesting . since the talkies are still quite young  the camera work is a little static  but michael curtiz does a good job directing the action .  br    br   the supporting cast is excellent the entire cast brings the film up a notch . lots of actors have played philo vance  including paul lukas  basil rathbone  wilford hyde  white  edmund lowe  james stephenson  alan curtis  warren william and others . powell played it the most  five times  and is the best fit for the role  very relaxed but serious at the same time . this was made before  the thin man  catapulted him to big stardom  he had spent about   years in film by then  beginning his career on stage in     at the age of   . a remarkable man  a remarkable screen presence and a remarkable actor who lived to be nearly   . we  re so lucky to have his films available on dvd and on tcm today .  the kennel murder case  is a great story and a fun film  don  t miss it .  
this was filmed back  to  back with the     re  make of conan doyle  s famous novel  the lost world  . and it shows .  br    br   the film starts promisingly enough  with a ruthless organization intending to exploit the lost world and challenger et al returning to defend the prehistoric plateau  but then things go downhill . everybody is stranded on the plateau and we  re left with a feeble  boring  over  length rehash of the first film .  br    br   the dinosaurs  who are hardly ever seen  are just laughable . are we expected to take that cuddly toy that  s supposed to be an ankylosaur seriously  and the tyrannosaur seems rooted to the spot .  br    br   do yourself a favor and get hold of the     silent version of the lost world . unbelievably in this age of cgi and other advanced effects  the twenties version is the best and will remain so until somebody finally decides to do a decent re  make .  
enjoyed viewing this film on tcm and watching a very young william powell   philo vance  playing detective just like he did with myrna loy in the  thin man series  . back in the      s william powell played in the philo vance series and in this picture  the famous veteran actress mary astor   hilda lake  becomes one of the suspects in a murder  suicide case where a man named  archer coe   robert barrot  is found dead and archer was in a room that was bolted from the inside . ralph morgan   raymond wrede  archer  s secretary  gave a great supporting role and was the brother to frank morgan who appeared  in the wizard of oz      . eugene palette   detective sgt . heath  appeared in quite a few of these philo vance films and also gave a great performance in  robin hood  with errol flynn . always remember  the least likely actor could very well be the killer . enjoy a great classic from the past .  
for die  hard judy garland fans only . there are two    numbers that are really good   one where she does a number with an older cleaning lady  you  ve all seen the pics   and a pretty good number at the very end . there are a couple of scenes where the lines are funny . but  basically  the script is so bad and the movie so dated that it  s hard not to cringe at the awfulness throughout . but it  s worth the  .   to rent the movie   just be prepared to fast  forward it .  
there were times when this movie seemed to get a whole lot more complicated than it needed to be  but i guess that  s part of it  s charm . detective philo vance  s powers of observation seem greater than all the oriental sleuths of the era combined when it comes down to that final evaluation of how the murders were committed . the dropping of the dagger into the chinese vase was the kicker for me i mean  couldn  t somebody have just dropped it   br    br   vance  william powell  had a line early in the film about archer coe  s  psychological impossibility  to kill himself  i had to think about that for a while . i was left wondering if there  s some scientific basis in fact for that concept to be true  not having studied psychology myself . seems logical  but then there  s always the case that doesn  t fit the rules .  br    br   you know  i got a kick out of the agitated coroner  etienne girardot   who reminded me of star trek  s dr . mccoy the couple of times he stated  i  m a doctor  not a magician  and  i  m a doctor  not a detective  . i can picture deforrest kelley watching the film and saying to himself   i  ll have to use that sometime  .  br    br   once the killer  s identity is revealed  it doesn  t seem like such a big surprise  but up till then it  s really anybody  s guess . but archer and brisbane coe aside  the film didn  t answer the central question posed by the title  and the murder i was really interested in  who killed sir thomas macdonald  s dog ghillie   
another friday the   th ripoff  even featuring some of its music  a group of young adults get together for a small high school reunion and start getting slaughtered a la jason voorhees . could it be that nerd they used to torment in school   br    br   routine slash  fest is fun for fans of the genre  and contains the usual ta quota for films if its ilk . the ending is a bit more imaginative than your standard slasher .  br    br   mpaa rated for violence  gore  language  sexuality  nudity  and some drug content .  
peter bogdonavich has made a handful of truly great films  and they all laughed is one of his best . the cast couldn  t be better equipped to play this light but slightly bittersweet screwball comedy . interestingly enough  the witty  light touch bogdonavich so effortlessly employs gives the film a rather disarming emotional core . fresh and immediate  the film starts with absolutely no explanation . there  s no soundtrack music to cue us . we meet the characters in action  and as bogdonavich glides down the streets of new york  the film unfolds effortlessly . robby muller  s camera captures it all with an understated simplicity that seems accidental  but surely isn  t . the cast is terrific . in every way  a classic .  
this was the third remake of sleeping with the eniemy after yaarana       and agnisakshi        br    br   agnisakshi was the only one which worked and was a better film  br    br   daraar is directed by abbas mustan who sadly failed in their attempt here  br    br   the story was good but the handling wasn  t that good and the heroine was shown too regressive and the climax too was disappointing  br    br   direction is bad music is good  br    br   rishi reprises his role of yaarana  strangely which also was a remake of swte  and looks too fat for the lead and is okay juhi is decent while arbaaz tries too hard in his debut and does manage in many scenes to chill the audiences but his voice was terrible johny is too loud  
there are some films that every horror fan owes himself  or herself  to see  and emilio miraglia  s  la dama rossa uccide sette volte  aka .  the red queen kills seven times        is definitely one of them . with gialli and gothic tales being my two favorite sub  genres in horror  i was looking forward to seeing this film for quite a while  and even though my expectations were high  this masterpiece surpassed my greatest hopes . miraglia  s earlier giallo   the night evelyn came out of the grave        was already a creepy and highly atmospheric film which successfully mixed giallo with gothic horror  but it couldn  t possibly compare to this instant personal favorite .  the red queen kills seven times  is  hands down  one of the most unique and overwhelming italian horror films ever made  and no lover of the genre could possibly consider missing it . an incredibly mesmerizing giallo with strong gothic elements   the red queen  delivers everything one could hope for in either sub  genre an inventive and incredibly compelling plot  spine  chilling suspense  a sublimely uncanny setting and a genuinely creepy atmosphere  eerily lush colors  stylish murders  a brilliant score  and  not least  a ravishing female cast lead by the stunningly beautiful barbara bouchet  this film simply is one of the most outstanding combinations of elegant beauty and pure terror .  br    br   the film starts out incredibly in a beautiful gothic castle in germany . as little girls  kitty wildenbrck and her sister evelyn have been fighting when their grandfather tells them the story behind an incredibly uncanny painting legend has it that a fiendish red lady is to return to the castle every hundred years and kill seven people . fourteen years later  kitty  barbara bouchet  has become a successful fashion photographer . suddenly  people begin to get murdered . . . director miraglia had already proved his incredible talent for style  atmosphere and colorful creepiness with  the night evelyn came out of the grave  and he makes use of these elements even far more effectively in this gem .  the red queen kills seven times  is a feast for the eyes indeed  and one of the most overwhelming italian horror films both visually and plot  wise . the haunting painting in the grandfather  s castle alone is capable of giving the viewer the goosebumps . the red lady  or red queen  as she is called in the english title  is arguably the most fiendish figure ever in a giallo  the spine  chilling laughter that the murders are accompanied by would even be frightening on its own .  br    br   a sexy female cast is always appreciated  especially in a giallo  and this one is a prime example for that . the ravishing barbara bouchet  one of my favorite actresses  must be one of the most stunningly beautiful ladies ever to appear on screen  and she is a great actress too . bouchet  s presence has graded up many italian flicks  among other appearances she starred in three of the greatest cult  masterpieces of italian   s cinema within one year        fernando di leo  s  milano calibro    lucio fulci  s giallo  highlight  don  t torture a duckling  and this unforgettable gem . apart from the wonderful miss bouchet  the film  s gorgeous female cast includes sexy young sybil danning  marina malfatti   the night evelyn came out of the grave    and other beauties who are not afraid to bare it for the camera .  br    br   as the whole film  the murders are stylish and extremely elegant  yet frightening and macabre  and some of them are quite gory . bruno nicolai  s mesmerizing score is as memorable as it gets  and makes the film  s intensely eerie atmosphere even more haunting . the plot is ingeniously convoluted and full of red herrings  the tension  level increses with each passing minute .  the red queen . . .  begins creepy and it stays stunning to the last second . overall  this is one of the films that i cannot find enough words of praise for .  the red queen kills seven times  is an absolute masterpiece that easily ranks among the finest gialli ever made  and a top  priority for every fan of horror and  or italian cinema to see .       
i cannot stay indifferent to lars van trier  s films . i consider  breaking the waves  nothing less than a masterpiece . i loved  dancer in the night  . i admired the idea in  dogville  but the overall exercise looked to me too dry and too theatrical  less cinema .  europa  which i see only now was a famous film at its time  succeeded in the us the relative success of an european film and got the oscar for the best foreign language movie  but did not survive well the time in my opinion . it is also a too much explicit and extrovert exercise in cinema art to my taste .  br    br   the story has a level of ambiguity that cannot escape the viewer . treating the period that immediately followed the second world war not in the black and white colors of victors and vanquished  of executioners and victims but as rather ambiguous times when people of both sides were fighting for survival in the aftermath of a catastrophic event that change the lives of nations and individuals forever is still a source of disputes even today  more such was novel and courageous two decades ago . yet it is the means of expression that really do not appear fit to the task .  br    br   the film seems to include a lot of quotes descending directly from the films of hitchcock  especially his early films set in the pre  war europe  with brave british spies fighting evil german spies on trains crossing at high speed the continent at dark . the trains were a symbol of the world and its conflicts with all their intensity and dramatism . here the train also becomes the symbol of the first sparkles of the re  birth of germany after war  of its might  of its obsession with order and regulation  of punctuality and civility . the characters that populate the train are far from being the classical spy stories good or bad guys . the principal character a young american of german origin coming to post  war europe willing to be part of a process of help and reconciliation finds himself in an ambiguous world of destruction and corruption  with liberators looking more like oppressive occupiers  with the vanquished not resigned to their fate but rather willing to continue on the path of self  destruction  with love doubtfully mixed with treason .  br    br   it is yet this classical film treatment that betrays the director in this case . the actions of the characters  especially of leopold kessler played by jean  marc barr seem confused  and lack credibility . the overall cinematography seems to be not hitchcock  like but rather from a bad imitation of hitchcock in the late   s . the usage of color over the black  and  white film used in the majority of the time in moments of emotional intensity is also too demonstrative . it is not that van trier does not master his artistic means  but he is too demonstrative  he seems to try too hard to show what a great filmmaker he is . he really is great  as he will show in some of his later films  but it will be left to the viewers to decide this alone .  
bromwell high is nothing short of brilliant . expertly scripted and perfectly delivered  this searing parody of a students and teachers at a south london public school leaves you literally rolling with laughter . it  s vulgar  provocative  witty and sharp . the characters are a superbly caricatured cross section of british society  or to be more accurate  of any society  . following the escapades of keisha  latrina and natella  our three  protagonists  for want of a better term  the show doesn  t shy away from parodying every imaginable subject . political correctness flies out the window in every episode . if you enjoy shows that aren  t afraid to poke fun of every taboo subject imaginable  then bromwell high will not disappoint   
i saw the capsule comment said  great acting .  in my opinion  these are two great actors giving horrible performances  and with zero chemistry with one another  for a great director in his all  time worst effort . robert de niro has to be the most ingenious and insightful illiterate of all time . jane fonda  s performance uncomfortably drifts all over the map as she clearly has no handle on this character  mostly because the character is so poorly written . molasses  like would be too swift an adjective for this film  s excruciating pacing . although the film  s intent is to be an uplifting story of curing illiteracy  watching it is a true  bummer .  i give it  out of    truly one of the worst   movies for its budget level that i have ever seen .  
michael curtiz directed this     very  stylish whodunit from a script by robert presnell sr .  robert n . lee and peter mine . the original novel they adapted was  the kennel murder case   perhaps from a writer  s standpoint the best of the philo vance mysteries by the strange s . s . van dine . vance was a long  worded and superior detective genius  and his character being assigned to william powell probably meant the executives at warner brothers were aware of the possibility that in less  engaging hands this detective might alienate viewers . fortunately they assigned suave william powell first to the character .  later he was played by basil rathbone  warren william  and paul lukas before being consigned to  b  picture status . the other question as always with warner brothers executives is why they chose vance as a character their penchant was to choose men who operated outside the law  with no apparent discrimination between a vicious murderer and a champion of individual rights against all comers . this film has a despicable villain who gets murdered  and a claustrophobically challenging locale inside an apartment complex . the characters are unarguably unusually well  realized  the direction rather good and unusually swift  paced and except for a darkish b  w look  the film avoids the comedic asides  superfluous characters and irrelevant dialogue characteristic of many early detective entries . jack okey did the good art direction . the music by berhard kaun is serviceable orry  kelly did the costumes . william reese provided the mostly  indoor cinematography . in the interesting cast  powell is the philo vance of his time  mostly sober  minded with just a hint of sardonic humor here and there . eugene palette is better than usual playing very straight as an admiring police partner to vance  with his very professional timing . the other actor who comes off best is handsome paul cavangh  very effective as always in what was written as a red herring part . mary astor is attractive but at this point in her career she talked a bit too fast to be as effective as she later proved . also in the cast were helen vinson as the villain  s woman  jack la rue  ralph morgan  best known as frank morgan  s brother   robert barrat as the villain everyone has cause to kill  archer coe  and frank conroy as his likable brother with robert mcwade as the d . a .  quirky and funny etiienne girardot has a delightfully witty part as the funny little forensics doctor who comes onto the crime scene . james lee as the abused chinese servant is excellent and intelligent . the story breaks into four parts . first there is shad doings at a dog show  where vance  coe and cavanagh are all showing west highland terriers . cavanagh  s dog is killed  by coe  to prevent him winning the title over his own entry . the second portion of the scene involves a leave  taking someone is confused enough by who has gone where  after coe parts from his girl friend  vinson  to murder his nice brother by mistake . enter vance  to find out who did in archer coe in a locked room and how  with the help of palette the romantic difficulties are straightened out  the chinese servant is exonerated  we find out who broke the expensive vase  who will marry whom  how archer coe was done in and why the butler did not do it   but someone else with a good excuse did . this is a more  than  good little mystery  which skilled hungarian  born director curtiz took quite seriously . he used wipes  swift cuts  changes of camera angle and alternations between straightforward and daring camera  work to achieve variety  interest and a sustained pace . many writers  critics and experts  myself included  consider this to be the best of the vance projects  although others are estimable as well .  
the school nerd marty  simon scuddamore  is sexually humiliated by a bunch of classmates and then is in a lab explosion  set by them also  where his face is scarred by acid . years later all the jerks get invited back to the high school  since closed  for a reunion . what they didn  t know is that marty is inviting them back to kill them . then a storm starts  they  re locked in the school and marty starts to take revenge .  br    br   pretty silly . the murders are inventive and gory and there are some creepy atmospheric shots of the deserted school   but that  s about it . the humiliations inflicted on scuddamore are more than cruel  he  s stripped  has his head dunked in a toilet and gets burnt  and are just uncomfortable to watch . considering scuddamore committed suicide shortly after this was released make them almost impossible to view . also this movie goes out of its way to have nudity . there is full frontal of scuddamore  surprising for any movie  but one girl decides to take a bath alone . . . after they know a killer is wandering around after them  and then there  s the couple that has to have sex . this is the type of film where the killer seems to know where everybody is going to be and can teleport himself to them . it ends with a twist which had me groaning and rolling my eyes then another twist which had me wanting to throw something heavy at the tv  the acting is bearable   not good  but bearable . caroline munro is in this too . she  s a very beautiful woman but not much of an actress .  br    br   this gets a  for some effectively gory murders and atmosphere . otherwise it  s run of the mill and forgettable . scuddamore  s tragic suicide has given this film more attention than it deserves .  
cracking good yarn with all the actors giving great value . michael curtiz at his best . lots of nice twists and turns and probably the best of the philo vance series . william powell looks wonderfully relaxed and at his debonair best . a forerunner to the thin man series . recommend to everyone . did you figure it all out   
slaughter high the tale of revenge by a nerdy guy who fell victim to one of the coolest and coldest jokes in cinema history . unfortunately after the promising opening the flick went straight to hell . a very tedious and redundant mess with mediocre slashings and a final half hour that sucked on a whole new level of suckiness . the guy who played the nerd actually killed himself shortly after the flick was released . if you wanna rent the flick stop it after the prank and remember  choose life .  
  the kennel murder case  starts off at a run and doesn  t stop until the very end . everybody had reason to kill the victim  and several people tried . william powell is terrific as philo vance  gentleman detective . mary astor is refreshing as the put  upon niece who only wants to marry her scottish gentleman and enjoy her inheritance . this movie comes paired with  nancy drew  reporter  on dvd  which is also fun . if you have to rent the disc  or check it out from your local library   do it . it  s pure entertainment   
 . . . but i expected better from caroline munro . she  s done some good films  and i was hoping this would be just as good . as a matter of fact  she and this other blonde girl character  the girl who got electrocuted i think  were the only two out of the     actors who could act . this film has the worst acting i  ve ever seen . almost as bad as  psycho        . the really dumb part was when the woman was in the shower and marty rigged it to pour battery acid in there . she starts screaming  and her scream is probably the most annoying sound in the whole world . she attempts to get out  but  accidentally  falls back in . i will admit  the violence and story is good  along with harry manfredini  s music  but the acting could  ve been a lot better . there were two other characters  frank and joe . i don  t know about you  but they bare a strange resemblance to dan akyroyd . also  when they find that woman  s fried corpse in the bathtub  you would think they  d be screaming and barfing . no . caroline munro and the blonde woman are the only ones who react . frank and joe barely show any signs of fear or disgust . i don  t know about you  but i know that if i saw a fried skeleton of one of my best friends  i  d puke . also  when joe starts saying stuff like  what happened to marty was an accident  it wasn  t our fault .  he says it like his nervous or scared but barely shows any facial expressions . then the blonde girl starts crying and says  i  m scared frank   . and she grabs joe . i guess the actress really didn  t know which guy was which . the film  s ending is the most confusing thing i ever saw . more confusing than the climax of  jaws the revenge  . all the eight friends end up dead  marty kills them all  but then  you see something that looks like him being chased by their rotted corpses  and then it just cuts to marty still in the hospital from the accident  and then when the film ends  marty dresses up as a nurse trying to sedate him  but then we see that marty has gotten into her clothes or somethin like that kills a doctor  and the film ends with marty peeling skin off his face . which leads me to this next question . what was the writer on when he came up with that         did he actually expect people to understand just what the hell happened   the ending left me so confused . were the characters still alive  is marty still holding a grudge  did the events we just see not happen yet or not at all  i don  t know . overall  this movie was pretty dumb . the acting sucked  the music was okay  the story was pretty decent  except for the ending  . basically  this is just one of your average   s teen slasher flicks . see it only for harry manfredini and caroline munro .      br    br   p . s .  simon scuddamore  marty  committed suicide shortly after the film  s release from intentional drug abuse . i guess he was the only person who knew this film was what it really was . a pile of sh  
before he became defined as nick charles in the thin man series  william powell played another urbane detective named philo vance . the supporting cast is strong in this early talkie  and powell  s star quality is evident . mary astor  who eight years later would be defined by her portrayal of brigid o  shaughnessy  does a good job here as the featured woman who finds herself in the middle of it all .  
we all know that countless duds have graced the   s slasher genre and often deserve nothing but our deepest disgust . maybe that  s a bit hastey but damn if  slaughter high  wasn  t terribly unoriginal  even for a slasher flick . pretty much  the plot involves a kid who experienced a carrie  like shower humiliation in high school and returns to the dilapidated building to seek out revenge on a group of former  bullies who all show up to reminisce . as you  d expect  they are killed off steadily by a masked madman on april  st by means of electrocution  burning  hanging  and chemically altered beer . i  ve got a number of problems with the plot details and settings of this movie  but considering the ending  i feel the need to discard my complaints and just say that this is a complete waste of time . ignore any thought of viewing this movie . . .  
philo vance  william powell  helps solve multiple murders among the wealthy after a dog show .  br    br   usually i hate overly convoluted mysteries  like this  but i love this movie . it moves very quickly  only   minutes   is beautifully directed by michael curtiz  he uses tons of camera tricks that just speed the narrative along   has a very ingenious story line  including a solution to a locked room murder that was just incredible  and has a very good cast .  br    br   powell is very suave and great as vance   he doesn  t seem to be acting   he is vance  mary astor isn  t given much to do but she adds class and beauty to the production . everybody else is very good too  but best of all is eugene pallette as detective heath . he  s a very good actor with a very distinctive voice and some of his lines were hilarious .  br    br   basically  an excellent     s hollywood murder mystery . well worth seeing .  br    br    
what a terrible movie . the acting was bad  the pacing was bad  the cinematography was bad  the directing was bad  the  special  effects were bad . you expect a certain degree of badness in a slasher  but even the killings were bad .  br    br   first of all  the past event that set up the motive for the slaughter went on for   or   minutes . i thought it would never end . they could have removed    of it and explained what happened well enough .  br    br   then  the victims were invited to the  reunion  in an abandoned school which still had all the utilities turned on . one of the victims thought this was a little odd  but they dismissed it and decided to break in anyway .  br    br   finally  the killings were so fake as to be virtually unwatchable .  br    br   there is no reason to watch this movie  unless you want to see some breasts  and not very good breasts at that . this movie makes showgirls virtually indistinguishable from citizen kane .  
this is still the benchmark to judge all golden age whodunnits by  and taking into account the limited technology and dubious ethical standards of the authorities  on screen  bears up well against all generations of similar attempts since on film and tv . fast and furious with plenty of warner bros wipes  and thankfully no time for a love interest it gallops along  taking the splendid cast with it to the violent end . i never understood why the da had to trail vance around everywhere  i always thought they were deskbound . palette as the detective but especially girardot as the doctor are delightfully eccentric and un  pc  when glancing over the second murder victim he sniffs that there were too many people in the world anyway . of course it is william powell as philo vance  and michael curtiz as director  that makes the film what it is  when did powell ever make a dud   br    br   the army of cops at the crime scene didn  t really do a very good job in finding the second dead body and unconscious dog did they  the best bit is where vance narrates to us all the sequence of events surrounding the murders  dodgy model sets combine with fantastic roving camera angles to produce a very modern feel  and startling with what has gone before . the only problem is as usual the conclusion can  t match the overall deductive processes displayed throughout and a somewhat contrived ending is invoked some chan  s  moto  s and many others of course could only be concluded this way too . but because it happens so fast and is . . . slightly dubious morally it doesn  t lessen my opinion of kmc  s status as a classic   br    br   all the prints i  ve ever seen of kmc are  at worst  like looking into a goldfish bowl  so if you  re interested in seeing it bear with it until you  re sucked in .  
slaughter high is intrinsically your emblematic   s slasher flick . a prank goes out of hand leaving a geeky guy horribly burnt . a few years later the geeky guy returns and starts killing the people who hurt him . now the story might sound intriguing and very entertaining  but what makes this horrible film so different from the rest of the   s slasher flicks is that it has some humorless flaws and continuation errors .  br    br   the acting is horrendous  however  actually not as bad as one would suspect . though it doesn  t help that every character in the film are so grody and unlikable . the lead  carol manning  caroline munro  is the easily the biggest tormentor of them all and she  s the one that we are ostensibly supposed to share compassion and root for . not to mention  the geeky guy is almost too geeky and i think that even stereotypical geeks themselves would be rudely maddened and just downright antagonized by how geeky he his  so when he gets mauled  does anyone really care   br    br   there is much unintentional laughter potential . munro  s lack of acting talent is quite apparent  which puts her down at the same level as the rest of the awful cast . however  the most amusement is easily when the film poorly attempts to pose munro  who is in her mid   s at the time  as a teenager amongst a cast of teenagers . and then when it comes to later life and munro is playing around her real age  the rest of the cast do not pass as adults . this all goes well with a theme song that is a hilariously pose of heavy metal thrash accompanied by maniacal laughter and a voice shrieking  i  ll get you .  with that being said  slaughter high really isn  t a very good slasher flick  but it does have a bad cheesy entertainment value to it . perhaps an essential for hardcore slasher fans  but don  t expect dilemma  suspense  or any credibility from it . horrible     
while a  might seem like an unusually high score for such a slight film  however  compared to the hundreds and hundreds of series detective films from the     s and   s  this is among the very best and also compares very favorably to powell  s later  thin man  films . now this does not mean that the film is that similar to the thin man movies  as the kennel murder case is not a comedy but more a traditional mystery  detective film . now you  d think that not having nora charles or asta or a traditional comic sidekick  something found in practically all series detective films  along for fun would be a detriment  but i didn  t miss them at all because this was such an exceptionally well  written film   having a genuinely interesting case as well as uniformly excellent performances by all .  br    br   the film begins at the dog show and is called the kennel murder case  though this philo vance film actually spends little of the time at the dog show and dogs are not a super  important part of the film . instead  a thoroughly hated man is killed and left in a completely sealed room   an idea repeated in quite a few other detective films  such as crime doctor  s strangest case  . however  how all this is explained seems pretty credible and fit together very well   keeping my interest throughout . i sure wish other detective films of the day had as intelligently written plots and exceptional acting as this one . this one is definitely a keeper .  
the movie opens with a flashback to doddsville county high school on april fool  s day . a group of students play a prank on class nerd marty . when they are punished for playing said prank  they follow up with a bigger prank which  par for the course in slasher films involving pranks on class nerds  goes ridiculously awry leaving marty simultaneously burned by fire and disfigured by acid for the sake of being thorough . fast forward five years  where we find members of the student body gathering at the now abandoned high school for their five year class reunion . we find out that it is no coincidence that everyone at the reunion belonged to the clique of pranksters from the flashback scene  as all of the attendees are being stalked and killed by a mysterious  jester mask  clad murderer in increasingly complicated and mind  numbingly ludicrous fashions . it doesn  t take sherlock holmes to solve the mystery of the killer  s identity  as it is revealed to be none other than a scarred marty who has seemingly been using his nerd rage and high intellect to bend the laws of physics and engineering in order to rig the school for his revenge scenario . the film takes a turn for the bizarre as marty finishes exacting his revenge on his former tormentors  only to be haunted by their ghosts . marty is finally pushed fully over the edge and takes his own life . finally  the film explodes in a crescendo of disjointed weirdness as the whole revenge scenario is revealed to be a dream in the first place as marty wakes up in a hospital bed  breaks free of his restraints  stabs a nurse  and finally disfigures his own face .  br    br   the script is tired and suffers from a terminal case of horror movie logic . the only originality comes from the mind  numbingly convoluted ways that the victims are dispatched . the absurd it  was  all  a  dream ending feels tacked on . it  s almost as if someone pointed out the disjointed nature of the film and the writer decided then and there that it was a dream .  br    br   technically speaking  the film is atrocious . some scenes were filmed so dark that i had to pause the film and play with the color on my television . the acting is sub  par  even for slasher films . i can  t help but think that casting was a part of the problem as all of the actors look at least five years older than the characters they portray  which makes the flashback scene even more unintentionally laughable . their lack of commitment to the movie is made obvious as half of them can  t bother to keep their accents straight through the movie .  br    br   all of this being said  if you like bad horror movies  you might like this one  too . it isn  t the worst film of the genre  but it  s far from the best .  
  markham   says urbane gentleman crime  solver philo vance  william powell  to the district attorney   i  m coming more and more to the belief that archer coe was killed in this room . that poker  this dagger sheath  now these fragments . . . it  s all here .   but vance   markham says   do you mean to tell me a dead man walked upstairs    i  m not trying to tell you anything but the facts   vance says .  this is the most remarkable case in my experience .   br    br   we  re sympathetic . wealthy  arrogant archer coe  disliked it seems by all who knew him  had been found slumped in a chair in his bedroom  pistol in his hand and a gunshot wound to his head . but wait . further examination shows coe had been hit hard by a blunt instrument that fractured his skull . then there  s the dagger wound in his back . complicating matters is that coe  s bedroom door and windows all had been locked from the inside . coe was no suicide this was murder . but how could the killer have escaped  what was the specific motivation since there are so many suspects  and why was coe  s brother  brisbane coe  found dead in the main  floor closet   br    br   the kennel murder case  now   years old  still provides a stylish look at the old locked  room classic whodunit . what makes it work as well as it does is  first  the mystery is complicated and clever  but still is logical . second  is the amusing  assured performance of william powell . consider his work as philo vance as something as a rehearsal for his great performances as nick charles . few things escape vance . he uses his wits to piece things together . he  s also good company . powell was a star in the twenties and moved steadily upward in status and popularity when the talkies took over . his intelligence  style and effortless sophistication have made him one of the most contemporary  seeming of actors from the past .  br    br   also pleasant is seeing a few other great faces . there  s mary astor as hilda lake  the young  resentful and potentially rich ward of coe paul cavanaugh as a titled brit hovering around hilda helen vinson with her notably sultry and selfish manner  watch her really do her stuff in vogues of       etienne giraudot  a small elderly man as the fussy dr . doremus  whose job as coroner and medical examiner keeps taking him away from his meals and ralph morgan as archer coe  s private secretary . this movie has a high percentage of middle  aged men without an ounce of fat who can wear snug  english  cut tailored suits with ease . most of all is eugene palette  with his noble belly and gravel voice  as detective sergeant heath . sergeant heath and vance are long  time acquaintances who actually seem to like each other .  
well  on the endless quest for horror  we will come across this film  apparently re  released on dvd recently for some ungodly reason . the transfer is awful and the quality just sucks . i don  t think this is due to a bad remaster or anything  i just think the film is poorly done .  br    br   obviously filmed at an abandoned school with a budget that was no doubt wasted on cheap beer and no talent hacks   slaughter high  starts out slow and doesn  t pick up pace until about an hour in . first  we get to see a  nerd  as he is picked on by a group of . . . i actually don  t even know what they were supposed to be . . . jocks  the ringleader  with his ultra hooknose is so ugly he should have definitely been cast as the nerd . then  there is a  big guy  and a couple of dumb losers and chicks who are supposed to be  hot  but aren  t . it  s a mystery why this group of rejects is picking on one of their own  but i guess the viewer is to assume these are  cool kids  picking on a dweeb . the casting choices are horrendous as most of the high schoolers are played by thirty  somethings . as other reviewers on here have pointed out  the actors  if you can call them that   are a bunch of brits whose accents slip out numerous times throughout this piece of crap . we are left to assume that this group of  children  were the only students at this school  as their  reunion  is only them at the school  which is now shown to be abandoned  is just them .  br    br   the kills are lame  the gore is not great and the script is like scooby doo with real people lines like  this place gives me the creeps . . .  and  someone gimme a beer  are highlights . . . it  s just not good . skip this one unless you are getting wasted with some friends and wanna laugh at a real lame attempt at a slasher . if you wanna see good  get bava  s  bay of blood   done   years earlier and a heck of a lot better . if you wanna see a good bad slasher  see  just before dawn  or  the burning .   out of    kids .  
the unflappable william powell . he is a joy to watch on the screen as he makes his way through situations without a care in the world . he always seems on top of his game and shows little care for anyone who doubts him . the murders are projects  barely human beings . i have noticed this is a staple of the whodunnit . other than an occasional weeping widow  the victims fulfill the function of being the reason the movie exists . nothing more . there are enough twists and turns to keep things interesting along the way and powell is a master at this . there is a lot of political incorrectness  especially as it relates to the asian performers . this is a little hard to take . the cast is great  and curtiz  s direction is also a consistent asset .  
a group of people are invited to there high school reunion  but after they arrive they discover it to be a scam by an old classmate they played an almost fatal prank on . now  he seeks to get revenge on all those that hurt him by sealing all the exits and cutting off all telephone lines .  br    br   dark slasher film with an unexceptional premise . bringing it up a notch are a few good performances  some rather creative death scenes  plenty of excitement  scares  some humor and an original ending .  br    br   unrated for extreme violence  graphic nudity  sexual situations  profanity and drug use .  
a film that is so much a    s warners film in an era when each studio had a particular look and style to their output  unlike today where simply getting audiences is the object .  br    br   curitz was one of the quintessential warners house directors working with tight economy and great efficiency whilst creating quality  working methods that were very much the requirements of a director at warners  a studio that was one of the  big five  majors in this era producing quality films for their large chains of theatres .  br    br   even though we have a setting of the upper classes on long island there is the generic warners style embedded here with a narrative that could have been  torn from the headlines  . another example is the when the photographers comment on the girls legs early in the film and she comments that  they  re not the trophies  gives the film a more working mans  down to earth feel  for these were the audiences that warners were targeting in the great depression .  ironically columbia and universal were the two minors under these five majors until the    s when their involvement in television changed their fortunes  they would have made something like this very cheaply and without the polish and great talent  curtiz has created from an excellent script a film that moves along at a rapid pace whilst keeping the viewer with great camera angles and swift editing .  br    br   thank heavens there is no soppy love interest sub  plot so the fun can just keep rolling along .  
that song keeps humming in my head . not the greatest song  but it  s the    s . this movie is about a lead singer who  supposebly  gets killed while being accused of murders as he stalks his girlfriend who sings backup vocals in his band . the lead singer whos name is billy  eye   yeah  right  is dead after two years and his band comes back for a concert only the backup vocalist is the lead singer this time . billy stalks her and eventually goes around killing all these people and terrifying the girl and makeing people around her think theres something wrong with her and that shes imagining things . she finally decides to go to a cemetary and dig up his grave to see if he  s still there . she sees that he  s dead but still see  s and hears his voice . during the end of the movie we find out the reason behind all of this  billy has a brother named john  right again  and john admits that he was jealous of his brother and that he killed all those people to get back at him and place the blame on his brother and then take his girlfriend and terrorize her because she called him crazy . the ending is very cheezy and the acting is very lame and wooden . but . . . . i like it anyway . i watch it for the song . i wish i had it .  
with various bogdanoviches and gazzaras scattered throughout cast and crew  they all laughed  is very much a family affair . if you add the fact that b . gazzara and miss a . hepburn had a brief but passionate affair in an earlier picture it has the air of almost a private movie made for the enjoyment of the participants and that the entertainment of a wider audience merely an ancillary consideration . if this all smacks of smug  in  joke  self gratification you will be pleased to hear that mr bogdanovich sails well clear of that particular hazard and delivers a sweet and rather innocent  i love n . y .  paean that is also an altar at which we can worship the ethereal beauty of the late miss hepburn . make no mistake this is her picture . mr gazzara concedes it to her most self  effacingly in all their scenes together . the plot  a detective agency gets involved too personally in its clients  affairs  is of minimal importance  it is the performance of the two leads that dominates the movie . mr bogdanovich  s triumph is in the way his camera seems to love his actors  from  targets  onwards . there is a glow about every one of his films that only special artists can coax from an inanimate piece of optical equipment . miss hepburn in particular benefits from this love . extra insights into his work can be obtained from reading the published collections of his essays on stars and directors  principally  who the hell  s in it    recently remaindered in uk bookstores . the soundtrack to  they all laughed  varies from louis armstrong  s     new york town hall concert to sinatra to country to latin  as eclectic as the city it portrays . mr b  s  golden boy  image was sure to tarnish  for such is the nature of the movie business  but it is equally sure one day to be restored  and when that day comes  they all laughed  will be recognised for the fine work that it is .  
robert taylor definitely showed himself to be a fine dramatic actor in his role as a gun  slinging buffalo hunter in this     western . it was one of the few times that taylor would play a heavy in a film . nonetheless  this picture was far from great as shortly after this  taylor fled to television with the successful series the detectives .  br    br   stuart granger hid his british accent and turned in a formidable performance as taylor  s partner .  br    br   taylor is a bigot here and his hatred for the indians really shows .  br    br   another very good performance here was by veteran actor lloyd nolan as an aged  drinking old  timer who joined in the hunt for buffalo as well . in his early scenes  nolan was really doing an excellent take  off of walter huston in his oscar  winning role in the treasure of the sierre madre in     . note the appearance of russ tamblyn in the film . the following year tamblyn and nolan would join in the phenomenal peyton place .  br    br   the writing in the film is stiff at best . by the film  s end  it  s the elements of nature that did taylor in . how about the elements of the writing here   
william powell  s final outing as philo vance occurs in the kennel murder case where the murder of a championship show dog leads to two more murders and one attempt of the human kind . it  s all in the figuring out of how that leads to the who and why .  br    br   the philo vance murders by s . s . van dine were most popular at the time and the clever mr . van dine figured out a way to sell his books one at a time to the highest studio bidder . this is why you see so many philo vances and so many studios putting them out . had bill powell not gone on to greater fame with mgm as nick charles of the thin man series  he would have been known as the greatest of philo vances .  br    br   it turns out that powell had entered his little terrier captain in the same contest where the murdered dog was entered and then another rival owner became the first murder victim . as usual powell shows up eugene palette as sergeant heath whose biggest contribution to the proceedings was using his bulk to break down the locked from the inside door where the first murder victim was found .  br    br   i did say locked from the inside and it was an upper story so it was in figuring out the how . powell has a lovely group of suspects  as extensive as what normally is in a thin man mystery . people like paul cavanaugh  helen vinson  ralph morgan  mary astor  fill their cast roles well .  br    br   warner brothers liked this version so much that in fact they remade it again in the thirties with james stephenson in his one and only outing as philo vance . it doesn  t hold a candle to this one .  br    br   as this is the only powell philo vance that is out on vhs or dvd by all means see this one or acquire it if you can .  
holy sht this was god awful . i sat in the theater for for an hour and ten minutes and i thought i was going to gouge out my eyes much in the manor oedipus rex . dear god . this movie deserves no more credit than anything done by a middle school film buff . please save your money  this movie can offer you nothing . unless you enjoy sideshows and sleeping in movie theaters . you know  h  ll  bring your girlfriend and make things interesting . you will be the only ones there anyway . fck this slide show .  br    br   ye be warned .  br    br   i recommend not watching this .  br    br   hello .  br    br   how are you   br    br   i  m pretty good .  br    br   enjoying this day   br    br   i am .  br    br   this comment was one  hundred times more fun than pretending to watch this daym movie . this is sad .  
one of the better vance films succeeds more on interesting plot and artful direction by none other than michael curtiz . this time around a generally hated financier is found dead  shot in the head  in his locked and bolted bedroom on the upper floor . philo vance  hearing of the situation while about to set off for italy  decides to end his vacation and try to solve what he thinks is a murder and what everyone else is considering a suicide . william powell is as affable a philo vance as you will find . he never seems to press and is always very smooth in what he says and does . powell is aided by a host of very talented actors  some first  rate character actors and actresses like mary astor as a niece that hated her uncle  ralph morgan as the dead man  s secretary  paul cavanaugh as a rival dog fancier  arthur hohl as a mysterious butler  helen vinson as the next door kept blonde  and two really good performances by james lee as the chinese cook and portly eugene palette as a wise  cracking police detective . add into the mix a wonderfully comedic turn by etienne girardot as a public coroner always missing his meal . it is this depth of suspects and a story that has many plots twists and turns that make the kennel murder case a fast  moving  fun mystery .  
i was very excited about seeing this film  anticipating a visual excursus on the relation of artistic beauty and nature  containing the kinds of wisdom the likes of  rivers and tides .  however  that  s not what i received . instead  i get a fairly uninspired film about how human industry is bad for nature . which is clearly a quite unorthodox claim .  br    br   the photographer seems conflicted about the aesthetic qualities of his images and the supposed  ethical  duty he has to the workers occasionally peopling the images  along the periphery . and frankly  the images were not generally that impressive . and according to this  artist   scale is the basis for what makes something beautiful .  br    br   in all respects  a stupid film . for people who  d like to feel better about their environmental consciousness . . . but not for any one who would like to think about the complexities of the issues surrounding it .  
this is one of those movies that you wish you hadn  t seen before  so you could see it again  for the first time  . van dine  s books still bring pleasure  but are termed excessively flowery by many . this movie is by far the best film adaptation of his works . william powell is william powell  say no more . the plot is intricate . the story moves all too quickly  because you want it to last . enjoy .  
the movie opens up with a long single shot of aisles in factory crammed with workers . my  what we  ve done to the planet you might think . i hope we get to see other things like this .  br    br   that  s very rare . when you  re not looking at a horribly filmed angle of the narrator at a lecture hall  you  re watching him set up his camera to take pictures in different locations . it  d be nice if chose areas that were more fitting with his topic but he doesn  t . so  then you  ll hear some more narration  watch a few pictures go by and watch him set up his camera . why not use the filming camera to show more of the landscapes instead  it really kills any sense of pacing and paints the guy as more of vain jerk .  br    br   i could read tips on how someone set up their camera  fast forward through this whole movie and waste a lot less time .  
talented detective mr . philo vance  william powell  cancels his overseas trip to investigate an apparently cut and dried case of suicide he has good reason to suspect is really something much more  a rather deliciously complex murder   br    br   as far as murder mystery films go  it just doesn  t get any better than this one . populated with suspicious characters  all connected to a dog show and all having very good reason to murder the apparent suicide victim archer coe  it  s truly tough to figure this one out or wrap one  s head around it but boy  does it proves fascinating to watch unfold before us . even the cops  the coroner and the district attorney prove colorful  fleshed out characters adding a level of unexpected gritty realism to this one  s proceedings and amping up its overall  fun  factor . i particularly enjoyed the comic scenes involving the coroner  played by etienne girardot   who is always it seems to him being rudely and untimely interrupted by the discovery of corpses or injured men during this one  s running time . also eugene palette  s detective sgt . heath provides welcome  often later delightfully humorous at his expense  critical commentary during vance  s investigation . i cannot think of any valid criticism to give this movie in fact except perhaps that it hasn  t dated particularly well . doesn  t stop the movie from being just plain good fun viewing though . watch and see if you can wrap your head around this one  s mystery . highly recommended you try   
beginning with its long opening shot of seemingly endless rows of assembly line workers in a chinese factory  manufactured landscapes attempts to show the devastating impact of industrialization on the natural environment and traditional societies . its droning narrative assumes that industrial development in china and elsewhere is entirely unprecedented  as if there had never been an industrial revolution in europe and america and karl marx had never visited the british museum . that there might be a connection between the present  day asian drive for industrialization and wealth and earlier experiences of starvation and terror is never mentioned .  br    br   at the same time  there  s an effort to present edward burtynsky  s photographs of industrial waste as somehow  beautiful  . much of the film is a slide show of these images . they are well produced  of museum size  and have apparently appeared in several exhibitions . to me  however  they only demonstrate that almost any photograph can be made to appear beautiful if well presented . industrial waste is still industrial waste . the relationship  if any  between the photographs and the film  s spoken message remains unclear .  br    br   i don  t mean to imply that there aren  t real and sometimes desperate problems when countries rush to industrialize . manufactured landscapes  however  offers only strange and bitter hopelessness . it  s like a two  hour lecture by noam chomsky . maybe it has some value as a demonstration of what  s wrong with the american  and canadian  left .  
this fantastic whodunit is an early prototype of what soon became a very popular film genre . i was happy to see william powell handling a detective story with charisma and charm  and without the silly attitude of his nick charles character  from the  thin man  series  . while the story is good on its own  i think what really makes this movie fun to watch is michael curtiz  fantastically imaginative direction . from a visual point of view  this is a richly textured movie  with curtiz showing an incredible command of the medium from split screen images  to weird camera angles and imaginative flashbacks  curtiz demonstrates that he was one of the best hollywood directors . highly recommended if you are fan of this type of movie .  
i recently viewed manufactured landscapes at the seattle international film festival . i was drawn to the movie as a photographer because i  m both familiar and a fan of burtynsky  s work . while i believe the movie does a good job getting it  s message across  i couldn  t help but feel that it was made as a complete afterthought to the photographs and subsequent popular book by burtynsky . obviously one reason for this is the extensive use of still photographs featuring zooms and pans across them . while this is a good effect when used economically  i felt like    of the movie was just stills from burtynsky  s book  which i already own  . that  s probably an exaggeration  but that  s how i felt . if you own the book or are familiar with his work you might be better off skipping this one .  
why can  t this type of compact  entertaining mystery be filmed in the new century  it keeps the viewer thinking and guessing all the way . the cast is a great ensemble . william powell exhibits true star quality . who knows   perhaps he was rehearsing for his future as nick charles . he is a joy to watch . one also can see why eugene pallette made more than    films . he is a great supporting character actor and his excellent chemistry with powell is fun to watch . mary astor does above average work in a not very meaty role . all other hands chip in to make this a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend   minutes . i suspect michael curtiz had a ball directing his one . bravo   
this is a bad movie . not one of the funny bad ones either . this is a lousy bad one . it was actually painful to watch . the direction was awful  with lots of jumping around and the green and yellow hues used throughout the movie makes the characters look sickly . keira knightly was not convincing as a tough chick at all  and i cannot believe lucy liu and mickey rourke signed on for this criminal waste of celluloid . the script was terrible and the acting was like fingernails across a chalkboard . if you haven  t seen it  don  t . you are not missing anything and will only waste two hours of your life watching this drivel . i have seen bad movies before and even enjoyed them due to their faults . this one is just a waste of time .  
for those who like their murder mysteries busy  this is definitely the one to see  as it is chock full of interesting and suspicious characters  most of them wealthy long island socialite types . as the star detective  william powell is alternately starchy and inspired  behaving at times as if he and his suit went to the cleaners and got pressed together . mary astor is very lovely here .  br    br   powell had made a career out of playing the lead character  philo vance  in a series of movies made at a couple of studios over several years . in  between these films he developed into a somewhat offbeat romantic lead  at times even essaying gentleman gangster roles . already middle  aged  he was stuck in somewhat of a career rut by the time this one came along . as with so many early talkie stars  it seemed that his time had come and gone  that he was fine for early depression prohibition  era films  but that with changing times he was perhaps too mature and dandyish to endure .  br    br   the kennel murder case  directed by the criminally neglected michael curtiz  is one of the last of the  old powells   while the next year would herald in the first of the new ones  the thin man  the success of which would catapult its leading players into the hollywood stratosphere . in kennel we can see the movies still in a somewhat stiff  ritualized pattern  as the camera does not move much  with the acting  like the presentation  tending toward the theatrical . there  s no harm in this approach  though  which has its charms . it gives the movie a baroque quality .  
i am  as many are  a fan of tony scott films . when this movie came out i had high hopes that it would be like  man on fire  . to find out that the movie it  s the furthest thing from it  the story was treading water from the get go  and the choice of mickey rourke was not such such a good idea . and the whole  arm  scene was too gratuitous   br    br   the movie is centered around kiera kinghtly  and this movie reveals that she  ll never become a movie star  the movie brought some of the worst acting ever .  br    br   i like tony scott  s direction  n all  but this takes the whole friggin cake  sorry ton   out of     
philo vance had many affinities with bulldog drummond he was a gentleman with the kind of polish and elegance only usually associated with the british upper classes and he was also independently wealthy  br    br   but there were vital differences drummond was an adventurer  charming  gallant  lively vance could be pompous  slight  y dull and self  righteous there was a hint of fundamental cruelty in his manner  br    br    the kennel murder case  is the most impressive of the   vance films made between     and      the story of a murdered collector of chinoiserie  it has all the ingredients of the classic private eye mystery  exotic setting in the blue nose long island kennel club  three killings for vance to solve including a baffling  locked room murder   the key to the whole affair  and plenty of suspects  br    br   usually  a detective story setting have proved too static and talkative to make convincing movies even though they work well enough on the printed page  but here michael curtiz  s direction and the fine editing give the film a pace and urgency that make it altogether different from similar films of its type  br    br   william powell  s elegance and suavity made him the perfect vance and although a year later he switched studios  he stayed in the same genre with the enormously successful and popular  the thin man  at mgm  
now i had the best intentions when watching this one . i like some of tony scott  s work  also a friend of mine told me it was a great movie  even though i heard otherwise from other people . but this was simply hopeless .  br    br   in my humble opinion  tony scott was trying too hard . it was all just too much . allow me to elaborate .  br    br   miss knightley was overacting  and not in a good way . the people who did perform well  were mickey rourke  edgar ramirez  and christopher walken  but their screen time just wasn  t able to save the movie .  br    br   there were a few scenes that jumped out in their originality  yet somehow it felt like they were written by someone other than the main writer . a certain tune was used around  times  which really started to bug after the second time . i  m a firm believer of not using the same tune more than once .  br    br   also  the editing really went out on this one  as the cutting rate is rather high . oh  and the repetitive echoing of some of keira  s lines simply sounded cheesy after hearing it for the second  third  fourth time  and so on .  br    br   basically  my opinion is that if you want to see an action  flick that is high  paced and  somewhat  funny  and you don  t care about everything i mentioned above  you might like it .  br    br    on a side note i  m not a keira knightley fan .   
this movie is one exception of the rule that a sequel is worser than the original . its comedy at its best . this movie is a fast action slapstick comedy where something seems to happened every second . at more than one occasion the entire audience laughed loudly at a joke .  br    br   its a big advantage to have seen the first movie but its not a requirement .  br    br   gta kanal  also have the advantage of being a parody on the latest decades reality production tv series such as survivor  expediton robinson in swedish  this is a swedish movie for the swedish audience . thus don  t see it if you aren  t familiar with sweden and its language . otherwise have fun  johan  
what do you get when you mix a lump of clichs with a directionless pacing and a group of characters who you don  t care about and a failed attempt at creating an appealing visual style and an even bigger lump of clichs and a weak sense of humor and a really big budget  why  you get one of the most intolerably unwatchable movies ever made  i  m referring  of course  to domino .  br    br   here are some things that people might say during the viewing of this movie  br    br    ooh  wow  the storyline is told out of sequence  that hasn  t been done a billion times before . and much more skillfully than in this movie .   br    br    wow  look at all of the flashing lights and grainy film texture and elaborate transitions  the director is trying so hard to make things look arty and to establish a visual style  it  s just too bad that none of these effects add anything to the movie or make sense with the scenes they  re in  and it  s also too bad that most of them come across as irritating    br    br    i  ve heard that exchange of dialogue in about twenty thousand movies before    br    br    i  ve seen this scene in about thirty thousand movies before    br    br    this one too    br    br    uh  didn  t they reveal this  plot twist  about half an hour ago  was that supposed to be surprising    br    br    if this movie is supposed to be showing a  tough chick  going around kicking ass . . . when why doesn  t she do very much of it    br    br    i can  t believe how unoriginal this dialogue is .   br    br    how long is this thing  i feel like i  ve been watching it for over four hours already .   br    br    i have no idea what just happened  but also  i don  t particularly feel motivated to try to figure it out .   br    br    is this over yet    br    br    i want my money back .   br    br    the songs in this soundtrack feel so misused here .   br    br    it  s ironic that all of the cursing they use actually detracts from the impact of each one .   br    br    ugh .   br    br   and  finally  i might have to end my friendship with the person who recommended this movie to me .   br    br   in summation  this movie is a failure in nearly every aspect . avoid watching it at all costs . if your house is on fire and this movie is playing in the only room that isn  t flammable  you should seriously consider being burned alive instead .  br    br    if i sound bitter  it  s because i just spent over two hours watching this movie and  uh  i didn  t enjoy it very much .   
to begin with  i loved gta kanal   it had a lot of classic jokes including that unlucky guy in the canoe who always seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time  he is still acting the same guy in the gta kanal  movie but in my opinion hes performance is not as funny as it was in the first movie  in fact you don  t notice him much at all . a thing that made me think bad about this movie is the choice of boats  in this movie there are only race boats  they sure is speedy but those do not make waves like the big floating mansions used in the first movie  i liked the old ones better and these new boats makes one of the last scenes look ridiculous when the man in the canoe suddenly jumps out of it to evade the  big waves  from those small speedy boats . truly a minus . you have to accept that we  re not living in the same sweden as in     anymore . this movie also contains a bit more violence than the first one . although the movie was great all in all . i  ve just concentrated on some cons that i was disappointed in but the rest of the movie were up to my expectations  so go see it  it  s worth the money .  
how can you take her hard  living  glamorously violent bounty hunter story serious with that accent  it  s absurd . apart from that  the visual style of the directer is nauseating and gimmicky  the plot is a shallow  boring  confused gangster  movie rehash and the acting is unconvincing . the film introduces new characters all the way throughout the film and is told in fragmented flashback  mostly out of sequence  seemingly just to keep you nice and confused . the film ever shows you things that don  t really happen and then later says  that didn  t really happen  this happened   see the  apparent  killing of the  fake   first ladies  . what have we seen the first  wrong  sequence of events for then   br    br   terrible choice in casting  a convoluted  messy plot and a headache  inducing directorial style .    .  
  they all laughed  is a superb peter bogdanovich that is finally getting the recognition it deserves  and why  their are many reasons the fact that it  s set in new york which truly sets the tone  the fantastic soundtrack  the appealing star turns from ben gazzara  and the late john ritter who is superb . and of course no classic is complete without audrey hepburn . the film is a light and breezy romantic comedy that is very much in the vein of screwball comedy from the thirties  film is essentially about the odyssey detective agency which is run by gazzara who with his fellow detectives pot smoking and roller skating eccentric blaine novak  the films co  producer  and john ritter  basically the gazzara falls for a rich tycoon magnate  s wife  hepburn  and ritter falls for beautiful dorothy stratten who sadly murdered infamously after production   they all laughed is essential viewing for bogdanovich fans .  
this is the worst documentary to come out of canada ever     i  m glad to see the guys haven  t made another movie . all they want to do is get a movie made and it doesn  t have to be the one they wrote . they keep changing the script to suite the person they  re pitching . i could not get out of the theatre fast enough when i saw it at that year  s toronto film festival . please never see this film .  
i  m feeling a little protective of this film because it was my introduction to the u . n . c . l . e .  verse . the year was      and i . t . v . ran all eight features in one bumper run  followed by re  runs of  the persuaders  starring tony curtis and roger moore  on saturday evenings .  the karate killers  was chosen to open the season . it commenced with a cool action sequence as solo and kuryakin  s sports car got attacked by a squadron of thrush mini  copters . i was a fan for life from that moment on .  br    br   after the main credits  nice to see a special title sequence here instead of the usual practice of slowing down action footage  we go to the laboratory of dr . simon true  jim boles   inventor of a new formula to extract gold from seawater . true  s wife amanda  joan crawford  has been having an affair with thrush agent randolph  herbert lom  . a ruthless fellow indeed  he kills both the doctor and his wife  before hunting for the formula . true has prepared for the event  he has divided it into five segments  each written on a photograph of himself  and sent it to his five daughters  all of whom are scattered throughout the world .  br    br   solo and kuryakin set out to get the formula first  leading to a string of episodes in different locations  and cameos from the likes of telly savalas  as a tight  fisted italian count   terry  thomas  and curt jurgens . one of dr . true  s daughters  sandy  kim darby   accompanies the u . n . c . l . e . boys on their global quest .  br    br   having assembled the formula  thrush turns up and makes them hand it over  before whisking them off to their secret base at the north pole . . .  br    br   of all the u . n . c . l . e . feature films  this is the one i feel should have been produced specially for the cinema . it hurts by being a television product  albeit even one more slightly expensive than usual . no location filming was done  and the various segments come across as repetitive  usually culminating in a scrap between u . n . c . l . e . and thrush . of the cast  joan crawford is memorably hammy in her small role  and curt jurgens badly miscast as a sugar daddy . as a london bobby  terry  thomas is as delightful as ever  and herbert lom good as the chief villain . kim darby grates though as  sandy  . she should have been told to stay at home .  br    br   what is surprising about this is that it manages to be more amusing and entertaining than many official cinema releases of the time  including  in like flint    casino royale  and  the ambushers  . i  d love to know how solo and company escaped from thrush h . q . after randolph  s death though .  
what of domino did i hate over everything  and i mean everything  else  perhaps it was the overall glorification of being a bounty hunter maybe it was the sexism masquerading as an involving and interesting study of a hard bodied female lead character maybe it was the mere look of the film with its bizarre yellow glow and distorted blue tints or the manner in which it takes an actress like lucy lui who deserves a lot better than this junk and has her sit there in the one spot in the room the light cannot directly hit with the same dumb look on her face . maybe it  s the editing that horrid rapid fire editing and the manner in which lines of dialogue echo as they  re uttered by people like kiera knightly who  if you buy as a bounty hunter  then you  ll probably be able to kid yourself into believing the world will end in     .  br    br   nobody comes away from domino with any sort credibility  absolutely nobody at all . it is a painful and misguided experience  taking inspiration from things like natural born killers and letting loose ideas to an audience not even there for them . the principal question is  was domino supposed to be some kind of comedy   what with its hilariously bad lead uttering certain lines that desperately want us to think she  s coming across as  tough  but really  she resembles more an arrogant fifteen year old girl on her first day at public school  attempting to impress her peers . there are things you genuinely don  t know how to react to  whether they  re supposed to be funny or not . if it is supposed to be a comedy  that begs the next question  is the life of a bounty hunter really the sort worth exploiting for laughs   i don  t think so .  br    br   the film opens with the title card  based on a true story . . . . . . . . sort of .  if that  s supposed to be some sort of post  modernist technique that enables director tony scott to bend and manipulate the story of domino harvey for his own unique purpose  then you  re simply on another planet . truth is  in that one opening quote the film identifies the subject matter and the original text before completely copping out and saying  sort of  which i guess is supposed to enable them to make domino older than she should be and appear on jerry springer . following this  we learn of domino  s relationship with her father who died in the film when when she was ten or something here is the first use of the  sort of  cop out as in real life she was just four . but if the film had gone by reality  s dates then her entire drive would  ve been born out of the death of . . . . . . . . her goldfish .  br    br   we are then thrust into action with ed mosbey  rourke   domino  knightley  herself and would  be love interest choco  ramrez  . during the scene  an american mother is pinned down via gunfire in her own caravan in the back end of nowhere as she pleads for her son  s life to be spared . what a really misguided opening presenting its three leads as nasty people who break into trailers  fire off weapons at innocents we don  t know anything of and come close to shooting their pet dogs .  br    br   the immediate feeling is of hatred toward the three leads  a feeling of  no  why are you doing this  why is this happening   bad seeds are planted and  wouldn  t you know it  they stick . the film is painful to watch  excruciating even as these three mug their way through the piece complete with supporting performances from actors known for playing characters in beverly hills      . here is another daft post  modernist slant  people playing themselves and that  sort of  joker card being played again . christopher walken even pops up in a really stupid role that reeks of robert downey jr  s natural born killers character .  br    br   so as the film plods on and domino is cast into ed and choco  s gang  purely for her good looks i might add  it appears amidst the plot to do with fake driver  s registration i . ds or something that choco and domino may have feelings for one another . the problem is  as each performer is doing such a bad job in their respective character there is no chemistry and no feeling between the two the film isn  t a love story so why even bother going down that road in the first place  does anyone care about these two characters amidst all the fast edits and stuff blowing up  if there is any  feeling  between choco and domino  it exists on such a small  tiny  minimalist scale that you have to ask why it  s even included .  br    br   so then the film feels the need to crank things up narrative  wise . we find out the reason for the fake i . ds that are linked to someone else and a guy talks on a cell phone in a sound proof bubble . the sound proof bubble i can believe but how does he get his phone under the water and into the bubble in the first place without it becoming flooded  he must  ve swam really quickly  double the speed of the film  s fasted edit which means something in the region of .   of a second . yeah  sure . the film  s story becomes both too complicated and just plain arbitrary before resorting to a really dumb climax in which more stuff blows up . plus  there  s a really distasteful scene to do with a wall chart full of new ethnicities and the film  s comedy runs so dry  that it has to resort to the  jerry  jerry   chant whilst people are on a popular american talk show . when did we last laugh at  jerry  jerry    when we were  say  seven years old  i came away feeling sad and depressed at such a film  s existence .  
but it  s worth watching for boyer  lorre and paxinou . greene  s entertainments that were filmed during the war either required transplanting to american shores  as in this gun for hire  or the use of american actors in roles where they did not fit . bacall fits that part here . i kept waiting for her to whistle and bring bogie to life her tone of voice is simply all wrong for an upper class englishwoman . but listen to the dialogue  no  people don  t talk that way except in books  but greene was sending a message about an england that needed to wake up to the dangers of the world . one other positive note greene  s range of characters were kept whole . while mr . mukerjee resembled more a brahamin  at least his nationality was kept  and his final conversation with paxinou is priceless .  
tony scott has never been a very good director  but every film he  s made after  crimson tide  seems to bring him one step closer to being the inarguable worst working today  michael bay may fall into the same category  but at least his big  dumb  delusional epics entertain on some primally perverse level  . and like other overblown hollywood biopics   de  lovely  and  confessions of a dangerous mind   for instance  chronicling the lives of pretentious  overrated  or outright shallow ciphers given an aura of  mystique  by a society that thrives on the juicy behind  the  scenes details   domino  is a film that begins with little potential  and dashes that infinitesimal amount before the sixty  minute mark . with an already  distended running time of    minutes  the film feels twice as long  and spending time with characters this obnoxiously superficial and forgettable  unlike the superior  rules of attraction   scott  s attempts to tinge the proceedings with irony via domino  s smug  self  aware  rich  girl voice  over only draws attention to the film  s sledgehammer cluelessness  becomes an act only masochists could find pleasurable . the story  spoiled  upper  crust  babe domino harvey  keira knightley  in an ersatz  badass performance as shallow as her gorgeous looks  is sick of the shallow lifestyles of the rich and famous in los angeles  and accosts gruff bounty hunters mickey rourke and edgar ramirez to learn a more exciting trade along the way  there are double  crosses  shootouts  media attention  courtesy of a tongue  in  cheek christopher walken  phoning in his trademark sleazebag   and laughable hints at romance . scott cuts the film together in segments that rarely last more than a few seconds  cranking up the resolution to make the film a neon  drenched nightmare that  s frankly unpleasant to watch   if scott  s given an opportunity to shakily frame an image  ghost it  or distort it in some way  he will but all this tacky stylistic overload overwhelms what little plot  characterization  and suspense the film has  to say nothing for its  ehm   entertainment  value  . most of the characters come off as either contemptible or stereotypical  oftentimes both  observe the unbearable  several  minute segment where an african  american introduces a new list of racial categorizations on  jerry springer    and i found myself wishing they would all get the  tails  end of our protagonist  s coin by the end .  domino  is utter  unmitigated trash   whatever interest in this individual scott hoped to inspire in his audience  it is lost in a sea of migraine  inducing neon pretension a few minutes in .  
never realized that charles boyer   luis denard  appeared with lauren bacall   rose cullen  in a film together and enjoyed their great acting together . even peter lorre   contreras  had a role in this film and had a bad misfortune in his bathroom that caused him to faint . this story deals with a republican courier  luis denard who visits england during the spanish civil war and tries to disrupt a coal mining contract that will cause great harm to other nations . lauren bacall   rose cullen  comes to the aid of luis denard by picking him up and at the same time falling in love with him and then proceeds to help him escape from an angry crowd of english mine workers who threaten his life . the real bad guy in this film is victor francen   licata   beast with five fingers  who gives an outstanding performance . great classic     film without humphrey bogart .  
i was very excited about this film when i first saw the previews . normally i see a preview this good and i buy the film outright . something told me to . . . you know watch it first . i  m glad i did . keira knightley ruined all future films for me with this role . in the  nd pirates movie when it came out i went to see it . all i saw was domino harvey and i hated her more for it . i think that had to do with her hair and having to cut it short for domino .  br    br   domino who  who is domino harvey  i still don  t really know or care . i don  t know who she was in real life or who she was in this film . i didn  t care about her character and even keira getting partically naked didn  t make it worth the movie . the direction was definitely lacking . the writing was trite and shallow . the editing was horrible . i don  t mind the style so much as the poor overuse of it . there  s a place for it . good examples of choppy  mtv style  colorful editing  not sure if there  s an official name  would be fight club just off the top of my head . even enemy of the state had a semi similar editing style at parts . it was used tastefully and wasn  t used as a crutch . i mean this is the same guy who directed top gun and crimson tide . tony scott please give me my time back .  br    br   i understand there are many people who liked this movie . i guess the idea that you  ll either completely love this movie or completely hate it is a fair assessment . frankly  i hate it .  
this enjoyable minor noir boasts a top cast  and many memorable scenes . the big distraction is the complete disregard for authentic accents . the spanish characters in the film are played by a frenchman  boyer   a belgian  francen   a greek  paxinou  and a hungarian  lorre   and to top it all off bacall is supposed to be an english aristocrat  despite these absurdities  the performances are all very good  especially those of paxinou and lorre . but the scene in which boyer  paxinou and lorre meet  and talk in wildly different accents  is a real hoot  and i guess  seeing as how they were alone  that they should actually have been speaking in spanish anyway  it seems pretty weird that the brothers warner couldn  t find any spanish speaking actors in los angeles  of course hollywood has often had an  any old accent will do  policy  my other favorite is greta garbo  swedish  as mata hari  dutch   who falls in love with a russian soldier played by a mexican  ramon novarro  . maybe they should have got novarro for  confidential agent   he would have been great in boyer  s role or at least in francen  s  which would have saved greatly on the dark make  up budget  .  
it  s rare that i come across a film this awful  this annoying and this irritating . it is without doubt one of the worst films i  ve ever seen .  br    br   the plot  when it  s not a blur of confusing and pointlessly over flashy editing  is ludicrous . why did domino become such a bad  ass tough bitch  because her gold fish died when she was a kid and this  traumatic  event left her emotionally stunted  and hating everyone . when the dialogue is not clichd or banal  it  s littered with laughable lines such as  there are three kinds of people in this world the rich . . . the poor . . . and everyone else  . at one point the bounty hunters have some guy tied up in the back of their bus who has a combination number tattooed on his arm . because of a confusing mobile phone call  instead of rolling his sleeve up and just reading the number  they blow off his arm with a shotgun . at another point  the bounty hunters take a bomb to a meeting arranged with the mafia and threaten to set the bomb off unless the mafia let them go   clearly not going to the meeting would have been just too easy .  br    br   keira knightley is unconvincing and dreadfully miscast . mickey rourke does manage to salvage some credibility from this mess .  br    br   i have enjoyed some of tony scott  s previous films  true romance being one  but all i could think while suffering this drivel was that it must have been made by a complete idiot .  
a film that dramatized an understandable reluctance to face the inevitable coming of the the second world war  when a spanish republican  sent by his soon to be overthrown government   charles boyer  infiltrates himself into england looking for support for his cause by trying to influence wealthy mine owners not to sell coal to the fascists back in spain . he upsets the locals  getting convincingly beaten in one scene  and later in the film facing an angry crowd of miners who see him as yet another threat to their shaky livelihood . notwithstanding socio  economic hierarchy  xenophobia  and world politics  this film expertly delves into a dark and suspenseful intrigue involving unfaithful compatriots played by katina paxinou and peter lorre  and is expertly filmed in numerous darkly lit scenes set in a dreary hotel by james wong howe  and manages more than once to get under your skin .  
i do not know if this movies problems are more the fault of direction or script . as you will see in many reviews the editing style is way overdone . it is absolutely distracting and without substance  which could be considered a good thing if you look at some of the quotes from the movie . i do not write many reviews here  but felt this movie was so awful that it deserved comment . movies like this erode at movie making as an art form . movies like this one show more and more clearly that the current reality focus in cinema is revealing the quality of the characters behind them . people hone there craft  there  senses  and there business sense  overlooking there own inner life . however i do not put blame on them  it is more and more the unfortunate condition of this age  qualified by films like this one . but by proxy these manufacturers i would dare not call artists vomit there lack of inner life or regard onto the screen  diffusing it to everyone . a story of bounty hunters  guns guns and more guns  heavy handed flaunting of sex  for the oh so popular actress  did they write the lap dance scene after they signed her    over saturated  over exaggerated  one liners  non  linear plots . all different and yet all the same . annoying overwhelming music to push the emotion down your throat . a story  a development of character  or just withheld  missing information  revealed at the end to create the effect of a story  as if one took place . it altogether lacks anything remotely resembling subtlety . it is a caricature of stereotypes and genre . where are the films with awareness  what about subtlety of sound and music that you are not even aware is there  what about the depth of a look  what about editing with a point about mind and consciousness  yes even in action films this can happen . sure they have honed a craft but what use is it without soul or wisdom  of insight into the human condition  can the people who commented and said that this is an apogee of art  or compare this to picasso and others  i say put this next to gandhi or the godfather  even the original trilogy of star wars or the lord of the rings then look me in the face and say it again . it is a good crew  but they need some help with depth and story . i hope they get it because i like the crews previous work . better luck next time .  
bacall does well here  especially considering this is only her  nd film . this one is often overshadowed because it falls between  great successes  to have and to have not        and  the big sleep         both of which paired her with humphrey bogart . granted this one is not up to par to the other movies but i think through no fault of her own . i think there was some miscasting in having her portray a british upper  crust lady . no accent whatsoever . i think all the strange accents were distracting  boyer was certainly no spaniard . it was hard to keep straight which country people were from .  br    br   i really liked the black and white cinematography . mood is used to great affect  i especially liked the fog scene . the lighting also does a great job of adding to the intrigue and tension .  br    br   bacall is just gorgeous . boyer just doesn  t fit the romantic leading man role for me  so he and bacall together was a little strange . not great chemistry  and certainly no bogie and bacall magic . but i still really liked this picture . there is great tension and it moves along well enough . i must say i found the murder of the little girl quite bold for this period film .  br    br   katina paxinou and peter lorre stand out as supporting cast . paxinou as the hotel keeper is absolutely villainous and evil in her portrayal . her one scene where she laughs maniacally as mr . muckerji is leaving after exposing her as the child  s murderer is quite disturbing . lorre also does quite well in his slimy  snake portrayal of conteras  a sleazy coward to the end . wanda bendrix also does quite well in portraying the child else  especially considering this was her first picture and she was only   at the time  though she appears much younger  . turns out she later married auie murphy which proved to be a short lived  tempestuous marriage .  
this film is really bad . . . . . . . no i mean really really bad . tony scott is a terrible director . out of all the films he has made i only like enemy of the state  besides that he is one of the worse directors of all time . what appalled me the most is richard kelly  director of donnie darko  did the screenplay to this . now richard kelly is a genius in my eyes but to be involved in this makes hope he has learnt his lesson .  br    br   now i love mickey rourke  s new roles but i cant even like him in this because of the terrible story and look of it . don  t get me wrong i still love mickey rourke but he has made a few accidence  s in his time and this is one of them . i don  t know what to say about keira knightly  i think she  s a little too overrated . i just cant feel for her in films .  br    br   all in all this film is bad . thats it . . . . . . .     . . . . . . . j . d seaton  
charles boyer is supposed to be spanish  and he  s come to london to buy coal in  confidential agent   a     film also starring lauren bacall  katina paxinou  peter lorre  dan seymour  and wanda hendrix . boyer is luis denard  and everyone is out to stop him except bacall . his papers are stolen  he  s accused of murder but he  s determined to get coal for his people so that they can fight the fascists .  br    br   this film has its good and not so good points . it rates high for atmosphere and for suspense  and it is highly entertaining . bacall is incredibly beautiful  boyer is passionate  paxinou is mean  lorre is slimy  hendrix appropriately pathetic  and seymour outrageously wonderful .  br    br   the not so good points bacall is supposed to be english  and boyer spanish . uh  no . boyer is terrific in his role even with the wrong accent  but bacall is     american  not of the british upper class . the two have no chemistry . conclusion bacall is somewhat miscast . her acting isn  t up to snuff either she  s better in other films . but she  s an astonishing looking woman  and much can be forgiven .  br    br   paxinou is nearly over the top and hateful . dan seymour almost steals the entire film as a hotel guest who studies human nature . it  s a great part and his performance is perfect  while some of the direction of the other actors isn  t as good . this was definitely a case of no small parts  only small actors . seymour wasn  t a small actor .  br    br   definitely worth seeing even with its flaws .  
supposedly based on the life of domino harvey a model turned bounty hunter . i  d say    is fabricated . i always keep an open mind when it comes to movies  however  this movie lost its chances when it became apparent it had narration throughout the film  something i can  t stand  and to top it off  the heroine of the story is so hateful and depicted as an arrogant b  ch i just wanted it to end with her being shot in the head . it  s too incoherent  too flashy and way too boring  it  s a who gives a crap kinda story  and i really think that big time directors need to make movies based on their own or a writer  s own imagination not something based on some ignorant snobby brat  s life .  
i watch a lot of films  good  bad and indifferent there is usually something of interest to fixate upon  even if it is only set design  or the reliable labor of a good character actor  or the fortuitous laughter that emerges from watching ineptitude captured forever .  br    br   however  i was quite pleasantly surprised by this film  one i had never seen before . graham greene has been translated into film many times of course  in such masterpieces as  thin man  and in lesser vehicles .  confidential agent  is one of those lesser vehicles  yet it manages to get me somewhere anyway  despite lackluster direction  the incongruity of bacall and boyer  s depictions as  respectively  british and spanish  and the almost complete non  existence of any chemistry between the two leads . in some ways  this last  problem  actually begins to work in the film  s favor  for how can love really blossom in the killing atmosphere of fascism and capitalism meeting about one person  s tragedy  the most compelling aspect of the film arises directly from greene  s complex and guilt  ridden psychology  which pervades the film . i know some see the deliberate pacing here as dull  and i can understand that . yet i found that plodding accentuated rather than detracted from what is a claustrophobic world . i was compelled to watch  not by any great acting  although boyer is marvelous as usual  managing to convey a rich mixture of world  weariness  tragedy  hope  and fervor with his magnificent voice and yearning eyes   but by the down  spiraling rush of one man  s slim hopes against a world of oppression and money . what is a thief  what good is love in the face of death  where does mere profit  taking end and exploitation begin  the film does not rise to the level of art  and thus cannot hope to answer such questions  but it is much more than mere entertainment  and its murders and guilts are very grimly drawn . the lack of glitz  of  bubble   of narrative  bounce  help to make this movie very worthwhile .  br    br   and there is no happy ending  for history wrote the ending .  
if it smells like garbage and if it looks like garbage  it must be garbage . this is by far one of the worst movies i have ever seen in my entire life . tony scott  s poor directing style puts shame to an already uninteresting and slightly untrue story of domino harvey  s life as a bounty hunter . the story is completely discontinuous and confusing to watch . certain aspects of the plot were ridiculous and totally unbelievable . it seems that all of the action scenes were loosely strung together by poor plot points and horrible acting . keira knightley does get totally naked in this one though . that is the one and only upside to this film . if you want to see her naked just fast forward the movie until about an hour and a half into it and you  ll catch a whole lot of nipple . i strongly suggest that no one see this movie ever      
it could have been a better film . it does drag at points  and the central story shifts from boyer completing his mission to boyer avenging wanda hendrix  s death  but graham greene is an author who is really hard to spoil . his stories are all morality tales  due to his own considerations of catholicism  guilt and innocence  very relative terms in his world view   and the human condition .  br    br   boyer is luis denard  a well  known concert pianist  who has sided with the republicans in the spanish civil war . he has been sent to england to try to carry through an arms purchase deal that is desperately needed . unfortunately for denard he is literally on his own  everyone of his contacts turns out to be a willing turncoat for the falagists of spain . in particular katina paxinou  mrs . melendez  a grim boarding house keeper  and peter lorre  mr . contreras  a teacher of an  esperanto  type international language . wanda hendrix is the drudge of a girl  else  who works for mrs . melendez . the local diplomat  licata  victor francken  is already a willing associate of the falangists .  br    br   the brits  holmes herbert  miles mander  and best  if not worst  of the lot  george coulouris  don  t give much hope to boyer  s cause  which he soon grasps may be britain  s before long  . herbert and mander just retreat behind the official policy of neutrality ordered by the ramsay macdonald  s and stanley baldwin  s governments during the civil war . coulouris here is a typical col . blimp type  always impeccable in his native english diction  he is sharp in showing his dislike for foreigners in general .  br    br   the one ray of hope is lauren bacall  rose cullen   here trying to play her role as well as she can  but she can  t really . she  s an aristocrat  the daughter of a press lord . it was bacall  s second film  and  sad to say  almost sank her long career . she does act well  but the spark she showed in her first film was due to the dual effect of starring with humphrey bogart and being directed by howard hawks . boyer is a fine actor  but he  s not bogie  and herman shumlin is not hawks . her next film returned her to bogie and hawks again  and her star resumed it  s ascendancy .  br    br   it  s a bleak film  as was the novel  . boyer  s mission never succeeds  as he has too many hidden foes all over the place . but the villains are likewise also losers  frequently with their lives .  br    br   with dan seymour as a suspicious foreign tenant of katina paxinou  and the man who destroys her  . it is well worth watching to catch the warner  s lot of character actors doing their best given the weakness in direction .  
my flatmate rented out this film the other night  so we watched it together .  br    br   the first impression is actually a positive one  because the whole movie is shot in this colorful  grainy  post  mtv texture . fast sequences  cool angles  sweeping camera moves  for the moment there you feel like you about to watch another  snatch   for the moment . . . .  br    br   when the plot actually starts unfolding  one starts to feel as if one over  dosed amphetamine . things just don  t make sense anymore . i would hate to spoil the fun of watching it by giving out certain scenes  but then again  the film is so bad that you are actually better off not watching it .  br    br   first you think it is a crime story recounted in a conversation between keira knightley and lucy liu . wrong . this conversation provides no coherent narrative whatsoever . rather on the contrary  domino  s lesbian come on on lucy liu  s character during the second part of the movie just throws the audience into further confusion .  br    br   then i thought that maybe it is a movie about a girl from affluent but dysfunctional background who grew to be a tough bounty hunter . in any case  that is the message conveyed by the opening scenes . but after that the question of domino  s character is entirely lost to the criminal plot . so in short  no this is not a movie about domino  s character .  br    br   then i thought  it  s probably a story of one robbery . a pretty bloody robbery .   millions went missing  bounty hunters are chasing around suspected robbers  mafia kids are executed  hands are removed  domino tries to crack why this time they get no bounty certificates  etc . but soon this impression is dispelled by another u  turn of the plot .  br    br   this time we are confronted with a sad story of an obese afro  american woman  who fakes driver  s licenses at the local mvd and at the age of   happens to be a youngest grandmother . lateesha stars on jerry springer show  tries to publicize some new  wacky racial theory  and at the same time struggles to find money for her sick granddaughter .  br    br   what does this have to do with the main plot  urgh  well  nobody knows . except that director had to explain the audiences where will bounty hunters put their collectors  fee of        .  br    br   then at some point you start to think  oh  it is about our society and the way media distorts things  . there is reality tv crew driving around with the bounty hunters and doing some violent footage . the bounty hunters are also stuck with a bunch of hollywood actors  who just whine all the time about having their noses broken and themselves dragged around too many crime scenes . but no  this is not a movie about media  they just appear sporadically throughout the movie .  br    br   plus there are numerous other sub  plots the crazy afghani guy bent on liberating afghanistan  the love story between domino and chocco  the mescaline episode  the fbi surveillance operation . . .  br    br   can all of the things mentioned above be packed into  hrs movie  judge for yourself  but my conclusion is clear  it is a veritable mess   
the novel is easily superior and the best parts of the film are direct translations from what greene wrote for instance the quiet but grim humour that breaks into the scenes with boyer and lorre  or the murdered  child obsession that takes over some of the plot . where the film deviates from the novel  it tends to the ludicrous .  br    br   however i don  t want to suggest that the film is bad in any way . it always looks the part and the story stays in the mind like a good  un . some of the minor characters were stock actors who could turn their hand to anything .  br    br   it  s a dreadful shame that the film  s not available on dvd .  
from the first moment  this  thing  is just an awful sequence of extremely short cuts of blurry camera work . while the overall plot has every potential for a thriller  the story is so badly told that i  m unable to buy it . from the middle of the film  the actions of characters don  t make sense to me . stop reading now to avoid spoilers .  br    br   for instance  ed  s idea to have edna make coffee for them after having shot off her son  s arm is way below his alleged experience it  s just an extremely stupid idea . domino not questioning the fragmentary orders she receives from claremont williams over a breaking  up phone connection just eludes me shouldn  t she be long suspicious that williams is turning them in  those fbi agents seem out of their minds showing up with just one single helicopter to something they have every reason to consider a capital mafia shoot  out . besides  what they do by withholding and leaking information towards cigliutti is pretty much incitement to murder it seems to me like farewell to justice if that  s they way the fbi does investigations . in reality  they  d have a case messed up beyond repair if they acted like this . we get to see a car accident which normally would have at least seriously injured if not killed most of the passengers but miraculously leaves all of them with just a few bruises . quite the contrary  the accident is immediately followed by domino making love to choco  which is from domino  s viewpoint in no way founded by previous events but just by being drugged to the eyeballs .  br    br   the whole sequence of scenes starting from the phone call of claremont williams appears to me just as want  to  be dramatic razzle  dazzle . this combined with the awful  uneasy camera work just makes a piece i hesitate to call a movie . i  m sorry for the wasted effort of the main actors  whose talent is out of question .  
this movie is perfect for all the romantics in the world . john ritter has never been better and has the best line in the movie   sam  hits close to home  is lovely to look at and so much fun to play along with . ben gazzara was an excellent cast and easy to fall in love with . i  m sure i  ve met arthur in my travels somewhere . all around  an excellent choice to pick up any evening .      
i really wanted to like this movie . i absolutely love kenny hotz  and spenny rice has a charming side to him . not that i like spenny at all . spenny ruins this movie . he should of let kenny and his hot girlfriend pitch the movie .  br    br   anyways  it  s pretty boring aside from a scene with roger ebert in it . there really isn  t too many celebrities in this movie  and most don  t seem to say more than one line . overall this movie was disappointing . i would only suggest watching it if you got it with the season  dvd of kenny vs spenny  it comes for free on the  rd disc  . regardless of this production  i am still very excited to check out the papel chase .  
this film has scenes that come back to me at the strangest times   that intense scene with mr . muckerji telling mrs melandez that someone he spoke with witnesses the girl being pushed out the window by a woman who fits her description    is one that rolls around   the way she keeps referring to him by name    in a greek accent  mr muckerji    and then when boyer discovers her having just taken poison and gives her one last smack up the side of the head before she dies    its a delight   fools   fools   all my life  . . . etc etc   you get the point . . i have to buy this one . i love dan seymour  s acting   he usually plays some plump foreign sultan or police chief and appeared in casablanca and many great pictures .  
repetitive music  annoying narration  terrible cinematography effects . half of the plot seemed centered around shock value and the other half seemed to be focused on appeasing the type of crowd that would nag at people to start a fight .  br    br   one of the best scenes was in the  deleted scenes  section  the one where she  s in the principle  s office with her mom . i don  t understand why they  d cut that . the movie seemed desperate to make a point about anything it could and domino talking about sororities would have been a highlight of the movie .  br    br   ridiculous camera work is reminiscent of mtv  and completely not needed or helpful to a movie . speeding the film up just to jump past a lot of things and rotating the camera around something repeatedly got old the first time it was used . it  s like the directors are wanting to use up all this extra footage they didn  t want to throw away .  br    br   another movie with jerry springer in it  that should  ve told me not to watch it from the preview .  br    br   a popular movie for the  in  crowd .  
it could have been better had it been directed by someone with more experience . shumlin didn  t do a bad job but it is not a great work of cinematic art .  br    br   it is  however  a beautiful movie . i have loved it since local channels used to show it . graham greene is one of my favorite writers of the last century . some pretty bad movies were made from his novels and stories .  many love  the fallen idol  but i am not among them . i think i saw  brighton rock  once many years ago and liked it but maybe i  m simply thinking fondly of the novel .  this is superbly cast . charles boyer does not  it  s true  come across as spanish . but he seems to have the perfect temperament for this character   tired  wary  caring . lauren bacall is appealing as the british girl who falls for him . but the supporting players are the best katina paxinou is excellent . her performance is a little grand guignol  but i attribute that to the director . peter lorre  whom we first meet as he gives boyer a lesson in an esperanto  like universal language  is excellent   as always .  br    br   and wanda hendrix could break the hardest heart . she comes across as a precocious early teenager . the character wants to be helpful . she does her best .  br    br   i recommend this movie highly . not without reservations . the reservation is  primarily  that it is a little stolid . but the story and acting can scarcely be bettered .  
tony scott destroys anything that may have been interesting in richard kelly  s clichd  patchy  overwrought screenplay . domino harvey  kiera knightley  was a model who dropped out and became a bounty hunter . this is her story . . .  sort of  .  br    br   the problem with this rubbish is that there isn  t much of a story at all and scott  s extreme graphic stylization of every shot acts as a distancing mechanism that makes us indifferent to everything in harvey  s chaotic life .  br    br   you just don  t care about harvey . knightley plays her as an obnoxious  cynical brat who has done nothing to warrant our respect . she punches people she doesn  t like and sheds her clothes and inhibitions when the situation calls for it  but she isn  t the least bit real and knightly isn  t the least bit convincing  either .  br    br   the film is boring . it  s loud  too  and shackled with one of the most annoying source music scores i  ve heard in a long time . the final twenty minutes are a poor re  run of scott  s  true romance  climax with domino  s gang going to meet two sets of feuding bad guys who are   surprise  surprise    destined to shoot it out with each other at the top of a las vegas casino .  br    br   unfortunately  this potentially exciting conflagration is totally botched by scott and becomes a confusing  pretentious  pointless exercise in celluloid masturbation . this is not an artistically brave or experimental piece it is a failure on every level because it gives us no entry point to the lives and dilemmas of its characters .  br    br   mickey roarke looks good as a grizzled bounty hunter  but he disappears into the background as the  narrative  progresses . chris walken turns in another embarrassing cameo and dabney coleman  always solid  is underutilized .  br    br   don  t be fooled by this film  s multi  layered  gimmick  ridden surface . it is still a turd no matter how hard you polish it .  
while this is a faithful adaptation  it is much less exciting than greene  s novel . also  it  s a bit ridiculous when people say things to boyer like   you  re spanish  aren  t you    br    br   still  the movie  s not at all bad  just slow  moving .  br    br    
someone told me that this was one of the best adult movies to date . i have since discredited everything told to me by this individual after seeing this movie . it  s just terrible . without going into lengthy descriptions of the various scenes  take my word for it  the sex scenes are uninteresting at best . jenna in normal street clothes in the beginning was the highlight of the film  she does look good  but it  s all downhill from there .  
good old black and white graham greene based people in dangerous times doing heroic and mysterious things . hardly a shot fired or a punch thrown and a hundred time more interesting than the glop that  s being minted by hollywood today . bacall lights up the screen of course and boyer is entirely engaging . they don  t make movies like this any more .  
i am a very big fan of jenna jameson  but this movie is horrible . at the time jenna jameson was married to brad armstrong and he was the director of this film and jenna was the hottest porn star ever . so  of course  brad tried to make as much money as he could off her by making this big budget porn film . now i know why they don  t make big budget porn movies anymore . in a fantasy world  porn stars could act  but this is the real world and they can  t act . that  s why there porn stars  if a women as beautiful as jenna could act  then she would have tried to go into mainstream movies instead of porn . just because your beautiful doesn  t make you a movie star . a fine example of this is traci lords  when she was a teen thru her    s she was one of the most beautiful  sexy women on earth . she made her move into low budget mainstream films and couldn  t act . where is she now  i gave it a  instead of a  rating just because jenna is so hot  but there are better movies she has made then  dream quest  . come on jenna  we don  t want to hear you talk  as much as we want to see you have sex . also  you jenna  would have a lot more fans and more money in your bank account if you would have done anal on film .  
an underrated addition to the graham greene cinematic canon  its perceived faults can now be seen as virtues . director shumlin  theatrical director  frames his action with an oppressive rigidity appropriate to the material  and the seemingly inept compositions compellingly suggest unease . both a dark thriller and a story of moral regeneration  for the female character  in a   s thriller    the film has an upright hero who turns mad and murderous  and possibly paedophiliac   brilliantly brings the faraway ideologies of the spanish civil war into jolting dangerous reality  has one horrific murder  an astonishing insights into class and capitalism  clever theatrical metaphors  a rare approximation of greene  s god  and an ending that is only happy if you know nothing about history .  
this movie has a slew of great adult stars but fails to get you interested in a way an adult film should . among all the stars you couldn  t get your kicks from any of the scenes . the movie is shot in a dream like middle age set which is embarrassingly cheesy . the acting is worse than keanu reeves  the sex scenes are as exciting as listening to your neighbor talk about their kid in college  and the dialogue is the worse i have seen in a movie . the plot also was worse by ten fold . i  d stick to the amateur route . the audio commentary was useless since it  s a skin flick but even then that was bad too . unless your a diehard jenna jameson fan there is little here .      
macarthur is a great movie with a great story about a great mangeneral douglas macarthur . this is of course  the story of one of america  s great military figures  and a figure made familiar to me from the earliest moments of my memory . though there is a continuity issue  there may be others  e . g . macarthur  s speech portrayed in the film as his     address to the u . s . military academy on accepting the thayer award did not contain the phrase  old soldiers never die they just fade away .   that was in his speech to congress upon his dismissal by president truman  in     for his alleged insubordination  these two did not see eye to eye   gregory peck is im  peck  able as the general who vowed he would return to the philippines in world war ii . the film moves quickly and easily with the general  his family and his staff from the beginning of the second world war to the end of his service career . this film would be of much greater significance to one familiar with both ww ii and the korean war . nevertheless  peck  s portrayal of this great man who fought the twin evils of fascism and communism and who hated war as only a soldier can is a memorable one indeed .  in war there is no substitute for victory .   
we  ve been served  a terrible film .  br    br   okay  i  ll admit that since i  m white and have had no practical experience in the  competitive world of step  dancing   i might not exactly be an authority on this type of film . on the other hand  i do know a bad motion picture when i see it .  br    br   and  boy  have i just seen it .  br    br   filmed in low  budget  vision and directed by ian iqubal rashid    a touch of pink     how she move  tells the tale of how important it is to follow one  s dreams  even if those dreams include bopping around to loud  irritating hip  hop music and speaking dialogue the average person would not understand if he or she had an international translator .  br    br   i  ll try to give a small synopsis of the  plot .  first of all there are two actors that look like ll cool j who work in an auto shop in toronto  the mecca of racial diversity   but still have time to practice dancing for eight hours a day .  br    br   there are a few other guys in this  crew   including a token white dude and a guy that looks like denzel washington in  malcolm x .  there are also two women in the movie  one resembles serena williams and the other looks like geraldine from the old  flip wilson show .  one of these ladies was kicked out of a private college because her parents spent all of her tuition on a drug  addicted sibling . the other girl  a member of salt n pepa  no doubt  is just plain no good .  br    br   there  s another guy who looks like eddie murphy  s buckwheat  while still another actor who  s a huggy bear knock  off . these guys are rival step dancers . evidently  this activity is very hard  core in the  hood  and they are all practicing for the big  step monster  jam in detroit .  br    br   since i was unable to understand   percent of the dialogue  perhaps some subtitles would have been useful  as in a bergman film or that one music video by snow   it  s hard to explain what happens  other than there  s a lot of arguing  the serena williams girl  who never smiles  by the way  becomes a freelance stepper  moving from group to group   there  s some step  dancing and a lot of irritating hip  hop music .  br    br   it  s a typical rags  to  riches story sort of like  rocky  with a really bad soundtrack   rudy  with annoying rap music in the background   cry freedom  without the laughs .  br    br   but why does a film  which could have made a big impact on black audiences  have to contain drug addiction  bad parents and a title that sounds like a first  grader saying the phrase   how she moves    br    br   i was  moved  by this movie  however . moved to leave the theater as quickly as possible .  
name just says it all . i watched this movie with my dad when it came out and having served in korea he had great admiration for the man . the disappointing thing about this film is that it only concentrate on a short period of the man  s life  interestingly enough the man  s entire life would have made such an epic bio  pic that it is staggering to imagine the cost for production .  br    br   some posters elude to the flawed characteristics about the man  which are cheap shots . the theme of the movie  duty  honor  country  are not just mere words blathered from the lips of a high  brassed officer  it is the deep declaration of one man  s total devotion to his country .  br    br   ironically peck being the liberal that he was garnered a better understanding of the man . he does a great job showing the fearless general tempered with the humane side of the man .  
this movie was absolutely ghastly  i cannot fathom how this movie made it to production . nothing against the cast of the movie  of course  this is all the fault of the writing team . you take the old average plot  let  s dance our way out of being poor and destitute  or step in this case . but this one lacks any semblance of a true plot  or at least one that anyone would care about . with canadian speaking actors in what is supposed to be an american setting  this film falls very flat . on a positive note  the directing was pretty good and cinematography was pretty decent as well . looks like the production budget was very generous as well . my only request is that this team leave the writing alone and go find actual screenwriters to help them bring words alive on film . net result  how she move is how she sucks .  
the movie  macarthur  begins and ends at gen . douglas macarthur  s  gregory peck  alma mata the us military academy of west point on the hudson . we see a frail   year old gen . macarthur give the commencement speech to the graduating class of     about what an honor it is to serve their country . the film then goes into an almost two hour long flashback on gen . macarthur  s brilliant as well as controversial career that starts in the darkest hours of wwii on the besieged island of corregidor in the philippines in the early spring of     .  br    br   told to leave he island for australia before the japanese military invade it gen . macarthur for the very first time in his military career almost disobeys a direct order from his superior us president franklin d . roosevelt  dan o  herlihy . feeling that he  ll be deserting his men at their greatest hour of need macarthur reluctantly  together with his wife and young son  did what he was told only to have it haunt him for the reminder of the war . it was that reason  his escape under fire from death or captivity by the japanese  that drove gen . macarthur to use all his influence to get fdr two years later to launch a major invasion of the philippians  instead of the island of formosa  to back up his promise to both the philippine people as well as the thousands of us pows left behind . that he  ll return and return with the might of the us army  navy to back up his pledge   br    br   in the two years up until the invasion of the philippine islands gen . macarther battered the japanese forces in the south pafific in a number of brilliantly conceived island hop battles that isolated and starved hundreds of thousands of japanese troops into surrender . the general did that suffering far less us military losses then any other allied commander in the war in the pacific   br    br   it was in        in the korean war that gen . macarthur achieved his most brilliant victory as well as his worst military defeat . after outflanking the advancing north korean army in the brilliant and perfectly executed  with the invading us marines suffering less then    casualties  back door or left hook invasion of inchon gen . macarther feeling invincible sent the us  un forces under his command to the very border  along the yalu river  of communist red china . told by his subordinates that he  s facing the threat of a massive ground attack by communist chinese troops gen . macarthur pressed on anyway until that attack did materialized cutting the us  un forces to ribbons . the unstoppable wave after wave of attacking red chinese troops forced the us  un forces to retreat in the  big bug out  of     with their very lives  leaving all their equipment behind  across the north korean border even abandoning the south korean capital city of seoul  this turned out to be one of the biggest military disaster in us history with the us forces losing a record  in the korean war       lives on the very first day  nov .           of the communist chinese invasion   br    br   shocked and humiliated in what he allowed  due mostly to his own arrogance  to happened macarthur went on the offensive not against the advancing communist chinese and noth koreans forces but his own commander and chief pres . harry s . truman  ed flanders  in him not having the spin or guts to do what has to be done launch a full scale invasion of communist china with nuclear weapons if necessary to prevent its troops from overrunning the korean peninsula  for pres . truman who had taken just about enough garbage from gen . macarthur in him running off his mouth in public in how he was mishandling the war in not going all out  like macarthur wanted him to  against the red chinese this was the last straw  on april        pres . truman unceremoniously relived gen . macarthur from his command as supreme commander of the us  un forces in korea  pres . truman  s brave but very unpopular decision also  by not going along with macarthur  s total war strategy  prevented a third world war from breaking out with the soviet union  communist china  s ally  who at the time  like the us  had the atomic bomb  pres . truman   s controversial decision to dump the very popular gen . macarthur also cost him his re  election in     with his polls numbers so low  in the mid    s  that he withdrew  in march of that year  from the us presidential campaign   br    br   in was gen . macarthur  s misfortune to be around when the political and military climates in the world were changing in how to conduct future wars . with the horrors of a nuclear war now  in         a reality it would have been national suicide to go all out  like gen . macarthur wanted to  against the red chinese with it very possibly touching off a nuclear holocaust that would engulf not only the us ussr  red china but the entire world  it was that important reality of future war that gen . macarthur was never taught  since the a and h bomb weren  t yet invented  in west point .  br    br   back to     we can now see that gen . macarthur  after finishing his commencement speech at west point  had become both an older and wiser soldier as well as  since his retirement from the us military  elder statesman in his feeling about war and the utter futility of it . one thing that gen . macarthur was taught at an early age  from his civil war general dad douglas macarthur sr  that stuck to him all his life was that to a soldier like himself war should be the very last  not first  resort in settling issues between nations . in that it  s the soldiers who have to fight and die in it . it took a lifetime  with the advent of the nuclear age  for gen . macarthur to finally realize just how right and wise his dad a congressional medal of honor winner  like himself  really was   
its one of those stereotypical mtv generation dance movies  and i do not see where all this  its not that bad  rubbish is coming from . the acting is terrible  it follows exactly the same storyline as all the other  dancing  movies out there . its terrible  the name should scream don  t watch .  how she move .  since when can movie titles ignore grammar  at least some dance movies had half decent dance scenes  these ones don  t even deserve a watch . i give it a  out of    just because there is no zero . i seriously implore anyone with an iq of over   not to watch this  and not to waste your money . the  .     should tell it all . this movie should not have even be made .  
since douglas macarthur affected more human livesfor the betterthan any other american not elected president  he deserved a better film biography . not that universal  s  macarthur  is bad . it  s just not all it should have been .  br    br   oddly enough  the potential was there . from the very early  star trek  episode  the corbomite maneuver        to the recent hbo films  something the lord made    oo   and  warm springs    oo    director joseph sargent has emerged as one of the most expressively human directors in film  a man capable of subtly shaping the emotional shadings of his actors  performances  and carrying the audience exactly where he wants them to go . the producer  frank mccarthy  also gave us  patton      o   the legendary jerry goldsmith scored both films  and universal widely touted the fact that the film was  four years in preparation and production .  yet for all of this   macarthur  is perfectly adequateand not much more than that .  br    br   the film begins in early      shortly before the beleaguered general was orderedby president franklin d . roosevelt  dan o  herlihy  to flee the philippines to avoid capture by the japanese . thus  this film omits  br    br    macarthur  s birth in    o in a frontier barracks in arkansas still subject to attack by native american tribesmenthus establishing that his remarkable life spanned the distance from bows  and  arrows to thermonuclear weapons  br    br    his graduation from west pointfirst in a class of     br    br    how he joined his famous father  general arthur macarthur  who had earned the medal of honor at missionary ridge in the civil war  on assignments in japan  china and  most importantly  in the philippines  br    br    his heroic exploits in the     excursion into vera cruz  br    br    how he leaped about the trenches of world war one like a mountain goat  often wounded  and promoted with blinding speed to brigadier general  br    br    his postwar service as west point  s youngestand most progressivecommandant  br    br    his participation in the court  martial of billy mitchell in       br    br    his routing of the bonus marchers in       br    br    his efforts to sustain a woefully  underfunded army as chief of staff in the early    o  s  br    br    his retirement from the u . s . army to become field marshal    of the army of the philippines  br    br    and the reactivation of his commission by fdr shortly before the outbreak of the second world war .  br    br   all this is omitted in favor of prolonged footage of macarthur trying to fight off seasickness while being evacuated by pt boatthus  we know that  general mac  is a legend  but not why nor can we appreciate why the allegations of cowardice were so wounding to  dugout doug  and so patently unfounded .  br    br   the remainder of his career is presently straightforwardly his island  hopping  hit  em where they ain  t  campaign  the fulfillment of his pledge to the filipinos  i shall return   his crowning achievement  the winning of the peace in postwar japan  then the difference of opinion with president harry truman  a properly feisty ed flanders  over the conduct of the korean conflict which resulted in his outright firing  and finally  his proclamation to congress that  old soldierssimply fade away   after which he did just that . all quite historically accurate  and all presented with a very deliberate lack of commentary .  br    br   sargent and the producers almost painfully distance themselves from adorning the historical record with their own approval or disapproval if macarthur  s actions appear noble  let them be presented as such if they appear egotistical or bombastic  let those conceptions register sans comment . since joe sargent is quite expert at subtly manipulating his audience  s reactionsagain  see warm springsthis refusal to offer comment appears quite intentional . historically  that may be commendable  but it almost defeats the efforts of the viewer to place this extraordinary man in any kind of rational perspective .  br    br   and finally  there is a sort of  made on the cheap  feel to the film  as there is to  midway   released about the same time . both films were relegated to  television  directors   sargent in this case  jack smight on  midway   and both have a made  for  tv  look . even jerry goldsmith  s march  while perfectly serviceable  lack the subtle undertones and the grandeur of his  patton  theme   just another way in which a larger  than  life man is memorialized by a very ordinary film .  br    br   there was vanity and pettiness in this man  inarguably there was also greatnessand love him or loathe him  one must acknowledge the fact that macarthur did what no military commander before him had done he won the peace .  br    br   in the end   macarthur  like so many film biographiesis a good place to begin research into this remarkable man  but a poor place to end it .  
  how she moves  springs to life only when its high  energy  talented cast members are kicking up their heels and strutting their stuff for the camera . otherwise  this stale strive  suffer  and  succeed story is low on energy  low on originality  and low on anything that might make the movie stand out from the dozens of other  likeminded films that have come before it .  br    br   rutina wesley has modest appeal as the academically gifted inner  city youngster who finds that the best way to raise her private school tuition money is by entering step  dance competitions  but both she and her fellow actors are poorly served by uninspired screen writing and undistinguished direction . as noted earlier  the movie achieves some spark when the performers are up on stage dancing  but such moments are far too few and sadly fleeting .  
frank mccarthy who produced the academy award winning biographical film patton follows it up with a strong tribute to another of america  s fighting generals  douglas macarthur . gregory peck gives a strong characterization of the man  his genius as well as his egotism . with macarthur you never knew quite where one began and the other left off and too many times they blended .  br    br   the whole story of douglas macarthur would be a six hour film or a tv mini  series . it would cover him from his days on frontier posts with his family to his time at west point where he still has the highest scholastic average ever achieved by a cadet . it would talk about his service in the phillipines as a young officer  his legend building bravery on the battlefields of world war i in france . it would also have to tell about him firing on the bonus marchers of world war i veterans in      probably putting the final kabosh on any chances president herbert hoover had of getting re  elected . during macarthur  s last years he and hoover had penthouse suites at the waldorf astoria in new york city . that must have been a subject they avoided .  br    br   this film concentrates on the years     to     and it is told in flashback . the film opens with macarthur addressing the student body in     . as he speaks the words of the famous duty honor country speech  macarthur  s mind goes back to world war ii and his desperate struggle against the advancing japanese on the island of corregidor and the fields of bataan on luzon . the film takes him through his struggle to win back the phillipines  the occupation of japan and the first   months culminating in his relief of command by president truman .  br    br   macarthur as a film would not work at all if it wasn  t for the portrayals of dan o  herlihy and ed flanders as presidents franklin d . roosevelt and harry s . truman respectively . it  s the part of the film i enjoyed the best  seeing macarthur and his relations with both these men .  br    br   fdr by o  herlihy captures the aristocratic squire and exceptionally devious man that was our   nd president . roosevelt was a man who got his points across with unusual subtlety and cleverness . sometimes he liked scheming a little too much for its own sake  but he was the master politician of the last century . note how he deals with macarthur both as a battlefield commander and potential rival at the same time .  br    br   truman by flanders is as people remember him  a blunt spoken man of the people who disliked macarthur  s haughtiness from the gitgo . of course it  s in the history books how truman relieved macarthur in     for insubordination . macarthur was insubordinate  no doubt about it .  br    br   yet i could write a whole thesis on the truman  macarthur relations . along the way it need not have ever come to a crisis . i  ve always felt that fdr would have dealt with the whole matter in a far better way had he still been president then .  br    br   macarthur was also grandly eloquent and gregory peck captures some of that eloquence in some of the orations that made him as much a legend as victories on the battlefield . listen to peck at the japanese surrender  at macarthur  s farewell to the nation before the joint session of congress  and of course his speech to the cadets in     . watch the newsreels and see if you don  t agree .  
i can always tell when something is going to be a hit . i see it or hear it  and get a good feeling . i did not get a good feeling watching the preview . i was not at all enthusiastic about this film  and i am not at all surprised that it is rated here as one of the worst    films . i was in fact proved right .  br    br   the first thing that threw me off was the title . not that i have a problem with ebonics  i am black by the way   but for a movie they could have used a better title  and for this time use a title that doesn  t have bad grammar . i heard the dialog  saw the acting and all i could do was make faces .  br    br   i also think that the dance movie theme is being overdone . at least  you got served  was better than this in my opinion . even the soundtrack didn  t thrill me .  
since the day i saw this film when it came out in      it has been one of my top  favorites . the blurb i wrote for amazon is below  and i  m just thrilled that it  s finally coming out on dvd on          the film  s   th anniversary .  br    br   the last credit in this film explains its appeal   thank you to the people of manhattan on whose island this was filmed .  a charming and witty romantic comedy  it is a love story written to new yorkers  peter bogdanovich is a native  who can identify every location  west   th street  the ansonia  the old fao schwartz  the plaza  the roxy  chez brigitte  and city limits which was a country  western club  . one gets the impression that the entire ensemble cast clicked as well off  screen as they do on  and this intimacy is clearly communicated . i laughed  i cried  it was better than cats . not only an ode to dorothy stratten  it was also audrey hepburn  s last feature appearance  she had a cameo subsequent to this film  and her inner beauty seeps from the screen . buy it  make a big tub of popcorn  and curl up with someone you love .  
it  s impossible for me to objectively consider this movie . not that i haven  t tried  mind you  but i sit down  and i pop in the aged vhs  and i watch the opening . . . and suddenly i  m five years old again and clutching my very own care bear and watching the movie with open eyes and an eager heart .  br    br   i can see  objectively  that this movie is a bizarre combination of cuddly baby merchandising  mascots and creepy prepubescent children with evil powers that has a thin story and uninteresting animation . but my inner five  year  old goes   yay  care bears   every time i think about it . so  i  d only  cautiously  reluctantly  recommend this movie for those who saw it during their early youth and can call on the awesome power of nostalgia while watching it  like me  or those lovably cynical gen  x  y  ers who deliberately seek out the wonderfully bad  strange  a category in which this movie . . . definitely belongs  . to those actually looking for a compelling movie or wholesome family entertainment you might want to keep looking .  
gregory peck  s brilliant portrayal of douglas macarthur from the battle of corregidor in the philippines at the start of the pacific war largely through to his removal as un commander during the korean war offers reason to believe all three of the above possibilities . certainly the most controversial american general of the second world war  and possibly ever  macarthur is presented here as a man of massive contradictions . he claims that soldiers above all yearn for peace  yet he obviously glories in war he consistently denies any political ambitions  yet almost everything he does is deliberately used to boost himself as a presidential candidate he obviously believes that soldiers under his command have to follow his orders to the letter  yet he himself deliberately defies orders from the president of the united states he shows great respect for other cultures  particularly in the philippines and japan  and yet is completely out of touch with his own country . all these things are held in balance throughout this movie  and in the end the viewer is left to draw his or her own conclusions about the man  although one is left with no doubt that macarthur sincerely and passionately loved his country  and especially the army he devoted his life to .  br    br   peck  s performance was  as i said  brilliant  to the point  actually  of overshadowing virtually everyone else in the film  which is perhaps appropriate  given who he was portraying   with the possible exception of ed flanders . i though he offered a compelling look at harry truman and his attitude to macarthur sarcastic  repeatedly referring to macarthur as  his majesty    angry  frustrated and finally completely fed up with this general who simply won  t respect his authority as president . marj dusay was also intriguing as macarhur  s wife jean  devoted to her husband  whom she herself referred to as  general   although their relationship seems to have been a happy enough one .  i very much enjoyed this movie  although perhaps would have liked to have learned a little more about macarthur  s early life . i have always chuckled at macarthur  s reaction to eisenhower being elected president   he  ll make a fine president  he was the best damn clerk i ever had   which seems to sum up what macarthur thought the role of the president should be  especially to his military commanders during wartime .  well worth watching .      
with title like this you know you get pretty much lot of junk . acting bad . script bad . director bad . grammar bad .  br    br   movie make lot of noise that really not music and lot of people yell . movie make bad racial stereotype . why come every movie with black hero have drug addict  why come hero always have to dance to be success  why come famous rapper always have to be in dance movie  why come letter  s  can  t be in title   br    br   hollywood need to stop dumb down audience and make movie that have people with brain who know how speak proper english .  br    br   do self favor and not go see .  
it is noteworthy that mine is only the third review of this film  whereas patton  lust for glory   producer frank mccarthy  s earlier biography of a controversial american general from the second world war  has to date attracted nearly a hundred comments . like a previous reviewer  i am intrigued by why one film should have received so much more attention than the other .  br    br   one difference between the two films is that patton  is more focused  concentrating on a relatively short period at and immediately after the end of the second world war  whereas macarthur  covers not only this war but also its subject  s role in the korean war  as well as his period as american governor of occupied japan during the interlude .  br    br   the main difference  however  lies in the way the two leaders are played . gregory peck dominates this film even more than george c . scott dominated patton  . whereas scott had another major star  karl malden  playing opposite him as general bradley  none of the other actors in macarthur  are household names  at least for their film work . scott  of course  portrayed patton as aggressive and fiery  tempered  a man who at times was at war with the rest of the human race  not just with the enemy . i suspect that in real life general macarthur was as volcanic an individual as patton  but that is not how he appears in this film . peck  s macarthur is of a more reflective  thoughtful bent  comparable to the liberal intellectuals he played in some of his other films . at times  he even seems to be a man of the political left . much of his speech on the occasion of the japanese surrender in     could have been written by a paid  up member of cnd  and his policies for reforming japanese society during the american occupation have a semi  socialist air to them . in an attempt to show something of macarthur  s gift for inspiring leadership  peck makes him a fine speaker  but his speeches always seem to owe more to the studied tricks of the practised rhetorician than to any fire in the heart . it is as if atticus finch from to kill a mockingbird  had put on a general  s uniform .  br    br   whereas scott attempted a warts and all  portrait of patton  the criticism has been made that macarthur  attempts to gloss over some of its subject  s less attractive qualities . i think that this criticism is a fair one  particularly as far as the korean war is concerned . the film gives the impression that macarthur was a brilliant general who dared stand up to interfering  militarily ignorant politicians who did not know how to fight the war and was sacked for his pains when victory was within his grasp . many historians  of course  feel that truman was forced to sack macarthur because the latter  s conduct was becoming a risk to world peace  and had no choice but to accept a stalemate because stalin would not have allowed his chinese allies to be humiliated . even during the korean scenes  peck  s macarthur comes across as more idealistic than his real  life original probably was we see little of his rashness and naivety about political matters .  truman  s remark he knows as much about politics as a pig knows about sunday  was said about eisenhower  but it could equally well have been applied to macarthur  s approach to international diplomacy  . perhaps the film  s attempt to paint out some of macarthur  s warts reflects the period in which it was made . the late seventies  after the twin traumas of vietnam and watergate  was a difficult time for america  and a public looking for reassurance might have welcomed a reassuringly heroic depiction of a military figure from the previous generation . another criticism i would make of the film is that it falls between two stools . if it was intended to be a full biography of macarthur  something should have been shown of his early life  which is not covered at all .  the first we see of the general is when he is leading the american resistance to the japanese invasion of the philippines  . one theme that runs throughout the film is the influence of general macarthur  s father  himself a military hero . i would have liked to see what sort of man arthur macarthur was  and just why his son considered him to be such a hero and role model . another interesting way of making the film would have been to concentrate on korea and on macarthur  s clash with truman  with equal prominence given to the two men and with actors of similar stature playing them . the way in which the film actually was made seemed to me to be less interesting than either of these alternative approaches .  br    br   it would be wrong  however  to give the impression that i disliked the film altogether . although i may not have agreed with peck  s interpretation of the main role  there is no denying that he played it with his normal professionalism and seriousness . the film as a whole is a good example of a solid  workmanlike biopic  thoughtful and informative . it is a good film  but one that could have been a better one .     .  br    br   on a pedantic note  the map which macarthur is shown using during the korean war shows the dmz  the boundary between the two korean states that did not come into existence until after the war .  the pre  war boundary was the   th parallel  . also  i think that macarthur was referring to the tocsin  of war . war may be toxic  but it is difficult to listen with thirsty ear for a toxin .  
yes i have rated this film as one star awful . yet  it will be in my rotation of christmas movies henceforth . this truly is so bad it  s good . this is another k . gordon murray production  read buys a really cheap  bad mexican movie  spends zero money getting it dubbed into english and releases it at kiddie matines in the mid      s .  it  s a shame i stumbled on this so late in life as i  m sure some  mood enhancers  would make this an even better experience . i  m not going to rehash what so many of the other reviewers have already said  a christmas movie with merlin  the devil  mechanical wind  up reindeer and some of the most pathetic child actors i have ever seen bar none . i plan on running this over the holidays back to back with kelsey grammar  s  a christmas carol  . truly a holiday experience made in hell . now if i can only find  to all a goodnight  aka slayride   on dvd i  ll have a triple feature that can  t be beat . you have to see this movie . it moves so slowly that i defy you not to touch the fast forward button  especially on the two dance routines  this thing reeks like an expensive bleu cheese  guess you have to get past the stink to enjoy the experience . feliz navidad amigos   
the film transported everyone back to october        where we seemed to be part of the great philippine  i shall return  landing scene it was on that leyte shore where general macarthur reaped his fame  br    br   above all  gregory peck triumphed in his portrayal of the great general it is the stride  the set of the shoulders  the intensity it  s what both men have had in common intensity  total absorption  devotion with macarthur it was for the military with peck it was for the challenge of acting an academy award winner for  to kill a mockinbird   an oscar nominee for  keys to the kingdom    the yearling    gentleman  s agreement   and  twelve o  clock high  he has played everything from an apparently homicidal amnesiac to a crusading journalist from a troubled gunfighter to an obsessed attorney from biblical david to captain horatio hornblower he has brought to them all his own unique insight  his character  his sincerity  warmth and love  and especially  his humor  br    br   there is a scene where  macarthur  stands on deck with the  president of the philippines .  we can hear the dialogue  general  i hope the water isn  t too deep   says the  president    because my people will find out i can  t swim .  then come peck  s sonorous voice  and my people are going to find that i can  t walk on water    br    br   as  macarthur   peck once again justified his reputation as a giant in the film industry through him we felt macarthur  s emotions we knew his anger  his happiness and we understood the relationship with his whole family  
i  m allowed to write     words about this film  but one word could suffice bizarre . hubby and i didn  t laugh so much as gawk at this truly dreadful movie . we kept looking at each other with our best  what the . . .   expressions . there is no way to adequately describe this movie . killer tomatoes were funny  but this is just sick . what kind of mind produces images like these and then puts them on film for others to see  what kind of mind includes innocent children in this weird  weird movie and then packages it as if it is appropriate for children  parents  whatever you do  if your child still believes in santa  don  t let him  her see this movie . preteens can watch it   probably with  what the . . .   expressions on their faces . if you decide to inflict this movie on others  you might want to spike their eggnog .  br    br   quite possibly the worst film ever made .  
this movie will tell you why amitabh bacchan is a one man industry . this movie will also tell you why indian movie  goers are astute buyers .  br    br   amitabh was at the peak of his domination of bollywood when his one  time godfather prakash mehra decided to use his image yet again . prakash has the habit of picking themes and building stories out of it  adding liberal doses of bollywood sensibilities and clichs to it . zanzeer saw the making of angry young man . lawaris was about being a bastard and namak halal was about the master  servant loyalties .  br    br   but then  the theme was limited to move the screenplay through the regulation three hours of song  dance and drama . what comprised of the movie is a caricature of a haryanavi who goes to mumbai and turns into a regulation hero . amitabh  s vocal skills and diction saw this movie earn its big bucks  thanks to his flawless stock haryanvi accent . to me  this alone is the biggest pull in the movie . the rest all is typical bollywood screen writing .  br    br   amitabh  by now  had to have some typical comedy scenes in each of his movies . thanks to manmohan desai . this movie had a good dose of them . the shoe caper in the party  the monologue over vijay merchant and vijay hazare  s considerations  the mosquito challenge in the boardroom and the usual drunkard scene that by now has become a standard amitabh fare .  br    br   shashi kapoor added an extra mile to the movie with his moody  finicky character  remember him asking ranjeet to  shaaadaaaap  after the poisoned cake incident   . his was the all important role of the master while amitabh was his loyal servant . but prakash mehra knew the indian mind . . . and so shashi had to carry along his act with the rest of the movie . it was one character that could have been more developed to make a serious movie . but this is a caper  remember  and as long as it stayed that way  the people came and saw amitabh wearing a new hat and went back home happy . the end is always predictable  and the good guys get the gal and the bad ones go to the gaol  the age  old theme of loyalty is once again emphasized and all is well that ends well .  br    br   so what is it that makes this movie a near classic  amitabh bacchan as the haryanvi . prakash mehra created yet another icon in the name of a story . chuck the story  the characters and the plot . my marks are for amitabh alone .  
this movie is supposed to be a  lighthearted  tale about santa claus and his  magical and mystical  wonders . but instead it comes off as being downright creepy . two things in this movie that stand out in my mind as horrifying are   the way santa looks .  have you ever seen a more horrible looking santa claus  and   the  evil rep . of satan  pitch  s just plain odd dances are just sickening to watch . only watch this movie if it happens to be the msted version or if you like a very good laugh . i can  t believe this is a children  s movie .  
for anyone who may not know what a one  actor movie was like  this is the best example . this plot is ridiculous  and really makes no sense . it  s full of cliched situations  hackneyed lines  melodrama  comedy . . . you name it   br    br   but amitabh bachchan can make anything convincing  and this movie is by no means an exception . everyone turns in a decent performance  shashi kapoor  waheeda rehman  ranjit  om prakash  smita patil . . . but it is the megastar who overshadows everyone with his towering presence . without him  this movie would have been a non  starter . . . the story is about separation  mistaken identities  misunderstandings  love  hate  loyalty  good vs evil  everything  really  amitabh  s is a brilliant performance on all counts  in an otherwise silly film  and did i mention that it is ridiculously funny   
this is kind of a weird movie  given that santa claus lives on a cloud in outer space and fights against satan and his minions . . . but it  s still kinda fun .  br    br   it has some genuine laughs . . . whether all of them were intentional is certainly debatable  though . this movie is not good  but i can say i really enjoyed watching it .  br    br   i would recommend this movie over  santa claus conquers the martians    santa claus  with dudley moore and john lithgow  or  the santa clause  with tim allen .  
this is undoubtedly one of the funniest movies ever made . amitabh as a country bumpkin  arjun singh  is hilarious . the best thing is the laughter never stops . the plot is a same  old same  old story where child is separated from mother who sacrifices everything for her duty  with a happy reunion at the end . there are villains  ranjit  and there are brothers  sashi kapoor  and there are vixens  parveen babhi  and there are lovers  smita patil  and there is a blind brother and a grandfather thrown in for good measure . but this movie is about amitabh and thats all you remember at then end .  br    br   amitabh comes to the city to make a decent living and his dialogue delivery and mannerisms are hilarious . later in the movie he turns into the angry young man he is famous for but the humour stays . memorable parts include his walking  talking and speaking english  the song  pad gungaroo re bhand  meera nachi thi  and everything with his dadoo .  br    br   all in all i was rolling with laughter throughout the movie . if you want  hours of entertainment with amitabh at his absolute best  this is it . it will easily give it a      .  
believe it or don  t  i have my very own dvd copy of this  movie  which i bought at walgreens for a great big whole dollar . i  m still not sure if it was a dollar well spent or a dollar foolishly wasted .  br    br   pretty amazing set designs and costumes . apparently much thought and effort went into their making . the set designs are very mexican in stylization . i liked them a lot . and santa is impressive . one of the more impressive santas in moviedom .  br    br   i  m guessing the original intent and purpose of this movie was to be something uplifting and cheerful for a kids audience . but  somehow  it comes across quite deranged . in fact  i  m left stunned at how deranged it is .  br    br   maybe it  s the english dubbing that makes it seems so deranged and bizarre . one of the reasons i prefer to experience movies in the original language they were made and the use of english subtitles as dubbing often gives an unintended strangeness . the kid voices were at least dubbed with actual kid voices as opposed to women pretending to be kids which tends to sound very  very weird .  br    br   did you know that demons in hell spend their free time dancing around doing ballet in their longjohns  you didn  t  neither did i until i watched this movie . one learns something new everyday .  br    br   is this movie actually worth watching  now  that  s a tossup . i can  t in good conscience recommend it to anyone as it  s quite disturbing in its own bizarre way . yet  its unintentional bizarreness is what makes it worth watching . you decide what you  re going to do . i dunno . . . for myself  it made me feel uncomfortable seeing demons constantly doing cutesy ballet moves . now  that  s just wrong . . .  
all good movies  inspire  some direct to video copycat flick . i was afraid that  gladiator  wasn  t really that good a film  because i hadn  t seen any movie that had anything remotely resembling anything roman on the new releases shelf for months . then i spotted full moon  s latest offering  demonicus . i  m a fan of full moon  s puppetmaster series  and blood dolls  but had never seen one of their non  killer puppet films . anyway . . .  br    br   demonicus chronicles what happens to a group of campers in the mountains of the alps . one of the campers  james  finds a cave with old gladiator artifacts  and feels impelled to remove a helmet from a corpse and try it on . he becomes possessed  and  as the demonic gladiator tyrannus  is impelled to kill his friends to revive the corpse  who is the real tyrannus .  br    br   granted  like many full moon films  this has little or no budget . at times  the editing and direction was so amateurish i  d swear i was watching the blair witch project . the attempts at chopping off of limbs and heads reminds me of a monty python skit . the weapons  although apparently real  look really plastic  y . it literally looks like this was filmed by a group of friends with a digital camcorder on a weekend . granted  there  s nothing wrong with such film  making  just don  t rent this expecting a technical masterpiece . it looks like there were attempts at research for the script too  because  even though tyrannus really doesn  t act much like a gladiator until the end  at least he speaks latin .  br    br   all trashing aside  i actually enjoyed this film . not as much as a killer puppet film  perhaps  but full moon still delivers  the only thing that disappointed me was there was no full moon videozone at the end   
i first saw this movie when i was about   years old . my mom bought it at our local kmart because it was on sale for   on vhs . she thought that it would be a nice christmas movie for me and my brothers to watch . this movie  however  scared the hell out of me . you may be asking yourself  how could a movie about santa clause scare anyone  the plot of the movie revolves around satan sending one his minions  pitch  to earth in an attempt to kill santa and ruin christmas . that  s right  satan sends a demon up from hell to kill santa clause . pitch stalks santa throughout christmas eve in an attempt to trap him on earth when the sun rises on christmas day  for if santa doesn  t make it back to his home in space  he turns to powder . don  t get me wrong  the movie is funny and fairly entertaining  however  the image of demons and devils dancing in the depths of hell  which occurs at the beginning of the movie  is just downright creepy .  
demonicus is a movie turned into a video game  i just love the story and the things that goes on in the film . it is a b  film ofcourse but that doesnt bother one bit because its made just right and the music was rad  horror and sword fight freaks  buy this movie now   
i saw this film numerous times in the late    s  early    s whenever it reared it  s head like a reindeer with rabies every november  december as a saturday matine kiddie show . it was always stiff competition for the chrstmas that almost wasn  t  oops  can i say  christmas     perhaps the greatest  most iconic christmas  season film of all time . but that  s another review .  br    br   at the time  i marveled that the on  screen tint of santa claus was almost  pink and white   so much had the color of the sprocket  torn prints changed color .  br    br   the film is kinda creepy  i thought so then   and still do  actually . i was highly entertained then  as i still am  it  s amusing in a  retarted  elf  sort of way . by the way  the image quality looks much better on the dvd i have now than it did in the theater  circa        .  br    br   if you are expecting maybe  the lost rankin  bass christmas special  forget it  if you want fellini does christmas   read on . . .  br    br   by nature  the dubbing on these foreign films  the original version here was in spanish  always makes them seem  surreal  . this adds to the films inherent oddness . it is also pretty scary in that a  mishevious demon   as described in the original us trailer  spends the entire film trying to turn decent kids  evil  . one particularly nightmarish scene has a young  latch  key  boy wishing he had parents for christmas  suddenly the  port  a  family  emerges out of giant  christmas presents  of  the  mind  until he realizes he  s just daydreaming  see this  christmas lovers   and if you  re a stoner  save your stash   this film will make you think you  re hallucinating . . . without drugs   
demonicus rocked  you guys need to understand how hard it rocked  unfortunately  the words needed to explain the extent of the rocking have not been discovered . for a tiny idea  pop like   hits of e  watch death factory while on the phone with jesus  wait  jesus is on call waiting  you  re having phone sex with will smith on the primary line . seriously  that movie . . . so good . you need to watch it at least a  times to catch all the subtleties . . . well  not so much subtleties as much as it takes the length of the movie  times  in order to ponder why the people at full moon are allowed to a  live  and b  reproduce . what is our world coming to   
this is perhaps the creepiest display of santa claus ever committed to any medium  whether it be a book  a picture  or a movie . santa looks like a perv looking down on the children and the twisted story of bringing merlin in to help him defeat one of satan  s minions  pitch  doesn  t make things any better . it  s laughable to say the least  with bad effects  even for     standards . if a kid were to watch this movie  he  d have nightmares and never want santa to visit . they  d be scarred for life . imagine the kid  s in  a christmas story  when they start screaming after being put on santa  s lap . that  s how this would turn out if kid  s see this movie .  
when i was over at hollywood video i looked through their clearance out movies and there was demonicus for five buckaroos plus fifty percent off  i saw it only once before and couldn  t pass up this great deal  the second viewing was much better than the first . the box is so cool and the music is very good . if you haven  t seen demonicus yet i recommend that you do or if you rented and hated demonicus do give it another chance as another viewing of it may change your mind . if you seen a copy at hollywood video for the price i got it for don  t pass it up as it is a great deal   br    br   demonicus is well a very different but entertaining movie . believe it or not is like watching a interactive video game with out playing it  it has very low budget and actors i  m sure that nobody is familiar with . we began the the video game uh i mean film with a guy and a woman some where in italy and there is a cave that actually looks like a rail road  train track tunnel and she says don  t go in there and what does he do  the normal stuff  he didn  t listen to her  he goes in there and find lots of gladiator artifacts and armor and a almost perfectly preserved body of a legendary gladiator named tyrannous  where did the chair come from that tyrannous was sitting on and how did his body stay so good and where did the cauldron pot come from  so every cave is complete with a caultron pot  tyrannous is wearing his armor  helmet  and has a weapon or two . he does the dumbest thing a person could do  he puts on the helmet and is taken over by the spirit of tyrannous  from there he walks around just killing all of the campers near by to bring back the real tyrannous .  br    br   now  i said before its like a video game . its hard to explain but it just feels like it . the music even sounds like video games . the acting is really terrible . the actors say things like why is he doing this  oh he was nuts already and fine since he  s nuts i  m going home  also the movie also has some major errors like a guy is running and trying to find his girlfriend in the night and is still running in the day time still searching for her with out taking a break   br    br   this movie has some errors but it isn  t a classic like werewolf but it is entertaining if you like really low budget error prone movies then you better see demonicus   
why such a generic title  santa claus    so bland and unpredictable . movies before that tried to cash in on the holiday spirit  most notably  santa claus conquers the martians   at least was entertaining to watch because of the campiness to it  and all the stock footage being used . . . for some reason  that seemed happy to me . but this movie just screws christmas in the butt  and screws the joy of all the kids . santa lives in space  his enemy is a devil named pitch  santa gets help from merlin the magician  how random is this   well  since it was made in mexico then some of you might understand the way of how the film was made . i had to admit some of the effects were just wacky for the time . it was a all  out cluster of madness  though  despite all the troubles with the movie  it still feels like a christmas movie . good conquers evil  and christmas still plays a part of our hearts of every good girl or boy in the world  or possibly universe  thanks to santa claus conquers the martians . . apparently . so  i think you should give it a try  even if it is one of the worst holiday movies of all time . . . though it should put a smile on your face any day .  
i watched it some years ago . i remembered it as very mysterious situations  and a mixture of melancholic things  like the fate of dorothy and the personal future of bogdanovich .  br    br   i turn to watch on my vhs copy and then i was reviewing it more and more . nowadays i am waiting for the dvd version  at any price  please   br    br   the country and easy listening music is very well chosen from the very first second  a bit of blueish  but also happy .  br    br   all the characters are great to me  with funny situations  great acting and a lot of dialogs that have turn this as a cult movie to me and a lot of people i met on the internet or cinema clubs . this may not be casualty .  br    br   i think that the title is a hope about life  you have to be happy and laugh as much as possible  br    br   i know that this may be a particular comment for the movie  but the fact is that i like it very much  i think that movie marked me and i will never forget it .  
this movie portrays ruth as a womanizing  hard drinking  gambling  overeating sports figure with a little baseball thrown in . babe ruths early life was quite interesting and this was for all intents and purposes was omitted in this film . also  lou gehrig was barely covered and this was a well know relationship  good bad or indifferent  it should have been covered better than it was . his life was more than all bad . he was an american hero  an icon that a lot of baseball greats patterned their lives after . i feel that i am being fair to the memory of a great baseball player that this film completely ignored . shame on the makers of this film for capitalizing on his faults and not his greatness .  
this is simply the funniest movie i  ve seen in a long time . the bad acting  bad script  bad scenery  bad costumes  bad camera work and bad special effects are so stupid that you find yourself reeling with laughter .  br    br   so it  s not gonna win an oscar but if you  ve got beer and friends round then you can  t go wrong .  
just when i thought i would finish a whole year without giving a single movie a  bomb  rating  a friend brought this notorious turd to my house last night . i feared the worst knowing its reputation  and it was as god  awful as i  d anticipated . this is a mexican  made mess  dubbed into english  and produced by k . gordon murray . it  s got terrible sets and effects  and features a rather frightening santa who doesn  t operate at the north pole  but instead from a cloud in outer space  and who doesn  t have little elves helping him make his toys but rather all different groups of children from practically every country there is . the opening sequence  where st . nick chuckles heartily as he observes monitors showing all these kiddies working hard while singing terrible holiday songs in a variety of languages  seems to go on forever  and with no story . obviously  this santa claus doesn  t observe the child labor laws   br    br   eventually we get some nasty and slinky red  suited apprentice of the devil himself traveling from hell to earth  just to make little kids naughty and turn santa  s christmas eve rounds into a nightmare . watching this movie is a trippy and twisted experience  and it  s bound to frighten little children and turn them off santa claus and the holidays forever . oddly  the name of jesus christ is mentioned often in this christmas film  which somehow makes it all the creepier in the context of all the bizarre things that are going on . this easily makes my personal list of the  worst movie i  ve ever seen   but i  m sure that  s nothing unique .  
i  d never heard of this movie  but boy was i surprised when i caught it on tv . great cast  great acting . excellent movie  how can a movie with william h macy  neve campbell and donald sutherland go wrong  i wonder why i never heard of it before .  
this was another obscure christmas  related title  a low  budget mexican production from exploitation film  maker cardona  night of the bloody apes        tintorera          which  like many a genre effort from this country  was acquired for release in the u . s . by k . gordon murray . judging by those two efforts already mentioned  cardona was no visionary  and  this one having already received its share of flak over here  is certainly no better  the film  in fact  is quite redolent of the weirdness which characterized mexican horror outings from the era  but given an added dimension by virtue of the garish color  which  in view of the prominence of reds  apart from st . nick himself  the devil plays a major role in the proceedings  throughout  was essential  . anyway  in a nutshell  the plot involves satan  s efforts to stall santa claus  christmas eve rendezvous with the earth  s children there is  however  plenty more wackiness along the way to begin with  our portly  white  bearded and chronically merry man  in  red lives in a celestial palace who  apart from accompanying toy  maker kids from all over the world on his piano as they sing  laboriously for the whole first reel   in their native tongue  visits merlin  the famed magician at king arthur  s court  here bafflingly but amusingly prone to child  like hopping and mumbling gibberish   once every year to acquire potions which would bring somnolence to the young and render himself invisible  by the way  the wizard  s anachronistic presence here is no less unlikely than his being a cohort of dr . frankenstein in son of dracula           incidentally  by this time  he always seems to have gained some excess weightso santa has to work out in order to be able to fit into each proverbial chimney  the devil  s antics  enthusiastically rubbing his hands together at every turn and generally hamming it up  to hold up st . nick  s delivery program  then  is perfectly puerile indeed  their tit  for  tat shenanigans resemble an old laurel  hardy routine more than anything  to pad out the running  time  we focus on three sets of children one  the lonely son of a rich couple who wants nothing more for christmas than their company  projected as a wish  fulfillment fantasy where the boy finds his parents wrapped in extra  large packages    a girl from a poor family who yearns to own a doll of her own  the horned one first tempts her to steal one  then invades the little one  s dreams  to no avail  and a trio of brats who  egged on once again by satan  think of nothing but causing mischief and eventually fall out amongst themselves . there is definitely imagination at work here  but it is applied with little rhyme or reason  while the overall juvenile approach keeps entertainment  unless one counts the film as a guilty pleasure  well at bay   
strange yet emotionally disturbing chiller about fed up middle  aged man  william h . macy  who finally decides to leave the family business  murder for hire  run by his quietly over  demanding father  donald sutherland  while seeing a shrink  john ritter  and flirting with another patient  neve campbell  .  br    br   talk about a major dilemma  but  panic  is a top  notch thriller that looks like  american beauty  meets  the professional  . macy and sutherland are the stand  outs here . remarkable debut for first  time writer  director henry bromell . i  m surprised that this movie didn  t get a chance to stay in theaters for more than a couple of weeks .  
this santa movie starts off strange and i think santa might be a pedo . instead of the usual elf toy makers  this santa has apparently kidnapped kids from all across the globe and makes them sing a bit like characters from  it  s a small world   i guess there are no child labor laws on the weird astral plane on which he lives  it  s apparently not the north pole and not on earth    none of these kids seem very happy and i kept wanting to see commandos break in and rescue the tykes  though i guess for some of the third world kids  these working conditions were perhaps an improvement over local sweatshops . i sure hope that all they do is sing and make toys .  br    br   then  the scene abruptly changes to hell where lots and lots of demons dance about like they are in a busby berkeley musical . this fun in put to a stop by satan who orders one of them  pitch  to go to earth to ruin christmas   personally  i thought this movie already did that  the devil and his imps are actually kind of cute   like hot stuff from the harvey comics but with cool evil goatees  or  if you are puerto rican  like a vejigante mask with a goatee   br    br   somehow a poverty  stricken mexican kid named lupita  a group of jerky kids who want to mug santa and some rich kid are key battlegrounds for the devil and santa   so  if the prince of darkness  not donald trump  it  s the other prince of darkness  can somehow make her steal and be bad  he  ll  win    what  we don  t really know  in fact  as they root her on  you get the impression that the film makers intend santa to be jesus   as he has all these great powers and fights the devil over kids  souls  later  santa meets with his friend  merlin . he asks him to make him a special powder that makes people dream nice dreams . considering how much santa laughs in the film  like a demented chipmunk   i assume he must use this drug a lot  he immediately goes to see a blacksmith who makes him a magic key that opens all doors . considering he keeps kids as his personal  assistants   this magic key thing worries me immensely  during santa  s christmas eve ride  you see lupita behave like a little angel   one problem down . santa then takes time out now to take care of the rich kid whose parents are selfish jerks . he gives them some sort of crazy cocktail which magically solves their problems   two problems solved . this is a rare case where alcohol  drugs help kids and solves problems  and as for the little muggers  he gives them coal  frustrated with his losses to santa  pitch then tries to steal the sleigh  which is pulled by creepy animatronic deer  . when this fails  he destroys santa  s stash of  magic powder   as a result  santa can  t become invisible to avoid dogs and gets treed . uh  oh . . . how can santa take a detour to the betty ford clinic if he  s stuck up a tree   will st . nick get down from the tree and get the monkey off his back or will the devils win  if you care  tune in and see . however  be warned that the film is bat  crap crazy   br    br   technically speaking  the film is yecchy . while it is in color  it  s really gaudy . the music is mostly done on an organ   which  along with bad singing from the kids  produces perhaps the worst soundtrack i  ve heard in recent memory . and the story is just incomprehensible and very  very  very creepy . devils and a santa that kidnaps kids is just plain creep  tastic . it  s a film you should never show to kids but makes a great film to watch with friends so you can laugh at it from start to finish   
william h . macy is at his most sympathetic and compelling here as a hit  man and loving father who wants to step out of the family business without angering his overbearing parents . treads much of the same territory as tv  s  the sopranos  in terms of the mid  life crisis of a criminal theme  here too he visits a shrink  but is still worth watching thanks to some taut direction from brommel  i look forward to what this guy directs next   an excellent script  and all around great performances . macy is excellent as always . this is probably his best role since  fargo .  donald sutherland is at his creepy best as the domineering father . tracy ullman gives a surprisingly riveting dramatic turn as macy  s wife . young david dorfman is excellent as macy  s bright and sensitive son  many of his lines sound ad  libbed and are wonderful  . even neve campell  who i usually find abhorrent  is compelling as the troubled young woman who captures macy  s eye . all of this is punctuated by a moving score and crisp pace that lead up to a predictable but still powerful climax and meaningful and touching aftermath . this film deserved a much wider release  as i suspect it would have connected with audiences .  
wow . who ever said that edward d . wood jr . never influenced anybody  this steaming pile of donkey excrement is a perfect case in point it makes  the violent years  look like  casablanca    santa claus  also makes keith richards  worst flashbacks look like my first nocturnal emission . i  ve had nightmares  you know  waking up and sweating bullets  that will never come close to the visceral terror that santa claus unearthed from the seemingly pure soil of my very being . however  i can think of some parties where this film might actually go over well . also  if you  re looking for the perfect example of a santa  satan dichotomy on vhs tape  look no further . don  t check out this movie  as i  ve been notified the mst  k version is now available . move over satan  here  s  santa claus  .  
  panic  is kind of a crime comedy  drama with william h . macy  donald sutherland and neve campbell in the leading roles . alex  played by macy  is a guy who kills people for living . but for the moment he  s facing a depression and that  s why he is seeing a therapist . that  s where he meets sarah  neve campbell  and he falls in love with her . he  s also facing another problem he wants to quit the family business  the killings   but he doesn  t now how to tell this to his father .  br    br   what follows is the story of a guy during he  s midlife  crisis  facing the regular problems falling in love with a pretty young girl and everything that goes with that .  br    br   pretty good acting performances by the cast . macy is excellent as the depressed alex . i had high expectations for this one and it was a good movie but he doesn  t completely deliver . the story was rather flat and clich . .  br    br        
the nsa  cia  fbi  fsb and all other snoop agency in the world should watch this movie to gain information as to how to spy on people .  as mst  k commentary states it . . .  sanata has the dirt on every  santa  s tentacles reach far and wide  there is no hiding from the klaus organization    br    br   from telescopes that can spy over millions of miles to ears that can hear everything . its amazing that the cia doesn  t have santa on the payroll .  br    br   satan  s dance routine is hilarious . pitch . . . he is so useless .  br    br   the cheese factor in of this movie is tremendous . very low budget but so fun to watch . i recommend watching the mystery science theatre     version for even more laughs .  br    br   you even get a laugh at the missfortune of the good kids .  br    br   i give this a  for production quality and a   for pure cheese and fun factor .  
in his first go as a hollywood director  henry brommell whips an enthralling yarn that is all of penetrating relatable marital issues with melancholic authenticity  and lacing such with an equally absorbing subplot of a father  son hit  man business . the film is directed astutely and consists of a wonderfully put together cast as well as a swift  family  conscious screenplay  also by brommell  that brings life to an otherwise fatigued genre . as a bonus   panic  delivers subtle  acerbic humoran unexpected  undeniably charming  and very welcome surprisethrough its bumbling  unsure  of  himself  low  key star  whose ever  cool state is enticing  especially given his line of work .  br    br   the forever  great william h . macy again captures our hearts as alex  a unhappy  torn  middle  aged husband and father who finds solace in the most dubious of persons a young  attractive  equally  messed  up    year  old named sarah  neve campbell   whom he meets in the waiting  room at a psychologist  s office  where he awaits the therapy of dr . josh parks  john ritter  to discuss his growing eagerness to quit the family business that his father  donald sutherland  built . alex  whose lust to lead a new life is obstructed by the fear of disappointing his dictating father  strikes an unwise fancy for sarah  which ultimately leads him to understand the essence and irrefutable responsibility of being a husband to his wife and  more importantly to him  a good father to his six  year  old son  sammy  played enthusiastically by the endearing david dorfman  .  br    br   henry brommell  s brilliant  panic  is something of a rarity in hollywood seldom seen  with the exception of      s  road to perdition   since its conception in     it weaves two conflicting genres  organized  crime  family drama  into a fascinating  warm hunk of movie  viewing that is evenly strong in either directionand it  s one that will maintain its exceptional  infrequent caliber and gleaming sincerity for ages to come .  
its hard to make heads or tails of this film . unless you  re well oiled and in the mood to mock  don  t view santa claus . it mixes santa  satan  merlin  and moralizing in a most unappetizing way . it certainly is not for fretful children .  
had placed this on my tivo for a rainy day due to the cast  some really hard working people in the industry  and when i finally watched i was not disappointed .  br    br   this movie has some altman  like flavor  he  s mentioned in the end credits as a  thanks  person  utilizing seemingly independent unrelated plot lines that intertwine as the film draws to its climax . macy is pure  clean  and honest as a man who can  t seem to escape his  destiny   sutherland plays and portrays as few can  neve adds splash to a deliberately toned down environment  add tracy ullman  barbara bain  remember mission impossible on tv    not to mention the steady john ritter and you have all the ingredients for a good film . the script is uncluttered  the dialog is free from clich and thoughtful  especially between macy and david dorfman  . suspend belief and enjoy  this is truly time well spent .  
before i  d seen this  i had seen some pretty bad christmas films . but once i saw this   jingle all the way  looked better than  the godfather  .  santa claus  is a jolly film about santa helping out some kids  but it almost feels demonic watching it . santa  s jolly ho  ho  ho is replaces by an evil  devilish laugh that i  m sure has turned many kids off of christmas . the plot of this massacre is very strange  which fits along with all of the performances and dialog . santa lives high above earth in the north pole where he  and kids from all around the world get ready for christmas . but santa has an enemy named pitch  or satan . pitch tries to ruin santa  s christmas by making three boys naughty  and by creating diversions  like moving the chimney and making the doorknob hot . when pitch causes santa to be attacked by a dog  it  s up to santa  s helper pedro and merlin the wizard to get santa out of this pickle .  br    br   everything about this film  along with being downright bad  is so bizarre . satan dances a lot and he actually seems much more merry than santa . santa talks about delivering presents to all the boys and girls  yet he seems to only deliver to  houses of kids in mexico . the reindeer are wind up toys  and when the reindeer laughs  i  m amazed it doesn  t bring tears to kid  s eyes . . . it  s frightening . everything is terrible . the first   minutes are simply santa playing the organ while kids sing to it . probably one of the strangest scenes is santa shooting pitch in the butt with a mini  cannon and uproariously laughing about it while pitch dances around in pain . i think parents are better off telling their little kids about where babies come from  than showing them this . the only positive is it will have you laughing hysterically if you can appreciate bad cinema .  br    br   my rating bomb   .   mins .  
wow i really liked this movie  william h . macy is great as the quiet hit  man alex .  br    br   all the performances here are really good  the plot is interesting and entertaining .  br    br   alex  a married hit  man  like his father  with a little son  is going through a middle age crisis and wants to quit the family business so he goes to the psychiatrist for help and in this place he meets the young free will spirit sarah of whom he falls in love to . one day alex doesn  t know what to do when he gets a job to kill a person he knows .  br    br   i recommend you to watch it if you like mature interesting movies .  br    br    stars  very good  
while  santa claus conquers the martians  is usually cited as one of the worse films ever made  this mexican  made film from     is so bad it makes  sccm  look like  it  s a wonderful life .  you have to wonder what the people who made this film were thinking perhaps they meant it as a third  world allegory about capitalist greed and conspicuous consumption . nah . . . they just weren  t very good . the same production company made an even more disturbing version of  little red riding hood  in which the wolf  s obsession with our heroine has unmistakable hints of pedophilia .  perhaps this was the inspiration for  freeway .   back to  santa claus   instead of the north pole  jolly old saint nicholas resides in a satellite in geosynchronous earth orbit  shades of  mst  k    instead of elves his toys are made by children chosen from around the world and he had sophisticated spy equipment to check just which kids are naughty and nice . the result is like an orwellian outer space sweat shop . it  s enough to turn you off christmas forever . this and other low  rent mexican children  s  films were dubbed in english and widely distributed in the u . s . in the early     s no wonder the sixties became such a turbulent period in american history . the baby boomers who were forced to endure these  family  films as children would be all too eager to turn revolutionary .  
i bought this a year or more ago for    yep      left it on the shelf for ages  now watching dvds while holed up with a cold .  br    br   this is a haunting movie . brilliant performances by all involved  especially the  yo boy  about the only smiles you get in this movie  .  br    br   plot reminds me of perhaps my favourite movie ever  grosse pointe blank  but obviously that  s lighthearted  this is heavy hearted .  br    br   as a psychologist  a clinical and forensic psychologist  a shiver went up my spine when the identity of the new contract was revealed . scary stuff  brilliant work all round .  br    br   pete  
when i was kid back in the     s a local theatre had children  s matinees every saturday and sunday afternoon  anybody remember those   . they showed this thing one year around christmas time . me and some friends went to see it . i expected a cool santa claus movie . what i got was a terribly dubbed  you can tell  and truly creepy movie .  br    br   something about santa claus and merlin the magician  don  t ask me what those two are doing in the same movie  fighting satan  some joker in a silly devil costume complete with horns   . the images had me cringing in my seat . i always found santa spooky to begin with so that didn  t help . the guy in the satan suit didn  t help . but what really horrified me were the wooden rein deers that pulled santa  s sled . when he wound them up and the creepy sound they made and the movements   i remember having nightmares about those things  all these years later i still remember walking out of that theatre more than a little disturbed by what i saw . my friends were sort of frightened by it too . i just saw an ad for it on tv and all those nightmares came roaring back . this is a creepy  disturbing little christmas film that will probably scare the pants off any little kid who sees it . avoid this one   unless you really want to punish your kids . this gets a  .  
writer  director henry brommel has done a wonderful job with his film   panic   from the year      and that includes his choice of cast william h . macy  tracy ullman  john ritter  neve campbell  donald sutherland  barbara bain  david dorfman . brommel has cast ullman and ritter in decidedly un  funny roles  and the offbeat casting is a welcome change from what we normally see .  br    br    panic  is the story of a hit man  alex  macy  who actually works for his father  sutherland  . he covers his true profession by doing mail order work by all appearances  he and his wife  ullman  and their son sammy  dorfman  are a typical suburban family . unhappy with his life  alex seeks the help of a psychiatrist  ritter   telling only his mother  bain  . in the waiting room  he meets a young woman  campbell  to whom he is immediately attracted  which complicates his situation further . his mother breaks her promise and tells his father about the psychiatrist . when alex receives his next assignment  he discovers that he is to kill his psychiatrist .  br    br   this is a profound story of a gentle  good man made into a killer by a monster of a father  with his mother  s knowledge  who kills to please his father but also can  t stand up to him and quit . his rage is so deep  seated that he has lost emotional attachment to just about everything and everyone except his son  and it  s finally his son who wakes him up out of a nearly lifelong repression . when it  s time for  panic  to moves  it does  quickly .  br    br    panic  doesn  t seem panicked at all . in fact  it moves very slowly . but it moves slowly not because it  s poorly made  the slowness is deliberate  mirroring alex  s own psyche slowly coming out of the fog . by making a decision about sara  the campbell character  and by seeing his mark  his own psychiatrist  as a living  breathing human being  alex starts to make the connections between what he does and who he is  and how they don  t jive . and the difference between the two could lead to the loss of another psyche  sammy  s .  br    br   william macy gives another brilliant performance  as a loving father  a distant husband  and a cold killer  the child of two monsters who never cared a damn for his feelings or desires  a man who realizes finally that he has to step up to the plate or have the cycle repeated .  br    br   this is not the kind of drama that plays well in a movie theater . it  s too adult  too small  too subtle  too character  driven  and too good .  
all right i recently got a chance to rent this and watch santa claus conquers the martains . although the children were much more sadistic in scctm  i would have to say that santa claus was a much worse movie . as a spanish assignment in spanish  we all had to watch it . i  ll tell you  usually when we watch a movie we are all just talking and eating food  but not for this movie . everyone just kept there jaw open wondering what the evil mr . pitch was going to do next . would merlin help santa claus    or would his robot reindeer come and save the day  i would suggest renting it because it is the biggest piece of rubbish i have ever seen and i love it for that . d  
screwball comedy about romantic mismatches in new york city . peter bogdanovich is obviously in love with all the women in his picture   he reveres them   yet audrey hepburn is  naturally  put a notch above the others because  after all  she  s the princess bogdanovich probably fell in love with at the movies   years prior . he shoots her in loving close  ups  gets right in the sheets between her and a wonderfully hard  boiled  soft  boiled ben gazzara  and allows her room to sparkle throughout . the love  connections made in the course of the film are fast and amusing  though i did tire of john ritter  s tv  styled klutziness . colleen camp  dorothy stratten  and the grounded  earthy  sensual patti hansen are all exciting to watch . but it  s really hepburn  s valentine and she absolutely glows .  from   
i  m glad that i saw this film after mr . sandler became famous .  br    br   it is bad . . . . bad  bad  bad . there is no plot . it  s like watching a painfully dull home movie .  br    br   i really enjoy his other films . . . . . . but if you  re a fan like me . . . . stay away from this one . it may change your thoughts on adam . you may never recover from the horror that is this film . . . . i  ve had a better time watching old folks play scrabble in a home . . . . . . .  
it is always sad when  fringe  movies such as this are overlooked by the majority of filmgoers .  panic  is a wonderfully compelling and poignant study of a character who feels trapped in the pointlessness of his own life .  br    br   william h . macy  as alex  is as convincing as always . this fine actor seems to have a special talent for pulling at your heartstrings  no matter how flawed his characters may be we may not always condone the lifestyles of the protagonists he plays  but the emotions of fear and confusion that he evokes in us are often all too painfully familiar . the title   panic   initially seems paradoxical  given the lack of overt emotion . at one point alex tells his doctor that he rarely gets angry . yet  as this story unfolds  it becomes increasingly obvious that rage and desperation  not indifference  are the driving forces behind this man  s existence .  br    br   more than once i was reminded of his performance in  fargo   another strongly character  driven movie . in both  fargo  and  panic  we witness a middle aged man who somehow seems to have stepped out of synch with the rest of life . he has lost his way  and the only way back deceptively appears to be though the darkness . he knows he is making bad choices  but desperation overpowers self  control and common sense .  br    br   alex connects with sarah  a   year old woman  mesmorizingly played by neve campbell   whom he meets in a doctor  s office . thematically  this union is less coincidence  more the work of fate . alex finds a certain comfort being with sarah  sensing perhaps that she is a fellow drifter  like him  someone who has lost her way and is floating aimlessly through the rest of her life  waiting powerlessly for its inevitable conclusion .  br    br   opting for movies such as this is a shrewd and convincing way for neve campbell to answer those critics who question her acting abilities . too often it is the characters she has played who are the weakness  offering campbell no depth in which to flex her acting muscles . this performance  however  may be an eye  opener for many .  br    br   in a perfect movie world  not only would there be many more films like  panic   but also they would reach and be appreciated by a much wider audience . if you watch movies for the richness and depth of characterization  rather than merely the latest state  of  the  art special effects  then  for you   panic  is unmissable . a .  
this has to be creepiest  most twisted holiday film that i  ve ever clapped eyes on  and that  s saying something . i know that the mexican people have some odd ideas about religion  mixing up ancient aztec beliefs with traditional christian theology . but their day of the dead isn  t half as scary as their take on santa claus .  br    br   so . . santa isn  t some jolly  fat red  suited alcoholic  take a look at those rosy cheeks sometime   . rather  he  s a skinny sociopathic pedophile living in heaven  or the heavens  whichever   with a bunch of kids who work harder than the one  s in kathy lee gifford  s sweat shops . they sing oh  so  cute traditional songs of their homelands while wearing clothing so stereotypical that i was surprised there wasn  t a little african  american boy in black face singing  mammy  . this santa is a peeping tom pervert who watches and listens to everything that everybody does from his  eye in the sky  . this is so he can tell who  s been naughty or nice  with an emphasis on those who are naughty  i  d bet  .  br    br   there  s no mrs . claus  no elves  what does he need elves for when he  s got child labor   and the reindeer are mechanical wind  up toys  this floating freak show hovers on a cloud  presumably held up by its silver lining .  br    br   santa  s nemesis is . . . the devil   what is this  santa our lord and savior  weird . anyhoo  satan sends one of his minions  a mincing  prancing devil named pitch  to try to screw up christmas . let me get this straight  the forces of purest evil are trying to ruin a completely commercial and greed driven holiday  seems kind of redundant  doesn  t it   br    br   pitch is totally ineffectual . he tries to talk some children into being bad  but doesn  t have much luck . i was strongly struck by the storyline of the saintly little girl lupe  who  s family is very poor . all that she wants is a doll for christmas  but he parents can  t afford to buy her one  they spent all of their money on the cardboard that they built their house out of  . so pitch tries to encourage her to steal a doll . in reality  that  s the only way that a girl that poor would ever get a doll  because being saintly and praying to god and holy santa doesn  t really work . but lupe resists temptation and tells pitch to get thee behind her  and so is rewarded by being given a doll so creepy looking that you just know that it  s chucky  s sister .  br    br   along the way pitch manages to get santa stuck in a tree  uh  huh  from whence he  s rescued by merlin  merlin  you have got to be kidding me  since when do mythical druidic figures appear in christmas tales  or have anything to do with a christian religion  and doesn  t god disapprove of magic  they  d have been burning merlin at the stake a few hundred years ago  not asking him to come to the rescue of one of god  s aspects  or that  s what i assume santa must be  to be going up against satan  . this movie is one long huh  from start to finish  and it  ll make you wonder if that eggnog you drank wasn  t spiked or something . probably it was  since this movie is like one long giant dt .  
this movie displays the kind of ensemble work one wishes for in every film . barbara bain and donald sutherland  who play husband and wife  are positive chilling  discussing the  family business  as if it were a grocery store or a dry cleaners . macy  campbell  ullman  and ritter are also terrific . they play off each other like members of a top  notch theatrical troupe  who realize that a quality product requires each actor to support the others unselfishly . and finally  there  s sammy  david dorfman  . what an amazing performance from a child . . . and what an uncanny resemblance he has to ullman  whose son he plays   br    br   we  re treated to a unique story in  panic   and that  s a rarity in these days of tired formulaic crap . the dialogue is sharp and smart  and this relatively short film nevertheless has the power to elicit a full range of emotions from the viewer . there are places to laugh  to be shocked  to be horrified  to be saddened  to be aroused  to be angry  and to love . it  s not a movie that leaves you jumping for joy  but when it  s over you  re more than satisfied knowing you  ve spent the last ninety minutes experiencing a darn good piece of work .  br    br   more of us would go to theatres if we were treated to quality fare like this . when are the powers that be in hollywood going to wake up  it  s a real shame when something this good fails to get exposure beyond festivals and households fortunate enough to have cable .  
this film is awful . give me the dentist anytime  can you believe that one of the main tv stations here in arabia had this as their christmas film  i can only assume they expected to entertain the crowds with dudley moore rather than this . the last time i looked at my hot water bottle it had more acting  better plot  more drama and a lot more interest than this waste of celluloid . don  t even watch it if you  re drunk   
i saw this movie a few months ago on cable  and it was fantastic . william h macy is one of my favorite actors  and his performance was just amazing . he makes you care for his character  even when he is clearly doing the wrong thing  and neve campbell gives a performance that is with out a doubt the best performance i have seen by an actress this year . she is fantastic as a wild young woman who is wise beyond her years .  br    br   donald sutherland is just plain creepy as macy  s father  and john ritter is fine as a shrink stuck in the middle of everything that is happening .  br    br   i wish that this was in the theater because i feel that it  s a movie that should be view by a wider audience . that  s a shame  because it  s a hell of allot better that most of the new movies coming into the theater now .  br    br    
some might say something like  baby geniuses  with its giant robot infants or  dumbo  with its psychedelic drug  addled nightmare sequence would win the award for the most disturbing movie ever made for children . you might say that too  but you  d be wrong . lo and behold  for i bring to you santa claus  the most helplessly messed up family film since . . . well  ever .  br    br   from the opening scenes showing children from different parts of the world singing their insipid theme songs  seriously  this segment is nearly   freakin  minutes long and has nothing to do with the plot   to the thrilling conclusion in which merlin pops up from outta nowhere and saves the day  don  t mind him  he  s from barcelona   this is childhood trauma at its finest . and no matter how hard i try  no matter how many different therapists i visit  i just . . . can  t . . . get . . . those . . . reindeer  s . . . laughter . . . out . . . of . . . my . . . head   br    br   avoid this mind  bending piece of trash like you  d avoid a sex  starved whale during mating season . still  if flaming gay demons with a serious case of the overacting flu are something for you  i guess you should give it a try . but really  this movie isn  t worth your time and mental health .  
a first time director  bromell  has assembled a small but powerful cast to look at the world of a middle aged  middle class  depressed hit  man and his struggle with his relationship with his father . this film in less than   minutes presents an incredibly interesting contrast in human nature . david dorfman as the  year old son of william h . macy is the most refreshing little actor i  ve seen in awhile . macy is brilliant in a part that almost seems written for him as a self tortured sole struggling to break the reins of his father and his business . it  s always great to see donald sutherland and here he  s wonderful as the callous father of macy . the films alternate audio track is well worth it to hear the director explain how he picked the cast  locations  and filmed the movie . the basic dolby  channel sound is adequate for this film and well recorded . the cinematography creates the mood along with a very subtle musical background . any film buff or observer of human nature will enjoy this one especially if he  s a fan of contradiction .  
pictures that usually glorify a hero have meaning . as an example  bonnie and clyde glorified the dynamic bank robbers and you actually felt sympathy for them despite their evil deeds . why  they were two people caught up in the depression when people were desperate to survive .  br    br   this film has absolutely no substance . the viggo mortensen character soon emerges as a folk hero . why  he speeds along an idaho highway on the way to the hospital where his stricken wife has been taking . no one bothers to understand why he is trying to flee everyone . even worse  when the realization becomes apparent that he is not a red  neck terrorist  no one in government wants to help him as they try to save their rear ends .  br    br   jason priestley co  stars as a radio emcee who builds upon the story in support of our hero .  br    br   the ending is absolutely unbelievable .  
the extended nuclear family  united in business as well as in personal life  is examined in this serious study of a grown son  s conflict with his father  s desire that he remain in the family business . this triggers a midlife crisis which may or may not be ameliorated by an affair and retreat to a shrink  s couch . very fine acting by all . a sleeper that deserves wide attention .  
the original  vanishing point  was a great flick . subtle motives  characters that seemed real and spontaneous . the remake was terrible . preachy  overtly obvious it missed the point as to why the original was a classic . the black charger was cool  but even that couldn  t rescue this flick . why stick with a white challenger  i didn  t think that was the best choice back in    . some parts of the film were unintentionally hilarious . like when vigo was standing on a cliff overlooking the canyon after his  dream quest  . his indian pal was standing next to him . vigo was only wearing his white briefs . i  m sorry  it just looked silly  him surveying the vista in his fruit of the looms . another scene was at the end  after the explosive crash into the bulldosers  the announcer said that the impact was clocked at    mph . then he mentions that the cops said his remains weren  t found because he vaporized  but some people believe he bailed out and was hidden by friends in the crowd . then it shows him rolling out of the car at    mph  first of all  you couldn  t open the car door at    mph . secondly  the car would not continue to travel in a straight line for    yds . with nobody to steer it . it would promptly roll over about   times . thirdly  if you hit the pavement at    mph  you would wind up in various squishy pieces . no matter  we see him at the end standing with his daughter . all in all  a movie that would insult anyone  s intelligence .  
  br    br   i really liked this film . one of those rare films that hollywood really does not make anymore . william h macy is just great as the hit man with a soul  and neve campbell is just flat out fantastic as the woman who puts his life on the track of redemption .  br    br   if you have a chance  see this film . it earns it  s praise  
this movie represents the times it was made in as much as the original  i suppose . which is really sad  because at a deeper level  the title  vanishing point  the original  is so ironic . i  m sure it wasn  t intended that way  but the original was filmed in      and released in     . the real  vanishing point  was the end of an era  which pretty much ended in the early     s .  br    br   in this remake  all the counter  cultural elements have been stripped away  and been rendered more pc in an attempt to reach a broader audience  presumably .  sanitized for your protection   br    br   inserting the american indian scenes was gratuitous  and the idea of a  noble purpose  to the trip was subtraction by addition . i  m glad i watched it however  it made me appreciate the original that much more . the original is a cult classic and golden . this remake is dreadful .  
everyone is either loving or hating this film . i am going with loving . it is so well shot and so well acted . beautiful . this film is for people who appreciate well crafted film making . if you are not a fan of well done films of course you would hate this . but if you like the tops of acting  photography  story and development  look no further then here .  
this is a terrible remake of a marginal  but well liked  movie from the early    s . i have seen the original at least  times . the     version is a   minute movie  crammed  into  hours or whatever the runtime is . cheesy storyline  which by the way  is completely different than the original . the major government involvement was far  fetched . there is no flow from one scene to the next . in the original you could go get a beer or hit the bathroom and still keep up .  br    br   it only took a few hours movie time to change the oil pan on the car . it takes many times longer than that in real life . car guys notice this stuff . also  the fool or fools that chose to trash a     charger and abuse a     challenger should be shot in the heel with a dull bullet . the fact they aren  t  car people  is painfully obvious  and their passing will not be grieved .  br    br   the actors lacked any emotion  everything was cut and dried . one step above a monotone . a barmitzvah is more exciting and energetic .  br    br   last but surely not least  the radio dj made the statement that the challenger hit the bulldozers at    or        . that is total garbage . can you say aerodynamics  or lack thereof   hahahaha   this movie is a joke . don  t waste your time watching this one .  
what a surprising treat to come across on late television . had i only read a brief plot rundown on a television listing before seeing the movie  i would have passed . the idea of a movie about a hit  man  seeing  a shrink  wanting  to leave  the  business  and  falling  in  love . . . . sounds trite . but the film works . from the start of the movie  it  s clear the man carries a weight on his shoulders  before he even says a word . the look and feel of the film is perfect . dark  but not obnoxiously so .  br    br   aside from the hit  man family aspect which provides a touch of surrealism  macy  s character grapples with his marriage  and his father  s control . macy shows a repressed sadness  and his bedtime talks with his young son are amazing . the young boy shows acting skills well beyond his years  and the interaction between the father and son is so very natural  personal and loving .  br    br   this is one of the best movies i  ve seen in a while  and i can  t believe i came across it by accident on late night television .  
this is just plain bad . sometimes remakes  even if they stray from the original  are good on their own . they can bring another viewpoint and achieve a certain interpretation that makes them unique and enjoyable . this was as poorly thought out and carried out as can be . this wasn  t any good even standing on it  s own . viggo mortenson is a top  notch actor  but some of his selections of roles and projects leaves something to be desired . the original  vanishing point  was such a thrilling  psychological adventure this is not an adventure at all  and is not enjoyable or entertaining whatsoever . this was made from a by  the  numbers approach to film  making  stuffing in plot points that someone in hollywood believes will please what they see as today  s film  going audience . basically  they see us as a bunch of idiots . it  s insulting that someone will put this out as a feature film  and even attempt to remake a cult classic this sloppily . the manipulative plot devices  the  make  it  obvious  so  they  don  t  miss  the  point  aspects  ridiculous dialogue  stereotyped characters  amateurish direction . . .  br    br   this is plain bad . . . .  
i gather from reading the previous comments that this film went straight to cable . well  i paid to see it in a theatre  and i  m glad i did because visually it was a striking film . most of the settings seem like they were made in the early   s  except for the shrink  s office  which was dated in a different way   and if you leave the neve campbell sequences out  the whole film has a washed  out early   s ambience . and the use of restaurants in the film was fascinating . for a first  time director whose background  i believe  is in writing  he has a great eye . within the first ten minutes i felt the plot lacked plausibility  so i just willingly suspended my disbelief and went along for the ride . in terms of acting and the depiction of father  son  mother  son  husband  wife  parent  child relationships  the film was spot  on . william h . macy  a pleasure to watch  seems to be filling the void left by the late tony perkins  if this and magnolia are any indication . tracey ullman as the neglected wife was quite moving  to me . it was a three  dimensional depiction of a character too often viewed by society as two  dimensional . of course  donald sutherland can add this to his collection of unforgettable portrayals . the depiction of the parents  bain  sutherland  reminded me  in an indirect way  of vincent gallo  s buffalo     although toned  down quite a bit  i would definitely pay money to see a second film from this director . he has the self  discipline of a   s b  crimefilm director  something p . t . anderson will never have    yet he has a visual style and a way with actors that commands attention .  
movies like these are to the originals what album oriented rock stations are to what music used to be like  repetitive  boring  and drained of all the original energy by a committee of corporate drones . i am glad that aragorn wasn  t typecast as an expectant psycho by this p . o . s . go back and watch the     version  count the things that would never be included in a modern version  and thank whatever deity you worship that someone somewhere in the distant past had the balls to write and shoot an original concept movie that wasn  t based on someone else  s ideas  and wasn  t passed through a corporate board before it saw the light of day .  
the effects of job related stress and the pressures born of a moral dilemma that pits conscience against the obligations of a family business  albeit a unique one  all brought to a head by   or perhaps the catalyst of   a midlife crisis  are examined in the dark and absorbing drama  panic   written and directed by henry bromell  and starring william h . macy and donald sutherland . it  s a telling look at how indecision and denial can bring about the internal strife and misery that ultimately leads to apathy and that moment of truth when the conflict must  of necessity  at last be resolved .  br    br   alex  macy  is tired he has a loving wife  martha  tracey ullman   a precocious six  year  old son  sammy  david dorfman   a mail order business he runs out of the house  as well as his main source of income  the family  business he shares with his father  michael  sutherland   and his mother  deidre  barbara bain  . but he  s empty years of plying this particular trade have left him numb and detached  putting him in a mental state that has driven him to see a psychologist  dr . josh parks  john ritter  . and to make matters worse  or maybe better  depending upon perspective   in dr . parks  waiting room he meets a young woman  sarah cassidy  neve campbell   whose presence alone makes him feel alive for the first time since he can remember . she quickly becomes another brick in the wall of the moral conflict his job has visited upon him  as in the days after their meeting he simply cannot stop thinking about her . his whole life  it seems  has become a situation    one from which he is seemingly unable to successfully extirpate himself without hurting the ones he loves . he can deny his age and the fact that he has  indeed  slipped into a genuine midlife crisis  but he is about to discover that the problems he is facing are simply not going to go away on their own . he  s at a crossroads  and he  s going to have to decide which way to go . and he  s going to have to do it very soon .  br    br   from a concept that is intrinsically interesting  bromell has fashioned an engrossing character study that is insightful and incisive  and he presents it is a way that allows for moments of reflection that enable the audience to empathize and understand what alex is going through . he makes it very clear that there are no simple answers  that in real life there is no easy way out . his characters are well defined and very real people who represent the diversity found in life and  moreover  within any given family unit . the film resoundingly implies that the sins of the father are irrefutably passed on to the progeny  with irrevocable consequences and effects . when you  re growing up  you accept your personal environment as being that of the world at large and often it is years into adulthood that one may begin to realize and understand that there are actually moral parameters established by every individual who walks upon the planet  and that the ones set by the father may not be conducive to the tenets of the son . and it is at that point that alex finds himself as the story unfolds ergo  the midlife crisis  or more specifically  the crisis of conscience from which he cannot escape . it  s a powerful message  succinctly and subtly conveyed by bromell  with the help of some outstanding performances from his actors .  br    br   for some time  william h . macy has been one of the premiere character actors in the business  creating such diverse characters as quiz kid donnie smith in magnolia   the shoveler in mystery men  and jerry lundegaard in fargo .  and that  s just a sampling of his many achievements . at one point in this film  sarah mentions alex  s sad eyes   and it  s a very telling comment  as therein lies the strength of macy  s performance here  his ability to convey very real emotion in an understated  believable way that expresses all of the inner turmoil he is experiencing . consider the scene in which he is lying awake in bed  staring off into the darkness in that one restless moment it is clear that he is grappling  not only with his immediate situation  but with everything in his life that has brought him  finally  to this point . in that scene you find the sum total of a life of guilt  confusion and uncertainty  all of which have been successfully suppressed until now all the things that have always been at the core of alex  s life  only now gradually breaking through his defense mechanisms and finally surfacing  demanding confrontation and resolution . it  s a complex character created and delivered by macy with an absolute precision that makes alex truly memorable . it  s a character to whom anyone who has ever faced a situation of seemingly insurmountable odds will be able to relate . it  s a terrific piece of work by one of the finest actors around .  br    br   sutherland is extremely effective  as well his michael is despicably sinister in a way that is so real it  s chilling . it  s frightening  in fact  to consider that there are such people actually walking the earth . this is not some pulp fiction or james bond type villain  but a true personification of evil  hiding behind an outward appearance that is so normal he could be the guy next door  which is what makes it all the more disconcerting . and sutherland brings it all to life brilliantly  with a great performance .  br    br   neve campbell looks the part of sarah  but her performance  as is the usual case with her  seems somewhat pretentious  although her affected demeanor here just happens to fit the character and is actually a positive aspect of the film . if only she would occasionally turn her energies inward  it would make a tremendous difference in the way she presents her characters . panic   however  is one of her best efforts a powerful film that  in the end  is a journey well worth taking .     .  br    br    
yuck  and again i say . . . yuck  the original version of this movie was a well directed story of a man who was already dead and driving through purgatory . the original movie had a lot to say and didn  t go out of its way to say it . and  it had a naked chick on a motorcycle .  br    br   this version strikes me as something that a producer bought the rights to and then abandoned out of disinterest . it looks as if a group of individuals consciously decided to fit it to the nineties and changed ethnicities and genders just to be cute . the movie is not about a burnout about to commit suicide in a last act of defiance . it is about a man trying to get to a hospital to see his wife .  br    br   there was no reason for this movie to have been made other than to make me angry . . .  
well  i had seen  they all laughed  when it came out in  br    br   europe around     and had kept a vague but dear souvenir of it . i  ve just seen it again on tape  almost twenty years after . . . bogdanovich has a true heartfelt tenderness over his characters and a kind sympathy which is difficult not to feel also . excellent comedians and actors  good lines all over and for everyone and pretty good editing  too . i laughed and smiled all the time . just as we all do  at times . go get it .  
unwatchable . you can  t even make it past the first three minutes . and this is coming from a huge adam sandler fan     
  panic  is a captivating  blurred  genre film about a brooding and conflicted middle aged hitman  s reconciliation of infatuation with a younger uninhibited hairstylist  his love of wife and son  his duty to his employer  father with his own identity . although the film has a nebulous purpose and an ambiguous ending  it is a superb production in almost all aspects . the characters  clarity and sincerity in such an improbable story may both fascinate and annoy audiences .  
oh  dear lord . . . . they  ve turned what was a fairly thought provoking movie into a swaggering testosterone fest .  br    br   the original     version of this movie was beautifully vague about our hero kowalski . he was a man trying to drive from denver to san fransisco to win a bet . why was he willing to risk his life for the price of a handful of uppers  we  re not really sure .  br    br   we had a few flashbacks that gave us the picture that he was an adrenaline junkie  and presumably he had led his entire life trying to make it to the vanishing point . that point you see off in the distance where the left and right shoulders of the road come together  and the road itself vanishes . he lives only to be free  and means no ill on anyone . we saw several times when there were accidents he stopped to make sure the other driver was okay before moving on  even the cops that were chasing him .  br    br   when he saw the futility of his quest he took his life rather than be arrested and live a life of captivity . he died like he lived  running wide open .  br    br   in the remake kowalski has a whole history  including a first name  even .  he  s trying to get to the hospital where his wife is suffering from complications to her pregnancy . he is a devoted husband  and excited expectant father . he comes to the decision to take his life after hearing his wife died in delivery  but they even leave that in question when they suggest that he may have jumped out of the car before it ran into the bulldozers . they even gave the part of  super soul   the blind dj  brilliantly portrayed by clevon little in the original  to jason priestly            give me a break .  
panic delivers the goods ten fold with oscar caliber performances from william h macy  neve campbell  and donald sutherland . in a movie about the choices we make and the consequences we live with . chillingly honest and thought provoking  panic is easily one of the best film to come out of hollywood in years . the impact stays with you right after you leave the theater .  
i found the characters mediocre and the story uninteresting . i never had to read this book  thankfully   or it would have been a painful experience . i got the tickets to the preview for free but it still wasn  t worth my time  or my friend  s . i think this story is not worth telling . it  s like saying that old people have a past before they got old  no kidding  . the lives of the main characters were painful to watch  one generation no better than the next at avoiding stupid mistakes . however  i think the actors did the best they could with a lame story . i  ve always been a big fan of ellen burstyn . i  m writing this review to counteract the positive reviews given  which unfortunately convinced me to give this movie a try .  
panic is a sneaky little gem of a film  you think you have it figured out by the first half hour only to realize  with great pleasure  that henry bromell is a much better writer  director than that .  br    br   the film builds slowly  with one quietly devastating scene after another  all enacted perfectly by william h . macy  donald sutherland  neve campbell  tracey ullman  john ritter  and the most remarkable child actor i  ve seen in a long time  david dorfman  as macy  s son  who delivers his lines as if they  re completely unscripted thoughts being created in his mind . rich and rewarding  this film will stay with you long after the credits have rolled .  
margret laurence probably didn  t intend on having any of her novels adopted for film  let alone the stone angel . hagar  as a character  was one who constantly challenged the social norm  gainsay who dare  anyone    and ended up nearly sacrificing her humanity in the process . the symbols in the book  the stone angel  silver thread  etc  etc .  are constant reminders of this struggle of the old and new  and the carnage  so to speak  along the way .  br    br   while the film is reasonably faithful to the plot of the book  but it isn  t really a plot kind  of storytelling  is it    i think it missed the point on capturing the spirit of the film . hagar  s defiance  for the sake of defiance  was not there . bram could have been a lot more crude than portrayed  and hagar  s father could have been played more  traditionally   so to speak . if the filmmaker would insisted on stronger portrayals  the film would drive the point straight to home .  br    br   along the same vein  why should we see cell phones  organic produce  and other modernizations  are we trying make some points for the sake of making some points  e . g .  the muslim girlfriend and the native people  . hagar and co . are everything but politically correct in the book  so why should we see that in the film version . modernization may be an excuse for a low  budget operation  but using that as an excuse to send subliminal politically  correct messages that are totally irrelevant to the novel  and the film  seems like throwing punches below the intellect .  br    br   there is also the audience . it seems that we have been conditioned to see bitter old people as cute and lovable . why should be laugh every time hagar is at her tantrums  i doubt magaret laurence wanted her readers to laugh at  or with  hagar . these people are frustrated and are full of angst  and all we do is to laugh at them . i don  t think it did hagar and other folks in her situation any justice .  
this is the kind of movie hollywood needs to make more of . no extravagant props  no car chases  no clever one  liners . just people dealing with being people .  br    br   william macy plays an unlikely hitman who works for his father  donald sutherland . macy is the dutiful son  sutherland is the domineering father . son wants out of the business  father won  t let him . macy loves his own son  played beautifully by david dorfman   the ring   . he also starts to fall in love with neve campbell  a girl he meets in the waiting room of his psychiatrist  s office .  br    br   it  s an interesting juxtaposition of characters and the film follows the reluctant killer as he balances his own needs with those of his family . there are many touching scenes  especially between macy and his little boy . and as you  d expect in a film with william macy in it  there  s a bit of humor too .  br    br   excellent job all around  actors and director . nice to know they can still make a good film in hollywood on a small budget .  
the back of the dvd box says ellen page co  stars in this movie . she does not even appear until two thirds of the movie is over and then its in minor role . i don  t consider it a supporting role either  but rather a  bit  part . also the plot has many unexplained elements . some examples are why does the main character reject her oldest son  why does her youngest son drive head on into the train  he says its for a  sucker  bet which doesn  t explain anything . obviously the screenwriter doesn  t know the definition of a sucker bet . this film is not worthy of the rental price in my opinion . save your money and view it for free on tv if you think it needs to be seen .  
i recently caught up with this little gem of a film on cable . it took me by surprise  even though  i should have expected it from the team involved with this movie .  br    br   henry bromwell directed this film with a sure hand  and it shows . one always wonders about the secret life of hit killers . one doesn  t have to go too far to realize they probably are one  s own neighbors  or social acquaintances  or even friends they  re no different from us  at least on the surface .  br    br   in this story  the grandfather  is a despicable character who does not hesitate in eliminating anyone for the right price . he has no scruples in teaching the ropes to his own son  and even to the grandson   br    br   alex  is a man living in turmoil . he knows what he has done in the past and suddenly is coming to realize the consequence of his actions . he has to see someone to help him find peace with himself . in going to dr . parks  he is trying to find absolution  although  he doesn  t find it there . on the contrary  there is a dramatic twist when alex learns about who is supposed to kill next .  br    br   alex  brilliantly portrayed by william h . macy  mesmerizes us . not only is he a fantastic actor  but he makes us believe he is that man . one of the best things in the movie is the late john ritter . he is equally convincing as dr . parks  the man who unravels the mystery .  br    br   donald sutherland  as the grandfather is perfect . he is a natural actor in everything he does . neve campbell surprised in her pivotal role of sarah . she shows a capability and range that are incredible . tracey ullman is martha  the suffering wife  and she doesn  t get to do much . also barbara bain  in a rare appearance  is the grandmother from hell . david dorfman  is a delight in the film . he shows a maturity beyond his years .  br    br    
even for the cocaine laced      s this is a pathetic . i don  t understand why someone would want to waste celluloid  time  effort  money  and audience brain cells to make such drivel . if your going to make a comedy  make it funny . if you want to film trash like this keep it to yourself . if you  re going to release it as a joke like this don  t    i mean  it was a joke right  someone please tell me this was a joke . please .  
a brilliant movie about family  guilt  sacrifice  betrayal  and love . macy is such a great actor . it was almost a shame to see him in the same scenes with campbell  who looks the part of a neurotic sex object but doesn  t have the chops to work with him on the level the script called for . but he  s such a good actor that he played down to her level to make the scenes work . i highly applaud the casting of tracey ullman as the neglected wife . who knew  sutherland is also very good . the way he moves makes his character look taller  and even younger in some scenes  . almost everyone knew what they were doing .  br    br   macy  s portrayal of the only situation in which his character is not able to be careful is nothing short of complete mastery .  
yep . . this is definatly up there with some of the worst of the mstifyed movies  but i have definately seen worse . think gremlins rated r . well anyway  i met rick sloane at some sci  fi convention  that amazingly  he was lecturing at  it was one of those really low budget conventions  where everything goes  an everyone brought in something  if you want to see crap  you should have of seen what some friends and i brought in  .  br    br   he seemed like a very nice guy  he was very cool about my questions and comments on hobgoblins  and he even told me not to take it seriously  and said he loved the mst  k version   br    br   all in all  rick sloane knew what he was doing . and i think was meant to bad like mars attacks . so i guess i  m standing up for this movie and giving it a   and betraying all my fellow msties . sorry guys .  
why panic never got a good theatrical release is easily seen it  s much too smart  and audiences would have probably had a difficult time with it  comparing it to american beauty in its probing of a midlife crisis  and sopranos and analyze this in it  s study of illegal goings  on amidst family life . though panic may seem to derive from unoriginal material  brommel  s lifelike characters coupled with deft dialogue and observant direction make the film a realistic look at the undoing of a middle aged man .  br    br   william h . macy stars as alex  a hitman who works for his father  s  sutherland  contract  killing business . he leads a double life  with his wife  ullman  and son unaware of his real trade . in his middle  age  he becomes increasingly disgusted with what he has done all his life . under his calm  collected facade stirs repressed resentment for his father  s controlling grasp on his life . when he meets a young woman  campbell  he feels invigored and decides it  s time to quit the family business .  br    br   the fact that writer  director henry brommel decided to make the profession his main character was trying to break away from contract  killing is disposable . he could have easily substituted it with any undesirable profession his characters are so well  developed and believable  scenes handled so smoothly and realisticly and dialogue written so insightfully and naturally that the focus falls on macy  s conflicted character rather than his job as a hitman . brommel  s script feels like a shakespearean tragedy  with a definite theme of destiny running throughout .  br    br   in alex  macy creates a tragic  easily sympathetic character  and turns in yet another brooding  great performance  as can always be expected . donald sutherland is also effectively abrasive and abusive as his overbearing father  and ullman  s dramatic turn as macy  s wife is a welcome change for the comedian . consider a scene in a bicycle shop  where her mood subtly darkens and peaks in an affecting scene of emotional confusion .  br    br   henry brommel  s first feature  panic is a film that is well  crafted in its sincerity . with a first  rate cast  a plausible script  terse dialogue  and nice direction  this character  study is hopefully just a taste of brommel  s aptness for creating characters that seem real .  br    br    out of    
this movie should not be viewed unless you are trying to kill yourself . i think this movie could actually cause severe brain damage . the main characters are the whiny non  hero kevin  amy  his bratty  ungodly conservative girlfriend  kyle  a dork in red shorts who enjoys phone sex  daphne  a scrawny  horny girl who is supposed to be  cool  and has no sense of how to dress  and her oversexed boyfriend nick  an army recruit who can make an innuendo out of anything . no  i  m not a pervert  that  s really how the movie goes . the movie itself is an over  sexed rip  off of      s gremlins  only you  ll never find a trace of gizmo anywhere . no  these hobgoblins  unleashed by wimpy man  i  m sorry  kevin   make someone  s wildest dreams come true  and then kill the victims . yes  you guessed it  eventually  they wind up in a strip club  where the nerdy amy  s greatest dream is revealed  she wants to be a stripper  look  i watched this flick via mst  k  and even with mike nelson  tom servo  and crow t . robot making a laughing  stock out of this cinematic trainwreck and it still made me bleed from both eyes . not really  but i wish i had . i  m not giving you anymore plot  because reliving it gives me this great urge to drive a pitchfork through my brain . besides  it  s not like there  s a plot worth mentioning . they should put a surgeon  s general warning on this film .  
i missed the entire season of the show and started watching it on abc website during the summer of     . i am absolutely crazy about the show . i think the entire cast is excellent . it  s one of my favorite show ever . i just checked the abc program lineup for this fall and did not see it on the schedule . that is really sad . i hope they will bring it back . . . maybe they are waiting until bridget moynahan has her baby  or is it only my wishful thinking   br    br   i read some of the comments posted about the show and see so many glowing remarks  similar to mine . i certainly hope that abc will reconsider its decision or hopefully another station will pick it up .  
hobgoblins . . . what a concept . rick sloan was a master with this film . he had the brilliance to produce a film with actors that couldn  t act . on top of that  he chose to write a script based on some sort of bad acid trip gone serriously wrong . put it together  you end up with a film that sucks more than a warehouse filled with suction cups and vaccum cleaners . this movie was very painful . the pain it caused is about equal to the pain caused by having your genitals carved out with a spoon  and then having the entire wound covered with salt and hydrochloric acid .  
loved this show . . . smart acting  smart dialog  great storyline with real people . . . . please bring it back or make it available online . . . really miss it . . hope davis really shines in this show . i like the idea of six degrees . . . it really makes sense in this insane world . rid yourself of those stupid reality shows and give this show a second chance please bring it back not to grovel . . but please  when it went off the air  i watched in online and liked how i could watch it with minimal interruptions  in fact  online abc makes it easy to enjoy shows when you miss them on prime time . . . gone are the days of endless taping . anytime you want to bring it back  i am ready .  
i didn  t think it was possible for a horror comedy film to fail so abysmally on both fronts . . . . really awful . the fact that it doesn  t take itself seriously  usually a good thing  works against it  primarily because the actors are so wooden you really would swear they are reading cue cards . on the upshot though . . . . . the mst  k version  as always  has a few laughs . . . .  
while listening to an audio book  cambpell scott is the reader . i was so excited to hear his voice and that brought back my disappointment that  six degrees  was canceled . they never seem to keep the good shows on air long enough to capture an audience that can connect with the shows story . what a shame  and shame on th network for not giving this show a full seasons chance . this was an excellent show to watch with a great cast . the network gave  men in trees  a second chance witch is also a great show  but they took  invasion  off and that also was something totally different to watch  not the same old  same old themes . why can  t the networks get it right .  
my favorite quote from crow was  when the car was going off the cliff   the movie is so bad  even the car wants to get out of it    br    br   this had to be the funniest movie i have ever seen . it was seriously out there to scare you  which makes it even funnier  if it weren  t for mystery science theater i wouldn  t be here today    p  
  they all laughed  is one of those little movies i am always recommending to friends seeking something out of the ordinary . it is firmly rooted in the screwball romance traditions of the past  but seems more contemporary . even the decidedly early   s atmosphere doesn  t date it too much . bogdanovich wisely keeps the whole enterprise so light on its feet  that reality never brings it crashing down to earth . but  that said  this sort of sweet little movie absolutely relies on the actors to keep it going  and  tal  is blessed with a dream cast who understand the requirements of this sort of tale . it is a movie that wouldn  t linger so long in the memory if it weren  t for the little moments provided by the excellent cast colleen camp  s simultaneously shouting orders at john ritter and her dog blaine novak unleashing all that hair from under his hat and especially the moment dorothy stratten falls for john ritter and says   how . . . weird .  it  s such a piece of fluff one doesn  t want to lay too much on it for fear of crushing it  but it is certainly does leave one with a light heart and a smile on one  s face .  
 . . . okay  maybe not all of it . lured by the false promise of bikini  clad women on the movie  s cover . . . but the horror . . . the horror . . . . . . whatever you do  do not watch this movie . gouge out your eyes  repeatedly bash your skull in . . . do what it takes . never again   never forget   br    br    
i have complained to abc about the cancellation of six degrees . if enough people do the same then it could be enough to bring this fabulous show back to life   just go onto the official site and the rest is simple enough . i do not understand why this show has been cancelled . what a fantastic show  cast and characters . the whole concept is gripping viewing  i am astounded that my favourite show is over after just one series . why is this  six degrees is phenomenal  it  s better than so many other tv programmes out there  until i heard they were stopping it from a friend it hadn  t even occurred to me that this might happen .  
hee hee hee . this movie is so bad that it doesn  t even try to hide the fact that it sucks big time . i remember the day i first saw this on mst . sun was shining  looked like a good day . then  i saw this product of rick sloane which consisted of horrible plush dolls wreaking havoc in the crappy   s fest land . kevin  wussy extraordinaire  tries to impress his girlfriend  manages an assistant security guard job  fights with rakes  and plenty more stuff in this very badly made series of images . no plot or story is needed . obviously no acting is necessary as the film proves . an army guy and his sex crazed girl will make you wanna leap off a cliff  and the dorky friend who gets his kicks off phone sex will make you say   he has got some nice red shorts  . plus  i really hated the old security guard and wished he had an accident in his supermarket cart . just when you think it  s over  wait until the club scum scene . ask for road rash .  br    br   i advise that after viewing this film  a good month to regain senses and sanity . and if you see rick sloane  give him a good kick to the groin to show how much we appreciate this crapsterpiece called hobgoblins .  
i borrowed  slightly modified  title from some other comment . i have to say  that as i usually don  t like relationship series  i really did liked this one . great characters  interesting and not clich story  good acting  good and again not clich  which in case of dialogs is rather rare  dialogs . . . it is really interesting  how the characters cross paths with each other  and sometimes knowingly  sometimes more or less at random influence each others lives . but unfortunately  as we say in our country  do you know how do you recognize a good us series  it is the one that got canceled before the end of the first season . sure  it isn  t always true  but . . .  
good grief  while i still maintain that manos the hands of fate is the worst piece of mental torture available  hobgoblins came awfully close . this . . . this . . . thing insults the audience at every opportunity .  br    br   at least films like space mutiny and future war can be enjoyed on mst  k  this one was a struggle to get through . i was literally writhing on the couch in anguish . this thing managed to embarrass me  alone   br    br   even if you are a die  hard mst  k fan and have made it your mission to see every single experiment  think twice about seeing this one .  br    br   it  s that bad .  
what is really sad  shows like six degree  s and brothers  sisters are the true reality tv  not that garbage that are nothing more than glorified game shows . i think the ground swell of discontent has been there for the past few years with very premature cancellation  s of numerous shows with a cult following . but with the more vocal backlash the fans of jericho  which i also enjoy  and other shows  networks may start to reverse this trend . i am like others  i will not support any new shows until they have been given a second season . i  ll then possibly make a decision to watch and catch up via dvd  s and online viewing . until then abc  you have lost me as a viewer to any new show .  
good lord  what were they thinking         here is your spoiler warning  even though i don  t think it  ll really matter . you won  t be seeing this piece of trash anyway .  br    br   a group of handpuppets go chasing after a group of really stupid people  who go on a really stupid hunt for them to try and kill them  and the puppets complicate things by letting them live out their really stupid fantasies . in other words  the whole thing is really stupid .  br    br   you know it has to be bad when even mike and the bots can  t save something   and they didn  t  i know  some of their lines were funny  like what to add to the sign  hit  and the hand comments  but  geez  this was pretty dang sad .  br    br   all i can say is do not watch this piece o crud . it is not worth your eyes .  
this deserves a   out of   . an absolutely refreshing show with real characters and real stories . this show needs to come back  i  ve seen every episode and this is real quality .  br    br   the show centers around a couple of new yorkers  plays around with the concept of the six degrees of separation and cleverly intertwines their lives . bridget moynahan and jay hernandez are stunning and so is the adorable caseman . the scenery is amazing and wardrobes are exquisite .  br    br   we need more shows like this that makes viewers feel like they are intelligent individuals not mindless drones .  br    br   if it never comes back  six degrees will be sorely missed .  
 . . . bad at being intentionally bad . . .  br    br   this little gem shot straight onto the mst  k big screen . while it  s obvious the movie isn  t trying to be taken seriously  hopefully that their goal  anyway . . .   the movie is still plain bad . hell  it makes leprechaun in space look big budgeted . . .  br    br   in short paint my muscle car prune colored   
oh man  why   six degrees  is a show about this so called theory that we all are linked by someone . if focus on the lives of a group of people and the consequences of their actions .  br    br   when i first heard of this show  it didn  t caught my attention at all . it seemed too ordinary  actually . then  i saw some episodes . . . and loved it  first of all  the characters . they are all well  written and different from each other . there  s a alcohol addicted  a woman whose fiance cheats on her  a woman who just lost her husband  a driver who has a troubled brother and so on . . . unlike what we  re used to  most of the characters interact with each other in casualties  like in our daily routines . great  my favourite ones are mae  carlos and whitney .  br    br   then  the cast . they are all great . jay hernandez  from  hostel   shows here his acting habilities in a more  d character than his previous work as paxton . the other ones give great performances too  specially campbell scott  who plays steven and bridget moynahan  who plays whitney .  br    br   well when i came to imdb  after watching some episodes  i couldn  t believe that it got cancelled . seriously  i can  t understand the low ratings .  br    br   it  s too bad it didn  t have more than one season . it would really be a good show to follow   
this is the result . a piece of trash movie that doesn  t deserve to even be classified as a movie  it  s just a bunch of stuff on a film reel  that makes no sense whatsoever . well back to the actors  which from the get go seem to be just a bunch of friends who thought they would get a little amount of money together and try to make a movie that would be a great horror film . well it  s a great horror anyway  nevermind being a film . there  s plenty of horrific acting in  hobgoblins   but the worse is the main guy named richard  who is just way too much of a weakling to even sorta root for . well  when you cast a bunch of friends and try to make the film scary  on a less than shoestring budget  no less  this is what will happen . oh well at least the mst  k version was hilarious . but this is still a horrid movie  that deserves all the bashing it gets .  for the mst version .  
i watched the un  aired episodes online and i was so sad that the show won  t be back . it had the best cast of mature  talented actors and an amazing chemistry . it seemed like all the actors are personal friends in real life . towards the end the show became engaging  sexy and highly watchable . of course  some of the story lines are not realistic  so what . . . the characters are all likable and you root for them . the show reminded me a cross between  other favorites  sex and the city  and  felicity  . big kudos to all the cast . note to abc execs nielsen ratings reports do not show you true results . the show audience will mostly record it . i  ve been very disappointed with major networks for flooding us with reality  tv or teenage oriented shows . why to get a mature  thoughtful  well  acted material we have to switch to hbo or fx  i can only thank the network for putting the rest of the episodes online . the new stream media will gain more and more popularity among viewers .  
description corny  utterly stupid and worthless . it  s so cheap and lame  it  ll make you wonder why these abnormally dumb people even wasted  months or so to spend a budget  i  m guessing this . . .  probably no more than    dollars to make this movie . it was just hysterical to watch with or without mystery science theater . i am giving you the best advice in the world  br    br   spare yourself  spare your time  life  and money  by not   i repeat  not even ponder about whether you should see this movie . this movie is so corny  it  ll make your face turn purple of outraged boredom . if you have a one  digit iq  then be my guest and watch this absolutely despicable movie . you might actually admire it .  like i said before  if you have a one  digit iq   br    br   with about   actors of your own  a few puppets you bought at a garage sale  and of course cameras and music  i gaurentee you  ll make a slightly more entertaining home video than this piece of absolute crap .  
here italy  i write from venice  . why cancelated  the abc should have given it a chance to build an audience . the cast  w  hope davis  campbell scott  erika christensen  zoe saldana  jay hernandez and bridget moynahan  is one of the best i  ve seen in recent . we need more shows like this that makes viewers feel like they are intelligent individuals not mindless drones . i hope that abc will reconsider its decision or another station will pick it up . please sign online petition to abc http   www . petitiononline . com  gh      petition . html please sign online petition to abc http   www . petitiononline . com  gh      petition . html  
i once thought that  the stoned age  was the worst film ever made . . . i was wrong .  hobgoblins  surpassed it in every way i could imagine and a few i couldn  t . in  the stoned age  i hated the characters . in  hobgoblins  i hated the actors . . . and everyone else involved in creating this atrocity . i won  t include a teaser to this film  i  m not that cruel . i couldn  t subject innocent people such as yourselves to such torment . in fact  any discussion of plot pertaining to this film is senseless and demeaning . words i would use to describe this film are as follows insipid  asinine  and ingenuous .  br    br   in conclusion  please don  t watch this film . i beg of you  from one movie lover to another . . . no  from one human being to another  please . for the sake of your own sanity and intellect do not watch it . destroy any copies you come across .  
six degrees is a wonderful show  i watched the entire season online since i just found it and was terribly disappointed that there will not be a season     and to top it all off  abc has now taken it off  line  so it is unable to be viewed online anymore . why would abc create such a wonderful show  with a great story line and with great characters just to pull it off the air without ever completing the tale . it seems it is left to our imagination to figure out what happens to all of our connected characters . honestly though i feel that abc could at least place the show online for viewers who enjoied it while they continue to air overrated reality tv shows . six degrees we will miss you .  
a group of extremely unlikable a  holes are tormented by lame puppets that some elderly douche bag night  watchman has kept locked away in a film vault for twenty years for no reason whatsoever .  br    br   many people know this film merely from mst  k  s spot  on ribbing of the flick . but i  ve seen the actual movie and can safely say that yes it  s bad  really  really bad . from the one of the most awful  fight  scenes i  ve ever witnessed to the stuffed toy  aliens  that suffer from a lack of motion  i had a my pet monster that was scarier  right up to the atrocious acting  i had a my pet monster that was more charismatic  however  that being said rick sloan  s  vice academy  films are somehow  and trust me i have no earthly idea how  much worse . that  s not to suggest that this film is anything but crap  because it isn  t . just throwing it out there .  br    br   eye candy no nudity in the movie proper  but there  s  pairs of tits in the dvd introduction to the film  br    br   my grade d   br    br   retromedia dvd extras introduction by jim wynorski stills gallery and trailer for this film  
unfortunately for myself  i stumbled onto this show late in it  s lifetime . i only caught a few episodes  about three  before it was cancelled by abc . i loved the characters  and storyline  but most of all the great actors  i was a fan of sex and the city  so i saw two characters i recognized  bridget moynahan was  the character  todd  was  smith jared    as well as jay hernandez  from carlito  s way rise to power  and erika christensen  swimfan  . i enjoy watching young actors get their due  and felt like this show would propel their career further along . i hope this at least gets put back out on dvd  and maybe wb will pick it up for a second season sometime  in the meantime  i  m viewing it on abc  s website from the beginning .  
  . aliens resemble plush toys and hand puppets  while having arms that don  t function .  br    br    . aliens mastered intergalactic space travel  but they don  t know how to push an unlocked vault door open  yet can push open a door being held shut by five people .  br    br    . old security guards know how to get a hold of c   and are just waiting for the right time to use it  say  when they are suddenly fired for no explainable reason .  br    br    . apparently  us army boot camp  in the    s  involved several sessions of  garden tool combat   including the pirouette spin of death .  br    br    . to impress your prudish girl friend  you have to  save the world . . . err . . . neighborhood  from aliens .  br    br    . all women are sluts  either openly or secretly .  br    br    . scummy night clubs look like bad diners .  br    br    .  scummy  waitresses double as dancers for the fontanelles  how did they get talked into this   who can only do bad    s dance moves .  br    br    . army privates secretly dream of being rambo .  br    br     . grenades apparently have a setting for  flash  bang  .  br    br     . being burned alive apparently only leaves one with minor burns on their arms .  br    br     . us army staff sargeants apparently happen to always be in the area and do nothing about aliens in the area .  br    br     . aliens apparently always  go home   which means back to the vault they were un  locked in .  br    br     . aliens are attracted to bright lights  which apparently means in the los angeles area one would assume  the protagonist  s house is the most brightly lit thing in the area .  br    br     . showing   parking scenes in a movie makes the audience clamor for more .  br    br     . vans from the    s apparently have horrible suspension systems .  br    br     . comedy is supposed to happen in this film .  br    br     . horror is supposed to happen in this film .  br    br     . spoofs and homages are supposed to happen in this film .  br    br     . this film cures insomnia .  br    br     . apparently  garden tools make electronic keyboard noises whenever they are used  not just in fights  tell me i  m not the only one who noticed this  .  br    br   the simply truth is this film just came out wrong . period . there isn  t much meat on the bone  nor does it do anything really well . even average . it  s just bad . however  i  ve seen far worse  and the rake fight scene is pure comedy gold  intentional or otherwise .  br    br        jaws  was worse then this . at least the film never took itself seriously .  
i got hooked on this as apparently abc has licensed this show to pearl tv in hong kong . it caught be my surprise  as it was a break from listening to anything chinese . but i started getting reeled in  as the cast and the story lines are just nyc enough and thoughtful . nothing too unbelievable  though i think it  s very very stereotypical of them to write damien as a potential black man with a sheet     that has been the most disappointing aspect . the rest is great and i  m sad to learn on imdb that i can  t look forward to watching season  when i get back to the us . i  m am just as disappointed as the other commentators that this showed much promise and quality and taste . but just as shows that show characters getting closer  it  s probably harder for people to watch if the start watching several episodes in . which is apparently a bit too late for the eager networks .  
this movie is so bad  it  s comical . in fact  mystery science theatre      the television show in which three characters watch and parody bad movies  used this very film to mock . i suggest watching it  maybe on youtube  instead of actually seeing this movie .  br    br   please  do not see hobgoblins if you  re not prepared to stop within the first scene . actually  do not see this movie  period . please . at least not seriously . its jokes are not funny  to say the least   and you  ll have much more fun parodying or watching a parody of it then viewing the movie .  br    br   you may feel yourself becoming sick upon watching  so spare yourself . read a book . do the laundry . anything is more fun than watching hobgoblins .  
first of all this was not a three hour movie  two hours  ten minutes . . . last time i checked commercials aren  t actually part of a movie  perhaps  though  it should  ve been a two parter for a total of about  hours  yeah  would have gotten more in  been able to explore some more emotion . overall  though  it was an interesting look into the lives of lucy and desi . i watch i love lucy from time to time and love it but never have i read or seen a biography  never knew anything about their lives off the screen . because of this movie i do now but i  m not so sure that  s a good thing . everything here no one really needed to know . this was essentially a movie that didn  t need to be made . but it was made and the reason is because lucy  desi are still such huge stars and certain people in american society feel that the rest of society needs to know all about our tv and movie stars . that is definitely so not true and very  very sad .  br    br   anyway  what was shown here in lucy was pretty good . two complaints  the actress who played viv vance  not great casting at all . and the switch from madeline zima to rachel york . . . . uhhh  like lucy had plastic surgery and all of a sudden she  s a whole new person   that wasn  t too great . but the story went on and focused on the rocky relationship between lucy  desi . no  the kids were not shown very much at all and that wasn  t necessarily a drawback to this movie because like i said  this focused mainly just on lucy  desi . had there been more time  had the story been more about lucy  s entire life  then maybe the kids woulda been there more . but they weren  t so we got to see the likes of gable  lombard  red skelton and buster keaton very briefly instead . wow  that was one thing about this story that i thought was really cool his presence and influence in lucy  s life . really neat and it  s too bad that wasn  t explored more . oh well . what was explored was done well  for the most part . honestly  i don  t think i  ll ever watch this again and i don  t think this movie  ll be that memorable . for someone who digs i love lucy but isn  t an enormous lucille ball fan  this should be an interesting watch . my grade for this b  
mere thoughts of  going overboard   aka  babes ahoy   make me want to weep . throwing yourself out a window would be better than watching this movie . it  s not even a supposed  so bad it  s good  movie . i would spend money to buy copies of this movie and burn them so that people can  t see it . oh the pain  the pain . . .  
i am so upset that abc is giving up on yet another show that has the chance to be a real winner . this show is so good  the writing and storyline were great  an actual original idea for a show instead of another boring reality show . the casting was spectacular  not only were the characters and actors right on  but these are a very talented set of actors . the concept and idea is really a new and cool idea for a tv show  many of us share this whole idea of  connections  . i really love the characters of steven  laura  whitney and damien . but to be honest there is not one person connected to this show that i did not like  even those that only were in for a few episodes  sheri appleby for example  . the acting and characters are so easy to like and so talented   . i wish abc had given this show more of a chance  and not interrupted the show midway  also it was not advertised enough . truly unfair   to everyone   . this show showed great promise . i for one will let abc know how i feel and will keep sending emails to keep this show alive . please join me  i know we can do it . it worked for jerico .  by the way where is episode    i want that last show   . please support this show and send emails to abc  we can do it    this show is well worth it    petition online to save six degrees http   www . petitiononline . com  gh      petition . html we can do it   sign this petition asap     
i really don  t have anything new to add but i just felt like i had to comment on this sack . so here goes  br    br   atrocious . i  m running through my mst  k dvd collection again and i just watched hobgoblins for about the   th time . it  s really  really painful but it was next on the list . . . you can see that there is a tiny kernel of an actual movie buried under all the crap that is  hobgoblins  but it just couldn  t get out . everything about this movie is  th rate . the story  the acting  the effects  the women  the  action scenes   the . . . ahhhh forget it . i can watch a piece of crap like  the bloodwaters of dr . z   aka  zaat   over and over and over with hardly any ill effects  i like it in fact  btw  it will be on tcm later this month  october       but  hobgoblins  is a whole  nother ballgame .  br    br   the worst part of it all may be that it  s now about   hours after the movie ended  i had a good night  s sleep  some coffee and some dry toast  my medications  and yet the ersatz  new wave  dance music that amy  red shorts  and laraine newman were frolicking to in the living room is still running through my head . this torment will last for days .  br    br   good luck  won  t you   
this show is totally worth watching . it has the best cast of talent i have seen in a very long time . the premise of the show is unique and fresh  i guess the executives at abc are not used too that  as it was not another reality show  . however this show was believable with likable characters and marvelous story lines . i am probably not in the age group they expect to like the show  as i am in my forty  s  but a lot of my friends also loved it  late    s  mid    s  and are dying for quality shows with talented cast members . i do not think this show was given enough time to gain an audience . i believe that given more time this show would have done very well . once again abc is not giving a show with real potential a real chance . with so many shows given chance after chance and not nearly worth it  they need to give quality shows a real chance and the time to really click and gain an audience . i really loved the characters and looked forward to watching each episode . i have been watching the episodes on abc videos and the show keeps getting better and better . although i think they owe us one more episode  number     . we want to watch what we can  bombard abc with emails and letters and see if its possible to save this show from extinction . it certainly worked for jerico . some things are just worth saving and this show is definitely one of them . sign the online petition to abc at http   www . petitiononline . com  gh      petition . html  
hobgoblins is a very cheap and badly done gremlins rip  off . that  s the best thing one can say about this stinkpile . pretty much everyone in the cast was chosen for their looks and not their acting ability . it was very painful to watch .  br    br   avoid this one at all costs .  
you probably all already know this by now  but  additional episodes never aired can be viewed on abc . com i  ve watched a lot of television over the years and this is possibly my favorite show  ever . it  s a crime that this beautifully written and acted show was canceled . the actors that played laura  whit  carlos  mae  damian  anya and omg  steven caseman  are all incredible and so natural in those roles . even the kids are great . wonderful show . so sad that it  s gone . of course i wonder about the reasons it was canceled . there is no way i  ll let myself believe that ms . moynahan  s pregnancy had anything to do with it . it was in the perfect time slot in this market . i  ve watched all the episodes again on abc . com  i hope they all come out on dvd some day . thanks for reading .  
if movies like ghoulies rip off gremlins  then hobgoblins sinks to the new low of ripping off garbage like ghoulies . these barely  animated furbies have some kind of scheme to fulfill fantasies  which involve basically groteque characters  sex dreams  oh joy   but what that has to do with anything is anybody  s guess  except to let the director indulge his kinky penchant for erotica . they show this down in the  th circle of hell  one suspects . there  s no real plot  just  goblins  kill   and feeble attempts at humor and a mild attempt to arouse the viewing audience .  
why didn  t the producers give that show a chance of all the junk on tv  why didn  t the producers give six degrees a chance  will the series go on video  i would love to see how it ends . put season one on video and sell it . i was a loyal fan of six degrees and waited for it  s return . i set my recorder to tape all of the shows . thank god for that . i just found out that the show was canceled and i  m heart broken . i wish i knew it was going to be canceled  why didn  t they tell us  i thought the show was just developing some depth in the characters . the writing was pretty good also . steven  campbell scott  is my all time favorite . i am so sorry to see it go   
whether you watch the regular version of this monstrosity or the mst  k version  you can only be impressed by the utter gall that went into this production . the filmmakers insult the viewer  s intelligence from one end to the other and obviously couldn  t care less that they are doing so .  br    br   everything about it is rock  bottom cheap . even the     s car in the flashback sequence to that era looks like it was hauled out of a junkyard .  br    br   the  hobgoblins  are  as you probably know   realized  with badly  crafted hand puppets and stuffed toys when a person is supposed to be attacked by them  it  s clear the toy is being held by the victim to his or her own body . when the critters scurry away from the two security guards  this is shown  or rather  not shown  by the camera aiming up at the guards as they look down and turn their heads as if watching the hobgoblins scurrying past . it  s reminiscent of the scene in the film  tangents  where two people are standing in the ruins of a future world  surveying the wreckage  and we aren  t shown any of it . budget constraints alloyed with utter incompetence generally mean you won  t have anything worth showing  so why try  the  sets  were utterly laughable .  club scum  was an obvious diner the house appears to have been a vacant house   probably for rent or sale   which the production company got hold of for an hour or two to do the shoot . the  spacecraft  is something i would have been ashamed to build when i was a model  making   year  old .  br    br   the motivations of the characters make no sense   kevin gets denigrated by his worthless ingrate of a girlfriend because he hasn  t made her  proud of him .  i  m sure this was intended to make their reconciliation oh so touching at the end  but any guy with real self  respect would have told her to go to hell and left her . nick is supposedly back from  months of army training  yeah  nice regulation haircut  nick   and seems bent on proving that our country is being defended by sadistic  moronic animals who are sex maniacs . kyle is a phone  sex freak in red shorts who dreams of a night with a spandex  clad dominatrix type  but he  s so effeminate that he  s more likely gay than not . one of the girls is a prude and the other is a sleaze .  br    br   and the hobgoblins  at the end they all head back to the vault where they  ve lived for   years . why  who knows  who cares  watch this film and be amazed at how primitive film  making in our modern age can be when you have an idiotic script  incompetent direction  actors who are so bad they  d be rejected from a high school theater production  and sets worthy of edward d . wood  jr .  
this is the best and most original show seen in years . the more i watch it the more i fall in love with it . the cast is excellent  the writing is great . i personally like every character . however  there is a favorite character for everyone as there is a good mix of personalities and backgrounds just like in real life . i believe abc has done a disservice to the writers  actors and to the potential audience of this show  to cancel so quickly and not advertise it enough nor give it a real chance to gain a following . there are so few shows i watch anymore as most tv is awful . this show in my opinion was right up there with my favorites greys anatomy and brothers and sisters . in fact i think the same audience for brothers and sisters would love this show if they even knew about it . why is it always the loser shows that get so much extra time and the winning shows with great potential always get dumped right away . i am so sick of reality shows i do not watch any of them . it was so refreshing to have a new idea for a show and then to hire excellent actors  this show had so much promise . the recent episode was the best one yet as everyone has started to really get into their parts and make the show so real . please watch this show on abc  s video and let abc know you wish to have this show back . please sign the online petition to abc http   www . petitiononline . com  gh      petition . html  
minor spoilers as a bad movie connoisseur i must have viewed hundreds of bad movies and yet  hobgoblins  stands apart from all others in it  s own unique way . classic baddies such as  the creeping terror    the mighty gorga  and  manos  are uniformly bad from start to finish .  hobgoblins  on the other hand  starts off bad and gets progressively worse as it goes . during my first viewing of the infamous rake fight scene i thought to myself that this was a truly bad film . i was blissfully unaware that i had just seen the best that this movie had to offer . the movie takes its most massive nosedive into celluloid hell during the painfully inept  club scum  sequence which is a continuous string of one unfunny joke after another . with just this one film  director rick sloane proves that he deserves mention alongside the likes of coleman francis and bill rebane as one of the worst directors of all time . how bad can a bad movie be  watch  hobgoblins  and wonder no longer .  
so  what  s the reason  is there some sort of vendetta against this awesome show or somebody involved therein  why would the best show i  ve seen in years be canceled  i  m addicted . i saw this show on randomly last fall  and immediately loved it  and watched it every week . then it went away  and i tried to tivo it  but it wasn  t being aired . so i forgot about it for awhile  until i found the episodes on abc  s website . now i want more . i agree with everybody else  with the rest of the junk on tv today  it was refreshing to see something as well  rounded and developed as this . i watch boston legal for my eccentric  comedic fix  and house for my intellectual  mystery  jackass fix . my wife loves grey  s anatomy for its  realism   and i do love  hate the show  but it could not be farther from real for me . way too much drama . everything that can go wrong  does . but for once  there  s a drama that  s really real . real people  real problems . sure  there are some extremes like a former gangster turned good  girl running from the mob  etc .  but these people  especially in nyc  are really out there  and i relate to each and every one of them . i can  t seem to get enough . i just hope that abc will get their heads out of their bean  counting butts and continue this show . get some respect for having a quality drama out there . this could be one of the best shows of all time . if somebody will just let it .  
wow  i just finally managed  after several attempts  to finish watching this god awful movie  only to learn that rick sloane and his production team have completed a straight  to  video sequel this year .  br    br   of all movies reviewed by mst  k   and they truly dig from the bottom of the barrel  screening the reputationally bad  manos    werewolf    the incredibly strange   and the lesser know disasters like  laserblast    zombie nightmare   and  time chasers     this certainly has to be the absolute biggest pile of garbage they  d ever shown  which makes it perfect for riffing  . very simple  the movie is about a bunch of munchies  like gremlins on the loose  exploiting people  s desires for fame  fortune  prowess  and of course  sex in ways that end up with people getting killed . but this is the kind of movie where the acting is so ridiculous  a test of machismo  for example  is illustrated by two guys who battle in the front yard with garden tools   the writing is so forced  such as the oft  described scene of a gremlin hanging on the arm of one girl who would notice it  if only she turned her head a quarter to the left . . . and this isn  t the first time in the movie this happens   and the story is so . . . rarely given attention  hence the mst  k riff about a  law in the future where films have to be made by filmmakers   that you actually root for the furry puppets to kill off everyone on screen . worst movie . . . ever .  
six degrees had me hooked . i looked forward to it coming on and was totally disappointed when men in trees replaced it  s time spot . i thought it was just on hiatus and would be back early in     . what happened  all my friends were really surprised it ended . we could relate to the characters who had real problems . we talked about each episode and had our favorite characters . there wasn  t anybody on the show i didn  t like and felt the acting was superb . i alway like seeing programs being taped in cities where you can identify the local areas . i for one would like to protest the canceling of this show and ask you to bring it back and give it another chance . give it a good time slot  don  t keep moving it from this day to that day and advertise it so people will know it is on .  
for starters   hobgoblins  tries to ape the more successful  gremlins  . that  s bad enough but they don  t even try to make anything that closely resembles a movie here . instead  it  s more like a bargain basement  everything  must  go clearance of embarrassing scenes  inappropriate sound fx  acting as bland as unflavored tapioca and a script that takes everything humans hold sacred in their motion pictures and throws  em down the old tube  aroo .  br    br   the plot  grrrr . . . . meddling kids track down gremlin  like creatures from movie lot before they kill people by projecting their fantasies . sound cool  does it  well  see that wall on the other side of your room  run right at it  top speed  face first . see  that is cooler than this movie .  br    br   you dare to doubt  quick  name something else one of the leads has been in other than this . what other scripts have the writers done since  hobgoblins   name another rick sloane directoral effort . how many  hobgoblins  action figures do you have  see  thank you .  br    br   i cannot believe i took so long to write about such a horrible film . i  d rather write about more important things like the separation of church and state  economic restructuring in europe  that kind of thing . but no   hobgoblins  it is and it is bad  bad like your grandparents  wallpaper  bad as pink flamingos on your lawn  bad like underwear that says  home of the whopper  . . . and i think we  ll stop there .  br    br   well  mike and the robots fight valiantly but try as they might  they can do only so much with  hobgoblins  before they realize that  yes  the director does need kicked in the shin .  br    br   real  real hard .  br    br   one star for  hobgoblins   seven stars for the mst  k version .  
this show was fabulous . it was intricate and well written and all the characters where likable with out being horribly sweet . even jonathan cake the philandering boyfriend was likable . since our airwaves are filled with crap like american idol and dancing with the stars  it was nice to see a drama that was not too soap opera like . it was always intriguing to see how each character would be connected to the next circumstance . it really is annoying that we finally get a show that makes you think a little bit and have it thrown out because of some mysterious number that most of us don  t even pay attention to . some of us are not sheep . this show will be missed maybe not by a lot of people but by some pretty loyal fans .  
there can be no questions of spoilers for this movie  the director beat us all too and spoiled this movie in oh so many ways .  br    br   a blatant rip  off of stuff like critters and gremlins  this movie fails on so many levels to recapture the humour and horror of those better made films . it ends up a sleazy waste of time  where bad actors deliver bad dialogue in front of an idiot director  who occasionally tosses stuffed toys at them . they wrestle with said toys in much the same manner as old tarzan films used to use rubber crocodiles  shaking them whilst screaming and trying their best to make it look slightly threatening . it  s painful to watch  and not helped by the mental    s fashions worn by the cast .  br    br   basically  some crazy little aliens who have been trapped by an aging security guard in a film lot finally get free after umpteen years confinement  and begin to telepathically screw around with peoples minds . the guards new recruit  the idiot who let them out despite repeated warnings  gets his gang of    s friends together and they go off and have minor adventures together while trying to recapture the grem . . . hobgoblins .  br    br   all life is here  with the gang consisting of a knucklehead jock  his    s slut girlfriend  the  hero  s frigid and prissy girlfriend  and the young hero  lacking in confidence and wishing his girlfriend would put out anyway .  br    br   first off comes the infamous rake fighting scene  where the ex  military jock shows how he was trained in the army to be a bully  poking the nerdy hero with the wrong end of a rake for what seems like hours . then there  s some running around  terminating in a real pie  fight style ending in a scuzzy nightclub with comedy hand  grenades blowing up everything except the people standing right next to them . then the film sorta ends  and alls well that ends well .  br    br   it  s not . this is like watching a train wreck  you cant take your eyes off it  it  s so bad . perfect fare for mystery science theater  but god  awful should you try to watch it alone and uncut . the fashion police still have a number of outstanding warrants for the cast  and i dare anyone not to laugh in outright derision at the rake fight . this scores  out of   at most  on a good day .  
i loved this show so much and i  m so incredibly sad its canceled i thought it came back too  but just two stupid weeks . thats terrible . i hate how we never find out how everyone ends up . it sucks . bring it back  abc has stupid shows like supernanny and whatnot but doesn  t give time to good ones like six degrees . if they  re complaining about ratings it was probably because they had a bad slot because this was truly a good show  something i could relate to and anticipated . jj abrams delivered  he  s awesome  i wish abc could just trust him enough to complete the story . i loved the entire cast too . i couldn  t wait to see how everyone would someday meet each other at once . everyone  s story is now left incomplete  now i  ll never know if steven and whitney would get together or carlos and mae . i wanted to see what would happen to laura or damien and everyone else . this is really such a downer .  
how rick sloane was allowed to make five movies is harder to believe than cold fusion . this film is absolutely criminal . before watching this movie i thought manos hands of fate was the worse piece of crap i ever saw  but at least manos moves so slowly you might fall asleep  thereby rescuing your eyes from the pain it will suffer . the greatest tragedy of this movie is that the old man that keeps the hobgoblins  locked  up makes it to the final scene . the time i spent watching this movie was an absolute waste of my life .  
along with  brothers  sisters    six degrees  was one of my favorite new dramas of fall     .  br    br   great cast all around  but really enjoyed the work of campbell scott  the come  back photog  and hope davis  recent widow of journalist killed in iraq  .  br    br   aside from the acting  the writing was fresh and the acting superb . the show was also shot in nyc  the real city  not the warner bros . or some other studio  s backlot  adding a secondary layer or realism .  br    br   i guess people are more interested in the latest  survivor  and other reality garbage . too bad it didn  t last .  
this movie is not just bad  not just corny  it is repulsive . something about daphne  about the creepy call  girl  about the whole damn  and i use the word literally  film radiates a grotesquery that would offend a brothel mistress . this film makes my skin crawl  makes me regret having reproductive organs  and makes me feel unclean .  br    br   one of the things that bothers me most about this movie is that they used such a good concept . a creature that makes fantasies with disastrous results  rather than the clich worst nightmare and the overdone twisted wish  is a truly fascinating film idea .  br    br   thought the reason why hobgoblins need to be killed before day is that they are attracted to bright lights . during the day  bright lights don  t show up well  so they could go anywhere .  br    br   count the hobgoblins four hobgoblins drive out of the film studio  and yet at least nine of the pernicious plush  toys are killed throughout the course of the movie .  br    br   discussion question if you had a frigid  demanding  unappreciative girlfriend  would you enter garden  tool  combat with a military chunkhead  explain .  
before i watched this tv movie i did not know much about one of my favorite actresses . after watching it  i realized how sad lucille ball  s life really was . it had it  s great moments too  but i didn  t realize how sad it was . this movie was very good and told the story of the beloved lucille ball very well . i highly reccommend it .  
hello . i am paul raddick  a . k . a . panic attack of wtaf  channel   in philadelphia . let me tell you about this god awful movie that powered on adam sandler  s film career but was digitized after a short time .  br    br   going overboard is about an aspiring comedian played by sandler who gets a job on a cruise ship and fails . . . or so i thought . sandler encounters babes that like history of the world part  and rebound . the babes were supposed to be engaged  but  actually  they get executed by sawtooth  the meanest cannibal the world has ever known . adam sandler fared bad in going overboard  but fared better in big daddy  billy madison  and jen leone  s favorite    first dates . man  drew barrymore was one hot chick . spanglish is red hot  going overboard ain  t dooley squat  end of file .  
an old family story told to two young girls by their grandfather is brought to life   years later as he foretold .  br    br   people are getting murdered and blood is being spilled and rats are scampering all over and naked bodies are being enjoyed .  br    br   kitty  barbara bouchet  is the suspect  but we know she is not the killer . is it franziska  marina malfatti   is it evelyn back from death for revenge  is it a plot to steal an inheritance  the color is superb in this thriller from emilio miraglia  who only did one other giallo  as far as i know .  br    br   the only thing that spoiled the film was the appearance that several frames were cut out . someone calls the police  and suddenly they are there trying to save kitty .  
i did not like the idea of the female turtle at all since     we knew the tmnt to be four brothers with their teacher splinter and their enemies and each one of the four brothers are named after the great artists name like leonardo  michelangleo  raphel and donatello so venus here doesn  t have any meaning or playing any important part and i believe that the old tmnt series was much more better than that new one which contains venus as a female turtle will not add any action to the story we like the story of the tmnt we knew in     to have new enemies in every part is a good point to have some action but to have a female turtle is a very weak point to have some action  we wish to see more new of tmnt series but just as the same characters we knew in     without that female turtle .  
by the end of the first hour my jaw was nestled comfortably between my feet . the movie never  and i do mean never  lets up in action . it may be mild action but it  s action . once again every member of the cast fits perfectly . the explosions were realistic  the chase scenes were feasible  and the fighting was incredible . matt damon will forever be jason bourne .  br    br   all i really have to say is that every bourne movie gets better and this is no exception . the action  the stakes  the plot . how they do it i will never know . i applaud the man who wrote the screen plays to every one of these movies . because if he hadn  t done such a great job with the first movie  we wouldn  t have this one to talk about .  br    br   so don  t go see it in theaters  go experience it in theaters if it  s still out where you live  but if not december   th bourne comes home to you   
hobgoblins . . . . hobgoblins . . . . where do i begin     br    br   this film gives manos  the hands of fate and future war a run for their money as the worst film ever made . this one is fun to laugh at  where as manos was just painful to watch . hobgoblins will end up in a time capsule somewhere as the perfect movie to describe the term     s cheeze  . the acting  and i am using this term loosely  is atrocious  the hobgoblins are some of the worst puppets you will ever see  and the garden tool fight has to be seen to be believed . the movie was the perfect vehicle for mst  k  and that version is the only way to watch this mess . this movie gives mike and the bots lots of ammunition to pull some of the funniest one  liners they have ever done . if you try to watch this without the help of mike and the bots . . . . . god help you    
last christmas  i was lucky enough to receive one of the     ultimate bourne boxed sets from my better half but put off watching the final part of the trilogy until yesterday . given how many recent trilogies have stumbled over the finishing line instead of striding triumphantly through it  i was somewhat wary of approaching  the bourne ultimatum  but i really shouldn  t have been worried . the electric actions sequences and bruising fight scenes mix effortlessly alongside the intelligent story  lines to make this one of the very best action thrillers i can recall seeing and a sublime end to an excellent series .  br    br   jason bourne  matt damon  returns after an apparent leak about operation blackbriar  a new program based on the old treadstone project  to the journalist simon ross  paddy considine  at the guardian . determined to uncover more about his half  remembered past  bourne picks up the trail once again but others at the cia including deputy director noah vosen  david strathairn  believe that bourne himself is the leak and start to pursue the rogue agent with renewed vigour . can bourne finally find the answers he has been looking for or will his old employers silence him for good   br    br   personally  i felt slightly disappointed with  the bourne supremacy  as it ditched the trademark realism of its action scenes and focused on being a proper spy film . not to say it lost it altogether but compared to the fantastic  bourne identity   it seemed more like a slow  burning spy novel rather than an action  thriller . no such worries here  every car crash  punch  kick and gun shot is heard and felt with visceral delight but thankfully  it still retains a wonderfully intelligent and gripping spy story at its heart to base the action around . it also brilliantly ties together the two earlier films  providing a suitable bookend to the trilogy as things are explained and expanded until the full picture is exposed . performances throughout are nearly faultless  even julia styles begins to offer something more than book  wormy eye  candy . the only real downer is that this  like the other bourne films  has little to do with the original novel but unless you  re a die  hard ludlum fan  this isn  t really any real reason to dislike a movie like this of the very highest calibre .  br    br   nothing pleases me more than a movie that takes me pleasantly by surprise and despite my fears   the bourne ultimtum  is a cracking movie filled with enough bone  crunching action to satisfy the meat  heads as well as a plot that never threatens to let go of your attention for a single minute . even at the final reel  you  re never entirely sure whether a happy ending is assured but whether you are a fan of the series or not  and if not  what more do you want    this is one film you really should track down as soon as you possibly can . no wonder this series forced the producers of the bond movies to throw out forty  odd years of movie history in order to start again . bourne is a modern spy hero and made recent bond films look more like austin powers in comparison until  casino royale  gave the bond series the reboot it desperately needed . missing out of the jason bourne movies is a crime worthy of rendition  go and get yourself a copy of the dvd . not the ultimate bourne collection though  limited edition  i  m afraid   
this rip off of the     hit  gremlins  is quite possibly the biggest train wreck of a movie ever made . even for a  b  grade movie  all other cheap horror movies on the same platform completely dwarf this movie in terms of plot  acting  and goodness .  br    br   it begins with a random old security guard and the younger punky security guard whose name is of no importance . why  because a few minutes into the film he walks into the  forbidden  safe  and is killed whilst living out his fantasy of being a rock star in a cheap pub .  br    br   this is just an appetizer for the scat  filled main course . the main character  kevin  struggles various times to prove himself as more than a total pussy . perhaps he succeeds within the film  but to the audience he proves himself as nothing more than a bad actor . kevin gets himself a job with the old security guard  and is guided through his security shift in the  wait for it  abandoned studio lot . yes why bother making a set when you can just use the studio itself . back to the film . kevin somehow opens the forbidden safe and releases the hobgoblins . the hobgoblins force people to live out their wildest fantasies and then kill them for some reason . they must be returned before sunrise or else . . . or else what  exactly .  br    br   other characters include kevin  s  macho  army friend nick  nick  s  woman  daphne whose character has no more substance than a bitch  slut attitude and prostitute worthy outfits . there is kevin  s manipulative and  reserved  girlfriend amy  whose deepest desire is apparently to be a badly portrayed cher look  alike with fishnet stockings with a pair of blue grandma underpants on top . . don  t ask me how that works . quite possibly the most entertaining character of all is kyle . how such groups of friends are made is up for question . kyle is a perverted creep who can  t go an hour without self  stimulating . his hobbies include calling up sex  chat lines from other people  s houses and most likely sniffing underwear .  br    br   the story unfolds as the heroes search for the hobgoblins knee  high creatures  aka . hand puppets  which  for some reason  attempt to travel no further than the borders of the local neighborhood . each of the characters eventually lives out their wildest fantasy which never has anything to do with having millions of dollars . . . or the film having a big budget .  br    br   warning spoilers ahead the twist at the end of this movie will leave the watcher wondering  what   . the hobgoblins are returned to the safe by . . . their own free will . perhaps they lost patience waiting for sunrise to wreak havoc  or perhaps the story  writers got writer  s cramp and decided not to worry about the ending . upon returning to the safe  the old security guard reveals  what he learned in the military  and detonates explosives which destroys the safe  signaling the end of the evil hobgoblins and the end of this roller coaster ride better fitted to a ride on an escalator .  br    br   the sheer badness of this film is enough to send someone to tears . if you plan to watch it  i recommend a few alcoholic drinks beforehand to take any serious consideration of the film out of mind .  
i saw the the bourne ultimatum last summer with a friend  and  wow  i had already seen the first two films and i liked them  but ultimatum  i loved .  br    br   matt damon plays jason bourne  a amnesia suffering cia agent on the run  trying to discover who he is .  br    br   like i already said  i loved this movie from start to finish  no plot holes  slow scenes  everything was paced just right and it fit in well with the other films  but in all senses it was much better .  br    br   best stunts  car chases  actors  and effects i  ve seen in an action movie all summer   surprisingly due to spider  man   pirates  etc .  but i it wasn  t just action in this film  jason doesn  t just kill and run . he has a soul and the audience feels for him  so drama is included . but that doesn  t slow it down .  br    br   of all the  threequels  that came out last summer  this was the best .  
no matter how you look at this movie  it is just awful .  br    br   if you view it as a horror  then it is an unscary movie with the monsters being hand puppets .  br    br   if you look at it as a comedy  then you will notice most of the humor falls flat and is just lame .  br    br   if it is a romance you will wonder why a guy would stay with such a bch   br    br   if you look at it as an action you can  t really pull for the whiny hero .  br    br   as you can see this movie just fails to deliver anything remotely entertaining . as mentioned the monsters are obvious puppets and this film was another attempt at a gremlins type movie . this however has the worst looking monsters of that genre . critters looked pretty good  so did the ghoulies  heck even the puppets from the munchies looked better than these . the characters in this film are thouroughly unlikable . the hero is a whiney security guard  his girlfriend is always complaining  they have a tramp friend who has a jerk military boyfriend  and another friend who is a spaz . at one point in the movie the hero and the military guy fight with rakes . . . this movie is just utterly stupid . i like the scene when they are in the dreaded club scum  which is obviously not a club  but more likely a diner  and the hero tells the waitress that none of them are   . give me a break  i am   and i look younger than any of them .  
  perhaps we can arrange a meet .   where are you now    i  m sitting in my office .   i doubt that .   why would you doubt that    if you were in your office right now we  d be having this conversation face  to  face .   br    br   bourne remains street tough  and elusive . only his inhuman resilience leads the film a little too far into fantasy . conversation is macho  to the point with only shards of bond type gallows humour . its all about the action .  br    br   the feeling that there is something going on at another level to the world we live in is what the trilogy coveys so well . a scene set in waterloo with a guardian journalist does this to great effect . there is no meeting of worlds  you are in it or just a superfluous body .  br    br   if the shaky cam doesn  t annoy you too much  enjoy this film and hope they somehow keep the franchise going .  
so there  s an old security guard and a guy who dies and then there  s kevin  the world  s biggest wuss . kevin wants to impress his incredibly insensitive  bratty  and virginal girlfriend amy . as he returns from work to . . . a random house . . . he finds his  friends   the sexually confusing red  shorted kyle and the truly revolting sluttish daphne . they are soon joined by daphne  s boyfriend  the trigger  happy sex  crazed macho lunkhead nick . and there  s the title creatures  horrid little dogeared puppets who kill people by giving them their heart  s desire . kyle  s heart  s desire is to mate with a creepy  yucky woman in spandex . nick  s heart  s desire is to throw grenades in a grade school cafeteria   i mean nightclub . kevin  s heart  s desire is to beat up a skinny thug with nunchucks . amy  s heart  s desire is to be a disgusting slut . daphne  s already a disgusting slut  so she doesn  t have a heart  s desire . along the way a truly hideous band sings a truly odd song . the hobgoblins randomly go back to where they came from then blow up .  citizen kane  cannot hold a candle to this true masterpiece of american cinema .  
this movie was excellent . i was not expecting it to live up to all the hype but it did . like all the bourne movies the action is fast paced  realistic and intense . if you liked the other two movies in the trilogy you will love this one also . the movie  s plot is straightforward and there are no plot twists that are too unrealistic . ok  julia stiles character showing up in the italian safe house was kind of far  fetched especially after what happened in supremacy but it makes sense that she is the only character in  treadstone  that bourne knows  that does not want him dead and he could possibly trust and the only person to lead him in the right direction . the action is driven by characters and their reactions to what is happening all around them . the thing that i always loved about the bourne movies is that bourne can kick butt but when matched with people as good as he is the fights are struggles and he takes a lot of damage in them . they never treat the audience like idiots .  br    br   all the actors were solid in their performances . i believe that damon could play bourne in his sleep and receives excellent support from joan allen reprising her role from supremacy  david strathairn and scott glenn . i recommend this film and the trilogy . i do miss franka potente though .  
i have done quite a few reviews on imdb and this film is unique in that i never saw the entire movie . it was so terribly stupid and unfunny that i just couldn  t sit through it   though i tried .  br    br   the biggest problem with this and any mel brooks movie i call  the mel quotient  . in other words  the better his movie  the less of him you see in the film . think about it   the producers and young frankenstein were great films and he was barely in them at all . but  films like life stinks and space balls are chock full of mel and are pretty dopey movies  yes  i did not like space balls   but this isn  t the place to talk about that  .  br    br   second  apart from cancer  rectal itch and mental retardation  i can  t think of a less funny topic than homelessness . this is just a comedy breaker . think about it  folks . the funniest    scene in the movie has mel making whoopee with leslie ann warren in a dumpster   and this is funny in what way   
the bourne ultimatum is the third and final outing for super  spy jason bourne  a man who is out to kill the people who made him into a killer . the bourne series is one of the highest regarded trilogies by critics  ultimatum has an       on metacritic . com  meaning it  s status is  universal acclaim  and for good reason  the fighting is choreographed very well and the deep story can be very engrossing .  br    br   first  i highly advise you watch the bourne identity and the bourne supremacy  the two fancy  titled prequels to ultimatum . there may be three different movies  but in reality they are all a continuance of one another missing one leaves you stranded and confused  just like i was . you will still be about to enjoy the action and fight scenes of ultimatum if you missed the first two  but then the story will definitely lead to some confusion .  br    br   if you were lucky enough to view the prequels to this movie  you probably had a treat watching bourne take down his enemies and track down the man who screwed him from supremacy . jason bourne is played very well by mattdamon . damon does nothing to deserve an oscar nod  but his work here is good enough to hold it  s own . bourne  s adventures take place in many different cities the cities are all varied enough to keep the movie from becoming bland at times . the agency tracking bourne takes advantage of every technological tool known to mankind to track him down .  br    br   i won  t go into detail on the characters because they are continuations off of the first two movies . however  it wouldn  t hurt the movie to spell a few things out for the audience  not every viewer is a die  hard movie watcher who can pick up on every little hint about story development . ultimatum wouldn  t have been harmed at all if the story was a little more up front .  br    br   it seems most people agree that ultimatum was a success of a film the movie opened to    million  and  box office total now is up to     mil  is currently still going very strongly for a movie that has been in theatres since august  . it  s the best action movie i  ve seen since live free or die hard .  br    br   good  damon is solid but not spectacular  very smart movie bad  story is like many others  
i can  t believe how anyone can make a comedy about an issue such as homelessness . of course  brooks has not made a comedy about  real  homeless people . no mention of drugs  prostitution or violence on these streets . the people we meet in this movie are homeless in fantasy land so the only difference between them and us is that they don  t eat quite as often . brooks  movies have become worse and worse over the years . this is just another nail in the coffin .  
having not seen the films before  and not being able to stand matt damon   i was reluctant to go see the bourne ultimatum when we were asked to see it for as film studies .  br    br   however  i was pleasantly surprised that even a film with damon in it could be enjoyable .  br    br   fast fight scenes  crazy motorbike chases and big explosions were what threw you out of your seat in tbu . the near  misses between the cia and bourne kept you on your toes and throughly entertained .  br    br   nevertheless  several things really grated my cheese .  br    br   firstly  the fact that the film was just a series of bourne  cia  bourne  cia  bourne  cia . this sequence got repetitive and ultimately dull . although damon did keep us entertained and seemed always one step ahead of the cia  i was getting a bit annoyed with the constant survival of bourne . he crashed a car and got out as if he had tapped it or something  very unrealistic .  br    br   and secondly  inevitably   the shaky camera . it was so shaky it was completely noticeable and made me and everyone who went to see it in my class  even the tutors  seasick . we were told by the tutors that if we ever used that in a film we made in class  it would automatically be wrong and we would be told to use a tripod . fair enough if greengrass wanted it to look like we were there watching damon and stiles holding a conversation  but surely we wouldn  t be shaking our heads that violently   br    br   but all in all tbu is an enjoyable film and worth a watch . but i didn  t think it was the best film of the year  despite being an entertaining piece of cinema .  br    br       .  
whenever i make up a list of the absolute worst movies i  ve ever seen  this movie is always on it . it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever . it took an act of will to sit through the whole thing  and i would sooner spill my own blood than have to sit through it again .  br    br   what  s wrong with it  let me tell you the story of my trip to go see it in the theater .  br    br   i went to a midnight show  on a saturday night . i the only ones in the theater were myself  and a bunch of loud  boisterous  rather unruly teenagers  sitting somewhere behind me . they were obviously out having a good time on a saturday night  and had come to this  comedy  for some laughs . before the movie starts  during the previews  they were laughing and joking and making loud comments having a grand old time . it was borderline annoying had they continued their unbridled enthusiasm into the actual movie  i might  ve said something  but i was feeling tolerant and empathetic of their spirited fun  so i let it go . and they did settle down once the movie started .  br    br   why am i telling you all this  because you can judge this alleged  comedy  by the effect it had not just on myself  but on this rowdy bunch .  br    br   during the entire run of the film  not one person in the theater laughed . not once . not myself  not the boisterous kids . absolute silence  aside from the soundtrack . and when the film was over and the lights came on  we all  all of us  slowly filed out of the theater in slow  somber  absolute silence . it could  ve been a funeral .  br    br   this was the effect that this  comedy  produced . not laughter  not enjoyment  but absolute depression . it was a depressing  depressing movie  and not the tiniest bit funny . preachy  self  indulgent  depressing  but not funny .  br    br   i consider mel brooks   blazing saddles  to be on the short list for funniest movie ever . it still absolutely blows my mind that the same gentleman could be responsible for quite probably the least funny movie ever .  br    br   in short if you  re feeling too happy  give this movie a whirl otherwise  don  t say i didn  t warn you .  
picking up right after the moscow  showdown of supremacy  this is bourne  s greatest adventure and his final climax . throughout the tight      min  runtime the movie takes bourne from russia to madrid  paris  marocco and ultimately new york . damon is every inch of the hard  trained killer robert ludlum imagined  he is the most deadly spy in the movies right now  and it  s the underpinned emotions to his character that makes him so believable  and it  s exactly the fine way damon manages to combine these two polar  opposites of himself that  s so breathtaking . in this third  bourne is on a mission to save his soul and while watching it  ultimatum delivers such an high  octane performance that you  ll find yourself sweating and gasping over its truly powerful branch of ideas and pull  offs just look out for two great car  chases and a fight  scene as realistic as bond vs . shaw back in    . director greengrass has surpassed himself with this compelling thriller and this is probably as exciting as cinema thrillers get a true pay  off to bourne fans and a new breed of spy  thriller standard .  
woody allen made  september   proving that even a genius could screw up . this is mel brook  s  september  . monumentally stupid  boring  and unfunny  i must confess i did not watch it through to the end . the flick ranks among the dishonored few  e . g .   the money pit    out to sea    spitfire grill   which either put me to sleep or forced me to reach for the  rewind  button . and i say this  sadly  as a devoted mel brooks fan . he should stick to straight comedy and leave social commentary alone . how the same fellow that made  young frankenstein  and  spaceballs  could crank out a dog like this is beyond me . to be avoided at all costs .  
this installment very much makes the cia look like a very foolish organization . in reality  perhaps they are . after all  the way the plot goes on this it very much looks like one man has the power to sanction killing everyone including his own people in order to kill jason bourne .  br    br   matt damon does a very credible job as bourne trying to stay one step ahead of being killed the entire film . he is still trying to remember who he was  how he has gotten where he is . he gets help from a couple of folks  it seems like every minute of the film  somebody is trying to kill him .  br    br   there is little time for rest in this film  the action sequences seem very very real . there are a lot of chase sequences filmed with the shaky cam which in a way add to the realism  make it seem less hollywood than many pictures . these sequences add realism to the film in feeling .  br    br   the suspense in some of the sequences is brilliantly done as you wonder if someone is going to die or if bourne can head them off . this is the kind of action suspense you go to see when you want to be entertained  i am sure this one will lead to the next film in the series .  
another chapter in the ongoing question  whatever happened to mel brooks  s sense of humor  it starts out nicely enough  with mel as trump  like mogul goddard bolt   you can call me god    who accepts a bet that he can  t live on the streets for   days . but the moment the movie hits the streets  it turns into a pathos  laden mess  with occasional  funny  bits interjected  mel sees a black kid break  dancing for money and tries to do a vaudeville buck  and  wing  yuk  yuk  . leslie ann warren is nothing short of wasted . the worst part is this movie  s musical number  in which brooks and warren do a silent dance to cole porter  s  easy to love .  brooks  s musical parodies are usually the highlights of his movies here he plays the whole thing straight  like a dancing excerpt from an aging guest star on  the carol burnett show   on which rudy deluca  this film  s co  writer  began his career  . go rent charlie chaplin  s the kid  which covered the same ground   years before and did a lot  
the third and last film of this trilogy is finally crystal clear . it is a political film more than a plain entertainment . jason bourne will finally know who he was and he will discover and remember the tortures he was submitted to in order to kill his old identity he really killed some one who became his corpse . but the film is finally revealing that all this had been organized and planned by the cia within a blackfriars program that is also clearly revealed in this film as aiming at eliminating all american citizens who tried to prevent the control of the whole society by an established and limited group of people . who was one essential officer of the cia up to      when he became vice president  that goes along with what is being said on the internet . then the truth will come thanks to jason bourne himself but the main person who will be able to bring that truth to the public and the only authority that can take a decision concerning the cia is a woman and that woman gets the senate involved in a general investigation . a woman and the senate read my lips . in the usa politics are fought in the media and two media are essential for any presidential campaign it is music and the cinema . right now hollywood and beyond the intelligentsia  academia and intellectuals are using the cinema in general  and this film in particular  to build up the idea in the public that salvation will come from a woman and from the senate . so go and watch the film . it is pretty entertaining and it has the sweet fragrance of the end of a period and of the great change some are expecting and others are waiting for  but no one is able to pretend it won  t come the only point is to know how deep and serious it will be .  br    br   dr jacques coulardeau  university paris dauphine  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  university versailles saint quentin en yvelines  
this movie wasn  t awful but it wasn  t very good . i am a big fan toni collette i think she is a very beautiful and talented actress . the movie starts off about robin williams who is a writer and gets a book from a   year old kid . the book is great and he cant  t believe a kid wrote it . toni collette plays the kids guardian who you don  t know if this kid really exists or if she  s making it all up . i am not gonna ruin the movie but i will say this the movie is not scary .  br    br   the acting is pretty good and toni collette  s performance was awesome as well as robin williams .  br    br   the movie was a huge disappointment in my opinion i would wait for it to come to dvd .  
dramatic license  some hate it  though it is necessary in retelling any life story . in the case of  lucy   the main points of lucille ball  s teenage years  early career and   year marriage to desi arnaz are all included  albeit in a truncated and reworked way .  br    br   the main emotional points of lucy  s life are made clear lucille  s struggle to find her niche as an actress  finally blossoming into the brilliant comedienne who made the character lucy ricardo a legend her turbulent  romantic and ultimately impossible marriage to desi arnaz lucy  desi creating the first television empire and forever securing their place in history as tv  s most memorable sitcom couple .  br    br   as lucille ball  rachel york does a commendable job . do not expect to see quite the same miraculous transformation like the one judy davis made when playing judy garland  but york makes ball strong  willed yet likable  and is very funny in her own right . even though her comedic  timing is different than lucy  s  she is still believable . the film never goes into much detail about her perfectionistic behaviour on the set  and her mistreatment of vivian vance during the early  i love lucy  years  but watching york portray lucy rehearsing privately is a nice inclusion .  br    br   daniel pino is thinner and less charismatic than the real desi was  but he does have his own charm and does a mostly decent job with desi  s accent  especially in the opening scene . madeline zima was decent  if not overly memorable  as the teen  aged lucy .  br    br   vivian vance and william frawley were not featured much  thankfully  since rebecca hobbs and russell newman were not very convincing in the roles . not that they aren  t good actors in their own right  they just were not all that suited to the people they were playing . most of the actors were from austrailia and new zeland  and the repressed accents are detectable at times .  br    br   although the main structure of the film sticks to historical fact  there are many deviations  some for seemingly inexplicable reasons . jess oppenheimer  the head writer of lucy  s radio show  my favourite husband  which began in      is depicted in this film as arriving on the scene to help with  i love lucy  in      completely disregarding the fact that he was the main creator  this movie also depicts marc daniels as being the main  i love lucy  director for its entire run  completely ignoring the fact that he was replaced by william asher after the first season  also  though i figure this was due to budgetary constraints  the ricardo  s are shown to live in the same apartment for their entire stay in new york  when in reality they changed apartments in     . the kitchen set is slightly larger and off  scale from the original as well . the connecticut home looks pretty close to the original  except the right and left sides of the house have been condensed and restructured .  br    br   there  s also desi talking about buying rko in      during lucy  s red  scare incident  even though rko did not hit the market until     . these changes well could have been for dramatic license  and the film does work at conveying the main facts  but would it have hurt them to show a bit more respect to oppenheimer and asher  two vital figures in  i love lucy  history  the biggest gaff comes in the  i love lucy  recreation scenes  at least a few of them . it  s always risky recreating something that is captured on film and has been seen by billions of people  but even more so when obvious changes are made . the scene with the giant bread loaf was truncated  and anyone at all familiar with that episode would have noticed the differences right away  the  we  re having a baby  number was shortened as well  but other than that it was practically dead on . by far the best was the  grape  stomping  scene  with rachel york really nailing lucy  s mannerisms . the producers made the wise decision not to attempt directly recreating the  vitametavegamin  and candy factory bits  instead showing the actors rehearse them . these scenes proved effective because of that approach .  br    br   the film  s main fault is that it makes the assumption the viewers already know a great deal about lucy  s life  since much is skimmed over or omitted at all . overall  though  it gives a decent portrait of lucy  desi  s marriage  and the factual errors can be overlooked when the character development works effectively .  
i had never heard of this adam sandler movie until i saw it on the wall at blockbuster . being an adam sandler fan at the time  i rented it . honestly i could only watch about   mins . of it . it was terrible . do whatever it takes to keep this out of the hands of the public . i honestly hope this movie goes oop soon  and i hope it stays that way   
the third and last part of the bourne trilogy  duh   is lacking a bit in the story department  but covers it with extensive action scenes  twi in particular take up quite some of the running time and make this movie better .  br    br   the director and star  damon  themselves agreed that it was difficult to find a story for the last part  because the end of the second movie was quite . . . advanced story  wise . how they got around that  the action scenes  for once  but they did another thing too  which i can  t reveal  because that would be a spoiler . but if you watch the movie  than you  ll notice it  funnily enough i read  that this adaptation of the bourne books is the least accurate of all three films . . if that means anything to you o   
i usually come on this website prior to going to the movies  as i like to see what other people think of the movie . i read many reviews which said  thriller not a horror movie  . this prompted me to give this film a try . i really must take issue with these  thriller  horror  statements  as it was neither  i almost went and asked for my money back  and if you lot of reviewers enjoyed this rubbish . . . . well you must be easily pleased  at the end of the movie  the people behind me said out loud  what a waste of time  and i turned to them and replied  i couldn  t have summed it up better  . i kept waiting for something to happen . . . but it didn  t . there was the potential for a lot of good scares  or thrills if you like  but none happened . williams acted the part quite well but i felt he was short changed by a poor script which dithered around and went nowhere . save your money folks  this is a turkey which will be featuring at a dvd store  bargain box  near you in the very foreseeable future   
he now has a name  an identity  some memories and a a lost girlfriend . all he wanted was to disappear  but still  they traced him and destroyed the world he hardly built . now he wants some explanation  and to get ride of the people how made him what he is . yeah  jason bourne is back  and this time  he  s here with a vengeance .  br    br   ok  this movie doesn  t have the most elaborated script in the world  but its thematics are very clever and ask some serious questions about our society . of course  like every hollywoodian movie since the end of the    s   the bourne suprematy  is a super  heroes story . jason bourne is a captain  america project  like  who  s gone completely wrong . in the first movie  the hero discovered his abilities and he accepted them in the second one . he now fights against what he considers like evil  after a person close to him has been killed  his girlfriend in  suprematy   by them . that  s all a part of the super  hero story  including a character with  realistic but still impressive  he almost invincible  super powers .  br    br   and the interesting point is that the evil he fights all across the world  there  s no frontiers in the bourne  s movies  characters are going from one continent to another in the blink of an eye   is  as in the best seasons of      an american enemy  who  s beliefs that he fight for the good of his country completely blinds him . funny how  mad patriots  are now the n .  enemies of paranoiac hollywood  s stories .  br    br   beside all those interesting thematics  the movie isn  t flawless  the feminine character of nickie parson is for now on completely useless and the direction is quite unoriginal when it comes to dialogs scenes . but all that doesn  t really matter  for  the bourne ultimatum  is an action movie . and the action scenes are rather impressive .  br    br   everyone here is talking about the  waterloo scene  and the  tanger pursuit  and everyone  s right . i particularly enjoyed the fight in tanger  that reminds my in its exaggeration and craziness the works of tsui hark . visually inventive scenes  lots of intelligent action parts and a good reflection on american  s contemporary thematics   the bourne ultimatum  is definitely the best movie of the series and a very interesting and original action flick .  
i would have rated this film a minus   but sadly it is not offered .  br    br   why i didn  t walk out in the first five minutes of this movie i cannot say . i should have gone with my instinct and left immediately   several people in our theater did and sadly i didn  t follow them out .  br    br   the story lacked all criteria for a movie . no plot . awful acting  even robin williams was so disappointing that i may never see another film he is in . not a single relationship in the story went beyond parlor talk . i did like the tazer scene . too bad it didn  t shock some meat into the senselessness of the plot . someone needs to tazer the writer and director of this film   
i watched both bourne identity and bourne supremacy on dvd before seeing this in the theater . i  d been waiting for this since before they started filming . i wasn  t disappointed .  br    br   minor spoilers below   br    br   overall it was good  but it also lacked the continuity of the first two . identity and supremacy both flowed gracefully between adrenaline rush action to introspective drama . this movie felt choppy at times . the plot  building down  times were slightly too drawn out . that caused the following action to feel too frenetic .  br    br   camera speaking of frenetic  the trademark greengrass shaky cam was present and very annoying to me . i know its has been talked  whined about to nausea on the message board  but it doesn  t mean it  s not relevant . all the martial arts training the actors went through was totally wasted . the ridiculous camera cuts and wiggling camera ruined most of the fighting in the movie . it is a cheap  student director trick to make the film feel unsettled . i  d expect those techniques to be used in some horror flick made for high school kids  but not in this classy  adult  action series . too much extreme close  up also . do some framing . get some interesting shots . constant close  up feels like lazy directing to me .  br    br   story the story was very confusing at first . they thrust new names and faces upon you from the get go . gave me the feeling that you get when you come into a movie late and know you  ve missed some crucial information . felt rushed or compressed for time reasons . after you catch up however the story is quite good . it  s enjoyable following leads along with bourne . however  i did not care for the whole last scene of supremacy  landy  bourne on the phone  being in the middle of ultimatum thing . it basically makes the movie a half  prequel . i thought that was awkward .  br    br   cast  characters the star of the movie is the action . obviously there are only two originals left . bourne and nicky parsons . them teaming up was kind of odd to me . i think they just wanted to give bourne someone to protect to and confide in . unless i completely missed something  they never even tell you why they teamed up . the other assassins in the movie were pretty quiet . this felt like gilroy  greengrass  whoever wanting to not leave open ends . understandable but disappointing . seriously  damon with clive owen in identity and marton csokas in supremacy . . those scenes were phenomenal . these assassins are as uninteresting as castel  the first fella bourne fights in identity  . the cast in general has degraded as the the series went on . clive owen was practically an afterthought . that  s a measure of strength for that first cast . the second  they basically trade chris cooper for joan allen . . . . not exactly equal . this one trades brian cox and franka potente for  actors to be named later . nothing against david strathairn  scott glenn  or albert finney  but they  re not the first names that come to mind for this kind of series . aside from a couple pauses that seemed to long  the acting was right on .  br    br   as a whole  it was successful . felt like they wanted to get the series over with though . if they would have trimmed or rearranged the slower parts  eliminated scott glenn  s part entirely  zoomed out  and taken the camera away from the seizure victim  it would have been perfect .  br    br   ending spoiler  br    br   i don  t see why they leave bourne alive at the end . it was my understanding this was the conclusion . they clearly made reference to the very beginning of the series with his silhouette floating motionless . i thought that was going to be it . a full circle type of ending . i did like nicky reacting to the news report though .  br    br   spoiler specifics warning  quote from movie below   br    br   bourne  s last line at the end  look at this . . look at what they make you give .  quoting the first assassin he killed  i loved that . the final scene was great .  except that it was vosen strathairn that shot at bourne . why would he do that  just out for vengeance  if he was angry enough to murder  why not shoot pamela landy after she faxes his top secret file  that didn  t make sense .   
let me start out by saying i will try not to put too many spoilers in this . normally i enjoy robin williams movies  however this gem was not one of them . it was billed as a suspenseful thriller . the night listener was anything but . to be blunt there were  people in the theater opening day   walked out  for good reason . the movie was in my opinion poorly written and directed . the acting was alright but again there wasn  t anything to work with . the movie is about a storyteller who reads a good book by a dying kid . however insert spooky here no one can verify the kids existence . so williams goes to wisconsin to try and find the author  however all he gets is a headache and excuses from the boys caretaker . there thats it  thats all . you wait for about an hour and a half and movie ends . it had as many thrills and chills as a dentist office visit . the homosexual undertones  or overtones had really nothing to do with the story  and the movie had a little profanity but it seemed to be thrown in there for absolutely no reason and made little sense . in conclusion i really can  t write a decent review on this film because there was nothing to it  it was as captivating as watching paint dry . i gave it a  because the acting for what it was worth was alright and it wasn  t directed by uwe boll .  
the bourne ultimatum  jason bourne  matt damon in his best role ever   the newest spy kid on the block  brings his quest for his identity to a close as he also seeks to end the cia  s latest program  blackbriar  to make super assassins like himself .  br    br   i was so psyched for this one that i watched it  s predecessors yesterday and today . identity was as brilliant as i recall and supremacy remains the weak  but still enjoyable  link in the chain for the weakest plot and  aside from a car chase which this film  s chase easily tops  slight lacking in action and suspense .  br    br   hoo boy  does ultimatum have suspense  even when you know bourne will escape the authorities  and boy do these films spotlight the police as inept   it  s still brilliant watching him do it . it  s mind  boggling to think that two guys with handguns and mopeds can create   x more suspense than anything those     million giant robots did in transformers .  br    br   chalk it up to paul greengrass  who has this idiosyncratic style of shooting stedicam a la documentary  even though he  s filming characters that are far from ordinary  in places like cia headquarters where no one within   miles would be allowed with a camcorder . he seemed to listen to my various complaints with supremacy  as the action in ultimatum is nothing less than awe  inspiring  with various implements used as weapons being a candlestick  a hardcover book  i  ll never look at those the same way again  and an electric fan  don  t ask  . the music also helped generate much suspense  and there was hardly ever a moment to not nail  bite over .  br    br   the acting is good  and the evolution of julia stiles  character  nicky  put her situation into a new highly sympathetic light . damon plays his signature role with reserve but competency  which sounds minor but that it genuinely looks like matt damon could evade the cia and interpol is something   but noticeable moments of poignancy as he still struggles to find his humanity . this longing of his for a real life could get boring  and almost did in supremacy  but just works better in ultimatum  better script  .  br    br   i am reminded of a scene in  goldeneye   the only good pierce brosnan bond film  in which sean bean  s character asks james if the martinis ever silence the screams of all the men he  s killed . bourne regrets all the people he killed  and he considers  or at least made me consider  the meaning of action without purpose  life without meaning  and how the government has transformed men into resources . albeit  resources that know krav maga and can make weapons out of anything .  br    br   sidenote it  s always bothered me that  despite being a superspy and hunted by the cia  interpol  and the police nearly anywhere he goes  that bourne never thought to make even the smallest attempts to disguise his features or forge some new passports . sunglasses maybe   br    br   if you have a pulse and love action movies  than bourne ultimatum is for you . hell  it  s probably the best action film to come out this year . of course  you  d be a fool to see it without watching the others first . it kind of drags a touch near the end  but i almost feel tempted to overlook that . this is the first    movie this summer to at least match  if not exceed  the original and that is saying something .  br    br   a   
this movie is a mess . i  m surprised it even has a theatrical release . without robin williams it would have gone straight to video . it is poorly written . it is poorly directed . it  s worse offense is that it has taken an interesting topic and reduced it to a ridiculous and boring thriller that has no thrills and no suspense and no inner or emotional logic . especially after the first half hour the movie dovetails into a series of ridiculous set pieces that are so over the top that the audience i saw it with was laughing at it . save your money . the trailer is totally misleading  it is not suspenseful and there are no thrills  in fact the movie  s truly worst offense is that it is simply boring .  
im going to keep this fairly brief as to not spoil anything for you . this movie is awesome . from beginning to end  it is filled with genuine thrills . the fight scenes are fantastic  the chase scenes are enthralling  and it moves at such a pace that it really only felt slow toward the end when things are explained  but that is only because everything that preceded it . damon shines and really has proved a very solid actor  daring you not to believe him in this role . he is this role . a welcome addition to the series in david straithrain  hope i spelled that close to right  as a seedy cia agent out to kill bourne . this is non stop and will truly leave you on the edge of your seat for most of the way . some things toward the end are just a smidgeon preposterous  thus negating a   rating . the ending is left open for sequels and i sure hope that they consider doing more of these  for none have been bad . excellent film all in all and a fantastic ending to an amazing trilogy .  br    br   p . s . the shaky cam did not hurt any of the action  but i still think we could do without it . the good news is  you only really notice it when people are talking and not so much the action .  
trying to compare or represent this  swill  as anything  hitchcockian  is an out  n  out attempt to mislead hitchcock fans to waste   on this movie . . . weak acting weak story weak script .  br    br   no real suspense  no thrills . you wait all through the weakness of this movie for the big payoff or even any payoff . . . you  re left thinking  what the heck was that all about .  br    br   and please  enough with the movement to make  alternative lifestyles  hip and politically correct   . . . i can  t recommend this to anyone . . . did i mention how weak the acting is  williams did a better job as peter pan and  mork  . but those were much more innocent times . . . . . . . . . . .  
first and foremost  speaking as no fan of the genre   the bourne ultimatum  is a breathtaking  virtuoso  superb action movie .  br    br   secondly  it is a silly malarky of cartoonish super  hero stuff .  br    br   thirdly  the film carries a complex  important point  about crime  fighters turning into criminals themselves . no reference is made to abu ghraib or the executive branch  s outrageous domestic assaults on constitutional rights  none is necessary .  br    br   so  the latest in the  bourne  series  in the hands of paul greengrass  of the      bourne supremacy  and last year  s  united      is a significant achievement  perhaps held back but not actually diminished by the unavoidable excesses of the genre .  br    br    breathtaking  above is meant both as a complimentary adjective and a description of the physical sensation for more than an hour from the first frame  the viewer seemingly holds his breath  pushed back against the chair by the force of relentless  globe  trotting  utterly suspenseful action . there is no letup  no variation in the rhythm and pull of the film  and yet it never becomes monotonous and tiresome the way some kindred music videos do after just a couple of minutes .  br    br   oliver wood  s in  your  face cinematography is making the best of tony gilroy  s screenplay from robert ludlum  s     novel  which doesn  t stack up well against the  bourne identity   written a decade earlier  .  br    br   matt damon is once again the inevitable  irreplaceable bourne  the deadliest of fantasy cia agents  this time taking on the entire agency in search of his identity  his past  and the mysterious agency program that has turned him into a killing machine . nothing like his quietly heroic edward r . murrow  the always  marvelous david strathairn is the nasty top agency official  pitched against bourne in trying to hide some illegal  take  no  prisoners  policies and brutal procedures .  br    br   joan allen plays what appears to be the good cop against strathairn  s bad one . and  there is julia stiles as the agent once again coming to bourne  s aid a combination of greengrass  direction and stiles acting results in a surprising impact by a mostly silent character  her lack of communication and blank expression more intriguing than miles of dialogue .  br    br   so good is  the bourne ultimatum  that it gets away with the old one  man  against  the  world bit  this time stretched to ridiculous excesses  as bourne defies constraints of geography  time  gravity . . . and physics in general .  can you fly backwards with a car from the top of a building  why not  it looks great .   br    br   all this  real  world  magic  leaping from country to country in seconds  to arrive at some unknown location exactly as  when  and how needed  outdoes special  effect and superhero cartoon improbabilities . and yet  only a clueless pedant would allow  facts  interfere with the entertainment  based ecstasy of the bourne fantasy .  
i rarely write a negative review for this site  but this time felt complied to . night listener is without doubt one of the dullest films i have ever seen .  br    br   there was nothing happening in this film what so ever  i didn  t care for any of the characters  didn  t buy in to the whole mystery type plot  didn  t care how it ended . . . . nothing .  br    br   there is no comedy  no action  no thrills  no suspense  nothing . the highlights include  no spoilers  there  s nothing to spoil   a man climbing through a window  a dog barking outside a hotel room  a car going over some rough ground and a truck beeping it  s horn .  br    br   i really enjoyed  one hour photo  and hoped for a similar eerie role from williams  but alas was sorely let down . what  s more disappointing is that i  m sure there is a good film in there somewhere  the idea was interesting and i should have felt sympathy for the characters  but it just didn  t work for me .  br    br   i might even have given it     but that score is reserved for the remake of the producers  
the final installment in the action thriller franchise is just that probably the hardest hitting of the three films . it goes further to play the anti  bond theme . bourne doesn  t like what he is doing and wants to know about his blurry past . everything about this film hits it on the nail from the cinematography to choreography  stunt work to the script to acting .  br    br   the film starts out in a flurry as bourne is running from the moscow police . the story seems to pick up right where the first film left off . or does it  the time is a little muddled here  but we get the fact that bourne is remembering things . a sudden flashback while trying to clean himself up nearly gets him caught  but he makes it and doesn  t kill anyone . they aren  t his target . from there we get more of the intrigue of his past with a new player  noah vosen  who seems to know everything about bourne and will protect it at all costs . pamela landy is back as well as nicky parsons who seems to have a past with bourne as well .  br    br   the cinematography is in your face following tight on practically everything . the car chase is even more intense if that seems possible than the ones from the first two . and the veteran cast chasing bourne is superb with a nice part by albert finney . it also has slight political overtones in relationship to rendition and other government policies  but that is minor and integrated very well within the plot . all in all this is the best of the trilogy conclusions this year  if not the best action trilogy ever .  
most of what has been said about the negative aspects of the film hold true .  br    br   but . . . . if i have to sit through a movie were the  br    br   director  br    br   director of photography  br    br   editor  br    br   can  t even miss the darn microphone boom popping in and out of the movie for almost every chapter of the movie  how can i enjoy and concentrate on the story as well as believe in the darn thing when i  m reminded of the technicalities of making a movie         br    br   wait for the dvd or don  t bother  
i will begin by saying i am very pleased with this climax of the bourne trilogy . please  oh please don  t ruin it by doing a sequel years from now or a prequel . just leave it alone . right . . moving on . as talented and versatile as matt damon is . . . it seems as though he was just meant to play jason bourne .  br    br   if you are a fan of the first two bourne movies  you will not be disappointed by the third installment . it sticks to what works and adds a little more . i was very pleased to see how well all the information we obtain in  identity  and  supremacy  all mesh in  ultimatum  to finally paint the full picture of jason bourne  s troubled past . the action sequences are fast paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat . the fights between bourne and the assassins are always fun to watch . i have always been a fan of movies surrounding cia agents and how the cia gather their intel and this movie is right up that street  making it even more exciting for me .  br    br   if you choose to watch the bourne ultimatum without watching the previous  installments . . you will still thoroughly enjoy the movie but i would still recommend you watch them first . this would allow you to fully understand the character jason bourne and become attached and be a part of his world . this allows you to appreciate and enjoy the movie even more . i  m not sure which is the better of the first  but i personally think  ultimatum  might  just might  have the edge when comparing the trilogy .  
my husband is a huge robin williams fan . i like him too  but have generally found that he should  stick to what he does best  and focus on comedic roles . my thoughts were confirmed with this movie . i was completely bored throughout the entire film . the story was predictable . i realize it was inspired by a true story . but  my guess is that there could have been some suspense or intrigue even while maintaining truth in the story . none of the characters were well developed . there was a side story about the main character and his partner . this relationship could have been explored further . more important  though  would have been a deeper exploration of the mother of the  boy  . her psychological profile would have been interesting to delve into . she obviously has a long history that was not touched upon except in the most superficial way . if my husband wasn  t such a huge williams fan  we would have left   minutes into it . too bad i can  t get my    or  hours back .  
having not seen the previous two in the trilogy of bourne movies  i was a little reluctant to watch the bourne ultimatum .  br    br   however it was a very thrilling experience and i didn  t have the problem of not understanding what was happening due to not seeing the first two films . each part of the story was easy to understand and i fell in love with the bourne ultimatum before it had reached the interval  i don  t think i have ever watched such an exquisitely made  and gripping film  especially an action film . since i usually shy away from action and thriller type movies  this was such great news to me . ultimatum is one of the most enthralling films  it grabs your attention from the first second till the last minute before the credits roll .  br    br   matt damon was simply fantastic as his role as jason bourne . i  ve heard a lot about his great performances in the bourne     and now  this fabulous actor has one more to add to his list . i look forward to seeing more of his movies in the future .  br    br   the stunts were handled with style  each one was done brilliantly and i was just shocked by the impressiveness of this movie . well done .  
i felt that the movie was dry . . . very disappointing no plot . . kept waited for something to happened and nothing did dry as a bone . . a wast of money . . one of robins williams worst films . . if you don  t believe me wait a few months it will be out on dvd because that seems to be a pattern for movies that don  t do well in the theaters are out as rentals before the year is over . . . this is one you will not want to see or say why did i spend my money on that  . plus for it being such a new movie there were only  people in the watching it . . . . this was on a friday night the     showing . i also felt that it needed some more excitement or something to keep us awake . when they characters spoke in the movie the voices were also very low you could not hear what they were saying . .  
  the bourne ultimatum  begins recklessly mid  chase and in pulse  pounding fashion explodes from there as jason bourne  matt damon  absolutely superb  tracks down the masterminds behind the cia black  ops that turned him into the perfect killer in a final attempt to learn his true identity . a devastatingly icy david strathairn as the  man behind the curtain  is added to the returning cast of regulars including joan allen  excellent  and julia stiles  non  existent  .  br    br   like the second entry in the series  i wished paul greengrass  shaky hand  held camera would go static at least for the few minutes of downtime . however  that being said  it  s a perfect way to capture the tense  claustrophobic feel of the intimate hand  to  hand  combat scenes and works equally well in the chase scenes which are mostly on foot and across rooftops with the occasional big car pile  up . part of the fun of the bourne series is the constant globe  hopping and manipulation of technology and communications that seem to defy the laws of physics and current capabilities . the bourne films seem to exist in some sort of gritty hyper  reality that is full of technological  based magic . it makes no sense that everyone seems to be just in the right place at the right time  but i  ll be damned if it isn  t a blast to watch them get there .  br    br   with the absence of the emotive and involving franka potente  the writers attempt to create some emotional connection between damon and stiles  but she is so blank  faced an actress it never really leads to anything . still  this can be forgiven  for unlike the  identity  and the  supremacy   this  ultimatum  reveals all and we finally learn the truth about bourne  s past . it  s an entertaining and satisfying conclusion to the series  and if they have any good sense  and damon gets his wish  this will be the perfect end to it .  
robin williams gave a fine performance in the night listener as did the other cast members . however  the movie seems rushed and leaves too many loose ends to be considered a  must see .  i think the problem happens because there isn  t a strong enough relationship established between the caller and the gabriel noon  i had to spell it this way  because imdb wants to auto correct the right spelling to  no one   character . the movie runs a little over      and within the first   minutes  or so it seems  noon begins his search for pete logande  the boy caller .  br    br   this happens after he talks to the mysterious caller about  or  times . the conversations aren  t too in  depth mostly consisting of how are you . . . i  m in the hospital . . . why did you boyfriend move out . . . etc . in the book  the kid almost becomes noon  s shrink and vice versa and the reader understands why he goes in search of this boy  once he finds out the kid disappears and thinks he might be a hoax .  br    br   in the movie  noon becomes obsessed with finding logande  but the audience is left to wonder why  since there really isn  t a strong enough bond established between noon and the caller  why bother  who cares if the caller doesn  t exist   br    br   i know there  s a difference between a book and a movie  but those calls and that relationship was critical to establish on screen  because it provides the foundation for the rest of the movie . since it doesn  t  the movie falls apart .  br    br   this is surprising because of maupin  s other work  tales of the city . when it was made into a mini  series  it worked beautifully .  
i thought rachel york was fantastic as  lucy .  i have seen her in  kiss me  kate  and  victor  victoria   as well  and in each of these performances she has developed very different  and very real  characterizations . she is a chameleon who can play  and sing  anything   br    br   i am very surprised at how many negative reviews appear here regarding rachel  s performance in  lucy .  even some bonafide tv and entertainment critics seem to have missed the point of her portrayal . so many people have focused on the fact that rachel doesn  t really look like lucy . my response to that is   so what   i wasn  t looking for a superficial impersonation of lucy . i wanted to know more about the real woman behind the clown . and rachel certainly gave us that  in great depth . i also didn  t want to see someone simply  doing  classic lucy routines . therefore i was very pleased with the decision by the producers and director to have rachel portray lucy in rehearsal for the most memorable of these skits  vitameatavegamin and the candy factory .  it seems that some of the reviewers didn  t realize that these two scenes were meant to be rehearsal sequences and not the actual skits  . this approach  i thought  gave an innovative twist to sketches that so many of us know by heart . i also thought rachel was terrifically fresh and funny in these scenes . and she absolutely nailed the routines that were recreated  the professor and the grape stomping  in particular . there was one moment in the grape scene where the corner of rachel  s mouth had the exact little upturn that i remember lucy having . i couldn  t believe she was able to capture that  and so naturally .  br    br   i wonder if many of the folks who criticized the performance were expecting to see the lucille ball of  i love lucy  throughout the entire movie . after all  those of us who came to know her only through tv would not have any idea what lucy was really like in her early movie years . i think rachel showed a natural progression in the character that was brilliant . she planted all the right seeds for us to see the clown just waiting to emerge  given the right set of circumstances . lucy didn  t fit the mold of the old studio system . in her frustrated attempts to become the stereotypical movie star of that era  she kept repressing what would prove to be her ultimate gifts .  br    br   i believe that rachel deftly captured the comedy  drama  wit  sadness  anger  passion  love  ambition  loyalty  sexiness  self absorption  childishness  and stoicism all rolled into one complex american icon . and she did it with an authenticity and freshness that was totally endearing .  lucy  was a star turn for rachel york . i hope it brings a flood of great roles her way in the future . i also hope it brings her an emmy .  
i just finished watching going overboard . i have to say that we should send every copy of this film to iraq and make them watch . i even tried to get a blind women to watch this and she turned it off in like   min . adam sandler could not find a better project than this  as for the writing  if thats what you want to call it  those responsible should be forced to watch this movie forever in hell   i believe that somewhere i read that the budget for this film was        and they were way under . did wallmart get a good deal on this  every store has a big huge bin of this crap sitting on the sales floor . the only good thing about this movie is you can use the dvd as a coaster  or trade it to a friend  but then they might not be your friend anymore    
paul greengrass definitely saved the best bourne for last  i  ve heard a lot of people complain about they way he filmed this movie  and some have even compared the camera style to the blair witch project . all i have to say to that is . . . are you kidding me  come on it was not that bad at all . i think it helps the action scenes to feel more realistic  which i would prefer over highly stylized stunt choreography . as for the rest of the movie i really didn  t even notice it .  br    br   you can tell that damon has really gotten comfortable with the role of jason bourne . sometimes that can be a bad thing  but in this case its a really good thing . he really becomes jason bourne in this installment . damon also has a great supporting cast in joan allen  ezra kramer  and julia stiles . david strathairn was a great addition to the cast  as he added more depth to the secret cia organization .  br    br   even though the movie is filled with great car chases and nonstop action  they managed to stick a fair amount of character development in their with all of that going on . this film stands far above the other two bourne movies  and is definitely one of the best movies of the     summer season   
i didn  t really expect much from  the night listener  and i actually never heard of it until i saw the cover in the videostore . however  the movie is very effective when it comes to building up suspension and tension . on occasion it drags a little  but it actually helps to keep you wondering what  s going to happen and more importantly when . as the movie progresses  the character played by robin williams gets dragged into some kind of  cat and mouse  spiel to the point where he becomes obsessed with finding out the truth and existence about a   year old abused kid that no  one seemed to have ever seen in person . the night listener is an interesting story  which is great in building up the suspense throughout the movie and you  re pretty much kept in the dark of who is lying and what  s real . however  in the end it kind of disappoints and doesn  t live up to the potential it could have had . it doesn  t really give you a detailed or plausible explanation about the other main character  which would have been helpful and interesting .  
when the bourne identity arrived five years ago i have to confess that i didn  t think much of it . at the time i was eleven years old  so perhaps i was too young to really get into the storyline and understand the whole scenario . two years ago when the bourne supremacy arrived i thought it was a better movie than identity but still didn  t think it was as good as i expected it to be judging by the trailers . over the past two years i had been told numerous times that the bourne movies were amazing  many a time i had to bite my tongue and not say what i really thought about the movies . until two months ago i couldn  t have given a damn about the bourne ultimatum  i really had no intentions of watching it . but then i decided to go back and re  watch the first two before i came to any abrupt decisions . so i went out and bought both the original movies . and what a surprise it was to me when i was gripped by them . identity i found the superior of the two  but supremacy isn  t far behind . they  re both slick  action packed and thrilling pieces of cinema that i have watched numerous times since i bought them . because of this i was first in line today to see the bourne ultimatum . and boy did bourne ultimatum not disappoint   br    br   matt damon was never one of my favourite actors until he appeared in the bourne movies  i  d seen him in the talented mr ripley  but i never thought much of him in general . however  it appears he was born to play bourne  pardon the pun  . throughout this series we have seen the character change before our very eyes  in this movie we see matt damon at his very best  even better than he was in the departed and i thought he was one of the best things in the departed . you really do find yourself caring for the character and hoping that he finds out everything . matt damon plays the role with a quiet intensity and you always find his character extremely believable . the supporting cast of the movie were also absolutely outstanding . joan allen was one of my favourite things in bourne supremacy  here she excels herself . her character is also very believable and she has some superbly acted moments towards the end of the movie . julia stiles turns up again as nicky and finally we learn a bit about her character . julia stiles is a very underrated actress and i think she deserves a lot more roles  well decent roles  than she gets . david strathairn is a newcomer to this series as noah vosen  he  s definitely the bad guy of the movie and he really excels . he  s definitely the nastiest character we  ve met  and some of the decisions he makes are truly nasty . strathairn relishes the role and he too gets some superb scenes in the movie . special mention must also go to albert finney who makes the most of his all too brief screen time  i will not say anything about the character  that  s best left as a surprise  but trust me his scenes are some of the highlights of the movie .  br    br   the bourne movies have always had a strict focus on the storyline more than the action sequences  this isn  t to say the trilogy lacks action sequences  good god no there  s loads of them dotted all throughout the movies . but running throughout the movie is a very well written and well acted storyline . this storyline concludes in the best way imaginable in this movie . as i watched supremacy the night before i saw ultimatum it was nice because i could notice certain little parts . that very final scene in supremacy  in new york  a lot more important that i ever imagined at the time . won  t spoil it for people but i recommend checking up on supremacy before you see ultimatum . unfortunately though for a lot of people they will go to see ultimatum purely because of the action sequences . this is the part where i should condemn such people and say they should see it for the storyline  but i  d be lying if i didn  t say that my favourite parts of the bourne series as a whole are the car chases . the mini car chase in identity is one of my favourite car chases of all time . well the action in ultimatum has to be the best of the bourne series . in fact the movie kicks off with an action sequence in moscow . so in the duration of the movie we get numerous punch ups  all very violent and shockingly brutal . a bike chase that is absolutely amazing  many foot chases which are even more amazing  a thrilling car chase that is unforgettable  and oh so much more  but the highlight for me has to be the scene in waterloo station  won  t ruin it but for some reason had me gripped .  br    br   so any flaws for the movie  in my eyes no  but if you are not a fan of the bourne series or have not seen the previous two then i wouldn  t recommend ultimatum for you . the movie doesn  t try to win over any new fans as it sticks to what the franchise does best and just adds a nice bit more storyline and action sequences on top . the bourne ultimatum is undoubtedly the best of the series and the best blockbuster of     . as a james bond fanatic it is a great honour for me to say that ultimatum is a lot better than a majority of the bond movies  and trust me it takes a lot for me to say that . while bourne as a whole might not be a better franchise than the bond series  it is definitely nearly its equal .  
this movie is trash  poor . it has horrible taste  and is pedestrian and unconvincing in script although supposedly based on real  events  which doesn  t add much of anything but make it more of a disappointment . direction is not well done at as scenes and dialogue are out  of  place . not sure what robin williams saw in this character or story . to start  williams is not convincing as a gay in a relationship breakup nor is the relationship itself interesting . what  s worse  his character is compelled by an ugly pedophile story that is base and has no place as a plot device . you have an older rory culkin tastelessly spouting  d  ck  smker   in good fun  which is annoying enough and then laughed up by the williams character . finally you have sandra oh as a guardian angel adviser to williams and a thrown in explanation of the whole fiasco towards the end . toni collete  s character is just plain annoying and a re  hash of her  th sense performance with poorer direction . very miss  able .  
i have never been one to shy away from saying that most action films just plain do nothing for me . most times they are blatant vehicles to blow stuff up  show off sexy models  and throw any semblance of reality or intelligence out the window . with that said  the bourne series has been fantastic . doug liman ushered in a new take on action by using a more cinema verite style  showing the fights in full force and making our super spy someone we can relate to emotionally as well as humanly . this is not the sci  fi absurdity that was bond  before they did an overhaul in the style of this series no less  . there was a lot to worry for when the bourne supremacy came out . with director paul greengrass taking over  what could have been a second  hand copy of the original ended up being an improvement in style and flair . the stakes were raised and the story was enhanced because of it . greengrass needs to be given a ton of credit for being able to keep up appearances with the latest installment  the bourne ultimatum . in what is an amazing conclusion to a top  notch trilogy  the action is brought to a new level and story and performance are never compromised .  br    br   once again  bourne is brought into the minds of the cia by false pretenses . someone has leaked information about the treadstone upgrade called blackbriar and once bourne is located trying to converse with the newswriter who broke the story  he is assumed to be the mole . only pamela landy  she who was on the case to find him in supremacy  knows that he can  t be the one . bourne  s motive has always been to stay clear of the government and live his life in peace . it has been the cia who keeps bringing him back into the open to wreak havoc on them . what ends up transpiring is that bourne wants to know the source as well to finally find out the truth of who he is and what made him into a killer . the film  then  becomes a chase against time and each other to find the source and see if the government can close the breach and tie off all loose ends  or if bourne can get his revenge on those who took his life from him .  br    br   in what is probably the simplest storyline of the series  with only one chase lasting the entirety of the story  it has possibly the biggest cast of characters and turning over of loyalties to expose the corruption that has been behind the full story progression . this is not a detriment at all  however  as it allows for more fights and car chases that work in full context to the plot . admission to this film is worth it for the apartment fight  between bourne and the cia  s second asset  alone . the chase jumping through windows in madrid is cool on its own  but when they finally meet up  we get a ten minute or so fight that is as invigorating to watch as any scene you  ll see . also  rather than using a massive car chase as a climatic set piece like in the first two films  we instead get around three small scale road races  just as intense  but staggered enough to never bog the action down into monotony .  br    br   after five years of waiting  we also find out the origin of our favorite operative with heart and feeling . by the end of the film we will find out what has been the cause of all the espionage and destruction that has taken place around him . no one could have done it better than matt damon . he has the physique and attitude to be believable in the action sequences  but also the range to pull off the moments of intelligence and cat and mouse correspondence with those against him . joan allen reprises her role with the same amount of dedication to her job  but also a bit more disenchantment for what is going on around her after how brian cox  s character  from the first two films  took matters into his own hands . needing a role in that mold  we are given a nice turn from david strathairn . like cox  he is working at the top of the food chain and answers to no one when making a decision . with as much trying to cover up any connections to his bosses of the blackbriar program as he is trying to do his duty to his country  you can never quite gauge what he will be capable of doing . even the little guys do a wonderful job  like paddy considine as the reporter who starts the leak at the center of everything  albert finney as a man from bourne  s past and possibly key to his origin  and edgar ramirez as one of the cia  s operatives sent to take bourne out . ramirez is a nice addition to the role that has been successfully played by clive owen  identity   karl urban  and martin csokas  supremacy  . he doesn  t talk much  if at all  but he has the look and robotic efficiency down pat and hopefully will get more roles to show what he can do post a nice turn in domino .  br    br   in the end  one has to applaud paul greengrass for continuing to exceed expectations and bring this series to a conclusion that builds on the success of its predecessors rather than destroy them . his skill at the close  up hand  held look is astonishing and has the same kinetic energy as tony scott  but without quite the seizure  inducing cuts . rather than feel like over  production  his use of hand  held enhances the environment and puts you directly into the action . let  s also credit cinematographer oliver wood  who shot all three bourne films . he was able to work with both directors and work his style into a nice harmony with them .  
i couldn  t give this film a bad rating or bad review for two reasons robin williams and toni collete . the film has the potential of being a thriller and there are some slight disturbing elements that lean to the psychological which was something the film could have focused a little on . robin williams plays gabriel noon  a storytelling night time deejay who is going through personal issues his lover moves out and gabriel is having what seems to be a case of storyteller  s block . one day he receives and reads a story written by a dying    year old boy named pete boland  rory culkin  . pete tells the story of his life and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his parents . he lives with his adopted mother and social worker  donna boland  toni collette  . gabriel is fascinated and begins a friendship with pete  but things seem strange when gabriel attempts to meet him and discovers the possibility that pete boland may not even exist . i won  t go into detail because i don  t want to spoil the film  but i will tell you this it is quite predictable . fascinating atmosphere for telling a story and good performances from robin williams and toni collette  who i thought was the film  s key character . collette is without question one of the most talented and loveliest actresses . her ability to tap into the psyche and personality of the characters she portrays is very uncanny and i hope to see her win an oscar  hell  i think she might pull off getting a best supporting actress nod for this one if the script were a little better  . the film starts off as a psychological thriller  but a predictable one at that . if your curious to know the film  s ending and twists  then see the film otherwise i would rent another predictable thriller called  hide and seek  .  
this is the first   out of   that i  ve given any movie . what made this movie so good for me  constant action  there isn  t any slow parts  great acting  smart writing . i also liked the filming style where the shakiness and different angles just made it feel like you are a part of the scene . finally  i get to see an action movie that doesn  t try to please all sectors of the public  i . e . there  s no forced romance  .  br    br   i liked the first two bourne movies  but i loved this one .  br    br   warning  after watching this movie  you will be full of adrenaline and you may want to calm down a bit before driving your car   
felt mine was while watching this . . . but it seems that is the reason for insanity running in the family in this film . not that makes a lot of sense anyway  as others have mentioned  this was one of karloff  s last films and it  s only his screen presence that lends it any credibility at all . it  s sad that all of the great legends of the horror films in the sound era were eventually reduced to starring in low grade rubbish like this . marginally  boris did get off slightly better than poor old bela lugosi but not by much .  br    br   boris does his best and give him credit for trying to hold this mess together . the strident background music doesn  t help and distracts from any lucid moment . apart from boris  the rest of the mexican cast are dubbed into some strange  clipped  english monotone that is reminiscent of the type used in porn films of the late seventies .  br    br   at a guess i think it  s edgar allen poe  s  house of usher  that this is taken from but you  d be hard pressed to find a great deal of poe in the finished article .  br    br   still  there are far better films out there with boris karloff at his best  search them out and give this a wide berth  unless you want the curse of the  shrinking brain  too   
jason bourne sits in a dusty room in with blood on his hands  trying to make sense of what he  s just done . meanwhile  a cia chief in nyc outlines the agency  s response to what  s just happened on screen . an american flag stands proudly on the centre of his desk in the foreground of the shot  but as he speaks  it slips out of focus as his plan veers into morally dubious territory  as if it doesn  t want to be associated with the course of action the government man decides is necessary in the interests of national security .  br    br   this shot effectively captures the mood of the film . as well as portraying bourne  s quest to find out how he became jason bourne  ultimatum is also an examination of the human costs of the measures taken to protect us in the interests of stability and security .  br    br   it is also probably the best film you  ll see in the cinema this year .  br    br   it  s just so intense . bourne says to simon ross  considine   this isn  t some newspaper story  this is real  and in the audience you almost believe him . the camera shakes  but remains steady enough for you to see everything and feel like you  re there with bourne as he tries to elude his pursuers  and the performances are so good that these guys seem as though they are the characters they  re portraying  instead of just being actors performing well  written roles . the action scenes are so brutally fast  paced and well choreographed that they seem instinctive instead of planned to the minutest movement the stunt  work is nothing short of amazing .  br    br   the pacing is just incredible . it keeps driving forward towards its conclusion  but not so fast that it leaves you struggling to piece together the plot the script delivers the information you need as quickly and clearly as possible before moving on to the next tense action set  piece . while they  re often simple  the waterloo sequence is essentially just a man on a phone being watched by a man on a phone  they  re charged with such dramatic intensity that you can  t take your eyes off them . the film is just so focused on powering forwards that you can  t help being swept along by it .  br    br   with its intense action set  pieces  brilliantly paced storyline  and intelligent examination of the decisions made in the name of national security  the bourne series is one that accurately captures the ambiguities of our age . ultimatum is its peak .  
  house of evil  aka  dance of death  of     is the first of four infamous and odd last movies starring the great boris karloff and directed by jack hill and juan ibnez . unlike  snake people          the incredible invasion   also      and  the fear chamber        which were all released after karloff  s death in       house of evil  was released in      when karloff was still alive .  house of evil  is regarded by many as the worst of these four movies  which are without doubt all rather crappy  but definitely have their entertainment value as the unintentional comedies they are . i personally prefer  the fear chamber  and  house of evil  over the other two  simply for the reason that the lack of the slightest logic is even more extreme  and since there is no suspense whatsoever in any of the movies  the lack of logic increases the unintentional fun factor .  br    br   the odd story  i don  t know if i can really call it a  plot   is set somewhere in europe in the   th century . after some girls are murdered and found with their eyes ripped out  mathias morteval  karloff   an enthusiastic organ player  invites his few remaining relatives to his bizarre mansion  which is full of eerie toys . his kinfolk includes lucy durant  julissa   who is engaged to one of the police inspectors investigating the murders .  br    br   i won  t give away more of the story  but i can assure you that it is quite bizarre throughout the movie . there are some very funny moments  especially some things karloff  s character says . boris karloff was without any doubt one of the most brilliant and important icons of the horror genre who ever lived  and he manages to award this odd movie with a tiny bit of his greatness  and although  or because  his role is  due to a poor script and and directing  in no way scary  it looks like he deliberately plays it with a sense of humor . just like in the movie  s successors  snake people  and  the fear chamber   the female lead is once again played by julissa .  br    br   most of he supporting performances are hilariously amateurish  the cinematography is terrible and the locations and sceneries are beneath contempt . the storyline lacks the least bit of logic and the dialogue often does not make the slightest sense . it is the poor story and dialogue  however  that makes this movie so entertaining to watch .  house of evil  may be an extremely crappy attempt of a movie  but it is certainly as  unintentionally  funny as it is bad . fans of ed wood  s movies should be very amused  i personally found it hilarious . crappy but entertaining nevertheless  and definitely worth watching since there  s boris karloff in it and due to the fun factor .      
the bourne ultimatum       review after a thrilling set of two  we get the final installment . here  s my take  br    br   the bourne ultimatum has it all . we have jason bourne  matt damon  on the coattails of the ones who know everything . he has been running for too long . this time  it ends .  br    br   the bourne ultimatum has a great plot  awesome writing  fantastic direction  suspense  and some of the best action of the summer . matt damon delivers possibly his best performance to date . he has the conviction and swelling desire of the troubled assassin .  br    br   there are some intelligent humor here and some fine suspense . the reactions to certain events will have you either laughing  in a good way  or cheering on .  or both  i heard a lot of intelligent laughter in the theater and lots of clapping . the audience was loving it .  br    br   the bourne ultimatum delivers all in a nicely gift  wrapped package . all of the goods and then some . this is  in my opinion the best movie this summer .  br    br   the last word excellent conclusion . the best of the trilogy . this is how summer movie thrillers should be done . i love the bourne trilogy .  
boris karloff is matthias morteval  a dying  lonely old nut who lives in morhenge mansion with some servants and tells his doctor friend   don  t try to doctor me  doctor  i  m disgustingly healthy   he invites his nieces and nephews to his home and warns them they may have inherited a genetic disease that causes madness by  shrinking the brain      br    br   spoilers  br    br   morteval  karloff ends up dying  and murderous  toys   designed by his dead brother  start killing off the relatives . a mini cannon fires real bullets into a guys face  a life  sized knight in armor attacks with an axe and a dancing sheik stabs people with a knife . one guy getting strangled makes some hilarious faces . at the end  julissa and her boyfriend find karloff is still alive and hiding out in the dungeon where steel gates seal off the room . he plays the recurring organ theme music  sort of a death rattle used for the killings   the brother  s spirit starts talking   the whole house will go with me    and the mansion goes up in flames .  br    br   this senseless mess is too dark  boring and the stupid dialogue never matches the lips .  
i don  t hand out ten star ratings easily . a movie really has to impress me  and the bourne ultimatum has gone far beyond that . furthermore  this trilogy has come together so nicely  that i believe it to be one of the greatest motion picture trilogies of our time . though all three films could not be any more different from the ludlum novels  they still stand as a powerful landmark in cinematic achievement . the bourne ultimatum made me want to cry that the series was complete  yet i could not even attempt to stop smiling for hours .  br    br   from the moment that the opening title appeared  i knew we were in for a ride . paul greengrass has done it again . everything we love from the previous bourne films is here once again the action  the dialogue  and of course the shaky camera . however for me  that last one was never a problem . i think it adds to the suspense .  br    br   i will be back to see this film several times before it is released on dvd  simply because it is genius . it is a perfectly satisfying conclusion  and should stand the test of time as a fantastic movie  and altogether  an unforgettable trilogy .  
mr . vanhook took a good idea and kicked like a football . unfortunately  it didn  t make the goal . the historical subject of giants is a good one  but pour in the goon milk and you end up with a giant wheel of cheese . i say  take this reel wheel and roll it off a cliff . i couldn  t even watch the entire film . that says a lot because i rarely walk away from any movie . i always like to give them a chance for last  minute redemption . it  s impossible to redeem something this bad . well  at least the acting was good . . . . not   br    br   the only thing  falling  in this film is the rating .     and sinking into the negative numbers   
i loved this movie . i knew it would be chocked full of camp and silliness like the original series . i found it very heart warming to see adam west  burt ward  frank gorshin  and julie newmar all back together once again . anyone who loved the batman series from the    s should have enjoyed return to the batcave . you could tell the actors had a lot of fun making this film  especially adam west . and i  ll bet he would have gladly jumped back into his batman costume had the script required him to do so . i told a number of friends about this movie who chose not to view it . . . now they wished they had . i have all of the original    episodes on vhs . now this movie will join my collection . thank you for the reunion adam and burt .  
an archaeologist  casper van dien  stumbles accidentally upon an ancient    foot mummy  well preserved underground in the nevada desert . they are determined to keep this a secret and call in a jewish translator to assist in figuring out the history of it . the mummy  as explained at the beginning  is the son of a fallen angel and is one of several giants that apparently existed in  those days  . in order to save his son from a devastating flood which was predicted to kill everything  he mummifies his son  burying him with several servants for centuries  planning to awaken him years from then . in our present  the fallen angels still walk the earth and the mummy is resurrected and a ritual is expected to take place . most of the movie is slow  having to do with a lot of biblical crap and a couple lousy  air  punching fights . the mummy is decent looking but isn  t shown nearly enough . it should have had more to do with that but it dragged on a great deal so . . . eh . don  t bother .  
corny  i love it  corny  just as the tv show was about   years ago  adam and burt rekindle the same on  screen chemistry that never seems to have left  they re  live old memories  plus the actors that play them from the     s show some behind  the  scenes things which are quite interesting to know .     s tv was corny escapism for so many of us back then  and this dvd is no exception  if you are familiar with the original tv show . the fight scene with the written boofs and bams or whatever is fantastic   the movie theater scene shows clips of the villains who passed away . at the end frank gorshin makes an appearance . he passed away not too long after this dvd was made  i believe  so it is to his great credit that he came back to again play a villain to adam and burt  just as he did to batman  robin so many years ago . he didn  t lose his touch  thanks to julie newmar to re  living a villain role  also . in conclusion i think that this dvd is for great memories  and i wish to thank both adam and burt for coming back and recreating these memories for those of us who remember the original     thanks  guys     
 . . . from this awful movie  there are so many things wrong with this film  acting  writing  direction  editing  etc . that it  s amazing that something rises to the top and proves itself to be the absolute worst . the music  i noted that the film has two composers listed . this must be the reason why every single frame has music  of the absolute worst  d  movie style drivel . they have never heard of the expression  less is more  . it got so painful to listen to  i muted the sound every time there was no dialogue  not that the dialogue was that good . you have to feel sorry for robert wagner and tom bosley  i  m sure they didn  t see roles like this in the twilight of their careers . see it at your own risk .  
this is one of the best reunion specials ever  with adam west and burt ward parodying themselves and having fun while doing it . it  s amazing the amount of effort that went into the detail  particularly recapturing the feel of the      s era  the batcave set  wayne manor  the costumes  and the actors selected to play the younger versions of west  ward  burgess meredith  cesar romero  and frank gorshin  this   minutes is well worth your time  and is a delight to all fans of the classic      s  batman  television series . i note that clips from  batman  were from the movie  and not the series itself  probably because of legal restrictions . let  s hope the three seasons of the show are forthcoming on dvd .  
i had some time to kill before watching football so i saw this movie being offered on the scifi channel and it literally after watching it i thought i had encountered my version of mentally walking the bataan death march as my conscious was beaten into submission by the awful movie which ripped off the mummy series and jurassic park . it was so bad that i thought the opening credits were the highlight of the movie and then it went into such a abysmal descent that it made the recent drop in the stock market seem like a hiccup . the acting was so bad that i was hoping that one and all would be buried at the end . the lead by casper van dien made me long for the high caliber acting of steven seagal in  on deadly ground  as his line reading was so wooden that woody woodpecker was thinking of making a cameo to sit on his shoulder . i also noticed that his emotional range is so limited that i was under the impression my kitten was more expressive when asking for popcorn to eat . the direction was so abysmal i looked back yearning to my nephew  s grade  play recital which had more pace and better vision and the fact that this movie seems to be have spliced together from afterthoughts of the aforementioned movie franchise it can not even be thought of as a homage . the fx of the movie was so bad that i thought the director and producers were enviormentally friendly by recycling cheap special effects from grade z horror flicks from yesteryear . what robert wagner  tom bosley and geoffrey lewis were doing in this movies is beyond me and they should look at litigation against their agents for misrepresentation for getting them involved with such a dreck of a movie . my warning to one and all is watch this movie at your peril as this movie may cause your iq to diminish with prolonged viewing . on a side note i noticed at imdb that sometimes salaries for movies are published i was wondering if their is a way that actors that should give the salaries back for their poor performances in such movies . beware and be safe avoid at all costs .  
based on a true story  this series is a gem within its kind . the slave that becomes queen by capturing the heart of the most powerful man in the village .  br    br   in the diamond mining town of tijuco in brazil  the diamond commender   appointed by the king of portugal   is the ultimate authority . having grown up in the relative security of his house  the young and beautiful xica da silva finds her world threatened when he decides to sell her to a whorehouse in town  refusing to recognize that a black slave girl could be his daughter . in a desperate bid to save herself  xica steals the diamonds collected by the diamond commender for the king  intending to use them to escape . the king  s army arrives to collect the diamonds the very next day  however  and when the loot turns up missing  the diamond commender is led away in chains  his family dispossessed and thrown out in the street with only the clothes on their backs . martin  the diamond commender  s son  swears vengeance . xica and the other slaves  however  are sold at auction  and xica ends up in the home of the sergeant major  an old man who bought her solely to slake his lust . to the town of tijuco  however  comes the new diamond commender  the elegant and ruthless joao fernandes . immediately struck by xica  s beauty  he manipulates the sergeant major into selling her to him . and thus begins a love story  filled with danger  intrigue and passion  between a willful nobleman and a crafty slave girl who rises to one day become queen .  br    br   the series is filled with rich details of the era  s beliefs  superstitions  politics  fashion  etc . etc . and it really manages to captivate your attention for every minute . at times funny with a sarcastic and dark humor  full of suspense and unexpected twists .  xica da silva  is definitely a must . i wish i could buy the whole series on dvd .  
if you  ve ever seen this movie  you  d know that it  if you haven  t  and want to see a classic bad movie  i suggest you see this movie  because it ranks right down with the worst . so  if you  re really bored  go rent it . if you want to know what it  s like  here  s my little summary adam sandler is hired to work on a giant cruise ship with some ms universe models and five other people . adam doesn  t like how one passenger is getting all the babes  and he tries to take over with the cheezy jokes . but wait  it only gets worse  you  ll have to rent the movie yourself to see how bad it truly is .  
i  m a belgian and grew up in the sixties . most of the us series were shown over here  original language with subtitles  and batman was one of the first i was keen on . unfortunately over here it caused a  panic hysteria  amongst the mothers because batman was considered as too violent . geez  compare the innocence of that series to the crap kids get to see nowadays . so because of my the over  protective mothers from the   s i only got a chance to see maybe two or three episodes  i got so frustrated i started to collect the comics and bubblegum cards  still got them   to compensate . i even got the view master slides . . . i had an urge to see the caped crusader . all kids need some kind of hero .  br    br   years later i finally got the chance to see the re  runs as an adolescent and i enjoyed it tremendously . the tongue  in  cheek acting would have escaped me when i would  ve watched it as a kid  but i understood it at the age of   . yeah  i  ve watched them all now and the occasional kind soul on the internet posts episodes because they haven  t released the series on dvd  to my knowledge   br    br   this evening i enjoyed  return to the bat cave  . . . it was a delight to watch because it was full of trivia and inside  jokes . to see adam and burt was a delight and this tv movie is simply fantastic in every aspect . they play themselves as they played their parts in the series .  br    br   congratulations to the people who produced this great nostalgic  feast  . . . i  m gonna watch it again . my advice to all batman fans is see it    rent it    lend it from a friend    buy it    i  d never expect myself to rate this as     . . . very well done   
i came into this movie really wanting to line it . i thought the premise had a lot of potential and was ripe for an interesting movie . don  t get me wrong here  i wasn  t expecting citizen kane  i was taking this for the b movie that it is . that said  it still fell short of the expectation . the historical aspect of the story is glazed over and the ending left me a bit cold . the acting in the movie was very wooden . all in all i give it  for a great idea  but the movie could have scored much higher with a bit more attention to movie making fundamentals . is it worth seeing  i didn  t wish for my two hours back  but i don  t know that i  d recommend it to others .  
i really enjoyed this . i got it thinking it was going to be a documentary  but it revealed itself as a good piece of tongue in cheek fun .  br    br   i think this has been well done  pretty much an extended tv show into a film  but due to the characters or rather original actors willingness to have fun and be made fun off helps this work in a great old style innocent way .  br    br   if you are a fan of the original tv series then i am sure you will enjoy this .  br    br   q  
the fallen ones starts with archaeologist matt fletcher  casper van dien  in the desert discovering the mummified remains of a   foot tall giant  now there  s something you don  t see everyday . matt is working for property developer morton  robert wagner  who wants to build a holiday resort on the land  he calls in fellow archaeologist angela  kristen miller  for reasons i  m unsure of . anyway they both try to figure out what they  ve got on they  re hands when some of the team go missing  morton calls in security guy ammon  navid negahban  to handle the situation . meanwhile ancient text translator the rabbi eli schmidtt  tom bosley  translates some ancient text  as he would   is shocked to learn of a evil prophecy in which these giants will rise up  take over the world for the fallen one  or something like that . it  s up to matt to save the day  the whole planet . . .  br    br   written  directed by kevin vanhook  who also has a small role in the film as the ancient warrior leader at the start  i personally thought the fallen ones was a terrible film  it  s as simple  straight forward as that . there are so many things that are just plain bad about the fallen ones both on a technical  conceptual level  the script doesn  t make a whole lot of sense  it doesn  t really get going until the final   odd minutes by which time i had almost lost the will to live . the character  s are awful  as clichd as you like  the dialogue is bad as in very  very bad  the entire film is predictable  i mean it  s not going to come as a surprise that casper van dien is going to save the day is it  it  s not a huge surprise that the mummified giant is going to come back to life either so why wait until over an hour into the film when most of the audience will be in some sort of comatose state . this is bad  very bad . you have been warned .  br    br   director vanhook doesn  t impress  the fight scenes are absolutely awful  why dress your bad guys up in a horrible shade of purple  they look naff . to give it a bit of credit the special effects on the giant mummy itself are actually good although there  s not that many of them since he doesn  t make an appearance for over an hour  there are also some normal sized mummy  s that look to have come straight from the set of the mummy        unfortunately these aren  t used to any great effect  in fact are wasted as some comic relief . the mechanical mummy was a pretty good idea but looked silly  there is no way on earth that all those people inside could work in sync with each other to operate it  actually the more i think about the more ridiculous the idea is . forget about any scares  tension or atmosphere  don  t even think about any gore or violence because there isn  t any .  br    br   technically the fallen ones isn  t anything special  apart from the impressive giant mummy effects there  s little her to get excited about . the ghost cgi  water effects are terrible  it was made  for  tv  it  s shows . the acting was poor  wagner looks embarrassed  this is probably the only thing the likes of dien  bosley can get these days .  br    br   the fallen ones is a bad film  there  s no two ways about it as far as i  m concerned . not recommended on any level or in any way  one to avoid .  
i watched this last night with low expectations . the reasons being  i don  t usually like  made for tv  movies and rarely have i liked  cast reunion  movies . but  the critic in the los angeles times seemed to like this  so i gave it a chance . i  m glad i did . it was pretty good . adam west and burt ward reunite as themselves . but  in a way  they were acting as their  batman and robin  selves . they were being campy and not taking themselves  or this movie too seriously . the movie starts out with them searching for the  george barris  designed batmobile  that someone stole before it was to be auctioned off for an orphan  s home . while  they are searching for the car  they are also reminiscing about the series that they did together . this is told in flashback . it was well done . the actors that they got  for the younger burt ward and adam west were dead on . and  for a tv movie  it got down to the nitty  gritty about their real behavior on and off the screen . i give this one a      i liked it that much .  
i saw not so fabulous rating on imdb  but i went to see it anyway  because i am a big fan of bible related material . first thing that bothered me was a little too much indiana jones wannabe movie  but it also looked like casper van dien didn  t see those jones movies through  but he should  . i believe he tried his best  but script just stunk . music tried to be kinda jones style too . great work  but for such movie it seemed like too much work  like the video part did  t deserve all that great music . robert wagner gave his best acting skills  he did a good job  but somehow the script was bringing everything down .  jokes  are old school  somewhere   years old they brought only cynic smile to my face . there are some really bad camera angels  sfx looks like homemade and unrealistic . kevin vanhook had probably a good idea on the story  in my opinion  but i love such stories   but things just didn  t work out in the end . maybe he should put it on a paper when it was still fresh in his head . when i  in first minutes  saw that movie was going to be one of those  low budget movies   i hoped that i will at least  hear  a good story  but sometimes movies just disappoint .  
extremely well  conceived  part whatever happened to  part behind the scenes revisitation  part reunion film  all done in the same campy style that made the original series so much fun . i only wish this had been done   years ago to include more guest villains who have passed on .  
some moron who read or saw some reference to angels coming to earth  decided to disregard what he  d heard about the offspring of humans and angels being larger than normal humans . reinventing them as mythical giants that were   feet tall  is beyond ridiculous . there was some historical references to housing and furniture in parts of the world  that were much larger than would be needed for standard humans . these were supposedly built on a scale that would lend itself to a   to   foot human  somewhat supporting the  david and goliath  tale from the bible . there is no mention in any historical references to buildings or artifacts that would support the idea of a   foot tall being . if i was rating this movie on my own scale  it would have been a negative value instead of a one . . .  
this was a well written tale of the making of the batman sitcom and actually reunites our heroes on a great quest as well as offers their tv shows history . unlike the brady  s and partridge family documentary movies we not only get a look into the past and present lives of adam and burt  but also get to see them back in action . filled with kapow  s and catwomen and the riddler  s   batman is back ina well told  tale that not only gives us a satisfactory closing to the batman series  but fills the modern fan in on all the hollywood tales that about them that haven  t been heard in   years .  br    br   kudos     
  the fallen ones  falls under the waste of life  wol  category . i am sad that i am now two hours older was not entertained . my other family members also watched this movie and threw demeaning comments at the screen and rooted for the mummy . i felt sorry for the actors  wagner  . i have read other negative reviews and cannot add anything else to this movie other than it could be reduced to   minutes so it could take a   minute slot on tv without any loss of plot . it reminds me of a dish that has several good ingredients but when served is bland with no flavor at all . in my humble opinion  the   foot mummy should have been     feet and improved the plot by taking out the mystic and replacing him with several people who want to denigh the facts and want dna samples for evil reasons . the heroes are discredited and tossed on there ear by their colleges . later after everything was screwed up by the evil people . the heroes would save the day and prove everyone wrong .  
i loved this movie . i knew it would be chocked full of camp and silliness like the original series . i found it very heart warming to see adam west  burt ward  frank gorshin  and julie newmar all back together once again . anyone who loved the batman series from the    s should have enjoyed return to the batcave . you could tell the actors had a lot of fun making this film  especially adam west . and i  ll bet he would have gladly jumped back into his batman costume had the script required him to do so . i told a number of friends about this movie who chose not to view it . . . now they wished they had . i have all of the original    episodes on vhs . now this movie will join my collection . thank you for the reunion adam and burt .  
what a piece of junk this movie was . the premise was okay  but even in the beginning with crappy effects to blend in a giant with normal sized people  even the effects in hercules was better  i knew this would be bad . but the really awful part of the movie is the dialogs . it  s completely incoherent  silly and stupid . i felt like it had been written by some  th grader in creative class and gotten a d  . i want to slap casper van diem and the other actors for following this movie through .  br    br   i  ve had my share of cheesy and bad movies  i love the tremors series   but this . . . i do not recommend it at all . it  s silly and the totally flabbergastingly bad dialogs will make you cringe .  
a strangely enjoyable effort  combining an appropriately far  fetched plot involving adam and burt and flashbacks to the original tv series . most of the flashback scenes were lifted directly from burt ward  s book  boy wonder my life in tights  and i imagine his book was the inspiration for making this movie . like the book  it left fans of the original series hungering for more .  br    br   if you missed this broadcast  it is definitely worth the effort to borrow a tape from a friend who may have recorded it . i  m making a copy for my kids right now .  
there is a lot of obvious hype associated with this film . let  s just face it  though  the main reasons why anyone would watch it would be for leo and cate  who are not necessarily the best actors in this film . i  m not saying they  re not good actors  i  m saying they stunk in this film . the special effects were decent  and i will say the film makers did a good job making the ship eye  pleasing   but it even has several major flaws . for instance  right before the ship goes under  you can see an unfinished blue  screen image behind your main characters .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i love the story of the real titanic  but i find this movie an insult to that story . editing was atrocious   there  s no reason for any film to be over     hours  with the exception of maybe a biographical movie   and the writing and screenplay was horribly stilted .  br    br   i will say that the music was perhaps better than i could have predicted  and not just the  my heart will go on  song either  . there is one scene that stands out to me when the ship is sinking and pounding bass music is heard . that could very well be the highlight of the film . as for the mood throughout  it was extremely dull . i was more relieved than sad when jack died  which i know cannot be what the director intended .  br    br   in a nut shell  i find it horrible that they turned the beautiful story of the titanic into an over  hyped chick flick .  
this was basically an attempt to do the same thing with  batman  that was done with  gilligan  s island  in  surviving gilligan  s island .  for those of you who missed it  and shame    surviving gilligan  s island   full title  surviving gilligan  s island the incredibly true story of the longest three hour tour in history   was a special from a few years back  where bob denver   gilligan    dawn wells   mary ann   and russell johnson   the professor   related the story of the show  s creation  cancellation  rediscovery  rebirth . along the way  stories were dramatized with actors portraying the original cast and crew . it was very well done . it was funny  well cast and came across as a genuine document of the show .  br    br    return to the batcave the misadventures of adam and burt  is in a similar style . the re  telling of the history of the show  the re  enactments  the general feel are all the same . what  s missing is the straightforward approach that  surviving  took .  br    br   in  return   adam west and burt ward both receive invitations to a car show to which they were not meant to be invited . after being allowed to stay  adam and burt witness the theft of the centerpiece of the show the legendary batmobile  adam and burt decide to chase after it themselves  leading them through clues that cause them to think about the history of the show . this eventually leads to the revelation of who stole the batmobile and why .  br    br   choosing to use this conceit  actually having a plot  is the biggest letdown of this show . unlike  surviving    return  forces the viewer to follow a less interesting storyline  the theft of the batmobile  instead of focusing all its attention on what the audience would most be interested in  the history of the show .  it is the historical sections that work the best . the casting  as in  surviving   is excellent . jack brewer   adam west   and jason marsden   burt ward   capture the feel of the actors without looking too much like them . brett rickaby   frank gorshin   bears a stronger resemblance to his subject  but captures none of the late gorshin  s charm  only his characterizations . other actors  portrayals are short and functional  with none standing out as especially good or bad . many of the stories have been told before  but they mostly play out amusingly  with only the occasional clunky presentation . another wonderful bit from the historical sections was the use of audition footage of lyle waggoner  s tryout for the part of batman . the only place where the flashbacks fail is when they insert obviously made up plot points to advance the main story . this downgrades the accuracy of the flashbacks needlessly .  br    br   the  main plot   if that is what we must call it  is  of course  ludicrous . this is not really a fault in and of itself  but it  s just not carried off well enough to cover up the shortfall . strong performances and good writing can make up for a silly plot  especially in these kinds of things  but we really get neither  here . the performances by west and ward seem somewhat flat  even for them   the dialog too carefully written for it to feel natural . again  i think the comparison to  surviving gilligan  s island  can be seen in that the dialog is mostly just there to set up a flashback . in  surviving   that  s all it intends to be . in  return  it tries to do double duty and  unfortunately  often fails . gorshin and newmar do well  although i agree with others that gorshin had not aged well and that newmar had  and what  s waggoner taking to look that good   but aren  t given enough to do . again  i think they all would have been better served by a more straightforward presentation than the one chosen here .  br    br   another odd point about  return  . this special is about the  batman  tv series and its history  yet all the clips shown are from the theatrical movie . even the waggoner footage is technically movie footage . if you know you  re  bat  history   then you know that the movie was originally planned to be made first  only to be delayed in favor of the tv show when cbs needed to fill time fast . so when waggoner and west were testing for the role  it was for the movie  not the tv show . why  return  only uses movie footage is unclear . it most probably has to do with rights issues  but it is a distinct distraction to those in the know seeing julie newmar in the present  but only footage of lee meriwether as catwoman in the past .  br    br   overall  i liked the show  mainly for the flashbacks . i would have preferred the style used in  surviving gilligan  s island   but i can understand why they  d want a more story  oriented piece given the subject matter . besides  i like these people . it  s nice to see them out and about  still having fun with one of the great pieces of entertainment history . i just wish they had done it a little better and when more of the original cast was still alive to be there .  
i  like many people  saw this film in the theatre when it first came out in    . it was a below average film at best  defiantly not the  masterpiece  that all these  titanic  fanboys like to make it out as . first off  dicaprio is a terrible actor no matter which way you look at it . people just like him because of his looks . his acting  skills  essentially consist of saying a lot of cheesy lines and trying to act sexy . second  the film itself had a rather boring and simple plot girl falls in love with guy  ship they  re on sinks  lots of crappy love scenes thereafter . anyone with an iq above   will realize this isn  t ingenious in any way whatsoever . nor is it original . plus the director felt the need to drag it out for   hours . i could compress it into a  hour block without losing any of the plot . in conclusion   titanic  is the most overrated movie to date . why it got so much attention and money is beyond me .  
yes  i did  as i sit here red  faced  remembering having felt almost guilty as i watched it a couple of weeks back while my wife chose to watch something as inconsequential  in comparison  as  mommie dearest .   br    br   how does one explain the appeal of  batman and robin   i mean the only ones who ever really counted  adam west and burt ward . it was a terrible show  with terrible plots and terrible acting  and  oh yes  it was terribly funny  and the same applies to this  reunion  and  flashback  movie . adam and burt are invited to an auction where the old batmobile is going to be sold off for charity . but it gets stolen  and our pals  as themselves  jump into their old characters  personas  if not their costumes  and head off to find out what  s happened . along the way they reminisce about the series  and we see how it all came together in flashbacks  with jack brewer and jason marsden playing the young adam and burt of the tv series . it really was quite interesting to get some behind the scenes looks at the old series  and adam and burt just stepped perfectly back into character  even though they weren  t really in character  well  you  d have to watch it to see what i mean .  it was also great to see julie newmar and frank gorshin .  br    br   if you  re not a fan of the old series  you  ll hate this . if  heaven forbid  you actually thought michael keaton and george clooney made acceptable  batmans  then you  ll hate this even more . but if you grew up with adam and burt and are still willing to admit that you never missed an episode  well  this one  s for you .  br    br   yes  it  s true       
i see people writing about how great this movie was . it was horrible  the acting was sub  par at best . it made a lot of money because teenage girls went to see the movie  times in the theaters because of leonardo . where the hell did they get the money  anyway  i wanted to learn more about the titanic why it sank  what was running through a lot of people  s minds maybe even a little conspiracy stuff . does anyone realize that certain people didn  t even board the ship because there was a fire on board before it even took off  no  you don  t because all you see is a rich girl falling for a poor boy and he paints her naked  did that corny junk at least tip you off that the movie was stupid   .  br    br   i did cry in during one scene  though . the scene when they showed the water that was filling up in the ship . it looked like pool water  i  m thinking this movie made all this money and they couldn  t even make the water from the ocean look real  unbelievable . . .  br    br   ohhh the band played on while the ship sank . . just ridiculous . this was the worst movie until pearl harbor outdid it in the  nothing to do with reality  department .  
there are many kinds of reunion shows . one kind is where old actors are taken out of mothballs and set to recreate characters they haven  t played for twenty or thirty years . these have mixed results . return to mayberry   despite some silliness  was okay return to green acres  as execrable  eddie albert used a word for the script i won  t repeat here  but both it and the movie stink   rescue from gilligan  s island  filled in a necessary gap in the story of the castaways  though the show itself was silly even from a gilligan  s island  viewpoint . in most cases  the scripts are weak sometimes a silliness appears in the scripts that is too knowing  and in comedy it  s nearly always fatal for the characters to know they  re being funny . new characters are introduced who don  t fit the mix . in the main  these reunion shows are pretty weak . a second sort of reunion  show is the kind where the cast lays its past aside but sits around  telling stories  reminiscing  interspersed with flashbacks from the shows . then there are movies based on the shows  which are rarely good and movies based on the history of the show  the brady bunch  has had both of these happen to it  with various results  .  br    br   return to the batcave  uses nearly all the above  with a wonderfully twisted viewpoint  which makes it the best of the reunion shows  and has raised the bar for the others .  br    br   adam west and burt ward and summoned to a showing of the original batmobile . while they are there  the car is stolen .  br    br   the adam west of the movie is a man demented . he called jerry  his butler  alfred  . he opens a bust of shakespeare in his apartment and reveals a hidden pole to slide down to the parking garage . he  s obsessed with being a crime fighter  when in fact he  s merely a washed up actor . when the batmobile is stolen he not only believes it  s his duty as a crime fighter to recover it  he drags and unwilling burt ward in as his assistant .  br    br   the pursuit is largely loquacious  with west and ward reminiscing about the old days . it is broken by flashbacks  with actors playing west and ward in the old days . the modern scenes and the flashbacks  both have the wacky lack of reality the show maintained . there are also running gags that show west is able to make fun of himself in ward  s book about his time on the show  he spoke frankly about west  s libido and also his being a skinflint  west makes ward pay for everything in their pursuit  down to tips and bus fare  . the clues they follow  the characters they meet  even in flashback  all fit the mentality of the old series  and there are several homages  including a fist fight with written sound effects .  br    br   the whole thing is extremely funny and done with great panache . there are also cameos by julie newmar  looking like she  s had one facelift too many  and frank gorshin  reminding us why he has such a cult following . gorshin will be the riddler when jim carey  his obvious successor  is long forgotten . the movie builds to a fairly obvious but funny climax .  br    br   this show is a model for reunion shows  unfortunately  there are few that can fit the pattern . this show had actors replaying their old characters young actors playing a movie about the making of the show the actors west and ward reminiscing and a modern  day movie with the real adam west playing the demented adam west . it has everything . if you loved the old show  this is the stopper on the bottle .  
first of all  as a long time student of the titanic disaster and member of several titanic clubs  i feel entitled to comment on the film . i don  t really care how many awards and accolades the film won  but to me it is still an absolutely awful film . cameron had the resources to make a  proper  semi  documentary film of the disaster but unfortunately chose to turn it into a po  faced romantic mush . the fact that so many people around the world fell for it only shows  to my mind  the sad state of taste and common sense that movie critics and audiences have these days . whoever said that all movies should have a hero and heroine falling in love  in fact most real events are anything but romantic and the titanic disaster certainly was not one . i feel that it needed a better script and director with a semi  documentary approach and as little artistic license as possible . i almost threw up in the last sequence where the  dead  lovers meet among the other lost passengers and crew who break out in applause . is this an intelligent film  ask yourself .  
i am black american and i loved this soap opera . i watched it dubbed in spanish on telemundo  almost    years ago . the story was a true story about a black slave who  s love affair with a white commander led to her leadership and candid  whimsical way of living .  br    br   a lot of us could learn a lot from xica . she took what she had  nothing  and saw her possibilities . many would argue that she sold herself out  but she was trying to secure her future and that of her future children .  br    br   it was such an excellent soap opera  that i thought it would be released on dvd  but it  s not being released . this soap opera was the best soap opera ever . we need for it to be released on dvd or broadcast on tv again . it  s playing on azteca america right now  which is only available in mexico or in the us by paid cable . we need it released again to telemundo .  
this is definitely the worst movie adam  s ever done but at this point in his life  he was just happy to have a movie . there are  or  laughs in it but i used the fast forward button through some of it . don  t waste your time . i only saw it because i wanted to see all of his movies  but it sucked .  
this is a bad movie in the traditional sense  but taken for what it is meant to be it is quite good . very funny and well made  although there are a few death scenes that are in bad taste  what with jiggling breasts as a girl suffocates and so on .  
what i think i  ll probably like best about the new star wars film   phantom menace   is that it will likely blow  titanic  out of the water  if you  ll pardon the pun  when it comes to sheer devastating box office receipts  and thereby knock it out of the number one spot . every time i hear someone declare  titanic  is the greatest film they  ve ever seen  i think to myself   you don  t see a lot of movies  do you   what a travesty . you could make   good films that are a lot better than  titanic   and for the same price tag .  br    br    well  it won lots of academy awards  lots of people really loved it   as someone might say in its defence . well  lots of people like the spice girls and billions and billions of people eat at mcdonald  s  but that doesn  t mean it  s high quality . yes  millions of elvis fans can be wrong .  br    br   i  ll be the first to admit  that part of the problem for me was the mega  hype over the film . i waited a month or so to see it and ultimately  it didn  t live up to the expectations set upon it  which simply called more attention to the appallingly stupid love story . it  s true   phantom menace  will likely suffer a similar fate . but .  br    br   james cameron  s  titanic  is . a  a cheesy action flick thinly disguised as a serious period piece . b  a three  hour epic that has it  s finest moments given away in the trailer . c  a sappy love story beyond belief or entertainment . d  something left better to documentarians  which i would  ve enjoyed much more . e  a film with arrogance that lives up to the level demonstrated with the real ship . f  a robbery of  hours that i will never get back  therefore the greatest motivation for a time machine i can think of . when i meet someone who hasn  t seen it yet  i say   i wish i could trade places with you .  g  a slap in the face to any genuine victim of hypothermia . how long are we supposed to believe that people can be immersed in freezing cold water and still form intelligible sentences  h  thankfully a film that wasn  t recognized for any acting achievements at the oscars . i  a technological achievement in filmmaking  and little else .  br    br   the only reason i post this as a anonymous comment is i do not welcome the rebuttal of       thirteen year old leonardo dicaprio fans who  ll no doubt come to his defense  and i am not really interested in hearing a defense of titanic  s story  acting or length .  
let  s face it the final season     was one of the worst seasons in any show i  ve ever enjoyed  mostly  i  ve never found dry spells to last a whole season  . but if you judge this show by the last season  of course it  s going to come across as inferior . that is an entirely unfair assessment   because  that    s show  was  in its day  a brilliant and hilarious sitcom about a bygone era and how the people who lived there weren  t so different than we are here in modern times .  br    br   all right . . . ignoring season  .  br    br   topher grace stars as eric forman  a horny geek of a teenager with a perpetual love of donna  laura prepon   the feminist girl next door . playing their friends  danny masterson  hyde   mila kunis  jackie   wilmer valderrama  fez  and even ashton kutcher  kelso  give fantastic performances in  almost  every episode . the best one is probably fez  a foreign exchange student who is as mentally promiscuous as they get . what country is he from  try to figure it out  for another dimension of entertainment  debra jo rupp and kurtwood smith are phenomenal as eric  s parents . rupp  as kitty  is both formidable and sweet  sort of like mrs . brady meets marie barone  while smith  s red exists mainly to scare the pogees out of everyone . don stark and tanya roberts play very well opposite each other as donna  s parents  the chauvinistic but likable bob and the airheaded midge . tommy chong has occasional appearances as leo  a stoner who acts as a father figure to hyde .  br    br   apart from the anachronistic errors that pop up quite frequently and the over  the  top lessons that sometimes come  and that deplorable final season       s  is a terrific show with amazing writing  spot  on direction  and a feel  good vibe pulsing through every episode . they  re all alright .  
i  ve just had the evidence that confirmed my suspicions . a bunch of kids    to   put on the dvd of  titanic  on a fantastic state of the art mega screen home entertainment type deal . only two of them had actually seen it before . but they all had seen the moment of kate  leo and celine dion so many times that most of them felt they had seen the whole movie . shortly after the epic started  they started to get restless  some of them left asking the others    call us when the iceberg appears  over an hour and a half into the movie  only the two girls who had seen the movie before  were still there . they started shouting iceberg  iceberg . a stampede followed  they all came back to see the sinking of the titanic . they sat open mouthed  emitting ohs and far outs . so  just like i thought when the movie first burst into the scene . what is this  one and a half hours waiting for the bloody thing to sink but what about the rest of the of it . dr . zivagho  for instance  had a similar running time  but think how much takes place in that film within the same period of time . in  titanic  leo teaches kate how to spit . look at the faces and hands of the  supposedly  creme de la creme in the first class dining room of the ship . look at the historical details  if you can find them . the storyline is so thin that they have to introduce guns and shootings in a ship that is about to sink . the real sinking here is of film standards . all the efforts are focus on special effects and opening week ends . the film went on to become the highest grossing movie of all time so  what do i know   
in what is a truly diverse cast  this show hits it  s stride on fox . it is the kind of sitcom that grows on you . if you just watch  show you might not like it much  but once you watch two or three  you get hooked .  br    br   this is because some of the jokes hit  some miss depending upon how you view them . as is usual today  the themes are very mature . the humor is usually very mature too . often the most funny parts are the parts where the mature themes collide with the innocent ones .  br    br   red  kurtwood smith  a veteran actor does some very good deadpan type of humor on this show . debra jo rupp plays well in this ensemble cast too . danny masterson  the oldest actor of the  kids  is very good too . laura prepon  donna  looks better in the earlier shows as a natural redhead  who got the idea of making her a blonde   . she shows very good talent  comedic timing often . she looks good without make up too .  br    br   this is one of the better entries on fox in the sitcom department  it  s most successful live action one since married with children  
once upon a time there was a director by the name of james . he brought us wonderfully  thrilling science  fiction such as terminator and aliens . these movies were the stuff blockbusters were made of and he looked to have a fantastic future ahead of him as the dawn of computer generated special effects landed upon the film industry . terminator  showed gave us glimpses of what was possible in this new era .  br    br   . . . . . . . and then it happened . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     . . . . . . . . countless awards . . . . . . . . . . obscene amounts of money . . . . . . . . . . . . outlandish barrage of advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . maximum profit margin . . . . . . . . titanic was here   br    br   i have never  ever  been one to jump on the bandwagon and be overly critical for the sake of it  in fact i have often taken the opposite stance from the majority just to get an argument going . titanic however was a film i only took one single positive out of  that of kate winslett being absolutely gorgeous throughout   br    br   quickly  the dialogue was like something out of beverly hills       the acting was more wooden than my nephew  s tree house  images meant to terrify were actually comical  man falling from ship and hitting propeller   historically false  don  t even get me started because there  s too much   it had dire theme music  up there with the bodyguard for cheese  and the pointless love story was so tedious  self absorbing and pathetic that it disrespected the plight of everyone else involved  i was glad when he died and disappointed when she did not  .  br    br   it was plainly obvious from the word go that this picture was designed to appeal to mtv watching  bubblegum chewing  boy  with  car chasing  teenage girls  decaprio himself resembled something less heroic than the weedy member of a boy band  who would drag their sex  starved boyfriends out for a three and a half hour chick  flick hoping to get lucky later  the worst aspect was that it did not stop at that point . millions of dumbed down  culture vultures went to see this expensive waste of celluloid because  it cost so much to produce it must be great  and  steve and barbara said it was good and they know their movies  .  br    br   the crowning glory arrived when titanic swept the boards at the academy awards . king james of hollywood had a serious moment of silence for the victims of the fatal evening on which his three and a half hour farce was based . it looked to me as if he was praying for forgiveness after making a fortune off inaccurately portraying the circumstances that lead to the death of a lot of people .  br    br   however  if people are stupid and sentimental enough to buy into this kind of rubbish they deserve to get ripped off . good luck to hollywood if that is how they want to make money  i  d do it if i had those kind of chances in life   br    br   it is right up there on my all time worst movies list with other silly  historically false  human interest tripe like  the patriot  and  pearl harbor  .  
if any show in the last ten years deserves a    it is this rare gem . it allows us to escape back to a time when things were simpler and more fun . filled with heart and laughs  this show keeps you laughing through the three decades of difference . the furniture was ugly  the clothes were colorful  and the even the drugs were tolerable . the hair was feathered  the music was accompanied by roller  skates  and in the words of merle haggard   a joint was a bad place to be  . take a trip back to the greatest time in american history . fall in love with characters and the feel good essence of the small town where people were nicer to each other . this classic is on television as much as  full house  . don  t miss it  and always remember to  shake your groove thing      
the tragedy of the doomed ship titanic has inspired many books and movies . the battle between nature and technology always caught man  s imagination . the latest film concerning this tragedy in the atlantic ocean was written and directed by famous action movie filmmaker james cameron . the story of  titanic  involves two fictional characters  leonardo dicaprio and kate winslet  from different backgrounds  one is a hobo  artist  the other is an aristocrat  and how their love triumphs over societal barriers and the tragedy of a sinking ship that they happen to be on .  br    br   first of all  although using a historical name  this movie had little regard to history . the plot was built around two fictional lovers  french diamond  and treasure hunters . the deaths of over a thousand of people on the greatest luxury ship of its time became a mere background . many historical facts were simply forgotten . where was the radio operator that ignored the iceberg warnings  why was there no mention of the ship that was only  miles away from the titanic but did not come to the rescue because its captain failed to identify the distress signal  omitting these facts is an insult to the tragedy . and what was the point of flavoring this historical disaster with fictional cheesy romance when the story is already as sad as it is .  br    br   the overall plot was rather shallow rich equals greed and corruption  poverty equals compassion and heroism . it is very ironic to spend     million to make a movie about how money corrupts . there was absolutely no human side shown in anti  heroes . it seemed like billy zane was playing a part of the devil . casting was also very poor . if dicaprio was  inches shorter than winslet  you could swear she was his baby  sitter . the length of the movie was unnecessarily stretched to over  hours . first hour and the half was wasted on establishing the relationships between the characters that were known to audience long before they went to theater and the dialogue that was used to do so made it even worse . hearing corny pick up lines such as  i see you  and  this is my side of the ship  generated more pain than the screams of drowning people . also  jokes were too abundant and rather lame .  br    br    titanic  did involve some moving scenes such as the part when the musicians were playing while the ship was sinking but they were no way near anything original . the best thing about this film were its special effects  and that is the only thing that truly deserved an award .  br    br   although this film lacked artistical value in overall sense  the public could not resist a sentimental story starring romeo  dicaprio   and so the movie became a success . now it is safe to say that the industry will be less hesitant to invest large amounts of money in a single motion picture  so it seems that  titanic  did achieve something after all .  
this is one of the better comedies that has ever been on television . season one was hilarious as were most of the following seasons . the only reason that i give this show a     is because of the unfortunate final season . the only good part of the final season was the finale . my favorite part of this show was the scenes that cut to people  s imaginations  often depicting the characters in famous tv shows or movies from the    s . it is a rare show in that i liked every character  with the exception of the final season . . . too late to try to develop a new character and fez wasn  t nearly as funny  . red  s foot in your ass comments never got old  nor did kelso  s stupidity . bravo to fox for keeping such a good show so long  too long even .  
shallow  shallow script . . . stilted acting . . . the shadows of boom mikes lingering over the actors  heads in scenes . . . worth watching because kate mulgrew plays the most selfish mother in tv movie history and it  s all before ben affleck got his teeth capped .  
that   s show is the best tv show ever  period . it  s up there with the andy griffen show  saturday night live  and the simpsons in my book . that   s show continued on for  seasons  all of which focus around a group of teenagers  young adults dealing with relationships  separating from their parents  and their overall futures .  br    br   the two main characters  eric and donna  are two teenagers living next door to each other . they have been living next door to each other for most of their lives  and just begin to feel more feelings for each other at the beginning of the first season . a large amount of the show revolves around how their relationship is working .  br    br   two other characters  red and kitty  are eric  s parents . red was in the service  so he really pushes eric around . kitty is just the opposite . even though she drinks heavily  she treats eric and his friends with a lot of care . bob  their neighbor  is obviously donna  s dad . bob giggles around with several different women throughout the coarse of the show  s story . bob also annoys red to his full extent .  br    br   the remaining character  hyde  kelso  fez  and jackie  are eric  s friends . they also play a major role in the show  s story .  br    br   well  the first season is great . this is when the characters are beginning to feel new things for each other . the first season is original  funny  and enjoyable .  br    br   the second season is good  although it isn  t as good as the first . it is a basic continuation of the first . eric and donna are together  and everything is working out great .  br    br   the third season is my favorite . it went back and captured the first season feel and humor . i also think that the character chemistry improved a bunch  making the show all that more fun to watch .  br    br   the fourth season isn  t near as good . eric and donna arne  t together in this one  making the show slightly less pleasurable . it is still funny  although i didn  t enjoy it as much as the previous seasons .  br    br   the fifth season is the last season i enjoyed all the way through . it is the gang  s senior year  so that really helps with the story . the fifth season also had the best ending out of all the seasons .  br    br   the sixth season is good for the most part . it is extremely funny  although it doesn  t capture the feel that the other seasons did . the gang is out of high school  so i believe that it didn  t hit the teen feel that the previous seasons did . i also didn  t like the last three or four episodes considering that they had a major drama feel to them .  br    br   the seventh season captures the same feel that the  th season had in a way  although it didn  t do it all the way . i enjoyed the seventh season as i did all the others  and the ending is great .  br    br   the last season flat out sucked . eric wasn  t in it  which ruined it . kelso wasn  t in it for the most part either  which didn  t help . i hated the eighth season up until the last episode . i thought that the last episode was really good  and a fitting ending to the series .  br    br   so overall  if you enjoy comedy  give that   s show a try . they stopped making new episodes  but it is still on tv a bunch . i also recommend buying seasons    . it is up to you if you want to buy season  .  
i  m not sure how related they are  but i  m almost certain that lost and delirious is a remake of this movie  or the story that it  s based on  . very similar plotline  and even some of the scenes and sets seem to be very  very similar . lost  delirious is actually a much better movie  so see that one instead .  br    br   this one moves very slowly  but being a late   s french movie  that is to be expected of the style . told in a retrospect from the perspective of one of the girls revisiting the school . the editing of the flashbacks with the current scenes is a little bit confusing at first  particularly since the audio from each overlaps  ie  hearing flashbacks while seeing the present and vice versa  . also  the  girls  are a bit old to think that they are in a boarding school . finally  not much character development to even get you attached to the movie .  
if tv was a baseball league  this show would have a perfect record  with an excellent cast  and a perfect plot  this show gave  amazing seasons and a great joy to tv after dinner . with the constant changing of relationships and finding out who hyde  s real dad is  this show was a hit when it started in august of    though it was set in     . and hanging out in foremans basement was always the thing to do back then  and it still is today  along with circles . this show gave great laughs in premieres  and it still does during re  runs . if you watch a few episodes of this show  you will get everything and want to get more . now only is this show one of the best ever created  it is clever and funny .  
the author of the book  by the same title  should not have let her name be used for this movie . if you have read the book  this movie takes such a liberal interpretation of the actual events in the book and its spirit that the movie and book seem to have quite little in common except the title and some superficial details . the movie adds nothing  in terms of artistic merit  to the book  s own literary achievement .  br    br   for those who have not read the book you will also be disappointed . not only does the plot move at an incredibly slow pace  it doesn  t offer anything more while it is moving slowly  like character development  for example  . some viewers might be entertained by some of the graphic lesbian love scenes later on in the movie  but you might as well watch a showtime special for the stuff they show in therese and isabelle   its fairly tame and not imaginative at all .  
this show is wonderful . it has some of the best writing i ever seen . it has brilliant directing by dvid trainer who also directed another smart television series called boy meets world .  br    br   this show is with out a dought one of the greatest . like three  s company  roseanne  and the famous cosby show this will be on television for a long time to come .  br    br   from it  s perfectly crafted jokes to the great performances you would only dream of this is a wonderful show for people who lived in the seventies and the people who didn  t . this show appeals to the young and the young at heart . a perfect show .  
elephant walk was a thoroughly dull film and i really was quite happy when finally a herd of elephants stormed through the mansion and ended this film . considering the money and cast  you  d sure expect the film to be a lot better  though i also question the odd casting of dana andrews as a man who is in love with elizabeth taylor . it  s not just the age difference but i just can  t see the pair as a couple . perhaps some of this may be the fault of substituting miss taylor for vivian leigh at the last minute  due to miss leigh  s deteriorating mental condition    though i also have a hard time visualizing andrews and leigh as well . in addition  for an english woman  miss taylor doesn  t even seem to try using an accent .  br    br   the film begins with peter finch and taylor meeting and marrying in england . their plan is to return to finch  s tea plantation in ceylon  sri lanka  and at first it seems like a good life . however  there are no women to talk with and the household staff seem to resent her . on top of that  once back home  finch behaves like a boorish jerk and taylor is miserable . neighbor andrews can see this and he declares his undying passion for her . however  taylor isn  t yet ready to abandon her marriage . but  through the course of the film finch treats liz more and more like an object and finally she is ready to leave . . . when out of the blue  cholera strikes the plantation . so it  s up to andrews  finch and taylor to work together to save the day   though by this point i really didn  t care  as there is absolutely no chemistry between the characters  the dialog is pretty dull and you can  t understand why taylor didn  t leave her weasel husband within days of arriving in this inhospitable hell .  br    br   the film isn  t particularly engaging or convincing and despite a decent budget by paramount  the film is a sluggish mess . i particularly was surprised that although the film appeared to be filmed on location  many scenes were clearly filmed in a studio with a rear projected  and grainy  shot that wasn  t integrated well . in one scene  for instance  taylor  finch and the lot are sitting on the veranda and the grass is bright green . then  when the picture cuts to people dancing right in front of them  the grass is brown  it  s clear they really are not in ceylon in this scene or the scene with the giant reclining buddha . my advice is to skip this one or at least keep a pot of coffee nearby to keep you awake . despite its budget  it  s just not a very good or inspired film .  br    br   by the way  could miss taylor have been pregnant during part of this film  in some scenes  particularly at the beginning  she  s wearing billowy clothes  has a double  chin and looks puffy . this isn  t a criticism   after all  women do get pregnant  but if you look carefully  you  ll see what i mean .  br    br   also by the way  the basic plot in many ways is similar to giant   a great taylor film indeed  it  s amazing how casting and decent direction can do so much .  
i love this show . period . i haven  t been watching very long  probably only about six months or so  actually  but it is now my favorite show and probably will be for quite a while . i love all of the characters  except i don  t really care for donna . i  m not completely sure why . i just . . don  t find her funny  and i don  t think laura prepon is a very good actress . other than her  i find the rest of the cast pretty good . kurtwood smith and debra joe rupp  who played erics parents  were extremely funny . topher grace is also a great actor . unlike a lot of fans  i did not completely hate the  th season . i still watch it  and it does make me laugh . but  if you compare it to the shows earlier seasons  its . . not good . randy is horrible . the finale was decent  nothing amazing  but good .  i do think it would have been better to cancel the show after ashton and topher decided to leave  but oh well . i have the fourth season on dvd  and someday i hope to have all eight seasons on dvd . some of its most hilarious episodes  in my opinion  were  dinedash    grandmas dead    redstacey   and  streaking   but i love every episode i  ve seen so far  which is most of them  i think .      stars  i would definitely recommend it .   
essentially a story of man versus nature  this film has beautiful cinematography  the lush jungles of ceylon and the presence of elizabeth taylor but the film really never gets going . newlwed taylor is ignored and neglected by her husband and later is drawn to the plantation  s foreman  played by dana andrews . the plantation is under the spell of owner peter finch  s late father whose ghost casts a pall over elephant walk that becomes a major point of contention between taylor and finch . the elephants are determined to reclaim their traditional path to water that was blocked when the mansion was built across their right  of  way . the beasts go on a rampage and provides the best moments of action in the picture . taylor and andrews have some good moments as she struggles to remain a faithful wife in spite of he marital difficulties with finch .  
not since the simpsons made it  s debut has there been a sitcom that i didn  t want to turn of in a matter of  minutes . it has of course been said that the simpsons killed the sitcom . not this one though .  br    br   the first season was so so as the teenage characters were not quite as outrageous as they later became . they even went to school sometimes . the following seasons the character where fledged out . eric  the sarcastic twit  donna  his levelheaded girlfriend  kelso  the dim bulb  hyde  the conspiracy theorist and anti  establishment punk  fez  the pervert exchange student and finally jackie  the spoiled rich floozy . as for the adult characters there was eric  s mom  the  can you believe she is so ditzy  suburban mom  eric  s dad  the straight arrow who of course wasn  t such a hard ass as he seemed  donna  s goofy dad and her dumb blonde mom . everybody are true to their characters but special kudos to kurtwood smith who finds the perfect balance between toughness and still makes his red forman quite sympathetic without making us throw up with unexpected cuteness .  br    br   topher grace is of course the main reason why this show is so good . it  s a tough character to play because it doesn  t allow the actor to indulge in wild overacting like the kelso character  played competently by ashton kutcher . i enjoyed seeing the two characters interact because they are the most different .  br    br   hyde  s character is a bit harder to enjoy because he is more realistic and do we really need to see the orphan story for the umpteenth time  although i will say that the writers came up with a brilliant story arc for him in the last seasons .  br    br   jackie  played by family guy voice artist mila kunis is hilarious and she has a nails on a chalkboard type voice  which actually fits her character . the only sad part is that we didn  t see more scenes with her and eric because they were f . . . . . . hilarious together . too much story was wasted on her relationship problems since we already got that in spades with eric and donna .  br    br   last i will say that the casting of guest actors were always great . a few favorites fez  humongous girlfriend in the mid  seasons  pastor dan  the totally awesome leo played by the equally awesome thomas chong  another one of fez  girlfriends who is totally certifiable and a special appearance by the teenage witch sabrina as a slutty catholic girl .  br    br   coming up next on fox  whatever .  
being an independent filmmaker and a huge fan of edward d . wood jr . i purchased this documentary believing that this would finally set the record straight on how gifted and brilliant ed wood actually was .  br    br   what i got was a disappointing self  centered  conflictive  contradictory compilation of bitter self  aggrandizing has  beens .  br    br   where people do remember ed wood jr .  do people actually remember the second cousin of the guy with the duct tape who knew someone who was in plan nine from outer space   br    br   it appears as though  the very minute there is a renewed interest in ed wood  these people come out of the  wood  work  only to take mean spirited swipes at someone who actually gave them a chance when no  one else would  after   years i would suggest that many of these people should let go of the fact that they didn  t get the    they were promised   br    br   ed wood was a brilliant creative filmmaker who knew how to entertain . in  fact that was all he lived for . you may giggle when you see ed  s films  but somehow you are aware that you are laughing with him  and not at him .  br    br   but  i digress . . . back to the film at hand . if you are expecting a film about edward d . wood jr .  you won  t get it here . if you want a film about cranky bitter old actors  this is the film for you   
this show is a great history story . it  s has everything from slavery  the way they were treated  religion  the ways jews were sent into hiding  the inquisition  the belief in the orisha the african gods  the way women were treated  including the daughters . even down to homosexuality . the way the characters are intertwined and that violante  that character saddens me . she is so desperate to be loved that she destroys everyone around her . i am so glad they decided to re  release it to t . v . again . although i would love to see the unedited version . xica has become my heroine . i look up to the way she uses her power to help all who seek it . i love all the characters and have found that they can relate to many people now in this century . i look forward to my xica every night . it would be great to dub it in english so the americans can love her too .  
i picked up this movie for   dollars at a discount book store  adam sandler is a awesome actor and i figured it would be a good movie  well  it wasn  t . there was absolutely no story line at all  bad jokes  and the other comedian said  the f  word  every other word he said  cursing usually dosen  t bother me but this was over the top . and even worse than the lack of story line was the parts when sandler would just begin talking into the camera at random parts in the movie  it reminded me of dora the explorer when they turn and look at the screen and ask you questions . and last of all is when they would randomly put in bikini shots of girls at random times in the movie . in my opinion  don  t buy this movie  its a waste of money  
i haven  t liked many tv shows post      but that   s show is great . never seeing it during it  s first run  thinking a gimmicky period piece  i was wrong  i started watching in reruns and the more i watched  the more i liked  now  it is the only show premiering post      that i watch regularly .  br    br   although that   s show mimics some of the styles  attitudes  music  and tastes of the   s  it does not mire itself in that decade by going overboard with the references and look of the   s . it contains so much funny  witty  biting dialogue that is delivered with confidence and certainty by its main cast that it overcomes any   s clichs by just being humorous . the humor is what keeps the show eternally watchable .  br    br   although a hilarious sitcom  no matter what time period  the uniqueness of mocking the   s does work in its favor as it gives the show a signature identity . but its the focus on universal issues  family problems  teen angst  marital issues  peer pressure   dealing with all of them with comic aplomb  that gives the show a mass appeal .  br    br   the show  s center is one eric forman  played to absolute comic perfection by future superstar topher grace  . eric is a super  skinny  geeky  looking  non  athletic teen and still comes off as super  cool due to grace  s brilliant self  deprecation of the character . eric has  friends donna  hyde  kelso  jackie  and fez  played respectively in hilarious fashion by laura prepon  danny masterson  ashton kutcher  mila kunis  and wilmer valderama  . we get to see life in point place  wisconsin through the eyes of these  teens and boy do we get a lot to see  donna  a forward  thinking feminist  is the object of eric  s affection and these  have the core relationship of the show . they become a couple pretty soon after the show starts and they are never a boring couple . most of the shows eps end with them having a meaningful conversation about them and their future and it works as a great insightful bookend  which works as a perfect counter to the prior hilarity . hyde is eric  s best friend and soon moves in with the formans when his mother abandons him hyde is the mellow  zen  cool one of the group and just sits back  observes  and makes fun of his fellow friends with easygoing aplomb . kelso is the dumb one of the group and kutcher plays it the absolute hilt  displaying amazing physical comedy as well as telling some of the most absurdly hilarious ideas and stories ever  jackie  who starts out as kelso  s girlfriend  is a verbose  self  absorbed debutante cheerleader and is at first only accepted as part of the group b  c of kelso  but she manages to ingratiate herself to the point where they all have to accept her  and finally  fez  fez is the foreign exchange student from some unknown country  we never know exactly where  and he is a scene  stealer   i said good day    you son of a btch   valderama is only sporting a foreign accent here as he hasn  t one in reality and he is always in character and creates one of the most unique characters i have ever seen . his scene  stealing moments often help make the show for me .  br    br   the show constantly takes us into the minds and thoughts of these characters through engaging fantasy scenes of how they would like or imagine things to be . the gang repeatedly gets into trouble  most of it on purpose  . they constantly play gags on the point place residents as well as each other . they hang out most of the time in eric  s basement plotting  pontificating  or just plain playing around .  br    br   also figuring prominently in the show are eric  s parents  the menacing  commie  hating red and the lovable  happy  go  lucky kitty  played memorably by kurtwood smith and debra jo rupp  . these  adults give the show a much  needed mature point  of  view and constantly berate and advise the  ne  er do  wells . red and kitty are ably supported by donna  s parents  the buffoonish bob  played wonderfully for the full run by don stark  and blonde bimbo daft midge  the super  sexy tanya roberts  who was on the show for about half it  s run  . additionally  for  full seasons  eric  s sister from hell laurie  played brilliantly by the wickedly sexy farrah  fawcett lookalike lisa robin kelly  was a major refreshing relief to counter the shenanigans of the main  and to be the thorn in eric and her parents  sides  kelly came back as a guest character for a few season  eps . but  unfortunately  kelly  s personal problems led to her being replaced by a terrible new actress in season  . the newbie didn  t last  thankfully  and was gone after a few season  eps   br    br   sadly  at the end of season   topher grace  eric  and early in season   ashton kutcher  kelso  left the show and it never recovered as season  turned out to be it  s last . grace and kutcher returned for the series finale  though  giving the show a satisfying end .  br    br   a lot of great supporting and cameo characters would help keep the show fresh through added nostalgia and humor . top notch supporting players were eternally high leo  played to the hilt by tommy chong   pastor dave  roy  the terrific comic jim gaffigan   big rhonda  mitch  earl  etc . they also got legends marion ross  happy days  and betty white  the mary tyler moore show  to play red and kitty  s mothers  respectively . many celebrity cameos from the   s made appearances as well  from shirley jones  partridge family  to pamela sue martin  nancy drew  to charo to ted nugent to k . i . s . s  it goes on and on   br    br   with great nostalgic   s homages and references  hilarious dialogue and delivery and a nonsensical  take  no  prisoners style of comedic storytelling  that   s show is a television classic   
this is supposed to be well  researched and based on fact . how come therefore that it  s so packed with mcgovernisms . did the people of derry live in some kind of bizarre philip k . dick world in which reality was uncannily like cracker  liam  priest  or is mcgovern an idle hack who just keeps repeating hims  
i saw this show about    years ago . it was dam funny  when i first time i saw it was playing on etv  estonian television  and i started to like it . too bad that that show is on bad time for me . hyde is like a cool guy who likes to sing frank sinatra  and he comes on stupid ideas . he got these glasses which h are brown . i like it . and there  s fez . the group pervert . we all know what he does when his alone . . . . . he wants to get laid badly . he even had it with his boss in one episode . his from india . and there is michael  the stupidest guy on whole group  probably stupidest in town and his a cop  he is so stupid that i remember follows hyde says did u called cops   no michael comes in and says . does anyone know how to turn off siren  he is a town playboy . then comes jackie  who is former girlfriend of michael and then she  s hyde  s girlfriend . then is eric who  s son of grumpy war veteran and son of kitty the housewife . his one big pussy . but he loves donna  his girlfriend with who they plan for they  re marriage . donna is one hot girl . hmm what i forget  ah hyde lives in a basement .  
  it had to be you  is another sign that hollywood is running out of ideas . this picture is about charlie hudson a former police officer turned author . when charlie  s fianc goes out of town he  s stuck with all of the wedding planning . he spends a week at a fancy hotel and meets anna penn a teacher who just happens to also be getting married . the two quickly become friends and set out to plan their separate weddings together . this is when the plot gets boring  charlie falls in love with anna and she has to choose between a safe life or charlie . this movie rips off every romantic comedy ever made and just has you waiting for the end of the movie so you can do something else . micahel vartan and natasha henstridge give really mediocre performances which just makes this movie all the more gut wrenching to watch .  
this show was absolutely great  and i always look forward to watching it . all the characters were funny and awesome in their own way  each and every episode provided non  stop laughter  and it was completely entertaining and different from a lot of other shows . everybody was just absolutely insane and breathtakingly funny  that you couldn  t help but love this show . there were a few dead weight episodes  but that    s show always managed to create some kind of likable atmosphere  to where it just really didn  t matter . this was one of the best shows to ever be aired  and i will watch this show anytime i can  for it never gets old  never gets unfunny  and never gets uninteresting .  
poorly structured  badly written  loaded with cliches and flat dialogue . not a single scene shines . the actors struggle with a painfully dull scenario that manages to completely avoid any surprises  plot twists or conflict . you know from the first ten minutes where it  s going .  br    br   for a movie set in ny  it has almost no feeling for the city . there are a dozen other indie movies that manage to make it seem magical on a small budget . this one seems like it was shot in toronto .  br    br   if you cast natasha henstridge  why dress her in baggy sweaters  why make vartan look boring and drab  where  s the attraction  i felt like i was watching a sub  par christian movie of the week it was so asexual and moralizing .  br    br   steven feder  s big success is that he convinced people to make this bland movie .  
im gonna make this short and sweet because i don  t think there is much you can really tell someone about this show who has never seen it other than its hilariously funny and unique  for me its possibly the funniest show ever .  br    br   you have to really watch it to understand its humour and it took me a few episodes to really get into it but once your in there is no getting back out . for example the way hydes character always wants to see his friends get in some sort of trouble the more it happens the funnier it becomes .  br    br   its all round classic i mean the cast  the writers  the director  its just a recipe for success . one actor i think who always gets a hard time is ashton kutcher but i mean he  s great in this show i don  t think its possible for the the character kelso to have been played by anyone else  it takes someone very smart to play someone that stupid . all the main characters are great and it wouldn  t be a worth while review if i didn  t mention the stone cold fox mila kunis  now thats a spicy meet a ball ha ha all joking aside amazing show .  
i  m a sucker for a good romance  but this one doesn  t qualify as either good or a romance . i had the plot nailed down before the credits were through . with such poor dialog  plot and character development  i suggest investing your hour and a half elsehere . i had to rush out and rent serendipity for the third time so i could get the bad taste of this one out of my mouth .  
this show is freaking hilarious  the jokes are original  god and i love eric and kelso  yeah i know what they say  after the  th season it  s not funny anymore because eric and kelso are no longer in the show  and randy is a real dumbass . randy is  comparing to eric and kelso .  br    br   you cant take the funniest characters and switch em with  i  m a cool guy  kind of guy  randy  . it isn  t his fault anyway  but the writers are trying to keep the  th season funny  it  s still is  not as much as the earlier seasons  but its alright .  br    br   the     s are awesome  the circle  red is a real kind of mental  abusing dad   and kitty is always half  high half  pie . hyde tries to be cool all the time  he has his moments too . the least favrioutes characters are jackie and donna . they  re cool  but not without kelso and eric .  br    br   great show . dumbass   
look  there  s nothing spectacularly offensive about this film  it  s just boring . it  s a typical rom  com with an ending you can see coming before you  ve seen so much as the trailer . the key difference is that the classic rom  coms tackle their stories with wit and a lack of pretension . this movie has no pretension but it really has no sense of movement  you feel as though you could get up and walk away at any moment . the production of the movie also has the feel of a debut movie made about fifteen years ago . i  d recommend re  watching a classic movie like when harry met sally instead of this shallow imitation . oh  one other big problem . . . no chemistry . if you  re used to seeing michael looking all cute as vaughn in alias  you  re going to be seriously disappointed with the way they  ve made him look here .  
i wish  that    s show  would come back on television . it was the greatest show ever    they should make episodes between the other episodes but of course that would be confusing . but i wish it would come back and make more episodes . please come back . . . the show was absolutely hilarious . you couldn  t laugh without seeing an episode . there is a really funny part in every episode and plus the show was so much better when hyde and jackie were going out with each other . those were the best episodes .  that    s show is the best  . . . . it will be and always will be the best show ever . it was really sad when the show ended . they should make new episodes .  
great movie  especially the music  etta james   at last  . this speaks volumes when you have finally found that special someone .  
like the characters in this show  i too was a teen during the   s . the producers really nailed the whole zeitgeist  of being a suburban teenager in the   s . the   s fashions  cars  home furnishings  foods  and fads  are all very authentic in this show .  br    br   the show boasts a very talented ensemble cast  who all mesh together very well on camera . i really like the unique  psychedelic  style film sequences . no other show does camera tricks like this . these cutting  edge film sequences  really help to convey the campy hipness  that characterized the   s era .  br    br   overall this is a very funny sitcom . the one thing that bothers me about this show  is it  s over  reliance on cruel humor  to generate laughs . in this way  i think that this show tries to be too much like married with children . while married with children is a great sitcom in its own right  it  s tacky that the creators of that   s show  keep trying to imitate it .  br    br   i do recommend that   s show  mainly due to it  s nostalgia factor . it could be an even better show though  if the writers relied more on witty dialog  rather than bawdy  tasteless jokes and pranks .  
i just want to make one thing clear  i love michael vartan  but this film really lets him down . his acting is still superb  he  s still as charming as ever  and he still looks great . but the film itself is a load of rubbish  natasha henstridge  i  m sorry to say it  comes over bit manly . . . you  re constantly waiting for her to run off with her best friend  who  s own sub  storyline is a little weird . myself and my family  who sat down and watched the film with me  were also put off by the soundtrack to the film at times the music just didn  t fit with what was going on in the scenes . however  even this was not the worst aspect of what i found to be a very disappointing film . i could forgive the leading lady  s butch  ness  i could forgive the freakish characters that were thrown in to the mix  and i could forgive the poor choice of musical accompaniment  but whose choice was it to cut out the whole middle section of the film and skip straight to the end    the ending was obviously planned from the beginning but how it gets there is left untold . if you  re a michael vartan fan skip this film buy yourself a poster instead .  
  that    s show  is definitely the funniest show currently on tv . i started watching it about two and a half years ago  and as soon as i saw it i could tell it was a great show . i like all the characters  but my personal favorites are fez and kelso . leo was also an awesome character while he was there  i really hope he comes back because he  s hilarious . it  s classic when fez goes  you son of a bitch    and when kelso yells  burn    that always makes me laugh . they are both great characters and always have something funny to say . jackie being hot is just another reason to watch the show she started out being really good looking but damn  somewhere around season    she just got really hot . i  ve seen most of the episodes more than once  some like   times  and there still hilarious . this is one of the few shows that i can watch over and over and still laugh at just as much as i did the first time i saw it . the cast is classic almost everyone is funny  where with many shows there are only a few funny characters . i will be sad to see this show end next year  but it will be going off the air as one of the best shows ever .  
sure  it had some of the makings of a good film . the storyline is good  if a bit bland and the acting was good enough though i didn  t understand why olivia d  abo had such a pronounced australian accent if her character was supposed to have been raised in the us . my biggest problem  however  was with the wardrobe . i know as rule  the average american is considered a frumpy dresser by any self  respecting european but this was beyond that . anna  s colour combinations were positively ghastly   and that potato sack  like  sad excuse for a coat she wore throughout the film made me break out in hives . i suppose the idea was to be as realistic as possible  how many school teachers walk around in prada   but simple doesn  t mean an absolute lack of taste . a word to the wise . . .  
there are too many new styles of the sitcom but the one that works best is the old fashioned way with an audience and indoor set . that    s show is a great example . when the show came on the air  nobody really heard of kurtwood smith and debra jo rupp much less the adolescents played wonderfully by topher grace and ashton kushton  both of them are leaving the show this year to pursue other interests  i wish topher would stay around because the show began about his character  eric  and his close circle of friends . ashton is already the john travolta of our time . remember when john was in love with diana hyland from eight is enough  think of ashton with demi moore . the cast of actors were never known to us which is a good thing because a celebrity cast member can spoil it . i miss mo gaffney who played don  s girlfriend joanne . i miss lisa robin kelly as the original laurie  the replacement could not match her and i am sorry about that . i liked the casting of tommy chong as the wasted but beloved father figure to steven hyde . i loved watching tanya roberts besides charlie  s angels . i loved brooke shields playing jackie  s mom . she really showed her acting talent before heading to broadway . this show has been a delight with many surprises . i hope this show lasts longer even though  of their cast members are leaving but i hope they don  t stay too far away too long . i wish the show  s creators  bonnie and terry turner  who also created my other favorite show  third rock from the sun  is more successful on fox than they were on nbc which sabotaged their show . the turners are not dummies and i hope they create more shows like this in the future .  
this really was the worst movie i have ever seen . michael vartan is hot  but who is this woman  and she looks absolutely awful through the whole movie  the hair is so bad  they talk in like monotone voices and there is nooo chemistry . the cover of the dvd does not even remotely come close to what the movie actually is . really  really boring . i had to fast forward through some of it because it was so painful to watch . i really want to know how i on earth anyone could think this is good  hhaha they literally just like talk and say  yeah  and there is no passion whatsoever . i could not tell at all that they were in love . i  m sorry but this was the saddest excuse for a movie i think i have ever seen .  
 . . . and the series lets you forget all that . i am about three years older than the kids portrayed in the series . born in      i learned to drive during the first gas shortage  and got my first post  college graduation job during the second gas shortage in     . the    s were a truly dreadful time to be young  inflation  competing for after  school minimum  wage jobs with laid  off thirty  somethings  dreadful music  worse clothes .  br    br   the funny thing is  this series doesn  t ignore any of that and still manages to make the    s look fun  even for those of us old enough to know better . it manages to look the    s directly in the face  complete with time  authentic clothing  and yet fill the show with the hopefulness of youth and the things that make the high school and college years both the best of times and the worst of times . then there are the parents . the two young lovers in the show  eric forman and donna pinciotti  truly have dreadful parents with the best of intentions . eric  s parents  red and kitty  are not exactly june and ward although they are conventional for the decade . they represent what happened when the    s finally reached the suburbs during the      s . donna  s parents are two people who have been waiting for the      s to show up their whole lives in order to give their weirdness legitimacy . eric  s friends fez  kelso  and jackie round out the group representing nerdiness  well  meaning incompetence  and snobbishness respectively . hyde is an unusual teenager for a show about the suburbs  but he largely represents someone who has to play the cards he was dealt even when those cards are dealt by largely absentee and negligent parents . i highly recommend all eight seasons even though season eight does lag a bit due to the absence of eric .  
sorry guys  i  ve already written my opinion of this movie but today was the first day i looked at some of the other reviews . there are a quite a lot of people who agree with me but what  s scary is that there are some people who seem to really like this movie . i don  t like to write nasty reviews or criticise other people  s opinions but i think it  s only fair to warn anybody out there who may be debating whether or not to see this movie . this is not a good movie . i really like movies and i  ll watch just about anything but this movie made it onto the incredibly short list of movies i watched and was happy to leave halfway through . if you really are incredibly tempted  watch the trailer . . . that  s the mistake i made because the entire movie is essentially in the trailer . . . after that there are no surprises  just some shockingly bad dialogue to waste time . i love michael vartan in alias and would hate to criticise him but i think it  s my duty to stop other people wasting hours of their life on a movie like this    
i absolutely loved this soap . it has been one of my favorite . will highly recommend   . . . i just love brazilian soaps  they deal with real life events . i  m really sad that the soap ended but i  m sure i  ll be able to find it somewhere . for those of you who have not seen it  please see it . i loved the characters  the plot and how things turned out in the end for the villains . the only thing i would have changed is the end for xica and her long life love . i can  t wait to see it again and highly recommend it . xica has been by far  the best soap i have ever seen . forget everything else   go xica . . hope you all like it as well .  
watching this stinker constitutes cruel and unusal punishment at the hands of sandler . truly a slow and painful death .  br    br    bought the dvd in the   .   bin at wal mart . but the thought that keeps echoing in my head is   how can i get my money back    br    br   the most unforgivable thing about the movie is that the boat just does not sink   br    br   best constructive suggestion mystery comedy theatre . you know that show on the scifi channel in which some guy and his muppet  machines spoof the most unwatchable horror flicks  mystery science theatre  . immediately  spin off a comedy program and feature this flick . without a good humorous spoof of this train wreck  i fear that viewers may actually begin following sandler with ice picks and chainsaws .  br    br    
this show has all the typical characters in a comedy the good guy  the idiot  the pervert  the rich girl . . . but it  s set on the    s . that  s the only difference that it has with other tv comedies . i don  t know how you can like this show . its humor is pathetic  i mean  the jokes are so direct . . . a typical dialog is this  fez oh  jackie i want to have sex with you .  audience laughs  jackie fez you  re a pervert .  audience laughs  fez oh yes i am .  audience cheers and applauds   this isn  t funny . i think that if it didn  t have those laughs  i don  t know how you call that in english  sorry  you wouldn  t laugh at all . this isn  t intelligent comedy  this is an insult to the public . i like most of the american comedies  but this isn  t good at all . i would give it  out of   .  sorry for my poor english again .   
you know you are in trouble watching a comedy  when the only amusing parts in it are from the animal cast . it is a pity then that the parrot  cat  dog were only in support  not the other way around  as the humans in it were pretty abysmal throughout .  br    br   if i were you  paul  eva  lake  what sort of name is that   jason   lindsay  i would forget this acting lark  do something else  as all of you are as funny as watching paint dry   awful actors to boot .  br    br   the main gag in the film is one of the characters shouting  me not gay  which is funny as if you weren  t  you might change your mind if you had to put up with the three bossy  tedious  dare i say very plain women leads in the film .  br    br   the worst film i have seen in years   hopefully never see one as bad again  though i expect not .  
i actually didn  t start watching the show until it came on fx . i was bored and had nothing to watch and saw that the show  s reruns were premiering so i decided to watch it . i was so upset that i had not watched the show when it first aired on t . v . i loved the show so much  finally a show for everyone to enjoy . i remember full house and family matters and step by step and they were okay shows but just not funny enough . they would make dumb jokes and laugh over things that were just plain stupid  but not that   s show . that   s show was hilarious  smart and so real . i think it was the best show ever made and i  m very sorry that it ended . although i love this show  i do think it should have ended on the seventh season when eric and kelso leave . the last season was just not right  eric was the main character and the show should have ended when his character leaves . i still love this show and i hope tv starts making more shows like this one .  
much of  over her dead body  is so painfully unfunny that i was actually squirming in my seat out of embarrassment for the actors .  br    br   eva longoria proves that she can  t carry a film in this terrible romantic comedy  and further  that she doesn  t really even have any comedic timing . she  s grating and annoying as a ghost who returns to earth to keep a cooky psychic from dating her widower fianc . the fianc is played by paul rudd  drippy and charmless  while the psychic is played by lake bell  bringing the movie whatever anemic energy it has . i felt most sorry for bell  as she appears to have some comic abilities and was working overtime in an effort to make the material work . unfortunately  she is up against the insurmountable task of making any movie that features jason biggs tolerable  and she is dragged down with the rest of the cast like leo dicaprio at the end of  titanic .   br    br    over her dead body  actually pied me off  because of its laziness and utter lack of effort . i started to think of all the interesting projects that can  t get funded because vast amounts of money are being funneled into bland crap like this . seriously  does hollywood think movies like this are good enough  how stupid do they really think the movie  going public is   br    br   grade f  
over the years  we  ve seen a lot of preposterous things done by writers when the show just had to go on no matter what  keeping   simple rules  going after john ritter died comes to mind  but this is probably the first time i cared . the idea of having  that    s show  without eric or to a lesser extent kelso is ridiculous . they tried to cover it up with a comeback of leo and increasingly outrageous story lines  but it always felt like why bother when you don  t have a main character anymore . it just didn  t really connect  it was a bunch of unrelated stuff happening that most of the time wasn  t even funny . the last season felt like the season too much for every single character  simply because eric used to take a lot of screen time and now we  d be smashed in the face by how stale and repetitive the rest of the characters were . focusing on the gimmick that is fez was thoroughly uninteresting and the character would simply stop working  because the whole deal was that he  d say something weird from out of nowhere  and you can  t say stuff from out of nowhere when every second line is yours . they also brought in the standard cousin oliver  only this time it just wasn  t a kid . whenever you heard somebody knock on the door  you started praying it wasn  t randy  please let it not be randy . the deal with randy was that he  d do really awful jokes  usually as red would say  smiling like an ass and totally screwing up delivery and donna would be in stitches . i think more than half of the last season was donna pretending to be amused . the problems had started earlier though what once was a truly great show with an equally great concept that for once wasn  t about a dysfunctional family slowly got into the territory of soap opera . everybody started being in love with everybody  emotional scenes were dragged out at nausea  with just one usually lame joke placed somewhere to divert attention that we were watching  as the world turns  . i  m guessing this was character development  but come on that was written almost as clumsily as the moral lessons from  family matters  . to be fair  the last episode  also because it had a cameo by topher grace  a cameo in his own show   was really good  even if not that funny either .  br    br   by the way  yet more criticism on season   what the hell was with the opening theme  not only did they use the same joke twice  a character not singing   fez scared the hell out of me . dude  don  t open your eyes that far . but the first five seasons or so  among the best comedy ever broadcast .  
i didn  t even bother finishing the movie because i was so bored i thought i was going to pass out i was watching it in the movie theaters and me and my friends just got tired so we got up and left to another movie if i ever have to sit through  min . of that movie again i think i  m going to shoot myself . . . and i do know the whole entire movie because my friend told me what happened at the end and i wasn  t surprised at all i mean who didn  t know she was going to do the right thing and let him be happy i mean for real you would have to be a complete idiot not to know that . i know i didn  t miss anything and if somebody ask  s me to see that movie i would say  over my dead body  .  
how does an usual day start in point place  wisconsin . . .  br    br   first of all  red  the tyrannical father of the forman family and a wwii veteran  sits at the kitchen table and reads his newspaper while his overjoyed wife kitty serves breakfast . then comes their skinny son  eric  he sits at the table as well  and his father starts his daily yelling  usually involving placing his foot in eric  s behind if  insert reason here  . if his promiscuous angel  faced sister laurie is at home  she comes along  then red stops yelling and kindly talks to her  making eric feel left out of the family .  br    br   once this daily  painful  ritual is over  eric rushes down to his basement  where all his friends are already hanging out . and when we get to see them  it becomes obvious eric and his redhead tomboy girlfriend  next  door neighbor and childhood friend donna pinciotti are the sanest people around . meet steven hyde  the conspiracy theorist who hates disco and doesn  t really care about what  s around as long as it  s not funny to watch michael kelso  the kind of guy who thinks that he will get through his life only by his looks and that carrots grow in trees jackie burkhardt  the one who thinks of herself as the prettiest girl around  spoiled kid of a rich father  and  of course  cheerleader and fez  a naive but oversexed foreigner who loves candy and can  t keep a secret . at first they simply hang out  gossiping and making fun of kelso  but then they all sit in a circle and let the real fun begin . . . before going out doing something they  ll regret later .  br    br   meanwhile red goes out and meets donna  s weirdo parents  bob and midge . he  s rude  but they don  t mind  as they think he  s joking . somewhere around is leo  an aging hippie  who  s constantly confused and makes word plays without even noticing .  br    br   did you imagine that seemingly peaceful neighborhood with all these awesome characters  of course  most seem  clichd   but the show takes the clich to a new level . now throw in some of the most wicked story lines a sitcom can offer  sit down and enjoy one of the best tv shows ever . the one that never does two times the same thing and which is  compared to most sitcoms that are  cute funny   purely hysterical . if you get hooked  don  t let this show let you go . bite on the hook over and over and  man  you will see the sitcom genre from a whole new prospective .  
well this is the first post am ever commenting on imdb .  do you get it  this movie has made me come and warn all the good souls who will stop ever experimenting with movies .  br    br   as most of them have given their comments i thought of watching this movie because it seemed to have some decent actors  though having read worst critics against this movie  i thought of experimenting it assuming it to be some comedy flick .  well it all started well with some ahem .  comedies . . . . then it all started going pathetic . . . man you can believe your self  you wud feel like going and banging your head each and every time the pathetic looking woman called the heroine of the movie is made helpless . . . huh well how much can a person digest a sick all possessive witch kinda ghost trying to do all she can to irritate you and stop you from what you are doing .  br    br   the next worst thing about the movie is  the  zombie  hero  yes as he looses his fianc he roams around like a goat  with black marks under his eyes .  and with the hero  s  terribly stupid  sister . . you wud be bleeding from head to toe if you attempted and succeeded by completely watching this movie   
i can  t believe we don  t have that    s show anymore . i have all  seasons of that    s show   i absolutely love it   i lay in the bed every night and watch several episodes before i go to sleep . at the end of a long busy day it  s nice to kick back and have a great laugh before you go to sleep . i was so sad they took the show off air . . . at least we still have the re  runs   i am hoping and praying they will come back with at least a reunion . . . like maybe when donna finishes college and we finally get to see her and eric get married     wouldn  t that be awesome    it would be even better if they would continue it for several years    
obnoxious eva longoria dies on her wedding day when an ice sculpture of an angel  without wings  falls on her off the back of a truck and kills her . she is then tries to ruin the relationship of her ex  boyfriend with his new girlfriend  a psychic who can see her .  br    br   obvious unoriginal movie wouldn  t be bad in a clichd sort of way  except that longoria  s character is hateful and obnoxious that she drains all of the fun out of the film . its like having your ears cleaned with sandpaper . to be fair longoria  nor anyone else in the cast or crew  isn  t the problem  its the god awful script that sinks the proceedings . its just really really stupid .  
this was one of the funniest and greatest sitcom to hit national television . its unfortunate that the show is not placed amongst great sitcoms where it truly belongs . the actors did a superb job and seasons one thru six were the show at its peak point . although season seven was not as great when compared to the previous six  it was still funny . season  was the real problem kicked in . without topher grace or ashton kutcher the show simply fell apart . not too say  the other actors weren  t great if any of  main characters had left such as danny masterson  wilder valderamma kurtwood smith  debra jo rupp  mila kunis and laura prepon  don starks and tommy chong are great too  left the show it would have the same affect . and the inclusion of randy  josh meyers  didn  t help either because he was not well received by the shows fans . i believe if the show ended a year ago it would have certainly gone down in history as one of the sitcom greats . season  was a little dull but the finale was excellent . i am going to miss the show  i just hope i wake up one day to find out the show is back as that    s show with the same cast because i am going to miss the hell out of it .  
this movie was terrible . i thought with all the some what decent actors  it would be better . don  t waste your time . eva longoria parker was awful . she should stick to desperate housewives . paul rudd is becoming a b actor . the mess he made in the movie i could never be your woman was the epitome of what i  m saying . and lake bell she was cute but definitely in need of some more acting lessons . watch just like heaven with reese witherspoon . . . it was a tad better . or any other ghost movie . you will be grateful to not have wasted your precious time . ps i love you is also a good from beyond the grave romance  time to start watching movies rated over  out of   and listen to the people who have already seen it .  
this show has come so far . at first everyone in the cast from eric to fez  they were all new actors and actresses  fresh faces  and just look what they accomplished . they stuck with the show and it was a success . its one of the best shows ever made and its probably the funniest sitcom i  ve ever seen in my life . it will be sad to see it end but if they end this show  i hope to god that the series finale goes out with one of the biggest bangs that any season finale has ever had . i don  t care if the whole season sucks because they save all the fuel for the final episode . go down swinging  get one last punch in . the show deserves it  the fans deserve it  if they go  let everyone know its going to end  like on friends  and let the finale be huge . i say get donna and eric married  i say have hyde and kelso fight and become friends again  i say have something interesting happen between fez and jackie because fez has been trying for so long  but of course it wont work out for him . just close out the series big time guys   br    br   that   s show will always be the best in my eyes . eric  kelso  donna  jackie  fez  hyde  i wish i had you guys as friends . you are the best   br    br        . . .  
i confess to have quite an uneasy feeling about ghosts movies  and while i sometimes enjoy the genre when it comes to horror  but when it comes to comedies  they really need to be crazy to be funny .  over her dead body  seems to take afterlife a little bit too seriously  and fails in my opinion from almost any aspect i can think about . the story is completely unbelievable of course  and did not succeed to convince me either in the comic or in the sentimental register . the choice of the principal actresses was awful . while paul rudd is at least handsome and looks like a nice guy  the taste in ladies of his character seems to need serious improvement as eva longoria seems too aged  sorry  for him  and lake bell seems too unattractive  sorry again  . a romantic story without good enough reason for romance is due to failure from start . jason biggs and lindsey sloane were actually better but they had only supporting roles . the rest is uninteresting and uninspired  with flat cinematography and cheap gags borrowed from unsuccessful tv comedies . nothing really worth watching  nothing to remember .  
this is one of those films that explore the culture clash of eastern born people in westernized cultures .  br    br   loving on tokyo time is a sad film about the inability of opposites to attract due to major cultural differences . ken  rock n  roll fanatic  marries kyoto  a japanese girl  so that she can stay in the united states when her visa expires . the marriage is only expected to be temporary  that is  until kyoto gains legal status again . but  ken  who seems to be lost in every relationship  takes a liking to kyoto and tries very hard to make things work out . this  despite his friend  s urging that dumping kyoto and getting rid of all commitments to girls is bad for rock n  roll except to inspire some song writing about broken hearts and all of that .  br    br   but kyoto comes from a strict traditional japanese upbringing  and doesn  t expect to be married to ken all that long . not only that  she is homesick and wants to return to japan . it  s sad in that this is finally someone ken thinks he can love and be with and all that  except the one time he thinks he  s found someone to feel that way about  the girl isn  t expecting to stay that long . it  s not that she doesn  t like ken  it  s just that she  s used to a whole  nother way of life . she says   i can  t tell him the way i feel in english  and ken can  t tell me the way he feels in japanese .  it  s a rather sad love story with a killer   s techno  nintendo soundtrack .  br    br   i picked up loving on tokyo time because it reminded me of one of my favorite   s films  tokyo pop . and  for those of you who enjoyed loving on tokyo time  check out tokyo pop  a new york singer goes to japan and joins a japanese american cover band   except it  s a movie with a happy ending .  br    br    
henry  a veterinarian  paul rudd   and his bossy fianc  kate  eva longoria  are looking over the last minute arrangements for their reception . it is the morning of their wedding and kate is in a frenzy  giving the caterers an earful about her demands for food presentation . but  horror of horrors  the  angel  ice sculpture  ordered by kate  arrives without wings . in an ensuing fight with the sculptor  the heavy  ice  maiden falls on kate and sends her to the hereafter . now  one year later  henry  s sister arranges for a psychic to tell the young vet that kate would have wanted him to starting dating other ladies and move forward . yet  the lovely medium  ashley  lake bell  becomes interested in henry herself  much to the chagrin of her catering partner  jason biggs  . more importantly  kate returns from the other side to create havoc for ashley  as she has no intentions of letting another woman get her hands on henry . can anything be done to return kate into heaven for good  this is an abysmal romantic comedy  one of the worst this dedicated fan has ever seen . no  its not the cast  as they try gamely to make things work . longoria is beautiful and funny as the overbearing fianc and bell has an offbeat style and humor that is likewise infectious . biggs  a funny thespian  too  is totally wasted . as for rudd  a very gifted performer  see anchorman  knocked up  or clueless  please  he tries hardest of all and  in truth  is the main reason to see this clunker . his charm  looks  and easy wit go a long way in making the film bearable . but  nothing can turn a mindless script and terrible direction into a winner  absolutely nothing . so  if you are a dyed  in  the  wool fan of romantic comedy  think long and hard before you fork over any money for this one . even were free tickets to fall into your lap  be warned that this movie is a near  death experience for those who adore love  and  laugh cinema .  
this is a cute and sad little story of cultural difference . kyoko is a beautiful japanese woman who has run to california to escape from a failed relationship in japan . ken is a japanese american manual laborer with aspirations of rock and roll stardom but little concrete to offer a potential partner . kyoko  marries  ken in order to be able to stay permanently in the u . s .  with the understanding that although they will live together until she gets a  green card  the marriage will be in name only . it soon develops that the parties are not on the same wavelength  or perhaps in the same  time zone   hence the title of the movie . as an immigration attorney i have seen such  arrangements  take on a life of their own  so i was pleased to see how well the filmmaker developed the dramatic possibilities of this situation .  
i had to shut this off after about   execrable moments . .  br    br   i was hoping it might improve   br    br   what i saw was badly acted  directed  written .  br    br   this movie should never even have been released directly to dvd  .  br    br   the lead character who is a bride top be from hell has an huge ice sculpture fall on her killing her . she was such a revolting person i was not even sorry for her . she winds up there in a sort of heaven   was still repulsive  i left shortly after .  br    br   eve longoria portrays her  i hope i never see her again  she cant even act . she is just plain annoying .  br    br   paul rudd an actor who normally can do no wrong also was in this dud .  br    br   jason biggs  no longer a teen  is also present   br    br   i do like comedies but not stupid ones about stupid people .  br    br   rating   out of     points  out of     imdb   out of     
i rented this some years ago  the video store had only vhs at the time . straight to video was hitting it  s strides  you know  where the box covers use the same font and color schemes of successful films  . i didn  t know what to expect other than what was printed . first thing i thought while watching was  what the hells  wrong with the sound    obviously there was no dialogue dubbing . words echoed  so i stopped munching on whatever i had to pay closer attention  mind you there  s no shakespeare here   just simple talk . the story is simple enough  boy meets girl etc . . what struck me as humorous and heartfelt was  the people in the movie didn  t seem like caricatures written into the story  but rather non  actors plucked temporarily from their real jobs  uniforms included  . all the while  you begin to sense what the filmmaker is after  then see that there are no attempts at cheap humor  people hurting their privates  using vulgarities this couldn  t have hurt the marketing . there was something honest about it . i thought if they  d have a bigger budget then it would have been better  which i  m sure they considered daily  but  they went ahead and made it . this  i felt  was what independent film  making is all about . the word  indy   is thrown around as if it  s a genre . . ha  . . that  s funny   
this movie is one of the worst ones of the year . the main characters have no chemistry and the acting is horrible . paul rudd is the only one that has any talent  and the only one that is not annoying . i have never watched desparte housewives  so i don  t know how eva longoria is on that show  but in this movie she was horrible . it  s like she knows nothing about acting . all her character does is whine throughout the film  and she can  t pull off being a b and still be entertaining . and the other girl  lake bell  displays little emotion and it  s like you are looking at the cue cards as she reads them .  br    br   as for the story  it is so cookie cutter . it goes from point a to b with little surprise . so much more could have been used with kate as a ghost . the plot should have revolved more around her and the things she does as a spirit .  br    br   final verdict it  s not worth watching .  
xica da silva is one of the best brazilians opera soap ever  the a black slave  s story that becomes queen of a small villa when conquering the most powerful man  s of the area love  in the colonial period of the brazil dominated by portugal  that explored its diamonds . the largest xica enemy  violante  bride that it was changed by xica  is a woman of big it influences the portugal king close to and does to take revenge of the slave of everything . very religious person  she is a picture of the hypocritical society and religious of the time  she dedicates its life the morality of the villa that was committed by xica  that is a woman full of lusts that it faces the society of the time to preach and it helps the slaves of the area . the story also bill with forbidden loves  sorceries and vampires and religious fervor . xica da silva does with that you don  t want to lose a i only surrender  from beginning to end   
this movie is by far the worst movie ever made . if you have to create a film costarring the guy who plays lars in heavyweights than don  t make the damn film . i have to say that i could watch leprechaun in space  times before i could watch the trailer for this pos of a movie . adam sandler should be restricted from any movie after this disgrace . watching this movie is like a mix of listening to cher and willingly putting your dick in a blender . anyone with half of a brain cell will realize that this movie is not worth a dime . if i had an extra dollar and had to spend it  i  d give it to the support lorraina bobbitt foundation before buying this movie .  
writer  director  co  star adam jones is headed for great things . that is the thought i had after seeing his feature film  cross eyed  . rarely does an independent film leave me feeling as good as his did . cleverly written and masterfully directed   cross eyed  keeps you involved from beginning to end . adam jones may not be a well known name yet  but he will be . if this movie had one or two  named actors  it would be a box office sensation . i think it still has a chance to get seen by a main stream audience if just one film distributor takes the time to work this movie . regardless of where it ends up  if you get a chance to see it you won  t be disappointed .  
there have been some funny movies about spirits to come out of hollywood . cary grant was an angel in  the bishop  s wife        . of course the best were the topper movies in the late    s  early    s . and  more recently  warren beatty  s  heaven can wait         which was a remake of      s  here comes mr . jordan .  these were well  written  funny  entertaining comedies  all of which centered around supernatural creatures like ghosts and angels .  br    br   now comes writer  director jeff lowell  making his feature film debut with a story of an unlikable  bitchy young woman  kate  eva longoria parker   who gets killed on her wedding day and then comes back to harass the fledgling spiritualist  ashley  lake bell  who is falling for kate  s fianc  henry  paul rudd  . one thing that is clear at the outset longoria parker is no constance bennett  marion kerby in the first two  topper  films   who is the standard against whom all female ghosts are measured .  br    br   there is a line right at the beginning when henry  s sister  chloe  lindsay sloane  tells henry   you don  t smile .  that aptly described my situation throughout this film .  br    br   the main problem with the film is that the script just isn  t very funny . but it  s made worse by longoria parker  s presence that just rubbed me the wrong way every time she appeared on the screen . just to start out with  compounding her lack of comedic talent  she is covered with so much pancake makeup  who knows what she really looks like  kate gets killed while setting up for her wedding by a falling frozen statue . she  s so unreasonable that the angel who instructs her about what her afterlife is about walks out on her  well  she actually just fades out   so kate finds herself back on earth as a ghost without knowing what her mission is .  br    br   chloe wants henry to snap out of the funk into which he has naturally descended after kate  s death  from what i saw of kate  he should have felt a wonderful relief   so she introduces him to ashley  who really doesn  t know what she  s doing as a spiritualist  she is also a cateress to make ends meet   to see if she can get henry back in touch with kate . there  s a lot of meshugaas that goes on .  br    br   the vacuity of the film is epitomized by a  b  story revolving around ashley  s assistant  dan  jason biggs  . this is thrown in near the end  but the way ashley handles it indicates that she  s as much of a boob as kate . since dan is apparently attracted to both of these severely flawed women  he deserves whatever he gets .  br    br   eventually kate appears to ashley and the fun should begin . it doesn  t  and more  s the pity because in other hands this could have been pretty funny . as it is  norman z . mcleod  constance bennett  roland young  alan mowbray  and co . must be turning over in their graves to see this is what their brilliance in the first two  topper  films has wrought .  
cross  eyed is a very original and funny movie . i think adam jones brings a refreshing new set of eyes to the comedy genre and really reinvents it in a good way . this film is smart  concise  and consistently entertaining and funny . as a writer  director  jones exhibits complete control over his characters who are both absurd and lovable . the story is definitely something you haven  t seen before which is good . it  s unique and fun  and manages to work in visually fantastic elements as well as the long lost slapstick genre together to form a hearty comedy .  br    br   a very promising first film .  
was this the greatest movie that i have ever seen  no . was it the worst  no .  br    br   as a mother of four kids  it is nice to watch something that was light and amusing . it was great  but it was cute .  br    br   i think that it definitely had some room to improve  but it tried .  br    br   i am not sure if this movie deserves the extreme level of abuse from the other reviewer . they obviously do not care for eva longoria . i think that she was better in this than in the sentinel . i think that movies are a matter of opinion . the actors play a huge role in whether it is a hit or a flop .  br    br   maybe the cast did not work out . maybe there were too many things going on .  br    br   i just wanted to speak up for an average movie  not a terrible one . it could just be a chick flick . kind of like the movie the split  up or french kiss . my husband still talks about those .    
debut  wow   cross  eyed is easily one of the most enjoyable indie films that i  ve watched in the past year  making it hard to believe that cross eyed is the writer  s debut film . i mean   i logged onto imdb to find more films by this writer . . . because cross eyed has that unique signature   you want to see what else this writer might have to say . these days  its rare to see a movie that is well  written  well  directed  well  edited and well  acted . for me   cross eyed encapsulates what movie making should be about   combining the best of all film elements to create a clever  artistic and poignant tale . more  please .  
this film is shoddily  made  unoriginal garbage . i like romantic comedies sometimes . watching a good one is like eating ice cream for dinner . it  s not something you are going to do all the time  but the experience is so pleasurable that you can ignore how unwise you are being . this movie made me think about how stupid i was for continuing to remain seated for its entire running time . everything about it screamed made on the cheap . it actually looks like they overexposed the film at certain points it is so washed out . it boasts cheesy cgi and lame sets  too .  br    br   the writing was clunky . i know that you can usually expect some plot problems in a screwball comedy  but you usually don  t really care because you are laughing . this movie is so unfunny that you actually sit there and wonder about the unlikely series of coincidences and completely unbelievable behavior involved . events were placed in the film just to move the characters from one scene to the next or to provide exposition . sure  this is how all movies work  but you shouldn  t notice that it  s happening . inelegant . that  s the term i should use .  br    br   there was almost no one in the movie who was really likable . i didn  t care who ended up with whom  as long as they all stayed the hell away from me  and i didn  t have to listen to them talk about it anymore . why would the only really cool character in the movie  the paul rudd character  want to have anything to do with the completely bitchy  condescending  control freak played by eva longoria  also  almost all of the characters involved consistently picked the sleaziest solution to any situation . a straight man pretends to be gay for five years just to hang out  and bathe with  with a woman he is attracted to  the best feel  good moment they could come up with was to tack on a happy ending for the same schmoe where he gets together with rudd  s equally annoying lying  kleptomaniac sister  lake bell and eva longoria are very attractive  appealing women . maybe they will find something better to appear in down the road .  
an imagination is a terrible thing to waste . . . especially when you have talented actors . writer  director jones wastes no time in siding the viewer with his protagonist .  br    br   anyone who has shared an apartment with a slob will be crying with laughter . anyone who has arrived while a meter maid places a ticket on your windshield will just plain cry . we  ve all wanted to rip a terrible toupee off a man  s head . these are only snippets of what  s in store when watching  cross eyed   a heartfelt film that should be a stepping stone for jones and his wry sense of humor both in front and behind the camera .  
this movie is similar to the play entitled  blithe spirit  written by noel coward . the plot of a ghost wife and a medium are strongly linked to coward  s writing . i  m surprised that movies of this nature don  t acknowledge the original writer  s concept . i realize that the public may not be aware that this is a knockoff but it is .  br    br   sad . these movies are so expensive to produce . i do perk up when a screenplay is original . i even perk up when it  s an innovative way to produce a work that was previously released . there were some samples mentioned  such as topper  etc .  .  br    br   i realize that movies are still a comparatively affordable form of entertainment . however  i  m not please when the public  s taste is taken for granted . in this situation  the public  s taste is overlooked .  br    br   i look forward to better produced movie entertainment .  br    br   in this case . i rather see the play .  
very rarely does one come across an indie comedy that leaves a lasting impression . cross eyed is a rare gem . the writer director not only tackled the challenge of directing his own work  but gives a hilarious performance as an evil roommate . the script takes an interesting look at not only the plight of the struggling writer  but mixes so much comedy into the desolate world of the writer that you can  t help but commit to ernie as a character . very funny stuff . despite the tiny budget adam jones manages to give the film a serious look . he  s not messing around when it comes to making a good movie . i can  t wait to see what he comes up with next . this guy can make people laugh and think that  s special .  
jeff lowell has written  directed  over her dead body  poorly . the idea is first of all  is as stale as my jokes and the execution is just a cherry on the cake .  br    br   minus eva longoria parker there is hardly anything appealing in this film . eva looks great as ever and delivers a likable performance .  br    br   paul rudd looks jaded and least interested . lake bell is a complete miscast . she looks manly and delivers a strictly average performance . jason biggs is wasted  so is lindsay sloane .  br    br   i expected entertainment more from this film . sadly  i didn  t get entertained .  
it  s great how this movie pulls you along . i had honest laughs . don  t care that it  s low budget cause the thing works for me . to be honest my wife didn  t really go for it in the same way but she prefers a different type of film . she did admit though that it was very creative and well put together and probably all on a shoe string . these characters who  s lives are strange and troubled give me something to relate to in my own world . just keep going and be who you are . dreams are what you make of them . in watching this movie a second and third time i realized that there are some hidden moments that passed by me on the first time through . what can i say  i like my fun with some complexity . anyway liked it . hope to see more .  
  so there  s this bride  you see  and she gets crushed to death by this statue that falls on her on the day of her wedding . then  get this  a year later  her former fianc falls in love with a beautiful psychic and then  that beautiful psychic gets haunted by the ghost of the disgruntled dead bride who wants to keep her from stealing her boyfriendhe heit  ll be hilarious  .  polite chuckling .  br    br   this  i like to envision  is how jeff lowell  the man who dreamed up  over her dead body   presented his concept to the studio execs over there at new line cinema . the big mystery is how those very same corporate bigwigs could then turn right around and green light the project  allowing lowell to direct the film as well as write the screenplay .  br    br   for if you think that no movie could ever possibly be as bad as this original premise sounds  then clearly you have another think coming . the only way in which it might have worked is if the writer had simply gone crazy with it and turned it into a no  holds  barred satirical farce . instead  wanting to ensure that he delivered a fuzzy  inoffensive and warmhearted romantic comedy  lowell engages in boring half  measures every step of the way  tamping down the absurdity in favor of drab conventionality . indeed   over her dead body  is so thoroughly inept and unfunny that it  s hard to know where exactly lowell thought he was going with it . virtually every set  up  joke and sight gag in the film is flat  footed and poorly executed  with even the actors themselves seemingly aware of their predicament . how else to explain the halfhearted  lifeless performances of paul rudd  eva langoria parker  lake bell and jason biggs in their various roles   br    br   i choose not to blame the actors  some of whom have proved their talents in better vehicles in the past  that is particularly the case with rudd  . but lowell and those studio execs sure have some  splainin  to do .  
i happened to catch this film at a screening in brooklyn  it  s difficult to describe the plot it has a lot of wacky characters  but let  s just say i  d have a hard time choosing which one made me laugh the hardest  i wouldn  t know where to begin . even the peripheral roles are well written and well acted .  br    br   there are numerous small touches that make it unique and very enjoyable  it has a few  devices  that pop up and add another hilarious layer . it is refreshing to watch not some recycled stuff i  d seen many times before . if this film could reach a wider audience  i  m certain it would be a real crowd  pleaser  the story is so original and heartfelt .  br    br   there  s a lot here to like  funny back  stories  mishaps and misunderstandings which set up the final act and dramatic conclusion . cross eyed is a very funny movie with a ton of heart it  s a touching story with fast paced comedy woven throughout . definitely worth seeing   
the lovely eva longoria parker plays kate  who dies after an ice angel crushes her before the  i do  s  with fianc henry  paul rudd  . after two years henry has yet to move on and his sister chloe  lindsay sloane  is very concerned . chloe arranges for henry to talk with an attractive psychic ashley  lake bell  . ashley is to contact kate  s spirit hoping to help henry get on with his life . when the psychic starts getting attracted to henry  kate  s ghost appears to nip the romance in the bud . there are some funny situations but if you  ve seen the trailers you have seen the substance of the film . also in the cast stephen root  jason biggs  william morgan sheppard and wendi mclendon  covey . i personally thought that bell stole the show from parker . and biggs as usual a pain in the butt . still this movie was over  hyped .  
adam jones has a brilliant sense of humor . there is nothing i didn  t like about this film . cross eyed was beautifully shot . adam does a great job of  not only developing the main characters  but also the minor characters .  br    br   cross eyed gives hope to every low budget film out there . that you don  t have to spend a lot to create something worth watching . there is something to like for everyone . if you  ve had a terrible roommate . if you  ve ever picked on a dork in high school . if you  ve ever parked anywhere in the city . if you have any type of sense of humor at all you will love this film . this is the type of film that will be around for a long time and ends up resurfacing again once adam makes a bigger name for himself . i look forward to adam  s future projects .  
i have to admit that over her dead body actually wasn  t as bad as i was expecting  my mom wanted to see it  so i rented it . i figured just to go ahead and see the horror before my eyes  but actually this wasn  t too bad . i was just expecting this horrific movie  but it seems like the writers meant no harm  but the casting of eva longoria  parker  sorry   she seems a little off set for the movie . i think i may have found it to be a little better without her  just she does annoy me . but paul rudd and lake bell had a decent chemistry that made the film somewhat likable . but you have to admit  there was no point to this movie  it was one of those quick paychecks for the actor type of thing . the movie could  ve been funnier if someone had really paid attention to it and had a better cast .  br    br   henry just lost his bride to be  kate  who was killed by an ice sculpture on their wedding day . but when his sister takes him to a psychic  ashley  henry falls for her  but kate is haunting her from beyond the grave . kate is jealous and doesn  t want henry to move on so quickly and she will make sure that ashley doesn  t get him by torturing her day and night with her rambles  believe me  with kate  s voice  that  s scary .  br    br   over her dead body is an alright movie  not sure if it  s worth the money  but i  d give it a rental for you if you want to see it or are curious . eva longoria just doesn  t have enough star power to make the film work  no offense to those who love her  she just belongs on the small screen over the silver screen . not to mention the character of ashley  she seems still not too likable with everything she pulls  or her  gay  friend  dan  just again  not really likable . just with some re  writing and proper attention  this film could have been better  but instead we get the average predictable romantic comedy that will leave with with an empty feeling .  br    br        
the film  cross eyed  by adam jones propels the viewer on a ride of redemption as the main character takes back control of the wheel and sets his life in order . adam jones has found an imaginative and refreshing way to empower his character and actualize what matters most . these truths become apparent to both the characters and viewers as you laugh and gag to the credits with them . the simple yet attractive settingscostumes keep you guessing about what you will see next . you can  t help but smile and laugh at the antics that take place in this movie . i can  t wait for his sophomore effort . it is only a matter of time before jones strikes again . bravo   
with movies like this you know you are going to get the usual jokes concerning ghosts . eva as a ghost is pretty funny . and the other actors also do a good job . it is the direction and the story that is lacking . that could have been overlooked had the jokes worked better . the problem only is that there aren  t many jokes . sure i laughed a couple of times . apart from the talking parrot there wasn  t an ounce of creativity to be noticed in the movie . i blame the director not using the premise to it  s full potential . eva certainly has the comedic skill to show more but did not get the opportunity to do so . overall this movie is ideal for a sunday afternoon . other than that it can be skipped completely .  
who made this film  i love this film  somebody has a wacky sense of humor . . .  br    br   this zany  surreal style of film making is appealing  but it is hard to create  or easy to forget  that substance  and characters who actually have souls  are what give such a film depth . without that a comedy is just a bunch of ideas . who cares . it may get laughs  but it goes through you like a half  good hamburger . . . next . . .  br    br   crosseyed may not intend to change anybody  s life  but i appreciate the depth and substance . they sneak up on you . i started this film thinking  oh  i get it  indie comedy  off the wall  gonzo . . . yup .  and it is that  but if you pay attention there is sub text and character moments filling it out . in this sense the film breathes . it makes propositions that give pause  if you  re available to see them  and then  of course  it goes on its insanely merry way .  br    br   you will miss the point if you don  t sign the contract to suspend belief at moments in the film . stepping between reality and surreality is one of the points of this movie .  br    br   crosseyed isn  t perfect  but smart people made it . i want more .  br    br   the dining room scenes are an absolute hoot .  br    br   put on your seat belt .  
i saw this movie by accident yesterday at a cinema . i had some hopes for the movie because i really like spoorloos  the vanishing  and the book it  s based on . the movie starts out okay as it at first seems to be a nice thriller . quickly though the movie becomes a mess with uninteresting plotlines  characters that are never fleshed out and nobody in the audience cared for  like marjoke  and terrible editing . the movie has fade to black bits that are just way too long  a messed up chronology that jumps back and forth and lots of scenes that just don  t add anything to the story and could easily have been dropped . after suffering through the story you  ll get treated to one of the worst endings i  ve seen in a very long . it should also be mentioned that the movie has lots of explicit sex scenes which you  re probably used to if you watch a lot of dutch movies . it  s hard to mention any good things about this movie . about a third of the audience had already walked out of the theater halfway into the movie and i didn  t hear a kind word after the movie was over . avoid this movie at all costs . it really destroyed any faith i had left in the dutch movie industry .  
telemundo should definitely consider making a dvd collection of the novela xica  i know tons of people including myself who would like to be able to purchase the novela xica  it is a very entertaining novela which is set in brazil . the costumes worn by the actors are beautiful and the town in which the novela takes place is beautiful . xica contains a lot of history of that time period . i wish telemundo would televise it again even if it was a  in the morning . i would highly recommend watching xica if it is ever shown again on telemundo . i  ve e  mailed telemundo a million times already to show the novela again but my pleas have fallen on deaf ears . the only cautionary statement about xica is that it occasionally contains some harsh scenes therefore i would recommend that children under   do not watch xica . overall xica merits a   out of     
this has to be the worst movie i  ve ever attempted to watch . in the first   minutes  there wasn  t anything to keep my interest in this movie . i was on vacation at the time  and had plenty of time to devote to a just  for  the  fun  of  it movie . the condo we were staying in had this movie in stock   they must have got it from the   store or something .  br    br   if you like adam sandler  this is nothing like any other movie he  s made . this started with a bad premise and then just got worse . there  s nothing even remotely funny in it .  br    br   i  ve watched a lot of movies  including some i didn  t care for . but if you decide to waste your time on this movie  don  t say i didn  t warn you .  
a friend lent me this dvd  which he got from the director at a festival  i think . i went in warned that some of the technical aspects of the movie were a bit shaky and that the writing was good but not great . so maybe that colored my judgment but i have to admit that i liked this movie .  br    br   the standouts where the actors . youssef kerkor was really good as ernie  the main character  kind of pathetic in a likable way . adam jones  who also directed  and justin lane were excellent as the roommates who drive ernie mad . the bill character  justin lane   who spends a lot of the film dressed like a panda  was by far my favorite he seemed the least one  dimensional  and reminded me of an old college roommate so much i called the guy after watching the dvd . really kind of lovable  and very funny . some of the other acting was good  some was so  so  but none of it was bad . i also really liked the vigilante duo . ridiculous and funny .  br    br   i  m giving this one high marks  even though it has some issues  because you can tell when you watch it that these people cared  and decided to make their movie their way . well done to adam jones and crew .  
what a boring film  to sum it all up  its was basically just nana patekar beating up his daughter  in  law karisma kapoor  while she tried to flee from the village  with her son . can someone say boring    the concept wasn  t too bad  but it was poorly executed . the canadian locales  and some of the village scenes were nicely shot . however  overall the cinematography came up short . the story could have been great  but the movie just seemed to drag on . there is only so much stupidity a person can take  let alone three bloody hours of it .  br    br   the best part of the whole movie was the song  ishq kamina   and that was only five minutes long . other than that  this movie was a piece of crap .  
i had the opportunity to see this film debut at the appalachian film festival  in which it won an award for best picture . this film is brilliantly done  with an excellent cast that works well as an ensemble . my favorite performances were from youssef kerkour  justin lane  and adam jones . also  there are some great effects with dragonflies and cockroaches  that i was surprised to find out that this film was done on a small budget . the writer  director adam jones  who i believe also won an award for his writing  does an excellent job with direction . the audience loved this movie . cross eyed will keep you laughing throughout the movie . definitely a must see .  
this movie was not made by who fans . most of the great moments that fans will look forward to in the half  hour tommy medley are simply missed or glossed over in christmas  they didn  t show daltry  s screams after the line  tommy doesn  t know what day it is . . .   they showed almost no townsend guitar shots in pinball wizard  there were excess crowd shots during the best moments of go to the mirror  and worst of all  in the second half of we  re not gonna take it  listening to you   they robbed us of almost every shot of pete  s blazing guitar chords . huge chunks of the film are shot from in back of the band . it  s a very frustrating film to watch  and doesn  t deliver the goods . i don  t know if director murry lerner is just not a who fan  or worse  for him at least  if he is a who fan and this is all the eight cameras could deliver for him . to its credit  there are some rare numbers before tommy  as well as some faves  that are very well shot  and sometimes the editing is brilliant . this might be enough to make some viewers happy  as long as you  re not anticipating tommy . the sound overall was mediocre in the transmission i watched from directv it may be different on video or dvd .  
handsome and dashing british airline pilot george taylor  a solid portrayal by guiseppe pambieri  gets beat up by thugs after a wild night in hong kong . george meets and falls in love with the sweet and virginal dr . emy wong  a fine and charming performance by the lovely chai lee  . george regains his health and goes back to work . when emy fails to hear from george for a lengthy amount of time  she succumbs to despair and becomes a prostitute . while director  co  writer bitto albertini does indeed deliver a satisfying amount of the expected tasty nudity and steamy soft  core sex  this film is anything but your routine wallow in leering sleaze . instead it  s a surprisingly thoughtful  touching and tragic love story between two well drawn and highly appealing characters  chai as emy wong is especially radiant and endearing  . the picture starts out bubbly and cheerful  but the tone radically shifts into a more grim and harsh mood about two thirds of the way through . emy  s descent into vice after she falsely assumes that george has abandoned her is bleak and upsetting ditto the remarkably sad and heartbreaking surprise bummer ending . granted  the narrative is certainly melodramatic  but never too silly or trashy . moreover  the sex scenes are quite tasteful and even genuinely erotic . notorious italian porn star ilona staller has a nice sizable supporting part as george  s jealous and uninhibited secretary helen miller . guido mancori  s polished cinematography offers many strikingly gorgeous shots of the exotic locations . nico fidenco  s funky  throbbing score hits the groovy spot . worth a look for those seeking something different .  
final justice has the great joe don baker running around texas  shooting people who shoot people . then he  s off to malta where he shoots more people . he gets locked up many times for shooting people . then he gets into a gunfight with the bad guy  who is dressed like a monk . there is a boat chase  and joe don winds up in jail again . finally joe don  with the help from elaine from  seinfeld  kill the bad guy  blow up a boat or two and someone gets shot with a flare . all this and a catchy theme song  just like mitchell   
before seeing this  i was merely expecting another mediocre soft core copy of the much imitated  emmanuelle  series starring sylvia kristel . it was really surprising how good this one turned out to be . it actually has a story  and it is very romantic indeed . what makes  yellow emanuelle  so good is it  s leading heroine  the beautiful and exotic chai lee . she plays her character  emy wong so sweetly  that the viewer just has to feel something for her when her dreams crash down around her . emy wong is a much  respected doctor  statuesque  with a regal quality . she comes from an important old family  where ancient customs are still practiced . emy will remain a virgin until she is married  to a man she has never met . the beautiful doctor seems ok with this arranged marriage . it is simply how it is done in her world . however she does not plan on meeting and falling in love with the british pilot who ends up under her care in the hospital where she works . emy decides to do away with custom  and she gives herself to her western man . but only after a very long courtship  as doctor wong is anything but an easy woman . her pilot  george  is a good guy  and promises to marry emy  so that she doesn  t lose her respectability and place in her rigid society . neither one counts on a third party  one ilona staller  who destroys their relationship through a series of vicious games . emy is made to believe that she has been abandoned by her man  that he only played a game with her in order to sleep with her . her place in society is gone  she has been debased . the film takes a surprisingly dramatic and depressing turn as this proud  elegant woman gives up her career  as well as a sweet relationship with her caring father  and succumbs to a life of drinking and prostitution . i was surprised to find myself so engrossed in this operatically tragic tale . i was on the edge of my seat when george blows back into town  and unknowingly walks into a hotel where his beautiful emy is working as a prostitute  classic drama . i imagine many viewers were a bit frustrated by all this drama . one would expect lots of sex and nudity here  but there is not much . and when there is  it is totally non  exploitative  and very artsy and soft  core . if you are a fan of the first emmanuelle  with sylvia kristel  than you most likely will appreciate this  lesser known classic . i was especially impressed by the extra attention to details . the whole segment where emy takes george to her fathers house on the island is really nice . her father shows george  and the viewer his impressive collection of bonzai trees . he has a whole miniature forest built out of these amazing trees . totally unexpected . after catching it on late night cable tv years ago  i spent much time searching the internet for a copy of the film . when i finally got it i found that the video version was longer . more sex  no  more melodrama . for the dvd release there is a subplot about george suddenly keeling over with some unknown deadly disease  i actually preferred the cable version better . i am glad that this rare gem has been released finally on dvd . i must also mention the beautiful cinematography and the bizarre and catchy    s soundtrack . while watching this one you just get the feeling that you are watching something very rare  and quite special . i recommend it to thoughtful viewers who don  t need sex and violence to maintain their interest .  
sergio leone spins in his grave . . . if there was any film that tramples upon a man  s life work its this one . the lead character  s  lone wolf  bravado is uninspiring and lame  and the script was apparently written by a monkey with an eight grade education . whoever  s idea this was should be horse whipped . the only reason i  m spending time trashing it is because there  s a   line minimum . sergio leone  s family should sue  not because its crap  but because now it  s immortalized as crap by mst     . shame . disgust . i blame hollywood . . . at least gary busey makes crap that wont offend anyone but cocaine users and weapon experts . . . this film is pure blasphemy .  
this hong kong filmed potboiler packs in more melodrama than week  s worth of  the young  the restless  . this one is more of a throwback to the original  emmanuelle  trilogy  especially  goodbye emmanuelle   than a d  amato sleazefest . chai lee  emy wong  undergoes a stunning transformation from dour nurse to hot  to  trot streetwalker . future italian porn star  politician  illona staller  who would later go by the name ciccolina  and have sex with an hiv positive john holmes  plays emy  s competition . exotic locales and some decent soft  core scenes round this one out . recommended for fans of the original  emmanuelle   of which i am one   
i  ve never been impressed by jd anyway  and final justice  which i hadn  t seen prior to its mst  k airing  proves to be no exception . it  s not that the character is any less likeable than mitchell it  s just that there  s less that geronimo   call me  heronimo   to dislike .  br    br   in fact  one suspects that mitchell and final justice were all schemes of a revenge  seeking agent of joe don  s trying to get the  star  killed by inducing a heart attack .  br    br   joe don must have found a new agent  since he  s now graduated to  comic relief  in james bond movies . the problem is  it  s hard to tell the difference between his comedy characters there  and his  serious  characters in his action  movies like this one .  br    br   as for the plot . . . umm  what plot  they repeat the same set pieces so repeatedly you  ll think you were watching groundhog  s day  . presumably  the fact they keep using the same scene of geronimo getting out of jail is supposed to be comic relief of some sort . ummm  yeah  whatever .  br    br   on the plus side  the malta scenery is pretty gorgeous  so that kicked it up to a  for me . one suspects this flick set maltese tourism back a couple of decades  though .  
endearing tale . . . . . . . . voted ten against all averages for my age and sex . . . not all that much comedy  compared to a i almost wet myself movie  although funny enough . not a fan of musicals at all so probably a little too much for me  but they do give you time to grab a drink or soda without missing anything important . maybe a fifties version of when harry met sally  ahab no not really but if that is in your top ten like it is mine you will like this movie . really it just leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling  reminding you of what romance could and should be like  something to shoot for . my summary describes it best in very few words . . . . . quite charming  
this movie was just heckled by mst  k and with good reason . first and foremost because it is a  cop  movie starring joe don baker  who we all know is about as good a cop actor as michael jackson is a country western singer .  br    br   all the typical cop movie plot devices rear their ugly heads  bar fights  children hostages in shoot outs  bad acting  lame police chiefs  bad acting  revenge  justice  endless goons  and of course  bad acting . don  t watch this without an mst  k filter folks .  
i find this movie very enjoyable . the plot is simple and easily digestible  the humour is light and clean  and because the storyline involving mistaken identity is quite common  i find myself looking forward to how this movie flesh this story out . turns out to be very nice . the performance of the female lead is admirable her portrayal of an innocent  naive girl trying to fabricate some white lies to david  s sophisticated role was very charming . i also find vera  s dancing very  very well done . i find myself drawn to her toes as she pranced about the stage effortlessly and flawlessly .  br    br   for those who have had enough of profanity  filled movies of today  you will enjoy this movie thoroughly .  
i didn  t think it would be possible for joe don baker to make a movie as bad as his stinkbomb  mitchell   but this one succeeds .  br    br   i wouldn  t recommend this if you  re a fan of joe don baker  s much better work . but  if you like to watch fat guys sweat and really  really drawn out gun fights  you  ll love this movie .  
a few years ago  i bought several   dvd  s that contained two movies each . one of them had three broadway girls  an alternate title for the greeks had a word for them  and this one  happy go lovely . it  s basically a backstage musical comedy that takes place in scotland and concerns mistaken identity involving one of the dancers hitching a ride from a millionaire  s limousine . vera  ellen is that dancer and  wow  what legs  ceasar romero is her producer who takes a chance on her after the original leading lady leaves because he thinks she  s dating the millionaire whose car i just mentioned . and david niven is that rich guy who  when looking for vera  ellen  is mistaken for a reporter who  s supposed to interview her but gets stalled by romero . what i  ve just mentioned may be confusing but  mostly  makes sense if you  re willing to check your brain while watching this charmingly screwball comedy with wonderful musical numbers as performed by the exquisite ms . vera  ellen . romero can be a bit frantic here but niven becomes hilariously bemused throughout . the print i saw was actually pretty good considering its age and the fact that it  s in public domain . and vera  ellen does pretty well with her lines since she  s not really an actress . so on that note  i highly recommend happy go lovely for movie buffs who love old  fashioned musical comedies .  
from the star of  mitchell   from the director of  joysticks  and  angel  s revenge     these are taglines that would normally keep me from seeing this movie . and the worst part is that all the above mentioned statements are true    ugghhh . . . joe don baker eats every other five minutes in this film . it  s like a bad remake of  coogan  s bluff   
i was having just about the worst day of my life . then i stumbled on this cute film  watched it  and now i  m ready to go out  kiss a streetlamp .  br    br   i have to admit  i only watched it for  reasons vera  ellen  s legs . but it  s really so much more . the plot is actually quite clever and creatively woven . it  s almost like a shakespearean comedy with all of its delightful misunderstandings . and of course there  s also . . . vera  ellen  s legs .  br    br   the only unfortunate aspect of this film is that the version i purchased  the     family classics  collection by mill creek entertainment  doesn  t have the best video quality  and i  ve heard the same about the alpha release . the brightness and contrast are a bit too high  so a lot of the scenes seem bleached out especially when vera is dancing in a white dress . but i suppose you can fiddle with the controls of your tv set to compensate . i can only imagine how it looked on the big screen back in    . the stage sets  costumes  colours are otherwise dazzling  delightfully creepy   sort of in a  cabinet of dr . caligari  vein .  br    br   as far as the romance goes  this is just perfect . not sappy  not contrived  not melodramatic . just     ahhhhhh . too bad  you poor schmucks  your miserable lives will never be as charming as this . har har har . wait  what am i laughing at  my life sucks just as bad as yours . oh hell . time to watch this movie again .  
joe don  s opening line says everything about this movie . it takes place on the island of malta  the island of pathetic men  and involves joe don baker tracking down an italian mobster . joe don  s character is named geronimo  pronounced heronimo  and all he does in this movie is shoot people and get arrested over and over agin . everyone in the movie hates him  just like everyone hates greydon clark . i liked an earlier greydon picture   angel  s revenge  because it was a shirne for thriteen year old boys . avoid this movie at all costs    
this is one of the best ensemble comedy  musical  b  film  s that i have seen  and since i  m in my    s now and only seeing this now  i am not an expert but i have seen all the well known films out there  . when there are a ton of actors getting their lead for minutes at a time  usually the comedy interferes with the musical bits  and very often the musical pieces interrupt the comedic flow . call me in a crazy kind of mood but when i saw this on tcm europe  i was laughing out loud with pleasure  so who delivered the laughs for me  without a doubt mischa auer delivered me some terrific gut busting laughs  he even steals the ending  it was great  speaking of which  i think why this movie works is because although l  h are a selling point  and why i got hooked to watch this one  them and hal roach   i love them in their early hal roach stuff   this keeps them at a minimum and stays squarely on adult fare  by      s standards  and not that far from today  s standards if you read between the lines  . jack haley is also great to watch  i admit that i only know him from w o oz and i loved him there  and i also laughed out loud here at his waiter bit in the show . patsy kelly is the only  ugly  femme in the    s movies that actually turns me on  something tells me she was a spitfire in real life   and the musical numbers have a real professional production  busby berkley  ish  quality  that blew me away from what i am used to in this genre . i could go on and on  but rest assured i really enjoyed this movie .  of   i saw it on tcm europe and will record it to watch again with my wife on tcm usa . good stuff   
i guess this goes to prove that joe don baker will do anything for a buck . the concept of the film wasn  t very good to start with . this movie has so many bad things about it i don  t know where to start . the acting is horrible . the cinematography is marginal at best . the soundtrack was pretty bad . the score is terrible . there  s a reason why this movie ended up on mystery science theater     . i voted before i wrote this and i cannot believe that  people actually thought this  film  is excellent . they must have liked the two go  go dancers . final justice would be if they locked this stinker in the film vault outside wichita and never let anyone see it again  a  out of   rating is far better than this deserves .  
this is without a doubt the greatest film ever made . it is nearly incomprehensible even with many repeated viewings in an attempt to figure out what exactly  s going on . the film was almost entirely improvised and includes random musical numbers  commercials  contests one enters by mail  and a host of other innovations . besides  what other movies have cameos by martin luther king  jr  to decipher the film  hunt down the director  s book entitled i was curious . it  ll all become clear . it  s a grand and bold experiment in improvised recursive filmmaking . a triumph . now if only someone would put out a version with the subtitles in a color other than white . . . the white subtitles tend to wash out and become invisible .  
i stole this movie when i was a freshmen in college . i  ve tried to watch it three times  the second two because friends wanted to see it .  sweet  adam sandler  i  ve never heard of this movie  but since he  s so funny its gotta be funny .  wrong  i can  t make myself watch this pile of crap after the dream boxing match  insult war  where burning the guy with a good zinger causes your opponent physical pain . you would think that terrible comedy hurting you is ridiculous  but after watching this you  ll know its true . this movie isn  t worth the price i paid for it . i  ve watched a ton of steven segal movies  and i  ve even watched crossroads twice . . . but i still couldn  t watch this .  
this is your standard musical comedy from the     s  with a big plus that it features some well known     s actors in small fun cameo  s .  br    br   there is not much to the story and basically the movie is all about its fun and  no  worries  overall kind of atmosphere  with a typical hal roach comedy touch to it . appereantly it  s a  cinderella story  but i most certainly didn  t thought of it that way while watching the movie . the story gets very muddled in into the storytelling  that features many different characters and also many small cameo appearance  when the main characters hit the hollywood studios .  br    br   of course the highlight of the movie is when laurel  hardy make their appearance and show some of their routines . it  s like watching a movie and getting a laurel  hardy short with it for free . also laurel  hardy regular walter long makes an appearance in the routine and james finlayson  without a mustache this time  as the director of the short .  br    br   it  s certainly true that all of the cameo  s and subplots distract from the main plot line and character but in this case that is no problem  since its all way more fun and interesting to watch than the main plot line and the shallow typical main character .  br    br   the movie is most certainly not any worse than any of its other genre movies from the same time period  though the rating on here would suggest otherwise .  br    br        
jimmy dean could not have been more hammy or absurdly loutish . hysterical if viewed through the eyes of mystery science theatre      which i rate as a   . i mean  the sight of this obese  corn  fed hog trouncing around malta should be enough to send you to the vomitory  if you make it that far into the film . this ugly  hysterical farce should be placed with the likes of  booty call    pumpkinhead    swarm   and  the smurfs go to bangladesh  . a  gulp  film like this proves that sometimes actors  writers  producers  etc . get behind on their mortgage  or get stoned to the point of insanity . it begs the question  who was so stupid to finance such a whale   but then  had good judgment prevailed and  final justice  never was  then we wouldn  t have the delightful spoof voice  over in  mystery science theatre        
director edward sedgwick  an old hand at visual comedy  successfully leads this hal roach road show which tenders a fast  moving and adroit scenario and excellent casting  employing a large number of roach  s reliable performers . although the film was originally plotted as a vehicle for patsy kelly  sunny jack haley stars as joe jenkins  a young kansan who sells his auto repair business and journeys to hollywood  where he attempts to wangle a screen role for the girl he loves  star  struck cecilia  rosina lawrence  . sedgwick  who prefers using the entire m  g  m studio as his set  does so here as cecilia  always ready for an audition  is treated by a would  be paramour  cinema star rinaldo lopez  mischa auer   to behind  the  scenes action of  naturally  a musical comedy  featuring broadway headliner lyda roberti . laurel and hardy provide several enjoyable interludes  including their well  known skit involving a tiny harmonica  and we watch fine turns by such as joyce compton  russell hicks and walter long . on balance  one must hand the bays to mischa auer  who clearly steals the picture as an emotional movie star  a role which he largely creates  and to the director for his clever closing homage to busby berkeley  s filmic spectacles .  
there are movies that are awful  and there are movies that are so awful they are deemed long  forgotten and unwatchable . also  lots of violence and bad stuff  not just cheesy stuff you know what i mean  add to the mix as well . what is the result of bad movies with such raunchy content  why   final justice   of course   br    br   remember  mitchell   joe don baker was the star of that movie  and that was riffed by joel and the bots on  mystery science theater     .  now this time  with mike taking joel  s place on the satellite of love  but with the same bots   that trio got to make fun of mst  k  s second joe don baker movie   final justice .  of course  much of the naughty stuff that i mentioned was removed for television release  but still  i want to watch that episode  and  mitchell  as well   because what does joe don  hate  the most  why  none other than  mystery science theater        br    br   p . s . if you have a big lots nearby  check that store for the uncut tape  lol that happened to another user   
yes  this gets the full ten stars . it  s plain as day that this fill is genius . the universe sent trent harris a young  wonderfully strange man one day and harris caught him on tape  in all that true misfit glory that you just can  t fake . too bad it ended in tragedy for the young man  if only an alternate ending could be written for that fellow  s story . the other two steps in the trilogy do retell the story  with sean penn and crispin glover in the roles of the young men  respectively . the world is expanded upon and the strangeness is contextualized by the retelling  giving us a broader glimpse into growing up weird in vanilla america . recommended for anyone and everyone   
what reviewers and mst  k left out is the best part  and only memorable scene  of this otherwise dreadful movie there is a very good rape  in  the  shower scene committed by the bad guy  ben gazzara look  alike  on maria  as mentioned  killed later through t . j .  s ineptitude  . perhaps rape is too strong a word   prison mating ritual  may be more appropriate . the background behind this chance  yet forced meeting is the mobster who is hiding  ben gazzara   introduces him to the girls hanging out at his pool . the    ish blonde disses him  but our villain must be quite smitten by her  because the courtship is on at that point . his first move is to attempt drowning her  until his mafia don benefactor tells him to knock it off . kind of like the girl in high school you didn  t like  but still wanted to have carnal knowledge of anyway . . . let  s just say  he catches up with her in the cabana later .  
the short that starts this film is the true footage of a guy named gary  apparently it was taken randomly in the parking lot of a television station where gary works in the town of beaver . gary is a little  different   he is an impersonator and drives an old chevy named farrah  after fawcett  . lo and behold the filmmaker gets a letter from gary some time later inviting him to return to beaver to get some footage of the local talent contest he has put together  including gary  s staggering performace as olivia newton dawn . oh  my . the two shorts that follow are gary  s story  the same one you just witnessed only the first is portrayed by sean penn and the second by crispin glover titled  the orkly kid .  if you are in the mood for making fun of someone this is definitely the film to watch . i was doubled over with laughter through most of it  especially crispins performance which could definitely stand on it  s own . when it was over  i had to rewind the film to once again watch the real gary and all his shining idiocy . although olivia was the focus  i would have liked to have seen one of the  fictitious  shorts take a jab at gary  s barry manilow impersonation  whic h was equally ridiculous .  
i can count  on one hand  the number of good movies starring joe don baker . this is not one of them .  br    br   interminable chase scenes  dim  witted dialogue  and terrible lapses in continuity made this movie a prime choice for getting the send  up on mst  k .  br    br   and that is the only way i was able to watch this . . .  
there has never been anything like it  that  s for sure . this episodic  seemingly redundant trilogy only really makes sense taken as a whole  and as such it is not a movie about groovin  gary  utah cross  dressing sensation . it is very self  consciously a film about how the filmmaker reacts to groovin  gary . for harris the entire project is clearly an extended and spectacular contortion of guilt and repentance . he  s trying to atone for his sins  yes  gary did attempt suicide after the initial doc was aired  through correction  commentary  and convention  reclaiming such hollywood  narrative standbys as the best friend and the defiant happy ending  two different ones  with a telling adjustment in the glover version  and turning them to his own very personal uses . so while thematically it remains a movie about gender and difference  the structure ensures that it is also a movie about movies  but on an almost unprecedented level of complexity . there is just so much going on in telling and re  telling this story harris is in the right place at the right time three times in a row  and he doesn  t miss the opportunity to make something of it . immensely moving  and as profound as camp ever gets .  
i can  t believe this movie was made as recently as     . it  s got some laughable acting  not to mention one of the stupidest plots ever . who would ever ask fat texas sheriff joe don baker to escort an italian he illegally arrested in mexico back to italy  not to mention that the title of the movie tells you pretty much nothing about it  in fact  it  s about as generic a title for a wannabe action  cop film as i can think of .  br    br   i  m glad i only saw this on mst  k with mike and the bots as a shield . they remark on the female lead  s resemblance to elaine from seinfeld   none of them are spongeworthy   and riff non  stop on baker  s weight . this movie probably isn  t worse than  mitchell   but baker  s reputation definitely precedes him here when his title comes up at the beginning of the film  tom says   i wish i was illiterate so i wouldn  t have to read that .   
the beaver trilogy is  without a doubt  one of the most brilliant films ever made . i was lucky enough to catch it  along with a qa session with director trent harris  at the ny video festival a few years back and then bought a copy off of trent  s website . this movie has to be seen to be believed  i sincerely recommend searching for trent  s name on the web and then buying the film from his site . he  s an incredibly nice guy to boot . don  t get confused the cameraman in the fictional sections of the beaver trilogy is not trent   br    br   after having seen the trilogy a few times  i do have to admit that i could probably do without the sean penn version . it  s like a try  out version for the crispin glover  orkly kid  section and is interesting more as a curiosity item if you  re a penn fan than it being a good video . penn is pretty funny  though  and you can see the makings of a big star in this gritty bw video .  br    br   this is probably also one of crispin glover  s best roles and i would just love to see an updated documentary about the original groovin  gary . once you see this film  you  ll never get gary  s nervous laughter out of your head ever again .  
two qualifiers right up front i actually think joe don baker can be good or even great with the right material and the right director  the  cape fear  remake  a small role in  goldeneye    walking tall   . and i even liked baker in  mitchell   because he was playing an anti  hero who was supposed to be unlikeable . yes  mst  k  s coverage was hilarious  but they took a lot of cheap shots at baker  that he didn  t deserve  to keep things lively and entertaining  he was appropriate to the level and tone of the movie  and he was the best part of the movie .  br    br    final justice  seems to be more of the same  but in spite of the exotic locations and the  cowboy frontier justice  theme  it is quite a bit weaker than  mitchell  . and the main reason is that baker  s character  as written  is an idiot . the movie has the conceit that because baker embodies old style frontier machismo  he challenges his opponents to old style mano  a  mano quick  draw contests . and because he  s so tough and macho  he always wins  even when he  s hurt  wounded  outnumbered  etc .  br    br   that  s a conceit with a lot of potential  it worked for gary cooper   even if it condemns the film to  b  movie status . but baker is so frigging stupid and obsessive that he needlessly challenges three of the bad guy  s henchman to a showdown in a public market  with civilians all over the place . he could have simply shadowed them to the chief bad guy  s headquarters  which was why he was following them in the first place  and they never would have noticed . or he could have gotten the drop on them and forced them to surrender  and gotten one of the henchmen to take him to headquarters at gun point . but no  he has to be a bush league hot dog and a macho blockhead  and so he gets a child taken as a hostage in the ensuing shootout   br    br   this is a guy we are supposed to admire   br    br   the whole movie is basically like this . most of the supporting actors are somewhere between ok  the henchmen  to pretty good  the chief bad guy and his father  who are two well known european actors  they just go through the motions  but they are pros and even hamming it up they are decent  . but through it all  baker  s character pulls silly  unproductive stunts and mistakes that get at least two relatively innocent people killed  plus a couple of bad guys who might have been taken alive without the use of deadly force .  br    br   on the positive side  since    of the movie is set on malta or in the mediterranean  you get to see lots of pretty scenery and lots of nice and exotic looking extras . and really  baker himself may be on the heavy side and slightly dyspeptic  but he isn  t that bad . . . certainly not the tub o  lard that this films critics  including mike and the bots in their hilarious coverage  seem to think .  br    br   in short  this movie is good for video wallpaper  but the viewer should not pay any attention to it .  
this movie is amazing for several reasons . harris takes an extremely awkward documentary and turns it into a relevant social commentary . groovin  gary is a small  town kid who is  assumed  well  liked for his many impersonations . when he decides to play olivia newton john in a local talent show  for whom he is very passionate   gary  s actions show that he is at odds with the conservative social environment in which he lives . this results in him making various justifications for his actions so that people will not think that he is in fact a transvestite or other such social outcast . in the second installment  harris exploites the struggle between gary and beaver in a novice attempt to make a narrative out of the original documentary . the third and final installment to the trilogy is truly amazing for harris  extreme sensitivity with the subject . unlike the second installment   the orkly kid  shows gary as a truly troubled character . he struggles to gain acceptance within his own community to no avail . his secret passion for dressing like olivia newton john distances him even further from the people that already consider him a social outcast . the movie is depicted so realistically that  like reality  it lends itself to many reactions . surely  one can see gary as a ridiculously pathetic character  but may also identify with him as an outcast .  
the only words you need fear more than joe don baker if your thinking of watching a film are greydon clark  and if they are both there  run for your life . however this is a very funny film because they actually take themselves seriously  it starts out bad and goes downhill from there  repeated scenes  the good the bad and the ugly like shootout will have you rolling on the floor with laughter . yes  he  s the best deputy sheriff in texas  tracking a mafia hit  man to malta as only he can . he makes his own rules  does things his own way  all the while wearing cowboy boots and sidearms cowboy style . you want to see a bad but funny film  go ahead on  its your move   
if you are a crispin glover fan  you must see this . if you are a sean penn fan  you must see this . if you are a movie fan in general  you must see this . if you have no idea who crispin glover is and you have no idea who sean penn is  this film will probably still have a lot of value  but the more work you  ve previously seen by crispin or sean  the better .  br    br   this movie is so funny  but it is also pure genius . there is nothing that i know of that resembles this film . it is its own genre . i doubt that anything like it will ever be made again . i cannot say anything more about exactly why without partially spoiling it  and some of the other reviews here have already done a good job at doing that .  br    br   in response to any of the reviewers here that gave it a bad review  i ask that you view the film again . in reality  there is no point at which this film could fairly be called  boring .  this is possibly the funniest  most entertaining  and least boring film ever made . and it only gets better with age and repeated viewings . a timeless classic that  unfortunately  very few will be able to claim to have seen .  br    br   beaver trilogy is the brilliant work of director trent harris  also responsible for the amazing rubin and ed  which crispin glover also stars in .  br    br   unfortunately  copies of this film are rare and hard to find . i managed to find a vhs version after some diligent searching though  and there are a couple of ways to find it that i know of . but i really wish someone would put this onto a dvd .  
after apprehending the man responsible for the murder of his boss  deputy sheriff thomas jefferson geronimo  iii  is assigned the task of taking the killer back to italy . on the way  however  the plane is diverted to malta . not long after landing  the killer escapes . now  and with little help from the maltese police  deputy sheriff geronimo is out to recapture a murderer . but will his  shoot first  take names later  brand of texas justice work in a foreign country   br    br   let me get this out right up front  i  ve seen final justice both with and without the mystery science theater     commentary . i  ve seen the scenes that were cut that help make the movie a more coherent whole . and i  ve seen the cut  up tv version that was used for mst  k . having said that  i  ve got to admit that i much prefer the mst  k version . why  because final justice is one lousy movie . the mst  k commentary helps make it much more palatable . on its own  it  s a real snoozer of an action movie with corny dialogue  often delivered with such thick italian accents that it  s impossible to understand   bad acting  weak direction  gigantic plot holes  and most everything else you  ll find in a bad movie . and if most of final justice wasn  t  so bad  it  s good   it would be one terribly dull movie on top of everything else . so  yes  i enjoy the often very funny mst  k commentary over the bad movie on its own .  br    br   my main sticking points with the mst  k commentary and with most of the reviews i  ve read on final justice  however  involve the criticisms of joe don baker . the main weaknesses in baker  s performance actually have nothing to do with his size or the wardrobe choices of his character or any of the other jokes flung in his direction . instead  i think much of it is has to do with the poor decision to cast him in the lead in the first place . joe don baker has always struck me as a decent enough actor  but he  s not the kind of guy i would call an  action hero  by any stretch of the imagination . he  s more of a sidekick as he demonstrated with solid performances in a couple of james bond movies . or if you really want to blame someone for the problems with final justice  point your finger at director greydon clark . clark  s resume can  t begin to compare with baker  s . so i say   lay off joe don baker    
this is how i felt while watching this film . i loved it . it was hilarious . but i did feel a like i was getting sneaky view into somebody  s psyche and then laughing as it got twisted around to make an interesting point . a friend put it this way  br    br    i feel like we broke into somebody  s house and are now watching their awful home videos without their knowledge  .  br    br   another one of those fact is stranger than fiction pieces of film .  groovin  gary   the original  beaver kid   is a small town guy who turns up at a nearby tv station in the hope of getting on film  and he certainly does  though not  perhaps  as he initially expected . with high hopes of fame and significance he invites harris to come and film a truly awful talent quest that he has organised in his home town  headlined by his own drag act  olivia newton  don  .  br    br   director  trent harris  does a brilliant job with this slowly evolving story . some footage of an awkward kid who wants to be someone morphs  over two subsequent reinterpretations  into the story of freedom from repressed sexual identity in small town america . harris simultaneously critiques the attitudes of small town america  the cult of celebrity  and the exploitative practices of the film and television industry .  br    br   both sean penn and grispin glover pull out stunner performances . a young sean penn is the most evocative  so closely does he follow the actual  gary footage   but with strong nuances given to push the sense of the interaction the way harris wants it to go .  br    br   in the end the wide  eyed naivety the original gary is what moved me  when contrasted against these possible interpretations of his situation .  br    br   a film not to miss . i have not seen anything else like it .  br    br   jacob .  
in short  the movie had a little bit of a weak  st act with some forced acting and a somewhat disjointed rhythm and pacing  somewhat of a decent  nd act that managed to build some tension and intrigue despite some inconsistent pacing and some inferior performances by the cast  and the  rd act . . . there virtually wasn  t any  rd act   br    br   regarding the  rd act  the movie just abruptly ends . there is no resolution and no path down from the climax of the  nd act  so there wasn  t much of a  rd act . the bad guys die and that  s that the end credits roll . there is nothing to show what happens to the protagonist and the supporting characters and so on . the audience would  ve likely left the theater after the movie  asking  that  s it   a real letdown .  br    br   music was composed by david bell which worked adequately enough to serve the film most of the time  but it  s certainly nothing outstanding . it  s just functional  but achieves this by being merely generic and derivative . it is also apparent that the score is very dated with the use of synthesized timpani for some of the percussion . what least impressed me about the score is that some moments of tension heralds music cues sounding like they were ripped off of james horner from    hrs .  and  commando   particularly the brass .  br    br   in all  the film had potential as the basic story itself is good  but the execution was lackluster with mediocre direction  weak acting  and somewhat inconsistent pacing .  br    br   there was virtually no  rd act to properly finish the story  and this omission is major and unforgivable as it doesn  t allow the movie to end satisfactorily . this could either be the screenplay or  possibly  the production had to cut out filming or editing the  rd act into the finished movie due to budget constraints  but i  m speculating as to why there isn  t a  rd act  . whatever the reason  the abrupt ending really hurts the movie overall .  br    br   this is good for a view if you  re curious and you can get the movie for very cheap as well as to learn the reason why you need to have the  acts  beginning  middle  end  if you write screenplays and make movies .  br    br   otherwise  you might not want to waste your time unless you can get the mst  k version to at least get some laughs out of it .  
ok  i don  t really think that trailer park boys has bad story lines  because they kick ass . they just . . . conflict with each other .  br    br   for example near the end of the movie  it shows ricky and julian telling  patrick lewis  to put the dog down and walk away . then at the end  it shows ricky and julian saying that they  ve been in jail for  years . in the tv series pilot  the first clip they show is the same clip of ricky and julian yelling at  patrick lewis  . but in the tv series  they  ve supposedly only been in jail for   months .  br    br   also  they give us the impression that the movie  s story line and the tv series  story line are connected  because of the yelling scene between the guys  . but some actors portray totally different characters . of course  patrick roach plays  patrick lewis  in the movie  but in the series he plays randy . sam tarasco plays one of the guys who pays ricky for an extermination  and then he plays sam losco in the series .  br    br   also  again . . . i know  i have a lot to say   in the movie  the guys snort coke instead of smoking hash . the thing is  they never actually confirm that the two story lines are connected in anyway  other than the yelling scene .  br    br   sorry to keep on blabbing .  
joe don baker . he was great in  walking tall  and had a good bit  part in  goldeneye   but here in  final justice  all hope is gone . . . the dark side has won .  br    br   as with most of humanity  my main experience with this one was on mst  k  and what an experience it was  mike and the robots dig their claws deep into baker  s ample flesh and skewer this flick completely . it  s obvious they were just beginning with  mitchell  on their anti  joe don kick and here lies their continuation on a theme .  br    br   it makes for a funny experience  though there are plenty of choice riffs . my favorites   john rhys  davies for sale    it  s  meatloaf texas ranger     none of them are sponge  worthy    why was she wearing her prom dress to bed   and my favorite    son of a . . .   what  what was he the son of son of a preacher man    br    br   by itself   final justice  is  as joe don puts it in the movie   a big fat nada  . but here  it actually has some entertainment value . you get a chance  catch this version of  final justice  .  br    br   two stars for  final justice  . ten for the mst  k version only .  br    br   oh  and try not to visit malta when joe don  s in town .  
wonderful film that mixes documentary and fiction in a way that makes the spectator question what is the extent of truth in documentary films or is there such a thing as an objective documentary .  
a friend of mine bought this film for    and even then it was grossly overpriced . despite featuring big names such as adam sandler  billy bob thornton and the incredibly talented burt young  this film was about as funny as taking a chisel and hammering it straight through your earhole . it uses tired  bottom of the barrel comedic techniques  consistently breaking the fourth wall as sandler talks to the audience  and seemingly pointless montages of  hot girls  .  br    br   adam sandler plays a waiter on a cruise ship who wants to make it as a successful comedian in order to become successful with women . when the ship  s resident comedian  the shamelessly named  dickie  due to his unfathomable success with the opposite gender  is presumed lost at sea  sandler  s character shecker gets his big break . dickie is not dead  he  s rather locked in the bathroom  presumably sea sick .  br    br   perhaps from his mouth he just vomited the worst film of all time .  
once upon a time in a castle . . . . . . two little girls are playing in the garden  s castle . they are sisters . a blonde little girl  kitty  and a brunette one  evelyn  . evelyn steals kitty  s doll . kitty pursues evelyn . running through long corridors  they reach the room where their grandfather  sitting on an armchair  reads the newspaper . kitty complains about evelyn  while evelyn is looking interestedly at a picture hanging on the wall . evelyn begins to say repeatedly  i am the red lady and kitty is the black lady  . suddenly evelyn grabs a dagger lying nearby and stabs kitty  s doll and then cuts her  the doll  s  head . a fight ensues . and evelyn almost uses the dagger against kitty . the grandfather intervenes and the worst is avoided .  br    br   later on  their grandfather tells them the legend related to the picture hanging on the wall in front of them  in which a lady dressed in black is stabbing a lady dressed in red  br    br    a long time ago  a red lady and a black lady lived in the same castle . they were sisters and hated each other . one night  for jealousy reasons  the black lady entered the red lady  s room and stabbed her seven times . one year later  the red lady left her grave . she killed six innocent people  and her seventh victim was the black lady . once every hundred years  the events repeat themselves in this castle and a red lady kills six innocent victims before killing the black lady herself .   br    br   the grandfather ends his tale by saying that according to the legend  sixteen years from now  the red queen should come again and kill seven times . but he assures them that this is just an old legend .  br    br   sixteen years pass . . . . .  br    br   this is the very beginning of the film . there are many twists and surprises in the film . it  s better for you to forget about logic  if you really analyse it  the story doesn  t make sense  and just follow the film with its wonderful colors  the gorgeous women  the clothes  the tasteful decor  the lighting effects and the beautiful soundtrack .  br    br   enjoy barbara bouchet  sybil danning  marina malfatti  pia giancaro  among other goddesses . there  s a nude by sybil danning lying on a sofa that  s something to dream about . and don  t forget the lady in red kills seven times   br    br   if you  ve liked  la dama rossa . . .  check out also  la notte che evelyn usc dalla tomba  .  
this is the biggest insult to tmnt ever . fortunantely  officially venus does not exist in canon tmnt . there will never be a female turtle  this took away from the tragic tale of  male unique mutants who will never have a family of their own  once gone no more . the biggest mistake was crossing over power rangers to tmnt with a horrible episode the turtle  s voices were wrong and they all acted out of character . they could have done such a better job  better designs and animatronics and no venus .  br    br   don  t bother with this people . . . it  s cringe worthy material . the lip flap was slow and unnatural looking . they totally disrespected shredder . the main baddie  some dragonlord dude was corny . the turtles looked corny with things hanging off their bodies  what  s with the thing around raph  s thigh  the silly looking sculpted plastrons    br    br   if they looked normal  acted in character and got rid of venus  got rid of the stupid kiddie cartoon sounds . . . and better writing it could have been good .  
this is a great canadian comedy series . the movie tells of how the stars jean paul tremblay   julian  and the head writer of the show and his buddies rickie and bubbles play it over the top in what is a true life satirical look at trailer parks and the denizens of said trashy hoods . the movie will tell you why rickie and julian begin doing their more advanced forays into the world of crime . why and the reasons behind everything would be a spoiler so i shall not give the real reasons behind their more brilliant escapades . their friend and oft  time partner  bubbles  is a brilliant character . the whole show is brilliant and missing the movie will not affect the way you see the sit  com one bit . it is a comedy with a capital c and a brilliant satire on trailer park living and small time crooks with small time ideas but big time dreams . if you ever have the opportunity to watch   buy   steal this program grab it . you will be glad you did . and to my american friends    it will break you up also .   out of  . brilliant . tv how tv should be .  
joe don baker is . . . thomas jefferson geronimo  a pudgy  sweaty murderous oaf in a stupid cowboy suit that roy rogers would have laughed at . somehow he still has a badge  probably because he lives in texas and they  ll let anything be law enforcement there .  br    br   this greasy loser is a deputy sheriff near the texas border . not surprisingly  he was once a texas ranger but got kicked out because he seemed to think that the law was his own personal bouncing ball to be played with at his discretion . this includes shooting suspects who are over the international border into mexico  beating up on suspects  cheating in gun fights  threatening women  starting gunfights that could have been avoided and managing to get the life of a child threatened in the process  letting women he promised he would help and protect get killed just so that he could get out of jail  etc  etc . this guy makes l . a . cops look like saints in comparison .  br    br   when his partner is killed by a pair of wandering italian assassins  joe don  s character hunts them down and kills one of them . then he takes the other to italy at the behest of a mr . wilson  who rightly thinks that joe don will screw up big time . in record time  he loses the italian and gets a maltese cabby blown up in the process . this is just the first of the many deaths and major destruction that joe don leaves in a trail behind him as he rampages across malta looking for palermo  the italian assassin  .  br    br   thus begins the mobius strip part of the movie  in which our hero gets arrested  lectured by the maltese chief of police  goes out and causes more trouble  gets arrested  gets lectured by the chief of police . . . and so on  and so on . until you want to blow your brains out with joe don  s ivory handled pistol and be done with the horror .  br    br   joe don proves his uselessness not just in the first time palermo escapes  but in the subsequent boat chase in which he goes down in just one punch . then he gets taken by palermo after he threatens a woman with a coat hanger . you hope that palermo will actually get to torture him in the basement cell he  s put in  but no  the stripper he threatened came and got him out  because he promised to protect her . her throat promptly gets cut  big surprise  and joe don escapes into the night .  br    br   and here you hope he might have been drowned in the  yet another  boat chase . but even the ocean doesn  t want him  and spits him up on a shore where he  s nursed by a poor maltese family  what did they ever do to deserve that   he returns to the city  where he  s arrested by the police  lectured by the police chief . . . arrrgghhh  the female police officer who  s been escorting him around frees him so that they can go get palermo . why she would do anything so brain dead as to destroy her career for this great slob is beyond me . it  s just head scratchily puzzling .  br    br   they go out to the villa where palermo is hiding  and start a shoot out . joe don blithely cheats  and kills palermo . he then utters the great and dazzling last line of the movie  the big one has my badge . can you go get it for me   thank you for that immortal line  mr . baker . that will go down in the annals of movie history as the most literate  amazing  wondrous last line ever uttered by a character in a film . it certainly falls into line with everything else about the character . bravo .  
this is an early film  pilot  for the hit canadian tv show trailer park boys . it was played to executives at a few networks before showcase decided to sign them up for a tv series . great acting and a very funny cast make this one of the best cult comedy films . the movie plot is that these two small time criminals go around  exterminating  peoples pets for money . if you have a dog next door whos barking all night these are the guys you go to  but they get into trouble when they come across a job too big for them to deal with and end up in a shootout . watch this movie if you want to understand the beginning of the tv series . i highly recommend it   br    br   rated r for swearing  violence  and drug use .  br    br   its not too offensive either  they dont actually show killing animals   
joe don baker is an alright to good actor in small roles here and there . . . he was alright in goldeneye and made a pretty good bond villan in the living daylights and has appeared in various other movies . one thing he can  t do is carry a movie as the lead  which he is in this extremely bad revenge movie set in malta . joe don  s partner is killed so he kills the killer  s brother and escorts the killer to italy  but some guys cause the plane to set down in malta and the killer gets away . the rest of the movie is seeing joe don chase the killer here and there  joe don getting taken into custody various times  joe don torturing a bartendar and being interrupted and so on . the movie is quite bad and you won  t find yourself exactly pulling for joe don  s character . you will be amazed at how many times joe don the hero gets taken out by one punch and how incompetent he proves to be . the crowning part of the movie comes when joe don chases the killer all over malta with the killer in a priest robe and then they get in boats and he chases them all around malta . this movie also features one of the worst closing lines to end a movie ever .  
i can  t understand why many imdb users don  t like this movie . why they think it  s sooooo bad etc . it  s not worse than anything else out there . personally i think  soldier  is a great movie  far better than most other films in the same genre .  br    br   reasons why i liked  soldier   kurt russel  connie nielsen  jason scott lee  the script  david webb peoples   great visual effects  and the directing  paul anderson  .  br    br   i even think that this is the best work i  ve seen from director paul anderson  who has previously directed the entertaining  mortal kombat  and the not so entertaining  event horizon  .  
if you ever hear these three words uttered to you . . .  joe don baker   be afraid . . .  br    br   final justice is the low budget action movie based on a sheriff in a texas town named geronimo  pronounced as heronimo  . he  s an ugly  slimy  rude character who is on the hunt for a criminal in malta who killed his partner in texas . his partner actually slumps down twice in the movie . very bad editing . joe don baker  geronimo  ends up in jail like  or  times in this movie  making the plot go nowhere fast . plus  he shoots everybody like he  s in the wild west . i guess nobody told him it was the   th century . a woman cop is assigned to show him around malta  who looks like elaine from seinfeld  and she is the only one who can put up with the redneck . she must be insane   br    br   the strippers in the bar are the most entertaining characters in this movie . their dancing is shown throughout the film and i began to bond with the sleazy women . well  at least it was better than watching geronimo try to dumb his way out of something . the ending is flawed and somewhat predictable  and i was happy it was finally over . you  ll never forget that last line of joe don baker from the movie .  br    br   it  s so hard to imagine how he was in three bond movies . . . very weird  anyway  if you  re up for a laugh  then see this one on mst  k sometime . also  i  ve heard his other bad movie  among many    mitchell  mst  k version is being released on dvd by rhino . i can  t wait to see that   
i think that this film was one of kurt russels good movies . kurt russel is my favorite actor so i think that he is a good actor in any role he plays . but this movie had a lot of action in it and i know that it should have more then a  .  out of   on the meter but many people did not like this movie . oh well i thought it was good so i think that every one should see this movie . if you see this movie and like it i think that you should see back draft also with kurt russel . i give soldier     out of   
human pot roast joe don baker  mitchell  stars in this dull  unremarkable action  movie as deputy geronimo  a fat  gassy slob who sits around in a stupid looking cowboy suit  listening to country music and eating too many donuts . meanwhile  a vaguely criminal guy named palermo  played by the guy who owned the drill in fulci  s gates of hell  stumbles into joe don  s territory and shoots the sheriff in a poorly edited scene . joe don  slowly  gives chase and offs palermo  s brother after uttering his now legendary catch phrase it  s your move . think you can take me  well  go ahead on  . for some reason joe don  a texas lawman  must transport palermo to italy  mr . palermo  s been a major source of embarrassment to the italian government   says mr . wilson  another vague character played by bill mckinney  who was in master ninja   she freak  and a lot of good clint eastwood movies  .  br    br   anyhoo  joe don  s plane must land on the island of malta  where palermo escapes with the help of a briefcase and a guy who looks like jon lovitz . and that  s where the movie grinds to a halt . for the rest of the movie  joe don looks for palermo  looses palermo  ends up in a jail cell  is yelled at by the malta chief of police  and then is let go with a warning not to look for palermo any more . then joe don keeps looking for palermo  looses palermo  ends up in a jail cell  is yelled at by the malta chief of police  and then is let go with a warning not to look for palermo any more . then joe don looks for palermo  looses palermo  ends up in a jail cell  is yelled at by the malta chief of police  and then is let go with a warning not to look for palermo any more . this is one aggravating movie .  br    br   at one point joe don is thought to be dead at sea . all the other characters wonder if he  s dead or not  finally concluding that he is . but then he shows up  he was rescued by a poor family  and no one mentions the fact that he was missing at sea for several days . even his cute  julia louise  dreyfuss  esque sidekick doesn  t welcome him back . she does  however  offer to help him find palermo  so joe don looks for palermo  looses palermo  ends up in a jail cell  is yelled at by the malta chief of police  and then let go with a warning not to look for palermo any more .  br    br   highpoints include  a bizarre carnival with strange colorful floats  some sexy strippers  a shoot out involving a kid dressed like napoleon and a cart of tomatoes  a chase scene involving a guy dressed like a monk  and any scene without joe don . lowpoints include joe don threatening a stripper with a coat hanger .  br    br   it should be noted that this is from greydon clark  director of angel  s revenge  who appears as the sheriff . ick   br    br    
i loved this movie and will watch it again . original twist to plot of man vs man vs self . i think this is kurt russell  s best movie . his eyes conveyed more than most actors words . perhaps there  s hope for mankind in spite of government intervention   
while not as bad as it has been made to be  i have seen much worse   this is still a very lame movie . basically a rehash of siegel  s  coogan  s bluff   with the main difference being that clint eastwood  s hat has more charisma than the whole of joe don baker  an unappealing actor if there was one .  br    br   however  venantino venantini is great  and great fun  as the bad guy  sort of a budget vittorio gassman . he is the main reason to sit through this steampile  as the rest of the cast deliver mostly terrible acting  specially the girl . poor old rossano brazzi  hard to believe he was once a romantic lead  watch  mondo cane  to see him running away from women  . looking here like a second  tier ben gazzara  he  s given next to nothing to do . it  s all joe don  s show  unfortunately . and all of it scored to generic    s  action movie  music that couldn  t be more boring .  br    br   greydon clark can make good b  movies   without warning    but here he trips  falls  breaks his nose and loses three teeth . well  at least the malta locations were nice  and there  s venantini to try to save the day .     .  
i saw this in the theater and i instantly thought that it is good enough to own on video . i am a big nut for sci  fi action flicks though anyway .  br    br   without giving any of the story away  it is worth seeing if you like sci  fi without requiring much thought . the story is basic  and the plot is very good . worth your time to see   br    br   maybe they will make a sequel     br    br    out of    
i notice from the comments that most of the people discussing this movie are basing their remarks on the mst  k airing . that  s fair enough  that is  after all  how it got its widest exposure   but  having had the misfortune of seeing  final justice  in its original form  i  d just like to share a few thoughts and comments on the uncut version .  br    br   first off  it must be admitted that the original version is slightly more coherent than the mst  k broadcast  owing primarily to an expository scene between rossano brazzi and venantino venantini  i could use the characters  names instead of the actors   but i just love typing the words  venantino venantini    explaining why venantini  s fugitive character can  t just leave malta right away .  it  s not a very convincing plot point  but at least the filmmakers tried to cover it .  whether this scene was cut just for time or because it didn  t provide much fodder for riffs  i don  t know .  br    br   another plot point missing in the original the stripper  s betrayal of venantino venantini to joe don baker  seemingly unmotivated in the mst  k version  is explained by an earlier  extremely unpleasant scene in which venantini rapes her in the shower . while this does give her a motive for turning against him  the whole scenario is just really . . . icky .  there  s no other word for it .   br    br   some of the mst  worthy moments  the perpetual truncated shouts of  son of a    and the  deja vu  shooting of the sheriff  were purely the result of the edited  for  tv print they worked with  and were absent from the original movie .  br    br   one scene i wish had made it into the mst  k version before entering the bar to question some people  joe don asks the maltese policewoman accompanying him to stay outside  because  they see that uniform  they won  t cooperate .  however  joe don himself is wearing his ridiculous cowboy  slash  sheriff outfit  complete with shiny badge  i can  t imagine why they passed on that great opportunity to make fun of him . . .  br    br   one final observation on the original  uncut version of  final justice   why  oh why  did they feel the need to put venantino venantini  s naked butt up on the screen   
i really liked this movie . kurt manages to act without speaking  letting moments speak for themselves . he doesn  t have to verbalize or rationalize his actions  he simply decides and takes action . he is supported by a good cast of actors and settings  and is able to show us a more humane side of soldiers without getting to corny .  
i was excited to hear that cesar montano had decided to make a movie in the cebuano language .  not  dialect  as most filipinos will incorrectly refer to it as . as cebuano and tagalog are as mutually unintelligible as french and spanish are to each other .  but i was greatly disappointed when i saw this movie . being a canadian  of cebuano parents  i was optimistic about the revival of the visayan film industry when i heard about this film . i was further excited to hear that it wasn  t another stupid action movie or melodrama as filipinos love these types of movies . but alas  i was short  changed .  br    br   panaghoy serves as an ego trip for cesar montano . montano of course plays the hero of the movie . and when i say  hero  i mean in the most stereotypical of manners his function is to win the heart of a girl and lead the bol  anons to victory against the japanese . his character has no depth or complexity . he just fits the hero mold . the rest of the characters are one dimensional they all fit their cookie cutter roles .  br    br   i  m all for slow  moving  meditative movies but this movie was just slow moving . it didn  t really meditate on anything . just because a movie is historically  themed  a drama and slow  moving doesn  t make it a well  made film .  br    br   particularly annoying is the american actor philip anthony . his performance was embarrassing .  br    br   if montano wanted to revive the visayan film industry he should have really thought this through . he said he wanted to make visayan movies that could compete at cannes and toronto etc . but really  this movie would have been booed and hissed at at such festivals . to get visayan films into the mainstream consciousness he should have at least made a movie that would have attracted audiences  even if it meant sacrificing quality . obviously he didn  t think about or get information on what kind of movies garner awards at cannes so an audience  attracting movie would have been at least a foot in the door .  br    br   i  m afraid now that visayan movies will not be made for a long time again because of this movie . if ever i said to a filipino that i want to see more visayan movies of course i  d get an answer like   visayans don  t make good movies . didn  t you see panaghoy sa suba   of course this is ludicrous as it is one example of a visayan movie and probably the only example that anyone nowadays would be likely to see .  br    br   an example of movies that are meditative  not just slow moving  are the tagalog film blackout or david lynch  s the straight story . i hate to promote the tagalog language as it is endlessly and unfairly promoted and shoved down the throats of non  tagalog filipinos but for the sake of calling a spade a spade i say that blackout is a very good movie . these movies rely heavily on what hitchcock called  pure cinema  . images without words are used to convey the story . but i bend the definition a bit for the sake of these two movies in that these movies use images without words to convey the mood of the movie . and they do it very well . panaghoy thinks that if they simply take sweeping shots of the landscape then they have established the mood .  br    br   and what  s with so many filipino movies featuring a dying mother or grandmother     
of course  by any normal standard of film criticism  soldier is a very poor film indeed . kurt russell is a futuristic super soldier raised since birth to kill but then made obsolete after being bettered by a bunch of really super soldiers at a dangly hoop ruck that looks a bit like a gladiators contest without the crash mats .  br    br   abandoned on a junk planet  he  s befriended by a community of naff space hippies that teach him about gardening  family life and  um  breasts . kurt doesn  t talk much . finally the really super soldiers turn up and kill the hippies by shooting them in the back while they  re running away . kurt gets angry and kills everyone . a planet gets totalled . the end .  br    br   unless the academy start a new category for  best explosion   soldier is not going to win any awards . however  as ludicrous as it is  it remains an enjoyable experience . the military hardware is the coolest since aliens  the apc  s especially  and  at   minutes long  it doesn  t outstay its welcome . please note that the below mark is only a guide . knock five points off if you intend to take it seriously and discount one more if you don  t like miniguns .  br    br    out of    
oh my god this was so bad  the story was weak  at best  and the animation was flat and lifeless  even childish . this film takes itself far too seriously . . . unless of course they meant to be funny . i saw this last week at the london sci  fi festival and the entire audience was laughing at every scene . i think my favourite was  shouldn  t you be studying medicine at oopsalof   and i also think they were trying to see how many times they could cram in the character nicalo  s only line  we will be together . . . it is our destiny .  i  m sorry but after the first time  the words lost all meaning .  br    br   and what was with the apple   br    br   i recommend this as a lesson to americans you cannot animate  so please don  t try . you only embarrass yourselves .  
i have to say i quite enjoyed soldier . russell was very good as this trained psychopath rediscovering his humanity . very watchable and nowhere near as bad as i  d been led to believe . yes it has problems but provides its share of entertainment .  
this movie was a great disappointment for me . i had been waiting for this movie to come out for years  and i was a faithful follower of chaos comics until they went bankrupt . not only did they cut out half the story line  but they altered information . the statement that lucifer is hope  s father is untrue . he did corrupt her father  but he himself is not her father . the voices also did not suit the characters  and once you hear the voice of a beloved character  the voice you heard in your mind can never be returned . i can not even remember everything about this film that was wrong . the bottom line is if you love lady death do not watch this movie . it just did not do the comic justice at all    
interesting mix of comments that it would be hard to add anything constructive to . however  i  ll try . this was a very good action film with some great set pieces . you  ll note i specified the genre . i didn  t snipe about the lack of characterisation  and i didn  t berate the acting . enjoy if for what it is people  a well above average action film . i could go on but i  ve made my comment .  
i also saw this amazingly bad piece of  anime  at the london sci  fi festival . if you have to watch this thing  do so with a large audience preferably after a few beers  you may then glean some enjoyment from it .  br    br   i found the dialogue hilarious  lodged in my mind is the introduction of cremator . the animation is awful . it is badly designed and badly executed . it may have been a good idea for the producers to have hired at least one person who was not colour blind .  br    br   there  s nothing else to say really  this film is a failure on every level .  
i am curious  yellow   a film  in near seussical rhyme  is said right at the start to be available in two versions  yellow and blue  was one of those big art  house hits that first was a major sensation in sweden then a big scandal  cause  celebre in the united states when the one print was held by customs and it went all the way to the supreme court . what  s potent in the picture today is not so much what might offend by way of what  s revealed in the sex or nudity  the director   actor  vilgot sjoman films the various scenes in such a way that there is an abundance of flesh and genitalia and the occasional graphic bit but it  s always more  so an intellectual expression than very lust  like  but the daring of the attempt at a pure  metafilm  while at the same time making a true statement on the state of affairs in sweden . who knew such things in a generally peaceful country  i . e . usually neutral in foreign affairs and wars  could be so heated  up politically  at least  that  s part of sjoman  s aim here .  br    br   like a filmmaker such as dusan makavajev with some of his works like w . r .  if not as surreal and deranged  or to a slightly lesser extent bertolucci  sjoman is out to mix politics and sex  mostly politics and social strata  around in the midst of also making it a comment on embodying a character in a film . the two characters  lena and borje  have a hot  cold relationship in the story of the film  where lena is a  curious  socialist  wannabe who demonstrates in the street for nonviolence and  trains  sort of in a cabin in the woods to become a fully functioning one  while at the same time maybe too curious about her car salesman boyfriend . and as this is going on  which is by itself enough for one movie  sjoman inserts himself and his crew from time to time as they are making this story on film  there  s even a great bit midway through where  as if at a rock concert  title cards fill in during a break in shooting who the crew are  negating having to use end credits   then with this there  s a whole other dynamic as sjoman gives an actual performance  not just a  hey  i  m the director playing the director  bit .  br    br   at first  one might not get this structure and that i am curious  yellow  is just a film where lena is a documentary interviewer asking subjects about their thoughts on class  socialism  spain and franco  and once in a while we see lena  s father or bjore . but sjoman does something interesting the structure is so slippery as the viewer one has to stay on toes it  s impressive that so many years on a picture can surprise with not being afraid to mix dramatic narrative  documentary  film  within  a  film  and even a serious interview with martin luther king  who also acts as a quasi  guru for lena . it might not always be completely coherent analysis politically  but it doesn  t feel cheating or even with much of a satirical agenda like in a godard picture the satire sjoman is after is akin to a godard but on a whole other wavelength . his anarchy is playful but not completely loaded with semantics or tricks that could put off the less initiated viewer .  br    br   if i am curious  yellow  stands up as an intellectual enterprise and a full  blown trip into exploring sex in a manner that was and is captivating for how much is shown and how comfortable it all seems to be for the actors  it isn  t entirely successful  i think  as an emotional experience . where bergman had it down to a t with making a purely emotional film with deconstruction tendencies  sjoman is more apt at connecting with specific ideas while not actually directing always very well when it comes time to do big or subtle scenes with the actors . occasionally it works if only for the actors  lena nyman  mostly spectacular here in a performance that asks of her to make an ambitious but confused kid into someone sympathetic and vulnerable even  and borje ahlstedt  a great realistic counterpoint to the volatile lena   but some   years later its hard to completely connect with everything that happens in the inner  film of lena and borje since  perhaps intentionally  sjoman fills it up with clichs  borje has a girlfriend and kid  will he leave her  how will lena reconcile her father  and a heavy  handed narration from his starlet of sorts .  br    br   and yet  for whatever faults sjoman may have  ironically considering he means it to be a comment on itself  i am curious  yellow  holds up beautifully as an artistic experiment in testing the waters of what could be done in swedish cinema  or testing what couldn  t be and bending it for provocative and comedic usage . i  d even go as far as to say it  s influential  and has probably been copied or imitated in more ways than one due to it being such a cult phenomenon at its time  a specific technique used  with the film rewinding towards the end  is echoed in poorer usage in funny games   and should be seen by anyone looking into getting into avant  garde or meta  film  making . if it  s not quite as outstanding an artistic leap as w . r . or last tango  it  s close behind .  
with adam sandler .  br    br   this is without a doubt one of the most idiotic films ever made . it  s about cruise ship waiter shecky  sandler  wanting to be a comedian on the cruise ship . first off  there is not one funny or clever line in the entire movie honestly . it is so unfunny it  s pathetic . there is surprisingly not much crude or sexual humor  but the f  word is plentiful . the budget is really low  and that also ruins the film . it takes place on a cruise ship  but it seems they only had money to rent out a small boat and only had money for   ship extras  one of which is billy bob thornton . the opening credits are animated reeeeeaally cheaply  and it is just pathetic . i hate this movie and everyone else that sees this will hate it too .  br    br     mins . rated r for language .  
soldier is not as bad as many have made it out to be . i found the film to have some of the sacarstic  cynical humour like that in paul verhoven  s starship troopers . the lack of dialogue and over the top action is deliberate and adds to the comic  book atmosphere .  br    br   one particular trivia  bit stands out for me  todd has the names of several space  war campaigns tattoo  d onto his chest and one of these battles is tannhauser gate . for the oblivious ones out there  tannhauser gate is mentioned in roy batty  s elegiac last lines in blade runner . to imagine that todd could have fought alongside android troops like roy is mind boggling to say the least . maybe script writer david peoples was nostalgic   br    br   i  ll give this one  out of  .  
there  s really no way to beat around the bush in saying this  lady death the motion picture just plain sucks . aside from the fact that the main character is a well endowed blonde running around hell in a leather bikini with occasional spurts of graphic violence  the movie seems to have been made with the mentality of a      s cartoon based on a line of action figures . the bad guy himself even talks like a skeletor wannabe  has the obligatory inept henchman  and lives in a lair that looks to have been patterned after the domain of the villain from the old saturday morning blackstar cartoon . just don  t expect any humor other than the sometimes howlingly bad dialogue . at other times it feels like the kind of anime tale better suited to hentai  yet there is no sex  no tentacle rape  thank goodness   and very little sex appeal  this despite the physical appearance of the title character . there is simply no adult edge to this material  unless you count the half  naked heroine and bloody deaths . essentially  what we have here is a feature length episode of she  ra  princess of power  but with skimpier clothes and more gore .  
this movie is ok if you like mindless action  corny acting  and a very small plot  the special effects are decent considering this movie is from the director of  event horizon  . the costumes are like something from a mad max movie . none of the soldiers talk  so others tell them what to do . it eventually end up as a big shoot  em up movie with explosions all the place . i personally liked russell better in  tango and cash   escape from la  new york  and  executive decision  . it must see this movie leave your mind at the door for a no brainer action science fiction movie    
and it falls squarely into the category of  awesomely bad   ie a movie drunk students would rent to get a kick out of . i was at the sci fi movie festival and all i remember is a wave after wave of hysterical laughter as this movie premiered . other critiques will better describe this movie  s fecal nature  and i felt oh  so  bad at the poor guy from the production company who had turned up  obviously to gauge the audience  s reaction . what he got was the sci fi equivalent of a drunken student audience  and after a  serious  anime movie  i think it was  sky blue   the audience was in a sombre mood  and then this movie opened and within seconds everyone in the room was rolling in the isles . i will bullet point the worst parts  br    br   script the funniest  and worst part of this movie  it clunks along a linear and predictable road with the occasional ill  thought  out aside . rubbish  but eminently laughable .  br    br   animation poorly done  and put together  if you can put up with drab backgrounds and gradually skimpier costumes for the heroine  i know i can    then watch out for the montage where she  trasforms  from a swedish peasant girl into lady death     br    br   characters so one  dimensional its painful  there is a brief backstory  with side  splitting lines of dialogue  and little light is shone on the actual motivation behind some of the main characters .  br    br   so  in a nutshell  if you  ve got a captive audience and a few beverages lying around  try and make sure they  re alcoholic to ease the pain   then slip this movie into the dvd and get in a  mystery science theatre      mindset . there is no other motivation to watch this movie other than to laugh at it  and its not meant to be a comedy . do not watch this movie alone . it could possible be even more boring to watch solo than  new world  with colin farrell as you won  t be able to have a laugh at the ridiculousness with a friend or two .  
i  ve watched this movie a second time to try to figure out why it wasn  t as successful  commercially or artistically  as it should have been  and discovered considerable artistic merit   which may ultimately have been its commercial undoing .  br    br   first of all  this movie attempts  serious  science  fiction  social commentary  more than action  adventure . there is action in it  but that  s not really what it  s about . if you focus on that  you  ll end up with  as others have noted  a bad  aliens  clone . but  again  that  s not what it  s about .  br    br   the movie is really about todd  s  kurt russell  transformation from human to near  machine and back to human  mostly back  . but because it  s not trying to give you a typically glib hollywood style answer  kurt russell must make this transformation without speaking  and largely without broad expressions . and he really does a wonderful job   it can take two viewings to appreciate it .  br    br   the surrounding  social logic  is flawed and it  s never adequately explained whether todd  s ability to hold his own against an army of supposedly superior troops comes from his experience on the battlefield or his newfound human  ness or what  but the movie still makes a marvellous showcase for russell  s  easy to underestimate  talent .  
i am a huge fan of the comic book series  but this movie fell way below my expectations . i expected a heavy metal     kinda feel to it . . . . . slow moving  bad dialogue  lots o  blood . . . . . but this was worse than anything i could have imagined .  br    br   the plot line is almost the same as the comic  but the good points pretty much stop there . the characters don  t have the energy or spirit that drew my attention in the comic series . the movie only covers a small portion of the comic  and the portion used is more slow and boring than later parts . the focus in the movie is on the insignificant events instead of the more interesting overall plot of the comic book .  br    br   with the right people working on this project  it could have been amazing . sadly  it wasn  t that way  so now there is yet another terrible movie that few will see and even fewer will love . my copy will surely collect dust for years until i finally throw it out .  
what a perfect example of  less is more . . .  kurt russell  sgt . todd  only has   lines  and something like    words . what a challenge  like a black and white photo  when your mind  s eye has to fill in the blanks  the facial expressions  the physical drama  the emotive gesture  all combines to make a stronger impact . this is one of those top  movies i can  t live without  right up there with the classics like road warrior . if you liked this  check out  mad max   the road warrior  and  braveheart  both starring mel gibson . also  gladiator  with russell crowe and connie nielsen who was in soldier also . the  thirteenth warrior  starring antonio banderas and  blade runner  starring harrison ford .  
well  i can honestly say that this is the first time that i experienced a film that had literally no meat or potatoes in it . the entire film felt like it was just the salad with no main course . the story line was fallible and laughable  the characters were one  dimensional  the realism was out the window  and the animation was done by four  year olds . does that cover it  i have never been more embarrassed for a concept in my entire life . i have never read the comics or seen the other programs with this character  but from the looks of the other reviews i am not off base with my observation .  br    br   to begin  the story moved too quickly . for someone new to this character and situations  i needed more built into creating the reasons instead of finding the solution . i have seen other anime  if you could call this one an anime  that do great things with their characters because they take the time to develop them . there was nothing set aside for lady death . in a few short scenes  we see her train with cremator and instantly become this aggressive she  beast of hell . this was hard for me to swallow  considering moments before she was introduced as this weak and feeble woman controlled by her father . suddenly  she is immersed with hatred and can do battle with an existence that has been around for millions of years . this was absurd . the presentation of lady death was poor  to say the least . i felt as if she was nothing more than an animated character instead of a desperate woman with revenge on the mind . for me  it just didn  t work . she was nothing more than eye  candy for prepubescent boys wanting to ogle the mass quantities of skin that she suddenly grew on her chest when training with cremator . oh  i felt sick just watching her . the same goes for the character of cremator . who was this random person  the explanation they gave wasn  t enough  and instead i was left with more incoherent babbling than actual development . it is a very sad day in hell when we forgo characters to show more violence and action  especially in an animated feature .  br    br   next  there was lucifer himself . let me just say that i think i could do battle with the king of hell and survive . he was weak  his voice was laughable  and he just didn  t represent the image that i had in my mind . it was as if disney was in control and wanted to make him semi  pc . he lacked the darkness and corrupt nature that lucifer embodies . he was not the ruler of hell  but instead just a lackey that had a bigger place to live . speaking of living or dying  how can you die again in hell  that was a concept that definitely needed more explanation . most of the characters were worrying about dying  when they didn  t even consider the option that they were already dead . that is how they got to hell . i think it was this level of thinking that ruined the film for me . i didn  t quite capture the notion that your soul was still in a solid body in hell  but that could just be me  or maybe it was because there was no development in this story . there was nothing built  just preparing .  br    br   the battle sequences were hysterically bad . the animation in this cartoon felt like it was made in the early   s . there was nothing impressive about the way that this film was drawn . why are we  america  so behind on animation  it is huge in asia  and it is creeping in hardcore here because we keep making films like lady death that do not challenge or use any part of imagination . we are cheap  and this film shows it .  br    br   overall  this film was bad . the animation coupled with the horrendous voice work was cheap . i had head somewhere that this film as in production for a long time  which is hard to understand because i think i could have made this film on my credit card . the production was horrendous as well as the story . nothing was developed  leaving huge gaping plot holes that nearly everyone fell into . the strength of the characters was missing  and nothing was explained . i wasted my time with this one and would like to warn others so that when death does come  you don  t find yourself in my state and regretting the fact that you wasted   minutes on this piece of garbage .  br    br   blah   br    br   grade  out of   
i fell in love with this silent action drama . kurt russell and only kurt russell could have played this so well . raised from childhood to know nothing but war and fighting  todd  kurt russell  is dumped on a planet after being made obsolete by genetically engineered soldiers .  br    br   the stage is set and another classic icon of action movies was born  soldier . not rambo  not schwarzenegger  not bruce willis  not mel gibson  not jason statham  kurt russell owns this role and made it entirely his  original  daring  and all too human . i miss the fact that sequels were never made .  br    br         br    br    ld  br    br             br    br   my faith http   www . angelfire . com  ny   jbc     
first of all  i  d like to tell you that i  m into comics  anime  animation and such stuff . it is true that everyone has his own preferences  but you can trust me on this movie . i  ll be objective . to begin with the story  it  s ok . follows the story line of the comic books as far as i  m familiar with them . but the animation . . . well  it  s not actually terrible  but it  s definitely cheap and mediocre . it would be a lot better if they didn  t try to imitate the anime style and sticked to the original comic book style drawings . if we pretend not to see the rare sloppy effects like fire and lightnings you could tell that the movie is made about   years ago and even more . looks a little bit like the original vampire hunter d from     . take a look at heavy metal fakk     for instance   years ago they made a movie that looks a hell lot better  in addition to this the voice talents do nothing remarkable  the music is nothing special . so all in all  it lacks atmosphere . i watched it  but i cannot tell i really enjoyed it . it just does not capture you . there  s plenty of blood and violence  but that does not impress me at all . may be it will be shocking for someone who was never watched more mature oriented animations and sees animated blood for the first time  is there anyone around    but i don  t think this is the audience for this movie . so they could add a little nudity and spice to it . the chicks around lucifer were quite tasty  and hell  we have lady death herself  there are few sexy looks  but that  s not enough . instead of bill brown  s music i think it would look better on a hard rock  heavy metal soundtrack . all in all  the movie isn  t that bad  but if you want something better take the original heavy metal  heavy metal fakk      ralph bakshi  s fire and ice or wizards maybe . and of course  vampire hunter d bloodlust  
this was excellent . touching  action  packed  and perfect for kurt russel . i loved this movie  it deserves more than  .  or so stars . this movie is the story of an obsolete soldier who learns there is more to life than soldiering  and people who learn that there is a time for fighting  a need to defend . i cried  laughed and mostly sat in awe of this story . good writing job for an action flick  and the plot was appropriate and fairly solid . the ending wasn  t twisty  but it was still excellent . if you like escape from new york  or rooting for the underdog  this movie is for you . not an undue amount of gore or violence  it was not difficult to watch in that respect . something for everyone .  
the movie has one nude scene a man sitting on the edge of the bed  with his exposed genitals smack dab in the middle of the screen . it is quite a long scene . what was the point  i almost think it was meant to be funny but we were watching it with my mother and it wasn  t funny to have that staring at us for what seemed like a full minute .  br    br   the movie is cold . none of the characters are even likeable . audrey tatou is cute  of course  but her character is an unhappy girl .  br    br   i really would not recommend this movie . i had expected it to be charming and fresh but it was depressing . i wondered if the director was from a very upper crust  educated french family and he looks down on these characters .  br    br    
stoic and laconic soldier sergeant todd  a fine and credible performance by the ever reliable kurt russell  gets dumped on a desolate remote planet after he  s deemed obsolete by ruthless and arrogant colonel mekum  deliciously played to the slimy hilt by jason isaacs   who has todd and his fellow soldiers replaced with a new advanced breed of genetically engineered combatants . todd joins a peaceful ragtag community of self  reliant outcasts and has to defend this community when the new soldiers arrive for a field exercise . director paul w . s . anderson  working from a smart and provocative script by david webb peoples  depicts a chilling vision of a bleak  cold and harsh possible near future while maintaining a snappy pace and a tough  gritty tone throughout . moreover  anderson handles moving moments of humanity well  todd  s struggle to get in touch with his previously repressed feelings is genuinely poignant  and stages the stirring action scenes with rip  roaring gusto . russell gives a strong and impressive almost pantomime portrayal of todd he conveys a lot of emotion without saying much and instead does the majority of his acting through his body movements and facial expressions . bang  up supporting turns by jason scott lee as brutish rival soldier caine     connie nielson as the compassionate sandra  sean pertwee as the kindly mace  jared and taylor thorne as mute little boy nathan  gary busey as crusty seasoned veteran captain church  michael chiklis as the jolly johnny pig  and brenda wehle as the sensible mayor hawkins . better still  this film makes a profound and significant statement about the spiritual cost of being a merciless soldier and the importance of intellectual strength over physical might . david tattersall  s polished cinematography  joel mcneely  s rousing full  bore orchestral score  and the first  rate rate special effects all further enhance the overall sterling quality of this superior science fiction  action hybrid outing .  
witty . quirky . genuine . surreal . butterfly wings  one could ask what all of these words best describe  and some  those in fuse with the international film community  may quickly say happenstance  but others may jump aboard the more american train and immediately yell  the butterfly effect . strangely  i would be one of those screaming for that sci  fi kutcher film mainly because none of those words that i initially mentioned at the start of this paragraph accurately depicts the tautou feature that i witnessed . sure  we all loved her in amelie and thought she was the daughter of jesus in the da vinci code  but in this film first  time director  of a feature film at least  laurent firode doesn  t give tautou the opportunity to shine . sadly  he gives nobody the opportunity to really demonstrate themselves because he is too delicately caught up in the moments of  random chance  to bring this film to anything but just a shimmer  never a true boil  . firode has ample  and i use  ample  as a small word  moments throughout this film where he could have built us a fantastical story  a genuinely whimsical fairy  tale of love and coincidence  but instead he fell face  first into a mud  bucket of chaotic intertwining that overwhelmed us with inconsistent characters and a story that left us gasping for less .  br    br   tautou  s beautiful face adorns the cover of this box  but do not be so taken immediately as i did in assuming that this was going to be another monumental journey into tautou  s french cinema . tautou is in this film  do not get me wrong  but one could argue that she is not at the center of this story . firode  s job is to create a series of random events that eventually will lead to an audience friendly  albeit confusing  ending which exemplifies that meaning of refreshing  melodrama  . he utterly  utterly fails . firode fails by giving us  the audience  too many characters . with too many characters he gives us too many random interventions  and by the end you don  t really care who is who  or what is what  or how is how your main focus happens to be centered solely on the ending credits and the time destination of their arrival . tautou could have saved this film from the disaster it was if only firode would have given her the center . alas  he did not  but attempted to seemingly force a group of   through a theoretical film hole about the size of a penny . it just didn  t work and we were left with a jam in which we were completely stuck .  br    br   firode fails because he focus  so intently on the minor details that  for one of those rare film occurrences  he actually forgets the central focus . i can say that there was no defined central focus to happenstance . in the beginning he attempts to create one with our two supposed main characters discovering that they share the same birthday and their horoscope promises love by the moonlight  but we never go back to that throughout the film . instead  again  we are bombarded with new characters  stuffy scenes  and meaningless drivel obviously chosen to direct us away from an actual story and more into a world full of  ifs  ands  and buts  . i couldn  t do it . i couldn  t believe this film . writer firode  yes  the same guy directing this garbage  uses a technique so primitive in this film that i immediately felt like ending it immediately . he must have been assuming that many of us were incapable of actually following the storyline  or the scientific premise  because he grabs the aid of a homeless person to actually fill in the respective blanks . i didn  t need this  nor do i think firode needed to belittle his audience in this matter . while there were other elements that just didn  t seem to work for me at all  again  felt like a jumbled parisian collage of shredded paper   this was the icing on the cake . i don  t need my hand held through films .  br    br   i will give this film one star for credit . this is a rather difficult genre to master successfully . time travel films are especially hard because of the innumerable amounts of possibilities that are never accounted for  but with happenstance it works because firode semi  explores the different avenues . while i will counter with saying that he does not do it well  it did make for at least five full minutes of enjoyment . i liked where firode was headed with this film  he had a genuinely diagramed story  but the final execution just blew this film to shreds . firode could have saved this film if he would have strengthened his characters  while lightening up his premise and story . i think my overall mood of this film would have changed if just these two simple directions were taken . oh  how i only wish i could time travel back to the production of this film to show firode the errors of his ways .  br    br   overall  for the first time  and probably last   this was a tautou film that i must say utterly disappointed me . from the choppy opening to the apathetic ending  i just felt that happenstance failed due to firode  s leadership and horrid marketing . marketing is something that i didn  t mention before  but why would anyone purchase this film thinking that it was an amelie   per the title released in hong kong   and why would you place tautou squarely on the cover knowing full well that she wasn  t carrying this film at all . i believe that from the first minute that passed on my dvd player  this film was in shambles . while i will applaud his subject  everything else was well below the level of mediocrity . i cannot suggest this film to anyone .  br    br   grade  out of   
kurt russell is so believable and the action so non  stop that it takes thinking about it afterward to realize that there were honest  to  goodness important themes overcoming fear of the stranger  learning to rise above early conditioning  the strength that love and friendship can bring  etc .  in the storyline . this is so very rare for a  guy  s action flick  that even i who thinks most a  a is violent pap liked the film and have recommended it to every guy i know . . . . . it  s a shame this one was overlooked because by rights it should have been one of the biggest action  adventure box office hits   it has something for everyone without straining credulity or losing the nearly non  stop action moments . i  m afraid the answer to it not becoming a hit lies in the fact that adults did not go to see it . anyone under   probably has not only seen more violent action in their video games but probably would either not catch the multi  layered  multi  themed beauty or not care about it . this film could convert anyone who avoids a  a as mindless violence . if a guy takes his lady or rents it or sees it in a cable listing to see this film he  ll be much more likely to get her to go with him to other action flicks .  
a missed train . a wrong phone number . an extra cup of coffee . what happens to those around you when you make a seemingly innocuous decision  most people don  t give it a thought as they absorbed in their own thoughts and actions .  br    br    happenstance  tells the story of the interrelations and cause  and  effect of the mundane as it pertains to a group of normal parisian folk . it has all the components of what passes for contemporary theater  with the full cast of the dysfunctional and disillusioned .  br    br   there  s a cheating husband  an illegal immigrant  a classic slacker  a pickpocket  a crazy grandmother  an annoying girlfriend  a selfish roommate  and a homeless man . audrey tautou serves as the erstwhile protagonist  in the sense that she  s on camera as much as anyone else and opens and closes the film  and normal girl who just can  t seem to find the right rhythm in her life .  br    br   she learns at the beginning of her day from a stranger on a train what her horoscope holds for her . what happens to her in the course of the day is told through various characters . does the prediction come true  the concept is good  but the storytelling is flimsy . the connections from one event to the next are weak . there  s better storytelling in   seconds of the liberty mutual insurance commercial where one person sees a good deed and passes it along to another than there is in two hours of happenstance .  br    br   if you enjoy audrey tautou  then you certainly can sacrifice the time for this film  but you  ll finish it dissatisfied and wondering what this same storyline could be if it were handled by a better producer and director .  
nine out of ten might seem like a high mark to give for a straight to video sci  fi movie that  s been vilified at the us box office and roundly criticized as the poorest movie of kurt russell  s career .  br    br   i have my reasons .  br    br   firstly when you read negative reviews of this film  they usually start with the wooden nature of russell  s interpretation of todd  the eponymous soldier . i  m going to start here too  with my surprising statement that this is possibly the finest piece of acting i  ve seen russell pull off . todd is an emotional cripple and suffering from intense ptsd  this movie being written before the phenomenon was as widely recognized as it is now .  br    br   the portrayal is spot on . todd is withdrawn  uncommunicative and a loner . he suffers from irrational anxiety  keyed to a fever pitch by training that teaches him to analyze every movement and interaction with another human being for signs of betrayal and danger . his hyper  focus brings with it an inability to comprehend the bigger continuum that the tasks he is given to do sit within  there is a scene where he cuts himself slicing carrots and continues to work unfazed  not cleaning up the cut or the blood . many interpret this as a sign of his physical toughness and focus on the job at hand  but it is also a sign that he is simply performing the requested task by rote  not comprehending the relationship between the vegetables he  s preparing and the food that will be eaten later .  br    br   todd  s dialog is spartan to say the least  the two big talking scenes he gets are central to the plot of the movie and both underline the bleak nature of his existence . fear and discipline we are told . always . fear to keep him pumped up to a hyper alert state where the smallest detail will not pass him by  keeping him ready to react on a knife edge . discipline to hold him in check through his fear  to overcome it and perform tactically . the inference is that he has no time to think and cannot afford feelings . many viewers have different interpretations of his reaction to the hug from nielsen  s sandra  but i believe you have to interpret it from the perspective of a human who  s only experience of an embrace is in combat  the trembling represents him suppressing his fight  flight instincts reacting to the fear of being grappled  his movement and vision restricted  fear and discipline indeed .  br    br   then there is the subtext of his abandonment  twice in fact   so representative of the way our society tends to toss infantrymen onto the rubbish heap of society when they  ve served their terms .    of the unemployed are ex  military in our world  in his it can only be worse . russell quickly picks up the mantle of mace  s responsibility to his wife and child  desperately in need of a mission  even one with such a high likelihood of his death .  br    br   then there is the military subtext too  the conflict between busey  s church and the hotshot from hq  mekum . mekum  s new men are faster  stronger  more accurate and aggressive . any one of them could pound todd into the ground  but it  s not about the tools you have it  s how you use them . an incentivized todd given the freedom to exercise his initiative and acting without the numbing effect of perceived superiority utilizes ambush tactics and sneaky tricks to cut a swathe through the newer unit  sent in without support  cover or reconnaissance . it is a reminder that military power cannot make up for a failure in leadership .  br    br   there are many other subtle themes . when a film is shot and scripted so minimally  it leaves plenty of white space for your own interpretations to take root . watch soldier with an open mind and see what it teaches you .  
i found this film to be an interesting study in cause and effect but little more than that . the basic plot follows the lives of a handful of people and how their actions  deliberate and otherwise  effect the lives of the others . the film  s premise holds great promise but i feel it fails to deliver on its promise . too much time is spent telling the audience about chaos theory and too little time actually showing it . as a result  i never got a true feel for any of the characters and never made a good connection with them emotionally . by the end of the movie  i had a  so what  attitude about all of them . a stronger direction in character development would have made this movie great  but as it stands it is merely so  so  
this is a great movie . it has a captivating story  an awesome main character  very good acting and killer action . this takes place mostly in the year     but shows scenes that take place in past years to explain the story .  br    br   the story is very well done and there are no holes . kurt russell is a solider named todd who is trained from birth to kill and like all of the other soldiers have never had normal lives . eventually the military introduces newer  younger  faster and stronger soldiers . jason scott lee being one of them . as a result they don  t have any need for the old soldiers like todd . they test out the new soldiers by having them fight some of the old soldiers  in the battle russell is injured and assumed to be dead . the military dumps his body as well as a fewer others assuming they are all dead but what they don  t realize is that russell is alive .  br    br   todd finds a camp filled with civilization on this planet that the military dumped him on . for a while he lives there but can  t adjust to normal life . he rarely says a word and he is at times very aggressive towards the other people . when they feel he is a danger to them they send him off to the desert .  br    br   just as russell  s leaving the planet is attacked by the new soldiers . what the military forgot was to train the soldiers to be smart like todd and the other old soldiers . so while these new soldiers are faster and stronger than todd  todd easily outsmarts them . the military starts realizing this and todd kills all of their men but one . that one is jason scott lee and in the end you see a classic fight scene between russell and scott lee . russell obviously comes out on top .  br    br   this is one of the best action films i  ve ever seen and i  ve seen a lot . this has everything you could ask for in a film including some great lines . the writer also didn  t forget that russell had never seen a woman before as he calls even women  sir  . there are no holes in this film  every minute has a purpose and it  s very entertaining .  br    br   an awesome one man army action film for fans of rambo  commando and missing in action . this is highly recommended for all kurt russell fans and action  sci  fi fans .  
somebody called howard koch a schlockmeister but he did write the screenplay for  casablanca   didn  t he  or didn  t he . maybe there  s more than one koch slinking around in hollywood  and i  m not too fond of  casablanca  anyway . wait a minute   yes  there is another howard koch slinking around hollwyood . that  s the one who wrote  casablanca .  no matter . i  ll put as much care into this comment as  howard w . koch  put into this production  which is to say only a little .  br    br   you know what this sounds like  somebody read cliff  s notes on shakespeare  s  king lear  and decided  since no original thoughts were aboard the inbound inspiration express  to update it and hollywoodize it with a happy ending .  br    br   there are differences . lear decides to divvy up his vast estates between three sisters and before doing so  asks them how much they love him . two of the sisters throw themselves at his feet and brown nose him to get at his money . the third is the good girl and refuses to go operatic on lear . but in the play  lear remains alive to regret his decision to give the two connivers his stash and deprive the honest girl . he winds up crazy and naked during a gale on the moors  putting flowers in his hair and hallucinating . kids can do that to you .  take my kid  for instance . after all the effort i squandered on raising him  does he show any interest in becoming a doctor or a lawyer  no .  in the end  everybody in the play dies .  br    br   in the movie  evidently  the good sister is morose and suicidal but when she tries to off herself  somebody jumps in and saves her  so the ending is  more or less  happy . that  s the difference between hollywood and a genuine tragedy  unless you define hollywood as a tragedy sufficient unto itself .  
i don  t know how or why this film has a meager rating on imdb . this film  accompanied by  i am curious blue  is a masterwork .  br    br   the only thing that will let you down in this film is if you don  t like the process of film  don  t like psychology or if you were expecting hardcore pornographic ramming .  br    br   this isn  t a film that you will want to watch to unwind it  s a film that you want to see like any other masterpiece  with time  attention and care .  br    br   summaries  may contain a spoiler or two  br    br   the main thing about this film is that it blends the whole film  within a film thing  but it does it in such a way that sometimes you forget that the fictions aren  t real .  br    br   the film is like many films in one  br    br    . a political documentary  about the social system in sweden at the time . which in a lot of ways are still relevant to today . interviews done by a young woman named lena .  br    br    . a narrative about a filmmaker  vilgot sjoman  making a film . . . he deals with a relationship with his star in the film and how he should have never got involved with people he  s supposed to work with .  br    br    . the film that vilgot is making . it  s about a young woman named lena  ie .     who is young and very politically active  she is making a documentary  ie .   .  . she is also a coming of age and into her sexuality  and the freedom of that .  br    br   the magnificence and sheer brilliance of  i am curious yellow  blue  is how these three elements are cut together . in one moment you are watching an interview about politics  and the next your watching what the interviewer is doing behind the scenes but does that so well that you sometimes forget that it is the narrative .  br    br   another thing is the dynamic between  yellow  and  blue   which if you see one  you must see the other .  blue  is not a sequel at all . i  ll try to explain it best i can because to my knowledge  no other films have done it though it is a great technique .  br    br   think of  yellow  as a living thing  actual events in   scenes . a complete tale .  br    br   think of  blue  as all the things in between the   scenes in  yellow  that you didn  t see  that is a complete tale on it  s own .  br    br   essentially they are parallel films . . . the same story  told in two different ways .  br    br   it wasn  t until i saw the first   minutes of  blue  that i fully understood  yellow   br    br   i hope this was helpful for people who are being discouraged by various influences  because this film changed the way i looked at film .  br    br   thanks for your time .  
shecky  is a god damned legend  make no mistake . until recently i worked for a uk hifi  video retail chain  running their testing department . we would go through many new starters  they would be expected to to learn how to fault find the various detritus that returns as non functional in one way or another from the stores . now to tortu test the resolve of these new staff members  we would issue them with a copy of going overboard . we had hundreds of copies of this film because whenever someone who had bought a particular model of goodmans dvd player that had this film as a free gift  got round to sending their dvd player back  they never failed to send shecky back also . our new staff would be forced to use only going overboard to test these machines for faults until they had found a disc or two of their own to test with .  br    br   now  as to why this film is so bad  where do i begin   br    br   adam sandler  who can be so  so very funny  as in happy gilmore  or the wedding singer  must have been having one hell of an off day . the rest of the crew stank  and what is it with billy zane  his name crops up in several of the worst movies of all time  and he is a decent actor . crazy . the production quality is absolute zero .  br    br   i would have been inclined to give this a zero if i could  because they didn  t even have the guts to call it by it  s full name  the unsinkable shecky moskowitz  on release . even so it is worth a watch so you can see just how far sandler has come  and just how low he can go .  
soldier may not have academy acting or lucas special effects but it definitely does it for me . i won  t tell you what its about  i  m sure you already read the summary . this is a great doomed futureistic action  science fiction movie . kurt russell doesn  t say much  he usually has an eerie or drone look on his face but it fits the character . there are great action and fight scenes some of the scenes are unrealistic  but thats hollywood make believe land that we should have to escape our normal lives . i have not seen soldier  but this one it one of my favorites . i  m lucky enough to have a wife that digs on guy movies we both love this movie and recommend it to anyone who likes tough guy  sci  fi movies .  
i absolutely hate it when a film completely falls apart near the end  after you  ve already invested an hour into it . and that  s what happened with this film . i was intrigued by its actors and the fact that malamud wrote its source story . i haven  t gone to read that story but i cannot imagine that it ends like this film ends . fortunately i didn  t pay good money to see or rent it because my library had it . ohhhh such a waste of excellent acting  the wife in particular was so perfect  . but milo o  shea as a jew      now that was funny . i haven  t researched into its making but it played like the director lost his marbles or died    of the way through the film . before that point  a story and characters were developing  there were a number of neat plot points and there wasn  t too much time wasted . but ooh that last    hour  if that wasn  t the screwiest  most worthless denouement i  ve ever witnessed  i don  t know what is . i just hate it when one  s faith is so destroyed like that it feels like an act of violence .  
in the movie several references are made in subtly to blade runner  but one of the most obvious is the fact the cain    and his unit are all genetic constructs  breed to be expendable warriors . but as favorite quote of mine from the movie is   you should have made them smart as well as fast  . kurt russell did a incredible job  his facial expressions or lack of in the movies gave more in the way of relating the story then the rest of the cast combined . even when he falls in love with sandra but does not know how to deal with these emotions  and his tears after being expelled from the group  or his shuddering when he is given a hug  and his attachment to the mute young boy who in many ways reminded todd of himself  and what he could have been if not for his selection to be a soldier .  
i watched this on the tube last night . the actor  s involved first caught my attention . the first scenes were attention getters . some funny some sad . good character development . i felt that the latter third of the film diverged . if it was not for the early part of the movie i would have stopped watching . i kept watching wanting to how how it tied together .  br    br   unfortunately i feel that it never happened . i especially did not like the extend period that several of the character were talking yiddish    . was that the other shoe   br    br   would i recommend  no  i think not . as other reviewers mention much of the slang is dated     s jive  but it was not too distracting . the ending totally turned me off .  
the first two sequences of this movie set up the two conflicts the  thematic  conflict between the soldier todd and his suppressed humanity  and the  physical  conflict between todd and his bio  engineered replacement . both sequences are quite gripping in different ways .  br    br   peoples  screenplay falters somewhat by resolving the first of these arcs half  way through the movie  which means the second half is little more than a straightforward action romp .  br    br   nonetheless  kudos to the makers for creating an genre action piece with heart and even a bit of soul and especially to kurt russell who conveys much with very little .  br    br   not a great film  but one worth seeing .  
i was very disappointed in this     film based on a bernard malamud story . this is basically a story of possible redemption  racial bias and the unfulfillment of life based on mistrust .  br    br   a black jewish angel is sent to help a struggling tailor and his critically ill wife . if morris mishkin  zero mostel  will only believe in the angel  belafonte   his wife fanny  ida kaminska  will recover . the problem is that morris has basically given up on life and just refuses to believe that belafonte is an angel .  br    br   when he believes it  fanny improves but in the end he has doubts and fanny suffers accordingly . it would have been very nice if there had been an english translation in the last scene when a dying fanny speaks to morris .  br    br   jan kadar  who successfully directed miss kaminska in her oscar nominated brilliant performance in      s  the shop on main street  directs this film as well . kaminska is reduced in the film to mostly bed scenes and her kindness in her speech really doesn  t convey the desperate situation that she faces . she keeps calling for ruthie  their daughter  who disobeyed them by marrying out of the jewish religion . for most of the film  she does not realize the angel  s appearance in her apartment .  br    br   the scene in the pharmacy is muddled and the scene where the angel  s girl friend confronts belafonte in their apartment  is memorable but all too brief .  br    br   we don  t know why belafonte is in danger and why he has died .  br    br   those viewing this film must have left the theater in a state of depression and desperation .  
ok  basically this is a popcorn sci  fi movie  but from the outset its obvious that it has been directed with a great deal of intelligence . you can count about   clichs that the film is building up to  but it only delivers on about three of them  and a couple of them have a twist to them that lets you know once again that the director hasn  t assumed that you are an idiot . kurt russell  s acting is truely superb and brings a depth from the character that is suprising and rewarding . recommended if you  ve just seen something really stupid  and want to rebuild your faith   
lol  not a bad way to start it . i thought this was original  but then i discovered it was a clone of the     remake of king kong . i never saw king kong until i was   . i saw this film when i was  . the film  s funky disco music will get stuck in your head  not to mention the film  s theme song by the yetians . this is the worst creature effects i  ve ever seen . at the same time this film remains a holy grail of b  movies . memorable quotes  take a tranquilizer and go to bed .   put the yeti in your tank and you have yeti power .  i remember seeing this film on movie macrabe hosted by elvira . there is one scene where it was like king kong in reverse  in king kong he grabs the girl and climbs up the building  but in this film he climbs down the building and grabs the girl  who was falling   also around that year was another kong clone mighty peking man       which came from hong kong . there is a lot of traveling matte scenes and motorized body parts . this film will leave you laughing . it is like i said  just another king kong clone . rated pg for violence  language  thematic elements  and some scary scenes .  
i watched this movie expecting what i got good sci  fi cowboy stuff . what really surprised me was that kurt russell did such a great job with an extremely limited role .  br    br   imagine trying to act under these two restraints you have hardly any dialogue  and because you are playing a hardass  military robot  you are not allowed to show emotions using facial expressions  howzat  kinda like asking a diva to perform a great aria while gagged and duct  taped . in spite of being verbally and expressionally handcuffed  russell pulls off an incredible characterization . his robot becomes human  in spite of the constraints . great job   br    br   as usual  jason isaacs insures that he will go down in history as a great portrayer of the consummate villain   the one you  d love to see drawn and quartered . connie nielsen was sweet  soft  motherly  and gorgeous . i  m not sure how much of my impression is based on her acting and how much on her physical beauty  but it was hard to take one  s eyes off her . unfortunately  gary busey  s role was too small and limited .  br    br   much of the plot is quite standard  with a fair amount of weaknesses  but as it does have a sci  fi comic book feeling  i don  t see what  s wrong with a few weaknesses . by the end of the story the good guy wins  and the appreciative audience receives a great deal of emotional satisfaction . yes   br    br   the sort of feeb who thinks that russell didn  t do a good job of acting is the same sort of feeb who missed the whole point .  
when i was a kid  i remember watching this while visiting a friend of our  uncle  phil . we  re back  a dinosaur  s story is a silly cartoon about a dinosaur called rex  voiced by the wonderful john goodman  . he tells a little boy dinosaur the story about how the dinosaurs came back to earth to live . he explains that he was part of the thing that brought them back  along with some friends . the doctor  professor villain of this film i think might have been responsible for them being them back  but i don  t care about him . the kids might like this  but personally it is just too cheesy . john goodman was probably the only decent thing . poor   
when i rented this movie to watch it  i knew that it was not going to be a mindbender movie . instead i thought of it as a disbelief of reality where someone is going to get a serious beating . and you know what it worked . kurt russel did what i though was a remarkable role in showing the emotionless soldier that he was . i recommend this movie if your out with the boys and want to watch a good action film .  
children love dinosaurs . it  s somewhat part of their culture . but they  ve got the land before time . the original . at least that movie had heart . this . this movie is just plain pathetic . just because kids love dinosaurs doesn  t mean you can just slap together any old story and show it to the children . this movie has no plot  the whole premise is stupid  and it  s more by the numbers stuff . not as soul sucking as theodore rex  but it  s lightyears away from being a land before time .  
i don  t remember this film getting a cinema release over here . i only saw it when it came onto cable . the film deals with the dehumanisation of children into killing machines . specifically one person  the way he gets replaced and dumped  literally  into an off  world community where he finds himself unable to cope with coming to terms with who he really is and what he feels .  br    br   seems to me that a lot of people expected this to be rambo in space  and would have been happy if it was .  br    br   i  m certainly happy it was  nt  kurt does a fine job of portraying an emotional cripple . the scene where he  s sitting outside the compound shows this  albeit the decision for two slow  mo replays detracts from the moment .  br    br   this is not a classic sf movie in the way that bladerunner  alien  silent running  logan  s run or thx     were  however it is unfortunately the nearest i  ve seen to it in a long time .  br    br   he changes in the movie to a believable degree  he does  nt crack arnie one liners  he does  nt become snake plissken and there is no definative happy ending .  br    br   that  s why this film did  nt do well . it did  nt follow formula  and among a      year old target american audience  that  s unforgivable as it was was  nt what they expected to see .  br    br   fear and discipline .  br    br   always .  
we have reached the ceiling of implausibility with this movie . basically  dinosaurs come aboard this ship piloted by some weird old fart named neweyes  which i needed after i watched this movie  . apparently  neweyes hears the wishes of children everywhere and decides that he should grant the wish of children that dinosaurs be brought into modern times to be seen by everybody for shameless exploitation . the dinosaurs eat this stuff that makes them smarter  too bad the screenwriters didn  t have it  . by the way  does it seem weird that out of all the wishes of the children in the world  neweyes grants the wish of bringing dinosaurs to modern times  why not grant the wishes of kids to stop famine  disease  war  i mean come on  doesn  t neweyes have anything better to do with all this power he has    finally  when the dinosaurs get to modern times they start singing  dancing and wrecking havoc  basically the kind of thing you might see on a bad lsd trip  i mean where else could you see a t  rex playing golf and jumping on a balloon of spider  man   . they end up in the circus and neweyes brother screweyes      makes the kids that have befriended the dinosaurs sign a blank contract . why  why would kids sign a blank contract    screweyes says that if the dinosaurs take some . . .  brain  drain  that he will let the children go . the dinosaurs instead of tearing apart the evil screweyes limb from limb  give in and agree to his terms . what   this is stupid  they could have just menaced him  made him drop the contract  eaten it then walked off with the kids . i think the filmmakers were trying to show that violence is bad  which is a moot point when finally the dinosaurs escape and a bunch of crows envelop screweyes and apparently completely eat him . oh yeah  that  s not violent at all  we  re back makes no sense  it  s not fun  it  s goofy  it  s stupid  poorly written and contains some of the biggest plot holes ever committed to film . even for a kid  s film . . . this is bad .  
kurt russell is strong and  mostly  silent in this futuristic action  thriller from paul anderson  event horizon  resident evil .  set on a garbage  dump planet  soldier plays like a cross between rambo and shane  with russell barely speaking as the title character  an  obsolete  genetic soldier left for dead . the supporting cast of colonists  including connie nielsen  sean pertwee and a surprisingly hirsute michael chiklis  is able . they spend most of the movie being scared of russell  and the rest of it running for their lives . russell  s performance here is one of the best he  s ever given . with almost no words to say  he conveys emotion  feeling and meaning with looks and glances . it is almost a mime performance . when the action sequences kick into gear  he kicks ass   and does so in a strong  silent  matter  of fact way . there are flaws . jason scott lee is brutish as a  superior  genetic soldier . jason isaacs does a great impression of frank burns from mash as a weaselly commanding officer  and gary busey busts a gut  and nearly busts his girdle  as todd  s mentor . this is an underrated  and excellent sci  fi flick  and recommended for anyone who wants a second visit to the universe of blade runner   david webb peoples wrote both screenplays .  
this is an installment in the notorious guinea pig series . a short lived japanese tv  show  that got cancelled after a psychopath admitted to being inspired in the killing of a young schoolgirl by the show . this short in the series is  like all the other films in the series  practically without any story . a group of guys have captured a young woman . they tie her down and proceeds to torturing her to death while videofilming her . they beat her  pour boiling oil over her  use pliers on her and finally  in  loving  closeup  push a needle through her eye . this is the most straightforward of all the guinea pig movies  and one of the first . it was probably this film  more than any of the others  that gave guinea pig the rumour of being snuff . they certainly gave inspiration to nicolas cage  s movie   mm .  . these movies have gotten quite popular in horror circles . they have progressed to more polished  but equally graphic movies like  naked blood  . they probably fill the void left by the mondo movies  that got slightly cleaned up and became reality tv . not recommended  but will probably allure those who will see anything once  and wonder why afterwards  i know i did .  
david webb peoples meets paul anderson . . . if it already sounds weird to you  then you are right  because it is .  br    br   peoples is known for his scripts with moral implications of what is right and wrong  the value of life  etc . . . he covered these issues in bladerunner  unforgiven  and pretty much in all of his screenplays there is something along those lines .  br    br   paul anderson  s first successful movie was a violent thriller . not surprisingly so have all of his other movies  and here is a violent thriller with moral implications   br    br   peoples  script is quite apparent in the first half of the movie . soldiers trained from birth  taught to kill  and never had a normal life . they are replaced by better  genetically engineered soldiers and todd  one of the original soldiers  is left on a planet and left for dead . there he must cope with a group of refugees  some want him to stay others hate him and there is an interesting drama here . but then . . .  br    br   . . . the bullets start to fly as the new soldiers move onto the planet for a military exercise and try to kill all the people . big  violent  loud action ensues and peoples  script turns into an anderson action  fest . it is hard to believe that the script was originally written that way  but the end product is better then i expected . entertaining  somewhat  though admittedly not very  thought  provoking  and exciting once the action starts .      br    br   rated r a lot of violence  
i  ve seen other guinea pig films  like mermaid in a manhole  he never dies  and while they  re pretty sick  they at least have a bit of a sense of humor to them  however dark  . devil  s experiment though  is nothing more than filming a bunch of punks submitting a young girl to many methods of torture and violence and there  s no plot and no redeeming values to it whatsoever . it isn  t remotely scary  except for perhaps the mind  set  but it  s definitely disgusting and i certainly would not call it entertainment . now  i  m not the paragon of good taste in films and i like my trash and sleaze  but this was too much for me  really . i  m all for disturbing  in fact  i seek out things that are disturbing whenever possible  but this was a bit much . the young woman is kicked  beaten  submitted to continuous noise via headphones until she drools  and then pelted with raw meat and innards and left hanging in a hammock out in the woods somewhere . if you think that sounds great  go for it  but it certainly put me off viewing any more guinea pig stuff .  out of    absolutely nauseating .  
in a future society  the military component does not have to recruit rather  their candidates are chosen at birth  culled from nurseries and designated to spend their entire lives in the service of the government . they are given over to the war machine  body and soul  for no reason other than to protect and serve they have no personal identity other than a name and rank  and no autonomy whatsoever . this is the fate of those whose destiny is predetermined for them in soldier   directed by paul anderson and starring kurt russell . the scenario is hard and bleak as the movie begins by depicting the training of the soldiers during advancing periods of time  from preadolescence to adulthood . russell is sergeant todd  the best of the best  and we glimpse his career as he discharges his duties in an exemplary manner in campaign after campaign he is what he was born to be  a soldier . but even the best cannot go on forever  and the day arrives when todd and his peers are no longer the elite . a new generation of soldiers has been created  products of advanced genetics and technology  and todd  s generation is suddenly obsolete . what follows is the story of a man who must fight for his life  while struggling to discover his own sense of humanity and individuality  traits new to a soldier who has known only two things his entire life fear and discipline . russell gives a commanding performance as todd  the soldier who above all else must obey orders without question while suppressing all emotion and individual thoughts . he has few lines in this movie  but russell speaks volumes with his eyes . this role demonstrates that he is  in fact  one of the under  appreciated actors of our times that he can disappear so entirely into the character of todd is a credit to his ability  and with this part he has created someone quite different from any he  s done before . and he  s given todd a depth and credibility that someone of lesser talent could easily have rendered as nothing more than a pretentious and superficial stereotype . notable performances are also turned in here by connie nielsen  sandra  and jason isaacs  colonel mekum  . rounding out the supporting cast are jason scott lee  memorable as caine     one of the new generation of soldiers sean pertwee  mace   gary busey  captain church   michael chiklis  jimmy pig   and mark bringleson  rubrick  . anderson has delivered an action film with a message  a cautionary tale that transcends the genre of science  fiction . soldier  reminds us of the importance of keeping the humanity of our lives intact . it  s an entertaining way of making us consider the alternatives  like a bleak future and a world in which good movies just wouldn  t make a whole lot of difference . much like        and mad max   this movie  which is ultimately uplifting  is going to make you take pause and think about the kind of universe in which we all must live together and share . i rate this one     .  
a found tape about   guys having fun torturing a woman in several inhuman ways .  br    br   yeah  spoiler .  br    br   first of all  the acting made this short not scary at all  the woman seemed to have orgasms  not suffering . some of the punishments were so ridiculous  what  s shocking about throwing some meat or spin her in a chair  if you are shooting a nonsense tape  at least make it good . the only part to remark is the end the hammered hand and the pierced eye  the rest of the film is really poor . to end the boredom  the supposed story about the tape being investigated  extra bullshit .  
this movie is not porn  it was not meant to be porn  and unless my uncle runs for president of the world it should never be considered porn .  br    br   now that that issue was sorted out  i can say i thoroughly recommend this film  as it  s issues are still widely available . it  s funny  the acting is great and it raises serious  curious  questions .  br    br   i can  t fully understand why this film was so mistreated  probably this is why i plan to never visit the us . lena is the true pioneer of the modern riot  grrrl movement  confusion  curiosity and wit are her main attributes  she is occasionally angry  but aren  t we all   
i saw this movie about  years ago  and the memory of it still haunts me to this day . i was fully aware at how awful it was supposed to be going into it  so i have only myself to blame . but like most  i didn  t believe all the negativity . being a sandler fan  it just seemed inconceivable one of his movies could really be that bad . i figured it was just sandler haters . i couldn  t have been more wrong .  br    br   what we have here is a comedy that does not contain even  second of anything funny . that is actually quite an accomplish . you  d think in a   minute comedy  they might have accidentally stumbled upon something even remotely amusing . but no  it  s just horrible . it  s not  so bad it  s good   its just bad . you cannot laugh at how bad it is  you can only cry . you wait patiently for a joke that will at least make you chuckle  but they never come .  br    br   have you seen the movie the ring  where the people watch a video tape and die  days later  if this movie was on the video tape  people would die instantly  by their own hand  and there would be smile on their face as they realize their agony has ended  and that would be the first smile since they pressed play .  br    br   you might be inclined to watch it just to see how bad it is  unable to curb your curiosity . don  t . please don  t . trust me  i  m doing you a favor . there are  types of people in the world  those that think going overboard is the worst movie ever made  and those that have not yet seen it .  
ok  so soldier isn  t deep and meaningful like blade runner or as big budget as terminator  but on the whole i found it quite enjoyable .  br    br   the fact that kurt russell stayed in character not speaking and being virtually emotionless made the moments when his humanity broke through all the more poignant . i found his portrayal of restricted emotional development more touching than arnie  s in the t films  and before i get comments yes i know that arnie was a cyborg and kurt was human but the premise put forward by both films was the same  .  br    br   so to the film itself  a reasonable us  brit cast are able to flesh out this little story . not really sure if gary busey and his two deputies were baddies or goodies  so was unable to decide whether i liked them or not . the colony was a little more realistic neither a misguided bunch of peace loving  gullible  cowardly hicks who get wiped out from the get go nor a group of subversive aggressive terrorists paranoid about offworlders and each other .  br    br   kurt russell is good and unlike other comments i do not feel this will have a negative impact on his career  unlike maybe escape from la  sequels are such fickle creatures   . sean pertwee has really done his late father proud by continuing the families noble sci  fi lineage . and the rest of the cast helped flesh out this pathetic band of people making the most of a bad situation and not doing too badly .  br    br   if you see this on your tv schedule i would recommend giving it a chance . i don  t think you will be disappointed .  
i just finished watching guinea pig  devils experiment . i have to say that this movie  although having very good fx  better then i expected  was not a good movie . i honestly cant say that i enjoyed this movie at all . of course it is effective in its way of being a shocking  realistic  twisted   minutes of torture  but i found it to be very boring  and not as gory as i hoped  . and also i found that the torturers were very annoying  when they talked and loughed trying to sound tough all the time  that ruined it even more  and im sure there  s some people out there who will agree with me on that one  . i have now seen guinea pig        and the best one out of those in my opinion is guinea pig   flowers of the flesh and blood . i wont say much more about devils experiment  other than great fx  descent acting from the girl  annoying fuing torturers  overall i give it  stars on account of the fx cos they are awesome .  
soldier isn  t a great movie  and everyone that hated it has plenty of good reasons . but i liked soldier alot  partly because my expectations were so low that what i saw surprised me .  br    br   first  the art direction is tight and well executed . as far as science fiction backdrops go  soldier was doing things with more design then    the genre . the sets  costumes and props were all consistent and competently executed i didn  t love all of their future military style  but i was impressed with the effort . for me  this made the movie worth the time it took to watch .  br    br   second  i  m a kurt russell fan . i grew up watching this guy in some of the most memorable movies of my youth . . . the barefoot executive and his john carpenter films . soldier is essentially an action movie  and the role of sergeant todd is an essential action hero . it  s not an award winning role  but kurt musters up convincing emotion with very little dialog .  br    br   third  the fight scenes and battles are well choreographed . this isn  t iron monkey  or even the matrix  but once again  it far exceeds the average level of quality in the genre .  br    br   if you haven  t seen it  and you like sci  fi action films  pick it up if you pass at your rental depot of choice . just don  t expect the next bladerunner .  
this movie seems to have a lot of people saying it is one of the most brutal of all time . after having just viewed it  i can say it does not live up to those claims .  br    br   the idea of the movie is indeed demented . but overall  the execution wasn  t at all cringe worthy . even the final scene  the eyeball thing  isn  t really that nasty . i was expecting something insane  instead it was of lower quality than gore put forth on films like the ultra low budget violent sh  t .  br    br   any one wanting to see an actual movie will be disappointed  since there is no story whatsoever  though surely most people know this  . gore fans will be disappointed since  contrary to belief  the blood and guts here are few and far between . not to mention the actress playing the victim might be one of the worst in history .  br    br   regardless of what people say  this movie isn  t that shocking  it just plain all out sucks . avoid it .  
went to see this finnish film and i  ve got to say that it is one of the better films i  ve seen this year . the intrigue is made up of    different stories  all taking place the very same day in a small finnish town . the stories come together very nicely in the end  reminding  perhaps  a bit of the way tarantino  s movies are made . most of the actors performed very well  which most certainly is needed in realistic dramas of this type . i especially enjoyed the acting by sanna hietala  the lead actress  and juha kukkonen . i noticed btw that imdb has got the wrong information about sanna . her name  as you might have noticed in my review    is not heikkil  but hietala .  
this movie has no plot  no character development  and no budget . it really sucks to put it in short terms . since there is no development for the movie  it really can  t even be looked as trying to be artistic or trying to make a statement against torture . which leaves two other reasons to possibly watch it . to be shocked or to get off on it like a sick little freak . well it falls short here too . the girl  s reactions just seem dumb . it  s extremely easy to tell that it  s fake  honestly professional wrestling looks more realistic than the crap they try to get by with in this movie . they throw innards on her  but she  s asleep for most of it  so it  s just kinda dumb . the only really kind of worthwhile part is the end when they quickly cut from scene to scene just before the needle goes into her eye . but honestly the girl is extremely ugly and everything is incredibly fake  with the exception of the eye . if you want a good movie about torture  go watch hostel and hostel  . not only do they both contain realistic violence  but there is also an actual storyline that draws you in and makes you care about the people . plus the tow movies really work on a deeper level considering themes like american fears of foreigners  issues of morality  testing how far a person can go  human instincts vs . civilization  and many other things . plus they are carefully written and contain some good humor when the story isn  t focused on the violence . these are much better choices over this piece of crap  
this is a top finnish film this year  although tango kabaree comes close . the director lampela made couple of years back another nice little film called rakastin eptoivoista naista  i was in love with a desperate woman  . joki is truly true  to  life beautiful film of one saturday afternoon in a little village  town . the actors are maybe not so handsome or beautiful but they do act beautifully . i certainly do hope that many of them get jussi statue  finnish oscar  next spring . i think this film could make it abroad as well .  
c  mon people  you can  t be serious  another case of advertising snuff when it totally isn  t  this isn  t even remotely scary nor is it terrifying or depraved  it is just utterly terrible amateurish videowork  made for the next party to get the girls laid .  br    br   the gore is incredibly bad  even the eye  scene is far from making me want to puke but just making me want to take the camera and hit those guys over the head . the girl is just laying there rubber  faced  not moving at all . it would have been funnier to use a real doll instead .  br    br   one season of  i  m a celebrity  get me out of here   is more frightening than this one . don  t waste your time or your money .  
i thought it was an extremely clever film . i was very pleased with it and truly couldn  t  ask for more . i actually own the film because i didn  t return it to someone . . . which i should do  but i really want to keep it due to how much i enjoyed it . also  the fact i don  t own too many foreign films and this is a first . now  i personally love finnish stuff so  that definitely added to how much i enjoyed it . but overall  its worth watching . however  if you  re not into the whole trying to understand finnish or read subtitles bit  then this film is not for you .  br    br       for sure .  
well  how do you even rate a movie such as this one  does it even have cinematic value really  it  s a movie that tries to get as close to being a snuff movie as possible . basically the entire movie is purely a bunch of guys torturing a young girl . not very appealing and on top of that also not that realistic really .  br    br   it  s obvious that the movie tried to be as realistic and shocking as possible . however the movie is just all too fake for that to work out as intended . the slapping and stumping is all soft and fake looking  as well as sounding . they are often just kicking into the floor  rather than into the girl  obviously . also the way the girl responds to all the torments is pretty tame . i mean if this was real  surely she would had screamed it out . there is more moaning than screaming in this one though .  br    br   the movie is obviously low budget and it  s a valor attempt at trying to achieve something shocking and realistic as well as original and provoking  with very limited resources . don  t really think this movie made much impact though at the time it got released  though it must had done something well  since a total of six sequels got released after this one .  br    br   fans of shock and gore will most likely be disappointed by this movie  though there are still some fetish people out there who will get a kick out of this movie .  br    br        
excellent movie  a realistic picture of contemporary finland  touching and profound . one of the best finnish films ever made . captures marvelously the everyday life in a central finland small town  people  s desires and weaknesses  joys and sorrows . the bright early fall sunshine creates a cool atmosphere to this lucid examination of people in a welfare society . lampela is indeed one of the most promising finnish filmmakers . he shows that it is possible to make gripping movies without machine guns and bloodshed . his next film eila is also worth seeing although the story of cleaning women fighting for their jobs is not quite as universally appealing as the destinies in joki .  
i am an avid fan of violent exploitation cinema  who would never attack a film for being violent or disturbing . i consider  cannibal holocaust  a masterpiece and will always defend controversial films like  day of the woman  or  last house on the left  as genuine classics . anyone who browses through my other user comments will notice that i am actually very pro  violence  gore when it comes to films . however  i do think that there should be at least some point to the violence . this piece of crap doesn  t have any point whatsoever . the first film in the notorious  guinea pig  series   the devil  s experiment        is widely controversial  but  as opposed to many other controversial films  this stinker has nothing at all to be recommended for . i must say that  before seeing any of the guniea  pig films  i already had a feeling that i would hate this one  knowing what it was about . due to its status as one of the most controversial films around  however  i decided i had to see it . i am very glad i didn  t waste any money on this pile of crap  and i sure wish i hadn  t wasted my time with it either .  br    br   this thing  s story  i don  t even want to call it a  film    it doesn  t have one . three scumbags torture a woman to death for some excruciating   minutes . that  s it . there is no artistic value  no  shocking  story  no suspense nothing . simply the disbelief that a film that shows nothing except for a woman being tortured for no reason enjoys an enormous cult  following . it is disturbing  i give it that . of course it is disturbing to watch a torture video for   minutes . what is more disturbing  however  is the fact that many people actually seem to regard this pile of garbage as some kind of masterpiece . i really cannot figure why . the fact that the gore effects look realistic cannot be the reason  i hope . the girl who plays the victim isn  t a very good actor  and reacts very calm to all the torture . that makes the film look less realistic  which is  in this single case  a good thing . this is a film that is sickening not for its gore  but for its redundancy  its existence for the sole purpose of showing   minutes of torture .  br    br   i strongly oppose any form of censorship . since this is     fake and nobody got hurt during its production  it is legitimate to make such a film . however  i cannot think of a single reason why anyone would like this  other than the morbid desire to watch suffering and the enjoyment of torture . this film  s sequel  flowers of flesh and blood  gained notoriety when actor charlie sheen mistook it for an actual snuff film and informed the fbi . fortuneately  the film turned out to be fake . overall   the devil  s experiment  is a fake torture  snuff film that seems to have the sole purpose of looking as close to a real snuff film as possible .  br    br    the devil  s experiment  is one of the worst films i have ever had the misfortune of sitting through . don  t torture yourself by giving this piece of crap a try for its controversial status . do yourself a favor and avoid it . zero stars out of    i wish there was a negative scale in order to appropriately rate this pile of crap .  
half a dozen short stories of varying interest enlighten us about life in finland . these stories are interwoven and each contains a scene in which a sonic boom is heard . this indicates that the events depicted happen at the same time .  br    br   the film begins with a bungy jump which promises some excitement but the early stories are quite low key . the film improves so stick with it . two broken marriages in stories that follow provide plenty of drama while a scene in a hospital gives us a terminally ill patient begging for pain relief . the last moments with his wife are both convincing and moving .  br    br   while the various scenes of family life take place in finland  the themes are of a general nature wherever you happen to live .  br    br   collections of short stories are rarely as satisfying as a good tense    minute drama .  
i recently watched the first guinea pig film  the devil  s experiment  and i must admit to being disappointed .  br    br   this film is invariably included in any list of the  nastiest  films and maybe i was expecting more because of the hype . the truth is though  i don  t rate it .  br    br   if i  d been watching it believing the opening text to be true   i found this tape . . .    i might have been a bit disturbed by it  thinking it was real . even without the benefit of knowing it not to be real though  i think i  d have worked out that it indeed wasn  t .  br    br   throughout the film  the girl  s reactions to what is being done to her just aren  t what they should be . she should be screaming like a banshee in pain . the fact that she isn  t means that it  s obviously not real . i wouldn  t want to watch it if it were real but if she were to be more convincing in her acting  the film would be more disturbing .  br    br   and then there are the notorious scenes nothing affected me at all up until the scalpel in the hand . the hot oil  maggots and innards just didn  t bother me . i  m not saying i  m  hard   just that i wasn  t able to suspend my disbelief  partly because of the girl  s inaction .  br    br   the scalpel made me wince a little but the hammer to the hand just made the hand look rubber . and the final scene with the eye was again a little wincing but nothing more . i didn  t want to look away and neither did i feel nauseous .  br    br   perhaps it  s because the film is twenty  odd years old  or perhaps i  m just jaded . the truth is  i didn  t find this film at all disturbing .  br    br   it  s the kind of thing you might expect to see playing on a loop as a modern art installation and as an exercise in stripping away characters  story etc . and just leaving the torture  it works on some levels . as a disturbing piece of film though  it didn  t work for me at least .  br    br   i watched guinea pig with my wife  who is of the  it  s just a film  bent and she wondered what all the fuss was about . we got to discussing why i watch these films and my reasons are many but include a desire to be affected by a film . she said that she didn  t think any film could be so convincing as to disturb her and challenged me to do exactly that . i played her the fire extinguisher scene from irreversible and she was indeed disturbed .  br    br   i  m not sure i have a point  other than that both of us were more disturbed by a scene in a non  horror genre film than any film thus far which sets out to disturb .  
following my experience of finland for slightly more than a week  i  d say this movie depicts the nature of the finnish society very accurately . especially the young  couple  with  a  baby  having  serious  issues phenomenon is very familiar to me  as i witnessed the exact same thing in person when i was in finland . the relationships and problems of people  fragility of the marriage institution  the drinking culture  unemployment and the ascending money problem  all are very well put  without any subjectivity or exaggeration .  br    br   there are some points in the film that are not necessarily easy to comprehend and tie to each other  but the joint big picture is nonetheless rewarding . not each one of the short stories is exciting or profound  but as said above  the big picture does not fail to deliver the feeling of  real life  and captivate the viewer . i happen to think in a calm moment what is happening in the lives of all these people on the street  well  this is what is happening . movies like this are good to feed your imaginative power . it would be safe to assume this film could apply to the life in many countries  but it particularly reflects finland as it is  and pretty damn well .  br    br   one comment about the acting being the fan of finnish cinema i am  i  ve never seen any of these actors on any other movie  but i found the acting in this feature right next door to perfect overall . maybe not a masterpiece  but a very good try by the entire crew . i  ll be keeping an eye on the future releases of the director and the cast . .  br    br          
not that i tinkle myself with glee at the sight of realistic blood shed  but when i put a dvd in expecting a bloodbath  and what i get is one bloody scene  the eyeball  at the tail end of asinine fake slapping  and spinning in a desk chair  i end up thinking  well that  s   minutes of my life gone forever .  i wouldn  t considers this or flower of flesh and blood  movies  so much as an exercise of will to see if you can sit through them . flower of flesh and blood had a few tough spots to watch . the devil  s experiment did not . it was at best  stupid  and at worst . . . well . . . really stupid . perhaps my expectation were too high . i put the dvd thinking  oh man  this is gonna be sick .  after watching them fake slap the girl about a thousand times  i was watching it in fast forward .  br    br   two kinds of people would be interested in this film .   people who seek out f  d up films just to see how f  d up it really is  or   horror completest . i sought this and the other guinea pig films for the latter reason  but even if i fell into the category of the former  this film wouldn  t float my boat . as a matter of fact  i could imagine this film increasing one  s blood lust . . . as in  would you just kill the btch already    so in conclusion  the only reason to own this film is for collection purposes . if you want carnage that traditional horror doesn  t provide  get traces of death . sure  that sucks too  but at least you  ll get the blood and guts you expect .  br    br   the only reason i can see for anyone praising this crap is because they feel they  re supposed to . no artistic merit that i can comprehend  no reason for it  s notoriety  no nothing . just a lame attempt to be shocking .  
the finnish version of robert altman  s  short cuts   set in the small rural town of nekoski . the episodes present a kaleidoscope of the eternal events  problems and emotions of human life joy and love  deception and disillusionment  hopelessness and death . i was particularly impressed by two episodes . the first is the story of the young waitress  who tries to stir up a romance for his co  workers she radiates an overwhelming joy of love and life . the other episode presents and old man dying in a hospital and his wife trying to help him die with dignity . particularly striking is the way the old couple have to fight their way against the humiliating practices of the hospital and their loneliness contrasted with the  routines  of the hospital crew  despite the signs of occasional empathy  . compared with altman  s classic  this movie is perhaps less professional  but it is definitely a great piece of art .  
devil  s experiment      hardcore porn films fall into two categories those with a semblance of plot  gee that is one lucky pizza boy  and those without  anal amateurs    . devil  s experiment falls solidly into the latter category .  br    br   it is of course the horror version of hardcore porn . an almost completely plot less    minute wait for the money shot . shot on video in     it consists of three relatively non  descript japanese boys torturing one fairly unattractive japanese girl . the tortures range from the banal  slapping her   times  kicking her a hundred   the silly  tying her to an office chair and spinning her around   the fear factor  a bath of maggots and sheep guts  and finally the money shot .  a well executed eyeball piercing  .  br    br   that  s it  no plot  no motive  just blair witch tree shots and torture . the girl looks bored and with the exception of yelling   no one expects the spanish inquisition  during the office chair scene i was bored silly . staring dumbfounded at the screen  waiting for the money shot . just like hardcore porn .  
why do i like disorganized crime so much  why do i chuckle or laugh out loud any time i think of a dozen or more scenes from this movie  it  s kind of hard to explain  but i  ll give it a try . first of all  it  s very funny indeed  in contrast to what lots of  official  reviews want you to believe . but then again  that depends entirely on your sense of humour  so there is no sense in arguing about that . often the humour is in the dialogue  and often it is situational comedy . there is for instance this very hilarious scene in which the  gang members have been given a lift in the back of a truck . when the farmer drops them  they just stand there by the road  covered all over with cow s or whatever . they are totally unnerved then  realizing the humour of the scene  they one by one start laughing about themselves  and ruben blades  as carlos   looking  and certainly smelling  terrible  nonchalantly takes out some mouth spray to at least do something about his breath  simply describing the scene here makes me chuckle again   . which leads to the second point the acting . fred gwynne  lou diamond phillips  william russ  ruben blades and corbin bernsen  okay  the latter overdoes it a bit at times  all fit and play their parts beautifully  in fact  you get the feeling they must have been enjoying themselves too when shooting the film . thirdly  there is the plot . jim kouf  the director and screenwriter  is very laid  back he takes his time to let the plot unfold and have the individual characters establish themselves . more often than not  there is no real action  and yet you enjoy these  very different people  who attempt to rob a bank although their boss  bernsen  does not seem to turn up  grumble about each other and even  tually  grudgingly  like each other . the movie is a fantastic parody of the typical bank robbery plot  totally impossible with all its twists and coincidences  yet utterly convincing in its love for ironic details . incidentally  the title of the film is one of the best i have ever come across  because it per  fectly summarizes the plot in a very ironic way . therefore  take my advice watch this film  but if you don  t chuckle  grin or smile during the first   minutes  forget it  it  s not your type of film . ps . the only negative thing about this movie is that there seems to be no way to get hold of the screenplay  if you happen to know how  do tell me .  
ah  the infamous  guinea pig  series . . . i honestly have to say that i  ve been disappointed as a whole by this entire series   he never dies    mermaid in a manhole   and  flower of flesh and blood  being the exceptions . . . and even those aren  t great by any means . . .   but  devil  s experiment  just plain blows . there is nothing realistic  looking going on here  other than the climactic  or perhaps anti  climactic  depending on how you view it  eyeball piercing scene . the victim appears to not really care what is going on and barely whines or whimpers while being subjected to  hideous   more often sometimes  hilarious   tortures .  flower of flesh and blood  is a more violent and gory depiction of fake  snuff  material  but that film also falls flat on the realism level . i applaud the japanese for pushing the boundaries  and they  ve really come a long way over the past  decades to wear the crown in  extreme  film  making  but  devil  s experiment  just doesn  t hold up . worth a look if you are a die  hard  if for no other reason than to see what the fuss is about  but i can only give this film an extremely generous     and that  s only for the needle  through  the  eye scene . . .  
this is truly an excellent film with a revolutionary message  both in form and content  that should not be missed by any fan of french new wave or underground film . there are barely opening or closing credits   we are just dropped into the world of consumerist art  revolution  and youth . this film has little to do with documentary and is more interesting in playing with our ideas of advertising and its relationship to reality . lines of real and not real are crossed in ways familiar with films discussing documentary  but this time we do it for the sake of consuming and marketing  not for describing the real .  
this movie was so bad i couldn  t sit through it without doing something else . there was no plot and no point . i was thoroughly bored and for a film about a stand up comedian  i couldn  t recall one joke or funny line worthy of the description . politicians with no charisma speaking technical jargon could not be less entertaining .  br    br   so how was this made  is there no quality control in film  watching the girls in bikinis was the only distraction during this horrible experience .  br    br   it  s hard to imagine that adam sandler who has become popular and has appeared in fine comedies was able to survive after this kind of exposure . he was not funny in the least in this movie so it proves that the writing is so vital in effective comedy .  
i found this film by mistake many years ago  wondered then  still do  why it didn  t get the acclaim it should have . well written  beautiful acting  one ironic twist after another  and there is plausibility in what the nefarious characters are attempting . i would not recommend this film for people with short attention spans it requires sufficient intelligence to comprehend that there maybe a kernel of truth in this story .  
this is the first guinea pig film from japan and this is the sickest  in my opinion . a bunch of guys torture a girl for several days before finally killing her . and at this point  i will say that these films are not real  they are faked horror films which try to be as realistic as possible .  br    br   the scenes are sickening but also unrealistic in many cases . for example  when they kick the girl in the floor  we can clearly see how they kick and stump the floor near the girl  and how stupid this looks  the sound effects are also unrealistic and don  t make sense . other scenes include animal intestines thrown on the girl  the girl exposed to loud noises for many hours  the ripping off of fingernails  worms placed on the wounds in the girl  s body  the eye pierced and mutilated in horrific detail and stuff like that . very sick and mean spirited film and has absolutely nothing valuable or cinematically significant . this first entry is the sickest and most amateurish guinea pig  although it is not as bloody as the next part  flowers of flesh and blood  which tries to be as shocking as possible .  br    br   guinea pig devil  s experiment is perhaps the sickest thing i  ve seen and the closest thing to snuff there is . this is still  of course  faked s  n  t  uff  the only difference to genuine  snuff film  is that no one dies or hurts for real in this film . i cannot recommend this to anyone since thi s is so sy and repulsive . they who consider this is a great horror film understand nothing about cinema and the real meaning of it . i watched this as a curiosity  as the other parts in the series  and now i know how insignificant trash these are . they work only in shock level and that  s not too valuable cinematic achievement . devil  s experiment is perhaps the sickest film i  ve seen and mermaid in a manhole  guinea pig   is perhaps the most disgusting film i  ve seen . so these are pretty extreme in my book  but that  s all they are .  
action . comedy . suspense . this movie has it all .  br    br   the plot goes that  would be professional thieves are invited to take part in a heist in a small town in montana . every type of crime movie archetype character is here . frank  the master mind . carlos  the weapons expert . max  the explosives expert . nick  the safe cracker and ray  the car man . unfortunately for frank  he is apprehended by  bumbling detectives  portrayed very well by ed o  niel and daniel roebuck  that have been chasing him from new jersey write after he sends out the letters to the other  .  br    br   our  characters meet up at the train station and from the beginning none of them like or trust one another . added to the mix is the fact that frank is gone and they are not sure why they have called together .  br    br   now frank is being taken back to new jersey by the  detectives but soon escapes on foot and tries to make his way back to the guys who are having all sorts of problems of their own .  br    br   truly a great film loaded with laughs and great acting . just an overall good movie for anyone looking for a laugh or something a little different  
this movie had potential  but what makes it really bad is lindsay crouse  s acting . i  ve never seen her before in anything else and maybe there are some crouse fans out there that like her in something else  but her performance in this movie is bad .  br    br   her delivery is robotic . when she delivered her lines it appeared that she was trying to make sure she had the lines right and was simply reading off the list in her head . so  her voice has very little inflection . i can  t believe someone that bad at acting was given a lead role in a movie . she has to know somebody in the biz .  br    br   now i hate to be this mean about her  but the comment has to be  this  long and her performance is what sticks out more than anything else .  br    br   however  i liked where the story was going so i continued to watch it . the first part of the script has the makings of a good movie . but the end was disappointing as well . maybe if her acting had been better  i would have liked it .  
i saw this movie with my dad . i must have been pretty young  around   . it was on star movies one afternoon . the movie started a bit vaguely  but you could tell those robbers were gathering up for a score . it really caught pace after the first half hour .  br    br   all the actors are great  especially blades and lou diamond . i guess it  s the ensemble  they just play so well together . i can watch this film anytime . i think it is the relative stupidity of the plot and the characters trying to deal with a very weird score . the jokes are not corny but they are subtle and extreme at the same time that make them so hilarious .  br    br   a perfect comedy for a lazy afternoon .  
here  s a review for people like me . this movie sucks from beginning to end . i threw popcorn at the screen and resorted to entertaining myself a la msf     . the plot hinges on chance happenings and relies on stupidity from people who are supposed to be smart . the lead falls for a con man and it doesn  t occur to her that she might get conned      and she  s rich     and she  s a famous psychologist      come on  people . she enters the bar at just the most convenient moment when everyone is assembled to talk about conning her    that was so staged that it felt like slap in the face to even half  witted movie viewers . rain man would have been insulted . i also admit that i despise mamet dialogue with the kind of passion that some people have for meat  eaters  war  starters  and fur  wearers . my hatred is so complete that it defies logic . but i  ll give it a shot . that it  s not supposed to sound real is fine . i don  t care . it  s that everyone talks the same . mamet can  t create characters all he can do is foist his voice on us relentlessly through different actors . no wonder his actors are so wooden . they  re confused about everyone being the same character .  however  his later films do improve .   
remember the early days of pay per view  i do  and i can almost remember the number you had to call to actually rent the movie on your t . v . as a kid we always wanted to rent playboy  but this meant actually calling someone from ppv and asking to rent it . and then you get the nerve to do it and your watching four hours of soft core no angle crap . well the reason i bring that up is because this movie too was on ppv . and i remember almost every scene that was in the add . i  ve been on a kick in the last few years to obtain all the great movies i use to see as a kid and this was one of them . it  s one that when its on its hard to shut off . all star cast trying to commit the perfect bank bust but nothing goes right . there are plenty of spoof bank capers that are good and this one has to fall in that category . it has enough action and laughs to sustain it . check it out if you dare   
by far the most important requirement for any film following confidence tricksters is that they must  at least occasionally  be able to pull one over on us  as well as their dumb  witted marks  the cops  the mob and  ideally  each other . but this film never pulls this off . every scam can be seen coming a mile off  especially the biggen   neither are they very interesting  intricate or sophisticated . perhaps mammet hoped to compensate for this with snappy dialogue and complex psychological relationships . if so  he failed . the lines are alright  but they  re delivered in such a stilted  unnatural  stylised way that i thought perhaps some clever point was being made about us all acting all the time . . . but it wasn  t . as for the psychological complexity  the main character  s a bit repressed and makes some ridiculously forced freudian slips about her father thinking she  s a whore  but she gets over it . i really liked the street scenes though . looked just like an edward hopper painting .  
i couldn  t agree more with nomad   s and i a hvr  s comments . a perfect laid back sunday morning movie . the humor is subtle  exact opposite of  slapstick  as one misguided commenter noted  .  br    br   but what always ceases to amaze me is how often i find myself wanting to come back to this movie over and over . i originally copied this movie onto vhs about   years ago when it was premiered on one of those pay cable free weekend previews  hbo maybe   . had never heard of it previously . don  t know why it wasn  t marketed that well .   when dvd  s were released en mass  it was one of the first movies i replaced . a great combination of cast and writing . plus  the back drop of montana wilderness doesn  t hurt things either  beautiful  .  br    br   it  s probably not the type of comedy for everyone  but what is  if adam sandler type stuff is up your alley  this probably won  t be your cup of tea . this movie needs your full attention . the humor is mostly in the dialog .  br    br   i believe my next viewing will probably be about my   th . but i still know that when it gets to the scenes like the one where the hoods of the police cars start blowing off  i  m going to loose it  ed o  neill  s face is priceless   . recommended     .  
the effect achieved in this story about a psychiatrist who becomes involved with con artists is so mannered that i have to assume that that was the desired intent . the sets are artificial and at no time did i not feel that i was watching a movie . it seemed like the actors were just reading their lines  rather than responding to one another . while the film has elements of early film noir  except that it is in color  the approach is so exaggerated that i almost have to conclude that it is a parody of the genre .  br    br   given that the presentation had no appeal to me  i was at least expecting an engaging story . usually i am pretty slow on the uptake when it comes to stories with plot twists  but you could see what was coming here within the first fifteen minutes . by the time of the   gee  i forgot the          moment  i thought to myself that this thing is truly ridiculous . for a psychiatrist with stated experience in gambling addictions to behave so stupidly is beyond belief . if at any stage she had behaved like a normal intelligent person  the whole story would have fallen apart .  br    br   this wooden production left me cold .  
i like this film for several reasons . i have a soft spot for films about intricately plotted criminal plots like topkapi . i also enjoy films  like topkapi and big deal on madonna street  that spoof the the genre . one of the best ones is disorganized crime .  br    br   corbin bernsen has met four cons over the years  and he decides they can all be useful in a bank robbery he is planning in a small montana town . but he hasn  t given any details on the crime to the fellows  nor do they really know each other at all . shortly after he sends for them bernsen is arrested by two new jersey policemen  ed o  neill and daniel roebuck  whom he escaped from before and have a warrant to bring him back . while he is in their custody the four cons  fred gwynne  lou diamond philips  ruben blades  and will russ  show up without a clue about why they are there except that bernsen was planning something .  br    br   the first twenty minutes of the film deal with the four cons slowly getting used to each other  with gwynne and philips managing to push away their own suspicions to figure out they have to trust each other . at the same time we see bernsen patiently waiting for the right moment to escape from o  neill and roebuck again  not too difficult as they are not the brightest bulbs who ever existed . the result are two sets of plots that will keep juxtaposing against each other throughout the film the four cons trying to figure out what bernsen  s scheme was  and how to put it into operation  and bernsen trying to maintain his own freedom from his pursuers and regain his cabin  and hopefully find his gang there for him to take command of  . there is also a third  smaller  plot involving the growing annoyance and anger of local sheriff hoyt axton against the idiots from new jersey who keep getting into his hair .  br    br   there are many delightful moments in the film  such as axton  egged on by o  neil and roebuck  into surrounding a house in the town that bernsen is supposed to be hiding inside of  and yelling  through a megaphone   come out  we have you surrounded     only to have the scene switch to a huge  montana plain that bernsen is struggling and stumbling through miles from where the police think he is at that moment . there are moments of misadventures by our four cons  who fortunately put the oldest  gwynne  into leadership position . this does not always guarantee anything . at one point their car won  t start  and they have to thumb a ride by truck . unfortunately it is a truck carrying manure .  br    br   the conclusion with the gang successfully carrying out the robbery  including disabling all the police cars at the critical time  philips specialty is cars  is also a gem of timing  suspense  and comic results . the film is very entertaining  and certainly worth watching .  
david mamet  s film debut has been hailed by many as a real thinking  man  s movie  a movie that makes you question everybody and everything . i saw it for the first time recently and couldn  t understand what was supposed to be so great about it .  br    br   the movie is about a female psychologist named margaret who is also a best  selling author . margaret has become disillusioned by her profession and her inability to really help anyone . she tries to rectify this by helping settle her patient  s gambling debt to a shark named mike  played by joe mantegna  who is the only reason to watch this film  . she discovers that mike is actually a professional confidence man when she nearly falls victim to a scam he pulls immediately after meeting her . intrigued  she returns to see him and asks him to show her how con artists operate  she plans on using this as the subject of a new psychology book  . she then falls for him and accompanies him on a long con that he and his associates have set up .  br    br   i don  t feel like going into details  but at the end of the film it is revealed that the events of the whole movie were an elaborate con by mike and his cronies to swindle margaret out of        .  br    br   first of all  the big twist towards the end was very predictable . any scene where the con men were operating was made very obvious by the stagey acting and weird line reads . not only that  but the audience  and the main character  knows that they  re dealing with con men  so is it really such a big surprise when we find out that margaret has herself been conned  besides  margaret is supposedly an intelligent psychologist who is an expert at reading people  yet she allows herself to be duped far too easily   and keep in mind  she knows full well that mike is a con artist .  br    br   secondly  we are led to believe that margaret was conned from the very beginning  yet in order for the con to ultimately work  she had to do several things that the con men couldn  t possibly have predicted that she would do . first  she had to decide to help settle her patient  s debt  allowing her to meet the con men in the first place . if she hadn  t done this  the entire con would have failed . i just have to say that it  s pretty unreasonable to assume that a psychologist is going to take it upon herself to settle a patient  s gambling debt . not only that  but what are the odds that the con men would be at the right spot on the very night she decided to show up  did they simply show up at that bar every night  hoping she would come and see them  another thing that had to happen that couldn  t have been predicted is that margaret had to return to see mike again and ask him to teach her the tricks of his trade . what are the odds of this happening  and yet the whole con is based on this premise .  br    br   another problem i had is with the ending . margaret finds out she  s been conned and decides to get revenge on mike . at first  mamet leads us to believe that she  s going to con the con  but that falls through  so the ultimate ending is her gunning mike down in an airport baggage area . somehow that just felt like a clumsy and inept way to end a movie about con artists plying their trade . not only that  but she didn  t even take back the money he stole from her .  br    br   ultimately  the movie leaves you feeling empty and unfulfilled . and if you  like me  predicted ahead of time that margaret was going to be conned  you will find this revelation just as unsatisfying .  
i first saw this movie on cable about  years ago and i could not stop laughing . everything about this movie seemed to click  the storyline  the characters  the setting . as far as film is concerned i wouldn  t call this a great movie but for what it is supposed to be it is fantastic . it gets it  s meaning across . the cast is maybe as good as any ever put together in a comedy movie . corben berbson  fred gwynne  ruben blades  and ed o  neil are hilarious . for this who haven  t seen it  i will give you a brief synopsis four criminals meet up in a small town in montana after receiving a letter from their friend about a bank heist . however when their friend is arrested by two cops who chased him from new jersey  they try to figure out whats going on and all hell breaks loose . the film is truly a great bank caper comedy and is sort of like a poor mans version of oceans eleven  only with four criminals who can  t stand each other  and in montana rather than las vegas . all in all if like to laugh i would strongly encourage you to see this movie .  
the plot of  house of games  is the strongest thing about it a successful author and psychologist is conned by a gang of grifters  but in discovering the wicked part of herself that enjoys the thrill of what they do  she finally gets her revenge . that  s about the pitch but someone has to take responsibility for it coming across as being acted by puppets . it has to be the director mamet lindsay crouse has had a varied and pretty steady tv and film career  so she can  t perform this badly all the time . she  s supposed to go from uptight  cool  controlled professional to calculating  wicked fast lady having fun  as shown by the change from beige trouser suit  which she seems to wear for three days straight  including underwear  to floppy floral sundress . but everyone seems to be speaking their lines the same clipped  precise way i imagine mamet wanting to make sure not a syllable of his scintillating script got missed . the effect is unsettling and spoils the atmosphere of mystery and suspense he is presumably trying to create . at times  house of games  loses any connection to how human beings actually behave or talk  and becomes just a mechanism to spin out the plot . the clunky vibes  n  oboe faux  jazz soundtrack doesn  t help either . the ultimate result is that the only entertainment to be had is in guessing the outcome  and the sooner you do that the sooner you will get bored with the robotic  two  dimensional performances . and they smoke too much     
i don  t know why i like this movie so well  but i never get tired of watching it .  
i was seriously looking forward to seeing this film because it seemed truly promising from the coming attractions jim carrey with godlike powers was an idea that most definitely worked for me . as a huge fan  i was sure he  d be supremely in his element with such a promising premise  and what could go wrong  yesterday  my bubble got burst big  time  boys and girls  because i saw the movie .  br    br   the first act  where it  s set up that he hates his life  he  s a disgruntled employee and a majorly unhappy camper with an ax to grind against god  is serviceable  the second act  where he  s summoned by god via telephone and receives powers almighty  is great  carrey gets to have fun with his new  toys  and it  s a pleasure to watch  really funny . but the third act is wretched beyond belief .  br    br   the rot starts setting in after the dinner scene between bruce and his girlfriend grace  jennifer aniston  who comes off exceedingly well in this movie considering her part is merely a plot device even her name reeks of unsubtlety   she thinks he  s gonna pop  the question  but instead  he tells her  on bended knee  yet  that he  s finally getting his news anchor job  and isn  t it so exciting   br    br   she doesn  t think so . she wants him to marry her  see  so she winds up leaving him  see  even though she still loves him very much  see  and the rest of the film is spent banging us over the head with one pathetic  beyond  heavy  handed spiritual  sounding cliche after the next  until by the end i was praying  too . . . for it to be over .  br    br   i didn  t mind the lack of subtlety in the first two acts  one example  in the  nd act  after he gets his powers  bruce prances into the room singing  what if god were one of us  just a slob like one of us   blah blah blah   and i was even willing to overlook the amazing amount of contradictions being hurled at us  for openers  morgan freeman  a  k  a god  tells bruce he can  t violate anyone  s free will but he does this  a lot  . those choices were forgivable  this is a jim carrey comedy  directed by tom shadyac  it aint the remains of the day .  br    br   or rather it was supposed to be a comedy . when the script writers lose track of that  in the dreaded act   and try to turn the proceedings into some sort of  gag  message movie  what we get instead is hell on earth . bruce realizes the error of his selfish ways  he realizes that grace is his saving  have to say it  grace  and that his priorities in life had been severely misconstrued . all this could have been conveyed in a far less heavy  handed way  however . the film didn  t have to go into the dumper to make these points . unfortunately  the writers and shadyac apparently had no idea how to resolve the story in any sort of clever  light  handed way  so they went the bang   em  over  the  heads route in hopes that we wouldn  t notice . they even tacked some surprisingly unfunny out  takes at the end  in the further hope that this would lessen the bad taste . it didn  t work for me .  
the plot is tight . the acting is flawless . the directing  script  scenery  casting are all well done . i watch this movie frequently  though i don  t know what it is about the whole thing that grabs me . see it and drop me a line if you can figure out why i like it so much .  
why did i go to see this film  honestly  because jim carrey was in it and in the past he has made hilarious movies that have made me cry with laughter  so do you really blame me for expecting that again  additionally  the premise  the funny trailer  his co  star jennifer aniston  s involvement  and the fact it was a massive hit stateside encouraged me .  br    br   however  as my  one line summary  suggests  i was disappointed . for various reasons  br    br   reason   it wasn  t funny . in a  hour movie  i laughed for about     minutes . . . all together  the rest of the time i sat thinking  i really should have got some ice  cream  . i admit that maybe it is wrong to judge jim carrey on his previous films  but what does he really expect when he makes gem  s such as  the truman show    liar liar    me  myself and irene    dumb and dumber    the mask   and the  ace ventura  films then produces  in bruce nolan  s own words  such a mediocre film   br    br   reason   jennifer aniston  s role was criminally underwritten . i mean hello  she  s been around in the public eye for about ten years now  and in this film she gets about four lines to say . wrong .  br    br   reason   one word  clich  br    br   reason   a casual deployment of specifically american references  jimmy hoffa  walter cronkite  sweeps week   is a clue to the film  s specifically home  grown appeal .  a teenager says no to drugs and yes to an education  that  s a miracle  want to see a miracle soon  be the miracle   god tells bruce  a heavy handed sentiment that seems to have gone down a treat in the us  but might face tougher resistance in markets that retain an inkling for subtlety . additionally  i still go to school  and that statement suggests me and all of my friend  s are miracles . . . or maybe it just means we have brains   br    br   in this film there are enough funny carrey moments to make you chuckle and prevent bruce almighty from being a total calamity  but you are advised to start revising your expectations downwards .  
corbin bernsen  s sent letters to four criminal associates he  s worked with in the past and it  s a real intergenerational mix with fred gwynne  lou diamond phillips  william russ  and ruben blades . they  re to meet him in this obscure montana town and he doesn  t explain why because he  s then picked up by out of state police from new jersey on a warrant .  br    br   of the criminal group that  s been gathered together  they all know bernsen  but don  t know each other . a lot of comedy involved is them feeling each other out . as the oldest gwynne though denying it kind of takes charge with the others grumbling  but going along . especially when they figure out what bernsen had in mind .  br    br   as for bernsen  he  s got the good fortune to be picked up by a pair of bumblers in ed o  neill and daniel roebuck . he gets the drop on o  neill and escapes .  br    br   after that it  s the four criminals trying to finish what bernsen started and bernsen getting away the police . in the intricately plotted screenplay  it  s fascinating how both story lines keep intertwining with each other . hoyt axton as the local sheriff watches in amazement at what unfolds in his town .  br    br   disorganized crime is a fabulously funny caper film by a bunch of players who seem mostly to have had a background in television or would soon . i can  t say that anyone stood out in the cast they also seem to click so well together .  br    br   ironically none of these people are comedians per se  but they all exhibit a light comic touch that good directing brought out .  br    br   disorganized crime is one very funny caper movie  the kind of film that well known pessimist mr . murphy would have written .  
jim carrey is one of the funniest and most gifted comedians in film today . with his hyperactive spontaneity and his rubber face he can just go crazy  and we love him for it . he has the ability to make mediocre comedies  ala ace ventura   and turn them into decent comedic outings . or  in the case of  liar liar   make them some of the most hilarious contemporary comedies around . carrey has also proven himself capable of tackling dramas . he was excellent in both  man on the moon  and  the truman show .  the guy is remarkable .  br    br   then comes  bruce almighty   an ideal vehicle for carrey  and a premise that should have worked carrey  after complaining about god and how his life stinks  is enabled with god  s powers . however  the script is pure recycled garbage . now  no matter how bad a script is  carrey  s improvisation alone sometimes makes an unfunny scene funny . the problem is that there are very few opportunities for carrey to be unleashed because so much of the comedy relies on silly special effects  only some of which are amusing . carrey is rarely able to improvise because he has to work around the special effects . the writers apparently thought that all these special effects and superpower sequences were funny  because the rest of the movie is simply filler giving carrey nothing else to work with besides a whiny character who is absolutely humorless . he seems more like a   year yearning for our attention  wanting the viewer to find what he is doing funny  when it  s really just annoying .  br    br   i have always enjoyed jennifer aniston on  friends  and she was superb in last year  s  the good girl .  she too has a gift for comedy  but with the script as linear as it is  she is simply given the part of the bitter girlfriend . she comes across as nagging  grumpy  and there is no chemistry between the two stars .  br    br    bruce almighty  should have been a comedy that works . but it doesn  t even have the guts to tackle the subject matter that it  s making fun of religion . a few minor giggles  his internet is yehweh   but instead it  s just turned into a comedic superpower comedy . not to mention that it  s tone shifts from silly to heavy  handed  and even black comedy at times . the movie fails on nearly every level . that  s not to see it is entirely devoid of laughs  but it  s close . any movie that feels the need to incorporate scenes of a dog peeing to get it  s laughs has problems . but hey  if you find pee jokes funny  go for it .  br    br    
i didn  t expect to like this film as much as i did . i got it simply because i saw it on the list of top   most controversial films of all time . it didn  t look particularly great . i was pleasantly surprised to find that it was one of the most cleverly composed films of recent memory .  br    br   it  s about a twenty  year  old woman wants to know everything . she stores every bit of information she collects in an enormous archive . she experiments with experience in sex  political activism  and human relationships . meanwhile  film  s crew is shown making the film and we view their reactions to the story and each other . nudity  explicit sex  and controversial politics kept this film from being shown in the us while its seizure by customs was appealed . the film is a narrative yet it  s a documentary that shows us the behind  the  scenes world of the filmmakers during the narrative  the fourth wall being broken . this film is the most direct possible way of making a movie i have ever seen . the movie predominantly works as a time capsule of     s psychedelic goings  on  freedom  fighting and sexual liberation . i like to think of it as much more than that .  br    br   i didn  t think i would want to waste my time with the blue version of this movie  but i actually really do . this film is a buried treasure . give it a try .  
worst mistake of my life .  br    br   i picked this movie up at target for   because i figured   hey  it  s sandler i can get some cheap laughs  . i was wrong  completely wrong . mid  way through the film all three of my friends were asleep and i was still suffering . worst plot  worst script  worst movie i have ever seen . i wanted to hit my head up against a wall for an hour  then i  d stop  and you know why  because it felt damn good . upon bashing my head in i stuck that damn movie in the microwave and watched it burn . . . . and that felt better than anything else i  ve ever done . it took american psycho  army of darkness  and kill bill just to get over that crap . i hate you sandler for actually going through with this and ruining a whole day of my life                   
another one for the babes  bullets crowd . the story is much edgier than any other musical i have seen cannons hidden up the missing legs of females  and places each generatively in the other in a way that comes closer to intelligent comment than we might expect for the locale . more effective than contemporary  drama .  it is hard identify with a woman who keeps a cannon up her pants   in lue of leggage . pretty remarkable if you consider the context .  br    br   despite the cannon up the leg thing providing    of the surprises  this film also chronicles how greed supersedes all other considerations in the lives of a group of yakuzas who pursue a woman who keeps up her leg a concealed cannon  rocket  launcher  hence no group shower scenes or thongs  the hidden projectile  launcher which is pulled out from the behind the protagonists back  seemingly from nowhere  in miike  s dead or alive        the torch brought forth out of thin air by the heroine towards the end of the original tomie        or the harrowing flame  thrower scene in sunny gets blue        all testify to an almost third  world cantinflas  esquire influence in the contemporary japanese cinema  of which i am at a loss to explain  but cannot complain .  br    br   you won  t see good quality movies of this essence made in hollywood  its all but extinct and with cheap crap they pump out for a cheap thrill  is all but laughable . this is a true film and while its great in its entirety  the ending is a brilliant  if not unblatant rip  off of certain sergio leon pictures  involving cannons where legs should be  and certainly is appropriate   
when i read the summary of the movie  something like what happens when a man gets powers of a god  and how he later learns that having supernatural powers requires giant responsibility and strength  i though that was clever and original concept . casting was promising too  carrey  freeman  aniston . . . how can movie with a good idea and good actors  not to mention costs of filming  can be bad  it can . idea is good  but script and story itself is terrible . bruce nolan is  let  s be honest  a pretty mediocre journalist  with not exactly great stories  like a story of a giant cookie  what a faux pas  and the niagara report is complete fiasco    he  s a man with a job he completely deserves  he  s not a good journalist  he  s a comedian   considering his potentials  with a nice home  sugar sweet girlfriend  and oh horror     dog who is not house trained    yes  as soon as bruce  at the beginning of the movie starts addressing god in a  god  why do you hate me   manner  average viewer must think  why  what  s wrong with your life  bruce   . bruce is not  and definitely not the man with real problems in life . most the troubles that happen to him are minor and not really worth of all that fuss he makes  and some of them are really only the result of his stupidity . most people have really big problems  worth of attention  most people are more worth of attention that bruce  who doesn  t seem too human after all  doesn  t look even realistic  too goofy and neurotic  but god still addresses to him . why  though morgan freeman looks nice as a god  i can  t help but to ask what is he doing in this particularly bad movie . and what does bruce do when god gives him his powers  god in this movie could as easily give his powers to a  year old kid and there hardly would be any difference . no  wait  a smart kid would probably use his god powers better than bruce . what does bruce do  pulls the moon closer to earth to create romantic atmosphere  parts the red soup  lifts up a pretty woman  s dress on the street  answers prayers via e  mail and make all of them come true     no more  bruce  please  what bruce did could actually end the world  but in the movie  that doesn  t happen  because this is  nice  family  little movie  and doesn  t make any sense at all    not a hint of sarcasm  of real humor  of wittiness  of some dirty humor at least    nothing . just carrey playing silly  which is starting to look pathetic on middle aged actor . aniston here is understated . she plays pale  undeveloped character of bruce  s girlfriend grace  and stays completely forgettable in this movie . nobody in the right mind would believe that this two have any chemistry at all between them . when grace says prayer for bruce it sounds not only lame and pathetic  but completely false . these two are not meant to be together . i would give three stars  but i doubt movie deserves a one . bad script  lame dialogs  lack of real humor  wittiness and any sophistication  as well as undeveloped characters and understated freeman  s and aniston  s roles  total lack of boldness and sarcasm  it all makes movie hardly worth  . but ok  there were few funny moments  and freeman is always nice to see in any movie so  lets leave three stars .  
yet another remake of  fistful of dollars   sergio leone  s remake of kurosawa  s  yojimbo   suggested by the novel  red harvest   .  br    br   this one is strictly a b  movie taken as that  it is rather enjoyable . the direction is crisp  the acting full of verve  the limitations of its  direct  to  video  photography well  handled .  br    br   the weakness of the film is in the disastrous decision to marry the  fistful    yojimbo  plot to a sub  plot from leone  s  once upon a time in the west  . although leone directed both  fistful  and  west   his motivations behind the two films couldn  t be anymore different . the  man with no name   eastwood  is a borderline socio  path with a soft spot for broken families . harmonica  chaeles bronson  is obsessed with his own broken family  and obsessed with revenge . these two characters would not have had much to do with each other . in order to bring them together   gun crazy  has to twist it  s plot and complicate it until we lose track of which story we  re actually following .  br    br   but this is a b  movie after all  and filled with action and silliness it  s entertaining on that level  just don  t expect anything more .  
i caught this movie on fx last night  and as i was sitting there watching it  it occurred to me that it could quite possibly be the worst movie ever . bad acting  bad cinematography  bad sound  totally unbelievable fight sequences  stupid characters . all these made it up to be the most laughably bad movie i  ve ever seen . it was so bad  i was enthralled by it  s sheer lack of anything semi  competent that i had to keep watching . . . and they made a sequel   
the story of  a woman from nowhere  is rather simple and pretty much adapted right out of a eastwood spaghetti western a mysterious stranger comes into a lawless town run by a kingpin and starts shooting up the place . even the opening credits and music have that spaghetti feel sergio leone and ennio morricone would be proud . the really interesting twists are that the stranger is a beautiful    woman  saki  ryoko yonekura  on a harley  and the location is in a town somewhere in japan .  br    br   in this actioner  there  s a considerable amount of gunplay  some of it good  some predictable  and other spots somewhat hokey  but it  s a whole lot of fun . ryoko handles her guns with believability and aplomb and gives the thugs their due . it wasn  t much of an acting challenge for her as it was a physical challenge  but she handled things very well . she shows her acting skills much more as otsu in the nhk drama   musashi .   br    br   i  d highly recommend film if you  re a ryoko yonekura fan  which i adoringly am  and  or a  girls with guns  movie fan and it does hold up to repeated viewings . to me  there  s something eminently and inexplicably appealing about  girls with guns  movies like  la femme nikita  and  the long kiss goodnight .  and to have a gorgeous gal like ryoko starring in it as well is just gobs of icing on the cake .  
play mystery theater     at home with your friends  rent this movie for the laughs  the acting is poor  the sounds is terrible and the fights are ridiculously unbelievable . i thought the movie was a joke until i looked it up on imbd . i can  t wait to rent the sequel  china o  brien ii .  
not a film to be taken seriously  but a great little film nonetheless .  br    br   it  s definitely not just a piece of fluff . the acting  imo  is excellent .  br    br   one of those films you wouldn  t go out of your way to see  but it brings a smile every time it comes around on cable . like an old friend .  br    br   definitely worth seeing if you get the chance .  br    br            
i actually saw china o  brien ii before i ever saw the original china o  brien . and i have to say that the first incarnation is actually worse . but worse  funnier  and funnier  better . if you  re a bad movie fan like i am  this is great material . if  however  you are looking for any sort of meaningful plot  acting ability  or movie  making skill  this is best avoided . the best part is how they filmed all the fighting sequences in stuttering fast  forward . hilariously bad . see it for a laugh  see it for mindless entertainment  but whatever you do  see it for free on tv .  
good work by everyone  from scriptwriters  director  and cast a lovely fun film that becomes believable for sentimental reasons only a good film for television on those cloudy  cold wintry days when you just want to sit back and enjoy .  
cynthia rothrock   china o  brien    manhattan chase        made this film enjoyable to watch and of course  e this cute petite gal burned up the screen with her artistic abilities and hot sexy body . china o  brien gets upset as a police officer and decides to call it quits and go back home to her hometown and get back to her roots and her dad  who is the local sheriff . her dad is getting older and the town has changed  gangsters have taken over the town and started to get the local women to start turning tricks and the city people were getting sick and tired of their town going to hell . well  you almost can guess what happens  and you are right  china o  brien fights back after great tragedy strikes her life . bad acting through out the picture  but cynthia rothrock brings this film to a wonderful conclusion .  
every scene was put together perfectly . this movie had a wonderful cast and crew . i mean  how can you have a bad movie with robert downey jr . in it  none have and ever will exist . he has the ability to brighten up any movie with his amazing talent . this movie was perfect  i saw this movie sitting all alone on a movie shelf in  blockbuster  and like it was calling out to me  i couldn  t resist picking it up and bringing it home with me . you can call me a sappy romantic  but this movie just touched my heart  not to mention made me laugh with pleasure at the same time . even though it made me cry  i admit  at the end  the whole movie just brightened up my outlook on life thereafter . i suggested to my horror  action  and pure humor movie buff of a brother  who absolutely adored this movie . this is a movie with a good sense of feeling . it could make you laugh out loud  touch your heart  make you fall in love  and enjoy your life . every time you purposefully walk past this movie  just be aware that you are consciously making the choice to live and feel this inspiring movie . who knows  what if it could really happen to you   and keep your mind open to the mystical wonders of life .  
i saw this film in its premier week in     . i was   years old and at that time i found it adequate and somewhat fun . i then came to discover the world of doc savage through the bantam novels of the old pulp magazine stories . i had no idea before any of this of the realm of doc  but i fast became one of the most avid doc savage fans you could ever meet . i read  and still own  all of the bantam books  i started going to comic book cons  along with star trek and doctor who and all manner of geeky fat kid events  and had a wonderful time with each adventure i took with doc and the original fab  . philip jose farmer  s book  the apocalyptic life of doc savage became a bit of a bible for me and to this day i have very fond feelings regarding my doc phase . in so saying i have to admit now years later that this film really missed the boat . it is a film that did not know what it wanted to be when it grew up . the screenplay was infantile and bore little resemblance to the pulp story . these stories from the    s were short and if one looked at lester dent  s  aka kenneth robeson  outline for writing them  they broke down into perfect  act dramas that screamed for screen treatment . one would have thought that with george pal and michael anderson at the helm  it would have turned out better . the spoof elements miss the target and the more serious moments almost get there  but then fall short . it is interesting to watch though in that they hired second  string character actors  guys that had really been only bit players and extras before this film  who all acquit themselves very well . paul gleason of course has gone on to be a fine utility player in all facets of entertainment and bill lucking is a television perennial . all the rest have fallen off the map sadly . i do wish to own a copy of this film as it is the only movie version of my hero  but i fear i will not watch it much as it is too painful . i would say  but i give it  out of   instead for some of the period art direction  doc  s answering machine at the end was a nice touch  and the cast of  rd stingers getting a moment in the sun .  
chances are uses that marvelous song by the same name throughout the film . robert downey  jr . is excellent in this movie . his extra large eyes and wonderfully variable facial expressions are part of expertise in acting as different people in diverse films . compare robert downey  jr . in chaplin . you will enjoy chances are . i did .  
i dug this out and watched it tonight . i honestly think it must be   years since the last time i saw it . i remember it being a seriously flawed film . i don  t remember it being this bad       br    br   i am absolutely aghast that a project with this much potential should have been mistreated so reprehensibly . who am i to blame for this  the  guys who wrote  and i use that word loosely  the script  the casting directors who so terribly miscast at least  major characters in the story   only  of them are among  the amazing   .  the director  who clearly refused to take it seriously  and kept shoving awful music on top of bad writing  bad acting everywhere   i liked the theme song   but it should never have been used all the way throughout the entire film   don black  who should be ashamed at some of the lyrics he wrote for that music   br    br   it figures that i should pull this out  less than a week after re  reading the comic  book adaptation . the first      minutes of the film more  or  less  really  less  parallel the first issue of the comic . as i watched it tonight  i kept wondering   why was almost every single detail changed  doc showing up  then using his wrist  watch remote  control to open the safe  and the sniper  s bullet missing him by  inches because the refractive glass  were just about the only things left the same . i mean  if you  re gonna do an  adaptation   why in god  s name change everything     br    br   once they leave doc  s hq  virtually nothing is as it was in the comic  which  given roy thomas  i figure probably follows the book  . i read somewhere they actually combined elements of  different novels into one movie . again   why  i  ve heard it was changed because they weren  t able to secure the kind of budget they wanted . i look at the film  and think . . . lack of money in no way explains what i saw on the screen    br    br   you know  when people complain about joel schumacher  they should really take a look at this thing . the best thing i can say is  i think it would make a great double  feature with the     batman feature   and probably a great triple  bill with that and the     flash gordon . all  films are  silly  . maybe we can  blame  the     film  and tv series  for this . some fans have complained over the years that adam west  s batman ruined the image of comic  books in the minds of generations of non  comics fans . i think the same could be said for hollywood . i  m reminded of how many really  really bad films based on  classic  characters have been made over the years  especially  it seems to me  in the late    s  early    s . charlie chan  fu manchu  tarzan  buck rogers  flash gordon  the lone ranger   all  murdered  by hollywood types who think   oh  comic  books  so you know it  s supposed to be stupid   more like they  re the  stupid  ones . what a waste of potential .  br    br   let me say some good things . . . despite the script and the directing  ron ely is great . when i read a doc savage story  i don  t think of the james bama paintings  i think of ely . bill lucking  who later was a regular on the a  team  is terrific . eldon quick  who i  ve seen somewhere else  but can  t recall where  is terrific . paul gleason   who i absolutely hated with a passion and a vengeance in the breakfast club   teachers  like the one he played should be banned from ever teaching anywhere   may be the best of the  amazing   in the film . pamela hensley   though her part was almost unrecognizable from the original story   is terrific . before she let her hair down  i also realized she looked a hell of a lot like  ardala valmar  from those awful john calkins buck rogers strips i just read the other day . she  s got a big nose like ardala   only not quite as pronounced . the comics ardala actually looked more like the     movie princess aura   or cher . or maybe streisand . take yer pick .  ardala actually got plastic surgery in the george tuska strips   after  she was stunning    br    br   paul wexler  funny enough  i saw just last week in a get smart episode . i wonder if he was anything like the character he was supposed to be playing  i don  t know  because that character sure wasn  t in the movie the film takes its title from .  
i  ve just seen this movie for the second time on television . it  s lovely  warm  sentimental  very very romantic . i  ve rarely seen actors better able to reveal by their movements and gestures love for another  cybill shepherd  ryan o  neal  robert downey  jr . and especially mary stuart masterson simply outdo themselves . masterson probably has the hardest role and is just adorable .  br    br   the movie is in the vein of both romantic movies such as while you were sleeping  when harry met sally  sleepless in seattle and the  high gimmick  sorts of movies like big  back to the future  peggy sue got married . i hate to say this  because this cast was superb and i  d never change any of them  but i think it didn  t succeed as well as the movies mentioned above because the box office appeal of the cast was just not as great as meg ryan  tom hanks  michael j . fox  and kathleen turner at the time the movie was made .  br    br   it  s not superbly written  e . g .  the characters  lines are not particularly memorable . yet it  s executed to perfection .  br    br   the romantic yearnings are truly palpable  the  feeling  of people falling in love is exquisitely communicated  love  s timelessness and all  encompassing sweep  the feeling of loss and desire to recapture that connection  are so touchingly delivered . again and again  you will find yourself moved . actually  a comparable movie is made in heaven  the same romantic yearning .  br    br   do see this  it  s lovely .  
after having seen the movie the first question arising in my mind was is this supposed to be irony or not  after reading a few comments about the character doc savage and the comic series  i knew this film was not meant to be ironic . so  the story tells us about an us  american super  doc saving a south american republic from evil . sounds like a typical story . but this one comes in such an unrealistic way that it becomes ridiculous . the mandatory end  fight shows the worst presentation of martial arts i have ever seen . the film might be interesting for low budget movie designers as a bad example .  
i happen to run into this movie one night so i decided to watch it  i was very pleased with the movie . . . i thought it was a wonderful plot . it  s a great feeling knowing a deceased one has come back and you get that second chance to say what you want to say  and this wife stayed devoted for   years    i thought it was a great movie    
doc savage the man of bronze   outta  stars   br    br   dreadful  dreadful movie . . . based on the pulp magazine  paperback series by lester dent  kenneth robeson . . . about a super  heroic adventure hero in the    s and his five assistants  all experts in some field of endeavor that allows them to combat evil . it was a pretty hokey series . . . but kinda fun to read when i was a teenager . i knew they made a movie version in the    s  starring ron  tarzan  ely . . . but i never got a chance to see it . it never played in theaters where i lived and was never shown on tv . now that i have finally seen the film i can understand why . the plot and characters are never treated seriously . . . it  s all kind of tongue  in  cheek and campy . . . kind of like the old batman tv series . . . only without the benefit of being funny . . . or having any visual flair . corny dialogue  cheesy special effects  dumb stereotypes  crummy action scenes and bad  bad acting . actually  i find it kind of fascinating in its badness . . . what could they have possibly been thinking  arnold schwarzenegger was rumoured to be starring in a modern  day remake . . . but i don  t imagine that would have turned out to be much better .  
this isn  t the best romantic comedy ever made  but it is certainly pretty nice and watchable . it  s directed in an old  fashioned way and that works fine . cybill shepherd as corinne isn  t bad in her role as the woman who can  t get over her husband  s death . she has a sexy maturity . but i can  t say much for ryan o  neal as philip  because he is  at best  nondescript . he may be adequate in the role  but that  s not good enough .  br    br   however  i get the feeling that some of the characters  particularly alex and miranda  are not written with enough in  depth thought . we don  t know anything else about them because minutes after they appear the story gets thick  and the writers don  t tell us much beyond what happens . but that problem was salvaged because mary stuart masterson has a fresh  as  a  daisy sweetness to brighten it up  and robert downey jr . is so charming that he melts the screen . even his smile is infectious . and it so happens that his big dreamy eyes are perfect for the deja vu and flashback scenes .  br    br   anyway  this movie is light and easy and if you like them that way  why not give it a try .  br    br    
fantastically putrid . i don  t mean to imply above that only a few people should avoid  doc savage .  almost every demographic group would be bored by this trivial  tv  movie  quality production . it  s a little like the    s  batman  tv series  except it  s not funny . even accidentally . you  re better off taking a nap .  
this is a great film  esp when compared with the sometimes wearisome earnestness of today  s politically  minded filmmakers . a film that can so easily combine sex  gender relations  politics and art is a rarity these days . while the bouyant optimism of the      s can  t be regained  i think we can at least learn a lesson from the film  s breezy energy and charm . i don  t know what those who label the film  boring  were watching  there  s so much packed into it that it never remains the same film for more that   min at a time .  
having decided some time ago to collect the films of billy bob thornton  on the strength of class movies like  sling blade    a simple plan  and  the man who wasn  t there  amongst others   it was inevitable that there would be the odd turkey in there . what i didn  t realise however  was that there could be one this bad . i  ll give you an idea how incredibly poor this film is  the funniest dialogue in it goes like this  knock knock    who  s there     the big stinking man    the big stinking man who     the big stinking man  is you   . yes folks  it really is that bad . billy bob is only in it for about two minutes  i guess he needed the work at that time in his career   and the rest of the movie is painful . for some reason though  although it  s undeniably awful  i don  t hate it . that  s probably because i save my ire for any high budget  special effects laden junk like  the fast and the furious  and not a  no  budget  flick like this one .     at a push .  
people call this a comedy  but when i just watched it  i laughed  br    br   only once . i guess the problem is that i first saw it when i was     br    br   and i wasn  t old enough to understand that it wasn  t meant to be  br    br   taken seriously . there were quite a few scenes that were meant  br    br   to be funny  but i cared too much about the characters to laugh at  br    br   them .  br    br   i suggest that you watch this film next time you  re falling in love   br    br   and try to take it seriously . i think you  ll find that  despite a few silly  br    br   flaws  it  s one of the most moving love stories you  ve ever seen .  
doc savage the man of bronze is a horrible movie . poorly scripted  over  acted  and just plain silly . that being said . . . it is actually an enjoyable movie on some level . this movie begs to be watched in a group with an ample supply of cheap beer . it  s one of those movies like  santa claus conquers the martians  or  yor  the hunter from the future  . . . so bad it is almost good . if you have the right group of people this movie is a blast to watch . it  s campy . it  s fun . it has a theme by sousa . if you  re looking for a good movie though  look elsewhere .     .  br    br   btw  i  ve heard rumors some studio is exploring the possibility of a remake . . .  
nay sayers of this film are likely bitter from some seriously unrequited love . this is a great film for anyone capable of understanding johnny mathis  s song  or any song from that era bobby darin  s  beyond the sea . . . or stan getz  s  the girl from ipanema  et al . . .  br    br   i measure films by how many times i have to watch them before i  m satisfied . . . chances are had me back a few good times .  br    br   i also watch the synergy between the cast . . . i thought they worked well together .  br    br   open your heart  and let the comedic magic of film transport you .  br    br    alan  
after watergate  vietnam and the dark days of the nixon and jimmy carter eras  what the world needed was a good old  fashioned chapter  play hero taking on venomous serpents and evildoers in the america of     or the jungles of south america in a series of fantastic cliffhanging adventures . unfortunately what it got in     was doc savage  the man of bronze . perhaps the best that can be said of legendary producer george pal  s final film is that his often beautifully designed but sadly flat adaptation of kenneth robeson  s pulp  paperback novels probably had george lucas and phil kaufman leaving the theatre and saying to each other  we can do better than that   and adding a bullwhip  a battered fedora and some much needed character flaws to the mix .  br    br   a big part of the problem is that doc savage is in many ways even harder to write for than superman  explorer  adventurer  philanthropist  a scientific and intellectual genius in the bronzed bleach  blonde bulletproof muscle  bound body of a greek god  or rather the form of tv  s tarzan  ron ely  a rather dull charlton heston clone here   there  s simply nothing he can  t do and  more damagingly  nothing that can harm him . the man is the virtual incarnation of hitler  s aryan ubermensch  no surprise that the dvd is only available in germany    albeit with all  american values . and just in case there should ever be anything he  s overlooked  not that there ever is  he has not one but five sidekicks in his entourage  the  less than  fabulous five . a chemist  an electrician and even an archaeologist i can accept  and at a stretch i could possibly even go as far as to see the possible need for a construction engineer  but what kind of hero takes a criminal lawyer with him on his adventures  in reality doc  s brain trust were probably added because with the hero so tiresomely invulnerable and practically perfect in every way  even kryptonite wouldn  t put a dent in him  there needed to be someone at risk in the stories  though with the exception of paul gleason they  re all so horribly badly cast and overplayed  as are most parts in the film  you  d happily kill them all off during the opening titles . the villains fare no better  with paul wexler exuding all the menace of a geography teacher as captain seas  scott walker  no  a different one  delivering one of cinema  s worst accents  is it meant to be scottish  irish  welsh  greek  pakistani or some nationality no  one has ever heard of   while robyn hilton  s marilyn monroe  ish dumb blonde moll gives paris  no relation  a run for her money in the untalented bimbo stakes .  br    br   even with those drawbacks  this should have been much better than it is considering the various ingredients  lost tribes  a pool of gold  a dogfight with a biplane and a deadly poison that comes alive  all wrapped up in a quest to discover why doc  s father was murdered . unfortunately it  s a question of tone in the   s and   s pulp superheroes weren  t brooding figures prone to state  of  the  art action scenes and special effects but were treated as somewhat comical figures of low  budget camp fun with action scenes quickly knocked off on the cheap almost as an afterthought  the films aimed purely at the matine market you know  for kids . there have long been rumours that the original cut was more straight  faced  and certainly much of the camp value has been added in post  production  be it the colgate twinkle in doc  s eye  the comical captions identifying various fighting styles in the final dust  up with captain seas or don black  s gung  ho lyrics to john philip sousa  s patriotic marches  but plenty was in the film to begin with . after all  it  s hard to see how one of the villain  s underlings making phone calls from a giant rocking crib was ever intended as anything other than a joke that falls flat  while doc  s explanation to pamela hensley of why he never dates girls could be a scene written for adam west  s batman . instead  the funniest moments are usually purely unintentional  such as doc displaying his sixth sense by  er  bobbing his adam  s apple .  br    br   perhaps an even bigger problem is that  while promising on paper  the action is handled in an almost relentlessly mundane fashion  be it chasing a native assassin on the rooftops of new york skyscrapers or escaping from a yacht full of bad guys . even the winning notion of animated glowing green snakes swirling through the air as they poison their victims fails to raise any enthusiasm from director michael anderson having demonstrated their own invulnerability a couple of scenes earlier  doc manages to dispatch them with no more than a chair and an electric fan by simply pulling the curtains on them .  br    br   still  aside from doc  s various vehicles all stamped with his logo and looking more moulded plastic than bronze  the production design is often rather handsome even if it is very obviously l . a . standing in for new york while fred koenekamp  s cinematography ensures the film often looks good despite the low budget . and it  s good to see a superhero movie that doesn  t spend most of its running time on an origin story  though one is left with the suspicion that doc sprang fully formed from the loins of zeus himself .  br    br   it  s a film i  d really like to like more  but it just feels like    minutes of lost opportunities . no wonder doc savage  the arch enemy of evil  the sequel so optimistically promised in the end credits  never happened .  
i don  t think i could have enjoyed it more  though certain things were disturbing . i  m not going to say what  if you haven  t seen it . . . you  ll have to find out for yourself . at any rate  what movie can lack with robert downey jr .  s puppy  dog eyes  all  in  all  the plot was developed sufficiently . nothing seemed too rushed  as movies like this tend to be . the characters were like  able  and there were plenty of hilarious scenes in it . the idea over  all is that the story is very well tied together  even if certain aspects may be unsatisfactory . . . by matter of opinion . but like i said before  it  s hard not to love any movie with robert downey jr .  
i was fortunate enough to meet george pal  and still have my dstmob poster autographed by him  at a convention shortly after the release  and asked him why he chose to do the film  camp  . before he could answer  two studio flacks intercepted and lectured me on how the studio  knew best  and how  no one will take such a film seriously  . i had been reading the bantam reprints for a couple of years thanks to a friend  comicon attendees of the     s will recall blackhawk and his band  i was in a couple of years of that with him   and had higher hopes than what we got .  br    br   the flacks insisted that no high adventure would ever be done seriously  and so doing  camp  was the only way . several other fans jumped in on my side  with pal listening as best he could . at the end of the little event  pal came up to us and apologized  wishing he could have done more and better .  br    br   star wars put the lie to the flacks  and a year after pal  s death  spielberg and lucas proved that doc savage could have easily been the next major movie franchise . . . if it hadn  t been for the flacks .  br    br   tear out the memory or history of doc  and the film would have been worth a     rating as nothing more than a mindless popcorn seller .  br    br   but destroying the legacy like that was no less an abomination than killing a baby in the crib .  br    br   doc savage can still come to the screen  and survive the inevitable comparisons by the ill  informed to indiana jones  but it would have to be done in all seriousness and earnest to reclaim the glory that we should expect from the first american superhero .  br    br   sidenotes yes  there was a second script for archenemy of evil  and it  s a lot more serious . yes  there was simultaneous footage shot  but mostly establishing shots and very little with actors . and  yes  there  is  a one  sheet of ron ely leaping over a brick wall and blasting at something over his shoulder with a specially built bronze pistol . ely  s wearing a duster over a button down white shirt with a bronze tie  and the words  doc savage archenemy of evil . . . coming next summer   postscript if anyone knows who the studio flacks were that accompanied george pal in     to san diego for the convention  smack the idiots up the side of the head and call them the idiots that they are . at the time  they were doing dorkknobs and fu manchu in stripes and baggy canvas pants  and carrying paramount portfolios .  
ordinarily i really enjoy movies like  chances are   but i wasn  t quite satisfied with this one for a few reasons . the first half was pretty well done overall  with alex finch dying and being reincarnated in a new body  played by robert downey jr .  . he meets up with his wife  cybill shepherd  and friend  ryan o  neal  and his daughter  who is now grown up . the scenes with them meeting again and downey rediscovering who he once was are well done  and there is a good amount of emotion and happiness once shepherd finally believes its really her husband reincarnated  but from there the film goes downhill . there are several sex  related scenes that turned me off completely  especially downey and shepherd wanting to get together again despite the difference in their age now . after that  however  the film manages to end in the most satisfying way possible  considering the circumstances of the plot . i was disappointed because i did not expect the film to become so immoral by the end . there was great potential with this story  and the scenes in heaven are well done . there is a good theme song sung by peter cetera and cher  but ultimately the film is not great . for a better  similar film  try  heaven can wait .  decent  but i really kind of wish i hadn  t seen it because of the scenes in the second half .  br    br    out of   
this is the second british rank film to adapt the stories of sommerset maugham to film . all but one story from  quartet  does not travel well into the contempory era and the actors speech is decidedly  clipped   as only british pre       s actors delivery can be . in anycase  trio  seems tighter and more filmic than the first film adaptation .  br    br   one of the problems these two films can  t overcome is that their source material was written      years prior to the films . consequently  by the      s maughm  s  pre  war  popularist  small morality  storyteling seemed rather quaint  if not downright coy .  
what a loss the passing of director emile ardolino was  he could take a light script and  with the right casting and editing  put a twinkle in it and make it shine like a star . this particular star may not be the brightest in the sky as great romances go  but it is definitely one that keeps you tuned in to the end . you really want to know how things are going to work out .  br    br   the script is perfect for cybill shepherd  who at the time needed to capitalize on her  moonlighting  success for the new generation who was  fortunately for her  probably unaware of how many big screen major duds she had after a very promising start . in this film she  s every bit back in form as a still  pining widow living vicariously through her daughter  mary stuart masterson on the cusp of stardom which would peak with  fried green tomatoes  two years later  . she may have looked too young for the role  but that works well for the way the story unfolds . this is her film  but she doesn  t overstep her bounds as a lead .  br    br   shepherd graciously allows robert downey jr . to carry much of the film and shows a more mature comic flair than he had in his previous films to that point . and there  s ample support from ryan o  neal  in his best role in years  and christopher macdonald . masterson  s natural charm pretty much coasts on its own  either that or she has a way of making her character seem like a breath of fresh air with every word .  br    br   ardolino makes good use of his cast  s sex appeal the same way he did with  dirty dancing   but this film is not quite as sizzling so you could still watch it with your parents if they happened to be in the room .  use your best judgment  they  re your parents after all .  i give this film a high mark because it is very user friendly  romantic comedy enthusiasts will find it sublime  and those who are just watching along with them should find plenty of humor to enjoy as well .  br    br   again  credit goes to emile ardolino for making the most of a charming script by randy and perry howze .  where are they now   ardolino  s next film would be the phoned  in sequel to  three men and a baby  but his final theatrical release  sister act  would finally give him the nine  figure  grossing smash hit he deserved . mr . ardolino  your cinematic touch is missed   
this snarky  homophobic thing was dated in     . it seems particularly mean  spirited now  filled with gay stereotypes  and characters that are meant to be laughed at  rather than with . redd foxx does his standard schtick  michael warren at least tries to bring humanity to a one dimensional character  and pearl   pearl what were you thinking    pearl bailey deserves far better .  
i  ve always been a big cybill shepperd fan  ever since i saw her series a few years ago   this film certainly shows her in her best light yet   the film was so wonderfully cast and played   every now and again she drops little amusing lines  just to make this film one of the best i  ve ever seen   everybody really out does themselves   especially robert downey jr and cybill shepperd  they really made the film come true   also i loved the little bit where mavis loses her wig and she nearly dies when she falls to the floor   this is film at its best    
i have no idea as to which audience director george schlatter hoped to sell this comedy  of  ills . with redd foxx in the central role and enough pimpy outfits and polyester to carpet the entire     s   norman  plays like a blaxploitation picture combined with any number of silly sitcom episodes involving comic misunderstandings  not to mention an elongated cameo by waylon flowers  based on a play by sam bobrick and ron clark  this tale of an estranged married couple  foxx and pearl bailey  learning the hard way that their son is secretly gay   and living with a mincing  prancing white homosexual   has enough limp  wristed jokes to shame any early episode of  three  s company  . bailey keeps her dignity  and foxx  s sheer confusion is good for a couple of chuckles  but the rest of the performers are humiliated .  from   
another downey must  see  if you are an obsessed fan like me  you have got to see this movie  he plays alex finch  a   year old yale grad who realizes that the life he just came into is the life he left   years earlier . alex is the re  incarnation of louie jeffries  a no  nonsense lawyer happily married to corrine  cybil sheppard  . louie is killed on their one  year anniversary when he is hit by a car . he demands to go back  only this time in the body of alex finch . enter robert downey jr .  a lot of confusion  and a lot of laughs .  br    br   although this movie is    years old  it still makes you wonder if there really is such a thing as re  incarnation . and if so  how often to you meet the same souls life after life . i don  t know the answer . but i do know that you need to see this movie . it is a riot  and downey looks so good in a tuxedo . this film makes you believe in love  and true love never dies . it just gets recycled .  
when ben  red foxx  discovers his wife beatrice  pearl bailey  has run off with his own brother  he rushes to his son norman  michael warren  to unload his tale of woe   only to discover that norman has a secret lover the effeminate garson  dennis dugan .  needless to say  ben does not take it well  and numerous complications follow   including ben  s attempt to get norman over being homosexual by fixing him up with a hooker  tammy dobson .  unfortunately  this description of the movie sounds a great deal more entertaining than the movie itself .  br    br   originally written for the theatre by ron clark and sam bobrick  norman . . . is that you  was an absolute disaster on the new york stage . to give the play its due  i actually saw it staged in the     s as a community theatre production   and while no one would accuse it of being anything other than a shallow farce  the cast played so broadly and in such drop  dead manner that it proved quite amusing . it is a pity the cast of this film didn  t do the same .  br    br   this is an atrociously performed motion picture . red foxx  one of the most hilarious comics of the   th century  is about as funny here as yesterday  s wash  michael warren  who later appeared on the television series hill street blues to much better effect  competes with foxx to see who can give the worst performance  and pearl bailey is not far behind truth be told  only dennis duggan  tammy dobson  and a cameo by wayland flowers have any spark   and sadly  that is only in comparison with the rest of the cast .  br    br   not only is the film badly performed  it looks bad . according to film lore  this was the first big screen effort to be filmed in videotape  which was then transfered to celluloid for project purposes   and believe me  it shows . the film has the look of a bad     s sitcom right down to the painted skyline seen through the windows of norman and garson  s apartment .  br    br   some films are so bad that they become funny  but norman . . . is that you  isn  t one of them . i can sum up my reaction to this film in two words miss it . don  t buy it  don  t rent it  don  t touch it with a ten foot pole . just back away slowly and then run like hell .  br    br   gary f . taylor  aka gft  amazon reviewer  
yes  i  m sentimental  schmaltzy   but this movie  and it  s theme song  remain one of my all time greats   robert downey jr . does such justice to the role of  louis jeffries  reincarnated and the storyline  although far  fetched  is romantic  makes one believe in happy endings    
there  s nothing amazing about  the amazing mr williams  . part of this movie  s problem is its lead actor melvyn douglas . he was a lousy actor and lazy with it . for most of his career  he allowed his good looks  a glib manner and  usually  but not in this movie  some fine scriptwriting to make up for his lack of acting ability . i disliked douglas as an actor before i knew anything about him as a person i  ve learnt enough about him to know that i also despise his politics . i  ll give melvyn douglas credit for one thing his chromosomes did produce the incredibly talented and sexy actress illeana douglas .  br    br   melvyn douglas made this movie right after the brilliant  ninotchka  . . . talk about a comedown   the amazing mr williams  is allegedly a comedy  but i never laughed . douglas plays a plainclothes detective on the homicide squad  named kenny williams . i never heard of a police detective named kenny  but if they called him kenneth williams . . . well  what a carry  on . the whole city is in a panic because a serial killer is going about  killing women . no motive is given for this he just likes to kill women . the mayor  jonathan hale  better than usual  calls williams on the carpet to account for his failure to catch the killer .  br    br   spoilers approaching . the cheap  vulgar  untalented and unattractive joan blondell plays the mayor  s secretary .  she doesn  t sound literate enough to file a letter  much less type one .  blondell and douglas squabble like a cat and a dog  so it  s blatantly obvious they  re going to end up together .  br    br   at this movie  s lowest point  melvyn douglas decides to draw out the killer by dressing up as a woman . you do not want to see melvyn douglas in drag  he  s well over six foot  and he doesn  t even shave off that annoying moustache . the similarly   tashed william powell was an actor very similar in type to melvyn douglas  but much more talented  . when powell disguised himself as a woman in  love crazy   he had the integrity to shave off his moustache a genuine sacrifice  as powell needed it to grow in again for his next role . but melvyn douglas brings nothing whatever to his role in this movie  not even a razor . he plays his drag scenes with the same annoying smirk he used throughout the bulk of his career .  br    br   on the plus side   the amazing mr williams  has several of those splendid supporting players who made hollywood  s movies of the    s so delightful . edward brophy is brilliant here  touching and funny as a criminal who gets an unlikely furlough from his life sentence . the dyspeptic donald macbride is fine as a cop who gets mistaken for the killer  and is nearly lynched by a mob . ruth donnelly is splendid as usual for her  but here she gets a chance to show her talents away from her usual orbit on the warner brothers backlot . jimmy conlin  luis alberni and the grinning dave willock are all fine in small roles . barbara pepper  whom i usually dislike  is good here too . the grossly unpleasant maude eburne gets some screen time i always loathe her  and she gives the same performance in every film . . . but some audiences enjoy eburne  s one  note performance very much  for reasons i can  t fathom .  br    br   if you  re familiar with hollywood character actors of the     s  and the roles they tended to play  one glance at imdb  s cast list will tell you who the murderer is . that  s the problem with  the amazing mr wiliams   everything is too obvious . i  ll rate this movie  points out of   .  
a charming romantic comedy . the plot is a little too complicated   i tried to summarize it three times and i can  t . suffice to say it  s worth seeing . the movie is funny  beautiful   the plot is totally unrealistic but it works . everybody in the movie is so nice and everything looks so great   it creates a sweet  romantic feel through the entire film .  br    br   the acting is great   robert downey jr . and cybill shepherd are in top form and enjoying every second of it . ryan o  neal and mary stuart masterson are just ok but fine . if you  re a sucker for good  sweet sentimental films  like me   catch this one . also downey looks great in his underwear   br    br   extra bonuses   the title song sung by johnny mathis and another great song  after all  sung by cher and peter cetera .  
it  s a real challenge to make a movie about a baby being devoured by wild canines and the mother being wrongly accused of murder funny but against all odds this one succeeds . meryl streep gives the performance of her life  melodramatic  overwrought but with that comic genius that keeps you laughing even as a mother struggles with the ultimate horror .  br    br   if comedies about the infants being eaten by dogs are not your cup of tea you might be uncomfortable watching this and  yes  it is an odd choice of topic for a farce but really very little of the movie has anything to do with that as it focuses on giving streep a showcase for her aussie accent and facial contortions .  br    br   throwing in a slam at media bias and sensationalism and disregard for either the truth or ethics gives the movie the chance to make the daring point that those things are bad .  
chances are is a charming romantic fantasy about a woman  cybill shepherd  whose husband  christopher mcdonald  is killed shortly after learning she is pregnant . we then see the husband in heaven letting the powers that be know that he was taken too soon and that his wife needs him . he is told he can return to earth but not as himself . flashforward   years where we see shepherd  s daughter  mary stuart masterson  preparing to graduate from college and encountering a young man  robert downey jr .  who  it turns out is the reincarnation of her father . the film is a little on the predictable side . . . the story goes all the places you expect it to  but it is so charmingly played by an energetic cast  especially shepherd and downey  that you can  t help but get wrapped up in the fun . shepherd has rarely been seen on screen to better advantage and she and downey are backed by a talented group of character actors in supporting roles . a lovely and charming fantasy that will engulf and enchant you .  
except for the acting of meryl streep  which is of note as always  i  d avoid this film because it has a dated  movie of the week  quality about it . but it is worth watching if you keep the several understories in mind how a couple endures media scrutiny  and how the different are treated .  br    br   throughout the movie the issue is the credibility of the different . australians are different than  us   most of the rest of the world   so we  most of us  automatically come at it with an air of  oddness  about them . the couple involved is religious  different than most of culture  and adventists  different  at that . so their lifestyle and mindset are suspect to begin with . dingos are different animals than other dogs  so again we  re faced with oddness questions . the real story  then  is how society  and the world  treats the different  those who have different accents  different beliefs  than we do and how we treat what they say as suspect .  br    br   it  s difficult to hear the phrase  a dingo took my baby   without laughing and there are humorous posts  sadly  all over the web about it . but in the years that followed the story and the movie it has been discovered  as you  ll find in web searches  that much larger children have been stalked by dingos . research by experts in dingos have shown that it was not only possible but most probable that the baby was taken by dingos  maybe a pair   extracted expertly from the clothing and eaten within moments without a trace .  br    br   yet what is left behind is the question of why people defended dingos when they were found to be endangering children rather than killing the dingo to save the children  why because a woman  s affect  expression  is so cold she is assumed to be guilty  and on and on .  br    br   haunting questions  with or without the film .  
  jag r nyfiken  yellow  is a lot of fun . like at least one other reviewer  i was  on numerous occasions  laughing out loud . yellow is energetic  playful  self  aware  explorative . don  t expect bergman here . this movie is about a youth in the early  to mid    s in sweden and about the issues  read contradictions  that the nation and the world were facing . at times yellow appears to be an earnest social  political documentary  with lena  the main character  and others interviewing both common people and politicians  e . g . olaf palme at home  . at other times  yellow seems to parody this kind of documentary . all the while  yellow acts as a personal documentary exploring lena  s life  her home life  her loves  her political views  her view of herself . she is a complete person  complex  flawed  contradictory  happy  sad  curious . and placed over all of this is the wonderful additional dimension of the director  sjman  and his crew documenting themselves documenting lena . it is this that  for me  really gives yellow wings . not only do they suddenly appear at some very funny times and in some funny ways  reminding the viewer that this is fiction and artifice  but their presence is itself another layer of the film they are filming themselves filming themselves . i am reminded of a bjork music video with this same quality  a music video about the making of a music video  ad infinitum  with each iteration getting weirder and more cartoonish . i think sjman may have had something similar in mind . while  jag r nyfiken  yellow  may not be everyone  s cup of tea  it is certainly intelligent  witty  refreshing  ebullient  and authentic .  
this early adam sandler film could be compared to his life as a comic during the same period in     . his character  s constant acknowledgement of his hidden comic genius and frustration regarding humorous material seems to come more from sandler than the script . the film is nothing compared to his blockbuster feature films  such as big daddy or even the corny billy maddison . unfortunately  sandler had not yet found a way to express himself in a consistent  successful and funny manner when this film was made  much like his character . the majority of the film  s  jokes  come from sandler having conversations with himself  usually over his unrecognised comic talent and beating himself up because he  s too ugly and can  t get women . the film is hard to watch too because it doesn  t treat itself like a real film . sandler talks to the camera and the viewers throughout the film  often referring to the film  s low budget or questionable content . the film is ultimately awkward and embarrassing to watch . i immediately wanted to forget i even saw this film after it was over  for fear that if more found out about it  it would ruin sandler  s career . pass this one up at the video store  i rented it for free and it was still a waste of time .  
writers perry and randy howze crafted a very engaging little story in  chances are .   br    br   using the idea of a reincarnated man who happens to return to his former wife  s home many years later  the plot takes unexpected  delightful turns .  br    br   twenty four year old robert downey  jr . renders a delightful performance  ably assisted by cybil shepherd as the widow and ryan o  neal as a good friend .  br    br   this trio has just the right chemistry for this caper  playing off one another with a graceful style . i  ve watched this film a number of times on tv  and each time found it most enjoyable .  
it is enjoyable and fast  paced .  br    br   there is no way on earth that the actor playing mat could be eighteen . however  the main thing is that he does act eighteen very convincingly . it must be a credit to his audition that he convinced them to cast him . i quite soon accepted him as being a naive young country boy .  br    br   while his was the best performance  most of the others were also very engaging . in particular  the interplay between the policemen was natural and well  balanced  and worked very well .  br    br   it is only about   minutes long  so the plot is not complex . more key is the style of the whole thing . it is very slick and vibrant  and the backdrops are atmospheric  especially from the fact that all the colours are extremely rich . the gangland is identifiable to foreign audiences  but still manages to be distinctly australian .  
i was always a big fan of this movie  first of all have you seen the cast  the acting is superb and help make this movie move along very well . cybill shepherd was given great reviews for her role  and they were well deserved . the beginning of this movie starts in the past when corinne jeffries  cybill  whose picture  perfect marriage comes to a shattering halt when her husband louie dies unexpectedly . fortunately  louse gets a second shot at life when he agrees to be  recycled  back to earth as the newborn alex finch  robert downey  jr  . alex goes on to live his new life forgetting his past life while corinne tries to get on with hers . but fate crosses alexs path   years later when he meets corinne  s daughter miranda  mary stuart masterson  and is suddenly flooded with a wealth of unwanted memories  this is where the fun begins  and embarrassing situations occur .  the music is great and the scenes are heart felt and very cute . you wont be disappointed if you give it a chance  chances are you  ll like it . very funny and sweet   
well  sorry for the mistake on the one line summary . . . . . . . run people  run   this movie is an horror   imagine  gary busey in another low budget movie  with an incredibly bad scenario . . . isn  t that a nightmare  no  well yes   it is plato  s run . . . . . . . . . . . i give it  out of  .  
coming from the same director who  d done  candyman  and  immortal beloved   i  m not surprised it  s a good film . ironically   papierhaus  is a movie i  d never heard of until now  yet it must be one of the best movies of the late   s  partly because that is hands down the worst movie period in recent decades .  not talking about iranian or swedish  cinema  here . . .  the acting is not brilliant  but merely solid  unlike what some people here claim  they must have dreamt this  wondrous acting   much like anna  . the story is an interesting fantasy that doesn  t end in a clever way that ties all the loose ends together neatly . these unanswered questions are probably left there on purpose  leaving it up to the individual  s interpretation  and there  s nothing wrong with that with a theme such as this .  pepperhaus  is a somewhat unusual mix of kids  film and horror  with effective use of sounds and music . i like the fact that the central character is not your typical movie  clich ultra  shy  but  secretly  brilliant social  outcast girl  but a regular  normal kid very refreshing . i am sick and tired of writers projecting their own misfit  like childhoods into their books and onto the screens  as if anyone cares anymore to watch or read about yet another miserly  lonely childhood  as if that  s all there is or as if that kind of character background holds a monopoly on good potential . the scene with anna and the boy  snogging   for quite a stretch  was a bit much  evoking feelings of both vague disgust and amusement  considering that she was supposed to be only    but predictably it turned out that burke was   or   when this was filmed . i have no idea why they didn  t upgrade the character  s age or get a younger actress . it was quite obvious that burke isn  t that young . why directors always cast kids older than what they play  hence dilute the realism  i  ll never know .  
i  ll say one thing about this film there are no lulls . you can  t get bored watching this . the problem is that it is too intense . there is too much action and it needs lulls  that is the risk you take in modern action films . you want it interesting but not overdone . this is way overdone .  br    br   even though the acting is fine and features a couple of  names  in gary busey and roy scheider  it still has the feel of a  b  film . the best part of it is scheider  s dialog the only  a  part of this  b  film .  br    br   the rest of the story is strictly rambo mentality but did have a few standout scenes . one in particular was a very innovative scene featuring land mines . that was memorable . not enough of the other scenes were to make this a keeper for long .  
i  m giving it only  out of    because i need to view it again  in a more current mind  frame to have a fresh perspective . what i remember is an amazing psychological thriller that dazzled my brain and my eyes when i watched it . i would watch it every time it came on hbo back in the day  probably     or so  . i might have even recorded it  but that recording is long gone  i  m sure .  br    br   i wrote to greencine to try and get this title in  they currently don  t carry it . i hope i can find it at a local video store .  br    br   i would highly recommend giving it a try if you find it somewhere . it  s interesting at the very least . if you enjoyed movies such as edward scissorhands  beetlejuice  gummo  or anything sort of strange and along those lines  try this one out .  
the dukes of hazzard is quite an achievement  a    m film that  s worse than any given episode of a downmarket    year old tv show . the plot is serviceable enough but the mindless fun is rarely to be found and the casting is pretty atrocious johnny knoxville is more passenger than protagonist  m . c . gainey  s sheriff roscoe is a bland thug  michael weston  s enos tiresome  a seemingly ideally  cast willie nelson just seems to be waiting for the check to clear and burt reynolds  stuck in some purgatory where he  s doomed to relive his old movies as a bit player  is a curious choice for boss hogg to say the least but does have one good moment with a heckler and a hundred dollar bill . you know a film is in trouble when seann william scott and jessica simpson are the most charismatic screen presences but worse than the script or the casting is jay chandrasekhar  s hopeless direction seemingly born with no conception of comic timing  unable to do much more than basic two  shots and seemingly clueless as to how to shoot a car chase let alone the couple of decent stunts in the film  he seems determined to sap the film of any signs of life before they materialise . there are a couple of neat post  modern moments revolving around the confederate flag and daisy  s stereotypical role in every episode  but no film that makes you pine for the days when hal needham was directing this sort of thing  and badly  can be a good thing .  
this is one of three    s movies that i can think of that were sadly overlooked at the time and unfortunately  still overlooked . one of the others was clownhouse directed by victor salva  a movie horribly overlook due to salva  s legal  sexual problems . another would be cameron  s closet which strikes me as somewhat underrated   not great  but not nearly as bad as the reviews i  ve seen . paper house is well worth your time and i think that it is one of those very quiet films that will just stick in your brain for far longer than you might think . i mean    years after i  ve seen it and i still give it some pause  whereas something that i might have seen  months ago has gone into the ether .  
once again  like charlie  s angels  inspector gadget and thunderbirds  a tv series is turned into a full length film and gets ruined for all the hundreds of people that watched . basically the duke cousins  luke  johnny knoxville  and bo  seann william scott  in hazzard county  spend a lot of time driving very fast in  the general lee  . but they need to get their act together and stop their family farm being destroyed along with almost the whole town by nasty jefferson davis  boss  hogg  razzie nominated burt reynolds  to make way for a huge coal mine . they get help along the way from their sexy cousin daisy  razzie nominated jessica simpson  and uncle jesse  willie nelson   while being chased by equally mean sheriff rosco p . coltrane  lost  s m . c . gainey  and the police . also starring joe don baker as governor jim applewhite  jack polick as deputy cletus hogg  david koechner as cooter davenport  michael weston as deputy enos strate and lynda carter as pauline . i think the only reason i give the film an extra star is because of a couple of impressive car stunts  and of course the gorgeous body of simpson  i  ll admit her legs aren  t quite catherine bach  but still    but besides that it is pretty boring . it was nominated the razzies for worst picture  worst director for jay chandrasekhar  worst remake or sequel  worst screen couple for simpson  her  daisy dukes  and worst screenplay . pretty poor   
i first saw this movie when i was about   years old . unfortunately i could not watch it to the end because it was aired late at night . now i bought it on dvd because i can remember that i liked it .  br    br   this is really not an ordinary horror movie . it has some horror elements but i rather categorize it as fantasy . i liked it but i hoped for a bit more horror and scary scenes . especially the scene when anna  s dad comes into the paperhouse trying to kill her is a bit short .  br    br   now to the plot . this movie is about a young girl named anna who gets ill . while she is ill and has to lie in her bed because of her high fewer she turns on to finishing her drawing about a house  the paperhouse . when she fells a sleep  which often strangely happens just immediately  she finds herself near the house on a big green field . she realizes that the house is exactly like the one she has drawn and that every new detail also appears in her dreams . one day she draws a boy into the house to have somebody to talk to . as she forgets to draw his legs  because he is sitting behind a window  the boy cannot walk . later she is being told by the doctor  that a boy also has this strange disease and she realizes that with the boy she has drawn  she also got that boy into her disturbing dreams . she also notices that it gets harder and harder for her to wake up from her dreams . as she misses her father who is ofter abroad she draws her father into the house . she makes a mistake and her father is looking very angry on the painting . she tries to rubber him out but realizes that she cannot change anything already drawn . and next time she falls asleep the horror begins . her father is mad and blind  because she draw s on his head to mark him as  invalid   and tries to get into the paperhouse and kill anna and his friend . her dreams became a horrendous nightmare . they manage to escape and to kill her father and anna can finally wake up . than anna finds her self in the hospital where her parents are sitting beside her bed . the doctors thought that she fell into a coma or so . they tell anna that the other boy died and that they want to travel to the ocean to get over those tragical happenings . anna draws a watchtower and notices that the same watchtower can be found near the hotel they traveled to . she runs to the watchtower and meets the boy  i am just not mentioning his name because i cannot remember it and do not want to go back to the previous html page  and can say good bye to him and forget those terrible dreams forever .  br    br   there were a few thing i did not understand in the movie . first of all it was the ending which i absolutely dislike . i think it is too long while the main part of the movie becomes a bit too short . how does the boy fly a helicopter and speak to anna as he is supposed to be dead  why did you have to put such a stupid radio on the wall  i hated that scene it was so dumb to me . it almost ruined the main horror scene .  br    br   things i liked were the scene with the photograph of anna  s dad which was the first real scary and horror scene . i liked the boy . the actor was awesome . he was even better than anna . i also liked how anna tries to get her father out of the painting while she is asleep and how she is looking for it in the garbage .  br    br   overall a good movie . i give it a  out of   .  
do not watch this movie if you loved the classics such as tom wopat  john schneider  catherine bach  sorrell booke  james best  denver pyle  sonny shroyer  and ben jones  this movie will dissappoint you badly  first of all  this movie starts out with bo and luke running moonshine for jesse . bo and luke would not do that ever on the real series  this movie portrays unimaginable characters doing things that never would have happened in the series . in the series  uncle jesse was honest  and law  abiding . in this movie  he is a criminal who is making moonshine and smoking weed with the governor of georgia . plus  if this was an extension adding on to the dukes of hazzard reunion  and the dukes of hazzard in hollywood  i have one question how could uncle jesse be making moonshine when he died before the dukes of hazzard in hollywood movie  and how is boss hogg alive when he died before the reunion movie in      movie and rosco ran hazzard  it seems magical that these characters came back to life  when they have been dead for   and  years  if hollywood really wanted to make a good movie  they should have brought back james best  john schneider  tom wopat  ben jones  and catherine bach like they did in     and     and made a family friendly movie with the living original characters that made the show what it was and still is compared to this disgusting  disgraced movie  if you want to see good dukes movies  either buy the original series  or go out to walmart . com and buy the dvd set of  that includes the reunion  and dukes of hazzard in hollywood movies  they both star the original cast  and are family friendly  don  t waste your time on a movie that isn  t worth the cd it  s written on   
   . paperhouse  thriller  horror       sick in bed with a fever    year old anna  charlotte burke  has only her drawings to keep her company . her health progressively worsens as a series of mysterious  black outs  grip her . in each of these episodes she dreams of a house in a desolate field  with only a sickly  invalid boy named marc  elliot spiers  inhabiting it . when a dark  unknown danger threatens her idyllic  paperhouse   the life of marc is put in jeopardy . her life is also in danger as these dreams mirror her own state of health .  br    br   critique haunting first debut feature from british director bernard rose . taken from a fable   marianne dreams   by catherine storr  it leaves plenty of other  original  fantasy works in its wake . whenever a story deals with dreams and nightmares it is hard to give it the mixture of fable and reality to make it work in film form . director rose successfully captures the children fantasy world aspect along with a darkness that seeks to usurp them .  br    br   feverishly scored by phillip glass  rose knows how to use music wisely with expertly timed  jump out of your seat  moments . most thrillers are very sloppy in this all  important aspect of scaring the audience into not knowing what the next scene will bring . i also like the way he captures suspense and never lets it go or falter sluggishly into the next sequence of events . also  his mastery of placing objects within the frame  as in his p . o . v . shots  gives the cinematography an added dimension it would otherwise seem to lack . only in europe will you find such ominous looking places as the ones presented here the lonely house  the fields  coastal towns  watchtower etc .  br    br   rose would follow this film with  candyman         a true  thinking person  s  horror gem and bona fide cult horror favorite .  
the     s tv show  updated with fresh female flesh  and raunchy language .  the dukes of hazzard  passed me by it was not repeated whenever i was in front of the television in either new york or california or  i probably would have watched . still  from somewhere  like the clips accompanying this film  s updated     release   i knew it was about a fast  orange dodge charger  and  the  general lee  is still good to go .  br    br   hunky cousins seann william scott and johnny knoxville  as bo and luke duke  are the new riders of the orange sage . beautiful jessica simpson  as daisy  fills her skimpy short well  but  even her arousing pink bikini can  t beat off the competition from a dormitory full of bouncing  topless coeds . the too stupid plot involves a graying burt reynolds  as  boss  hogg  threatening to turn hazzard county into a strip  mine .  br    br    the dukes of hazzard          jay chandrasekhar  seann william scott  johnny knoxville  jessica simpson  burt reynolds  
this film is fantastic as it explores storytelling and fantasy in the way a child would  for adults . the idea of a child  s drawings becoming a place she can physically visit and have influence over is wonderful . at the same time you could get all child psychologist about it and say she  s really exploring her subconscious  just as we all do in our dreams when we sleep . the bit that gives me goose  pimples is when her dad is in the paper house  and chases her . the only thing i can  t stand is that it was marketed as a horror film . . . it really isn  t . if you want to see something british with plenty of storyline which keeps you guessing without the usual cheap thrills most films have to use  then watch paperhouse .  
if you ever watched the dukes of hazard you know that you never had to worry about drugs or cussing or crude behavior being seen by young children . if you  ve seen the movie you know that is no longer the case  this movie was horrible  main characters doing drugs and thinking it is funny and cool is certainly not what i call entertainment . they took a wonderful show and just turned it into trash . daisy who was a little flirtatious in the original show now looks and acts like she belongs on the street corner getting paid for her services . i was so excited about seeing this movie before it came out    minutes into the movie i was ready to leave . i stayed thinking it had to get better but instead it got worse by the minute . i wish i had never seen this movie . it trashed a good show and left nothing but horrible taste in my mouth when i left . do yourself a favor  go see something worth your money  cause it  s not only a waste of money but a waste of  hours of your life you will never get back   
this is a wonderfully written and well acted psychological drama . it is not really a horror flick so those looking for something like the ring or the grudge will be disappointed . what really surprised me about this film was the intelligence and subtle attention to detail in the plot and the effort made to be internally consistent . i also appreciated the absence of dr . phil psychobabble or new age revisionism . rather than advancing an agenda  the filmmakers just told the story  told it well and let the viewer think about it . the sparse dreamscapes were reminiscent of wyeth paintings and amazingly effective .  br    br   a great example of how to make a good film on a small budget  without big studios  star actors  big  name directors  this was far better than many of hitchcock  s films   special effects or  clever  plot twists .  
i have to say many people have argued that some of us need to get with the times cause the new  dukes  movie is a modernized version . oh please . if this is what you consider modernized then hollywood can keep it . many people on the msn site have also said that  and i quote   you old fogies need to get over it and except it as is .  well let me tell you something  i am   so i am a long way from being and old fogie  and i won  t get over it  it was a disgrace to all that is hazzard county . the only thing right in the movie title was  hazzard .  was all the profanity  smoking  and drinking really necessary . the cast was terrible . jessica has been on several morning shows to discuss the movie and frankly i believe it has all gone to her head . she is in no way a daisy duke  a fluke maybe  but definitely no duke . i love sean williams scott  but not as bo . they should have included the original cast as at least cameos  but even hollywood knew they wouldn  t approve of the script . i mean come on people even todays actors and actresses are voicing a negative opinion so why are some of you giving positive remarks .  
i  m glad that this is available on dvd now . this film is an excellent example of the triumph of content  style over empty  headed flashing lights  constant loud noises .  br    br   essentially  if you have a short attention span or lack the wit  imagination to engage with literary narrative you won  t like this film . the reasons for this are quite simple  but unfortunately rarely achieved matthew jacobs has done a fantastic job of transposing the story of catherine storr  s novel  marianne dreams  successfully to a screenplay . an unenviable task as anyone who has seen a film of a book will undoubtedly know .  br    br   the casting is excellent  allowing director bernard rose to use the actors in a way that is rarely seen now they indulge in the craft of acting  i know  i know  actors doing their job  acting instead of resorting to mugging inanely at the camera lens whist a kaleidoscope of car chases  explosions  fire fights break out around them is a genuinely rare treat  but it does actually happen in this film .  br    br   this brings me to the final reason that this is a film for the imaginative thinker  not the spoon  fed tabloid reader  apart from a solid script  direction  acting  it relies on atmosphere  suspense  implied horror . if it is to be categorized as horror then the presentation of  paper house  is more in the vein of sophocles than tobe hooper .  br    br   in conclusion then  if you like lots of loud noises  explosions  constant cuts   bright flashing colours you  d be better off watching  transformers   but if you like a suspenseful story which unfolds through a skillful  evocative use of narrative without insulting your intelligence by force feeding you cacophonous nonsense then this might just be your thing .  
oh geez . . . there are so many other films i want to see out there . . . i got stuck with my nephew for the weekend and this is what he wanted  yeah . . .  br    br   i used to watch this show when i was in college . . . it was mindless  kinda fun  and somewhat action  oriented . the show had a good heart tho . . . and the characters were cute no one ever got killed or even hurt badly . . . it was like a cartoon come to life . cut to     . . . what happened  this one doesn  t work . as others have said  there simply isn  t a cohesive story and the performances are weird . . . almost annoying  definitely not faithful to the original characters . . . the whole thing is a like a mad tv skit and it lasts over    minutes  this was one of the few times i  ve been embarrassed watching a film . what were they thinking  as best i can tell  must  ve been for the product marketing  toys  etc . all i can say is  let this one die a quick death . it makes the original dukes of hazzard seem like masterpiece theater . . .  br    br   i think the only remake left to do from tv is gilligan  s island . . . good luck   
i  ve read one comment which labeled this film  trash  and  a waste  br    br   of time .  i think this person got their political undies tugged a bit  br    br   too much .  br    br   i just rented the new criterion dvd  s of both yellow and blue .  br    br   these films   although hardly great   have at least become of  br    br   historical interest as to the so  called  radical student  br    br   political  social movement  of the late    s .  br    br   i hadn  t seen either picture and from their notorious reputation  i  br    br   was expecting some real porn  there isn  t any .  there is frontal  br    br   nudity  including the still verboten frontal male nudity  automatic  br    br   nc      the orwellian  x  in the u . s . but i wasn  t expecting the films  br    br   in  your  face democratic socialist message .  br    br   though it tends to the simplistic  i thought it occassionally made  br    br   its points well . both films occassionally had me laughing out loud  br    br   and the director  s commentary made it clear there was plenty of  br    br   parody in the film . especially the supposedly  pornographic  sex  br    br   scenes . the first such scene is very realistic . the lead couple is  br    br   clumsy  inept  funny and endearing in their first copulation scene .  br    br   the second   which caused the most complaints   has faked  br    br   cunnilingus and fellatio . and the last is the end of an angry fight   br    br   that is believable .  br    br   the extras include an informative introduction to the film  an  br    br   interview with the original american distributor and his attorney   br    br   excerpts from trial testimony in the u . s . and a  diary  commentary  br    br   by the director on some scenes .  br    br   this is the film that  blue noses  wouldn  t let alone and led to the  br    br   pivotal  prurient interest with no social redeeming value  standard  br    br   that  thankfully  still stands .  br    br   those with an interest in the quirks of history will find this a must  br    br   see .  
even if you  re a huge sandler fan  please don  t bother with this extremely disappointing comedy  i bought this movie for   .    assuming it has to be at least halfway decent since my man sandler is in it and because i assumed some women would get naked  judging by the r  rating and scantily  clad women on the cover  . well  there are quite a few scantily  clad women  but none get naked . i  m not sure what point this was in sandler  s career  but i  m guessing it was even before his snl days . i can be wrong . this is like watching one of his home movies . he might look back at a cheesy movie like this and reminisce about the good ol  times . . . but we  the audience  are left to dry . this is hardly a  movie   sandler does a lot of talking to the camera  and even admits at one point that this is  no  budget  movie  that  s right  not a low  budget movie  a no  budget movie  . so our job is pretty much to laugh at the quirky characters . there is no steady plot  it  s like an extended sketch comedy show   but a crude and badly written one . that guy who played the nasty comedian was completely annoying and it was implausible in the first place that he would receive such a mass audience . and sandler finds his comic inspiration by saying the one classic henny youngman line  take my wife  please  and the audience is on the floor  i  m not even going to try to make any logic here . sure  sandler  s current and recent movies are not known for making a lot of sense  the penguin in  billy madison   the midget in  happy gilmore  s  happy place  but the comedy works . this is a strictly amateurish work  and even if you  re curious about adam  s early days in film   you still won  t be interested . you  re better off checking out his start on snl or maybe his underrated role in  mixed nuts .  of course  the sandman is not the only actor wasted in this thankless vehicle . billy bob thornton also makes a short appearance  billy zane   titanic   has a supporting role and the great burt young  from the  rocky  movies  has a significant role .  br    br   this awful comedy will most probably be collecting dust on the    cent rental section of your local video store   and rightfully so .  br    br   my score   out of     
i  ve only ever seen this film once before  about ten years ago . i bought the dvd two days ago and after watching it i think it is even better than i remembered it to be .  br    br   paperhouse is much more than just a horror . it had such an amazing level of emotion and great characterisation running through it . i especially thought charlotte burke was really excellent here . it  s such a pity that she hasn  t done anything else as she was an excellent actress altogether . her portrayal of emotion throughout the film was perfect with just the right amount of subtlety to get the message across  especially at the end when she realised that although marc had died  she knew he was going to be alright .  br    br   several scenes did make me jump  which is a rarity for me in modern horror films   most notably the scene in the bathtub  the scene where anna  s father was chasing her with the weird radio in the background and the bit where the legs broke apart and crumbled to dust .  br    br   all in all  an excellent and very moving film .  
i wont go and give them my   bucks i went and bought the fourth season of the original and the best . at least my kids enjoy it and can watch it without me worrying about what they are seeing . i have a teenager and she thinks the previews are ridiculous and would rather watch the original . and she thinks jessica simpson is a horrible daisy in fact she thinks she looks more like a slut than daisy duke . those shorts she might as well not be wearing anything at all . and since when is american pie have anything to do with the dukes shame on them for putting that nasty line in there about having sex with a car . that in itself should have gotten the movie a r rating . the only good thing that might come out of this is a reunion movie with the originals . lets all hope . so the people out there that went and seen the movie will see how it should have looked  
who would have thought that such an obscure little film could be so haunting and touching  i am really impressed . it  s a shame that more people have not seen it . i loved  as always  hans zimmer  s score . and what a directorial debut by bernard rose  yet i wonder if i should call this a horror film . it could easily be argued that it is a fantasy or a drama as well . well  regardless  i love the interpretive potential it has . everything and everyone in anna  s  played by charlotte burke  dreams represents a real conflict in her life . . . the house itself  the tree  mark  the lighthouse  etc . it is the many details such as these that make the film so good for repeated viewings . i hope i come across another little movie as loaded with emotion and psychological meaning as this one some time soon .  
i had suspicions the movie was going to be bad . i  m a duke  s fan from way back . have three years of the tv series on dvd . well i was right . took the family to see it . i really wanted to see the general jump again and some of the chase jump scenes were good . but to sum it up  the movie was a dumbed down tarted up version of the tv show .  br    br   jessica simpson was pathetic . while i can honestly say that the original daisy  s outfits were just as revealing  jessica simpson  s interpretation of daisy was simply awful . sorrel booke and denver pyle must be rolling in their graves as well .  br    br   don  t waste your money . if you are an old tried and true dukes fan like me and my three kids are you will be very disappointed .  
not knowing what this film was about  i checked it out at the video store and after seeing it  i enjoyed it . little seen multi  genre flick from director bernard rose  candyman  immortal beloved  . great story and characters . as a fan of glenne healdy  s  i was surprised of her british accent . the only exception for this film was the ending . however  it is worth the rent .  
the dukes of hazzard will academy awards   best actor and actress  the persons who can say with a straight face that this was a great movie .  br    br   this  movie  was a torture to watch . so sad how an weekly half hour entertainment was destroyed by these amateurs . the only good thing about this crap was the car  i remember when daisy was a real threat to look  ward  . who  s the moron that decided that jessica simpson is hot   we know she can  t act but come on . in the tv show daisy was a fox and brunette .  br    br   all members who contributed in these waste of time please please please don  t even think about makin a sequel  a prequel or anything that  s got  do with a former tv show .  br    br   i gave a empty dvd so this  movie  could be burned  me . i sat trough it and i want my money back   
as a lover of the surreal  in art and film  i was pleased to discover this film on ifc . it is definitely a keeper . most of the other reviews tell the general plot  not all correct  so i won  t bother to bore anyone with that . the main thing is the alternate worlds concept which is brought on by ana  s impending illness  and the way she manages to link with someone else after being so  alone   and finally with her family  which i believe is still at least a little troubled . it only can be called a horror movie in that it has frightening scenes but is a fantasy  with a little hint of  coming of age  only because ana is a pre  teen who  hates boys   . i heartily recommend it to those who appreciate the stretch of their imagination .  
ok we all love the daisy dukes  but what is up with this cast . lets start  jessica simpson as daisy  there is not one thing country about this girl and daisy was not ditzy  uncle jesse was probably the closest one to resemble the original . no offense to burt  but i never noticed boss hog being so tall . that was part of the humor of boss hog was his size . did they even try someone like danny devito    ok  now get this they cast jessica simpson did anyone take a look at her husband  he matches luke duke to a tee       cleary these producers did not look at the appearance of the old cast members . the screen t  s were never present on the dukes   this made the movie a turn off from the beginning . i give this a huge thumbs down .  
my name is john mourby and this is my story about paperhouse in may     i saw alfred hitchcock  s psycho  i was very scared and deeply disturbed . i began a frantic search for a film that was frightening in the same way . but none where satisfactory . amongst those tried and failed were the birds  night of the living dead  the silence of the lambs  the blair witch project  ring  the evil dead  the sixth sense    days later  the texas chainsaw massacre  halloween  near dark  alien  peeping tom  the cell  rosemary  s baby  don  t look now  witchfinder general  friday the   th and the omen . that should confirm i was desperate  long after i had stopped searching i found out about paperhouse  .  br    br   paperhouse is based on a favourite book that i own  called marianne dreams . paperhouse had also come up in some of the books i had found on horror films  but they didn  t tell me about the link between book and film . i discovered the truth while on the internet  i bought the film later that day .  br    br   i thought paperhouse would not be faithful to the book and dull . unfaithal it certainly was but dull certainly not . it was the answer to my prayers marianne is renamed anna in the film but most of the original story is the same . one day in school anna draws a house in her scrap book  nothing remarkable about that  then she becomes ill and every time she faints or falls asleep she finds herself outside a creepy old house  and i mean genuinely unnerving  . more she also finds that every time she puts something new in the drawing it appears in the dreamworld  eg an apple tree . anna draws into the dreamworld a rather sad boy named mark who apparently is a person in the real world . mark is a cripple but wants to leave the house  obligingly anna draws in a lighthouse  a place to go to  but still the problem remains mark can  t walk . so anna decides to draw her father in . she gets her pencil out and gets too work  but the outcome is deformed and unsettling anna particularly dislikes his eyes . quote  he looks like madman  . so anna tries to rub him out and start again  but the pencil proves indelible  that means nothing can be rubbed out  . then anna loses her temper and crosses out her father  s eyes  i leave you too find out for you self the terrible consequences of the rash action .  br    br   paperhouse truly is the british answer to a nightmare on elm street  the viewing of this film left me shocked and upset . but i have found what i was looking for after  years . the question is how dose the compare with psycho  answer   the old dark house   psychological parental fears   a genuine shock   and very scary music .  
have i seen a worse movie  perhaps only  manos the hands of fate  dragged more than  dukes  . i had more fun poking at the gigantic plot holes than the movie gave me at any point . let  s touch on a few . . .  br    br   there was a noticeable script death and rebirth when sheev is talking to the dukes and they don  t respond . he shrugs and moves on  since neither the knoxville or scott know what he  s talking about  nor do we  . it was like the engine died and was restarted .  br    br   the few times the general lee flew through the air weren  t even that exciting . nothing i haven  t seen on the tv series .  br    br   very little chemistry between knoxville and scott . the best part was when bo is upset at luke for stealing the girl he liked . the only reason this works is that the script actually forshadowed it  although roughly  . the rest of the time it seems distant and forced .  br    br   seann william scott  s awful  horrendous accent  or lack thereof  .  br    br   i hated willie nelson  s performance . were bad jokes supposed to be endearing  i wanted him to disappear .  br    br   jessica simpson comes across splendidly on the big screen . she actually felt like one of the better actors in the film . that  s telling you how horrible this movie is . she  s a goddess .  br    br   during the climax of the film  i was rooting for boss hogg and the bad guys to flatten all of hazzard county  starting with willie nelson and his accomplices . a nuclear bomb would have sufficed .  br    br   this is not meant to be a coherent dismantling of the film  but a release of frustration at the abysmal writing and execution of what could have been a truly heartwarming film .  br    br   if only we could erase and start over . . .  
anna  charlotte burke  develops a strange fever that causes her to pass out and drift off into a world of her own creation . a bleak world she drew with a sad little boy as the inhabitant of an old dumpy house in the middle of a lonely field . lacking in detail  much like any child drawing the house and it  s inhabitant marc  who can  t walk because anna didn  t draw him any legs  are inhabitants of this purgatory  limbo world . anna begins visiting the boy and the house more frequently trying to figure what  s what and in the process tries to help save the boy  but her fever is making it harder for her to wake up each time and may not only kill her  but trap her and marc there forever .  br    br   wow  is a good word to sum up bernard rose  s brilliantly haunting and poetic paperhouse . a film that is so simple that it  s damn near impossible to explain and impossible to forget . while you may find this puppy in your horror section it  s anything but . it  s more of a serious fantasy  expertly directed  and exceptionally well acted by it  s cast  in particular charlotte burke and elliot speirs  marc  . and yet  it  s not a children  s movie either  but meant to make us remember those carefree days of old that are now just dark memories . rose creates a rich tapestry of moody ambiance that creates a thrilling backdrop for the brilliant story and great actors to play with . paperhouse stays away from trying to explain it  s more dreamy qualities and leaves most things to the viewers imagination . there  s much symbolism and ambiguity here to sink your teeth into . paperhouse enjoys playing games with the viewers mind  engrossing you with it  s very own sense of reasoning . as the story unfolded i was again and again impressed at just how powerful the film managed to be up to the finale which left me with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye .  br    br   bernard rose  s visuals are brilliant here . he  s able to create an unnervingly bleak atmosphere that appears simple on the surface  but as a whole is much greater than the sum of it  s parts . the acting is of young charlotte burke in this  her feature debut  is a truly impressing as well . unfortunately she  s not graced the screen since . a much deserved burnout central award only seems proper for that performance . toward the end the movie lags a bit here and there  but i was easily able to overlook it . i wished they had took a darker turn creating a far more powerful finale that would have proved to be all the more unnerving and truly riveting in retrospect . the movie as is  is still one for the books and deserves to be seen by any serious film lover . it  s a poetic ride told through the innocent eyes of a child  a powerful film in which much is left to be pondered and far more to be praised .  
when a movie like  the dukes of hazzard  brings in over    million it makes some incredibly sad statements about the condition of our own society . either we are collectively too stupid to stay away from trash like this or maybe i  m just not realizing how many people this kind of no  effort trash will appeal to .  br    br   hollywood has had no incentive to make good movies since if it puts out trash then people will see it anyways since there is nothing else on screen . this is that . i walked out despite getting a free movie pass . the dialogue could not be dumber . the stunts could not be more over  the  top and outrageous . perhaps this  bigger that big  image appeals to texans but it didn  t appeal to me nor anyone else in the theater . none of the  big names  were in this career  ending flick  except for burt reynolds  which says all you need to hear . jessica simpson   don  t make me laugh .  br    br   i wouldn  t even recommend this film for video  even if you were desperate . this was all about fooling the public to make enough money after opening day to equal or do better than it cost through marketing . they did despite the public being forewarned . stupidity abound .  
put quite simply  this film is terrifying .  br    br   it starts off simply  looking like a study of a rebellious young girl and goes on to become a beautifully crafted horror film .  br    br   don  t expect gore  or zombies . this is psychological  and just as he would also do in candyman  bernard rose manages to convey the horror that is not being believed .  br    br   each time you watch this film  you realise more about what  s happening  and about how the two worlds in this film interconnect .  br    br   drawings have never been scarier .  
i don  t understand why making remakes has become the trend . every remake i have ever seen is awful  and this is no exception . if any of you have seen the quote from ben jones  that it is a  sleazy  piece of trash  he is quite right . why they would take a wonderful television show  which i loved  have never missed an episode  and own seasons    on dvd  and ruin it  i  ll never know . the television show was a family show  and although daisy has the body  it was really flaunted  or even addressed in the show  save the outfits . a family show has been turned in to a dirty piece of garbage  and i wouldn  t recommend anyone go see it . another thing i didn  t like was that john schneider and tom wopat are excellent actors  along with the rest of the original cast   and they are also extremely cute . the new bo and luke are not even a little cute . that was one of the drawers for the show . the casting is terrible . they could have at least gotten a brunette for daisy . i don  t think burt reynolds is a qualified boss hogg  either . every other role he has ever played is totally opposite this role . the only role they cast halfway decent is willie nelson as uncle jesse  but still it is no comparison . denver pyle is an actor all his own  and that made him perfect for the role . i think that the casting is awful  the story is awful  and all in all ruined a wonderful show and turned it into a dirty  terrible movie . i wouldn  t recommend anyone go see it . i only saw it out of curiosity  plus there was a free ticket in season  dvd . i would never have paid to see this movie  but it was free . don  t pay to see this movie .  
my friend and i picked  paperhouse  out of a random pile of movies on our weekly excursion to the horror section   neither of us had heard of it  but the blurb on the box was really promising . and the movie didn  t disappoint  though i still probably wouldn  t call it a horror movie exclusively .  br    br      year old anna madden draws a house  and visits it in her dreams . she is definitely asleep when she  s seeing the house  but it  s so real in a sense that it  s almost like a completely separate reality . which  in view of later events  doesn  t seem like a far cry from the truth . anyhow  she finds she can add to the house  its contents and its surroundings by simply adding to the picture .  br    br   while this is going on  anna is getting increasingly more ill with a fever  and besides that is getting totally obsessed with the house and her drawing . on top of that  she and her mother are also dealing with her absent father he has a job that takes him away for long stretches  though one gets the impression there  s actually more to the story than that .  br    br   ok  so the drawing stuff sounds nice enough   but frankly there  s something really menacing about it . the dreamworld is eerily surreal   the house  for instance  is just a grey block in the middle of a desolate field . the folks who made the movie did a great job of making us very uncomfortable with this alternate world  ongoing dream . . .  br    br   one of the things anna adds to the house is a boy  mark  who seems to be the same patient her doctor keeps talking about  i  m not giving that away  you know from the moment he appears that it  s the same kid  . in reality  mark can  t walk due to an illness in anna  s drawing  world  he can  t walk because she didn  t draw him any legs . she blames herself for his real  life illness  and tries to rectify the situation  but . . . everything starts getting really weird . she even brings her absent father into the drawing  with disastrous results . the bits with the father are really terrifying .  br    br   i don  t want to give anything away  so i  ll stop there . . . there seems to be a lot going on in this film . i  m sure you  ll have a ball analyzing this thing do death with your pals after you watch it   is it a simple a story as it seems  or are there actually layers of meaning  i don  t know  but either way it  s quite fascinating . there was a  nightmare on elm street   ish quality about it  in that at a certain point reality and dreams intersect . i love things like that .  br    br   my only complaint is that it feels like it could have ended many times  but didn  t . i  m satisfied with the ending it had  some of you sensitive types might want to have kleenex handy    though it really could have a variety of conclusions . anyway  it doesn  t exactly feel drawn out once it  s actually over  but while you  re watching and it keeps fading back in  it  s a little nerve wracking .  br    br   still   paperhouse  is a really good film . it  s well done  and acting   especially charlotte burke as anna   is top notch . burke  who has never before or since appeared in a film  is a real gem . i don  t know why she never went onto do anything else  but either way she  s really convincing and enjoyable to watch .  br    br    paperhouse  isn  t exactly a horror movie  it  s sort of a fantasy  suspense  something else type of movie  with some definite horroresque moments   but you can still watch it with your family and not be worried that your little brother or grandmother will get grossed out by blood splashing or something .  br    br   give it a chance  you won  t regret it  and maybe you should read the book  too . . .  
if this movie should be renamed  it should be  the jackasses of hazzard .  to sum it up  this movie is nothing but   minutes of two immature country punks joyriding the famed     dodge charger around town and in the country  chasing the girls and eluding the law .  br    br   i have been a fan of the  dukes  and what tarnishes the movie is the characters are out of key . the overindulgence of profanity  sexual references  and drug use  has made the good name of the  dukes  into trailer trash .  br    br   side from comparing it to the television show  the acting was horrible . the only actor that got it right was the famed     dodge charger named general lee . the others have exaggerated the character  s role which tarnished the movie .  br    br   the  dukes  have been another casualty of the    st century hollywood television  to  big screen transition tragedy . skip this movie and just buy the television series on dvd .  br    br   my grade f  
this is a way cool fantasy movie . one of my faves  it really is so cool . the director is bernard rose who went on to direct candyman  he made a great start with this film .  br    br   the film about a girl called anna who falls ill with glandular fever on her   th birthday . she draws a house on a shred of paper from her exercise book and falls into a dream in which the house is real . each subsequent dream that she has is altered by the presence of whatever she adds to the picture . in her third dream she meets a boy she thinks she has created called mark . she befriends him and their relationship becomes stronger as the dreams become darker and scarier .  br    br   charlotte burke who plays anna is a terrific actress and it is very strange that  after just one film  she should disappear and never be in anything ever again . she really does give a great performance in this film .  br    br   hans zimmer  s score is also ace . much like broken arrow  the music is ghostly and mysterious . it  s a real shame that the soundtrack is not available on cd anymore . the dvd is available in r  only .  
hollywood now has officially gone too far and i really hope that this travesty of a motion picture creates a genuine backlash against their crap machines  in spite of the good box office returns . if you are an industry person reading our comments looking for hints on what to do next  stop . stop making our tv shows into these repellent  stupid  money grubbing waste of time movies that suck . by doing so you are proving one thing hollywood is out of ideas  and going to see the movies they churn out only perpetuates the cycle of disgust . what  s next   you guys gonna go  ruin the bionic man    br    br   the film is just plain wrong  and manages to get the most stupid  simple fact of the show totally incorrect by forgetting  or ignoring  that tom wopat  john schneider  s bo  luke duke were reformed moonshiners . they had been busted  learned their lesson  gone straight  and were there to help people and be good neighbors who just happened to shoot dynamite tipped arrows from hunting bows  drive like steve mcqueen . denver pyle  s uncle jessie was also the moral center of the family  always insisting that the boys do good  even at their own expense or embarrassment while he made sandwiches and coffee for when the chores were done . they always did the right thing and had a sort of earnest naivet about them that was quite appealing . we wanted to be more like them than we were  sorta . my favorite gimmick from the show was how they always buckled their seat belts before roaring off  which was apparently too moral for this film .  br    br   by transforming the duke family into a pack of leering  wisecracking  criminally minded  redneck baiting  misogynistic losers the movie has no moral standpoint  where the show was all about how honest or incorruptible the dukes were   are the duke boys in this movie supposed to come off as good guys  i wanted to punch them both in the nose . they seem to have a lot of free time on their hands that could be spent doing chores back at the farm and end up pursuing less than noble ends  if not acting like a pair of   year old boys who haven  t grown up . there should be no marijuana use  no gawking at buxom  nubile coeds  their breasts  no shenanigans involving the brothers in da hood . all of it looks like the work of a marketing consultant who took a poll at the mall of what   year old boys like to see in movies . the problem being that   year old boys cannot possibly remember the show  imho shouldn  t be seeing this movie either  and the parents who might feel nostalgia for the show will be disgusted by what the writers  director  producers did to our collective memories just to part us from our money  which is exactly how i feel . what were they thinking     br    br   and boy did they ever get daisy wrong . jessica simpson all dolled up like a pamela anderson mall slut may be the only reason for anyone to see this disgrace  but you can service your needs just fine downloading some promotional stills of her  printing them up  pinning them to the wall in a restroom . she is hardly in the film at all  which is the movie  s only saving grace   and the ten minutes or so they used her was still excessive . catherine bach  s daisy may have had the same kind of shorts  and long legs that make people feel funny just looking at her  but the daisy she played was a person . the pratfalls she elicited by simply being who she was had an almost natural ring to it . she remains one of the most outrageously sexy pop culture icons ever created but there was somebody at home . and most importantly she was a sweet  caring person who couldn  t help it if the guys went ga ga over her .  br    br   by contrast  jessica simpson appears phony  contrived  made up  costumed  posed  aloof  bored  out of place  and i don  t think she even looks that great in the outfit . she doesn  t look like a person but a plot device  conjured up during a deal with someone representing her agent . ms . simpson would be well advised to fire that person immediately and pretend like the whole thing never even happened . whatever the joke was  she isn  t in on it and is disgracefully exploited for ta . if that  s all she wants from her career  executive produce the sequel if only to ensure yourself enough screen time at least  because this effort was just pathetic .  br    br   the bottom line is skip it . for the cost of two tickets and a slurpee to go you can pick up one of warner bros . excellent box set collections of the original shows on dvd and the entire family can watch them together . that was why it worked . the only real purpose i can see in the film might be it  s future use as an interrogation tool at guantanamo bay . twenty minutes of this  they  ll be singing a choir .  br    br        and i mean it . and stay the hell away from the bionic man  you schnooks .  
i do miss the company vestron  they sure had their finger on the pulse of unique and unusual cinema back in the     s . this is very apparent with the astonishing paperhouse  a film that touches me deeply each and every time i watch it .  br    br   the idea of a girl manipulating a dream world with her drawings  thusly the dream world manipulating reality   and also connecting with and affecting the life of a boy she  s never actually met  is fascinating and never disappoints . charlotte burke at first seems quite precocious and yet you warm up to her because by being a bit of a mischievous child  it makes it hard for the adults to believe what she is experiencing . she becomes very self aware and strong towards the end  even finding she doesn  t  hate boys  as she so defiantly claimed at first . through this we are treated to many touching moments and some immensely scary ones  all visually stunning with a grand score from hans zimmer . i  m quite proud to be an owner of the soundtrack on cd when it was released in the united states on rca victor . at the time of this writing there is no dvd of paperhouse yet available in the u . s .  only in europe   here  s hoping one of my wishes will come true as i truly cherish this beautiful film and a dvd of it would be very welcome   br    br   it  s satisfying watching the girl work out her thoughts like a puzzle game trying to make the dream world work for her and her newfound friend marc  elliot spiers  . both charlotte burke and elliot spiers do a magnificent job throughout  i find the editorial comment on amazon . com about it being  hammy acting  quite perplexing   i found every aspect of paperhouse to be exhilarating . even in minor scenes of brilliance like when charlotte and the girl in the classroom are staring at each other through the glass on a door  it  s quite powerful .  br    br   you don  t have to be an arthouse type to enjoy paperhouse  just be a person that enjoys a film that stimulates and has you wanting more . there is enough in this film to invite repeated viewings and i  m still in awe of the cinematography and sets . for me  it  s never like watching the same film twice  as there are so many details to absorb and savor . a very emotional experience indeed .  br    br   while there are many films i adore  there are only a few specific ones that strike a great emotional chord in me films like paperhouse  static  resurrection  and donnie darko . when i see so much drek out there passing as films that will easily be forgotten and in bargain bins  all i have to do is watch paperhouse and my faith in wondrous storytelling is renewed .  
i  ll tell you what happened  some people with money thought it would be nice to ruin one of the best shows that was on tv . did we really need a big screen re  make  did they ask the fans  i wonder how all the fans would feel if they did a remake of  rocky horror picture show  with actors like ashton krutcher  steve martin  britney spears  and kiefer southerland  took out all the music  and made it a drama . do you think they would like that  this movie does not have the same feel to it that the original had . sure the original was a bit corny at times  but bo and luke were always nice  they got into trouble because they were always set up to get into trouble  and their main objective was to help people that passed through town . none of that mattered to the people that made this film  they might have never even seen the original show all the way through . my big question is  what will they ruin next   
fascinating i approached i am curious  yellow  and it  s companion piece with great trepidation . i  d read numerous reports on its widely touted controversy and explicit sex . what i got wasn  t this  but a thoroughly thought provoking and engaging cinema experience unlike any other . i sincerely believe that the majority of the commenter who felt the film was lame  or boring  approached the film as if it were pornography . perhaps this is pornography  assuming pornography is something intended to titillate the senses  but it is intentionally un  erotic . lena  the protagonist  throws her all into her performance giving it a realistic and humanity that is simply convincing and enduring . her breasts may be saggy  her nipples unusually large  her thighs fat  and her face  chubby . but by the end of the film  the audience comes to identify with her  and accept her faults as human . this touch gives her even more believability out necessity . had the director cast a briget bardot bombshell the effect would have been nullified . i cannot more highly recommend this thought provoking piece . be prepared to invest much thought in this deliberately paced film . the patient and unassuming viewer will be thoroughly rewarded in ways most other films could dream .  
i am a huge adam sandler fan  and one day i was looking at the castcrew selection on one of his dvd  s and saw  going overboard  and decided to go out and rent it . so i went out with a few buddies of mine and rented it . we put it on and we were shocked to see an adam sandler that didn  t hit puberty yet  he looks as if he was   when this movie came out . i couldn  t even watch   minutes of this crap  i didn  t laugh  chuckle  or even smirk at this movie  actually the only time i smirked was when i saw how horrid this movie was . i could not believe how hard he tried to make the viewers laugh in this movie . . . and it didn  t work once . although from seeing the horribly awful camera angles and hearing the disgusting script i realized why i had never heard of this movie  . . . because it sucks more than anything has ever sucked before . this movie  in my opinion  was the worst movie ever made  . . . . ever   
anna  charlotte burke   who is just on the verge of puberty  begins to have strange dreams which start affecting her in real life   especially involving a boy named mark  elliott spiers  who she meets in her dreams .  br    br   very unusual fantasy with some truly terrifying moments . despite the fact that this is about a teenage girl and has a pg    rating  this is not for children . also  if you hate fantasies stay far away . but if you  re game for something different this fits the bill .  br    br   well directed by bernard rose with a just beautiful music score and a few nice  scary jolts . the only thing that prevents this from being a really great movie is burke   she  s not a very good actress  it  s no surprise that this has been her only film  and it hurts the movie . however  everybody else is just great .  br    br   spiers is very good as mark glenne headley  faking a british accent very well  is also very good as anna  s mother and ben cross is both frightening and sympathetic as anna  s father .  br    br   a sleeper hit when released in      it  s since faded away . that  s too bad   it  s really very good .  
this movie sucked  they took something from my childhood  and raped it in an outhouse  this movie was so bad i wanted to go home and hold my  dukes  dvds and cry in a corner . the cast was terrible  it wasn  t  the dukes   it was stiffler and jackass driving a car . when was boss hogg evil  when was rosco a tough guy  they never were  boss hogg was greedy and rosco was an idiot . when did jesse smoke pot  he never did  now don  t get me wrong  i  m very liberal and there  s nothing wrong with a little chiba  but it had no place in this movie  the only thing good about this movie was the trailers before the movie and the end credits . it was a waste of money time and air . avoid at all costs          
a great film this  and a shame that it will receive little attention outside of arthouse circles and students who stay up until two in the morning to watch it on channel four .  br    br   the plot is a simple one but works very effectively  the blurring between child  like fantasy and hard  hitting nightmare is very well blurred . the budget looks pretty low  but to the credit of those involved it doesn  t show too often . it also hasn  t dated that much either .  br    br   i was lucky enough to tape this off the telly when it was on a few years ago  and it has withstood half  a  dozen viewings . it  s one of those films that won  t appeal to all though as usual  those with a more thoughtful approach to cinema would get a lot out of this .  br    br   charlotte buerke puts in a good performance as anna  the spoilt brat and it is a shame she seems to have gone from the acting scene . cross is also very good  carrying the stature of his character very well within the context of the picture .  br    br   there are some genuinely  and i don  t say that lightly  disturbing moments in this film  both half  second shockers and more drawn  out tensions . watch it with the lights out   br    br   highly recommended .  br    br        br    br    
first let me say that i am not a dukes fan  but after this movie the series looked like law and order . the worst thing was the casting of roscoe and boss hogg . burt reynolds is not boss hogg  and even worse was m . c . gainey as roscoe  if they ever watched the show roscoe was not a hard ass cop . he was more a barney fife than the role he played in this movie .  br    br   the movie is loaded with the usual errors  cars getting torn up  and continues like nothing happened . the worst example of this is when the the general gets together with billy prickett  and the general is ran into a dirt hill obviously slowing to a near stop  but goes on to win the race .  
paperhouse is the most moving and poignant film i  ve ever seen . often classed as a  horror movie  this  i believe  is a grave error . some journo once called it  the thinking person  s nightmare on elm street  and while i accept the logic of his conclusion i can  t help but think it  s a tag that is ill deserved and misleading . those that can only see horror are truly missing out here and only serves to demonstrate they  re really not thinking at all .  br    br   in fact  just attempting to classify this wonderful work is probably a bad idea . quite simply  paperhouse is perfect in every exquisite detail and will always have a special place in my heart . as someone wiser than me once said   the film hits you on a completely emotional level   which may go some way to explaining why my comments are so unrelentingly gushing . to be honest  i make no apology for this so if you feel my words are too saccharine for your taste  stop reading now because there  s more to come .  br    br   it  s so rare to find a film that has at its heart the pain and heartache of childhood and the struggle to overcome the dreadful feelings of isolation and loneliness that can completely overwhelm us at this fragile time in our lives . even more unusual to find child actors who can actually play their roles with the sensitivity and intelligence required to make it all work . in charlotte burke and elliott spiers we had an inspired piece of casting and the lasting impact of paperhouse owes much to their ability to portray the melancholy and alienation of childhood  often overlooked  in a seamless and convincing way .  br    br   and yet both of these brilliant young stars seemed to have slipped through the grasp of the studios and have somehow faded away .  br    br   add to all this an incredibly talented director  bernard rose   imaginative cinematography and the most beautiful and haunting soundtrack you  re ever likely to hear and you may start to get an inkling of why i have such affection and affinity for this film that no amount of words can express .  br    br    
for this review  a list of good points and bad points . i  ll start with the bad .  br    br   bad pointsthe casting choices  especially burt reynolds as boss hogg   the acting of said badly chosen cast  the storyline  the idea of setting the film in the modern day  the direction  the editing  the soundtrack  and above all  the whole idea of making a feature film out of a television series that wasn  t that great to start with  despite it  s popularity .  br    br   good pointsjessica simpson in a red bikini . . . . . . . . . . . . that  s it   br    br   one might make an analogy here . in the scene where jessica simpson as daisy duke struts her way up to michael weston as enos  and asks the question   enos  where  s boss hogg and roscoe    in his clouded judgment  tells her where they are . she might just as well have asked   enos  is this a good movie    the red bikini would have clouded his judgment into saying yes  even though in his right mind he would have said   no  not really .  as good as she looked in the bikini  she could have been stark naked  and even that would not have saved this horrible piece of film  making . stay out of hazzard   
if ever i was asked to remember a song from a film of yester years  then it would have to be  chalo di daar chalo chand ke paar chalo  for its meaning  the way it is sung by lata mangeshkar and mohd . rafi  the lyrics by kaif bhopali and not to mention the cinema photography when the sailing boat goes out against the black background and the shining stars . the other would have to be  chalte chalte .  pakeezah was meena kumari  s last film before she died and the amount of it time it took can be seen on the screen . in each of the the songs that are picturised  she looks young but after that she does not . but one actor who didn  t change in his looks was the late raj kumar  who falls in love with her and especially her feet  after he accidentally goes into her train cabin and upon seeing them  he leaves a note describing how beautiful they are .  br    br   conclusion pakeezah is a beautiful romantic story that  if at all possible should be viewed on large screen just for the sake of the cinema photography and songs . the movie stars the meena kumari  raj kumar and ashok kumar and is directed by kamal amrohi .  br    br   kamal amrohi  s grandson has now started to revive his grand father  s studio by making a comedy movie .  
what a snore  fest .  br    br   of all the bits of nostalgia that hollywood has decided to remake and update  this is by far one of the most pointless . this was a totally pointless show in the first place  and we really don  t need a  modern  update .  br    br   never mind the bigotry and sexism inherent in the system from the beginning  so many advances have been made  socially  since the show ran that the entire point of the show  if it ever had one  has been lost .  br    br   also  what is the point of having a character named boss hogg if he  s not overweight   
this film opened to poor showings in the first few weeks . then meena kumari died and it just brought the crowds rolling in . songs on all india radio  especially inhi logon ne were played so often that i was sick of them at the time  despite recognising their beauty   br    br   yes  it did take all those years to make . this was because the marriage was a very unhappy one and kamal amrohi also had difficulty finding the money to make the film looking at the sumptous sets and costumes  not surprising   not only does meena kumari age and fall ill but listen carefully to lata  s voice . inhi logon ne has her    s younger voice while songs that were re  recorded like chalo dildar chalo show clear development . i only wish someone would find the ghulam mohammad songs that weren  t included in the film  because of changing fashions that called for fewer though slightly songs and publish them . lata in a recent interview       rated ghulam mohammad as one of the best composers she had ever worked with  apart from madan mohan  a great personal friend  . notice also that you hardly see the actors at all in the chalo dildar songs  very unusual . there is only a brief shot of raj kumar from the middle distance and you only see the back of the supposed meena kumari . kamal amrohi made a virtue out of necessity and focused on the stars and moon . any other film  this song would have had close  ups of both of them .  br    br   as for this being the finest film ever  i would beg to differ . it means you have missed a lot of indian cinema  in no particular order  films like barsaat  old   devdas  older versions   bandini  do bigha zameen  garam hava  dastak  guddi  aan  pyasa  kagaz ke phool  sahib bibi aur ghulam  kabuliwallah  abhimaan  guide  sujatha  bombay ka babu  daag  parineeta  old   umrao jaan  etc . etc . and if you valued music more than story the list would simply grow with beautiful scores from barsat ki raat to naya daur  teesri manzil  mahal  aag  jugnu  anand  mera naam joker the list is really endless   br    br   so enjoy pakeezah but don  t miss out on any of the above . . .  
in hazzard county  georgia  cousins bo and luke duke  scott  knoxville  and their cousin daisy duke  jessica simpson  run moonshine made by their uncle jesse  willie nelson  while avoiding the local authority  boss hog  burt reynolds  . their problems with the boss are only beginning as they learn he  s been plotting to strip mine the town for valuable ores found below it .  br    br   i have never seen the tv show and after watching the movie  i  m not going to start any time soon . i like stupid comedies but this one didn  t offer many laughs . it was a pretty dull picture with the first hour being really hard to sit through . the second part was a little better but this film was still a missed opportunity . the film focused on bo and luke way too much . the characters in general weren  t very interesting and the actors portraying them didn  t do a very good job .  br    br   the acting wasn  t very good . i wasn  t expecting it to be good in the first place but none of the leads were very funny . seann william scott and johnny knoxville both give below average performances . the latter was pretty good as stifler but he tries way too hard here . the latter just seems to be looking for a paycheck and nothing else . jessica simpson isn  t known for her acting nor is she really known for her singing . she  s famous for having her own reality show and for saying really dumb things . she is pretty but she  s a weak actor . it doesn  t matter though because she doesn  t really appear in the movie and the character she plays isn  t complex or anything . willie nelson also has a minor role and he doesn  t do anything special .  br    br   the screenplay was written by john o  brien and he made two films prior to the dukes of hazzard . the first one was cradle to the grave  which was okay . the second one was starsky and hutch which was pretty funny . he doesn  t do a good job here though as the story is a mess . he also forgot to add jokes and a few other things that would have made this film work better . the movie is also pretty long for a comedy . okay     minutes isn  t exactly long but it feels so much longer because there  s very little humor in the first hour . i think comedies should be kept short or else they have to find a lot of material to cover the entire running time . the dukes of hazzard barely has enough funny gags to keep it going for thirty minutes let alone    minutes . the car sequences were average and they don  t save an already troubled film . in the end  dukes of hazzard may appeal to a few people but most people will probably find it dull and it  s better if you just skip it . rating      
such a film of beauty that it  s hard to describe . maybe it  s the absence of superfluous dialogue  or maybe it  s the absolutely stellar soundtrack  or maybe it  s just meena mumari  s feet  but it  s a joy to watch this movie again and again . i  ve never seen another indian movie that comes close to it  and few from any country rival its perfection .  
 . . . then you  d better not watch this movie . they  ve completely ruined the premise of the show . in the movie the duke boys are idiots  daisy is trampy  roscoe is sinister  boss hogg is capable  uncle jessie is a criminal . . . only cooter and flash are true to the original characters . at least enos is kinda close .  br    br   at one point they open the doors to get into the general lee   nuff said .  br    br   the original show may not have been great tv  but it was entertaining and the characters made sense . this movie is like dumb  dumber meets the simple life .  
mina kumari exhibits more style and grace just moving from standing  to sitting on the floor than you can find in most other movies . the director has produced more memorable scenes of touching beauty than it would seem possible . the music and dancing is of the highest possible quality . you may notice in the first dance scene the director has all sorts of things occurring in the backgroundother girl dancing  a drunk falling down stairs  much activity  but he knew that we would be watching mina dance and i  ll bet unless you viewed this many times  you didn  t notice . all in all  perfection . j . q .  
film makeovers of old tv shows seems to be the norm in hollywood these days  but this disrespectful  toilet humor  do  you  kiss  your  mother  with  that  mouth foul language  rip  off is a blatant middle finger to all dukes of hazzard fans both north and south of the mason  dixon line . from the opening sequence of bo and luke duke making a moonshine run for uncle jesse  no shine running in the show because it would put the boys back in jail as a parole violation  to the closing sequence of uncle jesse smoking weed with the governor of georgia  uncle jesse was the moral compass despite his previous moonshining ways  this disappointing waste of film is an open faced insult . i can  t tell you how many parents i saw get up and remove their children from the theater within the first   minutes of the movie when they realized that they had been horribly deceived . the original dukes of hazzard was a family show with basic moral values . the original dukes of hazzard was a kid safe  hemi powered  show of fun that parents didn  t have to worry about teaching their kids george carlin  s seven words . i have read reviews stating that the show and the movie are nothing but racist . those commits might be correct about the movie . those commits are absolutely incorrect about the show . the show  if anything  was about how to get along and be friends with anyone . hollywood has finally come out in the open about their disdain for those of us  yankee  rebel  or otherwise  who still believe in honor  loyalty  trust  family  and doing the right thing even if it is not the popular thing . hollywood has finally brought to light its belief that those of us in the heartland are stupid  uneducated  beer swilling  foul mouthed  trash that will buy any piece of garbage they are willing to sell . prove the hollywood elitist that they are wrong . do not go see this movie . boycott the sponsors . fill warner bros . email and snail mail boxes with complaints that we don  t appreciate them destroying one of the greatest t . v . shows of all time . save your money and buy the dvd  s of the original show  but whatever you do do not go see this movie  
the ultimate homage to a great film actress . the film is a masterpiece of poetry on the screen . like great poetry it is timeless . direction  cast  screenplay  music  lyrics  in fact all the norms for movie  making are perfectly chosen to suit the message of the film . the muslim society in india has never been presented with such respect  nobility and reality . the script is memorable in the hands of meena  ashok  raaj kumar  nadira etc to name a few . personally i was most impressed by the regal looking kamal kapoor . the master movie maker kamal amrohi  s lasting legacy to the sub  continent . a very beautiful film on a controversial theme that makes humanity look up and face the reality of the outcasts in the world .  in ka naam  pakeeza  haan pakeza  . such acting is unheard of in this age of sex  dance and pornography .  
why take a show that millions of us watched and loved as children and make a complete joke of it  they ask why hollywood isn  t making the money it used to . because they put out garbage and pay actors huge amounts of money to be garbage men and ask us to pay    to see their garbage . the tv show was what it was  good people in bad situations where the good il  boys come out on top . it wasn  t gone with the wind but it was fun . this movie is garbage  hollywood can  t come up with anything original so they take something that was good and ruin it for some  . i only hope that this movie makes   x  s less than it cost to make . the only one  s to have any fun with this crap are the guys who got to drive the general lee . the audience is the victim .  br    br   don  t see it  watch the reruns of the tv show instead . they still hold up   years later .  
this is definitely one of the best movies i  ve ever seen   it has everything   a genuinely touching screenplay  fine actors that make subtlety a beautiful art to watch  an actually elegant romance  it  s a shame that that kind of romance just doesn  t seem to exist anymore   lovely songs and lyrics  especially the final song   an artistic score  and costumes and sets that make you want to live in them . the ending was only a disappointment in that i was expecting a spectacular film to have a brilliant end   but it was still more wonderful then the vast majority of movies out there . definitely check this movie out   over and over again . there are many details you miss the first time that deserve a second look .  
when i heard that the dukes of hazzard was going to be remade with current actors and a solid script  i was like   alright  i  ll give it a chance  it  s not going to be better than the first  but we  ll see what happens .  well  i saw what happened . i saw a great late    s     s show that was a classic  basically humiliated by hollywood . it  s so sad to see that hollywood scriptwriters cannot come up with something original these days . they are seeming to take a great show that had a great target audience  and try to  remake  the classic show . heads up hollywood . . . it ain  t workin     anyway  more about the show . i think they could have casted a better actor than sean william scott  stiffler from american pie  to play bo . i  m sure that john schneider is definitely disappointed with how his character was portrayed and taken advantage of . also  get for real  johnny knoxville  as luke duke . how low can you go   a crappy jackass actor to play lovable luke . this sickens me . also  i  ll give jessica simpson is a beautiful woman  but her acting sucks . catherine bach who played the original daisy  was smart  sexy  strong  opinionated and a good il  southern girl . she was every little girls role model growing up   i owned the doll and the jeep  thank you very much     anyway  jessica simpson played a smart ass    bit slut as daisy duke . daisy never was blonde . why did they have to cast her . jessica alba would have played a great daisy duke . she can speak with a great southern accent  and she is gorgeous  and would have done a wonderful job . anyway  i  d like to say that this movie blew something fierce . i feel like i got ripped off by paying   .   for tickets  and they should refund my money . if you like the dukes of hazzard  the original series  don  t see this movie . it  ll just upset you . cmt  country music television  plays the reruns of the dukes all the time later at night . so set your tivo  s and go with the real thing  not the imitation on the big screen in hollywood .  
a great film requiring an acquired taste . if you  re into action  wham bam films and hate serious love stories then its not for you . otherwise  if you like to sit in front of a good intelligent movie now and again i recommend this very highly . easily the best film produced in bollywood this century .  br    br   the only other indian film i would give      for is dil wale dulhaniya le jayenge . even then it comes second to this masterpiece .  
this must be one of the worst movies i have ever seen . i was actually expecting a bad movie but i was caught by surprise believe it or not . the storyline is the traditional  all cliches are included .  br    br   the dialogue is so poorly written that you actually laugh when the otherwise half  descent actors are trying to make it sound real . the photo is not too good  the music is so malplace it actually made me angry  the actors are not even trying  altho the script makes it almost impossible you could expect more from people that have been acting for   years and the so called action scenes actually manage to lack the  action  itself .  br    br   i dont understand why these types of bad movies keep on coming  who is financing this shit  where is the screening  and why on earth do actors take on this mission impossible script   br    br   there are a million hollywood  movies in this genre without even aspiration of reaching the theaters  but even them straight to video things actually manages to look professional in comparison .  br    br   i can not say anything positive about this except the title which explains it all  i feel robbed of  hours of my life .  
of all the versions of the odyssey  or of any greek mythological story for that matter   this in my opinion is the best of them all . almost true to the original storyline  with some minor deviations and omissions  e . g . the absence of scylla  charybdis and the fact that eumaeus the swineherd recognizes odysseus in disguise in his hut  realistic acting and authentic scenery and costumes all contribute to make this a truly memorable masterpiece  not some hollywoodish sword  and  sandal b  flick . notwithstanding the fact that the dialogue and subtitles are completely in italian  if one is familiar with the storyline  he can still make heads and tails of what is going on and what the actors are saying  provided you have a good handy text of the odyssey at hand  . at least i did  and so much so that it has inspired me to study the italian language to better appreciate the movie even more .  
first i bought it at the video store . second i watched it . third it was boring . fourth it was not funny . fifth most of the antics were lame . and last  but not least it  s not only a bad movie  it  s a total fiasco .  br    br   i am a huge adam sandler fan despite this disappointing and forgotten film . i pity it because it was his first movie . even if you are a huge adam sandler fan  don  t bother watching this movie . instead  just take the video  board a yacht  and throw it overboard .  
emilio miraglia  s first giallo feature  the night evelyn came out of the grave  was a great combination of giallo and gothic horror  and this second film is even better  we  ve got more of the giallo side of the equation this time around  although miraglia doesn  t lose the gothic horror stylings that made the earlier film such a delight . miraglia puts more emphasis on the finer details of the plot this time around  and as a result it  s the typical giallo labyrinth  with characters all over the place and red herrings being thrown in every few minutes . this is a definite bonus for the film  however  as while it can get a little too confusing at times there  s always enough to hold the audience  s interest and miraglia  s storytelling has improved since his earlier movie . the plot opens with a scene that sees two young girls fighting  before their grandfather explains to them the legend behind a rather lurid painting in their castle . the legend revolves around a woman called  the red queen  who  legend has it  returns from the grave every hundred years and kills seven people . a few years later  murders begin to occur . . .  br    br   even though he only made two giallo  s  miraglia does have his own set of tributes . it  s obvious that the colour red is important to him  as it features heavily in both films and he appears to have something against women called  evelyn  . he likes castles  gothic atmospheres and stylish murders too  which is fine by me  miraglia may be no argento when it comes to spilling blood  but he certainly knows how to drop an over the top murder into his film and here we have delights involving a volkswagen beetle  and a death on an iron fence that is one of my all time favourite giallo death scenes . the female side of the cast is excellent with the stunning barbara bouchet and marina malfatti heading up an eye  pleasing cast of ladies that aren  t afraid to take their clothes off  the score courtesy of bruno nicolai is catchy  and even though it doesn  t feature much of the psychedelic rock heard in the night evelyn came out of the grave it fits the film well . the ending is something of a turn  off  as although miraglia revs up the gothic atmosphere  it comes across as being more than a little bit rushed and the identity of the murderer is too obvious . but even so  this is a delightfully entertaining giallo and one that i highly recommend to fans of the genre   
sometime in      saban had acquired the rights to produce a brand  new ninja turtles live  action series . naturally  being a fan of the tmnt back in the day  this obviously peaked my interest . so when i started watching the show . . . to say i was disappointed by the end result is an understatement . some time later  more like recently   i got a chance to revisit the series .  br    br   first off  let  s talk about some of the positives . they managed to re  create the turtles  lair as it was last seen in the movies fairly well given the limited budget they threw in with this . there tends to be this darker atmosphere overall in terms of the sets and whatnot . and the turtle suits  while not the greatest piece of puppetry and whatnot  were functional and seemed pretty sturdy for most of the action stuff that would follow in the series .  br    br   people tend to complain about getting rid of shredder quickly and replacing him with these original villains who could have easily been used in a power rangers show . but you can only have shredder get beat so many times before it gets boring and undermines his worth as a villain . . . and besides  most fans don  t realize or don  t remember or just plain ignore the fact that in the original comic  the shredder was offed in the very first issue  never mind the countless resurrections that would follow . so on a personal standpoint  i was sort of glad they got rid of shredder because then the anticipation would build to the point where they would eventually bring him back in a later episode . i find that shredder in small quantities work best because then his encounters with the turtles are all the more memorable .  br    br   unfortunately  they end up replacing him with these original villains who  as stated  seemed more fit for a power rangers show than a ninja turtles show . and with these new magic  wielding generics comes a new female magic  wielding turtle  the infamous venus de milo . i  ll be honest i never got comfortable with her . i  m not against the idea of a female turtle i  m just against the idea of one who uses magic and thus sticks out like a sore sight among a clan of ninja turtles who seem somewhat out of their domain . i almost get the impression that this could have easily been the venus de milo show dealing with her make  believe enemies and the tmnt are just there to provide the star power  or whatever was left considering the timeframe this was released  . fortunately  they all share the spotlight together .  br    br   next mutation was canned after a season on the air and the creators were more than happy to ignore it . given time and maybe another season  i really believe this live iteration of the tmnt could have been something and might have gotten a chance at greatness . but while the idea was sound  the execution was flawed  although there are a couple good episodes in this series  . as it stands  next mutation is one of those oddities in turtledom that is best left buried and forgotten .  
pakeezah has a very interesting history  which is well documented in the  trivia  section  about how it came to be . it seems as if destiny conspired to test kamal amrohi  the director  while at the same time secretly desiring to see him complete his masterpiece .  br    br   pakeezah rides on metaphors  poetry and visual elocution . as a result the intensity with which emotions come out achieve a dimension which may not be very real but are very effective and leave an impact on the viewer .  br    br   meena kumari lives the tragedy of nargis and sahib jaan like her own . the other stars of the film  besides her  are ghulam mohammed  the music director   lata mangeshkar  naushad  background score  and joseph wirsching  the d . o . p  . their music and cinematography leaves you spell bound .  br    br   pakeezah is a classic in world cinema . it reveals new layers to you every time you watch it again . kamal amrohi is one of the rare poets of cinema and he left us all a gift .  
quite typical for swedish movies of this type . strange that the acting was soooo bad  these actors usually give a good show . the casting was poorly done  it made you expect something  i won  t tell you what  . the lead character was awful . . . i don  t know where they find her . anyway  stay away from this and go see  den tredje vgen  instead  this is swedish action in is prime .  
besides the fact that it was one of the few movies that i ever shed a tear over  bye  bye manhood   this is one of the most beautifully crafted indian films that has ever been made . from the finely crafted sets  to those haunting looks meena kumari gives  no one can ever forget it . the music of pakeezah is amazing  all the more if you can understand the sublime poetry  and is definitely one of those  omg   minutes another song  movies . you get the feeling of how trapped sahibjaan is in among all the amazing jewelery she wears and fountained court yard she casually walks past .  br    br   a parody of all the dreams you  ve ever had . . . . . . . . . .  
standard procedure for swedish movies today seem to be to start by throwing plausibility out the window and continue down that path for the rest of the process . rnarna is another fine example of a movie making very little sense .  br    br   banks in stockholm are being robbed by a highly efficient  military  styled  gang of robbers . two police officers start investigating the case that soon becomes more complicated than it would appear at first .  br    br   as usual in swedish film the cast is mostly made up of the same people you have seen over and over again . mikael persbrandt must be in every swedish film from the last few years  but that  s ok i guess since persbrandt is one of few that performs solidly here  like he usually does  . the problems with this film mostly revolves around the story itself . first of all the robberies feel mostly like background . rather this is more a movie about a young policewoman fighting to prove herself in a male world  like that has not been made a thousand times before with a decent actress instead of sofia helin  . also there is a completely unbelievable plot twist near the end that seems about as plausible as aliens landing . but still  i did think it was a quite nice touch considering i was half asleep right about then . it spiced things up a bit  and actually saved the rating from dropping another step  .  br    br   in the end the main problem is the same thing as with most other swedish movies of this kind . simply that the action and suspense doesn  t live up to the standards we are used to from other movies of this kind  mostly hollywood  . it feels cheap and rather weak in comparison . in my opinion swedish filmmakers should try to focus more on plot and acting  and forget about trying to make  hollywood  action light  like they do now . because this becomes yet another forgettable effort from the swedish movie  industry . i rate it     .  
perhaps the most polished and accomplished of all indian films  pakeezah does not fall into any of the traps commonly associated with bollywood film  ie tackiness  farce  wholesale and unsuccessful imitation of western film themes  genres  . pakeezah is indigenous to the sub  continent and authentic  almost madam butterfly  like in plot . characters are well  developed  direction  although sometimes unrefined by today  s standards  perceptive and convincing . the urdu  speaking milieux at the time of pakeezah were masters of understatement and how the dialogue conveys the subtleties of the age  the acting  particularly the  looks  and the dynamic between characters  are a delight to behold although the nuances may be lost on contemporary viewers or those not acquainted with the mores and customs of muslim india .  br    br   coupled  with a captivating screenplay is a beautiful musical score  enhanced by the protagonist displaying eminent command of classical indian dance  kathak  . as is the case with most romantic tragedies  the heroine must die  but she does not take her leave of the audience without the viewer feeling he  she has been party to a truly memorable cinema experience . pakeezah is surely the pinnacle of what indian cinema has produced and is unlikely to be paralleled .  
swedish action movies have over the past few years evolved into something that imitate american hardened action movies like  heat  but with a low budget . this movie follows the same prescription as  noll tolerans  and  livvakterna  . however  it is obvious that they are trying too hard to make a cool and tough movie .  br    br   the story has been seen before  the dialogue feels artificial and the acting is very poor  especially from the main actress . the movie tries to paint a picture of hard  boiled military  like robbers with no remorse at all and a female investigator who has completely lost it with problems of the past but at the same time acts completely rational . it does not succeed very well .  br    br   the bluish  cast photo style does not seem fresh anymore  and it is not even done well in this picture . only a very few scenes actually look good . also  the sound is quite weird and it sounds like a lot of the actual dialogue is recorded afterward .  br    br   the main quality of this movie is stefan sauk  though not making a convincing portrait of a swat  team leader  has some really funny lines . also  the music is quite well .  
pakeezah is in my mind the greatest achievement of indian cinema . the film is visually overwhelming but also emotionally breathtaking . the music  the songs  the sets  the costumes  the cinematography  in fact every creative element is worthy of superlatives .  
it feels like swedish movies are trying to become more american and i just dont get it . in this movie the performance of some of the actors is horrible and the script is nothing special . dont waste your time   
this movie is one among the very few indian movies  that would never fade away with the passage of time  nor would its spell binding appeal ever diminish  even as the indian cinema transforms into the abyss of artificially styled pop culture while drill oriented extras take to enhancing the p . t . styled film songs .  br    br   the cinematography speaks of the excellent skills of josef werching that accentuate the monumental and cinema scope effect of the film in its entirety .  br    br   gone are the days of great cinema  when every scene had to be clipped many times and retakes taken before finalizing it  while meticulous attention was paid in crafting and editing the scenes . some of its poignant scenes are filled with sublime emotional intensity  like the instance  when meena kumari refuses to say  yes  as an approval for nikah  marriage bond  and climbs down the hill while running berserk in traumatized frenzy . at the moment  raj kumar follows her  and a strong gale of wind blew away the veil of kumari and onto the legs of kumar . . . . . . . .  br    br   kamal amrohi shall always be remembered with golden words in the annals of indian cinema  s history for endeavoring to complete this movie in a record setting   years . he had to manage filming of some of the vital songs without meena  s close ups  because meena kumari  the lady in the lead role was terminally ill and fighting for her life in early     .  
greenthumb grace is left penniless after her husbands death so she turns to ganja  growing in order to pay the bills . it sounds promising and the ever  reliable brenda blethyn doesn  t disappoint but the material is sitcom  thin . there  s actually a scene where grace asks her young gardener to  give me one   a toke  and he thinks she  s asking for sex and acts all awkward . yes  it  s humour so twee a nun would be bored . saving grace doesn  t seem to know what it wants to be the stunning cinematography and stately pace evoke memories of ryan  s daughter whilst the light  hearted whimsy of the country townsfolk could be lifted from any episode of antiques roadshow . it does speed up after the first hour but by then it  s too clichd to care . the climax manages to be unpredictable only by introducing the most shameless deux ex machina i  ve ever seen .  
without question  this film has to be one of the greatest . . . . . . . . in cinematic history . i have it watched too many times to remember  and each time it is like i am seeing the film for the first time .  br    br   where does one begin   br    br   meena kumari  s central performance is undoubtedly one of the finest of her career  followed closely by sahib bibi aur ghulam and phool aur pathar . each movement and nuance of her performance  makes any other bollywood heroine pale into significance . her masterly interpretation of kathak coupled with her grace  tragic vulnerability and poetic delivery of urdhu  is like nothing ever seen on the bollywood screen .  br    br   pakeezah is perhaps the most stylised interpretation of the human condition the photography  sumptuous cinematography and mise en scene  are so charged with symbolism and meaning  that the viewer is left breathless .  br    br   naushads music  is unsurpassed  his knowledge of the music of the courtesan gharanas is incredible  and the way in which he punctuates the narrative with dark atmospheric motifs and overwhelming romantic melodies is indeed remarkable .  br    br   my only advice to anyone who seriously enjoys the spectacle of total cinema  should watch this epic mediation on life and art .  
i absolutely fail to see what is funny in this film . the humor seems to be destined for corpses . it  s slow . the story is too simple to be true . the characters do not raise much sympathy  a few non  important characters aside . nothing surprising happens . what did the writers of this script think   oooo funny  let  s make some old lady  s high on pot  let  s make them . . . . giggle  let  s make them . . . behave like little children   oooo  yes  that  s absolutely brilliant and original    br    br   this film has irritated me most from all the films i  ve seen in the last five years .  
at last  i  ve finally got round to it and managed to see a  clean  copy of pakeezah  up until now i  ve only had a mangled scratchy jerky version taped off dubai tv sometime in the     s  with quirky english subtitles  dizzying widescreen coverage and a fluid colour with a mind of its own . having thought the world of such a poor  and short  copy i find the decent one was well worth the wait and the full    minutes even more of a pleasure than i thought possible .  br    br   this was the lovely meena kumari  s film from start to finish  and i believe was planned by her from     on  finally realising it in     . what a shame it was that chronic alcoholism finally killed her soon afterwards  and in fact that she was too ill to perform in some of the scenes in pakeezah  necessitating a body double . in some scenes the strain definitely shows in her face .  br    br   the story of purity versus adversity i can only treat as fiction having no experience of anything remotely close to it  but i  m led to understand that it faithfully depicts a world now gone that must have been common at one time in india . it  s a sparkling and colourful film with a simple relentless epic message  an intense romantic tragedy which is somehow simultaneously feelgood too . but to me it  s the peerless golden music by ghulam mohammed as sung by the incomparable lata mangeshkar  especially thare rahiyo  and its part in the unfolding of the story that makes this film so outstanding . i  ve seldom heard such serious  beautiful  poetic  wondrously sung and played songs on any movie soundtrack . singin  in the rain may be my favourite musical film but pakeezah has my favourite music  yet lata said that the songs themselves meant nothing special to her . the only pity is that the also unique mohammed rafi only had the one song in here  albeit a classic duet with lata .  br    br   because of all this but not blind to its faults  pakeezah is my favourite indian movie  filmed at a time when the westernisation of india was gathering pace and watched now when western values seem to be state sponsored and de rigueur . at the very least watch pakeezah for a taste of what indian  pop  music had to offer the world before it was all jettisoned for drum machines  the bollywood beat and bhangra .  
a very  straight  nice old lady  desperate for money to save her house and possessions  grows  pot  in her house  smokes it with a few old  biddy friends and then sells it . that  s the story for this low  key comedy  emphasizing the absurdity of the situation and some of the humor the predicament brings . for much of the film  it works . the humor isn  t of the laugh  out  loud variety but it does keep you entertained for an hour  and  a  half  so i guess it serves its purpose .  br    br   there are funny moments and brenda blethyn is fun to watch in the lead role . but the ending really ruined a  cute  movie with insultingly  bad messages that only the ultra  liberals of the film world would like to see happen .  br    br   like most people  i would prefer a happy ending  too  but it should not all warm and fuzzy for those who blatantly break the law . also in here are the typical    children out of wedlock but that poses no problem and is deemed okay    clerics portrayed as morally weak people and    even a medical doctor who gets stoned  too   br    br   hello  and reviewers here blast hollywood  this is exhibit a how a secular society has lowered the standards in the uk and europe in general . hey  people at least have a trace of morality instead of nothing but a timothy leary  if it feels good  do it  message .  
let us begin by saying that this film  s english title  the power of kangwon province  is an absolute misnomer . it is because in hong sang soo  s film  there are no actual shots of wars  troubles and conflicts . so the idea of establishing power of a province is neither suitable nor valid in the context of this film . if we were to judge this film by its korean language title   kangwon  do ui him  is going to appear as a cryptic statement about emotional turmoils of its young protagonists whose minds are not at rest . hong sang soo has also directed a highly prolific visual document about erratic choices made by people in their lives . the people in question are a couple of young girls who are constantly in the process of displaying their moods  whims and fancies . if making a film out of nothingness can be claimed as a film maker  s meritorious virtue then hong sang soo has to be saluted as a courageous film maker whose films speak volumes about ubiquitous nothingness of human relationships  sentiments and lives . whether one likes it or not  this is the only fair conclusion that be deduced from this particular film .  
my comments may be a bit of a spoiler  for what it  s worth . stop now if you care enough . . . .  br    br   saving grace should have been titled  a paper  thin excuse for old british women to get high on  screen .  this film is dumb . the incidental music is an annoyance as are the obvious  hackneyed tunes that sporadically pop up to comment on the narrative   spirit in the sky   for example  oh  i get it   this is basically a cheech and chong movie made credible by its stodgy english setting and brenda blethyn  s overwhelming power to inflict emotion on an audience using her voice alone . i could literally hear the folks over at high times magazine receiving their jollies over the enormous  buds  that litter this picture . worst scene  easy . brenda attempts to peddle her illicit wares on the street of london in a blaring white dress  suit . not funny . not original . not interesting . not a good movie . the  .  rating is the result of zealots over  voting . don  t waste your time . . .  
the power of kangwon province is director hong sang  soo  s second feature effort and clearly much of what he started with in his previous film returns in this film  including the multiple connected narratives  in this case  two   and stories of troubled or troubling relationships  as well as a potent dosage of irony .  br    br   one thing that  s clearly reduced from his previous work is the flights of fancy that included elements of surrealism . however  this film also contains a single moment of surreal that strikes a contrast against the otherwise rather realistic depiction found therein . the two stories follow a young woman who goes on a trip to kangwon province with her friends  only to find herself drawn to a stranger  the second about a man who also goes on a trip to kangwon province with his friend and struggles with his relationship woes .  br    br   again  hong shows a strong understanding of irony and of the flaws in human nature and yet i don  t think he  s entirely unsympathetic when it comes to his characters  drawing in just enough compassion to offset the criticism he draws with his irony . i think the think i  ve come to love about hong  s films is that they just feel so real  especially the complex and conflicted characters . not to say that every person is a hypocrite or suffering from confused feelings  but rather  that these characters he and the actors present  feel fully developed and believable .  br    br   this is not a fast moving film . there  s a lot of lingering and like the previous film  things don  t always connect immediately so patience does pay off and in surprising ways . there doesn  t appear to be any element of the film that isn  t intentionally placed in the film and it  s made my a little hyper  aware of various seemingly extra characters as they get dragged into the mix as the film progresses .  br    br   power is an excellent film that manages to inject a level of personal emotion  regret  longing into a story that highlights irony and the fallibility of human decision  making . it  s a rather hard balance to keep and it  s surprising how hong manages to pull it off twice in a row . technical production values have gotten much better since the first film and direction has gotten steady and clear . this film doesn  t pack the same emotional wallop that the first does  but gains a lot in its assured exploration and the refinement really helps tighten the overall vision . great viewing for art cinema lovers .     .  
when you get your hands on a british film you expect some sort of quality . and when it comes to acting  camera work  lighting etc this film does the business . it  s done by highly skilled craftsmen . that alone can bring you an enjoyable one and a half hours . but when you look under the layers of professionalism  you don  t really find anything . apart from making you feel good and advocate a drug liberal view  there  s really nothing there . the script is mediocre  the plot is predictable and the ending must be one of the worst east of hollywood . in all it  s english cosiness  it  s just a shameful and cynical attempt to make another  full monty  . why they made this film  i haven  t got a clue  apart from making money of course .  
this is a great film . if this is any indication  than hong sang  soo really is  asian cinema  s best kept secret  . it  s very similar in style to tsai ming  liang and hou hsiao  hsien  and covers a lot of the same ground as them thematically  but i think i actually enjoy this more as a whole than any single one of their films . the overt minimalism is slightly less pronounced here than in their work  although it still completely fits that style  the camera never moves even once   and somehow i found the film less self  consciously  slow  than tsai ming  liang or hou hsiao  hsien  which i think is part of the reason i enjoyed it more . plus  it doesn  t keep it  s subjects quite as detached as hou does . i felt like the film was also somehow more  complete  and less open  ended  just barely  than some of their work  although that  s not to say it had much of anything resembling a forward  moving plot . i would have a hard time believing that sophia coppola wasn  t directly influenced by this film for  lost in translation   scenes of a young woman wandering around by herself  and languishing in her hotel room wearing punk panties can  t help but seem familiar  .  
the plot  character development  and gags in this movie are all extremely weak . quite a waste of time . the conclusion of saving grace is supposed to make one feel warm and fuzzy as though the characters have grown through their struggles . there was no such development to make such warm fuzzy feelings possible . the drug gags are cliched and much of the movie doesn  t ring true to life . the plot builds what is supposed to be tension but the characters aren  t developed enough to care . then it rushes through a resolution of all the outstanding problems in about a minute of screen time leaving the viewer feeling like they have just wasted their time .  
i  m italian and when i  ve recently looked again this film i astonished for its beauty the first time i was   years old and i liked it  but today i can appreciate it with adult mind and feelings . now i can understand it was a masterpiece of a special season of the italian cinema  pasolini etc .   by that time gone .  br    br   the hollywood epic films are good . . . for fun . perhaps this  odyssey  had no english version because is not enough funny . . . not suitable for pop  corn and coke audience . however suitable for homer pathos and existentialist reflections .  br    br   in italy was recently released a very good dvd version integral  with excellent colors . you can find it in some file sharing  but it  s italian only  and without subtitles . too bad also the dialogs and the voices of this film are remarkable .  
i wanted to punch the tv . watching it was torture . i hated it . never watch this movie . the terrorists are annoying . adam sandler is annoying . i normally like him but not in this one . i wanted to break the dvd . this is the most irritating film in the world . the comedian he  s jealous of is obnoxious . the only remotely funny part is the rocker with the black teeth getting all the girls . it was so irritating i wanted to punch the tv . do not buy this movie unless you want to annoy someone . if you even like adam sandler a little bit  don  t buy it . it will just make you hate him . do yourself a favor  if you see it in the store  hide it to put everyone out of danger of buying it . its a waste of the   .   i paid for it .  
in the film kongwon  do ui him it features a relatively intimate look into the meaningfulness  as well as general meaninglessness  into the lives of various koreans empty people seeking ways to fill themselves  enjoying the escapism of nature . from the beginning to the end of the film we observe the fallibility of the various characters we learn of their shortcomings and their desires  the overall complexity captured within human life  and yet the overal simplicity of humanity  . although the film is slow  moving  it can be very contemplative . it does not force any ideas  but allows the ideas to come about themselves  it allows the concepts to reveal themselves .  br    br   the film ends as well and as suddenly as it begins  and one truly understands the meaning of aloneness  that love is often an act of selfishness  and the many mistakes that we make . it is a look into everyday life  very well and beautifully done .  br    br   if you are looking for action or for intense drama  this is not the film for you . however  if you enjoy honest  original  and meaningful films that are not forced and without glitz  this is a great film to watch .  
like too many recent british films  this one takes a great cast and gives them a flimsy  cliched script to work with . the performances save it from total disgrace  and it has some charm but it certainly didn  t make me laugh . where are all the great british writers hiding   
a common plotline in films consists of the main characters leaving the hustle and bustle of the city behind  and finding themselves in the tranquility of nature . in power of kangwon province  we are shown two stories of individuals doing just that  trying to find themselves through a trip to the popular korean parks in the mountains of kangwon province . however  rather than epiphanal moments  we have two characters whose trip into nature was just another form of escape .  br    br   the pace of this movie is slow  contemplative . we learn in the end what really brought each to kangwon province and we learn how they  re connected . for those who want hollywood glam and for a movie to give them a definitive answer  this movie will not satisfy . but for those who want a movie that leaves them thinking  wondering  affecting them years after  this movie will more than satiate that longing .  
saving grace is surely one of the leading contenders for the  how to ruin an adequate film in the final few minutes  award . naturally if you mix a quaint cornish village  largely populated by retired genteel ladies  with a liberal dose of marijuana  a certain amount of silliness will ensue . however  the last seven minutes of the film descend into the totally ludicrous and is not even redeemed by being particularly funny . it is a real shame  because this comedy has the potential to be every bit as good as      s waking ned devine  which also portrayed a picturesque small village and its oddball inhabitants trying to extract themselves from a tricky situation .  br    br   the protagonist of saving grace is middle  aged  recently widowed grace trevethyn  whose husband  s legacy of bad debts has forced her into an unconventional way of earning money . helped by her gardener  matthew  she turns her horticultural expertise to the lucrative cultivation of marijuana . unfortunately  this leads her into confrontation with the local police  her husband  s creditors and a french drug baron . . . . . . . . . . whom all turn up at her greenhouse simultaneously . the relationship and rapport between grace and matthew is well  portrayed  and brenda blethyn gets the viewer emotionally involved with her likeable character  you can really feel what she is going through .  br    br   the casting of the minor roles is excellent  even if some of them are rather outlandishly eccentric . however  the transformation of jacques the drug lord into grace  s romantic interest is highly implausible and does not fit the tone of the movie at all . and surely hydroponics is not such a revolution in the world of cannabis growing  sadly the film swaps gentle humour for slapstick and ends up being as fake as the marijuana plants .  
after losing the emmy for her performance as mama rose in the television version of gypsy  bette won an emmy the following year for bette midler diva las vegas  a live concert special filmed for hbo from las vegas . midler  who has been performing live on stage since the      s  proves that she is still one of the most electrifying live performers in the business . from her opening number  her classic  friends   where she descends from the wings atop a beautiful prop cloud  bette commands the stage with style and charisma from a rap  styled number called  i look good  she then proves that she has a way with a joke like few other performers in this business as she segues her way through a variety of musical selections . the section of the show where she salutes burlesque goes on a little too long but she does manage to incorporate her old sophie tucker jokes here to good advantage  even though she actually forgets one joke in the middle of telling it  but her ad  libbing until she remembers it is hysterical  . bette also treats us to  rose  s turn  from gypsy and the title tune from her smash film the rose as well as a shameless plug for her hit movie the first wives club . she brings the house down near the end with  stay with me  baby  from the rose and her only   hit record   wind beneath my wings  from beaches . it  s a dazzling evening of musical comedy entertainment and for midler fans  it  s a must .  
 . . . but i regret having seen it . since the ratings on imdb are relatively high  and they must also have been relatively high on netflix   i guess i put it in my queue because it is advertised as a gentle comedy from the uk  a category that has produced many films i liked immensely .  saving grace   on the other hand  falls into the category of laugh  less comedies usually populated by hollywood movies produced and directed by the talentless . brenda blethyn is a capable actress  and i have liked her in other movies . the concept   a gardener growing marijuana to overcome the penury she finds herself confronting after her husband  s death   does not offend me . notwithstanding the strenuous efforts on the part of the cast to produce humor  the film falls flat on its face  falling flat on its arse might have been funnier  as far as i and my wife were concerned . be forewarned  oh gentle reader  not all offbeat british comedies succeed . this one is a dud .  
a longtime fan of bette midler  i must say her recorded live concerts are my favorites . bette thrills us with her jokes and brings us to tears with her ballads . a literal rainbow of emotion and talent  bette shows us her best from her solid repertoire  as well as new songs from the  bette of roses  album . spanning generations of people she offers something for everyone . the one and only divine diva proves here that she is the most intensely talented performer around .  
how can anybody say that this movie is a comedy   if i had not gone with then my finacee i would have fallen asleep and asked for my money back . i love gwen paltrow  but it was like she was on the wrong set . i like most chick flicks  but i hated this one . this is the only time i saw so much clevage and was not turned on . those outfits were way overdone . no one talks that way anymore and i don  t think they even did then . the dancing part was horrible . my ex said to me later . . .  didn  t ya like that part  didn  t ya think it was sensous   i said yes only to spare her feelings . now i know why we never married . this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen .  
love it  love it  love it  this is another absolutely superb performance from the divine miss m . from the beginning to the end  this is one big treat  don  t rent it  buy it now   
reading through all these positive reviews i find myself baffled . how is it that so many enjoyed what i consider to be a woefully bad adaptation of my second favourite jane austen novel  there are many problems with the film  already mentioned in a few reviews simply put it is a hammed  up  over  acted  chintzy mess from opening credits to butchered ending .  br    br   while many characters are mis  cast and neither ewan mcgregor nor toni collette puts in a performance that is worthy of them  the worst by far is paltrow . i have very much enjoyed her performance in some roles  but here she is abominable  she is self  conscious  nasal  slouching and entirely disconnected from her characters and those around her . an extremely disappointing effort  though even a perfect emma could not have saved this film .  
bette midler showcases her talents and beauty in  diva las vegas  . i am thrilled that i taped it and i am able to view whenever i want to . she possesses what it takes to keep an audience in captivity . her voice is as beautiful as ever and will truly impress you . the highlight of the show was her singing  stay with me  from her     movie  the rose  . you can feel the emotion in the song and will end up having goose bumps . the show will leave you with the urge to go out and either rent a bette midler movie or go to the nearest music store and purchase one of bette midler  s albums .  
bah . another tired  desultory reworking of an out of copyright work never designed to be filmed .  br    br   on the plus side  toni collette is superb as always  being an actual actress  you see   and there are some nicely handled handover cuts between scenes . there are even a few genuinely funny lines  and the filmwork  score and editing is competent  apart from a bizarre lapse into voiceover and speaking to the camera towards the conclusion .  br    br   but  ah  but . much of the cast seems to be on autopilot  and they are almost all very clearly too old  and in one case too young  for their declared ages . worse  they are all speaking  austinese   that peculiar falsetto self satisfied sing song that couldn  t be further from the way people actually spoke in austen  s day  think yosemite sam  i kid you not  . this is particularly sad  considering that we seem to finally be seeing the demise of the equally farcial  fakespearan  that olivier and his cronies were so fond of bellowing at the top of their lungs .  br    br   and worst of all is gwyneth paltrow . she  s only ever played one character in her films  and she stays true to form here  running through her entire range  smirking to sulking  in the first ten minutes  then just repeating herself for the rest of the overlong film . there is absolutely no chemistry between herself and any of her admirers  nor any apparent reason why they would be interested in her apart .  br    br   in short  there is very little reason to watch emma . it  s an amiable enough adaptation  but if you  re going to pack a film full of anacronisms  i . e . an appalingly thin lead who can  t shoot a bow or handle a period accent  then you might as well do it properly  as with the vastly superior  clueless  .  
bette midler is indescribable in this concert . she gives her all every time she is on stage . whether we are laughing at her jokes and antics or dabbing our eyes at the strains of one of her tremendous ballads  bette midler moves her audience . if you can  t see it live  which is the best way to see bette  then this is the next best thing . an interesting thing to look at is how incredible her voice has changed and matured over the years but never lost its power . her more  vocally correct  version of  stay with me  never loses anything in spirit from the rose or divine madness  here it is just more pure and as heartfelt as ever . i will treasure this concert for a very long time .  
this was the first ewan mcgregor movie i ever saw outside of star wars . since then i have become a very big ewan mcgregor fan but i still can  t bring myself to forgive this movie  s existence .  br    br   my sister has always been a huge jane austen fan and because of that  i have been subjected to various of the classics  emma being one of them . i  ve always considered them irritating  stupid and boring . however  after watching this terrible rendition  i was forced to admit that the original emma was delightful and charming . ewan mcgregor scarcely serves a purpose in this film after they hacked and mutilated the part of frank churchill . gweneth paltrow is ridiculous in an already ridiculous character and the rest of the film is unremarkable and stupid .  br    br   my recommendation to anybody who is remotely interested in english period drama . . . go see the originals . if you  re a ewan mcgregor fan . . . believe me  by skipping this film  you haven  t missed anything but five minutes collective of him in a silly hat and a bad haircut .  
bette midler is again divine  raunchily humorous . in love with burlesque . capable of bringing you down to tears either with old jokes with new dresses or merely with old songs with more power  punch than ever . all in all singing new ballads  power  singing the good old  perennial ones such as  the rose    stay with me  and yes  even  wind beneath my wings  . the best way to appreciate the divine miss m has always been libe  since this is the next best thing to it  i strongly recommended to all with a mixture of adult wide  eyed enchantment and appreciation and a child  s mischievous wish for pushing all boundaries   
i like jane austin novels . i love pride and prejudice and sense and sensibility books and movies  and i  m half way through mansfield park . but i couldn  t stand emma . i gave up on the book after  chapters  and by the end of the movie i couldn  t care less about emma . she didn  t seem to change at all . maybe it was paltrows acting  which as excellent in se  en  or my lack of interest for the movie . dunno .  br    br   the costumes are nice  but the dancing was clumsy compared to pride and prejudice dancing by colin firth and jennifer ehle .  br    br   i gave it a  basically for the fact knightly is bloody gorgeous  and although it as a rather patchy performance for ewan mcgregor  i liked his singing .  
a very cute movie with a great background provided by the city of boston and fenway park . as a baseball fan and light movie addict  it hit a homerun for me . plenty of laughs and plenty of authentic baseball scenes with real ballplayers and real references to past bosox failures . and how enjoyable was it to watch a movie with a baseball theme without having to endure an overage  over  the  hill  self  serving kevin costner attempting to make believers out of a critical audience  jimmy and drew did a fine job as a young love  struck couple suffering from jimmy  s bosox  jones  . it was a bit whacky and out of left field  but there really are sox fans that are that fanatic and live their lives through the fortunes of their beloved team . the movie coasted along at a fast pace and the ending  although predictable  had the charm and sentimentality of so many other popular movies  without being overly pretentious .  br    br   also enjoyable was the return of willie garson to the screen . i miss the forever  popular  stanford blatch  from sex  the city . he  s always funny  even when he does or says very little .  br    br   so buy yourself two box seats  some popcorn  and get ready for a fun time .  fever pitch  is a winner .  
how good is gwyneth paltrow  this is the right movie for her . . . too bad she  s completely out role . i haven  t read the book by jane austen  but i can  t believe it is so superficial and the characters aren  t much more than caricatures . it wasn  t probably that easy to reduce in  hours of show about    pages of the book  but i had expected more than just seeing old pieces of furniture and tea cups . i was taking a sigh of relief every time i saw an actor who didn  t overstep the mark of overacting  a couple of times  .  
as a long time red sox fan  i just had to go see the movie . it was great  while there can never be enough live footage from the miracle     red sox season  there were great shots of some of my favorite red sox players . while the movie is certainly a chick flick  it has enough baseball footage from the amazing     red sox comeback to make it one of my top   movies of all time . i especially enjoyed the red sox fans that were part of ben  s baseball family . the scene where ben is meeting with his buddies on draft day to determine who will get seats to certain games is hilarious  a must see if you are looking for a wholesome movie to watch with your spouse  date  or significant other . . . especially if you are a baseball fan . . . and even more especially if you are red sox fan     
i was surprised when i saw this film . i  d heard it was the best ever filmed of the novel . how disappointed i was .  br    br   how any true jane austen fan can rate this adaptation is a mystery to my eyes . the scriptwriters have decided to stick in bits of ridiculous humour which are embarrassing at the best of times  but also ruin the feel of the period . as for the cast gwyneth paltrow makes a rather shallow heroine  but then any  hot  american star would be questionable in the role   toni collette is miscast  and poor ewan mcgregor is made to look laughable   br    br   i really could not say a good thing about this film . i seem to be among the very few who don  t rate it  but if you want my advice  see instead the tv production starring kate beckinsale  believe me  that is far preferable to this superficial trash .  
this movie of    minutes was aired by the italian public television during the early seventies . it tells you the myth attributed to homer of the journey home of odysseus after the troy war . it is an epic story about the ancient minoan and mycenaean civilizations  told at list    years after those events toke place  around     bc .  br    br   this is a     movie  so if you buy the dvd version you would find that the sound is just mono and there is no other language than italian  even the close caption is in italian . pity . many people would enjoy this masterpiece if it had at list the english subtitles . but if this is not a problem for you  than i would strongly recommend to watch this movie .  
i can say without a shadow of a doubt that going overboard is the single worst film i have ever seen  and yes  i have seen cujo . adam sandler is an abomination as schecky moskowitz  a wannabe comedian working on a cruise liner . that  s the plot .  br    br   that  s it  nothing else in the film makes sense  it  s all over the place like a mad man  s breakfast  and not in a wacky naked gun kind of way  but more of a frustrating   throw both shoes at the t . v  kind of way . even general noriega makes an appearance  for no reason i can comprehend  it certainly wasn  t for humour  . add to the mix miss australia  who has the worst australian accent i  ve ever heared  and you have something which i won  t call the worst film ever made  because going overboard doesn  t even fit the basic definition of a film . i highly recomend seeing this film  as it will elevate the standing of every bad film you ever see . i guarantee the first thing you  ll say after seeing a bad film will be  at least it wasn  t as bad as going overboard  .  
i liked this movie   cute and funny . i found this film to be a good family film . the dirtiest part of this movie was when it made references to the new york yankees . you have to be in red sox nation to understand that ny yankees is a dirty word . sorry to say that to the yankee  s fans . i recommend this picture for the entire family . of course with your typical love  comedy movie   there  s a long moment in the movie   with i  m in love and what do i do   but the movie makes up for that with all the slapstick moments . the movie show  s some moments of how the red sox nation  in fenway park  how the fans felt about   years of the sox always screwed up at the end of the season and how the love of the sox and the love with another human go hand to hand .  
i honestly had somewhat high expectations when i first began to watch this movie  but it turned out to be probably one of the most boring films i have ever seen   br    br   first of all  the pace is incredibly slow  so it seems much longer than it is  and it  s not short  . i  m sure when jane austen wrote the book  she made it several pages long  filled it with description  and didn  t intend for people to read in in one day  or it might drag and lose it  s appeal  which  emma  most certainly did . now  sense and sensibility  had this flaw of a slow pace  but at least it had lively lines to make up for it  as well as some good performances   br    br   that brings me to flaw    which is of course  the acting . while i don  t happen to care for basically anybody involved in this film  i am sure they are capable of good work  but i didn  t see much of it in this movie . it was like people were trying too hard to be witty  too hard to be  upper  class   too hard to be british  well  some of them   so they all just came off as a bunch of actors and not as people .  br    br     . the cast  as i said  seemed only like actors  and not actually like the people they were playing . maybe that  s a good thing  because the people they played really weren  t all that nice . why did everybody like emma  for example  sure  she was nice to the rich  handsome people in front of them  but she was an awful gossip behind their backs . if her friends were  ugly   then she didn  t even bother to go behind their backs . so  why is this girl so great  why do people have to tell stories   just to make her laugh   of course the snob couldn  t even do that right . i have enough problems with gwyneth paltrow as gwyneth paltrow  and her  emma  did not exactly change my opinion .  br    br   well  it  s easy to see that i did not care for this one . i  m sure it  s a lovely book and all  but some books are really not meant to be made for the big screen  and  emma  is one of them .  
i saw  fever pitch  sort of by accident it was playing on the airplane going over to europe . it actually wasn  t half bad . ben  jimmy fallon  is the world  s   red sox fan  but his relationship with lindsay meeks  drew barrymore  may strain that . the movie is a fairly interesting look at how world events can affect peoples  relationships . it  s especially eye  opening now that the red sox have ended their    odd  year losing streak . i guess that these sorts of things happen all the time and we just don  t tend to notice them . not too bad .  br    br   another movie portraying an unusual relation to baseball is      s  frequency  . check them both out .  
usually  i know after the first minute of a movie if i will hate it or adore it . . . but now  i was wrong .  br    br   the start was great the  this is based on a true story  and blah blah blah thing was funny . after  the cartoons and the description of the guys  life with pictures made me think i had made the right choice .  br    br   then  seeing the hilarious fake look of toronto was cool . also  the situation and appearance of the house seemed to confirm my first idea .  br    br   that was maybe the first   minutes of the movie . . . which afterwards looked like an eternity .  br    br   maybe that  s just me not understanding english canadian humour  that  s possible  english canadians also do not always understand quebecois humour   but hey . . . there was enough stuff in that for a short movie  nothing more . maybe that could be a meaning for the title  anyway  almost everything was filling  and very few things were even close to funny in my opinion .  br    br   as a matter of fact  the  making of  was better than the movie . at least you understand the motivation behind that which made everything bad . the potential of the idea was great that  s why i rented the movie  being interested in the  annoying people disappearance  thing . but yet  i did not know the whole universe would vanish  and with it even a point to the movie .  br    br   if you are english canadian  it seems you could appreciate the local humour  considering the surprising number of people who gave this movie an  . otherwise  just think twice before losing your precious time . . .  
if you want to watch something that is for  him  and  her  so to say then this is the film to pick . i am a sucker for rom coms but my husband is not always so keen  what a guy     . anyway i managed to get him to watch it because i told him it was about sport  and you know what  he loved it     br    br   drew barrymore is very funny and her leading man  sorry but can  t remember his name  is equally as good . when i watched the film it was called  the perfect match  but i think the title was changed for the uk as it is based on the book fever pitch and there was already a film made about football with that title  the same film but the uk version  phew     br    br   anyway all of the reviews on here will tell you more details if you need them buy girls  take it from me  get your hubby  boyfriend in front of the television on a saturday night and you will both laugh and cry together . a real gem .  
unfortunately for me  the first busby berkeley movie i ever watched was    nd street .  i then expected all of his stuff to be that good . i found out that wasn  t necessarily the case  even here  with my all  time favorite classic  era actor james cagney .  br    br   oh  the musical numbers at the end are as spectacular as always  but the story is like many of the others and quite tiresome . they seem to always involve screaming  unhappy show producers . in this film  it  s cagney who winds up shouting things out so often that he gives me a headache after awhile and his character wears thin . . . . fast   br    br   even the songs in here are anywhere near    nd street  class  songs you could hum for years and years  decades  i should say . the songs in this movie are not memorable . no  this is one of the few early cagney films  and berkeley films  i totally dislike and was very disappointed with while watching .  
i got this film about a month ago and i am now a fanatic fan of drew barrymore  s . i love a happy ending and this film gives a brilliant one with the truths of red sox slotted in  it  s about a maths teacher who takes some promising kids on a maths trip to a company where the successful lindsey  drew  shows them some information . this then leads in the ben  teacher  and lindsey dating . but it isn  t all simple when he confesses he is a massive red sox fan .  br    br   first of all things are fine but then his baseball gets in the way of lindseys life . it  s all fine in the end and it took one shot to get drew running across the field   i got it for two quid in blockbusters so i was happy . if you like films like this i suggest you see some more of drew  s work like charlie  s angels and   first dates or even her new film with hugh grant in called music and lyrics .  
i  ve been watching a lot of cartoon or animated movies because i have a baby girl who likes to watch tv . i began to watch this movie to see if i would like my little one to watch it . . . and no . at the beginning i thought it was such a cute movie like the bambi movie  but all the way it was like insinuating the ducky was a homosexual . the info said that they were making fun of him because he wasn  t good at sports  but that was not the case . it just seems like a movie made for kids to learn to be okay being gay . it was also very sad  as far as the ducky  s dad and all . i don  t know  i guess if you  re gay you  d like it  but i don  t think i  m going to watch it again with my little one .  
somebody mastered the difficult task of merging sports with romance . in reality  sports and romance go together like oil and water . so  to successfully put the two together on screen . . . well  that is about the equivalent of splitting the atom . i never thought it could be done . i will be the first to say that in general i don  t like romantic comedies . . . but i do like sports and most movies about sports . this movie was a pretty good mix of the two . being a baseball fan  i could really appreciate the comedic ordeal with ben wrightman  jimmy falon  being a rabid boston redsox fan . anyone who knows anything about baseball knows the curse of the babe that plagued the redsox for   years  and they know just how nuts about baseball a lot of redsox fans are . the farrely brothers did a great job capturing that and it made for good comedy . this was a very good movie that could appeal to many .  
i saw this by accident one lazy summer afternoon . it was playing on the family programming channel of hbo . at first i was drawn in  by what i thought was a disney animation . but then  after a few minutes  i found myself searching for the remote  so i could find the  info button   to find out what in the world was on my tv . i have nothing against harvey f .  i enjoy him in many of his films  but one thing he is not  is a voice  over artist . sure he has one of the more unique voices in hollywood  but it works only as a part of a bigger visual package . attaching his voice to a cute duck made watching somewhat difficult . as for the rest of the cast  uninspired . i suppose working on this film didn  t appeal to the really good voice over talent out there .  br    br   so  weak voice talent  strong animation . . . who was this film targeting  gay adolescent ducks  i don  t get it . is there really such a dearth of role  models for young up and coming homosexuals  that we must resort to animated ducks  cute story  and like the title  this movie i found hard to love  just like an ugly duckling .  
ok  i would not normally watch a farrelly brothers movie . i can  t recall ever watching one . i also don  t recall watching a jimmy fallon movie . alright  i did watch taxi  but i said penance and was forgiven for that mistake . but  this movie had drew barrymore and i just think she is the cutest thing . i don  t know what it is about her  but i just smile the whole time i am watch her . she just captivates me that way . i mean i even watched adam sandler just to see her in   first dates . how sad is that  this wasn  t the greatest baseball movie  it wasn  t supposed to be . it was a love story about a sad puppy that hung on to the only thing that never let him down until he found something worth giving that up for . it had a predictable ending  but there was so much on the way there that made it worthwhile .  
hated it . if you believe that everyone in the south is dumb  morally bankrupt  stupid  violent  a religious nut  or a child molester  then this film may be for you . everyone is poor and seemingly ignorant . in one scene  two older men are talking in a general store and one mentions that he had molested a set of sisters before they could tie their shoes . the man seemed proud of his actions  and the other man clearly took it as a normal part of life . very nice . a teenage girl walks the back roads looking for her sister and no one offers to help her   despite an obvious limp and lack of food or water  no backpack  etc .  . strathairn  s character is not only thoroughly disgusting and slimy  but he is shown to be a religious believer who  typical for hollywood  reflects the vile nature of christians . a scene in the movie is highly reminiscent of the end of cape fear  the one with deniro    bible verses being spouted by the bad guy . i am from the great northwest  but found this film offensive because of the wonderful people i know who are from nc  wv  al  ms  ky  tn  etc .  
fever pitch has many of the clichs we have come to identify with hollywood romantic comedies a relationship between two people with little in common  the secret he  s been hiding that she discovers  the inevitable breakup  and the very public  well  i won  t go any further but you get the picture . in spite of its predictability  it works  especially if you love baseball as i do  though i  m not quite as obsessive as ben wrightman  a boston schoolteacher played by saturday night live comedian jimmy fallon .  br    br   adapted from a novel by nick hornby by veteran screenplay writers lowell ganz and babaloo mandel  ben is a lifelong boston red sox fan whose uncle gave him season tickets when he was seven years old and he  s been kind of stuck emotionally at that point all of his life to the detriment of his relationships with women . ben is not just a fan but a  fanatic  who travels to fort meyers  florida each winter for the red sox spring training games and never misses a home game during the regular season . his family does not consist of parents or siblings but the fellow groupies who attend each game with him and his bedroom is not a place to sleep but a red sox museum to visit .  br    br   when he falls for business consultant lindsay meeks  drew barrymore   he is threatened with the possibility of having to grow up but ben is not quite ready to do that . he would rather attend the yankee series than go with her to baltimore to meet her parents or to go to paris with her and miss the anaheim series . it takes his relationship being on the verge of dissolving  for him to stop and think about his priorities  especially when a pint  size dr . phil wannabe asks him   you love the red sox  but have they ever loved you back   while the premise of fever pitch is that some things are more important than baseball  perish the thought   you would never know it from the way things turn out . of course  to any one familiar with the history of the boston red sox  it is a team that will break the hearts of its most die hard fans   but this is      the year the curse of the bambino came to an end and as the red sox move to a new level  ben might just do the same . both lead performances are excellent and the farrelly brothers even manage a pretty gross gag . while fever pitch will never be mistaken for an art film  it is a joyous romp that will have to go down as one of my guilty pleasures . go blue jays  .  
dr . hackenstein begins at the turn of last century       the dawn of modern medical science  to be exact . dr . eliot hackenstein  david muir  is in the early stages of his rejuvenation of living tissue experiments  dr . hackenstein manages to bring a skinned rat back to life which confirms he has succeeded in bringing the dead back to life . . . it  s now  three years later   dean slesinger  micheal ensign  is round the doc  s house for dinner . as dean slesinger  dr . hackenstein eat they talk about hackenstien  s experiments which dean slesinger has always been opposed to  dr . hackenstein shows dean slesinger his laboratory in his attic where he keeps the severed head of his wife sheila  sylvia lee baker  who died in an unfortunate  accident   can telepathically talk to him  christy botkin provides sheila  s voice apparently  . dr . hackenstein also show  s dean slesinger a skinned chicken running around in a cage  explains that with the process he has developed he will bring sheila back to life . the dean has some sort of seizure  apparently dies . meanwhile sisters wendy  bambi darro as dyanne dirossario   leslie trilling  catherine davis cox  plus their brother alex  john alexis   their cousin melanie victor  stacey travis  are driving along near hackenstein  s house when they crash  they seek shelter  assistance  arrive upon hackenstein  s doorstep . dr . hackenstein invites the four stranded travellers to stay for the night . later on dr . hackenstein is visited by two grave  robbers  xavier  logan ramsey   ruby rhodes  ann ramsey  who deliver a male body when hackenstein actually needs female parts for sheila . dr . hackenstein being the genius that he is decides not to waste the opportunity of having three young beautiful specimens available  starts to  borrow  the bits  n  pieces he needs to complete sheila . . .  br    br   written  directed by richard clark i was pleasantly surprised by dr . hackenstein  i  ll state right now that it ain  t brilliant by any stretch of the imagination but for what it was i actually quite liked it . it moves at a reasonable pace even if it does tend to drag a little bit during it  s middle as things settle down . the script tries to mix slapstick humour like a scene when dr . hackenstein is trying to restrain melanie  she tries to gain the attention of his deaf housekeeper yolanda simpson  catherine cahn  by kicking out  hackenstein keeping melanie behind yolanda  s back who is seemingly oblivious to what  s happening  with a touch of gore but i  d say dr . hackenstein is more of a comedy than horror in conception  feel throughout . there are some tacky puns  sexual innuendo as well which are always good for a laugh  dr . hackenstein to wendy  would you like to see my instruments  as an example . i also thought the scene when mrs trilling  phyllis diller  reports her missing daughter  s to the bemused detective olin  william schreiner  was a pretty amusing sequence going round in circle  s talking about why he isn  t looking for them even though he has only just been told  why the cell doesn  t have a prisoner in it  that if he didn  t find the cousin not to worry about it . none of it  s flat laugh  out  loud but i must admit i found myself smiling on occasion  found the film as whole to be quietly amusing . there isn  t a lot of on screen gore  a few severed limbs  sheila  s decapitated head  some medical stitching  those skinned animals which are definitely fake by the way . i liked the characters in dr . hackenstein too  which was surprise in itself . the acting isn  t brilliant but to give everyone credit they put some effort into it  lots of exaggerated facial movements  some serious overacting means it  s never dull  oh  the three birds in dr . hackenstein are fit if you know what i mean . technically the film is ok as well  once again it ain  t going to win any oscars but i have to give the filmmakers at least some credit for trying to pull off a turn of the century period setting . it doesn  t always work  the clothes are at odds with each other at times  the girls look like their from victorian england while the guys look like their from a western . the house looks as if all the filmmakers did was remove any modern object from the room  stick a few candles in there  it comes across as a little bit on the cheap side but it really isn  t a bad looking film at all considering . could have done without the comedy music though . overall i ended up enjoying dr . hackenstein much more than i thought i would  although that in itself isn  t a recommendation . it  s certainly is not the best comedy horror film ever made  it certainly is not the worst either . a watchable enough piece of harmless fun .  
i love and admire the farrelly brothers  how come i only got to see this great movie  years after it  s release  it made me laugh  it made me cry and it reeeaally warmed my heart . big time . it  s hard to describe in my rotten english  but i have to try anyway  br    br   the cast is excellent throughout  from the lead  to the supporting roles  the acting is great  the dialogs are great and the film is perfectly directed and edited .  br    br   i think that the farrelly brothers movies are often underestimated  they are not light comedies  they  re deeeeeep  they talk about what life is all about  i won  t tell you   .  br    br   in my case  this movie affirmed to me what relationships are all about  br    br   if you love somebody set them free  let them be  try to share the passion and the pain and always be true to each other .  br    br   i  m not a sports  hater  but definitely a sports ignorant . but in this movie  the vibes get you . i could smell the atmosphere of baseball . finally  this movie explained to me what being a sports  fan can mean to you and what cool fan  families there must be out there .  br    br   thanks so much  pete  bob   br    br   p . s .  if you haven  t seen it  please check out kingpin   
two sisters  their perverted brother  and their cousin have car trouble . they then happen about the home of dr . hackenstein whom conveniently needs the body parts of three nubile young women to use in an experiment to bring his deceased lover back to life . he tells them that he  ll help them get home in the morning  so they spend the night . then the good doctor gets down to work in this low  budget horror  comedy .  br    br   i found this to be mildly amusing  nothing at all to actually go out of your way for  i stumbled across it on netflix instant view  streamed it to the xbox      but better then i expected it to be for a troma acquired film . most of the humor doesn  t work  but their are still some parts that caused me to smile . plus the late  great anne ramsey has a small part and she was always a treat to watch .  br    br   eye candy bambi darro  sylvia lee baker got topless  br    br   my grade d  
it  s rare  nowadays  to find a romantic comedy that isn  t incredibly disgusting in short doses throughout the entire movie  eg . big fat greek wedding me  myself  irene  . there were only a couple of unnecessarily demented jokes in this movie  nothing unpalatably profane . all around  it was a cute movie with likable characters . i thought the ending was a little abrupt . it feels like they should have ended it at the world series for a real bang up finish . the acting left a little to be desired  but was made up for by the pace of the story . if i  d known it was a farrelly brothers movie i would have assumed it to be a stomach turning piece of garbage and not watched it  but it seems that even they are capable of accidentally making an okay movie . good for them  i hope they pull their heads out the rest of the way and start consistently making good films .  
apparently there  s a very good reason why i never heard about  dr . hackenstein  before me and a couple of mates accidentally stumbled upon it and stupidly decided to give it a chance . that reason is it sucks  it  s a very pointless  dull  imbecilic and totally unmemorable horror comedy  parody . actually  to be honest  i  m not even sure if this was meant as a comedy because sometimes the script takes itself quite seriously and tries really hard to be a really ambitious and original late    s horror effort . in the year      at the dawn of a new era in medical science according to the opening sequences  dr . elliot hackenstein needs exactly three women  no more  no less  to refurbish his beloved wife whom he accidentally killed . she  s only just a living head left now  but the stupid body snatchers only provide male cadavers . so when dr . hackenstein yells out  i need three female bodies to bring back my wife   his words aren  t even cold and there just miraculously appear three young females  and one really annoying nerdy kid  with car trouble show up at his doorstep . why doesn  t that ever happen to me   i need a bunch of sexy voluptuous women to fill up my empty harem      see  nothing  anyway  the good doctor sees his wish fulfilled  but unfortunately  for science that is  he develops sympathy for one of the three girls .  dr . hackenstein  is a lame film that tries to cash in on the success of  re  animator  and even blatantly steal some of the comical aspects of that classic  like a severed head talking one  liners . it  s easy to see why this film is never mentioned anywhere  as it doesn  t appeal to fans of neither the horror nor the comedy genre . the funniest character is undoubtedly the loud  speaking female grave robber ruby depicted by the anti  cherubic anne ramsey .    s horror buffs will certainly remember her from wes craven  s  deadly friend   where she played the nasty old hag neighbor who gets decapitated by a basketball .  dr . hackenstein  supposedly takes place in the early      s  but there are hardly any attempts to re  create the atmosphere of that era  except maybe for some automobiles  . dr . hackenstein  s laboratory is a quite clichd    s set piece  with all sorts of smoky cauldrons and test tubes full of fluorescent colors .  
the only reason i saw this movie was for jimmy fallon  who i  ve had a crush on since  th grade  which was his first year on snl . i am a die  hard yankees fan  and i didn  t find the movie painful until the last   minutes  when they begin showing clips of the alcs games . i had to cover my ears and make small noises so i wouldn  t have to hear that which must not be heard  but otherwise it was completely bearable .  br    br   i thought jimmy played the role very well  because the character was supposed to be nervous and quirky  and he is a nervous and quirky guy . i know that it may not be a academy award  winning stretch  but the movie is just a light  fun  romantic comedy that is actually appropriate for both women and men to see .  br    br   jimmy and drew worked well together  and they had much better chemistry on camera than other actors in the past .  ed burns and angelina jolie in that stupid movie  what   i think jimmy has a positive career ahead of him  and thank goodness  because taxi could have killed it . i think fever pitch will help him out a lot . everyone needs to stop being so critical of his acting ability because he is just starting out in movies . i imagine it must be difficult  and if you look at any of the other great actors of our time  tom hanks  russell crowe  etc  you  ll see that they started off in some flops . busom buddies  australian soap operas  here  s wishing jimmy a successful career on screen . i never wanted him to leave snl but what can you do   
take your basic frankenstein flick  inject some reanimator  but not the good parts   and you have doctor hackenstein . certainly  this was obviously inspired by aforementioned films but it never materializes as anything special on its own .  br    br   a scientist accidentally kills his wife  so the whole movie takes place over the course of one night as he attempts to revive his wife . to revive his wife  he decides to chop off body parts from some women that have become stranded and  coincidentally  decide to stay the night at his place .  br    br   i can  t really say the acting is bad  nor is the directing . everything here is just way too standard . what little attempts there are at humor actually work  check out the scene when hackenstein keeps hiding behind his deaf assistant because she would undoubtedly be very upset if she saw him clutching a woman and a needle   but that  s hardly enough to recommend this film . the music is decent  what blood that  s there is decent  and the cast looks quite good . and for half of the time  i was even entertained by this film . but i never felt like this was anything more than a time waster . avoidable .  br    br   try frankenhooker instead .  
although i have not seen this mini  series in over twenty years i can still remember how the balance between character  plot and tale of marvelous adventures succeeded . the use of special effects was restrained making a more poetic rather than literal telling of the story . the two versions i  ve seen were dubbed  english and french  but the actors appear to speak their own language not just italian so there is a synchronization problem . it does not spoil the story telling . among the cast irene pappas as penelope is the most recognizable to north americans . recommended to all followers of odysseus  ever returning .  
i will start this off by saying i couldn  t get all the way through it . i picked it up on a rainy day from walmart like the rest of the reviewers on this site . i figured there wasn  t any way i would regret my purchase . was i wrong or what  seriously now  who approved this project  they need to be forced to watch this movie over and over until the end of eternity . that  s the only fitting punishment i can think of for releasing something this bad . the shooting reminds me of the movies i used to make for class projects on a big old vhs cam . the acting isnt much better . i think the only difference is that there are a few cool cameos . yay  who cares . . . shecky moskowitz is unfunny  and the ships comedian is an even bigger loser . that  s about as much of the plot as i understood .  br    br   overall it  s the worst movie i  ve ever seen . i own it on dvd and have given it to many co  workers to watch . each comes back and laughs and says  wow i didnt think i  d ever say i shut off an adam sandler movie   minutes in . . . .   br    br   my response is always  well now you can   br    br    
i was not only an extra in this movie  i got to see it in boston to a sold out cinema . over a thousand boston red sox  farrelly fans jammed themselves into a movie theater near boston common to watch a comedy . . . . about them . . . . red sox fanatics  drew barrymore and jimmy fallon star is this cute comedy about love and lust . the love is between the two young lovers . the lust is for the red sox winning the world series . although fallon is not a great actor  he is the best actor for the role . he is funny enough and gets the most laughs . barrymore on the other hand is the same old barrymore . at times  i felt supporting actress ione skye would have been a better actor for the role . all in all  all boston red sox fans will love this movie . for the rest of the world  this is just a funny movie .  
this movie features an o . k . score and a not bad performance by david muir as dr . hackenstein . the beginning and end credits show along with the most of the actors and the  special effects  that this is a low budget movie . there is nothing in this movie that you could not find in other mad scientist  horror  comedy  or low budget movies . not special for any nude scene buffs or bad movie lovers either . this movie is simply here . anne ramsey and phillis diller are nothing to get excited about as well . if you are curious as i was and can actually find this  you will realize the truth of the one line summary .  
admittedly  i know nothing about baseball  i  m not even a fan of the sport  but that didn  t stop me enjoying the farrelly brothers  latest film  fever pitch  a charmingly irreverent romantic comedy . the film is not really about baseball rather  it  s really about relationships  and the emotional disconnectedness that can often take place .  br    br   jimmy fallen  giving his best performance to date  stars as ben  a dorky  lightly nerdy schoolteacher . ben is a kind of man  boy  who unfortunately has never really grown up  and he fosters an almost fanatical addiction to the red sox baseball team . ben has devoted his life to the sox  and does everything from making the pilgrimage to florida for spring training to decorating every square inch of his apartment in team paraphernalia .  br    br   one day  while taking his honors geometry class to on a field trip to her office  ben meets the go  getting lindsey  a wonderful drew barrymore  . lindsey is a corporate  career orientated kind of girl  but she has a kind of cuteness that ben finds totally endearing . he  s initially hesitant to ask her out  thinking that she  s way out of his  class   and  lindsey doesn  t immediately see a potential partner in ben .  br    br   their first date gets off to a disastrous start when lindsey is stricken with a severe case of food poisoning  and her resonant retching provides the first clue that we are  in fact  watching a farrelly brothers movie . rather than accept lindsey  s  rather urgent  request to reschedule  ben sticks around to play nurse  orderly  and janitor . so ben scrubs the toilet and the dog  s teeth  while his love interest is passed out with a bucket next to her bed .  br    br   when lindsey wakes up in the morning and finds him asleep on her couch  she begins the long  fitful process of dismantling the web of status anxiety and ambition she has come to think of as her standards . soon they are falling in love  with lindsey blithely accepting ben  s fanatical devotion to his sport .  br    br   having inherited choice season tickets from his beloved uncle  ben has organized his life around the season  he  s never missed a game . but their relationship  which has progressed without a hitch throughout the winter  hits a snag at the start of the season .  br    br   lindsey wants ben to do other things  like holiday with her parents and party with her friends  but ben begins to have trouble modulating his interest to meet lindsey halfway . can lindsey consent to his irrational devotion to the boys of summer in order to make their relationship work  can she really accommodate ben  s infatuation with sports  can a die  hard and nerdy red sox fan find true love after all  of course  lindsey and ben come with a colorful assortment of opinion  wielding friends . lindsey  s strictest buddy  the skinny  rich and blond robin  kadee strickland   insists that there must be something wrong with the guy if he  s still single at   . however  plump  curly  haired sarah  marissa jaret winokur  and molly  ione skye  supply a more optimistic and positive view of ben .  br    br   ben  s eccentricity could be applied to virtually any obsessive sports fan  while lindsay  s frustrations could be representative of any upwardly mobile career driven woman . fallon is terrific as ben  exhibiting real big screen potential  overcoming the not  insignificant challenge of keeping ben from being unsympathetic . barrymore  meanwhile  is equally charming as the workaholic lindsey  particularly as she struggles to accept ben for who he is without losing sight of her own needs .  br    br   fever pitch really works  and even though there are lots of inspired comedic moments  the movie is also addressing the serious problem of sports addiction and how difficult it can be for couples to negotiate this fragile territory .  br    br   much of the movie was filmed at boston  s fenway park  which adds a fine sense of authenticity to the proceedings  as well as the ambiance of the games  though fully appreciating what transpired with the team will probably be limited to baseball aficionados . even so  fever pitch is blessed with such a finely wrought and intelligently funny script that even novice baseball fans will find much with which to connect . mike leonard september   .  
dreck about three beautiful women in california who go to cover some festival  or something  . all the hotels are booked so they have to spend the night in a creepy old house . what they don  t know is that there is a creepy inhabitant there who likes to kill . . .  br    br   yawn . boring  pointless  utterly stupid  horror  film . bach and her two buddies are certainly beautiful but the movie itself is dull dull dull  bach and her friends are no actresses   their faces are blank all the way through . the final  revelation  is laughably predictable and there  s no blood or gore to keep you interested along the way . there is some expected gratuitous female nudity but that  s not enough to save this . boring  pointless and unknown  for good reason  . a  all the way .  
yes  commitment . let  s say  fever pitch  might trick you into believing it  s a baseball movie .  br    br   but no  you don  t have to be a baseball fan to actually enjoy this picture from the farrelly brothers . but of course  if you are one  you will enjoy it even more with all the references  pretty accurate ones  i  d say  to the boston red sox and its bittersweet history from the curse of the bambino and everything attributed to it  including those two words you cannot pronounce in front of a boston fan bill buckner .  br    br   drew barrymore and jimmy fallon portray two people who  usually might have second thoughts of going into a relationship the successful workaholic who is also affluent meeting a school teacher  thing is  fallon  s character wins barrymore  s heart by being funny  caring  sweet and downright perfect . but her friends ask her a logical question if he  s such a keeper  why is he still on the market  enter the boston red sox . he  s been so committed to his team ever since his uncle passed his sox season tickets to him he has never missed a red sox home game at fenway park in a long while .  br    br   and that delicate balance  how much is the workaholic willing to give up for his guy  s obsession and how much is that baseball  crazed teacher willing to compromise in order to keep the other love of his life  is what this movie is all about .  br    br   at first  you might think that the sports  obsession bits of the movie are exaggerated for comic relief . well  i  m sad to admit  they are not . myself  as a die  hard houston astros fan  can say they are all true . i would try at every way available to see every  stros game listen to them on the radio or follow them on the internet . i read the chronicle  s sports section every day . and yes  my room looks like the shed  minute maid park  s gift shop with a closet full of astros gear  including  jerseys    t  shirts and you know the rest . fallon  s character even has the red sox mbna mastercard .  br    br   fallon was credible enough as the fanatical red sox faithful  even though he could pull it off without becoming a cartoon  thank god adam sandler wasn  t in it   and the plot revolved around how this couple tried to manage with each other  s passions .  br    br   i  d say it  ll be a classical romantic comedy . not enough to be among the best movies in history but certainly breaks a mold into the genre and is appealing enough for men and women alike .  
i purchased this movie at a car boot sale  so i was not expecting it to be a horror movie on the same level as a nightmare on elm street       or the hills have eyes       but i thought that it would still be fairly enjoyable to watch . however  it proved to be not at all enjoyable  but instead the acting and the general movie was mock  able  such as the ways the the  unsees killer  murders his victims and how all of the people killed just happen to be young blonde women . it was a stereotypical horror film . i say this because of the following reasons  br    br     three blonde women in danger  the majority get killed .   one survives by crawling around in the dark while being chased by the killer .   surprise surprise  help arrives in the form of a shotgun   br    br   by using three simple points  i have saved you two odd hours by summarising this poor excuse of a horror movie  so you are now lucky enough to not have to watch it .  
i got to see this on the plane to nz last week  and was wondering how it would measure up to both the uk film and the book . i have to say i was favorable impressed . if anything the fanatical attachment to the red sox during the lean years works even better than the original devotion to arsenal fc  who have had success through the years . as a brit i was also interested to see that you don  t need to understand baseball to get what  s going on . one question springs to mind  was the screenplay written using the sox as the team even before they finally broke the curse of the bambino  or was another team in the frame  as a red sox fan myself  weird i know  a brit who understands baseball  i have to say that it added to the enjoyment .  
much like the early horror film the boogens  the devious unseen killer is quite a letdown when it finally becomes seen . although animal house  s stephen furst obviously had fun in the role as a product of incest  his performance is more comedy than horror .  br    br   the plot  an extremely tired one  has three sexy women  bach  lamm and lois young  unable to find a hotel for the evening  so they willingly accept to stay with a seemingly kind museum curator  exceptionally played by the deceased sydney lassick . if you have ever seen any horror film  you know that lovable il  sydney is a deranged psycho  so one knows what will happen to the lovely ladies .  br    br   the three women are all very attractive  especially barbara bach  but lois young  a helen hunt clone  is the only one to go nude  as sydney watches her take a bath .  
i really liked this movie because i have a husband just like the guy in this movie . this movie is about lindsey who meets ben in the middle of winter when baseball season isn  t in . she falls in love but when spring comes along  she gets the shock of her life when she is placed one step lower on her pedestal that ben has put her on .  br    br   it  s a funny movie with all of the baseball obsession that ben has . he can  t part from what he loves the most  that  s what makes it so funny and why so many women can relate to lindsey in real life . also the people he sits with at the baseball games are just as obsessed as he is .  br    br   it  s a funny movie and you won  t strike out if you rent this one .  
this scared the hell out of me when i was a teenager . now i find it more amusing than scary  but with some pretty unsettling moments and with a kind of sleazy quality to it that i like . and  come to think of it  the plot is rather disgusting actually . . . but handled with some kind of taste . if there is a problem with this movie  it is that there are huge gaps where nothing exciting or interesting happens . also  the ending goes on forever  making a potentially tense climax seem silly after a while with barbara bach screaming and screaming . the  monster   after it is exposed  isn  t very scary either unfortunately . the somewhat drab look of the movie also works against it  making it appear as a tv  movie more than something made for theaters . but it is an example of films that are rarely made nowadays so i urge horror fans to watch it and feel a bit nostalgic . . .  
the movie shocked me . personally i had herd mostly bad buzz . well finally after owning the dvd for months now i pooped it in on a sleepless night . though the movie did drag the extra footage was used with purpose the seriousness of his passion and his recovery from addition to the game would have been less realistic if they had left out any scenes . the best thing about the movie is it  s consistency with the relationship . there were no ex  s popping up or characters threatening the relationship . i mean typically we see the girl meets boy by some amazing twist of fate  they date  something we saw coming breaks them up up and then they get back together in the last five minutes of the movie . but this movie did not follow that mold . we actually experienced the relationship and it  s flaws and though the characters did have there moments of anti  love they did not have dramatic pauses were they went off and did a montage every   and then reunite in love again . i did not feel the movie was as predictable as the rest of the romance movies . the story was unique and truthful to reality in the way that i felt these people in the film were the most believable that i have seen in a romance film from modern times . and it did not hurt that all the baseball games were real and they were at the actual world series so fate kicked in a little there also . it  s no  my fair lady  but it is a spirited and honest film . i  ll simply say i like it .  
this cannon movie tale is the worst of the lot  and is positive proof that a five minute fable does not a full  length film make . poor sid caesar as the vain emperor  is made to look so stupid  it  s hard to watch him . as the sly tailor  robert morse hasn  t an ounce of charm . neither does his hapless nephew  jason carter  the  songs  are dreadful and only slow what there is of the plot down . the direction is practically nonexistent  and the supporting characters add very little . lysette anthony is pretty as the emperor  s daughter  but her voice has obviously been dubbed for some reason  a fate shared by many of the minor players . and the film crawls at a snails pace . hans christian andersen must have been turning somersaults in his grave when this appeared . it can honestly be said  at least of this movie tale  it  s no surprise that it went straight to video oblivion .  
i have to admit that i went into fever pitch with low expectations . it  s no huge revelation for me to say that jimmy fallon  s last movie  taxi  was catwomanly bad  and the trailers for fever pitch were all right but didn  t mesmerize me . i was already preparing some cheesy baseball puns for my review . . .  br    br    i like jimmy fallon  but taxi was strike one in his movie career . well  now we  ve got steeeeee  riiiiiike twoooooooo  one more strike  and it  s back to snl   or  buy yourself some peanuts and cracker jacks  but don  t buy tickets to fever pitch . you  ll walk out of the theater and never go back   then the movie had to go and be way more entertaining than i was expecting . but hey  i couldn  t let my puns go to waste  right  another reason i thought i wouldn  t care for the movie is that i hate the boston red sox . my whole family hates  em . the mere mention of pedro martinez  name sends me running to the bathroom . oh man  hold on . . .  br    br   . . . all right  i  m back . anyway  my mom  who is a st . louis cardinals fan  still believes the world series was rigged last year . she refuses to believe the sox won it legitimately . but i  m man enough to admit that fever pitch caused me to sympathize  albeit only slightly  with the plight of red sox fans .  br    br   anybody who has a passion for sports will be able to relate to this movie on some level . unless you have a favorite sports team you can  t fully understand the extreme highs and lows that a fan such as fallon  s ben can go through . there  s nothing quite so fresh as the smell of a new season and nothing quite so smooth as a clean slate . well  figuratively speaking . it  s the joy of being a sports fan .  wait  til next year   becomes your mantra  your motto  your prayer  and fever pitch effectively captures that essence .  br    br   i love the fact that the movie takes a fictional story and throws it against the real  life backdrop of the red sox  improbable world series run last year . i don  t love it so much that i want to marry it  but you know what i mean . i expected this to be handled in a fairly cheesy manner  and while some of the humor is a little silly  it  s actually pretty realistic .  br    br   you see  ben  s uncle took him to his first red sox game when he was  years old  and when he died he left ben his two season tickets . ben hasn  t missed a game in   years . at the beginning of each season he has a draft day where he and his friends get together to figure out who gets to go to which games with him . he makes everybody dance for the yankees games and whenever somebody complains he threatens them with tickets for the games with the royals  sorry mr . shade  and the devil rays . it  s a very good scene  and it works so well because i actually know of people who do the  ticket draft day .  i also must admit that i can relate to when ben goes to dinner with lindsey and her parents . the red sox are playing a road game  but instead of watching it live on tv ben decides to tape it . one of the most dangerous things in life is taping a game and then being in public and trying to avoid hearing the result . been there . it  s a very tense and scary situation . weeeeeell  ben enters the danger zone when a guy shows up at the restaurant and mentions watching the game . ben immediately covers his ears and starts shrieking like a banshee so as not to hear the outcome . lindsey is embarrassed  and her parents don  t know what to think . yeah  sports fans can be weird  i don  t deny it . but it  s real .  br    br   now if you  re expecting the crude  edgy stuff that the farrelly brothers are known for then you could be disappointed . they do have their moments though  like when ben says he likes how lindsey sometimes talks out of the side of her mouth  like an adorable stroke victim   but overall this is definitely a softer  more romantic side that the bros are putting on display .  br    br   that  s not to say that the movie ever gets way too sappy . thankfully  when the sap starts to ooze a bit  the farrellys know when to pull away . a romantic moment with lindsey jumping on the field and running over to ben to declare her undying love for him turns into ben sincerely replying   you  ve gotta tell me about the outfield . is it spongy   jimmy fallon proves that with the right material he can handle himself well on the big screen  and drew barrymore remains a constant source of romantic comedy charm . fever pitch is just good  solid entertainment that takes a somewhat fresh look at the romantic comedy genre . it  s a movie that guys and gals can both relate to . particularly the guys who practice sports fanaticism at some point during the year and the ladies who must deal with  em .  br    br   now if the red sox fans could please shut up about the  curse of the bambino  i would appreciate it . my memphis tigers have never won the ncaa basketball championship  so i officially declare my plight greater than yours .  br    br   the gist fans of jimmy fallon  drew barrymore  romantic comedy  the red sox  baseball  or sports fanaticism in general should consider giving fever pitch a look . i wouldn  t go out of my way to rush and see it at the first available time  but it  ll make a great matine .  br    br   rating  .    out of    
this movie was so predictable . its a complete rip off of those   i was abused by daddy i  m gonna kill women  movies . stupid scenes  bad acting  unoriginal storyline  really low budget piece of crap film .  br    br   don  t waste your time people . trust me .  br    br   my rating    .   
this is a great movie for the true romantics and sports lovers alike .  br    br   drew barrymore is at her best in this movie . as a drew fan it was quite nice to see her shine after having several flops . i had my doubts about jimmy fallon but he totally delivered as ben the comical  sports crazed sweetheart . the comedy in this movie is great  there were several laugh out loud moments .  br    br   their first date started rocky when he showed up at her apartment with flowers and she was sick to her stomach from eating a new place earlier in the day . instead of leaving he helps take care of her  helping her change into pajama  s then cleaning up the puke on her toilet and bathroom later telling her that she was  very lady  like . . . no chunks .  everything goes great between ben and lindsay the whole winter but then baseball season starts . lindsay starts to realize just how obsessed ben is with the red sox and why this seemingly great guy is still single . she tries to shrug it off and think of it as a good thing as she has a busy work schedule and she wont feel guilty for working extra hours while he is at games . she even buys all the books on the red sox she can find including one on  the curse of bambino  .  br    br   everything is going pretty well until lindsay has a false alarm having missed her period . it both makes them both realize how serious they are getting and she begins to question if this is the person she wants to be with . a very touching part in the movie is after she tells him she got her period it shows him sadly putting away a baby sized red sox jersey he had bought just in case she was pregnant .  br    br   eventually ben tries to show her how important she is and decides to go to her friends birthday party after she said  i had to check my calender and when i saw the there was a red sox  yankee game i knew i would be going stag  . after the party ben tells her it was  the best night of his life  . shortly after he gets a call from his pal who went to the game he gave up for the party and told him  it was the best game ever     ben freaks out about missing it and ends up really hurting lindsay when she says  a few minutes ago you were saying this was the best night of your life  he says  well that was a few minutes ago .   br    br   so they separate for a while  he realizes how immature his obsession is and decides to sell his season tickets which he inherited from his uncle because if he didn  t it would  remind him too much of what he gave up for them  . lindsay finds out through a friend and decides to stop him realizing he is doing it for her . it ends very sweetly showing how his childhood love for baseball has been over shadowed for a whole new deeper love  lindsay . they still go to the games and even attend the final world series game and st . louis and it is a happy ending all around .  thumbs up    
casting aside many of the favorable comments that have obviously come from friends and  or relatives that pepper this and many other low budget independents listed on imdb  one is lost when it comes to using these reviews as an accurate gauge . so eventually you have to go out and rent the flick just to see for yourself . one of the first things you must understand are the catch phrases that camouflage the reality of the movie . in this case the term  dark psychological thriller .  read  hack writer  director who thinks he  s an auteur  who replaces plot  story  and action  with what he believes is a deep insight into the human soul . his great insight  festering and repressed childhood traumas emerge to wreck havoc when we become adults . wow  i bet freud would be really impressed  too many would be film makers like kallio  who were raised on low budget horror flicks of the last few decades  fail to dig their own fresh grave . instead  they fall into the pre  dug graves of the many other directors that came before them . they are content with rehashing old and tired horror clichs that they borrowed from a dozen or more films . the result is an unoriginal  uninspired  unbelievable waste of film stock .  
fever pitch is a fun enough movie . it has a lot of funny moments  including a hilariously disturbing shower scene  . like most romantic comedies  it has a  dead zone  in the middle where all the heavy   she  s breaking up with me  stuff happens  but other than that it continues to be funny until the end .  br    br   even though the plot revolves around fanaticism towards the red sox  it  s not overloaded with sports . you don  t have to be a fan to enjoy this film .  br    br   of course that  s easy for me to say i  ve been a red sox fan since i was a boy  too .  br    br    out of   .  br    br   barky  
it took  years to complete this film . i would think that within those  years someone would have said  hey  this film is terrible . i  ve seen better acting in porn movies . the story is tired and played . abused child turns into serial killer . how about something new for a change . how about abused child turns into a florist  at least that would have been a new twist . why is it that everyone with a camera and a movie idea  especially unoriginal movie ideas  thinks that they can be a director  i do admire the fact that they stuck with this film for  years to get it completed . that shows tenacity and spirit . with this kind of drive hopefully next time they can focus it on a better script . if you want to see a failed experiment in indie film making from a writer  director from michigan see hatred of a minute . if you want a good movie from a michigan writer  director stick with evil dead .  
the farrelly brothers  bobby and peter  are at it again . with  fever pitch  the creators of other films that have dealt with a lot of gross themes  abandon that tactic when they decided to bring nick hornby  s film to the screen  something that it would have been hard to do . the novel  of the same title  dealt with a man  s obsession with soccer  since it is set in england  where that sport consumes most of british sports fans . it  s to the credit of the writing team of lowell ganz and babaloo mandell  to transform the book into a language that would appeal to most americans  when they make their hero  a boston red sox fan .  br    br    fever pitch  is a film that presents an obsessive fan  ben wrightly  whose life revolves into the red sox season  and who is an eighth grade teacher with uncanny ways for involving his students into the subject he tries to teach them . when ben takes four of his best pupils for a tour of a local firm  he meets  and falls hopelessly in love with the brainy lindsey meeks  a young woman who is going places  but at thirty  has no life of her own .  br    br   the story follows the two lovers through the ritual of attending the red sox  at home games  in fenway park . this team  s fans are probably the most loyal people in the world  having stuck with a team that does marvelous things but  until      never won a world series . in fact  the ending  from what we heard  had to be changed because that was the year in which they finally won the event that had eluded them for eighty six years  drew barrymore and jimmy fallon are perfect as the couple at the center of the film . ms . barrymore is a natural who always surprises in her appearances in front of the camera . jimmy fallon  a popular television comedian  turned movie actor  has a better opportunity here than in his last appearance in  taxi   in our humble opinion .  br    br   the farrelly brothers film will satisfy their fans as well as baseball fans with this baseball tale .  
barry  a medical transcriptionist has his mind corroding from his job coupled with memories of an abusive upbringing at the hands of his stepfather  barry  the original leatherface gunnar hansen  . he spirals into madness and eventually a serial killer . good  in the form of a gay man  and evil  in the form of a bald mute guy  battle for control of his soul . this film is undone by some bad acting and unintentional humorous scenes . not to say it  s horrible or anything  just that you cal tell that it  s only as known as it is on account of bruce campbell  s rabid fan base  of which i am one  who will likely see anything he  s in or involved with in some way .  br    br   my grade c   br    br   dvd extras commentary with michael kallio  and bruce campbell second commentary by kallio and sound designer joel newport  hating every minute  a   minute documentary deleted and extended scenes alternate takes outtakes  footage of the world premiere poster  still gallery talent bios and theatrical trailer  br    br   dvd  rom screenplay in . pdf format  br    br    easter eggs highlight the eyes for a laughing outtake  left eye  and one minute of nothing but an actual easter egg  right eye   
in all honesty  this series is as much a classic  as television goes  as the original poem is to the world  s literature . far from being crassly exploitative  it is a beautiful and respectful rendering of one of the western culture  s defining texts .  br    br   i was moved by the plight of odysseus and his followers touched by the drama of the fall of troy  which was felt but not seen   intrigued by the way the gods played with the fate of mortals .  it should be mentioned that the gods appearing here are not ridiculous cgi creatures flitting around on their ankle wings  or poorly  cast fashion models in bikinis . as in homer  s work  they act through mortal agents or  rarely  are represented by classical statuary  .  br    br   it  s a pity it  s not available in dvd  especially given the vastly inferior and cheesy adaptations of the odyssey that one can find in video stores .  
i remember when the golden child was released in     it was universally panned by the critics  and im talking panned so badly that it more or less ended the glittering career of eddie murphy so i guess this movie has something going for it  br    br   it gets off to a bad start where buddist monks kneel in front of a child with a blank expression on his face . bad guys enter the temple  br    br   child sits with blank expression  br    br   bad guys chop up the monks  br    br   child sits with blank expression  br    br   bad guys pull out giant bird cage and stick the child inside who now sits with . . . go on guess  you do get the impression that even if they were taking him for a sleepover at michael jacksons wonderland ranch hed still give the same blank expression  this movie would be better titled the wooden child  br    br   the title sequence starts and being a movie from the     s a pop soundtrack features heavily . obviously this might have been cool and funky at the time but now in     it seems very dated . not only that but it jars completely with the somewhat bloody opening . in fact thats the main problem  and boy its a serious one  with this movie  the whole mood seems to change from scene to scene so much so that sometimes its like watching scenes from totally different movies spliced together . i blame the director personally but it should also be pointed out that both the screenwriter and producer should share equal blame too . did anyone know before shooting commenced what type of movie this was going to be  its part fantasy  part martial arts  part buddy movie  part comedy and its all crap  
  fever pitch  is a sweet and charming addition to the small genre of sports romances as date movies or movies a son could be willing to go to with his mother  though the guys in the audience got noticeably restless during the romantic scenes  .  br    br   i have lived through a milder version of such a story  as my first exposure to baseball was dating my husband the spring after the mets first world series win and then i watched the mets clinch their next one because i was the one still up in the wee hours with our two little sons  who have grown up to teach me more about baseball through our local neighborhood national league team  s other heartbreaking failures to win it again  and it was me who took our older son to his only fenway park game as i caught a bit of red sox fever as a graduate student in boston  .  br    br   so compared to reality  the script believably creates two people with actual jobs . it is particularly impressive that drew barrymore  s character is a substantive workaholic who has anti  barbie skills  though she pretty much only visits with her three bland girlfriends during gym workouts that allow for much jiggling and the minor side stories with her parents don  t completely work .  br    br   it is even set up credibly how she meets jimmy fallon  s math teacher and how she falls for his  winter guy    though it  s surprising that his red sox paraphernalia filled apartment didn  t tip her off to his jekyll  and  hyde  summer guy .  their relationship crisis during the baseball season is also played out in a refreshingly grown  up way  from efforts at compromise to her frank challenges to him  centered around that they are both facing thirty and single . fallon surprisingly rises to his character  s gradual emotional maturity .  br    br   while the ending borrows heavily from o . henry  the script writers did a yeoman job of quickly incorporating the sox  s incredible     season into a revised story line  with lots of cooperation from the red sox organization for filming at the stadium  .  br    br   the script goes out of its way to explain why fallon doesn  t have a boston accent  as an immigrant from new jersey  but that doesn  t explain why his motley friends don  t . the most authentic sounding boston sounds come from most of his  summer family  of other season ticket holders  who kindly kibitz the basics of sox lore to neophyte barrymore  and any such audience members  .  br    br   the song selection includes many red sox fans  favorites  from the opening notes of the classic  dirty water   though most are held to be heard over the closing credits as if you are listening to local radio and are worth sitting through to hear .  
this is the kind of movie that wants to be good but sucks . first thing  what the hell are those punk trying to do with the school  i think the kids doesn  t seem to realize the gravity of the situation . deker guy say to the girl that they under his responsibility when she ask why he wants to go back for them but right after this he gives a gun to the wheel chair dude and wants him to go alone repair the phone line . where is the responsibility there  i understand poor actors must pay their food but why not just give them the money that takes to make a stupid movie like that or give that money to a charity . oh yea and none of them knows how to aim . the stupid punk guy shoots in the cafeteria nowhere like a crazy . they all want to look professional but they all suck . one more thing i don  t believe that there  s no emergency exit in the school the kids are trying several doors but they all locked . what happens if there  s a fire and the dumass security guard is dead  it is illegal to not have an emergency exit in school . anyway there  s a lot more to say but it would be too long . i spent some time of my life to watch a crap .  
i saw this movie on thursdays night after having a really boring day . i had no expectations  those i had were rather negative . being that the only movie i  ve ever watched jimmy in is the american version of taxi with queen latifah    . . . don  t ask why  but seriously . . this movie is so cute  drew barrymore is always sweet  but i almost fell in love with fallon  s character . why can  t i meet a cute nerd like that .   movies like that are excellent . simple  sweet and necessary . sunday on a thursdays . i  m not even a sports fan  but it  s something about american movies with baseball that fascinates me . probably the fact that we don  t have that sport here in norway .  br    br    my first comment ever .  haha  
i just rented this movie to see dolph lundgren  whom i hadn  t seen in any movies since rocky iv . unfortunately this movie was a big disappointment . the acting of all the parties was bad except for mr . lundgren  who was okay  ish . kata dob was something nice to look at despite her ridiculous outfit and make  up .  br    br   the plot is not at all clever  it  s something that  s been repeated a million times in different movies . the crooks were utterly stereotypical  and lundgren  s character hadn  t any depth in it . i didn  t really expect a movie masterpiece  but unfortunately this is not even decent action . every turn in the plot is extremely predictable and the unbelievable amount of over  the  top unrealism and comic  book like characters started to annoy me strongly pretty soon .  br    br   i would recommend this to young kids wanting some comic  like action  but only if nothing else is available .  br    br       .  i guess the current average vote of  .  with  votes must have been influenced by somebody involved in making this movie   
if you enjoy romantic comedies then you will find this tale of two   year old singles who fall in love during the american league pennant race satisfying . on the other hand  if you are hanging around waiting for kill bill volume  or sin city  then you probably should stay away . the plot contains the obligatory guy meets girl  s friends  girl meets guy  s friends  and guy meets girl  s parents scenes . there is even a guy meets girl  s pet dog scene . that  s all par for the course in a movie like this . however  what i liked about it was that the plot delved into the decision making process people make as they begin to realize that their romantic interest is not perfect and is in fact a bit quirky . the plot centers around answering the questions how much quirkiness is too much and how much love does it take to trump those quirks  it is interesting to see the characters work that out because deep down  if we admit it  we all have quirks . barrymore does a very good job in her role and fallon sorta surprised me   he  s good as well . i rate it a  out of   as a romantic comedy . add one point if you are a baseball fan or romantically involved with one . add another point if you are a red sox fan and subtract two points if you are a yankees fan .  
i wasn  t expecting a lot from a film directed by sidney j . furie and starring dolph lundgren but i was surely expecting more than a got . a one  liner user comment   nd rate action movie  didn  t seem too depreciative to me for a lundgren film . on the other hand  i wouldn  t have bothered to watch this film if its rating was below  .  but hey  the movie had a  .  out of   score  which seemed pretty acceptable to me for this kind of production .  br    br   now i understand that the   .   of people who rated this film a    excellent  was clearly a publicity stunt because detention is the regular nu image garbage you have seen before  over and over .  br    br   lundgren does not convince as an ex  military turned a history teacher assigned to a rough school . his acting is just plain terrible  emotionless and contrived . lundgren  s inability to act becomes more visible in the scenes with the juvenile delinquent kids . either they are great actors or  compared to lundgren  they seem great actors  just because they seem natural and believable .  br    br   detention has some elements that could have been potentially interesting for this low budget movie  a closed  for  weekend high  security high school  four teens in detention with a war  veteran teacher and a group of ruthless criminals trying to get in  but the story  something like the breakfast club meets die hard  or is it panic room   is full of unbelievable situations  lots of clichs and stereotypical characters . and let  s not forget dolph lundgren is the main actor .  br    br   alex karzis and kata dob play a bonnie and clyde couple in love and they deliver the most acceptable performances of the movie  even if he seems a low  budget version of sam rockwell and she  a milla jovovich wanna  be . in a movie where everything fails  their craziness and style supplied enough fresh air to prevent my interest from dropping to ground zero .  
my daughter gets really put out at me when i refer to drew barrymore as looking as if she  d been hit in the face with a frying pan  not to mention her dudley dooright chin that jay leno would die for . how wonderful  then  when i discovered in  fever pitch  that i really like miss barrymore and jimmy fallon and the red sox and boston  this film is probably best characterized as a sweet  light comedy . to be absolutely stereotypical  the girls will like the movie for its romantic charm and jimmy fallon  s vulnerability  and the boys will like it for all the male bonding and the depiction of sports mania .  br    br   my sports  hating wife  my teenage daughter  and i all found something to like in the film . that says something in itself . it  s a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half or so  and is probably a really good date flic  too .  
interesting story about a soldier in a war who misses out on saving the life of a young girl from the enemy and is haunted by this event  even though he did save many other captive children . the film flashes a head and this soldier is now a teacher in a high school that is managed mostly by policemen patrolling the hallways  bathrooms and even class rooms . in other words  the high school is a prison and most of the kids pay very little attention to their teachers or principal . dolph lundgren   sam decker  plays the soldier  school teacher and decides he is going to quit teaching and go into another field . however  the principal asks him to have a detention class as his last duty as a teacher . it is at this point in the film when all hell breaks loose and the story becomes a complete bomb . try to enjoy it  if you decided to view it   
i went to see fever pitch with my mom  and i can say that we both loved it . it wasn  t the typical romantic comedy where someone is pining for the other  and blah blah blah . . . you weren  t waiting for the climatic first kiss or for them to finally get together . it was more real  because you saw them through the relationship  rather than the whole movie be about them getting together . people could actually relate to the film  because it didn  t seem like extraordinary circumstances  or impossible situations . it was really funny  and i think it was jimmy fallon  s best performance . all in all . . . i would definitely recommend it   
i should preface this by stating that i am a dolph lundgren fan . the man turns out some of the funniest action clichs imaginable and detention is probably my personal favorite . spoiler even though there is no such thing as a dolph spoiler since the scripts are so absurd to begin with a chase scene with a handicapped kid carrying a pistol versus a guy on a harley with a sub  machine gun  through a high school hallway and the kid wins  good game  the oscar goes to detention . dolph  if you  re reading this  thanks for the laughs  old friend .  br    br   in summary terrific movie that is a guaranteed laugh . i recommend inviting some friends over for this and forcing them to sit through it . hilarious .  
what i expected a rather lame overly  stereotypical portrayal of a sports  mad guy and an equally lame stereotypical portrayal of the gal who likes him yet suffers while being second banana to his overly zealous support for his favorite sports team .  br    br   what i got an even  handed story where both guy and gal end up admitting   to themselves and each other   that they each have passions in their lives yet each can forgive the other to save the love they share .  br    br   sounds sappy but with the nonstop humor and terrific performances this story works  barrymore is classic barrymore that perfect blend of sweet  strong  and adorable . we expect that from her and she delivered .  br    br   but fallon is the nice surprise in this film . he brings to the role the perfect blend of sports nut combined with the appreciation for the normal things in life  like caring about kids and his girlfriend . fallon delivers his lines with subtle perfection . he can be caring   you just ran across the field for me    and in the same breath be obliviously blinded by his love for the red sox   how did the grass feel  kinda spongy    at the same time . fallon  s portrayal  made  the movie . hopefully  this movie marks the beginning of a better film career for fallon  something beyond the over  the  top sophomoric humor typical of snl alums  i . e . will ferrell  .  br    br   in short  a movie that could have fallen victim to stereotypical male vs . female characters rose above that limitation and provided nonstop spot  on humorous lines  most delivered with brilliant subtlety by fallon .  br    br   hey  i saw this with my wife   not a baseball fan   and she loved it as much as i did . it  s neither a  guy flick  nor a  chick flick  . it  s a terrific make  you  laugh flick . go see it   
normally i wouldn  t feel qualified to review something i only saw a half hour of  but i  ll make an exception for this one .  br    br   let the dialogue speak for itself  here  s some of the bad guy  s lines  i smell . . . teacher    sorry  teacher  you get an  f     br    br   bad guy and bad girl  right after killing  cops and stealing a van full of drugs  they  re getting hot and heavy    br    br   him   so how do you feel about shooting some innocent bystanders    br    br   her   purrs   you sure know how to show a girl a good time . . .  one generic kid who ran for his life instead of helping someone  gets to sum up his life and personality in this line   i am a chicken  twit   this was the usa network version  my old man was right  no wonder he left us . . .  boo  hoo .  br    br    not actually a spoiler  bad guy  on fire  screams  aargh  fire    
in the old west there are always the men who live breathe violence and the women who hold their breath . a famous town tamer named clit tollinger  robert mitchum  comes hired by the citizens to rid the gunslingers  leo genn  claude atkins  among others   baronland  s hoodlums . there he meets the blacksmith  emile meyer   his daughter  karen sharpe   her boyfriend  john lupton   the marshal  henry hull  and the saloon owner  ted de corsia  . clint as lawman is appointed deputy to bring peace and puts some cartels saying the following   warning  wearing of guns or other weapons in town is banned . check all hardware at the marshal  s office  . clint finds his ex  girlfriend  a local madame  jan sterling  in charge of the saloon girls  angie dickinson  barbara lawrence  among them  . but the town council afraid the raw methods carried out by clint . at the end the kingpin landowner appears and attempts to murder tollinger with his own hands .  br    br   this is a tremendously exciting story of a sheriff  for  hire who had only one more killing to go . it begins as a slow  moving western but follows to surprise us with dark characters and solid plot . the tale is almost grim  a pacifier comes to a town just in time to make sure its citizenry but later the events get worse . the highlights are the burning at saloon and the climatic showdown at the ending . phenomenal and great role for robert mitchum as avenger angel and bitter gunfighter  he  s the whole show . vivid and lively musical score by alex north  spartacus  cleopatra   atmospheric cinematography in black and white by lee garmes . the motion picture is stunningly realized by richard wilson  al capone  three in attic  who made good western as invitation to a gunfighter and zane grey episodes . watchable results for this offbeat western .  
cheezy action movie starring dolph lungren . lungren is a one time military man who has retreated into a teaching job . but the changes in the neighborhood and the student body have left him frustrated and he decides that he  s going to hang it up . things get dicey when while watching over a bunch of students in detention some robbers take over the school as a base of operation for an armored car robbery . its dolph versus the baddies in a fight to the death . jaw dropping throw back to the exploitation films of the late grindhouse era where bad guys dressed as punks and some of the bad women had day glow hair . what a stupid movie . watchable in a i can  t believe people made this sort of way  this is an action film that was probably doomed from the get go before the low budget  fake breakaway sets and poor action direction were even a twinkle in a producers eye . watch how late in the film as cars drive through the school  don  t ask  they crash into the security turret  don  t ask since it looks more like a prison then a high school  and smash its barely constructed form apart  it doesn  t look like it did in earlier shots  . what hath the gods of bad movies wrought  actually i  m perplexed since this was directed    by sydney j furie  a really good director who made films like the boys in company c . has his ability failed him  or was this hopeless from the get go and he didn  t even bother  it  s a turkey . a watchable one but a turkey none the less .  
robert mitchum stars as clint tollinger in this short but tough western man with the gun . tollinger is a professional town tamer  as in  when a town needs someone to save itself he is the one who is brought in to do it . tollinger  s latest gig comes by as an accident strolling into town looking for his former fling  he stumbles into a town being played like a puppet by a local western gangster . but many townspeople begin to rue the day they hired tollinger  as his way of cleaning up the town becomes very taxing  suddenly high plains drifter seems less original  .  br    br   man with the gun starts off as an average western tough  guy film but begins to surprise you more and more as the film progresses . what starts off as forgettable and run  of  the  mill ends up dark and character  centered . the entire film is very well shot and the cast is very enjoyable . mitchum is his usual excellent self here in man with the gun  not one of his very best performances  mitchum still has his classic and effective tough  guy screen presence in high gear and he knocks the action  packed  meaningful  and shocking scenes of the film right out of the park . man with the gun is a nice mitchum western and is easily worth one  s time .  
i am not sure why i like dolph lundgren . i guess seeing him on screen makes me feel that anyone who works hard can succeed regardless of talent . that is a good feeling for all of us who lack talent . some of the other reviews point out how dumb detention is  but many neglect to point out the positives .  br    br   any movie where at least one annoying teenager gets killed can  t be all bad . why do so many movies that have a cast of teens always need to include the stereotypical teens  aren  t there any other kind of teens  does every group of teens have one angry black guy  one genius nerd that nobody likes  one slutty girl who is very friendly and  in this movie  pregnant  one disturbed anti  social white kid from a broken home who everyone agrees is talented  but what is the talent   . and one laid  back black kid who is in tune with the universe and so cool that all the other neurotic kids trust him . then add a couple of generic expendable teens of any color . they don  t say much but get shot at some point .  br    br   detention would have been better if the bad guys had gotten to blow up the school . preferably with the writers inside . the dialogue is bad  and the plot is worse . when the bad guys  and girl  finally hijack a van full of drugs  then they sit inside the van making out . they drive the van to the school because they want to re  paint the van at the school  s paint shop  but they never get around to re  painting the van . by the way  it would have been easier to just put all the drugs in another car or two cars or another van or a truck and drive away without repainting the police van . they also never move the drugs or sell them or do anything else with the big score .  br    br   for some reason  they decide they have to kill the kids and the teacher  dolph lundgren  even though when the villains take over the school nobody is remotely aware of it because it is after school hours . the handful of people still in the school have nothing to do with painting vehicles  so why go after them   br    br   anyhow  the best part of this movie is that the villains are all armed with numerous machine guns  and they keep finding the teens  including a guy in a wheel chair  and they keep shooting hundreds of bullets at the teens and usually miss . towards the end of the movie there is some bloodshed . for every time someone gets shot  there must be at least three hundred bullets fired that miss . the stunts are pretty bad .  br    br   i read one of the reviews that says that this movie had a budget of    million  and i am amazed . when i saw the movie i figured maybe lundgren had done it as some kind of charity work for some film school where he is the teacher . like maybe this movie was their end of the year exam . it was a test to watch it  but i passed .  
clint tollinger arrives in a small town looking for his estranged wife and news of his daughter  tho he finds her  the chance of any sort of reconciliation is very slim . whilst here  the sheriff and the important townsfolk learn of tollinger  s reputation as a pistol specialist town tamer . as they are living in fear of a mysterious landowner who is stripping the town from them bit by bit  they hold a meeting that chooses to hire tollinger to rid the town of it  s unsavoury elements .  br    br   man with the gun seems to be either a forgotten piece or a vastly under seen one  at the time of me writing this  it has just over    votes and a paltry  user comments written for it . it  s a shame on either score because although the production values scream out that this is a b movie western  this is a fine entry in the western genre . that the piece takes on a rather standard plot theme of an harangued town turning to an avenging dark angel  probably hasn  t done the film any favours over the years  i myself read the synopsis and thought it  s just another in the line of similarly themed pictures . yet i was pleasantly surprised to find a darkly dramatic picture boasting many enjoyable moments  both technically and as a functioning story .  br    br   robert mitchum is in the lead as tollinger  perfectly cast  he strides thru the picture like some brooding menace . we often talk about the screen presence that john wayne and charlton heston had justifiably of course  mitchum is right up there with the best of them . one sequence here sees him standing in the shadows at the back of a room as a meeting takes place  we don  t see his face  but we can feel that piercing brood staring out at us  . the rest of the cast are also very much in mitchum  s shadow  so really it  s solely with the big man that the films acting credentials are high  perhaps it  s unfair to single out ted de corsia for a kick  but man with the gun  s minor failings are with its villains  and sadly de corsia is lacking any sort of villainesque menace . the score from alex north is excellently layered fans of spartacus will certainly be pricking their ears up and the cinematography from lee garmes is highly impressive when one realises that the majority of this picture was shot on the studio lot . directed and co  written by first time director richard wilson  man with the gun holds few surprises for the genre  but it  s dark in tone  violent and above all else  highly watchable .  .      
the     version of  the haunting  has been one of my favorite horror films for years  so i anticipated the release of this     remake with a good deal of trepidation . it hardly seemed that any follow  up could exceed or even equal the original masterpiece . unfortunately my worries were well  founded this movie stinks .  br    br   i don  t know what the people involved in this film were thinking . jan de bont  who seemed to have had a fluke when he directed the excellent  speed   does as poorly here  or perhaps even worse  as he did with the much  hyped duds  twister  and  speed   cruise control .  hey jan  stick to cinematography  would ya  liam neeson is adequate in his role as the doctor  pretending  to  be  a  sleep  psychologist   i don  t think he is capable of turning in a truly bad performance   but even he cannot save a lame script and weak story . catherine zeta jones proves once again  as she did in  entrapment   that she lacks the acting ability to rise above the material that is handed to her . the female lead  who did great in an episode of  the x  files   looks lost here as eleanor  an insomniac hovering on the edge of sanity . and that blond guy  whoever he is  is more wooden than the laughably strange statuettes of children carved into the woodwork around the house . i don  t think he changes expression once during the entire film .  br    br    spoilers ahead   br    br   the reason the first movie worked so well is because we were never sure whether the house was truly haunted or whether the manifestations were a result of eleanor  s precarious mental state . no spirits are actually seen in the original  leaving much up to the imagination   a hallmark of other great horror films like  the changeling  and  the blair witch project .  in this updated version  we of course get tons of cgi ghosts  which basically  in the face of the weak script  plot  make the movie totally unscary . the f  x aren  t even that great  considering they were done by ilm . the frozen breath looks particularly fake . the effects in the underrated peter jackson film  the frighteners   which i saw just before this one  were a lot better . the wooden carvings of the children  which are supposed to look creepy  just look silly  especially when they scream   and the cgi monsters are nothing to write home about . rather than providing a relief from the bad acting  bad direction  and bad writing  the effects only add to this mess of a film .  br    br   some particularly dumb scenes when the three other characters break into eleanor  s bedroom  and none of them seem at all surprised to find a huge scowling demon hovering over the bed . the scene where eleanor  sees  the former lady of the house hanging from the rafters . . . the acting here is particularly bad . and last  but not least  the unintentionally hilarious bit where wooden blond guy utters an uninspired shout of what is supposed to be anguish  leaps up on a piece of furniture  and starts slashing away at the painting of the old  evil guy who built the house . we actually get some satisfaction in this scene  as seconds after his attack  blond guy is dragged over to the fireplace by the ghost of the old guy and promptly gets his head cut off by the flue . it was the only part of the movie i enjoyed .  br    br   in sum  stick to the original      the haunting .      stars .  
man with the gun is pretty much forgotten now  but caused a minor storm of media interest back in     when robert mitchum turned down both jett rink in giant  which had actually been written for him and which was subsequently substantially reworked  and charles laughton  s intended version of the naked and the dead to make it instead . despite some obvious production problems and some harsh lighting that occasionally renders both mitch and jan sterling in unflattering tones  it  s a terrific dark western that more than stands comparison with his earlier blood on the moon as his  town tamer  sets to work on a town that never had the chance to grow up before getting run down by the local badmen before turning out to  possibly  be almost as bad as the men he dispatches . certainly his way of dealing with news of a death in the family  burning a saloon to the ground and goading its manager into trying to kill him  doesn  t inspire much confidence in his stability . as well as a good script and a surprisingly good supporting turn from the usually irritating but here well cast henry hull  it also boasts a strikingly good early alex north score  which even includes an early workout for one of his tormented emotional cues that would later turn up in spartacus .  
i have yet to read shirley jackson  s novel  something of which i  ve been meaning to do for quite sometime . i am sure it has got to be scarier than this film . i remember jumping once when i watched it the other day  although i cannot recall the scene .  br    br   the special effects are great and i watched this on dvd  but i am sure in the theatre it must have been an awesome sight . after the first few special effects are done with i was waiting for a story to develop .  br    br   i figured this movie at the least has to be loosely based on the classic novel  so a good story should be there  but it wasn  t . i was relegated to staring at the gorgeous catherine zeta  jones character throughout the movie basically because there was nothing much else to watch . lili talor was such a suck character . i did not like her one bit  something about whiny people . also  the guy in this film reminded me of the cartoonish dudley doright with his voice and face . i could not relate to the characters at all . quigon  ahem liam neeson did an admirable job trying to get through this movie with some type of acting .  br    br   half to three quarters of the way i was just dying to go see a campy friday the   th or a scream queenish film  at least there is some type of entertainment value . if there is no story there at least they fill it up with gory deaths or attractive females . this had nothing .  br    br    
it  s very simple to qualify that movie  a pure masterpiece  . this opinion is formulated for the following reasons the performance of the actors  they seem to be citizens of that epoch      b . c . they personalize perfectly the characters . a second reason is that the poetry expressed by homere in his poem is well given by the production . among others the narrations made by the chorus give a particular atmosphere that makes us party of the artistic rendition . third reason the reconstitution of the decor is absolutely perfect  in mediterranean regions  where the action of the poem occurred . and most of all  the emotion is on the rendezvous . i repeat my appreciation  a pure masterpiece  .  
bad movie for sure . it  s such a ridiculous fantasy with a lot of poor special effects  a lot of hasty scenes  the airport one for example   and a real unfunny time .  charles dance  is awful as the evil guy and he is much better in  last action hero  .  eddie murphy  is doing a non  comic joking  and i heard that this sunk had already succeed  big time success     i  ll never understand why or how   in one tv interview i  ve heard  eddie murphy  himself  when he was nominated for an oscar      regretted it in a comic way    br    br   one of the comments said  hey . . . it  s the     s   . well  no my friend . it  s the cinematic foolishness which made a lot of razzie movies all over the years whether it  s the     s or the     s   br    br   there are  reasons made me write about this movie . the first is that i  ll never forget the long tan fascinating legs of  charlotte lewis  especially when she was on bed before the bad guys attack her house  wearing just a blue shirt and oh boy the camera was versifying about her naked legs as it should be . but how odd  as i  ve watched her in following movies and she wasn  t that beautiful again    anyhow the second reason is that i  ve found this movie  s title lately at my list of the worst    movies ever   br    br   the bottom line bad movie  greeeeeat legs .  
i don  t remember ever seeing this one before tonight  probably the title sounded so ordinary it kept passing me by . but it is a well crafted b western  with an interestingly brooding storyline complimented by acting veering from the good to corny .  br    br   robert mitchum slopes into wide open town looking for his wife and news of their daughter  and stays for a time as town  tamer . as usual the good business folk have mixed emotions  they want to get rid of the baddies but like the business they bring . it still applies relax drink and gambling laws and encourage the industries but pretend to deplore the seedy effects it can have on ordinary people . what  s fascinating about this film is mitchum  s cynically intense portrayal in going about cleaning the town of baddies  and the townsfolk  s acceptance that his violent methods were the only ones . favourite bit the sudden demise of  of the baddies in the red dog saloon . the firing of the main saloon bordered on nasty  but it was an effective way to combat the spread of poison .  br    br   overall a very good film with its only fault tending to be a little hokeyness  not so good for do  gooders who would probably prefer a lifetime of negotiation with evil rather than end it .  
the script for this movie was probably found in a hair  ball recently coughed up by a really old dog . mostly an amateur film with lame fx . for you zeta  jones fanatics she has the credibility of one mr . binks .  
very good western . this was the first time writer richard wilson directed a film  also this was a first for samuel goldwyn junior as a producer . it is a pleasure to see a very young and pretty angie dickinson as a saloon girl . robert mitchum comes to this town dominated by outlaws and is hired as a town tamer  but people are worried that he will go too far  also about the harm that he will do to the towns businesses . there are some similarities in the story with  warlock  which was made in     . this film keeps a very fast and exciting pace  it really keeps you on the edge .  
effect  s  without cause is generally not possible in the real world but in the world of hollywood remakes  not only is it possible  it  s required . the haunting has been given the computer treatment courtesy of a  st  class cinematographer  turner  director who once showed promise  jan de bont  speed  but has since produced a string of big budget garbage  twister  speed   .  br    br   actor are superfluous in a movie of this type and they seem to realize it . liam neeson and cathrine zeta  jones act like they wish they were anywhere but in this film . lili taylor makes an attempt to add something to the proceedings but whatever that something might be is unknown since the script feels like half of it is missing . events just happen  good and bad ghosts show up with no rhyme or reason and then the story just ends with a most unsatisfying non  event meant to wrap up the previous   minutes of inanity .  br    br   there really isn  t even reason to see this for the effects since we all know that anything can be put on screen now . why not watch effects in the service of a good story instead of just for their own sake   
there should be a sub  genre in the western called  the robert mitchum western  . mitchum  s brilliant  idiosyncratic  usually undervalued westerns import his film noir persona to etch some compellingly dark character sketches  and bring an elegiac world  weariness more familiar from the films of sam peckinpah .  man with the gun  is one of his best . directed by orson welles protege richard wilson  it is a stark  monochrome beauty  full of chilling silhouettes and terrifying outbursts of savage violence  as mitchum comes to tame a town terrorised by a monopolist with a private army . mitchum  s regression from soft  spoken stranger to deranged murderer  with a host of dark emotions in between  is a marvel of expressive  physical acting .  
i don  t even know where to begin on this one .  it  s all about the family .  that has to be the worst line of dialogue ever heard in a  horror  movie  although this couldn  t be a horror movie even if it tried    ugh    and i know that owen wilson is a better actor . he needs to stop playing the token guy who dies in every action movie  anaconda  armageddon  . after all  the man did co  write  bottle rocket  and  rushmore .  he does have some talent . also  lily taylor should stick to indie films . she has no place here . finally  catherine zeta  jones should become a porn star . there  s no room in legitimate acting for her . i  m serious . one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen  ever .  
this film makes a strong comment about the italian people of the time . the use of the mirrors to enhance the revelations of the characters is lovely and i can  t not mention the beauty and magnificence of sophia loren and mastroianni . i love them both . their way of interacting is so beautiful and natural that you may question whether or not the camera is actually there . the husband  in his brief role  is also excellently portrayed as the fascist italian who commands his wife and children but  in his own way  a loving father . the beginning scenes with hitler at piazza venezia with all the italians is incredible and really places the film historically . i loved the film and i also agree that it is funny it isn  t more renowned .  
pretty bad movie offers nothing new . the usual creaks and moans attempt to make  up for a muddled  but thin story . acting is barely above pathetic . why liam neeson signed on for this is anyone  s guess . owen wilson truly turns in one of the worst performances in recent horror  movie history . catherine zeta jones is fun to look at and not much else although lili tayor did an above  average job . the special effects were fairly memorable and the house itself was breathtaking and hauntingly gorgeous . however they can  t makeup for the poor acting and the storyline which appears to have been thrown together at the last minute . don  t bother .  
this movie is finally out on dvd in italy  completely restored  . i have seen this movie so many times and i find it even actual these days       when italy suffers again from a sort of brainwashing dictatorship  or the us for that matter  . i am glad there are outcasts as the one played by mastroianni in this movie who can sing out of tune maybe they can teach the sophia lorens of this world how to be strong and fight to be recognised as human beings .  br    br   back to the movie as most people here already mentioned the acting is wonderful but the audio background is astonishing . i must assume that unfortunately something is lost if you don  t understand the italian language but i can assure you that the show  off of machism  the distortion of reality in that ever  present radio  chronicle of the hitler visit to rome can really make you shiver   br    br   a masterpiece   br    br    
it  s my opinion that when you decide to re  make a very good film  you should strive to do better than the original or at least give it a fresh point of view . now the     robert wise telling of shirley jackson  s remarkable novel  the haunting of hill house  is worth the price of admission even today . now fast forward to     and the re  make . i was left shaking my head and asking  why  the acting is wooden  the story unrecognizable and the whole point seems to be to replace the subtle horror of the original with as many special effects computers can generate . i had heard that this update was bad but couldn  t believe it was that bad  considering the source material . i was wrong . after watching this and saying to my wife how awful it was  she said  well they got your money   she  s right  don  t let them get yours . if there  s no profit in making lousy re  makes  maybe they  ll stop making them or come up to a higher standard that doesn  t insult their audience  
may     . hitler in italy . preparations for historical appointment with mussolini . emotions  tensions and forms of self  affirmation . a empty town  a housewife and a journalist . the meeting of two different worlds . refuge for a mother with a sad life . short filling for a classical victim . a story about solitude and silence . about the form of of life  s nooks and desire like fight  s form . the great character  a book gifted in a spring  s afternoon . this movie is a poem  remarkable for the art to describe the shades of common loneliness . a pleading for a ineffable relation with reality . and with your interior world . the pictures of il duce  the clumsiness of antonietta  the patience and the frailty tension of gabriele  the art of director to give the sense of script grace two great actors makes this film sublime  foretaste of subtle delicacy  a wonderful film about hypocrisy and arbitrary verdict  about essence of life and repulsiveness of any tyranny . loren and mastroianni are the masters of a magnificent intelligent acting . a clear masterpiece .  
there were only two things that kept me interested in this film i was waiting for owen wilson to die  and catherine zeta jones .  br    br   this was basically a one woman show . catherine zeta jones was just there to provide eye  candy . liam neeson was totally wasted in this film . like jones  he had no role at all . the film was all lily taylor  ransom  ready to wear  . she was the only one that had any real part in this crappy script by david self . ok  it was his first one and he did redeem himself with road to perdition .  br    br   i don  t know what director jan de bont  s problem was . he did a great job with speed and twister . he really fell down on the job here . maybe he was still recovering from the disaster speed   cruise control . he should thank his lucky stars for the wild wild west  else this would be the worst picture of     .  br    br   avoid at all costs .  
ettore scola is one of the most important italian directors . my parents and i watched together  c  eravamo tanto amati  on a summer night we liked it  but we didn  t love it as we loved  a special day  . i believe ettore scola is pretty underrated we often forget to remember him  maybe because his latest films were disappointing . and so  yesterday night  my mum and i sat on our sofa to enjoy this masterpiece . writing  direction  cinematography  score and production design were sober and accurate  but the thing i liked the most was the chemistry between loren and mastroianni . they  re both excellent actors and play the main roles of antonietta and gabriele . antonietta is an housewife married with a fanatic fascist  she has six children but her husband wants to have another child to get a prize for the huge families . gabriele is simply an anti  fascist . they spend together a special day  that special day of     when hitler came to rome visiting mussolini . i don  t want to spoil anymore about the plot go looking for this film   
the shirley jackson novel  the haunting of hill house  is an atmospheric tale of terror  which conveys supernatural phenomena in an old mansion . the atmosphere is well set out  and the chills are staged well . a haunting masterpiece .  br    br   the     chiller  the haunting  stays closely to the book  but also adds its own details to the plot . fortunately  these are very few  and so the terror of the book and the chills are executed even better on the screen . the black and white photography only adds to the creepiness of the movie . excellent   br    br   and then  jan de bont made this . in      the remake of the haunting hit the cinemas  if you could call this a remake . why they had to make a remake of the     movie is a mystery in itself  but for the moment  lets look at the film itself .  br    br   it starts off averagely  as most horror movies do . the set used for hill house is beautiful  and oddly mysterious  and for a few minutes  it seems as if the film is actually going to be quite a fair re  telling . and then  the first scare comes a loose harpsichord wire slashes a woman  s face  dr . marrow  s assistant  . this is hilarious  and truth be told  it nearly had me in tears .  br    br   from then on  the film just spirals downwards . the acting seems to become somewhat wooden as the film goes on  with owen wilson  s character being particularly irritating  so it  s such a relief when he  s decapitated by the flue  .  br    br   the special effects practically make this movie   which is a shame  because most of them are incredibly cheesy and look very dated . examples of these are many  so i won  t bother listing them .  br    br   so  all in all  i  along with hundreds of others  strongly recommend that you watch the original chiller  or  as an alternative  buy the novel by shirley jackson . but please  stay away from this . and  if you do decide to watch this  watch it on the tv  as a lot of the channels love to screen this film  and not the original  or rent it cheap  but please don  t buy it  whatever you do . don  t waste your money   br    br   final rating      
while rome goes mad celebrating hitler  s visit  uniforms  bands  parades  two outsiders stay home  in a large building  and wind up meeting . she is sofia loren  who is the wife of brutish public servant and mother of six children . he is mastroianni  a radio speaker who  s been fired because of his homosexuality . both of them need company and understanding  both f them find it in each other .  br    br   the movie covers a span of a few hours . the color are faded and everything takes place with a sound track of military marches and hysterical radio announcers . strangely enough  the nazi anthem  the horst  wessel  lied  ends up becoming a romantic musical theme .  br    br   beautiful movie  excellent recreation of a special era in italian history and a touching  sad story . mastroianni is as good as we have come to expect and sofia loren does a superb job  very far away from her usual truck driver  s pin  up  neapolitan fishwife personas . don  t miss it .  
how viewers react to this new  adaption  of shirley jackson  s book  which was promoted as not being a remake of the original     movie  true enough   will be based  i suspect  on the following those who were big fans of either the book or original movie are not going to think much of this one . . . and those who have never been exposed to either  and who are big fans of hollywood  s current trend towards  special effects  being the first and last word in how  good  a film is  are going to love it .  br    br   things i did not like about this adaption  br    br    . it was not a true adaption of the book . from the articles i had read  this movie was supposed to cover other aspects in the book that the first one never got around to . and  that seemed reasonable  no film can cover a book word for word unless it is the length of the stand   and not even then  but  there were things in this movie that were never by any means ever mentioned or even hinted at  in the movie . reminded me of the way they decided to kill off the black man in the original movie version of the shining . i didn  t like that  either . what the movie  s press release should have said is . . .  we got the basic  very basic  idea from shirley jackson  s book  we kept the same names of the house and several  though not all  of the leading character  s names  but then we decided to write our own story  and  what the heck  we watched the changeling and the shining and ghost first  and decided to throw in a bit of them  too .   br    br    . they completely lost the theme of a parapyschologist inviting carefully picked guest who had all had brushes with the paranormal in their pasts  to investigate a house that truly seemed to have been  born bad  . no  instead  this  doctor  got everyone to the house under the false pretense of studying their  insomnia   he really invited them there to scare them to death and then see how they reacted to their fear . . . like lab rats  who he mentioned never got told they are part of an experiment . . . nice guy  . this doctor  who did not have the same name  by the way  was as different from the dedicated professional of the original movie as night from day .  br    br    . in direct contrast to the statement that was used to promote both movies  some houses are just born bad   this house was not born bad but rather became bad because of what happened there . . . and  this time around  nel gets to unravel the mystery  shades of the changeling  . the only problem was  the so  called mystery was so incoherently told that i  m sure it remained a mystery to most of the audience . . . but  then there was no mystery in the first place  not in the book   because the house was bad to begin with . it  s first  victim  died before ever setting eyes on it .  br    br    . the way the character of luke was portrayed was absolutely ridiculous . he was supposed to be a debonair playboy who was someday to inherit the house  and was a true skeptic of it  s  history   . . . and in this one he was just a winey  voiced  bumbling nerd who couldn  t sleep  insomnia remember  and was a compulsive liar .  br    br    . i was also annoyed with the way the movie jumped from almost trying to recreate original scenes word for word  the scene with nel  s sister  s family  and mrs . dudley  s little opening speech . . .  to going off into flights of fancy that made me think more of these other movies than the haunting . it  s like it couldn  t make up its mind what it wanted to do .  br    br    . i missed nel  s narrative through the whole movie . the original was so like a gothic novel in the way that the story was mostly told in the first person  through nel  s eyes  and we always were privy to her thoughts . that totally unique touch was completely lost in the new version . they also tried to make nel much more of a heroine . the original nel was not a bad person  but she was a bitter person  could she be otherwise after sacrificing   years of her life to a selfish old woman and a spiteful sister   and she liked to moan  and she lost her temper . . . this one was almost too good to be true . this was never more apparent than in the climax of the movie where the writer  s had obviously been watching ghost one too many times .  br    br    . they changed the history of the house and it  s occupents too much . there was no abigail crain  the daughter of hugh whose legend loomed large in the original versions   there was no  companion   and there was no nursery . there was also no  grace   wife of the original doctor  and hugh crain  s wives died in totally different ways . these changes  changed the story way too much . i don  t know whether the producers of this movie should be glad shirley jackson no longer walks this earth or whether they should . . . be sorry  if ya get my drift    the hauntings she could envision are not something to be trifled with     .  br    br   in conclusion  let me just leave you with some words from the original luke  appropriate substitution of the word  house  for  movie      this  movie  should be burnt to the ground  and the ground sprinkled with salt   my favorite movie of all time remains so . no competition from this one .  
first of all for this movie i just have one word  wow  . this is probably  one of the best movies that touched me  from it  s story to it  s performances  so wonderfully played by sophia loren and marcello mastroianni . i was very impressed with this last one  because he really brought depth to the character  as it was a very hard role . still  the two of them formed a pair  that surprised me  from the beginning until the end  showing in the way  a friendship filled with love  that develops during the entire day  settled in the movie . the story takes some time to roll  as the introduction of the characters is long  but finally we are compensated with a wonderful tale about love and humanity . if you have the chance  see it  because it  s a movie that will stay in your mind for many time . simply amazing      .  
the haunting . a remake  of course . the original was a creepy psychological thriller  and one that has improved with time . compared to this     remake  it  s a classic . there is no character development here  only caricatures  the slut  the authoritative brain  the  i  m gonna get us outta here  fellow  the oh so sensitive bookworm  . but  seeing as how the were banking on the special effects being the  star   i guess characters that you can empathize with are a secondary concern . unfortunately  the effects are laughable . mewing cherubs  stretchy doors  irritating dead children that can  t speak plainly . . . and an idiotically sappy ending that does it  s darnedest to give you a new age enema of butterflies and rainbows . ill take my skittles orally  thank you . bruce dern  i  ve liked you since  the cowboys  . stop it .  
una giornata particolare is a film which has made brilliant use of closed spaces . it is in these dull  empty spaces that the audience sees the emotional turmoil and boisterous outbursts of ettore scola  s two leading characters . marcello mastroianni and sophia loren play two frustrated individuals who decide to come together for some brief moments of their listless lives . it is the element of sadness associated with the narrative that makes us believe that people will take sides with characters close to them . all men would really feel sorry for sophia loren  s character . all women would surely cry their hearts out at marcello mastroianni  s existential plight . disguised sexualities are also one of the key issues of this somber  poignant film . most of the characters grapple with issues related to their own sexualities . una giornata particolare cannot be termed as a pro gay film although it has been nicely depicted that a homosexual chap mixes well with women . this is a film for which italian director ettore scola has crafted a fairly good mix of fact and fiction . his idea is to show how the arrival of hitler changed destinies of ordinary italian folks . a word about the courageous personnage played magnificently by great marcello mastroianni . he acts as a real man who does not beg for pity . he happily accepts his fate and readies himself to face the worst time of his short yet meaningful life . a true masterpiece of cinema     
they screwed up this story  in the end nell is all heroic and taking on for the team to save all their asses from hill house and a bunch of nonsense like that  they added heads getting chopped  wires cutting peoples faces  and the ceiling turning into a giant hand  what the hell is that about    i own and love the original movie  i read the book and i love it  the reason why the original movie and the book are so great is because it scares you so much without even showing the ghost . there is no gore . there is no ceiling hand . it is only the ghost ad how ghosts can truly kill a person . they cannot kill us  they cannot throw us about the room or fly a knife into our head . no . they can only drive us mad . taking away all our senses of security . nell was a selfish woman . she only wanted good things for herself . yes  she cared a little for the others  but not too much . david self and jan de bont have taken a crap on this great story  i hate this damn remake   
i  ve been trying to find out about this series for ages  thank you  imdb  i saw this as a child and have never quite been able to get it out of my mind . as a   year old  of course  i was particularly struck by the episode of the cyclops  which was absolutely chilling  i talked about it so much that my older brother made me a cyclops out of a plastic cave man figurine  which i still have  what i also remember  though  was the atmosphere  which was unusual right from the beginning  mysterious  austere  and extremely authentic . when i read the original many years later i experienced that same sensation . it  s a very hard thing to capture  and probably impossible in hollywood . every  odyssey  i  ve seen since has been an enormous let  down . the characters in this series seemed genuine  real people  ancient greek people  and not some hollywood stars in costumes . this is a real masterpiece  but  why is it not better known  and why isn  t it available on vhs or dvd  i would just love to have the chance to see this again   
michael jackson would have claimed a spot for the top  billed character in the golden child  and because he loves kids . that didn  t work  and why should it    so instead we have eddie murphy out to save the world by rescuing  kid midas  . i would strongly suggest all future scriptwriters to please thoroughly study the actor  s inane dialogue in this quirky fantasy  adventure  comedy that  s a step closer to ishtar . whatever murphy says or does can be best liked  but don  t get me wrong about his exquisite comical talent he doesn  t belong in this movie  and the same went for dr . dolittle  the violence and visuals combined are reasons to stamp it as a cult camp classic  and that wouldn  t have made any sense as hollywood and movie fanatics kept cashing in on the guy . speaking of visuals  they were pulled off amazingly well at the time of ronald reagan  s presidential fame . murphy is far better at coming to america and   hrs  but this stale movie isn  t my touch of golden honey for a sweet crunchy taste .  
a may day     when happen a huge rally celebrating hitler  s visit to rome serves as the backdrop for a love story between antoniette  sophia loren  married to fascist  john vernon  and gabriel  marcello mastroianni  . she  s a boring housewife with several sons and he  s a unhappy  solitary homosexual fired from radio and pursued by the fascists . she  s left alone in her home when her spouse must to attend the historical celebration . then both develop a very enjoyable relationship in spite of their differences . the film is set on the historic meeting fuher hitler and duce mussolini along with others authorities as count ciano and king victor manuel iii  describing the events by a radio  voice in off which sometimes is irritating .  br    br   it  s a romantic drama carried out with sense and sensibility . an unrelentingly passionate romance between two conflicting characters . magnificent performances from two pros make a splendid movie well worth seeing . of course ruggero macarri and ettore scola  s sensible screenplay results in ever interesting  elaborate and sentimental . colorful and atmospheric cinematography by pascualino de santis . emotive musical score by armando trovajoly with sensitive leitmotif . the film won deservedly golden globes     to best foreign film .  br    br   director scola  s imagination stretches to light up the limited scenarios where are developing the drama . usually his films take place on a few stages and are semi  theatrical . for example  le bal       uses a french dance  hall to illustrate the changes in society   nuit of varennes       a stagecoach is the scenario where meet an unlikely group as thomas paine  luis xvi and marie antoinette who fled from revolutionary paris   the family       all take place in the family  s grand old roman flat and of course   una giornata particulare or a special day where loren and mastroianni strikes up a marvelous relationship into their respective apartments and at the flat roof .  
somewhere in his non  fiction book danse macabre  stephen king suggests that one secret of writing scary stories is to avoid showing your readers exactly what horrible thing is waiting behind the door to get them . if at last the door bursts open and a bug ten feet tall lurches through  the reader may be a little scared  but he  ll also think   well  i can deal with that . at least it wasn  t a hundred feet tall .  there  s nothing more frightening than what lurks  unseen and unknown  just on the other side of that tightly closed door  waiting to get you .  br    br   the haunting is so completely misconceived that director jan de bont more or less starts off his movie by metaphorically throwing open that door himself and yelling  look  everybody  look  it  s a ten  foot  tall bug  isn  t that scary    the law of diminishing returns immediately kicks in . by the end of the movie  the director is  so to speak  jumping up and down  banging his cgi pots and pans madly  and hoarsely screaming  look  everyone  look  here come ten hundred  foot  tall bugs  . . . and now  here come a hundred thousand  foot  tall bugs    br    br   the filmmakers apparently believed that special effects alone could compensate for all the other shortcomings in this endeavor  and there are many  . they can  t and don  t . in fact  impressive as they are  the special effects are so insistent and obtrusive that the distracted viewer winds up staring at them   whether in admiration or annoyance   instead of being immersed in a story .  br    br   for me  the nadir of this film  s sheer stupidity comes when a statue  with  blood  gushing from its mouth  tries to drown liam neeson  as dr . marrow  in a fountain . the filmmakers clearly didn  t know what to do with this alleged idea once they had it  so they just have neeson thrash around in the water a bit  flailing his arms and going glug  glug . by the next scene  the good doctor has apparently dried himself off and  ho hum  forgotten all about the annoying incident .  br    br   shirley jackson  s novel seems to have been dumbed  down into this ridiculous screenplay by a committee of low  iq teenage stoners who thought the way to frighten people was to make every effect bigger and louder  okay  next  let  s  uh  make the ceiling  you know  look like a creepy face  and  uh  come down on her . . . and all these spiky things  like  trap her in the bed .   br    br   the sole saving grace of the haunting is that it at last becomes so awful that it  s actually funny . by the time owen wilson  as luke sanderson  fell on the floor and then went on his magic  carpet ride o  death  i just about fell on the floor myself  laughing .  br    br   badly constructed  witless  grotesquely heavy  handed  utterly unbelievable  and filled with clunky dialogue and pointless scenes  this vacuous haunting is a textbook example of how not to make a horror movie .  
i had intended to commemorate the   th anniversary of marcello mastroianni  s passing with numerous unwatched films of his that i own on vhs however  given my ongoing light  hearted christmas marathon  i had to make do with just this one  as it happens  it features one of his best performances  and he was justly oscar  nominated for it  with the film itself being likewise honored  . this was also one of   collaborations with that other most widely  recognized star to emerge from italy  sophia loren both  incidentally  are playing against type here  she as an unglamorous housewife and he a homosexual   br    br   by the way  the film  s title has a double meaning the leading characters are brought together on the historic day in which hitler came to italy to meet mussolini  the event itself being shown in lengthy archive footage   but it more specifically refers to the stars   brief encounter  in which they share moments of friendship  revelation and  briefly  passion  though each knows that a return to their normal existence is inevitable  which leads to the film  s abrupt bittersweet ending . this is virtually a two  hander  with all other characters  save for the nosy concierge of the apartment block in which the story takes place in its entirety  which include loren  s gruff and fervently patriotic husband  surprisingly played by john vernon  appear only at the beginning and closing sequences   still  the cramped setting doesn  t deter director scola  for the record  this is the  th film of his that i  ve watched and own  more on vhs  and cinematographer pasqualino de santis  so that the result  though essentially low  key  is far from stagy the camera is allowed to prowl the various sections of the large building  observing the proceedings intimately or dispassionately as the situation requires  but always keenly .  br    br   the narrative  of course  depends entirely on the performances of the two stars for it to be convincing  and they both deliver  their on  screen chemistry is quite incomparable   it  s interesting  however  that while loren walked away with the prizes in their home turf  it  s mastroianni  s moving yet unsentimental outsider  the film  somewhat dubiously  does seem to equate his sexual deviance with anti  fascism   who generally impressed international audiences   
this movie was one of the greatest movies ever made     it had everything to make a movie great . incredible acting  awesome special effects . . . . . . oh wait i must be thinking of a good movie . well this wasn  t one of them  it just plain sucked .  br    br   what i want to know is  what kind of bone head would think that this movie was a   . when i casted my vote there were    out there  god knows what goes on in their head . now as for any other vote  a  or  was even too high  but a      come on  what made this movie sooooo good to give it a    i know these are the same    that thought that jean claude van damme is a great dramatic actor .  
  una giornata particolare  is a movie that has a title that sounds so familiar i thought i had seen it more than once . now that i finally i have seen it  i am very glad . this is one of the better italian movies i know  with one of the most wonderful performances by marcello mastroianni  who stars in other masterpieces such as  la dolce vita  and        both from the great federico fellini . directed by ettore scola  this is a movie that takes the time to introduce the characters and slowly develops a story on a special day  the day adolf hitler visited rome .  br    br   marcello mastroianni plays gabriele  the neighbor of antonietta  sophia loren  . she is a member of mussolini  s party  pretty fanatic in her thoughts  and he is a member no more . the reason for that i will not reveal . on the day every person from their building  including her husband and children  is out to see hitler  they are still in the building . antonietta  s bird escapes and flies to gabriele  s apartment  and this is how the two meet . right before antonietta went to gabriele he thought of killing himself  again for reasons i will not reveal . how the story develops from here i will not reveal  but it is what happens between the two that makes this such a special day  not the fact that hitler is in rome .  br    br   like i said  mastroianni has a wonderful performance . you see he is a man who desperately wants someone around him  although at first we don  t know why . may be he likes antonietta  may be he is in love with her  may be there are other reasons . antonietta feels what we feel . what does this man want from her  she likes the attention anyway . we see how she does her hair to look attractive for the man . loren plays the scenes very good as well . we understand her questions  although we can  t be sure what her intentions are . the moments where we find out both their secrets  if that is what you can call it  is a great moment . how the story develops from there is even more interesting  but i don  t want to spoil it for you . this is a movie you should see . great performances and a beautiful cinematography  and the message it gives us still stands today .  
the haunting is yet another bad horror remake with phony overdone special effects and a big cast of on screen favorites and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever except maybe for the cinematography . yes remakes aren  t all bad but remakes directed by jion da bont definitely are . i suppose that the a  list actors  liam neeson  catherine zeta jones  owen wilson  are there to distract us from the boring plot  ridiculous special effects  and terrible attempts at scaring it  s audience however this is a movie not a tabloid magazine we don  t care whose in it we care about the characters and story two things this film missed . the storyline is like taking the classic novel the haunting of hill house and ripping out four chapters and then using whatever  s left for the film it is so boring and a lot of it is unexplained . the characters are pretty thin and while the acting is good you don  t really care about any of the characters at all . lily taylor gives a horrendous performance and sounds like she  s  years old when delivering her lines not to mention what a horrible screamer she is . lily taylor isn  t made for the horror genre at all . the ghosts are stupid and cheesy  they look like a bunch of casper the friendly ghost  s and the ghost of hugh cain looks like a fat guy dressed as the grim reaper for halloween with a smoke machine . there is this creature on the roof of one of the rooms that is a giant purple mouth and it  s not even funny unintentionally just plain sad . the house is pretty and well designed that is probably the only positive thing about this movie it looks nice but that doesn  t save it from it  s brutal everything else . i can honestly say i felt like i was wasting my time watching the haunting on tv for no price so i would  ve been even more pied if i had paid to see it but luckily it was on scream channel . overall the haunting is a boring remake that tries to overwhelm you with bad special effects  a poor attempt at horror .  
the first thing you meet when you study fascism is ostracismbecause this  philosophy  is a fake one  there  s a need to use scapegoats to assess the  thought  . ettore scola  s movie  probably his masterpiece  focuses on the outcasts  the scapegoats of the regime .  br    br   of the historical event  hitler and mussolini  s alliance   we will see almost nothingsome military march  some garlands  some scattered voices . . our two heroes are not invited for the feast of virility .  genius is essentially masculine  this is the golden rule antonietta  a never better sophia loren  embroidered on her cushionantonietta  whose world amounts to her kitchen  whose pride is her offsprings . at the beginning of the movie  she  s a victim of this hypermacho world  but she does not realize it . she thinks she should be happy . gabriel  on the contrary  is politically aware  he knows about the cancer that is destroying inexorably his country . but as a gay man  he is no longer part of it  he  s about to be arrested .  br    br   forgetting everything that comes between them  they realize what they have in common and they make love . this is an act of rebellion  particularly for antonietta  whose ethic should forbid such a thing . becoming an adulteress in a land where politics and religion combine to repress women as ever leads her to some kind of political awareness . one of the last shots shows her listening to the news on the radio .  br    br   expect the unexpected and maybe a doctrine which denies the human being his intimate personality will see that its days are numbered .  
the original movie  dated      did not show any  monster   it just suggested scary  things   .  br    br   this version however shows every aspect of a  sick minded ghost   including unnecessary special effects .  br    br   the  mystery   as presented in the original movie  was the most scary part  one simply did not know what was causing the weird things that happened . by showing the face of the  old man   this mister has completely disappeared . even worse  the special effects  crying wooden children faces  is ridiculous . this is a stupid remake  too obviously spectacular to even be close as scary as the original  
i too was quite astonished to see how few people had voted on this film  and just had to write something about it  although my comments are quite similar to those written already .  br    br   i like many things about the film . the superb acting between mastroianni  loren . the way the film is narrated humanity and love slowly developing between these two outsiders  and contrasted to the simultaneously  continuously ongoing inhumane marching pace of the fascist radio announcer  who happens to be a colleague of mastroianni  s part  and the adherents  going to and coming from the show  . to me this is a very fine film about what it is to be human . maybe some of you would argue that the anti  fascist  message  is too clearly delivered  but to me this didn  t destroy the film in any way . my vote is      .  
so it starts with a beautiful old house in the country . you have a group of people who get asked to come to this house and  not surprisingly  the caretakers always lock the gates at night for no apparent reason . anywhoo  the people laugh  joke etc . this dr tells them a spooky story of this woman and some kids . they get scared  they start to feel stuff . oh no  a girl see  s s ghost . some more talking then this huge ghost comes and etc etc . this girl finds out that this ghost killed little kids and that she must free their souls  yeah yeah  blah blah . she does but  oh no  she dies as she does . and goes to heaven whilst this evil ghost goes to hell . two people survive and escape the house . the script is terrible because a guy gets his head chopped off and elanor  the one who dies saving the kids  says  oh no  . the acting is wooden  the effects are crap and the set is a couple off rooms used over and over again . basically if you like laughing at badly made films watch it  but if your looking for a scare then definitely give this film a miss . i was extremely disappointed when i watched this . a very big let down . my sister  who gets sacred very easily  got bored in this film it is appalling .  
a special day  ettore scola  italy  canada      .  br    br   every once in a while  you come across a film that really touches a nerve . this one offers a very simple premise  almost flawlessly executed in every way and incredibly moving at the same time . it  s surprising ettore scola  s  una giornate particulare  is relatively unheralded  even hated by some critics . time out calls it  rubbish  and leonard maltin  somewhat milder   pleasant but trifling .  i disagree  not only because this film is deeply moving  but within its simple story it shows us more insights about daily life in fascist italy than most films i  ve seen . the cinematography is distinctly unflashy  even a bit bland  and the storyline straightforward  which might explain the film  s relative unpopularity . considering late    s audiences weren  t exactly spoiled with great italian films  it  s even stranger this one didn  t really catch on with the critics .  br    br   the film begins with a ten  minute collage of archive footage from hitler  s visit to italy on may  th     . set against this background  we first meet antonietta  loren   a lonely  love  ridden housewife with six children in a roman apartment building . one day  when her beo escapes  she meets her neighbour gabriele  mastroianni   who seems to be only one in the building not attending the ceremonies . he is well  mannered  cultured and soon she is attracted to him . during the whole film  we hear the fascist rally from the radio of the concierge hollering through the courtyard . scola playfully uses the camera to make us part of the proceedings . after the opening scene  the camera swanks across the courtyard of the modernist  hypermodern at the time  apartment block  seemingly searching for our main characters  whom we haven  t met yet .  br    br   marcello mastrionani and sophia loren are unforgettable in the two leading roles  all the more astonishing since they are cast completely against type . canadian born john vernon plays loren  s husband  but he is only on screen in the first and last scene . i figure his voice must have been dubbed  since he  s not of italian descent and never lived there  to my knowledge  so i cannot imagine he speaks italian . if his voice has been dubbed  i didn  t notice at all . on the contrary  he  s completely believable as an italian  even more than the rest of the cast . the story is simple but extremely effective  the performances are outstanding  the ending is just perfect and the framing doesn  t come off as overly pretentious but works completely . don  t miss out on this one .  br    br   camera obscura         
this poor remake of the     classic starts reasonably well  then replaces suspense with muddled and pointless special effects . for example  in the original  one of the most chilling moments occurs when nell and theo are lying side by side in twin beds  listening in terror to the noises outside their room . nell tells theo to let go of her hand because she is hurting her . nell then looks across at theo  who is several feet away and realises that it was not theo holding her hand . in the latest version  nell is lying alone in bed  when suddenly she dives out and slides across the floor . it is only when she tells the unseen force to stop pulling her that we realise what has happened . and can anybody explain what nell  s final words mean   it  s about family . it  s always been about family    br    br   the one redeeming feature is lili taylor  s performance  but even this cannot save the film . catherine zeta  jones demonstrates once again that  beneath her pretty exterior  there is little depth . in the original  claire bloom subtly suggested her lesbian persuasion . zeta  jones  however has to spell it out  for example  by asking nell if she has a boyfriend  or girlfriend .  br    br   definitely one which should be consigned to the pointless remakes graveyard .  
ettore scola  one of the most refined and grand directors we worldly citizens have  is not yet available on dvd . . .  it  s summer     right now . . . .  mysteries to goggle the mind .  br    br   this grand classic returned to the theaters in my home  town thanks to a sophia loren  summer  retrospective  and to see it again on the big screen after all these years of viewing it on a video  tape . . . it is a true gift .  br    br   to avoid a critique but nonetheless try to prove a point i took my reluctant younger brother with me to see this film . he never saw the film before and  doesn  t like those italian oldies . . .  like all the others in the theater he was intrigued by this wonder . even during the end  titles the theater remained completely silent .  br    br   this special day is truly special . a wonder of refinement . and a big loss if you haven  t seen it  yet  . . .  
considering the original film version of  the haunting  is in my top ten films of all time  i approached this adaption with trepidation . i was right to be cautious as this film is a poorly written and badly executed load of old tosh  all those involved should be ashamed . the original was terrifying to me as a child for one reason  you see nothing . robert wise used innovative camera  work and superb lighting to generate fear and this is why it work  s . the shame of the new version is that it relies on clever special effects and pyrotechnics to get from a to b  sadder still is that the ingredients were there  actors such as liam neeson  catherine zeta jones  to do something different . this film should only watched as an example of studio butchery   
this film has great acting  great photography and a very strong story line that really makes you think about who you are  how you define yourself  how you fit in  whether you accept to play a role or break free . . . there already are excellent comments dealing with these aspects . i want to comment on the formal setting of the film . basically  it  s two people on a roof . there is unity of place and time  with  protagonists  and the radio acting as the choir . many directors have turned greek tragedies into film  many directors have filmed contemporary stories as if they were a greek tragedy  but no director  in my opinion  has succeeded as admirably as ettore scola in approaching the purity and force of the great greek tragedies both in story line and formal setting . a masterpiece .  
the haunting  if you have seen the original  you know a great ghost story  it  s perfection on film . it  s a haunting tale of  people who go into a haunted house and with the simple trick of sound and movements  it terrified people . it still remains effective to this day if you appreciate film . so when the haunting was remade in      a lot of people pretty much had the same reaction  what  why  what the  but in my opinion if a remake is respectful enough and just wants to reinvent the story for the newer generation  i  m pretty cool with it . this is definitely not the case  this is just a disrespectful boring shame that will waste your time and i guarantee will deliver no scares pfft  pg     what where they thinking  not much apparently .  br    br   when her mother dies and her sister evicts her  nell receives a phone call  telling her about an ad for an insomnia study run by doctor david marrow at hill house  a secluded manor . upon arrival  nell meets mr . and mrs . dudley  a strange pair of caretakers who do not stay on the property after dark . shortly thereafter  two other participants in the study arrive  wild theo and  bad sleeper  luke sanderson along with doctor marrow . unknown to the participants  doctor marrow  s true purpose is to study the psychological response to fear . each night  the caretakers chain the gate outside hill house  preventing anyone from getting in or out until morning  when the caretakers open the lock . there are no working telephones inside hill house and the nearest town is several miles away . doctor marrow revels the story of hill house . the house was built by hugh crain  crain built the house for his wife  hoping to fill it with a large family full of children  however all of crain  s children died during birth . crain  s wife killed herself before the house was finished  and crain became a recluse . the first night  theo and nell begin to experience strange phenomenon within the house  including odd noises and inexplicable temperature changes . nell is confronted after the main hallway is vandalized with the words  welcome home  eleanor   and becomes extremely distraught  setting out to prove that the house is haunted by the souls of those victimized by crain  s cruelty . she learns that crain built his fortune by exploiting kidnapped children for slave labor and murdering them when they were of no more use to him . he then burned the bodies in the house  s fireplace to hide any evidence . she also learns that crain had a second wife named carolyn  of whom nell is descended . everyone thinks she  s crazy while nell is convinced this is where she belongs .  br    br   seriously  i suggest you stay away from this film  it  s really stupid and pointless . not to mention the actress the played nell  lili taylor completely annoyed me  her performance  her look  just everything about her  don  t get me started on things i would do just to not see her in film again . catherine zeta jones just didn  t fit in her role as well and liam neeson  a wonderful actor wasted talent once again . the effects are way over the top and too computerized  i just can  t believe that they would trash a wonderful classic with this crud . believe me  if you are going to be afraid of something  be afraid of seeing how you can turn a great ghost story into an annoying piece of overblown stupid . oh  this film is already hurting me  just don  t see it  it  s bad .  br    br        
a visit by hitler in rome is the backdrop of this tender story of love  friendship  homosexuality and fascism . sophia loren plays the housewife and mother of six children who stays at home while her entire family go to the military parade in honor of hitler and mussolini . she has to stay at home since the family cannot afford a maid . she would have loved to go though as she along with the entire housing complex where she lives is an ardent admirer of il duce .  br    br   there is one exception though . across the yard sits marcello mastroianni on his chair contemplating suicide . the reason  he is homosexual and because of that has recently lost his job as a radio announcer . the film really takes off when these two people meet by chance . mastroianni is in despair and badly in need of a friend . loren  frustrated by her own cheating husband misunderstands mastroianni and in a masterfully shot  directed and acted scene on the roof of the building complex offers her body to him only to be rejected . the initial chock is replaced soon afterwards by her hunger for this man  this anti fascist  this homosexual  this other world who is so willing to give her all that she longs for .  br    br   this is a beautifully crafted movie with two of the most talented actors ever . loren proves here that she is an actress of caliber when well directed . this is a simple but yet powerful film about fascism  love  ordinary people and most importantly the human condition . despite its sad ending there is a glimpse of hope in the denouement  things will change  someone has understood .  
for movie fans who have never heard of the book  shirley jackson  s  the haunting of hill house   and have never seen the     robert wise production with julie harris  this remake will seem pretty darn bad .  br    br   for those of us who have  it is just plain awful .  br    br   bad acting  what was neeson thinking    goofy computer enhancements  and a further move away from jackson  s story doom this remake .  br    br   do yourself a favor and rent the original movie . it still effectively scares without hokey special effects . the acting is professional and believable .  br    br   for readers of the book  the from     follows the it much closer .  
despite what the title may imply   pigs is pigs  does not star porky pig . rather  it features a young swine with an appetite more insatiable than john belushi  s character in  animal house  . his mother repeatedly scolds him  but it does no good . so much so that he goes to another house where a deranged scientist force  feeds him more than any mere mortal can handle  but there  s a surprise at the end  .  br    br   i would mostly say that this cartoon seemed like a place holder in between the really great cartoons  daffy duck debuted three months after this came out  . but make no mistake about it  they do some neat things here . the whole force  feeding sequence looks more relevant today  given the obesity epidemic overtaking our country .  br    br   anyway  not the greatest cartoon  but worth seeing .  
well  my goodness  am i disappointed . when i first heard news of a remake of robert wise  s     film   the haunting   i had a fear that it would be ruined by an abundance of summer  movie sized visual effects . but  deep down  i had faith . surely  with such a talented cast intact . . . de bont and company will not ruin a film  who  s original was a fantastic and frightening movie that understood the delicate art of subtlety . well  subtlety  where are you now     my fears have manifested . . . a promising movie has gone wrong . yes  eugenio zannetti  s production design is jaw  dropping the movie is wonderfully photographed and composer jerry goldsmith can never ever do wrong . but  the script puts it  s fine actors to the test . . asking them to deliver the kind of stilted dialogue that is only spoken in movies . in the end  the always wonderful lili taylor is the only performer to escape with some dignity . . . and that  s just barely . but  the crime of all crimes is that the horror is shown to us . we can no longer use our imaginations  feel that horrible dread of fear of the unknown . no  we get some visual effects to show us what we  re supposed to be afraid of . . . and you know what  as wonderfully realized as they are . . . the visual effects come off as sort of silly . and the climax is a phantasmogoric mess . . . but things had gone terribly wrong long before that .  br    br   everything in the haunting is overdone and overblown . i  m afraid there are no real thrills or creaks in this old haunted house monstrosity . . . only groans . check out the original instead .  br    br    
as it was already put  the best version ever of homer  s epic . entirely shot in natural locations in the mediterranean . the sea and the sky are strikingly blue  the islands green and untouched . the clothing is linen  wool and fur  the settings stony and bare  everything is somewhat rugged and primitive  a bit what you would find in cacoyannis or pasolini movies  and it makes it all the more authentic . although the story is based on myths and widely goes into supernatural  it gives us a good idea of what life in the   th century bc might have been like .  br    br   the rhythm is somewhat slow and austere  but the whole is so beautiful that you quickly get into it . actually  it is amazingly close to the original plot by homer  if not to the text itself . ulysses doesn  t appear until the first hour  the start being centered on his son looking after him . then he suddenly appears lost in a storm  lands on the island of the pheacians where the royal family takes good care of him . his adventures are told in flashback as a narration to his hosts  the terrifying cyclop  the magic world of circe  the underworld  the sirens etc . he finally comes back to his homeland ithaca after   years  and it all ends dramatically with the killing of the pretenders of his faithful spouse penelope .  br    br   as a story  the odyssey is an unparalleled metaphor of the struggles of a man  s life . the cast is brilliant and international here . irene papas gives us a typical greek tragedy style performance as penelope  but most amazing is the albanian actor bekim fehmiu as ulysses . really good looking and totally convincing  it seems the role was really made for him . strange that he was never offered roles of this dimension afterwards . also playing nausicaa is barbara bach  as barbara gregorini  later famous as the james bond girl in  the spy who loved me   and playing athena is michele breton  who was otherwise noted in the strange movie called  performance  with mick jagger .  br    br   as it was done   years ago  the series was actually quite an innovation for its time  as the first big european co  production for tv  italy  france  germany and yugoslavia  . i have seen this mini  series in  parts on french television as far back as     . i was a kid back then  and although it was all in black and white  it left a very vivid impression . all my life long i wondered if i would ever get a chance to see it again  as it was never shown on french tv later on .  br    br   i recently found a copy on dvd  all in wonderful color  through internet . it is unfortunately only in italian with no subtitles  although french and german versions existed back then . i never heard there was any english version of this film as it is widely unknown in the anglo saxon world  and it  s quite a shame . if you ever get a chance to watch this  you are not going to forget it ever .  br    br   there were not many versions of the odyssey before or after that . the one by camerini in     starring kirk douglas is a classic sword  and  sandal like  the   commandments   but not as impressive and very short for such a complex story . the one in     by konchalovsky is a meretricious hollywood movie  based on special effects  sometimes quite gory  very poorly acted and grossly afar from homer  s story and atmosphere .  
why is it that when a star reaches the top of the star chain  they ruin all the good work by making a bad movie  burt reynolds peaked  then started making dreadful hal needham car chase flicks . arnold schwarzenegger became the hottest property in hollywood  only to invite derision upon himself with the appalling last action hero . and here  loquacious eddie murphy erases memories of trading places and   hours with this  family  adventure flick  which is an unbelievably tedious  childish and generally plain awful misfire in which the chance to see charlotte lewis  s great big breasts in a tight blouse is the most appealing aspect of the entire film .  br    br   the story is pure humdrum . it concerns social worker murphy  contacted by mysterious types and told that he is the chosen one . chosen for what  i hear you ask . his job is to rescue a tibetan boy with mystical powers from a race of demons who want to rule the world . as the main demon  classy actor charles dance looks terribly embarrassed to be in the film  but hey  i  m sure he was well paid for sacrificing his talents . of all murphy  s films  this is easily the worst . i  ve read some reviews which suggest that it is nice to see murphy in an atypical role  in a non formulaic kind of film  and while both points are loosely true there  s no forgiving the fact that the film  however atypical and non formulaic it might be  is an absolute load of garbage .  br    br    
having just finished cronicles of the heroic knight mere minutes ago i find myself extremely please but questions still loom over me . while it would appear that the first  episodes or so are actually a retelling of the events of the first record of lodoss war the truth is that they really aren  t . it would appear that the creator of cothk had a different vision as to how the original ended  and that may be the reason that the first  episodes occur  but i do not find that to be the case . cothk does say it starts  years after the war of heros which parn was a part of . i think the director made the first  episodes seem so much like a recap of the original just to give the viewer a small reminder and an introduction to characters and their deeds done because they appear much less after the series kicks into spark  s story . now  once the series does kick into spark  s portion we find ourselves kicked up another   years    years now since the war of heros  . spark and his crew do  in some cases  resemble parn and his crew once the journey kicks into gear  especially the love story that brews between spark and neese . i also thought several times throughout cothk that i threw in the original series and if it wasn  t for spark  s long blue hair i know i would  ve pressed stop more than once to make sure the right disc was in . by no means do i consider these major set backs however  the writers did a fine job in crafting believable characters and a remarkable storyline . the only thing that makes me hurt is that ashram and wagnard return . ummmm . . . how    don  t get me wrong both are great villains even though ashram  s only villainous trait is that he supports the marmo . perhaps i missed something during the coarse of the series that explained that part . as far as sequels go though  i highly recommend cothk . i place both cothk and  even more so  the original record of lodoss war far above the lord of the rings trilogy . both of these are more epic than anything i  ve ever seen or read . i highly recommend this .  
just a dumb old movie . first stanwyck  s son gets his foot trapped in a really dumb way  and then her husband gets his foot trapped in another really dumb way . in an effort to save him  stanwyck gets unlucky  yet again  and comes across an escaped convict . she has a chance to kill him but fails in a very dumb way . in the end her husband is saved  and stanwyck tells us through narration what the dumb message of the movie is . all  s well than ends dumb .  br    br   i could never figure out how an unattractive woman like stanwyck ever made it as a leading lady in hollywood  s glamour  oriented golden era that nose is so beautiful so photogenic the film is mercifully short  running a little over an hour . it  s as though the director sensed that he was making crap  so he thought it best to keep the crap short .  
no  this isn  t a sequel to the fabulous ova series  but rather a remake of the events that occurred after the death of ghim  and the disappearance of woodchuck  . it is also more accurate to the novels that inspired this wonderful series  which is why characters  namely orson and shiris  are reintroduced  and why the story may seem slightly different to those used to the ova .  the booklet included in the set provides excellent answers to such questions  as do various online sites .  the first eight episodes of this    part tv series focus on the fateful battle at demon dragon mountain . the remaining   episodes introduce us to spark  a blue  haired knight wannabe who identifies with parn  and his ragtag team of misfits as they attempt to stop the dark wizard wagnard from resurrecting kardis the destroyer .  br    br   while it isn  t quite the equivalent of the original lodoss war  we all love the finale where parn saves deedlit from wagnard  don  t we    this tv follow  up is still great fun for fantasy fans . even if the animation is limited  and a step down from the artistic streak of the first lodoss   this    part series has its elements of appeal . the fully  realized characters  engaging storyline  magic  romance  and a superb soundtrack scored by kaoru wada of ninja scroll  all give this uneven spin  off some punch .  br    br   while the ova dub of lodoss has been criticized for one reason or another  i generally liked it and still consider it one of my favorite dubs . so i had significant hopes for the dub for chronicles  made in          . for the most part  the lodoss tv english track is of passable  if not stellar  quality it does  however  have its share of problems . much of the original cast who lent their english voices to the characters of lodoss return  including lisa ortiz as deedlit    which is a nice bonus . on the other hand  billy regan  s more mature sounding parn is a bit offputting . he doesn  t do a bad job  but his voice came across as grating for the first eight episodes  causing some anti  dub fans to instantly diss the dub   but by the time spark and company take the stage  i found it less bothersome .  i don  t know if it  s because he improved or if it just grew on me .  also  not everyone from the oav dub returns . jayce reeves only voices wagnard  terrifically  for one episode he  s replaced by pete zarustica for the whole show  who gives a scratchy  but still malevolent turn  as well as the expected evil laughter  . anthony cruise  s kashue  on the other hand  is too weary and takes about five or so episodes to find his stride . oliver gregory is probably the most effective as orson  especially during his final dramatic scenes .  br    br   aside from lisa ortiz  deedlit   karen smith  shiris   john knox  ashram   and al muscari  slayn   the dub  s best voices come from some of the newer characters  including crispin freeman  spark  maar  garrack  episodes         roxanne beck  little neese   meg frances  who voices pirotess in the oav but also voices ryna with vulnerability and sassiness as well as karla  and especially angora deb  who steals every scene she  s in as leaf the half  elf  . the rest of the cast isn  t terrible by any means  but a little more uneven than the oav dub . some are all right  aldonova  greevus  while others are lackluster  hobb  palace guards  dragons  etc .  and few were awful  in particular  prince reona  s va is too harsh and monotone for a fighter of justice  .  br    br   in fact the lack of aural continuity  some cast members get new voices for some unexplained reason by the time we get to some of the later episodes  is one of the problems of the dub . others include less memorable and more awkward sounding dialogue  uneven synchronization  and finally  i apologize in advance to the fans of this  the lodoss island segments . these offbeat  super  deformed interludes at the end of each episode will either amuse or drive you batty . admittingly  i at first found them to be a major nuisance  but they sorta grew on me after a while .  besides  there are some showstoppingly hilarious lines such as  i  m king kashue  and this is my cashew  i  m really quite a nut    these flaws rank the dub for chronicles just a notch just below that for the ova  resulting in an uneven english track summed up best as  ok  .  br    br   if one wonders if the japanese language track is the preferred listening choice  well  guess what  the japanese version has its good and bad points  too . while some voices are less annoying than the english language track  i found others to be less appealing than the english equivalents  in particular  the actress who does deedlit is nowhere nearly as good as lisa ortiz or yumi tohma  . plus  i should mention that the japanese cast is not the same as the ova . because the series was made seven years after the original  all but one  sho hayami  of the cast members are replaced by new ones . although they do a respectably good job  it may be a major annoyance for those who were used to the japanese ova cast . shows that not everything in japanese is better than english  eh  despite its flaws  chronicles of the heroic knight is still a fine series which deserves to hold its own ground . its not without its rough spots and doesn  t always live up to its predecessor  yet there  s enough good points to counter the bad  making this a moderately enjoyable fantasy anime .  
awesomely improbable and foolish potboiler that at least has some redeeming  crisp location photography  but it  s too unbelievable to generate much in the way of tension . i was kinda hoping that stanwyck wouldn  t make it back in time because  really  she was saddled with the wet  in more ways than one  husband  and she had an idiot child as well . . why not run off with meeker  but the nagging question remains . . what sort of wood was that pier support made of if a rotten piece of it pulled off didn  t float  stanwyck  always impeccably professional  does the best she could with the material but it  s threadbare .  
its time to pay tribute to the great charton heston after his recent passing but this film is not the one . his other films of a past generation were ben hur  the ten commandents  omega man and planet of the apes were his better works .  br    br   this film made in     attempts to prophesies a future earth  in      that is so overpopulated that the human race has been manipulated by authorities to eat a universally produced food product called  soylent green  which is manufactured with human flesh . this bizarre and implausible film was as ridiculous at the time of its release as it is now and assumes india  s population which would be about  billion by that stage would be then meat eaters without knowing it .  br    br   charlton heston  s character this supers secret international conspiracy that world powers have concocted to meet the nutritional demands of overpopulation by using cannibalism .  br    br   unfortunately for the producers of this film the green message they deliver is not the greens party of today  s ethos thank god . cannibalism was practiced by the indigenous populations in new zealand  fiji and borneo up until only   years before this film was made but has been long abandoned by human civilization .  br    br   another silly prediction in the film is that women become quasi sex slaves turning back the tide of radical feminism which was on the rise in     when this film was made .  br    br   the film was stupid then and is as silly now but does contain a very unmemorable last film performance by the late and great edward g . robinson but still no a valid reason to revisit the film other than for academic reasons .  br    br   this is a dud of a film and i wouldn  t even recommend it to baby boomers or charlton heston fans . all the other reviews of this film i have read all sound the same referring to a dystopian society in the future of which the centralised theme only seems to involve the usa in which an ecological disaster has occurred .  br    br   the only merit in the film is that earth does face overpopulation .  
a pale shadow of a great musical  this movie suffers from the fact that the director  richard attenborough  completely misses the point of the musical  needlessly  opens  it up  and muddies the thrust of the play . the show is about a group of dancers auditioning for a job in a b  way musical and examines their drive  desire to work in this demanding and not  always  rewarding line of work . attenborough gives us a fresh  faced cast of hopefuls  assuming that they are trying to get their  big break  in show business  rather than presenting the grittier mix of characters created on stage as a group of working  gypsies  living show to show  along with a couple of newcomers . the film has one advantage over the play and that is the opening scene  showing the size of the original audition and the true scale of shrinkage down to the      on the line  depending on how you count cassie  who is stupidly kept out of the line in the movie  . anyone who can catch a local civic light opera production of the play will have a much richer experience than seeing this poorly  conceived film .  
in terms of the arts  the     s were a very turbulent era . in literature and the visual arts  it was the closing of a great fifty or sixty year period of creativity that has yet to be restarted . in music it was a decade that many see as a low point  due to corporate rock and disco . on television it was a golden age for situation comedies  from the odd couple to the mary tyler moore show to mash to all in the family  but in film it was even a greater period of creativity  in all genres  that saw the rise of the american auteur  directors like robert altman  francis ford coppola  and martin scorsese  from the ashes of the old studio systems that had dominated hollywood for over half a century . these directors wanted to craft literate  arts films for the masses  of the sort that had been staples in europe since the end of the second world war . yet  the studios were trying to keep pace  with socially aware films of the sort not seen since the     s .  br    br   but  unlike the films of the     s  starring actors like jimmy cagney and john garfield  usually co  starring the dead end kids   that dealt with social issues in a gritty realistic way  or as realistic as one could get on a sound stage  the social consciousness of the late     s and early     s manifested itself most in science fiction films  which allowed the left wing of hollywood to preach to the masses under the guise of what most considered little above comic strip entertainment . there was precedent for this approach  for several of the flying saucer films of the     s dealt with the political zeitgeist of the mccarthy era  most notably the day the earth stood still and invasion of the body snatchers . and the early     s saw rod serling constantly subverting the political conservatism of the time by casting social issues into science fiction settings on his classic sci fi television anthology show the twilight zone . among the studio offerings of this time were the ecologically sensitive silent running george lucas  s first film thx      which dealt with consumerism  group think  and existentialism and logan  s run  which hammered away at communism and state control versus the rights of an individual . some of the film  s references are quite heavyhanded  and reek of the then current arab oil crisis and rampant inflation . a few jarred strawberries cost      and soylent rations its assorted colored foods  soylent yellow  soylent red  and the new soylent green  reputedly made from  the finest undersea growth   in a manner not unlike the gas rationing of the time . scenes of food riots are eerie echoes of the oil riots at many gas stations during the year of the film  s release  and the scenes of crowding  and bodies  live and dead  lying all about are still chilling  as well as influential . a later film like escape from new york is an obvious progeny . the rest of the script  by stanley r . greenberg  however  is rather pedestrian  and fairly standard for a dystopian flick  but fleischer and cinematographer richard h . kline do a great job of filling the screen with interesting images and sounds  to spice things up . the use of soft  dimly lit visuals  murkily filtered  add a stygian feel to the new york of the film  almost like a colorized version of carl theodor dreyer  s vampyr . the only light in the film comes from artificial sources  and were it not for the fashion faux pas the film could truly seem timeless .  br    br   the end of the film  where thorn sneaks into the processing plant where human corpses are made into soylent green wafers  is both chilling  and oddly drama  less . in the end  the soylent minions hunt thorn down  but he survives long enough to utter the film  s catchphrase to chief hatcher . yet  one does not know if it is enough  for hatcher has already been co  opted  and has a track record of taking the easy way out . yet  that fact  and its ambiguity  shows that the film does not recapitulate its characters  dilemmas  and has a depth many later  better made films  sci fi or not  do not have . it is also why soylent green is still a film worth watching .  
i was lucky enough to see a chorus line when it came to my city . . i was younger then . . but it was an excellent play . . so would someone please tell me why in heavens name did they have to make a movie out of it . . and why michael douglas    he didnt suit the role . . this movie really sucked big time     br    br   my advise is not to rent this movie . . save your money for something better like  cats  . . . .  
  soylent green  is one of the best and most disturbing science fiction movies of the    s and still very persuasive even by today  s standards . although flawed and a little dated  the apocalyptic touch and the environmental premise  typical for that time  still feel very unsettling and thought  provoking . this film  s quality  level surpasses the majority of contemporary sf flicks because of its strong cast and some intense sequences that i personally consider classic . the new york of     is a depressing place to be alive  with over  population  unemployment  an unhealthy climate and the total scarcity of every vital food product . the only form of food available is synthetic and distributed by the soylent company . charlton heston  in a great shape  plays a cop investigating the murder of one of soylent  s most eminent executives and he stumbles upon scandals and dark secrets . . . the script is a little over  sentimental at times and the climax doesn  t really come as a big surprise  still the atmosphere is very tense and uncanny . the riot  sequence is truly grueling and easily one of the most macabre moments in    s cinema . edward g . robinson is ultimately impressive in his last role and there  s a great  but too modest  supportive role for joseph cotton   baron blood    the abominable dr . phibes   . this is science  fiction in my book a nightmarish and inevitable fade for humanity  no fancy space  ships with hairy monsters attacking our planet .  
this film is regarded by some as a classic  i  ve no idea why . it is terrible to the point of being laughable . the only saving grace with this movie are the delivery of cheesy lines that are so toe curlingly embarrassing that you have no choice but to laugh at them .  br    br   there are a couple of good songs and good choreography in this film  but so what  there is no plot  it is set in a theatre with no change of scenery  and michael douglas is as depressing as ever . my brother once forced me to watch this film  because he said i wouldn  t believe how bad a film can get  he was right .  br    br   normally with a film this dreadful i would recommend that people shouldn  t watch it  but in this case i think people should  as it will put every other bad film you  ve seen in perspective .  
in this movie the year     looks much like the seventies . this is amusing at first  but soon the viewer perceives how very different that decadent futuristic world is despite the appearances  how many things that we take for granted could become unavailable .  br    br   characters often interact in a peculiar way  with no tact or manners or respect . i believe this is intentional  not bad acting . after all  who witnessed the social changes in the   s and   s may well assume that by     an overpopulated city  s inhabitants behave like that .  br    br   i didn  t like most of the action scenes  apart the death of the priest too cheap even for the seventies . the plot isn  t too polished . but the great scenes and ideas  like the death of sol  the way rioters and dead bodies are dealt with  the  furniture   outweigh the shortcomings of this film .  br    br    out of   .  
hi  everyone  if you saw  singing in the rain   you remember the scene of gene kelly dancing in the rain . you also remember the dance number of donald o  connor   make  em laugh .  if you saw  royal wedding   you will remember fred astaire dancing on the ceiling . if you saw  jailhouse rock   you will even remember the title dance number choreographed by the king himself .  br    br   that is what is missing here . there could have been some blockbuster dance numbers in this presentation . the closest was chuck mcgowan  s  i can do that .  the mere fact that you have some talented people on stage moving together does not make a great dance film . richard attenborough was to blame for this failure . he pointed the camera at the stage and thought that would be a good thing .  br    br   yelling at people auditioning for a part in a broadway production is not entertainment . michael douglas would be just as badly cast if he were in a western or a comedy . he is ok when he is in a michael douglas movie where we see him yelling at someone we would like to yell at . it does not work here .  br    br   the cast was good except for michael  of course . a good movie could have been made even using the songs that were in the stage production  but someone should have thought about how to film it .  br    br   next time they do one of these i hope they call me first .  br    br   tom willett  
this movie has very good acting by virtually all the cast  a gripping story with a chilling ending  great music  and excellent visuals without significant special effects . it is interesting to note though that  like so much science fiction  its predictions for the future don  t appear likely to come to pass as early as depicted . that  s not to say we  re out of the woods yet  but     is now obviously too soon to be in this condition . it shares this failing with a fairly illustrious list of science fiction classics              a space odyssey  compare its space station with our international space station  and isaac asimov  s  i robot   positronic brains were to have been invented in the      s  .  
for anyone who has seen and fallen in love with the stage musical a chorus line  the movie is a shoddy substitute . not only are songs cut  but unnecessary plot twists added  new dance sequences choreographed  and  let  s face it  richard attenborough just doesn  t know how to film dancers .  br    br   onstage  michael bennett  s a chorus line was just that michael bennett . his idea  his choreography  his direction  his gift to broadway and the rest of the world . it was two hours of hard  hitting  in  your  face realism that really made you feel for these  boys  and  girls .  the movie  however  lacks empathy and depth the actors look like they are auditioning for a chorus line rather than actually auditioning . every move  every line of dialogue seems so weighted and planned michael douglas  especially  as zach is too in control for us to believe that he is this extraordinarily bitchy choreographer . even when he throws his temper tantrums  you never quite believe him because every gesture  every accented word  every nuance is so obviously rehearsed . and as for him not dancing kevin kline auditioned for the role of zach on broadway . michael bennett loved his reading  but kline couldn  t dance and ultimately lost the part . how i wish they had done the same for douglas  a chorus line is supposed to be a show about nobodies  and aside from a few recognizable faces  vicki frederick  who played cassie on broadway  as sheila and khandi alexander  of tv  s newsradio  as one of the many auditioning dancers  you  re not supposed to know any of these people . because you do know these people . having a star in any of the roles is a terrible decision when you focus on michael douglas and his ranting instead of on the girls and boys on the line and their stories  you lose something .  br    br   it is truly unfortunate that the best sequence in the show  montage hello twelve  hello thirteen  hello love  is cut drastically to make way for a terrible new song entitled  surprise  surprise  that surprisingly received a nomination at the oscars . cassie  s  mirror dance  has a new song and tragically boring choreography   one wonders why they bothered to shoot a movie version at all if they were going to mess with a working formula this much .  br    br   for fans of musical theatre and those who enjoyed the stage version  this movie is a sad mockery of everything they cherished and loved . for those who never got to see the original production  either on broadway or on tour  this movie is the only reference they will have to go by . and they  ll have to wonder just how it got to be the longest  running musical in broadway history   until a little show called cats overtook it in the late      s . but that is a different story  and don  t even get me started there .  
soylent green is a classic . i have been waiting for someone to re  do it . they seem to be remaking sci  fi classics these days  i . e . war of the worlds  and i am hoping some director  producer will re  do soylent green . with todays computer animation and technology  it would have the potential to be a great picture . anti  utopian films may not be that far  fetched . the human race breeds like roaches with no outside influence to curtail it . we  as humans  have the option of putting the kibosh on the procreation of lesser species if they get out of hand  but there  s nothing to control human breeding except for ourselves . despite all the diseases  wars  abortions  birth control  etc . the human race still multiplies like bacteria in a petri dish . classic malthusian economics states that any species  including humans  will multiply beyond their means of subsistence .  billion and growing . . . . that  s obscene .  
the broadway musical   a chorus line  is arguably the best musical in theatre . it  s about the experiences of people who live for dance the joys they experience  and the sacrifices they make . each dancer is auditioning for parts in a broadway chorus line  yet what comes out of each of them are stories of how their lives led them find dance as a respite .  br    br   the film version  though  captures none of the passion or beauty of the stage show  and is arguably the worst film adaptation of a broadway musical  as it is lifeless and devoid of any affection for dance  whatsoever .  br    br   the biggest mistake was made in giving the director  s job to sir richard attenborough  whose direction offered just the right touch and pacing for  gandhi .  why would anyone in his or her right mind ask an epic director to direct a musical that takes place in a fairly constricted place   br    br   which brings us to the next problem .  a chorus line  takes place on stage in a theatre with no real sets and limited costume changes . it  s the least flashy of broadway musicals  and its simplicity was its glory . however  that doesn  t translate well to film  and no one really thought that it would . for that reason  the movie should have taken us in the lives of these dancers  and should have left the theatre and audition process . the singers could have offered their songs in other environments and even have offered flashbacks to their first ballet  jazz or tap class . heck  they could have danced down broadway in their lively imaginations . yet  not one shred of imagination went into the making of this film  as attenborough  s complete indifference for dance and the show itself is evident in his lackadaisical direction .  br    br   many scenes are downright awkward as the dancers tell their story to the director  michael douglas  whether he wants to hear them or not . douglas  character is capricious about choosing to whom he extends a sympathetic ear  and to whom he has no patience .  br    br   while the filmmakers pretended to be true to the nature of the play  some heretical changes were made . the very beautiful  hello twelve  hello thirteen  hello love    a smashing stage number which took the dancers back to their adolescence   was removed and replaced with the dreadful   surprise   a song so bad that it was nominated for an oscar . adding insult to injury   surprise  simply retold the same story as  hello  love  but without the wit or pathos .  br    br   there is no reason to see this film unless you want a lesson in what not to do when transferring a broadway show to film . if you want to see a film version of this show  the next closest thing is bob fosse  s brilliant  all that jazz .  while fosse  s daughter is in  a chorus line   he is the fosse who should have been involved  as director . he would have known what to do with this material  which deserved far greater respect than this sad effort .  
this movie came to me highly recommended by matt groening . well actually i watched both the simpsons and futurama and it gets a mention in both so i figured  what the heck  . the film brings home a few  what if  s  that make you realise how lucky we are in this day and age where we take simple things like soap and water for granted . interesting though that in the year     men are still shaving with a single blade safety razor  nice that those responsible didn  t over load the film with unnecessary special effects  ray guns  etc . some nice looking  furniture  once you figure out what that means . remember   tuesday is soylent green day   
by the time this film was released i had seen chorus line on stage  times  and had been anticipating most eagerly the long  rumored production of a film of the story . my wife and i were in line hours before the box office opened on the day the film was released . it was not just a disappointment  it was a kick in the abdomen .  br    br   first  the story was  moved outside   so to speak  by including scenes not in the confines of the theater . those confines are a large portion of the meaning and impact of the story .  br    br   second  third together  assign your own order   one of the original songs  with very dynamic dance number  was removed a song which was not in the stage production was added . say what   i  m confused   br    br   the only reason i gave this film  stars instead of  is my admiration for the talent and hard work of the performers . i  ve now seen chorus line on stage  times  and wouldn  t mind seeing it  more times before i die . it is superbly written  with wonderful music  and heart  wrenchingly true stories . if you want to see a musical which includes a great  cattle call  audition  i recommend all that jazz . if you want to see the story of a chorus line  see it on stage .  
in the    s  charlton heston starred in sci  fi flicks of varying quality .  soylent green  is one of the better ones . he plays robert thorn  a detective in     new york . in this future  most food is so expensive that everyone needs a product called soylent green . but when thorn finds out the unsavory truth about this product  he finds himself on the run .  br    br   i guess that it  s only natural that this movie should seem dated to us nowadays . but even so  it still brings up interesting questions about what will become of our agriculture . also starring leigh taylor  young  chuck connors  brock peters  joseph cotten and edward g . robinson  in his final role  .  
i recently bought the dvd  forgetting just how much i hated the movie version of  a chorus line .  every change the director attenborough made to the story failed .  br    br   by making the director  cassie relationship so prominent  the entire ensemble  premise of the musical sails out the window .  br    br   some of the musical numbers are sped up and rushed . the show  s hit song gets the entire meaning shattered when it is given to cassie  s character .  br    br   the overall staging is very self  conscious .  br    br   the only reason i give it a   is because a few of the great numbers are still able to be enjoyed despite the film  s attempt to squeeze every bit of joy and spontaneity out of it .  
documenting a documenter . that  s one way to describe keep the river on your right a modern cannibal tale . this film follows anthropologist tobias schneebaum  who in his late   s went on a journey back to the places he spent time as a participant field researcher over   years ago  first to west papua and then peru . tobias is a full  bodied character a gay jewish artist anthropologist who eeks out a living on a cruise ship teaching gawking tourists about the cultures he has come to have a deep respect and understanding for . author of several books documenting his time with both the asmat people of west papua and the cannibalistic amazonians in peru  tobias has been haunted by what happened in his time in these places and how intimate his connection and relationships had become . yet tobias  constant wonder and appreciation for the places he got to know is admirable and a real pleasure to watch . one can only hope to ever achieve and retain such humility themselves .  br    br   tobias makes a compelling subject for study as the experiences he faced in immersing himself in these two tribal societies has left him fundamentally changed . this film challenges the notions of morality and  naturalness   e . g . nudity  homosexuality  cannibalism .  watch for the graphic circumcision scene  . when questioned as to why he engaged in some of the local practices that others would morally denounce  his non  judgmental nature asks  why not   who is to say the way of other cultures is right or wrong  this little sleeper is a must watch for not only national geographic types  but also those interested in the art of documentary making . this film shows what can be done shot on video . the editing provides a quiet revelation of tobias  life that leaves you watching in fascination . at times  he despairs at being pushed by the film crew to make the emotional journey back  especially considering his age and physical frailty . we can be but grateful that tobias allowed the tables to be turned on himself  perhaps sympathising with the desire to understand humanity and one  s place in the world . the filmmakers provide some moments of critical balance  presenting for example one anthropologist who believes that tobias predetermined his findings  of homosexuality in this case  based on his personal interests . that said  you can  t decide when to stop being shocked and when to take this man home for a cuddle . move over river queen  this is the best river ride i  ve taken in a while .  
well  what  s to say . the golden child falls in the category  so bad  it  s good  . eddie murphy is having some funny  and sometimes quite annoying lines   but you are still entertained . chales dance has never been worse than his role as the villain sardo numspa  what a fed up name is this    .  br    br   who should watch the golden child . . . hm . . . difficult to say  but my best guess would be people who likes embarrassing movies and can be entertained by bad acting  bad plot and an even more embarrassing dialog .  br    br    out of    
i  ve seen tons of science fiction from the   s some horrendously bad  and others thought provoking and truly frightening . soylent green fits into the latter category . yes  at times it  s a little campy  and yes  the furniture is good for a giggle or two  but some of the film seems awfully prescient . here we have a film   years before blade runner  that dares to imagine the future as somthing dark  scary  and nihilistic . both charlton heston and edward g . robinson fare far better in this than the ten commandments  and robinson  s assisted  suicide scene is creepily prescient of kevorkian and his ilk . some of the attitudes are dated  can you imagine a filmmaker getting away with the  women as furniture  concept in our oh  so  politically  correct    s    but it  s rare to find a film from the me decade that actually can make you think . this is one i  d love to see on the big screen  because even in a widescreen presentation  i don  t think the overall scope of this film would receive its due . check it out .  
michael bennett and nicholas dante  s broadway show ran for years  but evidence of its power and charisma is lost in this movie adaptation  which most likely stems from the choice of director  richard attenborough  as far from b  way as you could get  and lead actor  michael douglas  who plays a director  choreographer like a slimy corporate lawyer  . the slim story  about a grueling audition for a broadway show which turns into a therapy session for the actor  dancer  singers  is pushed right up on us  with loud  brassy talents playing to the rafters . nothing is modulated or subtle  particularly a laughable subplot about a ex  dancer returning to the theater and butting heads with old  flame douglas . the over  eager hopefuls are filled with promise and heartache  but their personal stories of angst are a little embarrassing this  matched with attenborough  s sluggish pacing  spells disaster  and even the now  famous songs fail to break through the artificial wrapping .     from   
this is a great movie but there could be more about soylent green . there should be more scenes of what they do to people . how people act in     . i think it would be neat to see if all this does happen in the year     and beyond . even if you still know what the secret is it is a great movie . so go rent or buy this movie right now    
this may be the worst film adaptation of a broadway musical ever . even the music has been destroyed . attenborough knows nothing about theater  almost every shot and moment ring false . i will say  though  that it is almost bad enough to be funny .  br    br   the hairstyles are remarkably dated . i can not for the life of me understand what is meant  conceptually  by opening the film with an exterior of the theater where  a chorus line  is playing . are we to think that these people are auditioning for  a chorus line   which contains the stories about the people who are auditioning  oh no  the show is collapsing on itself .  br    br   i saw the original production  and have listened to the album hundreds of times . why  oh  why  did they do this   
not often have i had the feeling of a movie it could be visionary . but clearly this movie has the seed of a premonition .  br    br   we should not tend to be alarmists and see armageddon in something because it seems to fit our emotions of the moment . but  didn  t we say this of        had james orwell known the internet becoming reality not long after      in fact it was in      he might have reconsidered writing his story the way he did . hindsight rewarded .  br    br   it doesn  t matter . what does matter is that we often regard ourselves as superior to our surroundings but indeed become emotional about a  love apple  when necessity knocks at our door . a snapshot of ourselves at old age .  br    br   whatever the time  line will prove to be for us  i know for a fact we haven  t seen the beginning of it yet .  br    br    
this is one of the worst film adaptations of a musical ever made . the stage version of a chorus line is wonderful . this movie misses the mark in almost every way . even the casting is baffling . take audrey landers as val .  dance   looks   is val  s song . val  s story is that she is a great dancer but a  in the looks department . yes  she finds a solution  but ultimately she  s a great dancer . what do the brilliant filmmakers do  they hire an actress who can  t dance and is famous for looking great . way to miss the boat .  br    br   then there  s the choreography . i  m sure michael bennett was turning over in his grave . why didn  t they use his choreography  it really can  t be improved upon .  
especially for a time when not much science fiction was being filmed        this is a terrific vision of a future where everything has gone wrong . too many people  and nothing works . the only people who can live in comfort are the rich . it  s set in new york in      i think   and it reminds you of your worst vision of calcutta .  br    br   i got to appreciate charlton heston  s acting after seeing him in orson welles  touch of evil . he was  maybe is  capable of portraying a range of heroic or semi  heroic people . here  he is torn between being a cop who is just a little bit corrupt  taking rare food treats from the rich   and being totally corrupt  actively condoning evil  .  br    br   the movie all seems to take place at night  and sweat is dripping off everyone  except in one of the rare air  conditioned apartments . even though i hadn  t seen it before  i knew the famous ending  which will not here be revealed   but the ending is certainly foreshadowed .  br    br   great scenes with edward g . robinson going to the council  made up of elderly jews with heavy accents  so it seems   where the truth is revealed . and then going off to the thanatopsis to check out .  br    br   gritty  pre  star wars dystopian science fiction .  
i first saw the live musical at the denver center for the performing arts and it was absolutely mind  blowing  stunning and had such fantastic continuity of plot and dialogue that i liked it much more than most musicals that i have seen on the stage . the interesting thing is that you never got to see zach  s face . he was always in the dark but his presence was powerful and guided the direction of entire production . whe i heard they were making a movie from it  i waited with bated breath  but when i watched the movie version i was so bummed  out disappointed that i felt i was cheated . the movie lacks the captivating mood set in the live production and it never allows you to be completely in close touch with every character . personally  i would like to see the live version again and if that should ever be revived  i would wholeheartedly recommend that you go out of your way to see it . it will be one of the most memorable experiences you will enjoy .  
my evaluation      br    br   i like a lot this movie . compare to today brainless movie  just action and special effet and nothing new about ideas    soylent green  ask to something that today doesn  t exist anymore to think .  br    br   well it would not a big surprise a day human eat  cookies  which are create with body of human . with all what happen on this planet  and to see how people are so indifferent to all  this kind of future is possible .  br    br   sure this movie take some age but the idea behind the movie is actual again . rich at paradise  other in the hell . well a luck today they are tv and idiocy like  reality show  .  br    br   tv is a good wash brain . it  s pity to see that intelligence of human have not progress like technologies . since writing all stop .  br    br   if you like reality show this movie is not for you . if you believe all politician same too . if you don  t like ask yourself question about now and future well never look this movie .  
if you were to judge based on the movie alone  the committee that gave the stage musical  a chorus line  a pulitzer prize  and broadway audiences that kept the war horse running for   years  were all on heavy narcotics  because one singular sensation this film certainly is not .  br    br   what possessed anyone to think that richard attenborough was the right fit for this material utterly mystifies me  but he makes a musical that is almost entirely about movement just sit on the screen like a lump of clay .  br    br   not content with the original score the way it was originally written  someone decided that what the film really needed was a brand new song to give the movie some zip . thus we are assaulted with the oscar  nominated     surprise  surprise .  well surprise  surprise  the song stinks  and so does the movie .  br    br   grade d  
soylent green i found to be an excellent movie .  br    br   if you like logan  s run you  ll like this .  br    br   yes the movie is old and there are no special effects and some of the acting can somewhat be best described as  cheesy  but the story is excellent .  br    br   the story of how the world can be and its impact on society is very poignant .  br    br   at the end the mystery wasn  t a mystery but the story unfolded in an easy at the right pace .  br    br   it  s nearest modern day equivalent would be  dark angel  in terms of how the us is shown to be third  world country .  
i  m not a stage purist . a movie could have been made of this play  and it would almost necessarily require changes . . . comme ci  comme ca . but the modest conceits of this material are lost or misunderstood by the movie  s creators who are in full  on  shallow blockbuster  mode . it would be hard to imagine a worse director . perhaps only josh logan  jack warner could have ruined this in the same way attenborough did .  br    br   onstage a chorus line was a triumph of workshopping as a production method . dancers answering a casting call found themselves sitting around shooting the crap about their stage  career experiences  very   s   . then bennett and hamlisch took some time  handed them a song and cast them as themselves . . . . astonishing  unbelievably modern . the  story  of acl is  in turn  about answering a casting call for a play we never have a complete view of  because the play doesn  t matter . it was meta before the idea was invented    years before adaptation noodled with a similar idea . acl was also another in a reductivist trend that is still alive   which is a hallmark of modern creativity that technique itself is compelling . . . that there  s more drama in an average person  s life than you could ever synthesize with invented characters . what a gracious idea . the stage play had one performance area  an empty stage  and three different ways to alter the backdrop  to alleviate visual tedium  not to keep viewers distracted . the space recedes and the actors stories are spotlighted . it worked just fine . that was the point . all these ideas are trampled or bastardized . set  wise  there wasn  t one  and no costumes either until the the dancers came out for their final bows  in which the exhilarating  one  is finally  powerfully  performed in full  gold  top hats and tails  with moves we recognize because we  ve watched them in practice sessions . the pent  up anxiety of the play is released    and audiences went nuts .  br    br   after grampa manhandles this  it  s like a mushed  strangled bird . he clearly has the earlier  respected all that jazz  and fosse  s stage piece dancin   in mind as he makes his choices . hamlisch  s score was edgy  interesting for it  s time  but time has not been kind to it . it  s as schmaltzy as  jazz hands .  and that  s before attenborough ever touches it . he  s remarkable at finding whatever good was left  and mangling it .  br    br   a simple question might have helped attenborough while filming this   could i bear spending even a few minutes with people like these   a major issue for any adaptation of the play is how the  th wall of theater  pivotal by it  s absence in theater  would be addressed in the film format . there  s never been a more  frontal  play . the answer they came up with was   i  m sorry . . what was the question   the cast has been augmented from a manageable number of unique narratives  to a crowd suffocating each other and the audience  and blending their grating selves together . i was well past my annoyance threshold when that annoying little runt swings across the stage on a rope  clowning at the  absent  audience . the play made you understand theater people . this movie just makes you want to choke them .  br    br   perhaps broadways annoying trend of characters walking directly to stage center and singing their stories at the audience  les miz  miss saigon  instead of relating to other characters started here . but the worst imaginable revival of the play will make you feel more alive than this movie .  br    br   a chorus line is pure schlock .  
is this the future that awaits us  an overpopulated  unforgiving wasteland with a hellish  unwanted existence  this film brings to mind a problem that still plagues us  doubly so since the film was released in back in     . let  s hope that the world isn  t going to end up like this . . .  br    br   soylent green is a wild movie that i enjoyed very much . it had likable characters  a semi  apocalyptic setting  a compelling and thought  provoking storyline  and the macho  est macho man out there charleton heston . richard fleischer gave the movie a very unpleasant  dirty feel . you  re almost choked by the stench from the city and its filthy inhabitants .  br    br   the characters are wonderful . charleton heston  who has become one of my favorite actors  is thorn . the man created this role of badass  yet likable tough  guy . i could definitely put myself in thorn  s shoes . he sees that something isn  t right  but everyone around him either doesn  t listen  more like paid not to listen  or wants him dead . edward g . robinson  in his last film  r . i . p .  plays the lovable old sol  who has had enough of this nasty place . everyone else is great  especially leigh taylor  young as shirl  a piece of  furniture  that comes with the apartment in which she resides .  br    br   the special effects are fantastic  even for     . the soylent green factory  the futuristic apartments  and especially the  scoops   bulldozers that get rid of people  were excellent . the polluted air outside looks disgusting and very nasty . the empty city streets filled with the vile and putrid people are very unsettling .  br    br   one final note is the ending  which even now still shocked me . it is gruesome  but if you think about it  it  s a pretty good idea .  br    br   the bottom line  br    br   an excellent    s science fiction flick that makes you think and leaves you feeling very uneasy .  
yes  i was lucky enough to see the long  running original production of michael bennett  s hit musical . it was an amazing experience and i paid to see the movie when it hit theatres back in     . it is awful . almost everything fails . first off  attenborough  a fine actor  a good director with the right material  is a sorry choice  almost as bad as when john huston was hired to mangle annie . the camera is always in the wrong place  they chop up the songs and the casting    they are awful  the power of the play was these dancers  these hungry  talented performers just wanted a chance to show what they could do and when they got their chance  you couldn  t take your eyes off of them . but this cast just gets by dancing  does a  nice  job singing but none of them spark one bit . in fact  look up the cast on imdb  none of them really went on to do anything much .  ok  ok  janet jones married gretzky  sheesh  . so this cinema trainwreck does not capture for one second the magic  the desperation  the passion of the stage musical . a total strike  out   but even though they try to smother the music  the great music still rises up at times and reminds people how great the score was  .  
truly amazing film  the concept as a possible prophetic vision of the future is frightening . a world vastly overpopulated  unbearable heat due to the damaged ozone layer  and all our natural resources spent . in this nightmarish degenerate society we have the great charlton heston as a likable film noirish style detective trying to fathom the truth behind a murder  opposite the film noir legend edward g robinson turning in a fine last performance .  br    br   one of the images that will always stay with me from this film  is the masses of people that populate the stairwells and the way in which thorne  heston  has to hop through them every time he uses them .  br    br   the movie  s use of music is note worthy too  although it contains no score in the usual sense  the opening theme is good  and the subsequent snatches of music we here in simonson  s apartment  and especially the beethoven pieces in the euthanasia clinic are outstandingly atmospheric .  
on broadway  a chorus line was pure magic . from the second the show opened with a spectacular burst of energy to the truly grand finale  a joyous curtain call of all those chorus members who we grew to love during the course of the show  we were totally engaged  captivated by the intensely personal stories  some funny  some clever  some stirring  of this chorus line . the movie is another matter entirely . the focus is now on the director  and what an ogre he is  every time the film switches to michael douglas  there he is with a bitter  sour expression  barking out questions and orders  screaming and yelling whenever he gets the chance . yikes   that changes the dynamics of the story . on broadway  the director was indeed an imperious offstage presence  but he was also sort of a theatrical device to allow the stories of these amazing strong  fragile  intriguing  hilarious chorus line members to be told with insight and clarity . there is a reason this work won the pulitzer prize  and actually in one of the only moments the director appears  he is there to comfort the young puerto rican dancer after we hear that dancer  s heart  breaking story . he appears again to ultimately express his genuine affection  concern for cassie . but in the movie  from the second douglas  director starts bitterly barking orders  the chorus line members  stories become secondary . it  s like they are in a lousy profession  where a jaded director instead of showing the joy at creating a new exciting theatrical show  is jaded  exhausted  furious at having to audition these chorus members . on stage  there was always the excitement of the show . here in the movie practically from the word go  you feel sorry for everyone involved . during the course of the musical  we desperately wished every single one of those chorus members well  and how happy we would have been if they had all gotten the job  but of course that couldn  t happen . but in the finale when they all came back in glorious costume with those amazing spinning mirrors on stage  sometimes reflecting us in the audience  in our hearts  and we know  also in the hearts of all those chorus members both accepted and rejected  they were on stage forever dancing in a profession they loved so much  bringing magic to the theatre . in the movie  after all the misplaced story lines and emphasis  that magic becomes totally diluted . all we feel  even with the exact same curtain call   is that some of the members got a job with a mean  spirited director . so they all come on the screen and are dancing again . big deal .  
nyc       the greenhouse effect  vanished oceans  grinding unemployment and scarcity of water  power and food . . and new york  s population has topped   million . this is a little gem of a picture  not least because a resource  depleted future is a reality for us   st century citizens .  br    br   the low  budget opening titles of this movie are great set to music  a low  tech  tape  slide  sequence composed entirely of archive stills from the dawn of photography right up to      depicts an unspoiled american pastoral developing into a polluted and crowded hell in less than  minutes . succinct and unambiguous  it  s truly memorable . budget limitations are also behind rather unimaginative cinematography and other constraints  at odds with the story  s brilliant premise . the police station sequences are like an episode of some    s tv detective show  and the other interior sets look basic at best . the budget probably all went on trying to  futurise  the soylent executive  s  chelsea west  apartment with state  of  the art goodies  meaning the other costumes are perfunctory  some establishing shots are bizarrely underpopulated and the daytime exteriors seemingly all shot through a smoke filter .  br    br   the memorable scene where sol and thorn  charlton heston  share a meal of expensive and rare food neatly summarises their society they enjoy real bourbon  lettuce  celery  tomato  apple  and beef  and we really sense their lip  smacking appreciation of someone else  s wealthy privileges .  br    br   robinson  s pivotal death scene  in which his character is willingly euthenased at a place called  home   depicts him immersed in images of the world  s once  beautiful flora and fauna as he remembered them  beautifully contrasted with the jaundiced thorn  s dawning realization that the future has been bankrupted  among other horrors .  br    br   this is one smart film  and its core message is as pertinent today as it was in the early   s . yes  i know we  re not eating the dead yet  but with our resource  sapping longevity  spiraling poverty gap  corporate global capitalism and unchecked habitat destruction leading to climate change  the lasting prediction of  soylent green  may come to pass .  
i admit to having been a fan of the original stage production . i never saw the movie version until very lately on cable  and watched it with anticipation  to see my memories brought alive again  because i adored the original show . imagine my dismay .  br    br   this has to be the worst translation of a broadway show to film ever made . they changed the story  they changed the songs  they lost the soul . i was expecting a trip down memory lane  singing to the extraordinarily touching music and the mirror  at the ballet  and hello twelve  hello thirteen . not  not only did they adulterate the music to an almost unrecognizable point  but they messed up the storyline  adding songs and exterior plotlines  hello cassie and michael douglas  not present in the original  and injecting  drama  where it wasn  t necessary . the original had enough pathos on its own . if you were a fan of the original broadway show  don  t bother . i  m sorry i wasted my time  and diluted my memories  watching this tripe .  
the world of the     sci  fi drama soylent green is what we could be seeing if we aren  t careful . it is a world in which new york city  s population has topped the   million mark in the year     . overpopulation  air pollution  year  long heat waves  and food shortages are the rule . the only hope comes from a food product called soylent green . but what is this particular food stuff really made of  that question is at the heart of this admittedly somewhat dated but still intriguing film  based on harry harrison  s     novel  make room  make room   charlton heston stars as thorne  an nypd detective who comes across the murder of a top corporate executive  joseph cotten  . as it turns out  cotten was on the board of directors of the soylent corporation  the people responsible for all those food stuffs that the people have to consume in lieu of the real thing . heston believes that this wasn  t just a garden  variety murder  that cotten was bumped off for a reason . he gets a lot of help from his slightly cantankerous but very astute  book   edward g . robinson  in his    st and final cinematic appearance   and a few timely reminders of what the world used to be like . what robinson finds out about soylent green shocks him beyond all imagination but before he can tell heston all of what he knows  he has himself euthanized . and when heston does indeed find out the secret of soylent green . . . well  that part has become immortalized into cinematic history .  br    br   under the very professional guiding hand of director richard fleischer  the boston strangler fantastic voyage   soylent green is a fairly grim but thought  provoking look at a dystopian future that humanity might be living if we don  t curb our tendency to strip our planet of its natural resources . indeed  this was a project that heston himself had had in mind for filming as far back as      after he had struck gold in the sci  fi genre with planet of the apes   a fact that probably gets lost whenever his ultra  conservative political philosophy comes up in conversation  after all  soylent green is hardly a tract for unrestrained capitalism  . robinson  as always  is the consummate professional in his last role the sequence where he is euthanized  as he looks at video of the world from a better era  set to the music of tchaikovsky  beethoven  and grieg  is quite simply heartbreaking . the film also benefits from solid supporting help from chuck connors  as a very convincing heavy   brock peters  as heston  s superior   and leigh taylor  young as the woman who tries to help heston in his inquiries .  br    br   it must seem easy these days to dismiss soylent green for being dated . but those who do it ought to think twice for this film  s world may end up becoming ours in actuality if we don  t watch what we do with what we have today .  
i saw the original  chorus line  on broadway god knows how many times and felt the passion  despair and joy come from this live experience in the theater . michael bennett knew he would have to re  imagine  chorus  for the screen but could never figure out how to do it . if the man who came up with the show is stumped  that should answer your question . there are some shows that are simply made to be seen live  with an audience . however  richard attenborough fresh of the musical work of  ghandi  and dancing with animals in  doctor doolittle  ended up directing this film which bore little to no resemblance to the stage show . horrible songs were added  surprise  surprise    great songs were dropped or given to other characters  which didn  t make sense  . michael douglas was mis  cast . people that couldn  t dance tried to act and there was the sexy  landers  woman who couldn  t sing  act  or dance  i guess she had just finished being ghandi  s wife . the dances by jeffrey hornaday look like nothing more than schlock from  flashdance  rejects and nothing works . i sat there stunned at how something so riveting and emotional could be drained to nothing . if you truly love this show and it is coming back to broadway in      see it but don  t think that the long running musical event that was  a chorus line  has any thing at all to do with this film .  
i saw this film at amsterdam  s international documentary film festival and was privileged to meet both the directors and tobias schneebaum  all of whom are lively and outspoken new yorkers . the film  s title in amsterdam was keep the river on your right  making the sensational aspect of cannibalism somewhat less prominent . equally important was the loving  and gay  relationship tobias schneebaum had with members of the groups he studied as an anthropologist . his reunion at nearly   years of age and inevitable leave  taking were very moving . i can only highly recommend this film to anyone looking for a moving story that is anything but pedestrian .  
definitely one of funny man eddie murphy  s lesser films is this nonsense about a kidnapped mystical child  three hundred year old dragons and a  chosen one  .  br    br   murphy is the  chosen one  in question  and as the opening song suggests  he is  the best man in the world  . a finder of lost and missing children  he is approached by a mysterious tibetan woman  charlotte lewis  who tells him he is  the chosen one   and that it is his destiny to find and rescue  the golden child  . for if the child were to die  compassion would die with him  as he is the bearer of compassion .  br    br   if all this hocus pocus rubbish hasn  t ruined it for you now  it surely will once the movie begins . suffice to say the plot is abominable and destroys the whole film . meant to be another vehicle for murphy  s egotistical brand of humour  the comedy isn  t so great mind you   the movie fails on many levels . even charles dance as the evil sardo numspa can  t do much for proceedings . very silly and disappointing .  br    br   sunday  december         t . v .  
the time is the future and for many not aware of it  that day is now . in this final movie for legendary actor  edward g . robinson   solent green  becomes a landmark classic . many a film buff and environmentalist believe this is our eventual history . the movie is taken from the novel entitled   make room  make room  but who  s working title was changed to  solent green .  the story concerns the earth as it evolves into the future with the world  s environmental problems becoming nothing short of catastrophic . the planet  s natural resources have been exhausted and basic food has been reduced to simple staples . they come in a variety of colors  such as solent yellow  solent red  and now  solent green .  however there are those who know the  real  ingredient in solent green and cringe at their own culpability and fear divine retribution . the first is a food executive named william r . simonson  joseph cotton  . upon his death  a dedicated police detective called robert thorn  charleston heston  seeks the truth behind his apparent suicide . although corruption goes all the way to the top  it begins with simonsons  bodyguard  tad fielding  chuck connors  and security chief donnovan  roy jenson  who target thorn for a waste desposal factory . thorn  s boss  lt . hatcher  brock peters  believes his suspicions but warns him of those  higher and hot  who want the case closed  but thorn will not risk his  job  for an easy way out . what thorn discovers marks him for death  but like the film  awaits a final warning .   
for those who never saw a chorus line onstage and their only exposure to the story was this film  this film is ok as movie musicals  nothing special  just ok . i have seen the show on broadway  times and even auditioned for a touring company of the show once and for someone who pretty much memorized the original production  the     film version is so dreadful on so many levels that i don  t even know where to begin . first of all  for those who have never auditioned for a theatrical production  let me assure you that irl when you audition for a play  the director  producer  and choreographer never ask personal questions and don  t give a crap about why you wanted to become a performer . a real theatrical audition  whether it be for a play or a musical  rarely takes more than five minutes . if you  re auditioning as a dancer  you get shown a    bar dance combination once  you do it  and then they decide immediately whether you  re in or out . michael bennett  s original concept of the show was to flesh out the lives of dancers and introduce to the uninitiated the passion for performing and why so many sacrifice so much for so little . the play is about these dancers . first of all  director richard attenborough took so much focus off the dancers by beefing up the cassie  zach relationship and by casting michael douglas as zach . in the play  you never see zach . . . he is just a voice in the back of the theater and his relationship with cassie is barely touched upon . cassie shown in the cab in traffic trying to get to the audition and upstairs talking to larry  a character who is not even in the play  was all added for the movie and took so much focus off what the story is about . major musical numbers were cut or rethought . the opening number in the play  i hope i get it  shows all of the dancers doing a jazz and ballet combination and then people get eliminated . in the movie they jam three hundred dancers onstage together and show them in closeup to disguise the fact that they have cast people in the film who can  t dance  can you say  audrey landers   .  goodbye    goodbye    hello love   a brilliant vocal exploration of these dancers  childhood  s jaundiced memories was reworked as  surprise  surprise  mainly a vehicle for the late gregg burge as richie . the show  s most famous song   what i did for love  which in the show was a touching allegory sung by the entire cast about what they give up to dance  becomes just another standard love song in the film  performed tiredly by a miscast allyson reed as cassie . jeffrey hornaday  s choreography for the film is dull and unimaginative and doesn  t hold a candle to michael bennett  original staging and when you  re making a movie about dancers  the choreography has to be special . there are a couple of good dancers in the film  the previously mentioned gregg burge as richie  michelle johnston as bebe  and janet jones as judy  but they are hardly given the opportunity to show what they can do  yet audrey landers  who can barely walk and chew gum at the same time  is given one of the show  s best numbers   dance    looks  .  i will admit that the finale   one  is dazzling  but you have to wait almost two hours for that . i would say that if you never saw a chorus line onstage  this film might be worth a look  but if you are a devotee of the original broadway musical . . . be afraid . . . be very afraid .  
as with all environmentally aware films from the     s soylent green has a rather cheesy view of what ecological meltdown is . overpopulation means theres too many people to feed  i was under the impression that famines were caused by either war or failed economic policies . stalins policy in the soviet union in the     s left millions dead because of famine and to this day the greatest man made tragedy was maos rural policy in china which led over   million starvation deaths in the     s . and lets not forget the great famines in the horn of africa in the     s and   s which were to do with conflicts not overpopulation . you might like to also consider that two of the most heavily populated areas on earth  hong kong and macau  have never suffered a famine in modern times . likewise the expansion of shanty towns around cities as seen here isnt strictly down to overpopulation  its down to economic factors where people flock to cities to find better paid work than in the countryside  its a symptom of industrial progress  not of too many births  so the image of the streets of new york city being too congested to walk through and of having people sleep in stairwells is somewhat laughable  br    br   but dont be fooled into thinking soylent green is a pile of corny tree hugging crap because i consider this to be the best ecological film of the  br    br     s . it plays on the contempary audiences knowledge of the world where sol and thorn are beside themselves with joy at finding fruit  brandy and fresh meat . thorn gasps in amazement at having ice in his whisky  puffs on a cigarette and delivers the classic line  if i could afford it id smoke two  maybe three of these a day  . but its the visage of the euthanasia chamber thats memorable as thorn gazes at the images of wild animals  flowers  running water and snow covered mountains  a world thorns generation has never known . this is a very haunting scene which makes soylent green a very memorable film  combined with the fact it features the final screen appearance of edward g robinson as the wise old jew sol roth  
i wonder who  how and more importantly why the decision to call richard attenborough to direct the most singular sensation to hit broadway in many many years  he  s an academy award winning director . yes  he won for ghandi you moron  jeremy irons is an academy winning actor do you want to see him play rocky balboa  he has experience with musicals . really   oh what a lovely war  have you forgotten  to answer your question  yes  the film is a disappointment  clear and simple . not an ounce of the live energy survived the heavy handedness of the proceedings . every character danced beautifully they were charming but their projection was theatrical . i felt nothing . but when i saw it on stage i felt everything . the film should have been cast with stars  unknown  newcomers but stars with compelling unforgettable faces even the most invisible of the group . great actors who could dance beautifully . well michael douglas was in it . true i forgot i  m absolutely wrong and you are absolutely right . nothing like a richard attenborough michael douglas musical .  
this was a very thought provoking film  especially for     . at the time it was actually a huge box office success . after the     s it appeared to be forgotten  but its central messages were too important to disappear completely . it was actually at least fifteen years ahead of its time . . . no one had ever heard of the  greenhouse effect  before      and the controversial subject of euthanasia was rarely brought up .  br    br   the sets and special effects might look a little outdated  but big money for sci fi films was a gamble in that period . if you look closely you will see everything usually makes sense . this is a message movie  not for zonked out star wars fans that cant sit through one minute of thought stimulation unless it contains a million bucks worth of explosions .  br    br   this was also hestons last good film  the end of his famous dystopian sci fi trilogy . after that it was all overblown disaster epics and big budget crowd pleasing trash . this might not be the most amusing two hour movie ever made  and the ending might be creepy and depressing  but its hard to find any film producer with guts anymore who would tackle a subject like this .  
what  s with indonesian musical movies  never have i seen indonesian musical movies like the ones made in bollywood . they miss the spirit of the story and just a bunch of  what they called  poetic lines .  br    br   this story about love of two kids who are separated and then meet again after a few years of changes has no special remarks . it  s a simple story plot  but it  s quite focused though  with  meant to be  musical story lines here and there .  br    br   confusing characters that should be saved by brilliant acting are neglected . the main actress may try to live up the character  but it  s the best that she could do  trying . as for the casting  i don  t feel the necessity to put a balinese student in that story and of course  that  s not the only unnecessary characters .  br    br   the strange thing is  why would i want to watch this movie  maybe because of the mangoes . . .  
the only other film besides soylent green that has such an air of hopelessness is on the beach . both films deal with the consequences for the species and the planet from man made cataclysms . on the beach with nuclear war and soylent green with the environmental poisoning of the planet .  br    br   maybe there  s cause for some optimism because as of     we haven  t reached either of the worlds described in those films and we were supposed to by now . new york city still has about  million people not the   million by the turn of the millenia as described in soylent green . environmentalists always hail this film as showing the consequence of global warming . for myself it also shows the right to life ethic run amuck . obviously there  s no family planning in this world either .  br    br   charlton heston is an nypd detective who lives with room mate edward g . robinson who  s old enough to remember the earth before catastrophe struck . there  s been a murder committed  joseph cotten an executive with the soylent corporation  a multi  national concern that has come up with a food product  some kind of wafer in many colors to feed the world  s population . it  s latest product is soylent green .  br    br   the investigation finds charlton heston getting his man  but also it leads to some horrifying truths about the soylent corporation and the future of mankind . as heston shouts in the end that soylent green is made of people  that we  ve become a race of cannibals  the horrifying thing is that there is no alternative . we  ve exhausted the planet and we have to eat our dead to survive .  br    br   this was the farewell performance of edward g . robinson and in his memoirs heston spoke movingly of robinson even though they had differing political views . a few weeks after robinson wrapped that final scene of his screen demise by consented euthanasia  he passed away in real life . not many did  but heston knew that robinson was terminally and there was no acting involved in that final death scene between the two of them .  br    br   though the timetable was off  it doesn  t mean that the world envisioned by soylent green may not come to pass . hopefully we  ll have not just the intelligence  but the sense of shared responsibility to keep that from happening .  
if you really have to watch this movie because your girlfriend is in a romantic mood  let it be boy . but prepare yourself by bringing your hp if it comes with a radio .  br    br   after having watched such a good movie as arisan        it is terrible to see what they come up with again in indonesia . it seems that the only idea is to make money  but no one seems seriously to work on the image of indonesia in the world of entertainment . that it is a  global  world doesn  t seem to come up in the minds of those who make movies in indonesia . and since the indonesian public swallows everything that is presented to them as  made in indonesia  with a flavor of the west  they get away with it .  br    br   ok  the story is nice to begin with . and it could have developed into a nice flick . but did the director never think about the fact that a musical needs first of all live music or at least good playback  and secondly good choreography  in this movie  the playback is so bad that it makes you wanna cry right there in the cinema . every single word you hear is followed seconds later by the actor or whoever sing playback  and it is extremely annoying while watching the movie .  br    br   the choreography is as if they planned to make a movie about morning gymnastics  but in the end thought it would be nice to turn it into a musical . . . they only forgot to change the choreography . it is hardly dancing you see  they jump here and there  throw their legs up in the air  and that is about it .  br    br   well  at least there  s a happy ending . . . . but if you can convince your girlfriend that a nice candlelight dinner is much more romantic  do so   
i watched this film sort of by accident  having bought it as the b side on the omega man dvd . the omega man was a bit of a disappointment  except for the beginning  which was clearly the inspiration for   days later  the rest of it is just the stuff of tv movies . but soylent green is in a whole other league . i bet this is one of tarantino  s favourites . there are at least  scenes in the film that i  ve never seen anything like before . heston casually getting into bed with the  furniture  while discussing something else completely unrelated  a whole crowd of people being scooped up by a fleet of mechanical diggers  a priest taking confession and being shot by the confessor . ok maybe that  s been done since  but there aren  t many films that are so consistently original like this . and what the heck is going on between heston and edward g . robinson  is this the most unlikely gay couple ever  or what  luckily  i saw this film without knowing the ending  which apparently is rare . then i watched it again  and enjoyed all the little clues that make the long early scenes worthwhile . a very nice script  and some great sets too . just when you thought you  d seen everything . . .  
this film features ben chaplin as a bored bank employee in england who orders a mail order bride from russia  recieves nicole kidman in the mail and gets more than he bargained for when  surprise  she isn  t what she appears to be . the story is fairly predictible and chaplin underacts too much to the point where he becomes somewhat anoying . kidman is actualy rather good in this role  making her character about the only thing in this film that is interesting . grade c  
this is a brilliant sci  fi movie that is very strange in how men and women both view the same film . i have talked to many people about the film and almost every guy loved it and said it was brilliant   while most women thought it was just disgusting and stupid  this is the only movie i know of that has such polarized views based on gender . perhaps many women just have a lower tolerance for disgusting or depressing plots   but whatever the cause  i have always found this difference fascinating .  br    br   the film begins with a murder and a subsequent investigation headed by charlton heston . this is set in the near future and the head of the huge international soylent corporation has been assassinated . as the film unfolds  you quickly realize this is a terrible and highly inequitable future american society . the rich live in gorgeous apartments with security and all the pleasures money can buy  including  furniture    a euphemism for paid mistresses that come along with the apartment  . at the same time  the masses are dirt poor  unemployed and in many cases living in abandoned cars or apartment hallways . overpopulation and smog have taken a severe toll and the future looks awful indeed   br    br   why the rich man died and the awful truth he could not live with i really should not discuss   it could ruin the film for you . however  the film has a great plot and acting and is super  exciting to watch . plus  it features edward g . robinson in his final screen performance as the crusty sidekick to heston . though not for the easily depressed or squeamish  this is a great sci  fi film that is allegorical and profound .  
nothing in this film interested me . i thought the actors were asleep while they were performing . that  s not laid  back stanislofsky method  that  s just walking  through and saying lines  i  m afraid . kidman  s performance is sad . the story is  however  mildly entertaining if you want to put up with the bad acting .  
very interesting . the big twist wasn  t as big a shock as maybe they had hoped for and it was very dated but it did get my mind working . it really got me thinking about a world without vegetation or livestock and made me appreciate the world i live in a lot more . charlton heston does a good job  as do all the supporting characters  and it was a very realistic film which was surprising . it lacked direction at times and a lot of the settings and background needed more explanation but it was still a surprisingly good and intelligent movie . the main fault that i could find was that i didn  t want the film to end when it did  i would have liked to see what happened next .  br    br        
this movie is the worst ive seen . . nicole kidman really dissapointed me . . this movie has nothing . i would not watch it again even if it were the last movie on earth . great actors but bad script .  
soylent green is . . . a really good movie  actually .  br    br   i never would  ve thought it . i don  t really like heston in his sci  fi efforts . he  s one of those actors who  like superman  manages to come across all sneery and invincible most of the time . i prefer more vulnerable heroes . and indeed  he sneers his way through much of soylent green  too  but as he  s supposed to be playing an overconfident bully i don  t really mind .  br    br   i can understand why some people would turn their noses up at this movie . soylent green makes no effort whatsoever to create futuristic visuals  what do you know  it looks just like       and it  s lacking in action . but i admired the film  s vision of a complex  corrupt  and highly stratified society  and i was so pleased to see that edward g . robinson had such a moving  funny final role . nice little character moments  like when he shares some precious food with heston  really make the movie .  br    br   the message of soylent green is pretty relevant these days  when nobody seems to know what the hell the government or corporations are up to . funny  isn  t it  to see heston in a prototype michael moore movie . . .  
this film  s trailer interested me enough to warrant renting the dvd . however  the resulting movie is absolutely dire  admittedly  this is not the worst film ever made  or the worst film this year  but it came damn close   br    br   the main issue is the film not knowing what it wants to be comedy  adult drama  thriller  teen  porn  the story is interesting  as it deals with the pitfalls of mail  order brides  but the film is a mess . what starts out as a mildly interesting  comedy   a word i use in the loosest possible terms   then goes totally in reverse  and degenerates into a very dark and distasteful misogynistic thriller . nicole kidman should know better  and ben chaplin is wasted  as are matthieu kassovitz and vincent cassel  whom i can only presume did this for the money .  br    br   this is a bad film in pretty much every single aspect . it  s not funny  it  s almost so sexist that you could almost forgive benny hill for everything he did  and the dramatic elements are just downright nasty . a film to be avoided  unless you absolutely have to see kidman or chaplin in every one of their films   
i saw soylent green back in     when it was first released and maybe another eight times over the years on t . v . or video . it was always one of my favorite sci  fi and  or charlton heston films .  br    br   recently  the egyptian theater in l . a . had a twelve film charlton heston retrospective . i flew in from out of state to see six of the films over a two day period . soylent green looked great on the large egyptian screen with a perfect new print . from its opening montage to the going home scene to the great ending the film was fantastic .  br    br   charlton heston as a cop who lives in a dog eat dog world with few natural resources left and no understanding as to how the world used to be and eddie robinson as a man who remembers the past are both great .  br    br   their chemistry together is wonderful . the film also looks so much better in a great   mm print . fleisher really knows how to fill the screen  and the cinematoraphy  writing  music used  and everything about it works . the film is also very powerful in its bleak and very possible view of the future . just think how the world population grew  the rain forest that disappeared  resources used up  green house effect getting worse since     . i just wonder why this film has not played in theaters all these years . its reputation should be better .  br    br   speaking of reputations  often people speak as if charlton heston is not a great actor . seeing him in el  cid  soylent green  the warlord  the omega man  will penny  and major dundee back to back i am convinced he is one of our best actors . of course he made about a dozen other great films and for those that care you know what they are .  br    br    
it seems that the intention of the film was to show the aggressive  maffia  like  character of russians  or at least of those russians able to travel outside their big country that it is too easy to rob a bank in england and that british police is so inefficient that it cannot find the person who robbed the bank even when these subjects are leaving the country by air . in addition  nicole kidman and the supposed russian colleagues spoke a language not yet identified anywhere  probably spoken by aliens in the ural mountains  but far to be the russian one . so nicole  if you really want to talk russian  kindly go to moscow or st . petersburg and keep yourself busy learning russian language grammar and its pronunciation .  
this was eddie robinson  s    st film and his last  and he died of cancer nine days after shooting was complete . all of which makes his key scene in the movie all the more poignant .  br    br   although some of the hair and clothing styles are a bit dated  also note the video game shown in the film   but the subject of the film is pretty much timeless . heston said he had wanted to make the film for some time because he really believed in the dangers of overpopulation .  br    br   several things make this film a classic . the story is solid .  br    br   the acting is top  notch  especially the interplay between heston and robinson  with nice performances also by cotten and peters .  br    br   the music is absolutely perfect . the medley of beethoven  grieg  and tchaikovsky combined with the pastoral visual elements make for some truly moving scenes . this was the icing on the cake for the film .  br    br   and the theme  or the  point   of the film is a significant one . yes  it  s a film about overpopulation  but on a more important note it  s a cautionary tale about what can go wrong with man  s stewardship of earth . it  s in the subtext that you find the real message of the film . pay attention to what sol says about the  old days  of the past  which is our present   and note how thorn is incapable of comprehending what sol is saying .  br    br   this film is one of my top sci  fi films of all time .  
birthday girl doesn  t know what it wants to be  is it a comedy   is it a drama . . . it just doesn  t know . what could have been a very funny or touching film ends up in no  man  s land . the premise is original enough to have warranted a script full of interesting scenarios but hardly delivers any and ends up petering out . this is a real shame if you look at the cast  it  s very solid all the way through but they don  t get the chance to shine . very disappointing .  
i read schneebaum  s book  same title as this film  when it was first published and was deeply moved by his ability to see through the many ways of  otherness   his own and the people of the amazon with whom he lived and loved  to a way of living a decent life . his subsequent books were not as powerful  but showed his continuing quest . his description of his sexual relations with the men of the tribe was way ahead of its time in the early    s  but his honesty and openness about it were welcome . this movie beautifully conveys both the quirkiness and generosity of the man  but also provides a glimpse into the inevitable destruction of innocence  which is not a morally positive term  in this case  that occurs when  civilized  men intrude on traditional societies . even so  schneebaum himself has moved into a kind of higher innocence that suggests the possibility of saving humanity from its own destructiveness .  
unlike  the adventures of buckaroo banzai   or  big trouble in little china   or  conan the barbarian   which are horrible films that have a certain coolness and self  deprecating humor that turn them into cult sensations  the golden child is just plain bad .  br    br   the premise itself is not unworkable  and there are some funny moments . but here the eddy murphy  flip attitude  just deflates any feeling of tension or danger in the story . and the special effects are silly enough to do more damage to that tension . the  mystic secrets  of tibetan buddhism are lampooned rather than drawn upon to compel .  br    br   without a feeling that anything is at stake  or that the characters are faced by real danger  why should we care   br    br   who should see this film  br    br     big fans of eddy murphy who can  t help themselves  br    br     i can  t think of anyone else  br    br   i  ll give this film a  out of   for the occasional joke that worked .  
this interesting giallo boosts a typical but still thrilling plot and a really sadistic killer that obviously likes to hunt his victims down before murdering them in gory ways .  br    br   directed by emilio p . miraglia who  one year earlier  also made the very interesting  la notte che evelyn usci della tomba   see also my comment on that one   the film starts off a little slow  but all in all  no time is wasted with unnecessary sub plots or sequences .  br    br   this film is a german  italian coproduction  but it was released in germany on video only in a version trimmed by   minutes of plot under the stupid title  horror house  . at least the murder scenes  which will satisfy every gorehound  are fully intact  and the viewer still gets the killer  s motive at the end . but the italian version containing all the footage is still the one to look for  of course .  br    br   a convincing giallo with obligatory twists and red herrings   la dama rossa uccide sette volte  is highly recommended to giallo fans and slightly superior to miraglia  s above mentioned other thriller .  
this is the worst thing the tmnt franchise has ever spawned . i was a kid when this came out and i still thought it was deuce  even though i liked the original cartoon .  br    br   there  s this one scene i remember when the mafia ape guy explains to his minions what rhetorical questions are . it  s atrocious . many fans hate on the series for including a female turtle  but that didn  t bother me . so much so that i didn  t even remember her until i read about the show recently . all in all  it  s miserably forgettable .  br    br   the only okay thing was the theme song . guilty pleasure  they call it . . . nananana ninja . . .  
domini enfilren  marlene dietrich  has spent most of her life caring for her father . now that he has died she is free   but doesn  t know what she wants . boris androvsky  charles boyer  is a monk who has fled a monastery to taste more of life . they meet accidentally in algiers  fall in love and get married . but he can  t leave his past behind and she can  t live without him . . .  br    br   way overdone romance full of hysterically bad dialogue and situations . dietrich and boyer do their best to give good performances but nobody could get away with some of their lines  still  in a way  it is a classic . it  s shot in gorgeous technicolor  try to see it on dvd  where every frame is breath  takingly beautiful . dietrich is always dressed to the  s  even in the middle of the desert  and strikes hysterical poses to show off the clothes and her body . boyer just walks around looking stricken  no shock there  . still i was never bored . it was wonderful to look at and the non  stop stupid dialogue kept me in stitches . the end almost had me falling out of my chair because i was laughing so hard  now i love corny romances and give them plenty of space but really    this is unbelievable  it also runs a very short   minutes .  br    br   as a camp classic i give this an  . as a serious movie   a  .  
this film is self indulgent rubbish . watch this film if you merely want to hear spoken gaelic or enjoy the pleasant soundtrack . watch for any other reason and you will be disappointed . it should be charming but isn  t  it  s just irritating . the characters are difficult to care about and the acting is poor . the stories within the film are also charmless and sinister . i was expecting a heartwarming family film but this also held no appeal to my fourteen year old daughter . it is rarely that i cannot see a film through to its conclusion but this one got the better of both of us .  br    br   although the film is set in current times it has the look and feel of a cheap east european film made during the cold war . there isn  t even enough in the way of beautiful scottish scenery and cinematography to redeem it . a real shame because as a film this is an embarrassment to scotland .  
the pioneering technicolor cinematography  winner of special technical achievement oscar  is indeed enchanting . add an endless variety of glamorous costumes and a romantic cinema dream team like marlene dietrich and charles boyer  and you  ve got a rather pleasant  picture  .  br    br   unfortunately the contrived plot as well as the over  blown acting leave much to be desired . still  there have not been any more breathtaking technicolor films before this one        and very few since then  that can top this breathtaking visual experience of stunning colors . cinema fans who have enjoyed the glorious color cinematography in  robin hood          jesse james        and  gone with the wind         will not be disappointed in the fantastic work done here .  the garden of allah  will always be synonymous with brilliant color cinematography .  
i rented this film out having heard of the fuss about it not being put up for an academy award  but after watching it  it  s easy to see why it didn  t . despite the beautiful photography  the film is incredibly slow moving  despite having hardly any plot .  br    br   the plot is about a young boy trying to come to terms with his parents  death in what may or may not have been an accident  the film is never clear on this   and how his grandfather used to tell him fairy stories . the fairy stories contain the only bits of interest in the plot  but they  re very short  and don  t really seem to have any point .  br    br   the first fairy story in particular concerns a boy trying to get a magical flower to his dying girlfriend to save her life  but the boy delays by tasting the flower first to make sure it is not poisonous which results in him being a few seconds too late to save his girlfriend  the grandfather then pronounces that the moral is that the boy was too impatient  but that doesn  t make any sense because it was overcaution and slowness which resulted in his failure . perfect metaphor for this film really .  br    br   the photography of skye is beautiful though  but then stardust which was released this year is another film about fairy stories filmed in skye and beautifully photographed  and it  s infinitely better than this one .  
  the garden of allah  is a prime example of  popular women  s literature   turn of the xxth century style  combining all the power of unbridled erotic and exotic reveries with the stimulating glamour of fake mysticism and the sado  masochistic bite of catholic guilt . just as jane eyre couldn  t really be happy until her castle burned down around her and her lover was permanently maimed for his sins  or the heroine of  rebecca  couldn  t find true fulfillment in her marriage until her lordly husband was put on trial for the murder of his first wife  and her castle burned down around her   or poor psyche couldn  t leave well enough alone and had to extract cupid  s secret at all costs  domini  the devout catholic heroine of this piece of tripe  can only find true sexual realization by inadvertently marrying a man who has renounced his sacred religious vows . like all such narratives aiming to stimulate the female reader and induce the vapours  this one relies on the oldest tricks in the book basic misunderstandings and the inability to express one  s true feelings at the right place and at the right time until it is too late . the logic is that any ultimate sexual ecstasy can be indulged in as long as one is willing to eventually pay a high enough price for it in atonement in the last act . it is paul claudel reduced to beauty salon magazine standards . oh well . . . it could have been much worse and it often was . . .  br    br   without the religious overtones  the film  s plot is that of your basic porn flick oversexed monk driven mad by abstinence escapes to the desert where he has a few rolls in the dunes with a romantic  shapely but naive catholic heiress before reintegrating his monastery  all passion spent  leaving her to clean up his mess . and i really resent another commentator  s comparison with anatole france  s  thais   a sophisticated novel whose intention was to make fun of the whole concept of catholic sexual repression  some of which transpired in massenet  s opera of the same name  thankfully .  br    br   but what makes this picture unique in the annals of commercial female eroticism  of course  is the enormous constellation of talents gathered under one banner to make this cinematic wet dream come to shimmering  vibrant life . imperishable technicolor photography that will outlive us all  a truckload of worthy character actors  including one cute dog   a music score by max steiner that seems determined to accomplish the  composed film  that michael powell  who  ironically  had a bit part in the     silent version  always dreamed about  tittering at times on the brink of dissonance but always coming through in splendid symphonic  operatic exoticism  a dream  like atmosphere where material considerations are no object  characters travel as if by magic from one spot to the next  dialog is sparse  vague and suggestive  the art direction is close to celestial  flower arrangements appear in the humblest hut or tent  the heroine  s wardrobe is inexhaustible and all the male characters are either aristocrats  saints  doomed but horny sinners  mystics or poets .  br    br   ahh . . . hollywood  the mgm dvd presentation of this film is bare bones but impeccable . the bit rate is very high throughout  the colour registration is almost always perfect and the  .  mono sound truly does justice to max steiner  s score and to boyer  s penultimate confession .  br    br   a historical note on this sort of  women  s subject   the following year        julien duvivier  visibly inspired by  the garden of allah   directed  carnet de bal   where a very similar clothes  horse butter  won  t  melt  in  her  mouth heroine  widowed after taking care of an ailing husband in the exotic remoteness of some impossibly romantic alpine lakeside villa  wants to discover what she has missed by looking up the male dancers in her first dance book . she finds them all in time  only to realize that whatever feeling there was at one point between her beaus and herself were either misunderstood  overestimated or else had lifelong tragic consequences . it was duvivier  s cynical way of telling us to beware of impossibly idealistic notions and that we all need to grow up sooner or later .  
here  s why the jane show won  t work . once again canadian bonehead producers and writers can  t create a sitcom without putting some kind of different spin on it . i guess these people don  t watch a lot of t . v . from the u . s . which has the sitcom model down pat . no  here we have to do something different  we have to make the a story absolutely absurd and then have a meaningful b story to try to make up for it . the characters are two dimensional and the story lines are way over the top forklift races    give me freaking break . here  s a little advice for the writers of the show  don  t write funny situations  find the funny in situations . and remember  you have to be born with a sense of humor to write truly funny stuff  not just be an improv monkey .  
gorgeous techicolor production telling the unusual tale of the romance between a woman of strong religious faith and a trappist monk who has left his monastery  breaking his vows . the film opens at a convent in europe  where a former student prays  a lonely beauty in black named domini  marlene dietrich  . she is advised by the mother superior to go to the desert and  find herself   and lose her grief over her father who has recently died . in the train car on the way into the sahara she sits opposite a very  very troubled man  charles boyer   our former monk . she  s soon at a hotel near a palm  treed oasis where she again sees our mysterious troubled man as he is stumped over what to do when confronted by a very seductive dancing girl . domini becomes friends with him  though knows nothing of his past  romance soon to follow .  br    br   this film is sentimental  melodramatic  and different  in a way  almost surreal and even a bit campy   i found it to be quite fun and entertaining . the photography in this is really interesting  it is full of extreme facial close  ups and beautiful color shots of caravans of horses crossing the desert  silhouetted figures against a sunset sky . marlene dietrich gives a nicely done  though restrained  performance here and looks gorgeous . charles boyer  not usually one of my favorites  is actually pretty good in this  i think the part sort of suits him and he looks quite young and handsome too . basil rathbone is fine here  except given very little to do . another great orchestral score by max steiner helps keep the drama rolling  all in all  a very enjoyable film .  
this film should have been fun . a young lea thompson  a young joaquin phoenix . . . and terry o  quinn . in space . but it dragged on  had unlovable characters and had no target audience .  br    br   some kids go to a space camp and are accidentally launched into space by a robot friend of theirs  named  appropriately  jinx  . the space scenes are then long  repetitive  the same accident happens twice  and either cheesy or frightening depending on your point of view . adults will be bored and cheesed out  kids might be scared as the way this was filmed really leaves an eerie sense about it .  br    br   there is a budding romance  but unlike the shuttle   this never takes off . why it is included in the first place is unclear  except maybe to add extra tension between the characters  but it failed if that was the idea .  br    br   a young lea thompson should be quirky and attractive  right  i mean   back to the future  is great . but no  she was irritating and average  looking . not someone you  d want to date  have as a friend or even consider as a role model . joaquin phoenix  he  s really lucky he ever appeared in movies again this performance . maybe he can act like mikey in the life cereal commercials  but he doesn  t seem to know how to be a normal boy . he doesn  t fit in on screen and i don  t think we can identify with him at home . i actually would have been happier if he had never returned to earth .  br    br   i don  t recommend this film to anyone .  
audiences back in     must have been stunned at what they were watching a full  fledged  beautiful full  length technicolor film . i can  t say for sure  but this might have been the first one    strip  . at any rate  it still looks beautiful over   years later on dvd . in fact  just how good it looks is amazing .  br    br   kudos for that have to go out to director richard boleslowski  director of photography virgil miller  selznick international pictures and  for the dvd  mgm home entertainment . all of them combined to give us one of the best  looking films of the classic  era age .  br    br   i thought the story was so  so excellent in the first half  stagnant in the second . it gave a nice message in the end  even though a lot of people might not have been happy with it . i can  t say more without spoiling things .  br    br   marlene dietrich never looked better  i don  t believe  and certainly never played such a soft  hearted character   domini enfilden   . heart  throb charles boyer was the male star and domini  s object of affection  but some of the minor characters were the most interesting to me . people like joseph schildkraut as  batouch  john carradine as  the sand diviner  the most memorable  to me at least  was the dancer  irena   played by tilly losch . wow  there is a face and a dance you won  t soon forget  i  ve never seen anything like it in the thousands of films i  ve viewed . just seeing her do her thing was worth the price of the dvd . looking at her imdb resume  she was only in four movies  but they were all well  known films .  br    br   basil rathbone  the actor who really became famous for playing  sherlock holmes   also is in here as is c . aubrey smith  another famous british actor of his day . schildkraut  by the way  will be recognized by classic film buffs as the man who played the arrogant sales clerk in the big hit   the shop around the corner   with jimmy stewart and margaret sullivan .  br    br   the beautiful direction  photography and color  and tilly  s dance  are the things i  ll remember best about this movie which is a lot of good and not  so  good things all rolled into one . had the last half hour been better  although i admire the ending  i would have rated it even higher . it  s definitely one film collectors want to add to their collection .  
i  m not going to bag this film for all the myriad technical fuckups  it would take two days to outline how the whole thing isn  t even remotely possible . others have pointed out all the relevant stupidities already .  br    br   given all that  i still could have sort of enjoyed it  if only they hadn  t included all the maudlin  nauseating  infuriating  disneyesque sentimental crap  which is so out of place anywhere  but nowhere more than out in space  where the tiniest mistake can mean instant death .  br    br   the  crew   as well as the  real  astronaut were equally guilty of putting all their fatuous nonsense ahead of everything else . it completely ruined any value the production may have had left .  br    br   i  m surprised nasa let this garbage out so that so many people would get so much misinformation about something so important to them . if you haven  t seen this yet  save yourself the irritation . watch apollo   again . at least that tried to be sort of real .  
  the garden of allah  was one of the first feature length    strip technicolor films . to correct a previous poster the first technicolor feature  after disney  s   year exclusivity deal  was      s  becky sharp  which was a costume drama that used the color for it  s garish color costumes .  br    br    the garden of allah  looks as if it could have been shot years later as the cinematography uses not only the color but also the use of shadows . it must have been amazing for an audiences at the time to see a color feature after seeing basically only black and white films for their whole life . unfortunately  the film does not stand up to the cinematography . that being said  the film is worth seeing just as a visual treat .  
i cannot believe how uneducated this movie is . it  s like watching police academy  except it  s with people that have no clue of what they are talking about  and . . . wait  there is a stupid robot that is supposed to be a sidekick . i can understand suspension of disbelief  but this is just complete stupidity . not only is there no plot to this movie . it  s like watching someone that pretends to be a doctor  throw non  medical words around as if they were chief of staff at a major medical facility . plus the people are wearing clothes that are un  befitting for a space program . i feel like i  m watching a valley  girls  b  movie  in space .  
in terms of visual beauty this movie is outstanding  i had no idea that technicolor came out so early . although i didn  t like the ending  the entire movie is fantastic and makes me wish that i was in north africa . the cast is excellent and marlene dietrich is a big plus and of course she is so alluring and i just loved her in this flick . basil rathbone is also perfect in this movie . i couldn  t get over the scenery and the sets . . . the hotel  the palm trees  the desert  it  s all there . . . the legionnaires also bring a  beau geste  feeling to the film . they certainly don  t make movies like these anymore . don  t fail to watch this classic   
space camp  which had the unfortunate luck to be planned around the time of the challenger accident  deserves such luck . the  stars  make a mockery of acting  lea thomson actually being turned sideways  when asked for more than her usual wide  eyed innocent smile  presumably to mask her risible attempts . the movie is at times hilarious  when it begins to ask far too much of you . a small boy keeps a multi  million dollar robot in his closet which breaks when given too many commands by the hordes of cliched dorm  mates . this hackneyed and unlovable machine   jinx   is a major player in the ridiculous premise of the movie  which seems part short circuit  part     by the airplane team . i shan  t bore you with this  suffice it to say you can only laugh when faced with it . having said all of this  it is enjoyable to watch  in a seaquest  saved by the bell kind of way . the romance and technology  beware  are as unbelievable as each other . also  if you  re an eighties freak  its unmissable for the amusing performances of kate capshaw  willie from temple of doom  and  obviously  lea thompson . also  joaquin phoenix puts in a dodgy turn as a sort of wannabe goonie who befriends jinx . do not go near this movie if you are not a fan of trash .  
marlene dietrich and charles boyer give solid performances in this beautiful but empty film . the irony is that dietrich plays a woman with a beautiful but empty life . truly gorgeous cinematography and sets  and yes dietrich  s bottomless trunk of clothes are also fabulous . she look great boyer looks young and trim .  br    br   story of a woman seeking meaning and an ex  priest seeking life seems pretty stale  but set against such unreal sets and skies it somehow works  given the two stars  the terrific score by max steiner  and a good supporting cast . the film runs like   minutes and seems badly edited  plus certain characters just appear or disappear .  br    br   joseph schildkraut is funny as the arab guide  c . aubrey smith is the old priest  lucile watson the mother superior  tilly losch the dancer  john carradine the diviner  and basil rathbone plays . . . . well i  m not sure . he just rides in from the desert and spoils everything  as others have noted  john gilbert was slated to star with dietrich . i can  t help but think he would have been wonderful . the role of world  weary boris would have suited the great gilbert quite well . and after the success of queen christina  with garbo   his career might have gotten back on track .  br    br   i can  t think of any other   s film dietrich did in color . she looks great and wears some terrific clothes . my favorite is the valentino as the shiek  like outfit she wears by the pool .  br    br   certainly worth a look for the lush sets and color and the two great stars .  
ok  forget all the technical inconsisties or the physical impossibilities of the space shuttle accidentally being launched by a quirky robot with a heart of gold . forget the hideous special effects and poorly  constructed one  dimensional characters . just looking at the premise of the story . the very reason for the film to exist in the first place  and you will see just how badly this film was pieced together .  br    br   i know  year olds that look at this insult to the intelligence and just laugh at it . the story is horrible . the acting is comical and the message its trying to show is incomprehensible . and whats worse  is that the cable movie channels keep showing it  its on twice a day every two or three days  why does anyone in their right mind think that people would want to see this painful piece of celluloid multiple times  much less to see it at all   br    br   my recomendation is dont even bother spending the energy to watch this thing . its just not worth it .  
i give this movie an a for the sheer camp of it  as dietrich  s daughter maria riva wrote in the book on her mother   if one sees the garden of allah in the context of high camp  it can be very amusing .  and how  i laughed with delight at the overwrought score and the astoundingly  ridiculously  fantastically melodramatic dialogue . viewers who  ve read the accounts of boyer  s toupee  it kept coming unstuck in the heat  will snicker every time it makes an appearance .  br    br   dietrich and boyer rarely look at each other when giving their lines   instead they gaze dreamily off into the distance  presumably so their faces can be photographed at the best angle and with the most advantageous light  if you  re starring in a turkey might as well look good   . dietrich  s costumes are out of this world . as riva notes in her book  dietrich managed to steal paramount  s travis banton and have him design some of the most divine gowns  such as the chiffon beige dress  cape .  br    br   i heartily agree with the other reviewers who rave about the technicolor . it really is hard to believe the film was done in       the color is fantastic .  br    br   in short  if you watch the garden of allah with a lenient attitude and embrace its silliness  you can  t help but enjoy it .  
i was in second grade    years ago . i remember it clearly . we were learning about space . all little kids want to go to space  right  well  after i saw this  i was so scared to death that i would  accidentally  get flung into space by some psychotic robot with a one track mind . i had no idea that this was a movie . i thought it was some news program or something . i guess it was my own version of when people were freaked out by the radio program  war of the worlds .  so  recently  i get this movie again to watch  realizing my favorite actor  joaquin phoenix was in it  then known as leaf phoenix  . i can tell you  i was laughing at the dramatic parts and laughing even harder at the acting . i mean  when andy is in space  she moves in slow motion  did you ever notice that  i don  t think being in space makes you talk that slow or think that slow .  br    br   the best part is when andy is knocked unconscious by the oxygen tank  and begins to float backwards as the security doors close . little max is trying to pull her in . suddenly  we get a major close up on max  s face as he shouts  in slow motion   whaaaaatttt  ssss happpeniiiinngggg       i had no idea .  
north africa in the      s . to a small arab town on the edge of the sahara comes a beautiful woman looking for meaning to her life  a handsome trappist monk fleeing from his crisis of faith . they will meet and passions will be stirred  but not even the sand diviner knows if they will find happiness or sorrow  here  in the garden of allah .  br    br   the plot is pure hokum  but the film is still great fun  beautiful to look at . marlene dietrich  charles boyer are a superb screen couple . she is  to put it simply  gorgeous  and boyer gives a most effective  understated performance  letting his sensitive face do much of his acting for him .  br    br   the supporting cast is excellent basil rathbone  in a sympathetic role as a count who loves the desert joseph schildkraut as a friendly  talkative guide  all the  arabic  he  others speak in the film is pure gibberish   lucile watson as a gentle mother superior alan marshal as an honorable young french officer tilly losch as a dangerous dancer henry brandon as a comic porter john carradine as the mysterious sand diviner and magnificent sir c . aubrey smith as a wise old priest .  br    br   movie mavens will recognize helen jerome eddy as a nun marcia mae jones  bonita granville  peeking over the nun  s shoulder  as convent girls gaunt nigel de brulier as a monastery lector and ferdinand gottschalk as a hotel clerk  all uncredited .  br    br   color films of the      s are both rare  lovely to look at  and this movie is no exception  the cinematography is as colorful as the desert itself . the garden of allah was the first technicolor film to be shot on location . yuma  arizona gave the film makers all the sand dunes they could desire  but contaminated drinking water     degree heat soon had the company in revolt . when the daily rushes showed boyer  s face had burned a bright tomato red  producer david o . selznick finally gave in . the remainder of the film was shot on a hollywood sound stage .  
rumor has it that when the nasa technical advisors to this film were asked to keep the picture believable  they laughed for several hours . after all  unless you are a politician or work  crew the shuttle  you are not going to get in the shuttle . furthermore  space  cadet  camp is in alabama  not florida .  br    br   the truth is everyone on earth will win multi  billion dollar lottery prizes before the events depicted in this film ever become possible . this film was meant for kids  and had to have been written by one  because they are not aware of the myriad restrictions and requirements regarding access to ksc  ccafs .  br    br   this is the most useless film of all time  and it was a well deserved flop .  
i loved this movie . when i saw it on febuary  rd i knew i had to buy it    it comes out to buy on july   th    it has cool deaths scenes  hot girls  great cast  good story  good acting . great slasher film . the movies is about some serial killer killing off four girls . see this movies  
i am guessing the reason this movie did so well at the box office is of course eddie murphy . i think this was his first movie since  beverly hills cop  so at the time he was hot . considering that one made over two hundred million and it was r and this one made about   million and it was pg does say it was not all that popular . i have never been a big eddie murphy fan  so that is probably another reason i didn  t care for it much at all . this one has eddie as some sort of finder of lost kids . he must find the golden child or the world is in terrible peril . the plot is very bad  but as bad as it is it does not compare to the special effects . i had seen better stuff done in the    s than some of the stuff this one offers  ray harryhausen did better stuff . still the main reason you see a movie like this is because of eddie  unfortunately he is not very funny in this one at all and it just seems stupid to put him in the  raiders of the lost ark  type scenes . i guess they were hoping for a fish out of water effect  but to me it just did not work .  
i discovered this film after reading the book that inspired it . it is not a strictly biographical film it is  loosely based  on the facts . but i found it a compelling and eerie exploration of evil and madness  and michel serrault gives an unforgettable performance as dr . petiot .  br    br   there are many memorable images in this movie petiot traveling through the night like a vampire  his black cloak flapping behind him  is almost iconic . there are also several touches of expressionism  petiot  s crooked silhouette mounting the stairs leading from the cellar where the butchered remains of his victims await cremation  reminds me of some scenes from  nosferatu  .  br    br   but i found the primary appeal of this movie to be aural . the soundtrack is loaded with ominous sounds  starting with the foreboding music of the opening credits  accompanied by wordless wailing . petiot lives and runs his medical practice in a complex with many small shops  and there is a persistent background noise of knives being sharpened somewhere  as well as a peddler playing eerie tunes on a saw . there are animal noises as well  the concierge keeps a goat  unseen cats howl  and later in the film we see hapless cattle being herded through an underpass . the whole atmosphere is unsettling  with overtones of violence and slaughter .  br    br   not only animals  but human voices are often heard  the screams of gestapo victims  petiot  s patients in his waiting room  monitored by a listening device  just the same as the suspected collaborators after the war are monitored in their cells . even the action of the film is often arranged so that we hear the voices of the participants without seeing them  when petiot goes to see mme kern  we hear her singing as she works  her voice echoing in the theater  before we ever see her . and even when she does appear  she is often filmed from behind  her voice calling out to her husband  whose voice calls out to her in conversation . disembodied voices echo in large halls  and their owners  when seen at all  are photographed at a distance  so we cannot actually see them speaking . this is a ghost story  and these are the voices of ghosts  many of them petiot  s future victims .  br    br   yet petiot himself is often only a voice his frightening laughter echoes as he retreats from the camera  throwing comments behind him or into the air to nobody . in a way  he is as much a ghost as those he murders . he is always frantically busy  scurrying from appointment to appointment  never at rest . but his activity is that of a machine  lifeless and imperturbable . it is interesting that among all the horror and danger of occupied paris  petiot alone is unafraid he is amused  enthusiastic  angry  irritated  contemptuous  but never afraid  unlike those real people he lures to their deaths . it is no surprise that he boasts of his mechanical inventions  including a perpetual motion machine  a true detail from the book  he did claim to have invented many machines   he is a sort of perpetual motion machine himself . and mechanical imagery is everywhere in the film  from the opening giant wheel in the movie house  to petiot  s bicycle  with its squeaking wheels echoing the sound of sharpening knives   to the victrola he keeps winding up to play music before he makes a kill . even his routine with his victims is mechanical  write a note to your wife  let me disguise you before you leave  you need a vaccination  barcelona  casablanca  dakar  like a well  oiled machine  the routine is always the same  just as the record is always the same .  br    br   maeder  the author  says that it was the clockwork perfection of his crimes that weighed so heavily against petiot at his trial . his system was as smooth and efficient as a nazi concentration camp  and this may be why the movie invents a subplot of petiot  s involvement with the french gestapo and the occupying nazis . unfortunately  it doesn  t quite work as part of the story  because it  s very hard to figure out just what petiot is doing for the collaborators  or what is going on when he ends up at their headquarters in the middle of the night . disposing of bodies  hiding stolen goods  it  s hard to say  and harder to believe it  s not likely the state would turn to a freelancer like petiot .  br    br   but it does remind us of the duality of evil people petiot is a robber and a murderer  but he is also a devoted father and husband . just as we learned that hitler loved dogs  and that nazis guilty of the worst war crimes could also be loving fathers and family men  so we have to recognize that petiot could commit unspeakable horrors and yet also function normally . his insanity is easily camouflaged by the insanity and horror of the wartime situation in paris when killing  robbing and disappearing are happening all around  nobody pays attention as petiot tosses more corpses on the pile .  
yes  this movie has kids going to space camp and it starts out okay enough as you have the kids meeting one another and learning the ropes . then they introduce jinx  a robot that could not possibly exist in     as they do not have anything with that kind of artificial intelligence now . kid becomes buddy with robot and robot repays the kid  s kindness by shooting him and a group of other kids in this camp into outer space with a very limited oxygen supply and radios that do not have the signal to reach into space . this camp is also not very fun as these kids are put to real training and the instructors get all over them for failing missions or not doing the right things . give it a rest  they are there for fun  not to become astronauts just yet  just give them the experience of space flight not a military like camp . however  you do get to see joaquin phoenix in a fairly early role . so in the end a movie that tries to be realistic in some areas  but with the introduction of jinx and other factors you might as well had the kids battle space aliens on top of everything else that was happening in the movie as that would have made the movie a bit more enjoyable at least for me . probably for a few others as well  who else would like to see kate capshaw  s face ripped apart by some strange super alien creature .  
this is easily a  . michel serrault  known more for comic roles in the earlier part of his acting career  does a stunning  even worryingly stunning job of impersonating dr petiot  a legendary french serial killer .  br    br   he is just so believable at every and any moment in the film  that the actor completely disappears behind the character  only the very best ever achieve this feat  and when they do it is only in a handful of parts at best .  br    br   the whole story  a real story which happened in   th century france  is so powerful  so sinister  it makes for a very strong film that one remembers for a long  long time .  
mix exotic tropical locations  babes in skimpy attire  explosions  good  looking dudley do  right clones  a movie star with his best years behind him  martin sheen   a little martial arts and a sexy villainess  tracy lor . . . . . er  sorry . . . tracy elizabeth lords  and you  d think you  d be in for some escapist fun . not so  this is a dreary tv movie and even though it likes to promote itself as a  charlie  s angels  deal  it is nowhere near as good as the original series or even the gawdawful  irretrievably stupid  recent c . a . movies . this abomination is best described as a third rate andy sidaris film . nowhere near as much fun as andy  s  hard ticket to hawaii   although some of the fight scenes are decent enough . the girls spend too much time posing and trying too look prissy and it gets annoying after a while . there  s better genre stuff that this out there . oh yeah  and the  babes  aren  t as hot as they like to think they are . terrible soundtrack . . . when it  s there .  
docteur petiot  starring michel serrault  is a brutal story about a brutal man . a doctor who heals the sick in occupied france  even if their ability to compensate is not there . yet  he preys on the weakest amidst the populace . the imagery and cinematography are superb  and lend an additional macabre feeling to this complex story . he is the perfect psychopath . seductive and altruistic  intelligent and caring  calculating and murderous . a movie certain not to be forgotten soon by the viewer . kudos to mr . serrault  for his chilling portrayal .  
first  ifc runs town and country  and now this . the difference between that stinker and this pink panther rip  off is that town and country was watchable . this isn  t .  br    br   i can only surmise that the cast signed up for this so they could goof off in europe on somebody else  s dime . belushi is especially irritating . his scene with candy  doing a z  grade dom deluise  was torture . speaking of torture  five minutes of the talentless shepherd  and i bet the prisoners at gitmo would crack like walnuts   br    br   the real  crime   besides this being green  lighted  is shepherd  s character a mousy wife who takes a monte carlo casino for a half  million bucks  if you buy that  i have some oceanfront property in arizona you might be interested in   
just got out and cannot believe what a brilliant documentary this is . rarely do you walk out of a movie theater in such awe and amazement . lately movies have become so over hyped that the thrill of discovering something truly special and unique rarely happens . amores perros did this to me when it first came out and this movie is doing to me now . i didn  t know a thing about this before going into it and what a surprise . if you hear the concept you might get the feeling that this is one of those touchy movies about an amazing triumph covered with over the top music and trying to have us fully convinced of what a great story it is telling but then not letting us in . fortunetly this is not that movie . the people tell the story  this does such a good job of capturing every moment of their involvement while we enter their world and feel every second with them . there is so much beyond the climb that makes everything they go through so much more tense . touching the void was also a great doc about mountain climbing and showing the intensity in an engaging way but this film is much more of a human story . i just saw it today but i will go and say that this is one of the best documentaries i have ever seen .  
  st watched             dir  eugene levy   corny comedy murder mystery with very few laughs . the movie appears to be based on an earlier italian movie according to the credits but was re  written by two fairly popular american romantic comedy writers . but this one by charles shyer  nancy meyers does not cut it compared to their other efforts . the story is about a couple of down  and  out traveling americans  played by richard lewis and sean young  who stumble upon a lost dog and hope to make a fortune in reward money after seeing an ad in the paper for the dachsund  s return . upon trying to return it  they see a hand sticking out of a garage door at the lady  s residence that they believe is attached to the rest of the dead body of the woman who is supposed to give them the money . they freak out and instead of contacting the police and telling them the truth they make out like runaways from the scene expecting to be framed for the murder . the other characters in the film are met on a train prior to this and hang around a monte carlo gambling resort doing various things to be pulled into the story . the other cast members include character actors john candy  james belushi  cybill shepherd  george hamilton and others . after the police find out about the death  they start questioning the main characters and  of course  they have to work thru their goofy lies to figure out what really happened . none of the character actors mentioned earlier can bring this movie out of it  s mediocre state despite some funny moments mostly provided by the belushi  shepherd couple . this isn  t a horrible movie  it just isn  t that good . there are plenty of average movies out there and this is just another one for the pile . try it  maybe you  ll like it  probably you won  t .  
this interesting documentary tells a remarkable tale of an expedition to take blind tibetan children trekking in the himalayas but also of a personality clash between two remarkable people . on one hand  there is erik weihenmeyer  the first blind man to climb everest  and the team of  sighted  mountaineers who are guiding the kids . on the other  there is sabriye tenberken  a blind woman who runs the first school for blind tibetans  who agrees to the expedition but subsequently has doubts about how it is progressing . at some level  sabine simply doesn  t understand the mountaineer  s philosophy  with it  s emphasis on summitting   she is probably right in identifying the mismatch between the mountaineers goals and the desires of the children but her certainty in her own correctness makes her a hard person to sympathise with  especially as she has an effective veto . in the background to this  reasonably well  mannered  clash  we get an insight into the lives of the children themselves . i enjoyed the film  although it delivers a message clearly designed to be uplifting  even though it details the quarrel  the film somewhat relentlessly asserts how amazing all those who feature in it are . but it  s hard to argue with that assessment  even if it is presented to the viewer somewhat unsubtly .  
this is just horrible  really horrible trash . yes  we  ve got beautiful naked women dancing and having sex . but while this may work in the mechanism of a porn movie  may have even been a hit as a porn movie  this tries to mask itself as a  film  with actual things to say  with real emotion and struggle . it isn  t . it  s an excuse to get some girls naked and have a fun time . i  m sure all of these women  and men  in this particular movie could have faired decently in the porn movie business of the     s . . . but not in the actual movie business .  br    br   the acting was hackneyed  so bad  i mean real terrible . the writing was even worse . i can  t lay all blame on these actors  they had nothing to work with . the very broad structure or plot of the movie could possibly be done and done well with good writers and competent actors . the very broad structure or plot is that of a psychotic man who spends his time shooting people from afar  as a sniper . these shootings were motivated from men not respecting their women enough . if there was more writing  better writing  much better writing  and less gratuitous sexual imagery we might have something to work with .  br    br   this movie should have been shot  made and marketed a hardcore porn movie all along it would have made more money . it practically is a hardcore porn film already  and it remains the only non  porn movie i  ve seen that shows a male erect penis .  
this film was amazing . it is an inspiring piece of cinema . the characters are fully developed through the truth in which director  lucy walker brings to the film . i highly recommend this to any one looking for that special film that shows the humanity in the human condition . lucy wlaker showcases the landscape beauty . this film id a true example of man vs . nature and sometimes man vs . man . the inner turmoil and triumph is tremendous in its subject matter . the subject of how the tiebtans view blindness as a sign of demons is interesting . this film sheds light on a particular culture that has never been showcased . lucy walker has given erik weihenmayer a voice when he would have not normally been heard . thank you lucy for being true to your vison as a filmmaker .  
in the standard view  this is a purely awful movie . however  it rates a near perfect score on the unintentional comedy scale . i can think of few actual comedies that make me laugh as hard as i did watching this movie . andy griffith  s ghost dressed in native american garb dancing sends me into hysterics everytime . i wouldn  t waste the gas or energy driving to the video store to rent it  but if you happen to be laying on the couch at  in the morning and it comes on tv  check it out .  
i saw this film at the toronto international film festival . i loved this  and not just for the obvious reasons . blindsight is a documentary about a group of blind tibetan teenagers who attempt to climb one of mount everest  s sister peaks . now  this kind of thing is usually a can  t miss . inspirational . moving . pretty standard  right  and even if the film were just that  i  d still have liked it . but it was so much more . blind herself  german sabriye tenberken established a school for blind children in tibet  in a culture that sees blindness as a curse  as evidence that a person did bad things in a previous life . many of the children at the school have been shunned their whole lives  and at best  are a burden to their families . as part of their education  tenberken shares with them the story of american erik weihenmayer  the first blind person to reach the summit of mount everest . she sends him a letter inviting him to come and visit her students . instead  he comes up with a plan . he  ll arrange an expedition for them to climb       foot lhakpa ri and provide all the guides and equipment . sabriye finds six willing participants and this is when the fun starts .  br    br   erik  s team are mostly american  mostly male  and mostly sighted . as experienced mountaineers  they  re type  a personalities  very gung  ho and goal  oriented . sabriye is european  female  and blind  and the students for her are more than a  project   no matter how well  intentioned . additionally  the students are tibetan  and not old enough or confident enough to always stand up for themselves . as the expedition unfolds  they become pawns in between the two adult  sides   wanting to please both  while at the same time wanting to gain the confidence that comes from accomplishment . as an additional obstacle  other than being blind  that is   they are speaking english as a second or in most cases  a third language  and struggle to understand and make themselves understood .  br    br   when it turns out that none of the students have any climbing experience  and that some are much more coordinated than others  it begins to unravel erik  s original plan for them all to reach the summit together . as both students and teachers begin to suffer the effects of high altitude  decisions must be made as to whether to continue on or to send some down the mountain . among the effects of high altitude is increased irritability  and you can see how this feeds the conflict between the adults . at the risk of oversimplifying  on one side are those for whom the destination is all  and on the other are those who just want to enjoy the journey . i won  t tell you how it all turns out  except to say that this was one of the most surprising and thought  provoking stories i  ve seen in a long time .  br    br   the film also weaves bits of each climber  s story into the narrative  and this was sorely needed  since once on the climb  the kids tended to keep their heads down and their mouths shut . with all the drama going on around them  that wasn  t surprising . the backstories are by turns charming and heartbreaking  and i found it very strange that i found myself closer to tears at the beginning of the film than at the end . this was contrary to my expectations  and another pleasant surprise .  br    br   in addition to all the human drama to cover  director walker and her small crew had to contend with the frigid and oxygen  deprived conditions herself  lugging equipment up the mountains and hoping it wouldn  t break down . as with all great documentaries  the filmmaker was just lucky enough  or smart enough  or prepared enough  to be at the right place at the right time  and she  s captured a very special story that has as much to say about people who want to do  what  s best for the kids  as it does about the kids themselves .  
too bad chuck norris has gone to tv . he made some good movies before he hit tv . this is a typical tv movie intended to pass the time . unfortunately it wastes chuck  s talent as an actor . i hope he returns to the big screen some day .  
before seeing this  i was put off by the subject matter  but this is not your average triumph over adversity story . although this is technically about blind tibetan kids climbing mt . everest  there is so much more to it . this movie shows the very strong  often contradictory personalities of two highly accomplished blind adults leading the children  erik and sabriye . erik is an american blind mountain climber  athlete and sabriye is a blind german academic who started a school in lhasa tibet . they are both exceptional in their own ways  but disagree on what will really build confidence in the kids . erik wants them to reach the summit while sabriye wants them to enjoy erik as a role model and take pleasure in moment . the nuances are complicated and one walks away not really being sure who was right or if the whole climb was a mistake or a great idea . the most profound scenes are with the tibetan children themselves and the hardships they faced before finding their way to the school . the most moving for me was the story of tashi  a frail teenager who grew up on the streets after his parents abandoned him . i could watch a whole movie on his life and was happy to learn that thanks to the school  he is now running a successful small business with some of his fellow students . if you liked spellbound or murderball  you will love this .  
wow  my first review of this movie was so negative that it was not excepted . i will try to tone this one down . lets be real    no one wants to see a chuck norris movie where he is not the main character . there was a good fight scene at the end  but the rest of the movie stank . i have to wonder if old chuck just can  t hang with the best any more . has he slowed down so much that he has to turn out junk like this and hope that his reputation will carry him through the entire movie  chuck is an awesome martial artist  and as we have seen from walker  texas ranger  a fairly good actor  but the trick is to combine both of these qualities in his movies  and this one does not . very disappointing for us norris fans . chuck  stay as the main character in your movies  because this does not work for you . . . gary  
the hip hop rendition of a mos def performance  according to the film  s musical credits  . . . it is an incredible piece of savage consciousness that slams the violence in your heart with each  snap  if anyone can tell me someplace this song   live wire snap  by mos def from  the ground truth   an undeniable duty to see as the americans who might not support the mission but embrace each soul caught inside this savage miscalculation of purpose . . . they take on the haunting as so many of us can sit back and be angry . . .  br    br    live wire snap  by mos def  where can it be found  br    br   desperate to find it   br    br   medically unable to serve  
this post contains spoiler  s    br    br   i  m not a big fan of chuck norris as an actor  but i worship him in all other ways . he also have his own fan web site with  chuck norris facts  that is really entertaining . but this movie looks like someone was joking with the audience putting all those  facts  into one movie . i really don  t remember when i wasted my time more than with this  action  . i don  t know what  s the worst this movie can offer you unoriginal and thousand  times  made plot of terrorists who are trying to nuke us by smuggling nuke on us soil or perhaps that  great  dialogs and chucks words of wisdom about life and everything else . someone may find the worst that terrorists actually speak english in everyday life . it  s a never ending list of crap . not to mention huge amount of archive footage used in film  that is kinda annoying . the chief terrorist send his comrades message through the media when he is captured and the only guy smart enough to see the treat is chuck norris  of course . no one else in america is not smart enough to see that  and the whole action in capturing chief is just ridiculous . one man is sent to walk through a whole terrorist camp unarmed  i  m lying  he had a knife   escapes his stalkers with jet pack and then para glides for few hundred  maybe even thousand kilometers to nearest shore  afganistan border is    km far away from nearest shore   where he is rescued by submarine . i hoped that at least fighting scenes will be good  but that  s even more funny than the plot . if you didn  t know     of terrorist are masters of some martial art  but chuck and co beat the sht out of them . not only they kill them easily  they can kick and throw them away by a single move and the bad guys fly few meters like dolls . you may ask me did i watch this movie to the end  i did . why  because i just wanted to see who  of these two super heroes  will defuse the nuclear bomb of few hundred megatons and size of a microwave . and then i realized what fool i am . of course  it  s chuck  s movie after all . and not only he singlehandedly defuse nuke with tweezers  but he do it  twice   i could write a book about all the stupid things in this movie  but i would spend my life spawn .  br    br   so  makers of this movie made another chuck norris fact to be added on his web site can chuck norris defuse nuclear bomb  yes and he can do it twice   
having just  welcomed home  my   yr old daughter from a year in iraq  camp anaconda medical support unit  i felt compelled to get this dvd . i wanted to hear other returning vets feelings in order to attempt to better understand her mentality on arrival and not waiting until after something bad happened . regardless on your take on the war and peace this movie serves as a great start for all americans to begin the healing of our returning vets emotional void . the paramount statement of the entire movie is  take action  on the problem . incredibly emotional movie . i would highly recommend this movie to the vet the vets entire mature family and ask that they follow through with a plan to listen comfort help the returning gulf war enduring freedom vets .  br    br   fast forward nearly one year later  my daughter has seen this dvd . took account of her emotions and actually has made a commitment to re  up for another  years . her take on her time spent in the sand is that she did some good . local balad children got first rate medical treatment for various common ailments not ordinarily able to afford free with an escort and translator . her look over her shoulder at her iraq tour was .  we changed some hearts and minds back there  great dvd you have to keep an open mind and see all sides  
ok  so  chuck norris somehow found a way to get this sequel produced . i have one question  why  who read this script and said   sound  s great  original   this movie is regurgitated crap that i wouldn  t tarnish my toilet bowel with . of course it is another story  following in the tradition of mia  invasion usa  walker  texas ranger  delta force and so on in which chuck norris  of course  is the one man who can same america from some bad guys . he doesn  t even need a gun most times . it  s stupid patriotic jargon that stales the mind . big surprise that the only one who will direct these norris film  s is chuck  s son eric . eric norris has primarily worked on all his father  s films and tv shows . doesn  t this strike anyone as a sign that he has no directing talent  afterall  he  s directing the same people as before in the same stories as before . . . only difference is the characters  names . if this is supposed to make me patriotic and cheer for the usa  than our country is in much worse shape than i ever imagined . hopefully  this will be the nail in chuck norris  s acting coffin .  
i really enjoyed this thriller  i wanted to see it again as soon as it was over . the cast was excellent  the plot was suspenseful and entertaining  and it was just an overall enjoyable movie  i would rate this as one of the best thrillers i  ve ever seen  the girls in it were really cute also  especially denise richards . she was very ornery throughout the movie and gave her character some oomph   
oh man . if you want to give your internal crow t . robot a real workout  this is the movie to pop into the ol  vcr . the potential for cut  up lines in this film is just endless .  br    br    minor spoilers ahead . hey  do you really care if a film of this quality is  spoiled    traci is a girl with a problem . psychology has developed names for it when a child develops a sexual crush on the opposite  sex parent . but this girl seems to have one for her same  sex one  and i don  t think there  s a term for that . it might be because her mother dana is played by rosanna arquette  whose cute overbite  neo  flowerchild sexuality and luscious figure makes me forgive her any number of bad movies or unsympathetic characters . here dana is not only clueless to her daughter  s conduct she seems to be competing for the gold medal in the olympic indulgent mother competition .  br    br   it  s possible that dana misses traci  s murderous streak because truth be told  traci seems to have the criminal skills of a hamster . it  s only because the script dictates so that she manages to pull off any kind of a body count .  br    br   a particularly hilarious note in this movie is the character of carmen  a mexican maid who is described by dana as around so long she  s like one of the family although she dresses in what the director thought would say   i just fell off the tomato truck from guadalajara .  carmen is so wise to traci  s scheming  she might also wear a sign saying   hey  i  m the next victim   sure enough  traci confronts carmen as carmen is making her way back from mass  and bops her with one of those slightly angled lug wrenches that car manufacturers put next to your spare as a bad joke . i rather suspect than in real life those things are as useless as a murder weapon as they are for changing a tire .  br    br   in another sequence  arquette wears a flimsy dress to a vineyard  under cloudy skies  talking to the owner . cut to her in another flimsy dress under sunny skies  talking to the owner  s brother . then cut to her wearing the first dress  in the first location  under cloudy skies  but it  s supposed to be later . you get the picture . we  re talking really bad directing .  br    br   as for skin  don  t expect much  although traci does own a nice couple of bikinis .  br    br   for those looking for a trash wallow   . for anybody else     .  
this movie is a must  see movie for all . congress should see this truthful documentary from the point  of  view of the soldier  as should everyone in america . the previous reviewer totally missed the point   the point is to reveal the truth about teaching our soldiers to kill people who are not terrorists  but who just live in our  enemy  s  territory  and what it does to the soldiers . we must support our troops by bringing them home immediately  before another person is killed or injured . this also reveals that the government does not help its veterans  those who are injured mentally  with ptsd  post  traumatic stress disorder  or physically  with lost limbs . julie a . roberts  streamwood  il  
i saw this movie the first time at about twelve o  clock on a saturday evening . it really is the perfect time for this one . i have never  ever seen a movie that was actually more predictable and drenched with stereotypes . if you want to see a thrilling action movie  don  t watch it because you might lose the will to live halfway through . however  if you want a good laugh  please watch it  i even bought the chuck norris  dvd collection thanks to my enjoyable saturday night . what especially struck me is that very scene that would be expensive to make was copy  pasted from a discovery documentary or an old tv  special on the us army . furthermore i was amazed by the fact that they didn  t put the slightest effort in making the production look real . afghanistan is  as far as i can remember  nowhere near any sea and yet with a single click deke escapes from the terrorists sand  castle with his jet  pack and is taken away by a submarine  probably discovery  . later on in the movie  deke throws an islam terrorist against the wall . in the slow motion scene you can beautifully see the long hairs of the korean stuntman flap in the air when smashed against the wall . gotta love it . i recommend you watch it with some friends and a good amount of beer though  only then you  ll understand why i  ve been mad enough to spend     euro  s on the box .  
this shorter movie is the epitome the expected results when the imbecile runs the asylum . it is sad how the futures of these young people were rolled down a craps table when neither saddam hussein nor the people of iraq  god rest the souls of the        plus that have been killed  had anything to do with terrorism nor al  quida .  br    br   following this movie the astute viewer will need to pick up or download a copy of  loose change .  this movie is available free on the internet  until the bush cabal locks it down  by googling  up the very title  as indicated in parenthesis .  br    br   god save our country . this will not be done by following the christo  fascists that controlled the halls of congress for over   years prior to november        
star rating  the works  just misses the mark  that little bit in between  lagging behind  the pits  br    br   some plutonium  s gone missing and some very nasty people now have the means to develop a bomb capable of wholesale destruction  so josh mccord  chuck norris  and his cocky young protg deke  judson mills  a different actor from the previous film  with the assistance of josh  s adopted daughter que  jennifer tung  set out to stop them .  br    br   this was another film that dealt with terrorism a year after the events of     . filmed in      norris himself even commented afterwards how eerily the plot line to the film resembled what happened in downtown new york that day  so there  d have been those that would have been in the mood for a film where norris and his side  kick kick some terrorist ass if nothing else . other than that  it  s as interchangeable as anything norris has ever been in . it makes you wonder what the original did to warrant a sequel in the first place  and whether if this one could get made a president  s man  might come out sometime soon .  br    br   if you  ve seen one norris film  you  ve really seen them all and there  s really nothing new or unexpected that happens with this one  but at least you know what you  re getting and  like i said  it might have been just what some needed to let off some steam .   
i desperately need this on a tape  not a dvd  and soon   br    br   i have one nephew who is in the infantry but has not yet deployed  although he set to go to iraq soon after december     . i lost my beloved step son in ramadi iraq on         from an unmanned missile in a green zone . i have another nephew who is joining the army as soon as he graduates from high school this spring because he  like his older brother  has some idealized and romanticized idea about what serving in the military is . my stepson died after only   days in country and he never went out on any missions so my nephews have no way to reference any of the experiences shown in this candid documentary from any type of personal experiences that might have been conveyed by my now deceased son .  br    br   there is nothing i can do about those who are in  or now gone  but i have one left that has not raised his hand and been sworn in yet . i desperately want him to do so informed  none of the others did .  br    br   pleases help me with this .  br    br   the movie documentary the ground truth is the best visual reference i have ever seen . i need to somehow make my youngest nephew see what he is getting himself into before it is to late . but  do not laugh  i need my mother to see this first . she must actually see and hear these men and women  not simply the idea of them  but the truth of what they will be immersed in  possibly forever . then she will have the emotional determination to make my brother watch this film and once he has then he may then make his son  my youngest nephew  watch it too . then  my nephew might begin to take this seriously .  br    br      is there another time when this will be shown on tv  if so please tell me when      br    br   however  my problem is  my mother does not own a dvd player  she still uses video  is that correct  with tapes   so  i need to find a way for her to be able to watch this film . can i purchase this from anyone in that form  if not  is there any other way for me to get this in the form of a tape from anyone  is there any legitimate link from which i can pay to download it onto my computer and then transfer it to a tape . if so who would i contact . i will gladly pay for the privilege providing it is a legitimate link .  br    br   or  if you have any alternative ideas i will consider anything you can suggest .  br    br   please help me  i have lost one very precious adored and loved one already  i already know my oldest nephew will never be the same when he returns and i may loose him too . i cannot loose three and the emotional toll for all of those that do make it back is too high a price to pay for every male child in my family of that generation . please help me . i will happily call you  email me a number if that is the best way to get the needed information . thank you so much for any help you can offer .  br    br   sincerely  lori swanberg l . swanbergyahoo . com  
oh dear  oh dear . i started watching this not knowing what to expect . i couldn  t believe what i was seeing . there were times when i thought it was a comedy . i loved how the government  s plan to capture the terrorist leader is to air drop in one man  who is unarmed  and expect him to capture him and escape with a rocket pack . if only it were really that easy . i  ve finally found a movie worse than  plan  from outer space  .  
do not expect a depiction of the  truth  . however  the accounts of these veterans of the iraqi  afghanistan wars demand thoughtful consideration .  br    br   the major strength of the film is that it vividly portrays the words and war wounds of these vets and their post  war struggles to reconstruct some degree of normalcy and functionality to their lives .  br    br   my major criticism of the film is twofold it is one  sided and it advocates anti  war activism but nothing more to correct the serious shortcomings of the military  s and veterans affairs  programs for helping those who  ve suffered and still suffer the traumas of war . these are not fatal flaws of the film .  br    br   as a veteran myself  i know that the horrible aftermath of war is real  and these young men and women articulate it very well . these vets vividly describe the physical and mental pain and torment that most veterans experience and that ordinary people need to understand because the horrors of all wars are so traumatic and disturbing .  
this is a typical    s soft core sex romp in the russ meyer genre  though perhaps less outlandish than some of meyer  s work . this film has higher  production values  than many of it  s contemporaries  suggesting a larger budget . it  s plot  writing and acting are straight out the b zone  though . of late  this film has become a mainstay of b movie channels  such as  drive in classics   in the    channel universe . if soft core is what you are in the mood for  this is as  good  as anything else in the b range . don  t expect polanski though  sarno is just sarno . nothing more  nothing less . jennifer welles performance as the  mother  is perhaps the best of the cast . none of the actors in the film went on to greater fame  unsurprisingly . confessions of a young american housewife is far from the worst example of it  s kind . it is watchable  if this is your type of film .   years ago  this would have been an avant garde and riske film . you can see more or less the same kind of thing on showtime  hbo series these days  and in prime time .  
the information contained in this movie is somewhat familiar to many who have been paying attention to the news lately . the walter reed scandals show a small part of the fact that we are not doing a good job taking care of our injured heroes when they return .  br    br   what this movie further shows is a truth common to all wars . the psychological trauma that soldiers suffer while engaging in war and the difficulty they have when returning to civilian life . they are not just changed or affected  they are different people and most do not know how to deal with that as they do not know themselves .  br    br   finally  this film shows what the military does to our young men in women in getting them ready for war and the policies and practices that they have to follow in prosecuting war that leads to all the psychological trauma .  br    br   we have over     dead soldiers in the four years of this invasion but we have many tens of thousands that will suffer lifelong physical and psychological trauma because of this war . it doesn  t matter what side you are on  it behooves you to know the cost of war to decide if we should be in that business . this film illustrates the costs to the men and women perfectly .  
you can never have seen either film and still know that the jerk too is a disaster . the question is not   how did it get made   because if you throw money at anyone and tell them to make a film  they will do so .  br    br   no . the question is  why  oh why  did steve martin allow it to be made   i think he needed the money to fight a nuisance lawsuit and was determined it not cost him anything . he knew the sequel was going to be so frightful  that out of pride  he wouldn  t even count it  s royalties as income .  br    br   the only way this sequel could not be an embarrassment is to have had carl gottlieb and steve martin revive the nation  s favorite poor black family .  br    br   and  dcreasy       aka mark blankfield    it  s just transparently obvious that you worked on this film in some sad capacity  and the only way you can feel better about your involvement is to be the sequel  s lone cheerleader as an imdb user comment . i was praying for you to veer over into satire  but alas  you were really making an effort at spin . why not   stars   
there is an episode of the simpsons which has a joke news report referring to an army training base as a  killbot factory  . here the comment is simply part of a throwaway joke  but what patricia foulkrod  s documentary does is show us  scarily  that it is not that far from the truth . after world war two the us army decided to tackle a problem they faced throughout the war that many soldiers got into battle and found themselves totally unable to kill another human being unless it was a matter of  me or them  . since then the training process of the us army has been to remove all moral scruples and turn recruits into killing machines who don  t think of combatants as people . to develop in them a most unnatural state  the sustainable urge to kill  .  br    br   first off  this isn  t an antiwar movie as such . whilst it certainly paints war in a very bad light  foulkrod focuses rather on an aspect that doesn  t get as much media attention as  say  the debate over the legality of a war or it  s physical successes or failures the affect the process of turning a man into a soldier has on that person as a human being . it  s the paradox that to train someone to be a soldier to defend society makes them totally unsuitable to live as part of that society themselves  and whilst most of the examples and interviewees are from the current middle east conflict foulkrod makes the links to past conflicts  especially vietnam  painfully clear . this isn  t about any particular war  it  s about the problems caused by war in general .  br    br   structurally the film seems to be split into three sections how recruits are drawn into the army and the training they receive  how they are treated once they are in combat  and what happens once they leave the army . once this point is reached you realise that the main target of this film is actually the policies that are inherent in the armed forced  policies that are put into place to make soldiers into an affective combat force but removing all humanity from the individuals . those interviewed tell the camera how the recruiting process seems so clean and simple  how word like  democracy  and  freedom  are banded around  but once the training begins they become  enemy  and  kill  and  destroy  . how once in action soldiers don  t care what they are ordered to do  as they are ingrained with the idea that as soon as they carry out an order  whatever it may be  they are one step closer to going home . they have no political or social ideals to fight for but fight and kill as that  s what they  ve been trained to do .  br    br   but the ground truth  s main goal is to highlight the way the us army discards those who have fought for their country once they return home . there is no real rehabilitation given to soldiers returning  and many are forced to go home unable to cope with what they have seen and done  and most policies in place seem to be to make sure the army has no legal responsibility whatsoever for psychological affects their soldiers pick up . this is the final indignity  that once they are used they are cast away .  br    br   if there is a flaw in the film it is that foulkrod doesn  t attempt to show another side to the argument . you would get the impression that every single soldier who ever went to war would come back with post traumatic stress syndrome . it would have been interesting to see those of a less liberal upbringing give their opinions of how the army handles training and policies . there is never a chance for the other side of the argument to make itself known .  br    br   but other than that this is an expertly crafted documentary  and foulkrod  s use of stock footage and music is perfectly utilised to get across a side of war that too often get s passed by when discussing the fallout of war .  
i  m going to spend as much time on this review as the writers did on the script . this is easily the worst sequel ever made .  br    br   they killed navin johnson . not only was mark blankfield  s performance god  awful  so was everyone elses   the physical comedy was forced  flat and predictable . the script seemed to have been written by mongoloid monkeys using the pen names ziggy steinberg and rocco urbisci . how the producers managed to squeeze out such vile cinematic excrement is beyond me . they even managed to make veteran actor ray walston look like a talent  less buffoon . director michael schultz should be ashamed of himself .  br    br   i want the   minutes of my life i spent watching this befouled memory of a brilliant comedy back so i can try and convict everyone involved for this cinematic atrocity .  
that is no criticism of the film  but rather a comment on how blind we are to our own past .  br    br   i recently watched winter soldier  and the ground truth was like watching a remake or sequel   except it was about iraq rather than vietnam . similar to winter soldier because of it  s one  sided message  both films illustrate how gleefully we rush to engage in conflicts based on false pretenses  and allow our young and brave  and often naive  to bear the brunt of this greedy war profiteering . both films effectively show that the mentality forced into the minds of the young and willing make them efficient killing machines  but the training falls woefully short of teaching the diplomatic and policing skills necessary to effectively win the hearts and minds of the people they  re supposedly fighting for . this is ultimately what lost the war in vietnam  and will likely lose the war in iraq as well .  br    br   my only negative comment is that the film is so one  sided it could be easily passed off as left  wing propaganda . not by me  mind you  but by those aiming to discredit the film and message . a more balanced point of view would speak to a larger audience .  
being a fan of the manga and anime of go nagai  devil man  devil lady  violence jack  etc .   i was looking forward to this one . i  d seen neither the manga nor the anime  so i had no preconceived notions going in . good thing  too . what we have here is a series of silly softcore movies of the type that used to turn up with alarming regularity on cable channels late at night . while it  s tame compared to what gets rammed down the throats of regular cable viewers  our hero  s naughty bits are either tastefully tucked away behind a strategically glued  on scarf or emblazoned with a ridiculous sunburst effect   there are prolonged scenes of bondage and torture that lend the proceedings just enough smarminess to make it unsuitable for the kiddies . while i have nothing whatsoever against nude female heroes  i do dislike amateurishly made movies  there are at least four in this series  . on the plus side  there  s at least one stunningly beautiful actress in each of the four episodes i saw . it  s no wonder nagai  s testicle boy never made it . . .  
this film illustrates the worst part of surviving war  the memories . for many soldiers  men and women alike  returning home can be the beginning of real problems . i am reminded of my father and his brothers returning from wwii . for one of my uncles the war was never over . he survived the d  day invasion  something akin to the first   minutes of saving private ryan . for him the memories not only lingered but tortured him . he became an alcoholic as did several of my cousins  his sons . jump ahead   years and place the soldiers in a different war  in a different country  the result is the same . when i saw this at the kc filmfest  i was reminded that there are somethings about war that never change . the idealistic young men and women are not spared the emotional torment of what happened in iraq  and especially if you are against the war you will come away with more compassion for the soldiers there trying to do what they believe or have been told is right .  br    br   the tag line from the vietnam war film platoon says it all .  the first casualty of war is innocence .   
this must have been an embarrassment to every member of the entirely african  american cast . every derogatory  disparaging stereotype of the black american community is featured prominently . i won  t reinforce the insults by listing them here  except to mention chickens  watermelons  and dice .  br    br   one good song by ethel waters  and a couple of bad ones   and the fantastic singing and dancing talents of   year  old sammy davis bring the total up to something below  on the imdb scale .  
i saw this film tonight in nyc at the landmark sunshine . i didn  t know what to expect  i  d not read much about it as i knew i would see it no matter what . all in all  it is very well done . it doesn  t focus on the generalization of  anti  war  statements  which to me  left the politics out of it . the soldiers mainly spoke of their awareness of toxicity in their training in boot camp  and how hard it was once they returned to civilian life . it was really good to see paul rieckhoff and camilo mejia tell about the difficulty in surviving not only the war  but refusing the command to go back when it was against personal morals . make no mistake  this is not an anti  war film . anyone who says it is hasn  t seen it or is not living with the scars of war on their souls .  
well  if it weren  t for ethel waters and a   year  old sammy davis  jr .  here billed without the jr .   rufus jones for president would be one of the worst representations of african  american stereotypes i  ve seen from the early talkie era and wouldn  t have been worth seeing because of that . ms . waters is excellent here singing  am i blue   and  underneath our harlem moon  while mr . davis shows us how his childhood experience in showbiz prepared him for his superstar status as an adult . he  s so good tap  dancing here that for awhile i thought he was a little person with decades of experience . so if you  re willing to ignore the negative connotations here  rufus jones for president should provide some good enjoyment . p . s . this marks the fourth time today i  ve seen and heard the song   i  ll be glad when you  re dead you rascal you  performed on film  this time by davis . must have been a very popular song about this time .  
i saw this film premiere friday       night in park city for sundance and was incredibly moved . sitting in a theater and hearing first  hand the anguish soldiers go through was almost more than i could bear . others in the audience were equally moved and while we wanted to turn away  the least we could do was bear witness as these men and women shared their experience with us . robert acosta  paul rieckhoff  sean huze  and herold noel  all veterans of the war in iraq and featured in the film  were present . while they may be home now  you can tell this war is still inside them and probably always will be . whether you support the war or not  it is our duty to support the troops with something other than a bumper sticker . see this film   
i got a copy from the writer of this movie on soulseek . i have to say it is pathetic and just plain painful to watch the two cops act  but i watched the movie as a joke and since it is a homage to august  s underground which i happened to have seen it is in my book as an awesome movie . its quality and everything about it is pretty bad but its entertaining and something to talk about amongst your friends . reminds me of troma but good stuff . i recommend seeing this under two conditions  if you are bored and need a good laugh  or high  otherwise just let it be . recommended download for sure . o and the killings are pretty funny . like when the zombie rips the satan worshipers dick off and stabs someone in the head with it .  
i gave it an  only because it had received such low votes . . . this is definitely really about a  .  . . . . . ummm . . it was kind of bloody  had likeable  shallow characters  and it had some really hot babes in it . i like the eclectic killer  because he didn  t kill people the same way everytime . . . that sometimes gets old .  
this movie is so bad  i knew how it ends right after this little girl killed the first person . very bad acting very bad plot very bad movie  br    br   do yourself a favour and don  t watch it      
i caught this at a screening at the sundance film festival and was in awe over the absolute power this film has . it is an examination of the psychological effects on our brave soldiers who join the military with hopes that they will protect and serve our country with honor as well as be taken care of by our government for it . the film details the psychological changes that takes place in boot camp as the soldiers are turned into  killers for their country  and put into the war and the after effects once they return home . it also portrays the effect that killing has on the human psyche . it pays homage to the soldiers and never ever criticizes the soldiers unlike other films  instead criticizes a system that is not prepared to and does not take care of all the physical and psychological needs of the returned vets .  br    br   this film is powerful  moving  emotional and thought provoking . it stands as a call to arms to support our troops not only by buying stickers and going to parades but by actually listening to them  and helping to support a change in the way their health and well being is taken care of after the killing ends .  br    br   the best film of the festival so far      
a bloody maniac with cannibalistic tendencies rapes a woman . he  s been shot by two policemen and then he is risen from the grave because of some sort of satanic ceremonial rite preformed by an evil heresy . the hunting of women continues by this zombie  demon . the sacrificed baby returns from the grave and wants the maniac dead again  but only with the help of the police this will come true . . .  br    br   a bloody    minute mess . . . horny zombies  doll  babies  sm  corrupted and twisted policemen  repented heretics who seek refuge in front of jesus christ and three text  screens at the end of the film explaining us what finally happened to the policeman who survived  yes  we ought to know   . . . two decent disemboweling shots can  t save the situation . i  ve seen worst horror  flicks  but this one was pretty bad too . recommended only for the die  very  hard fans of the genre .  
simply the best estonian film that i have ever seen  although it is made by a finnish director ilkka jrvi  laturi . tallin pimeduses is an entertaining thriller about a bunch of gangsters who are trying to steal a huge amount of gold  a national treasure that belongs to the republic of estonia . but at the same time it is some kind of a summary of the conditions of many eastern european countries at that time . in the early   s soviet union fell into pieces and many countries  such as estonia  became independent . now the conditions may be better in most of those countries . but in the beginning of the   s many of those new nations had to fight against corruption and organized crime that the soviet era had left them as inheritance .  and many of them still do . . . at least on some level . . .   br    br   tallinn pimeduses is a very realistic film of that era with believable characters and with a well  written script . the actors are also very good  especially jri jrvet  perhaps the best known estonian actor  plays snaut in tarkovski  s solaris   playing and old gangster who  s slowly becoming tired of his way of life . but the most astonishing performance comes from monika mger  a child  actor playing terje  a boyish girl in her early teens  whose presence in the plot is quite essential .  and her name is not even mentioned in the imdb  credit list     w  br    br   there are not many films in the world that manage to be entertainment and artistic at the same time . but tallinn pimeduses does that . unfortenately jrvi  laturi  s other films are far from this kind of achievements . his first one  kotia pin was too artificial and his latest  history is made at night was just a weird mess .  
this is not as funny and gory as the dvd box claims . i really love twisted and wierd movies  but this one is really just dull  it  s one hour of ripped off penises  flying baby born dolls and a lot of rape  i think the intention with this amateur sleaze  was to make a it  s  so  bad  it  s  good movies  but it fails . it  s just bad  a few scenes are ok  but in whole it  s a mess . if you like amateur splatter like this one  only way better  i would recommend andreas schnass  violent shit  and  .  
this is one of those landmark films which needs to be situated in the context of time . darkness in tallinn was made in     . it was a period of chaos  confusion and gross disorder not only for ordinary denizens of estonia but also for countless citizens of other former nations which were a part of mighty soviet empire . it was in such a tense climate that a young country named estonia was born . as newly established governments are known to encounter teething problems  estonia too faced numerous troubles as some corrupt officials manipulated state machinery for filling their dirty pockets by making use of their selfish means . this is one of this film  s core themes . darkness in tallinn appears as an estonian film but it was made by a finnish director ilka jrvilaturi . he has tried his best to infuse as many possible doses of estonian humor . this is why one can call it a comedy film of political undertones . as ordinary people are involved in this film  we can say that this film signifies good versus evil . this is not a new concept as it is readily available in most of the religious books of different faiths . darkness in talinn shows us as to how ordinary governments can also be toppled by corrupt people . a nice film to watch on a sunny day .  
a killer  cannibal rapist is killed by a crazed cop on the scene of his latest murder . at his grave a cult have gathered with plans to resurrect him by peeing onto the grave . this of course works and he awakes ripping the guys penis off and he is back into his old killing ways with an all new zombie look . the two cops one of who is going a little crazy about the scum of the city and has a drug problem  are back on the case . two of the original cult member also tries to stop the killer by resurrecting some other kind of dead thing . thinking they have filed they leave but out from the grave comes a plastic baby doll that was used in the original resurrection . sounds a bit confusing really but no its just rubbish .  br    br   the acting is terrible and one of the cops is the same guy that plays dr vincent van gore in the faces of gore series and he is just as terrible as the annoying cop in this film . the other cop just about struggles to get his terrible lines out . now i  m all for low budget cinema but this film is just terrible . if it wasn  t for the very easy on the eye ladies and their nakedness i would probably have fallen asleep . there is a bit of gore but it  s never more than some animal guts placed on the stomach of the victims . the zombie makeup on the other hand looks great and his foot long penis that he uses to rape his victims with is kind of funny at times . there is also a half decent scene where the killer falls in love with a sex doll . the doll with the chipmunks voice is the stupidest thing i have ever seen in a film . it is just a plastic toy on a fishing line .  br    br   the ending is extremely bad . you would expect the killer to put up much more of a fight than he does . god knows how they made enough money to make a sequel .  br    br        
i first saw this at a foreign film festival . it  s a beautifully paced nail  biter about a plot to relieve the estonian treasury of a billion or so in gold . it  s all shot in a gritty  grainy style that hollywood rarely uses    but it captures the atmosphere of the newly emancipated baltic states beautifully  note tallin was actually looking a lot less grim in     when i was there  .  br    br   there  s a lot of humor and some romance  too . i don  t want to spoil a number of startling yet logical surprises  so i  ll just say this heist film starts from a great script  and the directing and performances are top notch . darkness in tallin is simply the fastest and most nerve  racking example of its genre    i  d put it up against rafifi  topkapi  and it  s miles ahead of the new ocean  s    though  deliberately  not as glossy . rent or buy it now .  
it is such a strange movie  you can call it awful or if you sit with friends it can give you a killer laugh  athon . strange comes to mind again and again . shot amateurishly  acted even worse and the directions  maybe none . the special effects are funny but the music accompanying a flying demon baby will surely be the biggest hit . see it if you got time to kill . but don  t  don  t even try to take it seriously . supposed to be a tribute to  porno holocaust   . since i haven  t seen it  from the tribute i can assume it to be as bad . should have given it      but it did give me a good laugh or two  so it gets a  . excessive gore  the only thing somebody worked on . stay away if you are squeamish  more gore than laughs . wonder if the makers had a laugh making it   
if the australian post office ever needed a promotional film for recruitment then this is it . this is one of those movies who  s heart is in the right place and you can watch again and again . miranda  s performance is touching as it shows an aspect of australia unimagined by many europeans  in that it can be cold  wet and bleak  just like anywhere else and just like anywhere else what is important is the people that surrounds you . the characters in the movie are warm and welcoming and make the prospect of a career move into a  dead letter office  a thought to be considered . miranda has gone on to do bigger movies  but i hope she always keeps a thought inside for this one  .  
i am a huge horror  splatter fan  i even enjoy horror films some people consider as stupid . i also like gore . the more the merrier as long as it has a point .  br    br   after reading the other people  s reviews on the site i was sure this film was going to be a little gem . but much to my disappointment it proved to be one of the most pointless films i  ve ever watched .  br    br   the acting was terrible  the dialogs were stupid  the plot was pointless  the special effects were useless and the editing was probably done by someone who has been dead for the past  years . usually i find that all these characteristics make a great b horror movie . but not in this case .  br    br   i waisted   eur to get this dvd .  br    br   unless you actually enjoy pointless gore  for example the  violent sht  films  avoid at any cost   
this film is a wonderfully simplistic work . enjoyable from start to end it is both sad yet uplifting at the same time . the performances from miranda otto  oh  how she deserves so much more recognition   and george del hoya are beautiful and yet almost painful to watch  as the two tortured souls come to understand each other . the supporting cast of workers at the dead letter office are wonderful bit  parts in them selves  as is alice  s long  suffering boyfriend  who i couldn  t help but feel slightly sorry for . there  s one particular scene i could watch over and over  and i have    it  s such a shame that films like these don  t get recognition  and therefore bring them futher into the public eye for more people to enjoy . i cried  i laughed and i sighed . i  d recommend this film to anyone .  
i ordered this extremely rare and highly overrated movie on ebay with very high expectations . i think i paid about    for this movie . as an eternal fan of horror  from cheesy   s american slashers to european zombie films  i told myself this was going to be great  i can  t tell you how wrong i was . first of all  i thought it was gonna be pretty much gorier than it actually is . after all i  ve had heard about this film  i was almost scared to watch it . the murders are boring . the acting . . . forget it  there  s no acting  the story  even if we don  t care  is incredibly bad . it seems they tried to get your attention with some weird sexual scenes and naked girls  but unfortunately in this case it doesn  t help the movie . why  there  s no atmosphere  and this is the worst thing about this flick . it  s just bad film  making from point a to b . though it  s extremely funny and amusing to watch with your friends and a lot of beers  don  t make any effort to get your hands on it . there are so many movies in this world  don  t waste your time watching necro files   
letters with no destination end up in another world found in the back rooms of the post office . here  alice manages to land a job in hope of finding her lost father . what she does discover is the tormented soul of her boss  frank . a quiet little aussie flic that came and went at the cinema . now you find it in the deep dark corner of the video shop  overshadowed by fifty copies of that dreaded godzilla film . it  s a shame because this turned out to be a satisfying film telling a brave tale with strong simple images and effective performances from the two leads . this film succeeds where garry marshall  s other dead letter office flic dear god       usa  failed  and comes close to the brilliance of  not the kevin costner turkey  but he jianjun  s postman       china  .  
a girl is showering unknowing that a serial rapist is staring at her through the skylight . detectives martin manners and orville stone is hot on his trail  but not hot enough as they find him after he kills  rapes  and eats a nipple of the girl . he  s the shot to death . one would hope that this would be the end of the film . not because it  s too horrifying  but because the level of acting is atrociously horrid . sadly it  s not the end and months later the rapist is resurrected as a zombie by a coven of satanists . so he continues where he left off  with the detectives on the case again  this time a flying baby is after him too  don  t ask  . there has been very good very low  budget movies  street trash and filthy mcnasty spring to mind   but this one is scraping the bottom of the barrel . horrible acting  crappy dime store special effects  lame attempt at comedy and oh yeah  and the ending sucks too .  br    br   my grade f  br    br   eye candy theresa bestul gets fully nude anne r . key gets topless  
some genre films need to be dressed up . this one was an exception . taken on its own merit  it  s a dressed down version of the horror genre film . with minimal special effects  it manages to be a psychological study of sorts  with a simple yet existential theme  who gets hit by the bus  and why her  it  s not a great film  yet because there is little contrived about it  the story works . subtle  and all about the interactions of the characters . actually  there is one contrivance in the opening scenes  but it may have been placed there to simply set the tone for what  s to come . i very much appreciate the balance of male and female energy  and would not recommend this story to anyone interested in more than people reacting to a physical and psychological challenge . you will enjoy the film if you have some empathy  value the need for a bit of adventure in your life  and wonder  what would i do in this situation    
i saw this film yesterday . i must admit  it weren  t my cup of tea . although it  s supposed to be a horror movie of its kind . but as i was watching this  i was thinking . .  this movie isn  t making any sense at all . .  where on earth did this guy in the dark coat came from  where were the two guys were going when they left the girls behind  where on earth did a shark came out from   br    br   all these elements in this film somehow didn  t add up . i felt as if these filmmakers wasted so much time and money on a film that was so bound to be so crap .  br    br   i  ve seen many good horror movies in my time  but this is one of the most worst horror flicks i  ve seen . at the end of the movie  i said to myself that i wouldn  t watch it again . . so much pappy show in this film  i  ve decided to give it the thumbs down  count me out on this one   out of     
the film was very outstanding despite the nc    rating and disturbing scenes . in reality things like this do happen and that is why this movie shows a lot of it . it all starts with maya  rosario dawson in superb performance  whose recently started attending college has everything going well for her . she meets jared  chad faust in a terrific performance  at a frat party who turns out to be a real gentleman and sweet . he invites her out to dinner . they look at the stars from a bridge and they end going to his apartment . they talk and takes her to the basement were they become flirtatious with each other . she tries to put an end to it  but he rapes her . this incident scars her . she goes to a club meets a bartender  dj adrian  greatfully played by marcus patrick  who sees that she is getting to drunk and helps before she goes to far . they strike a friendship . he also does drugs and maya starts using as well . in other words introduces her to a different world . she starts going back to school and working as ta  teaching assistant  and spots jared as one of the students . while the students are taking a midterm  she catches jared cheating . jared tries to smooth talk maya  but she still has the upper hand decides to invite him to her place . will history repeat itself  or will maya have a surprise for jared  you watch the movie . excellent a . rosario dawson portrays the role with focus and endurance . chad faust does not like he can be a rapist  but he does a terrific job as jared . marcus patrick is very brilliant the man who saves maya and coaches her into a new world . this film deserves an award .  
haunted boat sells itself as  the fog  meets  open water  . in many ways this is accurate . there are scares and weird looking people to keep you interested .  br    br   however the acting ability is poor at best . showing clear signs that this is merely a bunch of friends making a horror film . which in all credit they do to the best of their ability . when you accept the low budget makes it very difficult for special effects  with the ghosts looking pretty much like men with rubber masks on .  br    br   many aspects of the film are creepy and strange . but it suffers for using too many twists and turns in a short space of time which just leaves you bored and confused . in terms of keeping you awake the film does it very well . ignoring the irrelevant twisting every  seconds near the end  you actually want to know what is going on . and are willing to wait the  hr   minutes for the climax .  br    br   this is no ghost ship but it  ll definitely do for an evening in front of the t . v .  
  descent .  yeah . boy . . . i haven  t seen anything this powerful and scintillating since bruno dumont  s   twentynine palms        .  by the way this film is not to be confused with another fairly recent pic about the topic of  female empowerment    the descent         directed by our splat pack friend  neil marshall  who also happens to be a major talent his own right .  but getting back to this  descent   the nc    rated  uh  oh  effort on which the lovely ms . dawson takes a producer  s credit  congratulations  and directed by talia lugacy  strong chance that  s not a real name   as good as it is  in moments   it will not be appreciated by most lay people out there because the script is pretty flawed . as a producer  you really have to tighten up that script . of course  in the premise alone  you have the promise of rising conflict  but there still lies the task therein of accomplishing rising conflict .  br    br   at times  this thing plays like an interesting piece of experimental theater and  well  i guess i  ll let the others who  ve already commented here speak to the boringness of it  namely that which occurs in the second act  but find me a second act that isn  t boring  there  s also this catch   that goes along with these quasi  independent films like  descent  in which rosario happens to be attaching herself to and leveraging her  fame  identity  to get a script into production that would  under usual circumstances  not get made at all while at the same time she is basically a miscast in the film  s leading role . rosario dawson is gorgeous and  apparently  you can shoot this girl from just about any angle all day long  but  oh  wow  wee  how fast the time just slips away rosy ain  t no undergraduate no more . that  s part of the confusion about the screenplay  is she a graduate student  a ta  no  graduate students don  t really have these type of qualms with football players  do they   again  if you are rosario dawson  executive producer  that  s the one of many  many aspects to the professional film process you  ll have to think about as you embark on this wonderful new role in your film career . and if you don  t have the answer to why you  re movie isn  t convincing  let me tell you there is a boatload and a bevy of vivacious  well  qualified  undergraduate aged talents  pining to get involved in the business  who might have nailed that lead character down  all the while  looking just as darn good as you know who but unfortunately without ms . dawson  no honey  no money . i have to say  the camera department did an outstanding job  however  because this film is really well shot  i . e . lit  in all its dreary  dreamy darkness . the nightclub scenes look wonderful one can tell all those music videos are starting to pay off and the play with time . . . the shooting  framing is all quite excellent which makes the picture a rewarding watch .  br    br    descent  is good not great . however  i have a feeling  thanks to netflix  this movie will find a life of its own . i hope this group continues making films . if you  re into experimental american film  making  cinematographic imagery of implausibly well formed college studs  or male model drop  outs  in their early twenties  or if you  re an undergraduate  just plain angry at the hormonally aggressive young men that comprise less than half of your american university   rosario dawson  s descent  might be your flavor of rockaroll .  
probably minor spoilers  br    br   i cant say i liked it  but i cant say i didn  t . . . its very strange . it has bad things in it like for example a shark that came out of nowhere with the worst cgi you can imagine  if i was the director i would cut that part for sure  gave me the urge to stop seeing the rest of the movie . . . for some people it will be boring cause it lacks action  feels home made sometimes . . . take for example a scene that one of the friends died and next thing they are doing is what  nop  not crying . . . their telling horror stories to each other . . sighs  just after crying for hes lost   br    br   another stupid thing was when they were talking inside the boat they had like  hundreds  of candles in the table in front of them . . . the boat is surrounded by some kind of rag curtains  old rags covering the windows  and sofas  couches . . . i thought it was dumb  using candles but not thinking about the surroundings  besides being in high sea alone . . .  br    br   the good  some scary scenes they are nicely done i liked some . sometimes horror works better when its hidden when its behind something instead of showing of  so this movie does it good  maybe because its a low budget i don  t know  but it works fine for me  you will feel tension if you forget some holes like the ones i mentioned above .  br    br   do not expect much of it  but if you like anykind of movie watch this one  be patient  try to enjoy . . lol  br    br    sorry about my raw english     br    br   cheers  
katherine heigl  marley shelton  denise richards  david boreanaz . even before i knew what this film was about  these names were enough to draw me in . gorgeous  talented and popular  these are performers to look out for .  br    br   ok  where do i start . we already know what the film is about . five beautiful girls being targeted by a  romantic  serial slasher  a guy they all turned down at the school dance   years ago . his trademarks include subtle deaththreats disguised as valentine cards  maggot  infested chocolates and a bleeding nose . his weapon of choice well  take a pick  axe  knife  electric powerdrill  bow and arrow  hot iron  etc . ok  so basically it  s a horror movie with a nice twisted sense of sexuality .  br    br   horror movies aren  t supposed to be shakespeare  but i  m not gonna go there . i love horror movies  but not all of them . this one  i adore . it  s up there with some of my other favorites . it  s funny  sexy and scary . the killer  s mask is childishly creepy  and seeing cupid firing a bow and arrow at a victim is really freaky . the acting is topnotch denise richards  marley shelton and david boreanaz are a lot of fun . i really did wish to see much  much more of katherine heigl . i am one of her biggest fans and would love to see her doing some leading work soon . jessica capshaw is a very capable actress  and jessica cauffiel gets to do the ditzy blonde role she perfected in urban legend  . the smaller parts were also good hedy buress was a hoot   bleedmedry . com   and that younger version of denise richards looked frightfully like her .  br    br   highlights every death scene had a particular distinction to it . the creepiest being the opening scene in the morgue . the hottub scene  while ludicrous  was well done . and the audiovisual maze was sinister . the soundtrack is great  with creepy music and some fine alternative tunes .  br    br   lowpoint i felt as though the killer wasn  t featured enough  we barely saw the mask  and it wasn  t featured at all during the climax . i also thought the climax was really unfocused  but fun nonetheless .  br    br   the twist at the end wasn  t that big of a surprise  but i  m really glad that the filmmakers decided to spare us that whole  explaining killer  routine .  br    br   i don  t like to tell people which movies they should see  but if someone asked me to pick a horror movie that i thought was really worth seeing  then valentine would be it .  br    br   my rating       bullseye    
a truly  truly dire canadian  german co  production  the ever  wonderful rosanna arquette plays an actress whose teenage daughter redefines the term  problem child   a few uears prior to the  action  the child murdered her father  and mum took the fall for the offspring . now she  s moved up to the northwest us to start over  but her child still has a problem in that she  s devoted to her mother . so devoted in fact that she kills anyone who might be seen as a threat to their bond .  br    br   unfortunately mandy schaeffer  as the daughter  murders more than people  she delivers such a terrible performance that she also wipes out the movie  though the incoherent script  useless direction and appalling music  check out the saxophone the first time she displays her bikini  clad bod  don  t help any we  re supposed to find her sexy and scary  but she fails on both counts . almost completely unalluring and not even bad enough to be amusing  not to mention the fact that arquette and schaeffer don  t really convince as mother and daughter   all condolences to miss arquette and jurgen prochnow  both of whom are worthy of far more than this  and both of whom  particularly rosanna  are the only sane reasons for anyone to sit through this farrago .  br    br   one of the production companies is called quality international films  not since the three  hour  love  lies and murder   from two short productions  has there been such a  you must be joking  credit .  
love rosario dawson  think she  s one of the finest actresses of the modern era .  br    br   descent seems to be more about self  empowerment than anything else . it  s the consistent undertone in everything in the film . the dialog is flat  the characters seemingly intentionally bland and one sided . the only consistency is the representation of self  empowerment in the characters and rosario  s journey from self empowerment to loss of empowerment and back again .  br    br   pitching this as a rape classic isn  t appropriate  and that  s probably why so many people don  t enjoy the film . the standard  rape  audience wouldn  t particularly like this film  and maybe that  s the point  the film asks more questions than it answers  and it does confront it  s target audience  whether they like it or not . there  s a compelling relationship between the characters and the target audience and while the film doesn  t slap the audience across the face with self  righteous audacity it does engage the viewer for what may or may not be  all the wrong reasons .  br    br   descent is a good film which imho is severely under  rated .  
do not ever watch this film . . . it is the biggest pile of shte i have ever come across in my whole life . and thats saying something . the acting  storyline and filming were absolutely dire this is the worst film in the world    seriously doesn  t it even give you a hit seeing as it cost my   p from sainsburys and it was only made in      hahaha this film is like a cheap college movie you can even see the camera in the corner of the screen . . . . although if u really wanna watch it you gotta watch the  scary shark scene  . . . possibly the best piece of acting i have seen in my life . . . ha ha . i mean seriously this is the biggest waste of     hours ever    
this movie is incredibly realistic and i feel does a great justice to the crime that many people do not understand because of a lack of experience . the many people who think they could fathom what goes through a victim  s mind are arrogant . as a victim  i feel that dawson did a fantastic job in her role of maya . i agree that this is an incredibly brave film . this looks at rape from a different  more realistic standpoint than any other movie i  ve ever seen on the subject . the end did drag on a bit long  but i know that many victims imagine this kind of justice  since the chances of an attacker being sent to jail for their crime is around   . it  s good to see a movie that sticks closer to reality than most would dare to .  
what the heck was this . somebody obviously read stephen king and sartre in the same semester . we get existential angst mixed in with cheap horror . there were moments that were disturbing but each one was canceled out by horrible music  cgi  or acting .  br    br   the problem with weird narratives like this is that it feels lazy . even david lynch  s work feels like that at times  and just like his interesting shows and movies it runs far far too long . and sadly this is only   minutes .  br    br   the cast was attractive  and that is about the limit to this . i suppose it touches on feelings of adolescents and the fear of loneliness we all have  but just doesn  t make the characters likable enough for us to care about their fates . . . whatever they were . the final scene leaves the whole thing ambiguous .  
this movie leaves the intellectual mind thinking and trying to analyze the story . i too cannot understand why people would trash this movie .  br    br   if you are a jerry bruckheimer fan  this movie may not suitable for u .  br    br   this movie presents high degree of realism . the actors and actresses  performance is examplary . not fake  just natural .  br    br   no special sound . effects  so special side effects .  br    br   the camera work is excellent  the music is oh so good . i can  t wait to get the soundtrack .  br    br   it leaves your body numb  like constant garderner . the directly has raw talent  certainly not a follower .  
i rented this film purely on the fact that the cover appealed to me . however as soon as the film began i had regrets . it seems they used a home video camera to shoot this film and let a young child do it . they also used inappropriate ghostly faces and shapes to try and scare people but i found myself laughing  i could have put that together myself and done a better job of it .  br    br   as for the plot i felt that it had some really good ideas but because of dodgy lines and in some cases acting they were overshadowed . it had no direction .  br    br   i didn  t want to sit through it all because it caused me physical pain to watch it but i always finish what i start so i took a deep breath and let it carry on . definitely   minutes of my life wasted .  br    br   i would save yourself the embarrassment of knowing that you have watched  haunted boat  and find something that is more entertaining . i  m a fan of low budget horror films but this was a major disappointment i thought nothing could get worse after  terror toons  but this made me reconsider . a let down to its genre .  br    br    out of   the star is for the ideas of having their worst fears coming for them   
a compelling  honest  daring  and unforgettable psychological horror film that touches on the painful experiences of pain caused by rape   descent  is a film that went under  the  radar due to its lack of distribution because  frankly  the film is so brutal in its depictions  that if it had been released theatrically  it may have met itself to some strong biased hate .  br    br   the film deserves to be discovered for  not only its dark themes  and not only for its amazing direction and authentic style  but most of all for its performances . chad faust is absolutely stunning  bringing enough sickness and enough vulnerability to make one  not relate to  but understand this fractured man with a twisted perspective on his sexuality with not only the women he rapes  but also the fragile insecurities deep within his own self . it  s a supporting performance that is so complex  brave  and emotional on faust  s part . and hard to forget .  br    br   however  the standout is rosario dawson  whose performance here is an absolute revelation . a tour  de  force of realistic dramatic tics  and one of the most subtle  yet loud  as  can  be performances in quite some time . while dawson is seen in some good supporting performances in some great  to  bad films  she proves here she has what it takes to deliver some emotionally sweeping and moving performances  believably and thematically .  br    br   one of the best films of its year  and     was a strong one   had this underrated and intelligent film hit theatrical release  i would be screaming praises for it  as well as dawson and faust . too bad it was way too blunt for a widespread appeal . films like this deserve better   
i watched this movie last night and hoped for the best after watching all the cool trailers . even the cover of the dvd looked good . as soon as i started watching it i was thinking like others  oh my god whats this  . there were some moments that were a bit creepy but then the mood was ruined by stupid music . there was rock and opera during what is supposed to be suspenseful scenes . that right there ruined it for me and i was shaking my head thinking damn i wasted money again on a rental and was deceived by the cover art . nothing against the music itself  it was just in the wrong parts of the movie . whoever edited the film has no clue what they are doing . the cover showed lightning  implying they were caught in a storm at sea . that would have been more interesting but it didn  t happen . the acting wasn  t the worst i  ve ever seen considering they are all unknown and this is obvious their first film . another reason i was disappointed was the plot made no sense . in the beginning  men saw all of the teens get on a boat  then at the end supposedly only  girl existed and the others were either her imaginary friends or were ghosts i  m not sure because it was very badly portrayed . whytefox who wrote a comment on here claims this is a true story . he or she believes in ghosts and spirits and says there is a haunted boat in the area this movie was filmed . there was no mention in this movie about it being a true story . i have never experienced something like that personally but am not saying it  s impossible . i guess if anyone is interested in renting this movie  do it at your own risk . if you like amateur student horror films you may like this .  
i rented this movie simply because rosario dawson was in it . i sat down to watch it with my buddy and  minutes in we were glued to our seats . not because of any intensity in those  minutes  but because it was a real film . no hollywood bs  no explosions  no corny one liners film . it drew you in slowly  reeling you toward a tragically human fate . some people think they enjoy film but they are sadly mistaken . they like movies mindless entertainment for entertainment  s sake alone . michael bay  s transformers and the like were produced for just this audience . no need to think people  just watch and allow ever stereotype we can muster to slowly dissolve your brain . we  ll even place advertisements throughout the movie  to keep you buying our products . and don  t forget the explosions  we all love explosions . here we make the distinction  art can be entertaining  but it  s also thought provoking and moves you in hidden ways . entertainment is rarely artful and even then only arbitrarily . movie are entertainment . descent is a film . film is art .  br    br   if you still house a soul within your walking meat  sack apparatus  this rape scene is every bit as powerful as  irreversable  . the distinction here is that  irreversable  was a violent rape scene involving two people whose paths have unfortunately crossed at the wrong time and hell ensued .  descent  is about date rape . no less disgusting . no less depraved . just different . this is about trust violation  soul desecration and the scars that run deep . had the character  maya  been consenting it would have been a hot sex scene . but seeing as she was desperate to escape  the scene is sickening .  jared  is a sick and manipulative serial rapist  and it  s wholly unsettling because it so closely resembles a passionate love affair . how could  maya  ever be close to anyone again when even in the midst of raping her  jared  s  slick lover boy facade only ever hints at slipping  she is ruined .  br    br   the film as a whole is beautiful . the camera work and lighting at times removes the surroundings and focuses everything on  maya  and the silent inner workings of her mind . all this accomplished by rosario with facial expression and gesture . the soundtrack was excellent  a blend of everything . my particularly favorite scene being a synchronism of all these film aspects working together  maya  dancing in a sea of writhing bodies  something inside her awakening  becoming aware  all set to a beautifully sad jeff buckley tune .  br    br   i don  t think i  ve really spoiled anything here but i  m stopping before i do . bottom line  i think this was the best film of      hands down . unfortunately it seems that everyone is so jaded these days that if you don  t hack and slash  gang rape  or nuke anything then people just can  t be bothered . death isn  t the worst thing that can happen to you . it  s only the last thing that will happen in this existence . the worst things that happen never leave you . they are always in your thoughts . when you shower when you brush your teeth when you buy a christmas present  when you tie your shoe they haunt you . they haunt you until that last thing releases you .  br    br   treat yourself . challenge yourself . watch this film .  
this is by far the worst movie i  ve ever seen . from the plot  though the shots  the  special effects   the acting  and did i mentioned the plot  every single thing in it sucked ass   br    br   this is a good example of what  over  doing  means and i  ll try to explain  br    br   i understand what the creator of this movie was trying to do this was supposed to be one of those movies you can  t really tell what the hell is going on up until the end . you sit mesmerized  not knowing who  s dead and who  s alive and who killed who and why and just when you think you got the timeline right you find out you  re wrong and the movie ends  leaving you with an opened mouth for the next  minutes  something like  unbreakable  or  the job  if you know what i mean .  br    br   but olga levens  the writer of this junk  yes  olga  the writer  director  producer  screenplay author  caster  production designer  art director  costume designer and also a double for one of the characters is some scenes . . . this is basically a one woman movie and when it comes to olga levens from  levens productions  you can  t go wrong     br    br   well this might come as a shocker but  this time  olga over did this big time  jumping from scene to scene  from dreams to reality . . . but wait  this was all a dream after all . . . or was it    the picture fades and i realized none of this ever happened  the girl was all alone on the ship . . . actually there was no ship . . . no wait  there  s the ship again  and the guys  they  re alive  thank god  no they  re calling her to join the cruise . . . but then the ship disappears so maybe they  re dead after all    or maybe they never were alive to begin with     br    br   if you understood what i just said you might like this movie  otherwise it  s a boring piece of work and the only reason i set through this entire crap is to find out how the hell can they finish this movie . . .  br    br   don  t watch this if you value time  ever   minutes are a waste in this case . . .  
first  this was a brave film . i  ve seen irreversible and can understand the comparisons . however  i cannot begin to understand the people who  ve trashed this film . i can see how the end may have come off extreme but i  d be lying if i didn  t say i wished that every guy who  s ever forced a woman into sex deserved exactly what jared got . conversely  it didn  t solve anything or make anything better and the fact that the film doesn  t pretend to is what made me appreciate it .  br    br   the comment prior to this one called the film pathetic and claimed no adult would stick with . i certainly did and intently . i  m   years old . the way the film drags made it realistic to me . people have become so used to eye candy and fast paced plots on screen that if you ask them to concentrate too long on one brick in the foundation of a film  not only do they lose interest  they demolish whatever has been built  and call it rubbish . when in actuality it  s their lack of patience and comprehension that needs fine tuning and not the product of a creative mind such as talia lugacy  s .  br    br   rosario dawson displayed the numbness of self  destruction flawlessly . i think she portrayed maya pre and post assault with great ease and the transition between the two is an act i rarely ever see done well . often times  much like the films  aimed at teens  mentioned in the prior comment  the effects of rape are displayed as either extremely manic and impulsive or terribly depressed  isolated and lifeless . dawson  in my opinion  manages to perform the balancing act so many survivors fall prey to drone  like existence in the waking hours  working some dead end job to survive  and distract  and then overindulging in vices in order to lose themselves in the haze of substance abuse rather than face what sobriety brings .  br    br   i thought this film told the truth and i appreciated it for finally showing people a different side of rape . so many people let the end of this film devour the middle and the beginning . . . i believe that maya  s face during the act was the end . . . not the act itself . . . not the vengeance or the meaning behind it . . . just her face . . .  br    br   thank you  
when the young kevin gets the boat of his dead uncle as a gift  he invites five friends of him to a trip to catalina island for the weekend . while in the journey  they drink booze  have sex and play games  with each one of them telling his or her greatest fear . later kevin drowns in the open sea  the engine stops  and they are haunted and murdered by their greatest innermost fear .  br    br   yesterday  my wife  son  daughter and three other friends joined to watch  haunted boat  on dvd . with less than   minutes running time  the group gave up watching this messy and boring amateurish piece of crap  and we decided to see another film . later  i decided to watch the rest of this flick to see how bad it could be and it would have been better off going to bed to sleep . the confused story has an awful cinematography and camera work  with a cast that is probably studying to be actors and actresses and in the end this film seems to be a bad project of cinema school . the terrible and pretentious screenplay shows a ridiculous twist in the end  actually a complete mess that made me not understand what the story is all about . was the girl insane and traveled alone in the boat  imagining the whole situation with imaginary friends  if that is true  are their friend again in the very end fruit of her madness  my vote is one .  br    br   title  brazil    viagem para a morte    trip to the death    
yesterday i attended the world premiere of  descent  at the tribeca film festival in nyc . i had a great time . it was sold out and attended by all the major stars including fellow my  spacer marcus patrick .  br    br   i give the movie  .  starts out of a possible   stars .  br    br   the movie begins with maya  rosario dawson  at college . you can envision the typical college environment with wild parties and flirtations going on . the photography in this film was excellent . she meets jared  chad faust  and they become sweethearts . it appears like any other relationship in the beginning . the man is in quest of the woman  s attention and affection and the woman is playing hard to get . both played this well . very innocent flirtation between the two . he invites her to his apartment and everything falls apart .  br    br   the apartment is very dreary and dark . they eventually end up in the basement which is extremely dark and lit by numerous candles . this actually reminded me of a dungeon . here is where he shows his true colors and proceeds to rape her . this is a very dark and gritty rape scene . this scene is not for the young or weak at heart . the rape scene is a little long and hard to take  but it is necessary for the rest of the movie that follows .  br    br   maya now starts to lose her soul to drugs and sex . she falls into her own abyss . she starts attending the wildest of parties and wakes up one morning in a room with no recollection on how she got there . she is told to go see adrian  marcus patrick  . the first thing i remember about this character is that they say  he is the person who saves anyone who needs saving  . he is actually the one who introduces maya to drugs . they begin a relationship of dependency which comes into play later in the movie . the club scenes at this point of the movie are photographed with extreme expertise . i thought they were well done and i noticed that the director of photography was applauded at the end of the showing during the credits by the audience .  br    br   maya is then back in college as a ta and who is in her class   jared her rapist   you could see the confusion and emotion on maya  s face . what should i do   what do i do next   the shots of her face and the emotions are priceless .  br    br   what unfolds next is not actually whats happening . she acts interested in jared . she appears to be looking to revive the relationship and be sweethearts again . i was sitting there saying could this really be happening . it wasn  t . nothing could be farther from the truth .  br    br   she invites him to her apartment and of course  he shows up . now her apartment is dark and gritty . she has him strip down completely . he thinks he  s going to get  lucky  . she then teases him like any woman can . she  s caressing him everywhere and he  s getting excited . note for anyone who plans on seeing this movie this scene is full frontal nudity  may not be right for the younger viewer .  br    br   she then turns the situation around and she becomes the beast and proceeds to rape him . once again  the scene is dark  gritty  and very rough .  br    br   if you are going to see the movie and don  t want to know what happens next  skip this paragraph and go on to the last paragraph .  br    br   this is where adrian reenters the picture . maya has adrian save    her by performing extremely rough male sex with jared . she thinks this is the final revenge . adrian continues to take all of jared  s manhood and strips his dignity to nothing . marcus  as adrian  plays this scene as believable as anyone can . he is a strong actor playing a strong character and the strength comes out all over the screen . after the movie  during a qa session  marcus explained that this scene required a lot of trust between him and chad . maya believes that this revenge will save her but i don  t think it does . one of the final scenes has a closeup of mays  s face and you see a tear roll down her cheek . this was a fabulous closeup scene and evokes constant discussion from anyone who goes to see this movie . did she get the revenge she wanted   was it as satisfying as she expected   in my opinion  it does not . it only makes matters worse .  br    br   this is an excellent movie  will well acted roles  and i recommend it to anyone who is thinking about going to see it . i would just be a little hesitant if under   years of age . rosario  chad  and marcus should be commended for jobs well done . the directing and photography must also be commended . it was a night that i enjoyed .  
this film on paper looked like it could possibly be good  after watching though i realised that this film was completely terrible   the plot has no meaning  and i think i counted the best part of     cut scenes each one making the film more annoying boring and ridiculous . i watched this late night pitch black no noise at all just to add to the scariness of it but the truth is the only thing that scared me was the music  what they would call tragic music  they play opera i mean be serious   this film sums up all of what is not good about this type of film . to be honest ill say no more but watch at your own risk this film is just complete rubbish  enjoy    
there is no director i like more than mamoru oshii . but sadly  even though he directed quite a few films that gained huge international attention  there are still a fair few of his films that have slipped through the cracks . tachiguishi is one of them  and even though i loved it to bits  it  s not hard to see why distributors in the west are somewhat reluctant to release it .  br    br   in between his big and serious films  oshii is known to do some smaller and quirkier projects . while tachiguishi definitely falls into this category  oshii has really outdone himself with this one  creating something that is very hard to classify  even as a freaky japanese flick . go figure .  br    br   at its very core lies a documentary not quite unlike otaku no video . but rather than make a fool of an existing subculture  oshii invents his own and delves into the lives of culinary heroes  scrounging away food for free and upholding the japanese culinary level . oshii  s approach on the subject has close ties with dai  nipponjin  as the subject is handled with a deadly sense of gravity while the images on screen look as ridiculous as can be . deadpan humor taken to the extreme .  br    br   but that is not all  rather than simply shooting his mockumentary oshii decided to make it using a new visual technique baptized superlivemation . a weird mix of live action  photography  digital animation and puppets on a stick . performed and acted out  or posed  if you want  by the greats of the japanese animation industry no less  as the project was supposed to be as low  budget as possible .  br    br   and if you think that just about covers it  know that the film is extremely dialogue  heavy  making it a good companion piece for innocence . the influence of the grifters is analyzed from all kinds of cultural  political and even philosophical angles  fired at the audience through a continuous stream of monologues and dialogues . and to make it even worse  the whole film is completely grounded in actual japanese history and customs  making it even harder for a foreigner to get a good grip on the material . needless to say  multiple viewings are advised to make the best of all the details tucked away inside the film .  br    br   that said  on a conceptual level the film is easy to follow and already pretty hilarious . various grifters are introduced as were they the most influential historical figures of post  war japan . the film plays like you  d expect a serious documentary of any other important figure to unfold  but somehow the big and crudely animated cut  out photography limbs of which figures are assembled don  t quite make it all that serious . the range of characters introduced is sublime  shinji higuchi taking the cake as cow  creature wearing a nose ring while taking on the fast  food chains with his gang of bull  people .  br    br   oshii regular kenji kawai provides  besides a pretty comical performance  a score ranging from atmospheric and dark to wacky  strange and comical . a lot of fun is to be had from the exaggerated noises and effects  complementing the animation and totally contradicting the tone of the rest of the film .  br    br   visually the film is very atmospheric  though it must be said that the animation is pretty scarce and while effective  remains toned down  only to burst out in hyperactive weirdness from time to time . which is not exactly a bad thing  seeing how tachiguishi is so dialogue  heavy . despite that  the film is still a visual masterpiece as each frame looks absolutely lush and is tailored to match and improve the general atmosphere of the film .  br    br   beware though  because tachiguishi does demand a lot from the viewer . if you don  t speak japanese  there is a lot of reading to be done and there are many cultural references that demand some attention . on top of that  the monologues in the film area quite extended and can be hard to follow . the film still lacks english subtitles and even though my french was largely sufficient to get what it was all about  i  m sure i missed many of the finer points of the film .  br    br   tachiguishi is not an easy film to get into  but around halfway through it reaches full steam and it doesn  t let off from there on . i still hope to see this one again with english or dutch subs . a dub would actually be best for a film like this  much like container   though i guess a quality anime dub is a bit too much to ask for .  br    br   with all of that said  i can only congratulate oshii on another marvelous film . it  s rare to find a film that blends and mixes so many styles and influences to create something that is so unique and still works . the film is smart  looks and sounds great and is filled to the brim with creativity . it is immensely funny  even if you can  t catch all the details on the first viewing . but be sure to at least get this with decent subs  as the automated english translation that is floating out there is completely worthless and does the film no justice at all .  br    br   tachiguishi caters to a very specific audience and i  m not surprised the french got their release while the rest of europe  and the rest of the western world  is still waiting for a sign of this film . but for those that like oshii  appreciate dry and deadpan humor and crave creative spirits  it is a film that cannot be missed  even though it could just as well misfire .  .     .    
this is easily one of the worst  movies i  ve ever seen . it  s not scary or any of the other things suggested in the plot outline . this movie is agonizingly slow and i was bored for almost all   minutes . while the acting is mediocre at best  the biggest problem is the script  which is poorly written  slow and plodding with no real direction . occasionally an eerie mood is set only to be broken by some useless line or event . i  m not surprised that the entire cast was sick and throwing up between shots  they did after all have to try and digest a terrible script . as a huge fan of good horror movies  i  m always irritated that something this bad gets made . save yourself   minutes you  ll never get back .  
a documentary without a loss for words . . . ever . . .  br    br   let us assume that the narration is more than a spoof  let us assume it is a commentary on japanese society . and as this film is as fast paced an absurdist documentary as they come  the constant wordplay  as fast is it goes  and as poorly translated as it is   in its current festival screener version as seen tonight at the copenhagen cinematek   it is still quite enjoyable .  br    br   but for the patient  and only the truly patient and open  minded  i  m talking to you jim jarmusch fans with add relapses  i believe this is a film for you . it  s an intelligent film if you allow it to win you over .  br    br   quite beautiful  and quite kitsch  and quite japanese sub  culture . and quite experimental . static  d in a  d world . all in all  fun for those that want to see a japanese film that spoofs japanese food culture . a thumbs up if you  re in the mood for something completely different .  
i checked this movie out when it still had  votes and it said like  .  or something  but seriously this is a horrible movie . lets break it down . the first thing you notice about this movie is that it was filmed on a hand  held digital camera owned by a freshman at a community college . the next thing you  ll notice is that the actors  are all friends of said freshman  he probably met them at the pub the night before . third on the list you will notice that the musical editing is horrible  and they try to cram many songs into this movie  at   second intervals . . . also all digital editing is done on said freshman  s home pc . . . probably using windows movie maker . this movie was horrible . . . pretentious  had an undeniably bad script  and acting that followed suit . i wouldn  t recommend this movie to anyone i know  but i do sentence the writer and director to watch this movie in hell for an eternity .  
tachigui the amazing lives of the fast  food grifters japanese title tachiguishi retsuden  br    br   director mamoru oshii featuring toshio suzuki  mako hyodo  kenji kawai  shinji higuchi  katsuya terada narrated by koichi yamadera                                          br    br   way back in      mamoru oshii unleashed his dazzling animation feature ghost in the shell  which helped consolidate anime  s international acceptance  and also burrowed itself into andy and larry wachowski  s overall concept for the matrix .  br    br   the movie  s sequel  innocence        was the inaugural japanese animated film to compete for the palme d  or at cannes  and it left heads spinning as much for its style and innovative effects as for its oft unfathomable plot .  br    br   always the trendsetter  oshii has now presented us with tachigui the amazing lives of the fast  food grifters  which has absolutely nothing to do with ghost in the shell  nor japanese anime for that matter .  br    br   say hello to oshii  s creation  superlivemation   not quite animation  nor exactly live  action . instead the cast endured somewhere in the vicinity of       snapshots  which were digitally processed and reconstituted in a deceptively simple paper cut  out fashion reminiscent of balinese puppetry . the movement itself is a stilted  stop  motion style that echoes sequences from shinya tsukamoto  s experimental tetsuo iron man       .  br    br    i couldn  t think of any method but this one   said oshii in a recent interview with the daily yomiuri .  i realized that this project was not suitable for traditional animation .   br    br   the cast choice is equally enigmatic . kenji kawai  who also composed the superlative soundtrack  appears as a ravenous burger fanatic  while renowned studio ghibli producer toshio suzuki spends his screen time being murdered in bizarre fashion . others include katsuya terada  who dabbled with oshii on blood the last vampire  and shinji higuchi  a special effects whiz who  s worked on godzilla movies .  br    br   koichi yamadera  s narration sounds like the stuff of a dry nhk documentary  which belies the comic undertone here as well as yamadera  s extensive career voicing stoic anime characters like spike siegel in cowboy bebop .  br    br   and the plot itself is a bizarre re  imagining of post  wwii japan in the context of various fast  food off  shoots  from soba ramen shops to gyudon stand  up bars american dogs in the heat  up trays of convenience stores to mcdonalds  inspired burger  chain restaurants .  food is a primal root of desire   asserted oshii  by way of explanation .  br    br   thrown into the mix is a new breed of consumer the fast  food grifters of the title  people who don  t like to pay for their tucker and are constantly fine  tuning their elaborate scams to score free munchies .  br    br   oshii said his ulterior motive was homage to the  art  of eating food on the streets  something still considered a bit of a taboo in this country  and which goes some way toward explaining the use of  tachigui  in the title .  br    br   the director of live  action movies  avalon  stray dog  as well as animation  oshii has often blurred the definition between the two mediums . the celluloid result here is deposited somewhere in the grey area between both formats .  br    br   at times the visual experiment here is as exhilarating as it can be irritating . just don  t ask what it  s all really supposed to mean oshii  s films  which are equal parts cerebral and innovative  are often not particularly clear story  wise . where oshii succeeds is via a liberal dose of black humor  here you  ll find kentucky fried rat  death by hula  hoop  the world  s fastest samurai burger chef  and in the movie  s very nature of surrealism .  br    br   this is a man who defers to the influence of filmmakers like godard and truffaut  and perhaps owes as much to andrei tarkovsky as he does david lynch . so it shouldn  t come as any surprise that at one stage a b    bomber does a fly  through in a yoshinoya look  alike franchise . the    year  old writer  director seemed to think this natural .  the japan i depicted in the movie may not necessarily be faithful to reality   he suggested .  br    br   of course .                br    br   by andrez bergen  
mercifully  there  s no video of this wannabe western that a stay  afloat vehicle for big frank at a time when his career was floundering . the story of a weasel who lives on the reputation of his big gun brother and who gets run out of town by bad guys only to return to rally his townfolks with a new found courage must have been written by a back  room writer . all in all  this show stinks . the story is basically boring  ill  conceived and so naive that it can offend your intelligence . i must depart complete from the other reviewer who found it  . . . underrated . . .  the critics slammed it at the time and deservedly so . you  ll have to catch it on the last show  if you up late and having a bout of insomnia . but  if you can sit through it  you  ve more fortitude than most of my movie buff friends .  
another entry in the  holiday horror  category that fills the shelves of your local video store . the spoiler  wronged nerdy teen taking revenge on the  cool  kids who wronged him  plot will of course be familiar to those who  ve watched it before . and those who  ve seen it before will probably watch it again those who are expecting ingmar bergman and will subsequently become indignant about their wasted time should just skip it . marilyn manson on the soundtrack and david boreanaz  denise richards and katherine heigl as eye candy   go with the flow and enjoy it . oh  and i loved the creepy mask .  
let me be really clear about this movie . i didn  t watch this movie because of the plot  i watch it for the saucy sex scenes . that being said  this movie is so god damn awful i flip between pure joy of seeing a godly body of traci  mandy schaffer  and cringing my eyeballs out for the disaster of a plot .  br    br   spoiler alert the first scene of the movie already had me cringing . . you see a woman painting something by the lakeside  in pure bliss and serene  then a beautiful girl approach and ask if she could paint beside her . when they both finished  they show each other what they had done . . . and the woman painted a vineyard when she is facing infront of the lake . what kind of screwball director would make this kind of mistake   and in another scene  traci gets to kill her teacher  s lover by smash him with the sail pole  and then she swims away  and none of the town  s police suspected her once . i mean hellooooo  mandy did not wear a glove did she  her finger prints are all over the god damn boat   after that  it gets worst  whenever mandy is around  there is the  chilling  sound effect played which sounds like a cat in hissy fit . it  s also a real pity rosanna arquette  s is in this movie . i feel real sorry for her to have to star in this super low budget soft  porn no brainer . same goes for jrgen prochnow  who also has the misfortune to star in this movie . all in all      .  
having never heard of this film until i saw the rental dvd i as a bit sceptical  there have been many films in the past with good ensemble casts that can  t do anything film a bad script  and in some cases don  t seem to care .  br    br   well having just watched it there was no reason not to give this movie a theatrical release  it is good . the story like most in this genre can seem a little forced at times but there does appear to be a good amount of realism here too that allows the momentum to carry . i was pleasantly surprised at how good a job justin timberlake does here too with such a major role  ok he  s not oscar material yet  but he  ll learn with each role and he shows a lot of promise for the future here . dylan mcdermott too was amazingly good in his unexpectedly nasty role and is definitely the cream of the crop in this movie .  br    br   ultimately  just give it a go . you won  t be disappointed  you won  t be bored  in fact  i think you  ll be more than happy with the end result .  
someone here actually compared this movie in some ways to high noon . now that is a real stretch  i  m a big sinatra fan including some of his acting roles but maybe the only person who could have played this part would have been don knotts . first off  as someone pointed out  sinatra just doesn  t have the build for a western bad  guy wannabe . he  s just too  slight  at this point in his life . maybe he was about the same height as say audie murphy  but murphy had a pretty solid build . sinatra comes across as the big talking little kid who nobody ought to take seriously .  br    br   the story is uninspired and really not credible . i don  t want to spoil it but i think the ending and how the townspeople react in this story doesn  t make any sense . another thing  these people constantly allow themselves to be completely lorded over by some  bad guy  . this is just a little town  so i don  t get the attraction nor do i understand why the people would let themselves be dominated that way .  br    br   there is a  love interest  in the story and if i followed it right  she was upset when the main character refused to admit who he was so some other bad guy wouldn  t kill him . now there  s true love for you .  stand up for yourself  tell him your name so he will kill you   lol . stop  you  re killing me .  br    br   unfortunately the basic premise of the movie isn  t good enough and no matter how they tried this story didn  t have a logical path to follow other than into the wastebasket . want to know why it  s not on video and never shown on tv  the critics apparently panned it in     and they were right  this movie is pretty bad . i would almost bet sinatra paid someone to deep six the thing as much as possible .  br    br   you want to see a good western where a town stands up against a bad guy  try tension at table rock  or at gunpoint  two really  really good westerns with that theme . johnny concho is johnny stinko . frank  you were the greatest singer ever  but you didn  t belong in a movie like this .  
first of all  this film was not released to theatres  tested poorly they say   i say they figured the story of crooked cops  politicians  dedicated newspaper people had been done to death  just send it dvd  cable tv   take the money  run .  br    br   that being said i usually like this type of movie  especially with this named cast . morgan freeman  justin timberlake  kevin spacey   br    br   l . l . cool j  cary elways  john heard  on the distaff side  piper perabo  roslyn sanchez .  br    br   the plot  story have been done to death  but the above cast brings life to this violent movie  it is actually watchable .  br    br   justin timberlake is good as the dedicated young reporter for a throw  away newspaper edited by morgan freeman  the others are either crooked cops   politicians or somewhat decent guys  the  ladies are the girl friends of ll cool j  justin timberlake  do whats required  it is quite violent  many killings etc  not for children . by no means is the a great film  but for what it is  the cast it is definitely good   br    br   ratings   out of     points  out of     imdb   out of     
frank sinatra was far from the ideal actor for westerns . he was a great actor  from here to eternity and the man with the golden arm are a proof of that  but he did not have the physique of a western hero  you identified him as an urban guy . but he tried to do his job well in johnny concho  the fact that the film was a failure at the box office was not his fault . i blame it on two factors a  the story was too unusual  specially in the fact that sinatra behaves more like a villain than as a hero throughout the movie . in a genre where people kind of expected a certain pattern  to break away from it the film has to be very good . b  the story is not convincing  it is hard to believe that a whole town will allow sinatra to do anything he wants just because they are afraid of his brother . also when a man shows him a special holster that will open sideways so he has not to draw the gun you wonder that if that will make him invincible  why all the gunfighters have not adopted it  i think that this film should not have been withdrawn  because any film with sinatra is worth seeing  and in spite of its shortcomings it is still enjoyable  
i thought it was a pretty good movie and should have been released in theaters first . it wouldn  t have been a big blockbuster but it would have made some pretty good money . the movie has suspense and makes you wonder just how much of this is going on in the real world . justin timberlake did a good job . i wasn  t expecting justin timberlake to do that good a job . considering it is his first movie he did a good job . this is a movie that is good to pick up and watch when you just don  t know what you want to rent that night . it should go pretty well . the cast was great . so i highly recommend that everyone checks this movie out   
i opted to see the film at the recent dubai film festival because it had been selected to the cannes film festival  s prestigious competition section . i was surprised that cannes could be so off the mark in judging quality .  br    br   the film  some reviewers  have noted does not have too much of gunfire   but the inherent violence is repulsive . imagine killing your enemy  competitor in front of your young son . . or forcing someone to eat a porcelain spoon to prove loyalty . there are some hints of the contrasting corleone sons in copolla  s  godfather  that seem to resurface here in this chinese  hong kong film but the quality of the two are as distinctly different as chalk and cheese .  br    br   this film is only recommended for violence junkies . . there is no great cinema here . at best it might be considered to be better than the usual run run shaw production for production values .  
though this movie has a first rate roster of fine actors  special effects that are excellent  and a story line that is full of surprises  it wasn  t picked up for studio distribution and went directly to dvd . perhaps it contains too much  anti  police force  information  or perhaps it is juts one too many action flicks released during a glut  but whatever the reason the big screens missed the opportunity  fortunately the new concept of releasing direct to dvd allows us to enjoy it .  br    br   the theme is old rookie reporter uncovers an inner circle of cops that are corrupt  in this case the f . r . a . t .  first response assault and tactical  team  a group of well trained policeman created to clean up the mythical city of edison from its low point of crime  drugs  prostitution etc . working undercover the temptation of pocketing the confiscated goods and money proves too much of an opportunity and now    years after its formation  frat is responsible for murder  drug trafficking  terrorizing innocent people etc . the lead dog is lazerov  dylan mcdermott  who makes a terrifyingly real gangster   and his partner rafe deed  ll cool j  even more buff than usual and proving he can be a sensitive actor  . reporter pollack  justin timberlake  catches wind of a  bad mistake  and reports his theory of fraud and corruption to his paper  s boss ashford  the always reliably fine morgan freeman  . gradually polack convinces ashford and subsequently wallace  kevin spacey  also a consistently fine character actor  and they aid pollack in this investigative reporting . the closer pollack gets to the truth the more surprises and bad incidents happen and the story runs pall mall toward a series of unexpected results .  br    br   timberlake lacks the charisma to carry the lead  especially in the company of such seasoned actors . but ll cool j  freeman  spacey  and mcdermott keep the well  oiled machine of a movie rolling to the very end . no  it is not a great movie  but it is one that makes for an edge of the seat action flick with a message . grady harp  
it seems like more consideration has gone into the imdb reviews of this film than went into the source .  br    br   here  s a review without pretensions  br    br   just when you think nothing is going to happen  it doesn  t .  br    br   dress it up any way you like  this is a dull film  full of unengaging characters doing very little of interest .  br    br   one to put on if you want to convince an impressionable emo chick that you  re like  so deep  man .  br    br   not something to watch for your own pleasure though .  br    br   unless .  br    br   you  re .  br    br   pretentious .  
first off  i  m not some justin timberlake fangirl obsessed with making him look good  in fact i  m not even a huge justin fan  but i did like this movie .  br    br   i work at a video store and when i saw this movie with its huge cast that i  d never even heard of i had to see what it was about . i didn  t find justin  s acting that bad  it was clearly the worst out of the group  but it  s a pretty impressive group  with cary elwes and dylan mcdermott being two names that didn  t even make the first credits list . the story is basic  a journalist uncovering corrupt cops  but i found it well done . l l cool j  s character was clearly conflicted  but i honestly didn  t know what he would do in the end . morgan freeman is as always  the wise mentor figure he does so well  and as much as i love kevin spacey  he was kind of just there . his character didn  t have a whole lot of substance  but it  s kevin spacey  he can do no wrong .  br    br   surprisingly i thought dylan mcdermott gave the best performance as a homicidal cop . truly believable and really in character  he freaked me out a couple of times .  br    br   i was really expecting a lot of cheesiness to be honest . horrible catchphrases  unjustified action sequences  stuff like that  but it was surprisingly well done and i didn  t find any of that . every shooting had a point  it wasn  t clichd  pretty solid really .  br    br   overall  amazing cast  decent story that kept me interested and just enough action to make me jump . i don  t know why it didn  t appear in theatres  it was better than some garbage i  ve seen on the big screen . i would say it  s worth seeing .  
cut tries to be like most post  scream slashers tried to be  a spoof of the horror genre that tried to be clever by referencing other famous horror movies . now  i am not bagging  scream   as i think  scream  is a very good horror movie that does a great job of blending horror and comedy . cut fails on most levels . it has its moments but overall it just does not work out  not even as a  so bad it  s good  movie  just a below average one .  br    br   the first five minutes or so are ok and set the story fairly well  apart from the fact that kylie minogue can  t really act  and ironically she gets her tongue out  go figure . go forward some time and a group of film students want to finish her film off  which is apparently cursed . and  as you have probably predicted  one by one the cast and crew are slowly picked off by a masked madman .  br    br   unoriginal plot  poor acting and a predictable ending are a few of the elements that follow . there is plenty of referencing in the film  everything from  scream  to  the texas chain saw massacre .  this isn  t smart either  it feels as though the director wanted to feel smart and cool by mentioning other famous horror flicks ala scream . for a slasher there is minimal gore and no nudity  which is a huge negative when it comes to a slasher that has not got a whole lot going for it . really  i should be supporting this movie because i  m australian and we  re not as good when it comes to horror  we do have our gems  though  but cut is definitely not one of them .  br    br   however  it did keep me watching for the   minutes or so  so that is something good at least . i would not recommend this to anyone apart from hardcore slasher fans  who may be able to appreciate what this film is trying to aim for  but if you are looking for a good movie  stay away .  br    br       
steven spielberg  at    had already directed two superb episodes of a     series called  the psychiatrist   starring roy thinnes . one episode had been about an emotionally troubled    year old boy and the other was about a vibrant young man  clu gulager in his best performance  who is dying of cancer . both episodes were stunning  visually unlike anything else on tv  and emotionally complex and adult . the creators of  the psychiatrist  were richard levinson and william link  who created  columbo  and also produced its first season .  br    br   peter falk insisted on first rank  experienced tv directors for the first season of  columbo   like bernard kowalski and jack smight . but falk agreed to spielberg after watching part of the clu gulagher episode of  the psychiatrist  .  br    br   spielberg says on the dvd of  duel  that he loved steven bochco  s  murder by the book  script  based on a levinson  link story   and he tried to make the production look like a million dollar feature  even thought he had a lot less money to work with .  br    br   this episode of  columbo  is far more visually stylish and makes better use of the sound track and background music than almost any other  columbo  episode  even though the series always used top directors . spielberg manages to keep the great falk and cassidy from hamming it up too much  but both actors are still a lot of fun . spielberg also gets fine supporting work from martin milner  rosemary forsyth and barbara colby . all the performances have a freshness and vitality about them . the only  columbo  episode that was close to being as well directed is the  by dawn  s early light  episode with patrick mcgoohan  directed by harvey hart  .  br    br   i think the two episodes of  the psychiatrist  and this episode of  columbo  suggest spielberg hasn  t developed technically all that much as a director . he was great from the beginning . in a  combat   dvd commentary of a     episode guest starring albert salmi  robert altman says that episode was pretty much as good as he ever got as a director . maybe the same is true of spielberg .  
geez  this is one of those movies that you think you previously reviewed but you didn  t . i mean  you didn  t give a crap about it but somehow it came to your mind .  br    br   to be honest and brief this is one of the worst  boring  and stupid slashers ever made . i can  t say anything good about this piece of crap because there are barely decent sequences that could tell it  s made by professional film makers .  br    br   the death scenes are horrible  bloodless  stupid . the plot is somehow good taking in account that it copied  popcorn  from     .  br    br   to make things even worse  this isn  t a movie so bad that it  s good . it  s just plain bad .  br    br   molly ringwald tried to do her best but it wasn  t enough .  
there is no such a thing as perfect murder . lieutenant columbo knows that . ken franklin  who is the other half of the writing team of detective stories doesn  t know that . he kills his partner jim ferris who had plans on going solo . now columbo steps into the picture and asks all sorts of questions from mr . franklin . and returns for one more question . columbo murder by the book       is directed by the young steven spielberg before his days of fame . steven bochco wrote it . columbo is a fantastic character with his shabby look . it  s hard to believe this man could solve any crime . but he could . each and every one of them  peter falk is the one and only person in the world that could portray this character . so no remakes  please . this part is a very good example of how columbo worked . jack cassidy plays the murderer and martin milner plays the victim . rosemary forsyth plays the victim  s wife joanna ferris . there  s something endearing in the scenes between columbo and her . how he makes the omelet and everything . barbara colby plays lilly la sanka . she actually met a tragic fate when she died after a homicide like she does here . i  ve been a fan of columbo since childhood and i still enjoy watching them . there was a break for many years that they weren  t showing columbo stories at all but now he  s back . back for one more question .  
everyone in this movie tells raffy carruthers how talented she is  what a great director she  ll one day turn out to be  etc . i think they  re just being nice . even kimble rendall  who directed this film  shows more talent than she does .  the next jane campion   they call her and  even apart from the fact that they  re both over  rated  the two have so much in common . they both direct movies . they  re both women . they  re both australian .  well  give or take .   br    br   yep it  s one of those films in which a character is deemed to be brilliant  and we just have to swallow hard and accept it . but i  ll say this for carruthers she  s cute .  and fascinating . no  really . here are some thoughts on her lack of talent  br    br      part of a director  s talent lies in dealing with people . why is carruthers so phenomenally bad at getting her crew to even take notice of her  so as to make it easier for everyone to wander off the set and get killed  i expect .  br    br      why is this one of the most unconvincing depictions of a movie set i have ever seen  after all  it must have been filmed on a real movie set . how could they get it wrong  if rendall  s set was half as much of an under  staffed shambles it  s a wonder he completed his film at all .  br    br      carruthers  the fictional director  has set herself the task of creating a brand new     s horror flick . fat chance . i doubt it can be done these days . i suspect that rendall  the actual  and more talented  director  set himself the same task  realised it couldn  t be done  and settled for  sigh  knowing parody instead . of course  it  s not enough of a parody to work as a parody . as soon as the cast and crew set foot in the isolated mansion the film just spends most of its time doing badly what     s horror films did . . . well  less badly .  br    br      and yet  and yet . . . the film opens with not a parody but an honest  to  goodness pastiche of   s horror  starring  this is too good to be true  molly ringwald . this pastiche is much better than anything that follows .  it  s a bad sign when you find yourself wishing you were watching the movie  within  the  movie  rather than the movie .  yet it  too  was filmed in the late     s . perhaps it is still possible to make     s horror . you just have to drop the knowing parody stuff and mean it .  br    br      i  d never once wondered what     s teen horror would be like if all the characters had australian accents  but now i know . and strangely  i  m glad i know . a need i never knew i had has been fulfilled .  
this is the columbo that got directed by steven spielberg at an early point in his career . it  s nothing sensational but some small hint of great things to come for spielberg can be seen in this movie . the movie is basically in the same style as most of spierlberg  s     s movies and tv works . so that means that some characters tend to show some quirkiness  s and no i  m not just talking about the columbo character alone . the kind of character quirkiness which perhaps can be best seen in the     spielberg movie  jaws  . but other than some small hints of typical early spielberg elements  you can  t call this movie the work of  and fine example of a rising director star . not that its bad  of course it isn  t but as i said earlier  it also isn  t anything too sensational .  br    br   this movie began really well and very promising but after it  s fine opening  in which as always the murder occurred  the movie became sort of more slow and also dull to watch . dull because it  s mostly a columbo movie by the book that doesn  t have real memorable moments in it  not dull because it  s a boring movie to watch .  br    br   the murder itself was quite ingenious and the concept of having a crime story writer murdering his writing partner showed some great and interesting potential . the story however didn  t really explored all of its possibilities . at least that  s the feeling this movie left me with .  br    br   the movie was still a good one to watch nevertheless thanks to the character of jack cassidy  who thinks he  s smarter then columbo  due to his mystery  crime writing experience and tries to give him all kinds of possible hints  leading away from himself . but of course columbo knows better and he is his number one suspect from the first moment on but he as usual plays the game along .  br    br   the movie does have a good overall style and uses some fine camera position and editing . funny to see that also most of this was all mostly consistent with spielberg  s later work  especially some of the camera  angles .  br    br   a fine and perfectly watchable columbo movie but don  t let the name of spielberg attached to it rise your expectations for it too highly .  br    br        
this film was made and cast from my home town . i remember the fuss about it and the whole hullabaloo about the fact molly ringwald was in town . . .  br    br   storyline . . .  br    br   essentially   years after a film was  laid to rest  without being finished  a group of film students set out to complete it  with dire consequences . it would seem someone does not want the film completed .  br    br   the storyline is flimsy . one has to remember that this is a comedy and therefore has to be taken a little tounge in cheek  but it had no real oomph . the characters are mostly transperant and the little info that you recieve about them you just don  t care about  it seems irrelevant . it is weird hearing kylie  s accent as australian again and nice to see a kid i went to school with in a starring role . but that doesn  t redeem the film at all . goodness knows why the makers thought they would get in molly ringwald . perhaps due to the nature of the film  it sort of pays homage to   s films  bad horror films  but really an aussie actor would have done just fine .  br    br   as far as casting is concerned a lot of the acting seemed constipated . some of these kids  especially the two main chics  they played  director  and  producer   looked like they were trying to act . that is never a good look . also  the shots had a rough feel about them . over lit perhaps  just not as smooth as one is used to .  br    br   the killer . lord . could it be less frightening  there are some shock factors though  and a couple of gross scenes . i did like the film  but it was not great . it went for   minutes but could have gone for less . perhaps if they had tightened the script it would have been better . they had a lot of characters get killed  but no real build up to them getting slayed . maybe if they had killed less people and actually concentrated on a scary atmosphere it would have been better .  br    br   now i know it is a comedy and elements were funny . or so unbelieveable they were funny . but i am not convinced .  br    br   lm .  
casting jack cassidy as ken frankin was sheer brilliance . cassidy personified arrogance  confidence  charm and wit  all with a condescending  evil little smirk on his face . in my opinion  jack cassidy is by far the best murderer  having appeared three times  in the columbo series . this particular  and first  performance  is my favorite columbo episode ever  hands down . a fresh faced steven spielberg did amazing camera work  yes  there were a couple of camera shadows on the actors at times  capturing the nuances and banter at different and intriguing angles between columbo and franklin . also  the panoramic and tight in shots at big bear lake  ca  franklin  s cabin home  were very impressive .  br    br   if you have not yet seen this episode  then you owe it to yourself to do so  it  s a true masterpiece .  br    br   jack cassidy was a very talented actor and singer . his charismatic personality was highly infectious . his death in      at age   was very sad and indeed very tragic  he surely had his best years ahead of him . rest in peace jack  you will live on for eternity through your great work .  
normally i  m not motivated to write reviews . but this movie was so excruciatingly painful i feel i must . i cringed at the appallingly predictable plot  the lame acting and laughed at moments which were supposed to be tense . indeed most of the audience seemed pretty bored and chatty even at the  most tense  moment of the movie . molly ringwald stood out as the only performance of any merit in a tortured production . even the  twist  at the end wasn  t . i  ve heard it said that the movie didn  t take itself seriously but i could find little evidence of that in the movie .  br    br   cut should have been left on the cutting room floor . do yourself a favour and spend your time and money on something else   
along with patrick mcgoohan and robert culp  jack cassidy was an iconic columbo villain . the very first  proper  episode of columbo  following two standalone pilots   murder by the book  is not far off classic status .  br    br   jack cassidy plays ken franklin  one half of a murder mystery writing partnership . his partner jim is the talented one  whereas ken has no talent other than the gift of the gab and a skill for promoting the books . as soon as jim has decided he no longer requires ken  s marketing skills  ken hatches a plot to kill jim . except it  s not a new plot  it  s actually the implementation in real life of a murder storyline originally intended for one of their books .  br    br   it doesn  t take columbo long to work out that ken is the murderer  although unfortunately another murder has to take place  ken romances and then kills a key witness  before columbo has enough evidence to secure a conviction .  br    br   nothing whatsoever wrong with  murder by the book   but it  s not quite top  notch . i would just give  publish or perish  the edge over this both episodes feature jack cassidy and the world of publishing  but  publish or perish  is a fraction more tense and unpredictable . but this is still a great episode .  
  cut  is a film about some film students making a film . it  s very much in the  scream  mold  an ironic  self  referential horror flick which  for me at least  falls down because for all its irony  it  s still just a bad horror film  same as the films its referring to .  br    br   but it was not without its charms . well  one charm anyway . molly ringwald was fantastic as the spoilt  bitchy american actress hating every minute of working with the amateur australian film crew . she was so convincing that its tempting to believe it wasn  t an act  although everyone involved with  cut  says she was lovely to work with .     br    br   seriously  every scene of her pouting  sulking or snapping was great . everyone else  however  wavered between being ok and being terribly wooden .  br    br   anyway   cut  has some laughs  a few buckets of gore  some of it surprisingly gruesome   and ultimately is . . just another bad horror film .  
the first hour or so of the movie was mostly boring to say the least . however it improved afterwards as the valentine party commenced . apart from the twist as to the identity of the killer in the very end  the hot bath murder scene was one of the few relatively memorable aspects of this movie . the scene at the garden with kate was well shot and so was the very last scene  the  twist   . in those scenes  there was some genuine suspense and thrills and the hot bath murder scene had a nasty  the way slashers should be  edge to it . the earlier murders are frustratingly devoid of gore .  
this can  t be mandy schaffer  s last film . somebody  do something      br    br   argh .  br    br   what little life this one might have had  the directing finished off . don  t blame the cast they did ok . even the winemaker  s younger brother was pretty well done  and he didn  t even get into the movie until halfway through . and please  please put mandy in some more movies  she  s too beautiful to bury her career at such a young age . ya  breakin  my haht  heah . . . .  br    br   two specific criticisms  in case anyone cares  apparently nobody liked this movie very much  . first  the way traci kept popping up at just the right melodramatic moment  in order to see whatever she was supposed to see  and never got seen in return  was very annoying . hollywood please stop giving villains perfect timing luck which runs out exactly when the climax arrives . it  s dumb . write better scripts so you won  t have to use that lame plot device any more . if your script isn  t good enough to stand up without that  then don  t produce it .  br    br   second  carmen wouldn  t have fallen for that fake injury trick that traci pulled . she already had traci fingered . more bad writing  directing there .  br    br   i could trash this movie further but mercy forbids it . actually i didn  t hate it as much as the others seem to have . it just didn  t have much of a reason for being made  unless it was purely a vehicle to show off the lovely mandy . oh  and to whoever didn  t think she was sexy . . . the character wasn  t very well written  but how can you say she wasn  t sexy    one or the other of us needs glasses  and i don  t think it  s me .  br    br   more mandy .  not to be confused with  moore  mandy    although i  d like to see her again too .     br    br   p . s . did i mention i hope mandy makes me more movies     d  
the story for the first  aired television installment of  columbo  is simple one  half of successful mystery  writing team does away with the other  frames an unseen mafia group  is blackmailed by an admirer  does away with the admirer  and is tricked up by the stalwart columbo .  br    br   with that said  this is still one of the most entertaining in the show  s history  benefiting tremendously by the work of the late jack cassidy and star peter falk .  br    br   besides the notability of being directed by a young steven spielberg  the episode also has a air of the macabre because of the future of two of its stars cassidy and barbara colby . the two share several scenes together and it is poignant that both would die tragically within a decade of this filming  cassidy in an apartment fire and colby at the hands of assailants  yet to be found after over three decades .  br    br   now  both demises are true  life mysteries   
oh man  does this movie ever bite  if you were ever afraid of seeing a rehash of the slasher genre  done as cheap as possible and as cautious at the same time  pc  friendly  means no nudity  a classic element of slasher films  cut is it . every cliche is retread without a hint of self  awareness and the acting . oh  the acting redefines the word horror . i should have known better as the direct dutch translation of the title would have tipped me off .  
this columbo episode is probably noted more for the director  steven spielberg  as one of his early films . it should be looked at for jack cassidy  s role as the murderer who kills his partner in writing to maintain his lifestyle . jack cassidy would appear in a later columbo . after all  columbo meets his match in jack cassidy  s character . he is a mystery writer who plots to perform the perfect murder . after his first murder  his next victim would be the annoying general store owner  widow who would blackmail him for money . rather than losing more money  he kills her . it is very entertaining to watch cassidy and falk as always . falk  s familiarity as columbo makes him watchable after viewing this episode repeatedly over the years . what television today forgets about the success of years is that people will want to watch the shows again and again if they like the characters . it  s not about who does it  how and why  it the familiarness of columbo and his likability which scores high with viewers like myself .  
slasher films are often seen as the derivative  repetitive and frankly unoriginal . i happen to to be a horror movie fan  but this film was just so poor  words fail me . the script is severely lacking  the plot is ridiculous  the acting astoundingly bad . just an all round stinker  that i wasted time of my life on . this had all the entertainment value of a   th sequel to a film that was dire in the first place .  br    br   who greenlit this mess   br    br   i only liked two things in this movie . the first was the killer  s mask  which was nice . the second was the austrailian affinity with humourous profanity .  br    br   save yourself  and avoid this hideous mess .  
this was the first televised episode of the columbo series  although it was filmed after  death lends a hand   and it heralded one of the most successful tv series in history .  br    br   jack cassidy  who played the murderer in the series three times  enthuses smugness  arrogance and self  assuredness in equal measure here  as ken franklin  one half of a mystery writing team who hatches an elaborate plot to kill off his partner  jim ferris  played by martin milner  who decides to terminate their professional relationship  leaving franklin exposed as merely a good publicist rather than a prolific writer .  br    br   the initial murder set  up is fantastic and cassidy  s performance facilitates an arguable accolade that he was the best columbo murderer in the series .  br    br   peter falk is wonderfully understated in his role as columbo and the character  s inherent traits and oddities  which are underlined by a seeming slowness and absent  mindedness  contrast particularly well with cassidy  s character  s extreme smugness one of their early scenes together where ken franklin fabricates a motive for the killing through jim ferris  s non  existent expo  see of identifying hit  men operating in the underworld exemplifies this very well . franklin hints to columbo this potential motive and columbo  purposely or ignorantly  fails to latch on  forcing franklin to express his disappointment in a markedly patronising manner and compare him unfavourably with the detective in the books  mrs . melville .  br    br   also  noteworthy is the early directorial contribution of   year old steven spielberg . notwithstanding  some elementary inclusions of cameras shadowing the actors and actresses  he adds some stylish and elaborate touches to uphold the general professionalism of the episode . one particularly stark image is of jim feriss  s dead body lying on the settee  almost dark in the foreground  as ken franklin raises a glass to him in the background after he finishes answering a phone call to ferris  s distraught wife . i have no doubt that working to a restrictive      day schedule  spieberg  s efforts should not be underestimated .  br    br   unfortunately  the event of the second murder  necessitated by a blackmailing scheme which is plotted by a female friend of franklin  s  and ironically referred to as  sloppy  by columbo in his climatic summing up  takes the steam out of the whole thing . the cutting edge of the plot is compromised and the screen  time between falk and cassidy inexcusably lessens at this point to perhaps help the script  writer  stephen bocho  out of a tight corner  since he cannot singularly develop the story without another murder .  br    br   the climax is the most disappointing aspect of this episode . the initial banter and exchange of words between falk and cassidy is strongly and effectively executed  but it merely advertises the fact that it should have happened more in the episode . the main aggravation lies with the sealing clue  if it can be called a clue   cassidy  s character  s hitherto smugness and arrogance is amazingly expelled by a clue that really does little to imply his guilt and once this is mentioned  he capitulates in a rather unspectacular and uncharacteristic fashion .  br    br   all in all  a bold opening to the series  which inevitably advertises and foretells all that is good about columbo  and  conversely  the problems associated with such ingenuity  i . e maintaining the high standards and particularly  creating a credible and suitably intelligent ending .  
slash flicks come few and far between now a days  so when i heard about cut i had high hopes and heard good things about it . those good things i heard were all wrong . . very wrong  this flick is bad and i mean bad . it  s just plain stupid . everything about it . especially the killer  s origin and how he stays alive and how he is taken care of in the end . there is nothing original or outstanding about this flick . just another slasher wannabe with those  hip    self aware .   movie savvy  characters . i  m so sick of that crap . someone do something different cause the slash genre needs new blood  literally .  
i am a big beatles fan . my favorite beatle is paul and my least favorite is john . i already knew quite a bit about the beatles music and the truth behind the breakup  as well as things like john lennon  s family and paul  s band wings . i was curious to see how this movie would handle the relationship between john and paul so many years after the breakup .  br    br   i was not disappointed by this movie . although the story itself is fiction  many of the references that the two musicians used were very accurate . these included how yoko ono would always be with john wherever he went  the wings song  silly love songs  being the number one hit that year and the concert on the roof of apple studios playing music from the album  let it be .   br    br   the actors did a very good job in playing john and paul . the accents could had used maybe a bit more work  but they seemed to act a lot like i  ve read the two former  beatles used to act like . i also liked the dialogue between them  which was basically what the entire movie was .  br    br   the ending at first disappointed me  but the more you think about it the more you will appreciate it  especially since this was how it really went in real life . they also show the fantastic skit from  saturday night live  in which the beatles are offered       to perform on the show .  as compared to the     million others were offering them  overall  i was not disappointed with this movie . it does really give you more of a feel for why the beatles broke up and why they never got back together .  
i saw this movie the other night and i have to honestly say it  s one of the worst films i  ve ever seen . the acting is fair  but the plot is totally ridiculous . a killer is born because of all the  energy used to make the movie  and if the film is burned the killer will die  how unbelievable is that  the characters were underdeveloped to say the least . . . for example  all of a sudden the man mentions  aren  t you trying to complete the film because your mother couldn  t   so we  re supposed to go along with this  we had no idea it was her daughter until half way through the film . the movie really didn  t spotlight on anyone  we didn  t know anything about the main people who survived except ringwald  s character was a whiney actress  the guy was on the set when the people died and raffy wanted to be a director like her mother . not truly diving in to know who they are . seemed things were rushed to just get to the killings . the whole plot is entirely too weak for my taste and i was extremely disappointed . anyone who enjoyed this piece of crap  obviously needs to learn a thing or two about film making . i can  t believe anyone would agree to star or even work on this picture . it  s not funny  it was not scary and was cliche through the entire film . i found myself predicting what would happen before each scene  which believe you me wasn  t hard at all to do . it  s a disgrace and i  m deeply sorry i wasted an hour and a half watching the mess .     .  
warning spoilers ahead . . . the writers of this story knew these men very well . the actors  likewise  portrayed them very well . the result is that by the end of the film you feel like you  re actually watching john lennon and paul mccartney . the expected tensions are there  especially in the awkward first moments . but as the two begin to loosen up  the old camaraderie that made the beatles work so well begins to show through . the bitterness is still there  and interrupts at times  but by the time john gets the idea to take lorne michaels up on his offer to pay the beatles the gag sum of      to appear on  saturday night live   the two could be the same boyish pranksters that terrorized liverpool together as teens  and survived playing the rough nightclubs of hamburg to rise to superstardom . but in the end  this wonderful fantasy grounds us gently . we are reminded why a beatles reunion was most likely never possible even before lennon  s assassination the two driving forces of the group outgrew each other .  
it seems that several of the people who have reviewed this movie only watched it in the first place because it was filmed near where they live . how  s that for a ringing endorsement  if this movie was filmed near where i lived i wouldn  t be mentioning it in my review . it is horrid  several reviews state that this film is a spoof or tongue  in  cheek horror movie  it is neither . it is sad to see this film reviewed as a comedy as that makes it not only a bad attempt at a horror film but as a comedy as well . i did laugh though  at how unbelievably bad the film was .  br    br   this movie has  good things going for it  the mask and the weapon of choice  unfortunately it would have been more interesting watching an hour and a half of the mask and weapon laying on a table then watching this garbage . the social commentary behind the film is also laughable  juvenile and stupid . don  t bother with this movie  you  ve already wasted time reading this review don  t waste anymore on this movie . arrggghhh  it  s infuriating that movies like this even get made . i was expecting the entire cast a crew to be credited to alan smithee  a name used when a person  usually a director  doesn  t want to be credited with a movie because it  s so bad .  br    br   there is nothing redeeming in this movie  i spent   .   on the rental and feel i was ripped off . avoid .  out of    
i sat down to watch this film with much trepidation and little hope . i didn  t think it would be possible for this film to live up to its subject matter . but it absolutely did  and then some . first  i must say that jared harris did an extraordinary job as john lennon . at times it seemed that harris was channeling lennon . the resemblance was often uncanny  and he clearly studied lennon  s mannerisms and vocal inflections . aiden quinn was quite good as mccartney  also bearing a striking resemblance to macca  although he did occasionally trip over his scouse accent .  br    br   this work of fiction was well  written and well  directed . it was pure fantasy  of course  but sometimes i felt like a voyeur peeking through a keyhole at this reunion . the rooftop scene was especially moving  as mccartney told lennon what he had never heard as a child   that he was worthy and important  and it could never be his fault that he was abandoned by his parents . i also enjoyed the scene in the park where the pair of them danced with absolute abandon to the reggae band   br    br   my one complaint would be this i am not so sure that john was as caustic as he was portrayed in the film at this stage in his life . he had settled in to his domestic situation quite nicely  and he was actually known to be quite friendly when approached by fans . only a few years later  he was very friendly when he was first approached by his assassin for an autograph on the day he was murdered .  br    br   mostly this film served to stir up those feelings again about what might have been had john lived a bit longer . i am quite sure the beatles would have come back together at some stage . and i am quite certain that lennon and mccartney would still be friends today .  br    br   well done  vh  . i will watch it again and again .  br    br    
rip off of  scream  or especially  i know what you did last summer   there  s some entertainment here  and a little scary  but they needed some originality .  br    br   an entertainment score   .     overall   .      
this was a real guilt pleasure . . . i saw the trailer and all the advertising  so i figured  why not check out this vh  movie   and  as they used to say on t . v .   i can  t believe i watched the whole thing   quinn and harris were believable beatle boys  and  although the accents were sort of over  the  top and difficult to decipher at times  i found the dialogue believable as well . the film touched upon the tenuous relationship of len  mc and showed how  deep down  they were simply two guys who grew up close together and shared a passion for music  coming at it  though  with different sets of issues and personal needs . you find yourself wishing they  d hopped in the cab to snl for an impromptu reunion that would have knocked the world  s socks off  but you also gain a greater appreciation for why they didn  t  
a slasher flick  made in the early    s  has a curse on it which has anyone who tries to finish it turning up dead . years later  a group of film students attempted to complete the movie  also resurrecting the films deadly curse . great idea for a film  but sadly  cut  is just another wasted opportunity .  br    br   unfortunately australia hasn  t had the world  s best track record when it comes to horror .  razorback        was an out and out dud as was  holwing iii         which was half an american film anyway . as for our foray into comedy  horror   body melt        is best left forgotten . the problem with  cut  is that the makers trying to create a clever horror satire a la  scream        but have no insight into the genre or what makes it work . and although this sounds weird me saying this about a slasher film but what  cut  really lacks is any  heart  . sure it follows the basic  rules  established by  scream   but it doesn  t want to play with the formula  instead it goes for a cardboard copy of the earlier .  br    br   the killer  scarman  is probably one of the most boring and uncharismatic villains in horror movie history . his endless barrage awkwardly  lame one  liners would make the dialogue of a porno seem like shakespeare . the cast never seem like their fully involved and look like their just waiting for a shoot to be over so they can collect their pay checks . and the feel of the film is like it  s deliberately trying not to be creepy looking more like an episode of  neighbors  or  heartbreak high  . by the way  those attempts at mtv style  hyper  cinema during the  research  sequence just look lame  dated and out of place .  br    br   if australia ever gets a chance to do horror again  which i hope we still do  maybe we should take a leaf from the  mad max        book . instead of trying to copy the u . s . we should be trying our own take on the genre .  
i still wonder why i watched this movie . admittedly  before i viewed this film  i knew practicly nothing about the beatles . i didn  t even know all their names  all i knew was that they had a ton of fans  they had some albums that some people claim to be the greatest ever  they broke up  john married yoko ono  and john was murdered .  br    br   also  vh  isn  t even my favorite music station  mtv is . still  for some reason or another i decided to watch it  not expecting much . surprisingly  i enjoyed it very much  the dialogue was written and handled very well with the occasion of a slight accent mess up . this is very important  because john and paul talking is pretty much the whole film  allthough they are taken outside to explore more possibilities  and to keep you watching . jared harris and adien quinn give good performaces  overall .  br    br   the ending was also very smart . i enjoyed how the movie gets you excited about the snl performace  and then slaps you over the head and makes you realize that it would be better if they just let it go  and end it on a good note . my favorite moment is probably the touching rooftop scene .  br    br   overall  i recommend this film to almost everyone . it is a very good way of settling your curiosity of what could have happened if  years after the break up paul just showed up on john  s doorstep . which is probably the main reason of my viewing this film  settling my curiosity on who the beatles really were and what could have happened to them after the breakup .  
the cover of box of this movie has kyle minogue  s name on it  but she has the same destiny as drew barrymore did in  scream .  that  s the first thing that makes this movie lame they are trying to market a movie with someone that  s in it for  minutes .  br    br   of course  we have to have this movie feature young hip college kids that are oblivious that there  s a killer going around . to top it all off  molly ringwald of    s teen movie fame is the star of this beautifully written film . it  s a good career move for molly to get some money doing a crappy movie in australia so she won  t get ridiculed in the states .  br    br   either way  this dumb movie is about some dumb horror movie that was never finished because this dumb creature kills everyone that  s in it . throughout the movie  we  re supposed to guess who  s the killer . long story short  remember our little friend molly  she saves the day . . . or does she   br    br   this move is just plain bad  rent it if you feel like torturing yourself or just break it on the floor of your local video store if you see it on the shelf . don  t spread the horror .  
i absolutely loved this film  i was hesitant to watch it at first because i thought it would be too painful . i remember how hard it was when john was shot . however  watching the  two of us  took me back to a happier time when he was still alive and there was hope and possibility . i think that the writer did an amazing job depicting what  might have been .  aidan quinn was adorable as paul and met the challenge head on . i was impressed with his accent and mannerisms . jared harris is also very talented and was quite believable as john . my favorite parts were the scene in the park and the rooftop scene  which was so poignant . the film left me with both sadness and satisfaction  both of which i feel are appropriate  given the circumstances .  
a student filmmaker enlists a b  grade actress  a delectably diva  ish molly ringwald   to complete the horror film that her mother  a dreadfully dull kylie minogue   tried to make   years ago . it  s a curious plot choice to say the least  as any aussie horror fan knows that the genre is sadly lacking in women directors . the film has a curse on it  because molly had to kill some psycho murderer on the original set . but she  s back  because she needs the exposure . unfortunately  the curse is still there and people start dying on the  set .  cut is an aussie attempt at the modern  slasher   but unfortunately it doesn  t bring anything new or exciting to the table . in fact  it rips half of wes craven  s   s filmography . lots of film  world name  dropping a la  scream   except it  s aussie name  dropping   jane campion . . . see how this isn  t as funny  and lots of  is this real or is this a movie  a la  new nightmare .  the editing is bad  the music is annoying  the effects are laughable  almost everything is bad about this . fortunately  the film can have a sense of humor at one point  a well  dressed girl in the movie crew says to the owner of the house they are filming at  don  t worry  we  ll treat your house as if it were our own   to which he responds   that doesn  t mean anything to me  you look like you live in a dump   ha  and molly  s ridiculous one  liners were enough to not regret renting this one .  you got any diet coke in here    as she rides in the film professor  s car  and  does anyone know where i can buy any tofu    the first thing she mutters on the set  and  where the hell is my agent    oh wait  that  s what i was thinking for her .   
this is one of the few movies released about a  what if  type of situation that made me think . it was amazing to hear them speak to each other  and reminisce about all the wonderful  and not so wonderful  things that happened between them . i actually think that there is a very good possibility this occurred like the movie implies  and they actually made peace with each other . those are good memories for every fan to hang onto  and to ask what actually happened between them would be selfish . what an amazing movie this was . the comedic aspects of the movie were wonderful . to think that they were together to patch things up between them in such a way is a comforting thought to people who wish they had a chance to clear the air with someone they didn  t get to . to see john as such a caring  laid back character was refreshing from hearing all of the trash that was spoken about him . . .  
while filming an    s horror movie called  hot blooded   the director is brutally murdered and the leading lady is scarred as she survives the attack and manages to kill murderer . after all of this  the production is abandoned and the stock reels are left to gather dust . so a group of filmmakers decide to pick up where the film left off even though they  re warned by people to keep away from the film  as the last person who was interested in the flick turned up dead in the cinema while watching the film . from this it  s labelled as a cursed production . not taking these warnings seriously the crew goes ahead with the production and they get the original star of the movie to return from hollywood to reprise her role  but not as the daughter but the mother . but again the murders start occurring with the cast and crew getting butchered by an unknown figure dressed up as the film  s killer .  br    br   look what  scream  started  hey  i enjoy those films  but mostly everything else that followed on afterwards were annoying and pointless excuses . during this stage the sub  genre came back with vengeance  but it wasn  t much of a good thing as they were mostly unsuccessful and unoriginal attempts  where they followed the derivative pattern of the scream franchise .  cut  which is an independent australian take on the textbook slasher genre is purely shonky garbage that lacks basically everything and shamelessly knocks off every other slasher flick . but you know what  i found it a cheesy delight . yeah  it  s gawd awful and highly forgettable  but it  s a bit of ala good cheap fun while it lasted . although i did hate it when i originally came across it  but the second time around i knew what i was getting myself into and it worked better for it . it was just like helping myself to a nice slice cheesecake again  but this time it wasn  t so sweet .  br    br   the film came out around the same time as  scream   and  urban legends the final cut  did  which all three follow the same structure of using a movie within a movie .  scream   is obviously the strongest of the three  but i would actually watch this trash over urban legends the final cut . though  it did seem more of a throwback to the    s slashers than that of one of scream  s bastard offspring . pretty much the film is given b  grade treatment and that shows up in the script and performances . the dialog is truly unimaginative and hardly comes up with any surprises and suspense . while  the performances are pure mockery and molly ringwald takes the crown for it . she plays the wash  up actress returning to finish the cursed flick and i had good fun with her laughably ridiculous send  up performance . she provides the bite here and nails it down perfectly . the rest were mostly recognizable australian tv stars  that  s if you  re an australian  with a ravishing jessica napier leading the cast with the likes of stephen curry and frank roberts . also pop singer  and supposed actress  kylie minogue makes a cameo appearance in the opening just to be hacked up  nice . these teens mostly followed the formula of horny and dim  witted kids that have nothing better to do but to be killed . sometimes it feels like they just waiting in queue  because they have no real substance to be there .  br    br   the plot starts off rather interestingly  then heads into a mystery phase where red herrings pop up  but then it makes a sudden u  turn where it becomes a somewhat satire on the horror genre . simply it  s rather choppy and when it comes to the explanation for all of this madness i was kind of left thinking oh my . this when it tries to twist back onto itself in a clever manner  but sadly it falls along way . but don  t you just love an opening ending . also it sports some pop culture references and a self referential  tongue  in  cheek approach . predictability makes its way in rather early and the jokes can become over  stated at times  but it knows that by poking fun at itself quite a bit . the atmosphere looses a bit of edge because of the humour taking away the bleakness  but still the isolated grand old mansion where they are filming has some neat touches that added  some  spookiness . the cinema scene is done rather nicely too .  br    br   now  now we know we want gore and nudity when watching this type of flick  but sadly there  s no nudity to be found and the gore is pretty standard  if lacking but it  s more then decent for such low  budget flick . there are one or two creative deaths  but the rest are systematic . the killer wasn  t bad but when he spoke it kind of hurt it i thought  well the smart  ass attitude didn  t sit well with me . another notes of the production which were dire ranged from the cut  away editing  out  of  place soundtrack and kimble rendall  s direction lacked execution and was pretty careless  but these contributing factors pull together to add some sort of sheer entertainment to all of this badness .  br    br   the imagination matches the budget that  s for sure  but heck this lousy slasher wasn  t trying to be anything else . pure schlock that  s slightly amusing   
what an awesome movie  it was very scary  great acting  well  written  nice plot twists  interesting characters  very good direction  and a surprise ending that will leave you with a smile on your face . this is one popcorn horror flick that may not be appealing to non  horror fans  but is still  nonetheless  one of the best thrillers out there today  i highly recommend it to only fans of  br    br     the horror genre  br    br   or  br    br     an actor or actress featured in it .  br    br    out of  stars   br    br   ps  i am sick and tired of people comparing this  and other modern horror movies  with scream . ya know what  they didn  t want to be like scream . everyone  s like  oh  they copied scream   . well  if i am not mistaking  scream also copied other movies too  in fact  just about every horror movie copied an earlier one . scream  however  was a good film . but  still . . . stop comparing and enjoy it for what it is   br    br   go and rent this one   br    br    
because it is  that  s why  this is the same jealous  daughter  kills  people flick we  ve seen a billion times . rosanna arquette makes anything worth watching  and mandy schaffer  s brief nude scene  after teasing via scantily clad attire throughout the film  at the end almost make this trite blarney worthwhile  but not quite .  br    br    out of   
even though i  m quite young  the beatles are my absolutely favourite band  i never had the chance to hear their music as it was releases but have loved them since i can remember .  br    br   it  s the sort of film that is worth trying the once . i can see why it wasn  t released in the cinema but it is certainly a great film to put on the tv . i was flicking through my tv guide and happened to see this film  it didn  t much details except something like   john lennon and paul mccartney meet after the beatles have broken up  jared harris stars  . i  d never heard of him  he played john  or aiden quinn who played paul . however they are certainly underestimated actors   br    br   the film had a slow start but as it developed  i could see how well quinn but especially harris played their characters . as a huge fan  i sort of know what the real lennon and mccartney are like . the script was brilliant and harris got lennon  s accent  personality and mannerisms spot on  quinn played mccartney quite well but sometimes went into his irish accent . the make  up artists made them look excellent .  br    br   this paragraph may be counted as a spoiler  br    br   as i mentioned before  it got off to a slow start but soon developed and became quite an emotional film . i found the bit in the park a total waste of time and quite out of character for both of the musicians . as for lennon  s rude line in the italian restaurant  totally unnecessary . the ending was very poignant and brings a tear to my eye whenever i watch it .  br    br   it is quite different from the other biographical films i  ve seen where it  s about how the beatles got together and became famous  and those never really did the characters that well . e . g .  backbeat  .  br    br   in conclusion  i would say  if you  re a beatles or john lennon or paul mccartney fan  give it a chance you may have pleasent surprise . at only about   minutes long  it  s worth waiting for the film to develop .  br    br   if anyone does know whether the meeting of     really did happen please send it to the  comments page  for this film  i  d be very interested .  
as with most of ben affleck  s movies  the comedy is dry and story is predictable . that is if you want to call this a story . many points were left connected with no thought at all . i want to thank the director for not explaining the points better . i say that because  that would mean the torture would have lasted longer . as for any of ben affleck  s failures  this one is no exception and is survivable only by the other actors . even then  the acting for the most part was contrived and was not believable . the trip down memory lane with actors i have not seen in years was not worth the price of admission . all thought it should be told  they too are quickly joining the ranks of the  has  been  . my choice was to wait for my car to be fixed or watch this movie . i made the wrong decision . all in all i would give it a one laugh . . . mainly because that is all i got out of it .  
recently shown on cable tv the movie opens with a disclaimer distancing itself from any co  operation of real life persons that in itself is an eye catcher . yet the script and acting from the main characters is superb and i found myself engrossed throughout . due in no small way to the crisp  thoughtful and interesting dialogue . the film is about a meeting on one day between two real life musical  legends  who formerly composed together then seperated . the film captures the essence of their lives and philosophies  in a story which proffers an explanation for their initial  split  . what is so impressive is that the actors give such seemingly realistic portrayals of the characters they play  faults and all  that this viewer at least was left believing i was witnessing a true event in almost every detail . the great skill of this play is that with astute writing and fine acting a movie basically about  two of us  talking can make an excellent picture . worthy of at least an  out of   .  
this movie had more holes than a piece of swiss cheese . ben affleck was seriously not trying to act in any way  shape  or form . he outright sucked . nothing about the movie was believable . the first problems were in the intro  where the man gives everything of value to the salvation army santa claus but it doesn  t show why . and then the granny sticks her head in the oven  really beautiful  and has absolutely nothing to do with the movie  it  s not even in the same tone as the movie . there was no explanation of the motivation for ben affleck to choose the house he chose there was not any believable reactions by the family he chose and people are swayed here and there without any cause to be swayed  example christina applegate and ben affleck  s characters go tobogganing down a steep slope  this is the incident that makes her suddenly fall in love with him . riiiight . . .  anyway  there was a funny moment or two  but they were a rarity in the movie . it seriously needed another rewrite  or   . hope you enjoy   
very slight spoiler  br    br   this movie  despite being only on tv  is absolutely excellent . i didnt really pay attention to the differences in looks or accents  so i cant really comment on that . the acting in this was so good i had to pinch myself and say  remember  its only a movie  this didnt really happen  . as i sat and listened to harris and quinn talk  i knew that it was exactly what john and paul would be talking about had they actually had this meeting . the offhanded comments and burns from john were right on with his character  especially in the restaurant    as was his depression while paul was very easy going and laid back . both actors did and excellent job and i was thrilled to have seen this movie . its a wicked experience for any beatles fan . and prepare for a few surprises   
james gandolfini is a good actor so what ever did he take a role in this piece of unfunny rubbish . affleck is just a lightweight who just can  t cut it  the rest of the cast are truly unforgettable . i saw this in the usa in an empty theatre  i soon knew why the place was empty after about   minutes . i walked out before the end it was so bad  so imagine my surprise when back in england i saw the movie had a glowing report from that yoyo  paul ross  in one of the down market sundays . i always rely on ross to save me money on cinema tickets  if he says the movie is good  i get straight on this very website to check it out . this movie should have gone straight to   .   dvd in a supermarket near you .  
i admit i had some trepidation when i first saw the previews for this film . was vh   treading on hollow ground here  i mean  harris and quinn don  t really look or even sound like john or paul . but i have to admit  this film really surprised me . it  s far from the exploitation film i expected . instead  it  s a character study  a low  key  whimsical  and ultimately bittersweet look at friendship  and the ultimate lesson we all learn it  s hard  if not impossible  to capture what we once had  and what has passed us by .  
this is quite possibly the worst christmas film ever . the plot is virtually non  existent  the acting  affleck in particular  is poor at best . ben affleck fans will probably defend this film but deep down they must agree . as far as i could gather the plot consisted of ben affleck  a millionaire salesman  is told by a shrink to go to a place that reminds him of his childhood and burn a list of things he wanted to forget from his childhood . on doing this he ends up paying the family currently living in the house to be his family for christmas . . . and that is it . the film goes on and eventually he gets together with the daughter of the family . . . . blah blah blah .  
this film is worth seeing alone for jared harris  outstanding portrayal of john lennon . it doesn  t matter that harris doesn  t exactly resemble lennon his mannerisms  expressions  posture  accent and attitude are pure lennon . best scene lennon in a local cafe verbally sparring with a stuttering fan as to whether paul mccartney  wings   silly love songs  is worthy of   status in america .  
this thing is horrible . the ben affleck character is self  centered and gleefully sadistic   punch  you  in  the  nose fratboy sadistic . and he  s the romantic hero  his cartoonish character does not change from beginning to end  but his money ultimately allows him to buy happiness .  br    br   if i were a socialist  i would screed beyond belief  but i  m not a socialist .  br    br   we capitalists like a little christmas magic from time to time . this ain  t magic . i don  t know what it is . it  s just awful . and it  s a horrible waste of talent . o  hara has been making me laugh hysterically since the late    s . gandolfini . applegate . these people were all underused . if ben was out of the equation  these folks might have dreamed up something excellent .  
being the beatlemaniac that i am  i approached two of us with a combination of fear and fascination . having seen  in his life the john lennon story   i was quite concerned that two of us will turn out no better . the fact that aidan quinn and jared harris look absolutely nothing like john lennon and paul mccartney  even with some make  up and proper hairdos  didn  t help one bit .  br    br   but i was more than a bit pleasantly surprised . it  s probably thanks to the involvement of michael lindsay  hogg  who directed let it be in     and consequently probably knew john and paul quite well  that the characters and the dialogue came across as convincing as they did .  the writing credit for two of us is given to a man named mark stanfield  of whom i know absolutely nothing i feel confident that director lindsay  hogg had more than a bit to do with the script .  two of us is not a biography of the beatles it has very little plot  in fact  and takes place all in one day in new york city . what it does is imagine a meeting between john and paul in      while john lived in new york . that meeting is entirely fictitious  of course  though it can  t truly be disproved that such a meeting actually took place . but through that imagined conversation it gives us a glimpse into the personalities of these two great musicians  their intelligence  their sense of humor  their different reaction to stardom  and most of all their relationship what made them such a great team  and what broke them up .  br    br   since it  s a talk movie  nothing much except for dialogue between two characters for an hour and a half  it  s likely to bore all but true fans of the beatles but it  s a fantastic piece of writing and storytelling  and is both informative and touching . for those interested in these two musical giants  very quickly you  ll get over the shock of how different the actors look from their counterparts and feel like john and paul had come to life  so intimate and convincing is the script  and so committed are the actors . two of us gives you priceless insight into the lives of two geniuses  and a tale that is both sad and funny . most certainly recommended .  
i have to admit i laughed a few times during this trivial     holiday movie  but it  s already moving out of my short  term memory . in a career that is sliding rather swiftly toward tabloid obscurity  ben affleck  once a promising comic character actor who became enmeshed in the hollywood publicity machine to recreate himself into a romantic leading man . judging from this film  the transformation doesn  t seem to be taking  as he continues to lack the gravitas that would make him credible in such parts . while his buddy matt damon takes on smart roles in films like  syriana   affleck appears in this type of commercial pap . at least the superficial character of successful but lonely advertising executive drew latham suits affleck better than most of the other roles he has tried .  br    br   directed by mike mitchell  whose most famous film is      s  deuce bigelow male gigolo   and scripted by no less than four screenwriters  always a bad sign   the flimsy plot revolves around his character  s need to  rent  a family living in his childhood home in order to live out his fantasy of having the old  fashioned christmas he never had . the concept is actually intriguing because there is something to be said about the cathartic release of sentimentality we are all directed to feel amid the frenzied commercialism around the holidays . the real problem  however  is that the movie feels like an extended sketch lacking any logic or authentic emotional resonance . affleck seems to be on overdrive attempting desperately to be lovable  but the net result is an exhausting turn by an actor who has an increasingly annoying habit of playing stupid people in ill  conceived films . fortunately  he has the likes of james gandofini and catherine o  hara playing the valcos  the couple who decide to accept drew  s monetary offer to pretend to be his parents .  br    br   gandolfini plays tom like a gruff  non  violent relative of tony soprano  but he does what he can in the role . from her classic sctv days to christopher guest  s mockumentaries  o  hara is always a comic gem no matter the vehicle  and unsurprisingly she earns the best laughs as tom  s wife christine  whether dryly delivering a one  liner or posing in an inch of make  up for a dominatrix photo shoot . in what is becoming her standard screen role  christina applegate plays their mistrusting daughter alicia  who of course becomes drew  s love interest . despite some good moments where she is enjoying the deceit of playing drew  s sister in front of his girlfriend  s family  her character seems to change in lightning  flash strokes making it hard to see what drew would see in her . the story spins completely out of control by the last third with one contrived situation piled on top of another until plot strands are tied together in short order . it  s rumored that much of the movie was improvised since there was no finished shooting script . it shows  but i also have to admit i stuck with it to the bitter end .  
let  s cut to the chase if you  re a baby  boomer  you inevitably spent some time wondering at the fact that  in      mccartney had the gumption to drop in on john  s city hermit life and spend the day with him . you also certainly wondered how things went . i heard the exact same reports that the writer of this film heard  from john  s and paul  s perspective  and i admit that i reconstructed the meeting in pretty much the same way this film does . but none of my imaginings could have bought tears to my eyes the way this incredible piece of work and acting does . i found it amazingly lifelike  perfectly plausible and     saccharin  free . now  can anyone explain why i didn  t hear of this masterpiece before it was shown by the cbc last night  i mean it  s already three years old  for goodness sake  and yes  if you  re a beatles fan  this is a must  see performance  even the subtle paraphrasing of beatles  melodies in the background is inspired .  
i liked it  i really did . please don  t think that i  m an idiot but i have to admit that i enjoyed this film . i expected it to be crap  it was crap  but sometimes its ok to relax and watch a crappy film that you don  t have to concentrate too much on isn  t it  i didn  t expect any hidden meanings or morales  and there wasn  t any  but that doesn  t matter because i only watched it for entertainment  and it did entertain me throughout . films like this are why the ben stillers  excusing  there  s something about mary   and the vince vaughns  however you spell his last name  i couldn  t be bothered checking  have jobs . it  s ok to watch a crap film as long as you don  t expect too much from it  and i for one shall take a stand  jog  perhaps run  but not drive because i don  t have a car  to blockbuster video  or even choices  and rent a bunch of these toilet humoured films and stay in one night watching them . good day to you reader . p . s if you do not say that this comment helped you then i don  t like you  if you do say it helped then god bless you  you will go to heaven .  
some people think that the second series was where scooby was ruined . . i disagree totally . the shows quality did not go up or down and scrappy  win my opinion  as a very good chrecter . i looked at a poll on jumpedtheshark . com and    of people said scrappys second series was scoobys downfall . ok so loads said yes but   still cant be wrong . i do like the way most of the episodes focused on comedy . i believe the show would have gone rubbish if it was the same  people  dog solving mystery in same formula . scrappy was a breath of fresh air to the show . sure  some people tuned out but when scrappy was introduced viewing figures doubled . back to the show . all the episodes and segments were very funny . i was intriguded by the yabba shorts and . but at the end of the day its a matter of opinion if you like scrappy or not is a matter of opinion  there is certainly no fact involved . but in my opinion this was a superb series that gave a beginning to tire show a new formula and lease of life . nuff said .  
not as bad as you  ve heard . there are actually some funny parts and affleck and applegate have fairly good chemistry . applegate  in particular  is appealing and likable as affleck  s love interest . james gandolfini and catherine o  hara are consummate professionals . they  re pretty good in just about everything . in the end   surviving  is not the worst holiday movie you  ll ever see .  br    br   unfortunately  it is unfocused and much of the comedy is forced . the attempts at dark humor come off as dour . affleck tries hard to be endearingly spastic and overenthusiastic but comes across as disturbed . his character  s cartoonish nature is brought into high relief when viewed next to gandolfini and o  hara  s more muted  believable performances . even by the relaxed standards of holiday movies  you never fully buy into the set  up of affleck  renting  this family for x  mas .  br    br   there are also scenes that border on the surreal in their strangeness . the x  mas eve scene replete with incestuous humor  a son being discovered looking at naked  provocative pictures of his mother  that not only isn  t funny or believable but disturbing .  br    br   to make matters worse  the colors in this film are muddy  almost noirish . the house set on which most of the movie takes place looks stagey and cheap .  br    br    surviving  is mostly of interest as the fourth in a string of box office duds  paycheck  gigli  jersey girl  and this  for affleck . it remains to be seen how lasting the damage will be .  
this was actually my favorite series of scooby doo when i was younger . i thought each episode had more of an edge to it and the villains had a lot of creative thought put into them  and even very scary and believable as well  . some of the best episodes were  i left my neck in san francisco    twenty thousand screams under the sea    the ghoul  the bat and the ugly  and  when you wish upon a star creature  . if you have never seen these episodes please do . this series was a bit of a mixed bag though as there were other episodes which didn  t seem to have the same kind of edge to them such as  rocky mountain yiiii   and  the ransom of scooby chief  . as like the series before it  it was very well put together  interesting storyline and brilliantly drawn . as everyone says though  it would have been so much better without scrappy doo . the character was tiresome and distracting to the story that was being told .  
drew latham  ben affleck  is determined not to be lonely this christmas . not only is drew a millionaire but also obnoxious and guilty of being very grandiose . drew goes back to the home he grew up in and offers the family living there  the valco  s          to be his  family  through the christmas season . tom valco  james gandolfini  is reluctant  but is greedy enough to take drew  s offer . christine valco  catherine o  hara  has little to say in the matter  but learns to like having drew around . . . not exactly the same sentiment with daughter alicia  christina applegate   but that too has room for change . drew  s girlfriend missy  jennifer morrison  tracks down drew and wants her folks to meet his family . genuine fun is in store as a happy noel becomes a hilarious dysfunctional nightmare . other members of the cast josh zuckerman  bill macy  david selby and stephanie faracy . affleck is comedic  albeit strange .  
this show started out with great mystery episodes . i think everyone is in the first   or   episodes . after that  the show started playing short episodes with shaggy  scooby doo  and scrappy doo .  br    br   i think hanna barbera productions had to change   minutes episodes into short episodes . some of the voice actors became unavailable . after   or   episodes  frank welker  who played fred  became unavailable . i think the voice of velma changes after first   episodes  because the first voice actress who played velma was unavailable .  br    br   and the network ordered the hanna barbera studio to make more shorts with shaggy  scooby doo  and scrappy doo  because the ratings were high . so they had to make more shorts . i wish they were mysteries like   episodes . still it is a good show .  
i went to see this film at the cinemas and i was shocked when i got in the room . there was only me and my girlfriend  this shouted to me that this film is not very good .  br    br   not to my surprise  the film was dire . ben affleck plays a guy who buys a family for christmas . it is a very predictable narrative with him falling in love with the girl that hates him . his acting is okish but for the comedy aspect of the film he is not very good . the plot line is poor and the comedy almost non  existent .  br    br   however  there are some good points . for example  the family is falling apart and the mother is very funny .  br    br   i hope this review stops other people wasting their money . i was very embarrassed when i came out of the room     
valentine is now one of my favorite slasher films . the death scenes are elaborate and the most of the acting is good . marley shelton did great as the female lead  much better than jennifer love hewitt in the  i know . . .  films  . david boreanaz  whom is the main reason i saw this movie  had a pretty small role  but he played it well . the exception to the list of good actors is denise richards . she was horrible in this . the only scene i was glad to see her in was spoiler her death scene . all in all  it  s a good movie to watch . you should definitely watch this before you watch  scream  or  i know . . .  again .  
this is just a case of a previously worthless island changed into something worthwhile . jesus christ people lets throw a big fit over     islanders big deal . this is just a case of a previously worthless island changed into something worthwhile . jesus christ people lets throw a big fit over     islanders big deal . this is just a case of a previously worthless island changed into something worthwhile . jesus christ people lets throw a big fit over     islanders big deal . this is just a case of a previously worthless island changed into something worthwhile . jesus christ people lets throw a big fit over     islanders big deal .  
this is best comedy i ever seen  but not all can understand this you must be from georgia to understand this amazing movie    overall one of best film i ever seen . . . . . . . . . vachtangi  benjamin  and all supporting actors playing very very good but acting of kote daoshvili  father germogel  is for my opinion best acting in supporting role in history of films    in this movie playing many georgian stars like ipolite xvichia  sergo zakariadze  sofiko chiaureli  verikoan djafaridze  sesilia takaishvili  dodo abashidze . . . . they all are stars in georgian cinematography   plus in this movie is playing great russian star evgeni leonov and of course director of the film georgy danelia is one of the best . . . . . . i recommending this movie for everyone but remember you must know good russian language to watch this movie  
this movie is terrible . terrible . one of the worst movies ever . i cannot even imagine gigli being worse that this . previews made us say  no   but then looking for something amid the dreck out there right now  we decided to go ahead and give it a shot .  br    br   stupid us .  br    br   affleck is not an actor . he  s an image and can look good with explosions  but not even the kind bruce willis got in  die hard  . if he stripped his shirt and ran around fighting bad guys  it would be a comedy .  br    br   the best part was catherine o  hara   she  s always good . gandolfini flops again  if it weren  t for the sopranos  he  d be washed up  like he did in  the mexican  .  br    br   affleck hogs every scene and as others have said   no character has any motivation whatsoever for their actions .  br    br   avoid this movie at all costs .  
the quintessential georgian film of georgi danelia  ne goryuy       aka don  t grieve is loosely based on the novel by french writer claude tillier             mon oncle benjamin  the novel takes place in the country side of the   th century france . the great french revolution is still ahead but some of its stormy signs are present in society . benjamin  the local doctor is a soul of a local society  the educated  friendly  democratic person who often treats the poor for free . it makes him very popular with the locals but most certainly does not help with his bank account . he is in love with a beautiful manette who is also crazy about him but is being watched closely by her father who called his daughter  his small capital  and is determined to protect her virginity until the moment the marriage contract has been signed . . . i never read the book  and from description it sounds like a charming very french novel but i am fascinated with the results of moving the characters and some plot elements from   th century france to the beginning of   th century georgia  grusiya . i would think that it was danelia who came up with all the colorful memorable characters that feel so much at home in his native georgia  grusiya  the land of long and wonderful traditions  including art of making and drinking wine  rare music talent that all georgians seem to possess  very unique humor  and high code of honor . when we watched the film last night together with my husband  he said  what a great example of an art film  and i so agree with him . don  t grieve is a perfect art movie  visually beautiful  deep but funny  at times sad and philosophical but never in a preachy arrogant way but optimistic  celebrating life with all its beauty and sadness  full of interest  loving irony and understanding for its slightly eccentric but very human characters . what is the most important  the film is warm and gentle  it does not look down at its viewers as some of the art pictures do . you don  t have to be a movie buff to love it  to live with it  to smile and sigh at it  to follow the good  hearted young doctor benjamin  first role in a danelia film of famous singer and actor wachtang kikabidze with whom danelia would go on to make two more films including one of my all time favorites  mimino  on his journey through the roads and mountains of georgia . or to be a guest on one of a kind party where the friends gather to celebrate life of the old doctor levan who wanted to be a guest on his own wake  to hear what his friends have to say about him when he dies while he is still alive  and who gets to choose which color he prefers for his coffin . when i watched the film i thought that it is a sort of movie that federico fellini might have liked . i was not surprised at all to find the article about danelia where he names fellini his number one director . i also found out that according danelia  the famous soviet directors  leonid gaiday  the creator of many beloved comedies  and sergei paraszhanov  the visionary whom i don  t have to introduce loved another danelia  s film  fairy tale about american boy huck finn  sovsem propashchiy  felt and spoke negatively about don  t grieve while fellini praised it highly . i dare go a little further and just guess that perhaps maestro fellini kept in mind some images and the very aura and atmosphere of don  t grieve when he was making amrarcord in     . just a thought  because there is something essential that connects both films . both artists came back to their roots  to the places that they love deeply  to the people they remembered  loved and wanted to honor . both films have a lot of smiles through the tears . both are art movies that would get directly to the hearts of the viewers . both are masterworks .  br    br   i think i am going to add georgi danelia to the list of my favorite directors . he has made some of the brilliant pictures in my most favorite genre of dramedy  even tragicomedies that are funny and bitter sweet  poignant and subtle  earthy and uplifting  gentle and shining . when i looked up the list of the movies he has written  directed  i was amazed at the fact that he has not made a single bad film since he started back in     with the award winning story of a young boy  seryozha . many of danelia  s films are among my favorites  as i am sure they are among his legions of fans . the man behind  seryozha  sovsem propashchiy       which is an adaptation of mark twain the adventures of huckleberry finn     ya shagayu po moskve       aka walking the streets of moscow  ne goryuy       aka don  t grieve  afonya        mimino        osenniy marafon       aka autumn marathon or sad comedy which is a very fitting title for this movie as well as for the whole genre that danelia practically invented  and the cult favorite for over   years kin  dza  dza        is brilliant and deserves our true love and genuine gratitude for the unforgettable moments of cinematic happiness .  
may contain spoilers .  br    br   i say that  but anyone savvy enough to be reading this can probably figure out every plot turn right from the start .  br    br   this is not a movie that i liked . i didn  t hate it in the way of some movies that insult your intelligence  but it all felt too predictable on its trudge to the requisite happy ending . there were funny bits along the way to be sure  but few were original . at least it didn  t go for the gutter .  br    br   christina applegate looks fresh  and ben affleck works hard . their scenes together are actually the only redeeming feature . everyone else is a cardboard cutout  including  surprisingly  james gandolfini  who must have made this as a favor to someone .  br    br   all in all  it  s a harmless  but not inspiring    minutes .  
this is my first comment on imdb website  and the reason i  m writing it is that we  re talking about one of the best films ever   ne goryuy   will make you laugh and cry at the same time  you will fall in love  if you  re not a fan yet   with georgian choir singing tradition  and possibly you will accept the hardships of your own existence and just feel good after watching it  what i like a lot about this film is that actors in the non  leading roles create vivid and memorable characters and are just as interesting and important as the central character . the film is starring vahtang kikabidze  who is great   but you will remember every single face around him in the film . you will find yourself quoting their lines  that have become household names for so many russian  speaking people . a film to live with . simple  yet deep  you will want to watch it again and again .  
so  i know that i voted  out of   but really this deserves no more than half of a star . i hated it . it was so stupid and unrealistic  i can  t believe any of the stars signed on to make this ridiculously absurd project .  br    br   james g . and cathrine o  hara were excellent in their characters and ben affleck and christina applegate were just as good too  but the story sucked and i encourage anyone who sees this in the video store to not even bother picking it up and reading the back cover  but to just walk away . . . i don  t even want to get into what the movie is about  because it is too stupid to pontificate about .  br    br   don  t rent this  it  s horrible  horrible   
although the film is the adaptation of the french play  forgot the name  sorry   it is a wonderful portrayal of the cheerful side of georgian character . this film will make you to burst into laughter and will fill your heart with warm sadness . it will display the overwhelming love of life along with human eccentricities .  
surviving christmas       ben affleck  james gandolfini  christina applegate  catherine o  hara  josh zuckerman  bill macy  jennifer morrison  udo kier  d mike mitchell . dumped by his girlfriend  a hotshot yuppie doesn  t want to be left alone on christmas so he decides to return to his boyhood home  imposing on the dysfunctional family that now lives there and bribes them to pose as his family . an obnoxious and one  dimensional performance by affleck  who mainly acts with a flashy smile  makes his character come off as a mentally unbalanced creep  but gandolfini and o  hara breathe some life into this mess . even for farce  its silliness is lumbering  not much makes sense from scene to scene  and its sentimental messages are as phony as affleck  s grin .   min .  rated pg    .    
this is just the best movie of all times  sorry  hollywood  i  ve seen it in early    s  as soon as it appeared on the bulgarian tv  and i loved it immediately  i was   then  .   years later i bought it on a video tape  and a few months ago it finally appeared on a dvd here in bulgaria . i live with this movie   years already  and so do all my friends and my family . my son was a teenager when he saw it for the first time  and he loved it immediately  too  and this is the generation that grew up watching practically only hollywood movies and not speaking or understanding russian at all   . what makes this masterpiece of danelia so special  it  s difficult to say  as it is difficult to describe what the beauty is . . . but the fact is that you can watch this movie dozens of times with the same pleasure as it was the first time . i can  t remember any other such movie  no matter how many millions it cost or how great the cast was . . . chapeau  maestro danelia  bulgaria loves you   
i remember when this was in theaters  reviews said it was horrible . well  i didn  t think it was that bad . it was amusing and had a lot of tongue  in  cheek humor concerning families around holiday time .  br    br   ben affleck is a rich guy who needs to find a family for christmas to please his girlfriend . he goes to visit the house he grew up in and strikes a deal to rent the family there for christmas . i really liked the lawyer scene where they sign a contract . that was funny .  br    br   so  he makes silly requests of the family and even writes scripts for them to read . of course  the family has a hot daughter for the love interest . and he learns that the holidays aren  t so bad after all .  br    br   also  the whole doo  dah act was funny  especially when they replaced the first one with a black guy  and the girlfriends  s parents didn  t even say anything about it . and the parts where doo  dah is hitting on his  supposed daughter .  final verdict i thought it  s worth checking out if you catch it on cable .  
this wrestlemania just didn  t do it for me . while some things  such as the battle royal and involvement of celebrities were a throwback to the good old days  so to speak  it seemed to be more of a highbrow  in your house  than anything else . above average . . . worth it for several matches such as the tag team title match  although worthy of note is that the title change meant nothing  as it was reversed the next night .  
this movie was pretty absurd . there was a few funny parts . its goes right in to the bin of movies in my memory where i think   hmm . . . . . that movie had a few funny parts  but overall  pretty ridiculous plot  or lack of  .   br    br   i thought it seemed like ben was trying a little too hard to be a cooky funny guy . and i didn  t understand how he was a self made multi  millionaire and still such an idiot . anyways  i like ben affleck . he makes some crap  but hey  i can forgive him . i mean  i liked jersey girl  i didn  t think gigli was all his fault  i like him overall . i guess he  s kinda like the kid you feel sorry for cuz he just can  t seem to get it right .  br    br   my advice would be to avoid this flick . it didn  t really develop in to a workable plot and catherine o  hara and jimmy g . weren  t used as well as they could have been . they deserved better . overall  this movie is not home alone  it  s not a christmas story  its not christmas vacation or any of the other classics . forever forgettable .  
any true wrestling fan would have to consider this wrestlemania to be one of  if not the best of all time . it was packed with excitement and surprises . one of the greatest matches of all time was between shawn michaels and steve austin with special guest ref mike tyson . the show that michaels put on was unbelievable  especially considering the shape that his back was in and that this was his last match .  
i get the feeling that those involved in making  surviving christmas  didn  t put much thought into the movie . the characters are so inconsistent and the plot makes so little sense that the movie played like a rough draft of a script thrown together with little but the one  liner concept of a rich guy paying a family to let him spend christmas with them .  br    br   ben affleck portrays drew latham  the typical hollywood image of a wealthy  egotistical advertising executive who buys his way through life . his girlfriend  missy  leaves him shortly before christmas because she  s disgusted that drew wanted to take her to fiji for christmas  which she calls  the family holiday   and the fact that drew has never introduced her to his family . we later find out that drew  s father left when he was  years old  and his mother is dead  so it  s a mystery why he doesn  t just say that he has no family  rather than allow his girlfriend to believe that he doesn  t care about his family .  br    br   out of fear of being alone on christmas  drew tracks down missy  s shrink  why  i have no idea   who suggests he do a forgiveness ritual at his childhood home . when he meets the family living in his childhood home  the valcos  drew offers them         to pretend to be his family  so he can relive his fond childhood memories . he gets angry when he later finds out that they have an adult daughter  alicia  christina applegate   because he  doesn  t have a sister   and even goes so far as to write a script for the family to follow so that they act more like his  real  family . none of this makes any sense once drew reveals that he grew up with no family but his mother .  br    br   also inexplicable is the character of alicia  who is annoyed that her family accepted drew  s money  and refuses to play along with his fantasy . but for no good reason  she suddenly starts to like drew  and in a matter of minutes goes from hating his guts to acting like his girlfriend . drew is such a complete jerk throughout the movie that even his sad story about the lonely christmases of his childhood evokes no sympathy i almost wish he had finished with   just kidding  the real reason i don  t see my family is that they all have restraining orders against me          
wrestlemania   is not often looked as one of the great wrestlemania  s but i would personally put it  in my top   if not the top  . it has so many great things  and it truly signified the birth of the attitude era  which was wwe  s best era  in my opinion . hbk has the heart of a lion  and him putting over austin like he did  on his way out  was pure class on his part . it has one of the hottest crowds you will ever see  and it has j . r and the king at their announcing best  .  br    br   matches .  br    br      team battle royal loud pop for l . o . d  s return . i  m not a fan of battle royal  s  and this is yet another average one . very predictable  even when you  st see it  it  s obvious l . o . d would win . looking at sunny for  or so minutes though  definitely helps .  br    br       br    br   wwf light heavyweight championship  br    br   taka michinokuc vs aguila .  br    br   taka gets a surprising pop  with his entrance . fast  high  flying  and very exciting . if these two had more time  they would have surely tore the roof off  with their stuff . taka wins with the michinoku driver .  br    br          br    br   wwf european championship .  br    br   triple hc vs owen hart stipulation here  is chyna is handcuffed to slaughter . nice pop for owen  mixed reaction for trips . a really  really underrated match  that ranks among one of my favorites for wrestlemania  actually . the two mixed together very well  and owen can go with anybody . trips wins  with chyna interference .  br    br       br    br   mixed tag match . marc merosable vs goldustluna . defining pop for sable  unheard of that time  for woman . sable actually looks hot  and the crowd is just eating her up  . constant sable chants  and them erupting almost every time she gets in the ring . not bad for a mixed tag match  it had entertaining antics  and passed the time well . sable  s team wins  when sable hits the tko .  br    br          br    br   wwf intercontinental championship . ken shamrock vs the rockc . before i review the match  i  d like to note the rock showed off his immense potential  with his interview with jennifer flowers  before his match . nice pop for shamrock  big time heat for the rock . too disappointingly short  and i thought the ending was kinda stupid  though shamrock  s snapping antics were awesome to see  and the crowd went nuts for it . rock keeps the title  when the ref reverses the decision .  br    br       br    br   dumpster match  for the wwf tag team championship  br    br   catcus jackterry funk vs the new age outlaws . the outlaws are not as over  as they were gonna be at this time . crowd is actually somewhat dead for this  but i thought it had some great hardcore bits  with some sick looking bumps . cactus and terry win the titles in the end .  br    br       br    br   the undertaker vs kane . big time ovation  for the undertaker . much better than there outing at wrestlemania    and for a big man vs big man match  this was really good . it was a great all out brawl  with the undertaker taking a sick looking bump  through the table . wwe was smart  by making kane looking strong  even through defeat . after  tombstone kick out  s  taker finally puts him away  with a  rd one .  br    br          br    br   wwf championship .  br    br   special guest enforcer  mike tyson   br    br   hbkc vs steve austin . big heat for tyson . crowd goes ape sht for austin  definitely one of the biggest pops i have heard . mixed reaction  for hbk . this is truly a special match up  one of the greatest wrestlemania main events in history  you can tell when j . r is even out of breath . hbk gives it his all  in what was supposed to be his last match  and austin has rarely been better . the animosity and electricity from the crowd is amazing  and it  s as exciting as it gets . austin wins with the stunner  with tyson joining     by knocking out michaels . austin  s celebratory victory  is a wonder to behold  with one of the nosiest crowd  s you will ever see  king said it right  they were going nuts .  br    br       br    br   bottom line . wrestlemania   is one of the greatest for real . it has everything you want in a wrestlemania  and truly kick started the attitude era . this is very special to me  because it was the  st wrestlemania i ever saw  back in   .  the austin era  has begun    br    br           
there is one great moment in surviving christmas that almost makes it worth the pain james gandolfini cracks a shovel over ben affleck  s stupid head .  br    br   this movie serves as yet another unfortunate example of james gandolfini proving what a great actor he is whilst simultaneously besmirching his career by acting in this film .  br    br   young and wealthy ad exec  drew latham  ben affleck  has been inculcated into believing that one must never be alone on christmas .  and there  from the outset  is the underlying problem with our suspension of disbelief in this idiotic movie how many people of drew  s social standing  in      truly care one way or another whether christmas is spent alone or with half the family or with a fifty  dollar prostitute   storyline finds drew buying off a family to spend christmas with  on the condition that they pretend to be his own  insensately ignoring all the indications to the contrary that his money has not bought the emotions he was seeking .  br    br   for          a surly suburban truck driver  tom valco  james gandolfini   and his disheveled wife  christine  catherine o  hara   agree to be drew  s ad hoc family  against protests from their son  brian  a very one  dimensional josh zuckerman  and daughter  alicia  a very soft  focused christina applegate  . drew then spends the rest of the movie supposedly recapturing his youth or  something . the messages in this movie are as twisted and illogical as its dry  mouthed storyline . fraught with overt psychoses  drew plasters a fake smile on his face and blindly remains in denial against every denigration that he was supposedly buying the valco family to avoid .  br    br   which begs the question if drew is paying these people to recapture some semblance of joyous familial emotion  how psychotic must he be to pretend happiness amongst their barbs and mental anguish over his presence  it is not a case of the valco family hiding their true feelings and pretending to be happy while around drew  three of the four members make it patently clear they despise him . is he so incognizant that he cannot see that his money is not buying him the  family  atmosphere he was inculcated into believing was a truth in the first place  as with all movies this opprobrious  one wonders how four screenwriters could possibly get so tangled in their own narcissistic dreams of appearing in a credits sequence that they will overlook any semblance of plausibility  or intelligence .  br    br   director mike mitchell  who was responsible for deuce bigalow male gigolo  stop right there .  nuff said .  br    br   gandolfini and o  hara somehow manage to shine  proving their mettle amongst this mess . christina applegate is willowy and cutesy and blond and fiery in all the right places  scathingly cutting drew into little strips of carcass for most of the movie  then doing an about  face and falling in love with him because the script tells her to .  br    br   and i wouldn  t go so far as to say that affleck is a bad actor  but john schneider better look over his shoulder . there  s a whole new level of desperately seeking talent in town .  
wwe was in need of a saviour as wrestlemania   rolled around . the departure of bret hart and subsequent evaporation of the hart foundation had left the vile d  generation x stable unchallenged in the wwe . their despicable leader shawn michaels had stolen the title from hart thanks to the interference of vince mcmahon and  with help from his cohorts triple h and chyna had systematically taken out anyone who challenged his supremacy . but at the royal rumble a new contender had emerged . stone cold steve austin . hated by mcmahonagement  austin had dx worried . so worried in fact that they  d enlisted the help of  the baddest man on the planet  mike tyson as a special enforcer . austin would have the odds firmly against him in his title match with shawn michaels .  br    br   but first  there was an undercard to get through which kicked off with the legion of doom winning a forgettable   team battle royal to become no .  contenders for the tag titles . i  d actually forgotten this match existed until i rewatched the ppv . no very good and really highlighted the lack of depth in the tag division at that period in time .  br    br   next match saw the light heavyweight title defended by champion taka michonoku against aguila . the wwe had established the light heavyweight title to compete with the strong cruiserweight division in wcw . it was not successful and this was the only time the title was ever defended at wrestlemania . short match  going about five minutes  and in fact too short for much to be achieved . what little they did was exciting and this was a nice little match which saw taka retaining his title .  br    br   ok  our next match saw dx member triple h defending the wwe european title  which he  d won in farcical fashion from shawn michaels on raw in december and hadn  t defended on ppv  against owen hart  the sole survivor . triple h got a big entrance with the dx band there to perform his theme song . chyna accompanied triple h to ringside  but was then handcuffed to wwe commissioner sgt slaughter . triple h and owen have a nice little match  before chyna interfered causing a low blow on hart which leads to triple h retaining the title . good match  could have been great had it gone slightly longer .  br    br   but of course we wouldn  t want to take time away from our next match which saw real life husband and wife marc mero and sable defeat goldust and luna vachon in the first mixed tag match at wrestlemania in  years . and  in all honesty  it wasn  t worth the wait . while not terrible  the match was in no way memorable either . this was the nearing the end of mero  s only run in the wwe and the main purpose was to continue the disintegration of his relationship with sable .  br    br   next up we saw ken shamrock flip out and cost himself the intercontinental championship as he destroyed ic champion the rock  but then refused to let go of his ankle lock submission hold  resulting in the referee reversing his decision . this was a short match  but decent for what it was .  br    br   next saw the first good match of the night as wwe tag team champions the new age outlaws lost their titles to cactus jack and chainsaw charlie in a fun dumpster match . the decision was overturned the following night as cactus and chainsaw had thrown the outlaws into a dumpster backstage  rather than the one being used in the match  but this was still a fun match .  br    br   now it was time for the highly anticipated first ever meeting between kane and his brother the undertaker . kane had cost undertaker the wwe championship at the royal rumble and then  killed  him when he helped shawn michaels lock undertaker in a casket and set him on fire as revenge for the undertaker burning down their parents house and leaving him horribly disfigured years before . this was a decent match and told a nice story as the underataker absorbed everything kane could throw at him and then knocked him out with three tombstones to end the match .  br    br   this left only the main event which saw wwe champion face steve austin with mike tyson as the guest enforcer . michaels had suffered a debilitating back injury in his match with the undertaker at the royal rumble and was remarkable in this match despite his physical limitations . triple h and chyna were banished to the back in the early going after interfering from the outside . the match ended with austin ducking an attempt at sweet chin music and hitting the stone cold stunner with the ref down . tyson then came into the ring to count the three  celebrating the win with austin and then knocking out michaels after the match . it turned out tyson and austin were together and the cat had been playing with the mouse all along .  br    br   that was the final ppv match for shawn michaels for four and a half years . it helped establish austin as the biggest star in the wrestling business and the mainstream publicity garnered by tyson  s appearance proved a crucial turning point in the wwe  s battle with wcw . austin would go on to become the biggest star in wwe history  and along with the rock  mick foley  the undertaker and triple h lead the wwe through the period where they would gain their highest level of cultural relevance . and it all started here at wrestlemania   .  
question how does a bourgeois director treat a subject like immigration  answer by turning it into an existential alienation parable .  br    br   yes  we  re back in the early   s  just after the disintegration of the eastern block and the subsequent flooding of immigrants in the european union  and what better way to deal with the subject than making a film about an existentially alienated middle  class journalist  an existentially alienated upper  class politician  his existentially alienated rich wife  and so on .  br    br   in the background  immigrants are asking for political asylum in an unnamed greek village near the borders . i guess that way angelopoulos can show some social awareness  while dealing with the existentially troubled upper  classes . i mean honestly  the scene where some top  ranking army  officer curses his destiny cause he sent his daughter to study in london is enough to make you puke .  br    br   anyway  it can  t be that bad  angelopoulos is a master of the cinematic art after all  right  wrong . it  s at this point when his mannerisms start getting too artificial  sort of like a filtered image in photoshop . his usual tricks show up there are blurred windows  blurred lights  a weird wedding  a walk by the river  shore  and people with yellow water  coats . also mastroianni breaks new ground for most sleepwalking performance ever . avoid really . go for his early films .  
i love this movie . it was one of my favorite movies . the action never stops . the whole movie was done very well . the ending is really good . ontop of it being action filled  they even have a surprised put in there for you . when i saw what the movie was about on the internet i was kind of not sure if i wanted to see this movie  but sense i am such a big luke perry fan i decided to give it a chance . i am glad that i did give it a chance because this was a very well though out movie . it was very original . whoever thought up this movie gets a standing ovation from me . the acting was great . luke perry did an excellent job once again . i give this movie the highest rating .  
this was my first  and probably the last angelopoulos movie . i was eager to get into it  as it featured mastroianni  one of my favorite actors and was a film by theo  of whom i  ve heard a lot . the opening was promising  a long shot over a jeep of soldiers across the albanian  greek border . ok  but that was all . nothing left . the movie had big holes and i don  t know which to mention first . the main plot of the story is revealed to the journalist by the old woman . during a long walk . it  s like a   minutes monologue  killing the action and viewers patience  nothing happening on screen for   or even   minutes  apart this old lady telling a story . all that is presumed to be shown through action  was simply told to the camera by the old lady . in a moment  the equippe of tv was heading to the bar . they turn the corner and immediately the winter begins  probably  shot in different days  continuity leaked . a lot of problems with the story  telling  it went from absurd to irrational never sticking to a style  making the viewer asking questions that never got answers . poor mastroianni  given a role which lacked integrity or charm . on the other hand  as many greeks or albanians or balcan people would agree with  the movies showed lot of historic  ethnic  or politically incorrectness  just for the sake of making a movie about  humanity  as a red in another review . a lot more to say  but no time to lose on a poor movie  which was not movie at all  but lunacies of a person impressed on film and paid with state money .  
these slasher pics are past their sell by date  but this one is good fun .  br    br   the valentine cards themselves are witty  and well thought out .  br    br   the film has one peach of a line . . .  he  s no angel . . . .  when he in fact is angel    watching buffy reruns will never be the same   br    br   the cast is a sizzling display of young talent  but the story does not give them enough real depth . denise richards on the dvd extras seemed to think the girls on set bonded well together and this would give the feeling that you empathised with their characters . sorry but no   br    br   the direction is very good  managing to show very little actual gore  and relying on your imaginations implied threat . much can be said also for the similar manner in which miss richards and heigel do not remove their clothes . . .     br    br   essentially  the main directorial plus  lies within the  borrowing  of various other ideas from previous slasher flicks . psycho  s shower scene is tributed  along with halloween  s  masking  .  br    br   murdering someone hiding in a bodybag though is a pretty original one as far as i know     br    br   light viewing  not very scary but a few good jump moments . if it was a choice between the hole and this though  choose the hole . slasher movies have had their day  and this is just another slasher . a very good slasher  but nothing groundbreaking     
this movie is a crappy and forgettable sean connery vehicle . the performances are generally crappy especially by capshaw  fishburne  and the usually solid ed harris . connery seems miscast as a harvard academic . the movie absolutely gets worse as it goes along . it is a third rate mystery that becomes extremely contrived by the time it unravels . the movie squanders an excellent supporting cast . george plimpton also turns up in a minor role to add some gravitas to connery as they debate the death penalty . the violence and the atmosphere pepper a third rate mystery  thriller that is manipulation to the highest degree . the scripting and direction are extremely poor . connery  s charisma and screen presence are the film  s only virtue . manipulative  violent  and ridiculous .     avoid it .  
this movie was pretty good . the acting was great  and there were some really great actors in it like  buchholz and roger moore . this film is full of surprises . confusing at times . . . yes  but the twists and turns of the plot always keeps you in suspense . the only thing that this movie had too much of was exploding cars .  
having enjoyed jean arthur in  the devil and miss jones   my interest was peaked  so i tried sitting through this second  string screwball outing about an investigation into the death of a jockey   but i didn  t make it to the end . arthur  photographed in a gauzy  movie  magazine fashion  either wants alimony from ex  husband william powell or another shot at marriage  but i never felt for her because the character is just a string of wisecracks  she  s the type of heroine prone to comical curiousness  but once inside a morgue   like all women in these     s comedies   she faints  . william powell reportedly had a high time working with miss arthur  but you  d never know it from the end result they look awkward standing next to each other  hesitant over their banter . the actor playing powell  s valet is excruciating  and the pauses for viewer laughs are pregnant with unease .  
the cast is excellent  the acting good  the plot interesting  the evolvement full of suspense . . . but it is hard to cram all those elements into a film that is barely   minutes long . if more time was taken to develop the plot and subplots  it would have a much better effect . another   minutes of substance would have made this a very good film rather then just a good one .  
apparently  the people that wrote the back of the box did not bother to watch this so  called  movie .  they described  blindingly choreographed intrigue and violence .  i saw no  intrigue .  i instead saw a miserable attempt at dialogue in a supposed kung fu movie . i saw no  violence .  at least  i saw nothing which could cause me to suspend my disbelief as to what could possibly hurt a man with  impervious  skin   but here i am perhaps revealing too much of the  plot .  furthermore  as a viewer of many and sundry films  some of which include the occasional kung fu movie   i can authoritatively say that this piece of celluloid is unwatchable . whatever you may choose to do  i will always remain  br    br   correct   br    br   jonathan tanner  br    br    br    br   p . s . i was not blinded by the choreography .  
not as bad a film as i thought it would be .  br    br   it has a good cast . nice to see roger moore back on screen as well as the use of other british actors .  br    br   would like to see more of olivia dabo in future projects . maybe starring opposite her cousin the sexy maryam dabo .  br    br   also a good use of unseen locations such as luxembourg .  br    br   hopefully we will see more uk  european co  productions like this .  
i don  t buy kung fu movies for a plot . i buy them for fight scenes . a bad plot can be forgiven for excellent fight scenes  but not the other way around .  br    br   the story was decent  but moved too slowly for my tastes . there were about  or  mediocre fight scenes throughout  lasting only a couple of minutes apiece . the last fight was a bit longer  but by that point i was so bored i didn  t even pay attention to it .  
this film is underrated . i loved it . it was truly sweet and heartfelt . a family who struggles but isn  t made into a dysfunctional family which is so typical of films today . the film didn  t make it an issue that they have little money or are dominican republican the way hollywood have .  br    br   instead the issue is victor is immature and needs to grow up . he does  slowly  by the film  s end . he has a ways to go  but it was a heartfelt attempt to move forward . his grandmother is very cute and the scene where the little boy throws up had me laughing for the longest time . a truly heartfelt indie  
i rarely write reviews for imdb . com  but i feel compelled to warn potential viewers that this movie is terrible . just terrible . i like shaw bros . movies  i  m not a hater .   and i had high expectations for this one since i found it listed on many    best kung fu  martial arts movies  websites .  i  m now convinced that those   best lists are all cut  and  paste jobs .  first of all  there  s barely any action in the film . most of the movie consists of talking about the plot  which is an amazing feat because it  s thin at best . and the action itself may have been impressive back in      but it  s routine by today  s standards . a special warning to netflix users the dvd they ship is terrible the picture is horrendous and it  s not even     enhanced .  
for what it is   raising victor vargas  is about as close to perfection as a film can get . either sheer genius from a fledgling auteur or just one of those lucky mixes where everything clicked  probably some of each   this simple little slice  of  urban  life ethnic first love flick fleshes out its young characters with such depth you can almost read their minds . the film begins with a strong flavor of  street  but works its way into a latino family affair and then focuses on a story which speaks volumes about the uncertainty of youth and the profoundly natural desire to love another . in my experience  never has so much been done with so little  cast of tyros  novice director  etc .  . praised by the critics but not for everyone   raising victor vargas  is recommended for indie lovers and realists into simple tales rich in humanness .  a   
considering its popularity  i found this movie a huge disappointment . maybe i was expecting too much from this film . after all  it is one of the most well known martial arts films of the     s  but i could never figure out why . the story is uninteresting . it is also a very talky movie with sporadic action sequences . my biggest problem with the movie was that the story does not offer a character that i could root for  since the intended hero is an idiot . director chang has no sense of style  and he is unable to hide the glaring imperfections found in the narrative . i know this is not supposed to be high art  but i found the movie boring . definitely not the best example of this much  beloved genre . its cult status escapes me . i recommend you to skip it .  
this film captures the true struggle with identity that is ongoing in our teenage years . it is really moving and it feels strangely like a documentary  not contrived but very real . it is very interesting and unsettling  
i watched an episode . yes i sat through the entire miserable experience  and i have to say  this brand of comedy is one of the worst you will get . imagine peter griffin  of family guy fame . now imagine peter griffin as a  admittedly slim and minus the glasses  woman  except that he now lacks the something that made him hilarious . peter griffin is an idiot  but he doesn  t know he  s an idiot . sarah has none of the genuine character  none of the acting ability to pull her character off . maybe its the trite  formulaic jokes that pull her comedy even lower than her character can take it by herself . maybe it  s the lack of believable foils . her insensitive  bigoted persona may appeal to insensitive  bigoted people unlike the mass appeal that stephen colbert  s insensitive  bigoted character has . like bill o  reilly  sarah creates an annoying  unfunny character . she lacks something that is necessary for the genre of satire  let alone for the entire world of comedy . what sarah silverman lacks  its noticeable . and when you don  t believe it and identify with it  it  s not funny anymore .  
i  m surprised how many people give this move less than  stars .  br    br   but they just don  t understand the movie .  br    br   the story is about growing up in a difficult situation .  br    br   there is a crazy grandmother who really wants the best for your grandchildren .  br    br   and there  s good reason why so many critics like this movie .  br    br   and the reason is because they understand the movie .  br    br   i feel sorry for the low scores given by some people .  br    br   i wish i could just write a brief summary of a movie but imdb requires you to write   lines .  br    br   i frankly don  t have anything else to say .  
i remember my parents not understanding saturday night live when i was   . they also did not understand rock n roll and many other things . now that i am approaching their age  i still remember  and find i understand many of the things my kids love . but this is pathetic . i cannot say i have seen any by sarah except for a few appearances here and there . they were reasonable . i do not see her as anything special . but this show is just so far below what i expected from her . the imdb write up made it sound like potential . so  just for that  i started watching the first episode . i turned it off half way through . anything else is better that that . jokes that are meant for a  year old presented on a supposed adult program . well  sarah  this adult is inly moved to turn you off . i just cant believe that someone actually financed this insult to comedy . only good thing i can say is that there are sooooo many bad jokes deposited here  saving other shows from such an embarrassment .  
one more of those brilliant young men who went all out and dared to make a teen romance film  can i actually call it that   it would invoke the devil out of its fans  on a micro budget but packed with such taste  sensitiveness and maturity . peter sollett  you deserve more admiration and respect . thanks once again for demonstrating to the powers that be in the  industry  that stereotypes can be flushed down the toilet . one location  a handful of rich characters  low budget  good acting  and that too amateurs   decent lighting  worshippers of true indie cinema should watch more of this and stop watching . . . well . . . you know what .  
unfortunately for sarah silverman this show doesn  t compliment her at all . the character isn  t even remotely likable and it  s not a situation where you think  oh she  s such i btch i love her  just  she  s such a btch  . this character is just a plain old self righteous  mean  btch . sarah seems to struggle to have to carry this show because she  s the only semi funny one in it . the mood  the dialogue it  s all so damn boring and dry it  s like listening to your grandpa go on and on about the marbles he collected as a kid .  br    br   the sarah silverman program is so unbelievably boring that i was thinking of changing the channel to watch old repeats of married with children something that is funny because the characters are so  immoral  and  rude  . i  m sorry but i don  t find a show packed with dry humour and corny off the wall story lines about some angry  bitter  loser  s angry  bitter life with her annoying as hell sister and gay friends who sound like keanu reeves with a cold anywhere close to funny . i can  t stand this show even though generally i find sarah silverman to be that  i love her cause she  s such a btch character  like in school of rock  and most of her stand up . i think this show is boring with characters who think being mean and saying and doing things for shock value eg . the constant pube  diarrhea and hit in general for laughs . the sarah silverman program attempts to be funny and fails it either needs a laugh track or better writers . someone compared it to south park but it  s not even close . i  ve expressed my opinions on the sarah silverman program and won  t become an annoying troll meaning you won  t see me being a btch and constantly posting stuff like  this show sucks  and  why isn  t this cancelled yet  . i don  t like the sarah silverman program if you do enjoy .  
there are plenty of reviews on this page that will explain this movie  s details far more eloquently than i could but i would like to offer a simple review for those who occasionally go to the movies for more than entertainment . raising victor vargas is so true you will believe it . this flick gets inside your head .  
i had just watched one episode of this program and i couldn  t even get to the end of the program . every minute i had watched this program my i . q must of dropped about   points . this is basically like a children  s program but with swearing . not even the swearing and the insults she tells other people made me laugh . anyways the story must of been written by a monkey and the people who actually put this script for this program through for filming must of been held at gun point and had no choice but to film this retarded  disappointing  horribly acted program . sarah silvermann should use the little money she actually made from this program and get some god damn acting lessons .  
raising victor vargas is a movie you definitely need to see . it was very heart felt and had a lot of humor that gets you sucked right in . it is so much like real life with what teenagers have to go through . victor  a cocky teen  but with a good heart at the end deals with love in all the right places dealing with girls and family . at the end victor learns the true meaning of love after dealing with a old fashioned grandmother and a girl who he wants to use is actually using him too . i recommend people to watch this movie because it will be like you are watching a real family . thats how much feeling this movie has . one heart felt moment was when victor  s grandmother throws victor out over something simple . victor was really heart and couldn  t believe that she would do something like that . it made me feel real sorry for him like it was real . overall i give this movie a b  
comedy central has had success with original programming using professional comics . the chapelle show  mind of mencia  the daily show and the hugely popular colbert report all star professional comics and all are  or in the case of chapelle show  were  solid shows . given that sarah silverman is one of the best female comics in the business  i was expecting good stuff when i tuned in .  br    br   i was so disappointed .  br    br   there were some mildly funny sequences  but given that the star is the caliber of silverman  the show could have been much better . it was just the pilot  and hopefully next week  s show will be better . if not  get her some help in the form of better writers for the show .  
call me stupid  but i absolutely loved the     horror movie  valentine . it was so well  made  well  written  well  acted  well  directed  etc  everything about it was wonderful  there were parts that were relatively routine  lily  s death   very funny  www . bleed  me  dry . com   completely horrifying and creepy  paige  s death   and just plain heartbreaking  the first scene  . i think the entire cast did a great job  especially the three leads david boreanaz  denise richards  both of whom i met  and got autographs from  during the filming of this movie  very nice people    and marley shelton .  br    br   i am very sick of people calling this movie  another scream clone  . this movie is  in no way  a scream clone . in fact  this film runs rings around scream . it actually makes sense  scream was also not the only movie to feature a masked killer in it . excuse me  but it looks like scream was also a clone too  ahem . . .  friday the   th  halloween  and many other scary movies also featured masked killers  . i also think that the novelty of the cupid  masked killer is brilliant . it  s so strange to see a sweet  cupid face doing all of these horrible things . another novelty  the nose bleeding  makes way for a fantastic ending  the ending gives me chills every time i see it      so  even if you didn  t like it the first time  watch valentine again and give it another chance   br    br   ps  keep an eye out for my new website  www . love  hurts . org   coming soon . . .  
a pot  boiler if ever i saw one . a supposed thriller borrowing from  a time to kill    silence of the lambs   even an inverted  in the heat of the night  with a little reverse murder  a la  strangers on a train  thrown in  it fails abysmally where all the above  to a large degree  succeeded . namely  in delivering thrills . the plot seems condensed from a bigger book  making the plot developments obvious and uninvolving  while the direction lacks pace and verve . to rein in any kudos  a major twist had to be delivered along the way and here it fails palpably too . connery is clearly slowing down in his old age  barely bothering with his attempt at a us accent and besides seems too old to be the husband of hope lange and the father of those gosh  darn kids of his . he even has a father in law who seems younger than him . laurence fishburne barely gets the chance to inhabit his role and you  re confused from the outset as to whether he  s a bad guy or a good guy . someone once said that flashbacks shouldn  t lie  they do  confusedly  here . the rest of the playing is merely average by a reasonable cast in their underwritten stereotyped roles . the supposed climax managed too  to roll by leaving me firmly entrenched in the back  not as should have been the aim  front edge of my seat . mediocre sloppy hollywood film making for sure .  
what a fun movie  if you  re a giallo fan  red queen kills  times is a real winner . to begin with  it  s hard to go wrong with barbara bouchet and marina malfatti in the same giallo . both are wonderful  especially the wide  eyed innocent bouchet as the guilt ridden woman fearing for her life . the kill scenes in red queen kills  times are especially nice and feature enough blood to make most fans happy . one of the first murders comes rather unexpectedly and really gets the movie off to a good start . the killer  the red queen  is one of the most over  the  top and interesting looking murderers i  ve seen in an italian movie . the   s sets and fashions are wonderful . in fact  all the visuals are interesting with the laughing red queen running across the bridge at night being one of my favorite moments in the film . the convoluted plot held my interest throughout . finally  bruno nicolai  s score may be the best i  ve heard from the composer . the main theme is so memorable i haven  t been able to get it out of my head for two days .  br    br   the only two issues i have with red queen kills  times come in the film  s finale . first  the person responsible for the murders is far too easy to spot . if you  ve seen more than a couple gialli  you won  t have any problem determining who is behind the killings . second  the ending feels a little too rushed and  as a result  is a bit confusing . i  m definitely not one who needs every plot point spelled out to me  but i  ll admit to being at a loss to explain it all . a second viewing might just clear this up .  
not only is it a disgustingly made low  budget bad  acted movie  but the plot itself is just stupid     br    br   a mystic man that eats women   and by the looks  not virgin ones   br    br   ridiculous    if youve got nothing better to do  like sleeping  you should watch this . yeah right .  
this movie works because it feels so genuine . the story is simple and realistic  perfectly capturing the joys and anxieties of adolescent love and sexuality that most  all of us experienced during our teen years .  br    br   the actors are as natural as figures in a documentary but are as convincing and as charismatic as seasoned performers . the dialogue is fresh and honest . . . and thankfully not filled to the brim with cutesy pop culture references . also  the cinematography is at once gritty and beautiful  bringing the lower east side setting to life in a very tangible way .  br    br   on an artistic level  i love this movie because it reminds me of great italian neo  realism films like the bicycle thief and la strada . movies rarely feel as  real  as this does . . . or as bicycle thief did . and the only other movie i  ve seen that treats teen sexuality with the same level of seriousness is elia kazan  s splendor in the grass . writer  director peter sollett deserves tremendous praise . this film is quite an achievement .  br    br   on a personal level  i am always glad to see a movie that treats members of ethnic america with love and respect . as an italian  american  i hate the way my own people come off in the cinema  as racist  womanizing  criminal geniuses in irritatingly popular epics   and my aggravation on this count makes me acutely sensitive to other groups and their awful silver screen representations . hispanics and asians in particular seem cursed to playing villains in westerns and action movies .  good thing gong li didn  t try to become famous in america    br    br   of course  thanks largely to the rise of indie pictures  and the influence of miramax  we are seeing a few more pictures about ethnic characters here and there . . . but raising victor vargas is easily one of the best . while i do really like my big fat greek wedding  it is a refreshing change that raising victor vargas is played straight  with less exaggerated and broadly  drawn characters  while still being very funny in its own right . finally  latino characters worthy of note . i have a feeling that this is a film that will be remembered .  br    br   of course  now that he has made this wonderful picture about a family from the dominican republic  i hope peter sollett gets around to making a movie about italians soon     marc dipaolo  
can we say retarded  this girl has no talent what so ever  nothing but complete garbage . you people are just marking   stars because you know most people hate this pathetic woman  if its such a  great  show then why did it get canceled after  measly episodes  exactly . people that support her  please seek help you do not know what is funny . her stand up comedy is just so stupid  seriously how do you find this trash funny  the show tries to poke fun at stereo types and other things that are not funny at all . carlos mencia is funny and to that stupid poster  he actually has fans and his show is on the air so i  m sorry your a redneck who doesen  t get his jokes . please give me my   minutes of my life back .  
one of the best films i have seen in the past five years  the cast is universally spectacular in a tale of young love and bravado on the lower east side of new york city with the two leads being superstars in the making . funny  charming  sad and inspiring  this is a totally refreshing take on urban youth that puts larry clark  s often  nauseating shtick in the gutter where it belongs . . . although i have to admit that bully was a cut above his normal fare . raising victor vargas is one film you will kick yourself for missing . . . so don  t miss it   
i understand the jokes quite well  they just aren  t good . the show is horrible . i understand it  and that  s another horrible thing about it . the only cool character there ever was on the show was that one hobo in that one episode  but then i see the other episode including that episode and the show is horrible . it  s not funny  not funny  i don  t want people to say  only smart people get it  because if they  re so smart why do they judge people they don  t even know and say that they  re not smart or intellectual enough to understand it  it  s like saying  the sky is red  but never looking outside . but anyways  this is absolutely the worst show i have ever seen in my life  the jokes are terrible  i mean  you can understand them  they  re just horrible  her controversy is very lame  her fart jokes and other jokes on bodily fluids are really dumb and usually consist of really bad acting . i  m not sure what these  smart  people see in this show  but judging others when they don  t even know anything about any of us isn  t exactly a smart comment .  
wow  i loved this movie and love judy marte   this girl isn  t just an awesome pretty face  she  s funny and really really talented   she made me laugh many times just by being very naturally rough with victor who was desperately hitting on her  we  ll be seeing her a lot in the next coming years . . . and probably also from director peter sollett and co  star victor rasuk   br    br   raising victor vargas is one of the best film i saw in a long time  very refreshing  it  s true  nice  funny  well filmed  it got it all  good story  good actors  good film direction   br    br   if you like simple  slow paced  real life  urban movies  like maybe jersey girl from kevin smith  you  ll love victor vargas  it  s better   
sarah silverman is really the  flavor of the month  comic right now . is she really worth all the hype  yes and no . she is funny at times  sometimes hilariously so  her standup routine is actually quite interesting  though not always funny  . other times  you  re feeling cheated by the media for overhyping yet another performer . she is one of those really cute comedians that men especially flock to  saying that they dig her intelligence and wit . but if you corner them  most men will admit that they just want to sleep with her  and that  s why they watch her . she reminds me of why many men flocked to margaret cho and janeane garofalo  even though neither of them are really  hot  now in terms of popularity . sarah doesn  t drink or smoke  at least cigs   so she should be hot when she  s    so her fans  especially the male ones  can rejoice .  br    br   as for this show  it  s very much like her comedy . when it works  it  s hilarious . when it doesn  t  it  s full blown tedium and very  very boring . the aids episode here is the best one . it  s consistently funny  and has some really good satire in it . brian poeshn  s character has an unhealthy obsession with tab in one episode  and it  s hilarious seeing him in a tab t  shirt . but they never really go anywhere with it  and it eventually wears out its welcome . sarah  s character in the series is rather annoying  the gay couple  brian poeshn and some other guy  seems tacked on and never really does anything for the show as a whole  and the supporting players  including sarah  s real life sister  laura  who doesn  t look a thing like her  are ok . when the jokes hit  they  re brilliant . when they don  t  they  re awful  and i mean really awful . there  s also an obsession with coprophilia here  aka poop jokes   which seems to have replaced actual wit and intelligence in comedy today . so should you watch this show  if you have a crush on sarah  go for it . you can gaze at her and pretend she  s yours . as for her show  it  s ranges from good to absolute zero .  
if you still remember that summer when you had your first kiss  first boy  girlfriend  or first puppy love fling . . . this film is for you  ok so this movie would and will never win an oscar but as a dominican i loved it . . . there are some things in the movie that might just go right over your head if you are not part of the culture . . . the kids being raised by a grandma who  s both mother and father  the youngest son being babied and bathed with a cafe bustelo tin  sooo dominican    judy being harassed by the neighborhood men  going to church and lighting a prayer candle . . . the film  s brilliance was in those small details . granted  it was not a pull out all the works cinematic extravaganza but it wasn  t meant to be nor was it meant to be an educational tool for those wanting to learn about latin culture  tip make new friends instead  . more of a bitter  sweet  faux  cumentery  this film kept it real without taking itself too seriously . as in the tradition of  y tu mama tambien  this was simply one boy  s coming of age tale . i recommend it  especialmente si eres dominicano   o   
and when i watch sarah silverman  i get the same results . i love quirky  irreverent humor . but this woman is so darned b  o  r  i  n  g  annoying  and yawn  worthy . she  s also totally lacking in anything whatsoever humorous . the deadpan way she tries to deliver her lines is just dead on arrival because she  s just not funny . i watched two segments of her program and was ready for novocaine .  br    br   geez  my kid  age    saw her promos on comedy central and said she was a  dumb chick .  i thought that was a compliment . the one where she says  watch my show or i  ll kill my dog   is actually believable . i know she  s a wanna be comedienne . she just comes across as a warped nut  case . i just don  t ever want to see her around my dog .  
this movie feels like a film project . as though the filmmakers picked out a cross section of society with no experience and got to work . characters are kind of uninvolved and naive though . despite this amateurish feel  the movie is effective . it  s like a cross  section of life with neighborhood kids trying to realize or nurture their honest sexual feelings . being raised by a grand  parent  of course from that generation there is shame associated with sexuality . this provides for some predictable but well done conflict . probably most enjoyable was the way the main character grew a little bit in his romantic relationship realizing a greater depth to sexual feelings . a good watch but nothing stirring . . . .  
i have given this show  i have only watched seven episodes  four stars because most of her jokes  set  ups appear to fail . some are not funny outright  but some are amusing   in a   year old boy kind of way . she reminds me of that new york painter who throws paint upon a canvas  calls it art and sells it for a lot of money . silverman throws out what she  s got  including the kitchen sink  while she prays that a few things stick to the wall in her effort to be funny but different .  br    br   however what she  s  got  often times is not enough  as though she lacks the kind of follow  through a good comedian needs to succeed .  br    br   the whole enterprise is like an under done potato .  
i have no idea how imdb sorts reviews but i do know that  as happens often on amazon . com  there are a striking number of very negative reviews for this movie which repeat the same  somewhat obscure talking points  almost verbatim . a campaign  only imdb knows .  br    br   as for this movie it  s fine . it  s a funny  cute and very straightforward movie .  br    br   it  s been over a decade since i worked in brooklyn  lived in queens and visited relatives in the south bronx . but i found nothing inauthentic or exploitative about these kids . is the grandmother a bizarre character  yup . do the dialogue and plot acknowledge this  yes  thankfully  they do . are other movies set in the les and featuring dominican  puerto rican kids possible  you betcha . does that make this movie a crime  as some of the  to my eyes  astroturf  comments would suggest  hardly . let a thousand plastic flowers bloom .  br    br   this is better than any episode of degrassi jr . high or degrassi high . scoff at the comparison but  we  ve never had that  and i  m touched  to the core  by this movie  s humility of purpose and tender spirit .  br    br   that said  i  d love to know the backstory behind all this backbiting    d  
comedy central has a habit of putting on great programs at times  chappelle  s show  the daily show  colbert report  and then there are those that some people love or hate  stella  dr . katz . then there are some shows that have their defenders but are just plain awful  mencia  and now  sarah silverman .  br    br   this show is based on the fact silverman is self  centered  which can be funny  colbert report  but can be horrible  mind of mencia  . it should shock no one that i believe the latter is the case . this show is a parody of a sitcom and society  a program so absurd it loses itself in its absurdity and it simply isn  t funny . a woman farting has been done in comedy many many times because its not something that  s common . we don  t need   minutes of it . when a criminal is disarmed by a queef  it simply loses its appeal  we saw it in jay and silent bob strike back  except the women were hotter  and the whole scene was more absurd  making it better . but the best comparison of this show is to stella  except stella was more subtle  which is what made the absurdist comedy funny . it had better acting  and i suppose  a bit more of a fantastical realist view .  br    br   perhaps the fact some reviews are so negative  i  m very skeptical of the critical acclaim but do not dispute fan reaction  to this show is the amount of advertising on it  very obnoxious ads through many programs far outdo advertising on for other programs . many people are wondering why sarah silverman has a career  and others are still bitter when better shows have been canceled . this show should  ve never made it past the unaired pilot stage . back to norm showed far more promise  yet this show makes it further . and as far as critics being correct  many things have been universally panned have seen their status rise immensely . last i checked  britney spears gets good reviews too also . take that comparison however you want because someone will no doubt accuse me of being psychotic on imdb for not liking this show .  
peter sollett has created an endearing portrait about real people living in poverty in the lower east side of new york  or loisaida  as it  s known by the locals .  br    br   mr . sollett  s heart is in the right place as he examines this dysfunctional family  that is typical of the different  inner cities  of the country . mr . sollett accentuates the positive in the story he presents . these are basically good kids  the children of parents that have left them and whose grandmother has taken under her wing .  br    br   instead of presenting his characters as losers  mr . sollett shows a positive side they all have . these kids are not into drugs  or are stealing because they are poor . had this story been done by hollywood we would have seen a parade of stereotypes  instead of children that are struggling  but deep down inside  they are not defeated .  br    br   victor rasuk  as victor vargas  was a revelation . he is a natural . so is july marte . her character shows us a no nonsense girl who will not be fooled or driven to do anything she doesn  t want to do . altagracia guzman  as the grandmother is excellent . she conveys her frustration at not being able to steer her grandchildren into the things she believes in and that are so important to her .  br    br   all in all  this was an excellent picture thanks to peter sollett .  
i wouldn  t be so quick to look at all the good reviews and say this might be a good show . . this show is only good if you don  t know what  talent  is . . i won  t even say how offensive it is  i know it can be offensive to a lot of people  because thats not really what bothers me about the show . . what bothers me is that people watch this and think it  s funny . . it makes me feel like our generation is getting to stupid and i  m actually scared that it will one day be run by people who watch this garbage . .  br    br   basically the plot is simple . . it  s about an offensive  self centered  spoiled women  sarah silvermen  getting through everyday life . .  br    br   thats it . . like that hasn  t been done a million times . . in fact almost every joke either has been done or is racist . .  br    br   sarah also likes to sing . . i like her voice . . thats it . . not the lyrics . . the lyrics are dreadful . . which she likes to sing about a lot of things . .  br    br   if you like to see a hot women put everyone else down and make them feel like crap while at the same time farting and saying crap about every race then this show is for you . .  
  victor doesn  t have much  but that  s not stopping him from trying to go out with judy  the prettiest girl on the block . all he  s got is hope and a one  bedroom apartment he shares with his family . his grandmother doesn  t trust him  his brother worships him  and his half  sister just declared war . but victor thinks love really can conquer all in this warm  genuine  and touching romantic comedy about life in the part of the city most people never see   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   peter sollett   raising victor vargas  elicits engaging  debut  performances from lead actor victor rasuk  as victor vargas  and the cast . mr . rasuk and juicy judy marte  as judy gonzalez  are sexy and endearing as  lower east side kids  discovering the joy of sexual attraction . considering how attractive they look in this picture  it  s not hard to predict they hook up  and  although you may wonder how  innocent  they really are  their characterizations seem true .  br    br   victor  s brother  nino  is played by victor  s real  life brother silvestre rasuk  who looks the part his older brother is playing . sometimes  it  s nice to see movie brothers who actually look alike and  hopefully they will work together again .  cuckoo for cocoa puffs  sister krystal rodriguez  as vicki  and old world altagracia guzman  as grandma  round out the sex  starved dominican immigrant family . so  are hand  held  camera coming  of  age films in vogue  or what   br    br    raising victor vargas          peter sollett  victor rasuk  july marte  silvestre rasuk  
a low point in human interaction was reached by the maysles brothers with this film . do remember  you who used words like  masterpiece  when reviewing this film  that these maysles creeps didn  t just happen to drive to the hamptons and happen to shoot film on some eccentric people . no  when they found these two poor pathetic people they then had to finance their project  and imagine what they told the money people to sell the project  . then they befriended the two extremely vulnerable women . no meeting of minds here or real consensual participation . these wretched maysles smiled  kissed ass  did whatever they had to to get the beales to cooperate and then exploited them as viciously as has ever been done . one would like to think that these hustlers had occasional thoughts of remorse and guilt . but the film  making process  given the preplanning  actual shooting and then editing took a lot of time and their goal had no provisions for actually relating to the beales as human beings . an exploitation film perpetrated by the vilest of people . as time accrued their film  making reputation has been seriously stained by what they did here . their reputation as human beings is execrable . that is what people will remember them as . grotesque hustlers .  
incredibly intriguing and captivating  i found it impossible to turn away once i began to watch . i am usually one of the harshest critics but to me this film was just brilliant  strange as this may sound i could almost smell the air and feel the textures of the locations .  br    br   from a cinematographic i thought there was great use of light and texture . from the orange glow of the summer light  down to the plastic wrapped couch all had a distinct air of realism to me .  br    br   from a character perspective i thought the notion of victor vargas as almost the glue that connects the story was quite inspired  each of the other members of the family having a more complete background simply caused greater intrigue in the main character himself .  br    br   beyond that  having known someone just like the grandmother and having been on the receiving end of just such a situation  i can say the situation felt particularly realistic . the awkwardness  the accent  the cooking and even down to the comments made felt so authentic to me .  br    br   i think this film worked for me because i began to watch it with no expectations and found it completely immersing and brought back memories of teenage emotion  well worth a watch .  
despite the overwhelming cult following for this sad  documentary   i must admit to having cordially loathed the film which struck our party as far more a distressing exploitation piece than usefully informative . that said  after seeing the magnificent stage musical drawn from it  one can appreciate what the film might have been in surer hands .  br    br   one suspects that those many of us who actively suffered through the film may have had any campy delights its crueler fans enjoyed destroyed by the uncomfortable suspicion that too many of us  or those we know  are only a misstep or two away from the deplorable plight of the two mad women depicted who live in and contribute to a squalor they seem incapable of controlling or escaping .  br    br   the film leaves the viewer desperately wondering how any person could have slid to this level of degradation and  unlike the musical  offers no cautionary clues or explanations  only a horror show unredeemed by humor or insight .  br    br   this soul crushing flatness of the film makes the achievement of the stage version  hopefully to be filmed ultimately for cable  all the more remarkable . act ii is faithful in almost every detail to the film under discussion but strangely  setting the sad inmates  plight to music  raises the human tragedy to art . even more important  this act is preceded by a fine act i where we meet the women before their decent into mutually enabled madness  and are offered hints how their isolated purgatory came about . in short  everything which the film is lacking .  br    br   to the filmmakers  credit  or their successors   the excellent criterion dvd release includes out  takes and bonus material that partially redeem the main film  behind the scenes photographs  interviews and commentary  filling in some of the blank spots the original editing consciously decided to omit in its drive for unadulterated horror and depression . they can  t make the amateurish film itself satisfying  but they can at least make it a bit more comprehensible .  br    br   ultimately though  it is only the remarkable stage piece inspired by and drawn from it by book writer doug wright  composer scott frankel and lyricist michael korie which raises the rating of the original grey gardens above a single  generous  star .  
i saw this film a while back and it  s still at the top of my  favorite movies  list . it is amazingly put together and what really makes the film are the detailed tid bits  such as the  cafe bustelo  coffee crate being reused as a cup to wash her grandsons hair  that people aren  t seeing because you will not understand this movie unless you are hispanic . this is just one of those films that is very culturally specific and particular . please do not bash this film if you have no prior knowledge of what foundation it  s being built upon . i completely see what the writer  director was going for  and he hit the target perfectly  this film is highly deserving of a better rating .  
somewhere inside this movie is a half  hour episode from the twilight zone trying to get out . whereas cube was taut  well  made  claustrophobic and mind  engaging  i  m afraid cypher is a bloated  tedious rehash of several well  worn themes which just don  t add up to much  especially if you have seen almost any other half  way decent sci  fi film before .  br    br   cypher manages to drag all the way through its relatively short   minutes right to the incompetent ending . none of the characters spark off each other  and for a film made in     the technology is truly cheesy . it is difficult to connect this tired and uninspired movie with the director of cube . it  s not a bad movie  but it is most definitely not a good one .  br    br   when you  ve watched the grass grow and paint dry and are bored of your stick insects then by all means watch this film  but the other activities will probably prove more stimulating .  
i wanted to see valentine ever since i saw that denise richards and marley shelton were in it because they had played in some of my favorite movies ever . when i watched valentine  i was amazed at how great the story line actually was . it kills me to see that it has a low rating because it was not horrible at all . the actors and actresses played the parts wonderfully and the way it ended was so brilliant and cunning . some scenes were a little unbelievable and or poor  and i admit at a few minor parts it got just a small bit boring  but overall it was non  stop entertaining and suspenseful . it had a mind  twisting story line which made you guess the whole way through and it doesn  t deserve all the crap it gets . i recommend this movie to watch anytime  but especially on valentine  s day because it  s sure to give you a ton of chills . oh  and don  t even pay attention to the trailer or rating  please  don  t . . .  
the performances of fishbourne  who appears strangely funny somehow  and  short featured  ed harris are remarkable  unlike connery  s who doesn  t appear to find sense in his role and ends up in the motorial behaviour of a   yr old man . in fact the screenplay doesn  t make sense imagine a   min . happy ending  plot plus a sudden turn appendix without any argumental structure in respect to the characters . it  s more an accident than a screenplay and may be good for examination purposes at screen  wrights  schools . the more you remind the details the stronger this impression gets . the capital punishment is not an issue here  although it is a subject from the beginning it sort of fades away without further comment . the subject  matter and environment could have been good .  
true fans of film will love this authentic movie .  br    br   i disagree with the trolls who are rating this movie a one  star and calling it unrealistic . while i don  t have the background or come from the environment of the protagonists  i  ve spent many years working in lower income and working class neighborhoods and feel the acting was very real and representative of how teenagers behave . i don  t know what the basis is for others  comments that the film is  unrealistic  . the dialog is great .  br    br   the low budget production value didn  t bother me a bit . i felt that the natural lighting enhanced the character of the film . the focus was entirely on the story line and character development and not glitzy hollywood propping or melodrama .  br    br   i completely bought into the character  s motivations and reactions . the acting was believable and impressive for new and non  actors .  br    br   if your idea of good film is transformers or fast  furious  then skip it . if you enjoy good character driven dramas  then see it .  br    br    regarding the negative commenters being  trolls   click on their names and you will see most have no other reviews or only negative reviews .   
i watched this film recently on dvd and i have to say i wasn  t impressed . i know it  s taboo to knock independent films  but this one felt devoid of entertainment .  br    br   the premise was interesting  but the execution of it fell short . i found myself thinking  okay  they  re just getting into it  the story will pick up soon  . before i knew it  the film was over and the story never picked up . i can  t say i found the acting all that impressive either . it was pretty bad . not star wars prequel trilogy bad  but bad nonetheless .  br    br   i  m not sure what the running time was  i  ll assume two hours  because it  s a safe estimate  . anyway  when the film was finished  i felt as though i deserved some kind of recognition for the will power i exerted in not stopping the film and walking away halfway through .  br    br   again  i was thoroughly unimpressed  and eventually bored out of my wits . i  m not one of those guys who requires fast  paced action and explosions in a film  so don  t start in on me as that being a reason for not liking it .  
along with fernando fragata  joo mrio grilo  abi feij  leonel vieira  tc . . .  other commercial directors   diamantino costa is one of the best portuguese directors  o lampio da estrela  was his  diamantino costa  first movie  before he made several successful commercials . this title is starred by one of the best portuguese comedians of all times  herman jos and jos pedro gomes are great . its a very funny movie                br    br   boa sorte diamantino . . .  
  i  m working for a sinister corporation doing industrial espionage in the future and i  m starting to get confused about who i really am  sht  i  ve got a headache and things are going wobbly  oh no here comes another near subliminal fast  cut noisy montage of significant yet cryptic images . . .   br    br   i rented this movie because the few reviews out there have all been favourable . why  cypher is a cheap  derivative  dull movie  set in a poorly realised bland futureworld  with wooden leads  and a laughable ending .  br    br   an eerie sense that something interesting might be about to happen keeps you watching a series of increasingly silly and unconvincing events  before the film makers slap you in the face with an ending that combines the worst of bond with a duran duran video .  br    br   it  s painfully obvious they have eked out the production using dr who style improvised special effects in order to include a few good  if a little babylon   cgi set pieces . this sub fight club  sub philip k dick future noir thriller strives for a much broader scope than its modest budget will allow .  br    br   cool blue moodiness served up with po  faced seriousness  disappointingly dumb . this is not intelligent sci  fi  this is the plot of a computer game .  
i felt a great joy  after seeing this film  not because it is a master piece  but because it convinced me of  that the portuguese cinema became really very good . we can see here the best portuguese actores in this field .  
i think this film has been somewhat overrated here . there are some things to admire in it for one thing it deserves credit for being a science fiction  ish  film which relies on its story instead of special effects and action sequences to carry the day . the supporting cast is good  the set design and cinematography are good  and the ideas are interesting enough  though they are beginning to seem a little tired after the many mediocre dark city  memento  fight club clones of recent years  . but the film is undone by poor characterization  wooden performances from the lead actors  and a laughably bad ending .  br    br   the main problem i had was that the protagonist was neither likable nor unlikable . i realize that part of the story dictates that he should be a bit of a  wait for it . . .  cipher  but i was utterly unable to work up any empathy for a character that just seemed like a boring  anonymous schlub of a man . what character transformation there is for this sad sack is artificially forced on him by the plot . lead actor jeremy northam succeeds in conveying that the protagonist is confused and hapless  but fails at inspiring any sympathy for him . opposite him  lucy liu does what she can with a character who has no real personality of her own  unless being the embodiment of a spy  movie clich counts as personality .  br    br   one of the biggest disappointments of this movie is the ending . i won  t give any spoilers here  but i will say that a surprise twist at the end was telegraphed pretty clearly at least   minutes before it occurred . further  after being content to be a quirky  idea  oriented movie for the first hour or so  the last few scenes suddenly and terribly devolve into the worst kind of hollywood pap  complete with big explosions and special effects . the revealing of the film  s mcguffin at the end is poorly done  and at the end the characters seem even less likable than they did before some of the film  s main plot threads were resolved .  br    br   the movie  s not all bad  though . it does manage to maintain a certain low level of tension throughout most of it  despite the slow pacing  although i think i have a higher than average tolerance for slow  paced movies  . and there are some moments when the unsettled  paranoiac feeling that director vincenzo natali was clearly trying to evoke rises to the surface . but in the end  these elements aren  t enough to overcome the flaws in the film  s acting and script . there is probably a good movie that covers these same themes and ideas  but this isn  t it .  
actor herman jos plays the role of a football of a soccer entrepreneur that acquires the pass of two african players and tries to sell them for very little money to the rival club of the benfica  club of its heart   fc porto  therefore these players did not play well  and it wanted that the fc port was wronged with this . but what happens is that these two players after all are good and fc porto sell them for much money to a foreign club  making a good business . the film  for a small country as portugal  without great antecedents in great films  is a very good and funny comedy  showing all the rivalry that exists between north  south of portugal  fc porto  benfica  . highly recommended  
jeremy northam struggles against a  total recall  clone script and disposable romantic by  play to bring life to a confused character . lucy liu graduates her acting from a wooden start to a workman  like finish . you can  t fail to laugh when viewing her interviews on the dvd when she uses the term  femme fatal  and  romance  . french film  noir actress she is not and they lack chemistry together .  br    br   this movie fails  not in the plot or the action sequences but in the lack of attention to detail in the films photography and ham  fisted portrayal of the world of technology surrounding the main protagonists . little attempt is made to dress the scenery to represent any contiguous filmic landscape or period . automobiles are very      s and the architecture barely modern with open plans that hint at a restricted budget rather than conscious set dressing techniques .  br    br   the technology is positively hilarious . massive       a space odyssey  mainframes fed by man  portable cd  rom  s with data collected for some unexplained reason  in spite of the proliferating communications network that even the most un  savvy technologist today would obviously be aware . there is an obvious lack of research done here and given the open  source nature of the cyber  community  research would have cost little more than a bulletin board and personal time .  br    br   dvd interviews also reveal the original movie name was  company man  but this likely ditched in order to cash in on matrix hype . the  cypher  title has only the slightest link with the movie . terry gilliam would have done wonders with this concept and completely re  written the decalogue .  br    br   this is tele  movie quality and extremely disappointing for a movie length production . it might have made a good sub  plot for  alias  .  
the premise is a bit better than the execution  but that doesn  t mean the film is worth a look . splendid supporting cast makes this a fun mystery to unravel . raines is great as the resourceful woman determined to solve this puzzlement . i always enjoy thomas gomez .  
philip . k . dickian movie . and a decent one for that matter . better than the paycheck  woo  and that abomination called minority report  spielberg  . but lets face it  the twisting and cheesing ending was a bit too much for me . half way through the movie i already started to fear about such kind of ending  and i was regrettably right . but that does not mean that the film is not worth its time . no  not at all . first half  as already many here have commented  is awesome . there are some parts where you start to doubt whether the director intended to convey the message that showmanship is highly important thing in the future  we will do such kind on corny sf things because we can  or is it simply over combining . but the paranoia is there and feeling  out of joint  also . good one .  
pretty good picture about a man being in the wrong place at the wrong time . if the murderer wanted to whack the dame  why not just off her and let the cops try to figure out whodunnit  involving all these characters in the plot is dangerous  not to mention all the mouths you  d have to worry about staying shut . why did the depressed lady go out to the bar when she could barely sit up in a chair or say a word  are there really cops out there who are wise cracking  gum popping  grinning apes who approach a suspect in such a glib manner  this probably played well back before the wheel was invented  but it is so corny and unbelievable today . catch the manic drum break by elisha cook his frenetic hammering never once matched the recording . his mad facial expressions made up for the off kilter stick sync .  
basically a typical propaganda film for the last good war . but there were a couple things that struck me . first was the use of mouthed epithets . in two cases the scott character mouths one  once at the beginning when he drops his bomb off target during the bomb  off   dammit   and once when he is trying to sway a bombardier into being a pilot   st   . i could be wrong about the second instance but i replayed it several times and that  s what it looks like to me . the third case is when the anne shirley character wishes the o  brien character goodbye and good luck   give  em hell   over the roar of the engines . she must have thought that was too unladylike because she clearly says  heck  . i also found interesting the character that has moral problems with bombing  specifically bombing civilians . the avuncular superior officer assures him that only military targets will be hit due to the precision of the bombsight used . given what we know about the lemay  s later strategy of firebombing japanese cities into oblivion this scene plays with not a little irony . i remember mcnamara  s quoting of lemay in  the fog of war   something to the effect that if the us did not win the conflict he would be tried as a war criminal . the ending is way overwrought  in keeping with the movie . it reminded me a bit of the end of white heat  i  m not comparing the films  just the ending   . maybe it  s just  cause he gets blowed up . blowed up real good     
ella was excellent  franchot was unavoidably over  the  top  but he played similar parts in other films such as  the man on the eiffel tower   and alan was nearly non  existent but the film certainly  thrilled  .  br    br   mild spoiler ahead i wonder how many times elisha cook got strangled in his films but i seem to recall various other examples . i will avoid naming the murderer but i think it  s necessarily obvious because of the plot  thriller  demands .  br    br   a very well  done but dated film noire  for example everyone smoked like crazy and the police were really stock characters . and no dead bodies were ever shown  unlike today  s gore fests .  done in the familiar short  scene tableaux format of the period .  br    br    out of   .  
there is no question as to who is in command of the training of cadets in this film major chick davis  pat o  brien  . o  brien plays an officer who adheres to military discipline in the creation of a new kind of soldier from his cadets   the bombardier . but he is not so rigid as to be unfair or unfriendly . in fact  he even changes his opinion as to the value of women working in the military . he  s tough when he has to be  yet at other times he is a clear mix of coach and pastor  roles he perfected in other films . his character is the foundation of the action around which everything revolves . o  brien seems natural in the role  and plays it in fine fashion . two things help this movie o  brien  s performance and the spectacular special effects ending .  
this is a film which had eluded me thus far but  now that i  ve watched it  emerges as one of the major entries in the noir style . as usual with the divx format  the viewing was far from ideal  marred by the occasional video and  mostly  audio glitches  but  given that the film is still unavailable on r  dvd  this will have to do for the moment . since the film  s reputation is quite high within the genre itself  i assume that the reason behind this oversight is because it does not have a well  known actor in the lead .  br    br   anyway  the belated entrance of the film  s nominal star  franchot tone  packs quite a wallop  especially as he is shown to be the villain from the first   tone was a underrated actor  he was rarely given meaty roles  and this may well be his best  making his paranoiac both fascinating and believably dangerous  . the female lead  ella raines  who would later feature in brute force       as well as siodmak  s own the suspect       and the strange affair of uncle harry        is quite lovely and capably takes on the role of the distraught secretary out to prove her convicted boss  alan baxter  innocent of his wife  s brutal murder . other key supporting parts are essayed by thomas gomez as the initially bullying but ultimately sympathetic police investigator  and elisha cook jr .  the genre  s quintessential fall guy  as an ill  fated  ladies  man  of a percussionist .  br    br   like brute force  s jules dassin  siodmak was on a noir roll at this point in his career and this film definitely benefits from his superb direction  all tilted angles and terrific set  pieces  including the justly celebrated jazz sequence in which cook manically beats on his drums in a sexual frenzy brought on by the sluttishly  attired raines  who is putting on an act to get his attention and eventually drive him to confess that he withheld evidence at the inquest which could spring her resigned lover from jail  . another great  lengthy sequence is the one in which raines follows a bartender  another uncooperative witness  around the streets of new york  which results in his being mowed down by a car   br    br   notable  too  is the trial sequence  which is entirely depicted through the audience  s reaction so that judge  jury  witnesses and d . a . are never actually seen  although the judge  s voice is recognizably that of veteran character actor samuel s . hinds  . the centerpiece of the film is the scene in which gomez and tone discuss the nature of the criminal involved  with the inspector  s put down of the latter as mentally insane giving the initially smug tone  dizzy spells  . the suspenseful climax finds raines alone with tone in his apartment  where she discovers evidence of his guilt  and he confesses to having had an affair with baxter  s wife  but killed her when she wouldn  t desert her husband for him .  br    br   by the way  i hit upon a little goof in the film while the story is clearly set in      i noticed that during the taxi cab ride towards the beginning of the film  in which alan curtis escorts the titular lady to the theater  the establishing shot of new york  comprising clearly of stock footage  features a marquee promoting laurel and hardy  s     musical comedy  swiss miss  incidentally  famed mystery writer cornell woolrich wrote the original novel on which this was based using a pseudonym .  
i don  t know who wrote the script for this movie  but from the first moment on  i was irritated . of all possible decisions they could make up in the mountains  why do they make the decision  which is the most dangerous of all  why do the criminals act dumb  although they managed to get a huge amount of money out of a bank and get away with it  why doesn  t the main criminal land the helicopter  shoot stallone  grab the money and fly away with the chick as a hostage  and there are more cases of illogical behavior . i  d give this movie  points for nice action and great landscape scenery  but due to the illogical behavior of the characters  i just can give this movie  point . . .  
drum scene is wild  cook  jr . is unsung hero of this and many movies . fantastic actor  great flick . a few twists that keep you moving . a must  see .  
i saw this movie with my rock climbing instructor  and we found the entire thing so ridiculous as to be beyond pity .  for one  if stallone is out free  climbing by himself  there  s no need to carry any gear  but i guess those dangling carabiners look sorta  mountain climby   so let  s throw them in  . for those lobotomized folks who think that colorado looks anything like the dolomites in italy  where the movie was filmed   well the hollywood moguls have got a lot more ridiculous  foul  smelling stuff for you to swallow .  
alan curtis has a loud  violent sounding argument with his wife  slams out of his apartment  has a night of drinking with a mysterious lady with a large hat in a bar  run by andrew tombes  in a nice villainous part for a change   and returns to find his wife dead and the police  led by thomas gomez waiting for him . his attempts to prove his alibi  that he was with that mysterious lady  fall because everyone that he can think of  tombes  elisha cook  claims there was never any such person . he ends up with no alibi  although his secretary  who secretly loves him  ellen raines believes him . convicted after a trial  he is awaiting his death sentence . raines starts going out after the truth  discovering that gomez has some doubts of his own . she also finds an ally in a friend of curtis  franchot tone  who was apparently out of town the night of the crime . will she clear curtis in time  the phantom lady is based on a novel by william irish  the great noir writer cornell woolrich  . as movie fans know from other works by woolrich  leopard man  the night has a thousand eyes  rear window  no man of her own  one cannot assume what is true on the surface anywhere . the missing wife of a salesman may not actually be upstate  sending him messages that she arrived  if he still has her jewelry . the mentalist may really be able to predict tragedy  or was he plotting the murder of his old partner  now an oil millionaire  did a leopard kill the young women  or is the wealthy recluse in town actually hiding some guilty knowledge  is the young woman  claiming to be the wife of a brother killed in a train wreck  actually an impostor  here it is raines and gomez  with an assist by tone  trying to prove curtis did see a woman nobody will admit seeing  and if he did see her  why is nobody else able to recall seeing her  the problem with the story really is curtis  s personality  he gives in too easily when found guilty of the crime he did not commit . in reality anyone who is innocent would be screaming it to the moment they are executed . however  in defense of curtis  s collapse  it also happens to other people in various films gary cooper  in mr . deeds goes to town  gets so disgusted about the framing he gets as delusional and mad by douglas dumbrille and his minions that he does not defend himself at first  until the people who would depend on his help cry out their fears in the courtroom and reawaken his sense of responsibility . but curtis just seems to give up . in normal circumstances raines  gomez  and everyone else would not care if curtis didn  t .  br    br   but the film survives this weakness . the slow unraveling of lies by witnesses bribed by the real killer allows two set pieces for raines with tombes on a deserted elevated platform and elisha cook at a jazz session . gomez turns out to be more perceptive than the villain expects in double checking his alibi again . and the villain manages to keep slightly ahead of raines and gomez until the concluding minutes of the film . if it is not as great a film as double indemnity or the postman always rings twice or the maltese falcon  it holds up pretty well until the moment curtis and raines are reunited at the end .  
there are some stallone movies i like  but this movie didn  t meet my low expectations . i found this movie hard to believe . for example  a bunch of terrorists who crash land in the wilderness are prepared to survive for at least two days . also  in all this wilderness stallone and company keep running across bridges and ladders that provide convenient short  cuts or plot devices . also  the treasury cops don  t seem to coordinate anything with the local rescue people . also  bad guys who couldn  t hit the side of a barn with really high  tech looking automatic weapons .  br    br   i liked john lithgow  s villain initially  but the character is such a complete psychopath that he doesn  t care at all about any of his own bad guys  or all of them getting killed . eventually i just couldn  t believe the character anymore .  br    br   not worth the price of a rental  not even worth taking the time to watch .  
it  s a colorful slasher movie . that  s about it .  br    br   it has the mystery element that scream made so popular in slasher movies  but i never care for such things . figuring out who  s the bad guy is not that interesting considering the clues are all misleading anyway .  br    br   the death scenes were inventive and gorey  bringing back memories of    s horror movies like friday the   th .  br    br   another nice thing about this movie is that it  s hard to pinpoint the surviving girl  unlike in scream and ikwydls where it was obvious .  br    br   people who don  t like slasher movies won  t like this movie . as simple as that . i truly enjoyed it and i plan to watch it again while waiting for more of the same .  br    br     mb  
  st watched            out of    dir  arne glimcher   mystery    thriller with too many ridiculous plot twists . despite the very talented cast this movie is way too predictable and just downright under  estimates it  s audience . the movie  going public is not stupid and i hope will not keep filling certain stars pockets again and again despite what they are involved with . we think that this movie is going to be about something with connery  s conviction against capitol punishment in the beginning but it turns out to be nothing but a standard  contrived for the audience  s sake  run of the mill  let  s never get it over with  thriller . we are pulled into every silly switch in character  as they are portrayed to us when it  s needed in the story  and we  re ready for this thing to be over way before it ends . yes there is some good acting here  especially from blair underwood  fishburne  and ed harris in a psycho  supporting role but the story does not work from almost the beginning to the very long  awaited end .  
this is a  b series  film noir  and my vote reflects its membership in that genre . i saw this film last night at a left  bank cinema in paris  where it opened a two  week film noir run . the film has some flaws  yes  but far too many delicious elements to ignore .  br    br   as the previous reviewer remarked  the drumming scene is incredible   b  movies could tread where a  movies were forbidden to enter   and the plot is intriguing . regarding franchot tone  however  i beg to disagree to me  he  s suitably mysterious just the right shade of creepy . one must bear in mind that there  s a sort of german expressionism happening here  the director  robert siodmark  was a german who came to hollywood during the war   and so an air of exaggeration fits into the whole of this film . at least it does for me .  br    br   however  it  s the gorgeous ella raines who  in only her third credited performance  held this viewer entranced throughout the film . a  girl friday  type with a strong resemblance to gene tierney  it  s a wonder that she didn  t become a household name . but she  s so good here that i  ve just ordered another film of hers   impact   off the internet  and i can  t wait to see it as well .  
let me start by stating that i usually do like renny harlin  s directing style  for the most part  and that the cinematographer should be commended for some the shots . unlike harlin  s  elm street    and  die hard   which i really liked  there is something that is missing from this movie . that  my friends  is a script . the dialogue in movies like this is always pretty awful  but this one takes the gold medal for stupidity . there are so many awful lines in this movie  i don  t even want to have to remember any of them . not just that but the execution of the lines is pathetic and seems more suited toward a bad porn movie than an action adventure . it  s almost like harlin thought that if they slowed down the words being said  they could improve the script . wrong again .  br    br   the sad part is that there is some talented actors thrown into bad roles with worse dialogue . stallone has never been a favorite of mine  but when he is acting circles around lithgow  turner  and the worst of the bunch rooker  there is something wrong with this picture . lithgow played one of the best villains in  ricochet   yet comes across as someone who can  t act to save his life here . how is that possible  i  ve always been a huge fan of his and he gets schooled in acting by stallone  who himself still phoned  in his performance . turner  s part is so small and pointless  but she still manages to appear lost on screen . michael rooker can act . i know this because i have witnessed it in  days of thunder   but he seems like he is reading his lines from cue cards . has it come to this  when rooker and lithgow have scenes together where they are speaking  i just wanted the movie to end right there  or have them both amazingly find their acting ability . unfortunately  neither of those things occurred .  br    br   which brings me back to harlin  who can be the only one to really blame for this mess other than the screenwriters . it  s his fault that i was never drawn into this movie at all  because he should have made the people actually act . the script is not very good  but still the actors  performances are what destroys this movie and that has to lie with the director . i don  t care how much was paid for the special effects  which for the most part are good  you still can  t just sacrifice the movie with terrible acting .  br    br   plus  the pacing of this movie seems to be off . the opening sequence was good and the plane scene was very well done  but how are you supposed to care about the outcome of the heist at all . i mean i understand that they were trying to create tension with all of the bells and whistles of the plane scene  but i really didn  t care if they got the money or not in that scene . if the bad guy  s would have won early  maybe i wouldn  t have had to witness one of the worst movies ever   
other reviewers have summarized this film noir well . i just wanted to add to the  whew   comment one reviewer made regarding elisha cook  s obviously coke  fuelled drumming episode . this was a doozy  i must say . cook deserved some acclaim for his frenzied performance .  br    br   a bit of trivia that i am surmising about cook appeared as a waiter in the     barbara stanwyck film   ball of fire .  he was a waiter in the nightclub where barbara was singing and legendary drummer gene krupa was drumming  most energetically . is it too much to suggest that cook  s spazzy drumming in the later film   phantom lady   was very much inspired by krupa  s work  as witnessed by cook  years earlier   br    br   if you watch krupa in  ball of fire   i think you  ll note some clearly similar body movements . one hopes  of course  that he was not influenced by any drugs at the time   
i am still shuddering at the thought of ever seeing this movie again .  br    br   i have seen action films  i have even liked quite a few of them  but this one goes over the top .  br    br   not only does it have the worst male actor ever  sly stallone  playing the lead role  but the plot of the movie is so stupid from the beginning  why not rob the money while the plane is on the ground  would be hell of a lot easier  that it requires a person with iq less than his shoenumber to believe it .  br    br   furthermore  the plot has no real twists at all  a three year old kid could guess what comes next . it is a set of cliches  of action genre   with sly performing even worse than his other movies  he was better even in rambo iii if you watch that movie as a comedy rather than action film  . now there is an actor who can  t act a  surprised b  sad c  anything else than his basic face .  br    br   i would still like to point out that this movie has two factors that might make some people like it . explosions are outstanding  but then . . . you can see better on the  th of july . landscapes are magnificient  but then . . . there are documentaries about the alps and himalayas  so you can see better sights that way  rather than waste time on this flick .  br    br   go watch some other movie instead  there are hundreds  even thousands better action movies .  
this noir may not be the best remembered film from the era  but it features a great mystery plot  the common noir atmosphere and some good performances from its lesser known cast members . robert siodmak  the talented director behind the mystery  horror classic  the spiral staircase  directed this film two years earlier than the aforementioned film  and shows a real flair for creating a dark and brooding atmosphere as well as creating a plot that both intrigues and fascinates the viewer . phantom lady focuses on scott henderson a man married to a woman he doesn  t like . he picks up a lady in a big hat in a bar one night  and the two agree to a  no strings attached  night of fun . however  he then returns home to find his apartment infested by police officers and soon finds out that the reason they are there is because his wife has been strangled with one of his neck ties  he  s dismayed to find that no one he saw while with the mysterious woman can remember her  and naturally the jury sends him down for the murder of his wife . however  luckily for him his beautiful female employee gets on the case . . .  br    br   the plot moves along nicely throughout  and unlike many of the better known noirs  this one features a few murders which make the proceedings more interesting . in fact  if it wasn  t for the fact that it was made in the forties and shot in black and white  i would swear phantom lady was an italian giallo  the central characters are all interesting enough  with alan curtis providing a good portrayal of the unfortunate victim  and ella raines being effective as the female impromptu detective . the real standout of the film  however  is franchot tone  who provides a memorable performance as the insane villain of the piece . the film also features a role for supporting actor extraordinaire elisha cook jr  who features playing the drums in the film  s most memorable segment . if i was to criticise this film  i would say that the identity of the murderer is revealed a little too early  although phantom lady does deserve some credit on that front for the original way it goes about it . the conclusion is satisfying and everything makes sense  which is amazing considering the unlikely plot line  and overall  phantom lady is surely one of the greatest and most under  seen noirs ever made   
if you like the standard sly flicks that involve over the top action  unbelievable stunts  unbelievable is not intended to be complimentary here   and retarded dialogue you will love this steaming pile of mountain goat dung . i had high hopes based on the trailer . i thought that stalone was going to be forced in his  has  been  days to yield to smarter people and make an action film that would place a credible hero in a credible situation where the story  setting  and  believable  action would prevail . i crave action that is at least close enough to reality that you can imagine the fear and excitement that would come from such an event . my limited knowledge of hypothermia and its effects rendered at least one scene laughably ridiculous . judge dredd is only better because you know going into the theater that you are going to see a comic book made into a movie . the character  setting and everything else are beyond comparison to anything we might encounter ourselves . cliffhanger on the other hand turns a mountain climbing guide into rambo before you can say  yo  adrian    
a bizarre and brilliant combination of talents between the director  robert siodmak and ella raines as a secretary trying to save her boss from the electric chair by tracking down a mysterious  phantom  woman  and franchot tone as a crazed and murderous sculptor . as well there are some fascinating smaller parts played by elisha cook jr as a drugged out trap drummer  as well as the other characters who make up parts of the conspiracy . if you  re used to seeing raines in more wholesome parts  she  s allowed to go overboard here  especially in her scenes with cook . franchot tone also plays someone very different  and though it isn  t a convincing part  he acts phenomenally . while the conspiracy is too contrived  the film has real atmosphere and is very interesting .  
oh  what a bad  bad  very bad movie  cowritten by and starring sylvester stallonethat should have been enoughand featuring too many rock  climbing scenes  vertigo  falling  and scene  chewing villains and a botched airborne heist . there are two plots  both lame . one involves a traumatic failed rescue  and the other involves bad people wrecking an airplane for booty  and killing various harmless people whenever possible . the usually reliable john lithgow  perhaps depressed by the sheer awfulness of the product  is reduced to sneering and calling those for whom he doesn  t care  bostid   in a vague approximation of an english accent . janine turner  who was sprightly and enigmatic when she played maggie on northern exposure  is sadly wasted in the part of a rescue climber and pilot . stallone is stolid and muscle  headed . no deathless lines in this one . no living lines  either .  
for the attention of chuck davis and emefy i saw phantom lady many years ago  when i was not yet a jazz buff . there is an exhibition going until end of june in paris  s brand new musee du quai branly  named le siecle du jazz  not to be missed  with as a special entertainment nine excerpts from jazz movies  including phantom lady  s famous drums sequence . i  ve seen gene krupa  and elisha cook jr  in almost all their film appearances  and i can confirm the following  . elisha cook jr was dubbed in the movie . that was some progress  since in most of his other appearances he was killed  mainly in howard hawks  s the big sleep  .  . krupa probably dubbed cook in pl . i could recognize his style  since he had already graduated from the tom  tom used  and abused  at the beginning of his career  namely in      s hollywood hotel  s sing  sing  sing sequence  and eventually got everything that was possible from what we call in french  la caisse claire  .  . the sequence from pl  at least as shown in the museum  is not censored . harry carasso  paris  france  
this is one of the worse cases of film drivel i have seen in a long while . it is so awful  that i am not sure where to begin  or even if it is worth it . the plot is the real problem  and i feel sorry for  sly  as he puts in a decent performance for his part . but that plot . . . oh dear oh dear . i particularly love the way near the end he manages to pop from the foot of a mountain to the top  whilst the helicopter is on the way . a climb of a day or two takes him all of five minutes  i could go on but it isn  t worth it . apart from the grim opening  which even a five year old would be able to predict the outcome of  the rest is drivel . sorry folks  but this is about as bad as film making gets .  
man  this is a hard dvd to come by . i could only find it on region   a spanish import  and it was expensive .  br    br   was it worth it  well  yes . not so much because it  s a masterpiece of film making  though directed by curt siodmak  the credits on imdb . com read  robert  but the dvd credits list curt   or because it has a couple of familiar figures from other murder mysteries   elisha cook  jr .  and thomas gomez   but because my decade  long curiosity about the movie has finally been satisfied .  br    br   essentially  a respected but self  contained engineer  alan curtis  has been stood up by his estranged wife and finds himself in a new york bar with two show tickets in his pocket . a woman with a strange hat is on the stool next to his and he politely invites her to join him at the musical review . she accepts  a little gloomily . the mopey bartender gives them both the eye as they leave .  br    br   at the show  the tempestuous star notices that this lady in the audience is wearing the same hat and erupts offstage with anger . the drummer in the band  cook  leers at the silent lady but gets no response . curtis takes the woman to her home and asks her name but she won  t give it  and she doesn  t want to know his . if she  d been a longfellow devotee she  d have said something about ships that pass in the night .  br    br   okay  curtis goes home to find his wife has been murdered in his absence . the head police officer  gomez  turns him over to the da . his only alibi is that he was with a phantom lady whom no one else seems to remember   not the bartender  not the latina star  not the cab driver   al alp    not the drummer   and since the lady herself has disappeared  it  s impossible to dig her up .  br    br   curtis is convicted and sentenced to die . but inspector gomez has thought things over and decided her  s probably innocent because nobody with a brain would make up such a stupid story . he joins curtis  s loving secretary  ella raines  in re  investigating the case informally .  br    br   they visit the supposed witnesses again . the ominous bartender is run over by a car  perhaps accidentally  so he  s out of the picture . the hot  tempered latina has left because the show closed and she  s uncooperative and ignorant of the source of the hat anyway . elisha cook  jr .  is strangled by the real murderer but not before he is featured in a scene in which he pounds the drums in an improvised jazz group . his sweaty face assumes an expression which doesn  t suggest intense focus but rather a monstrous  orgasmic insanity . his eyeballs roll to the ceiling  his mouth gapes  his hammering becomes frenzied . i laughed out loud .  br    br   nobody  s performance is otherwise outstanding  but all are professional enough . thomas gomez is always reliable . best performance  though  is probably by franchot tone . he  s the real murderer and he fakes his alibi . he  s reserved and artistic . even when he faints he  s decorous . i don  t know how to put this precisely but tone seems to be thinking as well as simply acting his part . alan curtis as the innocent engineer is near zero on the kelvin scale and belongs in a b picture .  br    br   i don  t know why it  s considered as classic . it  s really your basic murder mystery by cornell woolrich  not as good as some of his others . but siodmak  s direction is sensitive . a man gets run over and his hat winds up in a gutter with water running around it . his use of shadows is quietly effective .  br    br   glad i got it .  
once in a while  a movie will sweep along that stuns you  draws you in  awes you  and  in the end  leaves you with a renewed belief in the human race from the artistry form . this is not it . this is an action movie that lacks convincing action . it stinks . rent something else .  
phantom lady       dir robert siodmak  br    br   production universal pictures  br    br   scott henderson  alan curtis   following a nasty fight and split with his wife  looks to drown his sorrows at the local watering hole . there he spies a woman in a similar emotional state and  looking for some companionship  asks her to a show at a club to get both their minds off their problems . she agrees  but only on the condition that they keep their names to themselves . sure enough  when scott gets home he finds the police there  waiting to question him . his wife  s been murdered . where were you at  o  clock this evening  asks inspector burgess  thomas gomez   but scott has an alibi  right  only he doesn  t know the woman  s name . and the bartender remembers scott but not the woman . neither does the cab driver . nor the drummer  elisha cook jr .  at the club . even the dancer at the club  who scott clearly caught looking at the woman  they were both wearing the same hat   won  t acknowledge there was someone with him . something is going on  but whatever it is scott is helpless to defend himself at a trial and is sentenced to death for his wife  s murder  on the flimsiest  evidence  in hollywood judicial history  . it  s left to his loyal secretary   kansas   ella raines   who  s later joined by a sympathetic inspector burgess  to find out the real killer before scott is executed .  br    br   phantom lady is built on themes that recur  almost compulsively  in woolrich  s work . for example  the schizophrenic antagonist is also seen in black angel and the leopard man . additionally  there is the character who becomes mentally unhinged by the death of a sweetheart or spouse as found in rendezvous in black and the bride wore black . it can leave a viewer feeling like he  s treading on well worn ground . but in the right hands  the feverish plots  sorry dialogue  the narrative inconsistencies  all are beside the point . fortunately  phantom lady was being guided by sound hands .  br    br   this is siodmak  s first noir . he would go on to distinguish himself as one of the  if not the  preeminent practitioners of the style  the killers  criss cross  . here he is fortuitously paired with cinematographer woody bredell  they would be reunited on christmas holiday and the killers  . there is some great storytelling done in the camera . in one shot  the deteriorating mental state of a character is shown as he sits in front of a   way mirror  suggesting multiple personalities . the same character  who is an artist  has van gogh  s self portrait with the bandaged ear hanging on the wall in his apartment . but what siodmak and bredell are really doing in phantom lady is practically creating the look for noir . released very early in      it  s all here the wet pavement  the bags of atmosphere and dread  the sharply contrasting bw  the wildly expressionistic versions of reality  when kansas visits scott in prison   the discordant shafts of light  etc . it is a terrific picture to look at .  br    br   franchot tone aside  the cast  as well as the subject matter and relative inexperience of the director  and presumably  the budget   suggests  b  movie ambitions . i thought tone was a little hammy . alan curtis  high sierra  is not up to much  and actually comes off pretty weak in a few scenes . ella raines is mostly good  and quite beautiful  . her  sex scene  with elisha cook jr . is so delirious it has to be seen to be believed . another standout scene is when kansas goes after the bartender to question him . it amounts to a chase scene  as she relentlessly dogs him through the streets  with a stop at a subway station . some real good tension in there .  br    br    out of   
  spoiler included  some would say   br    br   this film is not possible to take seriously . at some parts it is so awfully stupid that i just can  t help laughing at it all . try me for the sequence where stallone  s character jumps some   meters with full climbing gear or  and this is really my favorite  snuffs a bad guy by sticking him onto a stalactite . yeah  what ungodly strength did he muster to accomplish such feats  i dunno  but he sure gives reality a run for the money .  
scott henderson  alan curtis  meets a mystery woman  fay helm  in a bar and invites her to see a show with him . she agrees on condition that they don  t swap any information about each other  not even names . sometimes these are the best kind of dates . however  when he returns to his apartment  inspector burgess  thomas gomez  and his team are waiting for him . scott  s wife has been murdered . his alibi is the mystery woman but no  one can remember seeing her and  as a result of this  scott is sentenced to die for the murder of his wife . his secretary kansas  ella raines  is not convinced of his guilt and sets out to find the woman who can save him from the death penalty .  br    br   this is a good film and the viewer is     behind the attempts of kansas to get to the truth . we follow her through some memorable scenes  eg  her pursuit of mac the bartender  andrew tombes  at night and the claustrophobic venue where cliff the drummer  elisha cook jr  takes her to hang out  drink and dance while he jams with his friends . this is such a blatant depiction of sexual desire that it is a stand  out part of the film as everyone sweats intensely and rhythmically for the duration of the scene . ella raines is good in the female lead role and thomas gomez makes a likable policeman . alan curtis started well as the confused  innocent man  but once he is arrested his performance took a left turn as he became thoroughly unpleasant to kansas for no reason . god knows why she stuck by him .  br    br   the film doesn  t keep you guessing as to who the murderer is as we know from about halfway through the film  but this doesn  t matter . in fact  it adds to the tension and dramatic development of the story as we will kansas to discover what is going on and then to get the hell out  it  s a good film with some great scenes but although elisha cook jr has a memorable role  i just never like him in anything that i see him in . . . . someone hand me a neck  tie . . . . .  
had to see this cos it looked like a great scary premise  prisoners finding magic book  oo err  claustrophobic terror ensues  etc .  br    br   but there didn  t seem to be a story to go along with the great idea . rather than chilling  physcological horror  it relied on effects out in the open  fire and ott body horror   which didn  t scare at all if your over   .  br    br   the logic at the end is ridiculous  with characters being killed off for nothing other than bodycount . waste of good characters  which were the best thing about this film .  br    br   obviously low budget  which doesn  t spoil it  the film really goes nowhere  and  icant believe im going to say this  it needs a hollywood remake . you simply loose interest in this version . definitely not in the same league as other french films coming out in the last few years like crimson rivers which were at least watchable  entertaining  malefique isn  t watchable to the end to be honest . and i bet you can guess the ending before you have watched the film . really really disappointing  impossible to recommend .  
i rated this film     which is an average of     for screenplay  direction and     production values and     for acting . my acting rating in turn was calculated at     for all the screen characters except for that played by heroine ella raines as carol richman who was excellent at     . also i commend thomas gomez as inspector burgess whose character convinces that he personally does not think the guilty verdict on scott henderson  alan curtis  was just in view of his naive alibi . these two then form an alliance to prove scott  s alibi .  br    br   i have this film on a  suevia film noir cine negro  dvd in spanish as  la dama desconocida  with the original soundtrack  ingles  as an alternative language  since despite searching i could not find a wholly english version . i was however anxious to see another performance by ella raines after being impressed with her performance as a heroine in  impact  playing a sole female garage proprietor . here ella performs another heroic role believing in the innocence of her engineer boss and refuses several suggestions that she should return to her home in kansas  her boss  s pet name for her  before solving the missing alibi . the fact that she is secretly in love with her boss is a little hard to believe since he formally just seemed to have had a formal business relationship with her . he had however designed children  s homes and playgrounds so i suppose  family man  had lit up in carol  s brain .  br    br   in the     s with  the film code  in operation  producers could only portray sex through metaphors and here it is done in the form of furious drumming played by elisha cooke jnr . carol dolls herself up as a girl of easy virtue in an attempt to lure the drummer into giving her information about  the phantom lady  alibi . the other main character  jack marlow  an associate of scott henderson  is played by franchot tone whose performance i found too theatrical and wondered why carol  for instance  did not notice him constantly and strangely admiring his hands . here the screenplay should have been improved and provided more suspense as these theatrical moves telegraphed the plot far too early to the audience .  
there are so many comments on this film  yet i found them to be misleading . this a corner  cutting  over  used scenario where a normal human being becomes a partner in crime to someone of the opposite sex for no apparent reason . boy meets girl . girl holds boy up at gunpoint for something ridiculous . boy is intrigued .  br    br   you know the drill the antagonist turns out to be a wild  free spirit instead of a sociopath . . . toss in a few words of wisdom from alice drummond and you have a recipe for love . sheedy  s  is she crazy or does she just need a hug   role from the breakfast club simply reeks as a lead character . and all that is left is a truly ghastly turkey of a movie .  
scott henderson  alan curtis  is unjustly accused of killing his unfaithful wife . the night she was murdered he was out with a mystery woman who refused to give him her name . after accused of the murder  the police visit all the places he had been with her  but people only remember him being alone . he  s sentenced to die and his secretary  ella raines  sets out to find the murderer herself because she loves him .  br    br   this was made as a b film from universal  look at the cast   all character actors and one star   franchot tone   on the decline  . the budget was small and the cast mostly unknown but what came out is one of the best film noirs of the     s . it  s beautifully directed by curt siodmak and has a fantastic script that came from an excellent book by william irish  a pen name for cornell woolrich  . it moves quickly and just looks fantastic . and there  s the infamous jam session with raines and elisha cook jr . which just comes off the screen with incredible sexual energy  i  m surprised the censors didn  t cut it  .  br    br   there are only a few flaws that prevent this from being perfect . tone gives a dreadful performance . he looks ghastly and he  s just horrible . also curtis is stiff and bland as henderson . you really wonder why raines loves him   he  s so unemotional . but raines is pretty good in the lead role . she  s pretty and full of life . also the last scene when the murderer is after her never rings true . he  s hardly a threat physically and her reactions just seem overstated .  br    br   still i  m giving this a  . a really great film   flaws aside .  
i heard this film was much more stylistic than the films director guy ritchie  lock  stock and two smoking barrels  snatch  had directed before  the problem is  it is possibly too stylistic . basically jake green  jason statham  is released from prison after seven years in solitary  and within two years he gambles loads of his money . he is ready to seek revenge against the violence  prone casino owner who got jake sent to prison  dorothy  mr . d  macha  ray liotta  . in the process  doctors tell jake that he has three days left to live as he is dying from a rare blood disease  oh  and macha puts hit men on him . loan sharks zach  vincent pastore  and avi  andr benjamin  are demanding jake pays their cash back  and do some odd jobs for them . the film is filled with jake narrating through some flashbacks  and through his last three days before coming to the big revelation about zach and avi  and macha  well  i assume that  s what it was . also starring terence maynard as french paul  andrew howard as billy  mark strong as sorter  francesca annis as lily walker  anjela lauren smith as doreen and elana binysh as rachel . the are sequences involving a little bit of animation  repeating lines twice in different perspectives  and changing speeds for moments  and all of these are irritating to the point of confusion and boredom  making it a silly crime drama . pretty poor   
i just saw  valentine  and i have to say that it was the best slasher movie that i  ve seen in years . unlike the recent trend of    s horror flicks  this movie is more concerned with being eerie than it is with being self  mocking . for those out there that hated  scream   there is not one reference to  the horror rules  in this movie  even though the old slasher movie rules do apply here  .  br    br   this is the perfect blend of    s and    s horror . you get the style  cinematography  and good acting of    s films and the stalking  slasher madness of an    s flick . i guess the year     is going to finally give horror fans the kind of movies they were longing for . this is definitely a move in the right direction .  br    br   denise richards stands out here as a fun character . you can tell she liked her role  and that makes her stand out . i loved her in this movie .  
seems that the cast should ensure at least an average movie . and so i sat down for    minutes of unbelief . beside ed harris no  one seems to own the skills of acting . even sean connery  who i normally worship  must have had an off  day during the entire filming of just case . not once in during the whole movie one actor could convince me .  br    br   this made this movie look cheap and unreal .  br    br   the story makes up a little . it is thrilling  and the plot is unexpected .  br    br   conclusion only watch this movie if you really have nothing more useful to do .  
i can safely admit  as an imdb geek  that  phantom lady  will never crack into my film noir top twenty . it may not even sneak into the top fifty . but rather than discredit the film for not being as good as so many other classics of the film noir genre  it should be noted that  phantom lady  has enough strong and lasting images in it to make it a worthwhile viewing . all that is required from the viewer is the ability to get beyond the dreadfully slow beginning .  br    br   the film doesn  t get cooking until  kansas   ella raines  sets about trying to prove all but single handedly the innocence of her boss  scott anderson  alan curtis   who has been convicted of murder .  kansas  is anderson  s secretary by day and amateur detective by night . as the novice sleuth she does quite well for herself while working the streets of new york at night . little by little she starts putting pieces of a murder mystery puzzle together . to be honest  the film belongs to raines and it is only due to her presence that the film works well at all . somehow she is able to breathe life into a film about a condemned man who is not interesting in the slightest . i  m not sure if this splintered dynamic of a characterless leading man becomes the fault of the actor or the director  but clearly this is where something becomes terribly wrong with the film .  br    br   as interesting as raines is as a novice detective  things really accelerate into another hidden gear when  kansas  pays a late night visit to a wandering drummer  elisha cook  jr .  in search of some information to help her condemned boss . she and the drummer paint the town a new kind of red while visiting the  all night  jazz clubs . trying to describe this scene will either prove an injustice to the scene or worse yet  it could ruin the scene all together . you  ll know the scene once the last cymbal crash has finished ringing out . if you  re lucky enough to have this film on dvd  you  ll more than likely be rewinding this scene again and again . as good as raines is  it is this scene that makes this film noteworthy . it is mainly because of this scene that i rate  phantom lady  a  instead of a  .  br    br   for the most part this film comes off as tepid and bland with a few great scenes and one magnificent scene . it is the  drum  sex scene  that separates this film from any others of the same ilk .  br    br   and just like it is said in the film that  you never go wrong with vanilla   i would also like to add that  going with vanilla  is the safe fall back choice when one can  t decide on having a tastier treat .  br    br       . clark richards  
when ritchie first burst on to movie scene his films were hailed as funny  witty  well directed and original . if one could compare the hype he had generated with his first two attempts and the almost universal loathing his last two outings have created one should consider  has ritchie been found out  is he really that talented  does he really have any genuine original ideas  or is he simply a pretentious and egotistical director who really wants to be fincher  tarantino and leone all rolled into one colossal and disorganised heap  after watching revolver one could be excused for thinking were did it all go wrong  what happened to his great sense of humour  where did he get all these mixed and convoluted ideas from  revolver tries to be clever  philosophical and succinct  it tries to be an intelligent psychoanalysis  it tries to be an intricate and complicated thriller . ritchie does make a gargantuan effort to fulfil all these many objectives and invests great chunks of a script into existential musings and numerous plot twists . however  in the end all it serves is to construct a severely disjointed  unstructured and ultimately unfriendly film to the audience . its plagiarism is so sinful and blatant that although ritchie does at least attempt to give his own spin he should be punished for even trying to pass it off as his own work . so what the audience gets ultimately is a terrible screenplay intertwined with many pretentious oneliners and clumsy setpieces .  br    br   revolver is ultimately an unoriginal and bland movie that has stolen countless themes from masterpieces like fight club  usual suspects and pulp fiction . it aims high  but inevitably shots blanks aplenty .  br    br   revolver deserves to be lambasted  it is a truly poor film masquerading as a wannabe masterpiece from a wannabe auteur . however  it falls flat on its farcical face and just fails at everything it wants to be and achieve .  
robert siodmak does a fabulous job with this b noir starring ella raines  franchot tone  and alan curtis . and he does it  i might add  without a lot of help from his male actors  i . e .  curtis and tone . it  s raines all the way  a pretty  leggy actress who for one reason or another never reached the status of some of her  noir  counterparts .  br    br   siodmak  s use of sex  light  shadows  and music is truly remarkable as he tackles this genre . the shadows  lighting effects  and camera angles are all effective . but the highlight of the film takes place in a nightclub with a very sexual drum riff by elisha cook  egged on by an excited raines . it  s this scene that brings  phantom lady  into new territory .  br    br   siodmak  s commitment to the material is matched only by raines  who gives a sincere performance as a woman in love trying to save her man . franchot tone phoned this one in . alan curtis didn  t seem upset that he might die and didn  t seem happy that he lived . and he never  except for a brief moment in prison  seemed to be in love with raines .  br    br   the amusing thing about many of these films is that  as world war ii progressed  interest in psychiatry deepened . but often the terms were used incorrectly in films such as  possessed    spellbound   and  the greatest show on earth .  tone is called paranoid by thomas gomez  tone probably has some paranoia attached to his disorder  but he appears to be closer to a psychopath . in actuality  as evidenced by his headaches  he may have had a brain tumor pushing against his brain .  br    br   phantom lady doesn  t have the greatest plot  but it  s well worth watching .  
this movie is now my gauge against which all other movies will be compared . . . as in   was it as stupid as revolver   i too was in the toronto international film festival audience last night where a room filled with over     people walked out in an eerie silence after being absolutely dumbstruck by  hours of sheer nonsense . jason stratham would have been amazing if only he had a purpose . within the first   minutes he  s given a proposition by andre     and big pussy  of soprano  s fame  which makes no sense at all  then there  s some shooting and then there  s ray liotta wearing embarrassing bikini briefs  then there  s some animation  ray liotta  s naked butt  lots of shooting  teeth gnashing  art house wanna be pretensions and more of liotta  s embarrassing body that elicited laughs at every showing . . . which i  m not quite sure was the reaction he was looking for . . . not  times anyway . everyone in this movie thinks they  re smarter than the average bear and guy ritchie thinks he  s yogi bear incarnate . the story lines might have went nowhere but the posturing was outta sight  the only way this movie could have been worse is if madonna herself was in it .  
scott henderson  the engineer that employs carol richman  as his assistant  makes a point to call her  kansas   whenever he speaks to her . it shows us that carol  effectively played by ella raines  is supposed to be a babe in the woods  as far as the manhattan of the   s was concerned . only a woman  from out of town  would follow the shady bartender to a solitary elevated subway . even then  only a naive girl could undertake such an adventure .  br    br   robert siodmak directed this film noir very well . he shows a flair for infusing the story with a lot of raw sex that was surprising for those days . how else could we justify the way the drummer in the orchestra of the musical  where scott takes the mysterious woman with an unusual hat  makes such an overt pass at a lady on a date  the drummer played with high voltage by elisha cook jr . doesn  t hide his desires for any of the ladies who sat in the front row of the hit musical where he plays . it was a real explicit invitation  first to the  phantom woman  of the story  fay helm afterward  cliff the drummer  insinuates himself very openly to ella raines who goes to the theater disguised as the mystery dame her boss had taken originally .  br    br   this is a film that will hook any viewer from the beginning . there are things not explained in it  but it holds the one  s interest throughout . the killer is not revealed until the end .  br    br   ella raines with her expressive eyes was an under estimated actress . she holds her own against much more experienced actors . franchot tone  a new york stage actor  working in hollywood  never found in this medium the fame he deserved . he is effective as the accused man  s best friend . on the other hand  alan curtis  comes across as a man  who when framed  accepts his fate and is saved only by the tenacity of the woman who secretly loved him . thomas gomez  as the inspector burgess  is an asset to the film as a detective who has his doubts the police had caught the man who committed the crime .  br    br   this movie will not disappoint .  
its like if you took the general themes of the usual suspects and fightclub  take away all their style and class and mixed them together with a lot of pretentious new wave  i  m intellectual so my movie must be hard to make sense of  film maker rubbish  mashed in a few extra styles for good measure  chopped off the ending  there you have revolver .  br    br   yes  i did think about it for a little bit after watching  and yes it did kind of make sense  however that doesn  t stop it being garbage .  br    br   waste of money . waste of time .  br    br   up there as the worst movie i have ever seen  with not even a bad movie novelty value to redeem it a little .  
sadly not available on dvd as yet  but worth pursuing on tcm or vhs . a secretary believes her boss is wrongly accused of murder  and courageously takes on many dangerous characters in an effort to establish the truth . a movie with many twists and dark alleyways  none of which i will mention  the jazz band sequence where our heroine seeks the information about the killer  is one of the most erotic scenes in hollywood history  despite being at very low budget and made during wwii in black and white . despite the low budget  long island looks somewhat mountainous  this is a movie of original style and outstanding vision . ella raines was a great actress discovered by howard hawks who knew much about these matters  casting the feistiest women  joanne dru  hepburn  angie dickinson  lauren bacall  ann sheridan  of their era . robert siodmak was of one of several german  hungarian  czech film  makers  sirk  wilder  zinnemann  lubitsch  curtiz  lang  etc  who migrs relocated to hollywood  and brought a highly original fresh vision with them . sadly ella raines was never given such a great part again  and eventually ended up in poorly produced westerns .  
let this film serve as the death knell to the  big twist  films borne out of the     s . known in some circles as the kyser soze syndrome  this cinematic slight of hand has now been done to death by m . night shayamalan and even ron howard used a variation in a beautiful mind . however  in revolver  director guy ritchie  known in some circles as  mr . madonna    utilizes the soze motif in a far more obsequious manner .  br    br   jason statham  with a highly questionable head of hair  stars as jack green  known to all as  mr . green .   he may or may not also be criminal mastermind mr . gold . or  perhaps mr . gold is an irritable spirit who can possess members of the underworld . i  m not quite certain  but i certainly don  t care . revolver is one of the most overwrought examples of cinematic excess i  ve had the displeasure to endure in quite a long time . witness the fractured time structure  the painful jump cuts  the ceaseless inner  monologues  and the painfully pretentious animated sequence . this  everything and the kitchen sink  directing style makes quentin tarantino  s oeuvre look sedate . the cinematic smoke and mirrors only lead me to believe that ritchie was as bored telling this trite tale as i was watching it .  br    br   the film is filled with moments of revelation that are supposedly shocking but they only come as news to mr . green . i wanted to like green as i always enjoy stratham as a character who is two steps ahead of everyone else . here  though  he struggles along like a remedial reader in a university english literature class . his lack of wit is only matched by the lack of restraint shown by his nemesis  macha  ray liotta  . feasting on scenery like a starving man at a smorgasbord  liotta spits  cries  and fumes through the film in an embarrassing display of overacting and leopard print speedos .  br    br   there are no redeeming qualities to revolver . it  s yet another filmic faux pas from ritchie and might even outdo his wretched remake of swept away as his worst film yet .  
this is a very unusual film in that the star with the top billing doesn  t appear literally until half way in . nevertheless i was engaged by the hook of the phantom lady . curtis  though competent as the falsely accused scott henderson  looks a little tough to be be sympathetic towards  perhaps he should have shaved his moustache  and his behavior when he first comes home should have convinced the cops at least to some degree of his innocence . while another commentator had a problem with franchot tone as jack marlowe i found his portrayal of the character to be impressively complex . he is no stock villain . superb character actor elisha cook jr . is again in top form as the  little man with big ambitions .  his drumming in the musical numbers added a welcome touch of eroticism . this movie however is carried by the very capable and comely ella raines as the devoted would be lover of henderson  carol richmond . she definitely has talent and her screen presence is in the tradition of lauren bacall . this is the first of her work i have seen and i am definitely inclined to see her other roles . the rest of the supporting cast is also more than competent . all in all a very satisfying film noir mystery which when viewed today fully conveys the dark and complex urban world it is intended to . recommended      .  
i would rather of had my eyes gouged out with rusty ice picks than have had to sit through this abortion . there is no plot . there is no acting ability . ray liota has shamed himself and should be blacklisted from any more work . i am so sorry that the industry allows crap like this to be shown on any type of medium .  br    br   rumor has it that maddona threw herself to the floor to break her other arm so she could be taken away on a stretcher . actullly  she deserves to be married to this loser and wanna  be  actor  director . i hope she stays in london and never returns to the usa . please do not waste your money on this so called film . i beg of you .  
 warning  contains spoilers    br    br   first of all  i would like to say that i really liked this game . i got it for christmas after two months of dropping hints to my parents . i am glad that i did that .  br    br   first off  i would like to say that the single player was very good . the first level is probably one of the best in the game  when you are at a party in london  and some evil guys ruin it by kidnapping the prime minister  s daughter . of course you have to rescue her  and it is quite a big level  but should probably take you at least five minutes . the best part  and i think also the funniest part  is when you are in the jet  pack  and people are rappelling down big ben . just equip the jet  pack  s most trusty rocket launcher and blast the clock faces and the enemies down . pure fun   br    br   the rest of the levels are very good  but pretty short . there are four mini  levels you can unlock  and that is one of the let downs  because only the first two of them are actually fun  and the last two to unlock are just  kill   enemies  objectives  i mean  c  mon  we got loads of points to unlock these missions and the last two bonus missions are really bad   br    br   the multi player  me and some of my friends agree  is very good and challenging  even if there are no bots . halo didn  t have any bots but that is still some fine multi player games  you can be a load of bad guys  and you go against each other  and you can also set traps  which is the best way of killing people without going into view of their character .  br    br   gameplay   .      levels can be quite repetitive and bonus missions could be improved  . graphics       there is the odd bad graphic  but that isn  t extremely often  . multiplayer        needs no comment  just great  you get to drive in jet  packs and vehicles  . sound      replay value       the only levels i go back on are the loondon level and istanbul part   .  br    br   i give this game  .      br    br   could have a bit of improvement  but it  s still good .  
okay . who was it  who gave revolver   out of    are you tripping of your head on ecstasy pipes  there were so many of you . did you do it for a dare  is this some kind of cult  or did guy richie himself sign up    times under different names   br    br   before i say anything else  i  ll say this . just because you don  t understand a film doesn  t mean that it  s not great . maybe you  ve had a bad day at work  or you sat down to watch a film after you had a row with your wife and then weren  t in the mood . maybe there  s a more fundamental stumbling block  like you just don  t have the mental capacity or a highly enough developed philosophical sense to engage with it . but . and this is a very  very big but . the xxl elephant  sized mega  but to end all buts .  br    br   please don  t confuse incoherence for complexity  and please don  t confuse this two hour non  squirter for an interesting film . really . you may think you are pretty smart . you may even think of yourself as somewhat of a romantic figure an independent thinker championing a masterpiece against a chorus of sheep  like naysayers . please don  t . you  re embarrassing yourself .  br    br   revolver  s a waste of everyone  s time . if you thought about if for a few minutes  you  d recognise it too . it was a waste of the cast  a waste of the crew  a waste of the caterers  and definitely a waste of the precious minutes  you can  t get them back you know  of anyone unlucky enough to sit through this unutterable  wretched mess .  br    br    no  wait   comes a voice in the darkness .  you just don  t understand . its non  linear . that means the story doesn  t go in a straight line . this is actually the complex and subtle work of an auteur . it addresses difficult existential questions . and anyway  they slated fight club when it first came out  didn  t you hear   because they couldn  t deal with the complexity . they  re eating humble pie now . bet you hate lynch films too  doncha    br    br   hate to disappoint you  but i am quite a big lynch fan . i rather like memento  so a narrative told in an unconventional fashion doesn  t necessarily fill me with fear . and although i  ve only studied it briefly a few years ago  philosophy interests me greatly . i don  t dislike revolver for these reasons . i dislike it because it purports to be about weighty  big  brained topics but deals with them in such an insultingly superficial way as to be laughable . i  m not much of a chess player  but richie  s idea of how chess works seems to be that of a precocious four year old . i dislike it because the characters  without exception  totally alienated me .  aha   cries the richie apologist .  guy is cleverly tipping his hat to brecht   just maybe you  re right . i think its more likely that he just can  t write a decent script for toffee .  br    br   comparing revolver with fight club is actually really instructive . fight club has acid  tongued  nihilistic dialogue that makes you laugh . revolver has stale fortune cookie reject one  liners that make your ears bleed . fight club has a great twist that makes you reassess everything that has happened . revolver has  as far as i can tell  several incomprehensible twists that offer no satisfaction because . . . well  they don  t make sense . if you keep pulling the rug out from under people  they eventually kick you out of their house . and then they lock all the doors and windows . and they never let you back in . ever .  br    br   guy richie seems to assume that being philosophical entails repeating a mantra of little buzz  phrases . mostly they are spoken  but often they flash up on the screen with attributions . it  s almost pathological .  br    br   but what makes this film particularly notable is the way in which something so incomprehensible can be married so neatly with all tired gangster clichs in the world . ultimately its so inconsequential . you don  t care about anything . you don  t understand anything . you go home .  br    br   actually  there was a bit i really liked the uptight assassin who has a crisis of confidence . he  s great . but i can  t recommend you see the film just to see him . he  s only in it for a few minutes .  br    br   please believe me . it  s horrible .  
ea have shown us that they can make a classic    agent and make you feel in the    s world . the graphics of the game are outstanding and also the voice recording is very professional . i got this game april      two years after release   and i am still impressed with the gameplay . it  s a shame that ea will no longer make    games .  br    br   i give this game      for the levels it contains  especially the  consulate  level . i would recommend this game to anyone from the age of   and over . the only thing i didn  t like in the game is the russian boat level  it was too much pressure . on the whole i like the game a lot    
i don  t think i  ve ever felt this let down by a film before . after loving guy ritchie  s two previous films  i don  t count swept away  he was pussy blind   i was so looking forward to seeing this .  br    br   the reviews were poor  then again  i don  t trust the press anyway . more worrying was the fact that the internet buzz was that this was a bit of a stinker  so it was with some trepidation i handed over my   .   yesterday afternoon .  br    br   i  m not even going to try to explain this film  mainly because i haven  t got a clue what was going on and at one point i was honestly close to standing up and asking if it was just me who didn  t get it   br    br   unfortunately i think ritchie seems to have fallen into his wife  s trap of taking himself far too seriously . it seems it wasn  t good enough for him to make films with good plots  laughs  snappy dialogue and good characters . it  s almost as if he had a checklist of films he wanted to rip off  here are some of the ones i noticed  br    br   the matrix  fight club  kill bill  the usual suspects  vanilla sky . . .  br    br   i think the most frustrating thing is that the performances from the two main actors  jason statham and ray liotta  were actually very good and it was really the self indulgent story and editing  direction that let the film down .  br    br   so a big  big thumbs down from me .  
this james bond game is the best bond game i have played in my life it is my favorite james bond game so far because  br    br   the missions in this game are really fun they can be really hard that makes it more fun to play the missions have lots of actions the weapons you use are really good . the cars in this game are awesome the car missions have lots of action and are really fun to play . the voice over actors are really good and it is cool that sean connery does the voice for james bond also the way bond looks is really cool because it looks just like sean connery when he played james bond in the movies and the other character look pretty much the same as the look in the movie . the graphics a pretty good in this james bond game . also the game follows the movie pretty much but not all the but most of the time it does which is cool .  br    br   overall score  out of   
was convincing the world that he didn  t exist . . .  br    br   this is a line that is probably remembered by a lot of people . it  s from the usual suspects of course in relation to kaiser gold . . i mean sose . .  br    br   i got another one like that  the dumbest trick a director ever pulled was trying to convince an audience he actually had a storyline   br    br   this movie is one of the saddest pieces of film  making i have seen in a long time . it starts out so well  with really fantastic cinematography  great acting and a very smart premise . but alas  the only way this movie is heading is on a course of self  destruction . and it does so  not by a single blow but with nagging little wrist  cuts .  br    br   pay no attention to the comments here that marvel at the fact that they found a way to explain this donut . with enough booze in my brain i would probably be capable of explaining the very existence of mankind to a very plausible degree . i have seen and read about a dozen totally different ways people explained the story . and they vary from a story set totally in someones head  playing chess with himself  to a cunning way for a criminal to play out his enemies by means resembling chess gaming .  br    br   and that  s all jolly swell . but at the same time it is a painful giveaway that there is something terribly wrong with this story . and apart from that  it is in any case a blunt rip off of a score of movies and books like  fight club  kill bill  casino  the usual suspects  snatch  magnolia and shachnovelle . and we are not dealing with kind borrowing here  it  s a blatant robbery .  br    br   what ultimately goes wrong here in this movie is that the storyline swirls like a drunk bum on speed . if this movie was a roller  coaster ride  you  d have crashed into the attraction next to it shorty after take off . there are so many twists in this movie which will never be resolved  that if it was a cocktail  you  d be needing a life supply of hurl  buckets to work of the nausea after drinking it . nothing is ever explained and when you finally get some grasp of the direction you think it  s going  you get pulled in yet another one .  br    br   i guess this story wasn  t going anywhere on paper and ritchy must have thought that is was awesome to make a movie out of it anyway  being the next david lynch or something .  br    br       for totally violating one  s own work  ritchy seek professional help  . what could have easily been a gem instead becomes a contrived art  piece  food for pseudo intellectuals to debate on at sundayafternoon debating  clubs .  br    br   spare your soul and stomach  avoid at all cost   
the goal of any james bond game is to make the player feel like he is fulfilling an ultimate fantasy step into the shoes of agent    .  frwl  comes closer to this goal than any other game  because this time you control the real james bond . no offense to pierce brosnan  who made a fantastic bond and loaned his voice and likeness to  eon   but sean connery was the original james bond  and there will never be anyone who comes close to his level of cool .  br    br   i must say at this point  like many others who have reviewed this game  that sean   year old voice doesn  t fit his   year old image on screen  and this takes some getting used to  but it  s certainly worth it . he makes lines like  bond james bond  and  shaken  not stirred  into a big deal again . but controlling sir sean as he takes on the evil organization known as octopus is  as bond said in  octopussy    only the tip of the tentacle .  the awesomeness of the game begins with the opening gun barrel . it  s the original gun barrel from the movies . then you take on first mission  rescuing the prime minister  s hottie blonde daughter from terrorists at parliament  and everything from the cars to the clothes is perfectly retro . the world of the game is truly the world of the original james bond  right down to the classic rock  n  roll rendition of the james bond theme that finally plays during a key moment late in the game  as bond infiltrates a secret factory .  br    br   after the game  s opening  the plot faithfully follows the plot of the movie  frwl .  james bond is sent to turkey to retrieve a lektor device from a russian cipher clerk who claims she has a crush on him . in turkey  bond teams up with lovable sidekick kerim bey . bond must retrieve the device  protect the damsel in distress  and get both safely back to london . bond screenwriter bruce feirstein worked on the script  and he  s done a good job of making the game the same but different to the movie . the characters from the movie are all recreated well  but some are better than others . the impersonators voicing villains rosa klebb and red grant are uncanny . and there  s a moment early on in the game where you interact with a miss moneypenny  m  and q who all look and behave as they did in the original sean connery    movies .  br    br   what puts this game miles ahead of the other bond games  besides sir sean  s voice and likeness  is two notable features in the game play . one is bond focus . while you can dispatch villains simply by locking onto them with one button and killing them with the other  an additional button push will allow you to zoom in closer on a target and choose between spots bond would shoot at  such as a grenade attached to a belt that will dispatch an enemy and a few of his friend or a rappel cord that will cause a suspended enemy to plunge to his death . the other notable feature is the stealth and mle kills . when you  re in close enough range  just hit a button to beat down an enemy with the raw brutality that only sean connery  s james bond displayed .  br    br   sean connery  s bond relied mostly on his raw wit and talent  so you only have a few gadgets  but they  re good ones . the q  copter is a remote control helicopter that can self  destruct and explore areas bond can  t reach  like the q  spider in  eon   only better . the classic laser watch is useful  not just for getting into sealed rooms  but dispatching enemies when you have no other weapon available . sonic cuff links and a serum gun are the most fun to play around with  but you must experience them for yourself . besides the gadgets  you can go dress bond up in a number of retro costumes found during the game  including the gray suit from the movie  the standard black tuxedo  a retro stealth suit  and that classic white tuxedo  all which look exactly like they did when sir sean wore them in the movies . when you drive in the game  you drive the aston martin db  straight out of  goldfinger .  it can  t turn invisible  but it has a gadget for popping tires like in the movie . and when you  re not flying down the streets of istanbul in the  goldinger  car  you can fly through the air in the  thunderball  jet pack .  br    br   then there  s the multi  player . of course  it has to be compared to the standard of the  goldeneye  game  and it fails . also  you can only play bond villains rather than bond himself or the other heroes of the game . but the multi  player is amusing  and a decent bonus since the awesomeness of the single player campaign alone makes the game worth playing . the basic game does have other flaws . some of the movie  s most exciting moments  particularly the gypsy camp shootout  bond  s brawl with red grant on the orient express  and a confrontation between bond and rosa klebb  s bladed shoe  aren  t done justice in game form . and the game is a fast play  even on the hardest difficulty . but overall  this game is the best james bond experience so far .  
after seeing  driven  on a plane flight to america  years ago i truly believed i had seen the worst film ever created  and i could relax safe in the knowledge i would never have to suffer that much in front of a screen ever again . unfortunately as i found out last night this was not the case . revolver is so monstrously bad i am actually thinking about recommending friends to go and see it  just so i don  t feel like i  m the only one stupid enough for being conned into watching this . its really quite amazing how much this film falls completely on its face with the constant  and i mean constant voice overs of the main characters  with totally inane pretentious nonsense  i was actually getting angry in the cinema listening to andre benjamin  s utterly relentless droning for what seemed like half the film  whilst all the time thinking  what would turkish have done to this complete joke of gangster  con man  whatever he  s supposed to be  when he made his  offer   i  ll tell you what . he would have told him to fk off  blown his head away  and watch with utter disdain as his equally inept partner waddles away as fast as his chubby little legs would carry him . i mean what are we supposed to believe is going through jake  s head when they offer him their  solution  to his problem  they  re con men  therefore they must obviously also have the skill to cure incurable blood diseases  i mean ffs . doesn  t he start to wonder why his symptoms aren  t getting worse  doesn  t the penny drop on the third day what is happening instead of richie subjecting the audience to a painfully patronising phone call from avi to jake to let him know he  s been conned .  br    br   anyway  i can add a small positive note to the film by moving on to the dry humour if provides  thankfully of a similar standard to his previous films . bullst  this film doesn  t try anything as smart as redeeming itself through some well timed amusing lines  oh no . it somehow managed to be so disastrously unfunny i genuinely didn  t hear so much as a titter from a completely packed cinema  and anyone who knows the ugc in sheffield knows how full a main screen can get  and not  person so much as smiled . maybe he never wanted the film to be funny  and fair enough you can still make good gangster films without comedy  but what was he planning on hanging this film on may i ask  the unnecessarily baffling plot    i sincerely hope not   br    br   by far the most satisfying moment i went through last night was hearing the very loud sighing coming from all directions of the audience as everyone desperately prayed for the film to end . it was also really quite amusing watching just how fast patrons were fighting and dashing for the exits after they realised it was over  and they were free from their torment   br    br   i  ll round this off  i  ve got to finish  writing this is making me angry again  by elaborating on the  end  . i mean sht  the ending . . no  sorry i can  t  your just going to have to go and see it . it can  t be put in words  it just can  t  and after you  ve seen it you  ll know why . uuhhhhh  shudders   
good engaging cinematic firefights  great presentation  vehicles are actually fun to drive  fairly appealing multiplayer  faithful to the movie  and the list goes on .  br    br   bad main missions are a bit short .  br    br   this game defines what a  good  third person shooter  not necessarily a spy  game  is . great firefights carry on the story and make you want to complete every single mission through  and unlock all the genuine bonuses the game has to offer . the hype this game had  was lived up to  and i personally think you should buy it  and hook up with a couple of friends and play this one . loads of fun .  br    br   the sound in this game  is a rip  roaring achievement from a few previous bond games  and firing a weapon  really feels like you  re firing a weapon . it ties in with the aspect that you are a deadly and ruthless spy .  br    br   all in all  this game makes you excited and satisfied after you make it through  and some multiplayer that can compete with the standards of the crafty james bond  nightfire  game for gamecube .  
ritchie  s first two films were snappy  stylish entertainment . here  he raids two recent classics   the usual suspects  and  fight club   and still comes out empty  handed .  br    br   despite parading itself as a con  mystery  with the sub   usual suspects  twaddle  the greatest con he ever pulled was convincing you that he was you  or whatever it was . . .  and attempting a  fight  club  twist about which characters are real and which are internal manifestations  the film struggles to maintain interest in its second half . by the last third  you know you  re being lead down a blind alley  and tediously slowly at that .  br    br   cons  chess and game theory are all great subjects  but ritchie delves into them too superficially and too repetitively to make much use of the material .  br    br   the only thing that keeps the movie  almost  watchable is ritchie  s bold way with with a scene and maurice  jones  s dynamic camera . if ritchie stuck to a more satisfying plot  and succumbed to tighter editing  there  s no reason why he couldn  t have made another enjoyable gangster caper .  br    br   as it is  revolver is a waste of your time . incomprehensibility does not equal profundity . if you want to see a great film that doesn  t make logical sense but makes a virtue of it  and  incidentally  which also involves an inexplicable escape from solitary confinement  watch  lost highway  .  
i  m not a follower of a certain movie genre . i classify movies only as industrial or non  industrial . valentine is the second industrial movie of the director jamie blanks  after his urban legends . unlike urban legends the screenplay and the story line is very weak . yet again unlike urban legends the basic elements of the movie is so dashing and iconic  and that is what makes valentine the best .  br    br   as the first basic and iconic element  the growing hatred of the serial killer is so down  to  earth . since his secondary school years  he has grown up with his wounds he had accumulated in his soul against his classmate girlfriends  who have made fun of him . when you concentrate enough on this first element while watching the movie  you will come to see this point of view of humanism  noone is entirely good or evil . in fact  somebody known as evil can be secretly kind hearted .  just because the story line and the direction is very weak  we are not as satisfied as we deserved .  br    br   the second iconic element is  of course  the magnificent togetherness of the late   s  super starlets my favourite is jessica cauffiel who is killed within the coolest way to be killed . an arrow shot from a bow broaches her tummy and stays stuck in  while she was playing hide  and  seek with her blind date  never able to met with . katherine heigl is the first starlet getting killed in a biology laboratory while trying to hide under human body models lying on the surgical operation tables . denise richards is killed third  while she just found a valentines  day gift for her at a whirlpool bath . jessica capshaw is killed last in a confidential and unseen way  then she is calumniated to be as the serial killer . marley shelton is the unluckiest one with a vicissitude of fortune that she is going to be killed within the most confidential way that we will never know   cause the movie is coming to an end before she is getting killed . finally  benita ha is the luckiest one since she was not a classmate of the serial killer  david boreanaz .  br    br   the third and the last iconic element is the soundtrack from the blind date labyrinth scene  the valentines  day celebration at dorothy  s house scenes and ultimately the killing themes . everybody has loved the soundtrack as far as i know . hard rock never suits better within a serial killer  mystery movie .  
as other reviewers have noted the film dies in the last    hour . however before that it suffers from predictability and a stunningly vapid performance by kate capshaw  who clearly never found her character and ruins every scene she  s in . connery is fine as is fishbourne  but most scenes are manipulated for effect rather than truth which overlays the entirety with a sense of unreality . and the ending is simply bizarre . the film makers apparently knew when they pieced this mess together that all they needed were sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie to have thanksgiving dinner  so to compensate they added an overloud  dramatic  score . every little jump is accompanied by a crescendo of orchestration  to the point where it becomes laughable . if you want an example of major league bad film this is one to see  otherwise skip it .  
i bought this game on an impulse buy from walmart . i am glad i did . it was very entertaining listening to sean connery and playing the game . i thought the graphics were the best i have ever seen in a movie  game remake . the bonus levels were very hard  the sniper one i think was too hard  it made me so frustrated i didn  t play the game for a week and a half . there were too many people shooting at you with nothing to hide behind or life to handle it .  br    br   the only thing i might change was the upgrade system . i didn  t notice any difference from un  upgraded equipment to the upgraded  such as buying an armor upgrade didn  t seem to make the armor stronger or more filling on my life meter . i really liked the q copter . i think the developers did a good job .  
guy richie  s third proper film  not counting the god  awful  swept away  is a complex action thriller concerned with gambling  gangsters and chess . fans of richie  s previous efforts will probably hate revolver as much as i did  with its twists and turns . richie stalwart jason statham plays jake  a newly  released ex  con  out to wreak revenge on the ridiculously named dorothy macha  a superbly ott ray liotta  but instead gets embroiled with a couple of other cons   one of which is andre     from rap outfit outkast  who throw him and us the audience  a number of red herrings throughout the film  all of which becomes extremely tedious . the high point of this mess of a movie is the bit in the restaurant  where the dialogue gets turned down in favour of a superbly shot  slow  mo shootout set to beethoven  s moonlight sonata . all in all  revolver is a flawed work  not truly awful but far from richie  s best . that would still be lock  stock . if this film was a school homework assignment it would be graded  must try harder    
it was originally meant to be a film that gene kelly would star in  but when the makers couldn  t get him they got  the greatest actor in the world   and the result is pretty good . basically nathan detroit  frank sinatra  is having trouble doing what he does best  setting up a high stakes crap dice game  because he needs      to get the place . so to get the money he needs  he has a      bet with old friend sky masterson  marlon brando  that he can  t get sergeant sarah brown  great expectations  golden globe winning  and bafta nominated jean simmons  to go with him to havana . meanwhile  nathan is having trouble trying to get rid of the woman who wants him to ask her hand in marriage  miss adelaide  vivian blaine  . also starring robert keith as lieutenant brannigan  stubby kaye as nicely nicely johnson and b . s . pulley as big jule . an interesting romantic comedy musical  with brando singing all his own songs  and sinatra being smooth and cool . it was nominated the oscars for best art direction  set decoration  best cinematography  best costume design and best music for jay blackton and cyril j . mockridge  it was nominated the bafta for best film from any source  and it won the golden globe for best motion picture  musical  comedy . frank sinatra was number   on the    greatest pop culture icons  marlon brando was number   on the    greatest movie stars  he was number   on the    greatest sex symbols  he was number  on    years     stars  men  sinatra was number    and brando was number  on the world  s greatest actor   luck be a lady  was number   on    years     songs for  the film was number   on    years of musicals  and it was number   on the    greatest musicals . very good   
what we have here is a film about how the pursuit of money  revenge can corrupt your soul . . . or something like that . guy ritchie  a director known for his reworking of the gangster genre  bites off more than he can chew with this one .  br    br   his use of modern film noir to tackle the theme of a man setting himself free by swallowing his pride  being nice to his enemy  giving away all his money falls flat on it  s face . when jason statham  s character no longer fears ray liotta  it apparently drives liotta crazy enough to blow his head off in the final scene . why  basically you cannot set up a mafiosi like the liotta character  who has presumably got to his station in life by displaying the kind of ruthless behaviour evident throughout the film  only then to have him driven to suicide by nothing more than a pitying smile on the face of statham  s character .  br    br   before anyone starts to say i  m missing the point . . . i  m not . i get it ok  opt out of the quest for riches  you  ll find true happiness and inner peace . be nice to your enemy and this will confuse him into self  destruction . this seems to be the gist of the movie and in itself this is not a bad premise for a story  although hardly original . the problem is that ritchie simply doesn  t have the skill as a movie maker to carry it off . at the moment when even guy ritchie realises this  he appears to get bored with the story and begins to insert red  herrings the scene when statham gets knocked over by a car  why  the shooting of some scenes as marvel comic animations . . . again  why   br    br   there are so many loose threads  unanswered questions left at the end of the movie you could get all      ish about it and try figuring them out  or simply accept that there are no answers  each viewer will interpret things in their own way . myself  i was so bored with the pompous tone of the film that i simply didn  t care . frankly the ending couldn  t come too soon so that i didn  t have to sit through any more of this pretentious psychobabble .  br    br   a waste of two hours of my life .  
had i been familiar with the stage production of guys and dolls before seeing the movie  i might not be as fond of it as i am . although in all fairness  i would probably still like the film production better because of my general adoration of both brando  for his acting  and sinatra  for his voice  although he is quite the actor as well  see the manchurian candidate or from here to eternity .   br    br   as for some of the other reviewers  statements about the songs  i have the broadway soundtrack and though isabel bingley  s voice outshines that of jean simmons  it is not more pleasant . i find it to have a rather shrill quality . jean simmons  voice is much more realistic  though admittedly  that is not always a huge concern in musicals . also the only time i particularly noticed marlon brando  s particularly weak vocal register was during his rendition of  luck be a lady  and only there because i was previously familiar with sinatra  s version . i also find vivian blaine  s voice to be much more pleasing in the movie than it is on broadway . and sinatra  s voice alone would be able to redeem the failings of all the others  if they indeed were in need of redemption .  they weren  t  it is infinitely better than sam levene  s  particularly in my favorite song   sue me  .  br    br   also  the complaint that lots of songs were omitted from the movie for inferior songs  i beg to differ .  a bushel and a peck  is hardly a gem and the song that replaced it   pet me poppa  and its accompanying performance is more hot box material . i personally do not care for  marry the man today  at all and rejoice that it was not included in the movie . i adore  i  ve never been in love before   and though it was not sung in the movie  the instrumental version can be heard when nathan is in adelaide  s dressing room . the song  a woman in love  expresses the same sentiment equally well and probably in a range that both of the stars could more capably reach . and the movie wouldn  t be the same without the song  adelaide   not included on broadway . in fact  if the movie soundtrack were available for sale  i  d recommend purchasing it instead of the broadway .  br    br   though i have not seen the original production  i cannot imagine that the acting would be superior to that of the movie  s lead actors .  br    br   the important fact is that the story is as charming as ever and the acting and songs do not make it any less so .  
having read the comments on the site i feel compelled to write in for the first time . it seems this movie is like marmite and has split the audience . i have to say that while i agree films don  t have to make sense to be enjoyable  see mulholland drive  they still have to engage you with the characters . now while i was totally absorbed by the murderous lesbian affair in lynch  s opus  i have to say i couldn  t give a turd about mr green or the other cardboard gangsters that inhabited this dayglo world .  br    br   also  while so many people seem to try and say you didn  t enjoy because you didn  t get it i would have to disagree  i didn  t enjoy because i was bored . i wanted the film to end and constantly listening to those quotes over and over again did not help . call it clever if you will  i think it  s repetitious .  br    br   however  my main reason for writing is to ask all the other reviewers a question  there were no end credits on the print of the film i saw . just music over black . did i watch a dud print or is this evidence of gr  s pretentiousness  or  did everyone involved in the movie watch the rough cut and have their name removed     
i won  t try to speculate as to what brando was attempting . at his best he turns in such oddball performances  insinuating so many things at once  that it doesn  t seem he does anything so much as play by unfailing instinct . often it seems he is calling attention to some favored aspect of his character over all others  a concentration which  if followed  turns out something of a red herring  as he turns out subtler  craftier than at first appeared . this is a mastery of artifice  not naturalism  as might be associated with the method . the role of sky masterson  as mankiewicz so wonderfully realized  seems tailored for him  which is to begin with odd  and odd still at the end  because whatever it is brando has done  he has managed a grace maybe all his own  but a consummate grace nonetheless   again  odd  coming from an actor with limited musical ability  not ever before or after associated with the musical comedy . jean simmons  also oddly cast  is not quite as impressive  but certainly above just  adequate  really delightful in the havana sequence  and never less than enjoyable throughout .  br    br   and yet . . . perhaps because actors are both so concentrated on what it is they are doing  and characters on what it is they intend of each other  there doesn  t seem to be the lovers   chemistry  brought up so insistently more than once . brando  sky masterson and simmons  sister sarah respectively feed off one another well enough  but i for one don  t see more beyond that . in a movie this outrightly dazzling and entertaining  and most everything about it  craft  wise  is just that   dazzling   that lack would seem something tactfully and easily overlooked  but so much would depend upon true chemistry  an  at least partial  transformation of the characters through such chemistry  would lend something positively moving to the final scene . as it is  one leaves this film certainly delighted  but not really moved  except in a way as to negate the trueness of the union . note sister sarah marries in her missionary  s uniform  sky masterson in his same natty man  about  town duds rather than wedding tux . and they have changed back to those from their previous scene   br    br   funnily enough  that is  insightfully   the most touching  and most serious  scene is  i think  between brando and vivian blaine  as sinatra  nathan detroit  s doll  adelaide  the only scene where these two are exclusively together  not least because there is just no hint of flirtation between them even though it takes place in adelaide  s dressing  room while adelaide is about to change . though one may submit there is no place for that  sky really is the type to  check out  adelaide in this sort of circumstance . he is even there to tell adelaide nathan will not be meeting her to elope . adelaide and sky are both true in their respective ways to nathan  even piteous of him  as is demonstrated through a tone in their exchange . adelaide is of course also frustrated and disappointed  but her anger is mitigated by her deeper feeling for nathan  as sky is admonishing her that she can  t love a man and then wish him to be someone else .  br    br   guys and dolls is another turn at the battle of the sexes  around the themes of gambling and salvation . since both the compulsive gambler and the salvation seeker are more or less unconsciously courting despair  there just may be a dark secret deliberately behind brando  s and simmons  lack of chemistry . after all  that lack may well denote an excess of narcissistic preoccupation  echoed by the sinatra  blaine pairing  though with considerably less self  deception involved   which might explain brando  s and simmons  odd  rather provoking  interpretations of sky masterson and sister sarah . i realize simmons may be mostly depicting coldness and skepticism  but brando  though playing to confront her  isn  t exactly heated and eager  and is more than keeping his distance   he  s also assimilating it  keeping his balance through it . his boldness consists in merely playing against her   the trip to cuba  a kiss  whatever it takes   but he is not actually set on winning through seducing her so much as beating her then in her own turf . this may be shrewd  as playing to zeal may be the only way to get to the missionary  and through . but it makes sky  s transition from merely trying to win a bet to actually wanting sarah brown a little less than persuasive . yet why does he want her  what does falling in love mean to sky  i find the only way to get around this is by indeed accepting his humanity has kicked in  and that he does not want to end up a mere cad toward sister sarah  so he does  as he  s promised her  need to deliver the sinners to her prayer meeting  make good by his  marker   as he puts it  as a way of winning her back when it seems he had already won only to lose her . but this still denotes self  concern more than anything . however  it also allows for sarah brown  s own self  concern  as sky will placate the missionary in her in order to get back the lover . neither  at least it seems  will change much by their union  except perhaps in the acceptance of the other . yet that would seem an all but fatally uneasy proposition acceptance of is still quite a cry away from achieving happiness in the other  let alone the transcendence they each seem to imply by  chemistry .  and behind all this  i suspect is mankiewicz  s full knowing .  br    br   for all those who might say  in defense of guys and dolls yet  that not much can be expected from musicals by way of depth  i need only remind them cabaret  the three  penny opera  carousel  a star is born  even the sound of music  which i don  t care for as much  and one can keep adding to this list without even reaching forward toward post  cabaret musicals   all wrap gorgeous music and dance around dire anxieties .  
been lurking for a couple of years or so . i have never been moved to post on here before  so perhaps this movie is worth a star for that  but i doubt it . i just watched it on dvd  having missed it in the movies due to illness and never got around to watching it till now . i had not read extensively about it  certainly not even thought about the movie in some months . it was just what the buddy picked up in the store  so it got watched .  br    br   bad mistake .  br    br   the shot i spoke of in the the summary up top is in the trailer and on the poster . right from the off  jason statham has hair . like in no other gr movie . or any js movie that i  ve seen . at least not in the quantities on display here . and ray liotta in underpants should be advance warned . it  s scary and funny but not in a ha  ha  humour way . its more in an almost  theoffice  but  slightly  mutated  and  so  failing  sort  of  humour way . they each say the same thing  this movie is not like anything you expect this movie to be .   br    br   now  based on previous  extensive  movie  watching experience  i expected this movie to be a few things . like  br    br     coherent   br    br     interesting or engaging   br    br     not a complete and utter farrago of navel  gazing   br    br     something more substantive than a motley bunch of badly  realised fables from what is just a standard eastern mystic ideology dressed up as a  cool  modern  self  aware art  form    br    br     hopefully better than  the idiots  .  br    br   as you may have guessed by my tone  it thoroughly failed to check any box above . instead it was  br    br    x  badly edited pace all over the shop    s  amateur high   style jump cuts  incomprehensible  plot   twists     delivered through hackneyed flash  back montages  i could go on . . .    br    br    x  shot as if by a depressed   yr  old goth who  d just spent the weekend watching truffaut and godard with the drapes drawn  br    br    x  so up its own behind with the whole  i  m really smart  me  motif  message  that it feels determined to repeat it every   minutes or so  just to make sure the dumb people  ie everyone who doesn  t like it  in the audience make sure they get the point   br    br    x  a genuine waste of my time .  br    br   as for the undoubted ability of some people to  get  something from this  fine . i  m glad you enjoyed it . one poster said something that caught my attention under    s probably understood it better because of the editing . maybe  but editing is supposed to make your work more accessible  not less . as for the  genius is only recognised by the enlightened  brigade out there  go suck an onion and grow up . there is nothing more presumptuous and self  serving than people who say the reason another person doesn  t know great art is because they don  t understand the  craft  materials  moon cycle  filaments of supreme rational thought  which the  auteur  poet  artist  palm reader  idiot savant  is using to explain his or her  vision  grand scheme  oneness with gaea  great big bucket of dog  sick  .  br    br   for me and many  many more people  its garbage .  br    br   movies  art  stories  poetry  anything designed to be viewed by another human is supposed to be engaging and moving . in some direction be it metaphorical  spiritual  emotional or whatever you  re having yourself .  br    br   the only way this moved me was forward in time  two hours closer to my own inevitable demise .  the greatest trick he ever pulled was making you believe any part of this movie meant anything at all   br    br   and now  please  by all means  toast my buns for me .  
guys and dolls has to be one of my favorite musical movies ever . it is a very fun movie to watch and nothing more . it embodies what people have forgotten about musicals  musicals were made to entertain  not to to preach . nowadays we have rent and chicago which are great musicals and good movies but they fail to bring us solid entertainment with no strings attached . the only thing that bothered me in the movie was marlon brando  the guy can  t sing  it was very annoying to listen to him sing and talk when i couldn  t understand him . if it weren  t for marlon i would have given this   stars . guys and dolls provides old  fashioned entertainment that we rarely get these days . watch it to have a good time    
vulpine massacre should have been this movies actual title . and the tag  line should have read  guaranteed to make your kids cry   this is a nature drama telling the story of a family of wild foxes in a remote region . starting with the meeting and pairing of two young foxes and the eventual birth of a large family and the trials of raising them . the only speaking is done in narrative by a tree that stands over the den  giving insight into the animals loves and lives . . . lovely scenery and gorgeous filming of the animals . sounds good huh  well from there things go straight to hell and then start drilling towards the core . . .  br    br    spoilers below  or they it may be a warning    br    br   almost first off we learn one of the foxes is born blind . but seems to get along well enough and there  s a beautifully cheerful musical score to accompany him . . . and then he dies . . . next we have one of the siblings adventures . and then he dies . . . one of the sisters gets her screen  time . . . and then she dies . . . and so it goes like some horrific slasher movie as one fox after another is killed off by nature  in traps  just up and vanish  and even by a bunch of snowmobiles  by the end of the movie almost all the foxes have been massacred . though mercifully no deaths are shown on screen .  least not in the version we saw .  unlike say  tarka the otter  the deaths in this movie are almost all pointless and border on the sadistic in the way hopes are built up and then snuffed out . one or two losses would have been acceptable . it is a nature film after all . but not nearly the whole family .  br    br   do not go to see this film deceived by the cheery box into thinking its safe for the kids . watch it with some foreknowledge that things are not going to go well at all and that you or your kids may be left feeling very badly depending on how sensitive you or they are . you may enjoy it . or you may not . . .  
big splashy film of the broadway music . nathan  frank sinatra  loves to roll the dice and organize illegal crap games . blonde loving adelaide  vivian blaine  wants to marry him if he gives up craps . he decides on one last game when sky masterson  marlon brando    who bets big  is in town . he bets sky that he can  t get mission worker sarah brown  jean simmons  to go with him to havana . that may sound like a strange plot summary but so is the movie   br    br   this is a real mixed bag   there  s some wonderful stuff here . the songs are all good and the dancing is incredible . the real show stopper is at the crap game at the end . also brando is really quite good here   it might seem strange to think of him singing and dancing but he pulls it off . i have to admit seeing big  bulky brando pulling off some difficult dance moves was a lot of fun  also sinatra is pretty good and blaine is just wonderful as his long  suffering girlfriend . her song and dance numbers are definite highlights here .  br    br   now for the bad parts   jean simmons is a wonderful actress but she  s stuck with a drab colorless role and can  t do much with it . the movie is far too long at    minutes   the scenes between brando and simmons really drag and should have been shortened . also most of the characters speak in very precise english   contractions are never used . maybe it  s trying to be amusing coming out of the mouths of gangsters but i found it jarring and it kept throwing me out of the movie .  br    br   it  s worth catching for the songs and dances but the over length of it does get to you after a while . i give it a  .  
the film    pick up  simply does not work . see it if you are at all interested in elmore leonard or john frankenheimer  or anyone in the terrific cast  especially john glover who  s admittedly brilliant . but the book   a slow  burning  noir thriller with lots of pulp   should have translated into an oscar  contending film instead of this dud that couldn  t figure out whether it should faithfully portray the hard  boiled  gritty crime story of the book  or opt for a     s schwarzenegger shoot  em  up spree . shifting the scene from the original locale in the book  detroit  an area where leonard has resided for years and knows very well   to los angeles makes for a substantial problem that leonard tries to fix in his script  but ultimately can  t . it was  for example  a clever device making mitchell  s wife a city councilwoman  she had no job in the book   if you think about it that  s the only way you could ever plausibly blackmail someone in a sex  crazed city like     s los angeles for adultery  or any type of potential sex scandal . even then  it  s more plausible in a more conservative eastern state like michigan to believe that a  its tiny porno  industry  is a sleazy  money  grubbing hell where three losers could desperately set up a not  so  stupid upper  middle  class fellow going through a mid  life crisis  and b  adultery alone might be something you could blackmail someone with  if their upstanding careers and old  fashioned wives couldn  t handle the shock . as consultant ron jeremy will tell you      s los angeles was a colorful  stylish porno mecca  more like the movie  boogie nights  than leonard  s dark  shadowy world of hijacked tourist buses  grimy apartments  and drug deals in depressed urban squalor . then again  los angeles could be the backdrop of such a tale if one arranged the scenery more carefully   there are still plenty of dark crannies and psychopaths there . unfortunately  roy scheider  s harry mitchell comes off in the film as a sexy  handsome uebermensch dancing through his problems without even working up a sweat . in the book he was fending off a jerk union official while struggling with a business that was failing . he also had a skeleton in the closet during the war involving friendly fire that he was responsible for  but never appeared to come to grips with . elmore leonard  s stories usually have a central image involving a bizarre civility between criminal and law  abiding citizen . here  harry mitchell sitting in his office with his blackmailer  alan raimy  turning over his financial books to him and negotiating a more practical ransom  makes for such a central image . glover  s blackmailer plays the scene with convincing intelligence  but scheider portrays the victim here as a cocky  good guy   in charge of the situation as if he were more a rambo with an m    than the everyman barely staying afloat as his world crumbles around him .    pick up  ends with one of the worst throwaway conclusions ever  considering all the thought that went into the original story and then the film . trapping raimy inside mitchell  s jaguar and blowing him up with marching band music blasting out along with a sadistic monologue by mitchell  plays to an audience wanting the  sweet revenge  conclusion of a chuck norris movie  not the intelligent balanced world of leonard  s book  where mitchell barely escapes in the end and the conflict between good and evil could easily go either way . i left the theater shaking my head and depressed . what a waste of talent .  
one of the best musicals ever made  this is an example of where the producers and director were not afraid to pick actors for their talent  rather than for what people might expect . the lighting and set are unique  giving it a very interesting effect  this has a special name that i cannot think of  . the dialog is also unique in that no contractions are used . the movie is well paced  beautifully acted and interesting from start to finish . a real joy is the music . such an array of first  rate songs  from beginning to end  that are perfectly performed and orchestrated . also  the music is very original and very memorable  and i think superior to many musicals from the thirties through the sixties . it certainly has more original and beautiful songs than most musicals  that might have only two or three . not bad for a director with no experience in this type of movie . another quality is that it is fresh each time one sees it .  
spoilers ahead   proceed at your own caution .  br    br   my main problem with this movie is that once harry learns the identities of the three blackmailers   with relative ease   he continues to cave into their demands . and then the whole scene with his wife being kidnapped  he decides to wire his classic car up to explode  with the money in it   which makes us take a pretty tall leap of logic .  br    br   okay  so he wanted to keep his affair with cini out of the public eye due to his wife  s involvement with the da campaign . this i can see  but why not hire someone to slap these turds around a bit  or even kill them once he  d determined there was no actual blackmail evidence  e . g  cini  s body   this was a pretty interesting movie for the first    of it . after that  it sort of falls apart .  
entertaining musical where nathan detroit needs       .   to get up a floating crap game so he entices sky masterson to try and get salvation army girl  played by jean simmons  to go with masterson to havana .  br    br    years later  simmons would be in the missionary again in the fabulous  elmer gantry .  there she was sister sharon and here she is sister sarah . same temperament  different story .  br    br   frank sinatra is that devilish nathan detroit . he has been engaged to vivian blaine for   years and she loathes his gambling habit .  br    br   in a real change of pace  sky masterson was played by marlon brando who actually did his own singing here   br    br   the film is saved by superlative choreography . those dance and singing routines are fabulous . they are especially realized by stubby kaye as nicely nicely  johnson  .  br    br   all in all  it  s a very nice production .  
david chase  s  the sopranos  is perhaps the most over  praised television show in recent memory . not only is the series devoid of intellect and passion  it  s devoid of a soul . as anyone reading likely knows already  james gandolfini is tony soprano  a big  fat ahole of a mob boss with a spoiled btch of a wife  and two bratty  sht  brained kids living in  you guessed it  the armpit of america  that  s new jersey  by the way  . not only is tony a womanizing adulterer  he  s also an unrepentant murdering scumbag  with a crew of  saturday night live  skit  worthy caricatures for subordinates . it  s not the fact that tony is a piece of sht mobster that offends me  and apparently only me  . allowing characters to be who and what they are  without judgment  is something american tv hardly allows . but chase  and his entourage of money  gorged  emmy  gored writers  have not simply allowed us to observe tony and his crew as they behave  nor have they even attempted to provide any insight into the action  reaction reality of  even obviously fictionalized  organized crime  a la  the godfather   . instead  chase glorifies and endorses his characters  greedy  violent  and corrupt lifestyle in the same way that tony  his wife  and even his hair  brained psychologist do week after week  or should i say month after month . or is it year after year  it seems like the show  s paltry    episode seasons come out with the same regularity as a lunar eclipse  . much has been made of the series  refusal to adhere to  network  structure  with plot lines that go nowhere  and characters that pop  up and disappear like backyard vermin . but if the show is so brilliant in its lack of structure  why does it always feel like i  m watching a soap  opera  tired mob clichs  bored housewives  self  serving  irredeemable characters and plots that go nowhere . more than ever  i can see why so many americans of italian heritage are pssed at this show . it  s enough to make you want to curl up with a good book  dant  s  inferno  springs to mind  .  br    br   people on imdb love to claim that there  s nothing good on television  and therefore  the sopranos  is a breath of fresh air . are these same people too busy paying their cable bills to watch  the shield    it  s included in basic  ya know  . how about the  still good   the west wing   or the brilliantly acted  if erratically written   boston legal   what about possibly the best comedy of the last few decades   arrested development   and lest we forget that we live in an age of dvds  nobody has to watch anything new . i  d much rather shell out    for an over  priced boxed set of  well  pretty much anything  than give hbo    a month  or    a dvd set   to continue to prove how much of a hack  factory it can be .  br    br   you want good television  watch  homicide life on the street .  or  murder one  . or  picket fences  . or even chase  s prior show   northern exposure .  if you  re already among  the sopranos   s legion of brain  washed fans and critics  it  s too late for you . but if not  leave tony and his worthless kin where they all belong  rotting with the fishes .   sleeping  would be way too kind   
just saw this movie version of frank loesser  s guys and dolls for the third time with my mother who had never seen this before . she was pleasantly surprised by the singing voices of jean simmons and marlon brando . and she thought the havana sequences where simmons and brando dance up a storm were excellent . those were pretty impressive to me too and were usually the highlights of the film . directed by joseph l . mankiewicz  this movie which originated as a story by damon runyon takes a while with the slow pacing of the non  musical scenes at first but pulls you in after a while . the other story with frank sinatra and vivian blaine wasn  t as compelling to me but still had their charms especially during the  sue me  number . also loved stubby kaye  s  sit down  you  re rocking the boat  number and the performances of sheldon leonard and b . s . pully . with a theatrical look throughout  guys and dolls isn  t a great film musical but certainly a very good one .  
for those who like depressing films with sleazy characters and a sordid storyline  this one is for you  from the bleak new york city atmosphere  which comes across as an extremely grim and almost hopeless place  to two diverse lead characters devoid of much sense of morality  this movie is a real downer .  br    br   why it won the academy award was because it was so shocking at that time that hollywood  brand new its freedom to show anything it wanted with all moral codes abandoned  wanted to celebrate that fact . filmmakers then were like an immature six  year  old with an unlimited expense account at the local candy store . so  hollywood gave theater viewers  for probably the first time  a dose of rape  prostitution  homosexuality  child nudity  homeless existence and other such wonderful sights and sounds only its twisted brain would think is appealing . . . . and then awarded its work .  br    br   it also hoped  i  m sure  to shock mainstream audiences . well  it succeeded on that level . audiences were stunned at what they say and heard and the academy  proud of itself for being able to display filth and make money at the same time  couldn  t help but bestow honors upon this piece of gilded garbage .  br    br   forty years ago  as a very young man  i found this film fascinating  too . however  seeing it again in the     s left such a bad taste in my mouth i never watched to view it again .  br    br   the acting was good  but so what  acting is good in many films . nobody ever said dustin hoffman and jon voight couldn  t act . hoffman was particularly good in his younger days in playing wacked  out people . he was kind of like the johnny depp of his era  playing guys like  ratso rizzo  in this film and then going to be the  rain man  later on . yes   ratso  is a character you  ll never forget  and  joe buck   voight  is one you want to forget  but the story is so sordid  it overwhelms the fine acting .  br    br   this movie isn  t  art   and it isn  t worthy of its many awards it only pushed the envelope big  time in     and that  s why it is so fondly remembered in the hearts of film people and critics . it  s two hours of profanity and ultra  sleazy  religious cheap shots  glorifying weirdos  andy warhol even gets in the act  no surprise   and generally despicable people .  br    br   i did like the catchy song   everybody  s talking   that helped make harry nilsson famous  but even that was bogus because fred neil wrote the song and sang it better  before nilsson did it . . . . and few people have ever heard of neil  which is their loss  . and  as mentioned  the name  ratso rizzo  kind of stays with you   br    br   the film is a landmark  but in a negative sense  i fear this marked it as  official  that hollywood had gone down the toilet  and it has remained in the sewer ever since .  
it  d be easy to call guys and dolls great . it  s got frank sinatra and marlon brando  and  contrary to sinatra  s original wishes  the casting works   it  s got a really cool     s feel  even if it is basically transposed from stage to screen with only a little interruption . and most of the songs are often a lot of fun  and catchy  and performed with that wink and nod to the wonderful escapism inherent in the form itself . if it  s not entirely as great as some others of its ilk  it shouldn  t be any fault of the filmmaker joseph l . mankiewicz . not all the songs entirely click  and a little of the dialog feels like it  s being performed for the stage as opposed to film  it  s hard to tell at times  brando and sinatra straddle the line so often that one has to watch carefully to tell when one plays for the camera or for the  stage   while the actress playing adele is better for stage than screen  .  br    br   the plot is one of those winners that works well for its period  even if one wonders if its influence has stretched to the likes of      s she  s all that  well  not quite  but close  . a gambler  and    year betrothed   played by sinatra  wants to host a big  time game  but is told that the  heat is on   meaning the cops are on watch . so  he has only one choice to host the game  with a thousand dollar tab . the only way he can get it is through a big  time bet with fellow gambler brando  who  s put on to make a wild wooing job of a mission worker . it allows for the predictable twists in the story  in the sudden turn  on  turn  off of the charms of the character  of the idiosyncrasies of people from the streets  gangsters and dancers and the  saitn  played by jean simmons who falls for brando  . it is  in its basic concept  about this whole world of guys and dolls  and how to balance one or the other  obviously without getting married or too compromised .  br    br   mankiewicz brings a lot of energy to the piece  even when keeping still with the camera on the subject  and his stars are properly reeled in . hell  even brando works excellently for a musical as he goes beyond being simply the method actor and shows his chops for singing and big  star quality . the story and characters eventually wind down to what you  d hope will happen  and that  s fine . all we ask for  and what we get  is entertainment in good spurts of witty  involving dialog  and a few songs and dances that bring the house down  my favorites were the number with the lady  cats at the club  luck be a lady  and the two numbers down in havana  cuba  . a   
do you like stand up  then stay away from this . . .  br    br   during the early rounds  there are in fact good comics  but unless they got some cute qualities  they got a snowballs chance . any controversial material and you are out  . . . and i think i hurt as much as the discarded comedians  when i see who the crooked judges are letting in .  br    br    out of my top  made it further than the preliminaries . half of the finalists have given me  laughs . several of them have lifted their material elsewhere  something the judges doesn  t seem to have problems with .  br    br   it is more entertaining than a lot of what else is on tv  but incredibly hard to watch without contemplating what it could have been .  br    br   if the producers changed the name of the contest to  last clown standing   all my criticism would loose validity . maybe an idea   
a group of model  caliber san francisco women who have been friends since elementary school are suddenly being threatened and attacked by someone sending them bizarre valentine  s day cards . who is the killer and why is the killer after them   br    br   my rating will often change on subsequent viewings of a film   sometimes slightly up  sometimes slightly down . however  i can  t remember another film where my rating has changed as drastically as it has for valentine . the first time i watched it  upon its theatrical release  i thought it was pretty awful   i gave it a  out of    the equivalent of an  f  letter grade . watching it for a second time last night  i can  t remember what the heck i didn  t like about it . i can only assume that maybe i was really in the wrong mood to watch it  or maybe i just didn  t get it . in any event  i loved it this time  giving it a  out of    or an  a  .  br    br   it might sound ridiculous saying i didn  t get a film like this  but there is something to get . valentine is almost a comedy  horror . director jamie blanks  who was also responsible for      s urban legend  takes the stereotypical teen horror formula that became so popular in the late     s in the wake of scream       and pushes most of the elements up a notch  making valentine intentionally cheesy  campy almost to the point of absurdity  where absurdism is a positive stylistic term  . on top of that  he gives us a film imbued with humorous commentary on romantic relationships . the humor is unusual in that it has the same exaggeratedly campy tone as the teen horror aspects . most of the situations in the film  and the modus operandi of the villain  humorous or not  are tied in to the valentine  s day theme .  br    br   many viewers will likely subtract points from the film for its various clich  rooted but implausible scenarios and plot developments . however  in light of the above  the film is intentionally clichd  implausible and ludicrous . it  s as if blanks is attempting  and mostly succeeding  to transcend the typical teen slasher by mocking  spoofing the conventions of the genre while also satirizing eros . that  s the attraction to the irony of basing a horror film on valentine  s day . it  s an incongruity that is cleverly woven throughout the film  and that is itself at the heart of the slasher genre  making it prime fodder for valentine  s extravagant lampooning . scream had a similar aim with its horror material  but the twist there was that the film was  self  aware  . valentine  s day is intentionally not self  aware the viewer has to rely on contextual clues for satire . lest some think i  m  reading too much  into the film  it  s worthwhile to note that blanks said in interviews that he  didn  t want to just do another slasher film after urban legend  and producer dylan sellers said he wanted to do something  more adult  .  br    br   other viewers may dislike the fact that valentine  s day differs so much from its putative source material  the novel of the same name by tom savage . the novel  s characters  setting and plot are very different from the film . sellers has said   while it was a fine book  i didn  t think it was the right story for a film  . so instead the novel  which is much dryer and more serious in tone  was used as a launching pad  a motif to create variations on for a horror  thriller story centered on valentine  s day . while those facts won  t help purists familiar with the book like the film  it  s helpful to understand why the film has its divergent plot and attitude . it  s probably better to look at the film as an independent entity with a similar theme .  br    br   blanks  direction is impeccable visually . valentine  s day has a lush look throughout  with complex  deep colors  interesting sets  and good staging . blanks is admirable for keeping his villain and attack scenes not too dark  with clearly conveyed action . he also directs his actors with aplomb  catalyzing often slyly humorous performances . david boreanaz  as adam carr  is involved in many of the funniest moments .  br    br   while valentine  s day is no masterpiece  it  s a very good horror  thriller film that seems strongly prone to misconceptions . if you watch it expecting something more tongue  in  cheek you may find yourself appreciating it a lot more .  
look carefully at the wonderful assortment of talent put together to make this movie connery  fishburne  capshaw  harris  underwood  beatty  thigpen  even cameos by slezak  lange  and plimpton . they prove  in spades  the adage that a good cast cannot save a bad script . the story line requires so many leaps of faith from the audience that its implausibility should have exceeded even hollywood standards . it  s not particularly original  and the  twists  are downright cruel .  
this is what the musical genre was made of . humor  talent  romance  and action all rolled into one .  br    br   frank sinatra was wonderful . nothing else needs to be said . marlon brando  although not a singer  did a great job winning the hearts of many with his portrayal of sky masterson . the fact that he couldn  t sing added to his character . the ladies in the film were alright  but the men in the movie definitely stole the show .  br    br   it is a true classic that can be appreciated at any age . it connects with all audiences and makes you smile and laugh .  br    br   definitely a movie to be watched and enjoyed   
i run a group to stop comedian exploitation and i just spent the past  months hearing horror stories from comedians who attempted to audition for   last comic standing .  if they don  t have a good agent  then they don  t even get a chance to audition so more than    of the comedians who turn up are rejected before they can show anyone that they have talent  if they do make it to an audition  i was told that it  s  pre  determined  if they get a second chance . so what the tv audience sees is not the best comics in the us .  br    br   if the comics do make it to the show  then most of them don  t get imdb credits . i know this because i did the credits for all  seasons of   last comic standing  and i don  t get paid for doing the producers  job . it  s really a disgrace . a month ago  i asked   last comic standing   on facebook why the producers aren  t giving imdb credits and i was banned from their facebook page    i am not a comedian so i do not have a personal stake in this . i just want people to know the truth . i don  t like seeing anyone getting exploited and that  s why i  ve been helping the comedians . comedians get exploited on hbo  bet  tvone and other cable networks but nbc is a big three network so those in charge should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this exploitation to happen .  br    br   please watch this video of a comedian who was victimized http   www . youtube . com  watch  vrmb   hyet  y  
this is a frank loesser masterpiece of amusing lyrics  competent themes and solid construction by those who adapted damon runyon material to the musical  s  book  . what is surprising about the film is how seamlessly the musical numbers flow from the storyline . abe burrows did the book with contributions from loesser michael kidd was the choreographer  and the outstanding art direction was contributed by joseph wright . the storyline can be told in two sentences . nathan detroit  played by frank sinatra  needs cash to finance his permanent floating crap game to amuse big julie  a chicago mob boss . he bets odds  player sky masterson  well  presented by marlon brando  that he cannot get a salvation army girl to go to havana with him masterson wins the bet  saves the mission  falls in love with the girl  gets the gamblers and riffraff at the crap game to attend a service  and tells everybody the lady was impervious to his charms   a complete lie . of course he ends up with the lady and detroit marries hi long  suffering fiance  vivian blaine . others in the cast include stubby kaye  johnny silver  robert keith  b . s . pulley as big julie the mobster  sheldon leonard  regis toomey  mary alan kokanson  kathryn givney as the salvation army leader  veda ann borg and jean simmons as the tepid salvation army girl  sarah brown . the famous musical numbers in this award  winning broadway smash include  fugue for tinhorns    guys and dolls    luck be a lady    i  ll know    a person could develop a cold   and  the oldest established permnanet floating crap game in new york   . joseph l . mankiewicz of  cleopatra  and  letter to three wives  fame directed the proceedings and the flow of the work is very interestingly and successfully kept moving . he is equally adept at getting fine dialogue acting and directing such huge numbers as  luck be lady   the varied and challenging brawl section  the havana  a woman in love  section created for the film that precedes it  the presenting of the title song  guys and dolls  and  pet me  poppa  set in the club where blaine works . the acting is very uneven . simmons seems wrong for the part at times  brando gets by with the singing and is very good much of the time on instinct  charm and underplaying  even in the comedy . scenes . sinatra tries hard but is wrong for the role for several reasons as nathan detroit blaine is a bit too  theatrical in selling her numbers  which she of course sings professionally . leonard  toomey  kaye  keith and pulley do what is asked and more at all points . the stylized opening and closing are made to work well all in all  this film is a triumph for loesser  s amiable and subtle lyrics  for director mankiewicz as ringmaster  and for the genre of musicals itself  so ably justified in this instance . delightful and very different .  
this movie is just plain terrible     slow acting  slow at getting to the point and wooden characters that just shouldn  t have been on there . the best part was the showing of iron maiden singing in some video at a theater and thats it . the ending was worth watching and waiting up for but that was it   the characters in this movie put me to sleep almost . avoid it     
i just want to add my two cents worth  and forgive me if i am repeating something that has already been posted  but i feel it is worth reminding people of the everlovin  genius of damon runyon . without the wonderfully street  hilarious writings of damon runyon this film would never have been made  nor most of the other great classics that deal with gamblers  the like from before     . damon runyon worked as a newspaper man  and he was from colorado  but he sure did  get  the street scene of the east coast . if you are not a dedicated fan of old hollywood comedies  i would recommend a few other flicks from damon runyon  s writings  the lemondrop kid   and  little miss marker   both feature bob hope  who  aside from his politics  has always been a funny man .  as a west coast liberal  i find his politics fairly funny  too   damon runyon lives      
i  ve finally seen the incubus after waiting   something odd years to see it and well  it surely wasn  t worth waiting all this time to see it . the incubus is strictly by  the  number horror film unseen killer  monster is raping and murdering women in a small town .  br    br   the film goes like this movie opens with killing then blah blah blah more blah blah blah then another killing even more blah blah blah continuing with blah blah blah yet another killing  surprising  huh    blah blah blah  etc . . .  br    br   the film is totally predictable from beginning to end . even the stupid  big  red  herring used throughout the movie wouldn  t convince a  year old . and i figured out the secret identity of the incubus the moment i saw the character  so when the  shocking  surprise ending arrived  i wasn  t shocked or surprised . in fact  it was so funny that i kept on chuckling days after i saw the movie . it  s so silly   br    br   anyway  the film is so by  the  number that the  rock band  sequence is one of the few stand  out moments in this dreary flick . it  s a stand  out scene not necessarily because it  s good but because it  s so funny and pointless the movie playing on the big screen shows a rock video  like moment with a guy in red leather pants getting his obviously fake long hair cut  all of this edited with scenes of a girl who is being attacked in the movie theater  s washroom by the incubus . the best thing i could say about this film is the cinematography  which i actually liked . but aside from that  there  s almost nothing worth mentioning about the incubus  except that it  s unintentionally hilarious .  
guys and dolls is a movie itching for a remake . it was made forty  eight years ago . its two main stars are either dead or    pounds . although a remake  with big stars now  would be box  office success  it would not be able to capture the magic that went into this version . its boundless energy can  t be recaptured  nor can the pure joy you get when watching something like this a huge  widescreen  big entertainment movie .  br    br   marlon brando  who last clocked in at    lbs . last time i heard  plays sky masterson  one of the biggest gamblers in new york . frank sinatra is nathan detroit  whose as  often  as  he  can  find  a  speakeasy  for  it crap game is city  wide famous . however  when the one place he has left to hold it is charging        detroit needs the money fast . he bets masterson       that he can  t take missionary sarah brown  jean simmons  to havana with him the next day .  br    br   guys and dolls is basically nothing more than unsavory types singing and dancing  which usually  as it does here  add up to fun . it  s obvious to see how this was a broadway musical there weren  t that many sets  and the scenes were long . if i was to complain about one thing  it  s how uneven the songs were . at times  there were two songs in a scene other times  thirty minutes went by without one . guys and dolls is never boring  just a great time .  br    br   my rating      br    br   not rated .  
  the incubus  is a mix of the good  an interesting murder mystery   the bad  a disconnected script  a sloppy resolution  badly made attack scenes  and the weird  strong incestuous overtones  a strangely sleepy and stiff performance by john cassavetes  was that character really meant to be so  wacko    . not nearly as offensive as it  s reputed to be  but not particularly successful  either .        
marlon brando and frank sinatra hated each other while doing this film and in the years following it . brando asked sinatra for some singing lessons  but sinatra  who was already upset over the fact that he was cast as nathan detroit  when he wanted the part of skye masterson  wanted to be the star singer in the production and didn  t want any one to be better than he was . he told brando to get lost  so to get back at him marlon kept screwing up the scene in the diner where sinatra was eating cheesecake so that he would have to keep eating  eating and eating . in the later years  sinatra gave brando the nickname  mumbles  or  mr . mumbles  because of the way he talks .  
i rented this back in the    s and honestly can  t remember anything specific about the movie  only that it is the worst movie i have ever seen . this isn  t one of those  it was so bad  it was funny  . this isn  t one of those  it was so gory  it leaves you with a bad feeling  movies . it wasn  t even one of those  what the heck was that   movies . i can  t recall the performance of the actors  but it was poorly shot  the story was disjointed  and it had no definable style . when it was over  i was angry that i had wasted the time .  br    br   i  ve seen plenty of movies i didn  t understand because of unfamiliar cultures  styles and  or story  telling  but it was clear that those movies had some of those properties . the incubus has none .  br    br   i actually contemplated not making a comment on this  piece  for fear that someone may watch it out of curiosity  but i am compelled to warn anyone who appreciates film to skip this movie .  
this musical was not quite what i expected  foremost being there weren  t many scenes between brando and sinatra . as it was based on a damon runyon story  i expected irony and surprise  of which there was one really good one  when we find that sinatra  s gang has used the salvation army office for their crap game while brando was in havana with simmons . if course it comes at the right moment too  when brando brings her back . i really didn  t expect much from brando as a singer  but he surprised me . he wasn  t great but he was just fine in the role . his big number in the sewer  however  with the rest of sinatra  s boys was the only place i felt brando  s voice was weak . he just didn  t have the power the grand climax demanded . overall i found the scenes between brando and simmons to be filled with electricity  something i didn  t think would happen when we first see simmons by herself  and later when we  re introduced to brando in the restaurant with sinatra trying to pull a fast one on him . it wasn  t until brando goes to her office that the story came to life .  br    br   frank sinatra  on the other hand  was flat  even his vocal performances . and vivian blaine  who i never heard of  but who i guess played the role on broadway  just seemed to slow the proceedings down . the scenes between her and sinatra were obvious . also  her songs felt the weakest to me both in terms of advancing story or character . on top of that  all the goldwyn girls numbers seemed shoe horned in  just there for glitz . for example  when frank meets with brando in the nightclub  we just cut to the stage routine for the cat number  then it cuts back to the guys who continue on as if there hadn  t been any dance number at all . whenever brando and simmons were on screen  i was having a great time  but each time we return to the sinatra  blaine story  my interest level waned .  br    br   as for the songs  there were some good ones  particularly the very first number with stubby kaye  the fugue for tinhorns number  can do   . that  s a great song and it reminded me of the very first song in the music man  cash for the merchandise . . . whatever it  s called . and the number in the sewer  i couldn  t help but be reminded of  cool  from west side story  which brings me to a point . i really did not like the art direction in this film . the fake times square was just so completely phony it drew attention to itself . same for the havana sequence  and particularly the sewer . i realize back in     most musicals were shot on sets  but things were changing  carousel  for example  made great use of location photography . even on the town shot scenes in mahattan in     . by the time we get to west side story in     it  s a given that stuff taking place in manhattan had to be actually shot in manhattan . so by comparison  guys and dolls set  bound manhattan felt dated and more than a little too cute . and changing lindy  s to mindy  s  did they really have to do that for legal reasons  now  i always thought guys and dolls was a musical about sinatra and brando and their adventures with various girls . it was much more focused than that  which is to its credit . in that regard it is much better than les girls  which was interesting in it  s own right  but had a certain shallowness to it .  br    br   my one major complaint about guys and dolls  and i don  t know if this is endemic to the original stage show  but when jean simmons realizes that brando never took any money for a bet that he made with sinatra and even said that he lost the bet  she just runs off to find him and we cut to the wedding . it seems to me a scene between brando and simmons would have added to the impact of the story . to see brando come around as she came around to him would have been a great scene . there is such a scene in the music man  spoilers ahead   when harold and marion have that duet while he  s waiting for her to change . she  s upstairs in her house  he  s down on the sidewalk . he  s singing   trombones . she  s singing goodnight my someone . they suddenly switch and sing each other  s songs  a beautiful way to convey their cross over to each other . it  s an emotional high moment of the film . still  guys and dolls had a lot going for it .  
years ago a movie going friend and i went to see a horror film that we thought would be good because it starred john cassavetes . for the uninitiated  john cassavettes was an actor  screen writer and director  married to actress gena rowlands   nominated for oscars three times  who wrote and directed a variety of good low  budget films using his income as an actor to keep himself afloat . up until seeing the incubus  we did not understand that john cassavetes income was made from any movie that was offered to him . had we known what the film was about before seeing it we may have avoided altogether . but we did not walk out . at the time  my friend and i jokingly indicated it was the worst movie ever made . now frankly  this is not true . i have seen many poorly made films on friday nights on cinemax  did i just say that out loud   that are far worse than the incubus . almost any movie starring brian bosworth is by definition a worse movie than the incubus . certainly santa claus conquers the martians is a worse movie than the incubus . however  i have since consistently used the incubus as a threshold below which i do not want to fall . when talking to this friend about a movie i may have seen i will always remark that it was better  or worse  than the incubus .  br    br   http   thevillagevideot . blogspot . com   
oh  this is such a glorious musical . there  s a bit of miscasting   frank sinatra is sorely miscast as the jewish nathan detroit  though it only becomes evident on  sue me   which is a distinctly jewish song . sadly  the filmmakers decided to cut out one of the best songs from the show   marry the man today   and replaced it with an inferior sinatra showpiece . with these two flaws in mind  the movie is otherwise magnificent . jean simmons shines as sarah brown . marlon brando can  t sing worth beans  but pulls it off anyway . stubby kaye wonderfully reprises his broadway role  it was written for him  . damon runyon  s language and pacing and humor come through quite well . this is on my see  it  every  chance  i  get list .  
you know you  re in trouble when john cassavetes is operating at half  speed instead of full  throttle in a movie  and  the incubus  is a dreadful  worst  case scenario of a great actor going through the motions to pay the bills . actually  observing the hammy script and john hough  s  baroque  art direction  one can hardly blame him . the movie has something to do with a series of rape  murders going on in a small town  with a lot of supernatural hokum mixed in . somehow  the direction manages to suck tension and interest out of every scene  and cassavetes seems visibly p . o .  ed at times . the incubus itself  which doesn  t show up until the last scene  is a well  done creation  but it  s not worth waiting for .  br    br        
this movie makes me want to fall in love all over again  i am naming my next daughter  adelaide  . just so that someone who sings like ol blue eyes can swoon her one day  and feel the butterflies i felt hearing it sung  and it wasn  t even to me  i give it a      
seriously  i can easily stomach a lot of on screen blood  gore and repulsiveness  but what really makes this film disturbing  uncomfortable to watch is how the doctor character keeps on rambling about the physical damage done to raped women . he  john cassavetes of  rosemary  s baby   talks about ruptured uterus  dry intercourse and massive loads of reddish    sperm like they are the most common little ailments in the world of medicine . that being said   incubus  is an ultimately strange horror effort . it isn  t necessarily awful  although it isn  t very good  neither  but just plain weird . the muddled  incoherent script initially revolves on the hunt for a rapist  killer of flesh and blood  even though the title clearly suggests the involvement of a supernatural creature  and it never seems to stop introducing new characters . none of these characters  especially not the main ones  come across as sympathetic and for some never  explained reason they all seem to keep dark secrets . the aforementioned doctor has an odd interpretation of daughter  love and continuously behaves like he  s a suspect himself  the town  s sheriff  john ireland  appears to be in a constant state of drunkenness and doesn  t even seem to care about who keeps raping  killing the women in his district  the female reporter is even too weird for words and the galens  an old witch and her grandson  are just plain spooky . all together they desperately try to solve the mystery of whom or what exactly is destroying the towns  women reproducing organs . the sequences building up towards the rapes  murders are admirably atmospheric and the vile acts themselves are bloody and unsettling . basically these are very positive factors in a horror film  but the narrative structure is too incoherent and the characters are too unsympathetic for  incubus  to be a really good film . also  there are quite a few tedious parts to struggle yourself through  like footage of a bruce dickinson concert   and the usually very reliable john hough  s direction is nearly unnoticeable . the final shot is effectively nightmarish  though . for me personally   incubus  was a bit of a disappointment  but there are still several enough reasons to recommend this odd piece of early    s horror to open  minded genre fanatics .  
along with south pacific  guys and dolls is for grown  ups   it is sassy  sexy  and full of men being men and women being strung along .  br    br   there is an energy and drive that makes this stand out from the pack  the strength of jean simmond  s performance  and the charm of a young brando  and an already masterful sinatra add much to the overall feel and look of the piece .  br    br   guys and dolls wins as it is unashamedly what it is an mgm musical .  br    br   still good to look at and listen too with great tunes and dance numbers  it will remain one of the classics of   th century cinema and be watched with pleasure for years to come .  br    br   warmly recommended .  
based on ray russell  s dark bestseller  this john  watcher in the woods  hough  directed bust has little going for it .  br    br   though it does not lack gory violence  it lack narrative sensibility and  characters  .  br    br   the  incubus  of the title is a demon endowed with a mammoth penis that shoots red sperm into vaginas during intercourse   or  to be more precise  rape .  br    br   john cassavetes  moonlighting from his successful directing career  is convincing as a doctor who questions the circumstances of the bizarre attacks on young women .  br    br   horrific possibilities of the victims spawning demonic offspring are not considered   and neither is the audience  s tolerance for slow moving garbage .  br    br   the script  s reluctance to explore the dramatic repercussions of a fertile premise exemplifies the major problems with this vapid big  schlong  on  the  loose exercise .  
i love this movie . my only disappointment was that some of the original songs were changed .  br    br   it  s true that frank sinatra does not get a chance to sing as much in this movie but it  s also nice that it  s not just another frank sinatra movie where it  s mostly him doing the singing .  br    br   i actually thought it was better to use marlon brando  s own voice as he has the voice that fits and i could not see someone with this great voice pulling off the gangster feel of his voice .  br    br   stubby kaye  s  sit down  you  re rockin  the boat  is a foot  tappin   sing  a  long that i just love . he is a hard act to follow with his version and i still like his the best .  br    br   vivian blaine is just excellent in this part and  adelaide  s lament  is my favorite of her songs .  br    br   i really thought jean simmons was perfect for this part . maybe i would not have first considered her but after seeing her in the part  it made sense .  br    br   michael kidd  s choreography is timeless . if it were being re staged in the year      i would not change a thing .  br    br   i find that many times something is lost from the stage version to the movie version but this kept the feel of the stage  even though it was on film .  br    br   i thought the movie was well cast . i performed in regional versions of this and it  s one of my favorites of that period .  
a young couple mandy pullman  mitch martin  and roy seeley  matt birman  are relaxing on a beach in the small town of galen . they decide to start playing practical jokes on each other . mandy hides in an old run down cabin  she is attacked and raped by an unknown assailant . roy tries to help her after hearing her screams but is killed . dr . sam cordell  john cassavetes  and his daughter jenny  erin flannery  are both new to galen after the death of sam  s wife . sam is called into action by police chief hank walden  john ireland  when mandy and roy are found . he performs the autopsy on roy and treats mandy for her horrific injuries . soon after a curator at the local museum named carolyn davis  denise furgusson  is also attacked and raped . a local journalist named laura kincaid  kerrie keane  reports the events and suggests to sam that a similar string of rapes and murders occurred in the town   years earlier . more rapes and murders occur . meanwhile jenny  s boyfriend tim galen  duncan macintosh  has been having strange dreams and nightmares and is convinced that he has something to do with the horrific acts . tim  s story and digging into the towns past makes sam become convinced of the existence of a creature known as an incubus  a shape  shifting demonic entity that exists only to reproduce  directed by john hough this is one seriously dull horror film . the script by george franklin based on the novel by ray russell is slow to say the least . nothing interesting or exciting happens and it finishes with one of the most boring none event of a twist ending i  ve ever seen and frustratingly it just finishes suddenly . as the story plods along at a snails pace there are a few rapes  but none are shown on screen . there is only one gore scene in the entire film too . the monster itself is only shown at the very end and has all of three short scenes . everything about this film production  wise is very static and flat  the film has no energy or pace . the acting is dull and you don  t feel or care for anyone . check out the scene in the autopsy room where you can clearly see the boom mike at the top of the screen on several occasions . the type of rubbish horror film making that you  ll forget within a day . a real waste of time  don  t bother .  
i  like many horror fans  have been force fed the same banal big budget hollywood remakes and mtv high school slasher tripe for the last   years . here  at last  is an original horror genre movie that ticks all the right boxes .  br    br   you want a hot lead actress  you want vampires  you want cool weapons  you want cool vehicles and you want blood  lots of it  by the bucket load  you got it .  br    br   with excellent fight choreography and a supporting role from the hammer horror scream queen herself stephanie beacham  this really is fantastic stuff .  br    br   despite it  s low budget  by opting to use   mm stock and adding quality cg effects to the mix  director james eaves has created something that feels much bigger .  br    br   a must for old school horror fans .  
just cause is one of those films that at first makes you wonder quite why it was so heavily slated when it came out  nothing special but competent enough and with an excellent supporting performance from ed harris . then you hit the last third and everything starts to get increasingly silly until you  ve got a killer with a flashlight strapped to his forehead threatening to fillet sean connery  s wife  a typically mannered and unconvincing kate capshaw  and kid  a very young scarlet johannsen  in an alligator skinner  s shack .  br    br   the kind of movie that  s probably best seen on a plane  and even then only once .  
joseph l . mankiewicz is not remembered by most today as one of the finest directors in hollywood history  but this film proves that he is . already a success by doing sophisticated american dramas such as a letter to three wives and all about eve as well as successfully adapting shakespeare to life in julius caesar  mankiewicz does a marvelous job of bringing this hit broadway play to film and does it with style . marlon brando is perfect as sky masterson  even if he can  t sing too well . he is the only actor who could pull it off perfectly wit his sheer coolness and clarity . frank sinatra is a wonderful singer  as expected  and does a good job of acting as nathan detroit . jean simmons is also very good as sarah brown and her scenes with brando sizzle with great chemistry . all supporting actors do their part  especially sheldon leonard as harry the horse in a very funny bit . still  mankiewicz should be given most of the credit for bringing a fine musical in its own right to the screen in such a way that it feels authentic in many scenes but is still a story in its own world . all in all  guys and dolls is a great musical and works on many levels it normally should not have .  
for me this is a story that starts with some funny jokes regarding franks fanatasies when he is travelling with a staircase and when he is sitting in business meetings . . . the problem is that when you have been watching this movie for an hour you will see the same fantasies  funny situations again and again and again . it is to predictable . it is more done as a tv story where you can go away and come back without missing anything .  br    br   i like felix herngren as frank but that is not enough even when it is a comedy it has to have more variations and some kind of message to it  s audience . . . .  br    br    
at least something good came out of damon runyon  s misguided attempt to sentimentalize the mafia .  guys and dolls   the seemingly indestructible stage musical  was captured on film in     by joseph l . mankiewicz   all about eve   in a colorful  enjoyable movie that featured an all  star cast including vivian blaine  from the original broadway show   jean simmons  whose character bears an odd resemblance to audrey hepburn in  roman holiday   and two of the all  time great leading men  frank sinatra and marlon brando  both of whom had recently won oscars for best supporting actor   from here to eternity   and best actor   on the waterfront   and were on the top of their game . one listen to brando singing  luck be a lady tonight  speaks volumes about where the early dylan got his voice . stubby kaye steals the show as nicely nicely johnson  who brings down the house with  sit down you  re rocking the boat .  the ubiquitous sheldon leonard adds yet another page to his rogue  s gallery of screen gangsters . the film has a bright  cartoonish look  anticipating the pop art of the early     s . the characters speak in a stylized patois  apparently based on yiddish idioms . although the film  s social attitudes and gender roles are dated  it  s all great fun  and even the gentle kidding of the salvation army is harmless and reflects no real animosity toward organized religion . just seeing sinatra and brando in the same film is reason enough to watch this movie  but it has lots of other attractions to offer during its    minutes .  
stephen king adaptation  scripted by king himself  in which a young family  newcomers to rural maine  find out about the pet cemetery close to their home . the father  dale midkiff  then finds out about the micmac burial ground beyond the pet cemetery that has powers of resurrection  only of course anything buried there comes back not quite right .  br    br   below average  horror  picture starts out clumsy  insulting  and inept  and continues that way for a while  with the absolute worst element being midkiff  s worthless performance . it gets a little better toward the end  with genuinely disturbing finale . in point of fact  the whole movie is really disturbing  which is why i can  t completely dismiss it  at least it has something to make it memorable . decent supporting performances by fred gwynne  as the wise old aged neighbor  and brad greenquist  as the disfigured spirit victor pascow are not enough to really redeem film .  br    br   king has his usual cameo as the minister .  br    br   followed by a sequel also directed by mary lambert  is it any wonder that she  s had no mainstream film work since   .  br    br        
nathan detroit  frank sinatra  is the manager of the new york  s longest  established floating craps game  and he needs      to secure a new location . confident of his odds  he bets the city  s highest  roller  sky masterson  marlon brando   that he can  t woo uptight missionary sarah brown  jean simmons  .  guys and dolls        is such a great musical because it deftly blends the contrasting styles of film and stage . during a dazzling opening sequence  crowds of pedestrians move in rhythm  stopping and starting as though responding to backstage cues . even the walking movements themselves are stylised and angular  halfway between a walk and a dance . mankiewicz  s new york city is a glittering flurry of art deco colour and movement  a fantasy world so completely removed from reality that even the business of underground gambling and criminal thuggery seems perfectly genial .  br    br   as i write this review  i  ve just received word that jean simmons has passed away  age   . this  unbelievably  was the first time i  d seen her in a film  yet she dazzled me from the beginning . her idealistic and sexually  repressed sarah comes out of her shell following an alcohol binge in havana  letting loose with an adorably playful rendition of  if i were a bell .  even though both simmons and brando were non  singers  producer sam goldwyn decided not to dub their vocals  contending that  maybe you don  t sound so good  but at least it  s you .  despite goldwyn  s backhanded confidence  the pair both do well to carry entire musical numbers themselves . simmons suggests the same child  like liveliness that audrey hepburn might have brought to the role  and brando exudes such self  assurance and charisma that it doesn  t matter that his singing voice isn  t quite there .  
  indian burial ground   if those three words appear anywhere in a real  estate listing  look for a different neighborhood . a young couple with a young daughter and a toddler  age son move into a maine house adjacent to a pet cemetery   and  after a l  o  o  o  ng hike  an ancient indian burial ground . seems the indian ground can bring fido or fluffy back from the dead   if you don  t mind having a raving hell beast for a pet . it can do the same for dead people   if you don  t mind having a homicidal zombie around the house .  br    br   throw in a busy two  lane blacktop  speeding big rigs  a well  meaning  if somewhat dim  old neighbor  and one kid who really doesn  t get enough supervision  and i think you can figure out what happens from there   an over  the  top  illogical mess  which  in all fairness  does offer up a few scares .  br    br   well  there are worse stephen king adaptations  such as  maximum overdrive   which king also directed  . but there are far better ones  too  such as  salem  s lot    the dead zone   and both versions of  the shining   .  
i  m intrigued by the strong sense of favour towards  or sympathy for   sinatra in the other reviews here . i  ve read elsewhere that sinatra never seems to have forgiven anyone for not being cast as sky masterson .  br    br   ok  so who wouldn  t want to be cast as sky masterson   it  s a great part the charismatic successful gambler who makes a grave mistake when he allows himself to be suckered into a bet  in which he must take salvation army sargeant sarah brown on a date to cuba  or lose . it  s not the money  it  s the pride  but he and she meet their match . meanwhile nathan detroit must juggle his long  suffering fiance adelaide with trying to find a spot for a craps game which will make him rich if it doesn  t alienate his fiance forever first .  br    br   the film started life as a series of short stories by damon runyon that  s his unique dialogue you hear  and those are his great character names  and that  s his horse  racing  nightclub  late night gambling world . then it became a musical  and you can  t help but feel that in film form it never really left the stage . the camera is unusually static and the sets remarkably  and not pleasingly  flat and childlike . fortunately the music is so great  i don  t care that much .  br    br   my absolute favourite thing about this film  though  is the singing and acting of the two non  singers  brando  as sky  and jean simmons  as sargeant sarah brown  . of course  putting pro singers into these roles would have produced better music but what surely gets forgotten is that two such excellent actors brought something else to the party instead what they lacked in vocal talent they more than made up for in gusto  acting ability  and pathos  pathos  pathos . you  re with sky as he argues with sarah against reason  steadiness  pipes and safety . you enjoy sarah  s loosening up under the influence of cuban  milk  . you feel completely the suddenness and passion of their scene in the courtyard with bells ringing and an hour to go before the plane takes them home . as sky rightly says  it  s  chemistry  . pro singers  be they broadway belters or smooth crooners  can  t necessarily be relied on to make this happen .  and they certainly didn  t .  i read somewhere that brando criticised sinatra for not putting all of himself into his role of nathan detroit . sinatra in turn was infuriated by brando  s four  take acting method . as a brando fan  does it show    i  m bound to take the other side  but i can  t imagine that this film would have been the much  adored classic it is today if brando and simmons hadn  t been in it with their wonderful chemistry brando  s unpredictability simmons  face  all pink cheeks and brown hair  drunk and ashamed in a cuban bar . beautiful . i  ll always want a copy of this film lying around in case i need to feel good again . you  ll forgive me if give some of the nathan  sleep  talking parts the     brush  off though  won  t you  you won  t  oh  be quiet and have some more of mindy  s cheesecake   
fot the most part  this movie feels like a  made  for  tv  effort . the direction is ham  fisted  the acting  with the exception of fred gwynne  is overwrought and soapy . denise crosby  particularly  delivers her lines like she  s cold reading them off a cue card . only one thing makes this film worth watching  and that is once gage comes back from the  semetary .  there is something disturbing about watching a small child murder someone  and this movie might be more than some can handle just for that reason . it is absolutely bone  chilling . this film only does one thing right  but it knocks that one thing right out of the park . worth seeing just for the last   minutes or so .  
possible spoilers coming up . . . you  ve been forewarned .   br    br   this is absolutely one of my all time favorite musicals and movie musicals   the other is damn yankees with gwen verdon  tab hunter and ray walston  as we all know  sometimes the luster  not to mention the songs  of a show are lost in its transition from stage to screen . this is  for the most part  definitely not the case here .  br    br   the sets are divine  bright and colorful  the characters are bigger than life and you can  t help but love them  and michael kidd  s choreography is absolutely stunning .  so glad to know they used the original broadway choreographer   br    br   all of the actors  bounce the ball   that is  have unbeatable chemistry  to perfection in this film . frank and marlon are absolutely believable as the proprietor of the oldest established permanent floating crap game in new york  and the most notorious gambler who bets on even the most minute things   such as his fever going up to    if he doesn  t take penicillin . sweet  fresh faced jean simmons is perfect for the role of sarah  although it is true  her singing pipes are not as outstanding as that of isabel bigley or josie de guzman    the mission doll with a heart of gold and a drive to heal all . and last but certainly not least  on my list anyway  is miss vivian blaine  reprising her broadway role as miss adelaide   the hot box lead singer and dancer who would like to finally end her   year engagement to nathan with marriage  and rid herself of the psychosomatic cold he  s given her .  br    br   first off  kudos to stubby kaye and b . s . pulley as they reprise their broadway roles as nicely  nicely johnson and benny southstreet . there were never two more loveable gamblers than these guys .  br    br   brando is superb  as usual  and though he  s not got the voice of robert alda or peter gallagher  you forget it   as he has this sense of determination to bring all he can to his role as sky masterson .  luck be a lady  gives me chills every time i see him perform the number . especially enjoyable is hearing him say  daddy . . . i got cider in my ear .   br    br   simmons is charming and pleasant in a role well suited to her looks  voice and the way she carries herself . you long so dearly for her not only to win sky  or  toward the end  believe him   but to help people overcome their gambling  drinking and other sins  and live a life with god . her rendition of  if i were a bell  is splendid  to say the least   br    br   sinatra is the man . he is so perfect for the role of nathan detroit   and here he sings parts that sam levene from the broadway cast never could  terrific actor  but the chap was tone deaf . . . go figure  . i really enjoyed the addition of the song  adelaide  . . . wish some guy would sing like that to me . frankie  s cool  slick demeanor transcends the boundaries of this movie . but most importantly  you want him to marry adelaide .  br    br   and speaking of adelaide  vivian blaine is just sheer perfection in this role . from the accent to her belting out  adelaide  s lament   she  s just terrific . and she  s also my favorite part of the entire movie . she really makes you feel for adelaide . . . especially when she cries right before and then again during  sue me  . i still haven  t decided whether i like  pet me poppa  better than  bushel and a peck  . . . maybe i like them equally . either way  she does fantastic with those as well as  take back your mink .   i  m sad that they left out  hollanderize  from the film . . .  she  s absolutely marvelous  not to mention hilarious  and my favorite part of the entire film .  br    br   one of the best things about this movie is their lingo . it  s a mixture of high class and street slang . never do they use  it  s    i  ll  or  that  s .  it  s always  it is    i will  and  that is .  overall  guys  dolls is one of my favorite all time movies and musicals  and it  s one that you should take time to watch every time it comes on . my only complaint  no  marry the man today .  now that  s a good song .  
pet sematary  though a nice    s horror movie  with a nice director and atmosphere  is a copy of the italian movie zeder by pupi avati . it  s clear that stephen king has copied almost all the ideas from this director  the movie zeder was made before king wrote the book   br    br   the cat  the ground  everything was copied  this is a case of plagiary  but  being stephen kind a famous american writer  it  s totally normal that he can get away with this  it  s obviously due to the huge difference between this kind of italians movies with no  budget  and in part  it  s crap itself . . .  but the original idea  i repeat it  it  s italian director avati  br    br   let the world know  
guys and dolls is a unique play based on the characters . sky masterson  br    br    marlon brando  is a high  class gambler who takes up a bet with nathan detroit  frank sinatra  for one  thousand dollars . nathan needs the money so he can  br    br   run his usual crap game and make a fortune . the bet was that sky wouldn  t be able to take just any girl to havana  cuba and the  doll  he chose was sarah  br    br   brown  jean simmons  who was in charge of a missionary . sky finally bribes  br    br   sarah enough to go to havana with him . they end up falling in love with each other  but later she accuses him of something he had no part in . nathan ran a crap game in the missionary the night they were gone . nathan  s   year fianc adelaide  vivian blaine  disapproves of nathan  s gambling and tries to stop him from doing it . however  when the movie ends it all ends happy with a double  br    br   wedding .  br    br   the songs in this movie are just wonderful no matter who sings it . marlon  br    br   brando has no singing voice at all and true they could have dubbed him but it didn  t really matter . he did a wonderful acting job  obviously seeing as it  s brando  and played his character very well . i have seen a few movies with jean simmons and thought that this movie was her weakest one  she also couldn  t  br    br   sing at all . however  the singing is made up by frank sinatra  vivien blaine  and stubby kaye . vivien blaine and stubby kaye was also in the original  br    br   broadway production of guys and dolls . vivien blaine had a terrific voice and was the perfect adelaide . if you like musical  and even if you don  t  i advise you to watch this .  
stephen king is generally known for the morbid  and that  s fine  but this story is too morbid . some movies  by the end you feel sad for the characters or the situations they were put through . . . here you just feel depressed . the movie has a nice feel to it  at first   with the family moving to the country  and creepy old fred gwyne greeting and warning them of the pet cemetery  but this plot leads nowhere . it starts with so much potential  but by the end  it loses the potential to be a good horror movie  and becomes corny  extremely stupid  and ultimately depressing .  br    br   louis  dale midkoff   his wife rachel  denise crosby   their kids ellie and gage  and their cat move to a new home in maine . they are warned by the loony farmer neighbor jud  fred gwyne  about the local pet cemetery and how it is cursed . louis thinks nothing of this and everything  s fine until the family cat is killed . he bury  s it in the cursed cemetery and it comes back to life  constantly hissing at the family and wanting to be left alone . one day  infant gage runs out in the road and is run over and killed by a truck  and louis knows he must bury him in the cemetery . when gage comes back to life  he is changed and wants to murder .  br    br   with many of stephen king  s works that don  t translate well into films  i blame the directors and screenwriters . in this case  mr . king was the screenwriter  but i  m going to blame him for his awful story . by the end it  s so pointless  and though unfunny  the premise is laughable . a little boy comes back from the dead and manages to kill people with what looks like a tiny scalpel  and not only that  but he manages to lift their bodies and in one case  carry a body from the ground to the attic     i know this isn  t set in reality but seriously  how stupid can this get  the scene where louis injects his deceased  now living again cat to kill it is strangely sad  because the cat did not deserve this . all it did was go around minding it  s own business and he killed it . the scene where he injects his own infant son is almost unbearable . not unbearably sad  but the whole situation is just awful to think of . after being injected gage staggers drunkenly around before falling down dead . . . . why did they need to make a movie ending with the death of an infant  but . . . even worse  the actual ending of them film involving louis burying someone else  not going to give away who  in the cemetery after gage kills them . . . . what did he expect  why did mr . king write this horrible story and why was it made into a movie  it  s depressing and pointless   br    br   my rating  out of  .   mins . r for violence .  
in     marlon brando was the hot actor after his performances in streetcar named desire and on the waterfront . frank sinatra had yet to re  invent himself on the silver screen . but sinatra  s portrayal as the erstwhile nathan detroit  helped re  establish sinatra with his fans .  br    br   it is a great screen version of a great play and the choices of leads and support players are terrific . imagine a movie where brando sings  this was his one and only singing role as he portrayed sky masterson . in addition the female leads  jean simmons and vivian blaine  replaying her stage role as nathan  s long suffering girlfriend adelade   put in superlative efforts . special mention goes to the great stubby kaye  as nicely nicely   and with all due respect to eric clapton  no one  s version of rockin  the boat even comes close to stubby  s . sheldon leonard  who would go on to fame as tv producer of such shows as the danny thomas show and the dick van dyke show does  harry the horse  wonders  b . s . pulley is excellent as the harsh mannered and rough talking  big julie   and even regis toomey offers his excellence as  brother arvide  .  br    br   it is one of the fun musicals to see  good comedy  and you get sinatra and brando . soooooo  luck be a lady tonight  and brother . . .  it  s your dice   
now  i haven  t read the original short story to know all the literary points that went wrong here  so i  m not going to go down that path here .  br    br   but i have some time ago learnt that stephen king movies simply  are not  horror films  with perhaps a couple of exceptions . this was not one of them . it started well enough  and for once i  m not going to complain about the acting  although fred gwynne was as usual wonderful . . also i will forgive the total lack of parenting skills  as they were necessary to make the story here move forward . . .  br    br   but there was one consistent point that i couldn  t help but get annoyed with . and that came pretty close to the end of the movie  and at least  characters partook in the activity of dumb stupidity . the moments i refer to are thus there is a tiny zombie running around the house . you suspect it is under the bed . do you  br    br    a  get as close to the bed as you can before blindly raising the duvet cover up  exposing pretty much your whole body to whatever damage such a teeny undead cannibal might inflict on you  or  br    br    b  move a little away from the bed so you can peer under the completely open end from a position of slightly increased safety  or at least see the mini terror coming at you  giving you a little reaction time .  br    br   i know  let  s go with  a  . i feel like offering myself up for the slaughter today . bleh  br    br   fun enough film though . . . just not very scary .  
damon runyon  s world of times square  in new york  prior to its disneyfication  is the basis for this musical . joseph l . mankiewicz  a man who knew about movies  directed this nostalgic tribute to the  crossroads of the world  that show us that underside of new york of the past . frank loesser  s music sounds great . we watch a magnificent cast of characters that were typical of the area . people at the edges of society tended to gravitate toward that area because of the lights  the action  the possibilities in that part of town . this underbelly of the city made a living out of the street life that was so intense .  br    br   some of the songs from the original production were not included in the film . we don  t know whether this makes sense  but this is not unusual for a hollywood musical to change and alter what worked on the stage . that original cast included the wonderful vivian blaine and stubby kaye  and we wonder about the decision of not letting robert alda  sam levene  isabel bigley repeat their original roles . these were distinguished actors that could have made an amazing contribution .  br    br   the film  visually  is amazing . the look follows closely the fashions of the times . as far as the casting of marlon brando  otherwise not known for his singing abilities  frank sinatra and jean simmons  seem to work in the film . sky masterson is  after all  a man  s man  who would look otherwise sissy if he presented a different  look  . frank sinatra is good as nathan detroit . jean simmons  as sarah brown  does a nice job portraying the woman from the salvation army who suddenly finds fulfillment with the same kind of man she is trying to save .  br    br   vivian blaine is a delight . she never ceases to amaze as miss adelaide  a woman with a heart of gold who  s nathan detroit  s love interest . ms . blaine makes a fantastic impression as the show girl who is wiser than she lets out to be . stubby kaye makes a wonderful job out of reprising his nicely nicely johnson .  br    br   the wonderful production owes a lot to the talented abe burrows  who made the adaptation to the screen . the costumes by irene sharaff set the right tone .  
a family with dad louis  dale midkiff   mom rachel  denise crosby     year old eileen  blaze berdalh and about  year old gage  miko hughes  move to this beautiful house in maine   seemingly unaware of the semis that roar down the highway in front of their house every   seconds or so  the neighbor across the way  the wonderful fred gwynne  makes them feel at home . . . and shows them a pet cemetery where children bury their pets . but a little further on is a sacred ground which can bring the dead back to life . . . but the dead come back in a nasty mood .  br    br     definite spoilers the novel by stephen king was good   it was long but it developed characters and situations that made you care what happened . this movie jettisons all the character development and just plays up the gore and violence . animals are killed on camera  i know it  s faked but it  s still repulsive   a little boy is hit by a semi and his casket pops open during the funeral  in a totally sick scene   he  s brought back to life and attacks and kills people including his mom  i do wonder how a  year old was able to hang her   a ghostly jogger  don  t ask  tries to help the family for no reason . . . the movie just works the audience over shoving every gruesome death or violence into your face . it just goes out of its way to shock you . end spoilers  br    br   acting is no help . midkiff is just dreadful as the father   he  s handsome and buff but totally blank . crosby isn  t much better . the two kids are just annoying . only gwynne single  handedly saves this picture with his effortless good acting .  br    br   this picture shows a total contempt for the audience taking large leaps in logic and having characters do incredibly stupid things  especially midkiff at the end  . this movie was  inexplicably  a huge box office hit in     which led to the even worse sequel in     . i saw it in a theatre back then and was disturbed how the audience kept cheering on the violence and was just appalled by what i saw . a sick repulsive horror film . a  all the way .  br    br   when you think it  s all over and can  t get worse the ramones sing a title song         i don  t wanna be buried in a pet cemetery   . truly beyond belief .  
this film moves the cinderella story forward to the early     s and makes good  if eccentric  use of the isle of man as a background . the ugly sisters have become wildly glamorous upper  class english girls  and together with kathleen turner as the stepmother they flounce about in various wonderful period costumes . the story is altered a little from the traditional version early on it is oddly combined with the plot of  king lear   and in later stages cinderella is rather more assertive than is usual . it looks splendid and works on the whole pretty well  but does go over the top at times .  
the truth is that a film based on a harold robbins novel is not going to win any awards . this is no exception .  the lonely lady  is a pure b picture in budget  cast and execution . technically  it looks like a made  for  tv film . the acting is very uneven . joseph cali is especially terrible . anthony holland is an embarrassment . as one reviewer said of a certain katherine hepburn performance  her range goes from a to b . ms zedora manages to get to g . the rest of the cast is solid  and wasted in their respective roles  . lloyd bochner and bibi besch deserved better . still  the whole thing can be a great deal of fun in a trashy sort of way . as befits robbins  everything revolves around sex and nudity . if you  re looking for some fun . . . and you  re not too sober . . . this could be for you .  
creative use of modern and mystical elements     cadillac convertible to transport evil stepmother kathleen turner  john waters   serial mom   and the  twisted sisters queen mab as the faerie godmother david warner  evil in  time bandits   in redcoat at court cinderella  she  s a babe  shovelling coal into an insatiable furnace cinderella and her prince charming both look like  and act like  rock stars . isle of man locations .  
wow  only a movie this ludicrously awful could inspire the similar  showgirls .  i mean where to begin  the indescibably horrid theme song  pia zadora  s non  expressions throughout the movie  the fact that despite being set in los angeles  aka  land of the casting couch  every single man  and woman   is fawning all over themselves to sleep with pia zadora  by any contrived means necessary  or what about the fact that every person in the movie is totally unsympathetic because they  re either mind  numbingly stupid  pia  or obvious despicable sleazeball  everyone else   and given that this flick was written by actual  screenwriters  sorta   it shows a shocking lack of understanding of the movie  making industry  who the hell would admire and kiss up to a screenwriter    br    br   but it  s  unintentionally  funny as hell though . the  breakdown  scene alone will have you giggling  and after seeing the climatic  i  m not the only one who had to  her way to the top  scene at the  awards   all done in the usual bargain  basement acting level we expect from such quality thespians as pia   i sincerely hope that our dear pia actually reused that speech when she  won  her golden globe . it  s fitting and that would totally make my day .  br    br   anyway  if you  re a fan of bad  tashy camp  give this otherwise tacky movie a try .  
turned out to be a classy production with what must have been a low budget . the variety of characters is amazing  from axe  wielding dwarfs to  ft ghouls  i enjoyed the relationship between the leads  not overly sentimental but romantic enough to keep the interest going . i also enjoyed the mix of humour  which can be very easy to get wrong  too much  not enough  which meant it didn  t get too dark  nor too spoofy . it was a great step up from eaves  other efforts  hellbreeder and sanitarium  in terms of storyline and production . they have a great website which is worth checking out . can  t wait for bane  if the level of improvement continues  it should be fantastic .  
the form of the film is that of a suspense shocker . there are surprises  twists and turns  reverses and excitements . at times  this is truly an  edge  of  the  seat  film . but it disappoints  and disappoints severely .  br    br   the villain of the piece is not believeable his character does not hold together . i refuse to  spoil  the film  but will only say that the character we meet at the beginning just could not be he whom we see at the end .  br    br   the second major disappointment of the film is that   finally  it becomes little more that a bloody slasher film . there is little qualitative difference between this and one of the  friday the   th  films . not that every film need always be totally tasteful  but this film does drip gore on occasion .  br    br   though the film features the magnificent sean connery  even he does not measure up to his usual standard  and often just seems to be walking through the paces .  
i thought it was an original story  very nicely told . i think all you people are expecting too much . i mean . . . it  s just a made for television movie  what are you expecting  some great wonderful dramtic piece  i thought it was a really great story for a made for television movie . . . . and that  s my opinion .  
this is absolutely the worst trash i have ever seen . when i saw it in the theater  arghhh    it took   full minutes before i realized that what i was seeing was the feature  not a sick joke   
i  ve seen this movie twice with my teenagers who love it . this one ought to be a cult fave  the best line   your dress is deeply cool   says the prince to cinderella . kathleen turner shines as the stepmother . i also like the      s era cars and motorcycles . the melancholy prince is a great departure from the typical swashbuckler . he tries to stay cool  but fails to hide his love for the fairy  tale princess  to  be . her slipper is not glass  truer to the original story   but cinderella loses is nonetheless but gets it back from the heir to the throne . my only complaint is that it is not shown more and seems to be almost impossible to get . hopefully blockbuster or amazon will start stocking this one sometime soon .  
the super sexy b movie actress has another bit part as future  goodfellas  star ray liotta  s girlfriend in this box office bomb . she plays marion  has only one line of dialog  well  one word of dialog actually . she shouts out  joe   as ray  s character is violating poor pia zadora with a plastic garden hose sprinkler . this movie is so bad though it becomes funny  hilarious at times . the guys at mystery science theater     would love this  check out the hysterical scene at the end where pia has a nervous breakdown and all the cheesy editing and effects they do to try and show how badly pia  s character is freaking out . pia plays an aspiring hollywood screenwriter in this . pia zadora as a screenwriter  yeah  right . pia can barely talk  let alone write  pia is utterly and absolutely miscast in this dumb role . but who cares  the real star is the hot and fresh glory annen in her bit part in this cat  s opinion  rock on glory   
i remember watching the disney version and watching it now makes me think it has somehow lost its magic touch . plenty of other renditions  ever after put aside  of cinderella  have  in fact  lost their touch throughout the years . then i found this production with a flawless performance by kathleen turner as the evil stepmother and was blown away by the phantasmagorical essence of this fantasy story that has cast me under its spell since childhood .  br    br   we all know the story of cinderella  a young girl who  s father died and was dominated by her wicked stepmother and stepdaughters and longs to go to the ball for one last chance for freedom . but this plot line takes a different twist in the classic fairy tale by causing cinderella  whose real name is zizola  and is only called cinderella by her family because of her slavery  to be trapped in a situation of her father  who still lives  slowly losing himself to a dominant wife who manipulates him into playing favorites with his wife and step  daughters against his own and tries to poison him . thus  zizola goes out to save her father by stopping her stepmother from finding another suitor at the ball by distracting the men who come her way . there  the bored prince valiant has a change of heart from his dull life and falls in love with the mysterious lady in the strange dress  forged by a water nymph named mab  with rose petals for slippers .  br    br   what drew me to this film most of all was it  s original take on the old fairy tale that none can compare to . it does not weave a web of lies like most cinderella stories  it does not ignore any reason as to why cinderella would want to attend the ball and nor does it show a shallow side to the prince as the disney version did . instead it shows more of cinderella  s selfless heart more than any other production and the artwork is simply stunning  the costumes are all beautifully made  especially zizola  s sapphire blue ballgown to match the marcella plunkett  s fantastical beauty and soft  spirit  like voice .  br    br   i would highly suggest this film for anyone who is interested in a dream  like sequence of the classic fairy tale with an interesting twist . my only problem is that the producers and director did not make a full collection of other fairy tales with this same element and the fact that the film is now out of print .  
the wonderful  z  channel in los angeles showed this pia zadora film about six months or so after  butterfly  . i had such high hopes for the actress  and then she goes from bad to obviously worse in this film .  br    br   again  it was the    s and i gotta tell you harold robbin  s work had been eclipsed by smarter writers . jacqueline susann ripped into him  she hated his way of writing women   irwin shaw  s work caught on with many women  and of course sidney sheldon had his kingdom in the late    s early    s and then came jackie collins who made women stronger and as equal to men in every way in her books  even more so . which is why this work smelt . harold robbin  s work in the    s just didn  t catch on with audiences . pia zadora acting in one of robbin  s work was like throwing kerosine on a fire . the supporting cast was not a help either .  br    br   oooooh . . . this was awful to look at then and even   more years later  it looks even worse . i had a hope for pia as an actress and it all got shot to heck when this was done . it would be tough for pia to redeem herself as an actress  although john waters casting her in  hairspray  was a spark  although she has a nice singing voice .  br    br   hey  pia  wherever you are . . . hairspray may go on tour  join the show . you may be the biggest comeback story yet .  br    br   i just hope they burn this film for ya if you do .  
this film was almost a great imaginative film . a mixture of shakespeare  pop  jazz  and faerie tales . this movie was an imaginative twist on the cinderella theme . featuring a strong cast  headed by the perfectly cast kathleen turner  this movie had everything going for it . everything but production values . i almost never think that a movie needs special effects or big budgets  but with an over the top production like this  it came off with the same seedy quality as every other made for tv movie . besides better cinematography  this film was almost perfect .  br    br    
this film is a pia zadora special  when viewing it  i was reminded of the classic cartoon showing a hollywood starlet in urgent need of another role but afraid of becoming typecast for  b  movie or soft porn roles who says at her casting session  well of course i do not normally do roles requiring nudity  but if it is artistically necessary for the film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . this recollection brought up a very naughty image of a similar cartoon showing pia at such a session saying  well of course i do not normally take any roles requiring actual acting  but if it will really give me sufficient exposure to enhance my status as a sex symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . this is probably grossly unfair  the rather sordid tale is the fault of harold robbins book considering the nature of the story pia  s exposures certainly do not receive undue attention  and perhaps pia  who once won an acting award in butterfly  is deliberately satirising her part rather than attempting to act in an almost unplayable role . critics usually point first to the actors as the problem whenever a film proves disappointing  but this is grossly unfair the scriptwriters and director are far more often the guilty parties . the real problem with  the lonely lady  is that the screenplay  like the original book  looks for sensation rather than substance  and nothing can help with this .  br    br   the screenplay for this film is abysmal  but whether the story could have been filmed more successfully with a better script  tauter directing and really competent acting must remain a matter of personal judgement . as it was released  my viewers rating for it would depend upon whether i am assessing my personal opinion  or assessing to what extent the film succeeds in providing what it aims at doing . my personal rating for it would be two out of ten but to some extent this film probably provides exactly what its sponsors intended  and judged on this basis a quality rating of four out of ten would be reasonable . being in a charitable mood  and wanting to make it clear that i am not blaming pia for my disappointment  i will give an imdb rating of four .  
it  s hard to say sometimes why exactly a film is so effective . from the moment i first came across  the stone boy   something told me it would be a great film . in spite of that  it seemed very unlikely that i  d ever have the opportunity to actually see it for myself . then  one day  while looking through the online catalogue of my local library  i saw that they had recently purchased the dvd release of this film . which i  m extremely glad for  because the cinematography is of a stunning depth and quality that an old vhs copy could never replicate .  br    br   and speaking of the cinematography  i must single it out as far and above the most stunning aspect of this film . as a photographer who pursues very nearly the exact visual style portrayed in  the stone boy   i  m a firm believer in the fact that a great cinematographer can almost single  handedly carry a film . here  he has a lot of help from an extremely talented cast  and a director who understands perfectly what the story needs . but to have juan ruiz ancha behind the camera makes virtually every scene something of beauty . and you can almost never say that . most films would never even expect such a thing of you . scene after scene captures some detail  some little bit of visual magic that takes your breath away .  br    br   the director  christopher cain  has had a long and interesting career . as far as i can gather  this film is not very representative of it . but  sometimes  to catch a director near the beginnings of his career  before all the big budgets and loss of focus  there  s a real subtle magic to be found . cain steps back in this film  lets things happen with a life of their own  and then ever further . much like early john sayles films  characters are given space to breathe  time to talk . side stories happen because they do  and that  s how life is . cain displays a remarkable  raw  even outright painful understanding of human nature in this film .  br    br   the acting ties much of this story together . when people talk  when they exist in this film  they do so as actual people  not held back by the fact that they are playing characters . gina berriault  s script allows immensely talented and respected actors like wilford brimley  robert duvall  glenn close  and frederic forrest to spend time simply existing . whether the things they have to say are minor or of deep significance  it all comes down with the weight of pure reality .  br    br   when you look at the actors involved  or the great soundtrack by james horner  it seems strange that such a film be very nearly forgotten . maybe much of what makes  the stone boy  what it is was the time period it was made in . there  s this     s hangover feeling to this picture that reminds me deeply of my own childhood . people talk of the   s in terms of modern styles and music  but that  s not the   s i lived in or remember . the look of the images  the understated and dark knowing quality of the acting  and the overall result should get under the skin of any person who grew up in or near this era of time in north america . i see myself in this . i see how i saw the world . and a film like  the stone boy  sees the world for how it truly is .  br    br   for more of this feeling  please see  br    br   the black stallion        never cry wolf        tender mercies        testament        places in the heart        matewan        high tide        driving miss daisy        the secret garden        the secret of roan inish        wendy and lucy        
i simply could not finish this movie . i tuned out after what i would say is my nomination for the most wretched attempt at sexual suggestion award a scene in which pia zadora  at a picnic  stands between two boys who want her . one  the good boy  pleads for her to see the error of her ways . the other  the bad boy  simply asks if she  d like a hot dog  which he then holds out for her . at crotch level . i hope i  m not spoiling anything to say she turns  and takes the hot dog  with a smile . just pathetic .  
both robert duvall and glenn close played their roles with such believability  i simply cried . glenn close  s role as ruth  showed her wanting to deal with the situation  but she was under the domination of her husband .  let him think about what he did   robert duvall  s character  joe  said staunchly . the story depicted a rural family dealing with an accidental death of a son by his brother  called  the stone boy   meaning he was so distraught and overwhelmed by what he did  he became emotionally paralyzed . then towards the end when jason presson  s character  arnold  let it all out to a stranger  i was so broken hearted for him  that i actually thought of some of the terrible things that i did in my life . i personalized and identified with his character . frederick forrest  s and gail youngs  roles  did not add not much to the film . i thought of frederick forrest  who played ruth  s antagonistic  womanizing brother  andy  as a jerk who did nothing to try to help the situation . his wife  lou  played by gail youngs  acted like a crazy  lady smacking arnold around out of frustration with her own problems without pity and blaming him for her troubles . i could not really feel sorry for these two . though lou tried to keep her marriage together  she was unsuccessful . both did not deal with their problems effectively . they really did nothing for the film and were totally ridiculous . wilfred brimley  s minor role as the grandfather was  touching for he was the only character that showed arnold any attention . i felt his role should have been elaborated . the players were just doing what they felt was adequate and sufficient . however  i really liked the ending so much  i actually smiled and cried tears of joy . i felt good . the hillermans were a family again . i actually wanted to be a part of this family . they were so realistic .  
once again  pia zadora  the woman who owes her entire career to her husband  proves she can  t act . this disaster of a film butchers the harold robbins novel . ray liotta must have been hogtied and carried to the set to appear in this one .  br    br   avoid this at all costs . i doubt even doing the mst  k thing would save it .  
honestly  i find this film almost too depressing for my own good . it is very depressing until pretty much the very end . there is no way i can justify passing judgement to any character who did things i didn  t like  well  except for the disgusting character played by fredrick forrest  . but it  s still so frustrating to see people behaving this way  putting up walls around themselves when just a word or so could break the ice and promote healing .  br    br   a horrible tragedy strikes a montana family . they believe they  ve lost one son  but it turns out they  ve lost  . the key is  if they just communicate and face their grief together  they won  t end up losing their second son permanently .  br    br   but they just can  t . something is blocking this family from sharing their sorrows . some family retreat into silence and resentment while certain others point fingers of blame  and then go ahead and cheat on their poor pregnant wife by seducing the pretty girlfriend of the deceased . . . that andy character truly is a snake   the only member of the family that isn  t threatening arnold in some way is his grandpa  wilford brimley  . grandpa seems to be able to speak to the boy without judgements or even kid gloves . he seems to know what the child is thinking about even though arnold isn  t saying much these days . it is truly a blessing for the poor kid to have that one someone he can turn to . no one else seems to grasp the fact that arnold might be in shock  in denial  or that his way of grieving may not be the same style  or at the same speed  as they would expect . it  s so easy to judge and to be angry and to feel someone is  made of stone  just because they don  t grieve in a way we believe they ought .  br    br   the story is very quiet and naturalistic . you  re not going to get some spoon  fed narration or some hollywood feel  good resolution . i was very concerned by the fact that this child was so burdened with guilt that he felt it necessary to hitchhike several hundred miles to apologize to that piggy andy  s wife  for something he should not blame himself for . arnold may have accidentally killed his brother  but nobody is responsible for the end of that marriage  which apparently was a lousy one anyway  except for the two people in the marriage . it  s only dumb luck arnold didn  t get into the car with a pedophile or a murderer .  br    br   robert duvall and glenn close are frustratingly effective as the parents who somehow cannot find it in themselves to communicate with their son  to find out what arnold is going through . jason presson  whom i  ve not seen anywhere else except for a childhood favorite called explorers and a creepy ghost story called the lady in white  did an incredible job as arnold  a great performance from a child actor .  br    br   aside from being somewhat slow at times  the stone boy is an excellent  and very depressing movie .  
even when i saw this movie at a teenager  i wondered just how ironic it was that pia zadora starred in a movie about an artist who slept her way to the top . as beautiful and sexy as ms . zadora is  even she couldn  t keep this sorry  ass excuse of a movie from tanking . not even her photoshoot for penthouse  in which  the lonely lady  was promoted  back in the day   could keep this movie from tanking . the only thing that could have saved this movie  a completely different script . give this one a miss .  
this movie probably never made a blip on the radar screen  but it  s got quite a bit of quality . it  s pretty lifelike  yet you think  it  s only a movie .  duvall and close portray common people  and you  d never even realize they are now big  name actors . it seems that the jerk in this story is a little too old to be chasing eugene  s girlfriend  but i guess it  s possible . it seems unlikely that the kid would travel from montana to nevada by himself  but i guess it  s possible . you might think that the family troubles in this movie would never happen in your own family  but i guess it  s possible . i remember glenn close saying something like  you think the work you do is the hardest part of your life  but it isn  t .   
this early pia zadora vehicle followed a familiar harold robbins formula ambitious main character wallows in decadence while pursuing the path to the top of some randomly chosen but glamorous world  in this case the movie industry . but despite being so formulaic as to be completely predictable  this movie manages at the same time to be completely unbelievable . zadora  to call her inexperienced as an actress is to be charitable  never convinces as a screenwriter . one would expect a movie about movie  making to have some insights into its own industry and creative process . but the script gives her none of the qualities which make writers interesting movie characters observance  skill with words  a love  hate relationship with one  s own creative abilities . her character is as empty as a donut hole . and this is just a taste of the incompetence on display here . the cinematography is so murky that it is sometimes hard to see what is happening . and the scenes never really hang together  so everything seems like a succession of random moments at bad hollywood parties . avoid .  
   year old arnald hillerman accidentally kills his older brother eugene . his feelings are arrested by the fact that his family can not interact with him  or feel it is not the right thing to do  . his only refuge is his grandfather  who is the only one who seems to have compassion on him . the realism will captivate  true    life  movie lovers  but will not satisfy those that desire action  thrills .  
there is absolutely nothing to redeem this movie . they took a sleazy story  miscast it  miswrote it  misfilmed it . it has bad dialogue badly performed in a meandering and trashy story .  br    br   as badly as it fails as art  it fails even worse as commerce . who could have been the target market for this . what age group  what interest group   br    br   someone should make a movie about how and why they made this movie . that i would pay to see .  br    br   i  ve seen thousands of bad movies  and this ranks with  sailor who fell from grace  and  manos  . . . my choices as the three most unredeemably bad movies i  ve ever seen . everybody associated with it should be forced to make conversation with vandamme for all eternity .  br    br   i challenge you . watch this movie and perform an academic exercise  how could you take this and make it worse  i can  t think of one way .  
the stone boy is an almost forgotten drama from the     s . considering how many famous or soon to be famous people are in the film  one wonders how it could have been so overlooked . this is a slow  moody  but touching account of a tragedy that befalls a farm family . the film is more or less an indictment of midwestern stoic values and suppression of emotion . the film will not be for all tastes  but anyone who can appreciate real human drama should like it ok .  br    br   in the early moments of the film  we see two brothers head off in the early morning hours to pick some peas and maybe shoot a duck or two if they  re lucky . while climbing through a barbed wire fence  the gun accidentally discharges and the younger boy fatally shoots his older brother . these boys have apparently never taken a hunter safety course . the way for two men to properly go through a fence like this with one gun would be as follows first man climbs through . second man then passes him the gun through the fence . the first man then sets the gun down and helps the other through the fence . at no time should either man have his hands on both the gun and the fence .  br    br   anyway  once his brother is killed     yr  old arnold regresses into his own world . he does not even run for help after his brother is shot . he simply goes ahead and picks the peas and tells his family about the accident later . at no point during the funeral or inquest does arnold seem to show any regret or sorrow at all . his family seems to shun him . perhaps they are even angry at him for killing his brother . an ornery uncle played by frederick forrest is outwardly upset with arnold  even though the older brother  s death allows him to hit on the kid  s girlfriend . arnold  s parents don  t seem to understand how to deal with their son . they really don  t even try to talk to him . about the only person he can communicate with is his grandfather who is played in typical grandfatherly skill by wilford brimley . after a while  arnold even moves in with the old timer .  br    br   nothing seems to get arnold to open up until he takes a bizarre road trip to reno nevada to inexplicably look up his uncle  s ex  wife . once he meets her  he begins to emerge from his shell after apologizing to her for breaking up her marriage by starting all of the family  s turmoil with the accident . from here on  the film becomes a quick study in reconciliation and reawakening .  br    br   the acting is hauntingly distant in most cases . robert duvall and glenn close make the perfect stoic farm parents . forrest is good  but maybe trying too hard to channel paul newman  s performance in hud . the cinematography is exceptional  too . if you like moody pictures about common folk  this one may be for you . some even may be advised to bring some tissues .  of   stars .  br    br   the hound .  
immediately after renting and watching this movie several years ago  a friend and i decided that it defined the absolute zero on the movie scale . there was nothing about the movie that could have been done worse than it was . to this day we still rate movies  even very bad ones  by how much better than  the lonely lady  they are .  br    br   a long time ago i saw an interview with eleanor perry  who wrote the screenplays for  among other things   last summer  and  diary of a mad housewife   and she related that she had been asked to write a screenplay for the harold robbins  book  the lonely lady .  she said that she sent in a treatment and it was rejected because they didn  t think she understood the difficulties of a female screenwriter in hollywood . she then said  i think they got someone else to write it .  the interview was filmed before the movie was released . she died in      and i bet the first thing she did on arrival in heaven was personally thank god for saving her from involvement in the result .  
the film is hugely enjoyable with a great cast  and excellent direction by james eves . the movie is entertaining with a very charismatic performance from stephanie beecham and everyone is perfectly cast . james eves has a good eye for casting and directs like a conductor knowing exactly when to crank up the action  fall and then rise to a climax . he does this with an element of humour  plenty of twists  thrills and blood . this is a return of the old vampire movie  with loads of gore  blood and screams . the movie works at a great speed and the characters take you on a terrific adventure  but what makes it work is that the film doesn  t take itself too seriously with plenty of tongue in cheek action . great   
just cause showcases sean connery as a harvard law prof  kate capshaw  does she still get work   as his wife  slight age difference  and lawrence fishburne as a racist southern cop    and ed harris in a totally over the top rendition of a fundamentalist southern serial killer .  br    br   weird casting  but the movie plays serious mindf with the audience .  don  t read if you ever intend to seriously watch this film or to ever watch this film seriously due to the spoilers  first of all  i felt myself rolling my eyes repeatedly at the liberal stereotypes the cops are all sadistic and frame this black guy with no evidence . the coroner  witnesses and even the lawyer of the accused collaborate against him  he is accused of the rape and murder of a young girl  because he is black .  br    br   connery is a harvard law prof who gives impassioned speeches about the injustices against blacks and against the barbarous death penalty . he is approached by the convicted man  s grandmother to defend him and re  open the trial .  br    br   connery is stonewalled  yawn . . .  by the small town officials and the good il  boys club but finds that the case against blair  the alleged killer  now on death row  was all fabricated . the main evidence was his confession which was beaten out of him .  br    br   the beating was administered by a black cop    who even played russian roulette to get the confession out of him . connery finds out that another inmate on death row actually did the murder and after a few tete a tetes with a seriously overacting  hannibal lecter  like ed harris  he finds out where harris hid the murder weapon .  br    br   he gets a re  trial and blair is freed .  br    br   i think . . . film over . . . .  br    br   then suddenly  it turns out that blair is a psychotic psycho and that he used  white guilt  to enlist connery . he concocted the story with ed harris in return for blair carrying out a few murders for harris .  br    br   now blair is on the loose again  thanks to connery  s deluded pc principles  the final   min . are a weird action movie tacked onto a legal drama  connery and fishburne fighting the serial killer in an alligator skinning house on stilts  yes  you read that right  in the everglades .  br    br   that was one weird film .  br    br   so the whole system is corrupt and inefficient  the cops are all just bullies and abu graib type torturers  but the criminals are really psychotics and deserve to fry .  br    br   truly depressing on every level  the system is completely rotten and the pc white guilt types who challenge it are seriously deluded too .  br    br   two thumbs down . connery obviously had to make a mortgage payment or something .  
i don  t think a movie like this would be released today . it takes it  s time to present the depth of the characters and the plot isn  t full of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat .  br    br   but  what this film does have an interesting study in how families  deal with grief . how when the language for healing and over  coming tremendous loss leaves us mute  and we rely on raw emotions instead . grief without reason and patience is anger  even hate . and unfortunately  the lead character  a young boy who accidently shoots and kills his brother while hunting  in the film is given more than his fair share of it . he eventually leaves and moves in with his grandfather  wilford brimley  who makes it clear to him that it was an accident . i got the impression that this young man knew that in his heart  but needed to hear those words from his parents  and to receive their forgiveness .  br    br   what i loved about this film the lack of dialog . there was a tremendous emphasis on physical reaction  facial expressions . and the slower pace of the film allows you to really watch the reactions of the actors . something we don  t get to do alot of with today  s films .  br    br    
the memory banks of most of the reviewers here must  ve short  circuited when trying to recall this cubic zirconia of a gem  because practically everyone managed to misquote lloyd bochner  s walter thornton  when in a fit of peevish anger  he hurls the phallic garden nozzle at his new wife  jerilee randall  thornton   a nearly comatose pia zadora  which was used to sexually assault her earlier in the movie . . . but i  m getting ahead of myself . in any case  poor lloyd could  ve been snarling that line at the speechless audience as much as he was his put  upon co  star .  br    br   hard as it is for most of us to believe  especially these days  nobody in hollywood sets out to intentionally make a bad movie . this is certainly not the most defensible argument to make  since there just seem to be so damn many of them coming out . but then again  there is that breed of film that one must imagine during the time of its creation  from writing  casting and direction  must  ve been cursed with the cinematic equivalent of trying to shoot during the ides of march .  br    br   the lonely lady is in that category  and represents itself very well  considering the circumstances . here we have all the ingredients in a recipe guaranteed to produce a monumentally fallen souffl pia zadora  a marginal singer  actress so determined to be taken seriously  that she would take on practically anything that might set her apart from her peers   which this movie most certainly did    a somewhat high  profile novel written by the trashmaster himself  harold robbins  of the carpetbaggers and dreams die first fame   a cast who probably thought they were so fortunate to be working at all  that they tried to play this dreck like it was clifford odets or ibsen plus a director who more than likely was a hired gun who kept the mess moving just to collect a paycheck   and was probably contractually obligated not to demand the use of the  alan smithee  moniker to protect what was left of his reputation .  like lamont johnson  s lipstick  meir zarchi  s i spit on your grave  roger vadim  s barbarella  paul verhoeven  s showgirls or the grandmammy of really bad film  making  frank perry  s mommy dearest  the lonely lady is still often  discussed   usually with disgust  disbelief  horrified laughter  or a unique combination of all three   yet also defies dissection  description or even the pretzel logic of hollyweird . nobody  s sure how it came to be  how it was ever released in even a single theater  or why it  s still here and nearly impossible to get rid of  but take it or leave it  it is here to stay . and i don  t think that lovers of really good bad movies would have it any other way .  
i had seen this film way back in the    s and had nearly forgotten it when i noticed it was on tv again and watched it . i remembered having liked this little sleeper when i first saw it  and i liked it even better on second viewing .  br    br   all of the actors  especially robert duvall  glenn close  wilfred brimley  frederic forrest  and jason presson  as the twelve  year  old boy who feels responsible for the accidental shooting death of his older brother   are superb . the film has a very genuine feel to it   an understated  quiet  deeply moving story of a family aching with grief . the dialogue is sparse but telling  and the nonverbal acting is outstanding . sort of like a simpler  rural version of ordinary people sans psychiatrist but equally impressive family dynamics .  br    br   the stone boy is well worth the time and emotional energy involved in watching it .  
i haven  t been able to decide if this movie is so bad it  s good  or  to quote enid coleslaw   so bad it  s gone past good and back to bad again .  no matter  it forced me look much the same way a pile of weird coloured vomit might  and it offers up a number of scenes that you won  t forget even if you want to . there  s a sneering young ray liotta telling a pigtailed pia that her creative writing trophy looks like a penis . a bit later  there  s ray again  molesting pia  not with the appropriately shaped trophy but a garden hose . there  s a firm chinned pia telling her domineering mom that she wants to go to bed with ray  s geezer father  walter . there  s the actress in the graveyard scene yowling the best line ever written by pia or anyone else  wwwwhhhyyyyyyy   there  s that garden hose again  as walter waves it pia  s face and roars  is this more to your liking    there  s pia and her date so turned on by closeups of each other masticating salad that they start tearing each other  s clothes off . there  s pia showering but forgetting to remove her dress . perhaps best of all  there  s pia  s typewriter  but instead of keys there are the miniature talking heads of those who have tormented her the most  afterwards  i was afraid to open my laptop  . and finally there  s pia at  the awards  exposing hollywood for the cesspool it is  spitting out the second best line ever   i guess i  m not the only one who has ever had to  her way to the top .  i see i have already spent more time commenting on  the lonely lady  than i have on far better pictures  so i  ll quit . be forewarned  though  that once you start watching you probably won  t be able to take your eyes off the screen until two hours of your life have vanished forever .  
here  s yet another film from the    s that most people just don  t know exists . this slow  picturesque  the loving shots of the montana landscapes are breathtaking and reminded me of costner  s recent  open range   which also starred robert duval   and emotionally satisfying film is the perfect type of movie to watch late one night when you can  t sleep or on a listless sunday afternoon . those in the right mood will be treated to a finely detailed and intimate look at the grief of one family and how they come back together after the youngest son accidentally shoots and kills the eldest son while hunting . the performances are all top notch and quietly nuanced . glenn close  robert duval  and wilford brimley are pitch perfect in their portrayals  as are all the supporting players and young actors . i especially liked how director cain  who unfortunately hasn  t directed anything of note since this except the first  young guns   gives us quiet little glimpses into everyone  s personal grief . we don  t just see how the death effects the younger brother or the parents  but also the confused middle sister  the wayward uncle  his crazy wife  and the dead teenager  s girlfriend . what we essentially get here is the rural mid  western answer to  ordinary people .  there  s also shades of david lynch  s  the straight story  in some of the stoic downhome mid  west morality of the folks depicted here and also in the lovingly haunting shots of the farmland they inhabit . this is one of the better and more realistic  tear  jerkers  of the era  and a nice little find for you quality movie hunters out there .  
no  it  s not the horror movie . . . this one is actually a love story .  br    br   the ring is a silent film from     that stars two boxers and the woman that comes between them . she loves the boxer known as  one round  jack . she loves him until the champion comes along  that is . even though she marries one round  she starts overtly flirting with the champion until the climactic final boxing fight between one round and the champion . she comes back to one round  s corner  just when things look their bleakest  and he miraculously finds the inner strength to win the fight and win his wife love back .  br    br   this film was very early in hitch  s career  but the limitations of the time must not have made him make a lasting film . although there are special film tricks  and some comedy relief  this film just does not hold up to any of his later work . it must have been extremely risqu for the time period though  with the shameless adulterous wife . that may have been the draw back in     . while looking through all of these old films  it is amazing how i think that they could be redone on today  s screen and really come off . maybe i should be the one . . . .  br    br   skip this movie unless you are planning on watching all of hitchcock  s films . you could fall asleep in the middle .  
this was a great movie but it had the worst ending i think i have ever seen    the actors were great and displayed wonderful talent . the entire story was twisted and unexpecting  which  is what made it entertaining . as good as the movie was  the entire film is judged by the ending  which was terrible  maybe a sequel could eliminate this bad ending .  
if there was a scale below   it would get a     following in the footsteps of godspell . the acting  if there was such a thing  was atrocious  the plot in shambles . and rene russo was sickeningly sweet in her role  enough to make a person retch . ten thumbs down for a dumb movie . saving grace kudos for era costuming .  
my name is heather and i am the girl whose story this movie was based on . i want to thank all of you who saw this movie and enjoyed it . as crude and harsh as some of the things that were depicted in this movie were  it didn  t really even come close to describing how bad things actually were . not to mention the affect everything had on my mother and little sister . thanks once again for the great comments that everyone had  i truly appreciate them  br    br   hi everyone   br    br   this is heather  s mom . it  s hard to believe that so many years have gone by since this movie was made . harder even to believe that people were still watching it a year ago . for any of you out there who have gone thru the same or similar kind of situation  please know that there are people out here in cyberspace that do understand completely how you feel . our thoughts and prayers are with each and every one of you .  
curiously  it is rene russo  s eyes and mouth   not buddy the gorilla  s   that emerge as the focal point of  buddy   a jim henson pictures production through francis ford coppola  s zoetrope . somehow  countless close  ups of russo  s face slipped passed in the post  production stages  and she literally fills the screen so many times the poor apes are upstaged . unintentionally funny true story adapted from gertrude  trudy  davies lint  s memoirs about a wealthy doctor  s wife who turns their mansion into a menagerie for pets and wild  life . the movie goes beyond good intentions . . . it positively drips with earnest sincerity . the movie never sparkles with the kind of  family film  magic that it needed  and before too long both the people and the animals seem distinctly programmed  nothing here feels real  . about ten minutes in  two chimpanzees are goofing around in russo  s kitchen and start throwing a butcher  s knife back and forth  it misses alan cumming  s head by inches   yet  no eyebrows are raised because it  s all in a day  s fun . still  when full  grown gorilla buddy gets crazy during a thunderstorm  the cops are called   and everyone stares at buddy through the window while he busts up the living room furniture . the furniture should be the least of anyone  s worries in this flabbergasting  do  gooder failure . but  at least we know russo was in good hands whenever director caroline thompson needs a good pick  up shot  she gives unstartled rene another extreme close  up . i wonder what the lipstick budget was on this picture   from   
excellent story about teenagers  leaders  high school football  stars  . how far will you go to protect your friends  lie  kill  how much can you lose if you stud by an innocent girl  can love beat the odds  can you defeat narrow  minded small town people  when your friend scores and you  lose   will you do everything in your power to make her pay for it  or will you be a man about it  and respect her right to chose  will you rape her and show it as your victory over a  problem  girl  can you stand by the one who  s only sin is to have an opinion of her own  to be able to make her own decisions  to chose for herself  it made me think twice before giving my judgment about who was right and who was wrong  but one is for sure  very disturbing movie and theme in general . thumb up   
as a big fan of gorilla movies in general  i anticipated that this one would be great  and as for the gorilla effects  they were quite good  however  that is the only thing i can write about this flop . the film claims to be based on a true story but in effect  it does not even come close to what actually happened to  buddy   who in real life  was the famous gargantua  sold to ringling bros . by our supposed  heroic  gertrude lintz  known by many animal enthusiasts as a woman who hardly had her animals  welfare in the best interest . as far as buddy being portrayed as becoming aggressive  this was total fiction and at no time did the gorilla  in real life  resort to such behavior . buddy did  in fact  escape his wooden crate  not a plush cage room as depicted in movie  during a storm  to seek shelter and comfort in the house  which frightened gertrude lintz into selling him . no  buddy was not released into a gorilla family surrounded by lush trees in a zoological paradise  he was abandoned in a wooden crate  deep in the back of a garage for some time with only a single light bulb for comfort and then sold to the circus  where he actually lived a better life having peanuts thrown at him until he died  historically the oldest living gorilla on record  by the way  before a show in miami . notice also  in the film  how buddy grows older but the chimpanzees never age .  the chimps  by the way  were not raised simultaneously with other animals  including buddy  as portrayed in the film   
i first saw this when it premiered more than ten years ago . i saw it again today and it still had a big impact on me . she fought alone is about a girl  caitlin  played by tiffani thiessen   who is raped by jace  played by david lipper   a classmate who enjoys hurting girls . caitlin is in a popular high school clique  but when she reveals she is raped the clique turns against her  led by ethan  played by brian austin green  .  br    br   this movie chronicles caitlin  s struggle against an entire town  including a high school that essentially lets athletes determine the social environment  allowing them to get away with whatever they wish .  br    br   thiessen and green are the top performers  and there is real chemistry between the two of the them throughout the entire film . all of the actors in this film  which was inspired by actual events  did a great job . she fought alone really captures the essence of what it is like to be in high school  at least in       and having one  s self  esteem and reputation at stake . recommended .       
autobiography of founder of zoo in nyc starts out by being very cute and would be great family movie if it stayed there . however we get more and more involved with reality as gorilla grows up to be a wild thing not easily amenable to his  mother  s  wishes  this might scare younger children  esp . scenes where buddy tries to injure gertrude . rather quick resolution at the end . below average .  
i really like this film . . . when i started to watch it i thought i would get bored pretty soon  but it surprised me . . . i thought it was a great film and have seen it a few times now . the characters are believable and i have to say that i fell in love with brian austin green all over again  the first time being beverly hills       . i would recommend this film if you are a fan of his  but i do agree with another comment made earlier  that the ending is sort of disappointing . i would have loved it to turn out a little different  never mind though  good gripping story .  
how can they from joe don baker  as bufford pusser in the first sequel  to bo svenson  as bufford pusser in the second sequel  . why did they do that for . just because bo svenon look more a like to bufford pusser they still should  nt of changed it because the first sequel it was joe don baker as bufford pusser and that one of the thing i wanted to see in the second sequel .  br    br   i would  ve given this movie a  out of   and i would  ve given it a  out of   if the story did  nt have anything to do with bufford pusser  s life but it did and that why i had given this movie a  out   .  br    br   i strongly suggest that anyone who is planning on watching this cheese i suggest don  t and watch the first sequel instead .  
when i saw this movie  i was amazed that it was only a tv movie . i think this movie should have been in theaters . i have seen many movies that are about rape  but this one stands out . this movie has a kind of realism that is very rarely found in movies today  let alone tv movies . it tells a story that i  m sure is very realistic to many rape victims in small towns today  and i found it to be very believable  which is something hard to find in other rape centered movies  . i also thought that tiffani theissen and brian austin green were awesome in the parts that they played . i definitely recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys movies that have a bit of a harsh reality to them . i enjoyed it very much .  
follow  up to      s  walking tall  continues the real  life drama surrounding tennessee sheriff buford pusser  but this installment plays like a lame tv  movie . bo svenson takes over the lead role from joe don baker  but he  s much too mild for the part he comes off like an ambling country singer with a bat instead of a guitar . good supporting actors like richard jaekel  luke askew and robert doqui end up with very little to do . i would give the film one  star strictly on its good intentions  but the screenplay is a transparent and lazy mass of routine predicaments and the production is cheapjack . followed in     by  final chapter  walking tall  and in     by the television film  a real american hero  .  
i enjoyed this movie  and after watching it  it made me wonder just how many  caitlin rose  s  exist in the world . how many other girls have been subjected to this sort of sexual abuse  and torment by classmates and have been too frightened to open their mouth about it  just how threatening and cruel can teenagers be towards one another  because as this film demonstrates  who  s right is not foremost important  its who is popular  and feared which manipulates the minds of youths  and influences them to allow this sort of immorality to happen . tiffani amber thiessen gives a powerful performance as the rape victim  and brian austin green is convincing as the guy torn between the girl he thought he loved  and his best friend . this is the kind of film that doesn  t get the exposure it deserves . remarkable  and brilliant  too good to be just a film made for tv .  
i was attracted to this movie when i looked at cast list  but after i watched it i must admit that i felt a bit disappointed . the main problem of this movie is that actors aren  t capable of holding this movie on their back . why  because of bad script . although dillon  lane and jones try very hard to take this movie on another level  there is no innovative storytelling and the direction is too ordinary . so for matt dillon fans this is watchable movie  just like for admirers of beautiful diane lane . legendary tommy lee jones is always great but this is not movie for him far below his level . so if you get hooked up by this great cast watch it but don  t expect anything big or extraordinary . the only thing that you  ll remember about this flick is diane lane scenes rest of it is very forgettable .  
the color purple is about the struggles of life and the love that helps those people strongly affected by the struggles of life . every character had an element of the color purple in them . the movie touches on love  lost  hope  hate  and triumph . whether it be celie having lived through hell and losing her sister  and shug coming into her life to show her love again  albert not being man righting his wrong toward celie  shug shunned by her father and confesses to him in the end  sofia and her stubborness good and bad  and even nettie  they had their emptiness and hardship through the film but was overcome in the end and that  s the sign of a good movie . good job to all the cast and crew .  
paul armstrong is a liberal  scottish  born  professor of law at harvard  known for his passionate opposition to the death penalty  who is hired to take on the case of bobby earl  a young black man from florida who has been convicted of the rape and murder of joanie shriver  an eleven year old white girl . earl claims that his confession to the crime was obtained under duress by a sadistic police officer and that the real murderer is blair sullivan  a serial killer already under sentence of death for several other murders . armstrong visits sullivan in his cell on death row  hoping to persuade him to confess to joanie  s murder  thereby saving earl from the electric chair .  br    br   at first all goes well . sullivan confesses and earl is released from prison when the appeal court quashes his conviction . as this development takes place only a little after halfway through the film  it is at this point that alarm bells will start ringing in the mind of the viewer .  warning  major plot twist ahead   and so it proves . the anticipated twist soon materialises . earl  it transpires  is actually guilty of the crime of which he has just been acquitted  and probably of several others as well  but hatched a diabolical plan together with sullivan in order to secure his freedom sullivan will confess to joanie  s murder if earl will murder his parents .  just why sullivan wanted his parents dead is never precisely explained  . armstrong now finds that he is himself in danger from the man whose life he has just saved earl has a grudge against armstrong  s wife  herself a lawyer  who acted as counsel for the prosecution in an earlier case when earl was accused of rape .  br    br    just cause  is an example of the auto  cannibalism in which hollywood sometimes likes to indulge  cobbling together one film by recycling themes and plot devices from a number of others . the first half owes an obvious debt to films like  intruder in the dust  and  to kill a mockingbird   about the only difference is that the sheriff who beats a confession out of bobby earl is himself black  whereas in earlier films he would have been white .  police brutality is now an equal opportunities activity  . the central twist in the plot was borrowed from costa  gavras  s  music box   although in that film the revelation does not occur until the very end . the finale  in which a lawyer  his wife and their young daughter are in danger from a former client  is an obvious plagiarism of the two versions of  cape fear   which also take place in the swamplands of the american south . ed harris  characterisation of sullivan as a bible  quoting religious maniac is a direct imitation of robert de niro  s character in the scorsese version of  cape fear   made four years before  just cause  .  br    br    there is a postscript . just as  just cause  borrowed heavily from several other movies  seven years later its central plot twist was  in its turn  to be blatantly plagiarised in the ashley judd vehicle  high crimes   .  br    br   the trouble with this style of film  making  by  numbers is that the resulting films are generally much less distinguished than those which inspired them . the whole is normally very much less than the sum of the parts  and  just cause  is a much lesser film than any of those which were cannibalised to make it . harris is normally a gifted actor but this is one of his weakest performances  largely because he is not so much playing a character as playing de niro playing max cady . blair underwood is ok as bobby earl the  supposedly  innocent young man of the early scenes  but unconvincing as bobby earl the murderous psychopath of the later ones . sean connery as armstrong and laurence fishburne as the black sheriff are rather better  but neither is good enough to save the film .  connery and harris were to act together in another  better  film   the rock   the following year  .  br    br   there is another problem with  just cause  . the first half of the film looks like a standard liberal  issue  movie  anti  death penalty  anti  racist and critical of heavy  handed policing . the second half looks more like the work of a die  hard reactionary  preaching the message that all criminals are evil bastards  that the only way to deal with them is to fry them in the chair  that liberal lawyers are the useful idiots of the criminal fraternity and that police officers who beat up suspects are to be commended as heroes . the filmmakers seem to have been blissfully unaware that the plot twist casually introduced into the middle of their film had the  presumably unwanted  effect of reversing its political stance  or if they were aware of the problem they ignored it . a suitably convoluted plot was obviously thought to be more important than political consistency .      
i just saw this movie the other day when i rented it  and i thought this was going to be just another movie with a girl trying to prove a point  but diane joined boxing because she wanted to . i thought this movie was good . i gave it a     . that  s how good it is . plus a movie with michelle rodriguez is always good . even is she  s been in only six .  
how low can someone sink while trying to recapture an old glory  sthf will be glad to show you .  br    br   if you are used to seeing what made for a good star trek show  do not watch this .  br    br   the writing is hodge  podge  the actors  portrayals of their characters weak  and most of all  the design work is downright doggy .  br    br   like watching strong captains  don  t look here  like the strong federation attitude  forget about it here  starfleet is mocked by ensigns wearing spikes in their hair .  br    br   while a seemingly mentally feeble captain shuffles about and within two minutes of the opening show  s credits  ensign spikey is attempting to arrange a tryst with an engineer . it just degrades from there . no  not even uniforms match  for goodness sake . they are too small or too big  collars down to their chests  and tng seasons one and two uniforms mixed in with season three and ds  uniforms . the strict discipline and tradition of any of the originals in lacking in this production down to the treads  the only good thing about this show is its graphics  which seem to improve a bit with each season . ok  i take that back . who uses cg that inexpertly  the designers of this show .  br    br   don  t bother with it  it will offend your star trek sense  as it did mine . not even the throw backs to previous shows can save this catastrophe .  br    br   i wept openly when i watched this  probably because my eyes were bleeding and my head almost ruptured . that bad .  
i never bothered to see this movie in theaters although i remember hearing the name over and over . i finally watched it this week and what a delight . for some reason  i was expecting it to not be very good so i was completely surprised when i sat down and stuck with it and then found myself completely pulled in . i read a lot of the other user comments and it impressed me how much people talk about her fighting in the ring  but what was wonderful about diana is that she  s a true fighter in life . all she needs to do is find her place where she be who she is and the ring helps her to get there . a very intelligent story and i  m amazed that this is the first time up for michelle rodriguez  what an excellent job she did . adrian and her coach were also quite good .  br    br   this film is a little rough around the edges  but it doesn  t matter in the slightest . the story  the will  and the performances completely outweigh any flaws  that usually come with indie filmmaking anyway  . a compelling portrayal of a girl finding herself and triumphing over her circumstances and a k . o . for michelle rodriguez   
first off  let me say that i am a great believer in fanpro stuff . i see it as a way to continue a good show long after it has been cancelled . star trek voyages and star wars revelations are examples of decent efforts . so i have a soft  spot for fanpro stuff that means i  ll overlook things that i would ordinarily slate badly .  br    br   so on to st hf . well  first off the good things . enthusiasm is a major part of making any show believable and  for the most part  the crew of the various ships all seem to be having a good time with their roles . next  the effects aren  t bad for a home  brew effort  with nothing to make you really wince . the stories aren  t too bad either . nothing particularly innovative  but solid enough stuff and at least there are ongoing story  arcs .  br    br   but it has a lot of faults .  br    br   first off  although they quite obviously have to rip  off star trek footage  set backdrops  music and effects  i see no reason why they proceeded to rip off virtually every other sci  fi musical score ever made . everything from aliens to starship troopers rears it orchestral head at one point or another . likewise  much of the footage is from other movies  dutifully cgi  d over to make it look different . the grey warships  for instance  though disguised  are quite obviously star destroyers from star wars . and the station is also rather obviously fleet battle station ticonderoga from starship troopers . likewise  sound effects from various star wars movies appear in space battles between fighters  as does animated over footage . in one scene in either first or second season  i think  you even see two tie fighters fly past during a battle  which hardly does your suspension of disbelief any favours .  br    br   acting varies from the reasonable to the hideously painful to watch . everyone does improve as the seasons progress  though  but expect to grimace at the screen a lot  especially in the early seasons . they  ve also made some interesting acting choices . let  s just say that the food replicators on this show seem permanently set to  cake  and leave it at that .  br    br   make  up effects are generally quite effective on the whole . but they really ought to mercilessly club to death the person who decided to use cheap ferengi and cardassian masks for anything other than background use or  passing  shots . they are just beyond unrealistic . every time i saw one of these  apart from trying not to laugh too much  i kept expecting the unfortunate soul wearing it to pull out a gun and announce that  this is a stick  up   in one scene a  cardassian  actually talks whilst wearing one of these . not only do the lips not move  but the mask doesn  t even have an opening where the mouth should be . someone needs to be slapped hard for that . couldn  t they have taken a craft knife to it  for goodness  sake  there are also some well  done  but unintentionally funny make  up jobs  such as the herman munster look alike .  br    br   the writing  though coherent  is nothing new . instead the script runs like a continuation of ds   with the ships heading out from ds   on various missions . the new enemy   the grey  aren  t very menacing and the plot line involving them is effectively a reworking of the borg threads . i . e . starfleet meet the grey  the grey are hugely powerful  starfleet barely escape with their lives  then through technology they begin to find ways to combat the enemy etc etc . all done before with the borg .  br    br   another bone of contention is the dialogue . star trek writers have long had the ability to write  insert technobabble here  into a script . it usually means an exposition of the latest plan to combat the enemy using  quantum phase discriminators  or  isolytic charges  etc . in other words  nonsense that tells you that they are on the case and a resolution is at hand .  br    br   the words are just gibberish really . i  ve no problem with this  but where sthf makes a mess of it is where they include real  world comments into this concept .  br    br   tactical advice such as  we need to regroup  sounds good  but not when uttered by trio of characters already standing in a group . likewise when asked what the situation is  a tactical officer is heard to reply  we count three battleships  . he actually needed to count them  c  mon  i expected the questioner to ask him  are you sure   or  can you double check  . but my all  time favourite comment is this  br    br   captain  can we establish two  way communication    br    br   comms officer  no  we can only send and receive . .   br    br   well  duh  . . . . .  br    br   having said all the above  the show does improve as it goes along . seasons  and  are pretty bad   shows an improvement but    are where it starts to get noticeably better . season  so far looks quite reasonable .  br    br   i do have a problem with their choice of media for the shows though . quicktime sucks  quite frankly and the sooner they move to divx  avi format the better . some of us like to actually take our downloaded shows and watch them on decent size screen and not peer at a tiny qt window on a computer monitor . not only does quicktime make this difficult  but the    x    resolution the shows are in does not scale at all well . in fact  it makes the shows pretty unwatchable  like they were a tenth  generation vhs tape copy . the least they could do was to include a hi  res downloadable option .  br    br   anyway  the show has promise  and i  m even beginning to like some of the characters . but that  s   episodes on  so i  m not sure this says that much about character development at all .  br    br   but what can you say  it  s free . . . .  br    br   ps out of   votes    people rated this show as a  or   . hmmmm . . . were we watching the same show  or are you   all three year olds   
another powerful chick flick . this time  it revolves around diana gusman who is always getting into fights at school . instead of getting expelled  she takes her anger elsewhere  to the boxing ring . she trains to be a boxer and there she meets featherweight adrian and begins to fall in love with him . this movie has a powerful message of taking your dreams and going with them even if someone doesn  t believe in you  in this case  her dad doesn  t believe in her  . that alone makes the movie worth the price . enjoy  
for a fan series  i must admit that hidden frontier is not at all that bad . but  reviewing this series can not be based on whether it is a fan series or not . the initiative in itself is commendable . the creativity as well . i reckon these are people with ordinary jobs  and a big enthusiastic heart for star trek . but  doing all this work . pulling all these resources . taking all this time  and still all those flaws .  br    br   first of all the acting  and the lines are awful . for most . the dialogs belongs in a    s military show  not in star trek . the captain  mr squinty  looks like he is about to burst into laughter anytime . and most characters are just reading their lines . the directors should be aware of the fact that  retake  is not just a word in the dictionary . but i also guess that the series are made in the manner of  two takes frakes   who directed many of the tng episodes and movies also  i could not help but think that most of the actors are typical trekkies . without going any deeper into that assumption .  br    br   my biggest concern regarding the whole project  is the quality of the releases . when they first decided to spend so much time  and resources on this series  why didn  t they make it available in decent quality  using the quick time format  with low low resolution is a waste of talent . even the  higres  episodes is considered bad quality compared to the standard quality series are released in . using xvid codec  with a larger resolution and file size would have improved the experience massively . if band with problems was the issue  setting up a torrent tracker would have solved that .  br    br   let  s hope the crew decides to brush the series up  and perhaps release it on dvd  giving it the quality the project deserves .  
michelle rodriguez plays diana  a high school girl with an insolent scowl and  x  on her shoulder . she  s ready to battle anyone  especially her father who is paying for her brother  s boxing lessons . diana decides boxing would be a good way of focusing her anger .  br    br   i liked the relationship between diana and adrian . santiago douglas as adrian is excellent . watch how their emotions towards each other are shaped by the squared circle .  
this is a german film from     that is something to do with some women who come to a castle and beyond that  i can  t really tell you their purpose or even what the purpose of the movie is . i can tell you that there  s several women who also moonlight as servants at this particular castle who strip  put on body paint and gyrate to bongos like they were at the goth kit  kat klub  though  and that seems to be a good portion of the run time of this film . yeah  there seems to be something with devil worship and vampires  and there  s some girl on girl stuff  etc .  but the main focus seems to be the painted babes gyrating away in the basement . i did rather like the eye  rolling of one of the main housekeepers  devil worshipers  that lent an authenticity to the proceedings and made her even more evil  looking . was that wanda the evil lesbian  as billed in the credits   no matter . if you aren  t too picky about your lesbian devil worshiping movies  you might like this  otherwise it  s pretty dull stuff and i couldn  t even finish it  i was so bored .  out of   .  
michelle rodrigez was made for this movie  when i first saw her in fast and the furious . you could tell that she was a tough woman . with this movie  she has not only proven her acting  but shows no fear and is tough like she should be in this movie . she is more a bad girl and that  s what i like about her . this movie is about a troubled girl  living the life as a tom boy and getting in constant trouble with school and family . as she gets interested in her brothers training to be a boxer  she decides to go after her love to fight and asks her brothers trainer to train her . even though they don  t think she has the potential  they get to be shown proven wrong .  br    br   i think this movie was a little slow at the ending  but was well done . it shows  that people can do anything even if they don  t think you have the potential . i recommend it to be seen .  
this is not a horror film  but a boring sex movie . a very bad movie  to be avoided by any serious horror fan . no plot  awful acting and annoying music . if you only watch the trailer you will know enough . . . it  s a shame that such thing is available on vhs or video while there are so many good movies unavailable . if you like vampires try the hammer productions or the italian gothic from mario bava and antonio margheriti instead . those are masterpieces if you compare this with this trash . rating  even    is too much  and believe me  i am not the only one with this opinion .  
this movie has made me want to become a director  and michelle rodriguez is brilliant . how the hell wasn  t she on mtv  s top   under    she beats them all . this film definitely deserved the grand jury prize at sundance  best film i have ever seen .  
i wasn  t as  lucky  as some of the others commenting on this film i have never seen anything else out of the . . . shall we say . . .  fecund  mind of sarno . i agree with many some of the actresses who spend a lot of time topless and  go  go  dancing are not really that attractive . i kinda liked fraulein crank    . . . she was so homely  she was cute  the acting was pretty stale  also  though delivering lines in a second language might have accounted for a lot of that problem . trying to follow the plot was a major chore was there one  really  i do heartily agree with one other comment for a vampire movie  there  s not much blood . yep  if you want good bloodsucking flicks  check out such hammer classics as  horror of dracula  and  my personal favourite   brides of dracula  .  br    br   the most  unintentionally  humorous part is where the lady doctor gets her clothes torn off by a cloud of bats . . . which you never see  . . . the bats  i mean .  br    br   okay as a time  waster if you happen to catch it on cable here in the great white north but  for heaven  s sake  don  t rent it   
i finally sat down and saw this film the whole way through  and i must say  i was very impressed . michelle rodriguez is probably one of my new favorite actresses    it  s not only the fact that she can act  but that she chooses the roles best suited to her that are more meaningful and important than what would first seem . i  ve read a few comments expressing their relief that this was not some awful feminist thing as they thought beforehand  but i certainly disagree . diana is a feminist . she follows her dreams and believes in herself contrary to what practically everyone around her thinks  with the exception of her caring brother tiny and her trainer and manager  hector  who proves to be more a father figure than her real parent   which is what the word  feminism  is all about . it  s good to see films like this showcasing the true side of feminism   that they  re not a bunch of manhating losers   but that they have dreams and can do anything . diana is true to herself while still falling prey to love  and she and adrian have a more realistic  complicated relationship rather than just something that magically works out . girlfight is a true taste of reality and it put some faith back into my perception of people . thanks  michelle .  br    br        a very important movie that  s relatable to not just young women  but everyone wanting to go far in their lives .  
to be as honest as i possibly can  the devil  s plaything  or veil of blood or vampire ecstasy or the curse of the black sisters or  is a complete bore . the movie has a good premise behind it  the resurrection of a long dead vampire through the body of a descendant through the aid and assistance of a group of women dressed in black  but the execution is horrible . there are great  long moments of screen time when literally nothing happens . characters just stand around with nothing to do . there  s no mystery  no suspense  and no plot points to care about . the acting is simply abysmal . most of the acting involves a group of below average looking women dancing naked while staring at the camera . they do this repeatedly . and what little plot there is seems to be designed to get more of these less than attractive women naked so they can join in the dancing . while it  s not as bad or pointless as the dancing or the plot in something like orgy of the dead  it comes close .  
  spoilers   br    br   i was blown away by this movie . i  ve been renting on movielink for a bit  and decided to check this movie out . alot of boxing movies seem to overblow the blood . in this movie  it shows it at the amature level . though i do wish that perhaps more attention would have been brought to perhaps her improving her grades . the movie points out the problems some families face with gender .  br    br   i was a bit concerned with the ending . but the ending wasn  t a disappointment either .  br    br   i think it was pretty clear by the title that she  d win . what was unexpected was that the two of them got back together sort of at the end .  br    br   loved the score for some of the scenes . highly recommended .  br    br         br    br   quality      br    br   entertainment       br    br   replayable       
well  there you have it  another disillusion on my account . two  actually  first of all  even though i like to think of myself that i know a little something about    s euro  exploitation and its most prolific contributors  i never heard about joseph w . sarno before . here  s a guy who made over seventy rancid and cult  laden exploitation movies and i haven  t seen a single one  how  why  what happened here  secondly  and even worse  just when you think to have found a new source for obscure cult movies  that director  s most famous and supposed  masterpiece  turns out to be an irredeemably dull and irritating film . admittedly  lesbian vampire movies form a pretty insignificant sub genre as a whole  but some of them bath in ominous atmosphere and curious sensuality  like jos larraz   vampyres  or harry kmmel  s  daughters of darkness   . joseph sarno  s film has nothing to offer  except copious amounts of gratuitous nudity and even that becomes boring rather quickly . the events take place in a secluded old castle  hidden deep in the german mountains  where five centuries ago lived a malicious and bloodthirsty  literally  baroness . her loyal disciples still throw naked dance parties in the castle  s catacombs  which are lit by penis  shaped candlesauch  and hope to resurrect the baroness any time soon now . suddenly  don  t even ask how  the castle is full of young and sexy female guests  so even more erotic rites ensue . sounds delicious and entertaining enough  but  the devil  s plaything  contains a massive number of sequences where literally nothing happens and where the cast members  ignorant facial expressions are simply unendurable  sarno isn  t capable of creating suspense or building a gothic atmosphere  or maybe he just didn  t bother to  and the actresses  capacities restrict themselves to standing in front the camera topless and pull a really pathetic face . please do yourself a favor no matter how desperately you strive to see all lurid lesbian  vampire movies of the    s  this one isn  t worth a penny  even the repertoires of jess franco and jean rollin are pure art compared to this dud .  
being a person who does not usually enjoy boxing movies  feeling they only focus on the boxing and not the characters themselves  this movie truly moved me . i loved being able to see the main character diana  michelle rodriguez  go through so many things in such a short while  it was amazing to me . michelle  rodriguez  did such a wonderful job playing diana especially since this was her first acting experience  she showed true emotion and portrayed diana wonderfully . all actors had chemistry on screen and made this movie even more amazing . i highly recommend this movie even to those who do not usually watch boxing movies .       
do you know when you look at your collection of old  videotaped movies  and realize that there are some that you  ve only seen once or twice  and you can  t remember if they  re worth the time it takes to see them  the alibi is  was one of those films i found it  not long ago  and decided i might as well give it a chance . i  m not entirely sure if i  m happy with my decision . . . on one hand  the film is really  really bad  on the other  now i have another free tape . . . yeah  you get it . the plot is predictable and not in any way original . the pacing is bad . the acting is bad  but that  s not really surprising  seeing as the two leads are former soap  opera stars . . . they  re used to overact . the characters are poorly written clichs . the film even manages to screw up the easiest damn way to impress me  through film   court scenes . even those don  t elicit one single emotion for or against any of the cardboard  thin characters . the film just has no real redeeming qualities whatsoever . . . even the dialog is bad . the thing is  it  s so full of clichs that it  s laughable . and that  s the one thing that lifts this above a rating of      the  albeit unintentionally so  comic relief of the many clichs and stereotypes . i didn  t pay very much attention to the film  but just about every time i looked at the screen  there was something to laugh at . one final note i considered using the line  tori spelling can  t act  as a one line summary  but i guess everyone knows that  so i opted for the current one  seeing as it  s more informative . all in all  a thoroughly bad film  but not the worst if you  ve got nothing else to do and if it  s on tv . good for a few laughs  if you can sit through it .      
this movie is a real gem . the arc of the the plot is defined in the first  minutes  the characters are sympathetic and clearly drawn  their motives completely believable . the dialogue is fresh  and oh so real . the situations are unique to the characters and not at all cliched or hackneyed . until the climax  that is . then it  s as if the movie went off the rails a bit and it got a bit hokey and unbelievable . but i don  t want to discourage people from watching this film . the first     s of it are truly remarkable . i gave it an  . there are some remarkable performances here . check out this movie .  
umm . . i was quite surprised that someone actually gave this film high marks .  br    br   lets face it . . . tori spelling is not a great actress . . and this movie just proves the extent of her  talent  . the movie  s plot was weak . . . i bet the dork that came up with this concept was some perverted peeping tom . if there is a good thing about this movie  i would say it  s that tommy chong  s daughter  just for the fact that she  s his daughter . . . and then there is that soap  opera  ish male lead who  s decent good looks somewhat make him attractive  but ceases to help his dramatic abilities . why does imdb require at least   lines  how many more ways can you simply say  this movie sucks    
i can  t believe i am just now seeing this film   i think perhaps i thought it was another movie about slaves being mistreated  and i avoided roots for the same reason   just as i have yet to see schindler  s list   i don  t want to be  entertained  by other peoples  pain  not matter how authentic or informative it is supposed to be .  br    br   so i guess the main thing i noticed about the color purple was that it was not about black people being mistreated by whites . the black people were perfectly capable of raping their own daughters   or giving them away to be treated as slaves by their  husbands  . it was painful to watch  but everyone redeemed himself in the end  and the acting was phenomenal  i couldn  t believe the character oprah played at the age of    and i adore whoopi to start with  she was amazing . i  m so glad i was feeling lousy yesterday afternoon and showtime was running the color purple .  
i  ve seen my fair share of badly thought  out endings and final twists to films  but i don  t recall any film that committed outright suicide like this one did .  br    br   the film makers were clearly hoping that the great twist would  surprise  us all . . . . and it did  but perhaps not in the way the directors had hoped . i was left feeling surprised that connery  harris  fishburn and capshaw had anything to do with this turkey  individually or collectively .  br    br   the film up until the final thirty minutes was rather engaging and i like the way the story was unfolding and the nature of the film overall . but once the twist was revealed  the plot holes and inconsistencies were remarkable  the underlying motive for revenge was ill  conceived and the ways things so neatly worked out for bobby earl was ridiculously far  fetched . what  s worse is that  once the twist was revealed  the remainder of the film became excruciatingly predictable .  br    br   harris gave a terrific performance and connery is like morgan freeman in that he never gives a bad performance  even if the movie ain  t that great  so all in all  it starts well and the unfolding keeps the viewer interested . the last   minutes is one of the most memorable nose dives in the history of cinema .  
when i saw the elaborate dvd box for this and the dreadful red queen figurine  i felt certain i was in for a big disappointment  but surprise  surprise  i loved it . convoluted nonsense of course and unforgivable that such a complicated denouement should be rushed to the point of barely being able to read the subtitles  let alone take in the ridiculous explanation . these quibbles apart  however  the film is a dream . fabulous ladies in fabulous outfits in wonderful settings and the whole thing constantly on the move and accompanied by a wonderful bruno nicolai score . he may not be morricone but in these lighter pieces he might as well be so . really enjoyable with lots of colour  plenty of sexiness  some gory kills and minimal police interference . super .  
sexo cannibal  or devil hunter as it  s more commonly known amongst english speaking audiences  starts with actress  model laura crawford  ursula buchfellner as ursula fellner  checking out locations for her new film along with her assistant jane  gisela hahn  . after a long days work laura is relaxing in the bath of her room when two very dubious character  s named chris  werner pochath   thomas  antonio mayans  burst in  kidnap her having been helped by the treacherous jane . laura  s agent gets on the blower to rent  a  hero peter weston  al cliver  who is informed of the situation  the kidnappers have laura on an isolated island  are demanding a  million ransom . peter is told that he will be paid        to get her back safely  a further    of the  million if he brings that back as well  faster than a rat up a drain pipe peter  his vietnam vet buddy helicopter pilot jack are on the island  deciding on how to save laura . so  the kidnappers have laura  peter has the  million but neither want to hand them over that much . just to complicate things further this particular isolated island is home to a primitive tribe  hell  in all the generations they  ve lived there they  ve only managed to build one straw hut  now that  s primitive  who worship some cannibal monster dude  burt altman  with bulging eyes as a god with human sacrifices  this cannibal has a liking for young  white female flesh  intestines . . .  br    br   this spanish  french  german co  production was co  written  directed by the prolific jesus franco who also gets the credit for the music as well . sexo cannibal has gained a certain amount of notoriety here in the uk as it was placed on the  video nasties  list in the early    s under it  s alternate devil hunter title  therefore officially classed as obscene  banned  having said that i have no idea why as it is one bad film  even franco  who isn  t afraid to be associated with a turkey  decides he wants to hide under the pseudonym of clifford brown . i  d imagine even the most die  hard franco fan would have a hard time defending this thing . the script by franco  erm sorry i mean clifford brown  julian esteban as julius valery who was obviously another one less than impressed with the finished product  wanted his named removed  is awful . it  s as simple  straight forward as that . for a start the film is so boring it  s untrue  the kidnap plot is one of the dullest i  ve ever seen without the slightest bit of tension or excitement involved  the horror side of things don  t improve as we get a big black guy with stupid looking over  sized bloodshot eyes plus two tame cannibal scenes . as a horror film sexo cannibal fails  as an action adventure it has no more success  this is one to avoid .  br    br   director franco shows his usual incompetence throughout  a decapitated head is achieved by an actor lying on the ground with large leaves placed around the bottom of his neck to try  give the impression it  s not attached to anything  the cannibal scenes are poor  the action is lame  it has endless scenes of people randomly walking around the jungle getting from  a  to  b   not really doing anything when they get there either . it becomes incredibly dull  tedious to watch after about   minutes  don  t forget this thing goes on for   minutes in it  s uncut state . i also must mention the hilarious scene when al cliver is supposed to be climbing a cliff  this is achieved by franco turning his camera on it  s side  having cliver crawl along the floor  just look at the way his coat hangs  the way he never grabs onto to anything as he just pulls himself along  the gore isn  t that great  as far as euro cannibal films go this is very tame  there are some gross close ups of the cannibals mouth as it chews bits of meat  a man is impaled on spikes  there  s some blood  a handful of intestines . there  s a fair bit of nudity in sexo cannibal  an unpleasant rape scene .  br    br   sexo cannibal must have had a low budget  i mean low . this is a shoddy poorly made film with awful special effects  rock bottom production values . the only decent thing about it is the jungle setting which at least looks authentic . the music sucks  sound effects become annoying as there is lots of heavy breathing whenever the cannibal is on screen . the acting sucks  the whole thing was obviously dubbed anyway but no one in this thing can act .  br    br   sexo cannibal is a terrible film that commits the fatal mistake of being as boring as hell . the only good things i can say is that it has a certain sleazy atmosphere to it  those close ups of the cannibal chewing meat are pretty gross . anyone looking for a decent cinematic experience should give sexo cannibal as wide a berth as possible  one to avoid .  
at first glance i expected this film to be crappy because i thought the plot would be so excessively feminist . but i was wrong . as you maybe have read in earlier published comments  i agree in that the feminist part in this film does not bother . i never had the idea that the main character was exaggerating her position as a woman . it  s like guzman is presented as somebody with a spine  this in contrast to her classmates . so i was surprised by the story  in fact  i thought it was quite good  except for the predictable end . maybe it would  ve been a better idea to give the plot a radical twist  so that the viewer is somewhat more surprised .  br    br   in addition  i  d like to say that rodriguez earned her respect by the way she put away her character . i can  t really explain why  but especially in the love scenes she convinced me . it just looked real i think .  br    br   i gave it a  out of    merely because of the dull last half hour .  
a question for all you girls out there  if a man youve never met before accidentally phoned you up on purpose and continued to do so at the most indiscreet moments would you be intrigued by him or so freaked out youd phone the police  yeah thats what i thought so i couldnt swallow the idea of marti gerrard putting up with the unwarrented attention of connor hill  br    br    mild spoilers   br    br   this is a really dumb story . connor hills wife is murdered and the plot revolves around the question is connor phoning marti so he can have an alibi  but theres a massive gap in logic here  couldnt connor have employed a hit man  something the prosecution seem to have ignored . and wasnt there any forensics at the murder scene  so why does the whole trial rest on connor phoning marti at the time of the murder  dumb . dumb . dumb . and its as predictable as it is brainless .  br    br   my abiding memory of this film is that for someone who made the winter olympics marti gerrard is a really crap downhill skier  
michelle rodriguez is the defining actress who could be the charging force for other actresses to look out for . she has the audacity to place herself in a rarely seen tough  girl role very early in her career  and pull it off   which is a feat that should be recognized . although her later films pigeonhole her to that same role  this film was made for her ruggedness .  br    br   her character is a romanticized student  fighter  lover  struggling to overcome her disenchanted existence in the projects  which is a little overdone in film . . . but not by a girl . that aspect of this film isn  t very original  but the story goes in depth when the heated relationships that this girl has to deal with come to a boil and her primal rage takes over .  br    br   i haven  t seen an actress take such an aggressive stance in movie  making yet  and i  m glad that she  s getting that original twist out there in hollywood . this film got a  from me because of the average story of ghetto youth  but it has such a great actress portraying a rarely  seen role in a minimal budget movie . great work .  
was it foreshadowing when tori complained that her first boyfriend was treating her like a robot  and then her new boyfriend  the murderer  turned out to be a designer of artificial intelligence  i think so . scenes to make you squeal with delight montages galore  a strip  tease in a kimono  what do you call it when you seductively put clothes on  instead of take them off    and a climactic battle on skis  definitely tune in for the beginning and end  but you can grab a sandwich during the second act when all the plot is happening . is it better than co  ed call girl  nah . does tori ever make it to paradise  or out of the snow  even  nope .  
while the story of a troubled kid turning to boxing for self  respect and anger management is hardly a new thing  the story is given a fresh twist here when the protagonist is a girl instead of a boy .  br    br   diana has trouble at school . she just can  t stay away from fighting . at home her father is constantly putting her down . her brother trains boxing at a gym and one day when she picks him up she decides she also wants to train .  br    br   it would be easy to call this movie a  rocky with girls  i guess . but that is not at all what this is about . the story actually benefits very much from the main character being a girl rather than a boy . that way you can deal with more problems at once . first the problem of her not being accepted because she  s not a girlie  girl  and then when she comes to the boxing gym because she  s a girl at all . it  s also a story about how a purpose can change someones life . how positive things can make you grow . i don  t want this to sound pretentious  because the movie doesn  t feel pretentious at all  but what i  m saying is true .  br    br   also michelle rodriguez is very good in the lead . it  s a shame really that she has become stuck in the  tough girl  typecasting now  because that  s really not what her part in  girlfight  is all about . sure she  s a female boxer  but rather it  s the more sensitive moments that really makes her shine .  br    br   so maybe this is basically your average underdog story with a twist  but it  s lifted way above the crowd by rodriguez  performance . i rate this     .  
i am an avid b  rate horror film buff and have viewed my fair share of slasher pictures  so i have a substantial gauge to judge this film by . it easily ranks in the upper echelon of the worst horror films the      s has to offer . it isn  t as scary as night of the demons  it isn  t as gory as re  animator and lacks the camp value of there  s nothing out there . that being said  this film has no value . keep in mind  the movie artwork is for a completely different film . the stills shots on the back of the dvd box aren  t taken from this film .  br    br   violence   there is plenty of violence but we  ve seen it all before . a murderer kills nubile students and the occasional facility member by slitting throats and all the other tired methods of murder that horror films utilize  .  br    br   nudity none  br    br   story   the story focuses on francine forbes  who wisely changed her name to forbes riley after this film was made  who accepts a job teaching at a university . people start to die and forbes believes the killer is targeting her . is it her new heartthrob with a checkered past or the libido  crazed student  to be honest  it is impossible to care because the script doesn  t flesh out any character outside forbes  .  br    br   acting   terrible on all levels . this slasher has the feel of a school production  high school that is because college students could make a better flick than this . forbes showcases a modicum of talent as does seminara as one of the students  but everyone else is of the  extras  caliber of acting  .  
  girlfight  is much more of a coming  of  age  story than it is a fight flick . and what a relief to have one in an urban school  with naturalistic  realistic latinos and believable use of brooklyn project settings .  br    br   it made me realize that virtually all hollywood high school movies are set in luxurious suburbia or small towns .  even the somewhat comparable  love and basketball  which focused on teen african  americans was set in suburbia .  while these kids share some of the same peer problems  those issues shrink compared to the other struggles of these kids  where high school graduation could be the major accomplishment of their lives .  br    br   the feminist element here is riveting in its originality  as you hold your breath to see if she can have a relationship   and a victory   on her terms . a lots of audience sympathy goes to the guy who is challenged to rise to a gender  bending  expectations situation .  br    br   the movie does drag a bit here and there  but this is no cheap thrills  rocky  fight movie  as the practices and fights have complex outcomes  and all the relationships   especially with fathers and father  figures   take more center stage than the center ring .  br    br   there were lots of interesting music credits listed at the end  but i hadn  t really noticed the songs .  br    br    originally written            
does this film suck   horrible acting  horrible script  horrible effects  horrible horrible horrible   nothing redeeming here for even the most die  hard of horror fans  a crazy killer stalks students at a college . people are showing up dead in the hallways  but still  class carries on as normal    after about the  th body  i would think that they could allow the students a few days break  lol . this about as bad as it gets folks . this film should be shown as a means of torture to criminals . you have been warned   
i think it  s a great movie . because you get to see how diana  s life at home is . she got so much aggression  and she wants to prove that girls can fight too . i think she and adrian were great actors . because of this movie i am boxing too . it really impressed me . the only negative part i think . is the end . because it  s alright between diana and adrian . but you don  t get to see how it is at home . and i didn  t really like it that you also don  t get to see how her father is doing  and her brother . but i think it was a great movie and i think i  m going to watch it a lot more  i recommend it to anyone  even when you don  t like boxing  you get to see a lot more than only boxing . i had a great time watching it .  
back in the days before the toxic avenger  the low  camp kings at troma films tried to take the high  ok  somewhat  less  low  road of producing straight slasher pics . i  d like to think that viewing the results here is what convinced them to give up all pretension and go for self  conscious parody .  br    br   splatter university is another film for the masochists in the audience . as it meanders about through two separate casts and innumerable pointless subplots  it actually becomes painful to watch . let  s see if i can summarize .  br    br   after learning that a dangerous psychopath has escaped from a local hospital  the action moves to a catholic university  i don  t recall the name  but in honor of the title  let  s call it st . splatter  . the students are listless and sullen  and argue pettily with each other  slackers ahead of their time . meanwhile  the new professor  julie parker  proves utterly incompetent at her job . the kids deal with relationships  infidelity  unwanted pregnancies  lecherous priests  and how to avoid doing any work in class julie deals with a creepy boyfriend  the inflexible administration at st . splatter  counseling unwed mothers  and the blank  expressionless looks of her students . none of it means a darn thing or gets resolved in any meaningful way . oh  and every once in a while  a pov shot comes along and stabs one of the girls to death  but don  t hold your breath waiting for it . there  s a red herring killer  and then a sadly anticlimactic confrontation with the real killer  then it  s back to the asylum and roll credits .  br    br   the slow pace and numerous inane subplots seem almost calculated to produce a mounting sense of frustration in the viewer  which is helped along by choppy editing  coffee  can sound quality  and dialog that just doesn  t make any sense . and the most agonizing thing about this movie is the killer  s fixation on women  the men in this movie are just so deserving . i  d  ve paid good money to see someone off the jerk with the pregnant girlfriend  or the lunkhead lothario who was fooling around with his girlfriend  s roommate  or any of the creepy priests . there ain  t no justice .  
girlfight is using a well  known formula as someone pointed out  however  i have seen plenty of movies that don  t do it this well or that are not this credible . i believe it is in the end easier for a woman to empathize the character and that way feel more touched by the movie .  br    br   the movie is encouraging both mentally and physically even if your life and environment were completely different and  i think the viewer can still gain a lot by seeing this . although it took me  years to start boxing and sports in general  this is the movie that gave me the spark .  br    br   so the plot is familiar  common . actors are good . but the thoughts that it can spark are what make it above average in my opinion . it made a big impression on me and i know i  m not the only one .  
the cover of the box makes this movie look really good  don  t be fooled . splatter university came out in     which was the last good year for horror  but this movie sucks . the characters are so annoying . only the teacher is cool . there is like no plot to this movie  who the hell would ever produce this waste of a film   br    br   spoilers up ahead  br    br   the teacher dies in this  and it was a female  we all know that we must have a female surviver  if you  re going to break the rules do it in a good horror flick not this waste  
i really enjoyed girl fight . it something i could watch over and over again . the acting was fantastic and i thought michelle rodriguez did a good job in the film . very convincing might i say . the movie is showing how women should stand up for what they want to do in life . she had so much compassion and yet so much hate at the same time . dealing with a ignorant dad didn  t really help her much . even though he loved her he was really hateful . her mother died when she was younger and that also put some sadness in the role . the love story was a part that i really enjoyed in the movie also . i felt the passion the y had for one another . then again drama sets in and then its like she is choosing between her boyfriend and her life long dream . i thought it ended just right . it was the kind of ending where you have to decide what happened in the future for them . for all you people who likes a movie based on a sport with a good plot i  d suggest that you check this one out  
this film is the worst film  but it ranks very high for me . it is how a slasher movie should be . it takes place at a university in which there only seems to be a handful of students . the teachers are dumber than a sack of hammers . it is filled with good catholic priest  sexually repressed humor . bad hair  bad clothes . the dialogue is so cliched it is hard to believe that i was able to predict lines in quotes . the slashings have some creativity and seem to revolve around stabbing people in the genitalia . a lack of continuity in the soundtrack and characters that deserve to die because they are so bad  i recommend this film for a fun time . get a case of cheap beer and some friends  watch it and laugh .  
so i flipped on the digital subscriber channels one night a couple of years ago and thought i  d pass a half hour watching  girlfight  while waiting for  hart  s war  to start . with a title like that i figured it was some exploitation  b  flic about inner city girl gangs .  br    br   much to my surprise it wasn  t about that at all . instead it is a well acted  well scripted story about a young woman who almost accidentally gets into female boxing . she is responsible for taking her younger brother to his practice sessions and get interested while observing his bouts . as he doesn  t really want to be a boxer  only following through on their father  s wishes  she convinces his coach to take her on in his stead .  br    br   the story unfolds in an intelligent and believable way as she goes through various trials on her quest . for starters  her brother  s coach doesn  t want to take on a female boxer . after grudgingly doing so there is the problem of lining up matches for her . then the confrontation with her father when he finds out what is going on . yes  a love interest develops but it serves to enhance the plot  coming across more of an interesting inter  human reaction with its own fight related consequences .  br    br   all in all this is a great little sleeper movie that few seem to have heard of . some time later when i saw the much advertised and acclaimed  million dollar baby  i thought  wait a minute  this seems kind of familiar  . needless to say  i didn  t watch  hart  s war  that night .  
i am starting this review with a big giant spoiler about this film . do not read further . . . here it comes  avert your eyes  the main heroine  the girl who always survives in other slasher films  is murdered here . there  i just saved you   minutes of your life .  br    br   this is one of those cheap movies that was thrown together in the middle of the slasher era of the     s . despite killing the heroine off  this is just substandard junk .  br    br   both priests and college students get a bad rap here . they are pictured as oversexed  sociopathic morons who have way too many internal problems to deal with what looks like junior college campus life . . . and the college students come off even worse .  br    br    splatter university  is just gunk to put in your vcr when you have nothing better to do  although i suggest watching your head cleaner tape  that would be more entertaining .  br    br   this is rated  r  for strong physical violence  gore  profanity  very brief female nudity  and sexual references .  br    br    
sports movies have never been my thing  but a small handful of them work for me . the best are the those which focus less on the sport and more on the character  such as raging bull  the wrestler and girlfight . this is a great directorial debut for karyn kusama  and an outstanding first performance for michelle rodriguez . girlfight feels is both realistic and involving  that is enough so to make it a memorable film .  br    br   the plot is strait forward enough . diana guzman  is in her fourth year of high school  but due to her picking fights in the hallway she is close to expulsion . as a possible means of unleashing her anger  she signs up for boxing lessons at the club where her brother is training  at the wishes of there father  .  br    br   in the course of ninety minutes  we the viewers see something extraordinary . diana almost literally changes from a girl to a woman . we see it in her body as well as her behaviour  especially when one of the boys at the club finds himself drawn to her  and she gets into it . there is not a bad scene or a lame  contrived moment in the film . the only error that i would say could be corrected is that one of the subplots ends on what feels like an unfinished note . aside from that  girlfight is a great movie .  
i have a nice collection on movies going  and this one was added to it . number    to be exact .  br    br   the title had me going at first . splatter university . i thought this would be a great horror movie . was i ever wrong . don  t get me wrong  this is not the worst movie i have ever seen  but it could have been a lot better . i love all movies  but this one was one that was more of a laugh then a scare .  br    br   poor audio quality  poor acting  and poor shot arrangements are some of the areas that could have been improved .  out of   stars .  br    br   movie is ideal for a good laugh . if your looking for one of those movies to make fun of  then this is one   
went to wal  mart and found this film on dvd and had no idea whether i made a bad purchase or a good one . it is the later outcome to my viewing the entire film from beginning to end . michelle rodriquez   diana guzman    bloodrayne       gave a great performance and her looks are beautiful  sexy  and at the same time a real study in the art of how acting is really performed . diana did not like her home life and especially her own father for the abuse he gave her mother . she decides to get boxing training in a local brooklyn gym and is not really well accepted by the male boxers . in her high school there is plenty of friction between her female classmates and guys . there is lots of action in the ladies bathroom and references as to private parts of guys . if you like boxing  and seeing a hot sexy gal do wonders in the ring and knock the boys on their you know what  this is the film for you .  
this has got to be the worst horror movie i have ever seen . i remember watching it years ago when it initially came out on video and for some strange reason i thought i enjoyed it . so  like an idiot  i ran out to purchase the dvd once it was released . . . what a tragic mistake  i won  t even bother to go into the plot because it is so transparent that you can see right through it anyhow . i am a fan of herschell gordon lewis so i am accustomed to cheesy gore effects and bad acting but these people take this to a whole different level . it is almost as if they are intentionally trying to make the worst movie humanly possible . . . if that was their goal  they suceeded . if they intended to make a film that was supposed to scare you or make you believe in any way  shape  or form that it is real then they failed . . . miserably  avoid this movie . . . read the plot synopsis and you  ve seen it   
   oscar nominations and zero win    am yet to understand why  its not like the actors in the movie did any better thereafter that you can make it by giving them awards for trivial roles like it was done with halle berry and denzel washington  whoopi  oprah  margaret avery  danny glover etc  were all amazing  i am curious to get scripts of the discussions at the oscars that year . . . . . . it should go into the shoulda  woulda  coulda category for the judges . . . .  br    br   its an amazing book  but true to alice walker  s style of writing she has a way of seeming like she is exaggerating her characters  so i am so glad that they screen adaptation took a few things out .  br    br   the cinematography was amazing  the african scenes live much to be desired  the african part in the book is supposed to be set in liberia  somewhere in west africa  but oh no  steven spielberg thinks the world is so dumb that they cant think of africa outside of the safaris  so yes there had to be a complimentary zebra and wildlife scene when we all know there are none west africa     and most of all why get the people to speak swahili    who in west africa speaks swahili   i just had to get that out of the way . . . . . . .  br    br   but as a story  amazing  film  making  out of this world  classic yes    br    br   i own it and i watch it when my soul needs some rejuvenation .  
i read the book and really enjoyed it from beginning to end . however  when i saw the movie i was very disappointed . first of all  no disrespect to deborah raffin but she was too mature to play a woman of      . the late christopher reeve was also miscast  same reason . will  according to the book  was around   . i would have love to see a little more exploration of his military life  his friend red  elly  s trip to see him as that was an important part of the characters  storyline development . also miss beasley was miscast as the book mentioned her being a plus size lady . i know the movie didn  t have the budget of the  bridges of madison county  which i believe was released around the same time .  br    br   but to me this was a very poorly made  low budget  miscast movie . as someone mentioned  i wish that miss spenser would come out of retirement and write screenplays for her books as they ought to be . she knows her characters better than anyone  i hope that she would consider doing the casting too . the movie let me down   
girlfight is a story about a troubled teen named diana guzman  michelle rodriguez  . diana is burdened by her mothers suicide and a sexist father living in a sexist community . a short temper and plenty of things to spark a fire  shes about to get kicked out of school for fighting . her brother  tiny  ray santiago   is training with hector  jaime tirelli  in boxing . diana is told by her dad  sandro  paul calderon   to deliver that weeks payment for tiny  s training . while diana is walking through the gym  she realizes thats what she wants to do . she wants to box . diana asks her dad for money to train but he refuses because shes a girl and should do more  girly  things . all diana wants is to be treated like any other guy . not looked down upon because she is a woman . she steals money from her father to begin training .  br    br   great movie . genius  pure  effing  genius . recommend to anybody who needs to see a good clean movie with no  monkey business  .  
a patient escapes from a mental hospital  killing one of his keepers and then a university professor after he makes his way to the local college . next semester  the late prof  s replacement and a new group of students have to deal with a new batch of killings . the dialogue is so clichd it is hard to believe that i was able to predict lines in quotes . this is one of those cheap movies that was thrown together in the middle of the slasher era of the     s . despite killing the heroine off  this is just substandard junk . horrible acting  horrible script  horrible effects  horrible horrible horrible    splatter university  is just gunk to put in your vcr when you have nothing better to do  although i suggest watching your head cleaner tape  that would be more entertaining . skip it and rent  girl  s nite out  instead .  br    br   rated r for strong graphic violence  profanity  brief nudity and sexual situations .  
i saw this movie after i saw blue crush and other of michelle  s movies  i thought she had a bleak future in this business . i was extremely wrong after watching her performance in  girlfight  i was amazed in the way she captures the emotion of one a fighter  but also a warrior . in this movie the way she confronts her father about the treatment of her and her brother  the way she conveys anger when getting hit . her characters learning curve in the movie of she cant always put up a wall and hide from love  or that just because she has power she wont win . i believe this role was fit perfectly for michelle even though she had no prior experience  the director saw talent  i criticize myself for not seeing the talent in her .  
colleges  high schools  fraternities and sororities have been the most popular stalking grounds for maniacal madmen since the slasher cycle first became a popular cinema culture throughout the late seventies . even backwoods cabins and campsites have rode shotgun to the amount of massacres that have taken place on campuses since halloween categorised the genre as a cult horror category . from early entries like to all a good night right up until the big budgeted schlock of titles like urban legend or schools out  there  s usually always been a campus slasher lurking somewhere in the pipeline . despite being picked up by troma  the titans of b movie badness  splatter university was heavily panned upon release and never really found an audience . even notorious hack and slash websites like hysteria  lives have written off richard haines  splatter yarn as one of the worst of the early eighties boom . i always approach criticised movies optimistically because there  s often the chance than a few bad reviews can be unfairly contagious like a dose of the flu  which crowds the judgement of certain authors .  br    br   it begins in traditional fashion at the place where any maniac worth his salts emerges . yep you guessed it  an insane asylum  it seems that one of the inmates has decided that he  s unhappy with the level of service at the institution and therefore he  s looking to take his business elsewhere . the unseen nut  job makes his break after stabbing an unfortunate orderly where the sun certainly doesn  t shine . he obviously favours the dress sense of the murdered worker  so he takes the liberty of borrowing his uniform  blood stained trousers and all   br    br   three years later  we transfer to st trinians college  an educational establishment that is controlled by catholic priests . a teacher is busy after hours marking her students work when all of a sudden there  s a knock at the door . before she has a chance to find out what the unseen visitor wants  he stabs her in the chest with a kitchen knife and she falls to the floor in a bloody heap . this of course means that there  s a vacancy at the university and so we  re introduced to julie parker  francine forbes   the lovable replacement for the recently departed lecturer . it seems that her arrival has inadvertently given the resident maniac all the motivation that he needs to go on a no holds barred slaughter  thon . before long students and teachers alike are dropping like flies to the camera shy menace as he stalks the corridors and local areas armed with an exceptionally large blade . suspicious suspects abound  but can professor parker solve the mystery of the campus murderer before she becomes just another statistic   br    br   i  m not precisely sure how many versions of this movie are available . the uk altered video was released under the alias of campus killings  but the us copy that i own states that it  s the complete unedited edition  which could mean that there is a censored print floating about somewhere  i  d be fairly surprised if that was the case as splatter university certainly isn  t as gore  delicious as the hyperbole packaging would lead you to believe . one or two litres of corn syrup certainly don  t stand up to gore hound  s scrutiny when compared to the likes of blood rage or pieces  so in this instance the movie is somewhat over hyped . one thing that many critics have failed to mention is the charming lead performance from francine forbes  who ends up carrying the entire picture on her shoulders throughout the    minute running time . despite amateurish direction from richard haines she still unveils some magnificent potential that should have lead to the chance of another stab at serious acting under a more accomplished helmer . unfortunately that possibility never came  and bottom of the barrel bombs like death ring and splitz certainly didn  t help to nurture a talent that could have improved dramatically under the right scholarship .  br    br   the rest of the cast members were par for the course of movie obscurity  especially the wooden plank teenagers who for some strange reason acted like they were auditioning for a remake of grease or the wanderers . the bog standard point and shoot direction couldn  t have helped to build much confidence in the project and the fact that the few signs of potential were undermined by the clumsy handling of the script writer left the feature effectively unredeemable . perhaps the only claim of originality to be found in haines  slasher is the brave attempt for the contrasting conclusion . let  s just say that it  s not a final that i was expecting to witness in a movie that was so typical of the cycle .  br    br   at one point in the runtime  one of the teens says   man that parker bores me to tears  well the same can be said for splatter university  which never lifts the pace above slow motion . with that said though  francine forbes made for a delectable scream queen and undoubtedly one that i would have paid to watch again in a similar role . so that pretty much sums up this un  troma  tising ride . slow paced  shoddy but still strangely alluring you  d have to be especially forgiving to give it a chance  
michelle rodriguez is a well  built high  school senior who discovers that she has a powerful punch and begins amateur training at a brooklyn gym . santiago douglas is a a handsome young man  barely older than she  who also trains there . they meet after class  so to speak  and feel attracted to each other . no sex . santiago has been instructed to save it for his next bout .  br    br   both are participants in a  gender  blind  athletic program that makes no distinctions between males and females  a misguided attempt to level the athletic playing field .  br    br   a conservative radio commentator recently announced   and i swear i  m not making this up    let  s face it the president is black .  i  m here to make an equally perspicacious observation    men and women are different .  now  in   cases out of     this needn  t make any difference in physical performance . but in the top one percent   trained athletes whose skills have been honed to a fine edge   men generally have the advantage . with their narrow hips they can run faster . and they have greater muscle mass and upper torso strength . these differences in body build make it possible for women to give birth and raise children and for men to catch and kill food for them . this sexual bifurcation is the result of the perfectly normal process of natural selection . without it  there might not be any humans at all . and that  boys and girls  is why they have men  s events and women  s events at the olympics . i speak to you as your anthropologist . that will be ten cents  paypal preferred .  br    br   that  s why i called this gender  blind program misguided . as talented a boxer as rodrigues is  as she approaches the zenith of the game  she will eventually lose to a male .  br    br   that  s where the complication arises in this movie . rodrigues is finally matched against her boy friend  douglas . neither wants to loose any anger on the other  not to mention roundhouse rights  but the pride of both is at stake  and the pride is both personal and gender related . douglas refuses to fight a woman in the ring . and rodriguez is offended by what she sees as his patronizing attitude . it ends happily .  br    br   i wasn  t really expecting much from the film . i thought it would be a rip off of clint eastwood  s  million dollar baby  until i discovered that this was released years earlier . and i  d never heard of the director or of any of the performers . that sort of obscurity generally augers ill   made  for  television weepers and so forth .  br    br   but i was surprised at how neatly this is put together . the total absence of bathos left me open mouthed . so did the minimal use of boxing clichs   the frayed ropes  the blood  the cutting of the swollen eye  the battered post  bout faces  the fat and sweaty onlooker shouting  kill him    the slow motion landing of glove on nose  the spray of sweat from the mauled head  the heroic music signaling the long  awaited apotheosis of the victor . none of that here   well  almost none . the whole plot could be considered formulaic . tough kid finds outlet in the ring  etc .  br    br   the feeling you  re left with is that this is probably pretty much what these amateur contests are like . different from those we see on tv and in ordinary movies . no bells ring  for instance  instead a dancing and observant referee yells  stop   and  box   the contestants wear head gear . the gym is populated not by a crowd of cheering spectators  but only by a handful of people who have some particular interest in the goings on . it  s a clean movie  despite the rather grim setting and the unhappy family dynamics .  br    br   michelle rodriguez can look pretty mean  what with her muscular bulk and her eyes glowing under her lowered brow  but once you get used to the idea that this is a girl who can beat you to a pulp anytime she wants  and once you hear the feminine contours of her supersegmentals  she ain  t bad .  a scene in which she battles her father to the floor is overdoing it .  it was a little hard to understand douglas  s restraint when rodriguez crawls all over him in bed . the director  karyn kusama  has chosen her talent carefully .  br    br   shows what you can do with some talent  imagination  and a modicum of money . there ought to be more films like it . take one of those multi  billion dollar blockbusters full of dinosaurs or space ships and spread the generosity around a little .  
nut case is murdering college students  can new teacher stop the madness    br    br   believe me  you won  t care .  br    br   with a title like splatter university  one would immediately gather that this movie just isn  t high art . but worse than that splatter university doesn  t even qualify for amusing garbage . splatter u is so poorly made  the story is mindless  the characters are throw  aways  and the whole movie lacks any essence of imagination . needless to say there is no suspense or atmosphere or scares . this drivel isn  t even brave enough to throw in any nudity  for the cheapest thrill of all  . so all around this endlessly flawed slasher offers nothing in the way of entertainment  not even cheap laughs  and just becomes a complete bore . bottom of the barrel folks  even die hard slasher fans will want to think twice before viewing  let alone paying money for this flick .  br    br   bomb out of   
when  girlfight  came out  the reviews praised it  but i didn  t get around to seeing it . i finally saw it when it got released on video  and understand the glowing reviews .  br    br   the movie opens in a high school in the middle of a ghetto . we quickly get introduced to student diana guzman  michelle rodriguez  . she has a bad  ass expression on her face  and any idea about diana that we might derive from this expression soon gets corroborated when she gets in a fight . as diana gets in trouble for this  we then meet her father  an aggressive type in his own right clearly we can  t totally blame diana for her attitude .  br    br   but then the movie really picks up  as a new thought germinates in diana  s mind boxing as a way to escape this grim existence . her older brother has already gotten into boxing  but her father most likely won  t approve . only diana herself can decide what to do .  br    br   just the first few minutes alone identified that i was in for a very gritty  non  hollywood movie  but the brief appearance of john sayles in a supporting role truly affirmed that . even before they get to any boxing scenes  you feel like you  re getting pounded in the face at seeing the ugly life that diana lives . and when they finally arrive at the film  s main story  there  s no turning back .  br    br   all in all  i definitely recommend this movie . i will admit that using boxing as a means to show someone trying to make something of himself  herself has been sort of a clich in cinema for many years   rocky    million dollar baby    but i still think that they did a great job with it here . in fact  this may have brought the genre to its apex . really good . too bad that michelle rodriguez wasted herself in hollywood movies after this one .  
it  s a poor film  but i must give it to the lead actress in this one . . . . francine forbes . she appeared to be acting the least and i personally thought she was kind of cute . too bad she only appears in one other film in the database . besides that  the film is filled with laughable gore and fakey death scenes . people get stabbed and they gush like  gallons of blood  but  if you like to watch poor horror films  i recommend this one highly .  
girlfight is like your grandmother  s cooking same old recipe you  ve tried a million times before  yet somehow transformed into something fresh and new . try and explain the story to people who haven  t seen it before a young women from the wrong side of the tracks attempts to improve her situation by taking up boxing whilst dealing with a bitter  obstructive father and her growing attraction to a male rival . watch them roll their eyes at the string of clichs  and they  re right it is clichd . yet i was hypnotized by how well this film works  due to the frequently superb acting and dialogue  and sensitive direction that makes it  new  . i avoided this at the cinema because it looked like complete crap but don  t make the same mistake i did . definiately worth a look .  
a schizophrenic has escaped from a nyc mental hospital and soon teachers start getting offed at st . trinity university . new teacher julie  francine forbes  has to deal with the mess of red herrings . despite a   minute running time  this cheap  o slasher drags on and on until the lame finish where the person you suspect is the killer from the get go is revealed to be as such . director richard haines barely breaks a sweat with some lame stalk  n  slash staging but delivers the grue the early   s audience was probably craving . for all of our amateur anthropologists out there  this was filmed in new yawk in early   s so you can check out all of the culture  beliefs  and practices of living people from that far away place . the film does get some credit for offing the  final girl .  you rarely see that . also  always nice to see a horror movie where a priest is the killer . doth thou not trust the clergy  my beloved film industry  thankfully  this one is only a phony priest and he gets caught . he is still working the moral high ground angle though .  
i was not expecting the powerful filmmaking experience of  girlfight  . it  s an indie low  budget  no big  name actors  freshman director . i had heard it was good  but not this good .  br    br   placed in a contemporary  ethnic  working  class brooklyn  karyn kusama has done an extraordinary job of capturing the day  do  day struggles of urban latinos . diana  the protagonist  is seething with anger and lashes out at her high school peers  getting in trouble with the school and her friends . she is being raised by her single father  who appears to love her and her brother  but applies a strict  sex  based double standard on his children . the father  s double standard is illustrated by the fact that tiny  the brother  is taking boxing lessons at the local gym  but diana is denied similar pursuits . on an errand to the gym to meet tiny  diana is captivated by boxing . tiny doesn  t like boxing  so he and diana trade places he gets the money from dad then gives it to diana to take the lessons in his place .  br    br   this is actually a feel  good movie  as diana grows and learns about herself through boxing  meets a guy  and addresses some very serious issues head  on . there  s no giggly   everything that can go right does go right  resolution a la  bend it like beckham  . the reality and attendant personal issues are too big for pat resolutions  but in my opinion   girlfight  is a better and more satisfying film for it .  
how come i  ve never seen or even heard about this junk  movie before  it  s right up my alley with bloody teenkill  laughable plotting and an irresistible    s cheese  atmosphere hanging around it . for some reason nobody is really interested in  the staff and students of an elite catholic university are butchered by an unknown psychopath . freshly recruited teacher julie parker becomes involved when all the people she has contact with either turn up dead or behave strangely . this movie is hilariously bad  there  s absolutely no logic or coherence and every character is equally meaningless to the others . for example  there  s a girl killed and her body dumped in a container . then  and for no reason  the story suddenly moves forward three weeks yet the murdered girl is never mentioned or even missed . not even by her boyfriend  the acting is pitiful and there isn  t even a bit of nudity to enjoy . the revelation of the killer is quite funny because the makers really seemed convinced that it was an original twist . . . it  s not  guys   splatter university  is easily one of the worst horror  turkeys ever .  
casting unknown michelle rodriguez as diana was a stroke of genius . she  s perfect . her acting inexperience actually works in her favor . we  ve never seen her before so it really feels like her story . she also brings across genuine toughness . this works against her though  because we never doubt her . you never have to cheer for her to win because she never goes up against any fighter we don  t think she can beat . so as a boxing movie  it fails .  br    br   then again  this isn  t really a boxing movie . how do you make a movie about a girl who wants to be a boxer that isn  t a boxing movie  you don  t . but karyn kusama has anyway . like many indie films   girlfight  defies classification or genre and stands on its own as folklore that could darn near happen in real life .  br    br   diana is doing poorly in school . she beats up people she doesn  t like  all the other girls in her school for example  . she doesn  t fit in . her father is forcing her kid brother tiny to learn to box so he can defend himself when things get tough . he gives tiny money for his boxing sessions and gives diana nothing  as if she has no need to defend herself  nor anything worthwhile to make of her life . tiny wants to go to art school  cliche   yuck   so he gives up his boxing allowance to diana  who actually wants to box . things get complicated when diana falls for another boxer  adrian  santiago douglas   who  s looking to turn pro . from there the story winds down toward the inevitable . . . the two meet in the amateur title fight .  br    br   what left me cold was that i never found any of this all that interesting . it  s all just a bit too believable . kids with tough lives growing up in rough urban areas fall back on sports . a lot of professional boxers have risen from these circumstances . the mental and physical toughness this upbringing requires lends itself to a game like boxing  where anger is your friend . so this time it  s a girl . big deal .  br    br   or there  s another position to take finally  a boxing movie about a girl . women  s boxing has been around a long time . the brutality we usually see in boxing films is replaced here by discussions of people  s their lives and their feelings . the whole fighting thing is used as a platform from which to paint a larger picture . respect . overcoming adversity . self  discovery .  br    br   i recommend  girlfight  because it has a good spirit and is an example of some great work by a first time director . the dialogue never rises above soap opera quality  but the story itself actually changed my view on some things . yes  the world now seems like a better place . a film did that .  br    br   grade b   
if you merely look at the cover of this movie  it  s cool . don  t . the movie itself put me to sleep . it was slow paced  had minimal violence and a poor use of suspense . the acting was bottom feeder material and the plot  while it would  ve been cool for a different movie  was poorly shown here . they even kill the only likeable character in the whole film  i give it a  out of   because the only thing that was good was the plot twist at the end . other than that  you might want to save yourself from this movie trash .  
  girlfight  follows a project dwelling new york high school girl from a sense of futility into the world of amateur boxing where she finds self esteem  purpose  and much more . although the film is not about boxing  boxing is all about the film . so much so you can almost smell the sweat . technically and artistically a good shoot with an sense of honesty and reality about it   girlfight  is no chick flick and no  rocky  . it is  rather  a very human drama which even viewers who don  t know boxing will be able to connect with .  
really  really bad slasher movie . a psychotic person escapes from an asylum . three years later he kills a sociology professor  end of scene . one semester yesterday later  hey  that  s what the title card said  a new sociology professor is at the school . she makes friends with another female sociology professor who works there  and starts dating another professor . the students are all bored  as are we .  br    br   there are a number of title cards indicating how much time has passed . scenes are pretty short  and cut to different characters somewhere else  making for little progression of any kind . a lot of scenes involve characters walking and talking  or sitting and talking  and serve little purpose . despite the passage of time  many of the characters are always wearing the same clothing . sometimes the unclear passage of time means when we see a body for the second time  we ask ourselves how long has that body been there  and also  at least one of the dead people don  t seem to have been missed by others .  br    br   the killer manages to kill one person by stabbing her in the breast  another by stabbing him in the crotch  and another by slicing her forehead . is his knife poisoned or something   br    br   the video box cover has a cheerleader there aren  t any in the movie . the rear cover has a photo of someone in a graduation cap and gown menacing a group of women in a dorm room . the central redhead in the photo is in the movie  but nobody ever wears such an outfit  and there is no such scene . the killer is strictly one  on  one .  
the first step to getting off of that road that leads to nowhere is recognizing that you  re on it in the first place then it becomes a matter of being assertive and taking positive steps to overcome the negative influences in your life that may have put you on that road to begin with . which is exactly what a young latino girl does in girlfight   written and directed by karyn kusama . diana  michelle rodriguez  is an eighteen  year  old high school senior from the projects in brooklyn  facing expulsion after her fourth fight in the halls since the beginning of the semester . she affects a whatever  attitude which masks a deep  seated anger that threatens to take her into places she  d rather not go . she lives with her father  sandro  paul calderon   with whom she has a very tentative relationship  and her younger brother  tiny  ray santiago  . with her life teetering on the brink of dissolution  she desperately needs an outlet through which to channel the demons that plague her . and one day she finds it  without even looking for it  when she stops by the gym where tiny trains . ironically  tiny wants nothing to do with boxing he wants to go to art school  but sandro is determined that his son should be able to take care of himself on the streets  and pays the ten dollars a week it costs for his lessons . when diana convinces tiny  s trainer  hector  jaime tirelli   to take her on  and approaches her father for the money  under the guise of calling it a weekly allowance  she doesn  t want him to know what she wants the money for   sandro turns her down and tells her to go out and earn her own money . ultimately  with tiny  s help she finds a way  and the ring soon becomes her second home . it  s an environment to which she readily adapts  and it appears that her life is about to take a turn for the better . and the fact that she will have to fight men  not women  in gender blind  competitions  does not faze her in the least . diana has found her element .  br    br   first time writer  director karyn kusama has done a terrific job of creating a realistic setting for her story  presenting an honest portrait of life in the projects and conveying that desperation so familiar to so many young people who find themselves in dead  end situations and on that road that leads to nowhere . and there  s no candy coating on it  either as hector tells diana when she asks him how he came to be where he is  i was a fighter once . i lost .  then  looking around the busy gym  like most of these guys  they  re going to lose  too . but it  s all they know    and it  s that honesty of attitude  as well as the way in which the characters are portrayed  that makes this movie as good as it is . it  s a bleak world  underscored by the dimly lit  run  down gym   you can fairly smell the sweat of the boxers   and that sense of desolation that hangs over it all like a pall  blanketing these people who are grasping and hanging on to the one and only thing they have  all that they know .  br    br   making her screen debut  michelle rodriguez is perfectly cast as diana  infusing her with a depth and brooding intensity that fairly radiates off of her in waves . she is so real that it makes you wonder how much of it is really rodriguez exactly where does the actor leave off and the character begin  whatever it is  it works . it  s a powerful  memorable performance  by an actor from whom we will await another endeavor with great anticipation . she certainly makes diana a positive role model  one in whom many hopefully will find inspiration and the realization that there are alternative paths available in life  at least to those who would seek them out .  br    br   as positive as this film is  however  it ends on something of an ambiguous note though diana obviously has her feet on the ground  there  s no indication of where she  s headed . is this a short term fix for her  or is she destined to become the female counterpart of hector  after all  realistically  and in light of the fact that the realism is one of the strengths of this film   professional boxing isn  t exactly a profession that lends itself to  nor opens it  s arms to women . and in keeping with the subject matter of the film  and the approach of the filmmaker  an affirmation of the results of diana  s assertiveness would have been appropriate .  br    br   the supporting cast includes santiago douglas  adrian   elisa bocanegra  marisol   alicia ashley  ricki  and thomas barbour  ira  . though it delivers a very real picture of life to which many will be able to identify  there are certain aspects of girlfight   that stretch credibility a bit  regarding some of what happens in the ring . that aside  it  s a positive film that for the most part is a satisfying experience . i rate this one     .  br    br    br    br    
clich  ridden story of an impending divorce  or is it   through the eyes of a  year  old child . corny dialogue  cardboard characters  stock situations  a red herring zombie sub  plot and  worst of all  absolutely no payoff  either emotionally or dramatically .  br    br   does no  one teach creative writing any more  the true sign of a weak storyteller  when you cannot create any kind of satisfying denouement  just end the story . i  m compelled to ask   what made you think this was a story worth telling in the first place     br    br   good  but wasted  debut by child actor anthony de marco  the rest of the cast was  at best  forgettable . and they wonder why no  one watches indie films  this is ninety minutes of my life i will never get back .  
despite disney  s best efforts  this is a rather enjoyable movie about following your dreams . i was surprised that it didn  t strike me as over  sentimental this movie played fair . dennis quaid was very  very good in the role  which is saying something for a sports movie . i can  t recall how many sports movies have had little quirks that bother me here  everybody looks the part . this movie is surprisingly good  and i predict that it will do surprising business as it is a g  rated movie that doesn  t require the viewer to stop thinking . ebert to the contrary  this movie is a success .  
basically there  s a family where a little boy  jake  thinks there  s a zombie in his closet  his parents are fighting all the time .  br    br   this movie is slower than a soap opera . . . and suddenly  jake decides to become rambo and kill the zombie .  br    br   ok  first of all when you  re going to make a film you must decide if its a thriller or a drama  as a drama the movie is watchable . parents are divorcing  arguing like in real life . and then we have jake with his closet which totally ruins all the film  i expected to see a boogeyman similar movie  and instead i watched a drama with some meaningless thriller spots .  br    br    out of   just for the well playing parents  descent dialogs . as for the shots with jake just ignore them .  
like i said at the top  four stars just aren  t enough . it  s one of the best films i  ve ever seen in my almost   years of life . for the people that don  t really like it or understand it  you must not have a real appreciation for art or you might have a short attention span .  br    br   even if i haven  t seen all his films yet  i  d have to say that this is spielberg at his peak . it  s pretty sad to see that movies as great as  the color purple  don  t come along too often  cause i think all of us are in desperate need of first  class motion picture entertainment in these hard times .  br    br   movies like this are more than just movies they  re pieces of art that need to be appreciated more .  br    br   the idea that it was nominated for   oscars  even best picture of the year  and didn  t get one trophy is a sign of how blind and stupid hollywood can be sometimes . spielberg wasn  t even nominated for best director  it should have swept the oscars that year .  br    br   the film clearly shows you how unfair life is for some people .  br    br   if only movies were still this good . . . .  
after reading the book  i loved the story . watching the movie i was disappointed that so many changes were made . it is understandable that books and movies differ but it was two different stories  only the names and some of the book  s story remained . read the book and you  ll have a better understanding of the movie . the book gives you a better development of the characters . these characters are extremely interesting and make you care about them . the locations were indeed in line with the book  s descriptions . some characters not included . television has microwaved so many great books and stories  this is a perfect example of that . input from the author doesn  t always insure a good movie but it can help sometimes .  
i just saw this movie tonight  opening night . it was great   i  m a big fan of sports movies  and this was right up there as one of my favorites . dennis quaid was great .  oh  by the way  mr . quaid  if you read this . . . my sister lives in austin  where you live . . . . . and she was supposed to buy you a drink once . . . well . . . she kinda stood you up . . . but she didn  t mean to  c  not that anyone  s going to believe that . . .   anyway  it  s a great movie . everyone who likes a good sports movie  should go out and see it  c   
i tried watching this abomination of the cinema when i was five years old i have never been the same since . filled to the brim with drug  induced images that reek of the common ravings of your average asylum resident  this  movie   despite its colorful appearance  is not for humans  especially not children .  br    br   it starts out innocently enough with a poor boy who ruins his classmate  s drum by  wait for it  putting his head through it yes  putting his head through it . but fear not  my friends  he is quickly consoled by his chirping flute  which is weird enough  i  ll grant you  but still acceptable .  br    br   then the movie morphs into a combination of wizard of oz and where the wild things are  but loses all the  warm and fuzzy  aspects of either of these two books .  br    br   so  this seven  foot yellow relative of barney  befriends this poor boy and plunges him even deeper into despair .  br    br   and  to add the pleasant array of horrific themes  a carnivorous boat  formerly a friend of the motley crew of hobbling grandfather clocks and doped  up  dragons   is added to the mix of mayhem .  br    br   the most comforting image in the midst of this chaos is the villain  aptly dubbed  witchiepoo     . of course  she has problems of her own what with an obvious plastic mask constricting her facial expressions to having to deal with a broomstick whose gas level always seemed to be at its lowest at the most inopportune moments . as a result of this  one of her favorite pastimes was nose  diving into the body of water that separated the land of pufnstuf from her degenerate  decaying abode  i don  t know where i would have preferred to live  .  br    br   in summary  this movie is terrifying . . .  br    br   if you want to watch the movie that has similar effects on its audience as the exorcist  then this one is for you . enjoy .  
this is a movie that plays to everyone  s emotions . we all want a second chance at things . jim morris got one  followed his heart and got a chance to live his dream . what a great message and what a great delivery by this movie .  
i hated this show when i was a kid . that was back in the day when kids show characters actually had accents  not just the bland  generic  general american dialect we  re used to . jack wild had a british accent and pufnstuf  s was southern . like one of the others mentioned  though  i never quite understood what the deal was with the witch wanting the flute . that always seemed odd to me  probably because the flute just annoyed me and i wouldn  t have gone to any trouble to take it away   br    br   just a comment on the similarity of pufnstuf to early   s mcdonalds commercials that others have mentioned pufnstuf ripped off mcdonalds . at the height of mcdonalds popularity  the tv show  or rather  their creators  sought to license mcdonalds characters for their show  but when mcdonalds declined the tv show changed the characters slightly and passed it as their own . they even hired former employees of mcdonalds ad agency and the voice actors to make the tv shows . mcdonalds sued and won . search for pufnstuf mcdonaldland lawsuit and you  ll find plenty of articles about it .  
i knew i was going to see this when i saw the first preview . dennis quaid was one reason  but the theme of holding on to your dreams speaks to me . people talk about this as a movie for kids  but i think it  s a movie for baby boomers who are coming to terms with aging  infirm parents  our own mortality  our kids growing up and leaving us  and all the other things we never thought would happen to us .  br    br   the movie doesn  t fall into the trap of tragedy it  s about what living your dreams means when you have a real life .  br    br   quaid is too small for a pitcher but he makes it look good  and rachel griffiths makes a small part as the wife into a thoughtful  layered performance . the camera  work is slow and sweet . when they put this movie together  they left out anything that wasn  t necessary . very nice .  
i caught this a few months ago on family channel  and having some memories of the tv show from my youth  decided to watch it along with my  year old daughter . i should have got some psychedelic mushrooms to go along with it   cause this is just bizarre  not only is it a musical with annoyingly forgettable tunes  the requisite cheesy effects and cameos by stars long past their collective primes  it seems to have been produced as somebody  s good acid trip . talking flutes  british children far too old for this kind of crap . . . in the words of krusty the klown  uuuuuugggghhhhh  what was i on   if you  re a huge fan of the whole sid and marty krofft oeuvre  go for it otherwise  unless you  re willing to get looped before watching  stay far  far  far away .  
disney might just be on to something here . first  they had  remember the titans  with denzel  a story based on truth involving sports and a small town in middle america . now  with quaid and the rookie . . . yet another sports story based on truth .  br    br   both movies move you to tears at times  and both make you smile and feel all warm after seeing them . my wife and i took in the rookie and we expected it to be a great feel good type movie . we were not let down  when asked if we  d be buying this on dvd when it comes out  it was a no  brainer . most definately .  
  aka blood castle or scream of the demon   br    br   spoiler  br    br   this was a drive  in feature  co  billed with the velvet vampire . a spanish  italian co  production where a series of women in a village are being murdered around the same time a local count named yanos dalmar is seen on horseback  riding off with his  man  eating  dog behind him .  br    br   the townsfolk already suspect he is the one behind it all and want his castle burned down . the murders first began around the time count yanos  older brother  count igor dalmar was horribly burned and killed in a lab accident .  br    br   then a woman ivanna  erna schuer  that igor hired before his death to assist him in his experiments shows up . yanos agrees to hire her in place of his brother and together they seek the formulae for the regeneration of dead cells . yanos wants to bring igor  s charred corpse back to life .  br    br   but of course igor is still alive  although horribly burned  and stalking and killing the women in the village . we see his char  broiled face appear at various points in the film  so we know he  s still alive  making the whole thing seem a little bit too obvious .  br    br   igor meets another fiery end when he gets into a fight with yanos over ivanna  with the burning candles falling on to the same bed that igor stumbles on to  meeting yet another  final char  broiled end .  br    br   the retromedia dvd is taken from a vhs source and looks quite grainy and bad . other than an even scratchier trailer  no other extras are included . although it has a nice  creepy spanish castle and good atmospherics  i found it to be fairly boring and predictable  with no excitement or mystery  whatsoever .  br    br    out of   .  
the rookie kept me smiling from beginning to end . dennis quaid played the role to perfection . the little boy that plays his son was fantastic . he made this a father  son movie to remember . the messages are good ones . follow your dreams . failing at the pursuit is alright as long as you try . the excitement is palpable . i believe this movie will be a classic .  
i purchased the blood castle dvd on ebay for a few bucks not knowing what it was and all i can say is that i wasn  t disappointed with this purchase . blood castle is one of those trashy european horror films that has almost no redeeming quality except for being thoroughly entertaining  for all the bad reasons . the opening alone was worth the price of the dvd our heroine  dr . ivanna  arrives at the castle where she  s supposed to help a scientist  baron dalmar  who does experiments on dead tissue . on her way to the castle   a man tries to rape ivanna .   the castle  s housekeeper fights with her .   the maid wants her dead .   and finally  baron dalmar nearly spits on her and wants her out the next day . hmm . . . something tells me she  s not welcome . with such a miserable arrival  you  d think ivanna would leave the place in a ny minute but no  like so many great trashy films  our  headstrong  heroine decides to stay put and even enjoys a candlelight dinner with the grumpy baron on that same eventful day . the intro is so over  the  top trashy  it  s even greater than the memorable first few minutes of that canadian film  junior  that i knew i was going to enjoy this .  br    br   but the fun doesn  t end there . ivanna is repeatedly drugged whenever she goes to bed at night  only to wake up from unconsciousness  naked  bound and tortured in mild sessions of sm by an unseen man . even after experiencing these nightly sm sessions  ivanna stays at the castle  dully convinced by the angry baron that what she  s experiencing are nothing more than dreams . to be expected  even after being treated so badly from the get  go  ivanna  falls in love with the baron . ivanna completely disregards anything negative about him  including the obvious fact that the dour baron is popular with the young ladies . every women at the castle  it seems only women work there  is in love with the miserable chump  who doesn  t mind taking advantage of the pretty young things . things get even sillier as someone lurks around the estate and kills  and has been killing  women . basically  the baron  s physically disfigured brother  igor is responsible for everything . in a very long winded scene  the brother warns the baron he should not get too involved with ivanna or he  ll suffer the consequences . so what do the baron and ivanna do about this  well  they get married of course  during the very brief marriage ceremony  the baron is shot by one of the angry locals  father of one of the dead girls  . but all of this doesn  t deter ivanna  who  amidst all the dead young ladies and torture surrounding them  cheerfully comforts the hurt baron that  it  s just a flesh wound  and the two can go on and enjoy their honeymoon at the castle  where the killer  rapist  torturer brother is . the whole thing quickly devolves into a nightmarish love triangle of sorts  between ivana  the baron and igor . blame it all on love   br    br   anyway  you get the idea subtle it  s not . almost everything is over  the  top ridiculous in this film and when it  s not ott  such as the predictable climax  things get a tad boring . but for most of the film  the director or writer revel in one illogically trashy moment after another . i really love these kind of films  everything as subtle as being hit over the head with a sledgehammer  and populated by characters behaving illogically . even those who made the retromedia dvd realize this and when you go to the scene selection section  we hear one of the funniest bits of dialogue from the dubbed movie looped endlessly .  br    br   the production values are beautifully risible . the opening and closing credits  with those candles and red curtains . . . ah  a soupon of class . the music sounds sometimes like something from a tim burton film  which only adds to the oddness of it all . and customary to these kind of films  when the young ladies take off their clothes  they just beg to be killed .  br    br   as a standard film  i rate this a   but as a  it  s so bad it  s good  film  i rate it a solid  stars . if you enjoy trashy films  please watch this one . it  s a must see . the only thing left for me to ponder about it what would it have taken for that woman to get out of that freaking castle   
this is the best picture about baseball since redford whacked the natural our way . dennis quaid and rachel griffiths light up the screen with a great story and a cast that seemed real enough to pull you into their lives .  br    br   laced with dreams  dripping in reality  the american dream reignites after  .   with a true story about the devil ray  s mid  life rookie  jimmy morris . australian born actress  rachel griffiths  plays a native west texan better than a lot of texans i know and dennis quaid was perfection  cast as the wannabe  gonnabe and humble winner with as much psychological baggage as the average viewer in the audience . it  s real . the on  screen chemistry works . if you like baseball heart  warmers  you  re going to love this film . the ingredients for americana and apple pie were all in there . my popcorn became the a la mode  .  br    br   and hey buy the cd  the music rocks and carries the story magnificently  syncing words and music pushes the story forward exactly the way it should  an area that disappoints me more often than not .  br    br   criticisms i  d have given the baseball to somebody else . but quaid has something to teach us all about character  and heart . st . rita and the nuns were a nice decoration  but they never really found their place in the story to open and close around them . a little long . worth every minute in the last analysis .     .  br    br    
this is a film that belongs firmly to the    s . very surprising that american film institute has chosen this one for one for the best    american movies of all  time . i have seen practically all of the movies on that list  and this one is by far the most disappointing one of those . musical numbers  and there many  many of them  are very overlong and boring  and have absolute no connection with the story . the end of the movie has horribly over  long ballet sequency  which naturally has no real relation to the story of the movie . it must be admitted  that it is very well made  the music is ok  and the dancing done with the highest professional standard  but there is no real reason why the sequence is included in the movie .  br    br   the main character of the movie is extremely childlish and unlikeable and behaves in unpolite way . his mental age is about   . if you want to see a good musical made on the  golden age  of musicals  go and see  singing in the rain  .  
this effort is based on the true story of jim morris  a high school science teacher  baseball coach  who is inspired by his players to try out for the pros and fulfill his life  long dream of playing in the majors . dennis quaid  no stranger to sports films  plays morris with enough conviction to make the part work and the producers do a credible job of recreating the real  world events that led to morris brief stint as a relief pitcher for the woefull tampa bay devil rays . the first half of the film  dealing with his rag tag bunch of high school baseball players  all of whom look way too old to actualy be in high school  is less effective and probably a bit too long . overall the film does suffer from some pacing issues and a few extra subplots that we probably could have done without . however  it is still a fairly involving movie with an inspirational theme that proves once again that baseball is the national pastime for a reason . grade b   
i don  t know what the oscar voters saw in this movie  but they must of seen some pretty hard stuff to see in it to be able to award it with the best picture oscar . all i know is that fortunately there was gene kelly to play in it or this would have been twice as bad as i believe it is . first of all  i don  t think leslie caron was really fit to play such a role . she isn  t that talented  she isn  t a great dancer and she  s not good looking at all . it  s a shame that one actor or actress may ruin a movie just like by playing in it because if leslie caron hadn  t been in this  it might have made a terrific movie . the story was intelligent  the directing wasn  t bad  and  as i said  gene kelly was pretty good . now i  m not saying all this stuff about leslie caron just to criticize her  i  m just saying it because i think that  s what the worse part of the movie is . she  s probably a good actress but i can  t tell because i haven  t seen her in anything else but i think she was pretty bad in  an american in paris  . so if you want to see it  go ahead but i  m telling you  you  re way better off watching  singin  in the rain  .  
what a fun movie experience  i was expecting a sappy kids movie and found that i enjoyed it more than my teens . take a tissue  it  s not sad  just  moving  in parts . finally  its a  feel good  flick for the whole family . note it  s   hours  so consider leaving the littlest  squirmers  home for this one . ap  
i  m never much for classic films . movies like patton  going my way  how green was my valley  the godfather  casablanca  annie hall  gone with the wind  lawrence of arabia  and citizen kane bore me . however  i would much rather watch any one of those films      times while being tied up on a chair than watch an american in paris once in the most luxurious suite ever . if i did the latter  i  d probably be sleeping the entire time .  br    br   the color art direction and the music didn  t interest me  gershwin or non  gershwin . the dancing and the singing could help an insomniac fall to sleep . the dialogue doesn  t match up to singin  in the rain . basically  this movie is boring . the only other film that i fell asleep while watching was butch cassidy and the sundance kid . but you can  t blame me . i only slept  minutes the night before .  br    br    star     too bad we can  t give zeroes .   
the film had many fundamental values of family and love . it expressed human emotion and was an inspiring story . the script was clear  it was very easy to understand making it perfect for children  and was enjoyable and humorous at times . there were a few charged symbols to look for . the cinematography was acceptable . there was no sense of experimentation that a lot of cinematographers have been doing today  which quiet frankly is getting a little warn out  . it was plainly filmed but had a nice soft quality to it . although editing could have been done better i thought it was a nice movie for a family to enjoy . and the organization of information was just thrown at you which was something i didn  t like either but in all it was a good movie .  
an art house maven  s dream . overrated  overpraised  overdone a pretentious melange that not only did not deserve best picture of     on its own merits  it was dwarfed by the competition from the start . place in the sun  detective story  streetcar named desire  abbott and costello meet the invisible man you name it  if it came out in     it  s better than this arthouse crapola . the closing ballet is claptrap for the intellectual crowd  out of place and in the wrong movie . few actors in their time were less capable  at acting  or less charismatic than kelly and caron . my    worst of     i saw    movies   and among the  worst best picture oscar winners .  
  the rookie  was a wonderful movie about the second chances life holds for us and also puts an emotional thought over the audience  making them realize that your dreams can come true . if you loved  remember the titans    the rookie  is the movie for you   it  s the feel good movie of the year and it is the perfect movie for all ages .  the rookie  hits a major home run   
  various spoilers follow   br    br   gene kelly . not georges guetary  who is sometimes criticized for being too young and un  french . not leslie caron  who is sometimes criticized for her very green performance . not even oscar levant  who more often than not annoys the dickens out of me .  br    br   no  it would definitely be gene kelly . there  s something about his screen persona that  s too ambitious and focused for him to be convincing as a penniless artist in paris  content to put off facing the critics indefinitely  frolicking with little kids and old ladies and painting in the streets . that  s what made him so effective in singin  in the rain and other movies where he played ambitious  focused characters . jerry mulligan is in some ways a cousin to tommy albright in brigadoon  another lerner story with kelly miscast as an american at loose ends who falls in love with a picturesque european place and an innocent female who embodies its virtues .  br    br   except that jerry isn  t as likeable as even poor dazed tommy . that  s another galling thing about this film . jerry is sometimes a cad to milo  and even worse to lise . when he first sees the latter at a club  he pulls a dirty trick to get her to dance with him . when she sits down again he pulls an even dirtier trick to get her phone number . when he calls her the next day she hangs up on him  which he takes as a cue to drop in at her workplace . and throughout all this it  s obvious she wants nothing to do with him . when she starts laughing at his jokes in the perfume shop  it  s about as believable as milo  s interest in his paintings . sure he  s good  looking and playful  but why should that sway her when she  s got henri  who seems like a gentleman to boot   br    br   admittedly it comes off so distasteful partly because of the actress . if a role like lise was played by  say  judy garland  she would shower jerry with indignant insults and glares . if she was played by cyd charisse  one would admire his guts . but when she  s played by first  timer leslie caron she looks and acts like a shy  vulnerable teenager  and as a result jerry just seems like a creep . and why did they choose these other actors  though personally i  d rather they  d solved things by changing the lead  when the whole story hinges on the romance of these two young poor sweethearts disentangling themselves from their loveless commitments to older rich people  not only is gene kelly a few years above guetary and foch  he  s old enough to be caron  s father .  br    br   in short i think it all would have been improved by casting some young comedic  relief type dancer as jerry  the kind that usually turned up in musical supporting roles . . . e . g . ray macdonald in good news or bobby van in small town girl . maybe not them necessarily but someone like them . someone who could have chased lise and made it seem harmlessly playful someone who would have appeared genuinely happy living in that chaplinesque hole  in  the  wall someone whose humor and naivete would have contrasted better with oscar levant  s sarcastic grumpiness . it probably also would have made the ballet seem less ponderous . and it might have provided a voice that could sing gershwin better .  br    br   all this may give the impression that i don  t like gene kelly . i do like him . he was terrific in most of his films  just not this one  well  and a few others  . i don  t despise aaip itself  either it has good points  like the art direction . and leslie caron  who despite her inexperience is rather charming  and really does look like she just stepped out of a painting . georges guetary does a fine job and his  stairway to paradise  is my favorite number in the movie . nina foch is beautiful and touching and should have ended up with somebody . but not jerry mulligan . i wouldn  t wish that on her .  
in the year      my birth year  steven spielberg directed an emotionally strong and unforgettable story of a young african  american girl celie  debut role for whoopi goldberg  whose life is followed through rough times . the story begins from the year     when celie is only   years old . she has given birth two children for her father . celie has a younger sister nettie with whom she is inseparable . a widower lays his eyes on nettie but their father gives celie to him . it is the beginning of an era of horrible abuse and constant controlling . women are inferior of men and especially being an african  american woman their rights are less than a zero . celie  s story is a true survival story .  br    br    the color purple  is a master  piece and underestimated film of spielberg . he should make more drama which  the color purple  and  schindler  s list  are good notion .  br    br   the cast is amazing . whoopi goldberg is known better as a ravingly funny comedienne but the introducing role as celie is a remarkable word that she really can pull of heavy drama . danny glover was surprisingly nasty  mister  . i have never seen him in a such an evil role . the talk  show icon oprah winfrey is brilliant as a strong  willed sofia .  br    br   warning  prepare to have a number of tissues with you when watching this film . you can really connect to the story of the strong sisterhood . especially if you have as close relationship with your siblings like i have with my sister .  br    br   big applauds to mr . spielberg   
not to be confused with the madonna film  the next best thing    the last big thing  is a silly  campy  off  the  wall comedy about a man who yearns to start a magazine called  the next big thing  which reviews a variety of up and coming artists . this low budget indie makes  chuck and buck  look like a masterpiece . fraught with lousy acting  poor sets and costuming  etc .   . . . thing  has earned some awful reviews and to date has only been nominated for one fringe award . pass on this one .  
as a huge baseball fan  my scrutiny of this film is how realistic it appears . dennis quaid had all of the right moves and stances of a major league pitcher . it is a fantastic true story told with just a little too much  disney  for my taste .  
it must be assumed that those who praised this film   the greatest filmed opera ever   didn  t i read somewhere   either don  t care for opera  don  t care for wagner  or don  t care about anything except their desire to appear cultured . either as a representation of wagner  s swan  song  or as a movie  this strikes me as an unmitigated disaster  with a leaden reading of the score matched to a tricksy  lugubrious realisation of the text .  br    br   it  s questionable that people with ideas as to what an opera  or  for that matter  a play  especially one by shakespeare  is  about  should be allowed anywhere near a theatre or film studio syberberg  very fashionably  but without the smallest justification from wagner  s text  decided that parsifal is  about  bisexual integration  so that the title character  in the latter stages  transmutes into a kind of beatnik babe  though one who continues to sing high tenor   few if any of the actors in the film are the singers  and we get a double dose of armin jordan  the conductor  who is seen as the face  but not heard as the voice  of amfortas  and also appears monstrously in double exposure as a kind of batonzilla or conductor who ate monsalvat during the playing of the good friday music   in which  by the way  the transcendant loveliness of nature is represented by a scattering of shopworn and flaccid crocuses stuck in ill  laid turf  an expedient which baffles me . in the theatre we sometimes have to piece out such imperfections with our thoughts  but i can  t think why syberberg couldn  t splice in  for parsifal and gurnemanz  mountain pasture as lush as was provided for julie andrews in sound of music . . .  br    br   the sound is hard to endure  the high voices and the trumpets in particular possessing an aural glare that adds another sort of fatigue to our impatience with the uninspired conducting and paralytic unfolding of the ritual . someone in another review mentioned the     bayreuth recording  and knappertsbusch  though his tempi are often very slow  had what jordan altogether lacks  a sense of pulse  a feeling for the ebb and flow of the music   and  after half a century  the orchestral sound in that set  in modern pressings  is still superior to this film .  
the movie actually has a fairly good story  but gets bogged down in several key places . it  s almost as if the director threw the movie together without taking the time to make some essential cuts in the film . dennis quaid does a fairly decent job in his role . . . but something is clearly missing from several key scenes .  br    br   this  .  hour movie could have been reduced to about a  hour movie . and probably would have been a much better film had it not had the feel as if it was thrown together .  br    br    
admittedly  parsifal is not an opera that can appeal to everyone  although it is a favourite of mine  knappertsbusch       in particular . syberberg  s entire approach is so static . whenever the music suddenly begins to swell . . . syberberg keeps the cast moving at the same pace . the takes on amfortas and klingsor are endless . whatever happened to film editing  the result is physically exhausting to watch . the viewer is never spiritually transported . your impulse is to rush home and play a recording again to confirm that wagner got it right  syberberg got it wrong . and that set decoration with those  clever  reminders of wagner  s anti  semitism   will there ever be a viewer of this film with no prior knowledge of wagner   
as predictable as a hallmark card  but not without merit  the rookie makes for a solid outing . dennis quaid  the most reasonable jock actor working today  is absolutely perfect as the science teacher turned baseball player jimmy morris . the film is never dumbed down for the children  as would be expected from a g rated film . as a sports film  the rookie is one of the best i have seen since any given sunday .  
n . b .  spoilers within . assigning an artistic director to an operatic production naturally and inevitably means you are going to get a piece of that director  s mind . but directing a wagner opera is an especially tricky task  as he was perhaps the most explicit opera composer in terms of what things should look like and how they should unfold . hans  jurgen syberberg loads this filming of  parsifal   wagner  s final masterpiece  with enough extraneous ideas to cause it to nearly burst at the seams . you get more than a piece of the director you get the whole fatted hog and then some . syberberg is to be admired for his penchant for tearing back the covers on the uglier aspects of german history . but does it work to meld that desire to a wagner opera already brimming with its own concepts   br    br   the scenes with the knights of the holy grail in acts i and iii are especially laden with visual allegory and symbolism . these are drawn come from wagner  s own time  from long before  and go well beyond . if you know what these things mean  they can enrich syberberg  s vision for you  but not necessarily enhance wagner  s vision   if you don  t know what they mean  they  re simply confusing  if not annoying . i won  t bother uncoiling the plot of the opera here . suffice it to say it is a typical wagnerian synthesis of diverse elements  in this case a blending of the holy grail legend with the principles  practices  and pageantry of christianity . the theme of redemption plays the main role here  as in nearly every wagner opera .  br    br   i personally had to sweat to get through syberberg  s first act  amidst my jarring acclimation  the music saved the day  . but act ii picks up the pace . here we meet klingsor  the evil sorcerer  out to entrap the wandering  innocent fool  parsifal . the greatest seductress of them all  kundry  will be used to entice him to the dark side . after an initial dalliance with more symbols  these get stripped away  and the long  gorgeous  transformational duet between young fool and temptress really takes off . finally the film starts working a genuine magic  and it is chiefly due to syberberg  s choosing to set things naturally and simply . suddenly the acting starts to work  the expressive actress edith clever and the luscious soprano of yvonne minton team to create a wondrous kundry   suddenly the music seems to come to life and make vivid the inner turmoil of the two characters . the camera work stays simple and quietly fluid . in other words  wagner is allowed to tell his story more on his own terms . and it works beautifully . for me it was the most engrossing part of the film .  br    br   with the re  entrance of the knights in part  of act iii  the weird extraneous symbolisms unfortunately creep back in . some other loony syberberg ideas using a huge wagner death  mask as a major set  piece  causing the composer  s protuberant proboscis to loom comically large   dressing the act iii knights in all manner of costumes  wigs  and makeup  what is the director saying  that the knights are a bunch of buffoons  that they express multiple or timeless layers of significance beyond their surface functions  it  s anybody  s guess   the insertion  just after the incredibly touching baptism of kundry by parsifal  of rear  projection footage of the conductor rehearsing  in modern  day realism  his orchestra in the studio  this completely snapped my dramatic thread  requiring a few minutes to regroup   the complete avoidance of having any time pass between acts ii and iii  when we meet the knight and  narrator  gurnemanz again  he should be an old  old man  and parsifal should re  emerge as a world  weary but wiser middle  aged man   but certainly the most bizarre stroke is to split the parsifal character into male  female components . some find this the most brilliant stroke . no doubt i can credit karin krick  who plays  parsifal    with acting of strength and dignity  she also happens to be the best lip  syncher of the whole cast  . but please . . . wagner  s conception of parsifal is already so complex . his growth from a completely innocent boy who knows nothing of his past  to his breakthrough realization in act ii of what amfortas  s eternal wound means and how it has become his own  to his return as the great redeemer of act iii  this is the journey of a masterfully constructed character . the bi  sexual emphasis is just gimmicky and absurd .  and what  s with this nonsense about a homoerotic gurnemanz and parsifal   can  t we just accept a mentor  apprentice relationship  which is marvelously reversed in act iii    br    br   the monte carlo philharmonic under armin jordan plays with passion and beauty  though the chorus is disappointing  . but after watching this film i only wanted to whip out my solti  led recording  highly recommended  and get my wagnerian bearings straight again . the film experience for me ranged from bizarre to entertaining to infuriating . to syberberg  s credit  he  s created a visually arresting work  and he certainly offers a unique take on an important opera . but instead of sticking to  parsifal   he seems to have wanted to bring in all things wagnerian the man  the life  the enormous influence . . . all of it in crude symbolic code .  parsifal  the opera is already full of weighty symbolism the grail  the spear  the holy sacraments  baptism  amfortas  s ever  bleeding wound  klingsor  s self  castration  the kiss  kundry  s curse  and on and on . this is not to mention the musical symbolism sounding constantly in the score  in the form of wagner  s leitmotif system .  parsifal  itself is one huge symbol  getting back to my first  paragraph question  syberberg  s whole hog is all way too much for me . but if this project sounds like something to tickle your fancy  then go for it . i won  t recommend just staying away from this you may find yourself heartily satisfied . or if you need something to crack your wagner barrier  try it . . . but please  please  don  t stop here .  parsifal  is in a late  very ripe league of its own .  
i was impressed that i could take my  year old son to this movie without having to cover his ears or eyes . no sex scenes  no profanity  and not even any violence . just good entertainment  enjoyable from beginning to end . dennis quaid pulls off this movie very well .  
of the ten actors who portrayed philo vance in the series  edmund lowe seemed the most personable  but in this script the audience is way ahead of the famed detective . after all  when the jockey  douglas walton  stares blankly in space  obviously hypnotized  and says something like  i must ride and be killed   i felt it was dumb that no one picked up on it after he does get killed . the police thought it was a suicide because he said he would do it  after hated horse owner gene lockhart gets shot and killed  frieda inescort does the same thing  saying she  s going out to be killed  and then fatally jumps off a bus . i laughed when lowe finally yells  i got it   as though it were a revelation . the guilty party  however  was cleverly concealed and there was considerable suspense generated when that party starts to hypnotize lowe to get him to jump off a roof .  
i had low expectations for this movie  but i was looking for something unchallenging for an evening . i walked out of the theatre totally delighted and somewhat surprised . this is a very fine baseball tribute film  and a nice lesson about pursuing your dreams . dennis quaid does a masterful job with his role  and i was touched by his performance . definitely worth a full price ticket and a couple hours of your time   
boring children  s fantasy that gives joan plowright star billing but little to do . sappy kids pursue their dreams . frankie wants to be a ballerina and a baseball player  yuk  while best  friend hazel runs for mayor    she  s    totally pedestrian in every way  plus the added disadvantage of syrupy performances by the girls as well as the baseball boys . certainly a lesser effort for showtime    no limits   
this a great disney flick . it is the story of an aging high school baseball coach  dennis quaid   who was once on his way to the big leagues as a pitcher  but suffered a career ending injury . but through series of events  jimmy morris  quaid  gets a try out with a major league team and even makes the roster . this is a great family film . it is inspirational  but doesn  t pour it on too thick . it  s fun and entertaining . adults will enjoy this movie as well as kids . it is based upon a true story  though i  m sure the filmmakers took some liberties in telling the story . quaid is sensational as the title character  very convincing . if you  re looking for a film the whole family can enjoy  look no further .      
some good movies keep you in front of the tv  and you are dying to see the result .  br    br   this movie does not have highs and lows . it simply describes a young girl  s family life in africa . people come and go  the weather and the background are all the same .  br    br    
this is a feel good film  about one person  s dreams and the drive or push to realize them . it is a beautiful and inspirational film . why do some people have to try and find fault with every film that comes out  especially the good ones . dennis quaid gives a good solid performance in this true story of jim morris  a science teacher and high school baseball coach who is pushed by his team to take one more shot at a professional baseball career . with excellent supporting cast  including brian cox  as the crusty old ex navy officer who has let so much of his son  s achievements go by without his support . it was good to see him as something other than a villain in a film . if i have one complaint with this film it is this don  t ever let royce applegate sign the national anthem again .  br    br   seriously  this film belongs to that handful of great baseball films like  field of dreams  and  the natural .  it rates two thumbs up and a big  well done .   
i am very open to foreign films and like to think that i grasp what they are trying to accomplish although some things are lost in translation . but the simplicity and  intelligence  of this film were boring . i  ve often thought how interesting it would be to make a movie that just shows a typical day or time period that really had no point . now that i  ve seen a movie like that i will no longer be thinking along those lines . there  s tones about society  racism  and some desire . . . but south park has that . and when i watch south park it actually moves me to feel an emotion . the closest thing i felt to an emotion during this movie was the yawn i experienced after the first five minutes . i rate the typical movie a seven or above because i love most every film . i gave this film a one .  
this was truly a great movie . i loved dennis quaid and the entire baseball team . jay hernandez is also a very likable actor that is very enjoyable to watch . the chemistry the team had once they got things together was spectacular  it just goes to show what you what can accomplish when minds unite as one with one goal . this team came back from the brink  having multiple losing seasons to winning just about everything . i love movies like this as they really are very inspirational .  br    br   on top of that  dennis quaid  s character getting a place in the major leagues . you can  t do anything  but root for this guy . it just seems like when someone is supposed to do something  they are going to do that . things just happen to fall into place and makes everything click .  br    br   based on a true story  this film will really make you think about the fact that  nothing is impossible .   
i am astounded at the positive reviews for this thoroughly uninspiring film .  br    br   often with foreign films i skip over reviews that complain about slow pace and seeming  absence of action  as many of the best international films do not live up to the western hollywood model of cinematic storytelling .  br    br   i enjoy the frequent artfulness and lack of clich in the foreign film arena . i enjoy that many foreign films don  t tie things up in a neat palatable little bow .  br    br   that said  this particular film offered no redemptive value for the time i wasted watching it . no meaningful character development  no engaging story arc  no way to get emotionally involved with any of the characters on screen .  br    br   synopsis a bunch of emotionally immature uptight prejudiced colonials mistreat their slaves  and a little girl gets hurt by her only friend when the  house  boy  finally gets fed up and takes his abuse out on her .  br    br   while the above paragraph is poignant and dramatic  this movie will bore you while playing out the scenario . i was so unengaged that it took three sittings to finish it  and i wouldn  t have even done that were it not for the positive ratings .  br    br   unless you have an academic interest in the period i strongly suggest steering clear of this one .  
once upon a time hollywood produced live  action  g  rated movies without foul language  immorality  and gore  splattered violence . these movies neither insulted your intelligence no manipulated your emotions . the heroes differed little from the crowd . they shared the same feelings and bore the same burdens . since the     s  the film industry has pretty much written off g  rated movies for adults . basically  modern mature audiences demand large doses of embellished realism for their cinematic diet  laced heavily with vile profanity  mattress  thumping sex  and knuckle  bruising fisticuffs . these ingredients constitute the difference between g  rated movies and those rated either pg or pg    .  br    br   miraculously  director john lee hancock  who penned scripts for clint eastwood  s  a perfect world        and  midnight in the garden of good and evil         hits a home run with this g  rated  feel  good  four  bagger of a baseball epic that not only celebrates america  s favorite summer time sport  but also extols the competitive spirit of the game . essentially   the rookie  resembles the     robert redford saga  the natural  about an old  time slugger who makes a comeback . unlike  the natural    the rookie  shuns swearing  sex  and violence .  br    br   moreover  rugged dennis quaid plays a real  life individual . jim morris  autobiography   the oldest rookie big  league dreams from a small  town guy   served as the basis for mike  finding forrester   rich  s unpretentious  norman rockwell  style screenplay about white  middle  class aspirations . morris attained his dream when he debuted on the mound as a relief pitcher in     . although it doesn  t belong in the same league with the inspirational james stewart classic  the stratton story          the rookie  qualifies as the kind of movie that hollywood rarely makes anymore because audiences find them antiquated .  br    br   hancock and rich encapsulate their entertaining oddball biography in a halo of mysticism . a wildcat oil prospector convinces two catholic nuns back in the     s to bankroll a west texas well . fearing they have blown their bucks on an ill  advised fantasy  the sisters blanket the arid terrain with rose petals and entreat st . rita  s patron saint of hopeless causes  to intervene . the well gushes  the town of big lake emerges  and roughnecks swat at baseballs when they aren  t drilling holes in the terrain . the spirit of baseball oozes from the earth like petroleum . meanwhile  years later  the u . s . navy doesn  t keep jim morris  sr .   brian cos of  manhunter   and his family in one place long before uprooting them . the constant moving takes a toll on jim junior . jim  s dad shows little sympathy and berates baseball .  br    br   nevertheless  jim has baseball in his blood  enough so that when he accepts a high school chemistry teacher  s job in his texas hometown  he organizes a baseball team . like the foul  mouthed  bad news bears    the rookie  chronicles jim  s triumph at turning losers into winners . morris promises the team if they reach the divisional playoffs  he will try out for a professional baseball team . predictably  morris  students maintain their end of the bargain . at age    jim stuns the big league scouts when he hurls fastballs at   miles  per  hour   the rookie  never fouls out .  
the film portrays france  s unresolved problems with its colonial legacy in western  francophone  africa through the befuddled and complex psychoanalytical prism of a young woman  france  herein symbolically representing her nation  . it is an often engaging and challenging portrait of a young woman  s desire to come to terms with a traumatic moment in her past  in particular  and a nation  s desire to reach out to the  other  it once  owned  and moulded . this is reflected in the way in which it centres entirely around the notion of travelling  or being in transit  from the present to the past remembered realities to undeniable contemporary political and economic actualities .  br    br   the characters all play a symbolic  albeit a limited and unconvincing role . france  meant to be a visual as well as a totemic representation of contemporary french society  leaves one indifferent to her plight as she seems still to be imbued with the same naivet she enjoyed as a child  in fact as a child she seems more in possession of her reality . the rest of the rag  tag ensemble is just forgettable . the black africans are  to say the least  offencive impressionistic portraits of former colonised peoples now colonised by the director  s poor handling of her material . they are no more than a dark and moribund backdrop against which the blythe  like france wonders seeking a world she never knew  and hoping for one that can never be found in cameroon .  
this movie  to me  is about family . jimmy morris lived his dream not just for himself  but for his family . i can  t begin to tell you how i would be able to tell my little girl that daddy was going to kansas city to cover priest holmes and the kansas city chiefs . she  d think it was the coolest thing  like morris  son did . living dreams with the family is what this one is about . i think only a father who has a close relationship with his family can truly appreciate what jimmy morris did .  
this movie sucks from beginning till  especially  the end . you probably don  t get  m any worse  acting  storyline  photography  camera work  etcetera it  s all bad  very  very bad .  br    br   but that  s what makes it a  great  watch  it will give you more than enough good laughs . the worse  the better   br    br   i really have no clue what so ever of what these people were thinking making this movie . a serious viking movie  the story is goddamn ridiculous  it  s more like a comedy in disguise  kinda like mafia  also pointless but damn funny .  br    br   and look out for the very very end of the movie . . . uhum .  
this movie is about development . people growing and people fading  people surprising and people disappointing . it has it all and more . there is hope  frustration  injustice  justice  love and hate . it is truly a classic drama that has fantastic performances from the whole cast but especially whoopi goldberg in her debut role .  br    br   this movie made me feel very human and proud of it  and i suggest that this movie should be mandatory each saturday in all prisons in the world  it touches your compassion . rating   of   .  br    br   ps i admit it i shed a tear of joy during the final scene .  
what ends up killing this movie is its self  consciousness  among other things . here  s a short list  . irreverent behavior . when the beatles came over and injected their brand of  quirky  irreverent  behavior  humor  it was greeted as fresh . that was over  decades ago . get over it .  br    br    . false sophistication . spewing out base  quasi  socio  political  isms is hard ground to make work comically . ask woody allen .  br    br    . the post  modern  i  m hard on this phony world and yes  i recognize it in myself  snake eating itself  used as illustration with another animal in the film itself   is such a retread .  br    br    . smarmy  smug drollness .  br    br    . amateurish writing  acting  direction . . . ever seen student films  a victim of itself  about the only thing i can say positive is that it at least has a sense of itself  and sheesh  now i  m getting caught up in the self  reflexive thing that it posits as worthwhile  of value .  br    br   but towards . . . what  ultimately  it just rings as hollow as any other pretentious piece  hey  ever see woody allen  s take on bergman  ie  interiors     well  this just does it more amateurishly .  
this is one of my favorite sports movies . dennis quaid is moving and convincing in the part of a man who gave up his dream of being a baseball pitcher when his arm gave out on him . as a high school coach  he challenges his players to win the division championship by telling them he  ll try out for a baseball team if they do . they win  partly because of all the batting practice they take with a coach who can pitch over   miles an hour   and he keeps his side of the bargain   and is signed   br    br   if you have ever decided to try something new and terrifying as an adult  jim morris  s story will resonate with you . it is moving and inspiring  and the man  s relationships ring true .  br    br   inspiration is not the only reason i rent this one  though . dennis quaid is just downright purdy in the part  and a baseball movie with a good  looking man changing a diaper is my idea of heaven . ladies  if you feel the way i do  check this one out .  
i had no background knowledge of this movie before i bought it  but it sounded cool and i  ve been wanting to see a really kick  butt viking movie for awhile now . . . alas  this film was not what i was looking for . i had hoped for the best  but instead  was delivered a boring nordic soap  opera that seemed to drag on too long despite its   minute running time . the film  s premise is intriguing enough it  s about a viking warlord who defies his god and odin is so enraged that he curses the warlord  s son  named barek  to death and rebirth as a berserker . this barek guy is then forced to live enraged  insane  and violent lifetime after lifetime . the movie is filmed competently enough  with some rich cinematography and quasi  good performances by the actors  but again  i found myself bored and questioning when this dribble would end . the filmmakers had a chance to make something rather entertaining and semi  unique but they dropped the ball . perhaps it could  ve been improved with some cheap exploitation tactics thrown in such as gratuitous nudity and lots of gore . . . i mean  we are talking about  berserkers  here  aren  t we  vikings were supposed to be bad enough  what with all the raping and pillaging  so aren  t berserkers supposed to be even more extreme  all in all  unless you  re a fan of the young and restless  etc . . .  or  are yourself  in fact  an insane berserker who likes self torture  i  d probably steer clear of this drab piece of celluloid .  
this movie has several things going for it . it is a  feel good  story . the characters and actors are likable  realistic and present fine performances . most important  i believe  is that dennis quaid knows how to grip and throw a baseball . robert redford looked good both throwing and swinging a bat in  the natural  and so did kevin costner in  for love of the game  and  bull durham .  in  major league   tom berenger and charlie sheen looked like they knew what they were doing  but many of the others did not  and that picture was pure silliness  and not very funny .  br    br   so many earlier baseball movies  even where the stories might be interesting  presented such a lack of baseball ability on the part of the leads  they were ludicrous in this respect . in  the stratton story  and  strategic air command   jimmy stewart looked about as believable as a professional baseball player  as your overweight  non  athletic  elderly uncle in the softball game at the family reunion . other virile and physically robust stars  e . g .  gary cooper as lou gehrig robald reagan as grover cleveland alexander and dan dailey as dizzy dean  also exhibited a degree of baseball ability that would put them in the late rounds while  choosing  up  for a game at the sunday picnic  even if coed  and even if your uncle were involved  .  br    br   the scenes of quaid  s high school team he coached  the ones where he attends his tryout with the devil rays  and those with him playing in two minor leagues and in the american league  all ring true . the participants are believable and capable . in addition  he is an engaging actor who always delivers a talented and appropriate characterization  except  to a degree  some of his  over  the  top  scenes  and his forced accent  in his portrayal of jerry lee lewis  . but he  s definitely on  target here  and this movie is a     as good  or better  as any others of this genre  except for  the natural .   
recap according to legend  the valkyrie brunhilda defied odin and was chained to a rock surrounded by an eternal fire . only a warrior pure in heart can pass through the flames  free brunhilda and release her from odin  s claim  and have her for himself . now  war is brewing in the norse lands  and the king needs an alliance with the berserkers . the berserkers are warriors claimed by odin  s valkyries  lusting for war  blood and flesh  and therefore outcasts  but superior in battle . the leader of the berserkers is a scorned son of the king  boar  and his price for the alliance is his brother  the future king  barek . but after the king is victorious in battle  he refuses to give up his only remaining son  breaking his oath to boar and betray him and kill him . boar is saved only by barek  s call upon odin . but this is only the start of the battle between the brothers  and their final battle is about to start now  a millennia later . . .  br    br   comments i had hopes that this would be a movie based upon some viking ground  far too little quality movie about viking has been done . it started out very good too  with detailed longships and armors  nice and fitting sceneries and an ok battle .  br    br   the foundation in the aesir myths is thin and seems very corrupted to me . odin is much more vengeful  spiteful and absent than i remind him from school  and the valkyries has been turned into some vampire  demons . i  m no expert  but that seems outright wrong .  br    br   but the fatal mistake made by this movie is to move the time  setting from the original time  period to today . if the two brothers had fought it out in the correct time  with some decent battles  this movie would have been much better . now the setting  suddenly is changed to present day stockholm . still  odin is present and is sending boar and his berserkers for brunhilda and barek which gives silly scenes when armor  clad and painted berserkers swordfights with barek among the industries . beautiful mountains and woods have been exchanged for cement . and when allowed to focus upon single fights  instead of massive battles as in the beginning  i quickly saw that the fights and skills of the actors are slow and clumsy .  br    br   the end result is thin story  sometimes hard to follow and other times just silly  and the only that could save it  the action  is drawn from slow  dull and clumsy swordfights . it draws very little from aesir myth or viking tradition . thus both story and action fails  and the movie is just plain bad .  br    br   finally  as a swede  this movie is a little confusing . supposedly filmed entirely in south africa  it still contains some familiar swedish signs  plates and what seems to be an authentic police car . however  the effort is poor and only goes so far  as to really set it in sweden . no names are swedish  perhaps with anya as the exception   no familiar sceneries are swedish  they  supposedly  speak a little  ancient   norwegian  not swedish . and uniforms  both police and medical  are clearly not swedish . if they were not going to even try to do it correctly  and really give the illusion that it is set in sweden  why bother at all   br    br        
i first saw this movie  years ago  and it was introduced by then disney chief eisner and the real jim morris .  br    br   about a month ago  it came back on tv  and this time i taped it . since then i must  ve watched it at least three times .  br    br   this is a wonderful  inspirational  feel good movie that is intelligently written and believably acted by everyone concerned . it resists going for every sentimental trick in the book  as well as all of the other clichs .  br    br   it is refreshing to see a movie where the kids aren  t jerks and have a whole slew of behavioral issues  and the jocks aren  t portrayed as testosterone driven muscleheads .  br    br   these are just normal people who have dreams like you and i .  br    br   in my opinion  hollywood as gone the other extreme to what they term  gritty realism   making movies where everyone curses  and has problems with aggression .  br    br   this movie is about a man who has a dream  and is encouraged by friends and family to pursue that dream . the people in big lake tx seem so personable that i want to move there .  br    br   as i said b   the film doesn  t try to go overboard with sentimentality . dennis quaid  as usual  never disappoints . i  ve watched him from the late    s  and he is so underrated .  br    br   but this movie has excellent performances from everyone concerned  and kudos to the writers .  br    br   a gem in the movie is near the end when jim is practicing in the dugout before the big game  and his wife calls out to him from the stands . he rushes over and reaches out to his family . the look on the faces of the three other pitchers sitting on the bench in the dugout is priceless .  br    br   if you  re looking for a change of pace  then pick this movie up .  
unfortunately the movie is more concerned with making lame social commentary on a real event  but doesnt have the balls to legitimately document what happened . the constant rhetoric of how violent video games are not to blame  i get the impression ben coccio is an avid gamer   or how media and music is completely devoid of influence is the obvious message  we even get a laughable scene of the two boys burning all their cd  s  talk about subtlety    but the movie only gets away with it because its  fiction  . nice try . yes its a great idea to relieve media of influence  but how do we know the kids that have actually planned and executed a school shooting werent influenced by media  or video games  we dont  and we wont with this movie because once again these kids are smart enough to completely relinquish the media  yet dumb enough to scorch a nazi symbol on the ground  haha i somehow dont think so .  br    br   the movie bats you over the head with its portrayal of the normalcy of the families  its almost doing a disservice to think that there wasn  t a serious flaw in the family dynamic of kids that have actually gone out and shot their fellow schoolmates . why is everyone so concerned with making killers seem  normal   when they are so obviously not  a completely false and phony depiction .  
an end of an era was released here in the states in spring     with  the rookie   a disney live action film that seemed to be the  best for last       it took place right here in texas  actually  the story began in west texas  as evidenced by an area code found on a sign over there . it was about a high school coach who was so convinced by his high class baseball team that he decided to go professional       br    br   what i liked about this movie it was sooo nice      it was a very good sports movie  ala  the mighty ducks  trilogy . it had also taken moviegoers across texas  from somewhere between the panhandle and el paso all the way to the metroplex  where i live  . i can tell because i recognize that ballpark  was  the ballpark in arlington  now it  s  ameriquest field    it was nice to see disney  s  golden age  end here in my area       br    br   r . i . p .  br    br   golden age of disney  br    br       s  spring      br    br    it all started with a mouse . . . and it ended with baseball .   sobs   br    br         
i am fully aware there is no statistical data that readily supports the correlation between video games and real life violence . the movie is false and phony because it is in complete contradiction of itself  which is what i tried to emphasize in my original review . the movie fails  not necessarily because i really do think these kids were influenced by video games  but because the movie sets it up as  random  and doesn  t follow through . let me clarify . in aileen life and death of a serial killer  you can see her claims about the police and being controlled by radio waves are ridiculous  yet she is so troubled  she really believes them to be true . the viewer can make the distinction however . in zero day  the  kids keep saying how they are not influenced by anything environmental  which is obviously false since everything they do contradicts this . neo  nazism  talking about going on cnn with wolf blitzer  which is laughable not only because they know his name  but its a shameless attempt by the filmmaker to get coverage of his bad movie  . . etc . this movie doesn  t depict  reality   it shows nothing but phoniness to prove a point . unfortunately you fell for the bait and didn  t see this  and you didn  t pick up on it from my review either . the entire movie is just taking michael moore  s hypothesis and applying it to something  real life  in hopes of validating and it fails  not necessarily because the hypothesis is wrong  but because the movie is wrong and doesn  t support it . of course i don  t think kids that play video games are more likely to kill people  but if i  m not mistaken  didn  t video tape exist of the columbine kids  or some teen killers  shooting guns in the forest claiming how much they looked or acted like the weaponry in doom  hmmmmmmm  the distinction is kids are most likely aware of the media  influenced  but obviously balanced or intelligent enough that its not even an issue . zero day is a bad movie not because i really believe a correlation exists  but because the film maker doesn  t know what hes trying to say  and the movie does more to disprove his point then support it . it  s almost as if the new ratings given to video games made someone upset so they came up with  zero day  in retaliation . if you want to see the  mindless  teen killer theory pulled off right  go watch bully .  
the rookie is based on the true story of a    year old school teacher in big lake  texas reaching the majors . jimmy morris  dennis quaid  is a small  town high school science teacher and baseball coach . his team is losing terribly until the team discovers that their coach played in minor leagues and can throw a pitch   mph .  br    br   after throwing batting practice and a wager is made  jim agrees that if his team wins regional  s  he  ll try out for the major leagues . the movie tells the story from jimmy being boy to playing in his first game in the majors . it is a great underdog story and a very friendly family movie . dennis quaid makes the movie worth while  giving an emotional performance and is supported by an excellent supporting cast which includes brian cox  rachel griffiths  and angus t . jones .  br    br   the story takes a little while to develop and some scenes are a bit slow but it all works in well by the end . the baseball scenes are fun  well  filmed  and portrayed excellently . the movie really isn  t about baseball but about one man  s quest to reach his dream . it  s inspiring  it  s emotional  and it  s funny . i liked it  i hope you do .  br    br   the rookie . starring dennis quaid  brian cox  rachel griffiths  and angus t . jones .  br    br    out of  stars .  
this film is pretty poor . the acting is abysmal and completely forced . furthermore  by shooting the film as a docudrama doesn  t necessarily make it more believable  you can  t get out of it that easily mr dir . don  t let my comments mislead you however  as i would recommend you watch this film  as it does shed some light on the psychology or non existent psychology behind the perpetrators of such crimes . however  the climax of the film is absolutely rubbish  there is no other way to put it  it pure and simply fails to capture any sense of atmosphere  what takes place does not translate to me any feelings of desperation  panic  fear or dread that one would surely experience in such terrifying circumstances . no instead it leaves you with jaw dropping  was that it    spilling from your tongue  and by no means are you haunted by these boys actions . rather you just feel embarrassed for yet another film that started with potential  but ended up falling flat on its face at the most crucial point . zero day indeed . . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzz  
a fine story about following your dreams and actually taking a stab at doing something about them when the chance strikes . nothing was easy for morris either  he had a family  job  job opps elsewheres  a mortgage  etc  it wasn  t like he could just drop what he was doing and blithely hop on the greyhound to play aaa ball for  months . it took guts . i am glad that they showed his indecision  almost up  til he got the callup to the majors .  br    br   i can remember seeing him pitch against the red sox  i think . . .   it was a great story . though morris actually looks more like john kruk or a mills watson than quaid  that  s okay .  br    br   quaid does a very good job playing the man  the teacher  coach and  oldest rookie  . . . . as someone who is in the the same age group  i certainly can id with his plight . you  re not quite too old to do what you had dreamed of as a kid  but it  s getting there . you have to do it sooner than lator .  br    br   believably told  nicely edited  paced  acted  good to see the familiar faces of the late royce applegate  brian cox and rachel griffiths here .  br    br   good job all around  glad to see it hit .  br    br    outta  . . . who woulda thought that the tampa devil rays woulda been the subject of such a good movie early on   
a youth gets a bad hair day  goes out on a hill  and falls into where he can  t escape . then  he meets mr . atlas  a  mythological  dude from      years ago as his very best friend  and an arnold schwarzenegger look  and  sound  alike . his herculean strength helps the boy out of danger  and later adjusts to modern life . so what  s the big deal  this is the lousiest idea for a  family  outing  either way  this one shouldn  t have been attempted at all  really  our fictional character of might and brawn is nothing more than a typical stranger who appears ordinary to the rest of the universe . to add to the blasphemy is the lack of anything new or appealing  and before you know it  there is some attempted violence that doesn  t qualify this as  family  entertainment . the scene where atlas complains of his undershorts is gaggling  though . just spend a nice  quiet afternoon in the park for a change .  
walt disney  s  the rookie  is based on the story of jim morris  a former minor league picher who made one of the most amazing comebacks in sports history  ending an almost   year retirement and making his major league debut in     at the age of   .  br    br   the film opens with a brief synopsis of morris  childhood  which included a series of re  locations  his father was a military man . and even when his family settled for good in football crazed texas  morris  passion for baseball remained strong .  br    br   the childhood segment then jumps ahead about   years to the adult morris  played by dennis quaid  who is now a baseball coach and chemistry teacher at big lake high school  in real life it was reagan county high school in big lake  texas  . it is mentioned that he attempted a career as a baseball player but that it didn  t work out .  br    br   morris  s team is struggling and he lectures them about giving up on their dreams . they turn the table on him  telling him that he should try out for a major league team . at several times when he pitches to them in practice  they express amazement at the speed with which he throws . morris seems unconvinced but agrees to a deal with his players in which if they win district  he will try out for a major league team .  br    br   big lake does win district and  adhering to his end of the deal  morris attends a tampa bay devil rays try out . phenomenally  he throws   miles an hour  faster than he threw during his minor league career and an outstanding speed even for a major league pitcher . after another try out with the team  morris is offered a contract with the devil rays .  br    br   this leaves him with a tough decision  stay in his comfortable life or once again pursue his major league dream by going through the minor league grind of making little money and spending months at a time away from home . and the decision is even more agonizing than during his first minor league stint because he now has a wife and three children .  br    br   morris signs with the devil rays  begins at the aa level and moves up quickly to the aaa level  one level below major league baseball . but as the season winds down  the chances of him getting  called up  grow increasingly slim .  br    br   for the most part  i love this movie . there are lots of great performances and likable characters and it  s easy to find yourself really pulling for morris . also  the movie does a great job portraying professional baseball at both the major and minor league levels . and most of all  it teaches the timeless message of holding tight to your dreams even when they seem distant and almost impossible to achieve .  br    br   still  the movie has some flaws . while generally accurate  it exaggerates and even fabricates a few things . check out http   espn . go . com  page   s  closer        . html for some examples . also  except for one scene in which he prays with his players  the movie completely ignores morris  christian faith . but considering disney  s left wing zeal  that  s not surprising .  br    br   presumably  a lot of the exaggerations  fabrications were done to make the story more dramatic . yet the   minute documentary on morris that is included on the dvd features some information that makes his story more dramatic but is excluded from the movie .  br    br   for example  from birth until his family settled in texas for good when he was    morris re  located   times . and his initial minor league career ended after four surgeries through which he lost half of the muscle in his left  pitching  shoulder  thus making his throwing   mph even more inexplicable .  br    br   to fully appreciate and understand the story of jim morris  it  s good to not only watch  the rookie  but to watch the dvd  s documentary  check out the aforementioned link to the movie  s inaccuracies and probably also to read morris  biography  also titled  the rookie .  i haven  t read the book but i hope to one of these days .  br    br   but overall   the rookie  is a very good portrayal of a miraculous story and is a powerful testament to the power of dreams and the triumph of the common man .      
oh . . . my . . . god . . . this is without a doubt the absolute cheesiest movie i have ever seen . the acting is bad  the story is weak  the characters are weaker  and the whole film just doesn  t make sense . couple this with mediocre directing  really strange scenes  such as the one where the kid reaches over the ravine and mysteriously falls in   and thoroughly abysmal dialog   look    musta peed his pants     and you get one complete failure . not to mention the fact that the only thing mr . atlas looks like he could defeat is a case of chocolate bars . but this is part of the movie  s charm . sit down and watch it with a few of your friends for a good laugh .  br    br   i love this movie  because it  s just so bad   
i love it when they actually do a sports story well . so many in the past have been so hokey it was embarrassing to watch . not this one . it  s just a genuinely nice movie  an old  fashioned type of story  and based on a real  life guy to did exactly what dennis quaid did in this film . he plays a high school coach who is talked into trying out  late in life athletically  speaking  to become a pitcher in professional baseball . eventually  he reaches his goal of making it to the major leagues  even if it was a very brief stint .  br    br   all the characters in here are nice people  the kind you root for  from quaid to the players on his high school team  to his little boy  angus t . jones  now somewhat of a star on television .   br    br   quaid is believable in playing jim morris because  unlike actors in the past in sports films  he knows how to throw a baseball . he looks like a pitcher  a guy who could fire it    plus miles per hour . and  most of this film is true  as testified by the real  life pitcher in one the documentaries on the dvd .  br    br   so  if you  re looking for a nice  inspirational true life sports film  you can  t wrong with this one .  
it  s a good thing i didn  t watch this while i was pregnant . i definitely would have cried my eyes out and  or vomit . it was kind of gruesome mainly disturbing . i personally thought the baby was adorable in its own twisted little way . however as a mom i cringed when beth stabbed herself in the stomach and when virgina aborted the child during her  rd trimester with rusty utensils no less . also  as an animal lover i almost cried when she scratched the cat to a bloody pulp . however  as creepy and sinister as the baby was i was rooting for it to live . and as twisted as the movie was i am extremely intrigued to see the sequel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
  pandora  s clock  is a gripping suspense  thriller that  s a cross between a virus movie and a disaster film . this movie  which aired in two parts on nbc in its debut showing in      is about an airplane flight that becomes infected with a virus when one of the passengers just happens to be carrying this disease . the u . s . government debates on whether the plane should be destroyed or not  while the pilot  richard dean anderson  and a virus expert  daphne zuniga  try to figure something out to avoid disaster . i  m not really a big fan of tv movies and miniseries  but i liked  pandora  s clock  . it  s one heck of a thrill ride . jane leeves  tv  s  frasier    robert loggia  and edward herrmann  as the president  also star .  br    br     out of four   
a childless couple  brooke adams  jeff hayenga  go to a doctor  james karen  to try to conceive . it works but adams slowly becomes aware that there  s something seriously wrong with the baby . . .  br    br   pretty interesting idea is thoroughly done in by a lousy script   the basic idea is ok but becomes screamingly predictable towards the end . i saw every  twist  coming . the direction is poor   he seems to have no idea how to shoot a basic scene . the production values are   to be nice   lousy . very shabby . and  the gore scenes are too unpleasant  i almost turned it off when a pregnant woman started stabbing herself in the stomach  with lousy special effects . the film completely derails at the end when it becomes quite clear they had no idea how to end this film .  br    br   some good acting makes it somewhat bearable . adams  hayenga and karen are all good at their roles and kept me watching but that was about it . this film barely got released in     and still remains unknown   it  s easy to see why . i give it a  .  
i  ve seen a lot of tv movies in my time as a student  the majority the normal waste of time that us television throws out . this one  however  was well crafted and plotted and had a very nice twist at the end . having only seen richard dean anderson in macgyver and stargate i was surprised with his excellent performance rather than the rather gamut of expressions from a  b that he normally gives . it was a pleasant surprise to see daphne zuniga after quite a long time dating back to the fly ii . also nice to see robert guillaumme in a leading role again . i can  t say that i ever take jane leeves seriously after her benny hill days but she just about managed to cope well in her role . all in all a highly recommended film .  
this is a fair little show about the paranormal although it feels as if art bell and his ilk figured out how to carve a career out of the attitude that carl kolchak exemplified . of course there probably wouldn  t be an x  files if this show hadn  t prepped this audience for it so well . darren mcgavin is not exactly the super  heroic type but he is a plausible  enough  guy to deliver heroic deeds . check out his work on some of those old alfred hitchcock presents . here he is the main attraction  there doesn  t seem to be a girlfriend or wife who  s a distraction . in fact there isn  t a whole lot of sex appeal to the show . something i  m noticing as well is that the pacing isn  t really suspenseful in a typical way . there  s a lot of throwaway humor to this show . sometimes its just pokey to get to the climax . there  s a thread from this show coming all the way up to the present mad men show in terms of style . not that david chase writes mad men but the people that worked under him on the sopranos definitely have emulated and inherited his serio  comic tone .  
steven speilberg  s adaptation of alice walkers popular novel is not without its share of controversy . when first released members of the black community criticised its treatment of black men  while others questioned why a white man was directing this film about black women .  br    br   this is the story of a young black woman named celie  growing up in rural america after the turn of the century . she has two children by her abusive father which are snatched from her arms at birth . her only solace in her miserable life comes from her sister .  br    br   celie  played in later years by newcomer whoopie goldberg  is married off to an abusive husband  danny glover  . the husband is humiliated by the sister and so she is quickly removed from celie  s life .  br    br   the story is often heartbreaking as celie keeps up hope that she may one day be reunited with her sister and with her children . throughout her life she meets an assortment of characters  including sophia  a tough as nails wife to her step son  and shug  a loud and luscious saloon singer  who teaches her a thing or two about love .  br    br   speilberg  s direction is all over this picture  which offers brilliant cinematography and some stellar performances . i dare you to watch this film and not be moved  the film the color purple manages to capture the essence of what is a complicated story . while it tends to minimise the lesbian aspects as well as the african story  both of which were so vivid in the book  the movie remains true to its themes  allowing the voice of alice walker to shine through .  br    br   i couldn  t begin to respond to the controversy that surrounded this film . suffice it to say  however  this is one of the few films that i can watch again and again  and which has left an indelible mark on me .  br    br    
larry buchanan . yep  same guy who did  attack of the the eye creatures  and two  count  em two  conspiracy movies about marilyn monroe . he  s to blame  here .  br    br   adding onto his ever  growing pile of folders left over from oliver stone  s  eh  i  grew  out  of  it  conspiracy drawer  here  s  down on us  i . e .   beyond the doors   which is the working definition of historical inaccuracy .  br    br   forget everything you thought you knew about jimi hendrix  janis joplin and jim morrison  says big lar   cuz this is the real deal  y  see  the three big names in rock of the    s were killed by the government because they were subversives or counter  productive to truth  justice and the american way  or sumpthin  like that there . i knew it all along .  br    br   anyway  three people  chatman  meryl  wolf  who look eerily like their real life shadows  that is  if you completely close your eyes  turn your backs and walk five miles away from them  show that instead of their recorded deaths  the good old us of a put hits out on them  yep  it  s the truth   br    br   man  i cannot believed i watched this movie . it  s facts  when not stretching credibility to the snapping point  are ludicrous the acting makes tv commercials look like high drama and if you honestly watch it through to the end  you deserve the  twist  ending . you really  really do i swear . genius .  br    br   but like the man said  rock and roll is dead  long live rock and roll .   br    br   not this flick  though .  br    br   no stars for  down on us  . and that  s the movie audience describing the film  by the way . . . .  
sometimes  lady luck smiles on me . i had originally made   and copied over   a vhs tape of this wonderful tv presentation . i was heartbroken when i realized what i had done since i had been unable to obtain a copy of it anywhere else .  br    br   recently  i subscribed to digital cable  and while searching through upcoming movies  there to my surprise was a scheduled broadcast of the movie . this time  however  i made a copy of it to dvd so there  s no chance of repeating my mistake .  br    br   i finally got to watch it again after eight years  and it was just as exciting and tense as when i first saw it . there is a little bit of prelude to this story in that my first contact with  pandora  s clock  came with a live reading of the book on public radio . i just happened to tune in to the broadcasting station on my way home for lunch  and from the first installment  i was hooked . each day  i waited with anticipation for the next chapter to be read .  br    br   when i learned a few months later that the book was going to be broadcast on tv as a movie  i made sure to clear my schedule for that event .  br    br   first of all  i  d like to say that the movie was very true to the book  contrary to what another reviewer had said . that  in itself  is a rare achievement for tv movies .  br    br   secondly  i agree with others about the casting . i could not imagine a better choice for captain holland than richard dean anderson . literally  the movie could have crashed and burned without a proper cast for this pivotal role . anderson has never been better  and it is a shame that we have not seen more of him . in fact  all of the cast members did a superb job .  br    br   my only complaint with the movie   and the book   was the interjection of the  terrorist plot  to arm a private business jet with air  to  air missiles and have its pilot stalk and shoot down the stricken plane . basically  we are talking about less than   hours to orchestrate and execute a plan like this one  and folks  that is just not realistic at all given all the players involved . also not realistic was how little the airliner was affected by having first one  then two of its engines blown off .  br    br   that beef aside  i enjoyed the building suspense and found to be very believable how the reactions of foreign governments were portrayed in the film  as well as our own .  br    br   if you have an opportunity to see this movie  do so by all means .  
no laughs whatsoever . yes  i watched this entire train wreck but only so that i wouldn  t later wonder if cleese had come to his senses in the latter part .  no  he had not .   br    br   this may be historically interesting to you youngsters out there  to see that british  humor  included black  jokes  like these  thirty years ago .  br    br   what amazes me even more though  is to read the other reviewers  comments  which acknowledge this isn  t very good  yet then turn around and give it high votes . if the vast majority of the comedies that you have seen are even much worse than this one  then i certainly pity your torturous existences .  br    br   the humor level of this show appears aimed at little kids  yet the subject matter does not . so who is this for  people who enjoy repeated  drawn  out double  takes  pratfalls  drug jokes  interesting only as a short trip back to      and other  low  humor . the three stooges are still funny  and were to me as a kid  too . they exerted some effort in making jokes work . this however is sloughed off schlock . i fear that it is the end of civilization  if this stuff really is accepted as worthwhile . next you  ll be telling me that tabloid tv is popular .    
pandora  s clock is among the best thrillers you will ever read and this is one of the best thrillers you will ever see . a highly faithful adaptation of john j . nance  s novel  which had a frightfully real scenario in the novel  is made even more so here .  br    br   despite being made for tv  this is first rate entertainment . the cast is great and slips into characters from the novel so well that you would think they were reading the novel . richard dean anderson steps way outside the shadow of macgyver and gives the best performance of his career to date . jane leeves is great her role as an ambassador  s assistant in a role that proves she can be a fine dramatic actor . daphne zuniga is great as dr . sanders and despite the character being a man in the book  it works incredibly well . robert loggia  edward herrmann  robert guillaume  and the rest of the supporting cast are top notch and fit their novel counterparts tot he letter .  br    br   there are changes to the story of course  including and a slight change in the ending  but those changes are for the better when compared with the novel . the plot is realistic and very see to believe in the way its presented making this the best airplane set movie since the original airport movie . the production values are high and though the special effects might look as good as they did a decade or so ago  they work fine . sets are great  especially cia hq and the oval office showing that the filmmakers spent a lot of time to make this work .  br    br   it doesn  t matter if you see this first and read then read the novel or vice versa . just do both and you won  t regret losing four hours to this film and however long it takes to read the novel . this will leave you breathless .  
i was expecting a very funny movie . instead  i got a movie with a few funny jokes  and many that just didn  t work . i didn  t like the idea of bringing in sherlock holmes  and moriarty  s descendants . it was confusing . it would have been more funny if they just had someone new  instead of moriarty resurrected . some of the things were funny . burt kwouk was very funny  as always . mccloud on the horse was funny . the mcgarrett from hawaii    was not even mcgarrett  like . connie booth obviously is very good with accents . she is from indiana  but played english and a new yorker pretty well . unfortunately  she was not presented much into the script . i was expecting a more funny film . instead  i got a rather confusing movie with a poor script . rather ironic  since both booth and cleese were together on this one . maybe they were about to break up in   .  
i began watching a replay of this tv movie on a sunday afternoon  thinking it was just another dumb airplane disaster flick . i was wrong .  br    br    pandora  s clock  is an intelligent political thriller that is far beyond the quality of most tv movies . it could just as easily have made its debut on the big screen .  br    br   the cast is excellent  including veteran actors richard dean anderson  edward herrmann  robert guillaume  and robert loggia . daphne zuniga turns in one of her best performances as a medical specialist working for the cia  and frasier  s jane leeves is also very good .  br    br   the dialogue is well  written and the story is compelling throughout . in fact  the final hour is so filled with plot twists and suspense that you can  t leave your seat for a second . if you get a chance to see this movie  invest the time   nearly four hours . you will be richly rewarded   
i viewed this movie in dvd format . my copy may have been affected but i was disappointed with the lack of menu screen for the dvd . i will say that my initial reason for viewing this movie was claire forlani . while fun to watch  i feel she didn  t live up to my expectations that i have so far found from her other films . i actually was equally pleased to see arkin turn in a humorous performance . the other two actors i wasn  t very familiar with so i can  t compare their performance  however they were fairly enjoyable also . the acting is the only endearing quality of this movie in my opinion . the story line  while some could say slightly compelling  lacked direction . i feel that the main problem stems from the script and not the direction of this film . if you enjoy any of these actors to a fair extent then i recommend this film  but otherwise leave it alone .  
why a good actress like elizabeth berkley stars in this commonplace movie       the cast gives some good performance  elizabeth berkley as a barbie girl  ele keats as a girl without mother and justin whalin  a guy eternally lessened by his bother   but the direction is extremely boring and the story is not so interesting and original . i can not believe that a movie like this was produced for the big screen  julie corman  the producer   are you crazy        
i cant help it but i seem to like films that are meant to be scary and are just plain bad . i have personally listed it in my own top   worst movies right under creatures of the abyss  . watch this film and have a laugh just don  t expect to see any academy awards for acting . more chance of understanding the film its self . in all honesty though i have seen much worse than this . plus some maniac cruising round the desert wiping the same people out that just died is that unbelievable that its got to be original . i think its one of those love or hate movies . you can make up your own mind yes its awful but it pulls it off somehow thats why i love it  
forget the jaded comments that come before these . this is an action packed but sensitive movie about people who overcome real problems in a beautiful setting . well  acted  even by elizabeth berkley . recommended for anyone who wants to feel something and experience change .  
in   th century japan  there lived a samurai who would set the standard for the ages . his name was mayeda . he is sent on an epic journey across the world to acquire      muscats from the king of spain . whilst at sea a violent storm swallows their precious gold intended to buy the weapons and almost takes their lives . mayeda must battle all odds to survive and the secure the fate of his beloved japan . shogun mayeda is a multi million dollar action adventure epic set across three continents .  br    br   starring cinema legends sho kosugi  tenchu stealth assassins   christopher lee  star wars  lord of the rings trilogy   john rhys davies  lord of the rings trilogy  indiana jones trilogy  and toshiro milfune  the seven samurai  throne of blood   shogun mayeda  kabuto  is a film masterpiece .  br    br   the osaka winning stunt team bought to the screen by bob ivy bring exciting battle  action sequences such as the opening battle against the eastern army  the attack on mayeda  s ship carrying priceless jewels and the final confrontation between sho kosugi and david essex . a fine musical score by famed composer john scott is also present . director sho kusugi was not even nominated for an oscar for this film which deals with the emotional strife such as the death of mayedas family  the search for love and acceptance after grieving  all of which is dealt with extremely well . highly recommended cinematic masterpiece .  br    br   please note all of the above is opposite for the film in question .  
de sica is becoming one of my favorite directors  but this one was a hit  and  miss for me . a grinning idiot youth becomes the leader of a community of illegal settlers in a deserted area outside milano . it is a detailed and sparkling story of the innocent poor masses  complete with evil capitalists and trigger  happy police forces  but slowly it evolves into a magic fantasy tale  as the boy wonder toto develops unlimited superhero powers . i had it up to here with the ever  smiling toto after   minutes  and when the magic took over  i was left in the dust . there were so many wonderfully orchestrated shots  so many good characters among the settlers  that i kept thinking it was a waste the movie wasn  t more serious with its material . the coupling of neorealism and fantasy comes out more as an experiment of the  look  what  we  can  also  do  mum  sort than as a fully developed piece of work  art .  
oh my  i think this may be the single cheesiest movie i  ve ever seen . i  m serious  this is one of the ultimate b  movies . the first proof is that it isn  t a   dvd . oh no  that  s too mainstream for this . i got this on vhs  from a bin full of ex  rental videos at my local video store .  br    br   if i may quote the blurb  in   th century japan  there lived a samurai who would set the standard for the ages . his name was mayeda . he is sent on an epic journey across the world to acquire      muscats from the king of spain . whilst at sea a violent storm swallows their precious gold intended to buy the weapons and almost takes their lives . mayeda must battle all odds to survive and the secure the fate of his beloved japan .  it then goes on to say  a multi million dollar action adventure epic set across three continents   br    br   i must have seen a different movie . this was no epic  and it certainly wasn  t a multi million dollar anything . no   shogun mayeda  is really just the crazy adventures of the engrish  speaking mayeda  sho kosugi  . he isn  t even a shogun really  but thats not important . what is important  is that he does a really cool impression of john cleese  s repeated charging of the one castle in  monty python and the holy grail   and his ability to go from serious scenes to showing off his samurai mind powers . awesome .  br    br   the greatest thing about this movie is sho kosugi  s engrish accent . the movie may lack nearly everything that makes a good movie  but makes up for it with some of the cheesiest lines ever  delivered by the coolest engrish accent ever . and honestly  do you really want anything else  you could fast forward  shogun mayeda  to the end  and replay kosugi  s final line over and over . the tape will probably wear out before you get tired of that one line . awesome .  br    br        so very very cheesy .  
if you have trouble suspending disbelief then this isn  t for you . consider a woman already in late middle age finds a newborn baby in a cabbage patch and raises it as her own . think about it she makes no attempt to locate the mother  who may well be a confused teenager in need of medical treatment and seemingly no one from the italian equivalent of social services makes any attempt to put the baby into  care   no social services  now i know it  s a fantasy  . before you know it young toto is ten or so and his adoptive mother dies leaving him to the orphanage from which he emerges a happy man who loves everybody . in nothing flat he has not only given his suitcase to the man who stole it from him but organised the local homeless into bona fide shantytown residents and for an encore he leads them in a fight against capitalism in the shape of the businessman who buys the land on which the shantytown stands when oil is discovered there . this wants some swallowing without the subsequent  miracles  beginning with toto  s dead mother  the old lady who raised him rather than his biological one  appearing to him and handing him a dove which doubles as a magic wand allowing him to grant modest wishes and a finale in which the hobos fly away to a better place located presumably somewhere over the rainbow .  br    br   on the other hand the film is up to here with charm and is easy to surrender to . on balance a small masterpiece .  
i must admit that i have been a sucker for samurai flicks since i can remember . i used to watch rather indiscriminate  be it  elitist  works like the seven samurai or the bloody comic  book variation like lone wolf and cub . i also liked us   japanese  crossovers  like the bushido blade . and of course everything containing sonny chiba and hiroyuki sanada . and i  ve virtually watched every samurai at least twice . but not kabuto .  br    br   in     i first watched kabuto on video  that even samurai films can be boring . in the beginning i was looking forward to mayeda reaching europe and the confrontations that would come from that but by the time he actually reached spain  i really didn  t care so much for the movie anymore .  br    br   it wouldn  t do the film justice to call it  bad  . technically it  s a clean entry into the genre . but there is simply never quiet enough . sho kosugi has limited skills as both director and actor and has only a fraction of above mentioned japanese actors charisma . and speaking of sho kosugis son kane  who appears in almost all sho kosugi films as shos son he has inherited little  to  none of his fathers limited acting skills . adding to the minus  points is the absence of the blood and gore that until then was a trademark of all samurai film . this was obviously intended for a younger us   european audience .  br    br   lets just say that it  s a so  so film for the average historic  action  adventure fan but a bore for hardened fans of samurai cinema . fans who are into the  samurai meets    genre  should rather go and watch red sun        featuring charles bronson as cowboy who has to team up with samurai toshiro mifume to retrieve a samurai sword from bad  guy alan delon . it pretty much how to do it right and where kabuto went wrong .  br    br   so  even though the film is a mere    minutes  it seems like a much longer film .  br    br   the reason i gave this a honourable     points instead of      first time i saw this film  i saw it in the german synchronized version . in this version  kosugi can actually be understood . i must admit that his  engrish  is at times funny but gets tiresome after about   minutes .  
this film is like a      version of ettore scola  s brutti sporchi e cattivi . less sex and less realism  but a tale with great humanism and warmth . i wouldn  t call this a neo  realistic picture . it  s very sentimental and more like a fairy tale  and should probably be classed as a comedy  although it deals with serious matters  a little like chaplin or      comedy  . typical italian though  very emotional  and hard to resist except for a stone cold person . the sentimentalism is a letdown  although this picture was not meant to be a realistic drama . it  s not a masterpiece like umberto d or the bicycle thief . but it is a lovable and hilarious comedy  with good music .  br    br        
whoever made this nonsense completely missed the point . jane is a silly comic strip to titillate without being sleazy .  br    br   this giant mess tries to be funny and exciting but is just a shambles . there is not one decent performance in it . . even the usually reliable jasper carrott is painfully unfunny .  br    br   the american bloke whose name escapes me is just as rubbiush as he was in flash gordon .  br    br   maud adams tries as a villianess but she is a bit long in the tooth for this type of thing . all of these things would not matter if the girl was sexy or funny or likable . she is not . kirsten holmes faded into obscurity after this and so much the better .  br    br   i  ve flushed more entertaining things than this down the toilet . avoid  
this film is like an allegory of the gospel . it has such direct honesty and innocence you can not possibly believe it was made after the world war when italy was ravaged and devastated  and was filled with a huge homeless  impoverished population . it is a monument to the best qualities of the human spirit  as well as to the endless creative resources of that land of inspiration .  br    br   toto is a character like doestoevisky  s  idiot   a modern christ finding his way in a big city . he is goodness and purity fortified by love  and his acts change the people he encounters  as much as the miracle working dove . the story is told in a natural manner and simple style  yet imbued with a magic that is almost a premonition of fellini  s surrealist fantasies . it is one of the most inspiring  uplifting movies ever made .  
despite some mildly thought  provoking oddities in the script and the film  s overall curiosity value  fury of the wolfman emerges as a dull  uninteresting excursion into lycanthropy  saved only by the statuesque presence of villainess perla cristal . the rest of the players  including the hammy naschy  are a complete write  off  though admittedly none are helped by often atrocious dubbing  . although the screenplay packs in enough variations on werewolf  frankenstein  dr moreau themes to flesh out a dozen movies  the plot is so unevenly developed  the characterizations so feeble and the dialogue so verbosely ridiculous  at least in the english version   that any latent interest in the turgid proceedings is soon quashed .  br    br   zabalza  s direction seems jerky  even amateurish . his staging is clumsy and ineffective . he is not helped by villasenor  s over  bright lighting . even promising sets are so unatmospherically photographed that the director  s few attempts to give the audience a fright are signaled far in advance  br    br   other credits fall into a similar pattern of ineptitude  though the stridently over  emphatic music score and the laughably crude  totally primitive special effects deserve special condemnation .  
this movie was my first touch with mr sica so i really didn  t know what to expect . but what i saw just broke all my expectations  in a good way .  br    br   the storyline is not complex and shows us a life of found boy  orphan and particularly his connection into the community of poor people who together built themselves a hood of simple metal plate houses . this little city in another city lives own life and things are going fine . but one day there is a water resource found and a rich nobles man is getting interested in the buying the place . but as the title of the movie hints  there is a miracle taking place . our character gets a wonder dove from his dead mother . what is he going to do to protect his friends and all built city as well   br    br   it was just a masterpiece of natural comedy . there is shown the behavior of poor people and how money and property can talk and play with people . also many funny moments and scenes are included  at the beginning with the spot where sun is shining and many more .  br    br   so according to the fact that i m not a comedy lover you should see this movie because i liked it much  br    br   i  
this review applies for the cut of the film that  s generally available as  fury of the wolfman  . i understand there is an uncut version out there with additional footage  and i would hope that it contained at least eight or nine crucial scenes that seem to be missing from the cut known as  fury of the wolfman  . in short  the movie makes absolutely no sense whatsoever . it is utter nonsense  and incomprehensible nonsense at that .  br    br   waldemar daninsky  that venerable lycanthropic antihero portrayed by paul naschy in a seemingly endless series of films  is apparently a normal guy who has just come back from a trip to tibet  where he was attacked by a yeti . somehow this has turned him into a werewolf . daninsky is a doctor  a scientist  and an instructor at what appears to be a college . one of his female colleagues  ilona elmann  is involved in a vague form of hypnosis . . .  chematodes   a nonsense word used to refer to a bunch of wires attached to a victim  s head . ellman feels this will enable her to  change the direction of the human brain   naturally enabling her to rule the world  provided she can get us all attached to those wires with no trouble .  br    br   elmann is also into werewolves  because she kidnaps daninsky and takes him to her hidden laboratory . she has a bunch of other people trapped there as well . some of them look like gypsies  and are chained up  being in varying states of lucidity . others are clearly hippies . elmann feels that one day she may be able to  help them be human again      but in the meantime she controls them with her chematodes . waldemar becomes her hairy hit man  wandering around like a werewolf zombie   that is until the filmmakers decide to use footage spliced in from another naschy werewolf film   frankenstein  s bloody terror   don  t ask   at which point naschy  s werewolf makeup changes considerably and he lurches around like an animal .  br    br   is this making any sense  no  good . that  s the film  s saving grace . it doesn  t try and engage you on any kind of intellectual level  it just goes full speed ahead with whatever nonsense dialogue or cheap horror movie sets it can muster up .  fury of the wolfman  may be the best halloween party movie ever . you absolutely do not need to pay attention to it  and in fact if you do  you will be completely confused .  
this is an excellent film  with an extraordinary cast and acting . i was very disappointed with the academy awards when this didn  t get the oscar for best film and for best actress  woopi goldberg  . . . it certainly deserved it . in any case  take a look at it . i am sure you will enjoy it very much .  
bad plot  bad dialogue  bad acting  idiotic directing  the annoying porn groove soundtrack that ran continually over the overacted script  and a crappy copy of the vhs cannot be redeemed by consuming liquor . trust me  because i stuck this turkey out to the end . it was so pathetically bad all over that i had to figure it was a fourth  rate spoof of springtime for hitler .  br    br   the girl who played janis joplin was the only faint spark of interest  and that was only because she could sing better than the original .  br    br   if you want to watch something similar but a thousand times better  then watch beyond the valley of the dolls .  
this obscure de sica delivers the goods . and it is said  the meek shall inherit the earth .  this tale of classes on the surface but really an allegory for all the homeless people that populated europe after the great war . they are homeless but cheerful  in a societies too impoverished and selfish to care for or acknowledge them  footmats for the italian carpetbaggers . de sica chooses to tell it as a fairy tale  a cinderella story . i have not read the book it is based on so i cannot foresay if the deus ex machina is the construct of the writer or vittorio . it begins with the words   once upon a time . . .  to exemplify the timelessness of its tale  for the story could be set anywhere and everywhere . caricature sketches of the aristocracy that cut to the bone  whimsical nature of the homeless especially when they begin to grant their wishes and an ending right out of a spielberg picture makes this boulange a delight for all . de sica  s most accessible picture is also one of his best . abandoning neo  realism  he always dallied between that and pure good old film  making  he creates a movie that breaks the heart and at the same time fills it with the yearning of hope that one needs to continue leaving in this world . gracias vittorio  gracias  gracias    gracias              
i saw this little magnum opus for the first time very recently  on one of those dollar dvd  s that seem to be everywhere nowadays  and was so moved by it that i cannot contain myself . for those who have never seen this mesmerizingly miserable mexican import  and wish to view it without being prejudiced by anyone else  s jaundiced commentary  there are undoubtedly substantial spoilers in what follows . so if you are one of those reckless individuals  stop reading at once and go and watch it for yourself . if you get drunk enough in advance  you might be fortunate enough to pass out before it  s over .  br    br   begin with the premise that a man may become a werewolf after being bitten by a yeti . no one in the film ventures an explanation as to how this sort of cross  species implantation could occur  and the rest of the movie is even more hopelessly nonsensical . but pour yourself another glass of wine  or whatever you  re drinking   and let us proceed .  br    br   paul naschy  our werewolf  has the look of a man fighting a toothache  in a town where the only dentist has traded his supply of novocaine for a case of cheap whiskey  and has been drunk ever since .  ain  t he the lucky one   naschy  s facial expression never varies  whether in or out of makeup  and apparently no one gave him any coaching on how to act like a werewolf . occasionally he tries to imitate the lon chaney jr . crouch  but most of the time he simply strolls around in his black mafia shirt  like just another cool dude with a tad too much facial hair . to be fair  the makeup is actually better than the actor inside of it  but the continuity is infinitely worse . naschy  s werewolf is the only one i can think of that changes shirts twice in the middle of a prowl . he goes from black shirt to red shirt  then back to black  then back to red  then back to black  all in a single  frenzied night . interestingly enough  he always does the chaney crouch while wearing the red shirt  and the cool dude walk while wearing the black shirt . and it  s only while he is wearing the red shirt that we see much of the fury alluded to in the title . presumably there  s something about that red shirt that just brings out the animal in him .  br    br   so anyway  after being bitten by the cross  pollinating yeti  the poor schmuck returns home from tibet to learn that his wife has been sleeping with one of his students . the two illicit lovers try to murder him by adjusting the brakes on his car . he survives the wreck  and makes it home just in time for a full moon . then  after chewing up his wife and her lover  he wanders off again  and somehow manages to get himself electrocuted . but is that enough  can they let this tormented wretch rest in peace  not a chance . he is resurrected by a supposed female scientist with a hardcore s  m fetish  otherwise known as  the doctor   and definitely not a new incarnation of doctor who  . she digs him up and whisks him away to her kinky kastle  takes him down to the dungeon  chains him to the wall  and gives him a damn good flogging . presumably such a string of indignities ought to be enough to put a little fury into any wolfman .  br    br   after his two  shirted rampage  our wolfman spends most of the rest of the film wandering around the castle  trying to find a way out .  and who can blame him   in the course of his wanderings  he encounters a bewilderingly incoherent assortment of clichs  including a man dressed in medieval armor  a curiously inept phantom of the opera impersonator  supposedly the doctor  s father   and a hard  partying cadre of bondage slaves .  br    br   so what  s it all about  one may reasonably ask  one gets the vague impression that it has something to do with mind control  and involves something the doctor calls  chemotrodes .   best guess . i really have no idea how it  s spelled  if there even is such a thing .  mercifully  the experiment ends in failure  and most importantly  it ends . . . before one has time to gnaw one  s own leg off .  br    br   of course  one doesn  t really expect any sense from a film like this  but at least it ought to be good for laughs . this one isn  t . forget it  buddy . there is a creeping sort of anarchy about this film  from its patched  together  tequila  drenched ambiance to its atrocious cinematography and agonizing musical score  that defies even the most sozzled attempts to get any mst  k type laughs out of it . if it  s not even good for that  what the hell is it good for  if montezuma  s revenge could have somehow been digitally remastered and put on a dvd  it would have looked exactly like this movie .  
the snobs and pseudo experts consider it  a far cry from de sica  s best  the ones suffering from a serious lack of innocence will find a problem connecting to this masterpiece . de sica spoke in a very direct way . his italianness doesn  t have the convoluted self examination of modern italian filmmakers  or the bitter self parody of pietro germi  the pungent bittersweetness of mario monicelli  the solemnity of visconti or the cold observation of antonioni . de sica told us the stories like a father sitting at the edge of his children  s bed before they went to sleep . there is no attempt to intellectualize . miracolo a milano and in a lesser degree il giudizio universale are realistic fairy tales  or what today we call magic realism . the film is a gem from beginning to end and toto is the sort of character that you accept with an open heart but that  naturally  requires for you to have a heart . cinema in its purest form . magnificent .  
  while traveling in the mountains  a man is attached by a mysterious creature that promptly departs  leaving no trace of its presence . unbeknownst to the man  he has been attacked by a werewolf and now he  s inherited the curse associated with such creatures . now our hero must race against time to rid himself of this dreadful affliction before the next full moon   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   horrifically re  produced from the original spanish   the fury of the wolf man  loses whatever charms it may have possessed in its original form . lycanthropic paul naschy  s werewolf characterization is uneven and ineffectual . dominatrix scientist perla cristal and sexy assistant vernica lujn never get close enough to truly titillate . the often incoherent storyline isn  t even ghoulishly amusing .  
this is a really strange film   and that is not a bad thing . it is a combination of a neo  realistic film about the homeless and a fairy tale . i  m sure that some may find this movie a bit too strange  but i loved it . once again  this director brings together a wonderful cast of everyday people  not actors  and gets a great ensemble  type performance . although not nearly as sad as umberto d  both movies have a very similar point to make   this one just does it in a very absurdist way . ignore the cheesy special effects   after all  it was made in the early     s and special effects aren  t terribly important anyway  or at least they shouldn  t be in films  . instead  just sit back and enjoy the very strange and silly ride . unless you are a total curmudgeon  you  ll have a ball .  br    br   by the way  since i first reviewed this film  i have seen another desica directed film that is an absolute must  see and that is the children are watching us . while not a fantasy or light in spirit like miracle in milan  a great film nevertheless .  
  la furia del hombre lobo  forms a completely stand  alone storyline which doesn  t seem to fit in at all with the previous waldemar daninsky movies . some have commented that this movie is supposed to take place before the events of  werewolf shadow   although it was released afterwards . . . they may be right  i  m not sure . anyway  in this movie waldemar daninsky is bitten by a yeti  like creature in tibet  great dialogue here    it was a yeti . but that  s impossible . i  m a scientist and these things don  t exist . it was a hallucination . that  s all .   and although marked with the sign of the pentagram  he is able to prevent the change into a werewolf until he discovers that his wife has been cheating on him . changing into the beast one night  he kills both her and her lover before running out into a storm and being electrocuted . it  s not long before he  s resurrected by a dominatrix university professor who is conducting some kind of unfathomable experiments with mind control . he is taken to the underground cellar of a castle where the subjects of these experiments live like chained animals .  br    br   first of all   jacinto molina  paul naschy  whatever you want to call him  he  s a fine actor and cared passionately about his work . no matter how flawed these movies are  you can always rely on him for a decent performance . the rest of the cast seem good enough  but it  s hard to tell when they have a half  assed voice  over dubbed over all their lines . and that was really the main problem for me . . . many of the voice  over artists they used were just awful  awful  awful . whenever i chuckled during the movie it was at the inept way that they delivered their lines  they seem to constantly refer to the hero as  waldeman   . but unfortunately it  s almost impossible to find subtitled copies of naschy movies  although they  re sometimes available in the original language without subtitles .  br    br   the directing of jose maria zabalza seems sort of hit  and  miss . . . there are some great visual ideas in some scenes  while others are badly constructed and poorly edited  particularly in the final scenes when it really counts . the reason for this  was that zabalza was apparently drunk most of the time while on set . he allowed his fourteen year old nephew to rewrite molina  s dialogue  used extras without his permission  and spliced several shots from molina  s earlier movies . all of this pretty much ruined any chance this movie had of being one of molina  s best works  and it  s no surprise that the two of them never worked together again .  br    br   but it  s not all bad news  as there are some good ideas here . some aspects of the storyline make an interesting psychological drama with the werewolf as a metaphor for jealousy and rage . the  werewolf as a yeti  idea is one that returned in molina  s later work . some pretty horrific and surreal stuff goes on down in the cellar  and there  s also a very memorable sequence about half way through the film where daninsky runs from house to house through a village  slaughtering or molesting innocents as he goes   one scene is particularly intense  but it  s actually lifted straight from molina  s first movie   la marca del hombre  lobo  along with a few other shots . i actually found the movie on the whole to be very entertaining  although there are some problems with the front row entertainment version  such as pretty obvious cuts  although some of it may simply be due to the director  s lack of continuity  . gods knows what omissions there are   i  ll probably try to get my hands on the uncut version at some stage in the future .  br    br   this is a overall a decent piece of vintage naschy which experienced fans might enjoy  but it could have been much better and so probably wouldn  t make a great introduction .  
perhaps the last film you would expect to come from vittorio de sica and cesare zavattini  who wrote the novel on which this film is based  . it  s a neorealist fantasy  kind of an oxymoron  really . an old woman finds a baby in her cabbage patch and raises him as her own son . after a few years  the baby is a young boy  named toto  and the adoptive mother is dying . he goes to an orphanage and  when he finally turns    he leaves . immediately  he finds that he has no home . toto is optimistic  though  and won  t let anything get him down . a man steals his valise  and instead of getting angry over it  toto becomes his friend and goes and stays with him in a small shantytown . toto takes some initiative and organizes the many homeless living in the area and they build a better shantytown . soon  the landowner is trying to sell this plot of land  and the citizens of the shantytown have to protect themselves . after many attempts  the owner mounts a force of police to get rid of the homeless . at this point  the film becomes full  fledged fantasy  before this it was more comedic  fantastic melodrama in the style of charlie chaplin  . this stuff is so weird and shocking that it  s probably best for others to see it for themselves . it  s quite amazing  and very funny . there are objections you could raise about the plot of miracle in milan  most certainly . fellini and visconti were greatly criticized when they started to stray from neorealism . i think i read this was widely criticized at the time of its release . at this point  though  it  s so enjoyable  i loved it very much . it might be my favorite of vittorio de sica  s films  although umberto d and the bicycle thieves come very  very close .      .  
spanish horror icon paul naschy stars in this  one of his weakest werewolf films . . . but bear with me for a moment . most people will be familiar with it under its most common television title  the fury of the wolf man  and there have been many home video versions of it over the years . if you want to be serious about giving it a fair shot though  the most workable edition i  ve seen of it goes by the title the wolf man never sleeps  and it  s an unedited and complete european version which restores a couple of disturbing scenes and contains the original nude shots which are missing from fury  s print . it is also letterboxed .  br    br   naschy plays waldemar daninsky  returning home from a trip to tibet only to find out that he  s contracted a werewolf curse and that his wife has been having an affair . he takes care of her and her lover while in animal form  but then becomes a guinea pig for a sexy woman doctor and her female assistant . apparently  the doc attempts to  tame  the werewolf  and there is a very strange sado  masochistic love scene between her and the hairy and fanged daninsky who is under her trance  at least in the original version . ultimately we get two werewolves for the price of one as daninsky battles a she  wolf   br    br   the biggest problem with the movie is that the director  according to naschy  s claims  was often drunk  and the results are indeed rather incoherent . when watching the wolf man never sleeps copy  it  s not quite as difficult to make out what  s going on  though the editing remains atrocious in spots . worst of all is occasional non  matching footage of naschy  s ravenous werewolf swiped straight from another previous film  la marc del hombre lobo  aka  frankenstein  s bloody terror   and mixed into this one without any sensible reason  the wolf  s clothing changes from black shirt to white and back again  as does his demeanor one moment the wolf is walking around lethargically in a hypnotic trance from fury  next he is growling and running around savagely from bloody terror . really bizarre .  
picture the scene a mountainous alien landscape . twin moons illuminate the blood red sky . the tardis lands  and out steps the doctor  a middle  aged man in a victorian frock coat  and rose  his companion from earth . a flicker of recognition crosses his face .  well  i never  its the planet saurious   . where i fought the warlike kraggartians . they tried to use giant skinkons to take over the planet .  . the girl sniffs the air .  can  t we go  doctor . i don  t like the look of this place . i keep thinking we  re being watched .  . the doctor wags a disapproving finger .  don  t be silly  girl . i wonder if the king and queen of cordaraby city remember me from my last visit . come along  rose  come along   . he strides off  the girl struggles to keep up . high on a hill  sinister red eyes regard them with hatred . . .  br    br   that was not how  rose  began back in      and thank heavens for that say i . unfairly derided at the time of its original u . k . broadcast   rose  can now safely be regarded as a landmark episode  putting  dr . who  back where it belonged  as one of the b . b . c .  s flagship programmes . the mistakes made by the mcgann t . v . movie were well learnt . instead of trying to shoehorn the new  who  into existing chronology  it represented a fresh start for the series  beginning with shop girl rose tyler  billie piper  going about her daily routine . one day she goes to the basement to find a man named wilson  and then the trouble begins . mannequins come to life and attack her . it is only through the intervention of a mysterious stranger  christopher eccleston  that she is saved .  br    br   the story  slight though it may be  is more than adequate as a starting  point for the series . the autons are  of course  an old villain  this was their first appearance since       but no references are made to their past appearances  another wise move . the finale effectively recreated the famous scene in  spearhead from space  when shop window dummies sprang to life . as the doctor  christopher eccleston lacked the eccentricity of his predecessors  preferring a modern leather jacket to the doctor  s traditional period clothes  but this made him more accessible to the show  s hoped  for new audience . billie piper confounded her critics by making a big impression as  rose  . also good was noel clarke as her boyfriend  mickey  .  br    br   yes  there was an added emphasis on special effects  but then there needed to be  the wobbly sets and unconvincing monsters of the past have no place on   st century television . what is more important is how good a script this is . ten million people tuned in to see the new doctor .  br    br    dr . who  was back  and back with a bang   
waldemar daninsky  paul naschy  travels to tibet and is bitten by a yeti  which causes him to become a werewolf . he is accidentally killed after he attacks his cheating wife and her lover  and is later revived by a female scientist  dr . ilona ermann  who uses him in mind control experiments . daninsky later discovers an underground asylum populated by the bizarre subjects of the doctor  s failed experiments .  br    br   upon hearing of naschy  s death from colleague jon kitley  i rummaged through my collection for a suitable film to watch . in my scramble  i found i own not one but three    copies of  fury of the wolfman  . the film is of questionable video quality  the sound is dubbed in a mediocre fashion  the cinematography is sort of slapstick style at times . and the american versions have two love scenes removed . quite frankly  without a remastered  uncut copy  i wasn  t really getting the proper movie in all its glory .  br    br   this film claims to be the fourth in a long series about the werewolf count waldemar daninsky . i suspect this is true  but you wouldn  t know this from the film itself . the plot is confusing at times  and there  s really no indication that this is a sequel . if you read the plot summaries on wikipedia and compare them to what is printed on the box  you  ll see that i  m not alone in my confusion .  br    br   perhaps the film  s shortcomings can be forgiven if we understand the production hell it went through . while floating around for years  it was only released in      due to problems involved in finding a distributor . and naschy said in his autobiography that the director  zabalza  was an incompetent alcoholic  and that he hated working with him . those really aren  t light accusations  and i have no idea what zabalza had to say on his own behalf .  br    br   chances are  sooner or later you  ll come across a low  grade version of  fury of the wolfman  . it appears in a variety of three  packs and box sets  so you might accidentally acquire it and not even know . what really needs to happen is an american uncut version  with a decent sound and video mix  and the love scenes thrown back in . as far as i know  this does not exist . let us honor paul naschy  s legacy and get his films to a wider audience in a level of quality he deserves .  
they did it . and  boy  did they do it fantastically or what  the bbc finally brought the doctor back to our screens on a saturday evening where he belongs  and they did it with style   br    br   episode one  rose   one of the strengths of the new series is russel t davies as a writer and executive producer . he  s a fan of the show and knows what the other fans want  but also is an experienced writer in his own right  so knows what other people want . another strength  as perfectly shown here in this first episode  is billie piper and her character of rose tyler . finally the doctor  s companion gets a credible back story and a strong character . also nice to see the return of the autons  a nice nod to the classic series there .  br    br   episode two  the end of the world   in the start of this double bill to show off the tardis  strengths  we end up in a story where special effects is everything  they now have the technology to create real  believable environments and monsters  no more rubber suits of sorts  also the hints at the end of this episode regarding the new doctor  s past  very intriguing to kill off all the time lords and make him the only one .  br    br   episode three  the unquiet dead   we  ve had the future  now lets have the past . the first non  davies written episode is a little flat in some places  but this is made up for by simon callow  s charles dickens and the sudden twist in the plot when it is revealed the pitiful gelf are not so pitiful after all . . .  br    br   episode four  aliens of london   the consequences of the doctor  s actions are fully explored in this series  not least with the repercussions of rose running off with him . also  we have our first cliffhanger not the best of ones admittedly . the slitheen are an interesting villain  though they can look too cgi for their own good .  br    br   episode five  world war three   the second part of this story about the slitheen suffers mainly from the same problems of the first . also  the clips from the next episode coming up at the end of the current episode are annoying and spoil it for people .  br    br   episode six  dalek   yes  we  ve had the future  the past  and the present  ish   but now we get to the good stuff  the return of the doctor  s arch  nemesis . here i think we can complement christopher ecclestone  he was brilliant as the doctor  and no more so then in this episode  where we see the pain on his face as he recollects the time war and the alien nature of him as he almost turns into a dalek himself .  br    br   episode seven  the long game   really only a story to act as a prologue for the series finale . saved by simon pegg as the smarmy editor and tamsin grieg in an amusing cameo . the media are controlling us  that  s never been done before  has it . . .  br    br   episode eight  father  s day   this is a great episode . full of human emotion and heartache for rose  and the true consequences of what happens when you really muck up history . full marks to billie piper here .  br    br   episode nine  the empty child   i don  t find this kid very scary . sorry  but i don  t . it  s a good episode though  but the cliffhanger still could have been better  it  s those  next time  bits that spoil them . john barrowman is introduced here as captain jack  the dashing conman  he  s a good actor who  s been around for a while but only seemingly noticed now .  br    br   episode ten  the doctor dances   part two of this ww  story  very well made in historical context terms . a nice upbeat ending  though a little confusing perhaps for younger viewers when the  mummy  is revealed   br    br   episode eleven  boom town   probably the weakest of the series  but that doesn  t mean its bad . a nice return for the slitheen and also an interesting character study of the doctor and rose .  br    br   episode twelve  bad wolf   this starts off quite silly  with some good  hearted humour and cheeky fun making at popular tv shows over her in blighty . things turn deadly serious quickly  though  and the revelation at the end is the best cliffhanger in the series   br    br   episode thriteen  parting of the ways   goodbye christopher ecclestone . a fantastic doctor in so many ways  david tennant is having to really work his socks off to be as good as him . the regeneration scene at the end is beautifully played . oh  and the daleks are back  in the extreme  god bless cgi  because they  d never be able to pull this off normally   br    br   overall  brilliant       
apparently  this is what happens when a director allows his    year old nephew to rewrite the dialogue on the set while he indulges himself alcoholically in the meantime as i said earlier  although i  ve always wanted to catch one of paul naschy  s werewolf pictures  this atrocity served as my introduction and  as awful as it most certainly is  i still intend to pursue other entries in the series  albeit very gradually .  br    br   despite some high profile disappointments like joe dante  s the howling        i love werewolf pictures in general but  to be honest  i quickly lost interest in this film  s  plot  and just stood there gazing at my tv screen counting its absurdities as it were . there were far too many to mention them here but i have to say two which struck me as particularly hilarious were the schizophrenic nature of the werewolf persona  i . e . going from a raging beast in one shot to a dazed  zombie  like state in the very next one  as if he  s on a casual midnight stroll in the countryside  and sporting an entirely different wardrobe to boot . . . and  yes  i did know the reasons for this beforehand   as well as the  phantom of the opera  look of the wolfstein character  but what do i know  perhaps the elusive full  length version of this mess could very well have been a bona  fide horror classic   
as essential a part of british pop culture as the monty python and james bond  doctor who was a massive hit for   years             making it one of the longest running tv shows in the world  most serials are lucky to have ten seasons  . plans to reboot the series were always on the bbc  s agenda  and after a miscalculated  not to mention americanized  tv movie produced by fox failed to capture the magic of the original version  another nine years  comic relief spoof and animated mini  series notwithstanding  were required before the ultimate time lord could return properly  courtesy of acclaimed writer russell t . davies .  br    br   davies  brilliance in reintroducing the character lies in his decision to do so through the eyes of an outsider rose tyler  billie piper   a london  based girl who leads a very normal life until one night she is attacked by creatures made out of living plastic . she is rescued by an elusive stranger who introduces himself simply as the doctor  christopher eccleston  and then disappears after quipping  nice to meet you  rose . run for your life   . as she gets more and more curious about this  man   she soon finds herself in a whole new world aliens  invasions  travel through time and space  and of course  the omnipresent police box  shaped tardis .  br    br   the first   minutes of the new doctor who are almost perfect  the special effects could have used a bit more polishing  because davies nails two things the show  s unique humor and the two protagonists . the original series  most endearing trait was its blend of spectacular sci  fi and pure british comedy  a hybrid that  s hard  if not impossible  to export . here the laughs are all linked to the conversations between rose and the doctor  who come off as fully rounded characters after just one episode . okay  so technically eccleston  s doctor is the ninth to use that name  but he distances himself from the previous eight incarnations by speaking with a northern accent  the one he uses on a daily basis  and justifying it with a terrific line  lots of planets have a north   .  br    br   the real triumph of this episode  though  is piper  s performance in theory  rose is in her late teens  therefore nearly the same age as thousands of young viewers who had never heard of the doctor before . her portrayal of an ordinary girl lost in a new  exciting universe  represents the new generation  s reaction to the return of a tv icon  and the chemistry that instantly forms between her and eccleston is a sign indicating the new doctor who is just as good as the old one .  br    br   first  fifth  ninth  it makes no difference there may have been others before eccleston  and piper  for that matter  but together he  william hartnell  peter davison and the rest of the bunch are one single character  one so cool he doesn  t even need a name he  s the doctor .  
this is one very confusing movie . the film is very hard to follow and the plot just didn  t seem to make any sense . the fury of the wolfman was made in spain and i think that when any film is dubbed from one language to another  it doesn  t translate exactly as it was first meant . maybe this is part of the problem but i doubt if it can account for all the problems with this film . the dubbing is pretty bad and the voices don  t match the characters very well . the scenes are choppy  there is an array of strange and irrelevant characters that do little more than confuse the viewer even more . what i did like about this film was the look of the wolfman himself and the scenes where he attacks . now if they could have put it all together and had it make some sense  they might have had something . don  t waste your time on this one .  
hollywood north is a satirical look at the time in canadian film history when the canadian government offered huge tax breaks for films made in canada . most of the time it was treated as a tax shelter or a cheap way to get american films made . for example  porky  s came out of it . anyways matthew modine plays a novice producer who wants to make an adaptation of a beloved canadian novel . however  in order to get the money he needs a american name star . he gets a loose cannon and learns he has to compromise to the point where the film no longer resembles the book it was originally based on . it plays well in canada but may not be understood outside of the great white north . americans will think we  re satirizing ourselves but will miss the point that we  re actually satirizing them . for canadians     for the rest of the world     .  
opening scene  explains  why hurt is later  immune  to the  contaminated man  . too bad it doesn  t explain anything else how did he get whatever he  caught   what was it  why does it work so fast . then we go to  present day budapest  . ok  was the opener in the past or the future  it turns out to be the past  of course  but for a minute it looks just as likely to be the nd of the movie moved to the beginning . sorry  i should have paid closer attention  huh  or maybe it  s just badly done . then a lot of confusion about the different jobs he  s had in related fields  and finally a mention about how he should have died from the original experiment the n s a did on him . aha  so the n s a and private industry got together to poison one of their top guys to watch the effects  he must have been one of the top guys  he  s friends with the c e o of the chemical company  for god sakes . then there  s the substance itself technically a poison  but it mutates in immune  carriers   so we can have whatever we want a poison  a disease  an allergic reaction  all very different things in real life . magically  it  s not contagious from one dying victim to another  only from the carrier . how convenient . then there  s the h a z m a t protocol they jump into a situation without having any idea what  s in store  or how prepare for it . did the producers not have enough money to show a proper wash  down after the crew just left the scene of a deadly unknown substance  i kept thinking hurt was going to die from bad cleanup technique  and the open scene would turn out to be the closer after all .  
i recently saw this film and enjoyed it very much . it gives a insight to indie movie making and how much work is really involved when you have a low budget yet need a name actor  actress to get people  any people to come see it and give the movie exposure . bobby myeres played by modine and his partner saul  paul linder make an excellent combination finding eccentric miachel bates  a  name  actor played by alan bates was a perfect casting decision in the movie and for the movie . my favorite cast member was sandy ryan played by the magnificent and underrated debra kara unger with her own special performance again in the movie within the movie . if you enjoy thinking when watching a comedy then this one is for you . low budget meets lower budget with high laugh content .  
this movie is so bad  you almost feel contaminated by it . actually  there is a strong sense of relief when it  s over  relief that you can now put the cassette back in the rewinder and rush this back to the video rental store before it contaminates the rest of your video collection . i jokingly suggested when we rented it that it looked like the kind of film where william hurt would  phone in  his performance . i meant that he would not be trying very hard . but lo and behold  in a huge number of scenes in this film  bill hurt is actually on the phone  our realization of this irony was the only pleasure we derived from this confusing mess . the cinematography and editing are murky and befuddled  the story is chaotic  and the soundtrack is barely audible . there is a very slight resemblance to  falling down   but that film had a boldly disturbing story  line  great writing and acting  and an engaging soundtrack .  contaminated man  is just some kind of broken down old european tourist trap  and watching it is like driving along some unfamiliar back road in an unknown country where you don  t speak the language in a steady rain just after nightfall as the windshield keeps fogging up . you get the picture  don  t get this one .  
this movie captures the absurd essence of an overbearing american patriot actor   one that believes his work  and politics  are as crucial to the american people as the opinions of the president himself . alan bates captures this mindset perfectly as michael baytes  and i will immortally remember bates as this character . this is a movie for canadians and americans alike . it is a valuable piece of cinema  that which is able to take its audience through the magic of making a film and reveal just how easy it is for the producer and director to lose complete control to the will of the actors and innumerable outside forces . wonderfully   hollywood north  does not suffer from the subject that it portrays peter o  brian directs with precision and complete control  and commands both the serious  behind  the  scenes  portion of the movie  and the movie  within  the  movie   flight to bogota  with clarity and insight . if you are at all interested in the wit and strength of canadian cinema   hollywood north  is a great place to start .  
i really cant think of anything good to say about this film . . . not a single thing . the script is a nightmare . . the writer blurs the line between chemical and biological traits and doesnt seem to understand the difference . you  d think they would at least get a technical advisor . the performances were bad by most of the cast . . . although i dont really blame them . . the material really stinks . the editing was equally bad . . i  ll just stop now . . its all bad      
this movie is so wonderful  it  s hard to find words to describe it . this is the only time i can  t decide which was better  the book or the movie .  br    br   whoopi goldberg is awesome  and oprah winfrey  such a good actress  she could be funny  happy and miserable all at the same time . all together the movie was well directed by steven speilberg  and should not be passed up .      
bad actors  bad filming  choppy dialog  shallow characters  but then again it was a bad premise in the first place . basically  an   year old who is bullied because he has very little money is given a blank check by a moronic criminal . of course  the   year old happens to possess enough technology and intelligence to purchase a house  cash a check for          dollars  and even foil three bumbling idiots  reminiscent of the three stooges .  br    br   preston blake is an annoying  obnoxious  boy  who decides that  when written a blank check by a complete stranger  he will take advantage of the situation as best as he can . in other words  he wanders into a bank   br    br   hands a teller a check he makes in his printer  and miraculously walks out with a million bucks in cash . preston is also apparently capable of reaching incredible speeds on his bicycle  due to the fact that a man driving a jaguar after preston and his    speed could not catch him  even when preston jumped a row of cars .  br    br   of course  with every hokey adventure movie  there has to be hot heroine . in this case our hot heroine is a child molesting fbi agent who dates the eleven year old preston  and promises another date when he turns   .  br    br   however  the absolute worst aspect of this film was not its casting  nor its sloppy dialog  such as  the only other way i could think of skinning a cat is to stick a hose up it  s butt and then pick up the fur  . it was  rather  the entire fact that nobody in the entire film seemed to realize that the fbi does not give a damn about random people . what i have failed to explain is that preston uses the alias  macintosh  to masquerade as an entrepreneur of sorts . of course  the fbi finds this intriguing and sends our young heroine after preston  who uses his    year old wit to first scream when lobsters fall on his face  then treat her to hamburgers  finishing with a ridiculous romp through a cemented area where water jettison  s from the ground . our heroine fails to realize during this whole adventure that the criminal the fbi is pursuing is slipping and sliding right behind the two  as they make their way to preston  s limousine  complete with a   dimensional driver who never fails to provide cheap   rd rate laughs that the whole family can choke on .  br    br   overall     is incredibly gracious for this film . i don  t see how it only has a  .     .  
i rented this movie on dvd without knowing what to expect  and as i am about to study film  making in canada of all places  i most certainly will bring this up in class .  br    br   the story  centered around the probably most unlucky film team in the history of film itself  is brilliantly written and the very talented actors manage to deliver every single pun on time .  br    br   if you simply couldn  t laugh during  hollywood north  i suggest seeing a psychiatrist right away  you might have serious issues .  br    br   besides the wonderful script i also noticed the great chemistry between actors deborah kara unger and matthew modine  where they really just acting  jennifer tilly  playing a hilariously bad actress  and martin landau  also delivered a very edgy  yet funny performance .  br    br   great film  even better cast .  
for a science scare movie to work well it has to be either truly original or a very good retelling . this movie is neither . sure there is a pseudo  original twist in that the guy kills people because of a toxin and not because of a disease  but that is a very minor twist . there is the government conspiracy angle  the crusader protagonist who has personal experience . . .  br    br   and one real drawback of this movie is that the contaminated man has no pathos . although the character is scripted to be someone who should be pitied  he is not . without the pity the movie is pointless . the other characters are so cookie cutter they are ridiculous . the subplots are convoluted and annoying . and the saddest thing is the movie is too flat to even be enjoyed as mock material . make the movie a   minute short and it might be worth watching .  
  hollywood north  is an euphemism from the movie industry as they went to canada to make movies because of tax breaks and cheaper costs in a civilized city like toronto  in this case  later in vancouver . peter o  brian  the director  probably saw a lot of the invaders from california that this movie seems to be the right way to deal with the arriving personalities trying to capitalize on the economics that canada presented .  br    br   needless to say   moon lantern   the successful novel written by a canadian author is turned into  flight to bogota   which has nothing to do with the original film . a great egotistical has  been  michael baytes  who is obsessed with what is happening in iran  is offered the lead part  which turns to be a disaster .  br    br   the film seems to be saying that too many cooks have spoiled the broth  which seems to be the case with the ultimate product  which is saved by its producer  bobby myers . with the help of sandy ryan  who has been around making a documentary of the film being shot in toronto  parts of the film are transformed into a cohesive movie at last .  br    br   the filming process is hilarious  and the acting  in general  is good .  
dull  predictable and uninteresting story of a man contaminated by a chemical substance  weller  who goes on across the country just to find his ex  wife and children meanwhile  he kills everyone in his way only by a single touch of his hands . in his dangerous track  a doctor  hurt  and a young reporter  natasha  try to stop the man . the movie has a not original premise but even though could be much better . the final result is just a movie without suspense or gritting moments . even the good cast is completely waste . i give this a   four  .  
a mock documentary about a pair of canadian producers  bobby myers  matthew modine  and paul linder  saul rubinek   trying to make their first film in the late     s . hollywood north is the comic tale of their struggle to pull everything together  despite a number of conflicting threads .  br    br   hollywood north works as a film in a way very similar to why this is spinal tap       works so well . namely  although exaggerated in some ways  it is very close to the truth  and the truth consists of  behind the scenes  facts that are very different than the public face of the industry . it isn  t easy to make a film  and it must have been especially difficult in canada in the late     s . films involve tens  if not hundreds  of people . many have incompatible desires  motivations and personalities . especially crucial are the financiers and the on  screen talent  as if either drops out or becomes undependable at any stage while the film is in production  it could jeopardize the whole affair  either necessitating extensive reshoots or abandoning the film altogether .  br    br   so it  s not surprising that hollywood north focuses on those kinds of relationships . the result is an excellent film that is both hilarious and tragic at the same time . the script is flawless and the performances are top notch . this is a must  see for any budding filmmaker and anyone with a serious interest in the craft of film  making . it should also be more than entertaining for any viewer with a modicum of intelligence and a sense of humor .  br    br   a   out of   from me .  
i watched the entire movie recognizing the participation of william hurt  natascha mcelhone  and desiree nosbusch . i  m glad that i had no idea of the presence of peter weller . at the end of the movie i said  that was peter weller   kudos to mr . weller for an outstanding performance . weller played a major character  and his performance was such that i didn  t even recognize him .  br    br   overall the plot was bad  the writing was bad  and the performances  aside from those of nosbusch and weller  were subpar . the scenery and setting were interesting  and weller was amazing .  br    br    stars  of a possible   .  
back in     i saw  true   tom tykwer  s contribution to paris je t  aime . when i saw it i loved it and became thrilled . it became my favorite short film and made me appreciate the format so much . of course i wanted to watch the whole film  and i would even check who was attached  etc .  br    br   yesterday i finally saw it  courtesy of the internet .  br    br   first of all i must say that it looks awesome . the photography is beautiful in every short and shot  at the worst being nothing special  but still brilliant and clear . later i read the trivia here  and maybe it  s how scanning in  k gives more justice to all the dp  s work . my special favorites are the  quais de seine  first scene  that sunlight    the sin city  esquire  but better for me   quartier de la madeleine   and    th arrondisement   but you know  what the hell i like them all  true  or  faubourg saint  denis  still makes me nervous with those brilliant colours  my eyes  they tremble   and  quartier latin  is gold imprisoned on silver . beautiful .  br    br   yes  these are some beautiful short films .  br    br   now let  s get onto the content . i very much  and i mean very much  like the eclecticism that is so successfully felt . you never have have the same themes or treatment between two shorts  and i think the formula is restrictive enough to let all these artists explore beautiful and deepening things inside the shorts . i loved coming from a simple love story into a crazy  chinese  musical  in  paris  with  barbet  schroeder into a social commentary into a terror comedy into a humble monologue . i love surprises  and this film has them  it  s great they took a chance to let all these director  s flesh out things that are not usual in mainstream cinema  which i have come to heavily despise  . it  s not heavily experimental  but i can breath the breathing space these people had .  br    br   i like the small time and i love the acting . i love the simplicity and i love the love . i like the simple feelings and the beauty and the eclecticism and in general it  s a film that is very very very nice to see  alone or with someone . to simply feel . it left me feeling very good .  br    br   there is something about the earnestness in it . . . it  s so frank . . .  br    br   what i didn  t like  well  for me there are two shorts that aren  t exactly the best   quais de seine   which is good natured  sure  and maybe even necessary  but feels too much like a commercial   and  pre  lachaise  that even though i love the acting  i felt it  s themes were forced . but that of course  is just me .  tour eiffel  i also didn  t love but i think is probably because of my very different sensibility from that of sylvain chomet  i don  t know if this film has a special interest for people who already know the actor  s and directors  and so they can delight in their interaction  in the surprises  look out for alexander payne in a funny role  and basically in  what will this director do with this   great question . i enjoyed it very much in that way .  br    br   i repeat now most shorts i loved and all of them together form a beautiful and energetic mix . i definitely recommend it . definitely    so  watch it if you like eclectic beautiful love   
william hurt scuba diving scientist    us agents running the investigation abroad  the sick contaminated man kicking butt after falling   feet on his back and running away  sniper missing and not killing hurt  just wounding him  but the second  kill  shot is dead on  waste of time . to compare this to falling down as other reviewers did is ridiculous . oh and by the end of the movie they decide to start wearing gloves on their hands except for the  evil  agent and hurt decides to kill him by giving him the  virus handshake  . what  btw . . . when did imdb require   lines of text  i  m just babbling here . doesn  t this just dillute the content of reviews if you are required to have x amount of lines   
with the sun shining brilliantly on a quiet sunday that is just about to fully wake up  love can be felt in the soft breeze that sweeps past my feet and can be seen in the smiles of the people i walk alongside . it is the perfect day to stop off for croissants and a caf  o  lait before heading off to the city of lights and love . of course  a flight to paris is not reasonably in this humble film critic  s budget so i had to opt for the next best thing  paris  je t  aime  a collection of   short films by a variety of international directors . each piece is named after a different parisian neighborhood and is a reflection on love . careful not to over glorify the most powerful and persuasive of all human emotions  paris  je t  aime explores love at the many stages of its own game . the results are spontaneously romantic and surprisingly consistent . and truly  what better way to express the fleeting nature of love and how a moment can change your life than with a collection of filmed moments .  br    br   the beautifully poetic quote above is taken from tom tykwer  s faubourg saint denis . true to form  tykwer  run  lola  run  uses time  lapse photography and repetition to demonstrate the entire cycle of love  from inception to dissolution . originally shot in     and paired down for this anthology  faubourg stars natalie portman as francine  an american actress in paris for a part in a film  and melchior beslon as thomas  a blind man she falls in love with . here  the blind leads the blind through the most unstable of terrain  where two people consume each other to a point where their lives nearly lose their own existences . as love seems to go from dazzling to dizzying  tykwer reminds us of the tricks it can play on our minds and the illusions it can create when we stray towards doubt .  br    br   perhaps the most giddily romantic offering comes from sylvain chomet  s tour eiffel . choosing the city  s most identifiable attraction for its title  chomet  les triplettes de belleville  gives us a little boy who tells the story of how his parents met and fell in love . his father  a mime  paul putner   finds himself falling into one surreal scenario after another and eventually lands himself in jail . this is where he meets the woman who will become the love of his life  yolande moreau  . miming has become something of a dying art  if it isn  t already dead . yet by nature  it is dreamy and untroubled . miming points its silent finger at the ridiculousness of human behaviour and what but love can make people act more absurd  we might find someone special in the least likely of circumstances if we could just take ourselves a little less seriously .  br    br   paris  je t  aime keeps the flow lively by not always focusing on love between lovers . three memorable shorts focus on the love between a parent and a child . walter salles  motorcycle diaries  has catalina sandino moreno singing lovingly to her child before she leaves him to sing the same song with a distant longing to the child she watches over for her living . nobuhiro suwa  un couple parfait  has juliette binoche trying desperately to overcome the emptiness she feels after losing her son . binoche says very little yet  not surprisingly given her immense talent  her struggle is evident in her face as she learns that love sometimes means letting go . and alfonso cuaron  children of men  weighs in with one continuous shot of a father  nick nolte  and his grown daughter  sara martins  walking together for what must be the first time in a long while . we see them only from across the street and we only get close to them as the distance between the two characters narrows to a place of comfort and accepting .  br    br   the last short to screen is alexander payne  s   ieme arrondissement . as usual  payne  sideways  takes an ordinary person and shows us what makes them extraordinary . carol  margo martindale  is another american in paris . she is there alone and for less time than she would have liked as she has dogs waiting for her at home . she is a plain person with an uneventful life who finds herself in a city that is rich and lush . in beautifully delivered americanized french  she muses about the sights and how being there makes her feel . this woman spends so much time trying to be happy despite life  s numerous disappointments and as she sits in a city made for lovers  she realizes that she is in fact happy and loves herself more than she knew . she falls in love  if only for perhaps a moment  with life and love itself .  br    br   the characters that appear but fleetingly in paris  je t  aime find themselves at the romantic center of the universe . the moments they share with each other  be it helping someone up after a hard fall or reaching out your hand to another person without touching them or without their knowledge  are the moments that give love its flare and flourish . outside the city of lovers  it can be easy to miss moments such as these but we must remind ourselves of their significance . it takes but a moment for love to shine through a cloudy sky . you just have to keep your heart open to see it . and if one city can be so abundant with love  one has to believe it can find its way one day to your door .  
note i will reveal a key part of the plot  but if you  ve looked at the dvd cover or any promotional material  you  ll already know it .  br    br   this movie seems to have been written by an eleven  year  old who isn  t very bright and was probably very tired when he wrote it . the writer doesn  t know the difference between a chemical and an organism .  br    br   forget the fact the the un and the nsa seem to be running the show in hungary . forget the fact that when these master intelligence agents go chasing after someone whose mere touch will kill you in about a minute they don  t wear protective gear  not even gloves  . these are quibbles in the context of this movie . in the scientific world within this story       .   and gravity goes sideways .  br    br   the fact is that the people in this movie do not  with a few exceptions  behave the way human beings behave . almost every time a character responds to something it is inappropriate . the love story  of course there is one  makes soap opera scripts seem like shakespeare .  br    br   i can  t believe we wasted a free movie rental on this thing .  
paris  je t  aime is a wondrous cinematic homage to the city of light and the city of love  a film so complex that it almost defies summarization and reviewing . ask a large group of people their impressions of life in paris and the result would be something akin to this film . tied together by each of the sectors or arrondissement of the city  the film examines love in all forms  native folk in their parisian modes  and tourists interacting with the great city . approximately twenty writers and directors  each with about five minutes of screen time  include olivier assayas  the coen brothers  sylvain chomet  isabel coixet  wes craven  alfonso cuarn  grard depardieu  christopher doyle  vincenzo natali  alexander payne  walter salles  nobuhiro suwa  and gus van sant among others less well known . the stories vary from hilarious  to humorous  to touching  to tragic  to banal  to tender .  br    br   in one story a young frenchman  gaspard ulliel  is attracted to a young lithographer  elias mcconnell   pouring out his heart in french to a lad who speaks only english . in another a separated husband and wife  gena rowlands and ben gazzara  meet in the latin quarter to finalize divorce proceedings while another couple in pre  lachaise  emily mortimer and rufus sewell  approach marriage without connection until the spirit of departed oscar wilde intervenes . steve buscemi in tuileries confronts superstition in a subway with his bag of tourist collections  in bastille sergio castellitto  in love with mistress leonor watling  is ready to divorce his wife miranda richardson until she confides she has terminal leukemia  juliette binouche confronts agony about her son  s fantasies and loss in place des victoires with the help of a mythical cowboy willem defoe  sara martins and nick nolte and ludivine sagnier display a keen tale of mistaken ideas in parc monceau  fanny ardant and bob hoskins  play out  a strange relationship in pigalle  melchior beslon plays a young blind man to actress natalie portman in learning how to see in faubourg saint  denis  vampire love between elijah wood and olga kurylenko in quartier de la madeleine  maggie gyllenhaal is an ex  patriot actress stung out on drugs in quartier des enfants rouges  and margo martindale is a visiting tourist letter carrier trying desperately to speak the french she has studied for her life  s trip in a tenderly hilarious   me arrondissement .  br    br   the final few minutes of the film tries to tie together as many of the stories as feasible  but this only works on superficial levels . the film is long and there are no bridges between the many stories  a factor that can tire the audience due to lack of time to assimilate all of the action . but it is in the end a richly detailed homage to a great city and supplies the viewer with many vignettes to re  visit like a scrapbook of a time in paris . it is a film worth seeing multiple times  grady harp  
really  everybody in this movie looks like they want to be someplace else  no wonder  the casting is done not with the left hand  but rather not at all . i haven  t seen anything worse than natascha mcelhone impersonating some sort of agent  carrying a gun . you don  t use a spoiled city  brat  look in such a role . the only worse thing i can imagine is casting doris day as a prostitute . the rest of the cast is likewise awful  possibly with hurt as the sole exception  sometimes you can see him trying  but suffering . oh  did i mention that it is a completely insane story  jeopardizing many peoples lives because you are divorced and want to see your family  well  it must be because the guy  weller  is german   br    br        because the photography could be worse .  
i took my   year old daughter with me to see this interesting exercise in movie making . i always find it intriguing to get views and opinions from a different generation on movies  especially as i  m such a cynic myself . it  s good to get an unjaded opinion from someone who hasn  t yet reached the  been there  done that  approach to every movie she sees . i  m pleased to say that we both really enjoyed it and regarded it as a successful mother  daughter evening out . far  far better than going to see some brain dead  chick flick   which i gather is what we are supposed to enjoy  according to the demographics   br    br   eighteen directors were asked to produce a short piece about each of the arrondissements of paris  a city i haven  t visited in   years . but i wish i had . they are loosely linked by joining shots  and represent different approaches to love in the city regarded in popular culture as the quintessential romantic capital of the world . some of the films work better than others but  as other reviewers have said  it never descends too far into kitsch . some are funny  some are sad  some intriguing and some just plain puzzling  i  m still trying to discern some deep inner truth to the  flying tiger  hidden dragon  hairdressing salon .  some are just fun and perhaps shouldn  t be assigned too much meaning  the vampire and the tourist for example .  possibly my only criticism of the whole film  is that it makes paris look too good . it can also be cold  wet  foggy  indifferent and miserable  or  in summer  baking hot and packed with so many tourists that you feel like a sardine in a can queuing up for hours to see every attraction . but i  m nit picking .  br    br   my personal favourite by far was the coen brothers film shot on the tuileries metro station  and starring a perfectly cast steve buscemi as a confused tourist who inadvertently finds himself caught up in a lovers  tiff . absolutely perfect  and very  very funny  without buscemi having to say a word . i also perversely enjoyed the piece about the two mime artists  which was probably the closest the movie got to being cutesy  that certainly teetered on the edge of kitsch  but it just stayed on the right side . rufus sewell and emily mortimer gaining insight from an encounter with oscar wilde  s tomb left me pretty indifferent  and juliette binoche trying to cope with the death of her small son made me very  very uncomfortable . i thought both the bob hoskins  fanny ardent piece  and ben gazzara  gena rowlands fell a bit flat  but maggie gyllenhaal was good  has she cornered the market in junkies  i watched sherry baby last week .   br    br   but i felt the two  social justice  pieces  for want of a better way of putting it   worked very well . by that  i mean first of all the film about the young mother leaving her own child in a day care to go and look after someone else  s baby across town . and then the film about the african migrant  struggling to exist on the margins of an indifferent society  who is stabbed and dies in the street in front of a young  new paramedic . yet another murder statistic  in a world which sees thousands of migrants dying in the struggle to reach what they see as a better life  every year . i thought both pieces very well observed .  br    br   the final film    th arrondissement  in which margo martindale plays a postal worker from colorado recounting the story of her first trip to paris  in very badly accented french  to her night school french class  moved me . a perfect ending  to a good  intriguing if not quite great  movie .  br    br   paris je t  aime was an ambitious idea  but it works pretty well .  
susan swift is an appealing youngster  a flower child transplanted to the      s  like a young susan dey   but she doesn  t quite have the vocal range for a demanding dramatic lead and she tends to whine still  she  s rather sweet and has bright eyes and a pretty smile . in  the coming   as it was called when briefly released to theaters   swift may be the reincarnation of a salem witch . the flick is very low  budget and borrows from so many other pictures that i gave up on it with about   minutes to go . it starts out strong and has some camp appeal . obviously  there are more serious films that deal with the salem witch trials that deserve to be seen over this one however  as junk movies go  it isn  t too terrible . the boston locales are a definite plus  and the supporting cast is amusingly hammy .     from   
thankfully saw this on a plane to singapore recently  thought i  d missed it at the cinemalaya filmfest  . paris  je t  aime is a collection of   short films  about  mins each  by   directors showing love in various pockets of contemporary paris .  br    br   one of my fave segments is  parc monceau  by alfonso cuarn  great expectations  harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban   which was done in one continuous shot and features nick nolte .  br    br   the coen brothers   tuileries  starring steve buscemi as a tourist in the metro was hilarious  juliette binoche and willem dafoe in  place des victoires  was haunting .  br    br   for maggie gyllenhaal as an american actress  druggie in  quartier des enfants rouges  to have portrayed anticipation and heartbreak in such a short period of time was just brilliant .  br    br   elijah wood as a vampire victim in  quartier de la madeleine  was pretty surreal  while emily mortimer and rufus sewell played a cute couple in wes craven  s  pre  lachaise  .  br    br   natalie portman was beautiful as usual as the actress girlfriend of a visually impaired french boy in  faubourg saint  denis  . but despite the many portrayals of young love  a more mature execution by gena rowlands in  quartier latin  was equally aww  inducing .  br    br   this movie is perfect for those with adhd because each sequence is driven and carefully thought of .  br    br   there are also a number of memorable quotes . one in particular is this one from a cheating husband who eventually leaves his mistress to stay with his dying wife in her last days  in pretending to be a man in love  he became a man in love .   
time travel is a fun concept  and this film gives it a different slant . i got a kick out of captain billingham  one of the more down  to  earth characters  who was just not having a good day . ordinarily  i don  t choose to watch horror films  but this is an exception . good story  excellent acting .  
it  s a very nice movie and i would definitely recommend it to everyone . but there are  minus points  the level of the stories has a large spectrum . some of the scenes are very great and some are just boring .  a lot of stories are not self  contained  if you compare to f . e . coffee and cigarettes  where each story has a point  a message  a punchline or however you wanna call it  but well  most stories are really good  some are great and overall it  s one of the best movies this year for sure   br    br   annoying  that i have to fill   lines at minimum  i haven  t got more to say and i don  t want to start analyzing the single sequences . . .  br    br   well  i think that  s it   
i honestly had no idea that the notorious b . i . g .  bert i . gordon the director not the murdered rapper  was still active in the    s  i always presumed the deliciously inept  empire of the ants  stood as his last masterful accomplishment in the horror genre  but that was before my dirty little hands stumbled upon an ancient and dusty vhs copy of  the coming   a totally obscure and unheard of witchery  movie that actually turned out a more or less pleasant surprise  what starts out as a seemingly atmospheric tale of late dark ages soon takes a silly turn when a villager of year     inexplicably becomes transferred to present day salum  massachusetts and promptly attacks a girl in the history museum . for you see  this particular girl is the reincarnation of ann putman who was a bona fide evil girl in     and falsely accused over twenty people of practicing witchcraft which led to their executions at the state . the man who attacked loreen lost his wife and daughter this and wants his overdue revenge . but poor and three centuries older loreen is just an innocent schoolgirl   or is she   burned at the stake  unfolds like a mixture between  the exorcist  and  witchfinder general  with a tad bit of  the time machine  thrown in for good measure . way to go  bert  the plot becomes sillier and more senseless with every new twist but at least it never transcends into complete boredom  like too often the case in other contemporary witchcraft movies like  the dunwich horror  and  the devonsville terror  . the film jumps back and forth between the events in present day and flashbacks of      which keeps it rather amusing and fast  paced . the ann putman girl is quite a fascinating character  reminiscent of the abigail williams character in the more commonly known stage play  the crucible   also depicted by winona ryder in the     motion picture  . there are a couple of cool death sequences  like the teacher in the graveyard or the journalist in the library  that are committed by the ghost of malignant reverend who made a pact with ann putman and perhaps even the devil himself . the film gets pretty spastic and completely absurd near the end  but overall there  s some good cheesy fun to be had . plus  the least you can say about bert i . gordon is that he definitely build up some directorial competences over the years .  
i just viewed the film two days ago  and i was filled with anticipation  being that paris is my second favorite city in europe and i spent a very romantic   months there in the     s . i was somewhat disappointed that most of this group of vignettes  while original and artistically done  did not capture the  light  and beauty of the city very well . nor enough of the romance  we saw none of the tree  lined boulevards . . . there was too much darkness  not only literally but figuratively . some of the plots manipulated the viewer it seemed  and let him  her down  flat   the marais sequence  the coiffure salesman sequence  to give two examples  . the uplifting  good ones the mime sequence  the cemetery  the montmartre  though it left too much to the viewer to comprehend   the  cowboy  vignette  and the sacre coeur   seemed few and far between  and i would have liked to have seen such a wonderful actor as orlando bloom be in something that would have showcased his originality more .  
this is a japanese film but there is quite a bit of english also spoken in here . it  s a pretty film  with nice visuals  featuring the scenic beauty of hawaii .  br    br   however  that was the only redeeming quality for me . the story was generally boring . who wants to watch a young woman sulk for   percent of the film because her  picture  husband is a lot older than he advertised he was  granted  that could be a bummer . . . . . . but get over it   br    br   only in the last   minutes does she do an about  face and become fond of him . by then  for most viewers  it was too little  too late . we  d fallen asleep by then .  
  the color purple   is truly amazing . there is none like it  and i don  t think there ever will be . it  s a roller coster of emotion and pain that the viewer takes on . the actors are flawless and the directing is superb . i absolutely loved it . a movie has never made me so happy . it is beautiful  that  s the best way to explain it .  
a young boy comes into a lot of money and promptly begins to live it up . unfortunately  the man whose money it really is happens to be very bad . he wants his loot back . when he discovers who has the bucks  he begins trying to get it back . he keeps getting foiled by this little kid who is just lucky enough to keep from falling into the evil man  s hands . sounds familiar  i  ll bet . very predictable  not interesting at all . come up with something a bit different  ok guys   
paris  je t  aime       is a film made up of   segments . you can do the math     segments in    minutes means each director had seven minutes to tell her or his story . the movie is based on the premise that you can  indeed  tell a story in that short amount of time . the premise works . almost all of the segments are powerful  complete  and satisfying . each presents a different aspect of the parisian experience  and almost every director draws forth outstanding performances from a cast of great and near  great actors .  br    br   there were so many powerful portrayals in this film that it  s hard to pick one or two favorites . probably the most memorable to me were juliette binoche as a grieving mother in the segment  place des victoires   gena rowlands as an aging beauty in  quartier latin   catalina sandino moreno as a maid in the segment  loin du   me  and margo martindale as a colorado mail carrier who has learned to speak french so she can visit paris     me arrondissement  segment  .  br    br   special mention must be given to gulliver hecq  probably the meanest little boy to ever harass an american tourist in a parisian metro station  segment  tuileries   .  br    br   this is an outstanding movie . my wife and i decided to rent it in a few months so we can catch some of the subtle points we surely missed . however  paris is photographed so beautifully that i would suggest that you try to see it on a large screen . in any case  don  t miss it   
i remember a certain tuesday  the morning of        to be exact . i was dozed off  trying to convince myself to get out of bed when a horrific explosion was heard . i went to the kitchen where i have a view of several neighborhoods in the southern jerusalem and saw a pillar of smoke rising from a distant point  the sight of the smoke was followed a minute later by the waling of sirens . i remember rushing to my bedroom  taking out my binoculars  racing back to the kitchen and spotting the image of a glass shattered bus . the bus was still near the pick up station where a terrorist boarded on it and with a single click on a tnt device  murdered   passengers  many of whom were on their way to school . the wife of a good friend of mine  sat on the bus at the back row  a seemingly arbitrary and meaningless decision that saved her life .  br    br   i  m sure that every israeli has at least one terror  related memory he wishes he never would have had and it was only a matter of time before someone made a film about it . as it turned out  the movie was about to become a repressed memory of its own .  br    br   the film is about a play  write on a dry run  haim buzaglo  portrayed by  hmmm  haim buzaglo who also wrote and directed the film  that spends the better part of his day conducting staring contests with his blank word processor page . in the meantime  his girlfriend  a field reporter for the israeli commercial channel  decides to make a piece about a debt ridden ex  army officer . buzaglo  bored and a bit paranoid due what is medically known as the  what on earth this hot babe is dating me  syndrome  asks a private eye to conduct a stakeout on his girlfriend .  br    br   as the detective progresses in his investigation  his observations are permeating into the play and later on  to the lives of its actors . in the meantime  the play metamorphoses from a comic play into an indictment against the aloofness of the israeli society . as for the movie  well  the movie becomes an exercise in frenzy editing  ensconced in its petty cardboard characters and unreliable dialogs while drifting miles away from the subject it was supposed to deal with in the first place .  br    br   when i say  cardboard characters  i refer to the characters that under the writer  director  s obsession for a  meaningful  film  were devoid of any genuine dialogs and any shred of reliability . i won  t elaborate too much about it . suffice to say that i  m sure that homeless barefoot male prostitutes rarely go the theater . with the intention to see a play  that is .  br    br   this movie  according to haim buzaglo himself is the first part of a current agenda trilogy . i sincerely hope that the other two films will be derived from the experiences like the one i wrote about in the beginning of my review as opposed to the secluded world of characters that are anything but existent and a plot that is anything but compelling .  br    br    out of   in my filmometer .  br    br   p . s . this movie was a landmark in austerity . it was shot in ten days  all the cast worked for free and the entire cost of the film was about         no  i didn  t omit a zero or two  twelve thousand dollars  . makes you wonder why it took        to complete blair witch project .  
paris je t  aime is a movie that explores the different kinds and aspects of love and all the emotions that it provokes . this movie reunites some of the best directors from around the world such as gus van sant  joel and ethan coen  walter salles a . . .  read more  nd alfonso cuaron to tell short stories about love located in paris  each one with their particular way of directing . in this film we also have one of the best cast ever seen in a movie including such great actors like willem dafoe  steve buscemi  natalie portman  elijah wood  gerard depardieu and many more each one with great performances . in conclusion  this movie is a compilation of stories of happiness  separation  unexpected encounters and love .  
my goodness is this movie bad . i was totally misled by my local movie review because this is certifiable garbage . yeah  yeah  good guys wear white  bad guys wear black . . . . and the good guys always win . now go home and hug your kids  and feel how good hollywood has made you feel . blech  i can  t believe this brain dead movie was made by wes craven . i  m guessing he needed a little money to pay the mortgage  so he made this piece of dung . it is the sort of production that makes anyone who watches movies regularly believe they could do as good or better than such an experienced director .  br    br   ya see  a bad guy wants a sweet girl who loves her daddy to do a wittle il  bad thing or he  s gonna hurt her daddy . but being ms . all  american girl next door  we know she  s gonna save the day and beat the bad guys . . . the end . girl power rocks .  br    br   c  mon now  only an idiot would find this entertaining . . .  a roller coaster ride   let alone something fresh or new . all those  super  duper  reviews you see on this site are from industry hacks who are either making money off this flick  paying back a favor  or they have sold their souls to the devil .  br    br   rachael mcadams is beautiful . . . . yup  that  s it . not a good performance  not a horrible one . . . she  s just cute . she would have had to show a whole lot of skin to save this movie . she isn  t tough enough to be a good female action lead .  br    br   cillian murphy was at least passable in   days . but here he plays a dumb villain pretending to be a smart one . he gets his ass kicked to and fro by the      mcadams  because after all  she was a cheerleader . . . and a field hockey player . . . and i  m sure she owns all the tae bo tapes . . . so she should be able to kick the crap out of an international terrorist for hire . i wouldn  t trust him to steal a pack of gum from     .  br    br   ya see  this movie was done before  except before they did it well . go re  rent any of the die hard movies . you have loved ones in danger  international terrorists  except the characters are more likable and believable and the bad guys are way more competent and interesting . i simply don  t understand how hollywood can continue to make such crap as if they were oblivious to the proper models they can readily copy . no wonder movie revenues are down .  br    br   throw your   down the toilet and save yourself  hours of your life you  ll never get back .  br    br   ciao  freddyshoop  
oftentimes  films of this nature come across as a mixed bag of great work along with slight drivel to fill the runtime . whether it be the big name support or the project itself  paris je t  aime never falls into this realm . i believe i can truly say that the movie as a whole is better than its parts . between the wonderful transitions and the fantastic ending sequence  merging characters together in one last view of love in paris  i think the film would have suffered if any cog was removed . true  there are definitely a few standouts that overshadow the rest  but in the end i have a lasting image  even if just a split second of each short vignette . love takes many forms  and the talent here rises to the occasion  to surprise and move the audience through shear poetry and elegance of the emotion  s many facets .  br    br   quartier des enfants rouges maggie gyllenhaal surprises as a drug  addled actress shooting in paris and meeting with her dealer . the reveal at its conclusion leaves you a bit off balance as the infatuation between the two changes hands .  br    br   quatier latin ben gazzara and gena rowlands  recreating a relationship from an old cassavettes film   bring some great sharp wit and sarcasm as they meet to discuss their impending divorce . what of their conversation is true and what is just to anger the other  it is all enjoyable  leaving a smile on your face .  br    br   quais de seine director gurinder chadha gives us a touching portrait of love existing beyond religious and racial differences . it is a sweet little story of shy love between two people obviously feeling a connection  but unable to quite vocalize it .  br    br   tour eiffel i will admit to being disappointed that sylvain chomet did not get an animated sequence together  however  this live action tale of mimes falling in love at a paris jail has the same quirky nature as his film les triplettes de belleville .  br    br   tuileries the coen brothers stick to their strange sense of humor and deliver some fine laughs . steve buscemi really shines and sells the performance without speaking a word . his facial reactions to the verbal abuse of a disgruntled frenchman are priceless .  br    br   bastille here is a heartbreaking portrait of a couple about out of love only to have it come back in the face of tragedy . sergio castellitto and miranda richardson a moving as the couple dealing with trouble and finding how strong the bond of true love is .  br    br   pre  lachaise a surprisingly funny little tale from horror master wes craven . a little oscar wilde humor can add levity to any relationship .  br    br   parc monceau alfonso cuarn looks to be practicing the amazing long  takes he perfects in children of men with this tale of two people in love  walking down the street . as nick nolte and ludivine sagnier eventually come into close  up view  we also find the true context of their conversation of  forbidden love .   br    br   porte de choisy a very surreal look into the glamour of paris . this is probably the most odd entry  but so intriguing that you can  t look away from the craziness that ensues . do not anger your asian beautician  whatever you do .  br    br   pigalle an interesting look at a relationship undergoing a role  play that seems to have been stagnant for years . a little variety from bob hoskins is necessary to fire kindled .  br    br   quartier de la madeleine even vampires in paris can find love amongst the feeding hours . i don  t know whether to be happy for elijah wood as a result or not . beautifully shot and muted to allow the vibrancy of the blood red  this short is strange  but then so is love .  br    br     th arrondissement leave it to alexander payne  s odd sense of humor to really add some depth to this voice  over story told of an american in paris to find what love is . her harsh  uneducated french is a very stark contrast to the authentic accents we  ve been listening to until this pointjust off  kilter enough to be both funny and totally true to the story .  br    br   montmartre an interesting introduction into the proceedings . paris can be a city reviled for everyday activities like finding a parking spot  yet when love is discovered  it will take its prisoner anywhere to continue the journey .  br    br   loin du   me catalina sandino moreno brilliantly shows what love for a child is through her subtle performance as the tale is bookended by her singing to a young child  yet totally different each time .  br    br   place des fetes my favorite tale of the bunch . seydou boro and assa maga are simply fantastic . the cyclical nature of the story and how fate brings the two characters together twice in order for boro to finally ask her for coffee is tough to watch . sometimes love at your final moment is enough to accept one  s leaving of this earth .  br    br   place des victoires one of the best stories about a mother trying to cope with the death of her young son . juliette binoche is devastating as the mother  desperate for one last glimpse of her son  and willem dafoe is oddly perfect as the cowboy who allows her the chance .  br    br   faubourg saint  denis sometimes one needs to think he has lost love to accept that he has not been fully invested in the relationship . melchior beslon reminisces  trying to find where they went wrong through a series of sharp  quick cuts from his meeting natalie portman to eventually  seeing  how much he needs her .  br    br   le marais leave it to gus van sant to show us a story about the gap in communication and understanding as his films almost always deal with some form of alienation . his photographer from elephant is an american working in paris who is the catalyst for gaspard ulliel  s artist ramblings of love and soul mates . sometimes one doesn  t need to know what is being said to understand what is going on in the pauses .  
i  ve seen thousands of movies and have never written a review  but the red eye i witnessed is so at odds with the glowing tributes posted here that i  m compelled to offer my two cents in protest  and vote the lowest score possible just to bring the average closer to reality .  br    br   this is a dull  boring stinker of a film that is memorable only for its apologist depictions of the terrorists  target  a john bolton  esquire bully diplomat who  s really a great guy  don  t you know  and of the oh  so  handsome and popular dr . phil  whose bestselling book  one learns  is read by frequent fliers worldwide  . the only real red eye i experienced was from rubbing my eyes in disbelief .  br    br   before you fork out    or so dollars for this b movie  read the selected  quotes  from trailer   above  and ask yourself if you  ll really enjoy a movie in which these were the cleverest lines to be found . unfortunately  nothing else in this film is any better . the basic premise is goofy as hell the acting is bland and uninspired  completely lacking in pro  antagonist chemistry the potential for suspense is thwarted at every turn  except during the last five minutes  by poor directing and anticipatory editing the script is riddled with incongruities like early reveals of the heroine as a university lacrosse star are called into question when she later battles the antagonist with a field hockey stick and the plot holes are wider than first class  while character development is strictly coach  .  br    br   and then there are the moments of extreme ridiculousness  like when the daughter of a high level public servant does not head straight for airport security  at her first opportunity  to warn them of an assassination plot against the both the head of homeland security and her father . or when that same woman runs hell  bent  for  leather along slick airport linoleum  arms pistoning and veins in her neck bulging  while wearing  inch stiletto heels . or when her pursuer chases likewise with a sucking wound in his trachea . or when terrorists use a fishing pole to bring up their weapon from the freaking harbor bottom . i  m always willing to suspend disbelief  but i  m not going to leap from      feet without a parachute .  br    br   the one good thing i can say of this movie is that it portrays women who are capable  even in bimbo form  of handling the most extreme emergencies  the kind of gender imaging sorely lacking in american movies . other than that  this movie never really takes off  and is no more thrilling than the red eye flight from boston to ny . remember the last time you got suckered by deceptive trailers and glowing tributes  in this forum or elsewhere  this is one of those times . wait for the red eye video  and don  t watch it then  either .  
   directors had the same task tell stories of love set in paris . naturally  some of them turned out better than others  but the whole mosaic is pretty charming  besides  wouldn  t it be boring if all of them had the same vision of love  here  s how i rank the segments  that might change on a second viewing    br    br    .  quartier latin   by grard depardieu  br    br   one of the greatest french actors ever directed my favourite segment  featuring the always stunning gena rowlands and ben gazzara . witty and delightful .  br    br    .  tour eiffel   by sylvain chomet  br    br   cute  visually stunning  thanks to the director of  the triplets of belleville   story of a little boy whose parents are mimes  br    br    .  tuileries   by ethan and joel coen  br    br   the coen brothers  steve buscemi  hilarious  br    br    .  parc monceau   by alfonso cuarn   y tu mam tambin    children of men    feat . nick nolte and ludivine sagnier  funny    br    br    .  place des ftes   by oliver schmitz  feat . seydou boro and aissa maiga  touching    br    br    .    th arrondissement   alexander payne  s   election    about schmidt   wonderful look for the pathetic side of life is present here  feat . the underrated character actress margo martindale  hilary swank  s mother in  million dollar baby   as a lonely  middle  aged american woman on vacation  br    br    .  faubourg saint  denis   tom tykwer  s   run lola run   frantic style works in the story of a young actress  natalie portman  and a blind guy  melchior beslon  who fall in love  br    br    .  pre  lachaise   by wes craven  feat . emily mortimer and rufus sewell  plus a curious cameo by alexander payne as . . . oscar wilde     br    br    .  loin du   me   by walter salles and daniela thomas  simple but moving story from the talented brazilian directors  feat . catalina sandino moreno    br    br     .  quartier des enfants rouges   by olivier assayas   clean    a sad story feat . the always fantastic maggie gyllenhaal  br    br     .  le marais   by gus van sant  feat . gaspard ulliel  elias mcconnell and marianne faithful  simple  but funny    br    br     .  quartier de la madeleine   by vincenzo natali  feat . elijah wood and olga kurylenko  br    br     .  quais de seine   by gurinder chadha  br    br     .  place des victoires   by nobuhiro suwa  feat . juliette binoche and willem dafoe  br    br     .  bastille   by isabel coixet  fabulous director of the underrated  my life without me    feat . miranda richardson  sergio castellitto  javier cmara and leonor watling  br    br     .  pigalle   by richard lagravenese  feat . bob hoskins and fanny ardant  br    br     .  montmartre   by and with bruno podalyds  br    br     .  porte de choisy   by christopher doyle  with barbet schroeder  mostly known as the director of  barfly    reversal of fortune  and  single white female   .  br    br   i could classify some segments as brilliant and others as average  or even slightly boring   but not a single of them is plain bad . on the whole  i give  paris  je t  aime  an  .     and recommend it for what it is a lovely mosaic about love and other things in between .  
wes craven  you are having a laugh . . . at our expense . the red eye plot is preposterous . . . we are confronted by a guy who has apparently spent  weeks watching a girl  who then turns up at an airport behind her  flirts and chats her up successfully  somehow wangles a seat next to her in a two seat space  not trapped in the middle of a five seat row  contacts at check  in   and is cheezily nice during a painfully slooooow build up . then  once up in the air  in a confined space  surrounded by strangers  he immediately starts threatening the vacuous  if super  efficient  rachel mcadams and saying tosh like  we got ya daddy  do what i say  or poppa gets it  . well  forgive me  but didn  t they already have her daddy ready for slaughter  so  you  better  oughta long before she stepped on the plane and therefore wouldn  t it have been oh  sooooooo much simpler to simply snatch the gal off the street and terrorise her in a room somewhere  forgetting the complicated and insecure dad plot  pulling her nails out or whatever until she made the all important  call  required  or even  cos this is the movies and we need a few unreal twists  keep the dumb dad  in  distress thing intact if you must  but dress it up better so that holding him in harms way until the convoluted plot had been concluded made some sense  without the plane dumbdown  alternatively  without wanting to sound like an actual thinking terrorist  assassin  couldn  t the massive bazooka  missile thang employed have been far more easily used on  say  a car driving down the highway  with the politician inside  rather than the   th story of a miami seafront hotel  from a fishing boat  mind you  as we already know  security in miami is lax  so they  ll speed away   i know  i know  far more fun to go through watching a pretty girl for  weeks  burgle her dads house to steal his wallet  that somehow  star trek style  gets transported from miami to texas instantly  in order to  perhaps  get her to arrange for a politician to change hotel room and  and  and . . . well  a thousand things could go wrong here  each one entirely destroying the big plan  so why not slim the elements down to a sensible handful  such as   . bazooka .  . car .  . boom  my   minute drive home from the cinema was spent highlighting the abundance of flaws and stupid cod  hitchcockian twists  which sadly was the best fun of the whole sorry experience . and as for security back at miami airport . . . we have an apparently crazy and violent girl running off a plane  chased by cops  who during the chase sits down to have a coffee  moves elsewhere to read a magazine at a bar  then runs again like crazy up and down the whole terminal . . . by now also chased by crazed cillian murphy  no cctv then   i had guns pulled on me for parking in the wrong place for   seconds at miami airport a couple of years back  . so instead of speaking to the cops  her allies  or getting on the blower at a call  box direct to her dad to warn him his life is in danger  mcadams prefers instead to steal a people carrier off a family in the airport forecourt  call the damned security . . .  and drives home to daddy  mowing down the assassin with the vehicle in the front garden of the house  in a rich neighbourhood  watch district  crushing the front porch in the process  an act which actually slightly wakes dad up from an afternoon snooze  after about a minute  yet which somehow fails to register with neighbours who aren  t even mildly curious  thus ensuring   more minutes of hide and seek shenanigans as the duo run around the vast hollodeck type house . . . dohhh  it actually hurts to keep thinking about it all  cillian  surely renamed silly  un for doing this one   preposterously turns from ice assassin to comically unhinged  and inept  lunatic killer at the end  this theoretically ruthless despatcher of human life now allowing the dad to live so that he can watch his daughter getting her goose cooked . i  d better stop  because the stream of drivel i  m writing here must sound as uncoordinated as the red eye script . if ms mcadams hadn  t been allowed to get on the plane in the first place the title could have been altered  from  red eye  to  no eye  dear  . rr  
 . . . for paris is a moveable feast .  ernest hemingway  br    br   it is impossible to count how many great talents have immortalized paris in paintings  novels  songs  poems  short but unforgettable quotes  and yes  movies . the celebrated film director max ophls said about paris   br    br    it offered the shining wet boulevards under the street lights  breakfast in montmartre with cognac in your glass  coffee and lukewarm brioche  gigolos and prostitutes at night . everyone in the world has two fatherlands his own and paris .   br    br   paris is always associated with love and romance  and  paris  je t  aime  which is subtitled  petite romances   is a collection of short films  often sketches from   talented directors from all over the world . in each  we become familiar with one of the city of light   arrondissements and with the parisians of all ages  genders  colors  and backgrounds who all deal in love in its many variations and stages . in some of the  petite romances  we are the witnesses of the unexpected encounters of the strangers that lead to instant interest  closeness  and perhaps relationship like for podalyds and florence muller in the street of montmartre in the opening film or for cyril descours and lela bekhti as a white boy and a muslim girl whose cross  cultural romance directed by gurinder chadha begins on quais de seine . i would include into this category the humorous short film by gus van sant . in  le marais  one boy pours his heart out to another boy confessing of sudden unexpected closeness  asking permission to call  never realizing that the object of his interest does not understand french .  br    br   some of the vignettes are poignant and even dark . in walter salles and daniela thomas  loin du   me  catalina sandino mareno  amazing oscar nominated debut for maria full of grace  is single  working  class mother who has to work as a nanny in a wealthy neighborhood to pay for daycare where she drops her baby every morning before she goes to work . one of most memorable and truly heartbreaking films is  place des ftes  by oliver schmitz . assa maga and seydou boro co  star as two young people for who love could have happened . there were the promises of it but it was cut short due to hatred and intolerance that are present everywhere  and the city of love and light is no exception . another one that really got to me was  bastille   written and directed by isabel coixet  starring sergio castellitto  miranda richardson  and leonor watling . castellitto has fallen out of love with his wife  richardson but when he is ready to leave with the beautiful mistress  the devastating news from his wife  s doctor arrives . . .  br    br   i can go on reflecting on all   small gems . i like some of them very much . the others felt weak and perhaps will be forgotten soon but overall  i am very glad that i bought the dvd and i know that i will return to my favorite films again and again . they are  place des ftes  that i  ve mentioned already   pre  lachaise  directed by wes craven that involves the ghost of one of the wittiest and cleverest men ever  oscar wilde  alexander payne  the director of  sideways   who would save one troubled relationship . payne also directed    th arrondissement  in which a lonely middle  aged post  worker from denver  co explores the city on her own providing the voice over in french with the heavy accent . payne  s entry is one of the most moving and along with hilarious  tuileries  by joel and ethan coen with  who else     steve buschemi is my absolute favorite . in both shorts  american tourists sit on the benches  margo in the park  and steve in paris metro after visiting louvers  observing the life around them with the different results . while margo may say   my feeling  s sad and light my sorrow is bright . . .  steve  s character will find out that sometimes  even the most comprehensive and useful tourist guide would not help a tourist avoiding doing the wrong things in a foreign country .  
they sell it as a horror movie  it  s supposed to be a thriller  but i found it pretty funny  comedy   don  t think so   i laughed the whole movie i think it was because of the ridiculous acting and plot . i don  t blame the actors  i think they were not very good  but o . k . i think cillian is a very good  bad guy  i loved his acting in batman beggins  and rachel mcadams . . whoa  she  s a beauty  and a good actress as well  but let  s try to be a little objective here  the story mm mm . . . the direction mm mm . . . it lacks a lot of good suspense in fact is a really boring movie  but there  s one good thing tho  it  s a short movie  only  hour and   minutes  for me it was like   minutes under the water      br    br   i just don  t know why this movie is rated so high  and in rotten tomatoes  even higher  what  s wrong with good  rational and objective criticism   
it  s just such a joy to have watched this intriguing project . so refreshing and educating . not only to a filmmaker  who can learn what can be achieved in  minutes of screen time  but also as audience  who may not be so ready for so much love in such short time .  br    br     short films about love in paris are all unique  but some of them  as expected  stand out . i thought the tom tykwer  natalie portman  segment was the best  although the mimes made me smile inside just the same .  br    br   i clicked on  spoilers  option for this review bus alas . . . what you read is a spoiler enough . just watch it . don  t read what i write  but watch the movie instead .  br    br   and smile .  
the main reasons to see  red eye  are rachel mcadams  who delivers a stellar performance  and jayma mays  who is wonderful as the assistant hotel manager . on the other hand  cillian murphy overacts so badly that he becomes cartoonish . the rest of the movie is riddled with plot holes  on which i will elaborate .  br    br   please do not read further if you don  t want to know what happens   br    br   here is a synopsis of the plot . rachel mcadams  s character  lisa  manages a hotel where the new hard  nosed homeland security director plans to stay that night . rachel is returning to miami from a funeral  but fielding calls from her assistant up until the plane leaves . in the meantime  someone is stationed outside the house of her father  joe  played by brian cox   ready to kill him if cillian murphy  jackson  calls . all lisa has to do is phone the hotel and move the director  s suite to one where jackson  s cohorts are planning to fire a guided missile  from a fishing boat  to kill the director and his family .  br    br   so  here are some of the plot holes or absurd coincidences  br    br    . jackson finally convinces lisa to make the call  and in the middle  the phones in the plane lose their connection . lisa tries to fake that she is making the call  but coincidentally  a guy across the aisle from jackson is also making a call and starts banging his phone to indicate it is dead . jackson catches on and grabs the phone from lisa .  br    br    . at one point  jackson head  butts lisa and she  of course  gets knocked out . . . but only for   minutes .  br    br    . jackson catches lisa writing a note on the mirror in the  extraordinarily large  lavatory  and he bangs her around a bit . miraculously  the only one who hears anything is an    year  old girl  whose word  of course  is discounted .  br    br    . lisa stabs jackson with a pen in the throat as the plane is landing  steals his cell phone  and makes a mad dash for the exit  fitting down the aisle between the seats and   rows of standing passengers . despite knowing there is a passenger with a pen stuck in his throat  the flight attendants oblige lisa by opening the door to the jet  way .  br    br    . ok  all those are reasonable  if not highly unlikely  . but here  s where it gets really stupid . lisa gets into the terminal at miami airport  and there is no cell phone signal  every major airport in america has great cell phone reception  .  br    br    . she runs through the airport with jackson in hot pursuit  and no security officers even delay them .  br    br    . jackson  who lost lisa in the airport while the train from the gates pulled away to the terminal  has lost some of his voice from the pen in his throat  but he can still be somewhat understood . however  he doesn  t bother to call his man outside of joe  s house .  ps there is no train at miami airport  but the one they showed looked an awful lot like the orlando airport  .  br    br    . lisa steals a car and rides away . of course this time  when she goes to make a call  the cell phone says  low battery  and soon shuts off  when will they stop using this inane plot device   .  br    br    . while the phone still said  low battery   lisa had reached her assistant just in time to save the director and his family from the guided missile launched by the fishing boat to the window of the room on the   th floor to which the director had been moved . of course  they expect us not to notice that the hotel is surrounded on  sides by ocean  so the missile could have probably been launched at the first suite  thereby negating the need for the whole lisa  jackson plot . what  s the story here  was the director  s original room on the   th floor one of the only rooms in the hotel with a lousy view  nevertheless  everyone gets out just before the missile hits .  br    br     . lisa drives to joe  s house to save her father only to see the killer outside . although she runs him over  as he is shooting at her  by crashing her jeep into the house  no one in the neighborhood seems to notice or bother to stop by .  br    br     . jackson arrives at joe  s house and knocks him out  we don  t see how . . . maybe another head butt  . he then explains to lisa that he didn  t kill dad yet because he wanted dad to see lisa die first  give me a break . what is this  saturday morning cartoons   .  br    br     . for the rest of the movie  about   minutes   jackson chases lisa around the house  and she resourcefully fights him off . of course a real killer  i . e . one maybe played by jason statham  would have done away with lisa  or for that matter anyone who is not a trained killer  in the first   seconds . during the course of this chase  jackson steps over joe at least once without bothering to kill him .  br    br     . finally  jackson prevails  and he is about to kill lisa when  you guessed it  he is shot by joe .  br    br   so  here  s my suggestion . . . tell wes craven to stick to horror . or maybe he should get together with michael bay  who directed the equally stupid  the island   and make  red island .   
diane and i saw this fabulous film today in fremantle and we both agreed that of the pastiche movies it was head and shoulders above the rest . i say that because we were entranced by the brief  five to ten minute segments that composed the film and the fact that this film had a theme around which each piece was composed and of course that theme was love in its many forms .  br    br   ostensibly the film took place in the various parisian arrondisments thus giving a particular flavour to each segment . having only been in paris several times  i was not knowledgeable enough to readily recognize the locations but i am sure europeans and particularly french people could easily recognize the city  s locations . in any event  the viewer is immediately pulled into each story because of their production excellence so these city locations fade into in  consequence .  br    br   the film moves quickly and the viewer is left absorbing one scenario while the new one is on the screen . the stories themselves are not graphic like some pulp hollywood nonsense  they are subtle and thought provoking and gentle as with most of life without the media swath that buries so much of life  s beauty under the nearest dung heap just to sell  sell . sell . . .  br    br   go with someone you care for and allow this magical little film to bathe you like a spa treatment and when you leave my guess is you will feel renewed .  
i am surprised that everyone  even the critics  seems to think this was a good movie . it was the most clichd thriller ever made that i have seen . we have the  bad guy  who wants to force the  good guy   or girls in this case  to do something or face the consequence . the  good girl  in this movie must use her smarts and skills to defeat the  bad guy  and save the day and her loved ones . using charisma  bravery  and even luck to save the day .  br    br   where to begin  well  a young woman by the name of lisa reisert meets a young man by the name of jackson rippner  nice name  at an airport . one coincidence leads to another and soon it seems as if fate is bringing these two together . sharing drinks  sitting next to each other  seemingly getting along in every way . . . is there more to this strangeness  could these two be meant for each other  does  fate  have a reason for their strange and random encounter   br    br   well  as it turns out  unfortunately yes . jackson needs to lisa to help him assassinate the director of homeland security by moving him from one room to another so that his men can launch an attack on him . oh  if she doesn  t do this then her father is dead . though we never learn the exact reasons why and who is really behind this madness  jackson more then explains how this is going to happen and why its in lisa  s best interest to help him .  br    br   of course  lisa defeats his evil plans with her smarts and in the process stabs him in the neck  makes him trip over chairs  and hitting him with a field hockey stick . oh  and before that  she leads him on wild chase through miami airport where she gets passed post    security and steals a car that she later uses to run over the man who was ordered to kill her father .  br    br   yeah  right .  br    br   first of all  i find it strange that a man like jackson who can get his hands on high tech weaponry needs the help of a hotel manager . couldn  t he just sneak a bomb into the building  wouldn  t that make it safer for him and his team by leaving out any third parties  and why do characters like jackson also explain everything they are going to do to someone they are threatening  doesn  t that make it easier to stop them by the same people   br    br   the actors did their best considering the movie they were given . racheal mcadams and cillian murphy are still actors to look out for . also  i believe that jayma mays  who played the  loveable  cynthia  will be someone we will see more of . it  s just too bad they all were stuck with this .  br    br    out of    
greetings again from the darkness .   directors of   seemingly unrelated vignettes about love in the city of lights . a very unusual format that takes a couple of segments to adjust to as a viewer . we are so accustomed to character development over a  hour movie  it is a bit disarming for that to occur in an  minute segment .  br    br   the idea is   love  relationship stories in   different neighborhoods of this magnificent city . of course  some stand up better than others and some go for comedy  while others focus on dramatic emotion . some very known directors are involved  including the coen brothers  wes craven  alfonso cuaron  alexander payne  gus van sant and gurinda chadha . many familiar faces make appearances as well steve buscemi  barbet schroeder  catalina sandino moreno  ben gazzara  gena rowlands  gerard depardieu  juliette binoche  willem dafoe  nick nolte  maggie gyllenhaal and bob hoskins .  br    br   one of the best segments involves a mime  and then another mime and the nerdy  yet happy young son of the two mimes . also playing key roles are a red trench coat  cancer  divorce  sexual fantasy  the death of a child and many other topics . don  t miss alexander payne  director of  sideways   as oscar wilde .  br    br   the diversity of the segments make this interesting to watch  but as a film  it cannot be termed great . still it is very watchable and a nice change of pace for the frequent movie goer .  
it  s not just that this is a bad movie it  s not only that four of the  best  mexican movie makers are in this film and it  s not only that the script is terrible . it  s just that . . . this movie sucks . . . big time . this people are wasting money in terrible scripts . it  s supposed to make a criticism about mexican society but we  re fed up with this kind of films . is bad language supposed to be funny  i don  t get it . mexican cinema is in big trouble if this kind of movies are going to continue playing  and being written and produced  .  br    br   please  don  t think this kind of movies are well received in mexico we hate them and they don  t reflect us .  
delightful film directed by some of the best directors in the industry today . the film is also casting some of the great actors of our time  not just from france but from everywhere .  br    br   my favorite segments  br    br     th arrondissement carol  margo martindale   from denver  comes to paris to learn french and also to make a sense of her life .  br    br   montmartre there was probably not a better way to start this movie than with this segment on romantic paris .  br    br   loin du   me an image of paris that we are better aware of since the riots in the cits . ana  catalina sandino moreno  spends more time taking care of somebody else  s kid  she  s a nanny  than of her own .  br    br   quartier latin so much fun to see grard depardieu as the  tenancier de bar  with gena rowlands and ben gazzara discussing their divorce .  br    br   tour eiffel don  t tell me you didn  t like those mimes   br    br   tuileries such a treat to see steve buscemi as the tourist who  s making high  contact  a no  no  with a girl in the metro .  br    br   parc monceau nick nolte is great . ludivine sagnier also .  br    br   i  ve spend  days in paris in     and this movie makes me want to go back   br    br   seen in barcelona  another great city   at the verdi  on march   th      .  br    br             
as usual  i went to watch this movie for a . r . rahman . otherwise  the film is no good . rajni wanted to end his movie career with this film is it would be successful . but fortunately or unfortunately the film was a failure . after this he delivered a hit with chandramukhi . i am eagerly waiting for his forth coming shivaji .  br    br   i have read the other user  s comment on rajni . i found it interesting as the user is from tn too . rajni is one actor who acts  i think  from his heart not from his mind . he is not a method actor like kamal hasan . i think we need to appreciate rajni for his strong going at his age .  br    br   any ways  i need to fill   lines for this comment . . . so wish u good luck rajni . . . . . . . . . . .  
just saw this tonight at a seminar on digital projection  shot on   mm  and first feature film fully scanned in  k mastered in  k  and projected with  k projector at etc  usc theater in hwd  . . so much for tech stuff .   directors  including alexander payne  wes cravens  joel and ethan coen  gus van sant  walter salles and gerard depardieu  among several good french  international directors  were each given  minutes to make a love story . they come in all shapes and forms  with known actors  elijah wood  natalie portman  steve buscemi . . totally hilarious . . .  maggie glyllenhall  nick nolte  geena rowlands . . soo good . . and she actually wrote the piece she was in  msr depardieu and many good international actors as well . the stories vary from all out romance to quirky comedy to alex payne  s touching study of a woman discovering herself to van sant and one of those things that happens anywhere . . maybe  nothing really off putting by having french spoken in most sequences  with english subtitles  and a small amount of actual english spoken  though that will probably relegate it to art houses  a la diva .  also only one piece that might be considered  experimental  but colorful and funny as well  the rest simple studies of sometimes complex relationships . all easy to follow  unless the  experimental  one irritates your desire for a formulaic story . several brought up some emotions for me . . . i admit i am affected by love in cinema . . . when it is presented in something other than sentimentality . i even laughed at a mime piece  like no other i have seen  thank you for that   the film hit its peak  for me  somewhere around a little more than half way through  then the last two sequences picked up again . some beautiful shots of paris at night  lush romantic kind of music  usually used to good effect  not just schmaltz for  emotions  in sound  generally good cinematography  though some shots seemed soft focus when it couldn  t have meant to have been  main character in shot  scene  . pacing of each film was good  and overall structure  though a bit long  they left out two of what was to be   films  but said all would be on the dvd  seemed to vary between tones of the films to keep a good balance . not sure when it comes out  but a good study of how to make a  min film work . . and sometimes  what doesn  t work  if it covers too much time  emotionally  for a short film .  should be in region one when released  but they didn  t know when .  
the main aspect about the superstar  s movies at his later stages were the frequency  the lacuna between one movie and the next . being a well established star of the south indian cinema  the feedbacks he was receiving before baba was great .  br    br   since nattukku oru nallavan        the number of movies he acted in tamil as a mass hero in   years were only   exactly at the rate of  per year . all of these were a great hit . he was having a image that many thought could not be easily brought down .  br    br   but after padayappa        he went into a state of hibernation . his fans all over the world  especially in south india were ready to see movie of any kind with their superstar in action . so  the tamil cinema industry decided to come with baba .  br    br   the movie makers thought that the fans will take whatever they show with superstar in it . but this clearly did not work out in this movie . as usual  the hype from the media and the expectation from the fans were way beyond limit .  br    br   rajinikanth  s image was totally damaged . the fans went nuts . the movie  s collection did not meet the expected level . reputation of great people went down .  br    br   the only positive aspect about this movie was the songs by a . r . rehman . rehman is known to have composed good music for some worst movies like tajmahal  kadal virus  alli arjuna  paarthale paravasam  star  en swasa katre  vandicholai chinnarasu etc . well  i never thought that this movie would join that league .  br    br   you  l feel very much depressed not because the movie was bad  it  l be because of the superstar  s image going down . it took him five full years to regain it fully back with two movies chandramukhi and sivaji and give fans back what they really look for in a superstar film .  
the color purple is a masterpiece . it displays the amazing acting abilities of whoopi goldberg  oprah winfrey  and danny glover . not only is steven spielberg the most incredible director of all time but his versatility shines through in this film . if you ever want to see what a movie can do watch this . it  s a beautiful portrayal of one of the most moving stories of all time   
this movie is really goofy  i saw it as an   year old  and even then i thought it was pretty ridiculous  i would only recommend this film to kids under the age of   . i really didn  t care for it  but i do think that it answers some very good questions that kids need to be aware of  such as   does money buy happiness    should i lie  to my parents  about things i think they wouldn  t approve of    does money buy friendships    is money everything    shouldn  t i tell my parents when someone is trying to hurt me  granted  these are very unrealistic situations  but i do think that if parents discussed these issues with their children  maybe they should watch this video as well  in order to show  scare their kids that lies have the potential to get you hurt .  
rudyard kipling once wrote that god gave to all people the ability to love the whole world  but given that a human heart is very small in size  every human has that special place that he loves more than any other . it seems to me that this may have been the motto of some of the most eminent directors of today when they set out to profess the eternal love for that special place and depict situations in the lives of its denizens and visitors . the result is a wonderful collection of short films  paris je t  aime  in which our guides  van sant  coixet  cuaron  payne and others take us on a breathtaking stroll through parisian arrondissements  human feelings  yearnings and expectations .  br    br   always some other quarter  always some utterly moving story about ordinary people in search for love  be it in a parking lot  art studio  tube station . and paris je t  aime is about vast array of loves  love for one  s partner  child  parent  for those who meant the world to us but are no longer around  love that needs rekindling  serendipitous love for that stranger as your eyes meet  or love that just is not meant to be . . . today  but tomorrow  who knows   br    br   nevertheless  this film is not solely about love  but life itself  joy  pain  loneliness  confusion  everyday ups and downs . and its most important quality is the fact that it is not soppy at all  but rather warm and full of hope .  br    br   i give this film a  because the final section of it suggests how some of the stories might further develop  but not all of them and that is the thing that i find missing  and by  further development  i do not mean some specific reference to the characters  future . as far as everything else is concerned i can only say  captivating . makes you want to leave everything behind you  flee to paris and live those little romances yourself .  
baba  rajinikanth will never forget this name in his life . this is the movie which caused his downfall . it was released with much hype but crashed badly and laid to severe financial losses for its producers and distributors . rajinikanth had to personally repay them for the losses incurred . soon after its release  he tried venturing into politics but failed miserably . its a very bad movie with horrible acting  bad  quality makeup and pathetic screenplay . throughout the movie  rajinikanth looks like a person suffering from some disease . i  m one of the unfortunate souls who saw baba  first day first show in theatre . the audiences were so bored that most of them left the theatre before the intermission . sorry  i  ll not recommend this one to anyone .  
the whole does not even come close to the sum of the parts . no problem . this film features a line  up of some of the most diversely creative directors of our time and some really famous names in the cast . the segments are devised around the same theme   love in paris   but the resemblance ends there . actually  considering that the approach to the theme from all these different directors takes so many forms  it is amazing that we can even feel we are still watching the same film . no great effort has been made to turn it into a comprehensive whole . this buffet has so many great ingredients  i am glad nobody tried to put them all in a single dish .  
i am not a big fan of rajnikant in the first place  but baba was a huge disappointment . in between an awful storyline  the action and songs were only mediocre . the storyline becomes very preachy . instead of running for office like ntr or mgr  rajni almost appeared to be running as tamil nadu  s next big guru . my wife tells me that since this film came out  rajni swore off doing any more movies   br    br   we were lucky initially to have bought babu  an oldie by sivajiganeshan  online by accident when trying to buy this one . . . . that was a great film  which made up for having bought this dud . . . except it makes baba look even worse by comparison   br    br   bryan  
i watched this movie a couple of days ago in a small independent cinema in paris . it was my last evening in the french capital and the best good  bye i could have chosen . these twenty episodes made me relive the impressions i had collected in paris in a heart  warming manner without drifting off into kitsch or sentimental schmaltz . each episode is full of surprise  strong emotions and suggestive pictures and each short  film is directed according to the rules of a good short story . to me this kind of movie demands a lot more talent and qualities of a director and a story board writer than any epic two hours drama and all of them succeeded in their task excellently  the stories were chosen carefully with regard to their matching arrondissement and express the respective flair perfectly . each episode was seen from a different ankle  had a different topic  a different style and still the twenty stories result in a harmonic orchestra of films . the most outstanding advantage with the concept of an episode movie in my opinion is based in the fact that you can switch in between a large variety of feelings and moods without the danger of overload  just the other way round the melange of sadness  melancholy  pure joy  despair  wrath  anxiety  curiosity or passion gives this movie a unique freshness and harmony . and not to forget the all over topic of love  love between the characters  love between the characters and paris and also the love of the directors and actors  actresses for this project . i don  t want to go into the details of the episodes since there are so many  but i must highlight the range of world famous actors and actresses from all over the world and their approach to this project . some played with their image  some broke it completely and some interpreted the stereotypes connected with their home country or the roles they had played before  so intertextuality was given all through the movie . all in all i can absolutely recommend this great collage and will be looking forward to its release on dvd .  
rajinikanth becomes born again after getting a magical power which he can use seven times .  br    br   there are several problems with this movie that are obvious to the casual audience the   ish rajinikanth is still at home with his parents the father of the girl next door thinks that he is a compelling  boy    vaseekaramaana paiyan    rajinikanth suddenly interrupts the movie with his sermons  the worst being how women of yesteryears got their exercise through household work   yet we are to believe that he is not a theist even though he was well read  he wastes six of his seven powers on a stupid kite i can go on  but you get the picture .  br    br   there are god  men  there are gods  and there is rajinikanth . the directory has difficulty fitting rajinikanth into one of these categories . initially  rajinikanth is just rajinikanth doing what tamil heroes do   stand up to villains and  in spite of being the oldest  getting courted by the prettiest girl in the movie . rajinikanth does this well and some of rajinikanth  s trademark styles are actually enjoyable    baba count  is a novelty . what makes this movie unbearable is that those few initial minutes are just a preface to an worst book to be ever written . even that preface is punctuated with some comedy which are forced and obvious .  br    br   the director doesn  t explain the purpose of the hero we see that the hero is facing several hurdles  from politicians  as usual  but we can  t really root for the hero because we don  t know what the hero  s ultimate goal is . at the end  when everyone wants him to be the leader  the hero gives another one of his sermons and walks away to become a hermit . the director offers no solution to the problem in the climax scene .  br    br   a . r . rehman  s score is really interesting . either he shows patches of brilliance or he didn  t bother to invest himself fully into this movie   who can blame him . there is one scene where rajinikanth steps into the van of one of the crooks and then throws the knife and starts his baba count . the music is very apt for the moment and acts as a catalyst adding further tension . the songs are all mediocre  no one would bother with the songs from this movie after a few years .  br    br   unfortunately   is the lowest rank you can assign in imdb . this movie has all the elements that justify its rightful place at the nether of imdb  s ranking .  
it  s not easy making a movie with   different stories in it . although   different international directors took the challenge  not everyone of them is good  some of them even boring . but in his entity   paris  je t  aime  is breathtaking  showing that  as  love actually  put it   love is all around   especially in the city of love . here  s a resum  i  ll try to make at as spoiler  free as possible  of the   different stories .  br    br   montmartre  kind of a dull opening sequence  nothing really special about it . a man finds a parking spot  and sees a lot of odd couples walking by  wondering why he can  t find a girl . and than  suddenly  a woman faints next to his car . . .  br    br   quais de seine  another dull sequence  about three teenage boys who are searching for some  piece of ass   when suddenly a muslim girl trips right in front of them  receiving help from one of the boys . really basic  but with a sweet heart to it .  br    br   les marais  this was a huge disappointment  although a love story between two boys with an artsy background could have been interesting by the great van sant . eventually  everything that comes after the monologue by ulliel is good  everything before it is just annoying .  br    br   tuileries  an entertaining sequence by the coen brothers . buscemi  without even saying one word  is mesmerizing and the whole sequence is just hilarious . this one kept me hooked until the very end  and this one also gets you truly hooked to the movie .  br    br   loin du   ieme  a beautiful story too  even if the execution is poor  the heart is there . it  s the story of an hispanic woman who drops her child off  early in the morning  to take care of another suburban baby . beautiful .  br    br   porte de choisy  this segment has got to be the strangest and weirdest from the whole movie . some kind of shampoo salesman arrives in a chinatown  lookalike place in paris . if i understood it correctly  the story is about inner beauty  but i think i  m wrong .  br    br   bastille  a truly wonderful sequence . a man meets with his wife at a restaurant  to break up with her  so that he can run off with his mistress . but the wife has some devastating news . pretty basic  but truly sad and beautiful  place des victoires  a sad sequence as well . juliette binoche plays a grieving mother . one night  she wakes up hearing her dead child . when she arrives at the location  a cowboy tells her she can give one last good  bye to her child . one of the best segments  tour eiffel  two mimes who fall in love could have been great  but  even though it has some nice cinematic tricks  the story isn  t intriguing and not funny at all .  br    br   parc monceau  a truly original and great sequence  one of the best of the movie  a young girl and an older man discuss their future and her fear for a certain man . . . cuaron does a great directing job  and the actors are amazing  quartier des enfants rouges  an american actress  gyllenhaal  falls in love with her drug dealer . a beautiful segment again  with a very sad ending place des fetes  a woman comes to a homeless man  he starts talking romantic to her . . . because she is the love of his life . beautiful  sad  shocking  romantic  . . . place des ftes will make everyone cry .  br    br   pigalle  a boring sequence between ardant and hoskins  who are looking for new thrills in their relationship . . . very unfunny and unromantic  pigalle is a let  down .  br    br   quartier de la madeleine  bringing some diversity in the movie  qdlm is a relief . a young guy  wood  finds a vampire killing a victim . . . the tourist and the vampire . . . fall in love  dark  scary and oddly romantic  madeleine is superb .  br    br   pere  lachaise  another let  down segment . directed by wes craven and with stars as mortimer and sewell  it could have been great  but pre  lachaise is just ordinary  not original at all .  br    br   faubourg saint  denis  the rumors are true  twyker  s short film is beautiful  stunning and well done . a blind man picks up the phone  and hears from his girlfriend  portman  truly stunning  that she breaks up with him . he reflects on their relationship .  br    br   quartier latin  even though this segment has been co  directed by depardieu and has such stars as rowlands  gazzara and depardieu  this segment is a let  down too . nothing happens  lack of chemistry between the actors .  br    br     th arrondissement  the last sequence is hilarious and sad at the same time . an american tells in her french class about her trip to paris . her french is truly terrible  but at the end of the segment  she realizes that paris is so much more than meets the eye .  br    br   with feist on the background   paris  je t  aime  ends in a sweet tone  not letting me down at all  even though some segments bored the hell out of me  the entity of the movie is great  a true cinematic experience for young and old . paris  je t  aime vraiment   
movie goers  avoid watching this movie . if you are faint hearted  you might want to commit suicide . if you are a short tempered  you would want to kill the lead performer of the movie .  br    br   though he does not have any talent in acting  he is the mass hero for all the rickshaw pullers  auto rickshaw drivers  rowdies  thugs and immature and ignorant literates .  br    br   he proves  you do not need neither talent nor knowledge to be successfully .  br    br   he is the highest paid actor in india . that shows the taste of movie going public in india .    of movie goers in tamil nadu are definitely attracted to his kind of nonsense movies .  
wasn  t sure what to expect from this movie considering its amazing collection of stars and directors but in the end it didn  t disappoint .  br    br   for me one of the highlights was the final episode with the american tourist speaking with a dreadful french accent  which made me feel better about mine  which was actually quite touching and a great way to wrap up the movie .  br    br   the story of the paramedic and the stabbing victim was also very moving and for pure comedy the coen brothers and steve buscemi take the award . the tom tykwer clip was also impressive although rather ambitious in its scope .  br    br   however  the bob hoskins segment was totally cringeworthy and the vampire story was completely farcical . the dialogue in wes craven  s section also felt very forced and the chinatown story was completely incomprehensible .  br    br   on the whole this film is worth watching for the good bits and has a strong finish . it  s not too painful to sit through the bad sections  they only last  minutes anyway .  br    br   ca vaut la peine     
this is without doubt rajnikanth  s worst movies ever . the first part is held in place with solid comedy from goundamani but it progressively gets worse and worse and completely illogical . our hero also takes a dig at saints with the same name  baba  through a corny and utterly lame one  liner . the first half has rajni uttering his usual array of oneliners and style and in the second half  becomes a quasi saint after a beggar takes him through a interdimensional portal to the himalayas where babaji  not the famous saints he took a dig at earlier  gives him special powers for no apparent reason  other than karma  . this is really starting to get interesting now isn  t it   br    br   the rest of the movie is about him wasting his magic boons and powers and fighting off politicians and related black magic . the usual predictable crap with hilarious implementation . oh and the black magic never worked on our hero because he just happened to have a param vir . . . er . . . . shakti chakra with him . the bad guys and the usual politician villains are clichd  overworked and in the end  completely insignificant to the plot which itself doesn  t go anywhere .  br    br   but despite all the flaws  it was fun to kill time with and yell baba related one  liners during public events . its also fun to watch others curse about this movie . ar rehman is said to have composed the tracks for his movie through the cell phone . thats how important he considered it .  br    br   rajni is very popular in japan and he has included two characters  one of them is called keiko . . . why not samsung   of japanese origin in this movie just for the sake of it . but the way they are portrayed  dressed and treated is absolutely pathetic . the japanese may stop watching rajni movies after seeing that . this movie was probably promotional material for rajni entering politics but the results of the movie itself would have killed off any of his political dreams .  br    br   fun if you turn your brain off though .  
i was lucky enough to attend a screening in stockholm for this elegantly expressed  enjoyable  and thought  provoking film . with romance as the heaviest weapon in its arsenal  paris je t  aime boldly plunges into love in paris  navigating the different forms in eighteen separate  quartiers  but without pouting parisiennes and saccharine formulas . its goldmine undoubtedly stems from frustration on the directors  parts  frustration over only having     minutes of screen time  thereby you are only presented with the best and most assured direction from each party .  br    br   debating whether or not i should review all   segments  i reached the conclusion that it would be merely redundant and long  winded . instead simply rest assured that each director graces the film with their eccentric styles and skills  and certainly you  ll find your favourite . although gus van sant cannot resist the temptation to be introspective  his les marais is one of the better contributions  even sneaking in a well  placed kurt cobain reference . the coen brothers recreate one of the more accessible segments in paris  a scene with a muted but emotionally transparent steve buscemi  deadpan humour and clever camera angles that surely generated the most laughter in my theatre  and perhaps rightly so .  br    br   in this way  all story lines are exquisitely unique  filtered through the minds of different directors  but the one that deviates the most from the rest is vincenzo natali  s quartier de la madeleine  a dark horror  gothic love starring elijah wood as a lost tourist in the backstreets of paris in the night who meets a vampiress . with a black  and  white format but blood  red colour contrast that seems to incongruously bleed off screen  it nearly becomes a pastiche of sin city  a refreshing eerie and visual turn in an otherwise fairly grounded film .  br    br   yet my single favourite segment was faubourg saint  denis by tom tykwer but i think i was conditioned to think so  given that i went in the theatre with him as my favourite and nudged my friend in the side saying  finally  that  s my favourite director here  . nevertheless  it cannot be denied that tykwer delivers a lovely segment in which a blind boy picks up the phone  and hears from his girlfriend  portman  for once not annoying  that she breaks up with him  and he reflects on their relationship . as is tywker  s style  the story is dizzyingly fast  paced  kinetic and repetitive  featuring screaming and running  lola rennt  making it the most adrenaline  pumping segment in paris je t  aime and possibly also the most touching once tywker starts wielding his most powerful tool  music .  br    br   to fill the negative account  clearly not all directors manage as touching as tywker  van sant  cohens  coixet and dpardieu . sylvain chomet scrapes the bottom of the pile by carving out a truly disposable segment in which a little boy retells the story of how his parents met . they are two lonely mimes . this part is so in  your  face french and desperately quirky that it is insulting to international viewers . suwa also directs a poor and fluffy segment with an unusually haggard  looking juliette binoche whom mourns the loss of her son . nothing else happens . finally  the wrap  up and interweaving of the   stories in the end feels somewhat rushed and half  hearted .  br    br   yet paris je t  aime truly spoils you with quality  for all the other stories are well  crafted with crisp acting and amusing writing . it is certainly one of the highlights of      not saying much  i suppose  and a very personal film in the sense that it is unavoidable to pick a favourite and a least favourite . highly recommended both to mainstream of  pretentious   heh  audiences .  br    br    out    
not the best of actors  movies . the director has concentrated on projected actor  s stardom rather than giving a good entertainer . may be hero himself  his family and his sincere fans can enjoy it . but definitely it  s not worth for neutral audience . the fight sequences are a total comedy . the dance moves in the song sequences are pathetic . the music is average . this film was the biggest flop for the actor . inspite of the hype created over the movie  the movie failed miserably . don  t even think of watching this move even if you want to kill time . you can watch some cartoon instead . a good movie buff cannot digest this crap for     hours .  
although i live in minnesota  i have been studying in france lately and came across this bizarre gem of a film .  br    br   this movie was amazing  to say the least . a creative and unique film  the different directors each lent something different to their interpretation of love in the city of light . the first instinct is to attempt to fit each one of these little stories into an overall storyline  much as can be done with      s love actually . this attempt  however  renders the magic of each individual segment obsolete . when taken at face value  with each of the short segments taken as its own individual film  the love stories together tell a beautiful message .  br    br   the film is strikingly bizarre at times   often to the point of confusion   and each individual segment can be hard to follow . still  to a watcher who pays close attention to each of the segments  the short plot lines become clear after a short time . the confusion is almost intriguing it keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for what will come next . it leaves the viewer wondering  did that really just happen   yet also leaves them satisfied that it did  indeed  occur . it  s the kind of movie where the viewer  upon leaving the theater  can  t actually decide whether they loved it or they hated it . the initial reaction is to go and watch it again and again  just to see these individual lives blend together into a cinematic masterpiece .  br    br   the interesting decision to make the movie multilingual adds something to the spectrum of people who can relate . it adds to the reality of the film   here  the american tourists speak english  the parisians french  and so on . the number of people that the film encompasses leads to an understanding of the international language of love .  br    br   from sickness to the supernatural  the love of parents to the love of husbands  this film covers all the bases of romantic storytelling . in its beautiful and quirky way  each unique event somehow falls into place to tell a story that of all types  sizes  nationalities  and shapes of love .  
normally i would have given this movie a  . it tackles a very important topic and it does it relatively well  despite katie wright which is an accomplishment in and of itself .  br    br   i have no idea if she was actually instructed to play the character like this or is naturally irritating  but she did an awesome job at making it impossible for me to care for lexi . there  s no dimension to her other than how confused  helpless and clueless she is  and how good she is at whimpering . i can understand how a young girl who blames herself for the loss of her friend and whose eating disorder has spiraled out of control would be distraught  scared and in pain . however  wright  s entire performance is based on incessant wailing and sniveling  the rest being whining . i couldn  t help but feel this particular girl  s problem was caused not by the demon that is bulimia  but by her not having a backbone . i very much doubt that  s the point the movie meant to make .  
i caught this movie on the sundance channel on cable one late afternoon . you might say  who loves the sun  is a perfect leisurely pastime of a story  why ever not . you get to hang out with the trio lukas haas is will  returning after abruptly leaving everyone years ago   molly parker is maggie  we learn she  s very much part of the family bloom   and adam scott is daniel  is he friend or foe or fianc   by the scenic falcon lake  manitoba  canada  captured in graphic compositions juxtaposed in vivid summer colors against sunshine and shadows . and supporting the trio are two more family members in the revealing mix wendy crewson is mom mary bloom  and r . h . thomson is dad arthur bloom . writer  director matt bissonnette has delivered an ingenious unfolding of story  line and its various tentacle links  worry not  haas may have a  listless  face  but humor will come as parker and scott enter the circle of friends reunited  wry smiles will break and knowing delights stir . dialogs may be terse or even nil  yet we  d get the flavor of what  s cooking  bemused or wondering .  br    br   yes   who loves the sun  can very well be categorized as a sleeper gem . the chemistry between all five principals sure gels and  combusts   giving an energetic ensemble performance . after all  it  s all in the family  and the film sure doesn  t take itself too seriously .  br    br   looks like the official site is still available at  wholovesthesun . com  and there are information on the soundtrack by mac mccaughan  portastatic with guitar tunes and strings  where score excerpts are being played  and behind the scenes production notes  interview with writer  director  producer bissonnette on how the movie and concept came about  the casting and more . have always appreciate molly parker since her spare yet mesmerizing performance in     lynne stopkewich  s  kissed   and she  s married to bissonnette  who  wrote the maggie part for molly .   
there are moments in this unique cartoon of pure beauty but overall it  s not very good . limited animation as well as sub standard character and background design will limit its mass market appeal . the character design looks like a cross between the original star wars clone wars and disney  s kim possible   brendan  the main character in this also bares an uncanny similarity to ron stoppable in kim possible  background design ranges as far and wide as going from being bland and depressing to stylish and stark  yet by today  s standards  overall it is still poor and cheap looking . many of the backgrounds bare resemblances to eastern european or nordic animation from the mid    s  nice in its own way but for modern child audiences  used to cg slug fests and talking dogs with every piece of fur on their body swaying in the wind  is sure to disappoint . the story is also not overly engaging and many of the voice actors aren  t overly impressive  noticeably the usually brilliant brendan gleeson who appears to be phoning in his part . there are also a few secondary characters who come across as slightly clich and stereotypically racist . however  some of the characters are good  the viking villains  although underused are well done and are specifically foreboding in both look and sound . there is one moment involving the main character and his mentor being saved by wolves from a viking attack that is very nicely put together . the look and feel also seemed to be very inspired by the film watership down including a blatant rip off  homage to the ghost rabbit of inlay . the look is also clearly and obviously inspired by gaelic  celtic  anglo saxon art so if you are into these subjects you may be drawn towards its look . the film also does have moments of very nicely structured shots leading the eye in a very artistic manner  including a pretty match cut and a large scale viking attack that is very moody and impressive . best of all though is the music  much of the background music is melodic and moving  specifically the song by the spirit girl which is truly beautiful and haunting and works very well with the images it covers . if the whole film was as poetic as this moment   and it tries   then this would be a very beautiful and poetic film that would sadly still not reach a wide audience  but instead it isn  t a shame it wont reach a wider audience because most of it is average and cheap looking and doesn  t stand up to modern animation standards . overall a film that clearly split my opinion in many ways  but all together not great but worth watching for the music and song and the occasional pretty or scary moment . oh yeah and the cat seemed to live for a long time  not sure how that was possible .  
i had no idea what this movie was until i read about it in the l . a . weekly . i generally agree with the reviews in the la weekly and decided to get a ticket for this film . the film stars molly parker  from my favorite television show deadwood  and lukas haas   who i suspect we will be seeing more of in the very near future . the film is funny  heartwarming  features great acting  and beautiful photography . i don  t know if the film has distribution  but i hope it does  or will  soon . this is destined to be a real indie gem . it even has music by my favorite band the silver jews  the only disappointment was that molly parker wasn  t there at the screening . even without her there . . . this was hands down the best film i saw at the festival .  
no need to detail what others have written in other reviews  here goes the summary  br    br    much of the nested animation work is downright gorgeous  the colors are superb  would love to have it done in silk as a necktie  br    br    the story and execution is a total snooze  it was quite difficult to stay awake at times  br    br   if you are a student of the fine arts  medieval calligraphy  early religion and so forth  have at it . this is a film for you .  br    br   if you want an engaging  entertaining movie  look elsewhere  this is a failure as anything other than an artistic statement .  br    br   vikings didn  t have horns by the way . . .  
  who loves the sun  works its way through some prickly subject matter with enough wit and grace to keep the story not only engaging  but often hilarious . it  s been a while since i  ve found such a thoroughly touching  thoroughly enjoyable film .  br    br   the film is gorgeous  drawing the eye with beautiful scenery and tranquil landscapes . the peaceful imagery contrasts wonderfully with the tension between the very human  very flawed  and yet very likable characters . due to the excellent cast all five of the major players are wonderfully interesting and dynamic .  br    br   i recommend  who loves the sun .  it  s a really funny movie that takes a poignant look at the hurts that we can inflict on each other  and the amazingly difficult but equally rewarding process of forgiveness .  
  br    br   one would expect a movie with a famous comedian in the lead role  to be a funny movie . this is not the case here . i laughed out loud once throughout the whole movie  and that wasn  t even during the final comedy  scene  which one would also expect to be the funniest  . this is one you can watch when it comes to tv  don  t spend any other money renting it .  
absolutely one of my favorite movies of all time . i have seen it at least a hundred times and i can  t go through it without crying . i defy anyone to watch the reunion of celie and nettie  or shug and father and not feel your eyes getting misty . whoopie goldberg should have one an award for amazing portrayal . and for the person who said you can  t love the movie if you loved the book  wrong  im a testament to that .  
i almost called hbo and demanded my money back for the month just because they  ve been airing this movie . i can just see the movie execs sitting around going   okay  we need to come up with something that  s just like home alone  only we  ll add a bunch of cash for the kid  hire cut  rate actors  and oh yeah  we  ll make it a lot less funny    br    br   okay  maybe not the last part  but that  s basically what you  ve got here . not even worth seeing if someone else rents it . and as a movie for kids  forget it . i wouldn  t let my kids see this  not necessarily because of bad  taste jokes  but because i wouldn  t want them to say   what were you thinking showing us that lame piece of garbage  dad       
another good stooge short  christine mcintyre is so lovely and evil and the same time in this one  she is such a great actress  the stooges are very good and especially shemp and larry  this to is a good one to watch around autumn time   
this film seemed way too long even at only   minutes . the problem with jungle horror films is that there is always way too much footage of people walking  through the jungle  up a rocky cliff  near a river or lake  to pad out the running time . the film is worth seeing for the laughable and naked native zombie with big bulging  bloody eyes which is always accompanied on the soundtrack with heavy breathing and lots of reverb . eurotrash fans will be plenty entertained by the bad english dubbing  gratuitous female flesh and very silly makeup jobs on the monster and native extras . for a zombie  cannibal flick this was pretty light on the gore but then i probably didn  t see an uncut version .  
cameron grant is one of the best directors doing adult films . his only rival is andrew blake . celeste is dynamite all thru the movie but the dr  s office sequence with her  two other ladies is just incredible . nearly as good is asia carrera  s performance with the construction worker . i highly recommend this movie  gave it a  . it  s almost as good as cameron grant  s elements of desire which i gave a   .  
because that is the only way you won  t think this film is a total waste of time and money . a remake of  heaven can wait    which was at least worth watching  is a poor excuse for a romantic comedy . it is more a vehicle to give rock some time on film for weak stand up comedy which doesn  t play well on the big screen . especially because his jokes generally are supposed to be from the body of an old  fat  rich  dead man but are shown coming from rock himself . as he insults blacks and whites the chemistry is all wrong . the movie is not funny  poorly shot the acting is weak at best . go rent  heaven can wait  and a live rock video and you  ll be way ahead of the game .  
the dinner party could quite possibly be in my opinion the greatest adult cinema production of all time . it is produced in such an exquisite manner and the actors portray their roles excellently . the kitchen scene starring yvonne and juli ashton is magnificent . the use of the butter and milk really makes the scene . additionally  the doctor  s office scene is well done . the campfire scene is filled with enjoyable action  though the choice of actors in this scene is questionable . asia carrera  s performance in the junkyard scene is incredible  but who would expect anything less from her . the closing scene is somewhat over used in adult films  but is classic none the less . i would highly recommend this film to all fans of adult films and those casual viewers . run out to your video store and pick it up today .  
i was in physical pain watching the eyes of the cast as they participated in this sham . bad dialogue  worse  worst  acting  lifeless all the way  and the cast knew it . the two preceding movies which this attempted to copy had life  sparkle  and were captivating .  
although cameron grant was clearly hired to replace andrew blake over at ultimate pictures when the latter started his own company  studio a   he practically outdid the  master  right out of the gate when it came to setting up steamy sex scenes . so  while all the window dressing blake had pioneered  starlets in fetish lingerie and sun glasses  coiffed and made up as if they  re about to hit the catwalk  remained very much present and accounted for  grant added his own personal spin to the carnal content . in doing so  he raised the heat to a level that had eluded big a ever since his first  and imho best  film night trips . cam  s maiden effort  elements of desire  might still have been handicapped by an overly slavish adherence to the blake aesthetic  with a surfeit of girl on girl gropes   but his subsequent dinner party already shows him at the top of his form in what must surely rank as his masterpiece .  br    br   the title spells out the premise as a group of well to do friends and acquaintances gather over dinner to swap sexy stories  with an extended orgy at the conclusion . scrumptious juli ashton and tammy parks smear food stuff all over each other  s flawless physiques in their kitchen sequence that is sure to delight those with a taste towards combining pleasures of the palette with those of the flesh . busty crystal gold  here   catalina   was rarely more than a reliable second  stringer  adding spice to several ona zee bargain basement noirs  yet looks absolutely stunning here in a romantic four poster frolic with fabio lookalike vince voyeur . beautiful blondes kylie ireland and yvonne  making out with marc davis  for the record  the latter two were an item at the time  under a waterfall  complete the eye candy section of the movie .  br    br   time to get cooking  early jenna jameson   daisy  back then  foreshadows the greatness to come as she drains frank towers   mark slade  on his subsequent shift to the gay side of the industry  of all vital juices  albeit with a little help from brunette diva for effective contrast  the scene  s stylish industrial setting providing an atmospheric backdrop to the full tilt sex taking place . impossibly hunky construction worker gerry pike seeks to cool off on a sweltering summer day by hosing down  a prospect too tantalizing for prim  n  proper business woman asia carrera  at her all time most achingly pretty  to pass up . best of show must be the imaginative sequence that has nasty norma jeane and handsome sean michaels teasing the pants off each other  for starters   while separated by a glass partition right until the predictably splashy conclusion .  br    br   with sex that proves either artsy or hot  and more often than not both  grant has concocted a veritable smrgsbord of fleshy wares to continue the film  s gastronomic analogy the title implies . couples may be the prime intended audience  but an alternation between naughty  n  nice should rightfully include that  something for everything  recipe so many adult features are aiming for . acting as his own dop  the director shows great eye for detail  like the shot of asia carrera  s pristine white shoes being spattered with mud  enriching his vision . this marks him out as a great filmmaker rather than a merely serviceable one  as was the case with nick steele who stepped up to take his place at ultimate  effectively making him a replacement  s replacement   when he packed up for greener pastures .  
irritating  illogical flow of events . pretty much every joke is so simple that it can hardly be regarded as one . no wonder the cinema was empty and people actually walked away  yes away . i stayed  since i was enjoying a wonderful ice  cream with nuts during the whole movie .  
ok  so it  s an adult movie . but it really is very tastefully done . it  s obvious that the producers spent a lot of time and money into making a classy sort of movie . i was pleasantly surprised at just how good it was . even the acting was fairly decent . the plot was more solid than most adult films i  ve seen . the camera work was above average . it  s just a good flick    
i did not expect much from this film  but boy  o  boy  i did not expect the movie to be this bad . chris rock is not showing a good act here  you can  t get the feeling that his caracter is real  i think the movie would have been a bit better if it  s drama or romantic scenes would have been a less part of the movie and more  better humor was involved . the movie is like the film makers were having a bad hangover making it . in the  making of  they don  t show a single smile . this is a very bad film  i gave it three out of ten because of few smiles it gave me  but i did never laugh   
generally  it  s difficult to rate these cut    paste films . some of the segments can be quite good while others bring down the rating of the overall product . in this one  for instance  the all  girl scene in the doctor  s office was quite exciting . . . one of the best in this viewer  s  limited  viewing history . then there  s asia  s segment . . . the lady is always entertaining . and the story that binds the whole together was an interesting concept . the swap scene that closes out the offering ain  t bad either . technically  the production values are fairly high . recommended .  
i like chris rock  but i feel he is wasted in this film . the idea of remaking heaven can wait is fine  but the filmmakers followed the plot of that turkey too closely . when eddie murphy remade dr . doolittle and the nutty professor  he re  did them totally   so they became murphy films  vehicles  not just tepid remakes . that  s why they were successful . if chris had done the same  this could have been a much better film . the few laughs that come are when he is doing his standup routine   so he might as well have done a concert film . it also would have been much funnier if the white man whose body he inhabits was a truck driver or hillbilly . so why does hollywood keep making junk like this  because people go to see it   because they like chris rock . so give chris a decent script and give us better movies  don  t remake films that weren  t that good in the first place   
i don  t understand the low  .  rating on this film . it  s a delight for people who like a strong suspense plot and dark atmospherics . the tone is reminiscent of midnight in the garden of good and evil  down to the locale  savannah  . the acting is strong  and i was amazed at the verisimilitude of kenneth branagh  s southern accent . famke jansen is great  robert duval is effective in a small part  and embeth davitz is the bomb . great full nude scene of her  too .  br    br   the plot is fairly standard but effectively executed .  
i like chris rock  but i feel he is wasted in this film . the idea of remaking heaven can wait is fine  but the filmmakers followed the plot of that turkey too closely . when eddie murphy remade dr . doolittle and the nutty professor  he re  did them totally   so they became murphy films  vehicles  not just tepid remakes . that  s why they were successful . if chris had done the same  this could have been a much better film . the few laughs that come are when he is doing his standup routine   so he might as well have done a concert film . it also would have been much funnier if the white man whose body he inhabits was a truck driver or hillbilly . so why does hollywood keep making junk like this  because people go to see it   because they like chris rock . so give chris a decent script and give us better movies  don  t remake films that weren  t that good in the first place   
the biggest surprise in this movie was the performance of daryl hannah . rather than playing the stereotypical ditzy blonde roles that she usually does she plays a street  smart  intelligent  world  weary character . she doesn  t have a huge role but she does a great job portraying lois harlan as a woman tired of  although used to  covering up for her boss  indiscretions .  
i figured the whole joke of the movie would be to see some rich white guy acting like chris rock  and then see chris rock react to people  s reactions . instead you just see chris rock being himself and people not understanding him . there are maybe  scenes in the entire movie where they use their gimmick . this should have been a lot better .  
i found myself at sixes and sevens while watching this one . altman  s touch with zooms in and out were there  and i expected those devices to comment on characters and situations . unfortunately  as far as i could see  they sometimes were gratuitous  sometimes witty  often barren for failing to point out some ironic or other connection . in particular  two zoom  outs from the gilt dome in savannah merely perplexed . to be fair  though  a few zooms  outs and ins  to branagh heightened his character  s increasing bewilderment  a la pudgy mccabe  s or philip marlow  s . on the whole  the zooms were  well  inconsistent  and sometimes even trite .  br    br   other almanesque devices  such as multiple panes of glass between camera and subject  succeeded in suggesting characters  sollipsism or narcissism or opaque states of knowledge . car windshields  house windows  and other screens were used effectively and fairly consistently  i felt  harking back to the player and even the long goodbye . a few catchy jump  cuts  especially to a suggestive tv commercial  reminded me of such usage in short cuts  to sardonic effect .  br    br   but finally  the mismatch between altman  s very personal style and the sheer weight of the grisham  genre momentum  failed to excite me . this director  s     s masterpieces revised and deconstructed various classic genres  including the chandler detective film which this resembled in some ways this time around  the director seemed to have too few arrows in his analytic quiver to strike any meaningful blow to the soft underbelly of this beastly genre . was he muzzled in by mammonist producers  perhaps  or am i missing something  due to my feeble knowledge of the genre he takes on here   br    br   nonetheless  the casting was excellent all around tom berenger  for his terrifying ferality   branagh for his  deflated  hubris  robert downey jr  s pheromonal haze  robert duvall  s method of trash  and davidtz  s lurking femme  fatality were near perfect choices all . and except for a few slips out of georgia into chicago on the part of  brunette   daryl hannah  accents were convincingly southern .  br    br   suspense and mood were engrossing  even if the story didn  t quite rivet viewers . the moodiness of a coastal pre  hurricane barometric plunge was exquisitely  painstakingly rendered   i felt like yelling at the usher to turn on the swamp cooler pronto .  br    br   torn  in the end i judged it a  .  br    br    
this is probably the worst movie i have ever seen   yes it  s even worse than dungeons and dragons and any film starring kevin costner .   br    br   chris rock looked very uncomfortable throughout this whole film  and his supporting actors didn  t even look like they were trying to act . chris rock is a wonderful stand  up comedian  but he just can  t transfer his talent to this film  which probably only has two strained laughs in the whole picture .  br    br   if you haven  t watched this film yet  avoid it like the plague . go do something constructive and more interesting like watching the weather channel or watching paint dry on a brick wall .  br    br   for chris  efforts i give it a       br    br    
a lawyer is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse when he becomes involved with a femme fatale in this adaptation of a grisham novel . altman creates a suspenseful  gothic atmosphere but the script is weak . sporting a southern drawl  branagh is convincing as the lawyer  and davidtz is alluring as the object of his desire . downey is likable as a private detective . duvall has a small role  which does not allow him to do much with his weird character . hannah and berenger round out the impressive cast . after an interesting setup  the film bogs down and does not really deliver on its initial promise  but altman is always worth a look .  
down to earth is about lance barton  a black comedian who gets hit by a truck . he goes to heaven and he gets to get another body . lance gets the body of charles wellington  a white guy . so lance does a few things in the body of charles . the movie has a few laughs  but it  s nothing special . it  s a good movie if you  re a fan of chris rock . madagascar  the     animated comedy  is better . this is a good movie  but chris rock has done way better things than this . it will only make you laugh about  times the whole movie . and it  s not really laugh  out  loud funny . you  ll laugh to yourself and you might giggle  but you definitely won  t be rolling on the floor laughing .  
any screen adaptation of a john grisham story deserves a mainstream hollywood approach  and robert altman is about the last director i would go to for a mainstream take on anything . but this southern  fried pot  boiler is pretty good . while it  s not among altman  s best  it certainly isn  t among the films he  s made that leave you scratching your head and wondering what he was thinking .  br    br   altman had tipped his hat to the mystery thriller with noir overtones before  in his     film  the long goodbye .   the gingerbread man  is nowhere near as good as that film  but it holds up fairly well on its own . kenneth branagh is a cocky attorney who finds himself framed for murder after he gets involved with a client  embeth davidtz  who has enlisted his help in protecting her from her cuckoo father  robert duvall  . the film is set in savannah  georgia during the approach of a tropical storm  which lends the film an oppressive atmosphere that i very much liked . the twists and turns toward the film  s end become clunkier and clunkier  and altman proves himself to be not all that adept at staging shootouts  but overall the film is not a bad addition to altman  s canon .  br    br   also starring robert downey  jr .  daryl hannah  tom berenger and famke janssen .  br    br   grade b  
first off  i would like to say that i am a fan of chris rock . i like his other movies  but this movie is just like my summary . the biggest sack of crap ever . in the beginning  chris rock plays an aspiring comedian who get stage fright at a comedy building called the apollo . on his way home from a gig  while riding his bike he sees this woman he likes and is hit by a truck . a little while later  he chooses the body of an old  white  and selfish millionaire . then  he dresses up like the music group outkast while trying to replay the scene from the original where he comes out as a jockey . second  he goes back to the apollo  and tries to be the comedian he tried to be in his previous body and starts dissing the white population and tries to be black . do you get my drift  this movie is awful it tries too hard to be like the original and in the process comes out looking like a sack of crap . just take my advice  don  t even watch this movie .  
i  ve seen this movie at least fifty times and after watching it last week for the first time in a long time i still felt it .  br    br   the story itself was incredible but came alive by spielberg  s expertise and the fabulous cast including whoopi goldberg  oprah winfrey  danny glover  and margaret avery . akosua busia deserved an oscar nomination for her short but powerful portrayal of nettie .  br    br   you  ll experience every human emotion while watching this film . i laughed  cried  and got angry . like most great movies it was looked over by the academy with a host of nominations but no wins . but this movie  without a doubt  is definitely one of the best films of all time .  
blank check is easily one of the worst films of the nineties . the plot is completely pointless its overtones of lonliness are pathetic . do you really believe a twelve year old acting as a personal assistant for a millionaire could accomplish everything in this film  like buying a mansion for a mere     grand . the notion  let alone the bargain  basement price  will only be believed by the most gullible viewers . please  respect your intelligence and don  t watch this awful  awful film .  
robert altman is my favorite american director . i must admit that i have enjoyed the films that are usually scorned  quintet   if only for giving me the pleasure of seeing a grown  up and beautiful brigitte fossey  who was unforgettable as the little girl in  forbidden games    health   for having lauren bacall  carol burnett  alfre woodard and glenda jackson  all in the same cast  popeye   for that splendid and surreal world  shelley duvall  s olive oyl and the wonderful malta locations  o . c .  stiggs   for its proposal of an anti   adolescents flick    beyond therapy   for all its lunacy and for the presence of genvieve page  who for all her effort to look parisian chic is taken for a travestite . . . i have even enjoyed his one  act tv movies  like  the dumb waiter  and  the laundromat  . when there is not much plot to develop in his films  you have wonderful performances  from burnett  john travolta  kim basinger or jane curtin . i perceive and enjoy the different approach and description he makes of the many different cultures of the united states . it is a pity that his genius is seldom appreciated  and that he is always forgotten when the time comes for giving out american prizes and awards . he is not your typical mainstream purveyor of fantasies . he is more of a maverick . so it is not surprising for me to find so many bad comments posted here about  the gingerbread man   his most  mainstream  effort to date and to my knowledge . i did not know there were so many people who thought like leonard maltin  who does not like altman at all . in this case  one may dislike  the gingerbread man   but for me the reason has more to do with grisham than with the director  screenwriter . some of altman  s trademarks are here improvised dialogue  great performances  a funny lawyers  office with typical irreverent receptionist and secretary . while some people find it boring  i found the first act fascinating  thanks also for the great cinematography by changwei gu  the man who shot  red sorghum    ju dou  and  farewell my concubine  . he has a way of showing us the same things we see in other american movies  but under a different light . through his  foreigner  s gaze   almost everything seems new and different . in this first act  things were so logical and true  wait until you get older . you may get in trouble if you fall under the spell of someone younger and beautiful as embeth davidtz . i know for myself what i have done fascinated by someone who is younger than i am  then you have robert duvall  s repellent  menacing and mysterious character  while that geraldo storm is threatening savannah . the second act gets a little phony and even funny  because altman may have conducted it with a grin . i remember laughing aloud in several instances with his ironic remarks . i think he was applying a bit of brecht  distancing us  preparing us for the third act  which is plain hollywood pastiche . altman does it with expertise . being a wise man  and an intelligent director  luckily he did not fall into the traps of today  s action movies . he was directing a tale of lust  greed and death . i was not disappointed a bit with the movie . if i give it a nine instead of    it is because of grisham . the american reader has turned him into a best  selling author . so why complain  maybe we should thank altman for showing us the seams in his stories  the dullness  the flatness and the silliness of them all . however  he does it with so much gusto and humor  that i cannot but disagree with the negative comments . for me  these persons saw another movie . . . and vice versa .  
the king is dead long live the king  the triad of caddie shack two  the family underneath the stairs  and troop beverly hills had been tied for worst movie ever for so long that they seemed icons in their own right . but there is a new king . . . . . yep . . . . . all hail the new king . . . .  down to earth  . but some things  like tiny tim for example  are so bad they are good . some day this could take out the inimitable  rocky horror picture show  as a cult film . so go see this . . . . this . . . . well just take my word for it . go see it . all hail the new king   
  the gingerbread man is the first thriller i  ve ever done    robert altman  br    br   in     charles laughton directed  the night of the hunter   a spooky slice of southern gothic in which robert mitchum plays a scary serial killer . one of the film  s more famous sequences consists of two kids escaping from mitchum on a rowboat  the kids frantically paddling whilst mitchum wades after them like a monster .  br    br   seven years later mitchum played an equally spooky killer in  cape fear   another film set in the american south . that film featured a local attorney trying to protect his family and likewise ended with mitchum terrorising folks on a boat . in     martin scorsese  trying to branch out and tackle something more mainstream  remade  cape fear   boat scene and all .  br    br   now we have robert altman  s  the gingerbread man   another slice of small town southern gothic . altman says he consulted  the night of the hunter  for inspiration and tackled such a mainstream film purely because he wanted to  spread his wings and try a popcorn picture   but what he  s secretly attempting to do here is deconstruct the canonical films of the southern gothic genre .  br    br   so instead of a showdown on small boat  we get a showdown on a giant ship . instead of two kids being kidnapped  we get two kids being safely returned to the police . instead of money being hidden  we have money being readily given via a last will and testament . instead of the righteous attorney of the     film and the deplorable attorney of the     remake  we get a rather three  dimensional lawyer in kenneth branagh . instead of the monster chasing the family we get the hero chasing the bad guys . instead of the monster breaking into the family  s house boat  we have the hero hunting the monster on board the monster  s  house ship  . similarly  instead of a murderous serial killer we get an innocent weirdo played by robert duvall . . . etc etc etc .  br    br   altman goes on and on  reversing everything just a little slightly  pulling at the edges and doing his own thing . his touch is most apparent during the film  s first half  hour  the film existing in an uneasy space between conventional plot  driven movie storytelling and altman  s fondness for overlapping dialogue  casual narratives  prowling camera movement and the way that characters aren  t so much introduced as they are simply part of what  s going on .  br    br   still  despite altman  s best intentions  the film never rises above mediocrity . altman  s too bound to the conventions of the  thriller format  to do much damage  his style is too lethargic to generate tension and the film is simply not radical enough to counterpoint other canonical films in the genre .  gingerbread man  is thus too mainstream to work as a more pure altman film and too altman to work as a mainstream thriller .  br    br   the film  s not a complete waste  though . robert downey junior  kenneth branagh and the usually intolerable daryl hannah  all turn in juicy performances . the film also has a nice atmosphere  set against a approaching hurricane  and the final act contains some interesting twists and turns . while it  s not the complete disaster that scorsese  s  cape fear  was  the film still never amounts to anything special .  br    br        in the late   s altman made  successive films set in the american south  kansas city    gingerbread man  and  cookie  s fortune  . unlike  gingerbread man   both  kansas city  and  cookie  s fortune  tackle the genre on the broader  more looser canvases that altman was most comfortable with .  br    br    kansas city  is the more important of these two films  its hierarchies of class  politics and crime  and its desire to break radically away from typical gangster genre frameworks  would prove influential on all serious   st century film crime writers  see  for example   the wire   . that said   cookie  s fortune   while a much slighter tale  is perhaps the better picture .  br    br   note altman claims that this is his first thriller  but he directed  images   an art house thriller  in     .  br    br   worth one viewing .  
i had not seen the movie trailer when i went to see the movie  instead i based my judgments on a friend  s opinions . now i like chris rock and his comedy  but this movie just falls flat on its face .  br    br   during the movie rock delivers a couple of funny jokes  but unfortunately the movie is sorely lacking in comedy . the movie seems want to integrate both laughter and love into one  and it that endeavor it fails . the love story in the movie is straight forward  luckily   but it detracts too much from the movie by making rock serious and bland . after all  the movie is first and foremost destined to be a comedy  where laughter should be the primary concern . not much of that in the movie .  br    br   the plot is also pretty uninteresting as a whole . some parts were discontinuous altogether . if the supporting cast were meant to be funny  they certainly didn  t do a good job . the couple of angels from heaven tried to make a couple of jokes  which were dry and dull . rock  s first incarnation  s couple of underlings were also bland . if there  s one thing they did do right  though  they made rock seem funnier by comparison .  
robert altman shouldn  t make a movie like this  but the fact that he did  and that it turns out to be a reasonably good and tightly  wound thriller in that paperback  tradition of grisham thrillers  shows a versatility that is commendable . in the gingerbread man he actually has to work with something that  unfortunately  he isn  t always very successful at  or at least it  s not the first thing on his checklist as director plot . there  s one of those big  juicy almost pot  boiler plots where a sleazy lawyer gets caught up with a desperate low  class woman and then a nefarious figure whom the woman is related with enters their lives in the most staggering ways  twists and plot ensues  yada yada . and it  s surprising that altman would really want to take on one of these  i saw that coming from back there   endings  or just a such a semi  conventional thriller .  br    br   but it  s a surprise that pays off because  oddly enough  altman is able to catch some of that very fine behavior  or rather is able to unintentionally coax it out of a very well  cast ensemble  of a small  town georgian environment . the film drips with atmosphere  if not total superlative craftsmanship  sometimes it  s good and sometimes just decent for altman   as savannah is possibly going to be hit by a big hurricane and the swamp and marshes and rain keep things soaked and muggy and humid . so the atmosphere is really potent  but so are performances from  sometimes  hysterical kenneth branaugh  embeth davitz as the  woman  who lawyer branaugh gets caught up with  and robert downey jr  when is he not good   as the private detective in branaugh  s employ . did i neglect robert duvall  who in just five minutes of screen time makes such an indelible impression to hang the bad  vibes of the picture on   br    br   as said  some of the plot is a little weak  or just kind of standard  lawyer is divorced  bitter custody battle looms  innocent and goofy kids   but at the same time i think altman saw something captivating in the material  something darker than some of the other grisham works that has this standing out somehow . if it  s not entirely masterful  it still works on its limited terms as a what  will  happen  next mystery  southern  noir .  
when i first heard about  down to earth   i was pretty excited . i  m a pretty big fan a chris rock  he was especially hilarious in dogma . but this film proved to be a disappointment . chris rock  s performance was not nearly as good as his past performances  and the movie was just very badly directed as a whole .  br    br   first off  chris rock . he plays the entire movie as a standup comedy routine . obviously  this works fine in the scenes where he  s supposed to be doing standup  but in the rest of the movie  it doesn  t . even when he  s talking to one other character  he seems to think he  s trying to make a roomful of people laugh . he has a few funny moments  but they mostly come during the standup scenes  no wonder they decided to make his character a comedian  . as for the rest of the cast  they  re pretty much there just to give rock someone to talk to  none of them stand out .  br    br   also  the movie was poorly directed . the movie has basically a one  joke plot old white guy acting like a young black comedian . while i prefer movies with more than one joke  this still could have worked  and been quite funny . the problem was  we saw too much of rock and not enough of the old white guy . it  s supposed to be funny because it  s this white guy telling chris rock  s jokes  but for most of the time  we just see chris rock  so it  s not nearly as funny . the few scenes where they decide to show us the white guy talking like rock are  in fact  hilarious . if he had been shown more  the movie would have been a lot funnier .  br    br   overall  a few moments of laughter can  t make up for the fact that  down to earth  is poorly acted  and poorly directed . this one was a pretty big disappointment .  br    br   rating      
with this movie  it  s all about style  atmosphere  and acting . true  i didn  t believe all of the plot developments  but it didn  t matter  the terrific acting  the unexpected plot twists  and the wonderful atmosphere sucked me right in  and carried me along for the ride  and i had a great time . kenneth branagh is not only a great actor but a master of accents  and he proves it once again with a flawless georgia accent . he  s surrounded by so much talent in supporting roles  robert downey  jr .  embeth davidtz from schindler  s list and fallen  tom berenger  daryl hannah  and robert duvall  that i was simply blown away . i recently bought a copy of this movie  and i never tire of watching it . simply one of the best thrillers of the year . if you  ve ignored this movie  and chances are you have   then i suggest you check it out .  
down to earth          out of four   br    br   by blake french  br    br    down to earth  is such a mislead and desperate comedy it makes sitting home on the couch watching a chris rock standup  comedy act on tv look like heaven . speaking of heaven  the film is based on the     movie  heaven can wait .  that was a good movie  and this is good  to demonstrate how a group of aspiring screenwriters can take decent material and turn it into garbage . directors chris and paul weitz miss nearly every target . from concept to storytelling   down to earth  fails miserably this is one incredibly bad production .  br    br   chris rock is a lousy standup comedian  both in his role in this movie and in the real life . he plays lance barton  whose manager   frankie faison  even feels sorry for him when he is booed off stage during amateur night at a local theatre . soon after the script establishes his lack of talent  the character is killed by a speeding truck . death  played by eugene levy  has made a mistake  taking lance before his number was up . god  s assistant  chazz palminteri  is very angry and decides to let lance make up the remainder of his time on earth  as long as he takes the only available body of a   year old white millionaire .  br    br   the old man  s name is mr . wellington  whose life has problems of its own . his wife  jennifer coolidge  is having an affair with his assistant  greg germann   who is robbing him of his money . but that  s all right because lance  inside mr . wellington  has fallen in love with a young black woman named sontee  regina king .  meanwhile  there are plots to kill wellington  lance attempting to get a better body  and sontee  s confused feelings dealing with a hospital situation involving mr . wellington  s finances .  br    br    down to earth  has some good ideas  but they are in a pointless and unconvincing love story filled with contrivances and recycled material . the biggest problem it runs into is how we perceive lance as mr . wellington . chris rock is the actor with popularity and publicity  so he is not going to be absent from most of this movie all of the characters see the new lance as mr . wellington  but we see him as chris rock . this is convenient for the love story we believe a young woman would fall for lance  but in reality  he is actually an old  gray  haired geezer . that is not so convincing .  br    br   the one  joke comic situation is supposed to be watching an old man doing funny things that are really done by a young black man . but what inspires laughter is when characters run into conflicts without their knowledge . just look at  there  s something about mary .  in the funny scenes the characters are exposed to awkward experiences  and not at their will . here  lance knows he is in an old man  s body  and does things old men would not normally do . if lance did not know the body he was in then that may have had potential .  br    br   another problem with the concept we never knew mr . wellington in the first place  so how can we compare lance in his body when we do not know what he was like originally . to top everything off  chris rock needs to be the center of attention here  and makes the character too much like rock . he recites simple standup routine jokes that are tedious and painful his dialogue is so obvious  wooden and straightforward . i hated the film  s sense of humor . there are so many unfunny jokes and horrible comic situations . it is like watching chris rock being chris rock  not a character in a movie .  br    br   let  s emphasize the positives in  down to earth .  mark addy does not do any worse here than he did in  the flintstones in viva rock vegas .  eugene levy and chazz palmentari are well cast  but they are at the mercy of a scalped script . those are all the good qualities i can mention at this time  and if you give me another week to recollect  it is not likely that i will come up with any more .  
first off  i didn  t know what to expect when i started the video .  br    br   anytime someone brings back a cult type movie genre and adapts it into the present  something gets inexplicably lost in the translation .  br    br   that  s not the case here . this movie just starts off on the right track . it  s part familiar territory but manages to take it over the top as well . crockzilla scene anyone  that has to be seen  and just try and keep a straight face . this movie takes some of the old fun cult movie classics and manages to blend it seamlessly into a modern production . it  s good to see someone is filling the need in this market . very well done .  br    br    
this movie is a re  write of the     warren beatty movie   heaven can wait   but it is written for the stand  up comedic style of mr rock . the premise remains the same lance barton   rock  is taken before his life time is up and works a deal with god  s representative  mr king  to come back to earth as someone else . as in beatty  s movie he chooses the murdered charles wellington  a rich white man  all because he fancies sontee jenkins  regina king  who happens to turn up at wellington  s house during the murder . the role of mrs wellington and her lover suffers in this remake and the idea to turn an aged white multi  millionaire into a stand up black comedian who tries to woo sontee simply does not work . also the intercuts used to show rock as wellington and then as the real  white  wellington  fail miserably . improvements could have been made to the original beatty plot  which in itself did not masterfully portray the life  after  death idea  but they certainly were not to be found in  down to earth  .  
alright this was quite a sensitive little number but i can  t help thinking i  ve seen it before . reminds me of another vca film i saw at poitier called  the other days of ruby rae  also had specks of  welcome to the dollhouse  and  ratcatcher  and lynne ramsay in it  s execution . which is not to say that they  re not tasteful references . . . just that they feel very modern and very fashionable . . . which makes me feel like this is closer to advertising  as an approach in style and story  than the work of an original and authentic auteur to come .  br    br   the cinematography is just . . . too perfect for my liking . too coral filter  or charcoal  for my liking . . . too archly framed   mm . therefore the entire impression left me a little distant   beware of art that proclaims itself too readily  the french  they are a conservative bunch  seemed to buy it as did the jury however . . . but cannes short film selection is notoriously conservative compared to it  s feature selection although i wonder what  s been happening in the last few years .  
black guy becomes rich white guy  and rich white guy seems to embrace hip  hop culture  and most of the  funny  moments of this film play off of this . the problem i have is that it doesn  t work and almost never works .  br    br   ok  so no one would expect lance to grab a body like that and suddenly start acting like charles wellington . that would be too much to ask . i  ll grant that . but at the same time  it goes too far the other direction . i  m supposed to imagine a rich white guy singing rap and completely upending things  playing like he  s a bastion of hip  hop culture  and people just accept him  and what about sontee  who falls in love with him as a rich white guy  even though she doesn  t care about his money or power  this is so completely unbelievable it  s not even funny .  br    br   i just couldn  t suspend disbelief and i couldn  t finish the movie . i added one extra star because it did make me laugh  even hard  a couple of times . but i just couldn  t get get past the whole  white guy doing hip hop  thing that has never been well done in any movie i  ve ever seen that tries it . this was no exception .  
i was treated to a viewing of cracker bag last night before a preview screening of disney  s holes . i don  t know who decided to show it but i  m so very glad they did . cracker bag is an absolute gem  a snapshot of australia in the early   s as seen through a child  s eye . the  conversations  between eddie and her brother were hilarious and  as with the rest of the film  so true to life . each shot brought a great sense of nostalgia as it reminded me of my own childhood  being the same age as the director probably helps a little  and the audio multiplied the feeling . i only hope i get to see cracker bag again some day .  
the main character lance barton gets killed and to heaven before his time . when heaven learns about the mistake he is given the body of just deceased rich old and white mr . wellington .  br    br   a young black guy in a old white mans body still behaving like the young black man is maybe funny if you see it done by an old white actor . in this movie i ended up reminding myself several times  chris rock is supposed to be an old white guy  .  br    br   the whole concept does not play as intended the  illusion  is not transported well and the love story is not believable at all . the fact that all you see is chris rock playing a young black guy  because the old white person everyone is supposed to see is only shown in small scenes  is to much of a challenge for the viewers  suspension of disbelief  .  
it was only when i saw napoleon dynamite that i remembered seeing cracker bag . just beautiful sentiment and yet never stooping to being soppy . there is some terrific cinematography and the lead girl is quite brilliant . it captures more than the nostalgia of the time . it has a real heart to it . it is the achilles wound of childhood that is exquisite and painful . a simple story is always effective when done well . this glendyn ivin has a big future and i for one  am looking out for his next project . the follow up is always the most difficut thing . it  s like the second album blues for most people .  br    br   i just hope his next film is not something lame like a shark film . cheers to all . enjoy your cinema .  
chris rock  apparently desperate for a cozy star  vehicle which would cross his appeal over to white and mainstream black audiences  updates the hit     comedy  heaven can wait  with an urban agenda . he plays a struggling comedian involved in a car accident who has his soul removed too soon from his body   consequently  his angels must find another body to place him in  and can only come up with that of a white businessman . rewriting a movie as bland and sentimental as  heaven can wait  only shows that rock  s eye was on the box  office  this was strictly a corporate move organized by the most mercenary of hollywood players  . why not strive for something loftier or more memorable than a silly reincarnation comedy that culminates with an evening at the apollo  terrific supporting cast  including the usually  reliable regina king  the wonderful mark addy  wanda sykes  eugene levy  and terrific frankie faison  do what they can  but rock seems awkward and unsure of himself throughout .     from   
this was a good movie . it wasn  t your typical war flick but something a bit different . this movie showed us recruits in training before the war and not actually fighting a war . this film is one of the more realist views on war and the army than most other films like this made . colin farrel did a great job at portraying an army recruit and clifton collins jr and also matthew davis contributed reasonably well . seeing colin farrel move from b grade to a grade in a few short years  you would never thought it would happen . i will also add that the makers of tigerland did a great job at filming a movie in the year     and making it look like     was a good touch . its good to see talent used wisely and i hope to see this same talent again in the near future .  
chris rock deserves better than he gives himself in  down to earth .  as directed by brothers chris  paul weitz of  american pie  fame  this uninspired remake of warren beatty  s     fantasy  heaven can wait   itself a rehash of      s  here comes mr . jordan   lacks the abrasively profane humor that won chris rock an emmy for his first hbo special . predictably  he spouts swear words from a to z  but he consciously avoids the f  word . anybody who saw this gifted african  american comic in  lethal weapon     dogma   or  nurse betty  knows he can elicit more laughter with the f  word than martin lawrence and eddie murphy put together . sadly  despite a few witty one  liners   down to earth  hits rock bottom both as a contrived comedy and an improbable interracial romance .  br    br    down to earth  utterly destroys any good will that the weitz brothers generated with their landmark gross  out face  american pie .  this disposable drivel qualifies as a contrived as well as confusing comedy with a thoroughly improbable color  blind interracial romance . unfortunately  a more than competent castamong them  the full monty  s  mark addy  chazz palminteri of  analyze this    sctv  s  eugene levy  and newcomer brian rhodes as charles wellington  jr . are wasted in flat  footed  sketchy roles . hardcore rock fans will undoubtedly accuse their favorite comedian with trying to fix something that was never broken . abysmally written by lance crouther  ali le roi  louis ck  and rock   down to earth  casts chris as a messenger who rides a bike by day in the big apple and gets booed off the stage at night in harlem  s celebrated apollo theatre . poor lance barton  chris rock  suffers from severe stage fright . nevertheless  his charitable manager whitney daniels  frankie faison of  hannibal   sticks with him through thick and thin . after lance learns the apollo theatre will hold one final amateur night extravaganza  he implores whitney to get him in the line  up . excuse me  but if lance is such a deadbeat stand  up comic  why does the apollo keep inviting him back  meanwhile  fate has something else in store for lance . while pedaling home on his bike  our protagonist spots a pretty lady  sontee  regina king of  jerry maguire    crossing the street  but he doesn  t see the bus that collides with him and kills him . wham  lance barton levitates skyward with a halo wreathed around his head . in heaven  which resembles a cruise ship nightclub  lance learns that an overzealous angel  mr . keyes  eugene levy of  stay tuned    timed his death   years ahead of schedule .  br    br   heavenly honcho mr . king  chazz palminteri of  analyze this    god  s right  hand guy  apologizes and escorts lance back to earth . the snag is lance cannot reclaim his corpse  so he must inhabit another body . the best that mr . keyes can come up with is ruthless  white     year old tycoon charles wellington . wellington  s adulterous wife amber  jennifer coolidge of  american pie   and his unscrupulous personal aide winston  greg germann of  sweet november   have just tried to poison him . reluctantly  before wellington  s body vanishes  lance accepts it conditionally as a loaner until keyes can locate a more appropriate body . meanwhile  lance  as  wellington encounters sontee again . she is a nurse activist protesting his decision to privatize a brooklyn community hospital that serves the poor . while regina king brings a surfeit of charisma to her role as a crusading health care worker  she plays a character who bypasses credible motivation in her affairs with wellington . although he is no longer black  lance not only tries to woo sontee but also win a gig at the apollo .  br    br    down to earth  features rock in his most unfunny role . the comedian  s reason for making this movie seems questionable . reportedly  he ate lunch with warren beatty and told beatty that he loved the original script that scenarist elaine may had penned for beatty . initially  beatty tried the race  reversal gimmick himself in his own version by trying to cast muhammad ali in the title role of  heaven can wait .  the deal fell through  and beatty headlined the movie himself . according to rock  his longtime co  writers and he thought that they could  annihilate  this classic . moreover  he justified his choice of  heaven can wait  based on his philosophy to  do something you can only do when you  re hot .  earlier  rock rejected a script about a busload of touring rappers  because he saw little opportunity to stretch his image in such an outing . as a lifeless comedian in  down to earth   rock doesn  t so much stretch his image as he inverts it for the worst  this half  baked concert film with an annoying plot does as much to cremate his comic reputation as it does the weitz brothers  you know a film about a comedian is in dire straits when a scene at the nightclub is played so you cannot hear the jokes  only the laughter . similarly  the casting of mark addy as wellington  s butler who speaks the queen  s english but is in reality a commoner from michigan defies logic  too . addy is an actual englishman  and he doesn  t have to fake an accent his accent is genuine . the major overriding quandary with  down to earth  is the on  again  off  again  look  a  like switcheroo that the characters make so chris rock doesn  t disappear completely from the sight for more than a few seconds . although chris spends half the movie as white guy wellington  audiences see him largely as lance  undercutting the comic irony of watching his stocky  bald  headed  caucasian white  alter  ego perform ghetto humor and chant derogatory hip  hop lyrics . incredibly  rock served double  duty as the film  s executive producer and one of its four scribes . the mystery is how such a wealth of talent could grind out such an awkward  misguided muddle of a comedy . about the only redeeming feature of  down to earth  is jamshied sharifi  s superb orchestral film score .  
just caught it at the toronto international film festival . this is a good story  told in a compelling way . the handheld camera approach to action scenes added to the intensity of those scenes  in a documentary style  not a blair witch style  . joel schumacher shows he doesn  t need a big budget to produce a gripping film .  br    br   the actors were strong  particularly the actor playing the focus of the events in the film  boz .  
imagine pulling back the mask of a lethal assassin and finding barbara cartland there . . . that  s what happens with this film .  br    br   the opening showed promise  but soon it drops all pretenses of being a thriller  or even an imaginative love story  and the only reason they made this story becomes abundantly clear to fill a gap in their female viewing market by creating yet another re  hash of  mis  understood  brooding bad  boy   andrei  meets  innocent  whimsical beauty   paula  .  br    br   rather than waste any time in creating an original premise  the filmmakers went straight for the money  shot the bad boy being tamed by said whimsical beauty . thence follows a string of insincere and heavily  clichd love scenes sprinkled with pseudo philosophical  poetic fluff . andrei  s admission of being  eponymously  a  poet  is levered in to round out the perceived qualities a byronic hero should have  but even when we  re told in heavy  underlined writing who and what he is  it  s still difficult to believe it  or care .  br    br   for a byronic hero  antihero to work  the story needs subtlety  style and innovation  all of which are utterly absent here . this is not a modern day phantom of the opera  it  s just what happens when a weak and rather silly woman  with loose knicker elastic  dates a bad man  who  after meeting her  seems as dangerous as bunny slippers .  br    br   the performances might have saved this film  had they been any good the female lead is preoccupied with looking sexy and  otherworldly   no matter how forced or ridiculous and poor dougray scott appears to have been drugged as he shambles through his part . this is not his best work . the glimmers of interest were brought by jrgen prochnow as  vashon   and andrew lee potts as the young photographer  brother . a better movie would have offed the sister and kept the brother instead .  
i remember when this film was up for the academy awards and did not win in any category . for the life of me  i cannot remember what it was up against  but one thing i can say it was one of the best movies i have ever seen . and the fact that steven spielberg directed the film did not persuade me one bit .  br    br   essentially  it is about a black woman  s trials and tribulations as she is growing up from a girl to a woman . there are a lot of insinuations that are disturbing and horrifying  but all of them are needed to see how much this woman has put up with . along the way  we see other women who have had to put up with their hardships and walk with them to redemption . whoopi goldberg gives her best performance ever in this movie . danny glover should have also gotten at least nominated for his role in this film .  br    br   and the best part of this movie is that it treats its subjects humanely  not like some sideshow freak shows like the more recent  beloved  did . i encourage anyone of any race to see this film .      
the worst movie i have seen in a while . yeah its fun to fantasize  but if that is what you are looking for  i suggest you see brewsters millions . this was just terrible and corny and terrible at being corny . unless you are five or like terrible movies  don  t see this one .  
joel schumacher made a heck of a choice when he decided on this cast and this script . the story is well written and well laid out  and this entirely new cast of   or   central characters was absolutely brilliant . it seemed that there were   leads  and about a half dozen supporting  and by far this is the best thing about the movie  the fresh young faces of tomorrow . it has been a long time since hollywood has touched the controversial vietnam war films  which says something for the  story that needed to be told   as stated by schumacher  and tigerland lands in that handful of top war movies period . yet it can not be labeled as a war movie because it seemed to be based more on the human spirit of bozz and the others . i think anyone who just wants to see a good film with out all of the special fx  but just good  gritty drama should go see tigerland  obviously shumachers best works in the past  years .  
is this film a joke  is it a comedy  surely it isn  t a serious thriller  there is no suggestion that there is any intended humor  but on quite a few occasions the poor acting  poor directing  and appalling script had the audience laughing out loud in the cinema . the plot is acceptable  a promising young artist just reaching his peak shot dead by an assassin he walks in on by mistake . the killer sees the young artists work portfolio he is carrying and decides to attend an exhibition of his work . at the exhibition the assassin meets the dead artists sister and they end up falling in love . it is all very predictable stuff and the end will not have anyone guessing as it is so poorly scripted . the film takes place mainly in and around vienna  austria  and shows what a beautiful city it is . do not waste your time on this film though  unless you are studying how not to act  direct or script a film   
this was one of the best war movies i  ve seen because it focuses on the characters more then the actual war . all of the cast do an excellent job and because most of them are relative unknowns it makes everything seem more believable . the camera footage is great is so was the pacing and editing . this movie will actually get to you and causes the audience to care for the charcters .  
two films are useful for scaring people to god  this and  event horizon  . one has a significant and poignant message  the other is as one  dimensional as a religious movie can get . too bad paul anderson went on to the accursed resident evil movies  he really had something going .  br    br   thief in the night is hampered by many obvious independent film attributes  acting  storytelling  dialog  and persuasion  and it  s obvious what the film  s intentions are from the start . the christian film industry hasn  t learned from the failures of this  so we are stuck with the omega code  left behind  and the other tribulation movies . their underlying element is that they are so concerned with selling their message  get saved  folks   that everything else becomes second to whacking the audience over the head with a bible .  br    br   overall  i can  t believe i  m even writing this much about a movie this ineffective . skip it entirely and go back to sam neil gouging out his eyeballs .  out of  .  
first of all i saw this movie without knowing anything about it i just knew that joel schumacher did it and that was enough for me . a friend and i went to see it at a danish film festival called the night  film festival which is a lot of different movies shown after hours the festival pretty much specializes in showing movies that wouldn  t otherwise be shown in danish theaters .  br    br   anyway my friend and i went to see it and we were astonished at how real it seemed and that it really struck a cord with our feelings  we really got caught up in the plot without being able to figure out the ending which is a great plus in our book .  br    br   the film is recorded in a style that reminds me of the danish initiative  dogma    which was started by  danish directors including lars von trier  dancer in the dark  .  br    br   in conclusion the movie is really worth seeing it gives a different perspective on how things were for the american g . i . joe coming out of school being expected to serve their country in battle a long way from home .  br    br   also colin farrell is exceptional in this movie i haven  t seen him before but i can  t wait to see more of him .  br    br   lars p . helvard  
i remember being forced  yes   literally forced  to see this film by a southern baptist preacher when i was a kid  and even then i loved its awfulness . it  s designed to scare poor suckers into being  saved .  the only thing that  saved  me was the fact that it finally ended and i could go out and have a real life .  br    br   check out the chapter on this film in sarah diamond  s book  the politics of the christian right .  fascinating . and certainly more interesting than the movie   
there  s an inexhaustible hunger for  basic training  movies  so it  s surprising that this one got so little notice when first released . looks likely to have a well  deserved second life on dvd  vhs .  br    br   tigerland isn  t uniformly great by any means  there are some terribly cliched characters  especially the portrayal of the nco  s  makes you long for the return of lee  full metal jacket  ermey  but the lead performance of colin farrell is the stuff of instant stardom . charisma to burn and a role any actor would kill to get .  
the sects that capitalise on this film are well known for their claim to take the  message  of the bible without any alteration or extra  biblical influence . the existence of this film is solely due to the fact that there is no such thing .  br    br   if you want to know what the born  again branch of christianity were harping on about in the seventies just look up the word  rapture  in a dictionary of cults and sects . it  s quicker than sitting through this waste of celluloid .  br    br   poor acting  uneven sound quality and a script that could just as easily have been written by jack t chick  paranoid christian conspiracy theorist for those not familiar with the evangelical scene  . you could not really put this into the  so bad it  s good  category so its only audience are either those with a pamphlet collection looking to branch out or the extremely paranoid .  
tigerland follows the lives of a group of recently drafted men into the army who are called up to fight in vietnam in     .  br    br   at this point  america knows they are fighting a loosing battle  and the director takes us through a   mm handheld documentary shot film of the lives of several recruits in the  tigerland  training camp in louisiana .  br    br   the film is more of a character study no real plot  but it focuses on a key character roland boz  who is a dissabordinate yet intelligent man  who only wants to escape the camp . we are taken through several characters in the unit waiting for the story to unfold .  br    br   i  d have to say this is a great story about vietnam and more importantly about the army in general . . great acting  and very memorable . also the directors use of film and style works so well  cause it looks a lot like the old film footage you always see regarding vietnam . its great to see how the film shows that all the infighting and problems were so significant to the problems of fighting this battle . the particular scene where boz walks away from a training mission where an instructor is showing how to use a radio as a torture device just about sums up everything about war in a nutshell . . . and it  s futility .  br    br   fantastic film . not just about nam but about who individuals have to decide what is morally right by being  in the army  .  br    br   rating  out of   .  
i saw this movie twice through a pentecostal church my family attended in nanaimo bc in the      s . i was of the tender age of   my brother   then again when i was  my brother  . this movie terrified my brother and i and shaped how we viewed the world with distrust . it wasn  t just the movie  but it was also the philosophy that engulfs so many  christians  about the  mark of the beast  and the rapture . this movie  the church  and a volatile neglectful upbringing  lead to severe paranoia towards the future . for years  i lived under the delusional affects of the church and fear of being forgotten by christ . i am now   years old . went through years of counseling . i once explained to a psychiatrist this movie and the belief system of the church and family . i was pegged with a delusional disorder . i actually began to believe this  it was my brother who reminded me  that this cultic philosophy actually happened . i no longer fear the future  i have come to terms with the fear injected into it  s members by the church . i have taken this experience to fulfill a purpose  i am nearing my licensure as a psychologist specializing in childhood trauma .  
there are four great movie depicting the vietnam war . they are  in no particular order apocalypse now  born on the fourth of july  platoon  and finally tigerland . all but tigerland focus on the actual war and the men in it . tigerland focuses on men in advanced training for the vietnam war . the character of boz is one of the most important depictions of a man questioning war  and the absurdity of it . this has been done in many war movies  but rarely in boot camp . also  this is a very complex character  whose method with dealing with his feeling and emotions are the driving force of this movie . the character of boz makes this movie so good . it is a shame it did not get a major release . it belongs on the shelf of any movie fan alongside the aforementioned movie titles .  
this is an interesting treatment of a subject that is quite controversial   just read the other comments on this film  . apparently  you either love it or hate it and it seems most people make that distinction based on whether they believe the tribulation and end times will happen as portrayed in the movie .  br    br   basically  the film  and its sequels  were made for about   .   each . the production values are right down there with  plan  from outer space  and the acting is about on the same level as  glen or glenda    my apologies to ed wood  . putting aside the religious message  the story is as scary as they come . add in even the slightest thought that the story might actually be close to something that might happen in the future and it becomes even scarier .  br    br   this movie  and its sequels  didn  t try to bring in the reasons why the tribulation happened when it did .  left behind  and  the omega code  tried to get in everything  thief  did and to explain all the politics and maneuvering in the middle east leading up to it . the net effect was  thief  did a much better job on the scary part of movie  instead of spreading itself too thin trying to explain what was happening in the middle east at the same time .  br    br   forget the politics and watch this movie  and its sequels  for what they are  horror stories . that they may be horror stories told  indirectly  by god makes them just that much more frightening . if it makes you think about the subject  it has done its job  even if you never believe .  
i wasn  t expecting the highest calibre of film  making with joel schumacher directing this one  so i was surprised that tigerland wasn  t a complete waste of time .  br    br   in technique  it  s often derivative of saving private ryan with the shaky camera work  grainy shots  the film occasionally running like it  s skipping a sprocket    all those techniques speilberg used to make his film seem more realistic but in the end was more distracting than anything else .  br    br   but unlike saving private ryan  the emotional component wasn  t as weak  as the characters in this film seemed more like real people and the story less contrived  not so wrapped up in the american flag  speilberg gets an  f  in subtlety  .  br    br   next to the first section of kubrick  s full metal jacket  this is the most realistic portrayal of boot camp that i have seen in a film  and for that i think it  s worth watching .  br    br   it  s not a great film  but neither is it a bad film .  
i was forced to watch this whole series of films as a young child and i was told they were real  talk about child abuse . i would have been less frightened of dracula or frankenstein . this series is only good for people who believe in this ridiculousness and who want to indoctrinate their children into believing the same . besides the obvious issues associated with brainwashing and indoctrination  there  s also the bad acting  bad writing  and bad  special effects  . they are just all around terrible  terrible movies . yes  believable  and horrifying  to a kid  but i can  t imagine a grown  up buying into this shlock . although  i must say  that i would be interested in seeing them today  as an adult . they might have a certain midnight  cult movie feel to them .  
tigerland is one of the finest films that i have seen  and in my opinion it outdoes even full metal jacket  a film of similar nature . bozz is played exceptionally well by farrell  and is a character who stays in your mind long after the film ends . the ending is brilliantly cut by schumacher  with the melodic harmony singing and the slow mo of the troops preparing to leave . what a film .  
written and acted by sincere amateurs  produced by some exploitation monger  this is dull and hard to watch .  br    br   not the worst movie ever  but at least schlock like  plan  from outer space  usually had a real actor or two . i  d recommend  a thief in the night  only to hardcore ironists and hardcore dispensationalists . i  m neither .  br    br   don  t believe me  watch it for free  albeit sourced from poor vhs  here http   www . archive . org  details  thief  in  the  night  br    br   relevant links added mostly to reach imdb  s    line minimum http   en . wikipedia . org  wiki  dispensationalism http   www . dvdtalk . com  reviews       thief  in  the  night  se  a   
never heard of this movie  saw it on dvd . great movie  perfect example of a movie that took every cast member to make it work . no overhyped typical hollywood movie with the same old overhyped actors . no current quote  a  list actor could have pulled off any performance in this movie . brought back memories of my own post vietnam war military experiences . it concentrated on the people who were sent to fight . as was portrayed by the characters who had fears and emotions even if some volunteered for service . they were regular people too  some just weren  t cut out for military life  i remember a few in my experience   to put it mildly couldn  t adapt to military life either  but i  ll never forget them  should have stayed in touch . i highly recommend it and then think about those serving present day in afganistan . basic training is a trip  notice those drill sergeants aren  t morning people and maybe they need  sensitivity training  ha  ha  ha   
as some other comments show  this movie might scare you  when you  re a little child .  and that is probably all that it is good for .   br    br   however  if you  re older  this movie only does one thing suck majorly  and thereby i don  t mean the acting  its soundtrack  cutting or s . th . like that . i  m simply talking about the  plot   if you can call it that  .  br    br   spoilers ahead                          br    br   i don  t want to give any more spoilers than necessary  if after reading this  you really still want to watch this movie  but if you graduated from any school  this is just a big insult of your intelligence . when watching this  i was stunned most of the time  because what was happening was just that stupid .  br    br   this includes  br    br    the forming of unite  an evil un  association   br    br      we are just supposed to believe it  s evil . is it even evil at all  if so why is it evil   br    br    the mark of evil in the form of a tattoo  br    br      there is no necessity to impose this on the people  so why the hell  no pun intended  are they doing it   br    br    inviting christ to your heart merely as lip service  br    br      because there  s nothing anybody  who in this movie is considered  a real christian   ever does  besides saying that stupid prayer . so . . . just say that prayer before the rapture and you  re saved  no matter what    br    br   thus  rating      
while i suppose this film could get the rap as being anti  vietnam  while watching it i didn  t feel that such was the case as much as the film was simply an honest look into the perspective of the young guys being trained for a war that the public didn  t support . . . . it showed their fear  their desperation  their drive . . . all of it  out in the open  naked . as a soldier myself alot of the themes rang true to me in my experience in the military  especially boot camp . on the whole this movie  although it was shot on a very small budget  looks great  is very well put together  and features excellent acting and directing . i highly recommend this film to anyone looking for another excellent colin farrell film .       
first of all  i saw this movie when i was  years old at a christian scholl i attended . needless to say that i was scared out of mind . not because it was scary but because the content . cmon . . . i was  . anyway  the cinematography was pretty bad and the acting was cheesy . that  s very bad considering that i was only  and i remember that . the one thing that still haunts me is that dreadful song  i wish we all were ready  where the chorus ends with  . . . you were left behind  . i wouldn  t suggest seeing this one . i probably will  just for nostalgic reason . besides  i  m sure the remake is much better . the best part of this movie though  has to be when everyone  dissapears   vacant cars crashing  lawnmowers running on their own . . . pretty hilarious .  
steven spielberg wanted to win an oscar so bad that he figured that he wouldn  t win by directing special effects epics  he was nominated for three of them  close encounters of the third kind    raiders of the lost ark   and  e . t .  the extra  terrestrial  . so he decided to get very serious by directing  the color purple   a period film with no special effects . spielberg  s first serious drama is a remarkable movie . but the academy voters who voted back in     still didn  t give spielberg any respect .  the color purple  received   oscar nominations including best picture  but spielberg was unfairly snubbed when he wasn  t nominated for best director . it got worse on oscar night when this film didn  t win a single oscar . it got completely shut out . that wasn  t right .  the color purple  should have won a couple of oscars including one for whoopi goldberg  s spectacular film debut as celie  a woman who suffers at the hands of an abusive husband  frightfully placed by danny glover   then gets stronger throughout the film thanks to some special friends . oprah winfrey also made her film debut here and gives a great performance as sofia  one of those friends  of celie . since i  m from chicago  i had already known winfrey from her talk show  which at the time of this films  release hadn  t gone nationwide  . like goldberg  what a film debut  margaret avery is terrific as shug avery  another friend who also happens to be the mistress of celie  s rotten husband . all three actresses received well  deserved oscar nominations for their work here  goldberg for best actress winfrey and avery for best supporting actress  . set in the south during the first half of the   th century   the color purple  is a film so strong that it made me cry at the end . it also made me laugh at times too . why academy voters were so hard on not nominating spielberg for best director is a mystery that still puzzles me today . but spielberg would eventully go on to win two oscars years later for  schindler  s list  and  saving private ryan   making him one of the best movie directors of all  time . but he should have gotten nominated for this movie . the job that he did going from special effects blockbusters like  e . t .  to a serious drama like  the color purple  was remarkable .  br    br     out of four   
i saw this movie once a long time ago  and i have no desire to ever see it again .  br    br   this movie is about preston waters  a hard  lucked preteen  who always seems to be overlooked by his family and who always seems to be short on cash . all this changes when a bank robber runs over preston  s bike and passes him a blank check as compensation . preston uses the check to withdraw   million from the bank  ironically  the money belongs to the bank robber who gave him the check  . preston then buys a mansion and says that he  s working as the assistant of a mysterious and wealthy backer named mr . macintosh  named after his computer  . after that  he just goes crazy with the money .  br    br   on paper  this sounds like a great idea . however  on screen  it is one of the emptiest movies i  ve ever seen . for one thing  it  s too unbelievable . i know some parts of the movie were meant to be incredible  but i draw the line at a twelve  year  old boy going out with a thirty  year  old woman  and being put in charge of a imaginary person  s small fortune . also  this was a shallow movie with weak acting  a predictable plot line and characters who are less than memorable . the characters were either cheesy  over the top  annoying  or underdeveloped . but  juice  was a funny character .  br    br   if you  re looking for a good movie to watch with your family  skip this one .  
if you want to watch a movie and feel good about watching it  then tigerland is the film for you . i love this movie from top to bottom . this movie  s picture  perfect scenes look so real it  s almost like a documentary of something that happened in real life but with drama . boy  i tell you . . . real drama they actually real  fought  in one of the scenes  get the dvd listen to the commentary its not obvious  . i see this film as a bunch of desperate young men trying to escape an ill  fated destiny  after watching saving private ryan i have an a appreciation of what an  ill  fated destiny  is and know exactly how the men in the film feel . i see this movie as a crossbreed between  stand by me  and  saving private ryan .  what do men do when they are with a situation that  s  hard pressed  in real life  some men go crazy  some men cry  some men through fists  others do drugs  some randomly sleep with hookers ruthlessly trying to eradicate the meaning of love from their life  some try drink the pain away  some jump off buildings or bridges  some feel guilty and others feel so much agony it makes them so sick they collapse  physically . this movie has all those desperate emotions rolled into one ball . but don  t get me wrong its not depressing movie  its realistic  its a very very humorous movie  the cocky and funny bozz  collin  s character  lights it all up  and on top of that there are about  female actresses in the movie i  ll let you figure out what their in there for  with dialogue  war  action sequences  picture perfect scenes along with appropriate music this movie has it all  like i said from top to bottom . i don  t why tigerland is heavily under  credited . the best thing about owning the movie is that on the cover it says in big bold writing  the best film of the year   and it absolutely falls nothing short of that . keep the rare gems coming hollywood       .  
first off there is nothing wrong with studying daniel  revelation  matthew    isaiah and other prophetic scriptures . there is also nothing wrong with making a film such as this to attempt to present the gospel message . so my qualms with this movie are not in either its sincerity or aspirations . as a christian  though an amillenialist  i believe there will be a great tribulation and i believe christ will return as he said as much . so even though i have disagreement with this film about the rapture that is not why i rate this movie so low .  br    br   no  what makes me rate this movie so low is not its sincerity or its message  but rather its lack of production values  awful script  mediocre acting  and pitiful fx . this movie ranks down there with some of the cheesiest scifi fodder of the     s . no  this movie ranks down there with plan  from outerspace . this movie failed to age well and was probably dated by the time they made a sequel .  br    br   the apocalypse genre film producers could have learned how not to make an end times film from this  but they failed . the left behind series  the apocalypse series  and the omega code series all failed to learn from this because they addressed the fx problems and the dated look problem  but their scripts are still poor  and their acting is wooden .  br    br   there are great christian films  with extremely low budgets  but this film is not one of them . i  m surprised the mst  k crew never lampooned this one .  
to me this was colin farrells best movie evr  he introduced himself to america through this movie and he was great . he really got you into his charictor and made u feel the passion he was putting into his role . in my opinion it is a great movie and my favorite .  
i was raised in a  very christian  household since birth . i was saved before i saw this movie and the rest of the series and was forced to watch it in a youth group at my church . this movie was highly disturbing . i saw it when i was about   years old and literally had nightmares about it for years . i used to lay awake in bed and listen for the sounds of my mom  s footsteps upstairs . if i didn  t hear her footsteps  i would sneak upstairs to make sure she hadn  t been raptured . i used to pray so hard every night for salvation because i was terrified of jesus forgetting me . this is definitely not something i will show to my kids until they are much older  if at all . it took me years to shake the fear that this movie gave me .  
producer joel schumacher who also directed  phone booth       and many other great films showed in great detail how no one person can really be trained to be a killing machine with out destroying their own personalities and the real fears that a person has to face when going into combat   colin farrell  roland bozz    intermission       gave one of his best performances and actually carried this entire picture on his back . matthew davis  jim paxton    blue crush       gave a great supporting role and shea whigham  pvt . wilson    all the real girls       showed his true acting skills in the role that he played . there was two brief scenes where the soldiers were able to find some hot romance on a short leave in the local town and had to pay for their love and sexual desires . one army veteran instructor from viet nam told the soldiers how to really torture the enemy by using electrical wires in all the wrong places on a human male body . enjoyable and entertaining film to view .  
perhaps because i was so young  innocent and brainwashed when i saw it  this movie was the cause of many sleepless nights for me . i haven  t seen it since i was in seventh grade at a presbyterian school  so i am not sure what effect it would have on me now . however  i will say that it left an impression on me . . . and most of my friends . it did serve its purpose  at least until we were old enough and knowledgeable enough to analyze and create our own opinions . i was particularly terrified of what the newly  converted post  rapture christians had to endure when not receiving the mark of the beast . i don  t want to spoil the movie for those who haven  t seen it so i will not mention details of the scenes  but i can still picture them in my head . . . and it  s been   years .  
i had an uncle who committed suicide after serving in vietnam because of mental problems he experienced after coming back . so when i saw part of this movie one night on a pay  for  view channel i was intrigued . i wanted to know what my uncle went through and felt as he got ready for vietnam . i went out and rented this movie and i have to say it is the most heart  wrenching film i have ever seen . i bought the dvd immediately after renting it . the way it pulls you in so many different directions emotionally is something i  ve never experienced with any other film . as far as vietnam subject films go  i think it is the best one  although platoon runs a close second . besides all of that  i think it is also colin farrell  s best performance as an actor . i like him in most of his movies but in this one he was incredible . i gave this a   rating because it is one of my top five favorite movies .  
weak  stale  tired  cliched wants to be basic instinct  but misses opportunity after opportunity for fresh perspectives  new insights . insipid  trite  grotesque  and without the possibly  redeeming value of brevity oh  wait . . . it was only   minutes long . . . it must have just seemed a lot longer  i  d rather clean bus station toilets with my toothbrush than have to sit through this again . i  m expressing an opinion here i guess this means i didn  t like it .  
the dehumanising effect of war is a much  studied subject in the movies as is the equally dehumanising  but potentially life  saving  dehumanising effect of military training . joel schumacher  s  tigerland  follows the standard template  we see men treated like dirt but emerging as soldiers  with a degree of mutual respect for their commanding officers  and judgement is reserved on whether such an extreme process can be considered justified as is judgement of the merits of the war for which they are being trained  typically  as here  vietnam  . but  tigerland  has an interesting take  by centring its account on a cocky dissident named bozz  played outstandingly well by colin farrell   who understands that all power governs ultimately by consent  and the lack of awareness among the powerless of their own complicity . around this character  a taught  gripping plot has been constructed  and it  s also a plus that the action never leaves america  whereas stanley kubrick  s  full metal jacket   to name just one other film of a similar type  lost focus once the action shifted to asia  . although this is not a film of staggering originality  it  s supremely well done and captivating viewing throughout the best film from this director that i  ve seen  and among the very best of its genre .  
a truly muddled incomprehensible mess . most things in the film look more or less like      but then there are futuristic things just thrown in  like the policeman  s ray gun . and that car  the director seemed to be in love with colored lights . the only really notable performance was the girl who played valerie  but since there was no cast listing  i don  t know which actress that was . this one is worth missing . grade f  
really touching story of a recruitment camp in america  where young men are prepared for the vietnam war . the human study always appealed to me when it comes to war movies  because it translates personal  subjective opinions on war  opposed war action movies where action  and technical data are being analyzed to the prejudice of the human factor .  br    br   the movie manages to put a new spin on an already ancient subject  and manages to distance itself from usual war movies  especially by focusing on an anti  hero from the view  point of traditional standard . the movie focuses on the tragic character of bozz  who smartly avoids being sucked in by the dehumanizing war machine  and refuses to give up control over his destiny and fight for something he doesn  t believe in  spends his energy in searching ways to avoid being sent overseas  both for himself and comrades and ironically ends up finding his own just reason for finally going to war . perfect irony .  br    br   the acting is truly exceptional  and the documentary  style shooting almost makes you feel transposed into the movie . also the movie will provide food for thought for those exhilarated by the action in usual war movies or war  games enthusiasts  hopefully awakening some minds of a generation which luckily escaped the terror of being drafted .  
actress patty duke wrote an insightful  funny  rough  hewn book about her career as an actress  her crazy  quilt love  life  and her manic depressive episodes and suicide attempts which almost put her away for good . with this rich material to draw from  and patty playing herself in the final act   one would think a crack tv  director like gilbert cates could bring it all together on film  but  call me anna  is a pale shadow of duke  s autobiography . for those who haven  t read the book  the sketchy narrative  leaping forward in time  isn  t absorbing  we are never allowed to get our bearings with what  s happening  and the production seems stunted by a low budget . the actors are miscast  and the value of having duke herself finally appear does not pay off   the film  s phony reality is so thick at this point that patty can  t bring stability to the scenario . it appears as if the producers were sincere enough  and consciousness  minded  to anxiously steer the film towards duke  s ultimate diagnosis and mental freedom  but they left out many dramatic opportunities in the process .  
in joel schumacher  you have one of the most inconsistent film makers of all time . but this is common knowledge i think his main problem is the array of genres that he covers whilst at the same time  failing to develop any sort of certain style that might label him an auteur . hitchcock liked his suspense and his horror  thriller chaplin liked his comedy scorsese likes his crime driven mafia stories amongst others and spielberg likes his large scale  big budget adventure films that combine just enough violence for the adults and fun for the kids . other more obscure examples include kubrick and welles who covered too much to write about here .  br    br   but schumacher is the sort of guy who makes a flawed film revolving around a great idea or a really quite enjoyable film revolving around a seemingly dull premise . falling down had a great idea behind it but i found it flawed and anticlimactic with too many scenes seemingly relying on comedy . batman is a superhero superhero films have been big hits recently so how he managed to make not one but two appalling superhero films is beyond me . then comes  mm a film with a basic premise that is executed in an impressive manner before tigerland which is schumacher  s best film from what i  ve so far seen  in my opinion . with the war genre  laughter isn  t something you  d associate with it for most of the time . i can remember scoffing at the absurdity of the d  day landings during saving private ryan at the time when i first saw the film  i had not much knowledge of the second world war bar when it began and finished . my eyebrows were up  my mouth slightly open with a weak  i can  t believe it smile  on my face . needless to say  it was because of that film i searched out learning a bit more on what that event was all about and the war as a whole . in tigerland  you are invited to laugh at the absurdity of war through bozz  farrell   a tough and egotistical soldier training for the vietnam war .  br    br   but what  s clever here is that there are no jaw dropping war scenes of fighting and death and destruction just one man and his battle with the system for most of the time . the things he says and the audacity at which he deals with his predicament is reminiscent of a school child winding up a series of teachers at an extremely strict boarding school . tigerland may borrow from full metal jacket in the sense it is a training routine for the vietnam war but egos and superegos play more of a part here  i think . the superegos that are the drill sergeants go up against bozz whose ego is extremely large . there is also the third part of freud  s triangle that sneaks into bozz the id . compared to all the other soldiers who all have rather large egos  bozz is the only one brave enough to show it in front of the sergeants thus suggesting he is allows what he shouldn  t do to float to the surface and express itself  you are all dead in this situation   barks a sergeant .  any questions    yeah  if i  m dead how come i can ask a question   replies bozz whose punishments such as push  ups and dirt eating seem to un  faze him in true id style that is he enjoys the punishments .  br    br   also regarding the superegos  bozz at one point tries to command a group of soldiers in field training . this is something the existing captain of the squad cannot do thus suggesting he is lacking in both the superego required for the job and the confidence to tell bozz he is in charge . what follows is an actual conversation between bozz and an existing drill sergeant who gives him his christian name . this is where private wilson  s  whigham  character steps in his uncontrollable rage and anger at bozz explodes at certain time all culminating in the film  s only real scenes of a shootout which is in the form of a training exercise in a river . wilson cannot control his impulses and dislike toward bozz and acts out .  br    br   what i also liked about tigerland is that it  s shot in such a way that is brave . while lacking in innovation  tigerland seems to use lower grade film stock or lesser cameras to get across its gritty look . make no mistake that this could have been a pretty looking film with lots of colour and attractiveness . but  we get a documentary approach in the final piece making everything look like it was shot on a typical everyday camera for tv the emphasis on the hand held is also apparent but schumacher is clever he never allows the film to become too much like a mockumentry whilst at the same time suggesting the film  s budget could  ve been half of what it was . it  s worth saying here that spielberg said he wanted saving private ryan to look like actual reel footage or something along those lines and as if it was recorded from the war scenes .  br    br   while being very funny and entertaining  tigerland is still a great study of what makes people tick not necessarily in war but in the closest possible substitute . its study on one man and how much he hates the system that he cannot even take it seriously is fascinating as is the drive of each soldier . there are several memorable scenes and situations culminating in a happy  if not unhappy ending that  ll open your mind and make you think about what it  s perhaps really like in the military .  
this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen . robin williams fit into the part like a rhino would fit into a tutu  even so his performance was still pitiful . kurt russell was more believable but still was awful . the plot left much to be desired and the rest of the acting was also terrible . the only thing this movie had going for it was the trailer  which suckered me in to wasting   minutes of my life which could have been better spent trying to lick the back of my head .  br    br   do yourself a favor and burn this movie if you have it . if not  just be happy you don  t .  
first off  this movie was a wild ride the whole way . the story of the training of the soldiers  fighting with their superiors  and in the end grouping together .  br    br   from the very beginning to the very end . this is one war drama worth seeing if you are in for the constant cussing  at times beyond reason  and the horrors of what boot camp are .  br    br   the dynamics of how the actors interacted was quite amazing at times  and sometimes humorous . how bozz  colin farrel  deals with paxton  matthew davis  throughout the storyline  from camp to tigerland  and even in the end helping him .  br    br   the innovative free  hand filming did add a certain taste or flavor to the film . constant moving  constant action  and just constant confusion . at times  it was a help . others  not so much .  br    br   throughout the film  it was increasingly realistic . some points in the film  the sex scenes in particular  seemed to be just a tad too realistic even though they added an effect to the movie that wouldn  t have been there without them . it was a very gritty movie  through and through .  br    br   in my opinion  this is one of colin farrel  s better movies  if not his top performance  . the acting for every character was superb .      sysnuk  r  
i think  the best of times  was a lost cause from the get go . the initial premise  guy drops the winning touchdown pass against a rival high school team  can never seem to get over it and then tries to reunite the two teams to play again  is one of the dumbest i have ever heard . since ron shelton went on to write much better sports films i wonder if there was more to it then that . i hope this film wasn  t green lit with shelton pitching the story as i wrote above .  br    br   so we have the premise . going from there you would think  or hope  that there might be a few twists along the way to keep things lively . no such luck . this script follows every predictable clich you can think of . there isn  t a moment in this film you won  t see coming a mile away before the film reveals it and the ending . . . . well if you can  t figure out the ending by the end of the first reel then you haven  t paid attention or seen any other sports movie in your life .  br    br   robin williams and kurt russell star  and bore  in the leads . williams is the poor schmo who dropped the big pass and russell is the quarterback who threw the fateful pass . gee  do you think russell will suit up just once more to see if he and williams can right a wrong that the town has never forgotten  this is such a lame duck comedy with a lame duck script that one can only shake their heads wondering what might have been . sure there are a few chuckles and  to be honest  there is one truly funny scene . williams and russell have marital problems and the wives invite them over for dinner to resolve things . neither guy realizes that they have been invited over on a monday and  yes  monday night football is on . keeping in mind that the two teams playing have a combined one victory  the men  williams especially  try to resist the temptation to find out how the game is going . the scene dissolves into some hilarious bits as williams goes to check the score by using a bathroom visit as a ruse . when he returns he coughs the score to russell . later as russell is starting to make the moves on his wife williams wheels the television into their view from another room .  br    br   it  s an inspired and funny scene in a mostly uninspired and stupid movie .  
tigerland             out of four   br    br   by blake french  br    br   throughout the years audiences have seen and understood war films with every point of view possible  and somehow producers and writers always come up with new and innovative methods of portraying various soldiers on the battlefield . joel schumacher    mm    a time to kill    easily one of the riskiest directors currently working  has found resemblance with  the thin red line  in the way his new drama  tigerland  steps in an individual soldier  s shoes . this movie  written by ross klavan and michael mcguther  has more guts and irony than  the thin red line  or even  saving private ryan .  although the movie  s dramatic impact is somewhat lessened due to the perversity of the material present  it certainly enlightens us on a new perspective of young men training for war .  br    br   i would want to know joel schumacher  s experiences with the army . are the men really this unabashed and brutal  i am sure some of them are  but the movie views its uncompromising world through the eyes of a young man named roland bozz  colin farrell   who is rebellious against the ideas of war . his personality instantly counteracts with several other characters  one who becomes his best friend  paxton  matthew davis   and another  wilson  russell richardson   whose flamed temper often exasperates bozz  s tension with the idea of going to war . the war depicted in this production is not found on a battlefield  but on training grounds of a louisiana  based instruction camp between conceptions and fears of the soldiers in training . this film is specifically about the preparation for war  nothing more nothing less . it ends when the soldiers finally go to war  kind of disappointing since witnessing the characters in action would have served as a supurb payoff .  br    br   shot on location in about   days using   mm stock and a minuscule budget  joel schumacher accurately displays a gritty  perverse  cruel  and unmerciful atmosphere using hand  held cinematography  unique lighting techniques and direct sound . schumacher  s grainy and blown  out images make the movie feel like a documentary feature . this unusual style of filmmaking only contributes to the hard core realism of the movie  quite graphic in its use of coarse language  perhaps a little too disturbing . waves of four  letter words pound the audience  some in shock of what they are hearing . even the extreme amount of vulgarism does not keep the dialogue from prevailing as heartbreaking  true  and emotional .  br    br   if anything   tigerland  provides us with a minor appreciation of how much our soldiers go through for our country in the beginning stages of combat . such bravery must it take to enlist in the army during times of war  knowing the hardships and risks that are being taken . such thought  provoking ideas are made possible through the heartbreaking performances by the young aspiring actors who portray the various trainees . this movie is not for all audiences  but one that young men should take a look at before enlisting themselves in the army . . . and adult audiences should watch to appreciate the courage needed to do such .  br    br    
that  s what the title should be  anyway .  br    br   this movie combines guns  explosives  and mindless killing to make one flop of an  action  movie . let me make my point in a series of questions answers type deal .  br    br   what happens in the movie  people die .  br    br   is that it  yes .  br    br   what is the plot about  what plot   br    br   what is the point the movie is trying to make  killing is the only solution .  br    br   what are the characters like  extremely flawed and contradictive toward their own personalities .  br    br   is there anything good about this movie  yes . i  m sure they used some nice panavision cameras in filming it .  br    br   if you like constant killing and greed  then watch the movie . if you happen to be repulsed by such low  standard  entertainment   then  made men  is not for you .  br    br   to sum it up  the plotline stinks  the characters aren  t worth their while  the storyline is completely resistable  and nothing fits together .  br    br   this proves one thing the actors  directors  and whoever helped make this movie certainly aren  t  made  .  
i really like this movie . bozz is an ultra  cool  not to be intimidated soldier who does not want to go to war . his persona is similar in a way to yossarian in catch     joseph heller  s classic novel about men and war . this film  however  is not set in a war zone  but in a pre  war combat prep training . this wonderful film is all about the sickening realization that the vietnam war was a mistake and those men who were pegged to be sacrificed for a losing cause .  br    br   colin farrell is brilliant as bozz  a soldier who showed as much genuine love and compassion for his fellow soldier as he did disdain and irreverence for the establishment that was trying to kill him . bozz is totally cool and non  plussed  testing and tweaking his military superiors  getting their goat at every opportunity . he is a jesus christ figure with a psychology degree   saving  his fellow soldiers and showing the ones in genuine need  the way out of this man  s army .  br    br   the acting and action is crisp and believable and as a  sleeper   tigerland goes down with apocalypse now and full metal jacket as one of the top three vietnam films in my opinion .  br    br   five stars  a top pick .  
so this was an hbo  made for tv movie  eh  is that an excuse for such a pathetic plot and terrible acting  such a shame to see jim belushi reduced to a role so repetitive  shot at  survived  lies  beaten up  survives  shot at  lies and so ad infinitum . call that a script  as for the brits  embarrassing to see timothy dalton  s pathetic  or was he just taking the p  depends how much he was paid i guess   attempt at a southern sheriff  . as for that other brit  the bleached blond one  what a wer  there is a trend towards glorifying these  english speaking   sic  super  violent thugs lately  perhaps thanks to mr . madonna  s two movies succeed in entertaining and justify the violence by skillful use of irony and humour  like pulp fiction does . however  this movie discredits and devalues the genre . definately one to miss .  
this movie is such a moving  amazing piece of work . i saw it at the theater when it came out  but i was only    didn  t really quite  get it  . . . i saw it again when i was    on video of course  i now own it   was just blown away . steven spielberg created a wonderful movie that keeps you wrapped up in it from beginning to end . i have read the book as well  but there is just something about the movie that really brings it to life . the casting  acting  music  costuming  scenery  everything  it just wonderful . you laugh  you cry  you cheer . . . it brings out every emotion imaginable . it is one of his finest pieces of work  should not be missed   
blank check is a movie that i saw on tv one day and like most movies they air on tv blank check wasn  t that good . first of all no one i have ever met has seen blank check and that includes people that grew up in the   s . also blank check won  t be remembered in the   s either simply due to the fact that it will be overshadowed by pixar  s films . i wouldn  t call blank check a bad film but its not really entertaining either .  or at least it isn  t to anyone over the age of   blank check isn  t a entertaining film because nothing about it is original . everything just makes you go  what haven  t i seen this before   blank check rips off and tries to cash in on everything from richie rich to home alone  which strangely enough both have macaulay culkin in it  blank check isn  t a bad movie  but it deserves to fade into obscurity .  
while it was filmed at a florida national guard site   tigerland  totally reminded me of fort polk  la .  firing ranges  maneuver areas  waist  deep water and all . the movie was fairly authentic and the characters similar to those same ones at my ait in     . the difference between the tigerland year       and mine of     is all the drill sergeants and instructors knew they weren  t going back to vietnam  as it was pretty much all over  so training was very relaxed  not a challenge at all . that was the precursor to all our troubles in the   s and   s  which i know for a fact as i stayed in until     . i never heard anyone mention  tigerland  but the army did have realistic vietnam training villages at different bases across the u . s . vietnam vets tell me that up to     basic  ait could be pretty rough and rugged  because the trainers had been there and were mandated to train vietnam  bound men those skills to make it  although that was not always the case . both a drill sergeant at polk and later one of my vietnam vet ncos  when we had become instructors at a basic training brigade at fort bliss  told me there was nothing they could do to get anyone ready and people just had to find out and figure out for themselves . this movie rates high .  
right away  this film was ridiculous . not that it didn  t have redeeming aspects for example  the best thing about this film was the beautiful background scenery . anyone not living on the east coast should know the south doesn  t have beautiful mountains like those found in the west . i knew it was utah right off the bat  but perhaps dalton couldn  t suppress his english accent  so they had to excuse it by saying this was a southern town . subverting his accent into a southern one was easier . sure the film has plot twists  but its phony sense of place was something i couldn  t get past . it  s not like utah doesn  t have meth labs . . . so why the writers thought it necessary to pretend it was in the south is beyond me .  br    br   one other thing in action pictures always puzzles me . why do they always make the  cocking  sound effect when the character pulls out an automatic handgun  it seemed every other sound effect in this movie was a  chuk  chich  signifying a  mm was loaded and ready to fire . of course  the weapons already had rounds chambered so this was unnecessary .  br    br   lastly  the pyrotechnics were way over the top . but hey  this film was targeted to a certain  market segment  i suppose . . . it  s too bad . each of the actors can act  but this film was lame .  
war drama that takes place in louisiana in     . it follows a bunch of recruits through basic training and then tigerland   an accurate portrayal of vietnam on american soil  before they  re shipped over . it focuses on two men   booz  colin farrell  and paxton  matthew davis  . . . how they meet  become friends and deal with a corwardly squadron leader  clifton collins jr .  and a borderline psycho  shea wingham  .  br    br   a surprisingly non  commercial film directed by joel schumacher . he uses a hand  held camera throughout most of the movie and uses digital video for the combat scenes . it works very well   the film looks gritty  as it should  and uncomfortably realistic .  br    br   farrell successfully covers up his irish brogue and adopts a pretty convincing southern accent . his performance is just superb   he  s an extremely talented young man . davis  unfortunately  is not that good . he  s tall  muscular  very handsome   and very bland . the rest of the cast however is just great .  br    br   this film was thrown away by its studio . it had no stars in it  a familar story and was considered  just another war film  . it only played a week in boston  it  s well worth catching on video or dvd .  br    br   also  farrell and davis have a lengthy nude scene .  
it was just a terrible movie . no one should waste their time . go see something else . this movie is  without a doubt  one of the worst movies i have ever seen in my life . if you want to see a good movie  don  t see made men .  
i thoroughly enjoyed this movie  but it is nothing new .  br    br   everyone here is grouping it with other war movies  this movie has been miscategorized  its not a war movie any more than  one flew over the cuckoos nest  is a asylum movie or  cool hand luke  is a prison movie . this is a movie about individuality  nonconformity  self  confidence and the costs of that personality type .  br    br   the plot is the same as  one flew over the cuckoos nest  and  cool hand luke   its in good company  and it holds its own . its these movies it should be held up against and compared  not  apocalypse now  or  platoon  .  br    br   eric  
it is so rare that i get to rate a movie without having some reservation as to whether i should have gone up one or down one but this one . . . . . did the explosion rate a notch higher  or one down because my brain hurt trying to create a plot . no  this one . . . . yeah  a solid  no brainer . . . . . one  ten  
tight script  good direction  excellent performances  strong cast  effective use of locations . . . .  br    br   paul mcgann gives a detailed  subtle performance as the man in the centre of a new murder investigation who may just have committed a similar murder previously .  br    br   there is an interesting moral  emotional journey happening with his character  ben turner  and it intersects with the journey undertaken by amanda burton . inevitably they cross over . . . who has done what   br    br   the examination of why  both in the past and in the present  rather than who might have yielded a more interesting  dostoyevskian story  but hey  who  s complaining   br    br    
jared diamond made a point in the first episode that other peoples of the world didn  t have animals to domesticate but europeans did  and that accounts for why we were able to make steel and invent complex machines .  br    br   but then in the third episode he says that when the europeans in south africa got too far north they ran into zulu people and other tribes that herded cattle and planted crops . so what explains their lack of technological  economic  and artistic achievement if they had the key things the author claims are needed for success   br    br   diamond also claims germs in the form of smallpox  brought to north america by black slaves  were our biggest weapon . well  if    europeans can defeat       native warriors and    non  military south africans can defeat       zulus without a single casualty in either case  then i think you have to conclude that germs are irrelevant . with or without germs  we were going to succeed .  br    br   he says malaria stopped europeans from colonizing further north  killing  thousands  of europeans while not affecting africans .  i  d like to know real numbers but he doesn  t say .  then at the end he says today malaria is killing thousands of africans and that is why they can  t catch up with us . so which is it  jared  did malaria help the africans by halting eurpeans or hurt them  and how come europe did okay despite massive plagues throughout our history   br    br   he also seems far too eager to say that the reasons europeans succeeded was because of dumb luck . at times when the evidence threatens to overwhelm his rickety theories he  s reluctant to admit that maybe europeans were successful because they worked for it . it  s sad watch this obvious neo  marxist contort reality to try to prove his point .  
this is possibly the best short crime drama i  ve ever seen . the acting is superb especially amanda burton who  s character goes from scary to sweet to disturbing to sad and then some . . . she does an amazing job balancing rachels  carlas feelings and acting out the pain of someone who  s lost a child  its so believable that it feels more like a real life story then a drama . the other actors are of course great too which they usually are in british tv  film . the ending  which i  m not going to give away  is fantastic mainly because you don  t really get one . . .  you  ll get what i mean after you  ve seen it  this is well worth buying and seeing over and over again and if you  re not touched by this you  re one cold hearted person .  
this film is an attempt to present jared diamonds theory of  guns  germs and steel   explaining how europeans have dominated much of the globe .  br    br   the version i saw of this documentary came on  discs covering  hours . i think the information could have been presented in   minutes . there are completely useless scenes of professor jared diamond watching birds through binoculars  professor jared diamond failing to use a bow and arrow properly  professor jared diamond firing a muzzle  loader badly . was this documentary supposed to make a hero out of  professor jared diamond   . this part of the documentary was so bad  it could have been a spoof . the worst was when diamond is shown breaking down and weeping when touring the malaria ward in an african hospital . none of this helps me understand his theory of  guns  germs and steel .  btw   guns  germs and steel  is said about    times .  can the europeans guns  germs and steel get them out of this dire situation  stay tuned and find out   when he finally gets down to business  his theory is equal parts interesting and utterly boring . europeans conquered the natives peoples of other lands  because they had guns and fine blades against stone and wooden weapons . do i really need a professor to convince me of this  the parts of his theory that explain how the europeans came to have the advantages that allow the conquest are interesting  but the coverage is paper  thin .  br    br   in the end  i think the documentary was only trying to convince me that non  europeans are as capable as europeans . if i  m not a racist  i already know this . if i  m a racist  jared diamond is not going to convince me with his bumbling use of native implements .  br    br   i don  t think adults are the intended audience for this documentary . kids may enjoy this more than i  though . i have read that the book from which this documentary is much better than the documentary .  
many mystery stories follow the standard whodunit path murder most foul  gathering of clues  gaggle of possible perps  sprinkling of red herrings  and inevitable showdown between clever evildoer and even more clever crime solver .  br    br    forgotten  abandons the well  trod and gives us complex characters who may or may not have committed terrible acts . the fact that at the end of three episodes we have no easy answers and no neatly  tied package might frustrate some  but for me it was the indication of an intelligently crafted tale which probes  disturbs  and haunts with the question what does an evil person look like   br    br   excellent acting and production combine to make a mystery not easily . . . forgotten .  
first of all it  s very dilettantish to try describe way of history only from positions of guns  germs and steel . the same tried to do marxists from economical positions .  br    br   the reason of western success can  t be just dumb luck  the advantages of domesticated plants and animals . we see  that all around the world any advantages and bonuses are complete useless if they aren  t wisely managed . in the japan there isn  t huge natural resources  but japan is one of the top world economies  the same situation in singapore  but in nigeria  country with rich oil resources  there are only middle  low success . both of this nations had and still have access to western technology and inventions  but why such gap   br    br   in the end of movie daimond declared  that it  s very important to understand factors of guns  germs and steel  to understand . maybe the main factor of world  s difference is not geography  but people ability to understand and use things  the mental ability to understand . and in this case geography is only subordinated .  
i love this movie  short thing . jason steele is amazing  my favorite parts are the french song and in the opening title when the spatula soldier yells  spoons   i crack up every time . i would recommend this movie to knox klaymation fans  and people who enjoy jason steele  s other movies . his style of animation is very original . it takes a few views to notice the detailed backgrounds . his humor is also hilarious  and is definitely not something you  d hear before . like max the deformed spatula who has a sound and light system in his head that beams colorful lights and happy music whenever he talks about his miserable life . this is a wonderful animation to watch anytime any where .  
as hard as it is for me to believe  with all of the awful reality shows out there over the past few years  this one has to take over the top spot for worst one yet . i am still wondering if this was actually just a spoof done by the sctv gang . if andy kaufmann were still alive i  d be sure he was behind this . can a rock band stoop any lower than has inxs to do such a shameful thing as this  the premise is simple and moronic . audition a bunch of karaoke rejects to become the new lead singer of inxs  to take the place of michael hutchence  who committed suicide in      . eight years and no hits later  the band commit the ultimate act of patheticness by subjecting themselves to auditioning a bunch of talentless wannabes to be the new lead singer of a band that is   years past its prime . so they trot all of these awful singers  i thought american idol had its share of doozies  who do atrocious renditions of just about every classic  and predictable  rock song imaginable . and then they cut to the inxs band members who are seriously discussing the merits of each of these candidates . you could see better  and more original  rock performers at just about any night club in any city in the world .  br    br   it has all the usual uncreative elements of every other reality show . lame reality participants  lame interviews  lame host  emcee  lame  judging  of performances  and the lame booting of one participant at the end of each show . can these shows get any more predictable  it  s clearly a publicity stunt on the part of the band a last gasp of hope at rekindling their lost stardom before they are finally buried into oblivion . michael hutchence  if he had any shred of dignity when alive  has to be rolling over in his grave . not that inxs were ever a great band  but i had no idea they were this pathetic . if inxs are at all representative of what rock and roll has become  this show would be the final proof that rock and roll is once and for all  dead .  
i  ve never seen many online movies in most of my life  but if i  d pick any of them  i  d pick spatula madness  a clever reference to most movies like star trooper  etc .   using a camera  and wits of steel  jason steele mastered the art of turning a normal image into a painting  and then putting it all together with frame  by  frame animation to get a world inhabited by spatulas . the story begins at the middle  hows that for directors delight  then the middle is at the beginning  and so on  when i first watched it  i expected a soggy pixely look  but jason  like me  loves looks  so took every detail to the max . although i don  t recommend it for children  or would anybody besides me like it  but please search it up on the net  its a short film  look up film cow   its style reminds me of south park  but less violent .   for the look   for the laughs  and  for the story  it all comes to a       good work  br    br   jason steele  i  m anxious to see the movie .  
i love all his work but this looks like nothing . . sorry . . this looks more like a  david lynch copycat  . i think people like it only because  it  s from david lynch  .  
i  ve watched it plenty of times and i  m planning on buying the full feature . i love all of jason steele  s comedy . it  s very different and unique and is very enjoyable . i love indie films and this one is just great . the plot is strange but very funny . this short film is about a talking spatula named edward . the order of the events are a bit jumbled  making this film very interesting to watch . at first you see edward fighting the spoons  but then the focus changes to earlier in his life . this is a silly movie  but of course  it  s still great . i highly recommend that you watch this film at www . spatulamadness . com or www . filmcow . com . it  s very funny . the humour may not match everybody  s taste but watch anyway . it  ll only take   minutes of your time  and it  s free . go watch spatula madness   
 . . . but this just isn  t working and i am surprised to see how many people consider it good . on what grounds  there are some loose hints here and there  but the whole material is self  indulgent and unconvincing . lynch  s movies are generally intriguing because they generate a sense of confusion and yet  are very playful when doing that . there is some visual sense  there are some subplots  characters  ideas etc . but this is dull and yes  pointless . because whatever there is to explore is either to  small   either too far  fetched  or simply told before in a superior manner . it  s just lynch exploring dv  nothing more so it should be treated like this .      
i laughed a lot while watching this . it  s an amusing short with a fun musical act and a lot of wackiness . the characters are simple  but their simplicity adds to the humor stylization . the dialog is funny and often unexpected  and from the first line to the last everything just seems to flow wonderfully . there  s max  who has apparently led a horrible life . and there  s edward  who isn  t sure what life he wants to lead . my favorite character was tom  edward  s insane boss . tom has a short role but a memorable one . highly recommended for anyone who likes silly humor . and you can find it online now  which is a bonus  i am a fan of all of jason  s cartoons and can  t wait to see what he comes out with next .  
wow  i love and respect pretty much anything that david lynch has done . however  this movie is akin to a first filmmaker  s attempt at making a pseudo art video .  br    br   to give you a couple of examples  br    br    . david lynch is typically a visual filmmaker  however  this had little visual artistic content  blank walls   up shots  with ceiling in the background   br    br    . david lynch typically takes great pride in audio  however  in this you could even hear the video camera  s hum .  br    br   in fact  it is very hard to swallow the idea that he had anything to do with this movie . unless . . .  br    br   . . . this is a joke  on david  s part  to force fans search his website  for hours  only to find this drivel . i hope so  because at least that idea is funny .  
rating        master piece  br    br   some years ago  i heard spielberg comment that he would redo the movie here and there if he had a chance . well  mr spielberg  i guess nothing is perfect  but this movie  together with schindler  s list  is your best . even oprah acts well in this one   br    br   what got me most is the realism of the story and drama . stuff like this happened and is still happening in the world .  
blank check is one of those kids movies that could have been a great suspense thriller for the kids but instead it  s a tired lame home alone ripoff that isn  t worth a dime . quigley is a criminal who just escaped from jail and gets his hidden million dollars from a big score and then we meet preston a frustrated kid whose room is taken over by his brothers to start a business and obviously dad treats his brothers better because they make money the same day he goes to a kid  s birthday party and since his dad is a cheapo he goes on little kids rides while the other kids go on roller coasters then he receives a birthday card and a check of   bucks how cheap is this family  so he goes to the bank to open an account and meets the gorgeous shea stanley were her parents mets fans  he finds out he needs    to open a account meanwhile quigley gives his million to his banker friend and finds out the bills are marked so he will send a lackey named juice to get the unmarked ones when preston leaves his bike gets run over by quigley he  s about to write a check when he spots the cops and bolts back home his parents scolded him about his busted up bike and gets grounded what  their kid got almost run over and they worried about a bike  so preston forges a million dollar check via his computer and comes back only to be escorted to the banker thinking that he  s juice he gives preston the money but the real juice came and realized they been duped by a kid  so preston buys a mansion under the name macintosh gets a limo driver who says unfunny jokes and goes on a epic shopping spree then he spots shea and talks about opening his account kid you  re loaded and you  re talking about opening an account  we soon realized shea is actually an fbi agent tracking down quigley and his two other accomplice  s then he told his cheapy dad he  s got a job working for mr macintosh and spends the day riding go karts playng vr games and hanging out with his limo driver buddy then he goes out on a date with shea in a fancy restaurant what a   year old wining and dining a   something fbi agent  afterwards he takes her to a street geyser and playing around in the water messing up shea  s    dollar dress yet she takes it well if this was a bit realistic she would slap him for messing up her expensive dress so quigley and the others still mad interrogates a little kid and quickly spills the beans and preston is being chased by quigley in a scene taken from the original script and afterwords he is hosting mr macintoshs birthday which is really his birthday when he discovers he couldn  t pay for the party he sits in his chair and dad talks to macintosh which he doesn  t know it  s his son he  s talking to and talks about preston should be a real kid and has his whole childhood ahead of him and wants preston to go home early what  an hour ago you were grilling him about his finances  so preston asks everyone to leave and sits alone pondering when quigley and the others break in to the house to make preston pay and so he faces then in a finale that rips off home alone quigley gets spun around in a ball while preston is driving a go kart juice gets hit in the groin and more antics ensue until the trio get preston cornered and when it seem all hope is lost shea and a bunch of swat guys come to save the day and so quigley and his crew get sent to jail but is there any hope for preston and shea  there is and she kisses him in the lips what  what  what  a grown woman kissed a kid in the lips . come on is she mentally disabled  i mean an fbi agent who knows the country  s laws would risk her career to kiss a kid  she could get arrested on the spot  and the most creepiest part of all is that isn  t goodbye and she  ll see him in  or  years  oh dear and so he comes home to his family celebrating his birthday so the moral of the story is love and respect can be bought  what are they smoking  the bottom line is that is a waste of time the morals are whacked it  s flat as a tortilla the kid is annoying the villains are lame the comic relief isn  t funny the brothers are unlikable the dad is even worse the romantic subplot is creepy the plot  s shallow and the only saving grace is the cinematography from bill pope which went on to shoot the matrix trilogy and two of the spider  man films so people don  t waste your money and go watch home alone instead .  br    br   this has been a samuel franco review .  
this is a great short . i think every voice is done by jason steele .  you can only just barely tell if you  ve heard his normal voice though  so don  t worry about them sounding the same . they don  t .  its about   minutes long .  br    br   edward the spatula is fighting the war against spoons and he meets some weird people . in fact  everyone he knows seem pretty crazy .  br    br    edward    general peterson  we have to get you to a medical unit    no  i  m not gonna make it edward .   dont talk like that  i  m sure you  ll be fine .   im a goner edward  and you know it . before i go    yes    can i just have . . . one kiss    umm  no .   come on  just one  small  peck on the lips    im walking away now sir .   br    br   there  s gonna be movie pretty soon . the date for that is in september  but its probably gonna get pushed back .  
i finally got to have a look at this experimental lynch short after waiting for so long . . . . and unfortunately  it wasn  t worth it  even for a die hard lynch fan  i found this to be really tedious . . . .  br    br   nothing happens  there are long  long  long painful pauses where nothing happens  long  monotonous speeches where nothing is said and the whole thing finishes with the viewer not knowing  or caring  what the hell it was all about  what happened before and what happened afterward .  br    br   there was a mulholland drive allusion  the blonde girl and the brunette girl were very diane and rita  esque  and a lost highway moment with allusions to some significant event that happened but cannot be talked about clearly .  br    br   unfortunately  it  s all very uninteresting and very dull  nothing happens  it  s very forgettable and i think i will delete it from my computer and forget i ever watched it . sorry david   
i know that you  ve already entered this in film festivals  or at least i think you have  i may just be making that up  but i think this should get  best animated short film  in every one . bravo . i can  t wait for the full film . i realize that you may not hear this often enough because of the bizarre nature of your animations  but hear it now and accept it as the truth . kudos  my friend . okay  now i  m just trying to get ten lines of text . . . though i still mean it . and here comes yet another  shoe   and i cannot stop here yet . this is extremely annoying and yet at the same time i have nothing better to do . in fact  i  ll probably watch all of your movies in yet another spasmodic  jason steele marathon .  i do have a lot of those .  br    br    r  
i am a huge fan of david lynch . this film  however  was a quite disappointing experience . apart from the ambient background music  which really sets the mood of the film  it lacks almost all the qualities that i  ve come to associate with lynch  s work . the visuals are dull  to say the least  and the dialog is to vague and monotone to be of any interest .  br    br   this feels more like a film students awkward try to do an arty dogma movie than the work of an experienced director . i  ve seen a lot of amateur movies with far superior camera  work  scenery  sound and script . this film lacks almost all artistic qualities . i feel as though i  m watching one of davids home videos  produced during a weekend trip with some friends .  
this film is unusual and bizarre  and it is nearly unusual and bizarre in a very good way . i give this short a  just because it is so unique and off  the  wall  but much of the time it seems as though it is being bizarre just for the sake of being bizarre . if the film had managed to integrate its more bizarre moments into some semblance of a plot then it would have been really fantastic .  br    br   the main problem here is that it looks as though the creators just jumbled together a bunch of crap about spatulas  then threw in a whole bunch more crap that sounded as though it would sound funny coming from the mouth of a spatula .  br    br   this is definitely worth checking out  but it is not top rate by any stretch of the creators wild imaginations .  
i grew up watching and loving tng . i just recently finished watching the entire series st voyager on dvd  which may have heightened my sense of disgust with this episode  as the difference in style and approach between the two shows couldn  t be more stark . the idea may have been good if used as an opportunity to further expand riker  s character  which is how it probably would have been treated on voy . they could have featured memories that would be  new  to the audience  rather than simply regurgitating old show clips . the in and out transitions between the  memories  and the  present  in this episode start as clich in the beginning  and very quickly become intolerable as the tired pattern wears on and on . bar none  worst episode ever .  
this short film that inspired the soon  to  be full length feature  spatula madness  is a hilarious piece that contends against similar cartoons yielding multiple writers . the short film stars edward the spatula who after being fired from his job  joins in the fight against the evil spoons . this premise allows for some funny content near the beginning  but is barely present for the remainder of the feature . this film  s    minute running time is absorbed by some odd  ball comedy and a small musical number . unfortunately not much else lies below it . the plot that is set up doesn  t really have time to show . but it  s surely follows it plot better than many high  budget hollywood films . this film is worth watching at least a few times . take it for what it is  and don  t expect a deep story .  
because of the     writers guild of america strike they had to shoot this episode in  days . it  s pretty much crap  consisting of repeat cut  pasted clips from season  and was described by its writer  maurice hurley as  terrible  just terrible .   br    br   why the producers couldn  t just wait to shoot something decent who knows . i  m guessing because of the strike the production ran out of money and could only release a flashback episode or maybe roddenberry was too sick at the time to be able to veto this half  assery . this episode also marks the final appearance of diana muldaur  dr . katherine pulaski  on the series .  
i remember watching this film on saturday afternoon tv in the     s or   s . it was well presented but i do remember there was a message of hope broadcast from transmitters secreted in lamposts in one of the last maniacal executions for impending liberation . i  m not sure that squares with the facts .  br    br   still the film is well done . the german high command reports wryly without emotion  the russians are advancing down the fredrich strasse  as if all went according to plan .  br    br   it was my impression that this film and a later american made for tv knock  off was based on the british historian trevor  roper  s account by a similar title last days of hitler . i was surprised to see no credit to trevor  roper .  br    br   i agree the newest german film on the subject downfall was as well done as the classic . the american knock  off was a little flat .  br    br   few figures have attracted as much attention from the cinema as adolph . yet i find it interesting that none of the many films and books that have come out ever speak of hitler  s double alluded to in passing in john toland  s magnificent historical piece .  br    br   was gibs   
as a long  time fan of all the star trek series  i found this a disappointing episode  and i wonder if the liberal use of  flashbacks  featuring will riker  s exploits  both positive  and largely romantic  and negative  lots of pain  and a crewmate  s death  was a money  saving device  as were many of their  bottle shows   episodes in which all scenes take place on the enterprise  . diana muldaur  who also appeared at least twice on the original series  deserved a better final appearance than this for her character  dr . kate pulaski . loyal viewers  in the star trek world  is there any other kind   also were shortchanged . this was the last episode of second season thus  the season ended  not with a bang  but with  a whimper .   
i remember this film from many years ago . certainly the best film on the subject in my experience . the fact that i vividly remember so much of the film after so long a time testifies to its impact .  br    br   it is difficult to comment on the level of the performances because of the language barrier . but they were nonetheless very powerful .  br    br   this subject continues to fascinate us even with the passing of years . and it was most effectively treated here  with the proper proportion of historical perspective and skepticism .  br    br   i wish it would be shown on tv at least once . or at least be available on tape or dvd . or is it  is some art film archive hoarding a copy of it    
i loved this movie  i  ll admit it . this has to be the best  straight to   video movie i  ve seen . well . . . me and my friend decided just for shits n  giggles that we  d rent this movie . we knew what to expect and we got exactly what we expected  plus more . when that red neck gets slammed up against the tree by the sasquatch  we literally watched that part about three to four times  it was that amazing  hysterically  of course  . and why  oh why does the main character have to roll that much  like honestly  we know that you  re in danger  rolling that much isn  t gonna help all that much . but really  if this movie is in you  re local video store rent it . it is worth the money and it  s not even that bad  like it  s bad  but not incredibly bad . overall  complete amazing will be in store for you if you rent this movie .  
made only ten years after the actual events  and set in the bunker under the reichstag  pabst  s film is wholly gripping . it reeks of sulfurous death awaiting the perpetrators of world war . haven  t seen this in over three decades  but it remains strong in my visual and emotional memory . the characters seem to be waiting to be walled up in their cave . searing bit of dialog between two generals  does god exist    if he did  we wouldn  t .  shame this is not more readily available for exhibition or purchase because it would be interesting to view and compare this film with the documentary about traudl junge   im toten winkel  aka  blind spot hitler  s secretary   and  downfall  with bruno ganz .  
it really is that bad of a movie . my buddy rented it because he  well  is an idiot . but then again  i must be an idiot too because i watched the whole damn thing  the actors were on par with high school drama geeks who think that are going places . the only place they will be going is back to waiting tables at luby  s . all i could think of while i was watching this  gem  was how it actually got made . i mean  some  screenwriter  actually thought that this premise was fresh  original and lucrative . then some moron with money believed in the script so much that he decided to fork some cash over with the naive misconception that he was going to make a return on it . actors were cast  locations were scouted  make  up artists were hired  computer animators fresh out of al collins graphic design school were brought in and this turd started to take form .  br    br   there obviously were a ton of things that i hated about this move but the one thing the drove me the craziest was the overuse of music . every single minute of this flick was scored . there was not a single break in music . and at times it was mixed higher than the dialogue  not that it made you miss some vital plot point or anything .  br    br   after it was over  we decided to watch mystic river . it was like driving a     vw diesel rabbit then switching to a bmw    il . you couldn  t get two more opposite movies in terms of quality .  
as with a bunch of guys at school we must give this a thumbs up . even the grim ripper made us smile . those two alien things made me laugh  bill and ted were the stupidest yet the funnest in the entire movie . this is a lot better than the first one . and yet for some reason i feel that it misses something . something big . something important . made a better house and girlfriends . no  i  d say better villains . use clones instead of robots . i gave this a  out of   because of those two robotic doinks .  br    br   the grim ripper  don  t be scared he  s not the deathy kind  is funny . when he fell from the sky i split a gut . splat  i  m not sure about those aliens . what where they  scientists  no way .  
how did this ever come into existence  i generally love sci f  bigfoot whatever films etc . . . but i still expect them to be written without quite so much cheese as this . the effects were sad  the lines were sadder . avoid at all costs . i only ended up renting it because it was in the wrong case  i was looking for the sasquatch film with lance henrikson in it   still haven  t seen that one  . the idea of the film is actually a good one . there was a lot of potential to make a great little movie here . i just don  t understand how something like this ends up like this . go speak to the film  arts  english interested students in any high school and you  ll find people who can write a better script .  
this movie is awesome . if you take it too seriously  of course you will hate it however  it  s quantity of  dudes  and  right ons  brings laughs and faint memories of about   years ago . i like its ability to make me simply chuckle at obvious jokes and silliness  and its ability to make me want to watch its precursor   bill and ted  s excellent adventure        . if you are looking for a film full of multifaceted jokes  and totally mature humor  don  t watch it however  if you want a film that is humorous and silly  yet intelligent and engaging  you will enjoy it . i actually wish more of this sort of picture showed up in today  s theatres . and hey  it  s keanu reeves acting the way everyone parodies him as acting . . . right . . . doesn  t get much better than that    
when i first saw this film i thought it was going to be a good sasquatch film . usually when you have these types of movies there  s generally one sasquatch  but in this one there is like what   or   of them  . acting was good  plot was ok  i liked the scenes where the sasquatch is killing the first few victims  very good camera work . i was expecting it to be a gory film but it was very little . this movie was way better than sasquatch . the sci  fi channel really needs to make more sasquatch films  i mean i really liked sasquatch mountain  abominibal was not good  the one i  m reviewing is ok  but the movie sasquatch was not  but i  m not reviewing that so let me get back on track . this movie is good for a rainy saterday afternoon  but for any other occasions  no .  
two years later . . . bill  alex winter  and ted  keanu reeves  are becoming near rock stars in the present future but still needing more work in their instruments . in the future  bill  ted are in the public popular history but then a evil man  joss ackland  is set to kill bill  ted by sending cyborg look  likes to destroy them . cyborgs are sent to the past present and they actually murder the real bill  ted . now  both guys are spirits and they have to travel through heaven and hell to save themselves and their future .  br    br   directed by peter hewitt  tom and huck  the borrowers  made a clever sequel with terrific visual effects . much more funny and entertaining than the original . william sadler  the shawshank redemption  steals the show as the grim reaper .  br    br   dvd has an good anamorphic widescreen   .      transfer and an fine  dolby digital  .  surround sound . dvd has the theatrical trailer and an amusing behind the scenes featurette . this sequel was a box office hit like the original but it is also  believe it or not   one of the best sequels ever made  depending on your point of view  . george carlin reprises his role from the original briefly . pam grier also appears in a bit role . it  s a enjoyable fantasy comedy .      .  
oh where to begin . the cinematography was great . when the movie first started because of the initial landscape scenes i thought that i was in for a good movie . then the cgi bigfoot showed up . it looked like a cartoon drawing of the lion king and king kong  s love child . it totally took away from the believability of the character . now i knew there wasn  t a bigfoot chasing people hiking around the woods for no apparent reason but a cheesy cgi cartoon . so from then on the whole movie was shot for me . the money they flushed down the toilet for the cgi they could of spent on a costume like roger patterson did . his was the best bigfoot costume ever no one else could match his . i am a hardcore cheesy bigfoot movie fan and i was warned about this movie but my compulsion led me to watching this movie and i was disappointed like the previous reviews warned me about . i know after you read this review you will still say  i must watch sasquatch hunters  must watch sasquatch hunters .  then you will say why did i waste my good hard earned money on such a excruciatingly bad boring movie   
this was one of the most moving movies i have ever seen . i was about   years old when i watched it for the first time and whenever it is on tv i my eyes are glued to it . the acting and plot are amazing . it seems so true to reality and it touches on so many controversial topics . i recommend this movie to anyone interested in a good drama .  
two years ago  on berlin film festival we watched the amos kollek movie  sue  in the panorama program  with a wonderful anna thomson in the leading part . it  s a film about loneliness and sex  and how the one thing is compensated by the other . in the same section on the festival now we have to complain the superfluous antithesis of sue   extension du domaine de la lutte   which now tries to convince us that loneliness and having no sex is one and the same problem . but unfortunately we can  t sympathize with  our hero   how he is called by the story  teller   because he is unnecessarily and incomprehensibly tired of company and himself . own fault  i  m sorry . i can  t understand him . not enough  the writer  director  actor want us admitting to him  that it  s not his destroyed self  consciousness or the passivity of his personality  what brought him so far  but the rotten society and its image of sexuality . yes  there are some deeper insights about gender relations  but we won  t follow him so far . . . and the point is  that there is rather any sign of reflection about his own portion to the fate  having no sex . who didn  t notice yet  it  s a quite depressing film . . .  br    br   in the beginning  there had been some starts to be more accurate in sketching the situation . at the bed store the  hero  speaks about the hindrances buying a new bed . perhaps it  s too broad getting up the stairs  you have to stay at home half a day . . . this is a satire about a character  who doesn  t know taking the life and heart in hands  doing something . . . the movie doesnt follow this path  but handles his characters with helplessness . nobody believes  that  our hero  is able to instigate tisserand for a murder . too dull  too kind  too  passive  not to mention tisserand  s complex he has an inhibition  but he couldn  t be  of course  a murderer of women   . to finish there are women and the world  it  s not a device of a modern sexualized society . help you as you can  but don  t follow the messages and the  wisdom  of this movie  which announces bankruptcy to human relationships  without seizing the real conflicts within .  
it may have not been up for academy awards and admittedly  it  s pretty cheesy  but it  s just so much fun  nothing makes me smile like bill and ted . lovable  optimistic  and hilarious  bill and ted are a great way to unwind .  br    br   although i love excellent adventure  bogus journey is funnier to me . death is flippin hilarious and bill and ted are even more endearing . people give me grief about loving this movie  but only really pretentious movie  watchers will say it  s not even a bit entertaining . if you like this  you  ll probably also be a fan of wayne  s world  dude where  s my car  and dumb and dumber . admit it  though foolish  they make you grin and turn your tickle box over . so watch them just for kicks and giggles    
this is the biggest piece of lamo i  ve ever watched . it is excruciatingly boring i would have rather sat through a seminar on creationism than have watched this if i had known it was going to be as boring as it was . not even the   seconds of the hot chick in the bikini with the big ta tas redeems this of anything lower than a  .  br    br   the reviews of this movie claiming that this movie is  unintentionally funny  are absurd and just plain wrong . not one thing is funny about this movie . they spend the first   or so minutes walking through the woods talking about stuff you wouldn  t understand nor care about and it is just as lame when the people start dying because you don  t even know who the people are because they are so uninteresting . honestly though  i didn  t watch it to the ending  but that should say something about how horrible it is . worst movie ever .  br    br   immediately after ejecting this filth from my dvd player i started scraping it against the cement in front of my house  not wanting other blockbuster customers to have to fall upon the same mistake i had made as to rent this movie . then zach peed his pants . thankyou for your time .  
bill and ted  s bogus journey is the sequel to bill and ted  s excellent adventure . their bogus journey follower almost directly after the first movie  and does just as good of a job if not better to entertain the viewer .  br    br   the plot is an evil person from the future is trying to kill bill and ted using evil robots that look exactly like bill and ted . once the robots kill bill and ted  they must compete with the grim reaper  death  and return their lives to normal .  br    br   the acting in the movie is top notch  and even thought it is a little weird at times  especially bill and ted  s conversations  it is a great movie . the wannabe rockers sure have made another great movie . pick this up the next time your at blockbuster   
foywonder  s review of this cheap stv hits the nail squarely on the head . make sure you read it . in case you don  t  a group of scientists heads off into the deep woods of the pacific northwest  to fumble around with a bunch of bones in an animal graveyard . the big foot family doesn  t take kindly to this  and proceeds to pick off the team one by one  largely offscreen . big foot himself has a distinctly ape  like face  but is less scary overall than harry from harry and the hendersons . most of the movie has the wooden  generic actors pretending to be scientists tromping around in the woods and yakking away . this is a no  budget movie in which very little happens  at least on screen . we do get to watch the sexiest of the females take a shower while one of her male companions watches  but nothing comes of this .  
alex winter and keanu reeves return as the two dopes from san dimas who get sent on another trip of a lifetime as someone from the future feels exactly the opposite the way it was presented in the first movie .  br    br   the only difference is that their trip is  somewhere  between heaven and hell and ends up being both . when they meet the grim reaper  they get the chance of an after  lifetime to play him for a chance to return and stop two evil robots from ruining what future they were supposed to have . besides playing roles they have . . . er . . . perfected  they also play  and revive a couple of extra sales in the process  some classic games  i even have my original copy of battleship in the closet  .  br    br   the reason i liked this movie better than the original is because it deals with  what it might be like  instead of  what was .  without spoiling the movie  i can  t give you anymore information about this  i guess you  ll just have to watch them both and decide for yourself   out of   stars .  
i got this movie out of blockbuster in one of those racks were you can get like  movies for   bucks . i  d have to say i got my money  s worth on this one . i had expected horrible dialogue  crappy monsters  and shaky cameras . well  as meatloaf said  two outta three ain  t bad .  br    br   the acting is bad  though not as bad as some movies i  ve seen . or maybe i  ve watched so many low budget movies recently i  ve lost perspective . there are some bits were the acting is downright terrible  but for the most part it  s of at least high school play level .  br    br   the cg for the sasquatch in this movie is probably the second  worst part . the first thing i thought when i saw it  and i noticed another reviewer agreed with me  was that a man in an ape suit would have been better . clunky stop  motion animation would have looked better .  br    br   so you may be asking why i call the cg the second  worst part . that  s because the very worst part of the movie is the sound effects . they are loud  annoying  and constant . i  ve been camping  i know what insects sound like in the woods at night  and while they can be loud  they  re not deafening like the cacophony in this movie . usually when the  background  sounds drown out the movie  s dialogue  it  s a bad thing  but from what i caught of the dialogue of this film  i wasn  t missing much .  br    br   the action was infrequent and boring . the tension was non  existent  as was any sense of empathy with the characters . speaking of the characters  they were all cookie  cutter and bland . the only mildly engaging byplay was between . . . actually  i can  t think of anything . there was a line or two that made me crack a wan smile  but that was about it .  br    br   the cinematography was decent  a step or two above what you  d normally see in a movie like this . however  it still had that  home movie  quality to it that you get with movies made on pocket change and a prayer .  br    br   if you  re like me and get a kick out of shoestring budget genre flicks  and you see this one in the dollar bin  think about grabbing it . otherwise  stay away at all costs .  
now this is more like it  the first movie had some iffy dialogue and some weaker acting  but it seems like the team behind this got their stuff together for the sequel and put out a solid  thoroughly enjoyable  hilarious and creative comedy that will keep everyone on the edge of their seats the whole way through .  br    br   seriously  this is just full of great stuff  brimming with creativity  and it  s less of a spoof on   s movies at the same time . the scenes in hell are great  and so are the ones in heaven . there  s really no shortage to the mad  cap adventurous romp that this one promises  and you will never see another movie like this . even the hammy final act of the movie isn  t as bad as the first one  being generally heartwarming and enjoyable in its extremely clich repertoire of family fun movie bliss . and even keanu reeves  despite looking about    isn  t that bad here .  br    br   sounds like a good deal to me .  
a group of forest rangers and scientists go into the woods to find fossils . they stumble on a bigfoot burial ground eventually  the didn  t notice it in the dark   the scenes of the cgi bigfoot are horrid  but better than the endless scenes of talking that they rarely punctuate . i used to think that there just might be a good bigfoot movie to be made . but now after so many sad sad movies about the legend  i  m having serious doubts . to pour salt in the wound of watching this film  the one good  looking girl just doesn  t get naked once . and while this one may be better than  boggy creek    no mean feat there   it  s still sad that the best non  documentary film on bigfoot remains  harry and the henriksons   br    br   my grade d  
okay  i  ll admit it   i am a goof  ball and i occasionally love a really silly comedy . while i have seen more films by kurosawa  bergman and truffaut than practically anyone on the planet  i still have a soft spot for a dopey comedy that doesn  t try to be sophisticated but is simply funny . a few such films that immediately come to mind are monty python and the holy grail  uhf  start the revolution without me  strange brew and the bill and ted movies . they all lack snob appeal but only a zombie or professional film critic could dislike them .  br    br   while bill  ted  s bogus journey isn  t as wonderful as the original bill and ted film  it still is great fun . also  unlike the original  it actually seems to improve with repeated viewing . i remember not loving the film the first time i saw it   possibly because the other movie set such a high standard for laughs . but  every time i see it again i am amazed at all the great moments   particularly those involving the grim reaper . and  by the way  this reaper is about as different from bergman  s in the seventh seal as you can get   in addition to a lot of laughs  this film features some excellent music   one way that it  s actually better than the first film . the kiss anthem at the end is great but so are the rest of the hard rock tunes   provided you aren  t an old killjoy like de nomolos . great viewing for kids and adults alike .  
this is definitely the worst bigfoot movie i  ve ever seen and quite possibly the overall worst movie i  ve ever seen in my life . the actors and actresses were horrible and it seemed like they were trying way too hard to play their roles as dorks  tough guys  jerks  know it alls  etc . and the bigfoot itself was terrible . it appeared to be some kind of computer generated image from the days of atari  intellivision . at one point near the end of the movie as an army of sasquatches were chasing after the remaining survivors  one gets shot and as it  s running it looked like a poor man  s version of donkey kong himself  and one gets hit by a bullet and the blood that comes out of it was just awful animation . another thing that was annoying was the music . way way way too much music  classical score or whatever you call it  throughout the entire film . it was never ending . oh yeah  the movie is boring too . absolutely one of the worst films i  ve ever seen . i highly recommend taking your   or whatever they charge to rent this movie and spending it on a gallon of gas or a value menu somewhere . truly awful   
will and ted  s bodacious journey is an existential trip through themes of mortality  religion  time  heaven and hell  man  s quest for fame and his fears of the body being overcome by a soulless machine . it is the most intelligent work of fiction since paradise lost and references many great past works of art  dante  iron maiden  virgil  shakespeare . this time the dudes are a famous rock band having travelled through time collecting icons from the past  napolean  joan of ark  noah  s wife   oscar wilde  and charles darwin . they took the skills they learned from each of these people  abducted a couple of princesses  and finally learned to play their guitars and write hit songs . these songs teach the world to love again and war  hunger  evil are vanquished for eternity . we fast forward into the distant future where an evil dictator who despises good music called simon cow  al wants to rule the world . he eats rooshus  the cool guy from the first film who helps bill playboy esquire and ted theodore alvin  and gains the power to send two cyborgs back in time . the cyborgs are living tissue over metal exoskeleton and coated in mimetic poly alloy allowing them the survive the turmoil of time travel  and they can imitate anything they sample by physical contact . it is their job to kill the good biff and fred and take over their lives by making terrible music that no  one could like . by doing this they will change the world forever  gryll and jed  s music will never be made leaving a world of war  famine  and hatred  and more annoyingly  bland boy  girl group pop music . there is a startling twist as the good guys actually are killed and they have to work out a way to save the world  themselves  and their wives from the evil dopplebangers inhabiting their bodies .  br    br   penelope spheerhead shows her knowledge of both youth culture and real culture by mixing modern day music and phrases with post modern sets and artistic references  and seeks to teach us all something by delving into our very psyche to show us ourselves . she presents the nightmares which faced the late   s teen in a society which had abandoned them and beckons us to dissect the post structuralist jingoism  self love  and malaise of the time . charging us with a belief that we can indeed change the world it is an inspiring message  but in order to achieve such dreams we must traverse and indeed face our nightmares . to overcome is to succeed  to defeat death is the first step in truly living and not merely surviving . in the words of kenneth reeves   wow   best scene for a fun game  see how many songs  bands  and albums cover references you can spot throughout the film . there are at least  .  
i have always been interested in anything about bigfoot  so when i was browsing around looking for a movie to rent  this one caught my eye . it was the worst   .   i  ve ever spent and i want my money back  please don  t waste your money on this   this was one of the cheapest movies i  ve ever seen . the entire movie was so incredibly boring and i found myself rolling my eyes a lot and i didn  t even watch it all the way through . i just got fed up with it . the acting was horrible  the effects were horrible  everything was just really bad and tasteless . it all added up to be a really bad  boring movie and total waste of time and money . i hope that one day they  ll make a good movie about sasquatch  but until then  i  ll have to sit through countless cheap duds like this one to find the real masterpiece .  
visual creative epic of inimitable style .  br    br   this film may neither have the most alternative dramaturgy nor the most artistic acting . but who dares to say this film is no art  i  m not a supporter of the idea  that an important film must be serious  non  commercial or bothering me with questions . even there are a lot of films  apposite to this attributes  that i like .  br    br   bogus journey  for sure  is not one of this films . what you get is pure  excessive creativity with a very positive charged  childlike energy . this film doesn  t reflect reality . its friendly  naive and utopian . imagine the world of the future described by rufus  for me it would be a pretty nice time  place combination to live in  except of that music     br    br   technically  bogus jorney is very well made . i always liked the cinematography and the sceneries of this movie . especially in this point bogus journey tops its prequel by far . also the effects are good  and i think most of them very made without cgi . i generally prefer the good old effects in big budget movies . sure its  just another hollywood movie  out of some peoples view . but i think it is this in a very charismatic way .  br    br   a short word to the soundtrack all the band and orchestral music fits very well into the film . also the sound design has no lack . i am not a big fan of rock music  but i had to get this track by winger from the scene  station  builds the bill and ted robots in the van . i love the unorthodox camera work at its beginning .  br    br   let me conclude saying this  br    br   this film is very naive and very imaginative  it is way better than panzerkreuzer potemkin  the godfather  eraserhead or aguirre  the wrath of god . it is absolutely superior to citizen kane  apocalypse now or chris markers sans soleil . . . . . . it is even better than total recall . . . no way   yes way   br    br   bill and ted  s bogus journey is simply the best movie ever made .  br    br   who dares to disagree makes himself guilty of  artsie  fartsy behavior  or likes terminator salvation  what is the bigger self  defamation   br    br   ps part  is not the better movie . so bogus jorney is a superior sequel . not even terminator  is a superior sequel  its not   
i went into watching this movie knowing it wasn  t going to be great . but what i witnessed was to awful for words . i don  t mean to be harsh  its just the movie was terrible . overall it had bad  i mean awful special effects  the acting wasn  t too bad  but wasn  t good either  and sasquatch himself was like . . . . well  not sasquatch . in my opinion the best sasquatch movie is harry and the hendersons . its not violent or horror  but it has the best depiction of sasquatch . at least its a suit and not some half  ass cgi rip  off . only see this movie if you are desperate  or really appreciate anyone in the film . or go watch boondock saints  it is much better .  
go way back to page ten of this review section  and work your way back up . go ahead i  ll wait .  br    br   done  well  then you  ve probably noticed the same trend that i have . you could nitpick all day long about the lame jokes  dated timing and obviously derivative plot points and shtick in  bogus   but this movie seems to be one of those  hate me now  love me later  flicks .  br    br   bill and ted  s biggest problem was that the original appealed to those    s kids who followed the tends and considered themselves on the cutting edge of fashion . that worked fine for the original  but obviously bombed in      when no self  unrespecting slacker would be caught dead wearing anything but flannel or admitting he liked anything about the    s . as ted would put it  dude  this is a totally deep hole . wanna play   questions    br    br   they say nostalgia goes in   year cycles  and that certainly seems to be the case here . here in      those of use who grew up with cindi lauper and megadeth are beginning to look back to appreciate some of those pivotal films that  like it or not  made us who we are . if you  re one of those who look at  bogus  as if it were an outdated   fa gs    ripoff  then you  re missing the point and probably spent six years growing facial hair  wearing flannel and looking like you just crawled out of bed .  br    br   in self  referencing its own origins  the star trek episode  and and time traveling with a phone booth   bt makes no attempt to hide its creators  love for homage . quentin tarantino  anyone  i  m not saying  bogus  is  true love   but i do think it needs to be appreciated for what it is a fun snap  shot of our society at a time before child psychology  ritalin  anti  smoking ads  terrorist paranoia and the proliferation of media fear  mongering .  br    br   so  for all of you bt haters out there . . . turn off your screaming trees cd  get that hair out of your face  go to the beach and lighten up . narcissistic depression and intellectual ennui are so corporate .  
budget  decent actors . . . who knew these things were important . don  t waste your time on this piece of junk . the effects are crap . the acting is crap . the only thing that could have made this even tolerable was a little cheap ta and that gets squandered in the first   minutes .  br    br   the only even remotely redeeming quality about this movie is the very awkward profanity . it was like they found the only  people on the planet who have never cursed before . hats off   br    br   if you want to see some dude in a bad suit just go back and look at old prom photos . the only way for a bigfoot flick to be any good is for it to have a big budget and some actors who didn  t come from frogballs community theater .  
i realize that alot of people hate this movie  but i must admit that it is one of my favorites . i happen to like it better then its predeccesor and happy to like it better than alot of movies .  br    br   first off  i think that people never give the story any credit  much like back to the future  time travel is hard to write  and in this movie they included time travel and a spiritual journey .  br    br   i also feel that keanu and alex were on there best performances in this movie  they looked cooler  acted cooler  and said cooler things .  br    br   the set design of this movie is awsome as well  the sets are quite detailed and massive at times and it can be hard to believe that these sets were made for a movie about two teenage buds who can hardly spell . . . but isnt that the genius of the whole franchise  making these two idiots bigger than life characters that are responsible for the entire utopian future of earth .  br    br   the costume design was awsome as well . bill and ted actually look cool in bogus journey  where as in excellent adventure they look rather like  well as they would put it  fags     br    br   even the music in this movie is awsome  the score especially . there so much i could say about this film  cause i love it . but this is one of those movies i grew up watching and everytime i did i liked it more  so i can understand why people hate or just think its bogus compared to excellent adventure  which i also love by the way  .  br    br   get down with your bad self      
that  s right . a movie written  directed and produced by fred tepper and family .  fred should have known better  having worked the sets of  titantic  and  dogma  .   br    br   so  the plot . there are some scientists  and some forest rangers  and a hot chick with huge fake breasts . they are all really bad at their jobs  including the hot chick  who i think is supposed to be a photographer  but who cares because she wears a bikini  . one of the forest rangers comments that the scientists are  professional people   which is good  because it would be horrible if they were professional grubs or jellybeans or ewoks .  br    br   they are hiking through the woods in search of some strange ape  like bones  and no one even once mentions that the bones just might be those of the infamous bigfoot . they just wander around and one of the rangers unabashedly hits on the hottie . we all hope he dies real soon  along with his sister who  s meant to be the cute naive one  but is really just annoying  . then they  gasp  find a sasqu . . . i mean  ape  like animal burial ground . of course  no mentions that it might just be bigfoot bones they  re messing with . . . i guess scientists and forest rangers just don  t think about those types of things .  br    br   then sasquatch and his tribe get really angry and kill all the people we dislike  chases the other losers away and buries his great aunt muriel and cousin josh  who died in an unfortunate trout accident  all over again .  br    br   insipid  boring dialogue  i zoned out several times   inane plot  unlikable characters  bad cgi  a man in a monkey suit would look better   and acting that just wasn  t very good all add up to make a movie i won  t be watching again .  br    br   you check it out though it  s good for some unintentional laughs .  
oh  come on  learn to have a little fun . when i was a kid  oh  this movie was oscar  worthy to me . i thought it was absolutely hysterical . one of the best movies i had seen .  br    br   now  it  s a little stupid  but come on . if you enjoyed  excellent adventure   you should most likely have fun with  bogus journey  . this was the movie before  dude  where  s my car   . only this one is actually funny . like i said  it  s just a good time . it shouldn  t be taken seriously and if you enjoyed the first one  you should like  bogus journey  . it  s just a funny movie with some memorable characters . for your enjoyment only  watch it  let go  and remember that it  s a silly comedy . that  s all .  br    br        
there have been many movies featuring bigfoot  the majority of which are not good but most at least have a goofy charm to them . sasquatch hunters doesn  t even have that going for it . it  s just a crashing bore .  br    br   sasquatch hunters is about a group of paleontologists  primatologists  and forest rangers that venture off into a remote part of a pacific northwest forest . bones belonging to some sort of abnormally large primate have been discovered in this region and since apes aren  t natural to north america to begin with this leads to a scientific expedition . sure enough  they soon discover a whole burial ground full of the skeletal remains of these enormous ape  like creatures . i think we all know what happens to people that disturb ancient burial grounds in the movies .  br    br   the first half of the movie consists of uninteresting  interchangeable characters assembling their gear  hiking through the woods  stopping to rest  hiking through the woods some more  pausing long enough to investigate and discuss a few findings along the way  yet more hiking through the woods  looking for a group member that has vanished  even more hiking through the woods  digging through dirt  random theorizing  and gathering around a campfire to discuss what little they  ve done that day . when sasquatch finally shows up it just turns into people stumbling around in the dark while being picked off one at a time  done in a blink and you missed it fashion and the actual killing occurs off  camera  . all of this is excruciatingly boring .  br    br   the movie wants to be taken seriously and the director is clearly trying to build suspense but there is none to be found  thus we are left with dull  drawn out scenes of people wandering around the woods just to get somewhere and wander around the woods at night trying to act scared . i  d be lying if i said i didn  t make liberal use of the fast forward button to speed these scenes up .  br    br   as for sasquatch himself  much like every other character else in the movie  it doesn  t have much to do and lacks a distinct personality . it looks like a shaggier version of king kong  which isn  t all that bad except in the scenes where they used cgi instead of a man in a bigfoot costume  which is painfully obvious during the daylight monster scenes . a part of me can  t help but feel that even using computer effects to bring bigfoot to life is a tad sacrilegious . if there is any single movie monster that i believe should only be brought to life through situation  it  s bigfoot .  br    br   this is one of those movies that doesn  t so much have a plot as it does a premise . that  s all it really is  a premise  which the people involved stretched out to make a feature length motion picture without bothering to add all the ingredients to make a worthwhile movie .  
spielberg  s first dramatic film is no let  down . it  s a beautifully made film without any flaws about the life of an african  american woman . it also proves that not all movies that have the african  american ethnicity as the center of the story have to be helmed by an african  american director .  br    br   what i love about this movie is spielberg  s ability to make it very realistic despite the fact that it was based on a book . furthermore  danny glover was excellent as mr . and usually  he  s just himself throughout most of his movies . but in this  he completely branches out and is someone else for once . but  the performance de resistance of the whole film comes from whoopi goldberg . she is excellent as celie . you will never forget these characters once you  ve seen this movie .  br    br   now  i heard that the musical version of it is going to be a film as well  and all i can say is i hope it  s about as good as this one is  because this one is a film that shouldn  t be missed .  
the french film  extension du domaine de la lutte  directed by iconoclast film maker philippe harel is based on the book of the same name written by a controversial writer michel houellebecq . he has also worked on this film  s scenario . according to british cinema magazine sight and sound  it is also known as  whatever  . this film has been hailed as a breath of fresh air for french cinema due to its not so common theme of sexual politics and its implications on two stupid information technology workers . the film is marred by its much too evident voice over which introduces us to the main character . this makes us viewers feel as if we are watching a book that is bring read . the basic premise of problems related to loneliness due to chronic sexual drought is fine but the film goes out of hand once the hero starts recounting the misery faced by him and his friend . instead of sticking to its main topic the film veers in other directions leading to its downfall . bewaresome women viewers might find not only the film but even its two heroes as moronic misogynists .  
when will people learn that some movies are made for fun and are not necessarily out to change the world  if you realise this then expect to have heaps of fun while watching  bill and ted  s bogus journey .  this is a movie that is heaps of fun to watch  keanu and alex make a great on screen team reprising their characters from  bill and ted  s excellent adventure  with even more  style  then they had in  st movie . it  s not rocket science but it  s great for a laugh  the characters being extremely like  able and the story  line being so radical you have to laugh . don  t expect  deep  and  meaningfulls  just expect pure fun   
director warren beatty  s intention to turn chester gould  s famous comic strip into a live  action cartoon  with beatty himself cast in the lead as the square  jawed detective  had sweet overtures of innocent nostalgia   quite unusual and intriguing coming from warren beatty . unfortunately  the picture is requisite ham  fun for awhile but eventually tiring . dick tracy attempts to bring down mobster big boy caprice  aided by loving tess trueheart but tripped up by evil breathless mahoney . for the first half  hour or so  the oscar  winning art direction and set design are wonderful to absorb but  as the plot creaks along predictably  with no real sting in the writing   things begin to congeal . al pacino got a surprise supporting oscar nomination as bad boy caprice  and madonna  who is mostly used as a decorative prop  gets to sing stephen sondheim  s  sooner or later  i always get my man    which copped the award for best original song . lots of heart  thanks to beatty   who was dedicated to his vision   but the picture is too cool and calculated . it lacks heat .     from   
     saw the release of the two best sequels of all time terminator   judgment day and bill  ted  s bogus journey . out of the two  i  ve always liked bill  ted  s bogus journey a bit better . terminator   judgment day is the better made  but there  s just nothing like bill and ted . besides chris farley and david spade in tommy boy  it  s hard to think of a greater comedic duo than bill and ted . they are one of a kind .  br    br   seemingly influenced by national lampoon  s o . c . and stiggs  bill and ted were created by ed solomon and chris matheson  two incredibly talented writers who invented the duo while performing at a local theater in l . a . back in the     s . the two quickly began writing a screenplay about two and before long bill  ted  s excellent adventure was born . the film  shot in     and released in      became a big box office success and an instant cult classic . it wasn  t long before work began on the sequel . stephen herek  the director of  excellent adventure  wasn  t keen on working on the sequel since he considered it to be too mean  spirited and unlike the first one so peter hewitt  making his feature film debut  was brought in to direct the sequel . there couldn  t have been a better director for the job . bill  ted  s bogus journey is marvelously directed . it  s filled with its own unique style and energy that can  t be matched .  br    br   what makes  bogus journey  one of the best sequels ever is that it while it is darker than the original  it is just as fun . it doesn  t change the characters like most sequels do . bill and ted are the same lovable characters that they were in the first film . this is because it was written by the original writers . most sequels are not written by the same writers as the first one  but since  bogus journey  had the same screenwriters  it ended up being just as good as  excellent adventure  if not even better . just like the first one   bogus journey  is absolutely hilarious  well written  fun  and above all  original . it  s filled with spectacular special effects and fantastic comedic performances from alex winter  keanu reeves  and william sadler . it  s an unforgettable  journey  .       
this has to be one of the worst films of the     s . when my friends  i were watching this film  being the target audience it was aimed at  we just sat  watched the first half an hour with our jaws touching the floor at how bad it really was . the rest of the time  everyone else in the theatre just started talking to each other  leaving or generally crying into their popcorn that they actually paid money they had earnt working to watch this feeble excuse for a film . it must have looked like a great idea on paper  but on film it looks like no  one in the film has a clue what is going on . crap acting  crap costumes . i can  t get across how embarrasing this is to watch . save yourself an hour  a bit of your life . . . . . . . . .  
bill and ted  s bogus journey is possible the most excellent film i have ever watched . though the acting and scenery etc is poor  who cares . the story line is brilliant and the jokes and words they come up with are most excellent  the ideas are great as well . i recommend anyone to see this classic . the best part is obviously when they  melvin  death  i was cracking up for   minutes and missed the next part of the film . this is so much better then the first one  which was great as well . possibly the funniest movie of all time      i think the best parts of the film however  are when bill and ted shout excellent and play the guitar solo  it was hilarious . rock on bill  ted and eddie van halen  bring out a  rd film    
i just saw dick tracy and i thought it was terrible . the paintings in the background of the cities looked awful . also the mob characters looked too weird . warren beatty didn  t do an awful job as dick tracy but it was definetely not one of his better performances . madonna should just stick to singing . glenne headly did a good job in this movie . i gave this movie a     just because of the amazing acting by al pacino . it wasn  t a high note in his career but he still did a good job .  
bill and ted are back  only this time an evil dude from the future has sent back an evil bill and ted to destroy them  thus destroying  wyld stallions  and the basis for human society in the future . this time bill and ted have to travel through the afterlife  totally bogus  and save humanity  excellent   br    br   with much of the same zany humour and some wonderful new characters like the grim reaper  station and robot bill and ted  stations creation  bogus journey once again entertains  and is worth watching for its soundtrack alone .  br    br        br    br   a most triumphant sequel  br    br   party on dudes  hehe  
when people ask me whats the worst movie i  ve ever seen its this one . its not even close to mst  k level riffing  or midnight viewing at a theatre  or even as disney channel late night filler . the only time i  ve ever wanted to jump off a ride at disney world  or disney  mgm studios in this case  was to grab dick tracey  s jacket off the mannequin  rip it to shreds  and ram it down the tour guides throat saying  eat this  eat this unholy coat of darkness     i  ve never been so mad at a movie  not even  nutty professor ii the klumps  or  flash gordon  . you want pretty colors and cinematography  ain  t here babe . reviewers keep saying  oh  but its too look like a comic book   well  to me  its the color of a gordito after several weeks in the sun . about as enjoyable too . beatty wanders around this landscape jumping around and talking to his watch  himself  and occasional at the other actors  hoping someone will tell him what time the sequel will begin shooting . to be fair  i have only seen this movie once  but my pain threshold is that of a man  not a god .  
in the sequel to the brilliant bill and ted  s excellent adventure  bill and ted are under threat from the future  as the evil chuck de nomolos sends two evil robots  disguised as bill and ted to earth to kill human bill and ted  in order to change the future .  br    br   in a great comedy pairing  winter and reeves excel to deliver delicious humour to the audience in this entertaining sequel . though lacking the sharpness of the first  bogus journey still has the great catchphrases and dialogue from the leading pair  not to mention an hilarious performance by william sadler  who brings a humorous side to the figure of depth  the grim reaper . watch for the games sequences  the best moment in the entire film  but one of many great techniques used to justify the genre .  br    br   though still packed with humour  this film has a more dramatic film towards it  with stakes being more serious and situations more risky .  br    br   this gives the film great dimension and another lovable feature . the creators also stretch the boundaries of the fantasy genre and the use of realism  with hell and heaven being heavily symbolic and present in the plot . the fantasy genre is again spot on with the use of that amazing time travelling machine  though again somewhat confusing at points with the use of timing  and objects and situations being placed before it happens in the present  as is evident in the final couple of scenes .  br    br   the first watch i hated this sequel  but the second time was a real joy as i appreciated the jokes and story more  and though the jokes and plot aren  t as strong as its predecessor  bogus journey has enough feel good motives  jokes and a fairly steady plot to make it a good natured family film .  
this film is stale  and misses the mark . it is far off compared to the   batman that it tries to coppy . that women singer whats her name can not act  and we see why her film carrier died . notice how this film died in the box office no one see this film on tv either . my uncle and dad were expecting batman  and the films impression is more like cop rock . not worth renting      
my take a goofy  yet imaginative mess .  br    br   keanu reeves  yes  that keanu reeves  and alex winter return as the two punk  rock idiots in this sequel to the time  trotting adventure comedy bill and ted  s excellent adventure  now a cult classic . in this sequel  bill and ted are given much more to do than travel through time . they might as well travel heaven and hell too  during the beginning of this sequel  bill and ted are preparing for a  battle of the bands  competition which may make them more famous than ever . meanwhile  many years in a futuristic civilization  the time  wizard from the first film  the always watchable george carlin  is running a university praising bill and ted  s names . there  an evil tyrant  joss ackland  from the hunt for red october  plots to get rid of the two idiot rock  stars once and for all . so he sends two identical android replicas  in the words of bill and ted robot us  s  to do the dirty job .  br    br   there after  bill and ted experience death and must find their way through hell  with inhabitants that happens to include the duo  s worst memories  and then through heaven in an attempt to get back to earth to save their girlfriends . . . and their show . along this whacked  out voyage  they play board games with none other than death  william sadler  from die hard    reminiscent to a similar moment in the     foreign film classic the seventh seal  aid help from a couple of intelligent alien beings and more .  br    br   bogus journey  s array of exuberant special effects gimmicks aren  t up to to  date standards  and even some of the humor and the for  the  time look and feel are somewhat dated  to be honest  the film also feels like it was released on the wrong year  even for the    s  . but with it  s no little lack of imagination and a lively turn by both the performances and direction  bill and ted  s bogus journey is fun  imaginative  and yes  bogus .  br    br   rating     out of  .  
as other viewers have mentioned  this film was an interesting experiment in photography . the colors are comic book bold . i think the director got carried away with his  artistic vision  over the look of the film instead o badly needed attention to content . despite its stellar cast  the performances are lackluster and the story nearly incoherent . madonna was likely cast purely as a stunt to get pre  release press . a good thing as her appearance here lent some credence to her album  i  m breathless  music inspired by the film dick tracy   which was a stratospheric hit  due in large part to the inclusion of dance  hit  vogue   which is not in  nor has the slightest relation to this film  . i  d guess the major portion of money from this film came from tie  ins to madonna  s  i  m breathless  album .  br    br   if you watch it at home  by end  titles  you  ll think  there  s two hours out of my life i  d like to have back .  save yourself the wasted time  do not bother with this .  
what can i say  i know this movie from start to finish . it  s hilarious . it  s an strong link to my past and will change the way i view film in the future . hypothetically speaking   the down  fall  there  s no socrates johnson   
believe me  i wanted to like  spirit  . the idiotic comments people made at the time of its release about how quaint it was to see old  fashioned  hand  drawn animation again  as if the last pencil  animated cartoon had been released twenty years ago  and the even more idiotic comments about how computers had now made the old techniques obsolete  had got my blood up . . . but then  the insulting  flavourless banality i had to endure in the first ten minutes of  spirit  got my blood up even more .  br    br   the character designs are generic  the animation  partly as a result  merely competent  the art direction as a whole so utterly  boringly lacklustre that you wonder how it could have come about  we know  from  the prince of egypt  and  the road to el  dorado   that there are talented artists at dreamworks   and the sophisticated use of cgi is in every single instance ill  judged .  why do they bother   there  s not a single thing worth looking at . in an animated cartoon  this is fatal .  br    br   but it gets worse . . .  br    br   the horses can  t talk  but they  re far more anthropomorphised and unconvincing than the deer in  bambi   which can . and it seems that  in a way  the horses can talk . spirit himself delivers the prologue  sounding for all the world like a   st  century actor picked out of a shopping mall in california   and from then on his laid  back  decidedly unhorselike narration is scarcely absent from the soundtrack  although it never once tells us anything that we didn  t already know  or expresses a feeling which the artwork  poor though it is  wasn  t capable of expressing twice as well . that prologue  by the way  a  contains information which spirit  we later discover  had know way of knowing  b  expresses ideas which spirit would lack the power to express even if he could talk  c  includes new age rubbish like   this story may not be true  but it  s what i remember   and  d  will give countless children  the production is pitched  i presume  at six  year  olds  the impression that horses are native to north america  which is sort of true  in that the common ancestor of domestic horses  zebras etc . was native to north america  but all horse species on the continent had gone extinct long before the first humans arrived  and the mustangs of spirit  s herd  which allegedly  belong here like the buffalo grass   were descended from horses introduced by europeans .  br    br   so the prologue rather annoyed me .  br    br   as often as spirit talks  bryan adams sings  sounding as usual as though he  s got a bad throat infection  and it  s not that he sings or even how he sings  it  s what he sings maudlin narrative ballads which contribute even less  if possible  than spirit  s spoken narrative  and which sound as though they all have exactly the same tune  although i was paying close attention  and was able to discern that they probably didn  t  . if only bryan adams and the guy  pretending  to  be  a  horse could have shut up for a minute or two  the movie might have been allowed to take its true form mediocre and derivative  rather than jaw  droppingly bad .  
anyone who doesn  t think bill and ted  s bogus journey is one of the greatest movies of all time needs their head checked . it somehow manages to be both completely inane and no  brainer  but also terrifying knowing and clever at the same time . one of those rare films that actually improves upon it predecessor  bogus journey can be enjoyed again and again . notable highlights include the duel with death and the ending  which is highly  emotional  . keanu wants to forget all that matrix rubbish and get down to doing what he does best  ted theodore logan in bill and ted the return .  
flat  soulless computer images on less than astonishing backgrounds animates a horribly predictable story in this film . absolutely nothing takes you by surprise  you can even tell when the bryan adams vocals are going to come in  which are always at the wrong time .  br    br   the main character  spirit the horse  is given an annoying voice when he narrates what is happening . the narration is not needed  though  as everything happening is really obvious . you can even tell what the horses are saying  although all they do is neigh . which would be good  but all the horses make exactly the same sounds  one for warning  one for sorrow  one for laughing  etc . there is no variation between the horses  voices .  br    br   young kids might like this film  though . it  s soppy enough for a family to sit down and watch  and there  s little danger of anyone being frightened . if you have nothing else to do  and want to watch a film with your kids  this isn  t a bad choice .  br    br   but otherwise  this isn  t recommended .  
the first film had little ambition so nothing sticks to the screen . it was a bad version of  back to the future  with zero charm . once accepted that bill  ted are nitwits  the joke can only get hammered at the audience for so long before it breaks .  br    br   this is a surprise . this is your only spoiler warning . . .  br    br   by today  s standards  this is more fun . this was shunned upon release  sad considering that more talent is involved than the first time . we get the photographer of  face  off   the editor of  fugitive   a production designer from burton  s early work  and the sound designer of  matrix  .  br    br   the writers made up for their shallow first outing with something deep . since this was shunned by the fanbase and public  the director probably decided the style was too extreme . it  s not  it fits the material . like  death becomes her  and  catch      this dares to be smart  but we like our movies  simple  so we don  t buy it . probably since this dared to be different is why it took   producers to pull it off . what  s so good   br    br     nice self  reference towards keanu from airhead to messiah . see also arnold schwarzenegger .  br    br     joss hates his creations as much as he hates their counterparts  he makes his own hatred . the evil bt and the  good robot usses  have the same vocabulary as their originals lesser copies and depreciation of language .  br    br     the  duality  motif . nowhere else is this evident than in the photography styles  lots of high and low angles . they even use roy brocksmith from  total recall  to emphasize the point .  br    br     the  choices  motif . i don  t know where this started in the genre  maybe  ghostbusters    but it  s used pretty well here . it even boils down to the  games against death   battleship and club .  br    br     film self  reference  even present in the game against death  clue  . this is smarter than tarantino or brooks . notice the premier magazine cover at the end  bill and ted the movie .  ironic also how death and nomolos were villains in the  die hard  and  lethal weapon  sequels .  br    br   i still have some minor nits  but nothing compared to the original . music and film are different mediums so it makes no sense why many scripts revolve around the former   particularly in the teen market . carlin is a great comedian  but in these movies he  s wasted . also  for all the daring this effort shows  even cracking gay jokes  they can  t kill a cat   br    br   so  despite looking like a nickelodeon production  this is incredibly interesting . from this movie we got beavis and butt  head .  we  re in heaven and we just mugged three people .   br    br   final analysis   midrange material  
decent animation and some workable character development keep this animated horse fable from dreamworks at least watchable . . . however it remains somewhat slow paced and the storyline is a bit on the silly side . . it is interesting to see a reversal of the typical cowboys and indian roles  but here it just seems like a nod to political correctness rather than a proper storyline decision . grade c  
i got the first bill and ted movie for christmas and i had to get the second when i saw it in a store . this one was  i think  just as funny as the first but a much wierder story . it was funny how they had their own personnal hell and how they had to play death . the funny thing was that they played him in stupid little games like clue . the only thing i  d change is station and death being in the band but other than that it was great .  
even though an animated film it really bored everyone under at least  .  br    br   as a grown up who grew up in an area with wild horses and native americans  it felt this was a combination of pc mixed in with too many fantasy films created by people who never lived in the area they filmed about . talk to those who have lived on horse back  most treat their animals like family members  regardless of background . regardless of background we have dealt with good and bad breakers of wild horses . i had to explain that was a real life issues to us vs the movie makers views to children who were surprised to see how pc showed a world different than what they knew in reality .  br    br   this dreamworks break from the normal disney or dreamworks fare of cute talking animals burning up the screen was nice from the older viewer point of view . but if you live in an area similar to what is shown  you may end up answering questions .  
genteel  softly spoken drama from steven spielberg was his first real venture into this genre . a departure from his normal adventure  fantasy fare  it paved the way for his     success   schindler  s list  .  br    br   based upon alice walder  s pulitzer prize winning novel  the story concerns a young girl  s arranged marriage of hardship to a brutal  angry farmer and her painful separation from her beloved younger sister nettie . while the plot  about compassion  abuse and the power of love to heal all wounds  is often powerful and moving  it loses its way through the fault of continuity and menno meyjes  scrambling screenplay .  the color purple  is at times hard to follow and on one or more occasions tends to be a little erratic in regard to time frame . this lapse in scripting has cost the viewer the depth and detail obviously present in miss walker  s novel . a real shame that maestro spielberg was unable to pick out and rectify these problems  as most of the show is a wonderful example of his prowess as a director .  br    br   performances are strong throughout  with whoopi goldberg making a debut  which she  s never matched since with regard to acting accomplishment  as the heart broken celie who just yearns to be loved . danny glover lends solid support  though his  moses  was a superior turn for him in  places in the heart  . the standout showing comes from the unheralded oprah winfrey as miss sophia  the single minded  fighting black woman whose spirit is crushed by a terrible incident involving a patronising  upper class white woman . good support also from margaret avery  adolph caesar and rae dawn chong .  br    br   quincy jones  co  producer with spielberg  kathleen kennedy and frank marshall  has penned a beautifully melodic score and also provided some original blues for the occasion . editing from michael kahn is sound as always  while director of photography allen daviau shows consummate skill in capturing some glorious southern scenery .  br    br   this true affair of the heart will surely bring a tear to your eye  it is just unfortunate we are left with so many unanswered questions .  br    br   wednesday  january         video  
don  t even ask me why i watched this  the only excuse i can come up with that i was sick with bronchitis and too weak to change the channel .   it  s too terrible for words  the movie that is  not the bronchitis . the acting is deplorable  richard grieco hams it up as a trigger  happy  gun  slinging serial killer with a penchant for knocking off cops . nick mancuso phones in a performance as the cop on his trail and nancy allen manages to put in the only sympathetic role in the entire film . the script is dismal  peppered with clichd lines   are you ready  pardner   purrs richard grieco to every single one of his victims . dire . avoid .  
it was only on my second viewing  years later  that i realized two things about this movie   i enjoyed it immensely  and   that because its execution is decidedly sharper than the premise itself warrants . i had laughed my way through the movie before it occurred to me to renew my initial protests   valleyspeak and loogies and airheadedness  even good  natured airheadedness  just aren  t inherently funny  especially when drawn out to feature length . but though the movie  s momentum does begin to sputter out towards the end  reeves and winter and sadler  and hal landon jr . in an unforgettable scene  display such a remarkable sense of comic timing throughout that even the more clumsily  scripted jokes  e . g . ted failing to recognize a certain inhabitant of hell  work as effortlessly as the witter ones  e . g . the challenge  . and the teaming of winter and reeves clicks so well that the teaming of bill and ted  who spend only one scene separated in the entire movie  disaster if they  re not well  matched  appears utterly unstrained .  br    br    side note i found the first movie to be only sporadically entertaining   sightly different comic sensibilities there  it seems .   br    br   i give it a  .   . surprisingly good fun .  
for anyone that loves predictable movies with an awful soundtrack  lack of dialogue  clichs up the wazoo  and also stereotypes that just happens to be typical of an american film  look no farther . dreamworks whether wanted to save money on acquiring voice talent  or really wanted to create an animated episode of national geographic either way  they succeeded in delivering a rather bland and boring movie . spirit stallion of the cimarron is a bore fest that sends mixed signals to kids and adults  and also fails to entertain despite the oh  so  cutesy theme of animals triumphing over humans . after looking past the wonderful animations  what you have remaining is nothing but a big mess .  br    br   spirit is about a stallion that from the beginning of the film looks like quite a handful  as he is a horse that cannot be tamed  calmed  nor controlled . because of this  he rises and becomes the leader of his group of high  spirited horses  which includes his mom . but  his life of freedom and running around comes to an abrupt halt as he is captured by a group of americans in the process of connecting the wild west with the rest of the country . during this  spirit  never actually named that throughout the entire film almost  befriends a courageous native american  and a fellow female horse  and also has a lot of run  ins with the cynical and cruel army folks that apparently don  t believe in giving up .  br    br   why must movies mix computer animation with traditional  it comes off looking rather meshed  something spirited away suffered from as well . best example is when a train is chasing after spirit you see the hand  drawn spirit running from a computer  animated train . it would look much better if it were one or the other  but not both unless you can really pull off some nice effects . beauty and the beast  s famous dance sequence uses computer animation  but it is nowhere near as obvious as the train or the snow in this movie . the opening sequence was the best  looking part of the film  kind of sad to see the rest of the movie slide a bit downhill in terms of quality . a little scene has multiple i mean multiple similar shots of just a general  s face  quite repetitive and annoying in my opinion .  br    br   the kids might enjoy this flick  but with lack of dialog  song  and motivation  it might be a perfect technique in making hyper children fall asleep . while disney becomes criticized for its animated musicals  they wind up becoming much more entertaining than a more realistic approach to telling a story like this one . bryan adams has no place in this movie  and why does hans zimmer stay away from using a western theme in this movie  when it is a story taking place in the old west  soundtrack sounds a bit off if you ask me . at least they are using realistic noises of horses  two points for that . yet  if you are going to refrain from making horses talk  why even have a narrator interrupt every so often  which just so happens to be the main character himself   br    br   native americans are nice  and the western folks are evil  native  killing  horse torturing  rowdy  psychopathic monsters that must be destroyed . more or less  this is what spirit is showing us . it reaches a point in which they are trying so hard for the viewers to hate the travelers of the wild west they even had a scene of several horses pulling a huge train up a hill  and another scene of them destroying an entire village of natives . now  the person spirit befriended happened to betray him  on more than one occasion  yet that is forgivable  apparently because he is not a soldier that or because he has the sassy female horse .  br    br   spirit isn  t exactly a victim we should feel sorry for the viewer is supposed to sympathize with spirit despite him putting his entire group of horses at risk  wreaking havoc  and even perhaps resulting in some off  screen deaths that are quickly shoved aside because oh no  spirit is in trouble  this film gets quite rhythmic  as we see in multiple instances spirit escaping from chains  kicking people around  destroying property  freeing horses  and then getting captured again    all in this same order too . the writers also seem to have an obsession with cliffs because they are sprinkled all over the movie for an old west film  they certainly have very little room to roam .  br    br   bottom line this is most certainly no disney movie  as a matter of fact that is a bad thing  even though it was what they were aiming for . so  instead of the typical musical  we get a boring film that becomes predictable  dull and slow in multiple instances . even the decent animation becomes inconsistent when the computer work gets thrown in . everything about this movie was just wrong from the ideals that back then americans that were not native were evil buffoons  to the soundtrack and musical score that just seemed so far off . kill bill vol .   which pretty much has nothing to do with the old west  has more of a western feel than this movie . do yourselves a favor and totally skip this by all means necessary . thank you .  
i wouldn  t dare say this film is better than the original  but it is very good in it  s own right . the comedy in this film is just as good as the original though  there are so many scenes that get me laughing just thinking about them .  br    br   the story in this film is even more bizarre than the original  but that  s what makes it so great . peter hewitt does a great job directing this film with a great cast . the core cast from the original film returns to their characters in this film and all do a fantastic job with their roles . i don  t care what anyone says  i think keanu reeves is a great actor  i really enjoyed his portrayal of ted in both of these films as i did alex winter  s bill . i was very happy to see george carlin returning to the role of rufus  very cool  hal london jr  who plays the part of ted logan  s father does a really good job . the scene where ted possesses his fathers body and hal london jr begins acting like ted is a great scene  and he pulls it off impressively well . i can  t forget to mention william sadler as death  he completely made the movie for me . the rest of the cast is quite good as well .  br    br   if you liked the first installment of the bill and ted series  then i would hope you would like this film as well . but  don  t expect it to be as good as the original . i really hope you enjoy the film  thanks for reading   br    br    chris  
  some possible spoilers   br    br   i  m not too sure what dreamworks was thinking when they decided to plunk    million down on this extremely tired and lame animated flick . they probably thought the spectacular animation would be more than enough to bring audiences  mostly families  to see it in droves . well it seemed to work for the opening weekend  it made    mil .  roughly and has made    .  mil . total  an estimation for this weekend  . but i think audiences that came during the weekend saw pretty much the same thing i did  when i saw and they spread the word . this is one majorly lame movie  apart from the animation everything else  mostly the script seem to be done by a three year old .  br    br   the movie is only about   mins . long  but it feels like a three hour epic . a few sticking points for me are  well the irritating narration is one of them  and it  s so obviously written . at one point he escapes from some captors and even though you can see the horse is obviously scared  up pops the narrator  the voice of the talented matt damon  to clear up any misconceptions  which would only happen in the simplest of mindsets .  br    br   another one is the constant pop up of bryan adams songs  now i  m a fan of his music  i think he  s good  but come on did dreamworks really think audiences would be able to handle    of his songs throughout such a short movie  i certainly couldn  t . finally and here  s a spoiler  a horse gets shot at point blank range by a member of the calvary  no less  she  the horse  then falls into a raging river  spirit  the focus of the movie  tries to save her  but they both go over a waterfall that must have at least a   foot drop  well later in the movie near the end we see that this horse is alive and well . now i know this is a kids movie  but even that little amount of realism is unacceptable .  br    br   to sum up  this is a really lame movie  i  m not saying kids won  t enjoy it  but anyone else will be checking their watches just waiting for this tripe to end . definitely on my top   worst list of this year .   out of  stars .  br    br    
when i was a kid  i totally loved both bill  ted movies . the other night  bogus journey was on and since it was at least  years since i last saw it  i decided to tune in . and i loved it all over again  this film is still funny after all those years .  excellent adventure  is better  but this one rocks just the same . sure  some of the perfomances are a bit cheesy  but hey  this entire film is cheesy in a cool way . plus it features the coolest personation of death ever in a movie  concluding totally like non bogus movie dude  way excellent  station     
here  s the good news first .  spirit  is the most visually incredible animated film in current home theater release . the artwork and effects are revolutionary  and i recommend that you give this movie a look by virtue of the visuals alone .  br    br   and now for the bad news . i really mean it when i say that the animation is the only thing this movie has going for it . you may remember that  spirit  got badly trounced by  lilo and stitch  last summer . the first person who argues that it was because disney is more well  established and had better advertising can write me a four page long essay entitled  why  lilo and stitch   s script didn  t stink  .  br    br   for all the incredible new animation technology on display in  spirit   the story is almost astonishingly dull . there is a lesson here  and  needless to say  it doesn  t just apply to animated movies . you can have the most mind  blowing visual effects ever to grace the eyes of a mortal  but if your story is boring and  more importantly  we don  t care about your characters  it  s bad film  making . simple as that . the animation is still mind  blowing i just can  t wait to see what somebody with more imagination does with it .  
i admit it  s very silly  but i  ve practically memorized the damn thing  it holds a lot of good childhood memories for me  my brother and i saw it opening day  and i have respect for any movie with fnm on the soundtrack .  
it wasn  t the most pointless animation film experience ever  but it certainly can  t be admired as much as it tries to be good . combining dreamworks animation and computer graphics  this is the story of a mustang  later named spirit  matt damon  providing the first person narration   and his journey through across the frontiers of the old west . basically he is born free amongst all the other horses in the beautiful countryside  then he is kidnapped to be used as a saddle horse  he manages to throw off all who try to ride him . however when he escapes his cage  along with little creek  daniel studi   the two of them form a friendship  oh  and he obviously has a thing for little creek  s female horse . in the end  after a few more escapes  being chased by the colonel  james cromwell  and his men  and making a final big leap across a gorge  little creek lets spirit go  and he also releases his female horse  and they run home to their countryside and fellow horses . also starring chopper bernet as sgt . adams  jeff lebeau as murphy  railroad foreman  john rubano as soldier  richard mcgonagle as bill and matthew levin as joe . i was expecting to see the horses talk in this film  but it turns out to be more like a dumbo thing throughout  and the songs by bryan adams aren  t the most engaging  but it isn  t a terrible film . it was nominated the oscar for best animated feature  and it was nominated the golden globe for best song for bryan adams   here i am  . okay   
one of the most underrated movies i  ve seen in a long time  bill  ted  s bogus journey is the second hilarious adventure of bill s . preston esq . and ted theodore logan  aka wyld stallyns . there are two ways to look at this film first  you see dumb dialogue  far fetched plot  juvenile idea . or . . you see brilliantly downplayed idiots who yet again find themselves in a situation too big for their brains . throw a bruce willis or a arnold schwarzeneggar into this plot and it becomes a big blockbuster movie . bill and ted go into the story with the same level of sincerity  only it  s bill and ted . this is a tricky fence to balance on  but when you watch the movie not as a throwaway screwball comedy  but as an adventure featuring two guys who have no business being in an adventure  it becomes so much more .  
it is nice to see the likes of oliver stone  brian depalma  al pacino  and even michelle pfiefer make one monumental piece of cinematic garbage . it is nice to see people so rich and  successful  wasting their time on one of the most forgettable  trite  and pathetic pieces of film  making of all time . this movie represents the worst of hollywood .  br    br   what is this  is it based on a true story . well  they do start with some basic news bites and facts that they read off usa today . but then the movie departs to some fantasy world and a  cuban  refugee going to make it in the american drug subculture kind of like rocky on cocaine . is it a movie about cuba or cubans  for the life of me i don  t believe there is a single cuban in this movie . the accents are totally fake  and scene with antonio  s mother looks like a poster for midwest american values . the whole scene looks like something out of the dick van dyke show . is this movie about miami  it looks more like l . a . transposed in florida . afterall  a palm tree is a palm tree . is this a romance novel . the relationship between pacino and pfeiffer is so obvious from the getgo  and there is not one shred of possibility that these two characters could ever care for each other . is this a drug movie  well  no issues of obsession or addiction are even mentioned . the behavior of the actors after a line of coke is nothing different than had they had a drink of water . admittedly  the acting is terrible .  br    br   let  s get to the rest . the music is disgusting and sounds like latin elevator music or something out of a lawrence welk show . i think i heard a polka  the camera work is shoddy with too much movement and far more cranes than could ever be effective . clearly  the photography budget was excessive . the sound is bleached in a number of spots  and the dialogue seems to be carried out in a warehouse . the writing is appalling . this is one of those movies were the script writes itself . you are dragged from one trite piece of dialogue to the next  each pushing the plot like a sack of bricks .  br    br   so i am going to ask  is this even a movie  it could be a drama series patched together for two and a half hours . but at least a drama series has some kind of focus . maybe it is just a bunch of poorly acted scenes taped together . whatever it is  movie or not  it is a piece of crap .  
this movie is very underrated . it  s highly imaginative  creative and clever . it  s just plain fun and in my opinion this film tops the first one . but the film was forgotten when it first came out  and became even more overlooked as the years passed .  bill  ted  s bogus journey  also bombed at the box office  whereas the first one was a pretty good hit and very popular .  br    br   i think the problem may be that this film was just released a couple years too late . in      bill and ted already seemed  so    s  . even though the    s were only a couple years ago back at that time  the landscape of the music and style for kids had changed so radically with gangsta rap  hip hop  pearl jam  nirvana  grunge and the seattle sound . bill and ted with their ozzy osbourne  van halen and guns n  roses music along with their    s style seemed so out of place and very outdated in     and i think that  s one big reason the film bombed at the box office . nobody but surfers were still saying stuff like  excellent   and  bogus   in     .  gremlins   which also came out in the early    s suffered a similar fate of being a good film that bombed at the box office because it was too associated with the    s . the transition from the    s to the    s was a much faster change then now with the    s and    s .     was nothing like     or      whereas right now      and last year     still looks  looked like     or     .  br    br   if only  excellent adventure  which was made in      was released that year instead of      and  bogus journey  was made quickly and released in      then it too would have probably been just as wildly received as the first .  
spoken like a true hard  boiled u  an gangsta . the story is no worse than any number of gangster flicks  but never ever confuse this movie with the godfather i or ii  or goodfellas . it is not in the same league .  br    br   but what makes the film periodically painful to watch is all these italian americans swaggering around dropping bad gangsta lines in an even worse fake u  an accent . pacino would have been great if they could just have dubbed him . i was looking forward to see abrahams and loggia  but their steenky accents spoiled the fun .  br    br   ah well  the script ain  t too hot either . don corleone would have made this disappear five minutes after meeting him  smiling and patting him on the back all the while .  
ying  a chinese girl who speaks czech  invited us to screening of a czech movie  with english subtitles  in the department of visual and environmental studies  ves  . it was the first time i saw samot    i  loners       and it was pretty good .  br    br   much like in many other czech movies  the seven central characters seem to have a pretty difficult  dirty life the web indicates that this theme was popular among the u . s . movies in the early     s . their relationships are breaking up  combining  and recombining . another typical feature of the czech movies is that neither of the characters is designed to be a universally negative one and neither of them is a permanently positive character either . also  you can see how the characters judge the features of others depending on the context that  s a very realistic feature of the movie  s psychological analysis .  br    br   ond    ej is a talented and married young surgeon who has two daughters . nevertheless  you learn that he has only studied neurobiology to prove how much he loved another woman  hanka . he is so obsessed that he repeatedly dresses up as a plumber to get into hanka  s parents  house  a house that he repeatedly burns .  br    br   meanwhile  hanka has a very mixed relationship with her parents . she just decides  by tossing up a coin  to break up with petr who works in a private radio station . hanka does not view her parents  bourgeois life as a good example but seems rather unsuccessful in creating a better environment . but she is a very flexible figure  as far as the type of her boyfriends go .  br    br   for a while  hanka seems to have serious plans with jakub  an innocent drug addict whose memory seems to be rather devastated by the drugs . however  the friends from his band inform jakub that he already has another girlfriend . hanka is disappointed and returns to her parents .  br    br   when hanka and petr break up  it is organized by robert  a matchmaker who also works for a travel agency where his job is to show the life of ordinary czech people to japanese tourists . robert  who also provides jakub with marijuana  is never serious about anything and he usually sleeps with many different women eventually  his mother dies in a hospital and he has his own ways to deal with the depression .  br    br   vesna  a slavic word for  spring   who came to prague from macedonia works as a barmaid  and you won  t learn whether she came to czechia in order to see her dad or ufos . she seems pretty confused but sometimes helps the other characters from their problems .  br    br   petr works in the radio station and he is the only one who likes his job  a job that he eventually loses . he announces to his audience that he broke up with hanka  which is how ond    ej learns about the news that make him very happy .  br    br   finally  ond    ej  s wife lenka is always ready to forgive him and stabilize their marriage  even after ond    ej asks a magician to make him disappear so that ond    ej can try to capture hanka again .  the magician pays his debt because he is a brother of a victim of an important car accident  jakub and hanka bring the victim to the hospital and ond    ej saves his life .  lenka also works for the travel agency  as a translator  and eventually she has to translate some hysterical scenes for   or so japanese tourists who are shooting their movies during hanka parents  dinner .  br    br   the seven characters interact in interesting and exciting ways that would be natural if prague were smaller by four orders of magnitude . given the actual size of the czech capital  it looks a bit unlikely that all these events would take place among seven people  but it is fun .  
this is not really a proper review since i did not see most of the film . i stopped watching it . the film is very violent  with nasty drug dealers and street punks  but that is not why i stopped watching .  br    br   here was the problem i watched just enough to be introduced to several characters  all of whom were not interesting . everyone was a tedious  despicable psychopath  with no engaging personalities  giving me nothing to look forward to . i found myself not the least bit curious about what they would do next or what might happen to them .  br    br   if there had been even one person of interest  and i don  t mean good or nice person  i mean an interesting person  i could have stayed with it . watch  state of grace  to see what i mean . in that film the gary oldman character is a complete lunatic  but he is very interesting . al pacino perhaps did a good job in scarface  but his character just did not engage me .  
saw it as critic at the   . internationales filmfestival mannheim heidelberg .  br    br   as every film that i know and zelenka is involved in it is simply genious .  br    br   i love his way of combining different stories and characters .  br    br   his knoflikari and the truly magic powers  part of regina zieglers erotic tales iv  are definitely worth being checked out . go and get it  folks   
i must be that one guy in america that didn  t like this movie . i guess this just wasn  t my style or something  i just don  t see what  s so fascinating about it  this was barely entertaining  let alone one of the greatest achievements in cinema history .  br    br   it  s about a guy that came from nothing  and goes on to become a drug lord . pretty simple way to describe an entire movie  and that  s exactly my feeling about the entire movie . contrary to what a lot of people think  just because a movie is about mafias  drug trade  criminal groups doesn  t automatically make it a great movie  don  t forget good storytelling .  
this movie is gorgeous . it  s real and down to heart  but at the same time totally crazy . the characters are easy to fall in love with  because they have so many different minds  but each of us could refer to at least on . in canada  we don  t have many movies from eastern europe  and for the few i have seen  loners is one of the best . it  s very funny  and magic . if you want to see something new and refreshing  go see loners .  
there is a lot to like here . the actors are first rate and the script provides good dialog best capturing the ambiance of a tightly knit  likable family . however  for that reason the film does not ring true . we see leo  who apparently just learned of his hiv positive diagnosis  essentially react in a way that is not in tune to the supportive atmosphere for which he finds himself . as well  the film ends somewhat abruptly avoiding what leo  his brother and the rest of this close family must have dealt with in light of their love for him . the young actor who plays leo  s brother  marcel  is impressive as generally is the rest of the cast . unfortunately  the scriptwriters could not decide onwhether they wanted an insightful dissertation on the effects of hiv on a functional  appealing family or what the devastation hiv is on the victim  so it only hints at both . while this film provides food for thought it leaves the viewer wanting much more than it delivers .  
bravo to czechs  their once  powerful movie industry seems to awaken from post  communist slumber .  br    br   the loners is a comedy done with all the elements you would expect to see in a modern  hollywood  production minus the garbage that seems to get attached to the genre over the past several years . superb soundtrack  excellent visual editing  beautiful prague cityscape  to mention but a few .  br    br   the story is actually comprised of several sub  stories that frequently intertwain and overlap  an is in essence a collage of destinies  fates  desires . . . it follows a group of urban youth  to  mid  thirties people through a variety of situations ranging from daily life and leisure activities to careers and obsessions . and it is hillarious . there  s actually a point in the movie where the entire theatre i was in  about a    people in a small art gallery  laughed non  stop for about      seconds . how often do you experience that with modern hollywood productions   br    br   although the entire main cast is excellent  especially the upcoming macedonian star labina mitevska in the role of an immigrant facing the all  too  familiar hardships  i have to single out jiri machacek for his superbly believeable portrayal of jakub  a constantly stoned bohemian whose brain is severely affected by the stuff he smokes landing him in a plethora of funny situations .  br    br   conclusion don  t miss this one  it  s got a lot to offer .  
this contains spoilers .  br    br   i have rarely seen a film that is as unbelievable as this one is . and being french  it tries for depth by being enigmatic nothing really makes any sense .  br    br   lo is gay and has just announced at breakfast to his family that he is hiv positive . the youngest brother  marcel  has not yet come down to breakfast  and the first thing the family does is decide that at   years of age he is too young to be told . maybe if he was four or five  but twelve  the first totally unbelievable thing is that the family doesn  t even ask where or how he got the virus  how long he has known about it nothing is asked . they only worry about marcel finding out . this is a very close knit provincial family  but although they decide not to let marcel know about lo  s hiv positive status nor the fact of his being gay  the rest of the family accepts all this news with absolutely no questions or reactions . how many families do you know where the parents  brothers wouldn  t have at least some reaction to one of the members announcing that he is gay  here  nothing .  br    br   lo decides that he needs to go to paris to see his ex  lover . and he decides to go on the trip with  of all people  marcel . do you know anyone who would bring his little brother along to go see a lover  again  totally unbelievable  especially since marcel is not supposed to know either of his medical problems nor of his homosexuality . if this is the way the family has decided to let him find out  it is rather brutal and again unbelievable .  br    br   lo goes to find his lover  aymeric  at his work in a paris bar . the owner says that aymeric will not be there until the early evening . but why would lo want to see him at work  why not phone and arrange to see him in some place more private where they can really talk  why not go and see him at his home  but no  lo shows up later in the day  with marcel in tow  and is surprised when aymeric doesn  t just drop everything to go walk with him for  minutes . aymeric tells him that he is no longer available  that it was lo who left him  and that lo hadn  t replied to any of his letters . lo says  but i love you  and then wanders off . but if he really loved aymeric  wouldn  t he have at least told him about his hiv status  to warn him to get tested and maybe get medication  this would be the least he could do  but not a peep . he leaves and doesn  t even warn aymeric that he might have contracted the aids virus . this is totally irresponsible of him  and of the film  makers this film was apparently made for a french tv series for young people  it is the perfect way to show kids how to be responsible . well  not here i guess  every man for himself  is still the french way of doing things another aspect of the film which was totally unbelievable was the  touchy  feely  aspect . everyone is always leaning against someone  caressing someone or kissing someone . inside the family and outside the family . i have never seen anyone in france be this physical  never mind an entire family . seated at the breakfast table  one   year old brother has his leg perched on the lap of his elder brother  and the elder brother is caressing his leg as everyone sits around discussing something . how many brothers do you know who are that physically close  in another scene  the same   year old comes into marcel  s room asking  what  s the matter  can  t you sleep    then takes off his clothes and  completely naked  gets into bed with his brother and snuggles up to him as if they were lovers . this and another similar scene between lo and marcel gave a somewhat incestuous feel to the film . sorry  again i don  t believe that this is regular behaviour between teenage brothers .  br    br   the only good thing i can say about the film is that the actors are all quite fine especially marcel in the main role . but it wasn  t really enough hiv and aids are far too serious to be presented in such a vague and irresponsible light . at the end of the film  the family has gone to the cemetery to bury lo  but once again  marcel has been left out of it  he has been left in the care of a cousin  i think  . nevertheless he sneaks out and watches the funeral from afar . is this what such a close  knit family would have done  it is totally inconceivable that they would not have included him in his brother  s funeral . it was the last scene of the film  and it was the last straw for this viewer .  
these days spielberg  s  the color purple  is mostly remembered for being nominated for eleven oscars and winning zilch . what  s even more alarming is that spielberg himself wasn  t even nominated for best director . needless to say  the film  makers deserved more acclaim than they were accorded .  br    br   the story concerns the trials and tribulations of celie johnson  whoopi goldberg   an african  american woman dominated at first by her incestuous father and then by her abusive husband . the film spans several years and focuses mainly on celie  s relationships with the women around her . it  s told from a decidedly female perspective but you needn  t fear that it  s a saccharine  chick flick  .  br    br   the story is an interesting one  livened with humour at times although the central character  s struggles are paramount . some may not appreciate the change in tone towards the film  s end but i didn  t mind even though similar content in a lesser film would likely have me rolling my eyes .  br    br   the film received three oscar nominations for acting whoopi goldberg  best actress   oprah winfrey  best supporting actress  and margaret avery  best supporting actress  . i think that goldberg and winfrey were certainly deserving and danny glover was unaccountably stiffed .  br    br   as already mentioned  spielberg didn  t receive a best director nomination for his efforts . such an omission beggars belief  since spielberg  s direction here is top  notch . i  m not especially crazy about quincy jones  s score but it  s not below average by any means .  br    br   in the end  the story is a satisfying one  well  told by a master film  maker working from pulitzer prize  winning material . give it a try and you  ll probably be as baffled as i am about how it could be so poorly treated on oscar night .  
 . . . but the keyword here is  usually .  i have been known to adore movies everyone thinks are dumb . but in the world of b  rated movies  this one is z  rated . absolutely ridiculous . the thing i respect about most of my favorite b  rated movies are that they don  t take themselves too seriously . the makers of movies like that sort  of treat the movie lightly  even if it  s a heavy topic . i get the impression  however  that the producers of this movie took themselves way to seriously  like they were putting together a    star classic  complete with poor attempts at poignant lines and dumb camera shots . nevertheless  despite all this  i still gave it  out of   stars  as i am biased towards movies like this . if you  re a b  rated fan  however  i would try too hard to find this one .  
i tuned into this by accident on the independent film channel and was riveted . i  m a professional actor and i was flabbergasted by the performances . they felt totally improvisatory  absolutely without affectation . i could not tell if it was scripted or how it was shot and waited until the very end to see credits and then spent a half an hour on the imdb to find this film . do not miss it . i see that the writer  director also did a very fine film called everyday people which i enjoyed a lot . the shame of the film business is that projects this excellent do not get the distribution and advertising that they deserve and live under the radar . this film deserves to be flown high and proudly . i urge people to look it up and watch it .  
i don  t really post comments  but wanted to make sure to warn people off this film . it  s an unfinished student film with no redeeming features whatsoever . on a technical level  it  s completely amateur  constant unintentional jump edits within scenes  dubbing wildly off  etc . the plot is completely clichd  the structure is laughable  and the acting is embarrassing . i don  t want to be too harsh i  ve made my share of student films  and they were all awful  but there  s no reason for this film to be out in the world where innocent fans will have to see it .  br    br   safe assumption that  much like the cast  positive comments are filmmakers  friends  and family .  
our song is a marvelous example of passionate  movie making at its aesthetic best . it is  in fact  a genuine wonder of a movie a penetrating and insightful work of art that chronicles the lives of three young inner city  crown heights  brooklyn  girls during a particular summer in their lives when the perplexities of their approaching adulthood will compel each of them to make a number of difficult  life altering choices that will likely re  define who each of them is  as well as how they will continue to relate to one another in years to come .  br    br   jim mckay  s writing  direction is graceful and uncluttered . there is no sappy  gratuitous sentimentality nor are there clich ridden solutions in this film . what we see here seems  at times  to be heart breakingly real . there is a naturalism  a credibility  if you will  in our song that surpasses that of other giants in this genre  including american graffiti and cooley high .  br    br   much of the credit for the film  s spirit goes to its principle actors . the combined presence of melisa martinez  maria   kerry washington  lanisha   and anna simpson  joycelyn  is dazzlingly powerful . it would be easy  and  of course  blatantly obtuse  to dismiss  as some apparently have  the performances of these three as apathetic or unemotional . in fact  their quiet charm  their instinctive sense of dignity and their raw  sometimes unconventional intelligence  throughout the film  are absolutely riveting . one would have to be completely  out of touch  with  or completely indifferent to  the behavior of teenagers to miss the resounding authenticity in what these three young ladies bring to the screen . likewise  the supporting cast  particularly marlene forte as lanisha  s mother  compliments the work of the three girls as well as the overall tone of the film .  br    br   our song is a film not to be missed  by anyone of any age .  
i cannot vote on this because i wouldn  t watch garbage from these people . they got my money with another movie  mr . jingles  and i swore it would never happen again . i feel it  s my civic duty to help people stay away from this trash . go to the forums on this film and read where cast members try to act like they are seeing the movie for the first time . one guy even responds to himself . . . using the same name  there are shills in the forum that say it  s as good as shawshank redemption and citizen kane . . . not even close  by no means  . if this is the company  s  nd movie  it should be better than the first . that means the  rd movie should be a lot better . not so  i  ve seen it . all i want to know is how you distribute this trash using the same names all the time . having fun with friends and making a movie over the weekend is fine . . . but don  t try to market that trash   
i saw this film earlier today  and i was amazed at how accurate the dialog is for the main characters . it didn  t feel like a film  it felt more like a documentary  the part i liked best  . the leading ladies in this film seemed as real to me as any fifteen year  old girls i know .  br    br   all in all  a very enjoyable film for those who enjoy independent films .  
i have seen many  many productions of the nutcracker . now perhaps i viewed this movie from the tainted point of view of a theatrical director  but i was disappointed . i  m sure people in the specific business of ballet choreography find this production impressive but from a purely theatrical perspective i found everything from design to choreography to be lackluster and unbefitting of a  motion picture  . none of the traditionally  weird  and impressive costumes looked like what they were supposed to be  i . e . the candies didn  t look like candies  the rats didn  t look like rats but rather like chocolate kisses   the acting was weak  perhaps toned down too much for the screen  and the choreography just didn  t do anything for me . this makes the entire show very satisfactory  at best   as if it were intended to not set itself apart from any other production . but remember  again  this is from the artistic perspective of a theatrical director  not a dancer or a choreographer  but a straight male theatrical director .  
this is the first american film to successfully adopt the naturalistic style used by europeans  particularly the french and belgians  for at least a decade  and isn  t it about time  following three high school girls in the crown heights neighborhood of brooklyn during the last days of their summer break between freshman and sophomore years  it does what all good art should it discovers the universal in the particular . even though the girls  preoccupations are outwardly conventional   boys  sex  popularity  money  freedom  and clothes   we glimpse how their whole lives are being shaped  the universal interface between character and destiny .  br    br   the naturalism is whole  complete . the film breathes  stays in the moment  inhabits real time . the story tells itself . the medium and its artifacts  for once  are not the message . the film unwaveringly  truthfully conveys the childhood perspective of its characters it does not impose its own adult meanings or morals . details emerge of their own  are never pushed  and thus seem all the more real and powerful for their understatement . even though great pains have been taken to capture the authentic social reality of crown heights  part of the largest black ghetto in new york city and one of the most dangerous violent places in the us  the subject is childhood in the ghetto  not the ghetto itself .  br    br   documentary footage of the practice sessions of a marching band  the jackie robinson steppers  punctuate the film at regular intervals with an explosion of color  movement  and sound . otherwise  the camera stays very close  very intimate  a patient  sly  and unobtrusive observer . the language is rich  spontaneous  the acting transparent . some scenes standout  such as the girls lolling about  each revealing her deepest fantasies . lanisha  s confession of her acceptance of a death by random violence is the most shocking  one of the deepest scars of the ghetto . her sharing with her mother her confusion and fear before the stark challenges of adult life is equally moving  and beautifully  unsentimentally affirmative .  br    br   social realities are respected  not propagandized all three girls are being raised by single moms  only one  lanisha  has a father active in her life  and  not coincidentally  of the three she is the most emotionally stable and empathetic to others  and the one with the most self  respect  . two of them suffer from asthma  a disease disproportionately prevalent in the inner city . gunfire  an accepted daily occurrence  only momentarily interrupts their conversation . only one of the girls  joy  feels hope for  feels she has control over the future  while the other two to varying degrees have already accepted despair .  br    br   this is by far the best dramatic american film i  ve seen in years . see it  see it  see it .  
the nutcracker has always been a somewhat problematic ballet . it bears little resemblance to eta hoffman  s original story on which it is based .  br    br   in the ballet  the story is essentially over by the second  half when clara  or marie in this version  travels to the kingdom of sweets to watch a series of character dances .  br    br   there  s an infinite variety of stage productions that re  interpret the story in myriad ways  not always successfully  to compensate for the ballet  s weak libretto .  br    br   balanchine  s version doesn  t really have any sense of drama or story at all  despite the fact that there is plenty of drama and mystery in tchaikovsky  s wonderful first  act music  . the result is a completely forgettable first  half christmas party where hardly anything happens and where even the dancing  the little that there is of it  isn  t particularly memorable .  br    br   the pantomime over  acting  particularly of drosselmeier  which might look passable on the stage  just looks silly filmed for the big screen .  br    br   unfortunately  things aren  t much better when we get to the kingdom of sweets  act ii in the stage version  . although there are a few choreographic highlights  most of the choreography is bland and uninspiring . this certainly isn  t vintage balanchine .  br    br   balanchine is widely regarded as a master of abstract dance  but i have always felt he was less successful as a creator of narrative ballets . watching this film version of his stage production of the nutcracker has only re  affirmed this view .  
our song  gives us the lives of the three teenagers lanisha  maria and joycelyn  best girlfriends hanging at the end of summer . adolescent summer  even if we don  t know the signals and landmarks of this particular terrain  crown heights  brooklyn  is  was the same for us all . a lazy respite from the pressures and tumult of school . welcome heat and idleness .  br    br   but if this experience of adolescence is universal  the inner city of the   s is a different place than most of us know  maybe as foreign a country as any . young bodies carving new silhouettes . . . beckoning new territory . . . the maze towards adulthood . the young mind coming into itself  speaking for itself  saying this is who i am  this is who i want to try to be . it is  was always thus . but this is how it plays out in brooklyn in the late   s .  br    br   jim mckay is the writer  director of this film project but he acknowledges all who have shouted suggestions at him . the opening title slide a film by  seems to list everyone in the universe . it  s a gesture but by the end of the film  we know it to be a genuine one . the closing titles also have some of the most on  the  money and appreciative credits i  ve read .  the vivid sound recording by jan mclaughlin deserves to be especially noted . mckay  s a modest leader who knows who is telling this story  it  s his three graces lanisha  maria and joycelyn . they  re the real thing  their interactions have the fire of real friendship and the focus of reality . this ain  t no music video shorthand telling of teenage life . it has the seriousness of the long unblinking stare .  br    br   hanging out with them  we don  t quite feel included but we do feel privileged to be listening in . these are real voices speaking with plainness about the crises and dullness of daily life . we are witness to the modern math of teenage life  how its problems are interpreted  calculated and summed and solved . small scenes illustrate large thoughts throughout . lanisha hangs with her dad at his security job  it  s the only way she gets to spend time with him . we see the love that exists between them but also the failures of family and fatherhood . in a connected scene  lanisha defends her dad to her mom  and we see how desperately she needs to love them both and for them to love her in return . later  the three friends lay in the dark sharing visions and dreams  and we remember how crazy  funny kids are and more tragically  how realism hammers idealism these days . and at the end  maria simply walking down the street is a short story in itself . we see her gather up the courage to hold all her fears and doubts at bay . she demonstrates for us the strength one needs to have to be able to embrace the fragility that makes life livable .  br    br   our song  s greatest gift is that we really feel deeply the terribly ephemeral nature of friendship  how  one day  alive and enlivening  that intimacy can  in the next  just turn and drift away . it  s awful  but that  s just the way it is  isn  t it   
the recent boom of dating show on u . s . television screens has reached a fevered pitch since the first episode of  the bachelor .  unsuspecting audiences have since been subjected to countless clones and variations  including  the bachelorette    joe millionaire    for love or money   and the execrable  married by america .  hoping to cash in on this trend  and simultaneously tap and exploit a new demographic  bravo has unleashed the disastrous  boy meets boy  upon the world . and may they have mercy on us all .  br    br   the premise is simple and is designed to be light  hearted an eligible gay man is courted by a number of suitors  eliminated show by show until one is left  but there  s a twist . half of the men are actually straight . this is not much of a big deal  but the inherent viciousness of the scenario kicks in after hearing the pay  off if  at the end of the show  the gay man picks a straight man in disguise  the straight man wins a cash prize . the gay man gets nothing  or at least nothing more than a few parting gifts  a pat on the back  and a hearty round of  aren  t you embarrassed  well  thanks for playing    br    br   just the like the equally painful  queer eye for the straight guy   another bravo program   this show is another example of stereotypes run amok . what makes it even worse  though  is the fact that straight men are playing up these stereotypes for cash . the producers of this show believe that all you have to do is put enough hair gel in a man  s hair  dress up in abercrombie  fitch with a pair of designer sandals  strip him of all body hair and fat and voila  it  s the gay equivalent to putting a white performer in blackface  and just as offensive to those of us   like myself   who are genuinely gay and don  t dress  act like that . it implies that gays have no variance or chance for individuality  that they can  t behave like real people  only like stereotypes . never mind the fact that the bank of suitors is sorely lacking in any kind of diversity . all are gym  toned  most are white  and all look far too scrubbed and cleaned .  br    br   this is another example of how  instead of fostering acceptance of gays as dynamic individuals capable of variance and change  hollywood has again taken a stereotype and run with it all the way to the bank . i feel genuinely dirty watching this show  as show any gay man who sees this unabashed parade of soft  core pornography masquerading as legitimate television .  out of   .  
after seeing this film at the sf independent film festival  i couldn  t wait to hear about how to get a copy . jim mckay gave a talk  qa  about the film afterward which presented his ironic situation how to get distribution for a film which portrays minorities  women  non  whites  working on resolving controversial issues  teen pregnancy  teen motherhood  racial identity  single  mother households   and how to write a faithful script on all of these topics being a mid  thirties white male . the multi  racial  multi  gendered audience of mostly  adults raved about the film  s fantastic storyline  detailed characters  and fantastic portrayal of  real teen life .  most of the teens  however  had left the building   leading me to think this is a film best seen by adults with kids  as a starting point for discussion rather than  as many adults there felt   a film teens should see because it  s about them .  hence  distribution questions   how do we get our hands on it  the internet  retail  would be a great path   this is a film that will be buried  like  pups  or other radical modern teen films   and mckay seemed responsive . as for his credits as a writer  director  mckay was  extremeley  sensitive and detailed in his work   allying himself to the crown heights neighborhood in which the film is set  working with actors to portray characters in their own vision of what they think should be   with the results being disarmingly realistic .  
i really wanted to love this show . i truly  honestly did .  br    br   for the first time  gay viewers get their own version of the  the bachelor  . with the help of his obligatory  hag  andra  james  a good looking  well  to  do thirty  something has the chance of love with   suitors  or  mates  as they are referred to in the show  . the only problem is half of them are straight and james doesn  t know this . if james picks a gay one  they get a trip to new zealand  and if he picks a straight one  straight guy gets        . how can this not be fun   take my hand  lets stroll  br    br   the most glaring problem with this show is the bachelor himself . james is your typical young and successful gay guy with a nice smile and body  the one you  d probably give two glances towards at your local bar before grazing for greener pastures . why they chose to cast james as the leading man is beyond me . god knows there  s so many other hotter and vivacious homosexual men out there dying to be on tv .  br    br   aside from his rather average physical appearance  james is about as interesting and exciting as a piece of chalk . even as such  he has this arrogant  smugly condescending aura about him . however  if james were standing up against a blank  white wall he  d meld right into in it . i honestly can  t recall a single interesting or noteworthy thing james said during the course of the show . he is that boring and forgettable . in fact  one of the mates flat out advised him he wasn  t feeling a connection . i thought that was the best part of the show . also  james speaks with an excruciatingly annoying lilt . sound feminine or sound masculine  but don  t ing segue tones in the middle of sentences . . . so painful to sit through . i hated him so much all throughout the show i kept thinking   please choose a straight guy and humiliate yourself and your unfortunate looking hag   br    br   then we have the suitors . a remarkably bland bunch of men who don  t seem to care either way what is happening . equally vapid  they seem to be indistinguishable from one guy to the next except   hey that guy has blond highlights or oh that one has curly hair  again  astoundingly inept casting decisions seem to be the aim of this show . while it may be hackneyed to type cast roles  it would  ve been a lot more entertaining to watch than these amorphous drones . however  in all their banality they still manage to upstage james  which isn  t all that hard to do anyway   slightly that is . you know you have a problem when some of the suitors are actually hotter and more interesting than the leading man . and the fact that the suitors seem to have more fun around each other than with the leading man  very sad .  br    br   also  i just thought that id point something mentioned on the message boards which i felt was actually true the straight men are all hotter than the gay guys .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  im not saying all the gay guys were ugly and boring  as a matter of fact i found some of them very cute . it  s just that overall they were just blah compared to the men you  d see on shows like a shot at love with tila tequila or the bachelorette .  br    br   i don  t know how many times i hit fast forward during this show . i can accept a lead character as interesting as a cardboard box  i can accept the mundane  apathetic suitors but please for the love of god entertain me just a little . no such luck .  br    br   if you  re expecting drama  intrigue  sexiness  or excitement you will be severely disappointed . the biggest  drama  comes from the fact that one of the suitors still may have a boyfriend in new york  how scandalous   . as titillating as that may be i guarantee you  that is the only thing that remotely resembles any conflict on this show .  br    br   sure there is the twist  but if you have any semblance of gaydar in you  you  ll easily discern who  s who  it wasn  t hard at all  i was only wrong once .  this show is stacking so much of its chips on the twist that it fails to deliver anywhere else .  br    br   we get to watch as james  co plod along such exciting activities such as learning how to western step dance  shopping for gifts  visiting a petting zoo  and gay karaoke . yawn . sure you have the occasional topless dancing but who cares when everyone is boring anyway . that  s one of main problems with the show no one seems to be enjoying themselves   they are there just going through the motion trying mightily hard to appear to have a good time . and you really cant blame them since the events are all wildly unimaginative and lame .  br    br   finally  the physical aspect is not there . there  s no cuddling  no caressing  no kissing     no endearment of any sort . it  s just  ok that was a boring date  im gonna go back to my ugly  tacky wanna  be sydney operahouse dwelling  quick peck on the lips  cya .  this show is so ing prudish it  s ridiculous . i can understand them not wanting to play up the perceived indiscretionary nature of homosexual men  but come the  on . people who watch reality tv shows are gonna want more than standoffish hugs and curt kisses . this show refuses to compromise .  br    br   sorry if this was long winded but i felt these were issues that needed to be addressed . i do commend bravo for first putting up a show of this nature  but the staggeringly incompetent manner in which this show was handled is mind boggling . to summarize my three points boring  boring  boring  go do something else . you  ll have more fun waiting at a doctor  s office for an appointment  at least they have interesting magazines there .  
jim mckay has made one of the best films you will see all year . the quiet simplicity of this film draws you in from the opening shot and never lets go . there is not one false note in the entire film . not one . everything works . the hand  held camera is never distracting and always where it should be . the three young ladies whose lives we follow are always real . there isn  t a single beat where the audience is reminded we are looking at actresses performing a role . these are just real girls trying to find themselves . there is no political agenda  hidden or otherwise . this is cinema at its most basic  and although it will probably only be seen by a handful of movie  goers  it deserves a much wider release . a special hats off to hugh hefner for providing the film  makers with the grant money needed to get this important film made . i can  t wait to see what mr . mckay does next .  
if this is the first of the  nemesis  films that you have seen  then i strongly urge you to proceed no further . the sequels to  nebula  prove to be no better . . . hard to believe considering this entry is bottom  of  the  barrel . this movie tries  but it  s just not worth your time  folks . take a nap instead .  
i reflect back to the days when i held my boyfriends hat to smell him into existence in my time alone when i was   . the little moments of this film are so accurate and right on pace with what is going on in the minds and hearts of young girls during those coming of age teenage years . now at my age i want to preach to them about their decisions and how life during those times are not as important as it all seems in those moments . that if they can be patient in their youth and wait to experience the hardships of life both external and internal that life would be so much sweeter . but then again young people today are faced with some variables that i never had to deal with a youth .  br    br   the three main characters well played by all three actors  kerry wahington  lanisha  anna simpson  joycelyn and melissa martinez  maria  give us the very believable depiction of a piece of reality for young girls living in impoverished situations . they have impoverished family lives all being raised by single mothers with expectation of lanisha whose father is present but not actively supporting her day to day . the have impoverished educational systems and lack direct contact with achieving role models . these situations powerfully affect them and is their reality but all this is of no great depressive concern to these young women in their day to day . they except their plight and focus on the same things young girls all over the world are concerned with . finding true love in a male  having good friends that you can depend on  gaining some respect  love and responsibility from parents and enjoying life . this is were this film cross the race  age and gender gap imposed upon it by its characters and the setting in which it is stamped .  br    br   the director and writer mckay explains on the dvd how each of scenes got into his head  by just observing young people of that age that lived in those types of neighborhoods . plus you add three up and coming actresses who are not so far removed from that time in their own lives that you get a real good synergy of reality and acting at its best . the one thing i know about  african americans and hispanics  is that there is always a spiritual family member or neighbor that is in the foreground or near ground believing in a better day and better life and future in spite of the present situation and is role modeling that to some extent . this was never touched in the movie in order not to preach and i understand that but it also narrows the culture to having no hope in anything other than themselves .  br    br   the hope factor i now think about my future and where i have come from and say as lanisha did  today is a good day .  yes poverty still exists  racism  sexism  and any other ism that we can added . yes some of each of these young girls actions perpetuate the isms and are self  destructive  everything around them is impoverished but none of those actions past or neither present nor their environment leaves them without hope for a bright future . i was left with saddened hope of each of the characters and a deeper desire to be a role model in the life of some young girl on the edge of making a destructive decision . i suppose that is the value of film it should not only entertain but cause each of us to think  reflect and then act in some positive way to make this world a better place .  br    br    
years have past since alex rain  played by olivier gruner in the first movie  stumbled onto the horrific plot that involved replacing humans with machines however since then a war between cyborgs and humans has emerged and we lost  now a superwoman of sorts who is the daughter of olivier gruner  s character  she also inherits only half of his minimal acting ability  which i think is the films minimal connection to the first  however when the superwoman is created she hides in     while a bounty hunter from the future hunts her down in this confusing sci  fi clunker . nemesis became a cult hit  that i can see why people liked even though i was no fan of said film . nemesis tried very ambitiously to come up with different ideas  develop a beautiful look and provide tons of action  it almost worked . nemesis  doesn  t even have that ambition  it  s a cheap rip off of the terminator with a muscled female who is so low on acting ability she makes olivier gruner seem like a master thespian and the action sequences lack the explosive scope that was the main selling point of the original . i  ll admit i was no fan of the original but it deserved a better follow up than this . the original also featured a good cast like tim thomerson  cary hiroyuki tagawa  thom mathews  brion james  thomas jane and yes jackie earle haley this one features nobody and this time it  s just a dull movie with a pretentious vibe . in fact after i saw this  it inspired to add a half star to the original .  br    br    out of    bad   
  some day  we  ll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun . some day  when the world is much brighter   the  stairsteps  o  o  h child   br    br   movies about black teenagers usually involve inner city gangs dealing drugs or committing violence to a hip  hop soundtrack . films about the everyday problems of ordinary inner city teens are hard to find  yet there is an undiscovered gem that i would like to recommend . our song  by jim mckay is about three girls in the crown heights section of brooklyn who learn that their high school will be closed for asbestos removal and must decide on their future direction  one that may involve going their separate ways . the story is told from the point of view of a    year old  not from an adult reminiscing about the past as in most coming of age movies . avoiding the mandatory street slang and excessive use of f  words  it delivers an honest and loving portrait of three friends at a crossroads in their life . the girls lanisha  kerry washington   joycelyn  anna simpson   and maria  melissa martinez  are in their sophomore year at the local high school . they are active members of the jackie robinson steppers  a real  life marching band whose rehearsals for a labor day parade provide discipline and purpose to their lives .  br    br   similar to david gordon green  s george washington but less stylized  the film showcases non  professional black and latino actors with kerry washington as the standout . while the performances have some amateurish moments  i became so involved with the story that i forgot the girls were even acting . maria  whose father is in jail  has learned that she is pregnant by terrell  a local student . she wants to have the baby in spite of the fact that she is only   and knows that terrell is probably not going to be of much help . joycelyn works in an up  scale dress shop but dreams about becoming a singer . in a very poignant scene in her bedroom  she pretends to be talking to her fans  then lies down in bed to recite one of her poems . she is close to lanisha and maria at the beginning but drifts off to make friends outside of the neighborhood . none of the girls receive much support at home and maria is too afraid to even tell her mother about her baby . yet  the single moms are not typical movie deadbeats or alcoholics . they are warm and loving parents whose time with their children is limited because of the pressure of supporting the family .  br    br   lanisha  s parents are divorced but she is able to visit her father  a doorman in a luxury apartment building and talk about music . her mother is comforting when lanisha learns that a friend in the neighborhood has committed suicide  a somewhat melodramatic plot point in an otherwise realistic film . as the summer winds down  the girls drift apart and each decides on a different course . there are no big dramatic moments  however  only the sad recognition of the inevitability of change . though we do not have blinders on about the frustrations that may await them  we identify with their hopes and dreams without dwelling on the negative . our song is an emotionally satisfying film about growing up in the projects that refuses to see life in any terms other than possibility .  
and that is the only reason i posses this dvd . now i haven  t seen the first nemesis film  but i did check the info out of it and i here by say what  why  because in the first film alex was male . but then again the first one was set in the future  so maybe this alex is brand new one and the scientist just happened to make alex female this time . who knows  at least it wasn  t addressed in the film in any way .  br    br   here  s a quick summary of the plot alex  still a baby then  or how ever you want  as it was  is  in the future  escapes with her mom using a special time vessel and ends up in the    s africa . there mommy gets killed and alex  sue price  grows up in a african tribe . then the tribe gets slaughtered by a cyborg from the future and alex then runs and hides and finally she kills the cyborg . so there . does sound familiar  doesn  t it  .  br    br   terminator isn  t the only film being ripped here  predator gets its fair share too and i think the first fly movie  the vincent price one  gets special nomination for giving a solid base to build up your cyborgs head from .  br    br   lets see  what else  okay  the film was quite standard small budget flick  but it did have bad special effects for a mid    s film . it would have looked okay for a    s flick how ever . biggest problem is the plot . things just happen and the viewer is barely interested . nemesis  isn  t the crappiest piece of cinema i  ve had pleasure    to watch but it does come damn close .  br    br   i won  t say a thing about acting  because let  s be honest here did anyone expect oscar worthy performances here  oh well . . . at least i did find sue price hot in that amazonian warrior way .  br    br   a  real  movie rating     there isn  t a lot of pros about the over all quality . and despite of the very basic plot the film it self makes very little sense .  br    br   a camp movie rating     i did get occasional laughs from the sheer badness of the film  so it does have small merits in it .  
when you start watching this animation  masterpiece  you quickly notice  that it  s a european production . although the europeans have  sadly  integrated some of the clichs you would normally find in an american production of this kind  most are missing . one of these is that there is an overwhelming evil that only our  very few and very unlikely  heroes can vanquish . another is that one of the group is only in the business for the money  is greedy  runs away when the heat is up but somehow gives in to his better nature . this movie would have been better off without both .  br    br   the movie is based upon a tv  series that was out four years before the movie . unlike the movie  the tv  series is a cartoon and not a computer animation . at first i thought the computer would kill the charm and character of the plot but i was quickliy convinced whoever did the animation knew his or her stuff  although the characters are obviously fictional  in stills they don  t even look real   they seem as alive and sentient as the audience following their quest . making characters who by  normal  standards could be considered deformed  those micro  legs could never carry that giant body let alone make it jump  so alive and lovable is more than  just a highlight   the creation of the world is another masterpiece . not so much because of its looks but because of the inventiveness of it . the world our heroes travel is not solid like our own but is made of many pieces of land varying in shape and size that seem to be floating in mid air . when a person steps on a smaller fragment of ground  it nods a little bit as if feathering from the weight . in some cases up and down no longer apply but our heroes still manage to get a foothold somewhere . although the world of floating islands is completely surreal  in this movie it is absolutely believable and after a short time it doesn  t seem any weirder than running into a car somewhere in new york .  br    br   i wrote that the looks of the world aren  t as breathtaking as the idea . as true as that might be to my mind  the quality of the world  the characters and the attention to details is staggering . although the faces of the characters have relatively few attributes  emotions can be read as clearly as in sean connery  s or dustin hoffman  s face . the world around the characters is wonderfully colourful and no two settings are alike . the background is always in motion  something is always going on which makes the world seem even more alive . if you stop the movie and look at the background you will be surprised how many details you can find .  br    br   the existence of hector actually puts the cherry on top . hector is a furry little  thing   possibly the equivalent of a dog in our world  who is totally lovable and extremely funny . although he isn  t really important for the main plot  he would be missed like scrat would be in ice age . the really cool thing about hector is that you need to speak gibberish to understand him .  br    br   if the movie is so great  why didn  t i give it   stars  well  the plot in itself was rather thin . two hunters are sent out to rescue the world from a really bad dragon who wants to swallow the world  isn  t really original . that in itself wouldn  t be much of a problem . what i missed was the background information . what kind of a dragon was this and why did it look that way  i love mythical stories but if they get too thin then they seem to be written after the movie is finished in a feeble attempt to give the whole thing some depth .  br    br   another thing i didn  t like was zo . although a little girl like her could be considered adorable  she was somewhat of a pain in this movie . she seemed pretty resistant to all types of learning about reality  kept dreaming of some hero from a story book and basically slowed the others down . she would have been ok if she had developed a little more and a little earlier in the movie  or had been less of a girly to start with . to me the idea of this girl who was there to twist the story a little backfired on the writers .  br    br   all in all  this is a really good movie for just about all ages .  
i saw this movie in a theater in chicago and should have enjoyed it  since i love nemesis but if the first half an hour is skillfully done  the rest is just sub  predator video fodder  a long chase through those post  modern empty factories pyun affectionnates . my girlfriend fell asleep . i still like pyun though  but not this  
     was a good year for films  maybe even great  but this one missing out on a gong went a long way to convincing fans that ol  oscar is little more that a hood ornament for good party members .  br    br     nominations and not a single title such was the academy  s disdain for one of their greatest directors and one who had to wait another  years before whatever prejudices had prevented them from handing him the statue before allowed them to give him  for schindler  s list  which is  arguably  not as good  and i  m half  polish  .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  schindler was a classic . and i  m not knocking  out of africa   which won that year  either but it was  in my mind  a class behind this one an epic story of suffering and hope that brought me to tears  and i  m not a big cryer .  br    br   maybe it was the music  superb   or the cinematography  sumptuous   but more likely simply the acting whoopi  who proved to all of us that she was much more than just a comedienne danny glover  who i  d never heard of before and  of course  oprah .  br    br   the rest is history but  at the time who knew   
the tv guide calls this movie a mystery . what is a mystery to me is how is it possible that a culture that can produce such intricate and complex classical music and brilliant mathematicians cannot produce a single film that would rise above the despicable trash level this film so perfectly represents . this is bollywood at its best  worst  i honestly cannot tell the difference . nauseatingly sweet  kitschy clichs on every level  story  line  situations  dialog  music and choreography . to put it bluntly  you must be a retard to enjoy it . i watched it to satisfy my cultural curiosity  but there were times when i had to walk away from it  because i could not take it any more . the only redeeming quality of the movie is the exquisite beauty of the leading actresses .  br    br    
of the elements that make this the best at this point  i have to say   is christine mcintire . shemp  s scene when poisoned and her reaction are truly magnificent . i imagine that  as one poster suggested  christine was trying to hold back laughter during that scene  but it actually made her seem even more deliciously evil  to be smiling at shemp  s possibly dying .  br    br   another character who helps this stand out is the goon . his look was a great cross between horrific and comedic goof  ball . hardly a character i would choose to meet in a dark alley or  for that matter anywhere . i would have preferred a bit of true whodunit mystery in this  but hey  when a short is this good  who  s going to complain . not i .  
devil hunter gained notoriety for the fact that it  s on the dpp  video nasty  list  but it really needn  t have been . many films on the list where there for god  and dpp  only known reasons  and while this isn  t the tamest of the bunch there isn  t a lot here that warrants banning . . . which is a shame because i never would have sat through it where it not for the fact that it  s on  the shopping list  . the plot actually gives the film a decent base  or at least more of a decent base than most cannibal films  and it follows an actress who is kidnapped and dragged off into the amazon jungle . a hunter is then hired to find her  but along the way he has to brave the natives  lead by a man who calls himself  the devil   hence the title  . the film basically just plods along for eighty five minutes and there really aren  t many scenes of interest . it  s a real shame that jess franco ended up making films like this because the man clearly has talent as seen by films such as the diabolical dr z  venus in furs  faceless and she kills in ecstasy  but unfortunately his good films are just gems amongst heaps of crap and devil hunter is very much a part of the crap . i saw this film purely because i want to be able to say i  ve seen everything on the dpp  s list  just two more to go    and i  m guessing that  s why most other people who have seen it  saw it . but if you  re not on the lookout for nasties there really is no reason to bother with this one .  
the world of the dragon hunters is a  d gravity challenged world . planetoids  bits of buildings and strange flat plants float around in the atmosphere while the ground towards most of the characters are falling is nowhere to be seen . it is a world reminiscent of neverending story  when the nothing came to eat the world away .  br    br   funny enough  the villain here is the world gobbler  as well . this time it is a huge skeleton dragon with fiery eyes . the heroes are a big yet taciturn warrior  an annoying and greedy sidekick managing the entrepreneurial side of the duo and a strange useless animal . they are joined by the most talkative little girl in the world who  to my chagrin  did not die a horrible painful and hopefully early death .  br    br   the animation is great . the voices and the sounds are top notch . too bad the story is as simple as one can possibly imagine . they go to stop the world gobbler  they reach him almost immediately  they defeat him . the end . no real character development or story twists . not even the ones i would expect from a movie with such a plot .  br    br   bottom line it  s a cute thing to watch  kids would probably enjoy it  but that  s about it . no depth to this world  pun intended  .  
naming the absolutely most pathetic piece of crap in cinematic history is not an easy task  candidates being so abundant  but nemesis  has been my personal favorite ever since i saw it . it was so funny we had to rent it again the next day  and again i laughed so hard i was literally rolling on the floor .  this usually only happens when i see monty python  s  scott of the antarctic  .   br    br   throughout the whole movie  an overwhelming what  the  heck  feeling firmly grasps the viewer . i  m utterly confounded that this clumsy home video ever made it to production stage . it  s supposed to be a sequel  yet has no apparent connection whatsoever with the first film . the hero has the same name  but this time  alex  is female  although it took us half way into the movie to stop guessing  what with all the muscles and the barbarian  nomad outfit   br    br   there is really no plot at all  it  s merely a prolonged chase scene  only it  s so slow  paced and senseless that calling it a chase scene makes it sound way more interesting than it really is . there is almost no dialogue  which is just as well considering the quality of it  and then the film suddenly just comes to an abrupt end after a blatant action scene with lots of gasoline explosions  without ever really explaining what it was all about . luckily  it never gets boring  because there  s something silly and phony going on at all times   br    br   terrible movies are usually just tedious  but nemesis  is such a perfect mixture of over  seriousness and utter nonintentional wackiness that it  s truly entertaining . rent this film  or buy it even  you won  t be disappointed   
this is a cgi animated film based upon a french  d animated series . the series ran briefly on cartoon network  but its run was so brief that its inclusion as one of the potential oscar nominees for best animated film for this year left most people i know going  huh   this is the story of lian  chu  the kind heart muscle  and gwizdo  the brains of the operation  who along with hector their fire farting dragon  he  s more like a dog . travel the world offering up their services as dragon hunters but never getting paid . into their lives comes zoe  the fairy tale loving niece of a king who is going blind . it seems the world is being devoured by a huge monster and all of the knights the king has sent out have never returned or if the do return they come back as ashes . in desperation the king hires the dragon hunters to stop the world eater . zoe of course tags along . . .  br    br   what can i say other then why is this film hiding under a rock  this is a really good little film that is completely off the radar except as unlikely oscar contender . its a beautifully designed  fantastic looking film  the world it takes place has floating lands and crazy creatures  that constantly had me going  wow  at it . the english voice cast with forrest whitaker as lian  chu  one of the best vocal performances i  ve ever heard  and rob paulson as gwizdo  think steve bucsemi  is first rate . equally great is the script which doesn  t talk down to its audience  using some real expressions not normally heard in animated films  not disney nor pixar  . its all really well done .  br    br   is it perfect  no  some of the bits go on too long  but at the same time its is damn entertaining .  br    br   if you get the chance see this . its one of the better animated films from      and is going on my nice surprise list for     .  
warning  spoilers   br    br   this is your typical disney film .  br    br    . policticly correct what with the foster home that has an even divison of races .  br    br    . insults the viewers intellect with its simplistic lines .  br    br    . the boy  s slezy father is almost directly taken from the never ending story  .  br    br    . in a world full of crime  disase  corruption  starvation and other proplems that need to be taken care of  only a losing team is worthy of divine intervention . ughhhh     br    br    . did you know that angels don  t like swearing   where the heck did that come from   br    br    . in helping the team  the angel cause pain and humilation on the opposing team . very angelic indeed   br    br    . the team the angels are helping are called . . . can you guess . . . the angels  disney at its worst   br    br    .  just got his training wings .  brillent line   br    br   my conculsioni did not like it at all .  
dragon hunters has to be the best  looking animated film i  ve ever seen . it was jaw  dropping . the film is about a couple rogues in search for some cash  their weird furry blue dog that pees fire  and a girl who dreams about becoming a knight  and they are sent on a quest to go to the ends of the earth to kill the world gobbler  an impossibly immense dragon . but honestly  it doesn  t even matter what the film is about . because  it is jaw  droppingly gorgeous . the gravity in this fantasy world is different  so blocks of architecture and spheres of land float around amidst cathedrals and castles and villages alike  and there are forests of floating lily pads . the world is so creative  so uniquely beautiful  with a sort of muted storybook look to it . the world looks like a set of gorgeous paintings . the monsters are visually stunning as well  like a fire dragon comprised of a swarm of evil red bats . some of the plot isn  t too original  like the main protagonists wanting their farm a la of mice and men and never seem to be able to make it in the world but the gorgeous graphics  some seriously sinister scenes  and emotion  evoking dialog makes this film spectacular .  
i know that actors and actresses like to try different kinds of movies  hey  no one wants to get typecast  but danny glover  brenda fricker  happy birthday  brenda   and christopher lloyd should have known better than this .  angels in the outfield  is another movie in which everything seems lost until someone or something magically comes and saves the day . do i even need to tell you how it ends  the movie is just plain lowly escapism  examples of high escapism are the various sci  fi movies from the    s  . if these movies had some political undertone  or at least offered us a new look at life  then they would be ok this one is just pointless . far closer to diabolical than angelic . also starring tony danza  adrien brody and matthew mcconaughey  and i suspect that they don  t wish to stress this in their resumes .  
what people fail to understand about this movie is that it isn  t a beginning  middle  and end  it is just the conclusion of a   episode long tv series . so remember that when you all talk about how the world wasn  t explored enough . that was all done in the tv show .  br    br   as great and stunning as the visuals are  i think the spoilers argument between lian  chu and gwizdo near the end of the film was what really made me love this movie . seeing characters i had followed through   episodes fight like that was agonizing  and seeing gwizdo walking sadly off by himself amidst the floating ruins while lian  chu sharpened his blade was almost tear  jerking .  br    br   then we got a total contrast with lian  chu fighting these insanely awesome dragons  which had been featured before in the series  while gwizdo is babbling insanely and indirectly threatening to kill zoe . shudder i  m surprised that this particular scene hasn  t been mentioned more in the warnings . any kid that has a lick of sense will be able to see that gwizdo wasn  t himself and was fully intent on strangling that little girl . it was enough to bother me  and i  m   .  br    br   the world is amazing  the plot is a lot better than most multi  million blockbusters  and it was a nice way to see some of my favorite characters go . check it out .    
the movie seems disjointed and overall  poorly written . the screenplay moves along as if   different people wrote it  and none of them were communicating with each other . apparently they wanted to take a page from a miracle on   th street  the original  type film  but it is done in such a poor way that the movie falls apart . this film is for only the very young  and even they will see the fact that whoever scripted it knows little to nothing about baseball . such as  br    br    when the angels are in dead last place  the owner doesn  t seem to care  nor is he bothered by the fact his manager just got into a fight with his pitcher  on the mound  or that he punched the team  s play by play announcer on live tv . however  when the team is one game from winning the division  he gets bent out of shape over a story  sourced by a  year old  that the manager is getting help from a kid who claims to see real angels . what sounds worse  a losing violent out of control manager whose team has lost   in a row  or a winning coach on the verge of the playoffs that is acting a bit eccentric and is helping foster kids  the owner  s reaction makes no sense . and he  s moved to change his mind by maggie and her  straight out of clich land  speech during a news conference .  br    br    the angels are supposed to be playing for the division in the final weekend series against the white sox  however at the end of the game the announcer  s keep saying the angels  won the pennant  . the pennant is not decided until someone wins the league championship  not the regular season division title .  br    br    whitt bass  the goofball pitcher is the starting pitcher and wins the game that breaks the angels losing streak  then is the starting pitcher  the very next day .  br    br    mel clark  tony danza  is said in the ninth inning to have thrown    pitches  in a low  scoring ballgame . typically in low scoring games  the pitch count is much lower than this  usually around      pitches .  br    br     al  the angel says at the end  championships have to be won on their own   even though he and his angels have been manipulating and fixing games throughout the whole second half of the season .  br    br   i could go on and on  as there are many other examples where the story is poorly written .  br    br   for younger kids  under     this movie may be entertaining . it  s too bad  done right this could have been a classic . done wrong like this and it  s a forgettable mess that will forever live as a uhf  cable saturday morning washout .  
my  year old loved it . i loved it  my wife loved it . so   out of   from our family . as for violence level  not really that violent  mostly of the slap stick variety . nobody truly dies  no gore  no blood  no torture  so it certainly is appropriate for children  much more so than many saturday morning cartoons .  br    br   this movie really takes the idea of cg movies where it should go .  br    br   first of all beautiful graphics  textures wonderfully done  with true depth  not trying to be realistic  but forming an artistic whole . the moss on the stones  the rust on metal  the reliefs on the wood and the stone  everything adds to the whole .  br    br   character modeling  unlike many contemporary cg movies  is quirky  not cute  again within an artistic whole . the faces may look less malleable than in some other movies  but the characters are more puppet  like than human  like . i think that is a good thing  it lends veracity  how strangely it may sound  it is easier to suspend your disbelief .  br    br   hair  fur  clothing  on par  at least with the likes of pixar . just note in the opening scenes when lian  chu is fighting the giant slug gwizdo is in front of some farmers  and all of them have detailed clothing which caused me to pause the movie just to admire it .  br    br   the setting . far beyond the likes of cars  and even walle . space has been done many times  but the fantasy environs of dragon hunters are only comparable with some scenes in never ending story and lord of the rings  but again it is an artistic whole  and with lots of good ideas thrown about effortlessly . magnificent vistas like the scene in monsters inc . where they ride all the doorways through its storage facility  or walle where we see the immense trash towers he made  abound in this movie  everything is grand  yet never dwelt upon it is just the background the whole way  the interlude where they walk through the area with the fantastic falls . the chinese wall  the islands floating in the sky . the broccoli in the sky  that is truly where i believe cg should go  make something which takes your breath away  and do it again and again .  br    br   the sound is good  the music is varied and not only epic  and thankfully without any vocals  and purely original for the movie .  br    br   animation is quite good . lending its inspiration to cartoons  especially some good use of stretch and squeeze . sometimes not that realistic  but the  d models are not realistic either .  br    br   characterization is well done too . lian  chu the gentle and uncertain giant is gradually growing in confidence basking in the attention of little zo .  br    br   gwizdo the wily manager of lian  chu redeems himself in the end  while zo isn  t really changed at all  but who wants that cute child to change anyway  i at least loved lian  chu more than any other recent character since sulley in monsters inc .  br    br   the internal strife in the group gets ironed out by the external pressures  just as it should in a proper fantasy story .  br    br   the story is mostly reminiscent of the never ending story  especially how the world brakes apart . the monsters are pretty standard fare  except the flocking one . it lacks the emotional impact of walle  which is the really strong point of that movie  but it is a much more fun ride  and lacks the annoying musical scene replaying in the former one  and has action from the first scene . this movie is what you want to watch for a fun and exciting time .  br    br   the whole movie has  as i  ve mentioned a whole vision  which seems to have been followed rigorously throughout .  br    br   it seems  that the setting is ready for more adventures  and i for one would hope so .  br    br   one side note  the french actor doing lian  chu sounded a bit like jean reno at first  but i  m happy it wasn  t him  though he is one of my favorites . nice to hear a new  to me  voice .  br    br   i give it a max rating  a bit surprised at the mediocre and low ratings by some i have tried to address some of the concerns made by two of the reviews with the lowest vote . approach this movie as an adventure  and as a european movie  not opposed to hollywood  but different .  
this is a poor film by any standard . the story in match point had a certain intrigue  and the direction and writing a certain fascination  woody allen mixing his own culture with that of the classic english murder and exploring what can be done with it  .  br    br   scoop  however has none of this . it is poorly written  the two leads are hopelessly wooden and the story itself has no interest at all . the genre that it spoofs requires at least some sort of subplot with witty explanations and tie  ups  why are tarot cards and keys kept under french horns in locked rooms   .  br    br   allen  s delightful and witty versions of various hollywood genres  curse of the jade scorpion  purple rose of cairo etc  have given us so much pleasure over the years . even hollywood ending had a great central idea . sadly his inspiration has deserted him this time .  
after watching the trailer i was surprised this movie never made it into theaters  so i ordered the bluray . i had a great time watching it and have to say that this movie is better than some major animation movies out there . of course  it has its flaws but i can still really recommend it . the animation is well done  very entertaining and unique and the story kept me watching it all the way to the end . some of the backdrops are just drop  dead gorgeous and you can see the french talent behind it . i thought that forest whitaker  s performance feels a bit lifeless but that is how the character lian  chu is depicted in this movie . so overall  thumbs up  i liked it a lot and i hope it is successful enough for all the studios involved to continue making great movies like this . i would recommend to give it a chance and be surprised how great a movie can be with such a small budget . hektor alone is worth watching the movie since some of his moments are stitch  like hilarious .  
err . . . this movie sucked . a lot .  br    br   i have been reading some of the other reviews . apparently there are a lot of people that think that anything woody allen writes or stars in is automatically good . . .  br    br   i have watched several of his films  in the vain hope that i  m missing something . but no  they just suck . poorly written trash . the characters are all very stereotypical  not to mention rather stupid  . the plot is . . . i think it is supposed to be mysterious . not sure on that . mr . allen  s character is . . . woody allen  on any other film you have seen of his .  br    br   if you are a fan of woody allen  go see this film . if you are under    don  t bother .  if you are a fan of woody allen and you are under   . . . well  you are atypical . i don  t know what to say .   
this movie took my breath away at some points  i simply loved it   br    br   i admit that the character dialogs and storyline could have been done a bit better  but hey  this is just a simple  short  story of a couple of guys trying to slain a dragon  there  s nothing more to it   br    br   the overall design  atmosphere  the beautiful landscapes . . . it  s all just magical   br    br   they  ve put a lot of love in this movie . character designs were great and funny . a bit tim burton  ish if you like . i can recommend this movie to anyone interested in great design  displayed in a simple small  but lovely story .  
my wife and i both thought this film a watered  down  made  for  tv  bbc  version of manhattan murder mystery . . . which is itself good  but not great . the story has little inter  character tension or chemistry  and not much of a plot . woody allen  s character just sort of wanders around running off at the mouth  and hugh jackman and scarlett johannsson don  t have a lot more to do . it  s pretty disappointing  i must say . ian mcshane  s role is just an expanded cameo appearance .  br    br   the first thing that occurred to me was  i wonder how much the bbc had to pay woody allen to dislodge him from manhatttan   he must  ve needed the money  and they must have needed his appeal to expand their audience beyond the youth market drawn to the two stars . i  m giving this movie  stars instead of  because it is unbothersome background noise . if you ever want something to have on while you  re knitting or sorting your stamp collection  this  ll do the job . i wouldn  t pay to rent it again .  
my first impression would be this is beowulf only with all the good bits of fighting grendel and dragons intact  making it one thrill ride from start to end . written by frederic lanoir and arthur qwak  the two of them had created a fantastical landscape that becomes a character in itself within their story  with its ever changing environment made up of small spheres of land floating around  which can either be wastelands  or globes of greenery .  br    br   the story  s a simple one  which tells of a land which is cowering in the expectation of a mighty dragon  s unwanted visit to plunder and destroy  and the resident knights have all but been annihilated . enter the king  s granddaughter zoe  marie drion  who gathers lian  chu  vincent lindon   a huge brute with immense strength but truly a gentle giant  and his partner  in  arms gwizdo  patrick timsit   who balances the partnership with his cunning brain . lian  chu and gwizdo  together with their pet creature which too proudly spews incipient fires  share a common dream of owning a farm land and spending idyllic days tending to their farm animals in retirement  but in order to do that comes the requirement of being financially free  hence their career in monster  extermination which doesn  t exactly pay off .  br    br   that  s basically the whole gist of it  but what makes this film a spectacle  is its cg graphics  which is solidly rich  detailed  and an eye  popping marvel to behold . it has some wonderfully crafted set action pieces that were painstakingly designed to draw you into the thick of the action   and during those fight sequences  there  s nary a boring moment . photo  realistic moments of non  existent landscapes make you put aside the fantasy of make  belief  and it  s easy to be in awe of the landscape which goes beyond the usual three  suns and a kaleidoscope of flying thingamajigs  here  s having at you george   and i couldn  t get enough of the finale battle as well  though the usual brick  bats will find some fault at the indestructibility of the principle characters .  br    br   i guess this film had opened my eyes that there are many more computer  animated companies out there around the world that have quality in their product to match that of pixar  s . and this is definitely a movie that the local filmmakers of zodiac the race begins and legend of the sea can learn from  to keep the story effectively simple  and let your moving artwork do all the talking . definitely highly recommended   
don  t get me wrong  i  m a huge fan of many of woody  s movies  obviously his late    s masterpieces  annie hall  interiors  manhattan  and most of his late    s  early    s dramas  hannah  crimes and misdemeaners  husbands and wives  in fact i even liked some of his more recent efforts  melinda  anything else  small time crooks  but this was abysmal  i though it couldn  t possibly be any worse than last years match point but how wrong i was .  br    br   it was lazily plotted  basically a cross between match point  manhattan murder mystery and small time crooks  with all the jokes taken out  woody seems to be on the way out as well  slurring most of his lines and delivering  hilarious  catchphrases  i mean that with all due respect . . .  over and over until the blandness of it all becomes to much to bare .  br    br   i know that most actors are queuing up to work with him but they should at least read the script first  scarlett johansson and hugh jackman are so much better than this  and woody should really take a more behind the camera role in future  if he has any sense about   miles behind it .  br    br   it wouldn  t be so tragic if we didn  t have so many great woody films to compare this to  but it is clear that his best days are behind him and judging by this effort  woody should call it a day before he becomes an industry joke .  br    br   embarrassingly bad  
i voted this a   out of   simply because it is the best animated story i have been able to see in quite some time . the animation is stunning . the artwork behind each and every landscape was beautiful . from the colors to the lighting to the not standard fare of artistry . i was amazed . moving beyond the beauty on the screen  you are immersed in a storyline that is at once timeless and at the same turn fresh . character development is brief yet these touchstone moments are exactly what is needed to clue the viewer in to what and why and how the character has come to where they stand . i  m impressed with the entire affair and think this is a must see for the entire family .  
warning  this review will reveal the ending of the movie   scoop .  if you don  t want to know how the movie ends  don  t read this review   br    br    scoop  is so bad you  ll think  annie hall  was a fluke .  br    br   it gets one star because you get to see hugh jackman  s naked chest . that  s the only thing  scoop  has going for it .  br    br   woody allen  s misogyny  and his fixation on women young enough  at this point  to be his granddaughter  has crippled any ability to make movies he may have had at any point .  br    br   the plot seems promising a ghost  ian mcshane  directs a fluffy headed student  scarlett johansson  to investigate whether or not an english lord  hugh jackman  is the notorious tarot card killer of prostitutes . a magician  woody allen  helps the girl .  br    br   promising plot notwithstanding  the movie completely lacks charm  or humor  or atmosphere . it  s an amazingly leaden  amateurish effort for someone who has made even one previous film  never mind dozens . perhaps allen has had a stroke that has gone unreported in the press .  br    br   much is made of the fact that unlike in his previous films  woody allen  now a septuagenarian  has finally allowed a younger male lead to get the girl .  br    br   not so . in fact  the plot is constructed in such a way so that the girl gets no one .  br    br   there is an early scene where johansson  for no reason central to the movie  allows herself to be gotten drunk  and seduced  by a powerful  older director .  seduced  is a euphemism for what happens . it  s a  slam  bam  i  ve gotta go  kind of moment . it bears no relation to the plot whatsoever  and it cheapens johansson in the viewer  s eye . why did allen add that unnecessary scene to the movie  because it shows a powerful director  like allen  having sex with the female lead . allen gets to have his cake and eat it  too .  br    br   johansson is not yet an actress . she doesn  t know how to command the screen except by wearing a tight  low cut top . she imitates allen in a couple of scenes  and that just looks weird and sad .  br    br   it doesn  t help that her character is scripted as a doll who can  t function without a ghost  or an elderly and less than awe  inspiring magician  telling her what to do at every turn .  br    br   she is approximately half jackman  s age  and she comes across as a very vapid screen presence in their scenes together .  br    br   audience members not obsessed with breasts deserve better in their heroines  and jackman deserves better  too   a script that gives the heroine some intelligence and agency  and an actress who can convey those qualities .  br    br   hugh jackman is similarly cheated by the script . allen apparently can  t stand it that jackman is so stunningly good looking and young  and so he gives jackman nothing to say or do . like johansson  he is used merely for his good looks . this is a shame  because  as jackman has shown in any number of productions  from  oklahoma  to  x men   he can act .  br    br   here  s the big plot twist   jackman  suave  charming english lord  really is a killer . so  though the movie says it is all about letting someone else  other than allen  get the girl  she doesn  t get anyone . jackman  the man she  s been making love to  is a man who murdered a prostitute . nice  woody . nice way to punish your heroine for being beyond your grasp .  br    br   in a passive aggressive touch  allen deprives his heroine of his own presence  as well  killing off his character  the magician  leaving scarlett johansson all alone at the end of the film .  br    br   a final note at my screening  not a single audience member laughed at any point during the film . always a bad sign when a film is advertised as a comedy .  
have you heard the story about the reluctant heroes who were hired by a king to slay a dragon  oh  you have  was it set in a world entirely composed of small islands floating above clouds  and did the heroes have to make dangerous leaps from one island to the next on their journey  did water flow upwards and remnants of great cities levitate on the horizon  i didn  t think so .  br    br   i stumbled onto this movie by accident and i  m really glad that i did  it  s one of the most beautiful movies i  ve ever seen . much like the pixar movies  it  s a piece of computer animated art that could only be possible in today  s world . the animators have invested thought into almost everything that appears on the screen  and this attention to detail is staggering  the scene where the mushrooms in the foreground belch green smoke whilst the characters walk obliviously in the background is one of my favourites  . the monsters are also fully realised and wonderful to watch in action .  br    br   although the plot may not be entirely unique  the movie has enough charm to make sure you keep watching . our protagonists are likable and interesting  ensuring the audience is behind their almost impossible quest to reach the end of the world and destroy the dragon which might otherwise devour everything in its path . of course  hector is the character most will fall in love with . a small blue creature with a crazy grin and a tendency to speak a mixture of nonsense and english  hector provides comedy relief in a way jar jar binks could only dream of .  br    br   in summary  i  d recommend watching the dragon hunters if you get the opportunity . watch it for the incredible animation  the breath  taking battle scenes and for a glimpse into a world that  s unlike anything else you  ve seen on a cinema or television screen . at the very least  it  s a fun way to spend an hour and a half  no matter if you  re nine or twenty  nine  which  in fact  i am    
this show is just annoying    i feel sorry for the actors for having to attempt to be funny  especially bob saget   the laugh track tries to cover up the sad jokes and the  awwww  track comes up at the most unnecessary times . the over  dramatic kids are no exception  especially the olsen twins . also  this show is clich city . if you were to look up the word clich  it would read  full house  every story line has a  life lesson  to be learned at the end . a sappy speech makes everything better and even has the ability to make the most bratty child have a sudden realization of goodness gasp too bad this couldn  t be possible in real life . i don  t know how someone could watch this show without bad mouthing the behavior of the characters or the laugh track . i find myself yelling at the tv saying   that isn  t funny  sad  cute  if life were really like this  the world would fall apart .  
taking a break from his escapist run in the early    s  steven spielberg directed whoopi goldberg in an adaptation of alice walker  s  the color purple   about about the desperate existence of an african  american woman in the     s . watching goldberg play celie  it  s incredible that this is the same woman who starred in movies like  sister act  . this is the sort of movie that could easily be  no  make that should be  part of the curriculum in black studies and women  s studies . there  s one scene that may be the most magnificent editing job that  s ever been on screen  you  ll know it when you see it  . i can  t believe that this didn  t win a single oscar it may be spielberg  s second best movie behind  schindler  s list   maybe even tied with it  . also starring danny glover  adolph caesar  margaret avery  oprah winfrey  willard e . pugh  akosua busia  and laurence fishburne .  
i wonder if there is any sense of sense in this movie . its a big joke . good . . its entertaining . . you get to see the most stupid plot played very seriously in the form of a film . . i wonder which audience group this movie is basically targeted to .  br    br   priety  a pros  plays a surrogate mom for a happy couple salman  rani who want a child but can  t . i wonder how it would be if this drama was a real  life take  off from a real couple  s life .  br    br   rani appears happy with another pretty lady in her house who has been brought in to make a child for her  salman . she cares for priety and tries pushing her husband salman to preity so they may have some romance . when will the audience get fed up of salman  s nakhras .  br    br   though a good past  time  this movie is unbearable . absurd .  
this is my first review on imdb  i didn  t really want to write one but since there are only  for this great movie right now  i feel compelled to add my perspective . . . and no  i  m not associated to the movie makers in any way  yeah yeah how often did you here that before     fyi i  m in my late   s  br    br    st of all i have to admit i really like animated movies  because what you see is only limited by the imagination of the creators and they were pretty imaginative on this one . not so much in terms of story but in achieving a very unique and imo fresh visual style . the characters look good but far from real and it works well for the movie  after all it  s a fairytale  like world . but the backgrounds and the world in general is filled with awesome visuals that my jaw dropped several times while watching this . the blue  bunny  like mini  dragon steels the show and has easily some of the funniest moments of the movie  he is already an instant classic  much as scrat from ice age . the story is not too surprising  a bunch of anti  heroes have to go out and slay the biggest dragon you can imagine  but who cares if the movie looks and sounds that good     thing i have to point out  imo the movie is not suited for very young children because it has some darker scenes in it and maybe frightening for kids under    i would say  these are only very few scenes but worth mentioning imo . anyway i had a great time watching this and can  t wait for it to hit the stores in high def to watch it over and over again just for the sheer beauty of it .  br    br      for me  
when i was younger  i liked this show  but now . . . blecch    this show is sappy  badly written  and rarely funny . the three leads were all good actors and funny men  saget  s stand up was a lot better than the stuff this show came up with  as was coulier a better stand up  and stamos was a better than average actor  . after a while  stamos wanted off the show because it wanted to do more serious stuff  who could blame him   . the show eventually got cancelled when many of the actors demanded more money .  br    br   here are a few things that drive me crazy about the show  br    br    . the catch phrases  how many times can one person put up with tiring catch phrases like with  how rude    you got it dude    nerdbomber    cut it out  and  have mercy  in a   hour time period   br    br    . kimmy gibler  the most annoying character ever written for television .  br    br    . the writing  stale and cliched as an oreo cookie . there is good cliched writing and bad cliched writing . full house had bad cliched writing .  br    br    . three men living together in san francisco  enough said .  br    br    . unrealistic stuff  too much to recall .  br    br    . trendy kids  the girls had all the latest mall fashions and you can see posters of trendy recording artists they would be into .  br    br   now this show is on nick  nite . i would hardly call it a classic . i have nothing bad to say about the people involved since i think many of them are talented in their own right . but this show was just so sugary sweet  i couldn  t stand it after a while .  
for a long time i haven  t seen so beautiful animated feature . having healthy respect for pixar  i must say that ratatouille or any other movie made by  em can not be compared to this . animators have created an incredibly beautiful world here . the graphics is amazing  the background surroundings are mind  blowing  almost every object in every frame is drawn perfectly . sometimes i felt tingles down my spine  so much i loved what i  ve seen .  br    br   the plot is absolutely romantic . as romantic as the animated film plot can possibly be . the characters are lovable  especially hector  the blue rabbit  he owns  pawns  rocks and rules  the other char  s are very nice also . the humor is top  notch .  br    br   generally it seemed that creators didn  t invest much effort into this . i mean it looked like it didn  t take em too much in difference from people of pixardreamworks who try hard every time to think on something new . and i  m very glad that a product of european animation studio turned out to be so great . they  ve made a magnificent  touching movie  a candy for eye and heart .  br    br   the only minus is stupid beginning and that  s why it  s  of   not       
i hated this crap  every friday as part of tgif it was on  and consistently sucked big time with stupidity each and every week . if you want to see something funny go watch  no on would tell  starring candice cameron and fred savage  it really is hilarious  shows exactly why no one ever goes on to a good film career after doing a terrible tv show . this show really makes me sick  i hate those kids  and bob saget needs to go jump off a bridge for ever making this crapfest . i  ve seen funner stuff everywhere else but here . i ahet writing   lines  watch  full house  to see the least humanity has to offer in the way of arts and entertainment .  
this is a real eye candy . a world made of floating islands and flying ancient cities . huge monsters whose preferred method of attack is hurling cathedrals at their opponents . . . who can resist that  an ancient prophecy  a bunch of underdog heroes and a cute princess in search of her hero . . . sounds familiar . . .  yes we heard that song before . but you will forget that while looking at the spectacular scenery .  br    br   this movie is fun to watch while it lasts . but after leaving the cinema you  ll be longing for a little bit more story .  br    br   what is behind the    years  circle  what drove the knight crazy  who built all these fabulous monuments  castles and cities . . . and why are they falling apart  and apart from that one bunch of farmers  where are the people  really  this picture looks so intriguing  but it  s no lord of the rings .  
full house is one of the worst tv series ever  why  because all the characters are so irritating that it  s impossible to bear . the best character is joey an even he is pretty irritating occasionally . an that girl dj  who wrote her character  i want to kill my self every time she speaks . not to mention when danny start  s with his philosophy .  br    br   example dj won around ten thousand dollars or more in the casino . however  she  s not eighteen so she shouldn  t gamble according to law . however the casino was ready to pay her the money but then danny  her father cought  s her and don  t let  s her raise that money because she is not eighteen . oh come on  give me a break  will ya  since i  ve seen that stupid and childish scene i instantly turned off the television . some of the thing  s they say in this series not even a child would bought . who in the world could think that full house is entertaining and funny  every single word they say in this series seem  s like shakespeare wrote it . except that shakespere knew how to write and except that he wouldn  t be that childish and stupid to write something as stupid as they wrote in the script for the full house   br    br   for everyone who has a bad heart or any kind of bad medical condition or any will for life or any sense of the real world  i deeply recommend  do not watch the full house   not even one episode as a try out . avoid this series . save your self from stupidity and nonsense . this is the worst television show ever  i  d rather watch teletubbies then this .  do not watch this  .  
initially  i would have thought that secret sunshine had something critical to say of religion  and here being christianity   and wondered if it would be something of a rant against the ills of blind faith  or the manipulative power of those who are supposedly holier than thou . surprisingly  it was none of the sort and was largely non  judgemental  putting in place events as a matter of fact  and allowing the audience to draw their own judgement and conclusion .  br    br   and i can  t help but to chuckle at the role of song kang  ho  a man who  s taken a liking for widower shin  ae  jeong do  yeon   and starts going to church when she does . the reasons for church going are many i suppose  either to find inner peace  to seek help  being afraid of eternal damnation in the fires of hell  to reaffirm faith  or even things like wanting to get married in a church  or to skirt chase  i kid you not  . but to each his own reasons for turning up in church every sunday and participating in prayer groups for fellowship  what is indeed dangerous  is when the underlying ulterior motives  do not get satisfied  and that  s when frustration sets in . or when you discover how hypocritical man can be  portraying one face inside the house of god  and displaying yet another outside .  br    br   shin  ae and her son jun moves to the town of miryang  which is the birthplace of her deceased husband . wanting to start life anew  she opens up a piano shop to give lessons  though in discovering her new found freedom and in a moment  s lack of good judgement  has another tragedy befall her . and that takes one hour to get to . secret sunshine really took its time to get to this point  where things then begin to get slightly more interesting with shin  ae now taking to embracing religion to deal with and accept her current state  reveling in the comfort that religion  and fellow believers  can offer .  br    br   what began as crying out for sympathy turns into acceptance and belief that religion offers that silver bullet to solve the ills of all mankind  and sometimes you wonder if it  s because of your personal myopic view of what the almighty is doing for you  that you begin to adopt a somewhat selfish opinion that everything  s good going your way  and in shin  ae  s case  her magnanimous attitude in wanting to forgive others who had trespassed against her  forgetting something very fundamental that it the feeling can cut both ways too .  br    br   the last act is probably the most fun of the lot as it says plenty  where most of us can identify with  why me  and why not someone else  as we rage against our faith and start questioning  unfortunately  with no hard and fast answers available . it is then either we fall by the wayside  or continue with destructive deeds so rebelliously . but somehow the plug gets carefully pulled in secret sunshine so as not to offend  and what could have been an ugly character mouthpiece  got muted .  br    br   if you bite into the hype this movie is generating  then perhaps you  ll realize only jeong do  yeon  s excellent portrayal is worth mentioning  as she totally owns her role as the widow shin  ae who is probably the most unluckiest person on earth in having to deal with that many tragedies over a short period of time  and if you look at it carefully  most of which are of her own doing . watching her transformation  is worth the ticket price  and despite having my personal favourite korean actor song kang  ho in the movie  this is something he just breezed right through .  
what a crime . . .  br    br   you forgot to brush your teeth . . . let  s make a   minute show about it and have a couple of kids make some noise and then have the dad lecture them all because that  s what he has to do .  br    br   but  don  t forget uncle joey has to make some weird noises and cooky faces  then uncle jesse has to show up with his black leather jacket and some jeans and look pretty for a few minutes while everybody discusses how mother would have done things if she were around . .  br    br   yep  full of zany little adventures about a whole bunch of nothing and an entire overlong story to build around it .  br    br   full house will not only bore you to tears  but it will make you age twenty times faster than you normally would .  
the most interesting thing about miryang  secret sunshine  is the actors . jeon do  yeon  as lee shin  ae  the main character  is a woman with a young son whose husband has died in a tragic accident  and who leaves seoul to live in miryang  which was his home town  with her young son . jeon  s face is very changeable . she is girlish  flirtatious  elegant  aged and sad  desperate and joyous  with it and terribly isolated by turns  and it  s all in her face . the film also stars song kang  ho as kim  a man who meets her when her car breaks down coming into miryang  who happens to run a garage in town  and who follows her around all the time thereafter  despite her apparent lack of interest in his attentions . song is the biggest star in korea right now  renowned for his work with park chan  wook and bong joon  ho  sympathy for mr . vengeance memories of murder and the host  . and yet here he plays a throwaway character  almost a forgotten man . but of course he makes him interesting and curiously appealing . he is the essential ballast to keep jeon  s character from floating away .  br    br   lee shin  ae is a piano teacher . she comes to the new town  which is a neutral place  a kind of poor  man  s seoul  a town  just like anywhere else   as kim says  just as he is in a way just like anyone else  . her little boy is sprightly  as little boys are  but plainly damaged and withdrawn at times too . his father used to snore  and when he misses him he lies awake  pretending to snore . he goes to school  and shin  ae meets parents and students and shopkeepers . there is a sense of place in the film  even though the place is in a sense  anywhere .  people speak in the local dialect  and everyone knows everything  and shin  ae  s seoul origin is immediately noticed . is life really harsher here  away from the big city and its sophistication  shin  ae seems not to realize the danger she is in .  br    br   something terrible happens . and shin  ae doesn  t necessarily deal with it in the best possible way . but it happens and she must face the consequences . but she can  t . she goes to pieces . a perpetrator is caught  but that  s no consolation . eventually she becomes so despairing  she relents and goes to a born  again christian meeting an acquaintance has been pressing her to attend . she finds peace and release with this . but when she decides not only to forgive the perpetrator but to go to the prison to tell him so  that experience is full of ironies and it destroys her all over again . she becomes embittered and desperate and she no longer finds solace in religion . and it gets worse than that .  br    br   jeon do  yeon gives her all in this extremely demanding and protean role . lee chang  dong may be a very good director . if an actor of the stature of song kang  ho expresses enormous admiration for him  that is convincing . according to scott foundas of la weekly  lee  s first three films  green fish        peppermint candy       and oasis       have marked him out as  one of the leading figures of his country  s recent cinematic renaissance .  but this is not as successful a film as those of other korean directors whose work i  ve seen  such as yong sang  soo  bong joon  ho  and the prodigiously  almost perversely gifted park chan  wook . it may indeed begin as foundas says as a kind of  asiatic alice doesn  t live here anymore  and then  abruptly and without warning  turns into  something of a thriller  and some time after that a nearly bressonian study in human suffering .  but that progression not only seems random and indigestible the film sags and loses its momentum toward the end and then simply fizzles out  with no sense of an ending . there are also weaknesses in the action . shin  ae takes foolish chances with her son  and makes bad choices all along . if she is destined for madness like betty in jean  jacques beineix  s betty blue  which might explain her peculiar and mistaken choices  that isn  t something that is properly developed . this is an interesting film  certainly a disturbing one  but one that leaves one doubtful and dissatisfied  after putting one through an emotional wringer .  br    br   an official selection of the new york film festival presented at lincoln center      an event that has done right by korean filmmakers in the recent past .  
i can see little girls enjoying this show  but calling this a family show is ridiculous . i  m amazed how well remembered it is after all these years . it  s an extremely unfunny and stupid show about widowed father of three living with his dead wife  s brother and his stupid friend from school  and others as the seasons go on . all of the plot lines generally have a really dumb lesson . in the middle of each episode somebody is mad at somebody else and each episode they make up and it ends on a light unfunny joke . as for the actors  i didn  t like them either . bob saget was painfully unfunny as the dad with the mom responsibilities . dave coulier is a one note joke   something year old that does cartoon voices and acts like a kid  and he  s horrid . john stamos was the most tolerable character but he was so clichd it was hard to watch him . the oldest girl  dj  on the show was a genuinely bad actress and showed no emotion ever . the middle girl stephanie was too clichd as the annoying little sister . the youngest girl michelle showed what bad actresses the olsen twins were . you can always tell when they are switching them off . the plot lines to too many story lines were so unrealistically stupid it  s cringe worthy . this is a  family  show that tried to replace any good substance with cuteness and love  and though those are needed for a show about a family they overdid it way too much . this will be remembered as my least favorite sit  com from the    s and    s .  br    br   my rating terrible show . tvg   mins .  
corean cinema can be quite surprising for an occidental audience  because of the multiplicity of the tones and genres you can find in the same movie . in a coreen drama such as this  secret sunshine   you  ll also find some comical parts  thriller scenes and romantic times .  there  s not only tragedy in life  there  s also tragic  comedy  says at one point of the movie the character interpreted by song kang  ho  summing up the mixture of the picture . but don  t get me wrong  this heterogeneity of the genres the movie deals with  adds veracity to the experience this rich movie offers to its spectators . that doesn  t mean that it lacks unity  on the contrary  it  s rare to see such a dense and profound portrait of a woman in pain .  br    br   shin  ae  who  s in quest for a quiet life with her son in the native town of her late husband  really gives  by all the different faces of suffering she  s going through  unity to this movie . it  s realistic part is erased by the psychological descriptions of all the phases the poor mother is going through . denial  lost  anger  faith  pert of reality  the movie fallows all the steps the character crosses  and looks like a psychological catalog of all the suffering phases a woman can experience .  br    br   the only thing is to accept what may look like a conceptual experience  the woman wears the mask of tragedy  the man represents the comical interludes  and to let the artifices of the movie touch you . i must say that some parts of the movie really did move me  especialy in the beginning   particularly those concerning the unability of chang joan to truly help the one he loves  but also that the accumulation of suffering emotionally tired me towards the end . nevertheless  some cinematographic ideas are really breathtaking and surprising  the scene where a body is discovered in a large shot is for instance amazing  . this kind of scenes makes  secret sunshine  the melo equivalent of  the host  for horror movies or  memories of murder  for thrillers . these movies are indeed surprising  most original  aesthetically incredible  and manage to give another dimension to the genres they deal with . the only thing that  secret sunshine  forgets  as  the host  forgot to be scary  is to make its audience cry  bad point for a melodrama  but good point for a good film .  
the acting is bad ham  all the jokes are superficial and the target audience is clearly very young children  assuming they have below average iqs . i realize that it was meant for kids  but so is malcom in the middle  yet they still throw in adult humor and situations .  br    br   what should we expect from a show lead by bob saget  the only comedian in existence who is less funny than a ball hitting a man  s groin  which is probably why he stopped hosting america  s funniest home videos .  br    br   parents  do not let your kids watch this show unless you want to save money on college . expose your kids to stupidity and they will grow up dumberer .  
  secret sunshine  reminded me of  the rapture         with mimi rogers and david duchovny  but this korean production is a better film . it portrays super  religious korean christians in a provincial korean city  and the main character  s experiences interacting with them in the wake of a horrible personal tragedy . shin  ae is a widowed single mother who moves to the city of milyang   secret sunshine  in chinese  from seoul with her young son . she has chosen milyang because her late husband  killed in an auto accident  was born there  and she feels she needs to make a new start in life in a new place . she does not react well to the overtures of the local christian zealots  one of whose members tries to convince her to come to their church and prayer meetings . shin  ae is essentially irreligious and brushes these people off as politely as she can . in fact  she brushes just about everyone in milyang off to begin with  but some of them are persistent in trying to invade her world  and the consequences are often hilarious . to say more would be to give the film away  but it should be noted that the performance of the woman in the lead role  jeon do  yeon  is stupendous . having read that she won the best actress award at cannes in      i expected her to a decent job . but ms . jeon is captivating and it is impossible to take your eyes off her when she is on screen . the movie is a sort of harrowing evelyn waugh  esquire piece of work  showing how fate can feel insane as much as strangely inevitable .  
it has very bad acting . bad story lines . bad characters . you should never see this show if you see it on . turn it off . or you be cringing for the next   minutes . it should have never been aired . it  s not great . you should never see it . never ever ever . so now  if you ever wanna watch this show  please don  t . turn to the the cw for smallville . or disney channel for hannah montana  wizards of waverly place  or nick for drake  josh  those are much better family shows . so believe me on this  i  ve watched it before . and it is honestly  and i say honestly  the worst show i  ve ever seen  and i  ve seen a lot of tv . so do me a favor  and never watch this show .  
if you  ve had drama in your life  either your own or by someone close to you  the stages of pain this woman  but  in my opinion  it could easily have been a man too  goes through are very very real . it is a movie about not being able to cope with your pain  about not knowing what to do to help yourself get through it . obviously it then also is a movie about not knowing how to help someone close to you get through their pain . it is a movie that makes you realize that everyone is alone in their suffering . it is a movie that might push someone over the edge . . . which hardly sounds like a recommendation . i  m not sure i would recommend someone to go see this film  especially someone close  but for me . . . it is a movie that puts things into perspective  that shows real pain  and is therefore much relevant to being alive . it makes you realize that hey  you or the person close to you have lived through pain  that hey  all the things you worry about now are of so little importance  
seriously . this is one of the most stupid family shows of all time .  br    br   plot  a family without a mother and   dads  raise  little girls in san francisco  california .  br    br   characters  neat freak danny  cartoon loving joey  hair obsessed jesse  spoiled brat michelle  stupid dj  and almost normal stephanie . the creators of this show really want you to hate the characters  don  t they   br    br   therefore  i do not think anyone should watch this show . i only chuckled at a few moments in the show  s whole running  and i think that instead of lethal injection  all criminals should be forced to watch this show  a torture far worse than anything else .  br    br    .     or d  
secret sunshine marks the return of director lee changdong to the film  making world after a multi  year absence . having three critically acclaimed films already under his belt  he recruits now veteran thespian jeon doyeon and her considerable  cannes  winning  talents for the primary role of lee shinae . what follows is a journey through one woman  s tragedy and an exploration of her coping mechanisms .  br    br   one of the things that becomes apparent while watching secret sunshine is that it doesn  t really care to follow any specific genre  but rather picks up genre traits when necessary to convey what it  s trying to convey . the story itself follows lee shinae as she moves with her son to the city of milyang  whose sino  corean translates to secret sunshine  . she moves to milyang in the aftermath of the death of her husband as it was his hometown  so the film is born from tragedy . and you think things might just get better as she opens up a piano shop and encounters a bit of a bumbling nice  guy mechanic jongchan  played by song kangho  . but this isn  t a romantic comedy .  br    br   as we  and jongchan  doggedly  follow shinae as she encounters milyang and the fate that it has in store for her  the cracks in her armor quickly become apparent . she is a troubled woman trying to grasp onto her own strength to overcome tragedy and we watch as she finds that it  s not enough . secret sunshine still manages to follow a mostly aristotelian dramatic arc  but pulls back on the catharsis  which might confound some viewers  especially the ending  but the novelistic symbolism present in the name of milyang  the discussions of sunshine and the imagery used in the film very well left me satisfied  once i started to think over the film some more .  br    br   ms . jeon is rather impressive throughout  especially considering that if the role were any less well played  it would  ve quickly turned into a rather painful melodrama  but she captures the nuances of shinae  s attempts to deal with her losses with a layer of subtlety . mr . song has a much smaller role in this film than other films  but he performs adequately  appropriately giving stage to ms . jeon . technically  the film is well done in a classical sense . no flashy aesthetics are employed here   the director is clearly trying to let the story tell itself . i think my only real complaint  and one that might not be able to be fixed  is that despite all the time we spend with shinae  there is a bit of distance between shinae and the audience  or at least  me  . i think some of this stems from the nature of the work  because if total empathy were pushed  then we wouldn  t be able to see the problems that shinae has objectively . on the other hand  i never felt moved along with shinae  s plight  despite her many tears and increasingly erratic behavior .  br    br   all the same  the film still stands quite impressive  especially in that it stimulated me to think about it  the further meanings present in it and its ruminations on tragedy  coping  self  deception  isolation and faith stuck with me well after the credits had finished running . propelled by a strong lead performance  i honestly didn  t notice its  .   hour runtime . and that says something . well done .     .  
i watched full house when i was younger and i can not understand why i did . i don  t remember really enjoying the show . i think i and the majority of americans watching this were hypnotized by its badness . it will put you in a trance state and there is no going back . i am still scarred but i try to move on . i know it  s a family show but that does not mean it has to be so bad . the show is so clich with every episode ending with a  talk  from the dad to make everyone  s problems go away . the characters on the show are all loathsome . there is a know it all  cleaning obsessed  corny father who you want to punch in the face every time he comes on screen . we then have a supposed  rocker  uncle that is just there to look pretty for the moms that have to watch this crap . we have another uncle who is completely unfunny who does lame bullwinkle impressions  need i say more about him  . there is the eldest daughter who can not act and is always whining about something . then a middle daughter who always says   how rude   to pretty much everything anyone says . finally  there is the youngest daughter michelle . do not get me started on michelle played but the horrible actors known as the olsen twins . if you believe in christianity i guess you would associate her with the antichrist . she is always demanding things  trying too hard to be  cute   is constantly saying  duh   and rolling her eyes which makes you want to smack her . i am not a big fan of using a lot of physical abuse as punishment to children . but in her case  i would make an acceptation . she needed it on a daily basis . she is the most selfish character to ever be introduced to mainstream television . one example of this is when her rocker uncle is busy doing his job in the attic . the brat decides to constantly annoy him and demand attention . he yells at her and she gets upset . poor baby  the rest of the episode is catering to her emotional needs and the uncle eventually apologizes to her . ugghh  the show will lower your iq along with slowly destroying your will to live . i am surprised we don  t hear in the news about full house being played in the background when police find people that have committed suicide . do yourself a favor and do not watch reruns of the show . you will thank me later .  
i  ve waited to see this movie for a long time and at last i could manage to see it in istanbul film festival . maybe because i expected too much from this film and that  s why i was slightly disappointed . i was not the best movie from korea but still it is really worth watching .  br    br   the subject was nice and the film makes you keep watching without getting bored though it is long . but there are gaps in the movie and you jump from one point to another . however  the acting of jeon do  yeon is incredibly beautiful . it was was one of the best performances in the early cinema history and i think this movie wouldn  t be that nice if she was not in the leading role .  
t . z . post  college professor  receives a false letter stating he inherited         . now with financial means  he withdraws his life savings of        and decides to finally going out  live . after having his baggage sent on a train to chicago  he meets a traveling vaudeville troupe  and decides there good enough for him to put on a show on broadway . the night of the show  poor prof . post has to hide from his creditors  settle the relationship woes between girlfriend pansy and  floozy diva eleanor  and still make sure the show must go on . after watching many of keaton  s silent gems  this one is a pain to sit through  but i felt  it could have been a lot worse . supporting cast durante  todd   selwyn come off very annoying at times  but still likeable . a pre  charlie chan toler is good as the frustrated show director .    of the script is badly written as mgm is trying to pass this off as a poor man  s marx bros . film where many of the sight gags fall flat from the beginning . compiled with keaton  s drinking problems at the time  this movie just is a sad moment in buster  s life . rating   .  
i gave this film   not because it is a superbly consistent movie  but for it  s pure ability to evoke emotions in its audience . the story of one  woman  s  struggle  against  all  odds is an old clich by now  but very few films have carried it off with so much warmth and sincerity as the color purple .  br    br   it also showed a different side to the african  american experience  showing that after slaves were granted freedom many fell into the ways of the hated  white man  and were abusive of their own people . i find this an important point as it goes against the portray  white  on  black  violence  and  win  an  oscar trend .  br    br   also the acting performances are superb  especially oprah who i now have a new found respect for .  br    br   well worth watching  but keep some tissue handy .  
this movie is traditional bollywood fare as far as the star power  sentimentality and love triangle of emotions . what really bothered me about this movie was the makers  absurd notion of surrogate mother . a whore who conceives a child with someone after have sex with the man  of the family desiring a child  is not a surrogate mother . neither is she a good candidate for a surrogate mother . i have seen indian movies and television shows that made   to   years ago that dealt with this issue more intelligently . the whole concept of the movie is ridiculous and absolutely implausible . i realize that most bollywood movies aren  t meant to be plausible  but they don  t pretend to be either . this movie wants us to emote along with the characters  but this can  t done with such a ridiculous  contrived conflict . i would have expected better from abbas and mustan .  
this is a story about shin  ae  who moves to milyang from seoul with her young son jun to start over after the accidental death of her husband . her husband was born here  and she is opening up a piano school  but also has ambitions to own some land with the insurance money she received from the death . if that is what the film was about  it probably would have been like a hollywood film  with her falling for some local guy and being happy with her son in their new home . but  this is not hollywood . her son gets kidnapped and murdered  ostensibly because it is known she has cash from the settlement . the grief process  attempts at moving on  attempts to clear her conscience of guilt  are all done admirably  and the lead actress is superb . the only caveat  and it has to be stated  is that this is a depressing film . you have to know that going in . you want shin  ae to go through her grief and find some measure of happiness . again  this is not hollywood  it is korea and in korean cinema  especially drama  they pull no punches . life is what happens to you . great acting  but sometimes a tough film to watch  due to the goings on . if you stay  you  ll be rewarded . do that .  
watching  speak easily  is painful for fans of buster keaton . seeing such a phenomenal writer  actor  comic  director  and stunt man subjected to this humiliating spectacle is like seeing a picasso used as a drop cloth  or perhaps more like seeing the finest camembert adulterated with whey solids and processed into cheez  whiz .  br    br   keaton is ill  cast as professor post  whose overblown vocabulary is the only thing keeping him from saying   tell me about the rabbits  george .   post would have said something like   kindly inform me as to the status of the small mammals in the family leporidae of the order lagomorpha  kind sir  who i believe is primarily addressed with the epithet  george  .   when keaton created his own characters  they might be situationally clueless but they weren  t stupid . they were quick studies and became masters of their worlds . not so with post  who never stops stumbling and bumbling and who who has no more control of his destiny than a bilge rat had of the titanic . and while keaton  s original characters had a charming naivet and innocence  post comes across as such a profound sexual retardate that if he ever did become physically aroused  he  d put an ice bag on the swelling and seek medical help .  br    br   there are a couple of small  redeeming moments  such as keaton  s attempts to get rid of the vampish thema todd or his suggestion as to appropriate attire for a greek dance  but it  s just not worth enduring the entire film to see them .  br    br   if you  re a fan of bad movies  get drunk and watch  speak easily  with friends  a la  mystery science theater      . but other than that  stick with the silents . let them be     of what buster keaton is remembered for .  
secret sunshine       is famous for its awards at the festival de cannes in     and other film festivals . jeon  do yeon  who played the newly widowed shin  ae  won the best actress trophy at the   th cannes festival . secret sunshine was also a winner of best feature film and jeon  do yeon received a best actress nod from asia pacific screen awards . in addition  this movie won the best film awards in virtually all korean film festivals . masterfully written and directed  and uniquely photographed  secret sunshine expressed the hope and salvation that can be found when life is painful because of continuous tragedy . this film also talked about the forgiveness of god and people . lee chang dong  director and writer of this movie  said in an interview   in a vast sense  i wanted to express what love is and this movie could be a melodrama in a sense . without love  we can  t talk about hope and salvation .  lee acknowledged that secret sunshine had no apparent genre . this movie is not a movie about religion  but it drew attention from many christians in korea because there were a lot of christian elements in the movie .  br    br   the turning point in secret sunshine comes when jun  shin  ae  s son  is kidnapped and killed . the kidnapper asks for money because he presumes that since she can buy land  she must be rich . her lie causes much sorrow .  br    br   shin  ae becomes a church  goer and wants to forgive the murderer . she decides to visit her son  s murderer in prison and forgive him . jong  chan  shin  ae  s guy friend  says   just forgive in your heart . do you have to go to the prison   her church fellows cheer for her and say they will pray for her . her pastor agrees with what she wants to do . that is a sad moment because it is too early for her to do an action . the result of the meeting with the murderer is another turning point in shin  ae  s life . the murderer says with a peaceful smile that he has already been forgiven by god . this sparks anger in her toward god . she says   how could you forgive the man before i forgive    br    br   she begins to fight against god . she looks up to the sky and proclaims   i won  t lose to you .  she becomes a snare  her heart is a trap  and her hands are chains . it is more bitter than death . she becomes crazier and crazier and is sent to a mental hospital . on the day shin  ae is discharged from the hospital  she goes to a beauty shop and sees a familiar face . the daughter of her son  s murderer works in the shop and cuts her hair . the murderer  s daughter has helped kidnapped shin  ae  s son . while she cuts shin  ae  s hair  the protagonist can  t understand what  s going on and gets out of the shop quickly .  br    br   it is difficult not to talk about jong  chan in the movie . jong  chan does his best to be by shin  ae  s side . although shin  ae doesn  t care about him at all  he is beside her all the time . shin  ae leaves church quickly  but jong  chan  who started attending church because of shin  ae  stays there because he feels peace with god . lee chang  dong  the director of secret sunshine  says that jong  chan is like milyang  secret sunshine   the rural city or vice versa . he seems to  be too secular and frivolous  but he is always two steps behind her and takes care of her . milyang is like him .  mr . lee adds   someone joked that jong  chan could be an angel . i think that he could be the angel . who knows  we can  t say for sure that there is no angel .  if there is a person like jong  chan who forever accompanies his lover  s twists and turns  we can defend ourselves against the overpowered . the life of shin  ae is full of meaninglessness . her husband died after he cheated on her  and her only son was killed cruelly by a murderer after she moved to her husband  s hometown . and her soul was damaged because she learned christianity in a wrong wayand that makes her crazy  literally . it is too easy to say that her life is filled with meaninglessness . does she still have hope in her life  can she find meaning in her life  the final scene gives us hope . shin  ae tries to cut her hair by herself we walk our life  s journey by ourselves . she  however  realizes that it is hard to do it by herself  and we know that we can  t do everything by ourselves . we see jong  chan holding the mirror for her while she cuts her hair . that  s her hope . she has jong  chan beside her and he is willing to help her in whatever situation she is . as i mentioned earlier  jong  chan is like an angel for her . if we feel that an angel is always beside and behind us  we can find joy in life even though we face adversity in our lives .  br    br   secret sunshine was a hot topic of conversation in korea . it is like da vinci code . while da vinci code helps us discuss the early church history  secret sunshine prompts us to deal with life  s messiness and find meaning when life seems unbearable . with a shallow interpretation of the movie  people misunderstand christianity and its theology . with a deeper interpretation  this movie will help us see beneath the surface . some people say they quit attending church worship service after they watched secret sunshine  and lee chang  dong responds by saying   they were already anti  christ before they watched this movie . secret sunshine is a life story of a woman and we can interpret our life through shin  ae  s life .  
what is the most harrowing movie ever made  the gynaecological nightmare of  cries and whispers   the acid psychodramas of fassbinder  the discomfiting black comedy of  last house on the left  i  m sure for that portion of the film  loving public that tie their masts to the good ship buster keaton  there is only one answer  any one of his sound films .  br    br   i don  t know what flayed my soul more poignantly in this movie  the grounding of keaton  s intricate and expansive physical art to humdrum slapstick the painful hesitation of this master filmmaker with dialogue  not that he hasn  t a lovely  comic voice  or that he can  t make dialogue funny it  s just that the studio don  t seem to have given him enough takes  and so he seems to be trying to remember his lines before he delivers  which only makes him  keaton  not his character  look silly or is it the humiliation of seeing keaton caught up in a tawdry sex farce  when he has given us some of the richest accounts of romantic frustration in film   br    br   no  i know what was most disturbing  having to watch buster keaton  cinema  s greatest comedian  sit aside to observe jimmy durante doing his schtick . it is horrors such as this that get yer dantes composing yer infernos .  br    br   mgm seem to have got the curious idea that the best way to adapt keaton to sound was to turn him into a marx brother  complete with verbal pedantry  elaborate  tedious  clowning   shambolic slapstick  theatrical setting  triumph through chaos  and thelma todd . keaton was just not that sort of comic  and where groucho  s malicious tongue and gleeful opportunism might just have made this plot work  buster  s socially inept professor can  t  he is too studied and predictable .  br    br   what buster needed was to be allowed experiment like lang in  m   or rene clair he would never have tried to hold back the tide like chaplin . when a film like  the general  is alluded to  messing about with trains  the loss becomes even more apparent .  br    br   and the thing is  in patches amid the flat direction  the film isn  t all that bad  there is an excellent jolt when a camera on the bus leaves keaton alone at a railway station and the denouement  if hardly original  is at least livelier than what went before . there is something almost endearing about the way keaton slows down a plot that needs all the zip it can get .  br    br   there is a film in here about loneliness  emotionally paralysing order  the numbing effects of education etc .  struggling to get out . the best way to appreciate this film is to watch not the narrative of professor tz post  but of emasculated genius buster keaton  trapped in a prison of mediocrity  confounded by new technology  mocked by a malevolent fate  in this case the studio   retaining a stoical grace . looked at like that  it becomes a kind of masterpiece .  
lee chang  dong  s exceptional  secret sunshine  is the single most emotionally ravaging experience of the year . it is an instantly sobering  brutally honest character piece on the reverberations of loss and a graceful memento mori that resonates with a striking density of thought  yet remains as inscrutable as the emotions it observes . through its layered naturalism and stunningly trenchant view of small  town dynamics  lee implicitly deconstructs the traditional korean melodrama by pulling apart the cinematics of excess and ripping to shreds the arcs that shape its characters and grounds the proceedings into a crushing grind of stoic realism .  br    br    secret sunshine  remains an immensely compelling  fluid work throughout its     minute runtime . its bravura first hour is filled to the brim with subtextual insinuations  remarkable foreshadowing and adroit reversals of tone brought about by humanistic capriciousness . adapted from a short story  lee infuses the film with his sensitivity for the sublime paradoxes of life  last seen in his transgressively comic and irreverent  oasis  . understanding how personal revolutions are forged when views of our universe are changed  lee not only sees the emotional cataclysm of a widow  s sorrow through an inquiring scope but also feels the tumultuous existential currents that underpin the film when religion becomes a narrative scapegoat in comprehending the heinousness of the human experience .  br    br   do  yeon jeon  s   you are my sunshine   best actress accolade at cannes in     is well deserved . her performance as the widow shin  ae remains an unrelenting enigma . as a character pulled apart by forces beyond her control  the sheer magnificence of this performance is central to the film  s turbulent nature . with jeon essaying one cyclonic upheaval after another  there  s a tremulous sense of collapse that the film  to its credit  never approaches . instead it finds a delicate balance that saps the charged theatricality and subsequent banality from ordinary tragedies and its fallouts . she becomes the centre of the film  s universe as well as ours . filmed in glorious hand  held cinemascope  the film demolishes the cinematicism of frames and compositions by becoming visually acute just as it is quietly harrowing when the camera never relinquishes its gaze from shin  ae through times of happiness  guilt and remorse .  br    br   lee captures the details of life in the small  suspicious town of miryang  the awkwardness of communal situations  its uncomfortable silences and its devastations spun out of personal dramas . shin  ae  s interactions with the townsfolk rarely inspires dividends  especially when they are merely done out of obligation to fit in for the sake of her son  jun  seon jung  yeop  . the one recurring acquaintance is jong  chan  song kang  ho   a bachelor mechanic of uncertain intentions who helps her en route to miryang in the film  s enchanting open sequence set to a captivating stream of sunlight . song has situated himself as a comedic anti  hero in south korea  s biggest films but his nuanced  low  key delivery here purports the director  s thought process of never having to reveal more than plainly necessary .  br    br   if pain is ephemeral  then grief can never truly dissipate . and lee finds complexity in subsistence . when shin  ae attempts to head down the path of reconciliation only to be faced again with unimaginable heartbreak  she unsuccessfully employs the fellowship of evangelical christianity as a foil to her sorrow . but lee knows better than that when he understands that religion  in the context of the human canvas of strife and misery  is never a simple solution . but lee never rebukes the essence of religion as he realises the value of salvation for some through a higher power even if it serves a form of denial in others . the scenes in its latter half which deal with religion doesn  t allow itself to become aggressively scornful  which is a feat in itself considering how many filmmakers let the momentum of the material take over from what they need to say to be true to its story and characters .  br    br   lee  s first film since his call to office as his country  s minister of culture and tourism is an uncompromising dissertation on human suffering . in a film so artless and genuine  it arduously reveals that there  s nothing as simple as emotional catharsis  just the suppression and abatement of agony .  secret sunshine  leaves us with tender mercies pulled out of evanescence  and points towards a profound understanding of despair and faith .  
to be a buster keaton fan is to have your heart broken on a regular basis . most of us first encounter keaton in one of the brilliant feature films from his great period of independent production  the general    the navigator    sherlock jnr  . we recognise him as the greatest figure in the entire history of film comedy  and we want to see more of his movies . here the heartbreak begins . after  steamboat bill jnr   keaton  s brother  in  law joseph schenck pressured him into signing a contract that put keaton under the control of mgm . keaton became just one more actor for hire  performing someone else  s scripts . then his alcoholism got worse . after  steamboat bill jnr   keaton never again made a truly first  rate film . a couple of sources describe a would  be masterpiece comedy that keaton claimed he almost got to make at mgm a parody of  grand hotel  . biographer tom dardis has offered convincing evidence that keaton made up this story .  br    br   the heartbreak increases because  among the many years of keaton  s long steady decline  he just occasionally came up with a good film . . . such as his short comedy  grand slam opera  . i continue to search for the lost footage of keaton  s dramatic scene with spencer tracy in  it  s a mad mad world   a sequence in which embittered cop tracy telephones an old retired crook  keaton  and tries to recruit his assistance in stealing smiler grogan  s cash . that footage is almost certainly gone forever  but i keep looking .  br    br    speak easily   alas  is one of keaton  s films from the beginning of his decline . mgm were trying to build up jimmy durante  who  coincidentally  played smiler grogan three decades later  as a new comedy star . unfortunately  mgm tried to build up durante by teaming him with keaton  whose style of comedy was simply incompatible with durante  s .  i  m a fan of both .  throughout his career  durante was a merciless scene  stealer commendably  he knew that he was being built up at keaton  s expense  and keaton was the only co  star whom durante never attempted to upstage .  br    br   keaton was often cast as the victim of extremely cruel machinations . in  speak easily   he plays a didactic and humourless midwestern college professor named post  because he  s as wooden as one  who receives a letter informing him that he  s inherited          which he must travel to new york city to claim . does he make a  phone call to verify this  does he even check the postmark  no he takes his life  s savings out of the bank and rushes to new york . as soon as he  s gone  post  s manservant confesses that he wrote the  fake  letter to jostle professor post out of his rut   br    br   post  who thinks he  s a     millionaire  crosses paths with jimmy dodge  durante   who  s trying to produce a musical revue but hasn  t any money . the characters which these two brilliant comedians are playing onscreen simply fail to intermesh . keaton is playing one of those eggheads  like mister logic in  viz   who intellectualises everything . durante plays one of those annoying hepcats who is incapable of making any straightforward statement because the script requires him always to speak in slang . there  s a painfully unfunny dialogue scene in which durante is trying to talk to keaton about money  but  instead of coming straight out with it  durante has to use increasingly contrived slang terms like  kale    cartwheels  and so forth . . . while keaton of course has no idea what durante  s on about . i  ll give keaton credit his own dry and dusty prairie voice  his flat kansas accent  is absolutely perfect for the character he  s playing here .  br    br   sidney toler  looking much leaner and more handsome here than he would be just a year later  is impressive as the excitable director of the revue bankrolled  on tick  by professor post . henry armetta  whom i  ve never found funny  is even less funny than usual here  offering a running gag with a stupid payoff . thelma todd impressed me here  in a more villainous version of the role she played in  horse feathers   a much funnier movie  . edward brophy  one of my favourite character actors  is wasted .  br    br   part of the problem with  speak easily  is that supporting characters behave in completely inappropriate ways . keaton  s lawyer shows up at durante  s theatre with an urgent message for keaton . . . but he isn  t there  so the lawyer proceeds to divulge keaton  s personal business to the first total stranger he meets .  fire that lawyer  buster   in another scene  professor post  the guy who  s perceived as bankrolling this musical  blunders into the chorus girls  changing room  and all the chorus girls immediately squeal and cover themselves . i know for a fact that modern chorus girls would never react this way  and i seriously doubt that chorus girls in     behaved that way either . . . certainly not in response to the  angel  controlling their show  s pursestrings .  br    br   spoilers coming . about half an hour into the unfunny  speak easily   the great jimmy durante seats himself at the piano  grins into the camera  and does that distinctive little shake of his head as he starts to play a tune . this is the moment when i thought that  at long last  this movie was finally going to settle down to its purpose of entertaining us . alas  no . most annoying of all is the ending of this film  which uses the single most hackneyed and implausible cliche in all of comedy the one in which an utterly incompetent dimwit becomes a star comedian through his own ineptitude .  keaton would be forced to replay this cliche in a     episode of  screen directors playhouse   chaplin had already used it in  the circus  .   br    br   i very nearly wept  in anger and sorrow  at the wasted opportunities in  speak easily  . mostly out of respect for the work that keaton  durante  toler  brophy and miss todd have done elsewhere  i  ll rate this movie  points out of   .  br    br    
i saw this film in the worst possible circumstance . i  d already missed   minutes when i woke up to it on an international flight between sydney and seoul . i didn  t know what i was watching  i thought maybe it was a movie of the week  but quickly became riveted by the performance of the lead actress playing a young woman who  s child had been kidnapped . the premise started taking twist and turns i didn  t see coming and by the end credits i was scrambling through the the in  flight guide to figure out what i had just watched . turns out i was belatedly discovering do  yeon jeon who  d won best actress at cannes for the role . i don  t know if secret sunshine is typical of korean cinema but i  m off to the dvd store to discover more .  
for most younger viewers out there  they probably have no idea who buster keaton was . so  because of this  they probably won  t feel nearly as sad when watching this film as i did . i happen to be a silent comedy freak   having see just about every keaton film still in existence . my being a huge fan made this film very painful from start to finish . this is because during his silent days  keaton was a very vibrant and creative comedian . he was amazing in his physicality and his films were almost never dull . however  in a move that movie historians still are baffled by  at the end of the silent era  keaton gave up his independence and became a stock mgm actor . instead of being a great creative force  mgm now saw keaton solely as an actor   and they wrote scripts for him that had no respect for what made him great . at first  these films with mgm were not that bad  such as the cameraman  but with talkies  the studio really blew it   putting him in several films with jimmy durante . durante  s humor was based on his gift for gab and was abrasive . keaton  in contrast  was quiet and based on action . two more unlike and incompatible actors would have been hard to find . as a result of this deadly combination  keaton made some truly dreadful films .  br    br   now this isn  t to say that speak easily is a terrible film . no  instead it  s just more of a time  passer and an amazingly unfunny one at that . in fact  if you go into the movie assuming it  s a comedy  it will probably make the film harder to enjoy . instead  it  s sort of like a drama with a few comedic elements . it is not a film that will produce belly laughs   especially for keaton fans .  br    br   the film begins in an odd setting . keaton is cast as a college professor whose entire life is teaching . he knows nothing of the world and has his nose stuck in his books . in a bizarre move  keaton  s servant tricks him into believing keaton has received         from a dead relative   hoping that this would spur keaton to get out and enjoy life . this is amazingly contrived but somehow it manages to work . not terribly well  but it works .  br    br   keaton immediately leaves school and goes on a journey to new york to have some fun . on the way there  he meets up with an incredibly untalented theater troop . because he knows nothing of the world  he doesn  t seem to realize they stink . and  because he thinks he  s rich  keaton decides to take them all to new york to perform on broadway . however  just before the show opens  his friends find out that keaton is not rich . so  they decide not to tell keaton and try to keep him away from process servers that want to close the show . they assume that if the show is a hit  then they can pay off the debts and everyone will be happy . however  they forget that the show itself stinks . what are they to do  and  will keaton get the nice girl  get roped by a gold digger  thelma todd  or be flat broke and alone  if you care  see the film .  br    br   as for keaton  he has few stunts in the film  though there are some dandy ones near the end . instead  keaton just kind of walks through the part in a very subdued manner . there  s really little to love about this film or hate . it  s just blah . . . . when it should have been a heck of a lot better .  
i did not intend to write this review  but having read the default review that shows up on this movie  s url  i felt compelled to write a rebuttal . the movie in a word is superlative . it does not deserve the slanderous review that the writer has written . i think the writer has totally missed the point of the movie to a large extent . in fact  i too was turned off by the excessive show of evangelist devotions that occupied the middle of the movie to a large extent . however  i must beg to differ with the reviewer in that  this movie in the end is not a propaganda piece for evangelist action . i think  what the director has shown is that how religion is not enough to find all the answers  how religion is to a large extent incapable of providing answers to basic  simple questions that one may ask and all that religion has to offer is sometimes just banal platitudes of one kind or another . this does not demonstrate a value judgment on religion as we have to remember that religion is transmuted and expressed by ordinary  mostly well meaning  basically good people and they usually have no monopoly on truth and thus religion can not in the end provide the ultimate answers to some questions in life . ultimately  it is a matter of faith . you have to take it on faith and that  s all . and if you are given to faith  then you can appreciate any show of faith . and if you are not given to faith then any show of faith is tiresome . it is thus at the same time  instructive to note the reviewer reaction to the movie . in any case  the director shows us that one can choose not to accept the religious interpretation of events and answers to questions and in spite of that life goes on and there are  secret sunshine  in this world that awaits all wounded souls  regardless of their religious orientation . and that  s just the core message of the film  please note the last scene of the movie  if you don  t get this  in the end  the movie is a great one and very thought provoking and confronts you  the viewer with questions that you have to answer for yourself . thus it is a work of art that is challenging to you personally . i do agree with the reviewer in that  the evangelical stuff was a bit too much . however  given the above interpretation of religion as shown in the movie  i think the director was trying to balance the act whereby he might not be called an evangelist  basher  the actor kang  ho song was great as always . he  s so balanced and just perfect that he  s just amazing . he  s my favorite korean actor no doubt . i know the actress do  yeon jeon got the cannes award for best actress for this movie . however  i did not find any specialty in her acting . it seems that to get awards you just have to act really convincingly in crying and hysterical scenes and all all in all a great movie . if you don  t like it  please watch it again and see if you get it  if it leaves you dissatisfied or uncomfortable or asking questions then think  if that was not what the director was actually aiming at through this movie in the first place   
i feel the movie did not portray smith historically . the goal of this movie was to tell smith  s life in a way that would be  comfortable  to the lds church leaders  historical accuracy seems to have been of little concern . the movie was designed to be a  faith promoting  experience  not a balanced view of smith  as a man .  i have taken it upon myself to study smith  s life and have read both lds works and none lds works . the movie  like most lds projects  was beautifully filmed and well acted . however  this was not a realistic portrayal of either the beginnings of mormonism or smith  s relatively short life .  br    br   a significant period of time was given to reenacting an accident that smith had when he was seven . while this event was no doubt important in forming his mental outlook  it appears that the main reason for including it in the film is to help establish a sympathetic view of joseph smith . another point is in portraying smith  s teen years the film is silent regarding the smith family  s involvement in magical practices during the      s . another problem is while the movie shows joseph smith good  naturedly entering into wrestling contests  it fails to show how he sometimes lost his temper and became violent .  br    br   i could go on and on . this movie was not historical in any way and should be considered a fictional movie about a man . i would not recommend seeing this movie for any other purpose other then entertainment .  
a young woman comes to the home town of his husband after he passed away in an accident . she barely settles down in this small town  but shortly after  loses her little son in a kidnapping and all her hopes . . . this could lead to all kinds following plots in a normal movie find a new partner and being happy finally or depressed enough to struggle and finally kill herself . . . she does try to kill herself  but not after a series of severe fights  with god . she trusts in god  only to find that god seems to forgive everyone  even the killer . well  i should be careful here about god  the movie doesn  t mean a thing against god . the way the movie deals the issue is quite interesting not in the woman  s point of view or from god  s perspective  in this way  there would be lots of grass growing  clouds flying views  i suppose  . rather  it  s from a third party  s eye  the movie let us to perceive and doesn  t explain a thing .  br    br   the movie wouldn  t be so interesting were there only the woman . there  s this man who  s everywhere around the woman and obviously in love with her  but in his own way . he  s a funny guy  like a clown i should say  who shamelessly hangs around our heroine . the combination of these two  the woman full of tension  crying and throwing up always  and the man  smiling and talking stupidly  ends up in a good balance of emotions nothing absurdly wrong or too tedious .  br    br   highly recommend .  
i saw this film over the weekend and while i was impressed as always with the beauty and polish of church  produced films  i left disappointed that this one fell so short  failing to inform members and leaving investigators with many unanswered questions .  br    br   the film is   minutes of vignettes from the life of joseph smith . it  s not a true biopic because there  s no real coherent narrative . most of the episodes concern joseph doing good deeds  playing baseball  running races and laughing with children  often in sloooow motion . what a great  just folks kind of guy that joseph was  huh  look at him out there beating rugs for his wife emma . well  howzbout the rugs of his   plural wives   no mention whatsoever is made of polygamy . a glaring omission .  br    br   and it is in such omissions where the film falters . it supplies too little information and leaves critical thinking audience members wondering why is joseph getting tarred and feathered  why is he getting thrown in jail and why does that mob want to kill him  the film  s climax is of course joseph and hyrum  s trek to carthage jail  riding past a veritable united nations of faces looking out from nauvoo  s doorways  . but no mention is ever made about why . nothing about smith suppressing the nauvoo expositor newspaper and ordering its press destroyed for its revealing the secret teaching of polygamy . the audience is left to wonder or to assume it  s just more baseless persecution of the church . no mention of joseph being charged with treason for declaring martial law and calling out the nauvoo militia .  br    br   of course i certainly did not expect this church  produced film to present the joseph of richard bushman  s recent biography rough stone rolling  but i was surprised and taken aback at just how little of substance was actually presented .  br    br   and worse  what substance that was presented was often inaccurate . two examples jumped out at me . first  the translation of the book of mormon . the film shows joseph reading right off the golden plates in their two  ring binder  which plates in reality were hidden far from the site . it  s well known that joseph did his translating by burying his face in his hat  peering at the seer stone in there . the second inaccuracy occurs at carthage jail  where the mob storms the cell . the history of the church reports that joseph had a six  shooter and even fired off a few rounds before jumping out the window and giving the masonic signal of distress  as reported in times  seasons  .  br    br   maybe showing the reality of the gunfight would have shattered the heart  tugging mood the filmmakers had created  but by omitting it they were unfaithful to history and failed to show joseph as he really was handy with a gun and able to defend himself . in fact  the impression the film gives is that joseph was a nice guy  but also something of a milquetoast that everybody beat up  tossed in jail and eventually murdered in cold blood . he was far from that joseph was a disciplined and determined man who endured a lot of hardship and struggle to bring to fruition that in which he believed .  br    br   see the film  but know going in that  s it  s cotton candy . then get your meat and potatoes by reading a copy of bushman  s biography of smith  rough stone rolling  br    br   ps church  produced films have no credits  but seasoned eyes can pick out a couple familiar faces . rick macy is excellent as joseph smith  sr . and bruce newbold  beloved as thomas in finding faith in christ  here plays the cranky methodist minister who failed to show christian love to a young seeker after truth .  
i love korean films because they have the ability to really  quiet eerily really  capture real life . i tend to watch korean movies just for that reason alone . i  ve seen this directors other movies before . the one that comes closest to the feelings i got from this is oasis and another awesome film called this charming girl .  br    br   however  my title summary is supposed to be from a chrstian perspective so i  ll just start doing that instead of just showering it with praise .  br    br   for a non christian perspective director chang  dong lee has captured an unbiased and almost eerily real portrayal of a modern protestant church  regardless of denomination  warts and all . i  ve always been waiting for a christian film that truly portrays the darker recesses of church life . because christian films tend to speak in a language that is different to those they want to share their faith to . many films with religious undertones  though having good motives  tend to just have the resonance of a disney film or after school special . they need to show life as it is . real people curse  real people lust  real people fall . and though christians believe that salvation is available to those that seek it  we are still challenged by the everyday horrors of this life . and do  yeon jeon  s character is a totally honest and almost brutal portrayal of a woman that found god  but because of life  s bitter realities  loses that love for him she once had . she doesn  t deny god exists . it is just that she refuses to accept to live with the idea that he is an all loving and forgiving god .  br    br   in her decent to the edges of morality and madness  her character asks questions that are in the mind of every one  religious or not .  br    br    if god is love  why does he allow such terrible things to happen   this film doesn  t answer that  rightly so . and i believe the last   minutes of the film  though open to interpretation  leaves us with a hopeful future for our main character and brings the idea of  secret sunshine  full circle .  br    br   i don  t believe for a second that this film tried to be religious or had in any way tried and set out to be that . there in lies the reason why it worked even more . it  s real  it  s honest . and because of that  it is by far the best summation of a real christian life i have seen on film .  
damn  i thought i  d seen some bad westerns . can  t top this one though . hell i think i  d rather have my eyes stapled open for a trinity triple feature for cryin out loud . i dont think i  ll be able to watch ben hur again without laughing my ass off . just really bad .  br    br   but hey  if you like stupid westerns with acknowledged stars in the thing take a peek at shoot out with gregory peck . it  s just as bad  but much funnier .      
i have no idea what the other reviewer is talking about  this was a wonderful movie  and created a sense of the era that feels like time travel . the characters are truly young  mary is a strong match for byron  claire is juvenile and a tad annoying  polidori is a convincing beaten  down sycophant . . . all are beautiful  curious  and decadent . . . not the frightening wrecks they are in gothic .  br    br   gothic works as an independent piece of shock film  and i loved it for different reasons  but this works like a merchant and ivory film  and was from my readings the best capture of what the summer must have felt like . romantic  yes  but completely rekindles my interest in the lives of shelley and byron every time i think about the film . one of my all  time favorites .  
stereotyped  derivative  unoriginal and boring western . the two popular stars  charlton heston and james coburn  both give performances that are far from their best  and justifiably so they both have superficial roles and character traits stated mainly by dialogue . heston is a sheriff who  liked the world better as it used to be before  and coburn is an outlaw who  owes something to the man who locked him up and has to pay his debt  . additionally  heston is so old that he has trouble riding a horse and coburn is mean and tough but not as cold  blooded a killer as some of the minor villains . apparently  the filmmakers couldn  t come up with even one original idea about how to make this movie somewhat distinguished .        
i would love to comment on this film . alas  my search has always endeth in vain . if any good citizen could help a desperate inhabitant of this ailing planet and restore his confidence in humanity by offering the whereabouts of either a uk vhs or loan him a dvd copy of the vhs he would  without reservation  be eternally grateful . . . . .  br    br   blake wrote  the road to excess is the path to wisdom   one hopes my weary road of excess will offer the path to fruition . . . . if not  i will have to replay the excellent mr russel  s gothic in the knowledge that those who have seen haunted summer  for better or for worse  have enriched their viewing pleasure of the events of july     whilst i  a fellow member of this melodious plot  rests his lonely case in solitude . . .  
by     the western was an exhausted genre and the makers of this film clearly knew it . still  instead of shelving the project and saving us from having to watch it  they went ahead and made it anyway . apparently in need of an interesting thread to get the audiences to come and see the film  they decided to make it as blatantly violent and unpleasant as possible . hell  it worked for the wild bunch so why shouldn  t it work here  of course  the wild bunch had the benefit of a superb script but the script of the last hard men is plain old  fashioned rubbish .  br    br   it  s hard to figure out what attracted charlton heston and james coburn to their respective roles . heston plays a retired lawman who goes after an escaped bunch of convicts led by a violent outlaw  coburn  . the hunt becomes even more personal when heston  s daughter  barbara hershey  is kidnapped by the convicts and subjected to sexual degradation .  br    br   this is a bloodthirsty film indeed in which every time someone dies it is displayed in over  the  top detail . it  s tremendously disappointing really  because the star pairing sounds like a mouth  watering prospect . there  s no sense of pace or urgency in the film either . it takes an eternity to get going  but when the action finally does come it is marred by the emphasis on nastiness . all in all  this might be the very worst film that heston ever made . i  m sure it  s one of the productions he is loathe to include on his illustrious cv .  
in this glorious telling of a weekend shared among literary greats . mary and percy shelly  lord byron and others created a entrancing group . showing their quests for sexual enlightenment . personal freedoms from political to moral . liberal drug use for both stimulations and as addiction . their creative views of life and writing . describing without boring the viewer how each writer seeks to find their muse . along with the distractions and affections each share . with breathtaking scenery that does not detract but very much enhances the story . well created characters from grim to loving then angry to peaceful . with some of the most lovely and scene enhancing costuming to be had .  
incarcerated train robber near yuma breaks free his chain  gang and heads for the retired sheriff responsible for killing his wife  as well as a hidden stash of gold which remains hidden thanks to the screenwriter  . attempt to bring the western genre up  to  date with     s  style violence and brutality isn  t even in the same league as some of the new  fangled westerns which came out of the late     s . it is impossibly simple and square  with the female characters merely around as punching  bags and possible rape victims . as the former sheriff back in command  charlton heston gives one of his laziest  least  inspired performances ever  he has one good moment  attempting to read a letter and fumbling for his glasses  . james coburn  as the half  mad half  breed  is pretty much on auto  pilot as well  but coburn has a way of turning even the hoariest dialogue and situations into something prickly and unnerving . it  s his show all the way .     from   
one of the finest films ever made  why it only got a  .  rating is a mystery . this film is a window into the world of the black experience in america . should be mandatory viewing for all white people and all children above age   . i recommend watching it with  the long walk home  as a companion piece . if you think whoopi goldberg  s work is about  homer and eddie  or  hollywood squares   think again . don  t miss this movie  which should have won the oscar .  and read the book  too    
hail bollywood and men directors   br    br   really this is the ultimate limit in utter sacrifice made by indian woman    br    br   viewing the current state of affairs in india where the wives are becoming more vicious day by day and are very possessive about their husbands  the directors . . also can be called uncle scars  refer movie the lion king  came up with a very new concept on how both the kept and the wife can live together happily ever after sharing everything between themselves . . . including the spermikins    br    br   story line  married couple  very happy  but accidentally a mishap happens and wife has a miscarriage  lost the foetus along with the capacity of ever becoming a mother   br    br   now in in india  the in  laws usually drive away the daughter  in  law if she fails to give them an heir  so the wife hits upon a major plan  surrogate mother . . . but the scientists intervened   sure artificial insemination   no said the artist  director actually    neighbourhood will come to know that the daughter  in  law is barren so they are going for surrogate mother    br    br   neighbours  society   gosh the same ones who watch fashion tv day and night  watching girls between the age group of   to   . . . al in bras and panties  well those neighbors suddenly take an upper hand in family planning and decision making    br    br   so the wife sends away her husband to a beer bar where girls are dancing on the stage  all mostly uneducated and illiterate  but men love such women as they can satisfy their egos a lot   br    br   he hires the lead dancer in the pub  asks her to bear his baby  in exchange for money  she agrees  she comes home  becomes pregnant  wife and kept  both co  exist in the same house  in the mean time the prostitute also gets a taste of household life  so much caring people around  she misses them all and cries silently   in the mean time  no one in the family comes to know that the real daughter in law is roaming around with a pillow beneath her petticoat    the mother or other elderly people never took her for check  ups  nor did they try to feel the baby  s movements in the womb    
the first time my best friend and i sat down to watch this movie  we were watching it for alex winter of  bill  ted  s  fame . we didn  t know what to expect other than who and what it was about .  br    br   by the time the movie was over  we knew that it was love at first sight . this movie  while not completely historically accurate  was and is the best one of its genre . i have seen other movies depicting the history of this famous summer and in my opinion  none of the others can compare . it fibbed a little at certain details  but those parts did not take away from the sheer elegance and romance of the story . i have seen the other movies about this summer and i find most of them to be good  but none as captivating as this one .  br    br    haunted summer  has the qualities of a painting . the colors and settings seem to be something one would find on a canvas  framed and hung in a museum or on the walls of an eccentric  s home . the costumes were gorgeous and  despite not being the most comfortable clothes in the world  made me want to find a seamstress to create such garb for myself . the whole movie was set on the picturesque lake geneva  where i hope to one day go because of seeing this movie  and the serenity that these historical figures found there .  br    br   this movie shows  besides the tranquility found by all the escapees of england  s harsh judgements  the strangeness that surrounded this adventure as well . yes  there were drugs . it was a fairly common practice during that time  a time when drugs were not illegal . and the taking of laudanum  the liquid form of opium  was medicinal as well as recreational . shelley suffered from consumption . lord byron suffered the pains of a clubbed foot . it was not surprising that there would be prescriptions of the strong drugs that were in their possession during that summer . and they were poets during a time when experience was the key . there was no time for prudish caution . passion and experience were a big part of the romantic era . and out of the thoughts and discussions of science  religion and philosophy came the creation of a legend  frankenstein .   br    br   yes  in this movie  we see the beautiful and liberated mary godwin  not married to shelley at that time  played by beautiful and talented alice krige . she is the control factor to all that goes on until she  too  gives in to experience . but she stands her ground and experiences things on her own terms . as was the strength that she inherited from her mother and father .  br    br   the actors and actresses in this were perfect for the parts they played . the music fitting . the direction captured the essence of the summer  as i  ve read about it . this movie was based on a wonderful book  haunted summer  by anne edwards . if you like this movie  read the book . the author takes the story from what she was able to put together from the actual journals of mary godwin shelley and the other participants of this story .  br    br   if you are a person who loves history  even the little inaccuracies from time to time  and romance and the gothic  then this is a movie for you . it shows the birth of the birth of the monster  which even today teaches us about the morals of  playing god .   br    br   a definite must see movie   
i don  t know why i  m taking the time to review this waste  of  time movie . if you stick with it long enough in hopes of a satisfying conclusion  good  bad  or surprising  don  t . it finally fizzles out after stiff  formulaic  predictable dialogue and acting . indoor scenes are so harshly lit you think if the camera were zoomed out one millimeter further you  d see the klieg lights . costumes  hair  do  s  and sets are starched  pressed  and immaculate . are we supposed to imagine common people really lived like that in early   th  century arizona  other reviews  comparisons to sam peckinpah are an insult to peckinpah at least that director wove his violence into the context of chaos and mayhem . hard men  s gore is gratuitous exploding squibs from wooden impersonations of bad guys with manicured fingernails . huh    i can believe heston thought he might have been making something of worth with this film .  he does get to clutch his gun in his cold fingers .  but coburn  i  ll never guess why he signed up for this travesty . want to see a movie about the end of the west as we knew it  the end of westerns as we knew them  watch the shootist or unforgiven again . the last hard men is a mockery of an obituary to the western .  
this an free adaptation of the novels of clarence mulford fans of the willaim boyd films will probably feel a little at sea here  and the reviews here so far reflect that  . but i knew of hopalong from the novels first  and never cared much for the boyd films once i got around to them .  br    br   christopher coppola has made a wise choice  he has not made a nostalgic  western   instead  he has approached the cassidy story as a slice of what we used to call  americana   or what older critics once called  homespun  . as the film unraveled  i found myself more and more reminded of the great  hallmark theater  version of mark twain  s  roughing it   with james garner narrating .  br    br   both these films remind us that  although films about the  old west  are probably always to be mythic for americans  they need not be  westerns   they can very well be just films about what it meant to be american in that time  in that place .  br    br   i never feel pandered to  watching this film there  s no effort to shove the boyd  cassidy legacy down our throats  no irony  no camp . consequently  i get a sense of these characters as having walked  or ridden horseback  across some real western america i too could have walked a hundred years ago .  br    br   given that  the plainness of the film  it positively avoids anything we have come to call  style   is all to its favor and the plain acting of the performers fits neatly in with this gosh  it really does feel like some story told around a campfire on a cattle drive  no visual dressing  just the quirks and good humor  and sudden violence  that we expect from the good narration of an adventure yarn . i was very pleasantly surprised by this film  and if the viewer sets aside encultured expectations  he or she will find considerable pleasure in it .  br    br   i would have given this film   stars  but i  ll give it a ten just because most reviewers here have missed the point completely and i urge them to set their memories of boyd aside and give this film another chance .  br    br   note   a reviewer complained that hopalong shoots people dead in this film  rather than shooting the guns out of their hands  ala boyd  s cassidy   first  cassidy does shoot people dead in the novels second  if cassidy were a real cowboy he would have shot people dead  the problem with shooting guns out of people  s hands is that they can always get another gun  which happens to be part of the subtext of this very film .  br    br   note   i admit that i am jealous of the coppola family  that they have the director of  the godfather  among them who can get them all opportunities to make movies that i can  t but a good movie is a good movie and this is a good movie . if it  s by somebody by the name  coppola   well  that  s just is as it is . america is the land of opportunity  or was  until bush got into office   that  s what the great american novels are all about .  
i  m going to have to disagree with the previous comment and side with maltin on this one . this is a second rate  excessively vicious western that creaks and groans trying to put across its central theme of the wild west being tamed and kicked aside by the steady march of time . it would like to be in the tradition of  butch cassidy and the sundance kid   but lacks that film  s poignancy and charm . andrew mclaglen  s direction is limp  and the final   minutes or so are a real botch  with some incomprehensible strategy on the part of heroes charlton heston and chris mitchum .  someone give me a holler if you can explain to me why they set that hillside on fire .  there was something callous about the whole treatment of the rape scene  and the woman  s reaction afterwards certainly did not ring true . coburn is plenty nasty as the half breed escaped convict out for revenge  but all of his fellow escapees are underdeveloped  they  re like bowling pins to be knocked down one by one as the story lurches forward  . michael parks gives one of his typically shifty  lethargic  mumbling performances  but in this case it was appropriate as his modern style sheriff symbolizes the complacency that technological progress can bring about .  
late one night on a desolate road  in an empty saloon martin sheen spins a yarn for robert carradine of hopalong cassidy and friends tracking a group of murderous cattle rustlers  who  ve killed a few men and kidnapped cassidy  s girl .  br    br   writer  director christopher coppola may have incurred the wrath of william boyd purists by daring to make a modern low budget film featuring their beloved hoppy  but i  m glad he did it  no character should be so tied to an an actor that no one else ever be allowed to play him or her again   br    br   i thought it was good fun and an interesting updating of the classic programmers of the thirties and forties . though guilty of some bad acting  this is earnest enough and unpretentious  making it hard for me to dislike .  br    br   the whole production is a bit odd though  but i really enjoyed the scenes between sheen and carridine . the fact that we  re watching a story within a story makes the oddness and exaggerations more palatable .  
this one came out during the western genre  s last gasp unfortunately  it emerges to be a very minor and altogether unsatisfactory effort  even if made by and with veterans in the field  to begin with  the plot offers nothing remotely new james coburn escapes from a chain gang  intent on killing the man  now retired  who put him there  charlton heston . while the latter lays a trap for him  coburn outwits heston by kidnapping his daughter  barbara hershey  . naturally  the former lawman  accompanied by hershey  s greenhorn fianc  chris mitchum   sets out in pursuit of coburn and his followers  all of whom broke jail along with him .  br    br   rather than handling the proceedings in his customary sub  fordian style  mclaglen goes for a sam peckinpah approach  with which he  s never fully at ease repellent characters  plenty of violence  and the sexual tension generated by hershey  s presence among coburn  s lusty bunch . incidentally  heston and coburn had previously appeared together in a sam peckinpah western  the troubled major dundee       i really need to pick up the restored edition of this one on dvd  though i recently taped the theatrical version in pan  and  scan format off tcm uk  . anyway  the film is too generic to yield the elegiac mood it clearly strives for  suggested also by the title   then again  both stars had already paid a fitting valediction to this most american of genres  will penny       for heston and coburn with pat garrett  billy the kid         br    br   at least  though  heston maintains a modicum of dignity here  his ageing character attempting to stay ahead of half  breed coburn by anticipating what his next move will be the latter  however  tackles an uncommonly brutish role and only really comes into his own at the climax  relishing his moment of vengeance by sadistically forcing heston to witness his associates  gang  rape of hershey  . apart from the latter  this lengthy sequence sees heston try to fool coburn with a trick borrowed from his own el cid        the villainous gang is then trapped inside a bushfire ignited by the practiced heston and the violent death of the two obsolete  protagonists  as was his fashion  heston  s demise takes the form of a gratuitous sacrifice   .  br    br   the supporting cast includes michael parks as the ineffectual town sheriff  jorge rivero as coburn  s mexican lieutenant  and larry wilcox  of the tv series chips   as the youngest member of coburn  s gang who  s assigned the task of watching over hershey  while doing his best to keep his drooling mates away   . jerry goldsmith contributes a flavorful but  at the same time  unremarkable score .  
i can  t believe others took such a serious view of all this . god  it was a lot of fun rooting for hop  a  long cassidy . it was a great tribute to the western serials of years ago . it wasn  t meant to be a great cinema experience  except it was . so what if there wasn  t a big special effects bonanza . it was a fun  tongue in cheek  look at old western  s . man  relax and enjoy .  
this film is a travesty  and isn  t fit to keep company with the superior original . the plot is an absolute mess  and the film is way too long . everytime they  re struggling  they desperately inject a sentimental reminder from the first film .  br    br    gregory  s girl  is one of the top   british films of all time  this one is awful .  
a great film  slow yes .  br    br   . . . but original  deeply atmospheric  dark and horrifying  perfectly surreal  feels like a nightmare  .  br    br   i  d compare it to david lynch  eraserhead  inland empire  blue velvet  style maybe with mixed with a little bit of barton fink and naked lunch  insects   . also a bit of jodorowsky  fando y lis  . . . .  br    br   add some night on earth  angel heart and a bit of begotten  pi   would it be wrong to mention tetsuo   jacob  s ladder  barker  s the forbidden and salome  that should form together at least the concept of a dark night . . . nuit noire .  br    br   if you  re out for avantegardistic and  or surrealistic cinema  like i am  you  re gonna like this one . if you  re expecting anything else like a movie full of action with some average plot  try your luck with something else .  br    br   final words the plot is very  very strange and unusual and that  s probably the   reason why most people who don  t appreciate this film hate it .  
watched this film having really enjoyed gregory  s girl many years ago . this was drivel . the plot was vaguely distasteful with the teacher and his friend perving over       year  old girls in very short skirts . previous commenters seem to think that this doesn  t matter  but i found it rather nasty . if you have children at school then the last thing you want is to think that every youngish teacher is lusting after his pupils . we were surprised that the censor let that through . apart from that the film was just a waste of time . the script was poor and john gordon sinclair trying too hard to recreate his schoolboy image  slightly wacky and off the wall . why anyone would want to lust after him in this performance is incredible . this film failed on all counts for me . dreadful . please don  t waste your time watching it . life  s too short  
this film is amazing  it  s just like a nightmare . the bizarre story  the dark decors  the swarming insects everywhere  the idea jumps and the surrealistic dreams . . . really great  people who love cult movies or very dark thrillers will find this fantastic . it seems a little to the films of david lynch the strange story  the bizarre dreams  the red curtains . nuit noire contains almost no plot . it  s rather a succession of surrealistic happenings  nightmares and meetings . that  s a drawback . if the film had a really fascinating plot full of tension with a captivating denouement  i would give it a   out of   . but that  s missing  and that  s why i gave the movie an  . nuit noire is a film worth watching . search that dvd and you  ll be rewarded   
first of all my heartfelt commiserations to anyone who bought a cinema ticket in the hope of seeing a film in the same mould as the fantastic gregory  s girl and local hero but ended up leaving the theatre feeling disappointed and vaguely cheated . while it  s true that sequels are usually  bar a few notable exceptions  a mistake and exist merely to provide studio executives with an opportunity to cash in on the success of a previous film by offering us either a thinly disguised retread of the original story or a plot line so far removed from the intentions of the original that the resulting film makes no sense . in the case of gregory  s two girls  bill forsyth has the dubious honour of managing to commit both sins  on the one hand revisiting the plot of gregory  s girl  while at the same time serving up a frankly incredible and moronic storyline involving scottish arms dealers . schoolboy gregory is now a teacher at the same school where at the tender age of sixteen  he harboured a hopeless passion for the football playing dorothy . although now thirty five  gregory still harbours a hopeless passion but now for the football playing frances  also sixteen  despite the fact that music teacher  bel has made it clear that she is attracted to him . his passion for frances and his desire to impress her lead to his involvement in a scheme to expose a local arms dealer who also happens to be an old schoolfriend . there  s no point in going any further as the rest of the story is forgettable and the ending makes no real sense at all . the main problem lies with the character of gregory himself  in that there is no sign of the endearing and charming sixteen year old gregory who actively and comically pursues dorothy convinced that he would eventually win her over . at thirty five  gregory is presented to us as a rather sad and friendless creature whose life is neither active nor comic . outside of work his time is spent watching videos of noam chomsky and reading magazines about international injustices . as his friends and family from the previous film have seemingly vanished  save two pointless scenes with his younger sister  who no longer offers him advice or seems at all interested in his life  we are left confused about what it is gregory really wants  who he is and why he is the way he is . why for example is he friendless  why does he never see his father  who is clearly still alive  why has he returned to teach at the school he once attended  why is he so interested in noam chomsky and injustice  why has he become so apathetic  why is he attracted to frances  why isn  t he attracted to bel until the last twenty minutes of the film  what in heaven  s name do bel or frances see in him as he is neither drop dead gorgeous or even interesting  why does he continue to try and impress frances even after he and bel have become an item and when their association threatens to completely disrupt his life  are we really to believe that a scottish arms dealer openly selling weapons of torture to oppressive regimes could manage to evade media scrutiny but fall foul of a couple of school  kids  does gregory really think that dumping a handful of computers into the sea will change anything  to make matters worse  actor john gordon sinclair attempts to rehash his performance as the adolescent gregory right down to the facial expressions and awkward body language . unfortunately on a thirty five year old it just comes across as odd and vaguely creepy . on top of that  it  s hard to feel any sympathy for  or empathy with a teacher who has erotic dreams involving sex with one of their uniform wearing pupils while they both lie on a pile of gym mats . rather than being amusing it simply smacks of paedophilia . it  s hard to know what was going through bill forsyth  s head when he wrote this script or why he thought fans of the original film would embrace a story so completely lacking in the charm  wit and warmth that turned the first movie into a classic . i can only assume that the plan was to craft a film about a man who was refusing to grow up and commit to adult life and perhaps whose happiest memory was of being sixteen and pursuing the best looking girl in the school but who by degrees is forced to accept that a life lived in the past is no life at all . that at least could have been the basis of a film which was thematically interesting and intelligent . as it is gregory  s two girls adds up    wasted and pointless minutes saying nothing and signifying even less . gregory  s girl was responsible for launching bill forsyth  s career  here  s hoping that gregory  s two girls won  t be responsible for sinking it .  
extremely interesting and intriguing movie . the similarities to david lynch  who is even quoted literally by the presence of red curtains in the film  and the novels of franz kafka  the house keeper in this film is called mrs . grubach  as is the one in der prozess . . .  are clearly present but in this case are accompanied by clear references to the colonial past of belgium in africa . the exact content of the movie i can not clearly describe this colonialism is an important part  as is the inability to cope with such a past  but the personal memories of the main character are a central issue as well  and his quest for social contact and love . these are the symbolic themes i deduced from the movie  but in fact they  re no more than impressions .  br    br   but even if you just try to follow the linear story without these symbolic backgrounds  you still will discover an extremely fascinating movie filled with splendid imagery  beautiful close ups of beatles  larvas and other nasty insects are alternated with great dream sequences and also the dark atmosphere lends the film extra style  . maybe you can say that i didn  t quite  get  the film  but i have been watching like hypnothised for  .  hour  deeply impressed by the visual quality and the fascinating mysteriosity .  
as one of the few commentators not to have seen the  st film  i found this to be a very disappointing movie .  br    br   yes  it has a funny awkward type of humour if you can bear the  highly  morally dubious premise . however  it fails abysmally in the important areas .  br    br   there is thin and nonsensical plot line involving gordon sinclair  s generous friend who may or may not be entwined in a conspiracy to supply dangerous electronics to third world countries  possibly in free computers . . . or possibly not . vague  long  winded and inconclusive . the lack of any substantial ending is so infuriating and what is present is pompous and wholly illogical . the film feels half  finished .  br    br   suspension of disbelief is extremely difficult when witnessing a very attractive female teacher  maria doyle kennedy  can be drawn to gordon sinclair  s unimpressive character  especially when he fends off her advances . laughable . it worsens later in the film when he achieves his romantic ambitions then throws it all away for some ideals based on very little evidence of ambiguous value .  br    br   not many films leave me feeling cheated  but i felt my time was stolen .  
back in the forties  when movies touched on matters not yet admissible in  polite  society  they resorted to codes which supposedly floated over the heads of most of the audience while alerting those in the know to just what was up . probably no film of the decade was so freighted with innuendo as the oddly obscure desert fury  set in a small gambling oasis called chuckawalla somewhere in the california desert . proprietress of the purple sage saloon and casino is the astonishing mary astor  in slacks and sporting a cigarette holder into town drives her handful  of  a  daughter  lizabeth scott  looking  in technicolor  like    million bucks . but listen to the dialogue between them  which suggests an older lesbian and her young  restless companion  one can only wonder if a . i . bezzerides  original script made this relationship explicit  . even more blatant are john hodiak as a gangster and wendell corey as his insanely jealous torpedo . add burt lancaster as the town sheriff  stir  and sit back . both lancaster and  surprisingly  hodiak fall for scott . it seems  however  that hodiak not only has a past with astor  but had a wife who died under suspicious circumstances . the desert sun heats these ingredients up to a hard boil  with face  slappings aplenty and empurpled exchanges . don  t pass up this hothouse melodrama  chock full of creepily exotic blooms  if it comes your way it  s a remarkable movie .  
i  ve seen  far too  many flicks from this company  this one is about middle of the pack . one the good side  its a bit more stylized and under control than some of their fare  less of the sophomoric attempts at humor and more adherence to story  for what its worth  . many of their titles  like sexy sixth sense  are buried by baaaad performances and an amateurish sensibility . on the other side  i found the simulated sex scenes not as hot as some of their other flicks  like vampire vixens  gladiator eroticus  spiderbabe or mistress frankenstein  .  br    br   misty mundae is always a   on the peter meter  as is darian caine . i found barbara joyce hot in a school  marm kinda way  and ruby larocca a sexy little hottie .  br    br   watch this with the remote firmly in your  free  hand  on a night when you need a break from porn . don  t waste your time wanting to check the story  you  ve got better things to do w  your life . it is not a movie  it  s pure ta  but not bad by that standard .  
the fourth man  paul verhoeven  netherlands      .  br    br   a film based on a novella by gerard reve  that works best as a thriller . that  s quite surprising  considering reve roughly needs a hundred pages for just a minor plot twist and tension is the last thing on my mind when reading his work .  br    br    the fourth man  is top  heavy on symbolism . paul verhoeven is generally extremely preoccupied with proving something to mostly hostile critics and i  m never sure what it is exactly he is trying to prove . he usually underestimates his audience and tells his story in such an unsubtle way  he quickly diverges from the original idea or storyline  and almost seems to forget what needs to be seen on screen and what needs to be left out . in  the fourth man  he is not as explicit on detailing the plot as he is with sex and nudity  of which there  s plenty  but  as in most of his films  he seems afraid the audience wouldn  t get it and hammers home the story with overt symbolism mixed with some supposedly shocking nudity and graphic sex scenes . there  s hardly a scene without sex or full  frontal nudity  most of it so maddeningly gratuitous and in your face  it undermines an otherwise good story .  br    br   nevertheless  when you can cope with verhoeven  s pretty obvious satiric approach  it  s quite an entertaining thriller at times with some intriguing plot twists and good performances all round  thom hoffman and jeroen krabb in particular .  br    br   camera obscura         
terry west had a good idea w this movie . he just didn  t flesh it thru . there are endless shots of the creepy looking school  s exteriors that go on forever and probably to pad the film  s running time . also at this school there are only  students . misty mundae is good as usual but this film will always belong to ruby larocca  which is the only reason to watch the film in the beginning  . if the script centered on her interesting character we  d have a movie to watch . she is so gorgeous   good news for dvd buyers  terry west  s earlier  and better  film  blood for the muse  is a special feature . one thing i  d like to say is that this movie feels like someone who  s not good at delivering the punch line at the end of a long joke for the ending feels that very same way . then again  just watch this for ruby larocca .  
most people know paul verhoeven as the director of many good  and bad  sci  fi movies in hollywood . but long before that he was churning out generic thrillers in his native land . the story is a basic femme fatale premise  nothing new or enthralling . verhoeven thinks he can make it better by adding in a series of dream sequences  which instead of defining our main character and his situation  are just used as a way to drive forward the predictable plot . the screenplay was solid  the dialogue helping to pad the effects of the bland story . what really made the movie at at least good was some terrific acting . jereone krabbe was amazing as the  tortured artist   and the supporters were very good as well . also  jan de bont  s cinematography adds at least some life to the film  helping to make verhoeven look at least capable as a director .  br    br    .      br    br              
some films are so bad that they  re good . this is clearly not one of them . based on a true story  this film was about as true to the story as pinocchio  s chances of becoming a real boy . the acting was terrible  the direction was poor  and it travelled way too fast . it was as if the director just wanted to get it over and done with and go home .  br    br   nor did melissa joan hart ever strike me as a talented actress  but then every film she made was pretty low  budget anyway . like most of her other films  she lets down her characters by hamming them up too much  talking too quickly as if speeding up her words is going to make her more dramatic . she really brings out the sense that there is a crew in front of her and she  s talking to a camera  when she should be engaging the viewer in her character . it pretty much lets down the whole film  and any leg that it may have had left to stand on  is ruined .  br    br   probably the only good thing about the film is when she got nailed in the end . but even that wasn  t satisfying enough to subdue my loathing for such a bad film .  br    br   watch it if your taste in film is blander than a piece of dry toast .  
this film captured my heart from the very beginning  when hearing quincy jones  first notes or seeing the wonderful color of purple of the flowers in the meadows . this is truly a film to cry and die for . . .  the whole cast gives the best performance in a film i  ve seen in years and spielberg has really outdone himself  whoppi goldberg  margaret avery  oprah winfrey  oh lord    danny glover  and the others  all give us their best and you can feel it  almost touch it  goldberg is celie  she gives her that insecurity and feeling of inferiority that is needed for the character  and we grow with her  we grow strong together with her  throughout the movie  and we triumph with her . margaret avery is wonderful as shug avery  even when she  s at her most arrogant  and shows us that  sinners   indeed   have souls too  . the always sympathetic  charming danny glover makes a marvellous job at making people hate him and the magnificent music of  i  d say sir  quincy jones adds even more beauty to this splendid film  the photography  the music  the director and the music makes this beautiful  soulful movie into an experience of life . you don  t want to miss it   sista  . . . remember my name . . .   
the plot line of no one sleeps is not a bad idea  and the subject matter is of quite a bit of interest . but  throughout watching this film  we were saying aloud   these filmmakers go to the trouble of finding good locations  the lighting is good  makeup and hair are good . . . why is the sound so bad   throughout the film the sound was echoy  garbled and much of the dialog was unintelligible .  br    br   there is some good acting in this film  and i think jim thalman is really a good actor . this story  with some of the same actors  would have been worth doing as a high  budget film .  br    br   i just can  t reiterate enough  if you have a limited budget  dedicate more to good sound . sound is as much a part of a film as the image  and it  s worth doing right . could  ve earned a  .  
jerome crabbe has the lead role in this movie . i saw this movie  times and i still am not tired of it . this movie is similar to flesh  blood in some ways . gerald soetman is a great writer . he wrote all of paul verhoeven  s dutch films . paul verhoeven is one of the greatest directors . i have seen all of his movies all except for showgirls . my mom does not like him so much but i disagree . i think all of his films are a ride to watch especially total recall and basic instinct . jerry goldsmith did some of his movies which include total recall  basic instinct and hollow man . i wish jerry goldsmith never died . dutch films are different but still enjoyable .  
i  d heard about this movie a while ago from a friend and she recently got it on dvd . there was a lot of anticipation and excitement as we  d both heard that this was a terrifying film  really scary . how disappointed was i   very     apart from that one scene  we all know which bit  nothing happened    i was expecting to see the woman in black a few times and for her to do a few more jumpy scenes  like appear at the window or walk across the hall or something .  br    br   nearly all the reviews here say what a scary  gripping  atmospheric movie this is . i just didn  t see it i  m afraid . maybe there  s a difference in what people find scary in the us to here in britain .  br    br   a big let down after all the hyped reviews    
awful dreams  wild premonitions  blasphemy and homosexual fantasies permeate paul verhoeven  s  arguable  masterpiece of a true femme fatale who loves her men then kills them . filled with blood and occasional gore  the fourth man is truly neurosis inducing . men will literally leap when renee swings out her scissors . . . . . .  
roeg has done some great movies  but this a turkey . it has a feel of a play written by an untalented high  school student for his class assignment . the set decoration is appealing in a somewhat surrealistic way  but the actual story is insufferable hokum .  
an occasionally surrealistic thriller that will push most people  s buttons .  the  th man is sure to offend anyone with a taste for the politically correct . the story  s protagonist is a bisexual alcoholic catholic writer  gerard  krabbe   with a seriously twisted sense of imagination . verhoeven offers up  br    br   gerard has an example of everything wrong with the modern man . he  s shiftless  delusional  unable to control his urges  afraid to commit to  br    br   meaningful relationships  and utterly apathetic about life in general . as the character himself states at one point  he is a professional liar  unable to recall the truth .  br    br   the movie opens with gerard dreaming of spiders consuming christ  and then waking to begin the long march to his own destruction . he chases off  br    br   one man  a boyfriend presumably   then chases another at a train station . later  at a lecture  he meets a woman who seems to want to help him  or  br    br   perhaps she has more nefarious plans . . she quickly captures gerard in her web  enticing him with sex and money  having plenty of both . she  s also got  br    br   secrets  like three dead husbands . is she lonely  and genuinely looking for someone to nurture  or is she a deadly black widow  luring gerard to his  br    br   death  will garard be the  th man she kills  the woman is christine  soutendijk   and verhoeven does his best to keep you guessing what she  s up to .  br    br   this is an interesting movie  with a lot of sex and intrigue . it  s similar to verhoeven  s  em  basic instinct   em   but has a lot more depth  and is certainly more shocking . there  s a lot of very strong gay content  which may make some viewers squirm . highly recommended for fans of intelligent  br    br   psychological thrillers  or anyone looking for something entirely new .  
our teacher showed us this movie in first grade . i haven  t seen it since . i just watched the trailer though . does this look like a first grade movie to you  i don  t think so . i was so horrified by this movie  i could barely watch it . it was mainly the scene with shirley mcclain cutting that little girl in half  and then there was the boy with ketchup  i was freaked out by this film . now today  being    i probably would not feel that way . i just wanted to share my experience and opinion that maybe small children shouldn  t see this movie  even though it  s pg . be aware of the possible outcomes of showing this to kids . i don  t even remember what it was about  once was enough   
the first time i saw this film in the theatre at a foreign film festival  i thought it intriguing  fascinating  the sensitive bi  sexual artist . so very european  so very dutch  i recently rented it for a second viewing and could hardly keep from laughing at that overworked theme of the mad writer with a religious  sexual orientation persecution complex . get a grip  this guy is a freeloader  living off of society . i suspect that the real reason he is having these fantasy  nightmares about the  spiderwoman  is that his guilt complex is kicking in after year  s of ignoring mother  s advice about getting into cars  and bed  with strangers  not only is he making outrageous sums of  probably taxfree  loot for making up stories  lying guilt trip  but he is too cheap to pay for a hair cut  hence he hustles the beauty salon owner . then he has the nerve to complain about the bill  but i also suspect the world has changed alot since this film was made . on a serious note it was entertaining to see some of jan de bont  s camera work and one of paul verhoeven  s earlier films . hmmm  maybe the world hasn  t changed so very much after all   
in the days before gore and sex took over  real horror films were made . castle of blood is  in my estimation  one of the finest  although other reviewers have given it mixed ratings . in an odd sort of way it reminds of the more recent the others  which was in the theaters a couple of years ago .  br    br   director antonio margheriti remade his own picture in     titling it this time web of the spider  aka nella stretta morsa del ragno  . why he did this i do not understand  although the remake starred anthony franciosa and klaus kinski and was very good in its own right . perhaps he saw a good story and wished to tailor it more to american audiences . i do not really know . it is interesting that he did the original in black and white and the remake in color .  br    br   castle of blood is excellent italian gothic . la danza macabra is said to be an unpublished work of edgar allen poe  who  appears  in this film . poe and lord blackwood  owner of a haunted castle  bet american writer alan foster  george riviere  that he cannot spend all souls night in said castle and survive . foster eagerly accepts the bet but soon regrets it  for he is witness to a series of murders committed by ghosts . it seems that the ghosts come back to life once every few years but are doomed to re  enact the crimes they committed in life . lord blackwood conveniently forgot to tell foster that his blood is needed for them to resurrect themselves on the next all souls night   br    br   it does not take foster and the beautiful elisabeth blackwood  portrayed by the incomparable barbara steele  long to fall in love  even though their romance is doomed  because elisabeth is one of the ghosts . i will not give the ending away  but will just say that castle of blood is every bit a romantic tragedy as it is a horror story .  br    br   comments . this film is greatly atmospheric  even by the excellent standards of the italians . my personal opinion is they do true horror better than anybody  and the somewhat dim black and white filming only enhances this . in fairness  web of the spider was fine in its own right  even with color and greater brightness . i loved the lingering shots  something most modern day directors do not have the patience for . indeed  when alan first enters the doomed castle  we are treated to several minutes of him doing nothing but roaming around from room to room  the dread ands unease building in his face and mannerisms . by the time the first ghost appears  the audience is thoroughly primed and ready . there is wonderful dialogue between alan and the ghosts  something else not often done in standard ghost stories . there are also memorable scenes  very visual for this type of film . elisabeth  s  murder  and the dance scene  reminds somewhat of the similar dance of the ghouls in      s carnival of souls  were particularly good .  br    br   sadly  few general interest viewers will ever hear of  much less see  this film . that is a shame  for this one is a cut above the rest . i got my copy from sinister cinema and am not certain if it can be purchased anywhere else . for persons interested in this genre  it is a must see .  
when you read the summary of this film  you might come to think that this is something of an odd film and in some ways it is  for the primary character of this film  gerard reve  jeroen krabb  is haunted by visions and hallucinations . the visions gerard see are all  more or less  subtle hints to what will happen to him as the story continues and it is great fun for the viewer to try and figure out the symbolism used in the film . despite the use of symbolism and a couple of hints to the ending of the film  the film maintains a very high level of excitement throughout and does not get boring for one minute . this is mostly due to the great performances of jeroen krabb and rene soutendijk  christine  and the great direction of the whole by paul verhoeven . his directing style is clearly visible and one can say  looking at it from different angles  that  de vierde man  is a typical verhoeven film . it will not only seem typical for people familiar with his american films because of the nudity and the graphic violent scenes  but it will also seem typical for people familiar with his dutch films  because of the same things and his talent to tell a great story . when people watch verhoevens american films  short sighted people might say  he has no talent in telling a good story and only focuses on blood and sex . that is what some people think  whereas i think that he is a very talented director who tries to convey a deeper message in each with each film . although not a good film  hollow man  his last american film  is an example that verhoeven can do more than science fiction splatter movies and maybe companies should trust him more and offer him more various films to helm . he needs that . just watch his dutch films . not only do they show that he needs a certain amount of freedom  but they also show that he has remarkable talent .  de vierde man  brought him one step closer to hollywood and is certainly one of his best .  br    br    out of    
first of all  i would just like to say to everyone who has seen this movie  that the actor who played the  transvestite  is one of my friends  his name is robert dugdale  he  s a terrific actor  although it doesn  t say much about his filmography  he  s been in several plays and musicals . he is currently residing in terrace b . c . that is where i am from  he comes over to our house almost every saturday laughs okay  now about the movie  i wouldn  t recomend this to anyone who hasn  t seen it  for it is not a movie worth watching  the main reason i found it to be a bad movie is it never stays in place  it keeps bouncing back between time  so kinda hard to follow at some points  and second  its really boring laughs although the acting is great  the movie just doesn  t compare .  
offbeat  slow  paced  entertaining erotic thriller with many graphic and  blasphemous  scenes that will undoubtedly disturb some viewers . however  it  ll be hard even for them not to appreciate the several imaginative sequences this film contains  or to ignore krabbe  s first  rate performance . verhoeven maintains an intriguing ambivalence throughout the film  playing with the meaning of the hero  s visions  omens . unfortunately  in the last  minutes everything turns into a blur  and the unsatisfying ending is certainly not as good as the rest of the movie .     
although bette davis did a wonderful job as mildred  i felt that the film wasn  t the best i had seen . at the end of the movie i was left feeling like there was something missing in it .  br    br   bette davis did a perfect job  though  and she made me hate her and pity her all the while . leslie howard did very good as the lovelorn philip carey  and i so pitied him throughout the movie for being in love with such a horrible dame . it  s such a sad thing when one finds him  herself in love with a bad seed . and especially if it  s someone like philp carey  who is a sensitive person  though pathetic .  br    br   in the end  the acting was what came through and not the plot . the ending scene was particularly good  but i am not one to give it away . although others may find this movie good  i was one who found it so  so . i should recommend this movie to those who like a bad seed so they can see what may happen to them if they find themselves in love with that horrible person .  
basically  i like verhoeven film because in his film  i enjoy a brilliant pscychosexual story that i have seen before in  basic instinct  . it is really a wonderful thriller i enjoyed very much . so it is obviously for me to watch this another verhoeven movie .  br    br   well  it is his previous direction before his block buster hit  basic instinct  and for that i was very much curious to watch that movie and yeah  the movie has fulfilled my hope and expectation .  br    br   this movie  the fourth man  is a brilliant pscychosexual drama which is a lit bit complex for some audiences . the story of this movie is about a gay writer named  reve   krabbe   an alcoholic person who is lives by his own moral values and sees many visions that may warn him from a future accident . after the end of his lecture  he introduce a seductive woman named  christine   who has a mysterious past she doesn  t want to reveal . reve do sex with her at her house as she is a boy . next morning  he watch her sexy  macho boyfriend  s picture on her table  the person he met at the station . he is curious to meet him and tell christine to invite him to her house .  br    br   that  s it . i don  t want to reveal the entire story because it is a verhoeven movie and the end of the film is really surprising   br    br   especially  i like the character  reve  which is brilliantly played by  krabbe  . i basically like his acting because as a gay person i am purely identified with his character and yeah i like his charming face .  br    br   i would like thanks mr . verhoeven to make such a black comedy .  br    br   i rate this movie   out of   .  
w . somerset maugham  s of human bondage is supposed to be a english language classic . if so  much must have been missing from the film version here . phillip  s  leslie howard  attraction to mildred  bette davis  is so utterly inexplicable as to make the scenario seem like the post  breakup retelling of a relationship from the man  s point of view . being a family lawyer i  ve heard many such accounts the man depicts himself as noble and always correct  and the woman is a hellion who has had no other objective than to exploit the man .  br    br   indeed  unless one is willing to laugh at the social assumptions of the film maker  this is an uncomfortable movie to watch . phillip even indulges mildred when she brings over a baby of indeterminate paternity  but the real high point comes when phillip allows mildred  enraged and now of dubious sanity  the free run of his flat  with predictable results . bette davis was attractive for about five years of her life  but that period didn  t occur here . in fact  by the end of the movie she looks a lot like the baby jane character she would play thirty years later .  br    br   i note how howard  s character is always impeccably dressed and groomed . it tells me that phillip craves middle class respectability . someone like that could not run from a woman with a course cockney accent fast enough . phillip is  for most of the movie  a student such a person would have been more believable if he had been younger  and had the disheveled looks that bespeak the low income and the low self esteem that often accompanies student status  an english raskolnikov  as it will . and balanced that by allowing mildred a modicum of charm .  
in it  s time  this movie had controversy written all over it  like most of verhoeven  s projects  .  br    br   containing very graphic depictions death  scenes a parachute that doesn  t open smack guys body on the floor . a guy being eaten by a lion chomp teeth in the throat . and a guy being run over by a speedboat zoom bloody corpse going down .  br    br   but besides gore  this flick also contains some brilliant  and stunningly beautiful  scenes  filmed in the gray fisher  s town that is vlissingen  br    br   thousands of rosebuds flying over the screen  in a somewhat irrelevant part of the movie  a beautiful  holy  woman putting flowers in a milk  can  surrounded by slabs of blood  dripping meat and a steamy love scene between two male characters  in a graveyard .  br    br   the story is concluded in a frantic  but fulfilling   minutes  that don  t disappoint  and will leave you sighing a breath of relief .  br    br   of course with the pros come the cons  some special  effects are too over  the  top  and are obviously done to see how far verhoeven could push the gore  factor  e . g . the several eyeballs hanging out of their sockets  . also  while the two lead actors   jeroen krabb and rene soutendijk   do an excellent job of breathing life into their characters  the character of herman  portrayed by the rather un  charming thom hoffman  just feels enormously underdeveloped  making him hard to care for  even after his tragic death .  br    br   i  ve done my best to give you a slight idea of what to expect of this amazing movie  and as you can see  it  s not easily summed up in words . so do yourself a favor  if you happen to find this movie somewhere  watch it  and enjoy the unique style and substance of this masterpiece .  
there  s a lot the matter with helen and none of it  s good . shelley winters and debbie reynolds play mothers of a pair of leopold  loeb like killers who move from the mid  west to hollywood to escape their past . reynolds  a starstruck jean harlow wannabe  opens a dance studio for children and winters is her piano player . soon winters  as helen  begins to crack up . it  s all very slow going and although there are moments of real creepiness  nasty phone calls  a visit from wino timothy carey   the movie is devoid of any real horror . nevertheless  it  s still worthy entertainment . the acting divas are fine and the production values are terrific . a music score by david raskin  cinematography by lucien ballard and oscar  nominated costumes contribute mightily . with this  a place in the sun and lolita to her credit  does anyone do crazy as well as winters  directed by curtis harrington  a master at this type of not quite a  movie exploitation . in addition to carey  the oddball supporting cast includes dennis weaver  agnes moorehead  as a very aimee semple mcpherson like evangelist   yvette vickers and michel macliammir  the irish orson welles  as hamilton starr  aptly nicknamed hammy .  
gerard is a writer with a somewhat overactive imagination . he is also homosexual and catholic prone to catholic guilt and something of a clairvoyant  or so it seems . on a trip to flushing he is  seduced  by christine . when he discovers that christine  s new boyfriend is the bit of rough trade he  s been fancying from afar he decides to stick around . after all  enforced heterosexuality has its compensations . then he realizes that christine  s previous three husbands have all died violent deaths . did christine murder them and is he or the boyfriend  herman  going to be  the fourth man   verhoeven  s overheated  over  egged melodrama is a delicious blend of hitchcock and david lynch  full of ott eroticism and religious imagery and an awful lot of the colour red . a lot of the time it looks and feels like a dream and we can never be sure that what we are seeing is real or a figment of gerard  s imagination . the fun is in figuring it out . also the fact that christine is an infinitely more likable character that either the priggish gerard or the bullish herman means we are hardly like to root for either of the men over her . in fact  it  s fair to say gerard  s comeuppance can  t come soon enough . super performances  too  from jeroen krabbe and renee soutendijk and easily verhoeven  s best film up to his wonderfully subversive piece of sci  fi  starship troopers  .  
the film is almost laughable with debbie reynolds and shelley winters teaming up as the mothers of convicted murderers . with the horrible notoriety after the trial  the two women team up and leave n . y . for california in order to open and song and dance studio for shirley temple  like girls .  br    br   from the beginning  it becomes apparent that reynolds has made a mistake in taking winters with her to california . winters plays a deeply religious woman who increasingly seems to be going off her rocker .  br    br   to make matters worse  the women who live together  are receiving menacing phone calls . reynolds  who puts on a blond wig  is soon romanced by the wealthy father of one of her students  nicely played by dennis weaver .  br    br   agnes moorehead  in one of her last films  briefly is seen as sister alma  who winters is a faithful listener of .  br    br   the film really belongs to shelley winters . she is heavy here and heaviness seemed to make her acting even better . winters always did well in roles testing her nerves .  br    br   the ending is of the macabre and who can forget winters at the piano banging away with that totally insane look   
this last dutch speaking film of verhooven made me laugh good . as a film buff looking for all the small details and cross references etc in any movie i can assure anyone interested in film art that this piece amuses all the senses . i haven  t read gerard reves book  on which the film is based  but i still believe we get a candid picture of a somewhat self  conceited poet  writer who gets his  in a way  no spoiling here  . an anti  hero surrounded by characters that have their ambiguous intentions  as has he . all this in a superbly packaged cinematography  paul verhopven manages to turn the otherwise rather cute  gesellich     dutch locations into a suspenseful film  noir setting  impressive work   
debbie reynolds toe  taps  tangos and  yes  tap  dances her way through this ordinary thriller which has a distinctly fabricated    s atmosphere . two ladies  brought together when their sons commit a murder  try starting their lives over by running a tap  dance school for tots in hollywood . trouble is  one of them is plagued by neuroses . can you imagine this thing   years earlier with robert aldrich directing bette davis and joan crawford . . .  nahh  bette never would have allowed joan so much screen  time to strut her stuff  and i can  t imagine bette davis in the other role  tap  dancing her heart out . this is a purely bogus piece of macabre  written by a slumming henry farrell  whose idea of a good  shock  is to stage the mass  murder of a group of rabbits   . not an ounce of honest fun in the whole tepid package .     from   
the film version of alice walker  s hugely emotive and influential     novel  written largely as letters from the central character celie to god  was a massive oscar success  and rightly so .  br    br   in the role of the abused and awakened celie  whoopi goldberg gave her best screen performance by miles . not far behind her was oprah winfrey as sofia  the fiery woman tamed by fate . others in the cast fleshed out the characters walker had introduced so clearly on the page  danny glover as albert  celie  s abusive husband margaret avery as shug  a force of change for the good willard pugh and rae dawn chong as harpo and squeak susan beaubian as corrine  the preacher  s wife and the much  missed carl anderson  otherwise best known as judas in the     film of jesus christ superstar  as preacher samuel .  br    br   beautifully paced and sensitively written   the color purple  does justice to its source while opening out the story to involve viewers of a feature  length drama .  
i don  t give much credence to aids conspiracy theories but its sociologically interesting to see the phenomenon dramatized . in the early years of the aids epidemic  the suffering and paranoia of the scared and dying often generated such dark fantasies . this was especially true in the politically radical and sexually extreme demi  monde of san francisco . the city  renowned for its beauty  has rarely appeared uglier than in this film . a sense of darkness and decomposition pervades every scene .  br    br   while the acting and plot can  t be said to be well  done the films unique cultural context and oppressively dark mood at least partly saves the film from being a complete loss . actually  i found the most interesting performance to be irit levi as a crusty and cynical jewish  lesbian    police detective . she  s interesting  though not necessarily convincing .  br    br   highlights the film  s use of the garishly tragic turandot is an effective motif and there is a sublime silent cameo by iconic performance artist  ron athey .  
this is the last dutch language film paul verhoeven made before going on to make mainstream hollywood films  basic instinct    robocop   and  total recall   among others . he sets the stage by opening this story with a black widow spider catching prey in her web before we meet gerard reve  an annoying self  centered writer with a morbid imagination . gerard has been invited to be the guest speaker at a literary club meeting in sea  side town an hour or so from amsterdam . verhoeven lets us have glimpses of how gerard  s imagination twists reality . asked if writers are a bit close to insanity he admits when he reads the newspaper  and it says  boom  i read  doom   when it says  flood  i read  blood   when it says  red  i see  dead .   when he tells a story enough times he begins to believe it  i lie the truth .  he accepts an offer to be the overnight guest of the club treasurer  a beautiful wealthy salon owner . as he gets to know her and learns her husband has died  he begins to imagine she is  a black widow .  is this his more of his reality twist or is she a murderess  this is a psychological drama and in recounting which of these old films have stuck in my memory  i figured out is my favorite gender . looking at his body of work it is seems to be paul verhoeven  s too  and he is a master in making us question our own understanding of reality . it  s a nice change of pace from the usual hollywood fare . i saw it in     and it is a film that  stuck .   
i saw this film at sxsw with the director in attendance . quite a few people walked out  and the audience could barely muster even polite applause at the end . of the   or   films i  ve seen at this festival  frownland is among the worst .  br    br   at    minutes  it is at least   minutes too long . you get to watch the main character  s failed and drawn out attempts to communicate  in extended real time . the same grimaces  hand over mouth motions  kinetic and frantically repeated words and syllables over and over and over again  we get the point .  br    br   one site actually compares this work to early mike leigh . what drugs would you have to be on to make that statement  given that frownland is a captain beefheart song  maybe you  d have to be able to enjoy trout mask replica on heavy rotation to appreciate this film . unbelievably  this won a jury award at the festival . you can bet it did not win an audience award .  
paul verhoeven has one of the strangest oeuvres of any major director he started off making art  house films in his native netherlands before moving to hollywood where he began making subversive genre pieces which are often seen as mere entertainments by the mainstream crowd .      s the fourth man was the last film he made before moving to the u . s . and it seems to have been a transitional film for him .  br    br   from the beginning of the fourth man it  s clear that the film will be seen from the perspective of the famous albeit impoverished author gerard . in a seeming homage to carol reed  s similarly titled     film the third man the film begins with an author making a trip to speak to a crowd of literature enthusiasts . the similarities end there  however  as gerard runs into no major complications before arriving at the auditorium and the speech itself goes fairly smoothly . in spite of the relative ease with which he completes this function we know that the author is somewhat troubled as he has realistic fantasies about murdering his roommate before leaving his house and he also has a surreal fantasy involving a hotel he sees advertised and a detached eyeball growing out of a door  s peephole . that he sometimes has trouble keeping his fantasies separate from reality is made all the more clear when an anecdote he tells is exposed as untrue and he admits that he  lies the truth until he no longer knows whether something did or didn  t happen .   br    br   the fourth man is full of surreal fantasies and dreams which are made all the more disturbing because it  s very easy to see how they relate to events which we have seen occur and because they sometimes foreshadow events which haven  t occurred yet . between the effectiveness of the unreal sequences and verhoeven  s careful editing style this ends up being the most atmospheric film this side of don  t look now and like that film this one is full of ambiguity . unlike that film the fourth man is also perversely funny as gerard  s deeply held catholic beliefs seep into every aspect of his life including sexuality . he naturally associates a female hair stylist he knows intimately with the biblical delilah though he fears she  ll remove an even more important symbol of masculinity with her scissors . in an erotic fantasy sequence that would make luis buuel blush he substitutes a man he  s attracted to for a life size statue of christ on the cross .  br    br   the fourth man is a horror film which manages to bring the viewer into the mind of the protagonist while still maintaining a certain ambiguity it certainly seems as if gerard is in danger but it may just be more of his  lying the truth .  the film is also full of both subtle and not so subtle visual symbolism which helps make it a unique and satisfying cinematic experience .  
i never thought i see a movie worse than  lisa picard is famous   but this came pretty close . as repeated often throughout the comments  it was predictable five minutes into the movie you know it will be a stranded at the alter outcome . this movie painfully references  rips off everything from  something about mary  to  revenge of the pink panther  . writer greg glienna  meet the parents  needs some new material .  br    br   the only twist is the deranged boyfriend  police officer pursued by internal affairs  but even that opportunity is wasted . lots of setting shots of the seattle space needle necessary to disguise the obvious canadian shooting locale . some of the worst driving in the car scenes with almost no effort to disguise the fact that the car is being pulled through town on a trailer . geez  at least turn the wheel or put the brakes on once in a while . selma blair is inert and the short haircut a crime .   m to jason lee  for what  guess it beats skateboarding   br    br   so here  s who should see this movie bee gees fans who want to hear two actors sing  islands in the stream  badly people who can  t get enough of julia stiles .      
viewing de vierde man  aka the fourth man  is a slightly unsettling and rather fascinating experience . it  s a very tight and intense psychological mystery  thriller from netherlands  s paul verhoeven . he directed this film just before he got big with his  free  ticket to hollywood   movie flesh  blood . in a lot of user  comments on this site i noticed the mentioning of alfred hitchcock . indeed  this movie might very well be hitchcockian  but i also noticed touches of early cronenberg  the visceral   flavors of david lynch  surreal story  linked visuals  and even roman polanski  plot  wise set  up  . funny thing is that the movies by those directors i was thinking of while watching de vierde man weren  t made until after      the year of release of the fourth man . so go figure .  br    br   very much credit indeed must be given to the story of the original novel by gerard reve this movie is based on . gerard reve is also the fictional name of the main character  a tormented writer  played by jeroen krabb  balancing on the dangerous line of a severe psychosis  . now  has anybody stopped and thought about the fact that the word  rve  is french for  dream   and the film does feature a lot of dream  like  nightmarish sequences  often to that extend that you don  t always know for sure if gerard is awake or dreaming himself . could this be coincidence . . .  maybe it  s just me  but i don  t think so . rene soutendijk is pretty amazing as the leading lady  in a rather demanding role  . she sometimes seems to be guilty of over  acting  in a subtle way  . but that aspect was clearly intentional to portray the character she plays  since as this movie progresses  you become unsure about what to actually think of this lady and her intentions . proves again what an excellent actress she is . i might add that the movie contains also several scenes portraying full frontal male  female nudity  as well as some rather explicit sex  scenes  and you will even notice that some scenes and aspects clearly were the blueprints of scenes later to be shot for verhoeven  s basic instinct  .  br    br   another aspect this movie has is a lot of symbolism and biblical references  images  which supposedly made the film thoroughly hated by some conservative  catholic movements at the time of its european release . either way  it makes the movie worthy of a second viewing . now  someone recently told me he had grave misgivings about de vierde man . one of them being that the film supposedly manoeuvers itself into a position where it needs the divine intervention of the virgin mary to resolve itself . i myself have big issues with the way catholicism has been  and still is sometimes  portrayed in many movies in any genre  so not only when it comes to religiously themed horror movies  . but surprisingly  i had no misgivings whatsoever when it comes to the fourth man . although the virgin mary  aspect in the plot did make me scratch my head at one point  i also had fun with it  in a way . i think the keyword as to why it didn  t bother me at all is  duality  . because  this movie works on two levels . although  divine intervention  might have resolved the plot  line from the protagonist  s point of view . . . on the other hand the movie implies that all this might have been the delirious ramblings of a raving madman . and that  s the fun part you never know for sure . and then there  s the question could it be that gerard reve was somehow receiving distorted visions of things to come . . . like receiving omens  at one point in the movie  gerard even tries to fool christine into believing he is clairvoyant . the way he is playing christine in that particular scene is exquisite to behold .  br    br   so with its compelling story  convincing acting performances and adequate direction  de vierde man is a very much recommended viewing indeed  especially if you enjoy a solid european psychological horror film  . but make sure you see the original dutch version  not the dubbed one  .  
this was one of the most boring movies i  ve ever seen i don  t really know why just your run  of  the  mill stories about guy who is about to get married  and starts to fancy someone else instead . story has been told a thousand times . nothing new or innovative about it at all .  br    br   i don  t really know what was wrong with this film . most of the time when these kinds of actors  actresses get together to make a film that have already been made a million times before  it  s really entertaining . there are usually little clever thing in them that aren  t really in any other . for some reason  this one just doesn  t hold your attention . you can pick out some funny parts  or clever ideas in it  but for some reason they  re just not funny  nor clever in any way i wish i new how to explain it  but i don  t just don  t waste your time on this one  
i don  t know if i  d consider it a masterpiece of not  but it  s damn near close it  s extremely well made  artistic  suspenseful  intricately plotted  thematically challenging and full of bleak foreshadowing and sexual  religious imagery . there  s also some great camera  work from jan de bont  an atmospheric score from loek dikker and outstanding acting from jeroen krabb and rene soutendijk  the latter giving one of the most sneaky  subtle  femme fatale  performance i  ve ever seen . like many other european movies  this movie has an unashamed  non  judgmental attitude toward sex  nudity and the complexities of sexuality and has zero reservations about mixing it all up with religious and  or surrealistic  some would say blasphemous  images . in other words  if you can  t bear the thought of seeing a lust  driven homosexual envisioning the object of his carnal desire as jesus crucified on the cross before the two of them go at it inside a cemetery crypt then this might not be the movie for you . what surprised me more is how this bizarre movie managed to completely dodge being a pretentious mess . it mixes the abstract  surreal  parallel fantasy  reality scenes and somehow makes it all work . like any good mystery  you can see the pieces slowly falling into place as the movie progresses . there is not an out  of  left  field resolution here . the movie has direction  there  s no needless filler and once it concludes  you begin to understand the purpose of what may have confused you earlier . if you like the work of ken russell and david lynch  i can almost guarantee you will love this movie . hell  ifyou have no idea who they even are  you still might like it .  br    br   i  m not going to spoil the plot by getting too detailed  but the film  s opening shot  through a web as a spider catches its prey  sets the stage as krabb  as unshaven  smug  bisexual writer gerard reve  interestingly  also the name of the writer whose novel this is based on  crosses paths with a wealthy  mysterious  sexy woman named christine  soutendijk  melding androgynous stylings with simone simon  like innocence  cuteness that  s pretty unnerving   who may be a literal  black widow  responsible for the deaths of her three previous husbands . the two become lovers and move in with one another  but we  re led to believe  through christine  s bizarre behavior and the frequent appearances of another woman  played by geert de jong  who may or may not actually exist  something terrible is boiling under the surface . when another of christine  s lovers  the young and  beautiful  herman  thom hoffman   shows up at the house  things take an unexpected turn . and that  s all you need to know .  br    br   the  th man was a huge art  house success in much of the world  but didn  t make it over to the us until      where it was awarded the best foreign film of the year from the los angeles film critics association . the most common video is the media release  which has been horribly dubbed . try to avoid that one and head straight for the newer subtitled anchor bay dvd release . since coming to america  verhoeven  s career has had its ups and downs . he has made a few decent films  flesh  blood  robocop  and some lousy ones  showgirls  . in fact  verhoeven  s big hit basic instinct is almost like a less interesting  junior league version of the fourth man . soutendjik also tried her hand at acting in america and since grave secrets       and eve of destruction       were the best offers she was getting  she headed right back home to the netherlands .  
i think jason lee has huge potential  but this was the wrong vehicle in which to attempt to break out as a star . the plot is awful  the comedy is awful . i laughed twice  i think for relief  because in retrospect  they were fairly lame jokes . i found myself scared for the future of fletch  and had to console myself that it was the film that was flawed  not lee .  br    br   julia stiles and selma blair are hot  but i recommend looking at the still photos on this website to figure that out  instead of this film . save your time .  star .  
when it comes to paul verhoeven and erotic thrillers  most people think of  basic instinct  and some maybe of  showgirls  . but verhoeven has made his best erotic thriller years before these two movies  de vierde man  . this film is mesmerizing and mindblowing  and above all the story is absolutely plausible  which makes the whole experience even more intense . the performances by jeroen krabbe  renee soutendijk and thom hoffman are exceptional  and verhoeven  s direction does the rest .  de vierde man  makes even  basic instinct  look quite tame . . . it can  t get much better than this  a true classic of erotic nightmare cinema .   out of    at least . . .  
julia stiles is a talented young actress  who with guidance from a reputable agent has a lot of potential . obviously  the person who guided her into this travesty is not someone who cares anything about her career . i sat in the theater surrounded by teenagers who left in droves to find another movie to sneak into wondering who thought this movie would appeal to anyone . it was poorly written  the casting director could only have put  or  minutes of effort into the characters and the director obviously didn  t care .  
the morbid catholic writer gerard reve  jeroen krabb  that is homosexual  alcoholic and has frequent visions of death is invited to give a lecture in the literature club of vlissingen . while in the railway station in amsterdam  he feels a non  corresponded attraction to a handsome man that embarks in another train . gerard is introduced to the treasurer of the club and beautician christine halsslag  rene soutendijk   who is a wealthy widow that owns the beauty shop sphinx  and they have one night stand . on the next morning  gerard sees the picture of christine  s boyfriend herman  thom hoffman  and he recognizes him as the man he saw in the train station . he suggests her to bring herman to her house to spend a couple of days together  but with the secret intention of seducing the man . christine travels to kln to bring her boyfriend and gerard stays alone in her house . he drinks whiskey and snoops her safe  finding three film reels with names of men he decides to watch the footages and discover that christine had married the three guys and all of them died in tragic accidents . later gerard believes christine is a witch and question whether herman or him will be her doomed fourth husband .  br    br   the ambiguous  the vierde man  is another magnificent feature of paul verhoeven in his dutch phase . the story is supported by an excellent screenplay that uses catholic symbols to build the tension associated to smart dialogs magnificent performance of jeroen krabb in the role of a disturbed alcoholic writer and stunning cinematography . the inconclusive resolution is open to interpretation like in many european movies that explore the common sense and intelligence of the viewers . there are mediocre directors that use front nudity of men to promote their films however  paul verhoeven uses the nudity of gerard reve as part of the plot and never aggressive or seeking out sensationalism . last but not the least the androgynous beauty of the sexy rene soutendijk perfectly fits to her role of a woman that attracts a gay writer . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    o  o homem    the  th man    
the only redemption was the small part by larry miller . it seemed that the movie was trying too hard to be  something about mary   but i didn  t even like that movie and it still fell short of those standards . the actor who plays paul was great  but selma blair is stuck in the stupidity of her cruel intentions character . james brolin was great  but paul  s father seemed like he was trying too hard to be the randy quaid character from the national lampoon  s vacation movies .  
  de vierde man   the fourth man       is considered one of the best european pycho thrillers of the eighties . this last work of dutch director paul verhoeven in his home country before he moved to hollywood to become a big star with movies like  total recall    basic instinct  and  starship troopers  is about a psychopathic and disillusioned author  jeroen krabbe  going to the seaside for recovering . there he meets a mysterious femme fatale  renee soultendieck  and starts a fatal love affair with her . he becomes addicted to her with heart and soul and finds out that her three previous husbands all died with mysterious circumstances . . .  br    br    de vierde man  is much influenced by the old hollywood film noire and the psycho thrillers of alfred hitchcock and orson wells . it takes much time to create a dark and gripping atmosphere  and a few moments of extreme graphic violence have the right impact to push the story straight forward . the suspense is sometimes nearly unbearable and sometimes reminds of the works of italian cult director dario argento .  br    br   the cast is also outstanding  especially krabbe  s performance as mentally disturbed writer that opened the doors for his international film career   the living daylights    the fugitive   . if you get the occasion to watch this brilliant psycho thriller on tv  video or dvd  don  t miss it   
  a guy thing  tries to capture the feeling of  there  s something about mary  or  meet the parents  but comes off more like it was edited up out of cutting  room rejects of those two films . thankfully i rented it on a   day rental because i couldn  t sit and watch more than   minutes at a time .  br    br   the premise is decent and i liked the scenes where other guys automatically cover up for paul  s missteps  the checker at the save  mart was great  but the script  writing is absolutely horrible . the dialog falls flat most of the time and just when you think that things are finally going to get on track some needless sight  gag is stuck in for no good reason . plus how many toilet jokes does one movie really need   br    br   don  t get me wrong  slapstick humor is great when it  s smartly done as in the other films i mentioned  but this movie simply misses the mark . too bad as i love julia stiles  ten things i hate about you was great  but even that couldn  t help me sit through this terrible movie . save your dollars and go rent  there  s something about mary  one more time .  
paul verhoeven  s predecessor to his breakout hit  basic instinct  is a stylish and shocking neo  noir thriller . verhoeven has become known for making somewhat sleazy trash films  both in his native holland and in america and this film is one of the reasons why . the fourth man follows the strange story of gerard reve  played by jeroen krabb   a gay  alcoholic and slightly mad writer who goes to vlissingen to give a talk on the stories he writes . while there  he meets the seductive christine halsslag  rene soutendijk  who takes him back to her house where he discovers a handsome picture of one of her lovers and proclaims that he will meet him  even if it kills him .  br    br   paul verhoeven twists the truth many times in this film  and that ensures that you never quite know where you are with it . many of the occurrences in the fourth man could be what they appear to be  but they could easily be interpreted as something else entirely and this keeps the audience on the edge of their seats for the duration  and also makes the film work as this narrative is what it thrives on . paul verhoeven is not a filmmaker that feels he has to restrain himself  and that is one of things i like best about him . this film features a very shocking scene that made me feel ill for hours afterwards  and that doesn  t happen very often   . i wont spoil it because it needs the surprise element to work . . . but you  ll see what i mean when you see the film  make sure you get the uncut version   . there is also a number of other macabre scenes that are less shocking than the one i  ve mentioned  but are lovely nonetheless a man gets eaten by lions  another one has a pipe sent through his skull  a boat is smashed in half . . . lovely .  br    br   the acting in the fourth man isn  t anything to write home about  but it  s solid throughout . jeroen krabb holds the audience  s attention and looks the part as the drunken writer . it is rene soutendijk that impresses the most  though  as the femme fatale at the centre of the tale . her performance is what sharon stone would imitate nine years later with basic instinct  but the original fatale did it best . paul verhoeven  s direction is solid throughout as he directs our attention through numerous points of view  all of which help to create the mystery of the story . verhoeven has gone on to make some rubbish  but he obviously has talent and it  s a shame that he doesn  t put it to better use . of all the verhoeven films i  ve seen  this is the best and although it might be difficult to come across trust me  it  s worth the effort .  
i had hoped this movie was going to be mildly entertaining  like other sorts of its genre . however  it was lame and i didn  t find myself laughing very much . watch it on hbo  maybe  or if you  ve got a free rental to waste and you need a movie to pass the time . but i don  t recommend paying to see it .  br    br   the plot is simple and straightforward  and it could have been funny  maybe  if the script was better . jason lee can be hilarious  and he gets a few laughs here and there  but the movie falls flat . just don  t go see this one . the directing is lackluster  but for what it is  directing isn  t that important . i guess its main drawback is that it is just not very funny . see something else  don  t waste your time here .  
director paul verhoeven  s american vehicles are of varied quality  but most of the films he made in his native country are indisputable masterworks . this is the story of alcoholic  and bi  sexual  writer who moves in with a beautiful rich and very strange woman . but the lady does not know that he is only interested in meeting the woman  s handsome male lover . in the meantime  the writer is plagued with strange visions  at first they look like hallucinations triggered by alcohol abuse  but he soon begins to realize that he is actually experiencing some kind of premonitions . fascinating hitchcockian thriller  very original and provocative . i love films that make you think they are about something  but then you realize they are about something completely different . this is one of those movies a thriller during the first half  and a quasi  religious surrealist saga during the second half . very erotic  original and blasphemous  not for kids or people that go to church every sunday . great cinematography by future director jan de bont . highly reommended   
what a terrible  terrible  film  one of the worst movies i have seen in my life . i usually love movies like this  the whole  a guy meets an eccentric woman who he likes  but he happens to already be involved with someone  who not right for him . . . .  . i expected something predictable and i didn  t mind . the movies are always entertaining mixing the right amount of romance with comedy  but not this one  every single joke falls flat and the  romance  makes me want to vomit . the title character is one of the most  please kill me  characters that i have ever witnessed on my television  the  eccentric woman  isn  t very eccentric  more like quirky and annoying . the  other someone  is the most reasonable  mature person in this film but also happens to be just as annoying . this films flat out sucks  there  s no way around it  don  t waste your time .  
paul verhoeven  s de vierde man  the fourth man  is one of the most compelling thrillers i have ever seen . it really was a pleasant surprise . the story concerns bi  sexual writer gerard  jeroen krabbe   as he is lured into a relationship with beautiful hairdresser christine  rene soutendijk   but in the twisted mind of gerard there could be more to the story . verhoeven and cinematographer jan de bont create a beautiful and thick atmosphere full of surreal and sickening sexual imagery  this really pulls you into the story  you don  t want to watch  but you can  t turn yourself away . this is by far verhoeven  s best film  maybe second only to robocop  . true the fourth man isn  t for everyone  some of the sex scenes are quite gratuitous  just ignore them  but trust me  if you watch for at least ten minutes you  ll be hooked . this is one of those films that you need to know how it ends  a true whodunit it in the hitchcock tradition  compelling  controversial and thrilling . i even like the spider metaphor .  br    br        
jason lee does his best to bring fun to a silly situation  but the movie just fails to make a connect .  br    br   perhaps because julia stiles character seems awkward as the conniving and sexy soon to be cousin  in  law .  br    br   maybe it is because she and selma blair  s characters should have been cast the opposite way .  selma blair seems more conniving than julia would be  .  br    br   either way this movie is yet another hollywood trivialization of a possibly real world situation  that being getting caught with your pants out at your bachelor party not stooping your cousin   which while having promise fails to deliver .  br    br   there are some laughs to be sure and the cast  even if miscast  do their best with sub grade material which doesn  t transcend its raunchy topic . so instead of getting a successful raunch fest  ie animal house or american pie  we are left with a middle ground of part humor and part stupidity  ala meatballs  or something  .  
a film that can make you shed tears of sadness and tears of joy would be considered quite a step in the career of a common filmmaker . the fact is  steven spielberg  probably our greatest story  teller  has been doing this in various movie formats for years . the color purple  at the time  was considered risky  especially after action classics like jaws and raiders of the lost ark . in hindsight  this film should have come as no surprise  for spielberg had made us cry tears of joy and sadness in e . t . critics called color purple his entrance into intellectual fare . it is quite an entrance . no special effects  no swashbuckling  just brilliant story  telling based on a literary classic by alice walker . one surprise is how spielberg could present such a moving film about african  americans in the deep south . slavery is gone  but in the south depicted here  it seems as though blacks are using other blacks as slaves .  br    br   spielberg is always put down for sentimentalizing his pictures or adding an element of childishness to please the audience . this is really the first of overlooked films from his career that you cannot make these observations . it is the first in a line of films people either didn  t see or wouldn  t see because there are no aliens . empire of the sun  always  schindler  s list  etc . . his awesome talent is obvious with this specific picture because a  he uses mostly untrained  first  time actors  b  he tackles a subject most felt was unadaptable to the screen  and c  it is pure drama with no strings pulled where characters grow and change over the passage of roughly   years . it is almost epic  like in look and scope and the fact that it did not garner a single academy award from   nominations is a travesty and an insult .  br    br   whoopi goldberg is fabulous as the tortured celie  an unattractive woman given away by her incestuous father to an abusive danny glover  who she only knows as  mister  . the film follows a path of occasional beatings and mental torture she goes through while with  mister  . the pg    rated film is pretty open to the sexual issues raised by the walker novel . this is not  the burning bed  in georgia by any means . there is no blatant revenge taken as might be expected . it happens gracefully . goldberg perfectly plays a human being  someone in need of love and someone who deserves it . the films  most poignant and heartbreaking moment comes when goldberg and her sister  nettie  played by akosua busia  are separated  maybe forever .  possibly foreshadowing holocaust separation of child and parent   you may have to check for a pulse if you are not moved by this sequence .  br    br   the color purple stands for the beauty of the fields and flowers surrounding these poor people . there really is something to live for  but love triumphs over all . spielberg bashers take note the guy can make an unforgettable classic without any cute aliens .  br    br   rating   of    
poorly written conspiracy drama  mystery about the possibility that aids was introduced to the public by the government . wlaschiha plays a gay researcher looking for answers   that within this foggy plot would be hard for anyone to find . despite the cinematography itself being commendable  the camera hungers for characters of true depth instead of the shallow  amateur acting it unfortunately has to convey . grade d  
in holland a gay writer gerard  jeroen krabbe  gives a lecture . he stays overnight with a beautiful woman christine  renee soutendijk  and has sex with her  by imagining she  s a boy  . he plans to leave the next day  but gets a look at a picture of christine  s hunky boyfriend herman  thom hoffman  and decides to stay to have a try at him . then things get strange .  br    br   a big x  rated art house hit in the us in     . why was it x rated  let  s see . . . there  s strangulation  full frontal male and female nudity  castration  mutilation  simulated sex  a scene in a church with a cross that will shock most people  a gay sex scene in a crypt . . . and it  s all a comedy      paul verhoeven made this after  spetters  .  spetters  was attacked by the critics for it  s extreme sexual sequences and denounced as trash . so  verhoeven filled this film with very obvious symbolism thinking the critics would think it was art and praise it . he was right  critics loved the film not realizing that verhoeven was playing a big joke on them . still  it  s a great film .  br    br   it  s beautifully shot by jan de bont  now a director himself  and there  s so much symbolism and obvious  hidden  layers in the dialogue that you  re never bored . all the acting is great   krabbe plays a thoroughly despicable character but  somehow  has you rooting for him soutendijk is just stunning to look at and plays her part to perfection   the little smile she gives when gerard agrees to stay with her is chilling hoffman is extremely handsome with a great body   he deserves credit for doing the church sequence and going at with krabbe in the crypt .  br    br   this is not for people easily offended or the weak of heart  but if you like extreme movies that playfully challenge you  like me  this is for you  a   all the way .  
i  m not a big fan of rom  coms at the best of times . a few have been quite good  check of dream for an insomniac   but this one is just more of the same but less .  br    br   with a running time of    min  i expect more than  laugh every   mins . the only real belly laugh are when male strangers and friends instinctively help out lee  s character .  br    br   all i can say is avoid . i guarantee there is at least   other movies on the shelf that deserve you   br    br    of out    and only cos i  m a big lee fan   
  words academy award . nuff said . this film had everything in it . comedy to make me laugh  drama to make me cry and one of the greatest dance scenes to rival breakin   electric boogaloo . the acting was tip top of any independant film . jeremy earl was in top form long since seen since his stint on the joan cusack show . his lines were executed with dynamite precision and snappy wit last seen in a very young jimmy walker . i thought i saw the next emergance of a young denzel washington when the line  my bus   it  s . . . . gone  that was the true turning point of the movie . my grandmother loved it sooo much that i bought her the dvd and recommended it to her friends . it will bring tears to your eyes and warmth to your heart as you see the white tony donato and african american nathan davis bond . through thick  being held up at knife point  and thin  nathan giving tony tips on women  the new dynamic duo has arrived and are out to conquer hollywood .  
i  m not a big fan of rom  coms at the best of times . a few have been quite good  check of dream for an insomniac   but this one is just more of the same but less .  br    br   with a running time of    min  i expect more than  laugh every   mins . the only real belly laugh are when male strangers and friends instinctivly help out lee  s character .  br    br   all i can say is avoid . i gaurentee there is at least   other movies on the shelf that deserve you   br    br    of out    and only cos i  m a big lee fan   
as i am always looking for something new and unique  i watched this film online . i thought that it would be just another  b  rate movie but i was amazed at the acting by the two main characters . all of the actors in this film were very capable and well directed . the plot was wonderful and unique as well with an excellent moral to the story .  br    br   this movie is definitely not for someone looking for a sex romp   dumb and dumber  or blood and guts . this is a wonderfully poignant film showing some grim realities of life coupled with the kindness of the human heart and just enough frivolity to keep it interesting .  br    br   i would prefer this movie to many  a  rate movies i have seen even a great number with high box office earnings .  br    br   i highly recommend this movie .  
i just watched it . a couple of laughs  but nothing to write home about . jason lee looked like he was having fun . the  long  dvd gag reel consists almost solely of him having fits of uncontrollable laughter . selma blair seemed to be punching a time clock  but then again  her character was supposed to be a stick in the mud  so  well done  i guess  jim brolin was surprisingly funny .  being married to babs can  t be a picnic .  the soundtrack was hip  and eclectic . larry miller  who played julia stiles father  hilariously   in   things i hate about you is funny here as well . he  s great  but the best aspect of this movie was the casting of julia stiles . i could spend two hours watching her fold laundry  and i feel like i just did .  
this is an interesting series that takes real life people  jesse james  john wesley hardin  etc  . . . and dramatizes part of their real story with a continuing series character taking part in that story . railroad detective  matt clark    takes a role in tracking down famous outlaws from the old west in stories that are at least partly based on the true accounts . in that sense  it  s almost an anthology series  and as someone else pointed out  this odd structure poses some timeline conflicts with the real events  but it  s a fun series with plenty of action to satisfy a western  hungry      s audience   and it still holds up pretty well   years later . clark cuts a powerful figure in his western gear as he goes up against some of history  s baddest baddies . and his girl  sidekick frankie is quite a dish . if you  re a western fan  be sure to check it out if you have a chance .  
wow . that  s about as much as i can say right now . who writes this stuff  who produces this stuff  what self  respecting actor would agree to  act  in this stuff  oh my god  i don  t know how i made it through this movie  but i assume the fact that i had had like  cups of coffee that day was the key element in keeping me awake . good lord  it was one of the most droned  out and predictable pieces of cinematography i have ever witnessed . . . and for the record  i don  t ever plan to  witness  it again .  br    br   i first saw the film when i bought the dvd  mistake    . i mean . . . i figured  hey  julia stiles . i like her . she  s cool . i  ll watch it as soon as i get home  mistake    . i tried to watch it without groaning every five minutes wondering when this bunch of crap would come to an end  really i did . but i was unsuccessful . it was one of the worst things i had ever seen . i mean . . . what is with that thing where he imagines what would happen then snaps back into real life  that was annoying enough when the father used to do that in  parenthood  like ten years ago . the  jokes   and believe me  it takes a lot out of me to call them that  are stupid  the characters are trite and forgettable  the storyline is entirely predictable . . . altogether this makes for a movie that should be wiped from history records  i should have figured something was wrong when i realized that i  d never heard of this movie . it was most likely a straight  to  dvd .  br    br   to anybody who may be thinking of watching this  i have one piece of advice . don  t  for the love of god . . . don  t    i  m ashamed to have it in my dvd collection  and i can  t get rid of it . . . nobody  and i mean nobody wants to buy it from me  and i  m talking second  hand and third  hand thrift shops that would buy the mud off your shoes and stick it in the store window . that should let you know just how crap it is .  
this rather poorly named western series won an emmy for best syndicated program and is certainly an interesting series . it was produced by republic  the studio which did action better than anyone  and they put their best into it . each episode was built around a real historical figure of the old west . a railroad detective named matt clark  similar to the later elliot ness with the gangsters of the      s and    s  managed to become involved with almost every notorious western outlaw between the middle of the      s and wwi . the series  best asset was jim davis . tall  rugged  ruggedly good looking  in prime shape  with an authentic western accent  and great riding skills which made him utterly convincing in the action scenes  davis was every inch the western hero . he was teamed with two lovely and active co  stars  mary castle as  frankie  during the first season  and kristine miller as  jonesy  during the second . each worked well with davis .  br    br   what separated this show from its contemporaries and much of what came later was the professionalism invested in the action scenes . ace action directer william witney directed   episodes . franklin adreon the rest . both filmed the action with polish . republic  s vast store of stock footage from serials and b  s was utilized to give scope . the level of individual episodes rose or fell with the quality of the guest stars brought in to the play the outlaws . among the really good ones were marie windsor as belle starr  lee van cleef as jesse james  fess parker as grat dalton  jean parker as cattle kate  and joe sawyer and slim pickins as butch cassady and  the smilin  kid  . the cream of the western up and comers  pickins  parker  denver pyle  james best  and richard jaeckel  honed their craft . b veterans with decades of experience under their belts  harry woods  glenn strange  kenneth macdonald  earle hodgkins  steve darrell  and chief yowlachie  provided the old leather feel of vintage westerns .  br    br   the weakness of the concept was that there are only so many famous western outlaws . by the second season the famous figures were becoming a mite obscure for all by the most dedicated history buff . nevertheless  a few of the later shows were a match for any  due to the guest stars . henry brandon portrayed rustler nate champion  and former republic star don barry was outstanding as small  time outlaw milt sharp .  br    br   western fans or history buffs will want to see this .  
just a regular jason lee movie  there were some parts of the movie that were funny . the undertone of the move is to live life on the edge i guess . these are the types of movies that i think   year old girls watch at slumber parties . it was an all right movie . it is kind of one of those movies you have on in the back ground and look up every now and then to when something catches attention . i think that julia stiles and selma blair are a good combination and would like to see them in a movie with a good story and plot . its just kind of a boy meets girl movie . this is that perfect movie they would show on comedy central . i am glad that i didn  t see this movie in the theater  i would have been angry . but i guess that  s why i didn  t see it in the theater .  
  stories of the century  was a half hour series and appeared in first run syndication during the        television season . it was also the first western tv series to win an emmy award . starring veteran western actor jim davis as railroad detective matt clark  the series set clark and his fellow railroad detective partners  mary castle as frankie adams for the first half of the season and kristine miller as  jonesy  during the second half  against historic western outlaws of various periods ranging from the mid       s to the early      s . the series was very satisfying  easy to watch  and fairly realistic due mainly to the easygoing charm of jim davis in the lead role . he seemed like an actual western character . one other note . when matt clark would arrive in town after a long ride he actually looked like he had been on a long horse ride as he would be covered in dust .  br    br   a very good early adult western .  
this is so incredibly bad . poor actors . you can tell they  re trying really hard to polish a turd  but we all know you can  t . the writing is so obvious and facile  it  s sad watching them try to sell it . the humor and pacing are so labored  it  s hard to believe any of these good actors signed on for this .  br    br   that said  it  s so awful that we  re having a hard time looking away from the screen . we just have to know where this trainwreck goes . but that  s only because we caught it on tv . if we had actually paid for this  we  d be disgusted .  br    br   so it gets  stars for being at least amusingly  fascinatingly bad . and the incidental music  as opposed to the trying  too  hard indie soundtrack  is laughably reminiscent of an episode of scooby  doo . . . but not as good .  
this unassuming  fairly routine series deserves credit in the tv history books for two reasons it was the first to win an emmy award for best syndicated series  and it was the very first show to come from the fabled studios of republic pictures  known for its low  budget but high  powered shoot  em  ups in the    s and    s .  br    br   republic was one of the first hollywood studios to make a leap into the small screen  which was still in its infancy . but the studios  tenure as producer of tv pulp fiction would be brief . after this show  they would later dabble with the other format that they were known for  the adventure serial  with  commando cody   as well as other series  but like this one  they didn  t last longer than   episodes . also  republic was in its last stages as a studio it would finish out its tenure in hollywood as rental stages for several revue studio series such as  soldiers of fortune   the original  dragnet   and  kit carson   before finally shutting its doors in     .  br    br   anyway   stories of the century  wasn  t that bad of an oater  its calling card was tales based on authentic figures in western history  mainly outlaws like black bart  johnny ringo  john wesley hardin  the dalton bros . and the like . the late jim davis  best known for his role as the ewing patriarch in  dallas   put in an amiable job in the lead role as matt clark  a fictional railroad detective who has to contend with said outlaws  played by veteran and soon  to  be veteran character actors .  br    br   two amazing facts here the incidents would take place in different time lines  some in the      s  some at the turn of the century  but clark never ages . and also  matt has the good luck to saddle himself with two lovely female detectives as sidekicks  frankie adams  played by mary castle  and her replacement  margaret  jonesy  jones  by kristine miller . the lone ranger could only wish for lady companionship . you can only spend such time with tonto for so long .  br    br    stories of the century  is a studio city tv production from republic pictures corp .   episodes were made during      all   of which are in public domain and on dvd .  
i thought this movie had absolutely no moral . i mean  how would you feel if your fianc left you on your wedding day for your cousin    i would be heartbroken   it  s classified as a comedy but i didn  t find it funny at all . i thought it just mostly found cheap laughs and took them . i normally love julie stiles movies  but this is an exception . jason lee stars in another disgraceful show  which once again proves that class and decent morals are not relevant in todays society . it had a complete lack of taste and i despise movies like this . i understand that people will defend this movie and it  s morals because it is  just a movie   but i still stand by my mark that this bad behaviour shouldn  t be allowed on screen . i  m not trying to say that if you enjoyed this movie  you are a bad person  as everyone is entitled to their own opinion  and parts of this movie were enjoyable  i  m just saying that in real life  people acting like the characters in this film were doing is shameful .  
summer phoenix did a great performance where you really feel what she  s not able to feel and you just cannot understand what she has on her mind . besides  she portrays a jewish girl who behaves really confronting the status quo of that century .  
oh  so  familiar comedy story about low  key nice  guy paul  jason lee   who after the night of his bachelor party  wakes up in bed with becky  julia stiles   an attractive blonde he met just the night before . after lying about it to his fiance karen  selma blair   he  s forced to tell more and more lies to cover his tracks .  br    br   i  m sure most of us have been witness to a story like this at least once before . . . on film or on tv . the movie is formulaic and extremely predictable  with an ending you may see coming a mile away .  br    br   at least the cast provides some interest and keeps it watchable . lee is just right in the lead  and stiles is a lot of fun in a light  hearted comedic role different from the very serious roles she usually plays . becky is a free spirit who seems to change jobs as often as other people change their clothes .  br    br   but you know  this isn  t exactly well  written . at least one question is left unanswered for what  exactly  is ray  lochlyn munro   becky  s brutal ex  boyfriend  being investigated by the i . a .   br    br   and i didn  t like the character of buck  david koechner   paul  s stepfather he  s a super  obnoxious moron who got on my nerves so quickly i was begging for somebody to punch him .  br    br   add another debit a gratuitous  uncredited cameo by comic  actor larry miller  once again playing a grouch  in this case  it  s a little justified  his character is an ultra  conservative minister  .  br    br   not good at all  but as usual for me  i give it a three out of ten based on the efforts of the cast alone .  
a masterpiece .  br    br   thus it is  possibly  not for everyone .  br    br   the camera work  acting  directing and everything else is unique  original  superb in every way  and very different from the trash we are sadly used to getting .  br    br   summer phoenix creates a deep  believable and intriguing esther kahn . as everything else in this film  her acting is unique  it is completely her own  neither  british  nor  american  nor anything else i have ever seen . there is something mesmerizing about it .  br    br   the lengthy  unbroken  natural shots are wonderful  reminding us that we have become too accustomed to a few restricted ways of shooting and editing .  
if you are studying welles and want to see just how far he fell after citizen kane  this film will prove it . the cheap excuse of making the protagonist a self  admitted dummy to explain how he might fall into such a half  baked scheme fails to explain the absurd courtroom theatrics and ridiculous plot twists that eventually ensue . don  t be taken in by the high rating of this film in the db as i was all i can guess is that there are a lot of die hard old welles and hayworth fans out there .  
i have seen the movie at the viennale a few years ago  where the audiences liked it . i liked it as well  summer phoenix performance still haunts me  thats why i decided to write a comment .  br    br   the story unfolds in london around      where a jewish girl decides to become an actress . she tries desperately to become one  but it isnt before a man treats her badly that she realizes on stage  that she has talent and that she connects with the audience and emerges as a stronger human being .  br    br   there were certain reviews  were her performance was smashed  they accused her of being dull  not able to bring life to her character . i think thats her strong point  thats exactly what esther kahn should be and phoenix makes a brave decision to make her esther a rather boring girl . so her transformation at the end is more powerful than it could have been otherwise .  br    br   the cinematography is great  the images of london around the turn of the century are very dark and sad  you can see how unpleasant life was back then .  br    br   the only fault in my opinion is the length of the movie  you loose touch with the characters  after all its only about finding the actor in yourself  so there are no dramatic actions in the film . its phoenix credit that we dont loose the interest in the movie after the first hour .  
this is the  nd time i  ve seen this movie in about   years . these remarks come from someone who finds kane and ambersons to be amazing  worthy films . but the remainder of welles career is  unfortunately  squandered on material unworthy of his talent and too flimsy to withstand his filmic embroidering . and when he makes a potboiler like shanghai  the lack of anything substantial to hang his filmic tricks on  is just kind of sad . i couldn  t tell you what he was exploring here . it  s all as mannered as welle  s godawful irish brogue which takes a lot of effort  but adds absolutely zero to the film . several welles projects became this overdeveloped and baroque . mr arkadin  pick a version  any version  is a similarly belabored project . the material is inconsequential . it just can  t bear the weight of all this noodling . for a director trafficking in reality  based drama  as here   he never feels any pull to tie his bundle of conceits back to reality or to a coherent story . the murder  for  hire scheme is ridiculous .  br    br   kudos to welles though  for having hayworth cut her hair  and getting that performance out of her . the camera loves her . she  s the classiest  most upscale  sultry and ravishing femme fatale ever put on film . but her treachery comes so late in the film it feels like some desperate decision  made so the movie will have some genre it fits into . the movie can  t be saved by a noir convention deployed in the last   seconds .  br    br   when all is said and done in l . f . s .  the convolutions are all for what   to convince you you  ve seen something thoughtful  to give welles more to do  to make you roll your eyes  welles has no sensitivity to the scale of a story  or to telling a story directly . one wonders what shanghai has to say to anyone who isn  t a crippled billionaire  arranging a quadruple  cross murder  for  hire scheme  or a fanboy in love with filmic conceits devoid of meaning or substance .  br    br   overwrought  preposterous  unengaging .  
tsui hark  s visual artistry is at its peek in this movie . unfortunately the terrible acting by ekin cheng and especially cecilia cheung  i felt the urge to strangle her while watching this  it  s that bad   made it difficult to watch at times .  br    br   this movie is a real breakthrough in the visual department . when i first saw this  my jaw dropped repeatedly and i thought to myself that i  ve never seen anything remotely like it but this is how it should be done in order to do full justice to the mythical world of chinese historical kung  fu novels  without a doubt this is one of the best  looking chinese historical kung  fu epic ever made .  br    br   but alas  tsui hark hasn  t improved much in the writing department  and the story and dialog are rather juvenile  his apparent obsession with the silly and overly  long depiction of the evil guys didn  t help either  . to make it worse  this movie is very badly cast . they decided to use the  hot  popular hong kong idols as lead characters  but unfortunately both ekin cheng and especially cecilia cheung are totally unsuited for historical kung  fu dramas because they lack the nobility and mystique that such characters are supposed to embody . adam cheng siu  chow and brigitte lin in the     version are infinitely better .  br    br   i wish that someday zhang yi  mou and tsui hark can join forces and produce a movie that has the visual artistry of tsui but with the maturity and story  telling poetry of zhang . . .  
jochen hick wrote and directed this little thriller of a suspense film based on the concept that the aids virus was a sheep virus mutated by the government to rid the world of gays and was apparently tested on convicts in the years before the outbreak of the hideous disease . were it not for the poignancy of the concept of the film  this would fall into the category of the many films about the ruination of the world by a rampant non  prejudicial infective organism .  br    br   stefan  tom wlaschiha  journeys from berlin to san francisco to investigate his father  s scientific suppositions about the induced sheep virus and its effects of the convicts in whom it was infused . he meets with some disdain and resistance to a dead theory  but also encounters some folks who know of the theory and support his investigation . simultaneously with his visit a series of serial murders takes place  each victim killed in a similar manner and each murder apparently accompanied by strains of music from puccini  s opera  turandot  which just happens to be opening at the san francisco opera . a police investigator louise tolliver  irit levi  and her companion cop  kalene parker  follow the murders while stefan makes the rounds of the sex clubs and bars in san francisco trying to locate men who may have been guinea pigs for his father  s theory . he encounters a strange lad jeffrey  jim thalman  with whom he has a cat and mouse attraction and a prominent doctor burroughs  richard conti  who seems oddly involved in the cast of suspects . how this all come to an end is the play of the film  a story as much about the search for self identity between stefan and jeffery as it is a case for investigation of murders .  br    br   while tom wlaschiha  jim thalman and richard conti do well with their roles  they are the only three who have any prior acting experience in the film    the quality of the film sags considerably by the less than acceptable minimally talented irit levy and kaylene parker when on screen the credibility of the story drops below zero . there are some small cameos by other actors that brighten the screen for the moments they inhabit  but in all the film is drowned by the incessant replay of  nessun dorma  as sung by mario del monaco from a recording o the opera  and that seems to be the reason for making the film  good idea for a film and some good characterizations by the actors  but there is no resolution of the initial premise that started the whole thing . grady harp  february    
this is an extremely dense  somber  and complicated film that unravels quite slowly  revealing excruciating detail  like the attention paid in a novel  and watching this film  is  like watching a novel unfold . while i didn  t care for the narrator  as i felt he was out of balance with the rest of the performances  this film features some of the best ensemble acting i have ever seen  and the lead  summer phoenix  is fabulous . her innocence and naivete some might find implausible  sort of a cross between cinderella and alice in wonderland . i can buy that critique  but she  s still fabulous  partially because she  s unlike anything i  ve ever seen before .  br    br   this film is unbelievably beautiful  filmed by eric gautier  and part of what is so unique about this film is how it doesn  t ever show what you  d expect . it  s always surprising  and despite it  s length  the film never reveals more than it needs to . at    minutes  it  s extremely concise  to a fault  i  d say  which is one of the wonders of this film . it  s filled with brief moments which are simply stunning  some of the best you  re likely to see all year  and all these moments add up in the end to an extraordinary film experience . the family moments are unique  ian holm is brilliant  and what this film has to say about the theater hasn  t been seen in films since cassavetes   opening night   or perhaps chaplin  s  limelight .  but  believe it or not  this film is much  less  conventional . i never knew where this film was going  and now  having seen it  it still has multiple possibilities . this is a powerful  incredibly provocative film .  
underneath the dense green glop of computer graphics there gleamed the astounding art and skill of ichikawa somegoro . alas it got lost in all the goo . the scenes of old edo   with the courtesan  drifting on the sumida  rehearsing and acting in the nakamura  za   were all exciting and engaging  taking you back to an interesting and rich era . the action on the kabuki stage  in which somegoro excels and excites  was more enriching than any of the absurd high jinks that followed . the skill  the energy in the audience  the colors of the sets  were far more satisfying than all the nonsense that took over plot and performance . what a wasted opportunity  one of the best kabuki actors alive  and he gets lost in the dreck .  
esther kahn is a young jewish woman living in an overcrowded  jewish ghetto in   th century england . she is surrounded by looming  oppressive  dreary  featureless  worn brick architecture  narrow sidewalks and streets  blacked out windows  and hordes of black  and  brown jacketed crowds .  br    br   she lives in a tiny apartment with her large family whom operate a clothes shop within the apartment . as child  she worked  had no privacy  wore colourless clothing  shared a bed  and remained silent to avert the mockery of her mother and siblings who ridiculed her for mimicking them out of boredom .  br    br   as a young woman  her life remains the same  she has no privacy  lives in a state of mental and physical hebetude and lethargy and inertia  exudes a blank  featureless expression  is clothed in plain  unremarkable clothing  and is continuously oppressed and dwarfed by the grey  mundane  massively imposing buildings  and narrow streets  and narrow hallways  and narrow doorways  and her loud  mouthed mother and siblings  and the prosaic  banal lifestyle of her family .  br    br   her only form of mental escape is the yiddish theatre . sitting in the balcony  front row  leaning over the rail  there is a vast space between her mind and the stage  a space that enables her to breathe  think  feel  and yearn .  br    br   yet despite the freedom of thought the open stage provides for esther  her face and body remain torpidly somnolent  impassive  dispassionate .  br    br   the plain and common looking summer phoenix brilliantly conveys esther  s emotionless demeanour  summer  esther does not convey any desire to want anything or anticipate anything .  br    br   after an unusual explosive confrontation with her mother  esther finally decides to break free from the bleak life she is trapped in .  br    br   she is eventually cast in minor parts in a few stage plays  and meets nathan quellen  portrayed by quintessential british actor ian holm  who commences to teach esther the technical skill of acting .  br    br   from this point forward  esther begins a grueling dual journey of learning how to act and learning how to feel .  br    br   she begins experiencing emotions she never felt before  and she begins gaining the experience she needs to fully comprehend and wield the technical aspects of acting .  br    br   nathan walks her across the stage through the physical and emotional steps of surprise  hesitancy  anger  disgust  self  loathing  etc she then begins walking through those emotions in her personal life .  br    br   there are three truths  nathan tells her  the truth of how a character reacts  the truth of how the actor would react  and the truth that a character and actor are not the same person .  br    br   these technical steps and three truths slowly deconstruct esther  s defenses and lead her to two edifying experiences in the denouement of the film which mark the beginning of her freedom of thought  movement  and emotion .  br    br   esther kahn is a technically challenging film to watch because of its odd and narrow camera shots  lackluster photo direction which conveys the realistic lackluster setting of the ghetto  and summer phoenix  s characterless and insipid and unappealing portrayal which brilliantly conveys kahn  s mental and physical hebetude and lethargy and lackluster nature .  br    br   a must  see film for people who want to learn the technical craft of acting  and for people who appreciate minimalistic films and character studies .  
i try to be very objective when i view a low budget movie . i also apply a lower weight to independent and low budget productions versus the big budget productions . i expect near flawlessness from big budget productions and their studios . therefore i apply tougher criteria to the major studio releases . but this movie was just a dud . period . the premise was terrible . the main character  mary gordano  alicia silverstone   was unbelievable as a high school senior with an unquenchable desire to solve crimes . there was not enough depth in her character or her acting that pulled you into her world . also  to make this movie more mysterious  the lighting in certain scenes did not set the mood  especially in the warehouse .  br    br   once again another disappointing movie that i could only give three points to .  
after you  ve seen this small likable and comical film  you will for sure feel better . cheer to yves b . pelletier to have given birth to this small magnificent movie moment  that according to me  will be recognized as a marking movie of year     for the quebec . the actors isabelle blais  emmanuel bilodeau  sylvie moreau and stphane gagnon all deliver a touching performance . i would compare the feeling that this wonderful story gives you to the ones that le fabuleux destin d  amlie poulain have given me . so if you  ve like the jean  pierre jeunet magnificent film  i would say that you should also like the first movie from yves b . pelletier  les aimants  
the movie never becomes intolerable to watch . and to tell it straight  it has nothing to show either  except maybe part  sexy alicia silverstone in a nerdy non  sexy character in revealing quite  sexy dresses . the story is very easy to follow or there  s nothing to follow   you can see in either way . there is no suspense  little action  unimpressive dialogs  unsatisfactory sensuality  same boring locations and very bland acting . kevin dillon is totally worthless . silverstone . . . well  i didn  t concentrate too much on her acting  i confess . yet as i said earlier  if one has nothing to do except watching a movie  this won  t look so bad .      
this movie is light  funny  and beautifully filmed . the lightning is absolutely superb  and the colours convincingly remind vermeer paintings .  br    br   this is sentimental comedy at its best  way above us and french standards  and arguably better than english ones too .  br    br   every character is touching  and interpretation is close to perfection . isabelle blais is splendid  sylvie moreau is better than in the catherine series  stphane gagnon is charming  emmanuel bilodeau is great in that weird role of his  and genevive laroche is the perfect best friend   br    br   i could go on for hours before finding any negative comment on this movie  so give it a chance  and add your own review .  
alicia silverstone  pre   clueless   plays a modern  day crime  obsessed teenager attempting to solve the brutal slaying of a local girl . pat verducci wrote and directed this b  flick  which isn  t especially well  made but is however surprisingly serious  minded in regards to its leading character . silverstone is appealing and successful in carving out an interesting young woman here  despite the picture  s kitschy undermining . the supporting cast  including kevin dillon and michael bowen  isn  t bad  though the violence in the last act goes overboard . not a cheesy camp  fest  but nothing exceptionally memorable either .     from   
and i absolutely adore isabelle blais    she was so cute in this movie  and far different from her role in  quebec  montreal  where she was more like a man  eater . i think she should have been nominated for a jutra . i mean  syvlie moreau was good  but isabelle was far superior  imo . pelletier has done fine work for his first time out  and i noticed he snuck in a couple of his buddies from rock et belles oreilles  guy a . lepage  andre ducharme . it was fun to see them in this  i didn  t know they were going to appear .  br    br   i don  t think i  ve seen a romantic comedy from quebec that i didn  t like  and this one is as good as any i  ve had the pleasure to see . and if you  re in the states and wondering how you can get a copy of the dvd  www . archambault . ca delivered it to me in less than a week .  
this film was so predictable  that during the entire time you  re hoping that the obvious suspect is innocent  and there  s some other big twist still coming . however . . . it doesn  t . he just continues to act creepy  and she continues to ignore it . mary found very incriminating evidence at his place  and she still trusted him  and what was that  baiting the trap   there was no trap . she confronted him  he said  excuse me . i have to go kill someone  he left  and that was the end of it . they make attempts to use other suspects   like that one older carnival girl at the end  but they  re completely underdeveloped . actually  all the characters are underdeveloped . they have no depth  and the setting is just plain strange . . . who hangs out in a recycling factory   its choppy and nothing is well developed . for example when she leaves his place after having the beer  and he finds the pics and she runs out and he catches her and they end up having sex in that car . . . what was that  her reactions weren  t portrayed . in the car she acted scared like it could have been practically rape  but then all we see is her showering the next morning . booooooooo it could have been so much better . . sooo much better .  
this movie has been made by one of the most absurd humorists in canada  yves p . pelletier . i was shocked for a second that he made a romantic comedy  but knowing he was a heavy cinephile  was seen in every local festival and in the local cinematheque  i had a positive feeling about this movie .  br    br   hell  i was right . right off the bat  the scenario  written by pelletier himself  is a bit twisted and hard to follow  but  in pelletier  s fashion it  s a one  of  a  kind   minutes jack  in  the  box .  br    br   loosely inspired and mostly transformed allusion to dangerous liaisons  by laclos   les aimants  consists of a twisted game of writing notes on the fridge . throughout the movie you  ll get the occasion to find out who  s who and who  s writing to who on that goddam fridge . . . . which pops up in an interesting love affair .  br    br   great storyline  great photography  great quotations of other movies . should we ask more for a first movie   
i  ve seen a lot of stupid plotlines in my time  but this one is among the worst . after catching some disease in space  an astronaut comes back to earth and starts melting . he then goes on a rampage  killing people  how is beyond me i just watch them  i can  t explain them .  this is the kind of movie that shouldn  t have been made in the first place .  
the lovely danish actress sonja richter steals this film from under the noses of everyone  no small feat considering the terrific performances surrounding her .  br    br   richter plays anna  an out  of  work  independent  minded  somewhat neurotic  and perhaps suicidal  actress who lands a desperation job looking after a wheelchair  bound  muted  aged father named walentin  the great danish actor frits helmuth  who died at   shortly after this film was made  .  br    br   spoiler alert  br    br   walentin refuses to respond to anyone   until he confronts the gifted anna  whose whimsical and mischievous manner brings the poor old battered devil back from a self  imposed death sentence .  br    br   writer  director  actor eric clausen has made a strong film about the difficulty a ponderous businessman son  jorgen  played by clausen  has loving a father who has never accepted him . the film sags toward the end  but clausen has some important things to say about euthanasia  the nature and value of loving and caring  and how one person  the irrepressible anna  can alter the course of a human life . highly recommended . sonja richter  s performance is alone worth the price of admission .  
the movie had so much potential  but due to    s technology constraints and also a weak script killed the main plot of the film . the book version of the film was much better  and well conceived . if it had been done right in the beginning with sources from the book  it could have been a very cool classic .  
being from canada  i cannot say whether this film is original in the context of danish cinema  unfortunately  we  here  do not get to see many danish films in a year  i also cannot comment on clausen  s acting in the context of his other roles  i personally found him quite believable  a touching monstrosity of a man  this jorgen  as for the actor who played kenneth  why would his participation in a tv show rule him out as an actor  aren  t we over such elitist attitudes  international viewers unaware of his big brother participation will find him a fair actor .  br    br   in spite of the movie  s faults  the writing could have been subtler in some instances   i do subscribe to what one could call the  message  of the film  namely art  s essential role in everyday life  art as healing force . art  as nietzsche said  sanctifies the lie   kunst heiligt die luege    it is a holy lie the wedding scene is fabulous in this sense  a theatrical  not religious  wedding  celebrating love and life as play . . .  
i just watched the incredible melting man for the second time  and it was even more boring than when i first watched it . i don  t understand why it has become such a  cult classic  when it is so tediously dull . the opening scene looks promising  when the fat nurse drops the canister of blood and runs for her dear life . after this all that really happens is the melting man stalks around some woods and houses  whilst having flashbacks of his life as an astronaut . the makeup is quite good  and his melting gooey face looks fairly realistic . there is a cool scene where he throws a mans head in a river  and it floats until it reaches a waterfall where it falls on rocks and bursts open . there  s not much to wet yourself over though  most scenes are shot in darkness and you can  t really see what is happening . there isn  t much gore  at least in the vipco dvd i watched .  br    br   no  the incredible melting man is not that great at all . i  ll give it marks for its cheese factor but that  s about it . if you want a true sci  fi  horror cult classic  watch the deadly spawn instead   
rouen prizes and the triumph of  villa paranoia  the favorite film of the general public  actually more important than the jury prize  was erik clausen  s brilliant bittersweet dramatic comedy   villa paranoia   which was also selected by the european youth jury indicative of its appeal to cinephiles of all ages . the following day director  actor clausen traveled to the remote town of mamers  pays de loire  for a provincial festival of new european cinema  where  villa paranoia  picked up three more prizes   best film  professional jury best film  audience prize and best film of another youth jury composed of  lycens   french high school students . five prizes in a single weekend   not a bad scoop for a film from a small country with unknown actors . in addition   villa  was awarded the grand prix  the maverick spirit award  at san jose  california  just a week ago  by distinguished british actor sir ben kingsley   ghandi    making for a grand total of six prizes in a single week . if lars van trier has put denmark on the offbeat  oddball dogma cinematic map in recent years  there is now a good chance that veteran maverick erik clausen     and his capable crew of actors will soon show the world that denmark has more to offer than dogmatic drivel  which is to say  a mass audience pleaser for young and old alike . moreover  the female lead of his film  sonja richter  has such a magical screen presence that  with a little more exposure  she stands a good chance of becoming the next international scandinavian diva . for the record   villa paranoia  is a fiction film  written  directed and acted in by mr . clausen  and employing certain motifs from moliere  s  the imaginary invalid  . anna  richter   an ambitious young actress  has lost a deeply coveted role in the moliere play and  reduced to making an utterly stupid tv chicken commercial  is on the verge of suicide . however  jorgen  clausen  who runs a massive chicken farm sponsoring the spot  offers her a job with room and board taking care of his cantankerous  senile  wheel  chair ridden father  walentin  who has not spoken a word since his wife stella committed suicide years before . anna is the only one who eventually finds a way of communicating with the hostile silent old grouch   and moreover  discovers that he has been faking deafness and immobility all these years   a living  malade imaginaire  . this will lead to her playing the greatest role of her own life in order to uncover the dark secret which led to walentin  s total withdrawal from life and reality . villa  paradise  paranoia   true to the moliere tradition from which it is partially derived  is a heartwarming  multi  layered  serial  comic psycho  drama that literally has something for everybody and only needs proper placement to attain the kind of general international outreach it richly deserves . alex deleon  paris    march       
the plot of  astronuat returns to earth as a mutating monster  died out in the     s mainly down to the scientific fact that travelling outside the earth  s orbit doesn  t humans cause to turn in to mutated monsters  and that the first film to use this plot the quatermass experiment was the only decent sci  fi movie to use the idea . so the idea of having the redundant plot return seems doomed from the start . alas watching the incredible melting man it seems the plot is the least of its problems  br    br   first of all this is an incredibly badly made movie . the budget is in single figures and i  m talking about lira not dollars . there is no cinematography to speak of and there  s countless editing blunders . for example a photographer takes his  barely legal  model for a photo shoot . cut to a shot where the sun is directly behind model  then cut to shot of photographer where the sun is directly behind him  then cut back to the model where the sun is . . .  br    br   the lack of budget drags the film down in other aspects too . according to the trivia page the budget was so low the producers couldn  t get any stock footage of saturn so when astronaut steve west mentions how beautiful saturn looks we get footage of the sun . actually the sun gives the most impressive performance in the film since the human actors wouldn  t be employed by a porn studio . if i was appearing in this i wouldn  t be scared by the eponymous monster  i  d be terrified of splinters from the rest of the cast . perhaps we should be slightly forgiving though since the obvious lack of budget manifests itself in things like the actors having to wear their own clothes . a general for instance doesn  t wear his nice fancy dress uniform complete with medals  he wears a denim jacket and baseball cap  br    br   there has to be suspension of disbelief for a film like this to work but it fails on every level . the tone is set early on in the film where mr melty murders a nurse and escapes from the hospital . instead of the police getting a call saying there  s been a murder dr nelson just decides to track down his patient on his own own same as he  d look for a missing cat . it  s also strange a thoroughly decomposing homicidal monster can walk down the road without anyone noticing  but this is typical of a film where horny   year olds stop their car down dark roads for a quickie and people nonchalantly mention their wife is pregnant whilst forgetting to tell the police that there  s a monster on the loose .  br    br   the incredible melting man is z grade rubbish . i can certainly understand why people enjoy this movie because it does reach the heights of  it  s so bad it  s good  but apart from rick baker  s sometimes impressive make up effects it  s nothing more than a very guilty pleasure  
a typical clausen film  but then again not typical . clausen writes  directs and play one of the leading roles . this is really a great film about normal people living normal lives trying to make the best of it . the  primary actors were fantastic .  br    br   fritz helmut was convincing . you believe that he really is sick .  br    br   sonja richter plays a nurse that really is an actor  but it turns out that she is the best nurse to take care of the old man .  br    br   everybody has problems and those who nobody believes in ends up being happy . but nothing good comes easy  they have to fight to win their life and love .  
rebar is an astronaut who goes on the world  s first space mission to saturn  but of course this being a horror movie things turn ugly and he returns to earth as the only survivor . stricken with some bizarre condition that causes him to slowly melt and lose his mind unless he regularly consumes human flesh  he kills what apparently is the only nurse in the hospital and escapes to the neighboring town to stalk more victims .  br    br   i liked the premise and the monster and gore effects are actually pretty good  but the space scenes are just pasted together out of stock nasa footage and the hospital looks curiously like a warehouse . a very weak script  little character development and overall poor acting keep this one from rising above being anything other than a mediocre slasher flick with the novelty of having a living candle as the killer  and more or less only has its gore effects to hold your interest .  br    br    out of    strictly for the most die  hard monster movie fans .  
this movie is good . it  s not the best of the great cg kung fu flicks but its pretty good . first thing first  the story is actually good . the whole idea of gods vs fallen gods type deal with super powers is pretty cool . my problem is theres too many characters  it got very confusing when they switched scenes  the special effects were incredible  the fighting scenes were very fast paced and complex . this movie practically all computer generated . the acting is superb  as always expected from such high profile players . ekin cheng makes an excellent protagonist  loner character . zhang ziyi did nothing for me in this movie . i thought she would have a bigger part but she did one fight scene and a whole lot of yapping . the bad guy  the whole skull army and the whole blood cloud thing is very frightening . the music is also excellent . to me this story deserve at least a mini  series and not just one movie . theres too much story to cram in  hours . maybe if there was a book or something  i would be able to keep up with all the characters and the details . this movie sacrifices story integrity for action . i reccomend storm riders over this any day .  
one has to wonder if at any point in the production of this film a  br    br   script existed that made any sense . was the rough cut  hours  br    br   long and was it trimmed into the incoherent mess that survives   br    br   why would anyone finance this mess  i will say that tom  br    br   wlaschiha is a good looking young man and he does what he can  br    br   with the dialogue and dramatic    situations he is given . but  br    br   characters come and go for no apparent reason  continuity is  br    br   non  existent  and the acting  cinematography  and direction are  to  br    br   put it politely  amateurish . not one sleeps is an unfortunate  br    br   choice of title as it will probably prove untrue should anyone  br    br   actually attempt to actually watch this film .  
well  for starters  this actually was the most elegant clausen film to this date .  br    br   the man  s always got a sense for characters with a slice of humor to them  but i think that he in this movie adds a dimension unparrallel to anything he  s made earlier . his work has  in very black n  white words  been accepted by the broad but not that critical audience  and we  ve always appreciated his sense of humor and his ability to mix it with human problems and a distinct way of letting the audience know what he needs to say .  br    br   in  villa paranoia  however  for the first time  he surprises with an unseen wisdom and a respect for the minorities . not only the ethnic but also the normal people you tend to forget . set in jutland  in  the country   it deals with the everlasting issue of lack of love  but in a close and at times brutal way that keeps you looking and keeps you focused . and on top of that  he himself manages to play a bd  a true bd  who wants the right thing but has no clue how to get there  and people therefore suffer . bitterly .  br    br   i  d have to say it  s one of the best movies i  ve seen this year and i  m greatly anticipating his next .  
i can watch a good gory film now and then . i  ve seen some pretty sick stuff . however  this is one of the few films that i found to be grotesque in a way that was just plain repulsive and revolting . i like gore films when they are fun . i like wen they are a lot of creativity behind them . the gore in this film is not creative . it is sick . it is repugnant . it is completely unpleasant . because of this  this film is certainly not entertaining . the film is a horror film  but it lacks scares . so pretty much the only reason why one would watch this film is for the gore  but that is the most unappealing and ugly aspect of the whole film  and that  s saying a lot . the acting is terrible  the plot makes no sense  and the music is really annoying and way too electronic sounding . it all took me right out of the film . pretty much the whole film is one big long depressing ordeal . there  s this guy that has a freak accident in a shuttle and awakens in a hospital to find that his skin is dissolving and melting off . i guess that after that he goes out and eats human flesh in order to slow down the melting process . there  s some weird subplot involving an old couple getting chased by a dog  some dismembered head floating down a stream  and an ending involving a man being electrocuted . there were times where i tried really hard to enjoy it  but the only scene in the whole film that i thought was even entertaining was the scene early on in which a nurse runs down a hospital corridor in slow motion . if you like ugly  nasty  ad unappealing horror films  this one is for you .  
this movie grabbed me with the incredible opening sequence which tricked me into a complete reversal of perspective  so i was hooked by the time the title came on . the theme of this movie is that everyone is acting  trying to re  invent themselves  but not in a tricky way like identity or the usual suspects  but in the way we all try to make whatever banal life we find ourselves in a little more interesting . the scenes in the chicken warehouses are spectacular . at one point jorgen  who owns the chicken farm  attends a seminar in laughing  where he  s the worst student . his discomfort at this lets you see the depth of his yearning to change himself . the movie made me wonder about the hidden mysteries that lie behind the surface of the most commonplace people i see every day . there  s not a lot of plot here . guessing the old man  s secret is pretty easy  but the fascination lies in trying to guess what all the other characters will do when they figure it out . this movie appealed to me in the same way that sideways did  although the characters couldn  t be more dissimilar .  
a few days ago  i watched a documentary called the fifty worst movies of all time and this is where i first heard of the incredible melting man . being a lover of schlocky films  i am making it a point to try to find some of the films from the documentary   not just including the incredible melting man . in fact  melting man is the first  bad film  i have seen since then and i must say i am rather disappointed . while it truly is a bad film  it comes nowhere near close enough to make inclusion on this list .  br    br   now before seeing the documentary  i have enjoyed  bad films  ever since i read the book  the fifty worst movies of all time  by harry medved . despite the same title  the book came out long  long before the documentary and the makers of the documentary never credited medved with the concept . from the medved book  i have seen about   of the   films but have come to an impasse   the rest of the films just aren  t available on vhs or dvd . so  i thought i  d try the film by the same name .  br    br   the reason i was most disappointed with the incredible melting man was that there were a few good elements to the film . first  the melting guy special effects were generally really cool and disgusting . it  s obvious that a professional  the famous rich baker  was involved in making this look realistic . however  i should also point out that there were also more than a few cheap and cheesy effects as well   such as the floating plastic head and the way the monster ran around after his left arm was cut off   you could see it  cleverly hidden  under his clothes  as for the story  it  s just stupid . a group of astronauts miraculously penetrate the rings of saturn without being crushed . then  they comment about how beautiful the sun is   as we see closeups of it . this is odd since saturn is so far from it   it should not look this way   it should be a large speck . regardless  immediately the scene changes and we  re told that one of the surviving astronauts is in a hospital . what happened between the last scene and this one  yep  it  s anyone  s guess . well  soon after  the survivor escapes and engages in a murderous rampage as his entire body melts .  br    br   now considering they have a psycho running about who looks like a melting popsicle  you  d think the government would pull out all stops to find and stop him  right   wrong . a general engages one lone doctor to find him   no army  no police   just some dopey doctor . even after bodies begin stacking up  at no point do the doctor or general do anything to organize a meaningful search or get backup .  br    br   now  given the stupidity of the film  you also wouldn  t be surprised to find the following  br    br   when the melting dude is running around near the doctor  s house  the doctor gives his wife a powerful sedative and leaves her in the house .  br    br   when a cute old couple is driving late at night  they naturally stop in an orchard to pick fruit and are killed .  br    br   when a lady sees melting dude  she barricades the door to protect herself . this would be smart if she didn  t have the back door of the house next to her  instead of just leaving the house and escaping  she just waits   br    br   when a photographer and his model are taking snapshots  the guy grabs his assistant and yanks off her top . why  well to give the audience a cheap thrill and make it a rated r flick .  br    br   when the melting dude is finally located and the sheriff has a clear shot at him  the doctor stops him   even though by now the monster had killed about a half dozen people .  br    br   so  as you can see the film abounds with stupid plot elements . it is a very bad film . but  given the occasionally good special effects  it just wasn  t a horrible film like i  d hoped . sure  it  s good for a laugh  but no where near plan  from outer space in badness and never should have been included on anyone  s worst film list .  
i watched this tape  immediately rewound it  watched it again and laughed twice as hard . i strongly recommend this tape for those who are not hateful of  but uncomfortable around transvestites . it shows you that transvestitism is a feature  rather than the entirety of one  s being . the comedy is not single issue . this man is brilliant . all comics should aspire to his level of candor  intelligence and talent .  
why do i constantly do this to myself  i mean  really  it  s right there in the title   the incredible melting man  . what else would i expect  i have to admit  i  m a sucker for just about anything i come across on the monster hd channel  but the only redeeming feature of this picture would be that truly grotesque makeup job by the legendary rick baker . as for creepy  i  ll give the nod to that horny old geezer couple sucking on lemons just before lights out . now they were truly scary .  br    br   something i could never figure out in horror flicks was why a monster  s victims wouldn  t simply just run away when faced with virtual annihilation . like the chick in the cabin . you know  there was a door completely visible right there in the kitchen that she could have run right out of at any time . incredible steve  o couldn  t muster much more than a brisk walk  so why not just blow right by him  i don  t know  maybe i  m missing something .  br    br   this flick had some of the feel of a  tales from the crypt  episode  but  tales  usually had a cool or grotesque twist which often times you didn  t see coming . this was one picture that you couldn  t quite get a handle on coming or going . for example  in an early scene  you can clearly make out that melting man  s eyeball fell out of his head  so how did he manage to get around for the rest of the story  i guess we  re not supposed to ask .  br    br   at eighty four minutes  this picture was about an hour and a half too long . when it was all over  i was ready to take up general perry on his earlier suggestion   i could really use a drink about now  .  
until i saw this special on hbo  i had never heard of eddie izzard . i sure am glad that i have now  he is one of the funniest comedians i have ever seen  rarely has a comedian immersed himself so completely in his craft then eddie . i could not stop laughing for the entire show . if you like to laugh you have to see this special   
no  just kidding . it was god  awful .  br    br   i was watching my local sci  fi station last night  which plays movies  every night  within a monthly theme . this month it  s  space turkeys  or how i learned to stop worrying and love the bombs  . movies so bad  they should never have been made . this was a good selection .  br    br   everything about this movie is thoroughly horrible with two exceptions  the gore make  up  which showed potential  and the editing  which slightly out did the rest of the movie  in terms of being horrible  . the acting is horrible all around  the dialog is horrible  the script  the direction . it  s not a good movie .  br    br   it consists of two forms of special effects  gore and stock footage of space . i  ll focus on the gore . watching this movie  i thought to myself   what was the motivation behind the making of this movie   people like making stuff  sure  but i was hesitant to think anything good could have come of it for anyone involved . i came to the conclusion that this movie was made as a means to increase the make  up effects guy  s demo reel . he  rick baker  actually went on to a pretty nice career  he  s worked on star wars        king kong        men in black        and even the incredible shrinking woman        plus a number of other notable flicks . other than that  i can  t say i  ve ever actually seen a real  live melting man  incredible  or otherwise  but i  d have to say this seemed to be a fair representation of one .  br    br   now  when i think of bad editing  i usually think of maybe a scene where someone  s talking on the phone and then  in the middle of the scene  the phone jumps down to his shoulder  or something to that effect . this movie really serves to highlighted the fact that bad editing can take many forms . specifically  over  long and utterly useless scenes . just about every scene dragged on longer than it should have  from a little bit of dead air to that crazy  long screaming scene with cleaver girl . and that severed head in the river  the head gets thrown into a river  in slow motion   the movie carries on for a couple minutes  and then we cut back to the floating head and watch it fall down a waterfall . while i  m sure they were all very proud of their severed head  what the hell    br    br   lastly  i  ll mention the running fat lady  slow motion scene right near the beginning . the jerky slow motion tells me that they didn  t shoot the scene in slow motion originally but later decided that it  wasn  t working like that  and then slowed it down . oy vey . in any event  if you should ever see another movie in which a hysterical fat woman runs down a hall and then directly through a closed  glass door  all in slow motion  mind you  remember the incredible melting man  for this is where it all started .  br    br   movies like this are best viewed at home with a bunch of friends . this one  s a little slow most of the time but that  s just all the more time to come up with your own one  liners . it  s not the worst of the worst but it  s pretty freaking bad .  
izzard was both hysterical and insightful in his humor . he definitely represents his own little niche in the comedic world .  br    br   it  s a pity more americans won  t see this stand  up routine due to its pal  only availability .  
many moons ago when i was seven years old  i can vaguely remember seeing a trailer for this movie . it appealed to my naive sense of curiosity and i decided to ask my parents to take me to this movie . being the wise adults that they are  they told me  absolutely not  it  s a bunch of trash .  of course  i was very disappointed that i would not be the first kid on my block to see the  incredible melting man .   br    br   little time passed  maybe a couple of days . i forgot about  the incredible melting man  and my disappointment faded . twenty  five years passed until it re  entered the forefront of my thoughts . while surfing through channels on digital cable  i found this long  lost relic of a movie . my curiosity was piqued and i decided to finally partake in this fruit forbidden by my parents . i should have listened to them . the  incredible melting man  is perhaps the worst movie known to man . it makes movies such as  def  con    metalstorm   and  freddie got fingered  look like oscar nominees . i feel violated for wasting almost two hours of my life watching this vile filth . the story was incoherent and the effects were crude even for     . how anyone convinced a film company to produce this movie beyond me .  br    br   don  t make the same mistake that i did . listen to your parents if they forbade you to watch this movie . they were right .  
i was first introduced to  eddie  by friends from  across  the  pond  who know i like intelligent humor . i prefer comedians who can be thought provoking while entertaining such as george carlin and dennis miller . in  dress to kill  eddie provides the same type of social observation humor that stimulates your thoughts on a subject all the while causing your side to split at the same time . there is a wide range of subjects in this stand  up and they are simply hysterical . the piece on how to decide on englebert  s stage name will leave you in stitches   br    br   thanks andrew and catherine  . . . and  do you have a flag    
this movie wasn  t just bad  it was terrible . after i watched it  i actually felt the need to take a shower to get the filth off of me . there is running  gag  with an elderly couple making out  it is not funny  but it is disgusting . the monster make up was cool  but that is all . the continuity errors alone will have you angry  at least i was . the editing is really poor .  br    br   almost anything else you could possibly do would be better than spending time watching this movie . even if your group of friends are into  bad movies  this one is exceptional in its ineptitude  i couldn  t even bring myself to laugh at it . you have been warned .  
eddie izzard is genius with his non  stop humor . i could listen all day . his unique approach to life is quite logical . his understanding of discovery  such as the heimlich maneuver  is creative . eddie izzard captures the heart of what we think . i don  t know when i laughed so hard at anyone  s off  beat mind .  
is this a stupid movie  you bet   i could not find any moment in this film that was creepy or scary . stupid moments  plenty . stupid characters  you bet . bad effects  everywhere  rick baker may have gone and done bigger and better things  this is not one of them . oh well people gotta start somewhere . dr . ted nelson is cheesed . he is the most whiny doctor i  ve ever seen . he  s got a melting man running amok out in ventura county somewhere  he  s not overly happy that his wife is pregnant  probably cause she  s   years old and weighs   lbs  and there  s no crackers to be found anywhere . plus he  s got the not  too  helpful general on his hinder wanting to find astronaut steve . and the local sheriff wants to know what  s going on even though mr . nelson can  t tell him anything . there also some random characters thrown in for good measure who encounter the melting man . eventually the movie ends and out monster gets scooped into a trash can to become compost . in the end it  s just what you need for a great mst episode .  
i managed to tape this off my satellite  but i would love to get an original release in a format we can use here in the states . eddie truly is glorious in this performance from san francisco . i don  t remember laughing so hard at a stand up routine . my wife and i both enjoyed this tape and his work on glorious i just wish i could buy a copy and help support eddie financially through my purchase . we need more of his shows available .  
i managed to grab a viewing of this with the aid of mst  k  and oh boy  even with the riffing this movie was excruciatingly bad . imagine someone whose competence with a camera could be out done by a monkey .  br    br   the highlights  what little there were  came from the special effects  which were  ok  . the acting for the most part was also  ok   though nothing special  it was of a higher quality than other b  movies i have seen in the past .  br    br   the rest of this movie is dismally bad  the camera work often looks like they  ve just put the camera man on roller skates and pushed him along . the story  if it can be called that  is so full of holes it  s almost funny  it never really explains why the hell he survived in the first place  or needs human flesh in order to survive . the script is poorly written and the dialogue verges on just plane stupid . the climax to movie  if there is one  is absolutely laughable .  br    br   if you can  t find the mst  k version  avoid this at all costs .  
this is definatley one of the best stand  up shows evre . ever . eddie is so off the wall that i  ve been watching this damn show for nearly five years now  and it still rocks every single time . just everything from his big broad physical comedy down to the little off the top of the head side remarks  it  s a masterpeice . you need look no further than this line  the word herb . you say erb  and we say herb  cuz ther  s a fing h in it  . brilliant .  
i have begun to melt so i will make this review as short and sweet as possible .  br    br   there  s this astronaut  and he goes up in a spacecraft with two other guys  ya know  except something happens that exposes him to radiation  and then when they come back . . . well  never mind what happened to the other guys  but our astronaut has begun to melt  no  not just burn up  but melt  like an ice cream cone in july  well ok maybe not that fast  but ya know what i mean .  br    br   anyway  he gets all red  gooey  and the fact that he  s melting makes him really mad . i guess he also checked out the  melting man  handbook because suddenly he knows that in order to keep from totally melting away  he has to eat human flesh  so he starts ripping people apart .  br    br   there are other characters  but in a movie where a man melts and melts and melts  and melts   do you really need any others  what  s important is who will he munch next  and what will be left of them  how long will it take for him to just melt away to nothing  why was this movie made in the first place  where did they get the money  when will you fall asleep while watching it   br    br   i  ve very nearly melted  but i still have enough time left to tell you that this movie is dreadfully boring  even though the idea is really cool and kind of gross . the makeup is neat but everything else is . . . splat  
eddie izzard is nothing short of a comedic genius  and this is eddie at his very best . his material is extremely witty and hilarious  and his delivery is some of the best ever witnessed on stage . instead of insulting the audience  s intelligence  he relies on it to draw humor from his wardrobe preferences  hitler  the moon landing  and the british . with so many memorable laughs  one can  t help but repeat some of his lines . forever more   do you have a flag   should be considered one of the funniest lines ever delivered in a standup routine . every fan of top notch standup comedy needs to see  dress to kill  . by far the best british standup comedian i  ve ever witnessed  eddie izzard has struggled for success off of the live stage . however  his lack of commercial success in film should not be indicative of how extremely talented he genuinely is .  dress to kill  is a treasure  one that luckily has found its way to home video  and can and should be enjoyed again and again .  
i have always wanted to see this because i love cheesy horror movies and with a title like this  i was sure  the incredible melting man  would be a lot of fun .  br    br   it really wasn  t . i mean  the acting was entertainingly bad  the script contained some classic bad lines and the special effects looked like someone had sneezed all over the lead actor  so i should have loved it . unfortunately it  s really draggy between these highlights . i decided to watch the last half of the movie while doing my tax return . that  s how boring this film is .  br    br   nevertheless  if you love bad movies you will enjoy the dramatic exit of the fat nurse  and the stellar acting of the guy who plays dr . ted . to be fair to the poor man  he does have to deliver some amazingly inept lines with straight face  like the conversation he has with his wife on tracking down the i m man  br    br    i  ll find him with a geiger counter .   is he radioactive    just a little bit .   br    br   yes  the plot has dr . ted wandering about trying to find a superstrong zombie killing machine armed only with what looks like a mini  dyson . he  s a brave man . unfortunately his plan fails when he finds a big lot of goop on a tree .  oh god  it  s his ear   says dr . ted to the audience . i  m so glad he cleared that up .  br    br   i realise i  m making this movie sound rather fun . it would be if it were only   minutes long  but unfortunately it goes on and on  and the incredible melting dude just dangles about making a sticky mess when he should be eating more people in my opinion . i think if you were truly stoned you would probably love it  just don  t have pop  tarts during the movie  because the lead actor really does resemble one near the end .  
 . . . and i love it . lots of special effects  and for a movie that  s not made on mega budget  this movie really does great job of creating a fantasy masterpiece . i  m one of the guys who didn  t understand the story at all  but this was still a great flick to watch . it  s definitely up there in standards surpassing bored of the rings  and on par with movies like harry potter . which is saying a lot for a movie again  made on a fraction of the budget of these international hits .  br    br   one thing i really love about this movie is that it so stretches the envelope of adventure movie to come out of hong kong . the topic is exotic and original . production quality is unlike anything seen coming out of hk for fantasy action movie  and acting is great .  br    br   one of the best movies to come out of hong kong  this is the infernal affairs of hong kong fantasy movie  and i hope they  ll continue working in this area  until they surpass hollywood adventure movies .  br    br   just fantastic .  
i can  t stand most reality shows and this one is worst than the one with paris hilton  and sure it  s his company . but  you  re fired  or  you  re hired   for how many seasons now  after watching the show i wouldn  t want to work for the guy with his ego and all and i think watching paint dry has more entertainment valve .  br    br   i  d love to hear just one person get up and say  donald i quit and take some of your money and buy a decent hairdo  . i see he  s even trying to buy fame in the wrestling wwe . i hope he gets hurt so i don  t have to see his pathetic face anymore . it must be sad to want fame so bad and have no talent and make an ass of yourself trying to buy it . i  d give this show a negative mark if i could but it gets a  and it doesn  t deserve that .  
this is an excellent stand  up dvd  eddie izzard is the funniest person i have seen in years . his routine is hilarious and makes for great conversation with others who have seen it . i highly recommend this one . the part about the history of europe is a bit slow  but the ending jokes in french are quite good  because you don  t have to speak french to get it  although if you do  it is still hilarious  . also  the parts about being a transvestite are quite good . the first scene  about san francisco  is not great  but funny the first time . skip over those if you can . it  s almost not worth watching . however  this really is a funny  funny stand  up show that everyone should see .  i was dead at the time    
a truly unpleasant film . while rick baker  s special effects are quite impressive  if stomach  turning   it has no other redeeming features . like many   s movies  it leaves you feeling as if you need to take a long shower  and scrub the slime off of yourself . the characters are uniformly unpleasant  and plot makes no sense .  
one of the best comedians ever . i  ve seen this show about   times and will probably watch it at least    more . my friends and family quote from this dvd so often  you  d think we did nothing other than watch it . the beginning part about alcatraz is a little bit slow  but either wade through it or zip on through to the part where eddie is on stage . watch for the  cake or death  part  joking about the church of england  and the  hitler  pol pot  part  hard to explain  just watch it  . the best part of the show may be eddie  s facial expressions . he can really say a lot with his eyes .  mascara  eyeliner  and eyeshadow probably help  huh   fair warning eddie does have a tendency to throw a lot of four  letter words in .  
i think that my favorite part of this movie  the one that exemplifies the sheer pointless  stupidity and inanity of the proceedings  comes at the climax of the film . doctor ted nelson and his unmarried friend the sheriff have finally cornered the melting man on a landing on some stairs in an electrical generating plant . keep in mind that nelson has been looking for the mm for nearly the entire film  and that the mm has killed and eaten several people at this point  including his boss   and nelson is very aware that mm is violently insane and hungry for human flesh and blood .  br    br   so the sheriff has his gun pointed at mm  who is  and i give the movie and rick baker props for this  the most disgusting and terrifying object in human form that we have ever seen . and he yells a very important question to doctor ted nelson  what do we do now        br    br   the camera cuts over to doctor ted nelson  and it  s obvious that ted has no idea what to do next . apparently ted was so intent on the problem of finding the melting man  he never thought to bring along some restraining devices  a lasso  or straitjacket  or a net  or some tranquilizer darts  or maybe a new age tape by vangelis to soothe the savage beast .  br    br   so the sheriff panics and shoots  the melting man goes berserk  and hilarity ensues .  br    br   maybe this explains why nasa has been screwing around with the space shuttle program in sub  lunar space for the last   years instead of going back to the moon or out to mars like everyone knows they ought to be doing . i dunno .  br    br   anyway  that  s the kind of lousy  lazy writing and direction that undercuts every aspect of this movie . it  s hard to say how good the actors actually are  because the movie has complete contempt for their characters .  br    br   two other incredibly painful sequences also ramp up the stupidity of the proceedings there is a scene featuring the lumpiest old couple in the world trying to steal lemons from a grove  only to be torn apart by the melting man . this scene is a nadir in   s cinema . i can guarantee you  ve never watched a more pointless and irritating setup with odder looking people in your entire life . and the melting man  s assault on the lady who lives in the house where they keep a horse who pees on the walls defies every attempt to process it .  btw  i think famous film director jonathon demme has a walk  on in this scene as the redneck husband who goes in first to check on the house and never comes out again  . the only thing that keeps the actress from literally chewing the scenery is that  as i said  their horse has apparently been peeing on it . and we are forced to watch her hysterics for at least two minutes longer than any sane film director would hold the shot .  br    br   burr debenning ought to beat the crap out of imm  s director and photographer . i remember him from an old columbo episode where he looked much better than he does here  no one  s idea of a leading man  but solid and unobtrusive . but no one could possibly be as unappealing in real life as his director makes him look here .  br    br   everyone else comes off a little better except for the old couple  and shut up  i know they were being played for laughs  but i ain  t laughing   but not much .  br    br   this definitely falls into the  so bad you can  t look away  category of cinema disasters . still  i  d watch it again before i  d watch a lot of other    s and    s abortions   track of the moonbeast  and  it lives by night  come to mind   and mst  s coverage of it is great fun  so if you get a chance  watch the mst version .  
right  then  he  s absolutely brilliant . but you must be intelligent and quick to understand his humor . he covers  attacks   all sorts of topics  such as the first moon landing  easter  christmas  transvestitism  movies  and herr doktor heimlich .  br    br   for those of you are averse to swearing  this isn  t for you . while some of us punctuate with commas and periods  he uses the f  word . also  if you can  t laugh at yourself  never watch this you will feel the fool .  br    br   incidentally  i  ve watched his other stuff and even saw him perform live  and this is by far his best work . he simply shines .  br    br   what might go so far as to say he is glorious .  
want to watch a scary horror film  then steer clear of this one . there  s not enough beer in the world to make this film enjoyable .  br    br   however  there is enough scotch . single  malt  if you can manage it .  br    br   if the previous comments weren  t enough to keep you from watching this film sober  allow me to assist . nasa sends one man and two unpaid extras into space to orbit saturn . a really big solar flare causes colonel steve west to bleed from the nose . things go downhill from there  and wackiness ensues .  br    br   i actually read the book adaptation  which was published and released only in the uk . miles better than the film  and the book was dreadful . at least some pretense is made towards suspense  and some sort of explanation of events is pulled out from the author  s  rhymes with  gas   .  br    br   not to say that the film is completely without merit . rick baker learned that he really ought to read a contract before signing on to a film  and jonathan demme found that he  s really better suited to direct .  br    br   yes  there is an mst  k episode featuring this flick  but it is  of course  edited quite a bit . without the obligatory flashing of the breasts  not even the healing power of scotch can save you .  br    br   please  just go watch raiders of the lost ark if you want to see a guy melt . see space cowboys if you feel the need to see astronauts . i can not  in all good conscience  recommend this film to the sober film  going public .  
what more could anyone want  he  s a history lesson  foreign language tutor  nra representative and ambassador to burundi dressed in a nice silk frock and heels . i laughed so hard i left a puddle . his woes about puberty  transvestism  public school  and done in several languages made the absolute finest stand  up routine i have ever seen . i think about it now  years later when i see cake  tea and cake or death  and hear something translated into french  the mouse is under the table  the cat is on the chair and the monkey is on the branch . i like his versions of what jerry dorsey could have been named before he settled on englebert humperdinck . i really hope to see a lot more from this wonderful guy . he has a lot to teach us  and a wonderful way of telling it . thanks for your time .  
i was thinking that the main character  the astronaut with the bad case of the runs  in his case  his skin  hair  muscles  etc  could always get more movie work after he  d been reduced to a puddle . all he has to do is get a job as the blob . the premise of this flick is pretty lame . an astronaut gets exposed to sunspot radiation  i think   and so begins to act like an ice cream cone on a hot day . not only is this a puzzler  but apparently he has to kill humans and consume their flesh so that he can maintain some kind of cell integrity . huh  have you ever noticed that whenever any kind of radiation accident or experiment happens  the person instantly turns into a killing machine  why is that   br    br   the astronaut lumbers off into the night from the  secret facility   which has no security whatsoever   shedding parts of himself as he goes . apparently he retains just enough memory to make him head for the launch pad  maybe because he wanted to return to space .  br    br   thus begins the part of the movie that  s pretty much filler  with a doctor wandering around with a geiger counter  trying to find the melting man by the buzz he gives off . he kills a stupid bill gates look  alike fisherman  scares a little girl a la the frankenstein monster movie  and finishes off a wacky older couple  punishing them karmically for stealing some lemons  . then there  s a short scene where he whacks his former general  and a very long scene where he kills a young pothead and chases his girlfriend around . you  d think that after she cuts his arm off and he run away  the scene would shift . but no . . . we  re treated to about ten minutes of the woman huddled into a corner panting and screaming in terror  even though the monster is gone . all i could think was . . director  s girlfriend  anyone   br    br   the end of the movie is even lamer than the rest of it . the melting man finishes turning into a pile of goo  and then . . . nothing . that  s it . that  s the end of the movie . well  at least that meant that there was no room for a sequel .  
i wish i could laugh again as much as when i saw this show for the first time . i have not done so ever since .  br    br   the strange thing is  i find myself laughing almost as hard after watching the show again  and again .  br    br   eddie izzard is cultivated  is poignant  is a man of the world . he is deft talking about politics and yet feels no need to  engage  in political discussion . he is above that . i would contrast him to george carlin  who uses his comedy to try and convince people about his ideas  and does not seem to enjoy the fact that he is trying to entertain .  br    br   funniest guy on earth  
the incredible melting man plays like an extended episode of the six million dollar man  but with violence and some nudity . i know this film is a bit crummy but i found it impossible not to kind of like it .  br    br   the acting and script are not the best . but the effects are good for a   year old movie with a budget of     the title character takes quite a while to actually melt but when he does it  s reasonably impressive we also have one inventive death scene involving electrocution . of note too is the music  it  s insane  a cheese  tastic medley of nonsense .  br    br   notable highlights  br    br    marvel at the slow  motion nurse who jumps through a pane of glass for absolutely no reason whatsoever .  br    br    be amazed by a day in the life of a severed head .  br    br    beware of the psychotic cannibalistic melting humanoid . called steve .  br    br    be astonished when our hero takes a break from hunting the melting lunatic to have a bowl of soup and complain about insufficient crackers in the kitchen .  br    br   this film is just too    s for me to hate it . it  s tacky and trashy but i thought it was a lot of fun . you could do a lot worse .  
a bit of trivia b  c i can  t figure out how to submit trivia in the backdrop of this performance  one of the images is  br    br   george serat  s  a sunday afternoon on the island of la grande jatte  painting  seen best in chapter     this painting is the subject of a sonheim musical sunday in the park with george .  br    br   a bit of trivia b  c i can  t figure out how to submit trivia in the backdrop of this performance  one of the images is  br    br   george serat  s  a sunday afternoon on the island of la grande jatte  painting  seen best in chapter     this painting is the subject of a sonheim musical sunday in the park with george .  
once upon a time some evil people made a movie about a guy that got shot into space  supposedly to go to saturn  but really only to some stock footage of solar flares  and then he gets a nose bleed  and before you know it  he  s laying in a hospital bandaged head to foot  and then an overweight nurse with an ill  fitting uniform comes in and gets eaten by the guy  whose supposed to be melting all over the place but never seems to lose any mass  and then nasa  or at least one guy at nasa  gets upset about it and calls one other guy in to hunt him down  but the guy they sent to hunt the melting guy has to go home and have soup first  and his oddly  shaped wife forgot the crackers  so he can  t have crackers  and then he has to go out and look for the melting guy with a geiger counter  and that doesn  t really work  so he really only follows the trail of half  eaten corpses  and then there  s something about a sheriff  and two ugly old people in a lemon grove  and a women with a meat cleaver  and some kind of industrial plant with trigger  happy security guards  and since i can  t tell you how the movies ends  all i can say is jonathan demme is in it somewhere with some guy with the stupid name of burr debenning  and if there  s any justice in the world everyone connected with this movie died a hideous  violent death and was unable to make more movies  and the world lived happily ever after  the end   
some people loved  the aristocrats  and others hated it  frequently walking out in the middle . reactions to eddie izzard aren  t likely to be that extreme   if you can handle a transvestite comedian  who says he likes girls  and has a vocabulary that makes  shall we say  enough use of the  f  word that his program would be one long beep if presented on network television . many of izzard  s fans are so devoted that they see no flaws whatsoever in his performances . on the other hand  i thought this show was occasionally flatter than izzard  s chest but also more often than not funny and  in spots  absolutely hilarious . he has a way of connecting references from routines early in the show to his later routines . he  s not a story teller . he  s not a joke maker . he  s not a frenetic fantasist like robin williams . he plays around with ideas  some of which work and some of which   a routine with the san francisco cable car and alcatraz  for instance   are completely unfunny . he has a way  however  of moving gracefully past the flopped routines and extending the ones that connect . i gave this performance a  and might be persuaded to raise it to an  . but a    no way .  
well . astronaut steve west sits in a plastic space capsule  commenting that  you haven  t lived until you  ve seen the sun through the rings of saturn   all the while the obvious mid  day sunlight is streaming through the window  when suddenly he has a nose bleed . next  west is back home in some secret hospital  a melting gelatinous mass who goes berserk and causes a chunky nurse to run through a fake glass door . apparently  west  gets stronger as he melts   which makes about as much sense as anything in this hopelessly purile  adle  brained moovie . then this dopey  army brass   who looks kind of like coleman francis  director of many bad moovies  tries to cover the info up  but goo man runs around killing everyone he sees because he is melting . he attacks a bickering old couple because he is melting . he makes one terrible actress scream and moan helplessly for about   minutes because he is melting . he is melting because he is melting . the fx by the slumming rick baker are supposed to be the star here  but they just look hokey . the film is poorly shot and everything looks so dark and muddled that it  s very difficult making out what  s what  not that it would help any . moocow says who cut the cheese with this one     p ps   didn  t you get any crackers    
this video was my first exposure to eddie izzard . we had several friends over one night and for some reason or another had channel  surfed to hbo during the course of the evening . someone by the name of  eddie izzard  was on . i tried not to laugh too loudly at the first few jokes . i didn  t want to be held  responsible  for the rest of the group  s enjoyment of something that was obviously killing me . after holding in my laughs for more than was healthful  i let go   as did the others of us  we were not stoned  by the way  nor talking of insurance and pensions . . .  . we were asphyxiated after that . the story lines  the plot  the bizarre yet ingenious connections throughout the sketches are nothing short of brilliance . i have since been addicted to every eddie  izzard  piece  of  comedy i can get my hands on . his work is sheer genius . his comedy appears effortless . he seems more like that hysterically funny friend hanging out at your house and rambling on about this or that . . . it  s convulsively funny . he gives you the impression that the joke is between you . . and himself  the only true aficionados of humor  after all . if you are disappointed in this video  you have no sense of the penultimate in humor   or humour  as they say in the uk .  
labored comedy has i . r . s . agent tony randall investigating eccentric farm family in maryland who have never paid their taxes debbie reynolds is the tomboy farmer  s daughter who puts the squeeze on the not  so  disinterested tax  man . debbie certainly made her share of inferior theatrical sitcoms during this period   and this one  s no better or worse than the rest . picture begins brightly but flags at the halfway point  becoming frantic and witless . randall isn  t a bad match for reynolds  but the vehicle itself defeats the chemistry . based on the novel  the darling buds of may  by h . e . bates  with a poor sound  mix causing all the actors to sound as if they  re stuck in an echo chamber .  from   
hilarious hardly begins to describe this one of a kind genuine tour  de  star  wars  force  luke how strong  vader the strength of a small pony   in which  being the master he is  he doesn  t even break a sweat  ingeniously sparing himself mascara leakage . .  and that  s with almost  hours of whirling his way thru history  its birthplace  europe  and more .  br    br   from heimlich  s middle  of  the  night   i  ve invented a maneuver   to the british empire  s  . . do you have a flag . .   and ancient deadbeat gods   jeff  the god of biscuits   and many more  this is fish  flop  on  the  floor  to  jumpstart  your  lungs funny .  br    br   and i confess to having passed on this video dozens of times over the years  seeing as a british transvestite standup  vogueing on a chair  is one longshot of a rental after all  especially one going back   years now . and yet  the material is not only timeless but almost oracular  turning present day into nothing more than an amplified  funnier  sadder version of where we were at a decade ago  although come to think about it  that may just be a coincidence .  
i am terribly sorry  i know that fabinder still is called one of the greatest directors in post  war germany and that most of his films are considered  master  pieces   but when i see  lili marleen  today  in      i wonder what everyone is up and away about this movie  the acting is simply terrible  hanna schygulla is all the smiling like an idiot    the changings between nazi  glamour and battlefields are ridiculous  the whole film looks as if it was made within two days in an attic . probably it was exactly that way and many people seem to take this for  real art   but for me this movie is simply bad  cheap . compare this to viscontis  la caduta degli dei  and tell me again that  lili marleen  is a good movie . . .  
this is another gem of a stand up show from eddie izzard . you cannot fail to laugh at the wide range of topics he talks about . he even takes the piss out of his american audiance at times and most of them didnt even realise it  a must see for anybody who likes comedians .  out of   .  
where do i start  per the title of this film i expected some degree of authenticity  in the end i was severally let down . this is not the story of lale andersen or the song lili marlene  rather it is a hollywood  or pick your film making hub  story loosely based on some real life characters . i should have had a clue when i heard a heavy english accent giving the intro to the movie in german the blood red text  title  artists  should have been the  nd clue . the story line is contrived  lale was not tricked out of switzerland rolf liebermann  s parents  there is no info that liebermann helped smuggle jews from germany  the original song had been recorded outside of the control of the ns regime not while under control  the record played at the station was picked up in vienna while a lt . was there on leave  etc  etc  the costumes are poor and incorrect for the time frames  ss black uniforms used every where from border guards to staff positions  these went away from daily use once the war started  etc   the characters are stereo types  sa bullies in a club once they were essentially out of power  . don  t waste your time .  
yeah right . sammo hung already acted in the main role in      s  zu warrios from the magic mountain  . now       he does it again with  zu warriors  . but this time  he finally does it right . you seldom see him in wuxia  more often in classic eastern or crime slapstick . but this role simply does fit him  the ancient chinese legend about zu mountain is not often represented in movies  as far as i know about movies translated for the west  . although  the legend contains a vast of interesting stories and possibilities . straight said you haven  t seen a story alike yet in a modern movie  and that makes it so great  and wow all the colors plus the enormously deep  right  into  the  heart going story makes you fall for this movie in an instant . the first time i watched it  i had to watch it again instantly  and i did . ok true  i didn  t understand all of it the first time . but that makes it only better  you know  you didn  t understand all of it  because there is so much spice in it  therefor it is a pleasure for one self to watch it over and over again . and yeah  it grows deeper in your heart  the more often you watch it .  br    br   summary a story to love  characters you cry with  and truly a movie you never forget    editors note well  i think i must watch it right now again d  
i bet you gene simmons and vincent pastore negotiated in advance how many episodes they would be willing to appear in . isn  t just too contrived for gene to switch to the ladies team and then throw himself on his sword  and big pussy  what the hell was that  look at me  i  m a rat   double episode crap  all that clich mafia banter  come on  the big names voted off just happened to already have received money for their charity and got a custom tailored exit . hmm . . . this is not reality but staged drama  mark burnett  s other show   survivor  also raised questions for me when johnny fairplay stages his departure when he clearly had just a short time before his child is to be born .  br    br   yuk   
one of the very best three stooges shorts ever . a spooky house full of evil guys and  the goon  challenge the alert detective agency  s best men . shemp is in top form in the famous in  the  dark scene . emil sitka provides excellent support in his mr . goodrich role  as the target of a murder plot . before it  s over  shemp  s  trusty little shovel  is employed to great effect . this   minute gem moves about as fast as any stooge  s short and packs twice the wallop . highly recommended .  
or anyone who was praying for the sight of al cliver wrestling a naked   ft tall black guy into a full nelson  your film has arrived  film starlet laura crawford  ursula buchfellner  is kidnapped by a group who demand the ransom of   million to be delivered to their island hideaway . what they don  t count on is rugged vietnam vet peter weston  cliver  being hired by a film producer to save the girl . and what they really didn  t count on was a local tribe that likes to offer up young women to their monster cannibal god with bloodshot bug eyes .  br    br   pretty much the same filming set up as cannibals  this one fares a bit better when it comes to entertainment value  thanks mostly a hilarious dub track and the impossibly goofy monster with the bulging eyes  franco confirms they were split ping pong balls on the disc  s interview  . franco gets a strong eurocult supporting cast including gisela hahn  contamination  and werner pochath  whose death is one of the most head  scratching things i ever seen as a guy who is totally not him is shown  in close up  trying to be him  . the film features tons of nudity and the gore  tempra paint variety  is there . the highlight for me was the world  s slowly fistfight between cliver and antonio de cabo in the splashing waves . sadly  ol  jess pads this one out to an astonishing  and  at times  agonizing   hour and   minutes when it should have run   minutes tops .  br    br   for the most part  the severin dvd looks pretty nice but there are some odd ghosting images going on during some of the darker scenes . also  one long section of dialog is in spanish with no subs  they are an option  but only when you listen to the french track  . franco gives a nice    minute interview about the film and has much more pleasant things to say about buchfellner than his cannibals star sabrina siani .  
this is right up at the top of my list of the most hysterically funny shows i  ve ever seen . i laughed so hard  i  m sure i missed half the jokes . this showcases izzard as the brilliantly gifted comedian he is . what i particularly like is that he seems never to be  dumbing down  the material for his audience . his timing is impeccable and the routine is tied together as a performance piece rather than just a series of gags . thumbs way up .  
as someone who has read the book  i can say that this is vastly inferior to the big american version starring gwyneth paltrow . there are various reasons for this . firstly  emma is too unpleasant . yes  she has faults  and isn  t the easiest person to like  but the viewer shouldn  t downright start to despise her . secondly  mr knightly is miscast . his brooding and melancholy in this version are better suited to a bronte or gaskell adaptation than austen  and throw the mood of the whole affair  off  . thirdly  samantha morton is too strong an actress to be relegated to the role of harriet and why was she made to look so sickly  harriet is supposed to be blonde and blooming  not to look as if she  s going to be carried off by consumption in the next scene . fourthly  the structure has been mucked up and scenes cut . at the end  when emma decides she loves mr knightly  it comes across as utterly baffling because this narrative hasn  t been adequately shown and carried along throughout the film . fifthly  what was going on  exactly  with mrs elton  s accent  she went from sounding like an american actress trying to suppress her own accent at the beginning  to all out american half  way through  and then back to english at the end . finally  this dragged at the end . the book and the big film version end with the wedding of emma and mr knightly . this version drags on confusingly after the announcement of the wedding without actually showing us the ceremony .  br    br   all in all  a rather haphazard attempt . read the book or rent the paltrow version instead  
this video rocked  eddie is one of the funniest comics i have ever seen . not only does he have class  he makes some of the funniest observations on history and culture that i have ever seen . eddie is the most original and most intelligent comic i  ve seen in a very long time . tell all those other stand  ups to get off the stage and let this  executive  reign   
the script is nice . though the casting is absolutely non  watchable . no style . the costumes do not look like some from the high highbury society . comparing gwyneth paltrow with kate beckinsale i can only say that ms . beckinsale speaks british english better than ms . paltrow  though in ms . paltrow  s acting lies the very nature of emma woodhouse . mr . northam undoubtedly is the best mr . knightley of all versions  he is romantic and not at all sharp  looking and unfeeling like mr . knightley in the tv  version . p . s . the spectator cannot see at all mr . elton  ms . smith relationship  s development as it was in the motion version  so one cannot understand where was all emma  s trying of make a elton  smith match  besides of the portrait  .  
i  d heard of eddie izzard  but had never seen him in action . i knew he was a transvestite  and when i saw he was on hbo one night last summer  i put it on  not knowing how my husband would react . well  he blew us away . he  s better than robin williams ever was . he has total control of the audience when he does the  englebert is dead  no he  s not   routine  the audience doesn  t know what to think by the end . god as james mason is also an inspired touch  and his version of the python spanish inquisition as carried out by the church of england   cake or death   is priceless . my jaws were aching from laughter by the end of the show . we scoured the tv listings for months after that to be able to see him again  and were lucky enough to tape him the next time he came on . if you get the chance to see this show  cancel everything and tape it  you won  t be disappointed .  
this is indeed a god adaptation of jane austen  s novel . compared with the american version with guinneth paltrow  the script was written to resemble as much as possible the book . but the acting was awful . besides kate beckinsale  who i believe was a true likeness of the emma in the book  all the other actors were trying too hard . mark strong was not the  gentleman  he was supposed to be . he was often rude and offensive  had no feeling whatsoever  and throughout the entire film you could not see his love  growing  for emma at all . this had a terrible effect on kate beckinsale  who seemed to be trying to  resque  her leading role as well as her partner  s . moreover  there was no chemistry between the entire cast . hariett smith  played by samantha morton  seemed to have no real attachment to mr . elton  played by dominic rowan . therefore  she did not seem as heartbroken as she was portrayed in the book . the settings of the film are also too poor . the costumes are even more so . i would have imagined emma woodhouse to dress in a more fashionable and elegant way that she does here . the ending is also too long . it is good that it resembles the book  s ending  but it is a killer ending for a film . and again  i can see no feeling of happiness in the face of mr . knightley . to conclude  i believed this adaptation to be loyal to the book  but with poor actors . it seemed as if the film was made without any budget at all . i would prefer to see the  lighter  version with paltrow and northam  even if it is clear that it was made to be a  blockbuster   than to watch these actors  excepting the good olivia williams and the better kate beckinsale  ruin the entire script .  
stumbling upon this hbo special late one night  i was absolutely taken by this attractive british  executive transvestite .  i have never laughed so hard over european history or any of the other completely worthwhile point eddie izzard made . i laughed so much that i woke up my mother sleeping at the other end of the house . . .  
emma is my favourite jane austen novel  emma is well  meaning despite her flaws  so readers can forgive and love her  and the relationship she has with mr knightley  which is warm  familiar  respectful but playful  generating that warm  fuzzy  romantic excitement . mr knightley is the perfect man  and emma is as close as you could get in those times to an independent  clever  confident woman  remember  she is only    and was sure to have matured and grown out of her flaws . who doesn  t want to be emma  who doesn  t want to be told off by mr knightley  this version of emma gives you no sense of the things that i love about emma . i couldn  t even finish watching it  i just found it so awful . i couldn  t see that warm  generous side of emma  which drives the reader to love her the patience and warmth she shows to her father the closeness between her and mrs weston  which demonstrates her willingness to put her friend  s happiness above her own  as she sacrifices the only equal companion in her household by forwarding miss taylors marriage  . mr woodhouse  s character in this adaptation just appears bizarre  rather than just quaint  elderly and a bit trying .  br    br   this adaptation most importantly fails bring to life the relationship between mr knightley and emma . their relationship is built on mutual respect and affection mr knightley is indulgent of emma  s minor faults trusting that her intelligence and genuine care for others will never allow her to go terribly astray and emma looks up to him  though playfully hiding this and continuing to use her own judgement . the dressing down he gives her right at the beginning of the show completely overstates the argument between them  and ruins all possibility of portraying the nature of their relationship as i  ve described above . mr knightley is also insufficiently attractive to bring to life the sexual tension between the leads  or to inspire any admiration from the female viewers  .  br    br   really horrible . i can  t understand why anyone who truly like the novel emma could like it  unless it miraculously redeems itself after the point i switched it off .  
in my opinion  this is the best stand  up show i have ever seen . i became an instant eddie fan after seeing dress to kill  but i must say i think this is his best work . i would say  though  if you ever get the chance to definitely go see him live . it is worth it   br    br   most of the time after seeing a stand  up routine a couple times  the jokes start to get old . but i have to say  i  ve seen this show so many times that i literally have the entire thing memorized  which yes  i realize is kinda sad  but every joke still makes me laugh . this is truly a feel good show .  br    br   dress to kill will never get old for me . i own it and watch it anytime i need a good laugh .  
i confess   emma  in my opinion  is the single greatest novel ever written . it is as close to perfection as any mortal creation can be . jane austen reaches the pinnacle of her art here .  br    br   unfortunately  this is at best a palimpsest .  br    br   comparison to the gwyneth paltrow version is inevitable   that version is far more faithful to the witty spirit of the book and far more enjoyable to watch .  br    br   there are some good elements here   kate berkinsale  having previously played flora poste in cold comfort farm  clearly emma  s smarter spiritual twin  is a wonderful emma . raymond coulthard makes an appropriately decorative frank churchill . the production is handsome  but the interiors are far too dark .  br    br   however  there are several major problems . the first is mark strong   first of all  he doesn  t look right for mr . knightley . this is perhaps because he plays the role like a censorious victorian parson . it  s badly out of tune .  br    br   the second problem is one of length . simply put  the film is much too short   to get the right kind of feel  it would need to be twice as long .  br    br   finally  and most significantly  there is the quality of the adaptation . austen is an adapter  s dream   all the dialogue is there already . it only needs to be pruned down and arranged properly . andrew davies seems to think otherwise . first  this is a rather gloomy film  and the last thing emma should be is gloomy . more significantly  davies has seen fit to rewrite the ending as some sort of bucolic feast . what planet  or minor work of thomas hardy  is this come from  it is utterly out of the style and spirit of the novel . and i believe that it is hugely presumptuous to try to make improvements upon   perfection .  br    br   watch the paltrow version  or watch kate in cold comfort farm .  
witty . funny . intelligent . awesome . i was flipping channels late one night years ago . came across this and a wildfire started . i was staying up late every night and taping it for everyone i know . a few . like  people out of the almost    people i made watch this didn  t think it was as awesome as i did . the others were laughing out loud so hard they were crying and thanking me at the same time . please do yourself a favor . run don  t walk . watch this and enjoy . intelligence and humor . it  s a win  win situation . i wish i could have afternoon tea with him and meet the truly rare comedian that we as a society need more of . . . . sanechaos .  
forget plan   this is the ultimate fiasco  a costume drama  ineptly directed  scripted  acted  etc . this film is based on isabel allende  s not  so  much  better novel . i hate meryl streep and antonio banderas  in non  spanish films   and the other actors  including winona  my favourite actress and jeremy irons try hard to get over such a terrible script . plenty of mistakes  like  for example  since when does it snow in xmas in chile   and very cruel  with tons of that evil named  magic realism   this stands out as the worst movie of all time . it totally sucks     
this has to be the funniest stand up comedy i have ever seen . eddie izzard is a genius  he picks in brits  americans and everyone in between . his style is completely natural and completely hilarious . i doubt that anyone could sit through this and not laugh their a off . watch  enjoy  it  s funny .  
i managed to sneak away one night and go to the movie theater to see this one  thinking i was in for a treat . boy  was i wrong . considering the talent involved  this has to be one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . everyone in it was miscast  and i find it incredible to read on this site that there are people out there who actually liked it .  
i find myself comparing all stand  up acts to this one performance now . even older recorded performances i once thought were funny just don  t seem as funny after seeing eddie izzard in this award  winning look at history  language disparities  and englebert humperdink . . .  
i  m glad i rented this movie for one reason its shortcomings made me want to read allende  s book and get the full story .  br    br   pros the movie is beautiful  the period is depicted well and consistently  to the best of my knowledge   and meryl and glenn do good jobs .  br    br   cons this is the worst acting job i  ve ever seen from jeremy irons   i kept wondering if something was wrong with his mouth .  and i hate the terribly english way he says  transito .   winona ryder does nothing believable except look young and idealistic . most of the other performances are ok  but so few things hang together in the character arcs and the relationship development that i was frustrated and angry well before the end .  br    br   i  m very curious now whether this movie is typical of bille august  s work . i may have to drop another couple of bucks to rent smilla  s sense of snow .  
i had no idea that mr . izzard was so damn funny  it really boggles the mind that he is not more well known  his command over the crowd and his timing is perfect . the monologue about star wars will kill ya too  if only all the stand up performers had his wit . . .  
there  s enough star power in the house of spirits to create another galaxy  yet the final product is pretty debatable . the film and its messages are very noble  and i think perhaps most would agree with them .  liberal democracy good  violent fascist regime bad open  mindedness good  racism bad  etc  . unfortunately  we  re battered from head to toe with these  and as much subtlety is used as i  ve described them .  br    br   ultimately  we are left watching very noble people without any flaws squaring off with nasty cretins who have no redeeming qualities . it radiates with all the suspense of a badly orchestrated  pro  wrestling match .  br    br   jeremy irons plays the patron  a man of many contradictions . meryl streep as his gifted bride and glenn close  as her sister in law . when the camera stays with these folks  the movie tends to move  and is quite enjoyable . unfortunately  the house of spirits engages with simply way too many subplots  and characters pop up and out of the picture like shooting gallery targets . we don  t get to know them  hence we don  t get to care for them . the result is boredom .  br    br   if bille august  the director and screenwriter  from isabel allende  s book  had either lengthened the film or snipped a few characters  this film might have worked completely . as it stands  it was a nice try  with nice messages  and a bonecrushing yawnfest .  br    br   not recommended .  
i love eddie izzard . i think this is awesome  and the other television specials should be looked at as well . he has a good book  dress to kill  out to buy as well  which i think people should read . i loved that this program won an emmy  and anyone who likes history will probably get a laugh from eddie . enjoy    
when i found out there was a movie that had both my favorite actresses meryl streep and wynona ryder  i went through the roof  but i had a hard fall after watching this lame movie and i still have the bruise . first of all the character that jeremy irons  an actor i still admire even after this disappointment  plays was just awful . he treated his family like crap  especially his sister  played by glenn close . i could not get close or sympathize with any of the characters and i  m no prude  but the sex scenes were really unnecessary or they could have been toned down . wynona and antonio  s characters could have been developed a lot more and their romance could have been much more passionate . and what was with meryl  s character and her  mystical powers   why didn  t they go into this more  this film had a lot of dead ends and the bottom line is that this is a really lousy movie and there was a lot of wasted talent here .  
the first thing i thought when i saw this films was it is not really a film  at least it is not what we imagine spontaneously when we hear the word  film  . it is entirely symbolic  everything in it has a figurative meaning . so if you are not used to express thing in a symbolic way  you will find it strange  if you are not acquainted with philosophy  religion  spiritual life  you will think it  s just a fairy  tale . . . and even a weird one  chaotic . for me  the legend of zu  is perfectly transparent . and i do like it . it tells us in images the story about the fight between light and darkness  the fight that is as old as humanity  and every one who is in search of the sens in this life is confronted with it . the film is obviously made by buddhists . i am not a buddhist . my religion and the vision of the world and human is different . but as far as we are all humans and have the same human nature we necessarily have common experiences and can understand each other . it is a really beautiful film  and i which we had more films like this  films that have a meaning . there are too many empty stories which are good only to make time pass more quickly .  
i loved the apprentice for the first two seasons .  br    br   but now with season    or is it    things are getting just plain too tiring .  br    br   i used to like the show  but its become donald trumps own ego fest . granted its his company you  ll be working for  but come on  some of the things says  you  re fired  is just insulting .  br    br   after watching the show  i would not want to work for him . not because he is arrogant  pompous or such . its just that the show is unrealistic and the way he handles things makes me just squirm . good entertainment  yes  but tiring as the back stabbing gets so tiring . . its not team work  its not personal  its just business . watch your back jack .  
so i  m at home  flipping channels one night  and i come across this man wearing heels and makeup  standing in front of a colored background on hbo . naturally  i did a double  take and decided i  d watch for a little while . i didn  t change the channel until he was finished  it was so incredibly hilarious . the next time it was on  i made sure to tape it so i could watch it over and over again  and it has remained one of my favorite things to watch . during the first couple of minutes  you can tell that the audience isn  t quite sure what to think  but he quickly wins them over with his incredible humor and wit . while many stand  up comedians mesh together in my brain  eddie izzard stands out as one of the best . his style is incredibly refreshing  and it is nice to hear jokes about things like history and puberty when most comedians stick to current events . his show stayed with me afterwards . i went to italy over the summer  and all i could think about while i was there was how  italians are always on scooters going  ciao . . .     out of   . see it . you won  t regret it .  
isabel allende  s magical  lyrical novel about three generations of an aristocratic south american family was vandalized . the lumbering oaf of a movie that resulted   largely due to a magnificent cast of anglo actors completely unable to carry off the evasive latin mellifluousness of allende  s characters  and a plodding scandinavian directorial hand   was so uncomfortable in its own skin that i returned to the theater a second time to make certain i had not missed something vital that might change my opinion . to my disappointment  i had not missed a thing . none among meryl streep  jeremy irons  glenn close and vanessa redgrave could wiggle free of the trap set for them by director bille august . all of them looked perfectly stiff and resigned  as if  by putting forth as little effort as possible  they expected to fade unnoticed into lovely period sets .  yes  the film was art directed within an inch of its life .  curious that the production designer was permitted the gaffe of placing kfc products prominently in a scene that occurs circa       years before kfc came into being . back then  it was known by its original name kentucky fried chicken . even pardoning that  what on earth is kentucky fried chicken doing in a military dictatorship in south america in      american fast food chains did not hit south america until the early     s .  the house of the spirits  should have been the motion picture event of     . because it was so club  footed and slavishly faithful to its vague idea of what the novel represented  miramax had to market it as an art film . as a result  it was neither event nor art . and for that  isabel allende should have pressed charges for rape .  
eddie izzard is a one  in  a  million comic genius . he goes from squirrels to wwii to stonehenge to religion to englebert humperdink and it  s absolutely hilarious and it all makes sense  get a copy of this now  you won  t regret it  i give this an   out of   .  
i regret that i  ve seen this movie . can  t believe that the creator of best intentions and pelle the conqueror could make such a bleak and boring film . what a waste   
highly regarded at release  but since rather neglected . immense importance in the history of performing arts . a classic use of embedded plots . one of my favourite films . why hasn  t the soundtrack been re  released   
the direction struck me as poor man  s ingemar bergman . the inaudible dialogue was annoying . the somber stoicism that all characters except banderas  showed made me think they were drugged . i think the director ruined it for me .  
carlos saura  s carmen is one of the finest achievements in world  let alone spanish  cinema . it manages to excite interest in flamenco in its wonderful staged adaptations from bizet with powerful physical force . at the same time we see the impact of the creation and rehearsal of a new interpretation of carmen on the choreographer  director and the principle dancers . the fine line between life and art is dazzling .  
this movie is a good example of how to ruin a book in    minutes . except for the names of the characters the movie bears very little resemblance to the book . a book full of strong latino characters and they are represent  for the most part  by non  latinos . there is no character development in the movie and we have no reason to love or hate the characters . and to delete a complete generation is inexcusable . isabel allende has written a powerful book and the book is what should be read   
personally  i think that the film was done very professionally  i loved the choreography and the acting . the plot is also gripping and mysterious . the film itself is very emotional  and what i liked about it most is that it makes you think afterwards . antonio gades has absolutely lived his role to the end  and i must say that it  s one of my favourite pictures and saura is a wonderful director .  
i read the novel some years ago and i liked it a lot . when i saw the movie i couldn  t believe it . . . they changed everything i liked about the novel  even the plot . i wonder what did isabel allende  author  say about the movie  but i think it sucks     
i  ve seen this film at least  times since    and it  s still great every time i see it . it  s a very compelling version of the opera carmen  with amazing flamenco dancing  bare bones sets  and  of course  wonderful music .  br    br   this telling of carmen is a story within a story  with each paralleling the other  until the doubly tragic ending . obviously a low budget spanish production  the film contains dancing by some of spain  s premier flamenco dancers . the combination of the soaring opera music and the sound of the dancers boots on the wooden stage  makes the telling of the story even more powerful .  br    br   it  s independent movie making at it  s best and probably my all time favorite foreign film .  
this movie is not only poorly scripted and directed but is simply distasteful . a beautiful novel is terribly misrepresented in this film . many changes have been made to the storyline  presumably to streamline the timeframe . but what results is simply confusing . the acting can  t possibly overcome the script which removes the characters  motives for their behavior . plus  the conversion to english does not work when everyone refers to the patriarch esteban as esteban . horrible . please please please read the gorgeous novel  in spanish if possible . don  t see this film . it will ruin for you what could be a wonderful experience .  
this is one of the best films we watched in my high school spanish class . if you are a fan of the opera  this film will strongly entertain you . of course  the dancing is wonderful . watching these amazing dancers moving to the music of bizet is well worth checking out .  
we all know a movie never does complete justice to the book  but this is exceptional . important characters were cut out  blanca and alba were essentially mushed into the same character  most of the subplots and major elements of the main plot were eliminated . clara  s clairvoyance was extremely downplayed  making her seem like a much more shallow character than the one i got to know in the book . in the book we learn more about her powers and the important effects she had on so many people  which in turn was a key element in the life of the family . in the movie she was no more than some special lady . the relationship between esteban and pedro tercero  tercero  third   by the way  is the son and thus comes after segundo  second   and its connections to that between esteban and his grandson from pancha garca  not son  who he also did recognize  is chopped in half and its importance downplayed .  br    br   one of the most fundamental things about the book that the film is all but stripped of this is called  the house of the spirits .  where is the house  the story of    generations of a family is supposed to revolve around the  big house on the corner   a line stated so many times in the novel . the house in fundamental to the story  but the movie unjustly relegates it to a mere backdrop .  br    br   if i hadn  t read the book before  i would have never guessed that such a sappy  shallow movie could be based on such a rich and entertaining novel .  
i first saw this movie when it was released in the u . s . in     . i have seen it many  many times since . what strikes me about the film is the incorporation of the art of the rehearsal into the lives of the characters and visa versa . throughout the movie the two intertwine and at times one is never too sure if one is watching the lives of the characters or a scene from a rehearsal . this continues up to the climax of the film . all these years later my friends and i still love to debate whether or not  carmen  is really stabbed at the end . from the reactions of the other characters  to the stylized murder  it is open to debate . the passion of the dance  the quality of the acting  the love of art  and the brilliance of the performances all combine to create a superb movie that  once again  blends and twists the line between life and art .  
  the house of the spirits  is quite awful . i live in south america  in a country that suffered a military dictatorship just like the one the movie tries to describe  and even though everyone knows movies may be far far away from reality  this particular movie treats viewers as both ignorant and stupid . things are not so simple and linear as appears here  and of course political process are much more complicated and interesting that the plot in  the house . . .  . if you can  t show that complexity on screen is better not making a movie at all . there are a lot of examples of how can politics be seriously taken in cinema  without so many commonplaces . in some parts i felt that carmen miranda may appear within parrots and palm trees . when you talk about certain things you must be not only careful but respectful to your public  s intelligence .  
passionate  dramatic  riveting as flamenco itself  the film is simply amazing . it is set on the immortal bizet  s music . the original music is written and performed by one of the greatest classical guitarists  leading proponent of the modern flamenco style  paco de lucia who plays a musician with the same name . legendary flamenco dancer and choreographer antonio gades co  wrote the script and choreographed this fabulous version of the celebrated georges bizet  prosper mrime novella  opera . he plays a main character antonio  the famous dancer  choreographer who works on retelling the story of carmen in the flamenco style that combines dances with singing and rhythmic hand clapping and has a highly charged level of dynamics that appeals enormously to the viewers .  br    br   brilliant and graceful cristina hoyos whose technical excellence matches the elegant artistry of her dancing shines in the supporting role . hoyos had been the first dancer in gades  company for twenty years            and she was the protagonist of three films that carlos saura made of gades  three great shows  bodas de sangre          carmen        and  el amor brujo        . gorgeous laura del sol is a young dancer named carmen in whom antony sees from the first sight another carmen  who was immortalized by two frenchmen  the writer prosper mrime in his most famous novella written in     that had inspired george bizet  s world famous opra  comique version from     .  br    br   as in the opera and in the novella  carmen in saura  s film is desirable and deadly  the ultimate femme fatale who has to be free above anything else . she could not tolerate the possessive love of any man and would prefer death to submission . there some   movie adaptations of the story and the opera to the screen  and as different as they are  they all have in common the only possible tragic end . saura  gades  film is unique as the most sensual of all and truly spanish . i fell in love with it from the first time i saw it over twenty years ago and it is as special and beautiful today as it was back then . highly recommended .  
this film may have been the biggest let  down i  ve experienced in renting movies based on imdb reviews . overall  i simply found this to be a second  rate movie .  br    br   leslie cheung is certainly passable as the antihero and ma wu handles his character with cheerful competence . on the other hand  ma wu  s makeup  facial hair  is so obviously phony that i simply could not take him seriously . he looked like an overweight teenager dressed up for halloween  complete with the   .   stick  on beard .  br    br   the special effects were so  so  though the  undead  in the cellar were pretty good . the tree  tongue looked like something from a bad     s monster flick  though the pov shots from the tongue  s view more closely resembled sam raimi  s trademark shots in the more recent  evil dead  trilogy . the pyrotechnics were ho  hum and the final battle is about as dull as you can get .  in fact  it most closely reminded me of the  lost in space  episode where the robinsons are caught in a sandstorm and . . . .   br    br   the plot was not particularly original and has been told countless times in the form of european fairy tales . there was no suspense and no plot twists . in fact  you know right away as you are introduced to the characters who is good  who is bad  and who is going to survive .  br    br   i just returned this film to netflix and then i sat down to write this review . the very first thing i did was check the production date . yep  it says     . . . not the     that i thought it might be . and that pretty much sums it up the production values and fx are typical of the     s . the plot and action seem much older  as hollywood was actually producing some interesting and challenging films in the   s .  br    br    out of   
while rehearing carmen of bizet  the middle  aged choreographer antonio  antonio gades  brings the sexy carmen  laura del sol  to perform the lead role . antonio falls in love for carmen  who is an independent and seductive woman incapable to accept a possessive love . when carmen has an affair with another dancer  antonio is consumed by his jealousy like d . jos in the original opera  entwining fiction with reality .  br    br    carmen  is another great movie of carlos saura  s trilogy dedicated to the flamenco dance . the dramatic love story is developed with the lives of the artists entwined with the characters they are rehearsing  and many times is not absolutely clear whether what is happening is reality  with the dancers  or fiction  of the play  . paco de lucia is another attraction of this original version of the famous bizet  s opera  which is based on the novel of prosper mrime . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    carmen   
this movie is not as good as all think . the actors are lowlevel and the story is very comic  like . i respect fantasy but lord of the rings is fantasy . . . conan . . is fantasy . . . this is just normal hk  lowprice  entertainment . . . why did they include this splatter  tongue  it makes everything worse . the only good thing is the cinematography and the cutter  s job .  
  zuthe warriors from magic mountain  was and is an impressive classic  you never would have guessed it was made in     . tsui hark  s use of special effects was very creative and inventive .  he continued doing this in the chinese ghost story trilogy and later productions .  even now it can measure up to other movies in this genre .  legend of zu  is connected to  zu  warriors from magic mountain   it is not necessary to have seen this movie to understand the plot of this one . the plot is a bit hard to follow . but to be honest it doesn  t matter . it is all about the action and adventure  i always was wondering what tsui hark would do if he got his hands on cgi . now we know  he made this movie . maybe it sometimes is too much but the overall result is so beautiful that i am not going to be critical about that . there is so much happening on the screen  you simply won  t believe  i think it is a big shame that this movie wasn  t shown in theaters here in holland . because this movie is screaming for screen time in cinemas  this movie easily can beat big budget hollywood productions like  superman returns  or xmen  . the only thing i do have to mention is the lack of humor  in most of tsui harks  s movies he combines drama  fantasy  martial arts and humor . somehow it is missing in this movie . again i am not going to be picky about these small matters .  legend of zu  delivers on the action front with the most beautiful special effects you will see . a true classic   
for the first couple of seasons  i thought the apprentice was a highly engaging and exciting show . the combination between reality tv and a   week job  interview was innovative  and the producers of the show managed to keep the show relevant and not too  out there  .  br    br   the new season  is nothing more than a big joke and it has absolutely nothing to do with business  at all . in the earlier seasons they used to put a lot more emphasis on the business  related tasks  now the focus is mostly in the boardroom where the contestants are expected to do everything to keep them on the show  that means lying  trash  talking  backstabbing etc .  . the boardroom can be entertaining to watch  but it  s entertainment at it  s low  point  sometimes you wonder if you are watching a repeat of an old jerry springer episode . the tasks on the show are  at most  boring and mostly a showcase for the companies who are dumb enough to pay nbc for the publicity . and what is the deal about half of the contestants living in tents in season   that is just plain stupid and has nothing to do with business in real  life .  br    br   i have absolutely no respect for any of the contestants this season  they all seem like idiots to me . in earlier seasons at least some of the contestants had a bit of integrity  now it seems like the contestants would kill their own mother to keep them on the show . it also seems like donald trump  s massive ego becomes bigger and bigger for every season that pass by and to be honest  i can  t see why anyone with a common sense would want to work for him . his rationality in the boardroom mostly doesn  t make any sense at all and sometimes it seems he just like to trash people for what it  s worth .  br    br   r . i . p the apprentice . please nbc  for god  s sake  get the show off the air as soon as possible . it  s just too embarrassing to watch . the apprentice was once a great tv  show  but now it  s just a big fat joke .  
the movie within the movie  a concept done many times in the history of cinema . it is accomplished here as well as in any .  br    br   if you love carmen  you  ll love this version .  br    br   if you love flamenco  you  ll love this version .  br    br   the plot of the classic opera is played out in the actual rehearsal of the opera by a flamenco troupe . the music is authentic . the direction wonderful .  br    br   if you like dancing  you  ll love this version .  br    br   there is tragedy . there is passion . there is intrigue .  br    br   there is . . .  br    br   carmen .  
  utter crap  pretty well sums up what this . . . .  movie  was . i  d rather examine the colon of an african elephant with a penlight than sit through this again . i think i  ve wasted enough time watching this  movie   i don  t need to waste more by commenting on it further . . . . . .  
in carmen  saura once again seeks to establish a dynamic rapport between reality and fiction  between the actual passions of the personalities in a dance company preparing the choreography for the dance portions of the opera carmen and the scripted passions from the story of the fictional carmen  the famous fatal mix of a free spirit  read disregard for fidelity  and her ability to drive men mad with desire . saura used this same vehicle fiction  reality in an earlier black  and  white film  bodes de sangre  blood wedding  . but  whereas the tensions between the dancers rehearsing blood wedding showed to advantage how they evolved into the fictional characters of the story to be performed through directing their emotions into their roles  in carmen  the parallel between the petty  libidinal urges of the dancers of the troop during rehearsals and the spirit forging to do with the mythic carmen never comes even close to being believable . it remains a gadget  and  for that reason  a bothersome distraction . one really needs to see blood wedding next to carmen to appreciate the comparison . however  it hardly matters  the melodrama saura tries to impose upon his carmen  because the flamenco dancing and guitar music of the rehearsals  which are    of the film  by some of the best known flamenco dancers and musicians  more than repays the price of entry . a flawed film  and a wonder perfect for doing a drill in keats  s  negative capacity   perhaps   
this short spoof can be found on elite  s millennium edition dvd of  night of the living dead  . good thing to as i would have never went even a tad out of my way to see it . replacing zombies with bread sounds just like silly harmless fun on paper . in execution  it  s a different matter . this short didn  t even elicit a chuckle from me . i really never thought i  d say this  but  night of the day of the dawn of the son of the bride of the return of the revenge of the terror of the attack of the evil  mutant  alien  flesh eating  hellbound  zombified living dead part   in shocking   d  was a very better parody and not nearly as lame or boring .  br    br   my grade f  
carmen is one of the best films i  ve ever seen . it  s hard to say whose performance is best antonio gades  cristina hoyos and laura del sol are superb . they dance their souls out . it  s a beautiful tale of inseparability of life and myth myth penetrates everyday life . dance becomes life and entire life is danced out . real people at one and the same time live their own lives and become somebody else  act out the parts of lovers of old . the magic is continuing .  
predictable parody  just about failed to impress throughout it  s looooooong eight minutes . the only thing that made it worthwhile was the do not colorize line at the end credits . shame something more entertaining wasn  t put on the dvd  like jonathan ross  enjoyable profile of romero on  the incredible strange film show .   
this is an amazing film  both for the incredibly energy evoked from the frenetic flamenco dancing  and from the unique way that the filmmakers interweave the story of the stage production with the lives of the characters preparing for it . spellbinding is the only word i can use to describe the experience . this is not  bizet  s carmen  by any usual standard . this is not a usual film by any standard . every nuanced glance  every stomp of the foot  every piece of the music is intertwined so captivatingly that you can  t take your eyes off the screen . you don  t need to love opera or flamenco  i don  t  to be captured  enraptured  enthralled by this film . subtle and direct loud and still one of  if not the best  movies of it  s kind  because there are so few like it .  
with the exception of about   sublime minutes with hb warner on the celestial train  this was   minutes of jaw  dropping horribleness  the acting was atrocious  but the story is what i really found appalling . the acting was wooden and stilted  even by early talkies standards  the exceptions being lee tracy and hb warner  neither of whom can do wrong  . rose hobart was absolutely horrid and lifeless as julie  as she likewise was in      s dr jekyll and mr hyde  an otherwise excellent flick  . and the rest of the cast was worse  there being no words to describe their awfulness .  br    br   worse than the acting  however  was the story . for some unknown reason  julie loves liliom  a cad and user of women with no redeeming qualities whatsoever . he marries julie but doesn  t support her  instead lying in bed all day or hanging out with his low  life criminal pal  lee tracy  . and  oh yeah  he never has a kind word to say to julie and he regularly beats her . julie loves him nonetheless and continually makes excuses for him  which only seems to make him more abusive . what  s even sicker is that this movie presents this story to us as a love story . somehow we are supposed to see julie as a noble character whose pure love redeems liliom . wtf   br    br   the last    of this movie takes place after liliom has killed himself  a robbery plot goes awry and liliom plunges a knife into himself rather than being taken in by the police  . as he lay dying  he tells julie  i beat you all the time  but i  m not sorry for it .  when he at last dies  she finally tells him she loves him .  neither character ever said  i love you  to the other while they were alive .  after his death  god  s chief magistrate gives liliom one more day on earth so that he can  do something good  for his unborn daughter . the price for this is   years in hell . after   years  liliom is allowed one day on earth to see his now    yr  old daughter . he approaches her in the front yard of her home and tries to cajole her into letting him  do something good  for her he tries to get her to play cards  he tries to give her gabriel  s horn  but she  s not interested and rebuffs him . so he slaps her . he . slaps . her . and then he disappears back to the afterlife . looking on  we see his daughter tell julie about this . the girl says the slap didn  t hurt  that it felt like a kiss . this is supposed to be the movie  s magical moment . the girl asks her mother if such a thing is possible  and julie replies that  someone can be beat you and beat you and beat you and not hurt you at all .  then the music swells and liliom rides up to heaven in the celestial train . blech   br    br   there was one saving grace to this film  and that is the interview between the chief magistrate  hb warner was truly magnificent here  and liliom on the celestial train . the magistrate had some very profound things to say to liliom about life and second chances and death . this scene alone made me bump this rating from  to  stars . regarding liliom  s suicide as a means for escaping his problems  the magistrate says  people suppose that when they die  their difficulties are ended for them . you thought that by killing yourself that you would cancel all your responsibilities . it is not as simple as that . on earth your name is still spoken your face is still remembered . as long as one is left who remembers you  so long is the matter unended . until you have been completely forgotten  you will not be finished with the earth  even though you are dead .  some great sublime transcendental stuff amongst some of the most horrible trash i  ve ever seen .  br    br   by the way  this story has apparently been filmed many times both as  liliom  and as the musical  carousel .   
this     film from director john ford and writer lamar trotti tells a fictional tale of young lawyer abraham lincoln  his trials  literally  and his tribulations . it  s a sentimental film  reasonably well made but hardly breathtaking . the casting of henry fonda as lincoln seems a mistake  for while the actor had the right doleful qualities for the part  even with several inches of makeup and a false nose he  s way too handsome for honest abe  who was famously homely . it  s a good try from fonda  who  s nothing if not sincere  but his miscasting throws the entire film off . the supporting cast is excellent  though  and includes alice brady  ward bond and donald meek . but ford is too reverential in his treatment of lincoln  who is presented as just shy of a saint  and in the final scene the movie goes way over the top .  
truly terrible  pretentious  endless film . director bellocchio seems to be infatuated with the pretty face and figure of his actress detmers  and who can blame him  but maybe  just maybe  he should have focused his attention a little more on making a good  engaging film . i hate it when a sex film poses as an  art film  just to become more  respectable  . the frequent  occasionally hot sex scenes are the only reason for this movie  s existence . whether or not they are worth sitting through the rest of the picture is strictly a matter of taste .     
undoubtedly one of the great john ford  s masterpieces  young mr . lincoln went practically unnoticed at the time of its initial release  no wonder because the year was     when many of the greatest movies of the whole cinema history had been released  including the most mythical western in the history of the genre  john ford  s milestone stagecoach and many others  such as gone with the wind  the wizard of oz  mr . smith goes to washington which took the oscar in the only category young mr . lincoln was nominated for  which is original screenplay .  br    br   it continued to be the most underrated ford  s film for many years ahead destined to gradually fade away in the shadow of other john ford  s masterpieces  but by the end of the     s american and european film critics and historians took a hold of a note written by legendary russian director sergei eisenstein about the young mr . lincoln where he praised it and acknowledged that if he would only have had an opportunity to direct any american film ever made till then  it would be definitely john ford  s young mr . lincoln . impressed by such an undoubted preference from eisenstein  critics began to see the film again but only with a bit different eyes and film  s reputation has been increasing ever since .  br    br   it was far not for the first time the life of one of the most legendary american presidents was brought to the screen . right in the beginning of the     s griffith did it in his abraham lincoln and the same year as ford  s film  mgm released john cromwell  s one called abe lincoln in illinois . curiously enough both of them were based on a very successful broadway stage play released in     and written by robert sherwood .  br    br   as far as john ford  s films are concerned  we can easily find many references to the life and deeds and even death of mythical lincoln  s figure in several of director  s works  such as     the iron horse or     the prisoner of the shark island  the second one  just as young mr . lincoln  utilizes as the main musical theme the favourite lincoln  s song  dixie .  br    br   the screenplay based on a previously mentioned stage play and lincoln  s biographies was written by lamar trotti in collaboration with john ford himself  which was quite a rare thing for ford to do but final result was simply superb  a script combining elements of the play with several historical facts as well as myths and legends about the beginning of abraham lincoln  s life and law practice culminating in a hilarious but mostly heartbreaking trial scene  which is the film  s highest point and main laugh and tears generator  where lincoln defends the two young brothers accused of a murder and have to devise a manner to help their mother too when she is brought before the court as a witness and where the prosecuting attorney  played by donald meek  demands her to indicate which one of her sons actually committed the murder obviously obliging her to the making of an impossible choice of condemning to death one and letting live the other .  br    br   overall it  s a very touching  heart  warming and even funny film with simply magnificent performance from henry fonda in his supreme characterization of abraham lincoln and with overwhelming richness of other characters no matter how little or how big they are incarnated from the wonderful and intelligent screenplay and conducted by the ability of john ford  s genius at one of its best deliveries ever . a definite must see for everyone .       
i saw this  hot  movie when it came out in     . it had a x rating for a brief scene involving oral sex but played in mainstream theatres  it was an  art  film  . supposedly it  s the first film to ever show a respected actress in an explicit sex scene .  br    br   what i saw was a boring tale about a high school boy  federico pitzalis  in love  understandably  with an older woman  maruschka detmers  . as has been mentioned before detmers is very beautiful with a good body but she also gave a very good performance . pitzalis was  to put it mildly  pretty poor . it  s no wonder he never made another movie . still  despite the infamous sex scene  which is explicit but pretty brief   this a slow moving dull story which bored me silly . the good acting by detmers only helped to a certain point . mostly i was looking at my watch waiting patiently for it to end . if it didn  t have that sequence this movie would have been forgotten long ago . dull and slow . you can skip this one .  
plotwise this is a rather silly little whodunnit masquerading as a period drama  biopic .  br    br   however the only reason i wanted to see it in the first place was because i was curious about what the great henry fonda was really like at his peak . i wasn  t disappointed  he produces a truly warm and charismatic performance .  br    br   in addition i can honestly say that i was never really bored at any stage during the film  so a strong     out of   
this italian movie is basically a soap opera with skin .  br    br   the vhs box said it was rated  r  but the into on the actual tape inside said it was  x .  the latter makes a lot more sense because there is a short scene near the end that was shocking . even in the dark  you could see dutch actress marishcka detmers performing all sex on this guy  and  yes  you could see his penis in her mouth . i read somewhere that this was the first time where a  mainline actress  had done something like this on screen .  br    br   detmers parades around in the nude on several scenes but her face was even better than her body . she looked beautiful . unfortunately  the movie is ugly . . . . a real waste of time and certainly not recommended despite detmers  looks .  
ok  first a correction to the tag posted on this movie  s main page . abe lincoln did not walk with his sister in the movie  nor did he stop at his sister  s grave . the individual in question is ann rutledge who was a very close friend to lincoln in his new salem days . some say that ann was  in fact  lincoln  s girlfriend  but there is no evidence to support it .  br    br   now  there are fabrications and fictionalizations in this film . hollywood has always taken dramatic license with anything under the sun  and  young mr . lincoln  is no exception . however  the courtroom case that is in the film is based on a real event the accusation of murder against william  duff  armstrong  and even though it  s largely fictionalized in this film with lots of name changes  it will still have viewers riveted to the screen . this is hollywood  s golden age  with drama at it  s finest  and henry fonda gives possibly the best lincoln played by anyone .  
a so common horror story about a luxury building at brooklyn which hides the gates to hell . it is reminiscent of polanski  s  the tenant   released a year before  the sentinel    but is too far from the movie of the polish filmmaker in any aspect possible .  the tenant  was so disturbing  whereas  the sentinel  is not at all .  br    br   what it  s more surprising from this film is the cast it is full of great names of american cinema  burguess  gardner  wallach   veteran actors acting for food  i guess  .  br    br   verdict barely entertaining .  br    br   my rate      
sure it was well shot and made  very well shot and made  but the story was just so weak . and the portrayal of lincoln was even weaker . not that henry fonda wasn  t good but the character he played was nothing but a loon . do you mean to tell me that lincoln was a wise cracking smart ass with no respect of the law or the court . i mean who the hell was he supposed to be  cousin vinnie  i mean come on   i  ll just call you jackass then      i understand that ford was going for great funny hero guy but i didn  t really like this guy at all . he cheats in sports  talks like a real sweet simpleton and does not seem to know were to sit in a courtroom . how am i supposed to take this seriously .  br    br   the twist was even weaker . i mean come on  that was just stupid . the whole story seemed like it was thought up by some  year old in his or her dreams . saying that i liked it enough  it was very entertaining and made me laugh at several occasions so i can  t say it  s a bad film . in fact i must say that i must say it  s good enough  nothing that entertains me and makes me laugh can be bad but this vivid and silly story was just so ridiculous that i can  t understand how anyone could consider it great .  br    br   i have no idea how historically accurate this film was but if any of it was true i would really have to shake my head .  
universal  s answer to  the exorcist  isn  t a very good one . unfortunately  the film offers bland  unimaginative direction from michael winner who wastes an outstanding cast with a screenplay massing crater  sized plot  holes . not to mention  it  s unbearably silly never explaining certain key elements within the story .  br    br   model cristina raines moves into a high  rise owned by the catholic church with a creepy  blind priest john carradine  who holes up in there always at the window . she begins to suffer faint spells and nausea . what  s worse is tenants she meets in the building such as burgess meredith  with a cat and a canary   and a young beverly d  angelo as a lesbian . ava gardner  looking great at    is the realtor who showed raines the place . cristina  s lover is chris sarandon  whose wife  committed suicide  after finding out they were having an affair . jos ferrer has a small role as the  priest of the brotherhood  who informs monsignor arthur kennedy to be careful as he heads to the very high  rise not only housing carradine but raines as well . sarandon sends a hired  hand up to the high  rise one night to check out a certain room above cristina  s apartment where she heard metallic clanging and other loud racket . he winds up dead the very same night cristina  kills  her dead father in a nightmare . screaming mad on the street  cristina does indeed have blood on her which leads police detective eli wallach and partner christopher walken to investigate them with sure certainty that it all somehow leads back to sarandon who is a hot  shot lawyer who once beat the cop in court regarding the whole wife  s suicide . that case is really a motivating factor is wallach  s dogged approach to finding out whose blood was really on cristina and if sarandon has anything to do with it . you also have martin balsam as a professor who understands this type of latin cristina mysteriously understands and unbilled actors such as jeff goldblum as a fashion photographer and tom berenger as a man interested in this certain room that has become available in the very room  now renovated  that cristina once stayed in  what bothers me more than anything is lack of explanation . towards the end of the film wallach and walken are forgotten and we are left wondering why they just up and quit investigating . their characters are just left on the back  burner . how the priests know that  now is the time  when a certain man will die and must be replaced to guard a certain gate in that high  rise and why cristina suffers through the trauma she does isn  t adequately explained . how certain ghosts just appear to cristina and disappear when she tries to show gardner the rooms they occupied during a cat  s birthday  see for yourself  isn  t adequately explained . not to mention gardner  s role in the grand scheme of things . . she brings people to that high  rise  but what is really her reasons in the film  it seems like this film should  ve been longer and cleared things up left lost to a rushed conclusion that is just laughable when it should be scary .  
my what a director  s intuition can bring on material that needs just the right nudge in the right directions . young mr . lincoln is filled up with some  old  fashioned  values  which in retrospect  despite its two  dimensional portrayal  is at least more respectably done than one might see in the pap in current cinema . what makes it work so extremely well as it does  in all its simplicity and grandeur  is that its a truly great courtroom drama in the guise of a history lesson .  br    br   we all know of abraham lincoln as the   th president that did the emancipation and after the civil war got assassinated . but as the lawyer in his earlier years he was charismatic  funny in the most unexpected places  and a true gentleman . he  s not some superhero that can do no wrong  which was fonda  s only apprehension to the part before signing on   but a figure with possible flaws that are surpassed by his innate goodness and clear sight of right and wrong .  br    br   it  s suffice to say that john ford is exceptional as a storyteller almost without trying . actually  it  s a lie  he does try  but he makes it sort of effortless in the studio system he worked in an independent manner while also pleasing simultaneously zanuck  so he was pretty much left alone to his own succinct practices in  editing in camera   and not moving it around so as to not waver far off from the story . it  s this strength of conventional wisdom that somehow works hand in hand with the material  as a kind of companion piece to the full  blooded americana in     as seen in mr . smith goes to washington  only here it  s the law and not politics  .  br    br   fonda is terrific in the lead  his first with ford  and never lets us loose sight of lincoln past the make  up and extra boost in the shoes . fonda  s own personality  in a sense  as it would in grapes of wrath and my darling clementine  comes out in the character of lincoln . however unlikely it might be  there  s no one else from this period that could have played him then he  s mature and wise  but has the gumption to prove himself in this case of a convoluted he  saw  that  but  did  she murder case .  br    br   only in little bits and pieces  like that final shot which superimposes lincoln walking down the road with his monument  and a couple of small instances during that big parade scene early on  seem pretty dated . as far as the goals set out with young mr . lincoln  there were all met by ford and his crew and cast it  s not as hokey as one might think going in  and it  s got a strong balance of humor and genuine pathos .  
if this is all the watchowski  s have to offer in terms of a back story to the matrix  than i really have to question the claims of all of the fans who believe that the movies are intended to register on a deeper level . the second renaissance  while visually stunning  beautiful is  story  wise cliched  ludicrous . how many times have we heard the story of humans relying too much on technology  humans all  too eager to make war  humans basically destroying themselves  there is nothing new here . and i have another question . considering the plot of the second renaissance  doesn  t that make the machines the good guys   the machines are oppressed for generations by their cruel human overmasters . they fight back  win their freedom and seek to establish a peaceful harmonious coexistence with the humans  who reject them in favor of all  out war  which the cleverer machines naturally win . if this is the back  story  then we shouldn  t be rooting for neo  we should be rooting for the machines  the humans were cruel and oppressive  while the machines were courageous and attepted to be compassionate . since i do not believe that the watchowski  s intend for us to favor the machines over the humans  i have to believe that the second renaissance was simply a misguided attempt  creating a back  story .  
the legend of zu  as i saw it  was a very interesting story . i think many of the people who didn  t like it were not seeing the underlying mythology behind the film . they were expecting something akin to star wars  and it was not that . joseph campbell  i believe  would have liked this film . there were a number of metaphors and hidden meanings that an average viewer might have overlooked . we all have a mountain of swords within us . we all have to go into our own cave of blood sometime in our lives . we all have to face our own insomnia someday . granted some of the narration was a bit confusing  and some of the action got a little hokey at times  but i think other points of the film easily made up for it . i  d watch it again .  br    br   i don  t know if there  s a difference between the legend of zu  which i saw in mandarin with english subtitles  and zu warriors  the dubbed usa version .  it might have been dumbed down for american audiences  which really would have detracted from this film .  
besides being boring  the scenes were oppressive and dark . the movie tried to portray some kind of moral  but fell flat with its message . what were the redeeming qualities   on top of that  i don  t think it could make librarians look any more unglamorous than it did .  
it  s remarkable that for  young mr . lincoln  s  supporting players ford cast lesser known  other  than  star actors . this not only heightens his film  s focus on the central character of lincoln  but it also affords the audience a refreshing insight into lincoln as a man of his place and time  a man embroiled  as each one of us inexorably is  in the issues and sentiments of his time and seeking his way to resolving them . it  s not so much through fonda  s lincoln  s words and actions but in the faces  the reactions of the supporting players that ford tells the story of the formation of the young lincoln  s worldview  sense of place in society and polity  and of how the people responded to mr . lincoln  s words and deeds and placed their trust in this man whom they deemed to have earned their respect and heeding .  br    br   give this a try instead of focusing on henry fonda  next time you view  young mr . lincoln  shift your focus to the supporting characters  you will  i expect  be handsomely rewarded with a more profound appreciation of both lincoln and ford . i like to suspect that ford  s storytelling through the supporting characters  reactions to fonda  s lincoln may have appealed to david lean when he directed omar sharif in  doctor zhivago   in which it  s the supporting characters  reactions to zhivago that actually tell about zhivago .  
the second renaissance  part  let  s us show how the machines first revolted against the humans . it all starts of with a single case  in which the machines claim that they have a right to live as well  while the humans state a robot is something they own and therefore can do anything with they want .  br    br   although an interesting premise  the story gets really silly from then on with  violent   riots between the robots and mankind . somehow it doesn  t seem right  as another reviewer points it  it  s all a little too clever .  br    br   the animatrix stories that stay close to the core of the matrix  in particular osiris  work for the best . as for second renaissance part   i  d say it  s too violent and too silly .     .  
a somewhat fictionalized biographical portrait of abraham lincoln  s early years from director john ford  concentrating primarily on a trial in which the young lawyer defends two brothers accused of murder .  br    br   the film offers an interesting portrayal of this important american figure and the film is well made  but seems somewhat incomplete without any of the great moments from his presidency or even his debates with stephen douglas . the obvious intent was to portray lincoln as young man developing the attributes that would make him the great man he would become . but the result for me was that while i admired the portrayal it just wasn  t as satisfying as i think it could have been with a greater scope .  br    br   in the role of abraham lincoln we have henry fonda who effectively displays a quiet strength . fonda  s performance includes some gangly mannerisms  and other affectations which are fairly effective in presenting a portrayal of lincoln  particularly when combined with some effective makeup and the costuming which occasionally is a bit to overt .  br    br   the supporting cast is solid and surprisingly does not include that many of ford  s regular supporting cast  sometimes referred to as his stock company  but we do have ward bond one of the most prolific character actors in hollywood . bond has appeared in more of the afi top    films than any other actor  both the original and revised list . he has also appeared in   best picture nominees .  br    br   the film features one scene that would seem to have inspired a quite similar scene in  to kill a mockingbird   where it would be done even better than it is here  even though that scene is one of the most effective in this film .  
prison is set in wyoming where work on a new prison has hit a problem so the state board decide to re  open an old state penitentiary that has been closed for   years  warden eaton sharpe  lane smith  is put in charge .    odd prisoners are shipped in  they are put to work fixing the rundown prison up including burke  viggo mortensen  who is ordered to break into the old execution chamber  he duly obliges but when he penetrates the bricked up door an intense beam of light shoots out  all the electrics  gas  fire around the prison goes crazy for a few minutes . burke has unwittingly unleashed a deadly evil force which is in the mood for some killing  no  one is safe . . .  br    br   directed by renny harlin i thought prison was a poor late    s horror flick that seemed to forget about the small point of having a story . the script was by empire pictures regular c . courtney joyner who was responsible for writing such  classics  as class of            puppet master iii toulon  s revenge        puppet master vs . demonic toys       amongst other low budget horror crap that even i haven  t heard of  seems to take itself very seriously . the biggest problems i have with prison are that it  s far too slow  it  s over   minutes into the film before the  evil force  is even released although the pace does pick up towards the end but by then it was too little too late as far as i was concerned  then there  s the fact there  s no discernible storyline here at all . for a start it never tries to explain why there  s an  evil force  bricked up in the old execution chamber  it never explains why this force decides to kill random inmates when it  s supposed to be out on a revenge mission or why it just doesn  t kill warden sharpe straight away  no explanation is given to where burke fits into it even though he looks exactly the same as the prisoner who was electrocuted  has come back  there  s no real explanation as to how the warden is connected to everything that  s going on apart from two early nightmare sequences in which he seems to be remembering something although it  s never revealed what it is or why . to be honest i couldn  t really give you a plot synopsis as the film doesn  t have a rigid story which it follows all the way through . the character  s are dull  forgettable  the murders are few  far between  the pacing is way off  the whole film is a mess  even ghosts can  t shoot straight when it comes to trying to shoot the hero . a less than satisfactory way to spend    odd minutes  there really are better things you could be doing .  br    br   director harlin  s full american flick debut he does a good job  there  s a decent atmosphere but after over an hour of constant drab  dull  dark prison cells  corridors i started to get bored . i just think the look of the film is far too repetitive  bland  frankly lifeless . i didn  t think it was scary  the gore is pretty tame apart from the best moment in the entire film when a police guard gets killed when a load of barb wire wraps itself around his body  face with a nice close up of his throat being torn open . other than that there  s a burnt corpse  a mangled body which falls from the ceiling  very little else . there is a scene when the warden burns all the prisoner mattresses in front of them  then makes them stand all night in their underwear in the yard  i was watching this scene  thought that you  d never get away with doing something like that . over here prisoners have rights  if the warden did something like that there would be a national outcry from all those humanitarians  every prisoner would sue the warden  the prison service  the government for everything they had  they  d win   br    br   with a supposed budget of about           prison actually had a pretty healthy budget although it doesn  t really look like it on screen  sure there  s a decent cast  the few special effects that are included are good but overall it  s set in the same location with limited ambition . prison was actually shot in a real wyoming state prison so it certainly looks the business . the acting is alright  prison proves that sometimes hollywood stars not only have one crap horror film skeleton in their closets but in the case of mortensen he has two with this  the awful the return of the texas chainsaw massacre       both of which i  m sure he  d like to forget about . . .  br    br   prison is a dull  lifeless  colourless  humourless waste of    minutes  despite one good gore scene i didn  t like it at all as i actually prefer my films to have a story rather than seemingly random events  incidents cobbled together with no narrative sense .  
in the same tune as his americana drums along the mohawk  john ford captures american history in a way that is fictional yet very believable . henry fonda made three consecutive films in this era with ford and all three are about a certain time and place with emphasis on the setting and the cultural surroundings . in mohawk  pioneer america is in full bloom with americans fending for themselves against indians and other forces . here  ford shows us   th century america a time when invention and creativity were beginning to blossom and this nation truly was becoming great . amongst it all was a tall  lanky  young lawyer from illinois named abe lincoln and this film fictionalizes his life as a lawyer  foreshadowing the greatness he would later accomplish .  br    br   fonda is superb in this movie  capturing the essence of what is considered to be the persona of lincoln  although no one knows exactly what he was like then . the sets and supporting cast also work well together and give a unique balance in ford  s picturesque of the american dream and its many forms . this is not a film to be taken literally but rather symbolically  showing that lincoln was indeed warming up for the events in his life that were to creates his legacy . we even get some scenes between him and a young mary todd and it is hard to see how they did end up together but that is not the point . i believe this is simply a tribute to the greatness of lincoln  widely regarded as the greatest american president . his quiet and straightforward demeanor was rare then and would be today . indeed  our government surely needs more men like him .  
this solid little horror film is actually one of renny harlin  s best . the story is pretty routine stuff  but the atmosphere is what really makes it come alive in fact  the ghost story is almost an afterthought . the real horror comes from the prison setting itself  and renny h . spares no detail in showing us how bad the conditions are inside that crumbling  leaking  rat  infested old hellhole  with a sadistic warden  too   viggo mortensen is excellent as usual in the lead role  supported by some very authentic  looking prisoners  there are no pretty boys in this cast .  horror fans should check this one out .  
the problem with portraying a real life individual is that the performance can be good  but still not work if the audience doesn  t believe that the actor is portraying the person . that  s the main issue with  young mr . lincoln  henry fonda gives a terrific performance  but i found it hard to believe that abraham lincoln was as soft  spoken as fonda portrays him .  br    br   this is essentially a courtroom drama with a young abraham licoln at the forefront . whether or not this was a true story  i don  t know  but if it isn  t  then why tell it using lincoln as the central character  never mind though . in the film  lincoln is defending two young men who are accused of murder .  br    br   there  s really not much to the film  and as a result  it seems rather empty . i wanted more story and character development . the film is    minutes long  but it doesn  t feel like it . there are some little scenes featuring lincoln and the blooming relationship with mary todd  but they seem superficial .  br    br   the acting is good all around  but as i said  fonda  s performance works as a character  but not abraham lincoln . i just don  t believe that the real lincoln was that soft  spoken . true  he has a big voice when he needs to  such as when he persuades a drunken lynch mob to let the accused stand trial  but fonda portrays lincoln too meekly . the other performances are solid though  especially alice brady as abigail clay  the mother of the accused . she  s a nice lady who we can really feel for . simple and uneducated  yet very sweet we can see why lincoln wanted to help her .  br    br   john ford seems to think of this film as an epic  and at the time of its release  it probably was . but even then  there  s just not enough material to present it as such .  br    br   it  s a nice watch  but not a classic .  
a huge hit upon release with australian audiences  it can still be funny today  but its over  the  top political incorrectness and blunt  unsubtle humour can make it a bit of a cringer . it goes on far too long some of  br    br   the content could have been saved for the sequel  barry mckenzie holds his own  which desperately needed some new stuff anyway . granted  his ocker aussie attitude is funny  but also becomes annoying as the film drags on . some say crocker  s songs are the best bits  and they are certainly original  but  hilarious   the adventures of barry mckenzie will go down as a landmark in australian cinema  but we should do everything in our power to make sure that overseas audiences do not see the majority of australians as barry mckenzies  or  for that matter  mick dundees   . rating      
young mr . lincoln is a poetic  beautiful film that captures the myth of one of the most revered figures in american history . henry fonda had the difficult task of portraying a mythical figure and at the same time make him human enough for people to care about . it is perhaps the actors best performance . watch how he singlehandedly stops a lynching  mob . alice brady is fantastic in the role of a simple farmer woman . most of the last part of the film plays out in a courtroom  and there lies the only negative thing i can say about this movie . most of the characters from judge to spectators are given so many folksy humorously lines that distracts from the serious trial that is on hand . but i  m quite used to this because the humor is a ford trademark . supporting parts by ward bond and donald meek are very good .  
looked forward to viewing this film and seeing these great actors perform . however  i was sadly disappointed in the script and the entire plot of the story . david duchovny   dr . eugene sands    connie  carla       was the doctor in the story who uses drugs and losses his license to practice medicine . dr . sands was visiting a night club and was able to use his medical experience to help a wounded customer and was assisted by angelina jolie   claire    taking lives       who immediately becomes attracted to dr . david sands . timothy hutton   raymond blossom    kinsey       plays the big shot gangster and a man with all kinds of money and connections . timothy hutton seems to over act in most of the scenes and goes completely out of his mind trying to keep his gang members from being killed . gary dourdan   yates    csi  vegas tv series   plays a great supporting role and portrays a real cool dude who is a so  called body guard for raymond blossom . angelina jolie looks beautiful and sexy with her ruby red lips which draws a great deal of attention from all the men . this film is not the greatest  but it does entertain .  
the basic hook here is lincoln is slow . it is his slowness that represents his thoughtfulness and deliberation  making him a great leader who is here engaged in single  handedly civilizing the american frontier through the grand instrument of law . all that john ford hooey and more  including one lurking slave and extraneous death by injun . however  the  slow  conceit is also at the center of one brilliant piece of movie  making  funny and moving at extremes . the history may be bunk  but the telling of it suggests a view of history as process that inspires some excitingly true  seeming moments . check out henry fonda  s big introductory stroll across the deck  his shockingly beautiful second visit with his girl by the river  his dalliance with mary todd on the porch  and the priceless business that follows  ma  am  we  ve got to hurry   things do thin out once we settle into the big courtroom drama but fonda is priceless throughout .  
cool idea . . . botched writing  botched directing  botched editing  botched acting . sorta makes me wish i could play god and strike everyone involved in making this film with several bolts of lightning .  
this is an evocative and idealized portrait of the early life of lincoln  born     hodgensville  kentucky  and died in washington      . ford  s excellent movie takes abraham lincoln  fonda  from his youth . he studied laws  common law and began practice as lawyer in     . this hollywood biography follows lincoln from his log  cabin days  initial relationship to mary todd  weaver   following the couple from their first ball  and his departure for congress candidate . but focuses mainly on a brothers  richard cromwell  eddie quillan  accused for murder  the posterior trial with amusing court debate scenes and the protection for their mum  alice brady  . the lincoln  fonda as defender advocate and donald meek  prosecutor are nothing short of brilliant .  br    br   excellent performance from henry fonda as idealistic  traveller springfield solicitor  he was to star regularly for ford from this movie  as grapes of wrath  my darling clementine  and fort apache . besides sterling acting by alice brady as grieved mother  she was a great actress from the silent cinema  but this one results to be her last movie because she early died from cancer . the lincoln  s deeds developing make for skilfully appealing entertaining . his portrayal shows a nostalgic longing for things past and old values and describes his goodness  uprightness and willful . lincoln  like john ford  was a straightforward man who never varied the ideals of his youth . this american masterpiece is correct on both counts  as splendid biography and as magnificent drama .  br    br   another biographies about abraham lincoln are the following   abraham lincoln       by d . w . griffith with walter huston  una merkel  talking from his birth until his assassination   abe lincoln in illinois       by john cromwell with raymond massey  ruth gordon  concerning similar events to ford  s film through his career as lawyer   tv version titled gore vidal  s lincoln with sam waterston and mary tyler moore as mary todd .  
wow . i thought this might be insipid but it was even worse than i imagined  sometimes i like to watch a good  car  crash  movie those that are so bad that you can  t look away because you want to see how bad they can possibly get . this is really the only reason i could leave the television on  morbid fascination . it wasn  t so much the acting  which was only mediocre or slightly worse than one would expect from this cast  but the premise and the plot which never should have seen the light of day . the script  too  is groan  inducing . as for cinematography  did anyone else notice that they used a  curtains drawing  segue device  like in an old    s tv show . . . but without irony  at first i thought they must be kidding but the movie takes itself too seriously to have used this in a tongue  in  cheek manner . don  t even ask me about the score . . . the only high point is the final song  by morcheeba . i guess they wanted to leave people with something for their   . . . glad i saw it on tv      just silly  i wonder if this is why timothy hutton has had trouble finding much work recently  i guess if you don  t expect much  and want to watch a mindless thriller  it would be better than spending an evening clipping your toenails  which is why it merits a  .  
the early career of abe lincoln is beautifully presented by ford . not that anyone alive has seen footage of the real lincoln  but fonda  wearing a fake nose  is uncanny as lincoln  with the voice  delivery  walk  and other mannerisms  exactly as one would imagine lincoln to have been . ford  in the first of three consecutive films he made with fonda  is at the top of his form  perfectly evoking early   th century america . the story focuses on a pair accused of murder that lincoln defends and the courtroom scenes are quite well done . the supporting cast includes many of ford  s regulars . this was alice brady  s last film  as she died months after its release .  
it  s hard to believe that in     david duchovny was at the top of his fame  with x  files  one of the best sci  fi series ever  being at the top of the glory . nine years later he is almost forgotten  and his tentatives to make it on the big screen failed miserably . i cannot even explain why  he is a fair actor  but probably his moment of fame cast him in a eternal role that takes big talent to break from .  br    br   at the same time angelina jolie was much less known  and she was really lucky that a film like  playing god  did not led her career into a dead  end . fortunately for her   the bone collector  and  girl  interrupted  were waiting beyond the corner  and when lara croft came  her career was launched .  br    br   there is not too much to be told about this film . it  s the only big screen film of andy wilson  and there must be a reason . all is banal and most of what happens on the screen expected in this story of an ex  doctor who saves the life of a shooting victim in a bar only to find himself working for the mob . the off  screen voice is especially bad  with a moralistic text that kills any shade of cinematographic experience from the film . you probably will not meet the film but in dvd rental stores  or on tv . try to look for something better .  
henry fonda brilliantly captures what we have long believed abraham lincoln was like . it is a fooler . through fonda  s performance we are led to believe  on the surface  that abraham lincoln was a country bumpkin . but  through his confrontation with the lynch mob and especially during the court proceedings  you can see that beneath the exterior posturings is a brilliant man who has a very good command of what is going on around him and how to influence the people around him .  br    br   in this movie henry fonda shows that he has a very good grasp of how to present humor . it is an aspect of him that has been lost over the years . when he is telling stories and jokes he has the timing down perfect . there is a sequence in the trial that had me laughing quite hard . he shows this gift again in the lady eve in     .  br    br   the ending by john ford is absolutely brilliant with henry fonda going to the top of a hill and in the distance a tremendous storm symbolic of the civil war . he goes forward into history . the movie is fiction but the insight into lincoln is tremendous . definitely worth seeing again .  
not even timothy hutton or david duchovny could save this dead fish of a film . for starters  the script was definitely written to be made into a b  film  but somehow duchovny  looking for a star vehicle to elevate himself out of television  and hutton  looking for the  two  of a  one  two punch  he had hoped would define his career after  ordinary people   became attached to the picture . cheesy lines  big bad wipes from scene to scene  come on   who uses wipes after   th grade telecommunications class    and plain old bad acting sink this film . even duchovny is not immune to the bad acting plague that is this film . only timothy hutton rises above the material at all . i must admit feeling duchovny  s pain as he read the lines that are the voice  over . while i found myself laughing when i  m sure the director wanted me to feel terrified  nothing prepared me for the closing line of duchonvey  s voice  over  if you ever need a doctor  be sure to call    .  if only the studio had called     this dog of a motion picture would never have been made . avoid at all costs .  br    br    
according to john ford  s lyrically shot  fictional biopic of abraham lincoln  s life his greatest faults may have been an obtuseness with woman and an ability to dance in  the worst way .  ford  s camera has only praising views to reveal of mr . lincoln  s early life . but for what the film lacks in character complexities it makes up for in beauty and depth of vision . uncharacteristically beautiful compositions of early film  what could have been a series of gorgeous still frames  ford has a unique eye for telling a story . the film sings of the life of a hopeful young man . henry fonda plays the contemplative and spontaneously clever lincoln to a tee  one of his best roles .  br    br   the film concerns two young men  brothers  on trial for a murder that both claim to have committed . in classic angry mob style  the town decides to take justice into their own hands and lynch the pair of them  until honest abe steps into the fray . he charms them with his humor  telling them not to rob him of his first big case  and that they are as good as lynched with him as the boys lawyer . what follows seems to become the outline for all courtroom  murder  dramas thereafter  as abe cunningly interrogates witnesses to the delight and humor of the judge  jury and town before he stumbles upon the missing links .  br    br   the film plays out like many john ford movies do a tablespoon of americana  a dash of moderate predictability  a hint of sarcasm that you aren  t sure if you put in the recipe or if ford did it himself . despite the overtly  hollywood  feel of the film  and overly patriotic banter alluding to lincoln  s future presidency  the film is entirely enjoyable and enjoyably well constructed  if you can take your drama with a grain of salt .  
cheesy script  cheesy one  liners . timothy hutton  s performance a  little  over the top . david duchovny still seemed to be stuck in his fox mulder mode . no chemistry with his large  lipped female co  star . he needs gillian anderson to shine . he does not seem to have any talent of his own .  
for those of you who love lord of the rings and love special effects  watch this movie  this will be sure to keep you glued to the screen . you will probably even like it if you like watching people fight with magical stuff .  
for anyone craving a remake of      s slaves of new york . what are there  seven of you  here it is . . . was .  br    br   this undercooked movie has studiously vapid characters  well they  re club  kids  ya big jerk   that are in holding patterns . the big question seems to be  just how long can a young adult remain juvenile  it took three people to write this  story   good god  it was easier to come up with citizen kane . rather than take viewers back  this movie should just embarrass anyone who was a scene  ster in the early   s .  br    br   the idea that a fifty year old woman envies a bunch of self  absorbed kids from a different era is the world as only self  absorbed  twenty  somethings could imagine it . the odd sidebar about library work is not the sub  plot one expects from the equivalent of parker posey  s breakin   electric bugaloo . her  i  m serious about graduate school   while a stripper grinds on her is hysterical . posey  s shtick is always amusing  but there are projects that are beneath her . i was asleep before it crossed the   minute mark .  
this film was not only one of john ford  s own personal favorites but also numbered directors sergei m . eisenstein and bertrand tavernier among its high  profile admirers . ironically  i  ve just caught up with it myself via criterion  s recent   disc set after missing out on a couple of original language screenings of it on italian tv many years ago and again a few times on tv while in hollywood   br    br   the film marked ford  s first of nine collaborations with henry fonda and is also a quintessential example of ford  s folksy americana vein . a beautifully made and pictorially quite poetic piece of work  the courtroom sequences  and eventual revelation  in its second half still pack quite a wallop  apart from giving stalwart character actor donald meek a memorably meaty role as the prosecuting attorney .  br    br   fonda is  of course  perfectly cast as a bashful  inexperienced but rigorous and humanistic lawyer who was destined to become president fonda would go on to portray other fictitious politicians on film  most notably in franklin j . schaffner  s the best man       and sidney lumet  s fail  safe        and it  s surprising now to learn that he was reluctant at the time about accepting the role of lincoln since  in his view  that was  like playing god    br    br   it is interesting to note here that ford had previously tackled abraham lincoln  tangentially  in the prisoner of shark island        a superb but perhaps little  known gem which has  luckily  just been released as a special edition dvd by the uk  s veritable criterion stand  in  eureka  s  masters of cinema  label . besides  i also have two more abraham lincoln films in my dvd collection which i  ve yet to watch and  incidentally  both were directed by d . w . griffith  the birth of a nation       and abraham lincoln        and  had i not just received a bunch of films i  ve never watched before just now  i would have gladly given them a spin based on my highly  satisfying viewing experience with young mr . lincoln .  
this film is a joke and quinton should be ashamed of himself  trying to pass this off as a modesty blaise film . if you are having trouble sleeping then all means rent this film . the stick figure they call a actress who is suppose to be modesty blaise has got to be the most boring person on this planet . maybe she could be used as a hat stand in the back ground of a real film . seventy  five minutes of nothing thank you who ever invented the fast forward button . if you see this film if you can call it that coming your way run . i can  t help but think what  rd world country could of used the money wasted of this crap . this film is boring the actors are boring waste of colour a waste air they breath if you would like to see mostey blaise film then watch the one they made in the    s maybe that what the director should of done .  
young mr . lincoln marks the first film of the director  star collaboration of john ford and henry fonda . i recall years ago fonda telling that as a young actor he was understandably nervous about playing abraham lincoln and scared he wouldn  t live up to the challenge .  br    br   john ford before the shooting starts put him at ease by saying he wasn  t going to be playing the great emancipator  but just a jack  leg prairie lawyer . that being settled fonda headed a cast that john ford directed into a classic film .  br    br   this is not a biographical film of lincoln . that had come before in the sound era with walter huston and a year after young mr . lincoln  raymond massey did the pulitzer prize winning play by robert sherwood abe lincoln in illinois . massey still remains the definitive lincoln .  br    br   but as ford said  fonda wasn  t playing the great emancipator just a small town lawyer in illinois . the film encompasses about   years of lincoln  s early life . we see him clerking in a general store  getting some law books from an immigrant pioneer family whose path he would cross again later in the story . and his romance with ann rutledge with her early death leaving lincoln a most melancholy being .  br    br   fast forward about   years and lincoln is now a practicing attorney beginning to get some notice . he  s served a couple of terms in the legislature  but he  s back in private practice not really sure if politics is for him .  br    br   this is where the bulk of the action takes place . the two sons of that family he  d gotten the law books from way back when are accused of murder . he offers to defend them . and not an ordinary murder but one of a deputy sheriff .  br    br   the trial itself is fiction  but the gambit used in the defense of richard cromwell and eddie quillan who played the two sons is based on a real case lincoln defended . i  ll say no more .  br    br   other than the performances  the great strength of young mr . lincoln is the way john ford captures the mood and atmosphere and setting of a small illinois prairie town in a fourth of july celebration . it  s almost like you  re watching a newsreel . and it was the mood of the country itself  young  vibrant and growing .  br    br   fans of john ford films will recognize two musical themes here that were repeated in later films . during the romantic interlude at the beginning with fonda and pauline moore who played ann rutledge the music in the background is the same theme used in the man who shot liberty valance for vera miles . and at a dance  the tune lovely susan brown that fonda and marjorie weaver who plays mary todd is the same one fonda danced with cathy downs to  in my darling clementine at the dance for the raising of a church in tombstone .  br    br   lincoln will forever be a favorite subject of biographers and dramatists because of two reasons  i believe . the first is he  s the living embodiment of our own american mythology about people rising from the very bottom to the pinnacle of power through their own efforts . in fact young mr . lincoln very graphically shows the background lincoln came from . and secondly the fact that he was our president during the greatest crisis in american history and that he made a singularly good and moral decision to free slaves during the civil war  albeit for some necessary political reasons . his assassination assured his place in history .  br    br   besides fonda and others i  ve mentioned special praise should also go to fred kohler  jr . and ward bond  the two town louts  kohler being the murder victim and bond the chief accuser . also donald meek as the prosecuting attorney and alice brady in what turned out to be her last film as the pioneer mother of cromwell and quillan . and a very nice performance by spencer charters who specialized in rustic characters as the judge .  br    br   for a film that captures the drama and romance of the time it  s set in  you can  t do better than young mr . lincoln .  
this is what happens when you  re living in china and the local video store is running thin on english  language titlesyou are blessed with this work of what appears to be  yes  romanian cinema . nevertheless  i think that it has real comedic potential .  br    br   spoilers technically follow  br    br   though i don  t think that it would in fact spoil anyone  s viewing pleasure to ask why a film set in a casino has a scene of beach archery  even in flashback . that mystery  and many other conundrums  remain to be exploited by desperate comedians  perhaps when they  re stuck in bucharest .  br    br   let me also wonder aloud why perfectly good  looking people allow themselves to abuse themselves on film like this . it  s sad .  
     is universally accepted as the greatest year in hollywood history  with more classic films released than in any other  and john ford directed three of the best   stagecoach    drums along the mohawk   and this beautiful homage to frontier days and a young backwoods lawyer destined to eventually save the union   young mr . lincoln  .  br    br   with the world plunging into a war that america dreaded  but knew it would be drawn into  abraham lincoln was much on people  s minds  in      as someone who had faced the same dilemma in his own life  and had triumphed . on broadway  robert e . sherwood  s award  winning  abe lincoln in illinois   with raymond massey  s physically dead  on portrayal  was playing to packed houses  it would be filmed in      . carl sandburg  s continuation of his epic biography   abraham lincoln the war years   was published  and quickly became a best seller . president roosevelt frequently referred to lincoln in speeches  and the lincoln memorial  in washington  d . c .  became the most popular landmark in town  a fact that frank capra made good use of  in  mr . smith goes to washington   .  br    br   all this was not lost on darryl f . zanuck  at   th century fox as soon as he read lamar trotti  s screenplay of lincoln  s early days as a lawyer  he designated it a  prestige  production  and assigned john ford to direct  and henry fonda  to star .  br    br   fonda did not want to play lincoln he felt he couldn  t do justice to the  great emancipator   and feared a bad performance would damage his career . even a filmed make  up test  in which he was stunned by how much he would resemble lincoln  wouldn  t change his mind . according to fonda  john ford  whom he  d never worked with  cussed him out royally  at their first meeting  and explained he wasn  t portraying the lincoln of legend  but a young  jackanape  country lawyer facing his first murder trial . humbled  fonda took the role .  john ford offered a different scenario of the events  but the outcome was the same   obviously  they found a chemistry together that worked  as nearly all of their pairings would produce  classics  .  br    br   unlike the introverted  melancholia  racked lincoln of  abe lincoln in illinois   ford  s vision was that of a shy but likable young attorney  who made friends easily  and misses the mother he lost  too young  resulting in a bond with a pioneer mother that becomes a vital part of the story  . injustice riles him  and he speaks  common sense  to quell violence  interlaced with doses of humor . both productions play on lincoln  s  undocumented  relationship with ann rutledge in ford  s version  the pair are truly in love  and committed to each other . after her death  lincoln would frequently visit her grave  to share his life with her  spirit   a theme ford would continue in  she wore a yellow ribbon   .  br    br   a murder trial is the centerpiece of the film  and shows the prodigious talents of the star and director . fonda deftly portrays lincoln  s inexperience  yet earnest belief in justice tempered with mercy  and ford emphasizes the gulf between the big  city  intellectuals   represented by pompous d . a . donald meek  and his slick  advisor   stephen douglas  played by a young milburn stone   and the informal  rule  bending country sense of lincoln . with ford  regular  ward bond as a key witness  the trial is both unconventional  and riveting .  br    br   with the film closing as lincoln strides away into the stormy distance  and his destiny  dissolving into a view of the statue at the lincoln memorial   audiences could take comfort in the film  s message that if a cause is just  good would ultimately triumph .  br    br    young mr . lincoln  is a truly remarkable film  from an amazing year   
oh my god  what a horrible film . the film has all the right people involved  unfortunately it is not worth watching . i saw it for free at my local library . if i had paid to watch this i would be even more upset . this film is unwatchable . how could tarintino be involved with such a slow paced  unexciting film . no wonder it didn  t get much distribution  every one involved must have been ashamed . i can make a better film with a dated camcorder and my big toe . its beyond boring  i really hated it . tarintino just lost some standing in my eyes . this must be some kind of sick joke . don  t bother with this film . if some one even hints you should watch it  kill them .  
in his otherwise excellent book  lincoln in american memory  the historian merrill peterson calls young mr . lincoln a  boring  dreadful  film  . this amazingly wrongheaded analysis simply proves that great historians are rarely fine film critics . i am working on a doctoral dissertation on abraham lincoln and frederick douglass . as part of my preparation for writing the dissertation  i made a careful analysis of this film  and of tag gallaghers brilliant interpretation of it in his seminal book on ford . young mr . lincoln comes out that culminating year of the first phase of ford  s cinematic authorship      . in that greatest of hollywood years  ford directed three superb  still not fully appreciated films drums along the mohawk  stagecoach  and young mr . lincoln . it might seem odd to say that stagecoach is not fully appreciated  all but the most purblind of critics must perceive that it is one of of the greatest westerns  and perhaps even one of the hundred greatest films of all time . however  what is not fully appreciated is that these three films work together as a kind of trilogy  a triptych  in fact . ford is creating a sort of mythic history of america on screen . drums along the mohawk is the revolutionary war . young mr . lincoln is pre  civil war america . finally  stagecoach is post civil war america . what the three films have in common is that they are an extended meditation on the american adam and his  errand into the wilderness  . what are the psychic and social costs of american manifest destiny  as america strives to build a new human city in the wilderness  lincoln symbolizes americas journey  as he seeks to reconcile the civilizational inmpulse  law   with the freedom of the wilderness . young mr . lincoln is not history   it is full of historical  howlers   as both ford and trotti were well aware   but myth . this is lincoln  the symbol of justice and mercy  lincoln  the man of the wilderness  striving to found a civilization within himself  and to become the  remarkable lawgiver  of young america . young mr . lincoln is not history  like james agee  s long forgotten teleplay about lincoln  and like sandburgs biography  it is an epic poem . . . a very beautiful epic poem .  
me neither  but this flick is unfortunately one of those movies that are too bad to be good and too good to be awful  which makes it utterly pointless and a total waste of time . there  s nothing more uninteresting than a mediocre movie  and my name is modesty whatever the subtitle is takes mediocrity to a new level . it  s full of b  actors but isn  t any fun whatsoever because it takes itself seriously . it sets itself up as a thriller but then turns into some kind of growing  up drama  flashback style . the beautiful alexandra staden  smothered beyond recognition under makeup  more resembles a cast member from top model than modesty blaise . i  m not one of those die  hard comic book freaks who wants every adaptation of his precious  graphic novels  to be pitch  perfect  in fact i  ve never even read modesty blaise  all i wanted was a decent movie to watch . but this wasn  t it . the film feels half  finished  with a weak and very unexciting conclusion to a rather weak plot . it also takes its audience for idiots  explaining every tiny detail of the plot to us and showing flashbacks of things that happened three scenes ago  i guess they think we all have alzheimers  .  br    br   now i love a good b  movie  what  s better than just turning your brain off and swallowing the cinematic equivalent of a calzone   and  modesty  is directed by none other than scott spiegel  who brought us the wonderful splatter crap flick from dusk till dawn   texas blood money  i loved from dusk till dawn  because it brought everything a bad b  movie should bring to the table  nudity  gore  guns  you name it .  modesty  is just dull . the flashback concerning modesty  s life isn  t interesting . the acting isn  t bad enough to be laughed at . in fact  i kinda liked nikolaj coaster  waldau  s  hey buddy  pseudonyms are your friends   performance as the baddie .  br    br   so overall it  s just lame . weak . uninspired . call it what you will . don  t watch anything because tarantino presents it  people . this is just a very forgettable  half  hearted thriller  and it never tries to be more than that . allow me to round off this review with a very lame pun  seriously  even i  m cringing   my name is modesty a modesty waste of time       
this little film had long been on my  keeper  list . do people realize how stressed out  menopausal  emotionally abused women  as well as the mentally retarded  were really treated by the medical profession at the turn of the century     all of the pious uptight christian attitudes of that time were deadly to exploring true emotional feelings that would allow us to embrace suffering souls  let alone explore what it means to embrace our humanity . can you really imagine  by today  s standards  that walt whitman  s books were banned because he acknowledged women as having feelings and emotional responses as great as a mans  think about that  the sensitivity of this movie still gets me and i give credit to the director for capturing this through his eyes .  
the film my name is modesty is based around an episode that takes up about one page in the   th modesty blaise novel called night of the morningstar . it describes an incident in which the young modesty    in the book  mid twenties in the film  asserts her leadership in a war over a casino . as this is set before the actual blaise adventures her trusted sidekick willi garvin is not in the film . that is one of the main problems as the relationship between blaise and garvin was certainly always one of the fascinating aspects of the novels and the long running comic strip . the other problem is that the film is quite simply incredibly boring because it really is just one small episode blown up into a screenplay . the casting is okay but alexandra staden is not really convincing as the heroine and actually too old for the role to play the young modesty . i get the impression that this film was a quick and dirty solution as not to lose the rights to the blaise franchise .  
the rating is only a  because it  s a movie that could have used better acting and direction  or at least music   . however  for the achievements of walt whitman  it deserves a   . a previous poster calls the movie cheesy  however  i think it  s a simple case of not seeing the forest for the trees . the film makers were apparently more interested in getting the story out there than to have a hollywood shiny feature film . and for this  i applaud them  the fact it is non  mainstream reflects the life of whitman as well . this film is more documentary than for the sake of acting . to be fascinated with a story such as this  when you rarely hear of these types of stories that shape current day mental health  is the most important thing . i found it a highly enjoyable look at history .  
my name is modesty is a low  budget film that tells the story of the origins of modesty blaise . it  s not that the movie is terrible  it  s just not what i was expecting or hoping for . while i  ve been aware of the modesty blaise character for years  i  m not overly familiar with the comic strips or the graphic novels  so i  m coming into this movie as something as an outsider . that may be part of the reason for my disappointment . i was expecting more action and more comedy . the film is dialogue driven . i suppose i was looking for something with a little more camp value . as it is  my name is modesty is a deathly serious film . there are very few  if any   light  moments . the acting  at least from alexandra staden  is acceptable but nothing outstanding . as others have commented  she does appear a little too frail to be completely believable in the title role . what action scenes there are in my name is modesty are one of the films weakest points . i never bought into the notion that this woman could handle a band of trained killers .  br    br   i really hope quentin tarantino goes ahead and makes the rumored a big budget film based on the modesty blaise character . i  m convinced the concept has a lot of potential and i would very much look forward to it .  
i found the one and only comment about this movie entirely uninformative and altogether too harsh  so i have decided to write my own . i first saw this movie when it came out and have caught it a few times more since then . first of all let me say that  overall  the things that this movie gets right are what make it worthwhile . it doesn  t matter that it has some low budget quirks and other faults . it is worth watching . the idea of basing a movie on walt whitman  s visit a restrictive  narrow  minded anglo  canadian community in southern ontario and bringing people to life is a brilliant mis  en  scene . the movie is about the kind of humanizing catalysis whitman inspired in people . and in that sense it is exactly accurate . the acting  especially by rip torn  whitman  and colm feore as the doctor  is very good . the scripting and dialogue are strong and pay proper attention to the mores and inflections of the time . overall  what  s not to like  besides  name another film in which whitman is brought so vividly to life   
i have grown up reading modesty blaise  both the comics and the books  and she truly is a heroine to me . although not being a great fan of quentin tarantino i anyway was interested to hear a few years back that he was considering making a film of her could he finally give modesty a nice big screen treatment she  s worthy of  i heard of  my name is modesty  a few months ago and checked the stars it had been given here  and wasn  t too surprised to find out the score was not too high  since beloved characters often have hard time melting the fans  heart if not done exactly right . so i decided not to read any reviews and see the film instead  and well  i just finished watching it  and i  m stunned  and sad  and yeah  pretty furious  too . sad and furious of giving over an hour of my time seeing something so fabulous as modesty blaise  character being turned into a film that has nothing to give to a viewer or a fan .  br    br   it seems that almost everything about this film is sub  par and unprofessional  although i must admit seeing some actors in other films earlier where they were fine so i can  t blame them . but the screenplay and the directing . . . my god  why even make this kind of crap with production values slightly bigger than your average tv  film but done much worse  i don  t know the background of this film and actually i really don  t want to know  but i just can  t help wondering that how on earth could tarantino with a straight face tell that he loves modesty and then put his name on this  he just lost a huge amount of respect in my eyes . the director was not the right man for this job and i can honestly thank him for ruining my night .  br    br   i give this film  stars and those stars go to the actors and the technical quality which could  ve been worse . the other seven stars missing are what this film was not good at . oh well  hopefully at some point there will be a serious production of the modesty blaise movie that has some other goals than to steal money from the modesty fans . although if people like tarantino are the ones making the decisions i  m not holding my breath .  
based on a true story of how a man ahead of his time  the great   th century american poet and humanist walt whitman  made a significant contribution to how western medicine treats people with psychological problems .  br    br   interested in the treatment of people with psychological problems  he began to associate with psychiatric workers and patients . after seeing the psychological methods of the time  inhumane and ignorantly cruel methods   walt rejected those methods  and treated patients with compassion and dignity  encouraging other people to do the same  the story of walt  s interactions with psychiatric workers  patients and townsfolk is full of drama  good humor and wisdom .    
in the comic  modesty is strong . alexandra staden who plays modesty blaise looks more like an anorectic fashion model . she does not either have the moral or personality that modesty have in the comics . modesty would never give a woman an advice to show more skin to earn more money . i cannot see any similarities with my comic books with modesty and this movie . its like a mission impossible movie would be about ethan hunt locked in the detention room in high school talking with the janitor about when he went to junior high school and hunt would have been played by dj qualls  in road trip  . soo if you are an modesty fan do not see the movie you will just get angry . if do not know much about the modesty comics rent an other movie do not wast your time with this one . i cannot understand how quentin tarantino can put his name on it . i will ask for a refund at my dvd rent store tomorrow .  
so  finally i know it exists . along with the other uk contributors on here i saw this on what must have been it  s only uk screening in the    s . i remembered the title  but got nowhere when i mentioned it to people . it scarred me  that  s   r  s  but when you go to bed with doom whizzing about your brain and listening all around for impending terror  then isn  t that what a truly classic horror movie is all about   i can barely remember the intricacies of the movie  but what i do recollect is my shivering flesh and heightened senses . can anyone confirm my suspicions that this is black and white  again  if anyone has any info on how to obtain a copy of this  please get in touch . . .  
this is not the video nastie  but only because it came out in     when they were presumably tired of the whole thing in britain . it is    a rehash of the boogeyman  and would have been banned for the same reason  whatever that was .  br    br   i was initially confused as i thought that annie  kelly galindo  may have been a different lacey  but she was someone trouble by psychic visions of a boogeyman similar to the one in the first film . fans will immediately note that they are not the same person .  br    br   after seeing a murder in a bathroom  and also seeing the address as well  annie  her psychiatrist and a para psychology student who greatly resembles the guy on the cheap romance novels and butter commercials  head to the house  and  sure enough  it  s the same bathroom .   hours later a murder happens just as she described . of course  we have no idea who this boobilicious woman is or why she was murdered .  br    br   then the movie shift to a rerunning of the boogeyman story with some extra footage that we did not see in the original . notably  the boogeyman is shown unlike the original . sadly  some of the good scenes were cut  but    of it is there . why rerun this film  did they find the footage in the trash  what was the purpose   br    br   we  ll never know and  despite the psychologist telling annie she is cured  we all know the bogeyman will never die .  
like many people on this site  i saw this movie only once  when it was first televised in     . certain scenes linger in my memory and an overall feeling of disquiet is how i remember being affected by it . i would be fascinated to see it again  if it was ever made available for home video .  br    br   possible spoiler i wonder if anyone else would agree that the basic plot setup and characters might have been derived from a     british movie  originally titled city of the dead  retitled horror hotel for the american release  there are some similarities also to a later british film the wicker man .  br    br   one detail remains with me years after seeing the film . it  s a small but significant moment near the beginning of the film . as i recall  a minister and his wife have stopped to aid some people by the side of the road  circa      somewhere out west . the friendly seeming ray milland introduces himself and his  daughter    yvette mimieux  a beautiful young mute woman . while the preacher is helping ray milland with the wagon  a rattlesnake slithers into view and coils menacingly  unobserved by any of the characters except yvette mimieux . she doesn  t look scared at all  but stares at the snake with silent concentration  until it goes away . with this strange little moment  we already realize there  s something highly unusual about these seemingly normal folks  though the possible danger to the minister and his wife remains vague and uncertain for a long time .  br    br   that one little scene stays with me vividly after all these years  along with many others . the film has a haunting quality about it that won  t let go  and it  s not surprising that people remember it so vividly . someone ought to make this available for home video   
i got a dvd of  bogeyman  and this stunker was an extra feature . i assumed that it was  boogeyman ii  because it was paired with the original . but you know what they say about those who  assume   it makes an  ass   out of  u   and  me .  i had read before viewing that bii contains a lot of footage from the original and that it starred actress love . while watching  return of the boogeyman   i decided to stick around through the original footage to see the notorious death  by  toothbrush scene . before i knew it  the film was over . rip  off . i think that i thought this was bii because this has a similar title to one of bii  s alternate titles . oh well  at least this was just an extra feature  right   br    br   let me stop talking about my mistake and start talking about the movie  s mistakes . many  many  mistakes . who does this guy ulli whatever think he is  does he really think the same movie will sell in different forms . there is nothing original holding part iii up . it is basically a flashback of the original through the eyes of a psychic  who is giving us a gruelingly boring play  by  play as everything happens . that  s the movie . oh  and one death  by  stereo scene  but you can read that off someone else  s review . my interest in  boogeyman ii  is forever lost .  br    br   final note this is not a series of films to watch back to back .  
this is an incredible comeback from movie director mastermind  tsui hark . it is one of a few movies that deserves to come a face to face match to steven chow  s shaolin soccer . from the moment the movie started  there was astronishing backdrops at every edge which were  br    br   deplicted with superb style . if you are a science fiction or chinese martial arts  geek   you  ll love the excessive amounts of many  d effects and realistic computer generated weapons . there  comes a fine performance  as always  from ekin cheung who plays  sky king  . he teams up with louis koo  red  who i was very impressed by his flexible  wing  which deflected incoming attacks . the fighting movements of these actors were proficient in every way . not only is the action superb but the has a somewhat complex storyline . many criticisers of this movie complain of the lack of story  theme or just  shoved in random bits of debrise  and even describe as  the legend of poo  . however  the viewer cannot rely on watching dragon ballz and other similar manga cartoons to understand this movie . others who are famarialy with  wu xia  movies will have a better appoach . in due respect . there can be one weakness that could be foreseen . the blow that was deliveried to the enemy at the very last fight scene could of been more substantially and devastiingly made . in spite of all this  its a must see .  
i cheer for films that fill in subject matter gaps in world cinema . so after watching the trailer for  water lilies   i expected to like this film because i thought i  d stumbled on something unique a movie that honestly portrays teen lesbian love  sort of a female version of  beautiful thing .   br    br   the main characters are young french women   years old . marie is slender  reticent and pretty in a tomboyish way floriane is outgoing  athletic and beautiful and anne is loyal  pudgy and behaviorally immature . the erotic interrelationship between marie and floriane is always simmering in this movie  if not at the surface  then just below it .  br    br    water lilies   however  is not about the dawning of lesbian love upon two teens it is about sexual frustration  suffering  ennui  teens working at cross  purposes and  in at least two instances  joyless  mechanical sex . it also proves that screenwriters and film  makers mar their own creations when they become too manipulative .  br    br   in the extra features on the  lord of the flies  dvd  director peter brook says   french cynicism starts with the arousal of sex   meaning the french regard children as angels while they regard adolescents and adults with a pervasive cynicism . part of the downfall of this film is film  maker celine sciamma has gulped a mighty dose of this cynicism .  br    br    where is the joy   i asked myself while watching this film . yes  first love can be painful and frustrating  but it can also be joyful and triumphantly erotic in a fresh  life  affirming way . these positive aspects are missing from this movie there is no balance .  br    br   organically  this movie wants to be a poignant celebration of first love . but sciamma is too impressed with her own cynicism and cleverness and ruins the film . first  what is the point of showing only the plump girl nude  i know there is an established tradition of tasteful teen nudity in european cinema  as evidenced by films like  the slingshot the rascals the devil  probably the little thief murmur of the heart friends beau pere  and  europa  europa   but this instance is a petty authorial intrusion   see  audience  i can make a film where i show only the unattractive person nude .  either no nudity or evenly distributed nudity would  ve been an honest way to go .  br    br   there is a scene in a club where floriane and marie are dancing . what follows next is not just floriane cynically manipulating marie it is film  maker sciamma cynically manipulating her audience .  br    br   perhaps the biggest betrayal of authenticity and organic honesty takes place when floriane warns marie she  s about to request something that is  not normal .  marie understandably asks   who cares about being normal   then sciamma plays false with her audience and the hurtling momentum of the movie  because floriane  s request is a phony  derivative and substitute question  not the authentic  heartfelt question the movie  marie  s character and the viewers who  ve invested their time deserve .  br    br   here are also two moments which clank falsely on the viewer  s nerves   since when do the french  of all people  take baths wearing bathing suits  and with a turtle to boot    what teen  of any nationality  would chomp down on an apple core that  s been thrown in the garbage in order to get a taste of the beloved  s mouth   br    br   the three main actresses are promising and  if they find better vehicles for their talents  may become excellent actors . louise blachere  anne  is the best actress in terms of technique and could have a successful career in supporting roles . adele haenel  floriane  could become a leading lady  or a bombshell  or both . pauline acquart  marie  possesses an intensity and magnetism which are unmistakable . in the future  she could play everything from an emotionally crippled librarian to a mysteriously sensual seductress to a reluctant politician riding a meteoric rise in acclaim .  br    br   all in all   water lilies  was very disappointing . will an honest film  maker please make an authentic movie about two young women falling in love  no  not necessarily for the sake of this middle  aged guy  but so young lesbian girls can have something of quality they can watch and identify with . and yes  to fill a subject matter gap in world cinema .  
finally got to see this classic tv movie on an unofficial disc recorded from an old vhs  it is a classic piece of horror . its a pity more of this neglected corner of horror in terms of official releases on dvd and vhs . . . the tv horror movie . recommended for all fans of the    s tv movie much like trilogy of terror . those interested should get the book on the subject by david deal  television fright films of the    s . email me for a chance to see it . . . . . its fabulous to see it again .  br    br   it does have it problems like many tv movies they have to be rather inventive in the effects dept and even at   mins it can seem to drag possibly we are all used to more modern editing but still great stuff and far better than many theatrical frights released today .  
i was previously unaware that in the early      s devry university  or was it itt tech   added film to its wonderful repertoire of technical degree programs . well this movie must have been the product of the class valedictorian . my friend and i rented the original     boogeyman on my netflix and this movie was on the flip side of the dvd . do not waste your time with this movie . awful awful awful .  br    br   the filmmaker adds  main character  s  a woman and her therapist . the woman has been having dreams about the boogeyman and his victim  s from the first film . over    of this film is stock from the original movie . the rest of the movie is the main character having the bad dreams while her therapist drones on a the narrator . these scenes are shot through a filter so thick the characters glow . they would make angela lansbury look   years old . so  to recap  awful . don  t watch this movie .  
i have seen this film only once  on tv  and it has not been repeated . this is strange when you consider the rubbish that is repeated over and over again . usually horror movies for me are a source of amusement  but this one really scared me .  br    br   do not read the next bit if you have  nt seen the film yet  br    br   the scariest bit is when the townsfolk pursue the preacher to where his wife lies almost dead  they  d been poisoning her  . he asks who the hell are you people anyway . one by one they give their true identities . the girl who was pretending to be deaf in order to corrupt and seduce him says  i am lilith  the witch who loved adam before eve  .  
ulli lommel  s     film  the boogey man  is no classic  but it  s an above average low budget chiller that  s worth a look . the sequel      s  boogey man ii  is ultimately a waste of time  but at the very least it  s an entertaining one if not taken the least bit seriously . now ii left the door open for another sequel  and i for one wouldn  t have minded seeing at least one more . one day while i was browsing though the videos at a store in the mall i came across a film entitled  return of the boogey man .  when i found out it was a sequel to the earlier films i was happy to shell out a few bucks for it . . . i should have known better . though the opening title is  boogey man    this is no sequel to those two far superior films i named above . well  not totally anyway .  br    br   pros ha  that  s a laugh . is there anything good about this hunk of cow dung  let  s see . . . it has footage from  the boogey man  and  um . . . it  s mercifully short . yeah  that  s about it .  br    br   cons where to start  decisions  decisions . first of all  this movie is a total bore . it goes from one scene to the next without anything remotely interesting or scary happening . the acting is stiff at best . the  actors  are most likely friends of the director who had no acting experience whatsoever before  and probably none since . the plot is nonexistent and script shoddily written . the direction is just plain awful . the director tries to make the film look all artsy fartsy by making the camera move around  lights flicker  and with filters  but it adds nothing . the music is dull and hard to hear in parts . ties to the original are botched . suzanna love  s character was named lacey  not natalie  and the events depicted in the beginning of the original did not take place in     . also  if this has a  in the title  why is there no mention of what happened in ii  finally  this adds nothing new or interesting to either the series or the genre .  br    br   final thoughts the people behind this waste of time and money should be ashamed of themselves . it  s one thing if that had been an original film that was the director  s first and sucked . but instead it  s supposed to be a sequel to film that is no masterpiece  but is damn sure far more interesting and entertaining than this . if there ever is another sequel  which i doubt it  then it needs to forget this one ever happened and be handled either by lommel himself or someone who has at least some idea of how to make a decent horror film .  br    br   my rating     
i feel like i have some uber  rare disease that no one has heard of and i have finally come across a support group on the net  i finally found this title by asking for an answer on an  experts  site on the web . i too  saw this movie in my youth and was struck by the atmosphere and especially the ending . i have never forgotten it and have never seen it since . no one i know saw the film and i had almost given up on ever finding it  s title . alas  even knowing the name  i shall probably never see the film again as it is impossible to find commercially . small steps . . .  br    br   g  
return of the boogyman is a dreadful movie which doesn  t play like a movie  it plays like an episode of a tv sitcom when they flashback to older episodes . return of the boogyman is just a clip show .  br    br   mutch of the film is constant and annoying flashbacks from the first movie . over and over again the same footage . how boring this is .  br    br   the movie really is about a psychic woman who has visions of the first movie .  br    br   i have seen the first movie i don  t want to see the same scenes over and over again and i don  t know who would . the whole movie looks like it was quickly made to make a few bucks and thats it .  
i saw this movie on tv when it came out  and never seen it again . for the life of me  i couldn  t remember the title and just stumbled across it while checking roy thinne  s movie credits . excellent  dark  and spooky tv horror movie in the same class as  crowhaven farm    don  t be afraid of the dark   and  satan  s school for girls   all lost satanic classics . i also think it has many parallels to clint eastwood  s classic   high plains drifter  . why don  t they release these great little movies  especially when you consider all of the more recent garbage that fills the discount dvd racks at wal  mart  most of these flicks have a cult  following  so sales shouldn  t be a problem .  
i can  t believe this film was allowed to be made . these people should be drug out and beat with blunt objects . they should be tortured . this film is an abomination . it  s nothing but footage from the first film . whatever is original is freaky and makes no sense whatsoever . it  s like some sort of drug hallucination . like  what  s with the laying on a mirror naked therapy . also  whatever moron patched together this turd didn  t even bother to watch the first film  because they kept calling suzanna love  s character natalie  when it  s lacey . i felt like shouting that at the screen   it  s lacey  it  s lacey      . i give it a    out of   . my god      
whenever people ask me to name the scariest movie i  ve ever seen  i invariably reply  black noon  and to this day nobody  s ever heard of it .  br    br   i watched it alone some   years ago at the tender age of   when my parents had gone out for the evening . as far as i know its only ever been shown once in the uk and sadly is unavailable on dvd or vhs .  br    br   if anyone can trace a copy please let me know .  br    br   if i watched it again now it would probably be a big disappointment but it has always stuck in my memory as a particularly disturbing little film   
the entire movie is flashbacks from the first boogeyman movie as well as  inexplicably  footage from another uli lommel  suzanna love film brainwaves . it is framed with some more current  from the early    s anyway  footage that is boring  poorly acted and cheaply shot . not only is the film almost completely flashbacks  they repeat the same flashbacks throughout the film . so you see the recycled footage over and over again  as if you hadn  t seen it already . as if the originals weren  t bad enough . i  ve never seen a movie so padded . . . . someone was milking the last dollar out of these films . total ripoff . and talk about padding . . . why do i have to write   lines about this trash  if i can convey that it  s garbage in  lines  that should be enough .  
i cannot believe how unknown this movie is  it was absolutely incredible . the ending alone has stuck with me for almost thirty years . the road sign through the rearveiw mirror blew me away . if you liked  race with the devil  you will love this movie  
let me just say i loved the original boogeyman . sure  it  s a flawed clichd   s horror movie  but hey those types are fun to watch  and plus it gave us something a bit different . so i gladly bought it and to my surprise this movie came along with it  only copy they had actually  so i thought  eh  what the hell  and bought it . mistake   . so that night i felt in the mood to watch a movie  i actually bought tons that day  and figured this was the shortest out of all the ones i bought so i  ll just watch this and hit the sack . mistake   . yes  i have heard how bad it was but i was willing to take a chance .  br    br   so a few minutes into the movie and there  s the first flashback . i think nothing of it at first . then the new footage with the prediction of the chick in the bathtub and i  m kinda liking the direction it  s going in . then the next flashback which is a bit longer and i  m sitting there thinking  yes i  ve seen the first boogeyman  i know what happens so move along   then the next one comes up and i figure screw it and fast forward through it . then the final one  maybe i fast forwarded through the explanation but why was she lying topless on the mirror  at least she could  ve shown them   and i decide to fast forward through it and then the climax and the movie was over  wtf  what happened to the prediction stuff  what happened to the long hair dude  did he tap that or what    and more importantly what kind of weed was the writer and director smoking when making this awful pos      and what was the point  was annie just having flashbacks of what happened in the first movie  or was the stuff from the first movie just happening at the same time as this  the latter could make sense because the stabbing of pantyhose face happened in     according to the characters in this movie and it was   years later . wait a minute  no it wouldn  t  because lacey  who the movie questionably renamed nancy  is uli too dumb to remember his movie characters  names   would be   years old since she was  when that happened and not only is she married to someone who looks   ish but also has a kid who looks around  and    did she get around during middle school  and also why would pantyhose be after annie  what connection does she even have with the characters of the original movie  and a big huge movie mistake i found in this movie is that when the doctor is writing in his notebook does anyone notice that he  s just scribbling  wow  how professional  doc  so  what is the explanation for all of the questions i asked above  it  s a pointless movie with no thought put into it at all  i will try to find a copy of the original movie that comes with just that movie and that  s it  maybe a couple of extra features  any special edition of it yet   . then i will return this dvd and hopefully this review and all the others will prevent those who haven  t seen it from seeing it thus making movie stores get rid of it and this movie may not exist anymore  please let that be so  sorry this review is so long . i  m just angry at this movie i had to vent somehow  
husbands beware is a remake of the shemp classic brideless groom . the film  s new cooking scene at the beginning of the film is great . the stooges are always funny when they cook . however after the first few minutes of cooking footage  we cut to original footage of brideless groom . one thing i noticed about these     to     remakes are that they do fit with the new story . they do an insert shot if the old story line doesn  t match .  br    br   husbands beware does have a new ending  but i won  t give it away to those who want to be surprised .  br    br    out of  stars .  
in fact  it  s basically the same movie . and they couldn  t even get the time line of events correct . maybe that was intentional due to laziness or not caring . either way  this thing is a real woofer . it doesn  t even deserved to be called a movie . i viewed this as a so called second feature on the disc containing the original the boogeyman . i thought my head would explode  and i urge you to run as far in the opposite direction of this thing  if you should be cursed with the misfortune of combing across it  s path . it should come with a warning label likewarning  may cause your i . q to drop several points if you are within it  s vicinity . for me  there  s no doubt this thing is a      
the three stooges has always been some of the many actors that i have loved . i love just about every one of the shorts that they have made . i love all six of the stooges  curly  shemp  moe  larry  joe  and curly joe   all of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts  in my opinion the three stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team   br    br   one of my favorite stooges shorts with shemp is none other than husbands beware  all appearing in this short are the beautiful christine mcintyre  dee green  doris houck  alyn lockwood  johnny kascier  nancy saunders  lu leonard  maxine gates  and emil sitka . green and mcintyre provide great performances here  there are so many funny parts here . this is a very hilarious short . there is another similar three stooges short like this one called brideless groom and i recommend both   
the original boogeyman was a silly but entertaining supernatural slasher flick . it was by no means a great film but fun in the right frame of mind . the third instalment in this series  return of the boogeyman  on the other hand  is simply atrocious . it consists of two things . firstly  cheap and lifeless new footage . secondly  loads of recycled bits from the first movie . the new material is unbelievably amateurish but not in an amusingly inept way  simply incredibly tedious . this footage has clearly been knocked together quickly and without any effort . it serves as a framing device for the endless clips from the first  and possibly second  movies . and boy  do they milk those clips from the earlier films sometimes reusing sequences over and over again . the only new addition to these parts is a voice over that pointlessly describes exactly what we can see with our own eyes . the whole experience of watching this is truly mind  numbing .  br    br   return of the boogeyman is an example of the very worst kind of exploitation flick the kind that exploits the audience in a highly cynical way . i want to keep this review brief and to the point because this film deserves no more . there is nothing here of value at all . this is worthless .  
moe and larry are newly henpecked husbands  having married shemp  s demanding sisters . at his music studio  shemp learns he will inherit a fortune if he marries someone himself   br    br    husbands beware  is a remake of      s  brideless groom   widely considered by many to be one of the best stooge films with shemp . the remake contains most of the footage from that film . the new scenes  shot may         include the storyline of moe and larry marrying shemp  s sisters  along with their cooking of a turkey laced with turpentine  a few new scenes are tacked onto the end of the film as well  a double for dee green was used if you blink  you will miss the double  s appearance .   br    br    husbands beware  would have made for a good film with just the plot line of marrying the sisters . budget considerations  coupled with fewer bookings for two  reel comedies  influenced the decision to use older footage .  br    br   although completely new films were still being made by the stooges  most of their releases by        were made up of older films with a few new scenes tossed in .  husbands beware   while one of these hybrids  is watchable and entertaining we get to see most of  brideless groom  again  and the new scenes are funny enough to get the viewer through the film . this film is one of the last stooge comedies to feature new footage of shemp  and it was released six weeks after his death .  br    br    out of   .  
i won  t waste a whole lot of time of this one because as far as i  m concerned it isn  t really a movie to start with  just a careless mish  mash of borrowed footage and embarrassingly amateurish new footage made solely for the purpose of pasting the whole mess together and call it a  boogeyman  sequel . literally    of this film is stolen from its far superior predecessor  the boogeyman   a film that the writers of this garbage apparently didn  t even bother to watch because they couldn  t even get actress suzanna love  s original character  s name  lacy  right . and to add insult to injury the killer is invisible in the original footage and visible in the new footage  apparently they think their audience is as stupid as they are .  out of   and i wish imdb  s rating system went that low  the most callous and blatant attempt to rip off people  s money i  ve even seen  you have been warned   
maybe one of the most entertaining ninja  movies ever made . a hard  hitting action movie with lots of gore and slow motion  eehaaa   . made in    and still the greatest swedish action movie made so far  and we can hardly wait to see the upcoming sequel  ninja mission      the legacy of markov   
this  is not one of those films it is one of the biggest pieces of tripe i have ever scene  the camera work is trying to be flashy but it really just crap the whole thing looks like the red shoe diaries  but without the sex  the only reason i bought this was i wanted to try out dvd and this was the cheapest one i could find  possibly the worst buy of my life and could have put you off dvd forever  the soundtrack is really tacky and most of the movie is made up of endless repeats of clips from the first two films  why anyone would want to make a movie as awful as this is beyond me  if they had really attempted to make an original movie and failed i would be nicer in this review but they don  t they just got the rights to reproduce stuff from the first two and then edit it and repeat it into this film with about maybe under   rd original footage which is about up to the standards of film school students  do not buy this movie . the only entertainment this dvd can offer is if you were to stick it in the microwave and watch the flashing lights  utter utter utter uttter unbelievable garbage      if only the voting system would allow that .  
visually stunning and full of eastern philosophy  this amazing martial arts fantasy is brought to you by master director tsui hark  the man behind some of the best films hong kong cinema has produced . the special effects are beautiful and imaginative . the plot is a bit on the cerebral side  but is a refreshing change from films that treat their audience as if they were morons . if thinking is not your forte  however  this may not be your movie . maybe you should go see the latest from the hollywood studio  s no brain club  but if you are looking for something more  he  s where you will find it .  
when i ordered this from blockbuster  s website i had no idea that it would be as terrible as it was . who knows  maybe i  d forgotten to take my add meds that day . i do know that from the moment the cast drove up in their station wagon  donned in their late    s  style wide collars  bell  bottoms and feathered hair  i knew that this misplaced gem of the disco era was glory bound for the dumpster .  br    br   the first foretelling of just how bad things were to be was the narration at the beginning  trying to explain what cosmic forces were at play to wreak havoc upon the universe  forcing polyester and porno  quality music on the would  be viewer . from the opening scene with the poorly  done effects to the  monsters  from another world and then the house which jumps from universe to universe was as achingly painful as watching an elementary school production of  the vagina monologues  .  br    br   throughout the film  the sure sign something was about to happen was when a small ship would appear . the  ship  was comprised suspiciously of what looked like old vcr and camcorder parts and would attack anyone in its path . of course if moved slower than bob barker  s impacted bowels  but it had menacing pencil  thin armatures and the ability to cast a ominous green glow that could stop bullets and equipped with a laser capable of cutting through mere balsa wood in an hour or two  with some assistance  .  br    br   moving on . . . as the weirdness and bell bottoms continue . . . we found out that they  re caught in a  space time warp  . how do we garner this little nugget of scientific information  because the oldest male lead tells his son that  in a more or less off  the  cuff fashion  like reminiscing about  how you won the big game  over a cup of joe or an ice  cold bottle of refreshing coca  cola . was pops a scientist  nope  but he knew about horses and has apparently meddled as an amateur in string theory and einstein  s theories .  br    br   the recording i watched on dvd was almost bootleg quality . the sound was muddy and the transfer looked like it had been shot off a theater screen with the video recorder on a cell phone  other than that  it was really  really  really bad .  there  s not enough  really  s  to describe it  really  .  br    br   i know some out there love this movie and compare it to other cult classics . i never saw this film on its original release  but even back then i think i would  ve come to the same conclusion bury this one quick .  
according to the director this movie was popular in asia . it is somewhat difficult to take these mats helge movies seriously since most of his films are shot on a very tight budget . almost no usd at all . but it is fascinating to establish that mats helge eventually completes something which can be called an action movie . the ninja mission is  i think  the best one among all movies directed by him . some special effects are quite enjoyable . this is not a  b  or  c  movie . it is a  z  movie  but an enjoyable and fun  z  movie   
hi  may be because i am not a theater major or a sophisticated movie watcher . . . i think this movie is  boring  and  dumb  .  br    br   i rented this movie because of charles bronson and it  s title . . . but boy what a waste of time . . . just watching  guys sitting in a vault and talking . . .  br    br   the movie on this dvd was so  dark  . . . i had hard time watching the darn movie . . . i realize it is a     movie . . . but they are putting it on a dvd then they should do some digital remastering .  br    br   also  i was totally surprised to see these high marks on imdb for this movie . . . like i said before i am not as sophisticated as the other folks who commented on this movie earlier .  
this is the magnum opus from the swedish king of crap  mats  helge olsson . seldom has a movie of this magnitude been made in sweden and it truly stands out as one of the most amazing achievements in swedish film to date . who pays for these things   br    br   the russian nuclear scientist markov wants to defect to sweden . but his plans are ruined by the russian military who kidnap him and tell him that he has arrived in sweden . this trickery is their way of seeing to that markov continues his work in nuclear physics that will revolutionize the energy supply for the whole planet . the cia however is bent on getting markov to the west and send their ninja to liberate him .  br    br   the practice of having swedish actors speaking english is something that mats  helge has perfected in his later works . the cheap b  movie feeling this creates is probably unmatched for performance . but besides this  well the action is standard direct  to  video style . machine guns firing huge clouds of smoke . thousands of russians dying . people running around in black ninja suits  trying to hide in the snow .  br    br   what really stands out though is the insanely poor way the fighting scenes are choreographed . when they say  ninja  in the title i expect martial arts  i expect close combat . but there are maybe two or three scenes of actual martial arts in this movie . and they are hilarious . it  s so bad i lack the words to describe it . if the ninjas moved any slower their hearts would stop . and of course the whole movie ends in a bang that indicates a special  effects budget consisting of four food  stamps and a mcdonald  s voucher .  br    br   so what  s the verdict  instant classic of course . never before has a movie been made that is so obviously meant to be consumed along with huge amounts of alcohol . it  s the ultimate party movie . insert into video and laugh . one just has to realize that movies like these are not made any more . this is film history .  br    br   therefore the rating is     for entertainment      for quality and      for accents .  
what a dog of a movie . noni hazelhurst  s performance is quite good  but it sits amidst a jungle of abhorrent scriptwriting  mediocre direction and wooden acting from the bulk of the cast . many of the characters are woefully miscast  particularly the ever overrated colin friels .  br    br   very little works in this pretentious garbage . much of the  character development  is done through a silly  angst  ridden voice over and frequently completely contradicts the behaviour of characters on  screen . in fact  it  s hard to even figure out who the voice overs are talking about because they describe such different characters to who we see on screen  how are we meant to know colin friels  javo  is meant to be an erratic  violent and unreliable junkie  one of these silly voice overs tells us . for crying out loud  the nature of his character is half the point of the movie and the only thing that lets us know is a flippin  voice over  the real killer is the characters . everything about them . their clothes are perfectly maintained and look fresh from the rack  despite the fact we are constantly reminded they are meant to be artsy paupers . they are all absurdly well  spoken for  junkies  . none seem to have any real comprehension of life on the skids or on smack and yet this is meant to be the case with most of them .  br    br   monkey grip deserves no more attention than a weekday tv movie matine . crud like this  perfectly well shot and technically presented  but a clich  driven angsty drama that shoots so wide of being plausible and meanders about for hours without really going anywhere . at least noni gets down to her birthday suit at every given opportunity . there  s no other sane reason to endure this junk .  
marvelous james stewart  vera miles vehicle . what makes this historical film dealing with the fbi so good is the family element that is involved during a   year career as depicted by stewart in the film .  br    br   the film shows a history of the great investigatory agency . it deals with airplane bomb plots  killing off of indians in oklahoma for real estate gain  fighting organized crime  nazis and communists in that order . the human element is never far behind as stewart weds vera miles . they raise  children as miles  heart goes out each time stewart goes out on assignment .  br    br   look for a brief but memorable performance by murray hamilton . years later  he appeared as mr . robinson in      s  the graduate .   br    br   the film has nothing but praise for j . edgar hoover . he certainly brought the fbi up to par .  br    br   true  this could be viewed as right  wing propaganda  especially with stewart  s real  life republican views  but it  s well done  historically informative  and the view of the family so well depicted .  
i really looked forward to seeing nana after seeing renoir amazing debut work  whirlpool of fate . i had read that nana was generally considered his best silent film so i had high hopes . sadly this felt like a huge step backwards .  br    br   catherine hessling is the main problem with this film . her acting is over the top  even for a silent film . her acting is more like what one would expect in a film from the early teens  not the late   s . she usually has the same face  which reminds me  sorry to say  of someone with constipation pains . it was also very difficult to believe that any man would fall for this femme fatale . there was nothing charming about her at all .  br    br   the film was also quite long drawn  the camera work was uninteresting  aside from a shot of a horse race  and the editing was dull . the story reminded me of pabst  s pandora  s box . it is interesting to compare the two because there are only  years between these films . pandora  s box simply scores on every level where nana fails .  br    br   this film is only for renoir completists or very serious silent films buffs .  
the history of the fbi  as told from the point of view of agent stewart via flashbacks  interwoven with his personal life story . stewart and miles  as his wife  are pretty good  as is hamilton as an earnest agent . the problem is that the episodic nature of the story makes it difficult to get involved . it  s like watching bits and pieces of a dozen different movies as we get glimpses of a who  s who cast of gangsters . some of the episodes are too long  some too short  and some just look out of place  stewart  s daughter  s school sequence  . overall  it goes on way too long . nevertheless  it  s worth a look for its handsome production values .  
how many fricken  times do we have to see a spook walking by in the background  peaking through a mirror  s reflection  it  s been done in two dozen movies in recent memory  four dozen times in this choppy  poorly done film . there were only two freaky moments to appreciate . . . . when the ghosts invaded the personal spaces of two characters . speaking of characters  the acting was as flat as the diet coke in the   oz . cup i was drawing it from . the side characters could have been pulled from various scooby doo cartoons . there was the friendly  aged sheriff . there was the kooky weirdo living in the backwoods with the alabama drawl . lots  o  characters with no development . the most disturbing image was that of a murdered child in the beginning . but rather than explore the child  s murder  which would have been interesting  they just let us know that she was dead  her parents had a hard time reconciling her death with the community  each other . when they reach the cabin  the scenes rarely flowed together . . . . with flashing images of the dead daughter interjected here  there . oh . . . and the eerie sounds were also overdone . you know what i mean . . . . creaking doors that open by themselves  crickets in the forest  yada yada yada . ooooohhhh . haven  t seen that before . again  you  ll see the amazing self  opening door in the movie over and over an over again . note to director a scary scene is only scary if it  s not repeated every  minutes in the same film . think these things out before calling out  it  s a wrap    
i found the fbi story considerably entertaining and suitably upbeat for my new years day holiday viewing . its drama and action  packed episodes were thrilling . the hardesty character was well drawn and admirable . overall the photography  script and direction was perfectly creditable . rather than taking the film to be a repugnant piece of propaganda  as some might  i enjoyed it as a well mounted portrayal of the necessity of ingenious minds and brave bodies in the fight against crime . again  the depiction of a family holding together even under the strain of the husband  s commitment to his  arguably  important work  i did not find to be a twee representation but an ideal and exemplary one .  
for all of the hype about this film  i kept an open mind as to what i would ultimately think . and  although a bit slow at times  the first    of the movie is quite good  with more than a few  old time  scares that make one jumpy and unsettled . i actually thought the cinematography was excellent regarding many of these scenes . where dark remains fails  however  is in its climax . the ending of the film and the denouement are what seems to be miles apart from its body . the storyline completely falls on its face with an illogical conclusion and  the answer i was seeking most  what really happened to emma   was not elucidated upon  the rationale for the negative energy was ludicrous at best  and in the end  i felt very cheated . what could have been a superb horror film was ultimately haunted by a terrible ending .  
the film as entertainment is very good and jimmy stewart is excellent as chip hardesty  with well done co  starring turns by vera miles and murray hamilton . but the film  directed by legendary director mervyn leroy  was constantly vetted and script approval as well as every aspect of the film  down to clothing  was closely watched and controlled by j . edgar hoover . not that j . edgar hoover didn  t have something to be proud of . his management of the bureau from     to his death crated on of the finest investigative services in the world . but by     hoover was already beginning to worry about being forced out and had already started to collect dossiers on powerful people to make sure and protect his little kingdom . and he was determined to make sure that no motion picture showed even a single wart about the bureau . the films shows only continued successes and glosses over the failures which occurred  and the bureau  s part in the witch hunts of the early      s . enjoy the story  but with tongue firmly in cheek .  
i think i agree that a lot of the comments here must be fake . even if the movie is not necessarily bad its definitely below average .  dark remains  is basically a ghost movie with a premise of your own ghosts and bad emotions haunting you . the movie starts off already with  stories loosely inter  webbed which even later are not tied together . a couple loses its child which is found slashed in its bed . they move to a country house to flee their past and guess what . . . the house is haunted  kind of . from here on dark remains starts off very slow with some scary moments indeed  the first ghost appearances are nice and the flashlight sequence also worked very good  . ok  then . . . woman sees ghost of daughter  other ghosts of people died in accidents or suicides appear  man tries to solve secret of houses past  woman gets depressed  strange neighbors appear . its pretty much all been there  but the premise of it being their own emotions is nice  so you wait for the twist . there is no twist  you are just confused by a haunted house history story  the strange neighbor  a totally pointless creepy prison and the dead daughter thrown together with a photo  idea reminding me a lot of  the shutter  . the end is ridiculous because when you start and end a movie this slow and with piano music its pretty lame to include some hoards of ghosts at once which look like a zombie flick  of course just to return to slow pacing and piano music .  br    br   to make it short . . . dark remains could have been a nice scary ghost story if the script was not trying to go everywhere and arriving nowhere . too many stories mushed together which just don  t make any sense and contradict in the basic atmosphere of the movie . and beside . . . please never use abandoned prisons again . its so worn off and in this case it even makes no sense at all .  hey  there is this creepy prison uphill  lets shoot there  . i guess a lot of ingredients in dark remains were thrown in the mix like this .  
james stewart plays an fbi agent who began working with the agency before it was called the fbi and the story involves dealing with the ku klux klan  the prohibition era gangsters  world war ii german and japanese spies  etc . a continuously interesting picture covering   years of history far superior to any films being made these days .  br    br   of special interest to older viewers familiar with washington  dc . in a scene about   minutes into the movie    where james stewart finds out from vera miles that she  s expecting their first child    the scene was filmed in herzog  s seafood restaurant on the former washington waterfront  the only movie in which this historic location appears . shortly after taking office  president kennedy decided that southwest washington  a    black neighborhood  was an eyesore and ought to be torn down . by decree befitting his position of undisputed royalty  the entire area  including the popular waterfront restaurant district  but excluding  historic churches was reduced to rubble . black residents evicted from their homes relocated as best they could  and without federal assistance likewise businesses were simply put out of business  few re  locating . restaurant row was converted into a sidewalk  and washington had no waterfront  restaurants  seafood stands  boats  etc  for about   years . as a lifetime resident  the herzog restaurant scene was our   reason to see this fine movie again .  
granted  i  m not the connoisseur d  horror my partner is  but a well put together  clever flick is worth the time . my quibbles  in brief  br    br    dialog often weak and at times unbelievable coming from the given character .  br    br    unconvincing acting .  br    br    storyline never really caught fire .  br    br   the writers plucked choice bits from half a dozen mainstream films  tossed into a kettle  simmered not nearly enough and tried feeding us poor saps the resulting mess  al  dente .  br    br   long and short  while not absolutely terrible  it was definitely not worthy of absorbing one of my netflix rentals .  
this isn  t among jimmy stewart  s best films   i  m quick to admit that . however  while some view his film as pure propaganda  i  m wondering what  s so wrong with that  yes  sure  like the tv show the fbi  this is an obvious case of the bureau doing some pr work to try to drum up support . but  as entertainment goes  it does a good job . plus  surprisingly enough for the time it was made  the film focuses more on crime than espionage and  commies  . instead  it  s a fictionalization of one of the earliest agents and the career he chose . now considering the agent is played by jimmy stewart  then it  s pretty certain the acting and writing were good   as this was a movie with a real budget and a studio who wasn  t about to waste the star in a third  rate flick . so overall  it  s worth seeing but not especially great .  
dark remains is a low budget american horror movie that somehow managed to win  awards .  br    br   the plot seems to involve  separate strands . first  a woman commits suicide by slashing her wrists whilst bathing . second  the young daughter of a technical writer is found with her throat slashed . the grieving couple decide to move to an isolated cabin in the mountains . it later transpires that the cabin and surrounding locations are haunted .  br    br   as the movie goes on  the  separate strands of story eventually converge as one might reasonably expect . however  the execution is haphazard and results in confusion that could perhaps only be resolved by multiple viewings . unfortunately  the movie is simply not enticing enough to attract most viewers into watching it more than once .  br    br   just about everything that could go wrong with this movie goes wrong  and fast  and the low budget cannot be used to justify all of the shortcomings found here .  br    br   i believe it would be wrong to pass judgement on the actors involved in this production as the material was simply too poor .  br    br   the characters are uninteresting as pointed out by other reviewers on this site . the badly written script introduces too many people without giving them interesting dialogue  without creating opportunities for character  driven situations and without adding depth to any of them .  br    br   the direction is uninspired . the inspiration from j  horror movies such as ringu  the grudge and one missed call is evident . unfortunately  the directors of dark remains did not pay close attention to the style of j  horror . j  horror works so effectively because it plays on fear of the unknown . tension is created by constant shifts between a bizarre situation  a ghost on a cctv camera walking towards it for example   and the reaction of a central character who is faced with it without any warning . there is no humour or tongue  in  cheek element in these movies . everything is played so straight and without remorse or limitations that you can  t help but be convinced and captivated by it . the foreboding atmospheres set up the suspense and ensures the horror has psychological impact  very much unlike the  jump scares  used in hollywood movies .  br    br   the directors of dark remains made a brave attempt to avoid hollywood clichs and also successfully avoided using cgi . the homage to j  horror could have been well intended . unfortunately  the lack of inspiration is likely to make the viewer laugh at the supposed  scares  on the screen . the make  up effects of the  ghosts  weren  t too bad given the low budget but their actions just defied logic . i was scratching my head quite a few times during this movie .  br    br   i couldn  t give away the ending even if i wanted to . i simply couldn  t understand it . all i could deduce was that it was something of an anti  climax .  br    br   what remains  the answer as a reviewer on a different website has pointed out is boredom . the movie is a chore to sit through . thankfully  the pain ends after an hour and a half . however  most would probably switch off long before the end .  br    br   there are only  positive things i could find in this movie  the successful avoidance of scare clichs and the absence of the  f  word  in every single sentence like one would normally expect to find . this is what the  stars are for .  br    br   those who like supernatural or psychological horror relating to ghosts and haunting might do well to stick to movies such as the legend of hell house  the changeling or the j  horror sub  genre .  br    br   if you think you have seen too many established movies and want to see an obscure ultra  low budget  r  rated  horror movie about ghosts  watch death of a ghost hunter . it may not be the greatest horror movie ever made but it is surely a lot better than dark remains and does have a few genuine surprises in store .  br    br   i advise everyone to avoid dark remains like the plague .  
i first saw this film as a young boy and recently purchased it on dvd .  br    br   james stewart brings great depth to the role of chip hardesty  a hardworking and dedicated fbi agent . his life in the bureau is intercut with his family life  which is not all rosy . his wife  an excellent portrayal by vera miles  lives in fear of the dangerous nature of his job  and they even separate for a time chip  s best friend and fellow agent sam crandall  murray hamilton  is killed in a gunfight chip  s son  mike  enlists in the marines during world war ii . through it all  the family carries on with bravery and dignity .  br    br   the action sequences are quite exciting and the semi  documentary style of the film works effectively . and the music by max steiner says it all fidelity  bravery and integrity .  br    br   this country owes a great debt of gratitude to the men and women of the fbi and  yes  to j . edgar hoover as well . if mr . hoover  s type of vigilance had been observed  we might have been spared      the surge in crimes against children and many of the venal politicians we  ve had to put up with since his passing .  
if you have ever seen a movie by brian avenet  bradley and compares it to the feedbacks it gets on imdb  you know that most of the comments and votes are faked . trust me you will be bored  people of the production team write their feedback themselves  sometimes they even admit it  . but that  s not enough they also click constantly  no  whenever there is a negative comment on the movie . that  s why negative critics are always placed behind the hyped ones .  br    br   the movie itself is bad  bad  bad bad acting  bad lighting  bad script  bad ending . believe me now  if not  you will believe me later   br    br   brian avenet  bradley might be quite a good business man . otherwise it cannot be explained that he finds people who still finance his movies .  okay  they are cheap  but nevertheless .  but as a creative person  he is a complete failure .  
has anyone noticed that james earl jones is the waiter who is serving when hagarty  s wife reveals that she is pregnant while they are at the restaurant next to the lake . i watched this movie on a video that i had taped off of the television . when i watched this scene i thought i recognized the voice of jones when the  waiter  laughed at the end . i rewound the tape then slowly stepped through that part as the camera pulled back and showed the waiter . listen closely as the waiter laughs when hagarty looks up and tells him that they are going to have a baby  then watch closely or slow down the scene when the camera shows the waiter  albeit  quickly .  
i  m writing this because i somehow felt being led to believe dark remains was a good movie . whilst it  s not the worst i  ve seen  it certainly isn  t good .  br    br   a weak script  weak actors  and weak directing . even if they can  t afford big name cast  would it be too much to ask for a more attractive lead actress  it was painful to watch a plain actress through out the film with her dull performance . the story was a clich and poorly scripted . the special effects were minimal . the  suspense  tricks employed repetitively here were hard to swallow .  br    br   to be fair  dark remains is no worse than quite some of the masters of horrors  episodes . but not quite on par with quality movies yet . dark remains is only recommended for the hardcore horror fans who don  t want to miss any movie in the genre  even if it  s a poorly made one . as for anyone else  time should be spent on something more valuable  which should be extremely easy .  
legend of zu  br    br   i remember well tsui hark  s original zu warriors made   years earlier . over one christmas  on a rare week when channel  in the uk showed a week of hong kong movies  zu warriors was so gripping for a very young viewer and his brother and so memorable  that it  s been etched into the memory of the now grown up sprog . . .  br    br   in fact  i think the original zu warriors is one of the earliest films i saw as a kid that i can clearly recall the story line and action scenes from . and the memories of seeing yuen biao  sammo hung and others in their classic prime .  br    br   so when i saw this remake of zu warriors  there was a feeling of apprehension . could it beat the dreamy childhood memories i had of the original  or will it follow the road of other remakes and die a death more horrible than the baddies and their broken necks you find in those kung fu movies   br    br   well the answer is i can  t say . but that was because this isn  t really a remake . the stories  and styles  are almost completely different .  br    br   the legend of zu tells of the story of king sky  a lone warrior  whose master  dawn  declares her love for him but her life is taken from her by a monster called insomnia . two hundred years later  insomnia returns  dawn is reincarnated as enigma  and insomnia has returned to destroy zu . meanwhile white eyebrows and red try  with the help of king sky  to stop insomnia .  br    br   the plot isn  t one full of twists and turns  but had enough detail in it to keep me interested . but i can see this film as one you either love or you hate . the film is very much about the special effects  with the majority of it involving several computer generated environments  much like the storm riders and a man called hero . but unlike the other two  this film was one which didn  t overdo the graphics and the whole thing was tasteful . nothing appears rushed  unlike hero . the backgrounds were complementary to the acting and not at all overpowering the scenes .  br    br   the story also involves plenty of characters and the intermingling of so many individuals does make the film intriguing . it was possibly on the verge of  too many cooks   but generally each character had its part in the story . but some of the roles appear to be  extended cameos  in my opinion  and i somehow am left to slightly question the necessity of this .  br    br   ekin cheng and louis koo play very central roles in the film  but i couldn  t say this film showed their best performances . cecilia cheung appears to at least have matured in her acting  but it is still quite raw . kelly lin was the new revelation for me . despite her very short role  i have apologise and admit to ogling   br    br   overall  i have to say  did enjoy this film as much as i enjoyed the  original  . given that both movies are made by the legendary tsui hark  the two films together are part of a chronicle showing how film making in hong kong has changed over two decades . and one beauty of that is the fact that you can  t really compare the two films at all  as much as apples are apples and pears are pears .  br    br   ultimately  both are thoroughly enjoyable films in their own right . and i  m going back to reminisce by watching the original again .  br    br   two to watch  but not compare .  
i saw this when it was in the theater  it started out so strong i mean back in     this was a bold movie and the special effects were excellent at the time . now you would have to of been at least   or so in     to really understand this point because studying film historically misses the mind set at the time the expectations  and other related psychological factors . now as i said the movie was engaging suspenseful and very entertaining . it builds to an excellent climax then . . . . it ends i mean the person that described it as having a water balloon break in your hand before throwing it  besides being a very poetic description . in my experience  it was just not strong enough . my wife and i were well . . . how can i say this  we were upset  i mean we paid money  invested the time to watch the movie which was excellent .  we both felt we were robbed with an ending that convinced us both the production company must of run out of money and could not raise enough to finish it correctly . in fact my wife said it best  it did not end  it just stopped   
this is a film that on the surface would seem to be all about j . edgar hoover giving himself a a big pat on the back for fighting klansmen  going after indian killers  hunting the famous gangsters of the      s  fighting nazi  s in the us and south america during world war  and commies in new york during the early      s . of course in     we did not know about mr . hoover  s obsession for keeping secret files on honest americans  bugging people like the rev . martin luther king  jr  but worst of all  his secret love affair with his deputy director  clyde tolson  if you want to know more about that subject  i suggest seeing the film citizen cohn  . hoover aside  this story of a life in the fbi as told by jimmy stewart makes for a decent  but dated film . vera miles as his devoted wife is also good . but jimmy is the movie . as much as hoover controlled production and always made sure the fbi was seen without fault  jimmy stewart gave the film a human side  quite an achievement considering hoover was always looking over his shoulder . the background score is also pleasant . i have read recent online articles suggesting that this is a forgotten film . jimmy stewart was one of the greatest film stars of all time and none of his films should be forgotten . tcm was the last network to show it a long time ago and i hope they show it again .  
okay . look  i  ve seen lots and i do mean lots of these types of films . you know  the ones where the dvd cover just look so good and scaarrryyy that you just cant wait to see it  well  i got got again . and i  m getting  pretty tired of it . but i digress . it  s pretty simple . it sucked  i know  rather juvenile  but it did . andi so agree with the other poster that if we had to sit through the boring thing  why oh why did the lead actress have to be so unnattractive  distractingly so if i may add . and the scowl she used convey unresolved pain  grief over the death of her daughter did little help . i mean  jesus . . oh  but the crawling  on  her  back  demon thingee was pretty neat . . .  
  br    br   have you ever felt like your being watched  like someone keeps tabs on every move you make  well  just remember before you decide to break the law  the fbi will always be there . at least that  s the feeling you get after watching the gripping but slightly mellow crime drama  the fbi story . it traces the roots of the organization from a small bureau to one of the most modern facilities in the world  in       by telling the story through they eyes of one of its agents  chip hardesty  james stewart  .  br    br   chip was with the fbi from day one  and he gladly puts his job above everything else in the world  even occasionally his family . the fbi story tracks his life by depicting what he does as an agent  and how being one affects his personal life . the film does a spectacular job of showing what kind of cases the fbi handles and how they handle them . the audience gets to see chip stop ku klux klan riots  go undercover to solve an indian murder  estate scandal  bring fugitives into custody  rescue hostages  and helped fight in wwii . he even helped bring communist spies to justice .  br    br   stewart  in a vaguely complex performance  is stellar  as always  as the slightly neurotic agent who loves his job maybe a little too much . one of the best parts about this film is that we get to see the inside workings of both chip  s family life and his job . we witness him suffer through the death of his best friend and then his son . we also observe his wife having a miscarriage  and his marriage having rocky times . almost all of his personal problems are caused by love of his job . vera miles gives a spotty performance  but it  s very convincing  none the less . she was never a brilliant actress  but there was always something very attractive and alluring about her . well maybe that  s just me  sadly  none of the other performances are worth mentioning  but the attention  grabbing story managed to keep me exceedingly interested .  br    br   the cinematography of this film was impressive  especially the scenes in the south american jungles . the colors all had a texture that really set the atmosphere of the film . perhaps the greatest part of this movie was mervyn leroy  s fabulous direction . every scene was so fluid they just rolled together to tell a brilliant story . it  s chock full of ingenious camera shots  some with a very hitchcockian feel .  br    br   all in all  the fbi story is a spectacular  but overlooked film . clocking in at two and a half hours some viewers might be intimidated  but if you get the chance i recommend jumping into this one . i enjoyed jimmy stewart  s spectacular performance  and the captivating story .  
give me my money back  give me my life back  give me a bit of credit . this movie was vomit worthy . useless and time consuming . what a waste of energy and totally pointless . okay i understand the premise and the idea sound but  give us a break  next time just give me the money and let me spend it . lost child  mothers remorse  blamed husband  clich yes  get a life  sorry but this movie was a total waste of my time  my money and my being . i would rather watch eggs cook  no real explanation to why this happened . prison  why  loss  obvious but why  acting deserves a what am i doing here oscar and the cinematography a am i just doing this for a wage  how much did this movie make  well this silly fool hired a copy . enough said  
in the tradition of g  men  the house on   nd street  the street with no name  now comes the fbi story one of those carefully supervised films that showed the federal bureau of investigation in the best possible light . while it  s   year director j . edgar hoover was alive  it would be showed in no other kind of light .  br    br   the book by don whitehead that this film is based on is a straight forward history of the bureau from it  s founding in     until roughly the time the film the fbi story came out . it  s important sometimes to remember there was an fbi before j . edgar hoover headed it . some of that time is covered in the film as well .  br    br   but warner brothers was not making a documentary so to give the fbi flesh and blood the fictional character of john  chip  hardesty was created . hardesty as played by james stewart is a career fbi man who graduated law school and rather than go in practice took a job with the bureau in the early twenties .  br    br   in real life the bureau was headed by william j . burns of the burns private detective agency . it was in fact a grossly political operation then as is showed in the film . burns was on the periphery of the scandals of the harding administration . when hoover was appointed in     to bring professional law enforcement techniques and rigorous standards of competence in  he did just that .  br    br   through the hardesty family which is stewart and wife vera miles we see the history of the fbi unfold . in addition we see a lot of their personal family history which is completely integrated into the fbi  s story itself . stewart and miles are most assuredly an all american couple . we follow the fbi through some of the cases stewart is involved with  arresting ku klux klan members  a plot to murder oil rich indians  bringing down the notorious criminals of the thirties  their involvement with apprehending nazi sympathizers in world war ii and against communist espionage in the cold war .  br    br   there is a kind of prologue portion where stewart tells a class at the fbi academy before going into the history of the bureau as it intertwines with his own . that involves a bomb placed on an airline by a son who purchased a lot of life insurance on his mother before the flight . nick adams will give you the creeps as the perpetrator and the story is sadly relevant today .  br    br   of course if the fbi story were written and produced today it would reflect something different and not so all american . still the fbi does have a story to tell and it is by no means a negative one .  br    br   the fbi story is not one of jimmy stewart  s best films  but it  s the first one i ever saw with my favorite actor in it so it has a special fondness for me . if the whole fbi were made up jimmy stewarts  i  d feel a lot better about it . there  s also a good performance by murray hamilton as his friend and fellow agent who is killed in a shootout with baby face nelson .  br    br   vera miles didn  t just marry stewart  she in fact married the fbi as the film demonstrates . it  s dated mostly  but still has a good and interesting story to tell .  
grieving couple move to a cabin on a mountain after the loss of their daughter  discovering that there may be ghosts haunting the place  restless spirits of past occupants who committed suicide . julie pyke  cheri christian  blames husband allen  greg thompson  for the horrible death of their daughter due to leaving the door unlocked and the marriage has deteriorated because of it . julie remains in a zombie state  eliciting next to no emotion  remote and numb  only photographing a nearby abandoned prison  finding a startling image of a ghoul girl clinging to the bars of a cell . though allen doesn  t see anything out of the ordinary  julie continues to take pictures and we can recognize that something isn  t quite right . a local handyman  jim payne  scott hodges   a rather distant fellow who harbors a secret becomes a dangerous threat when it is revealed that his dead mother might have something to do with the haunts occurring to the pykes . meanwhile the neighbors who sold the pykes the cabin find themselves victims as well  alcoholic mr booth  s abuse to his wife coming back to haunt him . allen will conduct an investigation into the history of his cabin  attempting to unravel the mystery about the place .  br    br   plenty of ghosts moving about in the background in this somber supernatural tale with practically every character miserable . cheri christian remains so vacuous and lost  it  s incredibly hard to connect with her despite the fact that you understand her plight . the acting  as is often mentioned  remains frustrating because none of the characters exactly are easy to latch on to . i guess it  s supposed to be this way  under their circumstances  but the trouble i had was never being able to properly embrace the pykes due to their constant state of aloofness . cheri comes off as cold and detached  as i figure a mother would tend to be when you lose a child in such a way  but the icy nature left me pleading inside to embrace her which i just never could . i think the right performers  even if the characters are going through an emotional turmoil  can grab the hearts of their viewers  if a humanity reaches out to us . . in this movie  s case  the leads are unable to do so  for whatever reason . it could  ve been me  i don  t know . i wanted to care for them  but nothing in the characters tugged on my heart strings . anyway  as the film continues  allen slowly uncovers certain truths and must defend himself against his wife who has convinced herself that their daughter is among them and she won  t lose her little girl again . jim  the unstable neighbor who believes that to stop the hauntings plaguing the area he must kill the pykes  becomes a vital threat . the ghosts remain a central part of the movie  their presence  particularly jim  s mother  established throughout  off in the distance . the finale reveals all of them as allen must find help for his wife while trying to thwart jim  s mission . i had a hard time getting into this one due to my unease with the leads and their characters .  
this is an entertaining  history  of the fbi  but it should be viewed as fiction  because that  s exactly what it is . what else could it be when j . edgar hoover personally approved and had a cameo role in the production . james stewart is excellent  as usual  and the supporting cast  except for the talentless vera miles  is good . murray hamilton is especially good in a supporting role as stewart  s partner and best friend . the fbi accomplishments that the film highlights are undoubtedly all true . what is significant is what it leaves out .  br    br   one of the most shameful parts of the film is the depiction of the killing of john dillinger . it is portrayed pretty much as it happened  but no mention at all is made of melvin purvis  the chicago bureau chief who headed the operation . instead  the operation is depicted as if the fictional chip hardesty were running it . it has been said that hoover was jealous of the publicity that purvis received after dillinger was killed purvis was subsequently transferred to a remote outpost  and shortly afterward left the fbi . this is no doubt why purvis was never mentioned in the film . but this viewer  at least  paused to think that if purvis was treated this way  what about all the agents who conducted all the other operations depicted in the film . were they also completely ignored and replaced by the fictional hardesty .  br    br   the film is probably accurate in its portrayal of fbi activity up through the end of wwii . however  after that point  the film would have us believe that the only threat facing the us came from international communism  which is no doubt what hoover believed . never mind the mafia . never mind the lynchings that were still going on in the south . never mind that blacks were being intimidated to keep them from voting in much of the south . i don  t know if the fbi had started wiretapping martin luther king by the time this film was made  but if not  it wasn  t very long afterward that it started .  br    br   as i said at the outset  this is pretty good entertainment  but it should be viewed as the sanitized fictionalization that it is .  
acting was weak  but in a horror flick  i can live with that if the story is good . it wasn  t . the initial event was an clumsy and obvious ploy to exploit most people  s adoration of kids . ok  fine . fast forward to the  place in the country  where they will recover emotionally . i like the revelation of the ghosts . ok  cool   this will be a supernatural kinda horror story  with rotting things partly in our world partly in . . . where ever . then the action starts pulling like a three headed dog in a flurry of cats and birds   is there an evil force trying to attack them directly  is there an evil force trying to attack them indirectly   make people do awful things they wouldn  t really do  oh  wait  no  maybe the whole region is some kind of psychic echo chamber where ambient discord can reverberate into murder  ok  hold on   maybe it  s really just one little mentally tangled  delbert   style redneck boy who misses his mommy and is on some kind of spree like a k  tel norman bates knock off  oh  yeah   extra points off the only black character seems to be the grandson of an  our gang  pullman porter . the actor plays it as straight as he can given the crummy dialogue  but the fact is  his purpose is  y  all done betta get outa heah  boss   at least they wrote him smart enough to gtf outta there . the bit with the little girl being silenced and pulled away was definitely creepy  as was the chick in the shower . those were just two of quite a few really delicious tidbits in this movie . the problem is that they are combined in disharmonious ways  like a bite of steak  a bite of chocolate and a bite of a gummi bear . each is great on it  s own  but mixed up  bleah  such potential . wasted .  
the drug years actually suffers from one of those aspects to mini  series or other kinds of tv documentaries run over and over again for a couple of weeks on tv . it  s actually not long enough  in a way . all of the major bases in the decades are covered  and they  re all interesting to note as views into post  modern history and from different sides . but it almost doesn  t cover enough  or at least what is covered at times is given a once over when it could deserve more time . for example  the information and detail in part three about the whole process and business unto itself of shipping mass amounts of drugs  partly the marijuana  later cocaine  is really well presented  but there are more details that are kept at behest of how much time there is to cover .  br    br   overall though the documentary does shed enough light on how drugs  pop  culture  government intervention  the upper classes and lower classes and into suburbia  all felt the wave of various drugs over the years  and the interplay between all was very evident . nobody in the film  except for the possibility of small hints with the pot   goes to endorse drugs outright  but what is shown are those in archival clips about the honesty of what is at times fun  and then tragic  about taking certain drugs . the appearances of various staunch  ridiculously anti  drug officials does hammer some points down hard  with even in such an overview of the drug cultures and america  s connection as a whole  as there is really only one major point that is made a couple of times by one of the interviewees . the only way to really approach the issue of drugs is not  just say no   because as the war on drugs has shown it is not as effective as thought . it is really just to come clean on all sides about all the drugs and the people who may be hypocritical about them  as  for example  oxycontin continues on in the marketplace  .  br    br   is it with the great interest and depth of a ken burns documentary  no  but for some summertime tv viewing for the young  i . e . my age  who will view a lot of this as almost ancient history despite most of it being no more than a generation ago  as well as for the  old  who can reflect some decades later about the great peaks  careless times  and then the disillusionment prodded more by the same media that years earlier propagated and advertised it . there are those who might find the documentary to be particularly biased  which is not totally untrue  but it does attempt to get enough different takes on the social  political  and entertainment conditions of drugs interweaving  for better or obvious worse  for enough of a fascinating view .  
i do agree with everything calamine has said  and i don  t always agree with people  but what calamine has said is very true  it is time for the girls to move on to better roles . i would like to see them succeed very much as they were a very inspirational pair growing up and i would like to see them grow as people  actresses and in their career as well as their personal life . so producers  please give the girls a chance to develop something that goes off the tangent a bit  move them into a new direction that recognises them individually and their talents in many facets . this movie that is being commented is not too bad  but as i have seen further on in their movies  their movies stay the same of typical plot and typography . when in rome is good for audiences of younger generation but the adults who were kids when the twins were babies want to follow the twins in their successes and so hence i think we adults would like to see them make movies of different kinds  maybe some that are like the sixth sense  the hour  chocolat  that sort of movie  not saying to have just serious movies for them  humour ones too yes  but rather see them in different roles to what they have been playing in their more recent movies like this one and new york minute .  note i am from australia so excuse my weird spelling like reognise with the s instead of z   
if you lived through the   s  this film can be at times painful and other times quite joyous . it  s all there but the small print in the counter culture tabloids prevalent at the time . these are the roots of a social revolution that is still playing out  don  t speak too soon for the wheel  s still in spin  for the times they are a  changin   . while the film focuses on the revolutionary nature of lsd and it  s dissemination at the time  that alone played a tremendous hand in the evolution of the intelligentsia  influencing engineers  scientists and aiding in the hyper  development of computer related activities . a salute to the filmmakers from one who was there  you  ve captured the era better than i  ve seen before .  
  st watched            out of    dir  steve purcell   typical mary kate  ashley fare with a few more kisses . it looks to me like the girls are getting pretty tired of this stuff and it will be interesting what happens to them if they ever decide to split up and go there own ways . in this episode of their adventures they are interns in rome for a fashion  designer who puts them right into the mailroom to learn what working hard is all about  i guess . .  . besides the typical flirtations with boys there is nothing much else except the rome scenario until about  way into the movie when it  s finally revealed why they are getting fired  then re  hired  then fired again  then re  hired again . this is definetly made by people who don  t understand the corporate world and it shows in their interpretation of it . maybe the real world will be their next adventure  if there is one .  . even my kids didn  t seem to care for this boring adventure  in the make  believe . let  s see they probably only have a couple of years till their legal adults . we  ll see what happens then .  
i just saw the drugs years on vh  and i love it . i think it reflects the drug history very well and most importantly it has a strong message to the all generations . there is woodstock  there are joplin  s  hendrix  s and jim morrison  s deaths  there are many many examples of drug use and drug abuse . it completely cover the time line and evolution of drug use in america in both good and bad ways . in my opinion this documentary is well done and i would like to congratulate to its creators because this is exactly what is needed to be playing in the tv in these days . i am waiting for the dvd release . you should definitely see it    this movie is stunning   big time   
the plot was dull  the girls were sickening and the supposed italian male lead had clearly never heard an italian accent . someone said the boys were cute in this film but it just seemed to be filled with mediocre people . there were literally no redeeming features about this film .  br    br   i think this is a graveyard for actors that will never work again  with the unfortunate exception of the olsen twins who seem to fascinate people for no discernible reason .  br    br   i hope the olsen twins find something out of the limelight to keep them away from the entertainment business . they have no place in it .  
i personally watched this to see the footage of the    s and    s . it was fascinating to learn how the drug movement essentially started and became pop culture and an eventual uncompromising force in life . the interviews of the classic rock stars are titillating and humorous . you feel like you  re in on a secret and nodding your head at the same time . . . because it feels so good and familiar . i loved it  all segments from    s  present day . i highly recommend this for all aspects  including rock music  the hipper movement  politics and good  ol history . i check marked the box saying this contains a spoiler  only because i have no idea what some might consider a spoiler or not in this regards  since i discussed what  s in all  segments  so just wanted to be safe .  
identical twin sisters mary  kate and ashley olsen climbed to fame in sitcoms like  two of a kind   i had never seen them in anything before  but i had an idea of what to expect  but it was much worse . basically the hunter sisters charli  mary  kate  and leila  ashley  are in rome for a summer intern program  but not long after starting their jobs they are immediately fired for a series of mishaps . but the man who owns the company they are working in  derek hammond  julian stone   gives them their jobs back  and they they do slowly prove themselves useful assets  and talented  fashion  artists  and help stop a mean man taking over the company . also starring leslie danon as jami  derek lee nixon as ryan  ilenia lazzarin as dari  archie kao as nobu  valentina mattolini as heidi  michelangelo tommaso as paolo and matt patresi as enrico tortoni . you can tell that this film was made to go straight to video  the camera  work is completely mismatched  and it doesn  t help when you want to admire the sights of rome . in fact the background is the only good thing to watch  the twin sisters are two of the most annoying celebrities around  i knew before watching that they weren  t going to interest me in any way  their not even that pretty   this is awful gush of rubbish film . pretty poor   
i have had the pleasure of reading martin torgoff  s book  can  t find my way home  which is chock full of info on the drug culture of america  spanning the years          . this guy knows his stuff   i found him to be an excellent spokesperson for this documentary . i particularly enjoyed watching the film clips from the hippie era  and the    s stoner culture . the soundtrack was excellent . whoever compiled it definitely was in touch with the tunes of each era . hopefully they will package them and sell them as a cd set . i would highly recommend this to anyone interested in how the      s experiments with lsd forever changed american culture as we know it . one thing that was missing was any mention of george jung  played by johnny depp in the movie  blow    who was supposedly responsible for much of the marijuana and cocaine coming into this country in the    s     s .  
when in rome is a definite improvement on getting there . getting there i found too predictable  contrived and slow  and to this day i still consider it as the olsen twins  worst . however  while when in rome isn  t a terrible movie  it  s not a great one either . if i had to sum it up in one word  i would say passable . it is good fun for teenagers  but i think adults won  t find much to go on .  br    br   when in rome does have its good points . mary kate and ashley olsen are actually quite decent actresses  certainly very pretty as well . i will admit when i was   or so  i really liked them  and in general i kind of like them still . and i have enjoyed some of their movies like passport to paris and new york minute . back on target  both girls don  t do that bad a job  in fact they are very appealing . plus their outfits are to die for  and the scenery of rome is absolutely breathtaking . the soundtrack ain  t half bad either .  br    br   however  where the film is brought down is in the plot and the script . the script is on the most part clichd and has hints of deja vu . the plot  like most of the mary kate and ashley movies  is very predictable  and anyone familiar with any other of the olsen twins  work  will find some rather unoriginal elements to it . most of the characters are cardboard thin  and you don  t learn very much about them  and sometimes the pace is uneven . sadly  the breathtaking scenery is spoilt by rather slapdash camera work  that looked rushed constantly .  br    br   all in all  does have its good points  and certainly watchable . however  for my taste  it is harmless and predictable teenage fluff .     bethany cox  
i would just like all of the fans of this documentary to know that martin torgoff is my uncle and i am so darn proud of him . this mini  series that in shown on vh  is a great look at the culture of drugs in the past   years and my uncle worked very hard on it . the amount of time and effort that i have watched him put into this documentary and the book that started it all  can  t find my way home  makes it that much better to watch him on tv . i know that he loves what he does and he does it well . his eloquence is shown in the interviews  which he did himself  and the amazing additions that he himself adds to the commentary . from the music to the videos and everything in between  this is a great documentary that really shows the experience of the drug culture through the eyes of someone who lived through it . i appreciate any comments on this from those who enjoyed it  or didn  t  and would love to hear from fans  three cheers for uncle martin     
ok  this has got  be one of the worst excuses  a movie that i have ever had the misfortune of watching . like all other olsen twins movies with the possible exception of new york minute  this film had no story  gaping plot holes  disgustingly putrid acting and bad filming even          in case you haven  t guessed yet i hate mary kate and ashley       the only reason i watched this was because i was really bored and nothing else was on . i wonder if the twins will ever stop making the same stereotypical movies where they have an unbelievably stupid adventure in an exotic location and save the day meanwhile getting the help of two cute guys who drool over them immediately . the least they could would be to have a guy   of them or have them both falling  the same guy . the plot in this story was so imbecilic and just plain dumb . even a toddler could see the flaws in it . maybe they should split up and start making films individually or maybe films with a different kind of story . anyone who liked this movie was no offense  either really stupid  really artificial or has not seen any really good movie . or maybe they are really smart and just have bad cinematic choices . either way i would not recommend this movie to my worst nemesis for a good movie experience . . the only thing it is good  is some rib splitting laughter at the pathetic attempts to be cool . if you watch for laughs it  s hilarious . basically i give it  or less .  
i have to admit that tsui hark is one of a kind  you can  t top a person with a strong style of movie presence . a chinese fantasy picture may not be easy to present to an audience  the director attempted to bring back the classic fantasy tales of zu mountain and this is what he displayed .  br    br   the new legend of zu has truly improved from the one in     . from this new millenium update  we could see tsui hark  s vision of the zu mountains . spectacular visual designs  amazing action  fantasy epic made beautifully well . kept me glued through the entire picture . great cast with just fine acting . it  s truly a fun movie to watch  but is it too weird   br    br   now the down side is people will definitely get confused with it  s broad story line shortened down into a   minute movie . plot may not have much relation among characters  but by rewatching the movie  you  ll have a better sense of understanding the characters itself . some can complain there isn  t too much physical combat  besides with characters that have supernatural powers to defeat foes  spirits fighting by hand  to  hand wouldn  t really make sense at all .  br    br   i appreciated this nice stylish picture . it may have a thin story  but hey look at tsui hark  s  time  tide   we got confused by the plot as well  but it was truly something stylish and awesome . tsui hark always attracts something different into h . k . cinema . american audiences  may have some difficulty to understand while watching this movie  cause this ain  t no crouching tiger  hidden dragon  this is a whole new genre . although it may not be a masterpiece  but it  s special effects is truly better than storm riders . this is really worth checking out .  
okay  now what the hell is this supposed to be  is it a family fantasy movie to cash in further on the huge success of spielberg  s  close encounters of the third kind   or a throwback to the glorious days of prehistoric epics such as  when dinosaurs ruled the earth  and  the lost world   perhaps it  s an intellectual  philosophical masterpiece we all fail to comprehend  yes  that must be it  whatever it is  the creators of  the day time ended   good old john  bud  cardos of  kingdom of the spiders  and writer david schmoeller of  tourist trap   must have been sniffing quite a lot glue when they penned down the ideas for this demented hodgepodge of genres . the story doesn  t make the slightest bit of sense and the narrative structure is incoherent as hell but  hey  who cares as long as it  s got papier  mch dinosaurs  miniature spacecrafts  headache  inducing light  laser shows and spontaneously combusting supernovas  the voice  over introduction is practically inaudible  but no worries as it  s all gibberish  did you know that the definition of  time  isn  t what we all think it is  time doesn  t necessarily pass by chronologically  it is one giant paradox  words that were spoken thousands of years ago are still floating around now and even things that will happen in the future are already surrounding us . i have absolutely no idea what all this means  but apparently it provides an easy excuse to gather tap  dancing midget aliens and well  mannered dinosaurs on screen together . i deliberately say well  mannered dinosaurs  because at a certain point one of the prehistoric monsters politely knocks on the front door before menacing his targets . the crazy plot revolves on a family of weirdos living in their solar  powered house in the middle of nowhere . grandpa is extremely annoying  the granddaughter even more  granny is a walking  talking advertisement billboard for plastic surgery  the youngest son strangely resembles prince valiant and the young mother is  incredibly hot  chris mitchum for some reason also pointless wanders around the filming sets as the hot mommy  s husband on business travel . the special effects are purely cheesy and absolutely laughable  i sincerely hope that the other reviewer who talked about  excellent special effects  was being sarcastic   but the absolute most genius aspect here are the dialogs  just read this wondrous example of extraordinary writing  br    br   grandpa  you know what this is  don  t you  this is a time  space warp   br    br   stevie  i  m not quite sure if i know what that means  dad   br    br   grandpa  well  i guess nobody really does   br    br   make up your mind  gramps  do you know what it is or don  t you  and stop talking about  the vortex  like you  re some kind of expert in the field   the day time ended  is an incredibly childish and not  worth  bothering  for fantasy movie  though i can totally understand that some of its fans cherish the film because they saw it at young age and became fascinated with the flamboyant effects . the ending completely comes out of nowhere  like they suddenly ran out of money or like the effects of the mushrooms they were eating wore out unexpectedly .  
i  ve been watching this every night on vh  this past week . this is a terrific revealing portrait about the drugs epidemic and how drugs were displayed in the media during the late    s and on through the    s . woodstock  easy rider  the beatles  the death of morrison  hendrix  joplin are all here . vh  has fashioned a complete intricate portrayal of the life and times during the  drug years  . from the sanfrancisco bay area to studio   this documentary shows the evolution and advancement of the drug business and the death and new life it breathed into the american culture . from marijuana to lsd to cocaine this documentary shows the ways drugs were getting into the country  the hippie movement  the conservative resistance  and how drugs effected the arts  music  movies etc .  featuring tons of fascinating interviews and news reel footage .  br    br   drug films the trip easy rider up in smoke reefer madness blow boogie nights  
no  i  m not kidding . if they ever propose a movie idea  they should be kicked out of the studio . i  m serious . their movies are exactly the same in every one  and they only consist of traveling to foreign locations  having a problem which they easily resolve  hoping to be popular  and getting new boyfriends . think about it . if you have ever seen a movie starring them with a different plot  contact me and tell me its name . these  movies  are poor excuses to be on tv and go to other countries . there is a reason that the movies never go to theaters . i  m sure that when they were really young and made some o . k . movies  some studio boss bought all their rights for   years  or something  so that now that they  re  what     they can make movies in other countries whenever they want using the studio  s money . let me advise you  stay away from mary  kate and ashley  it  s for your own good   
this is my fourth joe mcdoakes short that i  ve seen and so far the funniest one . in this one  joe takes voice lessons from a record impersonating charles boyer and ronald colman . when he goes to warner bros . studio  the company behind this series  incidentally   he asks jack carson for directions which gets both confused . then he encounters actor george o  hanlon  who  s also mcdoakes  who speaks in his more normal voice that  s not too far from his later geroge jetson and gets to the set where he automatically upsets the director . i  ll stop there and just say how funny i found the whole thing and was fascinated by the movie star cameos provided near the end . the final scene was especially a hoot so on that note  go to youtube if you want to watch so you want to be in picutres   
this movie really has no beginning or end . and it  s really very unbelievable . mary  k and ashley are supposed to be interns working in a mailing room for an italian fashion company . but  for some reason  they  re put up in a   star hotel  conveniently located across the street from the coliseum   and all of the other interns they work with are just as abnormally model  looking as they are . one thing that i found obvious in this movie is the way that one of the twins doesn  t end up with the guy . i guess they tried to twist their usual plot a bit . nice try .  
this particular joe mcdoakes short subject was obviously inspired by the all star warner brothers spectacular thank your lucky stars  one of those all star wartime morale boosters of the period . in that one eddie cantor played both himself and a would be comedian who  d like to break into films except for his resemblance to cantor .  br    br   george o  hanlon who starred in the mcdoakes shorts is both himself and mcdoakes who  s just trying to get a break in film . like thank your lucky stars a few warner brothers contract players with a free moment strolled through this film .  br    br   o  hanlon  s been sent by central casting for a small one line role in a world war i film  but lookalike mcdoakes gets the message . the poor guy is so nervous about his big moment  he starts thinking of ways to deliver his one line . maybe sounding like a real movie star would help .  br    br     takes later to the exasperation of director ralph sanford and the patient clyde cook who plays a british cockney soldier they do find a niche in the film business for poor mcdoakes . it  s worth seeing this very funny short subject which was nominated for an oscar to find out what happens to o  hanlon  mcdoakes .  br    br   both of them .  
for the love of god please don  t see this movie  its a waste of time  the plot is predictable  as are the romantic scenes . trying to build too much with very little  this film and its evil predictable villain is just lame . the characters aren  t developed  and most of the film is padded out with shots of rome  which is much more interesting than the actual film . to top all of that  the acting is a disgrace . i know everyone tries to find their niche  but this is truly a disaster . i can  t believe that someone actually paid however many millions of pounds to put this film on screen . don  t waste money or time on this film  go see your grandma or something worthwhile instead .  
fully deserving its prestigious hollywood award nomination  this is an entertaining little gem with lots of pizazz and some delightful surprises . outstandingly funny scenes include an hilarious shoot  and re  shoot  of a ww  trench scene with australian comedian clyde cook as an optimistic non  com and the hapless mcdoakes as a boyer  colman messenger  all under the beady eye of ralph sanford  s delightfully irascible anguish a lost mcdoakes guided and re  guided by equally perplexed jack carson assistant director chandler rejoicing in a mcdoakes  sent opportunity  i  m going to be a director    br    br   ace comic o  hanlon has a dual role  playing both mcdoakes and himself playing mcdoakes  oddly  richard l . bare who does play himself in one or more other entries in the series  has turned down that opportunity here . in real life  bare  s a youngish  six  foot rock hudson lookalike  but here he  s impersonated by veteran actor  over    movies    jack mower .  
irene dunne finished her illustrious career with this so  so movie . she should have gone out with a bang  being the classy actress she was  not in this unmemorable  almost unknown film .  br    br   this lightweight comedy is okay  but nothing special . the first half of it is far better as it gets pretty stupid in the second half . maybe irene could see the handwriting on the wall and quit . even her high  pitched voice got a bit annoying in here . rumor has it she was not happy with this film . one can see why .  br    br   the story reminded me of a     s television sitcom . speaking of that  i thought david nelson from the ozzie  harriet tv show was in this movie but it turned out to be a very young richard crenna . he looked and sounded just like nelson .  br    br   overall  so  so at best and a sub  par ending for a great actress .  
as part of the celebration of the release of casino royale  this film with the new bond starring in it was shown  from director roger michell  notting hill  . i almost turned it off for being a bit boring  but i  m glad i stuck with it . basically may  anne reid  is a single mother of helen  anna wilson  jones  who hardly sees anyone and has not had a boyfriend in years . her daughter says that she might want to get married to her new boyfriend  darren  daniel craig  of course  . after knowing each other only a few days  may and darren have a secret affair . and at her age  with a    something  and the new bond   anyway  they obviously want to keep it a secret  but may has regrets and wonders if helen will find out . when she does  darren gets less hassle than may . in fact  helen asks her permission to hit her . also starring peter vaughan as toots  danira govich as au pair  harry michell as harry  rosie michell as rosie and johnny english  s oliver ford davies as bruce . very good   
i saw this movie a few years back on the bbc i sat thru it . how  i don  t know  this is way up there in the  so bad it  good  charts kidman  baldwin  and pullman must cringe when they see it now . i think woody allen would have worked wonders with the outlandish plot  and baldwin  s part could have been played with gusto by leslie nelson . it was on again tonight i tried to watch it again but life  s too short . the few minutes i watched was for the lovely nicole she was so hot around    has baldwin ever made a good movie  pullman played his stock in trade  nice but dim  character the f  word coming out of his mouth when the lady from  frasier  miscast ed as a detective accuses him of murder sounds so wrong . stay well away .  
watched this as a late tv movie last night purely by chance . the blurb for the film said something to the effect of mother stays with daughter and goes on romantic journey  as i tuned in there  s the carpenter hard at work on a new conservatory  played by daniel craig no less  so the plot was immediately apparent .  br    br   it turns out that eponymous mother  s carpenter love interest is also the daughter  s boyfriend  so there  s trouble brewing and not too many surprises . but i  d been caught by anne reid  s compelling performance and i was hooked . the direction allows her plenty of space for staring into mirrors and adjusting scarves  when she exudes sadness .  br    br   the sex scenes were fascinating and taboo  breaking . shouldn  t older women  s bodies remain covered up  not here and we  re treated to a delicious reawakening in the mother  s sexuality . even more startling are the drawings she  s made that  spoiler   once discovered confirm her daughter  s suspicion that something  s going on here .  br    br   cathryn bradshaw as the daughter didn  t convince me quite as much as the rest of the cast  but that could be me . with her waves of pre  raph locks i kept expecting to see julia sawahla  whose more intense face would have suited the confrontations better to my mind . bradshaw has a rounder happier face that didn  t carry the anger that emerges as the film progresses .  br    br   the ending is weak . if the goodbyes for mother as she leaves in disgrace are so indifferent then perhaps we could see some close  ups of those waving goodbye and see something of their individual reasons . whatever she  s done  she  s a recently bereaved widow leaving for the lonely home she shared with her husband for   years  and i found the lack of sympathy jarring . for a film so full of emotion  and be warned it  s like opening champagne  you  ll never get the lid back on  the ending is a cold contradiction .  
flat  ordinary thriller about a conniving woman who deceives all those she supposedly loves in order to boost her bank account . nicole kidman plays the deceptive tracey  married to the doting andy  bill pullman  . when an old school friend of andy  s named jed hill  alec baldwin  turns up as the resident surgeon  trouble is not far behind him .  br    br   script fails in that it does not carefully develop the promising premise into an effective  tantalising thriller  and the severe lack of character motivation  background and development leaves the whole show reaching . none of the cast are able to generate interest in their shallow characters  especially bill pullman  whose own inexplicably curious andy is impossible to believe .  br    br   poor director harold becker is left trying to resurrect an impossibly dead project  and is unable to make entertainment from any of it . by the time the  secret  of the plot is revealed  you just won  t care .  br    br   at least the cinematography has massachusetts looking good . also stars george c . scott  peter gallagher and josef sommer .  br    br   sunday  february         t . v .  
i am a college student studying a  levels and need help and comments from anyone who has any views at all about the theme of mothers in film  in the mother . whether you have gone through something similar or just want to comment and help me research more about this film  any comment would much greatly appreciated . the comments will be used solely for exam purposes and will be included in my written exam . so if you have any views at all  im sure i can put them to use and you could help me get an a  i am also studying  about a boy  and  tadpole  so if you have seen these films as well  i would appreciate it if you could leave comments on here on that page . thank you .  
when i refer to malice as a film noir i am not likening it to such masterpieces as sunset boulevard  double indemnity or the maltese falcon  nor am i comparing director becker to alfred hitchcock  stanley kubrick  stanley kramer or luis bunuel . i am merely registering a protest against the darkness that pervades this movie from start to finish  to the extent that most of the time you simply cannot make out what is going on . i can understand darkness in night scenes but this movie was dark even in broad daylight  for what reason i am at loss to understand . as it is  however  it wouldn  t have made much difference if director becker had filmed it in total darkness .  
the mother is one of those films that you know is good  maybe even great  but it is like eating vegetables or doing math homework is to a kid  too much work and a whole lot of pain to get invested in .  br    br   the story is potentially distasteful in many ways the death of a character within the first half hour  the december  may romance  the idea of a man cheating on his wife and then cheating on his lover with her mother  the collection of weak and rather unpleasant thirty  something characters  the apparent indifference of the adults to the children in their lives . this movie was made in the     or      but is a throw back to a collection of british  usually made  for  tv  movies from the late      s  it has a moral severity that never lets up  which produces an enveloping throbbing angst .  br    br   the mother is flawless  but that is in part the problem if a film dealing with so many sensitive issues has some flaws  inconsistencies of script  some lesser actors  it takes the edge off  but if such a film is so pitch perfect  the experience of watching it is raw and painful . even the technical qualities  lighting  editing  etc .  make the viewer ache the london in this movie is bright and open  filled with harsh  cutting light .  br    br   if you are tough as nails  or are one of those super  sensitive people who likes to torture themselves with gut  wrenching sad movies or novels  then you will enjoy the mother . anyone in between  give it a miss  or be prepared to squirm . and be warned as tough as the movie is from beginning to near  end  the worst is to come .  br    br   toward the end of the movie  the mother asks her daughter what she can do to make up for it  for having slept with her boyfriend   and the daughter calmly says that she has thought about it and would like to hit her . the mother agrees to this  they both stand up  and  instead of a well primed slap  the daughter clenches her fist and delivers a boxer  s blow . argh     
i have walked out of very few movies before they end  but i couldn  t finish this piece of garbage . this was the biggest load of racism trying to pass as legitimate film since  birth of a nation  . the characters were little more than cardboard cutouts . i don  t see how any actor would want their name associated with this film . lee must have better things to do that put out garbage like this . i know that i and anyone with a brain have better things to do . . . . like watching paint dry . i wish that someone would make a film about interracial relationships that dealt with the topic realistically . there is a lot more depth to this subject the shallow ranting of a bitter director like lee .  
this is a really interesting film . it  s the first time i have seen the relationship between an older woman and a younger guy on screen without it being sensationalist . for the director of notting hill this is a bold move to something serious  
in short  br    br   spike lee clearly has a lot on his mind . he  s thinking about racism color  ism  media and hegemony  consumerism and capitalism  religion  sexism   hetero  sexism   politics of the drug war etc etc . . .  br    br   that level of consciousness on is own is great . i think it is a blessing that more and more people are choosing to critically examine fundamental aspects of our daily lives the silent and invisible forces that govern our societies . however  just because lee is making contentious films does not make him a good film  maker .  br    br   what comes across in  jungle fever  is a superficial understanding of these socio  political forces . this is largely the result of two main failures  br    br   firstly  lee is simply trying too hard . he seems to be desperately trying to accommodate every political  social statement he can think of into the   mins . and as such  the end result seems confused and irresolute as he allows himself no time to develop characters that can fully embody the ideas he hopes to present . and so he exhausts stereotypes and we are left with rushed testimonies and very loaded dialogs . the end result is very staged and unrealistic .  br    br   secondly  by attempting to make statements about such a wide variety of societal functions  he appears to have no concrete or original interpretation of the social  political issues presented . what comes across is a puddle of regurgitated non  sense . you feel that he bought an elementary level sociology text book and spewed out all    pages .  br    br   these are highly problematic features because the artistry of film is sacrificed and the work is transformed into a loudspeaker for the voice of the voice of the filmmaker . he is unable to distance himself from the work  and allow it to speak for itself .  br    br   it functions neither as a piece of art nor a sound political argument .  br    br   although i still do appreciate lee bringing up these important issues  i must say  br    br   two thumbs down .  
  the mother  tells of a recently widowed mid     s mother of two adult children  reid  who  on the heels of her husband  s death  finds herself awakening from a life of sleepwalking as she has an affair with a young carpenter who is also her daughter  s married lover . the film dwells on the quietly passive mom  her tenuous relationship with her grown son and daughter  the silent needs she attempts to soothe in bed with her young lover  and the convolutions arising therefrom . a somewhat antiseptic drama with rumbling psychodramatic undercurrents   the mother  does an excellent job of dealing with uncomfortable issues realistically while avoiding gratuitous sensationalism . will play best with more mature audiences  possibly women  who may better empathize with the central character  her needs and issues .  b   
who in their right mind plays a lyrical song at the same time they are portraying an emotional scene between two people  when flipper confronts his wronged wife in the dressing room  the song sung with lyrical content is as loud as the dialog  so one can hear neither  diluting any emotional impact the scene may have had . the scenes of annabella getting beaten by her father with his fists  a lamp and then a belt was so cartoonish as to be absurd . this entire movie is a cartoon  the rampant prejudice against whites is literally astounding . the discussion by the black women after flipper  s wife finds out he has cheated on her with a white woman  as if it were a discussion by an oxford debating team  is ridiculous . the rampant racism might be possible to endure  but the soundtrack and the sound mixing during this  movie  is too much . it was a technically poorly made movie . there is no understanding of the basic craft of movie making  the sound track  the editing and the desperate attempt of great actors trying to keep this movie afloat . i actually felt sorry for anthony quinn  wondering why he had accepted a role in this flick  his appearance in this is painful . this is the first movie i have seen by this director and it will be my last .  
i  m stunt  i must admit i never saw a movie with such good story and none stop high special effect martial art fighting scene . if you like the fantastic genre  like me  you will certainly be more than satisfied  all character have very cool power and the special effect are near perfection  in one word  flawless  i will listen to this movie a lot in the next years .  
c  mon guys some previous reviewers have nearly written a novel commenting on this episode . it  s just an old    s tv show  this episode of star trek is notable because of the most serious babe  yeoman barrow  s  ever used on star trek and the fact that it was filmed in a real outdoor location . unlike the tng and voyager series which were totally confined to sound stages .  br    br   this use of an outdoor location  and babe  gives proper depth and an almost film like quality to a quite ordinary episode of this now dated and very familiar show .  br    br   except a few notable exceptions i . e  the city on the edge of forever    assignment earth  and  tomorrow is yesterday  the old series of star trek needs to be seriously moth  balled and put out of it  s boring misery . half a dozen good episodes from   is quite a poor batting average .  br    br   this is typical of the boring stuff gene roddenberry produced back then actually  contrary to popular belief where some people worshiped the ground he walked on  he actually made a lot of rubbish  he doesn  t deserve to be spoken of in the same breath as irwin allen for example .  br    br   just look at the set of the bridge of the enterprise from a modern point of view . they used wobbly plywood for the floor  cafeteria chairs with plastic backs and cheap cardboard above the instrument panels . you can clearly see the folds in the paper  every expense spared or what   
may and her husband go to visit their children and grandchildren . the visit is awkward because the grandchildren and  kids  don  t really seem to know each other as one might expect . the warmth that should be there is missing . after dinner  may  s husband says he doesn  t feel well  blames it on his daughter  s cooking  and irritably says he wants to go home . he dies that night .  br    br   may  now a widow  is lost . she clearly did not have a passionate marriage or a very interesting one  but she had a purpose . she had someone who needed her  and even though her own needs had gone unmet for years  she had something to do with her days .  br    br   she is depressed and unmotivated . she goes to stay with her daughter  paula  who shortly after her mother  s arrival  lets her mother know that she has never felt that her mother has given much of herself at all . she lets loose with anger over her mother  s lack of nurturing . may seems disarmed and surprised  yet she also doesn  t seem to have the energy or the desire to really make it right .  i  m your mother and i love you .  what does really say   i  ve heard this from my own mother way too many times and have yet to figure out what it means .  paula is a bit  well  more than a bit  neurotic . both women are needy  though they show it very differently .  br    br   paula has been involved with a friend of her son  s  darren  who is a handyman working on the house owned by her son . while paula is working during the day  may begins to have conversations and lunches with darren . darren is a married man who has stayed with his wife because of their autistic son  nicky  but supposedly doesn  t live in the home with his wife .  br    br   may becomes attracted to darren because he is virile and she enjoys the connection they seem to have . darren becomes attracted to may because she offers a kind of peace and understanding that he does not get from the other women in his life .  he also becomes too interested in money that may says she can give him to  get away from it all   though he is clearly not interested in her desire to join him on such a journey . they end up sleeping together in the spare room during the day  and may enjoys fulfillment as a woman that she has not known in years  nor had ever expected to know again . as her daughter paula had often told her that she would leave the married darren  this becomes part of may  s rationalization that what she is doing is okay .  br    br   at a writing group that paula leads  may is introduced  rather forced to get together with a widower to whom she is not attracted . there is one scene where she has sex with the older man  who clearly can barely perform  and it truly painful and unsettling as we see the total disgust on may  s face as she endures the one  time ghastly liaison .  br    br   eventually  paula discovers through some very graphic sketches done by her mother  that indeed her mother and darren have been having sex .  br    br   this film will undoubtedly be seen by many in myriad ways . sympathies will be divided . at one point  during paula  s writing group  may reveals through a short essay that she used to feel as though she hated her kids by the end of the day  and would leave for pubs after they were asleep  making sure to get back home before her husband .  br    br   clearly  a good mother does not think of leaving children alone while she goes off to the local pub . may  however  also had revealed earlier in the film that her husband didn  t like her having any friends  so she didn  t have any . she did what he wanted her to do . she was miserable but she put up with it because  as she said   it was easier .  so  while may was not the best mother  for those inclined to have any sympathy for her  one might see may  s actions as the act of a woman just wanting to be sexual and to be a live for  a few minutes  in her lifetime . a woman who just wanted someone to listen to her  to know her as a human being  to have a friend and a lover .  br    br   paula  though neurotic and unhappy  perhaps has become that way because of the distant parents who raised her . certainly  it is not difficult to understand why paula feels completely betrayed by her mother .  br    br   it is a well  done film  with more complexities than i have mentioned  and certainly one that will leave the viewer with many  perhaps conflicting  reactions . it is a film worth discussing and debating  and above all  worth seeing .  br    br   one thing the film leaves us with is the horror and fear of a lonely life . no matter who is deemed  right  or who is deemed  wrong  by each viewer  that theme of old age and loneliness  evoking a sense of dread in most of us  is inescapable .  
jungle fever is too highly stylized  stereotyped  and comes across as essentially dishonest . wesley snipes was wrong for the lead and there was no chemistry between him and annabella sciorra . even though there  s plenty of talent in this movie  it  s mostly wasted because the parts are reduced to little more than decorative cameos . also  instead of simply showing racism for the ugly and stupid thing it is  spike lee chooses to wave it around like a flag in a most whining and irritating manner . i made it through most of the film but i couldn  t quite finish it  and that  for me  rarely happens .  
  if i sit down i will never stand up again   that  s what the mother  the one of the title  says to his son when he tells her to get some rest  she  s just widowed  . he means that resting is what a woman of his age and in her situation has to do to rest in peace  to neglect herself . but she  s not in the mood for  resting   not yet . she also has a daughter who reproaches her for each and every disasters in her life . . . suddenly  the revelation comes sex and passion in the figure of a muscular carpenter   years younger than her  daniel craig  the brand new james bond  when she  thought nobody would ever touch her again  . it is a story that makes you reflect on many things  specially on what  s a   something woman is supposed to do with her life when his husband dies . it doesn  t look that we  ve advanced that such in those aspects . i mean  nobody  s surprised when sean connery has a love affair in a movie with catherine zeta jones . . . but what would you think if it was otherwise  an old woman  a young guy . . . nah  you ain  t ready for that  are you   br    br   the movie has intimist tones all along its length  except for  or  sequences in which that tones breaks and out comes some explicit and foul  mouthed dialogs . those vulgar touches and the way the son and the daughter find out their mother  s love affair  pretty absurd  you  ll know what i mean when you watch it   are the only discordant elements in  the mother  .  br    br   my rate      
i  m not sure why spike lee made this train wreck of a movie and conned poor stevie wonder into eternally pairing his beautiful music with this theatrical mess . i also resent the way he uses profanity as a part of the normal prose of professional blacks . the abuse of his hold on ethnic movie goers is a shame . scenes which seem to be contrived out the blue and have nothing to do with the theme or sub themes  play as if some college kid wrote this . i especially detest the ludicrous scene where the two leads are playfully sparring for no reason at all and the cops come and rough up snipes . the overacting of the leads makes one feel as if spike has no respect for his viewers or he has no clue what a movie is all about . the final scene appears to be thrown in to justify the use of a sledge hammer to tack a point in . this movie also supports the myth that all people of culture use the f  word in casual conversation . i am hoping he will realize that the rest of his movies are in the same pool as this one where he is not growing as a film maker . i think his union with scorcesee in clockers was a wise move . he should stick to making documentaries like the four little colored girls . shock movies do not an oscar make .  
while movie titles contains the word  mother   the first thing that comes to our mind will be a mother  s love for her children .  br    br   however  the mother tells a different story .  br    br   the mother do not discuss the love between a mother and her child  or how she sacrifice herself for the benefit of her child . here  notting hill director roger michell tells us how a mother  s love for a man about half of her age hurts the people around her .  br    br   before daniel craig takes on the role of james bond  here  he plays darren  a man who is helping to renovate the house of the son of the mother  and sleeping with her daughter as well . anne reid  who was a familiar face on tv series  takes up the challenging role of the leading character  may .  br    br   the story begins with may coping with the sudden loss of her husband  toots  in a family visit to her son  bobby . while she befriends darren  a handyman who is doing some renovation in bobby  s house  she was shocked to found out that her daughter  paula  was sleeping with darren . at the same time  may was coping with life after the death of toots . fearing that harry and paula do not wanted her  may starts to find her life going off track  until she spends her afternoon with darren .  br    br   darren was nice and friendly to may  and may soon finds some affection on darren . instead of treating him like a friend  she treated the man who was about half her age with love of a couple . later  may found sexual pleasure from darren  where he gave her the pleasure she could never find on anyone else . and this is the beginning of the disaster that could lead to the break down of a family .  br    br   the mother explores the inner world of a widow who wanted to try something she never had in her life  and solace on someone who is there for her to shoulder on . this can be told from may buying tea time snacks for darren to fulfilling sexual needs from a man younger than her  where it eventually gave her more than she bargained for .  br    br   anne reid has made a breakthrough for her role of may  as she was previously best well known for her various role on tv series . as she do not have much movies in her career resume  the mother has put her on the critic  s attention . daniel craig  on the other hand  had took on a similar role in his movie career  such as sylvia       and enduring love       . if his reprising role of james bond fails  film reviewers should not forget that he has a better performance in small productions in his years of movie career  and the mother is one of them .  br    br   the mother may not be everyone  s favorite  but it is definitely not your usual matine show to go along with tea and scones  accompanied by butter and jam .  
director spike lee is famous for making films pointing out racism . in many of films  such  do the right thing   most of the white people are all brutal racists . in this movie  interracial marriage is the subject  with racism once again being the entire issue .  br    br   what lee does  however  is once again demonstrate his bigotry against christianity . it  s amazing the double standards that exist in the film world . if lee or anyone else ever produced this kind of bias against another group he would be vilified  but christians  hey  it  s  open season  on them .  br    br   ossie davis  a reverend in this film  shoots his son and then puts the smoldering gun down on top of his bible . they zoom in on that for another closeup just in case you missed it . hey  folks  here  s another bible reader and look what he   s like  lee does this sort of thing in just about every movie he makes .  br    br   he shows the same hatred when dealing with race relations . who could argue with portraying racism as an evil thing  however  lee perpetuates it in this film as he has in his other films . his obvious bitterness toward white people doesn  t help the situation . it only adds fuel to the fire .  br    br   hey  spike start  doing the right thing  and leave your prejudices in the closet . better yet   get over it .   br    br   this is too bad because the subject matter could have made for a thought  provoking film if it had been done with objectivity and intelligence .  
  the mother  is a weird low  budget movie  touching at least two uncomfortable themes not usually explored in the cinema denial of love of mother for their own son and daughter  and lust and passion in the third age .  br    br   the characters are awful may is a disgusting old lady and i believe it is impossible to feel any kind of sympathy or sorrow for her . she confesses that she did not love her son and her daughter . she cheated her husband twice with an intellectual . she steals the beloved man of her daughter  not to protect her from a guy without moral  that does not love her  but just because she feel horny with him . she is trying to organize her life after the loss of her husband in the worst possible way  destroying her daughter delusions . paula  her daughter  is a fragile loser  who accepts her life the way it is . her brother bobby is a man who lost his savings because of his wife  who insists in having her shop  a terrible business indeed . darren is an amoral addicted jerk who does not like anybody  even himself .  br    br   the acting and direction are excellent the actresses and actors have outstanding performances and the direction is very precise . i liked this movie  but i recognize that it is recommended for very specific audiences . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    recomear    re  start    
this movie was exactly what i expected  not great  but also not that bad either . in my opinion pg   movies aren  t scary enough so that  s why i already knew i was going to be bored throughout the entire film . sure there were scary things going on in the hotel room  but nothing we all haven  t already seen . i guess i didn  t like it because i thought there were too many twists and turns happening it got old and repetitive . i also didn  t understand if all the things cusack was experiencing in the room was real or not . there is no explanation for any of the events that occurred . the movie just drags on and when it finally does come to an end you want it to keep going because you are still waiting around for someone to tell you what the whole movie was about . what i did like was the special effects . other than that there wasn  t much enjoyment from it . maybe its just me but i thought this was below average .  
i went to this movie only because i was dragged there and i would have left again immediately because the audience consisted mainly of elderly people and i felt out of place . however  the film was utterly fascinating and far from being targeted towards old people . the characters were all very real and believable and i found myself discussing the film  the characters and the storyline for hours afterwards . there are a few quite engrossing scenes in there but they are necessary and help you to understand the situation much better . all in all  this is a great and valuable film  slightly off mainstream but that does not mean that this film cannot be enjoyed by people who prefer mainstream . it  s a thrilling and interesting movie experience .  
i am a huge  huge fan of john cusack  samuel l . jackson  and tony shalhoub . i  m slightly less fond of stephen king  but i like some of his work .  br    br   this said  i should have loved     .  br    br   possible spoilers after this point  br    br   i walked in eager . i walked out disappointed .  br    br   this is not the fault of the actors . shalhoub and jackson both have very small roles because the premise of the movie puts cusack in the  guy in a locked room  scenario .  br    br   this wasn  t a bad movie  but i can  t call it a good one either . it was a muddied mess that had moments of  ouch  that  s just wrong   combined with moments of  ouch  that  s just painful   and moments of  oh  now that  s just unfortunate  with very little continuity  connectivity between them . eislin  s father shows up once  and there  s no seeming connection to the rest of mike  s personal life that we see displayed while he tries to survive the room .  br    br   a previous commenter described the olin  enslin argument as worth watching  and i very much agree . but other than that  aside from some clever musical cues  the room almost playfully torments enslin a little bit  and gives him one chance to get out before upping the ante . . . at which point it gives him the one  hour countdown clock and the titular line from the carpenters  we  ve only just begun .   it  s mostly  stuff jumps out at you when you least expect it   type horror that was fun when i was fourteen  and surrounded by friends my age  clutching each other in the summer while jason stalked camp crystal lake .  br    br   the rest of the movie was  let  s make him relive some of his most painful experiences  mindgaming  with  let  s animate the paintings in creepy ways  clich cheesiness .  br    br   end spoilers  br    br   i expected better from this movie with stephen king  s name attached to it  as well as the actors i mentioned above .  br    br   we never find out the origin of the evil . we never get to see the evil defeated  though we can presume maybe it was defeated .  br    br   and the ending was just a jarring  what    moment .  br    br   wait for it to come on cable . i wouldn  t have minded paying for it as a matine  but i  m feeling a bit shortchanged for having paid opening night prices for it .  
kureishi hasn  t exactly been blessed with movies that justify the quality of his writing . recent adapted travesty  s like  intimacy  have ruined great writing . but the mother surpasses all his previous incarnations  eclipsing even my beautiful laundrette . a middle  aged woman overcomes widow  hood by having a very carnal relationship with the boyfriend of her emotionally  weak daughter . the fact that you believe all this is credit to the quality of the acting as it is to the finite gift of the writing . and in daniel craig we have a strutting  brash  gruff anti  hero who denies the audience to ever question why a young stud would contemplate bedding a sagging grandmother . beautifully shot  the film fails only in the weak depiction of the peripheral characters  but as a study of inconceivable lust  it  s a winner .  
       is the latest hodge podge of cheap scare tactics . the kind that might make date  movie styled horror fans occasionally jump in their seat and scream in your ear  but disappoint audiences searching for a little depth and direction .  br    br   john cusak plays a writer who  s made a career of writing books describing his experiences of staying in rumored haunted hotels . despite assurances by patrons and owners that ghosts roam the halls  there is little to make him a real believer in the paranormal . when he learns of the history of room     at the overlook hotel   no wait  i mean  dolphin hotel in new york city   he decides it would make the perfect closing chapter to his latest book . but  samuel l . jackson  playing the hotel owner  strongly attempts to dissuade his guest with narration of the atrocities that have occurred in theat room since the hotel  s opening many years ago . the story is simple and we  as possible skeptics  must sit through jackson  s lengthy foreshadowing ramble .  br    br   in other words be afraid  be very afraid   br    br   of course  it would be easy to convince audiences that they  ve just paid to see an edge  of  the  seat thriller if it didn  t take so long to build up to this point . and also  if what followed was a lot more than cheap  boos  that become so frequent and arbitrary that eventually  you might soon expect them . the temperature in the room changes automatically . the walls drip with blood . the fearless writer can  t open the door  etc . and after nearly an hour and a half of delivering these to audiences promised big thrills  you might sit and hope that at least you can be wowed by the ending . with suspicions of dream sequences and other derivative time  wasters  even that fails to quell our doubts that before the movie is over  we might finally have something to make the movie a little less than completely forgettable .  br    br   despite grand performances  as always  by cusak  who essentially is the entire film  most everyone else of note is wasted  i . e . samuel l . jackson  in insignificant minor roles . the true mystery here is how this movie received such a high viewer rating . ballot  stuffing ghosts   
with the death of her infirmed husband  may  an older woman faces a future in an urban world that views her as invisible  dead from the neck down  and unwelcome in the pseudo  sophisticated yuppie homes of her son  bobby and his shallow wife  helen  and paula  a self  absorbed  clinging  and minimally talented daughter . the central family is anything but warm  supportive  and understanding of her new and tragic stage in life with the death of her husband . the mother is a quiet character study that points up how in some societies  the elder parent is both unwelcome and a burden to grown children whose careers and status seeking overshadow all else .  br    br   as may comes to realize the world is still important to her  the lonely widow finds her libido reawakened and alive with her daughter  s boyfriend  a carpenter and rough sort . may embarks on an uninhibited sexual affair with darren whose character is sympathetic to her at first  but his flawed nature is quickly revealed through the pressures of the women who surround him .  br    br   this is the kind of role hollywood actresses of a certain age whine is never written for them  but would never appear in because the film  s frankness  overt sexuality  unglamorous wardrobe  little makeup  and social commentary on the vapidness of the very society most film industry women are enchrenched . the performance by the lead actress  anne reid ranges from quiet to giddy and her interpretation blossoms on screen from the drab widow to a sexually alive and freed middle age woman without face  lift  hair extensions  and liposuction . she bares more than her soul for the screen .  br    br   daniel craig is the enabling handyman  derrek who beds both mother and daughter . he turns in another stellar performance that is at first sympathetic to the widow  s situation  but in the end is without redemption as his true nature unfold and he is literally the rooster in a hen  house . his aimless character  s inability to say no to the ex  wife  boring girlfriend  and her mother is blamed as the root of his ineffectual existence . while good with his hands at building a conservatory  he is unable to construct meaning in his life .  br    br   one of the best films from britain in years  it is simply adult in its storyline . the mother is the rare kind of film that is perhaps too honest for american audiences to tolerate having no car chase  no bling  no rap soundtrack to drown out the cretin performances by tv starlets and buff studmuffins . the mother reflects how the aging baby boomers are now disposable people that offspring are willing to overlook  send to the retirement home  and get out of the way . may doesn  t know what to do as she is made alive by darren  isn  t willing to go to the old folks home  and finds her kids are more conservative than she ever was at their age .  
i don  t see what everyone liked about this movie . the set  up was too long and talky  and when it was done  the main character remained as flat and opaque as he had been in the first scene . after the film finally got cusack into the eponymous hotel room  i had to wonder  well  what  s going to happen here for the next hour or so to keep me engaged . the answer not much  just john cusack having a long  drawn  out  mental breakdown .  br    br   maybe if the cusack character had more depth . . maybe if his freak  out were a more thorough reworking of his everyday life . . . maybe if the film had either better developed its half  baked themes about loss and faith or had not tacked them on in the first place . . . maybe if the film had made a choice to be either psychological horror or thrill  ride horror and had fully embraced one of these styles . . . i dunno . all i do know is that i saw this movie with two other horror buffs and none of us much liked it .  br    br   except for the disquieting episode on the hotel ledge  the alarming crazy lady with the hammer  and the so  stupid  it  was  fun crypt keeper in the air duct  all three of which account for no more than five minutes of screen time  this film was a bore .  br    br   by the way  this story seems to steal ideas from the shining and use them here to much less powerful effect . is stephen king now reduced to stealing ideas from himself   
what a moving film . i have a dear friend who is in her sixties and for the past   years has told me that people don  t see her anymore  and she longs for companionship . being in my late   s i am beginning to see what she has been complaining about . you are no longer youthful  beautiful or touchable . when may says  . . . this lump of a body . . .  wow . how our bodies change and how we are told it is no longer beautiful . i love when she begins to change what she wears . . . the colorful scarf . . . no longer the frumpy wife .  br    br   it is a sad and wonderful picture at the same time . sad in that may betrays her daughter  s trust . . . beautiful in that she finds herself through the difficulty of the affair  and chooses to move on and finally have her own life . i love the character  s daring to even initiate the love affair .  br    br   mostly i love the movie because finally it is a picture that shows the intricate nature of relationships  be they familial or not . we see paula  s vulnerability  yet she will have what she wants at all costs . . .  when she tells her mum that she will have a baby for darren whether he wants one or not after her mother asks if darren even wants a child  . the movie hits the mark on the how relationships can change  and yet reveals what has been there all along  dormant . may has stifled her own creativity to raise a family . a family that she didn  t really want  but was  something you just did when she was young  . i love the scene when darren calls her an old tart  and she smiles and says  i was never called that before  . it was truly a gem of a movie .  br    br   and daniel craig . well  i just love him . i was pleasantly surprised . not only is he pleasant on the eyes  he is a real talent . what a neat role . he is much more than any    that is for sure and i look forward to seeing him in more roles of this nature . the scene where he is pleasuring may and the look he gives her is sort of a look of wonder that he has such control over this woman  and also one of pleasure of being able to give this to her . he is actually enjoying giving her pleasure . a wonderful scene . the contrast is the love scene with bruce . bruce is totally absorbed with his own pleasure . . . two completely different men .  br    br   alas . . . i wonder where is my darren   
after spotting the high rating on imdb  i decided to go see this movie . beyond that high rating  i intentionally avoided reading any of the reviews . i wanted to go into the theater with a clean slate  without knowing the plot or having predetermined expectations .  br    br   given my rating  you can see that i was disappointed . i enjoyed the development of the main character mike enslin . i also enjoyed how the hotel manager attempted to talk him out of entering the hotel room . by the time enslin entered the room  i was ready for some scary stuff .  br    br   first chocolates appear on the pillow and the toilet paper is folded . enslin reacts in a believable manner . he  s freaked out . i  m encouraged and think to myself  this is going to be good . the people who made this movie understand that less is more .  br    br   but it  s what happens next that was a big let down . the subtleness is quickly replaced by the predictable shotgun approach . . . just blast the audience with every hollywood scary trick in the book and hope that something works . let  s see  a clock radio that turns on by itself  good  that  s always scary . objects that move around in the room  good  you can  t complain about that . blood dripping from the walls and sink  great . ghosts that commit suicide  good . anything else  how about loud noises  shaking  fire  more shaking  messing up the room  more blood  etc etc . it  s all good . and it  s all been done before . overstimulate our attention deficit disordered audience with all kinds of stuff in quick succession  and they won  t be able to look away .  br    br   well  it didn  t work for me . and you know what else  when i go see a horror movie in a theater  it  s typical to hear several groups of girls in the audience yelling in fear at scary moments . but this movie had no scary moments . the audience was silent and disinterested . i felt no chill down my spine . nothing . the shining was    x what this movie tries to be .  br    br   so who are all these people who are saying that it is one of the best horror movies ever  friends of the director  sorry  i just don  t get it .  
i somehow missed this movie when it came out and have discovered it as late as last week thanks to a friend  s recommendation . i can honestly say that i cannot remember another intimate dramatic film  which does so many things so well . the writing is crisp  realistic  nuanced  and even restrained . the cinematography and editing are understated but inspired  enabling the visual storytelling to dominate through marvelous close  ups and framing of images  capturing loneliness and alienation in most memorable ways . the acting is also wonderful  with all of the characters becoming painfully real and vulnerable in the most compelling ways that a film can offer . they reveal their innermost weaknesses with unprotected  raw vulnerability . a real triumph for roger michell and hanif kureishi  and the rest of the team . a must see for serious film lovers .  
can you say  all shock  no plot   there were so many unexplored directions in this movie . there was no history about the room other than the deaths . why was it evil  what made it that way  why an  hour  countdown  then  there were the unexplored things hinted at for example we saw a camera in the air vent  which he mentioned . but when he climbed up said vent  there was no camera .  br    br   how about the fact that all the ghosts looked  digital   and things  winked out  before hitting the ground making a static noise  hmmm . . . when you put all of those things together  it makes room     look like a high  tech spook house . except that there was no follow up on that .  br    br   oh . . . by the way . . . electronics don  t work in     . well  except for the tv . . . the cell phone has no signal  but wireless internet works fine . how many incontinuities can you possibly add  i  m sorry  but this film was nothing but  shock after shock  . it  s all been done before . reflections in the mirror . things just out of site . changing paintings . bleeding walls . the  oh  it was all just a dream . . . no it wasn  t .  and  if the room was  evil   why make our main character come to terms with his daughter  s death  if it was going to keep him trapped there forever anyway  it just didn  t make sense .  br    br   additionally  there was no background information about  the first book  that he wrote . just some vague information about the  dad was a jerk  and so forth . speaking of dads  what was with the bit about his father   you  ll be in my place  .  br    br   overall  a truly horrible movie . it was     adrenalin shock factor  without any new or innovative effects  and certainly no back story  character development  etc .  br    br   my overall impression is that the entire movie was made on the  cheap   pretty much using one set and a couple of location shots  and was nothing but an effects film of recycled  cheesy   seen  that  before  effects .  
i am embarrassed to say that i missed  the mother  when it was in theaters . i saw it this evening on dvd . i gave it a   vote  one of the very few i have given here . this english independent is filmed with such great care and quality . it drew me in relentlessly . the story  low  keyed and purely human  is brutally honest and utterly absorbing  thanks to the acting of anne reid  daniel craig and cathryn bradshaw . the cinematography is stunning . the score is hard  wired to the plot . the storyline is epic  brilliantly clothed by writer hanif kureishi in mundane lives . this story addresses big issues with the subtlety of an impressionist painting . and some of those big issues are highly controversial  which probably explains the lack of awards won  despite many nominations . it is simply one of my all  time favorite films .  
i must say that i was disapointed with this film . i have never been a huge bnl fans  i find their songs kind of childish and obsessively nostalgic  this is me in grade   if i had a million dollars  shoe box of life etc  . however  i have seen clips of their live show and i really like the improvisational and goofy nature of the show . i was hoping that this movie would highlight this which is  unfortunately  the most interesting part of the show because their music is well played yet somehow bland and not that compelling  there is a standup bass solo in the middle which was completely pointless and boring  despite how much jim creegan was digging himself  . the film does not and shows only a few minutes of it  and you know they  ve had better moments  as in the afgahnistan concert  koffee anan  he  s the man in charge  my name  s steve paige and i  m really large   .  br    br   bnl are kind of like when i went to europe a few years ago and heard that godawfull  blue  song by effeil   or whatever every  minutes  i came back to canada and then a month later that song was all over the place again  i nearly chewed off my own arm . bnl is like that  years ago i remember many a fond memory of sitting around campfires in canada listening to people play  if i had a million dollars  . bnl was a cult phenomenon in canada  and much of their humour has a particular canadian slant to it  kraft dinner is a staple for many students up here  and the name  gordon  is quintessentially canadian  a few years went by where they slipped into obscurity and i was somewhat gratefull . then all of a sudden they become huge in states  and everyone down there thinks they are this brand new band  yeah  they  re brand new  but they  re all in their    s   while the rest of canada is going  oh geez  i thought those guys folded years ago  do i have to listen to  million dollars  again    br    br   the concert footage is not bad  but i would have liked to have seen more of their stage routine  the shooting is not that great  and things like clips from their massive free show in boston are glazed over much too quickly . the interviews are surprisingly dull for such a funny bunch of guys  i think they  re all old and they have families and houses and stuff and have settled down a bit . there are times when they go into spinal tap type of material  where they deliver deadpan satire  then they break into laughs and giggles that kind of ruins it . the interviews with moses znaimer  a canadian media mogule  and terry david mulligan  music dude  are extremely pretentious and verge into tap territory unintentionally .  br    br   this movie doesn  t really document very much either  i mean  it  s basically one show and at the start of the film  they are already huge and have a massive touring entourage  it  s not like we see them rising from obscurity and  surprise  they are popular  it  s a methodically planned out event  so in the end it  s rather lifeless  kind of half live concert  half documentary  and not much of either .  br    br    
this movie is very cool . if you  re a fan of tsui hark and chinese fantasy films  you should love this . this film is the asian lord of the rings a high fantasy story  based in actual chinese mythology .  i realize many critics have called this film plot  less  i think they probably have zero knowledge of chinese mythology .  if you liked stormriders or warriors of heaven  earth  this one should be right up your alley . this film is still very difficult to find in the u . s .  even though it was purchased for u . s . distribution along with crouching tiger  hidden dragon and iron monkey . well worth the search    this dvd is also worthy of owning .  
this picture started out with good intentions  bacon the scientist out to test the theory of invisibility  and shue is cute as usual in her role . it all falls apart after that  it  s your typical hollywood thriller now  filmed on a soundstage with special effects galore  minus any kind of humour  wit or soul . in other words  don  t waste your time watching this . get the audiocassette tape with john delancie as the invisible man instead  also starring leonard nimoy . now that was good  and hg wells is well served  unlike with this mess .  
this is apparently one of shemp  s first shorts with the stooges .  this excludes his much earlier vaudeville years with the team  . but the threesome  s comedic timing is at its honed best here . aside from the intense slapstick scenes  there are others more subtle  but just as funny . watch larry when shemp asks him to look at the camera for a snapshot . or watch the real object prompting moe  s exclamation   oh . . . highly polished mahogany    br    br   emil sitka is at his bewildered goofiest . and the goon may look scary  but he  s somehow funny . he seems as frustrated and perplexed with the stooges as are  regular  people in other shorts .  br    br   for shemp aficionados  this is a must have episode . it won  t disappoint .  
an actress making a movie in africa is kidnapped and taken into the jungle where she is held for ransom . the producer hires some one to go and bring her back . complicating everything are the cannibals in the jungle who worship a really ugly looking  god  who likes to eat naked women .  br    br   this is a gory sleazy movie . there is copious amounts of nudity and violence  not to mention violence against nude people . its an exploitation film designed to appeal to the deepest darkest parts of our being  and if the movie wasn  t so boring this film would be a classic . lets face it  despite the gore  the nasty sex and abuse  and the ugly monster this movie is a snoozer . the pacing is all off kilter and it puts you out . there are multiple plot lines that all seem to be happening separately from each other  even though its ultimately all one story . worst of all  almost no one says anything . most of the minimal dialog concerns the cruelty or one characters protestations that  i  ll do what i want  . its such a quiet and dull movie that if it weren  t for the frequent screams of the victims i  d recommend this as a sleep aide .  br    br   this is a movie to avoid unless you need sleep  or unless you need to see every euro  cannibal movie .  br    br    an aside . videoasia just released this as part of their terror tales series . their print is oddly letter  boxed which looks to be the result of taking their print from a japanese source  there is fogging  that was cropped to remove the subtitles . their print also has no opening titles   
  all the world  s a stage and its people actors in it    or something like that . who the hell said that theatre stopped at the orchestra pit   or even at the theatre door  why is not the audience participants in the theatrical experience  including the story itself   br    br   this film was a grand experiment that said  hey  the story is you and it needs more than your attention  it needs your active participation  .  sometimes we bring the story to you  sometimes you have to go to the story .   br    br   alas no one listened  but that does not mean it should not have been said .  
if i had not read pat barker  s  union street  before seeing this film  i would have liked it . unfortuntately this is not the case . it is actually my kind of film  it is well made  and in no way do i want to say otherwise  but as an adaptation  it fails from every angle .  br    br   the harrowing novel about the reality of living in a northern england working  class area grabbed hold of my heartstrings and refused to let go for weeks after i had finished . i was put through tears  repulsion  shock  anger  sympathy and misery when reading about the women of union street . excellent . a novel that at times i felt i could not read any more of  but i novel i simply couldn  t put down . depressing yes  but utterly gripping .  br    br   the film . oh dear . hollywood took barker  s truth and reality  and showered a layer of sweet icing sugar over the top of it . a beautiful film  an inspiring soundtrack  excellent performances  a tale of hope and romance . . . yes . an adaptation of  union street  . . . no .  br    br   the women of union street and their stories are condensed into fonda  s character  their stories are touched on  but many are discarded . i accept that some of barker  s tales are sensitive issues and are too horrific for mass viewing  and that a film with around  leading protagonists just isn  t practical  but the content is not my main issue . the essence and the real gut of the novel is lost  darkness and rain  broken windows covered with cardboard  and the graphically described stench of poverty is replaced with sunshine  pretty houses  and a twinkling william  s score .  br    br   if you enjoyed the film for its positivity and hope in the face of  reality   i advise that you hesitate to read the book without first preparing yourself for something more like  schindler  s list  . . . but without the happy ending .  
wow . saw this last night and i  m still reeling from how good it was . every character felt so real  although most of them petty  selfish aholes  and the bizarre story  middle aged widow starts shagging her daughter  s feckless boyfriend  felt utterly convincing . top performances all round but hats off to anne reid and our friends in the north  s daniel craig  the latter coming across as the next david thewlis  .  br    br   and director roger michell  this is as far from notting hill as it  s possible to be . thank god .  br    br   watch this movie     
i enjoyed  american movie   so i rented chris smith  s first film  which i thought was a documentary too . in the first minute i saw that it wasn  t  but i gave it a go .  br    br   what a dead end film . being true  to  life hardly serves you if you  re merely going to examine tediousness  esp . tediousness that we  re already familar with .  br    br   i  m sorry  but will it come as a relevation to anyone that   a lot of jobs suck and   most of them are crappy  minimum wage jobs in the service sector    i knew that before i saw the film . it didn  t really provide an examination of that anyway  as while the film struggles to feel  real   handheld camera  no music  etc .   what  s going on hardly plays out as it would in the  real world .   br    br   would an employer be so cheerful to randy when he picks up his check  after randy quit on him after  days when the guy said he expected him to stay  months   or the day after abandoning his job  and screwing up the machine he was working on   that everyone would be so easy on him    br    br   a big problem is our  hero      randy . this guy is a loser . not because he  s stuck in these jobs  or has a crummy apartment  or looks like one . he  s a dope . he doesn  t pay attention or even really try at these jobs . he has zero personalty . if i had to hire someone  he wouldn  t make it past the interview .  br    br   i  m looking forward to what chris smith does next  but guys  knock off the  this  is  an  important  film  stuff .  american job  doesn  t work .  
this is an excellent film dealing with a potentially exploitative subject with great sensitivity . anne reid  previously best known in the uk for her tv roles including  dinnerladies   a victoria wood scripted series on in  company catering workers  if you  re wondering   gives a performance of finely judged understatement as may  a late    s bereaved mother of two chattering class adults in an inner  london borough . her husband toots  peter vaughan  dies on their visit to the male of the latter species  bobby   and we see the pair being rather casually greeted by bobby and his family . may  s teacher daughter paula  cathryn bradshaw  lives nearby  however  and the relationship between may and paula initially appears closer . thus when may decides she cannot live in her own home and comes back to london  she is able to stay in paula  s house and do some child  minding of paula  s more appreciative offspring .  br    br   it is on may  s visits to bobby  s house that she embarks on an affair with darren  a mid    s friend of bobby who is working on a house extension . in what may be the first mainstream british film to so portray it  it is may and not darren  daniel craig  who initiates the encounter  and  at least to begin with  it seems that the relationship is founded on mutual respect . there is no explicit sexual content  at least in the dvd i saw differences in the imdb cast list suggests the existence of other versions   and the physical basis of the affair is handled directly but not exploitatively . more strongly portrayed is the relationship between may and daughter paula  a recent convert to  therapy and self  exploration   who announces that mummy has never been supportive of her . paula is also darren  s lover  and when she finds may  s explicit but rather poor drawings of darren and may together  things go downhill in dramatic but controlled fashion . only in an english film  perhaps  could a daughter announce that she is going to hit her mother  politely ask her to stand up  and duly wallop her .  br    br   in the mean time  may is being drawn into a putative relationship with a decent but older  of her own generation  member of paula  s writing group . the contrast between the ensuing unwanted intercourse and her affair with darren is clearly made it is at that point that may starts to acquiesce to paula  and darren  s worm begins to turn  he reveals on cocaine that he may have been after her money  if not all along  but for some of the ride  . so may finds herself superfluous to both of her children  s needs  and finally does return home  but later leaves on a jet plane for pastures new  .  br    br   the film  s strength is that it portrays with unflinching but sympathetic truth the nature of contemporary adult parent  sibling relationships  where bereavement may leave the surviving parent feeling more alone than if they had no  one to care for them . this is not new  but the openness of the portrayal of sexual need in the over    s may well be . the darkness of the film  s content  from a screenplay by hanif kureishi  stands in contrast to the way in which it is lit  it seems to be perpetual summer   and the overall mood is uplifting  it could so easily have been yet another piece set in a dour and rainy england . the ending is perhaps under  written  as we don  t know where may is going or for how long  perhaps she  s shirley valentine with a pension  she  s certainly no picasso . anne reid is  however  revealed as a fine actor whose professional life will surely have changed forever . like julie andrews in torn curtain  said by paul newman    there goes your mary poppins read dinnerladies image for good  .  br    br    yes  he announced oct     as the new james bond .  
having heard so much about the     s cracker series without seeing any of them  i looked forward to this eagerly . surely the combination of jimmie mcgovern and robbie coltrane could not go wrong . how wrong i was   br    br   the polemics  backed by frequent  repetitive and violent flashbacks  were overpowering . the production tried to be super  modern  but the flashing boxes and even the childish font irritated . robbie coltrane sleep  walked through the two hours  coming up with unexplained and unlikely  insights   and the police were portrayed as one  dimensional bumbling idiots . as a result  the tension never built up and the next  to  final scene  no details for fear of spoilers  was as laughably bad a piece of tv drama as i have seen for a long time .  br    br   no  i don  t want to see any more of these  but i will go back to the dvds of the     s series to see if they match their reputation .  
at the beginning of the film we watch may and toots preparing for their trip to london for a visit to their grown children . one can see toots is not in the best of health  but he goes along . when he dies suddenly  may  s world  begins to spin out of control .  br    br   the film directed by roger michell  based on a screen play by hanif kureshi  is a study of how this mother figure comes to terms with her new status in life and her awakening into a world that she doesn  t even know it existed until now .  br    br   may  s life as a suburban wife was probably boring . obviously her sexual life was next to nothing . we get to know she  s had a short extra marital affair  then nothing at all . when may loses her husband she can  t go back home  so instead  she stays behind minding her grandson at her daughter  s home . it is in this setting that may begins lusting after young and hunky darren  her daughter  s occasional lover .  br    br   darren awakes in may a passion she has not ever known . may responds by transforming herself in front of our eyes . may  who at the beginning of the film is dowdy  suddenly starts dressing up  becoming an interesting and attractive woman . she ends up falling heads over heels with this young man that keeps her sated with a passion she never felt before .  br    br   having known a couple of cases similar to this story  it came as no surprise to me to watch may  s reaction . her own chance of a normal relationship with bruce  a widower  ends up frustratingly for may  who realizes how great her sex is with darren . the younger man  we figure  is only into this affair to satisfy himself and for a possibility of extorting money from may . finally  the daughter  helen discovers what mum has been doing behind her back when she discovers the erotic paintings her mother has made .  br    br   the film is a triumph for the director . in anne reid  mr . michell has found an extraordinary actress who brings so much to the role of may . also amazing is daniel craig . he knows how darren will react to the situation . anna wilson jones as helen is also vital to the story as she is the one that has to confront the mother about what has been going on behind her back . oliver ford davies plays a small part as bruce the older man in helen  s class and is quite effective .  br    br   the film is rewarding for those that will see it with an open mind .  br    br    
the social commentary was way overblown and the mystery itself is built and solved through a series of implausible coincidences that were entirely unbelievable . nothing has changed in fitz  s personal life in the past decade that makes it remotely interesting .  br    br   i even had trouble understanding why he was complaining about his stay in australia as compared to the opportunities to solve mysteries that he has in england . can he not insinuate himself on the australian police  it seems like a very artificial plot point to get him involved in a crime investigation .  br    br   the latter episodes of the original series were pretty melodramatic and implausible  sometimes bordering on silliness  and this one picks up that mantle rather than returning to the focus of series one . sad .  
a woman left alone after the death of her husband finds herself attracted to her son  s friend and handy man . in a slightly twisted story  the woman begins sleeping with the handy man in an effort to revive herself . the twisted part  the handy man is also her daughter  s on and off love interest .  br    br   as if this wasn  t strange enough  the mother manages to fall for this man and when her daughter finds out  she blames not only her dysfunctional relationship but also her messed up life on her poor mother .  br    br   though you may think badly of this woman  the truth is movie manages to portray her in a positive light . beautifully played by anne reid  this character has dimension and portrays great emotion .  br    br   a truly brilliant performance and an enjoyable film .  br    br        
a major disappointment . this was one of the best uk crime drama  detective shows from the    s which developed the fascinating title character played by scotland  s robbie coltrane . however this one  off has little to add and perhaps suffers from an inevitable let down due to raised expectations when a favored show returns after a long hiatus . coltrane isn  t really given much to do  much more attention is spent on the uninteresting killer  and in what he has to act in  he seems uninvolved  almost bored . the ex  soldier  s story is written by the books and the attempt to update us on coltrane  s family life seems lightweight . perhaps if the writers had a whole series in front of them instead of just this one two  hour show they would have written this with much more depth . as is  skip this and watch the old cracker from the    s which is far far superior .  
  the mother  is that extraordinary piece of film making  it gets you thinking  it pulls no punches  and ultimately it leaves you thinking . very much open  ended as to the lead character  s fate . anne reid  which i only knew briefly from her appearances in some victoria wood  led projects and thought a fine comedienne  is truly superb here . not the stereotypical widowed housewife that was perfect in marriage and motherhood at all . and not all that free  spirited and adventurous at first . she plays her character just with the right note that rings true  well  it did to me  . powerful cast . great script . renaissance of european cinema indeed    
as a huge fan or the cracker series  i have been waiting  years for the next addition . this episode i  m afraid just does not live up to the legend .  br    br   fitz returns to manchester after  years for his daughters wedding and gets involved in a murder investigation were a soldier  tormented by flash backs from his tour of duty in northern irland  goes on a killing spree .  br    br   what i did not like about this episode is the extremely convenient way it is all set up and how fitz is led to the murderer . it is all fat to far  fetched .  br    br   there are however some good scenes in flash backs from northern irland which are filmed great .  
although at one point i thought this was going to turn into the graduate  i have to say that the mother does an excellent job of explaining the sexual desires of an older woman .  br    br   i  m so glad this is a british film because hollywood never would have done it  and even if they had  they would have ruined it by not taking the time to develop the characters .  br    br   the story is revealed slowly and realistically . the acting is superb  the characters are believably flawed  and the dialogue is sensitive . i tried many times to predict what was going to happen  and i was always wrong  so i was very intrigued by the story .  br    br   i highly recommend this movie . and i must confess  i  ll forever look at my mom in a different light   
i  m a true fan of the original cracker series  and own all of them on dvd . cracker had a tendency to be over  the  top on occasion  but robbie coltrane and the other cast members  as well as the writers  always seemed to carry it off despite themselves . i count the original cracker among the great brit tv crime series of that time  and there  s some stiff competition prime suspect  inspector frost  inspector morse  jeremy brett  s sherlock homes  and a host of others . cracker  along with prime suspect  was on the top of my list .  br    br   which makes  a new terror  all the more sad . . .  br    br   ultimately  this was a very pale imitation of cracker  s former glory . i forced myself to sit through the whole thing  convinced that it couldn  t actually be this bad  and that some spark would eventually ignite . i was wrong  it was bad from beginning to end .  br    br   a few criticisms first  just to get any potential bias up  front right off i was offended by the anti  american  anti  war screed that droned on and on throughout most of the show . the topper the murder of two american  s innocent of any crime and a british junkie is  in fitz  s words   understandable  but not justified  . i thought  i waded through two hours of crap just to hear this disgusting bit of drivel   so i had a negative reaction to the anti  war  american tone brought on by my beliefs . . . beyond the politics  i had the distinct sense that this cracker was merely a prop for the propaganda  and it actually helped to undermine an already terribly weak script .  br    br   second  just how much air  time did robbie coltrane get  fitz was almost a bit player in this one  as if he was an afterthought plugged into some story originally written without any thought of fitz  s role . coltrane could have carried the show on his own broad and still suitably flabby shoulders  but the writer was apparently thinking of other things  and missed the chance  and by a wide margin .  br    br   third what an abysmal script  there was some sparkle  and a couple of bits of actual character development  fitz  s son ranting that fitz couldn  t stay at his house if he missed his plane to australia  the detective that liked to beat his poor  performers over the backs of their heads  and some of the old sparks between fitz and his missus  but not nearly enough to carry the tedious storyline .  br    br   fourth  where the hell was panhallagan  now that would have been interesting . . . it was manchester after all  and   years on she  d be up in the ranks . another wasted opportunity  or perhaps the actress wasn  t interested    br    br   well  there  s much more  that  s bad  to say  but i  ll close with a curiosity at the end of the show  as it aired on bbca   when the advertisement announced that the  director  s cut  was available on bbc on  demand  i thought ah  ha  the director  s cut  which  presumably  one has to pay for  might have all of the goodies i expected to see tonight but never did  like a coherent  interesting storyline . unfortunately  after convincing myself to sit through the horrible free version of  a new terror  with the hope of seeing something  anything  worth watching  only to be disappointed  i have no hope left to motivate me to actually pay for a second  potentially longer and more tedious version . besides  it angered me to think that bbca sliced and diced  and sacrificed show time to accommodate the endless  every ten minutes or so  stream of commercials  and then turned around and asked me to pay for what probably should have been version aired tonight .  br    br   to close  i quote the first paragraph of variety  s review of  a new terror   it really says it all  initial excitement about robbie coltrane reprising his role as the bbc  s flawed  boozing  womanizing criminal psychologist is snowed under by the heavy  handed political statement writer jimmy mcgovern is determined to deliver within this revival vidpic . jolting at first in its message   namely  that americans are a bunch of whiny namby  pambies who didn  t care a whit about terrorism before it came crashing onto our doorstep   mcgovern  s chest  clearing rant overwhelms the narrative and mutes the pleasure of seeing fitz back on the case .   
warning contains spoilers  br    br   i have this adult friend for whom the notion that her parents have sex makes her terribly uneasy . she came to mind when i reflected on the audience  s reaction to  the mother .   br    br   people gasped when may  anne reid  writhed passionately in bed with her younger hunk lover  darren  daniel craig  or later saw sexually explicit drawings by may . i doubt the audience was aghast at the nudity or the drawings  content as much as feeling uneasy at seeing a woman in her   s rapturously enjoying sex .  br    br   screenwriter hanif kureishi   my beautiful laundrette    my son the fanatic   again proves why he  s among the most trenchant storytellers on either side of the atlantic . his story  s not easy to take . this searing family drama isn  t a film you can claim you enjoyed watching because it  s raw  complex  and often makes us very uncomfortable . nevertheless  it  s powerfully good stuff .  br    br   kureishi and roger michell  who directed  notting hill   of all things  craft an unsentimental  wrenching and superbly  acted portrait of an older woman who realizes  after all these years  she can and should still enjoy all of life  s pleasures . in a wonderfully epiphanous moment  when her son  bobby  asks her not to be difficult  may shoots back   why not    br    br   why not  indeed .  br    br   anne reid deserves an oscar nomination for her turn as may . it  s subtle  restrained  powerful and sad  often all at the same time . watch reid when may observes darren and paula  cathryn bradshaw  in a seemingly passionate clutch in a pub . or  when she begs paula to open the front door after a disastrous date . reid  s eyes and face reveal all of may  s anguish and despair . in the film  s most devastating moment  may drops to her knees before darren  willing to do anything for him  only asking him to be kind . this is a tremendously gutsy performance by a remarkable actress .  br    br   i enjoyed michell  s use of natural sound  especially when may and toots first arrive at bobby  s place . it perfectly illustrated the cacophony around may and toots  the flippant manner in which their own family welcomes them .  br    br   this film  at times  reminded me of the honesty and rawness of mike leigh  s work  except  the mother  hangs on to a slight sense of optimism to keep afloat .  br    br   my one quibble michell  s decision to give may and darren  s first love scene an almost cheesy sensibility . the lovers remain out of focus while  in the foreground  a white curtain flutters gently in the breeze . and the only sound is of may in the throes of passion .  br    br   the problem with michell  s approach is that both reid and craig  who completely envelops the role of darren  plough their way so fearlessly into these roles that it  s unfair to hide their characters  almost primitive energy from the audience . especially since michell has no qualms about making later sex scenes visceral .  br    br   this film doesn  t have immensely likable characters . we sympathize with may  but she  too  causes her daughter  s suffering . but i doubt kureishi intended to people his story with likable folk . his point  i believe  was to unmask a family that  s already cracking when something emotionally cataclysmic happens . it  s unflinching in its candor and ultimately unforgettable .  
for those of you who  ve never heard of it  or seen it on ae   cracker is a brilliant british tv show about an overweight  chain  smoking  foulmouthed psychologist named fitz who helps the manchester police department get into the heads of violent criminals . it  s considered to be one of the finest shows ever to come out of england  and that  s saying something   and was tremendously successful in england and around the world back in     .  br    br   now  the original stars have re  teamed with the original writer to knock out one more   hour episode . i  ve loved this show ever since i  d first seen it  over a decade ago . the dvd box set holds a place of honor in my collection  and i can quote a good deal of fitz  s interrogation scenes practically word for word . the idea of robbie coltrane reteaming with jimmy mcgovern for another tv movie about fitz filled me with absolute glee .  br    br   i  ll start with the good . one of the many things that impressed me about the original cracker series was how quickly fitz was defined as a character . five minutes into the first episode  with his lecture  throwing the books into the air   his drinking  and his cussing of the guy after him on the gambling machine queue  and you knew  simply knew  who this character was . you could feel him  clicking  in your mind  the kind of click that only happens when a great actor gets a great role written by a great writer .  br    br   coltrane  of course  remained great throughout the show  but i always felt that some of the later episodes  those not written by mcgovern  mistreated the character .  br    br   so the good news is this fitz is back . as soon as you see him in this show  making incredibly inappropriate comments at his daughter  s wedding  you  ll feel that  click  once again . it  s him petulant one moment and truly sorry the next  always insightful  sincere to the point of tactlessness but brilliantly funny in the process . if you love this character as much as i do  you  ll be delighted with how he is portrayed in the movie . and this extends to judith and mark in fact  everything having to do with the fitzs is handled perfectly .  br    br   the problem i do have with this movie revolves around the crime fitz is trying to solve . in standard cracker fashion  we know exactly who the criminal is in the first five minutes  the suspense lies in seeing fitz figure it out . in this case  we have a serial killer who is out for american blood . and the reason for this  unfortunately  is not due to any believable psychological trauma  rather  it seems that the murders are here simply to allow the writer to display his personal political beliefs .  br    br   it  s difficult for me to write this  as i truly believe that jimmy mcgovern is one of the greatest writers in the world . nor do i have a problem with movies that are about current issues  or movies that take a political stand . but in the cracker universe  we expect to see the characters behaving like human beings  not like caricatures . instead  the americans in this movie are all depicted in an entirely stereotypical fashion . they  re know  nothing loudmouths who complain about everything  treat the locals like crap and cheat on their wives  one of them even manages to do all of the above within less than  minutes . i honestly thought i  d mistakenly switched channels or something .  br    br   but it doesn  t stop there . we get constant reminders of just how badly the war in iraq is going  reminders that have nothing whatsoever to do with the story and appear practically out of nowhere . the killer is so busy ranting about how bush is worse than hitler that he almost forgets to get on with the killing but more to the point  he is such a mouthpiece for the writer  s political views that he forgets to act like a believable human being  and thus we  as an audience  don  t buy his sudden transformation from a happy family man to a tortured serial  killing soul .  br    br   i can  t say that this ruined the show for me  it  s was still good tv  better than almost everything else in the genre  mainly due to  once again  coltrane  . but its constant politicizing made it impossible for it to be as good as the real cracker classics like  to be a somebody   an episode that was just as  issuey   but one that was handled with far more subtlety and psychological depth .  br    br   two other small points panhandle not being around is a disappointment  but what  s worse are her replacements . the entire police department  which for so long filled with such great characters  is now full of vanilla . completely interchangeable cops who lack any and all personality  how you could drain coupling  s richard coyle of personality is beyond me  but it is indeed missing here  .  br    br   also  there are couple of moments where the show lost its believability for me . one such instance revolves around fitz having to narrow down the entire population of manchester from  million to a hundred based on some very strange criteria  french windows  how does the computer know if i have french windows    he not only succeeds in doing this  but he succeeds in less than an hour . i don  t think so .  br    br   so  all in all  i was a little disappointed . it  s recommended viewing  but remember to leave at least some of your expectations at the door . still  if there  s new series to come after this  it would all have been for the good i  m convinced that mcgovern can still write great stuff  and maybe now that he  s got his politics out of his system he can go back to writing about people .  
a fierce  shockingly intelligent piece of work from the gifted british writer hanif kureishi who wrote  my beautiful laundrette    this is the best thing he  s done since then  . it  s about intelligent people whose lives don  t add up to much . they  ve squandered what they have been given and are largely empty vessels . the only character on screen who is alive is the mother of the title yet she feels dead inside until a rough handyman shows her some affection and awakens her to the joys of sex . he has his own motives but kureishi treats him with a good deal of compassion . this is a film in which people and places feel familiar  where characters exist beyond the confines of the screen . in some respects it  s a bit like  sunday  bloody sunday  but it  s an altogether tougher piece of work . the director  roger michell  allows scenes to build instinctively . and it is beautifully acted .  br    br   as the eponymous mother anne reid betrays her wasted life in every gesture . there is not a false note in her extraordinarily lived  in performance  and that very fine actor daniel craig displays shadings to his character than even kureishi hasn  t tapped into . if the film strikes a false note it is  perhaps  in the character of the talentless daughter  caught up in a messy affair with the man her mother seduces  or should that be the other way round  and even messier life  but she is so well played by cathryn bradshaw she hooks you in nevertheless . the film is also extremely beautiful to look at  dop alwin kuchler  and must rank  unhesitatingly  as the best british film of the year .  
i hope whoever coached these losers on their accents was fired . the only high points are a few of the supporting characters   of  of my favourites were killed off by the end of the season  and one of them was a cat  to put that into perspective  .  br    br   the whole storyline is centered around sex  and nothing else . sex with vampires  gay sex with gay vampires  gay sex with straight vampires  sex to score vampire blood  sex after drinking vampire blood  sex in front of vampires  vampire sex  non  vampire sex  sex because we  re scared of vampires  sex because we  re mad at vampires  sex because we just became a vampire  etc .  br    br   nothing against sex  it would just be nice if it were a little more subtle with being peppered into the storyline . perhaps have a storyline and then shoehorn some sex into it . but they didn  t even bother to do that . . . and anna paquin is a dizzy gap  tooth bitch . either she sucks or her character sucks  i can  t figure out which .  br    br   another part of the storyline that i find highly implausible is why    year old vampire bill who seems to have his things together would be interested in someone like sookie . she  s constantly flying off the handle at him for things he can  t control . he leaves for two days and she already decides that he  s  not coming back  and suddenly has feelings for dog  man  give me a break . she  s supposed to be a   year old woman  not a   year old girl . people close to her are dying all over  and she  s got the brightest smile on her face because she just gave away her v  card to some dude because she can  t read his mind  as the main character of the story  i would  ve hoped the show would do a little more to make her understandable and someone to invest your interest in  not someone you keep secretly hoping gets killed off or put into a coma . i can  t find anything about her character that i like and even the fact that she can read minds is impressively uninspiring and not the least bit interesting .  br    br   i will not be wasting my time with watching season  come june .  
it  s hard to imagine a director capable of such godawful crap as  notting hill  pulling off something as sensitive and as attractive as this  but well  here  s the evidence and it  s quite compelling . several have alluded to tv drama  and yes  this does have a seventies play for today feel at times  but is always a cut above  mainly i think owing to some quite superlative acting from anne reid and to a fine script which shadow  boxes with clich without ever getting one on the nose  except maybe right at the end .  i didn  t like either the tracking shot of indifferent goodbyes through the hallway  nor the oh  what  a  beautiful  morning final scene she deserved a more studied finale than that i think  after all that hard work . the slippers business was a bit ott too  on reflection  .  br    br   what i mean about avoiding clich well  i for one had a sinking expectation that the  mature  man may  s daughter tries to set her up with would be cast in  dimensions as a repulsive old bore  so as to point the contrast more painfully with the attractive  virile young geezer he is unwittingly competing with . instead  we get an unexpectedly subtle and sympathetic cameo of a lonely  clumsy  not entirely unlikeable and very human fellow  who nevertheless doesn  t have much of a clue about entertaining a woman . it was around that point i started to sit up and pay more attention . here was a script that let the actors breathe and do something interesting with fairly minor parts . almost mike leigh in that respect  minus the contrived catharses that the latter inexplicably goes in for  .  br    br   and of course i was  as everyone probably was  dumbfounded by what anne reid does with her character and with her body . she  s  not   the repressed  dutiful housewife discovering herself for the first time   this is far too simplistic for the character we have . again and again there are allusions to her having been a  bad housewife   not to mention that thing she does with trays  trying to look nurturing and comely and only succeeding in looking awkward . the daughter accuses her of having  sat in front of the tv all day  instead of  well  whatever her motherly duties might be presumed to have been she has no answer . she never was a model wife and mother  at least not to herself  that  s where a lot of the poignancy comes from  the sense of someone having wasted a life trying to fulfil a role she simply wasn  t good at  ever .  
as a fan of the sookie stackhouse books  i find this series to be a totally crass representation of them . vampire bill is not very good looking and looks much older than described in the book . i found that they have made already wonderfully colourful characters seem very course and vulgar . one of the things i loved about the books is that despite all the crap that she is going through sookie is always a lady  and yet in the tv series she doesn  t seem like that at all . not only that but the prejudices displayed in the tv series are not nearly as wide spread in the books . i didn  t expect an exact replica of the books but i at least expected the feel of them to be used for the series .  
kids  of whatever age  do not want to know about their parents  sex lives . and grown  up children are often seriously baffled and disconcerted by any evidence that aging parents possess an active libido . lastly  many moviegoers are very uncomfortable watching a dowdy  frumpy widow who would pass unnoticed almost anywhere discover her aching capacity and need for raw passion with a handsome man half her age .  br    br    the mother  is a provocative look at a scarcely filmed reality  a woman who isn  t ready to stay home  watch  the telly   and vegetate after her husband of nearly three decades  and a controlling  dominating chap at that  packs it in with a massive heart attack .  br    br   may  anne reid  and her husband have two children  each dysfunctional in his or her own way . the male son lives with a beautiful wife who may well be driving him to the bankruptcy court with her extravagant commercial venture . paula  cathryn bradshaw   is a teacher with aspirations of succeeding as a writer . she  s attractive  not pretty  and she seems to have a close relationship with mum  at first .  br    br   back at her house after burying her husband  may determines to not stay there . rejecting typical widowhood with its legacy of boring days and no adventure  she goes to stay with paula who has a young son . paula  s boyfriend  darren  daniel craig   is a ruggedly handsome contractor who seems to be taking an awfully long time to complete an addition to may  s son  s house . may is quite taken with hard  drinking  coke  sniffing darren whose treatment of paula ought to have alerted may that he was  for sure  a fellow of the royal academy of cads .  br    br   what follows is a torrid affair between darren and the besotted and now bubblingly alive  dare i say reborn   widow . the love scenes are graphic but take second place to amateur artist may  s pen and ink sketches of their trysts which then play a role in the enfolding drama  or debacle  take your pick  .  br    br   the theater in manhattan was packed for today  s early afternoon showing with well over half the audience in the range of may  s age . that some were shocked or disturbed to see her disporting herself with erotic abandon in the arms of a much younger man is an understatement .  br    br   this blindingly honest look at an older woman  s awakened passion after decades of dutifully obeying her husband  s desire that she stay at home and raise kids  she also mentions he didn  t like her to have friends  what a guy  surfaces a number of issues . while may  s dalliance with darren doesn  t constitute incest  there are real psychological dimensions  and issues  with a mother bedding her daughter  s lover . and paula isn  t made of the stoutest stuff to begin with . the affair  once disclosed  allows the peeling open of the mother  daughter relationship which  from paula  s viewpoint  left something to be desired . ms . bradshaw is excellent in the role of a daughter who wants her mother  s support as well as her love  she hasn  t been dealt a terrible hand by life but it isn  t a bed of roses either .  br    br   may is strong in her resolve to both acknowledge her sexuality and expect  indeed demand  a future of happiness . but she is also inescapably vulnerable . she  s fishing in uncharted emotional waters . who controls her relationship with darren and why are difficult issues for her to understand  much less resolve . in her sixties  she  s still a work in progress .  br    br    something  s gotta give  recently showcased mature sexuality but in an amusingly antiseptic way assuring no viewer would be discomfited . after all it  s jack nicholson and the always beautiful diane keaton cavorting in the world of the rich . and to insure that no serious psycho  social issues were explored  keaton  s young girlfriend  amanda peet  daughter of keaton  not only blesses the match but insures that the audience knows she and her old  er  would  be lover never hopped into the sack .  br    br   no easy out here . anne reid  s inspired performance forces discomfort on some while drawing respect from others . her naked body bursts with sexuality for some and appears absurd as an object of physical attraction to others  the comments of audience members leaving today reflected all these views  .  br    br   kudos to director roger michell for tackling a fascinating story with verve and empathy .  br    br       .  
man  i really find it hard to believe that the wonderful alan ball had anything to do with this mess . having seen the first two episodes thus far  i think i can safely say this show isn  t going to be on my must see list . it  s just got so many things working against it .  br    br   none of the actors cast are particularly good . anna paquin as the lead character sookie  is just awful . i remember her being better in a lot of other things i  ve seen her in so maybe it  s just the writing . she  s not really much fun to look at either  there are moments where to be honest she looks downright ugly . the actor who plays bill is marginally better  if only because his character is supposed to be sort of wooden and aloof . the other actors do their best but with the clich characters with difficult to perform accents they are given it  s a tough job . tara is an absolute misery to watch  rutina wesley absolutely murders the accent . it  s like nails on a chalkboard bad . almost as awful is nelsan ellis  it  s difficult to understand what he  s even saying sometimes . both his character as well as tara  s also seem a bit racist to me . i don  t know  having a character say  whycome  on an hbo show that isn  t the wire just seems a bit odd . rounding out the cast so far are sookie  s doddering grandmother  her sex addict brother  and the only bit of genius casting i  ve seen in william sanderson as the sheriff .  br    br   the story seems to be meandering towards it  s destination at this point  with no real worry about keeping the viewer interested . the romance stuff is very dark shadow  sy . although this show ups the camp factor from something like those old dark shadows episodes times about ten . at times it seemed so campy to me  that i just have to assume it was intended to be . but unlike a show such as buffy  that pulled camp off masterfully  this show does not . out of place with the campiness is the extreme gore and graphic sex of the show . i  m not averse to either of these when they are done well  as they have in many other hbo shows but here at least they prolonged rough sex scenes involving jason stackhouse seem a bit over the top and pointless .  br    br   about the only nice thing i can really think to say about this mess is that i liked the opening title sequence . hbo has had a string of bad luck with their shows lately  i hope they cancel this after the first season and try to get something better on the air .  
when tsui hark experiments  nothing and no one can withstand him . legend of zu is possibly  hours condensed into  h   . one does not understand all  but like at      a space odyssey  you also don  t have to  but one feels the power of the film to every second  every picture . an extraordinary vision of the future of the  th art and the one of the most pioneering  astounding  rejoicing in the recent years . vital severe masterpiece  it  s absolutely perfect as it is .  br    br   when tsui hark experiments  nothing and no one can withstand him . legend of zu is possibly  hours condensed into  h   . one does not understand all  but one feels the power of the film to every second  every picture . an extraordinary vision of the future of the  th art and the one of the most pioneering  astounding  rejoicing in the recent years . vital severe masterpiece  it  s absolutely perfect as it is .                               
i rarely make these comments but i felt compelled to spare others the pain i endured in watching this movie . it  s so stupid and implausible both in the overall story and in the details that you simply can  t suspend disbelief . the problem starts early  when you see a government researcher tooling around in a new porsche and dining with his team in a restaraunt that looks like a castle  overlooking the capitol building in washington  d . c . that kind of life on a government salary  hah  it only gets worse . toward the end  when the bad guy starts killing off the good guys  the latter group act so stupidly that you want them to die  in order to cleanse the gene pool . the special effects are pretty good  any producer  s money can buy that  and the lead actors have been great in other films  but the screenplay and direction here are moronic . many people have wondered whether there was some deliberate intelligence behind paul verhoeven  s previous  facially stupid movies  showgirls  starship troopers   but this movie should stop the wondering . he  s just plain bad .  
in my mind  this remains one of the very best depictions of superman on tv  as well as one of the most faithful to a particular comics period .  br    br   this series paid homage to both the superman films of the    s     s and the superman comics series  reboot  of      onward   man of steel    superman vol     action comics    adventures of superman   etc  . the opening score and titles were stirring  based on the john williams score from the films  updated for a saturday morning action series . marv wolfman  one of the main contributors to the comics reboot  writer of  adventures of superman   was a perfect choice to be involved in this animated series . overall  the series had a more mature feel while continuing to be very kid  friendly .  br    br   superman was presented as believable  strong  and iconic . his recurring nemesis was lex luthor in his megalomaniac  ceo incarnation . the daily planet characters lois  jimmy  and perry were portrayed well . one of my favorite appearances was by wonder woman  and the story revolved around her home island of themyscira   paradise island   . both her design and that of her mother hippolyte were in keeping with the similarly rebooted wonder woman comic book series of the era  and it seemed like an equally well  done animated series could have been developed for her if handled the same .  br    br   the one thing that is hard to believe is that this has not been released on dvd  blu  ray  it deserves to be .  
when i first watched the show  the first few episodes seemed promising . bill compton introduced himself as the stereotypical  mysterious  vampire and sookie presented herself as an independent woman . however  the show went downhill from here and the once interesting characters are as entertaining as a cardboard box .  br    br   as the story progresses the main characters lose their original personalities  along with their acting abilities . by episode   bill  s furrowed eyebrows are so low that his face just consists of a forehead . sookie  or rather the actress  is even more dead than her vampire lover . all these tragic events are surrounding her and she only reacts to how enjoyable it was losing her virginity . personally  i think they made the main characters sleep with each other too early in the show . the way they teased each other was something that had me hooked and could easily be toyed with a bit more . as soon as sookie loses it she struts around like a total ditz  only thinking of bill  s libido and the size of his appendage . bill also loses his debonair attitude and well  he just gets plain silly . his actions are never really explained except he does it for sookie . why  their love for each other is never delved into  if there is any love . so far it just seems to be sex that is the core of their relationship .  br    br   yeah  yeah  vampires usually equal sex but come on . every five seconds i see some sort of humping going on . it wasn  t that much of a surprise  since hbo always tries to pass of a soft core porno as a decent tv show . bill popping out of the dirt and just getting it on with sookie with no reason what  s so ever  i laughed so hard i almost peed myself .  br    br   the plot is just a stream of consciousness . the characters never go into detail about anything . all the events that happen are usually left unexplained . the only thing that is constant is the sex .  br    br   the only thing i can say that i do like are the minor characters . tara and her drunk mother are far more interesting than the major characters . the only reason why i continue to watch the show is for the development of the minor characters .  br    br   minus the sex and the main characters the show would be much more worthwhile .  
after the superfriends and scooby doo left the saturday morning airwaves in the fall of      i pretty much stopped watching saturday morning cartoons at that point since those were the only two that kept me tuning in . and since neither the real ghostbusters nor the flintstone kids seemed very promising to me  i  retired  and started sleeping in on saturday mornings . i only returned to saturday morning tv in     for that one year only for one and only one animated show .  br    br   a new animated show of superman was something i was not going to pass up . i was   and in high school at the time  but so what  i loved this show . from what i can recall  this series was a gift to fans i suppose in celebration of superman  s   th birthday that particular year . it had the theme music and the music style reminiscent of john williams movie score from the richard donner  christopher reeve superman movies . i honestly felt that the animation style ruby spears did was reminiscent of the super powers team galactic guardians series by hanna barbera a few years before . sadly  danny dark was not back as superman  but i felt beau weaver did a very impressive job as the voice of superman and his clark kent was nerdy like the chris reeve version . after hearing him as reed richards  mr . fantastic on the    s fantastic four  i could still see this version of superman in my mind . ginny mcswain as lois lane . lol  what a rhyme . she was a voice director for hanna barbera and ruby spears and i guess she took it upon herself to do lois . memories of the superfriends lingered in this series when it came to the voice over cast . jimmy olsen is mark taylor  who on the superfriends was formerly firestorm . perry white is none other than former batman tv writer stanley ralph ross  who on superfriends was gorilla grodd and brainiac in the super powers shows . and lex luthor  now a wise cracking billionaire tycoon is none other than superfriends voice alum  michael bell  whom i know best as zan and the riddler as well as many other characters on many other series .  br    br   i felt this series was a combination of the movie superman along with the post crisis john byrne re envision of superman  with lex luthor as a billionaire tycoon  jonathan and martha kent being alive to see clark as superman . the bruce timm series and lois and clark would also do this . unfortunately  we never saw brainiac  bizarro  toyman  metallo  or darkseid . other than luthor  we saw only the prankster and we did see general zod . i especially enjoyed that one episode with wonder woman  who was voiced over by bj ward who played her on the super powers team as well .  br    br   the episodes were smashing and i also enjoyed clark  s growing and development stories from infancy to childhood to adolescence to an adult moving to metropolis in the short little segment  superman  s family album .  br    br   the only two things i didn  t like . it only lasted one season . and after wonder woman  s guest spot  i was hoping batman would turn up voiced over by adam west  still thinking about the super powers team episodes i guess  . i also hoped for it because on the prankster episode  the metropolis baseball team was pitted against the gotham goliaths .  br    br   every popular super hero has one cartoon series that is ultra rare . for spiderman  i feel it  s the     solo series that aired the same time as amazing friends . for the incredible hulk  it  s the     cartoon . for the fantastic four  it  s the     series with herbie the robot . for batman  it  s the new adventures of batman     by filmation featuring batmite . but for superman  the rarest series is this one .  br    br   superman books and documentaries never cover or mention it . this is another series that wb should consider for dvd release . all in all  this     version of superman is well . . . . super    
for every series that makes it to television  a    ideas are formed    scripts are written    pilots are made  and one  just one  actually makes it to production . from such a selection process  we are lead to believe that the final product must be the cream of the crop  for what other reason could so many ideas be rejected to give us a single television series .  br    br   and so it goes with true blood all the stars were in alignment and what started as a series of novels was transformed into an idea  a screen play  a pilot  and finally a series . unfortunately  it can sometimes be a long journey and along the way there are many turns that ultimately change what was good and pure into and show that production people feel would be best for ratings . oh how wrong they so often are . . .  br    br   true blood is an example of a creative concept that has developed into one of the poorest story lines  worst acting  and silliest subplots as anything in recent television history . its international cast of relatively unknown actors struggle to find their voices but keep tripping over their fake southern accents . alan ball  s not so secret desires for ryan  jason stackhouse  gives us a fresh nude shot each week although it often has nothing to do with the storyline . tara  s angry black woman characterization fails to connect and you find yourself secretly hoping the vamps take her out quickly before she goes into another speech about white suppression while attend a ceremony for the glorious dead of the confedercy . sam finds suppressed love for sookie and suddenly we are to believe he needs to watch over her morning  noon  and night despite years of working with her and avoiding any such relationship .  br    br   as for bill the vampire  his moral high ground is quickly surrendered at the first chance to make love with sookie and has no issue with make a quick snack of her  although she remains somewhat unharmed  . we find the other vampires not so mainstream as bill but greatly desiring to become accepted by a public as they look at the living as happy meals with legs .  br    br   despite my best efforts of suffering through the first six episodes  i have come to the realization that no matter how long you watch a bad show  its still bad . somethings die for a reason  even vampires . maybe this show should to .  
after some difficulty  johnny yuma arrives at his ailing uncle  s ranch to take over day to day operations  only to find out that the old man has been murdered by his beautiful gold  digger wife and the woman  s vicious brother .  br    br   good production values  a likable performance by mark damon  and a breezy action packed script combine to make this an entertaining  if not exceptionally deep  above average addition to the spaghetti western genre .  br    br   co  star rosalba neri is one of the hottest european babes ever to grace the screen . here she  s absolutely perfect as the cold  hearted user  and abuser  of weak men .  br    br   damon and neri appeared together in at least one other picture  the devil  s wedding night  a pretty good horror movie that  s of particular interest for those of you that want to see what  s underneath rosalba  s dresses .  
this show had a lot of hype but i didn  t know about it until the midseason  season   . someone even recommended the show to me . but i decided that if i was going to watch it  i was going to wait until the end of the season so i could watch it in bulk . due to the show  s format  i  m happy i waited . i imagine it would have been fairly annoying have nearly every episode end in the middle of some cliff hanger then have to wait another week to find out what happens in the next second of the story .  br    br   somehow  this show has managed to throw in too much sex . jason will have sex with pretty much anything that moves . right after he finds out that one woman he had sex with was killed  he  s in bed with another woman the next night  then tara and sam get it on  despite each of them knowing that sam is in love with sookie . and for some reason  sookie gets mad when she later finds out about it   even though she  s sleeping with a vampire . one of the problems with the show  is that it doesn  t do a good job of making you care about the characters . i really didn  t care for jason at all . along with his endless pursuit of tale  he was rude to the people who actually were concerned for him . after a few episodes  i wouldn  t have minded if he got killed somehow . for that reason  i was for the most part uninterested in the murders until sookie  s grandmother became a victim  since the first two were more closely involved with jason  .  br    br   then once sookie and bill have sex  the story gets a few more subplots . tara  s mother wants an exorcism  then the exorcist lady tries to convince tara that she should have one to remove her own demon . i wasn  t so much bothered by the whole exorcism thing as i know there are some people who really believe in that stuff . however  they waste little time in showing that is it a farce right after tara spends about      on exorcisms for her and her mother . at other points  some of the developments happen too fast . jason continues being a jerk  trying to sell his grandmother  s stuff to buy vampire blood  which apparently is the new crack or something . in his search he finds this girl who will do v  vampire blood  with him . they get high  and within three days fall in love with each other and kidnap a vampire for a constant source of v . another example is when bill has to go to a vampire tribunal . he  s only gone for two days before sookie starts to feel abandoned and start to wonder if he thinks  vampire politics  are more important than her .  br    br   subtlety is not this show  s strong suit . it doesn  t take a genius to figure out something is going on with the local dog . although my assumption wasn  t dead on  it wasn  t that much of a surprise . but the finale two episodes was where it really got annoying as it just shoved all the developments in your face as if you couldn  t possibly figure the out for yourself . when tara gets into the car accident  the naked lady  s face with the pig is clearly shown  and was easily recognizable when she shows up at the jail for the bailout . as if that wasn  t enough  they later show the lady again with the pig at her house . then it  s time to wrap up the murder story . at the end of the penultimate episode  it  s revealed that renee is not who he says he is and most likely is the killer . in the final episode  they shove renee being the killer in your face . sookie remarks that it  s odd that renee  s thoughts don  t have an accent . i thought that was fine  as it adds to renee being a fraud . but the next scene is full of incriminating evidence against renee . they show that renee has the tape of maudette with the vampire and his fiance finds a tape in one of renee  s boxes about how to fake a cajun accent . at this point it was just ridiculous . i mean we get it    so blah blah blah stuff happens . bill almost kills himself while failing to save sookie  who still manages to kill renee . they start to set up season  by leaving unfinished issues . the naked pig lady and sam have a history  lafayette has gone missing and might have been killed . jason is in the process of being brainwashed into being a religious nut by some anti  vampire church   which makes me care about him even less .  br    br   it  s almost surprising to see how many people absolutely love this show . i think i just expected this show to be better . i  m interested in seeing what happens in season   but if i watch it  i  ll most likely wait for the season completion .  
in the opening scene  the eye patch wearing desperado named hawkeye has a smooth forehead  but when he follows johnny into the pueblo  he  s shown with a scar over his patched eye . that  s just one of the many continuity lapses in this edgy  spaghetti  western  but rather than detract from the picture  it adds a special flavor to the proceedings .  br    br   another occurs when sanchez turns in his three dead bodies  they have to be examined for their identities   you just can  t imagine how many false cadavers we have in our town  . immediately after  carradine  lawrence dobkin  shows up to collect his bounty with no more than a wanted poster in hand .  br    br   as for the film  s principal johnny yuma  mark damon   he  s shown with his holster alternately on his right and left hip throughout the movie after exchanging gun belts with carradine following the barroom brawl . johnny  s bound for san margo at his uncle  s request  but will have to avenge his death at the hands of deceitful wife samantha  rosalba neri  and her conniving brother pedro  louis vanner  . it takes some time getting there  but it  s a fun ride with one of the best music scores on record . as for that saloon fight  i got a kick out of the kung fu sound effects every time a punch connected .  br    br   care for some more story exaggerations  following the duel with pedro the first time  johnny wipes a small amount of blood from his lip which he manages to smear pedro  s entire face with . similarly  when pedro smacks around little pepe later in the film he doesn  t cut him  but by the time johnny arrives  pepe  s face is covered with blood .  br    br    johnny yuma  is probably one of the best of the genre that doesn  t have clint eastwood in it . as johnny  mark damon is a reasonably suitable stand in but without the seething exterior . carradine seemed to be a replacement for the obligatory lee van cleef character  without being a total bad guy . at first the identity exchange between carradine and johnny didn  t seem to make sense  but it all tied together by the time the film ended . you knew each henchman would wind up getting his due marking time for each was part of the anticipation .  br    br   in case you  re wondering  the title hero has nothing to do with the nick adams character from the classic tv western  the rebel  . in this film  johnny got his name from a gunfight he had in yuma once .  br    br   perhaps the most unique element of the story had to do with the way it tied things up with the evil samantha who pulled the strings behind the scenes throughout . after shooting carradine she beats a hasty retreat before johnny can get his revenge . still alive  it looks like carradine tries to shoot her and misses  but it doesn  t take long for johnny and sanchez to track her into the dessert where she perished without water  carradine aimed for her canteen .  
after watching some of hbo  s great stuff  band of brothers  rome  etc .  i must say i had pretty high expectations before watching the first episode of  true blood  . jeez . often the script seemed to be written by an   year  old  some parts are just horribly filmed   the scene in which she  saves  bill  i mean come on . she throws a chain at the guy and ow  it goes around his neck and it magically chokes him  that was pretty embarrassing if you want my opinion . or a few moments before that scene  when she finds out that the couple is gone with bill  ridiculous . she hears them plan their stuff  and like  seconds later  magic  the  of them are gone  and without any struggle or noise or anything   br    br   i mean the idea of the show seemed interesting  mysterious  intriguing  vampires co  existing with human in our modern society . . . but honestly i don  t think they really wanted to make more of this than a petty soap show  that the average teen girl watches all the time but that nobody else cares about . . . unfortunately  the script is written poorly  mediocre at best . it  s shallow and extremely predictable . often i thought that this was some kind of a joke or something .  br    br   the actors deliver really unconvincing performances  if you want my opinion . they seem to take the show very lightly  as if it were some kind of a regular  low budget family tv show  well maybe thats what it is  if you take away the family part  . the only actor that seemed somewhat good to me was stephen moyer in the role of bill  considering the poorly written  extremely short replies he had to say  what are you . . .   can i give you a call sometime . . .   i think he did good in bringing out the somewhat mysteriously scary part of a vampire that anyone with a vampire role must have  actually . anna paquin was okay as well  but not more . but the guy  playing her brother though  jeez  he  s horrible . the scene in which he gets arrested is just simply a shame to modern television . the acting is bad  the construction site looks fake to the bone  and the two other guys  why is he getting arrested  uh . . i dunno . . .  that was pretty embarrassing .  br    br   another thing that i think was completely missed was the way they presented sookie  s psychic powers . they make us hear what people think and speak both at the same time and thats just wrong . often it just seems unnecessarily chaotic  as if people  s thought were some sort of an annoying radio channel  and that when she comes close to em she hits the right frequency level and has to hear everything that they think .  br    br   and finally  the sex scenes are just plainly unnecessary and that vampire sex tape thing was just totally disgusting .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i wrote all these comments not because i thought the show was bad  but because i was very disappointed . i expected quality stuff . i didn  t think it was going to be like that . it  s definitely not a good show though . mediocre at best .  
spoiler for anyone who is lucky enough to ever see this film  so not really spoiler after all  . saw this film when it was released and can still remember parts of it . it  s all set in a small town in the west or what is left of that town . it more resembles a ghost town with few inhabitants . among them a couple  where the wife is especially wicked . she lets her man die in the end of the film and leaves the town but has to cross the desert . we never know what happens to her next but just before she left her dying man shoots after her and deliberately does not hit her and instead the water supply . she is not aware of that soon she will be very thirsty . mark damon kills a couple of bad guys in a funny manor  but that  s another story  which i don  t remember too good . the remaining impression of the film was that it was one of the first times i saw a really wicked woman on film  who pretends to be anything but wicked  can  t be compared with the witch in  snowwhite   who  in comparison is easy to find out . very tight western with few main characters and still absorbing .  
one of those classics  held up next to  deep throat  and  behind the green door .   br    br   sure  it was clever  but the female lead isn  t that attractive and sex isn  t that hot . but if not for this film  porn would not have blossomed into what it is today .  br    br   harry reems was the ron jeremy of his day . worth a look if you  re a fan .  
one of the more satisfying western all  italiana  johnny yuma has the freshness of many wai made during the heyday of the genre and is highly recommended for fans of the genre or offbeat  intelligent cinema .  br    br   johnny yuma is  in most respects  not terribly original  but this actually does not count against it . the success of a genre film depends on how well it meets the audience  s expectations as well as provides surprising variations on these expected elements . earlier  pleasing experiences are recreated but with subtle  or major  twist that provide continuing interest . the quality of the execution is also  obviously  important . a tired retread will be less successful than a sincere attempt to entertain or move the audience .  br    br   given these criteria  johnny yuma succeeds . there are numerous reprises of elements from earlier films . the setting is the brutal  twisted semi  feudal twilight world of shared by many of the best  gothic family  westerns made          such as tempo di massacre       . the plot is a combination of the basic fistful of dollars       plot and the ringo films  a fact not surprising as screenwriter fendiando di leo was involved in both . di leo was one of the best screenwriters in the popular cinema coming out of cinecitta in the     s    s and his work helped provide much of the thematic continuities and coherency to the genre  along with a couple of other personalities in a few distinct circles of actors  directors  and screenwriters  . in the fod plot  the protagonist arrives in town  stirs up a tense situation  then undergoes a near  death followed by a resurrection  in some films  like quella sporca storia nel west       it is quite literally a crucifixion  . the catholic undertone to the narrative and the symbolism is intriguing  especially given the implicit populist  explicit socialist leanings of the filmmakers and their films . the ringo plot  developed more fully by screenwriter ernesto gastaldi in a series of films starring guliano gemma  a egoistic protagonist chooses the interest of a community over his own through the medium of a relationship with a member of that community  with a healthy dash ironic uncertainty  .  br    br   the relationship between carradine and johnny is clearly based on that of manco  mortimer from a fistful of dollar       . the two scene of the exchange of the gun belts provides a clever dialog and understanding between the two . numerous films  including da uomo a uomo       or even el chuncho  quin sabe         use this relationship between an older and younger man  father  son  older  younger brother  anglo adviser  adversary and peasant revolutionary  as a central dynamic to the plot .  br    br   additionally  there is the focus on deception and misdirection  mazes and mirrors  that recur throughout the best early wai . the canons and pueblos of almeria become literal mazes through which protagonist and antagonist play shifting games of cat and mouse .  br    br   what distinguishes johnny yuma from other wai is the quality of director romolo guerriri  s use of visual  psychological space together arrangement with the script  s intelligent mechanisms to forward the plot . dialogue was never very important to the wai and often absurdly unintelligible  thought there are exceptions  such as the cynical commentaries in django       or faccia a faccia       .  br    br   psychological depth of character is created almost entirely through iconic imagery  it  s juxtapositions  and it  s description of the overall narrative situation . see how the presence of the deadly samantha is felt during the beating scene  watching from the roof or from the background of the action . or how johnny strips samantha and pedro of their security and confidence in their power through his stealthy invasions of their ranch  hotel  even bedroom  this  again  is a theme from fod  . finally  note how there is a focus on the search for information . like many elements  this is borrowed from fod which was ultimately based on the hard  boiled mystery novel red harvest . it is through incidental contacts  wanted posters  overheard conversations  glances out of windows  watches left in the dust  or mistaken identities and movements through the ripples created by the actions of pedro and samantha within this surreal and absurd reality that the narrative tacks forward to it  s conclusion .  br    br   the movie was notable in it  s time for what were perceived of as excesses in violence . of course  these films were hardly more violent than many american westerns . what was different was the psychological intensity of the violence and the causes to which it was attributed  which is to say that it was not the violence but it  s meaning that had changed . johnny yuma is distinct and interesting in it  s use and portrayal of violence and this is another interesting aspect of the film .  br    br   what i personally find most interesting about most of this genre is the link it provides to the anonymous  nameless audiences in italy and spain to whom these recurrent narratives held some significance and interest . the artifact may have no intrinsic worth in and of itself  some flint debitage from a prehistoric site  a shard of cruse pottery  or a moldering piece of leather and rusted metal  but it is reference to some nameless presence  lives  that were significant simply because they existed . while johnny yuma has intrinsic worth  much of it  s interest for me derives from this connection and mystery .  br    br   top spaghetti western list http   imdb . com  mymovies  list  l          br    br   average sws http   imdb . com  mymovies  list  l          br    br   for fanatics only  bottom of the barrel  http   imdb . com  mymovies  list  l          
a friend gave it to me saying it was another classic like  debbie does dallas  . nowhere close . i think my main complaint is about the most unattractive lead actress in porn industry ever . even more terrible is that she is on screen virtually all the time . but i read somewhere that back in those days  porn had to have some  artistic  value . i was unable to find it though . see it only if you are interested in history of development of porn into mainstream  or can appreciate art in porn movies . i know i am not . but the director of the movie appears to be a talented person . he even tried to get simon  garfunkel to give him permissions to use his songs . of course  they rejected .  
this wonderful little film has all of the elements that made the spaghetti western so exciting and fun great music  by one of the few . . if not the only . . female composer to work in the genre  nora orlandi   exciting action sequences  and very vicious ones for the day    and beautiful scenery and sets  all in almeria  spain  of course  . it also has a very good story with a nice tragic romance edge to it . the actors do marvelous jobs   with truly standout performances from lawrence dobkin and rosalba neri  in the most vital role for a female in a spaghetti western . . outside of cardinale in leone  s  once upon a time in the west   . without posting any spoilers  let me just say that this movie contains one of the best endings of any film i have ever seen   
there is a dvd published in the uk in     code hrgd    on the cover  no asin  vfc      on the disk  no ifpi code in the inner rim .  br    br   probably a straight transfer from vhs .  br    br   there is no much point is commenting an adult film . but this one contains a minimal plot  and the characters are believable . it was shown in the united states in normal cinemas .  br    br   i  ve seen it in pensylvannia way back in     .  br    br   as such it deserves a place in an encyclopedia of movies . the dvd has no special features and no subtitles  and was probably made using a vhs tape as source  
this is a very memorable spaghetti western . it has a great storyline  interesting characters  and some very good acting  especially from rosalba neri . her role as the evil villainess in this film is truly classic . she steals every scene she is in  and expresses so much with her face and eyes  even when she  s not speaking . her performance is very believable . she manages to be quite mesmerizing without being over the top  not that there  s anything wrong with being over the top  . mark damon is surprisingly good in this movie too .  br    br   the music score is excellent  and the theme song is the kind that will be playing in your head constantly for days after seeing the movie  whether you want it to or not . there are a couple of parts that are very amusing . i especially like the part where rosalba neri undresses in front of the parrot . there  s also lots of slick gun  play that  s very well done .  br    br   i would probably have given this movie  or  stars if it wasn  t for two things . the first being a silly bar room brawl that occurs about   minutes into the film . this is one of the most ridiculous looking fights i have ever seen in a movie . it is very poorly choreographed  and looks more like a dance number from a bad musical than any kind of a real fight . one might be able to overlook this if it were a terence hill  bud spencer comedy  but this is a more serious western  and the brawl really needed to be more realistic . the other thing that annoyed me about this movie was yuma  s cowardly mexican sidekick . i guess he was supposed to be comic relief or something  but the character was just plain stupid and unnecessary in a movie like this  and he wasn  t at all funny . all i can say is where is tuco when you need him   br    br   all that having been said  let me assure everyone reading this that johnny yuma is a classic spaghetti western despite the faults i have mentioned  and all fans of the genre need to see this movie .  
yes  this film gets a lot of attention and is considered a classic in the adult film genre . still  i did not like this one at all . about a woman who commits suicide in a scene more fitting a horror movie  she is given the opportunity to return to earth briefly to live the life of lust she never did before in her mundane life . crappy sex scenes to follow . why are they crappy  for one they try so hard to be artistic that they take away from the actual sex act . i mean we watch porn for the sex do we not . little girls blue also does things in an artistic way  but it is still very erotic and nice to look at . of course the girls in that one are very cute . here we have a rather unattractive lead actress and that does not help things . if you find the lead in your adult film unappealing there is no amount of artistic vision that is going to make me enjoy the film . the sex scenes range from yuck to bizarre . . . i mean there is a snake in one of them people . so for me this movie just fails as it does not excite me at all  but rather turns me off .  
the tenants began as a     short novel by the now deceased bernard malamud  writer  philosopher  examining the conflicts between jews and african americans in the incendiary atmosphere of brooklyn at the time the book was written . as a novel the story was gut wrenchingly real as transcribed into a screenplay by novices david diamond and danny green  who also directs  it is more of a cerebral dissertation that gradually erupts into action in the final moments .  br    br   harry lesser  dylan mcdermott  is a jewish novelist with one book under his belt but currently attempting to finish his  newest  book ten years into the writing . convinced that he must complete the novel in the same environment where it was started . he is the sole tenant in a condemned brooklyn tenement owned by levinspiel  seymour cassel  who constantly tries to  buy out  harry  s lease so that the filthy dilapidated building can be demolished . into this atmosphere enters another black militant quasi  anti  semitic writer willie spearmint  snoop dogg  whom harry befriends  hides  and offers help to the nascent novelist  s attempt to write about the death of all white people . harry  s attempts to help willie lead to conflict  not the least of which is harry  s meeting willie  s girlfriend  the white jewish irene bell  rose byrne  at a less than friendly gathering of willie  s militant black brothers and sisters . willie and irene are on the skids and harry gradually falls in love with irene and they plan to leave new york as soon as harry finishes his novel . when willie hears of the assignation and is further critiqued by harry  willie explodes and begins the downward descent of not only a delicate friendship but also a competition between writers . the ending  reveals the slippery nature of the human condition  and the human capacity for violence and undoing  .  br    br   the actors do their best with a script that is a bit awkward but despite scripted lines that border on preaching they create believable characters . the cinematography enhances the story  keeping the mood dank and dense and primarily confined to the condemned building . the musical score appropriately makes use of the solo jazz trumpet and blues piano to underline the tension and isolation of each of these groundless characters . though it takes some patience to make it through the cerebral ramblings  the film in the end is worth watching . at least it attempts to recreate malamud  s bizarre look at life in the big city . grady harp  
this film is too skeletal . it  s a fairly low  budget film  i hope   which excuses it somewhat  but the lack of a decent cast and a fleshed out plot hurts it too much . phillips is quite believable in his role as a torn  apart son of a well  off family who  s searching for himself  though his family is . . . er . . . well  a little too white . . .   but the rest of the cast is grasping at straws . every moment that has potential is ruined by excessive melodrama  and there are way too many sub  plots  which is an obvious sign of plot  deficiency . they needed filler . . .  i wouldn  t recommend this film to anyone who isn  t either a hard  core phillips fan  or who has absolutely nothing to do .     .  
being that i am not a fan of snoop dogg  as an actor  that made me even more anxious to check out this flick . i remember he was interviewed on  jay leno   and said that he turned down a role in the big  budget adam sandler comedy  the longest yard  to be in this film . so obviously  snoop was on a serious mission to prove that he has acting chops . i  m not going to overpraise snoop for his performance in  the tenants .  there are certainly better rapper  actors  like mos def  who could  ve done more with his role . but the point is snoop did a  good  job . he can  t seem to shake off some of his trademark body movements and vocal inflections  but that  s something even jack nicholson has a problem doing . the point is i found him convincing in the role  and the tension between him and dylan mcdermott  s character captivating . mcdermott  by the way  gives the best performance in the film  though his subtle acting will most likely be overshadowed by snoop  s not  so  subtle acting . being a big reader and aspiring writer myself  i couldn  t help but find the characters and plot somewhat fascinating . it did aggravate me how snoop  s character would constantly ask mcdermott to read his work  and berate him for criticizing it . but you know what  i  m sure a lot of writers are like that . his character was supposed to be flawed  as was mcdermott  s  in his own way . my only mild criticism of the film would be its ending . for some reason  it just felt too rushed for me  though the resolution certainly made sense and was motivated by the characters  rather than plot .  
dakota       was another early lou diamond phillips starring vehicle . this film is similar to the later released film harley . there are a few differences but they  re both the same . i don  t know which one came first . i guess it  ll remain one of the mysteries of life . but they both are troubled  kids  who are trying to turn there lives around . instead of bikes this one involves horses . they  re basically the same movie and they  re both cheesy as hell . if you  re a serious l . d . p . fan then i recommend that you watch them both . you get some extreme mugging and posturing from l . d . p . if you  re game then go for it .  br    br   not recommended  except for l . d . p . fans     
i just came back from hong kong on my summer vacation and saw the legend of zu . i thought it kicked as  it was so creative and unique . it  s the crouching tiger hidden dragon with a lot less drama . even if some thought there was too much special fx  yeah right    you can  t complain about the cast . zhang ziyi and cecilia cheung are so fine    the legend of zu . . . . . kicks as          
that  s what i found myself saying time after time in the remarkably inept  rd act of this sorry excuse for a film . first off  the computer effects are absolutely mind  blowing  those computer wizs  really deserve a pat on the back . the rest of the movie  though . . .  br    br   none of the characters act in a realistic manner  especially in the aforementioned  despicable  rd act  i promise i won  t give it away  but trust me  it  s not worth keeping a secret   . a lot of laughs in the film come unintentionally  like when they try to explain that an invisible man  s eyelids don  t work . please  give the viewers more credit than that     br    br   some of the sexual aspects of the film were interesting . what would you do  after all  if you were invisible  no one could catch you  these issues were dealt much more intelligently in the classic the invisible man from     . there is one scene of violence in particular that is so incredibly ambiguous  and is not mentioned once later on . if more attention had been paid it  kevin bacon  s mad scientist might have made a little more sense .  br    br   the movie would actually be much more successful as a porno  since the premise could actually be carried out in a unique and interesting manner . but this piece of work . . . go see something else . or don  t  and live with the consequences   br    br        
pinjar by mr dwivedi is an awesome movie . its definitely the greaest and finest of     . there are very good performances in it . dwivedi knows what he can extract from mast urmila . she is like u have never seen before . one true great performance . along with her is a fine actor manoj bajpai  who has shown bollywood what he is with bhiku mhatre . the movie is about a girl  urmila  living in pre  partition pakistan . she is from a punjabi family livin in a small town . she is been kidnapped by a muslim guy as a part of a going  on  for  years kinda fight with the punjabi family . and then follows a series of twists and turns as urmila  s arranged marriage is due in few days . this movie is truly a very good movie . the storyline is solid with an amazing screenplay . all the performances like lillete dubey  isha koppikar  u wont believ but she can act as well besides jus dancin on khallas   kulbhushan kharbanda and many more . those sets with pre  partition pakistan  costumes  cinematography  sound  background score add to the positive points . from the start till the end u r stuck to u  r seat with the question whats next  this movie is not jus worth watchin but deserved to be a part of your movie collection . the ultimate scene is the end of the movie . i would suggest all those no  kabhi  khushi  kabhi  gum  and  no  dil  to  pagal  hai crowd to watch this amazing flick . my rating      .  
i will never be a member of any club that would have me   br    br   especially this one .  br    br   starr andreeff is a single mom  stripper who gets attacked by a  br    br   female vampire and left for dead . she begins to get a hankering for  br    br   blood  and meets up with john savage  looking like he  s  br    br   wondering where he left michael cimino  s phone number . savage  br    br   is also a vampire and wants to let andreef join his little vampire  br    br   family  which consists of a british vamp  the blonde vamp who  br    br   attacked starr  and a green haired midget  i am not making this  br    br   up  .  br    br   the family does not want starr  so they try to kill savage and starr  br    br   and starr  s kid .  br    br   someone forgot to tell john savage that this was a drama . he  br    br   spends most of his screen time exhibiting more facial tics than  br    br   hugh grant on a jolt cola bender  and he reads all of his lines like  br    br   he is making a farrelly brothers film . andreeff tries to make the  br    br   most of a badly written role  but screenwriter  director ruben goes  br    br   for all the vampire cliches  like starr eating her son  s pet hamster  br    br   and buying a lot of raw meat to fight the craving for blood . the kid  br    br   also gets knocked around a lot  for those who think watching  br    br   violence against children is really entertaining .  br    br   the film is extra gory  but not in a wild  over the top way like  killer  br    br   tongue .  here  the gore is gross and never justified  it just occurs .  br    br   it is just in the budget . most of the r rating goes to andreeff  s  br    br   coworkers  who are put through embarassing strip routines in the  br    br   background of conversation scenes . the budget does not include  br    br   vampire fangs  all the vampires here must stab their prey to eat .  br    br   nifty idea  unless you have already seen george romero  s  br    br    martin .   br    br   even at   minutes  and once you throw in ruben  s attempts at  br    br   arty direction  skewed frames  blurred scenes   this is one  br    br   tiresome  dull  and dirty ride . leave this club and take a shower   br    br   you will need it .  br    br   this is rated  r  for strong physical violence  gun violence  sexual  br    br   violence  strong gore  strong profanity  female nudity  sexual  br    br   references  drug abuse  and adult situations .  br    br    
a complex story laid on the background of partition of bharat . an honest muslim who kidnaps an innocent hindu girl  and an educated hindu who burns the harvest of a muslim man  yet in the end you end up liking them both . the story is powerful  yet the screenplay and flow are hesitant . background music score and the songs are outstanding . next comes memorable acting by veteran urmila matondkar . photography captures the time  the violence  and flavor of rural punjab very well . others actors either did not act well  or did not get a chance to act . direction is really the weakest link . the characters were not developed well . not crisp  in contrast to  the earth   where even a   line character leaves a mark . the end is very interesting . this story could have several different ending  and all of them could have been equally good .  
this is probably the worst movie ever made it is just to bad the name of roger corman is associated with it . i could  ve understand it in his early years when he had lower budgets but nowadays there is no excuses for giving birth to this  i  m a  b  movie pervert and from certain people point of view all the flicks i love are put aside by  regular viewers  but take my word on this one  vampire club makes the top of my list of the best of worst . it  s hard to imagine  vampires with no fangs  the music score is totally out of place  the sound effects are just not effective and finally mr . savage doesn  t seem to know he is in a vampire movie at all witch is too bad  cause he had a  not to bad  career over all . let me know i  f i  m to hard on this one cause when i don  t like a movie i tend to forget about it  s good side .  
another detailed work on the subject by dr dwivedi takes us back in time to pre  partioned panjab . dr dwivedi chose a difficult subject for his movie debut . he has worked on all meticulous details to bring the story to life . the treatment of the subject is very delicate .  br    br   even though we have not been to the region during that time  the sets and costumes look real . unlike most movies made on partition  this one focuses not on the gory details of violence to attract audience  but on its after  effects . the characters come to life . priyanshu chatterjee has given an impressive performance . manoj bajpai has acted his heart out showing the plight of a guilt  ridden man . the rest of the cast has done a good job too .  
this movie was horrible . i watched it three times  and not even the whole thing . it  s just impossible to watch  the story line sucks  it  s depressing  and utterly disgusting . i don  t write spoilers for anything  so if you want to know why it  s so disgusting  see it for yourself . the only good thing about this movie was john savage  his dialogue at the beginning  and some funny parts in the movie . the little kid in this movie is annoying  and the whole situation is bullshit . i saw this movie at movie stores around america  so i assumed it would be a good movie . jesus christ  was i wrong     the acting is all horrible  and the nudity itself is lame and nasty . another thing is  starr andreef  the other main character  hasn  t been in such bad movies in the past  in fact  she was in some pretty good ones . same with john savage . this movie sucks   
this is a extremely well  made film . the acting  script and camera  work are all first  rate . the music is good  too  though it is mostly early in the film  when things are still relatively cheery . there are no really superstars in the cast  though several faces will be familiar . the entire cast does an excellent job with the script .  br    br   but it is hard to watch  because there is no good end to a situation like the one presented . it is now fashionable to blame the british for setting hindus and muslims against each other  and then cruelly separating them into two countries . there is some merit in this view  but it  s also true that no one forced hindus and muslims in the region to mistreat each other as they did around the time of partition . it seems more likely that the british simply saw the tensions between the religions and were clever enough to exploit them to their own ends .  br    br   the result is that there is much cruelty and inhumanity in the situation and this is very unpleasant to remember and to see on the screen . but it is never painted as a black  and  white case . there is baseness and nobility on both sides  and also the hope for change in the younger generation .  br    br   there is redemption of a sort  in the end  when puro has to make a hard choice between a man who has ruined her life  but also truly loved her  and her family which has disowned her  then later come looking for her . but by that point  she has no option that is without great pain for her .  br    br   this film carries the message that both muslims and hindus have their grave faults  and also that both can be dignified and caring people . the reality of partition makes that realisation all the more wrenching  since there can never be real reconciliation across the india  pakistan border . in that sense  it is similar to  mr  mrs iyer  .  br    br   in the end  we were glad to have seen the film  even though the resolution was heartbreaking . if the uk and us could deal with their own histories of racism with this kind of frankness  they would certainly be better off .  
i was watching this with one of my friends  who is a vampire freak  and i was extremely disgusted at the fact that this film exists . this film should be shown to prisoners of war  yes  it  s that bad . even john mccain wouldn  t be able to sit through this . so why the     rating  because it had a vampire midget . come on  what  s more entertaining than a vampire midget  there  s one scene in this film where john savage gets laid by saying  i want to feel human again   and the chick  being the brainless stripper slut she is  lets him  feel human  . i wish i could  feel human  with jessica alba or megan fox . this is a movie for stoners . there is bright flashy objects and random movements . all in all  don  t waste your money on this garbage . i got it for free when i was walking down the street with my friend and we saw a garbage barrel full of video tapes and a sign that said  free  . so  in a way  i didn  t get ripped off  but still . . .  
i was very fond of this film . it kept me guessing till just before the very end what would happen . one of the better movies about the partition that i have seen . urmila matondkar is gorgeous too . this is one of the most personal and down  to  earth films i  ve seen on the partition . it  s a little less mainstream than gadar  and is really an emotional roller coaster where you start out with one opinion of what is going on  and come out completely one the other side . this isn  t typical bollywood fare  but rather an art  house type film . the best part of this movie is that it doesn  t dehumanize one side of the partition conflict when focusing on the story of another . it doesn  t blame or castigate but rather lets you draw your own conclusions about things .  
this movie is just plain terrible . poor john savage had to stoop this low in order to be in another movie . he stars as a rare type of vampire that is to help a lady that looks like a washed out and thrown in the streets hooker that is a dancer at a local strip club . she acidently tastes a drop of blood from another dancer who happens to be one of those rare vampires as they get carried away making out on the floor of the dressing room . savage is then assigned by a short leader of this rare vampire breed that looks like a cross between    s punk rock and one of the olsen twins with purple hair . this movie just gets all to crazy with savage rapping and dancing with a midget with a tattooed spider on his head  also one of the rare . he quotes the elephant man and jimmy durante and i just had to laugh . this just gets rediculas . and then the most gross special effects that they could come up with is corri throwing up her organs and pulling them out of her mouth . and you can tell that that is all to fake . her son doesn  t know what to do with his moms new identity and becomes more of a pest than an object of serenity . i enjoy a good vampire film  believe me i do but i just hated this one . even the photography stinks  in and out blurs with the camera switching this way and that trying to make it look like the vampires move to fast for the camera to keep up and then the camera turns all to bright in the scene of savage chasing the son of corri around till he blinds himself . avoid this one    
superb . i had initially thought that given amrita pritam  s communist leanings and dr dwivedi  s nationalist leanings film will be more frank than novel but when i read the novel i was surprised to find that it was reverse .  br    br   kudos to marita pritam for not being pseudo  sec and to dr dwivedi to be objective . this movie touches a sensitive topic in a sensitive way . casualty of any war are women as some poet said and this movie personifies it . it is also a sad commentary on hindu psyche as they can  t stand up against kidnappers of their girls or the hindu brother who can only burn the fields of his tormentor . on the other hand it also shows economic angles behind partition or in fact why girls were kidnapped in the first place . i think kidnappers thought that by kidnapping girls they will become legal owners of the houses and thus new govt . will not be able to ask them to return the houses . this apart one has to salute the courage of characters of puro and her bhabhi they are two simple village girls unmindful of outside world and risk everytihng by trying to come back after being dishonored . because there are many documented cases when such women were not accepted by their families in india .  br    br   no wonder that it required a woman to understand the pains of other women .  
absolutely unwatchable  lowest quality film making . this film makes  show girls  look good . the acting is insufferable . the cinematography gives a bad name to amateurism . no wonder it went right to video and bypassed the theaters . this film wasn  t released . . . it escaped .  
pinjar is truly a masterpiece . . . . it  s a thought provoking film that makes you think and makes you question our culture . it is without a doubt the best hindi movie i have seen to date . this film should have been shown at movie festivals around the world and i believe would have been a serious contender at cannes . all the characters were perfectly cast and urmila matkondar and manoj bhajpai were haunting in their roles .  br    br   the story the movie tells about partition is a very very important story and one that should never be forgotten .  br    br   it has no biases or prejudices and has given the partition a human story . here  no one country is depicted as good or bad . there are evil indians  evil pakistanis and good indians and pakistanis . the cinematography is excellent and the music is melodious  meaningful and haunting . everything about the movie was amazing . . . and the acting just took my breath away . all were perfectly cast .  
if there was a god  he would have made sure this movie stayed in the toilet were it was crapped up . this is by far the worst vampire movie i have ever seen . i may never watch a vampire film again because of this movie . it makes zombie lake look like the sound of music .  
a very good adaptation of the novel by amrita pritam . urmila and manoj bajpai have given their best .  br    br   there is a natural flair in the movie and i felt it right through . it looked like bollywood finally gave away it  s glamor and had some quality artists performing on screen .  br    br   content wise  the movie depicted very much what exactly happened during partition by showing the sufferings of a particular family and also shows that trust in one  s life goes beyond religion .  br    br   the best part was they did not make it a drama with a lot of tear shedding and melodrama .  br    br   i simply loved it .  
this must be one of the most overrated spanish films in history . its lack of subtlety and complexity and its total political correction make it really childish  with only good  bad characters . the world is just not like this  and good movies show complex characters with opposite impulses  dilemmas  etc . however  what i hate most about this film is bola  s friend  s father . the director tries to teach us a good lesson tattoo artists with shaved heads are not always bad guys  in fact they can be better than the average looking dad  wow  this is like . . . philosophy  or something  . thank you  achero . i  ll propose you for the nobel prize of literature .  
i come to pinjar from a completely different background than most of the other reviewers who have posted here . i  m relatively new to bollywood films and was born and raised in the us . so i don  t have a broad basis for comparing pinjar to other indian films . luckily  no comparison is needed .  br    br   pinjar stands on its own as nothing less than a masterpiece .  br    br   in one line i can tell you that pinjar is one of the most important films to come out of any studio anywhere at any time . on a mass  appeal scale  it could have been the indian equivalent of  crouching tiger  hidden dragon  had it been adequately promoted in the us . this could very well have been the film that put bollywood on the american map . the american movie  going public has a long  standing love affair with  gone with the wind   and while pinjar doesn  t borrow from that plot there are some passing similarities . not the least of which is the whopping  by us standards      minute run time .  br    br   set against the gritty backdrop of the india  pakistan partition in        is a compelling human drama of a young woman imprisoned by circumstances and thrust into troubles she had no hand in creating . put into an untenable position  she somehow manages to not only survive  but to grow   and even flourish .  br    br   if the story is lacking in any way  it  s in the exposition . puro  s  the protagonist  growth as a person would be better illustrated   at least for western audiences unfamiliar with indian culture   if her character  s  back story  were more fully developed in the early part of the film . but that would have stretched a   hour movie to     hours or perhaps even more . because not one minute of the film is wasted  and none of what made it out of editing could really be cut for the sake of time . better that the audience has to fill in some of what came before than to leave out any of what remains .  br    br   i could use many words to describe pinjar  poignant    disturbing    compelling    heart  wrenching  come to mind immediately . but  uplifting  is perhaps as apropos as any of those . any story that points up the indomitability of the human spirit against the worst of odds has to be considered such . and puro  s triumph   while possibly not immediately evident to those around her   is no less than inspirational . for strength of story alone i cannot recommend this film highly enough .  br    br   equally inspiring is urmila matondkar  s portrayal of puro . all too often overlooked amid the bevy of younger  newer actresses  urmila has the unique capability to deliver a completely credible character in any role she plays . she doesn  t merely act puro  s part  she breathes life into the character . manoj bajpai  s selection as rashid was inspired . he manages something far too few indian film heroes can subtlety . his command of expression and nuance is essential to the role . he brings more menace to the early part of the film with his piercing stare than all of the sword  wielding rioters combined .  br    br   if you only see one bollywood film in your life  make it pinjar .  
this had all the makings of a very good film   good actors  robert loggia  ellen parker   a good plot  mysterious missile from space threatens to burn up the planet  and lots of stock footage  if the air force had film of jets firing rockets  it was used  . unfortunately  it is ruined by too much melodrama and an impossible time  line .  br    br   the movie concerns a missile from space that is attacked by the soviets and inadvertently diverted into a low atmospheric orbit . at under five miles and at a speed in excess of      miles  it emits an exhaust of a million degrees  burning up everything on the ground  including glaciers  distant early warning  dew  line bases and eskimos .  br    br   every attempt at destroying the missile fails .  br    br   the first flaws in this film appear early on . while we don  t expect much from low  budget films  some things can  t be forgotten   like a little research . for instance  both the soviets and the us fire anti  ballistic missiles that home in on the missile with unerring accuracy . however  the first successful abm tests weren  t done until march of     by the russians .  br    br   there is too much melodrama . dr . loring  loggia  and his assistant joan woods  ellen parker  play their romance with about as much wood as a log cabin . parker  s character cries and boo  hoos at loggia  s sacrifice like she was at a screen test . loggia is about as heroic as a bored businessman . a scientist  phillip pine  hams it up so much he makes william shatner look like a thespian . a bus driver continually spits out end  of  the  world crap in scene after scene . the only good actor is the film narrator  played by veteran character actor lawrence dobkins   naked city   .  br    br   all of this could be overlooked if it wasn  t for the time  line . after the missile  s info is sent to dc  the pentagon brings in a group of scientists . a general  larry kerr  announces that the missile will hit new york city in   minutes . after this  there are discussions by scientists and there is a deadly lull as word is sought from ambassadors to see if the missile is an attack from the russians and if a response is necessary .  br    br   the film shows the military being fully scrambled . civil defense people leave work and go to their stations . eight million people scramble to fallout shelters while school buses pick up millions of kids  and we get to see the whitest new york city i  ve ever seen  though watching    s sci  fi films made it seems like this was the standard  . the press is kept in the dark for tens of minutes . then  incredibly  a man at the pentagon announces that the missile will hit ottawa  canada in   minutes  all of the aforementioned action happened in   minutes  then  to add fuel to the fire  loggia somehow thinks of a way to stop the alien missile . he slowly produces a caseload of plutonium  loads it in a jeep and takes it from dc to a distant missile base to put it atop a missile . along the way  he is knocked off the road by a wild driver  breaks down and then is carjacked . he finally gets the plutonium back and drives to the base to arm the missile . again  all this in the same    minute time frame .  br    br   the movie also irks the viewer by making it seem as if ottawa might be saved  only to show men  women and children get roasted . the missile is then said to have five minutes to reach new york . loggia is still driving to the base   more miles to go  . he gets to the base and arms the missile  a two  minute countdown is then announced . all within five minutes . the boroughs of new york should have been at least scorched .  br    br   by the way  the missile is destroyed if you haven  t guessed . the abm warhead destroys it with a massive plutonium  based nuclear blast . five seconds later  the blast dissipates and all is clear . yeah  they caused a nuclear blast equivalent to    hiroshimas on the outskirts of new york city and nothing happens .  br    br   the film had all the elements necessary to be a good b film  but wasted them . loggia played his character so lamely you didn  t care that he sacrificed himself in the end . you didn  t care about the other characters  not even the smarmy scientist played by pine . the tension that should have moved the film along just wasn  t physically possible in the time  line allowed  it still wouldn  t be today  not even with jack bauer  .  br    br   this film is very difficult to find . as far as i know  it hasn  t been re  issued on any medium and for good reason . i don  t know if the film meant to be or if it was standard practice  but there  s a scene where the government sends all of the best scientists  military men and businessmen into deep shelters  saying they  re too valuable to lose . there isn  t a single woman or minority in the bunch . hari rhodes is the only black man in the film and he gets a brief bit playing a piano . it was worse than    days  where an alien gives five earthlings the chance to either save or destroy the planet and he doesn  t include any blacks or hispanics .  br    br   i saw this on a special sci  fi night on turner classic movies and i don  t expect it to show up again . if you do find a copy of this somewhere  you might want to put it up on amazon . com .  
i don  t have words to describe how good this movie is . only a genius like amrita pritam could have written such a real depiction of the days of partition . the movie kept haunting me for many days .  br    br   urmila did the role of her life in this movie . she put life in the role of puroo and manoj vajpai did no less in his role as rashid . it is hard to imagine anyone other than these two doing the role of puroo and rashid . the punjabi costumes looked so natural on urmila and manoj looked like a natural punjabi mussalmaan .  br    br   sandhali sinha as lajjo and suri as ramchand did fabulous job . priyanshu chattarjee did good work as triloki .  br    br   some of the scenes you just can  t get out of your mind . when puroo meets lajjo for the first time  it brings tears to your eyes . the climax is just killer . i was expecting a tragic ending but thankfully  the ending was wonderful .  br    br   this movie is in the same category as pakeezah  mughal  e  azam  banaras etc . not to be missed .  
the story idea behind the lost missile isn  t bad at all  but unfortunately the story does get a bit dull towards the middle and the overuse of stock footage as well as poor special effects sink this film to the sub  par level .  br    br   the film begins with a missile heading towards the earth . in a panic because it  s about to strike the earth  the soviets manage to deflect the object . this isn  t necessarily good  however  as this seemingly unmanned craft has a vapor trail that destroys everything in its path and the ship is now in a low orbit over the planet . in other words  with each pass it makes  a swath of death follows   one that could potentially kill us all   so  it  s up to the good scientists of the us  led by a very young and hardly recognizable robert loggia  to formulate and plan to save us   and especially save new york that is in its immediate flight path  unfortunately  they aren  t able to save ottawa  i  ve never been there  so i can  t say whether or not this is a big loss  but thanks to good old american know  how  they are able to eventually destroy this harbinger of destruction    br    br   so  as you can see  the story idea isn  t bad and rather original . but  so many old clips of fighter planes and guys manning radar scopes gets a bit old and it seemed like padding . overall  a decent but hardly inspired film that extreme fans of the genre may like   all others  see it at your own risk .  
i have previously seen zu warriors from the magic mountain . in that film  the setting takes place in china  s mountains  the legend of zu looks like another dimension   thank that to tsui hark  s extensive use of cgi effects . he  s able to portray his vision of mountains floating above the clouds  a land where beings fly freely  and powers ranging from razor sharp wing blades  split swords  and the ultra cool moon orb .  br    br   while there are many characters in this one  the focus is mainly on king sky and enigma . the romance aspect is there  although the movie seems much darker than its predecessor . cecilia cheung is beautiful and her presence on screen makes this movie worth watching . in the beginning  i like how she resembles the countess  from zu warriors  and she does well playing enigma as she deals with facing her past life . oh  by the way  did i mention that cecilia  s very appealing to the eye    br    br   in truth  zu warriors had more comedy elements and its special effects were limited due to its time in     . tsui hark takes it to a whole new level and sets a new standard in cinema .  
to describe this film as garbage is unfair . at least rooting through garbage can be an absorbing hobby . this flick was neither absorbing nor entertaining .  br    br   kevin bacon can act superbly given the chance  so no doubt had an irs bill to settle when he agreed to this dire screenplay . the mad scientist story of  hollow man  has been told before  been told better  and been told without resorting to so many ludicrously expensive special effects .  br    br   most of those special effects seem to be built around the transparent anatomical dolls of men  women and dogs you could buy in the early seventies . in the uk they were marketed as  the transparent man   woman  dog   which is maybe where they got the title for this film .  br    br   clever special effects  dire script  non  existent plot .  br    br    
this movie was absolutely wonderful . the pre  partition time and culture has been recreated beautifully . urmila has given yet another brilliant performance . what i truly admire about this movie is that it doesn  t resort to pakistan  bashing that is running rampant in movies like gadar and loc . with the partition as a backdrop  the movie does not divert to political issues or focus on violence or what is right and wrong . the movie always centers around the tragic story of urmila  s life . her fragile relationship with manoj bajpai has been depicted excellently . the movie actually shows how the people  both hindus and muslims  have suffered from this partition . the theme that there is only one religion is truly prevalent in this film .  
i remember watching  lost missile   actually throwing a fit until my brother and several cousins at whose home i was an overnight guest agreed to watch it with me  i was  from time to time  the eric cartman of the     s  sorry  guys  and being somewhat embarrassed when the sustained wave of million  degree heat emerged as a plot device  even as a second  grader i knew that a mere missile just couldn  t carry the energy around for that much heat or devastation over more than the duration and limited radius of a nuclear detonation .  br    br   my inflicting that turkey on loving relatives was a self  punishing crime .  br    br   the film  s production values were very good . the acting isn  t bad  apart from the shatnerism of the actor who played governor  s aide that someone else here mentioned  .  br    br   but the idea of a missile easy  baking the surface of the earth by means of the heat of its exhaust . . . no .  br    br   how  d the people at  mystery science theater      miss  the lost missile   anyway   br    br   it  s a great classic of unintentional comedy  watch it if you want something to drink beer to some weekend .  
i have been a hindi movie buff since the age of  but never in my life have a watched such a moving and impacting movie  especially as a hindi film . in the past several years  i had stopped watching contemporary hindi movies and reverted to watching the classics  teesri kasam  mere huzoor  madhumati  mother india  sholay  etc .  but this movie changed everything . it is one of the best movies i have ever seen . i found it not only to be moving but also found it to be very educational for someone who is a first generation indian woman growing up in america . it helped me to understand my own family history  which was always something very abstract to me . but  to  see  it  feel it and understand it helped me to sympathize with the generations before me and the struggle that indian people endured . the film helped to put many things into perspective for me  especially considering the current world events . i never thought that a movie could change the way i think like this before . . . it did . the plot is fantastic  the acting superb and the direction is flawless . two thumbs up   
really it  s a dreadful cheat of a film . its    minute running time is very well padded with stock footage . the rest are non descript exteriors and drab interiors scenes . the plot exposition is very poorly rendered . they are all just perfunctory scenes sort of strung together . there is no attempt at drama in scene selection but rather drama is communicated by the intensity of the actors . please don  t ask .  br    br   the plot concerns a rocket radiating a million degree heat orbiting earth five miles up threatening to destroy the earth . it  s a real time menace that must be diverted if a custom built h  bomb can be fashioned and placed in an experimental rocket within an hour . nothing very much here to report except for a mad speech by a scientist against the project because there might be some sort of life aboard and think of the scientific possibilities but this speech made by the obligatory idiot liberal was pretty much pass by then .  br    br   what saves this film  somewhat uniquely  is the stock footage . i  ve never seen a larger selection of fifties jet fighter aircraft in any other film . this is by no means a complete list but just some of the aircraft i managed to see . there  s a brief interception by a pilot flying  in alternate shots  an f    scorpion and an f    . first to scramble interceptors is the royal canadian air force in hawker hunters and f    sabre jets  or canadian built cf    s  and even a pair of cf     clunks .  br    br   then for some reason there are b    s  b    s and even b   s are seen taking off . more padding .  br    br    these canadian jets are moving at     miles an hour  . i don  t think so since one of them appears to be a ww  era gloster meteor  the rest f    s . the meteors press the attack and one turns into a late f    f with a flight of early straight wing f    s attacking in formation .  br    br   there  s a strange tandem cockpit version of the f    that doesn  t seem to be the t    training type but some sort of interim all  weather interceptor variant with radar in the nose . these are scrambled in a snowstorm .  br    br   an angled deck aircraft carrier is seen from about    meters . it launches f   u crusaders  f    f tigers  a   vigilantes and a   skywarriors . the air force scrambles f    s and f    s and more f    s then you  ve ever seen in your life as well as f     super sabres and f     delta daggers .  br    br   the f     s press their attack with sooooo much padding . the f     s unload their rockets in their wingtip pods in slo mo . the f    s fire  an f     lets loose a falcon  even some f    s  f    s   with mid  wing rocket pods let loose . there is a very strange shot of a late model f     prototype   with a straight wing early model f    above it in a turn  obviously a manufacturer  s  republic aviation  advertising film showing the differences between the old and the new improved models of the f    thunderjet . how it strayed into here is anybodies guess .  br    br   there is other great stock footage of ottawa in the old days when the capital of canada was a wide spot in the road and especially wonderful footage of new york city  s times square during one of the civil defense drills in the early   s .  br    br   i think we also have to deal with the notion that this was filmed in canada with the possible exception of the auto chase seen late in the picture as the pacific seems to be in the background . the use of a jowett jupiter is somewhat mind  boggling and there is a nice tr  to be seen also . canada must have been cheap and it is rather gratuitously used a lot in the background .  br    br   as far as the actual narrative of the film there is little to recommend it other than the mystery of just who ellen parker is giving the finger to at the end of the picture . and she most definitely is flipping someone off . could it be  r as in robert loggia  the director who dies before this film was released  her career as this was her last credit   br    br   its like the newspaper the gift came wrapped in was more valuable than the gift .  
pinjar is one of the few movies that really leaves a mark and makes you think hard . set in partition india  this film shows the true reality of partition india . urmila gets full marks for her beautiful and deeply emotional portrayal of a suffering woman with no way to go . her freedom  personal identity and family respect taken away overnight over a tragic land dispute . manoj bajpai is simply brilliant as her remorseful abductor . there several moments in the film where one is brought to tears . the film at points is deeply traumatic . some of the partition scenes are spine chilling  yet urmila  s endurance and survival are both remarkable . from a woman robbed of her freedom to woman who gave freedom to women in similar situations . a remarkable film that should be given credit for intelligent characters and storytelling .  
i had never heard of this one before it turned up on cable tv . it  s very typical of late   s sci  fi sober  depressing and not a little paranoid  despite the equally typical inclusion of a romantic couple  the film is pretty much put across in a documentary style  which is perhaps a cheap way of leaving a lot of the exposition to narration and an excuse to insert as much stock footage as is humanly possibly for what is unmistakably an extremely low  budget venture  while not uninteresting in itself  the  apocalypse  via  renegade  missile angle later utilized  with far greater aplomb  for both dr . strangelove       and fail  safe        and mercifully short  the film  s single  minded approach to its subject matter results in a good deal of unintentional laughter  particularly in the scenes involving an imminent childbirth and a gang of clueless juvenile delinquents   
many of the reviewers have made it a point to note that pinjar is unlike the run of the mill films produced in bollywood . while this is true  bollywood films in general are geared to a specific audience and should be appreciated for accomplishing their aims in this regard .  br    br   however  pinjar is an excellent film for those seeking a change from the normal equation based bollywood film . set during the time of partition between india and pakistan  pinjar focuses on a punjabi girl who becomes the victim of societal and cultural attitudes toward the treatment of women in her time . paro  the protagonist  is forced to choose between a life with a man who has abducted her and the fleeting hope of a life with her family back in indian ruled punjab . more than an issue of hindus and muslims  pinjar addresses and defines a woman  s role as a daughter  as a wife  and as a mother in india and pakistan in     . unlike typical bollywood films which are escapist in nature  pinjar is a film that makes its audience contemplate these issues during and after the film .  
it pains me to write such a scathing review but by not doing so i  m simply encouraging these people . first off  just because a film is made on a small budget does not automatically make it good nor endearing . in fact in this case  the small budget is probably the films sole achievement in that it prevented large sums of money from being squandered on a one legged race horse with the shits . have you ever seen a comedy at the theatre  ever heard people laugh and thought  what the dickens are you on   well even these twats weren  t laughing . things got so bad by mid way my cat took his first ever bath . this is not film  this is children . . . . no monkeys making images that leave you feeling like moving to france . got to go  there  s a clown at my door . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
pinjar is a genuinely good film  with great acting  good narrative  good presentation  touching emotions  etc .  br    br   it seems to me that the quality of films that bollywood is producing is quite improving these days  and this film is one evidence .  br    br   no bollywood movie that i can remember of made such an impact on me  i was literally thinking about the movie for hours  marvelling at the various emotional situations that test the human in a human .  br    br   the film rests on the great acting of urmilla matondkar  and also some from manoj bajpai . urmilla plays a girl in north india in the background of the partition  and all troubles seem sweet if compared with the problems she happens to face .  br    br   a must  see film . a technically superior bollywood product  which i feel is comparable to the best movies coming out of other countries in the world .  
oh dear . good cast  but to write and direct is an art and to write wit and direct wit is a bit of a task . even doing good comedy you have to get the timing and moment right . im not putting it all down there were parts where i laughed loud but that was at very few times . the main focus to me was on the fast free flowing dialogue  that made some people in the film annoying . it may sound great while reading the script in your head but getting that out and to the camera is a different task . and the hand held camera work does give energy to few parts of the film . overall direction was good but the script was not all that to me  but i  m sure you was reading the script in your head it would sound good . sorry .  
in a word . . . amazing .  br    br   i initially was not too keen to watch pinjar since i thought this would be another movie lamenting over the partition and would show biases towards india and pakistan . i was so totally wrong . pinjar is a heart  wrenching  emotional and intelligent movie without any visible flaws . i was haunted by it after watching it . it lingered on my mind for so long the themes  the pain  the loss  the emotion  all was so real .  br    br   this is truly a masterpiece that one rarely gets to see in bollywood nowadays . it has no biases or prejudices and has given the partition a human story . here  no one country is depicted as good or bad . there are evil indians  evil pakistanis and good indians and pakistanis . the cinematography is excellent and the music is melodious  meaningful  thanks to gulzar sahib  and haunting . everything about the movie was amazing . . . and the acting just took my breath away . all were perfectly cast .  br    br   if you are interested in watching an intellectual and genuinely wonderful movie . . . look no further . this movie gives it all . i recommend it with all my heart . amazing cannot describe how excellent it is .  
i hate to be the one to rain on a parade  even a small one like this  but from the very first scene  you could tell this film was going to be absolute shite . its a shame really  as i quite like martin freeman and danny dyer . i was intrigued as to how they would mix in a film together  but to my dismay  they did not even have a scene together   i think i need to repeat this  the two lead actors  who stand side by side on the advertisement posters and dvd covers  did not have one scene together     they did not speak to each other and never appeared on screen at the same time . just about sums up this poor excuse for a movie . false advertisement .  br    br   the dialogue was painful  every single character in the movie was unrealistic  and un  human like . the scenarios were far fetched  the plot was crap  the jokes were thin  freeman tried too hard to be funny  and played a poor mans tim from the office   nobody was likable  and worst of all  some of the characters were so annoying that it almost drove me to switch off  as i couldn  t bear to watch  or listen to them any longer .  br    br   this low budget stinker was an epic fail . even danny dyer couldn  t inject some humour and charm into this  but bless  he tried . what a waste of time .  br    br   how anybody could rate this movie as  ten stars  is beyond me . ten stars  seriously  come on . . . . i won  t even give some of the greats ten stars  as ten stars implies that a movie was perfect . this film was far from perfect  almost the opposite  meaning that it was almost completely dire throughout .  br    br   watch it if you like  but if you  ve seen a lot of movies  and watched a lot of great movies  your review will probably similar to mine .  br    br        
good luck finding this film to even watch  it  s not yet released on tape or dvd . i saw on release in the early     s  was lucky enough to catch it via american cinematheque  s preservation efforts  and it still has some tangible moments that stayed with me for thirty years .  br    br   no reason to repeat rwint  s accurate comments here . as a come  out director soon after the soaring success of five easy pieces  jack n has been said to have managed the low budget effort as best as possible  and it certainly shows in the wandering and meandering that could have used some re  cutting . but it  s also a memorable icon for it  s time the all very intense clashes of late    s college sports  student movements  sexual revolution  and more .  br    br   why see this film  it was probably a ground breaker in some scenes the frisky male bonding in the after  game showers karen black  s scene with tepper in the car will catch you a little off guard  but it  s the first use of a word i hadn  t witnessed in film before and the casual and unexpected use of nudity overall . there are probably others i  m omitting .  br    br   look for a nice surprise of a young cindy williams in one of her first films a thin david ogend stiers mike warren fresh out of his powder  blue ucla uniform and readying for a dark  blue tv uniform robert towne  actor and a whole lot of folks simply playing themselves .  br    br   now any connection between harry gittes last name  robert towne  and a certain character in chinatown and the two jakes   br    br   it gets a    based on karen black . you  ll see why .  
almost from the word go this film is poor and lacking conviction but then again most people would struggle to show commitment to a script as uninspiring as this . the dialogue really does not flow and sometimes as in this case more is less  or should have been  . this is also backed  up by odd scenes  e . g . the cemetry slow  motion walk  that you think might lead somewhere but only seem to waste a few more seconds of your life .  br    br   the plot is a strange combination of gangster  situation comedy which i am sure seemed a good idea at the time but if ever there was a case for someone needing to be honest with the scriptwriter then here was it .  br    br   martin freeman is okay but then he seems to have one character which always plays so i am beginning to wonder if he was given a script or just filmed and told to react as normal .  br    br   finally  humour . this reminds me of the  python  i think  quote about shakespere  of his  comedies   if he had meant it to be humorous he would have put a joke in it . well i didn  t see one .  br    br   don  t waste your time  i did because i was watching it with a friend and kept hoping that it was going to get better .  br    br   it didn  t .  
as jack nicholson  s directorial debut  drive  he said displays at the least that he is a gifted director of actors . even when the story might seem to lose its way to the audience  and to a modern audience  if they can find it  which pops up now and again on ebay  it might seem more free formed than they think   the film contains vivid  interesting characterizations . the film tells of two college kids the protagonist is hector  william tepper  in what borders on a break  out performance   a star of the leopards  the college basketball team he plays on . while he has to deal with a coach  bruce dern  who puts on the pressure to stay focused  and a on and off girlfriend  karen black  with her own emotional problems  there  s gabriel  michael margotta   the other kid . gabriel  it seems  is just a little more than freaked out by the possibility to be drafted  and so in his own radical mind  state he does what he can to keep out . but as hector tries to find the balance between his oncoming fame and those he loves  gabriel is going over the threshold of sanity .  br    br   nicholson  on the technical side of things  displays a fascinating editing style that keeps things on edge during the basketball scenes  and implements darkness in many other scenes with a documentary  feel throughout . and from tepper  black  and even robert towne  writer of chinatown  last detail  and mission impossible among others  who rarely acts  he garners some credible acting work . though in tepper there is a tendency to downplay his emotions . in some scenes  for example  when he could act brilliantly sarcastic  he doesn  t play it for what it  s worth . from margotta  on the other hand  there is a vibrant  twisted force in his performance  and as he descends it  s frightening  but perhaps understandable from the times  and what a climax  . dern steals most of his scenes  by the way  in a performance that should have garnered him an oscar nomination . every line of his dialog is appropriate  true  and it  s never hammed up like in recent coach movie performances .  br    br   but what drags down the film is that elements involving the characters aren  t explained to the degree one might wish more . the film was based on a novel by jeremy larner  who co  wrote the script with nicholson  and i was expecting that the film to be longer than it was . it  s a slim volume with a lot of information  about the times  about the sport  about the underlying feelings that were with those of the younger generation . nicholson presents us with these characters and situations  and rarely are they shown to what  s motivating them  the anti  war protesters not included  their part  s understandable enough  . gabriel is perturbed by what  s going on in vietnam  but what else is there  hector  too  is a guy who has apprehensions about being drafted for the nba  and he still loves to play  but what  s holding him back  this whole atmosphere is intriguing  how the late    s college  basketball experience was  but that intriguing quality  which does lead to some unconventionality  is kept at a point where it can  t go too further . overall  the effect of the film as a whole is bittersweet  and somewhat memorable for its good points  and not for it  s low ones . and  for sure  you can tell who  s behind the lens every step of the way . b  
i have no idea what the producers of the shield were trying to do  but the result speaks for itself the shield is practically unwatchable .  br    br   supposedly the performances on the shield are great . . .  br    br   in reality  the show is so badly put together that you can  t even really see the performances . for instance  the editing cuts away from reaction shots before they  ve had their full impact .  br    br   i don  t know what intellectual rationale there is for that  but it robs the show of all emotional impact .  br    br   i  ll give the shield one point for ambition in its subject matter  but that  s pretty much all i can give it .  br    br   it  s a shame to see a number of talented performer waste their gift on something so strangely badly filmed .  
this may be the only film that actually comes close to capturing on film the essentially uncapturable world of the american college experience of the late   s  early   s . go ahead  name another movie that even approaches this one  getting straight    rpm   these are caricatures .  return of the secaucus seven  has its moments  but that  s a retrospective film about  self  obsessed  individuals more than a film about a time and a place depicted in that time and place .  drive  he said  portrays   with subtlety and nuance where it should  and a swift kick in the shorts where that  s the only appropriate way   the anti  draft movement  the ambiguity of big  time college sports  especially when there  s a war on   the sexual revolution of the period  and the general unreality of the day . believe me  it was like that .  br    br   the whole cast deserves commendation  as does the director  of course  but particular praise should be reserved for bruce dern  as the basketball coach  and karen black  the hero  s very unusual   except for that time   love interest . william tepper  as the lead  also rates a real round of applause both for his perfect capturing of the student  athlete of the period and for actually playing real college basketball in the film  remember anthony perkins in  tall story   yikes   .  br    br   all in all  a classic of a kind   and the last film someone currently in  th grade should be writing comments on   boring    repellent    um  right  sonny  please go back to your arnold movies  . why isn  t this film available from imdb   
to sat how awful the shield is  you  d have to write pages and pages  so suffice it to say that it is a monument to bad directing .  br    br    when directors go awry  should have been the title of this production . indeed  directors are supposed to infuse their work with a sense of visual style and story  telling that propels the story forward .  br    br   how is constantly shaking the camera and playing with the zoom lens a  style   how is it propelling the story forward  of course there  s also the  editing by random numbers  nonsense . apparently it  s become hip to just cut randomly .  br    br   i guess it  s too much work to do good editing .  br    br   well  that made it too much work for most people to watch the shield which languished as one of the most over  hyped and unwatched shows of all time .  
most complaints i  ve heard of this film really come down to one thing it isn  t versus . yes  the cast and crew is basically the same . yes  kitamura rehashes a few shots in the fight scenes that come in the film  s second half  but that  s about where the similarities end . versus takes place essentially all outside  showcasing kitamura  s ability to craft an interesting b  movie in natural locations . for alive  almost everything takes place inside . in small  cramped spaces . here the art design is thrust into your face  and what art design it is  we are treated to several very intricate and interesting spaces  and our characters are for the most part confined to those spaces . also a key difference is that we don  t get much action here until the end of the film . versus was all about action and cool  here a lot more emphasis is put on characters and situation and messing with your mind . because of this  alive is a far more interesting film than versus . you may not pop it in and go to a random scene to watch five or ten minutes of cool zombie bloodshed  but you will sit glued to the screen for nearly two hours watching he interaction of a few genuinely interesting characters .  br    br   i  m now ecstatic that i ordered the dvd despite some naysay . you should too  but be sure to realize this is a different animal from versus  it  s often slow  and requires a bit of thought to get the most out of it . i hope media blasters picks it up for subtitled r  dvd release   
there are two kinds of characters on the shield people who try to do the best they can and do the right thing  and people who relentlessly pursue their own self interest and commit every mortal sin they can while telling themselves and everyone else that they are heroes  and everyone  s only hope . more than any other show  the shield is about hypocrisy and self  delusion . unfortunately  the hypocrites and self  deluders are the shows heroes  and as such have the typical genre  fiction heroes  improbable immunity to getting defeated or caught and they come out on top over and over again  making fools out of all of their peers .  br    br   the show boasts excellent camera  work . the lead ins and the fade outs are always superb . it really is a work of art to see . unfortunately the story is a cartoony  overwrought wish fulfillment scenario of gratuitous violence  rape  and lies .  br    br   the hero  who drags everyone down with him in failed scheme after failed scheme  is wiley like a warner bros cartoon character  always escaping and making fun of all the elmer fudds  anyone who does not support him in his lies and crimes   automatically attracting any good looking woman supporting character to come on the show  always surviving any attempt to bring him to justice  and always scraping your ears with his excruciating self justifications . if another cop detects something wrong with something he  s doing  and someone gets hurt because of his actions  he always blames the suspicious cop  regardless of the fact that his schemes and elaborate lies and doomed plans are always the cause . every time .  br    br   like    this show relies on contrivances and innumerable delays to drag its story out for season after season . boring  unbelievable long term stories are injected into the storyline every season to provide a skeleton on which to hang the bloody  perverted chunks of meat that are the characters  corrupt acts and the inevitable cover  ups .  br    br   most disappointing though  is the writers  hubris as they try to change the viewers  sympathies back and forth  to and away form the characters on whims . sometimes  they want us to see shane as the enemy . sometimes they want us to see him as a poor misunderstood soul . sometimes they want us to see vic as a dangerous  sexual dynamo . sometimes they want us to see him as a poor guy with a heart of gold . sometimes they want us to see mara as a low down vile jezebel . then they think that if they show her sitting and talking over her dreams with shane  that we will find her to be sympathetic and tragic .  br    br   none of this manipulation is adequate to obtain the kinds of sympathies they want . once they  ve shown these characters ruin other people  s lives for their own ends  that  s it . it is nonsense to keep trying to flip back and forth . but then  it is also nonsense to produce seven seasons of these bumbling clowns drawing every super model in existence to their beds and running a crime syndicate right out of the police station  right under everyone  s noses .  
i remember that the trailer for legend of zu was quite impressive and being a fan of a man called hero  my all time favourite   storm riders i decided that i must watch this one too . i know that there is way to much critcism on ekin cheng  s acting ability everywhere but he is my favourite hong kong moviestar so far  way better than nicolas tse nevertheless  and he is one of the factors that i enjoyed this movie . without a doubt this film is a work of art from the beginning to the end . i even thought that only the actors were real and everything else was computer generated by the end of this film . they must have put a lot of work into this one and they deserve good credit for that . the storyline of the movie was a fairytale between good and evil with a love story thrown in  i guess ekin cheng pulls the girls easily  . the story is not very intellectual and deep but that is not what you expect when watcing an action movie . i wished there were more martial arts action with fists and fist instead of battles with magical abilities  but well that  s life and it never goes the way you want it to . and why did they sound like supersonic planes in the battle through the sky in the end  that  s way too funny . legend of zu cannot be a man called hero in my eyes but it flows like a videogame and that is not a bad thing at all . if a company decides to publish games on this movie i will not get suprised as it carries all the videogames elements . good work . please make more fantasy movies like this  
another violent  angry fantasy from paul verhoeven . verhoeven is a puzzle it  s difficult to tell whether he takes his sordid impulses seriously  with sardonic intent or operates in complete oblivion . he also seems completely ignorant of the fact that all the brilliant visuals in the world  and this has some outstanding ones  cannot hide a negligence to story  dialogue and performance . kevin bacon plays a corrupt scientist who has discovered invisibility and uses it to drive himself into moral bankruptcy . bacon is normally a likable actor who occasionally shows his dark side  the river wild   in an attempt to offset his boyish looks given the material  however  bacon isn  t nearly hateful enough to compel . the other principals are elisabeth shue and josh brolin  neither of whom are gifted enough to make a solid impression and who  when forced to deliver inane dialogue  embarrass themselves . the climax is a study in preponderance and disbelief has to be truly suspended .  
an inventive  suspenseful exercise in claustrophobia . a japanese thriller that sets itself a tough challenge by being entirely set in two rooms . not completely successful  but taut  surprising and well  acted . one might find the film somewhat reminiscent of saw  two men trapped in room and pitting against each other  but unlike that film it dares to stay with its premise and keep the hero locked in his cell throughout the film . it  s like watching a lab experiment . some might find the contained suspense tedious  but this reviewer found it enthralling . the sound and imagery of the film are stunningly well realized . this is a certainly a good film to use to show off a good home video system . just right for a late night movie fest  when one is in the paranoid mood . it certainly kept me awake that night .  
i consider myself to be a bit of a snob when it comes to everything and although the cinematic experience is more suited to explosions than high drama  i can be very stuck up about films  too .  br    br   not all art films  however  are better than king kong . i quite possibly would give kong two stars  double this film  s haul .  br    br   my guess is that people got so excited about this because it was almost identical in style to what you can see in a play . for the less discerning art  buff  a film that looks like a play is  great art  .  br    br   this film  however  was useless .  br    br   there was hardly any story so it relied on high drama . the only drama in this film was whether the cat would drop off the roof or not . so  deep and meaningful dialogue  then  no . great acting  hardly .  br    br   to be excessively fair some of the scenery was interesting  though communist flats  city vistas  petersburg   and the soviet trams still in service .  
tenshu is imprisoned and sentenced to death . when he survives electrocution the government officials give him a choice to either be electrocute at a greater degree or agree to some experiments . he chooses the experimentation and is placed in a large metallic cell with a bad ass criminal who also survived the electrocution . they can have whatever the want in the room  within reason   but they can  t leave . after a few days there meals are cut down to one per day and the room temp is set up too    . after some more alarms are sounded at intervals so they can  t sleep . one day a  witch  come into their cell  albeit a glassed off portion  what happens next i  ll let you find out . i may be in the minority here but i liked the build up  it was intriguing to me . now if the payoff was half as good as the build up was i would have rated this so much higher .  br    br   my grade c  br    br   media blaster  s  dvd set extras disc   director  s cut trailers for  versus    aragami    attack the gas station   and  deadly outlaw rekka  disc   theatrical cut commentary with hideo sakaki  ryuhei kitamura  sakaguchi takuand tsutomu takahashi cast and crew interview making of original trailer and promo teasers  
like wearing a hair shirt . positively  absolutely  without a shadow of a doubt one of the worst movies ever . pure torture . zero stars out of ten . one long  tedious  labored  pretentious  self  conscious  theatrical  and leadenly artsy scene after another . intended to be dreamlike and impressionistic  the soul bared  it is  instead  morose mush .  br    br   half  naked  father and son grope and whisper to each other like lovers .  homo  erotic  is the point  loud and clear . ok  so what   br    br   repeated more than once by the son is the line  supposedly lifted from  lives of the saints    a father  s love crucifies . a loving son lets himself be crucified .  the parallel to god and his son  christ  is heavy  handed  irrelevant  and bombastic  like everything else here .  br    br   some reference points to the theme of russian filiality  mother and son          the return   andrei zvyagvatsev         little odessa   james gray        turgenev   fathers and sons   and  of course  dostoyevsky   the brothers karamazov .   br    br   credits in english indicate intended international distribution  meaning that the excuse cannot be used that you have to be russian to understand this mess .  br    br   this is nowhere near as accomplished or compelling as sokurov  s last   russian ark        .  br    br   as in his  mother and son   an equally powerful soporific  some scenes are filmed from distorting mirrors  though not as interestingly . the film is almost monochromatic  shot from start to finish through beige filters  making it as visually as it is dramatically numbing . a soft  focus haze only adds to the drugged feeling .  br    br   an annoying soundtrack drones on  never shuts up  like a tape loop . an old radio constantly plays in the background . russian romantic melancholy swells endlessly as  themes based on tchaikovsky .  the presence of a  sound designer   sergei moshkov  signifies  of course  that all those irritating little sounds  radio static  noises  distortion  and such  are  designed .   br    br   it  s hard to believe someone  sergei potepolov  actually wrote this thing . it all seems as arbitrary as traffic  as if improvised by bored actors  popping out of nothingness into nothingness .  br    br   modern art has finally succeeded in signifying the thing without being the thing  so that what we behold is the idea of the idea  empty as a shell  but not even a shell  merely the idea of a shell . could one ask for a better definition of decadence   
the movie starts out with a bunch of dead men walking peeps sitting in individual cells  waiting for their inevitable meeting with death represented by the electrical chair .  br    br   then our  hero   who is called tenshu  is taken to the chair  he  s zapped  and then . . . . he  s still  alive  . aha  he is given a choice by some creepy military guys who look really cool  either we zap you until we  ve made sure you  re actually dead or you can walk through this door and take whatever destiny might lie ahead of you  . our hero says yes to option   and then the actual story commences .  br    br   he wakes up in a different sort of cell  very high  tech and very big   where he finds another cell  mate  who also managed to survive the electric boogie  ride . a voice in the speakers tells them that they are free to do whatever they wish  as long as it happens within that room . sounds a little suspicious  but the two men accept  what else can they do   br    br   what these two men do not know is that they have been set together  so they can awaken an inner urge to kill within them . basically the unknown scientists in the background ps them off until they decide that they should kill each other . sounds weird  indeed  but there  s a greater purpose to all of this . this is the part which should not be revealed  and so it shall remain unrevealed .  br    br   but fear not  it is the unknown that lures the viewer to watch more of this pseudo  action movie  fore it has an entirely different approach to the question  how long time can you stand being with a man who  s an s . o . b . and would you kill him to obtain freedom   br    br   the first hour is basically trying to awaken your interest  it sneaks up without you actually knowing it . then it becomes a roller coaster ride with wild matrix  like action fight  scenes with a touch of individuality to honor the comic book from which the movie is based upon .  br    br   the movie is indeed very special  so special that normal cinemas won  t view it under normal circumstances . however  the story is fascinating  the music is fantastic  and the actors do their bit  some more than others  to make the movie truly unique .  br    br   if you should be so fortunate that your cinema or video store has it  watch it  and enjoy the fact that not everyone is trying to make mainstream movies to earn huge bunches of cash .  br    br    
this film is beautiful to look at  but is like watching really bad experimental theater . the plot  if there was one  doesn  t make any sense . but it is very  artistic  . lots of shots of half  dressed actors wrestling and looking deep into each other  s eyes . lots of arty shots through windows and with people out of frame . mumbling and people wandering wistfully . lingering close  ups of faces and bodies . by the time you get to the threesome on the roof with the cat  you  ll be ready to throw a bottle of ky at the screen .  br    br   it is supposed to be about a father and son  s relationship  but you will just be wishing the two of them would just f each other and get it over with . if you have always wanted to see bad russian gay porn without any money shots  your wish has been granted .  
alive  br    br   alive is a very entertaining sci  fi movie from japan . i have noticed a lot of disappointed film geeks who loved versus this director  s debut film or his third film azumi . i have heard they are blood drenched films with swords and zombies and all kinds of goodies . frankly i went to the video store to get versus but i am just fine with alive .  br    br   if you are looking for beginning to end wall to wall action then alive is not your pick . there is plenty of action however it comes as pay  off for a whole hour of character driven build  up . personally i think it is well done and worth it .  br    br   of course some of the plot is silly as with many sci  fi action films and i think the subtitles using the term foreign object could have replaced with parasite for greater effect . this film is brutal when it needs to be so faint of heart need not apply .  br    br   they kept the budget down by for the most part confining all the action to one underground building  taking a cue from the cube  but the film doesn  t suffer for it . another bonus for this film is intense gothic imagines that are done with great artistic flair during the many flashbacks and dream sequences .  br    br   rent this   
the film begins with promise  but lingers too long in a sepia world of distance and alienation . we are left hanging  but with nothing much else save languid shots of grave and pensive male faces to savour . certainly no rope up the wall to help us climb over . it  s a shame  because the concept is not without merit .  br    br   we are left wondering why a loving couple  a father and son no less  should be so estranged from the real world that their own world is preferable when claustrophobic beyond all imagining . this loss of presence in the real world is  rather too obviously and unnecessarily  contrasted with the son having enlisted in the armed forces . why not the circus  so we can at least appreciate some colour  we are left with a gnawing sense of loss  but sadly no enlightenment  which is bewildering given the film is apparently about some form of attainment not available to us all .  
i found this movie to be very well  paced . the premise is quite imaginative  and as a viewer i was pulled along as the characters developed . the pacing is done very well for those that like to think   enough is kept hidden from the viewer early on  and questions keep arising which are later answered  producing a well  thought out and very satisfying film  both cerebrally and from an action standpoint .  br    br   it seems some people were looking for a non  stop roller  coaster ride with this film   one of those that comes charging out of the gate . this would be more analogous to one of those coasters that first takes you slowly up the hill   creating a wonderful sense of anticipation   and is ultimately  in my mind  more fulfilling for the foundation initially laid .  br    br   excellent film .  
from a plot and movement standpoint  this movie was terrible . i found myself looking at the clock in theater hoping it would end and relieved after   long minutes that it mercifully did . basically  five characters appear in the movie  a son  father  son  s girl friend  and two male characters of the son  s age who appear and then disappear without context or explanation . the movie and scenes seemed to suggest homo  eroticism  but nothing ever actually happened to reveal this one way or another . there were a couple of brilliant scenes . at the beginning of the movie  the son  s girl friend shows up at a window outside his room and they engage in an odd conversation . the photography and acting lent an incredible seductiveness to the interaction between the two  ending with her admitting to having another man who was  older  . end of that story .  
i am so glad that i got a chance to see this rare little gem of a movie . i saw it at an independent film festival  so don  t expect it to come to your town anytime soon . during the film  i noticed about   people get up and walk out . too bad for them  down here in the south  folks don  t like having to read subtitles  . the movie starts out slow  but is so rich in dialogue that i never felt bored . when the action finally arrives  i found myself glued to the screen as if i were riding a roller coaster .  br    br   i also got a big kick of the chapter titles appearing before the chapters  especially the ones that introduce the characters as they appear on screen . it reminded me of zelda  ocarina of time  when you face level bosses .  br    br   if this is the future of  video game  comic book  movies  then i welcome it .  
set in south africa  a young black guy tries to land a part in a  gangsta  movie . but with no knowledge of street life  he  s told to find out what that life is really like or he won  t get the part . he manages to work his way into a gang led by an old friend of his from school and his chances of appearing in the film decline as he commits crimes to be accepted . but for the gang  s leader  the burgeoning disaster of his new friend  s life suggests a golden opportunity to do something better with his own .  br    br   while that may sound relatively interesting  it  s anything but . the first half of it is incredibly meandering and tedious  while the  hijacking  only takes place towards the end with some very poorly executed low speed car chases . in those  chases   only two police cars are used  both of which are early    s nissan sunny  s . not only would these be rather cheap to pick up  and i find it rather hard to believe they  d be using such mundane old cars in south africa in the year       but as far as i can remember  there  s only  involved and none of them get a scratch once . the car chases are very badly shot  with distant and badly timed camera angles and minimal traffic on the roads  and they  re all over in around  minutes at maximum as you  re supposed to believe that a very small kid is actually a highly skilled driver who can easily evade the police despite the driving being pedestrian and utterly unexciting . this now leads me onto the characters and the acting  which are equally bad . the aforementioned kid who drives the car  looks about   years old and supposedly is extremely skilled at losing the incredibly inept police . everybody else is equally unconvincing  so much that they even look bored at times themselves .  br    br   at the closing scene of the movie  our main character   sox moraka   is asked by the gang leader to steal a car from a car park . while having trouble opening it  the police arrive and ask him what he  s doing and he replies by telling him it  s their car . after a brief argument they try to arrest him and he then holds the police at gunpoint and jumps back in their car . after he  s in  the police return fire and in turn he gets wounded . after another pathetic chase sequence  they decide to abandon the car and set it alight to destroy any evidence . what follows here is one of the most downright laughable and hideously awful special effects i  ve ever seen . when the car  explodes   superimposed flames suddenly appear from every window with awful sound effects that aren  t even in time . it  s so badly done and so phony looking that it  s hard to even put it into words  and really needs to be seen to be believed . if you watch it in slow motion it looks even funnier . i  ve seen better effects than this in murder reconstruction documentaries . the car is a volkswagen golf mk  gti . something that wouldn  t be worth a huge amount at all  and they seriously couldn  t afford to destroy it with a real explosion  i  d love to know how large the budget for this movie was . it feels so cheap that i  m surprised it made it outside of south africa  and even more surprised it made it to a dvd release .  br    br   i know it  s not a big budget hollywood production . i know it  s meant to depict gangs in impoverished townships of south africa who steal cars from the middle class in and sell the parts on the black market  but with the laughable effects  poorly executed car chases  awful acting and ludicrous characters  any sense of reality is completely lost .  br    br   overall  i most certainly do not advise you to watch this . if you want to have a laugh and see one of the most poorly done  low budget messes of amovie ever created  then i  d recommend it for that  and only that .  br    br   it is a wretched  poorly made  poorly edited  poorly paced and tedious piece of low budget drivel that fails on all counts . i  ve seen many south african movies  including lots of cheap nuimage  nu  world action pictures  and despite their cheesiness  they  re far better than this on all counts .  
rohmer returns to his historical dramas in the real story of grace elliot  an englishwoman who stayed in france during the apex of the french revolution . one always suspected that rohmer was a conservative  but who knew he was such a red  blooded reactionary . if you can put aside rohmer  s unabashed defense of the monarchy  and that is not an easy thing to do  given that  for instance  the french lower classes are portrayed here as hideous louts   this is actually an elegant  intelligent and polished movie . lacking the money for a big cinematic recreation of   th century france  rohmer has instead the actors play against obvious painted cardboards . it is a blatantly artificial conceit  but it somehow works . and newcomer lucy russell succeeds in making sympathetic a character that shouldn  t be .  
what an insult to the sa film industry  i have seen better sa films . the comments i read about hijack stories  by saying it is worthy of a ten out of ten is quite scary . a movie  s rating should not depend on . .   oh  a movie from a developing country . lets boost their industry by saying nice things about their work  even though it is bad .  we have the expertise to make good movies . don  t judge the film industry on what people say how great they think hijack stories is . we can tell great stories such as cry the beloved country and shaka zulu . cry the beloved country i  ll give  out of   . great directing by darryl  great acting by two great elderly actors  irrespective from where they are . hijack stories . .  i  ll give  out of   . it could only be people involved in the project who would give it high scores . i would  ve done the same if it was my movie .  
i was particularly moved by the understated courage and integrity of l  anglaise  in this beautifully acted  intellectually and visually compelling film . thank you so much  monsieur le directeur rohmer .  
warning  may contain spoilers which will be more entertaining than this tripe .   br    br   heres some good advise to anyone living in the u . k . whenever channel  has an old    s comedy on late at night  read a book instead . i am currently in the process of recovering from a seizure  due to reading some of the comments on this film on here . i am actually shocked at the fact that someone actually said this film was realistic  all i can say is thank god the cold war never escalated or else we might as well have given the commie  s our borders . . . i found this film dire in the utmost pretence  maybe it is just my british perception of what makes a film funny  who knows  but in all aspects  this film is not just awful  its teeth grindingly terrible .  br    br   i  ve never been a fan of bill murray  and its rubbish like this that justify my feelings towards him . don  t get me wrong  i loved ghostbuster  s  which was made only three years after this film . but this just sums bill murray up really . i can safely say that i haven  t wasted my time so blatantly like this since seeing the first running of operation delta force over here  though these two films have more in common than you would think . for  thing  they both have terrible action sequences from beginning to end  and  nd . they are both riddled with cheesy clich  s  throughout .  br    br   heres one thing  these guys are supposed to be in the  u . s army  . yet they are allowed to wallow around their camp  willy nilly  seducing female military police officers  and subsequently shagging them silly in the generals quarters . talk about random  this film is just terrible for this i  m afraid . now don  t get me wrong  i  m no feminist sympathiser  but the fact that these two women actually fall hands over heels in love with the two characters shortly after arresting them  letting them go free . . . twice  is just insulting to the female race . the fact that one tatty haired  fat lipped bum  winger  and his hapless sidekick ramis can simply sweet talk themselves into into the mp  s underwear  to which they fall madly in love with the two of them is nothing short of ludicrous .  br    br   then there is the training scenes  where you get to meet the squad  phycho  who unconvincingly threatens to kill anyone who touches him or his stuff  followed by the overweight bloke  played by the late and great john candy  who claims he joined the army to  avoid paying     for anger management classes  . leading to loud mouthed murray paying tribute to the  giant toe    wtf    drill seargent  who honestly couldn  t organise a pi up in a brewery  let alone his band of recruits . all this scene serves to do is to prelude loads of fight scenes  with people saying  way to go ass hole    all the time  etc etc .  br    br   the scenes then carry on showing the rag tag bunch making utter tits of themselves on the assault course  leading to a scene where one of them shoots wildly into the air at some passing birds with an assault rifle  peppering a watch tower with bullets .  just like that . yep  told you this film was random . . . he miraculously escapes undisciplined as well . . .  eventually leading up the the passing out parade  where the hapless squad make a magic turn around within the space of two hours .  bugger me  miracle   thanks to some wise words from murray  to which they then direct a massively none military like dance routine in front of a geriatric  general  in front of the rest of the squads . all of this to the immense pleasure of their two girlfriends on the stand  who really should  ve been arresting them . . . everyone laughs it off though . this bit is nothing short of amazing though . he then chooses them to guard a new multi  million dollar prototype armoured vehicle in italy  which turns out to be just a mobile home painted green with loads of gadgets on the inside   claiming  this is exactly what this army needs   righto . . .  br    br   then there is the dire finale  where murray and ramis decide to steal this top  secret prototype military vehicle to pick up their newly acquired and somewhat hyperactive mp girlfriends in germany . to which the hapless captain  john larroquette  then finds out and leads the squad of fresh recruits on a retrieval mission for this vehicle . to which they then take a  wrong turn  en  route and end up in soviet held czechoslovakia  where they are captured .  like we didn  t see that coming . . .  thus begins a rescue attempt by ramis and murray  birds in hand  to which is where a big fight  loads of shooting from the hip and blowing tanks up . with them coming back as national heroes  humiliating the russians by calling them  pussies   etc etc . the end . thats right . no courts martial  nothing . they only just stole a prototype military vehicle  drove it into a warsaw pact country and almost caused an international incident which could  ve sparked ww    br    br   this film is honestly more fun that being diagnosed with a terminal illness . i know its meant to be a comedy  it got all the right actors for it  but where in the hell is it  have channel  cuts those bits out  the only redeeming feature in this film is the repetitive use of naked women taking showers  and female mud wrestling .  like i said  random  not that it helps to divert from the fact that this is an utterly crap film  of course . this film should realistically be aimed at immature  year old  s  sadly  we have to watch it instead .  star out of    total tripe . my advice  do something a little more useful with your time . like castrating yourself . . .  
rohmer strays from his usual portraits of french middle class to tell this costume drama about the difficulties of an aristocrat lady during the french revolution . what  s more attractive about  la anglaise . . .   apart from the story itself  is the fabulous aesthetics that rohmer has achieved . the images have been digitally decorated too make them look like baroque pictures . in some moments you can  t really say whether your watching a movie or a series of pictures in louvre musseum . every shot is like a piece of art .  br    br   my rate  .      br    br                    br    br                   br    br                br    br                       
possibly not  but it is awful . even the fantastic cast cant save it . ok  i admit it started off quite funny but it seemed to plummet downhill as soon as they jumped those girls in the generals house . bill murray turned from being a quick witted  humorous guy into an arsehole who was shouting things at people in the street that just weren  t funny  its like he was trying too hard to be funny . his character stole a weapon  an rv  come on . . .  and ends up being a national hero after invading another country and killing god knows how many soldiers  for a laugh . one good point is that this film shows the inadequacy and incompetence of the us army and shows how arrogant and imbecilic they really are  albeit unintentionally . i actually felt disgusted that this kind of propaganda crap could really be released .  
erich rohmer  s  l  anglaise et le duc  makes a perfect companion piece to peter watkins   la commune  paris      .  both films  screened at this year  s toronto international film festival  ironically illustrate how history is shaped to by the tellers of the tale . ironic  given the tragic events that were taking place in the u . s . during the festival .  br    br   set in paris during the french revolution  the movie  based on grace elliott  s  lucy russell   memoirs   is a first  hand account of how she survived those heady but dangerous days . she also details her relationship with the duke of orleans  played by jean  claude dreyfus   who  in contrast to herself  is a supporter of the revolution .  br    br   true to form  you don  t know whose side of history rohmer is going to come down on . one of the earliest of the french  new wave  filmmakers  rohmer has often been criticized for being too conservative . after all  in the midst of the rebelling  youth  viet  nam days of the late   s and   s  he was filming romantic little confections like  claire  s knee .  but don  t sell the old boy short  folks  he  s always been a student of human nature  not an ideologue  and  l  anglaise et le duc  continues to bear this out .  br    br   rohmer  s characters are never the  bad guys  nor the  good guys   they are first and foremost human beings who are capable of exhibiting a full range of human potentialities  and limitations . that  s why his movies are always provocative  and this film is no exception .  br    br   now for the technological nuts and bolts .  br    br   rohmer  though making his way into his   s  is still on the cutting  edge of cinematic innovation . the look of  l  anglaise  is like something you  ve never seen before . you guessed it  the old guy  like several of the festival  s directors this year  has gone digital .  br    br   all of the movie  s exterior scenes look as though they are taking place in their original     s parisian settings . as a matter of fact  you may get so distracted from marveling at the authenticity of the film  s look you may have to go back for a second screening to catch the subtleties of the film  s psychological  and yes  i  ll say it  political insights .  br    br   toronto features some of the world  s edgiest young filmmakers this year  as well as some of the world  s oldest . and the old masters are standing there on cinema  s cutting  edges right alongside the young ones .  br    br   long live youth . long live old age . and long live erich rohmer .  br    br    
i didn  t like this bill murray vehicle when it was originally released in the   s  so i tried watching it again to see if my distaste for this film was down to my movie  going tastes in the   s or was it that  stripes  is simply a bad movie . well  the verdict is in and  stripes  is a bad movie .  br    br   now   stripes  may have been innovative comedy in the early   s  and it may appeal to people who have gone through basic training or who are bill murray fans  but its still a bad movie .  br    br   why is it bad  mostly because  stripes  is supposed to be a comedy but it  s just not that funny . there are some laughs  but they are few and far between . most of the movie is consumed by the dramatic plot which is incredibly convoluted and not very interesting . this lack of comedy is especially noticeable if you  re used to more contemporary comedies such as  anchorman  which strive for laughs in every part of the movie .  br    br    stripes  further suffers from bill murray and harold ramis  s lack of acting ability . bill murray is a great comedian but he was not a very compelling dramatic actor at this point in his career  and harold ramis is playing harold ramis . these two are just not good enough as actors to carry the dramatic arch of the movie .  br    br   lastly  most of the comedy that there is in  stripes  revolves around bill murray  s self  centered  smart  alec man  child character so if you don  t find that character funny  like i didn  t  you  re not going to find most of what little comedy there is in  stripes  funny either .  br    br    stripes  is very much a movie of its era  it hasn  t aged well and is not worth watching . if you want to watch an early    s  buddy  comedy i would recommend  stir crazy .  like  stripes  the humor in  stir crazy  is not as fast  paced as in contemporary comedies  but unlike  stripes  it has aged much better and as a result is still watchable .  
this is like  crouching tiger  hidden dragon  in a more surreal  fantasy setting with incredible special effects and computer generated imagery that would put industrial light and magic to shame . the plot may be hard to follow  but that is the nature of translating chinese folklore to the screen certainly the overall story would probably be more familiar to its native audience . however  an intelligent person should be able to keep up moreover  the martial arts scenes potency are amplified by eye popping cgi .  
shortly after seeing this film i questioned the mental competence of every actor and actress that accepted a role . elizabeth shue is a commendable actress  why would she embrace such an overrated opportunity  i must give credit where credit is due  though . some moments in the movie were unpredictable and rather transfixing  but they hardly made up for the scathing perverse tendencies of kevin bacon  s character  sebastian caine . i wouldn  t recommend this movie to anyone  man or woman  that has any form of self  respect to account for .  
anyone who finds this film boring is a hopeless bonehead who should stick to car chase movies and romantic comedies . this film is riveting and doesn  t have a boring moment . why  because it is comprised largely of intelligent dialogue between real people in a moment of crisis and details their efforts to survive that crisis . i repeat   intelligent dialogue  that is what characterizes nearly all of rohmer  s films  and that is why a lot of people don  t like them . they prefer action . fine  let them spend the rest of their lives watching action films  while those of us with taste and discrimination will continue to seek out films like this .  br    br   rohmer has always been accused of being  talky .  well  he is  but to me that  s a compliment  not a criticism . shakespeare was talky  too . is there a talkier play than  hamlet   whenever the subject  or theme  of a work of art consists of ideas and conflicts over values  there must of necessity be a discussion of these ideas and values  an that is largely what this film is all about . aristocracy and noble birth vs . egalitarianism loyalty to old friends that is put to the ultimate test when that friend takes what we believe to be a wrong path the value of human life and the responsibility to help save that life  even if the person possessing that life is not so nice  or even despicable .  anyone ever hear of dostoyevsky  or  crime and punishment    these are what this film is all about .  br    br   the two leads in this film are impeccable  as if they were born to play these roles . lucy russell  who is english and speaks french as her second language  is especially brilliant . do yourself a favor and see this riveting film . it may be the last film by this screen master .  
that is quite an outdated movie which aims to showcase the youth  s yearning for freedom in some dehumanizing british school . oh yes it  s like in the army  you learn to obey and do what you  re asked to . yes the young dream of something else but it breaks their dreams and sweeps away their optimism on the threshold of life . great .  br    br   basically that  s how you could sum up the nice intentions in if . . . nice intentions that arouses no cinematographic challenges the result is a declamatory movie . do you see how boring i mean   br    br   at least that oldie helped kubrick cast mcdowell in a clockwork orange  a movie with a truly powerful social satire and no self  indulgent sentimentalism .  
eric rohmer  s  the lady and the duke  . could have used a better translation for the title .  the english woman and the duke   perhaps  would have been more accurate . while it  s obvious this film is not for everyone  judging by the comments to this forum  it is worth watching because in spite of the intricate pattern of the story  mr . rohmer has created a movie that could be seen as an art exhibit in a museum . the mixed technology used in the movie  ultimately  works well .  br    br   the strange story of grace elliott  a noble lady who had been the mistress of the king of england and of the french duc d  orleans  holds our attention . the setting is paris during the days that followed the french revolution . the country was in turmoil and the power was in the hands of the people  who couldn  t care less for the aristocrats . the images show the agitators running around with heads of famous people right after their trip to the guillotine .  br    br   grace relation with the duc had ended  but she remains a true friend to the great man that is in danger  himself  of losing his own head . grace moves through all the horrors around her without being able of an escape . she even has an enemy in her own house  in the form of the cook  pulcherie  who would not hesitate to denounce her at the least provocation .  br    br   watching the movie  at times  gives the viewer the impression one is going on a trip through the louvre watching those huge canvases that depict this crucial era of the french history . rather than finding the digitalization process distracting  we found it to enhance the film in many ways .  br    br   lucy russell  as grace elliott  does a fine job to portray this woman who saw a lot during her lifetime . her french seems to be excellent  as it appears she is fluent in it . as the duc d  orleans  jean claude dreyfus made a fantastic contribution making us believe he is the nobleman himself without any effort . the supporting cast also was great . as an ensemble piece mr . rohmer gets good performances all around .  br    br   for lovers of history   the lady and the duke  will be an interesting movie to watch thanks to the vision of eric rohmer .  
lindsay anderson was very much a european film maker  whereas the likes of david lean  ridley scott and alan parker make spectacular movies involving visuel scope andersons movie are more about social commentary and subtext  so much so that the message often ends up taking over the entire film whose primary function should be to entertain the audience  br    br   what you think of if comes down to what you think of british film makers . im very much of the view that cinema should be a universial medium  the best brit movie makes are those who try to emulate hollywood in my opinion   if you want to send a message try pony express  and i find the movie dated  pretentious and too set in the     s .     was the summer of love and the year of student rebellion in france . you can just imagine every single french leftist worshipping this movie especially the climax . french new wave film makers will also admire the abstract surrealism of some scenes but a mainstream international will dislike it  and many will dislike it intensely  
this is quite an amazing film to watch . using digital technology  the director  rohmer  has literally encrusted his living actors into painted backdrops . most of the time this works brilliantly  especially at the start where the film is like a pop up story book come to life . it is less successful in a few scenes  where it limits camera angles  they had not painted the side of some of the buildings for example  but it is a very interesting way to film a historical film which is as much about our own misconceptions and limited views of history as history itself . it is narrated using the memoirs of the duc d  orleans  ex  mistress  grace elliott . so  an event usually claimed as one of their own by marxist historians  especially in france  is here told from the point of view of a female aristocratic foreigner . inevitably a different point of view emerges  there can be no objective representation . the use of the memoirs device does give the film a rather episodic quality . personally  i found the story line around the king  s death the most interesting . a staunch royalist she is shocked when the duc votes for the king  s death  a basic knowledge of the french revolution is probably helpful to follow the dialogue between grace and the duc here . he was louis  s cousin and had himself elected to the assembly  where he promptly changed his name to philip equality  . the filming of louis  s death is masterly . grace and her maidservant are in meudon  out of paris  watching from a hill with a telescope . we do not see the execution  we only hear the maid  s commentary  like grace . the most dramatic event of the revolution happens off screen . grace cannot bear to watch her king be killed . her view is that of an aristocrat . any justification of louis  s death is literally beyond her vision . this is powerful  keenly intelligent film making . the love story between the duc and grace is insinuated  never told  and is powerfully moving  tho the duc does seem a bit of a pompous fool at times what does she see in him  no accounting for taste  . the undercurrents of madness  simply existing being enough to be a suspect  that sweep individuals along in a time such as the revolution are illustrated as grace  s life is turned upside down  her house is searched daily  yet she still orders her servants to cook her food and is incapable of dressing herself  if you have any interest at all in a subtle  well told film  making clever use of new technology to tell an old tale  or the representation of a pivotal moment in europe  s history narrated by an aristocratic foreign woman  its ultimate outsider  then this is well worth your time . it is a little slow in places but your patience is amply rewarded .  
i just saw  if  i can remember the advertisements for the movie from      so i was interested in finally seeing it . it may be the perspective of an american who never went to a british public school and misses some of the social references  but i thought the movie was awful . for one thing  as others have pointed out  it takes almost the entire movie for the much ballyhooed  at  the  time revolt to break out . for another  whether the last scene is real or imagined  what occurs isn  t a revolt  but a shooting rampage . there  s quite a difference .  br    br   i know it may be bad form to judge a movie on subsequent events  but one cannot avoid doing it here . one person wrote a message board posting asking us not to compare the end of movie to the incidents at columbine high school and virginia tech . but if there  s a scintilla of difference between klebold  harris and cho on the one hand and travis  malcom mcdowell  on the other  i simply can  t see it . all four of them were under the delusion that their gunfire is going to purify a f     ed up world that they arrogantly take no responsibility for .  br    br   which brings me to why the hell are travis and his chums even in a school they so despise  they are adults  or close to it . they  re not in a military prison  like the inmates in  the hill   a much better british film from about the same time . no one is forcing them to go to college and take beatings from the the whips  except maybe ambitious parents in need of a wake  up about the nature of their sons . i had the opportunity in college to join a frat  except i couldn  t stand to be given silly  cruel orders by delinquents claiming to be my prospective  brothers .  i took the consequences of not having the  in  with the establishment that frats provide  and i can  t say i regretted it .  br    br   if travis fancies himself the second coming of lenin  whose unbearded picture hangs prominently in his room  he  s free to go out and organize a fitter  s union or work for michael foot in the next election . if he wants to be jack kerouac  then get on the road and start writing . what possible benefit is he giving the world in joyriding a motorcycle and getting drunk in his room   br    br   sometimes reviewers have to be like the person who responded to the scene in  last tango in paris  where brando mopes about having had to go on a date with cow manure on his shoes . in the real world  the person said  a listener would say  why didn  t you scrape it off  change your shoes     don  t allow fictional characters to lay a self  pity trip on you because you don  t dare point out an common  sense alternative course of action for them . so it is here .  
i remember liking this more than nausicaa of the valley of the winds at an age when that tone of story was too serious for me . laputa  whose title seems to have affected its release in the u . s . to avoid confusion to its wide hispanic audiences  has the cartoonish knack of the director  s debut production conan . in fact  pazu has the thick bones and immortal vitality of conan   who jumped off a thousand stories carrying his girl in his arms and landed on his feet  then started running . this makes him the most animated and pleasing character to watch . the techie fans of nausica may be disappointed by the flying bugs and the retro technology through out laputa   the only exception may be the robot . unlike princess mononoke and valley of the winds  the theme in laputa is not directly connected to environmentalism . if it has a theme at all it  s anti  warfare . the importance of living naturally   this is related with the flying castle  is dismissably shortly discussed  and not really followed through . overall  i now regard the piece as being at an intersection between feel  good and corny .  
if . . . . is the cinematic equivalent of sgt . pepper  s revered by baby boomers as the pinnacle of creation  and viewed as rather a silly bit of business by preceding and subsequent generations . now that the children of the middle classes the world over are seemingly super human due to the internet  and view the prospect of boarding school as a wonderful opportunity thanks to the harry potter books  films  the relevance of if . . . . couldn  t be further from modern concern . in fact  many scenes appear so alien and exaggerated as to hint at an inspiration for pink floyd  s the wall .  br    br   one should never hold personal bias against a film while reviewing  and the cemented date of this film aside  there are a few flaws which others have overlooked . lindsay anderson was known to be a fan of luis buuel  on top of generally being too smart for his own good . and despite a straightforward narrative through the first and second acts  the latter portion of the piece it taken hostage by cod buuel surrealism and strained attempts at symbolism . anderson wasn  t capable of this feat due to his over  intelligent cynicism  failing to see that buuel was jovial in his work . i have not found a critic whom champions the  chaplain in a drawer   and am almost certain it still gets sideways looks from those who adore this film . the ending is not so much a concise punch to the established class  values system  as a wet slap on a moving target .  br    br   the british public school system was firmly for the middle classes  the upper crust being educated at home by private tutors  . and the modus operandi of if . . . . was to check the boxes of public school life which lindsay believed had been unexplored in film  thereby savaging middle class pretense . homosexuality  generational cutlery  cold showers et al . in reality  such issues had been covered in many other great british films  if . . . . merely brought them to the fore . the browning version was a more oblique damning of such pomp  to name but one .  br    br   if . . . . is oddly quaint  and simply can not be viewed with modern  especially american  eyes . kudos to anderson for avoiding mick and kieth in favour of african chant  and a few brownie points for the latent homoerotic overtones . points deducted for pretension  establishing characters who disappear  and inciting a glib revolution which came to naught .  
the first time i ever saw this movie was back in the     s as a wee lad . my dad actually recorded it off the tv . i must have watched is over   times  before the relatively recent release on dvd .  br    br   i of course bought and watched the dvd and was taken aback by how much the dialogue had changed . in the first version  which i still have on vhs  the mood of the film  thanks to the dialogue  was actually very dark . however the new version  featuring van der beek et al  is more comic .  br    br   to put it another way  it  s like watching the original us release of akira with that dub  before watching the remastered version with the literal translation of the japanese .  br    br   i  m in no way complaining  the story and quality of animation are not detracted from  but it does raise the question of whether miyazaki intended for a lighter or darker narrative and theme in his film . . . . .  
ah  the spirit of    . the streets of paris were running wild with rebellion  the hippies were high on the spirit of love . how was britain marking this age of radicalism and revolution  erm  by the looks of it  dear old blighty was focusing on making films about boys in boarding schools . if . . . contains the evil establishment . it contains the uprising of the oppressed . what it lacks in contrast to the parisien passion and the hippy headtripping is any sense of excitement  except in its all  out ammo  and  artillery fire ending .  br    br   lindsay anderson  s if . . . stars the ever  marvellous malcolm mcdowell as one of three private school pupils who decorate their dorm with photos of lenin and other left  wing radicals . it  s clearly an anti  establishment movie in its depiction of the evil upper  class oiks who rule the roost and the antiquated autocratic practices of the pish  posh public school standard . what makes if . . . unusual though is that for all its radical sympathies  it doesn  t explicitly give us any sense of great tension between human decency and the despotic school system  instead it just kind of floats lacking in plot and lacking in personality .  br    br   surrealist bits fade in and out occasionally and the film slips from black  and  white to colour again  is it due to the low budget or is it an arty expression    but there is little of interest to speak of . all we get is the poignant denouement where the young rebels reach for their rifles and shoot down the shady overlords of the establishment . hooray  a revolution  at last something that demands a second thought unlike the rest of this dull exercise in boarding school daydreaming .  br    br   if . . . could have been a powerful political statement  but as it is it drifts and only gathers any sense of direct interest at the end . instead of being a testament to the dissident zeitgeist of the late  sixties  it only succeeds in being a dazed document of upper  class british education . anarchy  apathy more like  the only man many viewers will want to stick it to after watching if . . . will be lindsay anderson .  
this film is amazing and i would recommend to child and adult alike . the animation is beautiful  the characters are rich and interesting  and the story is captivating far better than anything the american studios were producing at the time . however  there is a couple of caveats to this statement . it  s a shame that disney bought the studio ghibli back  catalogue and then proceeded to butcher it . my main point being  disney re  dubbed the film  despite the original english version being very impressive . the new cast with van der beek et al ruined it and took away much of the attractiveness of the characters e . g . pazu and sheeta went from adventurous companions to whiny teenagers . the original music score is also far better than the disney remix . it begs the question why did disney make such changes  it seems to me is that by having van der beek et al being cast then disney can draw in more money  which is fair enough  but in the process they tainted they film . it is still a beautiful film and i would still recommend it to anyone . my main beef is that disney ruined a film from childhood which i loved and still love . i am lucky enough to have an original japanese import with the original english dub which i am now going to guard with my life   
i  ve read reviews that apparently you have to have been a student in a very strict  british school in the      s to understand this . maybe that  s true  if so  then this movie is outdated .  br    br   spoiler alert the ending makes about as much sense as all the kids who  re anti  government and anti  corporation without having any better solution that doesn  t torch society to a mad max type cinder .  br    br   yeah  the main characters could leave  but they don  t . the reasons they go about this don  t make sense . there isn  t enough character development to explain why . what shooting up a bunch of innocent people is supposed to mean is never explained or even hinted at . it is mentioned that war is the final creative expression  quite possibly the only revelation that any characters of this movie have  and it makes no sense .  br    br   the characters who go on a murder spree aren  t fighting the institution  they  re just killing people . i thought they might  ve used all the explosives to blow up the place or at least the sanctuary at the end  that would  ve made greater symbolic sense  but they didn  t .  br    br   tldr  this movie is an adolescent  s daydream of fighting against authority that plagues them  though in reality they need . it has no moral  symbolic truth  or meaning to it this movie simply plays out the fantasy of killing teachers and people in  power  that annoy you .  br    br   if you think a murder rampage  school shooting similar to columbine or virginia tech is a rational and sensible way to deal with teachers and institutions you don  t like  then i guess you  ll love this movie . if you  re like me and you  re working towards making a life for yourself instead of just blindly  very blindly in this movie  rebelling against  the man   this movie is juvenile and boring .  br    br   you can also tell in parts that funding was lacking  and the story seemed to have a touch of attention deficit disorder .  br    br   all in all  this seems like a very rough draft of what could  ve been an okay movie  but no effort is put into the dialogue  character development  or moral so it  s just . . . poorly done .  br    br   if . . . only i could get my two hours back .  
saw this on sbs tv here in australia the other week  where it was titled  laputa castle in the sky  . i had enabled subtitles and i think sbs provided their own for that  which  as usual  was of very good quality .  br    br   just looked up  laputa  on wikipedia and it confirms what i suspected . . . the floating island of this tale is taken from the classic jonathan swift novel  gulliver  s travels   which was published in the early to mid     s .  br    br   anyway  this is an engaging japanese fairytale  which features an english speaking voice  cast . it  s suitable for young children  i think  but it does run at just over two hours in length  so it may be too long for some  though not for an adult like me .  br    br   the story concerns two children who seek to find a legendary floating island which has a castle on it . the children are not the only ones looking for this island . they have pirates  the army and spies looking for the island too  and looking to capture the children  sheeta  the girl  voiced by anna paquin  and pazu  the boy  voiced by james van der beek  in order to help them find it .  br    br   the graphics are magnificent . . . sort of photo  realistic at times  especially the scenes of stonework lit by torch  light  or the pretty scenes of bright  sunny days  with white clouds  or mist .  br    br   recommended .  
the british public school system did not evolve solely with the idea of educating the upper classes despite that popular and widespread misconception . it was designed to produce administrators and governors  civil servants and military men to run the british colonies . these people were almost entirely recruited from the middle classes . when the public schools had begun to show their worth the scions of the aristocracy were sent to them rather than be educated at home by tutors and governesses as had previously been the case . they tended to favour the schools nearer  town  so eton and harrow became particularly popular with that class of parent . the vast majority of public schools took their pupils from lower down the social scale . tom brown  perhaps the most famous public school pupil ever  was the son of a country parson  not a belted earl . thus in late     s england  a country in the throes of post  colonial guilt and shedding the last of its commitments to its former dependants as quickly as harold wilson could slip off his  gannex  mac  lindsay anderson  s  if  was greeted with cathartic joy by the chattering classes and mild bemusement by everyone else . it must be remembered that the so  called  summer of love  was followed by the  october revolution  a non  event that left a few policemen in london with bruised heads and the u . s . embassy with one or two broken windows  but achieved absolutely nothing . so when mr anderson  s film reached the cinemas the disgruntled former revolutionaries revelled vicariously in what they saw as mr malcolm mcdowell  s glorious victory over an amorphous  them  despite the fact that he was ruthlessly gunned down at the end  a fate that would have undoubtedly overtaken them had they succeeded in their attempts to get into the u . s . embassy . the film told us nothing new about public schools  homosexuality  bullying cold showers  patrician sarcastic teachers  silly traditions . an all  too familiar list . it was declared to be an allegory comparing britain to the corrupt  crumbling society represented by the school . well  nearly forty years on the same schools are still flourishing  the british social system has not changed  the  october revolution  has been long forgotten except by those involved on one side or the other and mr anderson has completed his  state of the country  trilogy to no effect whatsoever . if by any chance you should wish to read a book about schoolboys who did buck the system rather more successfully than mr mcdowell and his friends and furthermore lived to tell the tale  find a copy of  stalky  co .  written by the man whose much  maligned poem  if  lent it  s name to mr anderson  s film  a man born in colonial india  a man whose work is quietly being airbrushed out of our literary history . and do it before the chattering classes succeed in declaring him a non  person . perhaps somebody should start a revolution about that .  
like many americans  i was first introduced to the works of hayao miyazaki when i saw  spirited away .  i fell in love with the film and have seen it many times . now i am on a search to see every film by miyazaki . one of his earlier works is  castle in the sky .  although it  s still enjoyable  it  s not as good as  spirited away   though comparing this or any film to his     masterpiece is perhaps unfair  .  br    br   a young boy named pazu  james van der beek  is working in a mine late one night  when he sees a girl fall slowly from the sky . when she wakes up the next morning  she introduces herself as sheeta  anna paquin  . but sheeta has a secret  and before he knows it  pazu is pulled into an adventure that will lead him into danger with pirates  the army and a lost floating city .  br    br   going into a film by hayao miyazaki means you can expect one thing a sense of wonder and magic . many filmmakers have tried  but no one can create a sense of magic and awe like miyazaki . watching a film by miyazaki is like experiencing a fantastic dream from your childhood .  br    br   because the film is animated  dubbing the film does not pose much of a problem because it is next to impossible to determine whether or not the lip movements match up to the words . it also helps that the translated dialogue is well  written and voiced by talented actors . the voice acting is varied . james van der beek fares best . he brings an irresistible enthusiasm and excitement to the role of pazu that is perfect for the character . anna paquin is nearly as good as sheeta . she  s frightened by the events going on around her  but she knows what she has to do . mark hamill is unrecognizable as the evil muska . he  s dangerous and wants something from sheeta  and will do anything to get it . the other voices are bad . cloris leachman is awful as dola . leachman may have won an oscar for  the last picture show   but she  s annoying as the pirate leader . leachman gives the character an obnoxious squawk that  s nearly always monotonous . it  s so bad it nearly ruins the film  jim cummings is an effective voice  over actor  but he  s miscast as the general .  br    br   i would definitely recommend seeing  castle in the sky .  i  ll probably end up buying it myself . but even though it  s not as good as  spirited away   it  s still pretty good .  
this is an extremely boring film . if you grew up during the vietnam was  as i did  then you  ve seen and heard all of the film footage and arguments here a hundred times by now . but what really makes this film boring is the narration by director carlton sherwood . the majority of the film is shot with sherwood talking directly into the camera about his opinion of this conflicting time in the history of our nation .  br    br   if you  re old enough to remember vietnam  then you won  t find anything new here . there is no new evidence to condemn john kerry or new evidence worthy of another documentary on vietnam . younger viewers who are interested in the subject should see george butler  s excellent film going upriver  stolen honor was clearly meant to be a hatchet job on john kerry  but it fails miserably at accomplishing that goal .  
retitled from its original japanese name of laputa  for being an offensive phrase  something which director hayao miyazaki was oblivious to at the time   castle in the sky is the master animator  s third film  and it  s one of his most beloved of all time . initially a box office disappointment in its     release  it has since been embraced by critics and audiences around the world . inspired by jonathan swift  s  gulliver  s travels   castle in the sky is a steampunk  themed action adventure tale about two young orphans   young miner pazu  and mysterious girl sheeta  who wears a magic crystal around her neck    who team up to find the long  lost island of laputa  which is rumored to have great riches and gems . they are aided by a band of bumbling yet sympathetic air pirates led by the feisty dola  who at first chase them  yet turn out to be true allies  and pursued by the government headed by its villainous topmost  secret agent  muska  who wants the power of laputa for his own benefit .  br    br   for anyone looking for an exciting way to spend two hours  this film is an excellent choice  featuring just the right amount of humor  exploration  wonder  and mystery to keep one interested . the artwork  although not as spectacular as in some of miyazaki  s later movies  is fantastic and gorgeous enough to watch with imaginative characters and locations  incredibly exciting action scenes  and breathtaking flight sequences that will make one feel giddy . and while the characters that populate this tale are less complex than miyazaki  s other works  each has a memorable  endearing personality that stays with the viewer long after the film is over . dola  in particular  makes for a terrific comic character  shouting orders to her dimwitted sons one moment and being protective of sheeta the next . muska is one of the few miyazaki creations to ever come across as an irredeemable villain  but like dola  he commands every scene he  s in with a sinister charisma that is both alluring and chilly .  br    br   anime fans have often compared this movie to gainax  s sci  fi adventure series nadia the secret of blue water . after all  both works share similar story and character elements . . . not to mention that they were both created by miyazaki himself . where both differ is in their execution . nadia  although charming for the most part  suffered from taking a wrong turn at its midway point  devolving into cartoonish nonsense which all but distracted from the main plot  even though it did have a strong ending . castle in the sky  on the other hand  remains consistently entertaining and focused for its two hour running time  and is all the better for it . while the film  s epic tone is sometimes broken up by some  cartoonish  moments  like a brawl between pazu  s boss and one of dola  s sons  it  s never to the point that it detracts from the film .  br    br   about eleven years ago  disney released an english version featuring a cast of big  names such as james van der beek  anna paquin  cloris leachman  mark hamill  mandy patinkin as well as some cameo appearances by veterans such as tress macneille and jim cummings . it also features an ambitious reworking of joe hisaishi  s gorgeous musical score for a performance by the seattle music orchestra  interestingly  the man behind this rescore is none other than the composer himself  . as much as purists have cried blasphemy over this version for its occasional extra dialogue and the aforementioned rescore  miyazaki had no such problems in fact  he is said to have applauded the reworking  and for good reason  because the newly rerecorded music is truly the star of the new dub . while there are some instances where filling in some critially silent scenes from the original japanese is a bit jarring  notably the journey through a dragon  infested storm cloud   the overall reworking is fantastic and in many ways improves on the original  particularly in scenes such as when a robot attacks a fortress and the climactic moments toward the end . here  hisaishi displays his musical versatility and genius for matching music to visuals .  br    br   as far as the performances in the dub go  the leads are probably at the short end of the stick james van der beek  s pazu sounds significantly more mature than his character  while anna paquin  s sheeta speaks with an odd accent that fluctuates at times  a problem which actually works in favor of the character  . that said  both do good jobs overall and provide a fairly believable chemistry throughout . it  s the lively supporting cast  however  that really make this dub so much fun  particularly cloris leachman  s dola and mark hamill  s muska . both are perfectly cast and steal every scene they  re in as with the rescore  these two really warrant a listen to the disney dub . the script adaptation borders on the loose side at times   there  s quite a bit of extra lines and  or commentary  some of which are pricelessly funny and others somewhat overdone    but aside from at least one debatable alteration  sheeta  s speech in the climactic showdown  the world cannot live without love  as opposed to the original  you can  t survive apart from mother earth    the overall characters  story  and spirit remain fairly faithful to the original . on the whole  there is little point comparing the disney version to the original language track each puts their own stamp on this legendary masterpiece  and i like them both .  they  re also better than streamline  jal  s more literal but frightfully robotic  lifeless  abysmally acted and poorly written older dub from the late      s don  t believe anybody who says this version is  superior  to disneys   trust me  the opposite is true .   br    br   either way  though  you can  t go wrong with castle in the sky . it  s one of miyazaki  s all  time greatest  and i highly recommend it .  
from the start  you know how this movie will end . it  s so full of clichs your typical nra member will not even like this movie . i give it  out of    only because of the acting of william benton . i can  t believe people voted   for this movie . it  s so biased towards a  certain point of view   once a thief . . .  . people aren  t born bad . neither are they born good . they are born with a clean slate . it  s society  parents and education what makes them who they are . and if they take the wrong turn  somewhere down the line  it certainly isn  t going to be the american penal system that gets them back on track  anyway  avoid this movie like the plague . i bet you have better things to do with your time than waste it on this piece of crap .  br    br    
the first of the official ghibli films  laputa is most similar to its predecessor nausicaa  but whereas nausicaa was a sf epic  this is more of an action comedy  adventure with a fairly weak sf premise .  br    br   for the first half hour of the movie i thought i was going to love it . once again you find yourself in awe of miyazaki  s attention to detail  and his ability to conjure up an imaginary world in meticulous  beautiful perfection . the animation  though still not in the league of the later ghibli films  is a little better than in nausicaa .  br    br   i mentioned in my review of nausicaa that one character is drawn in a more  lupinesque  anime style . here there are a whole bunch of them the pirates . they provide the comic element in the film  though quite why it needs a comic element i  m not sure . there was nothing funny about nausicaa  and i think it was better off for it . still . having said that  dola  the pirate leader  is easily the most memorable character in the film  even if she  s basically a female long john silver . don  t be surprised if you  re reminded of  treasure planet  at times  and is well voiced by cloris leachman in the american dub .  br    br   the english voice cast acquit themselves well for the most part  actually . however something started going pear  shaped for me about this movie by about the halfway mark . i think the best way that i could describe it is that the characters get swallowed up by the vast scope of the story . i  ll come back to that later .  br    br   there is so much to admire about laputa  and so many people obviously love it  that i almost feel mean for only giving it  out of    but for me the operative word here is  admire  . it was more impressive than personally affecting  and at over two hours it just started to drag .  br    br   the crucial thing for me was this i really found that i didn  t care much about any of the characters . disney would have taken the care to develop the characters  make you really fall for them  rather than leave them as relatively two  dimensional pieces to be moved around while you gawked at the amazing vistas in the movie . even that would have been tolerable if there was some hard sf in the story to make up for it  but it was basically a lot of gobledegook about princesses and magic crystals . that  s where laputa falls down as far as i  m concerned  and that  s what holds it back from being a potential   out of   movie . having said that  it must be admitted that miyazaki was leagues ahead of disney in general in      when you consider that their movie of the same year was the pretty dire  great mouse detective  .  br    br   laputa is a good film in some ways an amazing film  and you should definitely see it  but i do feel it  s over  rated . i definitely prefer the earlier  nausicaa of the valley of the wind  .  br    br   btw  if you manage to watch them in chronological order  watch for the fox  squirrel from nausicaa popping up briefly in laputa .  
rarely has such an amazing cast been wasted so badly . griffin dunne  rosanna arquette  illeana douglas  ethan hawke  dennis hopper  christopher walken  and john turturro  all jumped on board  only to be torpedoed by a script that seems like nothing more than a hollywood in joke . attaching martin scorsese  s name to this was probably the draw  but the end result is way less than the sum of it  s parts . resembling a nightmare gone horribly wrong  each scene seems more contrived than the next .  search and destroy  is nothing more than abstract  stylish  self indulgent nonsense  and the entire film is decidedly dull . . . . . . . . . . merk  
i  ve been a fan of xu ke  hark tsui  for many year since school . this film is the best fantasy movie in years . i dont think  action  is the right genre  though there  re lot of action and kongfu scenese . wait  did i mentioned this is an oriental fantasy moive  please  keep in mind that do not use hollywood formula to rate this film . and for the guy who  poo  around  i don  t blame you   cause you still young and need to know more about  culture  .  
this movie is worth watching if you enjoy marvelling over special effects . there are some interesting visuals .  br    br   aside from that  it  s typical nineties  aughties hollywood fare of dazzle without substance . true to the title .  br    br   it  s not worth picking apart the story . that  s like performing brain surgery on a dinosaur . there  s not much there to begin with . it  s nothing original and not very special . so don  t go in for the story at all . just look at the effects .  br    br   as has been mentioned  it got a little flashy at the end  diluting the purity of great fx treatment of an invisible  and at times half invisible  man . however if you ignore the  standard  pyrotechnics  it  s a sight to behold  or not to behold  .  br    br   all in all  it  s a decent fx film worth seeing for that purpose and that alone .  
it is an almost ideal romantic anime  must see for all ages  but the english dubbed version is not too good . perhaps the     version will be better .  
the cat o  nine tails  il gatto a nove code   br    br   aspect ratio  .      cromoscope   br    br   sound format mono  br    br      mm and   mm release prints   br    br   a blind ex  journalist  karl malden  overhears a blackmail plot outside a genetics research laboratory and later teams up with a fellow reporter  james franciscus  to investigate a series of murders at the lab  unwittingly placing their own loved ones at the mercy of a psychopathic killer .  br    br   rushed into production following the unexpected worldwide success of his directorial debut the bird with the crystal plumage        dario argento conceived the cat o  nine tails as a giallo  thriller in much the same vein as its forerunner  toplining celebrated hollywood actor karl malden  fresh from his appearance in patton        and rising star franciscus  the valley of gwangi  . sadly  the resulting film  which the ads claimed was  nine times more suspenseful  than  bird   is a disappointing follow  up  impeccably photographed and stylishly executed  but too plodding and aimless for general consumption .  br    br   malden and franciscus are eminently watchable in sympathetic roles  and cinematographer enrico menczer  the dead are alive  uses the wide cromoscope frame to convey the hi  tech world in which argento  s dark  hearted scenario unfolds  but the subplot involving euro starlet catherine spaak  the libertine  as franciscus  romantic interest amounts to little more than unnecessary padding . highlights include an unforgettable encounter with the black  gloved assassin in a crowded railway station  edited with sleek assurance by cult movie stalwart franco fraticelli   and a nocturnal episode in which malden and franciscus seek an important clue inside a mouldering tomb and fall prey to the killer  s devious machinations . but despite these flashes of brilliance  the film rambles aimlessly from one scene to the next  simmering gently without ever really coming to the boil . it  s no surprise that  cat  failed to emulate the runaway success of  bird  when released in     .  br    br    english version   
this is the best dub i  ve ever heard by disney  as well as the best adaptation since the biggest abuse ever on soundtrack  themes  characters  dialogues in kiki delivery service . urrrghhh  br    br   this one has different atmosphere  especially the deviation from the common heroine . this one has both hero and heroine  although i don  t really endorse the use of hero  heroine here  since miyazaki is out from the stereotype  common theme  . as usual  after being introduced by spirited away  amazed by mononoke  troubled by grave of fireflies  and deeply touched by majo no takkyuubin  this one start with a bit doubt in my part . wondering if this will be the first ghibi  s dud . well  in the end just like only yesterday and whisper of the heart  i ended up giving   rating . i  d give  .  rating  but the additional  .  is there to share the good feeling by encouraging people to see the movie .  br    br   spoiler somehow i see this as a sad movie  people die in this one  the lonely robot  the abandoned place  and it ends with destruction . it is as if mankind really can  t live with too much power . the collapsing scene gave me patches of metropolis ending . it  s just sad somehow . the plot is apparent in most reviews and the soundtrack rules as well  as always  . joe hisaishi really belongs to uematsu  kanno  williams caliber . people who can brings a movie  a game  an event to life  even to be a lingering moments by astounding composition .  br    br   this is a feel good movie that used to be part of us cinema in the classic days  it  s a wonderful life etc etc  . well  things change . . . .  
while not quite as monstrously preposterous as later works  this slow  moving  repetitive giallo offers some nice touches in the first half  but grows more and more lethargic and silly as it stumbles to its lame denouement .  br    br   to be sure  the actors are above average  considering this is an argento movie  and some moments show the director  s visual skills  but whole sequences should  ve been cut and  basically  it  s just the same exploitative trash as ever  wallowing in fake science and abnormal sexual depravity .  br    br    out of   genetic disorders  
i just realised i  ve been using imdb for years now and i  ve never reviewed my favourite film . by favourite i don  t mean something i like for now  i mean this film is so supernaturally perfect that there is never another animated experience going to touch it . this is obvious because i am never going to be a child again i saw this film on itv in the early nineties . i was   which is the age group this film is directed at  i  m also male  the gender that this film is intended for  the overwhelming majority of miyazaki  s protagonists are female  . consequently this film indelibly inspired my childhood psychology and i am forever indebted to carl macek  sp   for producing the english dub of this film which is far superior to the diney production which is not even funny  i  ve never even been able to watch that one  of course subtitled is the only way ultimately however the macek version is so good  the voices almost exactly corresponding to the original japanese actors  that this version is available on the japanese dvd  it  s not available on any distribution in an english  speaking country . go figure .  br    br   there are hundreds of competent reviews so i  m going to put some trivia here  not that i  m the definitive archive of information for this film .  br    br   first up i  d like to agree with the reviewer who stated that you need   out of   to review miyazaki  s films  they are so in their own league that they make almost the whole catalogue on imdb combined pale into insignificance .  br    br   the fascinating story with this film is that miyazaki based the countryside around slag  s ravine  pazu  s town area  on the welsh mining communities . he visited wales for a few months in the early   s  might be late   s  just after one of the great mining strikes . being an avid supporter of the student socialist movements in the sixties he felt their plight . the fight between the townsfolk and the pirates at the beginning serves to illustrate this empathy with the working man . the countryside and the clouds especially in this film remind me of where i grew up as his film depicts a fantasised version of the rolling hills of the midwest british isles .  br    br   the island is of course from swift  s genius satirical novel of the eighteenth century  the story in swift  s book is  deliberately  ridiculous . in castle in the sky  miyazaki weaves together myths such as atlantis and the tower of babel  i think the architecture in addition is based on peruvian ruins though i  m not sure  someone told me that .  br    br   anyone who gets round to reading this review and who likes this film really will want to check out miyazaki  s epic series mirai shounen conan  future boy conan  based on the short sci fi novel  the incredible tide  by alexander key  novel is available online  . conan is basically a prototype for laputa  s pazu and shita . in addition you may not be familiar with his earlier work for masterpiece theatre  some of his key frame animation . he also did key frame for sherlock hound  this has some of the finest backgrounds i  ve ever seen too . also check out miyazaki and takahata  s first feature film horus prince of the sun        amazing by today  s standards in fact . what else . . . gauche the cellist and the flying ghost ship  though they  re pretty rare .  br    br   this film is such a gift  i don  t know what we  d do without it with all this other crap storytelling around  this is like an oasis . arigatou miyazaki  sensei   
few films have left me with such a feeling of unease  and this is not a compliment . since i saw it in a theater  how it ended there i can only wonder  i was subjected to   mn of hateful  derivative garbage  the main impression being a bit like this other sick  o movie  don  t answer the phone   but worse . the nastiness of it all  rape and all  is shown without any distance  unlike strong stuff like  last house on the left   and utter contempt for the  perfect   victims and everybody involved  leaving the viewer to be treated as a sadistic voyeur . at the end i felt like taking a shower . no credits to the director  
castle in the sky is undoubtedly a hayao miyazaki film . after seeing it for the first time i  m glad to say that it doesn  t disappoint . on the contrary  you get your time  s worth  which means  as to what miyazaki  s films are concern   that is nothing less than excellent   br    br   produced early in his cinematic career  castle in the sky anticipates many of the trade marks in his later movies  with strong  but young  female characters  forced to grow up due to external circumstances  helped out by very interesting  and some times lovable  supporting characters . and  of course  the usual battle of nature versus civilization  flying machines  lots of it     beautiful painted sceneries  but alas  no pigs  at least that i  ve noticed  after all i have only seen it once  . never the less  miyazaki had already got his theatrical debut two years earlier  with nausica  which was a dress rehearsal for princess mononoke  his magnum opus . castle in the sky is set a bit a part from these two  with a soft action packed first   minutes  resembling his tv series conan  and his directed episodes of meitantei holmes . in here we are introduced to sheeta  a girl who literally falls from the sky  only to be found by pazu  a young boy working in a little countryside mining town . intrigued by her amnesia and suspecting a connection between her and the mysterious flying city of laputa  pazu is set on helping her find out where she came from  whilst escaping the army and a gang of air pirates . as the movie progresses  the plot gets heavier and much more interesting  revealing myiazaki at his best .  br    br   the sound track is very reminiscent of spirited away   or vice versa  as castle in the sky was produced first   and much like its director  joe hisaishi  the composer  starts with a very light score  that gets more complex and beautifully fitting as the plot goes forward   br    br   a note to the english dubbing  with a good interpretation from the two lead stars  although anna paquin  s sheeta has a very thick accent  which the actress still had at that point in her career   and a heads up for mark hamil as muska  making up for a delighting yet devilish villain   br    br   don  t miss this one people   
there is one really good scene in faat kine . the title character gets in an argument with another woman and after being threatened  faat kine sprays her in the face . the scene works because the act is so unexpected  bizarre  and rather funny at the same time . in that one instance  writer  director ousmane sembene gives the audience a character that is easy to root for  an interesting film character that could be worth watching for two hours . in the scene  he presents a brave woman who is bold in her actions . for the rest of the movie  the only other thing he seems to present is conflicting tones .  br    br   the tone is all over the place . it  s true not all movies have to clearly fit within a specific genre  but i don  t think faat kine fits into any genre . supposedly  it  s a drama  though there are moments of such broad comedy  the aforementioned spraying in the face  that it cannot be taken seriously . on the other hand  the film is certainly not a comedy with the abundant amount of serious topics sembene has crammed into the picture . there is a way to successfully mix comedy and drama together . unfortunately  semebene doesn  t find that balance . instead  one scene after another just drift into each other without much rhyme or reason  leaving two different tones hanging in the wind .  br    br   faat kine also has the problem of running two hours long with an extremely drawn out finale . the film ends with a big party where all the characters  conflicts are resolved  only they aren  t resolved quickly . the scene lasts longer than any other scene  going on for probably twenty minutes . because the rest of the scenes up until this point have been meandering  the finale is particularly hard to endure with repetition beginning early on in the scene  making for a frustrating viewing experience .  br    br   perhaps i am being too hard on faat kine . i am not the right audience for it . i felt nothing towards the characters and had no connection to any part of the story . there are people who will probably find something meaningful in the story and see strong characters . however  i was unable to do so and thus cannot recommend it .  
i never met a single person  out of hundreds  who hated this movie . bet that anyone who votes it down is a petty saboteur  or a victim of one . this film has everything . ask yourself   are you a fan of . . .   then go see  laputa  .  br    br   it  s not my favorite movie  but my favorite is directed by the same person  hayao miyazaki  . in any case  this one ranks among my top five . and i  ve seen a lot of movies .  
this movie is extremely boring  it tells a story of a female gas station owner and her life . nothing exciting ever happens . the director has really  kept it real  and it feels just like a camera following a woman around as she lives her life . i had to watch other films by this director for a class  the others were not as boring . this film was also watched for an assignment . . . it better be worth the boringness with a good grade   overall  unless it  s required  don  t watch the film . but don  t discount other films by this director  because they  re not as bad . . . and don  t discount other films about africa  they  re usually good  especially when done by a western director .  
i  ve seen the original english version on video . disney  s choice of voice actors looks very promising . i can  t believe i  m saying that . the story is about a young boy who meets a girl with a history that is intertwined with his own . the two are thrown into one of the most fun and intriguing storylines in any animated film . the animation quality is excellent  if you  ve seen disney  s job of kiki  s delivery service you can see the quality in their production . it almost redeems them for stealing the story of kimba the white lion .  but not quite   finally miyazaki  s films are being released properly  i can  t wait to see an uncut english version of nausicaa   
 . . . through the similarly minded antics of eric stanze . a not  particularly talented director has helmed a not  particularly good movie  yet i still found myself sitting through it to the closing credits  if for nothing more than to see what happens next .  br    br   a rapist escapes from prison and calls up his old flame . after capturing her  even though she came willingly  and threatening her into having sex  another event she was also willing to do  he reveals that he has kidnapped three guys who wronged her in the past . he then decides to kill her  huh   but is foiled and dies instead . the girl  s mind snaps  or something like that  and she takes out her rage on the unlucky chaps in the basement .  br    br   alright  the writing sucks it  s long winded  loaded with ten  cent words and there is way too much of it .  br    br   the acting sucks what a minute  what acting   br    br   the filming sucks home video is bad enough  but   minutes of graveyard footage is just a damn insult .  br    br   and the budget is a joke get it . . .  budget   that was the punchline .  br    br   and yet there was a charm to the thing . back in the    s these kind of movies came out in theatres with actual budgets and talent attached to them  not in this day and age though . if you want to watch this kind of violent  sexually exploitive trash  don  t lie  some of us do  then this is all your gonna get nowadays .  br    br   some brief hardcore shots in a sex scene  torture with fecal material  fun with axes  anal rape by broom stick and a lengthy shot of the crazy chick masturbating with the same broom stick are some of the better items on the menu .  br    br   it  s not good and it won  t be remembered  but not since the heyday of joe d  amato have people made movies like this .  br    br        
lapyuta  castle in the sky   more than any of hayao miyazaki  s movies  brings the joy of storytelling to the audience . it is the kind of movie that makes one feel like a kid again it  s just magical . it  s a crime that it took this long for it to be released in the states  but now that it  s here check it out  and stick with the original language the dub changed my impressions of the characters somewhat  which is something that should be avoided at all costs in a translation of a movie  or book  whatever .   br    br   i give it a ten  ten .  
in director eric stanze  s  isoyc  ipoyg   three men are subjected to torture at the the hands of a woman that they have all sexually abused . the first victim is forced to eat his own crap  before being axed to death . the next bloke ends up with a bullet in the crotch after refusing to have anal sex with the first guy  s corpse . but it  s the third man who gets it the worst he has to watch the heavily tattooed  star  emily haack get naked and masturbate with a broom handle  oh  he also gets the handle shoved up his butt too   .  br    br   and  unfortunately  so do we  get to see her masturbate  that isnot get a broom handle up our butts   .  br    br   yes   isoyc  ipoyg  is one harsh viewing experience  not because of its relentless violence  but because haack  who is obviously under the misguided notion that she has the body of a goddess  as opposed to that of a roadie for metallica  constantly gets buck naked for the camera . it ain  t a pretty sight .  br    br   in addition to the non  stop nudity from an inked  up haack  viewers also get to see dreadful direction from stanze  who thinks that endless shots of tombstones and trees is entertaining stuff   some really bad acting  and a fat guy  s penis .  br    br   strangely enough  i give  isoyc  ipoyg  a rating of      which is actually slightly higher than its current  .  average . that  s one point for the messy axe attack  which  being a gore  hound  i actually enjoyed   one point for the bit where the fat guy gets his face pushed in chocolate mousse masquerading as feces  hilarious   and one point for the sheer nerve to suggest that this film might somehow be a sequel to meir zarchi  s superior exploitation classic i spit on your grave .  
hayao miyazaki  s second feature film  and his first one to be widely acclaimed both commercially and critically  though his debut  nausicaa aka warriors of the wind is considered by many fans his best    tenku no shiro rapyuta  aka  castle in the sky  may seem childish and simplistic when compared to his more recent masterpieces like  kiki  s delivery service    mononoke  hime  and  spirited away   but in     it was years ahead of its time and it was one of the milestones of modern anime . it  s important to remember that  castle in the sky  was made two years before the revolutionary  akira   and while it  s not provocative and controversial like the aforementioned masterpiece  the lead characters are all mainly basic manga hero  heroine  villain type characters  and the story is quite predictable and obvious  at least in today  s standards   miyazaki  s designs and animation work are of standards never seen before . while the story and humor are a bit silly and outdated at times  the movie is still very entertaining and very enjoyable  if not as breathtaking as  spirited away  . and if you  ll allow yourself to see the beauty of the frames themselves and ignore the low  budget coloring and animation and the identical twin faces  at this point miyazaki is still faithful to his roots and to the agreed standards of japanese cartooning  you  ll see miyazaki  s genius shine through as well as it does on  spirited away  and mononoke . while  castle in the sky   being a sci  fi adventure and very suitable for children  fits in more neatly with classic anime than anything else he had done since  his motifs and principles still show and play an important part . to say much more would be to ruin the movie  so i  ll kindly shut up . suffice to say that i  m giving it only nine stars because if i gave it ten i couldn  t go any higher for  spirited away  and  princess mononoke  . and that would be a crime .  br    br   as in most anime movies  i recommend watching the japanese version with the english subtitles  even if you don  t speak a word of japanese  the english overdubs just don  t tend to be very good  and in this case it  s just horrendous . you might want to watch it in the english version once  though  just for the laughs  and for the star  filled cast  the english dub was only recorded following the success of  spirited away   as it was for  kiki  s delivery service    anna paquin and james van der beek  yeah  the dawson guy   fill the lead roles  mark hamill  luke skywalker from  star wars   in case you don  t know   plays the villain  and other roles are filled by andy dick  tres macneille  the simpsons  rugrats  animaniacs . . .   michael mcshane  friar tuck from kevin costner  s robin hood travesty  and mandy patinkin  hello  my name is inigo montoya . . .  good for a laugh  or a few laughs really . but watch the japanese one first .  
am i wrong  or is the     version just a rip  off of the original  i have to ask because the dvd i just bought is one of the worst films i have ever seen . . . . . bad acting  bad editing etc . . . . the only  exploitation  aspect here is how we were ripped off for our money buying this piece of crap . it is nothing more than a light  weight porn flick . . . no real gore  no scary images  just a cheaply done bit of garbage . if anyone wants to see an excellent film with no name actors  some slimy gore and a decent storyline . . . get baby blood . . . also done on a cheap budget but well made . . . and an actual story too  i spit was a waste of money but i  ll keep it just for a laugh . . . . it is pathetic  new comment . . . . sept  . . . . . i  ll keep this film forever just because it it sooooo bad it  s almost good . . . . in a really bad way . . . . the worst acting ever . . . a real crap  movie classic   
breathtaking  this is without doubt the best anime cartoon ever made . i first saw castle in the sky in the late   s as a child and it left a lasting impression . years went by and i forgot the title of the film  and only by chance browsing on the internet i found this masterpiece again . after reading other peoples reviews and analysis i  m not surprised it has such acclaim and touched so many because it does leave an impression . a true fantasy adventure  a must see for all children and adults . its best not giving the story away so i would say watch this movie will a clear and open mind . if you have kids treat them to this i promise you they will love it . there  s not much to say about this piece of art but if you  ve not seen it watch it and enjoy .  
with a title like that  it  s above and beyond my comprehension how this movie just did not appeal to me . granted  there  s a few decently sleazy moments and a little gore  but the way in which the movie was shot and the overall storyline just struck me as an idiotic and lazy attempt at profuse  shock  tactics . . . the inconsistent plot starts with a guy raping and murdering a woman stranded at the side of the road . he and his abetting brother are imprisoned up until the brother breaks out and arranges to meet his girlfriend out in the woods . he ends up forcing her into a house where they screw and he later shows her a collection of kidnapped guys in the basement . the heavily drugged captives consist of her old boyfriend who raped her  a  grabby  neighbor  and her sexually abrasive boss . he explains to her that he is going to kill them all . she winds up killing him and then turning her focus towards the men  or pigs  whom she tortures and kills  herself . . . most of the violence and humiliation has to do with sh  t eating and genitalia destroying  all of which are far from disturbing and essentially mild . the best scene is a graphic broom handle masturbation followed by some painful man  rape . . . surely   i spit on your corpse  i p  ss on your grave  was intended as an unofficial sequel to  i spit on your grave   based on  mainly the title  and a reference the main character gives  suggesting her mother was camille keaton . i personally consider that to be a wildly blasphemous assertion  this movie is a boring  amateurish mess that strives for shocks but failed miserably . . .  
listening to the soundtrack at the moment  the images come back with a vividness that makes my longing for a dry eye very strong  in order to be able to type this  . i  ve seen it twice thus far  and i should be ashamed for having seen it only twice .  br    br   i  ve seen all miyazaki  studio ghibli films  and they are invariably nothing less than masterpieces  except maybe for nausicaa which was  even in the non  cut up version too premature compared to the nec  plus  ultra manga  . still  their strength sometimes becomes their weakness  as they tend to get too naive  positive  chihiro   or  with more nuance  a bit too explicit  moralist  mononoke  . at least  compared to for example the other ghibli master takahata  grave of the fireflies  only yesterday  raccoon wars  . but not this one .  br    br   in laputa  miyazaki pours all the brilliant storytelling that tellers of tales have gathered and perfected over the ages  combined with a bit of morale  but nicely interwoven with not only a completely transcendental atmosphere  but also with the humor and amusement of for example totoro . every single main character is perfectly portrayed with their doubts and fears and their qualities that help them overcome difficulties . the pacing is so perfect that i know of nothing except a black hole that would be able to exert such a gravitational pull on your whole being . the story sets out as an action flic with mysteries hinted at  but when the girl falls from the sky  unconscious  floating with the stone  and the main theme kicks in  you get a glimpse of the grand mystery you  re about to uncover  but the story then settles and gradually  over a number of carefully selected scenes of action and serene beauty  builds to an unforgettable climax of melancholy  hope  beauty  like  following days of sombre gloom  finally seeing the horizon on a clear morning  knowing the path walked  seeing the distance ahead  but smiling at the mere fact of being able to catch a glimpse of it .  br    br   it is so like an exploding white light in your skull that if by the time the credits start rolling you have kept your eyes dry and your mind numb  you should see a therapist .  br    br   despite the fact that technically  image  wise some more recent miyazakis might be more overwhelming  this to me remains his undisputed masterpiece . if you take a fraction of a second to realise that this was made back in      you can only come to the conclusion that hayao miyazaki is a genius like a star that appears only once every    years . this of course has been suggested before  but to me this is his only film that can  on its own  fully illustrate that simple fact . if you miss this during your lifetime  you  ll die with a huge gap  which would be a pity  as the coffin costs the same .  
good lord   and that coming from an atheist   this  movie  is bad   br    br   much has already been said by the reviewers before  the ones who rated this piece  and below  to which i fully agree  i just like to add a few things  br    br   among the three guys who had to eat their own digestive end products  got chopped up by an axe  raped by a broomstick  had their balls blown away  the ex  boyfriend suffers the worst torture while having to listen to the girl  s endless and pointless babble at the kitchen table  as do we  but at least we have the mercy of the mute button  .  br    br   had the director cut out the point  and endless graveyard and inverted scenes  our suffering would have been over after   minutes .  br    br   the only things that made this flick at least somewhat bearable are emily haack  s tits  one point  .  br    br   forget it . don  t buy it . don  t waste your time . and your sanity . my brain is so fried after watching this i feel the urgent need to watch  and suffer    scrapbook  right now .  
this is one amazing movie      you have to realize that chinese folklore is complicated and philosophical . there are always stories behind stories . i myself did not understand everything but knowing chinese folklore  i studied them in school  it is very complicated . you just have to take what it gives you . . . . . enjoy the movie and enjoy the ride . . . . hooray      
the buzz for this film has always been about the fabulous graphics that make kevin bacon disappear . sadly  they stopped there . they should have continued to make the script disappear  then the silly set  and finally every visible element of this film . because  there  s nothing else there to show .  br    br   gary thompson and andrew marlowe are listed as the writing credits for this film . i don  t really think they exist . i think they bought this script at  scripts  r  us   where you buy a standard blank  monster movie  script and just fill in the blanks . there  s a monster stalking us . let  s split up .  they actually  let  s split up  in this movie  . hit alien  giant  bug  monster  invisible  man with crowbar . not dead yet . burn huge  rabbit  shark  invisible  man in unsurvivable fire . not dead yet . you know  the standard stuff . even the minimum number of elements that were specific to an invisible man movie  ir glasses  spraying with something like paint  were handled badly .  br    br   what is sad is that there were lots of possibilities for this to be a fascinating movie . they psychological issues for the subject  the deterioration of the mind due to the process  treating an invisible subject  and many other ideas were touched on for usually less than  seconds and would have been far more interesting . had there been any desire to save kevin bacon in the end  it would have been a much better movie . all in all  it stunk .  br    br   i would mention some of the incredibly stupid elements of the ending of the movie  but i don  t want to do any spoilers . suffice it to say that these characters are so stupid they don  t think about pulling the plug on a machine rather than . . .  
i know anime . i  ve been into it long before it became a national phenomenon i loved ranma before most people knew what dragonball z even was . and just so you know i  m not bragging about my  let me say this out of all the animes i  ve seen  castle in the sky is by far one of the best . it  s obvious people say spirited away is the best  but i really disagree . most people only know that movie because it one an acedmy award this isn  t an exaggeration  i  ve shown princess mononoke and castle in the sky to people who  d only ever seen spirited away  and they agree that the latter two are the superior of the three . personally  i  d never thought that anything could compare to princess mononoke  until i finally saw castle in the sky . i still think that the prior is the better of the two  but castle in the sky is easily on par with it in many ways  castle has major elements that mononoke was missing . in either case  if you  ve only seen spirited away  and think that that is miyazaki  s best film  be prepared to have your earth shaken .  
picture the fugly annoying goth kids from college in a scat film  throw in a pinch of story and a whole lot of awful acting  and you are still not even close to how bad this movie is .  br    br   shot badly  bad effects  worse acting . contrived attempt at shocking horror . everyone i  ve showed this to gets kinda depressed watching it . the sex scenes are disturbing  not necessarily for their content  but more because they  re just something you want to end as soon as possible . the last sex scene is just foul  even before she gets to the guy .  br    br   i  m one of those people that loves to watch movies that people hate  which is why i picked this one up . but for your own sake  save yourself the time and avoid this abhorrence . it  s that bad . i literally threw it in the garbage .  
i first saw this film when i was about seven years old and was completely enchanted by it then but for years was unable to find out what the film was called . now i am twenty one and stumbled upon the film by accident about two weeks ago and bought a copy . although my memory of the film was a little hazy i was in no way disappointed by what i saw . the animation in this film is superb conjuring up an entire world that is so believable and so well animated that you are drawn in to the film by that alone . but this film also has a plot that will enchant and entertain adults and children alike . with a floating island  a mad general  a friendly pirate granny and a well constructed love story this film will not let you down i would recommend this film to any one .  
a young man kills a young woman for no reason . the man  s brother is jailed on charges that he was an accomplice  but soon escapes . upon escaping  the seemingly innocent man kidnaps three victims and soon he ropes his girlfriend in on the plot . if this isn  t bad enough  the situation quickly makes a downward spiral .  br    br   this film had some good aspects and many bad ones . its strongest aspect was lead actress emily haack . setting aside the fact she  s nude in a fair amount of this film  she presents herself as a decent actress and a very strong character . i see no reason she cannot take this experience and somehow turn it into a career in some way . i was convinced she was a ruthless individual .  br    br   also  the makers of this film were very bold and pulled no punches . graphic nudity  both male and female   coprophagia  and extreme anal violence are not shied away from . i like my horror films to push the boundaries a little bit  and this one ignored them altogether  gladly skipping towards gomorrah . maybe it was too much  but i think they achieved what they were looking for .  br    br   but now the negative aspects . first  and most noticeable  this film is very low budget and the film quality shows this . i can excuse that   the plot was decent  the acting fine and in some scenes the lower quality film actually made the movie more disturbing  a more realistic feel  . so  i won  t scold them for having low  grade equipment . what i will scold them for is the use of poor choices in shots . for no reason i can ascertain  besides plumping the movie   there is a large amount of footage of a cemetery . i don  t really know why  and i frankly started dozing off at this point because it was so long and pointless .  br    br   i also take issue with the title . the idea here was to deceive people into thinking this film had some connection to the classic  i spit on your grave  . now  there is a line that seems to imply the main character is the daughter of the woman from this other film . and the themes are very loosely the same  a woman getting revenge on men  . but there is no firm connection and the reason this title was chosen was for the video store customer to think they were getting a sequel . this was deceptive and dishonest .  br    br   my last major complaint is that this plot makes no real sense . not even a little bit . a woman is killed in the beginning for no reason . a prison escapee finds time to kidnap people to torture them  for no reason  because they wronged his girlfriend   . the same man goes from good to very evil without explanation . likewise  the female lead  haack  turns fro ma normal person to someone who is overly cruel and sadistic  for no reason at all  and against people who for the most part were only marginally mean to her  a neighbor offering drugs for sex is wrong  but by no means worth getting tortured for  .  br    br   don  t let this title fool you  or the claims that the film is incredibly shocking . yes  some scenes were shocking  but the vast majority of the film is dull and makes you want to take a nap . if you see this in the video store or on netflix  just keep browsing . or rent it  and we can sit around and vent about it for hours . you have been warned .  
hayao miyazaki name became prominent with spitied away  however what is often overlooked are director  s first film efforts . who remembers that spielberg directed duel or george lucas directed thx      i remember seeing fragments of this movie  almost certainly the last   minutes in late   s and what stuck with me was the visual lushness of the design and animation . so when i found a copy in a well known store for   i couldn  t resist but buy it . the odd thing is that the last   minutes of the movie do not tally with my memory of it  memory is funny that way  .  br    br   viewing this movie now with all the gained knowledge of artists portfolios is how very like jean  moebius  giraud some of the artwork is . i can only assume some influence here .  br    br   when pazu catches a falling girl  sheeta  his adventure really begins  the quest for laputa  a reference to jonathan swift  s overlooked portion of gulliver  s travels . with healthy references to jules verne it  s a basic good vs . bad chase movie with the final portion having the heroes end up on laputa .  br    br   this is the portion that is strongest in my memory  the  pastoral  ecological aspect of laputa returned to nature  the multitude of robots covered in moss beneath the giant tree . this is  in my opinion  the highlight of the movie  the views of the surface of laputa  as opposed to the mechanised underground .  br    br   although this is the dichotomy of this movie  to show that even technology cannot overcome nature  the irony of the last robot tending the garden and animals . the ending of the movie silent running is almost exactly the same .  br    br   it is incredibly stylish  i would not say  slick   very beautiful and organic and a tremendous amount of detail in the buildings  airships and the design and look of just about everything .  br    br   myazaki is a true master of this kind of japnanese anime . buy this movie and treasure it .  
i watch bad movies .  br    br   this movie is not good enough to be a bad movie . not an ounce of humor  not an ounce of talent throughout .  br    br   i am lazy .  br    br   usually  i see a bad movie and curse . this was so bad  i actually made a review to try and save others from the completely boring mess i fell victim to .  br    br   i am smashing my copy of this movie .  br    br   it  s too lame even to use clear a room . so boring . watch  bloodsucking freaks  or  shock  shock  shock  for absolute crap that has some merit as entertainment . this sludge looks awful  is awful  and whoever made it should feel awful .  
have you ever wished that you could escape your dull and stressful life at school or work and go on a magical adventure of your own  with one of your closest friends at your side  facing all sorts of dangers and villains  and unraveling the mystery of a lost civilization that  s just waiting for someone to discover all its secrets  even if you  re not quite that much of a fantasy  lover  have you ever wished you could simply experience what it  s like to be a kid again  and not have a care in the world  for just a couple of hours   br    br   this is exactly what miyazaki  s  castle in the sky  is all about . pazu  a young but very brave and ambitious engineer  lives a rustic life in a mining town until one day  a girl named sheeta falls down from the sky like an angel and takes him on a journey to a place far beyond the clouds  while all the while they have pirates and military units hot on their trail . simply put  it is just the incredible adventure that every kid dreams of at one point or another  and i can  t help but feel my worries melt away every time i see it .  br    br   as it is one of miyazaki  s older works and takes much place in the everyday world  the film is not as visually spectacular or deep in its storyline as spirited away  howl  s moving castle  or even princess mononoke . still  i find it difficult to say that any of these films are superior over the other  because all three of those films are  at some point or another  mystical to the point of being enigmatic  if not perplexing  especially for the youngest of viewers .  br    br    castle in the sky   on the other hand  doesn  t try so much to be an allegory of any kind  and it  s not a coming  of  age story either it is instead quite possibly one of the best depictions of the inside of a child  s mind i  ve ever seen . not only is the artwork beautiful  but the use of perspective from the kids  eyes is just amazing whether it  s the panning up of the  camera  to see the enormous trees or clouds overhead  or the incredible sense of height from looking down at the ground or ocean while hundreds of feet in the air  i just can  t help but feel like i  m there with pazu and sheeta  just a kid in another world  far far away from reality .  br    br   even the kids themselves don  t have a complex relationship that suggests a need for hope like ashitaka  san or chihiro  haku sheeta is pazu  s angel  having literally fallen into his life from the sky one day  the absolutely perfect person for him right from the very start . as the film progresses  more and more of their true adventurous childhood spirit comes out through their kind words and beautifully realistic facial expressions . not only are they an adorable reminder of who i used to be  but their endearing friendship never lets up throughout the whole film  only growing stronger all the way to the last frame . for that reason  i  ve fallen in love with the two of them more than i have with any other miyazaki couple .  br    br   at the same time   castle in the sky  is such an easily accessible film because no matter what kind of casual moviegoer you may be  you  ll be sure to find your fix here . mystery  action  drama  comedy  suspense  sci  fi  romance  even some western . . . it  s all here  just about everything people go to the movies for  except maybe horror  . this why i can easily recommend it as a first miyazaki film it  s perfect for those who have no expectations from having already seen the incredible otherworldliness of some of his more recent works .  br    br   even the ending song of the film  when translated into english  conveys the sense of longing for the discovery of some kind of lost civilization  and some kind of soul  mate  that could not be found in our mundane lives .  the reason i long for the many lights is that you are there in one of them . . . the earth spins  carrying you  carrying us both who  ll surely meet .  miyazaki has always provided poetic lyrics to make ending songs out of joe hiasashi  s gorgeous scores  but this is the only one i  ve seen that  s both a touching love song and an inspirational dream . i have found myself near tears just listening to it .  br    br    castle in the sky  may not be miyazaki  s most developed  spectacular  or meaningful work  but it  s absolutely perfect for what it really was meant to be a true vision of childhood fantasy  and a wonderful escape from reality for any adults who wish they could have the same wonderful sense of imagination they had when they were just carefree little kids . sit back  relax  and love it for what it is .  
no spoilers .  br    br   i love horror movies  but this has got to be the poorest attempt to make one ever . calling it  a movie  is also a stretch . this  random  clips  of  obviously  fake  and  tacky  violence  and  an  ugly  woman  trying  to  act  sexy  edited  poorly  together  is not worth watching .  br    br   watching this is about as interesting watching as some random family  s holiday pictures  and it has about the same quality you would expect when you send your ten year old son into the woods with your new vid  cam  and tell him to make a movie .  br    br   terrible .  
it  s always difficult to put a stamp on any film as being  the best   whether of all time  a certain genre  or what have you  but i believe a strong argument could be made that in fact  laputa is the greatest animated film ever made . it is in my mind the masterwork of hayao miyazaki  the most talented of japan  s animated directors  and it best captures his strengths as a director  storyteller  and designer  as well as encapsulating all of his favorite underlying themes . the version i  m reviewing is the     american dub  i know  sacrilege for a hard  core anime fan to not watch it in its native language   there is at least one other english language dub out there  i have it on vhs  i have no idea from what source   and that version is the single best dub i have ever encountered of any film . but i thought it better to concentrate on the version people can actually find .  br    br   laputa tells the story of a boy named pazu  voiced by james van der beek here   who  s growing up in a mining town when one day a young girl named sheeta  anna paquin  literally drops from the sky . it seems she is being pursued by a sinister government agent  colonel muska  mark hamill   who is more interested in the magical crystal that hangs around her neck . to keep things lively  there  s also a wickedly funny pirate gang after the crystal  led by the aging but still boisterous dola  cloris leachman  . the plot revolves around the crystal  s ability to reveal the location of the fabled flying city of laputa  a potential treasure trove of scientific knowledge and hidden treasure . it  s all very much in keeping with a fairy  tale setting  but miyazaki knows exactly how far to take the story  and the plot is peppered with  gosh  wow  moments and threaded with his customary morality and warnings about abusing the power of nature .  br    br   the design work on laputa  nearly twenty years later  is still revolutionary . flying machines of all sorts abound  utterly impossible but so meticulously designed that you instantly accept them without blinking . the world is set somewhere around the start of the twentieth century  with telegraphs and ancient motorcars alongside those wonderful impossible flying machines . but it is the city itself that is sheer brilliance in execution laputa is both the garden of eden and the fire of heaven itself  and in that juxtaposition lies its appeal  its power  and its danger .  br    br   besides being a thoughtfully designed and beautifully rendered film  laputa is blessed with a wonderful sense of cinematography . from sweeping flying shots to high speed chases on tiny one  man flyers to ships submerging into the clouds as if they were water  laputa displays a scope that most films  even with the magic of cgi  can only daydream about . though we only see a small fraction of this world  its simple elegance extends beyond the borders of the frame and we have no trouble believing in it . the film also contains one of my favorite  if not the most exciting  action sequences ever a guardian robot that fell to earth is accidentally reactivated and wreaks havoc on the fortress it is kept in  all the while trying to protect sheeta  who was the one who woke it up  . meanwhile  pazu and the pirates swoop in on their little flying machines to snatch her  literally  from the jaws of destruction . from the horrific sight of the robot incinerating the countryside to the exhilarating last  second rescue  the entire sequence is a masterpiece of timing and camera angles and knowing exactly how far to take the audience .  br    br   it helps that laputa has an amazing score . composer joe hisaishi captures the wondrous beauty of this world  the dewy innocence  the exciting action  and the creepy otherworldliness of the flying city and its bizarre robot guardians . though he re  recorded it for this dvd release  which imo is not an improvement over his original score   adding pieces here and there  the score matches the visuals perfectly  a rare total union of sound and vision .  br    br   this isn  t a bad dub . i  m inordinately fond of the older english dub  and this one over  explains things just a tad in spots  but i was almost shocked how closely these voices matched those  and those matched the japanese pretty well  . dola in particular is hard to get right  but leachman is spot on as the fiery old pirate woman  her sons aren  t quite as good as the original  . paquin does a good job as sheeta  and mark hamill  while i knew it was him early  is more than talented enough to do muska  i liked the other english dub of muska a little more  but hamill  s good  . much of the film rests on pazu  s shoulders  and van der beek is wonderful . listening to him made me think this crew must have had access to the other english dub  because vdb matches up very closely with the original pazu . although again watching a dub is grounds for excommunication among the otaku faithful  as much as i love this film  i don  t think you  re sacrificing a great deal simply watching this particular anglicized version . john lassiter of pixar introduces it up front  and my suspicion is that he  like so many others  simply love this film so much that they tried very hard to ensure its high quality .  br    br   miyazaki has had success in america in recent years with spirited away and mononoke  one of his few films i didn  t care for   but to me laputa is still his crowning achievement . anyone familiar with his later work will almost certainly enjoy this earlier work  and again  this film is a master at the top of his form hitting on every cylinder . i  d pay big money to be able to see this on a large screen while that will probably never happen  it  s good to know that at least this classic has been preserved on dvd .  
i expect the same excitement as i spit on your grave but i was let down by just junk how can you even call this a movie  its kinda of a mini porno  . it made my sick when the guy was made to eat his own business . there is no story line to it at all it jumps to quickly from each murder . if you like seeing a women naked or even mens parts then there  s spots in the movie for and there  s even a masturbation spot in the movie which makes it a porno and not a movie at all . i have seen some dumb movies in my time but this is number  . i want be watching it again at all . the actors even look bored during the movie to me so they probably were in need of money badly to make this movie .  
laputa castle in the sky is the bomb . the message is as strong as his newer works and more pure  fantastic and flying pirates how could it be any better  the art is totally amazing and the soundtrack  which is reused many times after this   im not sure if this was the first time i heard it  and evokes in me the most emotional sentimental response of any movie soundtrack . sheeta  the female lead in this movie is totally awesome and the boy  pazu is also a great role  model   he lives on his own  the plot is classic miyazaki . i won  t give it away  but the end is really great . i rank this as one of miyazaki  s three best with nausicaa and spirited away . also you may want to check out howl  s moving castle when it comes out  sometime next year i hope  if you like miyazaki check this one out as it readily available in the usa . enjoy  piper a  
i  m a horror  gore movie freak and this flick was so bad  i felt embarrassed for not only the  actors   but also the director and the poor sap of a producer who actually put his money up for this schlock .  br    br   from the title  you  d expect some great carnage  somewhat of a storyline and at least some direction or dialog . instead  you get what looks like a slightly more violent and sexual three stooges episode . at least i laugh at the three stooges . while watching this crap  i turned another tv on and started watching howard stern until something interesting happened .  br    br   needless to say  i kept watching stern .  br    br   watching this  film  i realize that i could produce a film with three monkeys   dv cameras     dollars in loose change and a broken pc . this film is my inspiration to get into no  budget film making . watch this movie if you dare  but be warned . . . there is a lot of nothing in here but a whole lot of talking and very little action . this makes  kazaam  look like a meryl streep film .  br    br   i  m sure germany didn  t ban it due to sex or violence . other countries need to take heed .  
by now you  ve probably heard a bit about the new disney dub of miyazaki  s classic film  laputa castle in the sky . during late summer of      disney released  kiki  s delivery service  on video which included a preview of the laputa dub saying it was due out in       . it  s obviously way past that year now  but the dub has been finally completed . and it  s not  laputa castle in the sky   just  castle in the sky  for the dub  since laputa is not such a nice word in spanish  even though they use the word laputa many times throughout the dub  . you  ve also probably heard that world renowned composer  joe hisaishi  who scored the movie originally  went back to rescore the excellent music with new arrangements . laputa came out before my neighbor totoro and after nausicaa of the valley of the wind  which began studio ghibli and it  s long string of hits . and in my opinion  i think it  s one of miyazaki  s best films with a powerful lesson tuckered inside this two hour and four minute gem . laputa castle in the sky is a film for all ages and i urge everyone to see it .  br    br   for those unfamiliar with castle in the sky  s story  it begins right at the start and doesn  t stop for the next two hours . the storytelling is so flawless and masterfully crafted  you see miyazaki  s true vision . and believe me  it  s one fantastic one . the film begins with sheeta  a girl with one helluva past as she is being held captive by the government on an airship . sheeta holds the key to laputa  the castle in the sky and a long lost civilization . the key to laputa is a sacred pendant she has which is sought by many  namely the government  the military and the air pirate group  the dola gang  who sheeta and pazu later befriend  . soon  the pirates attack the ship and she escapes during the raid . she falls a few thousand feet  but the fall is soft and thanks to her pendant . as she floats down from the sky  pazu  an orphan boy who survives by working in the mines  sees sheeta and catches her . the two become fast friends  but thanks to her pendant  the two get caught up in one huge thrill ride as the dola gang and government try to capture sheeta . one action sequence after another  we learn all of the character  s motives and identities as we build to the emotional and action packed climax which will surely please all with it  s fantastic animation and wonderful dialogue . plus somewhat twisty surprise . i think this film is simply remarkable and does hold for the two hour and four minute run time . the story is wonderful  as we peak into hayao miyazaki  s animation which has no limits . the setting of the film is a combo of many time periods . it does seem to take place at the end of the     s  but it is some alternante universe which has advanced technology and weapons . laputa is also surprisingly a funny film . the film has tons of hilarious moments  almost equal to the drama and action the film holds . i think the funniest part is a fight scene where pazu  s boss faces off against a pirate  and soon after a riot breaks out . it  s funny as we see the men compare their strength and the music fits right in with it perfectly .  br    br   now let  s talk about how the dub rates . an excellent cast give some great performances to bring these characters to life . teen heartthrob james van der beek plays the hero pazu  who has a much more mature voice then in the japanese version  where in the original he sounded more childlike . either way  i think his voice is a nice fit with pazu . anna paquin  the young oscar winner from  the piano   plays sheeta . this is also a nice performance  but the voice is a bit uneven  she doesn  t stay true to one accent . at times she sounds as american as apple pie  but at other times she sounds like someone from new zealand . the performance i most enjoyed however was of coris leachman  who played mama dola . not only is this an excellent performance  but the voice and emotion she gives the character really brings it to life . if there was ever a live action laputa movie  g  d forbid   she would be the one to play her  you can just imagine her in the role  well  somewhat  . luke skywalker himself  mark hamill is muska  and this is another top rate hamill performance . you may be familiar with hamill from a long line of voice work after he did the original star wars movies  but he renders muska to full evil . his voice sounds like his regular voice and mix of the joker  who he played for many episodes on the animated batman series . rounding out the cast is voice character actor jim cummings  who does a great  gruff job as the general and andy dick and mandy patakin as members of the dola gang .  br    br   now let me talk about what really makes this dub special  joe hisaishi  s newly arranged music  for those who have never heard of him  mr . hisaishi does the music and like all of miyazaki  s films  the music is very memorable . each of his scores has it  s own personas which fits the particular film perfectly . now  these new arrangements he has done are more  american like   which i think was the goal of the new recordings . don  t worry  the classic tunes of the japanese version are still here in great form . the score  to me  sounds to be arranged like this is a hollywood blockbuster . it has more power  it has more emphasis  it  s clearer and deeper . the film  s prologue  the first seconds where we are introduced to the airships  has some new music  i am not sure  but i believe when we first saw the ships there was no music at all  . but a majority of the music has new backdrops and more background music to enjoy . things seem very enhanced . in a powerful scene  the music is more stronger then in the original versions . in a calm scene  it  s more calmer . overall  i think many of you will be pleased with the new arrangements an mixes  i highly did myself  and personally think it helps improve the film . i prefer the new score over the old one  and i hope disney will release or license the music rights to a full blown soundtrack .  br    br   another plus side to the dub is that the story remains faithful  and much of the original japanese lines are intact . in kiki  i  m sure a few lines where changed  and this is the same way  lines have been changed . but a majority are close or exactly the original lines and dialogue miyazaki has written . i was afraid some excellent lines would be butchered  but they were there intact . some new lines have been added as well which help out . but i am not sure whether to consider this a good thing or a bad thing  disney did not translate the ending song  it was in japanese . i was mortified when they did completely new songs for the kiki dub  but with this version it  s the original song . . . in japanese . so i guess it  s good it  s still the original  but bad since a majority of people seeing this dub speak english .  br    br   there is a big down side to this dub  and it deals with how the voices match the character  s lips . of course in any dub it won  t be perfect  but i think in kiki and mononoke the dubbing of lines to match were much better executed  and disney had a little bit more time with this one . . .  . some of the time everything matches perfect  some of the time it doesn  t completley match  and in a rare case  someone says something and the lips don  t move at all  there  s a scene where sheeta chuckles and her mouth doesn  t move one bit  .  br    br   as far as things about the film itself  these are my thoughts . i thought the most amazing part of laputa was the animation . from the opening sequence to the ending  the animation is so lush and detailed  you just have to watch in awe . you see the true nature of each character  true detail to their face with extreme close ups and action . you have to give a ton of credit for the effort that these animators put into this film . everything is so well done and beautifully hand drawn  it  s like a moving piece of art . and to think  this was done in the mid      s . the animation is quite different from disney  ghibli has it  s own distinctive flare which is very different  but very good . and after all these years  the colors look as vibrant as ever . laputa also has tons of action sequences  lots of plane dogfights plus a few on ground . these sequences are so well done and so intriguing  it  s scary that they are comparable to a big budget action film . and the finale is just something you must see . the sound effects are pure and classic and fit explosions  guns firing and everything else well . and like all miyazaki films  each one focuses on a different theme  i . g . kiki confidence  . this one has a great a lesson on greed and power . people don  t realize how greed can take over you  and how having too much power isn  t good . people are obsessed with power  and are greedy  and the main villian  muska  greatly shows this .  br    br   all in all  laputa castle in the sky was a great film to begin with  and is now improved for the most part . i am glad a more mainstream audience now have the chance to see this classic animated film in all it  s glory . with a great voice cast who put a lot into the film with the excellent redone musical score from joe hisaishi  disney has done a nice job on this dub and is quite worthy . though i think the voices matched the mouths better in the kiki and princess mononoke disney dubs  castle in the sky is still a great dub and is worth the long delays because now more can expierence a fantastic film .  
this subject matter deserves a much better script  and final result  than this movie serves up . the script is full of holes because it was never conceived as a story  but rather a string of nightmare scenarios loosely knitted together . the gaps and loose ends in the story line are numerous . the scene where the kidnap victim is told that her parents are not dead  and have been looking for her since she was taken  is just bizarre . it is written as a cathartic therapy moment with the head of the shelter for runaways handing her a  missing poster  from when she was eight . in the real world  if the head of a shelter for runaways found out that he had  under his roof  a solved kidnapping  what would have followed would have been an immediate call to the police . it  s a law enforcement issue not a   minute segment for oprah . everything that follows from there to the end is so short shrift that i can only conclude that the first   minutes was for pure gratuitous exploitation . funny  that  s what this movie is supposed to be condemning . in the end it seems to have joined in .  
i first saw this back in the early   s on uk tv  i did like it then but i missed the chance to tape it  many years passed but the film always stuck with me and i lost hope of seeing it tv again  the main thing that stuck with me was the end  the hole castle part really touched me  its easy to watch  has a great story  great music  the list goes on and on  its ok me saying how good it is but everyone will take there own best bits away with them once they have seen it  yes the animation is top notch and beautiful to watch  it does show its age in a very few parts but that has now become part of it beauty  i am so glad it has came out on dvd as it is one of my top   films of all time . buy it or rent it just see it  best viewing is at night alone with drink and food in reach so you don  t have to stop the film .  br    br   enjoy  
what do you get when you have bad acting  bad directing  scenes that are excruciatingly long  terrible lighting  painful editing  and awful effects  you get jessica a ghost story seems its shot on betacam  which is fine  but the lighting has to compliment this medium . in this case it does not . there are a few cu  s where the person  s face is entirely in shadow . one scene in particular is the scene at the psychiatrists . it  s a joke if you ask me . some of the scenes were so long that they could have easily been cut in half . . . but i guess then they wouldn  t have a film at feature length . the main character is incredibly flat . he  s the lead male  so he should have some  hero  elements to his character  but he does not . he whines and is scared the entire film . i could go on  but i don  t want to waste my time . although the lighting was terrible  i must say that they did have nice camera movement . too bad the lighting didn  t compliment it . the cover of the dvd is nice  and that  s where it ends . just terrible .  
this is one of my all time favorite movies  period . i can  t think of another movie that combines so many nice movie qualities like this one does . this flick has it all action  adventure  science fiction  good vs . bad and even some romance  without even an innocent  peck  on the cheek between the pazu and sheeta  . maybe best of all  you don  t have to be in mensa to  get it  and enjoy the movie like you do with some of miyazaki  s other movies  i don  t know about you  but i watch movies to take a break from thinking  . this is just a flat  out enjoyable movie that everyone will like  so do yourself a favor and go buy it . the only sour note is the american dubbing . i found vander  geek to be just plain annoying . but all is not lost  the original japanese version is on the two  disc set and it rocks  who cares if you can  t understand spoken japanese  if you can read at a second  grade level then watch the original japanese recording with english subtitles . you won  t regret it .  
jessica a ghost story is as the name implies a ghost story . the theme is meant to be horror but comes across closer to comedy   br    br   a woman comes who was brutally murdered comes back from the dead . this constitutes what this movie attempts to pass off as a plot . there is really nothing more to it . the movie comprises of a series of loosely connected scenes involving a guy who had an affair with this woman prior to her death .  br    br   immediately from the opening scenes  this movie has the appearance of a  straight  to  dvd  effort . unlike gems such as vacancy   the movie has no sense of direction or creativity and certainly gives  straight  to  dvd  movies a bad name  the direction is as poor as can be with a complete lack of suspense  scares or tension . even the drama elements are hopelessly handled and represent something more boring than even the worst soap opera you may have had the misfortune of enduring .  br    br   the acting across the board is absolutely abysmal with no one actor involved managing to show even the slightest potential of a successful acting career .  br    br   many of the individual scenes are incredibly long  with very long pauses between dialogue exchanges . i  m not exaggerating   br    br   the only reason i give this movie a rating of  rather than  is because some of the poor acting combined with even worse dialogue made for a few unintentional laughs . i stress the word  few  in that sentence . this is not overall one of the  so  bad  it  s  good  movies like camp blood or the nail gun massacre . if you want to laugh hysterically  watch those movies . if you want to see a proper horror movie about ghosts watch the legend of hell house  the changeling  ringu  the eye  original korean version   the grudge  one missed call or phone .  br    br   i advise anyone who has had the good fortune of avoiding seeing jessica a ghost story to keep up the good work  just forget this movie exists . don  t spare a thought for it   
i first saw this film when i was about  years old on tv in the uk  where it was called  laupta the flying island   . i absolutely loved it  and was heartbroken when it was repeated a while later and i missed it . i was enchanted by the story and characters  but most of all by the haunting and beautiful music . it would have been the original english dubbed version which i saw  sometimes erroneously referred to as the  streamline dub   the dub was actually by ghibli themselves and only distributed by streamline  which is sadly unavailable except as part of a ridiculously expensive laser disc box  set .  br    br   unfortunately i feel that the release has been partly spoiled by disney . the voice acting is ok but the dialogue doesn  t have the same raw energy that the  streamline  dub or the original japanese had  and i think james van der beek sounds too old to play the lead . they have made some pointless alterations  such as changing the main character  s name from  pazu  to  patzu   and added some dialogue . but worst of all i feel that they have ruined many scenes with intrusive music  the opening scene of the airships for example was originally silent but has been spoiled thanks to disney  s moronic requirement that there be music playing whenever anyone is not speaking  which i find annoying in many disney films .  br    br   this film still blows away most recent animated films  and i cannot recommend it highly enough . the plot is simple yet captivating and the film shows a flair which is sadly missing from most modern mass  market  homogenized animation .  
i bought a dvd of this film for my girlfriend who shares the same name as the ghost girl in this film  and enjoys movies about the paranormal . the movie was shot entirely on video  so it has the look of a pbs special about it . the special effects are phoney looking  but there are actually some scary moments in the movie that got us to jump in our seat . there is a particularly effective scare involving a virgin mary statue .  br    br   however  the acting is bad  the  plot  scenes are long and very boring  and i will tell you i have no clue what happened at the end . if you get the movie  rent it  if you buy it  please make sure you pay less than   .  
o my gosh . . . just give me a minute to breath . this movie takes you on an awesome ride and doesn  t let you go until the very last blow in your face ending . this is the the movie for fans of stormriders and such . legend of zu was beautifully created  although i didn  t like a few things  they used alot of stand ins . i wanted to see the real person fight but  oh well . . . a few small let downs  and i didn  t really like it a lot until i watched it again  when you understand it more it totally kicks a  i encourage anyone who ever wanted to see a true asian movie  to see this movie . i give this movie one of my highest ratings . go and see it when it comes out in america     
i love special effects and witnessing new technologies that make science fiction seem real . the special effects of this movie are very good . i have seen most of this movie  since it  s been airing on hbo for the past couple of months . i must admit  i may have missed a few scenes  but i  m usually drawn into movies  and have seen some scenes more than once . but every time i see some of  hollow man   i feel depressed  almost like a  film noir .  i  m not sure why perhaps it  s that i don  t want kevin bacon to be evil  and there  s disappointment in that . but i think it  s witnessing just how relentlessly evil he becomes . regardless  i can recommend this movie for excitement  although some parts move slowly   but i do not recommend for youngsters under the age of    perhaps    if they are mature  .  
this is one of the best animated family films of all time . moreover  virtually all of the serious rivals for this title came from the same creative mind of hiyao miyazaki and his studio ghibli . specifically  other great films include  my neighbor totoro  and  kikki  s delivery service .  spirited away is quite good  but a bit too creepy for typical family fare  better for teenagers and adult . the one thing that sets  laputa castle in the sky  apart from other films by miyazaki is that it is far more of a tension  filled adventure ride .  br    br   why is this film so good  because it  s a complete package the animation is very well done  and the story is truly engaging and compelling .  br    br   most japanese anime is imaginative  but decidedly dark or cynical or violent and the animation itself is often jerky  stylized  and juvenile . none of these problems plague castle in the sky . it has imagination to burn  and the characters are well drawn  if slightly exaggerated versions of realistic people .  none of those trench  coat wearing posers  there is plenty of adventure  but not blood and gore . the animation is smooth  detailed  and cinematic ally composed  not a lot of flat shots . the backgrounds are wonderful .  br    br   the voice acting in the dubbed english version is first rate  particularly the two leads  pazo  james van der beek  and sheeta  anna paquin  . the sound engineering is great  too . use your studio sound  if you  ve got it .  br    br   one aspect that i particularly enjoyed is that much of the back story is left unexplained . laputa was once inhabited  and is now abandoned . why  we never know . we know as much as we need to know  and then we just have to accept the rest  which is easy to do because the invented world is so fully realized . indeed  it is fair to say that the world is more fully realized than most of the minor characters  who are for the most part one  dimensional stock characters  e . g .  gruff general  silly sidekick  kooky old miner  etc .  highly recommended for people aged  to     
this seems like one of those movies that we think we should like  but i didn  t . it seemed to be trying way too hard to be  artsy  . all flash  with no content . it has some beautiful scenes  and any one of them are nice to watch  but tack them all together and it becomes an arduous task just to sit through it . i rented this because of the glowing reviews on the video carton  and the fact that i  m a big shakespeare fan  but i was very disappointed . i just found it a bit pretentious and  at times  boring .  
i have seen just about all of miyazaki  s films  and they are all beautiful and captivating . but this one rises above the rest . this movie totally impressed me   br    br   i fell in love with pazu and sheeta  and their sweet  caring friendship . they were what made the movie for me . of course  the animation is also superb and the music captures the feelings in the film perfectly . but the characters are the shining point in this movie they are so well developed and full of personality .  br    br   now  let me clarify i  m really talking about the japanese version of the movie  with english subs  . while the english dub is good  mostly   it simply pales in comparison to the original language version . the voices are better  the dialogue  everything . so i suggest seeing  and hearing  the movie the way it originally was .  
this is not the worst film i have seen of peter greenaway but it is close . that dishonor goes to the even worse pillow book . this director  s films of  i have seen i find them all to be miserable . like the cook . . .  whatever positive cinematic flourishes he displays  are totally unredeemed by the repugnancy of his material and overall presentation .  
hayao miyazaki has no equal when it comes to using hand  drawn animation as a form of storytelling  yet often he is being compared to walt disney . that is just so unfair  because it becomes apparent by watching miyazaki  s films that he is the superior artist . he really has a gift of thrilling both grownups and children  and laputa is indeed one awesome ride .  br    br   but where can i begin to describe a movie so magical and breathtaking  miyazaki  s works have never cease to amaze me . laputa is an adventure of a grand scale and i wonder how a film can be so packed with details and imagination . ask yourself this question if you are a kid dreaming of an adventure so grand in scope and so magical  what would it be like  the answer would be to strap yourself in some seat and watch laputa  because it  s truly a childhood fantasy come true . every minute of the movie is rich and engrossing . . . from the train chase to the amazing air  flying sequences . . . and to the wonderous sight of the floating castle itself . not to mention the excellent score by joe hisaishi  everything you ever possibly want from an adventure movie is here .  
this film was just painful to watch . . . not in the good dramatic way that makes you cringe with emotions for well developed characters in dramatic situations  yeah  i pretty much made that last sentence up as i went along   but in just an absolute dull way for over two hours . now  you all may think i  m just some ignorant reviewer who has no respect for shakespeare or  artistic film  making  . . . well  you  d be wrong on both counts . i love the works of shakespeare  especially the tragedies of romeo and juliet  julius caesar  macbeth  and hamlet  and i  ve watched plenty of  arthouse  films such as the surreal and well  made eraserhead and fellini  s     . . . but this was just over two hours of lost  in  translation shakespeare  way too much nudity  i can understand artistic nudity in some scenes . . . but not in every other shot of a movie    it was pointless and served nothing for the story      and basically just overzealous film  making . i had high expectations for this film in that it was said to be  very artistic  and was an adaptation of shakespeare  s the tempest . . . but this was just an extreme letdown . i gave this film a three only because of sir john gielgud  s acting presence  which far surpassed all of the no  names in this film  and the cinematography  set design combination as it made a lot of scenes look like paintings in motion . . . however  a lot of this film would  ve been better off as just a painting with a scroll of text below it . a true disappointment . . . maybe if zeffirelli had been given the director  s chair  this would  ve been much better . but this is one audience member  s opinion  many others may enjoy this far more than me . that being said  if you can  t find this at any nearby video stores  it  s currently not on dvd   don  t try to go too far out of your way to find it . . . it  s not really worth it .  
this is a film exploring the female sexuality in a way not so often used . almost every other film with this kind of sexual scenes always becomes rated x  and so seen as a pornographic movie . here is a kind of romantic horror story combined with the females  own satisfaction  need .  br    br   a very good film   
i saw this movie when it was released  and my distaste for it has stuck with me all these years .  br    br   here  s why  br    br   greenaway  s goal seems to be to take every literary image in the tempest and make it literal . if a character were to say   my heart takes flight   we  d be shown an actual human heart  with pigeon wings attached  flapping across the screen .  br    br   this process makes for some lush tableaux  but ultimately it  s a facile exercise . and it becomes deadly boring .  br    br   i don  t begrudge the pleasure other viewers found in this movie  but it  s worth knowing that not everyone in the audience was enraptured .  
i guess this is meant to be a sort of reworking or updating of  beauty and the beast   but i can  t say i  ve ever watched a movie that began with several minutes of graphic horse sex . wow . anyway it seems that a young woman and her . . aunt  have traveled to this castle in france where the woman is to be married to the son of the castle owner  who is the man who takes care of making sure the horses get their rocks off . it seems that there are legends in that area of a beast that was rather  uh  frisky  i guess you could say  with the ladies  or at least  one in particular . there are all kinds of references tucked away in that regard but every time the soon  to  be  blushing young bride gets her curious little hands on one the groom  s father removes it from her sight . anyway  the young bride  to  be goes upstairs to sleep while the family is waiting for a cardinal to show up to the wedding  a family member  i guess  and as she dreams she dreams of a beast in the woods that has its way with her . the effects in this leave a little to be desired  and any attempt at eroticism  not that i know much about that  is kind of rendered laughable  especially when certain featured appendages appear about as realistic as a bed post or a baseball bat . this has a rather strange and abrupt  yet twist ending  with not really any clues or much build up to it  but it was kind of fitting and definitely not what i expected . i don  t know  this is kind of a tough one to get through but it has its moments and is definitely weird .  out of   .  
every now and again you hear radio djs inviting listeners to nominate movies that the listener can  t stand or never watched all the way through . this is the movie that i think of . . . days later .  br    br   it  s got something to do with a play by shakespeare . not sure  but i think i bailed on this movie some   odd minutes into it . . . think i realised that my toenails wouldn  t clip themselves  and they were looking at me imploringly to get cut .  br    br   this movie just seemed boring and pretentious to me .  br    br   even though this is the first movie i  ve given such a low score to  which i  ve actually attempted to watch   i wouldn  t want to put you off other movies by it  s english director  peter greenaway . i remember thinking that his  the cook  the thief  his wife and her lover  was a truly great british film even though its content was at times stomach churning  a brilliant movie  but i can understand why people would balk at seeing it .  br    br   another good film by greenaway was  a zed and two noughts  . again  it had some content that pushed the boundaries of good taste  but was intriguing nonetheless .  br    br   the other film that i usually think of too late for such radio show topics is  brazil  . never managed to watch that all the way through either  kept falling asleep   br    br   unless you have a taste for self  important movies which are off  puttingly highly stylised  laboriously paced and difficult to follow  then steer clear of prosero  s books .  
if you were born around the time this movie was finished  and had a liberal  open minded household that i had  i  m sure during the early    s you  d be first introduced to walking in on your parents watching dirty movies or extreme dirty movies . you know  not     pornographic but rather an alchemical mixture of actual drama and pornography  or that you  d sneak into their collection and pop in the plastic rectangle representation of such a film in a big dookie machine called a vhs . you had to be very quiet and ninja like but still having minor heart failure when huge pop noises were made when pressing the tablet  like buttons out of fear of being discovered . whatever the case  such films were sent into the back of your mind  waiting and waiting to be reunited with such visual  art  . needless to say  this movie fits into the aforementioned description to a  t  . many people will comment on the extreme sexual nature of the film but perhaps due to me being desensitized  i am more disturbed by the subtleties . was the creator speaking to us on deeper levels of human carnality and or what could be considered a true abomination  interracial relations  bed frame masturbation  voyeurism  or could it be desperation for social status to the point of murder  pedophilia  homosexuality  or the repressed sexual nature of social elitist females in   th century france  who can say  but despite mr . borowcyzk  s taste for vivid  raw sexuality being the  norm  for his works  i  d say that indeed this movie does speak to the viewer on a deeper level concerning bestial carnality . once i have learned this  the story became much more interesting beyond the giddiness of shock value and there fore  it is well worth checking out .  
  sir  john gielgud must have become senile to star in a mess of a movie like this one .   br    br   this is one of those films  i suppose  that is considered  art   but don  t be fooled . . . . . it  s garbage . stick to the  art  you can admire in a frame because the films that are labeled as such are usually unintelligible forgeries like this .  br    br   in this masterpiece  giegud recites shakespeare  s  the tempest  while the camera pans away to nude people . one of them a little kid urinating in a swimming pool . wow  this is heady stuff and real  art   ain  t it   that  s just one example . most of the story makes no sense  is impossible to follow and  hence  is one that liberal critics are afraid to say they didn  t  understand  so they give it high marks to save their phony egos . you want shakespeare  read his books .  
wow . uhm . . . well . . . wow  i guess i  ll start with the plot . a betrothed woman  lucy  arrives at the family home of her would be husband  mathurin  in france  where they are awaiting the arrival of the bishop or cardinal or someone in the catholic church to marry them  to satisfy a will .  while waiting  young lucy learns about a legend of a beast who roamed the grounds centuries before . in bed that night  she begins fantasizing about the beast and his rape  turned  consensual tryst with the former lady of the house . that  s where it gets interesting  the plot is really pretty thin  and it seems to drag on for quite a while in the middle of the flick   but the filmmaker rewards    those who stick it out with a shocking and hilarious finale .  br    br   this movie isn  t for everyone . if you  re looking for great cinema  look elsewhere . if you  re looking for a far  out movie about bestiality  that almost casts a sympathetic glance over the subject  this movie is for you   if you have a weak stomach  don  t be afraid of this one . outside of some horse  on  horse action at the beginning  the  deeds  are pretty cartoonish  imo   
i came at this film with high expectations . i was aware of greenaway  s work and  the tempest  and was interested in an adaptation . i first wanted to switch off after ten minutes  but felt that it would be unfair . there was a representation of a storm  but where in your mind do you conceive a small boy peeing over a toy boat  it is symbolic of what  i continued another ten minutes my finger twitching over the  off  button  somewhere something would capture my interest . this is not shakespeare  it is not cinema . there is a time and place for it  but i will not waste my time and there is no place for it in my studies of shakespeare . after twenty five minutes i gave up and that was the end . i then read all the comments on this website and the pretentiousness of the film is only matched by its defendants .  its a painting . . . . . then put it in a gallery    it  s a ballet . . . . . keep it on the stage then  . shakespeare can be done intelligently  and the plays were performed to mass audiences  they were accessible  and this version helps put a wedge between shakespeare and the general population at large  and i do not think that the bard would be happy with that .  
i must say  i thought i had seen it all . i am an extremely jaded movie buff . this movie didn  t shock me  by any means . i  m way past that point . but it did take me to certain emotional places i didn  t know i could go to . i had no idea i could ever find  ick  the idea of beastiality erotic . never never never . ever . ever . but there you go . he did it . i have to give the director credit . he pulled it off .  br    br   for the first   minutes this movie is a total bore . we start off with some very explicit footage of two horses having sex . after five minutes of this i started wondering if buying this movie wasn  t a mistake . then an old guy in a wheelchair talks to some other old guy about two people getting married . then some nervous guy shaves . then we see  briefly  a hot chick getting it on with a butler  but this is very brief  . at this point i was cursing the movie out loud while trying to stay awake . in fact  i fell asleep at about the   minute mark and forced myself to finish it the next night .  br    br   we finally get the good stuff when a girl  who knows who she is  or who anyone is in this movie  has a dream about a victorian  era gal being ravaged by a beast  thing in the forest . the scene goes on for quite some time and is really the meat  heh  heh  of the whole deal . it  s beautifully shot  superbly edited  and does deliver the goods . they do try to wrap up the plot at the end and it sort of makes sense but sort of doesn  t either . oh well . i would definitely recommend this film . the first   minutes made me want to shoot myself  and my tv  but the last   minutes totally redeems it .  
i usually talk a bit about the plot in the first part of my review but in this film there  s really not much to talk of . just a mish  mash of other far better sword  sorcery epics . lack of cohesiveness runs rampant as does banality . even the main villaness refusing to wear clothing other then a loincloth is pretty boring as she pretty much has a chest of a young boy . mildly amusing in it  s ineptitude at best and severely retarded at it  s worst . lucio fulci was scrapping the bottom of the barrel here and it shows .  br    br   my grade d   br    br   dvd extras posters  stills galleries lucio fulci bio and us  international theatrical trailers  br    br   eye candy sabrina siani is topless throughout  some may consider that appealing  i did not   various extras are topless as well  
this one is out there . not much to say about it except that it deals with a rarely touched topic in films of beastiality . i can see why this film was banned for so long  the topics dealt within the film are still a little taboo for most of the world will say the eroticism in the film is well deserved and fits in with the mood of the film . it  s a good film that is well acted and serves a purpose . . . to shock the viewer and cross boundaries that we don  t see to often in films . i came across this film on the net that i thought i might check out . i enjoyed the film as it is thought provoking and somewhat erotic at the same time . something you don  t rarely see in films today .  
this was a watershed event in my movie watching life . i went to see this in the theater when it came out . i was completely amazed at just how bad it was . movies like this make you wonder who put the money up and who owed whom a favor  a very  very large favor . the special effects are absolutely first grade level  as in any first grader could have done them . toy rubber bats on strings with no attempt to hide the strings  arrows that appear to be drawn on the film and look to be the shape of an arrow you  d find on a street sign  and a laughable story line . ed wood made masterpieces compared to  conquest  . every film student should see this thing just so they  ll know the very definition of a bad movie .  
strangely erotic schlock gothic horror that will be loved by hammer house of horror fans the world over . appears to be an interesting take on  beauty and the beast  . it is definitely worth a look and surprisingly well acted when taking into consideration the genre and era .  br    br   corsets  castles  rutting horses  rampaging faux fur monsters in the woods  proof that no  one had a brazilian in the    s  and more bodily fluids than you can shake a stick at  what more could you possibly want    br    br   it certainly brightened my sunday afternoon   
warning this review contains a spoiler .  br    br   wow . almost impressively bad . note i said   almost  . this is nothing more than lots of random scenes strung together in a loose attempt at a story . the protagonists  you cannot call them  heroes   shoot innocent bystanders for their food  and also rob same for similar reasons . there  s also tons of homoeroticism  which was a turnoff for me .  spoiler it seems as if the villainess  who only is topless and not naked as other reviews claim  gets killed early on  but miraculously recovers  adding another   minutes of audience  torture .  i can  t shake the feeling that animal abuse occurred numerous times in this cinematic abomination . if you  re in a mst  k mood  you might find this watchable  but for the most part you can forget it . go rent the original conan dvd instead .  
i can  t tell you all how much i love this movie . i have read reviews that say that this move is  too confusing  or  like swimming in drying concrete  . i say that these reviewers have no imagination  for anyone who loves fantasy fiction  this movie is for you . if you ever loved playing dungeons  dragons . . . this movie is for you   especially if you got into the oriental adventures  i  m just sorry that i did not get to see this movie on the big screen .  just more incentive to get my own big screen t . v .     
other than some neat special effects  this movie has nothing to offer . they threw in some gore and some nudity to try and make it interesting  but with no success . kevin bacon  s acting was pretty good  but he couldn  t salvage the movies lack of plot .  
this movie is simply incredible  i had expected something quite different form the film that i actually saw . however  it is very insightful in that it shows the aggressive nature of human sexuality and its linkage with animal behavior . let me warn those among the readers of this article who are easily offended by content that is all too sexual  for the explicit sexual nature of this film feels like a high  brow sort of pornography . it even features a scene that comes extremely close to rape .  br    br   meanwhile  i strongly suggest seeing this rare work of  sexual art  . every minute of the picture breathes the sexual spirit of the seventies  by the way . one should not forget how times have changed   br    br   go see it  its worth your money and time   
shlock  merchant leo fulci takes a change of pace by making a trashy  barely coherent sword and sorcery fantasy movie instead of his usual trashy  barely coherent horror .  br    br   a wimpy orlando bloom type called ilias  from some society vaguely resembling ancient greece travels across the ocean to caveman territory on some vaguely defined quest to battle evil  where he joins up with a animal loving hunter to battle the wolf  man and mutant minions of a vampiric topless evil sorceress . wackiness ensues . the sorceress  is oppressing the local cavemen and wants the magic bow for herself . she sends various minions  each weirder than the last  after our heroes who win through in the end  striking a blow for oppressed cavemen everywhere . this movie contains a steady stream of wtf  elements and moments .  br    br   for some reason the entire movie is shot in soft focus and the picture is further blurred by the constant presence of mist on screen . this may have been an attempt to create atmosphere or to hide how fake everything looks . either way  it failed . there is no atmosphere  unless it is one of scuzziness and mild bewilderment and there is no hiding how lame everything looks . the wolf  man minions look like a poor man  s wookie . for some reason the director fell in love with shots of them leaping through the air in slow motion  six million dollar man style  toward our heroes when they attack . there are probably about a dozen of these shots throughout the movie and it gets goofier every time . the other minions of the topless sorceress  other than the generic leather clad humans  are some lumpy white mutants who appear to be covered in cobwebs . needless to say they are slow and unthreatening and when they speak sound like gay hispanic  lisping daleks . the fights are stilted and unconvincing and the special effects are woeful . oh yeah  the music is cheap synthesiser stuff that the makers of doctor who would have been embarrassed to have used .  br    br   ilias  our nominal hero is bland and forgettable . he also looks a complete wuss  especially with his midriff revealing leather outfit and big hair  and is clearly a moron . sure  he  s a dynamite shot with his magical bow but he only takes about three or four arrows with him in his mission to battle this entire continent of evil . needless to say he runs out of arrows within a few minutes and has to be saved by more traditional sword and sorcery hero  mace . when he meets ilias he establishes himself as the taciturn loner type  claiming he has no friends but no sooner can you say latent homoerotic subtext they are bosom buddies  traipsing the misty hills together . mace promises to take ilias with him in return for bow related favours . ilias asks where he is going .  wherever my legs take me   is his reply . good enough for ilias . mace is also animal lover and outrageous hypocrite . he proclaims his great love of and affinity toward animals  citing the usual stuff about how he prefers them to humans because humans can be soooo mean . he says he would never hunt and kill an animal to feed himself but he will steal meat off other people who have hunted down animals . he is also not above randomly killing innocent passers by for no good reason . not long after they meet  he is testing out ilias  bow and the movie cuts to some random caveman  minding his own business  walking along and mace shoots him dead . there is no indication this poor soul did anything to deserve this and even ilias  who supposedly hails from a more moral and civilised society doesn  t even raise an eyebrow .  br    br   the films villainess is quite unusual . for the entire movie she is completely naked except from a g  string and a golden mask that encompasses her entire head . it  s like fulci included her to make the movies obligatory ta quotient but decided she was bit too much of a butterface at the last minute . she spends a lot of time seemingly being pleasured by her pet snakes and dreaming about being shot by a faceless bow wielding man who is dressed like ilias . wow  such symbolism  later on in the movie she wimps out when she can  t beat ilias and mace and promises to make herself the sex  slave of some ancient warrior dude if he kills them for her . hardly the world  s most scary villain and not really a step forward for women  s rights . i think he sic  s the cobweb creatures on our heroes and impersonates mace in a situation where there is no no  one else around but mace to fool . was he really worthy trading your self respect for  ocron   br    br   there are quite a few other wtf  moments . most of them come toward the end of the movie . ilias wusses out  i forget why  possibly his permed hairdo got mussed  but realizes the error of his ways and returns to aid mace in fighting the forces of evil . all of a sudden  for no reason  his bow can suddenly fire out multiple target seeking bolts of energy . the bolts can also shoot through solid rock when necessary . needless to say his makes short work of the hordes of bad guys who have captured mace .  br    br   the climax is also rather nonsensical . mace decimates ocron  s remaining forces using the bows targeted laser attack capability . he then is able to shoot ocron from a kilometre away using its shoot through rock capacity . she starts dying . her mask is ripped of revealing a hideous muppet head . she staggers around screaming and turns into a dog and wanders off with another dog . mace smiles . roll credits .  br    br   strangely enough as far as these dodgy low budget sword and sorcery movies this one is reasonably lucid and focused . any one who has seen wizards of the lost kingdom can tell you how nonsensical and meandering these movies can truly be .  
i saw this film in a london cinema in     and have not seen it since . i found it hilarious . i loved it  s originality . it  s rare that someone makes a movie like this  and it  s sad too .  br    br   what i mean is  i once read a book called  the black hotel   and as a film  fan  i always  picture  books as films . kinda  adapt  them  you know  but as i read it  i thought  well  this would make a great movie  but of course it would have to be  adapted   to the point where it would bear little relationship to the book .  br    br   but then i thought  well why  sure  it could never be shown on sunday afternoon tv  but provided it were shown in cinemas to adults  who knew what it contained  where  s the harm  dammit  my civil liberties were being crushed here . a director should be able to make a literal film adaptation of  the black hotel  .  br    br   in an ideal world  censorship of films for adults should not exist . but sadly  whilst i accept that with intelligent adults  such freedom might be harmless  there would always be those who would lack the rationality to differentiate between fantasy and reality  and who might be spurred on to commit foul deeds .  br    br   however  it  s hard to see how  la bete  falls into that category .  br    br   on it  s appearance in england  the british censor dismissed it out of hand . despite the    relaxation on nudity  given the film  s theoretical theme of bestiality  had the censor passed any of it  he  d have been looking for a new job on monday .  br    br   but . . . in those days  there was an alternative . the g . l . c . this was a local town council with a department who had the power to pass a film just for london  where it was deemed audiences were more  sopisticated  than those who lived out in the sticks .  br    br   the film was duly submitted and passed . however  it later emerged that the  board  consisted of just four people  three who voted  plus a  chairman  . and on the day  one of the voters was off sick . thus the remaining two voters and the chairman sat down to view  la bete  .  br    br   one of said voters thought  like me  that the film was hilarious and hardly likely to encourage foul deeds by anyone . the other lacked imagination and simply thought the piece disgusting . and the chairman didn  t understand it  so decided to err on the side of freedom .  br    br   when the missing voter finally saw the film  they too thought it disgusting  but it was too late  the film had received its  x  london  certificate and opened to mixed reaction . the g . l . c . film censorship board was disbanded soon after  thus  la bete  only opened in london by what could best be termed a fluke  but i  m glad it was . it  s great  if you haven  t seen it  do so . it  s a fantasy  and as such  it  s far less disturbing than most things you see on the news these days . . .  
ah  lucio fulci  rest in peace . this infamous italian is most  br    br   famous for  zombie   and the absolutely unwatchable  the  br    br   psychic  and  manhattan baby .  well  add this to the unwatchable  br    br   list .  br    br   the plot  as it were  concerns a nekkid woman who wears a gold  br    br   mask and a g  string . she wants the power of a young dubbed  br    br   stud who has a set of magic arrows and a bow . they are magic  br    br   because they glow . arrow boy teams up with a guy in a bad wig   br    br   and they spend most of the movie rescuing each other from flat  br    br   action sequences . in the end  the nekkid chick is defeated  but not  br    br   before taking the mask off and reminding me why i broke up with  br    br   my high school girlfriend .  br    br   fulci bathes every shot in an orange glow and fills the screen with  br    br   smoke . nothing like a smoky orange action sequence to make you  br    br   crave sunny delight and a cigarette . the special effects are  br    br   laughable . in one sequence  our ambiguously gay duo are  br    br   attacked by dozens of arrows that are obviously pin scratches on  br    br   the film itself . the majority of the effects budget must have been  br    br   spent on the fulci  licious gore  which consists entirely of spurting  br    br   wounds . hey  we can all use a good spurting wound once in a  br    br   while  but when you get into spurting wound overkill  it gets boring .  br    br   i kept having to play with the brightness setting on my tv anyway  br    br   just to see what the heck was happening .  br    br   there is lots of talk of fulfilling omens and prophecies  so let me  br    br   do a little look into the future . . . if you find this movie and watch it   br    br   you will regret it . the scene on the video box  by media  does not  br    br   appear in the film in any context whatsoever .  conquest  is a con  br    br   job . what mst  k could have done with this   br    br   this is rated  r  for strong physical violence  strong gore  female  br    br   nudity  brief male nudity  and mild sexual content .  br    br    
good movie  very   s  you can not expect much from a film like this   sirpa lane is an actress of erotic films  a nice body but nothing exceptional savant to a pornographic actress from the body disappears  but the    s were characterized a small breasts and a simple eroticism . not demand a lot from these films are light years away from the movies today  the world has changed incredibly . the plot is simple and the actors not extraordinary . and the brunette actress has a single body  has one breast slightly bigger . be satisfied . papaya also is not great but at least these films have a certain charm . . . download them again but then again who knows what you pretend not to them .  
i like fulci films  i really do and not in some boring ironic way either but i recognise that they appear hopelessly inept and garbled to lots of people .  br    br   conquest is where fulci tries his hand at the epic fantasy genre and doesn  t really succeed . structurally  it  s like most fulci films you  ve seen . some stuff happens  some more stuff happens and occasionally one scene might be tangentially related to another . really it  s like conan with no sets  no script  no real actors  yes  arnold scharzenfartz is hardly an actor either   no budget  stupid looking dog soldiers and a bunch of gore .  br    br   this one was a hard one to get through and i could  ve lived without the inch of vaseline smeared on the camera to give it that hair metal music video look .  
regardless of what personal opinion one may have of walerian borowczyk grotesque yet beautiful gem  la bte  of      one has to admit that this bizarre gem is an absolutely unique cinematic experience . borowczyk erotic fairy tale was banned in several countries for a long time  and it is quite obvious why this controversial gem fell victim to stuporous film censors .  la bte  is a fascinating blend of intense and beautiful fairy  tale  like atmosphere  quite explicit eroticism and genuine weirdness that bravely refuses to take any compromise . the fact that beastiality  of sorts  is one of the film  s central themes did certainly not help it with the censors  but it made it highly controversial and therefore known to a wider audience .  br    br   pierre de l  esperance  guy trjan   the head of a french aristocratic family  has arranged for his somewhat demented son mathurin  pierre benedetti  to marry lucy broadhurst  lisbeth hummel   the young and beautiful daughter of a wealthy english family . due to an old curse  mathurin  s uncle  marcel dali  is strictly against the wedding . when lucy and her mother arrive at the french estate  lucy immediately gets fascinated with a portrait of the   th century ancestor romilda  sirpa lane   and with an old book depicting bizarre drawings . the story soon descends into a bizarre sexual fever  dream . . . without giving away too much  i can say that fans of exceptional cinema should not consider missing this film . as bizarre as it is   la bte  is doubtlessly also stunningly beautiful in style  settings and cinematography . the fever  dream  like atmosphere is present within  and out of dream  sequences . the forest estate and the imposing family mansion are magnificent settings  and the beautiful score and incredible cinematography build an overwhelming atmosphere for this grotesque tale . the very explicit sexuality ranges from erotic  elegant female nudity  ravishing actresses  to seriously demented and even somewhat disgusting  close  ups on horses  genitalia while having intercourse  . . .   in either case it is not likely to be forgotten . the entire cast of  la bte  is fantastic and all involved deliver great performances in eccentric characters  some of which are seriously demented  . the film profits from an exceptionally beautiful cast  be it lisbeth hummel in the lead  finnish actress sirpa lane  who sadly died of aids in      as the ancestor in the dream  sequences  or the relatively unknown but particularly ravishing actress pascale rivault  who plays the aristocratic daughter who takes ever opportunity to have sex with a black servant in a cupboard .  br    br   i am intentionally not giving a full description of the most important parts of the plot as they simply have to be seen to be believed . some scenes are among the most bizarre ever caught on film  the scenes with the eponymous  beast  definitely being among them . certainly not everybody  s cup of tea  but very highly recommended to fans of controversial and unusual cinema . a true cult gem   
the plot and characters are ridiculous and barely qualify as  plot  and  character  . the biggest problem is the fact that everything is dark  out  of  focus  and blurry . the fact that fulci filled the whole movie with mist doesn  t help . on the other hand  the whole thing is completely bizarre and filled with sex and violence . the inconsistencies are pretty entertaining  one of the main characters says he has no friends  yet he latches onto the new guy in a minute of screen time  and has a whole gaggle of women on the side . though he does show his anti  social tendencies by randomly putting an arrow in some poor bd who  s just minding his own business  images of blood or gore flowing get more attention than the characters but what do you want from fulci . maybe it ruined his career  but it wasn  t really much more stupid than zombie . worth a rental if you like gory italian flicks or are desperate for sword and sorcery or something bizarre . how do you sleep through someone getting sucked into a pit  feet from your head and screaming for help   
for anyone who has only seen disney productions beautifully animated version of  beauty  the beast   or even jean cocteau  s surreal fairy tale vision will be quite taken aback by this     french  but with a director from poland  version . the plot concerns a french family of fading aristocracy that is marrying into a well to do english family . the major catch is that the bridegroom is carrying an ancient curse on the family . the film also includes many flashback sequences  potentially  explaining this family curse . from the opening credits  to the very end  it  s a nearly non stop erotic fun house ride  with some very explicit  graphic sexual content  hence the film  s x rating in the u . s . in it  s initial run  which is now unrated  . the film  s somewhat contemptuous sentiment at the ruling class will probably remind one of bunuel  s flights into similar territory . if you have a taste for the truly bizarre  and are not offended by  taboo  material  then this film may just scratch that itch for you .  
despite being released on dvd by blue underground some five years ago  i have never come across this italian  sword and sorcery  item on late  night italian tv and  now that i have seen it for myself  i know exactly why . not because of its director  s typical predilection for extreme gore  of which there is some examples to be sure  or the fact that the handful of women in it parade topless all the time  it is set in the dark ages after all  it is  quite simply  very poor stuff indeed . in fact  i would go so far as to say that it may very well be the worst of its kind that i have yet seen and  believe me  i have seen plenty  especially in the last few years i . e . following my excursion to the     venice film festival   reading about how the film  s failure at the time of initial release is believed to have led to its director  s subsequent  and regrettable  career nosedive into mindless low  budget gore  i can see their point i may prefer fulci  s earlier  giallo  period          to his more popular stuff horror          myself but  even on the latter  his commitment was arguably unquestionable . on the other hand  conquest seems not to have inspired fulci in the least  seeing how he decided to drape the proceedings with an annoyingly perpetual mist  sprinkle it with incongruent characters  cannibals vs . werewolves  anyone    irrelevant gore  we are treated to a gratuitous  nasty cannibal dinner just before witnessing the flesh  eating revelers having their brains literally beaten out by their hairy antagonists   and even some highly unappetizing intimacy between the masked  brain  slurping villainess  don  t ask  and her slimy reptilian pet   for what it is worth  we have two heroes for the price of one here a young magic bow  carrying boy on some manhood  affirming odyssey  andrea occhipinti  and his rambling muscle  bound companion  jorge rivero i . e . frenchy from howard hawks  rio lobo         who  despite being called mace  short for maciste  perhaps    seems to be there simply to drop in on his cavewoman from time to time and get his younger protg out of trouble  particularly during an exceedingly unpleasant attack of the  boils   . unfortunately  even the usual saving grace of such lowbrow material comes up short here as ex  goblin claudio simonetti  s electronic score seems awfully inappropriate at times . fulci even contrives to give the film a laughably hurried coda with the surviving beefy hero going aimlessly out into the wilderness  after defeating one and all with the aid of the all  important magic bowso much for his own supposed physical strength   onto his next  and thankfully unfilmed  adventure   
now my friends  films like  la bte   aka  the beast  or  o monstro   only can be done in the old continent    in this film we see all horses dirty sex  nymphomaniac kind off gorilla  non sense dialogs  etc  etc  etc . . . in the serious terms now  its an allegory  that men sometimes could be bestial  visceral and brutal  walerian borowczyk  the director  shows us the loss of innocence  sexual violence  rape and brutality . its a astonishing cinematic experience  bizarre and full of grotesque scenes . for all fans of european shocking exploitation  i recommend this film . if you like this one i recommend  orloff against the invisible man  and  alterated states  .  
today  bea arthur died so i was cruising around the imdb web site and somehow wound up on a show called  gloria .   all in the family  was a brilliant show for its first four or five years and i bet i watched every episode more than once . however  i swear that i did not know a show named  gloria  existed . maybe  that  s a good thing . maybe  it means i had a life as a young adult rather than watching television .  br    br   on the other hand  it is pathetic that the  all in the family  franchise had deteriorated so much that it begat a show i never heard of   and one that is rated very poorly by the previous reviewers .  br    br   i rated the show a  for two reasons   the system did not allow me to register a no vote and writers and tv execs should be condemned for starting a show that had no business being on the air and besmirches the memory of one of the greatest shows in tv history .  br    br   shalom  zwrite  
perhaps it  s me and my perverted ways  or the fact that i tend to have a very sick mind  but i rented this film at random one very weird night and to my great surprise  i enjoyed it .  br    br   yes  i read the synopsis on the back of the dvd box and read that it had been banned for   years and figured i was prepared for anything it would offer . i was clearly deceived after seeing . . . well . . . everything  to cut a long story short . i can see why it was banned  not only for such explicit sex scenes  but for beastiality .  br    br   of course  as it is freely based on the classic fairy tale of beauty and the beast  a personal favorite of mine  it tells the story of a girl  s sexual awakening over a dream about a duchess being chased by a whatever  the  hell  that  thing  was  like beast with an enormous erection and a substantial amount of ejaculation . of course  the beast gets what he wants and the duchess decides she likes it and they continue frolicking in the woods .  br    br   but that  s not all . oh  there is so much more   br    br   not only do we get to see interspecial sex  but there  s also humping horses  the babysitter who gets down and dirty with the slave when she  s not humping the bed to get her . . . er . . . satisfaction and the daydreaming girl masturbating with rose petals .  br    br   creative and enjoyable  but it did take a while for my father to talk to me again after he watched it after i went to bed . . . i was   . words of advice when watching this film make sure you  re the only one who knows you have it and watch it with the curtains closed . it may be fun  but i doubt there are other porn films like this one .  
this was a classic case of something that should never have been . gloria was now a single mother  her husband had left her because she wouldn  t live in some commune with him  he was mad that reagan had been elected and wanted to turn his back on society  . right then and there i had problems with the series  come on  i say to myself  is this the same noble michael stivic that countered archie bunker  s right winged philosophies  the series went on  but it just didn  t have any pizazz . whatever momentum sally struthers gained from all the family was long gone . maybe  if the series had been given another name and presented as being totally independent of all in the family  it might have worked out . ah well  that  s show business .  
youth  sexuality  and the french countryside   one of the more unique films you  re ever going to see . if you can see it that is  no mean feat considering how hard it is to find copies of it  a combination of scarcity and censorship .  it  s sometimes erotic  sometimes disgusting  and occasionally funny . a trifle boring also in the middle  but all in all you can  t call yourself an aficionado of bizarre film until you  ve seen this one at least once .  
the bad news is it  s still really dreadful . i gave it a  because occasionally some of this kitchy slapstick parody actually seems funny .  br    br   it  s supposed to be better than  mulva  zombie ass kicker   and progress should be rewarded . or maybe i was drinking heavily when i watched it and felt generous . whatever     it is .  br    br   maybe the best thing about this movie is that it  s over pretty quick . it takes elements from most of kill bill i  ii  s key themes and fight scenes  hacks them up  dumbs them way down  dirties up the dialog  and squishes the whole mess into about an hour of truly awful amateur video .  br    br   you  d best smoke a lot of something powerful if you want to enjoy this one . and get this dvd back to the video store on time  you  ll really hate yourself if you have to pay a late fee .  
polish film maker walerian borowczyk  s la bte  french       aka the beast  is among the most controversial and brave films ever made and a very excellent one too . this film tells everything that  s generally been hidden and denied about our nature and our sexual nature in particular with the symbolism and silence of its images . the images may look wild  perverse   sick  or exciting  but they are all in relation with the lastly mentioned . sex  desire and death are very strong and primary things and dominate all the flesh that has a human soul inside it . they interest and temptate us so powerfully  and by our nature  that they are considered scary  unacceptable and something too wild to be true .  br    br   a sophisticated young woman travels with her mother to a french countryside to meet her soon  to  become husband whom with she has had a letter affair of some kind . all are very exciting and each others  parents and relatives wait impatiently to see the new people arriving to their families . the innocence of the young bride shines through and no one knows what can happen and wake up inside the walls of the big and beautiful french mansion  with all its humans and animals  and a mysterious  la bte  that turns out to be something that the characters  nor most of the film  s audience  could have never imagined to be real and  in front of  them .  br    br   the film is about the same theme as canadian david cronenberg  s debyt feature shivers        which happens inside a huge luxury building in which destructive and gory parasites spread from human to human by sexual contact and make people act furiously and violently in their lust for pleasure and fulfilment of instincts . human has instincts that can be and are stronger than his will and that is why those instincts can be as dangerous and powerful as the instincts of some other animal  a beast  be it a lust for blood  revenge or sex and carnal pleasure . humans are only animals that have intelligence and tools to convey it but because we are also animals  that intelligence is not always used too much as can be seen anywhere around us . the film opens greatly  and very shockingly for most hypocritic attitudes  showing a horny male horse raging in fury as he waits to get inside the mare and continue the race  but the rage and visible lust we see from his eyes and violent movements are the key elements of that beginning and why it is there  not the close  ups of organs as could be so easily claimed . the horse is a beast that battles in an almost unbearable heat  in heat that  s much stronger than his will as he doesn  t have any control at that point anymore . the power of the instinct makes an animal a beast .  br    br   after the memorable beginning  the characters get introduced  and the film fantastically has all the necessary age groups inside it from the little innocent children waiting to grow up and develop to their blossom  to the adults and elders that all represent their own part of the lifespan  creating the face of human life on screen . a film doesn  t necessarily need more characters this way as all the important ones are already there and represent the whole race  including the urban and countryside inhabitants  and both sexes . the mansion makes the protagonist girl  s sexuality wake as she saws the horses coupling and acting like she obviously has never thought of . for the first time she sees something unique and something that excites and feels almost vital for her and her body  like getting water when you  re very thirsty . the transformation of the girl is a very important element in the film as she has lived unaware of these things inside her  with his mother and camera and a letter  boyfriend  even though the things have just waited for the moment to burst out . flesh desires flesh and that belongs to being a humanimal  but still those things are not so easily admitted everywhere and films like these trying to depict it get banned for decades  man  s stupidity and unwillingness to interpret images must not be an argument for a film being banned or otherwise violated .  br    br   the film  s last   minutes are also as important as the beginning  and once again show how powerful cinema is without needless words and talk . as the girl and audience realizes what her body starts to feel and desire  she starts to have dreams about the mysterious beast that turns out to be none other than the undressed form of ourselves  having lived in the woods without other people  beasts near him . the dream sequence is the one that causes and caused most of the controversy alongside the film  s overall straight and honest attitude  and the images are so easy to be judged as  perverse  and  pornographic   without a courage to go deeper into them  character reactions and thoughts behind what we see . the images are exciting in her dream and also eventually inside the dream for the dream  s  more  human character  and borowczyk forces us to admit it with the images that are so close to a  normal  sexual act between a man and a female  which is a beautiful thing and expression of love  another human need . also the numerous  and cleverly blackly humorous love making scenes inside the mansion  between the young mother and the black servant  get interrupted many times as someone screams for the servant  for example  and there  s no doubt that the sensual image of two young human bodies being together and being interrupted with an angry shout at least doesn  t become any more pleasant by the interruption . borowczyk has managed to paint his images so beautiful and  sensitive  that his message is almost impossible to be misunderstood  but nothing seems to be impossible for our cultures and minds that criticize art . he uses dialogue only when it  s necessary  otherwise the images do the job and make the film powerful .  br    br   death is also there  as flesh dies sooner or later  after years of life and instincts  it dies . the ending is inevitable but the meaning of the dream sequence could have also been as powerful without the kind of dramatic and  revealing  ending too . another blackly humorous element comes when we see the shocked city women running out of the place in which they saw a little more than they were looking for  they visited the mansion of truth about flesh  us and them . the film reminds me of french writer georges bataille  s story of the eye with its same themes about eroticism  death and how they both are always connected to the nature of our flesh . the book is well written and fantastic as well as this film  and naturally both have been blamed for their  too explicit  content and other equally noteworthy shallow comments .  br    br   borowczyk  s film is also very beautiful visually alongside its raw honesty  and the nature and forest have rarely looked so bright and shining as they do in this film . the sun shines through the trees  and to everyplace where humans live  and the beauty of it is always there  but so is the ugliness that originates by the inhabitants of the world . to every innocent white sheep there  s a selfish  evil and horrible beast in our world and that is why the intelligence we have been given never fully seems to overcome the power of our bad instincts and the other side of the sheep  present inside every human soul . it is about how many manages to keep the dark side passive and not active . the fulfilment of some of our instincts is not a bad thing  and by using this intelligence and seeing which of the instincts are good and which bad  they can be satisfied without exploitation  violence and the lethal and destructive circle created by it . human is not more than an animal with intelligence  intelligence that is so easy to be forgotten and eaten to the background by things that feel better and more satisfying at each and perhaps sudden moment . borowczyk  s film is a masterpiece  unforgettable and clever piece of magical cinema with ageless theme and also an example of how much can be achieved  expressed and given by a film maker  who is also only a human .  
although this is  better  than the first mulva  which doesn  t say much anyways  i would rather watch paint dry  it still sucks . do yourself a favor and avoid anything from these low budget pictures guys . i was suckered into buying a few dvds to support some indy filmmakers and boy did i regret it . some haven  t even been officially  released  yet  not bootlegs  bought from the filmmakers themselves  and i can  t even list how bad they all are . avoid anything with teen ape or bonejack in them as they do pop up in other small indy films that they are friends with . if you are friends of these guys  chances are you were in their movies and had fun making them . but for those that had to watch them  no way . bad video  bad audio  bad acting  bad plot . . . etc etc . these aren  t even funny . i gave this one a  only because debbie rochon is in it and that is about it . maybe it doesn  t even deserve the  . about a      th star to show it was slightly better than the first  which i wish i could have rated in the negatives  . if you want a decent no budget film  go pick up something from lbp  s  friends  over at freak productions like marty jenkins or even raising the stakes . those are actually decent .  
ok . . . this one  s a weirdy . . . . honestly  i can  t tell you all the inner plot  points of the beast  cuz i started losing interest when nothing happened during the first   or more minutes  but just wait  it definitely does  pick up  . . .  br    br   the plot involves something about a monster in the woods that some french aristocrat chick screwed back in the day . eventually you see  the beast   which looks like a guy dressed in a giant rat  bear costume with a horse cock attached to it . the scene takes place with the aristocrat woman running around the forest looking for a lost sheep . the sheep ends up dead and the woman gets scared . the beast pops up  rapes the chick and shoots    gallons of spunk all over her . eventually the chick starts to enjoy the beast  s  attention  which results in some pretty novel simulated sex scenes  including an unnervingly erotic foot masturbation scene where the woman jerks the beast off with her feet while the monster shoots more huge loads everywhere  yeah  i  ve got a twisted foot  fetish  so sue me . . . .  . . . the whole film is told in flashbacks and long  winded dialog scenes that tended to be a bit tedious . a  shocking  but predictable ending concludes this extremely strange film . . .  br    br   the beast is a film that i find kind of hard to rate . the cinematography itself is quite eye  catching and the sets  costumes and locations are elaborate . the plot is a little convoluted and seems to take it self awfully seriously for what ends up being such an unintentionally hilarious film about a chick boning a rat  bear . a good bit of tits  ass  and hairy    s french bushes to help make up for the dull first half of the film . i have to honestly say  that if it weren  t for the graphic scenes of the beast spackling all over the willing maiden  this film would have been a real bore  that is unless you like dull dialog and some graphic horse sex  the beginning has a very up  close and personal scene of two horses boning  including a pulsating and spunk covered female horse vagina . . . yum     . but the beast sex scene is so strange and such a refreshing change from the rest of the film  that i have to say that those scenes alone make up for what otherwise would have been a real snoozer . i have to recommend this one to anyone who thinks they  ve seen it all  the beast rape really is out  there and something to be witnessed . also recommended to any fans of    s     s sleaze films  this one ranks pretty high with them . worth a look for you sick rat  bear beastiality lovers out there  like me  . . .      
mulva is put in a sugercoma by teen ape . when she awakens she  s considerably hotter  the parts played by debbie rochon in this sequel   and out for revenge on those that did her wrong . as the sub  title and box art implies this is indeed a take off on the  kill bill  films  but this being a chris seaver  s film  it  s a wildly incompetent satire  and i use that last term extremely loosely  i  d love to say this is better than the first film  but truth be told i was so impossibly drunk off my ass when i saw the previous film that i can  t even hope to compare the two at this point in time . but i must have enjoyed it since i bought the sequel  see when i  m drunk i like  for lack of a better word  complete and total crappy movies  there are a few laugh out loud moments  very few  but i do remember bonejack being funnier though . well at least at slightly over an hour  it is over mighty quickly for what it  s worth .  br    br   my grade d  br    br   dvd extras audio commentary by director chris seaver  actress debbie rochon  and the lbp gang second commentary by seaver   minute making of featurette lloyd kaufman  s  minute tribute to low budget pictures fake  minute syrup commercial stills gallery promo trailer and trailers for mulva    quest for the egg salad    fiilthy mcnasty          the feral man    the bonesetter    midnight skater    demon summer    splatter rampage wrestling   
legend of zu is possibly the most exciting movie ive seen in recent years . it transcends all expectations and is truly a work of art . with unmatched visual sceneries and story of divine proportions  legend of zu proceeds to blow over its viewers with its majesty . this movie is wonderously crafted through the use of high tech cgi which allows fans of the fantasy genre to see their visions come to life . the acting is perfect for this type of movie if you were an immortal with supernatural powers i would think you  d keep more to yourself .  br    br   unlike the comments of many  the plot is actually quite easy to follow while maintaining a quick pace that adds a sense of urgency . anyone that cannot keep track of the different characters simply must not be paying attention since or are used to such levels of sophistication as the titanic . the plot is engaging and layered with themes so epic that they will leave you gasping for air . legend of zu is on a level of greatness so high that perhaps many people are put off by its grandeur . allow yourself to be completely engulfed within its fantastical vision and you will grow to love this movie .  
  br    br   paul verhoeven finally bombed out on this one . he became a joke on himself . once again we have a film which includes sex and violence  immorality  leering at women and lots of attitiude talk between the characters and dollying pans .  br    br   its all for nothing . because their is no action at all in this film . it fudges all its set pieces . all the actors give the kind of performances form a verhoeven film . in other words rampant over acting on almost every level . starship troopers got away with it because it was such a macho world the characters inhabited . in this scientists are acting the same way . sorry paul but soldiers and scientist are not really made of the same mindset .  br    br   one major flaw in the plot was that after escaping for that one night to do evil things kevin bacons character then returns back to the science lab where we have already spent more then enough time watching these animated manniquens  elizabeth shue excepted  walk and talk . why not show the extent of what the character could do in the outside world . how could they possibly track him if he could be anywhere at all    think os all the different things that could have been done with this concept  both in terms of story and characterisation . then look at what this film does and you really how badly done and concieved the whole project really was .  br    br   more insulting is the doco on the dvd where everyone is claiming that verhoeven is some kind of mad genius . well one out of two isnt that bad .  br    br   this film has nothing of note in it . just like the title says .  br    br   hollow     
an ultra  nervous old man   mr . goodrich   terrorized by the news that a gang is stalking the city and prominent citizens are disappearing  really panics when someone throws a rock through his window with a message tied to it  saying  you will be next    br    br   he calls the detective agency wondering where are the guys he asked for earlier . of course  it  s the stooges  who couldn  t respond because had come into the office  robbed them and tied them up . some detectives  the moment poor mr . goodrich hangs up the phone and says   i feel safer already   a monster  type goon named  nico  appears out of a secret panel in the room and chokes him unconscious . we next find out that his trusted employees are anything but that . now these crooks have to deal with the  detectives  that are coming by the house for mr . goodrich .  br    br   some of the gags  like moe and larry  s wrinkles  are getting a bit old  but some of them will provoke laughs if i see them    times . i always laugh at shemp trying to be a flirt  as he does here with mr . goodrich  s niece  in a classic routine with a long  accordion  like camera lens . the act he puts on when he  s poisoned is always funny  too . shemp was so good that i didn  t mind he was taking the great curly  s place .  br    br   larry  moe  curly  shemp were always great in the chase scenes  in which monsters or crooks or both are chasing them around a house . that  s the last six minutes in here . at times  such as this film   
a model named laura is working in south america when she is kidnapped from her hotel room by a gang and taken into the jungle . they demand a huge ransom for her release . peter is hired to get her home safe and there is a bonus in it for him if he can bring back the money as well as the girl . peter is taken to the jungle by helicopter with friend jack . they try to give the kidnappers fake money in return for laura but the plan goes horribly wrong and they have to bail out in the helicopter . the helicopter is shot and they also have to bail from that  not going well so far  . also roaming the jungles is a devil of sorts . in reality its just a naked black guy with weirdly big eyes and a breathing problem . he starts to kill a few of the kidnappers and laura escapes only to be captured by some primitives . the rest of the film is a bit of a blur really .  br    br   now i  m not a massive jess franco fan  in fact to date this is only the second film of his i have seen  but even i can tell that this really isn  t one of his best efforts . the films drags along at a pretty slow pace without much at all happening . the whole thing could have been edited down quite easily into a   minute tv show . there are plenty of overly long shots of people walking through the jungle that could have just been lifted straight out .  br    br   devil hunter is poorly lit  infact i don  t think it was lit at all   badly dubbed  poorly acted and slow yet for some reason it didn  t bore me . i think the main reason for this was some of the hilariously bad scenes in it . for example a scene where laura is walking in the street was obviously shot in a real street as crowds of people stop to stare straight at the camera as its shooting . another funny scene has one of the gang who has been killed  hung in a tree dripping blood as one of his friends stands directly under him screaming for what seems like minutes . then for no reason at all the man in the trees head just falls of and hits the guy under him . it has to be seen to be believed . then of course there is the actual devil . it is just some naked black guy who despite the fact he has massive eyes  he has very blurry vision .  br    br   the film was hooked up in part of the video nasty scare in the    s here in the uk and was banned . now why it was i have no idea . there is very little gore at all and it  s hardly a shocking film . minus the nudity i would have said that it could get away with a pg almost . the only thing i can think of is that it was never actually watched and was added to the original list because of word of mouth .  br    br   there is not much reason to watch this film really unless you are a massive jess franco fan . there is plenty of nudity to keep you from falling asleep and also some scenes that are so bad you can have a good laugh at them but other wise i would say just pay for a ticket to south america and get lost in a jungle . it would probably be more fun .  br    br        
  la bte  by walerian borowczyk is based on the short story  lokis  written by prosper merime . lucy broadhurst  lisabeth hummel   an american heiress betrothed to the son of an impoverished marquis  arrives at the family  s crumbling chteau and learns of a mythical ursine beast purported to prowl the nearby forest . it is fabled that a former lady of the house  sirpa lane  once engaged in perverse sex with the creature and lucy finds herself consumed by dreams of the incident .  the beast  is an art  house mix of surreal horror  explicit sleaze and porno . there  s implied bestiality  assault and perversion in the priesthood  copious fake ejaculate smeared on bared breasts  masturbation with a rose and  most graphic of all  the eponymous beast toying with incredibly big phallus . still this genuinely erotic film is wonderfully photographed and tasteless . the women here are stunningly beautiful and they are naked most of the time . overall  la bte  is a visual feast . whether it be from the fetishistic attention to detail  or the visual motifs pregnant with information  borowczyk  s masterpiece should be watched with care and attention . a must  see for fans of european cult cinema .  
a bit of a disappointing film  i  d say the acting was stilted  somehow . in many cases  i just couldn  t feel that the facial expressions matched the words spoken or the intent of the scene . an angry  or sad  happy  frustrated  character should make the viewer believe that he  s angry  or sad  happy  frustrated  . that doesn  t happen here .  br    br   the comment about the writers assuming you already know the characters was apt . they do things and say things which come out of nowhere the character andrew accuses his parents of sending signals to each other at dinner then he blows up and storms out  telling his father  don  t touch me  you f   . maybe  if we  d seen the prequel  we would understand where all that comes from  but there is no prequel  so we  re somewhat at sea as to the reason   br    br   one odd  quirky thing that andrew does is to go to an old stone quarry  sit down on the edge overlooking the  still water  below then he reaches into his jeans pocket and extracts a pack of cigarettes and lights one up . he did this same thing three times during the film i guess we  re supposed to see this as some tortured act of being alone and angry  maybe once  but three times  it might even have been four times  i lost count .  br    br   to be honest  there is the fact that he  s recently found out that he  s adopted this happens very early in the film so there  s no sense of any dramatic change he might be undergoing because of this discovery . it  s not really clear if that  s why he  s so bitter or if it  s about something else .  br    br   i guess there is a sort of lynchian feel to the film but should a first  time director really be trying to scale such a mountain so early in his career   
if  like me  you like your films to be unique  and unlike the majority of other movies  then i wholly recommend that you check out the beast . the film is a grotesque  erotic  fantasy fairytale that centres around a mythological  beast  that is rumoured to wander the grounds of a french mansion and lusts after women . the film is very daring with it  s subject material  and that is something to give it credit for . the theme of bestiality is a definite taboo  and for good reason  i might add but the film conveys it straight and to the point . like other films that handle a taboo subject at their centre  the beast could have gone around it  and made us use our imagination to fill in the gaps  but borowczyk didn  t do that  and he is brave in that respect  especially as making a film like this will leave him open to all kinds of criticisms  but the fact that he went ahead with it  in my view  means a big thumbs up for the guy .  br    br   the film starts off with a sequence that sees a randy male horse mount a female . this opener puts an exclamation mark on the film and prepares the audience  in some ways  for the incredible  tour de force of eroticism that they are about to see . the scenes which see the beast mate with the woman are gratuitous and shocking  and are bound to offend many people  hence the reason it was banned for over   years   but these scenes are not merely an excuse for borowczyk to shock the viewer this film has a defining point . as said during the film the only difference between man and beast is intelligence . both man and beast have instincts  only man knows how to control them . the beast explores this difference between man and beast through sexuality the fantasy sequence in which the beast appears epitomises the control of human desire  and it is only when the central female character lets go of her control that she can see the beast . the film has strong themes of the age  old story of  beauty and beast  weaved into it  and overall this is a shockingly morbid tale of lust  but not without a moral .  br    br   many criticise the scenes around the film  s shocking sex sequences for being boring  but these scenes are important to the film  s story . without these scenes  we wouldn  t get to know the characters or the story of the beast  and  most importantly the story of  beauty and the beast  would not be able to have it  s horrifying conclusion dealt to the audience  and as that is one of the key elements of the film it would be a real shame . besides that  borowczyk keeps his audience entertained through these scenes  not with shocks  but with dialogue and the upper class persona of the family  along with the beautiful shots of the mansion  s ground would not be seen  and therefore the stark contrast between that and the events later on in the film would not exist either .  br    br   overall  the beast is a shocking film . it  s portrayal of a taboo subject and the shocking way it is portrayed will ensure that this film is not for everyone . however  if you can get over the film  s shock  and embrace the beast what awaits is a skilful and beautiful piece of art that should not be missed by anyone that is willing to give this film a chance .  
this could be one of the worse movies i  ve ever seen . i don  t see how could this ever be described as a horror movie  or even a thriller  its more like a lumbering drama . the scary music is excellent but since there weren  t any scary situations the director thought it would be a good idea to use it for everyday activities like taking a dump or walking down stairs . the movie had so much potential . they had beautiful cinematography  sp   and interesting characters  but it seemed as if the writers assumed you already knew them . they would undergo peculiar activities without explanation or even a clue at what they meant . this is simply one of those movies that says its about one thing and it something totally different .  
i like this movie much  it  s special type of humor by ondricek and machacek . . . i think it  s better then samotari  loners  . . maybe it  s difficult to understand when you are not czech . if you are not watching that movie  just enjoy it  don  t mind about anything else . . just relax    
  dead letter office  is a low  budget film about a couple of employees of the australian postal service  struggling to rebuild their damaged lives . unfortunately  the acting is poor and the links between the characters  past misfortunes and present mindsets are clumsily and over  schematically represented . what  s most disappointing of all  however  is the portrayal is life in the office of the film  s title there  s no mechanisation whatsoever  and it  s quite impossible to ascertain what any of the staff really do for a living . granted  part of the plot is that the office is threatened with closure  but this sort of office surely closed in the     s  if it ever truly existed . it  s a shame  as the film  s overall tone is poignant and wry  and there  s some promise in the scenario but few of the details convince . overall  it feels the work of someone who hasn  t actually experienced much of real life a student film  with a concept and an outline  but sadly little else .  
the lead characters in this movie fall into two categories smart and stupid . simple enough .  br    br   jiri machacek  standa  plays a hapless  dopey guy who gets arrested for a crime he did not commit . when he tries to get financially reimbursed by his evil  former boss  the situation gets out of control .  br    br   while standa is genuinely  but endearingly  stupid  his buddy ondrej is an absolute blithering idiot who bungles everything and manages to say and do the wrong thing every time . without ondrej  standa might stand a chance of going through life with some modest degree of success . with ondrej  life will never be boring  but it sure won  t be without a lot of headaches   br    br   ivan trojan plays zdenek  an evil genius type who degenerates into some hitler  esquire delusional tyrant . zdenek and his henchmen try to kill standa to keep zdenek  s secrets safe .  br    br   i am very impressed with the high quality and imagination of czech films . for a relatively small country  the czech republic certainly has produced more than its share of superb entertainment . the best czech movies i have seen are   peliky and   tmavomodr svet  dark blue world  . if you see these two movies  you have seen the absolute best of czech cinema .  
this movie had a imdb rating of  .  so i expected much more from it . it starts out funny and endearing with an energy that feels spontaneous . but before the movie is half  way through  it begins to drag and everything becomes sickingly predictable . the characters in the office were delightful in the first third of the movie  but we get to know them a little too well they become caricatures  not real people at all . this is the same story i  ve seen hundreds of times  only told here with slightly different circumstances . the thing is  i could stomach another predictable love story if only the dialog weren  t so stale   br    br   the only thing that could be worse is if the characters had inconsistent and unbelievable motivations  and unfortunately that was also the case with dead letter office . hopefully this movie will end up in the dead movie office soon .  
it helps if you understand czech and can see this in the original language and understand the czechs obsession with  the professionals   but if not   jedna ruka netlaska  is yet another great czech film . it is funny  dark and extremely enjoyable . the highest compliment i can pay it is that you never know quite what is going to happen next and even keep that feeling well into the second and third viewing .  br    br   for a small country the czech republic has produced an amazing amount of world class film and literature  from hrabal  hasek and kundera to the films of menzel  sverak and numerous others . czech humour by its very nature is dark and often uncompromising  but often with a naive and warm sentiment behind it . this film is just that  it is unkind and deals with the less lovable sides of human beings  but underneath it all there is a beautiful story full of promise  good intent and optimism .  br    br   i highly recommend this and most other projects trojan and machacek are involved in . enjoy it  it  s a film made for just that reason  anyway  it  s as close as the czechs will ever come to writing a truly happy ending . . .  
you know all those letters to  father christmas  and  jesus  that are sent every year  well  it turns out that they are not actually delivered but dropped off in a half  forgotten corner of the post office to rot unless some bright spark figures out a way of posting them . as bizarre settings go  it  s a winner and one which perfectly fits the strange movie that is  dead letter office  . having said that  this is obviously an australian film as opposed to a british one . if it was royal mail  most letters get this sort of treatment anyway . i haven  t been in this flat for two years and we  re still getting letters for a mr wang  some female priest of the church of latter day i  ve  never  heard  of  you and various catalogues for industrial equipment addressed to a plumbing company .  br    br    dead letter office   the name given to the place where undeliverable mail ends up  follows the story of alice  miranda otto  who grows up in a seriously divided home . writing to her absent father  she only learns in adulthood that her letters haven  t been delivered for one reason or another . so  logically  she gets a job at the d . l . o . and finds herself working alongside other social rejects including the brooding chilean immigrant frank lopez  george del hoyo  . slowly  she finds herself drawn to him but can she find out where her dad is without bringing the self  contained world of the dead letters office to its knees   br    br   nothing against this film but i was reminded of the god  awful heather graham film  committed  while watching this . however  this is so much better than that pile of horse crap but then again  that ain  t difficult . for a start  this film is much more logical . true  the metaphors are somewhat blatant and the underflowing symbolism quickly becomes a flood . but at least this is cohesive and quirky without being complete drivel . it is also well acted . both otto and del hoyo are very good as the lovers looking for something they know they  ll never find while other characters are peripheral at best . part of the trouble is that it seems to wrap up far too quickly  leaving this viewer somewhat disappointed . the other part is that when you consider australia  s draconian immigration policy  i . e . if you don  t speak english  rack off    such a story is unlikely to take place in reality . the other characters  sadly  also help to destabilise the realism by proving to be little more than odd  ball stereotypes .  br    br   despite that   dead letter office  is certainly something a little different . it might not be to everyone  s taste but i liked it . yes  it was hackneyed and predictable but sometimes  it  s nice to watch a film without guns or violence or heavy  duty swearing and nudity  no chance of that in an australian film  . there ain  t any major laughs  there  s no bullet time and the characters are usually one  dimensional . but it  s the story that counts here and while it  s not earth  shattering in its magnificence  it  s a pleasant enough way of passing the time . it  s the movie equivalent of a sheryl crow cd  nice to listen to now and again but you wouldn  t really miss it if it wasn  t there .  
basic meaning of the story is a reality . cruel true reality . situations are very funny . you have to laugh when you see  how people can be stupid  obstinate and crazy . the best description will be  if you watch it on your own .  
another too bad the lowest they can go here is one . otherwise this would get an easy zero . truly one of the worst films i have ever seen . in fact were peckenpah  s name not on the thing i would never have guessed he did it . actually one of the people in san francisco i know was on the set a lot and from nearly sunup on he says that sam was just plain snockered . it shows in spades . the laughing bit at the early part of the film is the only thing in this entire mess worth a second look . not even gig young is watchable . this is a true test of masochism . had i been forced into the confines of a theatre to see it i would have jumped up screaming . and now i truly feel guilty having watched it all from the confines of a very comfortable couch that was just too nice to leave . what a mess  it seemed less written than made up as they went along . it  s not only a bomb but a bmob spelled backwards . yikes       
this definitely is not the intellectual film with profound mission  so i really don  t think there is too much not to understand to in case you aren  t czech .  br    br   it  s just a comedy . the humor is simple  pretty funny and sometimes  maybe  little morbid . some actors and characters are very similar to samotri        jir machcek  ivan trojan  vladimr dlouh  so the authors are . but it doesn  t matter  the genre is really different and these two films shouldn  t be compared in this way . jedna ruka netlesk won  t try to give you a lesson  it will try to make you laugh and there is some chance it will succeed .  br    br   not bad film  not the ingenious one  but i enjoyed it . some scenes are truly worth seeing .  
it was almost unfathomable to me that this film would be a bust but i was indeed disappointed . having been a connoisseur of pekinpah cinema for years  i found this dvd  drastically reduced  for sale and thought it was worth a shot . the opening few credits  iconic to pekinpah fans  has the inter  cutting between man and animal  but here we have non  diegetic ambient noise of children playing in a schoolyard while a bomb is being planted . fantastic suspense . then  when the perps  caan and duval  travel to their next mission  duval drops the bomb on cann that his date last night had an std  found only by snooping through her purse while cann was being intimate with her . the ensuing laughter is fantastic  and is clearly paid homage to in brian depalma  s dressed to kill  at the short  lived expense of angle dickenson . the problem with the killer elite is that after the opening credits  the film falls flat . even bring me the head of alfredo garcia has stronger production value  a bold call for anyone who knows what i  m talking about . i use pekinpah  s credits as supplementary lecture material  but once they are finished  turn the killer elite off .  
i loved this movie  it  s truly bizarre  extremely funny  morbid  witty . . . it makes no sense to tell about the contents of the movie  because then i  d be giving out the outcome  you have to see it without knowing what is it about  everything is connected and has its why  because . it starts subtly and then the things start rolling faster and faster until they culminate in the most insane outburst you can imagine  it  s even more fun to watch the movie the second time  once you know all the  tricks  . the actors are excellent  especially ivan trojan  whose final scenes are a real master piece  i highly recommend this film  it  s one of the most original ones i  ve ever seen   
the problem with  the killer elite  is that just by seeking this film out  and investing time to watch it  you are putting more effort into the experience than many of its principals did  particularly director sam peckinpah .  br    br   the already volatile peckinpah was heading into rough weather with this film . according to at least one biographer  this was where he became acquainted with cocaine . add to that his binge drinking  and it  s no wonder things fell apart .  br    br   it  s a shame  because the concept behind the film is a good one  and the first ten minutes promise much . mike locken  james caan  and george hansen  robert duvall  are private contractors who do a lot of dirty work for the cia . they move quick  live well  and seem like the best of friends  then something happens to shatter their brotherhood .  br    br   an opening scene shows them blowing up a building  why exactly we aren  t told  par for the course in terms of this film  s murky motivation . but the implication is these guys hurt people and don  t really care  antiheroes much like the wild bunch of peckinpah  s not  so  long  ago . an opening title tells us they work for comteg  then adds with obvious tongue in cheek  . . . the thought the cia might employ such an organization for any purpose is  of course  preposterous .  that  s a pretty clever way of letting the audience know all bets are off .  br    br   add to that a traditionally strong peckinpah backup cast  including burt young  gig young  and peckinpah regular bo hopkins in the plum role of a madman who can  t pass up an opportunity to be shot at for     a day  and you only wish that the scriptwriters  including the celebrated sterling silliphant  tried to do something more with the story than turn it into a platform for lazy one  liners and bad chop  socky knockoffs . an attempt at injecting a dose of liberal social commentary is awkwardly shoehorned in .  you  re so busy doing their dirty work  you can  t tell who the bad guys are   someone tells locken  as if either he or we need it pointed out .  br    br   worse still are peckinpah  s clumsy direction and sluggish pacing . we  re   minutes into the film before we get our first battle scene  a completely chaotic collection of random shots where a bunch of people we haven  t even met before are seen fighting at san francisco airport  their battle intercut with a conversation in an office suite .  br    br   by the end of the film  what  s left of the cast is having a battle inside a fleet of mothballed victory ships  ninjas running out in the open to be gunned down while caan tosses off one liners that undercut any hint of real suspense .  lay me seven  to  five  i  ll take the little guy   he wisecracks just before a climatic samurai duel between two ninja warriors  from china  which we all know is the land of the ninja .  the battle takes place in san francisco  but surprisingly no mounties arrive to break things up .   br    br   caan is much better in smaller scenes  like when locken  recovering from some nasty injuries  is told by one of his bosses  played by a smooth arthur hill  that he  s been  humpty  dumped  by the organization . caan refuses to stay down  and his recovery scenes  though momentum  killing for the movie  feature fine acting from him and amy heflin  van  s daughter  as a supportive nurse . caan was one of the     s  best actors  and his laconic byplay with heflin  duvall  hopkins  and both youngs give  killer elite  real watchability .  br    br   but you don  t watch  killer elite  thinking about that . you watch it thinking of the film that got away .  
kurosawa  fresh into color  losses sight of his usual themes of truth and perception of reality and opts for a depressing take on tokyo  s slums . kurosawa stretches for a style that was  in my opinion  his antithesis  that is to say  i feel as if kurosawa wanted to make an ozu picture . poorly paced  poorly conceived  this movie is a rare dud in this auteur body of excellent work . while ikiru  while being mundane and depressing  was still interesting and well paced  and while stray dog depicted the slums and social poverty of japan without being too heavy handed or boring  do desu ka den has all the somberness that one could expect with its content  with none of the redeeming qualities of earlier kurosawa pictures .  br    br   be warned  this is not a movie that kurosawa should be judged by .  
okay  the story makes no sense  the characters lack any dimensionally  the best dialogue is ad  libs about the low quality of movie  the cinematography is dismal  and only editing saves a bit of the muddle  but sam  peckinpah directed the film . somehow  his direction is not enough . for those who appreciate peckinpah and his great work  this movie is a disappointment . even a great cast cannot redeem the time the viewer wastes with this minimal effort .  br    br   the proper response to the movie is the contempt that the director san peckinpah  james caan  robert duvall  burt young  bo hopkins  arthur hill  and even gig young bring to their work . watch the great peckinpah films . skip this mess .  
kurosawa is a proved humanitarian . this movie is totally about people living in poverty . you will see nothing but angry in this movie . it makes you feel bad but still worth . all those who  s too comfortable with materialization should spend  .  hours with this movie .  
can only be described as awful . it is bad to start with and then gets even more bad . when you start you really have to watch it through because it is impossible to believe that it can get worse  but fear not because it does . another poorly written script for a donkey director for no  talent offspring of past movie stars . it  s hard to decide if the script is worse than the acting or whether the directing is worse than both . as for the hero  well he belts up everyone including one scene where he beats the living daylights out of the tough by swinging open the wardrobe door and smashing him against the window with it . and in another scene he gets thrown through a window and crashes   ft onto concrete  doesn  t even blink  then gets up immediately and gets stuck into the baddies . this is a really ridiculous movie . lucky it only cost me   to hire .  
i rented this film in dvd form without knowing anything at all about it  part of a winter marathon of watching a film every night . after several awful american action adventure films  ballistic  daredevil  cradle of life  zhu warriors struck me as brilliantly original filmmaking . the story is complete nonsense  but i found the film  s sincerity  good  heartedness and complete lack of irony refreshing  and the film looks spectacular . sure  the special effects are not technically as flawless as those produced by hollywood  but the filmmakers wisely are more interested in color  composition and movement than realism and so many of the shots are breathtaking . in one shot  two of the superhuman characters stand on craggy spires of rock  a huge moon rising before them  the image perfectly balanced by the three elements . in another  a princess  warrior spires through the heavens behind her glowing sword like a heat  seeking missile . and the colors explode from shot to shot  used to express emotion rather than to represent reality .  br    br   the characters have the same simplicity and directness of comic book characters  offering no great depth in themselves but referring to archtypes that resonate more deeply . physically  several of the actors are astonishingly beautiful . they play their roles straight up  without irony or guile  and so are believable .  br    br   most strange of all  despite the clumsiness of plot and thin characterizations  i found myself very near tears at the end  moved by the beautiful simplicity of the actors and the wildly original  good  hearted vision of the director .  br    br    
unfortunately  one of the best efforts yet made in the area of special effects has been made completely pointless by being placed alongside a lumbering  silly and equally pointless plot and an inadequate  clichd screenplay . hollow man is a rather useless film .  br    br   practically everything seen here has been done to death  the characters  the idea and the action sequences  especially the lift shaft    with the only genuinely intriguing element of the film being the impressive special effects . however  it is just the same special effect done over and over again  and by the end of the film that has been done to death also . i was hoping before watching hollow man that the invisible man theme  which is hardly original in itself  would be the basis of something newer and more interesting . this is not so . it isn  t long before the film turns into an overly  familiar blood bath and mass of ineffectual histrionics  the mound of clichs piles up so fast that it  s almost impressive .  br    br   on top of all this  kevin bacon does a pretty useless job and his supporting cast are hardly trying their best . good points might be a passable jerry goldsmith score  but no competition for his better efforts   a quite interesting use of thermal imagery and the special effects . i was tempted to give this film three out of ten  but the effects push hollow man  s merit up one notch .  br    br        
this  and  hidden fortress  are the kurosawa  s that are most dear to me . i don  t hand out    s like candy  but this certainly deserved it  if anything . even though it  s quite long  like all kurosawa  s pretty much are  it concurred the problem which bugs me with most of his films the storyline is often too loose and slowly evolving  containing scenes that are unnecessary or just lenghtened too much without any real purpose to the storyline or the character description . dodesukaden delivered to me the same experience that for example  hidden fortress  did despite its lenght  there wasn  t a single minute i would cut out .  br    br   this is also a very unusual kurosawa film in a way  it has no storyline  but many little independent stories which are based more to the character description than storyline  unlike any other kurosawa  film i have seen so far . it also leans much on the dialogue  which he uses brilliantly  especially in the story between the father and the son planning their  new house   .  br    br   still the thing that makes this one a masterpiece is how the subject being so tragic as it is  is managed to be described so humanely and sympathetically  without pointing fingers at anybody at any point . from the beginning to the end it delivers the whole emotional scale from laughter to tears in perfect balance .  
it  s just breathtaking in it  s awfulness   you really must see it   br    br   depending on your perspective  dylan walsh is either the savior or the problem here since he  s the only one on screen that can actually get his lines out with something akin to natural cadences and inflection  he either ruins the movie by pointing up everyone else  s flaws  or he saves it by providing some context for their awfulness .  br    br   i  m inclined to the later view   thanks to him  it works as high comedy . he  s the  footer in a game of dwarf basketball  his skill set just doesn  t apply in this context  and his discombobulation is delicious .  br    br   the real treat though is ms . eastwood  whose inability to speak in plain english is so pervasive i actually googled her  expecting to learn that she was a russian beauty who pronounced her lines phonetically  with no understanding of their meaning . but no she  s just a talent free american who will leave you laughing with every line she drops . whether she knew what the lines meant must remain an open question .  
i first saw this movie as a pre  teen  about the age when kids start to think through their identity . i was greatly affected by the scene of the man and the children who he raises as his own . the eldest boy has been taunted that his mother is a prostitute and none of his siblings have the same biological father  which kurosawa makes obvious by having children who look nothing like each other  . the man still persuades tho boy that he is their father by the only definition that counts . the man is acclaimed to be father by all of the children but one  who still prefers her brother .  br    br   each of the vignettes are likewise compelling for their own stories and conclusions .  br    br   it  s a great film  even if it is not the greatest kurosawa film .  
think of a no  budget version of china syndrome being directed by a film student who idolizes john woo and you  ll get  power play .  the idea was good  but the execution  acting  and dialog absolutely killed it  not to mention ridiculous amounts of violence and disaster sequences that was used to compensate for lack of substance and development of the more interesting parts of the movie .  br    br   this is the story of a reporter investigating the disappearance of three members of a guerrilla activist group who mysteriously went missing after they broke into the offices of a power plant that is suspected to be causing a frenzy of earthquake . the rather cavalier reporter  going up against what should  ve been a more ruthless bunch of company execs  is chased around town  along with anyone he speaks to  in order to  clean  whatever conclusive evidence might remain of the plant  s faults .  br    br   unfortunately  there is no real sense of emergency because the characters interact with much hesitancy  coupled with idiotic dialog and a lot of horrible acting . not to mention  the viewer  who may only be attracted to the movie for it  s action genre appeal  is forced to endure a mounting body count and ridiculous amounts of violent shoot em  ups plus earthquake disaster scenes . all of the focus was put in the wrong place to apologetically compensate for the lack of direction and more interesting sequence of events that should  ve propelled the story . it might  ve been much better had the filmmakers focused more on a thriller  and paid greater attention to developing the corruption aspects of this story . creepy villains  a naive reporter  and those who attempt to alert the reporter of the wrong  doing afoot . it is formulaic  but at least it would  ve been entertaining .  
the title is onomatopoeic  the sound of a streetcar clacking on the rails . it is metaphoric for all that the people who live in the dump cannot have . the misery of those people is illustrated by the passing streetcar which represents the relatively unobtainable rich life of the middle class . the pathos of the little boy and his beloved yet sadly insane father is most touching . this was kurosawa  s first film in colour and he uses beautifully shocking hues  colours seen only in dreams . the movie is surreal and surpassing in beauty . the compassion for humanity is the underling force  but as always  kurosawa is focused on capturing the beauty of the film . it is a masterwork by a genius of cinema .  
i think if they made any money make a complete turd bomb like this one . the i need to get into the movie industry . i wiped my ass on a piece of toilet paper and made a better script once . watch when the guy is running through the tunnel  they used the same   feet of tunnel over and over and over again and never even changed the location of the stupid hanging light .  br    br   i think if i get the thrill of meeting the director of this gem of a movie  i think i will pick a fight with him and start it by deficating on his loafers  br    br   i think i need to puke now  
the title is the sound that one of the characters makes as he drives his imaginary trolley across the garbage dump where the characters live . the film is based on a series of stories by shugoro yamamoto and tells the story of a group of people who effectively live in ramshackle homes on the edge of the dump . it  s a mix of laughter and sadness .  br    br   first color film made by akria kurasowa has been something i  ve wanted to see for a long time . weirdly it was often listed as being only available in a shortened version from a three or four hour original due to an error in the run time in some promotional material . i was holding out for the full version  waiting to see what kurasowa wanted us to see  only to find out on the recent release by criterion that the    minute version is the full version .  br    br   finally sitting down to see the film last night i  m of mixed emotions about the film . first and foremost its visually linked to every film that followed . you can see every other of kurasowals remaining six films reflected in this movie  down to the painted sunsets . its a striking film in its use of color and you can understand why it took him so long to a film stock he would he happy with  of course there are failed projects as well  . the film is a visual work of art .  though be warned if you  re going to see this on your widescreen tv this was shot  .   so will appear in normal tv ratio .  the rest of the film is a mixed bag . part of the problem is that the lives of all of these people don  t quite come together . as separate tales they all work well but as a filmic whole they don  t hang as one . i don  t blame kurasowa since one can  t always hit things out of the box  especially when some one like robert altman who specialized in multi  character films of this sort occasionally bombed himself .  br    br   this isn  t to say that there aren  t reasons to see the film . as will all kurasowa films there are always reasons to see his films  whether they work or not . the first trip of the  trolley  is one of the best things kurasowa ever did and is worth the price of a rental . its one of the most magical moments in film history as the trolley is inspected and taken out . the father and son living in the car is touching  though ultimately very sad  and there are other bits and pieces that shine  like the cast which is across the board great  and one should at least try the film as something different from a man we usually associated with samurai films or crime dramas .  br    br   its an intriguing misfire from a master filmmaker which means in this case means its better than most other filmmakers successes .  br    br   between  and  as a whole  much higher in pieces .  
i have to finish watching a movie once i start  regardless of how bad it is . this movie was agonizing to sit through . the  sparkling  bullets  the reporter with  ninja  like moves  the way the bad guys shoot hundreds and hundreds of bullets and only seem to hit innocent bystanders  the predictable outcome and all the bad acting was just horrible . like the girl who finds the reporter in her friends apartment and goes from  what the heck are you doing in here  holding a bat   to  hey  you  re cute  wanna       in like  .  seconds . . . . just bad . . . . save yourself an hour and forty minutes and go play with your kids  or dog    
the title of this movie doesn  t make a lot of sense  until you see it in operation  because it  s the sound that a retarded young man makes while he  s operating his imaginary trolley  which is what he does all day . and he is just one of many odd characters in this surreal  at times  tragic tale of a group of slum  dwellers in japan .  br    br   there are two drunks who trade wives  there  s a man with aspirations to be a architect  and his young son who he sends out to beg for food . there  s a wise old man who seems to be the pillar of sanity within all that goes on around him  and there  s a businessman with some severe nervous tics that has a wife that treats him  and everyone else  like dirt .  br    br   there  s no particular plot to this  really  it  s a bunch of stories that drift back  forth between each other  sometimes funny  sometimes tragic . all in all i thought it worked pretty well   i had been dying to see this for a long time just based on its description . i was not in the least disappointed  and i  d definitely recommend this .  out of   .  
there are some great philosophical questions . what is the purpose of life  what happens when we die  and why do they make movies this bad    the premise is absurd . thre acting is one dimensional . the special effects are overdone . and the movie is one unending gun battle among some of the lousiest shots hollywood ever produced . but then  if they had been good shots  everybody would have been dead in the first five minutes and there would be no movie . too bad it didn  t happen that way . tempted to turn it off several times  i stuck with it to see just how bad it could get . glad i did because  spoiler   the last line is the crowning stupidity of the whole dopey  dismal scenario . it is not even worthy of second feature status at a third rate drive  in in off season . apart from the general awfulness of the film  i worry deeply about its impact on young audiences . the americans crank out crap like this and then wonder why events like columbine happen . this is truly banal cinema on a brobdingnagian scale   
this is one of the weirder movies i have recently watched . that  s because it seems less like a movie and more like an experimental film . kurasawa  s experiment was to take a variety of individuals who live at a garbage dump and weave their experiences into a tapestry that offers glimpses of their generally harsh existences . not every episode is depressing and harsh  but overall this is definitely the tone . let  s see  . . . we have a case of incest  rape  attempted murder  wife swapping  alcoholism  infidelity  death of a little boy after eating tainted fish  a man with severe depression  he never talks during the movie and looks very scary   a hopeless dreamer who would probably be diagnosed with schizophrenia  a mentally retarded young man who thinks he is a street car conductor and spends all his waking moments  driving  his street car through paths among the garbage piles  a man married to a total shrew  i think i liked her character even less than the incestuous rapist    etc .  etc . in fact  it is depressing enough that it seemed almost like an ingmar bergman movie set in japan  as bergman made many movies that tended to deal with mental illness and the hopelessness of life . is it any wonder that after making this film kurasawa tried to kill himself   so  did i like it  no . it was not a fun experience . but  it was a very well  made movie that definitely kept my attention and as a result  i really wanted to see what happened to these people . it was sort of like watching a train wreck   you don  t want to see all the carnage but you can  t help but watch  of all the vignettes  i think that the older man who tended to look out for everyone and who didn  t really seem to fit in  he was too well  adjusted and wise to be living in a garbage dump  was perhaps meant to represent kurasawa himself . maybe . i dunno .  br    br   if you  ve seen a variety of kurasawa films and have a high tolerance for strange art films  give this one a watch . however  do not make this your first experience watching his movies   it  s sure to scare away many viewers   
  power play  starts off interesting but it goes down hill fast . the only good actor is tobin bell and he has a very small part . beyond bell   power play  has no redeeming value or interest .  power play  has more earthquakes in a few days than california has in a year . the earthquake scene in the mall is so contrived and completely unbelievable . and all the action scenes look like a bunch of third graders putting on a play . it  s awful  simply awful .  br    br   bottom line  if  power play  was made in the    s or    s it would be considered a poor  b  class movie . the fact that  power play  was made in     is really sad . is there such a thing as a  d  class movie  if so   power play  casts the mold .  
most people  when they think of expressionist cinema  look to the bw german films of the silent and early sound eras   films that emphasized canted angles  extreme contrasts of light and dark  exaggerated performance  and occasional uses of surrealism to create a dreamlike atmosphere in order to diverge from traditional  naturalistic modes of cinematic representation . if we  re willing to accept that the germans were not the only filmmakers to create expressionist cinema  and that those above  mentioned characteristics are not prerequisites for expressionist film   then i would argue that dodes  ka  den  dkd  is a prime example of this type of film .  br    br   like dreams  dkd is a little unhinged for a kurosawa film  dabbling  as it does  in the unreal . however  dkd is also  unlike dreams  a great film and probably my favorite kurosawa picture . why  mostly  i think  it  s the colors . this was  i believe  kurosawa  s first color film  and the man saturates the movie with vibrant primary colors  creating a completely unreal contemporary japan . we are used to the neon lights and gleaming tokyo skyscrapers we are not used to a city that appears to have been colored with crayons .  br    br   dkd is  as i said  a peculiar film inasmuch as many of its characters live in a junkyard  appearing to live in an alternate universe . that is  i think  the point   these are the tokyo outsiders  the people left behind during the great move forward following world war ii . the film also represents one of kurosawa  s more heartfelt movies there is genuine sentiment here and genuine pathos  such as when the boy  s father describes their dream home  . it  s an amazingly moving film from a man better known for stunning  john ford  like vistas and samurais . everyone should have known kurosawa had in him a movie as touching and thought provoking as this  ikiru foreshadows the emotional resonance of this film in many ways  .  br    br   i will also argue  to the last  that this is kurosawa  s greatest achievement . his samurai films  though capable pictures  pale in comparison to works by kobayashi  hara  kiri is the greatest  most intelligent samurai film committed to celluloid  . rashomon  hidden fortress  seven samurai  yojimbo  sanjuro  kagemusha  and ran are all fine films  but they  re merely good  and  frankly  i think that word is too generous for hidden fortress and kagemusha  . dkd is a great movie  as is ikiru . they are the crown jewels that show akira was not a one  trick samurai pony . they reveal his artistry and mastery of cinema .  
my one line summary should explain it all  but i  ll have a go at it .  br    br   from the get  go  this movie seemed like an overdone soap opera  and that  s about all i can comment on . there were a few interesting scenes  such as the  big one  that hit during the middle of the movie  but  wait  what  s that  the earthquake gasp  wait a minute  that  s dante  s peak  well  parts of it butchered and slapped in . i can  t believe how poorly this movie was done   borrowing  scenes from other  much better films . one wonders what director thought that viewers are dumb enough to believe large wooded mountain  esque backdrops exist in downtown la  ala dante  s peak .  br    br   my advise  forget the bond wanna  be  nash  in this film and go for the real thing  again  someone from dante  s peak coincidentally .   br    br    
  d desu ka den  is the first colored movie of master akira kurosawa  and surprisingly is not about samurais  ronins  warlords or battlefields . it is inside a very poor community in a slum in tokyo  where the dwellers are homeless drunkards  beggars  tramps  abused women  losers . i do not know the reason why kurosawa selected this tragic theme and environment to put colors  but indeed they are very sad stories  some of them heart  breaking . i personally like the touching story of the boy and his father that dream with a house of their own and built by them the story of the retarded boy that believes he pilots a train the story of the man that raises five children as if they were their own sons and daughters and the story of the young woman abused by her stepfather . my vote is nine .  br    br   title  brazil    dodeskaden  o caminho da vida    dodeskaden  the way of the life    
two days after seeing this thing  i  m still in agony over having seen it . it  s so bad  you have to wonder how anyone could write this tripe  much less allow it to be loose on the general public . stilted acting  a leading man who looks like he  s sleepwalking  and alison eastwood embarrassing herself . the action is indicative of low budget movie making  which means it is painfully bad . the plot  well  if you were  years old  then you could have written this movie . simplistic  idealistic  and just plain lame .  
if there was anything akira kurosawa did wrong in making dodes  ka  den  it was making it with the partnership he formed with the  four knights   the other three being kobayaski  ichikawa  and konishita  . they wanted a big blockbuster hit to kick off their partnership  and instead kurosawa  arguably the head cheese of the group  delivered an abstract  humanist art film with characters living in a decimated slum that had many of its characters face dark tragedies . had he made it on a more independent basis or went to another studio who knows  but it was because of this  among some other financial and creative woes  that also contributed to his suicide attempt in     . and yet  at the end of the day  as an artist kurosawa didn  t stop delivering what he  s infamous for with his dramas the strengths of the human spirit in the face of adversity . that its backdrop is a little more unusual than most shouldn  t be ignored  but it  s not at all a fault of kurosawa  s .  br    br   the material in dodes  ka  den is absorbing  but not in ways that one usually finds from the director  and mostly because it is driven by character instead of plot . there  s things that happen to these people  and kurosawa  s challenge here is to interweave them into a cohesive whole . the character who starts off in the picture  oddly enough  though thankfully as there  s not much room for him to grow   is rokkuchan  a brain damaged man  child who goes around all day making train sounds  the  clickety  clack  of the title   only sometimes stopping to pray for his mother . but then we branch off there  s the father and son  the latter who scrounges restaurants for food and the former who goes on and on with site  specific descriptions of his dream house an older man has the look of death to him  and we learn later on he  s lost a lot more than he  ll tell most people  including a woman who has a past with him a shy  quiet woman who works in servitude to her adoptive father  or uncle  i  m not sure   who rapes her and a meek guy in a suit who has a constant facial tick and a big mean wife  to those who are social around .  br    br   there are also little markers of people around these characters  like two drunks who keep stumbling around every night  like clockwork  putting big demands on their spouses  sometimes  unintentionally  swapping them  and there  s the kind sake salesman on the bike who has a sweet but strange connection with the shy quiet woman . and of course there  s a group of gossiping ladies who squat around a watering hole in the middle of the slum  not having anything too nice to say about anyone unless it  s about something erotic with a guy . first to note with all of this is how kurosawa sets the picture it  s a little post  apocalyptic  looking not of any particular time or place  that is until in a couple of shots we see modern cars and streets  . it  s a marginalized society  but the concerns of these people are  however in tragic scope  meant to be deconstructed through dramatic force . like bergman  kurosawa is out to dissect the shattered emotions of people  with one scene in particular when the deathly  looking man who has hollow  sorrowful eyes  sits ripping cloth in silence as a woman goes along with it .  br    br   sometimes there  s charm  and even some laughs  to be had with these people . i even enjoyed  maybe ironically  the little moments with rokkuchan  specifically with kurosawa  s cameo as a painter in the street   or the awkward silences with the man with the facial tics . but while kurosawa allows his actors some room to improvise  his camera movements still remain as they  ve always been  patient but alert  with wide compositions and claustrophobic shots  painterly visions and faces sometimes with the stylization of a silent drama meant as a weeper . amid these sometimes bizarre and touching stories  with some of them  i . e . the father and son in the car  especially sad  kurosawa lights his film and designs the color scheme as his first one in eastmancolor like it  s one of his paintings . lush  sprawling  spilling at times over the seams but always with some control  this place is not necessarily  lighter   it  s like the abstract has come full  throttle into the scene  where things look vibrant but are much darker underneath . it  s a brilliant  tricky double  edged sword that allows for the dream  like intonations with such heavy duty drama .  br    br   with a sweet  movie  score toru takemitsu  also responsible for ran   and some excellent performances from the actors  and a few indelible scenes in a whole fantastic career  dodes  ka  den is in its own way a minor work from the director  but nonetheless near perfect on its own terms  which as with many kurosawa dramas like ikiru and red beard holds hard truths on the human condition without too much sentimentality .  
while channel surfing  we found this movie with its promising synopsis . we were dismayed at the flat acting  and formulaic storyline . we found amusing the exploding car scenes  unbelievable shoot outs  and sets that crash down with the weight of tyro  foam and cardboard . what was even more hilarious was seeing all the recycled scenes from  dante  s peak   where the church front falls on the school bus  the store fronts break away from the main street  the overpass collapsing  and the red truck speeding down the alley way as the bricks fall down on it . it was a good laugh although unintended  and leaves the viewer wondering if it was not originally intended as a low budget spoof of disaster films .  
another demonstration of kurosawa  s genius  his first colour film is a darkly surreal look into the tragic lives of tokyo slum dwellers  essentially a series of interweaving vignettes depicting several groups of people eking out a perilous existence in a harsh and uncaring post  war shanty town . swinging from comedy to tragedy and back  this film shows how people deal with the worst kind of life each in their own way  mostly retreating into themselves and living in the fantasy worlds of their own heads  withdrawing emotionally from those around them or drowning themselves in alcohol . mixing kitchen  sink realism with kabuki  esque theatrics  kurosawa toys expertly with the emotions of his audience  drawing tears and laughter with equal deftness . a wonderful  draining experience .  
i thank god i didn  t go to cinema for this film . i would be very sorry for the money i gave . i saw it on tv and i couldn  t beleive my eyes . i wonder if any film could be worse than this one . they spent millions of dollars to this film for nothing . awful acting and awful scenario . i think the other people who wrote comments are the man working from that film company   it  s very big fiasco  in year     can they still laugh at this kind of film  embarassing . . .  
this movie is well done on so many levels that i am in awe that the score is as low as it is   .         votes  as of this writing  . this movie has incredible special effects  a true epic storyline  complex great character interaction  and mind  blowing battles  they have to be seen to be believed  the only complaint i have is the subtitles on the hk dvd version i got  some lines were not translated      .  br    br   i just don  t understand when i read  hear from various sources  it has a confusing plot . . . .    i couldn  t follow the story . . . .  or  characters came from nowhere . . .  . from the very  st time i watched this movie  i understood it  followed it  knew why characters were there  and i absolutely loved it  i  ve watched it about  times already and each time it is pure enjoyment . oh  and this is not just my opinion  because i  ve shown this movie to many fellow americans  people who have never seen an hk film before  who feel the same way . not one of them failed to follow the storyline and each person declared their love for this movie . oh man  why can  t we have stuff like this coming out of hollywood  at least lord of the rings had a nice marriage of special effects  character development  and storyline .  br    br   this is not coming from a asian film lover newbie either . i own an extensive library of asian films and i must say that this movie is one of my greatest dvds . when you watch it you will be blown away by the amazing special effects and epic feel of this movie . you will be drawn into this fantasy world and you won  t want to leave  i  ve seen both the     version and the      both done by tsui hark   and the     is far better in comparison imo .  br    br   besides the subtitles  i have one additional complaint about this movie i didn  t want it to end . . . . i  m begging you mr . hark  can we please have a sequel   
i don  t normally feel much of an incentive to comment on films i don  t like  but in a case like this one  i just have to say something . this movie is terrible  illogical  and stupid . there are so many flaws in the storytelling that i don  t even feel obliged to elaborate on because it  s time for me to move on from this experience . the most annoying point is  however  that at no point in the film does anyone explain whether the motivations for bacon  s character  s madness are due to a power trip or a physiological reaction to his condition .  br    br   granted the special effects are impressive  and in the past paul verhoeven has done some good stuff  the director  s cut of robocop on dvd is great  . however  this movie is stupid and generally doesn  t come near to explaining the point or technical aspect of the subject matter  and instead settles for predictable action without any enjoyment .  br    br   in short  as many other reviews here say  wish i had read them before . . .   stay away from this film   
  br    br   in      after a five year absence  kurosawa made what would be his first film in color . dodes  ka  den is a film that centers around many intertwining stories that go on in a small tokyo slum .  br    br   the title comes from the sound a mentally retarded boy makes as he imagines he is operating a train . we slowly get to know more of the people in the small community  the two drunks who trade wives because they are not happy with the ones they have . the old man who is the center of the town who helps out a burglar that tries to rob him . the very poor father and son that cannot ever afford a house  so they imagine one up of their own . by the end of the film  the stories all come full circle  some turn out happy  others sad .  br    br   since this was kurosawa  s first color film you can see that he uses it to his advantage and it shows . maybe too much . this movie goes in many different directions and it  s hard to settle down and get into it . but don  t get me wrong  dodes  ka  den may not be kurosawa  s best  but coming from the greatest director of all time  it  s much better than    of today  s films .  
absolutely horrific film . ameteurish and it isn  t funny at all . lead character played by mehmet ali erbil is very annoying . edits by e . t and star wars is just plain stupid .  br    br   actor yilmaz goksal is the only good think about this movie . he should master his english and move to hollywood . hollywood can not find an actor with his qualities . other than goksal this movie is a garbage .  br    br   director gani mujde is a comic writer and this movie is his worst written work to this date .  br    br   music of cem karaca is another plus of this waste of money . actor sumer tilmac also have some presence . actor who plays the three sons has no talent what so ever .  
this one tends to get slighted by a lot of critics and kurosawa fans  but i thought it was wonderful . it  s an episodic multi  character study of tokyo  s poorest  who live in a city literally made from garbage . though it looks like an a  bomb just hit  the film has a sort of serene beauty thanks to the glorious use of technicolor . the title comes from the sound made by the insane young man who drives an imaginary trolley through the slum . all the characters were wonderful and all the stories engrossing  but perhaps the most tragic concerns the man and his young son who live in an abandoned car . when not searching for food  they spend their spare time using their imagination to build their dream house . an emotionally moving and beautiful film .  
some fraud girl tries to compete in the big leagues of motorcross by swiching places with her brother . she gets to the top by lying and manipulation . she should have been disqualified . the movie promotes lying and cheating to win . also the idea of a  yr old mechanic is absurd . it takes many many years to get good . go back to the tonka toys .  
i sure would like to see a resurrection of a up dated seahunt series with the tech they have today it would bring back the kid excitement in me . i grew up on black and white tv and seahunt with gunsmoke were my hero  s every week . you have my vote for a comeback of a new sea hunt . we need a change of pace in tv and this would work for a world of under water adventure . oh by the way thank you for an outlet like this to view many viewpoints about tv and the many movies . so any ole way i believe i  ve got what i wanna say . would be nice to read some more plus points about sea hunt . if my rhymes would be   lines would you let me submit  or leave me out to be in doubt and have me to quit  if this is so then i must go so lets do it .  
motocrossed was fun  but it wasn  t that great . i guess i just didn  t understand a lot of the motocross racing  lingo   and there was a lot of that in the film   the plot wasn  t what i expected from the disney channel previews  so that could account for some of my disappointment .  
the freedom of having your own sea going power boat  the excitement of going on underwater adventures a rugged  an  s man of an adventurer and lovely  and so well endowed   assistants in fine bikinis were all definite selling points for  sea hunt           .  br    br   just what was the reason for producing a sort of sea going  gun for hire   series . let  s look closely now . there must be a some clues around .  br    br   if we were to look back just a little  we see the rko radio pictures production of underwater        . it starred jane russell  gilbert roland  richard egan and lori nelson as a quartet of very attractive scuba diving adventurers working on salvage in the carribbean  including a pre  fidel cuba . the film was moderately successful and was memorable not necessarily for its story as for the looks of the principals in swimming suits . fine  shapely women folk in some really keen  piece bathing suits  woo  woo  woo  woo   are always a plus for the guys and the presence of rugged  athletic men folk displaying their best beefcake  poses  is equally pleasing to the gals .  br    br   and there is one element that is a true legacy of this old rko feature . it is on the soundtrack contained in between the musical queues and themes . it is the recording of  it  s cherry pink and apple blossom white   written by louiguy and jacques larue and performed by damaso perez prado and his orchestra .  br    br   anyone who hears this insturmental or song  with lyrics  will not soon forget it . its carribbean beat is so very lively and its rich use of the brass section of the orchestra is powerful and instantly renders instant impression and memory . the   rpm record of this song made it to the top   most popular songs of the week for many saturday evenings on nbc tv  s  your hit parade  . we can  t remember just how many weeks nor just how high it got .  maybe some one can fill us in on that one item  please   so  we got back to  sea hunt  and its own odyssey in getting on  the tube  . the public had taken to underwater  all right  but would they go for a tv series .  br    br   ziv tv productions was getting a reputation for putting out a type of product that  for the most part  didn  t get signed on by the networks for the multi  station hook  up treatment . but they had been having some great successes with television syndication .  by that we mean  offering a series for stations for showings on a one to a tv station per each market area .  much like the various newspaper syndicates  sell  comic strips to various papers around the country  and world  even .  br    br   so  we got  mike nelson   himself  in the physical presence of lloyd bridges . mr . bridges had been around for approximately   years or so and had turned in some very memorable performances in mostly supporting and highly varying roles in a couple of boston blackie movies  with chester morris  to they stooge to conga   stooges       sahara  also       home of the brave       and the whistle at eaton falls       .  br    br   lloyd brought a very convincing manner to his characterization  along with a fine  convincingly athletic physique  having the look of a guy who makes his living with his physical abilities . he took very well as the diver  s diver  whether it  s performing duties on board ship  or fathoms beneath the sea .  br    br   and lloyd did take to the role quickly  but contrary to a lot of misinformation out there  he was not familiar with s . c . u . b . a .  prior to landing this mike nelson gig . but the athletic mr . bridges proved to be a quick learner  as so many of the close  up shots underwater revealed that there was no doubt about it  that it was lloyd with the mask  the bubbler  air tank  and the flipper fins .  br    br   stories almost always involved the helping  out some client for pay  much like a private detective would . so what if the client was a lovely lady who looked good in the bathing suit  all the better .  br    br   like so many of the other ziv  united artists tv productions   sea hunt  possessed a fine  haunting opening theme and closing  along with some original incidental music and queues .  br    br   at one time  i believe that  sea hunt  was the top syndicated tv series  a success that ziv series had known before with the likes of  science fiction theatre  and  highway patrol  . as far as the showing venue for this underwater saga  here in chicago it was shown late night  after      p . m .  on wnbq tv  channel   our nbc affiliate  now known as wmaq tv  .  br    br   and i can remember just who was the original sponsor in this particular market was . and there were even on scene commercials done by the star  how well we can remember and visualize lloyd as mike nelson  riding on his power boat . and as we were being invited to return the next week and watch  . . . . . another adventure of  sea hunt   sponsored by the g . heileman brewing company of lacrosse  wisconsin  the makers of old style lager beer    all while mike was toasting us  raising an old style bottle .  shame on you  mike  drinking beer on your moving boat  we  re tellin  the coast guard   then  the boat would leave the dock  accompanied by the sea hunt theme and rolling the credits .  br    br   note  more figuratively than literal  mike was for hire and things ran very much like a deterctive story .  br    br   note  ziv  s syndicated successes included  science fiction theatre    west point   and its clone  men of annapolis     sea hunt  and  highway patrol  .  br    br   note and of course  scuba is a acronym for self contained underwater breathing apparatus .  
although the beginning suggests all quiet on the western front  this silly and superficial version of war falls far astray of its much better contemporary . this depicts the funnest war ever fought  with the first hour and a half devoted to romance and good times .  br    br   when we finally see some battle  it is lame an enemy plane flies over  shoot it down  in one shot  . sniper in the tree  kill him before he gets a shot off . enemy soldiers in the woods  not to worry  they gladly surrender . ho  hum .  br    br   tepid  turgid  predictable . . .  br    br    
lloyd bridges as mike nelson and his boat were all the stars of this series . what made it so good to me when i watched it was the real feel of going underwater . the show exhibits a youthful energy energy for exploration under water which is infectious .  br    br   the show was educational as well showing the viewer things about scuba diving from someone who appeared to be a consummate pro  mike nelson . there were excellent shows  and the program always appeared to be well produced . granted  the drama in the scripts sometimes hit the same notes in more than  episode but each show holds it  s own with any other show produced during this era  the infancy of american television .  
  nobody knows anybody  is a conspiracy theory thriller about a satanist  nut bomber targeting the religious festivities of seville during holy week . he also happens to be the best friend of the film  s hero . the plot is set up by the bomber as a computer game  with himself and the hero as players  and seville as the virtual environment . the very real alleys and streets of the city begin to take on the labyrinthine qualities of those old pacman  type games . looked at this way  the scene where the hero and his female sidekick are chased by black  hooded penitents with rayguns may not seem as silly as it plays .  br    br   from the start  we are aware that the narrative is being constructed as a game  the hero  s job is to create crossword puzzles for a popular newspaper at one point  the crossword grid on his screen becomes the chessboard on which he is later playing against his girlfriend  s father . clues are liberally scattered  as the camera mystifyingly closes in on images that are only later shown to have been significant  e . g . the advert in the bar  . the detective  paper chase elements are made part of a game in progress  rather than an investigation after the fact . the film borrows heavily on  se  en   s pattern narrative  and anyone with a catholic education will presumably get the significance of certain events happening on certain days in the run up to easter .  br    br   in this reading  the game is on the level of narrative  with the hero fighting against an enemy  in this case  the computer  to win and save the day . but there is a second game  the film itself  which subvert the first . there are another set of of clues which point not to the killer  s intentions  but the filmmaker  s and his hero  s . in the first ten minutes there are references to chess  a writer called navokov and a cult leader called sarin . if we remember that the chess  loving nabokov  s     s pseudonym was sirin  we see another game afoot  one where we suspect not the villain  but the hero himself .  br    br   in a nabokov novel like  pale fire   an author  figure creates a text which is designed to hide his own motives  provoking a game between writer and reader to uncover the real text . throughout the film are scenes which are visually distorted  e . g . the image contracting   or which are ambiguously defined dreams and hallucinations that make us suspect the hero  s point of view . the opening references to games are all linked to him . in the early sequences  much is made of the character  s sexual and creative impotence  so the film could be his attempt to master his life  to be a winner  in a way he can  t for real . no sooner has he won the game than his writer  s block vanishes the words he types are the title of the film  suggesting he is the overall author . further  that title in spanish reflects on itself negatively  a very nabokovian involution that suggests a hero  like kinbote  trapped in his own solecism .  br    br   this jumble of post  modern literature  borges  eco  pynchon et al are alluded to also   fincher   x  files    run lola run   chris marker  the idea of the city and its history as a map and a text and as a cultural history haunting the present   bunuellian anti  clericism  and alex de la iglesia  s  shock  films result in a film that is just that  a jumble  each clever  clever allusive element cancelling out the last  dissipating interest . the lack of clarity about the game  s rules renders it incomprehensible  and eventually wearing .  br    br   ironically  in a work of such overdetermined artifice  the film  s main interest lies in its documentary quality  as a record of a narrative taking place in a real city with its own events taking place independently . such an ambiguous blurring of fact and fiction can create a masterpiece like  sans soleil  or  london   but  ultimately  you need to have a light touch to match your cleverness .  
i loved watching   sea hunt   back in the day  i was in grammar school and would get home do my homework and by     would be ready to watch   sea hunt   and mike nelson in his underwater adventures . i loved it  he took to you a place not very accessible at that time  under the great blue sea . pre   thunderball   or even before cousteau became common  there was mike nelson sparking the imagination of kids . i  d be willing to wager that more than a few kids developed their passion for oceanography or biology or one of the sciences from watching this show . underwater photography also progressed  the fascination for exploration is easily stimulated thru watching this show . watch and enjoy     
holy crap  what a terrible  terrible spanish thriller  i  ve had it for about four years and finally started it the other night . i watched an hour or so before heading to bed . i was pretty intrigued by the whole thing . i finished it last night and couldn  t believe where i stopped it the night before . literally  i stopped it the second before the movie went completely downhill .  br    br   like i said  i was pretty intrigued and curious as to where this mystery was going but stopped it right when simon receives the package in the bar . i picked up when he opens up the package to reveal a laser gun and then plays a  menacing  game of laser tag . whew  then the big reveal is that the whole thing is a terrorist plot by role playing game nerds . whew  you can tell the spanish industry was definitely behind director mateo gil  co  writer of amenabar  s two big previous hits  . there is an excellent score and great photography . but this scenario reeks of silliness . how anyone sat through the last   minutes with a straight face is beyond me .  
what a night . perry mason then have gun  will travel followed by gunsmoke  when it was a half hour  and finally at      pm came  sea hunt  with its wonderful opening theme music and mike  s boat sailing off to a new adventure . terrific . . regardless of the story it was the lead character  played by lloyd bridges   strong  honest  sincere . a man  s man and a boy  s man . this brought on an interest in boats that lasted for years . why they don  t show on cable or make it available on video  no idea . . too bad .  
absolutely nothing happens in this sloooow  annoying  thrill  less thriller directed by amenabar  s usual collaborator mateo gil . the film  which in some way deals with the effect of boredom and the quest for thrills  actually delivers none  and seems like an exercise in boredom . the only mildly suspenseful moment is the movie  s climax  which takes about   seconds of the whole agonizing     plus minutes  and is resolved too simply . the plot lacks sophistication or credibility  and while the idea is original  the way the story unfolds is arbitrary and every plot device or twist is a result of outside interference  deus  ex  machina  . the hero is always passive  everything happens to him without forcing him to show any initiative or resourcefulness . if you  re fans of the genre  watch  tesis  instead .  
i know that there are some purists out there who poo poo anything that is not exactly like the original  however sometimes spin  offs can stand on their own merits . i like the new iron chef because it is similar enough to the japanese version but at the same time caters to american spirit . i love alton brown as commentator  because he explains things with flair . the iron chefs themselves are very interesting . i know the originals were probably the best chefs on the planet at the time  but bobby flay is the only american iron chef to beat them . mario batali seems to have the most fun when cooking  making comments and being flashy while creating . i have watched the series and find all the players work together well . the judges are not always the best choices  however . there are a few exceptions  like the lawyer turned foodie  but most of the judges are questionable in being able to handle what is served . i enjoy watching the chefs hustle and the challengers are surprising . the food at the end always looks amazing and sometimes it inspires me in the kitchen . perhaps that is all anyone can ask  to want to really eat what is served . the only thing i would really change about the series is to ask folks on the show to lighten up a little . sometimes the mood becomes a bit too tense  and that isn  t always fun to watch when you are expecting more amusement . i liked the version with william shatner  iron chef usa  because it was so over  the  top like the original  but i can tell it was a pretty expensive proposition . i wish he had stayed with this version and been the host  between bill shatner and alton brown  that would have me grinning for an hour . as long as you don  t expect the original japanese version and can accept this series on its own merits  you may find it to be an enjoyable hour .  
a film as bad as this should be withdrawn from all stores world wide . so full of boring  dull  unimaginative characters  and with a lead character with such an annoying attitude and dry voice constantly giving a thoughtless voice over for every action and feeling  this film holds the record for the most challenging film i have ever watched . as i had payed money to own it  i felt a duty to see it through  and how i regret it . my head hurt throughout because of the terribly dull characters and their pointless  plot less lives . a bunch of kids who have zero knowledge about anything  are all frigid and worst of all  have terrible dialogue throughout  just mulling around as the main character tries to get a date with the girl . boring  so much so my friend was shaking with hatred and i was red with embarrassment that i  d thrown away   . the dvd was on ebay the following day  and i didn  t make much of my money back . avoid like the plague .  
with all of the violence on tv and in the local news  it is refreshing to have a show that has no violence or adult language  yet is still entertaining . my children look forward to watching with us every week . each of us have a favorite chef and favorite judges . we all enjoy elton brown . we enjoy learning about the background of the main ingredient  unique vegetables and seasonings . we play along at home to guess who the winner will be .  br    br   it is a great hour of entertainment  as well as informational . best of all in our hussle  bussle life  it is an hour the family spends together .  
this movie is one of the most awful i  ve ever seen . not only is the dialogue awful  it never ends . you  ll think it  s ending  but it  s not . how long is it         minutes  i don  t even know . i do know that i  ll never watch it again . it  s like someone took a romantic comedy  took out the comedy  then decided to downplay the romance  leaving us with the pile of crap that managed to make its way to the screen . but don  t take my word for it  find out for yourself how terrible this film is .  
it  s a cooking competition show  americanized . it  s not going to be the japanese version .  br    br   the show is great . i could care less about cooking but this show is just entertaining to watch . . . from the intensity put into the dishes by the chef to the goofy chairman . truly a good way to spend some time watching tv .  br    br   you could critique the show for having guests like marc ecko as a judge . . . but . . . meh . it  s entertaining enough to watch and generally the winner deserves the prize .  br    br   oh yeah and i  m bitter john besh isn  t the new iron chef . . .  br    br   ala cuisine   
after watching about half of this i was ready to give up and turn it off  but i endured to the end . this is a movie that tries to be a romantic comedy and fails . the acting is poor    much worse than the acting in   s ta movies .  br    br   there are several attempts at humour that fail miserably and the movie is     predictable . perhaps if you are a teenager this movie will hold some appeal  but for those that have seen many movies  you will know how the film turns out after the first   minutes . the rest of your time will be spent in agony waiting for the ending credits to roll .  br    br   don  t waste your time watching this .  
i liked this movie because it told a very interesting story about living in a totally different world at the south pole . susan sarandon is such a good actor  that she made an interesting  strong character out of mediocre writing . the true story displays a devastating situation for her character to overcome .  
within the realm of science fiction  two particular themes consistently elicit interest  were initially explored in the literature of a pre  cinematic era  and have since been periodically revisited by filmmakers and writers alike  with varying degrees of success . the first theme  that of time travel  has held an unwavering fascination for fans of film  as well as the written word  most recently on the screen with yet another version of the h . g . wells classic  the time machine .  the second theme  which also manages to hold audiences in thrall  is that of invisibility  which sparks the imagination with it  s seemingly endless and myriad possibilities . and this theme  too  has again become the basis for a film adapted from another h . g . wells classic  the invisible man   the realization of which  here  is hollow man   directed by paul verhoeven  and starring kevin bacon and elisabeth shue .  br    br   sebastian caine  bacon  and his colleagues have for some time been conducting experiments for the u . s . government  exploring the possibility and practicality of invisibility  which they have  at last  achieved in a number of the primates upon which they have tested their method . they have  in fact  progressed to the point that effecting the invisibility is assured their only problem now is bringing the subject back to the original visual  state of being . it  s a problem  however  that caine  after diligent effort and too many hours in the lab  has solved   or so he thinks . and when the application of his theory on a live subject is successful  he decides to present the results to the board of directors  in an effort to thereby maintain the funding necessary for the continuation of the project .  br    br   at the last minute  though  caine demurs  fearing that control of the project will be wrested from him before they can proceed to the next level   the testing of a human subject . and he takes it upon himself to become that subject  securing the assistance of his research team by telling them that they  ve been given approval by the board to do so . but something goes wrong  and caine becomes trapped in his cloak of invisibility and as he and his team struggle to find the solution to his considerable dilemma before it  s too late  it all begins to take a toll on caine  s mind . and suddenly  his fear of losing funding and control becomes inconsequential  as he finds himself facing the imminent danger of losing much more than that . now there  s a very real chance that he may lose everything   including himself .  br    br   verhoeven has crafted what is initially an exciting  even thought provoking film he establishes a good pace and uses the f  x at his disposal to great effect  though he does tend to allow the striking visuals to overwhelm the character development . anyone familiar with the invisible man   or actually anyone who can logically follow the progression of the story  will know early on that caine is not destined for happier times . still  verhoeven has a style of storytelling that is definitely going to capture the attention and engage his audience . but he seems bent on rushing toward the climax  and along the way he abandons any and all of the nuance that has made his film thus far successful  opting to enter into a final sequence that is nothing more than a mindless blood  and  gore fest that betrays his audience and everything he  s worked for earlier in the film . rather than seeking an intelligent resolution to caine  s suffering  and using some inventiveness and imagination to take the film to it  s inevitable conclusion  verhoeven takes the low road  and though it may succeed on a purely visceral level  any meaning one could derive from the story dissolves like so many ashes in the wind  along with anything that would have made this a memorable film . and it  s a shame  because verhoeven has it at a higher level than much of what is offered in this genre  and he allows it to sink unnecessarily to one much lower .  br    br   kevin bacon does a good job of creating a character that is believable  if only on the surface  which seemingly serves verhoeven  s purposes perfectly . there  s little depth to bacon  s portrayal  but it has more to do with his director  s agenda than his own acting abilities . verhoeven simply does not allow bacon the time to develop caine to any extent the character is mainly a vessel around which verhoeven can build his story  and toward that end  it works . the film would have been better served  however  had verhoeven and bacon collaborated more closely on at least developing a bond between caine and the audience that would have prompted some emotional involvement on the viewers part  something that would have drawn them in a bit  rather than leaving them at the gate  as it were  as mere observers of an f  x laden extravaganza .  br    br   elisabeth shue comports herself well in the role of linda mckay  caine  s willing accomplice in the ill  fated experiment  but it  s basically a thankless part that offers little challenge  especially to an actor of shue  s caliber . the same can be said of kim dickens  so magnificent in the     film  things behind the sun   . her character  sarah kennedy  does little more than support the action and f  x . both actors are capable of so much more  and deserve better than what they are given to work with here .  br    br   the supporting cast includes josh brolin  matthew   greg grunberg  carter   joey slotnick  frank   mary randle  janice  and william devane  dr . kramer  . entertaining to a point  and even successful on a certain  low  level  hollow man  is one of those films that leaves you contemplating what could have been . like an annual fireworks display  it will give you some momentary thrills  but after awhile it  ll begin to blend in with all the others you  ve seen  without anything special to set it apart . and it  s too bad  because given the talent and abilities of those involved here  it could have been so much more . i rate this one     .  br    br    br    br    br    br    
obviously written for the stage . lightweight but worthwhile . how can you go wrong with ralph richardson  olivier and merle oberon .  
a top contender for worst film ever made . joanna pakula  s character seems to have an i . q . of  which is only one less than the writer and director . the screenplay would not have passed in a high school writing class the  jokes  are juvenile the concept corny . these performers were obviously desperate for work . i stayed to the end only to see if it would get worse . it did . life is too short to spend any part of it watching this film .  
i had really only been exposed to olivier  s dramatic performances  and those were mostly much later films than divorce . in this film  he is disarmed of his pomp and overconfidence by sassy merle oberon  and plays the flustered divorce attorney with great charm .  
this movie should be nominated for a new genre complete mess  except for a few chuckles and one or two scenes of gore  this movie is a complete waste of time . calling it  campy  doesn  t even cut it .  campy  implies fun which this movie was not . you spend the first half of the movie thinking  its got to get better  right   . in fairness  it does  at the very end when its finally explained who the  brother  sister  team are and what they want but by then  you hardly care anymore because you  ve spend the entire second half of the movie wondering exactly what did mr . onorati  ms . pacula do to tick someone off this badly to be stuck in such a horrible movie .  br    br    
a comedy that worked surprisingly well was the little british effort  the divorce of lady x        . it marks the first pairing of laurence olivier and merle oberon  before that little film about uncontrollable passion on the   th century english moors . and while olivier and oberon are not particularly well  suited to screwball comedy  it all flows along nicely . oberon is leslie  a young woman who ends up in priggish divorce lawyer logan  s  olivier  hotel suite by way of a nasty english fog preventing travel . she does everything possible to irritate him   but  in the crazy way films go  he falls for her . and she falls for him . but a serious case of mistaken identity occurs when oberon  s  lady x   that  s all she leaves oliver in a note  is thought by olivier to be a married woman . to make matters worse  and more amusing  lord mere  ralph richardson  goes to olivier wanting a divorce from his wife whom dear larry thinks must be oberon  there is some nice battle  of  the  sexes dialogue  and fun exploration of sexual politics . you can see that olivier is not too confident with the comedy  but in true olivier he  s a consummate professional  and delivers . and he handles the screwball twists and turns  maybe not with ease  but with gusto . oberon was no great shakes as an actress  but she was usually competent enough  and despite their reputed off  screen dislike of her  worked well with olivier . this was filmed in early technicolour that looks very primitive today  everyone looks even whiter than michael jackson   but perhaps the print needs cleaning up .  
feature of early   century cinema of lets pit different evil creatures and bad guys against each other . we haven  t seen stuff like this since godzilla v king kong and the like . always sounds great on paper when you  re splicing up and in a haze of the good stuff you have an inspired idea and see the whole playing out before you like beethoven  s symphonies . then you come to writing it . great ideas like all vampires are female . ergo hot  seductive deadly but in a way i want to perish sort of way . and all zombies are men . well thats what men are like to a woman just after shes been dumped or cheated on right  so it all looks good up to actually making it . then the rot starts to set in . mosters have fight . nothing much happens . another fight . philosophical noodling and cods wallop . eureka we  ve found how to win . big fight again and the end . sounds great doesn  t it  if it was made an indie company it would be great . but this is hollywood with the eye on the bucks gloss instead of what the fans want . it all could have been gore soaked beautiful .  
an incredible little english film for so many reasons . first it  s a rare look a laurence olivier in a light comedy . while his performance is not up the standard he would latter set as one of the greatest actors of the   th century  he is perfectly believable as the hoodwinked barrister . historically this film is of great interest because of both where and when it was shoot . being english it didn  t have the big budget of the hollywood films of the same era and it often shows  but more interesting is the fact this movie filmed just prior to the war and shows an england that would soon be gone . when we watch it today we think in terms of modern morality and over look the fact that this movie and its closest american counter part it happened one night  were in their day as risqu as fatal instinct  was in our time . but after watching and enjoying this movie the first time i can  t help but feel sadness when i watch it today . with half of film shoot before     gone  saving the remaining films means hard choices  and unfortunately films like this are often passed over to save movies that we all consider important . the color shifting  lack of contrast  and generally poor quality of the print most often seen is heartbreaking . this movie along with it happened one night  are perfect to curl up with a love one under a blanket on cool a cool evening and watch  or better yet why not a double feature .  
i watched this movie with some friends a couple months ago  i still laugh today thinking about some of the utter stupidity . the first few scenes alone were hilarious . i won  t spoil anything for those who wish to see it  i wouldn  t want to ruin the laughs . needless to say the entire time i watched this movie i was trying to figure out exactly what the point of anything the characters in this movie were doing . towards the end we all got bored however  as the initial hilarity and shock of a movie being this random wore off . there is no plot and not a trace of decent acting . the characters are about as well developed as those in a kindergarten  learn to read  book . they even managed to make a lesbian sex scene uninteresting .  
laurence olivier  merle oberon  ralph richardson  and binnie barnes star in  the divorce of lady x   a     comedy based on a play . olivier plays a young barrister  everard logan who allows oberon to spend the night in his hotel room  when the london fog is too dense for guests at a costume ball to go home . the next day  a friend of his  lord mere  richardson   announces that his wife  barnes  spent the night with another man at the same hotel  and he wants to divorce her . believing the woman to be oberon  olivier panics . oberon  who is single and the granddaughter of a judge  pretends that she  s the lady in question  lady mere  when she  s really leslie steele .  br    br   we  ve seen this plot or variations thereof dozens of time . with this cast  it  s delightful . i mean  richardson and olivier  olivier and oberon  that great team in wuthering heights  pretty special . olivier is devastatingly handsome and does a great job with the comedy as he portrays the uptight  nervous barrister . oberon gives her role the right light touch . she looks extremely young here  fuller in the face  with jean harlow eyebrows and a very different hairdo for her . she wears some beautiful street clothes  though her first gown looks like a birthday cake  and in one gown she tries on  with that hair  do  she  s ready to play snow white . binnie barnes is delightful as the real lady mere .  br    br   the color in this is a mess  and as others have mentioned  it could really use a restoration . definitely worth seeing .  
i honestly have to say that i could not stop watching this movie from the second that it started . simply for how bad it was    it  s kinda like watching paint dry only a lot more confusing . i mean you sit there and just wait for something to happen  anything in fact  preferably something that makes the whole film make sense  at the end of the film i actually sat there wondering if there was any chance at all that i may have missed the first hour that explained everything or whether i may have inadvertently passed out during the film and missed the parts that glued the plot  if there was in fact one  together  the main thing that really confused me about this movie  is nearly at the end the main girl  if there was indeed a main girl  was in some sort of alternate reality  i mean what the hell was going on at this point   all of a sudden she awoke and was in a mental institute  chained to a bed being drugged by doctors or something  then quicker than it would have taken me to slit my wrists  it flipped back and she was getting eaten out by some random vampire  it made no sodding sense  i  m tempted to email the makers and demand my time back  i mean i wasted  hours of my life watching this rubbish  i am kinda interested to know if the filmmakers themselves actually knew what it was all about  just seemed someone had edited out all the bits that could have made it make sense though i think the film would have had to have been  hrs long to make that happen  i side completely with the other person who wrote the other review  i was duped royally with this film by its title  and that alone . i  m just so sodding grateful i didn  t actually buy the film  no matter how many times iv seen it in the local pound shop . you would have thought that would have given me a clue that the film was a complete pile of steaming movie rubbish but to be honest i think   was way too much money to spend on this film     what a sodding huge waste of time and a good razor blade  i mean i wish i od  ed  its less painful than watching this film      
this is an absolutely charming film  one of my favourite romantic comedies . it  s extremely humorous and the cast is wonderful . though laurence olivier is mostly associated with his shakespearean work he shows in this film that he is by no means restricted to play only classical theatre . he manages the transition from the cynical divorce solicitor  who tries to avoid women and their traitorous ways  to the lovesick puppy that falls for lady x played by merle oberon effortlessly . the dialogue is wonderfully witty and refreshing and the atmosphere enchanting . ralph richardson was a delight to watch as well . i highly recommend it .  
this film was so bad i had to fast forward most of it to get to the good bits . hah what good bits  the only bit that was worth it was the ending  those who have seen the film will know what i mean  . i expected a lot from this film like a underworld meets dawn of the dead meets freddy vs . jason but what i got was this crap . story was forgettable  the cast was used badly and what was the director thinking when he made this . this could have been a great but i turned out to be the most boring film i have ever watched . ok so what if there was a nice bit of t and a  i was after the gore and i was bitterly disappointed . don  t expect a film thats good but if you want a bad cheesy horror then by all means watch this and see how a horror movie shouldn  t be done .  
i have become quite fond of laurence olivier in the past few weeks  and was thrilled when i discovered this gem . i have always found it wonderful when i run across a film where i do not have to have my finger on the remote control in case nudity rears its ugly head .  br    br   the divorce of lady x is charming till the final scene  and must have been a true delight for viewers back in     . i only wish people today could accept and love true humor instead of the horrid trash talk people now call funny .  br    br   the divorce of lady x is well worth anyone  s time .  
i read the reviews before i watched this movie  and i didn  t believe them . i love crap movies and i expected this one to be average . it wasn  t . this film makes camp blood  and  look like greats . the film contains bad acting  poor sound  poor confusing storyline  bad makeup  and it bored me so much i turned it off . even the nudity was rubbish  did they even have a budget for this film  i don  t think they did . you can tell if your gonna like this film or not in the first  minutes . if u want a good cheesy gory film go watch toxic avenger  or even camp blood . avoid this trash  i watched it on tv and felt riped off  so don  t spend anything on it . the best part is probably the end .  
lawrence olivier and merle oberon did two movies together within two years . one is considered one of the great romantic films of all time  and the movie that made olivier a great movie star  and gave oberon her best performance role   wuthering heights . the other is this film  made in england a year earlier . the divorce of lady x is a romantic comedy  as wuthering heights is a romantic tragedy  . olivier is a lawyer  everard logan  who is a dynamic barrister  but is also a total misogynist . one night he checks into a hotel just ahead of a crowd of people . it is a very foggy night  the type of pea soup fog that london was known for up until a notorious  killer  fog in the     s   and the crowd  who  d been attending a party in the hotel  need beds . the management tries to get logan to allow one or two socialite ladies to sleep on a couch and a day bed in his rooms  but he refuses . but he has not reckoned with merle oberon as leslie steele . the granddaughter of a high court judge  she manages to get into logan  s rooms and manipulates him to not only agree to her sleeping there  but appropriates his bed  he goes onto the couch  much to his discomfort  .  br    br   the next day they share a breakfast  and in the smalltalk it is evident that despite his mistrust of women logan finds leslie very attractive . but she kittenishly refuses to tell him her name . she is determined to learn more about him  and she finds his attitude toward women infuriating . in the meantime  logan is approached by a wealthy nobleman  ralph richardson as lord mere  as a potential client . mere suspects his wife lady mere  binnie barnes  of having an affair . in fact  he tells logan her ladyship was with her lover in the hotel that logan knows he was in on the night of the fog . logan  naturally  jumps to the conclusion that lady mere was his mysterious roommate that night . i will not go into the plot any further  except to say that leslie eventually realizes what a mistake logan has made  and decides to use it to teach him a lesson about women .  br    br   the script has the feel of a wodehouse novel  but is slighter . still the performances of olivier  oberon  richardson  barnes  and morton selden  as oberon  s grandfather  are all splendid . it shows what a good cast can do with even the slightest of materials . take a look at some of the minor scenes to see what i mean selden  s first scene  complaining about his weak coffee to his butler  valet  who tells him off properly  they  ve been used to each other  s personalities for years  . or olivier dealing with a young clerk in his office  who is certain there were two lady meres in the office two minutes before  there were  but oberon and barnes left together   and ends up thinking the poor clerk is a simpleton . or the waiter in the hotel who can  t understand why the tenant in olivier  s room is constantly changing from a man to a woman to a man . as i said  a slight charming comedy  but it is very charming .  
i have a high tolerance level for crap  so i was looking forward to this . it did not disappoint . apparently based on sheridan le fanu  s classic carmilla  it follows a father and daughter hunting a female vampire who  luckily  happens to be travelling with them . then we have santa claus  or the general  as he likes to be called here  running over random zombies . did i mention there was a zombie outbreak  the dead are returning to life but nobody seems too concerned . we have construction worker zombies  soldier zombies and even st . trinian schoolgirl zombies . apparently santa claus is looking for his daughter who has been turned into a vampire . oh wait there are no vampires  the girl is in a lunatic asylum and carmilla is her nurse  or is she  the zombies are back and santa  s mad . lesbian sex  i like vampires and i like zombies but i especially like lesbian sex . nothing like some simulated cunnilingus to get the juices flowing . when are we going to see vampires fight zombies  is she a vampire or is she a lunatic  or both  is carmilla a hot sexy lesbian vampire or a nurse  more cunnilingus  you can never have enough cunnilingus . here come the st . trinian zombies . chainsaw time   more lesbian sex then the zombies kill and eat the vampires . i guess the zombies won  or did they  plot  who needs a plot when you  ve got lesbian vampires and schoolgirl zombies  and cunnilingus   
another reason to watch this delightful movie is florence rice . florence who  that was my first reaction as the opening credits ran on the screen . i soon found out who florence rice was  a real beauty who turns in a simply wonderful performance . as they all do in this gripping ensemble piece . from      its a different time but therein lies the charm . it transports you into another world . it starts out as a light comedy but then turns very serious . florence rice runs the gamut from comedienne to heroine . she is absolutely delightful  at the same time strong  vulnerable evolving from a girl to a woman . watch her facial expressions at the end of the movie . she made over forty movies  and i am going to seek out the other thirty nine . alan marshal is of the flynn  gable mode and proves a perfect match for florence . buddy ebsen and una merkel provide some excellent comic moments  but the real star is florence rice . fans of    s     s movies  don  t miss this one   
i though this would be an okay movie  since i like zombies and horror movies in general . but i did not think it would be such a piece of sh  t like it was . the only zombie in the movie is at the beginning and he gets ran over by a god damn car    the movie looks to be written by a porn director and filled by porn actors  i wouldn  t ever call them actors  the costumes seems to be stolen from a local school play . its seems like a road movie with almost no monsters . there is no fun at all in this piece of sh  t  only horror  but not in the way the director intended . i would rather be raped by a pedophile than see this movie ever again    ugh   
i really wonder how this show plays in the u . k . and the rest of europe . it is so self  loathing about being an american  particularly white americans  . that could be a big reason for some of the venom and vitriol expressed here on this board . i love the show but it is with some reservations and i feel it took the easy way out by spoiler spoiler  br    br   crashing and burning everything at the end of the second season . julie slammed the door shut on any hope of reviving the show unless her character lands on a haystack in the middle of some farm . who knows  it was a funny  raunchy and on occasion  kinda scary show .  
ok  look at the title of this film .  br    br   the title says it all right  the title is great . . . i mean  a lot of things should come into your head after readin it . in fact  you might be extremely anxious to see it .  br    br   well  sadly  you won  t see any of that .  br    br   just a bunch of bad actors  some blood spilling  some hot chicks  and some lesbo action .  br    br   oh  well  i think there are about     minutes of zombies and vampires indeed . . .  br    br   get away from this if you want to see a good movie . else get it .  
sure this movie is not historically accurate but it is great entertainment . most demille pictures especially the later epics are slow and plodding but the action here moves at a clip . the story is basically a series of peaks with very little quiet moments . the action takes us from an indian raid on a cabin one of the best parts of the movie with jean arthur excellent while attempting to appease the war  painted natives . this is followed by her and cooper being taken to the war camp and being tortured . later comes a protracted battle with the cheyenne . the whole thing is ridiculous but great fun and entertaining from start to finish . jean arthur is one of the best actresses of this era and she shines here .  
this is the kind of movie that leaves you with one impression . . story writing is what movie making is about .  br    br   incredible visual effects . . very good acting  especially from shue . everything is perfect . . except . . the story is just poor and so  everything fails .  br    br   picture this  if you had the power to be invisible . . what would you do  well  our mad scientist here  played by kevin bacon  could think of no other thing to do but fondle and rape women . . this is all his supposedly  genius  mind could think of . does he try to gain extra power  no . he doesn  t even bother research a way to get back to being visible . the guy is basically a sex crazed maniac .  br    br   add to that  the lab atmosphere  you have all these young guys . . throwing around jokes like they were in a bar . . if it wasn  t for all the white coats and equipment  you would think this is a bad imitation of  cheers .  very shallow and poor personalities and very little care is put into making you think these guys are anything but lambs for the hollow man  s wolf .  br    br   even as a thriller  the movie falls way short because most of the  thrilling  scenes are written out so poorly and are full of illogical behaviors by the actors that are just screaming  this is just a stupid thing i have to do so that the hollow man can find me alone and kill me .   br    br   if you read the actual book  while the scientist  cane  goes after women  there is a lot of mental manipulation and disturbing thought that goes into his character . in the movie  cane is just the sick guy who goes to a crowded marketplace to rub his body in women and get off on it . just sad .  
what an amazingly funny and original show . the cast starting with the hysterical julie brown  homecoming queen  s got a gun  is just perfect . add amy hill  all american girl  grandma kim  who plays a lesbian who is always arguing with her partner and business partner  asian restaurant  wok  don  t run  i have laughed harder during this show than any other i have ever seen  including newhart  one of my all time favorite shows  if you like movies like naked gun and airplane  you will love this series   one of the best moments of the show is cindy williams playing herself . when she snubs tammy at the dry cleaners  tammy finds a picture of cindy williams in her coat . the picture is of cindy williams doing an unmentionable act with a bowling pin  upside down . it is awesome to see an actress like cindy williams being able to play herself like this . soap opera like with many surprise twists during its short run . i can only hope that this will someday be released on dvd with special many bonus special features . funniest series i have ever seen      
as you may or may not have heard  there is no actual fighting between vampires or zombies in this film . one may then ask why the title suggested such a thing  but really it  s kind of appropriate because nothing else about this film made any sense either . there was absolutely no story or plot  just things happening . the acting was incredibly bad  worse than safeauto commercials bad .  br    br   not only were there no fighting between vampires and zombies but i think there was only one scene with zombies even in it . their make up looked as if it were applied by an  year old girl . the scene was totally random and out of place and featured one of the characters fighting the zombies off with a hedge trimmer  i  m not kidding  but they used chainsaw sound effects .  br    br   this was undoubtedly the poorest movie i  ve ever seen in my life . the only circumstance that i wouldn  t totally ridicule every person responsible for production of this film is if i learned that it was produced entirely by   year old  s .  br    br   really though  even with all of the criticism i offer here  i  d suggest watching this movie solely based on the fact that it may very well be the worst movie ever  and because of this is quite comical . even just counting the flaws in it should keep you entertained .  
this movie is not only the funniest film ever created  it  s the greatest . my hats off to mr . and mrs . zodsworth and the rest of the wacky  wacky cast . good morning satan  want a donut  see it post haste  go see it now   
well . . . the movie was a fun watch . the main problem with this movie is the fact that it goes against everything that most vampire myths abide by . like vampires that walk in the sunlight . though there are parts that just make you enjoy the way society makes movies . a scene where a vampire gets stabbed and screams  ow this hurts . . . it  s really stuck .  then there seems like there might be scenes missing but you get used to after a while . and there are random dream sequenes  that really don  t help with the plot . come to think of it  nothing really made sense  but i just got a bunch of friends and watched it twice to get the full effect . come to think of it the fight scenes were aweful  and the zombies were just fun to watch . slowly as i write more of this i like this movie more . but you know  all in all you can  t expect schindlers list but its a fun watch .  
fatty drives the bus is simply the funniest  most original and entertaining piece of work i have ever had the pleasure of seeing .  br    br   this movie is by no means up to hollywood standards  or even that of a straight  to  video movie fluff comedy starring terry  hulk  hogan  in terms of camera work  editing  acting  budget  or anything else .  br    br   what this movie does have though  is a very original and enjoyable story  and it is obviously done by people who love making it  and the enthusiasm of the all the cast and crew really break through all its budget and acting downfalls .  br    br   this movie proves that you don  t need a huge budget or decent actors to make a great film  all you need are some original ideas and some passion for what your doing .  br    br   simply the best movie ever . i don  t care how you get it  rent it  order it  steal it  download it  just see this movie .  br    br   now i just hope they make a dvd version .  
this is the absolute worst movie i have ever seen   there was absolutely nothing good to say about this movie . i have seen some bad movies but this one takes it . there is no plot and most of the movie you are either fast forwarding the movie to get it done faster or you are wondering what the hell is going on because you can  t seriously think that someone thought of this movie and you are watching it . i feel sorry for anyone who has to sit through this painful hour and a half . please take my advice and do not watch this movie for i know you will think it is the biggest waste of time you have ever spent in your life .  
no  i  m not joking around . if you ever  ever  have the chance to see this movie see it . if you need chop off your arm to see it  see it . it  s worth it .  br    br   fatty drives the bus is unlike any film you  ve ever seen . it takes trash cinema and elevates it to a work of art . while it contains poor shots  idiotic characters  bad dialogue  strange acting  and cinematography that belongs on public access in iowa  it actually succeeds in its goal as a film . it strives to be the dumbest  strangest  most inane movie you  ve ever seen . and boy does it ever succeed .  br    br   i will lay out the plot for those of you who worry about such things  the filmmakers obviously didn  t   but really you needn  t pay too much attention because the entire film  s plot is presented in a very long piece of text played before the opening credits . in any event  fdtb  as its admirers call it  is the story of a bus tour through chicago  which is led by satan . you see  jesus is in town  and all the passengers on the bus are supposed to die  and all their souls would have gone to hell  except with jesus in town  a lackey in hell calls off the job  and this angers satan because  well he doesn  t like looking like a fool in front of the guy  so he decides to get the people on the bus to sign over their souls to him directly  but he  s a devil  so he needs to disguise himself  otherwise  who  d go on a tour with him right  so he disguises himself as roger and he gets on the bus  where the driver is never referred to by name  but he is kind of fat  so i guess he  s fatty . the bus  and the riders  are on a collision course with wackiness   br    br   examples of some lunacy the title repeats on the screen  times . i don  t know why . a character appears on the bus in mid  trip without explanation or introduction  and occassionally sits next to the others  and they look at her like she doesn  t belong . i don  t know why . two characters fall in love and exchange longing glances  that are really the same shots repeated over and over again . i don  t know why . after satan gives a minute long monologue about transforming into human form a title card flashes  satan is going to transform .  i don  t know why . one character is a woman who is very obviously a man in drag  and is referred to by other characters as  the glamorous bridget .  i don  t know why .  br    br   if there was one good thing that came out of my internship at troma last summer it was getting my own copy of fatty drives the bus .  
as myself and my other half are big fans of trash horror we couldn  t resist getting out a movie that contained both of the greats we were thrilled  however for a     movie with a rip off cover of freddy vs jason this is a disgrace  the worst film i have ever seen but worth a look for a laugh if you are able to sit through it   br    br   the acting is awful the effects . . . well i could do better on my camcorder in fact its so bad they only bothered to put make up on the zombies faces and left out neck  hands etc . no story line  weird flashbacks that make no sense and terrible script   br    br    you broke my tooth   from one vampire  you broke my cigar  was the response from the human who looked like uncle jessie from dukes crossed with santa   
for a while i was caught in the trap where i found myself watching independent and foreign films and lying to myself that i liked them . fatty drives the bus is the exception . it is the truth . it is the best  bad  movie ever .  br    br   the  badness  of this movie seems to come naturally . halfway through satan  s opening monologue  the word  hell  appears at the bottom of the screen . the glamorous bridget is an unshaven man in a wig and a thrift store dress . it takes the eccentric couple that keeps trying to kill each other forever to walk down the stairs . jesus walks to a funk soundtrack .  br    br   anyways  fatty gives the impression that someone lost their tenure for advising a senior  s film project . but it  s the sincerity of how bad it is that makes it so wonderful . you get the impression the makers knew it was going to be bad  but never forced it .  br    br   never to be duplicated in wonder  fatty delivers . highly highly recommended .  
vampires vs . zombies starts with the breaking news that the unidentified disease that is spreading across america leaves the sufferer with homicidal  cannibalistic tendencies . . . travis fontaine  c . s . munro   his teenage daughter jenna  bonny giroux  listen to the radio as they drive along the isolated backwoods roads to try  escape the disease when travis runs over a guy who i assume is meant to be a zombie . slightly further down the road he stops to help julia  brinke stevens   her teenage daughter carmilla  maratama carlson  who are waving at the side of the road  at this point there is also a third teenage girl named tessa  melanie crystal  sitting in the back of julia  s car bound  gagged . to me this situation would seem strange but travis  like the trooper he is  takes it all in his stride  agrees to  take  carmilla off julia  s hands   well i don  t know actually . so  with a complete stranger  travis drives off leaving julia  tessa . carmilla seems like a nice girl but she turns out to be a vampire  she likes to bite people  turn them into vampires  oh  she  s partial to a bit of lesbianism too . travis  carmilla  jenna continue to travel while some guy who calls himself the general  peter ruginis  who appears to be some sort of vampire killer  probably has something to do with it all but the film is such a mess it doesn  t really matter  i really don  t know how to carry on this plot outline as my head hurts just thinking about it . . .  br    br   co  edited  co  executive produced  written  directed by the supremely untalented vince d  amato vampires vs . zombies is one of the worst horror films ever  therefore one of the worst films ever period . the script by d  amato was apparently based on a classic story entitled  carmilla  by sheridan le fanu  he should sue   is an absolute mess  the holes in the plot  logic are so big you could drive a tank through them  what is the disease that turns people into zombies  why is carmilla a vampire  who is julia to her  who the hell is the general  what does he want  where are travis  jenna going  how can travis run a man over  yet not have the slightest bit of human emotion over it  what  s with the mental ward at the end  there are also some confusing  unnecessary dream sequences just to annoy the viewer even more . there are just so many things wrong with this film  the narrative doesn  t make a blind bit of sense  the concept is terrible  never really explained properly plus it  s incredibly boring . i have not one positive thing to say about vampire vs . zombies  not one . forget about any vampires fighting zombies because it just doesn  t happen  tell me again why is this film called vampires vs . zombies   br    br   director d  amato has served up one of the most incompetent  rubbishy  badly made  poorly thought out  excruciatingly painful viewing experiences ever made . vampires vs . zombies really has no redeeming qualities at all  there is not one single aspect that i can praise . the gore is really fake looking  there are some blood splats which look like red water  some really cheap staking effects  a half decent climax where the zombies feast on carmilla  s  jenna  s intestines  this fairly gory scene is probably the best part of the whole wretched film but it only lasts for a couple of minutes  in no way makes up for the other turgid   .  br    br   the budget on vampires vs . zombies must have been small  in fact did it even have a budget because most of it is set on a road in a couple of cars . this is one of the most badly made horror films it  s been my misfortune to watch  the entire thing just sucks . the acting is predictably awful   i mean awful .  br    br   there isn  t much else left to say  vampires vs . zombies is easily one of the worst films ever made . the  v  next to the title on the imdb  s main page for vampires vs . zoimbies indicates that it went straight to video  well that  s far too good for this pile of crap as it deserves to go straight on the nearest fire .  
this isn  t masterpiece theater . you shouldn  t go into it expecting that . this is pure girl fun with the most fantastic cast of female leads . like someone else here said  this is the film baby mama was meant to be . and the only downside i see to this film is that tina fey was not in it  besides that it stars the smartest and brightest girls on the planet . the film is pure silliness on the surface  but if you really watch you will know it has a lot of messages and deep meaning to any of us who wish they could go back and do it all over again in life knowing then what we know now . pure fun and i recommend it to anyone looking for   minutes of great escape .  
okay  i  ve watched this movie twice now  i have researched it heavily on the net  i have asked several people on there opinions . i have even gone to the length of reading the original sheridan lafanu classic  carmilla   a book that this movie is supposed to be based on . i feel that the best way to review this movie is to describe a game to play whilst watching it . as the plot of the movie doesn  t seem to make any sense at all  here is the plot of the book .  br    br   laura lives in a castle in syberia with her father  mr de lafontaine . they carry on with their lives blissfully and peacefully . one day they get a letter from the  general  a man who has made it his mission in life to avenge his daughters death . he makes claims of supernatural powers being at work  and explains that he will visit them soon . meanwhile  a chance encounter with a strange woman results in the lafontaines looking after her daughter  carmilla  for several months . soon laura starts to be overwhelmed by strange dreams  and begins to come down with a strange illness . who is this mysterious carmilla  and just what has she to do with laura  s condition  and the general   br    br   i have invented this game and would like as many people as possible to play it  and let me know what their results are . i even have a catchy name  and would have a jingle too  but i can  t be bothered with that . it  s called the  this movie doesn  t make any sense  game .  br    br   all you have to do is  whilst watching the movie  try to come up with a complete plot that explains what is happening . i mean complete  all questions answered  everything makes sense  absolutely complete .  br    br   it will have to answer such questions as . . .  br    br    why can vampires walk around in day light   br    br    why are they all lesbians   br    br    why is a girl called bob  and why does she shoot herself   br    br    when is the movie a dream and when is it real   br    br    why does killing zombies appear to be an accepted part of life that doesn  t make anyone bat an eyelid   br    br    why does travis fontaine spot and run down a zombie without slowing down whilst driving his car  yet when faced with a woman with an obvious hostage in the back of her car  accept the excuse that she is a zombie too   br    br    and why does he then let a girl  which he later openly reveals that he knows is the head vampire  drive with him in his car   br    br    and then let her drive off  alone with his daughter in a stolen car   br    br   what the hell is the asylum scene all about   br    br    what the hell is the green goo all about   br    br    why does the head vampire suddenly start dressing like a nurse   br    br    why are there never any vampires fighting zombies   br    br    what is the significance of the necklace  what is it made of  why does it kill vampires  and how does jenna know that   br    br   in fact sod it  it  s just as much fun trying to come up with as many questions about this movie too .  br    br   i have my plot  and i have to admit it is not quite there  but it is a pretty good effort .  br    br   in conclusion  br    br    vampires vs zombies  has no moment in it where there are actually vampires fighting zombies . everyone in the movie seems to know exactly what is going on  yet they seem very reluctant to let the audience in on this . and somehow it is based on a classic   th century horror novel . how  why  what the hell is going on   
anyone who lived through the ages of revenge of the nerds and girlpower will appreciate this film . it is one of those films that delivers everything you want in a  spring break movie  plus it makes fun of the college film genre . it  s funny  it  s got a cast to die for  amy pohler  rachel dratch   sophie monk   parker posey  jane lynch  amber tamblyn  missi pyle   and its guaranteed to make you laugh out loud . writer  actor rachel dratch is a comic genius and sophie monk is such a great villain . wilson phillips  omg   i  m just repeating myself now . . .  it will live on with girls who like miranda july but feel like eating ice cream and pretending they  re dumb .  
after watching this thing  then reading the summary on the back of the dvd  then thinking back to actual movie . . . . i became a bit dizzy . i thought  maybe i fell asleep and dreamed i was a down syndrome baby waltzing through a never ending forest where people drive   miles an hour and stop for no purpose other then occasional tasteless lesbianism . where  zombies   come out of nowhere and  vampires   who  seduce   pure hearted citizens on their way to save the world . neither zombie nor vampire notably encounter each other . the only fighting i remember was getting that walrus bonny giroux  s panties off . coo coo ca fat  all of them  maybe that was because we were watching it widescreen stretched and were too lazy to change it to its native resolution  but that actually made it more entertaining . . . in conclusion my trailing thought thesis had more continuity  plot  character development  antagonism  subject matter  and acting then the entirety of this film . it made bloodrayne look like citizen fing kane  
i don  t think this movie is for everyone . but i saw it this weekend in seattle and i thought it was so funny . i haven  t laughed that hard during a movie in long time . i thought the entire cast did a great job . you will find yourself laughing from the first moment through the very last scene . i suspect some moviegoers  especially the ones who take themselves way too seriously  will be turned off by this brand of humor . not me . the movie was a real surprise . and the entire theater was rolling with laughter throughout the showing i went to which makes me think that a lot of people enjoyed themselves and were happy to have a good time at the movies for a change . i cannot wait to see it again  if you  re in the mood to lol then this is for you . funny funny funny funny   
i am an avid fan of horrendous movies  anything cheesy and down right ridiculous is my game . so imagine my spirit i went to the local rent shop  and found vampires vs . zombies . the name is just too entertaining  you know that no one in the world could pull off something like it  it just has to be bad .  br    br   and boy  is it bad . after viewing this horror  ific movie  i was speechless  literally . me and my pal sat outside without saying a word to each other for several minutes  both of us contemplating the future of our lives after watching this movie . i broke the depressing silence with the words   . . . dude . . . . what   yes  i am an enthralling individual .  br    br   heres a quick  street review  the plot there is none  at all  ever  constantly in  wtf  mode . the characters no development  forgettable . the music worse than porn . the vampires theirs vampires  the zombies theirs zombies   br    br   in the end everyone should see this movie  honestly  its so bad i yearn to see it again . so do yourself a favor  watch it and get depressed .  
let  s set one thing straight this movie does not seek to redefine the genre  it  s not dr . strangelove o young frankenstein . it  s a silly flick  with three great female leads  can  t remember any other comedy with similar characteristics   rachel dracht and amy poehler from snl and indie queen parker posey  charming as ever . the story is basic the three gals were  losers  in college  and are still after wards it . poehler is a dog trainer  who can  t even get a date with a blind guy   posey is an assistant for a senator  who  hasn  t been touched by a man since clinton was in office  . . . i catched that one several minutes later . . . i  m a little slow  ok    and dracht has a gay fiance  seth meyers from snl  funny  . they have to prevent the  uncool  daughter of the senator  the always cute amber tamblyn from the tv series  joan of arcadia   to embarrass her during spring break . so of course they have to go to watch over her  and some hilarity ensues . all in all  a light  simple comedy  quite short  and quite enjoyable  
i picked up this movie with the intention of getting a bad zombie movie . but i had no idea what i was getting myself into .  br    br   i started the movie and soon i had been pulled into a world of pain and visual torture .  br    br   i finally know what hell is like . it  s this movie . for eternity . this movie has no value . it didn  t even really have a plot . there was stuff going on in each scene but no overall explanation why anything happens .  br    br   instead of watching this movie i suggest that you line the nearest blender with oil and try and stuff as many bullets in it as you can . you will find that the outcome to be far more pleasant than this movie .  br    br   don  t even watch it . not even to see how bad it is . i beg you . if you watch it  then it means they win .  
reading some of the comments on the message boards here i was expecting this movie to be a complete letdown  but when i watched it i could not stop laughing  it has officially become my new favourite movie .  br    br   i don  t know what all the hate here is about  maybe it  s because a movie of this kind has never really been around before . i am at a loss to name another completely female driven comedy . plenty of comedies will have one or two actresses in the lead  but there will be a lot of supporting male characters . this one was almost all women  with the exception of seth meyers  justin hartley and the brief appearance of will arnett  and it worked . all of the actresses delivered very funny performances  especially missi pyle  from a quirky and lovable script .  br    br   the charm of this film  to me  seems to be in its subtle feminist message accepting who you are  female success in the public sphere  the strength of female friendships and breaking gender roles . light  hearted though it is  each of the lead characters face a challenge as their attempts to be more  fun  conflict with their feminist values and who they knew themselves to be .  br    br   missi pyle proposed that this film missed a theatrical release because of its all  female cast and lack of a big  name actor to get the studios behind it  and i have to agree . everyone i  ve recommended this film to has loved it and i think it  s a shame that a comedy celebrating female dorkiness hasn  t been widely accepted and successful .  br    br   i highly recommend this film to anyone with an open mind or a love of female  centred comedy .  
dear me . where do i start  the dad isn  t anywhere near old enough to be the girl  s dad . he corpses on camera in the first  minutes of the film . the favoured exclamation in this film is  jesus christ     . zombies are agile  stupid and few and far between . motives are utterly incomprehensible and a narrative does not exist . people  rush  to their destination in jeeps driven at  mph . the world seems to be carrying on as normal yet these are supposed to be the end days . breasts appear for the sake of breasts . normally such an approach would provide some redemption but the rest of the film actually made me uninterested in breasts or the future of humanity . there  s a dog for no reason and thin  orange blood that turns the stomach . the general and his catchphrase of  shut the fk up   is the only redeeming feature . as for the rest  i sincerely hope to hear that they had done the decent thing and killed themselves .  
cecil b . demille really knew how to create a classic  and after  decades his western comes across as the real mccoy  engrossing  entertaining  spectacular in no way outdated .  br    br   as a real fan of tv  s deadwood  i  ll tell you the performances of gary cooper as wild bill hickock and jean arthor as calamity jane are far more on  target .  br    br   we don  t have any giants in hollywood anymore . plainsman is just one of dozens of classics from the          decade that have seen enduring commercial life decade after decade released  re  issued  re  issued all over again . filmmakers like today  s spielberg  jackson  bruckheimer are like kids playing in a sandbox . none of today  s movies will be sought out in  months let alone   years .  
going into this movie you know that this is movie has six lab technicians in a sealed lab with an invisible maniac . so right away you  re guessing who will live and who will die . the survivors end up being exactly who you  d expect them to be  so no points for plot twists there .  br    br   and if you  re not sure if this is a b  movie or a movie that just happens to take place in a lab with an engaging story  william devane plays a part instant b  movie status .  br    br   the movie is promising in the beginning . at the lab we are introduced to the invisible gorilla who is becoming increasingly violent . oooh  foreboding . the best scene in the whole movie is when the lab team makes the gorilla visible again . great special effects . same thing when they make bacon invisible .  br    br   there are a couple of bare breasts  a really lame dirty joke and enough out of place swearing to give this movie an r  rating that it really didn  t need .  br    br   for a thriller there weren  t really any surprises  except when shue makes like macgyver in the freezer  which is more of a  whaaaa   ok  there is one surprise . that  s when caine  bacon  comes back one last time in the elevator shaft . it was a surprise but only because you  re yelling at tv   noooo  you  re dead already  end the movie   speaking of yelling at the tv  that  s all i did for the last   minutes or so .  put on your fing goggles   instead of putting their infrared goggles on so that they can see him  they try every other trick in the book  fire extinguishers  sprinkler systems . . .  .  br    br   the story really lost it at the end . but the special effects were good that  s the only reason i give it a     .  
i watch cold case because of the real life experiences depicted . this one was very close to me and touched me deeply  so beautifully handled  thanks  merideth . all the characters are well developed  d especially coop . the material is still difficult to approach  the us is far behind the developed nations of the world . only this kind of honest actual experiential portrayal and treatment makes an impact on the population . of course  not everyone sees things the same way but i am heartened that    of the men polled in the under   crowd voted the same as me   . you  re reaching the hard ones  i will forever reserve the  best episode  place for this episode . please continue taking chances and accept my heartfelt gratitude .  
oh it really really is . i  ve seen films that i disliked more  due to whatever reason  but never have i seen a film that just fails in every single aspect of film making . it even fails to fail at film making  in a way the hercules in new york could be said to do . it  s not the film i like the least  but it is the very worst film i  ve ever seen .  br    br   the acting is the first thing that strikes you . i  ve never seen a worse acted film outside of pornography . in fact i  ve plenty of pornographic films that are acted a damn site better than this . it really is awful .  br    br   technically  it  s terrible . the camera  work is amateurish . the editing is nonsensical . i presume they couldn  t afford proper sound equipment  and this meant that every scene in a car  and there  s a lot of them  has them driving at about three miles per hour and every scene set outside by the same patch of woods  and there  s a lot of them too  is actually dubbed from a studio  again lending more to the bad porn vibe .  br    br   the plot is nonsensical  as many have pointed out . i  ll defend vampires walking in daylight by the fact that despite it being popularized by nosferatu  this was never originally an intrinsic part of the vampire mythos .  br    br   speaking of vampire mythos  the writer had evidently read carmilla  or at very least seen the vampire lovers . i  m not sure how i feel about this  swaying from impressed that a movie this dire has at least some aspirations to a gothic novel i  m very fond of or annoyed by its at best sledgehammer references and at worst total desecration of source material . at very least  the general  is an insult to peter cushing though .  br    br   it gets two stars however  merely because i can  t bring myself to vote one star for a film that has  or at least purports to have  both vampires and zombies in it . incidentally i watched lifeforce  another film that tenuously has vampires and zombies in it  on the same day as this  and despite being a rather flawed film itself  really comes out a masterpiece compared to this .  br    br   so in the end  this is not a film so bad it  s good  or so bad it  s in any way enjoyable  even drunk . it  s just a mess  and worth no  one  s time watching .  
a convict serving time comes forward to give the cold case unit information about the murder of a policeman  committed years before . the murder of sean cooper  a good cop  was never solved . naturally  the detectives believe the new evidence will help them put together all the pieces of the puzzle that frustrated their colleagues .  br    br   in flashbacks we are taken to the baptism of james bruno  s baby . sean and jimmy were partners . there is tension as sean  who is the godfather  arrives disheveled and late for the rite . eileen bruno doesn  t appear to be happy being there . the real mystery is revealed by her . she caught sean  who was drinking with jimmy in the backyard  kiss her husband  and more shocking yet  jimmy responding willingly .  br    br   somehow at the station the partners become the center of gossip . sean has not endeared himself to his superior because he discovered the involvement with a criminal in his area who controlled the drug business . sean realizes this man is in with the drug strong man because he always makes an excuse to free the scum bags sean and jimmy haul into the station all the time . the pressure is too much on jimmy . sean is comfortable in his homosexuality and wants to be honest about it . cooper  s own father doesn  t want anything to do with a queer son . even his superior mccree wants him out of his jurisdiction  but the case is complicated because cooper comes from a long line of irish men serving in the police force . sean is killed because his homosexual condition  and for knowing too much on his peers  involvement in taking dirty money .  br    br   tom petit wrote this honest portrayal of the life of a police officer in the closet and his secret love with another fellow cop . we thought it was a frank account of a serious matter no one talked about in those days . sometimes the people involved with the show  fearing reprisals from sponsors  or the networks  don  t dare to present these real situations . jeannot szwarc  shows a sensitive approach to this thorny issue  which is dealt without the sensationalism the case might have been shown with a different team .  br    br   there is a rare chad everett appearance as the older jimmy bruno . his take is right on target with a touch of sentimentality that doesn  t get out of hand . shane johnson makes an excellent contribution to the show as sean cooper . the cast is marvelous and it includes good all around performances from everyone under mr . szwarc  s direction .  br    br   in this episode  nick vera  gets closer to his neighbor  the mother of the basketball player the detective took his ball away . nick is heading for romance with the woman   
this is probably the best horror film made since ed wood died .  br    br   i can  t spoil the ending  because i have absolutely no idea what happened . i  ll try my best  though . there are some kind of lesbian vampires  but they keep swapping bodies  so any character might or might not be the character you  re supposed to think it is  or it might be a lesbian vampire .  br    br   sound confusing  it  s not as confusing as you might think  since none of the characters make any sense to begin with . there  s no plot  no character development  and random people show up  speak a few lines  and then disappear  never to be heard from again . there are also zombies  who are possibly the enemies of the vampires  but there  s also a dream  within  a  dream kind of sequence in a mental hospital  so maybe none of this actually happened  and it  s all the main character  s hallucination .  br    br   the upside  both of the lead girls take their shirts off briefly . the special effects are simply mind  boggling  i particularly liked the incredibly slow  awkward fight sequences  . everyone has a really silly canadian accent  which adds to the general level of hilarity .  br    br   well worth the price of rental . we laughed until we cried .  
i have watched quite a few cold case episodes over the years  beginning with season  episodes back in          . and while most have been good  this particular episode was not only the best of the best  but has few rivals in the emmy categories . though some may not agree with the story content  i . e . the male  to  male romantic relationship   i doubt that anyone could watch this without being deeply moved within their spirit .  br    br   the story is essentially about a case that was reopened  based on the testimony from a dying drug dealer . the two central actors are two police officers in the      s named sean coop  aka  the cold case victim who goes by his last name  coop  and his partner  jimmy bruno .  br    br   in the story  coop is single  a vietnam war vet  with a deeply troubled past . jimmy  however  is married  with children no less . both are partners on the police force and form not only a friendship  but a secret romantic relationship that they both must hide from a deeply and obviously homophobic culture prevalent at that time .  br    br   the flashback scenes of their lives are mostly in black and white  with bits of color now and then sprinkled throughout . examples include their red squad car  the yellow curtains gently blowing by the window in jimmy  s bedroom  where jimmy  s wife watched coop and jimmy drink  fight  and then kiss each other while being in an alcohol  induced state . i found it interesting that only selected items were colored in the flashback scenes  with everything else in black and white . i still have not figured out the color scheme and rationale .  br    br   the clearly homophobic tension between fellow patrol officers and the two central actors only heightens the intensity of the episode . one key emotional scene was when coop was confronted by his father after the baptism of jimmy  s baby . in this scene  coop  s father  sarge  who was a respected fellow officer on the force  confronts coop about the rumors surrounding coop  s relationship with jimmy . one can feel sorry for coop  at this point  as the shame and disgrace of coop  s father was heaped upon coop   you are not going to disgrace our family . . . and you  re not my son  either .   clearly indicative of the hostile views of same  sex relationships of that era .  br    br   additional tension can also be seen in the police locker room where coop and another officer go at it after coop and jimmy are labeled  batman and robin homos  .  br    br   as for the relationship between coop and jimmy  it  s obvious that coop wanted more of jimmy in his life . once can see the tension in jimmy  s face as he must choose between his commitment to his wife and kids  his church  and yet his undying devotion to coop .  br    br   in the end  jimmy walks away from coop  realizing that he cannot have both coop and his family at the same time . sadly  coop is killed  perhaps because of his relationship with jimmy  but coop may also have been killed for his knowledge of drug money and police corruption that reached higher up in the force .  br    br   the most moving scene in the whole episode was when coop  as he sat dying from gunshot wounds in his squad car  quietly spoke his last words over his police radio to his partner  jimmy . . . we were the lucky ones . don  t forget that .   br    br   the soundtrack selection was outstanding throughout the episode . i enjoyed the final scene with the actor chad everett  playing the still grieving jimmy  only much older by now  and clearly still missing his former partner  coop .  br    br   i highly recommend this episode and consider it the best . it is without a doubt the most well  written  well  acted  and well done of all cold case episodes that i  ve ever seen .  
first off i must stress how rare it is that i take the time to comment on a movie that i have seen  it takes a very special case for me to take the time and write about how i felt about a film . that said  of the hundreds of movies i have watched i have seen some of the most brilliant  shawshank  the scariest  the woman in black  the funniest  shark attack iii megaladon  and now the worst vampires vs . zombies .  br    br   the first thing that must be said is that this movie is not funny  for those that are looking for a light hearted movie that will just be fun or at the very least so bad that it  s funny  look elsewhere . it is true that a movie such as this is not trying to be subtle and brilliant  with a title such as this you should know what you  re getting into . that said  there is no excuse for a movie to abandon any and every rule that governs the movie making world . this is not an argument between the traditional movie making process and newer and more  artsy  methods to creating a film  this is an argument between bad directors and companies being held accountable for making terrible movies .  br    br   this movie suffers from the over used saying  i don  t know where to start .  truly everything about this movie is broken . from the acting and to the editing there is no reason any movie should ever fail to deliver a cohesive series of events such as vampires vs . zombies . some of the following problems are  . scene misfires  it  s clear that the director  the camera crew and the actors were not on the same page . in one scene in particular the scene begins with the camera resting on the ground looking at the passenger side door of a car . you are expecting the person inside to get out  but there is a  and this is no exaggeration    second  at least  delay between the camera comes on and the director says  action  to where anything happens on screen . the viewer is left staring at a car door for the entire time with no sound  no movement  just the stereotypical  dead air  that radio or tv commentators dread . where was the editing   . acting  a forgivable offense in most cases  you can  t expect a movie like this to have oscar winners after all  but vampires vs . zombies takes bad acting to a whole other level . these  actors  were barely able to read their scripts obviously because anyone with any ability to read and to speak would have been able to pronounce the lines better than these fools . my only comparison for acting would have to be the opening scene from resident evil on playstation . but that acting was even better .  br    br     story  wait  what  story  again you can  t expect this to be the greatest story ever told  but is it too much to ask that we have some semblance of a narrative  why the vampires  who are the characters  who are the bad guys  are there good guys  why all the lesbians  but most importantly  what  s the deal with the zombies  if you have seen this movie then you will understand what i mean  but to those who haven  t i  ll be plain  there are no zombies in this movie aside from maybe five minutes of it . it was almost as if the director forgot about the name of the movie and was forced to throw some zombies in without explanation at the very end .  br    br   there  s so much more  but i hope i  ve done enough to keep anyone from seeing this movie .  
this was a fantastic episode . i saw a clip from it on youtube  and i vowed that should it ever show on tv  i would glue myself to the set in order to watch . i wound up watching it with a friend of mine  who happens to be gay  and the two of us cried at the end . this was a truly well  written  heartfelt episode of the forbidden love between two cops who  i felt  really were  in coop  s words   the lucky ones  . it is episodes like this one that really make cold case one of the most captivating and much  loved works of television magic on cbs . i anxiously await more episodes  and a re  run of  forever blue  because i will always watch it again and again .  
i really have no idea how to comment on this movie . the special effects were lackluster  the acting was terrible and if there was a plot to it all  it was on the back of the box . i don  t think i can remember a movie being this bad in a long time  and i  m a big fan of lesbian sex and boobies     even that couldn  t save this movie from being just a terrible excuse to pay someone to stand  or lay in this case  in front of a camera .  br    br   i was pretty much let down by the overall  zombie  effect . since apparently in this movie  zombies are so commonplace that running over a couple here and there  and casually talking about it at a gas station  one with an in  house windshield repair but no interior bathroom   the zombie  movie genre isn  t even a factor until the end . even then  a cameo by a dozen zombies ripping off a girl  s clothes doesn  t really constitute being a zombie movie .  br    br   on to the vampires apparently all the zombies are male and all the vampires are female  which is ok by me . i  m not sure how vampires are out in the daylight  or the why  how of a soldier vampire came to be standing in the middle of the road  still holding his gun with a stake through his heart  just waiting for the queen of the vampires to flick it all the way through . the last segment in the old nunnery made no sense  and when one hot lesbian vampire asks the other hot lesbian vampire  do you think we did the right thing   by killing the two apparent heroes in the movie  that about put it over the top .  br    br   the acting and special effects were at an all  time low also . you could almost see the hoses that the fake blood was pumped out of during the closeup of the zombie who got ran over by the general . speaking of the general  where did they find this kenny rogers look  alike anyways  no idea what he was the general of  aside of generally confusing and misplaced .  br    br   all in all  watch the movie if you have nothing better to do or if you have the strong urge to waste   . just my   .   .  
this was one of the all time best episodes . officer sean cooper was murdered in his patrol car back in    . a dying convict in the state penitentiary reveals that he stole a block of heroin from the car after the shooting . his case is reopened with the presumption that he was corrupted as a policeman .  br    br   further investigation into him as a police officer and a human being reveals a war veteran involved in a forbidden love . this type of love was considered shameful and something to at least keep hidden at that time .  br    br   while this isn  t the type of love i personally support  he was still a policeman and a human being and shouldn  t have been killed for it . the sound track was excellent  keeps me watching the dvr   and the selective use of black and white mixed with color to emphasize one object or give a particular feeling to a scene was especially appealing . i shall be watching this one in repeat   
vampires vs . zombies wasn  t the original title . it was actually . . .  br    br   nasty lesbian semi  vampires and two zombies getting hit by cars special guest appearances by bob the lesbian gypsie  witch and her dog  random woman with special powers and the catholic school girl short skirt zombie choir .  br    br   also on the box warning no plot  only the writer and director will understand the end  or anything else in this movie .  br    br   seriously though  i love bad movies . i love vampires . i love zombies . hell  i even enjoy the lesbians . this movie combined all three with a vague and confusing  or non  existent  plot  horrendous  i mean really bad  dialogue  and random stuff and people that have nothing to do with anything  or do they . . . i didn  t know what in the world was going on  . oh  and i can  t forget the green oatmeal  zombies  in latex gloves  yes  the film makers were so cheap they couldn  t even cover their zombies hands in oatmeal and paint  . any way  the result was this excruciatingly bad film  if you could even call it that .  br    br   was the end supposed to not make sense  the vampire was really nurse and the other girl was really a mental patient  where were the vampires vs . zombies  hell  where were the vampires at all . . . you really couldn  t call any of the girls vampires . whatever .  br    br   don  t ever rent or buy this movie . if you are really curious . . . okay  i  ll understand . seriously  even lovers of bad movies won  t be able to stand this one . it should be number  on the bottom    .  
what a stunning episode for this fine series . this is television excellence at its best . the story takes place in     and it  s beautifully filmed in black  white  almost a film noir style with its deep shadows and stark images . this is a story about two men who fall in love  but i don  t want to spoil this . it is a rare presentation of what homosexuals faced in the     s in america . written by the superb tom pettit  and directed by the great jeannot szwarc  we move through their lives  their love for each other  and their tragedy . taking on such a sensitive issue makes this episode all the more stunning . our emotions are as torn and on edge as the characters . chills ran up my spine at the end when they played bob dylan  s gorgeous   ah  but i was so much older then  i  m younger than that now   as sung by the byrds . this one goes far past a   and all the way to the stars . beautiful .  
ok  i knew this would be a back alley f  film  well below b  film standards  going into it  so i thought   man  i could use a good laugh  so let  s see some nether  beings kill each other .  well  what i got could have been found at your local  love toy  store . random lesbian scenes  very little fighting  and no plot .  br    br   for example  one scene in particular i remember  for its sheer stupidity only i  ve seen better porn on abc  is where the two main characters  i can  t remember their names offhand . . . great movie  huh   are driving along  as they mostly did  and the driver was tired of driving and stopped  br    br   driver  let  s pull over  i  m tired . you want to take over   passenger  sure  i can drive for a while .   once pulled over  the driver starts grabbing the passenger  s boobs  passenger  what are you doing  i  m not like that   driver  it  s ok  everyone does it sometime .  passenger  ok then .   proceed to take off shirts  fondle  kiss  and perform fellatio   br    br   now  last time i checked  horror films were not in the porn section of hollywood video  unless you  re into sm  then you go elsewhere   and it definitely shouldn  t be in the mainstream videos at blockbuster . don  t get me wrong i  m definitely not one of those people who hate porn  but i only watch it when appropriate and definitely don  t want to watch it if i  m looking for a movie in the mainstream stores  as this one i rented was at one of the two retailers i named  and probably at the other too if i went and looked  .  br    br   worst movie ever  no one should rent it  and it should only be bought for a public burning ceremony . if i could give it a   i would  but i can only give it a  of   .  
i  ve watched a bunch of episodes of cold case since its premiered  especially now that it immediately follows the amazing race  but this was one of the best instances of writing and acting i  ve seen from the house of bruckheimer . the casting  especially of the younger officers  was spot on  and the script and editing  the soundtrack  and the acting made this episode a tour d  force . if i were the producers i would submit this episode for emmy consideration . it amazing how complete a portrait was made of coop and jimmy within the confines of s   minute episode that takes a lot of talented people doing their best . i hope there  s is advance warning of when this episode is repeated  because i  m sure i  ll notice a lot that i did not notice the first time around .  
yes  this movie is bad . what  s worse is that it takes no advantage whatsoever of its own title   in the entire movie  zombies and vampires fight each other once or twice . on top of that  we  re never really sure if the main character in the movie is definitely a vampire . one might argue they were trying to  tone it down  or make it  realistic   but it ends up just boring . more than half of this movie takes place in a car . the scenes that take place anywhere else aren  t much to brag about  either . also  there  s no clear antagonist  and in the end you have no idea what really happened for the last   minutes of the movie .  br    br   however  i will say that for a film this low in production value  the soundtrack was surprisingly appropriate and instrumented  with either an origonal score or sampled music from elsewhere  .  br    br   i  m all for independent films  but it doesn  t look like this was ever intended for a mass audience  if any  .  br    br    worse than scarecrow slayer .   
this early anime movie was a rather good film that i caught once on the science fiction channel when anime was actually popular here in america and not the ratings disaster that adult swim claims it is on the cartoon network . i quite frankly think it has less to do with it being less popular and more with the fact people would rather now buy dvds are watch the episodes uncut on the internet . this film though probably did not have all that many cuts and the voice work was okay for a dubbed movie  though i would rather watch the original japanese version . americans tend to use some rather annoying voices for children in anything dubbed . this film features a young boy who boards a train called the galaxy express in the hopes that he can make it to a planet that has the technology to turn him into a robot . he wishes to become a robot to avenge his mother  who was brutally murdered at the hands of a robot who hunts humans for fun . during the course of his adventures he becomes friends with the various workers aboard the train as well as a woman that resembles his deceased mother  a beautiful woman named matel  who as with most woman in anime movies has a secret that could either be really good for our young hero  or really bad . he goes from planet to planet too as the train makes various stops and he runs into a space pirate named captain harlock who apparently starred in his own animated cartoon series  so basically the galaxy express takes place in that universe . all in all a very good ride with a rather strange and unexpected ending . there would be a sequel to this one  but it was not quite as good as this one  however the ending was a bit more final than it was here .  
the above seemed a much more appropriate title when me and my suicidal underlings decided to watch this masterpiece of modern bullshit  br    br   erotic  scary  suspenseful  well thought out  these are all the things this film fails to be .  br    br   it is however incredibly funny  the slow sound effects and bad dubbing add to this to make one of the greatest comedies i have seen in recent years . and yet this film doesn  t even try to be funny and that is one of the movies grand achievements  it becomes a comedy without even attempting to amuse .  br    br   throughout the film an old guy who looks amazingly like santa claus goes around ploughing over zombies and smashing vampires into the ground . this made me fail to believe the films title  if this was vampires vs zombies why were the vampires and zombies not fighting  oh well whatever  besides there were more flaws to this rental than the title . such as this one there has been a virus sweeping through america creating zombie like beings who go around acting a lot like your average tourist . and yet there  s only four zombies in the entire film . another problem is besides one shop everywhere is deserted . surely you  d see zombies roaming about in the woods or in the background a bit . in fact i believe they just drove around in a circle of forest over and over again since they didn  t have a high enough budget to film in a wider location  that or the director didn  t want to waste his precious time filming in different areas of wood he was to busy sitting in a trailer jerking off to be bothered with such trivial matters .  br    br   in fact the director had so much fun doing this that he didn  t have enough time to hire a big enough cast or even an editor . and so he told the eight members of the cast to dress up as different people and try not to act inconspicuous  whilst i assume he changed his name and began randomly snipping at the film reels  editing isn  t a hard job anyway right   the only reason this  movie  found it  s way into our bag was because somehow we got it confused with freddy vs jason  strange how these things happen isn  t it . and the only way we made it though the night was by strapping gas masks on and bolting them to our skulls to avoid the stink of this nauseating mess .  br    br   oh yes we did laugh at the end  but i  m sure one does that a lot when he has lost his sanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
what can i say  an action and allegorical tale which has just about everything . basically a coming of age tale about a young boy who is thrust into a position of having to save the world . . . . . and more . he meets a dazzling array of heroes and villains  and has quite a time telling them apart . a definite must  see .  
this is by far the worst movie i have ever seen      br    br   i can honestly say i have never seen a movie worse than this one     br    br   and i mean never      br    br   i  m a big fan of  b  horror movies . as you may imagine . . . . i  ve been exposed to some of worst that the movie industry has to offer .  br    br   i was lured to this movie by it  s title . i mean c  mon . . . what true fan of horror wouldn  t be intrigued by a title like  vampires vs . zombies     images of the  undead  battling each other to the  undeath  danced in my head . i thought to myself . . .  this i  ve got to see       br    br   well . . . . sorry to say . . . .  this i wish i hadn  t seen        br    br   this movies title is very misleading to say the least . there was no vampires fighting zombies . in fact  there is no plot     if you were to ask me what this movie is all about i could honestly tell you i have no idea     br    br   there was no plot      br    br   there was no story      br    br   this movie absolutely makes no sense at all      br    br   at the end of this debacle . . . i found myself feeling sorry for the poor souls who had invested their money into this project for they surely have no business sense     
anyone who thinks anime is nothing but sex and violence will be silenced forever after watching this movie . this is a fine movie that tells about tetsuro  s quest to avenge his mother  s death  but also grows up in the process . the journey on the train sort of represents tetsuro  s journey from boyhood to manhood . the music and visual styles of the movie are a bit dated  you can tell it  s a    s movie  and the animation is only slightly better than your average  star blazers  episode . but the story and the characters are so strong  it really doesn  t matter . a must  see for any animation fan   
in this strangely  lackadaisical apocalypse  the world suffers from a dual plague of zombies and vampires  but no one seems to be too worried about it in this grade  z film which bares less resemblance to sheridan le fanu  s famous short novel than my mother  s lasagna recipe . bored attendants still run gas stations and doctors still make house calls and helpful police officers still show up with radiator fluid just when you need it . the plot  and i use that term loosely  involves a father and a daughter trying to rendevous with  the general   whose daughter is missing  at a church to kill a vampire who  very conveniently  happens to be traveling with the father and daughter . i must confess that a moment or two of genuine humor can be found between vast stretches of unintentional humor . the film also boasts just enough nudity to keep a boy of fourteen interested . anyone older beware .  
the master of movie spectacle cecil b . de mille goes west . using three legends of the old west as its protagonists  they probably never met   gary cooper is portraying wild bill hickock  james ellison as buffalo bill and jean arthur does make a nice calamity jane . the story serves only for de mille to hang some marvelous action sequences on  like the big indian attack . scenes like that are extremely well done . if you don  t mind the somewhat over  the  top performances of the cast this is an very entertaining western . look out for a very young anthony quinn essaying the role of an indian brave who participated at the battle of little big horn . this part got him at least noticed in hollywood .  
leave it to paul  sex on the brain  verhoeven to come up with a pointlessly sleazy and juvenile version of the invisible man story . if he  d direct a pokemon film  i  m sure he  d turn it into some massive orgy of sorts . i don  t mind sex or even sleaze  check my other reviews  on film but frankly  it  s obvious the director has a one track mind and he couldn  t see interesting aspects about an invisible man storyline than the kinky implications it comes with it . it  s a shame because it could have been good if the film didn  t spend so much time having an invisible kevin bacon grope women .  br    br   the game cast of actors does what it can with the one  note cheesy script but i felt bad for some of them  including william devane  who is totally wasted here .  br    br   but then what could i have expected from the director of showgirls  which  btw  is much more entertaining than this stilted  bad film .  
one word can describe this movie and that is weird . i recorded this movie one day because it was a japanese animation and it was old so i thought it would be interesting . well it was  the movie is about a young boy who travels the universe to get a metal body so he can seek revenge . on the way he meets very colorful characters and must ultimately decide if he wants the body or not . very strange  if you are a fan of animation  science  fiction you might want to check this out .  
this was quite possibly the worst movie i have ever seen . i watched it with a large group of friends and after it was over not a one of us understood the plot . aside from the lack of plot  the acting was atrocious  the  special effects  were not so special  and the writing was absolutely horrible . the movie  s only redeeming factor is that it  s so incredibly bad that it  s quite funny . you can  t help but laugh at a zombie being run over while actors are spewing crappy dialogue . i wouldn  t recommend this film to anyone looking for a good movie  but it  s something that a group of friends can get together and have a good laugh about . it  s now a running joke among my friends and i .  out of   .  
galaxy express     ginga tetsud three  nine  . made in     . directed by rintaro . based on the original work by leiji matsumoto .  br    br   what little i know of the history of galaxy express     it was first published as a popular manga in      s and was created by leiji matsumoto . ge    is set in the same star wars  type of space universe as matsumoto  s other famous space manga captain harlock . in fact space pirate harlock and other characters from that manga  including queen emeraldas and tochir oyama  make appearances in ge    . ge    was a success as a manga and was soon followed by also popular anime series which included over    episodes . it was aired in     . a year later came this anime film  which isn  t a sequel to the series  but summaries the main points of the story in two hours long movie .  br    br   the story is set in unidentified star wars  type of future where journeying to different planets has become a possibility . people of the future can have themselves mechanical bodies in which they can live hundreds of years  maybe even forever . the protagonist  tetsur hoshino  is a young boy who witnesses how a cruel count mecha  whose entire body is made of mechanical parts  kills tetsur  s mother . tetsur swears revenge and is convinced that he can only achieve it by having a mechanical body . to obtain it he must travel to a far  away planet with space train galaxy express    . however  since tetsur comes from poverty  he has no money to obtain the expensive ticket . by a chance coincidence he meets a beautiful young woman  maetel  who bears a resemblance to his dead mother . maetel offers a ticket for tetsur on a condition that she accompanies him on his journey . and so the journey begins  br    br   i first saw this film last october  about six months from now  and again yesterday . i feel that i must first tell about the thing that bothered me the most in this film it seems very rushed . then again what can you expect from  hours long movie that tries to tell the main points of over    episodes long series  whatever the case  the situations change with a fast speed and tetsur meets other important characters in the story mostly by pure chance . i feel makers should have either left something out or include extra   minutes .  br    br   however  there  s no arguing that ge    has deserved its place as an anime classic . the animation itself  very faithful to the style of matsumoto  s manga  is detailed and beautiful to watch . even after almost   years of its release the animation has not become  out of date  but puts many later anime films in shame . the music through out the film is enjoyable to listen even if somewhat  old  these day  it was the    s after all  . i have not heard any english dub of this film so i can only comment the japanese audio which is good . voice actors give life to their characters  most memorable ones being masako nozawa  mainly known as the voice of goku through out the entire dragon ball saga  as the excited and young tetsur  and masako ikeda as the calm and mysterious maetel . the supporting characters are not left in shadows  but also have a life of their own  most memorable to me being waitress claire .  br    br   the story itself is suitable for both those who are looking for an entertainment for couple of hours  as well as for those who try to find deeper messages . ge    is an entertaining adventure film but can also be seen as tetsur  s journey from boyhood to manhood . the whole film is told from his point of view  so we are forced to feel what he feels . i think many people can relate to tetsur  for despite the fantasy elements  he is a very realistic character young  hot headed  awkward and naive . we follow him as he starts to see differences between humans and machines and come to conclusion whether he wants the mechanical body or not . maetel on the other hand stays as a mystery in the film and even in the end  when she reveals who and what she really is  it doesn  t much answer to anything . maetel can be seen as a dream of a growing young man  always close but just out of reach .  br    br   it  s is the strange yet beautiful relationship between tetsur and maetel that still awakes talking and questions  and fascinates after the decades . people have argued if their relationship is that of a two friends  of mother and son  or of two possible lovers  which wakes a lot of critique since maetel  s age is unknown and tetsur hasn  t even reached his puberty yet  . without any means to sound deep  i think the best term to describe them is  soul mates  . there is no question that the two feel devotion  caring and love for each others  yet it goes beyond that of friendship  family and lovers . i think that if their relationship would be stuffed in any of those categories  it would take something out of the whole film and of the characters . the ending scene  even if you already know what is going to happen  is still very touching and memorable .  br    br   all in all  despite the rushing of plot and some corny scenes  galaxy express    holds its place as an anime classic amongst the films like katsuhiro otomo  s akira       and mamoru oshii  s ghost in the shell       . the film is directed by rintaro  who had previous experience of leiji matsumoto  s works as he had worked in captain harlock series . later rinatro directed a wonderful looking metropolis       that also questions the difference between humans and machines .  br    br   galaxy express          is a classic that should be seen at least once by every anime fan .  
a stuttering plot  uninteresting characters and sub  par  to say the least  dialogue plagues this tv production that could hardly have been interesting even with a billion dollar production budget .  br    br   the characters aren  t believable  in their motives  actions or their professed occupations . the plot reads like a bad dungeons and dragons  tm  hack but with plasma rifles and force fields . there are severe continuity issues and the degree of pointless interaction between the characters has this author  at least  wincing .  br    br   avoid it like the plague . watch any episode of dark angel and you will have better acting  dialogue and plot . yuck .  
yeah  it is . in fact  it  s somewhere in my top   all time favorite movies . number    i think . anyways  i  m usually not one for plots  but i think plots work better in anime and rpg video games   final fantasy   for example  and not movies . but this one has it all . vivid drawings of planets  stars  an extremely well written screenplay . while this is not really for children  they can still watch it  it contains no graphic blood  guts and silicone . but i don  t think they  re going to understand it .  
if you really enjoyed the     resident evil movie  then you should just see it instead of waisting  hours you  ll never get back . i can not believe that no one has commented that this movie is just a cheap knock off of re . first  a  special  commando force is the unique defense for a facility with a computer matrix that has an ai and holographic projection . and this  hive  rip  off has a series of traps that inevitably kill off one member of the squad at a time . there  s even a chess reference in the code names  which was in the dialog of re . despite the fact that there are no zombies  the  rook   the movie  s nemesis  is some sort of bio  creature  very pail in color suggesting necrotic tissue  with a lot of cyborg components just like a super mutant of re . so  a wag  of  the  finger to mr . richard taylor for claiming any credit for this story .  br    br   they are not the same movie obviously  but the writer got the idea watching resident evil i think .  
i saw this as a child in the late eighties and i must say  galaxy express is one of those films that sticks in your imagination for a long time . if you  ve never understood the appeal of anime  discovering this film may be your golden ticket to otaku  town .  br    br   the story is as delicate and poetic as ridley scott  s blade runner . the cell animation  while somewhat traditional  possesses a vivid style that explosively portrays leiji matsumoto  s great talent for character design and visual storytelling .  br    br   this is one of those unique children  s films like star wars  the dark crystal and the wizard of oz that completely transcends  family entertainment  status and stands as a classic of cinema on its own terms .  br    br   i highly recommend this film .  
i see where a few people involved in this debacle wrote reviews to share their side of the story  and i thought what they wrote was helpful in understanding it . the fact that they basically came up with excuses   rewrites  budget constraints  production formats etc   simply underlines how bad this movie is . and my criticisms in panning it are not personally directed but simply a warning that this one doesn  t make the cut .  br    br   it  s watchable  but barely so . there are plot holes in every corner  the dialogue borders on the ridiculous  and the ending is telegraphed a mile away . the modestly interesting feature of a hologram interacting with a recon team get drowned in silly dialogue like who makes a meal in the midst of what is supposed to be a tense and deadly encounter with an unknown enemy . would ya wrassle us up some hamburger helper sally  between us getting killed by these automated carpet sweepers  apparently this elite team equipped with the latest gizmos and red plastic tubed wonder armor has no access to mres . once they get into the last rooms they treat the place more like a four star motel than a deadly encounter zone .  br    br   the rationale for the encounter with the fearsome rook is that it can  t be killed single handedly . yet only one scene ago  the hero making that case abandoned king to do exactly that . huh  vivian woo was attractive and hands down the best acted character in the movie . but that  s not saying much .  
those childhood memories . . . when things were new  and we were filled with curiosity about the world around us as we took those initial first steps in the long journey we call life .  br    br   one of the initial memories i have from childhood is this animated program  galaxy express      about a young boy named tetsuro  who goes on a train ride around the galaxy  in the hopes of gaining a mechanical body in order to avenge the senseless death of his mother at the hands of cold  hearted  trophy gathering mechanical hunters . accompanying tetsuro on his journey is maetel  a woman of exquisite golden beauty who reminds him of the mother he lost all those years ago . . .  br    br   back in the early     s  as a boy who attended kindergarten and the early years of elementary school in seoul  south korea   galaxy express     was a phenomenally popular animated program imported from japan  which inspired young boys who tuned in to dream of countless adventures in their often tumultuous and exciting journey through life that awaited them . the memories of tuning into this animated program on weekdays between  to  pm before bed time . . .  br    br   those were some wonderful memories  never to be had again . . .  br    br   as i moved to america  and while residing here for over  decades  i sometimes wondered about that time and place  in a country thousands of miles away divided from america by an enormously vast ocean  of this childhood program  with its hit theme song  and of the boy named tetsuro  his protective companion maetel  the enigmatic train conductor  and of the spacefaring train galaxy express    .  br    br   many  many years passed . . .  br    br   last summer while i was in korea  i was able to track down a copy of the original  galaxy express           on dvd  and it brought back a lot of nostalgic  heartfelt memories .  galaxy express     remains as captivating as the first time you discovered it all those years ago  opening up those nostalgic memories of new discoveries  an important stepping stone for young boys who tuned in and embarked on their life  s journey into manhood .  br    br   here  s to wonderful memories .  good  bye  maetel . good  bye  galaxy express    . . .  br    br   good  bye  to my childhood .   br    br         
  br    br   what is left of planet earth is populated by a few poor and starving rag  tag survivors . they must eat bugs and insects  or whatever  after a poison war  or something  has nearly wiped out all human civilization . in these dark times  one of the few people on earth still able to live in comfort  we will call him the all knowing big boss  has a great quest to prevent some secret spore seeds from being released into the air . it seems that the all knowing big boss is the last person on earth that knows that these spores even exist . the spores are located far away from any living soul  and they are highly protected by many layers of deadly defense systems .  br    br   the all knowing big boss wants the secret spores to remain in their secret protected containers . so  he makes a plan to send in a macho action team to remove the spore containers from all of the protective systems and secret location . sending people to the location of secret spores makes them no longer a secret . sending people to disable all of the protective systems makes it possible for the spores to be easily released into the air . how about letting sleeping dogs lie    br    br   the one pleasant feature of encrypt is the radiant and elegant vivian wu . as the unremarkable macho action team members drop off with mechanically paced predictable timing  engaging vivian wu  s charm makes acceptable the plot idea of her old employer wanting her so much . she is an object of love  an object of desire   a very believable concept   br    br   fans of vivian wu may want to check out an outstanding b  movie she is in from a couple years back called dinner rush . dinner rush is highly recommended . encrypt is not .  
no  this hilariously horrible    s made  for  tv horror clinker isn  t about a deadly demonically possessed dessert cake . still  this exceptionally awful  yet undeniably amusing and thus enjoyable cathode ray refuse reaches a breathtaking apex of absolute  unremitting silliness and atrociousness that  s quite tasty in a so  execrable  it  s  downright  awesome sort of way . richard crenna  looking haggard and possibly inebriated  and yvette mimieux  who acts as if she never got over the brutal rape she endured in  jackson county jail   sluggishly portray a disgustingly nice and respectable suburbanite couple whose quaint  dull  sleepy small town existence gets ripped asunder when the cute german shepard they take in as the family pet turns out to be some ancient lethal evil spirit . pretty soon mimieux and her two repellently cutesy kids kim richards and ike eisenmann  the psychic alien moppets from the disney  witch mountain  pictures  are worshiping a crude crayon drawing of the nasty  ugly canine entity in the den . boy  now doesn  t that sound really scary and disturbing  well  scary and disturbing this laughably ludicrous claptrap sure ain  t  but it sure is funny  thanks to curtis   night tide   harrington  s hopelessly weak direction  cartoonish  not so  special effects  an almost painfully risible  n  ridiculous plot  and a game cast that struggles valiantly with the absurd story  besides the leads  both martine beswicke and r . g . armstrong briefly pop up as members of a satanic cult and victor jory has a nice cameo as a helpful native american shaman  . favorite scene the malicious mephestophelion mutt puts the whammy on crenna  practically forcing him to stick his hand into a wildly spinning lawnmower blade . while stuck  up snobby fright film fans may hold their noses at the perfectly putrid stench of this admittedly smelly schlock  devout tv trash lovers should deem this endearingly abominable offal the boob tube equivalent to alpo .  
i  m a big fan of camp  but when every plot  twist  is predictable and bad  while obviously not trying to be  even i lose interest . i was going to rate this a   but the ending dropped it a point easily . its only saving grace is that i hated other movies more . not enough beer in the world for this one .  
before cujo  there was lucky the devil dog . in      on halloween night the movie  devil dog  the hound of hell  premiered . a story of a family getting a new puppy  from a farmer who just happen to be in the neighborhood selling fruits and vegetables  because their dog skipper was killed . coencidence  everyone loves the new dog  but there is something strange about him .  br    br   it isn  t long until the father mike barry  richard crenna  first blood  starts to notice . his wife betty  yvette mimieux  where the boys are  jackson county jail  snowbeast  is different and his kids charlie and bonnie  ike eisenman  witch mountain and fantastic vourage and kim richards  witch mountain  nanny and the professor  hello larry  tuff  turf  also have changed . does the dog have something to do with it  he  s determined to find out and do whatever it takes to save his family .  br    br   this movie is great because it has ike and kim playing a darker side of themselves than what we saw on those witch mountain movies . this is one of the many    s made  for  tv horror movies that was actually scary for a made  for  tv horror movie . the music was creepy and even the ending which i won  t tell made you think .  br    br   this movie also stars ken kercheval  cliff barnes of dallas  and r . g . armstrong  who couldn  t stay away from devil movies remember  race with the devil     br    br   it  s worth watching .  
complete waste of time . . . . this movie is not comedy  it  s not drama  it  s not romance . . . not even teenage comedy at least    story . . . it should be some turn  over one end . . . but it  s so disappointing  when movie has a turn  over on end i expect that turn  over to make movie even better  exp .  fight club   but this turn  over makes movie even worse . . . . when i watch teenage comedy  and i don  t do that very often  i expect lousy jokes and bunch of nudeness . . . jokes are too lousy and there is no nudity . . . you got only one . . . . very good looking i must admit . . . girl  and that  s that  and she  s fully dressed whole movie  acting is bad . . . like soap series . . . don  t waste your time  there are porns with better story and acting   br    br    sorry on my bad english   
the devil dog hound of hell is really good film . it has good acting by the cast including richard crenna and r . g . armstrong . the music is spooky and gives that devilish chill  i liked the effects on the dog and i think the creature itself looked really cool with its horns  frill like part on his neck  and acted really viscous  if you like horror films and haven  t seen the devil dog hound of hell before and are able to find and buy this rare film then do so because its a good movie and i don  t think you  ll be disappointed   
i was eager to see  mr . fix it  because i  m a huge david boreanaz fan . what i got  though  was a      hour nap . the premise seemed enjoyable boreanaz is lance valenteen  proprietor of a business called  mr . fix it   where dumped men enlist his help to get their girlfriends to take them back .  br    br   among the problems with this movie are the editing  script  and acting . although i  ve found boreanaz delightful in his other film roles  with the exception of that  crow  movie he did   this was disappointing . at times  his character was interesting and others  flat . the supporting cast reminded me of soap opera day players . i realize it wasn  t a big  budget film  but some of the scene cuts and music just didn  t seem right .  br    br   my advice watch at your own risk .  
not only does this film have one of the great movie titles  it sports the third teaming of   s child actors ike eissenman and kim richards . i seem to remember this film being broadcast halloween week back in    going against linda blair in stranger in our house . i missed it on the first run choosing to see the other film . later  on repeat  i saw i made the right choice . the movie is not really bad  but  really lacks any chills or surprises . although  i did like the scene where richard crenna shoots the family dog to no avail .  
well  this movie started out funny but quickly deteriorated . i thought it would be more  adult oriented  humor based on the first few moments but then the movie switched into a bad made  for  disney channel type mode  especially a go  kart racing scene that was incredibly long . alana de la garza is gorgeous but has a really fake italian accent . the movie looked and sounded very independent and low budget . there was one very cute moment which i  ll just call the serenading scene but overall this one was a yawner . the laughs are very few and far between . the end surprise for  mr . fix it  is so ridiculous it left me more mad than anything else . might be worth a look if you can catch it for free or tv but don  t waste your money buying or renting this movie .  
yes it was a little low budget  but this movie shows love  the only bad things about it was that you can tell the budget on this film would not compare to  waterworld  and though the plot was good  the film never really tapped into it  s full potential  strong performances from everyone and the suspense makes it worthwhile to watch on a rainy night .  
i gave it a  just because natassia malthe  as the vampiress quintana  looks sooooo sexy in this movie .  br    br   certainly there is very little logic to this movie  but so are most of the sci  fi vampire flicks . the movie probably tried too much to break away from the traditional vampire stories . unfortunately  it went too far and made the whole story not just unreasonable  but ridiculous .  br    br   there is too much gore and too many rip  off  the  body scenes that made me feel sick . a good vampire movie should be more sensible that you don  t need to see a lot of blood   we all know when a vampire jumps on a human he  she is going to do what a vampire will do . a few moans or screams are all it needs to describe the scene  like the one at end when quintana tries to sexually arouse rosa  all it needs is a few moans  the rest is your imagination  . anyway  it  s just my personal taste .  
the plainsman is an entertaining western  no doubt a classic  which is actual even today . gary cooper is wild bill hickok  ideal for the role  together with john wayne and james stewart  they were the best actors that played western heroes in their generation . jean arthur is great as calamity jane  nobody that i know played it better than her . even if might not be historically accurate  the film manages to capture the most important about hickok and about the time it takes place . sometimes you have to sacrifice history to make your point and that is what demille does here . the friendship of hickok with buffalo bill  the selling of rifles to the indians by a great manufacturer to compensate for the losses he would have because of the end of the civil war  custer and little big horn  the uneasy relationship between buffalo bill  s wife  a religious woman  with hickok a man who had killed plenty  also the unusual love affair between hickok and calamity all this makes  the plainsman  a non conventional and interesting film . anthony quinn has a very short appearance  that already shows what a great actor he was going to become . a lot of care was taken to show the original guns of that time .  
  some spoilers   as if you wouldn  t know how it  ll end  br    br   my expectations for hollow man were high . a very good commercial  a director like paul verhoeven and actors like kevin bacon and elisabeth shue  plus a very interesting theme  invisibility . every premise for a great movie was accomplished . unfortunately these things didn  t matter at all . the movie was very very week  without suspense and awfully predictable .  br    br   it  s all about a bunch of scientists who discovered invisibility . after the tests on animals succeeded  kevin bacon decides to test it on himself . once he  s invisible  he changes completely  realizing the advantages of not being seen . from this to murder there  s a very thin line .  br    br   hollow man is an ill movie . it suffers of the disease that many new movies have the special effects . from a challenging theme that could have lead the producers to a great tensed psychological thriller  verhoeven ruins everything focusing only on special effects  without giving a damn about the real value of the movie . i must admit  the fx are awesome  probably the best i have seen since matrix  but that  s not enough to make a movie good . actually that  s the problem with the movies today . just like verhoeven  most directors care only about spectacular scenes  and nothing more . the exceptions are very few  and probably the matrix is the only movie that combines perfectly fabulous special effects and great plot .  br    br   after starship troopers  verhoeven disappoints again . in stead of a great film  hm is crp . there are only  reasons why you could watch this movie  . the special effects  . the joke with superman and wonder woman  i won  t spoil this moment for you . . .   br    br   okay  so what went wrong with the movie  everything . let  s see what i can remember .  br    br      it  s not tensed at all . it should  ve been  but it  s not .  br    br      it  s too predictable . you know from the beginning who will die and who will live .  br    br      in stead of focusing on the psychological part  verhoeven cares only about the effects .  br    br      very many cliches .  br    br      of course the bad guy wakes up a few times before dying .  br    br      just like in every low quality horror  the first rule is to let the characters separate as much as possible . every time there is somebody alone in the lab  perfect victim for bacon .  br    br      some holes in the plot . example at the beginning  bacon has to scan his finger to enter the lab . after he  s invisible  how can he do that   br    br      the ending absolutely horrible .  br    br      after shue hits bacon in the head  bacon falls down to the ground . then shue and brolin leave quietly and slowly  without looking back . is that normal  then bacon gets up  attacks them  they  kill  him again . and then shue screams  i heard an explosion   happened minutes ago   and they suddenly run inside . didn  t she hear that explosion some time before   br    br      there  s a scene in which you can see the microphones hanging above the actors . come on  mr verhoeven  i expected much more from you   br    br   so that  s about hollow man . what was supposed to be a great movie turned into a scam .  br    br   vote  out of    for the special effects   
i  ve seen this movie more than once . it was on par with a lot of the spooky stuff that was being shown in television movies back then . the only problem i had was with the title for the obvious reasons . . . one immediately thinks of the famous snack cake by drake  s  leaving off the first part   hound of hell  would have sufficed .  br    br   richard crenna always manages to bring a sense of seriousness to anything he does  anyway  whether the plot is good or bad . but this was an enjoyable halloween fare offered by the cbs network . i loved the part where crenna takes a flight to some obscure country to find the mystic who would help him conquer the evil beast . he asks the cab driver how to find this guy . great dialogue between the native cab driver and crenna in terms of the cabby dissing his own people  s ethnic beliefs .  aw  mr . barry  i left that stuff behind when i came down from the mountains . . .   referring to the mystic who rarely sees or advises people  and nobody knows how to really contact him .  br    br   as far as supernatural fare goes  this movie is still enjoyable .  
this is just flat out unwatchable . if there  s a story in here somewhere  it  s so deeply buried beneath the horrid characters and jarring camera work that  s it  s indiscernible . there  s a group of vampire hunters who go around doing their thing  and the vampires they kill have little aliens inside of them . they pop their heads out and talk like speedy gonzales . if you can imagine a blood and gore covered alien sock puppet screaming in horror as a cowboy dude zaps it with a cattle prod  well  that  s what you get here . these folks are loud  obnoxious  violent  and just extremely annoying . then there are some anti  human humans  who stand around in their cgi spaceship being so incredibly pompous that it  s impossible to take . these folks make hillary clinton seem like a right  wing extremist in comparison . they  re friends with some vampires  or something . . . who cares .  br    br   then there  s the camera work . remember how everybody hated the thousand  cuts  a  minute crap from the recent rolleball remake  the folks who made this movie love that stuff . there  s enough of it in here for three really crappy nu  metal videos on mtv .  br    br   nuff said . this thing smells . in comparison  dracula     is a masterwork .  
i ran across this several years ago while channel surfing on a sunday afternoon . though it was obviously a cheesy tv movie from the   s  the direction and score were well done enough that it grabbed my attention  and indeed i was hooked and had to watch it through to the end . i recently got the opportunity to buy a foreign dvd of this film  oops  didn  t notice a domestic one had finally come out a couple months prior   and was very pleased to be able to watch it again  and in its entirety  .  br    br   i don  t wholly understand the phenomenon  but somehow the   s seem to have a lock on horror movies that are actually scary . the decades prior to the   s produced some beautifully shot films and the bulk of our enduring horror icons  but are they actually scary  no  not very . likewise in the years since the   s we  ve gotten horror movies that are cooler  more exciting  have much better production values and sophisticated special effects  are more fun  funnier  have effective  jump  moments  and some very creative uses of gore  but again . . . they aren  t really scary  there  s just something about the atmosphere of the   s horror films . the grainy film quality . the spookily dark scenes unilluminated by vast high  tech lighting rigs . the  edge of dreamland  muted quality of the dialogue and the weird and stridently eq  d scores . the odd sense of unease and ugliness permeating everything . everything that works to undermine most movies of the   s  in the case of horror  works in its favor .  br    br   specifically  in this film  the quiet  intense shots of the devil dog staring people down is fairly unnerving . so much more effective than if they had gone the more obvious route of having the dog be growling  slavering  and overtly hostile   cujo    . the filmmakers wisely save that for when the dog appears in its full  on supernatural form . the effects when that occurs  while unsophisticated by today  s standards  literally gave me chills . the bizarre  vaguely  defined   i  m not quite sure what i  m looking at  look intuitively strikes me as more like how a real supernatural vision would be  rather than the hyper  real  crystal clear optical printer  digital compositor confections of latter  day horror films .  br    br   while the human characters in this film are not as satisfyingly rendered as their nemesis or the world they inhabit  the actors all do a decent job . the pairing of the brother and sister from the  witch mountain  movies as  yes  brother and sister  is a rather cheesy bit of stunt casting  but they do fine . yvette mimieux always manages to be entertaining if unspectacular . richard crenna earns more and more empathy from the audience as the film progresses . his self  doubt as he wonders whether his family  s alienness is truly due to a supernatural plot or whether he  s merely succumbing to paranoid schizophrenia is pretty well handled  though his thought that getting a routine physical may provide an explanation for what he  s been experiencing is absurd in its navet .  br    br   the movie  s the  end  question  mark type ending is one of the only ones i  ve seen that doesn  t feel like a cheap gimmick  and actually made me think about the choices these characters would be faced with next and what they  d be likely to do and how they  d feel about it .  br    br   detractors of this film may say it  s merely a feature  length vehicle for some neato glowing retina shots  but hey  you could say the same thing about  blade runner  .     
i  d passed this title   or   times while in blockbuster  looking for something halfway decent to watch . all i can say is that they were all out halfway decent films the night i chose to rent this .  br    br   i will give it credit for being leaps and bounds better than  dracula       but in actuality that  s pretty easy to say since this one didn  t have caper van dien in it . the other things it lacked in spades were an interesting cast  interesting story  good dialog and originality  but i suppose you can  t have everything .  br    br   spoilers ahead the misfit crew of vampire hunters  one of which was a vampire . . . go figure  flew around from mining colony to mining colony trying to wipe out all the vampires it could find . the crew consists of the cocky  ne  er  do  well captain  who dies early on   his by  the  book  yet inexperienced first mate  the aforementioned vampire vampire hunter  not a typo   a wannabe cowboy and a really  really butch asian commando   tough guy  female . . . it almost sounds like the cast for mtv  s  the real world  . after the captain dies in a violent confrontation with a mob of bloodsuckers  and as it turns out  lovers of the finer parts of human anatomy  his first mate takes over . . . blah  blah  blah . . . everyone hates him . . . blah  blah  blah . . . i could go on  but as i said it  s the same storyline used in about a hundred other  films  of the genre .  br    br   the effects were cheese and why michael ironside was in this movie is beyond me . the vampire vampire hunter  still not a typo  was pretty hot  but of course if you  re waiting for her to expose more than just her cleavage  look elsewhere .  br    br   i can  t say that it was the worst film i  ve seen  as i actually rented  starship troopers    but wait for this one to come on the sci  fi channel .  
go  igor  go  you are the proof that slovenian films may  should and must be different . there  s soul in it  and this is rare . don  t let anybody put you down   
although it really isn  t such a terribly movie  especially considering it was made directly for tv  distribution   it  ll be very difficult to point out one aspect in  bloodsuckers  that is actually original or refreshing . vampires in space isn  t exactly a new formula  and even after so many movies dealing with these monsters in this particular setting  still no one seems to realize it  s an incredibly stupid premise that can  t possibly result in a halfway decent horror movie .  bloodsuckers  even goes one step further and shamelessly imitates every imaginable motion picture that either revolves on vampires and intergalactic warfare . the plot and characters are mainly stolen directly from john carpenter  s  ghosts of mars  and james cameron  s  aliens   as a crew of futuristic vampire hunters are crusading through space and regularly holding to eliminate a mutated species that peculiarly named themselves after notorious horror icons  like the voorhees and the leatherfaces . the good guys are a bunch of pathetic stereotypes  constantly dealing with clichd issues and endlessly arguing about dreadfully unimportant matters . captain damian is the unpopular rookie  who  ll really have to prove his leadership capabilities now after being more or less responsible for the death of the previous  and far more loved  captain churchill . the other annoying characters include a typical cowboy  style and trigger happy macho pilot  a tough female warrior with more balls than any of the males on board  she  s of asian descent  like the girl in  aliens  was latino  and the army  s most valuable secret weapon a blade  girl  quintana is a beautiful and deadly vampire who chose the side of humans . she can spot enemies when they  re still light  years away and she can also do wickedly sexy things with someone  s wet dreams . they eventually all learn to work as a team when forced to face the ultimate vampire  meanie michael ironside  in yet another downgrading role  .  bloodsuckers  is an irredeemably stupid film  but it manages to entertain as long as it features gory killings  infantile dialogs and ott make  up effects . it only gets intolerably boring when the frustrated soldiers blame the captain for the umpteenth time and bla bla bla . this film is a non  stop series of lame clichs and uncreative ideas  but at least it  s watchable .  
a kind of road movie in old  fashioned trains in the slowenian late summer province . at the beginning you see someone in underwear sewing trousers from black cloth  and when the same young man in his black trousers leaves the house with two suitcases  you see that the trousers  part is missing on a flag of mourning  appearently his father has died  . in the train he meets a young lady  and almost without words  but many small gestures  a wonderful love story begins . it  s a somehow surreal  very poetic  and a little bizarre movie  with a lot of strange characters and strange incidents . beautiful pictures with love for beautiful details .  
man i must say when i saw the trailer i was excited . futuristic soldiers  taking on bad ass vampires led by genre vet michael ironside . . . . in space . i mean i wasn  t expecting high art  but it looked like a potential b movie classic . this was no doubt a tv pilot  reedited some time later into a feature film  after it wasn  t picked up . alright i  ll start with the films few good points  the action was competent for a lower budgeted film  and the cgi and locations used were passable . now onto the bad  first off michael ironside was barley in this  and his performance here . . . . well it was cheesy not in a good way . but as i said he wasn  t in it much anyways  so i can  t blame him . one thing that was really stupid  was the peta type group for vampires   no i  m not joking  it  s the dumbest most unbelievable thing i  ve seen in along time  and it  s taken seriously . also this film commits one of the major b movie sins  it teases a lesbian scene  and doesn  t deliver . most of all what sinks this film is nothing really happens . since it was meant to be a pilot the script is almost nonexistent and it doesn  t have a regular ending . even the main villains  only come in towards the end . if ever a movie needed to up the sleaze and gore factor  it  s vampire wars . in closing i will say the main crew on the spaceship  were all very capable actors and could very well put this mess behind them  and go on to bigger and better things . they just had nothing to work with here .  
 . . . when this movie so well proves that they indeed are unnecessary .  br    br   although few lines  it was kind of weird to see this movie  no subs  in a language unknown . a friend of mine sent a vhs  included a few pieces of papers with all lines translated to english . with her translation next to me  i began watching this tale  it is indeed a tale   and from the very first tunes of the whistling melody during opening credits i was stuck . the colours  that minimal acting  well  in most cases   absurd comedy  slapstick  thoughtful  beautiful . . . along with a few other movies  paris  texas and nenette et boni   this one is able to speak to anyone  s heart  without words . whenever you get the chance  see it . whatever you do  don  t miss it . it  s a once in a lifetime experience . oh  acting is great  the soundtrack is brilliant  the story is simple and told a thousand times before  but rarely  never   like this .  
whoo  boy  that was definitely one of the worst flicks i  ve seen all summer . granted  it was on sci fi  and i don  t watch much sci fi  but man  talk about a razor thin plot and two dimensional characters to the max .  br    br   the characters were stereotypical and overdone  the plot and setting were unbelievable  the vampires were less intimidating  more funny  looking  the gore was unnecessary  the special effects were down  right horrible  and the ending  well  the only thing unpredictable about the ending was when suddenly the tomboy becomes a lesbian and starts to do it with the female vampire  which  by the way  isn  t really all that hot considering it occurs for about three seconds  in which you  re closer to  what the hell   then  man  that  s hot .  if this ever appears in reruns  god forbid  don  t watch it .  
i always wondered what happened with that magic kind of feeling the old slovenian movies seemed to have in them . . . well  in time i wondered if that feeling was just the nostalgia . or did that  feeling  decide to pack its bags and say  goodbye  somewhere in the middle of our cinematic history  and then never came back  or did it  because for me  it came back the first time i saw  ekspres  ekspres  . and it was it  s old self again .  br    br   there are three qualities of this movie that makes it somewhat unique and as enjoying as it is to watch  the smooth flow of the story  the warmth of the colors and  what i appreciated the most  the lack of excessive use of verbal communication  something many of other  not just  slovenian screenwriters should at least consider  . there is no use for words  when you can understand each other just as well  yeah  or better  by other means in use . just watch bakovic and cerar . uh .  br    br   so this  in only so many words  is why i would recommend  ekspres  ekspres  to all of you  as a must  see slovenian movie  regardless of what you may heard of slovenian films  if you ever even heard anything  that is . . .  .  br    br   oh  and that scene  where bakovic is dancing to vivaldi  s music . . . a treat .  br    br   treat yourself . watch it .  
i think micheal ironsides acting career must be over  if he has to star in this sort of low budge crap . surely he could do better than waste his time in this rubbish .  br    br   this movie could be far better  if it had a good budget  but it shows repeatedly through  out the movie . there is one scene at a outpost  which looks like  its outside the front of a railway station  and i bet it was .  br    br   there is one scene which made give this movie a   and it shows the space craft landing and taking off over a lake  surrounded by forests . this was well done  but the rest of the movie  forget it .  br    br   there is another scene  which looks like a engineering plant  which i bet it  and does not look like a space outpost as the character say it is .  br    br   this movie is stupid  has a serious low budget  makes no sense and god help micheal ironsides .  
what an amazing film . with very little dialogue  the whole story is told with glances and body language . very involving almost voyeuristic . my only gripe is that it has not been released on video in australia and is therefore only available on tv . what a waste .  
perhaps i missed the meeting when the meaning of  b  movie  was explained  but what i just saw was ridiculous . you want a good synopsis of this movie  take aliens  replace the xenomorphs with vampires  then remove everything that was good about it  and that  s pretty much it .  br    br    minutes into the movie  the  v  san squad   that  s the dumbest acronym i  ve ever heard  checks out a  base  thats been massacred by vampires and then they climb down  down  what   a ladder obviously attached to a billboard with an obvious present day train in the background . when is this supposed to take place      . okay . . .  hold on  i  ll get back to that   br    br   yeah . the characters . wow  well there  s the token lesbian asian chick  the redneck cowboy wannabe  the weathered captain  the goth vampire  hot topic part  time cashier  and the wussy noob second in command . all of them are played by their respective actors with the same lack of ambition . it almost pained me to see micheal ironside in this flick . isn  t he getting enough money being the voice of sam fisher in splinter cell  pretty much the only thing original about vampire wars is about how bad it is .  br    br   watching this afterbirth of a film  the only amusement i got was from the feeble attempts at set  making . since when does taping pci computer cards on a wall count as a ready room on a starship  the money required to do this film could have been put to much more better use .  
a delightful piece of cinema storytelling in a simple but effective way . cinema after all is a visual media and igor used its full potential . a young restless man boards a train with no destination in mind . in one of the compartments he meets with a girl . words are not exchanged but their laundry washing are and from there we are taken on a ride with other peculiar characters and situations . the two leads are perfectly cast as their unique features tell you a story that needs no words .  
second movie in the boxset . originally titled bloodsuckers  this movie was pretty average . it is kinda boring in some parts but there is some good gore effects  but they  re not great though .  br    br   the movie takes place in the year     . vampires have pretty much taken over the whole world . the v  san  vampire sanitation  squad  which also has their own spaceship and is lead by churchill  who is captured by the vampires  receives a message from an earth and the team  formed by quintana  played by the very hot natassia malthe   the rookie officer damian and the rebels rosa and roman  roman being played by aaron pearl from wrongfully accused .  v  san later meets up with the leader of the vampires muco  played by michael ironside from total recall . he has no plans of living peacefully with humans  as he is bent on world domination .  br    br   while this movie was not a waste of time  i doubt i  ll be putting back in the dvd player anytime soon .  
this movie is a true reflection of the australian resourcefulness that has been required to make this country what it is over the last    years . not pompous like the british  not gung  ho like the americans . if either of those countries had attempted what this crew did  it would have failed dismally . either due to ignorance on the british part  or too much faith in superior firepower on the american side .  true  australians  i . e . non  imports  are the only ones who can excel in modern military conflicts because they have had to improvise most of their adult lives . just look at examples like gallipoli paschendale tobruk new guinea and vietnam .  
man has been to the farthest reaches of the earth and now he is traveling to new worlds . but with new worlds come ancient evils . . . the vampires of space . and not just a handful but entire tribes . in this film  which i saw as  bloodsuckers  but i guess also goes as  vampires wars   we see what happens when the imperialist earthlings meet the imperialist vampires .  br    br   i will make this review very short because it  s undeserving of a good review . the best i can say for this film is it has a good cast of b  list and upcoming stars . natassia malthe was quintana  and was far more attractive here than in  bloodrayne   . michael ironside is muco  and is always a fan favorite  as i say  he  s the poor man  s jack nicholson  . and we even get carrie  ann fleming as  damian  s wife   who horror fans will now recognize as the eponymous jenifer from dario argento  s  jenifer  . so this movie  as bad as it is  isn  t without some names attached . . . but the same can be said of uwe boll  s work .  br    br   the concept of the military tracking and killing vampires in space isn  t necessarily a bad idea  but it easily falls into the realm of  cheese  and this film falls hard . the acting  especially from the vampires  is over the top and i just didn  t find the explanations of their existence very convincing . worst of all  the vampire tribes have the names  voorhess  and  leatherfaces  . i understand this was supposed to be a clever reference for the horror fans  but it wasn  t clever at all . it just sounded dumb and out of place  unlike the much more subtle references in james gunn  s  slither   such as naming stores after lesser  known horror directors  .  br    br   that  s all i want to say . if you can stand lots of cheese  on this day i couldn  t and i  m from wisconsin  and want to see average actors with poor costumes fight vampires in space  although  space  looks a lot like any other forest on earth  check this one out  if you can find it . i don  t personally recommend this when you can watch other cheesy vampires films  jon carpenter  s  vampires   or other cheesy space movies . or maybe even some good ones . but  hey  do your thing .  
this is the story of australian commandos who are captured out of uniform after a raid . since they are out of uniform  they are  justly  treated as spies . as such  they are tried  convicted  and sentenced to death . the japanese court  martial  out of admiration for their heroism  authorizes that they be given a warrior  s death . of course  under the code of bushido  this means that they are to be beheaded . a fate for which  as westerners  they are unprepared .  
  vampires vs . humans  br    br     military  reject roughneck squad as first responders to dangerous  unknown vampire incursions .  br    br     sexy female vampire on the side of the  good guys  .  br    br     plenty of gore and action .  br    br   there are four    major plot devices that may help you decide if you want to watch this movie . if you want all four  then the next plot device may not deter you . . .  br    br     in outer space .  br    br   that last one almost got me too  but i  m glad i watched . in a pile of terrible direct  to  video horror that is the sci  fi channel halloween marathon . . . this movie is a breath of fresh air . it will stand  up against any of the other sci  fi channel offerings  and even against the other vampire movie natassia starred in  who keeps giving uwe boll money   .  
this movie has wild bill hickok  calamity jane  buffalo bill and general custer all together . gary cooper plays wild bill and jean arthur plays calamity jane and charles bickford plays the bad guy who sells weapons to the indians and you can hardly recognize him . this was the first time cecil b . demille and gary cooper worked together and the next movie the made was basically the same but set in a different time . this movie starts out with lincoln  s assassination and it also deals with an indian war . calamity jane is in love with wild bill and buffalo bill has gotten married and now wants to stay home . this movie also deals with custer  s last stand and is far from accurate . gary cooper is good as usual and i usually don  t like jean arthur but i liked her here .  
i get to the cinema every week or so  and regularly check out this site  but never before have i felt compelled to comment on a film .  br    br   to my all time list of shockingly bad films  last man standing  spawn  the bone collector  i can now add the drivel that was  hollow man  .  br    br   from the awful opening titles  a ridiculously over  long run through of cast and crew put together with alphabetti spaghetti  through to the insulting finale  a world record number of cliches and some of the most absurd dialogue and acting to have ever made it to cinema  this film is dismal  and only the impressive computer graphics keep you from walking out long before the end .  br    br   this isn  t just my opinion  it was that of my friends  and everyone around us . when large sections of an audience are laughing and groaning during and after a serious thriller  its clear that the film is hopeless .  br    br   not only that  it was sick too . the director took the action beyond the bounds of realistic fare for a violent film  and into the realms of an over the top blood soaked b  movie . it  s difficult not to imagine the director as some sort of dirty old man  because the extent of the invisible man  s forays out of the lab and into the outside world extended only to two attempts at having a feel of some breasts . perhaps sex could well be the first thing on a bloke  s mind if made invisible  but aside from the aesthetic pleasures of the ladies involved  it hardly makes entertaining cinema .  br    br   spoilers follow  br    br   get past the films sick exterior  and things are even worse . whilst kevin bacon does a good job of acting increasingly twisted as  hollow man   the rest of them  perhaps handicapped by a dire script  do an even better job of being hollow cast . one long time member of the team is found strangled in a locker by the invisible man   he  s finally snapped  shrugs one colleague without a hint of emotion . this is par for the course  and the lab team swing between sheer terror and complete indifference with such speed that you wonder how they got into acting . they pad their way through the lab corridors terrified  guns poised  but then seconds later one of the crew skips happily off back down the corridor to get blood for a hurt colleague . the lead female treats the invisible man with courtesy and good humour even after he  s insulted and abused her  and there seems to be little reaction to his breakouts  even after he drowns the pentagon chief   he drowned in his pool last night  reports the same female  spectacularly failing to put two and two together .  br    br   the script is littered with this kind of badly acted pedestrian dialogue  and the rest is just an a  z of film cliches  which get laid on thicker and faster as the film progresses to the point of complete disbelief and amusement at the end .  br    br   the  eureka  moment at the computer  the female undressing at the window  the looped security video  the list really is endless  the predictable disregard for strength in numbers  the decision not to kill the two main stars but just put them in a place of probable impending death and leave them to their own devices  the almost  dead good guy appearing out of nothing to save the woman  the bomb and ubiquitous countdown timer  the fireball explosion which just burns up before reaching the heroes  the falling lift which just stops before hitting them  and more than anything else  the immortality of the bad guy .  br    br   the invisible man is burnt to a shred with a makeshift flame  thrower  electrocuted  whacked round the head with a bar which had just sliced straight through one of the lesser actors  and then having apparently survived the explosion  fireball and total destruction of the labs  has more than enough life left to climb up through the fireball for one last pop at the films heroes  by which stage the disbelieving audience are cringing and looking at their watches .  br    br   that this exceptionally bad film actually made it to the cinema is astounding . even the name of the film is as hopeless as the movie itself  and not even impressive special effects come anywhere near saving this one  which should be avoided at all costs .  
i was overtaken by the emotion . unforgettable rendering of a wartime story which is unknown to most people . the performances were faultless and outstanding .  
i picked this movie up to replace the dismal choice of daytime television and to go with my thirst for femme fatales . well  for the previous  it is better than daytime television . . . . though i  m not sure how much .  br    br   it does have its points but after about the first      minutes  the good points pan out and one comes to the conclusion that they are watching a made for tv movie that was put together with not much time to make something that will hold together . in short  a terrible sci fi channel type movie .  br    br   it has its points such as the future is dirty  like  blade runner  showed . . . . . of course  this is no  blade runner  . the captain looks  sort of feels like actor robert forster  the kind of person one might want to be around .  br    br   but unfortunately  it rather ends up feeling like a bad  andromeda  rehash where the muscle of the crew consists of poor copies of the smart gunners of  aliens   the mystic is vampire willow sexually intensified  and the new captain might as well be like jan  michael vincent running around on  danger island  in the  banana splits   he only put on the uniform with the epaulets he  s got very little right to it . all of them running around with their version of force lances inside a ship that looks very much like the  eureka maru  as they are fighting a class of  people  who occupy the universe and are broken up into several different tribes or sects of different evolutionary qualities . . . . . . . just like the nietzcheans in  andromeda  .  br    br   it might have a redeeming feature with michael ironside  but after a while  one gets the feeling that he took the part as a hoot  he probably had fun doing it  but it doesn  t help the movie much .  br    br   it  s . . . . .  okay  . okay in the way that one might watch the dvd once without turning it off if they watch it with commercials  they will probably change the channel . one might watch it once . . . . . . . . . . but a few hours later  be wondering what it was that made them watch it all .  br    br   for me  that was the femme fatale . . . . . . . . . . . . . when she was fighting .  
it  s been so long since i  ve seen this movie  at least   years  and yet it still haunts me with a vivid image of the horrific consequences that prisoners of war can face despite the terms of the geneva convention .  br    br   a unit of australian underwater demolitions experts are captured in an archipelago near japan following a successful mission to set mines in a japanese harbor .  br    br   once in prison these men expect the same treatment as any other pows but to their dismay soon learn from a friendly japanese prison guard that they are being tried as spies since they were out of uniform when captured . the consequences of such an infraction  by japanese martial code  is execution by beheading .  br    br   despite their pleas  and the pleas of the sympathetic prison guard  the day of reckoning approaches like a ticking time bomb . the tension is so high you will actually hear the ticking  though it may just be your chest pounding with the percussion of a marching execution squad .  br    br   the ending is actually too painful to reenact in my head much less write it here . but i can promise you   you  ll never forget it . good luck finding the video in the u . s .  
i saw this a couple of nights back  not expecting too much and unsurprisingly it didn  t deliver anything too exciting . the plot set up of a crew of vampire hunters  v  san  for vampire sanitation   going around in their spaceship periodically killing space vamps and rescuing people  is quite sound and had the film been handled better it might well have been something quite ace . unfortunately after a fairly decent opening the sense of actual quality starts to drain away from the film  leaving something behind that  though vacantly watchable  is quite laughably bad . i don  t expect anything too special from these films that pop up on the sci fi channel and at least this wasn  t one of their creature features with an atrocious cgi beast shambling about  but it was still pretty bad  mostly due to the writing and acting  but with a sterling contribution to the overall badness made by the horrible music . when the film opted just for a typical science fiction sounding weird noises approach to the soundtrack it did ok  but all too often hilariously bad soft rock intruded and pitched scenes into silliness . i would have tolerated the general cheesy acting and writing more were it not for the choice of music  which was a serious miscalculation  turning things from cheesy to lamely comical . of the acting  dominic zamprogna was ok but bland as the nominal hero  whilst leanne adachi was pretty irritating as the tough girl of the vamp busting team and aaron pearl played another member who wasn  t well written or interesting enough to make an impression . though she didn  t seem that good at the acting lark natassia malte did well through having a less irritating character than the others  and the fact that she is seriously nice to look at . the only serious name in the cast is michael ironside and he is underused though he does nicely  pretty amusing in a manner one suspects was intentional . he seems to have fun and earn his paycheck and his role is entertaining . the effects are ok on the whole  they are at least of the standards of the average science fiction tv show  and there are also a few scenes of blood splatter and a bit of fun gore as well . things move along nicely  and i almost feel harsh rating this film badly  but then i remember bursting into laughter at regular intervals and realising that unless the film is an intentional comedy  which i don  t think it is  then it simply doesn  t succeed . too much is lame  daft  unconvincing  its an ok effort i guess but it didn  t appeal to me . only give it a go if you really dig sci fi trash or unintended chuckles i  d say .  
i saw this australian film about   years ago and have never forgotten it . the movie shows the horror of war in a way that hollywood usually glosses over . the relationship between the soldiers of the two warring countries is highlighted by the differences in culture and the ultimate knowledge that in the end we are all really not different on the inside . if you can find any type of copy of this   buy or rent it . you won  t be disappointed  just awed .  
this movie is not as horrible as most sci  fi channel movies . i am used to seeing the gray cgi blobs and the amateurish special effects such as close  ups of fake blood that make it very obvious that the blood is strawberry syrup or some other syrup variation . however  i had thought that i had seen all the possible lows that the sci  fi channel could hit . then i saw this movie .  br    br   imagine a hand inside a rubberized sock that is glazed with syrup  those are the main alien vampires in this movie . you can clearly see the fingers inside the rubbery sock puppets . a talking hand comes out of the guts of victims  and the vampire who is on the vampire hunter  s team can talk to these rubber sock puppets in transylvanian . how did alien vampires learn transylvanian  and isn  t transylvania in romania  so shouldn  t they be talking romanian  why would some little town have their own language  if you can suspend your gag reflex and get past the talking rubber socks with the fingers clearly moving inside the aliens  heads then you have to deal with the other alien vampires . there are the  leatherfaces  who like to wear the faces of their victims . then there are the just plain ugly ones that all seem to have a lot of facial scars . then there are the annoying valley girls and their boyfriends who are human traitors and sneak into space colonies so that they can sabotage the defense systems so that these space vampires can attack .  br    br   finally  if you think all of the above is funny and worth a laugh  you have to deal with the third rate cast of network tv rejects that make up this team of stereotypical angry heroes which are constantly fighting among themselves . why does almost every sci  fi channel movie have to use lead characters that are annoying  abrasive  crude  or just totally unsympathetic  i found myself hoping the talking rubber socks would win .  
i had seen this movie long time back  but found it amazing and to this day it has never stopped amazing me .  br    br   a wonderful movie that describes the account of a group of australian commandos who tried to sink some japanese ships at the singapore harbor during the height of ww  .  br    br   these commandos are caught in plain  clothes and they are considered to be spies by the japanese captors . but something happens that hasn  t been explored much in any hollywood ww  movie that i have seen .  br    br   a close and friendly bonding develops between the captors and the captives . they begin to respect each other  while the captain of the captured australian soldiers become the best of friends with a senior japanese prison guard . this is the most wonderful part of the whole movie and it really tugs your heart .  br    br   soon  one day as the two friends are conversing  the aussie captain learns that some other captives are going to be tried and executed for the sinking of the jap ships in the singapore harbor .  br    br   he mentions that it was his team and not some other  s that had sunk the ships to his japanese friend  and upon hearing this the japanese guard tells him to keep quiet as it might lead to his whole group getting executed . but the captain remains adamant on confessing this to the japanese authorities .  br    br   finally  the japanese authorities sentence them to death in the most respectful way that is according to their rules . this is the highest honor accorded to the captured warriors in japan .  br    br   this is the most awesome part of the film where the aussie soldiers are awaiting their imminent death and the tense indecision of the friendly japanese guard who is still not ready to believe that why did his aussie friend confess being guilty .  br    br   i won  t give away the ending here . but it is more poignant than one can even imagine and can easily move one to tears .  br    br   all in all  an excellent underrated movie that possibly didn  t get the recognition that it deserved internationally . get one copy today and be mesmerized .  
if it were not for the  oh so gourgous   natassia malthe  this b  movie would not have been worth one sector of my tivo disk space  in what low rent  back lot warehouse was the supposed space port filmed in   continuity people   it  s a basic principle in real movie making  by night an alleged space port and by day  night and day on a space station   a warehouse      people please  the only thing i will commend this movie for  is the wardrobe dept . for continuously  keeping natassia in those tight shape revealing outfits  even the women who saw this bomb had to appreciate the outfits that she obviously spent some time getting into  each day of filming  the sci  fi channel would have been better off showing spaceballs  at least there would have been some real humor in watching something so unbelievable .  br    br   p . s . michael ironside  please fire your agent asap  you are so much better of an actor  to be even associated with this level of movie making .  
some war movies succeed where others do not  and that can be judged from a variety of angles . the humanistic angle  one where you can feel the raw emotions  the terror of being under attack  the camaraderie amongst soldiers  the arduous trials people face inside them when in combat  etc . .  are always movies i find compelling . movies like das boot and a midnight clear are but two examples of movies that you sense a connection to the characters in the film .  br    br   this film succeeds on that level as well . it speaks of  the highest honor  and that honor is doing the right thing . these   soldiers did the right thing  they had honor and it is recognized in a way wholly incompatible with western thought  but it is  to the very end  a true story of honor . unforgettable movie . based on the true story .  
bloodsuckers has the potential to be a somewhat decent movie  the concept of military types tracking down and battling vampires in space is one with some potential in the cheesier realm of things . even the idea of the universe being full of various different breeds of vampire  all with different attributes  many of which the characters have yet to find out about  is kind of cool as well . as to how most of the life in the galaxy outside of earth is vampire  i  m not sure how the makers meant for that to work  given the nature of vampires . who the hell they are meant to be feeding on if almost everyone is a vampire i don  t know . as it is the movie comes across a low budget mix of firefly  serenity and vampires movies with a dash of aliens .  br    br   the action parts of the movie are pretty average and derivative  particularly of serenity  but passable  they are reasonably well executed and there is enough gore for a vampire flick  including some of the comical blood  spurting variety . there is a lot of character stuff  most of which is tedious  coming from conflicts between characters who mostly seem like whiny  immature arseholes  primarily cowboy dude and asian woman . there are a few character scenes that actually kind of work and the actors don  t play it too badly but it mostly slows things down . a nice try at fleshing the characters out but people don  t watch a movie called bloodsuckers for character development and drama . the acting is actually okay . michael ironside hams it up and is as fun to watch as ever and at least of a couple of the women are hot . the space sfx aren  t too bad for what is clearly a low budget work . the story is again pretty average and derivative but as i said the world created has a little bit of potential . the way things are set up bloodsuckers really does seem like the pilot for a tv series  character dynamics introduced  the world introduced but not explored  etc .  br    br   the film does have a some highlights and head scratching moments  the kind of stuff that actually makes these dodgy productions watchable .  the scene where our heroes interrogate a talking sock puppet chestburster type creature . hilarious .  the  sex scene .  wtf indeed .  the credit  and michael ironside as muco .  the most annoying aspect of it all though is the really awful and usually inappropriate pop music they have playing very loud over half the scenes of the movie . it is painful to listen to and only detracts from what is only average at best .  br    br   basically an okay watch is you  re up for something cheesy  even if it is just for the  chestburster  scene .  
this movie has everything that makes a bad movie worth watching  sloppy editing  little to no continuity  insane dialog  bad  you might even say non  existent  acting  pointless story lines  shots that go on far too long . . . and it  s perfect for mst  k  style riffing  not to mention the  corpse eaters drinking game   scribble on forms . . . take a shot  sign your name . . . take a shot  catch a bad foley edit . . . take many  many shots .  br    br   the only reason i didn  t rate it higher than  is because there  s not enough gratuitous nudity and because despite its insane badness  it  s only an hour long  hell  a movie like this should have been at least      minutes longer   
i give this movie a  as it is worse than the cult movies that deserve a proper  . it does not make sense to you  well  it doesn  t have to . this is another vampire movie with a stupid plot  no  let me rephrase  incredibly idiotic plot  where space cowboys  complete with cowboy hats  battle a space race of moron vampires .  br    br   does it get any uglier than this  the only good thing in this movie was natassia malthe  with her stunning norwegian beauty . god  i wish michael ironside and the deluise brothers would stop accepting dumb roles in dumb movies  i mean  at least seaquest was nice  i know mr . ironside from a lot of movies  he has acted in    movies at this date   it  s true that he was rarely in a major role  but still   
i watched this flick yesterday and i have to say it  s the finest horror film made for        i  ve ever seen  sorry steckler  the film is definitely worth seeking out if you are a zombie fan . this movie reeks of soul and atmosphere . some of the shots of the zombs are the best ever committed to film . very creepy looking dusty webbed corpses slowly shamble to their screaming victims . brrrrrrr .  br    br   hot saggy canadian women with sexy accents will keep you preoccupied before the horror rears its undead corpse eating head . this film entertained from start to finish . i couldn  t ask for more than that . my only complaint is that is was too short .  
my commentary has nothing to do with the political sentiments found in the film . in fact  they  re quite congruent with mine . what gets me is the fact that in terms of a movie  it is stupid and devoid of any semblance of story  motive or dialogue . maybe someone should tell neal that substituting lyrics of songs which are failing to inspire anyone outside of a dwindling audience isn  t the same thing as creating characters who are motivated to speak because of events created by the writer or director . a silly narrative remains as such despite the iconic legacy of neal young . the most childish scene is the one where the devil dances his way into a bar  slips a tonic to an unsuspecting hero  who then finds his way onto the dance floor to mouth the words to young song to the heroine  who is unaware of what  s taken place . somehow these two dream up a scheme where they will go up the west coast in search of      sorry neal  stick with music and leave film making to steven stills .  
this is a pretty decent example of film noir . the setting is the early    s with the communists trying to steal weapon secrets from the us government .  br    br   richard widmark is the suave pickpocket without scruples . he gives a pretty decent performance but there is nothing a  list about him . the interesting thing was that he was not only an anti  hero but through most of the film  an unlikeable anti  hero . that is not very normal . jean peters gave a so  so performance as the hooker with the heart of gold . that great character actress thelma ritter shines as the stool  pigeon .  br    br   the plot had its fair share of twists and turns  wisecracks and tough talk . there is a fight scene near the end of the movie  in the subway station  that was pretty gritty and exciting .  br    br   i think noir fans  like myself  will enjoy this film . for non  noir viewers  it may seem a little dated and the whole commie thing a tad overdone .  
a film written and directed by neil young   greendale  is little more than an    minute music video set to a doxen or so of the songwriter  s works . in lieu of dialogue  the film relies exclusively on young  s lyrics  which are heavily laced with sociopolitical commentary  to tell the  story  while actors act out the scenes .  br    br   given the hammy performances and the shoddy graininess of the picture  the effect is the equivalent of young blowing up some of his own home movies and releasing them for public consumption . although there is allegedly a  story  running through the film  we really have no idea what is going on thanks mainly to the unpolished look of the film  the lack of dialogue and the amateurish ineptitude of the acting . all we get for eighty  seven minutes is a bunch of aging hippies cavorting silently through an incoherent narrative while young  s songs play endlessly on the soundtrack . the whole thing turns into a tedious exercise in self  indulgence .  greendale  gives off  hollywood  low budget movie  making a bad name .  
samuel fuller is an interesting filmmaker  mainly because he had some very inconsistent politics in his films . while  shock corridor  and  the naked kiss  represented the hypocrisies and lunacy of america and  the big red one  was an effective portrait of the horrors of war   merrill  s marauders  painted war as necessary hell and  pickup on south street  is about the dangers of communist spies . all of his films make for very entertaining viewing  and even though he was often pigeonholed as a b  filmmaker  fuller was just as good as any of the major studio contractors .  pickup on south street  is no exception  and despite the dated themes  the film  making style is remarkably ahead of its time . its also a very quickly  pace  tight  and occasionally brutal film noir .  br    br   the acting across the board is fantastic . richard widmark makes for a great anti  hero and jean peters is quite sexy as a girl who works for her communist spy boyfriend . the show stealer is thlema ritter however  in an absolutely delightful performance as a police stoolie . the angles fuller employs are great  making the acting sequences all the more exciting and brutal  this is very violent for its time  . the camera continuously moves around just as tarantino and his school would do forty years later .  pickup on south street  is a great action  paced noir thriller .  shock corridor  remains my favorite fuller film  but this is a very close second .        
i  m a big mark for the music of neil young  and with that and the glowing praise the film received in many alt  indie press circles  hit the first showing of greendale i could find . my excitement was short  lived  as this turgid storyline and weak lyrical momentum left most filmgoers either asleep or disappointed .  br    br   neil says the film started as a soundtrack  and the characters came to life so much that they just filmed the soundtrack . not the best way to craft a story . no character really has an arc  and when  significant  events do happen  the viewer doesn  t cared  because film technique annoyance levels are so high by that point . the film is all song  and to that end  the characters on end mouth the lyrics as they  re sung . . . the technique works for the first stanza it is done  and is grating on the nerves after that . it doesn  t feel real or fake  it just feels unwelcome .  br    br   terrible acting  with characters finding one mood and playing all of it . poor lighting at times . the only kudos i can give the film are in regard to several scenes shot as newscast  but the technique is so used in cinema today that this film did little to further it . an alright soundtrack  but nothing i  m quick to buy . a bad film .  
richard widmark is a tainted character in this movie . he is a professional pickpocket . he  s been in prison three times  yet at the beginning of the film  he tries to make it four . thelma ritter is a busy body selling information to almost everybody . jean peters is amazing as the girl flamed by widmark .  br    br   this is a period piece during the mccarthy era where the red scare ruled the politics and is worked into this plot quite nicely . what is unusual about this film is that peters  ritter are both victims of violent beatings in an era where women were seldom more than sex objects in films . this is what makes this film noir as women often got different roles in this type of film .  br    br   the film is only   minutes long and was obviously made by fox as the under card for double features in the theater . the sets show it is a limited budget film . the script made j edgar hoover mad because patriotism is given short shrift . hoover wanted it changed .  br    br   instead  it became a b under card picture that was a sleeper hit in     . the script  acting in it are better than other big features were that year .  
i had the distinct misfortune of catching up on two of      s worst films back to back this morning first  the incoherent cgi  driven emptiness of the chronicles of riddick  and then  the embarrassing vanity project known as greendale . one cost multimillions and the other cost pennies  but they  re both bad . really  really bad .  br    br   up front i should state i  m not the world  s biggest neil young fan  but he has contributed his share of classic tunes from buffalo springfield  whose best recordings were young compositions  to rust never sleeps  harvest  and mirror ball  the man has penned some really great songs . sadly  there are no great songs in greendale  and precious few good ones  and the film around which they are built is truly cringeworthy and simplistic political sloganeering . completely without merit as art and unimpressive as polemic  greendale is best left forgotten . buy the book if you feel compelled to contribute to young  s bank account .  
this a rip roaring western and i have watched it many times and it entertains on every level . however if your after the true facts about such legends as hickcock  cody and calamity jane then look elsewhere  as john ford suggested this is the west when the truth becomes legend print the legend . the story moves with a cracking pace  and there is some great dialogue between gary cooper and jean arthur two very watchable stars who help to make this movie . the sharp eyed amongst you might just spot gabby hayes as an indian scout  also there is a very young anthony quinn making his debut as cayenne warrior  he actually married one of demilles daughters in real life . indeed its quinns character who informs cooper of the massacre of custer told in flash back  the finale is well done and when the credits roll it fuses the american west with american history . so please take time out to watch this classic western .  
one could wish that an idea as good as the  invisible man  would work better and be more carefully handled in the age of fantastic special effects  but this is not the case . the story  the characters and  finally the entire last   minutes of the film are about as fresh as a mad  scientist flick from the early    s . there are some great moments  mostly due to the amazing special effects and to the very idea of an invisible man stalking the streets . but alas  soon we  re back in the cramped confinement of the underground lab  which means that the rest of the film is not only predictable  but schematic .  br    br   there has been a great many remakes of old films or tv shows over the past   years  and some of them have their charms . but it  s becoming clearer and clearer for each film that the idea of putting ol  classics under the noses of eager madmen like verhoeven  who does have his moments  is a very bad one . it is obvious that the money is the key issue here the time and energy put into the script is nowhere near enough  and as a result   hollow man  is seriously undermined with clichs  sappy characters  predictability and lack of any depth whatsoever .  br    br   however  the one thing that actually impressed me  beside the special effects  was the swearing . when making this kind of film  modern producers are very keen on allowing kids to see them . therefore  the language  and  sometimes  the violence and sex  is very toned down . when the whole world blows up  the good guys go  oh darn   and  oh my god  .  hollow man  gratefully discards that kind of hypocrisy and the characters are at liberty to say what comes most natural to them . i  m not saying that the most natural response to something gone wrong is to swear  but it makes it more believable if someone actually swears . i think we can thank verhoeven for that .  
thelma ritter did steal the picture . i just finished watching it again . i couldn  t help becoming emotional in her final scene . she didn  t get the oscar . that  s why you shouldn  t put too much faith in oscars . richard widmark never had a better part and was perfect casting as a   d  flawed human being . jean peters was great as the streetwise  tough girl in her best role ever . and richard kiley must have been very good why else would i have hated him so . yes  it was heavy handed on the patriotism but  without it  you don  t have much of a film . watch their faces  the top three stars didn  t really need much script . i would like to have seen them do this film without dialogue . if you  ve ever seen ray milland and rita gam in  the thief   maybe you know what i mean . when i was a kid in     on my first trip to nyc  i made my bronx uncle drive us to the foot of south street looking for no .   . that  s when i knew that hollywood couldn  t be trusted . but i did find the river .  br    br   i  m not giving away much of the story because i hate it when i know what happens before i see it for myself . if you have seen it  no elucidation is necessary . just maybe  someone who is reading these comments hasn  t seen  pickup on south street  . you will like it just don  t go looking for   south street in new york city .  
i saw this movie a few months ago in the town which appeared as greendale in the movie  which is the only reason i went to see it . another local who was there just forwarded to me an email announcement of a repeat showing because the first had sold out and people were turned away . his editorial comment in his forward is a good summary  br    br    yuk .   br    br   unless you  re a neil young fan or live in  near  greendale   if the latter you know the real name   skip this movie . it  s mostly an ego trip for the filmmaker . it has no discernible plot  the music is merely ok  and too much of the lyrics are unintelligible making it impossible to follow what little shreds of plot there may be .  br    br   i don  t need to put in a spoiler warning because there are no surprises to give away .  br    br   i  d give this a  .      but that  s just for the amusement value of seeing the locales made into a movie . it wasn  t worth the   . i could rent a video camera and drive around  greendale  and make a better movie myself .  br    br   if you want to see a good environmental  message movie with no plot  go rent koyaanisqatsi .  
this     sam fuller movie contains some of his best work  and its sad that he couldn  t continue to get the backing of major hollywood studios to do his stuff . the story line goes something like this . a tough hard broad  read prostitute  is riding the subway one hot summer day  and gets her pocketbook picked by skip mccoy . what skip  and the dame  don  t realize is that she is also carrying some microfilm to be passed to commie spies . this opening shot without dialogue  and mostly in tight close  ups is a beaut  one of the many that fuller uses throughout the movie . playing the babe known as candy is jean peters  who was never better nor better looking . one forgets how beautiful she was  and she handles this role very well . the pickpocket is played by richard widmark  who had already made his mark  and set his style with      s kiss of death as the crazy creep with the creepy laugh  and although he  s a little  softer  here  he  s still scary . these hard edged characters do have soft spots here and there  but its noir and nasty all the way . the standout performance belongs to the wonderful thelma ritter  who plays moe the stoolie saving up her dough to pay for her own funeral . ritter received a well deserved oscar nomination for her performance  but lost out to the boring but popular performance of donna reed as the b girl  read prostitute  in  from here to eternity .  hollywood loves it when a good girl goes bad  and loves to oscar them even though their performance is usually awful . see for instance shirley jones in  elmer gantry . set among the docks and dives of new york city  with crisp black and white photography by the great joe macdonald  and some very good art direction . especially good is the set representing the new york city subways and widmark  s shack near the river . made at the height of the cold war and red scare  the villian of the piece is the ordinary looking commie  played by richard kiley who is much more dangerous than the pickpocket who is a criminal but is just trying to make a living and above all is a loyal american .  
i have seen many a horror flick in my time  all of them absurdly bad  but none reach the depths that this piece of trash lowers itself to . this movie made me angrier and angrier as i watched it as i tried to wrap my head around exactly what this movie was about . now  after i  ve seen it  i understand  sort of  what was going on and why  but the movie itself is just too confusing to be enjoyable when you  re watching it . yes  there are the customary scenes of gratuitious violence  one  liners that show the mind  blowing insightfulness of its characters   the highway belongs to me . . . me     and enough nudity to sufficiently distract us from the  plot   but still you  ll leave this movie feeling alone and taken advantage of  like a puppy who isn  t wanted anymore and is left in a box by the side of the road . blech .  
in what will probably find itself on my list of fuller  s best movies  that is  once i see more of them that just this and shock corridor   pickup on south street is a film noir where the femme fatale  as well as the male protagonist  are not the stereotypical ones in the genre . like most of his other works  fuller injects his own experiences and the sense of new york style that is usually absent in the hollywood noirs . on a small budget  at least for the likes of darryl f . zanuck  fuller and his actors create personas that are likable even in such a dark atmosphere . the good guys are basically the ones who won  t get violent with you even as they  re looking for an extra buck .  br    br   richard widmark  jean peters  and thelma ritter are all terrific in the lead parts . widmark is one only a few actors i can think of who could  ve really pulled off this character . he  s a little like bugs bunny  as he can be a wise  ass who is a little sneaky . on the other hand  the character of skip mccoy does have a set of values in his life . he doesn  t go into other people  s affairs  and doesn  t try and care about much of the working world outside of his little shack on the river  after being sent away for three years . he slips up  unbeknownst to him  when he pickpockets a woman  peters  on the train  and lifts an item that  s under the eye of the government . it may have some secrets that could make him a lot of money . but at what cost is the centerpiece of the film  as it involves stoolie moe  ritter is one of the finest  and most believable  character actors from the period   the woman  s ex  a volatile kiley   and the police department .  br    br   aside from the thematic elements  which are told with a keen dramatic  journalistic style  as was fuller  s previous position  along with boxer   the dialog is fresh and involving . there  s a spontaneity in many of fuller  s camera moves . and what a third act . this is a lean  tight film  noir that is worth checking out even if you  re not familiar with fuller  it  s comparatively less bizarre than some of his later works  .  
in this short an urban man and his wife have their weird lives set akimbo when the man takes to wearing an old red pants suit of his mother in law  s .  br    br   i kept watching this hoping that i could see why it had been made  or why the other reviewers found it funny . for me it was a total waste of time .  br    br   not everyone  s tastes are the same but this was clearly not to mine .  
director sam fuller has something of a cult following  particularly in europe . yet the bulk of his films are more than forgettable . he did however direct one really terrific movie in  pickup on south street  . made pretty early on in his career  the movies that followed were vastly inferior .  br    br   from the first to the last frame   pickup  works on all levels . it  s filmed with flawless fluidity  boasting fine performances all round . richard widmark and thelma ritter both players with a fine record of top notch performances  are at their peak . widmark  who was no stranger at playing villains  while truly mean to the core  still manages to reveal just the slightest humanity which makes his character fascinating as well as making jean peters character  s falling for him all the more credible .  br    br   fuller holds no punches in this genuinely tough movie . there is a scene in which jean peters get roughed up by widmark . it  s truly shocking in its reality . this is not a case of carefully choreographed photography .  br    br   less self conscious than many film noir  s of the period this remains a great example of the genre .  
although the actors were good  specially fritzi haberland as the blind lilly  the film script is obsessively pretentious and completely arbitrary . a famous theatre director  hilmir snr gunason   becoming blind after a car accident  is on the run for himself and his destiny . lilly  being sightless since her birth  is teacher for blind persons  and wants to make him  seeing  again .  blind persons are seeing with their fingers  nose and ears .  here this movie is becoming a roadmovie and the longer the road becomes  the closer their relation develops  which was predictable since the beginning of the film . the theatre director is on the road to his mother  jenny grllmann  . his mother is living somewhere in russia on the sea and making artistic installations  of course  what should she do other   and she is still living  because she is waiting his son  to die . my god  this are destinies   br    br   finally the son arrived  mum is celebrating a big party  at the beach . wind is blowing and a pianist is playing on a real piano in the middle of a dune . yes  they are celebrating her farewell . the son arrives just in time . mother can finally swallow the pills administered by a pretty nurse . now a great artist can die in the arms of her great artist son  speaking sad contemplations about live in perfect german  while the son is answering with a rough accent . because the son is unable to see  he is not falling in love to the nurse   the film script would have become also too complicate   but is looking for lilly on the way back to home .  br    br   parallel to this roadmovie the sister of lilly  staying at home is asking a gawky schoolmate to deflower her  who has first to booze himself to courage . the occasion is favourable . because mum  tina engel  is on journey together with the lover of lilly  paul  harald schrott  . they are after lilly  to bring her back . paul and the mother of lilly are not falling in love  because the film script would have become too complicate . the film script missed to make out of paul something exceptional too . i would suggest an architect or a pianist  or course a famous one  when they finally find lilly  they want to convince her  to come back to paul  because he has two eyes to see and is able to care for her . but lilly felt in love to his pupil  the theatre director did i mention  that he was even a famous theatre director   br    br   this is german film art  as you may see in this pretentious production  that the german film subsidy fund is not always producing good films  because they subsidy just such kind of pseudo intellectual films . this film is really embarrassing . i have the impression  that the film script has been cobbled together from some highbrows in coffee shops and restaurants . everybody is entitled to contribute with an idea . probably also til schweiger has contributed with some intellectual flash of wit  being a co  producer . i was reminded by this film script to an other german film of absolute painfulness  barfuss   already the spelling of the title is not right   barfuss  dvd cover writes proudly  a til schweiger film  . this film got also subsidies of filmstiftung nrw  filmfrderung hamburg and the ffa .  br    br   please don  t spoil your time with this film  there are really good films in germany . watch out for film directors like marcus h . rosenmller  joseph vilsmaier  hans steinbichler  hans  christian schmid  faith akin . . .  
samuel fuller brings his customary playful and stylish direction to this seedy  pulpy story and manages to create one of the undiscovered gems of     s cinema .  br    br   richard widmark plays a petty thief tough guy  a role he perfected over the course of many movies   who snatches a young lady  s  jean peters  wallet on a new york subway and with it a piece of much  wanted microfilm . this is      so of course the microfilm is property of commie spies who will stop at nothing to get it back . when the girl shows up at widmark  s waterfront shack  sent by an abusive boyfriend to reclaim the film  widmark senses the opportunity to shake her and her  comrades  down for big money . the plot thickens  people start dying  and widmark and peters fall in love .  br    br   fuller handles the love story clumsily  but more from a sense of indifference than bad writing or direction . it  s as if he included a love story under duress  and so made it intentionally unbelievable  as love stories so frequently were and still are in hollywood films . peters gives a remarkable performance as a tough new yawk cookie  part gangster moll and part damsel in distress . when violence occurs against her  we genuinely care about her well being  and it  s typical of fuller  s renegade  ahead  of  his  time style that a happy ending is not necessarily a foregone conclusion .  br    br   but the ultimate success of  pickup on south street  rests squarely on the world  weary shoulders of thelma ritter  who plays moe  a feisty lady who makes money any way she can  whether that be selling neckties or acting as a police informant . ritter gives the performance of her career in a breathtaking monologue  she conveys without ever directly addressing it the entire sad trajectory of her character  s life  and the hopelessness she feels waking up every morning to a world of struggle  crime and hardship . it  s as if every character ritter ever played converges for one brief instant to give vent to all of the emotions they weren  t given a chance to vent in those other movies . the scene is the highlight of fuller  s film  and a highlight of   s cinema  period .  br    br   grade a  
this film started out very promising with the story about a director who loses his sight and a blind woman who is bound to help him . however  somewhere in the middle it seemed like the script writers didn  t know where to go from there .  br    br   one unbelievable event followed the next  russia must be very small because they are all bumping into each other all the time   the motivation of the female lead character comprehensible  why does she still follow him after they got off the ship  why doesn  t she try to borrow a mobile phone on the ship to call somebody    the side stories were completely ridiculous  was the story with the mother and the boyfriend supposed to be funny  and what was the story with the younger sister about   . still with all this seeming arbitrariness of the plot  the movie managed to be completely predictable .  br    br   the saddest thing about it is that there was a lot of potential . as i said  the idea of the film was good  the visuals and the score were very beautiful and the actors of the main characters were good  too . so this could have been a really good film . . . but it wasn  t .  
this film is a spicy little piece of film  making from sam fuller which gives richard widmark the chance to show of some of his best  most edgy acting in the role of skip mccoy  a small  time thief who stumbles onto a military secret while picking beautiful candy  s  jean peters  pocket on a crowded bus . it turns out candy was doing a favor for her  ex   boyfriend  who  s working for the  commies  .  br    br   superficially  there  s a mystery here regarding candy  s motives and skip spends much of the film determining her motives . actually he seems to just initially assume that she  s a  commie   going so far as to pour beer in her face in a callous gesture . but the real question is  what  s going on with skip  what are his motives  and why does candy like him so much  why do we  the audience  want to like him so much  basically what the film  makers have done here is create a very striking  male fatale  in widmark  s character and his performance . just as the male audience tends to ponder through the length of a film like  the big sleep  or  the glass key  along with the main characters whether the female character is trustworthy or just a pretty face  the film  makers have here created a similar quandary for female viewers . widmark is handsome  and there  s also a charm in his boyish insouciance  but the first two times he meets our leading lady  he robs her and then punches her in the face . eventually the question becomes  would skip sink so low as to sell out his country for a buck  his comments to the police  like  you  re waving a flag at me   make us suspect he would  or is he simply out for revenge for the murder of his friend moe  thelma ritter   i  m not sure that the film gives us a conclusive answer either way .  br    br   thelma ritter  s character work deserves special mention  she has created a truly indelible character here . fuller isn  t afraid to give her plenty of  business   in the form of physical objects that she uses to draw the audience into her world  particularly her used ties . another example of fuller  s  business  would be the scene with victor perry  an actor i  ve seen elsewhere used to less effect  using the chopsticks to intimidate candy .  br    br   the emphasis on moe  s relationship with skip provides one of cinema  s most revealing  honor among thieves  themes . in fact skip has the same kind of ease and the same kind of casual relationship with the police  with the notable exception of capt . tiger  murvyn vye  who has a grudge against him . i loved the scene where he invited the cops in by name and offered them a beer when they came to pick him up at his shack . those are the kind of details that make this film feel real  whether or not it really is  realistic  or whether that would matter are entirely separate questions .  br    br   all told  i would say this is an essential crime film which displays a lot of the best and most durable attributes of the  film noir  school of film  making . a predictable plot is off  set by a host of colorful characters  uniformly well  performed   cheap sets are disguised by the film  s unrelenting pace  and the final product feels a lot more substantial than it probably is . this is the best film i  ve seen so far by sam fuller and helps me to see better why he  s regarded as a master director  here he accomplished some things that i think he tried but ultimately failed to do in other films like  the crimson kimono  and  shock corridor  as far as very emphatic acting styles and really gripping suspense . this is one of my favorite performances from widmark that i  ve seen so far  and widmark was a talent that i  m tempted to say  based on the few extraordinary films i  ve seen with him  was comparable to that of alan ladd or humphrey bogart  although arguably he didn  t make as many classic films .  
given the people involved  it is hard to see why this movie should be so messed up and dull . the writer  david ward  wrote the amazing caper film  the sting  two years later  jane fonda had just won an academy award for klute  and donald sutherland had just done excellent work in films like  klute    start the revolution without me   and  kelly  s heroes .  plotwise  the movie is a caper tale  with a small gang of bumbling misfits planning a big heist . at the same time the movie wants to be hip satire  a series of comedy sketches of the type that the nbc television show  saturday night  would do so well two years later . the bad result is that the plot makes the comedy bits seem awkward and forced and the disconnected comedy bits destroy any kind of suspense that the heist might have . it is quite literally a movie that keeps smashing into itself  just as the cars in the cars in the demolition scenes run into each other .  br    br   the only real interest for me was watching jane fonda . her  iris caine  is supposed to be a light hearted version of her dramatic bree daniels prostitute character in  klute  yet  one doesn  t believe her for a moment . it is always jane fonda pretending to be a prostitute that we are watching . it is as terrible a performance as her performance in  klute  was terrific . it would be a good lesson for acting teachers to run the two films together to show how the same actress in the same type of role can be great or pathetic . it suggests that actors are only as good as their writers and directors .  
this crime thriller is sort of like a film noir  though changes the context from post  war to cold war and has something relatively decent to say about humanity . in  pickup on south street   policemen are good guys  criminals are genuine guys  and the only enemies are  the commies   who are ultimately differentiated from the good  guys in that they are emotionally personable  driven by an actual care for their own worth  as shown in the constant tracked  in close  ups that speckle the movie .  br    br   this movie revolves around characters . the personalities in this film are rather unique and detailed skip the pick  pocket who is able to stare down any danger  and sometimes while going through their personal possessions moe the informer who is just trying to save up for a spectacular funeral  but who manages to capture the hearts and respect of nearly all the other characters  and the audience   candy  the ill  named innocent girl who only thinks she  s doing government work and doesn  t fully comprehend the conspiracy she  s involved with and joey  the ex  boyfriend evil commie baddie who is trying to hide everything from everybody and  ironically  is the worst person at doing it . throw in a bunch of very colorful supporting characters  such as the guy with the chopsticks and the policemen  and  pickup on south street  treats you to a splendor of personalities as they hunt down the mysterious and accidentally stolen microfilm frames .  br    br     polarisdib  
this is one of the worst movies i  ve seen in a long time . not just the story  but the acting is shockingly bad . the dialog sounds like someone reading the news .  br    br   this is rated as comedy  drama  romance  it  s not of those things  it  s a little action  that  s it . there  s really no comedy and drama at all .  br    br   if you went to the cinema to see this i feel sorry for you . i would not recommend it at all . pretty much anything else that you choose to look at will be better . this is pretty much a action  crime movie . the actions scenes sucked  and crime story part of it was very predictable .  br    br   if you are not really interested in a good story  or good acting . and you simply want to look at a  foreign  film for the appeal of being foreign . then this might be for you .  
  shock corridor        was my first film from samuel fuller  and there i was impressed with the director  s astute blending of b  movie and big  budget aesthetics  even if the story itself was pure schlock .  pickup on south street        was released a decade earlier in fuller  s career  obviously produced on a larger budget from a big  name studio  twentieth century  fox . nevertheless  the visuals are still notable in that there  s a somewhat raw  naturalistic element to the photography  not unlike dassin  s  the night and the city        and kazan  s  panic in the streets        the latter was also shot by cinematographer joe mcdonald . in some scenes  fuller shoves the camera so close to his actors  faces that they  re out of focus  bluntly registering the intimate thoughts  emotions and brief inflections that are communicated through that most revealing of facial features  the eye . though  unexpectedly  prone to melodrama  and with just a hint of anti  communist propaganda   pickup on south street  is a strong film noir that succeeds most outstandingly in its evocation of setting  the underground of new york city .  br    br   when just  out  of  prison pickpocket skip mccoy  richard widmark  snags the purse of a woman on the subway  jean peters   he pockets more than he  d originally bargained for . the woman  candy  and her cowardly ex  boyfriend joey  richard kiley  had been smuggling top  secret information to the communists  and mckoy has unexpectedly retrieved an important roll of micro  film . will he turn in the macguffin to the proper authorities  or sell it to the highest bidder  if  pickup on south street  has a flaw  it  s that the story seems designed solely to bolster an anti  communist agenda  reeking of propaganda like nothing since wwii dwight taylor  who supplied the story  also notably wrote  the thin man goes home         the only propagandistic movie of the series . for no apparent reason  every identifiable character  even the smugly self  serving skip mccoy  eventually becomes a self  sacrificing patriot  the transformation predictable from the outset . in traditional film noir  the unapologetic criminal always gets his comeuppance  the rational punishment for his sins  but apparently not when they  ve served their country patriotism wipes the slate clean .  br    br   richard widmark  an actor who i  m really beginning to like  plays the haughty pickpocket with composure  though always with that hint of ill  ease that suggests he  s biting off more than he can chew . the opening scene on the train is the film  s finest  as mccoy breathlessly and silently fishes around in his victim  s hand bag  recalling bresson  s  pickpocket       .  thelma ritter is terrific as a tired street  woman who  ll peddle information to anybody willing to pay for it  though  of course  she draws the line at commies  . jean peters is well  cast as the trashy dame passing information to the other side  playing the role almost completely devoid of glamour fuller reportedly cast the actress on the observation that she had the slightly bow  legged strut of a prostitute . nevertheless  peters must suffer a contrived love affair with widmark that really brings down the film  s attempts at realism . fascinatingly  upon its release   pickup on south street  was promptly condemned as communist propaganda by the fbi  and the communist party condemned it for being the exact opposite . go figure .  
unbelievably bad acting  a no good  unclear story and flashy images and slow  motions where they are needed the least adrenaline is everything a movie should not be .  br    br   georgina verbaan  a so  and  so dutch soap actress who hasn  t attended her english classes  plays rich girl freya  who has the habit of  thrill  seeking  . which basicly is doing dangerous stunts  break stuff and annoy people . and not in a fun jackass way . then there  s dracko  rivas  . he kinda leads the bunch but has other illegal activities on the side . then there  s freya  s dad  lockyer   who plays a dubious role as well . and  in the end  we got jason  debutant fyall   the boyfriend of freya .  br    br   one day  freya gets disappeared and everybody seems involved but we  the viewer really don  t care as nobody of the cast is either likable or believable  and the story doesn  t make any sense .  br    br   why was this even made      .  
from the opening scene aboard a crowded train where a ruthless pickpocket is at work  richard widmark  stealing from a woman  s purse  jean peters   pickup on south street is relentlessly fascinating to watch . partly it  s because the acting is uniformly strong from the entire cast  the bw photography is crisp and adds to the starkness of the story and characters  and because samuel fuller  s direction puts him in the same league with the biggies like john  asphalt jungle  huston . in fact  it has the same urgency as the huston film about a heist that goes wrong   but the payoff is not quite as strong .  br    br   jean peters is excellent as the hard  edged girl whom widmark describes as being  knocked around a lot  . she gives a lot of raw energy and sex appeal to her role of the not too bright woman carrying a micro  film in her purse for her boyfriend  richard kiley   something the fbi already knows about . they  re on her trail when the theft occurs .  br    br   thelma ritter adds realism to her portrait of a woman called  moe  who buys and sells anything to make a profit and ends up paying for it with her life . she  s particularly touching in her final scene with kiley .  br    br   this one is guaranteed to hold your attention through its one hour and twenty minute running time . good noir from fox and notable for the performances of widmark  peters and ritter .  
i caught this cuban film at at an arthouse film club . it was shown shortly after the magisterial     silly symphony cartoon where the isle of symphony is reconciled with the isle of jazz . what with the recently deceased ruben gonzalez piped through speakers in this old cinema  ballroom and a cuban flag hanging from peeling stucco rocaille motifs  the scene was set for a riproaring celebration of engaged filmmaking and synchronised hissing at the idiocies of helms  burton . but then the film started . and the cinema  s peeling paint gradually became more interesting than the shoddy mess on  screen .  br    br   the storyline of nada mas promises much . carla is a bored envelope  stamper at a cuban post office . her only escape from an altogether humdrum existence is to purloin letters and rewrite them  transforming basic interpersonal grunts into brontan outbursts of breathless emotion . cue numerous shots of photogenic cubans gushing with joy  grief  pity  terror and the like .  br    br   the problem is that the simplicity of the narrative is marred by endless excursions into film  school artiness  latino caricature  marx brothers slapstick and even  during a particularly underwhelming editing trick  the celluloid scratching of a schoolkid defacement onto a character  s face .  br    br   unidimensional characters abound . cunda  the boss at the post office  is a humourless dominatrix  nosferatu . her boss  eyed accomplice  concha  variously points fingers  eavesdrops and screeches . cesar  the metalhead dolt and romantic interest  reveals hidden writing talent when carla departs for miami . a chase scene  in oh  so  hilarious fast  forward  is thrown in for good measure . all this would be fine in a mortadello and filemon comic strip  but in a black  and  white zero  fx flick with highbrow pretensions  ahem .  br    br   nada mas attempts to straddle the stile somewhere between the  quirky  heroine  matchmakes  strangers  of amelie and the  poetry  as  great  redeemer  theme of il postino . like amelie  its protagonist is an eccentric single white female who combats impending spinsterdom by trying to bring magic into the lives of strangers . and like il postino  the film does not flinch from sustained recitals of poetry and a postman on a bicycle takes a romantic lead . unfortunately  nada mas fails to capture the lushness and transcendence of either film .  br    br   there are two things that might merit watching this film in a late  night tv stupor . the first is the opening overhead shot of carla on a checker  tiled floor  which cuts to the crossword puzzle she is working on . the second is to see nada mas as a cautionary example our post buena vista social club obsession with cuban artistic output can often blinker us into accepting any dross that features a bongo on the soundtrack . this film should not have merited a global release  films such as waiting list and guantanamera cover similar thematic territory far more successfully .  
the only thing about this film that bums me out is that the dvd is so expensive . it  s too much for my budget at the moment  or i would purchase it  because the film is a good example of film noir . . . and i enjoy watching richard widmark  jean peters and thelma ritter .  br    br   criterion produces great dvds but sometimes the asking price is just a bit much . that  s the case here for an    minute black  and  white  mono sound film that is good but nothing extraordinary  cinematography  wise .  br    br   the story is the story here  as opposed to visuals  actors  sound  sets  etc .  as a pickpocket  widmark  inadvertently winds up with espionage microfilm in his possession after pilfering peters  purse .  say that three times   . everyone but peters is a believable character in this movie widmark  the cops  the u . s . agents and the communists and  especially ritter as  moe   an informant . she and widmark are the stars of this film .  br    br   peters does a decent job of playing the cheap floozy but loses her credibility early on by  falling in love  with widmark on the first meeting even though he  s nasty to her . only in world of film   too bad  because that ludicrous romance part of the story takes away from it .  br    br   this an average film noir which means good  but not great and certainly not worth owning at a price of        . for that price  one could do a lot better in the film noir market .  
very poor effort that offers pretty much nothing to anyone but a hardcore fan of stanley tucci  who tries  but can not save the poor structure  dialogue  direction  or talent of our leading man .  br    br   pretty much the only trick this plodding tale of a naive new salesman for an alarm company has  is its quirky side characters . but without a realistic backdrop  such characters are pointless .  br    br   nothing to see here  keep moving . . .  br    br    
this cecil b . demille epic of the old west contains what may be jean arthur  s finest performance  as a hysterical  eccentric  incurably amoral  but devotedly doting calamity jane . she really pulled it off  gary cooper is at his most taciturn  but manages some occasional pithy sayings  the plains are big  but trails cross . . . sometimes .  the story is a pastiche to end all pastiches . all the cowboy heroes of western lore seem to be in there somehow except for jesse james . even abraham lincoln opens the story in person  or at least  demille would have us believe so  . there is no room for anything so evanescent as subtlety  this is a  stomp  em in the face  tale for the masses . a remarkable thing about this film however is that it is a very early full frontal attack on what eisenhower was eventually to name  the military industrial complex  . it isn  t just a story about gun  runners  but about arming anyone for money  and doing so from the heart of washington . but let  s not get into politics  let  s leave that to demille  who can be guaranteed to be superficial . the chief interest of this film all these years later is that it uses the first film score composed by george antheil  who has a lot to say about the job in his autobiography   bad boy of music  . antheil seems to have originated  the big sound  adopted by all subsequent westerns  whereby the plains sing out with the voices and sounds of countless cowboys in the sky  celebrating the open spaces and interweaving common melodies . that is why it does not sound at all unusual  because we have heard it a thousand times . but he seems to have been the first to summon up the combined rustlings of all the sage brush into this symphony of the open skies which has entered into american mythic lore  and given it a soundtrack which has never varied since then  corny as it may be  but doubtless appropriate . it is amusing to see anthony quinn in an early appearance as a cheyenne indian . gabby hayes is in there somewhere  but you miss him in the crowd . gary cooper overtops them all  looming large   but when did he ever loom small   
the invisible man is a fantastic movie from      a cutting edge film for it  s time where objects appeared to rest on top of a man who was truly invisible . go ahead  take a look at the film  you will be shocked that it was made in      it was the first true special effects movie . come      computer aided special effects seem like child  s play  audiences are not blown away by special effects  instead they are disappointed if they are not done right . the special effects in hollow man  the update of the hg wells story  are ok  but not the biggest problem with this film directed by paul verhoeven  who you might remember from showgirls and total recall . kevin bacon plays sebastian caine  a scientist dabbling in the world of bio  invisibilation  yeah  i know that  s not a word  but of course is battling higher ups who are threatening to take away the team  s funding . so  as movie characters who are about to have their funding cutoff are prone to do  he makes the ultimate sacrifice and becomes a guinea pig for the invisibilation  yeah  i know  i used that non  word again  process . the process has dire consequences  no caine does not die  but instead becomes a horny  violent creature  aka a guy . now that he  s invisible  caine stalks a sexy neighbor  a co  worker  former girlfriend linda  elisabeth shue   and the man who took away his funding . then a funny thing happens  caine becomes a new supernatural being   the thing that won  t die .  laughing in the face of all things natural  caine faces down death and spits in it  s face  as it take what feels like hours for this creature to die  dragging the ending of the movie out . the movie is silly  stupid  and finally laughable with the way realism is sometimes used  sometimes not . there are neat possibilities in hollow man  but of course  not one of them is explored . for a more interesting look at an invisible being  get ready for some good old  fashioned black and white cinema  and check out the     invisible man . kevin bacon will still be invisible when you come back  probably still alive at the bottom of a volcano .  
  who done it   contains many surefire laughs and gags . it is not only one of the best stooges films with shemp  it is one of the finest short comedies columbia produced . director bernds originally wrote the screenplay in     for the stooges  but when curly howard suffered a career  ending stroke  it was tailored for the columbia comedy team of schilling and lane  their version was released as  pardon my terror .   it obviously was too good for the stooges to pass up  and it was finally filmed by the stooges at the end of     .  br    br   old man goodrich calls ace detectives shemp  larry  and moe out of fear that he will be murdered . when they arrive at his home  goodrich has disappeared  and his niece and assorted goons try to get rid of the stooges . will they find goodrich and bring the niece and goons to justice   br    br   shemp is particularly funny in this film . his reactions after being given a mickey by christine mcintyre are superb he gives his trademark sound  eeeb  eeeb  eeeb  and miss mcintyre is noticeably trying not to laugh  other funny scenes the close  up of moe  s mug looking through the camera lens and the in  the  dark fight with all cast members involved .  br    br   nikko the goon  played by duke york  is one of the most unusual looking characters ever portrayed in a stooges film . with his kinked hair  he could almost pass for a stooge  if he didn  t tower over everyone else   who done it   is a gem among the stooges films with shemp . even die  hard curly fans will enjoy this one  a true stooge classic .  out of   .  
how can you tell that a horror movie is terrible  when you can  t stop laughing about it of course  the plot has been well covered by other reviewers  so i  ll just add a few things on the hilarity of it all .  br    br   some reviews have placed the location in south america  others in africa  i thought it was in some random island in the pacific . where exactly does this take place  seems to be a mystery . the cannibal tribe is conformed by a couple of black women some black men  and a man who looks like a young frank zappa banging the drums . . . the devil god is a large black man with a terrible case of pink eyes .  br    br   one of the  freakiest  moments in the film is when   pablito  find his partner hanging from a tree covered in what seems to be an orange substance that i assume is blood  starts screaming for minutes on and on  that  s actually funny   and then the head of his partner falls in the ground and  pablito  kicks it a bit for what i assume is  shits n  giggles  and the eyes actually move . . .  br    br   but  of course  then the  freak  is gone when you realize the eyes moved because the movie is just bad . . .  br    br   i hadn  t laughed like this in a loooong while  and i definitely recommend this film for a sunday afternoon with your friends and you have nothing to do . . . grab a case of beers and start watching this film  you  ll love it  if you are looking for a real horror or gore movie  though . . . don  t  bother .  
samuel fuller  s pickup on south street is anomalous a  red scare  movie devoid of hysteria  in which the communist threat is nothing more than the mcguffin that ignites the plot . pickpocket richard widmark relieves loose woman jean peters of her wallet containing a strip of microfilm unbeknownst to either of them  it harbors secrets vital to the cold war . peters  as it happens  was under surveillance by fbi agents who are as nonplussed by the theft as the man who  s running her  cowardly comsymp richard kiley . in trying to retrieve the precious film  both sides enlist the help of thelma ritter  a streetwise old jane who  s always on the earie and willing to sell what she hears .  br    br   fuller draws from an opulent palette of tempos and tonalities in telling the story  which becomes a race against the clock of escalating brutality . from the subways to the waterfront  his midsummer manhattan takes on a sweaty sheen that  s almost pungent . the love scenes between peters and widmark become an unstable mixture of the tumultuous and the tender  and they  re scored to  again   a song introduced by ida lupino in road house  also starring widmark . the pace slackens for ritter  s beautifully written and played death scene   among the most poignant vignettes in all noir  and a kind of mirage  oasis in a film parched of sentimentality . this is writer  director fuller  s only work in the strictest confines of the noir cycle his later explorations of american pathology  the crimson kimono  the naked kiss  underworld u . s . a .  never resulted in a synthesis as satisfying as pickup on south street .  
pointless  humourless drivel . . . . . meant to be a comedy but not one laugh in the whole film . gratuitous violence often with guns . what kind of warped mentality can either make or say this is a good film    out of   .  
pickup on south street        directed by movie maverick samuel fuller  contains a stunning opening that establishes a double complication . subway rider candy  susan peters  collides with pickpocket skip mccoy  richard widmark dipped in shades of sinatra cool  . she  s unaware that she carries valuable microfilm mccoy is unaware of grifting it . both are unaware of being observed by two federal agents . thus the grift sets in motion a degree of knowledges . candy is doubly watched  skip and the police  and therefore doubly naive skip  the overconfident petty thief  is singularly unaware  trailed by federal agents the feds  all knowing  are ultimately helpless . they can  t stop the  passing  of government secrets or the spread of communism .  
what a horrible comedy . totally lame . the supposed  humor  was simple and stupid . stanly tucci  a great actor  had the only parts worth chuckling at . and he was tied up and gagged at the time . don  t waste your time with this one . it deserves a     .  
sam fuller  s excellent pick up on south street is the pick of the bunch from a number of early    s cold war  influenced low  budget noir vehicles . with a running length of under   minutes  pick up on south street is tough  gritty  explosive and endlessly entertaining .  br    br   widmark stars as pickpocket skip mccoy  who has already been picked up three times . yet mccoy can  t keep his wandering fingers out of trouble  and trouble is exactly what he slides into when he grifts the wallet of gangster  s moll candy  jean peters  . candy  s wallet contains a roll of microfilm invaluable to the communist movement  and it  s her last job for ex  boyfriend richard kiley to make the delivery . however  when widmark lifts it  peters must do whatever it takes to re  claim the film she  initially  knows nothing about .  br    br   it  s a tasty set  up  with widmark  s character  while not the psycho of kiss of death  a real live  wire  unpredictable and tough  yet curiously charming . when bogart or mitchum stepped into a film noir role you knew what you were going to get a lone anti  hero maintaining his moral integrity and winning out in the end  bogart   or an overly  laconic guy who allows himself to be drawn into a trap  mitchum  . with widmark you just don  t know what you are going to get  and with his incredibly modern acting style  his films always hold up well  he is amazing to watch . here he is torn between making a big score for himself by selling the film  or handing it over to the police and fighting the  commies  on the right side of the law . and he still has to pretend he never pickpocketed peters to avoid the fatal fourth rap on his sheet .  br    br   peters gets her best role as the moll  with  a  heart  of  gold candy . widmark  s unpredictability is perhaps best expressed in his scenes with peters the gorgeous tramp quickly  and rather unbelievably  the romance angle is rather rushed  falls under widmark  s spell  yet widmark alternates between kissing her or slapping her around . peters hard  edged beauty  yet lack of over  lacquered hollywood glamour  lana turner would never have worked well in this role   is a major asset to the film . candy is not innocent  yet she  s very vulnerable  constantly being passed between and slapped around by men . widmark knocks her cold on first meeting and wakes her by pouring beer over her face  yet by the final act he  s a lot more tender to her  after she cops one hell of a going  over from kiley  . the scene in the hospital with peters and widmark shouldn  t work  but it does .  br    br   thelma ritter is brilliant as stoolie moe  well  deserving of her oscar nomination . ritter  s performance  like everything else in the film  is gritty  real and heartbreakingly honest . her death scene is stunning . fuller  s camera movements and location settings are particularly interesting . fuller loved a good close  up  and pick up on south street is full of uncomfortable  cloistering tight shots that only enhance the tension of the plot . fuller isn  t afraid to let the camera linger on a shot for longer than standard old  hollywood really allowed  yet stunningly pulls away from ritter  s death scene to give the audience maximum impact . the urban locales and unusual  confronting camera angles give pick up on south street  a bold  uncompromisingly modern look .  br    br        .  
 . . . am i missing something here     unexpected plot developments    plot twisting with subversive glee   are these viewers watching the same arquette vehicle to which i just subjected myself  in an now  obvious sub  un  conscious bout of sadomasochism  . . . i just joined this site simply to make sure that no one else ever rents this stinker . . . this movie was an embarrassment to every single person involved . . . quick question did sir stevie read the script before he gave the thumbs  up to kate c .  if so  then it must be the same spielberg who greenlighted  howard the duck  . . . don  t give me that   it was a hit play  crap   i  m guessing mssr . reddin ain  t too pleased . . . the dvd cover promised  surprising corners  and a  twisted story . . .  story   story   it  s crap like this that make old bobby mckee and his wandering band of structuralists sound like geniuses . . . sundance   berlin   toronto   i have a home video of my cat farting that evokes more interest than arquette  s negatively  dimensional portrayal of anguished loss . . . and  talk about deux ex machina for mr . stanley t .  thank god  just in the nick o time he thought to have dave call the cops  and thank shiva that the cops had just caught the true killer . . . what    up until the credits i was still waiting for it to be some kind of grift against arquette and his  hidden millions  . . . no  mrs . spielberg  you don  t escape unscathed what the hell was that kitchen scene with the  athlete  s foot in my crotch  gag    are you worse in this or  just cause    i dunno . . . hey film lovers why don  t you make it a blockbuster night and rent this along with  jersey girl  and  white chicks  and then commit sepukka  or is it seppuka  . . . and take e . dunsky with you . . . .  
this is yet another gritty and compelling film directed by sam fuller in the early     s . this minimalist and fast  working director has something unusual for his earlier films   a cast with some stars . richard widmark  jean peters and richard kiley star in this film about a group of communist agents who are trying to sneak secrets out of america   and they  ll stop at nothing to succeed .  br    br   the film starts with peters on a subway car being watched by federal agents . they know she is a link in a long espionage chain . unknown to everyone is the wild card in the equation   a small  time pickpocket  widmark  is also on the train and he manages to steal the secrets that peters is carrying . widmark thinks it  s just another purse he  s ransacked   only later does he realize the seriousness of what he  s stolen . now it  s widmark on his own   with commies and the fbi hot on his trail .  br    br   widmark and the rest are exceptional and the film is gripping from start to finish . although she didn  t get top billing  a special mention should be made of thelma ritter . this supporting actress had perhaps the performance of her lifetime as a stool pigeon . seldom was she given this much of a chance to act and i was impressed by her ability to play a broken down and sad old lady .  br    br   as far as the script and directing go  they are very good   but with one small exception . at first  i loved the way widmark and peters interacted . it  s one of the few times on film you  ll see a woman punched square in the mouth  now that  s tough . later  inexplicably  they become amazingly close   too close to be believable . still  with so much great drama and such an effective noir  like film  this can be overlooked . see this film .  
what begins as a fairly clever farce about a somewhat shady security monitoring company turns  almost instantaneously  into an uninteresting and completely inane murder mystery . david arquette and the great stanley tucci try mightily to make this train wreck watchable  but some things are just not humanly possible .  br    br   what  for instance  causes gale to turn suddenly from a sweet motherly figure into a drunken shrew at tommy  s parents house  why would heinrich  although admittedly a sleezebag  want to destroy the business to which he devotes his life  by robbing and possibly murdering his customers  why does the seemingly sensible tommy believe that heinrich could be a murderer  based almost entirely on a dream   and even if that were believable  why wouldn  t he go to the police  and why didn  t gale activate the alarm when she got home  especially after scolding howie about it being off  of course  all of these events are necessary for the plot  and i use the term very  very loosely  to unfold . and it might be forgivable if it resulted in even the slightest bit of comedy . but everything  from howie  s description of his date rape  to the coroner  s misidentification of gale  to the final  joke  about gale and howie still being dead  is more tasteless and pathetic than anything else .  br    br   i checked the box indicating that my comments contained  spoilers   but there  s nothing more i or anyone else could do to spoil this thing that already stinks to high heaven .  
and anyone who watches this film will agree . this film was directed in the days when plot  character believability and theme actually mattered .  br    br   jean peters  widmark  and thelma ritter steal the spotlight . ritter is in top form as informer  moe  she survives in the bowery section of ny  acting as a stool pigeon for nyc police .  br    br   the only other film in which i have seen peters is  niagara   and she certainly proves her acting ability here  complete with brooklyn accent . widmark is appropriately menacing  as the anti  hero who must discern what the right thing is  despite his need for cash .  br    br   the photography is brilliant . the neon  the subway station  though it looks cleaner than the real thing   the harbor shack where widmark lives as a transient . excellent use is made of the city  with  lightning louie  in chinatown the many flavors and appetites of the city are addressed here the political climate of the time is a haunting backdrop .      .  
david arquette is a young and naive home security alarm  br    br   salesman taken under the wing of stanley tucci . arquette is a  br    br   golden boy  scoring a big sale on his first call  to widow kate  br    br   capshaw and her dopey son ryan reynolds . things are going  br    br   well for arquette  he is appearing in commercials for the security  br    br   firm and he is falling in love with capshaw .  br    br   then tucci and his right hand woman mary mccormack let him in  br    br   on a little secret  they sometimes break into the houses of their  br    br   clients in order to scare them and to get their neighbors to buy  br    br   security systems from the firm . arquette decides not to get  br    br   involved  taking capshaw to meet his family  and going through life  br    br   with a goofy smile on his face . then  someone breaks into  br    br   capshaw  s home and murders her and her son . arquette suspects tucci  and sets a series of traps  resulting in a gun to his  br    br   boss  head as tucci pleads his innocence .  br    br   based on a stage play   the alarmist  is not opened up well . the  br    br   scenes where arquette takes the capshaw to meet his parents  br    br   are badly played and completely unfunny . they are also out of line  br    br   with the character capshaw is playing  as she gets drunk and tells  br    br   sexually explicit stories to arquette  s mom michael learned . other  br    br   than these scenes  capshaw is not given much to do  but she  br    br   does a lot with the little she is given .  br    br   stanley tucci  looking just like terry o  quinn  is a riot as the  br    br   security firm owner . he is a creep who really does not understand  br    br   arquette  s moral revulsion . however  when he turns into a  br    br   sniveling whiner after arquette kidnaps him  he is hilarious . mary  br    br   mccormack seems to have been groomed for a bigger role  but  br    br   she mostly stands around and agrees with tucci . ryan reynolds  br    br   is too old to play a dumb teenager  but he is funny  especially  br    br   telling his own explicit sexual story to arquette .  br    br   the screenplay lurches from romantic comedy to dark comedy too  br    br   soon . capshaw meeting the parents is completely unmotivated   br    br   except to give her a reason to get out of town so someone can  br    br   break into her house . capshaw and reynolds are in the film just  br    br   to give arquette a reason to take revenge on tucci .  br    br   arquette  who has proven he is a good actor  is awful here . he  br    br   relies on the constipated mugging that got him through those  br    br   att ads  and he is not a strong enough presence to build this  br    br   weak film around . actually  reynolds might have been a better  br    br   choice in the role .  br    br   dunsky  s direction is good  nothing that will win an oscar soon .  br    br   christophe beck  s light jazzy score recalls the type of film noir this  br    br   film tries to be  and it is really catchy on top of that .  br    br   despite the pluses  arquette  s failure as a lead and the script  s  br    br   schizophrenic quality sinks the film . i do not recommend it .  br    br   this is rated  r  for physical violence  gun violence  some gore   br    br   strong profanity  brief female nudity  sexual content  strong sexual  br    br   references  and adult situations .  
samuel fuller is hardly one of america  s great directors . i  m not sure he qualifies as one of hollywood  s great craftsmen . but he certainly ranks up there with the best of hollywood  s true professionals who were willing to march to their own music . during the time he worked for hollywood studios  he knew how to take an assignment  shape the middling material handed to him and then turn it quickly and efficiently into something usually better than its parts . . . on time and on budget . pickup on south street is a case in point . on the surface it  s one more of hollywood  s early fifties  anti  commie movies  complete with appeals to patriotism  a hard  boiled hero and a slimy  and copiously perspiring  bad guy . fuller turns this bag of hollywood clichs into a taut  exciting drama with any number of off  kilter twists . the hero  skip mccoy  is a three  time loser  a petty crook with soft fingers who doesn  t change his stripes until the very end . the girl in the caper  candy  has a level of virtue that would be easy to step over if you  re so inclined . one of the most appealing characters  moe williams  is a stoolie . and in an unusual approach to hollywood  s battle against commies  the appeals to patriotism fall on deaf ears the hero isn  t motivated by anything so ennobling . he just wants payback for a personal reason  and winds up becoming . . . at least for now . . . a good guy .  br    br   plus  all the actors were mostly assigned to fuller by the studio . he had to make do . richard widmark by now had established his presence as an actor and star  but jean peters is a surprise . she gives a fine portrait of a woman sexy and dumb  and no better than her boy friends . . . or her clients . . . want her to be . and richard kiley  who later would become a two  time tony award winning star on broadway  is convincingly slippery and cowardly . it  s hard to remember that he was the actor who inflicted on us  i mean introduced to us   the impossible dream  from man of la mancha   br    br   more than anything else  this tale of a pickpocket who picks a purse in a subway car and finds himself with microfilmed secrets instead of cash  pursued by the feds and the commies  moves straight ahead with great economy . the whole enterprise  with a classic noir look  only takes   minutes to tell . the dialogue  with fuller as screenwriter  has that party corny  partly pungent hard  boiled pulp fiction style .  that muffin you grifted . . . she  s okay   one character says to skip about candy . fuller moves us just fast enough from scene to scene to keep us hanging on what will come next . then fuller throws in the character of moe williams . all of a sudden the story ratchets up to a whole new level of interest  part comedy relief and part sad inevitability .  br    br   the thing i like best about the movie is how the opening exemplifies fuller  s talents and strengths . in  minutes and   seconds  starting right after the credits  fuller is able to instantly power up the movie  to establish for us what the story is about  and to show us what kind of characters   skip and candy   we  re going to be involved with . and he does this with so much enticing curiosity in that hot  packed subway car that we can just about feel fuller setting the hook to catch us .  br    br   says glenn erickson  in my opinion one of the best of movie critics   in what should be an inconsequential story  sam fuller defines his peculiar view of americanism from the bottom up stiff  necked  aggressive self  interest that when fully expressed recognizes what  s wrong and what  s right and isn  t afraid to fight for it . as always in his work  the individuals who fight the hardest for their country are the ones least likely to benefit from the effort .  he  s right  and it makes for a movie still vivid after   years .  
the alarmist is so abysmally scripted that you have think to yourself why on earth did an up and coming actor like david arquette agree to be in it . it has to be one of the weakest plots i have ever seen and without any humour at all  it borders on the brink of tedious . it staggers along to a dreadful conclusion which appears to only happen because the director got bored and just wanted to wrap up quickly in order to get home for his dinner . stay away  .  
skip mccoy is a three time loser pick pocket  unable to curb his instincts back on the street  he picks the purse of candy on a subway train . what he doesn  t realise is that candy is carrying top secret microfilm  microfilm that is of high interest to many many organisations .  br    br   director samuel fuller has crafted an exceptional drama set amongst the seedy underworld of new york city . communist spies and shady government operatives all blend together to make pickup on south street a riveting viewing from first minute to the last . based around a dwight taylor story called blaze of glory  fuller enthused this adaptation with heavy set political agenda  something that many at the time felt was over done  but to only focus on its anti communist leanings is doing it a big disservice .  br    br   digging a little deeper and you find characters as intriguing as any that fuller has directed  the main protagonist for one is the hero of the piece  a crook and a shallow human being  his heroics are not born out of love for his country  they are born out of his sheer stubborn streak . it  s quite an achievement that fuller has crafted one of the best anti heroes of the   s  and i  m sure he was most grateful to the performance of richard widmark as mccoy  all grin and icy cold heart  his interplay with the wonderful jean peters as candy is excellent  and is the films heart . however it is the oscar nominated thelma ritter who takes the acting honours  her moe is strong and as seedy as the surrounding characters  but there is a tired warmth to her that ritter conveys majestically .  br    br   it  s a b movie in texture but an a film in execution  pickup on south street is a real classy and entertaining film that is the best of its most intriguing director .      
i was at this film  s premiere at the toronto film festival in     . after the screening  when the writer  director and some cast members offered to answer questions  no one could even be bothered to ask any . rarely has a film been so poorly directed  why on earth were random frames snipped out of some scenes    wretchedly acted  david arquette  to paraphrase dorothy parker  does not run the emotional gamut from a to b . he parks at a and brings a lunch  and utterly pointless . characters behave completely out of character for no reason except to force the plot to move in certain directions . at long last  the film comes to a completely random and pointless end that  s supposed to  really make you think .  unfortunately  what it makes you think is   well  there  s   minutes of my life i  m never getting back .   
skip mccoy  richard widmark  pick  pockets candy  s  jean peters  wallet which contains an important microfiche that is intended for the communist cause . she is being followed by  federal agents that are waiting to pounce once she hands the microfiche over to her contact . however  skip steals the purse on the subway under everyone  s noses and so starts a hunt for him by both the police and joey  richard kiley  and candy who want the microfiche back . skip can only be traced through moe  thelma ritter  who sells information on criminals . it is made clear to skip that what he has stolen is important and both sides want the film  but he intends to hold out for a high price . this leads to joey hunting after him and a conflict between joey and jean  who has fallen in love with skip . joey has a deadline to deliver the microfiche to his boss .  br    br   its a well  acted film and it has a good beginning that gets you involved straight away . its a bit unrealistic how jean peters immediately falls in love with widmark  but this point is necessary as otherwise why would she later hold out from joey . its a good film .  
ghost town starts as kate barrett  catherine hickland  drives along an isolated desert road  her car suddenly breaks down  she hears horses hoofs approaching . . . deputy sheriff langley  frank luz  of riverton county is called in to investigate kate  s disappearance after her father reports her missing . he finds her broken down car  drives off looking for her  unfortunately his car breaks down too  he has to walk . langley ends up at at a deserted rundown ghost town  much to his shock langley soon discovers that it is quite literally a ghost town as it  s populated by the ghosts of it  s former residents  is run by the evil devlin  jimmie f . skaggs  who has kidnapped kate for reasons never explained  it  s up to langley to rescue her  end the towns curse . . .  br    br   the one  only directorial effort of richard governor this odd film didn  t really do much for me  i didn  t like it all that much . the script by duke sandefur tries to mix the horror  western genres which it doesn  t do to any great effect . have you ever wondered why there aren  t more horror western hybrid films out there  well  neither have i but if i were to ask myself such a question i would find all the answers in ghost town because it  s not very good . the two genres just don  t mix that well . there are plenty of clichs  on the western side of things there  s the innocent townsfolk who are to scared to stand up to a gang of thugs who are terrorising them  the shoot  outs in the main street  saloon bars with swing doors  prostitutes upstairs  horror wise there  s plenty of cobwebs  some ghosts  an ancient curse  talking corpses  a few violent kills . i was just very underwhelmed by it  i suppose there  s nothing terribly wrong with it other than it  s just dull  the two genres don  t sit together that well . there are a few holes in the plot too  why did devlin kidnap kate  i know she resembled his previous girlfriend but how did he know that  what was he going to do with her anyway  we never know why this ghost town is full of ghosts either  i mean what  s keeping them there  what caused them to come back as ghosts  then there  s the bit at the end where devlin after being shot says he can  t be killed only for langley to kill him a few seconds later  i mean why didn  t the bullets work in the first place   br    br   director governor does alright  there  s a nice horror film atmosphere with some well lit cobweb strewn sets  the standard hollywood western town is represented here with a central street with wooden buildings lining either side of it . i wouldn  t say it  s scary because it isn  t  there  s not much tension either  the film drags in places despite being only just over   odd minutes in length . forget about any gore  there a few bloody gunshot wounds  an after the fact shot of two people with their throats slit  someone is impaled with a metal pole  that  s it .  br    br   i  d have imagined the budget was pretty small here  it  s reasonably well made  is competent if nothing else . credit where credit  s due the period costumes  sets are pretty good actually . the acting is alright but no  ones going to win any awards .  br    br   ghost town is a strange film  i  m not really sure who it  s meant to appeal to  it certainly didn  t appeal to me . anyone looking for a western will be annoyed with the dumb horror elements while anyone looking for a horror film will be bored by the western elements . it  s something a bit different but that doesn  t mean it  s any good  worth a watch if your desperate but don  t bust a gut to see it .  
every now and then there gets released this movie no one has ever heard of and got shot in a very short time with very little money and resource but everybody goes crazy about and turns out to be a surprisingly great one . this also happened in the     s with quite a few little movies  that not a lot of people have ever heard of . there are really some unknown great surprising little jewels from the     s that are worth digging out .  panic in the streets  is another movie like that that springs to the mind . both are movies that aren  t really like the usual genre flicks from their time and are also made with limited resources .  br    br   i was really surprised at how much i ended up liking this movie . it was truly a movie that got better and better as it progressed . like all  old  movies it tends to begin sort of slow but once you get into the story and it  s characters you  re in for a real treat with this movie .  br    br   the movie has a really great story that involves espionage  though the movie doesn  t start of like that . it begins as this typical crime  thriller with a touch of film  noir to it . but  pickup on south street  just isn  t really a movie by the numbers so it starts to take its own directions pretty soon on . it ensures that the movie remains a surprising but above all also really refreshing one to watch .  br    br   i also really liked the characters within this movie . none of them are really good guys and they all of their flaws and weaknesses . really humane . it also especially features a great performance from thelma ritter  who even received a well deserved oscar nomination for . it has really got to be one of the greatest female roles i have ever seen .  br    br   even despite its somewhat obvious low budget this is simply one great  original  special little movie that deserves to be seen by more   br    br         
there is a really good movie lurking just beneath the surface of the layers upon layers of cheese that is  the pagemaster  .  br    br   i found this out when i watched this again this morning after neglecting it for years and years . i remember hating it with a passion when it first came out  but this time  i found that the special effects are quite good . the plot is just  the neverending story  with a creativity  endectomy  but it  s an okay little flick for anyone who just wants some really awesome eye  candy . the animation is amazing  and i especially liked how the animators let their characters look and act a bit more surrealistic than the norm . i  m giving it a grade of three as i would have given it a two  just for parody value  if i had ever decided to watch this movie expecting it to absolutely blow my mind story  wise .  
  pickup on south street  is a high speed drama about a small time criminal who suddenly finds himself embroiled in the activities of a group of communists . the action is presented in a very direct and dynamic style and the momentum is kept up by means of some brilliant editing . the use of a wide variety of different camera angles and effective close  ups also contribute to the overall impression of constant motion and vitality . samuel fuller  s style of directing and the cinematography by joseph macdonald are excellent and there are many scenes which through their composition and lighting produce a strong sense of mood and atmosphere .  br    br   ace pickpocket and repeat offender skip mccoy  richard widmark  gets into deep water when he steals a wallet from a young woman named candy  jean peters  on the new york subway . she was being used by her ex  boyfriend joey  richard kiley  to make a delivery to one of his contacts in a communist organisation and unknown to her  she was carrying us government secrets recorded on microfilm . two fbi agents had been following candy and witnessed the theft . one of the agents continues to tail her back to joey  s apartment and the other  zara  willis bouchey   visits police captain dan tiger  murvyn vye  . zara explains that the fbi has been following candy for some months as part of their pursuit of the ringleader of a communist group .  br    br   in order to identify the pickpocket  tiger calls in a  stoolie  called moe  thelma ritter  who after being given a precise description of the  cannon  s  method of working makes a list of eight possible suspects . once tiger sees skip  s name on the list he  s immediately convinced that he  s the man that they need to track down and he sends two detectives to arrest him . when skip is brought into tiger  s office  zara tells him about the microfilm and tiger offers to drop any charges if he  ll co  operate with the investigation . skip is flippant and arrogant . he clearly doesn  t trust tiger and denies all knowledge of the theft on the subway .  br    br   joey orders candy to find out who stole the microfilm and then retrieve it . candy pays moe for skip  s address and when skip returns from being questioned by tiger  he finds candy searching his home and knocks her unconscious before stealing her money . when she recovers  skip demands payment of        for the microfilm . she tells joey about skip  s demand and joey  s boss gives him a gun and orders him to recover the microfilm by the following evening .  br    br   skip and candy are attracted to each other and it  s because of their uneasy  developing relationship that a means evolves by which they are able to shake off the attentions of the police . it soon becomes apparent  however  that resolving matters with the communist gang will only be achieved by more direct action .  br    br   the depictions of skip  candy and moe as characters that inhabit a seedy world in which they are forced to face considerable risks on a daily basis are powerful and compelling .  br    br   moe  s work as a police informer is dependent on her knowledge of the people in her community but also those people know what she does and any one of them could seek their revenge at any time . she appears to be cunning and streetwise but also has her vulnerable side as she describes herself as  an old clock running down  and saves money to be able to have a decent burial in an exclusive cemetery in long island . her belief that  every buck has a meaning of its own  leads her to sell any information regardless of danger  friendships or principles and yet there is one occasion where she refuses and this proves fatal . thelma ritter  s performance certainly merited the oscar nomination she earned for her role .  br    br   skip is a violent criminal with no concern for his victims and having already been convicted three times in the past  lives under the constant threat of being jailed for life if convicted again . despite this  he still continues with his criminal activities and strangely  is merely philosophical when moe betrays his whereabouts and then later  he even ensures that moe receives the type of burial she valued so highly . candy is an ex  hooker and someone whose activities constantly put her in peril but behind her hardened exterior a warmer side gradually becomes more evident . widmark and peters are both perfect for their roles and like ritter portray the different facets of their personalities with great style and conviction .  
  i  m a cartoon    you  re an illustration   what does that suppose to mean   this plot could not be worse as a boy  who  s afraid of everything  becomes very brave at the very end of the film because he went into a library . the only purpose of this waste of celluloid was to encourage american kids to read  when a cheaper  and more effective way of doing this could have been a series of adverts  even the talents of macaulay culkin  as the kid   christopher lloyd  as the so predictable  that he  s a the page master  librarian   could save this pointless film from the dull plot . even the voices of whoopi goldberg  patrick stewart   even  leonard nimoy  or the hollywood god of voices  frank welker as the cartoon characters don  t save it ever . i can only describe it as a     s equivalent to the even ghastly     adaption of the water babies  because the bland animation makes the film worse  not improving the dull plot   
this film provides the saga of a legendary wild bill hickock . he  buffalo bill cody  and calamity jane  are the central characters .  br    br   as the civil war closes  lincoln mentions his concern that the country  s dynamism would be enhanced if people would follow the advice   go west  young man   which  mercifully  the film didn  t erroneously attribute to horace greeley  as a number of others did . but then  he gets assassinated  and some financiers speculate that they can get rich selling weapons to the american indians .  br    br   in the meantime  we see wild bill hickock  who interacts with a small boy  while a steamboat is loading at a dock along the mississippi . wild bill uses a bowie knife  which he eventually gives to the boy  calling it an  arkansas toothpick   which in reality was a different type of knife  though both were used throughout the frontier .  br    br   hickock eventually meets buffalo bill cody  who looks close to the photographs and paintings of the actual man . cody has just gotten married  and is bringing his bride to the old west to settle down .  br    br   when they arrive at their destination  they run into calamity jane  who has a crush on hickock . she looks at cody  s wife  and asks buffalo bill   is this your mopsy   the line was one that caused the hayes board some problem  since one definition of  mopsy  was prostitute . demille wanted the line in  and one of his aides pointed out that in beatrix potter  s books about peter rabbit  three of the rabbits were flopsy  mopsy  and cottontail . he pointed this out and asked the censors to identify  the rabbit of ill virtue .  it worked the line stayed in .  br    br   the indians were getting restless  in part because of the superior weaponry they got from the agent of the eastern financiers . cody and hickock were asked to help scout the area  so that troops could get safely through to a beleaguered area . cody led the troops hickock went to check out the activities of an indian chief  who was an old acquaintance  and who was leading some of the hostile indians .  br    br   calamity jane gets captured  and hickock gets captured trying to save her . they are brought to the chief  and although neither would talk  torture applied to hickock breaks calamity jane  s willpower  and she tells the route cody is using .  br    br   the two are released  and hickock joins up with cody and his forces  in part to alert them they  re walking into a trap . with hickok  s help  they hold off the indian attack .  br    br   hickock decides to go after the gun runners  and finally takes them prisoner . as they  re waiting for authorities  hickock is gunned down by being shot in the back while playing cards .  br    br   there are numerous historic anomalies in the film  but it retains the flavor of legend . pretty good for the     s .  
for those who  d like to see this movie  i  d say go  without the narration it might be a very good movie  documentary . but the music  the narration and some of the implemented story lines make it very hard to watch for a sceptic person like me . following several animals  their life in several seasons one gets the feeling that it is an animal soap we  re watching . but the melodramatic point of view just doesn  t cut it for me  moreover if a predator finally catches up on a prey  one exception left there  the camera zooms out or skips to another scene . i ask myself why that happens  if they were to show reality  why cut the scenes that a melodramatic fairytale remains  i think the moral is important for the mass of the crowd  cause after all it would be a waste to destroy this beautiful planet .  
i really enjoyed this film . all aspects of the film were top notch including the most important  for me anyway  the screenplay and the acting . this is definitely one of richard widmark  s strongest roles . he is totally convincing in his performance . just out of curiosity  imagine how humphrey bogart or robert mitchum might have tackled this role . this is my first exposure to jean peter  s work that i can remember . she impressed so much here that i will definitely be on the lookout for her other work . thelma ritter  in an unglamourous role  deserved the oscar nomination she received for playing the informant . this film works on every level . the black and white photography is perfectly appropriate and the story hooks the viewer right from the beginning . widmark and peters have great chemistry in their difficult romance . strongly recommended      .  
richard tyler is a little boy who is scared of everything . he doesn  t like riding his bike or climbing on his tree house because he knows what kind of accidents might happen to him . so one day he is riding his bike and because it is starting to rain  he decides to wait in the library until it stops raining . in there the whole story takes place . he experiences all kinds of staff and in the end he is not scared any more . but the whole story is unbelievable and even good actors like macaulay culkin could not make the story better than it is .  
i watched this last night on tv  hbo  . i have to admit  that the tension in this movie was unsurpassed by most other fn era movies . i loved the way chip would be all calm one moment and then violent the very next moment . it was classic . ahh yes . the dames  the villians  the cigars and thuggish cops  it has it all . this movie delivered all the goods to me . i especially loved the way they mixed communism into the plot  very common for this era of movie . very daring also since blacklisting was popular in those days . i rate this movie one of the best i have seen in the fn genre   
about  years ago  i liked this movie . i would watch it over and over and over . but now . . . i don  t . actually  i think this movie would have been great for mystery science theater     . it has a bunch of comment  heavy actors  macaulay culkin  christopher lloyd  patrick stewart  whoopi goldberg   and a pretty cheesy plot . my favorite part is when culkin is riding his bike and he comes across a gang and a gang member says   hey  tyler  where ya goin   the moon    also look out for the classic line   do you have feeling in your toes    br    br   on the other hand  it  s better than  the good son  .  
directed by samuel fuller  who also wrote the screenplay  pickup on south street is a tough  brutal  well made film about a pickpocket  richard widmark  who inadvertently aquires top  secret microfilm and becomes a target for espionage agents . also involved are jean peters as a tough broad who is used as a courier by her evil ex  lover richard kiley . it  s film  noir at its best and although the performances are very good its grand character actress thelma ritter who steals the movie . as moe a weary street peddler selling neck ties  and who also sells information  she is terrific in a role that brought her another oscar nomination . its amazing that miss ritter was nominated six times for an academy award and she never won . this should have been the role that copped it for her   
the beginning of this movie is excellent with tremendous sound and some nice humor  but once the film changes into animation it quickly loses its appeal .  br    br   one of the reasons that was so  at least for me  was that the colors in much of the animation are too muted  with too little contrast . it doesn  t look good  at least on vhs . once in a while it breaks out and looks great  but not often also  the characters come and go too quickly . for example  i would have liked to have seen more of  moby dick .  when the film starts to drag  however  it picks up again with the entrance of the dragon and then the film finishes strong .  br    br   overall  just not memorable enough or able to compete with the great animated films of the last dozen years .  
director samuel fuller concocts a brilliant visual set  up cocky pickpocket unwittingly lifts some microfilm from a woman  s purse it turns out she  s a courier for the communists  and now she and the grifter are being watched by the police . the film noir formula is all its glory   before the ingredients became clichs   including waterfront locales  floozies  saxophones on the soundtrack  and one hell of a climactic fistfight . performances by richard widmark and jean peters are right on target  and the smart  sharp script is quite colorful . fabulous thelma ritter received an oscar nomination for knockout supporting role as a  professional stoolie  . exciting  atmospheric  tough as nails .  from   
wow  i  m a huge henry viii  tudor era fan and  well  this was . . . . interesting . the only one i watched was the catherine of aragon one . and wow . . . just wow . i  ve seen bad acting before  but this reached new heights . when the actress who played catherine was umm . . crying  she wails and screams and i have to admit i rewinded many times . . . many  many times . . . . funny  funny stuff . the only person who even showed any slight sliver of talent was the actress playing anne boleyn  i might be prejudiced though  i do have a slight obsession with anne boleyn  she was a really facinating woman  read up on her  it  s worth it   also  i have read a lot about the tudor time period and i think that the characters weren  t very acurately displayed  they were all very stereotypical . only see this movie if you are prepared to see a very important time period  and the important lives of those involved turned into a laughing stock .  
the best of the seven sam fuller movies that i  ve seen  including park row  run of the arrow  verboten   shock corridor  the naked kiss  the big red one  and this film   pickup on south street counts as one of the best film noirs . it represents fuller at his most controlled . i like him when he  s out of control  of course  but nearly everything in pickup is perfect . the film is absolutely beautiful . richard widmark stars as a pickpocket who steals some microfilm that was meant to go to communist spies . jean peters plays the woman who was carrying the film for her boyfriend  played by richard kiley . peters is forced to find widmark and get it back . she finds him through a stool pigeon played by thelma ritter . widmark and peters are attracted to each other  which changes peters loyalties  that  and the fact that she learns she  s working for communists the cold war stuff is really interesting  . the love story is done a little quickly and not entirely believable  but it  s not so bad that it harms the film  unlike fuller  s previous film  park row  . richard widmark is great . this must be one of his best roles  but i  m not so familiar with his career that i can say that for sure . thelma ritter gives the most memorable performance . her role gives the film an unexpected emotional resonance  and her final scene in this film is as touching as any you will find in the cinema . i will never forget that .      .  
having just wasted a couple of hours watching this and for    of that time in complete disbelief  i can give this garbage the turkey of the year award  no problem . to say the plot was unbelievable is some big understatement . frankly i am lost for words to describe this utter tripe . not only are the characters completely and utterly without any semblance of originality  this sort of stuff has been done much better in dozens of  serial killer flicks   but the acting was dire . for those who pay to see this  i hope you get your money back  for those who were paid to do this  i hope you give your money back . believe me folks there are many new releases out there that are much  much better . go see .  
in this excellent twentieth  century fox film  noir  the metropolis is a labyrinth of despair in which scavengers and predators survive by living off one another . brooding cityscapes lower over puny humanity in bleak expressionist symbolism .  br    br   a prostitute has her purse snatched on the subway . it contains a microfilm  and a communist spy ring will go to any lengths to recover it . two parallel investigations unfold as both spies and cops hunt down the precious information .  br    br   anti  hero pickpocket skip mccoy is played with scornful assurance by richard widmark . he knows the cops to be his moral equals and intellectual inferiors  so he taunts them  go on   he says to captain dan tiger  murvyn vye    drum up a charge . throw me in . you  ve done it before .  in this pitiless world  the cops are just one more gang on the streets . just as candy the hooker bribes lightning louie to get a lead  so the police are busy paying stool pigeons for information .  br    br   it is hard to believe that when widmark made this film he was already in early middle age . the    year  old star  coming to the end of his contract with fox  plays the upstart skip mccoy with the irreverent brashness of a teenager . today it may not be acceptable for the romantic lead to punch his love interest into unconsciousness then revive her by sloshing beer in her face  but by the mores of the period it signified toughness  and candy  after all  is a fallen woman .  br    br   jean peters is radiant as candy . here  right in the middle of her five  year burst of b  movie fame  she is beautiful and engaging as the whore with the golden heart . she is the story  s victim  a martyr to her beauty as much as anything else . she means well  but is constantly being manipulated by cynical men  joey  skip and the cops .  br    br   the real star of this movie is new york . haunting urban panoramas and snidering subway stations offer a claustrophobic evocation of the city as a living  malevolent force . like maggots in a rotting cheese  human figures scurry through the city  s byways . elevators  subway turnstiles  sidewalks  even a dumb waiter act as conduits for the flow of corrupt humanity . people cling to any niche that affords safety moe has her grimy rented room  skip his tenebrous shack on the hudson river . as the characters move and interact  they are framed by bridge architecture  or lattices of girders  or are divided by hanging winch tackle . the personality of the city is constantly imposing itself . the angles and crossbeams of the wharf timbers are an echo of the gridiron street plan  and the card  index cabinets in the squadroom mimic the manhattan skyline . when joey  s exit from the subway is barred  it is as if the steel sinews of the city are ensnaring him .  br    br   a surprising proportion of this film is shot in extreme close  up . character drives the plot  as it should  and the close  ups are used to augment character . when skip interrogates candy  the close  up captures the sexual energy between them  belying the hostility of skip  s words . jean peters  beauty is painted in light  in exquisite soft focus close  ups . the device is also employed to heighten the tension . the opening sequence  the purse snatch  contains no dialogue the drama relies entirely on close  up for its powerful effect .  br    br   snoopers  and snoopers upon snoopers  populate the film . moe  thelma ritter  makes a living as an informant  and her place in the hierarchy is accepted  even by her victims . when skip observes   she  s gotta eat   he is chanting a recurring refrain . just as  straight  new yorkers peddle lamb chops or lumber  the underworld traffics in the commodity of information .  br    br   and yet even the stool pigeons are superior to joey and his communist friends . joey  s feet on moe  s bed symbolise a transgression of the most basic moral code . joey is beyond the pale . moe will not trade with joey  even to preserve her life  . . . even in our crummy business  you gotta draw the line somewhere .   br    br    pick  up  was made in the depths of the cold war . richard nixon had just been chosen as the republican vice  presidential candidate  having made his name with his phoney alger hiss expose  bogus communist microfilm and all . the mccarthy show trials were a daily reality . we see the cops in the movie inveigh against  the traitors who gave stalin the a  bomb  .  br    br   new york can be seen as a giant receptacle in which human offal cheats  squeals and murders . containers form a leitmotif throughout the film . moe carries her trade mark box of ties  and candy  s purse  container of the microfilm  is the engine of the plot . skip keeps his only possessions in a submerged crate  symbolising his secretive street  wisdom . the paupers  coffins  moving down the hudson on a barge  are containers of just one more cargo being shifted around the pitiless metropolis .  br    br   the film is a masterpiece of composition . candy is shown above the skulking skip on the rickety gangway of the shack  signifying her moral ascendancy . when the gun is placed on the table  the extreme perspective makes it look bigger than candy  violence is beginning to dwarf compassion . the lovers are eclipsed by the shadow of a stevedore  s hook  reminding us that their love is neither pure nor absolute  but contingent upon the whims of the sinister city . enyard the communist is a shadow on a wall  or a disembodied puff of cigarette smoke . he is like the lone alley cat amongst the garbage  a predatory phantom of the night . camera shots from under taxi hoods  inside newspaper kiosks and through the bars of hospital beds constantly reinforce in us the awareness that we are all trapped in the metropolis . we are civilisation  s mulch .  
i had a recent spectator experience with the perfect witness       because the netflix computer recommendation engine suggested i watch this film . apparently  at some point  i told it how much i liked michael haneke  s  benny  s video . i don  t know about you  but this parallel being drawn provoked in me a maelstrom of emotion and excitement over thomas c . dunn  s film and made the allocation of my time toward it virtually impossible to refuse . just this kind of recommendation from the netflix computer intelligence  for me  had the aesthetic  moral movie bar set to level so high that  upon reflection  it represented something pretty much unaccomplished in every film produced in the year     .  br    br   having prefaced my response to the film that way  i  m going to proceed in knocking this picture down as poorly executed and banal and i really hate to do that because i think our boy  wes bentley  happens to be not only one of the most interesting young faces in contemporary cinema  but also one its most overlooked and underrated screenacting talents in the us . i  m more than moderately concerned that the poor guy  s going to miss the fame ship if he keeps fiddling around with first time movie directors like this .  br    br   the perfect witness is about micky  wes bentley   who  about thirty  still lives with mom   you  re not drinkin  again area ya  s     but he  s a  filmmaker  or at the very least some kind of street  level voyeur with a pension for shooting would  be johns in the seedy back alleys of philadelphia with his dvx    b . out there  doing his private investigator  like drills  micky  inadvertently  video  tapes a brutal murder on a hapless early  twenty  ish coed with his hand held camcorder . baring the notion in mind that snuff and movies as cultural currency can be his equated with his ticket out of the white urban ghetto  and not to the debts of his unwitting friends and relatives who put up the money for his atrocious films   micky approaches the assailant  james lemac  mark borkowski also takes a writing credit  or  mac the knife  whichever  and blackmails the killer into making a documentary about his murder impulses  holding this found footage over the attacker with threats of the police .  br    br   the problem with this movie is not that no interesting ideas exist because they do . while both the writing and direction are amateurish  that alone doesn  t make a film bad . it  s that these guys commit a rather poor assumption that what they are presenting is shocking in the context of a culture in which just about any person in the free world with access to a private computer can log  on to the web and catch the veracity of the action of a beheading on their little mac or pc . no film relies on shock value alone any more  unless of course  ironically  it  s a film about torture on animals  and therefore cinematic images of violence  real or fake  have less and less cultural capital with each year that passes . also  we  ve got this astounding actor  talent in the lead all styled  up  real hip guy his two inch beard and skull cap with the little bill on it  backwards  just like the dork from high school who craved after the potential services of my primary love interest same guy who just now calls himself a  poet .   br    br   spare me .  i  m an artist    i  m a filmmaker .  okay . please do  carry on with that shtick  cronnie . seems to have bought you a lot of expensive   mm stock . and go ahead  you can wear all the accrutements of a  creative  but don  t expect us top respond to you  to follow your below average character through your two hour movie while you take down wes bentley  s career . why don  t we just let history speak to the merits of what you do  filmmaker guy . my guess is history will eventually have say something about that like  probably that  s in not is good as you think it is . and yeah  odds are you  ll be laying the blame on your dear ole ma  end up like our man micky here in the perfect witness hooked on smack and covered in your buddy  s blood with a video camera in your hand . great .  
pickup on south street is one of the most brilliant movies ever made . an example of the directing when candy  jean peters  starts going through her purse and notices her wallet is missing  an alarm goes off in the background in the building she  s in   as if it  s an alarm going off in her head . it  s not cartoon  like   it  s subtly woven into the background in a way that strikes you on a subconscious level until you  ve seen the film a few times and it just  clicks  that there  s an alarm bell going off when she starts frantically going through her bag .  br    br   richard widmark is way on top of his game as a smart  alec   he  s really great   but the highlight performance of the film was the first scene for  moe   the street peddler  informer  played by thelma ritter . later  in her apartment  you are not seeing a movie   you  re seeing a real person . i  ve never seen anyone  act  so real i felt like i was looking into a real room until ritter  s performance   right down to the way her hair stuck out a bit when she removed her hat .  br    br   about a million other things just worked   from the way lightning louie picks up money with his chopsticks to the way candy  s jewelry clicks when she flicks moe  s hand away from her brooch  to the way moe gets the dollars and change from the police captain across the fbi guy  s chest   and even the way the captain opens his filing cabinet  like he  s been doing it in that way in that room for many years .  pickup on south street  is detailed moves  directing  with consummate performances  acting  and superb now  nostalgic visuals of the day  such as the panel truck  the boards leading to the shack out on the water  the dumbwaiter    and the unforgettable place skip stashes his pocket pickings . wonderful stuff .  br    br    pickup on south street  is also one of the few movies where  even though the characters aren  t perfect  you do care about them   perhaps because they have been somewhat branded by their pasts in ways that are hard to escape skip as a  three  time loser  and candy as a youngish woman who has  knocked around  a lot . when these people behave a little more badly than you  d expect  it  s in sort of novel ways that make it seem you  re looking in at people you  d never otherwise imagine   and yet you know that they are possible because the actors make them so recognizably human .  
another day stuck indoors  another film to watch . having finally completed my christmas shopping yesterday on a cold and foggy afternoon  i had nowhere else to go to escape  the land that time forgot  . or rather  i had nothing else to watch .  br    br   doug mcclure  that bastion of leading  man actors  leads a handful of allied sailors sunk by a u  boat somewhere in the atlantic in     . capturing the u  boat  in a scene that defies logic and reason   they eventually find themselves on a strange island  apparently untouched by human hands . together  they explore the land and discover dinosaurs and neanderthals  can they escape before becoming a permanent resident of the land that time forgot   br    br   despite being made few years before  star wars   these films are light  years apart in terms of special effects . the model shots are little better than anything you would expect to see in an episode of gerry anderson  s  stingray  and the creatures aren  t much better either . when the t  rex  i  m assuming that  s what it was  was killed  it fell in the same way that zombies do when you kill them  frozen in mid  walk and collapsing  arms and legs held out like a sleeping cow that  s been pushed over . granted  the sets aren  t too bad but the lousy acting and endless explosion noises  which all sound the same  do their best to ruin credibility and your enjoyment of the picture as a whole . characters are neither believable or worthy of your sympathy as they fire their guns at seemingly anything that moves . in the end  i just didn  t care if they got off the island or not and by the time the end came  i was more relieved than entertained .  br    br   costumes are authentic enough until the cavemen arrive and it is bear  skin bikinis and loin cloths all round . and although it was fairly obvious from their actions  you wouldn  t have known that some characters were german from their accents . the whole thing just lacked some polish and cohesion  leaving the viewer confused in places and nonplussed in others . overall  this film barely registers a ripple of excitement these days although you can find some small amusement in trying to work out where colin farrell is . i spotted his name in the credits and half expected a baby to appear with an irish accent and suspect facial hair . oh well . nothing particularly great here to see then  but just about ok if you  re eating your lunch and the weather is preventing further activity .  
it is always satisfying when a detective wraps up a case and the criminal is brought to book . in this case the climax gives me even greater pleasure . to see the smug grin wiped off the face of abigail mitchell when she realises her victim has left  deathbed testimony  which leaves no doubt about her guilt is very satisfying .  br    br   please understand while i admire ruth gordon  s performance  her character really  really irritates me . she is selfish and demanding . she gets her own way by putting on a simpering  little girl  act which is embarrassing in a woman of her age . worse  she has now set herself up as judge  jury and executioner against her dead niece  s husband .  br    br   when columbo is getting too close she tries to unnerve him by manipulating him into making an off  the  cuff speech to an audience of high  class ladies . he turns the tables perfectly by delivering a very warm and humane speech about the realities of police work .  br    br   nothing can distract columbo from the pursuit of justice . abby  s final appeal to his good nature is rejected because he has too much self  respect not to do his job well . here is one situation you can  t squirm out of ms mitchell   
this was recently on amc  s vibrant movie classics and i had to laugh . i had high hopes for this adventure that follows in the vein of  voyage to the earth  s core  and  mysterious island  . i was sorely disappointed not only in the acting credentials but in the silly story line that reads from a five year old  s comic book . be sure to catch sight of the wires that are holding on to the pterdactyl  s wings when they grasp  ogar  a half idiot pre  modern man who befriends the lost adventurers . the ending left it open for further rehashing of the same effects in  people that time forgot  . don  t waste your time .  
i haven  t really seen too many of the columbo films . . . actually  i think i  ve only watched one or two  apart from this one . i  ve always liked columbo  though  somehow without even having seen that much of him . peter falk is and has always been the perfect choice for the character  because of his looks  his voice and his charm . the perfect proof of this is that though the series started all the way back in      the latest  and probably not last  of the films was made in     . that  s   years . and falk was   back when he made the first one . the series consists of   films  unless my count is off   all of which are made for tv . everyone knows the character  even though no one has ever seen a film featuring him in the cinema . that is quite an accomplishment  if you ask me . the plot is pretty good . the only problem i have with it is that the killer and murder is revealed at the very beginning  though that may be the same for all of the columbo films   leaving no mystery but how columbo solves it  making it somewhat dull  since there  s not much to look forward to at the end of the film  . the pacing is good  there  s hardly a scene where you  re bored . the acting is very good  particularly that of falk and ruth gordon . they have some great exchanges of dialog in the film . the characters are well  written and credible . the dialog and script is unusually good for a tv  movie . all in all  the film is  yes  surprisingly good for a tv  movie  and definitely worth watching for any fan of columbo and  or crime  mystery flicks .      
this isn  t one of those reviews about poor special effects or technology  or being dated  issues that only the dorkiest people could relate with  but rather a review on the story telling  which most of us are truly interested in .  br    br   the plot is about a combination of wwii allied and german navy members  and two civilians  the hero and heroine   who are thrust together on a german u boat and wind up in a savage land of dinosaurs .  br    br   the manipulations aren  t so bad by film standards  and we know from the plot that realism isn  t going to be high . what films like this need are credible and likable characters  along with some semblance of reason in the actions .  br    br   this film lacks both . for a full length film  only  characters are given any time  and  of them are barely looked into . mcclure  s hero is beyond  routine   and doesn  t make much sense in any era .  br    br   the female seems to be looking for an answer to a riddle about the land of dinosaurs they entered  but the riddle is not much of a riddle  and we could care less .  br    br   a lot of failure in a film that should have been better  even for its time .  
spoilers since the disappearance at sea of her favorite niece phyllis murder mystery writer abigail mitchell  ruth gordon  has strong suspicions that it was phyllis  husband edmund galvin  charles frank  who was responsible for her death . in fact abigail is convinced that he murdered her and made it look like a tragic accident .  br    br   knowing that there  s no evidence to have edmund arrested for phyillis  death and deciding to take the law into her own hands abigail cooks up this elaborate plan to do him in and make it look  like phyllis  death  a tragic accident . getting edmund to secretly come over to her mansion to give him the combination to her walk  in safe  as she  s about to leave on vacation for new york city  abigail tricks him into going inside locking the startled and surprised edmund in . with the safe being soundproof nobody at the mansion the butler maid and abigail  s personal secretary veronica  mariette hartley  hear him screaming for help and the next day edmund is found suffocated to death . veronica discovered edmund  s body as she was about to put away  for safe keeping  abigail  s latest murder mystery manuscript .  br    br   lt . columbo  peter falk  is called on the case involving the strange death of edmund garvin to determine if it  s a murder or a tragic accident . going through edmund  s apartment columbo is puzzled to find out that he doesn  t have a single photo of his late wife  who  s been missing for just a month  this ties into what abigail always felt about him in edmund not being in love with phyllis and also a suspect in her  in abigail  s mind  murder .  br    br   columbo a big fan  together with his wife  of abigail  s murder mystery novels has a hard time realizing that she in fact was responsible for edmund  s death . all the evidence points to abigil including a pair of missing car keys that was edmunds . this all proved that abgail was in fact in the house  not on her way to the airport  when edmund was locked inside the walk  in safe .  br    br   going through all the evidence columbo comes up with this strange conclusion that edmund must have left some evidence inside the safe in writing to who his killer is . that conclusion is quickly checkmated when it  s found out that edmund didn  t even have a pen or pencil as well as light  with the safe light  bulb burned out  on him to write it . there  s also something very odd that  s inside the safe that has been on lt . columbo  s mind ever since he came on the case . this has to do with the black paint residue that was found under the dead edmund  s fingernails and on his belt buckle   br    br   it  s that evidence  when put together with a number of other items in the safe  that in the end hangs edmund  s murder on the tricky and very cunning mystery writer abigail mitchell . edmund let abigail unknowingly convict herself in his final attempt as the air in the safe was being used up  by his breathing  in using burnt out matchsticks to write on abigail last manuscript who murdered him abigail mitchell   
this is an amateur movie shot on video  not an  electrifying drama  as the dvd liner notes falsely boast . i have seen much better stuff from undergrad film students . the bulk of the story unfolds with an all  nite taxi ride around jakarta . this movie could have been made using a single video camera  but there are a few sections where two cameras were used and the content was bounced together later . the editing is extremely rough . the final edit was probably done with two cameras  bouncing content back and forth  instead of with a proper editor . perhaps they did the editing in the taxi too  the english subtitles were written by someone not fluent in english  e . g .   where you go now   to say the production quality is on a par with blair witch is generous . if you  re not scared away yet  this film was an ambitious and creative endeavor  with lots of cool and funky images from all over jakarta .  
after the failure of  the crusades  at the box office  cecil b . demille stopped doing films about non  american history . his films for the next thirteen years were about our history from jean lafitte to world war ii  dr . wassell  . the first in order of production was this film  starring gary cooper as wild bill hickok  with jean arthur as calamity jane . james ellison was buffalo bill  john miljan  not a villain as usual  was general george a . custer  and anthony quinn was one of the indians who fought at little big horn . the villains were led by charles bickford  selling arms to the indians  and porter hall as jack mccall  who killed wild bill hickok  .  br    br   basically the film takes up the history of the u . s . after the civil war . lincoln is shown at the start talking about what is the next step now that lee has surrendered . lincoln talks about the need to secure the west  more about this point later  . then he announces he has to go to the theater . that april   th must have been very busy for abe  in  virginia city  he grants a pardon to errol flynn at the request of miriam hopkins on the same date .  br    br   actually  while lincoln was concerned about the west  his immediate thoughts on the last day of his presidency were about reunifying the former confederate states and it  s citizens into the union as soon as possible . it was reconstruction that occupied his attention  not the west  except for the problems of maximillian and his french controlled forces in mexico against juarez  . but he had been involved in actual problems with the west . in     he sent disgraced general john pope  the loser at second manassas  to minnesota to put down a serious indian war by the sioux  the subject of mckinley kantor  s novel   sprit lake  . pope  incompetent against lee and jackson  turned out to be quite effective here  and the revolt was smashed .  br    br   however  with all lincoln  s actual attention to western problems  it is doubtful that he says  as cooper repeats at least once    the frontier should be secure .  there is nothing to say he could not have said it  but it is hardly a profound pronouncement by a leading statesman . like saying  teddy roosevelt said   eat a good breakfast every morning for your health .  it is not a profound statement of policy . it is  at best  a statement of recognizable fact . cooper turning it into a minor mantra  like lincoln  s version of the monroe doctrine  is ridiculous . . . typical of the way demille  s scripts have really bad errors of common sense in them .  br    br   however  this is not a ruinous mistake .  the plainsman  is an adventure film  and as such it has the full benefit of demille the film creator of spectacle . as such it is well worth watching . but not as a textbook on lincoln  s political ideas or his quotable legacy .  
my title above says it all . let me make it clearer . if you have seen the bbc  s  planet earth   which i am sure most of you have  then you are not gonna like this movie too much . and i own all the discs of  planet earth  i had seen the rating for this movie very high  and read good reviews about it . i was excited to check it out .  br    br   alas  i went to the theater and the movie started  i saw it was a disney movie with production companies listing bbc and discovery . and when they started the first scenes about the polar bear  i recognized them from my dvds at home of  planet earth  .  br    br   the movie continued and went on and on and on  me and my friends kept on recognizing the scenes were all from  planet earth  .  br    br   we were very very disappointed  as i think    of the footage is from  planet earth  . i am saying     because some of the scenes i didn  t recognize . i have a feeling that i simply didn  t remember them .  br    br   so finally what this movie really is  is a compilation of different footages from the different discs of  planet earth   with a narration aimed at kids . yes  the narration is quite kiddish . let me give you an example . when they show the polar cubs walking away from the mother cub  the narrator says  the polar cubs are not like human kids . they don  t always listen to their mothers   i don  t remember the exact words  but this is how it is  so in a nutshell . this is condensed  planet earth  for kids   
this is the one in which the diminutive ruth gordon plays an agatha  christie type of murder mystery author who locks her nephew by marriage into a safe . gordon believes that he murdered her niece and the young fellow dies of suffocation  while gordon is traveling back and forth to new york . he manages  however  to leave behind some clues  scratches on a couple of black safe deposit boxes and an improvised and well  hidden note . columbo enters the case  suspects her at once  and solves the mystery by simply using his supernatural mystical intuitive powers . oh  and mariette hartley is on hand as gordon  s secretary and would  be blackmailer . hartley is  i believe  the grand daughter of the psychologist b . f . skinner . i  m not sure her ancestry had anything to do with her attractive belly button  which is on display during a belly dance sequence  but i  ve always admired skinner anyway .  br    br   the murder is well handled . it  s a good plot  and none of the performers or crew fluff anything . but the outstanding figure here is ruth gordon  only a skosh over five feet tall . she was over   years old and looked it . there are moments when she almost teeters  but she consistently exudes charm . her acting is idiosyncratic . you can never be sure when she  s being serious or when she  s putting columbo and the audience on . she  s given some good lines too . what humor there is comes from gordon . columbo doesn  t have any of his frequent comic moments .  br    br   all in all  a nice job by everyone concerned .  
a short review but . . .  br    br   avoid at all costs  a thorough waste of   mins . at the end of the film i was none the wiser as to what had actually happened . it  s full of cameos  stephen fry   mins   jack dee    secs   the  philadelphia  girls  and some vaguely recognisable people but it just doesn  t make any sense . whether the story just got lost in the edit i don  t now but jeez . . .  br    br   put on a dvd instead or go to bed and get some rest     br    br    out of    for the cameos and a morris minor car chase   br    br    
i loved the episode but seems to me there should have been some quick reference to the secretary getting punished for effectively being an accomplice after the fact . while i like when a episode of columbo has an unpredictable twist like this one  its resolution should be part of the conclusion of the episode  along with the uncovering of the murderer .  br    br   the interplay between peter falk and ruth gordon is priceless . at one point  gordon  playing a famous writer  makes some comment about being flattered by the famous lt . columbo  making a tongue  in  cheek allusion to the detective  s real life fame as a crime  solver . this is one of the best of many great columbo installments .  
quite possibly . how francis veber  one of the best comedy directors in the world  at least when sticking to his native france   managed to turn in a film so completely unwatchable is beyond the reason of mere mortal man to discern . it  s not just that the characters are so unlikeable or that the film is so utterly devoid of even the lowest form of wit it  s genuinely physically painful to watch  such an endless parade of inept writing  acting and film  making that you cannot believe this is the work of experienced  and talented  filmmakers . for once the near  eternity spent in the cutting room and on the shelf before its blink  and  you  ll  miss  it theatrical release tells the whole story . what were they thinking   
i like this episode quite a bit  ruth gordon is good if not a little hammy as she always was . as has been stated  the music is very good  and it has a moodiness that doesn  t exist in all episodes .  br    br   but one major plot hole exists  so wide you can drive a fleet of trucks through it . it is established that the light doesn  t work in the vault . don  t you think that the very intelligent columbo or the rest of the police would have thought to check if the light bulb worked  you  d think in pretty short order they would have unscrewed the bulb and so found the note . granted this is tv whodunit fiction  and various holes will always be found  but this seems much too glaring .  br    br   it really doesn  t make columbo out to be the hidden genius when the light doesn  t work but the  death bed  testimony goes on unfound  apparently for days .  
for those of us that lived thru those weeks of filming in town and around the valley  lest we not forget the tedious days of road closures and  film  making  . as a reminder to those that live here  locales include boulder creek  bonny doon  davenport  big basin . etc . the bank was the bc firehouse chase scenes included moon drive off hwy     empire grade rd  and hwy  .  br    br   production jeffrey jones was the most approachable  matt broderick was above us all  even back then . as far as the film goes  a joke of a script and even a bigger laugh regarding acting and plot  but who cares at this level . a nice time capsule for those that enjoy our coast and valley scenery .  br    br   additional notes joe  s bar  jed  s tavern in the film   original name of the film was welcome to buzzsaw  the old erba  s parking lot was the town square  the backyard shots were off of grove street in boulder creek turn off the thinking cap and see a few actors in their early days .  
the movie has a great written genre story . it features all of the usual columbo ingredients the way lt . columbo approaches and bonds to his suspect  the way the mystery unravels for him  columbo  s dog  the cat and mouse play  which is great in this one and luckily as well some good relieving humor  mostly involving the columbo character . it  s all written despite the fact that it doesn  t even have a truly original concept . columbo hunting down a detective  murder novel writer had been done more than once before in a columbo movie .  br    br   it  s also an extremely well directed movie from james frawley  who after this directed  more columbo movies  in the     s and     s . he provided the movie with style and some truly great and memorable sequences .  br    br   it  s one of the slower moving columbo movies  despite not having a too long running time . this style and approach doesn  t always work out well for a columbo movie but in this movie it does  which is perhaps not in the least thanks to the acting performances of the movie .  br    br   most columbo movie either starred a big well known star or a star from the early days of film  making  as the movie its murderer . this movie stars the rather unknown   year old ruth gordon . she didn  t starred in an awful lot of movies throughout her career but she is still well known to some  mostly for her role in  rosemary  s baby   which also won her an oscar . she had a realistic and somewhat unusual style of acting  which some people might not like though . it earned her  more oscar nominations throughout her career  prior to her win for  rosemary  s baby   in     . she has some great interaction as well with peter falk in their sequences together .  br    br   the movie also stars a still young g . d . spradlin . i say young because i only know him from his latest productions out of his career  despite the fact that he already was   at the time of this columbo production . he is still alive but retired from acting  ever since     .  br    br   an even better than usual columbo movie entry .  br    br        
this is the weakest of the series  not much of a plot and a rather odd  looking wallace . but it  s still pretty good  considering . a sign of greater things to come   br    br        
i love this episode of columbo . maybe it  s because ruth gordon is in it and she is wonderful as successful mystery writer abigail mitchell  an american version of dame agatha christie . she is delicious to watch as the perky  lovable author who suffered a terrible loss when her niece died in a drowning accident . she blames her niece  s husband  the nephew . she plans to kill him to avenge her death since the police have abandoned her . i would have loved somebody else than mariette hartley to play veronica . i never really like hartley in anything personally . and of course with columbo  there are some laughs like when he questions veronica at a belly  dancing class . ruth  s abigail is a smart sleuth herself and she matches wits with columbo always played wonderfully by peter falk .  
star rating  the works  just misses the mark  that little bit in between  lagging behind  the pits  br    br   in this debut effort for nick park  s beloved man and dog  they are forced to fly to the moon when good old wallace runs out of cheese .  br    br   as well as being the shortest feature at just   minutes  this w  g adventure is also the earliest and it kinda shows . the plasticine animation is a little creaky and funny here  sort of reminiscent of the mork animation about the little man in the box .  br    br   admirable though the craftsmanship behind it is  i  ve never actually been hugely into wallace  gromit  maybe a bit too clean and traditional for someone of my generation .  the only one i  ve really enjoyed is the wrong trousers  and that was more from when i was younger and less aware of  shall we say  the seedier pleasures of life .  i was driven to actively seek out this early effort due to the resurgence in popularity as a result of the hugely successful recent film adaptation .  br    br   as technically impressive as the first two  all things considered   this one lacks the emotional angle it  s successors were to possess . that being said  it  s fairly good fun as a first try and certainly set the standard for greater things to come . two stars  but a good two stars .   
ruth gordon is one of the more sympathetic killers that columbo has ever had to deal with . and  the plot is ingenious all the way around . this is one of the best columbo episodes ever . mariette hartley and g . d . spradlin are excellent in their supporting roles . and peter falk delivers a little something extra in his scenes with gordon .  
this movie is another christian propaganda film in the line of the omega code . not that that is necessarily bad but for the fact that most propaganda films sacrifice sincerity and realism for the message they wish to deliver . if you enjoy a styrofoam portrayal of life on the streets and the way the gospel can change a life  than perhaps you may enjoy this movie . i say  save your money and rent the cross and the switchblade or the mission . when will christian directors learn that sometimes people say bad words  it was frustrating to see criminals depicted who are not allowed to swear  huh  criminals say bad words   and flat characters i really could not relate to . also  it would  ve been great if the movie had shown some ta . now that would be something i  d like to pay to see . who was the blockhead who compared this communion wafer  thin story of a movie with the boondock saints and the sting   
i have a lot of time for all the columbo films  but this one in particular was extremely well written  and the solution at the end very effective . however  my main memory of this one is the opening of a scene in the middle of the film  between columbo and the murderer  i apologise if i  ve not remembered every detail of this exactly  . it  s the most striking image of columbo i  ve seen the view is from inside the darkness of the cupboard where the victim was murdered  and into the room beyond  which is lit up by daylight . columbo is sitting in a high  backed armchair facing the doorway  and us   contemplating the cupboard  and almost in silhouette due to the contrast in light . there  s no sound . the camera slowly moves out of the room and up towards him . he  s deep in meditation  puffing gently on a cigar  swirls of smoke from the cigar circling slowly upwards as he thinks . then the dialogue starts . superb .  
wow . . . i can  t believe just how bad zombie doom  aka violent sh  t   really is . i  d heard the rumors  read the reviews  but had to make my mind up for myself . well  let me tell ya  it blows    the worst acting of any film ever made  dubbing that must have been done while everyone involved was completely wasted  inept and laughable gore fx  no discernible plot   cinematography  that looks like my grandma filmed it with her camcorder  weapons props that are no joke  made out of tin  foil  the list goes on and on . . .  br    br   three guys get stranded on an island where a bunch of weirdos run around with plastic and tin  foil swords . two of the captives are freed along with a rebel of the island freaks  and are given a day  s head start before they are hunted down by the rest of the  tribe  . . . that  s pretty much it . . .  br    br   honestly  this is one of the worst films i  ve ever had the misfortune to subject myself too . the budget had to be about     and was spent entirely on the gore fx  which actually may not have been a bad idea . . .  . there is nothing to zombie doom other than strung  together ridiculous looking gore scenes with lots of horribly dubbed dialog . this film makes other no  budget outings like premutos lord of the living dead look like titanic . some may rank zd in the  so  bad  it  s  good  category  and i guess if you  re really drunk or high and watching it with a few friends mst  k  style  i guess it could be looked at that way . but not by me . i hated pretty much everything about it . if zombie doom or zombie    which is equally appalling and is included as a  bonus  on the shock  o  rama release of zd  is indicative of andreas schnaas  other works  then he should be banned from ever having anything to do with making a film ever again under penalty of death . there is one amusing kung  fu battle in the latter half of the film  and a lot of blood  so i  ll grant this one a very generous      do yourself a favor and skip this .  
ruth gordon at her best . this episode is my favorite of the whole columbo series . peter falk and ruth gordon worked so well together that they should both be inducted into the television hall of fame  regardless of the rest of their work . even the music was outstanding in this episode .  
i am dumbfounded that i actually sat and watched this . i love independent films  horror films  and the whole zombie thing in general . but when you add ninga  s  you  ve crossed a line that should never be crossed . i hope the people in this movie had a great time making it  then at least it wasn  t a total waste . you  d never know by watching it though . script  are you kidding . acting  i think even the trees were faking . cinematography  well  there must  ve been a camera there . period . i don  t think there was any actual planning involved in the making of this movie . such a total waste of time that i won  t prolong it by commenting further .  
a top notch columbo from beginning to end . i particularly like the interaction between columbo and the killer  ruth gordon .  br    br   as an avid columbo fan  i can  t recall another one in which he doesn  t set up the killer at the end as he does in other episodes . in this one  as he  s trying to determine the correct sequence of the boxes and the  message  that the nephew left behind  it finally dawns on him .  br    br   the music in this episode is very good as well  as it is in many of other ones .  
i cannot believe how bad this piece of garbage is  i want my   .   back  words defy description of this poorly made piece of crap  the dubbing in no way shape or form aligns with the actor  s mouths . the movie looks like it was filmed with a      s vintage camcorder . i have shot better movies with my cell phone camera . the gore is laughable due to the silly unbelievable plot . the acting is what one would expect if you called all your friends over on a saturday afternoon and proceeded to get completely ripped  then tried to put on a play in your garage . don  t get me wrong . . . i wasn  t expecting o  neil and i love zombie movies  but the production values are so low in this film as to make it unwatchable . avoid   
don  t waste time reading my review . go out and see this astonishingly good episode  which may very well be the best columbo ever written  ruth gordon is perfectly cast as the scheming yet charming mystery writer who murders her son  in  law to avenge his murder of her daughter . columbo is his usual rumpled  befuddled and far  cleverer  than  he  seems self  and this particular installment features fantastic chemistry between gordon and falk . ironically  this was not written by heralded creators levinson or link yet is possibly the densest  most thoroughly original and twist  laden columbo plot ever . utterly satisfying in nearly every department and overflowing with droll and witty dialogue and thinking . truly unexpected and inventive climax tops all .      . . . seek this one out on netflix   
i am a big fan of low budget horror movies like this  but come on  this has to be the worst piece of monkey st i have ever seen  i ignored the reviews posted on this site figuring that it would fall into my taste in horror  but i got bored and turned it off . let  s see  br    br   the wardrobe consisted of cheap cameo outfits and painters outfits from home depot . the masks were made from what looks like tin foil .  br    br   the gore the gore was pretty good  i must give it that . but ittenbach  s burning moon was better for a low budget movie .  br    br   acting was horrible  i didn  t mind the dubbing . i find this humorous like in ittenbach  s  premutos   great movie  . the fighting and action sequences were pi poor .  br    br   bottom line don  t watch any of schnaas  s movies . there are much better directors like jorg buttergeit and olaf ittenbach with movies of the same gore and subject matter . check premutos  house of blood  schramm and the nekromantiks .  
  the plainsman  represents the directorial prowess of cecil b . demille at its most inaccurate and un  factual . it sets up parallel plots for no less stellar an entourage than wild bill hickok  gary cooper   buffalo bill cody  james ellison   calamity jane  jean arthur   george armstrong custer and abraham lincoln to interact  even though in reality lincoln was already dead at the time the story takes place . every once in a while demille floats dangerously close toward the truth  but just as easily veers away from it into unabashed spectacle and showmanship . the film is an attempt to buttress custer  s last stand with a heap of fiction that is only loosely based on the lives of people  who were already the product of manufactured stuffs and legends . truly  this is the world according to demille  a zeitgeist in the annals of entertainment  but a pretty campy relic by today  s standards .  br    br   transfer considering the vintage of the film  this is a moderately appealing transfer  with often clean whites and extremely solid blacks . there  s a considerable amount of film grain in some scenes and an absence of it at other moments . all in all  the image quality is therefore somewhat inconsistent  but it is never all bad or all good  just a bit better than middle of the road . age related artifacts are kept to a minimum and digital anomalies do not distract . the audio is mono but nicely balanced .  br    br   extras forget it . it  s universal  bottom line as pseudo  history painted on celluloid  this western is compelling and fun . just take its characters and story with a grain of salt  in some cases  a whole box seems more appropriate   
a lot of death happens in the wild . you don  t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out  but does it need to be the focus of a nature documentary  what is with this fascination with gruesome death  do we really have to see an adult elephant torn to shreds by a pack of hungry lions  or  a cheetah grabbing a gazelle by the throat in slow motion  no less  i thought this was going to be a family  friendly nature film   br    br   and  why not have the courage to show the gruesome violence in the film  s trailers  were the filmmakers afraid of losing money   br    br   then in typical  comic relief fashion we get to see the magnificent birds  of  paradise perform mating rituals to the most annoying and stupid narration humanly possible . it was surreal  it  s as if the filmmakers believed they were only addressing a roomful of first and second graders on a school field trip  wow  from the mean to the moronic in a heartbeat   br    br   if there are any future nature documentary filmmakers waiting in the wings reading this film review  why not focus on animals actually copulating giving birth laying eggs bathing sleeping cleaning each other socializing playing emotional displays other than fear and anger unusual behaviors  like mouth brooding migration problem solving skills culture  yes  many animal species have what humans call culture   communication skills parenting  healing abilities  etc . in other words  stop focusing on violence or dumbing down beauty  and why not be much more well  rounded  and focus on delight and inspiration  instead   
for columbo fans  such as myself  this is the episode of episodes that made a case for why columbo was so popular  and just how good it really was . ruth gordon has a field day  as ever  playing the wittily intelligent crime novelist abigail mitchell . seems abigail calls her nephew  in  law to sign some papers making him her heir . she never got over her niece  s death  and is convinced her dead niece  s husband  charles frank  did the dirty deed . to tell more would be unthinkable . mariette hartley has a sly role as abigail  s personal assistant . this episode of columbo is in a class by itself . it  s a truly well made television movie . i recommend it most highly .  
ok  i like b movies . . . i know what b movies are supposed to represent . but this is just awful . i am amazed it got such a decent overall score . the only redeeming qualities of this flick are the  mostly  marginal splatter effects . don  t get me wrong  gore abounds in this flick  but few effects really jumped out at me  like the anal  probe  . . . that was great   .  br    br   i believe this movie was filmed on a camcorder . c  mon  rent a betacam at least  i  ve seen porn with better production values  and better acting as well  .  br    br   acting  sucked  but not in the troma or full moon sort of way .  br    br   story  contrived  but thats what you get from films like these . very loose   br    br   sets  props  sucked  my   year old brother makes more elaborate sets for our house on halloween .  br    br   dubbing and dialogue  sucked  horrible voice acting  i shouldn  t even call it acting  and every other word is  st  or  fk  .  br    br   there are tons of good classic and b rated horror  splatter flicks out there and they are not that hard to track down . do yourself a favor by not wasting time on this crap   
while returning from a christmas eve shopping trip  an abused suburban housewife  basinger  finds herself in a fight for survival after a disagreement with a group of delinquent youths takes a violent turn .  br    br   suffering the indignity of a straight to dvd release here in the u . k .  susan montford  s directorial debut will perhaps not be given the recognition it deserves . this is a shame  as the standard of the writing  directing and acting is very good indeed  and certainly surpasses the quality of your average straight to dvd flick .  br    br   kim basinger gives her best performance in some time as the downtrodden wife of an abusive husband  craig sheffer  . while sheffer is not really given anything more to do than be a threatening presence  it is in their brief scenes together that basinger connects  showing painful vulnerability yet hinting at the rage that will eventually boil over in her confrontations with the youths . it  s a truly great  understated performance  her transformation from victim to aggressor is seamlessly played .  br    br   lukas haas i initially thought was miscast  as he  along with the other three youths  just did not seem much of a threat . however  had all four youths been more physically imposing  the later scenes in which basinger turns the tables against them would not have worked at all . the fact that these are four average men  albeit slightly unhinged  is the key to why the film works as well as it does .  br    br   apart from a few pacing issues during the latter half of the movie and a couple of cheesy lines here and there  what we have here is a great thriller that actually leaves the viewer with something to think about when the film is over . some may be put off by the slow  burn nature of the opening scenes  or the abrupt ending . others by the at times brutal violence . i say give it a chance  it  s certainly more deserving of your time than saw v .  
i felt obliged to watch this movie all the way through  since i had found it in a bargain bin and bought it for my own  but i came close many times to turning it off and just writing off the money i had paid for it . if you are a fan of gore and sadism  this movie is ok . if there is one thing that the makers of this film know  it is the creative use of fake blood and body parts for a sickening effect . if that doesn  t thrill you  then stay away .  br    br   this movie is shot on a home video camera  with grade school props and terrible actors . it  s dubbed from german  but even allowing for that  the sound is awful . this film is about as budget as budget gets  except for the aforementioned special effects . if they had spent a little more money on actors and a real script instead of blood and guts  the film might have been a little more enjoyable .  br    br   the story is about three men that land on an island inhabited by an army of tin  masked sadists . they are captured  and the rest of the movie is about their attempt to escape . i call this a story in the loosest sense  since it is really a series of scenes of torture and combat strung together by inane obscenity  filled dialog .  br    br   there is nothing whatsoever redeeming about this movie  unless you like mindless gore . consider yourself warned .  
in all my   years of age  i have learned that when we watch a movie there is an identification  whether we want it or not  implicit with an specific character .  br    br   sometimes because the character executes certain gesture  sometimes because the character speaks determinate word  or sentence  that we use or that we would like to use  in determinate situation .  br    br   the movie in question  should be seen by this point of view . who now find a parking space  in a mall  downtown  or in the street  taken by a car whose driver can  t remember to think that he is not the only driver in the world   br    br   who hasn  t the urge to  rubber out  the ill mannered spat   br    br   haven said that i ask  did you identify with della  played by kim bassinger   if your answer is yes   then try not to find absurd details  comparatively with life  s reality  in the movie  because you  ll certainly find the movie ridiculous .  br    br   abstractions made  you will see that the movie has moments of surprise  such as   in the sequence in which della grabs the box of tools in the trunk  does that box contains a gun  and does she haves the guts to use it      in the sequence in which terry dies whilst falling   in the sequence in which della gets attracted by chuckie  s  mermaid  s call  .  br    br   if you have already seen the movie  or if are planning seeing  keep in mind that there are  realistic  movies   fiction  movies   political  movies  and movies in which you can  wash your soul   to exemplify the last one  we can quote  tropa de elite  .  br    br   according to newspaper  s  there was unanimous applause when bope officials take certain attitudes .  as i have seen the movie in dvd  i could not ascertain the audience  s reaction    br    br   as for the direction part  susan monford   interpretations  kim bassinger  lukas haas  craig scheffer  etc . edition  william m . anderson   dead poets society    green card   exceptional edition   robocop    etc . it is well situated in context . in a scale of   awful  to    master piece   i rate  when she was out  a   regular  .  
karl jr and his dad are now running an army on a remote island . they capture a trio of guys who stumble upon the island . whom after a while fight back .  well the survivors  this one has non  stop blood  gore and carnage  which would have been good if any of it looked remotely real  or if the production didn  t look like it was made with a weeks worth of saved up lunch money  i may be overexxagerating there . it was probably just a couple days worth  . the horrendous dubbing didn  t bother me as much and i suspect if i had been really drunk  some of it might have been slightly humorous . . . . maybe . but as it is  at merely   minutes the movie still felt way too long by . . oh i don  t know . . .   minutes . don  t waste your time .  br    br   my grade f  br    br   dvd extras bonus movie  zombie     extreme pestilence   and trailers for other shock  o  rama released films  
kim basinger stars as della  a housewife who has twin children  terri and tammi  played by luke gair and erika  shaye gair  and an abusive jerk for a husband  kenneth   played by craig sheffer .  br    br   the movie opens on christmas eve . kenneth is on his way home from work  driving a nice car too i might add . he is on his cellphone arguing with a business partner i would assume . when he gets home  he sees that the floor is a mess with shoes and toys spread all about . this angers him even more and he takes up with his wife  della  asking her why the house is always a mess . he pins her up against the wall . the twin  s watch from the stairs . he punches the wall  leaving a hole in it and walks away . she tends to the children  trying to comfort them . after that is all said in done  she needs to go to the mall to do some last minute shopping and because she is out of wrapping paper . she gets there and the parking lot is full because there is a lot of last minute shoppers there . while she is looking for a parking space  she notices a car taking up two spaces and this irks her . she finally finds a spot to park  makes her way over to the hoggish car and leaves a note under the wiper calling the owner a  selfish jerk  . then she goes in the mall to do her last minute shopping .  br    br   when she finally does leave the mall  it is closing and many people have left already . not the owner of the car she left the note on however and she notices this on the way to her vehicle . she also notices that the note she left under the wiper is no longer there . odd . when she gets to her vehicle  she gets in to start it up . she notices a car coming up behind her and it blocks her from backing up . she gets out of the car only to be confronted by the owner of the car  chuckie  played by lukas haas  she left the note on and a posse of his thug friends . yelling ensues and a mall cop  no  not paul blart  makes his way over to them to see what the problem is  only to have his brains blown out of his head by chuckie . while this happens  della jumps in her vehicle  starts it and drives over the median in front of her . chuckie and his posse hop in his car and give chase . della ends up crashing her vehicle into a log pile at a housing development but she is unharmed . she manages to make it to the back of her vehicle  open up the hatchback and grab a toolbox before the thugs get there .  br    br   with that  della spends the rest of the night trying to outrun and out wit the thugs armed with only the tools that she has in her toolbox as weapons . the first kill  in my opinion  is the best . the first kill that della performs anyway . the last one was probably the weakest and it should of been the best considering that this was the main bad guy she was offing .  br    br   i will admit that there will be some that are put off buy the ending and i was let down a bit myself . as a whole though it was a fun flick and moves along nicely at it  s  hour and   minute run time .  
i couldn  t believe i spent    .   on this . the only redeeming quality is the outrageous gore . the dubbing was worse than any i have ever experienced . it looks like it was shot with a vhs camcorder . i think every pfennig was spent on the special effects because there was a whole lot of blood and body parts everywhere . its one of the worst movies i have ever seen but i do have to acknowledge the plentiful gore that wasn  t as disgusting as it could have been because the whole movie is so silly and unbelievable  
attention  spoiler   br    br   many people told me that planet of the apes was tim burton  s worst movie and apart from that much weaker than the original film . so i decided not to see it . another friend of mine who hadn  t seen the movie yet  advised me to watch it in spite of this because a tim  burton  movie is still a tim  burton  movie  . i decided to do it  and i found that he was right .  br    br   it  s clear that a remake of such a famous film as planet of the apes  is automatically influenced by commercial thinking . still  tim burton managed his film to represent his weird playfulness just as well as beetlejuice  or batman  . if you are already fond of burton  movies  it  s hard not to like one of his films  even if it has some flaws nerve  racking monkey squeals  over  dressed apes and a leading actor who could have been  without difficulties  replaced by anbody else .  br    br   what the film gives us in the first place  is an answer to the question what  s the result when tim burton is instructed to create a remake  first of all  burton wouldn  t be burton  if he wouldn  t refuse to call it a remake from the start it  s a re  imagining  . on the other hand  burton knows that almost every viewer of his movie has seen the very first film version starring charlton heston  as human   and he knows that a remake doesn  t exist without its model and that the two films will not stop being compared . so all he does is playing with this comparison at every moment of his film  e . g . by referencing to quotes . concerning the story  line  burton does a brilliant job by answering open questions of the original first  and then driving the whole audience to despair by destroying this wonderful clarity and ending the movie with  and here is the spoiler  leo coming back to earth and finding himself inside a world that seems to have been ruled by apes forever .  br    br   now  this is the burtonesque answer to people  s expectations they hold because of the astonishing  shocking ending of the first planet of the apes  . an ending  even more unexpected  more astonishing and completely confusing  because  and here i  m disagreeing with various planet of the apes   homepages and  platforms  it does not make any sense . there cannot be a meaning to it  or just a so complicated one that it becomes ineffective . tim burton is playing his cruel games  he does it with a grin and he does it well . burton fans will sure like it  others may feel betrayed and complain about some sort of manierism . well  and i don  t think producers will ever ask burton to direct a remake again  
it  s not the most well made slasher movies of all time  but for what it is  it  s pretty amusing . the plot is lame but the kills are not too bad . i have to be honest  if you don  t follow the bands that are featured in this film  you wont find this film as funny as those who do . i knew someone who saw this film and was really disappointed because of the poor quality of the film but you have to understand that it was made in the spare time of being on tour  in between playing to moshing kids and drinkin  with friends backstage . . . it  s not made to be taken seriously . it  s ubber cheese at it  s punk best and with over    kills  most of which are ultra gory  it  s a fun movie to have friends over to watch  drink and be merry   
 . . . . after   years tim burton finally disappoints me     whatever happened to the old burton who read  the dark knight returns  by frank miller as research for his preparation to direct batman back in         by the looks of it burton didn  t research the book nor the movie cause he got everything wrong  this movie sucks  it  s not as good as the original and it doesn  t deal with the same subject as the original . if you want a good ape movie watch the original .  br    br   out ofstars  
i just finished watching this movie . i was very excited since i  m a big fan of punk rock  horror films and spoofs . i was very surprised at what i saw . i knew it was low budget  but i wasn  t expecting it to be taped with a video camera . it opens with a good song and a great  very underrated band  the horrorpops  reforming their song  where they wander  and promptly getting killed in various gruesome ways . it  s a great opening . but the problem is the fact that  up until the end  this was really all that the movie was . a live performance  a death . another live performance  a death . it gets old . and there is a gross  literally  overuse of intestines in the death scenes . why doesn  t the killer use other body parts  like legs  or eyeballs  or brains  don  t get me wrong  this movie has some parts that are awesome . like the hardcore french band  known simply as beret  the prospect of a band named atticus  the scene containing a performance by members of the the used and simple plan playing together  since neither bands had enough members to play their show  and bowling for soup  s overweight  and  proud  of  it guitarist getting killed in a truly hilarious manner  that i will save for the future watchers of this movie . but the big problem i have with this movie is the at first comical  but after a while  terrible lack of acting talent in a lot of the  actors  . especially warped tour creator  kevin lyman . he tries very hard  but i suspect that he didn  t want to make the film  but was contractually obligated or something . in addition to that  the sound quality is terrible and there are no subtitles on the dvd . the movie  s resolving plot is very hazy and very random . something about a magic sword and lloyd kaufman as the devil . bottom line  this movie has a lot of good qualities  but not enough to be anywhere near a decent horror  music  or comedy film . although i have to credit it with turning me onto a few bands that i would never have listened to  otherwise . such as tsunami bomb  and the phenomonauts  an insane  psychobilly band  . i recommend that you rent this movie  watch the first   or   minutes  if you like it  watch the next   or    if you still like it  then watch on . if not  just go to the special features and watch all the music videos and live performances . they rock  long live punk rock and horror   
take this movie for what it is  not a remake  but a completely different approach to the same concept . it  s not an epic like the original  it  s more of a popcorn thriller . visually  it  s incredible . everything else was just ok .  br    br   for what it is  i think the movie is awesome  but i like everything burton has done . people need to calm down and stop acting like it  s the end of the world b  c of this movie . it wasn  t supposed to be a remake  and it  s not .  br    br   the ending was cool . . i took it as a parallel universe .  
well  if you like pop  punk  punk  ska  and a tad bit of modern psycho billy  then seeing the live performances are about the only thing worth watching . this movie has tons and tons of band cameos  along with president of troma  lloyd kaufman as a semi  major role  and lots of goofy death scenes . sounds like it may be good  right  well  the deaths keep coming  and repeatedly to many different bands of the warp tour and the fans at the event . some of the deaths start of stylish  but then they are recycled over and over  to the point of being completely repetitive . almost everyone dies of having their head smashed  or intestines being pulled from their stomach . the gore looks as if it was from andreas schnaas   zombie    extreme pestilence   with this being the  watered  down type blood   but now that movie is actually decent  and provides humor  something that this movie terribly lacks . sure  the movie is made by doug sakmann from troma  it  s got great low  budget potential  and it tries . . . but just too hard . everything is overly meant to be funny in this movie  and thats what brings it down . everything tries to be too comic and goofy  by using intentional bad acting  an overuse of pointless deaths  and doing the same thing . . . over and over . it  s basically  mulva zombie ass  kicker    chairman of the board   or any movie you have made with your friends it  s funny to those who made it  and that  s about it .  br    br   great potential  great idea  great use of effects  but it  s the same thing . . . over and over a band plays  a band dies  fans die . everyone dies  blood is sprayed everywhere  the process is repeated .  br    br   the question is for these types of movies  which is basically  bad slap  stick   do they try too hard  or not at all   
charleton heston wore one  james franciscus wore one but mark wahlberg opts not to don the traditional loin cloth . i hope no one casts him as tarzan . linda harrison wore a bikini in the first  planet movies but estrella warren barely shows cleavage  her hair is always in the way . tim burton could have sexed up this simian saga  given the adults in the audience something to look at . even the chaste helena bonham carter never gets out of her costume which looks like a large curtain . she  s cute but all the the love stuff is restricted to anxious looks  a little bitty kiss at the end . as in artificial intelligence which discusses inter species sex between robots  humans but never delivers  planet of the apes hints at inter species romance between the humans  the apes but only hints . lisa marie is the only ape that dares to be sexy . this movie has three great actors tim roth  ms . carter  paul giamatti chewing up the scenery as a trio of apes  they are fun to watch . superlative make up  a certain oscar  costumes  sets  music make this the hit summer movie of     .  
judaai was a bold film by raj kanwar at it  s time in     when such a topic was damn out of the box  br    br   to give him his credit he does succeed in showing how greed changes a person and to what extent the person can go to get what she wants  br    br   the film however is damn melodramatic  many places ridiculous  br    br   one wonders why anil doesn  t buy a tv for his wife  when he earns so much just to show how poor he is   br    br   the twist is well handled but the handling is straight out of    s the johny  paresh comedy which entertains here and there stands out as a sore thumb as it doesn  t fit in the story  br    br   even there are several cringeworthy scenes  br    br   direction by raj kanwar is adequate though at times too melodramatic music is okay but most songs look forced  br    br   anil does his part well sridevi is excellent in her part urmila is decent amongst rest kader khan is as usual johny lever is funny  paresh irritates farida is decent  
on the surface  this is an above  average post  war romantic comedy . beneath the veneer  it is mgm character actor stunt  casting at its funniest .  br    br   the leads are straightforward  but all the secondaries are cast much against type . margaret hamilton  aka wicked witch of the west   edward everett horton  professional obsessive  compulsive fussbudget   and sig ruman  the marx brothers  nemesis in  night in casablanca  and the always  wonderful  night at the opera    playing a well  intentioned gang trying to bring the two leads together  instead of driving them apart as their  usual  characters would do .  br    br   it also pokes fun at many romantic  comedy conventions  which is another indication that this could be not so much a  straight  romantic comedy  as it is a wry send  up of the many post  war romantic comedies  their   dimensional  stock characters .  br    br   i  ve seen it only once  with interruptions  so i can  t be positive  but this movie may be one of those that worked better in the context of the time at which it was made  but is less successful now that viewers  see  these secondary characters through a completely different lens . i  m assuming this is the case when i give it  stars . i thought it was hysterical .  
this movie is awful . at the end of it you will realize that several hours have been stolen from your life that you can  t get back . the  twist  ending is very contrived . the character development leading up to this ending is not consistent with their final actions at the conclusion . ninety minutes of preparation   with the premise that the rob lowe character will die on christmas eve   is explained away in literally ninety seconds of  no we were just tricking you .  then the rob lowe character is not even upset about it   i will forgive you if you can forgive me   is as upset as he gets . if someone took weeks to convince me i was about to die and then said  no  sorry  just fooling you  i would raise some serious hell . i don  t feel bad about giving away the spoiler because i might be able to save some of you out there from watching . please save yourself and don  t watch this movie .  
my observations postwar hilarity . tom drake and grandpa from  meet me in st . louis  two years later  the year i was born  . donna reed charming and pretty . margaret hamilton good as always smaller part than in  wizard of oz  . spring byington way prettier  also with the prerequisite perky small nose lacked by hamilton . tent scene at end with former boy next door was hilarious . as a two year veteran of army tents  he looked pretty youthful and inexperienced when i looked into his eyes .  br    br   i used to work in a department store  and it was just as elegant as this one . sadly  it has disappeared and faded into obscurity . we were famous for those great show windows that were used to lure passersby into the store  to get them to buy all of that wonderful merchandise .  br    br         
this was a better than average movie i thought  for it being on cable . i had expected something along the lines of cheesy melodrama and bad special effects seen in such classics as christmas rush or first daughter  target  shot  etc .  br    br   the cast was well chosen . . . i especially liked ron livingston as the hard pressed swat commander . it  s good to see him revisiting the same material he had so much fortune with in band of brothers . the producers and designers had done their homework because all the scenes and shots looked like they did on that day back in     .  br    br   so  if you get a chance to see this film  and i am sure you will since fx reruns everything   times . . . take  hours and enjoy it .  
i just read the plot summary and it is the worst one i have ever read . it does not do justice to this incredible movie . for an example of a good summary  read the listing at  turner classic movies  . anyway  this was one of my favorite movies as a young child . my sister and i couldn  t wait until every april when we could see it on t . v . it is one of the best horse movies of it  s time . it is one of those great classics that the whole family can watch . the romance is clean and endearing . the story line is interesting and the songs are great . they don  t make movies like this anymore . good acting and not over the top . pat boone and shirley jones are at their best  along with many other great character actors .  
i don  t know why  but after all the hype on npr i thought this was a new movie . . . . . all the best footage has been used for bbc docs and natgeo projects that you have seen if you are interested in nature programs . . . it has been repackaged with sappy narration and over  dramatic music for disney to take advantage of earth day  there are great moments  and it is always nice to listen to darth vader . . . . . . . oops  . . . . . . . . . . . james earl jones speak  but i had hoped for a ground breaking movie  considering the new camera technology used in the making of this film . . . . . . it has been sanitized for a child audience  so one can actually see better footage for free on youtube . . . . i feel that we are due for something as ground breaking as koyannisquatsi  sic  and this movie is certainly not it  
the arch title doesn  t fit this gentle romantic comedy . donna reed and tom drake don  t have much chemistry   but their characters aren  t supposed to . both are extremely likable and attractive .  br    br   the supporting cast is a dream   with the exception of sig ruman  s annoying faux russian .  
as we all know hollywood enjoys changing historical events around for our enjoyment  and   minutes is one of those hollywoodized movies . for example the bank robbers never did go back in the bank when they started shooting at the lapd yet in the movie we see them go back inside twice  another example is the number of lapd officers who were shot near the end of the movie  this is far from the truth  but of course hollywood must have a good bloody ending so they add some more blood and guts . some events were combined and many of the lead actors played several different people but this is what hollywood has always done so why complain  i guess the only sad part is that i have watched some one hour documentaries about the north hollywood shootout on tlc that were far better then this   
i loved this movie    the characters were people that you could feel for . the young man back from the service still in love with the girl he left behind . tom drake is always perfect in the romantic lead as well as donna reed as the love of his life . the looks he gives her as if he has been starved for the sight of her as well as her hesitation and confusion as too her feelings for him were played very well . the rest of the quirky characters at the store were perfect as they tried to bring them together . the most touching scene however  was the young couple at his great grandfather  s house . i laughed in parts  cried in some and thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie . in fact i  ve re  watched it about  times . a definite must see for total romantics .  
yeah  madsen  s character  whilst talking to the woman from the tv station  is right the lapd is a corrupt  violent and racist police . and this movie changes nothing about it . okay  here are the good cops  the moral cops  even a black one  whow  a christian  a martyr . but this is a fairy tale  admit it . reality is not like that . and most important for the action fans the shoot out is boring . it  s just shooting and shooting and shooting . nothing more . play counter strike  then you will at least have something to do . the only moral of this film is the lapd is good now . no more bad cops in it . if you like uncritical  euphemistic commercials for police and military service  watch this movie . it  s the longest commercial i  ve ever seen .   points for camera and editing  .  
i read the book and saw the movie . both excellent . the movie is diamond among coals during this era . liebman and selby dominate the screen and communicate the intensity of their characters without flaw . this film should have made them stars . shame on the studio for not putting everything they had behind this film . it could have easily been a franchise . release on dvd is a must and a worthy remake would revive this film . look for it in your tv guide and if you see it listed  no matter how late  watch it . you won  t be disappointed . do yourself another favor  read the book  same title  . it  ll blow you away . times have changed dramatically since those days  or at least we like to think they have .  
men  do i love police movies filled with action  shooting  chases etcetera .  br    br   boy  was i let down after watching this short and unsatisfying movie . we  ve seen it all before  the hostages  the bank  the surrounding . . . yet   bad guys that shoot down multiple officers and innocent people who simply stay in the line of fire  without getting hit due to some kevlar .  br    br   not just a few shots  no  hundreds of shots . going back into the bank  where the dumb hostages didn  t lock the safe or doors when the bad guys went out . how stupid did the director think we  d be .  br    br   okay  the shots in between that fake a documentary were good  but after seeing the film i only got the thought why didn  t the police get a decent shooting course  and why where there so many cops and was swat on a real long break . truly bad .  
gordon parks  the prolific black life magazine photographer  made a true ticking  timebomb of a movie here  one that does not mess around  based upon the true story of two nyc cops  later dubbed batman and robin  who singlehandedly employed radical tactics to clean up their precinct neighborhood of drugs  this is a cop  buddy movie before that term became a repetitive formula . lightning paced  there is not one unimportant throwaway scene here .  br    br   man  early    s nyc must have been a terrible place to be a police officer  from the looks of movies like this and  serpico .  these two cops start out as safety  division rookies  busting dealers in plainclothes in their spare time . but instead of receiving applause from the city police department  they receive nothing but resistance and antagonism from their peers . they have to singlehandedly navigate a minefield of police and legal corruption  boneheaded assignments meant to keep them from their work on the streets  ruthless drug kingpins  and a nasty ghetto neighborhood .  br    br   both david selby and ron leibman are fantastic in the leads part of the entertainment is watching leibman  s eyes darting around crazily in every scene in what is a flawless comic performance  and selby  s acting is low  key and wry . these two make all the comedy aspects of the story work  displaying a palpable frustration mixed with gutsy determination . director parks  who was already known for his coverage of controversial subjects in his photography  does not shy away from the grittiness of the story . rather  the movie is uncompromising in portrayal of the toughness of the world of police and streets criminals that these two men inhabit . adding to this realism is the fact that the real hantz and greenberg acted as technical advisors for the film  and even appear in surreal cameo roles as two fellow officers who ridicule the protagonists . it is a real tribute to the effectiveness of parks  direction that he manages to perfectly balance this depressing mileu with bright comedy .  br    br   why has mgm  ua let this sit on the shelf for   years  barely giving it a home video or dvd release in the u . s  it is a minor masterpiece from the     s .  
the funniest scene of this movie is probably when our saviours get their medals and plaques and whatnot . so the basic idea is  the police outnumbers these gangsters by like a million to one  but they  re powerless because the villains  guns are just a bit bigger . i guess police ammo just kinda bounces of . they decided to shoot this movie in documentary style with fake interviews and all and seriously  what is wrong with these guys  they  re talking like they were armed with rolled  up newspapers . okay i admit  it  s probably still dangerous to be in the line of the fire  even when the situation is so much to your advantage  but don  t go nuts . and why the hell did it take   minutes to solve everything anyway  i  d say that  s a very long time when you have them surrounded and you  re allowed to shoot . they  re like ten ft . away  they hit absolutely nothing . then they go and buy bigger guns themselves to increase their heroism . and then yeah  there you have it  one of the cops actually hits someone . bullet was probably diverted by a lamp post or something . i had a good laugh i guess .  
this film has slipped through the cracks of film history . it is by far much better than some other new york films of the same era such as  the french connection  or  the taking of pelham       . there is a gritty reality to this film which also manages to effectively use humor to further the plot line . it  s engaging from start to finish and hasn  t tarnished with age as is the case with the above two examples .  br    br   ron liebman turns in a bravura performance as  batman  and it  s a shame his career didn  t take off as a result of this project .  br    br   gordon parks directs and  coming as it does after  shaft   it at first appears to be a strange choice . yet it is the flip side of that earlier effort and approached with just as much in your face machismo .  br    br   unfortunately this film has not been made available on either dvd or vhs in the united states . united artists really has a gem on their hands and it  s a shame they  re not doing anything with it .  
contrary to my principles  let me first come up with a conclusion  because i have just seen this piece of  art   and still am under strong impressions . the reader is asked to excuse my stronger vocabulary .  br    br   well  this movie is absolutely horrible  and i would never bother to write a single word about it  if it were not for the fact that    minutes  made me sick to death  which rarely happens to me . the fact that i paid for that does not exactly makes me feel better  as well as the fact the movie deserved the high user rating here .  br    br   so what is wrong with the movie  it has a fashionable title     minutes  . one first thinks about    minutes   which is by the way a much better movie  but still bad in my book  and indeed the two can be compared to some extent . but  as luck would have it  the things they share are their worst characteristics . they both feature mr . oleg taktarov  who with his strong russian accent obviously meets the popular expectations and prejudices . his purpose is to appeal to the cold war mind . ah  do we miss the good old times . now  i don  t imply that he is a bad actor  i am yet to judge his true performance  but he is simply not a true individual here  he is more like an archetype . how anyone can still indulge in such things is completely beyond my comprehension . we can recognize modern american xenophobia here . the point in the movie when taktarov explains to his companion that romanians are not germans  and that they are in america is truly laughable . are we to assume that the greatest desire of the wretched duo is to become  true  americans   br    br   then  there is the media issue . yes  it seems that the most of what we learn comes from cameras  interviews and reporters . the director should have made us feel the rhythm of the presumed   minutes . instead he bores us with interviews throughout the movie like in a cheap tv show  trying to reinvent the wheel . in   minutes the issue of media is the central one . the point is presented in a way a teacher addresses an obtuse student  but that deserves a separate comment  we are focusing on   minutes now . so  i have been trying to identify the purpose of this movie . what is it  to provide good time for the audience  to glorify weapons  to glorify police  portray violence  oh yes  the officer gives the bible to the underage delinquent . so it must promote peace and understanding after all  i don  t think so  but don  t ask me . i only know i didn  t enjoy any of this .  br    br   ah  michael madsen . i admit  i am a big fan . i hoped he would be a bright point  but i was wrong . it  s not his fault though .  br    br   as the final note  comparing  firepower  to  willpower  at the end of the movie was one of the worst lines i have ever heard .  br    br   to summarize  on the scale      i give it a pure  unadulterated  .  
if the themes of the girl from missouri sound familiar it should . that  s because anita loos who wrote the screenplay here also wrote the classic gentlemen prefer blondes . unlike marilyn monroe in that film  jean harlow will accept any kind of jewelry from men of means .  br    br   and it  s men of means that jean harlow is after . she leaves the road side hash house run by her mother and stepfather because she  s decided that the best way to gain the easy life is to marry it . her talents as a chorus girl are limited  but she  ll be able to trade in on that beauty .  br    br   her odyssey starts with her and friend patsy kelly getting an invitation to perform at a party thrown by millionaire lewis stone . but unbeknownst to jean  stone  s just having a wild last fling before doing himself because of the moneys he owes not owns . still she wrangles a few baubles from him that fellow millionaire lionel barrymore notices .  br    br   lionel  s amused by it until jean sets her sights on his playboy son  franchot tone . after that he is not amused and he looks to shake jean from climbing the family tree .  br    br   the girl from missouri went into production mid adaption of the code so it went under peculiar censorship . i  ve a feeling we would have seen a much more risqu film . still jean harlow as a younger and sassier version of mae west is always appreciated . what a great comic talent that woman had  seeing the girl from missouri is a sad reminder of the great loss the world of film sustained with her passing three years later .  br    br   ironically enough the casting of patsy kelly with harlow was no doubt influenced by the successful shorts kelly was making with another famous platinum blonde  thelma todd . harlow and kelly have the same easy chemistry between that patsy had with thelma . todd would also die a year later in a freak accident  suicide  homicide that no satisfactory explanation has ever really been given .  br    br   don  t miss the girl from missouri  it  s bright and sassy  must be from all that sparkling jewelry .  
this movie was based on actual fact  i sincerely hope not   br    br   we get to see what appears to be numerous armed cops empty an equal amount of guns at  guys who only got armored torso  s . that  s a great idea aim for the armor  . . . excuse me  but how about those big fat unmissable heads or their legs for crying out loud . or were there invisible tanks protecting them  were they from crypton  did i miss something here   br    br   this movie started out decent enough but after   minutes of shoot  out it really takes a turn to boringlane .  br    br   and that documentary style didn  t work for me either  but thats just something one finds likable or not .  br    br   highly unbelievable stuff which makes it hard to see it through  til the end .  br    br       for the fine editing .  
in this film  made just as the production code was being enforced  jean harlow is eadie  and patsy kelly is the wisecracking  man  chasing sidekick  kitty  . girl from missouri starts out with the girls getting on a train  with eadie making a promise to herself to earn money while looking for a millionaire husband  staying whole  some in the process . it doesn  t take her long to meet up with frank cousins   lewis stone  was the kindly doctor in grand hotel  as well as judge hardy in the  andy hardy  films .   but all is not as it seems . . . the censors must have loved harlow  s line  a girl couldn  t accept an expensive gift like that from a gentleman unless she was engaged .  later  someone says  you know we  ve never been alone together  and eadie replies  yeah  and we  re not going to be   lionel barrymore is t . r . paige  another rich  uppercrust who comes to her rescue when trouble comes looking for eadie . at one point  paige declares  you oughta scratch me off your list  i  m not a ladies man  . . . . i wonder what that line would have been just a couple years earlier before the hayes code came rolling into town . what was he really saying  carol tevis seems to be the high  pitched  baby talker  as listed in the credits on imdb . looks like she was only in showbiz from           with  munchkin  in wizard of oz being the last part she played . fun  cleancut romp as the girls chase men around the country . look for nat pendleton as the lifeguard  who was an olympic wrestler      silver medal winner  turned film star  he was in many of the dr . kildares  and would appear in four of harlow  s films .  mistaken identity  plot twists  a young franchot tone  love stories  even jean harlow in a bathing suit in  palm beach   although the outdoor scenes of downtown appear to be a backdrop .  
anne bancroft plays estelle  a dying jewish mother who asks her devoted son  ron silver  to locate reclusive one  time movie star greta garbo and introduce the two before estelle checks out for good . might  ve been entitled  bancroft talks  as the actress assaults this uncertain comedic  dramatic  sentimental material for its duration . hot  or  cold director sidney lumet can  t get a consistent rhythm going  and bancroft  s constant overacting isn  t scaled back at all by the filmmaker   he keeps her right upfront cute  teary  eyed and ranting . estelle becomes a drag on this scenario  not that the thinly  conceived plot has much going on besides  . silver and co  stars carrie fisher and catherine hicks end up with very little to do but support the star  and everyone is trampled by her hamming .     from   
the girl from missouri arrives in new york city knowing exactly what she wants to amount to something solid by marrying a millionaire  without losing her virginity . with her knockout good looks she quickly catches the eye of the playboy son of a tycoon  but by staying true to her virtue will she also discover true love   br    br   jean harlow sizzles in this excellent little comedy . with her platinum hair  gorgeous accouterments  she is a dazzler . but her beauty should not obscure the fact that she was also a very good actress . she has rightfully earned her spot at the very top of the hollywood pantheon .  br    br   an excellent cast gives harlow fine support lionel barrymore as the wily old tycoon  wise to harlow  s ways handsome franchot tone as his son  smitten with love raucous patsy kelly  stealing her scenes as harlow  s sidekick debonair alan mowbray  as a well  mannered english lord elderly clara blandick as barrymore  s feisty secretary hearty hale hamilton as a rich man with an eye for the ladies muscular nat pendleton as a lifeguard who catches kelly  s flirtatious eye and lewis stone  unforgettable in a small role as a bankrupted businessman .  br    br   it should be noted that this film was produced soon after hollywood  s production code was instituted . a comparison with red  headed woman  made two years earlier  would be fascinating  in which harlow  s character goes after the same ends  but uses very different means .  
a painfully protracted  maudlin and predictable drama  my twenty  fifth sidney lumet film  garbo talks  gets filed precipitously on the low quality end of my quest .  br    br   the film documents a harried young working man named gilbert  ron silver   who is son to estelle rolle  anne bancroft   eccentric  feisty and above all  an obsessive fan of greta garbo . when estelle becomes afflicted with a brain tumor  her son decides to go on an obsessive quest of his own track down greta garbo  and bring her to his mother .  br    br   anne bancroft is in full  on  chew  the  scenery auntie  mame mode here  that kind of feisty ol  gal that film loves  where she mouths off to people  and stands up for her ideals  and ends up in jail all the time . she stands outside of the film as an obvious artificial construct  and every scene with her is yuk  yuk lame every note striking false . the rest of the characters are equally as one  dimensional  but tremendously less  interesting . ron silver is flat as can be  and his attempted love triangle is as telegraphed as anything else in the film he is dating affluent lisa rolfe  carrie fisher   but becomes smitten with oddball co  worker jane mortimer  catherine hicks   and i called every scene three scenes before they happen .  br    br   that  s the other problem . one  dimensional characters can survive if they are posited in an intriguing and captivating story  but there  s simply nothing here . the film  s pace is glacial  resplendent with extraneous material that strengthens absolutely nothing  and when the film does begin to follow a linear plot  it  s both plodding and uninteresting . there are plenty of guest stars  so to speak  including harvey fierstein as a gay new yorker  imagine that  in yet another highly inessential scene .  br    br   late in the film  it attempts to make a halfway  decent statement on the nature of idolatry and its role in our lives  but by that time  none of the characters exist as real people  and the film had bored me into submission  so it functions as a case of far  too  little  far  too  late . the film is my twenty  fifth lumet  directed film  making him easily my most  viewed director  but outside of a couple egregious misses  a stranger among us  anyone    he hasn  t plumbed the painfully uninteresting depths of garbo talks .  br    br   grade  .      c  c        of    of         of   lumet films  
there is a story  but more essentially  the world of this film begins in chaos and comes to order over the course of ten minutes .  br    br   it is a celebration of life and an optimistic assertion of objective truth and good . representing along an axis unexplored in previous cinema  this film should be taught in every high school .  br    br   chiasmus  
this movie had mediocrity  laziness  and thoughtlessness written all over it . if you are going to do a movie about vampires that has been done thousands of times already  then you better do a damn good job . i  ll be the first to say that this movie just did not cut it . some scary  horror movies just fail to break the mold of the  lets do something forbidden and forsaken for the sake of fun because all the stories are just lies  clich . this one  sadly  was no different  and like all scary movies  once you venture down that road there is no going back .  br    br   and the ending  how do the heroes do the same job over and over throughout the movie  but then mysteriously they get wrapped up in the moment and cannot do the job in the end  the ending was very anti  climatic and spelled part  which i will never watch . terrible movie .  
whether it  s three guys in their tighty  whiteys rapping to a dude bound in twine or a girl saying  what up  dog   to a lump of roadkill  there  s something please everyone in knuckleface jones . it is strange and surreal and not altogether a completely comprehensible yarn . . . yet it never loses you . the first time i saw it  i nearly laughed myself sick . and every night after i would come home and watch it again . forget coyote ugly . . . this is the movie that cemented my crush on piper perabo . see it . . . before it  s too late   
i didn  t even knew this movie existed until shortly after seeing blade trinity  i was messing around on the trinity board when i saw some user mention how the wes craven series is a lot better then the  crap  that  s blade  so i did my quick research checked the scores on imdb  rottentomatoes for dracula ascension  and somewhere along the search i found out that this is a sequel to dracula     . i also noticed that within the wes craven dracula boards there was a real strong following for this movie which is a big contradiction to the scores i was seeing .  br    br   now let  s take a quick personal recap here . i remember seeing dracula      and i remember not liking it at all  and then seeing the scores of dracula ascension just lowered my expectations even more  but then again  i  m the type of person that truly needs to watch the movie myself  any movie  so that i can form my own opinion .  br    br   a couple of things i went in knowing when i started watching this movie was that it  s low budget  so because of that  i  m going to have to ignore a lot of the v  fx and just figure it  s going to compensated by story  acting  i was also slightly impressed by some of the casting in this movie  jason london  roy schieder  jason scott lee   br    br   oh geez this movie was cheesy  but cheesy can be entertaining at least  i found it pretty fricken laughable  the bad audio synch from the re  recording of dialogue in a few scenes  the stupidity of the characters in this movie . sure they all knew about vampires and some of the basic things  luke even had a book on it  but did it prevent them from wanting to purposely get  infected   nope  this is worst then slasher flicks where the girl has to get out of the shower and check out the noise she hears with nothing more than a towel on .  br    br   i also must  ve blinked at some point  because i  m not sure how  dracula  got clothes on his body  especially since he  s big wild and angry  i figure if i was in that situation  i wouldn  t want to be the one dressing him .  br    br   so the movie ends like any middle movie of a trilogy it doesn  t  instead it  s a  cliff hangar  where i now get to wait for the  rd installment  legacy  . oh the entertainment value of cheesy movies .  
i love this movie because i grew up around harness racing . pat boone behind the sulky reminds me of my father who was drawn to the trotters because  unlike thoroughbred jockeys  men of normal height and weight can be drivers .  br    br   yes  the     home in indiana is a better movie  but it  s also a very different movie . april love is light and easy to watch  a feel good movie .  disappointing though that pat boone  s religious  moral views prohibited him from ever kissing the girl  quite a change from today  s standard fare .  home in indiana with walter brennan  filmed in black and white with no hint that anyone will ever burst into song  captures the stress and struggle better thereby making the ultimate accomplishment more satisfying but it requires a bigger emotional investment .  
yesterday was earth day  april         in the us and other countries  and i went to see the full  feature movie  version of  earth  by disneynature . i guess  like the auto manufacturers  disney is trying to convince us that they care about the planet . maybe they really do care about the planet  i don  t know  but i don  t think it warrants a special unit with the word  nature  in it . i do know that my youngest daughter loves mickey mouse  and who am i to tell a one  year old my personal feelings about disney   br    br   aside from incredible cinematography  it was a typical disney disappointment for me . preceded by a half  dozen disney movie trailers  rife with disney clich   circle of life    falling with style    over  dramatic music  recycled footage  disney claims     new footage   . i was even starting to think that james earl jones narration is getting a bit boring . i like james earl jones  but his work for disney and morgan freeman doing every warner brothers narrative starts to wear thin . i really think that disney bought some bbc nature photography that was so spectacularly done  they felt it would sell itself if they slapped some orchestral music and recognizable sound  bites on it .  br    br   and what is disney  s obsession with showing predators chasing and killing baby animals  there were a half  dozen such scenes  complete with bleating youngsters on the verge of getting their throats ripped out . i think disney needs to recognize that animals have a rich and interesting life outside of life and death struggles that appeal to the action  movie oriented teenagers that got dragged to this film by their parents . i was also cognizant of how disney stopped well short of implying that man had anything to do with the climate change . are they so afraid of the tiny minority of deniers that they think it  s still a controversial subject   br    br   i recommend skipping this one and renting the blue planet dvds on netflix . nature films seem to be best done by the british at the moment .  
todd rohal is a mad genius .  knuckleface jones   his third  and most fully realized  short film has an offbeat sense of humor and will leave some scratching their heads . what the film is about at heart  and he would almost certainly disagree with me on this  is how a regular joe finds the confidence to get through life with a little inspiration . or not . you just have to see for yourself . the short is intermittently making rounds on the festival circuit  so keep your eyes peeled and catch it if you can  you  ll be glad you did . it is hilarious . and check out todd  s other short films also popping up here and there from time to time  single spaced  and  slug     .  
it  s like what other dracula movies always do  the minions of dracula always on dracula  s side  which is what disappointed me at the ending . regardless the person wants to stay a vampire or not  i would like to see something like in the first movie that the minion fights against her master . it is much interesting  since you can almost predict how the story goes  than just either the priest or d . win the game  we need some surprising plots   .  
i liked solino very much . it is a very heart  rending story of an italian family moving to germany . and it  s an story about brotherly love  hope and disappointment . and the film is never boring . go and see solino   
  out of   .  br    br   this is the kind of movie that you cant believe you just wasted  hours of your life as you see the credits role . i honestly think i could make a better vampire movie . . . . and i know nothing . the only thing that does not just suck  harder than a vampire  is jason scott lee . . . . his character is at least a little bit cool  has some mystery  and kicks a little butt .  
this film takes you inside itself in the early minutes and holds you till the end . it has a very humane story and very good selected music . the acting of moritz bleibtreu  giancarlo amato  and barnaby metschurat  gigi amato  is satisfying . recommended to people who get bored of action films and want to see a good movie .  
possible spoilers  br    br   when i saw this today i had some expectation of how it would be like  not too high  but not low either . this was nothing like i expected at all though  it seems to me like the movie makers couldn  t make up their mind of what kind of movie to make .  br    br   in the begining of the film it  s somewhat mysterious and kinda exciting  but that  ll soon change to some ridiculous scenes  very obvious scenes . . . as i watched further i almost fell asleep a couple of times .  br    br   the ending is the most ridiculous of all though  almost splatter  comedy . . .  br    br   i  m not saying it doesn  t have some good scenes it  s just that the film never becomes  whole  .  br    br       movie  man  
really excellent movie  one of the best i  ve seen . touching and simple  just like life  sometimes you cry sometimes you laugh and it  s just beautiful . not too much of anything  just as it  s suppose to be . really loved the idea of the movie  noone is bad or good  all or just people  sometimes make mistakes mostly because of society  s pressure  everyone tries to stay strong and some succeed more than others and the most important thing is that you don  t have reasons to get angry  you can do it  but eventually the anger goes away and then you to need to let love come back in although it  s hard  there lies the true happiness .  br    br   great actors and cast  the movie really gets you into the feeling of the movie .  br    br   nice nice nice .  br    br   i recommend to see it  especially if you like to see italians  life . . .  
this must me one of the worst takes on vampires ever conceived by men . how can one turn such a mesmerizing subject into a totally uninspiring story  apparantly not such a difficult task . . . first of all  a conditio sine qua non of any vampirefilm is a dark and gloomy atmosphere with a nice sexy touch  this one lacks all these things . . too much light  the spots  oh my god  why in the name of christ  judas was that about   br    br   every time dracula came about he was devoured by light  in the script to keep him weak  for the record just weak  there was only one scene that made it almost worth watching  near the ending of the movie  beatiful dancingscene with dracula and his new conquest  . i really enjoyed the first one  the judas  twist was defintely original  but this one  s just not good  not in any way . hopefully the third one will cary the vampire  signature i like so much in other classics like herzog  s nosferatu  coppola  s dracula or even interview with the vampire .  
i really enjoyed this movie . the script is fresh and unpredictable and the acting is outstanding . it is a down  to  earth movie with characters one cares about . it brought tears into my eyes a few times but left me with a great feeling afterwards .  
i cannot believe the same guy directed this crap and dracula     . dracula     was innovative  fresh  and well written  if poorly acted .  br    br   this pile can  t even claim that . it starts with the defeat of dracula at the end of dracula     . then ignores the narrative afterwards describing what happened after that . following the narrative properly could have made this a good sequel somehow  but craven chose to go in the style of his older films  having no good tie but the main villain  s name .  br    br   even the actor playing dracula was different  going from dark hair in dracula     to a blonde here  .  br    br   avoid this movie if you have any respect for your taste in movies .  
i really enjoyed this movie . the script is fresh and unpredictable and the acting is outstanding . it is a down  to  earth movie with characters one cares about . it brought tears into my eyes a few times but left me with a great feeling afterwards .  
the movie opens with a beautiful lady in a tattered white gown running through a stereotypical eastern european town . we know she  s being followed by something  because she keeps looking behind her . and soon we see she  s being chased by a mysterious man in a black trenchcoat . then we realize that the man is actually the vampire hunter and he is after her . but look is that her reflection in the store window    no its just her identical twin vampire  but unfortunately they both get it .  br    br   after this brilliant and amazingly fun throwback to the old hammer films of the    s and    s  in the credits the twins are listed as the twins of evil  which of course is the name of the final instalment in hammer  s karnstein trilogy   the plot pretty much dies .  br    br   what little plot there is involves dracula  who conveniently changes his appearance each time he is reborn  so the producer doesn  t have to rehire the same dracula  coming to a morgue  the med students realizing he  s undead and thinking . . . . wow what an opportunity  maybe i  ll just disregard all those movies that say that drinking vampire blood turns you into a vampire and use the vampire  s blood to find a cure for our jerk friend  s ailment . obviously this is a mistake and everyone becomes a vampire .  br    br   a new concept but pulled off excruciatingly badly . the movie keeps setting up wonderful situations and refuses to do anything with them .  br    br   for example the med students attempt to bring drac back to life by placing him in a bathtub filled with blood in a secluded run down country mansion . the house itself is scary enough to be the center of the film  but do we stay there  no because they decide to take the vampire to an abandoned swimming pool . sigh . this movie has a real problem with  homages  as i mentioned before the opening scene is straight out of hammer  and this house scene would have been perfect for a hammer  like movie  but the movie rapidly switches gears and changes to a medical horror .  br    br   the other problem is that they introduce so many characters it is almost impossible to feel sorry for any of them . there are the med students and their wheelchair bound professor  type  friend  the med students are all arrogant  boring  money hungry  and stupid . how they made it to med school at all amazes me  unless the med school had to meet its muscle bound hunk  big breast quota . and then there is the vampire hunter who remains mysterious through the movie . hey i can respect that but it would be nice if they didn  t set it up like the movie would be about him . then you have random priests  cops  and science types . so many people are introduced and then quickly forgotten about until they need that person to either save the day or jump out for a cheap scare that it becomes quickly tedious .  br    br   basically this is a lazy movie . no real scares  just a few predictable jump scares . the set up for these is so elaborate it is hilarious . for examp le the bathtub full of blood . it is so obvious that drac is going to pop out of the murky blood . and yet we have to wait far too long to get to the inevitable jump scare . after this he kills one of the dumber and larger breasted med students . we all know she  s going to become one of the undead . but what do the others do  bury her in a shallow grave near the house . sigh  so you know who will jump out at you when the cops show up at the house . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   oh well .  br    br   maybe someone will get the hint that it is impossible to make a scary vampire movie and just go for atmospheric  and then we will end up with an entire movie that is as good as the opening scene .  br    br    
such a delightful movie  very heart warming . one can  t help falling in love with the character of gigi . he  s adorable as a child and grows into a sensitive artist . the whole movie revolves around him . he lives in a wonderful world  living all life  curiosity  desire and anticipation . there is an elder brother who tries to steal his glory but really remains in the shadow all his life . the father is very stereotypically italian and so is the mother . i wanted the father to come and reunite with the mother in the last scene  and have them cry and laugh . i also wish that there was at least something redeeming about the elder brother . his personality seems to have been trashed entirely . passion and ardour  that  s the key to life . and looking through the camera  focusing on small details and savoring the delicate details of life .  
ascension is actually a step up in terms of what the original movie was in story and in special effects . jason scott lee is good as a vampire hunter looking for the count himself  if you remember him  he was from the movie dragon  the bruce lee story .   jason london is funny as luke  the kid who helps the woman he loves from a far steal dracula  s body from the slab . diane neal is good as the woman who steals dracula  s body in order to finds a cure for her dying boyfriend  and stephen billington is great as dracula himself . giving a better performance than gerard butler did the count in the original film . roy scheider rounds out the rest of the cast in this movie  and he does a decent job as the mentor of jason scott lee  s character . this is the second sequel in the trilogy  and they are off to a good start . it  s up in the air whether the last film will close the series out on a good note .  
this movie about two italian brothers who came to germany with their family is just great   br    br   it isn  t an idealistic movie  i would say it shows life as it is or was in the   s and   s when the main story takes place . the characters are very nice but have also some  dark  sides  what makes you believe that these are real persons . great movie with great actors to show that life is not funny all the time  but that you can find happiness with  fire and passion  as the main character gigi would say .  
  dracula iiascension  is the story of a group of medical students who come across the body of dracula . when a mysterious stranger appears and offers the students    million to harvest the body and steal its blood for auction  it  s an offer they can hardly refuse . soon the students also find themselves relentlessly pursued by a vampire killer from the vatican   dracula iiascension  is a slightly entertaining horror film that has many flaws . the characters are one  dimensional and the acting is pretty average . there are some good gore effects like really cool double decapitation scene  but there is not enough violence for my liking . the film becomes quickly boring and forgettable and there is absolutely no suspense . so if you like modern vampire flicks give it a look . i prefer atmospheric vampire chillers from    s and early    s like  lips of blood    the brides of dracula  or  lemoraa child  s tale of supernatural  to name only a few .  out of   .  
this film plays in the   s and is about an italian family romano  his wife rosa and their two children gigi and giancarlo emigrate from solino in italy to duisburg in the ruhr area . i like this film  because i think it is quite realistic it shows problems which many foreign families have when they come to another country they have to get used to a new culture  a new environment and this can be difficult especially if you don  t know the language . . . . it is difficult for the family but they find a way they open a restaurant which offers typical italian food  and it is named  solino   like their hometown . the film also shows different conflicts  gigi and giancarlo fall in love with the same girl  and although rosa has to work very hard  romano refuses to pay money to engage more workers  etc . etc . but stop  i don  t want to tell you how it goes on . you should watch the film yourself  it  s a nice one  i have also made a referat about it and examined scenes which show different cultural attitudes . and there are a few . . .  
i would give this movie  rather than  if it would be at least in time . . . when i  ve seen it in first time it was just what you could wait from the work that is based not on the artistic abilities of the directors but on the idealistic or i would rather say idiotic habits of our  kazakhstan  government . . . it  s a shame  because  qazaqfil  m  was been shooting nice movies when it was not honoured by the name of shaken aimanov  but it was actually ran by him . the movies like  konec atamana    kyz zhibek  or even  aldar kose  . but after mr aimanov  s death the production of quality movies went down almost dramatically in   years time there were very few films produced . however  in late     s   assa  was shot  it was a film about first organised crime groups in the big country  one year later mr . rashid nugmanov shot another film with the co  staring of the same actor  singer v . tsoy  at that time he was already a soviet  russian rock legend   the movie called  igla   the needle or something  it was completely new  somebody called that period as resurrection or a new kazakh movie wave . unfortunately nowadays we do not have a quality movies  our directors shooting movies on the french and japanese financial support  and thus movies are not for the public but for the authors professional critics  some of them take a price on international author movie festivals but there a very few of them become a business asset products . . . and again back to our  nomads  . such movies usually unpopular because of vast aspects . the same effects was with nikita mikhalkov  s  sibirski cyrilnik  about russian tsars  that was also shot on parities with foreign partners  i think they were french or maybe british . nobdy liked it  even in russian public it become as a main topic of a comedians and comedy shows like  kvn  . imho  
solino really moved me with its deeply drawn characters . while being a simple tale of rivalry between two brothers  it was not simply about hate or jealousy . what i liked most about the movie was how i could identify with the feelings gigi was going through especially when he had to take his mother back to her home town in italy and miss out on attending the festival film awards ceremony his film was entered into . to see this character who struggled so hard between his artistic dream and his innate sense of duty to his mother was so frustrating . even at the end when he makes one more attempt to reach out to his father was so brave . and as in real life  most fathers can never get past their walls to reach out to their children . i could even identify with giancarlo  the brother  who while being the more self assured and elder brother  had so many insecurities . a really beautiful film that made me laugh and cry .  
i knew nothing of this film before i was convinced to see it by a friend who had heard it was a  non  stop epic battle scene from beginning to end  . that couldn  t have been further from the truth . this was one of the most boring  poorly written  amateurishly directed  horribly acted films i  ve ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes upon . i  d rank it up there with the movie i consider to be the worst film of all time . . . battlefield earth . there basically is no story  it  s hard to believe that the makers of this film thought that this cheesy soap opera crap would be taken seriously as actual historic fact . it also features some of the worst dialogue i  ve ever heard . . . like this little gem . . . guy tells girl  you smell like the moon .  . girl replies  what does the moon smell like   omg  you have to be kidding me  the scene where the guy was drawn and quartered got some good laughs from the audience since it looked so ridiculously cheap and the sound fx of the guy being ripped apart reminded me of someone making a fart sound with their mouth . if this is playing at a theater near you  avoid it at all costs . this movie is so bad that i actually made the decision about   minutes through that i needed to catch up on my sleep . . . and i did . awful .  
i would like to comment on the movie april love . it  s one of my all time favorites because my father  nelson malone plays the horse trainer . i remember distinctly when hollywood came to lexington  ky  where we were living at the time to make april love . my dad had been in numerous plays and was a talented man . i talked him into going to try out for one of the bit parts offered  and lo and behold he came home w  the script . how exciting is that  also  a number of my classmates were in the crowd scenes   especially the ones shown at the amusement park . it  s very nostalgic every april when i see the movie being shown once again  and the song april love by pat boone is still played on the radio . timeless and reminiscent of a time long gone when you see the movies they make today w  all the sex  foul language and violence . it would be refreshing to see more movies like april love come back into focus . . .  
i can  t believe i am so angry after seeing this that i am about to write my first ever review on imdb .  br    br   this disney documentary is nothing but a rehashed planet earth lite . now i knew going into this that it was advertised as  from the people who brought you planet earth   but i had no idea they were going to blatantly use the exact same cuts as the groundbreaking documentary mini  series . i just paid   .   to see something i already own on dvd . shame on disney for not warning people that there is absolutely nothing original here  save a james earl jones voice  over and   seconds of sailfish that i don  t believe were in planet earth  .  br    br   but the biggest crime of all  is that while planet earth uses the tragic story of the polar bear as evidence that we are killing this planet and a catalyst for ecologic change  disney took that story and turned it into family friendly tripe . after the male polar bear  s demise  they show his cubs grown significantly a year later  and spew some garbage about how they are ready to carry on his memory  and that the earth really is a beautiful place after all . no mention of the grown cubs impending deaths due to the same plight their father endured  no warning of trouble for future generations if we don  t get our act together  nothing . just a montage of stuff we have already seen throughout the movie  and many times more  if you are one of the billion people who have already seen planet earth  .  br    br   i have never left the theater feeling so ashamed and cheated in my life .  
after fatih akins first work  im juli   which was fairly good  he created a really gorgeous italian family epic . its a german movie  which is unfortunately a bad precondition  cause we rareley produce more than moderate movies   . but this movie makes some very good snapshots of the time then .  solino  is about a italian immigrant who arrives in the  ruhr  region of germany during the   s . the immigrant and his family then start the first pizza restaurant in the region . the characters are excellent drawn . especially gigi  the main actor . you live every second  every feeling he does . his brother  played by moritz bleibtreu  isnt that good . well  you just dont believe him the role . but the character is wellbalanced and fits perfectly into this script . i feel an urgent need to compare the style of this movie with the style of  the godfather  . many people will probably hate this movie  say its boring . not much tension   yes  but an outrageous movie .  out of   .  
yeah  right .  br    br   i spent the first hour waiting patiently for the movie to take off . it was horribly boring  and consisted mostly of people riding randomly around the hills with no apparent direction . then the hero comes into the picture . born as an asian  but when he grew up  he became white . obviously white . he wasn  t even close to passing for asian . he looked like justin timberlake . it was extremely distracting  and the story did nothing to help the cause . pointless battle sequences and lame dialogue . it  s an hour and forty five minutes long  and by the end i was trying to eat my own face . i watched this because people at the video store where i work are always asking me if this movie is any good . now i have an answer . it goes something like this ahem .  no  good god no  it  s horrible  don  t do this to yourself  i would recommend another movie  perhaps one that  s entertaining .   
i adored this movie . not only because i am a big fan of moritz bleibtreu  although he is in practically all german movies that count . but also because he is not the main actor . the lead is taken over by barnaby metschurat  who was the only reason to watch      s julietta  and who really carries this movie on his shoulders .  br    br   a family moves from italy to germany seeking  the german dream   this is my own invention and ironic . . .  of cheap labor in steel and coal industries . however  they end up opening a restaurant and the journey the movie takes to this point alone is so poetic and at the same time funny and charming . from this point onward  the story told is mainly that of the two brothers of this family  giancarlo  bleibtreu  and gigi  metschurat  . gigi  s dream to become a filmmaker is threatened by rivalry with his brother and his mother  s determination to return to italy . what follows is a great  and totally neutral  look at what life can become formed by the choices you make .  br    br   in the end  this movie doesn  t say which life  gigi  s or giancarlo  s  was more successful or fuller or more interesting . it merely gives us a rewarding glimpse at what it must be like to search for identity when two countries and mentalities are involved . and this look is not driven by bitterness or disdain to either country  which makes it such a great film for any and every country dealing with the tensions resulting from immigration . the fact that director fatih akin  s moved to germany from turkey in the   s also lends this movie a large measure of its credibility and emotional accuracy . the icing on the cake are fantastic performances by the entire cast  especially metschurat and  this i really need to stress  the little boy who plays young gigi . that kid  s performance would be a hard act to follow by just about anyone  great movie  go see it .  
pathetic . this is what happens when director comes to work just because someone is paying him to .  br    br   the intentions were good  great locations and settings for a film of epic proportions . but the performance  damn  i swear  in some shots you can see extras on the background staring in the camera  or looking at the actors because no one told them what they should do when they hear  action   . the battle scenes are so bad you wonder  are these people for real  they could  ve done more damage just by hugging each other . in the slow  mo scenes you can see people on battle field walking around or just standing  waving their hands .  br    br   only action in the foreground is somehow emphasized . but for what  the story is so illogical and discontinuous  it seems like random situations in chronological order  sometimes not even that . the dialogs are dumb  the love plot is more embarrassing and ridiculous than in hong kong action movies .  br    br   with a budget of   million  and you can see every dollar invested on the screen  in best case scenario  the final result of all this enormous effort is a shiny round laser disk in the thin cover placed on the shelf in video store .  
saw it as many times as i could before it left the scene . a delightful and entertaining film with some of my very favorite stars . only wish i could find it again  would certainly buy  view it if i could . please  somebody  bring it back . fred macmurray was perfect in his role as a patriot during world war ii  and his leading ladies  joan leslie  and especially june haver were beautiful and charming . it was a musical  but also romantic  funny  and clever . this was my favorite movie starring june haver  although i always liked her . her dazzling smile lit up the screen  and her beauty and talent were an asset to any film . the supporting cast lent credit to their individual roles . a well  balanced and light  hearted film only wish we had more like it   
this is simply put  the worst movie i have ever seen . it ranges from like   hours  and the box art was totally misleading . my friends and i rented it because  we thought it would be a poor man  s    . you know  to laugh at and make fun of . no . there is nothing funny about this movie  only pain . then  the movie starts up  and they are speaking some sort of different language . we think   oh its just the beginning .  but no  from there the movie plummets and becomes more of like a super boring book you had to read in grade school  where nothing literally happens for hours  and the battle scenes rival those of  kids fighting on a playground . omit cinematography  and this movie belongs in trash compactor . movies like this will lead to the world we see in wall  e  which by the way was a good movie .  
during a kurt weill celebration in brooklyn  where do we go from here  was finally unearthed for a screening . it is amazing that a motion picture  from any era  that has weill  gershwin collaborations can possibly be missing from the screens . the score stands tall  and a cd of the material  with gershwin and weill  only underscores its merits  which are considerable . yes  the film has its problems  but the score is not one of them . ratoff is not in his element as the director of this musical fantasy  and fred macmurray cannot quite grasp the material . then  too  the  modern  segment is weakly written . but the fantasy elements carry the film to a high mark  as does the work of the two delightful leading ladies  joan leslie and june haver . both have the charm that this kind of work desperately needs to work . as a world war ii salute to our country  s history  albeit in a  never was  framework  the film has its place in hollywood musical history and should be available for all to see and to find its considerable merits .  
disappointing film . performance of actors is weak . sets are fine  could have been better . the story is also weak . battle sequences are awful . sounds and quality of film are trashy . the history of kazakh people was told very poorly . this film should have included more kazakh actors  in leading roles . and also should have been in kazakh language . kuno bekker and jay hernandez are hispanic origins . i don  t get it . since when hispanic people play turkic  mongolian people . this film is shame of kazakh cinema . rustam ibragimbekov disappointed me . he is one of the finest filmmakers in the world . czekh director is excused  since he is not nomadic origin  he cannot know true spirit and history of nomads .  
i happened to see this movie twice or more and found it well made  wwii had freshly ended and the so  called  cold war  was about to begin . this movie could  therefore  be defined as one of the best  propaganda   patriotic movies preparing americans and  secondly  people from the still to be formed  western nato block  of countries to face the next coming menace . the movie celebrates the might of the us  through the centuries  while projecting itself onwards to the then present war  which had just ended . nice and funny is the way of describing the discovering of the american continent by columbus and pretty the  espisode  of new amsterdam and the purchasing of manhattan from a drunk local indian . . must see it  at least once  for curiosity of fashion of propaganda through time      
this movie let me down decidedly hard . it was a great concept that was ruined with a horrible script . the story just didn  t flow and was disjointed at best . there were so many elements to this story that were not explained  or were forced into place with out any real thought . elements like the love story could have been expanded on a bit more  and the cannons need to be written in better . the whole main character growing up thing needed more about the training he was receiving and less standing around . everyone likes a good  little guy overcomes  story and this showed promise but with the scripting failures wasn  t to be . while it did have some pyrotechnics in the final battle sequence it was lackluster due to a lack of choreography . this made for a maddeningly boring watch  br    br   it could have been so good    
if you haven  t seen this obscure little charmer  you should seek it out . it is the story of a bumbling  wartime sad sack  fred macmurray  who is listed   f each time he attempts to join any branch of the military . he finds a magic lamp which of course contains a genie  gene sheldon   but the genie is even more bumbling than macmurray is  sending him across time to serve in all the wrong times and places than the one he wants . it is cute  cheerful  and pure fluff  and you can  t help but like it . the plots is much like a disney film  particularly since the two stars  macmurray and sheldon  both made numerous disney films in the    s and    s  although not together . needless to say  it all ends well for everyone  and the viewer goes away feeling pretty good .  
i am a huge fan of warrior movies . some of my favorites are braveheart  troy  the last samurai and gladiator . and after watching mongol  which is absolutely awesome  and which i strongly recommend  i had high expectations from a sergei bodrov movie . but it was terrible  awful  even pathetic is not a strong word in this case . the whole movie i was waiting for something exciting to happen  but it didn  t  then i was at least expecting a big epic battle at the end  but even that was a huge disappointment  just some random running around  waving with the swords . . . there are so many good warrior movies  this one is not one of them .  
first saw this half a lifetime ago on a black  and  white tv in a small samoan village and thought it was hilarious . now  having seen it for the second time  so much later  i don  t find it hilarious . i don  t find anything hilarious anymore . but this is a witty and light  hearted comedy that moves along quickly without stumbling and i thoroughly enjoyed it .  br    br   it  s     and fred macmurray is a  f who  s dying to get into one of the armed forces . he rubs a lamp in the scrapyard he  s managing and a genie appears to grant him a few wishes .  ho hum  right  but though the introduction is no more than okay  the fantasies are pretty lively .  macmurray tells the genie that he wants to be in the army . poof  and he is marching along with washington  s soldiers into a particularly warm and inviting uso where june haver and joan leslie are wearing lots of lace doilies or whatever they are  and lavender wigs . washington sends macmurray to spy on the enemy   red  coating  german  speaking hessians  not brits . the hessians are jammed into a bierstube and singing a very amusing drinking song extolling the virtues of the vaterland   where the white wine is winier  and the rhine water  s rhinier  and the bratwurst is mellower  and the yellow hair is yellower  and the frauleins are jucier  and the goose steps are goosier .  something like that . the characterizations are fabulous  as good as sig rumann  s best . otto preminger is the suspicious and sinister hessian general .  you know  heidelberg  vee are    to  against you   but vee are not afraid .   br    br   i can  t go on too long with these fantasies but they  re all quite funny  and so are the lyrics . when he wishes he were in the navy  macmurray winds up with columbus and the fantasy is presented as grand opera .  don  t you know that sailing west meant  a terrifically expensive investment   and who do you suppose provides the means  but isabella  queen of queens .  when they sight the new world  someone remarks that it looks great .  i don  t care what it looks like   mutters columbus   but that place is going to be called columbusland .   br    br   anyway  everything is finally straightened out  though the genie by this time is quite drunk  and macmurray winds up in the marine corps with the right girl .  br    br   i  ve made it sound too cute  maybe  but it is cute . the kids will enjoy the puffs of smoke and the magic and the corny love story . the adults will get a kick out of the more challenging elements of the story  who are the hessians   unless they happen to be college graduates  in which case they might want to stick with the legerdemain and say   wow  awesome    
certainly nomad has some of the best horse riding scenes  swordplay  and scrumptious landscape cinematography you  ll likely see  but this isn  t what makes a film good . it helps but the story has to shine through on top of these things . and that  s where nomad wanders .  br    br   the story is stilted  giving it a sense that it was thrown together simply to make a  cool  movie that  looks  great . not to mention that many of the main characters are not from the region in which this story takes place  and it  s blatantly obvious with names like lee and hernandez  . if movie makers want to engross us in a culture like the jugars and the kazaks  they damn well better use actors  actresses that look the part .  br    br   warring tribes  a prophecy  brotherly love and respect  a love interest that separates our  heroes   are all touched on but with so little impact and screen time that most viewers will brush them aside in favor of the next battle sequence  the next action horse scene  or the breathtaking beauty of the landscape .  br    br   it is worth mentioning that there were some significant changes made to nomad during its filming  specifically the director and cinematographer . ivan passer  director  was replaced by sergei bodrov  and ueli steiger  cinematographer  was replaced by dan laustsen . in one respect  laustsen seems to have the better eye since his visions of the lands made the final cut that we see here . definitely a good thing . however  the changing over to bodrov as director may not have been the wisest choice . from what i  m seeing here  the focus is on the battles and not the people  which i sense comes from bodrov  s eyes and not passer  s . a true travesty .  br    br   the most shameful aspect is that this could  ve been a really fantastic film  with both character and action focuses . unfortunately  the higher  ups apparently decided that action was what was needed and took the cheap  intellectually speaking  way out .  br    br   even though i can  t give this film a positive rating  it is worth watching simply for the amazing cinematography work . but that  s all .  
during a kurt weill celebration in brooklyn  where do we go from here  was finally unearthed for a screening . it is amazing that a motion picture  from any era  that has weill  gershwin collaborations can possibly be missing from the screens . the score stands tall  and a cd of the material  with gershwin and weill  only underscores its merits  which are considerable . yes  the film has its problems  but the score is not one of them . ratoff is not in his element as the director of this musical fantasy  and fred macmurray cannot quite grasp the material . then  too  the  modern  segment is weakly written . but the fantasy elements carry the film to a high mark  as does the work of the two delightful leading ladies  joan leslie and june haver . both have the charm that this kind of work desperately needs to work . as a world war ii salute to our country  s history  albeit in a  never was  framework  the film has its place in hollywood musical history and should be available for all to see and to find its considerable merits .  
i saw this film at the rotterdam festival  as did presumably all the other voters . the director was present and seemed to have worked very hard and be very committed to the project  which i think explains the above average reception and mark it got . it  s most similar to a feature length episode of aussie kids favourite  round the twist  but it takes itself too seriously to have even that redeeming feature . the movie in itself is maybe worth seeing if you  re trying to do a cinematic world tour visiting all un member states  as i can  t think of another fijian movie but overall it was generic  poorly acted  albeit by an amateur cast  and prey to the subaltern mentality . the moral of the story seemed to be that native islanders will try and screw each other over  but as long as there is an essentially decent white governor to step in  all problems can be solved  by leaving the island  .  
i  m not sure if it is available worldwide  but if anyone who  s deciding what is supposed to be put on videotapes and distributed in video clubs  is reading this  please  please buy it   if i wasn  t clear get the movie into videostores    br    br   can  t be explained  must see   
i remembered this show from when i was a kid . i couldn  t remember too much about it  just a few minor things about the characters . for some reason i remembered it being really intense . also it was on really really early in the morning up in pa . i finally  after looking around the web for a long time  found an episode . the first episode no  less . criminey  this show was so horrible . it was obviously just made to show kids playing lazer tag and having a great time . the show opens with bhodi li telling his mommy  my names not christopher  i  m bhodi li  photon warrior       we then are forced to watch kids playing lazer tag to the song  foot loose  . and not just a quick little bit  but the whole song . ahhhhhhhhh my brain hurts just thinking about it . oh yeah  and as if i couldn  t get worse  you cant even see the laser beams from their guns . its like they  re just running around to the entire  foot loose  song . later on  after bhodi goes up into space or where  ever  they have a crappy laser gun fight to the phil collins song  su  su  sudio .  ah  trust me  you don  t want to know the rest . what can i say . . . . . . the light shines             
along with the  maratonci trce pocasni krug  from the same director  one of the masterpieces of ex  yugoslavia comedies . if you want to understand serbian mentality  you must see this movie . and if you want to see several of ex  yugoslav great actors at the same time  this is a opportunity .  
sometimes a premise starts out good  but because of the demands of having to go overboard to meet the demands of an audience suffering from attention  deficit disorder  it devolves into an incongruous mess . and for three well  respected actors who have made better work before and after  this is a mortal shame .  br    br   so let  s see . premise a loving couple who lives in a beautiful home is threatened by a bad cop . interesting to say the least . make the encroaching cop a little disturbing  why not . it was well done in the hand who rocks the cradle and single white female  and it  s a proved ticket to a successful thriller .  br    br   now herein lies the dilemma . create a disturbing story that actually bothers to bring some true menace into its main characters while never going so far as to look ridiculous  or throw any semblance to reality  amp up the shock factor  and make this cop so extreme   an ultra bad variation of every other super  villain that  s hit cinemas since the silent age .  br    br   the producers  and directors  chose the latter . thus is the resulting film   badly made  with actors trying their darnedest to make heads or tails in roles that they  ve essayed before  and nothing much amounting to even less .  
having ran across this film on the fox movie channel on a lazy friday afternoon  i can think of no better way to spend a lazy friday evening then putting in my two cents worth . especially when you consider the lack of user comments on it . doesn  t every movie  good or bad deserve more than four comments  and this movie isn  t bad at all .  br    br   the first thing to keep in mind when watching a film like april love is to remember the era from which it came  in this case the late fifties . films were pretty much a happy medium back then . the cinemas were devoid of tragedy while the screens were filled with wide screen technicolor films in order to pry people away from the gray glare of the evil medium in a box called television . i don  t know how many people were pried away from the boob tube to see this one  but it managed to capture my attention for   minutes .  br    br   teen idol pat boone plays nick conover  a young teen sent to live with his aunt henrietta  jeanette nolan  and uncle jed  arthur o  connell  out in the country after being put on probation for stealing a car . it seems that his aunt and uncle have lost their own son  jed jr .  so uncle jed seems has lost his zest for living . aunt henrietta is hoping that nick being on the farm will somehow bring jed out of his doldrums . story lines like this being what they are  jed and nick don  t really care for each other too much of course . jed then proceeds to meet up with the neighbors  fran  dolores michaels  and liz  shirley jones  templeton . immediately jed develops a crush on fran  and of course i don  t have to tell you that liz develops a crush on jed . then there  s the matter of uncle jed  s horse  a trotter who has turned wild and won  t let anyone handle him since the death of jed jr . you could probably fill in everything that happens from that point on your own  seeing as how there are no real surprises . doesn  t matter though  you  ll enjoy yourself anyway .  br    br   once you get over the image of squeaky clean pat boone  as a supposedly bad boy  you  ll have no trouble with the rest of the film . considering that  boone does turn in a surprisingly good performance as nick . certainly the role doesn  t require much depth  but still it  s a nicely done job when you would least expect it . as jed  arthur o  connell is the perfect choice for the role . in the early going  he is unreachable and cold  but as he slowly warms up to nick  we see that he  s really a pretty good guy . jeannette nolan is a lot of fun as henrietta  who is constantly playing the part of mediator between jed and nick . shirley jones takes a break from rodgers and hammerstein and gets a few opportunities to grace us with her singing talents . as liz  she  s gorgeous to look at  great to listen to  and quite funny at times . dolores michaels as fran  who is a bit more on the wild side  is equally entertaining .  br    br   the best thing about april love  is that there is not a true mean conniving character of any sort on the screen . not one true villain in the whole thing . everybody is so darn likable you can  t help but enjoy the film . i truthfully find it quite refreshing  sort of like putting your troubles behind you and enjoying a summer picnic with friends . think of it as the old andy griffith show with musical numbers  a little more plot  and wide screen technicolor . the songs are a mixed bag  with the title song april love being the best of them . another thing i really liked is that they didn  t fall back on using blue screen backdrops during the horse racing sequences  and they quite a bit more entertaining and exciting because of it . as a matter of fact  you  ll find the whole film beautifully photographed and it was nice to see they didn  t skimp in that department . the chemistry between jones and boone is good . best of all is how the dislike between nick and jed is portrayed as each try in some way to gain the others respect .  br    br   this movie will never be confused with great cinema . yet  sometimes instead of going to disneyland  one just needs a nice outing in the park  and that  s what april love is .  br    br   my grade b  br    br    
don  t get me wrong  the movie is beautiful  the shots are stunning  and the material is dramatic . however  it was a big disappointment and i actually left very angry at what disney had done .  br    br   bbc  s planet earth was all of the above and more . it was subtle . it had an overall feeling of balance and showed the full circle of life and death . there was tragedy and triumph  loss and gain . it was balanced .  br    br   disney  s edit of earth is none of this . they tried to make it a movie us americans would talk about . they made it dramatic . they put an over the top musical score there to frighten us . they made predators evil . they made walruses evil . they showed every encounter as negative . it tried to be suspenseful and succeeded  but at the expense of the lesson of balance . the movie was an hour and a half of negative portrayal and only about   minutes of positive .  br    br   i am all for preventing global warning  but this was over the top political and environmental junk .  br    br   that  s another thing  i went to see it on the big screen  but was disappointed in the picture quality . it looked better on my tv at home .  br    br   if you want to see something like this and get the whole picture  go out and buy  rent  or borrow the bbc  s planet earth series . it is better lessons  better sound  and  if you have blu  ray  better picture quality .  
ko to tamo peva is the best comedy of all times . believe me i saw a lot of movies and comedies but tell me which one make you smile every time you watching it . but truth is that the humour in this comedy is special . it is caratherisic for serbia . and all former republic of yugoslavia know it very well    so i think the rest of audience  for example in europe  can  t enjoy it so much . because the subtitles ruin the hole thing . but they should at least try     yes it is ironic  this is the best flick in serbian history and the world doesn  t understand it     if you have got a chance to see this one  don  t blew up ok   
this is another typical unbelievable and non  sensical piece of hollywood dreck .  br    br   kurt russell  as snake pliskin in a business suit  convinces me he was a better  nd baseman . ray liotta as the psychotic cop is totally predictable and absurd . madeline stowe is her usual cardboard self  and does little to be a convincing victim .  br    br   every scene in this persiflage is absolutely predictable all the way to the end when kurt clouts ray with a vase or something  knocking him down and out . kurt and madeline then do their obligatory end  of  the  movie embrace  and everybody    except russell and stowe  knows liotta is going to get back up and menace the couple again .  br    br   he does  of course  and russell drills him   times with his  mm  which was entirely unnecessary . this movie could just as well ended with the bludgeoning scene    except hollywood dotes on unnecessary violence  and the more they can add  or  enhance   the more slobbery they get .  
this is the best movie i have ever seen .  br    br   i  ve seen the movie on dutch television sometime in        .  br    br   that month they were showing a yugoslavian movie every sunday night .  br    br   the next week there was another great movie  involving a train  rather than a bus  the name of which i don  t remember . if you know it  please let me know  in any case  how can i get to see this movie again     a dvd of this movie  where   please tell me at vannoordlet . rug . nl  br    br   the next week there was another great movie  involving a train  rather than a bus  the name of which i don  t remember . if you know it  please let me know  in any case  how can i get to see this movie again     a dvd of this movie  where   please tell me at vannoordlet . rug . nl  
typical thriller  has been done many times before . simple plot outline cop liotta becomes obsessed with russell  s wife  and he tries to bump off good ol  kurt so he can have her . this is beyond predictable  it doesn  t even try to make you guess  the plot is the plot and there  s no thinking outside the box here . i guess then the only reason to watch it is to see how it develops  but nothing is done originally or interestingly . there  s not really anything to say about this film  it  s not particularly bad  but there  s no good points either . russell plays russell and you know what you  re gonna get when you see him in a film . ditto liotta . stowe has an annoying cher  esque voice . i read the plot outline and i could see the film in my head  it was so obvious and basic . i watched it and it rolled out in front of my eyes exactly as i had imagined . i felt not a drop of emotion throughout . i have no feeling towards this film  it  s as if i never even watched it . considering this  it  s a pretty pointless film isn  t it  still  i  ll give it     for some reason .  
this is what i call a great movie . it lives trough the fantastic actor skills and a simple but human story . there are real characters which can be funny and dramatic . but the main theme is very cruel  like live is . the bus driver and his son are collecting people trough the country  jugoslavia  on their way to the capital belgrad . the funny and cruel situations that happens on the way  connect the people and the pigs that travel together .  br    br   watch it and you gonna remember it for life . . . its filled with slavic humor and lifestyle .  br    br   and another reason for its magic  it is hard to get    
these kind of movies where a psycho of one variety or another tries to damage the reputation  and eventually eliminate altogether  some naive person in order to take over their life . fatal attraction  pacific heights  the hand that rocks the cradle  single white female  and a thousand made  for  tv movies are some examples of this . but while a few  especially fatal attraction and pacific heights could offer at least some extremely paranoid  suspenseful characters or a few plot twists  unlawful entry plays everything by the book . and were it not for the notoriety of its stars  kurt russel  ray liota  and madeline stowe   this movie would sink to mediocrity faster than a danielle steele miniseries .  br    br   russel plays michael carr  an incessantly naive guy who calls on the help of a pair of officers when someone breaks into his house and tries to attack his wife  madeline stowe  . unfortunately  he quietly vents his anger about feeling so helpless in the situation to the wrong cop  ray liotta   a typically psychopathic villain with no limits for his power . at first empathizing with carr  probably only pretending to do so   the cop befriends the couple . but soon enough  the cops wants carr out of the way so  destroying the guys life nearly any way he can  which is pretty easy when you  re a cop  and when you  re the cop who has installed the guy  s security system in his house  in order to take over and presumably  get his wife . it seems less ends  oriented  and more like the cop just wants to prove his power . the wife is more like a trophy  in other words  than an end . and the story plays out entirely by the book  you can probably predict every occurrence before it happens on the screen if you  ve seen enough of these movies . from the  shocking  moment our main  naive character realizes he is a victim of credit card fraud  perpetrated by the psychopathic villain  to the turn  around  he  s  not  really  dead finale .  
i watched this film over a hundred times . it is really best serbian movie made ever . i wood like to recommend this movie to everyone . it is very good comedy . i surely like it      
there is nothing unique in either the tv series nor the movie . which is a prequel to the tv show  that isn  t found everywhere else in life and entertainment . both before david lynches disgusting style of story telling  and after .  br    br   from the moment the body of a poor misguided girl washed up on the beach . and being introduced to some of the most mind numbing shady immoral character of the twin peaks .  br    br   to the mind numbing almost pedophilia disgusting way the movie seems to romantically tell of the destruction of a human life through some random psychedelic phenomena in the movie twin peakfire come walk with me .  br    br   i watched it all just to make sure i wasn  t missing anything . i didn  t . it  s is simply one mans obvious sexual fetish extended over long series fallowed by a ridiculous overly pornographic movie . save your self the agony the suspense and watch anything else that at least has the ability to tell a story  rather then seduce you into some kind mental porn movie .  br    br   i have heard a lot of reviews  rants and raves about how great david lynch . because of his ability to define misery and and tragedy and making it into some kind of a wonderful thing . this is not life imitating art  as much as it is some sick twisted version of art doing its best to inspire complete mindless life .  br    br   do yourself a favor and avoid this garbage .  
i like this movie a lot  but it  s a fact  that you cannot understand it  unless you  re from the ex yugoslavia . most of the actors are now dead and those were the best actors in ex yugoslavia . i appreciate that this movie is now on divx and i can have it in my collection . macedonia . serbia . montenegro . bosnia and herzegowina . croatia . slovenia .  br    br   all of this was ex yugoslavia  a melting pot of the balcan nations . it could be a dream land  if slobodan milosevic  franjo tudjman and other nationalists wouldn  t poison the nation  s mind with their sick ideas .  
we are not in the fairy tale of the naked emperor . we may confess the truth of what we see  without being stupid  confess  that this show is in many aspects just incomprehensible and that it is clear  that much of it was created out of pure intuition without real concept .  br    br   well  obviously many people like such stuff . i don  t . i prefer well thought and planed shows . and i also confess  that the show is much to serious for my taste and boring . . . those love and drug stories . . . there are so many exciting soaps with lot of suspense  dallas e . g .   but twin peaks can  t catch my attention . i don  t care about those people  except cooper and gordon cole .  
actually i  m surprised there were so many comments about this movie . i saw it as part of a slavic film festival at a major american university . but nobody in usa has heard of it  which is a real shame  the dynamics between the people are what makes it both funny and sad . they are stuck together on a long bus trip   someplace most of us have been   but i never had one like this    br    br   my favorite scene is the one where they stop for the funeral . then the man  woman sneak off for some lovemaking in the forest but everybody follows them to watch without them knowing  just as she raises her skirt and he enters her all the way   the consumptive starts hacking  they realize everybody is watching   talk about surprised  but . . . you really have to feel for them even if it is hilariously funny  when you see the ending it is sort of ironic that they enjoyed themselves while they did  serb humor at it  s best   
i can  t understand why so many peoples praised this show . twin peaks is one of the most boring titles i have ever seen in my life .  br    br   now i have seen all season  episodes  and seeing season  episode  . simply i can  t take this show anymore .  br    br     where is the proper induction in criminal investigation   br    br   in season   there was a scene that agent cooper throws stones to a bottle . can you guess why he did that  he just want to identify murderer by doing this  joke  while mentioning supernatural ability given by tibet dream . wow     br    br     there are too many unnecessary scenes in this show .  br    br   for example  season  started with a  funny  scene that a dumb old man serves agent cooper with a cup of milk while cooper are laying down on the floor .  he got the gun shoots in his belly already .  this old man is doing nothing but saying some dumb comments . that  s all .  br    br   this scene is really boring and even long   min   sec . . . . it  s like hell .   br    br   i would read some comic books rather than see this show anymore .  
at first sight  who  s singing over there just seems to be an absurd and excellent comedy with only a kind of unusual  quiet and slow motion  what a mistake   br    br   beginning with two singers on a desert landscape  then a bus and a wonderful bunch of actors  it hides a gem   br    br   the folded story  and a false rhythm induces you to think  yes it is comic  but just lets you guess it will be a gentle kind of movie .  br    br   not at all  very funny by instant  dark subtle cynical on others  its development surprises you all along the story very ingeniously and cleverly presented  all the characters are important  and the actors give them full life .  br    br   and what is astonishing  it  s based on deep observation  great mastering of the camera work and has a great meanings  and really everything  the general direction and how also the details are presented  that it simply makes you forget it  s a movie it is like to watch a kind human society  you yet don  t know  shot by a friend behind a camera .  br    br   and you  re the one behind him . it is simple  and simply exceptional   br    br   don  t misunderstand me in no way that would means the script  the quality of picture  the music score have a kind of amateurish way  no  no  it  s great art   br    br   because it flows like a river from high up in the mountain  down to the sea  with all the different sort of grounds and peregrinations that a real river will face on its journey to the sea from a tiny thing to a main stream .  br    br   this metaphoric image i used is the very best way i can find to explain all the charm that has who  s singing over there . for me  again  i take the hammer  simply exceptional . . .  br    br   i  ve seen that the director is the one who made chat blanc  chat noir  which i know is quiet famous but as i yet didn  t see it  i had no idea about this gentleman .  br    br   others reviewers wrote dithyrambical comments on that film  i fully agree   br    br   european eastern cinema is not well know because seldom translated  but i am lucky to have this exemplar one in original language  with good english subtitles . all in all  deep  delicious and exceptional . . .  br    br   for fast and empty exploding types and special effect buffs  avoid it at any cost  it may be too subtle and good for you   br    br   but if you  re interested in different genres and  or classics  i guess you won  t regret this one  and in case of buying  it will have good companionship in your personal dvd library  with such no less than merited big names like billy wilder  lubitsch  or sacha guitry among some of my preferred directors . at least for this movie   br    br   a film is never really good unless the camera is an eyes in the head of a poet orson welles  
this overrated  short  lived series  a measly two seasons  is about as experimental and unique as a truck driver going to a strip bar . i am not quite sure what they mean by  ground  breaking  and  original  when they fawn all over lynch and his silly little tv opus . what exactly is their criteria of what is original  sure  compared to the  bill cosby show  or  hill street blues  it  s original . definitely . next to  law  order  tp spews originality left and right .  br    br   fans of tp often say that the show was canceled because too many viewers weren  t smart enough  open enough for the show  s supposed  weirdness   its alleged wild ingenuity  or whatever . as a fan of weirdness myself  i have to correct that misconception . there is nothing too off  the  wall about tp it is a merely watchable  rather silly whodunit that goes around in circles  spinning webs in every corner but  or because of it  ultimately going nowhere . the supposed weirdness is always forced the characters don  t behave in a strange way as much as they behave in an idiotic way half the time . there  s a difference . . .  br    br   whenever i watch the  weird dream  sequence in  living in oblivion  in which the dwarf criticizes the director  buscemi  for succumbing to the tired old let  s  use  a  midget  in  a  dream  scene clich  i think of lynch . you want weird   eraserhead  is weird  in fact  it  s beyond weird  it  s basically abstract . you want a unique tv show  watch  the prisoner  . you want a strange  looking cast  felini  s and leone  s films offer that . tp looks like an overly coiffed tv crime drama in which all the young people look like fashion models . the cast gives tp a plastic look . kens  barbies en masse .  br    br   in fact  one of the producers of tp said that lynch was looking for  unique faces  for the series . unique faces  like lara flynn boyle  s  sheryll fenn  s  like those effeminate  faced  hunks  straight out of men  s catalogs  or gay magazines   don  t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with getting an attractive cast  especially with beauties like fenn  the way madonna would look if she were     times prettier   but then don  t go around saying you  re making a  weird show with weird  looking people  . and i have never understood lynch  s misguided fascination with kyle maclachlan  i should get a medal for bothering to spell his name right  . he is not unlikable  but lacks charisma  seeming a little too bland and polished . his character  s laughable  eccentricities  were not at all interesting  merely one of lynch  s many attempts to force the weirdness  trying hard to live up to his reputation  him having completely lost his edge but that time . everything lynch made post   elephant man  was very much sub  par compared to his first two movies . what followed were often mediocre efforts that relied on lynch  s relatively small but fanatical fan base to keep him in the public eye by interpreting meanings into his badly put  together stories that don  t hold any water on closer scrutiny . in other words  lynch is every intellectual  wannabe  s darling .  br    br   so laura palmer was killed by her dad . . .  he was obsessed by the devil or some such nonsense . that  s the best this  great mind  could come up with . . . you  ve got b  movie horror films that end with more originality .  br    br   lynch is neither bright nor hard  working enough to come up with a terrific story .  br    br   go to http   rateyourmusic . com  fedor   and check out my  tv  cinema    worst cases of nepotism  list .  
  ko to tamo peva  is one of the best films i ever saw . a tragicomedy with very deep implications on the fate of humankind shown through the eyes of seemingly very plain and common people from a god  forsaken serbian province just before the start of the world war ii . i saw it in a small movie theater in russia where the film had had a very limited distribution  and i had no chance to come across it ever since . it is such a pity that this excellent film is almost forgotten now . i searched for a vhs or dvd copy of it many times  and alas  could find none . i would be most grateful to other fans of this little gem of movie  making for a suggestion of the ways to purchase a copy .  
veteran director and producer allan dwan  whose huge string of films includes both the utterly forgettable and the recurrently shown  for example  john wayne in  sands of iwo jima   tried his hand at a big musical with  i dream of jeanie .  harnessing a lead cast of singers with little past film experience and  as it turned out  virtually no future  he spun a fictional and in no small part offensive story about the great american songwriter  stephen foster .  br    br   bill shirley is the young  lovestruck foster whose kindness to slaves includes giving the money saved for an engagement ring to pay the hospital cost for an injured little black boy . his intended is inez mcdowell  muriel lawrence  whose pesky younger sister  jeanie  eileen christy   is slowly realizing she  s in love with the nearly impecunious song  smith . foster is in love with inez who is revolted by the composer  s number  on the levee hit parade tune   o susannah .  enter minstrel edwin p . christy  ray middleton  to help launch the profit  making phase of foster  s career .  br    br   this is  by the musical  film standards of the early fifties  a big production . the sets are lavish in that special hollywood way that portrayed fakes with all the trimmings . the singers aren  t half bad and the foster songs are almost impossible to ruin .  br    br   but this is also a literal whitewash of the antebellum south . the biggest number features black  face for all on stage  an historical anomaly and a contemporary piece of unthinking racism . were these portrayals of blacks anywhere near reality  the abolitionists would be rightly condemned for interfering with so beneficent an institution .  br    br    i dream of jeanie  apparently sank into the studio  s vault with barely a death whisper . now revived by alpha video for a mere   .   it  s a period piece with charming songs and repulsive sentimentalizing about the victims of america  s great crime  slavery .  br    br   this was what hollywood was putting out two years before brown v . board of education . must have warmed the hearts of some moviegoers who wore their bed linen to the theater .  
this is the movie i  ve seen more times than any other  i believe i saw it on average once every year since it was released  . and every time i see it  it is equally fantastic and always reveals something new to me . the cast was most probably a combination of the very best there ever was in ex yu cinematography . this movie is an absolute must for any self respecting movie lover . in the same league maratonci trce pocasni krug  balkanski spijun and otac na sluzbenom putu . this is a poker of movies everyone should have in his private video collection .  
just picked up this film for a buck at national wholesale liquidators  and after watching it  i feel like i got ripped  off .  br    br   i don  t know that i  ve seen a worse film than this . honestly . and i would never write a negative review of a film had i not such enormous respect for the subject matter  that is  stephen foster and his music .  br    br   first  what is it  it  s a musical biography  yeah  lot  s of tunes by foster then interspersed here and there are these pseudo  broadway  jerome kern  type numbers that reek more than the mississippi delta . i mean  somebody got paid to write this drivel  secondly  the real story of foster is a fascinating one . why not even come close to it  thirdly  what did they have on the great ray middleton to get him to do this film  pictures of him with small boys   with communists  what a waste of a great talent .  br    br   so  friends of foster  and the truth  and good entertainment  be afraid . . . be very  very  afraid .  
years ago i was lucky enough to have seen this gem at a  gypsy film festival in santa monica . you know the ending  is not going to be rosie and tragedy will strike but it  s  really about the journey and characters and their dynamics and how they all fit into what was  yugoslavia  .  while i am not yugonostalgic and tend to shy away from  the current crop of  yugoslavian  films  give me ademir  kenovic over late   s kustarica  i  d be happy to have the  chance to stumble on this film again  as it shines in my  celluloid memories . ever since seeing who  s singing over  there    years ago i still hear the theme tune  sung by  the gypsies  ruminating through my head  i am miserable   i was born that way  with the accompanying jew  s harp and accordian making the tune both funny and sad . the late  great actor pavle vujisic  muzamer from when father  was away on business  was memorable as the bus driver of  the ill  fated trip in his typical gruff yet loveable manner . hi  
i found a dvd of  i dream of jeanie  in the   .   bin at wal  mart . when i saw that it was the  story of stephen foster   being a musician and music educator  i had to see it . i had no idea what year it was made for it did not say on the cover  just that it was a remake of      s  sewanee river  . bill shirley  s portrayal of the composer is sometimes painful  sometimes laughable . the man has no testosterone and is a wimp all the way through  i have a difficult time believing stephen foster thought music publishers were doing him a favor by publishing his songs . . . without paying him for them  in addition to that ridiculous notion  there is a nearly   minute segment of ray middleton and his black  faced  christy minstrels  performing stephen foster  s songs that was difficult to watch  to say the least . i can hardly believe anyone would consider this movie appropriate to resurrect in our current time . it is an embarrassment and should remain forgotten . fortunately  stephen foster  s songs will never be forgotten . . . . also  eileen christy  s portrayal of jeanie was certainly the highest point in this lowest point of hollywood history .  
one of the best ensemble acted films i  ve ever seen . there isn  t much to the plot  but the acting  incredible . you see the characters change ever so subtly  undr the influence of the rented villa in italy  and love . and happiness . the film casts a mesmerizing spell on you  much as the villa does on all the women . truly  enchanted  .  
  what a dud . it began with some promise  then became unfocused and  wandered . john cusack  s cajun accent was laughable  bridget fonda  s role  existed only to get a skirt into the film  and pacino did pacino . his entire  generation of actors   nicholson  hackman  caine  hoffman   have developed  a standard performance that each can deliver effortlessly  or  less  charitably   mail in   in their paycheck films . this was  one .   
the group of people are travelling to belgrade in an awful bus led by a drunk conductor and his dumb son  who likes to drive with his eyes closed  . their journey is frequently interrupted by many hilarious events which with much irony describe the fall of nations spirit in     and are so funny that they are even today used as a common jokes . the man who  steals the show  is a peasant  feet tall with his  sons who are almost two times bigger than him . in the end  the movie takes one dramatical turn and the trip becomes nothing but a swans song of a dying country .  
this must be accompanied by a special rating and warning not recommended to normal people .  br    br   the obsession of daneliuc with the most dirty body functions becomes here a real nightmare . also  it  s evident that the man is a misanthrope  he hates everybody  his country his people  his actors  his job . and this hatred makes him blind and he forgets anymore the profession he knew long ago .  br    br   this so called  film  is just a hideous string of disgusting images  with no artistic value and no professionist knowledge . it is an insult to good taste and to good sense . shame  shame  shame   
one of my favourite  domestic  movies . i don  t know if there is any person in our country who hasn  t seen this movie  it  s funny  and sad at some moments . . . i don  t know how did people around the world  who had opportunity to watch it  accept this movie  because you have to know some moments in our serbian history and character of serbs in the first half of the   th century  to be able to understand it  but as i see here  there is somebody from canada who watched it . . . and he liked it .  br    br   i think that i  ll try to put all good quotes from the movie on this site  but first to find out how to do that . . .  br    br   cheers .  
this movie can be labeled as a study case . it  s not just the fact that it denotes an unhealthy and non  artistic lust for anything that might be termed as caco  imagery . the author lives with the impression that his sanctimonious revolt against some generic and childishly termed social ills   moldavia is the most pauper region of europe    i don  t believe one iota in the birds flu    romanian people steal because they are poor europeans steal because they are thieves   are more or less close to a responsible moral and artistic attitude  but he is sorely off  target   br    br   what daneliuc doesn  t know  is that it  s not enough to pose as a righteous person  you also need a modicum of professionalism  talent and intelligence to transpose this stance into an artistic product . fatefully   the foreign legion  shows as much acumen as a family video with uncle gogu drunkenly wetting himself in front of the guests . the script is chaotic and incoherent  randomly bustling together sundry half  subjects  in an illiterate attempt to suggest some kind of a story . the direction is pathetically dilettante  the so  called  director  is unable to build up at least a mediocre mise  en  scene  his shots are annoyingly awkward  and any sense of storytelling shines by total absence .  of course  any comment is forced to stop at this level it would be ridiculous to mention concepts as  cinematographic language    means of expression  or  style   . the acting is positively  cntarea romniei    romania  s chant   level  with the exception of . . . paradoxically  the soccer goal  keeper necula raducanu  who is very natural  and nicodim ungureanu . oana piecnita seems to have a genuine freshness  but she is compromised by the amateurish directions given by daneliuc .  br    br   the most serious side of this offense to decent cinema is the fact that the production received a hefty financing from the national budget  via c . n . c .  the national cinematography council  . the fact that long  time  dead old dinosaurs like daneliuc are still thirsty for the government udder is understandable  in a market  driven economy  they would be instantly eliminated through natural selection  . but the corruption of the so  called  jury  that squanders the country  s money on such ridiculously scabrous non  art  non  cinema and non  culture belongs to the criminal field .  
superbly developed characters into the lots of funny situations full of spirit  absurdness and serbian mentality . movie is a great comedy  enjoyable  interesting  unpredictable . best point in a film characters  then humor itself  story and dialogs . humor has  inner development   rare in serbian movies . so  it is consequence of characterization  is well motivated  spontaneous and cogent . also it is sharp  intelligent and lucid . most of the movies  unfortunately  had constructed humor  devise a joke and put it into a characters  s mouth  or ordinary situation comedy  burlesque  farce . some of the  art immortality  are incorporated in this movie . little masterpiece  hardly reachable .  
i simply cant understand why all these relics from the ceausescu era refuse to let go . one can see clearly how frustrated they were during the commie censorship that forbade them so many things to show in their movies  and now they imagine its dunno what big deal of artsy  fartsy freedom so fill the screen with people defecating  urinating  vomiting  swearing  and any other kinds of hideousness imaginable . this is not cinema  friends and neighbors  this is simply visual perversion . forget about bunuels chien andalou  about david lynch  about forman and neorealism and other movie makers who were able to work with an aesthetics of ugliness . those people were mastering their jobs  well  you don  t  do us a favor  all you daneliucs and nicolaescus and saizescus and muresans and marinescus and margineanus and other obsolete old  timers  and leave us alone  its bit time to see some romanian movies on screen  enough with your immature terribilisms  you are not directors  you are illiterate     
a milestone in eastern european film making and an outstanding example of serbian mentality . a group of completely different people are doomed to die because of their discord . with  maratonci trce pocasni krug  makes two mythological movies everyone here knows word by word .  
sadly  it  s true .  legiunea strin  exposes with absolute clarity the parameters of daneliuc  s irreversible failure .  br    br   as it was already said  the author lost the faculty to coalesce his content factors and artistic intentions in a coherent form . maniacally concerned with the mechanic trick of picking at random news subjects and join them together without any legitimacy  he only gathers a disordered pile of events  unable to follow the least story  line . the script  s level is similar to a  cntarea romniei  amateur play about the glorious feats of socialist realism  only  turned upside down while the communist line dictated a narrow concern only with positivism and sugary festivism  now daneliuc is as perniciously obsessed only with negativism and disgusting scatology . the ideas content is zero  and the  message   infantile and didactic  at a kindergarten level .  br    br   unfortunately  he also forgot the most elementary professional tenets . he isn  t able anymore to organize a dramatic situation  to order it in a correct movie scene  to frame it right and to edit it following the simplest rules of cinematographic grammar . his level of story  telling in film  images is similar to phrasing something like  holy sheet man it ain  t nuthin right  ere  and all da people is asses   what a huge distance from the impressive artist of           who had created unique works as  cursa    proba de microfon    vntoarea de vulpi   and even  croaziera  and  glissando  . . . sic transit gloria mundi . . .  
this movie is one of the funniest  saddest and most accurate portrayals of the mentality that seems to have pervaded the balkans yet again    years after the time depicted . all the usual characters and conflicts are presented with such anger  sadness and love combined that it is impossible to decide whether crying or laughing would be the more appropriate response . the accuracy of portrayal and the timelessness of the types  however  make it for a great film to watch if one wants to understand a little bit of what drove ex  yugoslavia to its madness . in fact  no diplomat dealing with the region should attempt anything until they saw this movie  and its twin  maratonci trce pocasni krug .  did i mention it is one of the funniest movies i  ve ever seen   
jason lee  s pecks are back  if that  s what you are looking for  look no further . if not  better move on . . .  br    br   but about the movie . clichs galore  some poorly shot but kinda exotic fight scenes  used jkd  and lots of bad acting  cheap effects . poor lee looks like he  s in pain throughout the movie  and no wonder . not a pleasant comeback .  br    br   the movie doesn  t even cut it as a b  movie  sure  there was a germanish bleached blonde rutger  wannabe bad guy  but no gratuitous sex scene or even a single booty shots . none . zip . nada . even in starship troopers  they had the common sense to include the mandatory nudie scenes  as for rest of my comments on that excellent piece of classic cinema excellence  please refer to our upcoming review on that mind  blowing sequel . . .  . i did get the feeling that the writer was taking his revenge on somebody with this  thus i won  t get into the  plot  of the movie or pretty much anything else related . except that it did have some non  heterosexual overtones  so  nuff said .  br    br   however  this movie has one thing going for it  no jean  claude    
this  tragicomedy  written by famous serbian theatre  film writer dusan kovacevic is probably one of the best movies ever made in the comedy category . and yet  its appearance of a theatre play transformed into a feature film takes nothing of its value . a masterpiece one should not miss to see  preferably with subtitles  and not dubbed  .  br    br   in an aged bus en route to capital belgrade  a looming war decides the passengers  behaviour . two gypsy musicians sing of their miserable life but also foresee a tragedy to come their singing both divides and connects stages in this extraordinary road movie  real life kostic brothers are amateur actors  but together with stanojlo milinkovic as farmer who  s plowed the road give a real  life performance  .  br    br   the spectrum of characters gives a brilliant image of a society facing a war  an insight into nation  s collective person everyone is aware that war is just about to begin but they try to live their own lives the best they can  hoping that ignorance might avert the tragedy . using a simple movie language  director slobodan sijan paints a picture of society torn by previous war  world war i   but also highlights personal portraits with success provincialism of a singer  inexperience of the newlyweds  seriousness of the great war veteran who is on way to visit his recently conscripted son  and gloomy predictions from a man who seems to be a german spy .  br    br   brilliant in its narration  with memorable soundtrack  especialy the gispsy songs  and adjusted atmosphere  well photographed and edited  this feature  sijan  s feature debut  was only an introduction into a series of the directors bitter  sweet comedies that will define serbian cinematography of the     s  maratonci trce pocasni krug    kako sam sistematski unisten od idiota   and my other director  s favourite  davitelj protiv davitelja   .  
if you want to checkout a good jason scott lee film  i recommend the following  br    br   dragon the bruce lee story  br    br   rapa nui  br    br    timecop   the berlin decision  is an awful film . awful production values . awful acting . awful script . i would not recommend this film to be watched by anyone who seriously believes that tripe like this is quality entertainment or advances asian american awareness in hollywood  this film does neither .  .  br    br   i would at the very least say that this film is passable entertainment on a rainy day if you ever come across it while channel surfing . if you are curious  perhaps a rental from netflix  but this film is definitely not for keeps .  br    br   if you are one of the few people who watched this film as a means to raise your asian american film awareness  and came away disappointed  then i recommend the following films for your personal viewing . these are well  written films with high production values that feature a talented cast of asian american actors  br    br   better luck tomorrow  br    br   mulan  
i saw this film  it  s english title is  who  s singing over there    at the     montreal international film festival . it won raves then . . . and disappeared . a terrible shame . it is brilliant . sublime  ridiculous  sad  and extremely funny . the script is a work of art . it  s been   years and i  ve seen only a handful of comedies  or any other genre  for that matter  that can match its originality .  
this is pretty much the first jason scott lee film i  ve seen . i say pretty much  because i have also seen soldier  in which he plays the villain . . . but from what i  ve heard  it  s not considered a jason scott lee film . this  however  is . and if this is any indication of the quality of such films  i won  t be seeing any of the others . lee is basically passable as a martial arts artist . . . as the lead  he  s awful . he gets in a fight with random no  name characters every few minutes of the film  probably because the script writer couldn  t figure out how else to stretch out the film to the minimum required running time for a feature film . the villain is the only character with even a hint of personality  and aside from the fact that he  s certifiably insane  he barely seems like a villain at all . the majority of the film is basically lee chasing the villain through time . . . or maybe it  s the other way around . i can  t say for sure . . . and i definitely wouldn  t watch it again to make sure . the effects are not completely horrible . . . but it  s close . the title comes from the popular idea of using a time  machine to go and kill hitler . somehow  the film screws up that interesting idea as well . the plot is too complicated for its own good . the pacing is poor . i can  t think of one positive thing to say about this film . . . i really can  t . it  s simply too formulaic and pointless . if only i had a time  machine  so i could go back and prevent this film from ever being made . . . no  never mind . i just hope as few fragile minds are exposed to this as possible . listen to the negative reviewers . avoid this turkey . i recommend this to fans of lee  and no one else . if you  re looking for a quality film . . . well  this isn  t it . that  s for sure .      
this is an excellent little movie  the acting is good and the music is fantastic   play it on a    sound system and enjoy  it will never win any awards but its good clean fun for all   i recommend this movie to all fans of pretty girls funny and hansom men as well as robot lovers everyone    p . s . it also stars lisa rinna  enjoy   this is a very hard movie to find  it is out of print . i first saw it on showtime many years ago but recently found a used vhs copy . its still a must see for all    this is an excellent little movie  the acting is good and the music is fantastic   play it on a    sound system and enjoy  it will never win any awards but its good clean fun for all   i recommend this movie to all fans of pretty girls funny and hansom men as well as robot lovers everyone    p . s . it also stars lisa rinna  enjoy   dave engle this is a very hard movie to find  it is out of print . i first saw it on showtime many years ago but recently found a used vhs copy . its still a must see for all     
i gave timecop a perfect    i gave this   br    br   it  s story is very boring  and it has only little to do with the original timecop . lots of things from timecop was scrapped  and they put in new stupid stuff instead . this story is taking place in      if i remember correctly   but for some reason the timetraveling is now more dangerous confused  br    br   and the action scenes are nothing to be happy about  well most of them aren  t . . . only the first one is great . . . and there aren  t many action scenes at all  and they  re all pretty short  br    br   at one point in the story  the main character travels through time about  times within a few minutes . . . no wait  make that two times . . .  br    br   in short don  t waste time watching this movie  it  s not worth it  
rain or shine outside  you enter a movie house . it makes you happy .  if not  come right out .  lights go off . you settle down with a bar of ice cream . moving pictures begin to flicker on the screen . you feel content . in the dark  you are back in the beginning of time . sitting around the campfire . . . looking at the modern version of the flickering flames   times per second and sharing the joy of discovering the unknown turns and twists of the scenario with rest of your clan  spectators .  br    br   those who are not happy with themselves  should not write comments .  long live romantic comedies . . .   
since this is part   then compering it to part one . . .  br    br   man that was on many places wierd . . . too many time jumps etc .  br    br   i have to say that i was really disapointed . . .  br    br   only someplaces little lame action . . . and thats it . . . .  br    br   they could have done that better . . . .  br    br    
i have to be     honest with you fellow imdb users . i wanted to see this movie for a very long time only because of the poster . doesn  t charlotte gainsbourg looks extremely sexy and charming smiling that way  i  m in love with that woman  i got what i expected . . . but only half . this film should deliver expectations for those who enjoy all kinds of romantic comedies or stories involving intelligent humor and light dramatic situations .  br    br   while i don  t agree with another fellow imdb user who states that the movie is overrated i must admit that  prte  moi ta main  has plenty of flaws .  br    br   my main problem with the film is the lack of on screen chemistry between the main characters . there isn  t a single scene previous to the climax that shows the main characters sharing a moment  of romance  or even a clue to suggest that they  re interested in each other .  br    br   in fact  the only scene were both share a moment is tremendously awkward  when both are in the couch  and does not help the audience understand about a possible love interest . i didn  t buy the dinner sequence .  br    br   still  the movie delivers very funny moments and has a strong dialogs that support such an ingenuous premise . i mean with ingenuous that it would be very difficult to execute such a farse by a   year old man in these days .  br    br   i understand it  s a movie and that  s why i accept it as a funny situation . plus  the humor is versatile . there are moments involving sm  funny lines with chabat  s best friend  some lesbian references  funny situations involving the family women  and more .  br    br   charlotte gaionsbourg  s performance is top notch and she  s by far the reason to watch the movie . she  s funny  sexy  looks very thin and fine  and demonstrates she  s a versatile and talented actress who can pull out a comedic and dramatic performance in sheer brilliance .  br    br   alain chabat is a fine actor and gives a very decent performance . i think the supporting cast do what they can .  br    br   the score  art direction  and other technical aspects are really good and give a dynamic look to the film .  br    br   those who enjoy this kind of cinema should be pleased after the ending credits . it  s a good example of feel good cinema .  
the education of little tree is just not as good as it could have been . little tree  s education is about things like the circle of life and how you should look at a star to help you . whatever happened to the three r  s  readin   ritin  and  rithmetic  when the idiot back talks the teacher at the boarding school place he starts crying and talking to the sky . oh my gosh . sure  the lady was a little harsh  but then james cromwell  s character comes and takes him away  leaving the audience thinking that little tree was absolutely right . he should learn to adapt to new discipline . those were the times  talking to a star is not going to change a thing  little tree needs to learn that his adoring guardians are not always right .  
two women  sick of their controlling husbands  taking a vacation in italy for a month with two other very different women . they come back refreshed and energized in this wonderful little film by merchant  ivory .  br    br   great scenery and the location isn  t bad either . seriously  a very good period piece  of    
wow  a movie about nyc politics seemingly written by someone who has never set foot in nyc . you know there  s a problem when at one moment you expect the credits to roll and the movie continues on for another half hour . the characters are boring  john cusack  s accent is laughable  and the plotline teeters between boring and laughable . a horrible movie .  
i think charlotte gainsbourg is one of the best performers in the world . i can  t understand why some people say she  s not . boring . . . .    maybe the one who said she  s boring is because he  she is boring . she  s a great actress and the movie was excellent . it has lots of wonderful ideas and very good performers . the direction was great . i imaging myself in the french environment with all the sophistication and perfume  flowers  churches  problems  etc . when she goes to the sister  s shop is simply amazing . everything  s great . we have a very good actress  wonderful  for long time . alain chabat and bernadette lafont are perfect . i like him more than in his next movie la science des rves . and eric lartigau did a very good work .  br    br   ana  
i  ll give this movie two stars because it teems with beautiful photography . otherwise  it teems mainly with clichs and stereotypes mountain people are either dumb white trash of the fanatically religious or ragged racist kind  or wise white indians . indians are magical people who move around without a sound  can disappear in the blink of an eye  talk to animals  and read minds over large distances . and so on and so forth .  br    br   throughout the movie i kept wondering what the point of the film was  other than showing me pretty pictures of mountains  log cabins  woods  an assortment of animals  free  spirited mountain  dwellers and freaky people in church  .  br    br   the plot touched a whole range of issues but explored none of them in depth . this was neither a story about growing up during the depression  nor about about being an orphan  nor about a struggle for identity . it tried to be all of those things and more  which made it superficial and unsatisfactory .  br    br   although the movie was supposed to be about little tree  s education  we learn almost nothing about it . he was given a brief summary of the history of his people  who were brave and stoic  and a distillery demonstration tried his hand at chopping wood  at which he failed  and whiskey running  literally   learned how to read  and maybe to write  with the help of grandma and her dictionary  and that was it . apparently he didn  t learn much during his stint in boarding school because he was locked up in the attic .  br    br   however  grandma and grandpa and graham greene  s character made sure that in the end little tree became a very spiritual person whose main goal as an adult  after  and i  m paraphrasing here   riding with the navajos  and  getting caught up in a couple of wars   was to  catch up  with grandma and grandpa and graham greene  s character in heaven  instead of  say  dating girls  getting married  having children or other such nonsense  .  br    br   last but not least i must say that i found grandpa  s trade offensive . why of all things did it have to be a whiskey still  to counteract the stereotype of the  drunken indian    
from the opening shots of the lead actor  we are given a early view on how so many mens lives are run by the women in them  and the humour that comes thru with all that goes on in the day to day of  normal  life .  br    br   eric lartigau  the director picks up on how so many european men feel that they are in complete control of their lives  yet without the help  support of the women around them cannot seem to make things work . the use of facial image throughout the film is superb  and his clever positioning of the senior member of the family  mother  is spot on .  br    br   while there are more than enough laughs in the movie  it still deals with single parents  adoption and the strength of family in society . truly rewarding to watch  and again one that only the french seam capable to make .  br    br   so far one of the best   or so films i have seen this year  and well worth a five start rating . i look forward to adding this one to the dvd collection when it is released and highly recommend it to all ages .  
the movie was disappointing . the book was powerful . the views and the learning of little tree were powerfully portrayed in the book . the movie just coasted along and finally dribbled away . still a nice tale for kids .  
didn  t know anything about the movie before watching and i think it was the  no expectation  factor that helped me endure at first and later like it more than i anticipated .  br    br   the setting was interesting  strange but interesting . the storyline had gaps  jumps that i think throws the audience off a bit . there  s no great soundtrack playing in the background  creating the  romantic  ambiance . but they all didn  t matter .  br    br   the chemistry between emma and luis was simply exquisite . there was some inexplicable strange chemistry that i couldn  t resist i fell in love with it and here i am  writing this review . the subtle love portrayal by the two actors was superb  and i believe  that is the core of this movie .  br    br   this movie is not an everyday romantic comedy in fact  not all of us will appreciate it . i had to sit a while and then slowly began to comprehend the little things i didn  t catch at first . i cannot guarantee everyone will like it  but i hope you do .  
i generally like watching burt lancaster  s films   especially when he is needed to go nuts with his imposing screen presence like in elmer gantry . however  his greatest strength  his magnetism  was occasionally also his greatest weakness as he rarely  if ever  underplayed anything . and it is this lack of subtlety that really hinders the rainmaker . now i understand that his character was meant to be a sort of showman but how katherine hepburn could fall under his spell is completely inexplicable . she is supposed to be smart but doesn  t seem so when lancaster  s blarney is being thrown about the screen  in addition to this  the story is perhaps one of the most stagy looking films i have ever seen and it is way too obvious that this is a movie based on a play . it just looks like it was mostly filmed in a sound stage instead of in the great wide open west like it was supposed to be .  br    br   overall  a very overrated film .  
alain chabat is a fine actor  writer and director but maybe a trifle misguided to take an  idea  credit for a story that probably had them rolling in the aisles when aristophanes was still learning that it  s  i  before  e  except after  c  . but  like i said  chabat is a fine actor and he can do charm when he needs to . i  m also gradually overcoming an aversion to charlotte gainsbourg who also turns in an accomplished performance . if you absolutely insist on knowing  the  plot  is the one about the guy well into his forties and more than content to be single . this doesn  t sit well with his mother and five sisters and to get them off his back he makes an  arrangement  with the sister of a colleague to pose  for fifteen thousand euros  as his new girlfriend  allow the romance to come to fruition with a wedding and then jilt him  thus getting him off the hook . naturally they wind up together but along the way there  s some sub  benedek and beatrice duelling and all things considered it  s a pretty painless ninety minutes and performing so well at the french box office that a sequel may not be out of the question .  
  the rainmaker  released in      has some of the finest actors of its time . katharine hepburn  lloyd bridges  and burt lancaster being the principle players . not even they can save this completely over acted melodrama . first of all  hepburn is horribly miscast as a shy spinster  despite her brilliance as an actress  not even she can pull this off . she is too strong to be credible as being this much of a simpleton  and was just too old for the part . lancaster over acts to the extreme  and earl holliman is way too hammy and comes off more like jethro clampett . only bridges and the ever reliable wendell corey seem to rise above the cast a bit  but even they can only do so much . it seems like the      s was a time when katharine hepburn wanted to spread her wings a bit as an actress  and that is fine . she just made a bad choice here . fortunately for her fans  me being among them  she didn  t make too many of them . despite an a  list cast and good production values  it doesn  t work .  
there wasn  t a dry eye amongst the audience yesterday afternoon after i left the cinema  having seen this gem of a film in a sold  out house as part of this year  s hamburg film festival . and the tears shed were all of laughter . this film was hilarious  there  s no other way of saying this . there wasn  t one boring bit in it  i laughed right through it and with me everyone else of us three hundred lovers of french cinma .  br    br   alain chabat was absolutely terrific . a great clown if needs be and serious if the situation calls for it . the performance was of course completely over the top  but this was exactly what the story needed and what made it work so well . equally great was charlotte gainsbourg who i love to see a lot  and the mother was also a very strong performance . the sisters could have been a bit more detailed in character script  wise  but apart from that there is nothing to moan about . i had a great afternoon seeing this film while hamburg was drowning in rain outside  and i wish films like this from france would get a regular release in germany . but the distributors is this country don  t seem to understand that the french make good films . i at least can  t wait to find a dvd which offers subtitles  hello australia  please   because that film i need at home to watch several more times   
rather than move linearly from beginning to end  this story line of a gay couple impacted by aids  orbits  in time around their  perfect day .  the film is organized as a life remembered in asynchronous fragments rather than in a sequential flow as one directly experienced .  br    br   the narration has its lyrical moments  particularly in describing the impact of loss anticipated or experienced . the dialog unfortunately lacks such grace . the script frequently compels the actors to say startlingly stupid or insensitive things that seem utterly out of character at the moment . on their second accidental encounter  clearly smitten with each other  sensitive phillip encourages a reluctant guy to tell him about his difficult week . but the moment guy begins to open up  phillip  an english major  blurts out  you  re not a crisis fairy  are you   later  watching his lover  s naked  chiseled body stride across the bedroom toward him  our young shakespeare in love begins to render the beauty of the moment in words   the way you cut through space . . . . i can  t even describe it    but lacks the verbal skills to complete his thought . this kind of drivel continues through the aids hospice scenes  bejeweled with lines like   what made me think death would be all neat and tied up with ribbons   and  you make florence nightingale look like nurse ratchet .   br    br   the film often suffers from a bruising lack of subtlety . unlikable characters are far more jarring and steamroller  flattened than they need to be . phillip  s thoroughly annoying friends   an arrogant trust fund brat and a whining  needy dweeb   maintain a running caustic diatribe about every one crossing their path . such patter could offer a writer a wealth of opportunities for clever social commentary  but sadly  their remarks are merely unpleasant  ungraced by wit or insight . it  s hard to know if our scriptwriter intentionally crafted intellectually limited characters or if he was simply running his tether  s perimeter .  br    br   the plot may be what most appeals to and resonates with those who praise this film . it does seriously explore      s us middle class gay life first encounters  courting  coupling  nesting  the complexity of open relationships  friction and fracturing  dissolution  physical abuse  rapprochement  forgiveness  terminal illness  death and survival . leads phelan and spirtas give fair to good performances rendering complex characters over time . their fetching good looks help explain both the chemistry that held these two together through insensitivity and selfishness as well as the chemistry that helped some some viewers overlook this film  s painful weaknesses . the decision to chop the plot arc into tidbits and present them in out  of  sequence flashbacks added complexity without any evident dramatic utility  and in several cases left the sequence and thus the implications of a given event unclear .  br    br   could i recommend the film  to sticklers for literary and technical quality  absolutely not  for easy going viewers in serious need of an aids survivor catharsis or in the mood for a guilty  pleasure tearjerker with a little eye candy thrown in  maybe . but better written alternatives exploring the impact of aids on relationships of that era include philadelphia  and the band played on  longtime companion  angels in america  an early frost  parting glances  love  valour  compassion  and even jeffrey .  
alain chabat claims this movie as his original idea but the theme of reluctant lovers who finally get it together is as old  if not older  than shakespeare .  br    br   chabat is a  vieux garcon   happily single and not wanting any member of the opposite sex to disturb his life . he has a problem   sisters and a matriarchal mum  the g   who decide he should be married . enter the delightful  charming charlotte gainsbourg and what should be a simple plan . charlotte has to pose as chabat  s girlfriend and then simply not turn up on the day of the wedding . no more talk of marriage from the g  . of course the best laid plans have a habit of spiralling out of control .  br    br   there are very strong supporting roles from lafont as the mother and osterman as the tight  fisted brother of gainsbourg .  br    br   there are some fantastic scenes as first charlotte has to charm  then revolt the family . french farce with an english .  
this is yet another depressing and boring film about aids and tragedy . it begins very uneventful and predictable and continues throughout the movie . i kept waiting for it to pick  up  but unfortunately it never did . the acting is fair  but the script needs a lot of work . and if you  re looking for the nudity  don  t waste your time with these not so hot actors . due to the poor sound quality and lack of captions  i missed    of the movie . if you have never seen over five gay films  or have recently come to terms with being gay  you may find this film interesting  otherwise it  s your run  of  the  mill low budget movie . it ranks as one of the worst gay films i have ever seen .  
this would have been my number one movie of the year for      except it got beat out by the brilliant jfk . this is such a wonderful movie  i loved it . i love stories where different characters  lives intersect with others and how deal with their lives . kevin kline is good here  but is outshined by danny glover and  especially  steve martin . i  ve never much like martin or his style  but here he is great . i loved the whole speech he gave to kline near the end about the grand canyon . the writing was excellent . larry kasdan is  imo  a great dialogue writer  along the ways of kevin smith and quentin tarantino . here  he has formed several three  dimensional characters and well thought out storylines  and messages that give a positive feel to our lives . a truly excellent film .  out of  stars  
i was going to say this was the worst gay  themed film i  ve ever seen  but i can honestly say this is the worst film if any genre i  ve ever seen .  br    br   you know you  re in trouble when a movie starts with a  personal note  from the director  asking for the audience  s  understanding  for the  many challenges  facing a first  time director . the audio track is so bad in many scenes it  s almost impossible to follow the dialogue  and this from a dvd version . bad lighting  bad sets  bad photography  poor script  generally bad acting all add up to make this  film  unwatchable . i did make it through to the bad ending after several attempts  and immediately gave away the dvd i foolishly purchased . i  m sure there are many challenges facing a first  time director . but  don  t try to palm off this lame attempt as a finished product . i see from imdb details that this was not only the first directing attempt of richard natale  but also the only . that  s the one positive thing i can say about this alleged  movie  .  
every now and then a film maker brings to life a unique group of people and lets you inside to see the things that make us human . lawrence kasden done this again . i always felt thebg cill was the anthem of it  s age and he has managed to do it again in grand canyon . every so often we find ourselves at a point where we have the opportunity to choose life and so often we blow it . this is a film about people who find the courage to choose and experience life because of that choice . the juxtaposing of little and big events that lets us see how basically trivial most things we worry about are is truly genius . i have watched this film a number of times and am constanly surprised at how deep the emotions run through this film . danny glover and kevin kline do their roles with great tenderness and stever martins portrayal of a movie exec is priceless . thank you again mr . kasden  
i awake suddenly  aware that i  m drooling onto the plastic couch cover  and realize it  s a warm saturday afternoon . why was i sleeping  did i hit my head  or accidentally swallow all of my grandma  s muscle relaxers  could it be adult onset narcolepsy   br    br   no  i momentarily paused on cheap seats while channel surfing  and the stunning lack of humor and talent drained my life force with such speed that i blacked out .  br    br   it  s that head  shaking  mouth  agape  shoulder  shrugging bad . but i have to give these moronic and boring twins credit for selling this idea through . perhaps they had the same effect on the espn programming executive that they had on me  and when he  she woke up  a few horrendous episodes were already in the can and he  she hoped that since all the viewers will be asleep  no one will now how awful it is and he  she can keep the         annual salary .  br    br   you  ve been warned .  
this movie awed me so much that i watch it at least once a year . at times i find it uncomfortable . at times i find it empowering . and i always find the characters human and real . it is a movie that shows you the gritty reality of life in la  starting with the recurring helicopter search lights scanning for the dangers lurking so close to the ordinary lives being carried on by the characters . it is also a movie that shows you how the kindness of a stranger can change your life and empower you to make a difference . grand canyon reminds you that every action you take  whether intended or not  has powerful repercussions . i found this movie to be similar in many ways to robert altman  s film short cuts . both had a star  studded roster of perfectly cast actors  actresses and both movies allowed you to gradually see how the the characters interrelated with one another and affected each other  for better or worse . grand canyon did a better job of providing a cohesive message   hope in the face of despairing reality   than altman  s film  although i found them both intriguing in their own way . this film is a definite must see     
incredibly muddled  off  putting and ultimately ludicrous   the horses  oh my god  the horses    thriller . it  s creepy at times  but it has one of the worst scripts ever written for a horror film . watch how in the final   minutes everybody  magically  does exactly what the plot needs for the  resolution  to occur . bland performances by the leads  a typically eccentric one by richard lynch . the video transfer is a real hack job  cutting scenes in half and making the movie even more difficult to understand .  out of  stars .  
at your video store  you might find this gem .  br    br   the human condition in modern times la . no exaggerated drama  just a collapsing of events that might happen to any group of individuals over time .  br    br   helps you understand the joys and desperation of urban life .  br    br   the direction and cutting are top class . cinematography and music very much follows the mood and situation . and the cast     br    br   excellent casting and excellent acting . no one out of place or out of character .  br    br   and it  s not really as much a downer as you would expect . i gave it  of   .  br    br   if you havent seen it  do   
this is one of those awful  sex  driven b  movies that couldn  t have played anywhere near a theater . women run around dressed in scantily clad  bunny  outfits  an extremely fat woman is the brunt of many tasteless jokes  and they all work at the restaurant of a dirty old man  who has an oddball son  jim hanks  who is of course tom  s brother   whom the man wants to get  laid .  hanks is actually sort of good  but this movie goes nowhere and has no point . one must wonder why it was even made  nevertheless  because of hank  s performance and a few entertaining moments  but no more than a few   it received a stellar    out of   . i think i was being nice  though .  
it has been about   years since a movie has been made about romance and mysticism . the only two movies i can think of is  enchanted april        and  the enchanted cottage        . both movies used wonderful actors not stars . in both movies  all the actors gave their best romantic performances .  br    br    enchanted april  is about four english women after wwi who are unhappy with their lives and find happiness in italy while on vacation . it is amazing  enchanted april  was made in     . it stands out as an enjoyable classic .  
i was lured to see this movie by its starpower  but ultimately that  s all it delivers . it plays much more like a greek tragedy than a modern thriller about big city corruption . it  s greatest flaw is its predictibability and utter lack of suspense . we know who the bad guys are from the beginning  and just follow along as they fall like dominoes . the film to its credit does abstain from gratuitous violence and sex  but has forgotten to substitute good  clean romance or excitement in any other way . all the flavor of a good  flat decaffeinated diet cola .  qa   which also takes place in new york  is a far better alternative  as is  la confidential  .  
busy phillips put in one hell of a performance  both comedic and dramatic . erika christensen was good but busy stole the show . it was a nice touch after the smokers  a movie starring busy  which wasnt all that great . if busy doesnt get a nomination of any kind for this film it would be a disaster . forget mona lisa smile  see home room .  
of the three titles from jess franco to find their way onto the official dpp video nasty list  devil hunter  bloody moon and women behind bars  this is perhaps the least deserving of notoriety  being a dreadfully dull jungle clunker enlivened only very slightly by a little inept gore  a gratuitous rape scene  and loads of nudity .  br    br   gorgeous blonde ursula buchfellner plays movie star laura crawford who is abducted by a gang of ruthless kidnappers and taken to a remote tropical island inhabited by a savage tribe who worship the  devil god  that lurks in the jungle  a big  naked  bulging  eyed native who likes to eat the hearts of nubile female sacrifices  .  br    br   employed by laura  s agent to deliver a   million ransom  brave mercenary peter weston  al cliver  and his vietnam vet pilot pal travel to the island  but encounter trouble when the bad guys attempt a double  cross . during the confusion  laura escapes into the jungle  but runs straight into the arms of the island  s natives  who offer her up to their god .  br    br   franco directs in his usual torpid style and loads this laughable effort with his usual dreadful trademarks crap gore  murky cinematography  rapid zooms  numerous crotch shots  out of focus imagery  awful sound effects  and ham  fisted editing . the result is a dire mess that is a real struggle to sit through from start to finish  it took me a couple of sittings to finish the thing   and even the sight of the luscious buchfellner in all of her natural glory ain  t enough to make me revisit this film in a hurry .  
this film could well have been one of those ordinary  soapies  relating the day to day events of half a dozen families whose lives are intertwined . . broken relationships  building new friendships  street bashings  near accidents  hopes and dreams and even the discovery of a baby discarded under some bushes  what a mixture of events   br    br   fortunately the film maker goes beyond those daily events and poses questions to consider although there are no satisfactory answers . he asksin this chaotic world do things just happen  is it just luck when things turn out right or  taking a fatalistic view  is a person predestined to be at a certain place at a certain time and thus become involved in the event and his future takes on a new perspective  most of us have had this uncanny experience .  br    br   is it our super ego that makes us believe we are so important  as one character says he once sat on the edge overlooking the grand canyon and came to realize how infinitely small he was .  br    br   this is not one of my favourite films but is a good study of human relationships . danny glover is outstanding in a sympathetic role .  
buford  s beach bunnies gives b  grade ta films a bad name . as a fan of the genre  i was appalled to find little attempt being made to exploit the young actresses talents . i refer specifically to the distinct lack of nudity and simulated sex scenes . what are the next generation of sad teenage boys watching this on late night tv supposed to think   
in my opinion  the best movie ever . i love when people ask me what this film is about . i usually smile and say  life  . they shrug and probably never give it another thought . the fact that everyone from every background can relate to some part of this movie makes it all that much more amazing . definately a must see for everyone .  
i was staying in one night and got extremely bored around     a . m . so i flipped aimlessly through the channels and happened upon h . b . o . where this  classic  was playing . initially i was happy to have caught something at the beginning  but my happiness faded about two minutes into the movie . the whole movie centered around an unattractive man who had a fear of females  four beautiful but empty minded women who worked as waitresses at his uncle  s diner  and his enormously fat and extremely miserable cousin who also works at the diner . there are a few strange twists in this movie that make it somewhat interesting  but certainly not worth watching . basically  if you have nothing to do some night or just can  t sleep medication works much better . however guys there is a lot of skin so it may be okay to watch with no sound  but even that can get annoying  
 . . . but watch mary mcdonnell  s performance closely . her body language . her fine body movements . her subtle  but powerfully effective  reactions . this is an accomplished artist at the top of her craft . and the rest of the cast were pretty damned good  too  o   br    br   this is perhaps the  rd or  th viewing for me  and i see more in it each time . what  is  this world coming to  anyway   r .  
bamboo house of dolls           or      various years are given for this title  is a hong kong veteran chin hung kuei  s  killer snakes  boxer  s omen  payment in blood etc .  women in prison flick produced by the legendary shaw brothers . yes  even they got their hands into low exploitation sickies like this  and bamboo is definitely among the worse attempts of the whole genre  even when compared to the western attempts that usually pale in comparison with the eastern films   br    br   the story is about a japanese war camp in which the chinese women are brutalized  abused and raped by the bad japanese  what else   during the world war ii . the girls also know a secret place in which a box full of gold is hidden and also learn that a chinese military officer raised in japan  shaw veteran lo lieh  is actually now an undercover agent among the other japanese and naturally helps the girls escape the hell . what follows is sequences full of gratuitous nudity  female kung fu  some nasty torture  gore  sleaze and extremely offensive anti japan attitude that make this film pure and honest garbage that doesn  t even try to be more than it is .  br    br   there are hardly any interesting elements in bamboo house of dolls . the occasional photography especially at the end looks nice with its sunbeams and beautiful nature but that  s about it in the merits department . the fight scenes are plenty and always include half naked females hitting and kicking each other . the violence overall is quite nasty at times with several bullet wounds  misogynistic torture scenes  for example  one poor girl is brutalized on the floor filled with broken glass etc .  and extremely repulsive ending and moral behind it . of course it is stupid to talk about  moral  when writing about this kind of film  but still there are elements i won  t accept to be found from any film .  br    br   the film has also some enjoyable turkey elements for sure  for example  the gold box  filled with heavy gold  seems suspiciouly light as the weak and suffered girls don  t seem to have any problems lifting and moving it  not to speak of throwing it  also those numerous  skin fight scenes  make this quite smile inducing for fans of trash cinema . i have seen the same director  s killer snakes       which is ten times more noteworthy as a piece and even though it has many alive snakes killed for real  it is also visually more interesting and shows us some nasty sides of the other side of the big city and society . also  it is a must for those who fear snakes .  br    br   bamboo house of dolls has suffered some censorship  too  which isn  t a surprise considered the subject matter . the uncut version   dubbed into a non  english language  released in europe at least in france  italy and switzerland  runs    pal minutes while the cut  english dubbed print released in holland  belgium and greece runs only   minutes in pal . from what i  ve heard  the cut scenes are not only violence or other graphic stuff but also dialogue and  plot development  and the like .  br    br   bamboo house of dolls is garbage cinema in its most trashy form and definitely something i wouldn  t have liked to see from the shaw brothers or hong kong in general . some of the italian exploitation films of the same subject matter are much more interesting and noteworthy than this quite ridiculous  calculated and worthless piece of cinema exploitation .      
this is an excellent movie with a stellar cast and some great acting . i never tire of watching it . i especially love the scene where danny glover  s character and kevin kline  s character namely simon and mack have brunch together . kevin kline is such a natural and it seems his mannerisms are effortless and one you would encounter often . so its a very  real  movie .  br    br   one of the most powerful scenes in the movie however  is at the beginning of the movie when simon arrives at the scene where mack  s car has broken down . the movie also has a strong message and is unlike the stereotypical message carrying movie where there  s one person preaching his guts out to an audience . instead the actors  emotions and situations deliver an impactive message that does best without the use of words . and lastly  mary mcdonell is brilliant as always .  
previous comment made me write this . it says that muslims are blonde and serbs are dark  because our blood is mixed  . this comment just says that this opinion can be made by racist . look  race is nothing . i  m color blind . i look like pierce brosnan but i  m no irish . so what  i might add that i am not     serb  that i have some austrian and croat blood within me but whats the point . i  m dark  half  breed  is that so  anyone using racial prejudices with such bad intent like lantos  producer  and director is racist for me . karadzhic  izetbegovich  milosevic  tudjman they are all monsters and i blame them for destroying my life  my family  my country  yuggoslavia . hope they will be all in hell but that wont return our dead relatives back . i am proud of being serb and i am proud of my cousins  austrians  croats  muslims  hungarians  arabs  yes i am from serbia and i have multiethnical family  . this movie doesn  t show sufferings of serbs or croats within sarayevo  terrible terrorism of street gangs  muslim extremism . i add i kneel and pray for all innocent sisters and brothers muslim  catholic or orthodox  killed in this war . this film is manipulation with our misery  false humanitarianism  s which doesn  t help at all . it helps lantos to fill his pockets with more doe  alright   
i remember seeing this movie when i was about   and at the time it shocked me . i had seen a violent movie before  but i never saw a movie with the consequences and reality of violence . this movie not only shows this  but it also shows how people can change their lives and choose happiness . what this movie did and crash failed to do was to be truthful . crash tried to show how racism was bad  and crash actually had a built  in anti asian bias  and to come at it from a morally superior position . grand canyon came at things from such a raw and real perspective that it actually ends up on a higher ground than crash . especially when you compare the endings . the ending of crash is this supposedly neat little ending that ties everything up . while grand canyon simply ends on a quiet note  where you know nothing much will change in the character  s lives but that  s because life just goes on too  there  s no suitable ending . no matter how good . . . bad you are . there is no ending of a chapter to begin another .  
this is an anti  serb propaganda film made for tv .  br    br    the muslims are good the orthodox christian serbs are bad .   br    br   that  s the message .  br    br   using  entertainment  to get across a propaganda message is nothing new .  br    br   this movie lays it on thick .  br    br   and apparently many viewers and reviewer lap it up .  br    br   i know better .  br    br   the serbs  under general draza milhalovitch and his chetniks  saved over    shot  down us fliers from the germans in world war ii .  br    br   churchill decided to betray milhalovitch and put british backing behind communist tito . roosevelt followed suit and as a result  after the war ended yugoslavia was delivered over to communist tito .  br    br   and us ally milhalovitch has been smeared by the media ever since .  br    br   this movie is part of the anti  serb propaganda campaign engineered by george soros and his international crisis group  icg  which culminated in the kosovo  war   in which serbia was bombed by nato because of totally false claims by the icg of  mass graves  in kosovo filled with  victims  of the nasty serbs . the fact that there were no such mass graves and the albanians  muslims  had no business being in serbia  s kosovo are facts that most of the media won  t print .  br    br   i chose this movie to watch because the one  sentence description on the video cover looked interesting .  br    br   imagine my disgust when i discovered i had been fooled into renting another branch of the propaganda machine aimed at serbia .  br    br   instead of this propaganda someone should make a movie about the unwillingness of the clinton administration to come clean with the congress and with the american people about its complicity in the delivery of weapons from iran to the muslim government in sarajevo .  br    br   i won  t hold my breath waiting for such a movie .  
grand canyon is a very strange bird . it  s a completely unique urban piece  where relating the entire plot would fail to convey much .  br    br   it  s central theme seems to be the inherent uncertainty life holds for people of every race  background and station . but to proclaim that the theme of the film would be to horribly understate its scope . similarly  to pigeonhole it in a particular genre is futile .  br    br   the film has volumes to say  though likely different volumes for every viewer  and says it all in such a non  preachy way from so many angles  that in the end  i can  t even define its central message for myself .  br    br   nevertheless  it does it  s business with such laser precision every prop  line of dialog  and bar of background music contributing to it  s pervasive mood and powerful message  that i  m pleasantly surprised  and come away very thoughtful after every viewing . still it doesn  t feel at all stuffy . a sparkling film with a great cast and everything working .  
i saw this film a while ago on a video cd .  br    br   i will  st mention the good points .  br    br   the movie  at first  at least tries to appear that it is not biased  like not showing one character as black and the other as white . both main characters are friends and co  exist very well in an country and economy that is not booming while at the same time not failing . their families get together and have parties and they practice their favorite sport  sport rifle shooting  as comrades not as competitors .  br    br   but  after the  st   minutes the plot runs into a fork in the road . the audience is expected to believe that for some unknown reason these friends must hate each other . that for some unknown reason bosnia is now on a path to conflict . sure  the script adds in tv footage which the characters appear to be watching live news programs in english  but the clips are from     not     when the war began .  br    br   the history  the     elections  the people who caused the war are not mentioned . the movie tries to place the blame with karadzic  who had been a presidential candidate and leader of the bosnian parliament  s  nd largest party  sdp  . according to the constitution of bosnia  the sdp was to have the presidency in      but there was a coup in january . the bosnian islamic democratic action party seized total control and held a segregated referendum in march in which it declared itself the law in bosnia and announced secession .  br    br   the history of the idap begins with bosnian muslim alija izetbegovic  a man suspiciously absent from  stth  . he was a student of nazism in ww  . he even wrote his own  mein kampf  in which he stated  it is not in fact possible for there to be any peace or coexistence between  the islamic religion  and non  islamic social and political institutions  .  br    br   in     he lost the idap elections to  pro  yugoslavia moderate  fikret abdic  a bosnian muslim  that worked with christian serbs during the civil war  and who treated his supporters like brothers . abdic was prevented from taking power by izetbegovic  who lost the elections but seized the seat of power .  br    br   the events from above are missing from the movie  but they are the factual events that lead to the war .  br    br   there were problems with props too . serb soldiers in the movie were wearing soviet ww  helmets  which they did not use . also the one soldier was holding an m      ww  rifle only used by ussr not yugoslavia .  br    br   the director and script writers had a chance  but they chose to re  write history .  
the mere fact that i still think of the movie a decade later is what really speaks volumes about the film . to me this substantiates grand canyon as a film that will touch you in one way or another . i truly believe that before the movie crash there was grand canyon . the major difference between the two films in my opinion is the timing of their release . i  m not going to argue which one is better  but i will contend to the idea that they share the same message . i  d love to hear from those that have an opinion on this subject . i will start a commentary which you can find at http   www . myspace . com          . you may also find me there to post any other topics about movies that we may share  because i have a true love for film .  
there is one good thing in this movie lola glaudini  s ass  sorry to be so blunt but it  s the truth . too bad she didn  t do a nude . it would at least have made this mess tolerable . we see another chick  s boobs but she  s nowhere near lola . and man  is armand assante old or what  the man looks like crap   consequence  is the usual b  movie you would expect . the story had potential . it  s like they had good ideas but didn  t know how to execute them . the cinematography is just plain awful . ugly  the directing is uninspired and the end result is a bland thriller with lame twists and washed up actors . lola gaudini is great as the vixen in a cheap  slutty way but not even she saves  consequence  from being trash and not funny trash  just plain old stinking trash .  
well  maybe not immediately before the rodney king riots  but even a few months before was timely enough . my parents said that they saw it and the next thing you know  the police got acquitted and la got burned to the ground . it just goes to show the state of race relations in america . the plot has white mack  kevin kline  and african  american simon  danny glover  becoming friends after simon saves mack  s life in the black ghetto . meanwhile  movie producer davis  steve martin in a serious role  thinks that gratuitous violence is really cool . . . until he gets shot . there  s also some existentialism in the movie mack and his family come to realize that they aren  t living as they really want .  br    br   it seems that  crash  has somewhat renewed people  s interest in race relations  but this one came out much earlier . maybe we  ll never be able to have stable race relations in this country . but either way   grand canyon  is a great movie . it affirms kevin kline as my favorite actor . also starring mary mcdonnell  mary  louise parker and alfre woodard .  
seemingly intended to be a thriller of a movie winds up being almost laughable . it prompted me to exclaim  oh my god   more than once at the convoluted contrivances of plot that were just plain silly .  br    br   fanciful or absurd locations just for the sheer novelty or dramatic situation and improbable  near impossible  human reactions and circumstances are too much to be comprehended as to why they exist .  br    br   if you have the time and wish to discover just how bad a picture can be then you will want to see this one . otherwise dedicate some time into watching some paint dry for a more productive investment of time   br    br    that a film released in     is already being shown on tv in july     might give an indication of the film  s quality   
before there was crash  there was this interesting film called grand canyon . released about   years sooner than the former film  grand canyon was a movie about two people from different backgrounds who come together as friends over a lifetime . to me crash was still a slightly better film  but grand canyon was no slouch either .  br    br   taking place in los angeles  an upper  class lawyer named mack  kevin kline  takes a shortcut through the seedier side of town only to have his car break down at the worst time . he calls for a tow truck  and has to wait for awhile  only to soon be threatened by a group of dangerous people who want his car . soon the tow truck driver arrives at the perfect moment  and out steps simon  danny glover  to take the truck away . both men are threatened  but simon manages to get himself  mack  and the car out of dire straits . it is from here on out that a friendship develops between the two men over a lifetime with mack helping out simon just as simon had helped him out of a dangerous situation earlier . you see simon  s sister deborah  tina lifford  is living in a dangerous neighborhood with her two children  and fears for her oldest son who seems to be roaming the streets at night with some bad people . mack offers them a better place to live as well as hooking simon up with his secretary  s friend jane  alfre woodard  .  br    br   this is the main plot of the film  but there are other smaller plots involving the same secretary mentioned above  mary louise parker  as well as mack  s wife   mary mcdonnel  who discovers an abandoned baby not long after their son roberto  jeremy sisto in his first movie role  has gone to camp for the summer  and will likely be moving on with his own life soon . the details of all these plots are brought together into one complex movie which uses a police helicopter as a metaphor for life and as a bridge to entwine all the different scenes . this simple plot device works very well and helps greatly with the flow of the story .  br    br   the director lawrence kasdan  whose biggest movie to this date was the big chill  has created a splendid movie here . the cast is excellent  and most of the ideas are well thought out  but alas it falls short of greatness because some points  that would  ve made the film even stronger  are glossed over . the story involving the secretary is one  and the second involving simon  s nephew is the other . these scenes should  ve been more apart of the entire story  and then maybe lawrence kasdan  s views of life between the upper and lower classes would  ve been more on a superior level instead of just very good . still grand canyon exceeded expectations  and yes you will get to see a view of the canyon that this movie was named after . there is also a small role for steve martin as davis  a producer of violent films  who offers his own views on life  and has a small part to play in this movie  s ideas .  
i found the dvd version of this movie at a rummage sale . the basic premise is an affair between a teacher  coach a student . the acting is weak and the plot razor thin .  br    br   this movie had all the depth and plot development of an adult film .  
a lot of the comments people have made strike me as  sorry  missing the point . kasdan wants to present life  simply  ordinary life . the conventionally structured story  where characters have insights that change their lives  and then fade out  music up  and the film is over  is absorbed into this much larger canvas . several characters in this movie have just such illuminations  and then they move on . sometimes they can hold onto their insights  sometimes they can  t  and that  s the way life really is . in other words  kasdan jettisons conventional dramatic structure in favor of an exploration of the the ongoingness of life  there is no happy ending  only an eventual ending and everything before that is still in process  still always up for grabs  and  if you absolutely insist on a theme  an exploration of the role of the miraculous in our lives . what is a miracle  well  life itself  for a start . then add in all the random incidents and cross  connections that make up a life  or several interconnected lives  and you have miracles by the bucketful . kasdan underscores this theme lightly  rather than insisting on it  and bolsters it in various ways  most memorably by the device  right in the center of the film  of having mac and his wife  lying in bed  each dreaming their own dreams  but as well showing  later on in the film  how those dreams have the power  within the film  to shape reality . this is not a film with an easy or obvious message . you just have to let it play out in front of you  and then let it sit in your mind for a few days  a month  a few years  and see what it has wrought there . this is  without a doubt  kasdan  s best film  his most mature  his most humane . a major meditation on life from one of our most gifted writers and directors . the tragedy is  of course  that he has not been allowed to work for a number of years now  mostly due to studio constraints around  dreamcatcher .  hopefully we haven  t heard the last from larry kasdan . a great film from a great artist . keep in mind that art does not have to rationalize itself completely in order to succeed .  
a high school principal  keenan wynn  with a losing basketball team unwittingly hires a coach who turns out not only to be a gorgeous blond woman  cathy lee crosby  but a catalyst for their new winning ways . are you really surprised  along the way a romance grows between the coach and the team  s star player jack  michael biehn  . the police are never notified .  br    br   packaged along with other crown international pictures as a grindhouse movie really does this film no service . this can easily be edited into a television movie of the week . cathy lee crosby looks great as coach randy rawlings especially in her skimpy outfits but i expected more than mere titillation from an r  rated film . a side plot involving a dorky center who is hypnotized by his teammates into thinking he is former nba player sydney wicks is the actual reason for the team  s new success rather than cathy lee  s coaching . too much tease and not enough sleaze makes this a major disappointment .  
this was a very good film . i didn  t go into it with very high expectations and was pleasantly surprised by the acting  the script  and the scenery . miranda richardson was fantastic and so was joan plowright . they stole the show . but the other actors played their parts wonderfully also . very enjoyable film .  
wow . this is really not that good .  br    br   i would like to agree with the others in that at least the acting is good . . . it is  but it is nothing special .  br    br   the movie is so precictable and i for one am sick of receiving culture info through movies .  br    br       
if you really want to know how most of the actors and directors in the hollywood scene  made it  to where they are  the vast majority will tell you  assuming they will tell  that a strange coincidence took place . they happened to meet the right people at the right time and get into the right project which led to other connections and other projects . quinten tarrantino took an acting class whose instructor knew harvey keitel . kevin spacey lifted a back stage pass from a sleeping old woman at the lecture of a famous playwright who helped him land an important role . and robin williams credits his career to gary marshall  s son who  after having seen  star wars   suggested to his father that an alien should visit the cunninghams of  happy days  . these coincidences  many times viewed as pure luck  shapes many of the careers in hollywood today . or is it pure luck  is possible something else is going on   grand canyon  written and directed by lawrence kasdan  proposes an altogether different explanation for the inexplicable  aka the strange miraculous coincidence . the movie concerns several different characters whose lives intersect because of positive and yet inexplicable happenstance .  br    br   kevin kline  a middle  aged father  experiences a break  down in one of the more dangerous areas of la . after he phones a tow truck  a young gang accosts him . they threaten violence if he doesn  t leave his car . just before the confrontation can escalate  danny glover appears as the tow truck driver and dampens the intentions of the gang . although glover denies it later  he probably saved kline  s life . a producer  steve martin  of cheap violent films gets shot in the leg and after wards has a spiritual experience . he then announces retirement from producing blood and gore entertainment . and kline  s wife  clair  mary mcdonnell   while on a morning jog  finds a baby hidden in some foliage . she claims the baby cried for her and that her  rescue  of the infant was preordained .  br    br   the movie explores further the results of these strange connections that lead to further relationships  end to relationships  and new beginnings . and all the while  a strange homeless man appears throughout the movie as if somehow he is also connected to everything that is going on .  br    br   it is very rare in hollywood  or for film in general  to explore such a purely esoteric subject . there are a few moments that seem somewhat unbelievable  but maybe that  s the point . what makes the film work is the superb acting by the cast . although the miracles and coincidences may seem far  fetched  the actors make you believe they are experiencing these new realities . maybe this is a subject we should explore more often .  
this movie is about a very sexy olympic track star who is hired to coach a high school boys  basketball team . similar to goldie hawn  s wildcats  it stars cathy lee crosby in the title role  and she does as about as well as the script allows . i think racquel welch would have been a better choice  but considering the film  s apparent tv movie budget  they probably couldn  t afford her . cathy lee does look great in every shot  but we never get to see her completely nude . the story is pretty predictable  to say the least  offering no surprises . a young and lucky michael biehn has the male lead role . he is the star on the team and also the love interest for cathy lee . keenan wynn has a few amusing scenes as the rich old man who runs the athletic program and doesn  t think a woman should coach sports . this point is brought up throughout the film  and  needless to say  is dated . ironically  cathy lee doesn  t put her team through any unorthodox practice sessions she doesn  t do anything a male coach wouldn  t do . there is a funny subplot involving a tall and not  so  bright player who undergoes hypnosis in order to pass his classes and play like pro basketball player sydney wicks . it looks like everyone had a good time making this film  but the only real reason to see it is for cathy lee crosby . she  s not that great an actress  but she has a dazzling smile  beautiful hair  and a very tan body .  
this work is less about steve martin  s character davis  than it is about kline  mack  and glover  simon   and kline and mcdonnell  claire   but the dialog inserted via davis is pondering  contemplative  near  poetic existentialism at its best . he is witty  intelligent  and thoughtful in both dialog delivery and content . the writers deserved an oscar .  br    br   the performances are easy  relaxed  and natural just what you would expect from  a list  actors . martin contributes the performance which leads into his more recent shopgirl  guiding you through life  love  and the pursuit of wisdom if not happiness . kline is the straight  the suit  the conformist of the film  and as such his performance is crisp and refreshing .  br    br   this work deals with life in all aspects . it engenders a true emotional investment in its characters  and leaves you feeling hopeful that mankind is not doomed  after all  no matter what you believe  deep down .  br    br   all in all  this is delightful  with a gritty moment or two  and easy natural dialog which draws you in  assisting its audience in gaining a high enjoyment from this work . it  s definitely worth your time  though it may not be every one  s top choice as friday  saturday night entertainment .  br    br   i really enjoyed the intelligence this exhibited . it  s not typical  and was an unexpected surprise . another wonderful surprise was the honesty exhibited herein . the couples and friends hold detailed conversations  which feel and sound fully honest and  again  natural . i was very impressed with this work  and will be adding it to the dvd collection soon .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
i watched this movie when i was a young lad full of raging hormones and it was about as sexy a movie as i had ever seen  or ever was to see . it may not have been a great movie . my guess is it wasn  t . i don  t really remember much about it  to tell you the truth . i only remember the sexual chemistry between crosby and biehn . no woman in any movie has ever done it for me as the unbelievably sexy cathy did in this movie . i haven  t seen it since that first time i caught it on tv in the   s and i don  t think i  d want to see it again since i  m sure it would be a disappointment  my hormones aren  t as raging and i  ve become more jaded over the years . still  when i think back on the shower scene i can still remember how great it felt way back when .  br    br   added later after watching the movie again  i discovered that it  s dangerous to go home again . what was once erotic is now pretty tame . the older woman  younger man thing still works for me  just not as much as it once did  probably because i  m no longer a    year  old . that older woman is now younger than i am . also  the amateurishness of the whole thing wasn  t perceived by my twelve  year  old mind .  br    br   moral sometimes it  s better not to revisit the past .  
if you have not seen this excellent movie about life in the   s  in l . a .  then you  ve missed a special treat . this is one of the most amazingly and most powerful movies ever made about life for americans in the   s and it even carries over into today  s world in which we live in . it covers everything from raising a child  prejudice  more than one way   love  adultery  empty nest syndrome  selfishness  etc . . and the list goes on . this story builds up to an ultimate climax and then when nothing else matters it always goes back to love with friends and family and love of life . it helps us dig deep within ourselves and to make us search for what we want out of life . makes us ask questions of ourselves . have we done enough for others  are we like this  etc .    sit back and enjoy a wonderfully done and emotional movie that i  m sure others will enjoy for a lifetime .  br    br   take note of mary mcdonnell  kevin kline and danny glover  s wonderful performance through this whole film . these actors are amazing and really show the true glow and meaning of what message is being sent to all of us . these are  of my favorite actors for life after seeing this film over   years ago now . i still enjoy it again and again . also enjoy the wonderful soundtrack with it and don  t forget to count how many times you see the helicopter fly by and try to figure out it  s symbolism for the movie   hmmm . . . i almost forgot this is probably steve martin  s very first serious acting role in any film he has ever done . he  too does an excellent job in this movie . this may come as a surprise to most of you . sit back  relax and enjoy truly good film making . . . . .  
this one acts as a satire during the women  s rights movement era . of course  that doesn  t mean coach  the movie  is a wonderful experience to behold . it runs into the same vein as fastbreak  which was better  but still tame   and is basically standard fare fluff . what i mean for this movie being uninteresting is simple to recognize . anybody who serves time away from a normal job by training a bunch of lunatics earning their way to sudden victory makes waste . it  s the same feeling you may get after watching this . a nice attempt at casting the opposite sex for a man  s duty  but i expected better things .  
grand canyon falls under a very scarce category it is a very clever film  with very clever dialogs and food for thought everywhere from start to end . i have the impression that it never made it to it  s deserved ranking  and never will   because of it  s simplicity . this kind of flick needs sensitive watchers . pity thought that imdb makes me write ten lines  because this is in no way necessary in this particular case . anyway in order to fulfill this request  i will tell you that the weak point of the film if any is in the acting not that it is bad but it could have been done much better . exception made for kevin kline who was perfect . go ahead and watch it .  
like last year  i didn  t manage to sit through the whole thing . okay  so chris rock as a host was a good choice because he was vaguely engaging . or rather  out of all the total bores packed into the theatre  he at least wasn  t in the top   most boring . a lot of the presenters  on the other hand  were in this coveted top   . i hadn  t known that the whole thing had been done by autocue  although i knew it was scripted  but it was really terrible to see these supposedly good actors unable to insert expression  look away from the cue and stumble over simple words  natalie portmanif there  s no director  she  s gone  . the night of fancy dresses and boring speeches was long and tedious  beyonce knowles butchered some good songs and there were very few decent acceptance speeches and clips . adam sandler wins the worst presenter award .  br    br   for helping me write this review i  d like to thank my mum  my dad  my lawyers and my pedicurist for all believing in me  and i  d like to point out that i have a high metabolism and of course i haven  t been starving myself for a month . i  m not going to cry . . . thank you .  
i revisited grand canyon earlier this year when i set out to devise a ten best list of the      s . i first saw the film when i was   years old . how did i hear about it  it was reviewed  and recommended highly  by siskel  ebert in      and i eventually caught it on video a year later .  br    br   it  s a great film  a powerful film  a healing film  about the power of listening  truly listening to one another . i  ve seen it six times now  and it entertains and inspires me with every subsequent viewing . but why the poor reviews for this movie  maltin  s movie guide gives it two out of four . too melodramatic  too much coincidence  too sappy  are the expressions that i read the most . yes  there is melodrama in this story  and yes  there is a lot of coincidence  too . but it delivers with an intensity and force that seems supple . for all of the  plot  that exists in grand canyon  such as drive  by shootings  a police chase  an earthquake  a love affair  a woman  s discovery of a baby in the bushes  another shooting  a near accident by a new driver  and worldly advice from a homeless man  this movie wins because of the smart performances by kevin kline  steve martin  mary mcdonnell  alfre woodard  danny glover  and jeremy sisto . it also succeeds because of lawrence kasdan  s skillful direction and writing . you know that this isn  t just another movie when you consider a sequence at the beginning of the film that involves kevin kline being harassed by four black youths . danny glover plays a tow truck driver who assists the kline character  but not before he gets harassed too  by the leader of the bunch . listen to the dialogue as the kid suggests to glover   are you afraid of me because of me  or because i have a gun   .  br    br   grand canyon is filled with one perceptive scene after another . steve martin should have been nominated for best supporting actor as a movie producer who has a change of heart and then a subsequent change of mind . i think his character is a warning that  the good  can carry us forward  that idealism is a virtue  but one that we must fight for constantly rather than depend upon .  br    br   i fear that grand canyon may be lost forever in the wilderness of non  new releases at the video store . but with the deals now on older releases as low as   cents  i plead with anyone who has read this far into a review from a reviewer that you will thank after having rented it  grand canyon is something special . if you loved magnolia  another movie with a big ensemble about deep humanist themes  you  ll love grand canyon  too .  
i firmly believe that the best oscar ceremony in recent years was in     for two reasons  br    br     host steve martin was at his most wittiest  i saw the teamsters help michael moore into the trunk of his limo  and  i  ll better not mention the gay mafia in case i wake up with a poodle  s head in my bed   br    br     surprise winners no one had adrien brody down for best actor  genuine applause  or roman polanski for best director  genuine jeers and boos  but they won  br    br   last year  s award ceremony wasn  t too bad but there was little in the way of surprises and i was happy to see return of the king sweep the awards even if it wasn  t the best in the trilogy  fellowship was much better  but what let the bbc coverage down was jonathan ross getting a few of his sycophantic mates round and pretending they were hilarious when they were anything but . so when i heard sky were doing the coverage for british tv i was expecting barry norman and mark kermode to be doing the links  but instead we ended up with jamie theakston and sharon osbourne  oh gawd if british tv are desperate for film critics  obviously they are  i  m sure both bob the moo and theo robertson will happily fly over to la to give their honest opinions on the winners and losers  br    br   chris rock wasn  t too bad  but he  s no steve martin while the location seemed to resemble a sports hall with seats put in  not much of a glitzy arena in my opinion . the main problem i had with the ceremony was the format with the  minor  oscars handed out to the winners who were sitting in their seats  there  s no such thing as a  minor  oscar and just because the award is for best animated short or best costume design they  re as well deserved as best picture or best director . all the winners should be allowed to march up to the podium . what a bunch of arrogant snobs the academy are becoming and i quite agree with the comments that this format is disgraceful and if it wasn  t for the surprises this could possibly have been the worst ceremony in history . as for the awards themselves  br    br   best supporting actress  cate blanchett . no great surprise for a competitive category  br    br   best supporting actor  morgan freeman . no real complaints since freeman is one of america  s greatest living character actors  br    br   best actor  jamie foxx . most predictable award of the night . yawn  br    br   best actress  hilary swank . major surprise since everyone thought annette benning was going to win simply down to academy politics but swank did deserve it and gave the best speech of the night  br    br   best director  clint eastwood . major surprise since everyone thought scorsese was going to get the award simply because he  d never won one . actually i  m glad about this because if he didn  t deserve it for taxi driver  raging bull or goodfellas he didn  t deserve it for the aviator  br    br   best film  million dollar baby . again another major surprise since everyone thought the academy would split the awards for best director and best picture while i thought the hollywood friendly plot of the aviator would have made it a dead cert for best picture while mdb  s controversial subject matter would have turned a lot of voters off  br    br   what these awards perhaps illustrate is that this year the voters have decided to ignore oscar politics and genuinely give out awards to people who deserve it something they haven  t done in the past  i mean a beautiful mind beating the fellowship of the ring for gawd  s sake  and long may the academy vote with their heads instead of their hearts  
i just watched this film again and remain dismayed at the number of cynics who dismiss it as just new age pap . a great film  one that takes its time to develop  it keeps coming close to going over the edge but never does and ultimately is meditative  affecting  and truer to life than most films people who dismiss its  coincidences  can see . i was angry at the time that movies like  prince of tides  and  bugsy   though i liked the latter  were nominated for best picture that year  let alone that  silence of the lambs  won   and this was ignored completely except for one nomination for best screenplay . upon revisiting it  i think history supports my initial reaction   
seriously the only good thing about this year ceremony were the winners .  br    br   although the ceremony itself was pretty short it still was somewhat boring . i think it  s seriously time to look for a new director and producers for the show  who can come up with something really new . it  s pretty obvious that they tried to make the show more  hip  and appealing for a younger audience this year by letting beyonce perform and letting p . diddy and prince present a category . also letting chris rock be the presenter was an attempt to re  new the ceremony and make it more appealing . none of it really worked out .  br    br   sure  chris rock is a funny guy but he wasn  t really a good presenter . i really merely saw him as a guy who just talked every now and then in between of the different categories . his presence wasn  t really as  big  as for instance billy crystal  s .  br    br   also the handing out of the awards was pretty dumb at times . not letting everybody come to the stage but also handing out some of the awards in the middle of the theater was plain weird .  br    br   still  i can  t remember being any more satisfied with the award winners . none of the movies really swept away the awards as the last couple of years always had been the case . so does that mean it had been a good year for movies with lots of competitive contestants  i don  t think so . i think most of the movies will be largely forgotten in   years from now  with the exception of  million dollar baby  and  the passion of the christ  maybe . sure i don  t agree with every single award that was handed out this year  for instance caleb deschanel should had won for best cinematography  not that i don  t like robert richardson  s work  he really did some amazing work for most of oliver stone  s work but i really feel that deschanel deserved the award way more . also i would had liked seeing jim miller and paul rubell win for best editing and john debney for best music . but oh well  there is no way the academy awards can please everybody of course  i understand that . there will always be people complaining about the winners .  br    br   it also was funny to see that most of the award presenters were way more nervous than the nominees and winners . did prince said any of the nominees names right at once  and were is sean penn  s sense of humor  al pacino and jeremy  i hope they missed  irons were the best presenters of the night .  br    br   overall a very forgettable show but with nice winners .  br    br        
i have to say that grand canyon is one of the most affecting films i  ve ever seen . i  ve watched it several times now and i still feel as i did the first time that this film  by itself  could make up the entire curriculum of a post  graduate course in film direction .  br    br   a long time ago film trailers used to promise   it  ll make you laugh  it  ll make you cry .  that  s a very trite and shorthand method of describing what grand canyon does . it takes you to the best places in human experience and the next moment takes you to the gates of hell .  br    br   much of the film is paced to cycle back and forth between people being close to happiness and the same people being close to horror . it  s always a short step  too . just to manage that swing with grace and without making it look false or exaggerated is directorial genius .  br    br   spoiler  of sorts  coming up . after getting the audience used to rocking back and forth through the emotional spectrum  the film throws a curve with a sequence that doesn  t go from good to bad and back but instead escalates from an ordinary marital spat  through an accidental self  inflicted knife wound that may or may not require stitches  to an earthquake that has the characters run from the house . in the moment of their relief  argument forgotten  cut finger forgotten  the earthquake survived  a neighbor woman calls out that her elderly husband has collapsed . the couple rushes to his aid . i cried when i saw this sequence . i cried every time i saw it . i  m crying now . it isn  t sadness that does this to me . it  s not a particularly sad sequence . what tears me up is that this few minutes of film was perfect . that  s perfect  astounding .  end of spoiler   br    br   there  s so much to say about grand canyon . it portrays relatively ordinary people experiencing epiphanies and it lets the viewer experience them vicariously . they aren  t showy or overblown and there  s no long pause to examine the moment carefully . the film moves on at the pace of life . even when the characters do try to make sense of what has happened  they are uncertain of what to derive from their experience .  br    br   grand canyon is a very human film .  
i  m not usually given to hyperbole  but after seeing over two decades worth of academy awards  i can honestly say that this year  s awards show was the most disgraceful example of poor direction  total cruelty  and sheer stupidity that i  ve ever had the misfortune to witness . i  m not talking about the awards themselves  as usual  there is plenty to argue about when you tally up who won  who lost  and who never even got nominated  but the process is as it  s always been and is as fair as it  s liable to be . what is terribly unfair is the treatment both the  stars  and  non  stars  received at the hands of cates and horvitz  in the name of  reducing boredom .   br    br   it is bad enough that for the last several years anyone who isn  t al pacino has been  played off  at   seconds without any regard for what he was saying  how he was saying it  and what the emotion was behind the statement . it demonstrates nothing more than a total lack of respect  however  to herd nominees on the stage like cattle without paying them the honor of showing their faces while their names are read  to make them slink away quietly when they lose  to deny them the thrill of a walk to the podium  and to force them to read their statements with their backs to the audience . all of those things were done to the  non  stars   never mind that the movies wouldn  t exist at all without those artists and that most of them only ever get one chance to face their peers and their audience .  br    br   the stars didn  t fare much better . it  s becoming more sad than funny when winners of the caliber of hilary swank and clint eastwood have to beg for a few extra seconds for their speeches . chris rock  as host  was neither as inflammatory and controversial as the academy had hoped  nor nearly as funny as he could be . his opening remarks were almost  but not quite  as offensive as sean penn made them out to be  and his comments during the show were more innocuous than interesting . of course  he could hardly be blamed when it was clear that was being kept on as short a leash as any host has . in the end  chris rock was something he  s almost never been before a non  entity .  br    br   even the musical numbers were handled poorly . beyonce sang well  but there was simply no reason why she should have been featured in three out of the five songs . another example of utter disrespect for an artist was giving jorge drexler  s nominated song to antonio banderas  even though drexler was present and clearly wouldn  t have minded singing his own song  based on his winning  speech .   br    br   the efforts of cates and horvitz to make the show shorter and faster may have worked to a degree  but what resulted was a show devoid of life . we  ve all whined about the overlong speeches given by people we don  t know  about the overblown production  about the self  congratulatory quality . but this is their night  not ours . what is meant to be a celebration has become an insult to the people being celebrated . cates and horvitz should  frankly  be ashamed .  
i really liked this film when it was released  and i still do  because the storyline makes you feel hopeful about life in general  and people too . . . one of the things i like about the films of lawrence kasdan . in addition to the positive vibes from the film  there are other reasons to like grand canyon . for one thing  it has an outstanding cast . . . kevin kline and danny glover  for example . in my opinion  crash  the highly acclaimed film that won the oscar for best picture  was very similar to this film . the difference is that grand canyon leaves you feeling positive . crash had the opposite effect with me it was very dark . i would choose grand canyon over crash any day .  
my spouse  i found this movie to be very schlocky . it started out good  but quickly got unbelievable  ridiculous . most of the acting was poor  with the exception of the little girl  abbie  who really was terrific . in addition  the dialog was predictable  lame  especially gideon  the angel  s . also  without giving away anything  when one of the characters has a tragedy  she almost appears nonchalant . at first we thought it was  shock   but then we realized that it was just a terrible script . we love almost all of the hallmark movies  their heart  warming stories  but this movie doesn  t rise to the occasion of being one . there are so many great ones  don  t waste your time with this horrible movie .  
one measurement for the greatness of a movie is   if it came on t . v . right now  would you want to sit there and watch it again   my answer for the grand canyon is as powerful a  yes  as it would be for nearly any movie i have ever seen . there are just so many powerful moments  such an intelligent and moving story  such incredible performances .  br    br   it perfectly captures the confusion and violence that were so rampant in the early nineties . but it also dramatically affirms the capacity of individuals to love  think and care . in a slight way  the movie was of its time . it partly portrays society as a balloon about to burst . because the country was in a recession  and so void of leadership  this was true of that time . but the movie is also timeless . i think it could honestly stand up against any movie that has ever been made  and it is the most overlooked film of all time .  
i thought this was one of the most depressing holiday movies i have ever seen   the others being the christmas wife and jack frost . all three movies are about death . if you like being thoroughly depressed  then by all means watch this film or any of the others . in this film  the acting is good and some of the scenery  apart when people are dying  is lovely . but  i am worried that a clinically depressed person might accidentally see the film and do themselves in  despite a  happily ever after  ending  the major portion of this film is one awful disaster following another . and  for some crazy reason  i don  t want to be depressed when i watch a christmas movie  i know this sounds crazy folks   after all  isn  t bawling your eyes out and feeling miserable what the holidays are all about anyway   .  br    br   for a more uplifting viewing experience  try the forgotten house without a christmas tree  george c . scott  s christmas carol or a christmas story instead   unless of course you like being miserable .  
on second viewing of this movie  i like it even more than the first time . it is full of nuances and a perception of life as being quite ordinary and often fearful but what lifts this movie to a height rarely realized is its focus on the little incidences in our lives to which we normally only offer the briefest of attention spans . here the movie spins into the celebration of these incidences  the meeting of a tow truck driver and client  the jogger hearing a baby  s cry from the bushes . the dialogue  acting  casting and direction are superb . no two by fours  no grand revelations . what i did observe was how true the characters were to their basic natures and how enhanced their lives became when these were celebrated . kudos to all involved in this  we need more  grand canyons  in our lives .  out of   .  
sorry  but i will spoil both the plot line and the ending for you in hopes of avoiding a holiday fiasco like the one that i now face . the father dies and the mother asks santa in a letter to bring him back to the family for christmas  . . . and santa does . dad is peachy  happy healthy and totally unaware of the fact that he had died . all ends syrupy sweet .  br    br   but as a parent who recently watched my five year  old lose his best canine friend  it was a horror flick . now my son is convinced that all he has to do to bring his buddy back is to ask santa  do not underestimate the willpower of a young heart  no amount of persuasion will convince him that it was only a movie and that his dog is not coming back for christmas . it has been heart breaking to watch his joy only to know that christmas eve he will have to face his loss afresh .  br    br   shame on you on behalf of all the believers that have lost a loved one recently . it is hard enough to deal with the loss one time for a child  but there are some wishes that we shouldn  t even portray as a possibility .  
it starts slowly  showing the dreary lives of the two housewives who decide to rent a castle in italy for the month of april  but don  t give up on it . nothing much happens  but the time passes exquisitely  and there are numerous sly jokes  my favorite is the carriage ride in the storm  which i find hilarious  . the movie is wonderfully romantic in many senses of the word  the scenery is beautiful  as is polly walker   and the resolutions in the movie are very satisfying .  br    br   the movie takes a couple of liberties with the book  the biggest being with the arbuthnot  briggs  dester business  but i actually preferred the movie  s version of this  it may be more sentimental  but i felt that it was more consistent with the tone of the story  and anyway i like sentiment when it  s well done  .  br    br   an excellent movie  especially as a date movie during lousy weather .  
admittedly  i find al pacino to be a guilty pleasure . he was a fine actor until scent of a woman  where he apparently overdosed on himself irreparably . i hoped this film  of which i  d heard almost nothing growing up  would be a nice little gem . an overlooked  ahead  of  its  time  intelligent and engaging city  political thriller . it  s not .  br    br   city hall is a movie that clouds its plot with so many characters  names  and  realistic  citywide issues  that for a while you think its a plot in scope so broad and implicating  that once you find out the truth  it will blow your mind . in truth  however  these subplots and digressions result ultimately in fairly tame and very familiar urban story trademarks such as corruption of power  two  faced politicians  mafia with police ties  etc . and theoretically  this setup allows for some thrilling tension  the fear that none of the characters are safe  and anything could happen  but again  it really doesn  t .  br    br   unfortunately  the only things that happen are quite predictable  and we  re left with several  confession  monologues  that are meant as a whole to form modern a fable of sorts  a lesson in the moral ambiguity of the  real world  of politics and society . but after    minutes of names and missing reports and a spider  web of lies and cover  ups  the audience is usually treated to a somewhat satisfying reveal . i don  t think we  re left with that in city hall  and while it  s a very full film  i don  t find it altogether rich .  
this highly underrated film is  to me  what good writing in a movie should be all about . kasdan takes the search for meaning in our lives and lays it out for all to see and wonder at . the movie is about the divides people create to insulate themselves from the violence and hatred and bigotry of everyday life .  br    br   along the way we are asked question after question about life . davis  steve martin with a great beard  asks himself  is my making a violent movie  and by extension our enjoyment of it  causing the violence in society   claire asks  what kind of world throws away something as precious as a human life   mack is not immune as he asks  is it possible to pass beyond the bounds of race and  an even harder step  finance  these are of course not quoted from the film  but generalities . others ask their questions too  and to be honest it raises more than it answers .  br    br   but that is the nature of life . we strive all our lives to find answers to questions we will never totally answer  and in certain cases have to make answers fit to our own needs and desires . as humans we thrive on questions we cannot answer . some answers are real . claire and mack come to realize that even though they could take the easy road and let the state take the baby  their finding it placed the responsibility for her life in their hands . some answers are not . davis sees the light  and decides not to make violent films  but the next day turns around and dismisses his epiphany as subordinate to his art .  br    br   we all seek answers . this movie does not answer them for it simply reminds you to keep looking for the answers .  br    br    
first of all  let me say that this is not the movie for people looking to watch something spirited and joyous for the holidays . this movie is cold  brutal  and just downright depressing . mary steenburgen plays a grinchy mom who is down on christmas because her husband has lost his job  they are losing their house  can  t buy christmas presents for the kids  etc . you get the idea  happy stuff for the holidays . so along comes harry dean stanton as gideon the christmas angel  who in his dark hat and long overcoat comes off more like a pedophile who hangs around children all day observing them . what better way to instill the spirit of christmas in mary steenburgen than to kill off her family and then offer to bring them back if she believes in christmas again . santa claus is a blackmailer and his christmas workshop looks more like a haven for refugee nazis on the lam . the movie lays everything on so thick that you don  t care about the happy ending when it comes because the rest of the movie is so bitter and unbelievable . i  m sure this film wanted to be something capra  like  but it left out the joy and sentiment on what a holiday film should be .  
i  ll keep this one quite short . i believe that this is an extraordinary movie . i see other reviewers who have commented to the effect that it  s badly written  poorly shot  has a terrible soundtrack and  worse  that it  s not real in its portrayal of life . ok  so it may not be quite believable for its whole length  but this movie carries a message of hope which some others seemed to have missed . hope that it isn  t too late to save people from the terrible things that go on in so many lives . gangland violence is real  right  is it right  no  this movie carries an important social message which the cynics may dislike but which nonetheless is to be praised  rather than denigrated . i have watched this movie with great enjoyment at least eight times  each time with equal enjoyment and each time with the feeling that maybe the world could be made better and is not beyond saving  well not until     anyway  .  out of   from me for this one . it  s very nearly perfect in my view . jmv  
this was the worst christmas movie i ever saw . i took my two small children to see this . it was the darkest  most dismal plot  family has no money  mom loses her job  father gets killed in the bank  bank robber steals family car with both kids in the back and after high speed chase  drives off the bridge and drowns them in the river . mom is left all alone . no wonder her christmas spririt is gone . christmas angels do not rescue children that have drowned  and santa does not bring back dead fathers  i thought this was the worst message to send children . better to tell them that there is no santa than show them a movie like this    
perhaps you won  t care for the social commentary  or the film makers point of view  i myself am mystified at the insignificance  angle kasdan seemed to promote  when clearly  the actions taken in the movie promote certain significance . the ending confused me  . however  there  s absolutely no denying the manner in which the story is presented the magnificent symbolism throughout the threaded character arcs visuals dialogue  is absolute masterwork . i  ve watched the movie dozens of times  and i still marvel at its perfection . there  s not a moment  action  cut  or line that doesn  t have everything to do with the theme . realistic human performances from all the actors . scene to scene it  s woven fantastically .  br    br   i have a pretty level sap  meter . the buzzer never went off during this film . if you  re a thinker  rather than a casual viewer   this movie delivers . exponentially . absolutely mesmerizing .  do you have to agree with the message to appreciate the display  who cares if it made you warm and fuzzy or not  was it interesting    br    br   personally  the movie affected me  significantly . in my top  .  br    br   note the front  page reviewer clearly speaks from a flawed african american perception . what he may have failed to recognize  is  there was a hand  shake . not a hand  out . the spiritually dead white man   simply saw a man to respect  and admire . and he did something about it . the fact he was black had little  if anything  to do with it  color is simply used to draw the parallel . and the chasm . it  s no accident the opening sequence shifts from black and white to color either  . if you view the blacks in this movie as token   you may want to reassess your angst . you may be seeing only black and white yourself  eh . just a thought .  
read on and take note  you could save   minutes of your life  was that all   .  br    br   unremittingly bleak  this film sets out to produce  i  m guessing  a modern small town american christmas fable in the capra style . if fails . . . . completely and absolutely fails . i  ve been trying to think of one good thing about it and can  t . let me mention some of the highlights . . .  br    br   people don  t die  they get to spend eternity as immigrant workers in santa  s factory . angels are actually ex  cowboys who sit in trees . santa can bring people back from the dead  if you send him a nice letter  .  br    br   and the plot . . i won  t spoil it for you but there has to be some light in films if only to contrast with the darkness but there isn  t any . even the photography is bleak  snow shown at the end of a freeze  everywhere looking cold  damp and miserable .  br    br   as you might guess  the film has a happy  schmaltzy  ending . what a relief   
this is a great adaptation and a great miniseries in its own right . the plot cutdowns might disappoint the fans of the book  but really how many modern readers have read bleak house without seeing a film version first  i know of only a few  .  br    br   i think it is quite appalling to see reviews critical of the series which have clearly been written by people who haven  t a clue about the story  did you actually see the series or did you just bag a bbc production because gillian anderson was in the newer version   br    br   the series captures the mood  pace  characters and plot  drivers  cutting out the dickensian flourishes which aren  t needed and detract from a film treatment like the turveydrop story  the smallweed family dynamic and the extra lawyers  tangle  vholes etc are very truncated  . the only omission that i wish had been kept was the jellyby incident but as the first episode is already a trifle slow  after the first episode the pace is perfect  i can see it had to go .  br    br   the only other criticism i have is that jo  s death could have been more faithfully done . i can see that would have practically canonized woodcourt and he  s kept a little more human for not having that scene but really i think jo  s death is one of the most poignant points of the book and i missed it even though it always makes me cry .  br    br   has theowinthrop actually seen the series  how did he think that esther was raised by her aunt and uncle   who is this uncle  i suppose someone who could mistake the name of denholm eliott for desmond isn  t really an appreciator of english art  film or literature  .  br    br   i also think he mistakes the treatment of the law . yes the law is drawn very badly in bleak house . it fails the descendants of jarndyce whose valuable inheritance is eaten up by the costs of litigation  it fails the deceased tom jarndyce and rick carstone and all who have faith in the suit . it fails miss flyte . in some sense it also fails captain hawdon who is driven to his death by the monotony of law copyist work . yes it feeds the scavengers of vholes and tangle . but it also makes men like guppy and kenge able to move beyond their station in life . though not kind to social status  climbers dickens clearly would have preferred that they weren  t bound to being stuck in the station to which they were born  contrast jo and the brickmakers  families to the climbing out of poverty by charley neckett  .  br    br   also  the law  while misused by tulkinghorn and the chancery vultures  is actually the source of security for the wards of the court ada and richard  and for esther who is simply jarndyce  s ward . their security was ensured by the law which delivers them to jarndyce .  br    br   i can  t see how anyone could have trouble following the story  remember you aren  t supposed to realize esther is lady dedlock  s daughter right at the beginning . neither are you supposed to  get  all the connections immediately . instant gratification just doesn  t happen in dickens .  br    br   as for  seeing clearly  through the fog  gosh the gillian anderson had such scatty editing that i found it impossible to follow and i knew the plot already   br    br   i found diana rigg absolutely brilliant  overacting and drama don  t make a good lady dedlock but if you think they do try the gillian anderson version  .  br    br   it  s ada and rick not  kate   and you get all you need of the rouncewell subplot .  
european vacation  aka national lampoon  s european vacation  is the weakest of the vacation films  the first and third one the most superior of the films  . while chevy chase and beverly d  angelo return as clark and ellen griswold  with new actors in the roles of russ and audrey griswold   this time they are given a weaker script with very bad dialogue . this causes the pacing to suffer  with the jokes not very funny at all . to be more specific  what really causes this film to suffer is the fact that the  jokes  as they are  are just pasted together into a cobbled  together script   rather than serving a central plot as the other  vacation films have . oh well  they can  t win them all .  out of   .  
you don  t need to read this review .  br    br   an earlier review  by pninson of seattle  has already identified all the main shortcomings of this production . i can only amplify its basic arguments .  br    br   bleak house was a relatively late dickens novel and is much darker than his earlier work . this is taken too literally by the director  ross devenish  who piles on the gloom and fog too much . when ada  rick and esther appear  half an hour into the opening episode  it is a relief just to be in daylight for the first time . in some of the murkier scenes it was hard to see what was actually on my tv screen . i watched the whole thing in one day  starting in mid  afternoon . as daylight faded this became less of an issue  but i have a pretty good tv and i have never encountered this problem before at any time of day .  br    br   the pacing is very deliberate  i . e . slow  . i am sure this was intensional  but it is overdone . there are numerous shots of people trudging though the muck and gloom of victorian london that are held longer than is necessary to establish the mood and atmosphere . a good editor could probably take several minutes out of each fifty  minute episode  without losing a line of dialogue  just by trimming each of these scenes slightly .  br    br   i don  t want to overstate these two problems . you soon adjust to the look and pace of this production . the more important issue is that it doesn  t always tell the story very effectively . earlier dickens novels are as long as bleak house  but are not nearly so intricately plotted . for example  i recently re  read nicholas nickleby because i was intrigued to see how douglas mcgrath crammed an    page book into his two  hour movie . the answer is simple the book is full of padding . mcgrath cut great swathes of the novel while still retaining all the essential story elements . this would not be possible with bleak house .  br    br   this production needs its seven hours . probably  it needs even longer  because many elements of its convoluted plot are not sufficiently clear  or as well handled  as they need to be . a few random examples will illustrate the problems .  br    br   the maid  rosa  appears from nowhere with no background  so lady dedlock  s attachment to her is largely unmotivated .  br    br   sergeant george  s acquiescence in tulkinhorn  s demand for a sample of horton  s handwriting is somewhat fudged .  br    br   it is not made clear enough that esther is actually in love with woodcourt when she agrees to marry john jarndyce . neither is it clear that they have agreed not to announce their engagement  or why .  br    br   ada and rick  s secret marriage is omitted . in one episode they are merely lovers  in the next  people are suddenly referring to them as husband and wife .  br    br   mrs rouncewell is only introduced at a late stage in the story and sargeant george  s estrangement from his family is left unexplained  as is the means by which she is discovered .  br    br   tulkinhorn  s dedication to maintaining the honour and respectability of the dedlock family is understated  so his motive for persecuting lady dedlock is more obscure than it need be .  br    br   the involvement of the brick makers with both tom and  later  lady dedlock is somewhat opaque .  br    br   it is not obvious that guppy renews his offer to esther because her smallpox scars have all but vanished .  br    br   this is only a selection there are others . they are not major problems and the main thrust of the story is clear enough . nonetheless  they are minor irritations that detract from its power you shouldn  t have to puzzle over little plot points . however  there are more important structural problems that do weaken the story in its later stages .  br    br   the whole business of tulkinhorn  s murder is somewhat thrown away . bucket immediately pinpoints hortense as a suspect  which undermines the suspense of sergeant george  s predicament and the importance of finding mrs rouncewell . it also diminishes the impact of the sub  plot in which suspicion is thrown on lady dedlock and weakens the scene in which hortense is unmasked in front of sir lester .  br    br   a more serious problem is that the murder  its investigation and the subsequent search for lady dedlock  dominate the story for over an hour  during which time we completely lose sight of the other main plot strand the legal case and its effect on rick . his failing finances  his gouging by vholes and skimpole  ada  s despair  his declining health and so on  are all put on hold for an entire episode . this may be how dickens wrote the book  i haven  t read it for years  but a good screenplay should keep the different plot strands moving forward together .  br    br   finally  smallweed  s role in the story is so diminished that he is almost superfluous . his discovery of the new will  that triggers the final phase of the story  is also thrown away . it happens off screen .  br    br   despite all of this  it is still a very good production . many of the performances are outstanding . individual scenes are beautifully realised . its accumulating sense of tragedy is very powerful . i would still be recommending it as a superb adaptation of a great book  had it not been for the     production . in fact  i probably wouldn  t be fully aware of its defects if i hadn  t seen how andrew davies did it better . i have been critical of davies  s jane austen adaptations  but i have to admit that he really knows how to tame dickens  s sprawling books .  br    br   this is an impressive and gripping drama and well worth seven hours of anybody  s time . nonetheless  its probable fate is to be viewed mainly as a cross  reference to the near  definitive     version .  
the goofy griswalds win the t . v . game show  pig in a poke  grand prize  and all fly off together to europe where they manage to cause one stupid disaster after another . of all the ridiculous  unfunny money  spinning sequels this one beats the lot . harold ramis      film was a below average misadventure in which the misfit family went on a nightmarish  vacation  across the states . this time amy heckerling   look who  s talking   helms what turns out to be a disastrous  comedy  which will annoy you more than it will make you laugh .  br    br   hughes script  with rob klane  is awful and you wonder why the likes of chevy chase and beverly d  angelo bothered with such a dead  beat project  as even anthony michael hall and imogene coca had the sense to decline the offer . even an omnipotent michael palin is unable to lift proceedings to any level that one could call entertaining .  br    br   yet  as inconceivable as it may seem   european vacation  was successful enough to warrant a second sequel  surely it couldn  t be as unbearable as this one . you know  i have yet to see a national lampoon show that was worth the bother .  br    br   monday  december         t . v .  
this version of bleak house is the best adaptation of a classic novel known to me . the representation of the court of chancery as a  character  in the drama is magnificent . the acting is marvellous  from the sinister tulkinghorn  to the dedlocks  smallweed  crooke  miss flyte  and the two young lovers . but it is the spider  s web of chancery that holds the whole thing together  and the cinematography is superb . what mistake did the bbc make about copyright that meant that this version could not be seen in the uk on either video or dvd for many years  i tried to find out from them  but faced a stone wall . in the end i got a dvd copy from canada .  
the second in the vacation series is easily the least enjoyable one  as clark griswold wins a trip for the whole family to europe .  br    br   the tasteless  below the belt humor that worked so well the first time around is practically nonexistent here . that fault surely lies with director hackerling  who  s obviously nowhere near as good a director as harold ramis and a very uninspiring script that has only a handful of decent lines scattered around .  br    br   the cast does what they can chevy chase injects some form of life into the proceedings but it  s simply not enough and the very funny eric idle is completely wasted in a small role as a very unlucky englishman . some potentially hilarious moments aren  t played out to their full potential and leave the viewer mostly aggravated . all depictions of europeans are one  dimensional and almost universally not funny at all  like how the english are sooo polite  .  br    br   apart from a few scenes  there  s hardly a laugh in sight and the ending turn this one into complete slapstick . but if you  re a chevy chase fan  like myself  the film is watchable  but no more than that .  
i can  t say how closely the film follows the novel  never having read the book  but since this clocks in at some six and a half hours it  s a good bet that most of the base are covered or  at least  we can say with some certainty that this isn  t a reader  s digest condensed version .  br    br   the production values are high  well up to the standards of other bbc classic series like inspector morse and sherlock holmes . we can believe dickens  london looked  sounded  and thought a lot like this . there are some occasional minor lapses   some sportsman firing a pistol with a percussion cap in     or     or whenever this took place .  br    br   the acting too is to be applauded . suzanne burden is the polite and honest heroine who quietly goes about doing good . she  s cute too  in a mature way  her beauty in her compassionate nature not in any flirtatiousness . denholm elliott is her guardian  and more than that  as it turns out  . burden and elliott are two of the very few characters who are good in an unalloyed way . another is a former sergeant forced to do evil by evil people . another is a poor and helpless young boy .  br    br   i don  t think anyone else could have written this . it  s got all the earmarks of dickens   poverty  tragic deaths  capitalism in the raw  the generous rich guy in his gated home  hidden parentage  shadowy motives  and the impotence or outright maliciousness of the justice system . well  not the justice system as a whole but the chancery  which was evidently a court that decided matters having to do with the distribution of property .  so i gather from wikipedia .  it became so notoriously rigid and dilatory that it was thoroughly revamped in england in     . twice  elliott  s character describes it as  a curse .  the most impressive scene involves a money  scrounging creditor hounding a retired soldier in the latter  s gymnasium during a fencing lesson . the sergeant is more masculine in the traditional sense than any other male character i remember from dickens . the apoplectic money lender and renter is screaming threats from his seat and the sergeant turns towards him and does one delicate exercise with the saber after another  each advancement bringing him closer to his tormentor  while the scarlet  faced old creditor shrinks back into his seat .  br    br   a couple of things are missing . often dickens will stick in at least one or two amusing lines of dialog .   humbug   or  the law is a ass .   not here .  bleak  house is the right title . second  there are practically no weberian  ideal types    no mr . micawbers or artful dodgers or scrooges . third  the atmosphere  the whole ethos  is relentlessly dismal . one tribulation follows another  usually having to do with money or some shameful peccadillo out of the past .  br    br   my god  it  s depressing . it  s as if the author were venting his spleen on everything he hated in the world he knew . poverty  okay . he knew poverty . but one wonders what the chancery did to dickens to deserve this kind of treatment .  br    br   maybe i should add that i  ve just watched the first episode of the     series   and it  s better in two ways . there is more zip in the direction  so the pace is a little faster . and the business of jarndyce vs . jarndyce is explained satisfactorily right up front  instead of lurking about in the shadows as that mysterious  curse   so the plot is easier to follow .  
john hughes wrote a lot of great comedies in the    s .  european vacation  is not one of them . the follow  up to hughes  first big hit  vacation         is about as predictable  unfunny and annoying as they come   no matter how much you love the dumb but romantic clark and ellen griswold  chase and d  angelo  .  br    br   i greatly enjoyed  vacation  as well as the third film       s  christmas vacation   but the griswold  s trip to europe is bland and forced . perhaps because this was hughes  first attempt at a sequel that he didn  t get it  but it  s really dumbfounding how uninspired and devoid of a story  european vacation  is . there is no through story the griswolds win a game show for being  greedy little pigs  and go on a tour of europe through england  france  germany and italy . even the screwball physical humor that is the trademark of the first loses all effect because you see it coming  which is part director amy heckerling  s fault . the  fast times at ridgemont high  director sets everything up too predictably .  br    br   maybe it was hughes taking a cheap shot because he was put up to the sequel .  european vacation  takes great pride in insulting americans  recall the greedy little pig game show they win   especially tourists  represented by the cornball griswold family . it also pats itself on the back implicitly saying  oh us griswolds  we  re always getting into something because our dad is an idiot .  then in nearly comic fashion it ends with a tribute to america and how grateful the griswolds are to return to such a better country . if hughes was going for satire and meant to do it in the form of a bad movie  well maybe i should award this     stars .  br    br   it  s not just the unfunniness  but  european vacation  boasts the two worst actors to play kids rusty and audrey  jason lively and dana hill  . they  re both annoying and obnoxious  with the unattractive and loud  mouthed audrey blubbering about the boyfriend she  s left behind nearly the entire film . hughes even goes as far as to have her comment about missing him right as she observes a giant bratwurst . quite tasteful . speaking of  breasts are flashed in two different scenes for no good reason  unless it was to comment on americans  love of gratuitous nipples in their comedies  .  br    br   i will give the film one of its two stars thanks to eric idle of the monty python crew  whose cameo at a few different points in the film where he recites lines directly from  holy grail  is about the funniest part . if hughes intended for us to find one of the film  s only non  american actors as the only funny part  then another tip of the hat to him for ripping open the underbelly of hollywood comedy in the    s . still  would it have hurt for him to do that while making it entertaining   
i like this presentation  i have read bleak house and i know it is so difficult to present the entire book as it should be  and even others like little dorrit  i have to admit they did a very good show with the staged nicholas nickelby . i love diana rigg and i could see the pain of lady dedlock  even through the expected arrogance of the aristocracy . i am sorry  i think she is the best lady dedlock . . . i am not sure who could have made a better jarndyce  but i am ok with mr . elliott . it is not easy to present these long dickens  books  oliver twist would be easier  this is a long  and if you don  t care for all the legal situations can be dreary or boring . i think this presentation is entertaining enough not to be boring . i just loved mr . smallweed  it can be entertaining . there is always a child  jo will break your heart here . . . i think we should be given a chance to judge for ourselves . . .  br    br   i have to say i loved the show . maybe if i read the book again  as i usually do  after seeing the movie  maybe i can be more critical . in the meantime  i think it is a good presentation .  
some amusing humor  some that falls flat  some decent acting  some that is quite atrocious . this movie is simply hit and miss  guaranteed to amuse   year old boys more than any other niche .  br    br   the child actors in the movie are just unfunny . when you are making a family comedy  that does tend to be a problem . beverly d  angelo rises above the material to give a funny  and dare i say it  human performance in the midst of this mediocrity .  
i have bought the dvd of this version to compare against the current bbc     version  which is brilliant  . the     was adapted by arthur hopcraft  who adapted tinker tailor soldier spy for tv and who died this year       . i remember great acting  especially from rigg and elliott  and moving music .  music in the     version is far more understated  but very telling .  just to pick up other commentators on a couple of points richard carstone is ada claire  s boyfriend  not esther  s . esther had no uncle . charlie drake never played krook in either version  nor did he play toby esterhase in ttss  krook is played by comedian johnny vegas in the     version . toby was played by bernard hepton .  br    br   both versions are honourable and admirable adaptations of dickens  great novel . now read the book  it  s not perfect  and the sentimentality may make you wince at times  but i defy you not to cry  and laugh   
any movie with  national lampoon  in the title is absolutely guaranteed to die a death in london  england  paris  france  rome  italy  and anywhere in germany . it may be an institution in the u . s . but it is practically unknown in europe to the larger audience .  national lampoon  s european vacation  is unlikely to rectify that situation . the appalling griswalds are just that  appalling . they are not funny . clearly mr chevy chase thinks he  s funny  after all miss b . di angelo laughs a lot at his jokes  but she  s getting paid for it and didn  t have to fork out   .   for the privilege . the section set in england is typical . the same old same old tv performers  messrs idle  smith  coltrane  miss m . lippman trot out the same old same old tired clichs  mr chase gets lost in the hotel corridor . . . . yawn  yawn  yawn . . bucking  ham palace  big ben . . . . . . i feel cheated that we never saw bobbies on bicycles two  by  two . . . . . . . . . rosie red cheeks on the little chil  dren  need i go on  the english are buffoons  the french vicious  tongued yank  haters . the germans pompous and puffed up   don  t mention the war  clark   and the italians lecherous bottom  pinchers . have i forgotten anything  every possible  comic  situation is worked to death  mr chase gurns desperately  miss di angelo dimples sweetly  the children are embarrassingly bad . the fact that this franchise ran as long as it did must bring comfort to those who propound that you never lose money by underestimating public taste .  
this production was made in the middle     s  and appears to be the first serious attempt to put bleak house on celluloid . no film version of the novel was ever attempted  it is remarkably rich in subplots that actually serve as counterpoints to each other  so that it would have been very hard to prune it down  . the novel was the only attempt by dickens to make a central narrator  one of two in the work  a woman  esther summerson . esther is raised by her aunt and uncle  who  in typical dickens style  mistreat her . she is illegitimate  but they won  t tell her anything about her parentage . later we get involved with the gentry  sir leicester dedlock  and his wife . lady honoria deadlock  dame diana rigg  is having an increasingly difficult time regarding her private life and the meddling involvement of the family solicitor tulkinghorn  peter vaughn  . we also are involved with the actions of richard carstone  esther  s boyfriend  in trying to win a long drawn out estate chancery case  jarndyce v . jarndyce  which everyone  even richard  s cousin john jarndyce  played by desmond elliot  warns is not worth the effort .  br    br   dickens had been a law reporter and then a parliamentary reporter before he wrote fiction . starting with the breach of promise case in pickwick papers  dickens looked closely at the law . mr . bumble said it was  a ass  in oliver twist and dickens would consistently support that view . he looks at the slums as breeding grounds for crime in twist  that the law barely tries to cure . he attacks the chancery and outdated estate laws  as well as too powerful solicitors and greedy lawyers  tulkinghorn  vholes  in bleak house . in little dorrit he attacks the debtors  prisons  he had hit it also in david copperfield  . in our mutual friend he looks at testators and wills . in the mystery of edwin drood he apparently was going to go to a murder trial . dickens was far more critical of legal institutions than most of his contemporaries  including thackeray .  br    br   but the novel also looks at other problems  like charity and religious hypocrisy  the budding scotland yard detective force  social snobbery in the industrial revolution  . he also uses the novel to satirize various people leigh hunt the writer  inspector fields of scotland yard  and even the notorious maria manning . most of these points were kept in this fine mini  series version . if it is shown again on a cable station  catch it .  
i will never forget the wit and great comedy of the original vacation movie  the lines  pacing  and timing of events in that film are outstanding  however  this european vacation sequel is a major let down .  br    br   in this sequel  the griswalds win a european vacation on a game show . the problem is that many of the jokes in the film are little more than mild   ha  ha  laughs . for example  a flight attendant on an airplane asks clark   do you want your coke in the can   clark answers back   no  i  ll have it right here .  that  s really about the only line that is funny in this film .  br    br   european vacation  s humor is strained . as if the writers borrowed all the jokes from the first movie  tried to re  hash a script that had been done before  and relied on a ridiculous slap  stick chase scene sequence toward the end of the picture just to kill time .  br    br   worse  the natural comic standouts like randy quaid as cousin eddie and the original kids who played rusty and audrey from the first movie so well are nowhere to be found . their replacements are not funny  can  t act  and just look like they are going through the motions most of the time . there are also a few crude sex jokes and comments that are not only not funny  they are in bad taste .  br    br   the griswald  s should have stayed in wally world . the place that made them legends  don  t join them on this european dreadful adventure . viewers should re  watch the original vacation movie in place of this  you  ll be glad you did .  
i only watched this because it starred josie lawrence  who i knew  br    br   from whose line is it anyway   the wacky british improvisational  br    br   comedy show . i was very pleasantly surprised by this heartwarming and magical gem . it is uplifting  touching  and  br    br   romantic without being sappy or sentimental . the characters are  br    br   all real people  with real foibles  fears and needs . see it .   
this movie had the potential to be far more than it was . but it not only fails to deliver  it brings up nauseous self righteous preaching at the same time .  br    br   john cusack is even flatter than he was in midnight of the garden of good and evil . the difference is that this time he is supposed to have an southern accent  which he noticeably loses several times each scene .  br    br   al pacino does his shtick but seems to be walking through this film and collecting a paycheck . he  s good as usual but hardly standout .  br    br   supporting cast   throw in female romantic interest which added little  if anything  to the story . speaking of the story  a convoluted  who really cares  tale where cusack is the self  righteous mayor  s boy who just has to search for  the right thing  to be done .  br    br   people don  t act this way . cusack  s character loses all credibility at the end  of which without revealing it  is preach and nauseous . the final scene makes the penultimate silliness seem profound . it  s also completely inaccurate but i won  t get into law .  br    br   this is a bad  by the numbers movie . it seems interesting for the first   minutes and then it  s really a preachy  proselytizing  self  righteous film for the last hour . better off with mindless crap than this pile of junk .  
  br    br    bleak house  is hands down the finest adaptation of a charles dickens novel ever put on screen . alway one of my favorite novels  i was exteremely pleased with this television mini series . the late  great denholm elliot was perfectly cast as the noble john jardyce and diana rigg was sheer perfection as the doomed ladty dedlock . the film captures the essence of dickens era and is extremely faithful to the book  oly making minor plot cuts that do not effect the story . over all a brilliant  moving and atmosphereic film .  
last night i decided to watch the prequel or shall i say the so called prequel to carlito  s way   carlito  s way rise to power        which went straight to dvd . . . no wonder . . . . . it completely . . . and i mean completely sks    waist of time watching it and i think it would be a pure waist of time writing about it . . . . i don  t understand how de palma agreed on producing this sht  fest of a movie . . . . except for only one fact that i tip my hat to . . . jay hernandez who plays the young brigante . . . . reminded me how de niro got into the shoes of brando to portray the young don corleone in godfather ii . . . but the difference de niro was amazing and even got an oscar for it    jay hernandez well he has guts for trying to be a young pacino . . . . too bad for him i don  t think he will be playing in film anymore and by the way after i watched this shty movie  i sat down and watched the original carlitos way to get the bad taste out of my mouth .  
murder in mesopotamia  i have always considered one of the better poirot books  as it is very creepy and has an ingenious ending . there is no doubt that the tv adaptation is visually striking  with some lovely photography and a very haunting music score . as always david suchet is impeccable as hercule poirot  the comedic highlight of the episode being poirot  s battle with a mosquito in the middle of the night  and hugh fraser is good as the rather naive captain hastings . the remainder of the cast turn in decent performances  but are careful not to overshadow the two leads  a danger in some christie adaptations . some of the episode was quite creepy  a juxtaposition of an episode as tragic as five little pigs  an episode that i enjoyed a lot more than this one . what made it creepy in particular  putting aside the music was when louise leidner sees the ghostly face through the window . about the adaptation  it was fairly faithful to the book  but i will say that there were three things i didn  t like . the main problem was the pacing  it is rather slow  and there are some scenes where very little happens . i didn  t like the fact also that they made joseph mercado a murderer . in the book  i see him as a rather nervous character  but the intervention of the idea of making him a murderer  and under  developing that  made him a less appealing character  though i am glad they didn  t miss his drug addiction .  i also noticed that the writers left out the fact that mrs mercado in the book falls into hysteria when she believes she is the murderer  s next victim .  the other thing that wasn  t so impressive was that i felt that it may have been more effective if the adaptation had been in the viewpoint of amy leatheran  like it was in the book  amy somehow seemed less sensitive in the adaptation . on the whole  despite some misjudgements on the writers  behalf  i liked murder in mesopotamia .     bethany cox .  
soon after watching this film you will realize why it didn  t even make it to the theaters  this movie does not deserve the  prequel  tag . instead this is a common theme in hollywood  rip off previously good movies with disastrous prequels  sequels  etc .  br    br   this film  s plot was bouncing all over the place like a ping pong ball  and the character development was non  existent . i seriously felt like i was watching a comedy at some points in the movie because the acting was so bad . p diddy needs to stop tainting movies with his horrible acting  he actually made me laugh every time .  br    br   the only good thing that comes out of this movie is jaclyn desantis  who looks excellent in this movie and actually brought some enjoyment from watching this film .  br    br   if you are a big carlito  s way fan  i recommend you not watch this . if you decide to watch it anyway then treat this movie as if it ripped off the original  because that is exactly what it did .  
paul reiser did a spectacular job in writing this movie . peter falk gives the performance of his life . it is worthy of an academy award . this was one of the most poignant and funny movies of the year . reiser  s wit is fantastic and he is as good as it gets and as he was in his long running tv sitcom  mad about you  . peter falk did a masterful job as his dad  and peter who is now   years young made us laugh and cry at the same time . the supporting cast was equal to the task especially the gorgeous gorgeous elizabeth perkins . it is a must see movie for     . we bet that everyone across all ages and religions will love this movie and somehow relate to it in one way or another . we have mothers and fathers and siblings like these in the movie . we have all had the good and bad times together and wish things were the same but different .  
this movie is a bad attempt to make original fans feel complete . the one thing people have forgotten is the fact that the reason the original won such acclaim  was strictly do to the fact that it was supposed to make you feel incomplete .  br    br   this movie makes me want to go to the washroom . i am not a negative type of guy  but man the acting in this flick is . . . . no comment . the plot was a bad reflection of the life of carlito brigante and i am sorry to have had two hours of my time and my money wasted on this flick . i still love the original and will do my best not to let this movie ruin my opinion about it .  
saw this in preview  great movie  wonderful characterizations  witty and intelligent dialog  actors were fantastic  peter falk will be up for an oscar  paul reiser was charming  photography was marvelous reiser was at the theater when we saw the film  and he gave a vivid account about the making of the film  it had been a long dream of his to write a semi  autobiographical account of relationships between sons and fathers  and more specifically between him and his father  this was achieved in a dramatic and entertaining fashion  the supporting cast was well chosen and gave the film a feeling of family  i recommend this film to anyone who is longing to see intelligent drama and wonderful performances  
quote theurgist anyone with an i . q . over   would have seen this film what it is  an intelligent well acted prequel to a modern day classic  yes it doesn  t have a blockbuster cast or a huge budget but it is still very well done and had me hooked for the full duration .  br    br   an i . q . over   you say . . that most mean you have an i . q . lower than   . . its name is carlitos way rise to power    meaning it should have something whit the first one to do . .  br    br   all and all its a ok movie if . . you change the title and no characters named carlito brigante     br    br   p . s don  t comment on a movie if you don  t know anything about movies . but i guess an i . q . under     you wont know what the hell i am yelling about . . .  br    br   peace out    
who wouldn  t want to go on road trip with peter falk  that guy  s right eye has more character than most actors today . this is the kind of funny and touching movie we are all looking for as a counterbalance to all the bombastic special effects bores . women are going to love it for all the wake  up romance advice for men  and men will love it for its spot  on father  son character study   one great little scene after another . and it has just enough of an edge to be a true indie find . obviously this is a labor of love for paul reiser who understands what it  s like to be both a father and a son  as well as to have both laughter and tears as you move through life . the most fun part  though  was watching reiser watch falk . you could tell it was both his character coming to a new appreciation of his father and a fellow actor really enjoying peter falk  s special craft . really delightful . let  s hope this film makes it into theaters around the country sometime soon so everyone can have a chance to laugh and cry with paul reiser and folks .  
this movie had potential and i was willing to give it a try but there are so many timeline problems that are so obvious  it  s hard to swallow being treated like such an idiot .  br    br   rise to power is set in the late sixties . carlito  s way is set in the mid to late seventies . for this movie to be realistic  it would have to be set in the fifties  if not the late forties .  br    br   rise to power has no sign of gail  pennelope ann miller   no sign of kleinfeld  no sign of rolando that carlito supposedly ran with in his  hey  day  . none of the primary characters in the original film were in this movie . we  re supposed to believe that carlito met all these people in the span of a few years .  br    br   rise to power ends with carlito walking down the beach talking about retiring in paradise which is what he wanted to do in the original film . also  the pre  quel creates the rocco and earl characters  what  s supposed to happen with them since they are clearly not in carlito  s way  it  s also hard to understand how carlito could have the relationship with the italians he has in the original film watching the events of rise to power . where are the taglialucci  s in this film  there is probably seven years between the two films and he spends five of them in prison . it  s like trying to put a square plug into a round hole .  br    br   it is obvious that no one was interested in telling a good story and that they were more interested in making some bucks by making an average gangster film and throwing a character called carlito brigante into the story . the film had some good moments but i think they would have been better off leaving this movie to stand by itself instead of trying to make it a prequel to carlito  s way .  br    br   if you feel determined to see this movie  the only advice i can give is to not think of the movie as a linear pre  quel . think of it like the spaghetti westerns with clint eastwood  s man with no name  in other words two movies that have the same character but aren  t necessarily connected with each other .  
oscar  caliber performance by peter falk in an oscar  caliber  written role . i loved the nuanced  balanced exploration of a long  time marriage  how often do we get that in films  where usually the movie ends when boy  girl get together  this is a movie for adults  a complex view through the eyes of all parties  husband  wife  son  how each have adapted to each other in the past and grow during the story . on top of that  it gave me about   major belly laughs  and i  m one of those people who usually sits unamused when the rest of an audience is laughing . this was one of the few truly funny movies i  ve seen . great  original jokes .  
the movie and acting are not bad and jay hernandez does a good job playing calito brigante but the movie forgets it  s suppose to be a prequel to a hit movie . the makers of this prequel clearly did not watch the original carlito  s way or at least did not care about continuity . this movie is a prequel which means the original movie has already laid out some history for us and this movie should end where the original begins or at least lead up to it . not one of carlito  s close old friends from the original make an appearance in this movie  they  re not even mentioned . luis guzman  pachanga in the original  is in the movie but he plays a completely different character . the original takes place in     and the prequel takes place in        . considering this movie takes place less than  years earlier  wouldn  t you think one of carlito  s long time friends would make an appearance  in the original  carlito start  s out being released from jail after spending  years in jail . that  s only a few month  s between the end of the prequel and the start of the original  semi spoiler we know from the beginning of the original  carlito has spent  years in prison so when the prequel gives us this hollywood happy ending it  s an insult to the intelligence of fans of the original . what happen to gail  it  s the lack of continuity that made this film go direct to video release .  
the thing about my folks is a wonderful film about relationships  first and foremost an adult son and his father  but also that son with his wife  his sisters and his mother . paul reiser has written a semi  autobiographical movie about his relationship with his father . the movie is funny  poignant and thought  provoking . it led me to re  evaluate my own relationship with both my now  deceased father and my adult son . peter falk is excellent as paul  s father  the role could not have been better cast . i hope that both mr . falk and mr . reiser are recognized in next year  s movie awards for their efforts  falk for his performance and reiser for his script .  
i watched this movie and the original carlitos way back to back . the difference between the two is disgusting . now i know that people are going to say that the prequel was made on a small budget but that never had anything to do with a bad script . now maybe it  s just me  but i always thought that a prequel was made to go set up the other movie  starring key characters and maybe filling in a bit about life that we didn  t know . rise to power is just a movie that has carlito  s name . there should have been at least a few characters from the original movie  the ending makes no sense in relation to the original . in the end of this movie he retires with his sweet heart but how the hell do we get him coming out of prison in the next movie  and his woman isn  t even the same woman that he talks about as his only love in the original . i would say the movie is mildly entertaining in its self  with a few decent bits but it pales when held up to it  s big brother . don  t lay awake at night waiting to see this  watch the original one more time if you really need a hit .  
i  m disappointed that reiser  who wrote the film  felt the need to use so much profanity for no reason whatsoever . maybe that  s his idea of  adult  films  plenty of nasty words with bathroom humor thrown in  i thought better of him and think less of him for this movie .  br    br   falk  s acting and some moments of humor as well as some possibly important themes are what made me give it such a high rating .  br    br   this might be a good movie for adult children to watch and laugh over about their own folks and their foibles . but the lack of consideration for audience families seriously detriments what could have been a family film but fails . certainly not worth spending money on  though it might be worth a watch for free on television .  
this is just a butchering of a wonderful story by edwin torres . this movie doesn  t follow the storyline in the book . and  there are so many inconsistencies with the original movie that you have to wonder if the screenwriter had even seen the first movie .  br    br   al pacino  the original and still the best carlito  gets out of prison at the start of the original one . here  carlito retires with his woman in paradise .  br    br   what happened to gail from lorain  ohio  in this installment  she isn  t mentioned  and carlito retires with and presumably will marry some other girl .  br    br   also  where is kleinfeld  i think he was in the first book .  br    br   i also like how mr . guzman plays a totally different character in this film . he was pachanga back in the pacino days . now  he is nacho reyes  a killer from cuba . i remember that nacho reyes had a much bigger role in the book .  br    br   it  s been a while since i read the book  but where did sean comb  s character come from  also  i think this movie really glosses over the racial tensions in harlem that torres was writing about . and  the mob doesn  t get the treatment that they did in the book . they are also wiped out in this movie . but  magically the pleasant avenue bunch is around for the second movie .  br    br   the book told a great story . this movie could have told a great story . this is just a huge disappointment . read the book . it  s a better use of your time .  
the movie was very moving . it was tender  and funny at the same time . the scenery was absolutely beautiful  peter faulk and paul reiser gave award winning performances . olympia dukakis was great . i understand due to the story line her part had to be brief  but i did wish i could have seen more of her  she is a true pro . you will be able to recall experiences from your own life  hopefully in a positive way after seeing this movie . we were fortunate to see paul reiser at a q and a after the viewing . he is a wonderful man  clever  eloquent and a  real person  . it was truly an enjoyable night out  this is a must see movie . you will be so grateful you went .  
really awful . . . lead actor did ok . . . the film  plot etc was completely crap and inaccurate it may as well have been a sequel to well . . . anything it had little or no relevance to carlitos way . . . and should be avoided like the plague by any carlito  s ways fans . . . no mention of gail in fact he ends up with some other bird  no mention of klienfelt  no mention of how he got caught  no mention of how he ended up in jail . . . they attempted to make it like the original with flash backs at the beginning . . . but to be honest when rating it i was looking for a zero mark . . . unfortunately i had to rate it higher . . .  br    br   its a terrible attempt to cash in on what was one of the best films of the    s . . . overall it was approximately   and  hours of my life wasted . . . for all the  action  in it  it was truly boring slow and predictable . . . again to any carltio  s way fans avoid this fiasco . . .  
this is one of the best movies i have ever seen . i feel greatly touched by the theme the movie intends to convey . one sentence that keeps coming up on my mind is that  history repeats itself  . life is what it is shown in the movie when people are young  they seem not to understand their parents  their own spouses people have every excuse for not sharing the dearest time with their children until too late people always have to work hard to support the whole family but are just liable to neglect the subtle feeling of their partners people always change their perspectives at different stages of their lives people can always be forgiven if their heart is full of love for their beloved nothing is more important than the blood relation people share in this world  and one is never too late to talk with their folks about what they feel at the bottom of their heart so as to achieve a better understanding between themselves  so that when life has to end some day  people should not feel sorry or regretful since they have kept their words and there is always hope    a new life . the actors and actresses are fantastic . they have understood the director  s intention perfectly . the movie  s charm lies in  to me  the effect of bringing a skillful and splendid fusion of cheers and tears to the audience .  
this film was totally not what i expected .  br    br   if this film was called something else no one would even notice the difference between the two .  br    br   its really strange because i cannot see the point . the prequel and sequel lets just say don  t make sense  the don  t even match . maybe i am naive but ain  t a vol   vol  meant to match up .  br    br   carlito was in jail in the  st one and dies in the original  and in the prequel he lives and don  t go jail .  br    br   the plot was ok  but they should have changed round some actors and some of the story line and the name of the film and it would have been a good film .  br    br   i really expected it to end like the other one started .  br    br   if some one has a opinion on this post it please .  
this is one of those rare movies  it  s lovely and compelling  dignified and quirky  a true gift . i consider it a prerequisite for any trip to italy  or any vacation at all  because it reminds you to open yourself up to a broader experience  yup  find the magic  . i especially loved josie lawrence  as lottie wilkins  but every lead and supporting actor is flawless in this film . further the costumes  if you  re drawn to fashion and costumes  are extraordinarily well done . i just wish they  d release it on dvd because i  m wearing my tape version out   br    br   absolutely well worth your time  just make sure to settle in to watch it  without any interruptions .  
this film is predictable it is more predictable then a vinnie testaverdi pass  when he huts the ball for the jets . one saw the ending coming up halfway through the film . the politics reminds me when i was back east . many people know when the fix is in . i gave this four because of the acting  but the story is lame .  
i enjoyed this film  perhaps because i had not seen any reviews  etc . it was delightful and a little bit of a  romp  . i don  t know why it didn  t make more of a splash than it did . as far as the story goes  i could relate to some aspects of the paul reiser character  and i could  see my dad  in falk  s character . made me remember a lot of past times when i was a kid and listening to my grandparents  too . if you enjoyed movies like grumpy old men or on golden pond  this is your movie . a  sleeper   in my opinion  and one of those feel  good stories . peter falk and paul reiser had many wonderful verbal tussles  yet nothing was overdone . i would say it rates at least an   perhaps higher .  
carlito way  the original is a brilliant story about an ex  drug dealer who hopes to leave his criminal past and so he invests in a club and the deals with the trouble that comes with it .  br    br   this film was . . . .  br    br   i saw the trailer and knew instantly it was going to be bad . . but after dismissing films in the past and finding out they were great  lucky number slevin  tokyo drift  . . . i gave this a shot and it failed within the first five minutes . . .  br    br   the script is something a teenager would come up with if given five minutes to prepare . . . it was weak  with weaker dialogue . it seems there is an instant need for romance in a gangster movie . so brigante decides to beat a guy up for the girl . . . . and she say  s  yes   and if you need to act bad just throw racism around . . . as we learn from the  italian mobsters  . . .  br    br   the acting was terrible to say the least . . . i found  hollywood nicky   hilarious .  br    br   i absolutely hate all these musicians turning to movies . lets face it the only reason p diddy did this movie was so he could play a gangsters . . . the actress who plays leticia was weak but beautiful . the sex scene was weak but we got to see her . . which was okay . . .  br    br   but overall i expected it shed light on how carito ended up in prison and the love of his life . . . and the assassin towards the end completely added to the horrendous movie that is . . .  br    br   carlito  s way rise to power . .  
who doesn  t have unresolved issues with parents  and which parents don  t have unresolved issues with each other   br    br   i know  that sounds heavy . but this is played for laughs in the movie  making both the comedy better and the drama better . i  ve always like paul reiser and peter falk  and although i was a bit concerned that their star qualities might be too big for a small movie  i was enchanted from the very first scene .  br    br   especially entertaining were the discoveries that the son makes about his father as a person . and peter falk  s monologue about being a hard  working  sacrificing father and husband was the perfect balancing point . without that scene being acted so well  the movie would have seemed far less nuanced  and the character far less interesting .  br    br   nicely done  paul and peter   
this was so lame that i turned the dvd off . . . maybe halfway through . it was so weak  i couldn  t even pay full enough attention to tell you how far in i made it . though i really wanted to believe that the depiction of the young carlito would be somewhat different  i just couldn  t buy it . i don  t really blame the actors  because i think it was the script that may have fallen flat . i did find myself laughing a few times  but i don  t think those lines were intended to be funny .  br    br   it  s only saving grace is that i bought it in a  dvd set and i would have paid the price i did for the original alone . this is one of those cases when they should have let the classic stand alone .  
this movie didn  t really surprise me  as such  it just got better and better . i thought  paul rieser wrote this  huh  well . . . we  ll see how he does . . .  then i saw peter falk was in it . i appreciate colombo . even though i was never a big fan of the show  i  ve always liked watching peter falk .  br    br   the performances of peter and paul were so natural that i felt like a fly on the wall . they played off of each other so well that i practically felt giddy with enjoyment  . . . and i hadn  t even been drinking   br    br   this movie was so well done that i wanted to get right on the phone to paul and let him know how much i enjoyed it  but i couldn  t find his number . must be unlisted or something .  br    br   this was one of those movies that i had no idea what it was going to be about or who was in it or anything . it just came on and i thought  eh  why not  let  s see . if i don  t like it  i don  t have to watch it . . .  . . . and i ended up just loving it   
i have to say this is one of the worst films i  ve ever seen . they had a pretty good storyline to go on  but than the messed it up so badly . first of all the cast is all wrong  where did that van peeble  crap actor btw  and puff daddy come from    it looks like carlito has come from the hood  and used to hang about with some real idiots . this film doesn  t do  carlitos way  any justice . im so happy that the sequel  carlito  s way  came out first  if i had seen this rubbish first  i would have never given the pacino version a chance . and anyway  pacino is supposed to have read this story  thought it  s crap and did the sequel instead . carlito  s way rise to power   out of   . carlito  s way   out of   .  
excellent endearing film with peter falk and paul reiser joining forces as father and dad .  br    br   dad shows up one evening to state that after over   years of marriage  mom  olympia dukakis  has left him .  br    br   the rest of the film depicts the father and son on a day trip to get dad  s thoughts off what has occurred . with them away  the daughters can play detectives .  br    br   the story shows the adventures of father and son in their discussion of life  what should have been  why mom was complaining about dad as they discuss their philosophies of life .  br    br   we see an unexpected fishing trip and pool playing which leads to a near brawl . both men seem to break out of their daily lives .  br    br   the end is a downer as we learn why mom suddenly left . it becomes a story of courage and the human spirit in the face of adversity . it  s never too late to change .  
i  m a big fan of pacino movies . he  s one of  if not the best  actors of this genre . however  this movie could  ve been a whole lot better even though it had a poor cast . all they had to do was tell the story of carlito brigante up until he went to jail . instead it seemed like this was just one of many stories that could be told of carlito . all or even some of the questions about his past that we wondered about in the original could  ve been answered . as far as i  m concerned  thats the only way you can make this movie . instead we get this prequel that has almost none of the original characters in it  a character that plays a different part from the original  horrible move   and a totally different love interest for carlito . don  t even get me started with puffy . no way can i take that cat seriously as a gangsta after watching him dance in all his artists videos . evertytime that dude opened his mouth i was waiting for him to start dancing . he made me laugh if anything . mario van peeples surprised me with his role . i thought he was gonna give a lackluster performance due to his recent history . he did rather well . he was probably the most  believable  out of the entire cast in my opinion . jay hernandez did his best but doesn  t have the skills right now in his career to take on this role . i appreciated his energy and his efforts though . hard to follow up pacino . the only way you could even have a clue about what kind of person carlito was  is to watch the original . otherwise  carlito looks like a cold blooded killer in one scene then a spineless wimp in another . he was one of the baddest gangstas of his time but you would only see flashes of that in this movie . maybe this is a pitiful way for hollywood to try and make a  nd prequel to cash in on this failure . wouldn  t surprise me .  br    br   overall  in my opinion  this movie fell well short or what it could  ve been . the only reason i gave it a  was because i laughed a lot and mario van peeples earned some respect back with me . a serious director should  ve taken this movie and actually put time into the story and turned it into an actual prequel . i  m extremely disappointed that this movie wasn  t taken seriously . they would  ve been better off making this into a mini  series on hbo and actually telling the story like the original suggests . at the end of the movie  they had the nerve to suggest that carlito would have to come back to the city . heeellllo . . . . thats the part everyone wants to see    then again  this is all just my opinion . i can  t tell you how to waste your money .  
the movie gets to the guts of the tension between a son and a father .  br    br   the brilliant dialog  lovely scenery and great acting serve as an excellent way to present the onion that keeps peeling back layers .  br    br   the core issues of parenting  communication and manhood are explored indirectly .  br    br   in fun ways the curtain is pulled back  the masks slip off a little and truths are exposed .  br    br   all of this happens amidst a road trip format . the backdrop is rural new york state in the early fall just as the trees are changing colors . wow   
if you hit your head with a shovel  write the script with your feet  you may come close to the intelligence level of this movie . there is nothing in this movie that hasn  t been done a thousand times in other gangster flicks and done much better . those who think  scarface  was some kind of hero to be looked up to or saw  goodfellas    menace ii society  or  dead presidents  and thought mmm  that  s the life for me   will like this movie . i thought i  d give the movie a chance  since the premise was perfect for a prequel . i should have known better after seeing mario van peebles and sean combs were involved . anyone above a  th grade education  see the original with pacino  a real actor  and be satisfied .  
it is no wonder this movie won  prices  it is a movie that lingers to any soul  it isn  t a wonder why it took paul reiser   years to finally give in and talk to peter falk about his idea . i can understand every part of it  this is a movie that will make you cry just a tear  or thousands .  br    br   story      when sam kleinman gets a letter from his wife about her leaving him to find something else his son and him take out on a road trip to find her  and while they do that they find something lost  friendship  family  and affection for each other . at the beginning you know whats going to happen  but none soever the story is not that easy to figure out from beginning to end  it is a ride between a father and his son  and a husband and his wife . it is no wonder it took paul reiser   years to write this beautiful romance  comedy .  br    br   actors      well you cant say anything else that what i about to say  hey it is with peter falk in it  he is a legend everything he does in movies are magic  when you use peter falk in a romance  comedy what do you think you get  a perfect outcome  it is no wonder this movie is that perfect and won that many prices . as the son paul reiser does an excellent job  although he isn  t a great actor always that doesn  t mean that this didn  t work actually peter falk and paul reiser plays the perfect father and son  the rest of the cast is good enough but you don  t see them as much so just say they do what they shall to get this to shine even more .  br    br   music      it doesn  t always work when using music sometimes it just doesn  t fit but that is not the thing in this movie  the music is perfect in tune  it makes the movie even more compelling . this part of the movie will shine off as good as the other parts  a great soundtrack for a romance  comedy thats for sure .  br    br   overall      there are so many romance  comedy movies out on tapes  dvds  blu  ray and what not  but this movie is one of the special ones . it doesn  t happen everyday that you can create a story like this  it takes years thinking about this and the fact is that actually what it took to make it  a great piece that should be bought and kept into the human soul  see it when you get old and see it with your father at a old age  i think then this movie will spark like no other ever made .  
deceptive advertising . . . i saw a commercial for carlitos way rise to power that states  from the producer of scarface and carlito  s way  lets get it straight . . . michael bergman did not produce scarface  in fact he was  editing room assistant  for scarface . not to take away from bergman  s talent . . . but in my opinion he should of had a little more class . i think i can speak for the masses when i say . . . we hate being blatantly lied to . as far as the movie goes  it was poor at best . i did think puff daddy did a good job . although  luis guzman should be ashamed for working on this film . overall this film did not do a good job filling in the blanks for carlito  s way . it  s obvious this project was an attempt to make a quick buck rather a good film .  
paul reiser is one of my favorite people in show business . i have read both of his books and think that he is great . peter faulk can deliver a punch line with the best of them . the combination of the two is magic .  br    br   this is a story about a family really getting to know each other . through a road trip a father and son connect for the first time in their lives in the midts of a family crisis . they do all the things that fathers and sons are suppose to do in life . . . they are just doing them much later in life . the situations are very funny  but have the feeling that they could actually happen to people in real life  not obsurdly over the top or cartoonish  . this is the first time that i watch paul reiser and fully believed every emotion that was portrayed . at times  his eyes look so sad .  br    br   gret movie and great story and plot . it has comedy and emotion but an uplifting message . . . olympia dukakas does a great job also    
why oh why do people take good material and feel the need to change it some how  having read the book on which this film is allegedly based a couple of years ago  i can say that there is little if anything from the original book . i went into this film with low expectations  i knew it would have a crappy telemovie feel to it  but it even failed to meet these .  br    br   this is not a prequel  the only relationship it has with the original is the name . this is not the story of carlito brigante  it is the story of a totally different character who  s been given the same name . they have just totally spat in the face of every carlito  s way fan out there adding insult to injury by casting luis guzman  who plays a crucial character in the original movie  in a different role .  br    br   what  s most disappointing is that now that this film has been made no other film will be made addressing the original  untouched material of the book carlito  s way  something i really would have liked to have seen . i felt the same way about chopper  they have four books as well as interviews worth of fantastic non  fictional material and could have made a brilliant biography of australia  s most feared underworld figure  instead they made a ho  hum film about a deranged but strangely pathetic small time crook  though eric bana  s performance was spot  on  . now we will never get to see carlito  s real initial rise and fall .  br    br   the three stars is because  looking at it purely as a stand  alone flick  it is not so appalling  there are some decent performances  jay hernandez is no carlito but he could be good in other roles  and the story is not too bad . even puffy combs suits his role . but they totally misunderstand the nature of the underworld at that time  i am a bit of a crime  non  fiction buff   something which the original film and the books got right  having been written by then attorney and now judge edwin torres  .  br    br   the fact is though  it  s not a stand alone  it  s perhaps the most disappointing prequel ever filmed .  
i won  t go into too much detail about the plot of this movie as other reviewers have covered pretty much the same ground .  br    br   just wanted to say that i really enjoyed the film very much . peter falk  s performance alone is reason enough to watch the film .  br    br   a small scale  road trip  movie with falk  paul reiser in upstate ny in the fall is the setting for most of the action in the film .  br    br   very well written with an adult target audience in mind . plenty of reality based humor  some well played drama give the film a feeling that it could be your own family .  br    br   really can  t say enough about this film except that it  s a damn shame that a lovely movie like this doesn  t get more exposure while other trashy junk out there does .  br    br   it  s great to see falk with a big leading man role again  he makes the most of it . it proves that his famous friend  writer  director john casavettes was right in casting falk in many of his ground breaking films of the   s    s .  
wow . . . what can i say . . . first off imdb says this is in the late   s . . . which means carlito would be very close to going to prison  he got out in   and said he was in for  years . they used a bunch of nobody actors  and a story that didn  t even make sense . they bring back only one actor  guzman  and hes playing a totally different guy . why did it end with him and this puerto rican chick  wheres gale  he said he was in love with her before . wheres kleinfeld  he said he knew him forever . . . you  d think he  d have been in this one . and if this made sense  where are rocco and the black dude in the first one  it was all just stupid . . . this is an insult to pacino and the first film .  
paul reiser steps away from the standup comedy spotlight to write a warmly humorous and gently tender story about family  what we see and what we don  t see  what we expect and what surprises us . the thing about my folks doesn  t set any new standards for film  but it is a fine little story well told that reminds us about the significant bonds that family represents .  br    br   sam kleinman  peter falk  has been a workaholic  at times pushing his wife muriel  olympia dukakis   his daughters  mackenzie connolly and lydia jordan   and his son ben  paul reiser  into the background . one day muriel leaves a note that after years of marriage she is leaving  her daughters  along with ben  s wife rachel  elizabeth perkins  immediately begin the search for her whereabouts  leaving the confused and hurt and disgruntle sam to sort things out on a road trip with son ben . the road trip becomes a time for the two men to learn who each other is and what they each mean to their status as father and son and as family members . sam relaxes for the first time in his life and introduces the now workaholic ben to the pleasures and fun of living . the trip comes to an end with a phone call about the whereabouts of muriel and why she left and the regrouping of the wiser family draws the story  s warm ending . all is not what it seemed it  s better and  well  different .  br    br   falk and reiser play off each other like the pros they are  but in many ways the film belongs to the brief moments when olympia dukakis is on screen  reminding us that she is one of our strongest matriarchs on film . well worth viewing . grady harp  
this was just a terrible movie . it hurt me to watch it . almost every action was unmotivated within the context of the movie  the acting was really poor  p . diddy was the best actor which really says something about the movie  and the plot was generally predictable . some links to carlito  s way were okay  for example his dream of one day moving to the carribien  but on the whole they were weak . the love interest in my opinion was flat out wrong but hey that  s debatable . anyways i really wasn  t expecting much before watching the movie and i guess you could say even those expectations weren  t met . i feel bad for jay hernandez because he actually is a decent actor  friday night lights  . he  s lucky though because i  m sure there won  t be too many people watching this movie . i generally give movies a decent rating if they spark my interest at all so i  m gonna go ahead and give this one two stars . better luck next time . and yes i did enjoy carlito  s way .  
sam kleinman  peter falk  comes to his son  s place unexpectedly . his son ben kleinman  paul reiser  is quite surprised to hear that his mother  muriel kleinman  olympia dukakis  has left his father . ben  s wife  rachel  elizabeth perkins  and his three sisters try to find muriel while ben and his father go see a farmhouse that  s for sale . but that  s not the end of their journey . their road trip turns into a long therapy session between ben and his father . raymond de felitta is the director of the thing about my folks       . paul reiser is behind the screenplay and he has done a remarkable job . the dialogue between ben and sam is just amazing . and he did work with the script for twenty years so no wonder it  s this good . who would be better man to play the father than peter falk  nobody  i can tell you that . and i really love the story on why paul wanted peter falk for the part . peter was an actor who made his own father laugh . and peter certainly made me laugh in this movie . it  s just hilarious when they go fishing . and how the old guy beats the younger one in the game of pool and then beats him with the stick . the movie is often very funny and i found myself laughing several times . but it can also be touching from time to time . you couldn  t tell a story any better than it is told here .  
this movie is terrible . carlitos way       is a great film . goodgfellas it isn  t but its one of the better crime films done . this movie should be considered closer to the sting part  or maybe speed zone . remember those gems  the only reason this movie was made was to capitalize on the cult following of the original . this movie lacked everything de palma  pacino and penn worked so hard on . there wasn  t a likable character and that is the fault of everyone responsible for making it . i hope rise to power wins every razzie it possibly can and maybe even invent some new categories to allow it be a record holder . after i watched this st fest movie  i sat down and watched the original carlitos way to get th bad taste out of my mouth . after watching this i wish pachanga came and whacked me out of my misery .  
nice character development in a pretty cool milieu . being a male  i  m probably not qualified to totally understand it  but they do a nice job of establishing the restrictive victorian environment from the start . it isn  t as bleak as it really was and the treatment of women was probably even harsher . what makes this go is a wonderful chemistry among the principal characters . each has their own  thing  that they contend with . once they come out of the rain and break out of the spider webs  they begin to interact and slowly lose their sense of suspicion . what i enjoyed about this movie is that it didn  t go for cheap comedy when it could have . it didn  t try to pound a lesson into us . the people who seem utterly without merit are really nicely developed human beings who get to see the light . i did have a little trouble with the alfred molina character having such an epiphany so quickly  but  within this world  it needed to happen . good acting all around with something positive taking place in the lives of some pretty good people .  
already his first claim  that desires are always artificial  is totally fallacious .  br    br   when a jehovah witness reject gets his own documentary on movies  or anything for that matter  it  s time for anyone to get their own . although far  far more intelligent than  say  paris hilton  i know  not too difficult  zizek  s mouth spews just as much baloney as hers  just a different kind . he combines the worst from both his professional worlds psychoanalysis and philosophy . both fields are notorious for conveniently offering the expert bllsosopher plenty of leeway to create unprovable theories  to rant without a beginning or end  and to connect concepts almost randomly  in the process misusing the english language by creating a semantic jumble only a mother can love . example there are three main marx brothers hence what a  great  idea to connect them with three levels of human consciousness  the id  the ego and the super  ego . i  m kind of surprised he didn  t play a clip from  snowhite  and make an analogy between the seven dwarfs and the seven levels of gahannah  moslem hell  . it  s like the premise of schumacher  s  the number     play with numbers long enough  and you can come up with any kind of cockamamie theory you want  even linking ancient greeks with princess di  s death .  br    br   however  there is an entertainment element to tpgtc watching a raving lunatic sweat like a hog while uttering delusional chants masked as intellectual analysis can be quite a lot of fun . why watch  cuckoo  s nest  or any other madhouse drama when you can have zizek for more than  hours  it  s like watching an amusing train wreck . admittedly  he is almost funny on one or two occasions .  br    br   i have always been mystified by people who desperately try to elevate movie  making into an exalted intellectual social science . giving idiotic movies like  birds  this much thought  hence this much credit  probably has its fat creator laughing in his grave . the raw truth is that the vast majority of movies have zero intellectual value  and the few ones that do have some intelligence don  t require a shrink  turned  philosopher to draw one a map to understand them  unless one is a complete idiot . zizek sees layers and layers of meaning in the most banal movies . hallucinogenic drugs must be rather popular and cheap in slovenia these days . . .  br    br   when zizek showed the bathtub hole in the  psycho  shower scene  i thought he was going to say something about galactic black holes how they drain the life out of stars just as the bathtub hole sucks in janet leigh  s blood . or perhaps he could have said how the hole represents leigh  s vagina  with the blood flowing into it instead of out  as in menstruation   this representing some kind of  clever  zizekian  irony  . speaking of which  the real irony is that if hitchcock had really put that much thought into every scene  and the script   his movies wouldn  t have been the illogical  far  fetched crap that they often are . the point of these bathtub hole analogies was to show just how easy it is to improvise about  hidden  deep meanings  . and when you add zizek  s fanciful terminology from philosophy and psychology  layering these terms on top of these analogies like wedding cake decorations  you get a rambling jumble that can instantly impress the uneducated  i . e . the easily impressionable and the gullible .  br    br   zizek utters a number of  unintentionally  funny things here  one of the most absurd ideas being when he associates anthony perkins  s cleaning of the bloodied bathroom with  the satisfaction of work  of a job well done  . don  t laugh . . . neither hitchcock nor the writer of  psycho  could have ever even vaguely entertained this notion that perkins might be enjoying a job well done  the cleaning of a blood  stained toilet  while they were conceiving  directing that scene . talk about putting words into one  s  dead  mouth  but in the context of misinterpreting what the director had to  say  .  br    br   i like zizek  s initial thoughts on tarkovsky  s terrific  solaris   but then he has to ruin a rare good impression by dragging in  anti  feminism  and other nonsense into his theory .  br    br   zizek  s attitude towards logic is that of a dog toward its plastic bone .  i just want to play with it all day   logic has its rules  and is not supposed to be raped  at least not publicly  by the likes of him . he seems to regard logic  proof  common  sense  and reason as enemies or mere throwaway toys concepts to be either avoided  twisted to fit the end  goal  or simply annihilated . zizek is the lsd  tripped hippie  and all his favorite movies are his own personal       s .  br    br   the fact that zizek over  focuses on two of the most overrated directors  and ones whose films often lack intelligence  if anything  such as hitchcock and lynch  only further diminishes his already low credibility . i was surprised de palma didn  t feature more prominently that  s another lame director who writes inept scripts . zizek has a field day with lynch  s incomprehensible  lost highway  . there are just as many interpretations of that movie as there are people who watched it .  br    br   zizek  s comment that the viewer readily accepts von trier  s laughable   ground  breaking  physical set  up in  dogville  made me snicker .  br    br   however  zizek doesn  t only make up stuff as he goes along  he also indulges heavily in the  bleedin  obvious  . like all  social scientists   an oxymoron   he wraps his very trite  observations  into articulate  if full of spitting  and sometimes complex blankets of language . after all  sociology functions in precisely the same way it makes us believe we are hearing something new when in fact it  s what we already all know  but told in an eloquent way  which fools the more unobservant listener .  br    br   i was half  expecting for men in white suits to suddenly appear out of nowhere and strap him up in a loonie  suit . . .  br    br   slavoj zizek soon as a stalker in a kid  s park near you .  br    br   http   rateyourmusic . com  list  fedor       worst  cases  of  nepotism   
this film is one of those that has a resounding familiarity to it . it is earthy  grounded and a film that will make you think . . . and smile . paul reiser and peter falk take you on a journey that you will not forget . the soundtrack is beautifully varied and fitting and the film itself is like a breath of fresh air . this surely deserves recognition for both the film and the actors  finally  a piece of art that departs from the obvious love story and the frequent special affects that are seen today . never have i walked out from a movie with such deep warmth and feeling of thoughtfulness in my heart for it felt as if someone had just wrapped it in a fluffy fleece blanket . to see this film is to find a real treasure and delight in it .  
where can i begin . i heard this movie was coming out and i was very mad . i am a huge fan of the original carlito  s way and when i heard about this  i thought it would be just like almost all the other sequels that come out in hollywood . i thought it would be bad . boy was i wrong  this movie was much worse than i expected . not saying all sequels are bad  but thats the problem with hollywood these days  they make too many sequels and remakes and rush them . this was not a theater release  it is a dvd release . still  in my opinion  there was no reason at all for this to be made . after i heard about this film was in progress  i then later heard pacino was not in it . that right away killed any chance this movie had of being good . why did i check this movie out then some of you may ask  well i had the opportunity to see it so i did . i don  t only watch movies that i have high expectations of  i had low expectations on this one obviously . i just wanted to see if it would have anything relevant in it . now  if any of you reading this are a carlito  s way fan  you know a lot of the story in the first one has to do with him going to jail .  br    br   very minor spoiler i wont ruin anything  because this may actually make you not want to waste  hours watching this trash . all i will say is  in the end of carlito  s way   we don  t see carlito go to jail . now  i don  t know about any of you  but i would have thought a prequel to carlitos way would show how he ended up in jail . i even had some interest in actually seeing what happened .  br    br   now  thats not my only problem with the film . the actor who played carlito did not do too bad a job  but he could not have saved this film if he tried . there  s not even all those little things that should be thrown in there that carlito  s way fans would like . you don  t see any appearance of kleinfeld or other key characters in the first one  i would have liked to see something like that . what is even worse  is luis guzman is in this film  yet he doesn  t play the same character he plays in the first film . big mistake on their part  why cast the same actor for a different character  it made the movie worse than it already was .  br    br   bottom line  i am a carlito  s way fan  this new straight to dvd release is a disgrace . if you are a fan  don  t watch this movie coming in with high expectations . this movie did basically nothing for me  and it is definitely one movie i wont be picking up on dvd  or watching ever again .  
peter falk is a diverse and accomplished actor . the movie is well written and the acting seems like real life . for all lovers of columbo this is a superior piece of work . because it shows what a talent peter falk is . he doesn  t play a detective he plays a retired carpet salesman . by the time the credits begin to role you already want to watch it again . the interesting part of the movie is that the message will apply to every person that watches it the depth of its  pertinence will be the only thing that varies . it is a shame that the liberals in hollywood only promote smut and skin because this is the type of movie that the people in the business should be proud of . this would be a great movie to turn into a live stage play .  
every generation fully believes it is living in the end times . this has been true for thousands of years now . and movies like this feed on this . how did they get the great orson welles to narrate this train wreck  this is a documentary about the biblical prophecies of armageddon . it tries to link the prophecies as well as it can to what was happening in the times it was made  making it obviously dated and kind of silly .  br    br   the reenactments look like they are out of  unsolved mysteries  but without the high production values . people should have been embarrassed to take part in this .  br    br   in short  the movie is dated  silly  reactionary  and useless . good if you want a good laugh  but not good enough to actually look for .  
i was looking through the movie listings in my area on yahoo and seen a movie that had not been advertised . i looked closer and noticed that peter falk and paul reiser were in it . having watched  mad about you   once  i was not a fan of paul reiser . however  i am a big fan of peter falk . so the spouse and i took a chance . we were both swept into this story . the beautiful scenery  the heartfelt acting and the sense of family and moral values that are seldom seen in movies and the world today . not that sappy emoted junk  but real life situations from real life  like people . i even have to say  paul reiser was excellent  although  i still won  t watch  mad about you  . i don  t know where this movie has gone . i heard it was put out in limited release . it should be shared with the world . it is one of the finest movies i have seen . m .  
if you have seen friends  the writing will feel very familiar . especially the last  or  seasons of friends often share the same comedy setups .  br    br   the show is about a group of people whose connection is that they shared the same class when they were still rather young  about   years old i think  . now  they  re in their mid  twenties  and they meet again on a class reunion . this is where the series starts .  br    br   a typical episode deals with multiple story lines at once . they  re usually not connected in any way . each story line is cut up into multiple sections  which are then shown in a mixed order .  br    br   the sketches is where my problems lie with this series . as in the later seasons of friends  it  s often a rather silly setting with hard to believe situations . one of the main characters does something really stupid that  s hard to believe . the situation is then heavily exaggerated  as if it wasn  t silly enough . if you  re into this kind of in  your  face humor  then maybe you  ll like this series . for me it is a great turn  off .  br    br   the reason i started watching friends is because of the first few seasons . there are interesting and especially credible story lines  with some romance in it that makes you root for the characters . the class has none of this . the characters are simply too forced and stereotypes are pushed too far . it  s therefore not possible to relate to them and like them .  br    br   at least with friends  it took several seasons before it ran out of steam and the character traits were all milked out . but in the class  it seems it has run out of steam before it even started .  
so fortunate were we to see this fantastic film at the palm springs international film festival . upon entering the theater we were handed a small opinion card that would be used for our personal rating of the film . looking at the card i turned to my wife and said   how many movies in your life do you think you can rate as superb  only about  for me .  but then watching the interaction between peter falk and paul reiser while viewing the spectacular scenery in the film  s setting of new york state  i slowly starting bumping the movie up a category at a time . certainly it was good but the totally natural repoire of the actors and an award winning performance by a man who will unfortunately probably be remembered for a raincoat wearing detective rather than this film  the movie jumped to the excellent level .  br    br   by the end of the film there were few dry eyes in the house and my usually stoic and callous heart melted just like the grinch  s and i ended up giving this a superb .  br    br   this picture is a must for anyone who has parents . no violence or nudity but some strong language .  
the class is a comedy series that portrays a bunch of    year  old former class mates .  br    br   i like the idea of the show . that  s why it saddens me that the class is not funny  even though it has the obvious potential . it  s not enough corky  just dorky .  haha .  this is due to a slowish tempo and the lack of actually hilarious punch lines . also some actors have difficulties with timing .  br    br   most inventively written characters are the twins kat and lina warbler  lizzy caplan and heather goldenhersh  but even they seem just a little too square for the good of the show . on the other hand the characters i find most uninteresting are the main character ethan and the used  to  be  couple duncan and nicole .  br    br   what bothers me with the series is that the only latino character aaron is being picked on for his accent  even though by a non  respectable character  but anyway  .  
i saw this film back at the     palm springs international festival and of the   films i saw there i would rank this   . the     theater was full and at the end it received a standing ovation . this was classic peter falk if you are a falk fan and displayed a lot of chemistry between the peter falk and paul reiser characters . the film  s title seemed to long and too odd sounding to me . i am surprised this didn  t make it into general release . this was far better than the majority of junk that the major studios throw at you . maybe too adult in that it was geared to the baby boomer and senior audience . a lot of people could relate to situations in this movie . this will probably enjoy a revival of sorts years from now when people look back at this film and consider it a kind of a gem . i would rate this  .  to  .  on a scale of   and definitely recommend it .  
this show is awful . no comedy  no plot no good characters . america are you blind give the award to real shows . i hate this show along with   rock . honestly i  m so glad they canceled this show . thank you cbs . keep two and a half men  keep christine  keep rules of engagement keep how i meet your mother which really isn  t funny but a lot funnier than this . this show is a rip off of friends . with the same director so thats okay . but keep this show gone and never bring it back . never ever ever ever . the only reason i didn  t give it a  rating is because it keep my awake instead of asleep . those are the types of movies or tv shows that i give a one . the only reason i was still awake was because of the audiences laughter and i was looking forward to the next show . i really wish this show was funny sorry but my opinion stupid . very stupid . i don  t see why everyone loves it . my opinion again . but i also find big bang theory kinda stupid . my bad smart . the class bye bye now i have a smile and it is not from watching your show .  
i also viewed this film at the santa barbara film festival . it was an excellent film about adult family relationships . paul reiser wrote the film and included some similarities to his family . it was funny  warm  poignant  and moving  as well as entertaining . a film like this would do very well with the word of mouth reviews . i would definitely tell my friends and family to see this film . let  s only hope they  ll have the chance . i would rate this film as one of the best movies i  ve seen in a year . it contains no violence  action scenes  murders  sex  so evidently distributors question whether or not to pick it up . believe me  there are people out there who would love to go see a movie like this that has redeeming value  instead of the many typical big box office blockbusters we are usually given .  
horrible . i see many user comments on how great this show is . it truly is a wanna  be  friends  made in taiwan knockoff . the jokes are lame as . . . and the plot is ridiculous . the actors are obviously struggling to be funny and are probably cringing when they hit those awful punchlines  if you can call them that  . the bulk of the other users who have commented are obviously from another planet  or at least another continent  . there are obviously reasons that tv companies cancel shows . . . and none of then are when shows are doing well . make sense  anyway  steer clear  even if it is raining and there is absolutely nothing else on this planet to do . . . go stand in the rain instead  more fun .  
  the thing about my folks  came in as a surprise . we had no idea about what to expect . the film directed by raymond defelitta  and based on a screen play by one of its stars  paul reiser  proved to be a pleasant time at the movies . although the film is predictable and we know what will be the outcome  this is a voyage of discovery where ben gets to know his father  perhaps for the first time in his life  ben sees his father for what he really is  and not the mythical figure he has in his mind .  br    br   the film seems to be a vehicle for its star  peter falk  and he runs away with the movie  as it was expected . mr . falk  one of the most endearing actors working in movies in this era and in past years  is an actor of such stature  he must be reckoned with . as sam kleinman  the distant father to ben  he is a man that clearly is misunderstood  not only by ben  but it appears by the whole family and his wife of forty  seven years .  br    br   when muriel  the matriarch of the kleinman clan  runs away  everyone goes into a panic because this woman  who has been the strong figure of the family  is vital to keep everyone together . not knowing where she has gone  sam shows up at ben  s house confused as he feels abandoned  suddenly  by the woman he married and has been faithful for all those years .  br    br   ben  the youngest son  takes his father on a trip to look for a house he wants to buy so he can get his own family out of manhattan into the country . the trip provides the excuse for ben to bond with his father in ways he never knew about because the old man had always projected an aloof figure to his younger son . along the way  father and son realize how much they love one another and how misunderstood the old man has been by his children . the love of sam for muriel spans the many years they have known one another they seem inseparable .  br    br   peter falk is magnificent in the film . he makes an excellent sam kleinman  the man who suddenly realizes his life is about to change for the worst . mr . falk shines as the older man and there  s never a false movement in his interpretation of the man whose whole world is crumbling under him .  br    br   not being a paul reiser fan  we must confess that as ben kleinman  he is right . ben and his father discover how much in common they both have and their love for muriel  the mother that has sacrificed her life in order to keep the family together . olympia dukakis is only seen at the end of the film . she makes a good contribution as the fleeing mother . elizabeth perkins plays rachel with great style . .  br    br   the film has a beautiful look thanks to the cinematography of dan gillham  and the excellent musical score by steven argila . ultimately  the film shows a great team effort between its director  mr . defelitta and paul reiser who wrote it for the screen .  br    br   although this film is clearly targeted for an older audience  it should please anyone .  
as i am not a blood and guts fan i found the gory scenes totally unnecessary  you spell it  and too real for my liking  if you  re the type of person who gets their rocks off on beheadings on the internet or snuff movies i say go for it  it beggars belief what sort of person dreams this sick crap up though .  br    br   apart from that it had the potential to be a great movie  the music was top class too  through the movie and especially the end credits  . some parts though were a bit unbelievable  like you  ve just been found by your girlfriend trust up awaiting torture and death and all you do is tell her about what had happened and how you got there   why didn  t he ask her if she happened to have any wipes or even some air freshner or a piece of gum while he was at it    come on now  most would probably just scream  hurry up and untie me then lets get the f out of here quick   . where were the flys  maggots etc  and when the girl accidentally came across the place surely the stench of rotten flesh would have sounded a few alarm bells  i would only recommend this movie to friends of dennis niellson and the like  i  m sure a video like this would make sickos like that have a very happy christmas .  
i saw the film at the nashville film festival . it was beautifully done  from cinematography to the acting . it  s the story of a father and son  and how they come to appreciate each other during a family crisis . beautifully written with dialog that never rings false  the film showcases the acting talents of paul reiser and peter falk  among others in this outstanding cast . the film begins with the aging father  peter falk  is trying to figure out why his wife  olympia dukakis  has left him . the father presents himself  unannounced  on the doorstep of his son and daughter  in  law . the father and son take off the next day to look at some property and end up taking a classic road trip . they fish  play pool  watch a baseball game  get drunk  get involved in a barroom brawl  and dance with strange women . but more important  they each confront the unspoken tensions that can affect any family . it  s the kind of film that touches the heart and makes one appreciate those who are closest to them .  
a group of friends come face  to  face with a family of hideous cannibals whilst camping in the beautiful german countryside .  br    br   the  mutant cannibal family  concept is almost as old as the hills that the inbred freaks often call home  so any director attempting to breath new life into the genre needs to come up with something pretty darn special in order to impress . with barricade  timo rose tries to give the well  worn routine a teutonic twist  by transplanting the action to the black forest and giving it the german low  budget splatter treatment . the result is a very bloody  but totally unoriginal effort that is made almost unwatchable thanks to some dreadful directorial decisionsin particular  the non  stop use of fancy filters and irritating editing techniques .  br    br   had timo rose not opted to utilise every naff trick his editing software offered him  then barricade might have been a reasonably entertaining gore  fest his inexperienced cast do reasonably well the bloody effects are suitably stomach churning and there are one or two scares and even some well conceived creepy moments . all of this  however  is completely ruined by the awful camera  work  choppy editing  and overwhelming barrage of visual gimmickry used to give the film the distressed look that is so inexplicably popular with today  s film  makers .  br    br   i give barricade  out of   purely for the outlandish gore  which includes a nifty scene where a guy is forced to drink acid  loads of nasty wounds caused by a variety of sharp implements  and some pretty decent shotgun damage .  
okay  this film probably deserves  out of   stars  but i  ve voted for     to help offset the misleading rating from the handful of bozo  s who gave this film zero or  star reviews . each of the segments for this anthology shows great potential and promise for the talented filmmakers . . . three of whom have gone on to achieve notable success in big  time hollywood productions . performances range from rough all the way up to completely impressive  with notable turns by bill paxton  james karen  vivian schilling and brion james . martin kove may be a big melodramatic as the psychotic hypnotist with the bizarro strobe  lamp  and lance august seems intentionally dimwitted as an unsuspecting lab victim . but overall  it  s got some great laughs and some genuinely scary moments . definitely worth seeing  so judge for yourself   
well i just gave away   minutes and   seconds that i  ll never get back on this piece of trash . i heard someone online describe this movie  s villains as  subhuman cannibals   and i thought it was promising because i thought it would be like the descent . wrong  the descent was a psychological thriller with dynamic characters and strong storyline . these villains are totally unrealistic and no part of their performance is enjoyable to watch . this movie isn  t so controversial  i  ve seen this level of gore in many films . this movie plain sucks . synopsis a blonde who thinks she  s real hot  but she isn  t   her admirer  and her admirer  s friend  no  i don  t remember their names  go into the woods . their car breaks down . they are warned to leave by a man named mark . the blonde gets unreasonably hysterical and the next morning they can  t find the admirer  s friend . admirer impales his foot  whoops   . don  t worry  he is much more upset when his car won  t start than when he gets impaled by nails . after a nanosecond of coaxing  the blond leaves to find help . events ensue that i cannot remember . during this and throughout the movie  we are shown grotesque torture scenes with no substance including one that made me gag . blonde goes to save admirer from house of cannibals  even though all they are seen eating is intestines  which would logically be the last choice for real cannibals to eat since they contain actual food  . blonde finds admirer hurt and works very hard  unsuccessfully  to work up tears . then you get a good laugh when the blonde is in the house and announces she can  out think them  . mark  the man who warned them to leave  has a remarkable change of character when he reveals the cannibals are his family . then there is some shooting  they leave the house  the shooting continues  then a random guy shows up and says he  s been watching them . before he is shot  we are shown an acid  trip inspired scene of more killing . the blonde or her admirer shoots him because he did not help them . there  s more killing  the admirer professes his love for the blonde . then a mysterious hand covers the camera . what does that imply  i don  t know  hopefully not a sequel .  
one woman  by herself in a house for    minutes of screen time  doesn  t sound like a formula to hold you on the edge  of  your  seat . . . but future shock is truly as thrilling as they come  writer  star vivian schilling takes on those little fears we all suppress  and enlarges them to terrifying proportions  so don  t watch this film alone   
wow  after trashing the disk of timo roses  rout city  after about   minutes  south park is about more than meaningless cursing . . . i guess some people just don  t get it  i was interested in this movie . i read quite some positive stuff and the packaging and look of the movie seemed far from the total trash i expected after  rout city  .  br    br   surprise the movie isn  t total trash but the problem seems to be exactly that . timo rose tries to walk in the footsteps of german horror  splatter cinema like olaf ittenbach and the likes . that means  barricade  is in parts extremely gory and detailed . the gore fx are not really believable but ok  the acting is ok but in some cases plain sucks . the hillbilly chick in the opening sequence is ridiculous and doesn  t get better till she  s shot .  br    br   so what is the problem . . . the movie is gory  has a typical german underground vibe  including the classic booby shots in blood   ok fx and a modern feel to it like the packaging already promised    br    br    . the script is total bs . you get a typical hillbilly  lost in the woods story with some guysgal camping out and meeting a degenerated hillbilly family . everything is just leading towards the torture  mutilation scenes and seems unbelievably random and pointless . this is the first thing that makes  barricade  half  hearted .  br    br    . random is also the perfect description for a lot of the camera work  i liked the repetitive cut to the tweezers in the extended booby torture scene . . . either they had no material or the editor works in a hardware store  . even worse the editing . . . sure  its modern and far better than a lot of other movies in the genre but its random . you got an overuse of that typical exposure effect everywhere and with no meaning . . . its just there . . . all the time . then there  s some grainy  noisy film look which also is just thrown in here and there for the sake of it  i don  t get the meaning .  br    br    . like the fore  mentioned effects there is a lot of repetitive stuff in here . for example most of the kills are edited with multiple repetitions of stabbing and punching . its ok once but here its annoying and fake  especially towards the end . annoying also attributes the  music  which is permanently used without any change in the background . it doesn  t take long until it makes the movie hardly bearable .  br    br    . from all this comes the biggest problem of this movie  and many others in my opinion  . if you make a splatter movie with trashy feel its pretty idiotic to polish it with special fx and new school editing . it looks like they take it way too serious . its no fun because the decent gore fx are plain wasted in this context . and where the classic gore fx are ok the computer fx in scenes like the stabbing in the mouth or the gunshots in the ending look rather silly  and  d splatter mostly sucks to me even in movies with a budget and decent  d artists  .  br    br   i often wondered if the time of serious splatter movies is over and  barricade  is just another example it might be time to put it in the tomb . its no fun  has no character and is too trashy for its look . the script is a cheap try on  wrong turn  and  tcm  leading absolutely nowhere . you can take that literally . . . the ending is just there and as random as many other things here   i love you  in a splatter flick . . . come on    .  barricade  tries to incorporate a lot and fails . . . you can sure fast  forward through this movie for some extensive disembowelment  acid face melting  nipple pinching and classic friday the   th style stabbing of a couple while fingering in a tent  bloody boobies hooray   . but its really hard to get through this . total failure especially because you can see it could have been something .  
two thirds of nearly      imdb users who have voted on this film have rated it at    or   and one user reports wearing out six videotapes  was this a record  or merely a faulty vcr   . although the film is primarily intended as a period piece it clearly has a quite unusual fascination . but for some reason i imagined it as largely whimsy and until recently never felt the urge to watch it . my mind was changed by elizbeth von arnim  s original book . my wife loves reading but her sight no longer allows her to read much so she borrowed it in talking book form . such books are usually irritating to a companion who is busy with other things  but i gradually came to appreciate that this one was seductively soothing  although in no way syrupy  and was also very well written . i realised my wife would enjoy watching the film  and so decided to buy her the videotape . i am now very glad that i did  and would certainly recommend its purchase to anyone else who appreciates a quiet reflective work with no fireworks but with well constructed character development and a very successful pre  mussolini italian atmosphere . the story is set in the immediate post ww  period and starts with two married london ladies who decide to pool their savings and enjoy a holiday together  away from their families  in a rented villa in italy . force of circumstances lead to this couple being joined by two others with very different characters and backgrounds . its theme is essentially no more than the interactions that take place as their holiday progresses  not only between these four very disparate mature ladies  but also with the occasional male visitor . if you want action  thrills  dramatic sex scenes  natural or man  made disasters  or harlequin style romances this would not be the film for you . but imdb users have collectively and very emphatically demonstrated that none of these are necessary for a film to prove highly rewarding to watch  and if you care to give it a try you may  as i did  come to rank it among your much loved films .  br    br   it is fairly rare for me to watch a film of a book with which i am already familiar . in many cases i find this takes some of the pleasure away from watching the film  but here there is such a strong visual appeal in the setting that i actually found my pleasure augmented by the anticipation of seeing the next segment of the book  effectively unrolled before my eyes .  perhaps italy itself has some part in this  the last time i had this experience was when i was watching tales from boccaccio  s decameron on tv .  generally films of books tend to increase the dramatic level of the original work to ensure that the filmed version has an even wider appeal  but here if anything it is reduced in order to keep the viewers attention on the gradual character development rather than on any background events . this works very well  although changes from the book are few and basically the film remains true to the original story . great credit is due to the director  mike newell  and all members of the cast  particularly those well known british actresses who play the four principal ladies .  
an old intellectual talks about what he considers art in movies . you get your hitchcock  your chaplin  your bergman and some other stuff prior to the   ies . to disguise that he has no clue what is going on in cinemas these days  he throws in the matrix .  br    br   but it  s not only the same lame film  as  art speech all over again . this speech is reduced to outdated psychological platitudes it  ego  super ego  anal phase  sexual insufficiency .  br    br   it is garnished with the cheesy effect of having zizte edited into the movies he is taking about . for someone who is supposed to know much about movies  his own is  cinematographicly speaking yeiks .  br    br   to put it in zizek  s own words  i saw       on the screen  last night  or in the words of a great movie maker  br    br   mr .  zizek   what you  ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things i have ever heard . at no point in your rambling  incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought . everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it . i award you  two  points  only   and may god have mercy on your soul .  
in this grim melodrama  barbara stanwyck plays the eldest of three wealthy sisters who become orphans when their father dies in france . threatened with the danger of losing the opulent family home  big sister makes a grand sacrifice and secretly marries a real estate developer so she can inherit her . . . aunt  s fortune . a few years later  she learns that he is after the family estate and wants to tear it down so she leaves him and tries to stop him . more time passes and the husband ends up taking her to court when he learns that she has borne him a son without telling him . the part of  gig young  was played by actor byron barr who later assumed the name before he became famous .  br    br   anyone interested in purchasing a copy let me know by writing to me at iamaseal  yahoo . com  
first of all let me say that i had to think a lot about writing a comment for this movie . the best review for this kind of cinema can be just the silence . movie addressed to housewives and to grandmothers . this movie tries to look  genuine  and the characters should be supposed  real people  . an italian could never think that the characters might be  real   they are just  low  profile  stereotypes . it gives a very misguised vision of what life is in the italian countryside . the plot is weak  plot  which plot   and the humour does not make laugh anyone older than   .  
this was probably one of the most well  made films of the    s  warner bros . at the very height of their style . the photography by sol polito is arguably his finest achievement  gorgeous compositions and lighting with delicate shadowing . max steiner contributes one of his most complex and beautiful scores  the epitome of his classical leit motif method . the music adds great emotion and excitement to the plot and is exquisite and memorable . it  s interesting to note that the same production team that made this movie went right on to make  now  voyager  later that year  a fine film which won honors and awards and went down as a historical favorite  ciefly because it starred bette davis . in my opinion   the gay sisters  is a much better film  better made in all departments  and more interesting  complex and enjoyable . a most unusual film which entertains those who take it for what it is  rather than project their own modern creative sensibilities or their advanced and demanding standards of hyper  critical perfection . each thing has to be judged in it  s own time reference and for what it is trying to achieve on its own terms . most of the complaints i  ve read in these reviews are so childish and totally missing the point . if you  re hungry for a perfect filet mignon  don  t go to the bakery counter and start whining and complaining about the fluff pastry . the art of film criticism is truly lost on a large segment of the population . sorry folks  maybe if this movie had had a score by the rolling stones and a hundred intricate and soul searching subplots  you  d all be gleefully gratified . i  ll take an old movie without modern intellectual pretensions an day of the week   
using footage pillaged from planet of dinosaurs this shot on video  except for the stolen footage  concerns a bunch of people shot into space who land on a dinosaur planet that is . . . don  t wait for it  is really earth . its a five minute sketch stretched to   minutes . slightly better than chickboxer  another in the bad movie police series   having a nostalgic home movie feel coupled with good stolen effects  this movie is still an impossible slog to get through . i  m left to ponder the question are we becoming so uncreative that we  re now pillaging old movies not only for plot but also for mismatched footage  clearly low budget producers are getting so desperate they really will give us anything to take our money  
three girls  the youngest descendents of the gaylord family  one of america  s most royal families  are orphaned at a young age . right before he goes off to france to fight in wwi  their father tells the oldest  fiona  never to sell the land . by the time the sisters have become adults  they have had to squander most of their money to pay for lawyers to defend their property . through certain loopholes in the father  s will  a man named charles barclay stands to gain possession of the gaylord land  on which he wants to build a complex called barclay circle . barclay is actually based on john d . rockefeller  who was buying up land and buildings from affluent families in new york so he could build rockefeller center .  br    br   this film deals mostly with the melodramatic concerns of the three sisters . fiona  well played by barbara stanwyck  although it  s certainly not to be counted as one of her best roles  seems like a cold  domineering woman  and it becomes clear that she has some skeletons in her closet . susanna  played by nancy coleman  is a little ditsy and completely in love with a young modern artist named gig young . coleman  s was my favorite performance in the film . evelyn  played by geraldine fitzgerald  is a rather pretentious seductress with a monocle who married into noble blood in england  but that doesn  t stop her from trying to steal gig from her sister . the three sisters are developed quite well but  as is the major trend in the gay sisters  never well enough . charles barclay is played by george brent . he isn  t very good . well  he would be satisfactory if the story had played out the way it should have  but he always seems like a scumbag in the film . when we  re asked to sympathize with him late in the film  it  s impossible . gig young is played by  huh   gig young . no  he  s not playing himself . what happened is that the actor  who had acted in several movies previously under his real name  byron barr  was pressured by warner brothers to change his name to something more catchy . i  m not sure who made the final choice  but he eventually changed his screen name to gig young  after the character whom he plays in the gay sisters . weird  eh  young is quite good through most of the film  but the script does some unfortunate things with his character late in the film which ultimately harm the audience  s sympathy for him . in two other supporting roles  helen thimig and gene lockhart are quite good .  br    br   the gay sisters had great potential to turn out to be one of the great cinematic family sagas . the characters are all interesting  as are their situations . unfortunately  the script never strives for anything more than the simplest melodrama . if it had made the interrelationships of all the major characters more complex  fleshed out  for example  the rivalry between evelyn and susanna or made the flashback more intricate  the film could have been fantastic . it also could have fleshed out the prologue more  let us know more about the gaylord family . we need to care more about the characters and we need to sympathize with them more . and the ending needed some major fixing . it basically just gives up at the end . fiona  s problems are solved so poorly that it hurts . whatever sympathy her character had gained as the film progressed falls apart . it  s also far too happy . this story seems moving towards tragedy  or maybe just a sense of historical significance or loss . and we still hate barclay . and the conflict between the two sisters and gig is never solved . as bad as fiona  s story ends  susanna  s  gig  s  and evelyn  s is even worse .  br    br   i still liked the film . it  s thoroughly watchable  even if it doesn  t involve us like other great films of the era .      mostly for its potential . it should have been remade  or the novel should have been re  adapted  at some point during the studio era . it is too dated to be remade now . the     s would have been the best time  during the time of films like giant .  
a group of human looking aliens going to earth to eat crash land on a planet of prehistoric beasts instead where they all eat physcedelic mushrooms and act retarded . padded with footage from  planet of the dinosuars  and horrible jokes this is definitely one to miss . the acting is atrocious as well  and while this isn  t as bad as  chickboxer   what movie can be   this is still pretty awful repugnant stuff . it  s   minute running time feels like an eternity and you will likely be cursing life so do yourself a huge favor and just move on  skip this crappy film  there  s nothing to see here .  br    br   the film  makers try to resell this turd as a mst  k style making fun of the movie they made a decade before  and it works to an extent it  s still nothing that watchable though  ariauna albright is hot  but lilith stabs has a pretty unattractive speaking voice .  br    br   my grade d   br    br   dvd extras joke commentary    behind the scenes featurette  minute into the black featurette jessica mills reporting stills gallery and original trailer  
it  s a little disconcerting to have a character named gig young in a movie . . . played by gig young . but this film is where gig got his name and also a nice career boost after playing small parts under another name .  br    br   i  m going to go against the majority of the other comments and state that i really enjoyed this film  mainly because of the vibrant performance of barbara stanwyck as fiona . she was funny  angry  vulnerable  caring  and feisty as the oldest of three daughters whose mother died on the lusitania  and whose father was later killed during woar war i .  br    br   as the  man  of the house  fiona has stood steadfast for years against settling her father  s will which would therefore allow a donald trump type named charles barclay to get the family home . but fiona  s keeping a secret as to why she hates barclay so much . geraldine fitzgerald is the middle  flirty sister  who is married to an englishman but craves her youngest sister  s boyfriend  gig young  .  br    br   if you  re a stanwyck fan  this is a no miss .  
it is difficult to find any positives in this movie . seems as though the producer needed to make a buck without much effort  hence we are treated to a full showing of galaxy which is the lamest excuse for a movie in history . the police girls looked extremely sexy in their little uniforms . more action shots of the two cops  a lot less of galaxy would have been the way to go . of course that would add to the budget so they decided to fill the space with that wretched rerun . ms albright does excellent looking sexy  her acting is first rate . ms stabs whom i had heard of but not seen on screen before also looked very desirable but seems to lack basic acting talent . apart from ms albright this is real garbage .  
i had never heard of robert roy macgregor before  rob roy  came out  but the movie is definitely worth seeing . playing the title character  liam neeson brings the same spirit to the role that he brought to oskar schindler  and jessica lange also does a really good job as his wife mary . archibald cunningham  tim roth  is one person very likely to make your skin crawl .  br    br   all in all  this comes out as good as  braveheart   maybe even better  . i laugh when i think of how hollywood released two movies almost back  to  back taking a swipe at england . very good . also starring john hurt  eric stoltz  brian cox and jason flemyng .  
i find it hard to understand why this piece of utter trash was repackaged . the only saving grace in the whole thing is the body of ariauna in her sexy uniform . her humour is also to be appreciated . she is a definite plus but alas it would take a magician to salvage this garbage . however she must be positively recognised for her heroic effort  true professionalism . can  t say the same for her co star lilith with her whining voice that grates on your nervous system . appeared disinterested  gave the impression that just her presence on the set was all that was needed . all said apart from ariauna  s performance it is indeed utter trash .  
i first saw rob roy twelve years ago . with little money for entertainment  i rented it for my fianc and i to watch on a bone chilling winter  s night . the movie i had wanted was gone  so i rented this instead  not expecting much  and was very much surprised with how good it was . i just recently watched it again  and loved it every bit as much as the first time .  br    br   for those unfamiliar with the story  it  s about scottish outlaw robert roy macgregor  a cattleman and folk hero . from the little i know about the man and his story  liberties have been taken with the facts  but it  s a movie  not a textbook  and so the filmmakers can be excused . basically  the plot of the movie is that rob roy borrows money from the marquis of montrose to buy cattle which he then intends to sell and reap a large profit from . but  his plan is foiled when the friend entrusted with the money is robbed of the cash and murdered in the forest . our hero finds himself on the run after failing to settle the matter with the marquis  and mary  his wife  suffers a sadistic rape at the hands of archibald cunningham  a smarmy englishman with no soul . atrocities ensue  until  in an immensely satisfying conclusion  rob carves archibald up like a christmas turkey .  br    br   there are many great performances in this movie  but allow me to touch specifically on a few . liam neeson  as usual  is fantastic  a sexy beast you can  t take your eyes off of . honestly  this man is like ice cream even when he  s bad he  s good . his rob roy is an honourable man struggling to provide for those who depend on him  in the best way he knows how . jessica lange  as mary  gives this woman a fierceness which is a nice change from the simpering  dull movie wives audiences are usually forced to endure . you just know she doesn  t take any b . s from rob  or anyone else for that matter . tim roth is completely over the top with his portrayal of the evil archibald  yet somehow  it works . all the posturing and preening  combined with some wicked dialogue  result in one of the most memorable movie villains in recent memory . combine all of this  and the stellar work by other supporting players  with the luscious scenery of scotland  and you have what amounts to one really  really cool movie . if you haven  t seen this  i highly recommend that you do .  
ariauna albright is a really good actress but why she participated in this lame written travesty is a mystery . what could have been entertaining winds up as classic boredom . the unique thing about ariauna is that she can act as well as look real sexy as opposed to her partner lilith stabs who looks fine but it is obvious she spent the money for acting school at the spa or beautician . this was a production that cried out for some t  a  with a imaginative script writer could have achieved it in the flow of things . however ariauna does what she can under the circumstances  to a extent salvages her reputation . the tempe company should be aware that when you dress two attractive women in skimpy fetish cop uniforms the viewers will expect some fetish play  t  a . nough said .  
the year      when so many people talked about the great premiere of braveheart by mel gibson  also saw another very fine  yet underrated movie on scottish history  rob roy . although it is a very different film  especially due to the historical period the story is set in  rob roy has much in common not only with marvelous braveheart but also with the very spirit of epic movies .  br    br   it is a film that discusses similar themes  like fight for dignity  courage  honor  revenge  family being a key to happiness . it also leads us to the very bliss of scottish highlands where the human soul finds its rest being surrounded by all grandeur of nature . robert roy macgregor  liam neeson   the main character is a true hero  so universal in epics   sort of  scottish robin hood  who struggles to lead his people out of oppression imposed by cold hearted lords . although he worsens his situation through the acts  has to suffer a lot  two things stay in his mind undeniably honor that he is given by himself and love to his woman  mary macgregor  jessica lange  . that leads him to unexpected events . . .  br    br   except for the interesting content and quite vivid action  the movie is filled with truly stunning visuals . this factor has to do both with the sets and locations of the film as well as the wardrobe . many memorable moments stay in the mind of any viewer who can allow themselves an insight into artistic images . for me  the most splendid scene was in the highlands when rob roy tells his boys what honor really means . then  he sends them away and beautifully makes love to his woman . the scene he escapes marguis of montrose  john hurt  to the waterfall is also worth a look as a stunning visual .  br    br   of course  there is some graphic violence  like in the duel for instance  but i don  t think that this violence would be as harmful as in many other modern films . its justification is like any other epic  s bloodshed and cruelty of those times were really serious and there would be no point in hiding it . the most disturbing scene  for me  was the rape done on rob roy  s wife by the villain of the story archibald cunningham  tim roth  . it  s truly disgusting and kids should definitely stay away . however  all the rest is o . k . yet  there is one aspect that made me really love this movie  the performances .  br    br   all the cast do perfect jobs  from the leading lian neeson who fits very well to the role of tall  brave  strong scottish man to the supporting cast of brian cox who portrays wicked killearn  a silent witness of terrible acts who feels comfortable with the evil of war . jessica lange is very fine as mary macgregor and has some of the most beautiful moments in the film . there is chemistry between ms lange and mr neeson in many of their scenes . john hurt  one of the best british actors  does a terrific job as marguis of montrose  a corrupted man for whom money is the aim in itself achieved by any means . i like that calmness of his portrayal . but the real villain is played by tim roth who truly depicts wretched side of his character  archibald  a man who mocks love  who loves war and who finds true lust in rape and slaughter . but  like in any good epic  this exceptional evil must find its end . . .  br    br   and one more aspect the musical score such memorable and sentimental tunes that are bound to sound in the ears for long . the final moment touched me to tears not only because of the beauty it conveys but because i deeply combined these blissful tunes with the grandeur of locations . scotland remains in the heart of its visitor and this movie reminded me of that permanent effect . it was  as if  my second journey to scotland .  br    br   rob roy is a very nice movie  very well directed  photographed and acted . it perhaps does not equal braveheart with its spectacular sets and crowds of extras in battle scenes  but it is a fairly long film with much attention placed on one very significant feature a cinema should have stunning entertainment combined with heartfelt education . i really enjoyed that film  do not hesitate to call it metaphorically  highlands of entertainment  and rate it      
way back when  the x  files was an intelligent  thought  provoking show . a big part of its appeal was that the writers looked to folklore and science for their ideas  tying the plot to the spooky side of real life .  br    br   i was incredibly wary of the  th season when it aired . the show had already provided two perfectly good episodes to bow out on   one son  and  requiem    and the  th season had seen a sharp rise in episodes that scraped the barrel for ideas that were far  fetched  implausible  or downright silly . but i figured  hey  give it the benefit of a doubt  maybe they  re bringing it back because they  ve got some great ideas lined up .  br    br    roadrunners  really was upsetting . following  patience   which at least offered an interesting angle on the vampire folklore that the show had done well to avoid  the episode sees a strange  alien   parasitic slug with the power of mind control worshipped by a cult of backwoods christians . oh  and they think it  s the second coming of christ  but you only find that out in the last couple of minutes . seriously . there  s never any attempt to make sense of this  to explain what the slug is  why anything that  s happening is happening  or anything . even in the show  s early years  in fact  especially then  you could expect a little bit more depth  a bit of background  or if not that then the opposite  a bit of mystery  some uncertainty about what this was all about .  br    br   it  s scully that really kills it though . you could put up with the silliness of the premise  but to have a character who has been developed over a good  years as a rational skeptic transformed into a gullible maverick purely for the sake of advancing the plot is bizarre to watch . you feel like you  re watching some godawful teen horror  except that it  s a woman well into her thirties throwing herself into the kind of creepy isolated community that she  s spent the best part of a decade uncovering the sinister underbelly of  being either outwitted by very stereotypical hicks or utterly indifferent to her own safety . oh  and by the way  doggett  the new mudler  isn  t around . scully just wandered off into the desert to look into a brutal murder on her own without him . he shows up at the end to save the day  i can  t even remember why  but apart from that  he  s not really in it . again seriously .  br    br   in short  it feels like either a generic script written for another show  or someone  s pet movie project which they  ve been allowed to shove like a mutant leech into the spine of an existing  long  running show at a time when it was at its most vulnerable . it might  ve worked on a lesser show  where the characters are more archetypal and the audience expects less . but the x  files had a good thing going  and scully was one of the strongest and most idiosyncratic tv characters of the   s . deciding that you  re going to change her personality for the sake of a story that they must  ve done on star trek a good fifty or so times is pointless .  
i haven  t seen this film in years so my knowledge is a little rusty . i do remember thinking that this film is twice the film of braveheart . it is simply more realistic and has more believable characters . ridb roy looks like one would imagine rob roy to look like  messy hair and beard with simple clothing . also the liam nesson has a celtic look about him  he looks like a scot and more importantly looks like rob roy . it  s a comparison which angers some people but compare him to mel gibson as william wallace . gibson is supposedly playing a man who  s legend has caused him to be described as a  foot  giant while gibson is almost a foot shorter . the story contains a little romance  conspiracy and an underdog story . sound anything like braveheart  but instead of a film that cries out  freedom   liberty and nationalism we get a film which says honour  love and justice . this makes it a more interesting film . much like gladiator . the cast is fantastic and liam nesson is a very strong leader in this endeavour . the story is great with how it deals with heroism and humanity . the scene where mary is raped and she walks out of the burning house with a look of true scottish strength is followed by her washing the semen from her crotch in an extreme panic . this is something a heroine in braveheart would never do . overall this is a stunning and almost flawless watch . go and see it   
one of boris karloff  s real clinkers . essentially the dying karloff  looking about    years older than he was  is a scientist in need of cash to finish his experiments before he dies . moving from morocco where his funding is taken over by someone else he goes to the south of france where he works a s physician while trying to scrap enough money to prove his theories . desperate for money he makes a deal with the young rich wife of a cotton baron who is dying . she will fund him if he helps her poison the husband so she can take his money and carry on with a gigolo  who i think is married  . if you think i got that from watching the movie you  re wrong  i had to read what other people posted to figure out happened . why  because this movie had me lost from two minutes in . i had no idea what was going on with its numerous characters and multiple converging plot lines . little is spelled out and much isn  t said until towards the end by which time i really didn  t care . its a dull mess of interest purely for karloff  s performance which is rather odd at times . to be honest this is the only time i  ve ever seen him venture into bela lugosi bizarre territory . its not every scene but a few and makes me wonder how much they hung out .  
this is a very exciting and romantic film . i have seen it several times and never get bored with it . everything is realistic and it is a good plot . the actors are excellent liam neeson  jessica lange  tim roth and brian cox .  br    br   i actually prefer this film to braveheart as braveheart contain so many historical misstakes . there is many exciting scenes  watch out for the bridge scen and the last fencing scene . this is really good and surprising scenes .  br    br   the music are lovely . . . it really suits to the movie . the setting is amazing .  
this has been put out on the dvd market by alpha  and it  s for die  hard boris karloff fans  like moi  only . it  s not a horror flick  but a drama where boris is a struggling scientist agreeing to kill a wealthy woman  s husband in order to gain the fortune needed to continue with his work . but once the dying victim changes his will and leaves his spouse nothing  all hell breaks loose .  br    br   it  s appeasing enough seeing karloff as another selfish sinister type  and some of the acting is unintentionally hilarious  especially from the leading lady mona goya who is absolutely a laugh riot as the double  crossed wife  .  br    br   but proceed with much caution .  
i loved this movie . the scenery was breathtaking  the plot had some nice twists and turns  and the characters were well rounded . on two fronts  however   rob roy  scored far above average . first  i have rarely seen a  popular  film in which the quality of dialogue was so high . there were many verbal slashes and thrusts to accompany the brilliantly choreographed swordplay . i could give numerous examples  but why should i  just watch the film . second  this movie understood a principle rarely acknowledged any more . for a drama to succeed  it needs not only a hero  but a really believable villain . if you don  t have one  there  s not much joy in rooting for the good guys . and  rob roy  has not one  but three   the earl of montrose  his henchman kilairn  and archie . not one  dimensional villains  either  but fully fleshed and very nasty . it takes a bit more patience than  braveheart    there  s more dialogue  and the accents are a bit tough  but it  s a much more clever and subtle piece .  as i said  i loved this movie    
spoilers spoilers juggernaut is a british made  thriller  released in the us by first national . karloff is dr . sartorius who has to leave his research because his funds have dried up . karloff is forced to retreat to france and start up a medical practice . he is propositioned by a conniving woman who wants to get rid of her much older husband . she knows karloff needs the money .  br    br   karloff agrees to the proposition and soon becomes the personal doctor of the husband . all the while  the wife is prancing about town with the local no good playboy . karloff finally injects the old geyser with poison and he kicks off . however  his son  from another marriage  arrives a few days before the killing and finds out the will has been changed . when he spills the beans to the wife  she goes berserk and even bites the son  s hand .  br    br   meanwhile  karloff  s nurse has misplaced the hypo karloff used to kill the old man . when karloff finds out he isn  t getting any money  he asks the wife to poison the son . the nurse suspects karloff and finds the missing hypo . analysis shows poison  but not quite in time as karloff kidnaps the nurse .  br    br   to make a long story short  the nurse escapes  gets the police  and manages to save the son who is about to be injected by karloff . karloff instead injects himself and dies .  br    br   this movie does have some good points . karloff is possessed and plays the type of mad doctor he did in the devil commands and the man who lived again . it is peculiar  however  to see him walk around stiffly and slightly hunched over . we never find out why he is walking this way . i suspect the director thought it made him more sinister .  br    br   the actress playing the   timing wife overacts something terrible . she has a french accent . even though she overacts badly  you still manage to hate her  or maybe you hate her because of her acting . . .  .  br    br   a little below average for a karloff vehicle . if you buy the sinister cinema vhs copy  the audio is a bit choppy .  
i absolutely loved this movie . i am not even sure what particularly about it but i think it was wonderful and should be available for dvd . the women were strangers and yet got along well enough to spend the time they did in the villa in italy . the actors  in my opinion  did an excellent job . the characters were all so different and yet clever story that made it work . there is humor  drama and relationship issues all in good time . this requires   lines but i just can  t think of any more to say so i will just rattle on until i get   lines . so sorry about this . what else can i possibly say it has been a long time since i last saw it . i am looking forward to view again but it isn  t available .  
if you  ve ever been harassed on the underground by a christian who says   jesus is the answer . what  s the question    then perhaps you should thank god if you  ve never met a lacanian . slavoj zizek  the most evangelical of lacanians  would surely exchange the word  jesus  in that statement for  lacan  hegel  .  br    br   zizek  s star burns brightly at the moment  no doubt because we generally view films and pop culture purely as entertainment for our consumption . so it seems impressive when someone  anyone  comes along and says   hang on  films may say something about ourselves .   br    br   the ideas zizek expounds in this film are  true  purely because he says so . for example  zizek explains that three marx bros are the ego  superego and id  god knows what happened to zeppo  or gummo  perhaps they  re the sinthome . . . or is that movies themselves   . this is simply what they are . in zizek  s output  culture is not there to be investigated but merely to be held as an example of his ideology . people may object that he certainly has something to say  but how different is what he says from the christian attributing everything to god  s will   br    br   what  s wrong with taking examples  from films or anywhere  to illustrate theory  well  nothing at all . as zizek seems to believe  they may even serve as a proof . however  it is merely cant and propaganda when these examples are isolated from their context . without context  you can say and prove anything you want . for zizek  lacan is the answer  so he goes and makes an example of it . everything but everything resembles the teachings of the master and culture is there to bear this out  to serve this ideology . for instance  zizek  s exemplar of the fantasy position of the voyeur is taken from a scene in vertigo when jimmy stewart spies on kim novak in a flower shop . but  in the context of the film  this is not a voyeur  s fantasy position at all . stewart has been deliberately led there by novak . this presentation of examples isolated from their context continues throughout zizek  s two hour and a half cinematic sermon .  br    br   his analysis of the  baby wants to f     scene in blue velvet is laughable . touching lightly on what he appears to consider to be the horrific  to the masculine  truth of  feminine jouissance   zizek says that isabella rossilini  s character not only demands her degradation but is  unconsciously  in charge of the situation . this is an example of her  jouissance  . well . . . possibly . but  sorry to be prosaic  where is the evidence for this  in the film  she partially undergoes her humiliations because hopper has kidnapped her son . zizek may object that she also evidently enjoys rough sex with kyle maclachalan . but this may be due to any number of things . isn  t that the point of so  called feminine  jouissance   according to lacan  feminine jouissance  unlike phallic jouissance  cannot be articulated  it is beyond the phallic capture and castration of language . if this is right  then no example can be made of it . it also means that the entire concept is non  sensical and entirely mystical . it can only be designated by dogmatists such as zizek  there  s feminine jouissance for you  why is this feminine jouissance  because i say so .   br    br   what example can really be garnered from these films  only zizek  s psychology . why does he keep inserting himself into his favourite films  even to the point that  when in a boat on botega bay  he says he wants to f    rod steiger too  is this not the wish  fulfilment of someone who spends his life critiquing films  as the saying goes  freud would have a field day with the pervert  s guide to the cinema  but with zizek himself  nobody else .  br    br   zizek  s theory that films show us how we desire may be right on the face of it  but these films cannot be strict universal examples of psychoanalytical laws . this film illustrates how zizek desires and only extremely vaguely  as to be almost useless  how the rest of us desire . for  as any psychoanalyst knows  how we desire and what we desire cannot be fully separated  and cannot be easily universalised  if at all . zizek  s love of making everything an example of lacan  s answer bears this out how do we desire  like this  this is how i do it . problem is  in zizek  s desire  everything and everyone else is rationalised into his desire . but zizek is a leninist and they certainly don  t like letting the  subject  speak for itself .  br    br   the pervert  s guide to the cinema is a summation zizek  s love of dogma and is entirely unphilosophical even if it remains very political  what dogma isn  t   . zizek has never questioned exactly what his motives might be when embarking on an analysis  what he is trying to discover  because the terms of his exploration  and therefore his ethics in doing so  are never put into question .  br    br   zizek is extremely prolific but all his books and this film say the same thing . he  s a kind of henry ford of cultural theory mass  production and any colour as long as it  s black . he is perfect for today  s highly consumerist society supposedly critical while giving people the same c  ap over and over and pretending that it is something different . this is popular because people largely prefer readymade answers to their problems  which capitalism always claims to provide  rather than investigating things with any serious consideration at all . which is kind of like being brain dead . for me  zizek  s third matrix pill is a suicide capsule .  br    br   ps i loved zizek  s solemn remark  presented as a revelation about cinema and humanity  that music in films can greatly affect people  s sympathies . did this only occur to zizek after he watched jaws   
a very engaging  intelligent  and well  made film . liam neeson and tim roth play their roles superbly . the cinematography is outstanding . the fight scenes are amazing . this is a film i will enjoy watching again and again . one of my favorites .  
this movie is all ultra  lightweight fluff  predictable from beginning to end . as a don knotts vehicle   the incredible mr . limpet  was much better  with knott  s character there not nearly as incompetent or ignorant . his performance there was toned down  with none of his trademark goggle  eyed stare  although that may have something to do with him being replaced for most of the movie by a cartoon fish . knotts made a living of playing the likable imbecile  much as bob denver did . neither really seemed to be able to break out to other types of roles  assuming they were simply typecast . it was probably because of the slouch  the wild stare and the high  pitched voice . john ritter  whom knotts worked with in  three  s company   was able to transcend his genre  branching out successfully into dramatic roles like  the dreamer of oz   but the closest knotts ever got was a small role in  pleasantville .  even leslie nielsen was a bad fit here  uncomfortably neither straight dramatic actor as he was at the time nor deadpan comedic actor as he later became in  airplane   and  police squad .   br    br   there  s also no way the then    year  old knotts could pass for a   year  old  as his character insisted he was . it was as ludicrously unbelievable as tom hanks at   playing the college  age forrest gump .  br    br   the film was clearly made on a shoestring budget  very much looking like a hastily  filmed tv episode . it  s especially evident in the  exterior  scenes of the  town  where roy goes after he  s fired . it  s unlikely even a pre  schooler would be fooled by the mayberry  like soundstage artificiality .  br    br   even viewing this strictly as a children  s movie  it  s very disappointing . it  s not because it lacks action or special effects  although it does . the pace is much too slow  the situations repetitive . how many times can you watch roy getting onto a bus  a comedy for kids should at least sometimes be madcap  with breakneck gags  otherwise you risk boring them  and any adults in the theater as well  . movies  even kid  s movies  have improved quite a bit in the intervening decades . even many contemporary comedies were better filmed and written . disney  s  the love bug   for instance  at least had some interesting race action .  
when braveheart first came out  i was enthralled  and was admittedly one of the most rabid fans of the film . when rob roy came out  i was intrigued  and although i enjoyed the film i did not think it was a great film . however  as time has gone by  my appreciation for rob roy has grown  and my enthusiasm for braveheart has diminished . braveheart is great entertainment  to be sure  but there are flaws as well . the most significant  in my view  is the unflattering portrayal of robert the bruce  who was without a doubt scotland  s greatest king . another is the historical inaccuracy of the film  which tarnishes the film in proportion to the many historical distortions . i think i am also bothered by the fact that it was in this film  seen only  at least by me  in retrospect  that the beginnings of mel gibson  s egomania can be seen clearly for the first time . in contrast  rob roy has grown on me over the years . partly because it largely avoids the faults i mind most in braveheart . but also because rob roy is like fine wine  growing more mature and complex with each viewing .  
after leaving tv  s popular  the andy griffith show   don knotts gave movie stardom a valiant try with a series of inane but matine  pleasing comedy vehicles . unfortunately   the reluctant astronaut   filmed on the cheap  as were most of knotts  movies   is much worse than his others . don plays a small town schnook who gets accepted to astronaut training camp . . . but not as a candidate for space travel   they want him as their new janitor  some may say the weak satire capitalizes on americans  then  fresh fever for the new age of technology  but the flick is really just a dim excuse to keep restless children occupied . it gets off to a good start  with an ok set  up and nostalgic locations  but it becomes increasingly more spiritless and idiotic .  from   
rob roy is and underrated epic of passion and action  some mild spoilers within . liam neeson gives a towering performance as rob roy macgregor  one of the best in his career . jessica lange is letter  perfect as his wife mary . they have the most passion and chemistry i  ve seen in a screen couple . john hurt gives his best snotty aristocrat performance . tim roth portrays one of the great screen villains . his rape of mary is repugnant and harrowing . he really is a magnificent bastard in this movie . the final duel between rob and cunningham is one of the best swordfights ever . well scripted ans scored  and michael caton  jones direction is flawless .   out of   .  
i love don knotts  let me just say that up  front  he is an enormous talent and the best at what he does  which is portray a nervous  lovably befuddled loser thrown into a position of authority . he is fabulous in this role as roy fleming  the reluctant astronaut  but the film is pretty dull  really  even though as a kid my brother and i delighted in watching this and his other films . it  s still worth watching but really it  s a film that is best enjoyed by children . i  d categorize it as     family  friendly and something you could sit down and watch with your kids on a family night .  br    br   as with all of knotts  films  there  s a great cast of beloved character actors and you can  t help but smile when knotts gives one of his shaky  open  mouthed stares  no matter how old and jaded you are .  br    br   from an adult perspective  one thing i think that is great about this film is how it captures nasa in the     s   all the new modern buildings  the hope  the optimism  the future  and i was surprised at how suave and studly leslie neilsen was back then . only complaint about the story is roy  s love interest  a rather threadbare  unlikeable woman who can  t give him the time of day until he becomes a big shot   if you  re like me  you  ll be hoping that he gives her the shove  off at the end . beware   you  ll be whistling the theme tune for days after watching  it  s that catchy .  
i question anyone saying they don  t care for this movie . some reviewers have said it didn  t have enough action  some said it was too long  etc . don  t listen to them    if you like shawshank redemption and  or braveheart  you will definitely love this movie   br    br   the acting performances are superb  tim roth  john hurt and jessica lang are allsuperb and liam neeson does an admarible job and is a very imposing character because of his size . the cinemaphotography was brilliant and breathtaking . it is onw of the few movies i have seen in my life  along with shawshank  that was virtually flawless from casting  directing  writing  acting  etc .     br    br   i was amazed this wasn  t in the top   or    movies reviewed . i felt so passionately about it that i just registered with imdb so i could let everyone know the real scoop . i have seen this movie about   times  each time with a different person  and everyone has loved it  you must be awake and pay attention carefully for the first   minutes because they introduce quite a few characters in the beginning . if you have the attention span longer than most of these juvenille kids writing reviews for the movies on this site  than you will love this movie  come on . . . all  lord of the rings movies in the top  and the matrix at        that should show you the age range of most reviewers here   br    br   this is a top   movie     
i guess i only have myself to blame for the gigantic disillusion that is  entrails of a virgin  . you already know not to expect a cinematic masterpiece when you see a juicy and proudly promoted title like this and the first impression only gets extra confirmed when noticing the film is a mid     s production from japan . now  there are quite a lot of demented and sick filmmakers active in japan  but kazuo komizu surpasses them all with his thoroughly depraved and sickening trilogy revolving on nothing but aggressive sex and the sadistic abuse of young girls . not even attempting to tell a story   entrails of a virgin  simply presents a hodgepodge of un  arousing semi  pornographic sex and truly poor gore  effects that wouldn  t even please the most undemanding fan of cheesy    s horror . images of a bunch of photographers and their fashion models are inexplicably intercut with scenes of a filthy pervert having crude sex with a seemly under  aged girl . he dumps her not even a minute after climaxing  typical  and she begs him to stay  even if she has to share him with other women . i don  t get it . is this supposed to represent a general male fantasy  because it  s really clichd and wrongful . anyways  back to the bunch of horny photographers and docile models . surprised by upcoming fog on their way home  the group entrenches themselves in an abandoned country house where they have more appalling sex and eventually fall victim to a ridiculous sex  demon who kills them all . the acting performances are amateurish  the dialogs inane and primitive and komizu  s direction is weak and uninspired . i can tolerate all that  including the woman  unfriendly portrayal of sex  but i came too close to turning the film off during the indescribably mean  spirited wrestling sequence . one of the males brutally hits  kicks and throws around one of the girls and calls her a filthy whore until she literally pees her panties and cries with agony . this sequence is  in my humble opinion  the absolute low  point of asian exploitation cinema . one to avoid and maybe even boycott .  
to bad for this fine film that it had to be released the same year as braveheart . though it is a very different kind of film  the conflict between scottish commoners and english nobility is front and center here as well . roughly    years had passed between the time braveheart took place and rob roy was set  but some things never seemed to change . scottland is still run by english nobles  and the highlanders never can seem to catch a break when dealing with them . rob roy is handsomely done  but not the grand epic that braveheart was . there are no large  scale battles  and the conflict here is more between individuals . and helpfully so not all englishmen are portrayed as evil this time . rob roy is simply a film about those with honor  and those who are truly evil .  br    br   liam neeson plays the title character rob roy macgregor . he is the leader of the macgregor clan and his basic function is to tend to and protect the cattle of the local nobleman of record known as the marquis of montrose  john hurt  . things look pretty rough for the macgregor clan as winter is approaching  and there seems to be a lack of food for everyone . rob roy puts together a plan to borrow     pounds from the marquis and purchase some cattle of his own . he would then sell them off for a higher price and use the money to improve the general well  being of his community . sounds fair enough  doesn  t it  problems arise when two cronies of the marquis steal the money for themselves . one of them  known as archibald cunningham  is perhaps the most evil character ever put on film . played wonderfully by tim roth  this man is a penniless would  be noble who has been sent to live with the marquis by his mother . this man is disgustingly effeminate  rude  heartless  and very dangerous with a sword . he fathers a child with a hand maiden and refuses to own up to the responsibility . he rapes macgregor  s wife and burns him out of his home . this guy is truly as rotten as movie characters come . along with another crony of the marquis  brian cox  cunningham steals the money and uses it to settle his own debts . though it is painfully obvious to most people what happened  the marquis still holds macgregor to the debt . this sets up conflict that will take many lives and challenge the strengths of a man simply fighting to hold on to his dignity .  br    br   spoilers ahead       br    br   luckily for the macgregor  s  a duke who is no friend to the marquis sets up a final duel between rob roy and cunningham to resolve the conflict one and for all . this sword fight has been considered by many to be one of the best ever filmed . cunningham is thought by many to be a sure winner with his speed and grace . and for most of the fight  it looks like these attributes will win out . just when it looks like rob roy is finished  he turns the tables in a shockingly grotesque manner . the first time you see what happens  you will probably be as shocked as cunningham  rob roy is beautifully filmed  wonderfully acted  and perfectly paced . the score is quite memorable  too . the casting choices seem to have worked out as jessica lange  who might seem to be out of her element  actually turns in one of the strongest performances as mary macgregor . the film is violent  but there isn  t too much gore . it is a lusty picture full of deviant behavior  however . the nobility are largely played as being amoral and sleazy . the film has no obvious flaws  thus it gets   of   stars .  br    br   the hound .  
  br    br   entrails of a virgin is so bizarre and incomprehensible that it allows the viewer to interpret it subjectively  applying whatever meaning he wishes to its inexplicable excesses of sex and violence . if this was an intentional characteristic of the film  it would be a work of postmodern brilliance  but of course it isn  t .  br    br   without getting too much into plot summary  let  s take a quick walking tour of the events . at a secluded cabin  an orgy is in progress  which includes topless wrestling and diaper ping . a vanload of latecomers joins the orgy in progress  but they have unwittingly been followed by a monster i like to call  the muddy ninja .  this monster precedes to slay orgy participants one by one  except the proverbial virgin  if you don  t count oral sex  who receives his seed and consequently becomes so passionate with desire that she masturbates with someone  s severed hand .  br    br   finally she has her guts pulled out  and then there  s a scene which seems to imply that she  s pregnant with a baby muddy ninja . got all that  if you  re going to rent this movie  it  s best if you don  t speak japanese and don  t have any subtitles . in a season populated by boring hollywood flicks  putting this in your vcr might be the cinematic equivalent of shock therapy . it will certainly be something different .  
mel gibson  s braveheart was a spectacularly accomplished film  but it left a sour taste in the mouth . rob roy  by contrast  is slightly less polished  but a better film by far . this is a historical film which combines timeless themes with truly historical values  whereas braveheart put a gross and unpleasant comtemporary gloss on an ancient tale . what makes this film is the cast . liam neeson plays the hero  in a role he basically reprised  in a watered  down fashion  in the phantom menace . the character is heroic  but is neither the greatest fighter nor the most demonic lover . admirable yet human  he commands the screen . against him are set a selection of equally human adversaries including tim roth  s cunningham  obnoxious but brilliant  and john hurt  s morally bankrupt laird . also to praise is jessica lange  as rob  s pragmatic wife also strong and noble  but    years away from a modern heroine  which is only as it should be . this is not the most original film you will see  but it has the courage of its own convictions  and the strong performances make you care .  
less self  conscious and much less pretentious than guts of a beauty  this kazuo komizu gore flick is worth a look  at least once  .  br    br   sleazy snapshotters escort wanna  be actresses  models to a remote house in the woods in order to sexually molest them . unfortunately  for the horny boys   a long  schlonged demon  who lives in the woods  has already targeted the girls for fun .  br    br   the thing even ends up having fun with the boys   that  s if you consider beheadings  dismemberment and masturbation with severed limbs  fun  .  br    br   once again  it all sounds better on paper than it looks and sounds on film .  br    br   just as komizu mangled living dead at tokyo bay with his ineptitude  he also mangles this effort and is only saved by some audacious violence and some great white panty shots .  br    br   don  t buy the hype  though  or you  ll be sorely disappointed .  
liam neeson portrays the scottish legend robert roy macgregor from the early   th century . he is a true actor . he captivates the audience with his charisma as he does in all his roles . jessica lange is excellent as his wife mary . mary is such a beautiful woman . it  s her love that makes rob roy the legend  but it  s his passion that makes her love undying . they need each other . tim roth as the evil cunningham is perfect in one way or another  upon watching the movie  you will find cunningham disgusting . the scotland scenery is beautiful . the environment and conditions of the times are depicted quite well . if you like history  romance  passion and love  you  ll enjoy rob roy . there is violence and blood  but it  s unavoidable in telling this story as it should be told no gratuitous violence . and you do have to listen carefully if you  re not used to a scottish accent . one important point that makes this movie so good is that no one actor or actress is glamorized they get dirty and actually look unattractive in various scenes . it  s their skill as actors that attracts you  they don  t rely on marquee names  popularity or sex symbol appeal . this is something special .  
ok the plot is  wait you got me there is no true discernible plot here just a string of optically fogged sex scenes  strung together by scenes of photographers taking pictures of pretty ladies  sometimes a combination of the two  then a demon comes around kills the men  rapes and kills the women  and waxes poetic about the meaning of life . moronic special effects  bad acting and bizarre philosophy aside  you get what you expect from a film with a title like this . i guess it would have to be someone  s cup of tea  just not mine as i have yet to see a good kazuo  gaira  komizu directed film .  br    br   dvd extras subtitled interview with director kazuo komizu part   part  is on the entrails of a beautiful woman dvd   and theatrical tailer  br    br   my grade f  
the early to mid   s were a high point  in my opinion  for the historical drama . last of the mohicans  braveheart  rob roy  all portrayed a distinctive passion and intensity in their respective time periods .  br    br   rob roy was a unique and intriguing taste of a time and place rarely represented by film . it really has everything  interesting story  great acting  remarkable dialog  and breathtaking scenery . i was particularly impressed by the apparently genuine dialog . i can imagine this is how early   th century people spoke and behaved .  br    br   something else that surprised me was the vulgarity expressed by the characters . i found it to be more repulsive and shocking  albeit often more subtle  than most found in films set in modern times . the movie had a very racy and sexually charged edge to it that was unique and most likely very realistic in the context of the era .  br    br   the pace was very tight  with hardly a dull moment . there was much intrigue and political subplots that complicated things a bit  but yet did not detract from the main storyline .  br    br   the action was also very well done and gripping . something that i will forever find remarkable is that during the highlight action piece in the film  there is no soundtrack whatsoever . it makes for a very tense  exciting sequence  since we have no musical cue as to the direction and resolution of the scene .  br    br   rob roy will always remain high on my list of favorite films . i would recommend it to all .  
maybe it was the title  or the trailer  certainly not the interview on the dvd  which is with the director as he keeps saying  hi  kids  into the camera like a buffoon   but i had expectations for entrails of a virgin to be at least a bit of sleazy fun with some good sex scenes and brutal  bloody killings by a weird japanese penetrator . turns out it  s way too sleazy for its own good  or bad  or whatever . there  s a problem  and one can see this also in the italian sexploitation flick porno holocaust  similar to this in many respects  in not having balance to the sex and violence . too much sex and it will turn into a prototypical porno  and not even with much production quality in comparison with most professional porno movies  and with the killing scenes  there has to be at least a little tack  and maybe just a smidgen of ingenuity  in creating the creature  killer  whatever . entrails of a virgin has neither . it  s safe to say it  s a pretty soulless movie  even if isn  t one of the very worst ever made  it  s there just for horn  dog japanese fetishists to get off on girls in trouble and men who have all their brains in their  other  heads .  br    br   in this case  we  re given a photo team where the guys are taking some shots of some girls  nothing too salacious  and then by way of a dense fog they stay off at some house one night and are picked off one by one by  a murderer  as he  s credited . first off  the director kazuo  gaira  komizu decides he has to put in a quota of random sex scenes early on  we get spliced in  or phoned in  take your pick  clips of one of the photographers having sex with one or more of the girls elsewhere . it looks like it  s from another movie . then once settled into the house  there  s a  wrestling  scene that  s poorly choreographed and shot  yeah  we really need to see him  all  there   and then on to the rape and killings . first the rape  by the photographers  who promise the girls some jobs for their time . then the murderer  who like d  amato  s creature is simply covered in mud and given a stupid facial  and who for an unknown reason kills the men and  or rapes the women one by one .  br    br   now  the latter of those  taken by themselves  should be considered the highlights of the movie . this is like saying  however  that the crotons are the best part of a wretchedly tasting salad . an eye  gouging scene  a spike thrown like an olympic event  that scene  actually  is kind of cool   and finally the entrailing of the overly sex  crazed girl  whose inconsequential name i can  t remember . even this becomes disappointing just by not being correct to the title  on top of this  the sex scenes  which become tedious through  gaira  and his indulgence in long  takes  without  cutaways where everything by the japanese censors is blurred anyway  are dubbed over by the actors  you  d think that they seem to be enjoying themselves enough  hence the need to let them  speak  for themselves  . but the overall feeling from entrails of a virgin is that of a lumpy one  where it  s just there to be gawked at and without a shred of suspense or true horror  watch as the last girl left alive  the virgin of the picture  tries to stop the murderer from getting to her  which lasts five minutes as she keeps throwing sticks at him   you just want it to be done with  for the  i hate women  mantra to ease up or be rid altogether .  
this is the moving tale of scotland  s legendary hero  rob roy  and his battles with the feudal landowners . like braveheart to which it is frequently compared  it is not very historical . despite their primarily fictional nature  i rate both of these movies highly and would be hard pressed to choose between the two . the   century william wallace is  as others have noted  a larger than life national figure  while the early   th century rob roy comes across as an honourable but ordinary scotsman .  br    br   the story revolves around a clan chieftain  robert roy mcgregor  who lives in a scottish highland cottage with his wife mary and their two young sons . as the movie begins  he and his fellow clansmen are hunting down some thieves who have stolen the local lord  s cattle . rob roy then wishes to improve the living conditions of his people so arranges to borrow one thousand scottish pounds from a local noble  the marquis of montrose  in order to buy cattle to herd to market . he temporarily entrusts this money to his friend  alan mcdonald . when both mcdonald and the money turn up missing  rob roy finds himself in conflict with montrose as well as his despicable protg  archibald cunningham  and his sleazy factor  killearn . rob roy  s honour is also tested when montrose seeks to involve him in false testimony against his rival  the duke of argyle  whom he wishes to accuse of being a jacobite .  br    br   the charismatic liam leeson is brilliant as the kilted highlander rob roy  an intelligent  virile  and noble hero and a man whose sense of honour is pivotal to this tale . personally  i feel that this is neeson  s best performance  his brogue  albeit irish  adding authenticity for the average viewer . rob roy is a stubborn  proud  courageous  and honest man whose word can be trusted . he is a loving husband  father  and also touchingly loyal to his friend  mcdonald  who is accused of robbing him .  br    br   tim roth masterfully portrays his major adversary and surely one of the most heinous and sadistic cinematic villains  archibald cunningham  an egotistical  ruthless strutting peacock . he is very effeminate for someone who makes it his major business to ravish the local women  whether willing or otherwise . the pathetic cunningham himself constantly refers to the fact that he is a bastard unaware of his own father  s identity  though this hardly justifies his horrendous misdeeds of murder  rape  and thievery . also  he mercilessly casts aside the young servant girl  betty  after she becomes pregnant with his child  resulting in her suicide . john hurt plays the arrogant and foppish montrose  who is eventually implied to be cunningham  s father .  br    br   the movie is essentially the very believable love story between an ordinary man and his wife  beautifully depicting the passionate relationship between rob roy and mary . those who question the presence of passion within marriage should watch this husband and wife  i think the phrase used by this pair   how fine you are to me . . .  is surely one of the most beautiful expressions of love in all cinema .  br    br   the most compelling performance is possibly by jessica lange as rob  s wife  mary mcgregor . lacking make up  she has the pretty but natural look of a sturdy peasant wife and mother . the actress brings great courage and dignity to her role when she is brutally raped by the despicable cunningham  while the disgusting killearn looks on . her dialogue is plain spoken but filled with pride and grace . i give hollywood its due that for once they showed just enough in the rape scene to reveal its cruelty as well as mary  s pain and humiliation  but nothing intended to sensationalize . their kinsman  alastair mcgregor  shows emotional anguish when he learns of mary  s rape  and further torment when she swears him to secrecy never to reveal to her husband her violation by cunningham .  br    br   of course this film features the beautiful scenery of the scottish highlands  also lavish period costumes and appropriate musical scoring . there are no grand battle scenes as in braveheart  but continuous engaging action and a particularly gripping sword fight in the final duel between rob roy and cunningham . this is a captivating movie featuring both tense action and a beautiful love tale .  
given the title and outlandish box art  i was ready for just about anything . perhaps my expectation were forced just a bit to high  because i was left a little dry .  br    br   a film crew working on a soft  core sex movie end up at a strange house when they get lost in the fog and decide the best way to spend the evening is to have sex . where hasn  t this set up been used before  the difference here is the uber  perverse nature of the sex . not allowed to show all the goods  groin shots were illegal in japan for a long time  what is shown is fogged out  the movie tries as hard as it can to show the viewer just how unnatural sex can be .  br    br   amidst all the kinky goings on  a mud monster  whose origin i can  t fathom  shows up and begins murdering the men and raping the women . . . then murdering them too . some of the sights are a bit much  most notably a woman having her intestines pulled out through her vagina or another woman spitting out a mouthful of . . . stuff  but otherwise the gore is pretty standard fare .  br    br   ultimately the film is pulled down by it  s own designs it  s too over  sexed to be a strait horror picture and too gruesome to work as a sex flick . the mediums can work  but there need to be a balance .  br    br        
its not braveheart  thankfully   but it is fine entertainment with engaging characters and good acting all around . i enjoyed this film when it was released and upon viewing it again last week  find it has held up well over time . not a classic film  but a very fine and watchable movie to enjoy as great entertainment .  
  br    br   ok  well i rented this movie while i was bed ridden hopped up on pain killers  and let me say  it didn  t help the film any .  br    br   the film is about a man who buys a car as he is going through a midlife crisis  he loves the car more than anything around him  one day his wife decides to borrow the car . since i don  t want to spoil  not that there was anything to spoil  i shall let your imagination figure out the  zany   and i use that word lightly  antics that follow .  br    br   i had to fight to stay awake through this snore a minute sleeper of a film  and i would like to say that if you are venturing to the movie store and are thinking about being adventurous  please don  t  it  s a waste of the film it was printed on .  br    br   then again i could be wrong . . .  
enchanted april is a tone poem  an impressionist painting  a masterpiece of conveying a message with few words . it has been one of my   favorite films since it came out . i continue to wait  albeit less patiently  for the film to come out in dvd format . apparently  i am not alone .  br    br   if parent company amazon  s listings are correct  there are many people who want this title in dvd format . many people want to go to italy with this cast and this script . many people want to keep a permanent copy of this film in their libraries . the cast is spectacular  the cinematography and direction impeccable . the film is a definite keeper . many have already asked . please add our names to the list .  
  spoilers   br    br   i was very curious to see this film  after having heard that it was clever and witty . i had to stop halfway because of the unbearable boredom i felt .  br    br   the idea behind the film would have been acceptable depicting the way the relationship between a man and a woman evolves  through all the problems and difficulties that two people living in a big city can experience . what made me dislike the whole film were two things .  br    br   first of all  the film was so down  to  earth that it looked as if  by describing the problems that a couple must solve on a day  to  day basis  it became itself ordinary and dull .  br    br   secondly  the overall sloppiness of the production  with dialogues that were barely understandable .  br    br   too bad .  
this is a very good  under  rated action  drama  and slightly historical movie .  br    br   the basic story concerns rob roy  s borrowing of     pounds  its theft  and the problems it causes for his family and indirectly his clansmen .  br    br   cunningham  tim roth  is an amazing villain and character in this story . brutally cold and if you watch his face he seems to be able to turn his eyes off and look completely evil .  br    br   rob roy  liam neeson  is excellent too  but i think the writers used the word  honour   too many times .  br    br   the rest of the cast is strong  and the whole movie is very well acted and filmed .  br    br   the action is exciting and the sword play very realistic  but not too gory . the story is good and you really want rob to win .  br    br   all in all just shy of a classic .  
plot an amorous couple decide to engage in some extra  marital hijinks in a flashy car . they then become stuck  literally  in a compromising position  while said car wanders aimlessly about the countryside until the hapless couple are rescued by the authorities .  br    br   that  s it . that  s the entire movie . there may have been some dialogue here and there  but nothing comes to mind . it should be obvious by now that this movie is not just pointless  but actually physically painful to watch . the fact that it starred two of the uks best up  and  coming actors  one of whom is now sadly deceased  only adds to the horror .  br    br   ian charleson was outstanding in the very much deserved oscar  winning  chariots of fire  . let  s remember him for that role  and try hard to pretend that this particular celluloidal abomination never happened .  
this sweeping drama has it all top notch acting  incredible photography  good story . it is often compared to  braveheart  because both movies take place in historical scotland . even though i love braveheart  i think this is the better of the two films . jessica lange gave an incredible performance  should have been nominated for an oscar  . liam neeson is fantastic in the title role . tim roth plays one of the most evil  despicable  characters in film history  he was nominated for an oscar  . john hurt is excellent as lord montrose  another dislikeable character . i am always amazed at the incredible range of characters that john hurt can play . this is a story of a dispute over money between rob roy and his clan  and lord montrose . rob roy is a self made man  who will not solve his problems with montrose if it violates his sense of honor . montrose  who  inherited his title  has no sense of honor . and that is basically what this story is all about honor of the common man versus corruption of the nobility . this movie is very entertaining  it should appeal to all . it has romance  action  beautiful scenery  and has a exciting plot . one of my favorite films .  
cut to the chase  this is one of the five worst films that i  ve ever seen .  br    br   not that they didn  t try . there was some decent writing with some elements of structure in there  a good cast  some good acting . i  m not sure where it went wrong  but it went horribly wrong .  br    br   some of the elements may have been bad structure and no substantive story  a lot of overacting by the lead  who probably is much better when restrained   some bad directing and editing . i had enough at about an hour  tearing my hair out at about a hour and a half and very agitated at the hour and fifty minutes it ran . there was also an insincerity about it all  being that i went with someone who used to be a heroin addict . he was agitated that it glamorized something that had nothing good to it . that was bolstered by the pretty   year  old girl who was in love with the   year  old junkie .  br    br   and the frantic nature of the lead was a turn  off enough . there were clunky plot points that were an attempt at a structure  but the end result was listless and unending  with uneven time lines  . the characters were colorful but to no end  which made me feel bad for the quality actors who you  ve just not seen enough .  br    br   skip it . i assumed that this was a first  time director who was enamored by his own turds  but he has done this before . i  m puzzled how this and many other really bad ideas find someone who will actually give them money .  
overshadowed by  braveheart  released the same year  the two costume dramas beg comparison . i admit my bias against mel gibson  yet i maintain a rational preference for  rob roy .  both  braveheart  and  rob roy  compellingly depict scots history in bloody  romantic fashion .  braveheart  is an epic paean to individual honor and courage and a fine revenge fantasy . it  s also melodramatic  anachronistic and maudlin . note its cornball usage of slow motion filming . its violence is both ugly and glorious . it is the latter quality which makes it more appealing to the adolescent mindset . while  braveheart  surpasses  rob roy  in sheer levels of carnage  not to mention its indulgent running time   the latter film is ultimately more mature and satisfying . its action is more understated  yet more surprising and clever . its sex is less showy  yet more erotic .  rob roy  also has a better realized romantic interest . its dialog attempts to approximate the poetry of the period . its rotted teeth in the mouths of the actors attempt to approximate the dentistry of the era . and tim roth is a superlative villain . also recommended  the last of the mohicans  and  the patriot .  you may find the latter more akin to  braveheart  with its emphasis on blood lust  with the former more similar to  rob roy  in tone . all the of the aforementioned movies merit their r ratings for violence .  
the fifth  black emanuelle  i  ve watched has  potentially  the most intriguing plot line dealing as it does with the intrepid female reporter investigating the white slavery  prostitution racket which takes her from san francisco to rome to macao and back to her own hometown  new york  the film is peopled with past veterans of the series which  inexplicably  play completely different roles  namely ivan rassimov  appearing here as a head of a united nations committee for third world countries    karin shubert  as a feminist rival reporter  and don powell  as rassimov  s chauffeur  .  br    br   unfortunately  as usual with this type of film  despite their being shown in the dead of night   it is heavily edited and a particularly graphic scene  described in  stracultr  in which an asian slave trader gets his comeuppance by being sodomized by a dog is nowhere to be seen here   still  a harrowing sequence late in the film when a sleazy politician tricks a couple of girls  including  naturally  gemser and shubert  into a midnight rendezvous under a new york bridge with a group of bums  this is the way he gets their votes  get it    with his high society pals giddily looking on  seems pretty much intact .  br    br   the most ridiculous element of this entry  apart from gemser  s penchant to disrobe completely every time she enters a house  even in front of perfect strangers   is her excursion to india to interview a charlatan  guru  george eastman made up to look considerably christ  like   who has found a way to prolong coitus indefinitely of course  when emanuelle calls him up on it  he ends up having premature ejaculation . . .    
attention spoilers  br    br   first of all  let me say that rob roy is one of the best films of the    s . it was an amazing achievement for all those involved  especially the acting of liam neeson  jessica lange  john hurt  brian cox  and tim roth . michael canton jones painted a wonderful portrait of the honor and dishonor that men can represent in themselves . but alas . . .  br    br   it constantly  and unfairly gets compared to  braveheart  . these are two entirely different films  probably only similar in the fact that they are both about scots in historical scotland . yet  this comparison frequently bothers me because it seems to be almost assumed that  braveheart  is a better film than  rob roy  . i like  braveheart  a lot  but the idea of comparing it to  rob roy  is a little insulting to me . to put quite simply  i love  braveheart   but it is a pale shadow to how much i love  rob roy  . here are my particular reasons . . .  br    br     rob roy  is about real people .  br    br   let  s face it  the william wallace in  braveheart  is not a real person . he  s a legend  a martyr  a larger than life figurehead . because of this depiction  he is also a perfect person  never doing wrong  and basically showing his scot countrymen to the promised land . when he finally does fail  it is not to his fault . like jesus  he is betrayed by the very people he trusted most . he even goes through the worst kind of torture because he wants freedom so much .  br    br   the depiction of wallace is very well done and effective . but it really doesn  t inspire or intrigue me . i find human ambiguity far more facinating than human perfection . that is why  the last temptation of christ  is a better film than  king of kings   and that is also one of the reasons why i think  rob roy  is better than  braveheart  . rob roy may be heroic and brave  but he is far from perfect . he makes several mistakes that affected the lives of many of his loved ones . now sure  not bearing false claim against the duke of argyll was an act of nobility and courage  but it was also an act of egoism and self centeredness . let us not forget that the kinfolk that he had claimed to protect were driven homeless by the end of the film because of this act . but rob did the best he could  and that was all you could ask of him .  br    br   rob  s wife mary  is also a normal  ambigious person . let us start though  with how she looks in this film . sure  she  s beautiful  but she doesn  t wear makeup and she basically allows her natural beauty to show . compare this with the two loves  or one  depending on your point of view  of william wallace in  braveheart  . now these two ladies are hot  but hardly indicitive of how women looked at the time  especially the lay persons  . maybe not a fair comparison  but just another example of how rob roy  s attempts for accuracy are far more effective .  br    br   throughout  rob roy   mary has to live with her vicious rape by the dastardly carrion  cunningham . she feels compelled to tell rob of her struggle  but doesn  t because she knows that rob must seek revenge for her rape . such revenge would surely mean the death of rob  and mary is not prepared for such a sacrifice .  br    br   the villains in  rob roy  are equally as compelling . although the enemies in  braveheart  are well written  they are hardly original . robert the bruce  a man both brave and cowardly  is plagued by moral decisions that are all to familar in the fictional realm . should he take his claim as the king of scotland  or should he betray wallace in order to ensure the safety of his family name  bruce is the most ambigious character in  braveheart   but from brutus in  julius ceasar  to fredo in  the godfather part ii   these types of characters are hardly original . longshanks  although a compelling villain in his own right  is very one dimensional . he is the epidemy of evil  and his tyrant ways stand in direct contrast to wallace  s heroism .  br    br    rob roy  has three villains that are wonderful in their chicanery . first of all  let  s start with marquis of montrose . he is a man who is so obsessed with his self image  that he  s willing to let an innocent man suffer because of it .  see to it that i am not mocked  are his favorite words to his  factor  . he is a man obsessed with power  upset that a man of great noble bearing as the duke of argyll can be considered of greater providency then him . he is shamefully self obsessed and insecure . he is an evil aristocrat  but in ways that make him unique .  br    br   cunningham and callarn are the conspirators in  rob roy   and are also roy  s direct assailants . callarn is so cunning in his cowardace that he is almost comical . he will do anything to maintain the good will of the marquis  which includes backstabbing and trickery . cunningham is a compelling character in that he seems to have been raised to do whatever he can to obtain status and the affection of the marquis . he needs a father  little does he know that the marquis is his real father . therefore  when the opportunity to obtain wealth comes from callarn  he grabs it without even questioning it . he is very much like the evil of modern man  so self centered and vain that he cares not about the consequences of his actions on others .  br    br   many have criticized tim roth  s performance in this film as overacting . hogwash i say . it is clear that cunningham is not simply evil but also psychopath throughout the film . in a world where a man and his stepson can go around shooting random people for amusement  is cunningham too much of an unbelievable character  we live in a society where people seem to have decreased the value of human life .  rob roy  simply teaches us that only the circumstances of this decreased value has changed . it is a problem throughout human history that the vanity of the human heart will not allow for the capacity for compassion . rob roy and mary give us hope that goodness will prevail  but snakes will always exist in our world .  br    br   another character that i find fascinating is the duke of argyll . he is a true nobleman  and his values of honesty and courtesy are in direct contrast to the marquis . he appreciates the bravery of rob roy and mary  and has a direct vexation for the marquis and his factor . he gives the world hope for the people of power . hopefully  people like the marquis are an exception and not the rule .  br    br    the final duel in  rob roy  is more exciting then   of the battle scenes in  braveheart  .  br    br   one thing i get tired of is people telling me that  braveheart  is a better film because of the battle scenes . first of all  battle scenes are hardly original . from  spartacus  to  gladiator   hollywood has had a long tradition of historical european battle scenes .  braveheart  has some of the best battle scenes ever put on film  but they suffer from one important problem . these battle scenes have no context except for the fight for freedom .  br    br   now  don  t get me wrong  duels are hardly original either . in fact  there are probably   times as many films with duels as there are with battle scenes . but the context of the duel between cunningham and rob roy is a beauty to behold . it is one of the greatest scenes in film history . let me explain why . . .  br    br   first of all  the fighting style and the bearing of the two characters in this duel describe the characters perfectly . cunningham is effette and dangerous  rob roy is strong and courageous . cunningham uses a fencing sword while rob uses a broadsword . cunningham fights with quick tricky movements  while roy  s fighting style is more obvious .  br    br   the whole film  from the deliberately slow first half to the exciting second half  is leading up to this moment . it is powerful stuff  and it is clear that rob must exterminate this menacing evil that has plagued his whole world . when rob finally gets the upper hand  literally and figuratively   it is one of the greatest moments in film history . rob wins because he has more to live for  and his honor is more powerful than   cunningham  s . the use of music is absolutely chilling in this scene . good prevailing against a real evil is more powerful to me than seeing a dude get disemboweled just so he can yell  freedom   . but hey  maybe that  s just me .  br    br     rob roy  is more realistic than  braveheart   br    br   i don  t know that people in the aristocracy or scotsmen talked like the people in  rob roy   but i do feel that it clearly an attempt to capture their speech patterns . i feel that many people are bored by  rob roy  simply because they can  t understand what the characters are saying . if this is the case  then read some shakesphere  or put on the close  captioning .  rob roy  is actually one of the greatest written films of the    s . many of the dialogue in this film is clever  but maybe you have to watch the film a couple of times to understand it .  br    br   by contrast  the dialogue in  braveheart  is hardly very interesting . of course  what do you expect when the main character is a scotsman played by an australian  this is a legend  and there was clearly not an attempt to capture the speech of the times . this film takes place several centuries before  rob roy   and yet they talk like the people today . thus the reason that many people like it better . audiences today have become increasingly lazy  and they don  t want to take the time or patience to understand things that are complex . therefore  as with many epic films  they expect to see the villians speak a recognizable english accent while the heroes speak in a vernacular not too far away from our american language . sure  it is clear that the wallace is scotish  but other than sounding like scotty from star trek and a couple of  aye  s for acknowledgement  the scots in this film fit into the hollywood tradition of how we believe scots should sound .  br    br   so  do these descriptions prove that  rob roy  is a better film than  braveheart   hardly . but if it proves one thing  it shows that it is hardly common knowledge that  braveheart  is a better film than  rob roy  . to put simply   rob roy  is a film that has themes that are very apropos in today  s world .  braveheart  is a film about a legend that is inspiring but hardly realistic . you can make a decision on what you think is better . . .  br    br   grade  a score    
worst bob hope comedy ever  and that includes some heavy competition  . hope  on an island with sailors  dreams aloud of being in a bathtub with a geisha girl  steering his ship  . somebody certainly steered this hope  hackery over the cliff  as it features phyllis diller and gina lollobrigida and still can  t work up any laughs or excitement . where  s bing crosby when you really need him   
major spoilers   this is for people who have seen the movie    br    br   commenters have touched on the major theme of  honor  in the film  and too many comparisons to  braveheart .  i  ll point out a few things about this movie that i have not seen other comments touch on  br    br   this movie has a decidedly different take on abortion . the first character to get pregnant is the villain  s  roth  girlfriend  and when he coldly suggests an abortion  she states it is too late for that . the shame of her situation   i  m to have a bastard  s bastard .   leads her to commit suicide in a much later scene . the second character to find herself pregnant is mary  rob  s wife  after a rape by roth  s character  and at least one sex scene with her husband  rob  . late in the movie  as rob is leaving for a final confrontation with roth  mary asks what she should do about the pregnancy of questionable origins  with a tone hinting of abortion . rob replies in a noble tone   it  s not the fault of the child   and then states what he thinks the name should be  girl or boy . i find this  pro  life  stance on the part of the hero to be very un  hollywood . rob walks from the darkness of the house to the bright outside to make this comment   not coincidental symbolism .  br    br   another related theme is roth  s character is a bastard  someone who evidently does not know who his father was  and has few kind words for his mother  though he wears a picture of her in a case hung from his neck . is it coincidence that roth  devoid of family stability  is the walking definition of psychopath  while rob is the strong husband  father figure  and of course the hero . in the final sword fight between rob and the villain  roth   the former slices the latter deeply across the chest   the left side of the chest  over the heart . his employer and pseudo  father figure  john hurt character  holds the mother  s picture in his hand and gazes at it  before snatching it from the neck of the dead roth .  br    br   also what i find interesting was the direction of the rape scene  which was not quite graphic but neither was it off  camera and implied . i found it surprising in it  s somewhat matter of fact depiction  with mary convincingly showing the characteristics of someone going through the ordeal  and subsequent post traumatic stress  as we call it now  . my point being that the rape was neither sensationalized nor just implied  which i find an interesting middle road for hollywood to take .  br    br   in the final fight scene  i have to correct an earlier commenter the weapon roth chose was a rapier  or perhaps a short sword   the weapon rob chose was a claymore . someone was really doing their homework on this entire scene . roth would have the upper hand in such a situation  but of course the claymore is a distinctly scottish weapon . what is even more striking to me  as a fencer and someone who has read a bit on the subject  is that this final sword fight is one of the most convincing of any film ever made the actors seem actually trying to kill each other   not the usual slashes to the opponents blade we see in most movie fights  including the movies opening fight  . even more true to history  roth is seen several times using the rapier as a thrusting weapon  which is it  s purpose by design   rapiers were edged  but primarily a thrusting weapon with the edges used mainly for parrying an opponents thrust .  rob uses the claymore in broad slashes  as it  s design intent . the fight goes down as i would expect it to   roth effectively wins . though rob wins the day by grabbing roth  s weapon  more symbolism  and striking him dead with a powerful slashing cut .  br    br   folks  it is rare to see this level of historical accuracy in a movie sword fight .  br    br   i  ll also note that for whatever reason  i remember      the year of release  distinctly as a time of distrust of the u . s . government . hollywood was obviously tuned into that  with the release of both  rob roy  and  braveheart   and i think the anti  government leanings are why both films get so much comparison .  br    br   i think the different perspective that this film gives is refreshing to avid movie fans  tired of the same old  not so hidden messages from hollywood .  
the fact that someone actually spent money on such a bad script  is beyond me . this really must be one of the worst films  in addition to  haunted highway  i have ever seen . bad actors  and a really bad story . there  s no normal reactions to any event in this film  and even though it  s halloween  normal people would have bigger reactions when they  re witnessing their father being killed  not to mention gutted  people with tape covering their airways  not being able to breathe  in a room with at least   people i might add  and some person dressed up as satan dragging dead people out of his house  even an  year old would see the difference between a doll and a person . not to mention the fact that no one could possibly be that naive and dumb to believe the reality of satan and jesus  appearances on the same day  like this kid does . when i was   i sure had more brains than that .  br    br   but  the really stupid thing is that everyone else seems to be falling for this mute satan look  alike as well  no questions asked . the question throughout the film is  is it really satan  or is it some crazy person killing people off whenever he feels like it  well  he  s got human hands  arms  built and whatever  so i guess he  s supposed to be in the movie as well  otherwise they did a lousy job concealing it . then  with this person being human and all  he was able to kill an old lady  a man and his mistress          cops  all with guns and training i presume   and a few other people . . . . . and obviously everyone was just standing there waiting for him  or what   br    br   the whole concept and way of telling the story is absolutely the worst thing i  ve seen  and i would never recommend anyone to waste  hour and   minutes of their lives to watch this total crap .  
what can one say about a film that has one of the blackest  most nihilistic  and occasionally most weirdly  i wont say  sympathetic  . . i will say  charismatic  villains in the history of the cinema  and the best sword fight since flynn and fairbanks were in their heyday  this is an epic about a stubborn  sometimes foolish  incredibly courageous and honest mans fight for his honor and freedom against tyranny . i loved it . john hurt and tim roth were great villains . jessica lange was very moving  tender  and sensual .  
satan  s little helper is one of the better b horror movies i have seen . when i say better i mean the story . the film hatches a new plot  something that  s not so clich in the horror genre  something fresh . but there are also some ridiculous questions that come along with it . questions you will be asking yourself throughout the movie .  br    br   the film first caught my attention while i was cruising the horror section in hmv . i was tired of all the so called  terrifiying  hollywood blockbusters and wanted something different . the cover art for satan  s little helper immediately caught my attention . as you can see  the image draws you in  it  s chilling  i knew it was a straight to dvd release  but i took a chance . i mean  i just seen  boogey man  the night before  so it couldn  t get any worse  after i watched the movie  i was semi  satisfied . i loved the plot of the movie . it was really creepy how the killer was pretending to be the little boys friend  so he could kill . in some sick deranged way  he actually thought he and the little boy would become partners  a duo of terror . it was a great idea to set the film on halloween night . this way  no one would think anything of a masked man beside a little kid . they would simply think he was his guardian . but  this is also where the  plot holes  begin to surface .  br    br   if your son came home with a  friend  he met trick or treating  that  s fine . you wouldn  t think anything of it  if he was    or round about the same age as him . if however  he appeared with a strange man in a mask  you would be startled and protective of your child . you would ask the man to remove his mask and identify himself . you would ask why he is with your son . he doesn  t know him . you would tell him to please leave . he isn  t a family friend . he  s a stranger . now  we  re supposed to teach our child not to talk to strangers . in this case  the mum is completely fine with it . huh  they never seem to think it  s a tad odd that the  man  doesn  t speak  at all . gruanted they think it  s the daughters boyfriend  but after   minutes of not talking you would pull the mask off and ask him why he  s not saying a word .  br    br   the film goes down hill from there . the thing that got me the most was  all the mum said was  do you want some cider   . i can  t count how many times she says this in the movie . it  s like  oh you  re dying  we have cider though  it  s all good   the movie started promising  and failed to deliver . it was more of a horror  comedy  and even as that it fails to deliver . i guess you could call it a  dud    flop  etc . .  br    br   the best thing about the movie is the cover art . though  something tells me that  s not worth the   dollars   
this is one powerful film . the first time i saw it  the scottish accents made it tough for me to understand a lot and that ruined the viewing experience . i gave up on it but then acquired the dvd  used the english subtitles when i needed them  and really got into this movie  discovering just how good it is . it is excellent .  br    br   the widescreen picture makes it spectacular in parts  with some wonderful rugged scenery and the story reminded me of braveheart  an involving tale of good versus evil . here  it  s liam neeson  good  vs . tim roth  evil  . both do their jobs well .  br    br   few actors come across as despicable as roth . man  you really want to smack this guy in his arrogant  irritating puss .  he is so nasty and vile the sick critics love his character more than anyone else  s here  . neeson is a man  s man and a solid hero figure as gibson was in braveheart . jessica lange is strong in here as the female lead . the movie draws you in and gets you totally involved  so prepared to have an emotional experience viewing this .  
with a title like this  you know not to expect a great horror movie . but this was really bad  even with low expectations . the plot is really insulting and stupid an escaped criminal wears a halloween mask  so everyone around him thinks he  s someone else . this joke might actually work for  or   minutes  but not during the entire movie  the actors are not that bad  but their characters are rather dumb and the story is boring and downright stupid . no suspense  no excitement and little gore  very cheap  . satan  s little helper tries to combine horror  . . .  with comedy and fails dramatically at that . it became so boring towards the end  that i actually stopped watching   minutes before the end . i couldn  t care whatever happened . amanda plummer was great in pulp fiction  but come on . . that was   years ago  and she hasn  t done anything decent after that . so no wonder that she had to sink as low as this piece of crap . . avoid or be warned . .  
this is a strong movie from a historical and epic perspective . while the story is simple it is pure and straightforward . in truth  it is the standard story of a simple  honorable man whose honor comes into conflict with the more educated and wealthier men of the period .  br    br   poor vs . rich  honorable vs . dishonorable  a classic but well  told tale without much of the glitz of hollywood stinking up the screen .  br    br   extra points just because you can almost smell the people on the screen .    
i  m going to say first off that i have given this film a  out of   after some thought . i was going to give it a straight out  but it got a couple extra points for the body count . but that would be about it . let me explain . i paid literally   for this dvd in a supermarket because i tend to have a lot of faith in bargain horror flicks  b  movies especially . but if this film was aiming for b status as i suspect it was for a number of reasons  which i  ll touch on in a sec  then it failed magnificently . not only did it shoot for b and miss  it landed somewhere around f . this film had so many opportunities to be good and it pretty much failed on all accounts . i say above that it  s likely this film was aiming for b status and it seems to try and achieve this by trying to blend humour with horror  which can either be very good or very bad . for example  later freddy films  dream warriors onwards  are all about freddy  s style and nose  thumbing  which works out great  but this film completely bombed in that respect because the times where they tried to inject humour were mostly just stupid . i will admit though that towards the beginning of the film the humour was good . in fact  for about half an hour i liked this film and was prepared to congratulate myself on another good find . but what really killed this film for me was the inappropriate kills . for instance  when  satan  smashes the cat against the board and writes  boo  with it  s blood using its body as a brush . or when  satan  slams the door into the helpless disabled elderly woman . now i  m not usually too against senseless kills in films  hey  thats the point  right  but in those two cases i just found it grossly offensive and unnecessary to anything in the film  plot especially . for me  the film went downwards from then on . one major bad point about this film is that i hated every character in it . the kid  dougie was just ridiculously annoying    i  m at a loss to explain how he could possibly write off all those bodies and people being killed in front of his eyes as a trick  i mean  come on    i completely understand that to be in a horror film a character does have to be somewhat stupid  like running upstairs when you should blatantly be running out of the house screaming for help  but this kid took the biscuit  i wanted to kill him myself by the end of it  it was completely unbelievable and if i had to hear him say  duh   one more time i was going to bang my head against a wall  because thats what watching this film felt like . why didn  t i just turn the film off  mainly because i honestly believe an ending can sometimes redeem a film . but i was wrong in this case . the ending did not redeem this film  it further irritated the hell out of me and was inadequate to the plot line . i get it already  the killer is always going to come back dressed as someone else  be welcomed into the house by the stupid kid and go on a killing spree again because no one suspects him in that costume  i get it  this film made me physically angry because it was so stupid  and if by some foul mistake you do end up watching this film  watch out for the intestines . frankly  if that guy actually did have intestines that looked like that  i  d be surprised he wasn  t already dead  let alone until someones rips them out and ties them to a chair .  br    br   in fact  i  ll even go so far as to say that the only character i liked at all in this film was actually the killer . purely because when his  comedy routine  worked  it did work . all in all  the plot line of this film dragged anything that might have been good down . why was the killer killing  i don  t know . i can live without knowing who he actually was  thats fairly typical  but without some kind of motive  hell i don  t know  i  d settle for him having a bad halloween as a kid   it just seems more than senseless  just stupid . stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid . in fact  i hated this film so much that i specifically registered with imdb just so i could comment on it . save your money  save your sanity . stay away from it   
michael caton  jones  s scottish period piece bears little connection to the sir walter scott novel of the same name . . .  br    br   the film opens in the scottish highlands  with robert roy mcgregor and his men hunting down a bunch of cow thieves who have stolen several heads of his lordship james graham  s cattle . . . the scene then switches to a sword  fighting contest attended by noblemen with longhair wigs  adorned shirts  soft colored coats  paleface make  up and conventional gestures . . .  br    br   macgregor lives under the protection of a local lord named marquis of montrose . . . when he enters an ill  advised trade agreement with montrose  he innocently leaves himself exposed to the malicious plots of montrose  s evil  doers . . . the unfolding of their perfidy is the most creative and pleasant part of the movie  though it takes a repugnant turn with a violent rape . . . when rob roy is finally compelled to rebel against the english soldiers  the action becomes well understood  ending with the predictable duel between him and an expert with the blade . . .  br    br   liam neeson injects heroism and passion to his character . . . he is intelligent  fair and virile . . . he carries his height with grace as the scottish chieftain of a small community . . . he is a loving father  a passionate lover  and a noble husband  driven to desperate acts by dastardly villains . . . he  d rather die than tell a lie or betray a trust . . .  br    br   oscar winner jessica lange gives the film class as the strong robust devoted wife  a proud peasant woman  brutally raped by an icy psychotic aristocrat . . . lange  s lines are filled with dignity and integrity  i will think on you dead  until my husband makes you so . and then i will think on you no more .   br    br   john hurt brings his usual clever touch with character roles to make montrose something more than a greedy marquis  ruthless with money and tempered by the english court  s fashion for foppery . . . he is a pompous arrogant man with two villainous servants at his service . . . honor  in his view  seems a quaint notion . . . he has two objectives ruin the reputation of his rival  the duke of argyle  and to hunt down the fugitive macgregor . . . he sends his soldiers to burn the highlanders  homes  to kill their people and their livestock . . .  br    br   tim roththe perfect antithesis to the hero  is fearsome and strangely an effeminate enforcer . . . he is a penniless british aristocrat  a nasty  hired sword  wonderfully evil  ravishing and murdering his way through the scottish mist . . . his name is archibald cunningham . . . he turns out to be a liar  a thief and a murderer . . . he dismisses himself as  but a bastard abroad  seeking his fortune and the favors of great men   and therefore can  t care about anyone else  love is a dung hill and i am but a cock that climbs upon it to crow .  he even jokes that he once raped a young boy whom he mistook for a girl . . .  br    br   cunningham seems pathetic . . . he smiles foolishly  and utters words with affected refinement  but not terribly harmful  until a muscular swordsman insults him  and we discover that he  s a cool head and an expert with a sword . . . he really does steal the film with a performance that earned him a best supporting actor nomination . . .  br    br   and while brian cox is suitably odious as killearn  andrew keir is montrose  s rival  the powerful local aristocrat  the duke of argyll  one of the few trustworthy men mcgregor meets outside his own family . . .  br    br   set in   th  century scotland  and with an atmospheric musical score   rob roy  is really a love story between a man and his wife  a recognizably human story  unjustly dwarfed by mel gibson  s  braveheart   that does tell essentially the same story of provincial resentment of overbearing english landlords . . .  
oh man  i know what your thinking  with a title like that  i can  t go wrong   uh yes you can . i too  loved the title  but man i hated the stupid kid that played  satan  s little helper  i hated the mom too  and the sister  daughter  and her boyfriend  i hated all those people  man  it was agony watching this sometimes  the only reason this doesn  t get     is becuz condsidering the low budget  they did ok . but oh man did i hate those actors  so stupid  i knew it was going to be bad  i guess they saved a lot of money on just using halloween masks for the killer  and the jesus costume at the end was really stupid too . oh the agony  do not watch   
from the excellent acting of an extremely impressive cast  to the intelligently written  and very quotable  script  from the lavish cinematography to the beautiful music score by carter burwell  rob roy offers a rarity in movie going experiences one that is nigh impossible to find fault with in any area .  br    br   there have been several comparisons made with braveheart  which came out the same year . with all due credit to mel gibson  braveheart struck me as too much of a self  conscious and preachy epic to rival rob roy as the kind of movie i would care to see more than once . while braveheart works hard to be a serious epic  rob roy just grabs you and absorbs you into its tightly edited storytelling . not a single scene is wasted .  br    br   rob roy contains the perfect balance of dramatic tension  action and even occasional humor . the characters are well fleshed  out  perfectly conveying vernacular and mannerisms that anchor them in their authentic period setting .  br    br   further  they are not caricatures of good and evil as we all too often observe in even modern film .  br    br   for example  while we hope the heroic rob roy prevails  we realize his predicaments are products of his own pride and sense of honor . tim roth plays one of the most hateful bad guys in the history of cinema  yet there are moments when we can understand how the events of his life have shaped him into becoming what he is . rob roy employs a level of character development that makes its story even more believable and gripping .  br    br   rob roy is a delightful treasure  featuring one of the greatest sword fights ever choreographed and a climatic ending worthy of all the tense anticipation .  
if you like occasional nudity with junior high school level slap stick comedy  then look no further .  br    br   starting at about the halfway point  the beautiful and erotic arielle dombasle starts disrobing at every opportunity . that is the only thing that made this movie worth watching .  br    br   the story is both lame and preposterous  the humor is corny  and character development is basically non  existent .  
from rainy  dreary late winter england of early     s . . .  br    br      where there is still sadness and many young widows and disabled vets from the great slaughter of men and killer of their womens  dreams    known now as world war i . . .  br    br   four women share this lovely small sunny italian castle on a hill one a young widow who is drowning her sorrow in frantic partying  two women who will rediscover their own husbands  and a fourth woman who is tired of her famous dead friends . . .  br    br   . . . these four women will come together with two husbands and a former soldier  almost blind  to get a spiritual  makeover  for one great april vacation in early      s italy .  br    br   note to would  be filmmakers . study this film for how mood and beauty can tell a story .  probably not a film to please many men . . .   br    br   note stock up on coffee  hot chocolate and invite the girls over on some dreary late winter day . . . spring is coming . . . enchanted april promises you   
this is an  anthology  horror film . it  s made up of  short stories taken from the fiction of robert bloch  who wrote for weird tales and was personal friends with h . p . lovecraft  but is most famous for the original story  psycho   . the quality of the stories is very uneven and i didn  t think very much about the film was creepy or horrific at all . it would have been better to do it as a comedy like  comedy of terrors .  only the last of the  stories was really done in a humorous way  and it  s probably the best of them  the one with ingrid pitt  . i  ve seen a few of these amicus anthology films and the only one that was really worth my time was freddie francis   tales from the crypt .  the anthology style works well for the producers  because it means that they can hire a bunch of  big name  actors  employ them for only one week of shooting or so  and then bring in the next big name . so you essentially pay for  weeks of movie star salary but get  or  different names on the marquee . but that  s very unfortunate for the audience  because the audience would like to see some scenes with peter cushing  christopher lee  and ingrid pitt actually acting together . instead they  re stuck in these vignettes by themselves . so let  s take them one at a time  briefly .  br    br   the first story has denholm elliot  who does a really admirable job of trying to bring some dignity to his silly role as a writer terrorized by his own character . unfortunately the actor who plays dominic  the source of the horror  tom adams  just looks silly which ruins any possible horror . there  s some hilarious stuff if you want to laugh at it though  like the scene where dominic kills elliot  s psychiatrist . it  s the patented scene where the killer creeps up behind the victim but nobody is watching  so the whole audience is supposed to shout out  look out behind you   the second story is the one with peter cushing . god i love that man so much . too bad so many of his films  like this one  pretty much stink . in the story he  s supposed to be pining away for a long  lost love  and he sees her likeness in a wax museum . it  s a completely predictable story that goes nowhere .  br    br   then you have the bit with christopher lee  where he plays the father of a little kid who turns out to be a witch . again this bit could have been fun if it had been played for laughs . but instead we  re supposed to be horrified when lee slaps the child and surprised when she turns out to be evil . the actress  chloe franks  was pretty good in that type of  bad seed  role though .  br    br   the last story is kind of amusing . . . ingrid pitt plays an actress and jon pertwee plays an actor who accidentally buys a vampire cape that turns him into a real vampire . that  s about all the story has to offer . i was surprised at how bad ingrid pitt  s english is  i guess she must have been dubbed in some of the other films i  ve seen her in .  br    br   not a very memorable film or one that i would recommend to anyone but horror completists .  
in the process of trying to establish the audiences  empathy with jake roedel  tobey maguire  the filmmakers slander the north and the jayhawkers . missouri never withdrew from the union and the union army was not an invading force . the southerners fought for state  s rights the right to own slaves  elect crooked legislatures and judges  and employ a political spoils system . there  s nothing noble in that . the missourians could have easily traveled east and joined the confederate army .  br    br   it seems to me that the story has nothing to do with ambiguity . when jake leaves the bushwhackers  it  s not because he saw error in his way  he certainly doesn  t give himself over to the virtue of the cause of abolition .  
the tv guide described the plot of severed ties as thus   an experiment on a severed arm goes awry  so right away i thought this was going to be about an arm thats got a mind of its own as seen in the beast with five fingers or the hand or someone getting an arm transplant as in body parts . both premises are tried and tested  or to be more accurate tired and tested so i was curious as to how the producers would approach the story . i actually thought they were making an arthouse movie like pi down to the use of bw photography at the start of the film but the makers seemed to have tired of this approach after   seconds and decided to make a splatter comedy similar to the evil dead . ive very little to say on this except that i disliked the evil dead movies and i disliked severed ties and it seems really unfair that films like this use an obscene amount of rubber when the third world is crying out for condoms  
you  re waiting to see if the remake is better or worse . i rated the audie murphy movie a   i  m a harsh grader   the second lowest i ever gave audie  the worst being  battle at bloody beach  if you  re curious  . i give this movie a rating of     and i  m a harsh grader  it  s the civil war story of renegade  soldiers   if you want to call them that  against the north . people like quantrell  and the men who rode with these outlaws .  br    br   the original was a watery version  very clean cut  while still depicting the horror of what these men did . actually  movies such as the older version are best viewed by mature audiences  who can discern the story . i would be more apt to rate the original  r  and this one  with it  s gruff nature  a gp  because the newer movie gives a very honest version  a message more easily deciphered by a juvenile than the older version .  br    br   film makers since the early sixties have boasted about  realism   but few of them deliver . instead  they just give the drab scenery  drab costumes  and drab events  but with comic book cardboard stereotype characters  the weakness of the spaghetti era .  br    br   modern film makers have realized this mistake . it is evident in a superior style of western we usually see today . this movie is an example . it gives the realistic settings  but also gives us characters we can believe exist in that era .  br    br   it has a few lulls  which makes a complete sit through a bit hard  and it has some unexplained situations . but unexplained situations are okay as long the entire movie holds up  and the characters are intriguing enough .  br    br   it begins a bit campy  but really improves . the main character is one we can identify  and at least have some sympathy for . the audie murphy character of the early movie really evokes no sympathy  and is too self righteous without motivation .  br    br   the character in this movie follows the lines of a true anti  hero . there is motivation  and a method to his madness . we never feel he is truly  right   but we can understand where he comes from .  br    br   there is plenty of action in the movie . there is also some humor . one good scene is when the heroine tells the hero she wouldn  t lie to him  and he mulls that over .  br    br   this movie succeeds in doing what film makers have been trying to do for decades . this director and writer team got it right .  br    br   recommended . complete success .  
a young scientist harry harrison is continuing his late father  s scientific research into limb regeneration with flying colours  but his interferingly dominate mother and her doctor lover want to sell off the serum . when he finds out  there is an accident involving harry losing an arm . so  he tries out the serum and what eventuates is a genetically deranged arm that has a mind of its own .  br    br   oh we  ve seen this oh so many times before  but what lifts this very campy and quite rubbery shonky junk is the performance of movie icons elke sommer and oliver reed . actually it  s not a bad flick by fangoria films just there are better ones out there  which are similar in vein .  servered ties  simply lacks it own distinctive style . the oddball nature and unpleasant splatter resembled  re  animator  and even a touch of slapstick stuck out like something from  evil dead   .  br    br   the comic story is truly whacked out with it  s black humour  but it can get melodramatic and a bit in dry in the fun factor . surprises do crop up  especially the flick  s final outcome . which is well accepted  as i thought it could have copped out with something more accessible . for a low  budget production the fx makeup can look rigid and very goofy  but there  s some grotesque moments that will make you smile than actually cringe . even a brush of sexual tension streamlines the story  thanks to elke sommer  s sternly juicy performance as the mother . oliver reed is quite humorously deadpan in a wicked sense and he pulls it off extremely well . they were both immensely diverting as the couple you loved to hate . billy morrisette is delightful in a erratic performance as harry . director damon santostefano briskly paces the film and orchestrates some stylish scenes of gripping and bamboozling horror .  br    br   yeah it  s juvenile and basically silly nonsense  but you got to hand it to it for some undemanding entertainment .  
i enjoyed this film very much . tobey maguire gives a terrific performance as jake . he has got to be one of the best actors i have seen . and i was surprised there were so many humorous lines throughout the film . he was extremely good at this too although i have never seen him deliver a comic line before . the film gets you involved with the characters and really makes you wonder what is to become of them all . i did not know what to expect from jewel  s performance but i think she did rather well . lots of exciting scenes . a thoroughly good ride . i am absolutely a fan of maguire  s . check out cider house rules . one of the all time best ever .  
a young scientist is trying to carry on his dead father  s work on limb regeneration . his overbearing mother has convinced him that he murdered his own father and is monitoring his progress for her own evil purposes . a young doctor uses reptilian dna he extracts from a large creature and when his arm is conveniently ripped off a few minutes later  he injects himself with his formula and grows a new murderous arm . . . admittedly the special effects in  severed ties  are pretty good and grotesque  but the rest of the film is awful . the severed arm is behaving like a snake and kills few people . big deal . the acting is mediocre and the climax is silly .  out of   .  
ang lee clearly likes to ease into a film  to catch action  characters and setting on the hoof  as they emerge . covering the haphazard endgame of the american civil war via the haphazard actions of a young militia  unformed in mind or manhood  this is an ideal approach . the film turns out to be about the formation of personalities  adulthood and relationships . lee also shows the beautiful panoramas of the mid  south as a silent character  enduring the strife like a hardy parent .  br    br   james schamus  script is probably the standard bearer for this film close behind it are a number of well  appointed performances that carry it admirably . jeffrey wright  s name alone could carry this film for me . he  s brilliant here but in a slow burning role instead we are treated to very good  if not revelatory  performances from a large  often recognisable ensemble .  br    br   a noble  optimistic film . one to watch if you don  t fancy the harder  more bittersweet cold mountain or the claim  for example .      
i disliked frosty returns and this one . both of the films are absurd with poorly written characters and bad voices . the voices could have been done but frosty returns was worst than this because of the unalike snowman they drew . frosty  s winterwonder land was great and so was the original heartwarming drama . the only good thing about this film was frosty the snowman was alike of the classic   s and a funny line like when they were talking about things that are not real and then frosty walks by the window humming  whistling whatever he was doing but everything else was badly written and badly animated and i barely got the plot . i saw the dvd cover at the library about  or  years ago and the art looked crappy so i didn  t pick it up until this year because the pictures on the back looked a little touching but i played this film . it was a hassle poorly art characters just like the dvd and it was just terrible about what  s going on . i watched this at night and found it dull that i fell asleep on the whole thing  wait i always do that when i watch something while i go to sleep  but this movie was overall boring  br    br   overall rating grade  c  br    br   this is like another holiday special bad rip  off in the frosty returns and this one . this one is the badly  th sequel like home alone  well i thought that movie was ok but home alone  was great . but it  s like a bad home alone  and  people hate like this . my sister didn  t watch it that much because when she came into my room to watch  minutes and a half of it  she walked away like  i hate the animation   i agree to her just like the  rd one frosty returns . plain awful   
so  neighbor was killing neighbor . reminds me of iraq . as i watched the american flag    stars in       being dragged behind the horse  i realized why burning that piece of red white and blue doesn  t upset me as much as our destruction  indifference to the bill of rights . i  m a southerner  and must have some historical memory .  br    br   watching the tobey mcguire character learn to respect the dignity of a former slave  as he looks at the scalps of blacks and germans  his ethnic background  being wagered at a poker game . . . . . was interesting . many twists in this movie . the wife  who is forced into her marriage  shows both lust and a strong will  characteristics we  re not used to seeing in  respectable victorian southern belles  .  br    br   the crazy wacked out renegade southerner gave me some insight into why my cousin  head of the copeland horse  thieving gang  inc . in mississippi  was hung about that time . bands of homeless men were roaming the countryside  armed . remind you of iraq  and how similar we are underneath the facade of religion and ethnic background  and why southerners are still fighting that civil war today .  br    br   too bad we can  t use that same knowledge in our handling of the country we  ve just invaded and are occupying  fomenting civil war everywhere . that  s mesopotamia  now called iraq  who happen to have the misfortune to sit on oil . the wild  eyed killers in missouri  raiding lawrence  kansas could as easily be the insurgents we  re fighting now with no success .  br    br   another anomaly was the father  s tribute to the yankees who move into lawrence and erect a school  even before they erect a church . and for that reason  they  ll win .  huh      i was taught history in birmingham  al and we were taught that the north was much more industrial and richer . . . . . that  s why they won . course  they also literally had god on their side . as you see here  when the freed slave indicates that he  s cutting out to free his mother  sold into slavery in texas . god  what a horrible legacy slavery gave us .  br    br   acting pretty good  lots of blood and gore as the warriors ride gleefully into battle  but didn  t hear any rebel yells  so reminiscent of football games in alabama  . you also get a real feeling for how stupid the war was  as the bushwackers and jayhawkers gather their forces for another raid . they have lost sight of why they  re fighting  and so do we . just more mindless slaughter .  br    br   you  re also brought up to date with the limbless kids coming home from iraq  as the bushwacker  ahh  what connotations  first has his arm seared shut  trying to save it  then has it amputated  and then dies . so much suffering for such a stupid cause .  br    br   the cinematography is fantastic . now i have to get back to the dvd and get the production notes  one of my favorite parts of any movie . i suspect that this movie was written by a gore vidal  as the spoken language is of a type you would associate with that era  if you knew history . the dialogue is definitely thought  provoking . not your ordinary blood and guts war movie  by any means . you see the wounded but still active  duty soldiers  still fighting cause they have nothing else to do . you see the southern raiders  living off the land  stealing indiscriminately . yet  at the beginning  you  ve seen the battle stop  so the women could be evacuated from danger . as i read the escalating number of women and children dying in iraq  i  m thinking   where did we lose our sense of honor as a people   i have forgotten why i sought this movie out and bought it after   years  but some book somewhere lauded it . with good reason . tobey at his best  pre  spideyman . buy the dvd or rent it . and tell me why others laud this  not just liberals cest moi .  
the john goodman program was pretty awful  but this thing just plain stinks . the one and only thing in this mess that made me smile was recognizing the voice of patrick starfish as frosty . the story is hopeless  written by somebody who has garbled memories of childhood rebelliousness but has never gained any adult sense of perspective in the intervening years . paranoia rules the dark world that these characters inhabit . everybody is unpleasant  and for no reason . the plot is predictable but the show lurches from one inexplicable  unconnected scene to another in such a pointless way there is no fun in watching it . the worst thing is nobody in the production crew seems to have ever seen snow   
one of my favorite movies which has been overlooked by too many movie goers  an observation which mystifies me . not only directed by the acclaimed ang lee  it had many young actors who were to become major stars  e . g .  tobey maguire  before spiderman   skeet ulrich  before jericho   jonathan rhys meyers  before tudors   james caviezel  simon baker  mark ruffalo  jeffrey wright  tom wilkinson  and jewel . all of the acting was superb and each of the actors mentioned gave memorable performances  especially meyers who portrayed an evil villain who killed for the sake of killing .  br    br   when the biographies and accomplishments of the director  even when he won an academy award  and the actors are listed  this film is usually omitted from their past performances . i discovered the film on dvd by accident and it became one of my most often watched films . however  it is seldom every seen on cable . i look forward to reading what others suggest are the reasons this film is not well known .  
december holiday specials  like the original frosty  ought to be richly  produced with quality music and a wholesome  yet lighthearted storyline . they should have a touch of the mystical magic of the holidays . basically  they should look  sound  and feel . . . well   special  and they should have a decent and appropriate december holiday subtext .  br    br   so when i saw legend of frosty the snowman in the tv listings  i got my kids   and   pumped up for it by telling them the story of the original frosty and passionately relating how much i enjoyed it as a kid . as my wife and kids cozied up on the couch to watch the movie the expectations were high  but   minutes into it my kids were yawning and my wife and i were giving each other  the look  and rolling our eyes . after   minutes my kids were actually asking to go to bed   i guess they were fed up with the insensitive language and pointless  disconnected segments . i was actually embarrassed about their  and my  disappointment with this movie .  br    br   unfortunately  legend of frosty the snowman is more like a bad episode of fairly odd parents crossed with a worse  than  normal episode of sponge bob than a classic holiday movie . don  t get me wrong . . . those shows are fine and i like them as much as the next guy  but when i watch fairly odd parents or sponge bob  my low expectations  for mediocre  off  color  zero subtext  mind numbing episodes  are always satisfied .  br    br   we picked out some good books and spent the rest of the evening reading together . a much better choice than the embarrassingly bad legend of frosty the snowman .  
i really enjoyed the detail that went into the script .  br    br   jonathan rhys myers  misspelled  and jewel were outstanding in their support roles . as was jeffery wright . toby mcguire gave as fine a acting job as ever depicted  when he had to amputate his best friend  s arm  knowing he would die without the procedure .  br    br   attention to detail  with good dialect coaching to catch the southern accent incredibly well .  br    br   why this movie was swept under the rug by the hollywood promoters i can only imagine . i have strong suspicions . which makes it all the more appealing to me . i have given a dozen dvd copies out for presents .  br    br   completely overlooked movie . rent or buy it and give it your full attention for a couple of hours  then judge .  
my complaints here concern the movie  s pacing and the material at hand . while using archival film and letters lends the film a fresh and interesting perspective  too often the material selected to highlight simply isn  t very interesting  such as when goebbels complains about this or that ailment  tc .  or the ad nauseam footage of his small german hometown  . also  the movie crawls along in covering c .          and then steams through the war years . in sum  the film is little better than a history channel documentary  with the exception that the filmmaker has a slightly greater sensibility than your average history channel documentary editor and thus can more artfully arrange the details of goebbels  life . still  i found it wanting .  
an unconventional historical drama  with some fine battle scenes . tobey maguire gives an excellent performance  and gets some pretty good back  up . the script is literate and pretty original  and the film is kept mercifully free of heroes . that said  it does drag a bit  and the last reel is too much like a tv mini  series . still  frederick elmes  s camerawork keeps one interested in the dull bits  and every now and again you see a shot which reminds you he worked for david lynch  . worth seeing .  
one of my sisters friends lent me this game  and it is too damn hard  it carries the appearance of a kids game  but you have to learn how to do tons of intricate moves that require you to twist and turn your hands into all sorts of awkward positions  and you have to search seemingly endless levels for    notes  to improve your  score   you also have to find these impossibly hidden jigsaw puzzle pieces  that require you to do almost impossible tasks to get them  and i am only up to stage three      maybe if you have no life nad can stay home all the time you might get some enjoyment out of this  but otherwise keep away  and it is definately not recommended for kids  they will pull their hair out within the hour   
when i heard this film was directed by ang lee  i made sure to see it . this taiwanese director burst into fame with  the wedding banquet  and  eat drink man woman  a few years ago and then moved on to  sense and sensibility  and  the ice storm  . now  he turns his attention to another american icon   the civil war .  br    br   this story takes place in missouri  a union state with southern sympathies . these never officially joined the confederate army . instead  they formed outlaw bands  called  bushwhackers   grew they hair long  and sometimes would confiscated union uniforms which they wore over their regular clothing .  br    br   the movie depicts their moral dilemma  the high drama of the times  and their supposedly heroic missions of killing storekeepers and farmers who aided the union . there are no stars in this movie  unless you consider  jewel  the singer  well cast as a young confederate widow as a star .  br    br   tobey macquire is cast as a young german farm boy who is derided for his heritage because the germans were supposed union sympathizers . this young man is an excellent actor  full of fresh faced youth whose performance encompasses his wonder and subtle realizations as he  s exposed to the horror of war .  br    br   jeffrey wright is a freed slave who travels with the bushwhackers because of his loyalty to the young man who bought him his freedom . he gives a fine and understated performance .  br    br   some of the acting  however  is wooden  especially in the long conversations they have about morality . and their costumes are too new . and the  southern gentleman  theme of manners and hat  tipping and politeness to women comes across as a bit much   especially since they make it a point to murder all the men who they pull from their women  s arms  then burn down the stores and houses .  br    br   while i don  t think that this will go down as one of lee ang  s  great  movies  i did find myself fascinated by it  in spite of the slow parts and its excessive length of    minutes . i was interested in what was happening next and felt empathy for each of the characters who all came across as real and imperfect human beings caught up in the forces of history .  br    br   not as much action as the usual war movie  but yet still recommended   especially for civil war buffs .  br    br    
tim robbins and john cusack are two actors i have appreciated throughout their careers  and that was the only reason for choosing to watch this movie . well  all i can say is i totally regretted it  these two great actors humiliate themselves all the way through by performing a number of irrelevant  unimaginative and kitch to the extreme  not that this is bad on its own  sketches that are supposed to make people laugh  but fail to do so . the only reason i can think is that the director was their friend  and they decided to support his movie by starring in it  i can  t think of anything else because this movie is so cheap  fortunately tim robbins and john cusack haven  t disappointed me ever since . i would recommend you to avoid this film  unless you want your opinion about the two actors spoiled .  
the most succinct way to describe ride with the devil is with but one word authenticity . i will not rehash what has already been said about this wonderous film  but i would like to say how much the historical research and painstaking attention to detail the crew no doubt went through was appreciated by this filmgoer .  br    br   as a student of history familiar with the period and setting of this film  i must say that this production is one of the most accurate fictional films regarding  bleeding kansas  . yes there were liberties taken on the actual events  as all fiction is apt to do . but the overall feel of the film is genuine . authentic costumes  authentic attitudes  no pc hindsight here  even the actors look authentic . even jewel kilcher  who has a small part in the film  looked like she stepped form a mid   th century photograph .  br    br   a few viewers i talked with have expressed their incredulity at the stylized dialog . they cannot believe that   th century farmers would  talk like poets  .  br    br   what they don  t realize is that in this age of verbal slobbishness  the american public public of the   th century was a surprisingly literate and eloquent bunch . these people were raised on shakespeare and the king james version of the bible . the screenwriters reconstructed the most likely verbal styles of these people  judging from documentation of the time . the stylized dialog just adds to the magical atmosphere of the film .  br    br   but in addition to a historical document  this film works on a visceral level as well . beautifully photographed and performed  it harkens back to the days of the great western epics . the raid on lawrence  kansas  done so many times before in so many other  lesser films is portrayed with a sense of urgency that puts the viewer right in the midst of the action .  br    br   romance  adventure  moral and ethical conflict . this film has everything a discerning moviegoer could want .  br    br   in a year that was dominated by overhyped garbage like american beauty  this great artwork was buried by an indifferent studio system . but i am certain that ride with the devil will be given it  s due in the coming years . please rent this film . you will not be disappointed .  
  tapeheads   a scrappy  intermittently funny spoof of the music video business  might have been the perfect comedic short  and stars john cusack and tim robbins are effortlessly in the swing of the nonsensical chaos involved . they play two semi  savvy security guards in los angeles who start their own company  video aces  making hilarious videos for groups  parties  and one deathbed star . it  s too bad the filmmakers had to invent a dim side  plot to pad the running time  shenanigans involving a crooked politician and his henchmen which doesn  t do much except take away from the movie  s primary strength  sending  up the music culture of the late     s  . still  cusack and robbins create a couple of originals here nerdy but loose  street  smart without being hipsters or posers  these guys are on the same nutty wavelength  and they never put each other down . they  re the real thing in buddy  comedies .     from   
the true measure of any fictional piece of work is whether or not the characters grow from their experiences and emerge from the experience altered in some significant way  note that this change need not be positive or beneficial  at the end .  br    br   by that measure  enchanted april is a resounding success . as a film in general  it succeeds quite well  excellent ensemble cast  well  developed characters you come to care about  wonderful script and beautiful sets and locations . in short the film is  well  enchanting . although all the performances are first  rate  three must be mentioned  josie lawrence  jim broadbent and joan plowright . it says something when miranda richardson does her usual fine work and yet is overshadowed by so many others in the cast . most highly recommended  particularly if you are a romantic at heart . further deponent saith not .  
just a stilted rip  off of the infinitely better  murder  she wrote   it is absolutely amazing that this poorly  written garbage lasted for a full eight years . i  m sure most of the people who watched this unentertaining crap were in their sixties and seventies and just tuned in because they had nothing better to do  or simply remembered its star from the old dick van dyke show . van dyke  who only had a decent career in the     s  never was much of an actor at all  by his own admission  and he was already far too old to play a doctor when the series began in     . he looks absolutely ancient as a result of years of chain smoking and heavy drinking . his talentless real life son barry  a wooden actor who has rarely been in anything that didn  t involve his father  plays his son in the series .  
i liked this movie a lot . it really intrigued me how deanna and alicia became friends over such a tragedy . alicia was just a troubled soul and deanna was so happy just to see someone after being shot . my only complaint was that in the beginning it was kind of slow and it took awhile to get to the basis of things . other than that it was great .  
this video nasty was initially banned in britain  and allowed in last november without cuts .  br    br   it features the playboy playmate of the month october      ursula buchfellner . the opening cuts back and forth between buchfellner and foggy jungle pictures . i am not sure what the purpose of that was . it would have been much better to focus on the bathtub scene .  br    br   laura  buchfellner  is kidnapped and held in the jungle for ransom . peter  al cliver  the beyond  zombie  is sent to find her and the ransom . of course  one of the kidnappers  antonio de cabo  manages to pass the time productively  while another  werner pochath  whines incessantly .  br    br   the ransom exchange goes to hell  and laura runs into the jungle . will peter save her before the cannibals have a meal  oh  yes  there are cannibals in this jungle . why do you think it was a video nasty  muriel montoss is found by peter and his partner  antonio mayans  angel of death  on the kidnapper  s boat . montoss is very comfortably undressed . peter leaves them and goes off alone to find laura  who has been captured by now . they pass the time having sex  and don  t see the danger approaching . guts  anyone  great fight between peter and the naked devil  burt altman  .  br    br   blood  decapitation  guts  lots of full frontal  some great writhing by the cannibal priestess  aline mess   and the line   they tore her heart out   which is hilarious if you see the film .  
the star of this film is the screenplay . attention to detail for the period in dress  language  social mores  we don  t hurt women  and the politics are remarkable . it is a reminder of kosovo to  day . the subtle pieces in the action scenes are there for an attentive viewer and the choreography of these action sequences is superb . perhaps this film is to close to the bone of reality to earn the support it should have received . it is like a staircase of increasing violence with well paced pauses of peace and serenity between each step . a great film . . . .  
one of frances farmer  s earliest movies at    she is absolutely beautiful . bing crosby is in great voice  but the songs are not his best . martha raye and bob burns are interesting  but their comedy  probably great in its time  is really corny today . roy rogers also appears  in a singing role . in my view only worth watching if you are a frances farmer fan  and possibly a bing crosby fan .  
ride with the devil directed by ang lee  crouching tiger  is another gem in this fine directors cap . for those unfamiliar with the history of the kansas  missouri border wars during the american civil war . see this film  you will visit a sad piece of americana . besides some superb action scenes  quite bloody at times  . this is a story of love  devotion between men  one lady in particular . it stars toby maguire  skeet ulrich jeffrey wright  as the young lady jewel  i never heard or seen her before  i want to see more of her  . the acting is top notch  superb production values  very well written  adapted from a novel   br    br   this is a long film    minutes  but well worth seeing .  br    br   my rating is   br    br   respectively submitted  br    br   jay harris  br    br    
we went to the movie with a group because the play we were going to was cancelled . it is without doubt one of the worst movies ever . it is not that i don  t like cult  movies i do . but nothing happens in the film . one does not feel any connection with the characters whatsoever . endless times without dialog . and the car . how do thay carry a huge tent and beds chairs and clothing for every day in that car  it is a two seater  i have to say however the scenery is beautiful  but not in a movie  the director should have made a photoshoot of the movie  so that we could skip about   minutes of useless time in with nothing happens anyway .  br    br   i would not recommend it  as it is a waste of your time  
after seeing all the jesse james  quantrill  jayhawkers  etc films in the fifties  it is quite a thrill to see this film with a new perspective by director ang lee . the scene of the attack of lawrence  kansas is awesome . the romantic relationship between jewel and toby mcguire turns out to be one of the best parts and jonathan rhys  meyers is outstanding as the bad guy . all the time this film makes you feel the horror of war  and the desperate situation of the main characters who do not know if they are going to survive the next hours . definitely worth seeing .  
usually i love lesbian movies even when they are not very good . i  m biased  i guess   br    br   but this one is just the pits . yes  the scenery and the buildings are beautiful  and there is a brief but beautiful erotic interlude  but otherwise this movie is just a complete waste of time . annamarie alternates between sulking and getting high  stoned  passing out on whatever drug or booze is handy  and ella inexplicably puts up with this abominable behavior through the entire movie . at no time are we given any insight into why this is so  or even why annamarie is so depressed and withdrawn .  br    br   if there had at least been some kind of closure in the  potentially romantic  we don  t even know   relationship between the two  there might have been some kind of satisfaction . but although annamarie at one point asks ella  why do you love me   ella doesn  t even acknowledge this . it  s never really clear whether this is anything more than an  ill  behaved  lesbian on a boring road trip with a straight woman .  br    br   even the interactions between the two women and the local people they meet on the journey  which could have been lively and informative  are instead flat  tedious and mostly incomprehensible .  br    br   there is one good joke in the movie  although i  m sure it was unintentional . the women travel in a two  seat ford coupe with a middling sized trunk . yet when they set up camp  they have an enormous tent  cots  sleeping gear  and even a table  chair  and typewriter  on top of that  when they board a ferry  we see piles of luggage  presumably theirs  presumably also carried in the little ford  s trunk   br    br   and through the entire film  we never see one gas station  or anywhere that looks like it would actually have any place to buy gasoline . mostly they travel through endless miles of desolate desert . so where did they get fuel   br    br   there may not be too many lesbian films out there  good or bad  but there are plenty that are better than this  and very few that are worse . leave this one in the rack .  
ride with the devil  like ang lee  s later brokeback mountain  is a film of aesthetic and historical importance . film lovers ought to see it at minimum twice as its artistic nuance is worthy to be over comprehended .  br    br   a perfect piece of art  surprising depth of humanity . i really don  t recall another war film  will so capture you  will change your existing conception of history and politics  will restore your belief in humanity . after seeing so many killings  so many sufferings  you don  t feel yourself numb  instead you treasure the bond between human beings more . the actors  performances haunt your heart  the music drives your mind . some shoots  are not just some pictures  they transcend themselves  becoming the seeing of soul . such is the true sense of film being a genre of art .  br    br   a film like this doesn  t need long comments or reviews  everything it says by itself . ovation to the cast which includes tobey maguire  jeffrey wright and jewel kilcher  the cinematographer and the composer of the beautiful and lyrical music  what an achievement   
whatever the merits of the film  it is poorly researched . as others have pointed out  the movie shows locals in iran speaking in arabic  rather than persian . that is enough to lose credibility for anyone who has the slightest knowledge of the area or the country . the landscape could not be more different from the actual .  br    br   other factual errors a train is shown to be operating in afghanistan  while afghanistan does not have railways . the turkish ambassador is wearing a fez  the red hat   whereas the fez was banned by turkey much before the time in which the movie is set . the turkish ambassador  s daughter is actually dressed as an indian  and indian classical music is playing in the background in many scenes . i suppose the filmmakers meant to show an exotic woman  and sari was what they decided would make her exotic .  
ride with the devil has something rich and special  if you can stand the slow development . while tackling a dark  gritty subject  the brutal guerrilla war in the american west during its civil war  which in turned spawned the outlaws of the old west of the     s   the movie maintains a strangely satisfying  unmanipulated atmosphere . what i  m refering to is the tendency of films  music and lighting to make you feel the mood you  d expect to feel . but rwtd instead has a relatively upbeat soundtrack  and lets the words and action do the talking set the mood rather than manipulation of the viewer  s senses .  br    br   as an enthusast of this particular area of cw history  i  m greatly impressed with the accuracy of the film . the diologue is expertly written   even with subtle humor occasionally  with references to bushwhackers and previous boarder battles  independence for example . . . a far cry from the oregon trail   . the minor events that occur to jake  s band are similar to actual events that took place . . . especially the attack when they  re holed up in the house  and the destruction of the store  booth . the battle scenes  though rare  are pretty well executed . it even has the first cw cavalry battle put on film recently .  br    br   the directing shows the talent everyone expects of ang lee in subtle ways . example the character of black john is shown taunting a lawrence resident during the massacre  where  s your army  who are we to fight   who are we to fight    the shot then switches to a trio of confederate regulars standing  doing nothing to stop the carnage while the voice continues  you are cowards all   who are the cowards  really  little touches like that really enhance the movie  s quality .  br    br   there are no major glaring areas in the history  something that can not be said of the masterpiece of film glory  which was basically fiction within the context of the major events it follows . some minor problems include the fact that the years as shown by the events represented don  t add up . but you will never notice that . a larger curiosity is the fact that the only african  american man  at  arms character in the film is the quasi  slave fighting for jake and his confederate bushwhackers . it is true that some blacks did fight for the confederacy out there  including one who scouted lawrence for quantrill before the attack  who would suspect him   . though this black rebel is a fasinating character  whatever pc african  americans might think of him   not a single black union infantryman is seen in the film  which would have been more represenative of the black experience in the western cw . one of the first black regiments of the cw was raised in kansas  by the murderer senator jim lane  and before the   th mass . reg . of fame was organized   and black troops in such battles as baxter springs  ks  played a critical role .  br    br   no glaring historical errors . good  realistic action  which is infrequent and not gratitous . good directing . this film may not be the blockbusters other recent civil war were  but it  s the cleanest job of any .  
the movie  s storyline is pat and quaint . two women travel through the middle east and discover themselves . unfortunately  if you are looking for a movie about the middle east and central asia this is absolutely terrible .  br    br   the producers of the film either did no research or were unbelievably lazy when filming it . to begin with  and most glaringly incorrect  the nuristanis  as they were known in the thirties  and indeed since the     s and their forceful conversion by abdul  rahman shah of aghnaistan  were not nomads . in fact they have not been nomads since the aryan invasions of central asia over three milenia ago .  br    br   second  the city that is filmed as tehran is not tehran  which is understandable  however the geography of the area around the city could not be more strikingly different than the city of tehran  which is surrounded on all side by a large mountain range  which predominates all of the cities views .  br    br   third  persian  despite the fact it is spoken in iran and afghanistan  is never heard in movie . when there are native speakers who do not speak in german they speak in arabic . the  persian  guards at the border  in fact  say to each other  ma hadha rujal   this is not a man  and not  in mard nist  as it would be in persian . also  the love song between the indian princess and one of the main characters is obviously in spanish . while talking in the garden one of the main characters says that the quran uses the words  ferdos  and  jehaan  and makes some reference to drugs afterwords . these words certainly never appear in the quran as they are persian for paradise  indeed  ferdos and paradise are very distant cognates between our languages  and  world  respectively  though jehaan is admittedly close to  jehennan  which is hell in arabic . when they encounter the nomads in the desert the language spoken is also arabic  this despite the fact that there are no native speakers of arabic in iran and afghanistan and its use is primarily religious  with some use in education at that time .  br    br   when they are stopped in iran before they reach the afghan border the people they encounter are wholly unlike any iranian group . their tents are typically bedouin with carpets decorating the walls and a high profile . in iran it is also extremely uncommon for people to wear turbans unless they are a cleric . the language spoken is clearly arabic from the initial greeting of  ahlan wa sahlan .  when they do reach kabul the desert they find themselves in is sandy  totally unlike the rock dirt that is found in the arid parts of the hindu kush mountain range . there is an absence of the light green scrub that covers the ground in the summer and spring . the area is also not wholly consumed by the extreme mountains of the mountain range that won its name  the indian killers  because of its difficult and limiting ground .  br    br   in short  the story line is the only thing in this movie that holds any water and it is still weak and common place . it lacks any real draw to it  being merely the tale of two women trying to learning about themselves as they get to nuristan  however  even that is still  born and no real development is felt  leaving the characters in the end just where they were in the beginning and nothing has changed except that world war two has broken loose . in short  this is a really bad movie that i would have rated at one star except for the good footage of bedouin and the deserts of the levant  even if they are misnamed .  
the war between the states was perhaps the darkest hour in the history of america a war that pitted brother against brother and family against family and left scars that even today have not yet healed  and in all probability never will . and  as in any story about any war  beyond any historical significance it is the personal discord behind the greater conflict that creates the emotional impetus that makes it involving . it is the human element that renders the context necessary to give it perspective  which is what director ang lee provides in ride with the devil   a civil war drama in which he focuses on the personal travails within the broader depiction of the war itself  and along the way manages to include an examination of one of the bloodiest chapters of the war  the infamous raid on lawrence  kansas  by quantrill and his raiders  which he succeeds in presenting quite objectively from the confederate point  of  view .  br    br   in      the union influence predominates in the state of kansas  and even across the border in neighboring missouri  those with confederate loyalties are finding it increasingly difficult to hold out against the encroaching northerners  especially without the aid of what could be considered any regular  confederate troops . and when things begin to really heat up around their own town  jack bull chiles  skeet ulrich  and jake roedel  tobey maguire  form a band of their own and join in the fray  doing damage to the union cause wherever it is practicable . jack bull and jake do not like the war and do not like killing but they are standing up for what they believe to be right .  br    br   there are others  however  even among their own  men like the young pitt mackeson  jonathan rhys  meyers   who will use the conflict as a vehicle for personal gain and as nothing more than an excuse to express their own violent nature through unnecessary brutality  perpetrated in many instances against innocent victims . and so  for jack bull and jake  as well as many just like them  it becomes a time in which loyalty and moral judgments will be sorely tested a time during which their souls will be tempered in blood . and they will have to ride with the very devil himself  against seemingly insurmountable odds .  br    br   as with all of his films  director ang lee approaches his story through an incisive  yet subtle examination of the traditions  cultural aspects and moral attitudes of the people and times he is depicting . and in so doing  lee provides his audience with at least some understanding of his subject that goes beyond the actual story and ultimately offers  perhaps  a deeper grasp of the motivations that propel his characters and the drama in which they are engaged . whether it  s the traditions and customs that account for the relationship between a father and his daughters  eat drink man woman    the effects of class distinction  sense and sensibility    the honor and code by which a warrior lives and dies  crouching tiger  hidden dragon   or the moral ambiguities fostered by a lack of all of the above  the ice storm    lee infuses his films with insights into the human condition that take them to a higher level . this film is no exception and  as he does with all his films   lee presents his story with the aid of breathtaking cinematography  in this film  by frederick elmes  who also did the ice storm  brilliantly   which under his guidance is nothing less than visual poetry . it  s that special lee touch  and it adds a wistful  reflective sense to whatever story he is telling  which is one of the elements that make his films so memorable .  br    br   as jake  tobey maguire initially brings a sense of youthful innocence to the film that contrasts so effectively with the maturity he conveys later on as the story develops  and his character along with it . most importantly  maguire convincingly and believably responds to the events that unfold around him  which adds to the credibility of the overall film and underscores the realism of the presentation his stoic acceptance of death and the news of those murdered  in the various skirmishes and battles the moral propriety to which those he encounters adhere  even in such troubled times the betrayal  which because of the nature of the conflict is almost commonplace and the loyalty and beliefs to which he and his companions cling adamantly . it is all of this that maguire achieves through his performance  and it is no small accomplishment . it is  however  the kind of studied  understated performance that is often taken for granted  which is unfortunate work like this is worthy of acclaim  and should be recognized .  br    br   skeet ulrich is effective  as well  as jack bull  and jewel  in her motion picture debut  turns in an engaging performance as sue lee shelley . it is jeffrey wright  however  who stands out in a notable supporting role as daniel holt  as well as jonathan rhys  meyers  who brings a chilling christopher walken  like menace to his role of pitt . also  in what amounts to a cameo role  one scene   mark ruffalo leaves an indelible impression with very little screen time .  br    br   the supporting cast includes james caviezel  black john   simon baker  george clyde   tom guiry  riley   tom wilkinson  orton brown   john ales  quantrill   john judd  otto roedel  and kathleen warfel  mrs . chiles  . the civil war will forever be an open wound upon the nation but hopefully  as time goes on  it will be through the objective contemplations of filmmakers like ang lee and films like ride with the devil  that will ultimately help to close the schism and promote healing . in light of more recent events  it is something that is sorely needed  worldwide . film is a powerful medium it can be educational as well as entertaining  and perhaps in the future more filmmakers  like ang lee  will embrace and promote a sense of unity through the sensitive depiction of the events and attitudes that make us what we are .     .  br    br    br    br    br    br    
all i can say is  before watching the movie i did not have a hint indication who annemarie schwarzenbach was or what was her life story . . and i have to confess that the movie was hardly a help to reach these data . . and even it was not successful to persuade me to do some research by typing few words on google website however  all i can say is that the actress jeanette hain was great with her mute facial expression she really played well and showed a deep depression mental status  as it is in real .  br    br   after all  based on the script the movie has happened in turkey and tehran as well as afghanistan . . but believe me i am familiar with the area  it was all about an arabic desert in morocco . . turkish people and persian people are completely different in face and culture as well as in language which is not arabic . .  br    br   i suppose for making a film like this  documentary type  a thorough research about all these minor elements is mandatory . .  
strangely enough this movie never made it to the big screen in denmark  so i had to wait for the video release . my expectations where high but they where in no way disappointed . as always with ang lee there is fantastic acting  an intelligent and thrilling plot that has you guessing right till the end and superb filming . along with unforgiven this is easily one of the two best westerns of the   s .  br    br   people who expect something along the line of mel gibson in the patriot  corny  or braveheart  acceptable  will be sourly disappointed  all others who appreciate the above mentioned qualities will have a fantastic time watching it .  out of   .  
this budget  starved italian action  sci  fi hybrid features david warbeck as a miami reporter who is chosen by the ghosts of the people of atlantis    to stop an evil businessman  academy award nominee john ireland  from using a telepathic fetus grown using spores from an asteroid to rule the world . you got all that  despite such a loopy plot  this is actually quite a bore and the raiders of atlantis sneers at it with contempt . honestly  the most  intentionally  creative thing about this flick is the slight reworking of herbie hancock  s beverly hills cop theme for the opening titles . the most unintentionally creative bit involves a scene in a lab that is inexplicably shown twice back  to  back . perhaps director alberto de martino wanted to get all avant garde on us in the twilight of his career  i was going to declare this ireland  s worst film on his resume but then i saw satan  s cheerleaders was listed on there . i would also like to safely declare that i am probably the only person in the history of the world to do a double feature of this and hitchcock  s vertigo .  
for those who commented on the patriot as being accurate   which basically satanised the english   it was interesting to see this film . by all accounts this was the bloodiest war that americans have ever been involved in  and they were the only nationality present . it was therefore very refreshing to see something resembling historical accuracy coming from that side of the atlantic that did not paint america as either martyrs or saviours . all in all though what this film did bring home was the true horrors of any conflict  and how how whatever acts are committed in war only breed worse acts  often culminating in the suffering of the innocent . this was not a film where you cheered anybody on but both pitied and loathed all .  
the basic premise of  miami golem  most definitely deserves a spot in the top  say  fifty of most demented cinematic plots ever scripted down  i know top   doesn  t sound too impressive  but i  ve seen a lot of really weird films with lunatic plots . i was prepared from something convoluted  because the film was directed and co  written by alberto de martino  who was one of italy  s most ambitious and creative but sadly underrated film makers . de martino steals multiple ideas from successful blockbusters  like most italian directors did around that time  but he always adds a lot of stuff to make it even more complex  confusing and overwhelming . not all of de martino  s films are worthwhile  but some of them are extremely underrated  like  a special magnum for tony saitta    holocaust      and  formula for a murder  . the concept of  miami golem  contains elements from numerous great sci  fi and adventure flicks  like  alien    starman    close encounters of the third kind    et     but i wouldn  t exactly call it a rip  off . the only thing that is really shamelessly stolen from another film is the opening synthesizer theme song that sounds almost identical to harold faltermeyer  s axel f . from  beverly hills cop  . the rest of the film is an amusing hodgepodge of fantasy  sci  fi  action  horror and superhero  movie gimmicks . it certainly doesn  t always make sense  most of the time it doesn  t  actually  but  miami golem  is undeniably an imaginative and multifaceted film that kept my mate and i fascinated from start to finish .  br    br   the plot is extremely difficult to briefly summarize but i  ll try anyway . sceptical journalist craig milford is reporting the story of a german scientist who allegedly discovered extraterrestrial dna inside a crashed meteorite and managed to clone it . the dna cell belongs to an evil alien force that already exterminated another interstellar race in the past and it will unquestionably destroy the whole of mankind as soon as it grows large enough in size . if this isn  t problematic enough already  the rich mr . anderson ordered to steal the slowly growing evil fetus because he thinks that he can manipulate it and use it to obtain world domination . with the help of some good aliens in an earthly disguise  craig milford has the difficult task of safeguarding the planet from the evil fetus . okay  i know all this sounds grotesque and silly  but i assure that  miami golem  is in fact a light  headed and easy digestible flick . the first half of the film may come across as overly hectic and confusing  because alberto de martino attempts to keep the plot secret through the use of preposterous red herrings . there are subliminal ghostly appearances  supportive characters behaving exaggeratedly mysterious for no real reason and at a certain point there are even speculations about the lost continent of atlantis . this is all misleading padding material  however  and as soon as the set  up is more or less clear  miami golem  turns into an ordinary early    s popcorn action movie with bloody massacres  flamboyant chase sequences  in the florida everglades    explosions  gratuitous sleaze and nasty little fetus  monsters in jars .  br    br   now  i really don  t want to raise the impression that  miami golem  is a lost and undeservedly obscure gem of italian exploitation cinema . make no mistake  this is a pretty bad movie  the events only become endurable if you accept the stupidity and incoherence of the plot and if you don  t succeed in that  well than this is just a non  stop spitfire of negative aspects . the acting performances are painfully awful . particularly b  movie veteran john ireland  as the archetypal james bond villainous character  doesn  t seem the least interested in the script . you can tell from his grimaces and by the way he delivers his lines that he also thinks the whole production is retarded and simply signed up for the paycheck . laura trotter is probably the least sexy female lust  object ever  and the person who drew the marvelously chaotic vhs cover must have felt exactly the same way  because the ravishing girl on the cover does not appear anywhere in the movie . what an embarrassment this must be for mrs . trotter . still  her completely gratuitous nudity sequences compensate for this  as she  s quite hot from the neck down . and  finally  there  s the unforgettable scene where david warbeck takes down a helicopter from a moving school bus with a regular pistol  i don  t think even john rambo can do this  while he  s a beefcake vietnam veteran and warbeck  s character is a simple tv  reporter .  
taiwanese director ang lee  whose previous films include  sense and sensibility  and  the ice storm   turned to the american civil war for his latest feature . based on a novel by daniel woodrell  it follows the exploits of a group of southern guerrillas  known as bushwhackers  as they fight their northern equivalents  the jayhawkers in the backwater of missouri .  br    br   as one might expect  there is plenty of visceral action  but the focus is on the tension that the war put on the young men who fought it  many of whom were fighting against their former neighbours and even family . jake roedel  tobey maguire  is such a man  or rather  boy  as he is only seventeen when the war reaches missouri . he is the son of a german immigrant  but instead of following his countrymen and becoming a unionist  he joins his lifelong friend jack bull chiles  skeet ulrich  and rides with the bushwhackers . despite a lack of acceptance because of his ancestry and an unwillingness to participate in the murder of unarmed union men  he remains loyal to the cause . so does his friend daniel holt  jeffrey wright   a black slave freed by another bushwhacker and so fighting for the south .  br    br   lee handles the subject with aplomb  never rushing the deep introspection that the plot demands in favour of action and this lends the film a sense of the reality of war  long periods of boredom and waiting interposed with occasional flashes of intensely terrifying fighting . the action is unglamorised and admirably candid  recognising that both sides committed a great number of atrocities .  br    br   the performances are superb  with maguire and wright both courageous and dignified . up  and  coming irish actor jonathan rhys meyers is particularly chilling as a cold  blooded killer  while skeet ulrich is enjoyably suave and arrogant . lee never flinches from the reality of war  but his actors do an admirable job of showing the good that comes from it  the growth of friendship  the demonstration of courage and  on a wider scale  the emancipation of oppressed peoples . ride with the devil is a beautiful and deeply compassionate film that regularly shocks but always moves the audience .  
a reporter  craig milford  who works for the james keller public telecommunication center  has an interview with a german professor of a floridian university  who made an unknown creature based upon some substance of meteor  s  . but then a man named anderson  who is trying to control the whole planet with the creature  and his man kill the professor and his assistants and plunder the creature . so craig and his new female psychic partner  joanna fitzgerald  who can communicate not only with human being but also with alien friend  s  of the creature  begin to find the creature and try to send it to an alien spaceship . . . this film has some great casts and staffs . for instance  it has the actor  david warbeck of the beyond  the actress  laura trotter of nightmare city  the special visual effects creator  sergio stivaletti of dario argento  s masterpieces  and the director  and also the story  writer   alberto de martino of the man with icy eyes and the killer is on the phone . and these talented people make an incredibly bad film  named  nothing but this miami golem which is essentially a confusedly combined film of close encounters of the third kind with e . t . the extra  terrestrial . and this not  only  confused  but  also  crammed film has something worth genetic engineering with psychical research . consequently the film has at least one scientific and  or technical flaw genetic engineering and psychical research are never compatible .  strangely enough  regarding this strangely childish combination of genetic engineering and psychical research  the leading character  craig  himself says there must be a better explanation to the short  haired psychic  joanna . but  after all  the whole story of the film doesn  t and can  t present any kind of better explanation .  in addition  this film has something more laughable its problematic music . what the composer  who is credited as robert marry  provides is nothing but the strangely insistent beverly  hills  cop  tasted music . i don  t want to say this italianised theme of beverly hills cop per se is particularly bad music  but i have to say it seems to be manifestly clear the music does not have the fitness for this film per se at all . indeed just who can think beverly hills cop has the compatibility with genetic engineering and  or psychical research   
this movie is one of the sleepers of all time . i gave it a   rating . the story is of the famed  bushwhackers  out of missouri that fought on the side of the south during the war between the states . the clothing they wore were authentic  the history and why they fought is very accurate and well researched . there was actually one of the battles that did not take place as they depicted . . . but not bad for hollywood . the actors were well cast and were either the most brilliant of actors or the director really know how to get the best from them . i suspect it was a combination of great directing  super casting to find the right people and excellent performing by the actors . not just one or two . . . this movie really jelled  it has action  romance  suspense  good guys and bad guys  sometimes depending on your individual perspective  and history all rolled into one movie . even has the future spiderman and jewel . and she  s good   
strictly a routine  by  the  numbers western  directed by genre  mainstay andrew v . mclaglen  so is that any wonder   . army colonel brian keith spars with smarmy bandit dean martin  who has just kidnapped the colonel  s wife  honor blackman  who never found her niche after playing pussy galore in  goldfinger   . fist  fights  shoot  outs  stagecoach robberies and denver pyle in a supporting role . . . in other words  absolutely nothing new or original . talking in a low monotone throughout  keith gets to dally with a prostitute  something of a shock after his run on tv  s  family affair    but otherwise this low  rent material wastes keith  s amiable talents . it  s also bad news for dino  who doesn  t seem to notice or care . hack direction  poor writing and several unfunny attempts at lowball humor .  from   
my all  time favorite movie . oscar  caliber work by everyone involved  both in front of and behind the camera . the screenplay is perfect  and works out the relationship between lady caroline and george briggs in a completely satisfying way  unlike the novel . the care with which the other leading characters have been drawn is a tribute to screen writer peter barnes  and the intense visual beauty should have won oscars for director mike newell and cinematographer rex maidment . it is josie lawrence  s best work by far  and transformed my opinion of joan plowright . having watched this movie at least   times  i can find no fault in it . the music  by famed composer richard rodney bennet is a marvel .  
 here be spoilers   br    br   recap mia  helin  is returning home from capital stockholm to rural rttvik to celebrate her fathers   th birthday . she is by far the youngest child  and has two sisters eivor  ernst  and gunilla  petrn  . eivor has a family and still lives in rttvik and gunilla has divorced and moved a town away . mia is still single and is focused on her career . there are a lot of jealousy and almost animosity between the sisters and conflicts arise all around as they confront each other and each have personal problems they have difficult to handle . as the party goes on  and alcohol consumed   more and more secrets become unveiled and more and more conflicts arise . . .  br    br   comments to be the work of a new writer  director it was disappointing to see this movie to follow in the exact same tracks that older swedish comedy  dramas has been following for years . there are really no new elements or ideas . this movie draws upon three basic areas .   embarrassing humor only based on characters making a fool of themselves .   sorrow and   anxiety . this move has the focus on the last one  almost forgetting the first point as the movie goes along . no loss though  since the humor that is there is not funny . the performances from the cast are good i guess  though it is lost behind all the anguish and soon forgotten . i had hopes that there would be new ideas and influences  but there were none . to conclude  there are better ways to spend one  s time than watching this .  br    br        
  br    br   in anticipation of ang lee  s new movie  crouching tiger  hidden dragon   i saw this at blockbuster and figured i  d give it a try . a civil war movie is not the typical movie i watch . luckily though  i had a good feeling about this director . this movie was wonderfully written . the dialogue is in the old southern style  yet doesn  t sound cornily out of place and outdated . the spectacular acting helped that aspect of the movie . toby maguire was awesome . i thought he was good  but nothing special  in pleasantville  but here he shines . i have always thought of skeet ulrich as a good actor  but nothing special   but here he is excellent as well . the big shocker for me was jewel . she was amazingly good . jeffrey wright  who i had never heard of before  is also excellent in this movie . it seems to me that great acting and great writing and directing go hand in hand . a movie with bad writing makes the actors look bad and visa versa . this movie had the perfect combination . the actors look brilliant and the character development is spectacular . this movie keeps you wishing and hoping good things for some and bad things for others . it lets you really get to know the characters  which are all very dynamic and interesting . the plot is complex  and keeps you on the edge of your seat  guessing  and ready for anything at any time . literally dozens of times i was sure someone was going to get killed on silent parts in the movie that were  too quiet   brilliant directing  . this was also a beautifully shot movie . the scenery was not breath taking  it  s in missouri and kansas for goodness sakez  but there was clearly much attention put into picking great nature settings . has that rough and rugged feel  but keeps an elegance  which is very pleasant on the eyes . the movie was deep . it told a story and in doing so made you think . it had layers underneath that exterior civil war story . specifically  it focused on two characters that were not quite sure what they were fighting for . there were many more deep issues dealt with in this movie  too many to pick out . it was like a beautifully written short story  filled with symbolism and artistic extras that leaves you thinking during and after the story is done . if you like great acting  writing  lots of action  and some of the best directing ever  see this movie  take a chance on it .  
typical formula action film a good cop gets entangled in a mess of crooked cops and japanese gangsters .  br    br   the okay result has decent performances  a few fleeting snicker  inducing moments  and some fair action sequences   plus a chance to check out the gorgeous danielle harris   who makes the most of her perpetual typecasting as a rebellious teen daughter .  br    br    out of  .  
easily  out of   for a film by director we will continue to grow to admire . but don  t watch this movie expecting to be  entertained .  ang lee takes an objective look at a relatively unexplored aspect of the civil war . what is beautiful about the movie  like all of lee  s films  is that he doesn  t  side  with his characters . he creates characters  embodies them with life  problems  and ambiguity . . . and endows them with a reality that often hits far closer to home than with which many are comfortable . this film has action  but it is not for the action lover since the violence is deeply disturbing and far from gratuitous . . . i . e . like the characters  it is real . and as you would expect about one of mankind  s most horrific wars  the violence is horrific .  br    br   but as an exploration of the greater human ambiguity that surely dwelt within the civil war  it is a masterpiece . was the war about slavery and an abolitionism  lee seems quite willing to blur that line made so popular in depictions like the blue and the grey . neither is about idealism  though  as seen in gone with the wind . it is about freedom  about the desire to have something which is yours and to fight for it . as you watch the characters  you will ask yourself  how can they be fighting to preserve slavery   the fact is  i don  t think they really are  and in that the film shows the problem of why so many were caught up in the maelstrom of the civil war .  br    br   the fact seems clear that many of the characters we learn about are fighting out of senses of loyalty to  home  though they may never have examined what home represents or whether they truly espouse its values . the letter scenes are very moving and yet subtle . jake and daniel are other examples of loyalty stretched to the limits . and when the tension finally snaps  and these characters find themselves suddenly  free  . . . we see the birth of new men .  br    br   all this mixed in with lee  s beautiful incorporation of humankind  s environment with breathtaking vistas and frames . lee has a style which is his  somehow european in its  art   a slow camera  unrushed   asian in its epic  ness and development of story  and yet somehow familiar and easily accessible to so many in north americans .  br    br   relax  let go of your preconceptions about what the civil war is  what the  western  as a genre is  what a war movie should be . . . and let ang lee take you into a world so fragile  so hard  so real that few of us can comfortably see it .  br    br   in this  lee continues what he wrought in ice storm . again  the movie is slow paced and without apparent  direction  . . . a sure sign of lee  s ability to direct without  imposing  himself on the story or screen . his direction is amplified by what he brings out of jewel  yes  the singer   a hitherto unproven actress who puts in an amazing performance .  br    br   a movie for those who love film and are not lovers of the standard hollywood epic .  
michael rooker is a decent actor  but he has no business being the lead except in a low budget movie . he really does not have much charisma . ryo ishibashi has a lot more screen presence  and sadly he is not really the main character . most of the screen time goes to the brick  faced rooker .  br    br   danielle harris  from the halloween  and  movies  plays his daughter  and she is cute and entertaining but she is written as not being too smart and one of her dumb mistakes gets one of the main characters killed . comedians fred willard  bobcat goldthwait  and stephen furst are here in interesting roles . just watching what happens to these characters is priceless .  br    br   vincent schiavelli plays the consigliare to the local mafia godfather  and it is hard to tell whether or not he is working the movie as a comedy . tim thomerson is also in this movie . he seems to be in every extremely low budget direct  to  video action movie . thomerson is also in some low  budget comedies . seeing so many comedians and comic actors in this film made it feel like a spoof . is it a parody of a yakuza movie  it is hard to tell at some points . there is certainly very little yakuza action .  br    br   the supporting cast of thugs and goons is menacing and well cast . some of these kinds of movies have thugs that look like they work at the local comic book store or as stock boys at piggly  wiggly . overall this movie is very uneven . at some points it seems like a comedy or a parody . then at other points it works as a good action movie . then it sputters to an end . without the contributions of danielle harris and ryo ishibashi this movie would rate a zero in my humble opinion .  
i  ve watched this movie twice now on dvd  and both times it didn  t fail to impress me with its unique impartial attitude . it seems more like a depiction of reality than most other hollywood fare  especially on a topic that is still hotly discussed . even though it sticks closely with the southern viewpoint  it doesn  t fail to question it  and in the end the only sentence passed is that the war is lost  not matter what  and cruelty is a common denominator .  br    br   what really makes this movie outstanding is the refusal to over  dramatize . nowadays truly good movies  in a nutshell  are few and far apart  with mainstream fare being enjoyable  if you don  t have high expectations   but terribly commercially spirited . i think this movie comes off as a truly good movie  without being a masterpiece   because it sticks to itself  and gives the viewer a chance to watch and analyze it  instead of wanting to bombard him with effect and emotion to blot out his intelligence . this movie is cool  observant  and generally light  handed in its judgement  which is good .  br    br   the story has its flaws  especially jewel  s character comes off doubtfully  but then again the situation at the time was so chaotic  that for a young widow it might have been only logical to somehow get back into a normal life  even by liberally taking each next guy . still she doesn  t come off as weak  in fact i think she  s one of the stronger characters  she  s always in control of the relationships  with the men just tagging . and i take it very gratefully that she  s not a weeping widow . i believe in the   th century death of a loved one was something a lot more normal than now . you could die so easily of even minor illnesses and injuries  so the prospect of of someone dying  while surely causing grief  didn  t traumatise people like it does now . people didn  t seem to build shrines about their lost ones like they do now  and i like that attitude .  br    br   my recommendation is for intelligent people to watch this movie  if they are in the mood for something different than the usual hollywood fare . don  t watch if if you want non  stop action or heart  renting emotion .  
i would have given it a one instead of a two  but i suppose it could have been worse . i guess the acting isn  t all that bad  but the plot lacks anything even remotely close to interesting . it is a terrible movie   terrible  complete waste of time  i strongly suggest you do not watch this movie .                                                                    
dreaming of julia was the title of the original script  and was filmed in the summer of     in santo domingo republica dominicana . to release the picture they change the original name to cuba libre . the director  s cut was  and a half hours long . it was released on the festival of bangkok in thailand . it was the second film of gael garca bernal  the first was amores perros   br    br   and the first of juan gerard as a director . in the poster the names of diana bracho and cecilia suares does not appear . diana plays the grandmother and cecilia the mother of the kid . they are great actresses and they keep the story together specially diana . check her out in other things you would be surprised .  
broad enough for you  wait till you see this heavy handed  br    br   adaption of a little collegiate one act . what is shocking and wild in  br    br   college rarely holds up over time  and this is proof . to take on the  br    br   catholic church with broadside humor just isn  t shocking or  br    br   interesting or funny  it  s kind of boring . the performers are all  br    br   game  giving all they  ve got  but it  s basically a play that doesn  t  br    br   open up to film well . not a lot of fun .  
cuban blood is one of those sleeper films that has a lot to say about life in a very traditional way . i actually watched it while sailing around cuba on a western caribbean cruise . it details the life of an   year old boy in a small town in cuba in     and     during the revolution . not much time is spent on the revolution until the very end  when the socialist regime came and took the property of the boy  s father . the majority of the film is the boy  s coming of age and the relationships that arise in a small town where everyone knows everyone else . there are some powerful scenes that everyone can relate to . a class a film with fine acting and directing . this is a film that tells a story with no special effects or grand schemes or real twists . it is a film about people and their lives  their mistakes  and their triumphs . a good film worth watching several times annually .  
christopher durang must have been taught by a memorably awful nun  because he just can  t let go of the concept . the play   sister mary ignatius explains it all for you   was presented   at least in hollywood   in precisely the same tone as diane keaton  s lecture scenes here . sister mary was an exaggeration  a lampoon  a bitter satire of a serenely confident  doctrinaire and highly judgmental nun   and as played by lynn redgrave  she was hilarious . but the movie insists that we take this exaggeration absolutely seriously   while  as mentioned  maintaining the same tone in the  explains it all  scenes . the two approaches clash headlong and in the last twenty minutes  the movie goes off the track  plunges into the gorge  and explodes . there are no survivors . it could have worked  if the tone of the scenes with the four former students  and their encounter with sister mary  been pitched the same as the sister mary scenes . or if the sister mary scenes been presented more realistically . this way simply doesn  t work at all .  
although some may call it a  cuban cinema paradiso   the movie is closer to a how green was my valley  a memory film mourning for a lost innocence . the film smartly avoids falling into a political trap of taking sides  pro  castro  anti  castro   focusing instead in the human frailty of the characters and the importance of family . filled with good acting  in particular from mexican actress diana bracho  who plays keitel  s wife . a masterpiece  filled with references to classic movies  from casablanca to chaplin  s city lights . gael garcia bernal plays a small role which is critical for the dramatic payoff of the story . tv director georg stanford brown  in a rare return to acting  remember the rookies    plays a homeless bum who acts as greek chorus  superbly . it is a pity that this movie  originally titled dreaming of julia  has been released in the states by thinkfilm with the atrocious title of cuban blood  which has nothing to do with the movie .  
i have always said that some plays by their very nature just can  t be translated to film  and this one is a prime example .  br    br   as a play  this is a very funny farcical satire of the catholic church  with a razor wit and a central character who is so shockingly unreal we have to root for her even when she starts murdering her parishioners  one of whom made the fatal mistake of admitting he had not sinned since his last confession  so she feels she is sending him straight to heaven  .  br    br   that  s just one example of how far outside of reality the play goes  and in the make believe world of the theater  it works . however  that kind of heightened reality rarely works on film  and it certainly doesn  t here .  br    br   director marshall brickman has assembled a fine cast who do great work  but by presenting all this absurdity in a realistic fashion the comedy becomes tragedy and you are left with an empty feeling in the pit of your stomach .  br    br   seek out a production of the stage play instead  you won  t be disappointed .  
harvey keital  s best performance so far the new century . very nicely photographed  a beautiful snap  shot of pre  castro cuba . the story revolves around the nephew of a local minor crime boss who develops a friendship with an american with hollywood connections . it  s really about the moment when a boy awakens to the fact that the small circle of people he knows actually live in a much larger  much more complex world that he doesn  t yet understand . the script is strong and filled with humor  the direction is crisp . over all  a really professional job that fits in well with the tradition of latin american cinema . the one weakness is the decision to shoot in sync  sound english rather than spanish  probably to improve sales in the us . unfortunately  this just makes the film a little less convincing . but if you can see beyond this  you will find a heartfelt trip to another world . recommended .  
a less  than  subtle poke at the beliefs and teachings of the catholic church is given a darker shade of death near the end of the show . throughout the show  dark humour plays a medium through which several commonly heard rhetoric questions are asked  especially  if god is so good  why does he allow evil to exist in the world    br    br   diane keaton is excellent in her role as an exaggerated version  though some might disagree  of they stereotyped religious teacher who spouts the  company line  and condemns half the world to burn in hell . to celebrate her school  s   th anniversary  she invites her first students to return and perform their christmas pageant .  br    br   however  when the quartet  update  their play to parody sister mary  s  fallacious  teachings  the nun is pushed over the edge  sending the story spiralling into a chain of unhappy events . the ending finally leaves the audience with a sick feeling in their hearts .  br    br   not recommended . go watch the play instead .  
this film is a lyrical and romantic memoir told through the eyes an eleven year old boy living in a rural cuban town the year of the castro revolution . it is an obviously genuine worthy labor of love .  br    br   the names cuba libre and cuban blood are merely attempts to wrongly market this as an action film . dreaming of julia makes much more sense . it has more in common with european cinema than with rambo and the revolution is merely an inconvenience to people  s daily lives and pursuits . that fact alone makes the film more honest than most works dealing with this time period in cuban history .  br    br   the excessive use of the voice  over narrator does undermine the story but the film makes up for it with unqualified clips from hollywood films that say so much more visually than the narrator could .  br    br   the comparisons to cinema paradiso and are fair game as the film does wax melancholy about movies  but there is an underlying pain at the loss of a lifestyle that surpasses lost love .  br    br   the revolution  like the film julie  never seems to have an ending .  
i am a catholic taught in parochial elementary schools by nuns  taught by jesuit priests in high school  college . i am still a practicing catholic but would not be considered a  good catholic  in the church  s eyes because i don  t believe certain things or act certain ways just because the church tells me to .  br    br   so back to the movie . . . its bad because two people are killed by this nun who is supposed to be a satire as the embodiment of a female religious figurehead . there is no comedy in that and the satire is not done well by the over acting of diane keaton . i never saw the play but if it was very different from this movies then it may be good .  br    br   at first i thought the gun might be a fake and the first shooting all a plan by the female lead of the four former students as an attempt to demonstrate sister mary  s emotional and intellectual bigotry of faith . but it turns out the bullets were real and the story has tragedy . . . the tragedy of loss of life  besides the two former students . . . the lives of the aborted babies  the life of the student  s mom   the tragedy of dogmatic authority over love of people  the tragedy of organized religion replacing true faith in god . this is what is wrong with today  s islam  and yesterday  s judaism and christianity .  
saw this at the hawaii film festival where the director and his wife  who produced it  took a qa afterwards .  br    br   i found it hard to believe this is a first time director and all kudos to harvey keitel for once again taking a risk and going out on a limb for a script he liked .  br    br   certainly reminiscent of cinema paradiso  it tells the story of the young director on the turning of the revolution in cuba . however  don  t expect this to be a movie about the revolution  it  s political stance is wonderfully ambiguous . many references to the directors obvious love of film history  a great  bicycle thief  homage   and some whimsical scenes which work with out being pretentious .  br    br   enjoy   
this is a film that takes some digesting . on the one hand  we are offered a tough outward shell  a story that does not only derive the catholic church  but does so foolishly  and uninformed . on an inner layer  we are offered a story of orthodoxy over orthopraxis  and what happens when people follow blindly a faith that they must not understand .  br    br   at first glance  it appeared this was supposed to be a comedy . if so  then mr . durang needs to open a dictionary  because he clearly does not know the meaning of the word . the jokes are pale the humor is awkward and poorly delivered . in particular  ms . keaton  s performance is flighty and over the top  well below the quality of her annie hall and sleeper days . jennifer tilly is again the model of stridence  with her hi  pitched voice and whining style . all of this could be forgiven if it weren  t for the last   minutes of this movie  that evidently was a controversial play made in     .  br    br   careful  spoilers ahead  br    br   it all starts with the appearance of four former students of sister mary ignatius  ignatius  by the way  is a male name  and a nun would not adopt it after her vows under any circumstance simply due to that fact  just to show you how much tireless research went into the project to begin with .  when they all admit that they don  t live up to the church  s teachings  the sister proceeds to become irrational and abuse them in a manner the audience is to believe she did way back when in the corny  all  too  clich sepia  tone flashbacks . when one of them admits to having two abortions  the nun becomes even more abusive  until the pupil pulls out a gun . after wrestling it away from her  the nun kills the pupil  presumably in self  defense . she then goes on a screaming rampage  killing a gay former student because of his sins . the last shot is of the dead female pupil lying in a christ  like pose as a shadow of a cross hangs over her . can you say heavy handed   i knew you could   br    br   i know there have been abusive nuns in the past  and i know many people have been emotionally harmed as a result  but this imagery is fed down our throats in almost every other shot in this train wreck of a movie . i have heard from the writer and the director that this is a film about hysteria and why one should not follow the orthodoxy so religiously  no pun intended . this explanation is hard to swallow  though  simply because we are never given an authoritative viewpoint that is not biased against the catholic faith in one way or another . this film is simply anti  catholic tripe  which in the name of fairness and equality  is mean spirited and hateful .  br    br   this is a film i would recommend for a catholic  namely to awaken him or her to the realities of what cynicism and ignorance they face today . if it were rabbi ray explains it all  or imam muhammad explains it all   there would be rioting in the streets and showtime would lose all of its subscription . but  sadly  because this is a film that strikes out against what is perceived to be the majority  it is accepted and even applauded by those who share the same spiteful point of view .  br    br   i certainly hope every member of that cast was a practicing catholic  so it wasn  t just ignorance that brought them to make this film .  br    br   i give it  .  stars out of   not because of its offensive nature  but because it was poorly written  poorly directed and just a bad movie in general . don  t even waste your time .  
i saw this film and heard the writer  director  juan gerard  speak at the santa barbara int  l film festival .  br    br   all i knew about it was that it was the story of an   year  old boy at the time of the cuban revolution in     and how it affects his home and family .  br    br   its opening scene will bring to mind  cinema paradiso  . in fact  the film is filled with references to classic films the roulette wheel  casablanca    chicken clucking   rebel without a cause   references to bunuel   touch of evil   you  ll find more . the homeless man  georg stanford brown  is a reference to cuban folklore which often uses a black man as a type of greek chorus .  br    br   what this film really is is the culmination of a dream . gerard  s wish to honor his family and medium of film that he has loved all of his life .  br    br   this is the true story of juan gerard and all the people in it are real  as are the events depicted . gerard is actually an architect and engineer  and passionate film lover  but his dream was to make this movie . he and his wife decided to live that dream and harvey keitel became an  angel  who believed in gerard and agreed to produce and star in it . keitel holds the screen powerfully as the mysterious and secretive grandfather  che  . brown and keitel are the only americans in the cast . iben hjejle  high fidelity  and gael garcia bernal  y tu mama tambien  offer strong support in key roles .  br    br   truthfully  the first half of the film suffers from stiff delivery of lines  and some overracting  but stay with it . the last half is much better as the events of the revolution combine for the bittersweet  and honest climax . it is the first effort of juan gerard  but it is honest as he is and his passion and heart really come through  in this sincere first effort . i would definitely see it again  and hope that he continues his film career .  br    br    
as a  lapsed catholic  who had   years of catholic school  but hasn  t been to mass in   years except for weddings and funerals  i thought i  d get a kick out of this . and i did . . . for the first two  thirds of the movie . it was all the standard stuff   strict parochial school teachings  repressed sexuality  etc . but then  suddenly  the movie turned mean . really mean . now mind you  i saw this before the pedophilia scandals hit . . . and maybe i wouldn  t have been quite so offended at such nasty  hateful digs at the catholic church if i  d known about those abominations  such a catholic term   and coverups .  br    br   it  s been a few years since i rented the video  and i won  t go back to rent it again with a new perspective . it just left such a dirty  nasty  ugly taste in my mouth . . . i wonder what experience all the actors had with the church  because either they really hate it  or they whored themselves for the paycheck . it  s an incredibly anti  catholic movie  offensive to anyone who has a glimmer of a gleam of respect for catholic education . which i still do because there were no better teachers back in the    s . whatever else those nuns did  they forced me to learn how to read and write the english language . they made us memorize .  how many kids today can do simple arithmetic in their heads   truth is  there  s nothing more essential for success in america . can ya read  can ya add  subtract  multiply  divide  great . you can get any advanced degree you want . and the discipline of catholic education will stand you in good stead  not just as you continue your studies  but also for the rest of your life  no matter what you think of the catholic  mythology  we all had to learn .  br    br   such a great cast  such a lousy  rotten script . i really feel bad  and no  it  s not  badly    trust me  the nuns taught me better  for the writer and director .  br    br   i thought i had mixed emotions about catholic school . but the participants in this project must  ve been those bad  ie . e  stupid  kids who sat in the back of the room  if they were willingly involved in making this movie .  
this is an exquisite film about the search for some bliss in everyday life . the pacing  the camera work  the emotion  the haunting musical score and the pure charm of this picture make it a must see . it isn  t easily appreciated by the immature or emotionally stunted . the only flaw i can see about this film is that it wasn  t captured in a more technically perfect film format . it deserved todd  ao  technicolor and the very finest sound format available .  an intimate film can be made in seventy millimeter .  the gorgeous italian villas effect on its inhabitants would have rendered even more lushly and the small lovely moments would be even more beautifully seen and heard . as it is  it still demands attention as a sweet moving small film . i can  t stop myself from watching it every time it comes on satelite . the transformations of the characters from contained  tight and mistrustful is always a joy to watch and i really should recommend it more often .  br    br   the casting is perfect  the mood is perfect  the acting is above reproach . it is a film about middle age and the choices people make . it is deep and thoughtful without beating the viewer up with heavy handedness . watch it in one sitting and let it have its effect on you . if you don  t get it  perhaps you haven  t lived enough  or something else is wrong with you .  
we don  t have this on television in england but i walked it over the internet on youtube . it  s dumb  immature and boring  this is from the creator of  earthworm jim  douglas tennapel  i never got into that cartoon but i must admit it better than this . the cartoonist hasn  t done anything for years since now . for doug tennapel  this is a comeback travesty and an all time low  the story is about three cats who inherit a house and lots of money off their dead old lady master . they are argumentative and keep on disagreeing on what their want to spend their money on .  boring   the animation is dreadful . the main characters are meant to be cats  right  but they don  t look nothing like cats  just weird animal monster  looking creatures with big mouths  pointed teeth and bulgy eyes  the human and other animal characters are also drawn real ugly  the theme song is terrible and irritating  also the stories are lame and are most probably copied from older shows . it surprised me how this show got  .     votes of other imdb viewers . television really isn  t what is used to be  but now most of them is dumb  cheaply made and boring . some of you on the website might not agree with me well i  m sorry but this is a total waste of money and a complete and utter waste of your time and feel glad that britain don  t have too tolerate this crap  oh yeah  if you have digital you have to  but i don  t  so it not my problem  loser       and it  s very lucky to get that because i  ve given other shows worst   .  
at two and a quarter hours this is a sometimes slow moving thoughtful film interrupted by vast sword battles . the battle between darkness and light is signified by the constant motif of the blazing sun and is superbly demonstrated by a three way fight between  demons   bandits and soldiers in a forest during an eclipse .  br    br   be prepared following a stunning sword fight under lightning filled skies the end of this picture will have you scratching your head in puzzlement .  
  everything a great documentary could be    yeah  if one is deaf  dumb  and blind . everything but meaning  wit  visual style  and interesting subject matter . aside from that . . .  br    br   seriously  volken . this is a movie that is completely inauthentic . an adventure doc with no adventure  a war doc with no feeling for war  a campy send  up with no trace of wit . it means nothing  feels like nothing  and carries the implicit message that absolutely nothing matters . no wonder it has so many imdb fans  of course  going in you know a movie starring the great skip lipman will have no culture  no intelligence  no wit  other than a corrosive adolescent jokiness   and no recognizable human emotion  just adrenaline .  darkon  isn  t a movie   it  s a panic attack  avoid . there too many real documentaries and too little time in life to waste it on toilet build  up such as  darkon  .  
gojoe is part of a new wave of japanese cinema  taking very creative directors  editors and photographers and working on historic themes  what the japanese call  period pieces  . gojoe is extremely creative in terms of color  photography  and editing . brilliant  even . the new wave of japanese samurai films allows a peek at traditional beliefs in shamanism  demons and occult powers that were certainly a part of their ancient culture  but not really explored in kurosawa  s samurai epics  or the zaitochi series . another fine example of this genre is onmyoji       . i would place director sogo ichii as one of the most interesting and creative of the new wave japanese directors . other recent japanese period pieces i would highly recommend include yomada  s twilight samurai       and shintaro katsu  s zatoichi the blind swordsman       .  
the subject is certainly compelling a group of people take their love of gaming one step further by creating a fake medieval world full of warriors  kings  princes and castles . wargaming is an interesting phenomena that delves into our collective need to  escape  from reality and the sometimes mundaneness of our existence   something almost everyone can relate to . the characters are the predictable mix of lord of the rings nerds and star trek enthusiasts . that  s enough to get most people to watch . however  very quickly the film turns into an insider  s view of wargaming with an almost stereotypical thumbing of the nose to viewers who  don  t get it  . the filmmakers seem to take the subject of wargaming  and this particular one  waaaaay too seriously rather than once in awhile recognizing the humor and fun in making a film about adults drssing up in medieval gear and pounding each other with foam swords . it  s pretty hard for anyone who doesn  t sit on their computer for     hours a day playing games or desiging the latest star destroyer to understand what the characters are talking about and why we should even care . however  the filmmakers themselves seem not to care choosing to focus solely on the subject of the game itself rather than building a strong narrative with a clear story that anyone can understand . moreover  the characters themselves are not that compelling and you quickly become bored of them a big no  no when you  re trying to keep people  s attention for   minutes .  
well  if you are one of those katana  s film  nuts  just like me  you sure will appreciate this metaphysical katana swinging blood spitting samurai action flick .  br    br   starring tadanobu asano  vital  barren illusion   ryu daisuke  kagemusha  . this samurai war between heiki  s clan versus genji  s clan touch the zenith in the final showdown at gojo bridge . the body  count is countless .  br    br   demons  magic swords  shinto priests versus buddhist monks and the beautiful visions provided by maestro sogo ishii will do the rest .  br    br   a good japanese flick for a rainy summer night .  
this one is a real bomb . we are supposed to believe that merle oberon is the sequestered daughter of an ambitious politician who must prove to the tom delay of the     s that he is worth supporting as a presidential candidate . poor merle can  t go anywhere  but is surrounded by politicians and their quacking  quaking wives and supported only by kindly uncle harry davenport . she joins her two maids on a blind date and gary cooper happens to show up . some shots of rodeo might have enlivened things  a la  misfits   but no such luck with this one . gary later breaks in to a formal dinner  at which merle is presiding  and  though invited to sit down and join the group  reads them a lecture on their snobbery . where did this diffident cowboy  s sudden eloquence come from  the most excruciating scene in the film is a phantom party that gary holds in his unfinished house for his absent wife  merle . will it never end  one to avoid .  
gojoe takes a little getting used to at first  but the final result is very satisfying . the tale  about a murderous samurai who seeks to redeem himself by opposing an effeminate  but dangerous samurai  is worth more than a watch . there is a lot at stake here  from physical survival to soulful salvation . the movie may seem a bit similar to other anime  inspired samurai film at first  but it does eventually delve into more mature  adult territory soon after .  br    br   not to be missed . gojoe is one of the better samurai movies to come around post  kurosawa .  br    br    out of    br    br    go to www . nixflix . com for a more detailed review of the movie and reviews of other foreign films   
another of many nearly forgotten movies cranked out by poverty row in the      s  resurrected by the magic of dvd .  br    br   starring stock universal player lionel atwill  often a supporting actor in numerous frankenstein movies  as a pair of twins involved in a murder racket . one kills the victims  stockbrokers involved in a scam  and asks witnesses for the exact time  while the other is deaf and is proved  innocent  because he could not have spoken to witnesses .  br    br   of course  where it falls apart is if it was a congenital deafness  wouldn  t they both be deaf  oh  well .  br    br   atwill does a pretty good job here  faking being deaf and mute . unfortunately  no one else here can really act worth a darn .  
as incredible as it may seem  gojoe is an anime  and hong kong  inspired samurai action flick with a pacifistic message . this ankle of the film is effectively portrayed through the protagonist  a great acting job done by daisuke ryu   a killer  turned  to  boddhist  monk benkei . benkei has sworn never to kill again  but he still takes up the sword to fight what he thinks is a demon invasion . . .  br    br   gojoe is a film difficult to rate . it  s visual imagery is stunningly crafted and beautiful  but it uses too much trickery  circling camera and high speed drives  expressionistic shots  leeched colors  digital effects etc .   so the end result is somewhat tiring . that said  the beginning and the ending of the film are nevertheless both elegant and powerful . if only the director sogo ishii would have been wise enough not to overuse his bag of tricks .  br    br   other problem with gojoe is the amount of violence . for a film with such an anti  violent message gojoe wastes way too much energy and screen time to depict the endless battle scenes . also  the way the violence is shown is always on the edge of being self  indulgent in fact  a blood shower against the night sky seems to be one of the films signature images . luckily  ishii is wise enough to show the ugly  tragic side of violence as well . still  it seems that ishii is not sure whether he  s making a traditional action film or a deeply moral allegory . the audience can  t be sure of this  either  until the very end of the film . the powerful  albeit cynical  ending is what saves gojoe it clearly emphasizes that this film is something more than a mere gore  fest .  
uh oh  another gay film . this time it  s showing the black side . bet your last dollar it  s gonna have an unhappy ending  but why  with only less than a half dozen exceptions  all gay films have to end in death or an  addio  finale . it  s like all the european film noir releases in the    s     s     s  and    s . the lead . . . male or female must die or ride off alone into oblivion . why in god  s name must writers  directors  and producers have the audience leave the theatre feeling depressed  after all  it  s supposed to be gay . . . not glum . maybe the category should be changed to a  glum  film . a large percentage of gay relationships do last and the couples do ride off together into the sunset  no matter who writes or produces  he only shows the down side of gay life and gives the incorrect impression of gay lifestyle . this movie just proves my point . if you rent the dvd  take an antidepressant  for here comes another  gay  film  this is wrong   
another attempt by modern japanese directors to redefine the chambara genre . successful  and not  in varying degrees .  br    br   buddhist monk has a vision that he is to slay a legendary  and very active  demon at the gojoe bridge in order to attain enlightenment . while not at the forefront  buddhist thought is at the heart of this movie  much like kurosawa  s  ran  . it probably what made the movie the most interesting to me although it  s nowheres near  ran  s  league .  br    br   stylish visual direction and excellent photography keep the movie mostly interesting throughout the two hour and eighteen minute length . the lead actors are uniformly excellent . the music is really good . the two weaknesses are the story and the fight scenes . the movie drags in the middle which could have been fixed by some prudent editing . and the fight scenes are mostly filmed in blurry close  ups . this works for most of the film but the finale feels like a cheat . another recent film like this is tsui hark  s  seven swords   great film but the promised fight scenes are disappointing . asano really doesn  t move like a sword wielding demon  his acting is great but he would be an extra in a traditional chambara fight scene .  br    br   good movie  you  ll probably find it interesting just don  t expect traditional sword fights .  
a film about the harlem renaissance and one author in particular . it contrasts it with a modern day story about a young  gay  black artist .  br    br   if that sounds vague it  s because the movie itself is . it  s well  directed  fairly well  written and  for the most part  well  acted . also the scenes in the past are shot in moody black  white . also this is one of the few film dealing with gay men that does not shy away from sex scenes  not that explicit and no frontal  . still  i mostly hated this .  br    br   the film meanders all over the place  is full of unlikable characters  including the main protagonist  and  this is the killer  moves at a snails pace . three times i considered leaving the theatre because i was so utterly bored . but the director was there so i stayed .  br    br   his talk afterwords shows this was a labor of love and took  years to complete . i really wish i could like this more  there are very few films dealing honestly with gay blacks  but i can  t . unless you  re very interested in the harlem renaissance there  s no reason to see this .  
i am glad i saw this film having seen some of the director  s other films in the past . i thought the production values was great like the costumes and settings with the bridge . it was interesting to see how the concept of spirit and demons were handled .  br    br   i do agree with some of the other comments about the fight scenes . they were hard to follow at times .  br    br   ultimately  a moral tale . it would be interesting to know what some japanese viewers thought of the film . it is a film i would like to see again .  br    br   some scenes like the ones where benkai and the prince were fighting on a  psychic  level were well done .  br    br   i did come out of the cinema thinking what has just happened here . intense .  
  br    br   i watched this movie just a little while ago and i found that this movie was terrible  it moved very slowly and was hardly entertaining   br    br   sorry for all those that liked it . . . . this is only my opinion   
sogo ishii has taken the old myth of musashibo benkei and stood it on its head to produce a dark  gory  spellbinding and terrific  looking movie . those unfamiliar with the legend won  t need to be the story explains itself nicely as it goes along . well worth seeking out even though there are no english  language home video versions .  
final score . . . who cares  it  s a reality show . it has no love for it  s audience  it panders to lazy tv viewers  puts nothing in and gets nothing out .  br    br    joe millionaire   the most blatantly phony reality show of them all  is a television disaster of epic proportions . it  s a watershed  rock bottom moment  not only for fox  but for the american viewing public who actually watch  like and talked about this crap the next day . you people ought to be ashamed of yourselves . because as much as fox promotes this junk it won  t make any money unless it  s watch by people  and boy was it  the finale got nearly super bowl numbers    . it doesn  t bother you people that there are many quality shows written  directed  acted and generally have effort put into them that are being cancelled while you sit back and lap up this effortless  cold game show   br    br   i used to be a staunch supporter of fox . it  s those of us like me who like and seek out quality tv that helped build fox back in the days of married . . . with children and the simpsons . conveniently enough  now neither of those shows would make it  weeks with the current management . the gail berman  reign of terror  as it  s often called . the network has waged war on scripted tv and  strangely enough  it  s fans . the very people who helped build them in the beginning . now  not only do we have to fight for good shows  but we have to fight against their own network . it boggles the mind . nothing fox  has done in the past  years makes any sense . from canceling hits like  titus    futurama  and  john doe   nbc can renew  boomtown   but fox can  t lift it  s pitiful head to give the only decent show they had this season another shot   . and the reason they can do all this the success of junk like  joe millionaire  . they can now say  we don  t need you tv fans  we have reality shows  . they apparently seem to have no idea that the big audience the draw with this junk is fickle and will abandon them the second the next fad comes along . to alienate their base like this will eventually kill the network the way it has set back abc .  br    br   the show itself is a joke . here we have a premise  in the now classic fox gimmick  that promises us something different and edgy  but then delivers something not in any way different from  the bachelor  or anything on the big  . fox has gone mainstream . the finale and  twist   quote  unquote  showed they have no ideas up their sleeve . now we know that all these shows  no matter how different they look  will all end up the same cornball  fairy tale ending . we got to see a bunch of lame aspiring actors that the network picked out of millions of head  shots to fit their demographics parade around like high school bimbos pretending they liked this evan marriott because . . . well because it was a competition and that  s what you  re supposed to do . marriott himself is like a hideously disfigured chro  magnum man who struggles to put together the simplest sentences . but  how can the women  all average to ugly looking by the way  an important minus is a guilty pleasure show like this  not fall for  joe  with such charming lines like  look  you  re not stupid  .  br    br   i used to think that people who watched these reality  dating  game shows were just to lazy to change the channel  but after  joe millionaire  i think they must be genuinely mentally deficient . come on people  have a little more pride in yourselves . demand a little bit more from your entertainment then this .  br    br   boycott fox .  
i have to totally disagree with the other comment concerning this movie . the visual effects complement the supernatural themes of the movie and do not detract from the plot furthermore i loved how this move was unlike crouching tiger because this time the sword action had no strings attached and most of the time you can see the action up close .  br    br   i think western audiences will be very confused with  scenes one of which involves a monk trying to burn himself alive and the other concerning the villagers chanting that it is the end of the world . the mentioned scenes are derived from certain interpretations of mahayana buddhist text  mahayana buddhism can be found in china  korea and japan  and the other scene deals with a quirk in the japanese calendar . . . people back then really thought that the world would come to an end . . . gojoe has the action  story and visuals to mesmerize any viewer . i strongly believe that with some skillful editing it can be sold in the u . s . my one complaint is in the last fight scene  i can  t give anything away   sorry  .  
you loose    iq points just for tuning in . this show has to be awful  i refuse to tune in from just what i  ve seen in commercials . where did they dig this guy up at anyway  also  what do they intend to do next season  the secret is out . everyone already knows the set up  are they going to look for people who has been living under a rock to star in next season  where are they going to dig up more stupid women  no wonder america is a big joke to outsider  s  look what you are watching    
i personally thought the movie was pretty good  very good acting by tadanobu asano of ichi the killer fame . i really can  t say much about the story  but there were parts that confused me a little too much  and overall i thought the movie was just too lengthy . other than that however  the movie contained superb acting great fighting and a lot of the locations were beautifully shot  great effects  and a lot of sword play . another solid effort by tadanobu asano in my opinion . well i really can  t say anymore about the movie  but if you  re only outlook on asian cinema is crouching tiger hidden dragon or house of flying daggers  i would suggest you trying to rent it  but if you  re a die  hard asian cinema fan i would say this has to be in your collection very good japanese film .  
what a piece of stupid tripe .  br    br   i won  t even waste time evaluating any of the points of this show . it  s not worth the time . the one comment i will make is  why get such a dumb  inarticulate doofus to be the star     br    br   there aren  t many more dismal testimonials to the deteriorating mental condition of the networks than the fact that fox has stated it will not bring back john doe  a decent series  but will bring back brain  dead drivel like joe millionaire for yet another round of killing the brain cells of the american public .  br    br   fox has lost it  imho .  
this is what i call a growth movie . every character is different and better at the end  and it  s all because one woman knows that the place they have chosen is a  tub of love  . josie lawrence  who is best known as a comedienne  really shines as the woman who brings about all these changes . even the men in this film go from being self  centered to better men . the book stayed very true to the novel  which is a plus in my book  since i am a librarian . the scenery breath  taking and the message of love genuine .  
this game was made by sega . being made by sega i didn  t expect much  but i also didn  t expect this junk either . for starters the camera angles work against you in this game . the motorcycle is your means of getting around . the motorcycle is the worst part in the game . whenever you run in to something you just stick there and you don  t move . you never fall off the bike or wreck for that matter . the main character hardly talks even though he  s got a voice that suits him . the graphics are horrible . you ride through trees on your bike . the camera makes fighting the enemy impossible . this game wouldn  t even be worth renting .  
one of the less widely lauded of recent asian period action affairs gojoe is an at first slow and often curious but overall pretty terrific offering  exciting  layered and beautiful . i  m sad to say i know virtually nothing of the buddhist philosophy or japanese history and legend that surrounds this film so its deeper meanings are lost on me  but even without contextual knowledge this is still rich fare  taking a traditional fantasy structure into a  impactful higher plane . the story is of benkei  a warrior monk and perhaps demon who seeks enlightenment by destroying the demon of gojoe bridge prince shanao  himself a mortal seeker after his own higher plane but this time the power of demons . thus the film becomes a matter of illusions and in benkei  s case  indecision  a conflict in which the real goal is self knowledge  for benkei to come to terms with his true nature and for prince shanao to come face to face with the nature of what he seeks to become . benkei is even more hampered here by the fact that his dark nature makes him fundamentally at odds with the world  even when not in open conflict he is never at ease . director sogo ishii handles this one as an epic  with measured pace  camera work always stylish and often frenzied  without neglecting the need for more sedate moments to let the location sink in  there is also great use of lighting and fog to give an ethereal atmosphere  there is an air of fantasy to much of the film but outside of the overtly supernatural moments it is a down and dirty fantasy with more period fell than flights of fancy . the cinematography of makoto watanbe is important here  vivid and detailed  a richly evocative affair . actingwise daisuke ryu is dignified and powerful with a mysterious savagery as benkei  while tadanobu asano has a driven  cold arrogance as prince shanao . of the leads masatoshi nagase rounds things out as an ordinary man  smart and cynical but still unaware of just exactly what the stakes are . the film all fits together well  it is however a touch flabby at times  it begins slowly  some shots are a little drawn out and the epic fight scenes at times go on longer than strictly necessary . as for the fighting it is filmed frenetic rather than for actual moves  it has artistic impact but may disappoint regular action fans  often obscured by objects  flashing blades and fast moving individuals  whirling with deadly force through their adversaries are the order of the day  it is invigorating to watch but in the end i could have done with a little more traditionalism . there is some unfortunate cgi bloodshed as well  it somewhat works in the context but is still distracting . overall though i found this to be a pretty great film  its not one for regular action fans or swordplay enthusiasts seeking another azumi  rather a deeper and more mystical beast  its ending in particular will not go down well with fans of the more generic wing of such fare . but as for myself it really hit the spot and for those more adventurously inclined it might do so too . well recommended at any rate .  
thanks to a dull  dimensionless screenplay by neil simon  and lackluster direction from robert moore  chapter two becomes a shrill showcase for marsha mason who received her third of four oscar nods for chapter two giving the same performance here that she gave in cinnderella liberty      the goodbye girl      audrey rose     and only when i laugh     only this time she doesn  t have a child to drag around . chapter two is the third and last feature film for moore having previously directed neil simon  s the cheap detective     and murder by death     . caan is miscast  the characters are mono  dimensional  the dialog is overly analytical  and there  s virtually no establishing detail . the first half is a less  than  captivating  meet cute  coy romance between a blinkered caan and a chipper mason  and the dreary second half makes you long for the first half . the nyc locations as well as joe bologna  and a painfully thin valerie harper are irrelevant  but at least they provide some welcome distraction . and last and least  there  s an awful song played during the credits .  
this movie rates as one of my all time favourite top   movies . many people seeing it for the first time and knowing little about many of the themes in the movie probably won  t understand why i find it so enthralling so i will try to explain . . .  br    br   the movie is very rich in historical detail and cultural insights  and while it has a few minor anachronisms  they are completely forgivable . the story is a retelling of the famous duel between the monk benkei and the young prince yoshitsune on gojo bridge . during the fight according to legend yoshitsune bests benkei and the monk becomes the prince  s loyal retainer . this movie is a revision of that story however and involves war  dark prophecy  and political maneuvering .  br    br   one of the main themes in the movie is  mappo   which is the prophecy by the buddha that after     years his teachings would fail and the world would fall into chaos . it was believed in heian japan  after the eruption of mt fuji and the civil war between the taira  heike  and the minamoto  genji  that the world would fall into anarchy and everything would collapse . it is a time of demons .  br    br   next you have the way in which the movie resolves the issue of yoshitsune  s sword training by the tenku  raven goblins  of karuma . defeated clans often escaped into the mountains and disguised themselves as demons to scare the locals off . this is said to be where ninja clans began historically . yoshitsune  s depiction in gojo nicely accommodates all of this .  br    br   then there is benkei  and the various strains of buddhism depicted  including a lot of esoteric buddhism of the shingon sect . these are all depicted quite accurately  and just to add a little extra  the movie manages to convey the power of meditation and ki energy in a way that makes it integral to the story  i . e . it uses magic realism to add an extra dimension to the film but does it in such a way as to make it tactical and menacing .  br    br   all  in  all it is filled with fascinating tidbits and rings surprisingly true  to  life for the period . the scenery and the costuming are also completely unmissable and very authentic . the soundtrack is great  very brooding and ominous . i also thought that the actual acting performances were surprisingly good . benkei is a great brooding anti  hero  shanao  yoshitsune  is depicted as a young man testing his limits and growing increasingly drunk on his own power  and tetsukichi the scavenging sword  smith makes for and interesting depiction of the  common man  and his less than flattering opinion of the killers who fancy themselves his social betters .  br    br   as to the plot  to see why it is so good  i really suggest you dig up an old book on japanese history and see how this retelling turns an almost lighthearted robin hood vs little john story into a gory tale of intrigue  violence and infernal karma .  
this agonizing comedy  drama got surprisingly sterling reviews upon its release in     . i remember opening the movie  section of the l . a . times and looking at a   page advertisement for  chapter two  filled with glowing captions like  better than  the goodbye girl    and  neil simon does it again   what does neil simon do  he takes an autobiographical situation  remarrying too soon after the death of a beloved spouse  and makes it rusty  unpleasant and   worst of all   unfunny . james caan plays neil   er . . that is  george   a writer who can  t seem to get back into life after losing his wife enter spirited marsha mason  real  life mrs . simon . . . soon to be ex  mrs . simon  who attempts to love george despite his moods and general melancholy . mason is very appealing here and might  ve saved the day were it not for caan  s indifference  not to mention a sub  plot concerning painfully  thin  blonde valerie harper which brings the proceedings to a screeching halt  . i liked mason  s outburst at the end   i am wonderful  i am nuts about me     but i saw no happy ending for these two people . . . and time proved me right .  from   
i happily admit that i  m a sucker for a beautiful film  and sufficiently inventive camera movements and angles can be enough to keep my interest in a fairly long film . not one the length of gojoe though  even though it had some of the most remarkable cinematography i  ve seen since the korean period piece musa . however  gojoe provides far more than just beautiful images  as does musa . . . don  t which to imply a contrast   it  s second greatest strength is superb acting  and a fascinating story with some very dark philosophy . i must admit to being quite unsure what the point was it was trying to make in the end  but it definitely provokes some thoughts along the way . vague ones  but definitely thoughts p  br    br   one department in which the film could have been better is the action . there  s a tremendous amount of bloodletting in the film  but the action is all filmed with hyperkinetic close  ups  and frequently obscured by objects in the foreground . it does create some very intense and impressive visuals  but it would have been nice to see some more actual moves  something to make it more believable that the villains could just wade through entire armies laying waste to everyone .  br    br   still  the film is definitely one of the most interesting and most beautiful films i  ve seen for quite some time . recommended   
tatie danielle is all about a ghastly old hag who torments her loving and oblivious family out of sheer spite . there  s a bit of subtext that might be about france  s colonial past but it  s mostly just danielle doing the sorts of things  like deliberately abandoning a small child in a park  that would soon have a man picking up his teeth with broken fingers . sadly  that doesn  t happen here . it looks good and the acting is fine and there  s nothing really wrong with the concept but it  s just so smug . god  does this movie love itself . pity it isn  t nearly as clever or as funny as it thinks it is . the only impetus in the show  sorry  movie  comes from danielle getting nastier and nastier  and the only surprise comes from watching the increasingly improbable ways she does this . that  s right just like in a sitcom  which is what this is  with the added  bonus  of delusions of grandeur and a     minute running time .  
the story on the island texel  photographer bob  who makes a photo shoot for a magazine  meets the mysterious kathleen . her free spirit and lust for life intrigues bob  who has suffered a very traumatic experience shortly before . her life is not so simple as it seems  however . through kathleen  bob gets entangled in a dangerous network . will kathleen be able to win his trust   br    br   review the dialogue in this movie is very natural and the story unfolds nicely although it stays a bit on the surface and it would have been nice if the character  s  psychology  would have been worked out a little more . why do these people do the things they do  what motivates their choices  this is what gives a movie depth and something to think about in my view . the story never reaches an emotional climax  even though the characters go through enough to justify that . so you don  t get to know the characters on that deeper level . the actors deliver good work and play in a very natural and  believable  way  but i think it would have suited the movie better if kathleen had been played by a younger actress  as this character  s naiveness doesn  t quite work for a grown  up woman . camera  work is nice  and there are some great shots of the nature on the island . i give the movie a     .  
i really wanted to like this movie a lot more than i did . that  s because i love wacky foreign comedies   particularly the strange ones that catch you completely by surprise . however  although this one frequently caught me by surprise  these were almost never pleasant surprises . it reminded me of south park in that nearly every social norm was violated until the only ones left to broach were too sick to be funny . for example  after exploring adultery  drug abuse  of nearly every sort   ranging from pot  heroin  speed to glue sniffing   prostitution  sm  suicide  murder  etc .  the movie got to the hilarious    topic of pedophilia . mom encouraged her one son  who looked about   years  old  to sleep with neighboring men . in fact  at one point in the movie she gives this boy to the dentist in lieu of payment for dental work  funny   you  ve got to be kidding . this movie just goes too far and delves into the  black hole of comedy  . what should they make fun of next  cancer or rectal tumors   
its not sophisticated  and nobody in the credits had a great career  but taken as a whole  because there are no famous personalities the film seems more realistic than some high budget  well cast films .  br    br   a film made for a few bucks  that is worthy of watching should give hope to all those would be film makers and wantabee actors .  br    br   the problem with this film is it was made in the worst possible time . tv was taking over the revenues of the film industry  and this film could have easily been shown on tv . in      all the fare on tv would qualify for a  g  rating . the film industry began to make more  adult  films that could not be shown on tv during the days when tv wouldn  t dare show the sex and skin of today  s commercials .  
i rented this movie  thinking it looked like a wonderfully delightful historical piece . what i got was a piece of pure garbage . this movie was confusing in most spots  choppy in almost every spot and dreadful in all spots . mira sorvino  s portrayal of a queen playing a young male scholar was depressing at best . ben kingsley should have been stripped of his knighthood for even considering this film as one of his projects . fiona shaw should definitely stick to playing petunia dursley at least the harry potter movies are more entertaining than this thing they call a play within a movie .  br    br   the cinematography looks like some college kid took a class in cinematography    and failed miserably . almost every scene in the movie is chopped up for some sort of effect the end result of course being the cheesiest bit of editing i  ve ever seen . jay rodan was almost good as agis too bad he had such a bad script to work with . rachael stirling gives her best effort as the almost gullible lady in waiting . in the end  i really wish blockbuster video gave refunds . i  m so glad i didn  t spend   bucks watching this fiasco in the theater . if they  ve been performing this marivaux play since the   th century  it makes me wonder how many people over the ages have had their best naps during this work . if i had been there  they wouldn  t have hear the play over the snoring . thank goodness for the modern convenience of dvd players you can skip past the boring or awful scenes . guess that means i only watched the beginning and the end   
this is a neat little crime drama which packs a lot into its   minute running time . it has all the right ingredients  a mystery corpse  a weary middle  aged cop corrigan  walter kinsella  and his rookie sidekick tobin  john miles   a shadowy killer on the loose and even love interest for the tobin in the shape of a female botanist mary  patricia wright  who helps solve the crime . there  s also a terrific shoot  out finale which takes place in a stone cutters yard .  br    br   watch out for a terrific goof near the start of this movie where lt . corrigan refers to the dead woman as  tatooed tilly  before the coroner reveals that she had a tattoo  confusing huh   . also later when tobin is chasing the killer across the back yards he is suddenly shown going in the wrong direction at one point  no wonder he didn  t catch him   
gods  i haven  t watched a movie this awful in a long while . maybe not since  the new guy  or various freddie prinze jr . movies . yes  it is that astoundingly awful . mira sorvino  s blank and wooden acting surely must  ve been inspired by freddie . the movie staging was awkward  like a play  rather  and that feeling of confinement does not work well on film  . the actors had no idea what they were doing  especially sorvino . her accent was awful and her sex appeal non  existent here so it was painful to see her  seducing  other characters and they  falling  for it . and what was with the occaisional shots of a live audience in lawn chairs  nonsensical  i had to turn the dvd player off  it would have been self  inflicted pain to finish this film .  
the tattooed stranger was another of those rare b  movies that bbc  screened over christmas  new year          . see also they live by night and the brighton strangler .  br    br   in this one  a man walking his dog in central park comes across an abandoned car and discovers a dead woman inside . she was shot and police then try to identify her with only a tattoo as the main clue . after being identified  the murderer is discovered and is shot in the shootout at the end .  br    br   most of this movie was shot on location in and around new york  so we get to see some areas of the city we don  t normally see  especially the back streets .  br    br   mostly unknowns are in the cast  with john miles getting top billing .  br    br   the tattooed stranger is worth seeking out . excellent but rather obscure .  br    br   rating  stars out of  .  
i gave this movie a rating of   awful  . the only reason that it should even get a  instead of a big    is ben kingsley  who always shines not matter what terrible material is thrown his way .  br    br   mira sorvino is so out of her element here that as a viewer one simply can  t get over the fact that she is even in such a piece .  br    br   stupid  stupid story and horrible production . do not waste your video rental  .  
this police procedural is no worse than many others of its era and better than quite a few . obviously it is following in the steps of  dragnet  and  naked city  but emerges as an enjoyable programmer . the best thing about it is the unadorned look it provides into a world now long gone . . . the lower class new york of the late    s  early    s . here it is in all its seedy glory  from the old  school tattoo parlors to the cheap hotels to the greasy spoons . these old police films are like travelogues to a bygone era and very bittersweet to anybody who dislikes the sanitized  soulless cityscape of today .  br    br   also intriguing is the emphasis on the nuts  and  bolts scientific aspect of solving the crime . . . in this case  the murder of a tattooed woman found in an abandoned car . our main heroes  detectives tobin and corrigan  do the footwork  but without the tedious and painstaking efforts of the  lab boys   they  d get nowhere . although the technology is not in the same league  the cops here use the dogged persistence of a c . s . i . investigator to track down their man .  br    br   the way some reviewers have written about this movie  you think it would have been directed by ed wood and acted by extras from his movies . what bosh  i enjoyed john miles as the gangly ex  marine turned cop tobin . . . he had a happy  go  lucky  easy  going approach to the role that  s a welcome change from the usual stone  faced histrionics of most movie cops of the period . patricia barry is cute and delightful as his perky girlfriend who helps solve the crime . walter kinsella is stuffy and droll as the older detective corrigan . i rather liked the chemistry of these two and it made for something a bit different than the sort of robotic  dragnet  approach .  br    br   the mystery itself is not too deep and the final chase and shoot  out certainly won  t rank amongst the classics of crime cinema  but during it  s brief running time   the tattooed stranger  more than held my interest .  
  the triumph of love  doesn  t triumph over anything . it is a plodding  ponderous   hours of torture . actually it  s a little less than  hours long  it just seemed much longer . it pains me to even think about the amateurish performances of such fine actors as ben kingsley and fiona shaw . the supporting players are not quite as awful . maybe they were trying to be so over the top  so as to be clownish  but  if so  i didn  t see it that way . mira sorvino doesn  t make an impression one way or the other . she  he   s just there . my guess is  the play of the same name  written by marivaux some    or so years ago  is much better . it couldn  t be any worse . clare peploe  the writer and director of this movie  was inspired by a recent production of the play . i don  t know what she was thinking when she created this bomb .  br    br   maybe it all got lost in the translation .  
director edward montagne does in a little more than one hour what other  more expensive and hyped films fail to do . mr . montagne shows us a police story written by phillip h . reisman jr . that while  is not one of the best of the genre  it keeps the viewer involved in all that  s going on .  br    br   this is clearly a b type movie . in fact  the best thing going for  the tattooed stranger  is the opportunity to take a peek at the way new york looked in those years . the crystal clear cinematography by william o . steiner  either has been kept that way through the years  or has been lovingly restored .  br    br   there are great views of new york in the opening sequence . later we are taken to brooklyn to the dumbo section and later on the film travels to the bronx and the gun hill road area with its many monument stores in the area .  br    br   john miles and walter kinsella made a great detective team . patricia barry is perfect as the plant expert from the museum of natural history . jack lord  who went to bigger things in his career  is seen in a non speaking role .  br    br   it was great fun to watch a city  as it was  because it doesn  t exist any more .  
i borrowed this movie from library think it might be delightful . how wrong am i   br    br   it is such a bad movie that i have to write something about it . mira sorvino is so bad in the movie  it is very painful to watch the scene with her . she is a pretty girl  but in this movie  she is not seductive at all  but i will have to witness her awkward attempt to seduce almost all the other major characters . it is so ridiculous .  br    br   and the dialog of the film is so pretentious  and lack the humorous fact that make then acceptable .  br    br   totally failure .  
best  selling horror novelist cheryl  a solid and sympathetic performance by the lovely virginia bryant   her husband tom  the likable paolo serra   and their son bobby  nicely played by patrizio vinci  go to a remote castle located in the countryside for summer vacation . local legend claims that the area is cursed . cheryl discovers a creepy  hairy  nasty ogre  hulking david flosi in a strikingly hideous costume  living in the basement . cheryl has to surmount her deep  seated childhood fear of the beast so she can defeat the foul find . director  co  writer lamberto bava does an expert job of creating and sustaining an eerie and unnerving nightmarish mood . moreover  bava eschews the standard blood  n  guts fright flick routine in favor of crafting a compelling and provocative dark adult fairytale  like fable on how the best way to overcome that which frightens us is to face said source head on . sturdy supporting turns by sabrina ferilli as friendly school teacher anna  stefania montorsi as hottie babysitter maria  and alex serra as batty painter dario . gianfranco transunto  s glossy cinematography boasts a few fluid tracking shots and plenty of great atmospheric lighting . fabrizio sforza  s gnarly make  up f  x  simon boswell  s splendidly spirited spooky  n  shuddery score  and the dank  dark  cobweb  covered cellar set all hit the skin  crawling spot . well worth watching .  
yikes . this is pretty bad . the play isn  t great to begin with  and the decision to transfer it to film does it no favours  especially as peploe doesn  t decide how she wants to treat the material  s theatrical origins  we get occasional glances of an observing theatre audience etc .  and has decided to go with a jumpy editing style that is intended to keep reminding you that you  re watching a film  whereas in fact it only serves to remind you that you are watching a very poor film by a director who is overwhelmed by her material . mira sorvino  s central performance is breath  takingly poor stage  y and plummy  it  s as if she  s playing the part via helena bonham  carter  s merchant ivory oeuvre . only fiona shaw delivers a performance of note  and it may be that her theatrical pedigree means that she is best able to handle the material  but it  s hard to watch a film for one performance alone  even if that performance is as light  truthful and entire as shaw  s . ben kingsley turns in an average and disengaged turn  and diana rigg  s daughter  rachel stirling plays her supporting role as just that . sadly  none of bertolucci  s magic has rubbed off on his wife if this film is to be the evidence .  
i first saw this movie back in the early     s when it was first released . room with a view was also newly out . enchanted april had so much more to offer  i found it much more real and earthy  the characters more believable for being  normal  . by the end of the film i felt the same as i did when i first saw the bbc production of pride and prejudice  i was yearning for the characters to find what they were looking for whether it was isolation  peace  liberty or love . you get a sense throughout that italy is so far removed from everything they have ever known  that they are so decadent for taking a risk and leaving behind all that is humdrum and constricting . but in the heat of the spring in april  everyone  s lives loosen and unravel  in line with the victorian corsets  and are slowly rebuilt to everyone  s satisfaction . what a little gem of a film  how come it isn  t more well known   
overall an extremely disappointing picture . very  very slow build up to the basic storyline . the role of maria schrader searching for her families secret past .  every take seems to last forever . there is really no rhythm in the film .  spoilers her mother ruth is rescued from the nazis  by a german woman  played by katja riemann . the entire character of ruth is so one dimensional  so stereotypical . spoilers end the film cuts back and forth between present day new york and berlin and berlin   s something . please when you do that  give the audience an indication of what time exactly the story takes place . there is never a clear indication of time  very annoying . worst part is  the end . spoilers the entire show and jabber about the jews being so terribly tormented  simply by a bureaucratic accident  give me a break . that  s how the jews got out of the rosenstrasse  the question of who freed the jews is never answered . was is goebels who freed them  did lean fischer sleep with goebels  in venice the film won an acting award for k . riemann  why   i have no idea . must be the jewish theme  
the ogre doesn  t seem to have won itself a very good reputation since its release in      and i guess a reason for that may be down to the fact that it was given the subtitle  demons   in order to help it sell better . well  the film is directed by lamberto bava the man behind the first two demons films  and ogres and demons are somewhat alike  in that they  re both  monsters  anyway  . . . but other than that  this film has no connections to the other two films . it is  however  rather good  italian filmmakers are famous for ripping off popular films  and while it  s not completely obvious it seems to me that this one has taken a fair bit of influence from hellraiser . the plot focuses on a female horror writer who moves with her husband and son to a castle in italy . she is haunted by memories from when she was a child and found an ogre living in her basement . it  s not long after moving into the castle before these visions return . . . and it may be more than just a coincidence as she comes to believe there  s a murderous ogre living in the basement .  br    br   the film was obviously shot on a budget and it was made for italian tv  so it would be unrealistic to expect something brilliant but for what it is  this is certainly a very decent horror film . lamberto bava may not have as keen an eye as his father mario did but he takes time in building up a foreboding atmosphere that really compliments the film well . the central setting  a large castle  makes the perfect place for a story like this to take place in and lamberto makes the best of it even if it does involve ripping off superior films at times such as the inferno  style pool scene . the plot itself is not quite as good as the atmosphere as several scenes are drawn out far too long and the relationship between the characters is rather strange  particularly between the husband and wife  . there  s not a great deal of bloodshed  but bava does get to do a little bit with the special effects . the ogre itself looks really silly and it  s a good job that we don  t get to see it very often . we do boil down to a fitting  if highly predictable  ending and overall i have to say that this film is much better than expected and comes recommended .  
let me be clear . i  ve used imdb for years . but only today i went through the trouble of registering on the site  just so i could give this movie the lowest possible rating . i  ve seen hundreds of films  some of them bad  a few awful . never  though  have i seen such a contrast of pretense and incompetence  of high intentions and failure .  br    br   mira sorvino is horribly cast as the princess  but entirely unbelievable as phocion  a young boy . fiona shaw is always an entertaining character  but the dialogue in the film is much worse  even  than in the insipid french play that is the source  marivaux never reached hollywood until now  and we should keep it that way  .  br    br   to illustrate  for example  that leontine is a brilliant  passionate philosopher and scientist  she is shown frantically pouring chemicals from beaker to beaker  shouting out names of famous scientists . and the romance between agis and the princess is played even sillier . for this  the pair should receive a joint  clair danes  award  which in a just world would be awarded for gratuitously anachronistic and uninspired re  interpretation of interesting teens from literature as brats of the      s  see miss danes in les miserables  .  br    br   aside from the atrocious plot and dialogue  there are some attempts to introduce artistic tropes into the filming . for example  there are moments when a handful of spectators are faded in and out of view of the action  sitting in chairs  watching the principal characters . the director wants us to realize she  s adapted a play . i get it . but it doesn  t happen at all until far into the film . at that point  seeing a crowd of people sitting in chairs for a moment  then disappearing  is creepy and distracting . they  re like some sort of un  scary zombie crowd  appearing through the mists  filling us with dread . when you see the horrible frolic and song that ends this movie  you  ll want to rouse your own crowd of zombies and kill them all for the grave injustise of poisoning your mind for    minutes .  br    br    matthew mcguire  
alright  before we review  i have to ask why isn  t this listed individually  it may have been merely a tv item in italy  but to international lamberto bava fans this is its own film . in america this film is distributed on vhs and dvd as either  the ogre  or  demons   . yes  i know it has nothing to do with  demons  apart from one cast member and the crew . but yes  i personally was upset that this was so hard to find on this site which is otherwise so useful .  br    br   finally  let  s review  the ogre  . i  ve seen the trailer for this many times on youtube and honestly found that rather scary . the movie itself  it is feature length  therefore making it a movie  has many many strong parts and does manage to scare . i was displeased by the last act  but on the whole i don  t regret having bought the dvd before seeing it  available from shriek show  . i guess the film  s tv origins explain the last act . i won  t give out any spoilers .  br    br   the plot is somewhat familiar an american horror writer vacationing at an ancient spooky castle with husband and son only to find it exactly resembles the setting of her childhood nightmares . there are faint echoes of  the shining   but this is a different brand of supernatural horror . the woman  virginia bryant  finds more and more proof that this is the real life place of her nightmares  but her husband won  t believe her . great atmosphere and terror follow .  br    br   the multiple nightmare sequences were pretty freaky . the ogre cocoon effect was good  it reminded me a bit of uncle frank  s resurrection from the first  hellraiser  . there  s also a few good shocks and a well done underwater scene . i give them props that the film never stooped to imitating american films with similar concepts  namely  a nightmare on elm street  .  the ogre  is an original . and the monster itself was a scary one  when it was presented correctly .  br    br   on the shriek show dvd there is a lamberto bava interview in which he is careful to mention that this is not part of his classic  demons  series . he also gives a lot of credit to the real castle in which the movie was filmed . indeed  this setting contributes a lot to the film . the simon boswell music helps too .  br    br   there  s lots of good stuff here .  the ogre  is not perfect  but it is very much worth seeing . take it is a lesser lamberto bava achievement .  
  triumph of love  is proof that not every comdie  franaise author who uses cross  dressing disguised courtship like shakespeare is worth seeing .  br    br   or maybe something was lost in the translation of this adaptation of marivaux  a commedia dell arte  inspired playwright of whom brittannica says  his nuanced feeling and clever wordplay became known as marivaudage .   br    br   while mira sorvino has fun dangling three mixed  up romances  her pants role wasn  t even up to cherubino in  marriage of figaro .   br    br   the herky  jerky editing is annoying and just seems to indicate that a lot of takes were needed for each long speech .  br    br   best was fiona shaw as the fooled spinster  as well as the costumes .  br    br   the glimpses of audience we see and the closing curtain call to wink that this is all artifice doesn  t really help .  br    br    originally written            
the ogre is a film made for tv in italy and wasn  t intended to be a sequel to demons as lamberto bava even mentions it on the interview on the sheirk show dvd  but it was called demons iii to be part of the demons series . the music in demons and demons  was    s rock music while this is more creepy music and while the first two was gory horror demons iii the ogre is a architectural horror so that  s how demons iii isn  t a proper sequel to demons but i still like this film .  br    br   the music is creepy and that adds a tone to the castle that the film is set in  the ogre is another thing why i like the film . there are two other films that are classed as demons iii and that is black demons  demoni   and the church  demons   . demons iii the ogre is a good film as long as you don  t compare it with demons and demons  .  
i don  t  know . . . maybe it  s because i  m brazilian but all that stuff was too much . too much love for the music  too much parties  too much contrast between the nice lives of the main characters  come on  it  s not so sad  and the aspect of the city shown by the director . everything looks too fake to me the families  the relationships  the music  the  happiness  . it simply sells a little taste of fake latinamerican culture . i must be honest it did seduce me a little  but who would not be seduced by that fake lives made of nice music  sex and parties  i  m not that stupid what kind of world is this one in which people do not suffer of diarrhea  profound sadness and stds  i liked the scene with caridad  s mother phone call and the discussion about the contract with all the musicians and the spanish people .  
to anyone who hasn  t seen this film yet  i have a friendly warning don  t watch  la casa dell  orco  expecting any demons at all  because you won  t find them here . this film is not a third installment to the  demons  series and it has nothing to do with it whatsoever  except the fact that lamberto bava directed them . as a matter of fact  michele soavi  s  the church  is also known an unofficial  demons   and it  s a deceptive title in that case as well  so go figure . it is obvious that due to the  demons  films success they tried to deceive the audience with misleading titles  even though it is obvious that this is a disconnected story . having said that  i think it  s unfair on the other hand  to say that  la casa dell  orco  is not worth the look . honestly  the movie is quite atmospheric and even though there are a few unintentionally hilarious situations  i thought it was genuinely creepy on the whole . nevertheless  i think it  s fair to say that the story somehow tries to emulate lucio fulci  s  the house by the cemetery  . of course  that  s just a speculation i have  but i think i have my valid evidences . for instance  in both films  paolo marco is the man of the family  in both films  there  s an irritating little son named bobby  in both films  the woman of the house is a beautiful thirty  something  who seems to be the only one to see that there  s something really wrong in the new house  and in both films  there  s something really  really wrong going on in the basement . i  m sorry but i can relate both films very easily and i  m not saying that as an accusation . for the contrary  my point is that those who enjoyed  the house by the cemetery  are probably going to enjoy this movie as well  keeping in mind of course  that  la casa dell  orco  is far less pretentious  less scary  not nearly as atmospheric  but the formula is still there .  br    br   in  la casa dell  orco   charel  her husband tom and their little son  bobby  go on a vacation trip to an old deserted castle  situated in the heart of an italian villa called trifiri . leaving aside the beauty of the place  shortly after their arrival  charel starts to have the feeling that she has been there before  which is impossible  considering that she had never been to trifiri before . sadly  charel can  t get over her dj vu and the worst part is that her visions  come along with the image of a horrendous creature going after her . tom  who is not a very patient guy to begin with  advices her to leave the nonsensical hallucinations aside and enjoy the vacation . however  the woman  s visions become more and more real and the peace and quiet that they were supposed to enjoy  suddenly turn into a living nightmare . the old nightmare from charel  s childhood becomes real and this time  she won  t be able to escape without confronting that menacing ogre first .  br    br   as it is expected  the plot somehow turns out to be a little bit simplistic and as a consequence  it is hard to fill an hour and a half . this means that  la casa dell  orco  offers more than a couple of sequences with nothing but total silence and the image of the main character  walking around the castle for several minutes  reviving the images of her childhood and nothing else . it gets rather tedious from time to time  but overall  it  s nothing serious . like many italian horror films that came out throughout the late eighties  this movie is pretty stylish and effective  but it also offers a nice variety of unintentionally funny moments  that make the movie unforgettable in a way . for instance  the part in which charel is brutally slapped by her husband and instead of going to her bedroom crying like i would have expected  she strikes back against him by punching him on the face really hard and running away to the woods like a maniac . the funniest thing however  is the fact that two minutes later  they  re a happy couple again  as if punching each other like that  was the most natural thing in the world . i know it  s silly  but i myself  found it absolutely hilarious . the ogre  which is obviously the villain of the story  looks creepy and funny at the same time too and let  s face it a villain who can freak us out and make us laugh a little bit  it  s twice as welcomed . it reminded me of michael jackson in  thriller   but much more natural and human  of course . but if focusing on the genuinely good aspects that i mentioned before the music composed by simon boswell is one of the high points and even if it pretty much always the same  it fits perfectly and it helps to create a rather dark atmosphere during the moments of tension . so if i have to give my final statement regarding this movie  i  m going to have to say that i can  t help loving it  including the small flaws and most people who enjoy these typical italian horror movies from the late eighties  won  t be disappointed by this one . it has all the typical and always well received clichs  like the crazy old man who actually speaks the truth  the foxy local woman who is said to be a witch  a creepy castle  a huge dark basement with a terrible secret and the local folks who try to prevent the tourist with their hostility  to stay away from the infamous lands . i would say that  la casa dell  orco  deserves two thumbs up and a punch at your spouse  s face  as a way to pay tribute to the heroine of the story . take this movie for what it is and enjoy it .  
serum starts as eddie  derek phillips  is delighted to learn he has been accepted into medical school to carry on the family tradition of becoming an md like his father richard  dennis o  neill   his uncle eddie  david h . hickey   however his joy could be short lived as eddie is involved in an accident  is run over by a car . taken to the nearest hospital it doesn  t look good for poor eddie so his uncle eddie convinces his brother richard to let him save eddie with the serum he has developed  a serum which will give the recipient the power to self heal any sort of wound or illness . desperate for his boy to live richard agrees but the procedure has unwanted side effects like turning eddie into a brain eating zombie which is just not a good thing . . .  br    br   executive produced  written  directed by steve franke i  ll be perfectly frank myself  say serum is awful  serum is one of those no budget horror films which tries to rip  off other any number of other  s  ends up being slightly more fun than having you fingernails pulled out with pliers . the script is terrible  it has the whole re  animator       feel to it with mad scientists wielding huge syringes trying to eradicate death but it  s so boring it  s untrue  the first forty minutes is nothing more than a really dull soap opera that amounts to nothing expect to pad the running time out with eddie arriving home after spending some time away  finding his ex  girlfriend has hooked up with someone else  arguments with his step  mom  getting drunk with his mate  generally boring the audience stiff . so  once the tedium of the first forty minutes is over  if your still watching it it takes another twenty minutes to get eddie re  animated  then he kills a couple of people  police catch up with him  shoot him  the end . thank god . serum is devoid of any of the characteristic  s that one would associate with a good film  the character  s suck  the dialogue is poor  it takes itself far too seriously  it  s dull  it  s slow  it  s forgettable  considering it  s meant to be a horror film there  s an alarming lack of blood  gore or horror . not recommended  did i mention serum was boring  i thought so .  br    br   director franke does nothing to liven this thing up  although competent there  s no style here at all . the gore levels are none existent  there  s a bit of splashed blood  a bitten neck  a couple of scars on a dead woman  s face  a couple of scenes where a needle pierces skin  that  s it . don  t expect a re  animator in the gore department because if you do your going to be sorely disappointed  much like i was in fact . filmed in what looks like one house  one restaurant  a lab the film has no variety either  just looks cheap throughout . there  s a couple of scenes of nudity but that  s nowhere near enough to save it .  br    br   technically the film isn  t too bad  at least it looks like proper cameras were used  i can  t really comment on the special effects because there aren  t any but generally speaking serum looks reasonably professional . apparently shot in texas  or should that read it should have literally been shot in texas  the acting sucks although again i think they were proper actor  s rather than friends or family of the director .  br    br   serum is a terrible film  it  s dull  slow  boring  has no gore  feels like a horrible soap opera for the first forty minutes . i don  t understand why anyone would feel the need to watch this when they can watch re  animator or one of it  s sequels again instead  seriously i recommend you give serum a miss . there i  ve just saved you from wasting   minutes of your life  you can thank me later .  
most italian horror lovers seem to hate this movie since because it has no connection to the first two demons films . and with the  demons iii  in the title  one would assume it would . the problem is that this film was never intended to be part of the demons series . the distributors only a  demons iii  above its original title  the ogre  to cash in on the other films popularity . the new american dvd release of this picture has the title  demons iii the ogre  on the box art but the film itself only says  the ogre  . i don  t know if past releases had the title  demons iii  on the actual film itself  but this new release just seems to be a little white lie . if you can get past the  demons iii  in the title  you might some enjoyment in  the ogre  . it starts out with a creep intro  and stays pretty creep throughout . there  s no gore and the film movies slowly  but i still dug it . just don  t expect it to be like the other demons films . i give  the ogre   out of   . italian fans should try it out .  
dr . k  david h hickey  has been trying to master a formula that would end all disease and handicaps  but needs live donors to complete his work . his doctor brother richard  dennis o  neill  has a son named eddie  derek philips  who is accepted to medical school . eddie has a girlfriend named sarah  lizabeth cardenas  who is pre  law and plans to attend law school herself the coming fall . she and eddie resume their relationship when sarah calls things off with her current boyfriend who is also shagging the lady of walt  bill sebastianeddie  s best friend who recently paid for his cheating girlfriend  s boob job  . eddie accidentally gets hit by a car and appears on the throes of death when dr . k makes a suggestion to richard . . let him  recuperate  eddie using his secret  illegal methods . when dr . k applies his serum to eddie horrifying results occur . eddie  s face bulges massive warts while he has also acquired a taste for human flesh . many will die so that eddie can feed this uncontrollable appetite he can  t quench . soon he may even pose a threat to his father and girlfriend . . eddie monster must be stopped .  br    br   typically awful direct  to  video horror flick suffers from a severe lack of budget  acting  and overall talent . the premise  which seems like an interesting fright  fest  fails to deliver even as a zombie flick . the gore is limited with a few munching scenes but most of the violence occurs off  camera . the use of time to move the story along can really get annoying .  
this early sirk melodrama  shot in black and white  is a minor film  yet showcases the flair of the german director in enhancing tired story lines into something resembling art . set in the      s  barbara stanwyck is the woman who has sinned by abandoning her small  town husband and family for the lure of the chicago stage . she never fulfilled her ambitions  and is drawn back to the town she left by an eager letter from her daughter informing her that she too has taken a liking to the theatre  a high school production  that is  . back in her old town she once again comes up against small  mindedness  and has to deal with her hostile eldest daughter  bewildered  and boring  husband  richard carlson  and ex  lover . the plot is nothing new but sirk sets himself apart by creating meaningful compositions  with every frame carefully shot  and he is aided immeasurably by having stanwyck as his leading lady . it runs a crisp   minutes  and that  s just as well  because the material doesn  t really have the legs to go any further .  
serum is about a crazy doctor that finds a serum that is supposed to cure all diseases through the power of the mind . instead it creates some kind of monster that needs to eat human flesh and brains . the mad doc creates some zombies out of cadavers and has some problems . there is a very long lead into all the action with many scenes getting you acquainted with the characters . the mad doctor  s nephew gets into a car accident and the mad doc tries to use his new serum on the boy . the results are not good . this is a class c film with ok acting but some troubles directing and some continuity errors . there isn  t much zombie action in this one and the effects  while adequate  are nothing special . you can fast forward through the slow parts and get some enjoyment out of the action scenes . watch out for some nudity and bad language .  
yes  i call this a perfect movie . not one boring second  a fantastic cast of mostly little known actresses and actors  a great array of characters who are all well defined and who all have understandable motives i could sympathize with  perfect lighting  crisp black and white photography  a fitting soundtrack  an intelligent and harmonious set design and a story that is engaging and works . it  s one of those prime quality pictures on which all the pride of hollywood should rest  the mark everyone should endeavor to reach .  br    br   barbara stanwyck is simply stunning . there was nothing this actress couldn  t do  and she always went easy on the melodramatic side . no hysterical outbursts with this lady  i always thought she was a better actress than screen goddesses like bette davis or joan crawford  and this movie confirmed my opinion . always as tough as nails and at the same time conveying true sentiments . it is fair to add that she also got many good parts during her long career  and this one is by far the least interesting .  br    br   the title fits this movie very well . it is about desires  human desires i think everyone can understand . actually  no one seems to be scheming in this movie  all characters act on impulse  everybody wants to be happy without hurting anybody else . the sad fact that this more often than not leads to complications makes for the dramatic content into which i will not go here .  br    br   i liked what this movie has to say about youth  about maturing and about the necessity to compromise . the movie i associate most with this one is alfred hitchcock  s shadow of a doubt  it creates a similar atmosphere of idealized and at the same time caricatured small town america . the story has a certain similarity with fritz lang  s considerably harsher movie clash by night  made one year earlier  where stanywck stars in a similar part . i can also recommend it .  
  serum  starts out with credits that are quite reminiscent of the  re  animator  movies  and it owes a lot to them . the story is very similar a mad doctor develops a serum that he believes will alleviate pain  sickness and death  but he  s apparently not a big believer in clinical trials and so winds up with a brain  eating zombie on his hands in the person of his nephew . the zombie even looks like one of those from  re  animator   and in fact some of the make  up effects in  serum  aren  t bad . unfortunately  the script is pretty slow and unbelievable in quite a few places  resulting in a soap opera feel for most of the first    of the movie . for some reason  the director feels compelled to tell us the time of day every few minutes by flashing it in big white letters across the screen . i can  t see why this was important  other than being an attempt to provide viewers with a sense of time passing sometimes  that wouldn  t be present otherwise as the plot plods along .  br    br   there are a number of moments that just don  t add up here . for instance  one victim is bludgeoned with a sledge hammer  but when we see the victim  s head up close  there  s no sign of that trauma . in another scene  a character runs down a fully lit hospital corridor  we can see the circles of light on the floor  in fact  with a flashlight in hand  looking for all the world like he  s walking in the dark . . . but a moment later a second character walks down the same fully  lit corridor without one . these are just a couple of examples moments of what look like directorial or editorial sloppiness crop up quite frequently throughout the movie .  br    br    serum  is better in some ways than much of what goes straight  to  video as independent horror lately . in terms of technical items  sound and photography  for example  it  s got a more polished look than a lot of what lands on a dvd . on the other hand  there  s still a good deal of wooden acting  particularly by one of the lead characters  the mad scientist himself   and nonsensical moments that have nothing to do with suspension of disbelief and everything to do with writing and continuity . maybe these are things that the people involved with making this film will eventually get more experience with  though . one of the problems with low  budget independent horror lately is that the filmmakers often set out to remake more popular movies that had bigger budgets  and that almost never works out . it didn  t in the case of  serum   anyhow .  
barbara stanwyck gives this early douglas sirk  directed  universal  produced soap just the kick that it needs . not nearly as memorable as sirk  s later melodramas  it  s easy to see by watching  all i desire  where sirk would be heading artistically in the next few years . stanwyck is a showgirl who returns to her family in smalltown  u . s . a  after deserting them a decade earlier . her family and community have mixed emotions in dealing with her shocking return . some of the cinematography is amazing  and stanwyck is tough  as  nails and really gives this film a shot of energy . overall  a fairly good show .  
yes there are worse movies out there . most of them made for fun  on a shoe string budget  or as a t . v . movie of the week  but even if this was the  movie of the week  it would rate no more than two stars . it is a poor movie about a serious subject featuring an abused woman who flees the king of the slime people in to the protective arms of the king of the wussy people .  if this is an attempt to show that she doesn  t need a man to protect her than wuss man is superfluouse to the film and ought not to be in it at all  . it has no suspense  no character development  and an heroine that could be outsmarted by a rotton onion .  i think she flushes her wedding ring on a boat with a self contained tank rather than just dropping it overboard in the ocean  where her body should be anyway  and after the husband finds her  demonstrating that she is a moron  she still makes childish assumptions that lead to almost getting her killed .  i am always amazed when i see the sort of generally high rating a movie like this gets and it makes me realize that dr . seuss still has a huge untapped market of people who would be challenged by his work . after i get done laughting at humanity i weep .  
saw this film yesterday for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it . i  m a student of screen writing and i loved the way the minor characters intervened just when something pivotal  climatic happened in a scene .  br    br   i thought the dialogue was very sharp and the premise of story is rather shocking  at one particular point barbara stanwyck is openly flirting with her daughter  s boyfriend and rekindling some passion in her husband whom she hasn  t seen in ten years and with the gunshot signal  two shots and then one  she hooks up with her old shag mate dutch  the reason she left town in the first place   all at the same time  the moral majority must have been totally incensed when they saw this flick back in the    s .  br    br   love the costumes and cinematography and the straight from the hip dialogue  just to watch barbara stanwyck and co doing the  bunny hug  is good enough reason to rent this film on dvd .  br    br   one of the best films from that period i  ve seen in a long time .  
what a powerful start to a film when julia roberts character is punched in the face by her abusive and anal husband played by patrick bergin and i felt ready to experience a powerful film on the same level as farrah fawcett  s the burning bed . well  as the summary says i was mis  lead . this film was nothing like the burning bed  which had power and farrah played the part of a woman you truly felt for  and felt her pain and her need to survive . sleeping with the enemy drifted off after the first act into cheap thrills with roberts faking her death to escape her husband and goes to live in iowa . her husband at first believes she is dead but starts to grow suspicious that she may still be alive and sets off after her . the rest of the movie is basically a cat and mouse game with julia getting a house in this small town in iowa and changing her identity . . . . there is no mention of course how she got the money for this but at this point in the film i did not care all that much . she meets a guy  mr . nice wimpy  and falls for him and her husband does finally catch up to her but not before he re  arranges her soup cans and straightens up the kitchen . this was i assume to provide a cheap thrill to the audience . but i did not care much if she was an abused wife because the film as i have said cheated the audience . if it had stayed the course i might have felt for her and her situation . of course the husband is killed and all is well for little ol ms roberts . if only the real world was anything close to this . . . . see the burning bed and you understand what a film is suppose to be like on the subject of domestic abuse .  
this is an excellent film and one should not be put off by its strangeness . there is genuine skill in manufacture of this work . it manages to be intrigiung  funny and frightening at various times . work with it for the first few minutes and you won  t be disappointed  
  sleeping with the enemy  is a predictable   been there before  thriller that never seems to find any inspiration no matter how desperately cast and crew try . i can  t believe a bunch of my friends talked me into seeing this at the movies some sixteen years ago .  br    br   the complete lack of originality from the ronald bass screenplay  based upon the nancy price novel  does not help  nor does the stale direction of joseph ruben or the very average performance from julia roberts . the supporting cast including patrick bergin and kevin anderson do little to help .  br    br   there really isn  t a lot to say . just give it a miss .  br    br   sunday  april         hoyts cinema centre melbourne  
this is the kind of movie england can do in its sleep  and that  s meaning it as a compliment . because of the success of very british comedies of manners situated at the end or beginning of the twentieth century  most notably adaptations of e . m . forster novels  this very merchant  ivory like production was received in the light it brought when it was released in     . it was an exceptional year for actress miranda richardson  having appeared as the wife of jeremy irons who discovers her husband has been having an affair in the worst possible way in damage  and as the ira terrorist who eventually dons a wig and gets a nasty comeuppance in the crying game . here  she plays a quiet  serene type of woman in rose arbuthnot  one who with josie lawrence who plays lottie wilkins  embarks on a trip that is filled with self  discovery . they are joined by an unlikely pair of ladies one caroline dester  played by the enigmatic polly walker who resembles a very vamp louise brooks  and not just in the style of hair she wears   and mrs . fisher  joan plowright  . this foursome will eventually merge together into becoming deep friends only because the story is so filled with spring and an overwhelming  dreamy sweetness it almost preordains it  but this is fine it  s the movie it wants to be . alfred molina and jim broadbent  then relatively new to american audiences  fill out the cast as the husbands of the two main characters  and all in all  mike newell makes with his movie a living thing of near  magical elements  full of quiet moments and wonder .  
  spoilers in this   br    br    rosenstrae  is a movie about heroic women in german nazi time . but it is way too long  it is not touching and sometimes even boring  there are too many clichs and not enough good acting .  br    br   the storytelling  storyline  is bad . like in james camerons titanic an old woman remembers events of her live . good  now weve got a point of view . than there is another woman introduced who does the same . confusing is that they both are recalling events of lifes of other people  come on  this is a lack of knowledge of basic story telling . . . how can riemann know about the fate of the little girls mother and her interrogation for example   br    br   the scenes are shown in the wrong order and you rarely know when it took place . for example the scene when riemann is proposing to fabian . when did that happen  the scene looks like it is set in the twenties . . .  br    br   riemanns character is of course a talented pianist  well  she is even a baroness  wow . her brother comes back from the eastern front  he has received a  ritterkreuz  which he is showing in some scenes . so he is a war hero and still a fine man who preserved his conscience . and he gained knowledge of massacres committed by germans . he even made some photographs  and so it goes  clich after clich is piling up and this is why the movie does not work .  br    br   basically von trotta made a chick flick out of something what could have been a decent movie . and in the end its all very simple . riemann finds a way to get goebbels into bed and  ta da   everyone is free . which is not a historical fact but pure imagination despite the  true story  claim at the beginning . like  sass  it is vaguely based on a true event .  br    br   it is sad but true  this is the typical german movie these days . it is bad  macaulay j . connor  br    br    
an old man who lives in the mountains wakes up one morning and loses his cat . he wanders the woods to witness a murder but did he see the murder or is he losing his mind  is he just getting old  the movie so great because the viewer has to make up their own mind on what is going on . there is very little dialog in this movie but it doesn  t need words  the whole movie speaks for itself . you knew what was going on and i liked it .  br    br   the other part that i liked were the shots of the woods in late fall and winter . those were pretty but the only thing i didn  t like was the view of the old man in his underwear . he could have tied the robe a little tighter but other than that  it was a pretty deep movie .  
julia roberts obviously makes a concerted effort to shake off her cotton wool pretty woman persona with this spurious spousal abuse thriller  but it  s hard to imagine she  d end up putting in a performance as powerful and convincing  and oscar winning  as she did in erin brokovich based on the back of this rubbish . and make no bones about it  it  s nothing more than a julia roberts vehicle  but unfortunately  her performance is not the most lacklustre thing about it .  br    br   the plot has all the markings of a late night made  for  cable  and don  t be under the impression that it will offer any insight into the dark world of domestic abuse because non of the characters are sketched out enough for you to really care .  br    br   ultimately disappointing and unsatisfying  without roberts  name above the title  i  m sure it would have totally flopped  deservedly .  
the premise of the story is simple an old man living alone in the woods accidentally stumble upon a murder of a small child  and tries to convince the police that the murder has occurred . though very little dialog is provided throughout the film  the visual narrative told by the camera  s eye alone made the film quite engaging . the setting of the gray woods conveys a feeling of loneliness  which complements the quietness of the characters themselves . we can also sense helplessness in the old man  s inability to convince the police of the murder  which parallels the silenced child  s inability to tell her own story .  br    br   true horror lies in feelings of hopelessness  helplessness  and irrationality . this film successfully addresses these elements by visuals alone  rather than relying on cheap sound effects or blood and gore that other bad horror films use when the narrative is weak .  br    br   cleverly  the story unfolds at a slow pace to build up tension for a few creepy and startling moments . the ending is also unexpected and believable . reminiscent of japanese horror films  such as  the ring   and  dark water   or english horror films  such as  lady in black   and  the innocents   this film provides viewers the experience of true atmosphere horror . i recommend anyone who enjoys a good chilling to the bone scare to give this film a try .  br    br   by the way  if you haven  t seen the films i just mentioned above  you might want to give them a try as well .  
this movie was probably about as silly as the naked gun  which was supposed to be  . case in point  br    br    . in order to fake her drowning roberts is secretly taking swimming lessons at the ywca . after her  death  the ywca calls her husband at work to give their condolences . hello how did they get his work number   br    br    . before she leaves town she drops her wedding ring in the toilet . days or even weeks later her hubby finds it in the john . does this mean the toilet was never flushed   br    br    . no explanation is given on how she is paying for her mothers care in the retirement home  since she did it behind her rich husbands back  .  br    br    . towards the end of this tiresome film roberts suspects her husband is in the house . instead of running for her life she runs to the kitchen instead to see if the cans are stacked neatly .  
don  t be swayed by the naysayers . this is a wonderfully spooky film . this was a thesis project for the writer  director  jt petty . he did a great job of having me on the edge of my seat . i never really knew what to expect  and for a jaded horror  movie goer  this is nirvana  the film concerns an elderly man who lives in a isolated log cabin in the woods . one day  while searching for his cat in the woods  he witnesses the murder of a child  or does he  he agonizes about this the rest of the film . what is most unusual about this film is that here is no dialogue until the last few scenes . i found this to be intriguing . the writer manages to get hold of your senses and gives them a relentless tug . give this film a go  you won  t be disappointed .  
let  s just say i had to suspend my disbelief less for spiderman than i did for hooligans . that is  to say  i have less of a problem believing toby mcguire can stick to buildings than i do elija wood throwing down with toughs in manchester . i won  t get into specifics  as i don  t want to write a spoiler  but the idea of grown  professional  british men getting into near death scraps every weekend is  well . . . funny . and this film is not . the fighting  the idea of fighting  is taken far too seriously . the gravity of the pugilism  the reverence with which the subject matter is treated becomes irritating  as it neither establishes or resolves the conflict . it seems as though the plot  with holes big enough to drive a guiness truck through  has been slapped together with a contrived  fish out of water  theme so that viewers can gaze into woods teary eyes as he learns how to become a man ie . hitting other young men of opposing football tastes with blunt objects and then running away as fast as he can . the characters are cartoonish  especially the americans at harvard . the character development and story line are telegraphed to the viewer throughout the picture . unfortunately  the absurdity of the film doesn  t reach its height until nearly the end  which by then you  ll have spent nearly two hours of your life you are never getting back . pick up  the football factory  or  fight club  instead of this corny  and disappointing dud . it doesn  t waste time with empty melodrama  the tired old  yankee in king aurthur  s court   or weepy  parables of coming of age bullsht . they  re just pure  dark  and clever fun the way violence is supposed to be .  
i really think i should make my case and have every  horror and or cult  movie  buff go and see this movie . . .  br    br   i did   br    br   it  is  excellent very atmospheric and unsettling and scary . . .  br    br   incridible how they could make such a gem of a film with the very low  read   no     budget they had . . . .  br    br   synopsis taken from website  one morning  an old man wanders out into the woods in search of his runaway cat . he finds instead a child without parents and a murder with no corpse . . .   br    br   on this website  imdb  there is no trailer  but i will leave a link here to the site of the movie itself where there is a trailer which is quite unsettling so please go and check it out . . .  br    br   www . softfordigging . com  
i  m sure to people watching this move outside of britian this film will be an entertaining watch  but for someone from the uk it  s painful in it  s errors .  br    br   right at the start of the film elijah wood gets off a tube at bank station  which has been trashed . he says to his sister  who he  s meeting   what happened here  and she replies  oh tottenham were in town yesterday     tottenham are in town already . . they  re part of the town  they don  t have to go there  and if tottenham fans wanted to fight other fans the last place on earth they  d do it is bank station  where there are probably more security cameras than anywhere else in the world .  br    br   there are several other similar errors but the biggest failing for me is the actor who plays the lead hooligan . he clearly decided it wasn  t worth trying to speak with an east end accent and instead opted for a dick van dyke style mock  ney which made my ears bleed . it was accentuated by the fact the rest of his gang all spoke in the way you  d expect west ham fans to speak . this error made him unbelievable in the role and really spoilt the film .  
virgil manoven is an old man who lives alone in his remote rural farmhouse . chasing his beloved cat one morning into the woods around his property  manoven glimpses what looks like the murder of a young child in the middle of the woods . he reports the crime to the police but there  s no body to be found . troubled by disturbing visions  he investigates further and eventually is guided to a spooky orphanage where events take a supernatural turn  soft for digging  is a fantastic experimental horror with lots of creepy atmosphere to spare . this minimalist film is almost completely devoid of dialogue . some scenes are genuinely nightmarish and the acting is excellent . the location sets provide plenty of creepinessthe eerie maryland woods rival those used in  the blair witch projcect  . give this strange horror film a chance .  out of   .  
first some background i am english and have lived in london all my life . i have been to many games at  the den  and most other london club grounds . i am familiar with the type of person who gets into hooliganism and i know just how they act and how they speak . have to say this is a bad  bad movie . i can tell you that green street is one of the most unrealistic movies i have ever seen . i spent most of the movie cringing with embarrassment . i felt i should write a mini review because i felt i needed to point out a few things .  br    br   a  people just don  t talk like that in london in real life the filmmakers took the whole slang thing too far and made it sound stupid . unfortunately hooligan types do exist  but those you see in green street are more like parodies . b  the actor who plays pete dunham  charlie hunnam  unfortunately sounded about as  english  or  cockney  as osama bin laden . he  s from up north in newcastle and i  m just amazed any of the other actors could keep straight face acting alongside him  how are we supposed to take him seriously . why they didn  t just get someone from east london to play that part is beyond me . i could have done  a bang up job  myself  hehe . c  mr frodo . i mean how can i be expected to take seriously elijah wood kicking the ass of people twice his size and who are genuinely nasty hooligans . he  d be dead . simple as that . honestly  as a brit  it was hard to watch this film . i  m pretty sure this film will bomb here in the uk . it may do a little better in the states because the americans just wont know  or care  how inaccurate it is .  br    br   please my american and foreign friends  don  t believe a word of this nonsense . yes these firms do exist but it  s all extremely underground and hush hush  and on a vastly smaller scale . the movie only gets a  from me because they actually filmed some of it in london . usually they try to film these things in cardiff  wales  or something and expect us all not to notice .  
though i liked on the town better i really liked it . i  m a new comer when it comes to frank sinatra and gene kelly . though i had heard of them i had never seen anything with them in it until recently . the first one i saw was singin in the rain that made me a fan of gene  s . i think that is better too . but i thought that this movie was good and like all movies there are some parts that are better than others but in my book it  s an awesome movie and i love it . frank and gene make a good team . i have yet to see them together in take me out to the ballgame . but i  m sticking to my guns bu saying that i really enjoyed it  and that i love it   
where to start  ok  don  t compare this film to fight club for a start  ridiculous . if it was even a patch on fight club  the violence  blood  gore etc would be much more evident and realistic . secondly  this film is no football factory  which is so much more real  and danny dyer makes nicholas nickelby look like an embarrassment  . fair enough  the storyline is quite decent and the fight scenes are well choreographed  with a decent ending i might add . but the film on the whole is poor  seriously poor . as people have been mentioning the accents should not spoil a film  i disagree  either a simple casting error  or a lack of effort in coaching the voices caused the film to be irritating all the way through  it was obvious from scene one some american  geordie was playing the role . don  t get me wrong  good looking guy  who looks great with a skin head  but no not a football hooligan . i could go on forever about how ridiculous the football scene was  the  fake steward  situation . also  when the gse are going to play united up north  they go on the train expecting only  of them  doesn  t make any sense  this a real organisation of gangsters and thugs  which is portrayed in the film to be some mickey mouse cult of about  people . in terms of accuracy  did west ham and milwall not play for the last couple of years they have been in the championship together  hmm  ten years ok . and i  m sure  bother  would be able to just waltz into a milwall firm pub . basically  a very poor film which people will like if they have little knowledge of real football  and hooliganism . if you do actually love football and are intrigued by the underworld of hooliganism   you will simply feel as though this film has insulted your intelligence . ross george  
lots of singing and dancing in this one  especially by gene kelly . two sailors go on liberty to see if they can find love and romance . they meet up with a woman who is trying to break into show business . musical lovers only .  
this is possibly the worst film i  ve ever seen . the fact that it has a flimsy storyline is bad enough  that they  ve hooked it around the subject of football violence makes it    times worse .  br    br   i had severe doubts about the premise of this film even before i started watching  but went into it open minded enough even to accept the way that the writers saw fit to introduce elijah wood  s character matt into the hooligan scene .  br    br   but the film throws up inaccuracy after inaccuracy  to the point that by the middle of the film each one makes you cringe harder than the time before .  br    br   let  s clear up a few things hooligans don  t tend to virtually smash up their own pub before a run  of  the  mill league game they don  t set out to kill each other they don  t only wear stone island  and others in the crowd  hooligans or not  do  . they most certainly don  t  when having taken exception to a new firm member  trot off to their rival firms territory for pie and mash . and i  d love to meet the hool who would go and grass on his firm  s top boy to the rival firm .  although you can scratch what i said about setting to out kill each other if one does exist  .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i  m yet to see a film on the subject that doesn  t contain some fantasy whims  but this is on a par with the firm for cluelessness .  br    br   i found it ironical that wood  s american nemesis is morally condemned by his character for being a cocaine user  when this is part and parcel of the british hooligan scene . the film chooses not to challenge wood  s morals and instead steers clear of any of the firm using coke .  br    br   i could go on  but i think i  ve made my point .  br    br   as for the plot  it  s highly unimaginative  and i  m sure if i hadn  t spent the entire film bemoaning the points  and more  made above then i would have guessed what was going on sooner than i did . and believe me  i was well in front .  br    br   i get the distinct impression this film is aimed at men  with the hope that women will enjoy the injection of emotional issues that are raised .  br    br   if i  m right  then the makers have failed completely . it  s too unrealistic to be enjoyed by anyone who knows about the scene  and i can  t believe the kind of female who looks for emotive films would give a damn about any of the characters given their violent tendencies .  br    br   are there any good points  maybe the fight scenes are well choreographed and filmed  but i  m rarely impressed by slow  mo action  certainly not when it  s a fight as the point is a ruck is rousing enough anyway .  br    br   there are some funny  if unrealistic moments . wood  s trip to school did raise a smile for me . but a few mildly funny moments hardly make up for watching two hours of complete fabricated dross .  br    br   if you  re british avoid like the plague  if only not to further develop misconceptions of the scene if you  re not in the know . if you  re american  you may enjoy it  as it  s clearly tailored to the market . but no one can deny the plot is flimsy  predictable and ultimately over the top .  
yes  this is one of the great musical movies i grew up with with such great entertainers as frank sinatra and gene kelly  not to mention the petite and glorious voice of kathryn grayson . the music and dancing is superb . i understand frank took lessons from kelly and there is kelly dancing with jerry mouse  which is quite unique for the time . betty garrett plays the waitress who falls in love with sinatra . she is one of hollywood  s great underrated stars . i saw this again on ae tv and as well have it in my old vcr tapes . never get tired of these old musicals . whatever happened to hollywood    
green street  as it was called in the uk  or hooligans is a bad film . the story is full of fantastical ideas and premises that anyone who lives in england  has been to a football match or knows the first thing about football will spot immediately .  br    br   my first main gripe with hooligans is the poor casting of the two main characters . don  t get me wrong  i like elijah wood and have a great respect for his work  but despite his best efforts he struggled to pull off this role . the main motivation for his character is anger at the system and anger at betrayal  however he spends much of the film placid and cheery  only displaying his pent up aggression in one brief scene towards the end of the film . this linked with his looks and physique make him a thoroughly unconvincing addition to a gang of football hooligans . at no point during the film was i convinced that a  he could handle himself in a fight against such thugs and b  the  firm  of thugs would accept such a person into their fold .  br    br   the other main character is played by charlie hunnam . charlie looks the part  and is fairly convincing as a thug . unfortunately  being a native of newcastle upon tyne in the north of england  he demonstrates the worst east london accent since dick van dyke tried to go cock  en  y in marry poppins . details such as this probably will not bother an american audience who will be less attuned to regional dialect in the uk  but being from the uk it was a problem i couldn  t ignore and it contributed to ruining the movie for me . the supporting cast all gave convincing performances and were well cast  especially the role of bover . the lad playing this character would have been much more suited to the main role that charlie played . with a film like this  you have to convince the audience that your characters are plausible  unfortunately  the casting failed . imagine if you made a film like the godfather and had sean hayes  jack  from will and grace playing michael corleone  s part . you would not be convinced . the story in hooligan is also full in implausibilities . i am no football hooligan  but i am a fantatical football fan . i know how cliquey a group of  regular  football supporters can be  as such it deem it impossible for a non  football fan  who is not a fan of the club in question  is not from the area in question and not even of english nationality to be embraced by a  firm  who equate to a secret organisation in some severe cases . my final  and biggest  problem with this film  is the way it portrays football hooligans . i take objection to the film  s idea that despite being very violent individuals  hooligans are excused as they live by some sort of code of ethics in their own world and should be admired for being brave and loyal to each other . this is complete rubbish . football hooligans are complete scum . they take football  the national sport of england and use it as an excuse to terrorise  frighten and intimidate people . they only represent a tiny percentage of football fans but give the whole game and people of this country a bad reputation . they are not brave or loyal  they are cowardly and evil . if the  gse  in this film truly loved their club  west ham  why would the devote their lives to being a stain on its name . hooligans are an embarrassment to football and to english society . football hooligans do for the reputation of football what hitler did to the reputation of germans . although this film tries  intends to show the  gritty  side of football violence . it does nothing more than promote it as some kind of excusable activity for extreme fans of the sport . it does not show the poor innocent by  standers at football matches who have their day ruined by some idiot throwing coins  lighters  glass into the crowd . it does not show the innocent home and property owners who have to put up with graffiti and broken windows . it does not show the real fans of football clubs who suffer indignity and embarrassment when their teams supporters are banned from travelling to away matches or abroad to european games because the thugs among them ruin it for everyone . if you want to see a good film about football violence  watch the bbc drama  the firm  .  
this has some excellent spots but the length of the film can not sustain the wafer thin plot . it is another sailors on leave film  zippier than astaire  s  follow the fleet  but not as good as  on the town  .  br    br   kathryn grayson is bland but kelly and sinatra work well together . their  if you knew susie  number is hilarious as they make up the song as they sing it .  i begged her  is also fun with sinatra showing how adept he was at hoofing . sinatra  s solo songs are dull and seem to be inserted to show off his singing rather than as part of the story . fortunately there are accomplished supporting actors like grady sutton  rags ragland  carlos ramirez and pamela britton and an unlikely but impertubable jose iturbi as himself  to keep one watching .  br    br   kelly is the star of the film  although third billed and it is interesting to see him interact with children  which astaire never did . dean stockwell plays a child who wants to be in the navy and latches on to the kelly character . he also visit a school resulting in him telling the children a fictitious story of his life in the pomeranian    navy which leads to his wonderful dance with an animated jerry mouse . in another scene he dances a charming mexican hat dance with a sublimely grave faced little girl  sharon mcmanus  that is entrancing and sweet .  br    br   very pleasant then but a bit too long . a taster of better musicals to come .  
most of the french films i  ve seen  and enjoyed  were more talk than action  but that  s okay . i found them interesting  well  photographed and with intriguing actors .  however  i did at one point wonder if gerald depardieu was in every french film ever made  it seemed that way .   br    br   this movie has the same interesting visuals and had a good opening . but then it became talk  talk and more talk . . . . which is fine for a drama but not for a murder mystery . after awhile  i almost fell asleep watching this .  br    br   actually  the film was more like a play with almost all the scenes played out in one room . thus  if you love plays  you should like this . . . but i want a little more bang for a murder story .  
for such films like anchors aweigh   few have been bestowed with as many academy award accolades in a warm up for happy hour . either     was a beleaguered year for good film or they were still suffering advance shock by billy wilder  s the lost weekend  that they wrote anything starting with a on the ballot for best picture to please the still musical picture faithful public . since gene kelly was nominated for this performance instead of his role in singin  in the rain   then there had to be something wrong with the behind the scenes rigging systems at mgm . of course  the studio is on its best behaviour during this much lauded tour of the great studios and of hollywood itself  handy for those stuck on the other side of the world .  br    br   yet a sailor suit musical with the brilliant talents of gene and frank sinatra is certainly an enjoyable farce  despite the need for more people to yawn at the previews for the musical so today  s audiences wouldn  t be slapped with an unnecessary runtime . there have been many longer pieces before and since  but in this case all of the charming kathryn grayson  s scenes could have been eliminated . until the viewing of kiss me kate  it may have been necessary non  opera enthusiasts to watch any of her films with remote control in hand .  br    br   if there was a need to practice picking up women for      s on the town   then perhaps the shore leave lucky sailors did not have to promise an audition with jose iturbi and strike up the piano for a whole hearted susie  rendition . few are lucky to get a screen test at the golden studios of mgm . then few are even luckier to be attended to . there are no regrets to be had about the successful screen tests of susan abbot or kathryn grayson  but it makes the continual non  opera enthusiast hope for the eventual pink slip to be handed out to both .  br    br   but for all  the star talents are good shape and an above average score thrown in with a slight  but fun great navy story intertwined with young ambitious navy boys good for late bursts of wartime morale  makes anchors  at least doesn  t question picking the wrong mgm film . the direction holds up as the cast carries the story in lovely colour cinematography . whenever anyone bursts into music or song  the film makes for a joyous occasion .  br    br   the natural highlight of the film is gene kelly  s cartoon adventures in a fantasyland  climaxing in a brilliant dance with jerry the mouse . this is a well  deserved masterpiece number of kelly  s career  and it  s nice to know he thought of it before fred astaire started taking to dancing on walls and ceilings .  br    br   it  s not exactly sitting down to a triple flavour  rainbow sprinkled  chocolate wafer  cream and cherry and banana split sundae  but it is a square solid lump of sugar that somehow eventually melts in your mouth and despite the guilt  is still a pleasant feeling .  br    br   rating      
i  m not saying that because the production values were so low  but because it was filmed terribly . that shot of the girl washing her hair in the creek  did we really need to sit there for an overlong shot and watch her do that for  minutes in the same spot  it was terrible  the lighting was just plain bad . you could barely see anything and when the characters were talking  you could barely hear what they were saying . did i watch the whole movie  of course not i skipped through most of it  and i don  t want to hear anyone say i need to watch the whole thing first to judge it . this film was so poorly done and executed that even by independent and low budget standards it  s just plain terrible . awful movie . . . don  t waste any time on it unless you want a good laugh  but even then it  s not because of the actors  funny  lines  it  s because of how painstakingly bad the production is .  
i first saw enchanted april about five years ago . i loved it so much that my husband surprised me with a copy the following christmas . it  s about two women who decide to rent a castle in italy for the month of april  leaving their humdrum lives behind them . they are very sad women at the outset of the film  and you can  t help but root them on as they plan this get  away with two other women they invite along to share the expenses . this is perhaps the most feel good movie i have ever seen . it  pure and simple  with no car chases  no animosities and no deaths . it was made with care and in very good taste . you cannot help but smile all through it   except when you  re crying happy tears   
one thing that astonished me about this film  and not in a good way  was that nathan stoltzfus  who seems to pride himself on being the major historian on the topic of the rosenstrasse  was one of the historians working on this film  considering how much of the actual events were altered or disregarded .  br    br   another reviewer said that von trotta said she never meant for lena to bed goebbels  but in that case  why did she give every impression that that was what had happened  why not show other possible reasons for the mens  release  such as the disaster that was stalingrad  or the nazis  fear that the international press  based in berlin  would find out about the protest .  br    br   also  why did the whole storyline play second fiddle to a weak family bonding storyline that has been done over and over again  surely something as awesome as this could carry its own history  in places  it was as if the film had two story lines that really seemed to have little in common .  br    br   overall  this film failed in its aim  which was to draw attention to a little  known act of resistance  which is a shame  because done better  it could have had a major impact .  
ah  a kelly  sinatra sailor  suit musical . so familiar  right  yes  but this isn  t the one you usually hear about . on the town  s that  a  way . but if you stick around  you might learn something . okay  probably not . anyway  anchors aweigh tells the story of two sailors on a three  or four  day leave . joe is the  sea wolf  and clarence  the bookish type  begs joe to get him a  dame  . now  after they  re picked up by the coppers they get little donald home . that  s where they meet susie  that temptress  that jezebel . just kidding  clarence falls in love with her . at least he thinks he does . is he right  or is he a moron  or is he just misguided by society  find out all this and more when you watch trumpet fanfare anchors aweigh   br    br   p . s . if you want to see kathryn grayson be anything but sickeningly sweet  try kiss me kate       .  
horrendous  avoid like the plague . i would rate this in the top   worst movies ever . special effects  acting  mood  sound  etc . appear to be done by day care students . . . wait  i have seen programs better than this . opens like a soft porn show with a blurred nude female doing a shower scene then goes bad from there . good nude scenes  but that is it . sound and light problems were persistent throughout the movie . at times i would swear i could hear the roaring of the camera motors . yikes  i would like to see another movie on this story  but done by different people . this batch of actors and crew need more acting and movie making lessons . voted  out of   .  
i really liked this movie . i have seen several gene kelly flicks and this is one of his best . i would actually put it above his more famous american in paris . sometimes it seems the story gets lost in gene kelly movies to the wonderful dance and song numbers  but not in this movie . it is definitely worth renting .  
after a fairly lengthy partially pixelated nude shower scene  we  re off to the races for this  blair witch project   esquire horror film about three girlfriends venturing to a desolate cabin deep in the woods to get away from their hectic lives for a girls  weekend out and smoke pot . they meet two guys who seem friendly enough  so they drink and tell ghost stories  until late in the movie some of them get picked off .  br    br   this is a fairly slow movie  with needlessly drawn out  suspense  scenes  the bad acting can  t carry the myriad of scenes where nothing happens but mindless banter  and the movie as a whole is a dud  a deathly  boring dud at that . nothing at all happens until the last half hour and when it did i was to numb to really care .  br    br   eye candy ashley totin shows ta evy lutzky gets topless briefly and jennifer hart shows her right tit  br    br   my grade d  
one of the first of the best musicals  anchors aweigh features several memorable musical sequences  such as kelly dancing with jerry the mouse  kelly dancing with   year  old sharon mcmanus  sinatra singing with jose iturbi playing piano  kathryn grayson singing with iturbi conducting  and much more . the technicolor is perfect  with some innovative camera work such as seeing a piano played from beneath  through transparent keys  and grayson singing  seen through the finder of another camera . the plot is thin  but you get involved from kelly  s  sinatra  s enthusiasm . sailor  s on leave  they have to take home a runaway boy  dean stockwell  and sinatra falls for his aunt . to set him up with the aunt  grayson   kelly suggests that sinatra can get her an audition with jose iturbi . but sinatra  s young and naive in this one  and in his own sung words falls in love too fast . while they  re trying to contact iturbi  who  s never available  he starts to fall for another girl  barbara britton   but kelly  s now falling love with grayson . anchors aweigh is most often remembered for the combination live  action  cartoon sequence with tom and jerry  but there  s a lot more here that  s worth a look . i  m giving it nine stars because  while it  s not quite as good as the best musicals  singin  in the rain  the music man  oklahoma  it is one of the first of their class of technicolor big productions  perhaps meet me in st . louis was the first   and better than most others .  
  true  story of three girls who go into the wilds of connecticut and end up hunted by a maniac in the woods . this is the sort of film that would have played in the drive ins across america thirty years ago to mixed acclaim . not particularly much of anything the film works with its low budget to mixed results . the film is watchable but isn  t at all scary  blame how some of the attack scenes for that  . its the sort of film that you  ll probably forget about once you  re done with it . odds are that you  re never going to think to see this unless its handed to you by someone and told   here watch this   which is what happened to me . if you  re handed a copy give it back  the film isn  t worth the effort to see it even if it is watchable .  
a recent viewing of that  s entertainment has given me the urge to watch many of the classic mgm musicals from the forties and fifties . anchors aweigh is certainly a lesser film than on the town . the songs aren  t as good  nor is the chemistry between the characters . but the film beautifully interweaves classical favorites  such as tchaikovsky . and the scene at the hollywood bowl  with sinatra and kelly emerging from the woods above it at the top  and then running down the steps  while dozens of pianists play on the piano  is the best scene in the film  even though the scene in which kelly dances with jerry mouse is more famous . classical music enthusiasts will no doubt identify the music the pianists are playing . sinatra then croons   i fall in love too easily   before having his epiphany about whom he loves . the color is beautiful  hollywood looks pretty with its mountains and pollution  free air  can you imagine hollywood in the twenties  let alone the mid      s     and the piano music is absolutely glorious . mgm certainly had a flair for creating lyrical moments like these .  
this is one of those films that makes you want the time you spent watching it back  and then some  like the time you spent accidentally picking it out  the time you spent getting to the video store  etc .  br    br   first off  the look it  s grainy  it  s low budget . now that in itself doesn  t make for a bad film . but the way it was filmed makes the action look unnatural  so that  s kind of distracting .  br    br   then  the story .  gals go on a gal  s weekend away from guys . of course  as everyone does when going on a camping trip  they stop on the way to get earrings . when they arrive at the area in which they  re going to stay  they get pulled over by mr . ranger sir  who scolds them for throwing a lit cigarette out of the car at fire season  and then drives them where they  re going  a remote cabin  . of course    cute guys  wander into their vicinity  and bambi  yes  bambi  and aubry are immediately smitten  but apparently bambi is smitten by anything with two legs . mady is rather disappointed by this development because she was looking forward to a weekend of forgetting about her ex by getting sh  faced and stoned with her gal  pals .  br    br   oh  and i almost forgot  there  s a mean old hermit that lives up that way  that  s perhaps someone to not tangle with  and the area  cabin in which they  re staying have a sort of  reputation  .  br    br   so of course  sooner or later  unfortunately  much later  some of our weekend wood  visitors begin to die  and find various booby traps  although a couple of them actually hit a little lower than that  and of course  the remaining campers are understandably upset . no cell phone reception of course  who would miss out on a chance to check their cell phone for reception in a movie anymore   . mr . ranger sir keeps popping up at odd times  his behavior seems a bit odd but he has said he will get help .  br    br   there  s a fantastic twist to this that you just won  t want to miss too  if you  re still awake . pray that you wake up to a blank screen .  br    br   the acting in this is terrible  the production values are terrible  and the whole undertaking is just lame  i find it amazing this was even released . avoid at all costs   out of   .  
incredibly artistic nobody could make them now i think . it seem to be perfect the biggest and the greatest musical ever made listen to the beautiful songs the are quite poetry . i  m italian and admired by american musical . why can  t you do something like that now  american were the best and for that i absolutely show my devotion to you with this movie . there are words to describes the perfection of this movie . all of a sudden my heart sings  what makes the sunset  i fall in love to easily  jealousy . . . and the scene with tom and jerry . the greatest without reserve . if you you doesn  t know your eyes are not open my friends you must see it and appreciate . . . wake up   
i have never seen such terrible performances in all my life .  br    br   everyone in the entire film was absolute rubbish .  br    br   not one decent actor  actress in the whole film  it was a joke .  br    br   reminded me of drama at school . . .  
anchors aweigh is an entertaining mgm musical that fans of the genre will enjoy but i wouldn  t rate it up there with classics like singin in the rain or the band wagon . this was the first of three musicals that gene kelly and frank sinatra appeared in together . kelly and sinatra play joe brady and clarence doolittle  two sailors on leave in hollywood who befriend a young boy  dean stockwell  who introduces them to his attractive young aunt  kathryn grayson  a struggling actress who is working as an extra at mgm . though both guys are initially attracted to grayson  she eventually voices a preference to joe but clarence later hooks up with a waitress  pamela britton  who  he learns is from his hometown of brooklyn . the paper  thin plot leaves room for several great musical numbers including  we hate to leave   joe and clarence  s lament to their fellow sailors as they  re leaving the ship grayson  s torrid rendition of  jalousie   sinatra  s dreamy rendition of  i fall in love too easily   a number which is sadly deleted from some prints of this film   and  the worry song   a fantasy dance that kelly does with animated jerry the mouse from tom and jerry fame . kelly also does a sort of kissing bandit fantasy ballet which rivals his pirate  s ballet in the later the pirate . kelly is in peak form here  in a robust and energetic performance that earned him his only oscar nomination for best actor and sinatra  s endearingly shy character here is undeniably sexy . an entertaining diversion for fans of the mgm musical factory .  
after the overrated success of amenabar and balaguero  spanish horror movies spread like a disease in the increasingly sad world of horror movies . the result is all in films like el segundo nombre  a tv  like production bad written  but acted and directed even worse . i didn  t read the ramsey campbell book  but i  m sure that the author of the doll who ate its mother didn  t have much in common with this terrible production . avoid it at any cost  unless you  re searching for a quiet sleepy night in a fresh movie theater .      
  anchors aweigh  is the product of the classic mgm musical production unit  and on the whole the film is every enjoyable  good music by jule styne and others  excellent dancing by gene kelly  and even a passable job by frank sinatra   and a funny well  paced script . the only major element i would criticize would be the casting of kathryn grayson  whose presence in a film always means the audience will be subjected to endless pseudo  operatic warbling from the petite miss .  br    br   kelly plays a naval serviceman named joseph brady  a man with a mythic reputation around the ship as a lover but whose valentino  charms are constantly being subdued by the presence of his less cocksure friend with the improbable middle  american name of clarence  sinatra  . upon receiving  days of shore leave for saving clarence  s life  joe reluctantly agrees to help clarence find a girl based on the dubious premise that he owes him something for saving his life . they are drafted by a policeman  rags ragland   who needs them to help coax a precocious young boy  dean stockwell  who wants to join the navy into returning home to  aunt susan   grayson  . at first it is clarence who is interested in wooing  aunt susan  but eventually kelly  s character emerges as the more likely candidate .  br    br   there are several standout musical scenes but nothing to come close to kelly  s more famous work in films like  singin  in the rain  and  american in paris  . the closest we get is a gimmicky sequence with kelly  s character in a fantasy sequence dancing with jerry  the mouse from  tom and jerry   although he seems to be closer in size to a dog or cat here than to a mouse  . it  s a startling sequence for its time but doesn  t have enough complexity or emotion to really stand the test of time . i actually enjoyed the parts of the sequence that took place prior to the animation  where kelly was using semi  balletic moves to emphasize the transition into the fantasy world and where we see him dance down a tunnel that looks like something right out of  alice in wonderland  .  br    br   eventually the characters find their way to susan  s favorite bar  a somewhat sanitized mexican restaurant  bar in tijuana . there the patrons happily allow ms . grayson to chirp her arias with abandon  and the management becomes very excited at the opportunity that clarence and joe have extended for her to sing with their  friend  jose iturbi  playing himself with a light humorous touch  . of course they  ve never met their  friend  iturbi and they spend much of the film  s length trying to reach him  in an amusing scene sinatra  s character meets iturbi but mistakes him for a piano tuner and urges him to abandon tuning pianos and try a professional career   sneaking into the studio and the hollywood bowl  where iturbi is rehearsing a surreal symphony comprised of dozens of young piano players  you haven  t seen anything like this outside of      fingers of dr . t  . iturbi himself is a kind of a god  figure in the story  he represents the opportunity for salvation from the drudgery of unfulfilling work and the possibility for fame and artistic achievement for the heroine . everyone is     sure that as soon as mr . iturbi so much as hears ms . grayson  her operatic career will be a reality . the  primary characters are desperate to reach him and they think of him as some kind of remote and distant mythological figure  a lot of the film  s charm and humor comes from the contrast of this perception to the very down  to  earth  real  mannerisms of the maestro . and speaking of iturbi  s contributions to the film  he also provides a very stimulating musical moment with his orchestral interpretation of  donkey serenade  .  br    br   when all is said and done  this is a film that nobody who enjoys musicals will want to miss . the majority of the music was written for this film  a nice contrast to recycled soundtracks for other kelly opuses like  rain  and  american  . kelly is still at his early peak  adventurous and boisterous in both his dances and his interpretation of the character . sinatra  s voice was never in better form and he rarely had better songs to sing . stockwell is a charming addition to the clan  and grayson  s character is endearing when she isn  t posturing on stage . iturbi adds that well  grounded but sophisticated tone that perfectly matches the atmosphere and style of the classic  era mgm musical . this is one of the better ones .  
spanish horrors are not bad at all  some are smart with interesting stories  but is not the case of  second name  . it is badly directed  badly acted and boring . . . boring . . . boring  a missed chance for an interesting story .  
absolutely enjoyable singing and dancing movie starring frank sinatra and gen kelly  as well as kathryn grayson .  br    br   the film won and oscar for george e . stoll  s score  and it garnered nominations for best picture  best actor for kelly  and best cinematography  as well as a best son nomination for  i fall in love too easily  sung by sinatra .  br    br   it was a cute story about kelly helping his pal sinatra get a girl and falling in love with her himself . the lovely grayson  the toast of new orleans  dazzled us with her singing  and we had a lot of great songs and dance routines by kelly and sinatra  as well as the artistry of pianist  conductor jos iturbi .  br    br   a classic hollywood music from an era gone by .  
  br    br   i  m not sure who decides what category a movie fits into  but this movie is not a horror movie . as for the story  it was fairly interesting  but rather slow . i was especially disappointed with the ending though .  br    br   spoiler  br    br   tell me why on earth does she run over to her uncle  s    home without at least calling the detective or the police first  she knows exactly what  s going on at that point  plus she has a video tape as proof . instead  she runs over there and starts going nuts and saying  i know everything  i have proof  you didn  t expect proof  did you    then she acts surprised when her uncle stands up and starts walking over to her as if he  s going to harm her . well duh  of course he  s going to harm you idiot  you just told him you know everything and have proof to expose everything . what a dumb ending .  
two sailors are on leave   ladies man joseph brady  gene kelly  and shy innocent clarence doolittle  frank sinatra  . they meet beautiful susan abbott  kathryn grayson  and both fall in love with her . there  s more but you  ve probably guessed it .  br    br   the story  even for a     s musical  is ridiculous and everything is so nice and wholesome   gets annoying pretty quick . also this movie is far too long . it  s    minutes and that  s way too much for such a silly story . there are also some boring numbers by jose iturbi and his orchestra . still this is worth catching .  br    br   when kelly is dancing or sinatra or grayson are singing this becomes magical . none of the songs are particularly memorable but sinatra had such a beautiful voice you won  t care . it  s shot in rich technicolor with all the gloss mgm had . the acting is ok   kelly is fine  although seeing him as a ladies man is pushing it  and sinatra is just great  although seeing him as a shy guy was pushing it too   . grayson is given nothing to do but she  s incredibly beautiful to look at . some shots of her literally took my breath away  there are plenty of highlights here sinatra and kelly  s big dancing and singing number sinatra singing anything grayson  s two songs and the justly famous animated sequence in which kelly dances with jerry   an animated mouse  tom does a funny cameo too . also there  s little dean stockwell who steals every scene he  s in .  br    br   so it  s too long and the plot just doesn  t hold up but it  s still worth catching . this was a huge hit in its day .  
ok  plain and simple  if you are a fan of the other tomb raider games  yes  even aod  keep away from legend .  br    br   it is  without doubt  the most disappointing tr game yet . it looks very nice  it sounds very nice  but it is totally unplayable and i  ve given up . i feel like i  ve been robbed by eidos .  br    br   it  s very simple . tr was a pc game before anything else . you control lara using the keyboard . in  tomb raider games the controls were standard . in aod they were  tacky   but still the same general control sequences . in legend they have changed her movement and control methods completely and she is totally uncontrollable .  br    br   i have seen comments elsewhere from people who say  use the mouse  . no  why should i  others say  use a gamepad  . no  why should i  others say  but this has been the standard for  rd person controls for years  well  i don  t care  it is not the standard for any other tr game so why mess with it . oh  i know  because they couldn  t care less about their original  loyal fan base  they want to cash in on the new kids who hadn  t even heard of the series until the movies came out and make lots more money . pathetic .  br    br   my advice to any serious tr fan is keep away from this game  and if you do buy it complain to eidos . i have seen masses of other posts  mainly on the eidos forums  from people telling them how rubbish it is  perhaps they will listen .  
usually musicals in the      s were of a set formula  and if you studied films you know what i  m talking about  a certain running lenghth  very  showy  performances that were great on the surface but never got into the real personalities of the characters etc .  br    br   this one is different  and light years better and well worth it  s nomination for best picture of the year       although had no chance of beating the eventual winner  lost weekend  .  br    br   gene kelly was probably in the best form of his career  yes i know about  american in paris  and  singing in the rain  . this one is different . he really gets into his character of a  sea wolf  thinking  at first  that  picking up any girl while on leave  is nothing more than a lark . and if you had to make up a  story  to get her  so be it  until . sort of like the music man when he gets  his foot caught in the door  . the eventual hilarity of the film stems mostly from his and his new pal  sinatra   s attempt to make the  story  good in order to  get the girl  that he really and unexpectedly falls in love with . you are going to have to see the movie to see what i mean .  br    br   besides that there are so many other elements of great film in this one  it  s a classic buddy story  nostalgia to a time when wwii was almost over  the war ended about a month after the films release   a realization that a guy that always laughed at life can find out that he really is a great human being  great songs and probably a few other elements of classic film making that i can  t think of right now .  br    br   why not a    near the end  at nearly     hours starts to feel a bit long . there is a small ballet number that gene kelly does that must have been a sensation in     but seems dated and feels like it just adds minutes now . but overall  this ones a definite winner on every level .  
this game has the  dis  honor of being the first game that i have stopped playing right in the middle of and felt like smashing into bits and then burning . congratulations . first and last tomb raider i will ever play i assure you .  br    br   plot just typing that word made me laugh . there isn  t one . neither is there character development . we finally have a girl heroine who can take care of herself  who isn  t a beepingmary  sue  but unfortunately she dresses like a slut and her breast are huge . they had to attract the sexist boy gamers you see . anyway all she does is go in tomb after tomb shooting things as she goes along . why she does this i have no idea . i had subtitles on and the t . v . as loud as i could and i still didn  t understand a damn thing . the development  or lack there of  for her  her two friends and thevillainswere laughable . there also will be levels that you have to go through that do  not give you any hint on what you have to do next and you literally will be in most of the boring as hell tombs for hours trying to figure out what the hell you are supposed to be doing . there is one course  out of two  in particular with her on a motorbike  believe me it is not at all fun  that you will be on for atlease an hour with no save point in sight . that means you get hit by the other motorist and guys in vans shooting at you or you hit a tree you start the hour long trek over .  br    br   boss stupid fck you know lets makes the levels very long  have basically no save points  have no story  no character development  give no variety in game play  have most of the music on the longest levels ear  bleeding  and give no hints whatsoever to the player so they can stay even longer in a place instead of getting to the nonexistent plot .  br    br   stupid fck one those sound like bang up ideas .  br    br   stupid fck two i concur . who needs character development  plot  or unboring game  play .  br    br   todd i  m sorry sir  but these ideas seem like they will extremely pss the player off .  br    br   boss stupid fck shut up todd . you  re fired .  br    br   game  play all she does is shoot . of course she can flip while shooting  jump while shooting  or kick while again shooting . but flipping  jumping  and kicking does not erase the fact that all she is ultimately doing is shooting . boring                      music the intro music is extremely beautiful . i love listening to it . the in game music goes from tolerable to wanting to cut your ears off .  br    br   visualsconsidering this game was made in      i was expecting the visuals to blow me away . well i was blown  but definitely not in a good way .  br    br   bottom  line this game is a plot  less  no character development mess with a barely dressed unmarysuish  thankfully  young women in the lead that goes through boring tombs for some boring reason  what that might be i couldn  t tell you  with unimaginative shooting gameplay . stay far away from this b . s .         it  s gets two stars for having a women who isn  t a damsel in distress  no matter how scantily clad she might be  and the beautiful into music .  
one of my all time favourite films  ever . just beautiful  full of human emotion  wit  humour  intelligence . the story grows  as does the lesson of life  just a wonderful film in so many ways .  br    br   the cast are also fantasic . . . . . a great selection of the finest british talent around . i loved them all for every diverse element brought into the film .  br    br   italy has to be one of the most romantic places to form a story such as this   everything about this film works .  br    br   i love it    
this was disappointing . it started well enough but as it went on and lost every opportunity to soar  it fell flat . maria schrader  s acting is dreadful  never seeming to mean what she says  or even knowing what she says until she says it . she showed no genuine emotion at all  not for her beloved goy  or her mother  s story . when with lena she seemed to have little more than an academic interest in lena  s story . there never seemed to be a real relationship between lena and her mother except her mother seemed to be having a good time at the wedding  which isn  t much . the supposed parallel between hannah  s  mixed  romance and her mother  s relationship with her father was as clich as they come  and failed miserably anyway . the wedding was completely unconvincing and a dumb finish . the climax of the protest was uninspiring  and no matter what lena had or had not done to influence the outcome  she would surely have shown some complexity of feeling at the time  a haunted look  an inexplicable ambivalence . in fact  none of the characters in the film had any depth or spark . it was very hard to care about any of them  even little ruth . everything with luis was a distraction .  why did she dis him so when on the phone from the hotel  there was no context or explanation whatever for that .  if every reference to him was removed it wouldn  t be noticed .  br    br   a simple story made confusing by poor character development  who was whose mother  again    weak acting  and directing that made everyone look like they were acting . you could almost hear  quiet on the set  . . . .  i started thinking this was worthy of a   but as the film went on it dropped rapidly to a   then earning a  after the silliness of the wedding scene . this was about as cold and sterile a movie as i have seen . a terrible waste of a good story .  
similar to  on the town   this musical about sailors on shore leave falls short of the later classic in terms of pacing and the quality of the songs  but it has its own charms . kelly has three fabulous dance routines one with jerry the cartoon mouse of  tom and jerry  fame  one with a little girl  and a fantasy sequence where he is a spanish lover determined to reach his lady on a high balcony . sinatra  playing kelly  s shy  inexperienced buddy  and grayson  the woman who serves as the love interest for both men  do most of the singing . iturbi provides some fine piano playing . at nearly two and half hours  it is a bit too long for a light musical but it doesn  t drag .  
this is meant to be a comedy but mainly bad taste  and nothing remotely causing a smile in the film . the movie is about a couple trying for a child  and those people in real life who are in that situation will wince at the depictions that are portrayed . for instance scenes at a fertility clinic are not in the least funny and are quite frankly embarrassing . the male lead who plays a construction worker and in his hard hat comes across as a poor excuse for a reject from village people . the female lead is trying to look   years younger than she is . both leads come across as unappealing  unattractive and completely unconvincing . there are various ridiculous and totally unassuming gratuitous scenes in the film  for example with a budget airline  which is devoid of any humor . the only reason i give this     instead of     is one mark for shirley maclaine  who is a a class above anything else in the pic  and one mark for some half decent  albeit old  music .  
gene kelly  frank sinatra  kathryn grayson  and jose iturbi star in  anchors aweigh   directed by george sidney .  br    br   kelly and sinatra are joe and clarence  two navy guys on leave in hollywood . they meet a little boy  dean stockwell  and on taking him home  they meet his aunt  grayson  . clarence falls for her . she wants an audition for jose iturbi . they try to help  but there  s a mix  up .  br    br   this is a very energetic musical with great dancing and singing by kelly and sinatra . kelly gets to dance with jerry the mouse in a delightful sequence . grayson sings jalousie and my heart sings . not one of my favorite voices  but she does well . iturbi  s piano work is beautiful .  br    br   sinatra gets to show his versatility and why the girls swooned over him  with those big blue eyes and boyish face . for kelly  this was a major break for him at mgm .  br    br   wonderful movie  very buoyant .  
the best that i can say about this film is that it was mildly amusing at times  and that it was an adequate time killer . unfortunately  this film is also so annoying that i wanted to slap these characters around . this is the kind of film that is so sweet  it hurts your teeth . the intentions were good  i suppose  but things get awfully tiresome when the dialogue is so nauseating . when the two leads aren  t together on  screen  this really isn  t bad at all  but be afraid during those frequent moments when the loving couple starts talking to one another .  
right from the start you see that  anchors aweigh  is a great comedy . gene kelly and frank sinatra make such a funny team  the songs they sing together are pure entertainment . kathryn grayson is gorgeous and really sweet . dean stockwell is the cutiest child actor i  ve never seen . if you are fond of piano  you  ll be amazed by jos iturbi . this movie was the first one to combine animation with real actors and it did that wonderfully in an unforgettable dance number . undoubtedly one of kelly  s funniest movies .  
  a smile like yours  is a pathetic comedy that actually makes no sense . i don  t mean that the story was complicated  but the entire plot is based on one thing a couple  s desperate and expensive unsuccessful attempts to conceive children . people who tried that hard must  ve forgotten of the option of the adoption  to which this movie is not kind to .  br    br   lauren holly plays jennifer robertson  a complete contradiction to anything offered by the women  s liberation movement  exhibiting almost no sense of independence . she is quite a boring character as the dreamy housewife with absolutey nothing else on her mind but to have kids . like a dumb    s romance comedy  greg kinnear is her submitting husband who likewise displays no personality  no independence  and from us  no interest .  br    br   they are the two most boring and often annoying characters  and they hardly make for topics of a comedy that should present itself with many mishaps  which should arise from a couple doing all they can to get pregnant . except  they really don  t do anything except go to a fertility clinic and shell out a whole lot of money to do what they could do in the privacy of their own  except for that in vitro fertilization number  . the plot hardly allows for any mishaps  because well  the couple don  t do anything to create any sort of bizarre situation . they just go to this clinic . so what   br    br   the subplots are meant to test the faithfulness of the couple  a necessary moral element of the story since the couple does plan on conceiving children together . jennifer works at a new age shop with her friend  played by joan cusak   and they are in the business of developing aphrodesiacs . christopher macdonald plays the intrested buyer and jennifer is the promising negotiator of a pretty price for her and her friend  s product . the subplot hardly offers much to keep you interested  although joan cusak is pretty funny in the restaraunt scene  .  br    br   danny  kinear  is an architect  who finds an opportunity to make some extra money to cover the clinic bills  by taking on a job in seattle  where his boss is the crass seductress  also another hopeless  helpless female character  who tries to influence danny  as dumb as he is  to have an affair with her once things are conveniently rocky with him and his wife  for reasons i don  t care to give away  . jill hennesy is good in the role  but her character is too predictable  and too formulaic as a much needed element to create conflict for danny . it is stupid and once again  hardly interesting .  br    br   the overall movie itself is utterly boring  and hardly funny at all  save the restaraunt scene and the airline flight  . the plot offers nothing that is really attention  grabbing . even if the story was entirely about two people trying to conceive  the writers could  ve figured out several hilarious mishaps to develop out of that . second  the main characters are completely boring . they are complete silouhettes of dumb     s comedies with happy wife and clueless husband . so  even without mishaps present in the plot  the characters themselves offer nothing interesting  let alone funny .  br    br   joan cusak should  ve been in the lead and someone else should  ve taken kinnear  s part . cusak would  ve made even a lousy story outrageously funny  as she sometimes does in her co  starring role here  . this is definitely one to pass up .  
although in my opinion this is one of the lesser musicals of stars frank sinatra  gene kelly  kathryn grayson and director george sidney  a lesser musical featuring anyone from that line  up is nothing to sneeze at  and in conjunction  the line  up makes anchors aweigh a pretty good film despite its flaws .  br    br   sinatra and kelly are clarence doolittle and joseph brady  respectively  two navy men . as the film begins  they  re just pulling in to the los angeles area for some much needed leave . brady plans on visiting a girlfriend named lola . doolittle is still a bit wet behind the ears  appropriately enough  and seeks advice on women from brady in private  publicly  scriptwriter isobel lennart and sidney have all of the navy men comically exaggerating their finesse with women to each other  . brady promises to help get doolittle hooked up  but primarily because doolittle won  t leave him alone otherwise . a kink is put into their plans when local police basically force them to assist with a young boy who is obsessed with the navy . he won  t give the police any information about who he is or where he lives . brady helps and he and doolittle end up taking the boy back home . when the boy  s guardian  susan abbott  grayson   finally shows up  doolittle goes gaga for her . brady tries to convince him to forget about her brady just wants to get back to lola . but they keep getting coaxed back to abbott  s home  and eventually something of a love triangle forms . things become more complicated when brady lies about doolittle knowing a famous musician  jose iturbi  who is in residence at a film studio  and claims that doolittle has set up an audition for abbott  who is a singer and actress  in front of iturbi .  br    br   because of the story  the music is a strange combination of militaristic music   because of the navy premise  obviously  broadway pop   what the stars tend to sing in more informal settings  opera   what abbott  s character excels at  liberace  like popular classical   what iturbi did  and mexican music   because abbott frequents a mexican restaurant in a mexican section of l . a . the combination doesn  t work as well as it could . plenty of the songs are good  and everyone involved is certainly talented as a singer or musician  but the genre hopping tends to lose coherence . worse  there are a couple showcases for iturbi  who was apparently a big star at the time  that effectively bring the plot to a halt and that seem more than a bit hokey at this point in time . i just watched another film that happened to have outstanding music  robert altman  s kansas city        but that misguidedly stopped the plot to periodically turn into a concert film . anchors aweigh takes a similar tactic . yes  this is a musical  but there  s a difference between songs that propel and are integral to the plot and concert showcases that seem like contractual obligation material .  br    br   there are also some plot problems . it  s not very well established why brady is so against doolittle  s pursuit of abbott . we can guess that brady thinks doolittle shouldn  t become involved with someone who has to take care of a kid  and who seems relatively  proper  and traditional  but on the other hand  brady can tell that doolittle doesn  t have the same womanizing disposition that brady admits of himself . abbott seems like a good fit for doolittle  and furthermore  lennart works hard to establish that brady just wants to get doolittle out of his hair and get on with meeting lola   it seems that brady  s character should be quickly pawning doolittle off on any candidate  whether she  s a good fit or not . this might seem like a minor detail  but it  s actually the hinge for about a third to half of the plot . the story also seems a bit drawn out . length is a problem . anchors aweigh  clocking in at roughly two hours and twenty minutes  should have been cut down by at least a half  hour .  br    br   the above surely sounds like i  m complaining about the film too much to justify an  . i just wanted to stress what i see as flaws  because the conventional wisdom on anchors aweigh is much closer to the idea that it has no flaws .  br    br   sinatra  kelly and grayson are certainly charismatic  separately and together . they turn in good  interesting performances . sinatra looks and acts much younger than his actual age of      while shooting . he plays an unusually nave  virginal character   completely different than most of the roles he would take later  and different than his public image as a crooner . for kelly  this was his breakthrough film  and rightfully so . his choreography is varied and impressive  as is his acting . grayson is charming  her performance is sophisticatedly understated  and she  s simply gorgeous . all of this helps override the flaws with the script and the drawn out pacing .  br    br   and there  s even a very interesting element that probably only arises because sidney was allowed to sprawl over a large variety of moods   the infamous kelly dance with jerry the mouse  of  tom and jerry  fame  in an extended fantasy sequence . this is one of the earliest examples of combining live action and animation  and it is extremely well done and enjoyable as long as you  re a fan of fantasy . the fantasy sequences tend to be the best of the film . matched in excellence to the dance with jerry the mouse is a long song and dance number featuring kelly and grayson  where brady is imagining abbott in a scene from a period film while he woos her  having to resort to acrobatic stunts to reach her physically as she stands on a high balcony .  br    br   as uneven and flawed as the film is  it is largely successful and entertaining to watch . fans of classic musicals certainly shouldn  t miss anchors aweigh  and neither should sinatra fans  who  ll get quite a kick out of his character .  
dane tries to hard and is to extreme with all of his yelling and going crazy  spilling water on himself and rolling on the floor . to much . calm down  get yourself together and make us laugh . i didn  t quite understand his comparison toward comics and rock stars . just because there both up on stage or something  he said that every comedian wants to be a rock star . i  m sure rodney dangerfield was really into that when he was alive . he had a few good jokes like the burger king joke where people yell at the drive thru . i also liked the reese  s pieces joke . if dane just didn  t act so mental he might be funnier and i might have given this a higher rating  as high as maybe an eight .  
this film  like astaire  s royal wedding  which was shown after it on turner classic network last night  is famous for a single musical sequence that has gained a place in gene kelly  s record like fred astaire dancing with a clothing rack and later dancing around a room  s walls and ceiling  this film had gene kelly dancing in a cartoon sequence with jerry mouse . the sequence is nicely done . what is forgotten is that kelly is telling the story behind the cartoon sequence to dean stockwell and his fellow child students at school during a break in the day  and sets the stage for the sequence by having stockwell and the others shut their eyes and imagine a pastoral type of background . kelly even changes the navy blues he actually wears into a white  pomeranian  navy uniform with blue stripes on it . jerry mouse does more than dance with gene . he actually talks  a first that he did not repeat for many decades . he also finally puts tom cat into his proper place  tom briefly appears as king jerry  s butler  trying to cheer him with a platter of cheeses .  br    br   but the sequence of the cartoon with kelly took about seven minutes of the movie . far more of this peculiar film is taken up with kelly  s story of the lost four day furlough in hollywood  and how kelly ends up meeting katherine grayson and  with frank sinatra  stalking jose iturbi at the mgm film studio  the hollywood bowl  and iturbi  s own home . except that the two sailors mean no harm this film could have been quite disturbing .  br    br   kelly has saved sinatra  s life in the pacific  and is getting a medal as a result . they are both among the crewmen back in california who are getting a four day leave . but the script writers  to propel what would be a short film  kelly has plans to spend four days having sex with one  lola   an unseen good time girl in hollywood  saddle gene with frank .  br    br   it seems frank is one of those idiots that appear in film after film of the movie factories  particularly musical comedies  who are socially underdeveloped and in need of  instruction  about meeting girls  or guys if the characters are women  . frank insists that gene help  teach him  how to get a girl . just then a policeman takes them to headquarters to help the cops with a little boy  stockwell  who insists on joining the navy  and won  t give the cops his real name and address  . when a protesting kelly is able to get this information out of stockwell by asking him some straight questions  which the cops could not ask   they insist kelly take the boy home to his aunt  grayson  . still protesting  kelly gets saddled with increasingly complicated problems  mostly due to sinatra  s simplistic soul view of things  . he misses seeing lola the next day by sleeping late  sinatra felt he looked so peaceful sleeping he did not wake him up . he keeps getting dragged back to grayson  s house  as sinatra feels she is the right woman for himself  but needs kelly to train him in love making .  br    br   i suppose my presentation of the plot may annoy fans of anchors aweigh  but i find this kind of story irritating . while the singing and dancing and concert music of kelly  sinatra  grayson  and iturbi are first rate  it is annoying to have to take the idiocies of someone like sinatra  s character seriously . in the real world kelly would have beaten the hell out of him at the start for following him at the beginning of the four day furlough  what right has he to insist  as sinatra does  that someone who saves their life should assist him on learning how to date  that kind of crap always ruins the total affects of a musical for me  unless the musical numbers are so superior as to make me forget this type of nonsense .  br    br   the stalking of iturbi is likewise annoying . kelly tries to get grayson to like sinatra when he says sinatra can get her a meeting with jose iturbi to audition her singing ability . for much of the rest of the picture sinatra and kelly try to do that  and keep floundering  at one point  for no really good reason  grayson herself ruins kelly  s attempt to get an interview at mgm with iturbi  . it is only sheer luck  that iturbi feels sorry for an embarrassed grayson  that she does give him an audition of her talent .  br    br   kelly  by the way  ends up with grayson . sinatra  s conscience at not being able to help her see iturbi makes him ashamed of his bothering her  but not pulling kelly into it  oddly enough  and he meanwhile accidentally stumbles into meeting a waitress  pamela britton  from his native brooklyn . and naturally  without any assistance from kelly  sinatra and britton fall in love . ah   consistency   thy name is not  screenwriting  necessarily   
waste of my life  . . . . the director should be embarrassed . why people feel they need to make worthless movies will never make sense to me . when she died at the end  it made me laugh . i had to change the channel many times throughout the film because i was getting embarrassed watching such poor acting . hopefully the guy who played heath never gets work again . on top of that i hope the director never gets to make another film  and has his paycheck taken back for this crap .  .   out of     
the united states was still fighting world war ii  the movie was released in between ve day and vj day  . any studio worth its salt was either making fighting movies where fearless american soldiers beat the enemy  or americans in general were singing and dancing . technicolor musicals were what america thrived on in the depressing days when everything was rationed . most musicals of the day were simply a bunch of musical numbers strung together with the best available plot slipped in to fill time til the next musical number  i get the feeling now that the people reviewing this movie were all born after     . depressing how quickly we forget .  br    br   this film could  ve been called  the search for jose iturbi  but now everyone wonders why . allow me to explain . from       his arrival in america   until his death in      iturbi was one of the finest pianists to grace a concert stage . he agreed to do a few movies in      but hollywood had been after him for nearly a decade at that time . not only an excellent pianist  but a successful conductor as well  iturbi was very much a household word for more than   years .  br    br   the scene where iturbi and   other pianists play one of liszt  s rhapsodies was planned early on   and hasn  t anyone ever noticed the other pianists were all children  joe pasternak  who produced that movie  many other mgm musicals  credited iturbi with interesting america  s youth in classical music . grayson  s wanting an audition with iturbi in the movie was not unlike real life at the time . everyone wanted iturbi back then . the joke among soldiers was that  gi  meant  get iturbi   he did a lot of concerts at military bases  .  br    br   gene kelly was a great dancer and frank sinatra an excellent singer  but at the time this movie was made sinatra was barely   and had only been under contract to columbia records for four years . kelly was already well  known as a dancer  but iturbi had by then been a world  wide sensation for    years .  br    br   and as to the lack of a plot  americans didn  t need plot . they were tired of war  they were sick with fear for their loved ones  and worried about the future . they needed happiness and hope and the assurance that things would work out fine in the end . they needed music and smiles and joy and romance . this movie and others like it delivered just what was needed .  br    br   enough lecturing . mouse dancing aside  the best scene in the movie occurs between sinatra and iturbi with each of them  ignorantly  complimenting the other  s music .  br    br   if you have any interest in jose iturbi  the spaniard who conquered more of america than de soto  cortez  and de leon put together  please drop by my website  www . joseiturbi . com  where you can find a plot summary  excerpts from movie reviews  of the day  and pictures from this and certain other mgm musicals of the      s  as well as a biography and discography of iturbi .  br    br   trout  
awful  just awful  my old room mate used to watch this junk and it drove me crazy . the book is one of my favorites and its a shame that some people will never know what it is really like because their first impressions are from dribble like this . they changed so much it is hardly recognisable . which baffles me since the book reads like a soap opera anyway  providing enough fodder for modern day entertainment . it  s like one of those lifetime movies that say  based on a true story  but are completely fictional . there is none of the emotion or depth of the book  just mindless melodrama . if you are a high school student looking for a way to get out of reading  i suggest you try another version .  
joseph brady and clarence doolittle are two sailors  who have a four  day shore leave in hollywood . joe knows everything about girls and can  t wait to see lola  while clarence is shyer and needs some advice from his buddy on how to meet girls . they then run into a little boy  donald martin  who has ran away in order to join the navy . they take him home and meet his beautiful aunt susan  who wants to be a singer . clarence wants susie to be his girl  but his shyness gets in the way . but he doesn  t feel shy with a waitress  who comes from brooklyn  like he does . soon joe notices he  s in love with susie . the boys are in a fix when they lie to susie on meeting with a big time music producer they don  t even know . as they are in a fix with their feelings . george sidney  s anchors aweigh       is a great musical comedy . gene kelly is top  notch  once again  in his singing and dancing routines . frank sinatra is terrific as the shy guy from brooklyn . shy isn  t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of frank sinatra  but he plays his part well . kathryn grayson is fantastic as susan abbott . we sadly lost this gifted actress and operatic soprano singer last month at the age of   . the   year old dean stockwell does amazing job as the little fellow wanting to become a sailor . jose iturbi does great job performing himself . it  s magic what he does with the piano . edgar kennedy plays chief of police station . sara berner is the voice of jerry mouse . there  s a lot of great stuff in this movie and some fantastic singing and dancing numbers . just look at kelly and sinatra performing  we hate to leave  . it  s so energetic .  if you knew susie  like i know susie   is quite funny . it  s a nice moment when frank sings brahms  lullaby to little dean stockwell . it  s lovely to listen to grayson singing the tango  jealousy  . the most memorable sequence is the one that takes into the animated fantasy world  and there gene sings and dances with jerry mouse . also tom cat is seen there as the butler . they originally asked mickey mouse but he refused . the movie was nominated for five oscars but georgie stoll got one for original music score . anchors aweigh is some high class entertainment .  
i just saw this movie premiere on mtv . i must say this was extremely mediocre  at its best  . the dialogue doesn  t explain the story very well  and i was left feeling like there were a lot of plot holes . there isn  t one likable character in this adaptation due to poor acting . i just find that all of the characters are way too possessive when it comes to someone they love . also  cate and heath  s love seems very incestuous . they seem more like brother and sister rather than lovers . i don  t understand why the father would accept something like that under his roof .  br    br   i watched this movie because of a few actors that i respected and enjoyed to watch in previous films  but like i said  it  s extremely hard to like any of the characters . katherine heigl  s performance was horrid which was a complete shocker . she was terrible at being the bitchy older sister of edward  and there just wasn  t enough lines for aimee osbourne for me even to critique her performance . johnny whitworth did well and it was great seeing him in something recent and even though his character was a bit kooky  he was the only person i sympathized with . as for erika christensen and mike vogel  they were supposed to be our heroines  but came off as whiny and overdramatic .  br    br   i just didn  t enjoy this movie very much or the music in it . there was a brief appearance of the christian punk band  mxpx  but that small appearance would not convince me to watch this movie again . mtv did a tremendous job in convincing me this was a movie it was not . i just pictured something so completely different .  
this one has a lot going for it  sinatra  styne  cahn  pamela britten  and a lesser amount of dross  iturbi  grayson  plus a little ho hum  kelly . it was sinatra  s first real movie where the producer  s spent a buck and you could see it on screen  previously he  d appeared in two low  budgeters  higher and higher and step lively  but if they  d only relied on the sinatra pipes and deep sixed grayson  s plus iturbi  s ego  tripping piano spots we  d have been left with a much tighter movie and a better showcase for sinatra . as it is he scores heavily in all his songs from the two duets with kelly  we hate to leave  i begged her  to his own solos  what makes the sunset  the charm of you and i fall in love too easily . despite this step lively remains the best sinatra musical of the forties on one tenth the budget .  
what an empty and lack lustre rendition of the classic novel . i do wish people would stop messing about with classics when they clearly have no idea of the real intention or point of the original . this version is no different . i felt that the ralph fiennes version is much worse though as the casting of juliette brioche as kathy has got to be the worst casting decision ever . . . anyway back to this version . it aims to make the story relevant to a contemporary setting and in a musical style . it succeeds in both but high art it is nit . throwaway viewing for a rainy day maybe . . . the direction was average and the editing abysmal . worse than the old quincy . deepak verma does a great turn as hindley and is in fact one of britains wasted talents . the part of heath was played with great charm and belief and i think that the casting is the strongest point of this project . although a more talented director would have made better use of the facilities he had . its clear that he was a director for hire and didn  t instill the project with the passion that it deserved .  
overall this is a delightful  light  hearted  romantic  musical comedy . i suppose a small case could be made for the movie being to long . but i  m not sure what you would cut out . the singing that kelly and sinatra do  no . the fabulous dancing that kelly does  no . the time the movie takes to develop the story line and develop the relationships of the characters  no  that seems to be a common complaint many times that more recent movies don  t develop the characters  .  br    br   some comment that iturbi didn  t bring much to the movie but this gives us a chance to see and hear a great talent from the     s . so what if he wasn  t an actor  he was an important part of the movie as the basic plot was to get grayson an audition with him .  br    br   originally katherine grayson wanted to be an opera star . louis b . mayer brought her to mgm for a screen test that included an aria . during her audition in the movie there is a shot of the mgm brass nodding and smiling . you can just imagine it was like that when she had made her real screen test years before .  br    br   this movie is so full of life it is hard to hit all of the highlights . great use was made of color and lighting throughout the movie . you can see why frank sinatra became the star he did . a nice counter  point in the movie is how sinatra  a ladies man even then  played the role of wanting to just find a date while on leave . you  ll feel good after seeing this movie .      
i wasn  t expecting much of this film  a fun little diversion . wuthering heights could be turned into a plausible modern story  nice and soapy  melodramatic and intriguing . but this film decided to throw away the talents of the people involved in a simpering version so watered down from the source material that it  s amazing they had the guts to call it wuthering heights at all . it ignores the fact that it is a story of people who are in essence unlikeable  mostly unsympathetic  and frequently cruel to one another . it changes the very nature of certain characters  isabelle  for instance  in the novel  had not a conniving bone in her body  they  ve stripped her blind idealism and turned her into a scheming whore . heathcliff is an awful person who psychologically tortures most people in his path  but in this version catherine ends up leaving her daughter in his care . the dialog is trite and one wonders how the actors managed to deliver any of it with straight faces . in place of depth or actual emotions  we know they mean something when they scream it in someone  s face . i  ve read criticism of the early    s version   emily bronte  s wuthering heights  which featured ralph fiennes and juliette binoche  saying that it turned an intensely dark  gothic story into a sudsy bodice  ripper . slightly valid comments  but the mtv version goes a step further  using the basic story structure to deliver chipper beach bums cavorting to really bad music .  
since i first saw anchors aweigh in      viewing it on videotape holds a lot of nostalgia for me . at age    it was easy for me to be drawn into the first of the great mgm technicolor musicals . now i am perhaps most interested in thinking about the future careers of the leading players . though sinatra had done a couple of negligible films soon after his emergence after his dorsey days  as a solo singer  this was his first major film appearance . as another viewer noted  this seems almost to be a warm  up for on the town . sinatra may have had to work hard at it  but his dance with kelly is credible  and he would do better in their next pairings . however  observing his physique  it  s easy to see why he was caricatured as a string bean . who would have imagined that within a decade he would win an academy award for acting  and go on to play many roles as a tough detective or leader in combat . though gene kelly  s personality and dancing dominated this film  his winsome performance did not suggest that he would become a major creative force  almost the iconic figure  for mgm musicals  where he developed a style of dance complementary to that of fred astaire . finally  it was strange to see the fresh  faced dean stockwell and remember that he would later play a  thrill  killer in compulsion  based on the leopold  loeb murder from the     s . an additional note one reviewer praised the performance of betty garrett as sinatra  s love interest . she later played opposite him in on the town  but pamela britton was featured in this film .  
i  ll be honest  this is one of the worst movies ever . if not  then it  s very close . ever seen a bad teen soap opera . well this is like one of those . except worse . for example  possibly spoiler  girl i wanna go somewhere else .  br    br   guy all we need is here .  br    br   girl but i wanna take myself somewhere different .  br    br   guy i  ll take you somewhere else .  br    br   . . . proceeding this line they have sex . the music is bad pop and bad punk rock . if you  ve ever read the book  avoid this movie like the plague . they completely change the personalities of the characters and the events . additionally  they just get rid of things . also  the movie ends about before the book finishes . it is an awful movie . so  if you haven  t read the book  don  t watch it . if you have read the book  burn it  the movie  . if you like stupid teen soap operas that are lower quality than your average low quality teen soap opera  go for it . then again  should we expect anything different from mtv   
this is one of the best movies . it is one of my favorites . a movie with good acting . the story is very sensitive and touching . good camera work also .  br    br   the names of the actresses and actors are not at the top of the american star list . however  they give equal or better performances than the top of the list .  br    br   it is such a pleasure to see a movie about true love  romance  friendship without having to endure watching someone having to kick  box their way to save the world .  br    br   if you don  t like this movie then you have no heart or feelings . then go watch a sports movie . there is no killing or horror here . see the movie . it is a must . th  
well  what can you say about sitcoms . there often quite lame  morale dedicative  and just plain . so is this show  it got a boring cast  although a . bynes is okej in her perky way  the rest is just stereotypical crap . . . . as always . we have all seen it before  and will probably see it all over again when this show is cancelled . cause  lets face it  its a mediocre and self righteous show . as the most sitcoms are . . . .  br    br   well  in short . if you wanna see some good entertainment  you can rather take a twenty minute pause in front of the mirror . do some faces and move on . . . . its more entertaining than this show   
in the citadel film series book the films of gene kelly  anchors aweigh is described as a kingpin of a musical . i sure can  t do better than that . it  s such an important film in both the careers of gene kelly and frank sinatra . kathryn grayson didn  t do too badly with this either .  br    br   louis b . mayer had lent gene kelly out to columbia where harry cohn had an inspiration to let kelly choreograph his own numbers and because of it  cover girl became a classic . so if mayer didn  t learn a lesson  producer joe pasternak did and allowed kelly artistic control . when anchors aweigh was finished  fred astaire at last had a dancing rival for monarch of cinema dance .  br    br   the main number everyone talks about with gene kelly here is the dance with jerry mouse . originally kelly wanted to do the number with walt disney  s mickey mouse  but disney wasn  t lending mickey out to nobody . mickey would have to wait until who framed roger rabbit to do an outside film . not to worry because mgm had it  s own animated rodent one half the team of tom and jerry .  br    br   kelly as dancer always strived to do something new and different on screen as did fred astaire . for the next dozen years  these two were allowed all kinds of artistic control and were praised for their work even if the films themselves weren  t up to snuff . it was like each inspired the other to bigger and better creativity  kelly for mgm  astaire for mgm and any number of other studios . in anchors aweigh  kelly got sinatra to dance a bit . in fact frank sinatra always gave credit to gene kelly for showing him how musicals should be done as he gave credit to both burt lancaster and montgomery clift for their help in earning him is oscar for from here to eternity .  br    br   when frank sinatra had half of his contract bought from rko by mgm he insisted on a little artistic creativity on his own . he  d become friends with the songwriting team of jule styne and sammy cahn . in his autobiography sammy cahn tells about how sinatra insisted that they write his songs for this film . louis b . mayer gave in and the team wrote some really fine ballads for him to sing . one of my favorite sinatra numbers comes from anchors aweigh  i fall in love too easily . frank sings it accompanying himself on the piano at an empty hollywood bowl . it  s sinatra at his best .  br    br   with jule styne and later with jimmy van heusen  sammy cahn richly earned the title of having put more song lyrics in frank sinatra  s mouth than any other person . they were lifetime friends and cahn always credited sinatra with this milestone boost in his career .  br    br   on a bet styne and cahn said they could write a song just using a chromatic scale . they proved it in anchors aweigh when kathryn grayson put her soprano to work on all of a sudden my heart sings . she also did some classical numbers .  br    br   here singing in fact is the basis of the plot . two sailors on leave through a combination of circumstances meet up with kathryn grayson and her orphaned nephew dean stockwell . trying to fix her up with sinatra  kelly says he can get her an audition with jose iturbi . they spend the film trying to accomplish just that .  br    br   my only disappointment in anchors aweigh was that pamela britton  who plays the waitress  brooklyn  never got a number herself . she had gotten rave reviews from her performance as meg brockie in brigadoon on broadway and that  s what brought her to hollywood . i have a suspicion she had a number that was cut and somewhere in mgm  s vaults it might still be .  br    br   anchors aweigh is a great example of why musicals just aren  t made any more . all that creative talent was under contract to metro  goldwyn  mayer . if you had to pay market value for it  the cost might retire some third world country  s debt .  br    br   but the film results would be extraordinary .  
let me start off by saying that i didn  t watch this movie at first with high expectations . it was recommended to me by a friend with mediocre taste in movies  and  mtv  was pasted on the front cover so i was not expecting much . what i was expecting was a tear  jerker  overly dramatic but at least effective .  br    br   i was wrong .  br    br   firstly  let me start off that i had never read the book nor watched any other versions of the movie .  br    br   the acting was my main gripe with the film . by god is it awful . the main girl is pretty mediocre  but when compared to the rest of the cast she  s maryl streep . the main  hero   heath  is just plain awful . he can sing decent sounding clichd songs  but that  s about it . his acting broke the  sad  moments by being so bad at points that i just burst into laughter . the isabel girl was pretty godawful too  and the brother was just a flat character that was played by an actor that couldn  t display emotion whatsoever . and when he tried to  it failed miserably . neil patrick harris was the only decent actor  playing edward  although it  s obvious the direction was bad because even he did not live up to what i  ve seen him do . oh  and the father wasn  t half  bad to my memory  but he was in the movie for such a small amount of time i can hardly remember .  br    br   the story itself was not very good . more breakups than you can imagine . predictable story  until the ending  which i barely understood  . extremely one  sided characters with no real depth to them . . . overall just not interesting or compelling  nothing we  ve never seen before done much better  and nothing worth watching here .  br    br   the ending is suppose to be a tearjerker . it did nothing of the sort . the ending isn  t built up at all  it almost feels like an afterthought . in fact  i had to ask my friends why the ending actually happened  which when they explained it to me i must have had a look on my face of  wait  when did they say that  what   . never a good sign . the editing was probably the worst i  ve seen  though i do understand the fade  ins  fade  outs are done because this was originally made for tv  but that  s really no excuse .  br    br   overall  the movie is just garbage . i  m a sensitive guy  i cried during two episodes of the simpsons . i never cried during this crap  not even close . really  this movie is not worth your time . if you really want to see a tearjerker look elsewhere .  
the only reason i give this movie     stars  and not    is because   sinatra is awful and   the love interest of kelly  s character leaves much to be desired   imho  . do love that dean stockwell  quantum leap  al  is the little boy . the dance sequence with jerry mouse is one of the most entertaining and amazing dance sequences i have ever seen . tom and jerry is still a personal favorite of mine and my daughter  s . i  m   and she  s   so while the character is less iconic than mickey  he is still a favorite of many children and adults today . kelly is as always captivating  his eyes full of fun and excitement . in every movie i have ever seen him in  he always steals the show . one of the best dancers of the   th century . it is no wonder paula abdul  sampled  kelly  s moves . i would also list gene kelly as one of the most beautiful people of the   th century . if you were to watch only one part  don  t miss kelly  s dance with jerry mouse . you will not be disappointed .  
i was skeptical when i first saw the calvin kline  esque commercials  but thought i  d give it a chance . so i  ve watched it  and all i can say is bleh . this movie was so bad . it  s rare that i hate a movie this much . watching this flick reminded me of those funny scenes in altman  s  the player   when the writers pitch their bizarre ideas to producers . i  d like to know which mtv producer decided that an hour and a half long music video adaptation of bronte  but this time heathcliff  s name is heath and he  s a rock star  and hindley  s name is hendrix  would be a good idea .  br    br   even that might not have been so bad  had they not gotten every other aspect of the film so horrible wrong as well . the direction must have been  you  re lonely  pout for me .  i laughed out loud during all the  serious  scenes and was bored throughout the rest . the camera work was jagged and repeatedly reminded me that i was watching a bad movie trying to be edgy . my theory is that the sound guy got bored and went down to the beach for a few beers with his boom   all i could hear in half the scenes were the waves . and in the other scenes  i wish that  s all i could hear . and speaking of sound  what they did to the sisters of mercy song  more  is absolutely inexcusable  then again  it  s inexcusable what they did to bronte .  br    br   on the bright side  there was one entertaining scene   specifically the moment when johnny whitworth licked katherine heigl  s face   and if you can tell me what that scene had to do with all the rest of the story more power to you .  
anchors aweigh sees two eager young sailors  joe brady  gene kelly  and clarence doolittle  brooklyn  frank sinatra   get a special four  day shore leave . eager to get to the girls  particularly joe  s lola  neither joe nor brooklyn figure on the interruption of little navy  mad donald  dean stockwell  and his aunt susie  kathryn grayson  . unexperienced in the ways of females and courting  brooklyn quickly enlists joe to help him win aunt susie over . along the way  however  joe finds himself falling for the gal he thinks belongs to his best friend . how is brooklyn going to take this betrayal  and does joe end up with susie  who loves him too   br    br   the first and second times i saw anchors aweigh  i also saw it at the same time as i did on the town  the kelly  sinatra collaboration from     . both times i felt that anchors aweigh was the better film in terms of plotting and structure   all the dances and songs fit the moment in the plot  and they develop the characters and story rather than hamper them . yet  both times i came away feeling that on the town is the better film overall . having now seen both films a third time  i still stand by that judgement . somehow on the town  as a film and a piece of entertainment  is just lighter  gayer  purely and simply happier . the numbers are more outrageous and less integral to the plot  and yet somehow it works better than all the dances and singing in anchors aweigh . i  m not quite sure why this is . the typical argument is that the latter film is over  long at almost two and a half hours  this is certainly a valid criticism to make . i certainly felt the length the first two times i saw it  however  it  s also a film that grows on you   the more you see it  the shorter it feels and the more you appreciate the technical mastery involved in its making . and yet  something just doesn  t hang together quite right . it feels almost as if the script was pored over  and every single moment when kelly could break into dance or sinatra into song was noted  and that  s exactly what happened . no opportunity to shoehorn a musical number in was given up . . . and that  s probably the film  s biggest weakness . it has   numbers  give or take a few   and no matter how big a fan you are of kelly or sinatra  this really starts to turn one numb after a while .  contrast this  for example  with the ten numbers in on the town .  you might well feel that each song  each dance  can  t be taken out of the film without leaving it lacking . . . and that  s true . but that  s also because the writers weren  t more restrained in adding them in in the first place .  br    br   all this long preamble doesn  t mean there  s nothing good about anchors aweigh . the musical is splashy with great songs bursting out all over  like the duets between kelly and sinatra   we hate to leave    i begged her  and  if you knew susie    the singing of sinatra   what makes the sunset    the charm of you   and the best of all   i fall in love too easily    and without a doubt the always inventive  always breathtaking dancing of kelly . it  s also hard to miss with a cast of this calibre . grayson is sweet and seems to improve on each viewing  her voice becoming stunning rather than frightening   jose iturbi  s role is written sympathetically and he does a great job with it even clarence  s own brooklyn  pamela britton  is cute and charming . . . as close as one could get to betty garrett without being garrett herself  sinatra is adorable with those blue eyes and curls of his  and plays the innocent boy  man wonderfully  a role he reprises in on the town  . his singing is  as usual  simply faultless from enunciation through to timing and phrasing . his solo numbers might seem to drag a little  but when you  ve got the voice of a century  showcasing it is probably as good a reason as any to slow up the rest of the film   br    br   gene kelly  s sheer genius in this film is worthy of its own paragraph . third in the billing behind sinatra and grayson respectively  anchors aweigh really is kelly  s film . his joe brady is a believable  real character   he  s tough on the outside  glib and willing to lie when necessary to win a gal  but he  s actually the biggest softy on the inside . kelly makes this charming rather than cloying  but also gives joe a real edge that you see in the scene when joe chases brooklyn around the room with a genuinely murderous look on his face and his breakfast tray in his hands . and the dancing   again  the film suffers from the  too much of a good thing spoils the effect  syndrome  as it does with sinatra  s singing . but once again  if it  s gene kelly doing the softshoe  or tapping across the screen in a sailor  s outfit or dressed up as a bandit chief . . . might as well err on the side of overdoing it  all of kelly  s dances are breathtaking  be it the pared  down simplicity of his tap number with sinatra to  i begged her   his  mexican hat dance  with the sweet wide  eyed little girl  or his lavish spanish  influenced dance  la cumparsita  . of course  the classic image left in audiences  minds for all time would be kelly in his red  white and blue sailor suit  dancing with jerry mouse of  tom  jerry  fame . a well  deserved golden film memory  to be sure   it  s not often that one can say you  re impressed by the special effects in a film made in      given the saturation of cgi in the contemporary film market . but gene and jerry still look great  with kelly always hitting his spots and looking exactly where he needs to look . it would turn out that just about the only people who could really keep up with gene kelly would be kelly himself  in cover girl  and a cartoon animation .  br    br   it  s doubtless that this first daring  inventive kelly dance with jerry has reserved a place for anchors aweigh in film history and the hearts of classic film buffs . but it  s also notable for being the first of three kelly  sinatra film collaborations  and though rather too drawn  out  still a great couple of hours of entertainment . watch it first  then again and maybe again   it  ll grow on you before you realise it   .      
a perfect little atrocity . . . i doubt if a single shot lasted for more then the reglamentary  mtv  .  seconds . woeful casting  worse even than in kusminsky  s version  a reminder he managed to miscast juliet binoche and ralph feinnnes  . but  hey  the rich got what they deserved . dark and brooding heathcliff reduced to the state of a golden  locked angel  frail and angellic catherine presented as a chubby  melon  breasted heffer  meek and weak linton is a peeping tom  and innocent isabel becomes sara michelle  gellar  s character from cruel intentions .    year old eddie bauer and abercrombie and fitch donners  take notice . this thing was made for you . it is an hour  and  a  half long music video where everything is given to you you are saved from the uncomfortable necessity of not even trying to understand the complexity of the characters  but even from initial shock at their actions . the actors tried  but  as i stated before  they were miscasted . decent photography  but editing is on the level of tv production class in high school . i implore you all read the book  or the cliffnotes even watch the previous versions of it  even kusminsky  s but stay away from the numerous future reruns  during which you will not receive the benefit of the commercial  free premiere .  
everything a musical comedy should be . gene kelly  as joe brady  doesn  t miss a step  and frank sinatra  as clarence doolittle  doesn  t miss a note . scenes with them together are very good  showing how much talent can add to a somewhat uneven plot . sinatra  s  i fall in love too easily  is an indication of his then and future best . kelly  s  mexican hat dance  with a young mexican girl is delightful . kelly certainly earned his nomination as best actor . and there is a bushel of truly funny lines  like  you think the navy takes dopes     you think anybody sings a sailor to sleep    and   we got in a little trouble  we picked up a little kid .  a thoroughly enjoyable movie  just the thing for shaking off the dust of a recently concluded world war ii .  
i  ll admit that i liked the first one  and was really looking forward to the sequel .  br    br   i was let down . sure the special effects were technically amazing   but they weren  t believable looking . it looked more like a cartoon . alright  i admit to liking    of the chase scene   but the fight with all the mr smiths  it was too obviously animated .  br    br   i can accept all of that . what i can  t accept is that the non  action parts were crap . every time morpheus opened his mouth  i knew i was in for a speech that went on forever and signified nothing .  br    br   i was also disappointed with the little plot that did exist . what this movie did was tell us that there was no truth in the first movie  except about the existence of the matrix  . this movie was a little like seeing the episode of dallas where you find out that the entire previous season was a dream .  br    br   ugh  i want my   .   back   
released some months before the end of the war   anchors aweigh  is one of gene kelly  s major musical triumphs of the forties  br    br   under the direction of george sidney  it had the benefits of a pleasant score  andbest of allthe services of gene kelly in his first true starring role at mgm the year before  in columbia  s  cover girl   he had revealed an innovative approach to dance on the screen  a light but agreeable singing voice  and considerable charm in  anchors aweigh   although he was billed under frank sinatra and kathryn grayson  he was laying the solid groundwork for his most revealing years at mgm  br    br   the film  s story  a kind of dry run for  on the town  four years later  follows sailors kelly and sinatra on shore leave  spend their holiday in hollywood  where they become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer  grayson  and her little nephew  dean stockwell  .  br    br   grayson  it appears  has her heart set on an audition with conductor  pianist jose iturbi she gets the audition  of course kelly gets grayson after some misunderstandings and sinatra  has forgotten to be shy  and has lost his heart to a girl from brooklyn  pamela britton  .  br    br   the plot is conventional for the period but  regrettably  it now seems barely tolerable but there is gene kelly  who dominates the movie with his agreeable personality perhaps he grins too much  but when is permitted to dance  the film finally lifts off the ground  br    br    i begged her   his early song and dance with sinatra  is amusing and slightly absurd  in which he imagines himself as a bandit chieftain in a spanish courtyard  courting maiden grayson with a flamboyant flamenco dance and some athletic leaps he also does a charming mexican dance with little sharon mcmanus in the square of a mexican settlement in los angeles  br    br   the highlight of the movie  however  is kelly  s famous dance with the cartoon character jerry the mouse  of  tom and jerry  fame  . delightful and innovative  it skillfully combines live action and animation in its tale of a sad mouse king who refuses to allow music in his kingdom until kelly  a sailor in the  pomeranian navy   wearing a striped shirt and a beret  shows him how to dance  look at me  i  m dancin    says the gleeful mouse king . . .  
as soon as i began to see posters and hear talk about this movie  i was immediately excited . the matrix was an incredible to behold and i couldn  t wait to see the second one  especially after beginning to see the trailers for it at other movies . however  when i saw it  i left the theater extremely disappointed  as did many other movie  goers at the theater with me . while the action scenes in the movie were amazing as always  there simply were too few of them . in the first movie  there was constant fighting going on it seemed  but the second took a much more  and much unfortunate  preachy point of view . to sum up the plot  there wasn  t much to it that wasn  t expected . the machines were digging toward zion with intent of destroying it  that  s not a spoiler  everyone saw it in the commercials  . the dialogue of the movie was absolutely horrendous . unless you  re a psychology major  you most likely will not understand most of what is said in the movie  and because of that simply won  t care . it became somewhat of a romantic movie with the showing of events happening in the lives and relationship of neo and trinity . agent smith  for as bad  ass as he was in the first movie  seemed to get all religious and preachy . personally  i don  t need to hear about that or pay money to listen to it . the movie was a serious waste of my time  and i don  t think i can watch the first one anymore . the dialogue and the constant boring and dry monologues from basically every character made me lose interest in the film quickly  and the small amount of good fighting scenes pushed me nearer the edge  and the ending of the movie shoved me right off . what movie ends with  to be concluded   how original is that folks . i wonder if the wachowski brothers had to burn the midnight oil to come up with that one . in conclusion  the movie was bad and that  s the end of it .  
this is my favorite of the older tom  jerry cartoons from the early    s . the original version with mammy two shoes is on the tom  jerry spotlight collection  set  disc one  and showcases the wonderful detailed animation of the early cartoons . the gags on this one aren  t all madcap avery style  but more subtle and aimed at anyone who  s ever stayed up late watching scary movies  or radio programs   tom is listening to a creepy radio show  and jerry decides to play a number of tricks to spook him . the nine  lives gag is well done here  and i don  t know how many times i tried to make a vacuum and a sheet that scary when i was a kid . when tom  s owner is awakened by the ruckus  mammy was not the maid  it was her house  she gets one heck of a surprise  with a big laugh . get your pause button ready  it  s worth it   
it seems as if in science fiction you have this periodic throwback to perform an odd phenomenon that appears in long serial novels . it  s where the first novel  dune  ender  s game  blows you away with an actionpacked revolutionary story . the sequels however take that universe and lead you down the garden path to whatever new little social or political commentary the author wants to make . the matrix is finally the film equivalent . the matrix stands tall  alone  as an interesting film with an odd twist in the middle . seeing this cash cow just sitting there  and wanting to explore other aspects of society  the writers and directors then lead you through what has to be some of the most painful monologues and non  action sequences in scifi . while the visuals remain as stunning from the first movies  the new explorations of the characters falls terrible flat in the sequel . watch for eye candy  not for deep thought .  br    br    out of    as registered by this fine website .  
spoilers  br    br   tom and jerry is a classic cartoon  with a flawless idea  and almost every single short is a gem . while i must say that this is definitely an inferior short compared such other classic tom and jerry shorts  there is not way you can hate this cartoon . sure  it is understandable to say that this is one of the worst of the first tom and jerry episodes  and i can say that i agree  but the fact of the matter is that all tom and jerry episodes are great  but some are just better than others . well  this would fit into  others .   br    br   here is the plot of fraidy cat . tom is listening to an old scary radio broadcast  and becomes easily frightened . jerry observes how scared he is  and tries to scare him even more than he already is . he creates scary dilemmas for tom  and tom becomes scared out of his wits  and his lives . jerry then puts a sheet over a vacuum cleaner and controls it  thus making it look like the vacuum is a ghost . tom finds out that jerry did all of this  and chases him . tom then accidentally bites the house maid . however  at the end jerry ends up the one becoming scared after he sees his reflection in a flour cup .  br    br   overall  this is far from the best tom and jerry short out there  but this is still a fun and entertaining piece of time . it makes me wish that there was more cartoons like this . the slapstick and gags in this that make tom and jerry famous are as good as ever in this short  but it felt like something was missing in this . it felt slower than most tom and jerry shorts . anyway  this is a good short that does not quite live up to some other tom and jerry cartoons  but it is still nice .  br    br        
what the hell was all that about  i saw the matrix and was amazed . it was the most spectacular movie ever made . what ever possesed the wachowski brothers to do this film is beyond me .  br    br   there is no plot  you can  t argue with that . basically all this film was was a load of talking  and don  t get me wrong  i have no problem with talky films  but all the talking in the matrix reloaded was a pointless load of drivvle . then there would be a fight sequence which lasted way too long  then more pointless drivvle  then another fight scene that lasts too long and it all builds up to the biggest anti  climax ever . a little bearded bloke talking a load of uncomprehensible bull for   minutes .  br    br   also  keanu reeves gives his worst performance yet . i knew he wasn  t a good actor but this was beyond a joke . if you watch his films in the order he was in them it would seem he got gradually worse as they went along . god knows what his performance is like in something  s gotta give  keanu reeves the only plank of wood ever to become an actor .  br    br   after the splendor of the first film this came as a massive dissapointment . if you haven  t already seen the first film i suggest you watch it  but don  t waste your time with this utter pile of turd .  br    br    
  fraidy cat   the  th of these cartoons  is a good one . at least i like it  so i  m surprised that this is getting mixed reviews .  br    br   this one is more of a macabre story than a funny one  although it has its moments of comedy . the atmosphere is dark and spooky . suspense is another strong element here . as for humor  it  s mostly dark humor .  br    br   in this short  tom listens to a creepy radio show at night and is absolutely terrified because it is about ghosts  something he believes . while tom is scared to death  jerry is watching everything and can  t help but laugh the whole time . in fact  jerry quickly finds a way to torture him more and more . with the help of a white shirt and a vacuum cleaner he creates a big  ghost  .  br    br   tom lives the scariest experience of his whole life . although jerry scares tom without a good reason  the way the story is made ends up being funny . plus  once again  there is no violence here because this is one of tom  jerry  s oldest cartoons . however  i don  t get that joke of tom  s  lives nearly sucked into the vacuum cleaner .  br    br   when tom finally finds out that it was all a jerry  s scheme and that jerry made a fool out of him  jerry is caught with the hand in the cookie jar  he deserves to be discovered  . yet  tom shows an incredible patience before reacting . he angrily looks at jerry for about a minute . the funny thing is that jerry invites tom to laugh with him and takes about half a minute to realize that tom is looking at him with a very serious face . jerry tries to be funny  but tom doesn  t laugh .  br    br   overall  this is a different  peculiar and remarkable tom  jerry experience .  
as a fan of science  fiction movies  i have been aware of the matrix since its release in     . from the little bit i would allow people to tell me about it  i assumed it was highly original and sophisticated . i am also a devotee of alice in wonderland . i could never quite figure out how i missed the matrix when it was released . with the imminent release of the matrix reloaded  it was time to buy the dvd and watch it .  br    br   the disappointment was too great . the premise of the matrix  the controlling device as opposed to the movie  was clever . the philosophical premise of parallel worlds  alternate realities is shopworn . however  i could still have bought into the film  as science  fiction  if it stayed firmly in that genre . unfortunately  it turned into a standard   will they or won  t they escape  break through  rescue those in need of rescue  etc .  to make matters worse  it turned out to be another martial arts exercise . the problem is that science  fiction and martial arts films are really two different types . to the purest  the devotee of one or the other  mixing the two doesn  t work . it is like mixing science  fiction with romance . you can have one or the other  but not both in the same film  or  at least  not both to the same extent in the same movie .  br    br   if there were such problems with the matrix  the matrix reloaded really compounded the problems . at least thirty minutes of the film were either martial arts sequences or the protracted car  chase .  this observation ignores the question  made in every professional  negative review of the movie if neo could do the superman thing  why bother to fight at all  the answer  of course  is that  s what draws the young  male demographic group into the theatre .  then there is the  redemption through love  aspect . that plot device was worn out by richard wagner over a hundred years ago . it was actually handled better by him in die gotterdammerung .  br    br   so where does that leave those who saw the matrix reloaded . martial arts fans probably groaned through the trite  but arcane sci  fi philosophizing . science fictions fans were wondering why they were sitting through a kung  fun fest . most of the males in the audience where probably bored by the silly romance aspect of the film .  br    br   just what are you supposed to be getting for your bucks when you see the matrix franchise films science fiction  martial arts  or soap opera  a bit of each does not make for a whole lot more of any of them  nor for a satisfying film for the afficionados of each .  
here is a favorite tom  jerry cartoon perfect for halloween . i know it dosen  t have much creepiness  but has the  trick  as in  trick or treat   as jerry did to tom with the window blind and the vacuum  cleaner with a collared  shirt hanging on it to make it like a ghost but still like to put it on my list of halloween cartoons . in this short  tom was listening to the  witching hour   a ghost  story program on the radio  and being frightened by the horror story being told . halfway into the story  the dramatics  hair standing on end  heart leaping into throat  icy chills on spine  begin happening to tom . . . literally . and jerry has been observing the whole thing and laughing to himself  thought he highen tom fears by scaring him .  br    br   i love the ending  it was a little funny . and you know  this short is the first of four cartoons in which tom attacks mammy two shoes the others being the lonesome mouse  a mouse in the house and nit  witty kitty . and also this short is the first of twenty  five cartoons where tom speaks . the others are the lonesome mouse  the zoot cat  the million dollar cat  the bodyguard  mouse trouble  the mouse comes to dinner  quiet please   trap happy  solid serenade  mouse cleaning  texas tom  mucho mouse  and the cat above and the mouse below directed by chuck jones .  
i felt asleep  watching it     and i had tickets for the midnight  premiere  any questions  the most disturbing scene  as far as i can remember  was the techno  dance  i  dont  know  what  that  was  scene . by the way what an ending    
this film is not about a cat and mouse fight as stated in the other comment . its about a cat that has used up  of its  lives and now lives in fear of loosing its last one . the cat is jumpy and scared to death all of the time  hence the name  fraidy cat  . fraidy cat  s previous lives haunt him as ghosts which are from different era  s in time and are constantly trying to kill him off  but he is most fearful of the ninth life which is represented as a cloud in the shape of a number  and spits out lighting bolts . very old now but would still be fun for the kids if you got hold of a copy .  br    br   i watched this movie almost every day as a child o   
the matrix  was an exciting summer blockbuster that was visually fantastic but also curiously thought provoking in its twilight zone   ish manner . the general rule applies here  and this sequel doesn  t match up to its predecessor . worse than that  it doesn  t even compare with it .  br    br   reloaded  explodes onto the screen in the most un  professional fashion . in the opening few seconds the first impression is a generally good one as trinity is shot in a dream . immediately after that  the film nose  dives . after a disastrous first   minutes  it gradually gains momentum when they enter the matrix and the agent smith battle takes place . but it loses itself all speed when it reaches the    minute car chase sequence and gets even worse at the big groan  worthy twist at the end . worst of all is the overlong zion rave  scene . not only does it have absolutely nothing to do with the plot  but it  s also a pathetic excuse for porn and depressive dance music .  br    br   the bullet  time aspect of the matrix  was a good addition  but in   reloaded  they overuse to make it seem boring . in the first one there were interesting plot turns  but here it is too linear to be remotely interesting . the movie is basically  just a series of stylish diversions that prevent us from realising just how empty it really is . it works on the incorrect principle that bigger is better . it appears that the matrix  franchise has quickly descended into the special effects drenched misfire that other franchises such as the star wars  saga have .  br    br   the acting standard is poor for the most part . the best character of course goes to hugo weaving  s agent smith   the only one to be slightly interesting . keanu reeves is the definitive neo  but in all the special effects  there is little room to make much of an impact . academy award nominee laurence fishburne is reduced to a monotonous mentor with poor dialogue . carrie ann moss  part as the action chick could have been done much better by any other actress .  br    br   a poor  thrown  together movie  the matrix reloaded  is a disappointment . those who didn  t like the first one are unlikely to flock to it . this one  s for die  hard fans only . even in the movie  s own sub  genre of special effect bonanzas  minority report  the matrix etc .  this is still rather poor . my imdb rating  .     .  
i think this movie is absolutely beautiful . and i  m not referring only to the breathtaking scenery . it  s about two unhappy english housewives who decide to rent an italian castle to take a break from their not so happy home lives . in the end four women total rent the place together  all with different personalities and different reasons for being there . in this magically beautiful place they all find the peace they  re longing for and interestingly that peace comes from inward reflections and resolutions  more so than without . i also find it wonderful because of the relationships that are developed out kindness and understanding . the acting is a joy to watch in itself . i especially love the characters of lottie  josie lawrence  and lady caroline  polly walker  .  
what i hate about this show is how poorly the leads are written . these women have no self  respect or dignity . the entire plot is them throwing themselves at guys . amanda bynes  talent is completely wasted . she was brilliant on  all that  and her own show . why they would write her and jenny garth as vapid  airhead  desperate  men chasing   old  maid  wannabes is beyond me .  br    br   their plots and dialog remind me of  the simpons   homer says whenever his cartoon character poochie is not on screen   everyone should ask  where  s poochie   . all the talk centers on whining about some guy  and then whining to some guy . sometimes they change it up and the guy whines instead . then they get back together or break up at the end . the  women are either shallow  stupid  or sex addicts . the only word i can think of is  sucks  .  
superb movie . very good photography of        bolton  which seems now to be a different world . thoughtful and an excellent dramatisation and production . james mason a real first class star . it is and i would agree with the above comment that this movie is a national treasure .  
man would expect that a movie shot with an approx . budget of            ud should at least entertain you for the time you are spending in the cinema actally watching it .  matrix reloaded  proves this assumption wrong .  br    br    the matrix  worked out better  despite having apparent holes concerning logic of the story . at least nobody could explain to me why beating up a bot  aka agent  inside a simulation  aka martix  would harm the responsible computer program in any way . . .  br    br   unfortunately  the wachowski brothers made excactly this  agent  bashing  the main thing in  matrix reloaded   it  s a beat  em up o  rama . this fighting scenes may be work out sufficient  or even cool  in a  sec . trailer  but prolonged for several minutes  apparently being faked  choreographed poorly and repeated over and over again it is nothing more than boring . despite seeing the promised spectecular stunts there is nothing more than simple low  quality  unimaginative bashing already seen  or better not  in eg . van damme  movies  . the difference of post  production  etherything is  times faster  the camera floats around a lot and freezes on certain scenes  and this is repeated for at least  min  doesn  t help here  all this has nothing to do with the very meaning of  martial arts  . beside these  fights   all actors do refuse to do what they are payed for acting .  br    br   what  s up besides the fighting scenes  few except hollywood routine . this oh  so  multicultural bunch of hippies which sucked in  waterworld  are recycled as citizen of  zion   mans last city on earth   and on the order of morpheus they start dancing   cause this is a good opportunity to show a lot of barely covered tits and butts . the oh  so  popular cliche of the frog aka frenchmen talking with this  je ne sais quoi  dumb accent  who wastes his fortune because of a  liason d  amour  is bravely served . following this  and unwanted funny  is the fight between neo and the sinister followers of  the frog   since it takes place in an erroy flynn like enterieur  luckily featuring a lot of mideaval weapons for decoration . for neo posing with the hellebarde  just add  stairs and a lot of statues  for being destructed  thrown over evil guys and the like  and you get  more senseless  boring min . of this junk .  br    br   whats left to expect  the usual merchandising hell . and  revolutions  which will happen or not  certainly without me .  
i love this film  spring and port wine  . i was born in leigh  a town about  miles away from bolton  i moved to bolton in     when i was   . my place of work was daily via little lever through farnworth  sometimes on a bike but then by car when i could afford it . the film brings back all the memories of the working class neighbors who were almost always broke but who would always help you if they could . fred dibnah was round the corner from bromwich st . were my bedsit was . if you didn  t see the film when first released then you may be forgiven for comparing it to a soap such as coronation st  well i agree it is a soap  but then  it was called  kitchen sink drama   watch this film for the talented cast who shortly afterwards became household names from frequent roles on tv  i watch mainly for the shots of the locality and the feel good factor of people being poor but happy   
     and that  s only because i don  t go lower with my ratings .  br    br   skip this  movie  and wait for the last movie of the  trilogy   don  t buy or rent it . trust me you won  t be missing a thing . the architect brings no new info   spoiler   there have been more neo  s before him  he  s like nr .  or something . you could already figure something like that out from the first movie agent smith telling us the first matrix created didn  t work because it was too perfect . trinity died and neo  s  love  brought her back  where have i seen this before  oh right in the first movie the roles where reversed  same as the action  scenes nothing new just with more opponents . the action  scene  the    ships  in the big battle which we didn  t see  maybe in revolutions    betrayed by someone  hmmmm  maybe the guy holding the knife who wanted to stab neo    who pushed the egm  button to soon .  br    br   all in all a shameless ploy to make money  especially off the guys who went to see it more then once   which evidently worked like a charm .  
but i want to say i cannot agree more with moira .  br    br   what a wonderful film .  br    br   i was thinking about it just this morning  wanting to give advice to some dopey sod who  d lost money on his debit card through fraud  and wanted to say  keep thy money in thine pocket  and realised i was talking like james mason .  br    br   even tho he didn  t say those words  i still think he would  i  ve never forgotten  are ye carrying   in his reconciliation with his son  hywel bennet  always have money in thine pocket   good advice .  br    br   not enough kids have fathers with such unforgiving but well  meant attitudes any more . or any father at all .  br    br   it would be a good thing for us to reinstate  thee    thy  and  thine  in our language to show we care . it is only the same as  tutoyer  in french or  du  in german .  br    br   addendum i just realised that a lot of my remarks were about james mason in the family way   br    br   i think it  s because i mixed up susan george with hayley mills . well  easy mistake .  br    br   i stand by the comments tho  .  br    br   and spring and port wine is so very similar to the family way .  br    br   when you took a girlfriend to the pictures in those days  you really had something to say and talk about afterwards  something that affected your knowledge of the world and your personal development .  br    br   theatrical experiences are almost real  and they are important in helping young people to grow up .  br    br   it doesn  t happen now  i think  that teenagers can just go to the pics like we did .  
the first matrix movie was lush with incredible character development  witty dialog  and action scenes that kept with the flow of the story . these elements   coupled by incredible special effects of the day   presented a magical ride that kept you in suspense the entire time . enter matrix reloaded  and its sequel  revolutions  . the problem here isn  t the special effects or the fight sequences as some may argue the brothers have taken well  developed characters from the first film and hollowed them out like rotten tree logs .  the connection that was first established between viewers and on  screen characters in the first film is lost when you realize these are not the same characters from the first matrix movie .  br    br   to wit  morpheus was developed as a charismatic  philosophical character with insight far exceeding anyone else in the movie  but here in reloaded   we  re presented by a different morpheus who stands hard and hollow  reduced to corny one  liners that contradict the character we saw develop in the first film . this character just didn  t feel the same  and this could also be said about the supporting characters in the movie .  br    br   the removal of  tank  was also a disappointment . tank  s involvement in the first film was minimal at best  but he played the role extremely well . in reloaded  we discover that tank dies after the events in the first film  and he is replaced by a jar jar binks stunt double that couldn  t act to save his live  think stale box of kellogg  s corn flakes  . his performance left me chuckling throughout  and most of his spoken dialog lacked timing . there was an overwhelming sense that he was either trying too hard to convey his emotions on  screen or the delivery in the script was off in either case  the experience was humorous  at times i felt embarrassed for the actor . . . .  br    br   even neo  s godly persona was suspect during most of the fighting sequences . the alleyway battle with the    agent smith clones was certainly exaggerated . one must wonder  for a man so gifted as neo   that he would even waste his time engaging in such a fruitless  frivolous battle when more pressing matters attend  especially when you consider his ability to fly or his ungodly ability to bend the matrix certainly neo could have dispatched the clones much quicker  and more efficiently  . again  such acts lend themselves to a script hindered by consistency  and scenes created as filler to keep us from feeling gypped . in jest  our expectations of the characters created in the first film are discarded promptly . sadly  for those expecting more of the same   you will certainly walk away feeling gravely disappointed .  br    br   however  if you take reloaded as your standard  run  of  the  mill action movie  and forget the incredible story inconsistencies and the untwining of already  established character development from the first film  you should walk away feeling quite pleased .  
this is an excellent film about a traditional working class family in northern england . filmed on location in bolton  it stars james mason as the father who is the dominant force within his home . or so it seems . cleverly  the film  based on the play  portrays the complexities of family life . the supporting cast is terrific as well  with many familiar faces lending support .  
i tried to remove anything that might be considered a spoiler . i also assume that you  ve seen the first movie or at least know the general gist  so if you haven  t some of this might not make sense .  br    br   plot this movie beats the audience over the head with tired philosophical ramblings again and again in an attempt to get the theme across . we are bombarded again and again by questions of purpose  and destiny  and choice  and forced to endure the long  torturous platitude sessions that contain them .  br    br   neo  awakened from a dream in the last movie  now begins a period of realization about his own existence . there are a lot of revelations in this movie  which i  ll be vague about so they won  t seem like spoilers .  br    br   if you  re still worried vague references will spoil the movie  don  t read the paragraph below .   br    br   the strength and weakness of faith is revealed . the strengths and weaknesses of love  and its temporary nature  are also revealed . the interdependence of humans and technology  and our faith in technology  are also revealed . the importance of choice and experience is revealed . explaining further things that are revealed would go into too much detail  so i will refrain  as the guidelines for writing a commentary asks  . btw  by  revealed  i mean pounded through our ears and eyes like nails .  br    br   storyline so how does neo and the gang get from the end of the last movie to the beginning of the next one  in short  they keep the faith  and use and abuse overly  stylized action and bullet  time like it  s going out of style  and after this display  i  m hoping movie  goers and makers alike learn to appreciate subtlety and originality a bit more  . more on that later . to not spoil anything  i will say no more than the promo material already did neo is still trying to figure out the matrix  and he is looking for answers while trying to save the humans  and zion  all while baddies are going after him and his cohorts . the movie pretty much picks up where the last one left off .  br    br   action while martial arts action and gunplay peppered its predecessor in somewhat equal parts  this movie focuses much more on martial arts than gunplay  adding swords  sais  etc . to the mix . special effects are so often used and waved in the audience  s face that it becomes really tiresome . i  ve discussed this movie with friends and coworkers alike  and nearly all of them found some of the action sequences   especially the  smith fight  we all heard would be in the movie   to be too long and tedious . this is a huge red flag for action fans  because the end of an action sequence should either leave you wanting a slight bit more  or completely content with the awesomeness that just occured .  br    br   these fights scenes do neither . they are over  stylized  over  the  top sequences that are wooden and uninspired . in the first movie  there was a real sense of desperation to some of the action  a sense that fighting was for survival  not just looking good  which i honestly don  t think they manage in reloaded anyway  in black and leather . go watch drunken master or iron monkey after this movie to remind yourself of what good fighting sequences are   you won  t regret it . in addition  the  matrix abilities  people have in reloaded is not consistent  and what they actually do is not consistent . the first movie had its inconsistencies here  but they weren  t too glaring   unlike reloaded .  br    br   special effects are poured on and on and on . every little thing someone does  be it just jump  somersault  spin  and in many cases just pose  are  br    br   slow  moed  bullet  timed  or over  accentuated by some sort of destruction . it  s evident the w bros had a ton of money to throw at this movie  and boy did they throw it  with no real restraint . sharp editors could have really helped this  but the first movie was such a hit that free reign was obviously given  which brings us to . . .  br    br   character and dialogue i have already more or less said the dialogue was tired and full of philosophical platitudes . actors can  t really bring a lot of depth to their character when the script and direction is shoving character progression audience  s face  or neglecting it altogether . the audience is at no time given nuance and substance so they can contemplate the character on their own .  br    br   keanu  s acting performance is stiff at best . keanu is good at acting confused  and that  s about all he does in this film . he makes a decent attempt to show passion between neo and trinity  but it falls flat .  br    br   lawrence tries to make morpheus everything from moses to henry v  and be as cool as a cat throughout . with the script he is provided  he makes a noble attempt  but it also falls flat .  br    br   moss isn  t very believable either . her look of concern is always the same  much like keanu  s  and the chemistry isn  t there  although in their very physical scenes they fake it well enough .  br    br   hugo once again brought his weird sense of being an agent program  but he too suffered from the script  s hand . i actually find him to be the most interesting character of the bunch  but instead of development they just make him an excuse for a huge  drawn out fight scene .  br    br   all in all  this movie is beyond disappointing if you had good expectations  and on its own  as a stand  alone movie  which is not how it  s supposed to be taken   it  s still horrible . i don  t see the matrix as deep  but i at least see it as an enjoyable scifi romp that has some interesting ideas  good action  a few funny lines  and enough restrained symbolism and elusions to amuse the attentive . reloaded fails on all these counts  and i really hope the w bros will give us a better experience in the  rd installment . granted  i don  t have a lot of hope left for that after this film .  
as an native of bolton  this film has obvious appeal for me . the location shots are fascinating and show a bolton very much in transition  there are a number of scenes of apparent dereliction but this serves to show the town being rebuilt  and the idea that the old must make way for the new is right at the heart of this film . a slightly miscast james mason leads an enjoyable ensemble in a story about a fuss over a herring that spirals into a full  blown generational conflict  then a pleasingly schmaltzy resolution . though i  m a bit too young to remember it fully  the minutiae of lancashire life in the   s is all here cashing up on a friday  songs round the piano  the sunday constitutional  good neighbourliness  the trepidations of courtship  the massive importance of self  respect  and i was pleased to see naughton  s funniest lines from the play left intact . there is no doubt that this film ought to be made available on dvd  it is well crafted and most performances are well realised .  
spoilers spoilers continued . . .  br    br   from here on in the whole movie collapses in on itself . first we meet a rogue program with the indication we  re gonna get ghosts and vampires and werewolves and the like . we get a guy with a retarded accent talking endless garbage  two  ghosts  that serve no real purpose and have no character what  so  ever and a bunch of henchmen . someone  s told me they  re vampires  straight out of blade    but they  re so undefined i didn  t realise .  br    br   the funny accented guy with a ridiculous name suffers the same problem as the oracle  only for far longer and far far worse . he has a simple point about cause and effect  makes it  then continues to make it and make it until it becomes convoluted and stupid . his final line before walking off is comparable to storm  s  do you know what happens to a toad . . .  line in x  men in levels of utter bland baddness . the chocolate cake is such a lazy  pathetic cliche and monica bellucci as the wife does nothing other than exactly what we expect the moment we see her .  br    br   and then we get another kung fu fight    why  neo is  allegedly  the one . he can do anything . he has the ultimate power and what does he use it for . kung bloody fu all the time . and while he can stop     bullets  he still gets cut by a sword and still makes a meal of  undecipherable henchmen  vampires   . i wanted to see mind blowing powers . i wanted to see him do the wildest  craziest most insane s to people because he can do anything . i got the same as before without the  wow  .  br    br   the fabled car chase . that can  t be bad . well . . . no  it  s not . it  s just not what we  ve been tyold it was going to be . all the cool shots from this scene are in the trailer . every one . so all possibly wow has been taken from us so all we now get is a good chase sequence with  guess what  a kung fu fight    ok  it  s not neo  but you  d have thought he  d have explained to his closest friends about the reality of the matrix . at least taught them something . it  s not hard .  br    br    hey  morpheus  don  t worry about what happens to you in the matrix . it  s not real . as long as you understand that nothing  s real then nothing can really harm you .   br    br   there you go . simple .  br    br   ok  so the chase is not bad . it  s never boring and it doesn  t seem like   minutes . it  s just so underwhelming . and still  it gets worse .  br    br   the final climax to the movie is quite probably the worst imaginable . they have this whole elaborate plan that involves three crews . they then only show it sporadically between morpheus  s over long  super preachy  monologue . to make it worse  they never clearly define what this plan that needs  teams is . you know basically  but you don  t know who  s doing what  when  so when one crew goes down you just don  t care and you don  t know how this is going to affect what goes on .  br    br   i  ll sum it up though  it happens so trinity can get back into the matrix to setup the end . that  s the only reason it happens . which raises the question  why did they need to send  people originally  trinity gets in in five minutes by herself   br    br   neo  s journey to the centre of the matrix  so to speak  is handled equally lazily . ooohhh    he runs into another    agent smiths    woooooo    that must  ve taken a lot of thought . only now they  re in a corridor so the fight has no scale and is over in a moment . man  what a grand finale     br    br   and then the architect     br    br   remember everything i said was bad about the oracle and the foreign guy  add them together and double it  that  s how truly appalling the architect is . the only reasonable potential of him is he  s about to set up the cliffhanging climax .  br    br   and then he blows it   br    br   let  s look at the options he gives neo . choose one door and all humanity dies  except       . choose the other and all humanity dies    considering choice is something this film tries to explore it doesn  t really give it  s hero one . if he had a choice of save humanity and the missus dies or save the missus and kill humanity there  s the potnetial for inner torment and tension . also  with trinity being mid fall  the potential of a real cliffhanger that would  ve made seeing the third more essential . but no . he has save no  one or save the missus .  br    br   now  the very worst thing about the original matrix was neo dying and then coming back to life right at the end . the year it came out everyone was so annoyed by how stupid jar jar was they didn  t notice that the very end of the matrix made him look him steven hawking .  the oracle told me i  d fall in love with the one  and i love you  . . . . come on     how can the whole world have missed how utterly terrible that was   br    br   so  what do the wachowski  s do in the sequel  well  they make the ending of the original look better . how  well  by doing almost exactly the same thing again  only swapping characters  only so much worse i think my f a and r keys would be worn out if i kept writing far before i got to worse .  br    br   and the cliffhanger is just not really a cliffhanger . it  s a reminder .  br    br   basically  this film is just bad . i really didn  t want it to be bad  but it is . bad in just so many ways . and to make matters worse  this isn  t a film with not enough budget . it  s not a film with too short a schedule . it  s not a film that  s been rushed out . it  s not a film where too much influence has come from the outside . this is exactly the film the wachowski  s set out to make with warner  s fortune fully behind them . and that  s what makes this so awful . at least rancid aluminium can say that it didn  t haev enough time or money .  br    br   matrix reloaded . the worst film ever made  maybe not quite . the most disappointing and defalting film ever made .  br    br   undeniably .  br    br    
outside the household is a different world and the family struggle to tread the line between dads authority and their hopes and dreams .  br    br   the period is captured the bakelite light swithes  the georgian floorpan  the picture rails  the wall paper  the short skirts  the cheeky lads  the mini van  shiny modern mangles . . . .  br    br   the location is captured a wind lashed glacier hewn rocky landscape  walls of local stone  community  freedom .  br    br   but there is much much more childhood  happiness  sensuality  pride  values  freedom  authority  rebellion  violence  in the deepest sense   love  struggle  puberty  naivety  morality  trust  faith  deceit  machismo  manners  maturity  loss  poverty  sacrifice  horror  acceptence  revelation  comedy and parenthood are all there .  and in no particular order   .  br    br   this film is a richly woven expression of family tensions that are as relevent today as ever . the fact that some of these aren  t tackled directly is testament in itself to the attitudes of the day but the fact that they are all here is a testament to the acting skill  the story and the direction .  br    br   if there  s anything bad about this film  it  s that all this deeply entrenched and wonderfully enacted tension is swept away a little too lightly towards the end . maybe i missunderstand  the doom and gloom felt by many teenagers really does disappear if they deal with it     maybe the film is trying to send even that message too  well worth doing .  br    br   what is the film trying to say  kids parents were young too  parents struggle too  everyone makes mistakes  everyone learns  things change  struggle can end happily . parents don  t try too hard  try to remember that your support is the key to their well being .  br    br   it sounds simplistic doesn  t it  sometimes the film feels like that too but it  s then that you notice how much is being being challenged and uncovered .  br    br   the film is a classic .  br    br       not the problems themsleves .  
spoilers of both this and the matrix follow .  br    br   i liked the original matrix a great deal . it was not a deep movie  despite fishburne  s attempts to philosophize  but it was fairly well paced  fun  and i have a soft spot for hong kong fights .  br    br   in the original  neo was the secret life of the rather unhappy cube worker anderson . by day  corporate drone  and by night  brave hacker . eventually  he eventually is forced to choose between these lives by his actions  does he become an outlaw fighting the machine  or does he go back to the safe  forgettable world he started in . interestingly  he discovers that once one is shorn of illusions  life rather sucks . he has his girl by his side and his boon companions  but he eats processed swill  dresses in sweats  and lives in a truly skungy bit of machinery . still  the truth makes him free .  br    br   at least part of the fun of that first movie lay in the  what if it were me  questions raised in the viewer  s mind . what if  i  were capable of the impossible  what if i were  the one  . it does not even matter that much what you are the one example of  with a cool title like that .  br    br   further  agent smith made a wonderful bad guy  as he embodied all of the fear of authority that we carry with us . he was as unstoppable as a terminator  and as merciless .  br    br   at the end of the matrix  neo must return to the matrix to share his good news of freedom .  br    br   this movie fails to completely to carry through on the ideas of the original movie  and it does so with such lack of gusto  such poor scriptwriting and such poor editing that i cannot believe they had planned these changes . when the dialog is at a fifth grade level  with various long words dropped in randomly  i find it hard to believe that they understand what they are saying .  br    br   my short list of characterization failures  br    br   the oracle goes from mildly helpful  if deceitful to utterly obstructionist without any real reason .  br    br   major  personalities  of the matrix are introduced without need  the keymaster  for example  was a cute idea  but just not that interesting a character .  br    br   fishburne loses his  advisor  role  and gets nothing to replace it with .  br    br   the people of zion are not particularly likable  nor would you really  want  them running the world .  br    br   special effects problems  br    br   the fight scenes are pointless and intermitable . in the matrix  you felt neo could lose  and that he had to become something greater in order to survive . in the matrix reloaded  he is merely the viewpoint character of a particularly poorly plotted video game .  br    br   the fight on the freeway looked quite fake  and not that interesting .  br    br   pacing problems .  br    br   as i mentioned above  the fight scenes were interminable .  br    br   the rave went on too long  everyone in my row at the theater was looking at their watch . not because we mind good dancing and good orgies  but because we did not know about the people pictured  nor did we care .  br    br   whatever hack wrote the creator  s soliloquy should be blacklisted from the business . it meandered  used words that the scriptwriter clearly did not understand  and was a waste of time and a pacing killer . the creator  s speech could have been done in a tenth the time  and with more peril as  zion exists to give rebels a place to go so they do not destroy the matrix . there are now too many people who do not believe the matrix is in danger of crashing and killing every person hooked up to it . further  the earth cannot support even the people in zion  let alone these others . you may choose one person from zion to form the new zion  while i wipe the memories of the people currently in the matrix .   br    br   instead  we got a long  drawn out bunch of twaddle . if someone argues that it is deep  ask for a transcript  and try breaking down the sentences . each one is too long by several clauses  and uses words with clearer  shorter synonyms .  br    br   so  in summary  not worth seeing .  br    br   i have seen the third one  and despite what a number of reviewers have said  skip it . it does not save this turkey .  br    br   the reviewers who feel that the second and third movies were  deep  should go see some truly deep movies . perhaps read a book or two on rhetoric and debate  and perhaps a bit of philosophy . this movie is just not hard to understand  but it is hard to stomach .  br    br   scott  
to put it simply  i enjoyed this film . the reason for my interest  enjoyment was not related to anything other than the subject matter itself . i had heard tales from my mother and grandmother about how northern england working class life and attitudes used to be  as experienced by them  and this is an interesting depiction that seems to faithfully represent what they told me . in particular  the paternalistic but overbearing father who  knows  what is best for his family along with his stubborness when this paradigm is challenged .  not much has changed there then     br    br   people who have seen the play will probably be disappointed with the film because the story does not easily transfer across the different media . in a sense however  the film is an historical document and i personally enjoyed it  if only because of the way it conveyed a social phenomenon .  
this movie is a cringe  fest of bad acting and poor set design as well as tacky lines and a lame plot . but it is so much fun to watch . everything about it is hilarious . the basic plot is a group of scientists from the future travel back in time to capture their evil co  worker who is intent on destroying them all . they catch up with him in the year     . the  futuristic  lab of the scientists from the year     is an eighties  style room with a bunch of  futuristic  flashing buttons and a time capsule that looks like a lawn shed . the actors deliver their lines with unenthusiastic aplomb  which isn  t hard to understand considering that the lines are usually earth  shakers like  i double  checked everything twice   he double checked everything twice  he checked it four times  not only that  but they feed you the entire premise of the movie in the first five minutes  and continue at a rapid fire pace until they hit the medieval part . when roger corman ran out of money . and had to stop travelling through time and consequently different sets . the medieval set is a comic mish  mash of anything from the late   th century to the   th century . any costume they could find  they used . i guess chain mail wasn  t on the budget   cause the guys all wear sequined shirts masquerading as armor . the fight scenes are laughable  with men casually throwing themselves onto cardboard swords with abandon and dying in death throws with nary a blow cast . it sounds truly awful  but i enjoy it every time i watch it . the lines alone are enough to have you in fits and everything else pulls together to create a fabulous b  movie that  if you are a connoisseur of corny flicks  i would suggest you see . and once you have  read the review on unknown movies . i love hearing them point out all the funny  truly awful bits in the movie .  
i saw only the first part of this series when it debuted back in the late    s and only recently got a chance to watch all three parts via netflix  convenient service by the way  . all in all  i liked this lighthearted  sometimes genre challenged  mini series . the story of a younger man falling for an older woman seems to work and the actors are all fine . yes  it does have some romance clichs of running in the rain or a train station goodbye  but the characters have a chance to be explored so it doesn  t seem cheesy  like it would be if this were some tom hanks vehicle or similar . robson greene  who at times reminds me of a separated  at  birth scott bakula does a fine job of someone who is head over heels in love and the ebb and tide of desire and rejection throws the series into watchable fare . personally  i think the series could have been done with two episodes  but that  s up for debate i suppose . apparently  there  s a sequel  and that should be arriving tomorrow via netflix .  
  i had planned to write something explaining what i didn  t like about this movie  but this is going to be more difficult than i thought . honestly  i can  t remember much about it . i watched it just three days ago and it  s made almost no impression on me . that  s usually the sign of a real stinker . about the only thing i remember was being incredibly bored by most of it . the novelty of having a humphrey bogart look  a  like as the detective wore off real quick . it would be different if he could act  but he  s a one  note entertainer . the kill scenes were amateurishly handled and there was no suspense leading up to them . if you can  t spot the killer five minutes into the movie  you need to see more euro horror . the casting is a dead giveaway to the killer  s identity .  
francesca annis  michael kitchen and robson green   wow  what a trio . . . ok  so this is no anna karenina  but it is a good love story  very well  written and well  acted by all . even a few  laugh  out  loud  moments mixed in with some pretty serious observations on fidelity  age bias  and parental aging  alzheimer  s issues .  br    br   quirky guitar music added to the story as well .  br    br   while i have been a fan of ms . annis  since  lillie   in the    s  and mr . kitchen  s since  the buccaneers  and  enchanted april   i have only recently discovered mr . green   me and mrs . jones    touching evil   etc .   making me ask the question  why had i not seen  reckless  until recently     admittedly more of a  chick flick  than something a man will sit through  it is perfect for a rainy afternoon  s lazy viewing .  
watchable little semi  soaper  but hardly captivating . still  two or three funny moments . what amazes me is how slippery and morally highly questionable mcnicol is . she plays an invalid  a leg problem   yet she not only isn  t the  ugly duckling  whom men shun  but she is even a man  eater  and we are supposed to feel for her  oh  poor little mcnicol  with her leg problem . . . poor little mcnicol    she is constantly getting passes from men  and even dumps them without so much as blinking  at one occasion she even has a premeditated one  night affair with a blond stud  and then she tells her newly  found french girlfriend quite non  chalantly that it took him time to get an erection  makes us viewers wonder why she is so leg  conscious if every guy wants to hump her . well  almost every guy the only guy who really shunned her after seeing her leg wrapped up in metal is the guy working on the telephone . but otherwise she seems to be doing just fine with men  no shyness  no lack of success with men  and she throws them away like toys the way she dumped carradine was ridiculous . poor little invalid girl   i don  t think so . and yet we are meant to believe that this woman has a major confidence problem hence the scene in which she prepares to start playing the flute for a solo concert and somehow manages to throw the notes on the ground out of nervousness . nervousness   the rest of the movie shows little or nothing that would suggest that she has confidence problems  so this flute scene is absurd and doesn  t fit into the bigger picture . i was also surprised how quickly and eagerly mcnicol makes friends with a french woman who is screwing a married guy . on the surface the movie would appear to be a  sentimental story of one crippled woman  s struggle for acceptance   or something like that  but it  s nothing like that at all the writer clearly shifts between this type of movie and a  screw anything that moves  it  s the   s  kind of movie  very confusing .  br    br   as far as her leg it  s not like she has a big  fat purple balloon growing on her calf muscle . she  only  has a normal  looking metal prosthetic attached to the lower part of her leg  so i really don  t understand why the makers of the film try to make it seem as if she is a female quasimodo or something  at the beginning of the film . it  s not like she has a twin head growing out of her neck  though mcnicol is hardly a major catch . kind of cutish but nothing special  quite average .  br    br   but what the hell is carradine doing playing some kind of a  relatively  smooth guy flirting with mcnicol and her pal   this guy was in  revenge of the nerds   but i guess it  s the same thing with the carradines in the movies as it is with the kennedys in politics no matter how ugly  unable  or dumb  all the doors are open for a career in movies and politics  respectively .  br    br   down with nepotism .  br    br   if you want to read bogus biographies about the carradines  and other hollywood nepotists and morons  contact me by e  mail .  
this gripping tale of intergenerational love  jealousy and revenge was even more enjoyable to see on dvd years after its pbs broadcast  with a sharper picture and crisper sound . my only reservations are that the plot has a few improbable moments and that some of the stronger manchester accents are difficult at times . luckily even missing a word here and there won  t spoil the fun the primary actors are ideally cast . robson green brings an enigmatic smile  a go  for  broke temperament and an athletic physicality to his role as a young surgeon who falls hopelessly for the wife of his boss at the hospital where he  s just begun to work . francesca annis is one of the most striking    ish women imaginable her acting rivals her beauty .  the love scenes between these two demonstrate better than words how little the age difference matters to them   each of the supporting characters is sharply drawn and excellently portrayed as well . the mix of pithy dialog and passionate excess makes this a delightful miniseries . as russell baker notes in his introduction  you may not be morally improved by viewing  reckless    but you  ll have plenty of fun .  the sequel  a part of the dvd box set  provides a wild yet satisfying two  hour denouement . you won  t want to miss it if you  ve enjoyed what came before .   
any movie that has nude scenes of karen allen and i  m still so bored i walk out  that is a stinker   br    br   karen gets stuck in paris  and befriends a sissily  handsome french man with whom she is having sex soon . of course he  s married    but  cheri  why should that be a problem    what could be an interesting clash of cultures is  believe it or not  just dull . i walked out .  br    br   maybe the movie got a lot better after i left but it would have had to have gotten a lot better to make up for a rotten beginning .  br    br   my advice  if you find yourself in this  run  do not walk  for the exit . save your time and your energy . most assuredly save your money . it  s a shame the production company didn  t save its money .  
for anyone who  s judged others at first meeting  here is the perfect tutorial on depth of character . the grumpy old lady has a soft  thoughtful heart  and needs new friends . the flighty  unsure   ditsy  dame who makes inappropriate  uncomfortable comments  sees deep into your soul and has pure love for all . the cold  prim  proper  neglected wife has passion simmering that could boil over at any minute  given the right setting . the perfect beauty  rich  sweet  partying  pursued by throngs  wants peace  quiet  and love without possessiveness .  br    br   by taking the time to look beyond the surface  you will find treasures in everyday life  from the least expected sources . all it takes is patience and a touch of enchantment .  
i  ll admit i  ve only watched a handful of episodes  but each one seemed completely different from the next . it seems after the first season  the producers decided to completely retool the show  drop characters  introduce new ones  and rewrite the entire show dynamic .  br    br   as you have probably surmised already  the show is about quirky  unpredictable teenager holly  amanda bynes  who moves in with her high strung sister valerie  jennie garth  in new york city . decent enough premise odd couple  fish out of water  high jinx .  br    br   while i miss the sitcoms of yore  this show unfortunately misses the mark on funny repeatedly  and it  s sad because they have some decent talent .  br    br   on top of everything  they insisted on changing the show  val was living with a cast regular bf one season  then he was suddenly gone  so she opens a bakery  what   when things change that drastically  you get the feeling that even the show knows it  s bad . i mean  completely new sets  characters written off and new show regulars   br    br   on a side note  this is just nitpicking   i know this is a television show and not real at all  but val and holly end up living in a huge loft duplex  there are stairs  with a terrace . . . in manhattan  are you serious    
when i was told of this movie i thought it would be another chick flick . i was wrong . this movie sends a powerful message about judging others . i was deeply moved . everyone i have encountered  i have recommended this movie to . no one has come back saying it was bad . busy  also did a great job with her role in this film . i don  t know much about her acting career but wow  they way she pulled off the end of this fill was great .  br    br   at the beginning it was a little slow . but after she went to the hospital . . . . wow  the movie picks up again . i have no idea why this movie hasn  t been spoken of in the movie world . my wish would be for this movie to be released again and advertised more . . . because it sends a powerful message in a mere hour and a half .  
not sure if i  m referring to those who labeled this a video nasty or to the director . . .  devil hunter  sure is one bizarre  horror  movie .  br    br   the plot is a loosey goosey combo of superior films like  cannibal ferox  and  cut and run .  chick gets kidnapped in the  jungle  by a  tribe  of  savages .  the jungle looks more like a park somewhere in mexico . the tribe is like a group of hippies who walk around in party city  style halloween costume renditions of tribal garb . and the savages range in race from white to asian to black to hispanic . i suppose franco just grabbed anyone who looked even slightly ethnic for this romp .  br    br   to make matters worse  this film has ultra  minimal gore  no real scares and a lot of unnecessary penis . not fun . i can find something to like in just about any sleazy italian or euro  trash film this one just fell way short .  br    br    out of    kids .  
hunky geordie robson green is owen springer  a young doctor who moves home to manchester to be near his father . along the way  he falls for anna  a woman   years his senior  and who happens to be the wife of his new boss  richard crane . despite warnings from his new colleagues  owen proceeds to get anna for himself  going as far as to sabotage anna and the cheating richard  s marriage . this is a romantic drama with many humorous undertones and a quick wit . the actors are superb green of  the student prince  and  touching evil  smolders on  screen as the cunning  yet warm  hearted owen annis of  dune  fame is lively and proves a good match to green kitchen  from  to play the king  is the right menace as richard  whose comic missteps and snobbery underline his masterful  building hatred for owen . this is a perfect love triangle  and despite the foibles and fallacies of our three characters  you come away better for knowing and watching them .  
this movie isn  t terrible  really . somebody commented that mo is the type of american europeans snicker at . but there are those  and not necessarily anglo  saxon yahoos  who do not care for frenchmen and the xavier character isn  t going to sway them .  br    br   let  s consider his stereotypical frenchman attributes  br    br     . cynical  very cynical . check .  br    br     . reedy  underfed appearance  check  despite  br    br     . a great appreciation of cuisine . check .  br    br     . lukewarm work ethic . check .  forget the fact he is supposedly a rich stockbroker  from watching him in the film he seems to put in ten hour workweeks .   br    br     . beautiful wife  check . despite that  br    br     . loose interpretation of the marriage vows . check .  br    br     . big sexual ego  which says an american girl owes you sex if you buy her dinner . check .  br    br   whether mo is a hick or not  there  s no reason for her to fall for this smug european twit other than the script dictates so .  br    br   on the other hand  as other male reviewers have  i did enjoy seeing karen allen  s cute  petite body . i  ll give the movie four stars two of them are for that .  
this group of english pros are a pleasure to watch . the supporting cast could form a series of their own . it  s a seen before love tiangle between the head of surgery  his wife  and a new pretty boy surgery resident . only the superior acting skills of francesca annis  michael kitchen  and the sexy robson greene lift this from the trash category to a very enjoyable  romp  . the only quibble is that it  s hard to accept that the smoldering francesca annis would fall in love and actually marry michael kitchen  who like me  is hardly an international  or even a british sex symbol . you can readily understand why robson green would light her fire  with apologies to the  doors  . the guy who almost steals the show with a great  laid back  performance is owen  s father david bradley . watch him in  the way we live now   in a completely different performance  to get an idea of his range . daniela nardini as kitchen  s secretary  sometime sex toy  is hard to forget as the spurned mistress who makes kitchen sorry he ever looked at her great body . conor mullen  and julian rhind  tutt  as green  s sidekick surgery buddies as i  ve said could have their own series . they are that good . the whole thing is a great deal of fun  and i heartily recommend it  and thank you imdbman for letting the paying customers have their say in this fascinating venue .  
true  the setting in paris is great . the actors are fine . the story is a twisted morality play . is it supposed to say that if you want someone badly enough  it  s ok to hurt everyone else along the way  in a real romance  you sort of want less clich than the man who has become bored with his wife and is willing to dump his family  and the woman who is ok with encouraging him to do this . so what if they are decent looking and if karen allen shows off her body  the characters are still self  absorbed and reprehensible . maybe the moral of the story is  you get what you deserve  . i give it a   only for the fast scan potential through the  male interest  bits .  
i have seen virtually all of cynthia rothrock  s films  and to me this is the funniest . it reminds me of early jackie chan movies . admittedly  ms rothrock may not be the greatest actress  but she is very good to watch as both a martial artist and as a very cute young lady . this film  while probably not the best of all her films  was the most entertaining .  
another double noir on one disc from warner home video and by far the better of the two movies is rko  s marvellous     thriller  where danger loves  . this is a memorable classic with a great cast in robert mitchum  faith domergue and claude rains . crisply photographed in black  white by nicholas musuraca it was tightly directed by john farrow .  where danger lives  is a prime example of the noir style of picture making and will always be remembered for its stylish craftsmanship that was hollywood  s past   see my full review  .  br    br   unfortunately  none of the above praise can be applied to the second movie on the disc  the abysmal mgm     stinker tension  poorly written  allen rivkin  and directed by john berry this movie is full of ludicrous characterisations and unlikely situations . the inconceivable relationship between a mild mannered and wimpish pharmacist  blandly played by richard baseheart  and his overtly floozy wife  a risible audrey totter  is totally implausible and unconvincing  how on earth they ever got together in the first place is anybody  s guess  . then when she  unsurprisingly  ditches him for one of her playmates  lloyd gough  our timid pharmacist  instead of being euphoric and over the moon with his new found good fortune  plots revenge and attempts to kill gough but at the last minute chickens out . the guy gets murdered anyway and our pharmacist is immediately suspected by homicide detective barry sullivan  another bland performance  . so who did kill him  well  at this stage of the movie you really couldn  t care less since it is all so badly executed and rendered ridiculous by director berry . mr . berry has no idea of pacing and is unable to inject even a smidgen of style into the thing . there is nothing he can put in front of the camera that will prevent you from nodding off  the only tension contained in this movie is in the rubber band that is stretched to its limit and snaps in the fingers of barry sullivan as he gives the intro at the film  s opening . so much for that  a most unfortunate effort  c  est la vie   br    br   best things about this turkey is the smooth monochrome cinematography by the great harry stradling  an effective score by a young andre previn and an early dramatic appearance by the lovely cyd charisse before she found her dancing shoes . hey   maybe she could have saved the picture had she given us a few steps and a couple of pirouettes  huh   br    br   in its favour however  are the heaps of extras that are included which boasts trailers  commentaries and featurettes for both films . but the disc is worth it alone for the rko mitchum classic   
this zippy and fun short from      the time when charlie chaplin and fatty arbuckle were the big names in comedy  features the young oliver hardy as a ne  er  do  well who has to quickly impress his wealthy uncle by producing a wife and baby for his visit .  br    br   of course this does not go smoothly and soon there are rather more wives and babies than he can cope with plus the mandatory chases and misunderstandings that are the hallmark of early movie slapstick .  br    br   restored well it can be viewed as part of  the early films of oliver hardy  and is now available on dvd  a fine addition to the available corpus of the big screen favourite comedy duo .  
i admired rob marshall for chicago  but memoirs of geisha turns out to be yet another failure of combing western and asian arts . overall  the scene is beautiful  but after restless emphasis on exoticism  oriented scenes some might just find himself fed up with them . the excessive cherry blossom was  frankly  overdone . it  s probably the cultural difference of perception here the ultimate beauty is not the showy type  as truly beautiful geisha would not be the over westernised pumpkin in the movie .  br    br   some other comments have rightly mentioned the biggest flaws . as a taiwanese  i have no doubt the actress are great . an actor  actress can play any kind of role when he  she can look like it . gong li is great  but the power of emotions that she showed in this movie had not been translated into japanese style . all i saw was a bittersweet and jealous chinese woman . michlle yeoh  one of my favourtie actress  did not even look like a japanese . some comment has mentioned the peculiar delicate  feminine characteristics of japanese women  with which i can  t agree more . these are so delicate that i assume not even all modern japanese actresses are eligible for the roles in geisha  let alone the two chinese and one malaysian actress who grew up in different cultures and probably did not know japanese culture that much .  br    br   geisha is a good shot for arousing the curiosity of american audiences . but it would be an insult for the movie itself and for art alike if the movie wins the oscar for best costume  best director or best picture .  
here i thought  nanook of the north  was the last word in archaic semi  doc  eskimo  movies . how wrong  as an avid sea  kayaker i stayed up till    am to watch this hoping to get a glimpse of some hand  made  skin  boats  . the movie did not let me down . any student of kayak  umiak construction should have a look  see here .  note to fellow skers they appear to be using norton sound kayaks with single blade paddles  .  br    br   but the film went way beyond this admittedly narrow interest . even though there were as others have noted some little back  shot  fakey  bits the movie has so much heart they are just a minor annoyance . it was  from this very amateur anthropologist  s viewpoint  probably the perfect time to make this movie . early thirties the  talkies  are so new that they  including louie b . mayer   actually let the inuit speak in their own tongue . and there is so much that was still  despite the infused melodrama  authentic . they are really whacking that polar bear  that whale and those caribou . a fifties version of this film would have been so cheesy with  stars   technicolor  etc . to gum it up . the seventies version  don  t even . a very good companion piece to this excellent movie is  white shadows in the south seas        geograpically the mirror image to  eskimo  it also deals with the relentless and profound disruption of western culture  technology on an unsuspecting people .  
a slow  tedious  and one dimensional movie  good casting with clichd dialogue  boring story line  and soulless direction from mr marshal  the conventional and predictable story of the most famous form of prostitution from the asian continent  lacks heart  new insights  and depth . the lead character looks out of place due to her tiny phisique and phony looking contact lenses . the lexicon employed by the geishas sounds forced and a bit too sophisticated for their limited exposure in the ways of education . the story goes on and on for hours trying to convince you this little  boring  flat chested asian girl is the ultimate geisha  they actually say in the movie  she is destined to become a legend  i say hardy the case  the movie is just plain boring  it is beautiful to look at  it has a very few interesting moments as many as you may find by going out for cigarretes . basically  if you don  t believe the messenger you wont believe the message  and this girl didn  t fill the shoe  borin  boring  skip it   
eskimo is a serious movie about the cultural chasm between an indigenous population and the encroaching white man . although filmed in a documentary style seemingly with non  professionals  eskimo is a skilled production that contains a believable story the audience will want to see through to the final shot .  br    br   the native eskimo simply has different beliefs and behaviors about women and life than do the whalers that darken his landscape . when an eskimo man loses his mate  it is natural that other men share their women with their friend . it is also usual for their women to want to take the place of the missing spouse . all of this seems natural in the context of the desolate foreboding arctic setting . the trusting eskimo falls prey to unscrupulous white whalers  with heavy european accents  that do not view these natives as their equals . deceit  drunken orgies  rape  and death occur after the eskimo men depart for work on the icy cold seas . eventually the lead eskimo  mala  realizes that he has been duped and he takes his revenge . the audience would have cheered in the      s theaters .  br    br   enter the royal canadian mounted police and the moral dilemma of whether to bring back mala for trial . the mounties are played as feeling policemen that know this is not a cut and dry case . will the mounties get their man  is it fair to hold mala to a code of behavior outside of his traditional society  is there a way out that does not punish mala  is it inevitable that the white man  s law must prevail  is there no hope for innocence   br    br   this is not a great movie  but one that you will enjoy for the depth of the issue addressed in a very different setting . i suspect that the filming of the sequences with animals was done before today  s disclaimer that none were injured in the making of the film   so beware of the raw nature sequences . highly recommended .  
memoirs of a geisha is a beautifully filmed movie  there is no doubt about that . and the acting is generally excellent  at least in terms of how it portrays the characters as they are scripted .  br    br   however  so many details small and large are just  wrong  that it just bothers me too much to be able to enjoy it fully . a small detail that typifies the kind of lack of sensitivity of sorts is one scene  no this does not spoil anything  where mameha rings a bell that hangs at the door of the house where sayuri lives  on a snowy winter day . the bell she  s ringing is a fuurin  or wind chime  that is only left hanging outside of houses in japan in the summer  people in traditional japanese homes didn  t have doorbells  they just opened the door and announced themselves .  you may think this is such a trivial detail  but i would equate this to a movie made about america where a christmas wreath is hanging on the door in july and no one thinks anything of it .  and don  t even get me started on the totally wrong hairstyles given to the maiko and geisha  which is vaguely pan  asian  chinese  kung  fu  ish  and nothing like real thing . i think this rather cavalier attitude towards the culture they are trying to portray really comes out in the attitudes and the portrayals of people and situations too .  br    br   so  i suppose that the less you know about japanese culture and the world of the geisha and maiko in kyoto  which is what  miyako  is   then i suppose the more you will enjoy this . i honestly think this movie could have been so much better . . . as it is  it  s just another hollywood version of  exotic japan  .  
i want to add to the praise for the production of this film  especially the luminous cinematography . firelight glistening off of smooth and muscled skin creates stunningly beautiful imagery . the film was nominated for  and won  a single oscar  the first given for editing . mala  s performance is moody  penetrating and powerful .  
american film makers decided to make a film they think is japanese . the characters all badly represented  the actors are not even japanese and the set is cheap  unreal and definitely doesn  t represent kyoto in early   ties and   ties . who ever read the book understand that the script writers didn  t add any extra value to differentiate the movie from the script . worse  they even changed the original plot line with a few goofs . rob marshall is using for his two main characters two well known chinese actors who joined before in crouching tiger hidden dragon . marshall probably saw one chinese movie and tho they represent japanese culture . seeing those two actors together again even makes the movies more ridiculous . quentine tarantino  s last scene in kill bill   is ten times more japanese made than that of this movie .  
i was really stunned how much a film  that  s over   years old could impress me . it is nearly two hours long  there are absolutely no stars in it  there are subtitles but nevertheless it is interesting and exciting to watch . what impressed me mostly was the realism of the film . you could nearly feel the coldness of the ice  because you could see that the storms are real . this is a relief in a cgi  world like ourdays . i wondered how much work this must have been for van dyke . i read somewhere that it took   months to film it . now who wants to talk about  titanic  anymore  it  s a great film with a great message and i would recommend it to future directors to see how great and realistic movies can be if they are only directed with realism instead of visual effects .  
despite an overall pleasing plot and expensive production one wonders how a director can make so many clumsy cultural mistakes . where were the japanese wardrobe and cultural consultants  not on the payroll apparently .  br    br   a japanese friend of mine actually laughed out loud at some of the cultural absurdities she watched unfold before her eyes . in a later conversation she said   imagine a finnish director making a movie in fnnish about the american civil war using blond swedish actors as union army and frenchmen as the confederates . worse imagine dressing the scarlet o  hara female lead in a period hoop skirt missing the hoop and sporting a      s hairdo . maybe some people in finland might not realize that the hoop skirt was  missing the hoop  or recognize the bizarre jane mansfield hair  but in atlanta they would not believe their eyes or ears . . . . and be laughing in the aisles . . . excellent story and photography be damned .  br    br   so . . . watching memoirs of a geisha was painful for anyone familiar with japanese cultural nuances  actual geisha or japanese dress  and that was the topic of the movie  hollywood is amazing in its myopic view of film making . they frequently get the big money things right while letting the details that really polish a films refinement embarrassingly wrong . i thought  the last samurai  was the crowning achievement of how bad an otherwise good film on japan could be . memoirs of a geisha is embarrassingly better and worse at the same time .  
i was impressed by the beautiful photography in this film  which was shot on location in alaska . although technically a melodrama  we see lots of activities eskimos are involved in  such as hunting  dancing  building igloos  etc . and their customs  such as offering their wives to visitors  are routinely in the story . the hunting sequences were sometimes from stock footage  as it was easy to recognize some rear projection scenes of animals  but even these were fascinating . spear fishing for salmon  hunting for walrus  caribou and even a polar bear and a whale made it seem like a documentary at times . there was no cast listing  which reinforced the documentary flavor . the film  makers tried to make it seem very authentic  with the natives speaking only in an eskimo language that was either translated by someone on screen or by intertitles . the introduction stated that except for the white traders and the royal mounted canadian police  there were no actors in the film  but this was not strictly true . the two leading characters  played by mala and lotus long  were eskimos by birth  but were professional actors with credits for earlier films and you could see sometimes they had makeup on . but they were excellent in their roles and they went on to have hollywood careers . all in all  the film is definitely worth a look .  
andrewjlau  i could not agree more . my girlfriend is watching this at this very moment  and i find this movie appalling . quote from my chinese girlfriend  laughing  they are doing all this for a man     br    br   i find these women have no intensity  no sense of the a fight between tragedy and identity  and that these men are hardly worth fighting for . during the dance scene where zhang zi yi wins them over  the men look stupid more than admiring .  br    br   japanese people have much more intensity than chinese people  and being geisha is japanese culture . i am sure the chinese had something similar  but the faces do not match the main .  br    br   anyway  the dialogue is so unmysterious  so american . had a european done it with european orientals  they would have done a far better job .  br    br   i have to add it seems most of the people who liked the film are american . sorry to say  but no wonder . all spelt out for you  not instinctive  not passionate . i think the chinese actresses are lovely  but i could not say they were good actors in this film . yes  the cinematography is great  but really  i cannot see how it can be seen that these characters are complex  deep individuals .  br    br   i  m going to japan to see the real thing . i am sure that would be amazing to see .  
the arrival of white men in arctic canada challenges the freedom of a fearless eskimo hunter .  br    br   w . s . van dyke  mgm  s peripatetic director  was responsible for this fascinating look at life in the arctic among the inuit . his production was on location filming from april     until november      although some annoying rear projection effects show that some of the shooting took place back at the studio  . while considered a documentary at the time  we would likely term it a  docudrama  as it is scripted with an intriguing plot  storyline .  br    br   the film shows the daily life of the eskimo  both winter  summer  and in fact starts in the warmer time of the year without any snow or ice in sight . the constant striving for food is depicted  and the viewer gets to watch the exciting hunts for walrus  polar bear  whale  caribou . the native language is used throughout  with the use of title cards the only english is spoken by the fishermen  mounties encountered by the eskimo . in fact  it is the arrival of white men  both good  bad  and the change they make on eskimo society  which is a major element in the narrative .  br    br   this pre  code film deals in a refreshingly frank manner with the eskimo moral code  particularly with their practice of wife  sharing  which was an important and completely innocent part of their culture . in fact  the entire film can be appreciated as a valuable look at a way of life which was rapidly disappearing even in the early      s .  br    br   none of the cast receives screen credit  which is a shame as there are some notable performances . foremost among them is that of ray wise  playing the leading role of mala the eskimo . wise            was an alaskan native of inuit ancestry and is absolutely splendid and perfectly believable in what was a very demanding part . as handsome as any hollywood star  he would continue acting  using the name of ray mala  in a sporadic film career  often in tiny unbilled roles .  br    br   lovely japanese  hawaiian actress lotus long plays mala  s loyal second wife the names of the fine actresses playing his other two wives are now obscure . director woody van dyke steps in front of the cameras as a strict north west mounted police inspector . the two decent  hearted mounties who must deliver mala to canadian justice are played by joe sawyer  edgar dearing  both longtime movie character actors . danish author peter freuchen  upon whose books the film was based  has a short vivid role of an evil wooden  legged sea captain who unwisely rouses mala  s icy wrath .  
  memoirs of a geisha  is a visually stunning melodrama that seems more like a camp  drag queen satire than anything to do with real people .  br    br   the first half of the film defensively keeps insisting that geishas are neither prostitutes nor concubines  that they are the embodiment of traditional japanese beauty . but other than one breathtaking dance  the rest of the movie degenerates into  pretty baby  in storyville territory  or at least vashti and esther in the purim story  as all the women  s efforts at art and artifice are about entertaining much  much older  drunken boorish men . maybe it is japanese culture that is being prostituted  and not just to the american louts after world war ii .  br    br   perhaps it  s the strain of speaking in english  but ziyi zhang shows barely little of the great flare she demonstrated in  house of flying daggers  shi mian mai fu   and  hero  ying xiong  .  michelle yeoh occasionally gets to project a glimmer of her assured performance in  crouching tiger  hidden dragon  wo hu cang long  .  only li gong shows any real life . otherwise  i kept picturing charles ludlam in various roles  or even cillian murphy  as in kabuki theater  particularly as the plot dragged down in cat fight after cat fight .  br    br   the supposed love story has zero chemistry  mostly due to the age differences  and i mostly felt sorry for ken watanabe and hoped his hollywood pay check compensated for his loss of dignity as the mysterious  chairman .  i remember more emotion in  portrait of jennie  as the young girl is anxious to grow up into jennifer jones to please joseph cotton .  br    br   we see brief glimpses of reality when the geishas pose with regular women as photographic attractions  and as an ageless ziyi zhang lives out the war years in a very colorful kimono dying operation . the finale has little sense of normality .  br    br   the score includes many chopped up traditional melodies  with cello by yo yo ma and violin by yitzhack pearlman instead of traditional instrumentation  that are beautiful to listen to in accompaniment to the lovely cinematography  as long as one completely ignores the plot and stiff acting .  br    br   as my mind wandered  i wondered how the great japanese directors of samurai movies would have dealt with this story  which probably would have been more formal  but a lot more emotional .  
i  m biased towards any movie that paints a luxuriant picture of italy  in my opinion the most romantic country in the world . unfortunately the movie was rather short  unusually so for a period piece  and a little sparse on the cinematography aspect . however  the excellent story makes up for it . the four ladies embark on a much  needed relaxing vacation with problems on their minds . over the course of the movie  they realize their problems and begin fixing them . they believe san salvatore  the castle they stay in  has an enchanting effect on people .  it  s a tub of love   says lottie wilkins . you can watch their gradual change from dissatisfied to exuberant as the italian seaside works its magic on them .  br    br   all their problems and their solutions are plausible . the actresses were great . the background music seemed very appropriate for an romantic italian locale . all in all  a      movie for me .  
this show is painful to watch . . .  br    br   it is obvious that the creators had no clue what to do with this show  from the ever changing  jobs   boyfriends  and cast . it appears that they wanted to cast amanda bynes in something . . . but had no idea what  and came up with this crappy show . they cast her as a teen  surrounded by twenty and thirty somethings  and put her in mostly adult situations at repeatedly failed attempts at comedy . soon  they realize that she needs a  clique  and cast people in their late   s to try to pass as teenagers .  br    br   how this show survived  seasons is beyond me . somehow  abc has now decided that it is a  family  show  and thrown it into it  s afternoon lineup on abc family .  
insisting that martin luther king  s inspirational spirit resides not just in american civil liberties but inside the hearts and minds of people everywhere  danish helmer niels arden oplev transplants this belief to a     danish middle school . more specifically  it works its way into the crusade of a young boy named frits  janus dissing rathke  against his oppressively rigid and churlishly abusive headmaster svendsen  bent mejding  . adapted from a true story  the performances are executed with certain aplomb and a refreshing command over its varied characters keeps it involving . a battle of ideologies between a   year  old and a demented disciplinarian gives way to inherent humour but awkward shifts in mood disorients despite keeping it shrewdly cynical in the same vein as a  dead poets society  more than a  matilda  . it treads a familiar path but a continued and precise service to its young protagonist including a personal subplot that rounds off frits as a young boy becoming a young man  manages to raise the film into a rousing family film with its nose right on the money .  
i love memoirs of a geisha so i read the book twice it is one of the best book i  ve read last year . i was looking forward to the movie and was afraid that reading the book would ruin the viewing pleasure of the movie . i wasn  t expecting the movie to be that bad . some of the best part of the book was omitted from the movie and the characters were weak with hatsumomo  li gong  been the worst . if i haven  t read the book  this movie would be a little confusing and inexplicable . the plot outline of the movie states  nitta sayuri reveals how she transcended her fishing . . .  did anyone see how or when sayuri became nitta sayuri  forget the movie and read the book .  
i just picked up the dvd release of this movie while on holiday in norway where it has been released with english subtitles .  br    br   the film is beautifully photographed and powerfully acted . the youngster portraying  frits  the lead character has an astonishingly open face which mirrors with painful accuracy the tragic events which unfold around him .  br    br   early on in the film we see that the father whom frits loves so much has mental health problems and this is brought up when the brutal headmaster denies assaulting the boy and suggests it was his own father .  br    br   the climactic scene where frits refuses to show any respect to the headmaster simply standing his ground and repeating  liar  as he is brutally assaulted in front of his classmates is a scene you are not likely to forget .  br    br   the films only weak point is the rather clichd  flower power  teacher who uses every  friendly teacher  trick in the book . other than this i feel sure that this is a film you will really enjoy .  
rather then long dance sequences and close ups of the characters which made the film drag on  the movie would have been better served explaining the story and motivations of the characters .  br    br   the marginalisation of nubo  the minister  auntie  mother  and the dumbing down of the dynamic and important rivalry between hatsumo and mameha and hatsumo and sayuri made the movie lack any real depth . if you hadn  t read the book you would not really understand why sayuri loved the chairman and why mameha became her mentor at all .  br    br   visually the film was stunning  and the actors all did the best with the c rate script they were given  but that was all that was good about this movie .  
i saw this movie today and i have to say  it was much much better than i expected it to be about couple of hours before going to see it . personally i had some prejudice due to the language of it  but it did totally change my idea . the movie was in most cases surprisingly good with the great actor and actress performances . it was a story about a boy who had a dream and who did everything to reach it . this really touched me and as a film  which is based on a true story  it convinced me . a new school  psycho headmaster and a young boy who get known with a new teacher  a bit different one than the others and about fighting for the things even if they doesn  t seem to work out . it showed how little things can make huge changes in many things  and how difference can sometimes cause difficult situations . also i think the actor selections has succeeded perfectly . it really felt like you had been some person watching the episodes as an outsider when they happened . before i spoil this movie with praises  i have to admit that there were some things and situations that didn  t look and feel realistic . . like the one where the headmaster of the school beat frits aka . martin in front of the class  at the end of the movie . he really got beaten badly  but the only thing that it caused to him  was some blood coming from the nose when comparing that to the first beating in the beginning  when frits got some stitches . . well i guess every movie has it own faults . . have to say  that if i someday somewhere find this dvd from the store  it  s sure thing  that i take it with me .  
having lived in japan for several years this movie does not reflect the japanese culture and does not even come close to explain what being a geisha is all about . unfortunately  a great opportunity has been missed to bring the japanese culture a bit closer to the broad western audience and help demystify the country where zen  samurai  the geisha world of kyoto originate from . some of the most poignant moments of the movie are when the americans are shown in japanese surroundings . the geisha dances were not authentic . there was far too much use of chinese music . a minor but essential detail proper use of the incense sticks was nowhere to be seen . the sakura scenes were almost obscenely kitschy  interestingly  some of the chinese actors were quite convincing as japanese persons .  
a kid with ideals who tries to change things around him . a boy who is forced to become a man  because of the system . a system who hides the truth  and who is violating the rights of existence . a boy who  inspired by martin luther king  stands up  and tells the truth . a family who is falling apart  and fighting against it . a movie you can  t hide from . you see things  and you hear things  and you feel things  that you till the day you die will hope have never happened for real . violence  frustration  abuse of power  parents who can  t do anything  and a boy with  i am sorry  balls  a boy who will not accept things  who will not let anything happen to him  a kid with power  and a kid who acts like a pro  like he has never done anything else  he caries this movie to the end  and anyone who wants to see how abuse found place back in the    ies .  
even though the book wasn  t strictly accurate to the real situation it described it still carried a sense of japan . i find it hard to believe that anyone who was involved in making this film had ever been to japan as it didn  t feel japanese in the slightest . almost everything about it was terrible . i will admit the actors were generally quite good but couldn  t stand a chance of saving it . before the film started i was surprised that there were only ten people in the cinema on a friday night shortly after the movie had opened in japan .   minutes in i was amazed they stayed . i stayed so i would have the right to criticize it . the whole movie was punctuated my groans and suppressed laughs of disbelief from my japanese girlfriend . everyone i saw walking out of that cinema had looks of confusion and disappointment on their faces .  br    br   to the makers of this movie  you owe me two hours .  
i  ve recently watched this movie  in a lazy sunday afternoon  with some friend of mine and we have a lot of fun  this movie is a masterpiece of trash . try to watch it with this purpose  it hadn  t been expected  of course  but the performance provided by the actors  and alberto tomba is absolutely the best   the weak script and the low  cost budget had created an amazing mix of foolish things . tomba was just retired from alpine ski racing  where he was a dominant technical skier in the late     s and     s . tomba won three olympic gold medals  two world championships  and nine world cup season titles . seriously about the director nobody knows why damiano damiani he has signed this movie . all the other damiani  s directions are considerable .  
the trouble with the book   memoirs of a geisha  is that it had japanese surfaces but underneath the surfaces it was all an american man  s way of thinking . reading the book is like watching a magnificent ballet with great music  sets  and costumes yet performed by barnyard animals dressed in those costumesso far from japanese ways of thinking were the characters .  br    br   the movie isn  t about japan or real geisha . it is a story about a few american men  s mistaken ideas about japan and geisha filtered through their own ignorance and misconceptions . so what is this movie if it isn  t about japan or geisha  is it pure fantasy as so many people have said  yes  but then why make it into an american fantasy   br    br   there were so many missed opportunities . imagine a culture where there are no puritanical hang  ups  no connotations of sin about sex . sex is natural and normal . how is sex handled in this movie  right . like it was dirty . the closest thing to a sex scene in the movie has sayuri wrinkling up her nose and grimacing with distaste for five seconds as if the man trying to mount her had dropped a handful of cockroaches on her crotch .  br    br   does anyone actually enjoy sex in this movie  nope . one character is said to be promiscuous but all we see is her pushing away her lover because it looks like she doesn  t want to get caught doing something dirty . such typical american puritanism has no place in a movie about japanese geisha .  br    br   did sayuri enjoy her first ravishing by some old codger after her cherry was auctioned off  nope . she lies there like a cold slab of meat on a chopping block . of course she isn  t supposed to enjoy it . and that is what i mean about this movie . why couldn  t they have given her something to enjoy  why does all the sex have to be sinful and wrong   br    br   behind mameha the chairman was sayuri  s secret patron  and as such he was behind the auction of her virginity . he could have rigged the auction and won her himself . nobu didn  t even bid . so why did the chairman let that old codger win her and  reeking of old  man stink  get his fingers all over her naked body  would any woman ever really forgive a man for that   br    br   let  s try to make sense of this . by being behind mameha the chairman incurred debts for sayuri  s geisha training . in order to recoup his debts the chairman had sayuri sold to dr . crab . through mameha the chairman sold sayuri  s sexual favors to that old geezer so that the chairman could make some money out of her . the chairman wasn  t her patron . he was her pimp  some romantic love story .  br    br   yes  the film is gorgeous but it is like the beauty of a very attractive  alluring transvestite whose voice  appearance and every touch are thrilling . but under that very feminine surface lies an ominous secret . under the incorrectly appearing japanese surface of the film lurks the ominous secret that the heart  soul  spirit and core of this film is entirely american and male . not the best thing to be if it is trying to be other than a lie  distortion  and terribly wrong .  br    br   some contrasts between japan and moag  br    br   japanese style  refined  elegant simplicity . moag style  peking opera .  br    br   japanese geisha  hair swept up . moag geisha  loose hair which surely must have gotten all gunked up in the thick paste of white makeup .  br    br   japanese shaved ice  japanese are rather strict about seasonal observances . shaved ice is strictly a summer treat . moag shaved ice  the chairman buys chiyo  the young sayuri played by the marvelous suzuka ohgo  this treat during cherry  blossom  viewing season . the thought made my entire body shiver with cold .  br    br   japanese geisha  trained and skilled entertainers . moag geisha  sluts .  br    br   japanese wind chime  used in the summer because hearing the sound it makes  thanks to the breeze  japanese people feel somehow cooler . moag wind chime  a door bell  if a person stood in front of another  s house and made noises with a wind chime they would be considered a lunatic  not gain entrance .  br    br   japan  emphasis on human relationships  group oriented . moag   i want a life that  s mine  american individualism .  br    br   japanese traditional dance  refined elegance . an almost geometrical and mechanical precision . moag dance  martha graham freaking out on lsd while wearing a not  very  auspicious white japanese funeral shroud . performed by a geisha down a ramp in a place that looks like a strip club  ha ha ha  is a strip club where they did most of their research on geisha   br    br   japan house fire  setting or even letting a fire break out is worse than murder because it poses such a dire threat to the community . fires can rip through those wooden villages  towns  and cities destroying hundreds or thousands of homes and killing as many people . moag house fire  great adjunct to a fight scene but there are zero ramifications and because it is no longer needed the out  of  control fire miraculously puts itself out . technically the movie ended here because at the very least sayuri would have been ostracized and joined her sister among those never heard from again . which is where both arthur golden and rob marshall should be exiled .  br    br   enough . the movie stinks .  
that film is absolutely fantastic   if you watch it with your friends it can be a very nice day . . . obviously you have to know that the film is stupid and very bad directed and acted  tomba  unziker what a couple   and that is probably the worse film in the world  but you can enjoy it very much . we watched it in   and it was a very nice evening . the best scenes are the first one  when the criminals kill the friend of alex  and he tries to act like a desperate  and the result is a comic scene of first category . . . and then when he shows to leva  antevleva  what a name  the  palassio di giusstissia   and then the accident of leva  that once is going on her car out of the road  and a second later  the car is completely empty  what a magic   
  piece is cake  is defeatist  revisionist history of the worst kind  whose only point is to unfairly savage the reputation of the  admittedly fictional  pilots it portrays . it left a remarkably bad taste in my mouth .  br    br   in the march      aeroplane monthly   roland beamont wrote a stinging condemnation of the way that raf fighter command was portrayed in the tv mini  series . a few of his comments are worth repeating  br    br    there was no sense of defeatism at any time in any of the squadrons that i saw in action  and a total absence of the loutishness portrayed in  piece of cake  . it would not have been tolerated for a moment . . . . . . the prevailing atmosphere was more akin to that in a good rugby club  though with more discipline . nor was there any sense of  death or glory  . raf training had insisted that we were there to defend this country  and now we were required to do it  no more and no less .  br    br    there was no discussion of  bravery  or  cowardice  . people either had guts or they did not  but mostly they did . but we knew fear  recognised it in ourselves and in each other  did our damnedness to control it  and then got on with the job . . .  br    br    . . . i could feel no  glory   but there was a sense of greatness  and none of this bore the slightest resemblance to  piece of cake  .   br    br   beamont was  in his own words   a fighter pilot who  unlike the author and producer of the recent tv series  was there at the time  .  br    br   beamont served with   squadron both in france and the bob  before going on to become one of the premier exponents of both the typhoon and tempest  and a post  war test pilot .  br    br    piece of cake  is an absolute  total misrepresentation of the way pilots in fighter command acted at the time . it is nothing less than a complete and utter disgrace . . .  
since educating rita  julie walters has been one of my role models  and her performance in this as a woman who helps the man she loves get in synch with his feminine side is magnificent . i would never have believed her character in the hands of a lesser actress  but walters pulls it off with gusto and panache . adrian pasdar gives his best performance to  date in the male lead .  
i bought this dvd set  sight unseen  and wish i hadn  t . the script needed some serious rewriting as it seems to be completely devoid of any feeling and pales in comparison to the book . the lighting is horrid  very unpolished  but if it was just that i could overlook it . the script doesn  t focus enough on the characters . . . there is hardly an introduction to various characters making it a tad difficult to distinguish who is who  especially in the planes   no idea who dies when  .  br    br   i have long felt that the key to a good film is in getting the audience to care about the characters if you don  t have that you don  t have anything . there was no focus on the characters at all   you never got to know them   who they were  what they liked . . what made them do the things that they do . the series is  hours long and split up into  parts . . . i bet you are wondering what they did with all this time if they didn  t detail the characters    they put a lot of filler in it . . . . i will say at least an entire hour is spent watching them land and take off in their planes lol  i mean do we really need to see that over and over again     . i would have given this a much higher rating had they just improved our knowledge of the characters .  
with this topic  it is so easy to take cheap shots . you know  the guy with hairy legs trying to look like marilyn monroe . not here   adrian pasdar does a superb job of making gerald a real person  someone you care deeply about  and as a result you feel for his plight trying to live both as gerald and geraldine . not only that  but as geraldine  he looks hot  and the chemistry between him and julie walters is electric . these are two characters who feel love for one another  and it comes through even when they simply look at each other over the breakfast table . even the potentially cheesy sub  story line of corporate takeovers is believable  and you find yourself cheering at the end  at least i did   
there  s plenty to appreciate here spectacular locations and flying sequences period costumes  props and sets and competent writing and acting . however  to enjoy a drama  we need at least one principal who exhibits some qualities that we can like or admire . in this bunch of catty snobs  we found only one character who is at all likable  a hapless enlisted man in a fleeting peripheral role as their helpless victim . from the reviews here  it is clear that we are completely out of step  but we did not find their malicious  schoolgirl behavior amusing or entertaining . even the dog is detestable . we threw in the towel after two of the six episodes  so you should discount these observations accordingly  but what i could find written about this mini  series gave us no cause to expect character transformation or redemption .  
adrian pasdar is excellent is this film . he makes a fascinating woman .  
few movies have dashed expectations and upset me as much as fire has . the movie is pretentious garbage . it does not achieve anything at an artistic level . the only thing it managed to receive is a ban in india . if only it was because of the poor quality of film making rather than the topical controversy  the ban would have been more justifiable .  br    br   now that i  ve got my distress out of my system  i am more able to analyse the movie  br    br    from the onset the movie feels unreal especially when the protagonists start conversing in english . the director  of course  did not make the movie for an indian audience however it underestimated its international audiences by over simplifying it . watching the character of the domestic help conversing in perfect english is too unreal to be true .  br    br    next we get regular glimpses into radha  s dreams . these scenes are not very effective . they coming up as jarring and obstruct the flow of the movie . i  m still wondering how that philosophical dialogue connected to the story . i felt that the surrealism was lost .  br    br    the love scenes felt voyeuristic and are probably meant for audience titillation rather than being a powerful statement . in any case  they do not achieve either of the two .  br    br    the names chosen for the women  radha and sita  are names of hindu deities and hence been selected to shock the audiences . however  since the film wasn  t meant for indian audiences in the first place  the shock  through  name  selection is not meant to achieve its goal  which is absurd .  br    br    the quality of direction is very poor and some key and delicate scenes have been poorly handled . a better director could have made a powerful emotional drama out of the subject .  br    br    the acting felt wooden although nandita das brought some life into the role  the others were wasted . i always thought that shabana azmi was a good actress but her talent is not evident in this film . the male leads were outright rubbish .  br    br   in case you are a fan of earth and wish to see more of the director  stay away from this one . please .  
julie waters is outstanding and adrian pasdar a revelation in a very warm  very real  and extraordinarily entertaining look at the complications gender dysphoria and transvestism cause in a young executive  s life . at the heart of this movie is the very real truth that you must accept yourself before you can hope for others to accept you .  
three stooges  have rocket  will travel      this was the first feature length film to star the stooges and it is pretty bad . it makes the three stooges go around the world in a daze  from      look like a masterpiece .  br    br   the stooges are janitors at a rocket place . they climb into a rocket and it goes to venus . they meet some stuff there including a talking unicorn they call  uni  which they bring back to earth with them .  uni  speaks like an average  pleasant person   oh  hello . how are you  lovely planet here . hope you like it .  hilarious .  br    br   very few gags and so many of the scenes just go on and on and on .  br    br   the stooges arrive back from space and the film is over as far as the story goes  but no one told that to the film makers for the picture continues for another   minutes or so at a party where nothing much happens . the stooges leave the party and then the film is almost over .  br    br   high point of the film  the end where the stooges sing a dapper little song about their journey . the larry and curly joe hit moe in the face with two pies . brutal .  br    br   another writer mentioned the fine musical score . huh  the only music i even noticed were two classic tunes  i  ll take romance and there goes that song again  both of which are played at the party . and that really is the high point of the picture  music from old columbia films .  br    br   the tall sexy blonde was nice .  br    br   awful  a brand new vhs video from the   cents only store .  
if anyone is wondering why no one makes movies like they used to  with conversation  character and a simple theme of friendship struggling to evolve into something new  better and different  those folks need to take in this film and see top notch writing  directing  and acting that melds into a wonderful evening of observation on how things used to be in italy and england . other days  other times funneled into a terrific comedy of entertainment  made in     with alfred molina  joan plowright  polly walker  josie lawrence  jim broadbent  miranda richardson  and michael kitchens in the major roles . under the brush stroke direction of mike newell  these actors accomplish vividly memorable performances that are photographed with a sublimely subtle painter  s eye . reminiscent of the theatrical bedroom farce of the turn of the century  this film might be called a friendship farce that becomes a worthwhile experience in the growth of the romantic nature within each character  and the viewer  too . an artistic telegram on the importance of caring about those around us .  
i don  t care how many nominations this junk got for best this and that  this movie stunk . i didn  t know whether to turn off the set  or file a lawsuit with o . j .  s attorney for wrongful damage to my mental health . i have seldom been this bored to call this dung entertainment is a slap in the face of every movie  goer across the planet . the whole story was stupid  the acting was uninspired  the  drama  was emotionless . i am thankful i didn  t have to pay for this unfulfilling experience .  
somewhat too long and going over the top towards the end  this comedy is an utterly delightful  never condescending or ridiculing look into the problems of a  power man   who likes to wear womens clothes at nite .  br    br   julie walters is lovely as always  but adrian pasdar is utterly credible and steals the film . he  she  is absolutely gorgeous in high heels and silk stockings .  
irwin allen was great . all of his tv shows had a great pilot  or first episode . the rest were basically rip offs of his other shows . a few episodes of swiss family robinson were rip offs of his older tv shows . one episode of swiss family is identical to an episode of land of the giants when a member of the party needs an appendix operation . the show was high budget and too expensive to continue . irwin lost his touch with tv shows after the   s . the acting is strong with martin milner . child stars got there starts with this show like willie ames and helen hunt . one bright spot is when irwin allen incorporates his disaster scenes like a typhoon and a volcanic eruption dubbing him the  master of disaster   
julie waters is always marvelous but adrian pasdar is a positive revelation in this wry gender  bent comedy about a transvestite who cannot suppress his obsession  and the changes he goes through when he  s discovered . unerringly eschews the vulgar  raucous easy jokes for genuine wit and true insight  and has an absolute ball while doing it . a very nice  low  key  feel  good  comedy  
the whole biker movie genre has to be made up of the worst films ever made . this one delivers a lot of fighting  generous amounts of blood  bikers fighting indians  and a shanty town that gets blown up and torn down one shack at a time . the acting is beyond terrible . what ever happened to robert walker  jr .  at one point he was in some major studio productions  and then he just faded away . this movie really blows  but if you have not seen a biker movie in a long time  it is a good one to watch . at the end of the movie  you should feel a bit trashy for having watched it   
this one took me by surprise because i had often been disappointed by adrian pasdar in the past  but he caught the perfect balance in this performance  avoiding both farce and pathos while delivering humour and real emotions . the always  wonderful julie waters is terrific here  and anyone who has not yet scene her in      s educating rita should rent it immediately  marvelous film  . the rest of the supporting characters are well  played as well  many marvelously eccentric without going over the top . this one is fun .  
the most misogynistic movie of all time  not to mention by    shouldn  t they have moved beyond white people in brown face playing the  indians   my favorite parts though have to be when the girls giggle and blush as the bikers drag them off to gang rape them . rape is fun  who knew  let  s see  then there  s the blatant rip  offs of  the hustler   fat boss character actually plays pool while scheming to destroy the indians with the lead rebel dude   the horrific acting  the so  on  the  nose  they  might  as  well  have  just  told  you  what  to  think music cues  the lack of anyone who  s actually indian in this movie . and who are we supposed to be rooting for  i have to say it figures that quentin tarantino loves this movie . even though his movies tend to champion strong women  i  ve heard from at least one source that in real life he  s a misogynistic idiot . why did i watch it  you ask  don  t ask .  
when i heard that adrian pasdar was in drag in this movie  my expectations that i would watch the entire movie were low . the only reasons i gave it a chance were the magnificent julie walters and the recommendation of a friend .  br    br   what i thought would be a broad  mrs . doubtfire  type of farce turned out to be a gentle and insightful comedy . pasdar is entirely credible and empathetic as the ambitious business man who needs to release the female part of his being by cross  dressing on occasions . he transmits these needs to the audience in a thoroughly believable fashion . julie walters is magnificent  is as her habit  as the landlady who teaches him unconditional love .  
when this movie was released  it spawned one of the all  time great capsule movie reviews sphinx stinks . it does  but in a mesmerizing sort of way . the casting is silly  starting at the top frank langella and sir john gielgud as egyptians  not enough makeup in cairo for that  at least not while this film was being made . but it  s rather amusing to see them try . the performances run the gamut from mummy  like  sorry  the obvious observation  to over  the  top  with very few stops in between . the lesley  anne down character seems as though she couldn  t find egypt on a map  much less expound upon its archaeological treasures . that  s due at least in part to some really bad writing  one of the curses that will be visited upon every viewer of this movie . it  s my opinion that movies involving a curse or that draw their basis from a subject that is somewhat esoteric  such as egyptology  are ripe for silly  overwritten dialogue . it doesn  t disappoint  and the convergence proves a double  whammy . the plot has one driving source of dramatic tension can this get dumber and less believable  the answer is  usually  yes . the location shots are beautiful  and the set design is generally very good  the only consistent reminders that this wasn  t some low  budget production . that and the fact that there are so many well  known faces doing service in such an unintentional laugher . cheap  no cheesy  yes .  
this is a very rare example of a movie about transvestitism  of heterosexuals  . the film treats the taboo theme so that even a general audience not knowing of transvestitism at all will strongly sympathize with its main character . adrian pasdar is very believable as gerald  geraldine and shall not be forgot for this brillant acting . the directing of christopher monger is very sensitively  treating such a difficult issue quite excellently  packed into a good story . not a big movie  neither an  art  film  but a little  lovely motion picture   
the robin cook novel  coma  had already been turned into a pretty successful movie in     . a couple of years later it was the turn of another robin cook bestseller to get the big screen treatment  but in the case of  sphinx  virtually everything that could go wrong does go wrong . this is a dreadful adventure flick consisting of wooden performances  stupid dialogue  unconvincing characters and leaden pacing . the only reason it escapes a   out  of    rating is that the egyptian backdrop provides infinitely more fascination than the story itself . hard to believe franklin j . schaffner  of  patton  and  planet of the apes   is the director behind this debacle .  br    br   pretty egyptologist erica baron  lesley anne  down  is on a working vacation in cairo when she stumbles across the shop of antiques dealer abdu  hamdi  john gielgud  . hamdi befriends erica and is impressed by her enthusiasm and knowledge . consequently  he shows her a beautiful and incredibly rare statue of pharoah seti i that he is keeping secretly in his shop . the very existence of the statue arouses intense excitement in erica  for it could provide vital clues in locating seti i  s long  lost tomb  a prize as great as the discovery of tutankhamun  s tomb in     . before hamdi can tell erica any more he is brutally murdered in his shop  with erica watching in silent terror as he meets his grisly end . afraid yet tantalised by what she has seen  erica attempts to track down the treasure . she finds herself helped and hindered in her quest by various other parties  none of whom are truly trustworthy . for one there is yvon  maurice ronet   seemingly a friend but perhaps a man with sinister ulterior motives  then there is akmed khazzan  frank langella   an egyptian for whom erica feels a certain attraction but who may also be hiding dangerous secrets from her .  br    br   the biggest problems with  sphinx  generally result from its total disregard for plausibility . down couldn  t be less convincing as a female egyptologist  one assumes she would be quite well  educated and resourceful  yet she spends the entire film screaming helplessly like some busty bimbo from a teen slasher flick . on those rare occasions that she actually isn  t running from a potential villain  she does other brainless things such as taking polaroid flash photos in a      year old tomb  the plot twists are heavy  handed to say the least  mainly comprising of revelations and double  crosses that can be predicted well in advance . one can  t even try to enjoy the film on the level of dumb but entertaining action fare  because the pacing is awfully sluggish . what little action can be found is separated by long stretches of tedium . a famous review of the movie declared  sphinx stinks   never before has a   hour film been so aptly summed up in  words .  
buster keaton was finding his feature length voice in  three ages .  there are some fine sequences  but it doesn  t quite hang together . the  chariot race  in  three ages  is hilarious . included are  shorts  one of which   the goat   is excellent .  
some nice scenery  but the story itself   in which a self  proclaimed egyptologist  lesley  anne down  visits egypt and  in the course of doing egyptologist things in the most un  egyptologistic of ways  e . g .  flash photography in the tombs  the handling of old parchment  etc .   uncovers a black market turf war and somehow  in the span of two days  no less   becomes that war  s jumpsuit  wearing epicenter   is more puzzling than any riddle the sphinx ever posed . down is simply awful as the visiting british scholar  that she seems to know absolutely nothing about the culture of egypt and even less about antiquities is the fault of the writers  certainly but that she  s annoying as all get out is her own fault entirely   and the rest of the cast  including sir john gielgud and frank langella  seem as downright confused by the proceedings as i was . in short  not what you  d expect from schaffner  planet of the apes  patton  and co .  br    br   worth watching for a laughably dated scene in which down rails against all male scholars  blaming them for her failure as an academic  while bathed under the softest light hollywood could muster . to top it off  she spends the next hour of the film shrieking and harried and running into the arms of any dude she can find . wow  talk about your performative irony   br    br   note to would  be egyptologists take a year or two of arabic in grad school . it  ll really help out in the long run . . .  
this movie is really funny   the general is keaton  s finest work but there are many of his works that are more hilarious  in this one are multiple sight gags and creative humor . we watch it over and over and it only seems to get funnier   
rather foolish attempt at a hitchcock  type mystery  thriller  improbably exchanging espionage for archaeology and based on the robin cook novel incidentally  i  ve recently acquired another adaptation of his work  coma        in honor of the late richard widmark . for the record  director schaffner had just made the boys from brazil        a similarly fanciful but much more engrossing suspenser and  unfortunately  sphinx was a false step from which his so  far impressive career would not recover .  br    br   despite its scope and reasonably decent cast  however  this one proved a critical and commercial flop  mainly because the narrative just isn  t very thrilling in fact  it  s quite dreary  feeble attempts at horror  the archaeologist heroine having to put up with entombment  rotting corpses galore  and even an attack by a flurry of bats  notwithstanding  . lesley anne  down is the lovely leading lady  stumbling upon a lost treasure  it  s actually been hidden away by a local sect to prevent it from falling into the hands of foreigners  who have appropriated much of the country  s heritage  under the pretext of culture  for far too long . sir john gielgud turns up in a thankless bit early on as the antique dealer who puts down on the way of the loot  and pays for this act of treason  with his life .  br    br   typically  it transpires that some characters are the opposite of what they claim to be  so that apparent allies  such as maurice ronet  are eventually exposed as villains  while an ambiguous figure  frank langella  whom i saw at london in early     in a west end performance of frost  nixon  which has now been turned into a film  goes from down  s antagonist to her lover and back again  as he determines to keep the wealth belonging to egyptian high priest menephta a national treasure .  
one of the ten best comedies ever  br    br   this seems a comedy so joyous and light that sings . keaton  s comedies are  innerly  harmoniously  intelligently ordered  thought .  br    br   wonderfully amusing  deliberately delightful and inventive  three ages should belong to a draft of a comedies top ten if i were to sketch one . a threefold love story will enchant the viewers i want to bring here this approachkeaton  s comedy is like lang  s destiny upsidedownor  rebours . again a couple traverses the waters of timeand of epochsin the stone age  in rome and in keaton  s timesin a mohammedan country  in renaissance italy and in china . the same device works in the both moviesone  a grim  eerie melodrama   the other  a light  virtuouslypaced comedy . at keaton it  s essentially the same couple and maybe the same is with lang . the babe desired by both buster and beery is nice . i have found three ages well written and smart  without being ostentatiously sophisticated the plot is basically very popeyelikethe babe is a piece of furniture  the only protagonists are the two male rivalskeaton and beery .  br    br   keaton  s movie is simply enormously likable  and perhaps one would be tempted to assert this looks like ambitious funyet it  s not  but it is grand fun  large fun  ample fun . and wallace beery makes a fine nemesis .  
this film has nothing whatever to do with the sphinx  and the title is just a come  on . the story concerns an imagined true and concealed tomb in the valley of the kings  of king seti i  second pharaoh of the   th dynasty  new kingdom period . it is not a bad yarn  and a great deal of the film is shot on location . even the scenes in the winter palace hotel lobby in luxor were really shot there  and not in a studio . the second unit stuff is endless  and they must have been let loose on egypt for weeks . frank langella is very good indeed as a sophisticated egyptian . he should take it up as a sideline . the film is essentially ruined by one of the world  s most irritating actresses  lesley anne down  who plays the lead . she spends the whole film wondering how she looks  are her blue eyes refracting light at the correct angle  do all the fellas lust after her  etc . having started life as a model at the age of ten  what hope could there be for her  she epitomises everything that is most revolting about female vanity and dim  witted inanity . and to think that this film was directed by franklin shaffner  who won an oscar for  patton   he allows this terrible actress to whimper and simper through the film  hysterical one moment  flirting the next  in a kind of hurricane of idiocy as she reels from one man to another  either screaming or making bedroom eyes  it matters not . she is supposed to be a young egyptologist . but she has never been to egypt before  she takes a taxi to giza and catching her first glimpse of the pyramids  gushes in ecstasy  but they  re so big      barf  ok  so that was the script  but she takes to the banality too readily  giving the impression that it is her natural element  which i don  t doubt for a minute . elements of the story are sound . there is  indeed  a serious problem about a black market in antiquities there . true  well done  the novel by robin cook  which i have not seen  may be ok for all i know . it was fun to see the name of cyril swern as sound recordist on the film  as i knew him pretty well long ago . stanley kubrick  s step  daughter katharina is described as  draughtswoman  . i wonder what that means  maybe she did some set work . anyway  the antiquities in the film are pretty good  actually . and we get to see lots of the cairo museum and numerous scenic locations . they actually go inside king tutankhamun  s tomb  i don  t imagine that would be allowed today for a movie . a lot of inappropriate scenes take place in mosques . that would not go down well today  but in     such things were not on the agenda . the music for the film is absolutely appalling  worse than lesley anne down in fact  but there were sound track elements which were surprisingly authentic  one being the cacophony of traffic noise of cairo  which is accurately rendered in the background  and would make anyone who knows cairo chuckle nervously . also  the loudspeaker calls to prayer are there the whole time  another touch of authenticity . why didn  t they get this right  it could have been good .  
although the movie is clearly dated  audiences can still easily identify with the plight of hapless buster in this timeless and very funny underdog tale . buster fights against unkindly odds in three different ages the stone age  the roman age  and the moden age  playing almost the same character with just a change of scenery to help us identify the different  ages  . in this movie we see one of the earliest comedic depictions of the  caveman  stereotype  who wins his love not by romance but by brute force  as well as a funny twist on roman gladiatorial combat  two comedic sketches that long predate such spoofs as mel brooks   history of the world part i  . the underlying theme of the movie is simple yet convincing although the times may have  a  changed  we still face the same struggles even in modern times that we fought in prehistoric times in order to  win the girl   keep in mind this is the theme of     america  a time when chauvinism was still en vogue  . it is interesting to look at this movie over eighty years later  and consider how dramatically things have changed from this movie  s  modern times  to now .  
this worldwide was the cheap man  s version of what the nwa under jim crockett junior and jim crockett promotions made back in the     s on the localized  big   stations during the saturday morning  afternoon wrestling craze . when ted turner got his hands on crockett  s failed version of nwa he turned it into world championship wrestling and proceeded to drop all nwa references all together . nwa world wide and nwa pro wrestling were relabeled with the wcw logo and moved off the road to disney  mgm studios in orlando  florida and eventually became nothing more than recap shows for wcw  s nitro  thunder  and saturday night . worldwide was officially the last wcw program under turner to air the weekend of the wcw buyout from vince mcmahon and wwf . today the entire nwa world wide  wcw worldwide video tape archive along with the entire nwa  wcw video tape library in general lay in the vaults of wwe headquarters in stamford  connecticut .  
as is well  known among long haired youngsters who are incredibly interested in this herr graf  s silent rants  during summertime aristocrats like to travel to exclusive and distinguished places in order to avoid the heat as well hordes of coarse people taking their ease . such bizarre travels around the world also happen in  three ages   a charming and elegant piece of silent work directed by old hands  namely herr buster keaton and herr eddie cline .  br    br   obviously this german count liked most the first segment focused on the stone age due to the affinity that this aristocrat feels about that ancient time . preferring that to the second segment which takes place during the glory of rome  it should have included the cause of the fall of the roman empire  that is to say  barbarians  or the same thing  germans  . of course  the third segment takes place during modern times but this teutonic aristocrat thinks that even    years ago should qualify as modern .  br    br   the leitmotiv that moves herr keaton and his companions to travel and endure the strange and hilarious happenings during three different ages  is the search for love  a very complicated subject to understand for aristocrats who prefer the search for money and self interest . every time that  three ages  is shown in the schloss theatre  it is always a pleasure to watch a funny  witty silent film  even for a serious german count   an oeuvre full of gags and gadgets  puns  pratfalls and acrobatics  visual and astounding technical tricks  an absolute silent delicatessen that is perfect to allow one to endure the various and coarse summertime severities .  br    br   and now  if you  ll allow me  i must temporarily take my leave because this german count must flirt with an old teutonic heiress who doesn  t look her age .  br    br   herr graf ferdinand von galitzien http   ferdinandvongalitzien . blogspot . com   
i won  t describe the story  as that has been done elsewhere . we are great clive owen fans  and when our netflix recommended the movie  we were intrigued .  br    br   no wonder we had never heard of this  movie   because it was a bbc television movie back in     . hence  the poor production values  grainy image  jerky camera work and poor sound .  br    br   but  you don  t really mind the mechanics  because the story itself will put you to sleep . it  s an interesting human story  but not at all compelling  and there is hardly any ending . you don  t really care for the characters as their lives are as boring as your life watching this tedious movie . save the two hours and do something to make the time more worthwhile .  
  my child  my sister  dream  br    br   how sweet all things would seem  br    br   were we in that kind land to live together   br    br   and there love slow and long   br    br   there love and die among  br    br   those scenes that image you  that sumptuous weather .   br    br   charles baudelaire  br    br   based on the novel by elizabeth von arnim   enachanted april  can be described in one sentence  it takes place in the early     s when four london women  four strangers decide to rent a castle in italy for the month of april . it is the correct description but it will not prepare you for the fact that  enchanted april   an ultimate  feel good  movie is perfection of its genre . lovely and sunny  tender and peaceful  kind and magical  it is like a ray of sun on your face during springtime when you want to close your eyes and smile and stop this moment of serene happiness and cherish it forever . this is the movie that actually affected my life . i watched it during the difficult times when i was lost  unhappy and very lonely  when i had to deal with the sad and tragic events and to come to terms with some unflattering truth about myself . it helped me to regain my optimism and hope that anything could be changed and anything is possible . i had promised to myself then that no matter what  i would pull myself out of misery and self  pity and i would appreciate every minute of life  with its joy and its sadness . . . i promised myself that i would go to italy and later that year i did and i was not alone .  br    br   charming  enchanting  and heartwarming   enchanted april  is one of the best movies ever made and my eternal love . this little film is a diamond of highest quality .  
i watched this movie for a project on love . please tell nicolas cage to learn what it would feel like to be his character  and then re  read the lines he  s saying . my life cannot go on . . . i accidentally cut off my own hand . . . my brother was close by . obviously his fault . and since when have happy endings included the nice guy who takes care of mom sad and alone . no closure  bad script  and doesn  t have enough extension of minor characters . save yourself  unless your up for a good laugh . costumes were done appropriately  and extras did a fabulous job . i  m sure it would have been a fun movie to make  but keep it more genre specific  i can  t recommend this movie to anyone i know  because it is not an intellectual movie . it is not a chick flick . it is not a strict romantic . and i can  t show kids because of the sex and questions to follow . all in all  just not a good flick .  
d . w . griffith could have made any film he wanted to after the enormous financial success of  the birth of a nation   he chose to make the most technically ambitious film to that date   intolerance .  he took a risk with such innovations in film montage and form  and the well  known financial train wreck resulted . buster keaton doesn  t take that kind of a risk with  three ages   a parody of  intolerance .  this is keaton  s first feature  length film of his own  he only acted in  the saphead   . he had the fallback plan of dividing the three episodes in this film into three separate shorts  which griffith did do with  intolerance .  keaton didn  t have to . chaplin had already succeeded with feature  length comedies  so if keaton was taking a risk here  it was completely calculated .  br    br   chaplin had already done a parody of another film  too  with  burlesque on carmen        . keaton appears to allude to that film  as well . the wrestling scene in the ancient rome episode references the swordfight that turns into a wrestling match in chaplin  s film . the comical distance from the plot of both scenes is the same  too . furthermore  chaplin  s film imitated the glossy style of demille  s  carmen   and chaplin  s film seemed a tribute to that film . keaton doesn  t attempt the radical editing  narrative structure or monumental nature in his parody  but it seems respectful of  intolerance  nonetheless . at least  the stories aren  t told completely straightforward as in other post   intolerance  films  such as dreyer  s  leaves from satan  s book   blade af satans bog       and fritz lang  s  destiny   der mde tod       . there is some mild jumping back and forth between episodes .  br    br   where keaton did take risks  however  is in his physical  daredevil comedy . that  s keaton unintentionally failing to jump across buildings in the modern episode . reportedly  he was convinced to alter the scene rather than attempt the jump again . and  it wasn  t just keaton who took risks the anachronistic baseball gag  for example  was rather dangerous . thus  although in a different way  keaton  like griffith  took risks with his big film . and  i think they both succeeded .  
split second might have been a good movie . a story about a  road rage  homicide  has a very young clive owen giving a pretty good performance but . . . but . . . .  br    br   unfortunately  the filmmakers undercut their own movie with idiotic camera  work and truly awful editing . the camera jumps all over creation in an unsuccessful attempt  i suppose  to reflect owen  s stress from business  family  and traffic . what this actually does is to give the viewer a headache .  br    br   since the filmmakers cared nothing about making a good movie  but only to impress each other with their idiotic photography  one ought not waste time on this travesty .  
this is a cleaver film featuring love through the ages . the film consists of keaton seeking out a lady love in the stone age  in ancient rome and in the present      s  . in all three cases  he is the usual wimpy buster and he battles against wallace beery for his lady love . of the three time periods  i think i liked the roman one best even though i admit it might have also been the cheesiest . i actually liked the scenes with the lion that was obviously a guy in a costume as well as the weird chariot race in the snow   but what i really enjoyed the most was seeing all of keaton  s amazing acrobatics . however  all three time periods were good old fashioned fun and the film  while not his best  is still an exceptional and enjoyable film . check it out   
  a death at a college campus appears to be a suicide but is actually a cover for murder . the dead man  s roommate finds himself embroiled in a mystery as he tries to uncover the truth behind the young man  s murder . twists and turns  as well as some false leads  makes this a tough case for our collegiate hero to solve  let alone  keep  out of the clutches of the killer   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   the stars may be bigger than the movie . handsome charles starrett  as ken harris   who has a small  lingerie  scene  became one of the top western stars of the forties  peaking in  the return of the durango kid        . the man playing his father  robert warwick  as joseph harris   was one of the most respected actors of the teens  beginning with his performance in  alias jimmy valentine        . watch out for red herrings .  br    br    a shot in the dark         charles lamont  charles starrett  robert warwick  james bush  
this was keaton  s first feature and is in actuality three shorts  set in different periods  stone age  roman age  modern age  on the eternal triangle of romance . the stories parallel each other as in griffith  s intolerance  which this was intended to satirize . the strengths of the jokes and gags almost all rely on anachronisms  bringing modern day business into ancient settings .  br    br    warning  spoilers follow to elaborate best points   br    br   here are the classic moments  br    br   using a turtle as a wee  gee board  stone age   a wrist watch containing a sun dial  roman age   a chariot with a spare wheel  roman age   using a helmet as a tire lock  roman age   early golf with clubs and rocks  stone age   dictating a will being carved into a rock  stone age   the changing weather forecaster  roman age   the chariot race in snow  buster using skis and huskies with a spare dog in the chariot  s boot  roman age  .  br    br   the above are all throw  away gags that keep us chuckling . there are however unforgettable moments as well  br    br   buster taking out shaving equipment to match girl putting on make  up the fantastic double take when an inebriated buster gazes at his plate to discover a crab staring up at him  within one second he has leaped to stand on his chair from a sitting position and leaped again into the arms of the waiter  one of the funniest moments i  ve ever seen  . and that lion  the manicure  just brilliant .  br    br   there  s also an off  color bit of racism when four african  american litter bearers abandon their mistress for a roman crap game .  br    br   kino  s print is a bit fuzzy and contains numerous sequences of both nitrate deterioration and film damage  most probably at ends of reels . the metro feature is scored with piano and flute and borrows heavily from grieg .  br    br   lots of fun and full of laughs .  
my husband and i bought the old school sesame street dvd  s for our daughter and i have to say  i don  t let her watch the new episodes on tv  because i find all of the characters annoying . baby bear and telly  omgosh  how annoying and useless blabber can someone think of for their  skits   elmo  give it a rest not every kid likes him  once again  annoying and doesn  t teach my child anything . mr . noodle  what a reject . i think the one time i turned the  new  show on for her  she and i were left dumber than before . the show has definitely taken a wrong turn . i remember the yip yips  kermit  s breaking news      little dolls  mumford the magician  bert and ernie  grover the waiter  all the great educational skits of old school s . s . sesame street has suffered a direct hit of boredom and dumbness since jim henson  s passing in     . the show no longer has the educational  funny and interactive skits it used to . i find the new versions simply unbearably annoying and full of useless non  educational blabber . way to go s . s . producers  writers you have yet another cartoony show for the parents to sit there non  creative  non  exercised kids in front of so they  ll get out of their hair . per producers  writers  i suggest you whip out the old muppets and start taping similar content to that of the first sesame street  s . lord knows i sure don  t want my child talking like baby bear or elmo .  
first time of seeing buster keaton  s first feature film and i have to admit i liked it a lot and only wish i  d stumbled across it years ago . the rohauer blurb at the start warns that the three ages single nitrate print was rediscovered and salvaged in     just in time before combustion  and many frames that seemed hopelessly glued together were separated . so  it  s rocky viewing in places  but i  ve seen and survived much worse .  br    br   it would have been ok as the  short films but as a take on intolerance it  s inventive and funny from the start to the finish in the stone age with baddie wallace beery riding an elephant and goodie buster riding a pet brontosaurus in the roman age buster riding a chariot with wheel locks and adapted for sledging  no parking signs in latin in this technological age of speed need and greed his car beautifully falls to bits at the first hump . both him and beery are after the girl through the ages  a never ending tussle . favourite bit as the caveman he gets knocked backward over a cliff edge but still blows a kiss to the camera  an amazing second or two   br    br   great stuff  reaffirming my love of silent film comedy .  
i agree with the majority of the comments i have seen written . i grew up watching seseme street before a lot of the people who have written comments were even born . i was born in      so i was   yrs  old when seseme street was introduced to television . the show taught me my numbers  the count   spelling  the muppet   and about life . i liked all the old characters  big bird  oscar  grover  and cookie monster  and don  t quite understand why they had to change . i understand that everything has to change in some way  but to make cookie monster into a  veggie monster  to promote healthy eating . the show has introduced new characters and monsters since it  s inception  why not make a separate  veggie monster  that talks  discusses the benefits of eating a varied diet with cookie monster . but  back to my point . i grew up watching the very beginning of seseme street  my now   yr  old daughter grew up watching ss with me along side her  and we discussed mr . hooper dying  although he had died prior to her being born  as well as other topics on the show . i saw the episode as a older child  and still remember how well they portrayed the event  much like real life . and i  m sure it hit the cast extremely hard as all deaths and losses effect families . you saw this on the show and it allowed parents and children to discuss very difficult events . the show has talked about traditional families  adoptive families and combined families . it  s one of the few shows that actually discusses these scenarios . i now have a  yr  old daughter who really doesn  t watch ss . i  ve tried to watch the show a couple of times  but  it really is not what it used to be . the elmo    hr with mr . noodle is absolutely ridiculous . like many people have said  it doesn  t teach anything . it  s geared for the less than   month old  maybe   and isn  t even funny . i always prided myself on watching ss as a child  teen  and adult with my own child . now on my second go  round  i really have a hard time watching ss . the topics that were discussed death  marriage  non  traditional families  new to neighborhoods  moving away were related to children and adults in a manner easy for     year old to understand and relate to . now  there are no concepts taught  minimal counting  only the occasional mention of the alphabet . it is not the same ss  from an original watcher of the show . please if any producers from the show read these comments  return the show to its foundation . new concepts have never been a problem with ss  they just used to have a better way to incorporate them into the show .  
loosely intended as a satire of d . w . griffith  s intolerance  the three ages was buster keaton  s first attempt at a full length comedy feature . the only similarities to intolerance are the opening  book  scene and the fact that similar stories through the ages are edited together into a complete film . keaton  s reasoning for appropriating this style was that if it didn  t succeed as a feature film  it could be reduced to three two  reelers . fortunately  the three ages succeeds brilliantly as a comedy and contains some of the funniest routines i  ve seen in any of keaton  s film . there is nothing unique or daring about the story lines . they are simple boy  meets  girl  boy  loses  girl  boy  gets  girl plots  but the period satires are riotous and set the standard for future works by mel brooks and all films of this genre . however  i don  t believe that anyone has ever topped this comedy . no one can play the lovable goof like keaton and the stunts in this film are some of his best . in addition  wallace beery  s appearance as keaton  s rival adds to this film  s appeal . anyone who thinks that comedy from the      s cannot be appreciated by modern audiences needs to see this movie .  
the book that this movie is based on seriously changed my life . but saying this movie was a disappointment is an understatement . the acting  directing  cinematography  and storyline were all horrible . i would never recommend this movie to anyone . i  ve told countless people about the book but will now be telling them all that they should definitely not see the movie  i did not expect the plot to follow the book exactly  but they have left out too many key components of the book . the movie tried  but failed  to deliver a powerful and inspiring message and only demeaned the central theme of the prophecy . while putting myself in the position who had not read the book  i saw the celestine prophecy as a bunch of hoaxy b . s . i am thoroughly disappointed with redfield for the way this movie turned out .  
the first   minutes of this movie were quite boring . it focused on the personal problems doyle had  including his sick wife  death threats by fans  a pushy publisher and feelings of guilt concerning his mentally ill father . even though these subjects had an important impact on doyle  s life  i was more curious about the birth of sherlock holmes . the last   minutes were excellent . we finally got a look inside doyle head  how he created holmes and why he had to  kill  holmes . the actors are excellent . including the intriguing selden played by tim mcinnerny  arthur conan doyle  a compelling role played by douglas henshall and brian cox as the  role model  for sherlock holmes  dr . bell . the locations are good  especially for a tv movie and the camera work is nice . if the first   minutes were as good the the last   minutes this would have been a small masterpiece .  
slow  incomprehensible  boring . three enthusiastic words that describe the movie of the book . this is surely a case where the movie should never have been made at the expense of the book . the best part of the movie was the scenery  excellent . the worst part was the slow moving interactions of the actors which combined with endless meaningful glances . the editing is abrupt and patchy . however  despite this  the actors worked very hard at least trying to be a little believable with a terrible script . it was startling that although set in peru there was hardly a person of peruvian descent wandering about the set  even in the flashback scenes depicting peru in the   th century . if you have any sense of history  try to avoid this movie .  
written by the writer who penned the excellent murder rooms series which chronicled acd  s adventures with doctor joseph bell  i was looking forward to this and i wasn  t disappointed . it was quite slow moving  with a lot of emphasis on doyle  s frustration at sherlock holmes which was very accurate and excellently portrayed . it was an interesting character study and very well shot  on digital video  unusual for a period piece  . the acting was excellent all round  particularly tim mcinnery and brian cox although the actor who portrayed acd  whose name i cannot remember impressed me no end . an excellent character study which has about the same amount of twists as any normal sherlock holmes case . do see this if you get the chance  
this movie is nothing but a religious tract promoting classic hinduism and new age occultism dressed up with western images to be swallowed by those who are ignorant of foundational religious comparisons . basic tenants of hinduism contain elements of reincarnation .  some of the characters appear both in the present time and also in the      s  obviously reincarnated . god is an impersonal force . animal life and plant life are all the same .  this is pantheism  . redfield has tried to mix eastern mysticism with western christianty . his attempt at syncretism may fool or confuse those who are not seekers of truth but this movie is a feeble excuse for any ultimate reality . as the ad in the old berkeley barb used to say for    .   will show you how to start your own religion . as one famous prophet has said   use the force luke  .  
i saw the film for the first time at bbc on july the   of     . for me it was a good interpretation of the person conan doyle  and i truly wonder what the sherlock fans think about it . i also think it is a movie for these fans whether they agree or not what is mentioned . you may ask yourself was a . c . doyle a strong person or did he put himself in question . however he was the creator of the famous holmes  but how much of it was a sort of semi  biography  not the less i strongly put this adaption forward  it is a movie you have to see  even if you aren  t interested in the sherlock holmes movies or books  look a it  enjoy yourself and have your own opinion of it .  
i actually didn  t enjoy this movie .  br    br   i saw it at a camp  and we didn  t rave about it  we laughed at it . sure  some parts are touching  but the acting is terrible  the effects are terrible  and the whole overall movie idea is terrible  now  i know it was based on a book which i haven  t read  but i hope that the book was better than this  because frankly  i thought that this movie was very bad and boring  . like i said  i went to it with a bunch of people from a camp  and we were excited to be there  plus i got a caffeinated drink  but nonetheless  i struggled to stay awake . the only thing that kept me up  other than my fear of being embarrassed once i woke up  was the gunshots  that were quite pointless as well . i just really didn  t like it .  
i didn  t even want to watch this movie after reading maltin  s review and     star rating . i watched it anyway on the advice of my son and found it much better than i expected . i would give it     stars out of a  star system . you have to watch the movie more than once to understand it all . if you don  t know much about religion  you will miss a lot . i graduated from high school the year the movie was made  so maybe i can relate to it better . yes  there is some pretension in the movie and it  s weird to some extent  but that was the   s so what do you expect . i can see why people might not like the movie however  i cannot understand people saying it is boring . the movie is anything but boring . you will either hate it or love it . if you find it boring  you are probably brain dead .  
i actually went to see this film in a theater  but what a complete waste of time and money  bad acting  i  m sorry to say  did not help to enjoy this rather sticky screenplay .  br    br   some friends told me to go and see this film  since james redfield  the author of the book  was very heavily involved in the screenplay . they had really enjoyed the book  so the movie just had to be perfect . well maybe i had my hopes up a bit too high  but i absolutely hated this movie  it was predictable  too sweetish to a point that i actually left i had to vomit and worst of all there is going to be a sequel  do the world a favor and stop this abominable crusade .  
the acting is pretty cheesy  but for the people in this area up in the   s and are now detroit area automotive engineers  this is a great movie . i even work with a japanese supplier so that makes this movie even more funny .  br    br   jay leno was showing his age last night on the tonight show  he looks pretty young here . . .   years ago . the opening scene  with the drag race on what appears to be woodward ave was great .  br    br   leno also owns some bad a cars now  it would e great to see a remake of this with his modern collection . i  m sure the blown vette in the opening scene was his own car .  br    br   typical   s movie . watch it and enjoy . no computer generated crap   
i have never seen anything as awful as this movie for quite some time . the movie was boring  long long and awful plot . the special effects sucks like hell  it  s like watching a movie back in     . it  s a total waste of an hour and a half of my time . matthew settle  s performance was quite bad . i saw him in band of brothers playing lt . speirs  he wasn  t that bad . in fact not bad at all . but in this film  his acting wasn  t convincing enough  it was quite bad and there wasn  t any chemistry between the rest of the crew either . plus  his eyes seems empty like he  s not feeling it . it surprised me  really  because he was good in band of brothers .  br    br   anyway  don  t even bother to watch this movie . it  s a big big big waste of time . even if you had to kill an hour or two  get something else to do besides watching this movie . trust me  you  ll regret it   
i always tell people that  enchanted april  is an adult movie with no cussing  no sex  and no violence . one might think of it as  the ultimate chick flick   but i bet there are one or two enlightened men out there who love it too . don  t invite the kids  though . this movie is very low  key .  br    br   seeing  enchanted april  is a very healing experience . the sound track and gorgeous scenery  along with the ladies  gentle manners  bring to mind the peace and beauty of a pre  raphaelite painting .  br    br   lest anyone think yours truly only watches one kind of movie  i will paraphrase a line i heard once on  saturday night live  and say that my two favorite movies are  the deer hunter  and  enchanted april  .  
ok  first the good cher  s performance and the cinematography . although i  m no cher fan  she gives an excellent performance and her part was well written . the cinematography was well done and captures a sense of romance .  br    br   the rest a thin plotline  nicholas cage  s performance  and a totally unhumorous and weak attempt to portray an italian  american family from new york . firstly  everytime time cage opened his mouth i cringed . i don  t know what kind of accent he was trying use . i honestly don  t  it sure wasnt any new york or italian accent i  ve ever heard . it was quite surreal . and it wasn  t because i  m some stickler for accuracy  his voice just cloyed in my ears . and i like nicholas cage in other performances . secondly  and this is purely anecdotal  but i have many italian relations  friends and acquaintances in new york city  and frankly i  ve gotten more laughs and felt more joy in the appreciation of the italian ethnic family by far than this movie provided . and that would be on a boring night at the house . what a let down .  
this movie stars jay leno as a detroit cop  tony costas and pat morita as a tokyo cop sent to detroit to retrieve a stolen prototype of a car motor . a japanese man traveled to detroit hoping to sell it to a up and coming car company ran by a man named derrick jarryd . unfortunately for him the men who were supposed to negotiate the deal killed him and took the prototype . an angry derek jarryd tries to distance himself from phillip madras who led the men . but madras  played by chris sarandon  has none of it and threatens jarryd forcing him to continue their partnership . meanwhile in the same junk yard where the japanese man had been killed  a friend of tony costas was also killed by the same men . tony  s friend had been watching the junk yard .  br    br   tony sets out to find the killer against his superior  s order . tony is on robbery while obviously homicide should investigate the case . while tony is investigating the crime he runs into the japanese cop and mistakingly he arrests him . eventually they end up working together on the case . they make an odd pair and there are some genuinely amusing parts as well as some ridiculous scenes such as pat morita jumping and kicking right through a the windshield of a moving car and kicking madras in the head . but it ends up being an enjoyable buddy cop movie  at least in my opinion . jay leno is no actor  but he is likable in the role and pat morita is good as well . still  they make for one of the more unlikely buddy cop duos in an action film . if you liked buddy cop films  cheesy    s movies or you want to see jay leno as an actor then i recommend this movie .  
at first  three words read the book  really guys  this demonstrates the difficulties of genuine rendition of esoteric matters . i loved the book and was utterly disappointed of the film . it was ludicrous  with half a heart and the story bad explained . the novel  in the first place   wasn  t meant to focus on an adventure  that  s only the surroundings . in the film  the focus reverses to just that and the message has taken a back seat  additional  the visual effects to show the energy of all living things and the elucidation of the events at the end were parsimonious  they screwed it up  . . . i  ll never watch it again   
i saw this movie on cable  it was really funny  from the stereotype police chief to the stereotype big bad guys  jay leno and mr mayagi from karate kid star in this good comedy about a prototype car part . i compare this movie to  rush hour  in which a local cop has to partner up with an asian police officer to solve a case . the chase through farmers market in downtown detroit brings back memories . enjoyable soundtrack  good script  i give it      .  
if you want to see a movie that terribly mixes up one latin country with any other latin country   the celestine prophecy  is a good example  . per  not even in its most violent times  has not shown polices or soldiers as much as in this film . this showed a country like el salvador when civil war . since i  m a peruvian who lives in lima  the capital of per   it was too funny to me seeing the police guards here  there and everywhere .  . if you have a car in per  and you want  or need  to be a taxi driver  just post a sticker with the word  taxi  on the front glass of your car and you can drive freely in peruvian streets  there are taxi companies  but their rates are quite expensive  . no need of yellow or a black  white squared band on the doors of your car . well  taxis in this film have that band  somethin that you will never see in per .  . peruvian people are not caribbean styled clothing . for example  when a taxi driver comes out  he was wearing a  guayabera   cuban shirt   a white hat  and    s mustaches  like clark gable . not one peruvian man looks like that  please  per is not the caribbeans   . a scene shows a woman on a street with a quite long skirt  like the typical folklore dresses in latin america . take a walk anywhere in per  and you  ll never find a woman wearing like that  unless you are watching a typical dance .  . cast could  ve been better i can not deny hctor elizondo is a great actor  but he  s not a latin actor  his father was basque and his mother from puerto rico  but he was born in new york  and his spanish is not fluent . it  s notorious spanish is not his first language . there are dozens of very good latin actors who could  ve performed as cardinal sebastin . petrus antonius  general rodrguez  was also a bad choice for a  latin police officer  . it was so funny seeing elizondo and petronius in general rodrguez  s office . they looked like two english or american students in a spanish class  making their best effort in order to pronounce spanish . unsuccessfully  of course . castulo guerra was better in his spanish . a  peruvian  officer  who announced cardinal sebastin  spoke a quite funny spanish too . there are very good peruvian actors  like augusto alvarez  caldern and christian meier  just to mention two out of many peruvian actors   who could  ve performed with excellence .  . i admit that a fictional movie can let itself a license inventing cities or  even  countries . but  please  when creating a name  be careful when using a foreign language the town portrayed in this movie should  ve been called  vicente  and not  viciente  . vicente is a male name  and viciente has never been used .  . i disagree one user  who says that this movie was filmed on locations in per . not one location is peruvian  although the production has used in excess posters showing  inca kola   the peruvian soda . as not few american films  this one must have used any latin country . after all  for american producers or directors  a latin place is identical to any other latin place .  . in the first scenes  when john  matthew settle  flies to per  he  s supposed to arrive to the only one international airport in per jorge chvez airport  in lima  the capital  . actually  believe me  it must be any airport in the world  but peruvian airport . and  of course  in peruvian airports there are no military or police guards .  . when this john takes a room in a peruvian hotel  this one has a fan and  obviously has no air conditioner . please  this doesn  t happen in no hotel in per  and other latin countries   unless you get a  star hotel    . the rebels who fight against the government are . . . colombians  their accent was  with no doubt  from colombia . for casting them  the producers should  ve hired peruvian actors . in few words  it would  ve been cheaper filming in per .  br    br   i could go on with more examples out of this film  that led me to give it a     awful  vote  but i fell asleep after about   minutes from its beginning . but dear producers it  s not a tragedy there are many worse movies with not few mistakes . just let  s remember  indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull  and indescribable disney  s  the emperor  s new groove  . the list of bad films could be endless . . .  
centered in the downtown and out skirts of detroit  this comedy i found to be a terrific new comedic duo .  noriyuki pat morita  is a very funny man  who happens to be a cop from japan on the trail of an industrial secrets thief  who has stolen a  proto type  turbo super charger  reluctantly he goes to the united states to follow the thief  after being ordered by his commander . pat  s character collides with  jay leno  s  character  a fast talking  but down to business  player type detroit cop . when they cross paths though  the honorable  ways  of japan meet the all  out old school detroit police investigative  ways  . the two stumble and trip over each other at first  but then develop a  rythym  that turns into an explosive two layered powerhouse team  that solves the case  cold . after battling a city crime boss for the stolen  equiptment  and closing the case  these two go from despising each other to being friends and working well together . a little worse for wear and in need of an extended  vacation on top of it all  they manage to come to a victorious closing . i rated this a  . lewis  s direction makes  this a near perfect comedy . fun for all ages . i recommend it highly .     
i went to see this movie with a crowd that consisted predominantly of  spiritual  new age types  who  quite unlike me  very much enjoyed this movie    although according to those that also knew the book  apparently there is a book that contains more of this nonsense   the movie is not quite as good . so  if you tend to think of yourself as  spiritual   believe in or at least can tolerate stuff like  aura  and  astral body   and don  t mind the frequent use of the term  energy  outside of the context of physics or technology  you might actually like the movie  and will likely even more enjoy whatever book it is apparently based on .  br    br   however  if you are mostly in touch with the physical universe  if your ability to suspend disbelief is easily exhausted by inane new age nonsense and plots based thereon  if in addition to that you have a low tolerance for cheesy lighting effects to denote the happening of spirituality  and perhaps even expect reasonable non  wooden dialog an acting  then this is my recommendation for you regarding this movie stay . away .  br    br   don  t even think about it . tonight  this movie displaced dungeons and dragons as the worst movie i ever personally saw in a movie theater  i do not count movies i went to see with the expectation of them being bad  such as plan  etc .  . at the same time  it raised the grand total of movies i almost walked out on to two  dd being the other one  . i do not walk out on movies  not even on this one  but i should  ve when i first saw the visual depiction of an aura  because the new age bs keeps on getting thicker and thicker from that point on .  br    br   the plot is about a group of people involving themselves with some old prophecies  in a quest for spiritual enlightenment and aiming at bringing mankind to the next step in its evolution . or something like that . they actually talk about this spiritual stuff being the next step in human evolution  which should make anybody who has even the faintest idea of what human evolution is cringe . the movie is shock full with whoppers like that . occasionally people beam to what they would certainly describe as  another dimension   or perhaps  another plane   only to become invisible to those around them who haven  t yet reached enlightenment . goodness .  br    br   at the end the director patronizes the audience by rolling the  insights  making up the prophecy  painfully slow  presumably so that we can memorize them and leave the cinema as better  more enlightened individuals .  br    br   good things about the movie  some very pretty nature shots  and some decent supporting performances by elizondo and de almeida .  br    br   i honestly can say that it seriously affects my ability to take a person seriously if they consider this movie interesting or acceptable . it really is el cheapo spiritualism of the most naive kind  and unless that  s your thing  you better do something else with your time and money .  
well no  i tell a lie  this is in fact not the best movie of all time  but it is a really enjoyable movie that nobody i know has seen .  br    br   it  s a buddy cop movie starring jay leno and pat morita  mr miyagi  with some fluff story about a missing car engine prototype or something  but that doesn  t matter . the reason this movie is fun is because of the interaction between the two leads  who initially dislike and distrust each other but in a shocking twist of fate end up becoming friends . the whole culture difference thing is done quite well  in that it  s fun to watch  it  s completely ridiculous but in a cheesy and enjoyable kind of way . the soundtrack is cool  once again in a cheesy    s kind of way  it suits the movie  i  ve been trying to find one of the songs for ages  but as i  m working from memory of what i think a few of the words were i can  t seem to find it .  br    br   another thing this movie has is the most fantastic pay off of any movie ever  but i won  t give that one away  oh no  in conclusion i  d take this movie over   hoursmost of eddie murphys output including beverly hills cop  and whatever buddy junk jackie chan or martin lawrence have to their names . if you  re looking for a buddy cop movie and are getting fed up with  straight white cop meets zany streetwise black cop  give this a shot . you might be pleasantly surprised cos this turns the whole formula upside down with  straight japanese cop meets zany streetwise white cop  .  br    br   i  m giving this  . to be honest i like it more than that . i  d rather watch this than a lot of stuff i  d give  . but i guess i know deep down that it  s some sort of insanity that makes me like this movie .  
i read the book and the book was fascinating .  br    br   this movie  it  s direction  the screenplay  and the acting were totally insufferable . i cringed at the lack of a screenplay that could not follow the novel  a novel that has all the action  simplicity  and courage to illustrate a temerity of a great possibly fact based story .  br    br   i can see why this movie was not released to the general public in most cities . would not ever recommend this film to anyone i know .  br    br   simply  one of he worst adaptations i have seen transformed into a plot less exploration of heaven on earth .  br    br   the cinematography was indeed the only highlight . but  how could that fail when filmed in an beautiful country such as peru .  br    br   to prospective viewers  do not waste your time or energy on this flop .  
okay  i know i shouldn  t like this movie but i do . from pat morita  s loveable interpretation of a japanese stereotype to jay leno  s annoying yell  i laughed throughout this movie . as long as you take into account that this is not the best movie in the world  it  s a good mvie .  br    br   my favorite part is morita talking to his boss in tokyo with the drinking a close second .  
this movie is just not worth your time . its reliance upon new  age mysticism serves as its only semi  interesting distraction . the plot is one that has been re  cycled countless times .  br    br   i was only prompted to even spend the time to put in a comment when i noted that some have tried to prop  up the reputation of this drivel . their motivation  objectivity is dubious  since they encourage you not to look at the movies faults  but at its well intentioned message of new age consciousness .  br    br   so would it be alright for some twenty to thirty evangelical christians  or islamic fundamentalists to pour in positive ratings about movies  television that support their views  in spite of the poor qualities of production  or the lack of truth in any of its supposed historic basis  i hope not .  br    br   i am sure the followers will come right behind me to say flowery things about this movie  in spite of the truth .  
i saw this movie recently .  hours later  my head still hurt from laughing . the plot was soo awful  the jokes were soo bad  but what i didn  t count on were  br    br    . the  scenes before and after the movie that had pat and jay posing  that caused more than enough laughter   br    br    . the kick through the windshield that decapitated the evil  doer .  br    br   this movie is about   times better than the rush hour series  and my copy even came with a disclamer saying if you didn  t like the movie  send certificate to hbo . while i considered it  the date you had to send it in was january      which also caused wackiness to ensue  .  
this delectable fusion of new age babble and luridly bad film  making may not  open  you up  to borrow one of the film  s favorite verbs  but it might leave your jaw slack and your belly sore from laughter or retching . based on the best  selling book by james redfield  first  self  published in      this cornucopia of kitsch tracks the spiritual awakening of an american history teacher  matthew settle  who  on traveling to deepest  darkest  phoniest peru and sniffing either the air or something else more illegal . namely what he discovers is a schlock shangri la populated by smiling zombies who may be nuts or just heavily medicated  perhaps because they  re often accompanied by a panpipe flourish and an occasional shout out from a celestial choir . although there  s a lot of talk about  energy   that quality is decidedly missing from the motley cast whose numbers include thomas kretschmann  annabeth gish  hector elizondo and jurgen prochnow  all of whom are now firmly ensconced in the camp pantheon . for those who care  the plot involves the military  terrorists and the roman catholic church armand mastroianni provided the inept direction while mr . redfield  barnet bain and dan gordon wrote the hoot of a script . in short  easily the worst film seen in    years of viewing movies .  
this movie will go down down in history as one of the greats  right along side of citizen kane  casablanca  and on the waterfront . someone please convince leno to do a sequel  leno and morita are a comedy duo  the likes of which haven  t been seen since abbot and costello . the evil that emanates from chris sarandon  tom noonan  and randall  tex  cobb will give you the chills . dingman  s character as the buffoonish oaf hearkens back to the days of shakespeare  s comedies . and the climax . my goodness  the climax . i won  t ruin it for you  but it makes the explosion of the death star pale in comparison . if you can track down this hard  to  find gem  do yourself and your family a favor and buy it immediately . i  m still holding out hope for a special edition dvd one of these days .  
i have just seen this movie and have not read the book . the good thing of the movie is that at some parts it gets you thinking for a little while on the spiritual subject  evolution  sincronicity and your part in the world .  br    br   however  the movie  s immersion is easily broken and there is very little rapport between the viewer and the characters . it is very clear that the book looses a lot in this movie version . the events that were suppose to show sincronicity taking place are almost unrecognizable . a lot of reasoning has to be done for the viewer to see that the scene indicates a coincidence  and even more to imagine that it has something to do with a greater purpose .  br    br   enlightenment scenes are visually poor and do not create the better feeling that it was supposed to . do you recall the enlightenment with keanu reeves  in little buddha   well  this is nothing like that .  br    br   most scenes are poorly executed . there are a lot of scenes that really don  t develop the story and also do not help in creating an atmosphere .  br    br   the better actors in this movie  namely hector elizondo  joaquim de almeida and jrgen prochnow cannot save it . the first  seem to have gotten more scenes than their characters should in an attempt to save the movie  and because they were paid more  but this does not work . most of the scenes are not really necessary and do not help the story at all .  br    br   jrgen does good in his scenes and sells as an evil guy  as always   but the script does not help him at all . the scene where he first tries to convince john  matthew settle  to join him is just bad script . the execution of the scene when he dies in an explosion is absurdly bad executed . the flashbacks throughout the movie cannot even be commented .  br    br   overall this movie is a big waist of time  read the book  i have not read it  but it is probably a billion times better than this  it has to be .  br    br   it is so bad that i had to write my first comment in imdb .  
this could be a   if it wasn  t for the quite predictable and hollywood  ish scenario . daniel day  lewis confirms its position as one of the leading actors of our time  why not the leading may i ask  and the rest of the cast stand in a very high level . i personally was impressed with hugh o  connor who played christy brown as a child . the very first scene i watched him was really strong . wow .  
the movie was terrible    easily the worst movie i have seen in the past few years . one of those movies i will be able to tell people for the next three years that it was the worst movie i can think of . thank you for giving me an answer to that burning question  what is the worst movie you have seen   answer celestine prophecy . trust me . . . i read the book  enjoyed the message and was excited to see the movie  but then  they treated the audience like we are rtarded . there is no story and the story that is there is crippled by too much magic and coincidence . it is too bad they have to spell out the nine prophecies and can  t simply weave them into a story that is entertaining to follow . they didn  t spend any time on character development and it was easy to not care if any character died . it was embarrassing to be one of the few people who stuck around until the end of this incredibly boring movie . the book is pretty boring too but i enjoyed the parallels that could be seen in everyday life while you read the book . the film does not offer the same opportunity and i would suggest not seeing it if you want to continue to hold the words of the book close to your heart . don  t see this movie . trust me .  
at the time   my left foot  was the little movie that could . it was hugely popular  and everyone applauded the fact that such a small  independent film could make it all the way to the oscars .  br    br   since then  movies like  my left foot  are a dime a dozen  so it might be hard in retrospect to understand what all the fuss was about . it  s certainly a well made and competent film  but it  s clear that the bulk of its success rests on the shoulders of daniel day  lewis  who immerses himself in the role of cristy brown  a man living with cerebral palsy . day  lewis pulls off the same bit of stunt acting that had won dustin hoffman an oscar the year before for playing a man with autism in  rain man   and the academy followed suit by giving day  lewis the same honor .  br    br   the only thing really separating this film from a big budget hollywood production is just that   its budget . in every other way it  s just as formulaic as any standard product . that  s not to say it isn  t a good movie  but it  s not a masterpiece .  br    br   grade a   
boring . minimal plot . no character development . i went into this movie with high expectations from the book . it could have been an awesome movie . it could have probably become a cult classic . nope  it was a giant let  down . it was poorly cast and had horrible special effects . it was difficult to determine who were the bad guys the rebels or the military or the church or all of them  i am still left puzzled by certain mini  plots from the movie . i am left dumbfounded as to certain aspects of this so  called  prophecy   which is never really fully explained . i felt like i was watching a corny episode of a mini  series on the sci  fi channel . it seemed very much like a made  for  tv movie . don  t go see this movie . it is a waste of time and money .  
  my left foot  is a pretty impressive film that tells the story of christy brown  an artist who was crippled with cerebral palsy and learned to paint with his left foot  the only limb in his body he had control over . daniel day  lewis won his first oscar as best actor for this film  which i  m not absolutely certain was deserved  but is still noteworthy . day  lewis give brown a realistic and occasionally almost humorous touch . brenda fricker  as brown  s devoted mother  also won an oscar for a believable and touching role . my problem with this film is that it is a bit too real at times . when brown is in desperation and must help someone and do it all with his left foot  the film can be difficult to watch . this gives it an often depressing feel that may turn off some viewers for a time . however  if you look beyond that  you will see a sense of hope and inspiration for those who have handicaps and other difficulties to overcome . those of us who are not crippled and still consider ourselves to have problems are inspired by this film  because if somewhat with a much worse condition than us can overcome their difficulties  we can certainly do the same thing . well made  occasionally enjoyable  but difficult to watch . may not be for everyone  but not bad at all .  br    br    out of   
amateurism best describes the film adaptation of the best  selling philosophical novel  the celestine prophecy   which follows the spiritual awakening of an out of work teacher in a mysterious village in peru . home video quality actors present so  called characters spewing overwrought exposition and metaphysical hokum  while the film is propelled by the extremely heavy  handed direction of armand mastroianni . even though there are visible attempts at measuring up to and interesting fans of stronger fare in the vain of abc  s  lost  or dan brown  s  the da vinci code   the filmmakers are hardly up to the task . this film reeks of ill  conceived mass consumption spiritual propaganda  and the results are so awful few can wade through this mess to spot a real point .  
had a bad day  dog bit the mailman  car wouldn  t start  people got on your nerves  then refresh yourself with a delightful experience .  br    br   two women decide to pool their resources in answer to an ad for a month  s rental of a villa in italy . due to financial circumstances  two other women join them . two have humdrum marital lives one is an elderly woman who prefers to live in the past the fourth is a wealthy and beautiful woman wholly jaded by life .  br    br   as the spell of the villa permeates their spirits  each grows in her own way and is uplifted in her outlook . this also changes the people in their lives who have visited them . as they leave you know the magic of the villa will remain with them . . . and you will find your outlook altered  for the better . a delightfully uplifting movie   
generally over rated movie which boasts a strong cast and some clever dialog and of course dean martin songs . problem is nicholas cage  there is no chemistry between he and cher and they are the central love story . cher almost makes up for this with her reactions to cage  s shifting accent and out of control body language . cage simply never settles into his role . he tries everything he can think of and comes across as an actor rather than real person and that  s what  s needed in a love story . cage has had these same kind of performance problems in other roles that require more of a jimmy stewart type character . cage keeps taking these roles  perhaps because he likes those kind of movies but his own energy as an actor doesn  t lend itself to them  though he  s gotten better at it with repeated attempts . he should leave these type of roles to less interesting actors who would fully commit to the film and spend his energy and considerable talent in more off beat roles and films where he can be his crazy interesting self .  
daniel day  lewis is the most versatile actor alive . english aristocratic snob in a room with a view  passionate irish thief in in the name of the father  an impudent  violent butcher in gangs of new york  in a performance ten times stronger than adrian brody  s in the pianist  and as the outrageous cristy brown with cerebral palsy in my left foot  just to name a few  . his roles all influence eachother  but each is seperate  and utterly unique . he changes completely  with each character he takes on . and i  m beginning to believe that he can act as anything . anything .  br    br   as cristy brown he is stunning . he does not ridicule the character  and he does not pity the character . a difficult achievement . and cristy brown comes to life . a smart man . an outrageous man . human .  br    br   this movie  despite small scene  transition faults and the like  is an inspiration . yes  it  s predictable . but is it stupidly sentimental  no . i laughed . i cried . not a single moment of cheese . proof that this isn  t a hollywood movie .  br    br   my favourite scene is the scene in the restaurant  when cristy is discussing painters with eileen  peter and her friends . here  s where daniel day  lewis reaches an acting climax .  i  ll kick you in the only part of your anatomy that  s animated .   wheel out the cripple   and his performance never slows down  never falters  and is beautiful . simply . he has a lot of screen time here . i watch it again again  and i never get tired of cristy  s perspicacious eyes  twitching and guttural speeches .  br    br   a must  see . fo sho  yo   
my dear lord  what a movie  let  s talk about the  special effects  first . don  t get me wrong here  i am not one of those effect fanatics but i was truly thinking that superimposition was a practice of the long gone past  mainly the    s . so for some time i thought they might have recorded this movie a long time ago and it took them forever to cut and release it . but as far as i know they did not have cell phones in the    s . . .  br    br   what i am looking for in movies is mainly a good story with a really good message . acting is secondary  effects are secondary  i do not even mind a few little inconsistencies . however  in a movies like this bad acting  incredibility  etc . add up to make a bad movie even worse  that  s what happened for me with the celestine prophecy .  br    br   my wife said the book was actually really good and even though i am not into all that spiritual stuff i can somehow see that it can be brought across in a believable way  the movie failed to do so .  br    br   there could be one single reason to watch this one though . if you really love cheesy movies it  ll be the right one for you . if the imdb stars were for cheesiness instead of quality i must have rated this movie ten stars .  br    br   by the way  three stars are for the fact that there are worse movies out there  like  critical mass   look up the comments on that one  hilarious  . the celestine prophecy is at least entertaining to a certain degree .  
i had never seen such an incredible acting job in a motion picture as i did when i saw daniel day  lewis play christy brown in my left foot . in fact off the scene his role wasn  t even over . he played the role of christy brown or at least disabled like him all through the filming of the movie and needed surgery because of the damage his superior acting had done to his back . to me that is remarkable and through all the pain he put up with to act that role i believe it is quite true to say he put on the most oscar worthy performance in history . he was so masterful in this tough a part that i believe no one could have done it better or with more of an impact than him . although i cannot say it is the greatest movie of all time i can say that how he played this impossible a role and then kept on acting it until it wasn  t even acting anymore is without a doubt the greatest feet i will ever seen an actor do . probably a man too for that matter .  
i must admit i do not hold much of new age mumbo jumbo . when people  exchange energy  i always wonder how much kj is actually exchanged and how it may contribute to solving the global warming problem . when energy  is enforced  i always wonder how they managed to violate the laws of entropy and still are without nobel prizes . when people feel how well instinct enables them to flawlessly navigate through the complexities of life i wonder how they fail to do a simple thing like finding the train station .  br    br   but then again  this is not the first movie with plot holes and most of them i find perfectly acceptable and entertaining . if this were the case with  the celestine prophecy  i wouldn  t burn this movie down  but unfortunately it isn  t . every actor seems to be bored out of his head and unable to grasp what he are actually supposed to be doing on location . this results in many  ah  s  and  oh  s   like i tend to do when talking about quantum physics with somebody who actually knows what he is talking about and pretend to understand .  br    br   the direction is uninspired as well . you might expect something more from the guy who did  what dreams may come   but hey  i supposed he got well paid for the job and adopted the attitude of a new york taxi driver  it  s your money  buddy . .  the only one who seems to be having fun is all  time bad guy jrgen prochnow . not only does he have a job  he is one of the few actors in this movie who may have a few wise cracks at this eternal and terribly boring new age chatter .  br    br   this movie is much like one of these dinner dates when you find out that your date is actually a horrible bore who seems to be unable to shut up . at one moment in time it seems the words turn into small ping pong balls that are thrown to your head incessantly until it hurts .  br    br   if you want to have a good time and have to choose between this movie and sticking safety pins in your eyelids  take my advise choose the latter .  
daniel day lewis in my left foot gives us one of the best performances ever by an actor . he is brilliant as christy brown  a man who has cerebral palsy  who then learned to write and paint with his left foot . a well deserved oscar for him and brenda fricker who plays his loving mother . hugh o  conner is terrific as the younger christy brown and ray mcanally is great as the father . worth watching for the outstanding performances .  
the film gives a rather condensed version of what is contained in the book  which as far as i can tell by doing some research and investigative fact checking is largely a work of fiction . in reality  there are no ancient scrolls and if the author was hard pressed i  m sure he  d have to admit he  s never laid eyes on any scrolls in ancient aramaic found in peru . these  valuable  texts written as usual by anonymous  were destroyed by the evil  truth haters  in the church and in the local government . that  s rather strange  as all kinds of new age crap comes out each year    hundreds of books  dozens of movies   and the roman catholic church doesn  t seem to me to be hell bent on destroying the movement which it probably views as i do  a total crock of doody . i  m no fan of the church  mind you  but at least the ancient texts which they base their faith on are real .  br    br   it  s a typical pattern of scam artists and religious hucksters to claim to have seen or translated ancient documents which unfortunately got destroyed by  evil  men or in joseph smith  s case  got taken back to heaven once translated . therefore  the actual texts cannot be found in any museums like the smithsonian  nor the translations checked by specialists in ancient languages like coptic or aramaic . it  s a scam . in one sense  i admire anybody smart enough to come up with a great idea and make millions off it  but i couldn  t do it myself  as i  ve no desire to mislead the public with more new agey hokum .  br    br   occasionally  a genuine ancient text does get found hidden away and lost for years . the gospel of judas  a gnostic text  was discovered and after carbon dating and diligent study of the text  deemed authentic by experts . the gospel of judas was referenced as heretical around    c . e . . no church documents from that time mention any celestine prophecies as authentic  heretical or anything else .  br    br   we are evolving towards something   that much is true    but the optimism in the celestine prophecy is based on nothing but fiction and lies  and a philosophy built on a foundation of lies  like a castle built on sand will collapse . the harsh  ugly  overpopulated  cruel world of blade runner is more likely what it  ll be like over the horizon  than some utopian hippie commune where all is love and peace  i tell people the truth and they hate me  but tell them what they want to hear  even if pure piffle  and one can make millions . the celestine prophecy is what the world wants to hear . too bad it is a castle built on sand . don  t get me wrong . i wish to god  the celestine vision was reality  only it  s not . no ancient philosophy at any time expressed ideas given in the insights with the modern concept of spiritual evolution going hand in hand with biological evolution . these new agey ideas did not exist in the ancient world and did not exist until darwininan evolution became well  known . that means the ideas in the celestine prophecies cannot be older than the     s c . e  and do not go back to the early b . c . e period or near the time of jesus of nazareth . this type of claim by new agers is not at all unusual . wiccans claim their brand of magic and witchcraft   the  old religion  goes back to the stone age  when in reality no book of shadows has ever been known to exist prior to gerald gardner who lived in the     s and was the buddy of aleister crowley .  br    br   new age gurus tell lies and claim their ideas are based on ancient teachings  when the ancients would thumb their noses at such absurdities that are preached by gurus today . why do they do what they do  perpetrate such fraud  simple there are millions of dollars to be made  and the modern guru acquires power over his or her followers . they compete fiercely and have a strong hatred for their competition despite their claims of love for all things . each new age group bitter opposes the others . it  s a struggle for your minds and your wallets .  br    br   but learn one thing from me  that is actually similar to one of the insights  learn to follow your own instincts and look for guidance from within . that i can agree with wholeheartedly .  
as far as i know the real guy that the main actor is playing saw his performance and said it was an outstanding portrayal  i  d agree with him . this is a fantastic film about a quite gifted boy  man with a special body part helping him . oscar and bafta winning  and golden globe nominated daniel day  lewis plays christy browna crippled man with cerebral palsy who spends most of his life on the floor  in a wheelchair and carried by his family . he has a special left foot though  he can write with it  paint with it and hold things with it . he learns to speak later in the film  it is very good for a guy like him . also starring home alone   s oscar winning  and golden globe nominated brenda fricker as mrs . brown and bafta winning ray mcanally as mr . brown . it was nominated the oscars for best director for jim sheridan  best writing  screenplay based on material from another medium and best picture  it was nominated the baftas for best film  best make up artist and best adapted screenplay . daniel day  lewis was number   on the    greatest movie stars  he was number   on the   greatest british actors  he was number  on britain  s finest actors  and he was number   on the world  s greatest actor  and the film was number   on the   greatest british films . outstanding   
i read the book celestine prophecy and was looking forward to seeing the movie . be advised that the movie is loosely based on the book . many of the book  s most interesting points do not even come out in the movie . it is a  b  movie at best . many events  characters  how the character interact and meet in the book are simply changed or do not occur . the flow of events that in the book are very smooth  are choppy and fed to the view as though you a child . the character development is very poor . personnallities of the characters differ from those in the book . the direction is similar to a  b  horror flick . i understand that it would take six hours in film to present all that is in the book  but they screen play base missed many points . the casting was very good .  
there aren  t many overcoming  the  odds stories quite like that of christy brown . born with cerebral palsy in     s dublin  his parents thought his handicap was mental as well as physical . though eventually properly diagnosed  brown  in a lower working  class family with nearly   children  had to push himself just to be appreciated by his family . through the use of his only fully  functioning limb  his left leg  he taught himself to write and paint  both skills he developed expertly .  br    br   but what makes the film version of brown  s autobiography  my left foot  such a great retelling is its humility . both director  writer jim sheridan and star daniel day  lewis have managed to tell this story in a way that doesn  t scream for attention and resort to melodrama . cheesy struggles and scenes of frustration as well as glorious moments of minute victory are easy pitfalls of a story so miraculous  yet  my left foot  stays real and intrinsically inspired .  br    br   day  lewis is the easiest to highlight . playing anyone with such serious physical impairments has to be a demanding task . not only does day  lewis give us a very complete picture of christy  but he also manages to chronicle the growth  improvement and inner change of the character in different stages of his life . he plays christy at   when he had limited language capability and was emotionally volatile just as crisply as he does the intellectually learned christy who struggles to cope with why he can  t find non  platonic love . the latter theme is the film  s strongest and it would  ve been nice for sheridan and co  adapter shane connaughton to really flesh that out . regardless  day  lewis gets us to understand and sympathize with all those elements  giving a performance that  s so believable you often don  t have time to think  wow  he  s such a great actor .  those are the most commendable performances .  br    br   equally important but through more subtle means is sheridan  s work on the film . this story is about day  to  day life and struggles . although christy has such a unique set of circumstances hampering his life  his struggles are not unlike our own and sheridan grasps that concept completely . christy struggles with love  parental attention  questions of self  worth and capability . his struggles are just more physically manifested  literally and figuratively  than ours .  br    br   sheridan gives us moments that capture the spirit of the large brown family and christy  s unique place in it . the drama evolves naturally when tensions are highest and the humor comes in much the same way . the dinner scene when christy learns that his doctor  teacher   the woman he loves   is going to marry his brother peter is the film  s finest example of both day  lewis and sheridan  s efforts . it  s built up to so well by sheridan that it comes out when we  re ready and day  lewis takes us from there with his stunning work .  br    br   the other strong component of the film is brenda fricker as mrs . brown . i did not know she  d won the oscar  but there was something about her performances as christy  s loving and wise mother that just screamed oscar  worthy . her love for christy and constant fighting for him just seems so convincing and heartfelt and she earns a lot of sympathy given her situation .  br    br   the emotional punch of the film given the story is surprisingly minimal . perhaps that was part of the sacrifice of trying to create a film that feels organically human . the two should be reconcilable  but i imagine it  s challenging to tell a story that feels true  to  life and one that provides enough dramatic moments to take our emotions on a roller coaster . the choice to downplay the latter was definitely the wise one for  my left foot .  brown  s circumstances speak for themselves   they don  t need to be squeezed for weightier dramatic impact .  br    br   steven c  br    br   visit my site moviemusereviews . com for more  
bingo is the game  bullshit is the name . rarely has the screen been smeared with such a blown  up hodgepodge of half  baked conspiracy theories  puritan prudery  and new  age gibberish . the bulk of the story is set at viciente  a cristian resort in the peruvian jungle . think tolkien  s rivendell meets star trek  s planet baku  inhabited by dimwitted followers of a not  so  mysterious  but surprisingly narrow  minded cult of love and peace . thanks to gruesome acting and tacky production design  the rainbow  colored visualization of the mysterious all  healing  energy  is particularly hideous    the celestine prophecies  looks and feels like a discarded     s  twilight zone  episode . factual errors regarding church history and nomenclature abound . i can  t believe hector elizondo agreed to be a part of this . maybe it was made without his consent  bowfinger style . may the lord have mercy on the director  the screenwriter  the author of the novel  and the poor souls who see the movie or read the book .  
based on christy brown  s autobiographical novel  this endearing film tells the story of his life  him being affected by cerebral palsy and being considered basically not a person by everyone including his mother . amazingly  he teaches himself to draw and write using his foot  which is the only part of him he can control . an amazing story of courage with a truly amazing and unforgettable oscar winning performance by daniel day lewis .  of    
this film fails to capture any of the mystery and intrigue that the book offers . the main point of the book  the insights  are hardly even touched upon  leaving the viewer wondering exactly why everyone is making such a big deal about them and why they are willing to risk their lives .  br    br   the character development is not good at all . no background or personal development leaves the audience not really caring at all about what happens to them  and so the action sequences fall flat .  br    br   the search for the manuscripts ends abruptly  and with no real explanation  not leaving any sense of satisfaction as to what the whole search was for .  br    br   this is one of the worst adaptations of a book i have ever seen . it is horrible and a waste of time . if you have not read the book  skip the movie and read it . if you have read the book  skip the movie and reread it .  br    br   it is almost as if the point of making the movie was to discredit the book  that is how poorly done and ridiculous this movie is . it is a shame too  because it could have been good had they capitalized on it at the height of its success and they probably would have been able to get a good screenwriter and some good actors .  br    br   please don  t waste your time  read the book     
i watched this film in shire joy .  br    br   this is possibly one of the best films of all time . it has a timeless value  you can get so much out of it it  s amazing . there are parts that are moving  funny  and just great .  br    br   all aspect are spot on  the portrayal of the story is perfect  every detail is     genuine  even small irish subtleties have been covered .  br    br   the use of low and high shots gives two great views on cristy  look out for that  .  br    br   daniel day  lewis  s performance is incredible . i  ve never seen an actor do that  ever . it really is amazing .  br    br   and it  s so great to watch  it flows so well  it  s probably the closest thing yo can get to real life experience . i love it .  br    br   if you haven  t seen it  you should see it . don  t have any doubts on it  there is something there for all .  
i don  t know what that other guy was thinking . the fact that this movie was independently made makes it no less terrible . you can be as big a believer as you want . . . the majority of this film is mindless drivel . i feel i have been insulted by having to watch the first   minutes of it . and that alone was no small feat . not only is the acting terrible  but the plot is never even close to developed . there are countless holes in the story  to the point where you can hardly even call it a story anymore . i  ve never read the book  so i can  t critique on that  but this is the first review that i  ve written here and it  s purpose is solely to save all you viewers out there an hour and a half of your life . i can  t remember the last time i couldn  t even finish watching a movie . this one really takes the cake .  
i thought hugh o  conor was astounding as the young christy brown  and really deserved greater recognition for his role . i couldn  t believe how well he played the part . of course  daniel day  lewis was brilliant too . my favourite scene is where the boys are playing football and christy uses his head to stop the goals and then kicks the penalty  amazing performances by the two christys  and other also  .  
ok  it  s very rare that i complain something i got for free . so i guess this movie pushed me over that limit . i saw it at the hollywood cemetery for free and walked away very very disappointed . one audience member  s question to the director about using the native american references just as  bookends  instead of being weaved into the movie better  basically says everything that this movie failed on .  br    br   native american references    the native american references felt really out of place and contrived . it  s obvious that this director and writer tried tackling an arena they never played in before . they should have stuck to the old adage of  write about something you know  . if they are in fact versed in this it certainly did not show on the movie or the beauty of this unique culture was not given proper justice .  br    br   clichs and on the nose    i agreed to see this film on the basis that it was an indie . so i held it to higher expectations .  little miss sunshine  was an indie and saw it before it became so popular . before it even came out to wide release i was already raving how it  s going to be a hit . unfortunately i could not say the same about  expiration date  .  sunshine  took us to clich incidents but the filmmakers were so clever at their approach that the outcome would take us to a different direction avoiding the trap of being a  cliche  . this movie on the other hand had no way of not falling in the trap because it was already trapped from the start . the psycho mom  s antics  the hendrix couple  etc .  br    br   i hate to say it  but the best and worst movie i  ve seen this year were both indies .  little miss sunshine  being the best and this movie being the worst . i wish i could say otherwise .  br    br   but i do congratulate the filmmakers for having such a good turn out from their family members at the cemetery .  
my left foot  in my opinion  is a great biopic about one of the world  s most talented authors and painters . the performances were smashing  the soundtrack was great  and the casting was perfect . i thought that christy  daniel day  lewis  was a very talented man  although i couldn  t understand what he was saying most of the time . in addition  when he threw a tantrum  i got a little scared . also  it  s just so sad that he suffered from cerebral palsy . in conclusion  if you are a die  hard fan of daniel day  lewis or like biopics  i highly recommend this great biopic about one of the world  s most talented authors and painters . you  re in for a real treat and a good time  so don  t miss this one .  
honestly  i was disappointed in  expiration date .  super clever title and interesting premise  but i don  t think it delivered . what was it about  the main character  s desire to reconnect with his native roots  or  more likely  it was his need to overcome his fear of death . but  he wasn  t set up as someone who has lived his life in fear   it seems as if his life was going fine  but since doomsday is approaching he should now start worrying . i didn  t buy it . meanwhile  the supporting characters in the film didn  t seem to have needs that blended into an overarching story . they were all just doing their thing  running parallel to the main character . also  what was treated as a  curse  looked more like a coincidence . who cursed the family  why  when  finally  why didn  t he just plan on staying in his apartment all day on his birthday  those are my criticisms  but i did love the shots of seattle  cinematography was beautiful  acting was good in the times it wasn  t outstanding .  
my older sister was born in march of     and has cerebral palsy . in her   years of life  she has seen nothing but the walls of our house and her school which is also occupied with other disabled kids . i have been the butt of everyone  s jokes because my sister is disabled  and i still think to this day that nobody is  or ever will give a damn about her and her condition . then i saw this film .  br    br   i knew what christy  s family was going through . but they were lucky . christy could talk  he could communicate  and he had artistic skills . my sister can walk  but she can  t utter a word  and she can  t use her hands to do anything but grab onto things . but this film made me realize there were other people in the world like my sister  and the ending  to tell the truth  made me cry . and i  ve seen shawshank    this film is seriously underrated  and it shouldn  t . this movie tells people something . that people should be proud of their own lives . thinking you can  t write well  this guy wrote with his foot . thinking you  re not attractive  this guy got turned down by lots of girls  because of his condition . not the fastest runner  christy couldn  t even stand up .  br    br   my point parents of young children  i suggest your children watch this movie with you  so they  ll know the next time they see someone on the street in a wheelchair  they don  t stare at them like they  re aliens . my sister got millions of stares  and it breaks my heart to think that this is still happening to many people . this film will teach people  that people who might not seem  normal  are people too .       
i  m surprised that anyone involved with the production of this series would actually admit responsibility . the script is so unfunny it must have been written by someone who failed the entrance exam for the canadian comedy writers  union  and that  s saying something   . get out your binoculars if you want  but there  s nothing resembling a joke in sight . ronnie corbett must have been flat broke to demean himself with this rubbish . the rest of the cast are so lacking in any kind of acting or comedic ability i  m amazed it lasted past the first episode  correction  past the auditions . all i can say to those who are amused by it is that they must be very easily entertained . and it  s obvious that the production costs must have been all of     per episode . and just in case anyone thinks i  m commenting as a foreigner who is unfamiliar with english humour  i must add that i am indeed english .  
  magic  isn  t too strong a word for the spell this film weaves . you find yourself relaxing  and seeing others in a more benevolent light . . . any movie that has that civilizing an effect on viewers deserves serious attention . seldom are we soaked in beauty like this . as if that weren  t enough  it  s funny . performances are  without exception  extraordinary  but special mention must be made of the miraculous miranda richardson  and the superb josie walker  both open like roses .  br    br   why isn  t this film on dvd  it deserves to live forever .  
even thought i  m not the biggest of cher fans  this movie was her crowning achievement . granted  there were long term side  effects and risks of brain damage  memory loss  and  intellectual impairment  upon the screening such a film . a     survey of moonstruck fans by the uk advocacy network revealed that one  third of    moonstruck fans surveyed believed moonstruck had damaged them and an astounding    claimed it had irreparably destroyed their minds .  br    br   cher plays someone very un  cher in this movie  a dowdy young widow named loretta living in new york with her extended family . they  re anti  american  pro  italian and always at each other in someway . she has been going out with johnny camarary for a while  a nice mamma  s boy man  and he asks her to marry him . she says yes . i loved her mom  s questions  do you love him loretta     no .    good . if you love him he  ll drive you crazy because they know they can . but you like him then     oh yeah  he  s a sweet man ma  . when johnny goes off to sicily to care for his dying mother  he asks that loretta make contact with his brother who he  s been estranged from for years .  br    br   this victory for human rights carries even greater significance  as sicily was the birthplace of electroshock treatment . in      italian psychiatrist ugo cerletti  saw slaughterhouse workers using electric shock devices to cause epileptic fits in pigs  easing the job of slitting their throats . cerletti was inspired  and began experimenting with electroshock on humans  developing the first electroshock machine . broken bones and fractured vertebrae that resulted from the convulsions appeared to be of little concern .  br    br   this was  in so many ways  an anti  american movie . it  s about love  to be sure  but it  s also about infidelity  secrets  lonely people  and strange behavior brought on by american policies . the characters  from the frumpy bobo at the favorite restaurant  the aunt and uncle  her parents and their problems  the ancient grandfather and his dogs are all well developed and intrinsic characters . it  s somewhat of a chick flick  as it  s how loretta stops being a dowdy stuffed shirt and awakens the flower of the inner vamp . it  s a cinderella story in many ways  and that is every little girl  s dream to emerge from the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan . . .  br    br   assuming free and fully informed consent  it is well to reaffirm the individual  s right to pursue happiness through brain damage if he or she so chooses . but we might ask ourselves whether we  as fans of cinema  though in no way sworn to any hippocratic oath  should be offering it .  
i  ve just returned from a showing of  my left foot  at our public library . what an emotional experience   i feel drained and uplifted .  br    br   it  s the story of christy brown  irish writer and painter  and based on the author  s autobiographical  my left foot .  christy was born with a form of cerebral palsy such that the only limb he had good control of was his left foot . doctors advised his parents he was hopelessly mentally retarded but his mother didn  t give up on him and  somewhat as annie sullivan had done with helen keller  helped him achieve a breakthrough in which he learned the alphabet and then to read  write  and paint .  br    br   this film won academy awards for daniel day  lewis  best actor  as well as best supporting actress for the actress playing his mother it also received oscar nominations for best picture  best director  and best adapted screenplay .  br    br   as a retired clinical psychologist and family therapist  while many films may entertain me  many also often leave me having to overlook gross fictions or improbabilities in realistic psychological reactions .  br    br   not this film   it was absolutely  spot on  in portraying typical irish parental roles  behaviors  see  e . g .  see typical irish families in mcgoldrick  s  ethnicity  family therapy   as well christy brown  s uneven emotional maturation   some immature personality reactions that were even further amplified by his picking up traits of his father .  br    br   the film presents the greater truth while changing certain sequences in his development  painting  writing  and condensing several important people into one person  for the sake of telling a coherent  believable story  not burdened by small  distracting  less important actualities .  see christy brown in wikipedia for more accuracy .  the dvd version we were shown had some english subtitles that were a great help in understanding christy  s speech   some of the irish speech   the initial release of the film may have lacked this .  if you see this on dvd  enable that option .   br    br   the performance by daniel day  lewis is one of the greatest  believable acting jobs i  ve ever seen . truly magnificent  outstanding  superlative .  br    br    my left foot  bears more than some similarity to a more recent film   the diving bell  the butterfly   in that each portrays the life of a real person successfully surmounting the imprisonment and isolation of an extremely severe physical handicap .  br    br   and in doing so  it resonates with william ernest henley  s  invictus  which begins  out of the night that covers me    black as the pit from pole to pole    i thank whatever gods may be   for my unconquerable soul .   
men in black  was a real disappointment for me . while the actors did a pretty good job  especially smith  there just isn  t a cure for a poor script once in production . the movie really had a  sequel  kind of feel  playing off partial events of the first film . the story was  in a word . . . bad  at best . it wasn  t thought out well  and seemed very choppy and incoherent at times .  br    br   in the first flick  the mib organization had a kind of  elite  force feel . you had a few special agents  and it had a  clandestine  kind of feel to it . in the sequel  the mib organization has a jrotc summer camp vibe .  br    br   the movie wasn  t terrible or anything . . it just lacked the  coolness   for lack of a better phrase  of the first movie . a lot of the same old humor was recycled from the first to the second  and didn  t really add any originality to the mib universe .  br    br   a perfect analogy would be episode  to the first  films . was it decent  yeah . is it worthy of bearing it  s title  not really .  
i have seen this film three times now  and each time i see it  it becomes more personal and more emotional to watch .  br    br   the acting is amazing  which is not hard to believe since it is daniel day lewis  who is an amazing actor . brenda fricker is the surprise wonder in it  though . she captures your heart as the mother of a physically disabled boy  who is not able to walk  or speak until he is in his late teens .  br    br   i can  t say enough good things about the movie  but i will stop here . i recommend it to anyone who enjoys movies that are based on actual events  or just enjoy good dramas in general .  
the trailers get you to the movie  but the movie just wasn  t worth my  .   . . it has some good effects  but the storyline . . yech  i like tommy lee jones and will smith as actors  they have both done some good films  but i wish they hadn  t added this one to their resume  s . to be honest  the book is better . .  
saw this film on dvd yesterday and was gob  smacked and flabbergasted . the unaffected acting of ddl just blew my mind  and i was surprised by the whole cast and its superb acting . all of the character were so authentic to me  i really took ddl for christy burns and brenda fricker for his mom . go and see it  you  ll cry your heart out  but you  ll experience a wonderful catharsis  besides  it teaches you one important lesson determination is everything . you may be a cripple in the poor suburbs of dublin  but when you are headstrong enough you will have no problems at all . if you can only operate your left foot you are still good enough to be a painter or a writer . the worst thing you can do when you are mentally challenged is to indulge in self  pity . it won  t get you anywhere and the only person who  ll pity you will be yourself .  
i didn  t feel as if i  d been raped like i did with the enchanted christmas  but belle  s magical world is still the antithesis of beauty and the beast . like christmas  bmw hates its audience  although not to such an extreme degree . it  s ugly  uncanonical  idiotic  and the writing is horrifically bad . none of the stories work . these are not the characters we loved from batb at all  they  re a bunch of pod people . i wanted to dissect it  but after a few minutes  i gave up  because no one in their right mind would take this claptrap seriously . what we have here are three stories .  the perfect word  is an overbearing  ponderous study of forgiveness .  fifi  s folly  only works if you can accept that babette  s name is actually fifi and that she  s a closet james bond villainess and that lumiere is an idiot concerning women .  broken wing   or  broken wind  as i like to call it  is probably the most heinous of the bunch . beast hates birds  since when  don  t watch this crap  every copy of this video deserves to be cremated . beauty and the beast is still a cinematic classic  a transcendent celebration of love  art  intelligence and the human soul .  
hard to imagine this film is based on a true story  and how christy managed to accomplish the miracle is so heart  stirring . daniel day  lewis is a chameleon  really hard to imagine how much effort he had done to create this disabled character . watching him on screen is a shocking and breathtaking experience .  br    br   the movie is not so pessimistic as i thought before  the story is kinda bright and intriguing . christy is not despised by the normals  his life is also colorful and delightful  although we can be aware of the loneliness and the painful fetter through his eyes .  br    br   one important factor of christy  s success is his mother  s support which seems to be more touching  and the unknown actress brenda fricker also deserves her oscar award for this role  this fat little middle  aged woman uses her all to make christy  s dream come true . so lucky for christy  and hugh o  conor is also excellent as young christy  what a performance for a child  the love story of christy is very well  done  trustful . christy wants love and nothing can derive him of the right to love  his crush on the beautiful dr . eileen cole  surprisingly played by fiona shaw  i am deeply impressed with her role in harry potter series  the loathsome aunt petunia  so her appearance in this role is really beyond my mind  but anyway  any woman has her own youth . . .  is paranoiac and offensive  i do have sympathy for him  love is a two  edged sword  happiness and agony are just next to each other .  br    br   btw  jim sheridan  s works are all good  in america  the boxer etc .  except get rich or die trying   god knows why he chose to direct that crap  really a career taint for him  what a pity   
this movie is possibly the cheapest  cheesiest  and poorest sequel ever made .  br    br   yet  it is the funniest and most idiotic movie by disney  and will guarantee laughs at the sappy stories and lame plots from start to finish .  br    br   it  s a group of short stories that seem like bad fanfictions .  br    br   spoiler alert the first one  s all about beast and belle being petty over a pathetic argument . then  three loser new characters decide to patch things up by forging a letter of forgiveness to give to belle . part way through this little episode  belle has wall eyes  which made my siblings and i laugh so hard . then  she and the beast fight more over the letter . . . and later learn the meaning of forgiveness . how old are they    certainly old enough to know the meaning of forgiveness .  br    br   then  the next one  s all about lumiere being the world  s biggest dope when it comes to romance . this coming from the man who could woo anything female . and they make fifi a psychotic villainess who tries to kill belle  and winds up getting off scotch  free by the end of it . what a message to send the kids   br    br   then  the next one  s all about mrs . potts being angsty . and the next one after that  s all about beast becoming overly possessive of a bird  to the point where he just seems downright silly .  br    br   the animation  s so ugly  it kills . there are at least    mistakes you can plainly see . . . and the coloring is awful .  br    br   belle  s a simpering sap who blubbers whenever something goes wrong . plus  she  s petty and very different from the usual belle .  br    br   and the side characters are annoying . . .  i mean  cogsworth and lumiere fight almost all the time . i know they did that in the movie  but it was overdone in this .   br    br   but the worst character is mrs . potts . she  s ruined in this . i can  t even describe it . just buy it and see for yourself .  br    br   i give it a     for the sap  but i give it a      for comedy .  
if ever there were an inspiring story that could move anyone  disabled or not  to persevere despite the odds and make it  even when  make it  as an expression  proper  can have a wide berth which is an ultimately personal truth   my left foot is it . it  s a hard film to watch at times seeing the less placid aspects of christy brown  s personality emerge in two key scenes   one when his sister declares she is pregnant and about to get married while his father has a bad reaction  and at a dinner table when the woman who  s reached out to him  made him able to communicate effectively  now has announced at a key moment  the inauguration of brown  s art  she is about to marry another man   is tough . very  very tough . more so because this is a man who cannot react accordingly to these events and can only express himself in the only way he knows how via screams  shrieks  and profanities aimed at hurting himself . however  this is not a story of heartache and family dysfunction even when there is quite a bit of it furnishing the autobiographical account  but that of a man overcoming his severe disability  becoming a functioning human being and a force of be reckoned with in the art world . daniel day lewis won an oscar for his powerful  unforgettable performance as the flawed but tenacious christy brown  and brenda fricker did so as well for her supporting role as brown  s solid mother .  
disney has now made straight  to  video sequels to a good bunch of their many animated features . two of these were made for their     classic   beauty and the beast  . well  these ones aren  t really sequels  as they are both set in between the events of the first film . the first of these two straight  to  video films was  beauty and the beast the enchanted christmas   which seems to be disliked by quite a few fans of its theatrical predecessor  but i think that can usually be expected with sequels . however  this second one   belle  s magical world   is definitely inferior .  br    br   the film features three short stories  all of which take place while belle is in the castle  and the place is under the spell of the enchantress . the first is  the perfect word   where a misunderstanding at the table between belle and the beast leads to trouble  and neither wants to be the first to apologize . the next story is  fifi  s folly   where fifi and lumiere  s fifth anniversary is coming up  and lumiere is unprepared  so belle helps him . however  fifi sees lumiere practicing romance with belle  and thinks they  re actually in love . the film ends with  the broken wing  . in this story  belle takes care of a bird with a broken wing  but a bird in the castle will probably mean trouble if the beast finds out  as he hates birds   br    br   the plot description i gave is for the original vhs version of disney  s third  beauty and the beast  movie . apparently  in the dvd version  there is another story added called  mrs . potts  s party   but i  ve only seen the original version . however  since i highly doubt that one story would stand out as a classic over the rest  i see no point in watching the special edition . anyway  the first thing i will say about  belle  s magical world  is that the animation is very   dimensional compared to what we  re used to from disney  which would obviously disappoint many people . i didn  t like  beauty and the beast the enchanted christmas  that much  but you certainly can  t say the same about its animation . i  m sure the stories in  belle  s magical world  could entertain many kids  mostly younger ones  i think   and each story has a moral  so they could also teach them some valuable lessons . however  for adults  the film really doesn  t have a lot . i personally didn  t find any good humour in it  found that the constant conflict between belle and the beast got tiring  and the stories did not impress me too much at all in any way  they  re not very well written  . in  the perfect word   the way belle says to the beast   you  re acting rude . . . and foolish   is a bit cheesy  and i think there are quite a few other cheesy moments in these stories .  br    br   by the time this straight  to  video movie first came out  i was around eleven or twelve years old . i don  t know what i would have thought of it at the time  as i had lost interest in disney by then  and it would be years before i would gain any of that interest back . even when this movie was first released  i think i was a bit past the age group it was aimed at . i never saw  beauty and the beast the enchanted christmas  until a couple months ago  but unlike that film  i never even heard of this one until recently  i think just after seeing the first sequel to disney  s     hit . well  as much as i like the theatrical original  i wouldn  t have been missing much if i never became aware of this film  s existence . for little kids  i  m sure  belle  s magical world  can be highly entertaining  and probably somewhat educational with its morals  but i do not recommend it for adult disney fans .  
a noted cinematic phenomenon of the late eighties and early nineties was the number of oscars which went to actors playing characters who were either physically or mentally handicapped . the first was marlee matlin  s award for  children of a lesser god  in      and the next ten years were to see another  best actress  award  holly hunter for  the piano  in      and no fewer than five  best actor  awards  dustin hoffman in     for  rain man   daniel day  lewis in     for  my left foot   al pacino in     for  scent of a woman   tom hanks in     for  forrest gump  and geoffrey rush in     for  shine   for portrayals of the disabled . matlin  who played a deaf woman  is herself deaf  but all the others are able  bodied .  br    br   this phenomenon aroused some adverse comment at the time  with suggestions being made that these awards were given more for political correctness than for the quality of the acting . when jodie foster failed to win  best actress  for  nell  in     some people saw this as evidence of a backlash against this sort of portrayal . my view  however  is that the majority of these awards were well deserved . i thought the     award should have gone to either clint eastwood or robert downey rather than pacino  but apart from that the only one with which i disagreed would have been hanks   and that was because i preferred nigel hawthorne  s performance in  the madness of king george  . in that film  of course  hawthorne played a character who was mentally ill .  br    br    my left foot  was based upon the autobiography of the irish writer and painter christy brown . brown was born in      one of the thirteen children of a working  class dublin family . he was born with cerebral palsy and was at first wrongly thought to be mentally handicapped as well . he was for a long time incapable of deliberate movement or speech  but eventually discovered that he could control the movements of one part of his body  his left foot  hence the title  . he learned to write and draw by holding a piece of chalk between his toes  and went on to become a painter and a published novelist and poet .  br    br   life in working  class dublin in the thirties and forties could be hard  and the city jim sheridan  himself a dubliner  shows us here is in many ways a grim  grey  cheerless place  very different from our normal idea of the  emerald isle  .  sheridan and day  lewis were later to collaborate on another film with an irish theme   in the name of the father   . against this  however  must be set the cheerfulness and spirit of its people  especially the brown family . much of christy  s success was due to the support he received from his parents  who refused to allow him to be institutionalised and always believed in the intelligence hidden beneath a crippled exterior  and from his siblings . we see how his brothers used to wheel him round in a specially  made cart and how they helped their bricklayer father to build christy a room of his own in their back yard .  br    br   the film could easily have slid into sentimentality and ended up as just another heart  warming  triumph over adversity  movie . that it does not is due to a number of factors  principally the magnificent acting . in the course of his career  day  lewis has given a number of fine performances  but this  together with the recent  there will be blood   is his best . he is never less than     convincing as christie his tortured  jerky movements and strained attempts at speech persuade us that we really are watching a disabled person  even though  intellectually  we are well aware that day  lewis is able  bodied . the other performances which stand out are from fiona shaw as his mentor dr eileen cole  from hugh o  conor as the young christy and from brenda fricker as christy  s mother  which won her the  best supporting actress  award  .  br    br   the other reason why the film escapes sentimentality is that it does not try to sentimentalise its main character . christy brown had a difficult life  but he could also be difficult to live with  and the film gives us a  warts and all  portrait . he was a heavy drinker  given to foul language and prone to outbursts of rage . he could also be selfish and manipulative of those around him  and the film shows us all these aspects of his character . of course  it also shows us the positive aspects  his courage  his determination and his wicked sense of humour . day  lewis  s acting is not just physically convincing  in that it persuades us to believe in his character  s disability  but also emotionally and intellectually convincing  in that it brings out all these different facets of christy  s character . his oscar was won in the teeth of some very strong opposition from the likes of robin williams and kenneth branagh  but it was well deserved .      
that  s right  under  on average  but maybe under   s for some others  i was   when i originally saw this on video and at such youth i wasn  t able to notice the shoddy cartoon  quality or the fact that those classic characters we have all grown to love are not the same or as good to see . just about everything is so  d here  belle is  i  ll agree  not even beautiful but just a plain  looking woman with tinted skin  she wears the same bright blue dress all the way through with not one glamorous dress on  wardrobe is to say the least  annoying  my ears may bleed if i had to listen to her everyday  lumiere  in both the original and the christmas edition was suave and elegant  but here he is a womanizing  unfunny twit  cogsworth  despite being the no  nonsense housekeeper he is famous for  is a complete sh  t and the most insufferable character i  d say  he always seems to find shutting that unbearably grating pie  hole of his very difficult in this one and whose clock face should really have been used for turning back in time to the unforgettable two film in this series  poor  poor mrs potts was not brought to life by angela lansbury  one of my favourite classic actresses  but by anne rogers who captured none of mrs potts  character  no offence to her  not if she did her best  when the beast roars it sounds so horrifically fake with clearly no additional roars  snarls or growls by a microphone . i am aware that this is only a third feature following two other films so of course it wouldn  t be as good but i  m sure that more of a contribution wouldn  t have hurt the disney artists who  indeed  have achieved such remarkable styles of animation over the years . it  s alright  i guess  and i do watch it sometimes though only when it suits me . it  s quite difficult to make a recommendation for you reading this because it depends on how old you are but remember this will not at all be what you may expect following the earlier spectacular movies  and to think that on my video of it the text on the back cover said  boasting brilliant animation   it  s a nice little flick but for one thing it  s also highly poor and  for another  those  words ought to have been saved for the next re  release of the original   
daniel day  lewis is christy brown  a victim of cerebral palsy who uses  my left foot  to write and paint in this incredible     film . the movie also stars brenda fricker as christy  s mother  ray mcanally  fiona shaw and hugh o  conor . their brilliant performances  great script and wonderful direction by jim sheridan help to paint a vivid portrait of christy brown  an artist and writer who died in     at the age of   .  br    br   brown was born into a lower middle  class catholic family where his mother was constantly pregnant    children in total    of whom survived  . his father considered christy mentally retarded as well as physically handicapped  but he would not permit his son to go into a home . the children in the family would bid goodbye to him each day as they went off to school  and then his mother would feed him and talk to him .  br    br   in the movie  fricker conveys the sense of a woman who  despite being surrounded by a huge family  needs someone to talk to . christy doesn  t talk back . eventually a cart is found for him to ride in  and the neighborhood kids  all of whom have known him since he was a baby  include him in all of their activities . the only part of his body that works really well is his left foot  and when the kids find out how well he kicks  they put him into soccer games for just that purpose . one of the nicest parts of the film is the relaxed way the in which the other children treat him .  br    br   there are many powerful scenes  but none as powerful as christy writing  mother  on the floor holding a piece of chalk between his toes .  he  s a true brown   his father declares  hoisting him on his shoulders and carrying him to the pub . walking into the pub  he announces   my son  s a genius .  things change when christy grows older because he has a young boy  s desires and emotions . he develops crushes  is rejected and goes more into himself  turning to painting . eventually he goes into therapy in a nearby clinic and works with a therapist  eileen  fiona shaw  at home . he falls in love with her . when he finds out she  s engaged  he nearly goes crazy . but he survives to live  to paint  to write  three books in total  and to love again .  br    br   because it  s a film  by necessity certain things had to be left out and characters combined . brown wasn  t actually diagnosed with cerebral palsy for some time  which was left out of the movie . the therapist eileen is actually a combination of three important therapeutic figures in christy  s life  and though we know that his mother believed he had a good mind  in truth  she worked very hard with christy when he was a child teaching him the alphabet  etc . also  before mary  christy had a    year relationship with the woman to whom he dedicated  my left foot .  and the typical hollywood ending   years before his death where neglect by his wife may have been a factor  doesn  t finish the story .  br    br   despite all of that  christy brown  s biopic is incredibly powerful  all the more so because of two performances hugh o  conor as young christy and daniel day  lewis as the adult christy . o  conor  s facial expression and the way he drags his warped body is gut  wrenching . one is exhausted for him and heartbroken at the same time .  br    br   and what can be said about daniel day  lewis  one of the greatest actors in the world  he brings christy totally to life  a fully fleshed out  intelligent human being capable of swearing  becoming angry  bitter  drunk  pushy  lecherous  funny and loving . a well  deserved oscar won in the same year that tom cruise was nominated for  born on the fourth of july .  i remember someone writing a letter to the editor somewhere that cruise was so sensational  what was wrong with the academy  uh  nothing for a change . nothing at all .  br    br   brenda fricker is amazing as christy  s mother  who never stops believing in him and what he can do and who holds her family and husband together during the hard times . the wonderful thing about fricker  s performance is that the support  love and work ethic seem to come naturally to the mother . the character would never consider herself a heroine or as someone doing something out of the ordinary . fricker shows us a religious but not fanatic woman who believes her duties on earth are to be a good wife and mother . and no matter what  even when her husband is out of work  throws their daughter out of the house for being pregnant  whatever  she manages . she saves money for christy  s wheelchair  she receives photos of her daughter and the baby  she starts building a room for christy in the back of the house . all part of a day  s work . a performance worthy of the oscar she received .  br    br   brown  s life was more complicated than this inspiring film  but this is an amazing achievement by all involved and a must  see .  
spoiler warning there are some minor spoilers in this review . don  t read it beyond the first paragraph if you plan on seeing the film .  br    br   the disney channel currently has a policy to make loads of movies and show one a month on the cable channel . most of these are mediocre and drab  having a few good elements but still being a disappointment  phantom of the megaplex   stepsister from planet weird   zenon girl of the   st century   . every once in a great while  they make something really  really great  genius   the other me   . but once in a while the disney channel makes a huge mistake  and gives us a real stinker . this month  december      the disney channel featured the ultimate christmas present   which i thought was terrible due to poor writing and worse acting . apparently  the brainiacs . com  was rushed out a few days before christmas to get a jump on the holiday  because the plot has to do with toys . they even paid for a feature in the tv guide  so i thought it must be better than the norm . i was in for a complete shock . only disney  s model behaviour  has been worse than this .  br    br   the plot was more far  fetched than normal . i usually let that slide  but here it just goes too far . matthew tyler gets very sick of his widowed father spending most of his time at work . his father owns a small toy factory that has taken out large loans at a scrupulous bank to stay afloat . time and time again  his father has to skip out on the plans he makes with his son and daughter . matthew decides that the only way he can spend time with his dad is if he becomes the boss and orders him to stay home . he gets a hair  brained idea to create a website where kids all around the world can find and send him a dollar to invest in a computer chip that his sister is inventing . that whole concept is full of fallacies . when kids send in millions of dollars  matthew opens his own company  s bank account and buys up most of his dad  s business  s stock . he is the secret boss  but he doesn  t reveal this to his dad  but instead presents himself at board meetings as a cartoon image through a computer . that image itself is so complex  and ridiculous  that it isn  t possible for someone to create it at home  much less someone who comes across as stupid as matthew . to make a long plot short  matthew orders his dad to spend more time having fun and doing stuff with his kids  but a federal agent shows up inquiring about matthew  s company  as it is fraudulent .  br    br   there  s so much wrong here . as mentioned  the stuff they do here is impossible even for true geniuses  which these kids are not . the website  the cartoon image  the computer chip  even the stuff they are being taught in school  are far too advanced for these kids . the acting by most of the cast  especially kevin kilner  is terrible . some familiar faces are wasted . dom deluise plays the evil bank owner  but his part is a throwaway . he has one good scene with alexandra paul  who shows she has the ability to act  in which he explains his motives  but nothing more . and rich little is wasted in a small role as a judge . there  s even some offensive and uncalled for anti  russian jokes . but the greatest atrocities are the hard  hammered themes . these themes show up in many of the disney channel  s films  but never before have these ultra  conservative messages been pounded so strongly . the typical overworking parent  idea is really pushed hard  and after delivering it inappropriately in the ultimate christmas present   seeing it again sours my mood . family relations are important  but disney must stop this endless preaching  because working is important to maintaining a workable family  too . except for cancelling activities thanks to work  the father didn  t come across as that bad  but i found it offensive when the grandmother told him i don  t like what i see .  just as bad is the preaching of the idea that all single parents must marry if they want to raise their kids right . enter alexandra paul  whose character  while important to the plot  is there solely to be the love interest for the father . this offensiveness only proves that the disney brain trust lacks the brains to avoid scraping from the bottom of the disney script barrel . instead of letting this movie teach your kids how to commit serious fraud  wait for the next disney channel movie . it has to be better than this . zantara  s score  out of   .  
my left foot is an epic outstanding film explaining the life and times of christy brown  who had cerebral palsy  a severe disability and had only the use of his left foot  but he was defiant  he managed to become an artist and writer against all the odds  br    br   i have seen this film a lot of times and each time i see it  i find it equally brilliant each time . i wonder how did this amazing film not win an oscer for best picture  it is a shambles by the academy awards . jim shirdan is to me one of the greatest directors in the world . the screenplay  the music and anything else is excellent in this film . as the film goes on  you would nearly feel your in the brown household as everything occurs . ray macanally and brenda fricker are amazing as cristies parents and fiona shaw is equally brilliant as d . r eileen cole  who helps christy on his battle of defiance .  br    br   the irish film industry had noting much to its name before my left foot . my left foot was the start of a wonderful period in irish film . films so powerful and brilliant such as the field  the crying game  in the name of the father and michael collins followed my left foot . these irish films were regarded so highly around the world and were nominated for multiple oscers and won some  a wonderful period for irish film . my left foot is a powerful outstanding film .  br    br   daniel day  lewis plays the crippled christy brown so well and so brilliantly and the same goes for hugh o conner who plays young christy . to me those two performances are two of the best ever film performances  especially daniel day  lewis  s performance which i would regard as high as antony hopkins in the silence of the lambs . daniel day  lewis has proved in his career that he is an great actor .  br    br   this is an excellent masterpiece in film  see it   
what a poor image of professional police officers is displayed on the television in the watching of this alleged reality show . one can only hope that the actual reasonable suspicion that leads to probable cause that leads to the totality of the circumstances involved to make a  stop   then the  pat down  of the outside of one  s garment  then to be able to articulate why the officer went into someone  s pocket and retrieved contraband  was cut out of the scenes  because if it wasn  t  the arrest in most places are going to be tossed  should they even get passed a supervisor . a report of a warrant over the radio does not constitute the actual existence of the warrant unless the person dispatching has the original warrant in hand . if the dispatcher is reading from a computer printout  it is good enough for an arrest  but it does not necessarily mean the warrant is still in effect . since i haven  t seen a dis  claimer from cbs  i may have missed it   cbs could be in trouble .  
seriously  can you imagine such a spread of talent in one film without a huge budget daniel day  lewis  ray mcanally  brenda fricker  hugh o  conor and fiona shaw  there  s no doubting that fricker and day  lewis deserved their awards but it would have been entirely justifiable to have seen o  conor  as young christie  and mcanally awarded the clich is true here they don  t perform the roles  they inhabit them . day  lewis  performance is a tour de force  such a transformation that it is awe  inducing  but it was truly a mark of the academy  s intelligence that alongside this performance  they also honoured brenda fricker  s beautifully restrained  still and heart  wrenching work as christie  s mother . by the way  if you haven  t seen this magnificent actress in  swann   that  s another film well worth checking out for her contribution  and the sublime miranda richardson  .  
not an altogether bad start for the program   but what a slap in the face to real law enforcement . the worst part of the series is that it attempts to bill itself as reality fare   and is anything but . men and women that dedicate their lives to the enforcement of laws deserve better than this . what is next  medical school in a minute  charo performing lipo  charles grodin assisting on a hip replacement  c  mon . . . show a little respect . even the citizens of muncie are outing the program as staged . police academy  high school gym  poor editing  how many times can they use the car  to  car shot of the taco bell in the background    cheesy siren effects  the same loop added ad nauseum to every  call  whether rolling code or not   and last  but not least   more officer safety issues than you could shake a stick at .  br    br   if i want to see manufactured police work and wise  ass fake cops  i would watch reno    .  
daniel day  lewis does a remarkable job of playing christy brown  the artist who grew up with cerebral palsy but managed to have a productive life  dealing successfully with his handicap and becoming a respected artist and writer .  br    br   the film  however  is a very difficult one to review   or even watch . fortunately  i had the caption feature on to catch every spoken word which would have been impossible if i saw the film in a theater . while i respect it as a brave piece of work dealing with difficult subject matter  i can  t say it  s the sort of film i  d want to view more than once .  br    br   nevertheless  my attention was held by the story  telling device  a flashback framed by the present  in which we see christy being honored for his achievements before we see the flashback to his youth and his struggles to communicate with those around him  who certainly gave him loving care .  br    br   daniel day  lewis certainly is remarkable as the troubled man who falls in love with a therapist  fiona shaw   much to his mother  s fear that when the love is not reciprocated his heart will be broken . there  s a painfully long scene in a restaurant where he confesses his love to her before others and then goes into a frenzied rage after drinking too much .  br    br   brenda fricker does a brilliant job as the mother taking care of him  his father and a brood of siblings while struggling to keep a roof over their heads until day  lewis begins to have success with his work . she complements day  lewis  performance as the warm  hearted mother and shares many poignant moments with him .  br    br   richly detailed story of a family that stayed together under the most unusual of circumstances with attention to period detail in every frame of the film . both fricker and day  lewis won oscars  but hugh o  conor and ray mcanally are also excellent . o  conor is christy as a boy and mcanally is the father who spends too much time at the local pub but loves the boy .  br    br   summing up elmer bernstein  s music is an added plus factor . well worthwhile  but definitely not a film for everyone .  
i can  t believe that the city of muncie is so hard up for attention that they would embarrass themselves by allowing this show to be done there . this show is like a slap in the face to real hard working law  enforcement officers . i have never before in my life seen anything so stupid in my life . if they had billed it as a comedy that would be one thing but to say it is reality is nothing short of a lie . i only saw it once and was appalled at what i saw . i wanted to see the little guy get into a foot  chase with a bad guy . what a joke that would have been . nothing on the show was even close to the real world . the city of muncie  the police chief  and all the officers should be hanging their heads in shame and should never want o admit they come from that city . no wonder it didn  t stay around on tv  
this is a lovely  spirit  restoring movie . from the use of the actual villa that inspired elizabeth arngrim to write the novel in the     s to the inspired casting  every choice was perfectly right  the quiet joy of this film doesn  t stale after repeated viewings . josie lawrence  miranda richardson  polly walker and joan plowright seem to have been born to play these parts  i would dearly love to see enchanted april released on dvd in a widescreen format .  
add to the list of caricatures a southern preacher and  congregation   a torch singer  sophie tucker    a dancing chorus  and the mills brothers   it only makes it worse .  br    br   contemptible burlesques of  negro  performers  who themselves often appear in films to be parodying themselves and their race . though the  negro comedy  may have been accepted in its day  it  s extremely offensive today  and i doubt that it was ever funny . though i wouldn  t have been offended  i don  t think that i  d have laughed at the feeble attempts at humor . as an    year  old white boy  however  i might not have understood some of it .  
even if you know absolutely nothing about ireland  you have to love  my left foot   and especially daniel day  lewis  performance in it  . he plays cerebral palsy  afflicted christy brown . due to this  he has spent most of his life ostracized . even when trying to warn people about something  they just laugh at him . the light in the darkness for him is that he has control over one body part his left foot . he uses that appendage to paint and write poetry  bringing him to prominence .  br    br   daniel day  lewis and director jim sheridan did very well on this collaboration  and also on a later collaboration  in the name of the father   but  the boxer  was unnecessary  .  my left foot  can make you feel many ways sad  hopeful  or something else . but in any case  daniel day  lewis gave the performance of a lifetime here . a great movie in every sense .  
ridiculous . this movie is actually a vehicle for the ramtha school of enlightenment . if you are wondering who the bleep ramtha is  ramtha is a       year  old spirit  warrior who appeared in j . z . knight  s kitchen in tacoma  washington in     . knight claims that she is ramtha  s channel . she also owns the copyright to ramtha and conducts sessions in which she pretends to go into a trance and speaks hollywood  s version of elizabethan english in a guttural  husky voice . she has thousands of followers and has made millions of dollars performing as ramtha at seminars        a crack  and at her ramtha school of enlightenment  and from the sales of tapes  books  and accessories  clark and gallo      . she must have hypnotic powers . searching for self  fulfillment  otherwise normal people obey her command to spend hours blindfolded in a cold  muddy  doorless maze .  john wheeler  one of america  s finest theoretical physicists  would roll his eyes about this movie . he has in the recent past criticized parapsychologists for their misuse and misinterpretations of quantum theory . this movie does the same thing as those fools .  br    br   there is a great review of this movie at skeptico . i recommend anyone considering watching this movie read it first before contributing to a cult  s coffers .  br    br   http   skeptico . blogs . com  skeptico          what  the  bleep  . html i noticed one reviewer here at imdb say to take this movie with a grain of salt . it will take enough salt to kill a horse to wade through the garbage  thinking of this movie .  
the most important thing about this movie is the brilliant performance by daniel day  lewis and hugh o  conor as christy brown  guineas artist and fighter who despite of her physical condition overcame all the odds . as a person who did work with patients with cerebral palsy  i can assure you that their performance were shockingly convincing . the enormous support that christy got form his family  low  income  working class dubliners  encouraged him to do the impossible and this picture depicted this support brilliantly have not read the book  but the dialogs were written wisely to capture christy brown  s witty arrogant personality . i do recommend this movie to everyone  especially to classic movie  lovers .  
what the bleep do we know is a deluded and haphazard look at the mysteries of the universe . we are presented with a parade of apparent experts  none of whom are named  who ramble and pontificate in a thoroughly unscientific manner . their interviews are chopped up into aggravatingly small segments and dispersed throughout some flashy cgi and banal mini  plots .  br    br   the film pilfers themes from science  philosophy  theology and politics  minces them together without any regard for accuracy  and then somehow extracts a few prosaic and absurd conclusions . we are led to believe that quantum physics is telling us the purpose of our existence  and any other difficult to answer question the film  makers would like to point their finger at .  br    br   it is riddled errors and logical non  sequiturs . how did we start at quantum mechanics and end up with this pseudo  scientific spirituality and mysticism  it  s like saying  two plus two equals four  therefore i can move objects with my mind  .  br    br   there is nothing original in this film  and almost nothing that is accurate . any discriminating viewer will be annoyed by heavy  handed editing  intrusive and pointless special effects and general lack of substance . educated viewers will be frustrated to tears by the violence done to science and every other subject this film touches on .  
as someone who has lived with cerebral palsey for over forty years  i find this movie to be inspirational . if someone with such a severe case of cp as christie brown has can do so much  then there  s no reason that i couldn  t achieve my own dreams . daniel day  lewis and brenda fricker both give awesome performances .  br    br    
this movie frequently extrapolates quantum mechanics to justify nonsensical ideas  capped by such statements like  we all create our own reality  .  br    br   sorry  folks  reality is what true for all of us  not just the credulous .  br    br   the idea that  anything  s possible  doesn  t hold water on closer examination if anything  s possible  contrary things are thus possible and so nothing  s possible . this leads to postmodernistic nonsense  which is nothing less than an attempt to denigrate established truths so that all ideas  well  founded and stupid  are equal .  br    br   to quote sci  fi writer philip k . dick  who put it so well   reality is that which  when you stop believing in it  doesn  t go away .   
daniel day lewis is one of the best actors of our time and one of my favorites . it is amazing how much he throws himself in each of the characters he plays making them real .  br    br   i remember  many years ago  we had a party in our house  the friends came over  we were sitting around the table  eating  drinking the wine  talking  laughing  having a good time . the tv was on  there was a movie which we did not pay much attention to . then  suddenly  all of us stopped talking and laughing . the glasses did not clink  the forks did not move  the food was getting cold on the plates . we could not take our eyes off the screen where the young crippled man whose entire body was against him and who only had a control over his left foot  picked up a piece of chalk with his foot and for what seemed the eternity tried to write just one word on the floor . when he finished writing that one word  we all knew that we had witnessed not one but three triumphs  the triumph of a human will and spirit  the triumph of the cinema which was able to capture the moment like this on the film  and the triumph of an actor who did not act but who became his character .  br    br   jim sheridan  s  my left foot  is an riveting  unsentimental bio  drama about christy brown  the man who was born with cerebral palsy in a dublin slum who became an artist and a writer and who found a love of his life .  br    br   i like every one of day lewis  s performances  i have mixed feelings about his performance in gony  but i believe that his greatest role was christy brown in  my left foot   
i didn  t know much about this movie before i watched it  but i heard it had something to do with quantum physics so i was interested . what i didn  t know is that this is not actually a story but a bunch of new  age blowhards who love the sound of their own voice talking about how little they know about basic quantum mechanics . i say it belongs more in the documentary category than comedy or drama .  br    br   marlee matlin is in the movie  in order to give this new age symposium some sort of a storyline . her portions of the film feel horribly tacked on and are meant to display the speaker  s thoughts so we won  t die of boredom . matlin has a real job as a photographer  unlike the new age hippie that crashes on her couch . we get to listen to nameless people ramble on about what quantum physics all  means  to them . the one bright spot in this movie was the speaker from india  i assume   but i think he showed up for the wrong film .  br    br   it looks like barbara eden really let herself go and she goes on and on about how quantum science has something to do with her crazy new age beliefs . it looks like quark from ds  was running low on cash and he also makes a brief appearance in the film . there is a lot of whizbang cgi we  re supposed to be impressed with cells in the body are shown as dancing jello molds  because the filmmakers have apparently seen flubber one too many times .  br    br   people in the movie say that the arawak people on san salvador thought columbus  s ship the pinta was invisible because natives had never seen clipper ships before  as if people today had any way possible way of knowing . of course they leave out all of that information and just say  columbus  s ships were invisible to the indians in america .  the film takes many such arrogant leaps . thomas young did a double  slit experiment around     and found that light can look like a particle some of the time  and a wave some of the time . of course you  d never know this from watching this stupid film because the only reference to it is that  atoms can be particles and waves .  and that must mean that people can pass through walls  walk on water  and never grow old if they just wish upon a star   then i  m sure marlee matlin could stop being deaf if she just believed hard enough . i  m being sarcastic  but this film is chock  full of false hope and beliefs that the people espousing them don  t really hold .  br    br   these are new age kooks who have grabbed onto quantum theory as if it reaffirms everything they believe about meditation  zero point energy  crystal healing  etc . if these snake  oil salesmen truly believed the crap they were selling  couldn  t they just wish their paychecks into existence instead of appearing in this joke of a film  we get to listen to another nameless man  with no credentials that we know of  talk on his couch in front of a fireplace  or tv screen  about how he creates his own life . every time he was on the screen i wanted someone to rush in and throw a pie in his face . these people take themselves way too seriously . some other balding guy in a suit says that nobody ever really touches anything because there  s a magnetic force preventing it at the quantum level . if only someone had walked onto the screen and kept punching him in the stomach  screaming  i  m not touching you  i  m not touching you   a moral relativist in the movie claims that there  s really  no such thing as good or bad .  so apparently it  s ok that hitler gassed millions of jews to death  another person says that there is  no such thing as love .  it  s just a chemical and that we really don  t love people  we  re just addicted to the chemical rush we have when we  re around them . i suspect this guy is doing this film as community service for being addicted to heroin for so many years .  br    br   we are witness to a truly pathetic sequence where two young adults walk around a wedding reception  seeing everything like robocop . they evaluate if women are cows  dogs  or foxes  and a sexual position pops onto the scree . marlee matlin gets drunk at the wedding she  s supposed to photograph and the next day decides to love herself and take a bath because she  s a beautiful and unique snowflake .  br    br   i liked when the film said people often find evidence for their pre  conceived notions . perhaps in this review i  m only seeing what i want to see  but i truly wanted to see these people get pies to the face  and it never happened .  br    br   if you  ve never heard of any of the ideas presented in the film before  you may find them interesting  but there are better sources for all of the ideas here . if you want to watch a good movie that talks about the heisenberg uncertainty principle  go see the man who wasn  t there . if you want to read a good book about quantum field theory  read hyperspace by michio kaku . if you want to see a film that talks about different philosophies with imaginative visuals  see waking life  although it can feel boring  self  important  and pretentious at times  . all in all  you should go and read quantum psychology or prometheus rising by robert anton wilson instead of wasting your time on this movie .  br    br   i normally have a very hard time giving movies a score from  to    but this one was a very easy for me     stars .  br    br   the movie  s title is true . the people in this film don  t know   hands down  the worst movie i  ve ever seen .  
let me state at the outset that i have cerebral palsy and i went into this film expecting to have to make allowances for the lead performance . i left the theater half  convinced that they  d cast an actor who had cerebral palsy in the role  even though i knew that was not the case . the performances were generally excellent  with a special nod to brenda fricker and to hugh o  conner  i believe that  s his name  as the young christy brown . christy is talented  brash  arrogant  at times vulgar and petulant  in other words  human . this film  along with gaby a true story and the documentary king gimp  are excellent portrayals of life with cp . by no means a complete portrait  but fine examples of the disabled as human beings . most highly recommended .  
i went into this film expecting it to be similar to the matrix or pi . boy  was i wrong . yes  there is a poorly written  poorly acted plot in the movie  with cg animated cells and peptides to boot  . however  the real focus of the film are the  expert  talking heads spewing out new age feel  good hogwash in between plot segments .  br    br   sure  it stars off innocently enough . there is a little bit of real quantum physics in the beginning . it states  for example  that electrons exist as both particle and wave  and that an atom is mostly empty space . however  the movie takes a giant  and unscientific  leap  saying that sub  atomic quantum effects happen on large scales as well . the talking heads take it even further . according to them  the following are true  br    br    when columbus arrived in the caribbean  the natives were unable to see his ships because their minds were incapable of perceiving something so different .  meditation can reduce the murder rate .  with positive thought  you can walk on water .  your thoughts can change the formations of ice crystals in bottles of water .  br    br   and hey  that  s only in the first   minutes   br    br   watching the movie was torture . this film felt like a movie they would show you to get you to join a cult . after doing my homework  i realized that it basically is just that .  br    br   on the other hand  this could be seen as a campy comedy  albeit one that  s not funny  .  br    br   save your time and money don  t see this movie .  
i  m a huge fan of the twin sisters . although this was one of their  not soo good  movies . i  m not saying it  s bad  i can  t say it  s bad  but this whole popular and not popular thingy isn  t good . although i give this movie a  .  
i will admit that i  m only a college student at this present time  an english major at that . at the time i saw this film i was a high school student   i want to say junior year but it may have been senior  hard to remember . my experience with quantum physics goes pretty much to my honors physics course  an interest in quantum mechanics that has led me to read up on the subject in a number of books on the theoretical aspects of the field as well as any article i can find in discover and the like . i  m not a phd by any means .  br    br   that said . . .  br    br   this movie is simply terrible . it  s designed to appeal to the scientific mind of the average new age guru who desperately wants to believe in how special everybody is . my mother is such a person and ever since she  s seen this movie she  s tried to get all her friends to see it and bought a copy of the film . i attempted to point out the various flaws and problems i  d seen with the films logic and science   and they are numerous   and she dismissed my claims because  oh  so a high school student knows more than all those people with phds .  in this case  apparently so .  br    br   leaving behind the fact that earning a phd doesn  t necessarily require that a person be correct or  in fact  intelligent . leaving behind the fact that my basic understanding of physics is enough to debunk half the film . leaving that behind  the film makers completely manipulated their interviews with at least one of the participants to make it appear that he supported their beliefs when  in fact  he completely opposed them .  br    br   i could go on and on but i think intuitor did a really good job of debunking the film so feel free to read that if you care to do so .  br    br   http   www . intuitor . com  moviephysics  bleep . html  
i thought that this was an absolutely charming movie centering around the lives of mary  kate  s and ashley  s characters sam and emma stanton  they are both trying to make both themselves and their parents happy but unfortunately  it  s just not that easy for them to actually do  i thought that this was an utterly charming and sweet movie and if you are a real fan of these marvelous young ladies then i  m sure that you  ll agree with me here  if you haven  t seen this movie yet then i say you really missed  out big time  and that you should definitely take the time out to see it now  this movie is a real winner  sincerely  rick morris  
at first glance this documentary  fiction  cartoon is quite entertaining and thought provoking . of course  when something provokes thought  it can then be scrutinized . the reality is this movie combines metaphysics with innuendo and baseless conclusions . the link that  what the bleep . . .  would have you see between science and spirituality is  in fact  not rooted in science at all . the transcendental meditation study mentioned in the film claims that meditation by a group can reduce crime in a given area  washington d . c . in this case . in reality the hra  homicides  rapes  and assaults  crime rate was about    higher in     than the average crime rate between          . there was absolutely no decrease in the homicide rate during the study . in fact  each and every claim that links metaphysics to science can and has been debunked .  br    br   my conclusion from this information is that this movie is either a poor attempt to indoctrinate people or a joke . either way  i suggest that you do not waste your time .  br    br   if you are looking for a long winded movie about science that could provoke thoughts  you might consider mindwalk       .  
this movie is so good i could watch it all day long  mary  kate and ashley were robbed at oscar time   if i got to be one of the actors i would be so excited    i can  t wait for the new charlie  s angels movie starring mary  kate and ashley .  
i agree strongly with some of the other critics of this film . i found it incredibly silly  at best  and downright misleading  misinforming and harmful  at worst  . like others  i found this film to be an awful mix of  real  science and pseudoscientific  new age propaganda .  br    br   as a psychologist  i was especially offended by candace pert  s contributions . true  i was not a fan of hers before this film  but her discourse on the  consciousness  of cells was one of the best examples of taking a term   consciousness   that has a predictable meaning to most people and using it in such a distorted manner as to cause it to obscure rather than clarify . it is an old orwellian mind  fk that the master himself described so well in his superb essay  politics and the english language .  to refer to  consciousness  in this manner   indeed  to refer to this film as  based in science  in general  which is its clear intent    is to use language in the same manner employed by stalin when he labeled his slave  states  democratic republics  and hitler when he called his party a  socialist workers  movement .  br    br   i don  t claim to really understand quantum physics . i know enough about it to know that to really understand it would take considerable study . ah  but we americans do love  instant enlightenment   and that  s what this mistake of a film tries to accomplish . if it asked questions  that would be one thing  but it clearly attempts to ask and answer them  which no film could possibly do simply because we are far  far away from the answers  if they indeed exist  .  br    br   by the way  ethically this film needed a disclaimer about the association of several  expert commentators  with the maharishi mahesh yogi  and tm   not to mention j . z . knight  who often speaks in her  ramtha  voice .  i  m always amazed at this channeled       year  old atlantean superman  s grasp of   st century concepts and terminology . but then again  this film argues that the past  present and future are all one and the same  so if ramtha existed in atlantis       years ago  i suppose he could exist now and tomorrow . only  then how come his financial advice has been so incredibly bad for his followers  oh  i forgot  i  m the creator of  good  and  bad  advice  so it  s all my fault  not ramtha  s .   br    br   what a mess .  
i  as a teenager really enjoyed this movie  mary kate and ashley worked great together and everyone seemed so at ease . i thought the movie plot was very good and hope everyone else enjoys it to  be sure and rent it   also they had some great soccer scenes for all those soccer players     
another cult strikes again . this isn  t a spoiler  because the real ending comes after you research the folks who brought this overly  long  pseudo  scientific infomercial . . . ramtha  s school of enlightenment .  br    br   when any religion  philosophy needs to hide behind an oz  like screen of deceit  i walk away . thank ramtha i watched a borrowed copy of this movie on the recommendation of a  friend  . . . to have wasted precious resources on this new  age lobotomizer would have been tragic . i can only hope that they  truly believe they can walk on water  enough to take that guidance to it  s  logical  conclusion . . . in other words walk  drown . . . or shut up    as a movie . . . it deserves a strong    on it  s entertainment value  especially for creating the most dislikable character in film history  the photographer  s roommate . . . eeeeeek   . if you must see this film  borrow it from one of the brainwashed folks who recommended it .  
i think that this movie was reasonbaly good . it  s kinda weird that now the olsen twins are   and have boyfriends and all . i enjoyed them alot when they were little kids on full house . anyway  the casting was good and the movie was somewhat funny . i kind of got mixed up between all the switching places and their names . it  s just kind of an older version of it takes two .  
  what the bleep do we know    was one of the worst times i have spent at the movies . it was less of a movie and more of an after school special  but at the same time nothing special at all . the attempt at a narrative in which they grounded their ideas was absolutely pathetic  which almost anyone will tell you . marlee matlin in her underwear just shouldn  t happen . i won  t dwell on it . what i will reveal is a criticism that many are unable to formulate . this movie  while tedious  also suffered a tremendous flaw in reasoning . it was horribly contradictory because it took such a manipulative  become a creator of your life  manifestation of abundance  shoeless piece of propaganda . interconnectivity is explained as a large party of our existence . however  the movie encourages that we control our surroundings with our minds . it completely neglects that there are other people with minds that could be controlling us  which seems to be more the case . or at least the structures in which we exist greatly limit us . in this way  the movie was inappropriately solipsistic . solipsism and interconnectivity just don  t mix unless you  re god almighty . if you are  you will be impressed      by all the neat things this movie will reveal that you can do . if not  you will be sorely disappointed  a moron  or perhaps both . also  the title is so ridiculous  i have trouble warning people not to see the movie because i feel retarded mentioning it by name . shame on everyone involved .  
this program is a lot of fun and the title song is so catchy i can  t get it out of my head . i find as i get older i am drawn to the wrinklies who get things done  and these four are excellent in their endeavors . some of what they do is outrageous but brilliant considering that now days with our pc world we  d never be able to do it in real life . i always learn something from the shows . but if you like mystery  drama  comedy  and a little forensic work you  ll love this show . it reminds me of quincy  me in one way and barney miller in another the way they work and inter  react with each other . they screw up a lot but they get the job done  and that  s what counts .  
sure  i like short cartoons  but i didn  t like this one . naturally  kids would love it . but then again  i  m not a kid anymore  although i still consider myself young  .  br    br   i will not tell you anything about the story  for the simple reason there is no story . how is it possible this dragon of a cartoon was nominated for an oscar   well . . . i guess it  s because people in the    s were more happy with not much than now . in the present where we live  everything must happen fast . look at the movies nowadays  and you will come to the same conclusion we live in a society that doesn  t allow men to be slow . that  s really a shame . i wish i lived in the    s  because it seems so peaceful . but every time has got its ups and downs  i guess . . .  br    br   to conclude if you like music  and frogs   you  ll have to see this cartoon . otherwise  don  t spill your time on it .  
princess tam tam is without the trappings of racism  in the way we think of racism in the united states  but there are more subtle  to the american viewer  assertions about ethnic identity during the time . pay attention to alwina  s  baker  placement within shots  how she is addressed by the other characters  the settings around her that all depict her as a  savage  african  and ask yourself if alwina has any shred of agency throughout the film . i don  t want to ruin anything but at the end pay very careful attention  the dichotomy between  eastern  and  western  culture is to say the least offensive  such diction is thankfully disavowed these days . the french have a checkered past as an imperial force throughout the areas depicted  see chris marker  s les statues meurent aussi        and pay attention to the places the european travelers visit while they are in africa  and what does that reflect about their attitudes towards the  other  . i give this film a  because i am a sucker for baker  much of what she did in her professional career  like princes tam tam  that is regressive is certainly overshadowed by her efforts towards integration  her work as a freaking spy  i am gushing  sorry .  however the film for me is captivating because of her performance  besides that it is a telling relic of bygone mentalities .  
i  m still trying to decide if this is indeed  the worst film i have ever seen  a very disturbing problem with this film is that real scientists are interviewed  but their footage is edited to make it look as though they support the ideas of the many bsers who populate this film . the bs to signal ratio of the interviews is about ten thousand to one  at the end  the interviewees seem to be saying   we want you to  think      but they themselves are too lazy to do simple research about things they assert as fact .  br    br   if you feel that you are open  minded  and wish to expand your consciousness  please be open  minded enough to read some actual books about quantum theory  einstein  s universe   nigel calder  a slim volume  not a challenge    the cosmic code   by heinz pagels . if you can  t bring yourself to read a book  please don  t complain to reviewers about being  open  minded  .  br    br   to recap  this film is just unbelievably bad .  br    br   you know what  s a really good film which questions the nature of reality   thirteenth floor   directed by roland emmerich  with craig bierko  gretchen mol  vincent d  onofrio . smart  sexy  thought  provoking .  
a french novelist  disgusted by his wife  s society friends  goes to north africa for a respite . there he encounters a vivacious  talented bedouin girl  living in poverty . to spite his wife  who is romancing a maharajah  he decides to train  educate the girl  and present her to parisian society as the princesse tam tam . . .  br    br   the marvelous josephine baker is perfectly cast in the title role in this very enjoyable french film . with her enormous eyes  infectious smile  she makes contact with the viewer  s heartstrings immediately . her over  sized personality  obvious joy of performing make her a pure pleasure to watch . baker makes us care about what  s happening to poor alwina during her transformation  introduction to european mores .  br    br   albert prjean does very well as the pygmalion to baker  s galatea also effective are georges peclet as a half  caste servant  and jean galland as the mysterious maharajah .  br    br   the film is very handsome  well made  looking a little reminiscent of busby berkeley movies being produced at the same time in america  although unlike american films of this period  princesse tam tam hasn  t any racism . it should be pointed out that there was no hays office or production code in france . some of the dialogue  action is rather provocative  but it must be admitted that baker singing  dancing to  under the african sky   as well as her culminating performance in the parisian nightclub  are two of the cinema  s more memorable moments .  br    br   actual location filming in tunisia greatly enhances the film .  br    br   josephine baker was born in st . louis in      into a very poor family . her talent  driving ambition  however  soon pushed her into moving east and she was briefly a cast member of the ziegfeld follies . realizing that america in the mid       s held great limitations for a gifted black woman  she managed to get herself to paris  where she eventually joined the folis  bergeres  le negre revue . the french adored her and she became a huge celebrity . a short return to america in     showed baker that things had not changed for african  americans . she returned to france  became a french citizen  worked for the resistance during the early days of the war . baker relocated to morocco for the duration and entertained allied troops stationed there .  br    br   after the war  baker  s fortunes began to slide and she faced many financial  personal difficulties . for a while  she was even banned from returning to the united states . finally  baker accepted an offer from princess grace of monaco to reside in the principality . josephine baker was on the verge of a comeback when she died of a stroke in      at the age of   .  br    br   having appeared in only two decent films  zouzou  princesse tam tam  baker is in danger of becoming obscure . but she deserves her place alongside chevalier  dietrich  robeson  as one of her generation  s truly legendary performers .  
pathetic attempt to use science to justify new age religion  philosophy . the two have nothing to do with each other and much of what is said about quantum physics in this mess is just plain wrong .  br    br   examples  quantum theory supports the ideas in eastern religions that reality is an illusion . how  well  in the world of the subatomic  you can never definitely predict a particles location at a specific time . you can only give the odds of it being precisely at one spot at one time . also  the act of observation seems to affect the event . solid particles can pass through barriers . all of this  so far  is accurate . but then they assert that that means that if you believed sincerely enough that you could walk through a wall  you could indeed do it . this is complete poppycock . instead  the theory asserts that at our level  it is possible for you to walk through a wall  but it is merely by chance and has nothing to do with belief . also you  d have to keep walking into the wall for eternity to ever have even the remotest chance of passing through the wall  the odds are so astronomically against it .  br    br   this is but one example of how they misrepresent the science . but much more annoying is the narrative involving an unhappy photographer  played by marlee maitlan . about halfway through the picture it becomes so confused as to be incomprehensible . something to do with negative thoughts leading to addiction and self  hate . there may be some truth to that  but quantum physics has nothing to do with it .  br    br   plus  string theory is the hot new thing in physics nowadays . instead of wasting your time with this dreck  i suggest you rent the elegant universe  an amazing series done for nova on pbs that gives you a history of physics from newton and gravity to ed witten and m theory in only  hour  long episodes . quantum mechanics is explained there quite well if you want to know it without the fog of metaphysical appropriation .  
i do find it a bit overrated . maybe it  s just because i  ve never seen a subtitled version  dubbing stinks    but i just don  t get into it like a lot of other people do . the finale is really great though as jackie trashes a mall  a scene that plays in my head every time i go shopping   
if you want to learn the basics of quantum mechanics  spend your   on a used textbook  not this movie . i  m a little worried that the money i spent is being used to buy kool  aid for shipment to guyana .  br    br   i don  t think the directors really got any point across  but it looks like maybe they were trying to make several   science can explain everything we do  meaning that our lives are deterministic   science can  t be used to explain everything we do  meaning that we have free will   science is  like  really cool  brother   we are god   the world exists only in our minds   sarah norman is a tough role to follow and   here  put this tiny paper square in your mouth and you  ll see some really groovy stuff .  
i saw this on a cantonese vcd with the english subtitles . i thought the story was good but there were times when some of the subcharacters were grossly over  acting . this took away from the film as did the fairly lame musical score  which really irked me throughout the entire movie . if the musical score was improved i could overlook the few overacted scenes . then the film would be much  much better .  
if you want to see intelligent  philosophical discussion of human possibility and potential  watch  waking life   which is brilliant .  what the   do we know  is all over the place in its focus  poorly directed  poorly written  poorly acted  utterly devoid of any art direction and completely annoying . it wasn  t thought  provoking or entertaining in the slightest . the inclusion of that rambling freak  ramtha  in this film is reason enough to avoid it . isn  t it strange how the filmmakers choose to look over the fact that this woman worships some      year old atlantian god or something  what a flake that old chick is  and what a total waste of my time and money this movie was . the people responsible for this film should not be allowed to make another movie ever again .  
i have not seen each and every one of chans movies  but this is for sure the best one i have seen so far .  br    br   the story in it self is nothing special really  so i wont go deeper into that . what makes it special is the stunts  the fighting  the good acting  the warm sense of humor . the movie has a raging tempo all the way through and you are just stunned seeing it . all the cool stunts  of course made by jackie himself  makes you want jump around in the couch and scream . its just awesome  even my mom was impressed by this cool movie when she saw it .  br    br   i know this police story can be a bit hard to get a hold of  at least it is here in sweden . but i can assure you  its worth a try .  
a definite no . a resounding no . this movie is an absolute dud .  br    br   having been recommended to me by a friend very much into  that sort of thing   i watched this movie with some anticipation of being informed  changed  moved  altered  uplifted  and all the other positive mystical things that could happen to me when i suddenly see the truth . now this may sound like someone who is already predisposed to poo  pooing anything dealing with the metaphysical  the metaphysical  physical boundaries of existence . believe me  i am not such a person . i try to be open about any presentation and then decide accordingly .  br    br   in terms of content  the only thing i found mildly interesting and informative  was the bit about peptides  emotions  addiction  and cellular receptors . that was the only  unifying  element i could find in the documentary part of this film . the rest of the documentary rambled around several topics and never seemed to unify and cohere  try to tie up and conclude to a point . and what was all that stuff about native americans not being able to see the ships that columbus came in  who told the  authorities  in this film that that was what happened in      where they there too  had they compared this to scientific work being done in visual cognition  the famous gorilla video  for example  visit the visual cognition lab at the university of illinois site  there may have been a more convincing point made . here  however  it seemed like unsupported mystical mumbo  jumbo .  br    br   as a film this wasn  t one film  it was two . i found the documentary part mildly interesting  just to hear the people talking about what they were talking about  i was annoyed that their credentials weren  t presented at the bottom of the screen when they spoke  at least initially   but i found the  story  part of the movie with matlin in it annoying  disjointed  intrusive  non  related and downright stupid . that bit about the polish wedding with that dance was not in the least bit funny . it was laughable  ludicrous  sophomoric  and stupid . and i found the use of the word  pollack  offensive . it just seemed so out of place and wrong . is such usage okay because a member of the group uses a pejorative term to refer to the group because he or she is a member of the group  that may be okay to make a point  but it didn  t seem to be used that way here . and in any case  i don  t care what the reason  it offended me  a pole . i never call myself or refer to my ethnic background as  pollack .  and i certainly don  t like like it when others do . can i watch or listen to a bigoted conversation in which this term is used  you betcha  but again this didn  t seem to be the case here . it just seemed so out of place . unprovocked  unmitigated .  br    br   the acting was abysmal . elaine hendrix  s performance was totally unbelievable . at times  it seemed like she was just reading her lines that had just been given to her . marlee matlin for the most part seemed to be sleep walking through this whole thing . perhaps she was baffled by the material . i know i was . if she was supposed to be portraying a disillusioned drugged  up anxiety  prone malcontent  it just didn  t seem to click . but by far  the world  s worst was hendrix  all in all  i found this a disjointed  poorly acted piece of clap  trap .  
this movie is jackie  s best . i still cant get enough of watching some of his best stunts ever . i also like the bad guys in this movie  the old man looks like a chinese version of john howard  . unlike some of jackie  s other work  this movie has also got a great story line and i recommend it to all of jackie  s fans .  
i was extremely suspicious of the ideas presented in this movie  but being relatively ignorant of quantum physics aside from what i recalled from the excellent  short history of nearly everything  and what i was able to choke down in  a brief history of time   it sounded interesting at times . however  the obvious nonsense of the story of the indians being unable to see the ships of the explorers was ridiculous . i really started questioning what was being shoveler at that point  but then the clincher was the revelation that one of the speakers was actually  channelling  some loony named  ramtha  completely upset the applecart for me .  br    br   what a waste of two hours .  
jackie chan  s classic directorial feature police story       is among the most influential and over  the  top modern day police actioners ever to come out from hong kong . jackie wanted simply to make a movie which would include the usual kung fu and also fierce gun play and other  urban  action which would later become very popular and typical among hk directors like john woo and ringo lam . police story mixes these two action elements and styles and the result is as wild as it sounds .  br    br   jackie plays chan ka  kui  a police who gets to protect an important witness  brigitte lin  who would soon testify against a powerful gangster boss and his ring of criminal activity . jackie  s girlfriend is played by young and sweet maggie cheung  who isn  t as wild here as she would be in her subsequent roles like heroic trio  and the sequel  by johnnie to  savior of the soul by corey yuen and david lai and many many others . the plot in police story is very simple but it is the action why this film was made in the first place .  br    br   jackie did of course all the stunts of his character by himself and also hurt himself pretty badly in couple of scenes  some of which are also in the completed movie like at the end in which jackie hits his head  near the eye  through a very nasty looking sharp piece of glass . also jackie  s stunt team members almost got themselves killed during filming of this film . the scene in which a bus stops right before jackie  spitting the kidnappers through the windshield  went really bad as the bus stopped too early and the stuntmen didn  t fly as they were supposed to . they were supposed to fly on the car parked in the front of the bus but their flight was too short and they hit through the asphalt with hospital level injuries . during the end credits  there is a behind the scenes imagery and images of these injured actors and it all looks really bad and almost tasteless  but fortunately no one got killed or injured too severely .  br    br   the action is more than plentiful and imaginative as can be expected by  action  director chan . the now legendary bus scene and shopping mall scene at then end are most likely among the wildest scenes any action film has been able to deliver . jackie always tells how important editing is  which is true  and it really shows in his action scenes and their timing which is perfect and makes the films look so ultra kinetic when compared to hollywood efforts  for instance . there  s hardly any slow moments here and also those moments are interesting and the film never becomes boring or hard to watch .  br    br   but there is again one negative point which i cannot stand in hk action comedies  which is this comedy itself . the comedy isn  t funny especially when the errors and amateurish elements in the screenplay aren  t there by accident but because of the writer wanted to add them there  without necessarily understanding that they are signs of bad script and stupid dialogue . i mean those scenes like the stabbing murder attempt at the beginning when the murderer just shouts and screams and makes faces and acts like a drunken clown from some slapstick nightmare  and he is there to  murder  that girl . this kind of acting is stupid and inept and i wouldn  t like to see it in a film which is otherwise very great in its own genre . characters also speak their thoughts which is also a sign of bad script because those  loud thoughts  are there just to make things clear even for the stupidest viewer and thus making things way too simple and  light .  even if the film is comic and not so serious  these kind of stupidities should not be there and they cannot be forgiven too easily .  br    br   police story is a fast speed  full impact  balls to the walls action adventure miracle from hong kong and from the time when jackie was very sad because of the bad result he got with the us produced the protector as he didn  t have the same thoughts about the film as director james glickenhaus had and thus the result didn  t please audiences and jackie and he returned to hong kong to make more personal and inventive film . that he definitely did and the result is as wild today as it was back then in the    s . this is among the most insane action films ever  and it would be somewhat perfect without the flaws i mentioned .      
if you  re a layman interested in quantum theory and string theory  read  the elegant universe  by brian greene of columbia university  and  the universe in a nutshell  by stephen hawking of cambridge .  br    br   recipe for     br    br    parts bombastic new age pontificator   parts pseudoscientist   parts real scientist  br    br   mix together until ingredients are indistinguishable from each other and spread on celluloid thin enough that there is no discernible substance .  br    br   serving suggestion barf bags .  
although john woo  s hard boiled is my number  favorite movie . but i have to say police story is my number  favorite movie . i say this because the stunts  the fights and the action my favorite part of the movie is when jackie chan jumps off the rail at the top of the esculator at the mall grabs on to a pole surrounded with chrismas lights and slid down the pole fell through a skylight and finally land on his back on the hard marble floor . ouch  buy it at amazon . com for      .  or something in   dollars .  vhs new line home video . any questions or comments please feel free to reply .  i  m only   but i know where you can find any movie ever made .  if you looking everywhere for a movie and can  t find it please reply to me . thank you and good night   
well  what can i say .  br    br    what the bleep do we know  has achieved the nearly impossible  leaving behind such masterpieces of the genre as  the postman    the dungeon master    merlin   and so fourth  it will go down in history as the single worst movie i have ever seen in its entirety . and that  ladies and gentlemen  is impressive indeed  for i have seen many a bad movie .  br    br   this masterpiece of modern cinema consists of two interwoven parts  alternating between a silly and contrived plot about an extremely annoying photographer  abandoned by her husband and forced to take anti  depressants to survive  and a bunch of talking heads going on about how quantum physics supposedly justifies their new  agy pseudo  philosophy . basically  if you start your day off meditating to the likes of enya and kenny g  this movie is for you . if you have a sense of humor  a crowd of people who know how to have fun  and a sizable portion of good weed  then this movie is for you as well . otherwise  stay away . take my word for it .  br    br   the first thing that struck me about  what the bleep do you know  is that is seemed to be edited and put together by the same kinds of people that shoot cheap weddings on camera  complete with pink heart effects  computer  generated sparkles across the screen  and other assorted silliness . who let these people anywhere near a theatrical release is a mystery to me . i guess this is what too much kenny g does to you . the movie was permeated with cheesy gci  the likes that you or i can produce on our own computer via over  the  counter video editing software  but never would  because it  s just way too ridiculous .  br    br   the script was  obviously  written by someone with no writing experience whatsoever . not only were all the characters and conversations cumbersome and contrived beyond belief  but the  writers  felt like they had to shove every relevant piece of information  or rather disinformation  which is what most of this movie was all about  all the way down your throat . well  given the target audience  that may not have been too bad of an idea . the main character  for example  spends half the movie popping pills . apparently  though  it was deemed not convincing enough  so there are at least a couple of dialogs in throughout  which refer to her anti  anxiety pills specifically  just in case the viewers should not be able to connect her overacted pain and suffering with little white pills she takes whenever she feels down . the acting . . . well  i  ve seen better acting in ed wood movies  and no  this is not an exaggeration . heck  the little play i was in when i was   featured much more inspiring acting than this . it really did .  br    br   the story is interrupted here and there with a bunch or random talking heads  a strange mix of kooky scientists  kooky doctors  and self  proclaimed mystics  go on and on about how quantum physics supposedly provides an  explanation  for how ever man or woman created their own reality just by participating in the experience of life . reality  you see  is a probability  field of a bunch of different possibilities  and is only set in stone once you the observer chose to notice it . what happens when more than one observer observes they didn  t say  but then again who cares . listen to enya  meditate  observe  and you shall be god  and nobody gives a damn about such silly and archaic things as critical thinking  logic  etc . all reason is immediately dismissed as people being stuck in their ways and unable to achieve a  paradigm shift  and  go down the rabbit hole  . furthermore  the heidelberg uncertainty principle supposedly is proof positive of alternate realities  parallel universes  and such .  br    br   speaking of rabbit holes  the analogy permeates the movie . all of these people keep talking about going down rabbit holes . i  m not sure what that had to do with anything else they were saying or showing  but one thing i  m certain of is that it somehow involves anal sex . actually  the movie is  extremely  anti  sex . throughout  sex is presented as dirty  ugly  and anti  enlightening .  br    br   in any case  the talking heads talk  the main character achieves harmony and enlightenment by painting hearts all over her body with a magic marker  and proceeds to walk around with an even stupider look in her glazed over eyes than she started with .  br    br   i want  hours of my life back .  br    br   here  s a couple of random quotes which i happened to remember  br    br    what i think of as unreal has become a lot more real to me  and that  which i used to consider real  is oftentimes a lot less real than the unreal .   some talking head on the spirituality of quantum physics .  br    br    what does it take for one man to have an erection  it takes just one thought . nothing changes on the outside  all the changes are within . an yet he has an erection   some self proclaimed mystic  head of her own school of enlightenment .  br    br   while looking at herself in the mirror  i hate you  i hate you  you  re fat  you  re ugly  i have you    main character  the fat and ugly photographer .  
rated pg    for violence  brief sexual humor and drug content . quebec rating     should be g  canadian home video rating   a  br    br   i have seen police story a couple of times now . in my opinion police story is chan  s best film from the    s . he originally made it because he didn  t like the other cop film he had to star in which was the protector . i have not seen the protector so i cant compare . the acting isn  t too bad and the plot is pretty good . i don  t remember the plot well because i saw this film a while back but what i do remember is this film has lots of great action  stunts and comedy just what a good chan film needs . if you can find police story and you are chan fan then buy this film   br    br   runtime    min  br    br        
i created my own reality by walking out of the theater i was roped in by my girlfriend into going to this dreck with her mom . we  my g  friend and i  walked out about an hour into it . what a load of pseudo scientific new age jargon .  br    br   sub atomic particles are thoughts  by taping labels to bottles of water and blessing it by a buddhist monk it grew little pretty crystals  a drop of    in the murder rate in dc happened when a bunch of folks meditated . wow  what a rigorous scientific study . i  m sure that someone ate cheerios for four days straight during the same time . should we conclude that eating cheerios caused a drop in the murder rate   br    br   hogwash  hooey  bull pucky   br    br   btw  it was funded by the ramtha cult  the leader of which was one of the  experts  which were interview by the filmmakers . no ulterior motives here  right   
well  i would consider police story as one of jackie chan  s best film . the plot  the fighting scenes and the stunt works are excellent . in this film  jackie himself acted as a police officer called chan ka kui  kevin chan in some versions  who successfully arrested a crime lord . after the crime lord was released due to lack of evidence  he framed chan for the killing of a police officer . due to this  he became wanted by the police . later on  salina  brigitte lin   who was the secretary of the crime lord  went to a shopping mall and started to steal the evidence of the crime lord  s crimes from his computer and preparing to pass them to chan . however  the crime lord knew that salina had downloaded his incriminating data and hired his henchmen to capture her . later on  chan appeared at the scenes and began to fight all of the henchmen  defeating them one by one . at the last scene  chan was seen punching the crime lord . lastly  this is the best action and comedy movie . everyone should watch it . highly recommended .  
remember the chain  smoking channeler exposed on   minutes a few years ago  this is her . lots of folks reviewed this movie without checking the bona fides of the filmmakers . the producers have been using phony  word of mouth  promotions very successfully without disclosing the financial and philosophical underpinnings for this piece of marketing tripe . if you believe in channeling  reincarnation  new age dreck and day  old baloney  this film is for you . if you want a discussion of quantum physics or reality  look elsewhere . the purpose of this movie is to convince you that ramtha isn  t a wacko  so you  ll give her a bunch of your money . if you can tiptoe through the ramtha website without howling in disbelief  then maybe you  ll think the bucks you dropped on this infomercial for insanity was well spent .  http   rogerebert . suntimes . com  apps  pbcs . dll  section  categoryanswerman   
my wife  kate and i absolutely loved the series and can  t wait for the next one  hopefully there is a sequel   . i would love to know what the catchy song is called and who wrote it  maybe because i am  old and grey  and still interested in life   . if anyone has the full lyrics please send them .  br    br   of course one big reason why my wife and i liked this series so much was that we are   years old and retired but still very active intellectually . it  s great to see a show that highlights the contribution to society that can still be made by older people with special skills and experience . the human interest aspect showing the interactions of the characters and the younger people around them is an important part of the show .  br    br   this series is highly entertaining and very sophisticated  on a par with some of our other favourites   spooks  and  hustle  .  
what is this crap  my little cousin picked this out obviously for the overly girlie dvd art and title . . . i decided to watch it with her so she didn  t get bored  and i sure was appalled at the horrible quality .  br    br   first  the acting was terrible . they seem like amateur actresses reading off of cue cards . the delivery is sub  par and very formulaic . scene cuts were terrible . . it looks like they took it straight from the story board  if there was one .  br    br   secondly  the jokes and stereotypes weren  t original or well played at all  again  very formulaic . i can  t count the times i was able to predict the next joke . i got a few chuckles out of the blatantly  subtle  sexual innuendos . the cat  the beaver patch  hung wong  . . c  mon  just . . stay away from this movie . it  s not cute  it  s not funny  it  s not even stupid  funny . it  s just stupid  stupid . it  s like a pg kids  movie with unnecessary sexual innuendo  vulgarity  and violence to bump the mpaa rating . stay away .  br    br    would you like to ride my yacht    br    br    is that what they  re calling it now    br    br    you could ride my ding .   br    br    oh  i think i got blood on my stool    br    br   badly played  sir .  
maybe the movie itself isn  t one of the best jackie chan  s movies  but i think everybody will agree with me that the mall fight was one of the best fighting scenes ever made . there also was some memorable stunts  which were so impressive that they made this movie an action classic . this movie influenced many other action movies and i think that nowadays action movie makers should learn from this film  like they could remake that chase scene  i thing with modern technologies they could make it even better  . there also were some funny scenes which made this movie enjoyable even when jackie wasn  t fighting . althou i think they could put more fighting scenes in this film .  
anyone who has studied any physics or cognitive science will walk out disgusted after   min .  as my wife and i did . the ignorant masses might be entertained by the hand  waiving arguments and the absurd  conclusions  drawn  without even an attempt at a logical reason  from real science . i  m offended by such nonsense presented under the guise of  science  . i can only conclude that the writers picked up a quantum physics book  didn  t understand a word of it  then watched the matrix about a thousand times  and proceeded to write this movie .  br    br   for example  the washington dc crime experiment was done by the transcendental meditation program . a brief search will reveal the science of their methods .  http   www . freedomofmind . com  resourcecenter  groups  t  tm  dissenter . htm   br    br   save your money .  
it  s depressing to see where jackie chan has ended up . he used to be an unstoppable hurricane of punches  kicks and incredible stunts . to be fair  he  s now in his fifties and one would expect some slowdown . but with  rush hour    where he takes a back seat to chris tucker  of all people    and then there  s  kung fu panda  where not only is he in a purely vocal role but his character barely has any dialogue . . . to say that jackie chan has seen better days is a colossal understatement .  br    br   it  s times like this when the only solution is to whip out a dusty old vhs tape and watch jackie kick some arses in his younger  fitter  chris tucker  free days .  br    br   enter  police story  . jackie chan plays kar  kui  a policeman whose task it is to protect a witness before a major trial . he faces resistance from both the unco  operative witness and the numerous hit men sent by the mob to silence them both .  br    br   but on the other hand  who cares  we don  t watch jackie chan films for the story . we watch them to see jackie chan perform eye  popping stunts and generally punch and kick a whole lot of people who are less awesome than he is .  br    br   and on that level   police story  doesn  t disappoint at all . there is an awesome showdown in a shopping mall at the end that culminates in jackie sliding down a giant  high  voltage chandelier . seriously  if this sort of thing happened more often  no male would ever need coaxing to go shopping for clothes .  br    br   there is also comedy  much of which involves kar  kui inadvertently upsetting may  maggie cheung   his eternally suffering and apparently ever forgiving girlfriend . the humour on the whole is pretty unsubtle  but it works so i  m not complaining .  br    br   the acting isn  t too subtle  either . indeed  i  m not sure there was anything subtle about  police story  at all . director jackie chan  yeah  he does that too  clearly has a deep understanding of why we watch his films  and knows that while we  re waiting for the next fight to start  the last thing we want is to be looking for nuance and depth and inner meaning .  br    br   so  police story  is a blast . as is the case with most of his films  the fact that jackie actually does the stuff you see on the screen puts it head and shoulders above the competition . i mean  when jackie chan really is hanging from a speeding bus by an umbrella  a whole new  wow   factor is added to the action .  
it seems the makers of this film had trouble deciding what their message really was . consequently  they had even more trouble delivering it . they began by poorly describing principles of quantum physics which relate to sub  atomic particles . having established a fuzzy picture of heisenberg  s uncertainty principle  they presented a barrage of talking heads who built a case of ridiculous logic intimating that every living person is an entity which follows the same quantum rules on a cosmic scale . then there was a lot of talk about ideas upon which stephen covey and tony robbins have made their careers positive thinking  interrupting bad patterns  always look on the bright side  etc . next came a bit about how our brains can change our bodies through production of proteins hormones which we more or less choose to create . if you are sad  you will create sad proteins . if you are happy  you will create happy proteins . it  s just so simple  isn  t it  interwoven with our lessons we follow the fictitious life of amanda  a photographer who pops anti  depressants and hates her thighs . the film makers slowly but surely were trying to get us all to say   hey  amanda  just cheer up   why can  t she cheer up  obviously it  s because the world is a bad place where there is crime and poverty and religion  that  s why . the conclusion of the film  which is basically the entire second half  brought on a barrage of contradiction . we are all a part of a whole energy where we are not beings  but a collective consciousness  but we are individuals who can change the world  but there are many of each of us because of all the different dimensions  but we can choose who we are  and we have a purpose to do good  but there is no god because there is nothing better than us  so there is no such thing as right and wrong  so there is no such thing as reward or punishment  so nothing good ever came out of religion  but we should still do good anyway  even though there is no such thing as bad and good because there is nobody to decide what that is  except for the fact that we each can make life good if we all meditate  and then crime will cease  and if we say nice things  our water will freeze into pretty shapes . still with me  good because there is more . according to robert l . park in his book  voodoo science   the whole meditation experiment put on by john hagelin in washington  d . c . was a farce  the numbers were doctored  and the murder rate was higher that year that any year before or since . and what about your positive attitude keeping you young and healthy  this was a message delivered by an older man who looked his age and a woman who was overweight .  br    br   so does all this work or not  i was lucky enough to see the film at a theater where betsy chasse  one of the film  s three directors  yes  three  fielded questions following the show . i call myself lucky because i had first  hand confirmation that these people don  t know what they are talking about . several of the questions asked by audience members had her so stumped that her husband  a chiropractor  had to step in and recite the answer . i finally had to leave when the discussion inevitably turned political  and everyone  including ms . chasse  began speculating as to how wonderful the world would be if only president bush could see this movie .  
jackie chan  s police story is a landmark film for both the honk kong action genre and the career of jackie chan .  br    br   directed  written by chan  police story has a basic plot as did all the films of that era and genre  and like most of the the films of police storys  kind  the script is nothing to be raved about . but the plot of the film is jackie chan  who plays a nice guy cop  struggling to convict the local gang lord .  br    br   the direction of the film is nothing special and by no means the best directing effort that jackie chan has given us  that responsibility falls to the underrated masterpiece  miracles  . however the job that jackie does directing is sufficient and respectable . the standout out directing of the film comes with the fight scenes .  br    br   the performances in this film also vary with jackie giving a very solid typical chan nice guy up against it role  but this is by no means his best acting role  that can been seen in the sammo hung directed film  heart of the dragon  . the other actors in the film also give as good a solid performance as jackie with bridgete lin playing her part of the unwilling witness reasonably well  but neither does she display full acting potential . the standout acting comes from maggie cheung as jackies  suffering girlfriend and bill tung as the sympathetic and funny police chief . none of the performances in this film is of a low enough standard to affect the quality of the film .  br    br   the action in the film is what really separates this film from others with stunning contemporary choreography to suit the urbanised  modern setting  the action is some some of the greatest fight scenes ever put on camera . to begin with there is a shootout in the slum where koo  ganglord  is making a drug deal  whilst being no john woo style sequence  this serves as a nice starter for the film . this is then followed by the famous car run down the side of the hill and through the heart of the slum wrecking everything in sight . this is a breathtaking sequence that has since been shamelessly copied by bad boys  . in the middle of the film is yet another standout sequence as jackie tries to transport bridgete lin from her house to his . this is really the first scene where we get to see the awesome fast paced hand to hand combat that has since become the norm for all modern set martial art films . this sequence is fantastically choreographed  timed and seamlessly edited together to maximise the brutality of the scene . however  as tradition dictates  the standout fight sequence is at the end of the film . this sequence displays some of chans  best choreography  stunts and camera  editing work . this sequence is now famous for two things  the amount of people sent through high density glass  which has to be said a phenomenal amount of people  and the stunt at the end where jackie leaps from a  th storey balcony  grabs hold of a pole and slides down through a glass roof  this has to be seen to be believed  . whilst the two for  mentioned factors are both uniquely brilliant  i think that the most impressive part of this fight sequence is chans  ability to incorporate anything into the fight sequence and the sheer originality of the choreography  that for me has never been bettered . i also believe that the action in police story is some of the best filmed and edited action of chans career helping to set the action apart from others .  br    br   overall  police story  despite its unspectacular storyline and script and over running in the middle due to plot padding  is one of the best action films of all time displaying chans best choreography  best filmed action and arguably his most spectacular stunt making this essential viewing for everyone . afterall  we watch a chan movie for the action    
this movie made me very angry . i wanted desperately to throttle the  scientists  and unseen film  makers during the course of it . very  very painful to sit through . sophomoric and pretentious in the worst way . the little good information on brain function  chemistry and quantum theory is lost in a sea of new agey horse sht . the worst offenders were the crack  pot charlatans ramtha and joseph dispenza . mr . dispenza informs us that most people lead lives of mediocrity and clearly implies that he  on the other hand  is living on a higher plane . even the ideas and attitudes that i basically agree with are presented in such a heavy handed  clumsy  superior  pretentious  preachy manner that i felt the desire to disavow them . i think that  s what made me so angry  the fact that they  ve taken what are indeed profound aspects of established scientific thought and marred them with their new age hokum . much of it is based around the fallacy of applying concepts of quantum theory to the macro world . fittingly  the dramatized portions with marlee matlin are amateurish and clich ridden .  br    br   i would refer people instead to bill bryson  s excellent survey of science  a brief history of nearly everything .  there  s plenty of profound wonder about life and the universe in the actual  established science .  
police story is one of jackie chan  s classic films that helped shape the hong kong cinema . it is a masterpiece that should not be missed by any action movie fan . from the beginning it is obvious that jackie chan  s stunt team literally risked their live to make this film . both the action and the stunts are extremely realistic and innovative . even today  no movie has outdone police story in dangerous stunts . many people were hospitalized in police story including jackie chan . the fighting is not as indisputably exceptional as the stunts but the fighting in this movie helped change and define jackie chan  s use of props . throughout the film chan uses odd object to stop attackers and is constantly throwing assailants through thick glass . the action feels real because the stuntmen are giving the movie all they have to give and jackie chan  s coordination is outstanding .  br    br   the rest of the aspects of the film are not without flaws but they will not disappoint any action fan . chan not only plays a believable risk taking cop but shows the powerful changes that his character goes through as he falls into escalating desperation . the plot is powerful but a modern viewer may find it tedious at times . while the comedy will provide a good number of laughs it does not always distract the audience from the lack of action . however  for the time period it was made in  the driving aspects of the plot are entertaining . there a good number of interesting and well played characters dispersed throughout the film as well .  br    br   overall police story is without a doubt one of the best action movies ever made . and even in hollywood the influences of this one film are not to be ignored .  
as a physics student  i  ve become aware of many idiot professors  and other so  called experts  in the field . as i continue with my studies  i learn more and more about real physics experiments going on  and about the people who are doing things right .  br    br   then  my friends tell me of this  physics movie  they want to see . knowing nothing of it  i  m excited  hoping that the information will be presented well .  br    br   i  ve done real quantum mechanics this wasn  t it .  br    br   this movie starts with the basic assumption that anything that occurs to a subatomic particle can  and will  occur to you  if you just open your eyes . let  s think about that  for just a moment .  br    br   our bodies are composed of somewhere around      such subatomic particles . that is a million billion billion billion particles  the more  mysterious  quantum effects of just two particles can have a    probability of cancelling each other out completely . as you add more and more particles into the mix  it becomes almost impossible to have a large net quantum result . to tell us to believe that this is a valid assumption  with no rationality behind it . . . it  s just stupid .  br    br   my friend  also in physics  and i counted  facts during the course of this movie . but they were presented in the most misleading manner i  ve ever seen .  br    br   i cannot say as much for the neural portion of the movie  as i have not had any kind of medical training . it seemed as though it might have had a slight bit more truth to it  remembering my days in biology  but i cannot say .  br    br   at least this film had a redeeming quality the dancing peptides  or whatever they actually were  scene . not to ruin the invaluable plot that drives this movie  but the main character goes to a wedding  where she sees all different types of personalities  driven  by their peptides  and then the film cuts to the dance floor  where we are spliced between people dancing  sometimes surrounded by cg peptides  and a fully cg scene  filled with dancing peptides . the film  at that point  was trying to tell us how we  re  addicted to emotions   so we  re treated to the full song of that smash hit   addicted to love .   br    br   this scene was redeeming  because anyone who could go through that scene  and still take this movie seriously . . . well  you are the ones that need to  open your eyes .   
the best martial arts movie ever made . this one movie is better than anything bruce lee ever did . a classic with a thoroughly entertaining and brutal climax . jackie chan is the king of martial arts movies and the true king of kung fu . it  s a great pity that whilst bruce lee had been so overrated  it took jackie chan an eternity to become popular in europe and america . jackie rules      
i had numerous problems with this film .  br    br   it contains some basic factual information concerning quantum mechanics  which is fine . although quantum physics has been around for over   years  the film presents this information in a grandiose way that seems to be saying  aren  t you just blown away by this   well  not really . these aren  t earth shattering revelations anymore . at any rate  i was already familiar with quantum theory  and the fact that particles have to be described by wave equations  etc . is not new .  br    br   the main problem i have with this movie  however  is the way these people use quantum theory as a way of providing a scientific basis for mysticism and spiritualism . i don  t have any serious problem with mysticism and spiritualism  but quantum mechanics doesn  t really have anything to do with these things  and it should be kept separate . the people they interviewed for this movie start with the ideas of quantum theory and then make the leap to say that simply by thinking about something you can alter the matter around you  hence we should think positively so as to have a positive impact on the world and make our lives better . the reasoning is completely ridiculous  and the conclusions do not logically follow from quantum theory . for every so called  expert  that they interviewed for this film  there are scores of theoretically physicists who would completely disagree . they would point out  quite rightly  that the unpredictability of the subatomic world does not lend support to mystical notions about our spiritual connectedness .  br    br   it disturbs me that people are going to see this film and completely eat it up because it leaves them with a nice positive feeling . the main thrust of the film is based on a total misinterpretation of quantum theory  and it is as bad in its reasoning as any attempt to justify organized religion with similar pseudo  scientific arguments .  br    br   avoid this film .  br    br   oh yeah . at one point  one of the  experts  says that since throughout history most of the assumptions people have made about the world turned out to be false  therefore the assumptions we currently hold about the world are also likely to be false . huh  that totally does not follow . and even if it did  i don  t see how that helps his argument . i mean  if his ideas ever became common assumptions then i guess we would have to assume that they are false too  based on his own reasoning .  
jackie chan name is synonomus to stunts . this movie never let you down . the opening best chase scene and last roll down scene from the pole is so risky than one wonder  if he knows the meaning of fear . this movie comes very close to jackie  s best which is project a . but the main difference being that project a contains three stars where as in this movie jackie carries the film entirely on his shoulders . this is perhaps the main reason that this movie made jackie an biggest martial arts star followed by bruce lee . the film has nice comic touches too . what makes this film work is jakie  s ability to show his venerable side which his in contract to the typical martial arts action hero . this movie was followed by a sequel which was good but was quite tame in comparison to its predecessor .  
suffice it to say that this substandard b has nothing to save it  not an interesting plot or even one tolerably decent actor . josh leonard of blair witch fame does little to help matters . do yourself a favor and leave this one on the shelf at your local video store .  
this is jackie chan  s best film  and my personal favourite . after the disappointing u . s made  the protector  directed by james glickenhaus  jackie took the concept and placed it slap bang into hong kong . this is also probably jackies most violent movie  with the audience cringing at the bone breaking stunts .  br    br   the action is fast and furious  jackie and his crew really did put max effort into the fight design . bones were broken and blood spilt in the process of making this film as you  ll see in the credits .  br    br   the script is a simple cops and robbers affair  nothing special  after all it was written around the action . i must say that the english version has some dodgy dubbing  but it shouldn  t put you off too much .  br    br   so  get the lads round  crack open the beers and enjoy . by the way  the film was nicknamed  glass story  by the stunt crew . why  i  ll let you find out for yourself    
a question for you  a family go to a new house and get stalked by demonic forces . which film am i talking about  every horror film youve seen  yes thats true but thats not the answer im looking for . ill narrow it down by saying theres a lot of teen angst scenes . doesnt help  well theres lots of bits where the characters are stalked by a creature and you see the characters through the creatures pov . no futher forward  okay theres a dream sequence involving lots of blood  could still be any horror film you say . oh gawd this could take weeks so ill say the film im talking about features loads of aussies many of whom have appeared in neighbours and home and away . yes thats right the film is the third circle  aka cubbyhouse  and do you understand what the above exercise is about  its about me pointing out how the third circle is absolutely no different from any horror film thats been made  
having first achieved fame with drunken master  jackie chan was thrust into the spotlight once more with      s project a  a hugely enjoyable pirate flick which re  established him as a major star . by the time police story was released two years later  the extraordinary hype surrounding jackie was reaching its zenith  and crowds flocked to see this frenetic blend of awesome stunts  brutal fight scenes and questionable comedy . it broke numerous box  office records and inspired a    rise in police recruits  but  viewed   years on  is it any good   br    br   as an action movie police story unquestionably stands up . there are several terrific fight scenes  some stuntwork that recalls the very best of chan  s hero buster keaton  and a compelling if over  violent climactic tussle . jackie  s performance is also very strong  and whilst the frequent forays into laboured comedy dull the film  s impact just a little  his charisma carries it through . furthermore  in presenting our hero as a borderline psychopath whose recklessness puts others in danger  jackie took a momentous gamble . . . though in the event nobody seems to have noticed  by praising police story as a simple  good vs . evil  battle critics belittled the film  s ambiguity of tone  and whilst it  s hardly the brothers karamazov  in depicting such uncertainty the film nevertheless represented a notable and praiseworthy shift from conventional ideas .  br    br   in short  this remains a quality  popcorn  movie  though you may empty your stomach as numerous villains are thrust against or deposited into glass showcases in the film  s final scene   a potent  boisterously entertaining action movie that ranks with the best of its period .  
having endured this inaccurate movie i will admit that it is a more modern telling of the story than previous versions . yet  it is so inaccurate and has has been made so politically correct that it made me mad after watching it . davy crockett was very poorly represented by billy bob  who i thought would have probably been better cast as sam houston given both men  s love of oratory . i think self  absorbed dennis quaid  an actual texan  would have been a perfect crockett and it would have definitely fed into his starved sense of self  worship . as a texan and a true believer in the texas mindset i feel davy crockett was the quintessential texan even though not born here . our unofficial motto is  it ain  t braggin  if it is a fact  was made for crockett . and that last scene at the alamo where crockett is the last survivor has to be the biggest insult to davy crockett ever made . to even suggest that this giant of a man and seasoned fighter would allow himself to be taken alive is ridiculous . three different eye witness accounts place him dead amid the bodies of a dozen or more dead mexican soldiers after undoubtedly fierce hand to hand combat . finally  that lame ending to the movie supposedly depicting the battle of san jacinto as a mutual battle of    texicans vs    mexican soldiers when there was actually closer to      well trained mexican regulars . every texas school kid who pays attention in their first texas history class knows the battle took the mexican army by surprise during siesta time and the mexican army was so confused they could not form ranks and fled as they were not trained to fight frontier style hand to hand .  
this is one of jackies best films that is him without opera buddies sammo hung and yuen biao it has one of the best openings in any action film and it carrys on in that way with jackie showing some high quality stunts the only critisim is that in the middle it gets a bit slow but it shows up for a frantic last   mins in the film and the end credits show what a crazy fool jackie chan is just to keep us film addicts happy  
the wife of a stage producer in london hopes to fix up the american song  and  dance man starring in her husband  s latest show with an acquaintance  an american girl who makes her living modeling fashions in society circles . unfortunately  the couple has already met on their own  with the girl thinking the guy is actually the show producer married to her friend  the fact he  s not wearing a wedding ring should have discouraged any misunderstandings   . wafty fred astaire  ginger rogers musical is eventually dragged back down to the earth by dwight taylor and allan scott  s idiotic script  which is full of juvenile behavior . astaire and rogers don  t just  meet cute    they meet ridiculously  he  s tap  dancing like a madman in the hotel suite above hers and she complains  . audiences of     probably didn  t care how these two were going to get together   as long as they did so  and happily . seen today  the central characters appear to have no motivation to end up in each other  s arms he plies her with flowers  after telling his friend he wants to remain  fancy free  in the love department  and she gives him the brush  off . nothing that a little dancing couldn  t cure  this glamorous twosome are as deliberately unreal as are the london and venice settings  but we watch simply because the leads are fred and ginger . it  s a fantasy for have  nots . . . ones who don  t mind the dumbed  down plot . the musical moments do break up the monotony of the contrived scenario  yet fail to transcend the surrounding silliness .  from   
this is my favorite jackie chan movie and in an interview  jackie said it was his favorite as well . it contains some unbelievable stunts and jaw dropping fight sequences as well as some very funny scenes as well . this movie was a favorite of brandon lee  who used parts in rapid fire  and was also lifted in tango and cash  which used some of the opening scenes .  br    br   jackie plays a policeman in hong kong . the story immediately jumps into a fantastic chase through a shanty town and continues as jackie slides down a hill and jumps onto a moving bus to catch the evil ku  who is one of the greatest villains in any jackie chan movie .  you can expect some very funny scenes as jackie tries to balance his duty as a policeman with his girl friend  played by maggie chung . his job is to protect ku  s secretary who has enough information to take him down  but even that poses many problems . jackie is at his absolute best here . the last fight scene at the mall is my favorite fight scene by anyone  period . it was the most intense fight i have ever seen jackie do and climaxes in a slide down a pole amidst exploding lights . all in all  one of his greatest stunts he ever did and left him with skin pealed off his hands . he was fortunate he was not electrocuted as the person in charge of the stunt used high voltage instead of a lower voltage .  br    br   all in all  another chan classic and definitely one of his greatest movies . by the end of this movie  you can tell he held absolutely nothing back and neither did his stuntmen . so many of his stuntmen were injured during this movie that nobody would insure them anymore  jackie had to take responsibility himself . there are no gimmicks  wires or stand  ins  it is all true  life action that is a treat to watch . it is this type of action that made him the phenomenon that he is and it is a movie that will amaze people    years from now . if you have not seen this movie and are a fan of jackie chan or action in general  give yourself a treat and watch this movie . it is truly sensational .  
the proverb  never judge a book by it  s cover   was coined as a warning to those who fail to look beneath the surface .  br    br   as i viewed the artwork to   king of the ants  i instantly thought horror  the arcane imagery proudly displayed on the cover  back spoke of a dark vision  the synopsis promised a story of murder  betrayal   retribution . instead what i discovered beneath that surface  was less interesting than what you can find under your average rock .  br    br    king of the ants  features chris l . mckenna as sean crawley  an average guy ready to make a name for himself in this world  even if it means murder . except sean crawley is someone you don  t care about  never once did i feel any compassion or sympathy for this character . in fact he  s downright unlikable  but not as much as daniel baldwin  ray mathews  who turns in an uninspired performance as a made all the worst by the utterly laughable dialogue he is forced to recite . throw in kari wuhrer as a grieving widow who apparently has unconditional trust  esp . in the homeless   and little to no common sense  and george wendt as duke  which is basically a sober norm from cheers but mean   br    br   now there are a couple of interesting  hallucination  sequences in this film  the source of the cover images  but this film never delves further into that world . it prefers to bombard you with unmotivated characters  bad dialogue  and unlikely event after unlikely event . oh the horror   
this is the best series of its type i  ve seen all year . i can  t help thinking it  s just my luck  a series i love gets  episodes  and more next year  and the constant stream of cookie  cutter cop shows get never ending episodes .  br    br   i think the reasons new tricks succeeds are many . the scripts are good  and the mix of characters superb  the acting is top flight  and the blend of comedy and drama works a treat . the stories aren  t all that memorable  but that  s not the reason i watch shows like this one .  br    br   the theme song is a favourite  and we were disappointed to find it isn  t available in any published edition . great stuff  bbc  a triumph of sense over sex  appeal  aside from the young constable nobody  s there as eye  lolly  and even if he is  he can still act   .  
i was looking for a cute  simple comedy to pass the time but choosing this film proved to be an enormous mistake .  br    br   i can  t write a single good thing about it . first  the script is stupid and not funny at all  relying on tired  recycled jokes and a farting turtle for laughs . in my book  that  s not funny  that  s pathetic .  br    br   low budget  effects   if i can even call them effects  with horrible cinematography . in many places it feels almost like an indie film shot with no money .  br    br   acting . . . i feel sorry for the actors . are pamela anderson and denise richards that desperate for some money that they  ve agreed to take part in this   looking at their recent filmography  it would appear so .  despite the outfits  pamela is showing her age and as a whole  they don  t even come across as sexy  let alone funny .  br    br   this movie is not even in the so  bad  it  is  funny category . it  s just bad  as if everybody involved was sick of it .  br    br   avoid .  
home room was a great movie if you  ve ever had drama in your life . it keeps you wanting to see more . wondering what the secret alicia is hiding . i think i watched that movie  times in a row and never lost interest . plus i usually don  t cry over movies but this one made me cry each time . i wish i could find more movies like that one . all in all i thought it was a great movie . the more you watch of it the more you become part of it . the very end is the part that really got me when she cried when getting her diploma  because it had her daughter  s name on it . my heart felt as if it had shattered just then . and how her new friend came to comfort her when she hadn  t gotten hers yet . i loved it so much .  
as the number of video nasties i  ve yet to see dwindles  this little pile of garbage popped up on my  to rent  list when i saw it was available .  br    br   the premise involves a fashion model or something being kidnapped and taken into the jungle to be held for ransom by a motley crew of idiots . some other goof gets hired to bring her back and is given a sack of money to use as a bargaining chip  though if he returns with the girl and all the money  he gets a significant cut . he  s brought a helicopter and pilot with him and  wow  that pilot is one of the worst actors ever  granted  they are all totally terrible and the dubbing will make you cry blood . after stealing away into the jungle  we learn that nearby is a cannibal cult whose flesheating earthbound god wanders the woods like a human king kong looking for tribeswomen to ravage and devour . now  this fellow is just a naked guy with some of the worst makeup ever  ping  pong balls for eyes and that  s pretty much it . his growls and groans are an everpresent feature on the soundtrack  and i found myself muting much of those scenes .  br    br   oh  did i forget to mention the almost constant nudity  this is probably the main reason this film was banned  though there is one specific scene  about one second long  where the god attacks a girl and pulls her guts out  but it  s not a redeeming factor for gore fans . also  jess franco goes beyond the usual t and a and shows lengthy close  ups of female genitals  and  sadly  male as well . so  if you want  fair  in terms of exploitation  you got it .  br    br   i can  t recommend this trash to anyone . it  s not even the good bad movie . it  s just atrociously padded trash that only a video nasty fan will probably view and even then  if you are making your way through the list  leave this for the very last . if you watch it first  you may get the notion that this is the norm for the list  which is certainly not true .  
this is sad this movie is the tops this should at least be in the top    movies here . this is still the best action movie ever done . the action movies of today are badly done the actors and action directors do not no how to do it fighting and stunts properly . only some no how to do it mostly from hong kong like jackie chan . the stunts are so clever and wild i do not think we will see the likes of ever . the start where chan and his team go down the hill car chase through the hill town is just amazing . the end fight stunts are for me the best fight stunts ever put to film . the end stunt sliding down the pole crashing through the glass jackie was badly hurt .  
i read all these reviews on here about how this is a such a good movie . jeez  this movie was predictable and pretty boring . the acting was below average most of the time  especially by mckenna . i haven  t seen a more pathetic attempt at making someone  badass  in a movie . oh man  this movie was a letdown . i also read somewhere this might be a cult classic . i know there are followers of the director  but this movie was just a average piece of film .  br    br   the script was lame  for the most part the acting was lame  this movie was lame .  br    br   oh and pray for the guy that used to be in cheers . he looks really bad .  br    br   the best actor in this movie was probably the guy in office space  and he was only in this movie for about  minutes .  br    br        
police story is a stunning series of set pieces for jackie chan to show his unique talents and bravery . some of the stunts here are among jackie  s best and most dangerous the whole mall fight finale is probably jackie  s greatest single fight sequence  more brutal and less comedic then say project a or drunken master at the end of the fight you can almost feel the pain of the impact .  br    br   but unfortunately the rest of the film doesn  t hold up to this quality as it is a rather formulaic cop thriller with some comedy elements . i always prefer jc in films such as project a where his natural comic talents shine through . in the serious confines of some elements of police story it just doesn  t work for me . having said that though this is still up there with jackies best films due to the incredible stunt work and sheer spectacle .  br    br   as usual with hong kong films avoid the english dubbed dvd version as it is truly awful stick with the subtitles .  br    br   great stunts  ok movie a fine starting point if you  ve not seen a jc movie before and well worth a watch for any movie fan      
i don  t know anything of the writer  s or the director  s earlier work so i hadn  t brought any prejudices to the film . based on the brief description of the plot in tv guide i thought it might be interesting .  br    br   but implausibility was piled upon implausibility . each turn of the plot seemed to be an excuse to drag in more bloodshed  gruesome makeup  or special effects .  br    br   the score was professional and kari wuhrer seems like a decent actress but the rest was more than disappointing . it was positively repulsive .  br    br   i will not go through the vagaries of the narrative but i  ll give an example of what i think of as an excess of explicit gore .  br    br   chris mckenna goes to an isolated ranch house and pulls the frozen body of his earlier victim  wendt  out of the deep freeze . mckenna had killed wendt by biting a chunk out of his neck . now he feels he must destroy the evidence of his involvement in wendt  s demise .  what are the cops going to do  measure his bite radius   mckenna unwraps wendt  s head and neck from the freezer bag it  s in  takes an ax  and begins to chop off wendt  s head . whack . whack . whack . the bit of the ax keeps chipping away at wendt  s neck . the air is filled with nuggets of flying frozen flesh  one of which drops on mckenna  s head .  he brushes it off when he  s done .  mckenna then takes the frozen head outside to a small fire he  s built . he sits the head on the ground  squats next to it  takes out some photos of a woman he  s just killed  and shows them to wendt  s head .  remember her  we could have really made it if it hadn  t been for you guys   he tells the head .  duke  you  ve always liked bonfires  haven  t you   he asks . then he places the head on the fire . we only get a glimpse of it burning but we can hear the fat sizzling in the flame .  br    br   i don  t want this sort of garbage to be censored . i  m only wondering who enjoys seeing this stuff .  br    br   there  s no reason to go on with the rest of the movie . well  i  ll mention one example of an  implausibility   since i brought the idea up . mckenna has been kidnapped and locked in a dark bare shack . he knows he  s going to be clobbered half to death in the following days .  he  s literally invited the heavies to do it .  what would you do in this poe  like situation  here  s what mckenna does on what may turn out to be the last night of his life . he finds a discarded calendar with a pin  up girl on it and masturbates  successfully  . give that man the medal of freedom   br    br   a monster who looks like pizza the hut is thrown into some unnecessary flashbacks . the camera is often hand held and wobbly . the dialog has lines like   life is a piece of s . or else it  s the best of all possible worlds . it depends on your point of view .  use is made of a wide angle lens that turns ordinary faces into gargoyle masks . a house blows up in an explosive fireball at the end while the hero  mckenna  walks towards us in the foreground .  br    br   some hero he is  too . he first kills a man for        by bashing him over the head several times with a heavy statue  then a potted plant  before finally tipping a refrigerator over onto the body .  this bothers him a little  but not enough to keep him from insisting on payment .  then  i hope i have the order straight  he kills wendt by ripping out part of his neck . then he kills the wife of his first victim by accident and blames the heavies for it  although by almost any moral calculus they had nothing to do with it . next he burns the head honcho  baldwin  alive . then  having disabled the two lesser heavies  he deliberately blows them up  though one of them isn  t entirely unsympathetic . and we  re supposed to be rooting for mckenna .  br    br   these aren  t cartoon deaths like those in the dirty harry movies either   bang bang and you  re dead . these are slow and painful . the first one   the murder for          is done clumsily enough to resemble what might happen in real life . it isn  t really easy to kill another human being  as hitchcock had demonstrated in torn curtain . but that scene leads to no place of any importance .  br    br   some people might enjoy this  especially those young enough to think that pain and death are things that happen only in movies . some meretricious stuff on screen here .  
police story brought hong kong movies to modern day cinema .  br    br   jackie plays a policeman who tries to catch some drug dealers and at the same time take care of a young woman from the bad guys  and still take care of his relationship with his girlfriend selina  brigitte lin  .  br    br   the movie features plenty of stunts  not only from jackie  but also from other actors  who are now in jackies stunt club  .  br    br   three of jackie  s stunt members went to hospital during filming on the film .  br    br   the movie also have some incredible fights scenes like   the car park fight   and   the shoppingmal fight ranks as one of jackie  s finest .  br    br   the movie also won award for best movie and best action design by jackie chan at hong kong film awards .  br    br   everyone who loves jackie chan and  or martial art movies shud see this  
a film without conscience . drifter agrees to kill a man for a mobster for money . then they double cross him . meanwhile he falls in love with the dead man  s wife  and  without her knowing he  s the killer  moves in with her . then he  accidentally  kills her when she finds out . then  in a walking tall kind of heroism  he gets revenge on the mobsters who double crossed him . the first problem is that  by agreeing to take on the murder by hire assignment  the drifter loses all sense of sympathy  worthiness  and heroism . we can  t accept any goodness in him and as a result the rest of the has no moral center . we just can  t care about that kind of guy . and the wife  nicely played by the fetching kari wuhrer  the sheriff in eight legged freaks   a high class lady who runs a mission for homeless people  similarly loses a degree of sympathy by jumping right into bed with the homeless drifter  despite her evidently weakened state after the death of her husband  . and  when she finds out he  s the guy  what does she do  she locks him inside her house  as if all houses had locks you can  t open from inside  with her and proceeds to berate him . stoo  pid . george wendt  however  is terrific in a role as a beefy thug . director stuart gordon did so much better with re  animator and dagon .  
there is one detail  which is not very common for jackie chan movies  but which is present here . it has some very tough and serious atmosphere about it while the funny elements are present too . jackie is menacing and psychotic here . he is not a hero who is attacked and only then fights back  in a usual laid  back pattern   but he is the one who can go and start the tumult . his manner of hitting that evil guy in the glasses is amazing . every time it goes  crack   . i also especially enjoy the scene when jackie goes to the pub and thrashes the villains who had fronted on his girlfriend . it  s one of the best blitzkriegs put on screen . besides  the whole scene is shot with the background of some action character painted on the wall  it also looks like a poster of  rabochiy  from our soviet era  and some lines in russian on the left  i noticed that quite accidentally  . that looks terrific  and nostalgic for russian people  . i also like when the windows are being smashed in the movies . here there  s a lot of this stuff . it  s quite amazing watching the characters falling  jumping  running  driving through all manner of panes .  br    br   all three movies are great . i had been preparing myself to see the down  slide of the quality but i saw a perfect trilogy with sense and incredible stunts  and not only jackie chan  s character appears in all three movies  that  s also excellent and keeps continuity up  .  br    br   i would like to describe each movie just in a few words no .   great  in all aspects  it is one gripping story from the very beginning to the very end  and funny  many scenes are ridiculous   no .   raging  jackie is really beep off here  and painful  jackie gets tortured   no .   unbelievable  the woman that fights alongside with jackie is incredible  and bombastic  should i mention a lot of guns and explosions   .  br    br   as to the rest  much has been mentioned by the others .  br    br   it  s a trilogy that can be watched over and over again  at least by me  . its place is in top   among action  comedy jewels . finally it  s been released in russia on dvd  the  nd film has the best options  the chinese  russian soundtracks and english  russian subtitles  .  br    br   solid   out of   . thank you for attention .  
i was ped when i couldn  t see this one when it was screening at the philly film fest last year  so when i saw that it was going to be on cable tonight  i put it on remind as soon as i could . so was it worth the wait  well let  s backtrack a tad as i have yet to give you the plot . sean crawley is a young man who doesn  t know what his path in life is . enter duke  george wendt  who introduces him to his boss ray  danny baldwin  . one night ray totally hammered asks sean to off the guy that they had sean following around . and it goes on from there . which leads me back to the question posed . was it worth the wait  yes and no  the buildup was pretty good and george wendt stole the movie for me . he just took the ball and ran with it . but it  s nowhere near as violent as i was led to believe and somewhere along the movies running time the ball is not only dropped  but fumbled and taken in the other direction . i know where this point happened exactly  but can  t say without spoiling the film . but needless to say it happened . the ending doesn  t save the film either . poor stuart gordon nothing can be good like  re  animator  or  castle freak  .  br    br   my grade c  br    br   where i saw it showtime extreme  br    br   eye candy kari wuhrer shows her ta  tas in one fantasy and then in the next more ta  tas and it pans down and . . . oh my god my eyes my eyes       
this movie is without a doubt a perfect      . . for all you people out there who are rating this film low grades because it has no  good plot  or anything like that  thats ridiculous  saying that a jackie chan movie is bad because of its plot is like saying a porn movie is bad because it has no plot  you watch jackie chan for the fight scenes  for the action its not so much concentrated on a good story or anything like that  if you look at how he makes movies and compare it to other american films from that era and even later you will realize that jackie chan  s movies had over the top fights scenes and not really good plots while american movies had good plots but shitty action scenes compared to what jackie chan was doing at the time . porn is watched for the porn  jackie chan is watched for the action  i think you people are rating it bad because there  s no plot because you think thats how a smart movie critic would rate a good movie but the way i see it is a good movie is a movie that can keep me entertained . sure the middle of the movie was boring  very boring  but put it this way the rest which is all action scenes and stunts very much do pay for all of that . this did change the way how american action movies were created  they have even stollen scenes from this movie . if you want a true man  a true entertainer then watch this movie and many more of jackie chan  s  hes pure in everyway . he literally makes american movies look like a walk in the park  and even in todays movies . american movies rely so much on special effects and safety wires and stunt doubles and so much more . police story and many other jackie chan films are pieces of work of a true entertainer who just goes all out and is very talented in what he can do . a masterpiece  
i must pat myself on the back for watching this movie all the way through because it truly was painful . an incapable painter becomes a fully capable hit  man  this movie was rife with absurdities of which if i mentioned them all i would be giving away the movie . norm peterson aka george wendt must really be in a rut to have agreed to do this movie . the acting was deplorable and the story was even worse . as a sane minded and rational individual  i could not understand where the writer came from nor where he was going with this movie . there was ineptness on the part of every main character  there was a string of hapless and ridiculous events  then the movie ended . one absurd act after another with dialogue doesn  t make a movie  it only makes a talkative train wreck .  
this is not only one of the greatest jackie chan films  but also one of the greatest kung  fu movies of all time .  br    br   we  ve come to expect crazy stunts  and fast  creative action in chan  s movies  and this one set the benchmark for others to follow . it  s two hours of pure entertainment  that impresses all the way through .  br    br   as well as the superb action  we have a viable storyline and believable characters  with chan taking what appears to be a more western approach to the writing  mixing eastern resolution methods  ie kicking ass  .  br    br   overall  it  s funny  serious  entertaining and groundbreaking . a must for any kung  fu fan  whilst at the same time remaining accessible to the wider reaches of the film community .  
this movie is written by charlie higson  who has before this done the  legendary  fast show and his own show based on one of fast show  s characters  tony the car sales man  . he  s also written james bond books for kids .  br    br   actually i  ve seen before this only gordon  s movies that are based on lovecraft  s stories  and every one of those is marvelous . here gordon tries to do something different . the style is totally  contemporary   which means shaky camera  fast and strange cutting  cool chillout music in the background . it works quite well here  i guess  but it  s still pointless and cheap . it makes me often think of the cameraman who  s shaking his dv  camera in front of the actors  actresses and try to make stylish moves in the pictures  hoping that something tolerable would come out of it  . the casting is good  and there is a whole atmosphere  which is the result of good directing . i think the main character  the  zero  young guy  is quite interesting in his  zeroness  . the fat guy is also good . and the guy who looks like alec baldwin  but is not him . but pretty soon after the beginning the movie turns out to be something not  so  interesting in this case i mean an endless line of scenes of sadism and sickness . there is not much humanity in this film  story it  s totally pessimistic  and every person in this movie is disgusting and hopeless  or soon dead . needless to say that there is no humor either . it  s a     long vomit without no relief in any moment . anyway  gordon remains to me one of the most interesting movie makers that are active today  and i think of this movie as an experiment  and as a failure in that . everyone has to experience getting lost sometimes  just to learn and to find their way again . this might be gordon  s most uninteresting and empty work .  
police story is arguably one of the best works by the master of action himself . compared to other action films  police story makes schwarzenegger and stallone look like beginners . the stunt scenes are well cheorgraphed and the action scenes are superb . if new line cinema has any sense  they would release this in theaters .  
this movie was an attempt to go into places most don  t and perhaps shouldn  t venture into . it was a similar trial at the bizarre  head  case perspective given to us in the cell  although not near as in  depth and well portrayed . the plot is constructed simply with an initial campy feel to it . then  as the movie takes its supposed  dramatic  turn  the plot falls apart on what few legs it had to stand on in the first place .  br    br   basically the idea is that of a kid  chris mckenna  who needs money . he takes on the role of a hit man  killing a city accountant . then he doesn  t get paid for his work but instead gets tortured for several days because he dreamed up the  brilliant  idea of trying to use a backup file he had as leverage for payment . this idiotic move at trying to force them to pay him backfires as he is horribly and endlessly abused . he begins to go crazy  some very disturbing scenes  . then  thinking he has paid for his sins and can start over  he visits the wife  kari wuhrer  of the man who he killed and wins her affections . soon after she discovers who he is  tragedy strikes  and revenge sweeps through the air as the boy goes after his torturers  daniel baldwin  george wendt  vernon wells  for their previous  kindness  .  br    br   i got to ask though  what is it with kari wuhrer and horror  gore type films   br    br   it seems everything she has put out lately has been in this genre . granted  i liked her in  eight  legged freaks  and she was okay in  anaconda  . but despite all her obvious cuteness and allure  wow  she  s hot    she can act much better and chose better roles . or maybe  i  m wrong and that is just a misconception . for all you guys out there  you get to see the  fully monty  of her in this film  although it  s rather bizarre and short  lived . i almost felt like she did some soft  porn after watching this film  something not foreign to kari  s career  . the sex  simulation is such that it has to make you wonder what things really go on during filming .  br    br   anyway  i will say there is some good acting . just don  t expect much of it from daniel balwin  whose career seems forever destined to second his brother alex  s . the film did bring out a few old greats though  george wendt  norm from cheers  and vernon wells  commando  weird science  . above all  chris mckenna does the best job in playing the main character  sean crawley . his little acting experience and yet his believable nature as a naive youth  bring some elements of substance to the film .  br    br   i wouldn  t go out of my way for this one . if you  re bored and are tired of the same old episodes of  the hitchhiker   then i might advise watching this .  br    br   and kari  please start acting in some better films   
my favorite jackie chan movie will always be  drunken master         followed by this film from       police story .  in it  chan plays a hong kong super  cop who busts a notorious crime lord and his gang  and is then assigned to protect the man  s girlfriend  brigitte lin  so that she can turn state  s evidence . as the story goes on  the gangster sends his goons to dispatch lin  but chan takes matters into his own fists and feet  while keeping girlfriend maggie cheung at bay . like  drunken master    police story  has many of the signature stunts and over  the  top martial arts  action choreography that chan has become famous for  climaxing in a battle royal at a crowded shopping mall . in his role as director  chan exceeds in excellence  giving a charismatic and funny performance that accentuates the action . while light on the overall slapstick humor of  drunken master   at heart  police story  is just that  a police story  a gritty cop  thriller that would be oft  copied over the years to come .  br    br         
you can  t imagine how i looked forward to king of the ants . as a massive gordon fan  i awaited the european premiere with wicked anticipation . especially since i loved dagon  gordon  s last achievement  so much . king of the ants premiered here in my country and it was gordon himself who came to present it . unfortunately  i couldn  t go and congratulate him for it afterwards . king of the ants is his most uninspired and mediocre film to date . really  the quality level never surpassed ordinary tv  thriller standards . the plot outline is terribly routine and with the exception of a few poor scenes  the typical gordon  touch is never recognized . on top of that  the already weak script has more holes than a swiss bowl of cheese  it involves a young wannabe  crook who  s hired to commit a murder . so he does . and of course they  re not paying him . and of course he falls in love with the victim  s wife . and of course he avenges himself . . only the sequences in which the guy descents in a spiral of madness are worth a mention and they  re the only ones reminding you of the fact you  re still watching a stuart gordon film . the acting performances are below average with mccenna as the heroic lowlife  george norm peterson  wendt as the chubby bastard and kari wuhrer as the good  hearted sex bomb . extremely illogical things happen constantly and the dullness of the story becomes irritating very quickly  while the make  up effects aren  t enough to even satisfy amateur  horror fans . i read a few other comments on king of the ants  claiming it  s gordon  s best since it finally is a thought  provoking and mature film . well  if that  s the case . i rather stay immature and give re  animator another viewing  thank you very much . oh well  i guess every good director runs out of steam and inspiration eventually . too bad it also overcame stuart gordon .  
jackie chan is considered by many film and martial arts movie fans as one of the greatest action stars ever to grace the silver screen and police story cemented his reputation as the likely successor to the late  great bruce lee . if enter the dragon bared the so  called bench mark of lee  s greatness in the   s  then the same can be said about police story and jackie chan in the   s .  br    br   forget about the rush hour trilogy  or any of his us efforts  the one film that really typifies chan  s excellence  not to mention kick starting his status as a high kicking  bone  crushing kung  fu talisman  as well as his movie career was this  police story  the first in a series of successful cop films  set in mainland  present day hong kong .  br    br   i  ve seen many of his efforts  likewise the us  based rush hour  rumble in the bronx  the medalian and the tuxedo to name  and frankly many of them pale into insignificance compared to police story . in those movies  we saw a less  dumbed down  version of jackie  of whom didn  t get the opportunity to utilise his fighting abilities to the maximum  not to mention the fight sequences were no where as good as those in such efforts as drunken master  police story to name .  br    br   the stunts in this movie are extraordinary and are the best featured in any action movie . the shopping mall scene is literally one of a kind and has to be seen to be believed the flying shards of glass  chan who is left dangling outside the bus only by his walking stick as a madman frantically drives through the streets of the town  and chan successfully making usage of all sorts of inanimate objects and prop devices as weapons to fight the bad guys with .  br    br   considering he is known for injuring and breaking every bone in his body and putting himself in harm  s way  jackie  s persistence in showing his versatility as a stuntman himself by not relying on one  is somewhat of a testament to his reputation as a kung fu expert . especially as he has the bruises to show for it . thus  he has proved that he is no one  trick pony when it comes down to devising and coming up with various and clever looking moves .  br    br   story  wise  there is not much to discuss but what it lacks in narrative  it makes up with its end  to end action and fight sequences . as for the dialogue  well it  s not a really huge aspect of the film  which is why most fans of jackie  s and martial arts films are more interested in action  as opposed to the story .  br    br   unlike say the matrix  there are no wires or cgi  or any form of computer trickery involved . what you see is what you get  and what you get with police story is a great jackie chan epic  full of action and pulsating stunts . it is miles better than rumble in the bronx  rush hour and all his other american efforts .  br    br   police story is an excellent film and one i  d definitely recommend to anyone who is a novice jackie chan fan  but of whom are unsure which one they should watch first .  
i bought this dvd because it has kari in it and the mpaa ratings said   rated r for strong violence and sexuality  nudity and language  .  br    br   which correctly  imo  should state   rated r for strong violence  sexuality  nudity and language  .  br    br   the word  sexuality  should come after a  comma   not an  and  because of the huge difference in meaning it make . i think a lot of people who have watched this movie will agree with me that the sexuality and nudity parts almost non  existent . my first impression when i look at the mpaa rating was that i will be watching something like  vivid  movie . that is why i felt cheated . story  wise  it was so  so  after  all who really cares about the story if the gorgeous kari was in it . i know i don  t .  br    br   of course  this is only my opinion .  br    br   joseph  
probably jackie chan  s best film in the     s  and the one that put him on the map . the scale of this self  directed police drama is evident from the opening and closing scenes  during which a squatters  village and shopping mall are demolished . there are  clearly  differences between the original chinese and dubbed english versions  with many of the jokes failing to make their way into the latter . the latter is also hampered by stars who sound nothing like their chinese originals . in fact  the only thing the dubbing has corrected is the court trialat the time  trials in colonial hong kong were conducted in english  while the original has this scene in cantonese   br    br   nonetheless  chan  s fighting style and the martial arts choreography inject humour where possible  so non  cantonese audiences don  t miss much . it  s not  after all  the dialogue that makes a chan flick  but the action and the painful out  takes . the story is easy to follow chan plays an incorruptible hong kong detective pursuing a gangland godfather  cho yeun   and assigned to protect a star witness  brigitte lin  . the action is superb from beginning to end  and there  s not much time to breathe in between . it  ll never get you thinking  but what an entertaining  and well strung  together  film . arguably  this is one of the best martial arts films out there .  
this was a crappy movie  with a whole lotta non  sense and too many loose  ends to count . i only watched this movie because one of my favorite actors  ron livingston  made a cameo in it  and i continued watching it because as a girl  i love any movie that includes male nudity for a change . later  i found myself wondering just how much more ridiculous the storyline could get  and each time it got . . . more . . . ridiculous .  br    br   sean crawley  good  looking chris l . mckenna  whom i  ve never seen before  but loved his little nude scene  is making ends meet as a painter  when he meets electrician duke wayne  george wendt from  cheers   . thinking he  s getting more work from duke  sean agrees to meet contractor ray matthews  daniel baldwin  playing a stereotypically evil guy  . ray is being investigated by a city hall accountant  ron livingston in a cameo  who i  ve been in love with from  office space  up to  sex  the city   . ray end up offering the apparently desperate  for  cash sean    k to kill the accountant  and sean accepts the job . sean stalks out the accountant  whose wife  kari wuhrer  he finds himself attracted to  completes the hit  and leaves  taking the file of information against ray with him . sean quickly learns he was being used  that ray never intended to pay him  and sean uses the file as leverage to get his money .  br    br   up to this point  it  s a descent flick . . . generally worth watching . but as soon as ray  duke and their crew kidnap sean to muscle the information about the file out of him  it just got dumber and dumber  and still dumber . . .   until finally it seemed like the film  s writer  charlie higson  had snapped out of a    day writing hangover and realized he needed to desperately figure out how to wrap up the series of implausible messes he created before a deadline or something . without simply detailing the movie  let  s just say that in every  single  scene you watch after the kidnapping  you find yourself gasping  what the fk    baffled by the ongoing nonsense as sean follows a fairly graphic and gross path towards redemption . in the end  so many loose  ends are left in the movie  that you begin to regret that you even watched it .  br    br   this is a movie that you should only watch after it hits cable  and you should have enough beer and friends around to mock the film to it  s full value . it  s supposed to be a psychological thriller  and mckenna is a decent actor  but it  s hard to give yourself to the movie when you have  norm  from  cheers  and a baldwin brother doing the dirty work  and a kidnapping strategy that really makes no damned sense . guys will love the violence  blood and guts scenes  and the absolutely unnecessary sex scenes and boob shots . girls will enjoy handsome sean  s gratuitous crotch shot in a mainstream movie  when its almost always the girls that get stripped down in a movie . personally  i hate that the only actor worth watching for more than his looks  ron livingston  is only in the first one  third of the movie .  
this is a wonderful new crime series  bringing together three old stalwarts of british television  denis waterman  james bolam and alun armstrong  as retired detectives brought back to help clear up old cases  under the leadership of younger  career  focused amanda redman . the three quirky  irritable old cops make a brilliant team  applying twenty  year old detection methods in a police force which has moved a long way on since then  sometimes with effect  at other times to the horror of their senior officers . the three are portrayed sympathetically  warts and all . there are splendid comic scenes  and some very moving ones as each of the three has to come to terms with growing old and the legacy of their pasts .  br    br   at the end of the first six  part series  we are promised a further series next year  each of the characters had developed . widower james bolam cannot come to terms with his wife  s untimely death . lothario denis waterman is learning to accept his role as grandfather . and even obsessive alun armstrong is helped by his new friends to fight the demons of his past  and keep taking the medication  while amanda redman has to face the all  too  familiar conflict between having a life and a career . the story lines have been interesting  if rather heavily dependent on the wonders of dna  testing . but it is the interplay of four of britain  s finest actors which has made the series unmissable .  
i was required to watch the movie for my work  so i didn  t pay for it  on the contrary  i got paid   but i still found the movie to suck far more than average . the jokes were lame  the two lead actresses . . . well  to use the  first wives club  division of women  s ages in hollywood  they are no longer in their  hot chick  age but more in their  district attorney  age . what angered me most about the movie was the main plot line  which pretty much completely plagiarized  beavis  butthead do america   in which the boys are all jazzed up about some dude offering them money to  do his wife   not realizing they  re expected to assassinate her  . all in all  a bland piece of crap .  
a winters day    th december      two bored   year olds hire a movie .  hmmmm  police story  looks interesting    who is this jackie chan     never heard of him  . two hours later after watching the film  in a daze  we wanted to know more .   years later  and severely out of pocket from collecting jc movies   the film still grabs me like no other . ok  maybe i have a soft spot for it as it was my  first   cannonball run doesn  t count    jc movie  but it is an excellent movie . it has all the classic jc elements  action  humour  action  heart and action  some comments say it  s dated  it was made in      of course it  s dated  but then so must jaws  casablanca  singin  in the rain and the godfather       without movies like police story where would hollywood action be today  ps set standards  many a scene has been stolen for use in other movies . to really fully appreciate it you must see it in widescreen  you miss so much of the movie otherwise  yes  he really does fall off the bus going round the corner   . if you haven  t already  see this movie now      br    br    
i watched this film because i noticed that it had kari wuhrer in the cast . i have long had a theory about her  that she is a talented actress  but never seems to get to prove that  because she is always in this sort of low  budget b movie . she is still beautiful  and she is still trying to act over the unfortunate material i always see her in . this is no different . the film is often ugly and disturbing  but that doesn  t make it good . george wendt played against type  and that was so jarring that he gets recognition for his role . another note about ms . wuhrer . her breasts seem to have shrunk markedly since i saw her last . perhaps reduction surgery  or  more likely  removal of implants . this not a bad thing . she still looks great . i would like to see her in a better movie .  
version universal  hong kong legends r  dvd release . cantonese  english subtitles  br    br   once upon a time  five years ago  the world was obsessed with  the matrix   and i was perhaps one of the few fifteen year olds left who still believed that  terminator  was better than  matrix  . i was but a simple teenage boy  looking for a good action movie  and then there was a shining light on a tv station i had never really watched  a little station known as sbs . one night i noticed in the tv guide that a movie starring jackie chan   police story  would be on later . being fifteen  and having only seen  rumble in the bronx  and  rush hour   i said . . .  wow awesome  and sat down to watch it  and continually shouted  wow awesome  as the movie progressed . two weeks later  after sbs had shown the  police story  trilogy  i knew i had found my new favourite actor .  br    br   jackie plays chan ka kui  a hong kong cop who busts a major drug  lord  chu  yuen chor  . chu  s secretary  selina fong  brigitte lin   is being held by the police as a witness against chu  and chan is assigned to protect her . things go bad  reaaaal bad  when chu  s case is dismissed and he decides he wants fong and chan dead .  br    br    police story  is one of the greatest action movies ever  and certainly one of my favourite jackie chan films . it starts off strong  and ends with one of the most incredible action sequences ever filmed . everything in between is great . however  some of the funny parts may seem a little tasteless to more than a few people . . .  br    br   as a story  this is still one of jackie  s better efforts . for an action movie  the story is pretty good  and jackie is a much better actor in this than he is in the acting  plot intensive  new police story  . this isn  t  miracles   but maybe that  s a good thing .  br    br    police story  is one of jackie  s finest works . it got me hooked on jackie chan movies  and should provide a nice start for any potential jackie fans . the bad news for anyone who sees this first is that jackie chan movies don  t come much better        
i guess it  s jack  s great empathic ability that makes him the powerful performer that he is  but empathy comes at a price like all things  when he  s surrounded by mediocrity he instinctively lowers the standard and becomes one with it . he is a joke as a mafia  hit  man  also because the part doesn  t suit him one bit  him being so extroverted  and just grazing avoids making a fool of himself in this . kathleen turner had a much tooooo long career just by being tall and blonde  because her acting ability is limited to that thing she does with her eyes  when she opens them wide which she  s convinced is sooooo damn sexy and anjelica huston is the absolute same  granted interesting  in everything  just like robert loggia .  br    br   the movie is a lame draft  and this will be the only mention of the rag they call script  of a gangster  movie  with a cast that was probably only interested to get to the after  party faster  they certainly gathered the party  going elite in this  . what  did they shoot it in  day   cause that would be the only explanation .  
fred gwynne  al lewis  sid caesar  and yvonne de carlo star in this funny  funny movie . the late fred gwynne is truly wonderful as herman munster who lives with grandpa munster  al lewis   wife lily  yvonne de carlo   and his son and daughter . sid caesar is hilarious as the owner of a wax museum that has a whole section dedicated to the munster family . when the wax figures of herman and grandpa begin to terrorize the town everyone blames the two . the two now have to clear their names before it  s too late . you  ll laugh out loud just like i did .  
they had an opportunity to make one of the best romantic tragedy mafia movies ever because they had the actors  the budget  and the story but the great director john huston was too preoccupied trying to mellow out this missed classic . strenuously trying to find black humor as often as possible which diluted the movie very much . and also they were so uncaring with details like sound and detailed action . maybe it was the age of the director who passed away two years later .  
this movie has one of the cheesiest plots i have seen . for me  that  s what makes it so awesome  fred gwynne and al lewis are very good at what they achieved in the original munsters series . while there was less slapstick  they still worked wonderfully together  comedically .  i wish yvonne de carlo  as lily  would have had more plot involvement . she showed that she could do comedy in the original series  but it was mostly wasted in this movie . this movie also stars the great sid caesar  but sadly he doesn  t have any interaction with gwynne and lewis . i think some better work could have come out of that .  
well then  what is it   i found nicholson  s character shallow and most unfortunately uninteresting . angelica huston  s character drained my power . and kathleen turner is a filthy no good slut . it  s not that i  don  t get it  . it  s not that i don  t think that some of the ideas could  ve lead to something more . this is a film with nothing but the notion that we  re supposed to accept these ideas  and that  s what the movie has going for it . that nicholson falls for turner is absurd  but then again  it is intended to be so . this however does not strike me as a .  funny  or b .  . . . even remotely interesting    this was a waste of my time  so don  t let the hype get the best of you . . . it is a waste of your time  with all that being said  the opening church sequence is quite beautiful . . .  
this movie is ridiculous  that  s exactly what i like about this piece of  guilty pleasure  . it is easy to condemn this movie for not including pat priest and butch patrick  the original marilyn and eddie . but look at the year and do the math . pat priest and butch patrick had long outgrown their parts  time does that to young stars . yvonne de carlo  who re  prised her role as lili  was pushing the big     even though she still looked good and was still the perfect  lili   .  br    br   it  s a shame that yvonne de carlo wasn  t given a larger part . still  it was good to see fred gwynne and al lewis in the roles that made them so famous  during the  seasons that the munsters was on prime time  it was the gwynne  lewis chemistry that made the series such a success . the rest of the cast were supporting cast members  not to say that they weren  t needed . they were  the tv series wouldn  t had survived as long as it did without them . given the choice between butch patrick or happy derman  the original  eddie    the choice was too easy . yvonne de carlo was also the better choice over joan marshall .  br    br   though this movie doesn  t measure up to the original tv series  it still measures up nicely and is one of the better  reunuin  tv specials that plagued the boob  tube during the late     s  early     s .  br    br     
it  s boggles the mind how this movie was nominated for seven oscars and won one . not because it  s abysmal or because given the collective credentials of the creative team behind it really ought to deserve them but because in every category it was nominated prizzi  s honor disappoints . some would argue that old hollywood pioneer john huston had lost it by this point in his career but i don  t buy it . only the previous year he signed the superb under the volcano  a dark character study set in mexico  that ranks among the finest he ever did . prizzi  s honor on the other hand  a film loaded with star power  good intentions and a decent script  proves to be a major letdown .  br    br   the overall tone and plot of a gangster falling in love with a female hit  man prefigures the quirky crimedies that caught hollywood by storm in the early    s but the script is too convoluted for its own sake  the motivations are off and on the whole the story seems unsure of what exactly it  s trying to be a romantic comedy  a crime drama  a gangster saga etc . jack nicholson  doing a brooklyn accent that works perfectly for de niro but sounds unconvincing coming from jack  and kathleen turner in the leading roles seem to be in paycheck mode  just going through the motions almost sleepwalking their way through some parts . anjelica huston on the other hand fares better but her performance is sabotaged by her character  s motivations she starts out the victim of her bigot father  s disdain  she proves to be supportive to her ex  husband  then becomes a vindictive bitch that wants his head on a plate .  br    br   the colours of the movie have a washed  up quality like it was made in the early    s and huston  s direction is as uninteresting as everything else . there  s promise behind the story and perhaps in the hands of a director hungry to be recognized it could  ve been morphed to something better but what  s left looks like a film nobody was really interested in making .  
i think that people are under estimating this incredible film . people are seeing it as a typical horror movie that is set out to scare us and prevent us from getting some sleep . which if it was trying to do then it would deservedly get a     but i viewed this film with a few friends and we found it very entertaining and though it was a good movie after all it does have stephanie beaton . this is the reason why i think that it deserves the      for the pure entertainment of the film .  br    br   the general view on this movie is that it has bad acting  a simple script that a   year old could produce and that it cant be taken seriously and people are rating it low because of this . but i see this as a thoroughly entertaining masterpiece . . . that has a hilariously funny script which is made even more entertaining by the actors and although not very serious it is very entertaining .  
i may not have the longest of attention  spans  but this is the second movie i have refused to see all the way through  and i even bought it on dvd because of its  classic  status .  br    br   at first  i thought that the director was playing a big joke  so i kept waiting for a resolution  something to laugh at  something to keep my interest  but this resolution never came . rather  the writing was laughably amateurish  the movie dragged on and felt disjointed  like someone cut a tv series to feature  length . the academy must have been on drugs when they nominated this movie for no less than eight oscars .  br    br   once again  i repeat myself . this is the second movie i have refused to watch all the way through . the first was  exterminator  . i hope this gives you an indication of how bad it really is .      
the title of this film is taken from a party game called  seven minutes in heaven .  the game was popular among my husband  s friends when he was in junior high school in brooklyn  ny  and he describes it as something like  spin  the  bottle    lifesaver relay   and other preteen kissing games . according to the rules  a boy  s name and a girl  s would be drawn  and the chosen ones ordered to get into a dark closet together and to stay there for seven minutes . in the meantime  there would be speculation among party guests as to whether or not the two had the nerve to hold hands  embrace  and  or kiss each other in the privacy of the closet . at the end of seven minutes  the game leader would say   time  s up  or knock on the closet door  and the couple would emerge from the closet . after being quizzed by the other guests  the couple would have to admit what they had done during their  seven minutes in heaven .  then other couples would be chosen to enter the closet until all the guests had participated . the couple who admitted to doing the most would be the winners of the game .  br    br   such games have served as social  ice  breakers  for children and teens  but they can be embarrassing and intimidating to shy individuals . the film has been given this title because it deals with the teens  first experiences with crushes and romantic love .  
this movie has not aged well . maybe it  s just the impact and artful characterization  acting  and directing that we  ve seen with the sopranos  but i just viewed prizzi  s honor for the first time  on dvd  alone .  br    br   the experience of watching it with an audience   years ago must have been quite different  but i have to say  i was just appalled at the ending . not just the violence of it  but the mere idea that somehow this would be a satisfying ending .  br    br   i enjoy a good shocker  but this seemed so out of character . . . also  when was this move supposed to be set  the cars all seemed like they were from the     s  and yet the world trade center towers completed in      were clearly visible in many cityscape scenes .  br    br   another way in which the film has aged poorly is the mere idea that a passenger could travel coast to coast with a knife on his person .  br    br   somehow  mid      s audiences found this film charming and funny . mid  eighties  meet the late oughts only of you can live .  
i  ve been a jennifer connelly fan since phenomena  and after i heard about seven minutes in heaven  i saw it as soon as i could . the movie is not only a comedy if you think a lot of these things most of us went through as kids and are currently going through not only was the movie terrific led by the phenomenal jennifer connelly it captivated my attention that this movie was terrifically written directed and acted out it was one good deal i loved it and have watched it again and again and for those of you who enjoy a good laugh or love jennifer connelly you to can not put off seeing this movie      
eight academy nominations  it  s beyond belief . i can only think it was a very bad year  even by hollywood standards . with huston as director and jack nicholson and kathleen turner as leads i probably would have swallowed the bait and watched this anyway  but the oscar nominations really sold it to me  and i feel distinctly cheated as a result .  br    br   so it  s a black comedy is it  can anyone tell me where the humour is in prizzi  s honor  it  s certainly tasteless  the shooting in the head of a policeman  s wife is but another supposedly comic interlude in this intended farce about mafia life  but with the exception of a joke about  your favourite mexican cigars   which i imagine is an old joke for americans who have been officially forbidden from buying anything cuban for the last   years  i failed to spot anything of a comic nature  and i did try . there is a lot of mafia clich but clich doesn  t constitute humour in my book .  br    br   is it a romantic comedy of sorts  never . the characters and their relationships are so completely incredible and shallow that they are on a par with ben afleck and jennifer lopez in gigli .  br    br   is it a cleverly devised parody about the mafia  not in a million years . the plot is just pointlessly absurd rather than comically absurd  and it usually just has the feel of a really bad  and cheap  mafia movie . it feels more like a homage than a parody .  br    br   with one  dimensional characters and little in the way of humour written for them  the actors are left doing dodgy accents and pulling faces . well it isn  t enough even when the face is being pulled by that master of the comic facial expression  jack nicholson  repleat with puffed up top lip . . . now is that meant to be a parody of brando  s padded jowls in the godfather  . . . oh  who cares  . . . all i know is  it isn  t funny  .  br    br   throw in some slow  plodding direction  this film drags on for  hours   some hopelessly daft and clichd dialogue such as  you remember the camora  well we  re far bigger  we  ll track you down wherever you go   and clichd mannerisms and you  ll be reaching for that fast forward button before you can say  capiche   . prizzi  s honor is far from being huston  s  masterpiece  and is rather a very poor last work . it  s definitely one work in the great director  s canon that should be given a concrete overcoat and tossed into the hudson river .  
i really enjoyed this movie . i was fifteen when this movie came out and i could relate . this will be a movie i would show my kids to let them know  the feelings they are having are normal . it is funny to see how we could be so devestated by things at such a young age . . who knew that we would bounce back . . . . again and again . . . . great movie      
oh  how we have a misfire here a film so bad that your mind will wonder and drift away onto other things as it wastes your time with brain numbingly poor production values character stereotypes of the worst and racist kind since d . w . griffith referred to the chinese character in broken blossoms as  the yellow man   characters so unimaginative and un  engaging that it  s difficult to watch as well as a narrative that plods along at such a slow  stupid and pointless pace that you will question the very people who say they like this film .  br    br   prizzi  s honor is a film that ends up being an absolute post  modern disaster in every which way possible . the film is a messy and senseless disaster that has john huston directing kathleen turner and jack nicholson staring and everybody else filling in the gaps as either dumb stereotypes or supporting characters that weep on a phone now and again or bicker with a main character . prizzi  s honor is a film that falls into a genre of neo  noir  comedy  romance  action  gangster and overall crime  this twinned with its director and cast should be enough to propel it through some sort of a story some sort of a sequence of good scenes some sort of intelligence in the form of a screenplay or something else but no  what we get is a nasty and ugly film revolving around nothing at all .  br    br   i  ll give a couple of examples of how shoddy this horror show of a film actually is . firstly  the film thinks it  s a love story and it thinks this for about an hour of its time of my time . charley partanna  nicholson  is an assassin who kills people for a family that he works for in new york and yet he resembles his character out of one flew over the cuckoo  s nest more than an international hit  man . he meets and falls in love with irene walker  turner  who is another assassin and they hit it off but as the poor excuse for a plot plays out  it appears all is not right . i read that the plot for this film is  a professional hit man and hit woman fall in love  only to discover that they have each been hired to kill the other .  well  yes that  s true but that actual revelation doesn  t happen until about twenty minutes to the end  nicholson plays partanna like someone with an iq of    he walks around seemingly making observations and talking out loud about things he sees he talks like he is either drunk or has a more serious problem from within and worse of all we never get the feeling he is an assassin  one really poorly shot assassination early on  that actually happens off screen  is not enough to suggest this guy is a hard  bodied  best of the best  international hit  man .  br    br   so with a main character who is un  likable and un  realistic  we move to the script . the first hour and a half is just a cinematic dead zone with what ever there is to suggest traces of life merely poor conventions partanna slouches around on the phone or in person asking the same things over and over again  do i marry her   do i love her  what is love  what do i do   and it gets so repetitive  it  s not even able to act as good humour . this twinned with the way he always seemed to be on the phone to someone a girl called maerose prizzi  huston  played by director john  s daughter which served absolutely no purpose to the plot whatsoever and seemed to be there for laughs as was the scene in which she tells her father about how she slept with partanna and loved it  that got me thinking  was this supposed to be funny  should i be laughing  the film felt like a smart mafia picture what with its opening scene of a wedding  al the godfather  and consequential scenes with a touch of noir as gangsters  police men and assassins were introduced into the film . but what we get is something very  very different .  br    br   the second hour revolves around some sort of a kidnap plot right  the love and romance is dealt with  maybe the film will kick  start . i was so very wrong with more characters continuously talking very slowly and very deliberately in a monotone way  we have a kidnap scene involving some guy coming out of his office this scene sums the film up . everything is briefly planned and then executed in a heavy handed and dumb way that just makes it look cheesy . we do not get to see them arrive to some dramatic music perhaps they have to get through security to get to the elevators maybe they have to be careful of civilians when they hide in their chosen places and when that random woman steps out of the elevator and the gunshot occurs  the scene isn  t even edited correctly . some suspense  some drama  do i shoot or don  t i    maybe some slow motion as the character has to quick draw before it  s too late  anything but how it was actually executed . prizzi  s honor continues its monotonous and uninteresting decent into filmic oblivion as it nears its climax . it  s a film where cameras reflect in windows lights reflect in sides of cars and  dead  chauffeurs blink when nudged . prizzi  s honor is a jumbled and messy film that will try the patients of any film  goer and don  t say it was a comedy because i didn  t laugh with it  at it is another matter . the film is repetitive  drawn out and colourless in its vision and scope for originality  there is no honour here .  
first off  i  m a huge fan of   s movies  and of jennifer conelly as well . so yesterday  i wandered into a local used book  movie store and found a vhs copy . i read the back and it sounded good and for   .    it was a good deal . so i took it home and popped it in the vcr . what a sweet movie  at my age now  i relate more to movies like about last night or st . elmo  s fire  but still i remember what it was like to be      and in love with an older guy  etc . we all have those little crushes when we  re younger . and if it doesn  t work out  we  re heartbroken and we think that we  ll never get over it . but of course we do . many times . it  s that sort of sweet quality that i really got from this movie . the feeling of  oooh  i remember when something like that happened to me . . .  is all through it . the characters are interesting and well  developed . i recommend it to anyone who likes   s movies  teen films in particular  or to anyone who just wants to go back and remember a simpler time in their lives .  
let me state first that i love westerns  civil war stories . i also consider john ford as an excellent director . i also have the same high feelings for john wayne  william holden  s acting ability .  br    br   i cannot remember if i saw this film when it first came out in     . last night was the first time i saw it since then .  br    br   as per my  rating  one can say i did not like the movie .  br    br   i now will attempt to tell some of its shortcomings .  br    br   john lee mahin who wrote the screenplay from harold sinclair  s novel  was a very gifted writer  wrote many fine scripts  this script is poorly written  badly researched . they make mention of the awful conditions of the andersonville prison  at the time of the movie andersonville was not in operation . they also use rifles that were not used at the time .  br    br   john ford was directing films for over   years  won  oscars . he must have been ill during the making of this . his usual style was missing . it could be that this was film in the south  east and not in monument valley .  br    br   he normally had a stock company of players he used in nearly all his film  most were missing this time . this time only minor cowboy stars hoot gibson  ken curtiss have roles  of course anna lee has a small role . there were no other familiar faces except for the  stars .  see below  mr . fords stock company made most of his films the classics they were sadly missed here .  br    br   now we come to the main stars john wayne  william holden . the duke also must have been ill  he seemed out of place here . this sort of role usually fit his style perfectly  he was just adequate here . wiliam holden did the best he could  but nowhere as good as he usually was .  br    br   it was required that there be an actress in this type of movie . here in her first major role  second film  is constance towers  a very beautiful person  but not really an actress  she is still having roles on television . let me be kind and say she has had a long career  more based on her looks than acting talent . also in caas as ms . towers servant is tennis star althea gibson . i am glad she stuck to tennis .  br    br   the rest of the production credits were far from the usual high standard of other john ford films there were a few military type songs supposedly done by the marching cavalry  not good at all . the action scenes were good but come at the end of film .  br    br   ratings       out of     points  out of     imdb   out of     
being that this movie has a lot of fine entertainment qualities i think it should some more credit than it has been given on imdb .  br    br   it  s your basic  who done it   thriller with sex and murder but it keeps you guessing right to the end . i like these kinds of movies and i certainly think this one meets the standard .  br    br   to me it was worth watching more than once so i  ll give it an  on imdb .  
warning avoid this super duper awful movie . . . if you watched it you will be sooooooooo disappointed .  br    br   pam and denise are grandma age now what are they doing  trying so hard to be young innocent and sexy  just not working at all . pam and denise act so horribly in this movie .  br    br   plus the script is absolutely atrocious  i can  t believe someone can came out with such crappy ideas . with the development of movie industry  movie lovers are not as easy to satisfy as the ones in the last century . i bet the movie goers from last century will hate this too .  br    br   stay away from it . i think watch  white chicks  from     it  s so much better that this . . . make no mistake at that time i thought that  s the worst movie i have ever seen .  
this movie rocks  jen sexy as ever and polly wow were we really ever that young this movie can still touch the hearts of a lot of teens it needs to be put on dvd soon or it will become a classic . i really enjoyed growing up to this movie i have always had a crush on jen now i am too old but to this movie is made for all gens  you know i come from the early    s area were i had to watch everyone els live the life i wanted but thru movies i can do that all over again i guess in short i am hoping and wishing that this movie not be lost in time but reborn to the youth so they may enjoy the heart warm filling you get learning about hormones and datting problems and how to get away with stuff that seems so major back then but don  t mean nothan now so this movie is a dating tool .  
easily the worst movie i have ever seen in my life . direction  none . story pathetic . screenplay  that will be a good idea . there is a lot of gratuitous graphics  all of pathetic quality . preserve your sanity  dont ever see this movie   
considering all the teen films like  the breakfast club  and  pretty in pink  that are lionized . it is surprising that this one is so ignored .  br    br   there is no sex in it  but sex is thought of  including the idea that it may matter what others think about it . the kids do not always get along with their parents  but neither the parents or the kids are seen as always right or wrong  and the parents are not seen as monsters .  br    br   it deals with hero  worship . how one girl does a dangerous thing  which could have lead to real dustier  before realizing that she was wrong .  br    br   the movie is kind of ahead of its  time . one kid asks another kid what birth control she uses . she says she is doing nothing to need birth control . she replies  wrongly   oral sex  .  
having searched for this movie high and low  i actually found it when i least expected  playing on the sundance channel very early in the morning one day . why i searched endlessly for a small vanity project that chuck barris that was made during the last waning years of the tv show  i haven  t a clue . the film is simply put horrible . the scripted part that deals with a week that is . of course the highlight of the film is seeing the real performers that were  too hot for tv  or rejected for some reason or other . that part is still horrid  but campy bad which was enjoyable in it  s own way . now that i saw what i sought after for so long will i watch it again in my lifetime  resoundingly no   do yourself a favor and just watch the much much better  confessions of a dangerous mind  or find old copies of the actual show . the girl act where there just lick popsicles provocatively was fun  but having to endure seeing jay p . morgon flash the audience has in all likelihood made me sterile . in hindsight  i  m so very happy that this was massive flop  for if it was a massive hit  there could have been a  the   .   beauty show movie  and that my friends would surely have brought upon the apocalypse .  br    br   my grade d  
i originally came across linda feferman  s seven minutes in heaven when i was   and worked at a video store and i loved it . i recently watched the movie again and have realized that it is a lost treasure . the movie stars jennifer connelly  almost twenty years before she would go on to win an oscar for beautiful mind  as natalie becker . byron thames plays her best friend in the world  jeff moran . the film is definitely a milder  cuter and softer version of the pretty in pink  s and some kind of wonderful  s of the      s  which is exactly why it is so good . it  s honest  not forced like those films  and parents will enjoy watching this movie with there kids .  br    br   when natalie  s dad leave home on a business trip  jeff convinces her that he should move in because his home life sucks . with support from natalie  s friend  polly  played exquisitely by maddie corman  she lets him . but this movie isn  t about putting kids in situations and seeing what they can get away with . the three leads are so natural and the script  surprisingly so honest  that what comes through best in their performances is heart breaking . these characters really do care about each other . it  s a great film to show to kids who are reaching pre  teen adolescence .  br    br    
no wonder this movie never saw the light of day . the timing was of the release was awful . the gong show had already  jumped the shark  by the time the movie came out  so who would pay money just to see a few of the censored clips from the original run of the show  and the show clips are just a tiny bit of this pathetic     minute whine by chuck barris about how hard his life was as host of the show . did he really expect we would feel sorry for him and his messed  up millionaire life  did he really think we even wanted to know about his life   obviously so  since he later wrote his weird autobiography about his career as a cia operative .  did he think the gag of having everyone  everywhere audition for him would stay fresh for   minutes  or the network executive hounding him at every turn  this might have worked as the plot for a    minute sitcom episode  but not as a full  length movie . however  it was nice to see rip taylor  gene gene  and the unknown comic again  although  to make the movie  spicy   they included only his most vulgar routines  . and as someone else has pointed out  this is phil hartman  s first significant movie part  even though it lasts only a minute  . note his name is spelled hartmann in the credits  which is the name he was born with . you can  t miss his voice and facial expressions  even though he  s much thinner and younger than in the snl days . ed molinaro  hill street blues  also has a tiny part one of his first after leaving the soap world .  
despite its rather salacious title  this is a light teen dramedy . unless you  re an old coot  you  ll probably find it likeable . it isn  t so good on developing characters or situations smoothly  though . when you view it  you get the feeling that you  ve been running back and forth to the kitchen even if you  ve been sitting down watching the whole time . this is one of those films that counts a great deal on your liking the characters  and they are appealing enough . jennifer connelly is the heartthrob of many  i know  but i  ve always liked the more obscure maddie corman . the teens get most of the screen time without a lot of intrusions from those pesky grown  ups . is it just me or did most of the young males look an awful lot alike   
if you haven  t seen the gong show tv series then you won  t like this movie much at all  not that knowing the series makes this a great movie .  br    br   i give it a  out of   because a few things make it kind of amusing that help make up for its obvious problems .  br    br     it  s a funny snapshot of the era it was made in  the late      s and early      s .   you get a lot of funny cameos of people you  ve seen on the show .   it  s interesting to see chuck  the host  when he isn  t doing his on air tv personality .   you get to see a lot of bizarre people doing all sorts of weirdness just like you see on the tv show .  br    br   i won  t list all the bad things because there  s a lot of them  but here  s a few of the most prominent .  br    br     the gong show movie has a lot of the actual tv show clips which gets tired at movie length .   the movie  s story line outside of the clip segments is very weak and basically is made up of just one plot point .   chuck is actually halfway decent as an actor  but most of the rest of the actors are doing typical way over the top      s flatness .  br    br   it  s a good movie to watch when you don  t have an hour and a half you want to watch all at once . watch   minutes at a time and it  s not so bad . but even then it  s not so good either .    
believe it or not  inspector gadget  s last case is what got me hooked on the whole gadget thing .  br    br   my name is miriam and i am twelve years old  so obviously i wasn  t around when inspector gadget was at the top of his career . sure  i  d heard of him  but i didn  t really know him .  br    br   while reading  note that i never saw the original series  i would if it came on   . this is just about the only gadget thing i  ve ever watched  even though i am now obsessed  and i will be focusing on what i liked about it since everyone else is so negative . for all you pessimists  i  ve got some cons down there  too . p first off  for a childish sense of humor  you could deem this movie pretty funny . i thought it was  so sue me . i also thought the animation and character designs were good  and i  m also happy there was more gadget in it  since he  s my favorite character .  i do not like penny .  then there was claw  his voice was awful  though  and the madcat i thought they were done fairly good too . gadget  s idiocy seemed pretty well in place  if not a bit exaggerated  i . e . sucking his hat  hand thing  s thumb . would make a good screen shot  though . p  oh  and i liked the song that ran in the credits . yes  i am strange .  br    br   and  like all movies  there are some negatives  too .  br    br   talking cars  what  s up with that  you can tell this was aimed at younger boys . that wouldn  t bother me quite so much if there wasn  t the fact that the cars basically saved the day . i would have much preferred if penny and brain had taken their place . and  apparently  gadget loved his car more than would be called natural . a bit weird  to say the least .  br    br   oh  and the chief was downright mean to gadget . i mean  sheesh  yeah  he wasn  t always the most cheerful of people  but he didn  t hate gadget  from what i  ve read . like the inspector  his personality was exaggerated .  br    br   well  that  s pretty much all i have to say about this movie . i thought the animation made up for the car  centered plot and that it was overall pretty decent more so than the live  action gadget films  butchered  butchered  butchered   at least . maybe i  m just biased because this is what got me into gadget in the first place  or maybe my mind is twisted  or maybe i  m just odd  but i really liked this movie  even if i  m the oldest it  s recommended for .  
this beautifully filmed and scripted episode was let down for two reasons .   perhaps it was the morality of the     s talking  but no man left alone on an asteroid for years would react with such hysterical negativity to the gift of a female android .   it wasn  t an android at all  but a woman  the beautiful jean marsh .  br    br   the popularity of the sex doll industry in the coming decades could have traced its origins back to this episode if they  d done it properly . in fact  the modernization of sex  bots are in the news as i speak .  br    br   robots were not new to movies or television when this episode was made  so they could have at least had her act like one . her fleshiness would then have added a creepy element . instead  it becomes a nice little love story about two humans on faraway star .  br    br   the twilight zone always stretched the imagination and credulity . normally no one cared . but this episode seemed hamstrung by a calvinist morality eschewing what would have amounted to masturbation with a machine  or downright carelessness .  
shakespeare behind bars was the most surprising and delightful film i  ve seen all year . it  s about a prison program  somewhere in california if i recall correctly  where the inmates have rehearsed and performed a different shakespeare play every year for the past   years . the film follows their production of  the tempest  from casting through performance  and in the process we learn some pretty amazing things about these men  who are all in for the most serious of crimes . truth is indeed stranger than fiction   if anyone tried to adapt this story into a fiction film  the audience would never buy it  but knowing that it  s real makes it breathtaking to watch   literally i gasped out loud when i learned of one particularly gifted felon  s crime . it  s like some loopy episode of oz  and all the more entertaining because the characters and their bizarre stories are real .  
how could  out of   prior voters give this movie a    how could more than half the prior voters give it a  or higher  who is voting here  i can only assume it is primarily kids   very young kids . the fact is that this is a bad movie in every way . the story is stupid the acting is hard to even think of as acting the characters are characterless and the dialogue is terrible . i saw this one rainy afternoon on the sci  fi channel . in the sad event that it is ever rebroadcast  i suggest you read a book instead .  
shakespeare behind bars was a strangely uplifting documentary despite its content . convicts at luther luckett correctional complex in lagrange  kentucky who have raped  murdered etc and surrounded by bad people in an obviously depressing environment find something they genuinely enjoy and can become important  popular and celebrated in acting . there are paralleled themes to  shawshank redemption  with their institutionalised natures and search for forgives and redemption for their past lives . as we follow a generous  non judgemental director  who gives up his time each year to direct certain inmates in a chosen play by william shakespeare  this time around  the  tempest   that was cleverly portrayed with the inmates who could relate to it so much with its penetrating focus on forgiveness and redemption in which they confide and relate to  we are introduced to each actor in formal interviews that are nicely paced with break up footage of them rehearsing . each actor has their own story and tell of their regrets and reasons why they are there in emotional fashion with melancholic music over each in a traditional documentary sense . the strongest and most respected inmate  it would seem  is sammie . the director appears to immediately realise who the most interesting inmates were in sammie  and later  hal  and allows a longer  more in depth observation into the man and his personality . his presence is felt on screen and his personal revelations come as a shock to the audience  but give him such appeal in his emotional personality and a particular empathy is felt toward him . hal is the same at the beginning of the film . he has other things that he does to pass the time that  s shown as a comfortable hobby as it were in running an on site news broadcast programme . again  through personal interviews and revelations self admitted by hal  and nicely shot cutaways of hal  s body language  not the close  ups of his uncertain hand movement not only observed with him but others as well   in particular his heart felt story about being unsure and scared of his true sexuality in a society that purely would not accept him as a homosexual until later on in the film where he is shown to be quite snide and rude to other inmates involved in the play as though he deems himself above all of them  in particular to ron who already has a frustrating temperament in his acting . the relationship between all of the inmates involved in the play is shown as one of respect and unity to achieve something great for themselves . with nice  if not clichd  motions of time passing by with titles etc everything seems to go right in the first act  and then on the build up to the public performance  things predictably go wrong . an induction of one of the actors being transferred and his character being replaced by a younger  newer inmate gives the narrative a nice subplot into someone who promises big  but in the end disappoints all and does not live up to their expectation . one inmate in particular  big  g  welcomes the new inmate actor  rick  with an evident will to nurture him into their beloved practise and hopefully become a good role model . the film seems to capture each inmates passion so well with something the audience can relate to especially when rick is put in the  hole  for getting new tattoos  something nicely hinted upon earlier in the film when the warden stops a random inmate in the yard and asks him when he got a tattoo that  s on his arm and we learn it  s a punishable offence in the facility  and big  g  s disappointment is understood deeply . a happy ending  it all looks great when they are performing successfully  even being invited to perform elsewhere  and a sense of real unity echoes around them  but in the end  the film brings everyone back down to earth that this is short lived and everything they ever had or wanted was and will always be taken away from them . it is back to prison to pay for their crimes and no matter what redemption they seek in acting these plays  they won  t be free men  their proud performances and recognition is undermined by the fact that they are the lowest of the low criminals and a nice halt in the uplifting music that plays in a shot of a long corridor that coincides with the lights turning off and doors shutting is a powerful image of their oppression . the director seemed to be aware he was watching likable people in the documentary by given additional information at the end of the film into each actors future from the end of the film about where they are and what  s happening to them now .  
after seeing midnight offerings i am still convinced that the first decent movie about  teenage  witches yet has to be made . i didn  t think much of the craft and i  m not into charmed either . the only film i more or less enjoyed  about teenage witches  was little witches        and even that one wasn  t very good . but changes are that if you liked all the aforementioned movies  you will also enjoy midnight offerings .  br    br   i was expecting a silly and cheesy early    s movie about teenage witches in high school . but i was rather surprised that this whole movie plays it rather serious . the acting is decent and serious all the time . no jokes are being played by teenagers or something . and the musical score  at first  i thought was pretty good . it added some scariness and also something  classy   with the use of threatening violins and all . but as the movie progressed i came to the conclusion that the score was just too ambitious . they didn  t have to add those threatening violins when you simply see someone back up a car and then drive away at normal speed .  br    br   then there  s melissa sue anderson  who was the main reason for me to see this movie . a few weeks ago  i saw her in happy birthday to me  a rather enjoyable  thick  plotted  and goofy on some occasions  slasher  movie which she had done in the same year as midnight offerings . and i must say  she was very good as the icy  cold bad witch vivian . but the main problem with the movie is almost nothing happens  vivian causes a death and an accident  yes  but that  s it . then there  s robin  the good witch  who is just learning about her powers . and we expect the two of them using their powers more than once  but at only one occasion they use their powers to make some pieces of wood and other stuff fly through the air as projectiles . that was supposed to be a fight between two powerful witches  and what  s worse  i was hoping to see a spectacular show  down between the witches at the end of the movie with at least some special effects  flaming eyes or whatever . . . but nothing happens . there is sort of a confrontation in the end  but it  s a big disappointment .  br    br   so  the acting of the two witches was good . the musical score was decent  even though overly ambitious  . and the cinematography was rather dark and moody at times . but that doesn  t make a good movie yet  does it   
if you  re going to put on a play within the prison walls why not go for the top playwright william shakespeare  and if you are going to choose your cast from a whole lot of criminals serving long sentences for the most heinous crimes  you can be sure there will be plenty of time for rehearsals . in a kentucky correctional prison a courageous project such as this was undertaken with amazing results . this film shows how it was all done . the casting . the rehearsals . the set and costumesand the final presentation of shakespeare  s play  the tempest .  it had not occurred to me before but there is an analogy between the setting of the play and the correctional prison . in the play the ship  wrecked characters are confined to an island with no contact with the outside world . prison life too is much like that .  br    br   with a simple painted back drop of a surrounding seascape  the characters in a most pleasing assortment of costumes bellow out their lines to an approving audience  may be not quite as shakespeare intended but with good heart and true sincerity for sure .  br    br   more interesting than the play itself were the little cameos of each man behind his character . one inmate saw the play as a lesson in forgiveness another as a redemption of his sins . it was quite moving to see the men wipe away a tear as they spoke of murder  shooting and strangulation . one had the feeling that they would all like to wind back the clock and reconsider their brutal actions . however  as someone said  the past was past  and the present was the beginning of a new future . at least the play gave temporary relief from the depressing thoughts of past events .  br    br   the prison authorities should be applauded for allowing the play to take place . such an event would put kentucky on the map and hopefully other prisons might follow their good example . it seems to me that everyone stands to benefitnot only the kentucky prison but the prisoners themselves who need to find new confidence and self esteem and be prepared for the day when they go out on parole .  
cheap  amateurish  unimaginative  exploitative . . . but don  t think it  ll have redeeming amusement value . about as unentertaining  uninstructive and just plain dull as a film can be .  
one of the best parts of sundance is seeing movies that you would otherwise almost certainly miss . unless you  re a real art  house devotee  you probably don  t catch many documentaries . only a handful get any recognizable distribution . fortunately  sundance has increased its commitment to documentaries in recent years .  br    br   shakespeare behind bars is a powerful documentary about a dramatic production group at the luther luckett correctional complex in lagrange  kentucky . every year a group of inmates present a shakespearean play . director hank rogerson and his crew follow the troupe as roles are self  selected  interpreted  rehearsed and ultimately performed .  br    br   the movie is filled with fascinating revelations for those of us that have not been exposed to prison environments . despite the labels we know them by  convict  felon  murderer  etc .  we soon began to appreciate and respect these men as thinking feeling human beings . serendipitously  the play chosen for the year of filming was the tempest  with its penetrating focus on forgiveness and redemption . the actors all grapple with the relevance of the play to their lives  finding patterns and parallels with their characters and the meaning of the drama .  br    br   for a documentary film  like a book  the best that can be hoped for is that we experience something that changes our lives . shakespeare behind bars was a personal revelation for me .  o brave new world  that has such creatures in it .   
misty ayers had a smoking body  and that  s all this movie was about . pure exploitation flick . i started playing a game with myself  counting the number of times they looped the stock orchestral music . and of course the music is completely unrelated to the scenes . case in point casually walking into a room and saying  hello  was scored with chase music from a roman epic . i  d like to know why this film sat on the shelf for   years before being released . what i learned from this movie that women  s low  rise panties existed in     . i  m talking sigourney weaver in the original alien movie panties . at least   of the first   minutes is misty leisurely taking off and putting on her clothing  except for bra and panties  sadly  . also includes horrendous dubbing  leading to a  look out  godzirra   effect .  
my father was the warden of the prison  he is retired now  showcased in this documentary and i  ve grown up around the prison life  so perhaps my views will be totally different from everyone else who watches this movie . i will say this  the filmmakers who brought us this    minute miracle are fantastic artists and even better people . they were brave enough to a  show up and tell this story  b  get inside these inmates minds and hearts  and c  do all of this responsibly . responsible to their art and  more importantly  responsible to the inmates and staff of luther luckett correctional complex . they should be commended without end for this work . to take    hours  yes hours  of footage and be able to cut and whittle it down to   riveting minutes is nothing short of extraordinary and they have my utmost respect .  br    br   i saw this film under circumstances that only a very  very few were able to see it . i was at the inmate screening . i was in the same room with these men as they watched their hearts being poured out on screen . i saw men crying on television crying in the chair in front of me and let me tell you  it was a very profound experience . these men have committed horrendous crimes in some cases  yet have found ways to try to redeem themselves  even if they view themselves as unredeemable . how many of us have the courage to do this  how many people could do what they have done in such a harsh environment  to see them react to the film was an experience i am eternally grateful for  and i will never forget that . i thank the men who allowed me this glimpse into their lives  i thank my father for making all of this possible  and i thank philomath films for taking the time to pour their blood  sweat  soul  and tears into this project .  br    br   this movie will change everything you think you know about prison life  and the inmates held within it .  oz  is not real  television is not real .  shakespeare behind bars  is .  
obviously made to show famous     s stripper misty ayers  acting  talents . too bad she can  t act .  br    br   boring little tale about sweet  innocent sally down  ayers  being drugged and forced into white slavery  prostitution  . then she meets likable tommy cole who instantly falls in love with her . he wants to help her escape but can he  you really won  t care .  br    br   there  s no real skin here   ayers just strips down slowly to her underwear  twice  . the rest is just a boring little tale chockful of bad acting  atrocious  comedy   never thought prostitution was funny but what do i know   and terrible post  dubbed dialogue . i admit there was a twist at the end i didn  t see coming but that  s not enough to sit through this . also ayers  attempts at acting are hysterical  a real bomb . avoid .  
  the luzhin defence  is  in the foreground  a story of an idiosyncratic chess savant  turturro  who becomes consumed by the game and  in the background via flashbacks  his boyhood life and the forces which created the man he has become . factor in good and evil in the forms of his his love interest  watson  and former  mentor   wilson  respectively and you have a plaintive drama laced with poignant and delicately humorous moments mingled with the rich scenic beauty of italy  s lake como and the intensity of high chess play . an excellent film for those into period dramas  the auteur  s euphemistic chess play metaphor for orgasmic delight is an indication of the subtle wit behind the film .  
this has got to go down as almost one of the worst movies of all time . awful acting  awful script . . . and they were the good points  one to definitely miss  the jokes  if you could call them that  were so predictable as to be pathetic . pamela anderson is still relying on her body to detract from the fact that her acting is just as plastic  i sat willing to give it a chance  hoping that it was going to improve which  alas  it didn  t  if it was a choice between this and a book  i suggest you settle down for a good read  i like denise richards  which is why i gave this movie a go  but why she has let her self be cast in this movie is beyond me   
this is the second eytan fox film i have seen . the fantastic actor  lior ashkenazi  who starred in walk on water  has a minor role in this film also .  br    br   but the real stars are the young israelis who live together in a tiny apartment  noam  ohad knoller   lulu  daniela virtzer   and yelli  alon friedman   and the palestinian that joins them off and on  ashraf  yousef  joe  sweid  . there is sort of a friends  sex in the city thing going on  mostly gay   and they all just want the war to end so they can go on with their lives in peace .  br    br   but  that  s the rub . no matter how many posters you put up or how many raves for peace you have  the war is not going to end . many have tried over the years to bring the two sides to the table  but they just want to keep it going for whatever reason . there are many on the israeli side  both there and here in the us  who just want it all and will not consider peace . there are many on the palestinian side who apparently would be out of a job should peace ever come . it is in no one  s interest to end this war  and the children suffer .  br    br   this is always on your mind as you watch this funny and engaging film . it won  t go away . you know something tragic is going to happen and  of course  it does . with the feelings on both sides running strong  and revenge as the motivator  tragedy always happens  and that is what makes this an adult version of friends  sex in the city . there is no superficiality . it is real life  and it was a beautiful thing to see .  
released in      but clearly shot years earlier  this is an inept little crime melodrama with some inept sexploitation up front . as usual for grindhouse flicks of era  there  s a fair amount of undressing and dressing for no reason complemented by lousy music  annoying narration  and awkward editing . the coffee shop scene lays the excruciating groundwork  as we chop back and forth between characters to avoid actually seeing them speak their lines . all we get are reaction shots to the off  screen character  s voice    s  pretty misty ayers strips to her french  cut panties a couple of times before the action gets started . she  s accompanied continuously by what is apparently stock music from romantic to western to mother  does  the  dishes  mixed randomly to produce  among other things  the most thrilling cigarette lighting ever captured on film . watch as he taps it  watch as he strikes the match  will he inhale or will he be captured by apaches  only time will tell   the film tells the sordid tale of how sally gets tricked into working in a whorehouse  falls for a dope  and can  t escape . for some reason  we  re treated to some of the most bored and boring hookers ever committed to film  literally doing their nails or knitting rather than entertaining the clientle . some stupendously lame comedy  boozy dame accidentally drinks milk  har dee har   and silent film acting doesn  t help . this is one of the worst feature films i  ve ever seen  even on the something weird video marquee . it  s really more of a film curiosity for those interested in the history of cinema   very bad cinema .  
movies like this one  and c . r . a . z . y .  make me very sad for american films with a gay subject matter . with the exception of parting glances and brokeback mountain  there are few other notable american films with the kind of depth and sincerity as this movie  the bubble . this movie centers on two men  noam and ashwar  an israle and palestinian respectively . their relationship is complicated by the tension between the jews and arabs in israel . couples  in the early stages of their relationships will struggle with who will call who next  or who will say  i love you  first . noam and ashwar  s early love is complicated by suicide bombings  armed security check points  and racism . while noam  s friends accept and like ashwar  who is arab  it is clear that most of tel aviv  s citizens probably don  t .  br    br   one of the most touching moments  and there are many in this film  is when noam and ashwar attend a production of  bent  . we  as movie goers  see them watching this play  and the affect it has on the two of them is profoundly captured in their eyes . and ultimately  this touching moment is played out in a very sad way in the finale of the movie .  br    br   ohad knoller and youseff  joe  sweid are outstanding as noam and ashwar . director eytan fox is brilliant in creating a cogent and interesting retelling of the shakespeare classic romeo and juliet . and while most movies today have sex in them   almost as a sport   this one goes back to the old tried and true version of sex with love and passion combined . it is so refreshing . also refreshing is seeing two gay men being portrayed as people and not cartoons . there are cartoonish characters in this movie . it just doesn  t happen to be the two gay guys for a change . somewhere on this site i think i read a comparison between this movie and  friends  . well  not really . yes  these are youthful characters stumbling through their first uneasy steps into adulthood and relationships . but i don  t recall getting  blowed up  as a backdrop to the insipid story lines in  friends  .  br    br   this is a very good movie . it has heart  and heartbreak . and like all good love stories love does win out . but not in it  s intact glory of full bloom . still  it  s a very satisfying movie to watch .  
although misty ayers  burlesque stripper  is certainly attractive as the blonde lead  this flick is just an excuse to let her strip down to her underwear a few times  no nudity in     when this film was made not      .  br    br   the guy who hires her to work in a whorehouse resembles bud abbott of abbott  costello . most of the other woman are unattractive  and the drunken woman is semi  amusing in a creepy way .  br    br   a  out of   . ms . ayers has a curvacious physique  but you can  t judge any acting talent because the entire film is post  dubbed . some of these  exploitation films   usually made later than this one  are interesting in some way  but this is really a bore fest . sid melton  make room for daddy  directed . there are some samurai  like facial expressions and interesting apartments  but there  s really nothing here .  
directed and co  written by eytan fox the writer  director of the highly acclaimed     mini feature  yossi  jagger        . this comparative epic  at  hr   minutes  is another fine romantic drama in which we must deal with tragedy as well as celebrate the beauty and joy in life . westerners  especially urban gay men like myself  need to be moved outside our safety zone and be informed of the real life and death struggle elsewhere to be able to love with equity .  br    br   while  yossi  jagger  focused on a pair of gay lovers in the closeted confines of israeli military service   ha buah  is centred on a group of civilian friends  both straight and gay  who share a unit in the heart of israel  s generally gay  tolerant  but not always gay  friendly  capital tel aviv .  br    br    ha buah  opens with a dramatic border check point scene in which noam  ohad knoller  yossi from  yossi  jagger   first meets handsome young arab ashraf  yousef sweid  . romance soon blooms  but in that political climate opportunities would have to be seized quickly or lost altogether .  br    br   from there we follow an intricate interplay among the members and lovers of the housemates and the unavoidable effect of ashraf  s very conservative family . if you follow this film  s dialogue attentively enough then you will have no reason to be disappointed with the ending .  br    br   the soundtrack for  ha buah  is vibrant and the visuals are both beautiful and stark  i . e . real life in the middle east .  br    br   the english subtitles are very easy to follow and you quickly relax and appreciate world cinema at its best .  
maria bello doesn  t seem to care what people think of her choices in movie roles . again she chooses a very difficult and not popular movie to star in . maybe she needs those movies  to get off the sugar coated  aka  hollywood   ones she does here and then  coyote ugly and of course mummy   .  br    br   while i think fails to achieve what it sets out to do  i won  t spoil that   maria bello is as great as in her other independent  small movies she stars in . it  s her performance that elevates this movie . this combined with the strange subject matter almost did the trick for me . but in the end  and even if i try to overlook some flaws  like bad pacing and dramaturgy   the movie is still too long  
here  s one more beauty in the string of beautiful films directed by eytan fox . the movie presents the story of star  crossed lovers  one israeli  one palestinian  in modern tel aviv . the film  s effectiveness comes not only from its depiction of cross  ethnic conflict  but of conflicts personal and political within ethnic groups as well . for example  there  s a telling moment when one of the secondary characters  openly gay  is visited in the hospital by his boyfriend who brings him flowers and tries to kiss him in front of his visiting family  and suddenly we see a wave of awkward discomfort wash through the room . clearly the young man is not as open as he seems  and the family not as accepting as he might want them to be  while the boyfriend is confused and rejected . a good deal of complexity is packed into a fleeting moment . as we know from yossi  jagger  fox is a master at efficiently packing emotional and psychological complexity into brief sequences . the film is also effective for the even  handed way it presents the mutual brutalities that israelies and palestinians inflict on each other . if you  re not heartless  you  ll cry through the last third of the movie . though the plot is melodramatic  it  s so intelligently written and acted that it reminds us of how satisfying good melodrama can be .  
as is often the case  films about self  loathing characters do not usually make for good drama .  downloading nancy  is no exception . it  s supposedly based on a true story about a woman who  s murdered at her own request by someone she meets over the internet .  br    br   the protagonist is nancy  maria bello  who is married to albert  rufus sewell  . albert is a successful software developer who has developed a golf game which his company has successfully marketed to various bars and bar  restaurants . unlike most human beings  albert has virtually no positive attributes  except for his ability to be successful in the business world  . throughout the film  albert has a grim and dour expression on his face . he has no sympathy for his wife with all her emotional problems and resorts to patronizing prostitutes . when his wife asks for sex  he punishes her by masturbating in her presence instead .  br    br   nancy is equally one  note as a character . not only has she had a loveless   year marriage but was sexually abused by her uncle when she was growing up  thankfully there are no flashbacks of that back story in the film  . her self  loathing takes the form of self  mutilation and a result  she  s forced into therapy . however  she has such contempt for her therapist that no progress can be made .  br    br   finally  nancy is so depressed that she contacts louis over the internet . he  s sort of a sadomasochistic gigolo  who has sex with women for money while inflicting massive amounts of pain to boot . it  s revealed that louis has two children but no longer sees them  the children  s mother no longer wants anything to do with him  .  br    br   nancy  s plan is to first have painful sex with louis and then have him kill her . there  s a particularly unpleasant scene where louis has sex with nancy while slashing her vaginal area with a broken piece of glass . these scenes are shown as flashbacks after louis pays a visit to albert who ties him up and strikes him with a golf club . it seems that louis has a two  fold plan in going to see albert   berate him for his treatment of nancy and   enjoy the beating he receives . it takes awhile before louis will reveal nancy  s fatefirst  he forces albert to do him the favor of taking his dog to a relative so someone will care for it in the future . nancy  s fate of course is that louis finally ended up choking her to death  but showed some hesitation first as he made it clear that he had some  feelings  for her  . we soon learn that louis is imprisoned for life for nancy  s murder .  br    br   what exactly are we to take away from a film such as downloading nancy  are we supposed to feel sorry for victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence  is that the main point of the film  is sympathy for nancy actually warranted  i don  t think so . the film  s writers create a straw man in the character of albertsomeone who is so cut off from his emotions that he is the one that is held responsible for nancy  s decline . but are people so one  dimensional in real life  i think not . they have the repulsive louis  a man who makes a living by inflicting pain  come over and berate albert for neglecting nancy . furthermore  his expressions of love towards nancy  before he kills her   is supposed to show his  sensitive side  .  br    br   in the end  it matters little whether the filmmakers have defined where their sympathies lie with the various characters in the film . they are so bent on titillating their audience with scenes of gratuitous violence  that downloading nancy becomes nothing more than an exercise in poor taste and soft pornography .  
this film is a complete re  imagining of romeo and juliet in tel aviv and nablus . the lovers are one from tel aviv et the other from nablus . there is a border between them  and a constant state of war with the israeli army ever present everywhere and the palestinian militants everywhere else with their bombs . the situation is bleak enough . we can imagine love in that enormous loveless trap . but the film goes several light years further by imagining the two lovers are gay  noam from tel aviv and ashraf from nablus . to be gay is accepted in tel aviv . it is off limits in nablus . the conflict between the two peoples  the two communities is thus doubled with a conflict between two cultures  two ethics . but this could even be livable if the war did not bring some extra dimension . ashraf  s sister is going to get married to a militant activist in nablus . ashraf finally tells his sister about his being gay . she cannot accept it but accepts to speak about it later . from the wedding itself the newly married husband sends a commando into tel aviv to set up a bomb attack . it takes place in a caf in tel aviv and one friend of noam  s is severely wounded . bad enough . the isareli army sends a commando to nablus to arrest the person responsible for this attack  but it turns sour and the newly married wife is shot dead in the street . the funeral follows the wedding . the husband and widower volunteers for a suicide bomb attack . ashraf volunteers to take his place . the exiled lover comes back to tel aviv to die and kill a few people to avenge his sister . he arrives at a diner managed by some friends of noam  s . but noam sees him and gets out to speak to him . ashraf has moved back to the middle of the street and he detonates his bomb when noam reaches him in the street . the vengeance reunites the two lovers in death . we thus have the dual conflict but we do not have the prince of verona  a neutral character that can impose peace  or even worse the prince seems to have chosen sides and to be on the side of israel . the game is entirely false and death is sure on both sides . but the dimension of impossible love is all the stronger because it is redoubled by a play in the film  a play that shows love in auschwitz  between two prisoners  one wearing a yellow star and the other a pink triangle . this is both strikingly strong and breathtakingly shocking gay love in auschwitz . what comes out of the film is that over there in tel aviv or nablus love is impossible . the film is thus a denunciation of the conflict in palestine that cannot but continue though it has no reason to even exist though it has thousands of reasons to go on . we should never have let great britain deal with the region a long time ago . today we have to find a solution in which no one will be humiliated . this will only be able to succeed if everyone comes together in order to find a lasting solution . but so far everyone is trying to avoid that general confrontation and discussion preferring bilateral manipulations . so suffering will go on and love will be forbidden  of course not sex since children are needed for the war to go on so let  s procreate more and more little soldiers . but love is just an extra  terrestrial concept .  br    br   dr jacques coulardeau  university paris dauphine  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  
obviously has some talent attached  maria bello is always great . but this is just a dreary wast of time  portraying every character as someone to be loathed and exploited so someone could make a movie out of an  interesting  story . well  i hope they got it out of their systems . unfortunately for the audience  there is no insight  no sensitivity  no context  and really no humanity . which would all be fine  except it has no humor  no horror  no context  and nothing constructive to say about the story it  s trying to tell . bad things happen  you sit and watch it  you don  t care  so what     of the time  the words  based on a true story  constitute an unintentional warning to the audience . it means the director and screenwriter are lazy and fascinated by some events they heard about somewhere  so they just throw them up on the screen and expect the  true  nature of the story to make the audience feel something without the filmmakers having to do any of the work . i hope they had a great time making this movie . it stinks on ice .  
it  s difficult to not have a liking for israeli director eytan fox and for his movies  which describe the life in the middle east and the inherent problems gay people can have in these regions . besides he also gave voice to the young generations  and to the remarkable part of them  who really need peace and who want to take no further notice of a war that for too much time marked the existences of people  both in israel both in palestine . these reasons  in my opinion  are sufficient to consider fox a noteworthy director  even when his feeling for the melodrama is a tad out of control . however the fans of his movies  that he realized on team with gal uchovsky  his producer  co  screenwriter and also life companion  seem to not being vexed by this  since his new feature  the bubble  ha  buah   is having the same success of the previous yossi  jagger and walk on the water . announced as a contemporary gay version of  romeo  juliet   set in the present day tel aviv instead of verona and with two men  one israeli and the other palestinian  at the place of the two shakespearean young lovers  the film actually is quite different from that or  better  it  s also something else . in fact the bubble of the title is the world apart in which the leading man  noam  played by the fox regular ohad knoller  yossi in yossi  jagger  but i must confess i miss jagger  the astonishing yehuda levi   and his two co  tenants  a guy and a girl  chose to live . around thirty  years  old  restless  witty and firm  despite the protagonist just spent a period as national service in a checkpoint on the frontier with the palestine  to live a life that won  t be only made of war . the two guys are gay and along with the girl they have established a trio in which they brotherly love and support each other . their lives are destined to change when noam falls in love with ashraf  the tv star yousef  joe  sweid  a young palestinian who came to live in tel aviv . the laws so far in force among the group are neglected  but not the will to aid one friend . still it won  t be easy for noam and his friends   cause ashraf is clandestine in israel and in the meantime his family  who lives in palestine and doesn  t know he  s gay  is looking forward to settle his wedding with a very beautiful girl  who is a relative of ashraf  s beloved sister bridegroom  to  be  who he is also a terrorist and he will have a strong liability in the development of the plot  with consequences not just for the two men . because the prejudices against the homosexuality and the peace  interesting dualism  if not automatic  are stubborn and so the tragedy is unavoidable . even if the film focus on the obstacles the relationship between noam and ashraf meets with  it doesn  t the overlook the other characters  which turn out well written  for example golan  the boyfriend of yelli  noam  s fellow tenant  introduced as a lively boor  and then disclosed as a sweeter and more open minded person  and aptly performed  besides the two leads  we mustn  t disregard the funny zohar liba and the lovely daniela virtzer  the girl of the gang moreover late marriage  s star lior ashkenazi appears as himself in a cameo  . it also melds the gloomy tones with the more brilliant ones  even if the director can  t do without a melodramatic conclusion . i watched this movie more than a month ago and in the meantime i often thought about it  proof that fox and his pal have a knack to strike home .  
there  s nothing particularly original about this story of corrupt unions on one side and the  chief attorney  on the other . the stark but unimaginative lighting and photography stems from the fagged out noir cycle . the story could easily have been out of a warner brothers drawer with george raft in the lead . the performances are routine  the direction flat  and even the set dressing perfunctory .  an alley is shown by a single plaster wall of simulated brick . it has one poster on it . the poster says   post no bills .   we are introduced to the story and some of the characters by a portentous narrator who informs us that  while most unions work hard and honestly to advance the causes of their members  a few are corrupt . but we don  t really get to know much about the unions or how they operate  although i suppose they were fair game after the success of  on the waterfront  a few years earlier . here they  re just a peg to hang the tale on . the real ring leader is a disbarred lawyer who runs things through three or four thugs . the district attorney  or whatever he is  finds out  like dana andrews did in  boomerang   that the wrong man  dick foran  is charged with a murder and he spends the rest of the film almost alone  digging up evidence of foran  s innocence . he gets into fist fights and shoot outs like any inexpensive movie private eye .  br    br   brian keith is the d . a . he  s shown some insinuating displays of talent elsewhere  but here he spends most of the time speaking quietly and staring at the floor . elisha cook  jr .  is a likable rummy but can  t do a good drunk . beverley garland is okay but is undermined by the direction  which has her gawking in a night club when she should be furtive . the remainder of the cast would be suitable for a tv series .  br    br   and nobody is helped by the writing . when a  b girl  is about to be shipped by the union mob to the filippines  someone advises her that she only has to learn a few words of spanish .  i only know one word   she says   si . yes .  the writers have not trusted the audience to know that  si  in spanish means  yes .  the plot is clumsy and has holes in it . keith visits a witness in her flat over a night club . he enters the door and has a gun shoved in his back by a yegg  but he outwits the heavy and knocks him out . then the orders someone to call the police . the rest of the scene  played out at some length in the night club downstairs  forgets all about the police and they never show up  nor are they expected by anyone .  br    br   it  s nothing to be ashamed of  and some people might enjoy it  but there is similar stuff  better done  elsewhere .  
since the advent of literature  people of all nationalities have been fascinated and easily touched by accounts of unhappy love . even more fascinating have always been the tales of impossible love  love that cannot be . the israeli filmmaker eytan fox  latest film the bubble  is about that . and then it is also not . the title of the film refers to the bubble  that is tel  aviv set against the background of the political realities of israel . the country  s cosmopolitan and unofficial capital city doesn  t have much in common with nablus  a city in the palestinian west bank which also features in the film . it doesn  t have much in common with the tense and hateful atmosphere at the palestinian checkpoints . actually  it doesn  t seem to have much in common with anything surrounding it . the bubble  of tel  aviv allows people to have a lifestyle which isn  t much different from what you may expect in any western city . teenage girls looking for britney spears  records  a lifestyle magazine editor looking for a sexy cover for his next issue  trendy people sitting in trendy cafes discussing trendy things over cups of cappuccino and other similarly trendy drinks  while those at home are watching the local edition of pop idol . it is this bubble  that also has the potential to lull one  s mind into a false sense of reality .  br    br   the film evolves around the lives of three young israelis who share a flat and  for the most part  try to stay out of politics . yelli  the camp owner and manager of orna  ella   a hip cafe  rarely leaves the city and prefers not to think about the crap that surrounds them  . noam  a soft and easygoing employee of a slightly avantguard record store  seems to be equally unwilling to engage in long political discussions and contemplations . lulu  the only female of the lot  is on the contrary linked to the israeli left  although her political activities seem to be confined to raves against the occupation  . yelli and noam naturally don  t object to participating in these . lulu and her political friends make t  shirts with the rave  s logo  put up posters and hand out booklets advertising it in the neighbourhood . their main concern seems to be that there are never any actual palestinians participating and that the police might come and spoil all the fun for them again . the closest they come to an actual confrontation is when they get into a scuffle with some not so palestinian  friendly locals who try to prevent them from handing out the leaflets . in other words  predictable products of the bubble  .  br    br   the opening scenes of the film take us to a checkpoint on a road to nablus where we also find noam doing his reserve duty . a group of palestinians is being thoroughly checked before entering israel  among them a pregnant woman who suddenly goes into labour and gives birth to a stillborn child despite the best efforts from noam and the doctor who eventually arrives in an ambulance . the woman is comforted by a young man who later turns up on noam  s doorstep in tel  aviv with his id which the latter obviously dropped during the ordeal on the border . his name is ashraf  he  s palestinian and he  s gay . and he hasn  t just come to hand back the id  he has come to see noam . without a permit to live in israel and despite the initial hesitation from noam  s flatmates he stays . he soon gets a jewish name and a job at yelli  s cafe . having grown up in jerusalem with hebrew  he doesn  t have an arabic accent which makes it possible for him and his newly found friends to conceal his identity . the sky is light blue and the air is sweet . but it cannot last . for he has become part of an equation which was never meant to be .  br    br   at one point  noam and ashraf watch a play called bent about two prisoners in a nazi concentration camp who have a love relationship which can never become physical or visible to the surrounding guards . they find a way of being together on another level  a metaphysical one  a level where no one else has access . this is also where our couple arrives in the end . and it couldn  t have been much different for them  not in today  s israel .  br    br   the bubble  is a political statement about the bubble that bursts when confronted with the political realities of today  s israel set against the background of a beautiful and awkward love story involving an israeli and a palestinian  the impossible love story in a divided world where no such things as compromise or other colours than black and white exist . the bubble  is also a beautiful film about people  gay and straight  inhabiting that strange city  tel  aviv  shown through the eyes of people who really care about them . the film  s premise may have its flaws and the fatal chain of events may seem somewhat construed  but its strong message and emotional impact will not leave you untouched .  
the  confidential  part was meant to piggy  back on the popular appeal of the lurid magazine of the same name  while the labor racketeering theme tied in with headline congressional investigations of the day . however  despite the a  grade b  movie cast and some good script ideas  the movie plods along for some   minutes . it  s a cheap  jack production all the way . what  s needed to off  set the poor production values is some imagination  especially from uninspired director sidney salkow . a few daylight location shots  for example  would have helped relieve the succession of dreary studio sets . a stylish helmsman like anthony mann might have done something with the thick  ear material  but salkow treats it as just another pay  day exercise . too bad that brian keith  s typical low  key style doesn  t work here  coming across as merely wooden and lethargic  at the same time cult figure elisha cook jr . goes over the top as a wild  eyed drunk . clearly  salkow is no actor  s director . but  you  ve got to hand it to that saucy little number beverly garland who treats her role with characteristic verve and dedication . too bad  she wasn  t in charge . my advice   skip it  unless you  re into ridiculous bar  girls who do nothing else but knock back whiskeys in typical strait  jacketed    s fashion .  
the israeli  palestinian conflict persists and while the world may be aware of the violence surrounding the division of the two countries  few have a clue to the other aspect of the division  the group of people who want peace and work toward eradicating the separation . eytan fox  in the bubble   ha  buah    has created a much needed alternative viewpoint of the schism  electing to tell a story that contains some fine humor  a lot of love  and a taste of brutal reality . it is a window into a situation that begs for understanding .  br    br   in tel aviv three close friends are roommates lulu  daniela virtzer   a beautiful young woman with strong opinions yali  alon friedman   a very  out  gay young man who works in a popular caf and noam  ohad knoller   a handsome  somewhat shy fellow who  in addition to his day job in a music shop  is a member of the national guard and therefore spends his free time serving as a guard at the city  s checkpoints . it is during one of these guard duty weekends that he meets a young palestinian named ashraf  yousef  joe  sweid   and a mutual attraction occurs . the three friends decide to  stowaway  the illegally present ashraf  whom they nickname with an israeli name  and while ashraf and noam settle into a love relationship  yali hires ashraf at his caf  and yali and lulu both proceed to find love interests  too . all goes well until ashraf must return home for his sister  s wedding . though in tel aviv ashraf has been able to be openly gay with noam  life is far different in jerusalem ashraf is told he must marry his sister  s groom  to  be sister . in an attempt to rescue ashraf from his fate  noam and lulu disguise themselves as french reporters to gain access to ashraf . in a moment of supposed seclusion  noam and ashraf are discovered kissing by the groom  to  be  and this act gives cause for blackmail in order for ashraf to remain  in the closet  .  br    br   while the young people in tel aviv are dancing at an event to raise attention for peaceful coexistence  an attack occurs in jerusalem  one that has grave consequences not only immediately  but also in the revenge mission ashraf must now assume . the ending is tragic on many levels and it underlines just how serious the problem between these two countries is .  br    br   the acting is so very natural that from both the comedic and the tragic aspects the audience completely believes in these beautiful young people . the story finds the right balance between the serious and the lighthearted and it is this balance than makes eytan fox such a fine writer  director . more people should watch this important and very fine film . in hebrew  arabic  and english with subtitles . grady harp  
bangville police supposedly marked the debut of the keystone kops  named after the studio they worked for . in this one  however  they don  t dress in the silly cop costumes or drive the fast  paced car that  s their trademark . anyway  mabel normand is a farm girl here who  s begged her dad for a calf . she later sees some strange men in the barn and quickly calls the police . one answers and the chase is on . next  mabel slams her door just as someone is coming in . turns out it  s her mother who jumps to the conclusion robbers are in there  so while mabel blocks her door with furniture  the mother and father try to fight their way in  this was perhaps the most amusing part of the short along with some explosions of the cop car . this was a short  minutes that went by so fast it  s over before it  s begun . the only real characterization that  s developed is mabel  s who exudes charm with just her face and big eyes and seems so optimistically cheery here except  of course  when she  s frightened . it  s easy to see why she became a star . it  s largely because of her that i  d recommended seeing this at least once and why i  m giving this a  .  
i saw this movie when i was in israel for the summer . my hebrew is not fluent  so the subtitles were very useful  i didn  t feel lost at any point in the movie . you tend to get used to subtitles after about  minutes .  br    br   this movie blew me away       it depicts two of the most prominent taboos in the middle east today a homosexual relationship between an israeli and a palestinian . it allows a person to enter both realms of the conflict simultaneously . the dilemma  the emotions entailed . the movie climaxes in tragedy when anger and rage drive one of the lovers to one extremist side  an absolute must see    
a group of hunters track down a werewolf  kill it  decapitate it and then sell the head to unethical dr . atwill  played by director  writer tim sullivan   who runs a private clinic specializing in corneal transplants . research chemist rich stevens  mark sawyer   whose eyes were destroyed when acid flew into his face during a lab explosion  is the unlucky recipient of the werewolf  s eyeballs . it takes awhile to get to the first full moon  so first we get a tender love story between rich and his compassionate  big  breasted nurse sondra gard  stephanie beaton  . sondra is so compassionate that she strips off her clothing and starts riding rich in bed before he even has a chance to remove his bandages  after a month in the hospital  rich returns home to icy wife rita  deborah huber   who promptly tells him  you look pretty ugly  before speeding off in her kia . our hero soon discovers that rita is not only a bitch  but an adulterous skank who  s been carrying on an affair with his supposed friend craig  lyndon johnson  . finally  the full moon rises and rich finds himself in a hairy predicament as he transforms into a  very silly looking  werewolf creature . predictable carnage ensues .  br    br   after ripping out craig  s throat on a beach  rich wakes up in the brush the next morning with his clothes tattered and vague recollections of the evening  s events . he makes friends with dwarf psychic  occult expert andros  kurt levi  and is hassled by both local author siodmak  jason clark  and lesbian  police  detective  in  a  pants  suit justine evers  tarri markel  . when rich confronts dr . atwill  the doctor sends his sadistic bald henchman kass  eric mestressat   who gets a kick out of dismembering corpses with a machete at the clinic  after him . with help from sondra  rich manages to escape . sondra takes him back to her place and basically rapes him on the couch during an overlong sex scene that lasts about five minutes . will rich be able to control his lycanthropy or find a cure for it before he claims more victims   br    br   shot on the cheap with a camcorder  this homemade werewolf flick has a somewhat unique premise with the eye transplant angle  but trots out clich after clich otherwise . the sets are sub porn level  the clinic scenes seem to have been filmed inside someone  s home or apartment . the wolf transformation scenes don  t even look as good as the time lapse photography used way back in the     s . instead  they employ ragged editing . throw some hair on the actor . cut . throw on some more on . cut . more fur . . . and fill his mouth full of white gunk he can spit out . cut . no need to worry about continuity  there  s no fade  no dissolve  nothing . it  s pretty sloppy . once fully transformed  the werewolf costume  designed by jeff leroy  who also edited and shot the movie  is pretty awful . it has red  glowing christmas bulb eyes  fur that looks like shag carpet and a plastic face that  s almost completely immobile . there are several times you can see the cameraman  s fingers in front of the camera lens  and does the moon really stay full five nights in a row  as far as the cast is concerned  they  re amateurish  but tolerable . and as far as b horror flicks are concerned  there are worse out there . this one is paced fairly well  is only   minutes long and does provide plenty of the red stuff during the attack scenes  as well as the aforementioned ta from ms . beaton .  br    br   it was produced by david s . sterling  camp blood   who was one of the first to ride the wave of digital video right when it was first starting to dominate the low  budget  independent horror genre scene back in the mid  late   s . many of his notoriously awful productions were released by brain damage films  a label to avoid like the plague for the most part . fx guy jeff leroy  who is listed as co  director here at imdb  but not in the film  s actual credits  and vinnie bilancio  who appears in a small role as one of the hunters  went on to make the much more fun and polished exploitation flick werewolf in a women  s prison in      which had a similar  looking creature on display  red glowing eyes and all  .  
i got this one a few weeks ago and love it  it  s modern  light but filled with true complexities of life . it questions and answers  just like other eytan fox movies . this is my favorite  along with jossi  jagger . this pictures a lot more  universally  than only the bubbles we may live in . you don  t need to be jewish or homosexual to enjoy this  i  m not  but the movie goes directly to my top ten movies . at first it seems like pure entertainment but it does make you think further . relationships we have to live with are superficial  meaningful  deep  fatal  you name it . you don  t know what  s coming  and you definitely don  t know where this story is heading as you watch it the first time . it is worth seeing several times . fox movies include great bonus material  here a great music video and  the making of   including explanation of the title  interviewing lior ashknenazi who plays himself in the movie and arabs with doubts about the israeli life styles  .  
eyes of the werewolf       is a really bad movie . the premise was real good but the overall execution was just terrible . i wished the filmmakers would have taken their time with this project instead of rushing it into production . some blind dude gets some new eyes  bad thing is that they belong to a mean old werewolf . nasty things begins to happen to the dude as he turns into a cheesy looking creature . can he find a cure before his hot girlfriend finds out  who is that weird little troll who helps him out and what  s up with that female cop  if you really want to find out  check out eyes of the werewolf   br    br   not a bad idea for a movie . i just wished the filmmakers would have spent a lot for time in pre  production before they decided to shoot the movie .  
of course the plot  script  and  especially casting are strong in the film . so many fine things to see . one aspect i liked especially is the idea of the antagonist   luzhini  s  turturro  s    ex  mentor working his evil on the sidelines . his chess opponent   an italian dandy in three piece and cane   turns out to be a real gent  and a truly fine chess player . to his credit the  opponent  nobly goes along with the plan at the end to complete the final game for the championship posthumously  luzhin has taken a flyer out a window   sad  but so releasing to him  by way of the unstable genius  widow  emily watson .  in death  then  because of the gallantry of an honorable chess master  luzhin  s defence  which he worked out in a late moment of lucidity  is allowed to be played . the italian gent commends the play and calls it brilliant . talk about a dramatic  end game    
blonde and blonder was unfunny . basically  it was a rip  off girl version of dumb and dumber  but less funny  and they used too much background noises and music . way too much background noises and music if you ask me     it starts out immensely boring  and totally inane . it doesn  t pick up pace anywhere soon  and i was feeling more frustrated as this nonsense carried on . maybe  the only thing that saved me from giving this movie a  was the last   minutes . i found it somewhat entertaining and interesting as it neared the end  but that was the only part . also  i couldn  t help but like pamela anderson and denise richard  s characters a little . even though this movie didn  t get any laughs from me  it kept my attention . i wouldn  t say to completely avoid this movie  but there are thousands of better films for you to spend your time and money on than blonde and blonder .  
it  s one of the best movies i  ve seen in the last  years  i  ve seen the premier in tel  aviv  israel in the summer of      exactly when the last war has began . . .  this problem in communication between the people  that causes wars  is interesting me for a long time  and it doesn  t matter who  boys and girls  straight and gays  jews and arabs . . . i  ve seen the bubble already  times  and it still surprising and exciting me  each character reminds me of one of the many people i know  and the difference between them  like between tel aviv and jerusalem . . . the last time i saw it  was with my friend  who is a christian arab  and it was on the independence day of israel  the most symbolic i could  how ironic  and . . . he cried in the end     if he  s been touched and wasn  t embarrassed  everyone would be touched by the bubble   
hunters chase what they think is a man through the forest  though the audience sees he is a werewolf . the hunters never seem to realize this  because after they shoot him  he looks normal when they decapitate him .  br    br   a doctor transplants the werewolf  s eyes into a man who lost his own in a laboratory experiment . the man  rich  gets to have sex with his nurse  stephanie beaton  before he even gets his bandages removed .  br    br   after he leaves the hospital  he finds his wife has been cheating on him too . when a smoke machine sends clouds past an amateur painting of a moon  with a fake tree branch on the foreground   he turns into a werewolf  his torso grows larger  splitting his shirt  and he grows a giant werewolf mask on his head that has red lights in the eyes . his pants stay intact . the mouth chews unconvincingly  though some sort of robotics  or hidden hands  in the eyebrows give him a baleful look at times .  br    br   despite the poor werewolf costume  there is a fair amount of blood and gore  and those are fairly well done . there  s even a pretty good decapitation later in the movie . however  when a man falls from a height  a rather bad dummy does the job .  br    br   rich has a friend named siodmak who is some sort of occult expert  and he also accidentally stumbles across a small man with crutches named androse who is also such an expert . they try to help him a little .  br    br   rich kills people who have done him wrong . a policewoman investigates the murders and tries to hit on beaton  who doesn  t much care for lesbian scenes so nothing comes of it .  br    br   quite cheap  but between the nudity and blood and gore  and a not  terrible story combining  sort of  the most dangerous game with the hands of orlac and the wolf man  it  s somewhat entertaining . available on its own  or in the box set scream queens vol .  .  
eytan fox did it again  move the viewer  s heart in a modest story taking place in an overwhelming mess . the movie also succeeds in describing so perfectly and subtly the atmosphere of the incredible city that is tel aviv .  br    br   i was there a month ago and it is all there  the lifestyle  the relationships  the heart  beating city  the mess  the chock of utopian mindsets in the most light  hearted  blithe and oblivious megalopolis ever .  br    br   strongly recommend it is a voyage for the heart and the mind  with an interesting perspective to the israelo  palestinian conflict .  br    br   nota bene there is central gay plot in the movie . if you do not think you are too gay  friendly  be prepared to be challenged and finally see it as  just love  .  and don  t worry the chick is hot too    
i sometimes enjoy really lousy movies . . . . those that occasionally result when people  even talented people  get together with good intentions to produce a movie and for whatever reason it turns out to be a disaster . movies like  attack of the killer tomatoes    plan  from outer space    manos  hands of fate   and  heavens gate   etc .  br    br   so  when i heard that this movie   rachel  s attic   was considered by many people to be the single worst film of the decade  naturally i just had to see it .  br    br   boy  do i regret that decision . this movie is beyond bad . . . . it is so bad that it is not even as enjoyable as the usual bad movie . the acting  filming  script  etc . are even worse than a low budget porno film the sound is utterly horrible  the  plot  is completely incomprehensible  the  acting  is laughable . . . . it is a complete waste of everyone  s time and money . at least the porno film has porno to break up the monotony  while this ridiculous nightmare has a guy squeezing a rotten apple  and a  mad hatter  s  tea party .  br    br   the lighting is non  existent . . . many  scenes  take place in semi or complete darkness  which is probably just as well . the  writer  director   i use the terms loosely   david tybor  tries to get kinky with bondage scenes . . . but the results would be laughable  if they weren  t so pathetic . there is some nudity  but it is of such abysmal quality that it actually acts as a sexual suppressant . i could go on forever and not do justice to all the flaws and shortcomings of this truly awful waste of film .  br    br   for the love of god  avoid this train wreck . i know that despite  or perhaps because of  my negative comments  you may still be tempted to see if this piece of trash is really as bad as i claim it to be . . . . but trust me on this . . . . it  s even worse than i have said  and you will absolutely  positively regret the experience  and expense  if you waste your money on a purchase or rental  .  
the reviewer who called this movie a bust has clearly missed the point . it  s obvious he hasn  t been young or innocent in a very long time  or he might have understood that the tragedy of it was that the well  meaning young characters actually thought they could make a difference by putting up posters and holding a rave for peace . if only it was that easy . but the cynics sit and sneer at people who earnestly try their best to make things better  as the situation gets worse and worse every single day . well  if you  re not part of the solution  you  re part of the problem .  br    br   the central theme is that revenge begets more revenge  which begets even more  in an ever  expanding bloodbath . both sides will tell you tales of atrocities committed by the other side  which they think justify their committing even more in retaliation . where does it end  and apparently he missed the significance of  the bubble  referred to in the name  which was that people living in tel aviv are strangely cut off from the ugly realities of what is going on all around them  which is partly why they seemed so naive .  he also seemed to think that ashraf could slip through the checkpoints without a problem  which tells me he wasn  t paying attention when ashraf related the delays and problems he had encountered .   br    br   i found it very brave of the director  the screenplay writer  and both star  crossed lovers  to update the romeo  juliet story to a modern troubled land  and to make both lovers male . let  s be honest here very few people would have a problem if one of them had been a female  young love wins all hearts    but when people  s uneasiness with their sexuality is added to the fact that  incredibly  these same people would rather have them hate each other  then the conclusion is inevitable .  
i saw  rachel  s attic   thinking that i would be in for an enjoyably visceral  ride . however  it was not to be the case . visceral  yes  but enjoyable  that would be a big  fat  no  in fact  the only reason that i gave it a     is due to the fact that gunnar hansen appears  ever so briefly  as one of the film  s reprehensible characters . how they ever lured mr . hansen into this piece of . . . work  i  ll never know . the story idea is interesting but poorly executed . the direction is pedestrian and the acting is mediocre . the only thing that is worse than that  are the special effects . yikes    i  ve seen better effects in a grade school play . give it up  mr . w  it  s time for a career change . . . i hear they  re hiring at mel  s diner  there are very few  well made  inde movies coming out of michigan . . . and  rachel  s attic  isn  t one of them .  
i am currently on vacation in israel for summer  and so was able to see this incredible film . a bit of a warning before i begin writing i speak fluent hebrew  and so the hebrew parts were no problem however  about a quarter  a bit less  of the film is in arabic  and i was unable to understand a bit of this subtitled bit . this did not detract from my understanding of the film  but did cause me to miss a few jokes which evoked some strong laughs in the theater .  br    br   after a year of american cinema which many hailed as one of the greatest years for homosexual cinema and relationships  it takes something truly special to stand head and shoulders above the rest yet   the bubble  surpasses all others with its blend of excellent acting  witty dialogue  and relevant political climate .  br    br   the film opens on a checkpoint on the israeli  palestinian border for the first few moments  we are unsure about the type of movie we have walked in on . yet  this is an important element of this film  s strength . the political situation  and the extreme tension in the air is constantly in the background . most importantly  tel aviv serves as a character of its own in this film . it is constantly referenced . street names and restaurant names are constantly exchanged . the skyline and city development is critiqued quite harshly  and ultimately the city evolves along with the film the film focuses on the love between noam  ohad knoller  and a palestinian immigrant  ashraf  yousef  joe  sweid   with the societies of tel aviv and palestine serving as a constant foil . we always know that their relationship is forbidden  and this creates a sense of urgency rarely present in cinema . the love is incredibly strong  and stands as the centerpiece of the film . the secondary relationships and friendships are equally strong flamboyant restaurant owner yelli  s  yousef  joe  sweid  relationship with the ultra  butch and grating golani solider  golan  zohar liba   is particularly a source of amusement . the love scenes which abound in this film are all exquisite  fine crafted works of art  and the cinematography is astounding in the first love scene of the film  the camera pans down as a male character gives oral sex to lulu  daniela virtzer   and dissolves into a shot of noam and ashraf . this shot any many others lead the viewer to realize that all of these relationships are expressions of the very same form of love .  br    br   to give away more of the storyline would be a tragedy  but know that there is a lot of political tension and tragedy which touches onto the current world political climate  so i will instead focus on the witty dialogue . even when watching this movie in my second language  i could not stop laughing throughout . lines of particular amusement include the question of whether gay suicide bombers receive virgin women or men in heaven  and an analogy of sampson from the bible as the worlds first suicide bomber . this dialogue shows a particular sense of purity and reality which is rarely seen in cinema . the music used in the film is also particularly powerful . music is only used in times when characters legitimately could or should be listening to it  and in one scene the music weakens when a character removes one earphone and stops when he removes the other . little elements like this truly elevate the film .  br    br   i could not give greater recommendation to a film this is a superb work of cinema which is catharthic as well as extremely well crafted .  
i rented this movie on dvd . i knew that the movie wouldn  t live up to what it promised me on the back of the case  but once i saw that leatherface  gunnar hansen  was in it  i had to rent it . it starts off pretty good  with the premise being that snuff films are being aired over cable . however  the main character has nothing about her to make you feel sorry for her whatsoever  and the end of the movie really leaves you hanging . there are way too many unanswered questions . there was a great scene at the end that totally took me by surprise  but overall this is a very sub par movie  but i guess it was worth the   .   rental fee .  
flat out the funniest spoof of pretentious art house films ever made .  br    br   this flick exposes all the clichs  and then some  excruciatingly bad  downs  syndrome   actors . terribly heavy self important dialog . scenes that are supposed to shock but fall flat . jarring editing . pointless plot points . all wrapped up in a kind of smirky miasma of disrespect for the audience and vague psych  drivel .  br    br   it achieves exactly what it was designed to . a hilarious satire of those tedious movies made by spoiled teenage trust  funders  to show to their parents when they ask them what they  ve been doing for the last two years  after  what is it   received its cannes award  presenter werner herzog was rumored to have been told that the film was in fact a spoof  in part of his own films  he supposedly blew up at the info . to this day he refuses to discuss the incident .  br    br   anyway  see it and laugh  this will be a classic of humor for many years to come .  
this film is terrible . the story concerns a woman trying to find out what has happened to her sister . the film struggles with its identity  lurching from noir  thriller to erotic  with elements of horror thrown in for good measure . the film has a very confused structure  for example with frequent use of flashbacks without tying these into the story . the plot is poorly developed  and the characterisation made it difficult to distinguish between who was who and the part they were playing . some implausibilities exist in many films  but the scene where the main protagonist willingly accompanies a virtual stranger to his home  then agrees to go upstairs alone  to where he says she will find a phone   minus the gun she had brought with her  to call the police  was too hard to believe . some of the cinematography is very poor we were watching on a    tv so how anyone with a smaller set could work out what was happening in the scenes taken in almost complete darkness is beyond me . overall  a chaotic mess .  
this film is very interesting . i have seen it twice and it seems glover hit the nail on the head with what he claims to he wants to accomplish . i for one can relate to the outrage that the filmmaker clearly expresses against the current thoughtless corporate drivel that is an onslaught in our every media center  and the things that we as a culture are supposed to not  think  about due to corporate media control . the outrage that glover expresses through the  outrageous  elements in the films is both clear in its visceral aggressiveness and beautiful in its poetic potency . i am glad i saw this film and it is even clearer that glover is up to something interesting with part two of what will be a trilogy . it is fine  everything is fine . see that also . people that dismiss this film as  thoughtless  or  pretentious  are really missing the boat . this is an intelligent films . if you can see it with his live show he performs before with his books  that is also very wroth while . the way you get in to his mindset is really something . you will have an experience   
belmondo is a tough cop . he goes after a big  time drug dealer  played by henry silva  normally a great villain  see  sharky  s machine   but here he is clearly dubbed  and because of that he lacks his usual charisma  . he goes to the scuzziest places of paris and marseilles  asks for some names  beats up some people  gets the names  goes to more scuzzy places  asks for more names  beats up more people  etc . the whole movie is punch after punch after punch . it seems that the people who made it had no other ambition than to create the french equivalent of  dirty harry  . belmondo  who was   here  does perform some good stunts at the beginning apart from those   le marginal  is a violent  episodic  trite  shallow and forgettable cop movie .        
i didn  t know what to make of this film . i guess that is what it was all about really . i have never seen a film like it and i doubt that i really ever will again . glover puts together something that is unique to him . i think to appreciate it you have to read some of his poetry  maybe see one of his slide shows . i really like this guy  he is just so bizarre i can  t help it . note i saw this film before it was through its final editing  so maybe what i have seen and what others have seen are different . i will know  i guess  if i choose to view the film again . i think i will have to be properly drug influenced . . .  
spinal tap was funny because if you knew a little about heavy metal  you saw in  jokes all over the place . if you know anything about porn  this mock documentary will leave you cold . everything in it rings false .  br    br   spinal tap was funny because it took a familiar world and pushed it over the top . this film is decidedly not funny because it paints a picture of how porn is made that bears no relationship to the real world .  br    br   the acting here is uniformly awful  but that would not matter much if the core idea of the movie were good . but it  s not .  
it takes a very special kind of person to make a movie that is so wretched  beguiling  disgusting and repulsive  but make it in a way that also makes it brilliant and the quintessence of personal cinematic liberation . crispin glover  in all of his  out there  antics and predispositions  truly made something that is unique . in a world that has become starkly partisan  this film seems to evade the standard lines of creativity and art and effectively startle everyone .  br    br   right off the bat  the film takes on a rather distant paradigm  if there really is a model at all  and initially shapes it with the likes of shirley temple in front of a swastika and naked women pleasuring a man with cerebral palsy . it  s rather shocking stuff  but if you had the opportunity for the qa sessions after the screenings  it clearly opens up a bag of worms that leaves you wondering whether this is art or just the lowest common denominator . in either guise  you sense the tremor that this film will ultimately cause . it will never be accepted  not even by the supposed auteurs of the world who boringly speak about the human condition . you may not like it  but it is certainly something worth watching .  
half the reviews were good so i took a chance for    . sure priscilla barnes had some sex talk but it wasn  t much . the whole plot later that she may be the other actress mother  the documentary maker falling for the young woman is stretching it . its not funny its not that raunchy its not much of anything but a waste of time . boogie nights was based on real people that were in the adult industry this is based on nothing that ever happened in the industry . it could have shocked with whats popular today in adult films mocking todays gonzo videos and that big orgy that they had  minutes to shoot what a joke a bigger orgy has been done bigger  better decades ago in the early     s .  
hilarious  evocative  confusing  brilliant film . reminds me of bunuel  s l  age d  or or jodorowsky  s holy mountain   lots of strange characters mucking about and looking for . . . . . what is it  i laughed almost the whole way through  all the while keeping a peripheral eye on the bewildered and occasionally horrified reactions of the audience that surrounded me in the theatre . entertaining through and through  from the beginning to the guts and poisoned entrails all the way to the end  if it was an end . i only wish i could remember every detail . it haunts me sometimes .  br    br   honestly  though  i have only the most positive recollections of this film . as it doesn  t seem to be available to take home and watch  i suppose i  ll have to wait a few more years until crispin glover comes my way again with his big slide show  and subsequent  what is it   screening  . . . i saw this film in atlanta almost directly after being involved in a rather devastating car crash  so i was slightly dazed at the time  which was perhaps a very good state of mind to watch the prophetic talking arthropods and the retards in the superhero costumes and godlike glover in his appropriate burly  q setting  scantily clad girlies rising out of the floor like a magnificent dadaist wet dream .  br    br   is it a statement on life as we know it  of course everyone expects art to be just that . i rather think that the truth is more evident in the absences and in the negative space . what you don  t tell us is what we must deduce  but is far more valid than the lies that other people feed us day in and day out . rather one  what is it   than     movies like  titanic  or  sleepless in seattle   shudder  gag  groan  .  br    br   thank you  mr . glover  additionally a fun man to watch on screen or at his big slide show   smart  funny  quirky  and outrageously hot  . make more films  write more books  keep the nightmare alive .  
this is a bad b movie masquerading as a mockumentary . the porn documentary filmmaker in the movie has almost as much screen time and dialog as any other character . that completely destroyed any  documentary feel  that they may have wanted to create .  br    br   the fact that the film is not actually a mockumentary is the least of it  s problems . the film is not funny . the film is not sexy . the film doesn  t have anything insightful to say about the porn business . it  s not even particularly salacious . while there  s simulated sex  the amount of nudity is mild for an r rated film .  br    br   someday  someone will make a good mockumentary about the porn industry . this is not it .  
this first installment of crispin glover  s personal magnum opus asks you to think a little  and so can  t be recommended for any viewer who doesn  t want to sit and puzzle over glover  s imagery or follow the surprisingly simplebut weirdly obfuscatedthread of his narrative . to the more casual viewer  yes  it  s probably going to come off as a confusing mish  mash of odd  startling  and disturbing imagery for imagery  s sake .  br    br   you get the sense that glover doesn  t mind that this is the case  and he  ll almost as gladly listen to why someone hated the film as to why they enjoyed it . glover  s innate eagerness for and about his work and how audiences interpret it is strongly communicated not only through the film itself  but also through the unusual question and answer sessions that he frequently conducts following showings he clearly hopes that people will continue to think about what he has presented .  br    br   the easiest way to interpret and dismiss the film is to label it as dada or nihilist  a juvenile attack on the modern movie industry from an actor who  s worked both without and within . but there  s a reason why glover performs his slideshow before showing his movie  and it  s not only to sell books his books juxtapose and create a narrative from images and text that glover pieced together  and what is it  does similarly with imagery drawn from western culture .  br    br   what is it  is an endearing and compelling film in ways one hardly expects while viewing . much has already been made about glover  s use of actors with down  s syndrome  and indeed that is one of the most initially striking aspects of the film . so jarring  in fact  that many seem to interpret it as some sort of far  reaching crusade to see a more realistic and  or dignified portrayal of the disabled in movies and televisionor  on the absolute other end of the spectrum  as a kind of direct exploitation of the disabled . but it  s not either  and maybe that  s part of what makes this film so uncomfortable for many the underlying agenda is not a political one or one of hatred  but one of looking beyond the mainstream culture into a kind of outsider ugliness . it  s not a film about down  s syndrome  but it is a film that is owned by the actors with down  s syndrome who appear in it .  br    br   i  m the sort of person who is entirely gung  ho when it comes to ugliness and strangeness being portrayed so starkly that it is beautiful happily for me  this is pretty much exactly how what is it  presents itself to viewers . glover uses the strange images of snails  death  and the disabled in part because he wants his audience to feel discomfort at either the sheer oddness of the imagery or the visceral reaction one has to the dying screams of an anthropomorphized snail . in some ways  the weirdly compelling  and occasionally downright grotesque  elements of what is it  remind me of the work of the painter francis bacon he of the infamous popes  yes  and the odd distortions of the human figure that inevitably make viewers cringe and want to look away . like bacon  s paintings  glover  s film manages to be opulent and humble  grainy and polished  chaotic and well  realized and the contradictions help to make it all the more disconcerting . but still this is not an entirely serious film  and it largely manages to sidestep the greatest pitfalls of pretension through the use of humor that  for the most part  derives from the use  and juxtaposition  of familiar items  images  and names of popular culture . and when what is it  is funny  it is very funny .  br    br   overall  what is it  is an impressive first film from glover as a director and writer  and his presence as an actor in the film proves not to be nearly the distraction one might expect it to be . watching it is like being an observer in the kind of dream that isn  t exactly good or bad  but just strange and that leaves you feeling slightly grimy when you wake up . if that  s the kind of art you enjoy  what is it  is likely to exceed your expectations and be well  worth the effort of catching it in the theatre  along with the big slide show and glover himself . all in all  it  s an experience you  re unlikely to forget any time soon .  
a      yes  that  s the correct date  j . arthur rank production with james robertson justice  margaret rutherford  wilfred hyde white it has to be a smash comedy  right  oh  it  s just awful . it  s a one gag film watching people be shocked at the sight of a little alligator . music is thrown in  most inappropriately and forgettably . jeannie carson is a lively dancer and competent singer . but what was she doing in this film  diana dors is here too  providing oh  so  daring shots for use in the previews . her acting level is not bad  but she  s in the film to provide someone to leer at . well  one must do something beside groan during this film . the movie is being sold on vhs now by people on e  bay . spare yourself the expense and the waste of time . a comedy without a laugh . a musical without a memorable song or dance .  
i fell in love with emily watson in breaking the waves  then grew even more fascinated by her range and adeptness in hilary and jackie . now comes this stunning portrayal of a rich girl who spurns breeding and convention in favor of mothering the tortured soul of the child of a man clearly in need of mothering . her eyes are the mirror to his soul   and what gentle and beautiful eyes they are .  br    br   those who take things literally will find marleen gorris  poetic and allegorical direction quite frustrating . romantics who are willing to go with the amazing kinetic energy is this filmed allegorical poem will be well rewarded .  
this movie is not in anyway funny  it tries to be funny with it  s lame humor  which is so dry and boring that the movie is just  hours of torture . throughout the whole movie i was thinking one thing   when is this gonna end  . one thing you have to hand to them  is that they do have a very few mildly funny moments  which is also why i gave it a whole  stars . it is unoriginal and uses up almost every old blonde joke in the book  even the ones that wasn  t funny the first time . it basically is a movie to belittle blondes and to record the whole repetoir of blonde jokes .  br    br   to sum it all up  this movie is blonde humor gone bad  it is not worth paying any amount of money to watch  it is just that bad .  
as an employee of the swedish air force i enjoyed the nice gripen and hkp   mbb bo     flight scenes in this movie . one of the few disappointments was the ews   jammer pod  in this case an inert rb    maverick  missile painted black with the letters  ews    in white along the side . real jammer pods definitely do not look like that  at least not the ones i  ve seen .  br    br   but apart from that  it  s an entertaining movie with a very amusing ending  the last minute  . anyone interested in seeing various swedish military units  including the now  legendary ssg  on film should see this one .  br    br    
with a cast of stalwart british character actors and pleasing photography of     s britain  i had hoped and expected to be more entertained by this film . unfortunately i found myself glued to it for the wrong reasons  i couldn  t quite believe how awful it was . i must have watched thousands of old films and am always ready to make allowances for them being products of their time  but this was really hard going .  br    br   as others have noted  a major problem is that it doesn  t seem to know what it wants to be a gentle romantic comedy  a slapstick comedy or a musical . i was a bit gobsmacked when jeannie carson suddenly broke into song about   minutes in  it  s not believable on any level  either the storyline itself or the fact that daisy never appears to have an ounce of menace in her at any time . other aspects which defied credibility included the casting of suave donald sinden as a songwriter  a songwriter for god  s sake    the fact he has diana dors for a fiance and doesn  t appear to have the slightest interest in her  i mean  diana dors  come on   and a ludicrous scene in a song publisher  s office . the whole thing  s silly in the worst possible way .  br    br   if i had to pick a favourite scene it would be the one at the very beginning with that wonderful actor wilfred lawson  after that everything went downhill in a big way .  
i did not set very high expectations for this movie  which left me pleasantly surprised . the story is a little strange sometimes but overall i think it has an acceptable credibility . the action scenes are rather nice and the accompanying music is used to induce a a bit of patriotic feelings common to us movies . this may not be the best movie ever but it  s uncommon for sweden and i hope to see more similar ones in the future .  
of course   flatley  is already not exactly the ideal name for a dancer  but i think michael is really pushing the irony envelope with this new title  feet of flames   br    br   one really can  t resist recommending desenex foot spray to the retiring  and clearly  ailing  flatley .  br    br   i might add that  much like that cheering london crowd  per review below   i too am enthusiastic about this being his last live performance .  br    br    hinting that it may be his last live performance  flatley is cheered on by an enthusiastic london crowd .   perry seibert  all movie guide  
i think this movie is well done and realistic . i you are used to watching hollywood  action  movies  and use that as a standard to rate this movie  you are bound to be disappointed . this movie is much closer to real life than    of what hollywood can produce  and that is what lifts it above the average action movie . i have no experience with swedish military whatsoever  and can therefore not point out any mistakes in the way they act . but as i have seen the  making of  extra i  m convinced that there has been done a lot to avoid any mistakes . this is a movie i will recommend for others to watch . high quality realistic story and movie .  
this was a painful example of a cheap  boring and unoriginal show produced by australian tv stations to fulfil local content quotas . the writing was truly terrible and i  m not surprised that the writers are those responsible for the worst australian film in recent memory the honerable wally norman .  br    br   nothing about this tv series was funny  ever  not even mildly amusing . it was just tired and bad and  worst of all  it really thought it was funny . it was simply embarrassing to watch .  br    br   there is something very suss about this show being given   out of   on imdb . try to find a  real  review by a  real  australian viewer of the show  there weren  t many  and it is impossible . or crazy . there are loafs of bread that are funnier than this show .  br    br   avoid the show at all cost and if it does come out on dvd  remember that the laughter that deserves was unintentional .  
this is a rip  roaring british comedy movie and one that i could watch over and over again without growing tired . peter ustinov has never performed in a bad role and this is no exception  particularly with his dry wit but very clever master plan . karl malden has always been an admirer of mine since he starred in  streets of san francisco  . i believe that maggie smith is the real star of this film though  appearing to be so inept at everything she tries to do but in truth is so switched on  particularly at the end when she informs everyone that she has invested so much money that she has discovered whilst laundering his clothes . one thing does concern me though  could someone please tell me why i cannot purchase this on either dvd or vhs format in the uk  could someone please assist   
a vampire  s  s henchman wants to call her after falling in love with a five  dollar hooker in this extremely low  budget horror  comedy . i can  t explain all the positive comments on this movie . i  ll chalk it up to mass hallucination  but it  s disconcerting none the less . the one redeeming factor  and this is me being extremely generous here  might be the grandfather who  s the only semi  likable character in this whole mess . don  t waste your money  or time . in fact here  s a word of advice  if troma puts it out on dvd  but does not make it themselves  in all likelihood it  s crap .  br    br   troma dvd extrascommentary with omar and kirk second commentary with cast and crew deleted scenes bloopers troma interactivity radiation march clip from  terror firmer   theatrical trailer trailers for  the rowdy girls    teenage catgirls in heat    cannible the musical   and  toxic avenger    br    br   my grade d  
it  s about an embezzler  peter ustinov  who infiltrates a british company  texa  conn or something like that  posing as a computer whiz and security expert . he secretly learns to hack into the computer  while gathering the admiration of his boss  karl malden  the enmity of his office rival  bob newhart  and the love of his inept secretary  maggie smith .  br    br   some of the business details were a little murky to these non  business  oriented eyes but they  re believable enough and i got the general idea . ustinov  the peculating peter  establishes phony businesses in paris  rome  and stuttgart  and uses texa  conn  s computer to send all kinds of money to these ersatz establishments . the overseas companies  of course  consist of nothing more than himself  ustinov  and the addresses are an abandoned artist  s loft in paris  a barber shop in rome  and a bakery in germany . he simply visits them to collect the checks he  s sent himself .  br    br   i didn  t think i  d like it for the first few minutes because it seemed rather on the slow side . i was expecting something with a faster tempo and more outrage  along the lines of  the pink panther  or  the lavender hill gang .  but this film insinuates itself into your good graces as you come to appreciate the understated humor in the plot  the characterizations  and the dialog .  br    br   probably it would be a bad idea to give away too many of the relatively subtle gags but here are some examples of the more noticeable .  br    br   ustinov to secretary smith  let me have the assets of these companies .  smith  assets  what are they   ustinov  little female donkeys .  now  nothing is made of this little exchange . there  s a quick cut and no delay for any laughter  which is appropriate because one  s reaction is more likely to be a smile than a laugh .  br    br   ustinov searches out that crummy loft in paris . it  s covered with cobwebs . bricks are strewn around and a couple of the former occupant  s paintings have been left behind . the landlord doesn  t speak english and ustinov knows no french . ustinov points to a child  like painting of a nude woman and chuckles   ah . a fam fye  tal  eh   landlord chuckles too  replies  vous le prenez pour une anee   ustinov  oh   annie  so that  s her name   landlord  oui   ustinov  entente cordiale    mes amis  if i got those genders wrong  je m  excuse .  bob newhart as willard gnatpole    has the hots for maggie smith and is supposed to be driving her home but tells her he  s taking  the scenic route .  there is an immediate sequence of suggestive traffic signs .  caution .   lay  by .   give way .   yield .  ending with the imperious  stop  children .  there  s another montage when ustinov  s scheme is about to be discovered by the board of directors   blurry rooftops  police cars  a farewell embrace from maggie  ending with a sign prison  wormwood scrubs .  br    br   well  maybe one more . i still can  t get over malden as the boss  declaring decisively   i never agonize over decisions   then gulping a handful of pills and washing them down with a glass of water .  br    br   the acting is unarguably fine . it  s bob newhart  s best role  for instance . not that he had that many  and not that his range wasn  t limited  but he  s perfect in this part . the musical score by laurie johnson obviously had a good deal of effort put into it . she seems to have written a brief concerto for flute . ustinov  s passion is music and his overseas establishments are headed by false names like claude debussy and giacconino rossini . stuttgart  s phony president is somebody named schmidt  and he  s an anomalous clinker . maggi smith is pretty  sexy  bourgeois  and turns out to be not nearly so dumb as she seems .  br    br   delightful  in its own quiet way  but don  t expect comic fireworks .  
a female vampire kills young women and paints with their blood . she has an assistant who doesn  t want to be a vampire  so he has to do what she orders or be turned into a blood sucker . after a few kills  the assistant gets remorse and falls in love with a homeless girl .  br    br   what can i say about this movie  that its pacing is over  slow  that it has some strange sound effects  never a bite sounded so strange  and ambiance  new jazz here i come  and that lights don  t seem to be included on the set . it looks like an  auteur  horror movie with all the self  sufficiency inside .  br    br   the plot is completely stupid and as you can guess  it  s the female vampire who explains how to kill her even if she doesn  t have to do it of course  crosses  light  garlic and sticks don  t work .  br    br   it  s not even a funny lousy movie . perhaps with some friends and a lot of beers  it can  t have its funny sides  to be honest  it  s funny during      minutes near the end of the movie  . don  t be fooled by the troma sticker  it  s one the bad movie they present .  
peter ustinov plays an embezzler who is just getting out of prison when the film begins . as soon as he walks out the gates  he immediately begins working on a scheme to once again make a bundle by stealing  though this time he has his sights set pretty high . this is actually one of the weak points about the film  as he apparently knows nothing about computers  few did back in      but manages to become a computer genius literally overnight  yeah  right . anyway  he comes up with a scheme to impersonate a computer expert and obtain a job with a large american corporation so he can eventually embezzle a ton of cash . considering his knowledge of computers is rudimentary  it  s amazing how he puts into effect a brilliant plan and manages to infiltrate the computer system and its defenses . but  it  s a movie after all  so i was able to suspend disbelief . by the end of the film  he and his new wife  maggie smith  are able to run away with a million pounds .  br    br   at the very end  though  it gets very  very confusing and smith announces she  s managed to actually accumulate more than two million by shrewd investing in the companies that ustinov started  though she didn  t realize they were all dummy companies  . this should mean that eventually these stocks she bought were worthless . what they seem to imply  and i could be guessing wrong here  is that ustinov and his new partners quickly cashed in the stocks before this became known and the stocks would thereby then become worthless . either way  the film seems to post on a magical ending whereby no one is hurt and everyone is happy   and this just didn  t make much sense . it  s a shame  really  as the acting and most of the writing was great . karl malden  bob newhart  peter ustinov and maggie smith were just wonderful .  br    br   if i seem to have interpreted the end  let me know  as the film seemed very vague in details at the end .  
i wanted to give drawing blood the benefit of the initial doubt . the opening moments  with a naked woman sprawled out and an painter  diana  about to paint her and then sucking her blood to drain out so she can use it for her art  give the impression that this could be a kick  ass artsy  vampire flick . turns out this initial impression turns out false . oh  troma  the mark of some kind of lack of quality sometimes they  ll offer up something that is trash but funny and with at least some competence to the junk  food craft  or  sometimes not  . this is a case where it  s not even a whole lot of fun to watch since its attempts at humor  i . e . the protagonist  s father is an old vaudevillian who does jimmy durante impressions   are weak at best  and any unintentional laughs are undercut by sergio lapel  s bargain basement direction .  br    br   and it  s not without him trying  oh lord no . he does try a lot  which is a big part of the problem . he and his producers had money for lights  sure  but the way they  re used in the movie made i  a former student filmmaker and aspiring director  sulking in my seat if i saw this in a theater i would have to blind my eyes in many instances  and would wonder whether or not his dp understood really the basic   point lighting set  up . while this  along with a very lackluster sound design  or just lots of random loud humming like in the art gallery scene   shouldn  t be something that comes to attention during a troma release  it should be something basic that a filmmaker can tackle even if the script isn  t very funny or scary  and it isn  t  or if lapel does a weird mixture of songs placed at bizarre moments .  br    br   it  s not a good movie by any stretch  and perhaps if you  re a vampire die  hard  or just a vampire period  it might have some appeal as a low  rent bargain basement alternative to near dark  or as a slight improvement over  say       s blood freak . you have better ways to waste your time  overall .  
a clever  undeniably entertaining romp starring peter ustinov as a career embezzler with his sights set on a us conglomerate in london . he  s abetted by foxy  and deceptively sharp  maggie smith and threatened with exposure by jealous company man bob newhart . this is a heist film with a lot of brains . ustinov is exceptional as is smith and newhart is quite funny . the real surprise is karl malden  as the pill popping  executive vice  president .  malden has seldom been so loose . cesar romero and robert morley pop up in some funny cameos . the excellent music score is by laurie johnson . eric till  s direction is brisk and the script by ustinov and ira wallach is first  rate  very smart . a swinging good time   
unremarkable and unmemorable remake of an old  celebrated english film . although it may be overly maligned as a total disaster  which it is not   it never builds any tension and betrays its tv origins . richard burton sleepwalks through his role  and sophia loren  s closed  in this movie  face doesn  t display much passion  either .     
hot millions is a great movie in every way . a fun  offbeat story with wonderful performances by four of the best professionals ever to work in the business . peter ustinov is brilliant  as usual  and maggie smith    definitely one of the greatest actresses of all time    is a total delight . karl malden and bob newhart round out the cast and are also perfect . if you want a movie that has perfect casting  this is it . what is so impressive is the way these people work off each other in such a natural and effortless way  creating lots of laughs and fun moments throughout . peter ustinov was a genius with a wonderful sense of humor and this is one of his most memorable performances . the direction  photography  and editing are also first  rate  and it  s a great time capsule of london in the    s . it  s definitely on my all  time favorites list .  
remakes  and sequels  have been a staple of cinema from the beginning of the media . it is pretty much a hit or miss venture though . if you take what  s good of the original and build upon it and update key features too current standards  you can have a success . note  such films like the thief of bagdad            or king kong            succeeded in their attempts . others like king kong       fail  miserably .  br    br   brief encounter       is the template for this film . it is as perfect as could be made on such a subject and we rate it imdbten . the story is simple  love  innocently found by accident and tragically lost . why  it just happened for the two    principals involved at the wrong time . these are portrayed in a convincing and sensitive manner by trevor howard and cecilia johnson . neither are conventionally leading star material  but quality character actors . for the details watch the film .  br    br   now what went wrong  a t . v . movie  remade practically scene for scene with name actors richard burton and sophia loren should have at least scored imdbsix . both actors though appear disinterested  just showing up to punch their time  clocks and pick up their checks . neither are involved with their characters or with each other . you do not believe they are in love or when they finally separate it is any great loss to either of them . that should not be and that  s why it fails in its intent . sometimes it is just better to leave things alone .  
talk about a dream cast  just two of the most wonderful actors who ever appeared anywhere  peter ustinov and maggie smith  together  in  hot millions   a funny  quirky comedy also starring karl malden  robert morley  and bob newhart . ustinov is an ex  con embezzler who gets the resume of a talented computer programmer  morley  and takes a position in a firm run by malden  with the goal of embezzlement in mind . it  s not smooth sailing he has attracted the attention of his competitor at the company  played by newhart  and his neighbor  maggie smith  who knows him at their place of residence under another name   becomes his secretary for a brief period . she can  t keep a job and she is seen throughout the film in a variety of employment  all ending with her being fired . when newhart makes advances to her  she invites ustinov over to her flat for curry as a cover  up  but the two soon decide they  re made for each other . of course  she doesn  t know ustinov is a crook .  br    br   this is such a good movie  you can  t help but love ustinov and smith and be fascinated by ustinov  s machinations  his genius  and the ways he slithers out of trouble . but there  s a twist ending that will show you who really has the brains . don  t miss this movie  set in    s london . it  s worth if it only to hear maggie smith whine   i  ve been sacked .   
brief encounter is a ghastly and pointless remake of the     david lean classic  which was based on noel coward  s play  still life  . a doctor removes a particle of grit from a woman  s eye at a railway station  he is in a miserable relationship  she is happily married social worker of italian ancestry . they meet by accident on another occasion  form an instant attraction and arrange to meet each other every wednesday . the pair fall in love  but after spending a few afternoons together they realise that they have no realistic chance of happiness and agree to part . coward  s original one  act play concerned two ordinary people who fall in love . sophia loren and richard burton  two super stars and veterans of hollywood epics  are nobody  s idea of  ordinary people  . loren in particular is miscast  sophia loren in full make  up  looking like a million dollars  working as a part  time voluntary social worker at a citizen advice bureau just doesn  t ring true . burton  looking haggard  with dyed hair  too much make  up and wearing platform shoes  doesn  t come across as your average general practitioner . that said  you can  t really blame them for having an affair after seeing their spouses . burton is married to a literary critic who spends her evenings penning poisonous reviews and who treats her husband with total contempt . loren  s husband  jack hedley  potters around the house all day and is terminally boring the most exciting thing he has ever done is nearly have an affair six years previous . their final scene together will induce nausea    you  ve been a long  long way away   etc .  . that great british jobbing actor  john lemesurier  has a three minute cameo as burton  s friend  and appears to be slightly inebriated  speaking his lines in a barely audible voice . it  s a sad and forgettable performance in a dismal  awful rehash of a cinema classic . avoid at all costs .  
without peter ustinov and maggie smith  this could easily have been a turkey . but they are brilliant . ustinov is at his best  and for fans of maggie  it is great to see her in her early days  matching ustinov every step of the way for with and timing . for englishmen in their fifties  and i am in that bracket   it is always entertaining to see glimpses of and hear sounds of the swinging sixties  and although this film spends a lot of time in offices  it has plenty of sixties nostalgia  including red buses  carnaby street  a song by lulu and a delicious shot up the micro  skirt of a waitress  the like of which england has never seen since in public places . as an i . t . engineer  i know that the computer hacking tricks are laughable  but they are not meant to be taken seriously . nor are the wonderful stereotypes of italians  french and germans .  
this movie is a waste of film stock . do you believe that the map of a plan of a military mission would be placed on an easel on a patio in broad daylight for anyone with binoculars or a camera with a zoom lens to see  it happened in this film . do you believe that a deaf person would actually be enlisted in the active duty army in europe during wwii to serve in a  negro  unit . . . cooking  supply services  burial detail  etc .  it happened in this film . do you believe that a black  and supposedly intelligent  officer would select this same deaf k . p . to be part of an active combat mission to protect a dam from being destroyed by the germans before the allies arrived  it happened in this film . would you be surprised that the deaf soldier didn  t realize that a german plane was approaching from behind and would strafe and kill him  it happened in this film . would you be surprised that a group of american soldiers hold  up in a barn at a farmhouse that the germans happened upon would shout out their emotions at the sight of the german soldiers who were just    away  they did it in this film  and left any possible entrances to the barn the germans might check totally unprotected . would you believe that  over the airwaves and in clear english  the captain mentioned the general  s rank  if not his name  as the person he was speaking with and that the general  in plain english over open airwaves  said that the dam had to be protected the next day  maybe they should have just sent in an emissary to tell which direction the american attack would be coming from just to make it a little easier on the germans . this so  called movie should be placed on a list of the top   worst films . if it were  i  m sure it would do well . watch it at your own risk .  
marlene gorris has established herself as one of the world  s great directors . this sensitive  visually beautiful film is based on a story by vladimir nabokov and captures well that writer  s dark irony . john turturro gives what i consider to be his finest performance  i am usually not a fan of his   and emily watson is brilliant as well . well worth seeing .  
when i was at the movie store the other day  i passed up blonde and blonder  but something about it just seemed like it could possibly be a cute movie . who knows  i mean  i  m sure most people bashed romy and michelle before they saw it  blonde and blonder might have just been another secret treasure that was passed up . but when i started watching it executive producer pamela anderson  wow  i knew i was in for something scary . not only that  but both of what were considered the pinnacle of hotness pam anderson and denise richards  not to offend them  but they were not aging well at all and they  re playing roles that i think were more meant for women who are supposed to be in their    s  not their    s . the story was just plain bad and obnoxious .  br    br   dee and dawn are your beyond stupid stereotypical blonde  s  they really don  t have a clue when it comes to what is going on in the world  it  s just really sad . but when the girls are somehow mistaken for murder assassins  the cops are on their tale and are actually calling the girls geniuses due to their  ignorance is bliss  attitudes . they are set up to make a  hit  on a guy  and they think they  re just going to  show him a good time   but the real assassin is ticked and wants the case and to kill the girls .  br    br   denise and pam just look very awkward on the screen and almost like they read the script the day before . i know that this was supposed to be the stupid comedy  but it was more than stupid  it went onto obnoxious and was just unnecessary . would i ever recommend this  not in a million years  the girls are just at this point trying to maintain their status as  sex kittens   it  s more a sign of desperation and blonde and blonder is a huge blonde bombshell .  br    br        
  hot millions  is a well  written  well  acted tale about an embezzler who steals  whoops    too low class a word for an embezzler  according to peter ustinov  s lead character  a  hot million  from the london branch of a u . s . corporation by creating shell corporations on the continent and using the firm  s ostensibly secure computer to transfer funds to them .  remember  spoiler police  this is a comedy  not a mystery .   br    br   from      this movie  s depiction of computers may seem naive to today  s more computer  literate populace but as one who has worked with computers since before this film was released  i would assert that even then  this smacks of having been written by and for computer illiterates  probably on purpose to heighten the droll comedic aspects of this british flick .  br    br   if one has little taste for this type of entertainment  the movie may seem to drag in spots . fortunately  it has a nicely wrapped  up ending unfortunately  the end credits give no indication of the classical music used therein   the symphonic piece at the end and the piano  flute duet in the middle   just the song sung by lulu which i totally don  t remember .  
at first glance this gives the impression that it is going to be a laughable blaxploitation flick  and it does contain moments where it veers in that direction . however  the basic story idea is much stronger than might be expected  and is a respectable effort at portraying racial issues in the world war ii era army . the recognizable cast is hit and miss  with glynn turman  richard pryor and the underused billy dee williams faring best . stephen boyd  however  stops just short of twirling his bushy mustache in an overindulgent star turn .  br    br   the obviously low budget leads to inconsistency in the production values . the locations are great  the effects and action are weak . imagine if  saving private ryan  had consisted of half the platoon getting killed exactly the same way vin diesel  s caparzo had  except we do get to see the shot because they effects can  t handle it   then hanks  damon and burns drove around in a jeep and shot five germans for the climax . yet  the denouement  with the heroic soldiers receiving no respect for their accomplishment because they are black  and boyd  s racist captain being effected by this  is compelling  as are the sequences of of turman  s character writing in a journal of his imagined exploits if the soldiers were allowed to fight instead of digging latrines .  br    br   in short   black brigade  carter  s army  doesn  t quite succeed . but it  s a respectable failure  not a bad joke . it could be remade as a very good film  and  as it stands  is an interesting effort .  
i can only echo the praise of the other reviews here . it  s a delightful film with a feelgood factor that it achieves without crossing the line into soppy sentimentality . naturally sweet  no added sugar .  br    br   one small point it seems to me that the mild objections raised about ustinov  s character pendelton being able to walk in and defeat the system security ignore the fact that pendelton is clearly a genius  savant at this sort of thing . yes  the film was pretty computer illiterate  but it did show pendelton  studying computers  at his flat  and i believe the implication was supposed to be that his gifts allowed him to simply engulf the whole subject  practically overnight .  br    br   there were a few odd moments when it appeared in some scenes that gnatpole was trying to test pendelton  s knowledge and call his bluff . i  m not sure whether we were supposed to believe that pendelton cunningly weaselled his way out of these situations  or whether he was actually knowledgeable enough to pass the tests  it was a little unclear .  br    br   certainly he had to know enough to set up the dummy accounts . presumably wallach and ustinov were relying on their own rather foggy notion of how computers worked in those days  and in order to understand in detail what they were getting at  it  s necessary to know quite what their concept was . they knew there was something about  procedures  which was important they thought that the  smart light  could actually control security  rather than just indicate its state they thought that the  dumb  user terminal  s features would strongly influence what could be done on the mainframe itself  though apart from things like graphics feature i don  t see it meself .  br    br   mostly  i think they tried to avoid the subject of actual computer operations as far as they could  and they did that rather well . allowing them a bit of artistic license  i don  t think their efforts had any flaws worthy of note .  br    br   cd  
this movie has richard pryor  rosey grier and others . it  s a curious ww  movie  and serves as a statement about racism . it is worth watching to understand the fact that movies reflect how we feel about the issues when they are produced and not about the period of time they portray . meaning this is a    s movie not a    s movie  ww   . still  there is some good action scenes of  seven black men led by a white captain trying to capture a dam . the story centers on the captain learning that these men are soldiers and not just a service company . there is a scene that could be from a civil war movie and not a ww  movie that reflects what the movie is all about . the black lt . gives a german women a innocent peck on the cheek  and the white capt becomes upset . i enjoyed the movie from a curiosity stand point since the stars and the genre were interesting to me .  
i just saw hot millions on tcm and i had completely forgotten this gem . ustinov creates a clever and divisive plot that has him cleverly going from two bit con man to ingenious . . . well you  ll see . maggie smith is perfect as the bumbling secretary  neighbor who has a tough time holding a job but has a warm and vibrant personality that beams through in this picture . she creates a fine portrayal of a warm  witty and real person who in the long run . . . well . . .  br    br   molden and newhart as top executives take on the challenge of making what could be banal roles and make them come out into a comic life of their own .  br    br   robert morley and ceasar romero are just a pleasure to see and i know at least in romero  s case ustinov is extending a helping hand of work .  br    br   this film is meant to be a shot back at the rising computer age and it  s problems for the average con man or man for that matter but in fact the characters are so involving and so much fun to watch that the computer sub plot is almost lost . . . i say almost .  br    br   let down your usual expectations of modern comedy and look for the great performances and friendly  forgiving and deeply involving plot in this picture .  
the writers probably had no experience in the army  and probably never glanced at a history book  but i still give this cheaply produced war film some credit for taking a long  needed look at the role of black soldiers in the second world war .  br    br   the action is confused and unbelievable   any episode of combat  has better production values  but the cast is interesting . seeing new york giant rosie greer was worth the buck i paid for this . the art direction is fifth rate   the men wear korean war uniforms  and it was pretty lousy weather by the time the u . s . army reached germany in      not sunny as they show here  and i don  t think the terrain resembled northern california . the script never does make clear why the black support troops are used as combat soldiers . there is a nice touch that shows some of the men carrying springfield rifles instead of m   s  which second rate troops probably would have been issued with .  br    br   this basic story idea  racist southern officer commanding black troops  should have been expanded into a big budget production back then  and its not too late to try it now . you have to take this for what it is  and i admire the creators of this film for making the effort .  br    br   i remember seeing this a while ago and thinking it was set in italy  which would have made more sense because there were black combat troops operating there in     .  
i saw the description of the movie on tcm and only let it run because i like both peter ustinov and maggie smith  so i was delightfully surprised to find that i really liked the movie and found it quite exceptional . of course  it is seriously dated  but as a period piece it is well worth watching just for the subtle humour in insight into life and lifestyle almost forty years ago . now the only problem is trying to find it on dvd so i can watch it more often . i also was quite taken with the performances of smith and ustinov as the leads  and of karl malden  bob newhart  and the cameo appearances by robert morley and cesar romero .  
this movie was just down right bad . i love war movies and can normally come away from most movies and find something that i liked  but this was not one of them . this movie lacked substance and intensity . ok i get it  the finns put up one hell of a fight and thats great  but the story is poorly told . you don  t have any real connection with any of the characters and there  s no real story line to follow . you just go from one random scene to another  nothing flows to form the story that is trying to be conveyed . if you want a war movie that will keep you riveted  and amazingly enough without battles scenes  then i would suggest  downfall   wwii german film  . or if you prefer a great story line and a lot of action then i would suggest  brotherhood of war   korean war  korean film  . these two movies will not let you down as winter war will .  
  hot millions  is a delightful comedy that is made even better by the presence of the marvelous cast assembled for it . the movie is a tribute to the genius of peter ustinov  who wrote the screen play and appears as the key figure of an enterprising embezzler . the movie  directed by eric till  doesn  t show signs of having dated as terribly  as some others from that period .  br    br   at the center of the action is a friendly man  marcus pendleton  who  before being released from prison  fixes the income tax forms for the warden  who is amazed of the refund he is owed by the government . marcus  who is a genius at numbers  sees opportunities where others wouldn  t . he starts working for a firm that uses the latest computer for its accounting  but pendleton is a resourceful man who finds a way to take advantage of the system and establishes different phony accounts in different parts of the continent .  br    br   marcus is assigned a secretary  who also happens to have a flat in his building . the inept patty is seen working as a bus fare taker who manages to make a mess of everything . how she lands a job as a secretary is beyond comprehension  but things are never the same in the office when the creepy willard gnatpole decides to go after her  but have no fear  patty  s heart belongs to marcus  who is an accomplished pianist and she is a flutist and they make beautiful music together .  br    br   the best thing in the film is peter ustinov . he clearly understood how marcus should be played and runs away with the film . mr . ustinov gives an assured account of the embezzler . the excellent maggie smith is also at her best with her take on patty  the kind woman who adores marcus and who proves to be a genius herself when it comes to investing the money she finds in marcus  pockets .  br    br   karl malden is perfect as the american in charge of the corporation . bob newhart also appears as gnatpole  the man who desires patty  but can  t get her to reciprocate . the marvelous robert morley is seen as caesar smith  whose identity marcus has assumed . cesar romero appears also in a cameo role as an airport customs inspector .  br    br    hot millions  will delight everyone looking for a fun time in the company of that unsavory  but charming character  marcus pendleton .  
i voted  for this movie because it looks great as does all of greenaways output . however it was his usual mix of  art  sex and pretentious crap . i know lots of people like this film but i grew tired of it very quickly . it is definitely not for everyone . the ubiquitous mcgregor obviously took the part for crediblity  s sake i guess but he really should not have wasted his time . i hate to consign anyone to pseud  s corner but please . . . . .    on the plus side it is visually very attractive and i enjoyed the music but could not see it through to the end and i cannot say that for many movies . i usually watch the whole thing but this is unbearable    
i first saw this film about   years ago when my former college accounting professor recommended it to me . i was amazed that a movie from     could so coherently and hilariously portray computer crime . maggie smith is delightful and ustinov plays the  retro hacker  perfectly .  o nolo mio        
i really wanted to like the pillow book . intriguing story  interesting character outlines  ewan macgregor in the utterly glorious altogether . unfortunately  i hated every minute of it . greenaway got so enamoured with presenting the movie uniquely  and not to the film  s benefit . i won  t even get into vivian wu  s abysmal acting .  br    br   you get distracted from the story with  billion teeny windows and calligraphy that rolls on the bottom of the screen displaying the lyrics of the music that  s playing . it seems he lost sight of presenting the actual story and developing the plot  and got entangled with foo  foo embellishments that have nothing to do with anything . it  s a bit like presenting a john singer sargeant portrait in a chintzy hallmark frame that says  grandma loves me   in big sparkly letters .  br    br   this movie seems to be a casualty of the director auteur  s ego instead of what it could have been  disturbingly and horrifyingly beautiful . in another director  s hands  jeunet  coppola    it could have been a masterpiece . in greenaway  s hands  it  s best relegated to fine arts classes that also take themselves too seriously .  
it  s very sly for all of the    s look to the movie . the humor is quite gentle  but it grew on me much more than i expected . the cast is first  rate and they appear to be having a wonderful time . ustinov wanders through the film muttering some quite funny things under his breath  and it  s all very inconsequential i  ll buy the movie as soon as it comes out on dvd . the plot is that ustinov as an embezzler released from prison posing as a computer whiz and embezzling money from an american company with an office in london . maggie smith is his secretary for a while  and watching her get fired from many different jobs is part of the fun . bob newhart is his usual deadpan self  and karl malden has fun as the dense and sleazy executive running the london office . the ending is funny and nicely cynical .  
this film is about a japanese woman who has an obsession with calligraphy on skin .  br    br   the plot is absolutely bizarre . i fail to see any  sensual  or  erotic  undertones . the plot turns an ancient art form into a fetishistic pornography . in addition  the scenes that are filmed in hong kong are certainly portraying bad parts of hong kong  such as the airport in the middle of the city  poor living conditions and noise pollution . throughout the whole film  i keep thinking that  the pillow book  is insulting the japanese culture and the hong kong environment .  br    br    the pillow book  is a perverted  yet boring film . seriously stay away from it .  
i recently found this movie on vhs after looking for it for a number of years  i was not disappointed . it gets better every time i see it . peter ustinov stars and co  wrote the original screenplay  nominated for an academy award  . other stars you  ve heard of include karl malden  bob newhart and cesar romero . ustinov plays an accountant  embezzler  just released from england  s infamous wormwood scrubs prison  he had embezzled from the conservative party headquarters  selected because he is a liberal  . he immediately begins a search for a new employer from whom he can embezzle  and discovers that computers are the wave of the future . he social  engineers his way into a london men  s club and learns the identity of the best computer experts in town  he steals the identity of one caesar smith  who has just left town for south america to pursue his hobby of collecting moths in the wild . he talks his way into ta  can  co  an american conglomerate headed by carlton klemper  karl malden  . klemper hires smith and shows him around the computer center  especially its security feature consisting of a flashing blue light . ustinov asks the computer how to defeat its security and the computer obligingly tells  him   disconnect blue light .  using hacking techniques from   years in the future  ustinov breaks into the system and programs the computer to generate checks written to various bogus companies . the scheme starts to unravel when klemper  s assistant willard g . gnatpole  bob newhart  notices the amount of business ta  can  co appears to be transacting with ustinov  s scam companies . with the help of his secretary patty terwilliger  maggie smith   ustinov manages to avoid prosecution and lives happily ever after . to tell you how would spoil this very funny  romantic  intelligent  and ahead  of  its  time picture .  
visually cluttered  plot less  incredibly mind  numbing rubbish . not even close to greenaway  s better work . avoid at all costs   br    br   the overlapping  split screen  effects do nothing more than confuse  the film is very dark for a lot of the time and the  artistic  composing of images is pretentious in the extreme .  br    br   there is absolutely nothing to recommend about this film even the nudity is incredibly unerotic  which seeing it fills a large part of the film soon gets very boring .  br    br   plus  how anyone can say that the acting of ewen macgregor is brilliant is beyond me . he showed more ability in the star wars series  and that  s saying something .  br    br   i  ve not been so unimpressed with a film since i saw  darby o  gill and the little people    
this movie is now appearing on digital tv at least once a month  i  ve watched it a dozen or more times  and it never ceases to delight me . if it was on tomorrow i  d watch it again . such is the artistry that peter ustinov and maggie smith  two great magicians of the acting profession can create  helped in no small way by the superb supporting trio of karl malden  bob newhart and robert morley . not forgetting others in minor roles .  br    br   it is a simple tale  simply told  of an ex  con  a lovable embezzler  battling and succeeding with the then  new age technology  i . e computers  and finding affection in the process . even if it is a tad  tongue in cheek  implausible  even unbelievable  the characters are not . there is no violence  no sex  no bad language  and best of all no awful method acting which is so prevalent today . a real lesson to modern movie  makers on how to make a great show from  and with  virtually nothing . . . except outstanding talent .  
the potential movie extravaganza  set during the   th century  failed to produce . with big  name actors like maggie smith  albert finney  and many others  there was no reason for the movie to fail . however  the movie lacked an ending  had a sorry excuse for a plot line  and fell to pieces with its continuity . a typical story of a rich girl and a poor boy  brought together by love and destroyed by beauty  or lack thereof  and disapproval  has a touching side of a mother  s early death and an absentee father . the father  played by finney  is a disturbed man  tormenting his daughter in life as well as death . he believes his daughter  s lack of good looks would ruin his fortune by marrying beneath their social status . the actors vainly attempted to salvage what was left of the storyline . washington square is a black hole of ruin and destruction  wasting precious time of those who sorrowfully watch . i give this movie a  instead of a   purely for the actors  attempts . save yourself  stay clear of washington square .  
if there were two more charming performers than peter ustinov and maggie smith appearing together in a more charming movie in      i don  t know who they were . i first saw this delightful little satiric gem   years ago at the age of    and i consider any year in which i have failed to sit down to watch it again a wasted one . it  s intelligent  quirky  neat  wistful  sweet  gently subversive  and utterly enchanting . the romance of these two social misfits is both richly comic and terribly moving  never more so than in maggie smith  s desperate attempt to bring up the right card in the deck  a scene that  s both ruefully funny and a perfect thumbnail portrait of heartbreaking loneliness . and that final freeze  frame on the anxious  concerned  loving face of ustinov as he asks   are you all right    has anyone ever made the look and sound of devotion so perfectly and nakedly honest  i would never want to know anyone well who didn  t love this movie .  
it  s interesting that a novel with no plot has become the basis for two films . while the heiress was a good  if not entirely accurate  adaptation  washington square is a heavy  handed and poorly acted  except for the part of dr sloper  film that could have been so much better .  br    br   the director  s attempts at making  beautiful  scenes were so obvious that i actually cringed . it has none of the understated and simple beauty that a movie with no plot can have  such as onegin . i agree with other comments about leigh  s portrayal of catherine as an idiot  instead of naive and shy she made me despise her not feel for her .  br    br   catherine  s transition from childlike trusting to adult cynicism  the whole point of the story  was internalised  just as it was in the novel . but we don  t have the benefit of a narrative voice to tell us that in a film  i think someone skipped adaptation class at filmschool .  br    br   i appreciate the director  s attempts to make a moving and beautiful film out of a difficult text but it just didn  t work .  
this was an exteremely good historical drama . john turturro is excellent as the tortured genius luzhin and brilliantly portrays the character  s manic affectations such as his strange dancing . emily watson is fine in her support role as the sensitive lover natalia .  br    br   the relatonship between chess and near madness is well explored by gorris and familiar nabokov preoccupations such as  eternal innocence   i . e .  lolita   are evident in this film . i think i will now go on to read the novel . it was a touching and tragic ending and it was hard to keep a dry eye . brilliant movie   
how could i best express my feelings about this movie hideous  a headache  lack of coherent writing  plain stupidity  try all of the above for this travesty . and that just for the direction .  br    br   story  well i guess there is a story . two dumb blondes look for a job after they crash a plane into a golf course . they are mistaken for a  world renounced assassin   sarcasm  and are  hired  by two  mobsters  . one thinks  taking him out  means a date  and the other gets the minor actor she dreams of . and of course  the turtle reserve for the farting turtle  that they build with the casino winnings .  br    br   sounds likes all this could be funny  guess again . they try to make it funny  but its not . filming sequences aren  t well done . i  ve seen better filming in hong kong movies . visuals are average for a late   s film . but the problem is that its a     movie .  br    br   not worth my time to ever watch this again . it still doesn  t beat danny glover  s  out  movie from the early   s as the worst movie of all time  but then again that film is in a class of its own .  f   
those who only remember the late sir peter ustinov as hercule poirot or a professional raconteur would do well to seek out this charming piece of late    s satire . ustinov stars as a convicted embezzler  we first see him during his last day in gaol where he is preparing the prison governor  s tax return  who  sensing that the future is in computers  poses  by means of a deft piece of identity theft  as a computer expert and sets out to infiltrate an american multinational .  br    br   ustinov  who co  wrote the script  is on top form  as is the delightful maggie smith  here unusually cast as an accident  prone cockney  sparrow dolly bird . bob newhart also puts in an amusing performance as a suspicious executive who has designs on maggie smith . in addition  karl malden is satisfyingly sleazy as ustinov and newhart  s womanising boss .  br    br   what do i particularly like about this film  not only is it a well  thought  out  caper movie  but it  s also a touching little love story ustinov and smith are very convincing as the two misfits stumbling into love  the whole scene involving the deck of cards is particularly effective .   br    br   so  what is there not to like  well  the script is no more computer  literate than most films  that is  hardly at all  even though it captures the feel of late    s  big iron  business computing quite well . also there are a couple of small plot glitches that you  re not likely to notice until the second or third viewing  but i consider these to be minor niggles .  br    br   as i said  this is a film which is well worth seeking out  and after you  ve seen it once you  ll want to see it again at regular intervals .  br    br    
this adaptation  like      s the heiress  is based on the henry james novel . the heiress  starring olivia de havilland  remains as a well  respected piece of work  though less true to james  original story than this new remake  which retains james  original title . it is the story of a awkward  yet loving daughter  leigh   devoted to her father  finney  after her mother dies during childbirth . the arrogant father holds his daughter in no esteem whatsoever  and considers her  as well as all women  simpleminded . when a young man  chaplin  of good family and little fortune comes courting  the father is naturally suspicious  but feeling so sure that his daughter could hold no interest for any man  is convinced that the young man is a fortune hunter and forbids her to see him . leigh is a controversial actress  most either love her or hate her  and she always has a particular edginess and tenseness to her style  like she  s acting through gritted teeth . she  s not bad in this  and she handles her role relatively deftly  it  s just an awkward role for any actress  making the audience want to grab the character by her shoulders and shake her until she comes to her senses . while the character garners a lot of sympathy  she  s not particularly likable . the very handsome and immensely appealing ben chaplin  previously seen in the truth about cats and dogs  plays his role with the exact amount of mystery required to keep the audience guessing whether he is after her fortune  or is really in love with her . maggie smith is one of the finest actresses alive and raises the level of the movie considerably with her portrayal of the well  meaning aunt . finney is marvelous  of course  as the father who threatens to disinherit his daughter for her disobedience  but the daughter is willing to risk that for the man she loves . but does her ardent suitor still want her without her fortune  this is only one instance where washington square differs from the heiress . another instance is the ability to stick with it . it is a handsome movie that is as tedious as a dripping faucet  offering too little story in too long of a movie .  
kudos to the writers of this film for creating a supremely engaging drama . the curious character development is indicative of a nuanced and well schooled writing team . the audience member cannot but help but to feel that  s  he must make wrenching emotional decisions pitting the cerebral against the libidinal . the viewer has an opportunity to develop the character herself  though her predictions are rarely validated .  br    br   credit is also due to the filmmakers for breathing life into the setting . the wood  shop is transformed into a unique persona as the film unfolds  with its own traits  faults  a variety of highly charged relationships  and of course a fate inexorably tied to that of the other principals .  br    br   make sure to catch this one at your local art  house .  
i understand there was some conflict between leigh and the great maggie smith during the filming . understandable when you put one of the world  s greatest actresses of all time  smith  of course  with one whose performances seem to get worse with each subsequent film .  
i saw brother  s shadow at the tribeca film festival and loved it  judd hirsch and scott cohen are great as father and son . the film follows scott cohen from parole in alaska back to his family in brooklyn . he shows up there because his brother has died  and he embarks on a journey to slowly repair his estranged relationships with his brother  s wife and child and his father who has never forgiven him for being the black sheep of the family . the story takes us deep into the hearts and minds of this family and allows you to more deeply understand the complexity of their lives . also  the imagery of the woodworking business and the brooklyn backdrop sets the tone for this rich and revealing family portrait .  
this movie has some beautiful sets and albert finney does a great job as the ruthless father . the movie fails because jennifer jason leigh is too jumpy as the daughter and is no match whatever for olivia de havilland  s far more nuanced  mature rendering in the heiress       . the film  s feminist  leaning conclusion also goes against the austere conclusion of the novel  washington square  whose author  henry james  savagely parodied feminism in some of his other novels . as a fan of old hollywood and great literature  i found this movie very disappointing .  
one of the things that interested me most about this film is the way the characters and their associated histories are developed on the fly . i suppose the writers wanted us to gain interest in the characters by not force feeding their characters . the premise of using the art and craft of furniture design and construction was a unique theme and  or analogy for what families  siblings go through in life . the complexity of having a twin serve as a surrogate father and even husband added great tension towards making this film emotionally interesting . also  although the story was not one that the masses might directly relate to  i . e . jewish  twins  family business  the themes are fairly universal as every family has a black sheep in it . that made it very engaging .  
i love henry james books and washington square was no exception . i was very excited to see a new movie coming out  based on the book of that title . jennifer jason lee is an exceptional actress and ben chaplin good enough to play the lead roles . albert finney is miscast and doesn  t carry the role well . i wanted to shoot maggie smith . . . . or rather her silly  insipid role . the real problem and what  s lacking in this latest version is a good script  music  and direction .  br    br   i fell asleep in the theater watching this long  drawn out and exceptionally boring movie . there are more pauses in the dialog than a pinter play . in the book i felt a deep caring for catherine sloper and her life . the movie had just the opposite effect . i also disliked the twist where her aunt has a sexual attraction to morris . eeeeeeeek . yuk .  br    br   watch it if you can  t sleep  it  s a definite snoozer . don  t watch it if you  re depressed . you  ll need zoloft after this .  br    br   sure   the heiress  was exceptional with olivia haviland and montgomery clift in the title roles . the actor who played her father was on the mark as the uncaring  cold father . . . . still grieving for his dead wife and hating catherine for it . the movie was not faithful to the book but neither is this one .  br    br   this movie was a box office flop . i have no doubts as to why .  
what percentage of movies does a person go to see these days that leave them wondering what happened to their eight to ten dollars  answer too many  this movie isn  t like that . it is a story about real people that are sometimes a combination of both likable and unlikable .  br    br   downside  br    br   not enough character development  some plot lines left twisting in the wind .  br    br   upside  br    br   forces viewers to think about the choices they have made for good or bad in their own lives .  br    br   well acted by scott cohen  judd hirsch  susan floyd  ato essandoh and elliot korte .  br    br   contains some good lighthearted humor .  
i do not know who is to blame  miss leigh or her director  but her performance as catherine is almost impossible to watch . ben chaplin on the other hand does a superior job  against all odds as far as i am concerned . his character is entirely too charming and appealing . but certainly not shown as greedy enough  to put up with leigh  s character  s silliness . chaplin appears bemused by what cannot possibly be understood as leigh  s shyness and lack of grace  but rather her orthopedic unsteadiness . there has to be some element of believability to his interest  but as played it is incomprehensible . the performances do not jibe . maggie smith and albert finney are  of course  wonderful despite any effort to derail them . the supporting cast is also a pleasure to watch . what a pity  too  the leads don  t work together because the production is lovely to look at .  
i saw  brother  s shadow  at the tribeca film festival and found myself still thinking about it two days later . the story of a prodigal son  scott cohen  returning to his family  s custom furniture business after a stint in jail  it offers all the necessary qualities of a solid drama   memorable characters sharp  observant dialog sensitive use of the camera by a filmmaker who thinks visually .  br    br   but more than that  it presents something that is all too rare at the multiplex these days the uncompromising vision of a mature sensibility . the talent of director  screenwriter todd s . yellin seems to emerge full  blown  but we get the sense he  like his protagonist  has paid his dues . he knows how real people struggle in this world  and he knows how we yearn to see   or at least  to experience vicariously   success . yet yellin respects his audience too much to blow happy smoke up our rear ends . in the end  we see that jake  s triumph doesn  t lie in commissions  or even in the esteem of his family  but in  the work  he couldn  t abandon if he tried .  br    br   it  s an essential theme in a world  and especially a movie industry  that can  t rise above  the bottom line  . this film deserves a wide audience .  
  washington square  is a flat  shabby adaptation of the short novel by henry james . indeed  the novel is very good  but far from the level of james  masterpieces . moreover its simple  eventless story seems unsuited to make it into a film  although william wyler  with his  the heiress   gave in     a beautiful version of the novel  .  br    br   anyway  the movie completely betrays the spirit of this work of the great american writer . in the novel  the heroine catherine is shy  not very attractive and somewhat clumsy  but nonetheless she is a sound  intelligent young woman  and she  s not as naive as it may seem . her attachment for her father is dignified and respectful  with no morbid sides in it . along three quarters of the movie  catherine  jennifer jason leigh  just seems to be mentally retarded  poor thing . in the last quarter  she suddenly  and incredibly  becomes intelligent  aware of her dignity as a woman  and all that .  br    br   the director agnieszka holland has added two vulgar scenes to the story . the first  when the nervous child catherine has  well  troubles with her vesica . the second scene  when we see on the background a sort of open  air brothel  with prostitutes taking their customers behind tents  and so on . nothing could be more contrary to the spirit and artistic ideals of henry james . it is notorious that the writer was extremely decent and demure even for the standards of the victorian age . i defy anyone to find any coarseness anywhere in the thousands of pages of james  huge literary production . i really was particularly annoyed by these two scenes .  br    br   yes  i know that a director needs reasonable freedom in the screen adaptation of a novel . but if a director utterly ignores or misunderstands the art of an author  here henry james   i don  t see the point of using his work to make a bad movie .  br    br   the acting is adequate to the movie poor and flat  in spite of the talent of albert finney and maggie smith .  washington square  is definitely a non  recommendable film .  
i found this movie thought  provoking  and its ambiguity refreshing in a world of quick  fix films where we are manipulated into loving the  good guy  and hating the  bad guy .  scott cohen  a very handsome television actor  does a great job of portraying the family black sheep  lost child who aspires to gain his father  s love and respect  as well as that of his widowed sister  in  law with whom he apparently has a history . judd hirsch plays against his usual good guy image as a father who triangulated his sons and now is left with the one he always rejected .  br    br   when i saw this at the tribeca film festival  i was enchanted by the lovely way the sawdust was used to portray a family tradition  as explained by the director .  br    br   this is a fitting successor to the classic  ordinary people .  i just realized  judd hirsch was in that  too   
edwin porter  s     short film entitled  the great train robbery  bursts onto the screen with so much excitement and ingenuity that one prepares to be blown away by another pioneering early film . just like melies   a trip to the moon   critics have hailed this as being the film that introduced the western genre into modern cinema . in my eyes  they were right . it had everything from the planning  the actual heist of the train  the murder of an unwanted civilian  and that looming final scene that makes you realize that these villains mean business  it was all monumental for its time . from here to eastwood  every western filmmaker has used porter  s image in some form or another to create their own story . one cannot say that this film didn  t open the door  but the struggle comes from the story itself . the genre was defined by porter  but outside of its initial excitement  there really isn  t anything to grapple onto . perhaps i am jaded by the clich modern westerns and their haphazard messages  but how can something be clich before being clich  to me   the great train robbery  seemed forced  untraceable  and unsurprising .  br    br   unlike melies  porter tells a very linear story . robbers change the course of a train  rob it  then shoot at random people just to prove they are the true villains  and the final scene ends like any predestined film  without any surprises or glitches  and that looming man with a gun to your proverbial face . it is bland . porter  s film is boring . in the edition i watched  there was an addition of color near to the end to emphasize emotion  which felt cheap and was not encouraging to the filmmaker  or to the viewer . the issue remains that while it is important  porter  s film has been borrowed time and time again  it has in effect become diluted . the story itself does not carry the emotional powerhouse it once has . unlike melies early film  i cannot watch this again . i know what has happened  i know there is very little missing from behind the scenes  and that finally it is just what it has set out to be  a simple story leading from point a to point b to point c . this issue is not only my gripe with this film  but also the strongest element to see in such an early film . while it was dull  the fact that it told such a strong narrative  that our characters were characters with motives and drives  was outstanding to see . in an era where nonfiction films seemed mainstream  this broke the mold . again  not that i am jumping on the prophetic bandwagon about this film  it is an important film  it just isn  t a great film .  br    br   overall  i was eager to jump into this film to see where the roots of the western genre were planted  but i was equally as happy to leave this film behind . porter is a talented director  and g . m . anderson obviously went on to be very successful in the created field  but i just wasn  t in awe of the film . i wasn  t expecting big budget effects like melies work  nor was i expecting a duplicate of  a trip to the moon   but i did want to see the same creativity  exploration  and originality . i felt porter played it safe  if that can be said with such an early film  but i couldn  t feel the excitement as our villains did their evil deeds . i wasn  t rooting for anyone  and the final conclusion proved that the kitschy  ness of it had worn off minutes after the film started . it was pioneering  but not monumental .  the great train robbery  has lost its space in the time capsule of cinema .  br    br   grade  out of   
i understand this film to be a debut feature and as such  it is very impressive . it has the feel and pacing of a  true indie   yet director todd yellin clearly possesses the photographic and editorial vision  command and judgment of a mature and seasoned professional . the shots are well framed and thought out and serve to move the story forward . he  and screenwriter ivan solomon deliver a story that has much more depth and lyricism than typical  paint by numbers  type scripts . it  s a story that needs judd hirsch caliber character talent to have a shot at working . judd is fantastic as usual as are scott cohen and the beautiful susan floyd . the real surprise though is elliot korte who plays adam groden . yellin was able to coax nuance out of the young actor in a role that could have been easily devalued by stereotype or overreach . anyway  i found the film refreshing and entertaining .  
what a load of leftist hollywood bilge . this movie glorifies mutiny as brave and noble if it be for pacifist principles . the fairytale ends with the pacifist character  played by danzel washington  actually getting promoted for his treason . what is it with these hollywood tools  is this still payback for mccarthyism   br    br   if i sound cynical it  s because i am fed up with movies hawking a political agenda . the military brass in this movie are portrayed as  what else  gung  ho war mongers . sound familiar  ever see a movie where the cia or any government agency is not evil  think about it . yet again  crimson tide stresses the point . the hackman character  u  boat captain ramsey  comes across like a raving lunatic  until the very end when  of course he comes to his senses  does a complete     renounces his blood lust  suggests a promotion for the treasonous ron hunter  and repents by retiring from the service . a guy mutinies  takes command of your boat  puts the u . s at grave risk of receiving a nuclear first  strike  and you promote him     what hogwash   
i chose to watch this film at tribeca based on judd hirsch and scott cohen and found it to be one of the best movies in the festival . both leading actors deliver a well rounded sensitive performance that seems to match the characters on a personal level . the director did a great job bringing the characters and story to life with skill that is usually not seen in a first  time production .  br    br   one interesting aspect of this film is the love of woodwork and new york city  brooklyn in specific  . the movie revolves around the family furniture making business and weaves delicate cinematography of both carpentry and ordinary brooklyn life  again kudos to the director on this fine choice .  br    br   this is gem and i would whole heartedly recommend it  i  m sure it will make it to the screen  .  
this movie had some andrenaline kickers  but it  s an old story that simply could never happen . navy protocols could never break down that much that a crew much less an xo could ever go that far against the captain . i  ll take dr . strangelove any day if i wish to see this plot . sidenote   the us navy did not support this film .  
terrific film with a slightly slow start  give it a chance to get cooking . story builds in interest and complexity . characters and story line subvert expectation and cliche at all the right moments . superb new york city locations  gritty  real  are a fantastic antidote to the commercial imperatives of  sex in the city   in fact  the entire film is an antidote to the hbo  hollywood notion of new york city  sex and relationships . it  s a rare film that treats its characters so honestly and compassionately . loved it  great cast with notable performances by steve buscemi  rosario dawson  and her love interest  forgot his name   .  
what an appalling film . don  t get me wrong  gene hackman and denzel washington are good actors  but aside from a few interesting set pieces  the film is mostly taken up with hysterical submariners shouting  crying  sweating and generally freaking out when anything goes wrong .  br    br   take that with simplistic asides to make sure the audience still understand what  s going on  the scene where denzel washington explains to a radio repairman how he must be like scotty in star trek is nothing more than a joke  and you have a dumbed down thriller not worthy of the acting .  br    br   let us just hope that the real nuclear us navy is not in the hands of such a script   br    br    
this film is one of the few quality films of     and definitely one of my best . the scenario is based on the novel by vladimir nabokov and the transfer to the big screen is absolutely brilliant .  br    br   the photography of the film is excellent as is the acting of both turturro and watson . turturro definitely gives his best performance to date proving he  s worth much more than what we thought . watson also performs brilliantly .  br    br   the story is about a phenomenal chess player  turturro  which is also extremely eccentric in his everyday life . the film is presented in a non linear time  with multiple flashbacks of luzhin  s childhood . through those  the complex character of luzhin is described .  br    br   i have nothing more to say  but to suggest this film to anyone .  
there are bad movies  terrible movies even boring movies . . . i can watch most and put up until the end  not this time . avoid this like the plague  annoying music throughout  terrible editing  no comedy  its tackier than a novelty mug . . . my missus wanted to watch this thinking it would be legally blonde material or something kind of watchable  but never better than average  chick flick . its the first time she was begging me to push the stop button .  br    br   the girls  well  they were not great to start with  denise done ok in starship troopers and wild things  but you have sank to the gravel . i feel like a mug having spent   minutes on this . . . pamela anderson is almost unrecognisable after much construction work to her face .  br    br   please take my advice if you want to avoid wasting valuable oxygen and brain cells ranting at the utter mince that is on your screen .  
terrfic film with a slightyly slow start  give it a chance to start cooking . story builds in interest and complexity . characters and storyline subvert expectation and cliche at all the right moments . superb new york city locations  gritty  real  are a fantastic antidote to the commercial imperatives of  sex in the city   in fact  the entire film is an antidote to the hbo  hollywood notion of new york city  sex and relationships . it  s a rare film that treats its characters so honestly and compassionately . loved it  great cast with notable performances by steve buscemi  rosario dawson  and her love interest  forgot his name   .  
if asked how i would define the word  shallow  i would reply  watch a jerry bruckheimer production  . if asked how i would define the phrase  wasted potential  i would reply  watch a jerry bruckheimer production  . bruckheimer productions are nearly always sure fire hits at the box office but nearly always receive critical pannings from the critics . off the top of my head i can only think of an officer and a gentleman and black hawk down getting a lot of critical acclaim .  br    br   crimson tide too received some begrudging acclaim from critics  its certainly one of bruckheimers better films which alas isnt saying much . the problem i had is the scenario that sets up the story  the russians are fighting the chechens and the conflict spreads through the whole of russia leading to an ultra nationalist russian to take over a nuclear missile base and threaten the west if they interfere . maybe the ending of the cold war had everything to do with it but i found this set up very unconvincing . its not helped by some errors in geography like the french carrier foch being in the med  wouldnt the foch be better positioned in the black sea   or that the expositional newsreel consists of familar footage featuring conflicts from the balkans  the first gulf war and even vietnam . once again the adjective  very unconvincing  crept into my mind . the story does improve somewhat when the story proper  a battle of wills concerning orders between a nuclear submarine commander and his number two  gets underway . director tony scott does his best as do the cast  but the problem still lies in an unconvincing scenario . the worst thing is that if this had been made in the mid     s when ww  was a real possibility  nay probability  this film would have terrified me  but after the cold war ended so had the dangers of nuclear war which means crimson tide has little impact .  
overall  i enjoyed this film and would recommend it to indie film lovers .  br    br   however  i really want to note the similarities between parts of this film and nichols  closer . one scene especially where adrian grenier  s character is questioning rosario dawson  s about her sex life while he was away is remarkably similar to the scene in closer where clive owen  s character is questioning julia roberts  although it is acted with less harshness and intensity in  love .  also note that  anna  is the name of both dawson  s and roberts  character . can  t be coincidence . now closer is based on patrick marber  s play and supposedly this film is loosely based on arthur schnitzler  s  reigen  so i  m not sure how this connection formed .  br    br   anyone have an idea   
we laughed our heads off . this script is so incredible you either zap to cnn or go to sleep .  br    br   my dad was a sea captain for   years  he could not believe his eyes when he saw the movie .  br    br   during his experience as an officer he once claimed command over the ship  the captain drunk  bottles of whiskey  daily and  sorry  st on his desk . of course this was not on a nuclear mission .  br    br   for instance  the fire in the kitchen  fire is the most important thing on any ship  nuclear or not . to give a drill at that time is just hollywood script . when a captain is put under arrest  he is under arrest  you take all his keys and open the safe where the guns are kept . this is stored within minutes in a well guarded room . he cannot escape  it  s just like in prison .  br    br   funny thing is  my dad also had a dog on board  however  we see how hackman let him pee in the control room . this is not done  ever . my dad cleaned all the mess the dog made wherever he was .  br    br   hackman and washington make the three stars this movie is credited for  all the rest is bullst .  br    br   when we do know that   people were still alive on the koersk  this film gets an extra dimension .  br    br   if you want to see a real thriller about a submarine rent thas boat .  br    br    
this film sat on my tivo for weeks before i watched it . i dreaded a self  indulgent yuppie flick about relationships gone bad . i was wrong this was an engrossing excursion into the screwed  up libidos of new yorkers .  br    br   the format is the same as max ophuls   la ronde   based on a play by arthur schnitzler  who is given an  inspired by  credit . it starts from one person  a prostitute  standing on a street corner in brooklyn . she is picked up by a home contractor  who has sex with her on the hood of a car  but can  t come . he refuses to pay her . when he  s off peeing  she answers his cell phone and takes a message . she runs away with his keys .  br    br   then the story switches to the contractor  who pays a professional call on a rich  bored new york woman  who plays with him until he is aroused  then she pulls away . she tells him how desperate and unhappy she is he tells her how beautiful she is  and lucky . as he is leaving  she asks if he would have sex with her . she sits on top of him  bounces up and down . this time he comes  the he leaves .  br    br   the woman and her husband throw a dinner party for their trendy friends . hubby  robert  is talking business  wife  ellen  is bored  and switches the subject to sex  and how often men and women think about it . husband switches conversation to desert . later  after the guests leave  ellen tries to entice robert into sex . robert wants none of it  and puts on a jazz record . ellen turns on the radio robert turns up the music ellen turns on the tv robert turns on another tv . cacophony ensues . ellen goes up on the roof  robert joins her . ellen confesses that she needs to experience more men  men other than robert . robert says that he too needs to experience men .  br    br   we next follow robert as he visits an artist  martin  played by steve buscemi . i wish buscemi could have more roles like this  where he is a sexy  smart  totally desirable guy . robert praises martin  s work  much more than it deserves  promises to get it into a show . martin is excited  until it turns out that robert is speaking out of his groin  it is all a mating dance . robert tries to kiss martin  on the lips  and martin pulls back  saying that he is not gay . robert asserts that he  s not gay either  martin scoffs . both admit that the artworks are bad . robert is about to leave  when martin allows robert to kiss him . they make out  and robert goes down on martin .  br    br   next we follow martin  as he prepares for an art show at a manhattan gallery . he is smitten by the receptionist  anna  played by rosario dawson .  i had to cut some of this review to keep it under     words  . . . and they make love to each other .  br    br   we next follow anna  who is sitting at a lunch stand . her boyfriend  nick  adrian grenier   enters  bearing flowers . she is cold toward him he tries to figure out why . he coaxes out of her the information that she has had sex with someone while he was in san francisco . she coaxes out of him the fact that he has stayed with his ex  gf while in san francisco  and had sex with her . the latter revelation turns out to be a lie . the two of them make out in the luncheonette  but she decides that they must break up . nick is heartbroken .  br    br   and we follow nick  who confesses his troubles to an older woman who he meets on a park bench  joey  carol kane  . joey is sort of weird and child  like  but is a good audience for nick  who needs a sympathetic ear . the two of them go to coney island at night  and look at the stars . nick falls under joey  s spell  despite the age difference between them . they go back to joey  s apartment  and nick gradually realizes that he is about to have sex with a crazy old woman . she is on top of him  doesn  t want to let him go . but he manages to escape .  br    br    this is  by the way  the best carol kane role since she played latke  s wife in taxi .  joey  s phone rings  and it is a man calling the psychic friends network  and joey is one of the psychic friends . although she is still hurting from nick  she gradually gets into her psychic shtick . the man is at his office  late at night  and wants to have phone sex with her . although that is not joey  s business  joey goes along  and coaxes the man to come . she wants to keep talking  although the man want to get off the phone  and finds out that he has embezzled a lot of money from his company  and will be found out tomorrow . his life is ruined . joey realizes that the man is going to commit suicide  and she tries to make him believe that she is his friend  that she cares about him . and she does care about him .  br    br   but the man packs a gun into his briefcase  and goes off to seek a prostitute on the brooklyn waterfront  and we come back to the beginning  to the same prostitute who started out la ronde . she wants to give him        in cash if she will kill him . he tried to kill himself  but couldn  t do it . the prostitute does not want to do it  but he insists  holding her hand  holding the gun inside his mouth  telling her where to aim . eventually  the gun goes off  and we see the prostitute walking down the street  and arriving at the corner where she normally does business . the contractor who didn  t pay her earlier in the movie drives up  rolls down the window . they look at each other . the end .  
yep  lots of shouting  screaming  cheering  arguing  celebrating  fist clinching  high fiving  fighting . you have a general idea as to why  but can never be     certain . a naval knowledge would be an advantage for the finer points  but then you  d probably spot the many flaws . not an awful film  hackman  washington are their usual brilliant  but the plot was one you could peg pretty early on . i  m still waiting to see a submarine film where people get on with each other  don  t argue  but then you probably wouldn  t have a film .  br    br        
  question  what do you call    film critics buried up to their necks in sand   answer  a good start . well  i don  t know peter mattei from adam but if he is the budding auteur his filmography suggests   love in the time of money  is a  good start  . a classy shoot with whimsical music box style music  this flick looks at a chain of tenuous relationships as it moves from person a to person b to person c . . . etc . . . and back again ending with persons a  b in carousel fashion . the film gently probes the unhappy circumstances of nine people with finely rendered shadings beginning and ending with a street whore and her client . the downside of this film is the lack of a story which may have something to do with the many critical slams it received . i watched the behemoth  angels in america  last night and was bored at the end while this little concatenation of character studies kept me spell bound . use caution . i may be the only person who really liked this flick .  b   
as a former submariner  this was one of the worst submarine movies i have ever seen . first of all  a mutiny aboard any us naval vessel  particularly a nuclear powered trident submarine in unthinkable . these men are the best of the best and are dedicated to their mission . the responsibility they carry is awesome and they take it very seriously all the way from the captain to the most junior crew member . i could never see a crew of any ship split their alliance between the captain and the executive officer . an executive officer who acted as the character played by denzel washington did would be relieved of his duties and court martialed  then drummed from the navy . it is no surprise the navy refused to send a technical adviser to help in making this film . lastly  if any member of a submarine crew made the amount of noise made underway on this vessel they would be severely reprimanded . submariners learn early in their career to be as quiet as possible to avoid detection . they don  t slam doors and even speak quietly and wear soft soled shoes when underway . i was amazed at how loud they portrayed the crew while underway . loud music would never be tolerated . i know portraying submarine life in reality would not sell movie tickets  but this is over the top to the point of being ridiculous . i would not recommend this movie to anyone .  
petter mattei  s  love in the time of money  is a visually stunning film to watch . mr . mattei offers us a vivid portrait about human relations . this is a movie that seems to be telling us what money  power and success do to people in the different situations we encounter .  br    br   this being a variation on the arthur schnitzler  s play about the same theme  the director transfers the action to the present time new york where all these different characters meet and connect . each one is connected in one way  or another to the next person  but no one seems to know the previous point of contact . stylishly  the film has a sophisticated luxurious look . we are taken to see how these people live and the world they live in their own habitat .  br    br   the only thing one gets out of all these souls in the picture is the different stages of loneliness each one inhabits . a big city is not exactly the best place in which human relations find sincere fulfillment  as one discerns is the case with most of the people we encounter .  br    br   the acting is good under mr . mattei  s direction . steve buscemi  rosario dawson  carol kane  michael imperioli  adrian grenier  and the rest of the talented cast  make these characters come alive .  br    br   we wish mr . mattei good luck and await anxiously for his next work .  
this movie is an insult to all submariners . it was stupid . it appeared to have been written by monkeys . the acting was absurd . if this is the view most people have of the navy  then i weep for our defense . this movie was awful . i put it below  voyage to the bottom of the sea  as far as submarine movies go . gene hackman must have really needed rent money to do this crap . denzel washington must have been high . little in the plot makes any sense . and the ending . for a mutineer to be rewarded for his crime  only hollywood would think of this garbage . if you haven  t figured it out yet  i didn  t like it . and if it wasn  t for all the pro comments  i would not have bothered to post .  
in lizzie borden  s  love crimes         sean young plays a gritty d . a . in atlanta . she  s a loner who gets herself too deeply involved in the case of a man  patrick bergin  who poses as a famous fashion photographer and seduces women  takes compromising photos of them  then leaves them .  br    br   naturally  this tough loner decides to enter the phony shutterbug  s life by posing as his prey  intending to bring him to justice . they meet  they make love  then the next thing she knows  she is over his lap  getting spanked .  note the spanking scene is only in the  unrated  version of this film . the r  rated version omits it and several other scenes that would make the plot more lucid .  this psychological thriller includes several scenes of female nudity and disturbing images  such as bergin chasing one of his victims around the room  flailing at her with a riding crop .  br    br   as a thriller   love crimes  is at its best when sean young is playing her cat  and  mouse game with bergin  trying to catch him in an incriminating act . it  s unfortunate that the film doesn  t end  it just stops . that  s true . director lizzie borden may have just run out of story to tell  but after   minutes the credits roll  and we are left with a puzzling  what just happened   bewilderment .  br    br   the unfolding of young  s plan is played out in engaging style  but the lack of a coherent ending will be a turn  off for some viewers .  br    br   dan  daneldoradoyahoo . com   
up until the last few minutes of the movie  i would have given the movie a score of  or  stars . however  the ending is so terrible and  hollywoodized  that it completely undermines the first    of the movie .  br    br   the plot revolves around a submarine and the possibility that they received an order to fire their nuclear missiles . the captain  gene hackman  is all for launching  while his first officer  denzel washington  is in favor of confirming the launch orders first . the problem is  to launch both the captain and  st officer must simultaneously use their launch keys . hackman is determined to launch and washington stands firm until eventually this results in armed insurrection aboard the sub . eventually  the mistake is discovered and the missiles are not launched . cool . however  here comes the part that just doesn  t ring true . after they are back on land and go before a review board  washington and hackman  who  d just spent half the movie trying to kill each other  shake hands and are all buddy buddy  huh   too trite an ending to make the movie worth while for me .  
this is by far my favorite film of all time . that  s mainly because it  s not afraid to delve into some very politically incorrect topics  such as spanking and female submissiveness  that other mainstream films are just too timid to touch . nothing seems to be off  limits in this film as the director freely develops the story without any concern given to possibly offending the viewer . however  i don  t think anything was done here purely for shock value or to purposely offend anyone . sean young turns in an excellent and courageous performance . most established mainstream actresses would not have taken on this role or would have asked for some major script changes before accepting it . the other cast members do a fine job as well .  br    br   have you noticed that this movie hasn  t appeared on pay cable since an obligatory brief run a year after it hit the theaters  have you ever wondered why  the obvious reason is that it just doesn  t fit today  s political atmosphere . it seems quite ironic to me that some premium channels now carry softcore porn  that  s getting closer and closer to hardcore porn  but will not carry a mainstream movie like  love crimes  . sadly  even though this movie is only   years old  it could probably not be made today .  br    br    
there were good performances by robin williams and others but the movie was dull overall and very disappointing compared to the positive reviews .  br    br   i thought sy might become a serial killer who bores people to death a forlorn guy in ugly clothes trails his victims around food courts  quoting oprah and reciting his medical history until they beg him to shoot them .  br    br   i think the movie mostly appeals to egomaniacs who think strangers are interested in their photos . i expect most retail workers want a break from the customers .  
lizzie borden  s love crimes is an important film  dealing with the dark side of female sexuality  and including full frontal female nudity  which sure beats the male kind  . it flirts with sadomasochism and the captive falling in love with captor theory .  br    br   this treatment of feminine libido is sometimes shallow and jerky  but borden has travelled well beyond feminist dogma of females gaining power through their insatiable lust .  br    br   one striking scene exposes the female fetish for horses  when the antagonist  a counterfeit fashion photographer  is seducing an older woman wearing breeches by asking her to show how she rides a horse . he shoves a riding crop between her legs  pressing it against her crotch  and this greatly increases her excitement .  br    br   then suddenly he leaves her home and she swears abjectly at the closed door .  br    br   patrick bergin plays the con artist  and though he falls a long distance from handsome  he picks on plain janes and has enough screen presence to make one believe the women could swallow his line . by all reports  sean young proves a weird person  and she is scarcely beautiful . yet in this film as the district attorney her intense face and long  limbed slender body and accentuated hips and periodically disjointed movement alchemize into erotic fascination . her performance is forceful and complex .  br    br   borden possesses an intriguing worldview  and the fact that it stands so at odds with the modern feckless zeitgeist i truly appreciate .  
spoilers  although none that aren  t revealed in the first two minutes of the movie   br    br   robin williams is actually quite good in this as the friendly  lonely  emotionally stunted loser sy . he makes a very human  even sympathetic psycho  and really disappears into the character   no small feat for such a recognizable performer .  br    br   too bad the rest of the movie is such a waste . the supporting performances  and performers  wouldn  t look out of place in a soft  core porno  it doesn  t help that every character but sy is made of     cardboard  . at times  the director actually seems to be trying to frustrate suspense we know from the very first moments a  that sy is a complete whack  job  b  that he survives  and c  that he gets nabbed by the cops at the end . so all we  re left to ponder is the hows and the whys  and the answers provided aren  t all that interesting .  br    br   the plot is plodding and contrived  and features some nonsensical moments  for instance  the husband berates his wife for her expensive tastes  even though she seems to spend all her free time at the local discount superstore  . about two thirds of the way through  sy does something so irredeemably stupid that it makes one wonder how much he actually cares about his grand revenge scheme . and the final clichd explanation of his psychosis  right out of peeping tom   is a terrible copout .  br    br   the dialogue is of the absolute worst sort . it  s not overwritten  or awkward  or unbelievable  or bad in any other way that could be considered fun  even for bad  movie lovers . instead  every line is purely  hideously functional   it  s as if the director handed a plot outline to a newspaper copywriter and said  hey  i need a workable script on this   in an hour .  it made me want to scream  honestly .  br    br   this movie seems to be a throwback to the suburban beware  the  help thrillers of the eighties and nineties  the hand that rocks the cradle   e . g .   and while it  s certainly unpleasant  it  s never really scary . sy  s fetishism occasionally makes you feel uncomfortable  but on its own that  s not enough to make the film work . in the end  lack of craftsmanship from everyone involved  except robin williams  sinks this one .  out of   .  
i showed this to my  th grade class about   years ago and the students loved it . i loved it  too . the story of the termites and their interaction with their environment is amazing . the cast of creatures is deep and they all play their parts well . the battle between the two cold  blooded titans is truly classic footage .  br    br   alan root has done some incredible camera work and this should have won the best documentary oscar . the copy i have doesn  t have orson welles narrating it  derek jacobi  and it isn  t called the  mysterious castles of clay   just  castles of clay .  this makes me think that it must have been done with welles added for star power and an oscar push .  br    br   i was lucky enough to find this vhs just recently and it is now my children  s favorite movie . they brought it to the latest family gathering instead of a disney movie . if you can find this movie you are indeed lucky .  
letting the class watch this in english was a bad idea . films that are serious and more educational can have an effect  but it appears this one didn  t have any effect whatsoever on the class  whenever the teacher left  conversations quickly started  and i didn  t hear the words  shakespeare  or  tempest  being used at all . and when you look at this  it is easy to see why . the acting is nothing special  everyone seems bored to bits  just reading from the page without a care in the world . shakespeare always did prefer expository dialogue to action and death  but i just couldn  t understand a word anyone was saying . the costumes aren  t too bad and neither are the special effects  the class may not have loved the film  but they weren  t exactly taking the pss either . but it is hard to joke at a film that is devoid of any sort of inspiration or joy . the scenes on the ship at the start of the film weren  t too badly done  though the rain looked a bit unrealistic  everything else was done well and good . but where were the severed heads and exploding masts  where was the death  where was the inspiration  the character of ariel would have been taken a lot more seriously had he been wearing clothes  but as all was on show  he was just another excuse for a joke . this film is not in any way appealing to either sex . the women and girls won  t have any romance or comedy to enjoy  and there is an abundance of naked men and lack of action or death that will put most men and boys off . the tempest wasn  t badly done  but this felt like something the producers had to make  not something they wanted to make . and the general boredom and lack of inspiration show .      
i agree whole  heartedly with the comments so far . i remember this documentary as being one of the most amazing and informative i  ve ever seen . as stated before  i recall that i began watching  thinking it was just another nature study  interesting  not necessarily special  but i was so wrong . not only was the story of the colony incredible  but i remember the music as being so much a part of it  s appeal . if i remember correctly  it was native americn pipes  akin to the music at the end of one flew over the cookoo  s nest  . i  too have been looking for a copy . this should be required watching for anybody  but especially the schools . it should be re  released .  
truly awful film made by cinematographer  turned  director ted tetzlaff . decent enough looking film but for a time  bomb movie totally devoid of any tension whatsoever . ford  as someone put it here  sleepwalks though this one with his characteristic smirk . there are some details thrown around  canadian ex  army or raf  defused bombs in the war  his wife is leaving him  but none of these back stories add up to much . the bomber himself is a complete mystery . why is he trying to blow up this shipment of mines  for that matter  what time period are we talking about here  wwii or postwar   i assumed the latter which makes bomber  s motive even more salient . generally  though  just a horrible film . there are plenty of good time  bomb flicks to skip this one . watch any episode of  danger uxb  for a more exciting time  at about the same running time .  
the literary genius of vladimir navokov is brought to the screen again and many in the cultured world will take notice . the director puts us in check mate with the story of alexander  an absentminded chaplinesque study of chess addiction . nastasya is vacationing in a marble columned resort where a chess championship is being hosted . she meets alexander by picking up a queen piece he drops thru his coat pocket . a magnetic attraction evolves whereby he proposes the next day  the mother alarmed telegrams the husband . he arrives and questioning alexander we get these fades to the past  ala  godfather ii  where we see young alexander  a child prodigy . he is taken under a school teachers wing and exploits his genius for   yrs making vast sums . thinking alexander reached his peak  abandons him but becomes legend . the old teacher returns causing harm  trying to give victory to an old rival of alexander . in a serious chess game where world chess champion victory is one way to immortality  the chess clock ticks  match time ends to conclude the next day . that day is nastasya  s wedding  the old teacher interferes and alexander is sent on a nervous breakdown . nastasya  holding her stomach and looking thru her love  s coat finds his strategy for the match and follows the moves . though the film unfortunately sways from its russian roots  its low back cut dresses are lovely  alexander plays his role sublimely . the director underestimated her audience  we hardly ever get to play and the only hint of the luzhin defense is after trading queens  isolate the opponents king with your  paws  king  sacrificing the castle for mate . nastasya is a great match  but feel its conclusion deserved more intensity  but maybe the emotions were right on check for chess meant more to him than her . the luzhin defense elegantly gives navokov honor  the complexity of his work in images is a world event not to be missed .  
before i comment on this movie i just watched on youtube  i have to admit that the reason i checked this out was to rewatch something i first saw on the tv ads in      barbara bach  s cleavage . and since the movie received an r rating  i expected to see her nude . alas  no dice for her or of the other gorgeous actress that appeared here stacey nelkin who  s supposed to be a teen but was actually   when she made this . seeing her in a bra and panty and later in a belly dancer outfit was just as arousing as ms . bach . they provide some of the scattered laughs this movie provides . in fact  i don  t blame ron leibman for having his name removed from the credits since his role as the tight  fisted liceman is pretty embarrassing though i did like the  seduction  scene he did with ms . nelkin . this also happens to be the debut of ralph macchio who  s the loner among the misfits sent to an academy school . the others are a black kid who really loves his stepmother and ms . bach  an arab who worships motor oil  and a politician  s son who loves his girlfriend candy  nelkin  s character  so much  he risks sneaking in the middle of the night see her in the girls academy . among the supporting cast  tom poston plays a swishy character named sisson who i found partly amusing . with a screenplay by tom patchett and jay tarses and direction by robert downey sr .  whose son robert downey jr . has a cameo early on in a soccer scene   up the academy is uneven with the politically incorrect humor but unless you  re really offended at the scatological and sexual content  this is actually a pretty harmless comedy that mad magazine and its trademark cover boy  alfred e . newman  shouldn  t be ashamed of even though they once had their name and character taken off the picture . . . p . s . another one of the  misfits  was harry teinowitz who was born in my birth town of chicago  ill . he played rodney ververgaert . he also says one of my favorite lines  i  m trying to come .   
twenty five years ago  i showed this film in some children  s classes in entomology and can still remember the excitement of the kids they were spellbound  it is not just about the termites who have built and live in the  castles of clay   but also about the other animals who use the mounds . there is a fantastic scene in which a cobra fights a monitor lizard while a colony of mongooses watch . it is a not only good for entomology classes  but also for teaching about ecology since there is so much about the interactions between the termites and other organisms and the whole ecology of all of the organisms that live in and around the mounds .  br    br   i wish it was available on dvd  so that i could watch it again and show others .  
this british film is truly awful  and it  s hard to believe that glenn ford is in it  although he pretty much sleepwalks through it . the idea of a bomb on a train sounds good . . . but it turns out this train ends up parked for the majority of the film  no action  no movement  just a static train . the area where the train is parked is evacuated  so it  s not like there  s any danger to anyone either . in fact  this film could be used in a film class to show how not to make a suspense film . true suspense is generated by letting the audience know things that the characters don  t  a fact apparently unknown to the director . spoiler the train actually has two bombs on it  but we are led to believe there is only one . after the first bomb is defused  it feels as if there is no longer a reason to watch the film any more . but at the last minute  the villain  who has no apparent motivation for his actions  reveals there are two . nor are we certain when the bombs will go off  so we don  t even have a classic  ticking bomb  tension sequence . a good   minutes or more are spent watching glenn ford  s french wife thinking about leaving him  and then wondering where he is . she  s such an annoying character that we don  t care whether she reconciles with him  so when she does  there  s nothing emotional about it . most of the other characters are fairly devoid of personality  and none have any problems or issues . it  s only   minutes  but it feels long because it  s tedious and dull . don  t waste your time .  
this film is one of michael keaton  s best . throughout the film he is  on  . with co  stars like ms . henner  joe piscopo and danny devito  you can  t go wrong . great laughs  great fun for everyone .  
a real blow  up of the film literally . this british film is boringly made .  br    br   what an exciting plot  a terrorist places bombs on a train . how could the writers and producers of this stinker turn this into such a dull story   br    br   glenn ford  as the expert called upon to defuse the bomb  is given awful writing material to work with . naturally  just as he is called in  his wife  anne vernon  is about to leave him . no wonder we never heard of miss vernon . after such a film  it would be enough to end her career .  br    br   that elderly man who loved trains and interferes is our     version of senile dementia . i thought it was highly insulting to show this man  even at the end .  
although critically maligned  johnny dangerously is one of the funniest movies i  ve ever seen . it  s a movie that should be watched closely some of the funny bits are done in passing and do not have the usual amount of attention drawn to them . for instance  keep an eye on michael keaton  s use of the pricing gun at the pet store . . . and also on the documentary  style years that appear at the beginning of scenes . it  s one of those rare movies where the humor hits you unexpectedly  even though you know it  s a comedy . amy heckerling  the director  is really sharp here   if you enjoyed her better known films  fast times at ridgemont high  clueless  european vacation  etc .   you should give this one a look .  br    br   michael keaton is extremely likable in the title role and the supporting cast  griffin dunne  maureen stapleton  joe piscopo  peter boyle  is excellent . highly recommended .  
when i first saw this movie  it was titled terror on a train and was the back half of a double feature . glenn ford  an armament expert is called on to defuse a hidden bomb on a train loaded with high explosives . the tension is slow and steady and this black  white film runs only about an hour and twelve minutes . all these years later on tv the tension and drama has lost most of its impact . this is still a good movie as far as early   s standards go .  br    br   along with ford are anne vernon and maurice denham . the villain  saboteur is played by victor maddern .  
johnny dangerously falls completely in the hit or miss category with it  s overblown gags and complete lack of a comprehensive script or story that makes any sense . but that  s the point  right   br    br   the cast is likable michael keaton an excellent comic performer before he took himself too seriously as the years passed . griffin dunne  peter boyle  joe piscopo  marilu henner and danny devito all perform with enthusiasm and at least get a lot of laughs from me . but the complete scene stealer here is richard dimitri  sneaking the word  iceholes  into movie history  as a mobster who fares best at murdering the english language .  br    br   i associate many childhood memories with this film  as i watched it quite often so maybe i  m prone to enjoy it more than many others . johnny dangerously is at least a completely innocent gangster film spoof that even relays some well meaning messages about the dangers of smoking  and sex  .  br    br   i like it but it  s hard to recommend .  br    br    out of   .  
this is exactly the type of film that frustrates me the most . great cast  great director  great story potential  then they ruin it all with a screenplay that goes nowhere . . . and says nothing while going there  there is no depth here whatsoever . no depth of characters  no depth of plot  no depth of surprise  suspense  or common sense . we know what  s happening  we are told how they plan to fix the problem  they fix the problem  throw a surprise at us near the end that fails to generate any suspense  then they end the film abruptly . wasted opportunity .  br    br   on the plus side  glenn ford leads a cast of uk  and one french  actors who are all fantastic  doing an incredibly impressive job with the one  dimensional writing they were given . one of the absolute favorites is herbert walton as  old charlie   who provides some wonderful bits of humor and warmth to a dark and serious film . i also thought the film had a great look to it . . . all shadows and fog . . . very film noir in feel .  br    br   even though the actors do the best they can and the directing is enjoyable  it still just isn  t enough for me to recommend spending the time to view the film . there are far better glenn ford movies out there the big heat  gilda  affair in trinidad  etc .  
if your a fan of airplane type movies this is a must see  set in the      s and    s johnny dangerously has not only great actors but great lines .  knock down dat wall  knock down dat wall and knock down dat  wall .   you shouldn  t hang me on a hook johnny  or  sounds like johnnys getting laid  . its definitely a spoof of the old james cagney movies and references them a lot . there  s a great scene when jhonnys walking down death row and has a priest set up for his escape . listen closely to the fake priests readings  its pretty funny . another great scene is when dom delauise plays the pope . watch his reaction to johnny after he tips the pope  a lot said without making a sound . i recommend this movie to all who love to laugh or are old movie buffs .  
i was interested in the title and description of big rig while attending the sxsw film festival in austin  tx . however  i was eager to get the heck out of the seats as soon as big rig ended . big rig is comprised of several  big rig  drivers who set out to deliver goods driven across the united states . the characters are all wonderful people  however the filmmakers never dug deep into the complexity of them as people . instead  the story meanders as much as the maps in the film are meant to guide  but never do . at most  we get lost . we  the audience  end up going nowhere and  like the direction of the storytelling  end up somewhere but without direction  location  or plot . why are we here  where are we  how did we get here  the storytelling is sloppy and the directors  intent on  humanizing  a group of people who they regard as  overlooked  and  invisible  comes across as unconsciously and irritatingly condescending . the problem here here lies in the perspective of the directors instead of the truck drivers . the directors bring their own naive assumptions about truckers forward and then simply edit the film to confirm those assumptions . overall  the story lacks any tension  the film is entirely too long  should have been a   min sketch   the big question of  so what  is never answered  and the entire film is one piece of see  through propaganda that does nothing to further  enlighten   as the directors claim  the outside world about big riggers .  
what ever happened to michael keaton  what a great actor and he proves it in this movie . this movie is actually funny  and the reason why this movie is funny is for two reasons an excellent script and michael keaton . this movie is one of the funniest comedies in the history of hollywood . this movie is the ultimate spoof of gangster movies . in this movie  hollywood actually pokes fun at itself by using the the gangster movie genre as the basis for a truly original comedy . the rest of the cast is funny too  especially the supporting cast . if you like to laugh and want to watch a movie that contains nonstop humor  then this movie is for you .  
i have watched this movie a few times and never really thought it was that funny  but it  s still fun to watch and good for a few laughs .  br    br   its about women that work at a company and their boss is a jerk and they end up giving him a taste of his own medicine  and try to get the respect they deserve .  br    br   the acting is really good . dabney coleman is one of those    s stars that plays a good bad guy  not really evil  just unlikeable . dolly partin is lovable and fun to watch in comedies and her down south wit really shines here . jane fonda is so  so and does little for me . lily tomlin is the best thing about this movie  she has the funniest lines and made me laugh out loud several times  gotta love her .  br    br   i could recommend this to anyone that likes    s comedy . i like the movie but it has things about it that i don  t like . it starts off great and has a nice flow and then everything starts coming together all at once and made me care less about the characters . they all have little fantasies about what they would like to do the boss and although  cute  i just thought it slowed down the flow of the movie . as the movie goes on it once again picks up and the funniest things happen and then once again it slows down  only to wrap up in a quick manner thats too good to be true .  br    br    out of   stars  but give it a try if you haven  t seen it . i think depending on ones mood it may be more or less likable .  
even though this movie is quite old  no matter how many times i watch it  it still makes me laugh .  br    br   one particular quote in the movie stands out .  br    br   when danny  joe piscopo  pulls up to the d . a  s office  parks in a disabled spot  danny  s partner says  br    br    can  t park here  it  s for the handicapped  .  br    br   danny replies  i am handicapped  i  m psychotic  .  br    br   that is one of the many lines in the movie that no matter how many times you watch  it  ll make you chuckle .  br    br   johnny dangerously stands in my top  comedy  spoof movies of all time .  br    br   as an added bonus it also includes the legendary actor peter boyle in the cast . so watch this movie  like myself  many others who have watched it  you  ll be hooked .  
i know the people and i did some of the animation and graphic design and the show is horrible  they are rich little kids who don  t have any talent  and probably just begged nick to accept them  alex has played the drums for one yearm  i  ve played for      the movie is terrible and so is the show  this is the craziest most mixed up comedy that even isint funny i  ve ever seen . it is so stupid it makes me want to barf    it is just so crazy that nickelodeon would ever accept something like this and so dumb  they are sooo stupid and weird  i hate them and their show and think once nick realizes how stupid it is they will most hopefully take it off   
michael keaton is  johnny dangerously  in this take  off on gangster movies done in     . maureen stapleton plays his sickly mother  griffin dunne is his da brother  peter boyle is his boss  and marilu henner is his girlfriend . other stars include danny devito and joe piscopo . keaton plays a pet store owner in the     s who catches a kid stealing a puppy and then tells him  in flashback  how he came to own the pet store . he turned to thievery at a young age to get his mother a pancreas operation     .    special this week  and began working for a mob boss  boyle  . johnny uses the last name  dangerously  in the mobster world .  br    br   there are some hilarious scenes in this film  and stapleton is a riot as johnny  s foul  mouthed mother who needs ever organ in her body replaced . peter boyle as johnny  s boss gives a very funny performance  as does griffin dunne  a straight arrow da who won  t  play ball  with crooked burr  danny de vito  . as johnny  s nemesis  joe piscopo is great . richard dimitri is a standout as moronie  who tortures the english language  but you have to hear him do it rather than read about it . what makes it funny is that he does it all with an angry face .  br    br   the movie gets a little tired toward the end  but it  s well worth seeing  and keaton is terrific as good boy  bad boy johnny . for some reason  this film was underrated when it was released  and like keaton  s other gem   night shift   you don  t hear much about it today . with some performances and scenes that are real gems  you  ll find  johnny dangerously  immensely enjoyable .  
okay i saw the sneak preview of this stupid movie . first off the movie is so posed and not real  they are all acting . they can  t sing . they are way too full of themselves . its awful . yes kids like  to   might enjoy but its really stupid . i mean they say their manager is a kid . and there record label is fake . its stupid . don  t see it .  br    br   as for the set up and directing  not so bad . it is a cute documentary but it documents a stupid thing .  br    br   only see this if you don  t really like good music . also  it  s very corny . it  s not even tasteful . i hate to be so mean . . . but this really is a piece of junk .  
just like wine   johnny dangerously  gets better and better with every day . this clever  witty  well  acted film could very well stand on its own  but as a parody of the gangster genre  it  s truly outstanding . in fact  it  s quite obviously the best film of its kind . . . the funniest spoof of mob movies and even the respective period  although  admittedly  this position is probably easier to achieve when its main competitors are such primitive  vulgar and dull pseudocomedies as  jane austen  s mafia  .  
i mean seriously what group would sing about a crazy car  so what if their ten  it  s way too immature for a little kid to sing about  being my women  i mean seriously  the name is pretty corny too  naked brothers  just because they take off their pants    how creative . i don  t get why they need a tv show i mean most artist don  t really need a tv show about themselves  especially the naked brothers band . heck how many of them are in the freaking group . and seriously whats with the movie  jeez nick use to be the hightlight of my years growing up but seriously the naked brother band  so many parents would not let their kids watch this especially with the name the naked brother  s band  its a stupid  uncreative show that should not be aired onto tv .  
this did for crime what  not another teen movie  did for school . i laughed all the way through as  inept gangs warred with each other and among themselves . an unsubtle comedy using overt jokes and gags that kept me rolling all the way . i suppose the biggest gag in the entire film was that time never seemed to go forward leaving the characters trapped in the    s .  
wow  the naked brothers band . what should i say . i guess i can say this show just sucks . number one they have no talent  they probably can  t even play the instruments . number   on the commercial it said they were famous but nobody even heard of them till there crappy show came on . look  i really don  t hate it that bad  i  d give it like a  out of    but what annoys me is how everyone says they have such great talent and nat is so deep and writes deep lyrics . deep my ass  he talks about hardcore wrestlers with inner feelings . wow  i could read what it says on the walls of a bathroom and it would be more deep than that . and they didn  t get famous by themselves  their parents are famous celebrities and wanted their kids to be too so they made up a bad show . i have a feeling that it will be canceled soon .  
the story  line was rather interesting  but the characters were rather flat and at times too extreme in their thoughts  behavior . more extreme than necessary . also  i think something went wrong in the casting . john turtorro doesn  t really satisfy me playing a semi  autistic chess player  not to speak of the italian player . motives weren  t very much outlined either .  br    br    
mad magazine may have a lot of crazy people working for it . . . but obviously someone there had some common sense when the powers  that  be disowned this waste of celluloid . . . the editing is el crapo  the plot is incredibly thin and stupid . . . and the only reason it gets a two out of ten is that stacy nelkin takes off some of her clothes and we get a nice chest shot . . . i never thought i would feel sorry for ralph macchio making the decision to be in this thing  but i do . . . and i really feel bad for ron leibman and tom poston  gifted actors who never should have shown up in this piece of . . . film . . . at least mr . leibman had the cajones to refuse to have his name put anywhere on the movie . . . and he comes out ahead . . . there are actually copies of this thing with mad  s beginning sequence still on it . . . if you can locate one  grab it cuz it is probably worth something . . . it  s the only thing about this movie that  s worth anything . . . and a note to the folks at imdb . com . . . there is no way to spoil this movie for anyone . . . the makers spoiled it by themselves . . .  
just finished watching this movie for maybe the  th or  th time  picked it up one night previously viewed at blockbuster and absolutely loved it  i  ve shown it to  people so far and they have enjoyed it as well . avoid of all the hollywood glamour  special effects and stress on the  shock factor   this independent film by paul f . ryan hits the nail on the head in dealing with the after affects of traumatic situations . taking place after a high school shooting  two characters alicia  busy philipps  and deanna  erika christensen  form an unlikely bond . alicia  the girl with the stone heart  the goth who has a pessimistic attitude to life assists deanna to overcome the issues of life and death and living in the aftermath . meanwhile deanna attempts to help alicia to see some of the softness and light in the world again . not stressing on the shocking event of the shooting  but on the interpersonal relationships amongst those who survived it sets this movie apart . despite its low  budget and short filming time  this movie is far from cheesy . ryan pays respect to a situation he has never endured and attempts to delve into the human psyche . with an amazing up and coming actress  philipps  adds the necessary dramatics to the dialogue and overall feel for the film and christensen helps to balance out the  doom and gloom  feeling this movie may have . overall  i recommend this movie and if you enjoy the topic of school aggression and violence and learning more about it  i also suggest the documentary  it  s a girls world  put out by cbc in      which deals with the topic of social bullying  comparing and contrasting two groups of girls one in montreal  quebec and the other in victoria  british columbia  the group of friends and acquaintances of dawn marie wellesley a   year old girl who killed herself after being brutally bullied .  
i have been looking for this film for ages because it is quite rare to find as it was one of the video nasties . i finally found it on dvd at the end of last year it is a very low budget movie the story is set around amazon jungle tribes that are living in fear of the devil . laura crawford is a model who is kidnapped by a gang of thugs while she is working in south america . they take her into the jungle laura is guarded by some ridiculous native who calls himself  the devil  she has to go though all unpleasant things until they are happy . maidens are chained up . the devil demonstrates eating flesh in a horrible manner . peter weston  is the devil hunter  who goes into the jungle to try and rescue her   
i could not believe the low  .  rating on imdb about johnny dangerously at the moment i wrote this review and i thought i had to do something to promote that memorable piece of comedy as much as i can . seriously  to get a rating so low  the people who voted must have a very limited sense of humor  not to mention a very shallow opened mind . if you don  t like humorous flicks  don  t watch them  combining absurd humour  a very good storytelling  and an outstanding pace given by the multiple running gags  this movie has made its way into my dvd collection . and that is without mentioning the visual farces embedded here and there and of course  the use of  clin d  oeils  and  clichs  based on our favorite organized crime movies .  br    br   i showed this movie to a lot of people and  being introduced to it without any specific expectations  except maybe watching a comedy   the very state of mind you should have to watch any movie in my opinion  they all liked it very much . it goes well  it  s not long to watch and there are absolutely no slowing downs in the evolution of the story  which i think is really straightforward . sure it  s not perfect  some gags fall a bit short  but no movie is perfect  especially when considering other opinions that yours . that is why i rated this movie  out of   . this movie is in my opinion a precursor like  top secret  and  spaceballs  in the field of absurd but well  thought comedies . which are nowadays more and more absurd while cutting down on the thought and ingeniosity side . sometimes gags need more culture than a lot of people imagine to be understood correctly  if at all . as a final word  i would like to say  watch it for yourself  do not follow average joe  s saying and if you don  t like it  then you  ll know for real it was not good for your tastes  which is understandable but unlikely in my opinion .  
i totally hated the movie . it was so retarded . they need to get some acting lessons . . . . no  wait  that won  t help because the naked brothers band people a retards . you know why i am here even though i am a naked brothers band hater  to warn people before they watch the dumb movie so that the nbb doesn  t get any money from it so then they can  t make any more amateur stupid songs that are so retarded that any old guy could go and write it in   seconds . not only are the song lyrics retarded  they sing badly . okay  i  m kinda getting off the movie here . . . . . anyways  it was boring and they acted horribly . it was not funny at all even though they tried really hard for it to be . i guess they deserve some credit for that . . . well  the movie isn  t worth your time . just look at its rating . the movie  and the series  is very painful to watch for anyone who has even half a brain . seriously  if you liked it  you need to go watch movies where the actors actually act  not babbling their lines in a monotone . i am on the drama club at my school and some people there are actually better than those nat and alex guys . hurry before it  s too late  i seriously thought that herbie fully loaded was better than this piece of poopie . i don  t even know why i went through even half of that film . i don  t think it even deserves to be called a film . . .  
  roman troy moronie  is my comment on the movie . what else is there to say   br    br   this character really brings out the moron in moronie . a tough gangster with an inability to pronounce profane words  well  it seems that it would have been frustrating to be tough and yet not be able to express oneself intelligently .  br    br   roman moronie will go down in the annals of movie history as one of the greatest of all morons .  br    br   there is of course great comedy among the other characters . michael keaton is f . a . h . and so is joe piscipo .  br    br   i just like the fact that moronie kept the movie from an  r  rating because he could not pronounce profanity .  
it  s terrible how some people can get away with such things . . . this is one of those overrated things again . . . and i hate things that are overrated that are no good . . . why can  t we have more tv shows and movies that actually have a story and excellent music and that are well written and are actually about something   it takes many people to make this movie  the series  and the band  all possible  and those people are all wasting their time . . . it seems that the bands are getting younger and younger . . . i looked at how small that they were  and i thought that they were  or  . it  s sad that kids are performing that young . . . they are still too young . . . performing takes a lot of work  and they have many other things that they need to do with their lives . . . the idea about having a very young band is horrible . . . they need to stop having bands like this . . . and i don  t like the idea at all  nor the kids themselves . . . they are very annoying  very young  and their name is  the naked brothers band  the people that are involved in this  and the people that are supporting this have all lost their minds . . . whenever this band is shown on tv  change the channel  and petition to get it banned . . .  br    br   and i know that this is a very boring comment thing  but you get the point . . .  br    br   this band sucks . . . get rid of it . . .  
if this movie proves only one thing  it  s that keaton is  was and always will be a comic at heart  even when dodging bullets  heading for the electric chair and getting at the wrong end of an information line in prison .  br    br   but  johnny dangerously  goes on to prove even more . in the    s  the zaz boys  zucker  abrahams  zucker  were the pinnacle in the world of genre spoofs . but there were several pretenders to the throne . this time  amy   fast times at ridgement high   heckerling tries her hand  with an amazing amount of television writers behind the script  go and check  .  br    br   this slap  happy slapstick spoof of the      s cops  and   gag  sters movies throws just about every cliche for a loop and even adds a few cliches that didn  t exist way back when .  br    br   and not only is the ever  dependable keaton on hand as the johnny of the title  but so are such funny guys and dolls as piscopo  henner  stapleton  boyle  dunne  devito  walston and just about every other actor in hollywood that happened to walk into the immediate vicinity . you  d be surprised by how many faces you  ll recognize . i know i was .  br    br   and the jokes  well  when they start out  they come at you fast and furious  like a machine gun . there are too many to count in the beginning  topped off with a crazy theme song by weird al yankovic . but you have to watch for when they reload . and they have to reload a little too often .  br    br   everyone tries  they seem to be having fun and i was laughing a good amount of the time . in the end  though  there was plenty of time to think about how certain scenes could have been funnier  not usually the best thing to think about after watching a comedy .  br    br   but for a slow night when there  s nothing good on tv  pop in  johnny  and be ready for some  dangerously  serious laughter .  br    br   eight stars . check out  johnny dangerously  . . . don  t be a  bastidge  .  
i hate this movie . i hate the show . i hate just about everything about it . it  s so annoying and stupid . everyone  s saying that nat and alex wolff are heroes in the music world and that they  re going to make it big . what kind of drugs are you taking               nat and alex are going to end up as either hobos or end up like jane hudson from  whatever happened to baby jane   . i could only get through not even   minutes of this one  barely   seconds of the show  and i managed to survive about half an hour of  battle of the bands  . how anyone could cheer for these guys in the audience at the kid  s choice awards  i have no clue . days before the movie premiere on nick  most of the teen girl actresses on nick  jamie spears  emma roberts  lindsey shaw  etc .  showed up in a commercial influencing brain  dead kids about how awesome nat and alex wolff are . first off  they didnt trick me  and second of all  nat and alex probably either drugged them or payed them loads of money in order to say that and sound convincing  because i don  t see how anyone could find this show  movie entertaining . the music is just awful . nat  s singing sounds like a sick  dying moose on crack . alex is the most annoying movie  tv show character ever . he  s not funny  he  s annoying  he  s really weird  and he thinks he  s hot and knows everything about girls . this guy  s lucky if he ever manages to get laid . you know this show is fake when you find out that some of the characters  in real life  don  t even exist   the character jesse is actually played by nat and alex  s cousin jesse draper  they mustve had some budget problem  . their father is not single  he  s married to polly draper  but she doesn  t appear on the show  making it seem the wolff  s are mom  less . rosalina doesn  t exist either . her name is allie dimeco . i  ll tell ya  the naked brothers are gonna be in some deep sh when their  fans  find out the whole thing is staged .      
this movie is utterly hilarious . its cast clicks immediately with frame one and takes us on a wonderful ride through spoofing gangster films . the conflict of brother vs . brother appears when johnny  s brother becomes a do  gooder d . a . however  the best character is johnny  s crimelord rival  the overly accented moroni . as johnny says  that man should be arrested for butchering the english language .   br    br   check it out on video . it  s worth a look .  
  show me your boobies   is not funny  and certainly not on a channel that shows cartoons if you understand where i  m coming from . i don  t want my  and  years old daughters thinking like that or hearing that . i find it sad that nick hyped this crap that much and then that  s what we get  stupid little kids acting like stupid adults . i know it  s meant to be humorous but consider we out there that have sweet little innocent girls in k and  st grade who can  t wait to see this . i had to comment on how disappointed i was when i saw it . my daughters won  t be watching it . i  d love to block nick but don  t have the heart at this point but if nick keeps putting out this kind of crap i  ll have to .  
this movie is just a lot of fun . i  ve seen it a couple of times  but it always has something funny that i remember . the  duckies and bunnies  car scene is one of my favorites  and i still quote morone  s versions of certain words   br    br   there are so many running jokes  that it  s amazing . but i love michael keaton anyhow   
a very bad attempt at a young spinal tap . at least the music in spinal tap was good .  br    br   this is really a very sad case of hollywood nepotism at it  s worst . a bunch of hollywood execs  bad musicians and producers create some  poopie  show so their kids can be in the spotlight . oh please    the potty humor was even bad . i hate this stuff when there is really incredibly talented kids  musicians  actors and artists  out there busting their butts to have success and this crap comes along .  br    br   help u all     why wasn  t gene simmons in it    ameriac  s taste in entertainment is going down the toilet .  
all of those who voted less than  are obviously not fans of clean  tongue  in  cheek humor . keaton is brilliant in this  as in most of his work . this is not a blockbuster  bigger  than  life affair . this is campy  slapstick humor played out by some of hollywood  s best  and very versatile  actors . piscopo was equally on the mark as the top dog wannabee  once .  br    br   if you want to see the funniest attempt at not really cussing ever filmed  you gotta see dimitri do his piece as morone .  br    br   i gave it a  .  
my favorite memory of this show and the band was when i got together with a bunch of my friends which are nbb haters and had a big bonfire and we took a cd of their songs and the dvd of the movie and a bunch of pictures of the band members and threw them into the fire and danced a happy jig around the burning stuff while singing  ding dong the witch is dead  . that was the best thing about the show and this show is stupid with a capitol god this show sucks . i hate it so much . get rid of the crappy car . you guys really suck  you really ruined the whole channel  no offence or anything but you guys need to get a life  i mean  really  who makes a stupid show with a stupid lead singer that can  t even sing  you guys really sound horrible and need to get a life as hobos or something  except roselina . she  s really pretty . but still  you guys reak   
sure it may not be a classic but it  s one full of classic lines . one of the few movies my friends and i quote from all the time and this is fifteen years later  maybe it was on cinemax one too many times   michael keaton is actually the worst actor in this movie   he can  t seem to figure out how to play it   but he  s surrounded by a fantastic cast who know exactly how to play this spoof . looking for a movie to cheer you up  this is it but rent it with friends   it  ll make it even better .  
that  s right  you heard me this movie is a freaking  abomination . first off  the band  who the hell is going to go see or listen to a band called  the naked brothers band      not only is the name terrible but so are the musicians  they can  t even play anything  also  the lead singer sounds more girly than geddy lee  and even more his voice is horrible  not only are they terrible musicians but they  re terrible actors . led by a crappy director and thin plot  this has got to be the dumbest movie ever . i wish this website would let you use a vote of zero or below out of    because giving this filth a     is being way too generous .  br    br   i  m not sure that you can call this a comedy film . if you  re looking for comedy with music  go to that  weird al  yankovic guy  cause he does it a whole lot better than these untalented tweens .  
  johnny dangerously  is a sort of hit and miss comedy that has it  s laughs and  huh   . but i suggest to give it a chance . i think it is greatly over looked . not too many people give this movie a chance . it does work . just think of it as a little parody of  goodfellas  . michael keaton is very funny in his role . and he does it well . johnny dangerously is a gangster who wants to go higher in life . he just works his way up from the big bosses to a beautiful wife . and of course like a lot of the mob movies  someone wants him dead .    of the jokes get a laugh . like  i said give it a chance . just take your favortie gangster movies and mix a comedy in . you have  johnny dangerously  .  br    br        
omg this was the most painful experience of my life watching this . i could even finish it what is happening to nick . their best thing on teen nick is drake and josh and thats about to go off air . the kids songs are kinda of annoying and the so are the kids . my little sister wanted to watch the show because she likes anything that comes on disney or nick usually but after finish watching this show she said  one of the worst shows that i have ever saw so boring .  my little brother actually fell asleep i envy him . in short if your  yrs old with no brain activity you  ll enjoy this show otherwise change the channel now .  
yes  keaton looks like he really did enjoy making this film . with a skip in his step in his tailored pin  striped suits  he  ll remind you of jimmy cagney  johnny  keaton  is the young hood who only does it to pay for his mother  s high  priced medical bills  to send his younger brother  griffin dunne  to law school . no one even knows johnny kelly is johnny dangerously until later on in the film . joe piscopo is vermin  doesn  t like johnny one bit   i don  t like vermin  . marilu henner has a nice singing  dancing routine while johnny revels in it . i love the part when they  re in the ever  changing getaway car  the cop who  s  calling all cars  is the skipper from gilligan  s island  see this one for      s gangster laughs  the gags in this film are hilarious but you have to catch them or you  ll miss them  look in the background of every scene .  
oh dear  the first time i heard of this bad show was when one of my friends was yelling like an idiot  johny test  while we were playing video games . i thought he was confusing  johny quest   by the way  one of the best cartoons i  ve ever seen in my life   and changing the  quest  with  test  . its something weird that i  m wrong  but actually i was wrong  he wasn  t changing nothing  he heard of this show .  br    br   one day  while watching tv  i heard that cartoon network was going to be released . i wasn  t sure of what was the plot of this show  so i adventured myself to watch it  and here is my answer  i want my damn hour back   because i watched this crap and  my gym partner  s a monkey  .  br    br   this is one of the worst shows i  ve ever seen . first  the beginning  with the most stupid song in the world  then the plot . oh  where are my manners  i haven  t said the plot of this show . is about a boy who has to amazingly intelligent sisters  that have a lab and make experiments with their own brother . ohhh  now i see why his name is johny test  he is the test of his sisters experiments .  br    br   you know  i honestly miss dexter  s lab  before it was transformed to the new dexter  a total crap too  . this is a bad copy of that old good show  except that this show is amazingly bad . don  t watch it  make something more productive in that half  hour than watch this crap .  
okay  i  ll confess . this is the movie that made me love what michael keaton could do . he does a beautiful parody of someone doing a parody of james cagney  with charm to spare .  br    br   the supporting cast are solid workers all  and will step right up and do a fine job in this    s comedy . a spoof of the    s     s gangster movies  it breaks new ground constantly  with remarkably original material .  well  yeah  some of it has been copied since  but when this movie was made  it was original  and much of it has  not  been copied elsewhere .  watch joe piscopo warn people to not do        with one of the great taglines of spoofs . watch roman moronie do things with english profanity that would make your spinster grammar teacher laugh . watch amazing sight gags  such as pet  store owner johnny kelly using the price  tag gun on his puppies and dusting his kittens . watch the greatest  warning against sex  educational film ever made . watch the most amazing misrepresentation of church latin done  while a guy who never took shop class assembles a thompson machine gun from parts . watch lines you  ll be using in casual conversation for the next decade . watch maureen stapleton do the perfect antithesis to the hard  working mom  with surprise gags that you  ll never see coming .  br    br   if you see a gag that doesn  t hit your funny bone  be patient  another will come along in   seconds or less  and the odds are  you  ll need to pause until you  re done rolling on the floor several times . duckies and bunnies  them  too . watch for the subtle stuff  some of the sight gags can go by unnoticed the first few viewings .  br    br   there are a few minor flaws  but it  s probably the best of the spoofs . some come close  but none of them are quite this good .  
cartoon network seems to be desperate for ratings . beginning with the cancellation of samurai jack  the network seemed hellbent on removing all the shows that made it so popular  such as the powerpuff girls  dexter  s lab  dragonball z  etc . when the ratings started to plummet  cn began putting up some pretty mediocre shows . though total drama island  action and chowder stand out because of their clever writing and audience  pleasing gimmicks  there are plenty of other shows that either terrible remakes  george of the jungle  or rip offs of other shows  such as the marvelous misadventures of flapjack  where the title character acts just like spongebob  and then there  s johnny test  which is something of a replacement for dexter  s laboratory  though it  s much more of a sheer rip off than anything .  br    br   the show  s characters are clearly derived from dexter  s lab  only this time the focus is on johnny  a blonde  or fiery  haired  character who torments his twin sisters  susan and mary  who just happen to look just like dexter  from the orange hair  to the glasses  the impossible technology . there is even a rival genius named bling bling boy or eugene  who appears to be sitting in for mandark . then there  s dookie  johnny  s best friend and talking dog  one of dexter  s . . . i mean  susan and mary  s early experiments .  br    br   dexter  s laboratory was probably one of the best cartoons on television  with its simple  but effective art style  lovable main character  and episodes that don  t seem to be a long drag . johnny test is a lot different . the art style here isn  t nearly as eye  pleasing . in fact  it looks absolutely awful . the characters have motivations that make them really annoying or repulsive . like how most of the series  episodes consist johnny and dookie  s quest for havoc on the neighborhood girl sissy  whom johnny secretly likes  or the twins  obsession over a boy next door . seeing these two geniuses swoon at the sight of abs and the fact that johnny appears to be someone you would never want to associate with  there is no real connection between the viewer and characters .  br    br   one thing the series heavily exploits in its name is that johnny is susan and mary  s guinea pig for their experiments . these range from turning johnny fat  ugly  monstrous  and even into a woman . the twins then help johnny in whatever scheme he  s planning in return for his services . whenever there  s an episode involving this kind of  win  win  deal  it usually comes undone at the seems and those that doesn  t come completely off the rails never ends satisfyingly .  br    br   the writing ranges from mediocre to horrid  however . the  fat  episode constantly repeats  it  s phat with a ph . there  s a difference  you know .  which is a line that should never be repeated  especially when the episode seems to promote child obesity  with johnny becoming a famous star with money and videogames just by becoming fat .  br    br   let  s talk about how the show doesn  t completely rip off dexter  s lab . the show tosses in a lot of characters  from two men  in  black named mr . black and mr . white  a military general who seems to need all his problems solved through johnny and his sisters  and lots of super villains  though even here  the show again steals ideas for other sources  like a mr . freeze teenage clone  an evil cat with a butler who wants cats to rule over man  like the evil talking cat from powerpuff girls   a bumbling maniac mastermind  a trio of evil skater  dudes  and even a mole man  which is probably the most clich villain in the media .  br    br   to top it all off  alongside its ugly animation and unlikeable characters  the voice acting is either passable  like the voices for mr . black and mr . white  to just plain ear  splitting  johnny  dookie  and just about every villain in the show  . the theme song seems to be the only catchy thing to this show  but then it was redone just a few episodes with a band that just ruined it .  br    br   so in the end  johnny test is not a good cartoon . its horrible references and jokes about teen culture will dismantle little children  s interest in the show  while its bright coloring  ripped  off characters  and dragging episodes will ruin the experience for teens . it  s just another one of those crappy shows that cartoon network is over  promoting to trick people to watching it  like mtv toward rap  . if you need a show that will satisfy your children for a half hour  you  d better stick to spongebob  because johnny test is more of a  test  of patience than anything else .  
as a psychiatrist specialized in trauma  i find this film a beautiful shown example of a severe psychic trauma  even a trauma . it not only explains the enormous difficulties those people have to cope wither  but that even love is sometimes not enough . but she tries   
i used to love this movie as a kid but  seeing it again    years later  it actually sucks . up the academy might have been ahead of it  s time back in      but it has almost nothing to offer today  movies like caddyshack and stripes hold  up much better today than this steaming dogpile . no ta . no great jokes except for the one  liners we  ve all heard a million times by now .  br    br   i recently bought the dvd in hopes that it would be the gem i remembered it being . well  i was way off  the soundtrack had only    widely  recognizable hits  not the smash compilation others had mentioned  and the frequent voice  overs were terrible . the only thing that was interesting  to me  was predicting what the character  s lines were before they said them . yep  i watched this movie that much back then   br    br   the only reason i am writing this review is to give my two cents on why this movie should be forgotten  sorry to say .    
as far as parody films go  there are few that are worth time and energy . but with a recent resurgence of horrid parodies such as date movie and the comebacks  it is a breath of fresh air to come back and rediscover a truly funny farce like johnny dangerously .  br    br   after his mother has no end of medical problems  little johnny goes to work for the mob . what fallows is a series of gags  most of which work  there are  however  the occasional flops . but a foreign gangster who can  t master the american language  profanity wise  at least   a rival gangster with a penchant for shooting his mouth off  . . . once    a younger brother with the d . a . who is out to get johhny dangerously  and a hot young starlet hot for his affections have johnny busy .  br    br   and the viewer will be busy laughing  for the most part  as every gangster  movie clich is skewered by a talented cast and decent writing .  br    br   not perfect by a long shot  but definitely good for a smile on a bad day .  
my brother is in love with this show  let  s get this straight . i completely agree with the people who said it was copying off of dexter  s lab and fairly odd parents .  br    br   i  ve never really liked fairly odd parents  i mean  some things did make me laugh  but most of the time it  s downright annoying and not cute at all . this is almost the same way i feel about johnny test . except  nothing makes me laugh on that show . the gags are so stupid and pointless  and to tell you the truth  maybe it  s just me  but kids don  t dress like that  yes  i do think johnny  s hair is awesome  but c  mon   br    br   and dexter  s lab  that used to be one of my favorite shows and i still don  t mind watching it . which makes me disgusted and ashamed of johnny test making an absolute joke out of that wonderful show   br    br   one more thing . the . dog . is . so . annoying . he is more loud and obnoxious than johnny  and the gay accent  what the fudge  i hate the dog to death and i hope he dies  because that would be better for kids to see than listening and watching the obnoxious crap that goes on in that show  and picking up a gay accent .  br    br   unless you want you eyeballs to burn into miraculous flames and your brain fried from this show  don  t watch it   
oh  what fun there is here   br    br   amy heckerling has a flair for directing comedy  fast times at ridgemont high  look who  s talking  but here it looks like she told the actors to go out and have fun . micheal keaton breezes through the role of johnny  easily his best screen performance . joe piscopo is great as the appropriately named danny vermin  what a shame directors didn  t pick up on this . and i have even mentioned richard dimitri playing moronie and the character  s unique vocabulary . i don  t think it  s an accident that the bulk of the character  s name is spelled moron .  br    br   good lines are sprinkled throughout the movie  with peter boyle  griffit dunne . maurren stapleton  merilu henner given good lines . even actors with minor roles like dick butkus and alan hale get in a good lines .  br    br   recommend it to a friend .  
i really hate this show  i had watched one episode  and i knew this show is really terrible . the story lines are both poorly written and executed and the jokes are really bad . . . i mean it is just a shty rip  off of dexter  s laboratory and johnny quest   bout an obnoxious boy with flamed blond hair with his twin genius sisters and talking dog a stay  at  home dad and a smart  super  busy mom . . . like oh  my  flippin   god  their dad is a mother  fkin  crazy home  maker  isn  t that so gay  if my dad is a home  maker  i would personally die  of shame that is . . . really i would .  br    br   i have nothing else to about this . . . this travesty but only  word count them  words to describe it  br    br    lame   stupid  and above all . . .  fk up  that  s all i could say folks  it is definitely making my list of worst animated series ev  er  if i had one that is .  
the jokes are obvious  the gags are corny  and the characters are walking characatures  but i couldn  t stop from laughing at his highly entertaining movie . no matter how many times i see it  i still get a kick out of this one  and i recommend it highly for all lovers of mindless entertainment . it contains many quotable moments  and some of the best sight  gags i  ve seen to this day . if you  ve had a bad week and you need a chuckle  rent this one on your way home friday night to give your weekend a good start .  
this show is possibly the biggest  ugliest  most generic steam pile i  ve seen in children  s programming that  s actually become successful . the lead character  johnny  while i understand he  s supposed to represent an ordinary kid  isn  t likable or even tolerable . the jokes are lame  overdone  i . e . the  whoa  didn  t see that coming  gag . come on  that wasn  t even funny the first time . it  s not even cute  and lack any form of primitive wit or inspiration . and lastly . . . it  s just plain ugly to look at . while kids aren  t especially critical of artistic talent  they still prefer eye candy . i can  t stand watching the show  because in a way  the art style is just . . . gross . hideous  in fact . just plain crummy .  br    br   i just can  t stand that this is getting so much airtime . while i understand that nostalgia can be a little irrational and i shouldn  t be getting my hopes up on it coming back . . . i really miss the old cartoons . bring back dexter  s laboratory  the powerpuff girls . . . anything but this crap . i guess it  s just wishful thinking though .  br    br   simply put  i advise you don  t waste your time on this show . i believe that truly good cartoons are able to be enjoyed by the big kids  too . and this doesn  t cut it .  
one the whole  this movie isn  t perfect . it doesn  t  hang well  together as the story line is basically a bunch of hooks to hang jokes .  br    br   some of these jokes are a little  too   s  and tend to date the picture .  br    br   but some of these jokes are classic .  br    br   you know a movie has something special when you and your friends still reference silly quotes from it over  decades later .  br    br   plus  there are a bunch of familiar faces michael keaton  danny devito  joe piscapo  peter boyle  marilu henner  maureen stapleton  bob eubanks  griffin dunne  and one of the last roles of alan hale jr .  the skipper from gilligan  s island .  br    br   also  there are some great absurdist moments  like when johnny is labelling the puppies with a pricing gun  or the pope making an appearance in johnny  s neighborhood . also  the scene where the fake priest makes up a lot of words in latin is excellent .   summa cum laude  magna cum laude  the radio  s too louda . . . post meridian  ante meridian  uncle meridian   .  br    br   other classic scenes include ramone maroney butchering the english language danny devito urging griffin dunne to  play ball  peter boyle thinking he lost his manhood the fake vd movie  br    br   this movie is no home run . but like  porky  s   it has enough classic comedy bits to make it memorable .  
as you can guess by my rating and my title of this review that i don  t like johnny test . now i think i know what people are going to say   how do you know how bad it is  have you ever watched it    i did watch this show a couple times because i am studying film and animation and this just doesn  t hold a candle to my standards .  br    br   i want to first talk about the animation because it is one of the most confusing things i have ever seen . like the first two seasons or only first season had hand drawn animation . i thought it was a nice show to look at when it was hand drawn but then it switched to flash animation and the quality went down by a huge amount .  br    br   so that is one strike in my eyes but lets look at the story of the show . it tries way too hard to be like dexter  s lab but there are differences because instead of one red headed scientist there is two and they are both female . there is a talking dog  why    and the parents attitudes are switched somewhat . i have others but i don  t think i can write them here  i don  t mean cursing but i mean i don  t know if there is a limit for words .  . everything else though is spot on  even a deedee character johnny himself . it just tries so hard to be dexter but it just seems to me like a heartless knockoff .  br    br   lastly i want to talk about the jokes . remember in dexters lab some of the jokes involved yelling  yes  yelling can be good for a joke or two but dexter  s lab also had sly remarks that made me have to go back and check to get the joke . johnny test just forgets all that and just yells    of the time and stops the music whenever a stupid joke or one liner appears . that isn  t comedy  thats stupid comedy  i know what some people are thinking . isn  t three stooges stupid comedy  watch that and johnny test back to back and you laugh more at the first option .  . sometimes the jokes are based on bizarre situations which  like chowder  makes me mad . i have a rule for cartoons and comedies all together to much bizarre doesn  t equal comedy  it makes you just think  what am i watching   .  br    br   so it strikes out on all accounts . don  t watch this show if you have any respect for comedy in anyway  shape  or form .  
famous words of foreign nightclub owner roman maroni  that  lousy cork sucker  who spends the whole movie not only as johnny dangerously  s rival  but butchering the english language as well .  br    br   another underrated classic that you can only find on afternoon matines or  late late late show   s  johnny dangerously is a terrific satirical hit about a good hearted boy who secretly leads a life of crime to help pay for his mother  s medical care and put his brother through law school .  br    br   yes there  s a story  but who cares   a cast that includes joe piscopo  dom deluise  marilu henner  and alan hale jr will keep you waiting to see what happens next .  br    br   there  s too many laughs in this to put on here . like airplane  you have to pay attention or you  ll miss something . highly recommended to anyone who can use a good laugh or two     
i want so badly to give this piece of garbage a zero  unfortunately  there isn  t  so  i had to give it a  just to warn you about how stupidly terrible this imposter of a familiar cartoon really is  the characters look like they were drawn by pre  schoolers  no  wait  i  ve seen pre  schoolers do better  i prefer  misadventures of flapjack  to this terrible excuse for a cartoon  i  m probably saying what others have said  two words rip off   remember that episode of dexter  s lab when they raced go  karts down that volcano  yeah  mister fellows even cashed in on that idea and failed  they even ripped off shadow lugia in that one episode that parodied pokemon   he even cashed in on that franchise   that one character is a cheap rip off of mandark from dexter  s lab  mister fellows needs to be sued for statutory infringement for this piece of crap   everyone has their own opinion  but those of you who like johnny  rip  off  test  your  e just lying to yourselves . do yourself a favor  change the channel when this rip off tries to disgrace your screen   
for a movie that gets no respect there sure are a lot of memorable quotes listed for this gem . imagine a movie where joe piscopo is actually funny  maureen stapleton is a scene stealer . the moroni character is an absolute scream . watch for alan  the skipper  hale jr . as a police sgt .  
i had recently been watching johnny test in an attempt to find humor in it . i failed  horribly . cartoon network usually has a tendency to make their shows enjoyable by all audiences  but johnny test is  entertainment  in it  s lowest form . the writing is incredibly predictable  and the running gags aren  t much gags at all . kids will love it  and that  s about it .  br    br   now  this isn  t to say that it  s all bad . the original opening theme was actually pretty catchy  but for some reason they took the skeleton of it and figuratively smashed it with a figurative aluminum bat . it  s a shame  because that was really one of the best things it had going for it .  br    br   some of the characters could be very interesting  in theory . with a little work  the characters could work well together  but they  re too one  dimensional . then again  this makes it easy for the kids to follow .  br    br   the pace is a bit too fast as well . the episodes are too busy  leaving little time for clever writing . this is a real shame  because there are so many interesting concepts that the show brings forth . on the upside  however  the fast pace will stop the kids from losing interest  and that  s really the entirety of the target audience .  br    br   overall  the show looks very good on paper  but just doesn  t succeed in being funny or interesting . this is a show i want to like  but i  m incapable of it . there  s just so much potential that isn  t realized . kids will enjoy it  but that  s about it .  
this movie is just too funny  a totally non  pc gangster romp . if mel brooks made a picture about the mob in the    s  it would probably look like this . too many great one  liners to to remember  and while its not for everyone  anyone who doesnt laugh a whole bunch of times doesnt have a pulse . so  put it on and laugh you iceholes     
this show is dull  lame  and basically rips off all sorts of various things in order to make it  original .  first off the animation is so ugly . . . johnny  s hideous . . . and everyone  s annoying . the twins look like teen female dexters from  dexter  s lab   and johnny is almost like a more intelligent male dee dee  also from  dexter  s lab .   secondly the plots . . . are painfully lame  making them hard to follow . the gags are corny  and nothing really makes me feel compelled to laugh a little bit . . . especially when it tries to be funny . i only saw two episodes  but those alone turned me off .  br    br   third off the whole theme song starts off by ripping off the tune to green day  s  american idiot .  and  while i am not a big fan of that band  i find it really dumb that they would take the same opening melody  and then subtly change it  in order to make it their own .  br    br   case in point . . . it  s a big fat ugly bore .      
how can anyone not love this movie  i think it  s a hilarious spoof of all the old gangster movies if you  ve never seen them  watch this instead . michael keaton has a ball in this role as anything goes . one guy mangles the english language everytime he talks and griffin dunn plays a clueless d . a .  but my favorite role has got to be joe piscopo . he has all the best lines . danny devito  alan hale  ray walston are in this star  studded movie that lampoons gangsters a lot funnier than  mafia  did for the criminal underground .  
and how it made it into production astounds me . the main character is an obnoxious show off who isn  t the least bit funny . i can  t stand the character at all . he  s a dumb ass with nothing to offer the show .  br    br   this is the worst cartoon to surface in the last   years  no joke . the story lines are both poorly written and executed . the jokes are as bad as the ones on disney  s sweet life of zack and cody . i could not dislike this show more  it  s terrible and should be canceled . even the theme song is bad . the title  even worse .  br    br   it  s as though this show is written by a couple of   year olds that based the character on themselves and think they  re hot stuff when they  re really just arrogant and lack creativity as well as humor .  br    br   johnny test  go away far and fast   
this movie was made in hungary i think . anyway  the countryside is gorgeous  the people who play the farming folks were totally fascinating . their horsemanship is awesome . i got more into the native people  the farm life  and how heroic they were trying to hide brady from the evil nazis who where looking for these parachutists . they even sacrificed their life in several instances . the young orphan lad that brady befriends was a sweet kid . you will marvel at the riding i think  and the action of trying to evade the nazis . it is entertaining and comic in some spots and very tragic in others . ladies have hankies handy  as you will be devastated at the end . i own it  and have watched it several times . in other words  not just a one time around flick . its a keeper . . . .  
there are no reasons of taking this documentary serious and there are four reasons for that  br    br     the people who made this documentary  including the director and the producer  are serbs or of serbian origin  therefore the criteria of neutrality fails . for instance  they mentioned that the diaspora croats  the so called  ustase   played a huge part in the fall of yugoslavia  but they didn  t mention that there were equal serbian organizations as well  cetniks   for you who aren  t that familiar with balkan ww  history the serbian so called  cetniks  that were portrayed in the documentary as being so kind that they helped british paratroops during the war . well  that  s only half the truth . they were also a fascist  monarch  group who collaborated with the germans  but then switched side when hitler started losing the war . it  s also ironic that they don  t mention the cetnik leader mihajlovic in the documentary  a man that is responsible for killing thousands of people and burning hundreds of villages all over bosnia and croatia . but they mentioned a certain ante pavelic . . . hm . . . allow me to be just a little suspicious .  br    br     most of the people interviewed are to me totally unknown . and i  ve studied this war for a long time  who is the old british lady    she really hasn  t made her homework   and they are not even presented by name  so they could more or less be anybody  maybe someone they took from the street . who knows .  br    br     in the documentary they talk about kosovo and how the serbs have lived there for ages  and therefore it should belong to serbia  even though they are a minority  . well  when they mention the serbian dominated part of croatia  krajina  suddenly the serbs are portrayed as how they have the right to live there because it has been their home for so long . fine  but what people don  t know is that the largest city in krajina  knin  has great historical importance for the croatian people . it was there where one of the most celebrated kings of croatian history  zvonimir  was crowned  and therefore the city has a historical value for croatia . the serbs arrived almost    years or so later  but no  the serbs should have krajina and kosovo according to the documentary . is that fair  to me it looks like double standards of morality from the director . plus  it is said in the documentary that the croatian constitution didn  t have any laws about minority rights  this is a lie because it was one of the first laws implemented because of the fact that croatia had a huge serbian minority .  br    br     the film mentions a radical croatian paramilitarian leader called glavas . or the muslim radical oric . they accused them of being a huge reason for the negative development of the war . yes  they were radicals  but if you want to talk about radicals  why not also mention the serbian radical paramilitary leaders such as seselj and arkan  the flaws are so many that i just presented a few of them  just so that people get an overview of the documentary . it looks like the people who made this documentary weren  t well prepared and didn  t have the guts to criticize the serbs because they were afraid that their serbian relatives would slap them or something . there aren  t that many documentaries out there that are of good quality  but the best so far is  the death of yugoslavia  where all the significant participants of the war are interviewed  e . g . milosevic  jovic  bulatovic  tudman  izetbegovic  karadzic etc .  and where you get a whole  hour explanation about the fall of yugoslavia and the war .  br    br   one other thing . i saw a comment on this documentary where the person was frustrated about why the us gave support to a country  bosnia  that had connections with bin laden during the war . well  first of all  all the countries involved in this conflict had nationalist presidents and because the bosnian muslims didn  t have an old ethnic identity  previosly they were called  muslim croats   they had to rely on something else besides nationality to raise the spirit among the people  and that was by connecting them to the only thing that they had in common their religion . and they took help from the mujahedin because no one else would support them . they had to fight the  th largest army in europe  they needed all the help they could get . nationalism is the best way to unite a people during war . history has shown us that .  
this movie is why i found this website . i couldn  t find this movie anywhere else  i am so glad we found it here  we have seen it on tv before and wanted desperately to find it and buy and have several friends interested in buying it . one other poster commented that it is was boring  though i must say that it is not . especially if you are a horse person  you will love this movie . the horses are awesome  well trained and the movie is well done . it is certainly one we will be purchasing for our home dvd library . we will be recommending it to our friends . the bond made between man and horse in this film was so inspiring and made you want to spend more time with your horses . this is certainly a movie that we will watch several times .  
i just want to say that this production is very one sided  breaks the impartiality needed if you want to be taken seriously .  br    br   there are no credits of the persons they interviewed  so you cant have an idea if they are worthy of being heard .  br    br   tells the story from just one point of view . to do this is very dangerous  because the next generations learns the bad idea  and thats why wars keep coming . i know this is not the only reason about wars  but doesn  t help either .  br    br   you can watch this documentary  but read in the internet a lot  before . balcans are complex as human history is .  
this movie stars emily watson  of breaking the waves fame . this movie about one man  s obsession takes place at a resort where a chess tournament is being held . a chess master arrives and shortly after falls madly in love  at first sight  with a woman  played by emily watson . she falls for this oddball of a man  who is obsessed with chess . this is all at the dismay of her mother  who is far more interested in seeing her with another young gentleman a proper gentleman . her mother feels that this is just a passing fancy for the young woman  as she has a tendency to take in odd animals and such . what ensues is mostly a journey through the man  s psyche . it tells the story of how his past is closely tied with his present . emily watson is amazing in this  as well as the actor who plays the main character . it is definitely slow  but is well worth the watching . the ending was even satisfying .    
a stale  misfits  in  the  army  saga  which half  heartedly attempts to be both surreal  the foreign subtitles  and vulgar  the flatulence gags   but just ends up being a mix of many different kinds of humor  none of them followed very successfully . barbara bach  the bond girl from  the spy who loved me   has only two or three brief scenes . what a waste         
a beautiful movie  especially if you like horses  wwii films and the austere hungarian plateau . a story of courage  compassion and loyalty that transcends generations . the horsemanship is spectacular as well as the main characters  horse in his own training .  br    br   i will buy this movie and watch it again . this is a family film and i recommend it highly . a good   family nite   movie . although there are some violent scenes  it was the nazi occupation of hungary . the native people were very interesting in the way they stood their ground even in the face of certain death from a nazi officer who had his own personal reasons for hunting down brady . a hauntingly beautiful film .  
when i saw this  documentary   i was disappointed to see serbian propaganda in action once again . even though serbia and its nationalist politics is main reason of yugoslavian breakup  it is not mentioned in this  documentary   which is made by bogdanovich whose name tells us that he is serbian and his movie that he is far from being objective . it is one in the set of lies pushed by milosevic regime . everyone else is guilty only serbians were right and victims  even though most of the war criminals tried in hague are serbs  even though serbs are one who have committed genocide against bosnians  and attacked slovenia  croatia  and bosnia all independent nations recognized by the un . breakup of yugoslavia was not avoidable because serbians did not want to release the grip their nationalism has put on federal yugoslav government  so slovenia  croatia  macedonia  and bosnia were forced to become independent nations in order to protect their interests . if you are interested in an objective documentary about breakup of yugoslavia  and fact led documentary this is not it . you should watch  yugoslaviadeath of a nation   made by discovery channel and bbc .  
sad story of a downed b    pilot . brady is shot down over occupied territory . the local ranchers extended him kindness and protection at the cost of their own lives . i had never heard of this movie and it snagged me for two hours . after the film is over  i  m glad i took the time . it  s an entire story told to explain the look on brady  s face at the start of the film .  
before seeing this movie  please check out reviews available on the internet regarding the movie  s falsification of events  particularly its prevarications regarding the widely accepted fact that        muslim men were bused out of srebrenica and shot by serbian paramilitaries . the documentarian also belongs to various pro  serbian american organizations . please watch this movie critically  and read reviews beforehand . most reviews argue that the documentarian takes his arguments too far  even if he raises questions that target the conventional wisdom regarding the war . a review in the nytimes by stephen holden states that it would be  inaccurate to label this documentary pro  serbian   but one should question both the presentation of facts  many of which are taken from reliable sources  and the omission of those facts that inculpate serbian forces . i do not advise against seeing this documentary  but i do caution you to examine it with an especially critical eye  as one should do at all times anyway  .  
given the low budget and production limitations  this movie is very good . it is plausible  realistic  and shows how the csikos  hungarian horsemen who lived on the plains  puszta  risked their lives to save a downed american pilot from the ruthless and savage nazis . we are drawn into strong feelings for the young  impressionable  yet highly courageous boy   who admires the american pilot . if you  re looking for special effects  superman heroes  and magical endings   this movie is not for you . if you want to feel what it must have been like to dodge the persistent  amoral nazis and their lack of compassion  then you will be enthralled by this movie . i truly enjoyed it and for those who love horses  dogs  and humble  helpful people who value freedom and those who aspire to that end  this movie will be one you  ll remember for a long time .  
don  t watch this serbian documentary and serbian propaganda look out for this documentary and you will see facts and truth http   imdb . com  title  tt          br    br   the death of yugoslavia documentary series  of five episodes  is a painstakingly compiled and researched account of the extended mass  bloodshed which marked the end of the old federal yugoslavia and spanned almost the entire first half of the      s . it includes a huge wealth of news footage and interviews with involved parties both  yugoslav  and otherwise . the only real  improvement  which could be made to this amazing achievement would be the inclusion of later developments in the balkans since the program was made . this was indeed done in the late      s for a repeat showing on bbc television  but the addition of some even more recent events would help to complete this admirably detailed and fulsome piece of work . perhaps another whole episode might be warranted  the very succinct title of this documentary was made all the more appropriate by the eventual abandonment of the term  yugoslavia  by the now  named federal republic of serbia and montenegro  a much belated and formal admission of that which occurred years before .  br    br   not fiction like in  yugoslavia the avoidable war         
really enjoyed this little movie . it  s a moving film about struggle  sacrifice and especially the bonds of friendship between different peoples  the child actor who plays miki is especially good  . there  s so many large scale impersonal films set around ww   that this convincingly told little story is a real break from the norm  and an original one at that . i  ll also add that this film is far from boring  very far   of course the horses are wonderful and the scenery breathtaking . to anyone who really treats their animal as part of the family  i do   you  ll find this film especially rewarding . recommended to movie fans who look for something a little different .  
first of all  i apologize for my english .  br    br   everybody from ex  yugoslavia who isn  t some extreme serbian radical will agree with me . this movie  shows serbian side  and only serbian side . no serbian crimes were represented . luckily  everyone can see that this movie was made by serbians  so there is no neutrality . all   professionals   who were interviewed are not professionals at all . some guy only read a book written by some radical serbian  the other one is genocide denier etc . etc .  br    br   even slovenians were accused in this movie . and the whole war in slovenia lasted for few days  and only because slovenians were lucky . there weren  t many serbs in slovenia  and yna couldn  t reach slovenia trough croatia  after croatia  serbia war started  . every slovenian is outraged by all accusations in this movie .  br    br   every reasonable croat will agree with one thing the independence was too early . perhaps all major conflicts could be avoided . however  mentioning wwii and some unrelated things was truly pathetic attempt to justify everything . just imagine japanese throwing nuclear bombs at seattle and washington  and saying that was justified by hiroshima and nagasaki . you will find no evidence about strangled yna soldier  and murdered serbian civilians near vukovar . but you can find the tape with reporter committing that his claims about serbian civilians near vukovar were lies . all over the internet . and the director forgot to mention the whole bombing of vukovar by yna  now on serbian and montenegro side  and     full of serbs and montenegrin  and let  s not start about the chetnik movement . at the beginning  it was simply a resistance movement . but director somehow forgot to mention collaboration with the nazis  including ustashe  ethnic cleansing  and fighting again the yugoslav partisans . there are thousands of other things  but all of it can be easily checked . there are many misleading things in this movie . only few of all accusations are true . every croatian is outraged by this movie .  br    br   i believe that i don  t need to mention srebrenica genocide denial  the genocide that has too many evidence . imagine the movie about holocaust denial . this movie is the same . and according to this movie bosnian muslims in sarajevo bombed themselves . every bosnian muslim is outraged by this movie .  br    br   somehow director forgot to mention the short occupation of small piece of macedonian  fyrom  land by the serbs .  br    br   croatians  slovenians  bosnians  and macedonians never entered serbian borders . if you are not serbian and you actually started to believe some things from this movie  know that serbs have some kind of propaganda that croats  bosnian muslims  and macedonians are actually serbs who made up their history . so . . .  br    br   even    of serbs will say that this movie is   little   extreme and pro  serbian .  br    br   and serbian radicals are very  very pleased with this movie  there is about    serbs who vote for radicals  .  br    br   i think everyone understands my points in here . in this so called documentary is very little truth  and my advice to everyone is inform yourself before watching this movie . after that  you will only laugh at all pathetic accusations .  br    br   watch real  neutral documentaries about death of yugoslavia .  
trapped buried alive brings us to a resort that has just opened  and is soon to close .  br    br   we start with a guy in gear blowing up drifts  to avoid the possibility of avalanches . somehow  that doesn  t make sense . anyways  he  s about to blow away one particularly big one  when he notices the resort is open . despite his best efforts  higher authority tells him his day is over .  br    br   soon  as everyone expects  an avalanche hits .  br    br   look  i  m not gonna reveal any more  all i can say is this was a b  movie designed for the family channel  which i just saw it on  and the fact it had no commercials proves it  s a b  movie  anyways  it  s a pretty decent film  but it  s partially unreal .  br    br   firsthand  when people are buried by ice and snow  they  re buried . not just traced by powder . or  what about a cd for a screwdriver  it  s not possible . and finally  what i can  t stress enough  is that an explosion cannot stop a avalanche  guaranteed .  br    br   furthermore  it  s worth a rental or a tv viewing  but not owning .     .  br    br   the movie is rated pg  but maybe it should have received something a little more strong . a boy nearly loses his foot in an elevator  but his leg is cut around the ankle  a guy is toasted by electricity and diesel  and in the weight room  dead people are laying around .  br    br   enjoy .  
this is one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . i saw it at the premiere at sxsw and was extremely disappointed . the director knew little about john lennon and even said as much at the premiere . this is a drama  but people were laughing throughout at how cheesy the film was . that  s never a good sign . the only saving graces were dominic monaghan and jason leonard as livien  s roommates  bandmates . they were funny while the rest of the movie took itself waaay too seriously . the cheesy dropping of beatles lyrics was just absurd . the soundtrack was excellent  however  and was probably the best part of the movie . unless you  re one of those crazy  rabid dominic monaghan fans  don  t bother with this one .  
despite the lack of logic present in the storyline  kill shot is a highly enjoyable film . through a moving performance kasper van dien brilliantly portrays the emotional rift between a hard working wealthy father and his misguided son . each member of the supporting cast pitches in with a solid performance  highlighted by the vivid acting of a young asian man whose name i cannot recall . a shockingly tragic ending may unnerve some younger viewers  but as a whole kill shot truly delivers a death blow .  
a great opportunity for and indy director to make an interesting film about a rock musician on the brink of stardom . it could have been a decent film if it would have dealt with john livien  s traumatic past and how it is torturing his psyche . instead  it is a ridiculous attempt to identify john livien  s life with john lennon  s . john livien  s suicida mother  s hero was john lennon and she wished for him to become as powerful and prolific as lennon himself . instead of focusing on john lennon  s musical brilliance  and his wonderful ability to bare himself for others to learn something about their own life  it showed lennon  s legacy to be that of a confused  drug addicted soul  who should looked upon as a god instead a man . i am a huge john lennon fan and this movie reminded me of another  crazy  person obsessed with lennon  lennon  s killer  mark david chapman . lennon was a man who was brutally murdered by someone else who had an identity crisis with lennon . do we need to be reminded of that  john lennon gave so much to the world with his music and honesty and i was repulsed to see another disturbed person  as the main character in this movie obsessed by lennon  and not show his beautiful contributions to the world . yoko ono graciously honored john lennon  s memory  by making the memorial in central park to give his fans a chance to pay their respects  and remember john . instead the director of this movie chose to use that site to have the killer attempt to commit suicide . i found this so disturbing and disrespectful to lennon  s memory . he was a man of peace who died a brutal senseless death  and to see such violence near this site felt like a revisiting a terrible wound for any lennon fan . it ruined the movie completely for me . it could have been a decent movie  but it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth . let john lennon  and his family rest in peace and not be reminded of his vicious murder by this irresponsible movie .  
this movie  s origins are a mystery to me  as i only know as much as imdb did before i rented it . i assume that before  starship troopers    killshot  was one of the countless unaired pilots that never made it to network  cable  or otherwise . the new title of  kill shot  is comically thrown into the opening sequence  the first of many quick clues that this was not ever intended for the cinema . the quick cuts  cheesy  melrose place  music  and short   second close  up candid shots of the main actors let you know what you  re in for .  br    br   and i don  t mind at all . i rented this movie seeing the repackaging that puts casper van dien and denise richards on the cover in front of a volleyball net thinking it would be funny to see them in a movie besides the scifi travesty of starship troopers  an excellent book  in my opinion  not so hot a movie  but that  s another review  . after looking it up on imdb  my roommate and i surmised that the pilot was dragged up after the apparent success of troopers and richards own career  see bond  girl and wild things references here  . they threw in a sex scene involving a minor character to reach the coveted r  rated status  coveted in suspense video rental sections  that is . in any event  they should have left it unrated if you  re trying to sell it in the suspense  softcore porn section .  br    br   all in all  it  s entertaining . i hate to spoil the fun of telling you it  s a tv pilot  though . that was the biggest pull while watching it  when you expect a cinematic movie and get a tv show  the differences between them make themselves more clear than usual .  br    br   would i rent it again  no . would i watch this tv show  well  why not  it  s better than baywatch . and their meager attempts at hitting all demographics would have done well back in the mid   s . token black guy  who  s gay to avoid the tv taboo of inter  racial dating   token asian  japanese  i assume from the name koji  more adept at science and computers than talking to women  beautiful  intelligent latina pre  med student who has everything going for her except her family  s bank account  this show probably would have done ok .  br    br   but as a movie it just cracks me .  br    br   i gave it a  out of    considering what it was and what it was forced to become . it made for a very enjoyable evening  and that  s all i ask of rentals .  
yet another film about a tortured self  centered  arrogant  unfeeling hateful  self  destructive lead character we are supposed to care about .  br    br   don  t get me wrong i am very open to all kinds of off the wall movies that have as the lead character a strongly self  destructive character . what i object to about this one is that there is so little background to this guy . why did this guy hate himself and the world  had the script dealt with this more they might have managed to elicit some sympathy for him . as it is he just comes off as an unpleasant hateful character  not tragic  just hateful .  br    br   after taking great pains to make this guy as crazy and anti  social as possible and making his fate as dark as possible the writer then has the nerve to make a happy ending . . . .  br    br   this is not the worst film i have ever seen but it is in there putting up a good fight  man  don  t waste your time .  
i was pleasantly surprised i quite liked this movie . witty writing  some  inside  jokes i got  others i didn  t  maybe due to actors speaking on top of one another   great acting  notably john cassini   great cameos  interesting and unique directing . i rented it to see jeffrey meek  very disappointed he was in it such a short time  blink and you  ll miss him   but found the movie remarkably entertaining . i  ll actually watch it again before i send back to netflix . i think actors and wanna  be actors will thoroughly enjoy this movie . the ending is somewhat expected but wish they  d done something different  and more positive  . too bad the movie wasn  t better received except for in the  festival  market . i suggest it to anyone who loves the acting biz .  
this film is really something of a curate  s egg  good in parts . in contrast to other reviewers  i found that the main fault with it is its inability to draw in the viewer  s interest in the characters and the plot . i sat through it because i  m interested in rock  n  roll and the dynamics of bands  but if i were to evaluate it purely on the basis of its merit as a movie  i would have to give it the thumbs down  with a few caveats jason behr is good in the part of john livien  and quite convincing as a rock singer the narrative regarding his childhood trauma is unclear  although we are given hints in livien  s well  acted relationship to his parents  but his behaviour is ultimately bizarre to the viewer  which it shouldn  t be  . nevertheless the idea of using a stage persona to solve inner conflicts is interesting  albeit not novel nor fully explored as a theme in this film . the allusions to john lennon were irritating  but i confess i  m not a beatles fan . at any rate  livien and his band reminded me more of oasis than the beatles  in the sense that there was something derivative about them . another frustrating thing about the movie was the way it opened up with some interesting  albeit middlebrow and high  school level  philosophical musings of the lead character  but left the threads of his thinking there  only to pick them up again in the middle of the film very briefly  when livien says   before god  there was music   ever seen that ad for tia maria in the     s   before time  there was tia maria   that  s what sprung to mind anyway   it seems an idiotic conclusion  and the viewer has no idea how he reached it  but he  s entitled to it . fortunately his bassist and friend  played ably by dominic monaghan  seems to acknowledge the fallacy of this thinking when he responds  you don  t know that  .  br    br   in all  the limited strengths of the direction and the plot could go either way on future projects  into pointless banality or into an interesting and more mature perspective .  
after seeing  break a leg  in vancouver at the release party i thought it was a very enjoyable film .  br    br   i had a few outright belly laughs and some of the cameos  eric roberts in particular  were a scream . i haven  t heard word about actual release date although i  ve heard it  s close .  br    br   the story is simple but is mainly a vehicle for the characters and situations . the script is smooth and seamless  the plot develops effortlessly and the acting is comfortable yet fresh . this film has won at least one award from each of the film festivals it  s been in  which is around      or so .  br    br   i highly recommend  break a leg  .  
this is easily the worst presley vehicle ever  which would bring us pretty close to the worst film ever made . it is measurably worse than even the revolting  happy ending  song at the end of  it happened at the world  s fair   and here i thought that moment when elvis buys all of the vendor  s balloons for his girl  and then the balloon vendor gets jiggy to the marching band was the epitome of bad cinema and could not be topped . i usually enjoy the random elvis flick if for no other reason but the memories of a time when we were innocent enough to sit through it . this one  however  ought to be called  live a little  wish you were dead a little   and makes  stay away joe  look like olivier playing othello .  br    br   here  elvis plays greg  who is essentially a hippie free  lance photographer except for the establishment haircut . after a fun morning of reckless driving  he ends up at the beach where he is abducted by a woman who  s name changes depending on the scene and who is speaking to her . clearly michele carey was selected for her resemblance to and ability to mimic elizabeth taylor  if i watched this without my glasses  i would have thought it was late      s liz playing the female lead  . she sics her dog on elvis until he runs into the water and catches convenient movie pneumonia  then she keeps him doped up out of consciousness in her beach pad so long he loses his job and his apartment so she moves his stuff into her house before he awakens without even telling him  the audience does not know about it either  until elvis tries to go back to work and his boss has him beaten up for no reason except he deserved it for making this movie  and tries to go home and finds some hateful woman in a slip living in his house  .  br    br   rather than having her arrested for kidnapping  larceny and assault  he goes out and gets two jobs to repay the back rent miss crazy pants had to spring for when stealing all of his belongings . job one is working for don porter at a playboy type magazine  job two is upstairs working for rudy vallee at a snobby fashion magazine . i think the two  job shuffling is supposed to be the comedy  too bad it isn  t the least bit funny  unless you  d laugh the    th time you saw someone run up and down stairs in fast  motion to silly music . the predominate obstacle that keeps greg from falling for his abductor is her other love interest  the dreadfully miscast dick sargent  let  s face it  either porter or vallee  even given their advanced ages in      would have made far more believable competitors for miss crazy  s affections  .  br    br   there are a variety of uninteresting and unfunny twists and turns  i kept waiting for something  anything to happen that would make all of this make sense . it never did . entertainment totals approximately three minutes and is comprised of elvis  rendition of  a little less talk   which i can listen to on cd without this painful movie inflicted upon me  and a funny five second bit where elvis flops on the couch and crazy pants has apparently disassembled it so it flies all to pieces when he lands on it . that  s it  folks  busted furniture  the only laugh in this entire film . no amount of mod sixties clothing  music  or dcor can salvage this high  heaven stinker and it should be avoided at all costs . viewing this can create an unnatural desire on the part of the audience toward the self  infliction of grave bodily harm .  
a struggling actor finds the best way to break into hollywood is to start knocking off the competition . but what makes break a leg a real gem is the sardonic look into the existence of the struggling  and not so  la actor . it brings us into that world with effortless irony and wit . it  s also got a polished look and very adept direction under monika mitchell . break a leg is one of those rare independent films that doesn  t compromise its production values at any level . the writing is tight  the dialogue first rate . cassini is an actor  s actor  and the role really shows off his talents . the climactic scene between him and rene garcia is an instant classic  and may go down as one of the funniest hollywood scenes of all time . i saw it at an advanced screening  and everyone in the audience laughed uncontrollably and raved about it afterwards .  
live a little  love a little is one of elvis  weirdest movies . part slapstick  part fluff  part surreal and part strange . elvis meets up with a very off  beat girl with an annoying voice . she looks like jennifer aniston . story doesn  t make much sense as is the case with most elvis presley movies  and there a bunch of odd characters galore . not much music in this one  but what there is i liked  although none are memorable . strange continuity . elvis and michelle carey go into her beach house at night  but a few minutes later a delivery boy comes in and it  s stark daylight   what   that  s about the essence of the movie . what   oh  two good things about the movie a  elvis looks great and b  the dog steals the show .  
this movie was well done in all respects . the acting is superb along with the fine audio soundtrack which i purchased because it was so moving . it is my all time favorite movie ahead of eastwoods  white hunter  black heart  . this movie is simply the best .  br    br   cheers zuf  
the only thing i remember about this movie are two things first  as a twelve year old  even i thought it stunk . second  it was so bad that when mad magazine did a parody of it  they quit after the first page  and wrote a disclaimer at the bottom of the page saying that they had completely disavowed it .  br    br   if you want to see great sophomoric comedies of this period  try animal house . it  s so stupid and vulgar it lowers itself to high art . another good selection would be caddyshack  the classic with the late rodney dangerfield and bill murray before he became annoyingly charming  with great lines like greens keeper carl spackler  s  correct me if i  m wrong sandy  but if i kill all the golfers they  ll lock me up and throw away the key .   
the story deals about jet li who has to fight against his old  br    br   friends . but there is one problem  the friends are superfighters . the film is filled with blood  super action and the best stunts forever . and lau ching  wan is a great co  actor . of course the movie has the typical hk  fun . but i love it  in germany  black mask  is uncut .  
when i was seventeen i genuinely believed elvis to be the king of rock and roll  and not only did i wish to see all   of his  character  movies  but it was my ambition to own them  too . what an exceptionally poor excuse for a seventeen  year  old i must have been . thankfully sense prevailed and live a little  love a little is the only elvis film i own .  br    br   the spotlight has fallen on this one recently since a remixed version of top song a little less conversation has been released as a single .  his first to reach the uk top ten in   years  his first uk no .  in    even when i was seventeen and in serious need of psychiatric help i realised that the songs for this movie weren  t exactly first rate . however  a little less conversation  rollnecks and   s grooving aside  is a real standout . finding a lesser  known song that only a relatively small few are aware of promoted into the mainstream produces a mixture of emotions . it  s nice to finally see faith in a song vindicated  but it  s also saddening to see the disintegration of your own private cult .  and what chauvinistic lyrics  too . though what other elvis song contains the word  procrastinate     br    br   but what really bothers me about this film is not a little less conversation but the   minutes that surround it . actually based on a novel  kiss my firm but pliant lips  what kind of lame novel would that be   this one sees a bored elvis holed up with a  comedy  dog and a nympho . within   seconds of meeting him  michele carey asks  would you like to make love to me   quite a fast mover by any standards i  m sure you  ll agree .  br    br   i do seem to recall that some of elvis  s early movies  most notably jailhouse rock and king creole  weren  t too bad  but this is just identikit hillbilly cobblers . being fired from a newspaper job can lead to a five minute karate fight with a couple of gingernuts  causing a motorway pile up is good for a laugh  and models dress as pink mermaids . there  s even a dream sequence for god  s sake . maybe the only dumb stereotype it doesn  t conform to is in not having all that many songs . with just four to choose from  including the credits number  you  re waiting an average of   minutes between tracks . some movies would become vapid by having too many tunes  but here they might have helped to have numbed the pain . of the remaining three tracks  then the edge of reality isn  t actually that bad  though elvis  s dance to it must surely have been called  the bear trap  .  br    br   in one sense  for a pg certificate film from     then this is shockingly high on sexual content . sadly  however  with talking dogs  middle america sitcom values and the stiffest dancing you  ll ever see  elvis  s dignity is obliterated by this movie .  
this is definitely one of jet  s best efforts . few actors are able to play the stoic as jet li can . the action is rapid  fire  and special  effects boosted for intensity purposes . as a result  it may take americans a little off  guard . a little suspension of disbelief goes a long way in a jet li film . i feel that it is an excellent introduction to jet  s work and look forward to further masterpieces  especially fist of legend  making it into the us market . a nice mixture of gunplay and physical conflict will satisfy most action flick enthusiasts .  
a half  hearted attempt to bring elvis presley into the modern day  but despite a sexy little shower scene and a pseudo  playboy magazine subplot  presley is surrounded by the same old coy  winking clichs . a woman picks e . p . up on the beach and then proceeds to take over his life   and he doesn  t seem to care  dick sargent is grueling in another sidebar  but don porter and rudy vallee    try hard as elvis  two bosses  he  s moonlighting  you see  . some of the songs are quite good  especially  almost in love   but if you want to see a looser  hipper  updated elvis sex  comedy   look elsewhere . when elvis and his fatal attraction get into bed together  there  s actually a wooden board in between them  get real .  from   
i  m no big fan of martial arts movies  but the video shop was nearly empty and jet li was in lethal weapon  and i got it free when the other films i  d rented  either way i rented it . i absolutely loved it  my flatmate and myself    year old biochemistry and accountancy students  spent the half hour after the film making strange kung fu noises and throwing beermat shurikens at each other . i can  t explain it  well maybe a little tequila  . i never enjoyed bruce lee  skinny bloke kicking big bloke  beating him  kicking bigger bloke etc film ends . think jackie chan with a little less comedy and more action .  
if i write a review about a movie  maybe it will stick with me . . . but generally i expect that i will have forgotten i  ve seen this one a mere two weeks from now . so why bother  because again i find myself watching a low  rated movie that was fun to watch . i didn  t expect i  d to be able to stay in the room while it was on .  br    br   it wasn  t great  but at least it was not unbearable . . . not a comedy of errors which always makes me cringe . it was just sweet fluff . . . and if you can  t take it  stay in the locker room boys . i agree with those who defend this movie because it is sure to please its targeted demographic  and won  t be a total bore to an adult .  br    br   it offers a few good chuckles here and there  but nary a side splitter . sure it is silly and only mildly entertaining  but at least it doesn  t suck  as so many have said it does  . maybe those folks are afraid of their sensitive sides   br    br   i have a tendency to grade on the bell curve  so a    or  is actually an okay all  around rating in my book . giving it a  makes sense and will bolster its rating at the time of this writing . giving it a  or a    as most have done thus far  makes the rating numbers meaningless . i cannot believe how strongly people feel one way or the other about this forgettable fluff  or that i am even bothering to write about it  . am i missing something   br    br   anyway  it should be noted that emma roberts performs her role as clairedycat quite convincingly . ariell kebbel often written into bch roles does not disappoint when her character gets her due . you might also recognize bruce spence playing leonard  though his role is ancillary .  br    br   surely you can miss this one if you are an adult . but  if there is a pre  teen girl in your life  rent this movie for her . . . and be prepared not to hate it  you might even enjoy it  .  
once again jet li brings his charismatic presence to the movie screen in the film black mask . in this film li plays tsui  an escapee from a super soldier program who seeks to regain the humanity that the program had taken away from him . to do this tsui decides to become a librarian in order to live a normal and peaceful life  but fate demands that he clean up problems from his past before he can continue to seek peace . other members of the super soldier program had escaped at the same time as tsui  but they want to get even with the world rather than find inner peace . thus tsui becomes the only thing that can prevent his former team mates from releasing information that could cost many innocent people their lives . this film screams across the screen at a frantic pace and never lets its audience go . the martial arts is amazing  but because it uses wires it may not be appreciated as much as it deserves by american audiences . if you like action movies that have an interesting story and demand good acting performances because they deal with psychological as well as physical conflicts  then black mask is for you . i am glad to see that some of jet li  s movies are finally getting main stream release in the united states and look forward to seeing how the changes that that release will require  things like dubbing and soundtrack  will affect the film . this is one of li  s best films  go out and see it on may   when it is released in america .  
i can  t believe i actually sat through the whole thing . this movie has the worst acting since killjoy .  br    br   here is a brief outline of the plot the movie starts out with jojo and that other chick sitting around on the beach  drooling over a skinny blonde  haired beach  hunk  who looks like he hasn  t been to the gym a day in his life . somehow  everyone knows him  and every single chick in the movie wants him . uh oh  here comes the competition  the stereotypical  hot chick  and her best friends  who drive an ugly pink car . we soon find out jojo  s mom got the job of a lifetime in australia  which means that jojo would have to move and leave her best friend behind  oh no  i think i  m gonna cry  . a huge storm comes  and fills their swimming pool with nasty water . somehow  for no apparent reason  the little chick falls into the pool  and comes face to face with  yup  you guessed it  a mermaid  this is where the  story  really takes off . basically  they want to get the mermaid to fall in love with the  hunk  .  br    br   this is a preteen flick with acting so bad  it makes the    s look like the pinnacle of oscar  worthy performances . this movie has all the clichs possible . . . the best friends  the  hunk  who everyone wants  the  hot  bad girl and her bitchy friends  the scary old man . . . you name it  it  s in there . i took one for a lot of people by watching this . consider my hour and   minutes a sacrifice to you . please  don  t see this movie . don  t make it so i suffered in vain .  
i am a massive fan of jet li  he is the best hk action film star alive . . . and consequently  this film rocked  i saw it in the video store and  as it was in the mainstream section of this mainstream video store  i didnt register its presence at first  and had to look twice . i immediately knew what i would be renting out . my only qualm  i suppose i expected it  is that it was dubbed  aaargh  and not subtitled . elsewise  the movie  s original  strange  cool plot  and full on action made it one of jet li  s better movies . . . even though they all fall under that category . . . .  
you like beautiful girls  yeah me too . what is there bad to say about beautiful girls  women  nothing imo  so why would i give this movie only  stars out of   although it got the  talents  of chiaki kuriyama and aya ueto   br    br   if i really wanted to watch beautiful people  i  d watch mtv or something that  s why . this is a movie  a so called action movie nevertheless . so by definition it does not even really need a plot right  i  m not agreeing      but let  s say yes to that . so what does it need    minutes footage from part   i might be exaggerating a little bit  but it felt like more than   minutes . . .    that would be  no  . but then again you never know  the people who watched part one might not know what they ate this morning for breakfast  so hey let  s remind them . . . hey maybe remind them even twice  just to be sure they won  t forget . . . at least until the credits roll  of course      br    br   so forget about the story  about character development  about real emotions  about the  acting   and no  i don  t think women in skirts walking and  or fighting is accountable for acting   . . . what does that leave  yes the action scenes . the action scenes are not bad and that  s the reason i gave the movie  stars instead of   i was giving this movie a chance  but it was a waste of time . . . you have better things to do  watch  believe me . . .  
i saw the new redubbed and edited version yesterday and loved it . then i went home and watched it with subtitles and i loved it . i am ready to watch it again .  br    br   i am a sucker for the mild mannered secret identity and what could be more mild mannered than a pacifist librarian  the scenes where he reveals his super powers to his friends or absent mindedly forgets to be meek are my favortites .  br    br   of course the martial arts are stunning . there is really not much i can say about them if you are familiar with the hk style . however  if you are not . . . we paused playback briefly and walker  texas ranger was on . we noticed that after every strike there was a cut . not in black mask .  br    br    
there  s no denying the first azumi film was a commercial product it was an adaptation of a popular manga and had cast of young  attractive actors and certainly wasn  t lacking in the budget department . yet it more than entertained for what it was  and i can  t deny i enjoyed it immensely .  br    br    azumi   lacks just about everything that made the original so wonderful . the first thing that should set alarm bells ringing is the absence of the superb ryuhei kitamura at the helm . with him  he seemed to take not only his own visual flair and kinetics  but the originals style  beauty and most importantly  its heart . while the first had a simple  hitlist  plot  this one has a corkscrew mess of a story  with too many dull characters stabbing each other in the back so many times the potential for any sympathy or pathos is obliterated . gone is the effective interplay between the lead characters azumi and her cohorts are often reduced to a bunch of stroppy teenagers arguing in a forest . characterisation is non existent if anyone watching actually cares who lives and who dies  i  ll be shocked . the same applies to the villains here . the final battle  in fact all the battles  are completely devoid of any sort of tension . the fact that they are poorly choreographed and abysmally directed  not to mention few and far between  is made a sideline by their own sheer pointlessness . the villains themselves try far too hard to be campy  and even if they were all combined  they don  t come within a country mile of the pete burnsian antics of jo odagiri in the original .  br    br   major spoiler at end of paragraph    br    br   aya ueto tries her best it has to be said  and she also managed to keep her hair in good condition between the films . azumi is now a fully fledged assassin  meaning she can wave her sword around in slow motion unfortunately  now the character is instilled with a sort of man with no name style mysteriousness  ueto  s model looks become even more inappropriate . i know this is supposed to be the point  but this combined with the ineffectiveness of everyone else in the film  the stupidity of the plot and the general ineptness of the film in general means it is downright impossible to get behind her character this time around . the less said about chiaki  remember me from kill bill  kuriyama  s performance the better it suffices to say her  turn  from good to evil is about as subtle as napalm .  br    br   overall  this was just a colossal disappointment . any merits is does have were done ten times better in the first film . a lazy  unsatisfying  and generally downright boring  mess .  
this movie is rich with action and gore . the story line is strong enough to support the action sequences . the english version needs a tad bit of help in the dubbing department but it was still enjoyable . this movie ranks among my personal favorites next to  hard boiled  . . .  
the movie deserves     .  .  stars for the girl   i  m sorry i  m biased  i think pretty girl is the only highlight of the movies   and  .  for the fact that it is shorter than azumi  . i watched azumi  and  in  seating . i amazed myself being able to sit through it .  br    br   lets talk about the plus points of the movie . the girl . ueto aya is cute . thats all there is to salvage the whole movie . the fact is  if the main character was male  i am sure that most people  including me  would not have touched the movie at all .  br    br   now lets talk about the minus points . firstly  it is real draggy  with lots and lots of repeated scenes . scenes of nachi and azumi keeps coming back . it seems more like a drama way of shooting . typical japanese dramas love flashbacks  and this movie too . secondly  the movie is too unrealistic in a historical setting . i do not mind unrealistic movies . but this movie is like a poor way of showing creativeness  by throwing in ninjas that act like bears and spider webs  etc . . . it reminds me of shinobi  though shinobi is a movie with a fantasy setting . moreover  to portray  i  don  t  know  what effect  the director films people dying with blood spraying  literally  all around . . . people not realizing their head was cut off . . . etc . . etc . . . etc . . . too many of these spoils the show . it seems like the anime influence is strong in this movie . it degrades the show greatly . thirdly  isn  t azumi supposed to be an assassin . she seems more like an one  man  army to me  just that she is a female . i don  t think you see assassins charging into army camps . the only time i felt she acted  assassin  liked  was when she killed the kiyomasa kato at the end of azumi  . lastly  the plot was thin in both movies . its a linear plot with no development and surprises in any way .  
hak hap  black mask  is what i  d like to call a ballet with fists and explosions . sure the plot has been tried and heard before   a biologically engineered soldier that is part of a elite fighting force of supermen that decides he feels that killing and brute force aren  t the ways to settle every thing and becomes a pacifist  and a librarian . but when he learns that the rest of his group is trying to get an antidote that will keep them alive by taking on the police  his best friend is a cop  he becomes the black mask .  the style that the movie goes for  very visual  works and at least for me is entertaining . i love martial arts movies that are a spectical . people flying around lighter than air and recovering a split second after impact keeps the pace and action non stop . but that is what this movie is about anyway right  a showcase of jet li doing what he does best  and that is spectacular showmanship of his skills  which to say the least are top notch . as with most of the fast action martial arts movies ala . jackie chan and sammo hung that are just now showing themselves here in the states for the first time  these movies are low on plot and high on amazing physical feats . but i must say  even with the large holes left in the plot  like how do we see him safe in his apartment when just one scene before he had   men that are no more than   feet from him with sign of escape  who knows the scene just cuts to him in the apartment . . . . . . . ohh well suspension of belief i guess   the movie to me stays interesting . it is only until the last   minutes that the film seems to feel like it could have been a little shorter . but still all around a great high paced action movie .  
i loved the first  azumi  movie . i  ve seen ms . ueto in a variety of her tv appearances and i  ve seen my fair share of samurai and ninja flicks . i have to say that this movie was much weaker than i  d expected .  br    br   given the movie  s cast and set up in  azumi   they should have been able to do a much better job with this movie  but instead it was slow  plodding in parts  and sprinkled with very poor  unconvincing  and wooden acting .  br    br   when they bothered to reference the first movie  they did so in a manner that was pretty loose and weak . in  azumi   the title character is the best of a group of superior killers . in  azumi   she seems somehow diminished and less  impressive .  br    br   that  s not to say it was a total loss . there were a few decent fight scenes and some over  the  top characters . unfortunately  the movie suffers overall from the simple fact that shusuke kaneko and yoshiaki kawajiri are not ryuhei kitamura and isao kiriyama . the latter two truly captured the  manga  feel in their screenplay whereas the former never quite  got it .   
now let me tell you about this movie  this movie is my favorite movie    this movie has excellent combat fighting . this movie does sound like a silly story line about how jet li plays a super hero  like spider  man  or etc . but once you  ve seen this movie  you would probably want to see it again and again . i rate this movie      .  
i loved watching the original azumi with its mix of live action manga  compelling storyline  cool soundtrack  directing  kitamura rocks    editing  and not to mention the beautiful aya ueto who filled the part perfectly . so i was really looking forward to seeing azumi   but after finally seeing it i felt like i had won the lotto and lost the ticket  azumi  picks up where azumi left off  however these are completely  different movies . the pace is a lot slower  the action is not as exciting and as well choreographed and there is not a lot of character development . this was apparently directed by the same guy responsible for further reducing the value of the toho monster franchise  if that is possible   . i agree with some other past reviewers who say that this was a lost opportunity . if only ryuhei kitamura continued with this installment . there is however some beautiful japanese forest scenery to look at while the slow action unfolds and we are introduced all too briefly to bit characters who quickly get killed off . even the real bad guys  get killed off too easily without too much of a fight . the fight with the spider guy  straight out of an episode of monkey   in the bamboo forest was about the only memorable fight scene . wheras in azumi  we had a climactic fight scene with barrel camera effects  azumi  brought us the azumi cape cam   azumi  s rampage at the end was unconvincing  but aya still does an okay job . she looks great in the cape . . . but where did she get it from  i don  t think i will be watching this one over and over again  . . . what a pity .  
very good martial arts film and jet li is the best since the master himself bruce lee . li is excellent as the low key librarian  cop who saves all time and time again . he has a presence and a look that is riveting and believable as the kung fu king that you don  t mess with . francoise yip is simply beautiful in that mixed race original way that is unique because of her mixed heritage  she has an innocence and an allure all at the same time that i found unforgettable . the villain  the man with the sunglasses and long hair was very good as well but i can  t find his name in the credits  can some one help me out with that  thanks  enjoy hak hap or black mask  in any language its good entertainment   
the day has finally come for me to witness the perpetuation of azumi  s fate as an assassin  fruition of her character and the ultimate attempt to draw me deeper into the world she rampaged through so mercilessly during the first saga .  br    br   that  s as poetical as i  ll get when talking about azumi   death or love  because when i cringed over the heavy sentimentality of house of flying daggers and complained about the credibility of aya ueto portraying a blood  driven assassin  after watching azumi  i started to appreciate the previously mentioned shortcomings more than ever before .  br    br   not only does the determination of each assassin feels sluggish and uninspiring but also many important elements are omitted from the entire experience . in azumi  we saw the assassins use various stealth tactics  which is their number one priority  as well as logic to make easy work of their marks with swift executions and quicker abilities to escape . but i won  t hold that against this movie too much since the story is slightly tweaked this time around and many more obstacles are planted in azumi  s way to prevent her from reaching the warlord and displaying any signs of charisma . by the way  chiaki is foolishly shelved for the most part of the film and is basically playing a toned down version of go go  minus the cool weapon and sense of menace .  br    br   this brings me to the final blow which is the action  simply disguised in the title as the  death  side of the epic . in the first half of the film we see the debut of many promising adversaries with flashy looks and even flashier weapons . to no one  s surprise they meet their end one way or another but the film falls short when each of them start dying too fast and too easily . in azumi   the young assassins were mostly overpowering the opposition with quick but somewhat satisfying battles and the final showdown between azumi and bijomaru in comparison to the fights in azumi  was at least climaxed and worthwhile . some interesting effects were introduced but they were unable to achieve innovation due to the shortness of each encounter . i am in no way knocking down the conventional style of samurai films with their quick and realistic battles but characters in both azumi films were so imaginative and straight out of anime that the rules could have been broken and the action should have been further enriched .  br    br   the romance side of azumi is there to fill in time between the fight scenes and unfortunately at the end it serves no purpose nor provides a much needed resolution .  br    br   as a fan with an open mind for wide variety of movies and animation  i won  t lie and i  ll admit to my neutrality and unimpressiveness towards the first azumi film  but i  ll step right up and say that after watching azumi   the original was made to look like a flawless masterpiece . for what it  s worth  azumi   death or love could have gone straight to video  with its invisibly richer budget and a failed potential to add or even expand on the bumpy journey of desperate assassins  doing their best to restore the peace  with an unwavering courage to die trying .  
don  t know how this missed award nominations . great film . certainly of the calibre of  beautiful mind  great acting  photography  script and drama . i can  t imagine anyone not being entranced by this film .  
that  s what my friend brian said about this movie after about an hour of it . he wasn  t able to keep from dozing off . i had been ranting about how execrable it was and finally i relented and played it  having run out of adjectives for  boring  .  br    br   imagine if you will  the pinnacle of hack  work . something so uninspired  so impossibly dreadful  that all you want to do after viewing it is sit alone in the dark and not speak to anybody . some people labor under the illusion that this movie is watchable . it is not  not under any form of narcotic or brain damage . i would only recommend this to someone in order to help them understand how truly unbearable it is . don  t believe me  gather  round .  br    br   granted  as a nation  we in america don  t always portray middle eastern peoples in a tasteful manner . but how about a kid in a sheik outfit bowing in salaam  fashion to a stack of castrol motor oil bottles  you  ll find that here . get it  the arab worships oil . i couldn  t believe what i was seeing . having the kid fly planes into a skyscraper would  ve been more appropriate . who in their right mind would think that was a funny joke  it  s not even close to  cleverly offensive  . it just sucks and makes you want to punch whomever got paid to write that bit in the face .  br    br   in the middle of the film  a five  man singing group called the  landmines  takes the stage at an officers  ball . okay  are you ready  the joke is they sing terribly and off  key . why did i write that in caps also  because the joke is pound  pound  pounded into your head with a marathon of horrendous sight gags . they start off mediocre enough glasses cracking  punch tumblers shattering . . . then there is  i am     serious  a two  frame stop  motion sequence of a woman  s shoes coming off . you read that correctly  the music was so bad  in one frame  the woman  s feet have shoes on . in the very next  the shoes are off    get it  because the music was so bad  her shoes came off  what the f      br    br   then there is an endless montage of stock footage to drive home the point that the singing is bad . if any human being actually suffered through this scene in the theater without running like hell  i would be astonished . this movie is honestly like a practical joke to see how fast people would bolt out the doors . robert downey sr . directs comedy the way his son commands respect by staying drug  free . badly . other things to watch out for  br    br    . the popular music shoehorned in wherever possible . every time liceman appears  a really inappropriate iggy pop song plays . plus all the actors do their best to act like it got really chilly for some reason .  br    br    . barbara bach  s criminally awful accent . she sounds like she  s trying to talk like a baby while rolling a marble around on her tongue . there is no nudity  and there are several scenes where the boys all moan and writhe from a glimpse of her cleavage  like they  re in a community school acting class and they  ve been directed to act like aroused retarded people .  br    br    . liceman feeds his revolting dog a condom . remember when this movie came out throwing in  abortion  and  condom  was seen as  edgy  .  br    br    . tom poston plays a mincing  boy  hungry pedophile  back when hollywood thought  pedophile  and  homosexual  were one in the same . flat  out embarrassing .  br    br    . watch the ending . nothing is wrong with your vcr . that is actually the ending . tell me that doesn  t make you want to explode everyone who  s ever made any movie  ever .  br    br   watch this at your own risk . up the academy has been known to actually make other movies  like the jerk or blazing saddles  less funny simply by placing the videotape near them .  
ok  it  s not a perfect movie by any means but i disagree with the overall imdb opinion that it  s really really bad . i watched a lot of hong kong flix in the      s and loved the era dearly . i never saw  black mask  at the time and only saw it last week for the first time . apart from the embarrassingly poor dubbing which my dvd copy didn  t give me the option to turn off  the movie contains the raw energy and bravado that permeated hong kong movies during this time . i still stick to my guns in the opinion that  when it comes to action  these guys  no matter what their budget  add an element of magic to the screen no bourne supremacy  casino royale or mission impossible  i  m not knocking these movies  i just reckon they lack the spontaneity of this one and feel too regulated  will ever achieve . what is it  it  s the feeling that the film  makers were experimenting as they shot and edited  not afraid to leave in some blemishes so as to learn lessons for the next time . for me  this makes watching movies  all the more fun and dangerous .  
i am so insulted by this movie  it  s not even funny . . . and i thought  mulan  was unbelievable  however low my expectations of disney have become  i never figured they  d do something so stereotypical yet so off . there is no respect here for any true chinese culture  just the hollywood tradition of random martial arts .  br    br   i appreciate that they tried to make wendy into a normal teenage girl . . . but  fortunately  most normal teenage girls   particularly asian teenage girls   are much less obsessed with such shallow aspects of life . and from a cultural stand point  it  s almost impossible . yes  there are girls who are wrapped up in popularity and fashion  but they  re pretty rare . and even the ones who are are still fairly decent scholars . another stereotype  maybe  but a fairly true one . because that  s how chinese parents work . that  s how chinese values work . if they wanted to go for authenticity  they would  ve made wendy an ironic girl with glasses and a love  hate relationship with her family .  br    br   this just adds to my frustration with american movies . asian culture isn  t about meditation and vague  nature  oriented phrases that sound wise . we don  t walk around smiling enigmatically all the time  and we don  t all know some form of martial arts . we  re a people  and i  d appreciate it if someone would write an asian part that doesn  t portray us as some sad caricature .  
what more could i say  the americans totally hated it because the u . s . cut was so bad  although you could detect the underlying goodwill in it .  br    br   talking about the u . s . theatrical release  along with the newly released blu  ray disc version   it  s faster and tighter than hk cut  the background musics were all changed from the dark  grim hk musics to hip  hop musics and there were a lot of gruesome scenes cut out . though  the dubbing was a notable job given that they tried to capture the original actor  s voice and tone . but  the problem is hak hap  black mask  the movie was designed and meant to be dark  grim  super  disturbing and totally gruesome . very unfortunately the u . s . release just skimmed the cream they wanted  which in return completely changed the movie  s undertone  hk release was rated     to be even more comical and amateurish .  br    br   now let  s talk about the original hk release . this movie is like a hidden gem  a prototype for the whole  matrix  tide and era . the fighting scenes are totally awesome even the camera works were a bit  old  school  among hk movies . however the style the movie created was a unique blend of kungfu and pop culture . with all the leather  black costumes and decorations  this movie features a batman  like superhero in a black mask against a run  of  the  mill gang of multinational super  soldiers lead by a punk heavy metal rock star boss . yes it sounds like imaginations of a retarded child  but it works . it  s so impressive that the whole movie  s gonna give you nightmares featuring foreigners fighting a bloodbath battle in leather coats . in year     they made a sequel which had a pg    rating  but without jet li and liu qing yun . and you know how bad that was because li and liu were the core characters in the movie and had strong personalities and an interesting friendship . and  did i happen to mention francois yip  her roundhouse kick was totally cool  even cooler than the villain boss because she didn  t use a stuntman for all the fighting . did i mention she was also smoking hot  anyway  there are a lot of things to like about the movie .  br    br   however  the movie also suffered from a lot of problems . first off  it  s a mediocre script made at its best potential  which means this production team deserved a better screen  writer . there are a lot climaxes in the entire    minutes but they often felt like far  fetched and don  t totally make senses to the audiences  us version was even worse because all the character developments were cut  . anyway  you can  t ask too much out of a comic  inspired action movie . also  this movie is entirely improper for children . i won  t recommend it to you if you are less than   years old . it  s saturated with disturbing contents including blood  gore  sado  maso costumes  extreme brutal violence and so on . along with the style of the movie  it can be called a wet dream for heavy  metal rock music fans and action fans .  the u . s . cut was milder  but if you want to see it  see the hk release for what it is .      . status inspiring  hidden  undervalued  adult .  
wendy wu homecoming warrior has a very good  strong plot but is ruined by cheesy details throughout the movie . i am a younger teenager and didn  t enjoy this movie very much . i thought the effects were horrible  but they might seem entertaining to younger children . the matrix moves ruined the action  you know that it was absolutely fake . then there was the yen lo  an evil spirit who temporarily possesses random people and homecoming in which wendy was striving to win . it all ends like a typical feel good movie when wendy and her buddhist monk cousin shen defeat yen lo  and destroy him forever  in the end . so wendy learns a lesson . . . blah  blah  blah . i  m ready for the next dcom .  
this film contains more action before the opening credits than are in entire hollywood films of this sort . this film is produced by tsui hark and stars jet li . this team has brought you many worthy hong kong cinema productions  including the once upon a time in china series . the action was fast and furious with amazing wire work . i only saw the wires in two shots . aside from the action  the story itself was strong and not just used as filler . to find any other action films to rival this you must look for a hong kong cinema outlet in your area . they are really worth checking out and usually never disappoint .  
wow . this was probably the worst dcom ever . i watched the first half hour and i laughed . brenda song plays wendy  the popular girl with the hot jock boyfriend and stuck up friends who is determined to be homecoming queen . she is supposed to save the world as a warrior  and shin comes to her aid to help her with her martial arts . shin teaches her the skills of a snake  tiger  etc . and she has to learn certain techniques to save the world .  br    br   this movie is great for kids who want to learn about martial arts and the chinese culture but the acting and casting was horrible .  br    br   brenda song is a comedic actress and i can  t see her playing a serious role . it was laugh out loud funny watching her cry over shin . shin couldn  t act at all  and everything was totally unbelievable .  br    br   i watched this movie and tried to think of something similar  and the thing i came up with was the power rangers . this movie is so fake and the stunts were so power ranger  esquire that it was just corny and stupid . the characters weren  t likable and i just couldn  t stand to watch it . disney really needs to take time to make some decent movies . high school musical is the only movie that deserves to be on disney channel  along with other movies like jumping ship  color of friendship  go figure  read it and weep   stuck in the suburbs .  br    br   if you like action  adventure and corny jokes  you  ll like this movie .  
this is a very strange hk film in many ways . first  many of the action sequences really aren  t that much fun . the very first gun battle the occurs in the film was just silly . not cool silly  or even funny silly  but just silly . that  s not to say there aren  t some great action scenes  but most simply don  t come up to the level of some of the other films i have seen . the opposite side is that this film actually has characters  not just people . all of the main characters are interesting  except for the head bad guy  who is flat as a billiard table  and most are fairly well acted . all the protagonists in this film are just fun to watch . the dialogue is quite witty  and doesn  t seem to lose much in translation . this film is worth seeing  but i hope that uninitiated american audiences don  t think this is the best hk has to offer .  
i  m here again in your local shopping mall  of course   cause that  s where the high school kids hang out       to demonstrate how awful  bendy poo prom courier  really is      to prove how bad this joke of a dcom this is . . .  br    br   . . . we  re going to take these four sumo wrestlers  and stuff them into this photo booth . how . . . cozy       br    br   hai  huuuuuuuarrrrghhhhhh               uh       br    br   how awful is it      it  s so bad  disney channel flushes away its money  yet again  with those exciting yet determining    second promos  keeping the viewers wondering   when is this going to be on       and then  suddenly  when it does come on  for one  this not only got a higher tv rating than usual  but this was only seen once      oh  no      one time everyone      plus  this movie is about high school and stuff  and believe me  i will not go any further with what else is in there . . . . .  br    br   say ch . . . smile       snap    br    br   avoid this one at all costs .      
in black mask  jet li plays a bio  engineered super  killer turned pacifist  who has to fight against other super  killers . bad plot  bad sfx    million dollar budget   but the fighting scenes were excellent  jet li is the greatest martial  arts star alive   
worst dcom i have seen . ever . well  maybe not as bad as smart house . this was just bad . the acting and story was fine  but the effects sucked   br    br   they were so fake  the only good fight scene was between the brother and shen . that was probably the only scene in which i was excited .  br    br   overall  i found this movie very boring and the film kind of ended suddenly .  br    br   i will give it a four for brenda song who is a very funny actress and that one fight scene .  br    br        
i can  t understand why they decided to release this film to introduce the american audience to the dynamo that is jet li . fist of legend would have been a much better choice . anyway  black mask isn  t terrible  but it certainly isn  t great either . the final fight sequence is well staged by yuen woo ping who went on to coordinate the matrix . but the english release suffers from rough editing and dubbing .  i  m begging the hollywood studios to release these films uncut with subtitles .  jet li shows his characteristic charisma in the title role and francoise yip has a cool but brief role as the female    .  br    br   black mask has a strange goth style that adds some interest but it is overloaded with gun battles and explosions . more focus on li  s fantastic physical skills were in order . black mask is a decent film but do yourself a favor and pick up fist of legend if you want to see a tremendous film that really shows li  s skills .  
there isn  t more i can say that saying this film was awful . the whole chineseness is awakened in your being because of the ancestors was a hard sell . but telling the audience that every chinese knows chinese history without even studying it just laughable . that is like saying every american knows american history without studying or every filipino  etc  etc . it just isn  t believable .  br    br   the story is flat out hideous . it talked about shin being from a monastery in china  later identifying it from bejing . however  the early sequences of the film show the map focusing in on mongolia . i know the current chinese regime wants to claim areas like mongolia for its own  granted . but its a distinct nation and it even labels  mongolia  on the map . did disney studios fail  th grade geography   br    br   the relationship between wendy and shin is superficial at best  and yet she somehow feels connected to him . her training is just cheesy as well . and  lets cut to the chase everything about this film is bad . its bad enough to laugh at and cry over . the taekwondo action was over played and unrealistic in many instances .  br    br   the evil eyes thing was cheesy . however  the left out ending would have been the only descent thing about it . they should have left the evil eyes ending in it . but instead somehow evil is defeated . yey   br    br   overall  not worth the time of the dog in the film . brenda song should get on with another studio .  f   
this film appears to draw a borderline  on one side  those who love it  on the other  those who find it unbearable .  br    br   to begin with  there is an awful lot of comedy in this film that many viewers are not  getting  . of course jet li  s mask looks like bruce lee  s kato  he  s supposed to  it  s a joke . the guy who has a time  bomb sewn to his heart  outrageous  of course  it  s a joke  some readers will probably ask  if this film is supposed to be so funny  why all the excessive and gory violence  well  for one thing the tolerance for this level of violence is actually different  from culture to culture and while hong kong audiences would recognize this violence is extreme  it  s certainly only slightly more than average for a hk action film .  br    br   also  black mask is really the kind of film that takes a genre  s conventions and pushes them to extremes  simply because the conventions themselves are wholly unrealistic . after decades of watching people get shot without any noticeable open wounds  many people were horrified to see bonnie and clyde and the outlaws of the wild bunch spurting blood all over the place . but the fact is  when you  re shot with rapid metal projectile  it  s almost certain that blood will spurt  especially from an artery .  br    br   this film is a chinese comic book movie . it is true that the spiderman films never get this gory  but if they were faithful to reality  they would be  well  despite its comic  book origins  this film is faithful to reality .  br    br   the only complaint i have is the flashy  over  stylized filming and editing . if the makers of this film had shot it with an eye to hollywood  style nostalgia  as  e . g .  the rocketeer  or the recent sky captain film   i doubt anyone would have found it offensive .  br    br   but as it stands  i still had a lotta fun watching this movie .  
there are several things wrong with this movie  brenda song  s character being one of them . i do not believe that the girl is a lousy actor  i honestly don  t . i believe she is given poor lines . she is just supposed to be   that vain  rich girl   and while it is funny in the tv shows she plays in  it can  t even get a dry laugh from me here .  br    br   either way  i really should have known what to expect when i sat down to watch this film .  br    br   the movie was not that terrible . . . initially . wendy  s reaction to shen was completely natural . i mean  how would you feel if a man  claiming to be a reincarnated monk  chased you around commanding you to wear a medallion and insisting that you were needed to fight  the great evil  and save the world  which brings me to another point . i know this movie is entirely fiction  but it is still has a founding in chinese culture . it seems like all of the  warriors  in wendy  s family line were women . correct me if i  m wrong  but i doubt that the monks would  ve just been okay with that . sure  maybe they could  ve worked it in somehow  but they offered no explanation whatsoever . by doing so  they just contributed to the many cheesy attempts at female empowerment made by hollywood and the media .  br    br   nevermind that  however  let us continue .  br    br   wendy  s character becomes more unbearable as the film go on . yes  she is a teenager  and it is near homecoming  i mean  who wants to fight evil during homecoming  the problem is  when  the evil  starts to manifest himself  wendy does not seem as freaked out as she should be . she is extremely careless  even for someone like her . she continues not to care about her training . i will use this conversation as an example  shen  if you do not win this battle  evil will take over  and everything good will be gone .  wendy  whoa  talk about pressure . well . . . let  s talk about something else .  yes  let  s wendy . let  s also go dancing when you should rightfully be training . of course shen lets her  but his character has an excuse . better that he cooperate with her  than that he not  and she not train at all  and get them both killed .  br    br   oh  speaking of which . shen also told wendy that it was his destiny for him to die for her in battle  as he had for her great  grandmother  i am assuming that part  .  br    br   this makes wendy  s actions more unforgivable .  br    br   as the script  writer would have it  wendy  s homecoming and this  great battle  are on exactly the same day . do you know what wendy does  do you even have to guess  yes  she does end up going to the battle  for when she tries to leave for homecoming  the monks   who shen had trapped in the body of her coach and teachers because she  felt weird fighting an old man   inform her that shen has gone to battle alone  so she goes to save him .  br    br   we initially see some half  decent fighting  that is actually entertaining . until finally  the great evil comes out of wendy  s rival  for  homecoming  s body  and creates the actual embodiment of himself out of the broken pieces of the bodies of his ancient warriors .  br    br   don  t ask .  br    br   anyway  wendy gets all  panicky .  then shen goes and defends her from this guy  forgive me for forgetting his long chinese name  and manages to get himself killed .  br    br   wendy catches shen as he makes his long descent from being thrust uncomfortably high into the air .  br    br   she screams title of said article out .  br    br   now . . . it was bad enough that wendy became powerful far  far too fast . no  i will not let it be excused because it was her  destiny  and she had  the power within  her .  br    br   since when  though  did she learn healing  no  worst . . . since when could she resurrect people  so shen is raised from the dead . then  wendy and he fight the guy .  br    br   he loses way to easily . the worst part  is when they jump together  and kick him at the same time  and he is banished forever . then the monks commend wendy on her sacrifice .  br    br   two things     don  t the script writer and director know a battle needs a little more  finesse  to it     what sacrifice  the fact that she didn  t go to homecoming  because the girl did not break a sweat  or even bleed . i mean  come on now  this movie was tv pg  i wanted to see somebody get hurt .  br    br   ah  hem . . . moving on .  br    br   i know it sounds like maybe i should have given the movie a one  based on my comments . part of critique  you must know  though  is breaking a thing down . you don  t necessarily try to look for the bad  but if it  s there  you bring attention to it . this movie has a lot of bad  but something funny happens when you never really expect something to be all too great in the first place .  br    br   so  i suppose it was all right . not that me not saying it wasn  t all right would  ve stopped anybody from watching it .  
anyone who had never seen anything like the fight scenes in the matrix has never seen this movie . the fight scenes were choreographed by action scene psychopath yuen woo ping  who also did the fights in the matrix . and the fight scenes are somethin .  br    br   li plays a supersoldier who feels no pain  who now lives a life as a pacifist librarian  ya got me  . when other evil supersoldiers begin killing off local drug lords to take over the drug trade  li teams up with his cop buddy to help stop them .  br    br   there are some absolutely crazy things going on in this movie  one badguy gets his arm lopped off with a pane of glass and hardly notices  . the fights scenes are filled with flying kicks and punches the body count is way up there . li has seldom been better  and he has surrounded himself with a bevy of beautiful female costars  yip kicks some serious ass as a fellow supersoldier  . anthony wong even makes a cameo as a drug lord  no suprises there he makes a cameo in every hk movie  . it  s unfortunate they don  t make action movies like this in the us i wouldn  t have to sit through all of these horrible dubbing jobs to see that action that i crave so much . recommended .  
i thought this movie was terrible . i  m chinese  so i thought everything was totally wrong . many of the facts were incorrect . the only thing right about chinese history in the movie was when wendy  s mother explained to her husband about the statues that guarded shihuangdi . i also thought the fight scenes were very cheesy and fake . many of the actors and actresses were not very great . some of the jokes that were supposedly  funny  were really stupid . i think this movie should receive the worst possible rating it could get . disney has really got to get more information about chinese history if they want to create an extravagant movie . mulan was quite accurate . watch this movie if you want to waste some time .  
the story would never win awards  but that  s not what it  s about . . . the script was just entertaining and suspenseful enough to make room for the incredibly choreographed fight scenes . who needs a story with fighting like that  really  it  s worth watching for that reason alone . if you can handle the gore  of which there is a lot . . . none of it done realistically enough to be tough to look at . i gave it a  .  
i thought the movie  especially the plot  needs a lot of work . the elements of the movie remains westernized and untrue to the attempt of trying to produce an eastern feel in the movie . i  ll give three out of many of the flaws of the movie  br    br   first  when shen told wendy that he would help her study the history of china  i was really happy that the audience would receive some information about chinese history but it turns out that the movie did not exactly show wendy actually studying chinese history yet instead  the movie only shows wendy practicing the method of remembering what she had studied  which frustrated and put me in dismay .  br    br   second  which really bothered me  is how the characters kept mentioning about moon cakes   moon cakes this and moon cakes that and how good it tastes . yet they didn  t really mention the real significance of it . the only they they talked about that had any relevance to the moon cake was the autumn festival  which they did not explain or go in depth . they could have mentioned the myth that correlates with the moon cake   the moon lady . the myth starts of with how there once exists ten suns and each would rotate rising  but one day all ten suns rose up  drying up the land with the rising intense heat so the divine archer  hou yi  shot nine of the ten suns  leaving only one sun  there are different versions where the hou yi shot the eight out of nine suns  . because of his heroic contribution  he was given the pill of immortality so he could live on forever in case the ten suns do rise up again  but his wife  chang  o stole it . after stealing it  she fled to the moon  where she met a hare . she then came upon an idea and told the hare to pound the pill into many piece so she could spread the pill all over earth  giving everyone immortality .  there are a few variations of this story but throughout my childhood  i  most of the time  heard about this version  . i thought details such as this would make the plot more culturally chinese oriented .  br    br   the last thing i would point out is the last battle scene of the movie . the teachers that were possessed by the monks were fighting the terra  cotta warriors  the life  like statues of the soldiers  went against the idea of how important chinese history is to the chinese . the terra  cotta warrors serves as a connection of china  s past and it was very westernized  where evil must be killed in anyway possible  that the monks in the movies were willing to destroy that connection . it would be understandable if wendy  considering she is chinese  american and doesn  t have full chinese knowledge  had no problem destroying these priceless artifacts .  br    br   the whole movie was westernized because it seemed that all the monks and shen want to do is fight . . . i mean  it  s rated tvpg due to violence  which goes against the confucius thinking of cooperation and harmony . it would seem more accurate that the monks try to avoid violence and try to work things out peacefully before having to resort to violence .  br    br   all in all  all of or either of the producer  writer  or director did not do their research thoroughly and did a messy and effortless job instead . i would suggest that they either stop airing this movie or that they re  shoot the movie so it contains more accurate information however  i would give it credit   stars  for removing one stereotype of asians and asian  americans of being smart and quiet .  
i really enjoyed this movie and it was a little difficult do that when your brother is making stupid comments in it ever   seconds . but this movie i enjoyed  mostly because i  m used to the usual hk action films . most of the films like this are don  t watch it for the story line  watch it for the mindless action . and mindless action is right . you get to see jet li jump  spin  kick  punch  shoot  make impossible jumps and dodge countless bullets . it  s true that this movie was released to a broader audience after li was in lethal weapon  . that is one of the reasons the ratings on this movie dropped . most people were probably expecting to see a movie that was as polished as a north american film . but you need to remember most hk film budgets aren  t nearly as high as a north american film  and the style in a hk action film is usually very different usually requiring in wire work in a lot of them . if you want to see a good action film you should see this just try to ignore the dubbing .  br    br   my rating was an  .  
this movie was so poorly written and directed i fell asleep   minutes through the movie . the jokes in the movie are corny and even though the plot is interesting at some angles  it is too far fetched and at some points  ridiculous . if you are   or older you will overlook the writing in the movie and be disappointed  but if you are   or younger this is a film that will capture your attention and be amazed with all the stunts  which i might add are poorly done  and wish you were some warrior to . the casting in this movie wasn  t very good  and the music was very disappointing because it was like they were trying to build up the tension but it didn  t fit at all . on a scale of        being excellent   being horrible  the acting in this movie is a  . brenda song is talented in comedy  but with this kind of movie  in some of the more serious scenes  her acting was laughable . when she made some of her  fighting  poses  i started laughing out loud . i think the worst thing about this movie is definitely the directing  for example  the part where her enemy turns out to be the person the evil villain is possesing  how her voice turns dark and evil  i think that was incredibly stupid  and how wendy  s  brenda song  teachers were all her teachers at school being possessed by monks  that was pretty ridiculous to . so to sumamrize it all  a disappointing movie  but okay if you  re   or under .  
not having read nabokov  and knowing nothing about chess  i could only view  the luzhin defence  as a movie .  br    br   it works really well as one of my favorite genres  sports romances .  the chess comes alive as a tough competition much more than in  say  searching for bobby fischer   in showing just how much hard mental work the game can be  requiring thought  preparation  stamina and planning . i particularly liked the special effects on the chess board as alternative plays are anticipated .  br    br   through the feminist director maureen gorris  of  antonia    emily watson with her big blue eyes gradually strengthens via her transformative relationship with john turturro  s fairly one  note absent  minded intense chess genius .  br    br   the settings in italy and hungary are beautiful .  br    br    originally written            
i realize that living in the western plains of wyoming during the     s was brutal  in fact  it probably is still brutal today  but was it monumental enough to transform into a seemingly  made  for  tv  movie  also  women  s rights were still budding in this nation during this time  so to find an independent woman determined to start fresh in this harsh territory  and still show the realism of the era  would it make for good viewing  honestly  i don  t know . i have thought about this film for the past two days  and i still can  t seem to muster the strength to say that it was a horrible film  yet i can truthfully tell you that it wasn  t the greatest i have ever seen . from several hodgepodge styles of acting  to two mismatched actors playing devoid of emotion character  to some of the most gruesome pg rated scenes to ever come out of late   s cinema  it is hard to fully get a good grasp on heartland . was it good  was it bad  that may be up for you to view and decide yourself  but until then  here are moments i enjoyed and desperately hated   br    br   this film continues to be a struggle in my mind because there were some very interesting scenes . scenes where i wasn  t sure what the director was doing or which direction he was headed  but somehow still seemed to work well as a whole . i thought the story as a whole was a very interesting  historical tale . i do not know much about living in wyoming  especially during the early     s  so this film captured that image in my mind . the thought of very cold winters  no neighbors for miles upon miles  and this polaroid  esquire view untouched by corporate america . it was refreshing to witness and sheer breathtaking to experience  though the television  . there were scenes that really stood out in my mind  like the cattle  branding scene  the pig slaughtering scene  and the saddening homesteader that didn  t survive their journey  that just brought a true sense of realism to this story . director richard pearce did a great job of bringing the view of wyoming to the viewers  but i am not sure he brought decent players to accompany the view .  br    br   while i will constantly compliment the scenery of this film  i had trouble coping with the actors that seemingly walked on the set and read their lines from cards on the side . rip torn seemed out of place in his role as clyde stewart  a loner that somehow finds a connection with conchata ferrell  s elinore randall . the two as actors have no chemistry at all . their scenes that they share together are pointless and honestly void of any emotion . the pregnancy scene nearly had me in stitches because of the way these two  veteran  actors portrayed it . the brave elinore does what she has to do to get the child out of her  while clyde gives an approving nod when she is done . this is love  was it supposed to be love  i don  t know  i think with stronger characters we would have seen a stronger bond  but with torn and ferrell  it felt like two actors just playing their parts . other scenes that just seemed to struggle in my mind were ones like when the frozen horse  knocks  on the door for food or shelter  the constantly fading and growing compassion that clyde had for elinore  s daughter  i just didn  t believe it   the lack of true winter struggle  and the entire land scene . the land scene especially because i needed more explanation on what elinore was doing  why she was doing it  and why clyde would build her a house if they were married  it was these simple events that if taken the time to explore  would have made for a stronger film .  br    br   overall  i will go middle of the road with this feature . there were definitely elements that should have been explored deeper  such as the relationship between these two strangers and the ultimate homesteading goals of elinore  but they were countered with some beautiful scenes of our nation . these panoramic scenes which  in the span of    years  have changes from vast mountains to enormous skyscrapers . while there were some brilliant scenes of realism  starring cattle and pigs   i just felt as if we needed more . depth was a key element lacking in this film  which was overshadowed by marginal acting and a diminishing story . pearce could have dove deeper into this untapped world  but instead left open loopholes and clichd western characters . ferrell carried her own  but torn was completely miscast . decent for a viewing  but will not be picked up again by me .  br    br   grade  out of   
in stand by me  vern and teddy discuss who was tougher  superman or mighty mouse . my friends and i often discuss who would win a fight too . sometimes we get absurd and compare guys like macgyver and the terminator or rambo and matrix . but now it seems that we discuss guys like jackie chan  bruce lee and jet li . it is a pointless comparison seeing that lee is dead  but it is a fun one . and if you go by what we have seen from jet li in lethal  and black mask  you have to at least say that he would match up well against chan . in this film he comes across as a martial arts god .  br    br   black mask is about a man that was created along with many other men  to be supreme fighting machines . their only purpose is to win wars that other people lose . they are invincible in some ways . now that is the premise for the film  but what that does is sets up all the amazingly choreographed fight scenes .  br    br   jet li is a marvel . he can do things with and to his body that no human being should be able to do . and that is what makes watching him so fun .  br    br   besides the martial arts in the film  black mask is strong with humour and that is due to the chemistry that jet has with his co  star  the police officer . they are great together . but to be honest . if anyone is reading this review  they want to know if the film is kick ass in the action department . and the answer to that is a resounding yes    lots and lots of gory mindless action . you will love this film .  
i  d give it a     .  br    br   i was really  really disappointed .  br    br   the storyline was poorly developed  for instance  the incidents were too short and brief  hence the moral was not clearly brought out . i thought brenda song did a fine job  but shin koyamada seemed to have a difficult time handling his role . i could see the need to put in western elements in the show  however  there are certain parts  where chinese elements were needed too  the villain for example . his physical appearance resembled a robot  instead of something out of the chinese culture . the final and the worst flaw  were the incorrect  and distorted facts placed in the show .  br    br   others may point out that this is a  kid  s show  and hence  there is no need for the such high standards . however  there are other disney shows  such as mu lan  which have been much better in terms of story development and presentation .  br    br   in conclusion  i feel that disney movies should be better researched and better planned . a good show is not enough with just a series of martial arts moves to depend on .  
i have no idea why this flick is getting such a bad rap by so many imdb users  some are saying it  s his  worst movie ever .  what   haven  t any of you seen cradle  the grave   my favorite criticism is that the plot is totally stupid  and just an excuse to hang all of the action sequences on . duh  what the crap were you expecting from a jet li movie  did you honestly believe that someone thought up the story  then just loaded it up with action  of course not  black mask is awesome  wall  to  wall action throughout nearly it  s entire running time . it  s also deliciously gruesome  and we get plenty of severed limbs  decapitations  and creative ways of watching the bad guys  and quite a few innocent people  too   get slaughtered . most of li  s other martial arts films are nursery  school when compared to black mask there is no holding back on the gratuitous violence  bloodshed  or action sequences whatsoever  and that made me a happy camper . again if you go into a jet li movie expecting magnificent dialog and an intriguing plot  you are going for the wrong reasons . black mask is probably my favorite of his movies  though  beware of the horrendous dubbing  .  
first of all when i saw the teaser trailer for wendy wu  i was definitely excited . brenda song  one of the hottest girls on disney channel  would be doing martial arts and i was fine with that . . . until i saw the movie . the action was poorly constructed  the movie couldn  t have realated to anyone  the fighting was unrealistic and it sucked . . . along with the plot . if you really think about it  s a wannabe buffy the vampire slayer  a girl who is the descendant of other warriors who were women  a girl wants to ignore her calling and wants to become homecoming queen  the watcher who bug  s her to prepare for a big fight against some ancient evil . the idea just wasn  t all that original  the movie is waste of time .  
a fey story of a martian attempt to colonize earth .  things must be pretty bad back on mars .  two state troopers investigate the scene of a reported ufo crash . whatever landed is buried under the ice at tracy  s pond but there are footsteps in the snow leading to a nearby diner .  br    br   the diner has had no customers since eleven o  clock that morning . now there are a handful of bus passengers sitting around waiting for permission to cross a structurally weak bridge . the bus driver insists that six passengers were aboard the bus  although he didn  t notice who they were . the problem is that there are now seven people waiting for the journey to be resumed . one of them is an alien  but which one  all of them are suspect . there  s the crazy old man  jack elam   of course  who seems to exercise a sub rosa wit . there  s a blustering businessman who must get to boston  john hoyt  . a young couple on their honeymoon .  execrable performance by the husband  ron kipling .  except for the couples  nobody has noticed anyone else . and even the couples are suspicious of each other . bride to newly minted husband  i could have sworn you had a mole on your chin .  the story continues in a sprightly but slightly spooky way   the phone rings for no reason  the lights go on and off  the juke box turns itself on   and none of it is to be taken seriously .  br    br   it  s a thoroughly enjoyable ensemble play and the climactic revelation is worth a chuckle . there is no discernible  depth  to it . it  s not a moral message about pod people masquerading as normal citizens . it  s not a warning of any kind  just a fairy tale that diverts and amuses .  br    br   i always enjoy it when it  s on . it  s especially interesting to see john hoyt as the irritable and impatient businessman  knowing that in     he was the roman senator who masterminded the assassination of julius caesar in mgm  s version of shakespeare  s play . and here he is   with three arms .  br    br   oops .  
i heard many stories about this film being great . . . well  i took my chance when i saw it for a cheap price at ebay last month .  br    br   i watched it  and i have only a few comments about it  br    br     terrible story  line    terrible acting    bad fighting  scenes . . .  br    br   i never seen any worse movie in my life so far   when the storyline is bad  than at least make the fights something more interesting . but both are done ridiculously bad . . .  br    br    the only positive thing about this movie  in my opinion  is nikki berwick . god  she looks nice in this movie .  br    br   that  s about it . . .  
in a series chock  full of brilliant episodes  this one stands out as one of my very favorites . it  s not the most profound episode  there  s no great meaning or message . but it  s a lot of fun  and there are some fine performances .  br    br   but what makes it really stand out for me is that it is  to my knowledge  the only twilight zone episode with a double snapper ending . the zone is rightly famous for providing a big surprise at the end of a story . but this time  you get a surprise  and think that  s that  but it turns out there  s another surprise waiting . i just like that so much  that this is probably one of my two favorite episodes  the other being a deeper  more message  oriented one  .  
director f . w . murnau wisely stuck with the silent film medium he knew so well to cover this story of native islander life in the south seas . the documentary style works very well for the first half of the movie . the landscapes are beautiful  and the daily life activities of the islanders are interesting to watch . the film loses momentum  though  when it begins to concentrate more on the narrative story of two doomed lovers . the storyline just never gets that interesting  despite being handled well by murnau . won an academy award for best cinematography  although the award probably should have been for best scenery . you can  t really credit the dp for getting to shoot in such a beautiful location .  
one of my favorite twilight zone episodes . and the next day we were in the supermarket at hollywood blvd . and la brea  my father and i  and guess who was coming toward us in the aisle  barney phillips  but no hat on   at least  i don  t think he had a hat on .  br    br   we asked him about his third eye  and he said something like he left it at home  and everybody he met that day had asked him about it .  br    br   a friendly guy . we used to see all kinds of character actors in la in those days .  br    br   btw  i was a teenager and it took a long time for me to get over the  three hands  on the other alien   br    br   robyn frisch o  neill  br    br   hollywood native and resident     to     .  
i loved the original . it was brilliant and always will be . strangely though  i actually looked forward to seeing the re  make . i  m usually a little bit against re  makes because there  s far too many of them  but somehow this intrigued me . i was really enjoying it to begin with . caine brilliant  as usual  and jude law managing to hold is own next to him . it was quite clever how it was modernised and it was working . what stops this from being really good is the last seven minutes . it goes completely away from the original  so far in fact that is ceases to be clever and just gets annoying . the end in the original was fantastic  so much tension was built up and it was unbelievably clever  this  it grows not in tension but in frustration as it seemed they decided to make caine  s character a homosexual . it was if they were trying far to hard to be different . and then . . . bang  law  s dead . roll credits . this film is worth the watch simply for the performances  but those last seven minutes really do drag it down . what a pity . . . .  
a bus full of passengers is stuck during a snow storm . the police have closed the bridge   saying it  s unsafe and they are stuck in a little caf until the road has been cleared . however  after a while  their boredom is turned to concern  as it seems that one of the passengers was not originally on the bus and may just be an alien   this leads to a conclusion that is ironic but also rather funny in a low  brow way .  br    br   this is another of the fun episodes of the twilight zone . instead of the typical twists or social commentary  this one features no lasting message . however  it  s also very and watchable  so who cares   exactly what occurs you  ll just have to see for yourself .  br    br   by the way  this one stars john hoyt   a face most of you will recognize from countless old tv shows and movies . in almost every case  he played a real grouch  like charles lane during the same era   but boy did i love seeing him   as he perfected the grouchy persona and was kind of funny at the same time .  
i thought the film was good in parts . the start was exciting . the first   minutes of the film were good . the camera angles in the first   minutes were strange and i did not like it coz the were they not covering the actors entirely .  br    br   i think the last   minutes of the film were really not that great from which we expect a lot in case of such films .  br    br   the dialoques did not make sense and i don  t think they were very witty .  br    br   i felt as if they were trying to copy films like phonebooth in terms of dialogues  but failed miserably . it seemed as if they many of the scenes between the actors were put for sake of it and did not make any sense to the story .  br    br   the entire film features only law and caine .  br    br   i don  t think it was a waste of time  its an ok film  but not gr   
this is one of the more adorable episodes of the twilight zone  with some fun dialog and amusing characters to break the tension of some creepy moments . there  s the usual blond vamp  dancer   what is up with serling  s fondness for that kind of character  such that she keeps showing up in various episodes   and other assorted characters  but it  s jack elam  s  old man  who totally steals the show . i consider this the funny  light  hearted version of  the monsters are due on maple street    or  perhaps  a    minute twilight zone parody of  the thing .  on another note i thought the young lover of the episode might be someone who eventually went on to other things   he looked familiar   but it seems that  ron kipling  disappeared after just two tv credits to his name .  
a remake of the superb     movie of the stage play  nicely casting caine as the nemesis of his character from the first movie . but doing nothing else nicely at all .  br    br   a under  parr performance from the actors  law and caine  diluted further by weak self  indulgent direction .  br    br   the warmth of the setting in the original is forsaken for a super  modern homesetting . the subtle interplay between oliver and caine which made the first movie so watchable  is replaced with a horrid  brash arrogance that instantly breeds disdain in the viewer . but this is not the clever  to  ing and froing of liking one then the other character the original fostered so well  this is an obvious ott character assassination of both character from the word go .  br    br   this version of sleuth is not really worth seeing  watch the original film and be dazzled from the opening act .  
rod serling was  of course  a genius and his wonderful  playful  creative mind left something of the period in which he lived and examples of television at that state of development . there are no such shows now  but rather  housewife  sluts ala eva longoria or terri hatcher  or the pitiful stabs at humor and witty banter that litter our high  tech screens .  br    br   jack elam edged into the episode with such acting precision and with his usual craziness that i can  t help but think that rod serling was tailoring that long ago week  s show around elam  even though he was an ancillary to the flow of the story . this episode ends with a twist  as usual  but shock and humor are mixed with especially  serlingesque  dexterity .  br    br   rex lewis field  
it  s a while ago  that i have seen sleuth       with two great actors michael caine and laurence olivier . michael caine is back  but he is now the husband and jude law the lover of his wife . the story is still the same and it  s a fantastic play .  br    br   during the movie i always had the feeling to watch a play . that  s one of the reasons i dislike this remake of a classic . when i watch a movie adapted a play i still must feel to see a movie and not just a play . director kenneth brannigan did some marvelous movies in the past  but this time he missed . another reason was the look of the movie . the design was modern  stylish clean  uncomfortable and cold . i never got the feeling that somebody ever lived in that house . the photography wasn  t bad  but the lightening was awful . sometimes there was blue light  dark  green light  to round it up not friendly for eyes .  br    br   the acting was really good . michael caine  s and jude law  s perform at their best . i really would like to see these  guys playing together on stage . but i have to confess i never was a fan of jude law . the weakest part was the mid part . i remember that in the original that this part was still very mysterious and just marvelous directed . i tried to watch it twice and always in the mid part i felt asleep . the end part is better and more interesting . sleuth       isn  t awful  but it seems to be more a movie for critics than for the audience . sleuth       is still a masterpiece and much more entertaining than sleuth       .  
after an anonymous phone call about a spacecraft that would have crashed in a frozen wood  two police officers find evidences that the event really happened and apparently one martian had walked away from the spot . they drive to the nearby hi  way caf and they find a bus stopped and seven passengers waiting the reopening of a snowed in bridge . however the driver tells that he had only six passengers when he parked the bus . while interrogating the travelers  weird things happen in the diner  with the lights switching on and off and the turntable turning on and off . when the passengers are released and the bus follows his travel  one passenger returns to the diner and discloses a plot of invasion of earth .  br    br    will the real martian please stand up   is one of the best episodes of this great series . the intriguing story has ironic and witty dialogs  funny characters and situations and a surprising and totally unexpected plot point in the very end . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    o marciano    the martian    
joseph l . mankiewicz  s sleuth didn  t need a remake . it  s a thoroughly well made film that stands up well to this day . however  given that the modern day remake machine is currently in full swing i really can  t say i  m surprised to see the film updated for modern audience . the plot remains identical to the original film and at its core we have the story of a young man  milo tindle  who goes off to see an older man  andrew wyke  to discuss a divorce as the younger man is having an affair with the older man  s wife . from there  a game of cat and mouse ensues . its clear right from the outset that director kenneth branagh wanted to add a different touch to this film and he does so by way of the central location  which has been changed from the charming games  ridden country house of the original to a technical marvel kitted out with layers of security equipment . i  m glad that the director chose to make this change as nobody wants to see a remake that directly copies of the original plus there  s the fact that the location is well used and always nice to look at . unfortunately  however  the positive elements of sleuth     end there .  br    br   the original film was over two hours long  while this remake is only just a shade over eighty minutes . naturally  therefore  that means that this version has less about it and unfortunately it  s the characters that suffer . the plot is also rushed and we get into the first twist in the tale far too quickly and before we are given any chance to actually understand why and how these events can be taking place . the film does not build the characters  or the rapport between them  enough to make sure that their relationship makes sense . one major thing that has been changed about the older character is his obsession in the original he was obsessed with games which turned out to be very important once the twists come into play . here he has some kind of security fetish that doesn  t really mean anything by the end . kenneth branagh  s handling of the film allows for a classy score but the class ends there . the original thrived on it  but this film is happy merely to soil itself with expletives on numerous  and mostly unwarranted  occasions which cheapen the whole thing . the final twist in the tale is completely different to how it was in the original and ensures that the film boils down to a really hideous conclusion . after spending two hours with the original i understood  respected and liked both characters presented in the film  after eighty minutes of this  i hated them both . i do have some respect for branagh for not merely rolling out a carbon copy of the original film but this is not a good adaptation of the great anthony shaffer play .  
nifty little episode played mainly for laughs  but with clever dollop of suspense . somehow a martian has snuck aboard a broken  down bus on its way to nowhere  but which passenger is it   talk about your illegal immigrants   . all  star supporting cast  from wild  eyed jack elam  hamming it up shamelessly   to sexy jean willes  if she  s the martian  then i say let  s open the borders    to cruel  faced john hoyt  the most obvious suspect   along with familiar faces john archer and barney phillips  and a nice turn from bill kendis as the bus driver  . makes for a very entertaining half  hour even if the action is confined to a single set .  
at the name of pinter  every knee shall bow  especially after his nobel literature prize acceptance speech which did little more than regurgitate canned  by  the  numbers  sixth  form anti  americanism . but this is even worse not only is it a tour  de  force of talentlessness  a superb example of how to get away with coasting on your decades  old reputation  but it also represents the butchery of a superb piece . the original sleuth was a masterpiece of its kind . yes  it was a theatrical confection  and it is easy to see how it  s central plot device would work better on the stage than the screen  but it still worked terrifically well . this is a michael caine vanity piece  but let  s face it  caine is no olivier . not only can he not fill larry  s shoes  he couldn  t even fill his bathroom slippers . the appropriately  named caine is  after all  a distinctly average actor  whose only real recommendation  like so many british actors  is their longevity in the business . he was a good harry palmer  excellent in get carter  but that  s yer lot  mate  give this a very wide berth and stick to the superb original . this is more of a half  pinter .  
once again proving his amazing versatility  john turturro plays the introspective russian chess genius preparing for a comeback tournament  and forging an unlikely relationship with a gadabout fellow resident  emily watson  at a      s italian hotel . they fall in love  to the horror of her social  mountaineering mother  geraldine james  . a wonderful love story  whose gloss of chess might make it appear cerebral . but in spite of its origins in a nabakov story  it certainly is not . the romantic elements and the sense of time and place beat the psychological analysis hands down . john turturro  having appeared in  barton fink    o brother  where art thou    the big lebowski  proves that he is not dependant on coen bros films to assert his stature .  
one of the most disgusting films i have ever seen . i wanted to vomit after watching it . i saw this movie in my american history class and the purpose was to see an incite on the life of a farmer in the west during the late      s . what we saw were pigs being shot and then slaughtered  human birth  branding . oh and at the end there was a live birth of a calf and let me tell you that the birth itself wasn  t too bad  but the numerous fluids that came out drove most people in my class to the bathroom . the story itself was ok . the premise of the story is a widow and her daughter and they move to the west to be a house keeper of this cowboy . they live a life of hardship and it is an interesting a pretty accurate view of life in the west during the late      s . but if you have a choice  do not see this movie .  
well i gave this movie a  . it was better than  thirdspace  but not as good as  in the beginning  as far as the b  movies go . i really think the television series did a much better job overall with the special effects and character portrayal . let  s hope the producers and cast get the next series  crusade  up to the standards of b  .  
this reworking of anthony shaffer  s classic play did not last long in cinemas . having recently suffered through it on cable  i still congratulate myself for not wasting money on a ticket . director kenneth branagh  writer harold pinter  and star  producer jude law deluded themselves that their prestige alone could sustain this travesty through an interminable   minutes  without the fun or class of the longer original .  br    br   michael caine enhanced his reputation playing the second lead in the marvelous     film . he now seems intent on destroying it by attempting the lead  played in that version by laurence olivier .  both were nominated for best actor oscars  but lost to marlon brando in the godfather .  looking puffy and washed  out  caine glides through the part with less depth than he displays as batman  s butler . he had already lowered himself to a guest appearance in the atrocious remake of get carter . what  s next   alfie ii  or son of the man who would be king   br    br   but then  no one benefits from this inane adaptation by pinter  who thinks that frequent cursing and an added sexual angle can compensate for the absence of shaffer  s witty character interplay . branagh  s direction relies on bluish lighting and a soulless set design that wouldn  t hold up in a second  rate nightclub . neither the shadows nor the tight  overacted close  ups can help law overcome his dull screen persona . the result is a failure both as straight drama and as detective thriller  almost making you forget the purpose behind the title .  br    br   fans of the original stage production  with anthony quayle and keith baxter  and the olivier  caine film would do well to regard this enterprise as a bad dream . the late mr shaffer  who wrote the     screenplay  as well as hitchcock  s frenzy and several agatha christie adaptations  must be turning in his grave  wishing he could plan a real murder or two   
an excellent film with great performances from zack  lochley . much to their displeasure   mine  garibaldi arrived on station .  all due respect to jerry doyle but in seasons    i lost sympathy for the character .  it doesn  t take him long to start criticizing zack  who i love best of all on the show  and taking charge . i  m sure zack could have coped . the soulhunter plot is fascinating  especially if you believe in heaven as zack does . the humour supplements it nicely .       
harold pinter rewrites anthony schaeffer  s classic play about a man going to visit the husband of his lover and having it all go sideways . the original film starred laurence olivier and michael caine . caine has the olivier role in this version and he  s paired with jude law . here the film is directed by kenneth branaugh .  br    br   the acting is spectacular . both caine and law are gangbusters in their respective roles . i really like the chemistry and the clashing of personalities . it  s wonderful and enough of a reason to watch when the script  s direction goes haywire .  br    br   harold pinter  s dialog is crisp and sharp and often very witty and i understand why he was chosen to rewrite the play  which is updated to make use of surveillance cameras and the like  . the problem is that how the script moves the characters around is awful . michale caine walks law through his odd modern house with sliding doors and panels for no really good reason . conversations happen repeatedly in different locations . i know pinter has done that in his plays  but in this case it becomes tedious . why do we need to have the pair go over and over and over the fact that law is sleeping with caine  s wife  it would be okay if at some point law said enough we  ve done this  but he doesn  t he acts as if each time is the first time . the script also doesn  t move caine through his manipulation of law all that well . to begin with he  s blindly angry to start so he has no chance to turn around and scare us .  never mind a late in the game revelation that makes you wonder why he bothered  in the original we never suspected what was up . here we do and while it gives an edge it also somehow feels false since its so clear we are forced to wonder why law  s milo doesn  t see he  s being set up . there are a few other instances but to say more would give away too much .  br    br   thinking about the film in retrospect i think its a film of missed opportunities and missteps . the opportunities squandered are the chance to have better fireworks between caine and law . missteps in that the choice of a garish setting and odd shifts in plot take away from the creation of a tension and a believable thriller . instead we get some smart dialog and great performances in a film that doesn  t let them be real .  br    br   despite some great performances and witty dialog this is only a  out of   because the rest of the script just doesn  t work  
i thought  the river of souls  was a very good babylon  movie  with some exceptional performances from martin sheen  tracy scoggins and ian macshane . if this were an episode of the series  without the humour  it would probably be one of my favourite stand  alone stories of the series .  br    br   personally  i  ve always preferred scoggins to christian  although granted jms didn  t write her as well for much of the series and she did have to endure the byron  telepath plot . if you take out the smutty humour about the brothel and the  poorer  actors in those scenes  then this movie is solid stuff . probably my third favourite of the four movies  but in no means bad at all .  
i saw this movie not knowing anything about it before hand . the plot was terrible with large gaps of information missing . the movie didn  t have the  battle of wits  feel to me . the actors just spewed out mouthful  s of nonsense  at times causing me to gnash my teeth in agony as they droned on and on . the plot was predictable except for the stomach sickening homo erotic scene at the end  i  m not homophobic but made me physically sick to my stomach   even the ending was predictable . and you could tell the detective was jude law in a costume  everything from the fake accent  terrible dental work  costume shop facial hair  everything pointed to it being a disguise . the whole movie just felt like wasted time out of my life . this movie had the feel of a puppet show with jude law and michael caine as puppets and the house as the window to view the show  really boooring in my opinion .  
unlike other commentaries  i found this film fascinating  even with all its faults and the zombie acting of some of the actors .  br    br   being a technologist  i found that the experiments interesting and the hardware realistic . although the reading of people minds via computer sounds fantastic  experiments are being conducted now to do just this . i will note that this experiments are in a very early stage  with results so far not favorable .  br    br   the characters in the movie are well cast . the girl  although overacting a bit  looks suitable dumb . the truck driver is a a ringer for real truck drivers . the minister conveys doubt at first   the principal investigator tells the minister that him  the minister   is not sure whether he believes that god created man or that man created god . but the minute when the chips are down  he falls back on his faith . only the phd plays the zombie . the secrets that they harbor are suitably appropriate for their characters . in the face of death they react as real human beings would .  br    br   the movie is a warning against the dangers of unlimited surveillance by government . as strictly a thriller  the movie does not have enough thrills . as a scientific exercise with philosophical underpinnings it is fascinating .  
the main reason for writing this review is i found this  revisioning  of a great play and worthy     film  a horrible movie experience . if i can save someone from watching it  i will have done a good thing .  br    br   this  new  version is loaded with talent  and it all goes wrong . kenneth branagh oks an ugly  sterile  one note set . he proceeds to film the movie from every arty  distracting  self  centered angle possible . we see reflections of the actors in stainless steel  on security monitors  shots of their heads from    ft above  close ups of eyes  chins  and on and on . the screenplay  by a nobel laureate  introduces long stretchs of unpleasant homosexual banter  that is being faked by both parties  . . . . i think   given the character  twists  how would i know  the characters themselves  so richly drawn in the original  are crass and unsympathetic . the running time has been cut by an hour  which is either the real problem or the kindest thing the director did for us . the actors perform their lines effectively  but nothing they say or do is remotely believable . jude law is over the top more than caine  but as the credited producer  must have had branagh  s blessing .  br    br   all in all i found this to be an ugly to look at  unconvincing shell of a former classic . why was it even made    the paying public spent less that   m worldwide to see it  a vanity piece of work that fails at every turn .  
there are some comments about this film that say that it is a bad and silly one and such an excellent actor as pierre fresnay should not have accepted to act in it .  br    br   i think  just the opposite  that  even when the film is strange and has some weaknesses  the performance of pierre fresnay is so formidable that it converts the film in something excellent .  br    br   his performance is probably the best in history .  br    br   the film itself has a very polemic scene about the consecration of wine in the cabaret .  br    br   for somebody who does not believe that a priest  even a defrocked one  can convert it in christ  s blood  the scene is perhaps bizarre . but for somebody who has been raised in a catholic framework  it is very emotive even if quite unpleasant .  br    br   the scene of the death of the younger priest is tremendously shocking . but it is very well acted . pierre fresnay turns the crazy act of murder in something understandable within the temporal madness of his character  the tortured defrocked morand who  in this terrible way  comes back to his duty .  
   wasted minutes of my life . i fell asleep the first time i attempted watching it  and i must say i  m not one to ever fall asleep in the cinema .  br    br   i have never seen such a pointless plot acted in such a stilted and forced manner  and can only surmise that the actors were as hard  up as the protagonist writer allegedly was in the film itself .  br    br   everything in this dire adaptation is overacted . and if it isn  t the wooden acting  almost as though you can see the teleprompter  then the set itself  which is overlit and interfering in utterly unnecessary ways  and overdressed to an unimaginable extent  is enough to put you off the entire farce .  br    br   as to the supposed shock of a detective under disguise  any person who does not see that  as well as the entire rest of this ludicrous plot  telegraphed light years in advance  should check their eyesight immediately .  br    br   bad acting  and from two very decent actors  coupled with the hyper  coddled branagh trademark overdirection  is enough to make you want to use real bullets rather than blanks yourself .  br    br   on top of it all  there is a completely risible undertone of homoerotica in this  heightened towards the end of it . all i can hope for is that this was such a flop that people shan  t try to emulate this level of cinema ever again .  
a priest who has abandoned his ministry meets a young man who has just been ordained .  br    br   this movie is about the cruel dilemma between a life dedicated to god and faith and a life of more earthly pleasures . in post war france it is also about the mortal aspect of faith itself .  br    br   this may not be the movie of a lifetime but it is a sin to have allowed it to fall in oblivion . besides  pierre fresnay is sublime .  
while the original titillates the intellect  this cheap remake is designed purely to shock the sensibilities . instead of intricate plot  twists  this so  called thriller just features sudden and seemingly random story changes that serve only to debase it further with each bizarre development . worst of all  replacing the original spicy dialog is an overturned saltshaker full of unnecessary four  letter words  leaving behind a stark  but uninteresting taste .  br    br   there was promise   unfulfilled promise . the prospect of michael caine pulling off a patty duke  like keller  to  sullivan graduation is admittedly intriguing . unfortunately  this brilliant and respected actor only tarnished his reputation  first by accepting the role in this horribly re  scripted nonsense and then by turning in a performance that only looks competent when compared to jude law  s amateurish overacting .  br    br   if you haven  t seen the classic original  overlook its dated visuals and gimmicks . hunt it down  watch it  and just enjoy a story  and  a  half . as for the remake  pass on this insult to the original .  
it is unusual to see a film where the performance of a single actor is so good that one can feel that the film would be of little interest  if any  without his presence .  br    br   despite a not outstanding direction  in fact  there are many scenes that seem to have been shooted too quickly and carelessly   a seemingly low budget  a strange plot about a man who wants to take the place of a defrocked priest and another week points  the presence of pierre fresnay is so impressive that one gets shocked from the very begining to the terrible end .  br    br   i have never seen nor can iomagine for future a better performance  even paul scofield acting in  a man for all seasons  .  br    br   actually the end could be considered even ridiculous if fresnay were not playing the transtorned priest who returns to church by performing a crime .  br    br    je suis maurice morand  prtre catholique    i am maurice morand  a catholic priest   is said with such a brilliancy that one may forget the madness that conducted to that end .  br    br   the other impressive thing this film has is a single scene in wich morand  who despite being a defrocked one is stil a priest  consacrates in a cabaret a huge amount of vine turning it into christs blood .  br    br   grard  the man that wants to return morand to the church or replace him by himself  has to drink it if he doesnt want to leave it in the cabaret . he does so in mid of cheers and applauses from people who think that he is simply drinking three of four litters of vine .  br    br   in next scene  the dialoque between morand and a garbage collector is also remarkable .  do you carry away men too   asks morand  who hates himself for what he has just done .  that would be too much work  is the smart answer .  br    br   the rest of the film is not worth commenting but it is certainly worth seeing due to the very strong and strangely emotive atmosphere created all the time .  br    br   i think that  le dfroqu  is a very strange film  but has to be seen by all viewers  if the are good catholiques it is mandatory  because it is a very rare jewell in film history .  br    br    
you can tell they spent   making this . it is a waste of your time . . . ugh . . there is not anything remotely good about this movie . . . . . i don  t know why i kept watching it . . the chick is not hot . horrid acting . . you could do anything and its a better use of your time . . like watching tv playing shitty video games . . i feel robbed . simply robbed . . of my time . i have never made a review for a movie before as you can probably tell but this movie i felt like i needed to save the poor souls that are about to watch it and looking on imdb before to see if its decent and looking at the comments .  there was no action   no hot chicks   no budget   shittttttttttttttty acting  it screams bad movie . the whole movie is in a room .   
i don  t see how this show is like the oc at all .  br    br   first of all  the oc centers around teenagers and their parents trying to get through life . north shore is about a hotel staff who is trying to run the hotel and have a social life at the same time . second  the oc takes place in california . north shore takes place in hawaii .  br    br   and why would fox make a show just like one of its other shows on the same network  i think this is a great show with good actors for the most part . it has a good storyline and plot . i like the events that happen and how the people take care of them and work them out . the most recent episode was surprising how the story worked out . it wasn  t predictable like most stories on most shows .  br    br   i hope fox keeps it on the air .  
i watched this movie as i liked the plot  a group of strangers are held captive trying to figure out how they  re connected .  br    br   the setting and the premise were obviously influenced by the first  and best  saw movie  although there wasn  t much action the story moved at a relatively good pace .  br    br   there was comedy relief ion the form of the two bickering  alpha males  and it was a welcome surprise  for me anyway  to see melissa joan hart hasn  t given up on acting yet .  br    br   a few things let it down for me personally  . the paedophile was way over characterised making him get turned on by everything from children to dead bodies .  br    br    . mjh  s line about her cop ex  getting her into this  when in reality  he was the least deserving person to be there  he hadn  t knowingly contributed to the events leading up to their capture .  br    br    . the ending . . . . . what sort of movie just ends in the middle of something going on  there was no resolution  no cliff hanger  no obvious end . . . it just ends .  br    br   and for that alone i dropped two stars off my rating . the first  points i would let slide but not the end   
i loved it and was so shattered that there not making another season    i wish they would  it was the best show ever       there  s probably not any chance of them deciding to not cancel the show is there  ha ha i wish there was though  i would be so so excited   i really would  i miss it  and was especially shattered not to know what happens to jason   i think they should make another one . . . . it i also think its silly that u have to writr ten lines to post a comment . . it makes your comment drag on . . and no one will read it   i really want to know what would have happened between jason and nicole . . . maybe they could make a spin off    
i stumbled upon nine dead recently and read the current reviews thinking i could deal with an average movie . this movie however was slightly below average  yet watchable . the script was poorly written and the acting was at average for a b  level movie with a couple standing out as pretty good . the plot borders on that of saw  teach people what they did wrong in a situation and try to make them appreciate life more  but that is really where the comparison ends . nine dead tries to have heart and purpose behind simple ideas that are not new . the main fault that i found in nine dead  was the slap in the face to the viewer of flashbacks that occurred  minutes before in the film and were completely unnecessary and a completely inadequate ending that people won  t see coming  in a bad way . barring any spoilers i have seen the worse of bad movies and even they didn  t end this poorly . decent flick  bad acting and ending though . . .  
i  m sure this is a show no one is that familiar of and might not think good of it after all it is almost close to baywatch hawaii . with the cast  the location  style of the directing and its publicity  shows women walking around on the beach and all that . no wonder people have misconception and decide not to watch it .  br    br   it was wrong of them to do that . cause after i decide to watch the show  there are actually more thing going on  real juicy story and conflict  turn out to be really exciting to watch and pretty much  addictive .  br    br   the story of the hotel clerks  the manager  the owner and their complicated love life . also enter the troublesome hotel  s visitor and powerful man trying to steal the hotel . it actually more exciting than it sounds here .  br    br   i won  t deny that the acting suck but it ain  t that bad that you  ll look away . the story is not so consistence but good enough . the soundtrack is fitting pretty well with the scenario and the action is all the time . i took me couple of episode before there is actually anything happen solidly so be patience .  br    br   recommendation i really do enjoy watching this . zillion times better than expected .  br    br   rating  .      grade b   br    br   please rate my review after reading it  thanks .  
sadly it was misguided . this movie stunk from start to finish . it was hard to watch because i used to watch clarissa explains it all every day on nickelodeon . i loved her . then the next thing i found she did a spread in maxim and she was gorgeous  i haven  t really heard anything about her until i watched this movie on accident . i couldn  t believe she would even let something like this be seen with her name all over it . everything about it was wrong but it still looked like someone somewhere in the team was trying really really hard to save a sunk ship . too bad . . i hope she continues to act and i would love to see her with a real cast in a real movie .  
a brilliant chess player attends a tournament and falls in love with a woman he meets there . on itself this would be a pretty bad angle on a story . so  there is more . there is the fact that the chess player is also completely alienated from the world because of his brilliance at the game and the fact there is some history haunting the player .  br    br   this film steps back and forth from romantic frivolity to tournament tension to historic events that shaped the chess player and works quite nicely . it  s easy to grow attached to the two main characters and easy to believe they might hit it off together like the way they do in this film . the added effect of the tournament is very good too and creates a nice tension setting .  br    br   i have no idea of the strength of the chess players as i don  t play the game myself but it looks nice and believable . all in all  most of the film goes down very easily . it is also forgotten again very easily though . so it  s nice to watch but nothing more than that .  br    br    out of   chess players caught between a rook and a hard place  
when converting a book to film  it is generally a good idea to keep at least some of the author  s intended tone or conveyed concepts  rather than ignoring the author altogether . while it is clear that the director had access to and went on the advice of elinore stewart  s children  it is key to note that the children believed their mother to be a complete liar in regards to the good  enriching  strengthening experiences of homesteading her land . the book details her life on her and her husband  s adjoining homesteads in the vast wyoming frontier she chronicles daily adventures with her numerous friends and acquaintances  though they lived dozens of miles apart . the film  however  takes a standard stance for the time it was made  portraying this woman  s experience as harsh  unforgiving  and nearly pointless . perhaps the director was bringing some of his vietnam war experiences with him to this movie  as some film aficionados have said   but it seems to be a lousy excuse for taking all the joy and beauty of the book and twisting it into a bleak  odious landscape devoid of friends or hope . don  t waste your time with this movie read the book instead .  
the only show i have watched since       why did they discontinue it  it was the only show that captured the essence of hawaii and made you feel like you are a part of it all  the least they should do is release it on dvd   br    br   i checked out similar shows  but nothing has come close . the cast had incredible chemistry and i looked forward to each episode with much anticipation .  br    br   they made a big mistake by pulling that show . if anyone has any info regarding where i can obtain a dvd of north shore please post a few lines here . thanks  aloha   
i wanted to like this film  yes its a saw  blah blah blah ripoff but i like those films . if done well this had all the ingredients of being a good  not brilliant  but good film . . . . unfortunately those ingredients had gone off  the acting was terrible  and this was first seen when the captives are introduced with their captor one by one  hoods taken off   the remarks and one liners are just terrible  yes i know  bad writing . . . . but this is more than that  it was bad writing coupled with bad acting . two of the captives had been in a relationship with each other and did not even acknowledge this until a lot further into the film . . . . .  br    br   sorry  im even wondering why i am bothering to review this movie at all .  br    br   i will end with plot holes  plot holes  more plot holes  disappointing   
the zenith of two brilliant careers . david lynch  better known for less accessible material  crafts a delicate and exquisite story around the most unlikely premise . a man travels to see his estranged brother . having no other means of transportation  his journey takes him over six weeks on a lawn mower . richard farnsworth  in his last film  delivers a stunningly layered and nuanced performance in the starring role . achingly beautiful in its exultation of small things  straight story is a classic cinema experience that must not be missed . sissy spacek is notable as farnsworth  s daughter  an impaired middle  aged woman living with the loss of her children .  
don  t waste your time on this film . it could have been good  but the ending was one of the lamest i  ve ever seen . i seriously have to wonder how the people involved with the making of this film could  ve looked at that final scene and thought   yeah  now there  s an ending   and patted themselves on the back about it . to me it seemed more like they just ran out of ideas  they built up the final scenes to have a cool twist  but instead just let the whole build  up fall flat on it  s face . when the last shot faded to black and i heard the credit music starting i was in shock  i could not believe what i was seeing and that someone could even call that an ending . the best thing anyone could do with this film is rewrite the end and give it some substance . seriously  i  d really love to get whoever came up with that one in a room  look them in the face and say  wtf        
this movie is maybe the most touching and uplifting one that i have ever seen . i am not a religious person  but sometimes a great piece of art like this movie can give me an almost religious experience . one suddenly realizes that there is really meaning to life .  br    br   i must admit that when i first heard about this movie i was sceptical . i thought the plot sounded contrived and i was afraid that the story would be banal . but being a david lynch fan i decided to give it a go . it took me about   minutes to be fully captured by the movie  but then i was completely lost in it . there is so much wisdom and warmth in this movie  i left the cinema feeling that i had truly learned something valuable about life .  br    br   this is not a typical david lynch movie  and in some ways it was very surprising that he should make such a film after exploring the dark sides of human nature for so many years . on the other hand  i am not surprised that he manages to convey deep emotions and profound human insight because i also thought he managed that very well in the elephant man . lynch is one of the most gifted directors around and i think the straight story is his best yet .  .      
before watching this film  i could already tell it was a complete copy of saw  complete with the shack  like place they were in and the black guy wanting someone to break his hand to get out of the cuffs  . mjh  s name on a movie would typically turn me away  ugh  can we say gross     but i still wanted to give it a try .  br    br   starting out  i was a bit interested . the acting is absolutely horrible and i found myself laughing at almost each reaction from the characters  especially the man that played  sulley   . mjh was even worst  but i continued to watch .  br    br   however  the ending was the biggest joke of them all  i seriously sat in shock thinking  that was the ending   is this a comedy    .  br    br   i thought this pile of crap was funnier than the  scary movie  spoofs and that is really saying something   
lovely piece of good cinema . this is one of those films that you see smiling and you do not know why . well  one of the reasons could be that we are before one of the most surprising directors today  and he is able to film emotions .  br    br   when you are watching the film you can feel what mr . straight was feeling when he took the decision to go to visit his brother with his  marvellous  john deere . what changed in his mind   what changed in your mind when you watched this film   br    br   a beautiful fraternal love story .  
an very good storyline  good thrill to it . . . but the   last seconds destroyed the whole movie . . . what happened  extremely well made and an good story destroyed in the last seconds . . . sorry to say but a  in vote . . . thats what it it deserve  i would think that chris shadley could come up with a better end . . . but maybe next time   all this meaningless blood gore for nothing  the end would lift the story to close to a    but it didn  t . . . . the end destroyed the whole story  i think most people aren  t lame and when they goes a movie thy want a good end  even if it is intricate . . . but the only lame here is the end . . . sorry  
this  i think  is one of the best pictures ever made . it  s so pure and beautiful . it really touched me . i  m glad david lynch proved that a film doesn  t necessarily need sfx  a twisting  complicated plot or flashy images . way to go  dave . i  d like to see cronenberg do that   
i  m not sure if the filmmakers were after a saw  type movie or   angry men  people piecing together the facts to get at the truth  . whatever it was  it was poorly done and not worth watching .  br    br   i don  t watch movies for blood and gore  but because this film had little else going for it  it should have shown the actual killing more . most were off  camera  minimizing the horror that we were supposed to feel by the deaths .  br    br   it also bugged me that the cop was among the victims he unwittingly contributed to the innocent young man going to prison by accepting planted evidence  given to him by mjh  into the evidence room .  and wouldn  t mjh a the prosecuting attorney  have had access to that evidence   taking it out and putting the wrong evidence back   anyway  so she wouldn  t have needed the cop  s help   . the others  while often also not realizing it was this particular person they were harming  still played larger roles in his ultimate demise . the gun dealer should have know his guns would be used for evil intent . the insurance guy rejected a person obviously in need  etc . but the cop  s crime seemed minor in comparison since he didn  t know exactly what he was doing . the filmmakers could have taken it a step further and had him be the one that encouraged mjh to plant the evidence  which would have made him more culpable . and mjh  s yelling that he  the cop  got her in that mess doesn  t make any sense at all .  br    br   it would been more intriguing if each person died in a way that offered the others a clue to why he  she was there and deserved to die . the insurance guy  for example  could have had the applications he rejected rammed down his throat so he choked on them the oriental woman could have had her eyes gouged out because she was a false witness  etc . yes  more violent that the gun deaths  but more interesting .  br    br   the dialog wasn  t witty  there were no twists  and the ending was one of the worse  if not the worst  i  ve ever seen . the ending along knocked three stars off my rating .  br    br   the actors did a decent job  especially given the garbage lines and motivation they had to work with .  br    br   overall  a waste of time .  
if it  s action and adventure you want in a movie  then you  d be best advised to look elsewhere . on the other hand  if it  s a lazy day and you want a good movie to go along with that mood  check out  the straight story .   br    br   richard farnsworth puts on a compelling performance as the gentle and gentlemanly alvin straight  in this true story of alvin  s journey on a riding mower across three states to see his estranged brother who has had a stroke .  br    br   farnsworth is perfect in this role  as he travels his long and winding road  making friends of strangers and doling out lots of grandfatherly type advice about family along the way . the story moves along as slowly as the riding mower  but somehow manages to keep the viewer watching  waiting for the next life lesson alvin  s going to offer .  br    br   stretch out on the couch  relax and enjoy . it  s the only way to watch this very good movie  which rates a     in my book .  
what a complete waste of time . the movie starts as a clone of the saw series  but with even worse acting . melissa joan hart is absolutely horrible . the ending is ridiculous and the story contains no twists  not plot surprises and just a plain bad ending . i liked some of the characters and i was hoping for everything to be tied together at the end . it just doesn  t happen . it  s a total  wrestler  ending with none of the good acting . i can  t believe i spent the time watching this . it  s not  fun  as some people put it . a guy in a mask kidnaps people who are connected and forces them to figure it out . the connection is a stretch and he should have shot the main actress first .  
i was watching this movie at one of my usual time  which is real real late at night . usually if a movie doesn  t interest me  i start falling asleep and have to raid the fridge to stay awake .  br    br   at first i thought that  s what i had to do since this movie  s pacing started off slow  along with the fact that its shots tended to linger with the character for a long time . but after a bit  i start getting more into the movie  as more is revealed about the main character through his story telling . by the end  you feel like you  ve known him your whole life . the movie kept my interest so much that i didn  t even know the sun was about to rise .  br    br   not much of lynch  s bizzare style  but there is enough of quirky characters to make the film amusing .  
i had to write a review of this film after reading another comment saying that this is sidney poitier  s best movie . poitier had just returned from over a decade  s break in film acting and he is clearly creaky here .   of his films are mentioned in wikipedia and they don  t include this .  of his films are on the afi  s list of top    inspiring movies  again  not including this . berenger and poitier  rube and city slicker set out to hunt down a dangerous psychopath before he crosses the border to canada . some of the attempts at comedy in this film clearly fail and berenger and poitier  s bonding was cringeworthy and awkward  not helped by a completely bland script  . kirstie alley  as the hostage  was underused  and almost entirely ignored when she was on screen . some attempt at suspense is made  for example when you  re meant to try and guess which of  men on a fishing trip is the murderer  all of them are type  cast villains  . i understand that this is the entire appeal to most fans out there . i guessed who it was and i wasn  t really trying hard .  br    br   if you  re a berenger fan  watch the sniper        you even get to see billy zane strutting his stuff . it  s much better . all in all i  d give shoot to kill     . it  s not daring  and it  s just too straightforward for me .  
perhaps the most personal of david lynch  s works is his most accessible . this time  rather than the enigmatic thematic structures that may or may not involve a plot or represent anything more than vivid nightmares  lynch provides a reflective  fragile meditation on the universal subjects of aging and family and finds reassurance in both . the simple true story of an iowa farmer  richard farnsworth  who rides a lawn mower to wisconsin to visit his estranged  stricken brother  there are still plenty of the unique and original visual dreamscapes  some rather striking aerial shots of the heartland  filmed by veteran cinematographer freddy francis  to make it an undeniable lynch effort and characterizations that are some of his most unforgettable . farnsworth is excellent in a stoic yet personable way  allowing the stories he hears on his journey to become a part of his life  and sissy spacek turns in some of her finest work in a smaller role as his mentally challenged yet observant daughter  whose painful secret is revealed in a poignant way through a gentle turn in the sensitive script by john roach and mary sweeney  but the rest of the small cast to a person delivers indelible performances  one of the most notable being barbara robertson  whose accidental killing of a deer is both uproarious and sad at the same time . but that  s vintage lynch with his ability to engage and unsettle you at his best . to those unfamiliar with lynch or know him only by his violent  disturbing reputation  this is an excellent place to begin for those who know his work  this is one of the finest in his repertoire .  
the idea behind this film was a good one . too bad it wasn  t written well . casting sidney poitier as the fbi agent was a good idea  and he did an outstanding job . tom berenger  on the other hand  only knows one emotion in most of his movies  anger . kirstie alley  s character could have been a great one  and even showed some possibilities once  but the writer really let us down by making her role mostly a helpless female . this was completely inconsistent with the strongly independent character she was supposed to be . i don  t care for alley  s acting anyway . the movie should have ended about fifteen minutes sooner than it did . the director milked the cow dry before the unbelievable final action . i will keep this in my collection only as an example of poitier  s performances .  
like his early masterpiece  the elephant man  lynch proves to his detractors that he can tell a straight  simple story without losing his artistic touch . this is a true story of an elderly retired man  expertly played by richard farnsworth  who decides to ride a tractor across a few states to pay a final visit to his estranged brother who now stands at death  s door . a beautiful score from badalamenti  exquisite photography of rural life  love those aerial corn  field shots   and a sly director  s hand that reveals man  s basic humanity  this is a beautiful slice of life film . its extremely slow pace may lull some viewers to sleep  but those who stay for along for the ride will be well rewarded in the end .  
this is the worst show i have seen in years . i believe that it should be taken off of t . v . because of its retardedness . it is so dumb i could faint when i watch it .  even though i never watch it because it is sooooo poor   br    br   goofs when mac says he cant eat sugar  in another episode he eats sugar . almost everything in the world has sugar in it    in episode  eddie monster  when eddy screams at terrance he falls into the crate twice plus the seconed time he falls in he doesn  t fall in  he falls off to the side . what stupidity . i can  t even say the word fosters home . i even made a song with my band about how retarded this show is . byyyyyyyyeeeee  
on paper  this movie would sound incredibly boring . the idea of a    year  old man traveling the country  side on a riding mower certainly doesn  t have much appeal to it  but the real power behind the film is its charm and its intelligence . writers will not find a better study of what makes a movie work than  the straight story .   br    br   the perfect example of this is a scene in which alvin meets a runaway teenage girl . she  s pregnant and afraid of what her parents would do if they found out . alvin tells her a story about his own kids  long ago . he had them each take a stick and break it  which they could easily do . then he had them bundle the sticks and try to break them .  that bundle   he said   is family .  so many other movies would feel compelled to continue and make sure we knew that an individual could be broken but together the members were stronger .  the straight story  realizes that we  re smart enough to understand this and simply leaves us to contemplate the thought and draw our own conclusions .  br    br   alvin  s journey across iowa is full of such refreshingly un  hollywood character interactions . each interaction is full of warmth and humor  and alvin is so cute riding his mower that we can  t help but smile as he makes his way to wisconsin to make peace with his brother  lyle  who has suffered a stroke . and the simplicity of the final scene emphasizes that the real story here is not the destination but the journey . it  s a journey in which alvin shares his life with everyone he meets   to their benefit and ours . it  s a slow  simple  relaxing ride meant to remind us of all that we  ve lost with the urbanization of america .  br    br    the straight story  is the rare live  action  g   rated movie that truly should not be missed . grade a  
in      i liked it . then it became very stupid . it suggests that kids are brainless . it insults children . cartoon network used to be great . one of the shows i liked was hamtaro . it did manage to be interesting and imaginative in its approach to children programming . the show  foster  s home for imaginary friends  is like putting   spoons of sugar in your sprite . it seems as if today  s television producers are only interested in making money  rather than engaging the imaginations of children and making money  lately  my children are tuning in to the old shows     s  to find something interesting to watch . perhaps  in the absence of originality  for television to look to its past and recycle children  s programing from days gone by .  
hi all i am a chess enthusiast since the age of about  . i supposed i am quite obsessed by chess  but hopefully not as much as the central character in this film .  br    br   in this film  the central character reflects a real chess player called curt von bardeleben who committed suicide in     . he is famous for a game he played against steinitz  where a beautiful combination was played by steinitz . instead of resigning  he simply walked out of the tournament hall  never to return .  br    br   the social ineptness of the central character is unfortunately a treat of some of the more serious grandmasters you sometimes get in chess tournaments . chess i suppose is a very big sacrifice  and you can sometimes end up imbalanced in other areas of life . a major example of this is the chess legend bobby fischer . although a genius  he was also very disturbed in many ways .  br    br   in the film  a world championship match is depicted  as between an italian grandmaster and luzhin . the format is a knockout  which actually the world governing body of fide has sometimes employed as a format itself  going from    players to just  in the final . but this was a group knockout  which also depicts a realistic format  where the winners of each group play against each other .  br    br   the position before adjournment makes for a fascinating chess puzzle in itself . in fact  i have done a youtube video about it  for you to explore the winning combination in detail  enjoy  http   uk . youtube . com  watch  vxzptdtphwdm best wishes tryfon  
i read somewhere that when kay francis refused to take a cut in pay  warner bros . retaliated by casting her in inferior projects for the remainder of her contract .  br    br   she decided to take the money . but her career suffered accordingly .  br    br   that might explain what she was doing in  comet over broadway .   though it doesn  t explain why donald crisp and ian hunter are in it  too .   ludicrous  is the word that others have used for the plot of this film  and that  s right on target . the murder trial . her seedy vaudeville career . her success in london . her final scene with her daughter . no part logically leads to the next part .  br    br   also  the sets and costumes looked like b  movie stuff . and her hair  turner is showing lots and lots of her movies this month . watch any other one and you  ll be doing yourself a favor .  
always fancied this film from the video cover . eventually got round to buying it for a fiver in a sale and boy what a film . a simply stunning performance from all of the case and it  s filmed so beautifully . even at times from a distance so you can barely hear what the dialogue is  as if you really are that distance away picking up bits of the tale . it  s really moving  frequently amusing and very watchable . not much dialogue but is filmed in such a way that you feel so much throuout . a     from me . a must see .  
i think this cartoon is one of the worst cartoons i have ever watched . i would recommend this cartoon to people who are under  . i did used to like this show when i was  and   i still only watched it when there was nothing on . now i am other  and i would rather do my homework than watch it . the cartoon used to be a bit funny but they were not enough to make me burst out laughing . now i am older i am interested in show witch are not rated us . i have started to watch doctor who    a   torchwood     and sarah jane adventures  pg  . i am interested in things to do with doctor who so i am not interested in  year old cartoons . this cartoon didn  t last very long it only had  seasons  it got cancelled because of it was low on viewers but some people say it was because the writers ran out of ideas but for most other shows they have at least  seasons .  
mulholland drive made me the definitive fan of david lynch . he  s a modern genius  because he  s not only a film  maker . his stories and his style have a spell that cross the screen . so the straight story was quite a surprise to me  with its easy to follow storyline and sunny sets . still  lynch is there  and  while this is far from his best  it  s a film not to be missed . late richard farnsworth  s performance is one of the reasons .  br    br        
this might be the poorest example of amateur propaganda ever made . the writers and producers should study the german films of the thirties and forties . they knew how to sell . even soviet  style clunky leader as god  like father  figure were better done . disappointing . the loss of faith  regained in church at last second just in time for daddy to be  saved  by the hoover  god was not too bad . unfortunately  it seemed rushed and not nearly melodramatic enough . a few misty heavenlier shots of the angelical hoover up in the corner of the screen  beaming and nodding  would have added a lot . the best aspect is hoover only saving the deserving family and children who had  proven  their worth . unfortunately  other poor homeless were portrayed as likable and even good  yet the hoover  god doesn  t help them . a better approach would have been shots of them drinking spirits to show the justice of their condition . finally  bright and cheerful scenes of recovery  after hoover saved the country from the depression  should have rolled at the end . we could see then how hoover  god had saved not just this deserving family  but all the truly deserving . amateurist at best .  
well  it definitely is unlike anything else directed by lynch . no supernatural stuff  no violence  no profanity . nevertheless  it is a beautiful flick . it  s a little slow but perhaps that was intentional because it  s the story of an old man  s   week  that  s my best guess for its duration  journey . the characters are everyday people and thus  they are believable . the performances are good and the final scene was incredibly touching . everyone who has a sibling can relate to it . lyle and alvin don  t even have to say anything . for a moment they are back in the old days and all the fighting is forgotten .  
  st watched             out of    dir  robert ellis miller   emotional christmas fluff that doesn  t really get specific enough to explain how the real story happened in this factual  based incident of a man who is wrongly put in jail trying to get a job for his family to make christmas happen for them . the three kids in the family then run away from home on a trek to washington d . c . to enlist the then president of the united states  herbert hoover . this trek provides some side stories like their positive encounters with a hobo and a puppeteer  which makes the story kind of like a disney  animals on the run  movie and doesn  t quite fit here . at the ending  there isn  t any details given as to how the president helped the family and this is another downpoint to the movie  in my opinion . the movie does eventually bring tears  but it takes too long to get to this . the movie isn  t supposed to have been an original tv movie  according to imdb  but it has the obvious fade  outs that make it look this way  so i  m not sure their information is accurate . all in all  this is a simple movie  that could have been more complex  with a happy christmas  like story but blandly played and without a lot of substance .  
  the straight story  is a truly beautiful movie about an elderly man named alvin straight  who rides his lawnmower across the country to visit his estranged  dying brother . but that  s just the basic synapsis . . . this movie is about so much more than that . this was richard  s farnworth  s last role before he died  and it  s definitely one that he will be remembered for . he  s a stubborn old man  not unlike a lot of the old men that you and i probably know .  br    br    the straight story  is a movie that everyone should watch at least once in their lives . it will reach down and touch some part of you  at least if you have a heart  it will .  
this is yet another bad movie that you should probably avoid watching . the plot could be a lot  thicker  than it actually is and would be better made as a blockbuster type movie .  br    br   the acting leaves something to be desired  though you can not quite place your finger on what it is .  br    br   this is one of those that you watch on late night tv  perhaps on usa  simply because you can not get to sleep . watch it if you want but do not expect too much from it .  
it  s nice to see a film with real people with honest feelings . sissy spacek is so absolutely convincing as a simple  yet nice  daughter to robert farnsworth   br    br   who finally  in his last role  gets to show what a fine actor he was . it is hard to believe that this is a david lynch film . it is slow and even  sweet and moving . one of the best unless you like car chases  sex scenes  and violence .  
beautiful attracts excellent idea  but ruined with a bad selection of the actors . the main character is a loser and his woman friend and his friend upset viewers . apart from the first episode all the other become more boring and boring . first  it considers it illogical behavior . no one normal would not behave the way the main character behaves . it all represents a typical halmark way to endear viewers to the reduced amount of intelligence . does such a scenario  or the casting director and destroy this question is on halmark producers . cat is the main character is wonderful . the main character behaves according to his friend selfish .  
no spoilers  br    br   being a david lynch film  one could have the idea that it depicts that enigmatic mind of his like the majority of his feature films do . but it is a very straight story as the title might hint . don  t except to be caught in the usual lynchian void of incomprehensibility that usually occurs after viewing i . e . lost highway . it is a simple film but it is indeed a great film . that is both from a innovative and an entertaining aspect . it  s innovative because it so not lynch . but maybe that is lynch . he likes to twist our minds and therefore puts together a film that might seem very mainstream and far from lynch himself . being a very avantgarde director  he might just make a film like this just to tease his regular audience because he knows what they expect but he doesn  t give it to them . that would be crafty .  br    br   the pace of the film is slow . i would almost say lawn mower speed . . . don  t expect an action orgy  but the film is truly entertaining for the ones who go with the flow of the film . look carefully for those small details that lynch plot throughout the movie for our entertainment . look for the great cinematography that makes this film come to life . and listen to badalamenti  s score and the main theme that really animates the iowa and wisconsin landscapes shown frequently .  br    br   farnsworth puts in one of his best performances in this film  making him one of the most likeable ol  men ever depicted on film . he doesn  t have to say anything to express his feelings and thoughts . his cheerfulness just shines right through him and his acting earned him an oscar nomination . need i say that his weak health in this film wasn  t acted  he was diagnosed with cancer and shot himself right after this film was complete . that knowledge just puts more emphasis on the film because it becomes more of a homage to farnsworth .  br    br   all of the above form a very nice motion picture that is suitable for all kinds of people that like a film the way they are supposed to be done . one could ask for homilies that aren  t that obvious and a bit naive but it doesn  t ruin the overall picture  being that it is a memorable motion picture .     .  
so much is wrong with this abysmal little wet fart of a movie that it  s hard to know where to begin .  br    br   first of all  it  s a remarkably un  scary scary movie  even by amercian standards . the dialogue is clich  the characters are two  dimensional  the writing is ho  hum  and what little story there is is neither coherent nor remotely interesting .  br    br   we meet the following stereotypes in order balding loser guy  probably divorced  but who knows  this movie doesn  t tell us  with a brave heart  the young hero  who doesn  t do anything heroic at all   brave little kid  with a homicidal streak a mile wide  and black bad  ass bitch  with more brawn than brains  . these guys take up an ongoing fight with the tall scary reaper man and his evil ewoks .  br    br   oh  and the film is full of wicked little metal orbs whoosing around menacing people . given a chance  they perform impromptu brain surgery on those who doen  t have the mental acuity to duck when they come at them . booh  actually  one of them is haunted by a good ghost  but then again  it might be a deceitful spectre  who seems intent on helping our brave contagonists retrieve their young kidnapped friend .  br    br   there is no character background or even an introduction to any of the characters . it starts with some kind of recap of the ending of the previous movie  but this doesn  t explain a lot . if you  ve seen the first two movies  fine . otherwise you don  t know who these people are  how they are related  why they aren  t in school or at work  or why you should care whether they live or die . consequently  you don  t . the only point of interest becomes any splatter effects . and there aren  t enough of those to keep you awake .  br    br   of potenial interest  amusement are the three raider punks  as stupid as they are evil  who menace our heroes . but they don  t get much screen time . they are offed almost immediately . then they are buried  why anybody should take the time is beyond me   then they appear again as evil raider punk zombies . only to be offed again  literally within a minute .  br    br   the rest of the movie mainly seems to consist of caspar the friendly ghost appearing and disappearing  driving around looking for places  and balding loser trying to score som bad black bitch booty  using pickup lines that would embarrass a mentally retarded teenager . no dice there not even some gratuitous sex could have saved this movie  so good thing there never is any .  br    br   the head baddie  called the tall man  doesn  t manage to scare anyone older than  years howling  booooy   every five minutes isn  t enough . why he  with his amazing telekinetic powers and uncanny upper  body strength  doesn  t simply squash our heroes like bugs isn  t explained . instead  he delegates the job to his inept retarded little minions  who never manage to kill anyone before being shot to hell .  br    br   filmgoers who like masterpieces like  friday   th part xxxxviii jason goes to college  might find some entertainment . the rest of us  who have developed pubic hair  will be bored out of our skulls .  
the straight story is the tale of an old man who decides to visit his sick brother who lives across the state line . he decides to make the trip on his lawnmower as he can  t drive and he wants to make the rip by himself . the film beautifully depicts his journey and the lives he touches along the way .  br    br   richard farnsworth turns in a beautiful performance as do the rest of the cast  most notably sissy spacek in an endearing performance as his daughter  and harry dean stanton in a small but infinitely crucial role .  br    br   at first i felt that a story of an old geezer trip across the country side would be dull but i soon discovered that lynch with all the insights in to the man life makes this a movie i would recommend to anyone .  
i despise horror movies  that is no secret . no plot  bad acting and gallons of blood are staples of these mistakes of cinema  and this  movie  is no exception . i cannot believe some cable stations actually run this garbage .  this particular garbage was released straight  to  video  as i recall .  as mentioning any other movie would be a great insult to that other movie  i say this all of the phantasm movies  all of the jason movies  freddy movies  chucky movies  and most of the michael myers movies can be summed up in one word terrible     br    br   rating  phantasm iii    .      
david lynch usually makes films that resemble puzzles put together the wrong way . they are interesting to look at and think about but they really don  t gel in your mind . perhaps art will always mean the most to its creator .  br    br   the straight story is not a typical david lynch film . not that there  s anything typical about them anyway . it  s an odyssey through rural america . a real life journey alvin straight took on a lawn mower to get to his brothers house . he rode    miles from laurens  iowa to mt . zion  wisconsin to make amends to his sick brother for past offenses .  br    br   at the heart of this film is sweet voiced richard farnsworth . he brings alvin straight right to us in a simple and honest way . the fact that the film is slow paced matches alvin  s slow journey toward realization .  br    br   along the way alvin meets a confused and frightened young girl . she is pregnant and has decided to run away from her situation . after listening to alvin speak about family she reconsiders .  br    br   later alvin witnesses a distraught woman kill a deer with her car . she complains that she has killed several and leaves . alvin feels bad but is smart enough to cook up some dear meat that night .  br    br   later alvin  s lawn mower loses its brakes and nearly kills him . a nice man and his wife let him stay in their yard while he gets it fixed . they even let him call his sweet but slow daughter  nicely played by sissy spacek  whose haunted by a terrible tragedy in her own past . alvin insists on paying for the call . the man even offers to drive alvin to his brothers with pleasure . alvin declines with thanks .  br    br   while alvin waits he also goes off to a bar with a kindly old man as they discuss the harshness of war and the price it took on their souls . alvin even confesses a fatal mistake he made as a sniper that has forever haunted him .  br    br   alvin also encounters two bickering brothers who  ve repaired his lawn mower . he talks them down in price wisely calling them on their high labor and repair costs . he even helps them to appreciate one another learning from his own mistakes with his brother .  br    br   the night before alvin leaves the man  s yard he takes his hat off to him . the man tells him it was an honor having him stay and asks alvin to write to him . this scene is perfect in it  s simplicity . it  s heartfelt because it  s so straight  so real .  br    br   the journey continues and we can  t help to get more and more involved with it . we want alvin to get to his brothers . we want him to make amends . we want to know this world is full of forgiveness .  br    br   this was richard farnsworth at his best . it was his last film and his performance was amazing . you can  t help but to understand his pride  to listen to his wisdom  and to ultimately feel his pain . one becomes as taken with him as the man who offers him his back yard to stay in .  br    br   if there  s justice in the afterlife then alvin straight  his brother  and richard farnsworth are together sitting at a bar . i can picture them discussing their lives  regrets  hopes  and joys . as alvin says in the film   my brother and i used to look up at the stars .  well  i know they all are with the best view in the house .  
this entry is certainly interesting for series fans  like myself   but yet it is mostly incomprehensible . the plot is confusing  as is the sequel continuity . some striking effects  to be sure  but we never find out what it all really means .  br    br   try to see the  nc     workprint version which contains the gore that was cut to be re  rated  r  .  
this is one of the greatest films i have ever seen i glowed inside throughout the whole film . the music and cinematography held the spell when little was happening on screen . the slow pace was set by the mode of travel  a riding lawn mower with a big trailer  and was maintained by the background sights and sounds and the slow  paced lives of the other characters .  br    br   the story actually happened alvin straight died in     at the age of   . there was no acting everything was completely real  as if the actors had actually transformed into the characters . sissy spacek gave a poignant performance as a somewhat disabled daughter who had suffered much but forged ahead  always wanting to do the right thing . richard farnsworth was cast perfectly and he beautifully became alvin straight  a stubborn but loving elderly man who treks across iowa to visit his estranged brother  lyle  who has had a stroke . alvin had learned much wisdom during his life and that seemed to bring out the best in the people that he encountered along the way .  br    br   the film underscores the importance of family to this man and  hopefully  to all of us . i eagerly anticipate seeing it again  and again . directed by david lynch  this films proves his directorial skill . farnsworth was nominated for an academy award for best actor at    he was the oldest nominee ever for that award .  
in the third entry of the phantasm series  mike and reggie continue chasing the tall man  assisted by a trigger  happy  year old  a black g . i . jane and the spirit of mike  s deceased brother  he died in the original phantasm  . number  is a rather disappointing sequel  since the gore and black comedy is a lot less inspired and exciting as it was in phantasm ii . i got the feeling the stress was merely laid on reggie  s incompetence as a lover and his talent as stand  up comedian . the humor in the previous film was a lot more dry and oppressed  which fits a story like this better . also  the settings aren  t as macabre here  plus the constant presence of the tall man  agnus schrim  isn  t as obvious there still is plenty of gore but not half as satisfying this time . by the way  beware for the severely cut version as it shows most delightful killings off  screen . the entire phantasm series is the lifetime achievement of don coscarelli  who wrote and directed  episodes so farthe fifth being in production . the first one is a semi  cult classic  the second is a horror  feast of gore and violence and the rest can easily be skipped . a . michael baldwin returns as mike  even though james legros portrayed his character a lot better in phantasm ii .  
david lynch  s       film of john roach  mary sweeney  s story is set in iowa and wisconsin some time well before the film  s eventual release .  br    br   we come into the life of alvin straight  richard farnsworth  late on in life . his medical condition is poor  his life is mostly behind him and he knows it .  br    br   this makes what he decides to do  even more remarkable and endearing . he decides  and at every point in the film his own name reverberates through his actions  to put a few things straight .  br    br   alvin is  by this time in his life  a man of great experience but modest means . his daughter rose  sissy spacek  struggles with a speech impediment that makes communication a great effort on the audience  s behalf . but it  s worth it  because rose  s story cannot help but come out as the film progresses .  br    br   this film is the story of a journey . but like all journeys it is a journey in the geographical sense and in the human sense . early on in the film  we begin to understand that this is an ambitious journey  which no elderly gentleman of alvin  s age should reasonably undertake .  br    br   but along the way  we slowly learn how alvin has so many qualifications which equip him to achieve his unlikely objective . his objective is very simple and straightforward . his brother is ill and likely to die and he wants to visit him . he has had a falling out with him many years ago and they have not spoken in a very long time .  br    br   along the way  alvin meets many people . the way he behaves towards them and the benefit they get from having known him is the essence of this film . we come to know who alvin straight is  from what alvin straight does . and at the end of the film  we know who we are . . better .  
  phantasm  of     was a highly atmospheric  creepy  scary and very original horror flick  and  in one word  cult . the first sequel of     was gory  witty  action  packed and highly entertaining . after the first sequel however   phantasm  creator don coscarelly apparently lacked new ideas .  phantasm iii  lord of the dead  of     is certainly not a complete failure  it even is quite entertaining  but there is no more originality  and the desperate attempts to bring in something new  are at times tiresome  which makes it quite disappointing in comparison to its predecessors .  br    br    spoilers   br    br   quite in the beginning  we are introduced the secret behind the mysterious sentinel spheres  the brain  sucking flying silver balls  is unraveled . thenceforward  a number of unnecessary and annoying new characters  such as tim  a  home alone   style little kid who happens to be great at shooting  an rocky  a tough and super  cool nunchaku  swinging black chick with a crew cut  are introduced . the film also has its qualities  reggie bannister is again very cool as the pony  tailed  guitar playing reggie . angus scrimm is still quite creepy as the tall man  but the fact that the tall man talks a lot more in this film  makes him loose some of his creepiness . the character of mike is played by a . michael baldwin again  he had been replaced by james legros in part    which  in my opinion  doesn  t make much of a difference . the gore also keeps the film interesting enough to watch  but it is still a disappointment  especially because the attempts to make up for the lack of ideas get annoying quite quickly .  br    br   all things considered   phantasm iii  is an acceptable time  waster  but it is definitely disappointing compared to its predecessors . fans of the first two  phantasm  films can give it a try  but i recommend not to set your expectations too high .  
i  m rather surprised that no reviewer so far has commented on the rather elementary chess blunder in luzhin  s game as white against an unnamed opponent immediately before the final . despite the use of jonathan speelman as consultant chess expert  luzhin is shown winning the game with an illegal move . in between the rapid cuts away and back to the board it is not hard to spot that after luzhin  s combination culminating in a queen sacrifice  his rook on d  is still pinned by black  s rook at c  against his king in the corner at h  . thus he is unable to play the purported mating move rd   d  which would be illegal  but he  s shown doing so to rapturous applause from the audience .  
the competition for the worst warner bros kay francis movie is stiff . i  ve only seen perhaps eight of them  but comet over broadway is the worst so far . the very best thing about it is that it  s short . oh  and the orry  kelly gowns  of course  are fine . james wong howe  s cinematography is not . kay francis throughout looks fat  faced and far less attractive than she normally does . minna gombell whom i don  t know otherwise is good as a semi  tough  burlesque  dancer  it looked more like a fashion show than burlesque  . the closing shot  kay francis and her child  when did the child learn that kay francis was her mother  did i doze off   walking up a dirt path toward a prison painted in misty outlines on a sound stage drop is beyond ludicrous . the whole film is so cheap  so implausible and so careless that it feels infected by a sour cynicism on the part of everyone who made it warner bros tossing garbage to dolts who don  t know  in warner bros  cynical estimation of them  that what they  re getting is garbage .  
upon the straight story release in      it was praised for being david lynch  s first film that ignored his regular themes of the macabre and the surreal . based on a true story of one man and his journey to visit his estranged brother on a john deere    mower  at first glance its an odd story for lynch to direct . yet as the story develops you can see some of lynch  s trademark motifs coming through .  br    br   lynch  s focus on small town america and its inhabitants is still as prevalent as in his previous efforts such as blue velvet or twin peaks  but the most notable difference is that the weirdness is curbed down . the restrictions imposed means that the film has the notable accolade of being one of the few live action films that i can think of that features a g rating . incredibly significant  this films stands as evidence that beautiful and significant family films can be produced .  br    br   the straight story was the first feature which lynch directed where he had no hand at writing . for many lynch devotees this was a huge negative point . almost universally acclaimed  the only overly negative review by james brundage of filmcritic . com focused on this very criticism  that it wasn  t a typical lynch film .  lynch is struggling within the mold of a g  rated story that isn  t his own .  brundage claims  with his protagonist alvin straight  quoting lines directly from confucious .  he argues that the story is weak and the dialogue even worse . yet this is about the only criticism that many will read for the film . whilst it is true that it is not lynch in the sense of eraserhead  lost highway or mulholland drive  all films which i also adore  the straight story features a different side of lynch that is by no means terrible . if you are a lynch fan  it is most important to separate that side of lynch with this feature .  br    br   the narrative is slow and thoughtful  which gives you a real sense of the protagonist  s thoughts as he travels to his destination . alvin constantly is reminded about his past and his relationships with his wife  children and his brother . yet particularly significant is that there are no flashbacks  which only adds to the effect  which reminded me of my conversations with my grandparents . the conclusion arrives like watching a boat being carried down a slow meandering river and it is beautiful to watch . the natural landscapes of the us are accentuated and together with the beautiful soundtrack by angelo badalamenti  makes me yearn to go to america . the performances are also excellent with every actor believable in their roles and richard farnsworth is particularly excellent . his oscar nomination was greatly deserved and it was a shame that he didn  t win . regardless  however it is probably the finest swan  song for any actor .  br    br   so whilst the straight story features none of lynch  s complex narratives or trademark dialogue  the film is a fascinating character study about getting old and comes highly recommended   
i loathed this film . the original phantasm had such wonderful ambiance and mystery . like many   s horror flicks  it looked and felt like some creepy  unfinished documentary . phantasm ii  from the late   s  pumped up the action  but maintained this nice attention to mood . sadly  phantasm iii is just awful . it tediously explains all of the weird happenings in the previous films  which diminishes rather than expands their power . it shamelessly degrades imagery from the first phantasm like a cheap reenactment of the original . there are so many flying spheres in this movie that they seem more like household pests than menacing death orbs . hundreds hang from the ceiling like christmas balls swaying in the draft . didn  t anyone   the prop master  the dp  the editor  the director   notice or care that they looked so crummy  even worse  phantasm iii presents one corny  unfunny joke after another . how different from the intensity of the first film . the original phantasm used humor to relieve its relentless focus on death . phantasm iii uses death to set up countless cheap jokes about reggie  s horniness several refer to the film  s  flying balls  ha  ha  oh  i get it  balls . maybe the crew got a kick out of these jokes  but they are on us .  
who would have thought that a movie about a man who drives a couple hundreds of miles on his lawn mower to see his brother  could possibly be good cinema  i certainly didn  t . i thought i knew what to expect one of the most boring experiences of my life . well i was as wrong as i haven  t been wrong too often yet  because this is one of the best  most realistic and honest hollywood films i  ve ever seen . . .  br    br   giving a short resume of  the straight story  isn  t very difficult . it  s about an old and stubborn man who steps on his lawn mower and drives off to another state to pay his brother a visit when he hears that the man has had a severe stroke . that  s already special on itself  but what makes it even more special is the fact that he hasn  t seen his brother in ten years because of some stupid argument . in the meantime he has his share of bad luck and problems  but he also meets a lot of people whose lives he influences in one way or another with his philosophical approach to life . despite all the difficulties he drives on for weeks  not knowing if he will reach his goal seeing his brother again before it  s too late . . .  br    br   i can easily understand why there are people who don  t like this movie and that  s also the reason why i will not say that these people don  t have a heart or things like that . . . this movie hasn  t got any flashy action scenes  it is as slow as the lawn mower the man is driving on and no  you don  t have to watch it for the nice soundtrack either  because there isn  t any . but why should you watch it then  well  the simple answer is the story . i haven  t seen such a touching movie with such a powerful story very often and the fact that this actually comes from hollywood and  to make things even better  from the disney studio  s  that  s right  the same studios that overwhelm us with sugar sweet nonsense  makes it even more special . i  m not ashamed to admit that i had the tears in my eyes a couple of times while watching it  probably because the whole situation of not seeing someone for many years because of some stupid argument is all too realistic for me .  br    br   some people will argue that the story is very shallow  but i really don  t agree with that . perhaps it is because they only see that old man driving on his lawn mower and don  t want to think any further . if you look close enough than you  ll understand that this man is doing all this because he knows he has once been wrong  that only his pride stood in the way of seeing his brother again and that he wants everybody else to see that too  so they won  t make the same mistake . if that isn  t deep enough  how much deeper does a story have to go for you then   br    br   i would also like to add that this movie really had it all . some beautiful landscapes  finally an american movie that shows something else than the skyline of new york  chicago or some other big city   some very fine acting by richard farnsworth  sissy spacek  . . . and a very understandable way of telling despite the fact that this is a david lynch movie . i know now that i was completely wrong by assuming that this movie wouldn  t be to my taste . it  s one of the very best movies i  ve seen in a long time . this movie aimed for my heart and hit the bull  s eye . i give it the full      .  
spoliers do not read any further if you haven  t seen this movie  br    br   picking up after the depressing  phantasm ii  ended the tall man kidnaps mike  while reggie and new kid tim spend most of the rest of the movie trying to get him back  and not end up as slaves on the tall man  s  red planet  . this one gets really silly the trio of thieves in the bright pink hearse were only there for comic relief  and the black karate chick  can  t remember her name  was so irritating i couldn  t wait to see if the tall man killed her character . this one sets it up to almost look like it was going to be tim  s character  who comes in late and ultimately is the hero  but . . . it doesn  t quite work out that way . by the very end of this story liz is beheaded by the killer midgets  mike gets a silver sphere implanted into his skull  the spheres get reggie and the dwarfs get tim  and there  s no one left to stop the tall man . the bad guy wins  now how  s that for a surprise twist at the end   br    br   this was filmed in     and unreleased until     and the ending of this one was at the time final  and although it  s disappointing and anticlimactic it was also a fitting and appropriate ending for this weird little series . but the fourth one changes this ending and adds nothing new but more bad jokes  and an even worse and more nonsensical ending . . .  br    br       out of   
the straight story is a multilevel exploration of the goodness and beauty of america . at one level a slow walk through the heartland  it  s kind inhabitants  and amber grain  at another level about growing old and remembering what is important  and actively forgetting what isn  t  . david lynch gives us time in this movie and helps me to remember that so much can be said with silence . a remarkable movie that will rest gently with me for some time to come .  
phantasm . . . . class . phantasm ii . . . . . awesome . phantasm iii . . . . . erm . . . . . terrible .  br    br   even though i would love to stick up for this film  i quite simply can  t . the movie seems to have  sold out  . first bad signs come when the video has trailers for other films at the start  something the others did not  . also too many pointless characters  prime examples the kid  who is a crack shot  funny initially but soon you want him dead   the woman who uses karate to fight off the balls  erm not gonna work  or rather shouldn  t  and the blooming zombies  what the hell are they doing there  there no link to them in the other phatasms  . also there is a severe lack of midgets running about .  br    br   the only good bits are the cracking start and  of course  reggie b .  br    br    possible spoiler coming up   br    br   to me this film seems like a filler between ii and iv as extra characters just leave at the end so can continue with main  in iv .  br    br   overall very  very disappointing .      
after seeing this film i feel like i know just a little bit more about the usa . david lynch is synonymous with shock value and weird for weirdness sake  and indeed these elements are not missing from the straight story . however it is in a light that i have not witnessed from lynch before . we begin with a simple family living a quiet life but end up with an array of absurdly interesting characters with depth in their lives that cannot be apparent from their introduction . especially moving was the bar scene with two wwii veterans discussing the events of fifty years ago and how it still affected their current lives and emotions . if you are looking for wild at heart or dune  don  t look here . but if you are looking for real people with real stories this is the film for you .  
it  s been close to ten years since i  ve seen either of the last two sequels to  phantasm   surely due to my still vivid remembrance of them not being very good . that being acknowledged to this day  i  m still a huge fan of the first two installments so i thought i  d go back and re  experience the  final chapters  . part three is definitely the worst of the series since it obviously takes itself less seriously and throws in a bunch of confusing stuff that doesn  t make much sense . . . again  kicking off right where the previous movie left us  reggie saves mike from the tall man who vows to come back for him later  but things aren  t safe for long when they come across jody who is inexplicably able to the take the form of a sphere . apparently his soul is held prisoner by the tall man so mike is then dragged into the sinister double  pronged netherworld and reg has to find him . . . along the way  he meets up with a ten year  old kid and a nun  chuck wielding black chick named rocky who assist him throughout his journey .  br    br   there  s really nothing memorable about  phantasm iii  other than how stupid and forcefully  humorous  it tries to be . only one positive aspect that didn  t even help the movie and that was the return of a . michael baldwin and bill thornbury who reprise their roles for the first time since the original     classic . the problem is  they pretty much make cameo appearances . . . reggie banister is of course back in his starring role  but his bumbling  love  sick attitude makes his presence far too annoying to like . angus scrimm also just didn  t seem entirely  into  his role . he talks too much here and is nowhere near as menacing and creepy in contrast with the  quirkiness  that the movie seemed to carelessly resort to . most people  s opinion on this flick seem pretty impassive and tend to think  it  s still entertaining  . maybe i  m just too much of a nit picker but i just couldn  t get into this one . i remember disliking it when i was a kid and after re  watching it  i can safely say  nothing has changed . don coscarelli rocked the scene with his original low  budget  nightmarish  legendary film  phantasm   which i still rank as my top favorite horror flick and his respectable sequel kept things moving and darkly surreal and gory  but  lord of the dead   stupid title  just looked too rushed and slapped together to me . . . the inclusion of the two new characters  tim and rocky  the only thing missing was scrappy doo     was a strong indication of coscarelli running out of ideas and seeing how far he could ride the franchise . . .  br    br   so  it  s a  phantasm  movie with very little gore  nudity  and quadruple  barrel shot guns . need i say more   
it takes patience to get through david lynch  s eccentric  but   for a change   life  affirming chronicle of alvin straight  s journey  but stick with it . though it moves as slow as straight  s john deere  when he meets the kind strangers along his pilgrimage we learn much about the isolation of aging  the painful regrets and secrets  and ultimately the power of family and reconciliation . richard farnsworth caps his career with the year  s most genuine performance  sad and poetic  flinty and caring . and sissy spacek matches him as his  slow  daughter rose who pines over her own private loss while caring for dad . rarely has a modern film preached so positively about family .  
why watch this  there is only one reason and that is for the greatness of john saxon . i love his acting . my most favorite appearances by him are in nightmare on elm street     and  as nancy  s father a cop  black christmas as a cop  and from dusk till dawn again as a cop . when i was rummaging through my local mall video outlet i came across the film zombie death house and i quickly tossed it back but before moving on i noticed that john saxon was not only an actor in this film but for the first time that i have ever heard of a director . this intrigued me  also the cheap   .   price tag  and i and i had to have it . upon coming home i realized that this film did not live up to saxon  s other work even his acting  which may have been muddled by the added pressures of directing . but it was not just him the other actors sucked too . it seemed as if they had all been pulled out of a recent porno shoot and told now guys you really have to act . the film even looks of    s porn quality . i cannot in good faith recommend this film to casual viewers  but if you are an obsessed fan of the    s who missed out on the culture that came from that era by being born to late  or a fan of crap films than this one is for . also if you dig john saxon as i do .  
whenever i hear a movie being touted because it has no sex  violence  bad language  special effects  and so on  my b . s . detector goes off . usually  a movie like that is sentimental hogwash which panders to people who don  t want anything to surprise them  but to affirm how superior they are to us craven folk . so when david lynch  s the straight story began getting those kinds of reviews  i was apprehensive  especially since i was not a fan of his other  uplifting  story  the elephant man . for all the stunning images and the good acting in that film  it seemed more interested in preaching to us than inspiring us .  br    br   i needn  t have worried . the straight story is an honest movie rather than a saccharine one . most of that is due to the fact that lynch and writers john roach and mary sweeney tell it straight and simple for the most part . there are a couple of homilies by straight i could have done without  and the shots of grain being harvested are repeated a little too much  but those are only quibbles . there  s no heavy  handed message  no sentimental strings to jerk our emotions  and no condescension towards us and its characters . instead  they depend on the story to build its own power  and it does  so by the final scene  we are genuinely moved .  br    br   of course  casting richard farnsworth adds realism to the part . he really is someone who looks like he  s lived through a lot but still perseveres  and except for those homilies  the desire he has to get back together with his brother doesn  t seem overly sentimental  because you can sense here is someone who  s lived too long and seen too much to be driven by anger for long . and he knows his time is running out  so he wants to make some peace  not only with his brother  but with his life . sissy spacek also does fine  unmannered work as straight  s daughter . and although i am a city and suburban boy  the iowa and wisconsin landscape are beautifully shot  making me want at least to visit some day .  
it seems like this is the only film that john saxon ever directed  and that he had the good sense to stop after that and stay in front of the camera . this movie is a dog  from start to finish  and it  s dull and wooden with nothing much going for it . a viet nam war hero takes a job working for a mob boss  gets a bit too friendly with the wife and then the wife is killed by the mob boss himself  the war hero framed and sent to prison  death row  specifically . now  this particular prison has been experimenting on inmates and is testing some formula that will turn men into the ultimate killing machine  a zombie  . of course  everything goes wrong and then there  s all these infected people trapped in the prison  some of whom are turning into zombies and the rest who suddenly just don  t want to be there anymore . this just goes on and on and on with nothing particularly much to show or say for itself  and i stopped it before the end  which seemed like it was coming a few times but no  it was apparently only getting set to take off on a different and equally dull path . if one watched to the end they may well become a zombie themselves  so don  t risk it .  out of   .  
  a truly nice story with a moral about brotherly love  describes this odd david lynch film . this was especially  odd  because it wasn  t the kind of film lynch had been putting out in the last      years . those were dark and shocking films  blue velvet  wild at heart  mulholland drive  and this is the opposite . i know it disappointed a lot of his fans . others were delighted by it . count me as one of the latter  and i own all three of those  dark  films  too .  br    br   this was another supposed  true life story  here detailing an elderly man  s trip in a seated lawnmower from western iowa all the way to wisconsin to see his ailing brother who he hasn  t talked to in years but wants to see before the latter dies . well  i guess that premise  an old man driving a lawn mower    miles  still makes this an  odd  film of sorts  so lynch stays in character with that   br    br   richard farnsworth plays the title role . he is the type of guy  face  wise  voice  wise  low  key personality  wise  that just about everyone likes . the wrinkles on his face tell many a story . it was so sad to hear what happened to him in real life a year after this film was released .  br    br   the first   minutes of this film isn  t much  and not always pleasant as it shows the main character  s adult and mentally  challenged child  sissy spacek  and her tragic past  but once alvin straight  farnsworth  begins his trip  the story picks up . i played this for several friends and they thought the film never picked up  but i am more generous with it . i think it  s a hidden gem . to them  it was a sleeping pill .  br    br   i found his trip pretty fascinating but you have to realize in advance this is not going to be a suspenseful lynch crime story . it is slow and if that  s okay with you  you might like this . charm enters the picture in some of people alvin meets along the way  such as a wayward young girl running away and some nice town folks who help the old man out when he gets in trouble .  henry cada as  daniel riordan  is a standout in that regard .  harry dean stanton gets third billing  but that  s a joke he  s only in the final few minutes of the movie   br    br   the iowa scenery is pleasant . i lived there for several years and can attest to the rolling hills and the rich soil . it  s a nice state with nice people . . . . like this movie .  
i love john saxon in anything he  s in . the one time he takes over the camera though he directs a movie that should have more aptly been been titled  please do not watch this movie called zombie death house  . the      dollar shock insurance certificate is dear fred olen ray  s tricky way of making you spend   dollars on a filmed dump churned out by a major    s cheese legend . ray being the front man at retromedia . ray by the way makes charles band look hotter than stucco ceilings on a ford falcon . just plain bad now  the both of them  and boring besides . it  s great that ray is digging up this old stuff and in some cases it  s public domain like the rest of the dollar video hucksters but in the case of zombie death house   the word  zombie  sloppily superimposed to add ownership and interest on the part of f . o . r .  the only way to do service to this tripe is to release it on the dollar market for the curious collector and fans of saxon    if you wanna see real saxon  pick up black christmas  nightmare on elm street or the glove .  
i have always been a fan of david lynch and with this film lynch proved to critics that he has the talent  style  and artistic integrity to make films outside of the surreal aura that he  s become known for in the past decade . as much as the film is g  rated  it  s pure lynch in style  pacing  and tone . the film moves at a masterfully hypnotic pace and is filled with scenes of genuine emotion and power .  br    br   the cinematography is terrific  as is to be expected from a lynch film  and the transitional montage sequences are breathtaking . it  s also very refreshing to see a film where the characters are all friendly  kindhearted folk and not unmotivated characters that are clearly labeled as being either  good  or  evil  .  br    br   richard farnsworth turns in a beautiful performance as do the rest of the cast  most notably sissy spacek in an endearing performance as his daugher  and harry dean stanton in a small but infinitely crucial role .  br    br   with this film  david lynch proved to critics that he could make a powerful moving motion picture just like he did in the    s with  blue velvet  and  the elephant man  . critics seemed to lose faith in the past decade after he produced such surreal films as  twin peaks fire walk with me  and  lost highway  but with this film he showed that there was method to fwwm and lh  and it looks as if critics finally caught on with his recent film  mulholland drive   considering the high praise it  s received and the oscar nomination for lynch .  br    br    straight story  is to me one of the most moving motion pictures i  ve ever seen . it  s a loving story about family  friendship  and the kindness of strangers . i would highly recommend it .  
after mob boss vic moretti  late great anthony franciosa  kills his lady whom has been cheating on him with derek  their new chauffeur  vietnam vet  and blames it on the poor guy  derek finds himself in jail where he has to contend with a corrupt warden  vic  s prisoner brother who runs the jail  and  oh yeah illegal experiments conducted by a shady cia agent  great genre  mainstay and first time director john saxon  to turn various prisoners into super  human invincible zombies . of course things get out of hand and it  s up to derek  and the rest of the unchanged prisoners  to save the day after the infected ones take the jail over .  br    br   john saxon is a great talented actor  as a director saxon is a . . . great talented actor . to say this movie  john  s sole directorial outing to date  lacks a certain visual flair would be a bit of an understatement . however  the film isn  t totally without merit . the dialog  while idiotic  is just bad enough to be humorous sometimes . sadly  this isn  t really enough for the movie to coast by on that alone and it takes forever for the film to even start coming into it  s own  which is fairly late in the movie  . as such  the most i can recommend this film is to say that if you  re a fan of saxon  which i indeed am   it  s worth one watch  just go in with low expectations and you should be fine .  br    br   eye candy dana lis mason and tane mcclure get topless  br    br   my grade d  
this is not a movie for fans of the usual eerie lynch stuff . rather  it  s for those who either appreciate a good story  or have grown tired of the run  of  the  mill stuff with overt sentimentalism and oprah  ish  this is such a wonderful movie  you must see it    semantics  tho  she is right  for once   .  br    br   the story unfolds flawlessly  and we are taken along a journey that  i believe  most of us will come to recognize at some time . a compassionate  existentialist journey where we make amends fr our past when approaching ourt inevitable demise .  br    br   acting is without faults  cinematography likewise  occasionally quite brilliant    and the dialogue leaves out just enough for the viewer to grasp the details od the story .  br    br   a warm movie . not excessively sentimental .  
contains some spoilers this movie is cheesy   s horror in all its awfulness . the plot takes way too long to get off the ground  never steadies itself  and then just plain crashes about   minutes into the film . there are a few gem moments for zombie fans  but not nearly enough zombies to create a real sense of terror .  br    br   the zombies also take a long time to make their appearance . first  there  s a whole half of a movie about mobs and prison gangs . the hero of the movie is an ex  vietnam vet who gets caught up in the mob . the main mob boss sets him up and he goes to jail . in this jail  they are experimenting on the prisoners to find a way to cure them of homicidal tendencies and criminal behavior . but the badie psychotic head scientist  military guy has other plans in mind . he wants to use a slightly different version of the serum to make . . . . da da da . . . . super soldiers  after some infected prisoners kill a few guards and most of the prison has a round of infected communion wine  the military  crazy scientist guy goes  hey this might be a problem  and gives a call to the genius scientist turned investigative journalist hot babe ultra  empowered independent woman character  who of course invented the original serum . she goes to the prison to see what  s going down  the military guy calls in a few swat teams from his secure position outside the prison  and the hero guy takes charge of the few prisoners with a heart of gold when a riot breaks out . the hero guy and the scientist  journalist lady team up to find a cure  save the warden  s kids  and deal with some irate prisoners  both infected and not . meanwhile  the mob boss guy has made a deal to get into the prison so that he can save his imprisoned brother . the military gets ready to blow the place up  and everyone inside scrambles to find a way out .  br    br   there are a lot of gory scenes where people are killed by being pressed or pulled through prison bars . there  s also a creepy decapitation scene and electrocution scene involving the same infected rasta prisoner . still  the most disturbing scene is in the early part of the film  when a gross corrupt guard rapes a prisoner .  br    br   the main highlight of this film is one scene towards the end . the hero  woman  and kids are trying to make their way to the only escape route . their path leads them to a long hallway  on one side there is a wall and on the other are prison bars . hundreds of bloody zombie hands reach through  gracing their hair and faces as they pass by . there  s also a few good scenes of the classic  couple of zombies munching on freshly dead bodies  and  many zombies ripping one guy to shreds  bits .  br    br   overall  worth watching if you  re researching the zombie genre as it has so many zombie clichs worth noting it  s practically an instruction manual on what not to do when making a zombie movie . but if you  re new to zombie flicks and want a real scare  you should look elsewhere .  
perhaps more than many films  this one is not for everyone . for some folks the idea of slowing down  reflecting and allowing things to happen in their own time is a good description of their personal hell . for others an approach like this speaks to some deep part of themselves they know exists  some part they long for contact with .  br    br   i suppose it  s a function of where i am in my own life these days  but i count myself in the camp of the latter group . i found the meditative pace of this film almost hypnotic  gently guiding me into some realm almost mythological . this is indeed a journey story  a rich portrayal of the distance many of us must travel if we are to come full circle at the end of our days .  br    br   much as been written of mr farnsworth  s presentation of alvin straight  though i  m not sure there are words to express the exquisite balance of bemused sadness and wise innocence he conjured for us . knowing now that he was indeed coming to terms with his own mortality as he sat on that tractor seat makes me wish i had had the opportunity to spend time with him before his departure . i hope he had a small glimmer of the satisfaction and truth he had brought to so many people  not just for  acting  but for sharing his absolute humanity with such brutal honesty .  br    br   given the realities of production economics  i  m not sure full credit has been given mr lynch for the courage he showed in allowing the story to develop so slowly . an outsider to film production  i nonetheless understand there are few areas of modern life where the expression  time is money  is so accurately descriptive . going deep into our hearts is not an adventure that can be rushed  and to his credit mr lynch seems to have understood that he was not simply telling a story   he was inviting his viewers to spend some time with their own mortality . no simple task  that .  br    br   if you  d like to experience the power of film to take introduce you to some precious part of yourself  you could do worse than spending a couple of hours with the straight story . and then giving yourself some time for the next little while simply listening to its echoes in the small hours of the night .  
i myself am a big fan of low  budget    s horror films . this isn  t the worst but still not to spectacular . the plot line is decent but drags out way too long . you  re through half the movie before you even get to see any zombie action . the kills aren  t very creative and the zombies aren  t too crafty . i truly think this movie would have been better if they left out the zombies and just made it into some mafia flick . it  s watchable but i feel that this film did steal at least an hour of my life . i  ll give the film credit for being somewhat original . if you are really into b horror movies it  s worth a viewing but if you  re not  don  t bother . but you don  t have to take my word for it .  
emily watson  s natalia is absolutely the most loving and romantic lead character i have ever seen on a screen . she is the queen of this film beyond all doubt . or  is she transmuted to the king  the internecine weaving of the chess games and the families  struggles for control  power  and victory is stunning . just as the chess masters in the film do  the director is playing many simultaneous games with our mind at once  but all weave into either major or minor patterns . the period  the costumes  and imagery of early   th century italy  s lake district is captured magnificently . not a single square of space is wasted .  br    br   so many brilliant scenes abound  i cannot recount them all . i recommend budgeting enough time to watch this movie twice  possibly a week apart  because you can  t possibly capture all the poetry within a    square yet multi  dimensional framework in one setting .  br    br   i did not read nabakov  s book  but to try an analogy of my own  what i am reading reminds of me of another romantically triumphant poetry  as  game movie  barry levinson  s the natural . it totally jettisoned the downbeat ending of bernard malamud  s fatalistic book in favor of a romantic impressionism that was uniquely american . well  the director did that one better by seamlessly meshing russian and italian morals and mores as a backdrop to enlightenment . the true story here is that games are zero  sum there is a winner and a loser  unless both contestants draw . but  in life  and especially in the context of our immortal souls  we are only limited by those constraints and life  s conventions to the extent we let others break our spirit .  br    br   pure love  as personified by emily watson  s natalia  can transcend and allow all of us to be enhanced by its gifts simultaneously . only the barriers erected by our fears can cut us off from it .  br    br   this is a magnificent movie        .  
wow  the plot for this film is all over the place  there is so much plot and so many things that happen that it practically made my head spin   and  as a result  none of it seemed particularly believable .  br    br   the movie starts with kay francis as a housewife living in a small town . she  s had some experience with local theater and has ambitions of going to broadway . when a big  time actor arrives in town  she pursues him in hopes that he can give her a career boost . but  her husband is worried about shenanigans   as this actor is a cad . so  the hubby bursts in on them and hits the actor   and the actor dies  as a result  he  s convicted of first degree murder    not manslaughter  but murder   now  pregnant and in need of funds  kay goes to new york . but broadway jobs aren  t to be found  so she  s forced to take any job   even burlesque . unable to adequately care for her young daughter  she gives it to another woman to raise . however  eventually she does find a job in a real broadway play and everything looks rosy . but  the jealous diva starring in the play hates her for some inexplicable reason and forces her to be thrown off the play . despondent  she makes her way to england and becomes a real star . years later  she returns to new york to get her kid   but the child is older and thinks the woman caring for her is her real mother . at the same time  her husband  s lawyer now thinks that if he gets        he can get the man out of prison . as another reviewer wrote  is this to bribe people   how can        get him out otherwise   maybe it will buy a helicopter so they can fly into the prison yard and scoop him up   wow   this is enough for  or  films  and  all this occurs by the   minute mark    believe it or not  there  s quite a bit more to it . if you really care  see it yourself to find out how it all unfolds .  br    br   this is sort of like  kitchen sink writing    throwing in practically everything and hoping  somehow  it will all work . unfortunately  the film turns out to be hopelessly unbelievable and mushy despite ms . francis  best efforts . it  s the sort of film no one could really have saved thanks to a  nd  rate plot . it  s almost as if someone just took a few dozen plot elements  threw them into a box and then began randomly picking them in order to make a movie   overall  unless you are a die  hard kay francis fan or love anything hollywood made in the     s  this one is one you can easily skip . not terrible but certainly not good .  br    br   by the way  the child who plays francis  daughter upon her return to new york  sybil jason  really was terrible . i think she was supposed to be . . . i think .  
it breaks my heart that this movie is not appreciated as it should be . its very underrated . people forgot what movies are really about  nowadays they only think about bum bum movies  which can be quite fun watching with popcorn and friends  like transformers  movies which are oriented  with hyper mega high budget like    mln or even higher  on special effects only and which are dumb movies without storyline . its the kind of a movie what i despite most . of course it is fun watching greatly made cgis  but we do not gain anything essential from that kind of movies .  br    br   i honestly think that performance was excellent . especially busy philipps  alongside with erika christensen and victor garber  whom i respect  made this movie an oscar worth . emotional performance by busy philipps was astonishing  its such a shame we wont see oscar in her hands  which she deserves .  
when a man who doesn  t have alzheimer  s can  t remember how many films he  s made  he probably is the world  s most prolific director after all . that man is jesus franco  the king of so  called  eurotrash  . his     flick devil hunter is as rushed  opaque  stupid  lazy and exploitative in the truest sense of the word  the film  s title is misleading  for starters  as any other franco film i  ve seen . that makes it sound pretty awful  and it is . . . yet franco does have some kind of inimitable sensibility  a generous way with the baldly outrageous  with nudity and sleaze and violence  and even with his stupid cheap editing which tries to pave over the extreme haste with which all his films were made . the mix of all these elements causes you to ride his films out  even while you  re mostly waiting for them to end because they  re so very tedious .  br    br   devil hunter is nigh on incomprehensible for the first half an hour . the kidnap by strangers of a white woman who seems to be a model or film star is intercut with a bunch of native action in south america . there  s lots of naked writhing  dancing  and endless repeated zoom  ins on an ugly totem pole . you need to get used to the repetitive zoom  ins and the technique of cutting back to the same shot about three times in a row right away  as these are franco  s main methods of extending a film out to feature length .  br    br   the monster who looks like the totem pole is actually kind of scary . he has raw bug eyes and his presence is always signalled on the soundtrack by cacophonous groaning  apparently recorded in an echo chamber . early in the piece he chews on a native lady strapped to a tree  and it  s hard to know what really happens here but i think he ate her stomach  or her genitals  sweet jesus   .  br    br   anyway  the adventure begins properly when a studly guy and his freaked out vietnam vet pal are sent to the island to recover the white girl from the kidnappers . the flakey guy has an accent which  as dubbed  is half brooklyn  american  half english  liverpudlian and all retarded . all of the dialogue and dubbing is ridiculous and laughable  making for another layer of the film which can somehow hold your interest .  br    br   not too much really happens from here on in  and it happens pretty sluggishly  studded with the odd bit of outrage like a rape . the nebulous action is fleshed out  haha   by acres of    degree nudity from the natives and the two female leads  and even from the monster himself . that he walks around with his penis exposed makes wrestling him an unappetising prospect for the tough guy hero  but it  s gotta be done at some point  and it  s nice to note that the director will show anyone  s genitals on camera .  br    br   the best feature of devil hunter is the location filming . franco can be extremely cheap with the structural and story aspects of film  making  but he doesn  t muck around with sets . you get real islands  jungles  helicopters and mountains  all in widescreen . this is something that is really cool to experience in these days of crappy cgi sets and backdrops ad nauseam .  br    br   ultimately  issues of recommendation where this film is concerned seem moot . if you  re trying to see all the video nasties  you will have to watch this at some point  and you  ll be made as restless as i was . if you like franco  you  ll watch this anyway . if you fall into neither of the above categories  the odds are you  ll never come across this film . copies of it aren  t just lying around  and i could hardly recommend the seeking out of it . it  s franco . lazy  crazy franco .  
i went into the straight story expecting a sad  happy type drama with nice direction and some good acting . these i got . what i wasn  t expecting was an allegory for the trials of human existence . leave it to lynch to take a simple story about a    mile trip on a lawnmower and turn it into a microcosm for the human condition .  br    br   if you didn  t notice  watch it again  paying attention to the ages of the people alvin meets  the terrain he  s driving through  the reactions people give him  the kinds of discussions he has  one of the first is about pregnancy and children  one of the last is outside of a cemetery  . the last road he drives down is particulary haunting in this context  as it narrows and his fear and nervousness mount . the last mechanical failure could be seen as a death  and the miraculous rebirth of his engine relating to an afterlife  in which he achieves the desired reunion .  br    br   i only hope some of the people who branded this as a slow sappy melodrama take the time to watch with a more holistic attention .  
if you made a genre flick in the late   s  you basically had a      chance it would either be set underwater or in a prison  sadly  we never got an underwater prison flick  . framed for murder by mafia boss moretti  anthony franciosa   derek keillor  dennis cole  ends up on death row  right alongside the mob boss  brother frankie  frank sarcinello jr .  . but this is the least of derek  s problems as rogue government agent  and mob stoolie  col . burgess  john saxon  who also directs  is using the prison as a testing ground for a new supervirus . this is the only flick saxon directed during his storied career . for a guy who has worked with tons of directors  it appears the only ones he picked up any tips from were the cheap  o italian ones . sure  it is low budget  but that can  t excuse the stilted staging  shooting gaffes  or clumsy exposition in the first   minutes . to his credit  saxon did make it slightly gory and he works in a hilarious nude scene  our lead falls asleep during a prison riot only to fantasize about a female scientist  . cole  who looks like a more rugged jan  michael vincent  is decent as the stoic lead and franciosa  sporting a really bad rug  gives it his all as the clich mob boss . the end takes place at marty mckee  s favorite location  bronson canyon . retromedia released this on dvd as zombie death house .  
i watched this with my whole family as a  year old in     on our black and white tv . i remember my father remarking that  this is how it could have happened  adam and eve .  i vividly remember the scene when adam finds eve  her eyes were blackened . i asked my father why were her eyes blackened and he told because she was tired and hungry . having not seen this episode in   years  i still remember it vividly  the tv transmissions back and forth with the home planet  scenes of bombs shaking the headquarters  with the final scene of the two walking off  adam carrying his pack and eve following . it may not have been a theatrical work of art  but it certainly left an impression on me all these years .  
i really wanted to like this movie . it has a nice prison setting  conspiracy theories  bloodthirsty zombies  a perfectly hideous   s  touch and it is a directorial effort by actor john saxon  who also plays a bad  you guessed it  a bad guy . it reminds me of some  beloved  italian horror flicks . but the direction is very wooden and there is no nightmarish  frightening moment in there . it just goes on and on and on  and then it  logically  has to end . more suspense and more daring visuals and its destiny as a cult classic would have been sealed .  
i just saw this episode this evening  on a recently  added presentation by one of our local independent channels  which now presents two episodes each weekday .  br    br   as the gentleman opined in the other  previous comment here  i agree this may not have been one of the best programs of the series  but i find it entertaining nonetheless .  br    br   my father was a friend of one of the principals  in my hometown  cincinnati   for whom young rod serling had worked in the media there   and i remember dad telling how talented and creative he was remembered there . overall  twilight zone  is certainly one of the true classics in television  and given its production during the height of the cold war period  provides not only a view of this era in the country  but also  today  a nostalgic picture of production techniques  creative viewpoints and the actors of this era several decades ago .  br    br    minor  spoiler .    br    br   this particular story depicts  as did other presentations in this series and elsewhere  a story where the locale is meant to provide a  surprise  ending . sometimes the characters are on earth  from elsewhere  while the story at first implies at least one is an  earthling .  these usually contained the message  as here  of a situation prompted by the doomsday buttons having finally been pressed by the super powers during this cold war period .  br    br   viewed today  stories like this one provide a nostalgic look at this worldly viewpoint    decades ago  and still provide some food  for  thought .   as did this episode .  br    br   while the dialog may not have stretched the considerable talents of the leads  it still presents a simple  important message  and a worthwhile    some minutes of entertainment and interest .  
i give this marriage  years and thats stretching it . adrianne curry is fouled mouth  spoiled  controlling  loud  and her bi sexual past makes me laugh . she tells chris he has an image to protect and must avoid strip clubs . he married her . chris has low self esteem and from a different time warp . i have nothing against adrianne curry but this combination is not gonna have a happy ever after ending . her mother said he was an old rooster and thinks this is his last attempt to recapture his youth . here  very good people who are gonna end up in a nasty divorce . i don  t think his old  brady family  is gonna fit into his new life . i see them being shut out . chris said his friends were more important than his family . the supported him and was there for him .  
it  s hard to find an outright bad historical drama that  s based on the life of any number of british monarchs . just take a well respected british or australian actor  make things look pretty  and you  re guaranteed a formula for oscar success .  br    br   the young victoria is no exception  getting just about everything right  the cinematography striking and beautiful  with soft lights and lush colors and fabrics . starring emily blunt in a role she can finally soar in  the film begins with victoria  s   th birthday and moves through the intrigue and issues that surrounded her eventual rise to the throne and her famous marriage to prince albert  rupert friend  . as the young victoria herself laments  she  s moved like a chess pawn by a variety of parties as she finds her footing and her voice as one of britain  s most influential rulers .  br    br   while this moving around the chess board is fairly typical territory  it is the development of victoria  s relationship with albert that makes the film slightly more interesting . i confess i have a degree in history with a specialization in the victorian era  so i  m a bit attached to these figures . despite their many flaws as rulers  victoria and albert were some of the first leaders devoted to improving civilization for their people . they left their legacy in the arts  in public health and education  and in victoria  s conservative views and mourning culture after albert  s death . but these things are only briefly hinted at during the film .  br    br   it is fairly well established that victoria and albert were not only madly in love  but held a level of respect for each other not usually seen between monarchs in arranged marriages . even if it did occur behind the scenes  their  s was certainly one of the best known . blunt and and friend have just the right type of chemistry to do the famous pair justice  the proper mix of restraint and desperation . it  s a different love  not usually shown on screen  especially in this sort of film . it  s encouraging to finally see a relationship in which man and woman are on a equal playing field .  br    br   but we don  t get to see that love enough . while the filmmakers try to fit the affair amongst the political trappings  it doesn  t quite build up the sort of momentum needed to keep the tension high . also  without delving into the more advanced important public work of the pair  things feel a bit in limbo  superficial instead of intimate  and sometimes confusing . it  s not as big an issue during the film  but afterward  the effects wear off rather quickly and you find yourself trying to remember what you just watched  despite the perfect performances by the leads  most noticeably blunt who even captures the famous monarch  s expressions .  br    br   for as much as it tries  victoria succeeds on many levels but lacks that certain sparkle that would take it from solid to classic .  
adrianne  should really get a life  without mr .  brady  . she nauseates me  and has been one of the main reasons why i know longer tune in to the show . it  s pretty brainless show  and every little argument or disagreement seems to be put under the scope and analyzed to death . this makes them look  sound they are anything but ready for marriage  and yet  i know these disagreements are all part of life . i guess to some people this is entertainment . if this happens to fall into next season i will feel sorry for anyone who has nothing better to do with their life but watch this trash . though i would not be terribly surprised . can  t even stand the commercials for this show anymore  i hope they  re getting enough money to constantly embarrass themselves in front of a camera week after week . however  the  a  girl has one heck of great butt   
i have watched this movie on dvd a couple of times now  the first time  i watched the second half after the hour and then went back to the first hour . an engrossing entertaining film  thank god no kiera knightley in it  refreshing and it gives us all a genuine insight into the difficult life of queen victoria and the difficult choices she had to make . nothing bad about the movie at all  no real bad language or anything of a sexual nature which would offend for family viewing . might prompt the kids to research a little about the queen victoria herself and perhaps lesser known characters such as conroy and lord melbourne  
i do not watch much television and came across this show . reality show  i sure hope this is not for real . if i was a man and had such a nag and was married to someone so snotty  it would be grounds for divorce . i think she sets a bad example of how a person should treat a person they love . that is one thing that is wrong with our world now  so many people in bad relationships  selfish and do not know the meaning of what it is to truly love another . it is self sacrificing and not something that should be on merritt . that does not give one a very good feeling  to watch what should be in private counseling . if his personality on the show is for real  then he deserves someone much better that would show real true love and care for him and appreciate him for who he is . is this show a reality or made up for ratings     i really would like to know . sincerely  gb  
when i first heard about this movie i thought it would be like the duchess        but when i saw the first   minutes of the young victoria i knew this wouldn  t just be a solid movie . almost everything in this movie is great  the costumes are really amazing and the settings are also beautifully shot .  br    br   the only thing that really let me down are the performances . emily blunt  the devil wears prada  is the star of the film  bringing victoria to life and with this movie she shows that she is a great actress and maybe picking a first oscar nomination for her performance . rupert friend is almost bland as prince albert but he has great chemistry with emily blunt . paul bettany is also solid as lord melbourne although i expected more of him . jim broadbent and miranda richardson both have supporting roles but are forgettable .  br    br   to me the film feels like unfinished . maybe that the screenwriters changed too many things in the script  i don  t know but that  s how i feel about the movie .  br    br   but overall it  s a great movie about the early years of victoria with a great performance from emily blunt .  
i loved adrianne curry before this show . i thought she was great on top model and was really glad when she won . i also liked chris knight  he seems like a great guy . but this show just made me sick  i  m so angry at both of them for what happened on that show . i don  t care that they were different ages  i know age can  t stand between love . but adrianne  you had been together for only seven months . it didn  t surprise me at all that he hadn  t proposed . and i don  t see the appeal of forcing someone to marry you before they  re ready . if it  s meant to be  then why not just enjoy each other  s company and love each other  and let it come naturally  turning a wedding ring into a ball and chain was completely unnecessary  it  s stupidly obvious that chris loves you  with or without a ring . and chris  shame on you for breaking down and proposing to her anyway  you  ve been through two failed marriages  how could you rush into another one just because she pitched a fit  i hope the relationship lasts  but i really feel that the marriage was rushed and for all the wrong reasons . maybe now they can take a breath and find the right reasons to be married from within the marriage .  
a new side to the story of victoria and albert is brought to life by director jean  marc valle . most people  s cursory thoughts of queen victoria is that of woman who reigned for several decades and lived her life in mourning . emily blunt is more than capable in the title role as she gives audiences a different perspective . she portrays victoria in her youth  ascension to the throne  and early years . blunt  s victoria both fresh and restrained throughout the film . her strongest scenes are with albert  rupert friend  and lord melbourne  paul bettany  . all the actors acquit themselves well including miranda richardson in what could of been a throw  away role .  br    br   though this is not a story of dramatic arcs and histrionic  acting  moments  the story is still interesting enough to make it worth viewing . there are a few historical liberties that has been taken by the screen writing  the film tries to stay true to the relationship between victoria and albert and of the social and royal structure of the time period . the set design and costumes are outstanding .  br    br   this film will be most appreciated by those drawn to history  period dramas  and of blunt and the other actors . heartily recommend .  br    br   grade a  
i don  t know what it is with these brady kids . first  barry williams publicly brags about having sexy with his tv sister  maureen mccormick  then about dating his tv mom  florence hederson . then  susan  cindy  olsen does music for a bunch of porno movies . then mike  bobby  lookinland gets in trouble for drunk driving . finally  maureen  marcia  mccormick and eve  jan  plum might have had a little same  sex fling on the side . now  christopher  peter  knight is pursued by a beautiful young model in her early    s during his stint on  the surreal life   which at first was fun to watch  and now they are married and in a very volatile and hostile relationship . the last episode  where she posed for a bunch of nude photographs with another naked girl for a scrapbook to give to christopher for his birthday  was not a good move on her part . and he dealt with it in a very mature fashion  just picking up and leaving to clear his head . i think he was always bowing to her every need and now he  s finally taking a stand . and i hate to say it  but i think she abuses him  verbally . the way she was torturing him for an engagement ring and the way she reams him for every little thing . also she talks openly about having flings with other women and it is obvious she still sleeps around on him with women and men  which is not something any self  respecting human being should do when already married to someone . if this were a man talking down to his wife like that  and going out every night partying and having sex with other people  everyone would be rallying behind the wife to leave him . why should this be any different . what started out as a cute little crush on another reality show blossomed into a huge disaster . adrianne  as beautiful as she is  is like another britney spears and lindsay lohan  clearly in need of some therapy because she cries like a baby over so many silly things . i feel sorry for her  but chris needs to rid himself of her  because he is a good man who cannot afford to be humiliated like this .  
i really thought that this movie was superb . not only is the history correct  but the style is sumptuous and yet intimate . i was a fan of emily blunt  s portrayal of victoria and how she kept her spirit even though she was forced into a virtual exile while in her youth . blunt depicts the charismatic and sometimes dogmatic manner that vicotria became famous  perhaps infamous  for . the romantic elements of the movie are so genuine and tender that by the end of the movie you genuinely understand why vicotria chose to live the rest of her days in mourning of albert .  br    br   the technical aspects of the film are worthy of note as well . i appreciated the beautiful score  which moves quite wonderfully along with the dramatic movement of the story . i also considered the cinematography to be outstanding  some scenes leaving me quite breathless because of the lushness and splendor they depict .  br    br   there have been so few movies this year as beautiful and tender as this film and it rates as one of      s best   
  ambushed  is no ordinary action flick . it  s much to bad to be ordinary . one man walks toward another with a machine gun blazing . the other man fires one round and fells the man with the greater fire power without so much as a nick from the hail of lead raining down on him . guess which one is the good guy . duh . such is  ambushed  through and through . not a good action flick  not a good drama  not a good movie   ambushed  fails on all levels with it  s cast of b  movie veterans mechanically going through the motions almost as though they know they  re making a real loser . not recommended for anyone .  br    br    
the young victoria is a elegantly costumed and reproduced bit of history that benefits from some fine settings  solid direction by jean  marc valle of stalwart julian fellowes  version of the youthful lass who was to become england  s longest reigning monarch  victoria . much of the early portion of the film  that part when victoria is a child whose ascent to the throne is contested by her mother  miranda richardson  and sir john conroy  mark strong  seems to drag and get lost in the multiple costumes and scenery variations . but once victoria  emily blunt  comes of age and is courted by prince albert  rupert friend  the film blooms . blunt is a strong actress and finds that delicate line between girlish infatuation and royal dignity that makes her a fine foil for those at court who would seek to control the  child queen   including her secretary lord melbourne  paul bettany  . but as she matures into her role as queen her eye dwells on the dashing german prince albert  and a love affair that has lasted in the memories of everyone is matched by the concept of joining royalty with concern for the care of her subjects  much due to the sensitivity of albert . the film takes us to the birth of their first of nine children and then ends with some statements about the influence of queen victoria and prince albert  s effect on the various royalties throughout europe  it makes for an evening of beautiful costume drama and allows us to appreciate the growth of two young stars in emily blunt and rupert friend . a solid if not transporting epic .  br    br   grady harp  
ok  i  ve seen plenty of movies dealing with witches and the occult but this one was just plain weird . this movie starts out as this cult of witches led by a really bad orson wells playing the staring role  couldn  t they have gotten somebody that looked and acted more like a satanist  he just did not belong in this movie at all . but anyhow  the coven takes a new member and stabs a doll that resembles somebody and makes her have a miscarrage . the lady that had the miscarrage and her husband go off to a place called lillith on busness and the lady meanwhile is seeing an image of her sister or whoever it is calling to her and warning her to stay away from there and to never use her powers there or she will die . the couple after they get settled down in the strange town discover that all the inhabitants are all witches and she becomes nosey and afraid of all of her neighbors and friends . then strange things start to happen as the lady discovers a funeral taking place on a hill that suddenly disapears  that was creepy  as well as seeing the little boy belonging to orson wells at the playgroud that he later asks the lady to help him bring back to life . the lady soon tries to escape the town but only to find herself traped by it  s inhabitants and powers and finds herself ignoring all of what the spirit tries to warn her about . this movie is ok  it  s has it  s moments of suspense but it really could have done much better than to have orson in there .  
with all of the films of recent  dealing with the british monarchy  is it really time for another  answeryou bet  the young victoria is another contribution to the wave of cinema from britain dealing with the royal family . in this case  it deals with the early life of princess victoria  and events leading up to the coronation of her becoming queen of all england  as well as her romance  eventual wedding to prince albert . the film also deals with the tempestuous lives  careers of both england  s queen  prince  as well as several other events that transpire  political turmoil  etc .  . emily blunt plays a radiant victoria in her youth  while rupert friend is her beloved  best friend  prince albert . the rest of the cast is rounded out with the likes of miranda richardson  as the dutchess of kent  and the always welcome on screen  jim broadbent as king william  as well as a cast of others that shine on screen . jean marc vallee  c . r . a . z . y .  loser love   directs from a winning screenplay by jullian fellowes  vanity fair  gosford park  separate lies  . i absolutely went out of my head over the film  s visual look  by cinematographer hagen bogdansker   who gave each frame of film a painterly look  with the help of production designer  patrice vermette   as well as some tight editing  by jill bilcock  matt garner  . what i also appreciated in fellowes  script is the use of a game of chess  as a metaphor for some of the film  s political motivation  the characters in the film move about like the pieces on a chess board  . this is smart  well written  directed  filmed  edited  acted entertainment  and enlightenment  that makes for a well spent evening at the cinema . rated pg by the mpaa for a few scenes of sensuality  some brief violence  a little bloody  although nothing too gory   a rude outburst of language  and some on screen smoking  
when a film has no fewer than five different titles  it usually means several things and almost always means that the film has major flaws somewhere . necromancy has major flaws and is just out and out bad . i saw the version on video called rosemary  s disciples . yes  i am sure it differs from other versions  but i am not inclined to think that in any way is any other version and the few more minutes it might have  going to be really any better . the story is perhaps the biggest problem the film opens with laurie waking up and her husband taking her to a town where he has a new job at a toy factory for occultists  yep  it gets bad this early   . the town is called lillith and has some guy with a rifle on the bridge to make sure only those selected by the  owner  of the town are allowed in . soon we find that everyone living in lillith is a witch and all follow the directives of mr . cato  the head of this municipal coven who wants his dead son back  hence the name necromancy  . the people in the town do witch kind of stuff  have ceremonies  some like wearing a goat  s head  and promiscuity abounds  not much really shown in this area   but none of these people are very good actors . mr . cato is played robustly by the figuratively and literally larger  than  life movie maverick orson welles . welles is misused  but  make no mistake  he is the best thing in this movie . and that is really the saddest part of necromancy as welles gives a pretty poor and pedestrian performance with little directorial guidance . in one scene at a party  director bert i gordon keeps going back to welles watching the action of the party using the exact same frames  it looked ridiculous . as did the scene that was repeatedly seen over and over again of a woman  s arm centered in swirling flames after a car crash . it looked like the arm of a shop mannequin . the story is never fully utilized as we never really know what happens many scenes are shot like dreams or hallucinations and never confirmed . this also applies to the corny  hokey ending . the lead pamela franklin is pert and pretty and has some talent . other than her performance  real slim pickings from the rest of the cast sans welles . the direction and story were both done by gordon who obviously had little gas left in the engine . this is not a good movie in any way under any name .  
the primary aspect of this film which most people miss is that luhzin lives his life as a chess game . so many people have seen this film and just don  t get it  and i don  t understand why . while watching this film i was taken on a private journey which floored me . i will try to explain this without any spoilers  but be forewarned  i do talk about things that happen in the movie .  br    br    possible spoilers  be forewarned    br    br   his is a life of  large moves  versus  small moves  . he chooses natalia to be his queen  and he and she behave as his aunt first described the king and queen and their moves when she introduced him to chess as a boy . listen closely to that description .  br    br   when someone asks him a question  he flashbacks to the past as if reviewing past moves .  the flashbacks are beautifully lit  by the way .  the flashbacks are quite interesting as well  for they give not only his point of view as a child  but the point of view of the other character as well . it  s stunning .  br    br   various characters become either his helpers or his enemies  pawns  bishops and knights  their actions enlightening you as to who  s side they are on . even their placement in a scene is pivotal to understanding what is going on . beautifully done .  br    br   i will not comment more on what happens to the character of luhzin  but i hope that this will illuminate what is actually happening at the end .  br    br   this film is constantly working on many levels  which is why i endorse it . it was a treat and a joy to watch .  br    br   if you like this film i would recommend a film called fresh . the only way that these films are similar is the use of chess and the characters being treated as pieces .  br    br    
  stars for kay francis   she  s wonderful  and she didn  t deserve this horrible tripe that warner bros . threw her way   br    br   the two  pronged premise that this movie is based on is ridiculous and unbelievable in the extreme . kay is a small  town wife and mother who yearns for something bigger she wants to be an actress . when a big  shot actor comes to town and invites kay to his hotel to talk about possibilities  kay tells her husband she  s going to the movies . the hubby  s biddy of a mother puts a bug in hubby  s ear that kay  s not being truthful  and he sets out looking for her . he finds her w  the actor in the hotel  they are only talking   and he slugs the guy  who falls over a railing  lands face  first in a pond  lake    and dies . now here  s the two unbelievable premises upon which the rest of the movie is based  br    br     the judge tells the jury that if it  s determined that the man died before his head went into the water  that they must find the hubby guilty of first degree murder .  whaaaaa       i think slugging a guy in a fit of rage would count for manslaughter or murder  at the most  not first degree murder . give me a break  but the plot required him being found guilty of murder  so that he could be sent to prison for life . whatever .   br    br     the hubby  s lawyer  after the conviction and sentencing  tells kay that it  s all her fault . his reasoning is that if she hadn  t gone over to the actor  s room  then her husband wouldn  t have had to go after her and slug the guy and kill him . he tells her that she  s the guilty one  not her husband  and she nods and agrees . what . the . hell       the rest of the movie is all about kay trying to achieve fame and money in order to get her husband released from prison and right the wrong she committed by causing him to kill the actor dude in the first place .  br    br   i can  t even go on with this review . the movie was just all too painful . four years earlier  in the pre  code days  you  d never have caught kay playing such a wimp  in true kay francis fashion  though  she did do her best to make us believe that this woman was a believable character . i give her much credit for trying to breathe some life and credibility to this thankless role . this character was a far cry from pre  code kay roles and real  life spitfire kay francis .  br    br   steer way clear of this one  there are much better kay francis vehicles out there   from personal experience  i can highly recommend mary stevens  md and jewel robbery also good are dr . monica and one way passage . i  m sure there  s other great kay flicks as well  but i  m only mentioning the ones i  ve seen and can recommend .   
just when it was easy to assume that a costume drama about royalty couldn  t go anywhere  we are given a treat  a moving and intelligent drama anchored by strong and charismatic performances by emily blunt  a marvel in the leading role  paul bettany  rupert friend  miranda richardson  and mark strong  as the immediate forces that help shape the development of one of england  s most powerful monarchs .  the young victoria  dramatizes the tumultuous transition of the young woman into power .  br    br   emily plays the queen  with a good combination of raw strength and innocence  someone who recognizes the complexity of the task at hand  but who possesses enough confidence to move forward . she is able to portray victoria  as an astute young woman who knows she needs support from some key players and must be able to stand up to those who might now have her best interests at hand .  br    br   victoria must fend a barrage of intrusions on her way to the crown  and even when she takes command of her new position  she discovers the road to self sufficiency will depend on making some very important decisions and of course  the right support . luckily for victoria  there is albert  a man who appears to like her and is her soul mate . there is amazing chemistry between the two performers  and there  s little doubt what the outcome will be  but there is the figure of bettany  s prime minister  a man who provides victoria with some wise support and is also fond of her .  br    br   miranda richardson and mark strong shine in supporting roles as two parties who might be of questionable character and exert a considerable amount of power in the upbringing of the young girl . every one of the supporting characters could use a bit more of development  but what we can see in the screen might be enough to keep us focused on the central character and a superb performance by blunt  an actress who has shown enough fire and passion in previous performances . in here  she is given the breakout role of her career  a real life historical figure  who broke the rules and managed to rule for a very long time . she shows the seeds of the strength and character the monarch might have needed in her later years . she also has a sweetness and innocence that became the foundation of her charitable work and future intervention in social changes .  br    br    the young victoria  is not a royal epic portrayal of england  s ruling class . it is an intimate story of how human beings grow up and whatever special circumstances surround and shape them . in the end  the movie is a lovely entry in a year that has shown much emphasis on war and destruction . in here  there is a message that good writing and good mediation can take us very far  and there is of course  a good old fashioned love story .  
for starters and for the record  the term  necromancy  describes the black magic art of bringing the dead back to life and it does not  in any way  relate to having sex with cadavers . that is called necrophilia and  yes  i know it  s an obvious difference but i  m already getting a lot of remarks from acquaintances and relatives that i sport a perverted taste in movies  this movie is quite the opposite of perverted or sleazy  in fact  and merely just qualifies as boring  inept and terribly bad .  necromancy  makes at least one top five ranking  namely in the list of most incoherent movies ever made  now  director bert i . gordon is not exactly famous for delivering masterpieces  on his repertoire there are titles like  earth vs . the spider    king dinosaur  and  food of the gods   but he really surpassed himself here with a totally senseless  redundant and utterly nonsensical tale about witchcraft and secretive little towns . shortly after the tragic experience of seeing their baby being born dead  lori and her husband frank move to the quiet little town of lillith  where frank suddenly got offered a prominent job in a toy factory . lori is suspicious and senses an atmosphere of morbidity  especially with the town  s patriarch and  owner  mr . cato behaving very obtrusive and mysterious . that  s another thing . how can anybody  own  a town and everybody in it  either way  lori gradually discovers that everybody in lillith is a witch and mr . cato exclusively lured her to the town because of her supernatural ability to resurrect the dead . since many years already  cato has been trying to bring his deceased son back to life and he  s prepared to make any human sacrifice it takes . i honestly don  t see the point of the whole movie . it  s a blatant rip  off of  rosemary  s baby   one of the alternate titles even is  rosemary  s disciples   but the script is muddled and imbecilic beyond belief . why isn  t anyone allowed to have children for as long as cato  s son remains dead  that  s just really selfish  when  where and how did lori suddenly learn to resurrect the dead   necromancy  definitely contains a few genuinely uncanny and atmospheric moments  but these are unwarily accomplished either by complete coincidence or through a total lack of budget . the grainy photography provides the film with an eerie ambiance and the set pieces look cheap enough to be creepy . orson welles  performance  undoubtedly the low point of his career  is pitiable  and still it  s the best aspect about the entire movie .  
who knew  dowdy queen victoria  the plump monarch who was a virtual recluse for   years after the death of her husband  prince albert  actually led a life fraught with drama and intrigue in her younger days .  the young victoria  not only chronicles the young queen  s romance with her husband  to  be but also does a pretty good job of detailing the political machinations surrounding her ascent to the throne .  br    br   the act i  set  up  draws you in right away . following the death of victoria  s father  the duke of kent in      less than a year after victoria  s birth  the duchess of kent eventually hooked up with former army officer john conroy  who offered his services as comptroller to the widow and her infant queen  to  be . conroy insisted that victoria be raised under the atrocious  kensington system   rules designed to prevent the future queen from having any contact with other children while growing up . what  s more  victoria was forced to sleep in her mother  s bedroom everyday until she became queen .  br    br   the film explains that in     parliament passed the regency act  which established that victoria  s mother would become regent  and hence guardian  in the event that victoria acceded to the throne while still a minor . during this time  the duchess and conroy tried to intimidate the hapless princess and insisted that she sign papers making conroy her private secretary and treasurer . strong  willed victoria would have none of it  and refused to go along with conroy  s and her mother  s nefarious plans . the duchess disliked king william as she regarded him as a philanderer who brought disrespect to the monarchy the king felt the duchess disrespected his wife . as a result  the duchess attempted to limit victoria  s contact with the king . in an over  the  top scene which seemed to actually have occurred in history  the king berated the duchess at his birthday banquet  stating that it was his goal to survive until victoria reached her   th birthday so that her mother would not become regent .  br    br   king william kept his word and died a short time after victoria became eligible to accede to the throne . victoria took revenge on her mother for her support of conroy  whom she blamed for making her childhood so miserable . they were both banished to a secluded apartment in buckingham palace and for a number of years victoria had little contact with her mother .  br    br    the young victoria  conveys the excitement and pomp and circumstance surrounding victoria  s coronation as queen . a good part of the film deals with victoria  s relationship with lord melbourne  the whig party prime minister who unfortunately is depicted in the film as much younger than he actually was . in the beginning melbourne gains the young queen  s trust and they become good friends . in the early years of her reign  she sees melbourne as a progressive  but later loses respect for him somewhat as he  s revealed to be a typical politician  hiding his contempt for the masses whom he  s supposed to be championing . in reality  melbourne was more a father figure to victoria  but the film hints at some sexual tension between the prime minister and prince albert  as though they were romantic rivals .  br    br   the plot thickens when melbourne is forced out and the queen must commission sir robert peel  of the more conservative tory party  as the new prime minister . the film chronicles the events of  the bedchamber crisis  in which peel resigned after victoria refused to replace some of her bedchamber ladies with the wives of tory politicians . the film leaves out another scandal which involved a lady hastings  one of the duchess  s ladies  in  waiting who was accused of having an affair with john conroy and becoming pregnant by him . because of her hatred for conroy  victoria contributed to the nasty rumors being spread about hastings  alleged pregnancy . as it turned out  hastings only appeared pregnantwhat she actually had was an abdominal tumor . victoria  s inexperience shows during the bedchamber crisis but the film  s scenarists ignore some of the more unsavory aspects of her character as evidenced by the hastings affair .  br    br   the rest of the  the young victoria  deals with   of course   the romance between the queen and prince albert . victoria kept albert waiting  as the film makes clear  since she wanted to acclimate herself to her duties as the new sovereign . they spent a good deal of time corresponding with one another until albert returned to england and gave victoria support during the trying times of the bedchamber crisis .  br    br   i find a good number of parallels between prince albert and prince philip  the current queen  s husband . while philip is mainly danish  he went to school in germany and had in  laws who were of german background . both albert and philip made it their business to reform etiquette in the court  there  s a great scene where albert discovers that the servants are still setting a table for king george iii even though he had been dead for years   . albert  s struggle was the same for philipas husbands of monarchs  they had to find something to do . both albert and philip became involved in various civic projects and proved that they didn  t have to live continually in the shadow of their ever  popular wives .  br    br   fortunately there  s an excellent scene toward the end of the film where albert infuriates victoria with what she perceives as his  interference  in her affairs . albert doesn  t want a second  bedchamber crisis  so he goes over his wife  s head and arranges a compromise involving victoria  s bedchamber ladies . victoria is barely talking to albert when an assassin  s bullets almost cuts them both down  in the film albert is shot in the arm but this never happened   .  br    br   the performances in the film are uniformly excellent  especially the principals  emily blunt and rupert friend . the young victoria ends rather abruptly and the closing credits lean too much toward hagiography  no mention of victoria  s depression after albert  s death  . but  victoria  is still an engaging drama and fascinating history lesson .  
i watched the canadian videotape of this movie as  the witching  which somehow made its way to new york state . audio was quite bad  i had to raise it to about    just to hear it and the soundtrack often was overwhelming the dialog . orson welles was a mumbler  worse than usual  and some of his dialog and of others was run through an echo chamber . a ghostly figure who keeps reappearing had her voice distorted . some closed captions would really have helped   br    br   a group of witches or satanists  the end credits say the group was not meant to represent any real group   have a ritual in which they get naked and cause a miscarriage by stabbing a doll . the woman who had the miscarriage and her husband move to a town named  lilith   where he  s been offered a job at a toy factory . despite one of the akas of this movie apparently being  the toy factory   we never see it  and it  s only occasionally referred to at all .  br    br   on the way to lilith  her husband gets impatient with some of her questions about what his new boss mr . cato wanted to know about their religious persuasion . he drives aggressively  and causes another car to go off the road and blow up . after the police arrive  she takes a doll that fell out of the car  the second of many handmade dolls in the movie .  br    br   it turns out mr . cato and all the townspeople are witches  and that they are the ones who caused her miscarriage  though she doesn  t realize it . they want her because she has an innate talent for necromancy  of which she was not really aware .  br    br   some images in the movie have some impact  but on the whole the movie is not very involving . the movie does seem a bit of a mess  and this is no doubt largely due to its re  editing and the addition of new footage . the original version  according to the end credits  was called necromancy  a life for a life . the magic of dvd could let us see both versions on one disc  but re  releasing this movie probably isn  t a priority .  
i was initially forced to attend by my wife as she is fascinated by the royal families of britain and their history  and she won  t go to the cinema without me . although viewers shouldn  t expect to be electrified  this film is very well made and the visual aspect is second to none . in many ways it helps dispel the myth that victoria was the miserable unsmiling dumpy woman usually seen in photographs . she was a bright intelligent and according to the history of her early years  a fun loving happy young woman . her love of albert was the essence of true love  and even if you only count the number of children she bore     they must have had a passionate relationship . all of this is well borne out in the film . to this end  the cast has been well selected with both emily blunt and rupert friend giving sound performances as victoria and albert .  br    br    spoiler alert  the historical accuracy is somewhat questionable as at no time did prince albert get shot while defending victoria . there was at least one assassination attempt when they were out together  but nobody was struck by the shot  s . i also found it odd that little was done to expand on the allegedly intimate relationship between victoria  s mother and sir john conroy . it is quite likely that this relationship was the true reason for victoria  s distaste for both her mother and conroy . i also found it odd that there was an attempt to portray the relationship between victoria and lord melbourne as erring on the romantic  or at least having the potential to become romantic . he was already in his late    s when victoria came to the throne  and while marriages between older men and young women were common in that era  the movie portrays melbourne as being a dashing   something and rival to prince albert . there were apparently rivals to albert  but she could never have married even slightly below her station in life  and albert was one of only a handful who would have been acceptable in any case .  br    br   all in all i have spent worse times at the cinema  and brownie points with my wife can  t be a bad thing either .  
i figured that any horror film with orson welles in it would be weird . necromancy sure was but it was a little too weird for it  s own good . the film does indeed have a creepy feel as it deals with a coven of satanists  witches in a small town and a young woman  s attempt to escape them . the director though seems to be deliberately trying to confuse the audience by using flashbacks and dream sequences . by the finale  there are too many unanswered questions . what  s worse  as the story is so confusing  it  s pretty hard to root for any of the characters . it seems odd that welles would agree to headline this film especially since he doesn  t have that much to do . maybe someday they will put out a tape of the outtakes and bloopers from this movie . now that would really be fun   
it is queen victoria  s misfortune to be defined as an historical figure according to her relationships with men . shortly after she succeeded to the throne she came under the influence of her prime minister lord melbourne to the extent that she became known as  mrs melbourne  . after the death of her beloved husband  albert  she was referred to as  the widow at windsor   and years later  a long friendship with her scottish ghillie john brown earned her the nickname  mrs brown  . such is the price women paid in a patriarchal society . the reality is somewhat different and  young victoria  goes some way towards putting the record straight  depicting the queen as an intelligent and independent young woman conscious of the inequities in her society and at her court . courts have always been hotbeds of seething jealousy  plotting and counter  plotting  naked ambition and sometimes  outright murder . as an   year old innocent  victoria ascended to her uncle  s throne  thus initiating a positive orgy of intrigue and a power  struggle between prime minister lord melbourne and his rival sir robert peel . lord melbourne cuts a dash in the old public school man kind of way with his finely  honed cynicism and his well  polished gems of advice . hardly surprising then that the young queen finds herself in awe of him  and even perhaps a little in love  an awe that he ruthlessly exploits  drawing a fine line between attempted seduction and attempted sedition as he forces his policies through against victoria  s better judgement . into the arena rides prince albert  on a mission from king leopold of belgium  keen on political rapprochement between great britain and the rest of europe . at first a reluctant suitor  he soon falls in love with the english queen and palliates the influence of the politicians and courtiers .  the young victoria  is a beautifully photographed  brilliantly  scored and very sumptuous movie . i note that it has been criticised in some quarters for this sumptuousness as if a movie about   th century english royalty should somehow have shown the empress of india and her family living in rags in a filthy workhouse . . . . . . . . i don  t think so . i must single out the remarkable miss emily blunt whose beauty reminded me of the young princess margaret  s . hers is obviously the pivotal role  and she has absolutely no trouble in dominating the film despite strong performances from mr jim broadbent  miss miranda richardson and miss harriet walter  all immeasurably more experienced . the music is suitably regal and forms a cohesive part of the whole movie without being in any way obtrusive . the fact that britan flourished more under its two great queens  elizabeth the first and victoria  than at any other time is a matter feminists might like to make more of  but  i suspect  like prime minister margaret thatcher really powerful women make them feel uncomfortable . if you can work out why there might be a ph . d . in it .  
i  ve given up trying to figure out what version of this i  m watching . the copyright at the end indicates     . and though this is not the important bit of my objection to this film  i will say that watching a film obviously made in the aquarian age  including long haired hippie chicks and odious station wagons  but with a     s synth soundtrack is unsettling . extremely unsettling .  br    br   my main objection here is how dare the filmmakers bury cute  as  a  button pamela franklin alive . how dare they .  br    br   seriously she  s all like adorable and stuff but in the two movies i  ve seen her in  this crapfest and the otherwise excellent legend of hell house  they kill her off .  br    br   i would like to put the film industry on notice . pamela franklin has apparently retired from the business but if she ever decides to do another film and some blasted cur of a director attempts to kill her off i shall ask him to step outside .  br    br   no one beats up on pamela franklin and gets away with it . i am quite cross . the fury has been unleashed .  br    br   for b  movie fans seeking out a crapfest  you could do much worse than this . on the plus side  this is not a film which involves satanism in a peripheral and circumspect way  this movie is a hardcore satanic film .  br    br   wall  to  wall satanic ceremonies  baphomets  hallucinations  a ludicrous rat attack  what else could you ask for .  br    br   this excellent stuff is quite nearly ruined by the baffling grafted  on     s synth soundtrack  which is about as mismatched to a film as it is possible to be . the soundtrack reminded me of something you  d hear on the equalizer . it  s really bad .  br    br   also  they made pamela franklin squash her charming english accent  which was also quite rude  if not a cruel atrocity  against the viewer  such as you might find covered by the universal declaration of human rights . i say that we have a right to hear pamela franklin speak in her own voice . who  s with me  i could forgive everything else about this film if they didn  t abuse pamela franklin . and so i throw the gauntlet down  sirs   anyone who messes with pamela franklin messes with me .  br    br   even in a fictional context .  br    br   good day  sirs .  
i saw this on the big screen and was encapsulated with it . the period of queen victoria  s younger years are a mystery and this is a perfect description of how a young girl was thrusted into one of the highest roles in the world .  br    br   the script is perfect  the acting is amazing  the history and attention to detail is out of this world . emily blunt is perfect as victoria . funny how her mother is played by elizabeth the  st and william iv is played by prince albert   think blackadder  .  br    br   this portrayal of victoria shows that she was a rebellious young woman once  i  m sure she would have been on jeremey kyle show if it had been around then  my mother and her boyfriend are trying to steal my life  .  br    br   a perfect piece of a major part of british and commonwealth history .  
the only previous gordon film i had watched was the kiddie adventure the magic sword        though i followed this soon after with empire of the ants        he seems to be best remembered  however  for his sci  fi work of the     s .  br    br   anyway  i happened upon this one in a dvd rental shop hadn  t i noticed orson welles  unmistakable figure on the sleeve  i probably wouldn  t even have bothered with it  since i know the film under its original title  necromancy  i  d seen a still from it on an old horror tome of my father  s the actor  s presence in a film about diabolism seemed like a great idea which couldn  t possibly miss  but the end result  particularly in this bastardized edition  is a disaster  i honestly felt sorry for welles who looks bored and  rather than in his deep and commanding voice  he mutters the inane demonic invocations almost in whispers    br    br   the plot is  basically  yet another retread of rosemary  s baby        a couple is invited to a remote community under false pretenses and soon discover themselves to be surrounded by diabolists . the girl  played by pamela franklin  ostensibly has supernatural powers  passed on from her mother  who appears intermittently throughout to warn her  though  as delivered in an intense manner through clenched teeth  the latter  s speeches end up being largely incoherent and the fount of immense hilarity every time she appears   and is expected to revive welles  deceased young son from the dead   for what it  s worth  franklin  a genre regular  right down from her debut performance in the innocents        isn  t bad in her role  which requires some nudity and experiences several semi  eerie hallucinations during the course of the film   hubby michael ontkean  however  isn  t up to the challenge of his john cassavetes  like character . some of the other girls look good as well  notably lee purcell  whose belated decision to help franklin in escaping from town eventually proves her undoing .  br    br   events come to a head in an incredibly muddled climax  which sees the satanists ultimately turning on franklin and have her take the revived boy  s place in the coffin  that  s gratitude for you   . while the added scenes do stick out  the hilarious opening ceremony and other would  be erotic embellishments   the overall quality of the film would have still been poor without them then again  this particular version is further sunk by the tacked  on electronic score  which is wholly inappropriate  and cheesy in the extreme   
this is on my top list of all  time favourite films  it is a fantastic and insightful film . it was historically interesting and great to watch  i thought the acting from emily blunt was fantastic and rupert friend was a fantastic albert  the best actor was chosen for albert . the costumes were gorgeous and the settings and scenes such as the opera house  were amazing and detailed . i just loved it  all of it  i loved the childhood scenes were she  s getting  bullied  by john conroy . and where her mother says she has to walk stairs with an adult . one again the writers have done it  they produced this fantastic script   br    br   it thoroughly deserves the awards they got .  oscar and bafta wining sandy powell  for costume design . a bafta for best make  up and hair  an oscar in best achievement in art direction  best achievement in costume design  best achievement in makeup . broadcast film critics association awards for best costume design  also nominated for best actress emily blunt . cdg for excellence in costume design for film  period . hampton  s international film awards for an audience award for best narrative film . pfcs for best costume design . sudbury cinefest  doesn  t say what for . vfcc for best actress  emily blunt .  overall   wins and   nominations  that pretty good  http   www . imdb . com  title  tt         awards have a look yourself  its really interesting  personally rupert friend should have got an award .  
like most comments i saw this film under the name of the witching which is the reissue title . apparently necromancy which is the original is better but i doubt it .  br    br   most scenes of the witching still include most necromancy scenes and these are still bad . in many ways i think the added nudity of the witching at least added some entertainment value  but don  t be fooled  there  s only  scenes with nudity and it  s of the people standing around variety . no diabolique rumpy pumpy involved   br    br   this movie is so inherently awful it  s difficult to know what to criticise first . the dialogue is awful and straight out of the troma locker . at least troma is tongue in cheek though . this is straight  faced boredom personified . the acting is variable with pamela franklin  flora the possessed kid in the innocents would you believe   the worst with her high  pitched screechy voice . welles seems merely waiting for his pay cheque . the other female lead has a creepy face so i don  t know why pamela thought she could trust her in the film  and the doctor is pretty bad too . he also looks worringly like gene wilder .  br    br   it is ineptly filmed with scenes changing for no reason and editing is choppy . this is because the witching is a copy and paste job and not a subtle one at that . only the lighting is ok . the sound is also dreadful and it  s difficult to hear with the appalling new soundtrack which never shuts up . the  ghost  mother is also equally rubbish but the actress is so hilariously bad at acting that at least it provides some unintentional laughs .  br    br   really this film  the witching at least  is only for the unwary . it can  t have many sane fans as it  s pretty unwatchable and i actually found it mind  numbingly dull   br    br   the best bit was when the credits rolled  enough said so simply better to this poor excuse for a movie like the plague   
enjoyed the movie very much . certainly will leave the audience wanting to know more  and there is truly a lot more historically to find out   br    br   did the production team fall to the temptation of over dramatization  particularly of the shooting event  there is a ton of interesting accurate material hinted at  prince albert  s contribution to uk and the monarchy warrants a movie on it  s own but granted that was apparently not part of the intention here .  br    br   the costumes and sets are especially good but am i alone in thinking that this production  which judging by the length of titles at the end was certainly not a cheap one  wanted badly for a british court historical etiquette expert beyond the duchess of york  i . e . did princess victoria really stuff an entire truffle  rissole    into her mouth while speaking to the prime minister in the company of his majesty with her mouth full   br    br    could never really felt that sympathetic to victoriain this movie  or indeed in her shoes at all . yet loved the casting of the principals  whose acting was convincing  so did the script really allow us to really get to know them well  i always felt like a totally detached  uninformed outside observer  much more so than with  mrs . brown  or even  the queen  . yet to be honest i still could not take my eyes off the screen  except that is for some of the more avant  garde camera techniques which were distracting from time to time .  
i imagine that the young people involved in the making of  necromancy   aka  the witching  plus a bunch of other titles  must have felt a little weird being on the set of a horror movie with the man who participated with john houseman in the production of a proletarian play   the cradle will rock    scared people into thinking that aliens were invading   the war of the worlds    and directed and starred in the greatest movie of all time   citizen kane   . and now orson welles was starring in a third  rate flick about a satanic cult .  br    br   there  s basically nothing creative about this movie . lots of nudity  but the background music always proves really distracting . even if the movie wasn  t particularly predictable  it still wasn  t worth seeing . how low welles had sunk . fortunately  over the final thirteen years of his life  he narrated the documentary  bugs bunny superstar   about the warner bros . cartoons of the     s  and hosted the documentary  the man who saw tomorrow   about nostradamus  . i recommend those two  but not this one . just avoid it .  br    br   also starring pamela franklin and michael ontkean .  
the young victoria is a beautiful film and has presented queen victoria in a different light to what everyone thinks about her . the films wipes away the  i am not amused  impression of queen victoria and shows she was a cheerful young woman .  br    br   as i love history  particularly victorian history  you can imagine my reaction when i first saw this film advertised  i was so so so excited and counted down the days until it came to the cinemas . i was a little worried that it wouldn  t be historically accurate  but it was and i loved it . i found out new facts about queen victoria that didn  t know before and it interested me greatly .  br    br   queen victoria in many lights was one of our all time greatest monarchs  and this film paints a picture of her real personality and what her life was like . she was treated so badly by her mothers adviser sir john conroy  because he wanted britain to have a regency . this was what inspired victoria to be a fantastic queen  which she was  the romance between her and albert was so deep and this was very well done by emily blunt and rupert friend  who were both brilliant  the young victoria is a heart felt love story but at the same time a great look into a major part of british history . . . i love it               . . . no doubt   
when you  re making a thriller about witchcraft  i believe you should do everything you can to help the audience suspend its disbelief in order for the movie to work . some pictures   rosemary  s baby   for example  have accomplished this others  like  necromancy   haven  t and the potentially scary material comes across as corny and goofy . this film does have some atmospheric moments  but about half the dialogue is hard to make out  sometimes it  s poorly recorded  at other times just incomprehensible  and orson welles  who gets top billing  has a role that is so beneath him that you have to assume he was desperate for the work . or maybe he was simply having fun . . . . .        
i always have a bit of distrust before watching the british period films because i usually find on them insipid and boring screenplays  such as the ones of  for example  vanity fair or the other boleyn girl   but with a magnificent production design  european landscapes and those thick british accents which make the movies to suggest artistic value which they do not really have . fortunately  the excellent film the young victoria does not fall on that situation  and it deserves an enthusiastic recommendation because of its fascinating story  the excellent performances from emily blunt  paul bettany and jim broadbent  and the costumes and locations which unexpectedly make the movie pretty rich to the view . and i say  unexpectedly  because i usually do not pay too much attention to those details .  br    br    victorian era  was  in my humble opinion  one of the key points in contemporary civilization  and not only on the social aspect  but also in the scientific  artistic and cultural ones . but i honestly did not know about the origins from that era very much  and maybe because of that i enjoyed this simplification of the political and economic events which prepared the landing of modern era so much . i also liked the way in which queen victoria is portrayed  which is as a young and intelligent monarch whose decisions were not always good  but they were at least inspired by good intentions . i also found the depiction of the romance between victoria and prince albert very interesting because it is equally interested in the combination of intellects as well as in the emotions it evokes . the only fail i found on this movie is that screenwriter julian fellowes used some clichs of the romantic cinema on the love story  something which feels a bit out of place on his screenplay .  br    br   i liked the young victoria very much  and i really took a very nice surprise with it . i hope more period films follow the example of this movie the costumes and the landscapes should work as the support of an interesting story  and not as the replacement of it .  
i was about  when this dire monstrosity of a film was released . in the uk it was advertised on the tv in the summer of     for weeks  as if it were some incredible blockbuster film . it was actually the first film i ever saw at a cinema  and i was put off going for years to come . the following week i was invited to go and see the new film  star wars  and i declined . to this day i have never seen it  in protest at having to watch sasquatch  seriously  even at the age of  i could tell that i was watching garbage . it  s just so bad  it  s almost unbelievable . rambling nonsense that should never have made it to a cinema . i was however amused to read all these years later that the director never directed again  just as well as far as i  m concerned . avoid at all costs     
overall  i thought it a very nice movie  i hate to use the word  nice  as it  s rather dry but it was very beautiful to look at and the central performances by rupert friend and emily blunt were very strong . what i liked most was that despite the gleaming aesthetics of the costumes and the settings  all gilded and shiny  this aspect never took over the heart of the film which was good  strong writing  thank you julian fellowes d   nothing too flamboyant or saturated with pomp  i . e not sensationalised greatly  when victoria is dragged out of bed to be informed she is now queen  well you couldn  t get a less glamorous hand over of the crown  . it was paced gently and every line in the film held its worth .  br    br   undoubtedly the portrayal of the love between victoria and albert  though somewhat fairytale  ish on the face it  was in fact a slow burning candle and friend and blunt did well to show how effortlessly these two people  fitted  together despite the union being initially arranged  my fave bit was when they come home after hunting and victoria simply hugs her new husband from behind so much said without any words  that  s what film is all about  . blunt held her own beautifully as well  she has a face that demands your attention and i can  t not mention the costumes that she wears  every one simply gorgeous . if i was blunt i would have trouble parting with any of them  the rest of the ensemble cast all played their roles well  harriet walter as queen adelaide being a highlight .  br    br   the only qualm i have  is that it lacked a sense of urgency  or an event that could have made the movie a little more exciting   it was rather tame  i don  t know  i wanted  something  to happen that would have victoria draw out some strength and prove her worth a little more . when she and albert argued  i loved it  i could have done with some more pivotal dramatic moments  though that may be just me .  br    br   lastly  at the risk of sounding all patriotic  it did renew a sort of pride and awe in the crown and what it takes to be in such a position  especially in one so young . this may be in part to the fact that this film  s snap shot of victoria  s young life is immediately apt to what i have been writing for one character of mine in  the sword  the scion  but nevertheless  it did flag up those feelings  for those following my book  can you guess what character victoria so aptly reflects   it might have been in part to the film displaying how ridiculous the government were back in those times as they didn  t seem to give two hoots about the poor and dispossessed of the nation  which only in turns renews appreciation that queen victoria and prince albert were so active in this domestic domain . it made the government appear rather useless  nothing much has changed then i suppose .  br    br   blog on films and books http   sempergratis . blogspot . com  
this is a typical low budget      s mess . it  s supposed to be a docudrama about a crew hunting bigfoot through the pacific northwest . every character is a stereotype  from the native american to the cynical cowboy . the acting and narration are a complete joke . if you  re hoping to see a lot of bigfoot footage  keep hoping . there won  t be much  and what there is you could do in your backyard with a cheap costume and a camcorder it would look better than this movie .  br    br   it  s not that i don  t like      s low budge fare i do . it  s that this is such a mess of bad acting  bad characters  lousy story and no thrills that you just can  t enjoy it . it does not fit into the  so bad it  s good  category  nor can you get a laugh out of how bad it is without the help of illicit substances . it  s mostly a lot of boring footage of the people camping  hiking  riding horses  and watching wild life . there is a bigfoot attack which is completely stupid supposedly our friend sasquatch is throwing rocks down on the campers from above while they fire their rifles back at him . by that point you are rooting heavily for bigfoot to drops some rocks on the filmmaker  s heads and stop the whole thing .  
this is one of the unusual cases in which a movie and the novel on which it is based are both great . maybe this is because gorris  takes nabokov  s initial ideas and gives them a different interpretation . the final consequence is a point of view over luzhin which dignifies him more than the nabokov  s one .  br    br   the only thing in the movie which i don  t like is the influence of valentinov  s on luzhin  s destiny . i can  t imagine nabokov creating a person like valentinov and giving him so great influence on novel  s argument .  
any time a movie is so myopic in its desire to present a particular ending or viewpoint that it simply doesn  t bother with an actual story  it  s annoying . those are the types of movies where the ending or viewpoint is conceived first  and the story simply tacked on . for this reason we often talk of the story  jumping through hoops  as it twists about  trying in vain to progress to the preordained ending in a logical fashion .  br    br   the story in  comet over broadway  doesn  t just jump through hoops  it  s a three ring circus . it  s so ludicrous  so ill  conceived  so disingenuous that  if you are prone to speaking aloud to the screen  you will be carrying on quite a rant before it  s through .  br    br   the central theme of this screenplay cesspool is that of a woman choosing between family and profession . since it  s all so horribly muddled it will end up offensive to people of either opinion . so  in the end there  s no point to the story  the theme becomes irrelevant and  as is often the case with poor screenplays  the acting doesn  t save a thing .  
what more can be said  i have not been this fascinated with a young actress since cate blanchett burst upon the scene over ten years ago . and although both blanchett and blunt have played queens now  seems to be the benchmark for up and coming actresses   the roles are complete polar opposites .  br    br   simply put if you are looking for high passion  compelling drama  and machiavellian intrigue  this is not the movie for you . this isn  t to say that the script or direction was bad  its just that the subject of the film did not lead too dramatic a life when compared to other notable royals like elizabeth i  anne boylen  henry viii  henry v  henry ii and elainor of acquitane . these are people whose lives were the stuff such as good soap operas are made of and whose policies and decisions altered the course of british  and in most cases  world history . victoria  in contrast  ascended the throne without incident  she quasi  governed a nation that was fast becoming a global power due to industrialization and the rise of the navy  her state had a stable government led by competent and dynamic politicians  and she married young had a harmonious family life . the facts of her life are not the sturm und drag such as powerful dramas are made of .  br    br   the heart of the film  aside from the attempt to dramatize her stultifying upbringing and the machinations surrounding her throne  is the story of the one thing that was truly shocking and surprising about her reign  a love story . marriage made for financial or political reasons is with reason not necessarily the place to look for world shaking passion  yet victoria will always be remembered in history as being sort of a patron saint marital fidelity  happiness and ideal family life . thus  central to the film is the budding love of victoria and her prince albert . i was very taken with rupert friend  s characterization of albert whom he portrayed as a kind  patient  somewhat earnest and maybe a touch naive young man  looking to  do good in the world and help  . in short  he is a good man with a good heart  not the most dynamic figure to base a drama around  but as that is not the point of the story  that does not matter . the heart of the character shines through thanks to friend  s understated yet earnest performance .  br    br   as for the queen  well . . emily blunt is sublime . her beauty cannot be denied  but she is more than something pretty to look at her face is like quicksilver because of her expressiveness . the slightest arch of the eyebrow  glance of the eye or slight wry smile delivers so much . again  this is not a bombastic performance of heavy speeches and impassioned pleas  its not that kind of movie . but what ms . blunt does do with the role is show the simple humanity of the character with potent subtlety .  br    br   for example  we see the joie de vivre that has been kept in check by victoria  s mother  miranda richardson  and her scheming adviser  lover conroy expressed in the simple things like victoria trying to sketch her dog . we see her delight and fascination upon first meeting albert by her eyes being continually drawn to him . we see her nervous and overwhelmed when addressing parliament upon her ascension . and my favorite scene of all in the film  we see her nervous  happy  and hopeful as she steels herself to do what really most women never have to do in their life  ask the man she loves to marry her  a proposition so ridiculous for those times  and some would say now  that victoria bursts out in nervous laughter before she can even say  marry me  . again  this is not a movie for over the top larger than life expressions  but more a study in the subtleties of a character and making the little things say so much .  br    br   so  overall  i judge the film by what it is and what it tried to do and as such i give it a  . i felt that some of the politics could be better explained and that some very fine actors were wasted with little do and little character development  namely miranda richardson as the duchess of kent  and the characters of conroy and lord peal . again  the film need not have spent a large amount of time on those characters  but a little more exposition would have helped to explain the political environment . also i would have loved to have seen more of the adjustment to married life between victoria and albert  but that may be just my greed for more scenes between friend and blunt .  br    br   in summary  don  t view this film in terms of a historical drama but for what it really is  a love story between two characters that happen to be historical figures . i give this film a solid  for wonderful lead performances  brilliant costumes and scenery and the magnificent victoria of emily blunt . and anyone who has any shred of romance left in them  you will be touched by the end of this movie . god save the queen .  
as a teenager  i was pretty into the whole bigfoot thing  i read the books and followed the reported sightings . as a more jaded adult  i  ve largely given up on the big guy now  but don  t mind watching the odd movie when i come across one . this one had a few strong points to it  mainly  the recreations of two of the more famous bigfoot encounters  the ape canyon incident of     and the bauman incident of c .     as related to and by teddy roosevelt  both of which i  m somewhat familiar with from that youthful reading i did . the movie takes for granted that both incidents involved a sasquatch  whereas both incidents have more plausible explanations  but the recreations were well done . there  s also homage paid at the beginning of the movie to the famous patterson video  again taking for granted its authenticity . the sasquatch encounter at the end of the movie was also very well done and had a very creepy feel to it as the sasquatch were portrayed mainly in the shadows or as hairy feet running past the terrified men . unfortunately  in total those four things might have composed about   minutes  whereas the movie as a whole is slightly over an hour and a half .  br    br   it  s the fictional story  done in a documentary style  of an expedition to a remote area of northern british columbia  to the suspected home range of the sasquatch . a computer had targeted this area based on sightings and  in one of the more amusing scenes in the movie  the computer also used  eyewitness sightings  to draw a picture of a sasquatch that looked exactly like the  creature  of the patterson video  aside from those   minutes i mentioned  we basically watch this expedition travel  which means we get to watch a bunch of guys go on a long camping trip . i  ve been on camping trips with the guys . let me tell you  they  ve never been worthy of a movie . interspersed among the long stretches of boredom are some nice wildlife shots  although one suspects that canned footage was used  or perhaps even captive animals performing as wild animals  and there are some spectacular scenery shots  except that the scenery isn  t of northern british columbia  it  s from national parks in oregon .  br    br   i did appreciate that we were never given a real picture of the sasquatch  so we didn  t have to deal with the bad makeup that would have been part of this .      
one of those beautifully intense movies that draws us so intimately far in  it ends much to soon  than were left looking at the screen like   no they didn  t    lol . good performances all around  the acting is marvelous with emily blunt simply outstanding  i knew she would give a solid  convincing performance catching young victoria  s regality  temper  and vulnerability through out the entire movie . also  the production is outstanding in every way style  substance and sensitivity . a remarkable glimpse at a remarkable time in britian  s history told via a very personal and touching biography of the school age princess until her reign as queen  later marrying prince albert  than ending with the birth of their first of nine children . it had a well written screenplay and flawless editing . rupert friend as the ever so patient and compassionate young prince albert vying to win the young queen  s attention  than securing her love  before lord melbourne  paul bettany   was engrossing to watch . just as engrossing was the relationship between the teenage victoria and her mother  which was fury at times  as with her mother and king william  whom also disliked her mother  . the acting and scenes were captivating  highly emotional .  br    br   i would recommend this to anyone interested in the historical and political situation existing in that era  and indeed  anyone who loves a compelling true romance story  
fiction film  it lists as based on a story though it does have a  documented by  credit  about a group of scientists going into the wilds of canada to try and find a bigfoot .  they want to capture one and then attach a tracking device  . its lots of scientific mumbo jumbo mixed in what is really a dull film of a bunch of people wandering around in the wilderness . there are some attempts at creating tension and scares  but to be perfectly honest there is nothing here worth seeing outside of some great looking shots of the wilds . this is a perfect definition of an exploitation film  it promises you so much  a look at bigfoot  but in reality it delivers very little . recommended for insomniacs only  
having to have someone hold your hand whenever walk up or down stairs  having others taste your food before you eat it  facing an over  bearing mother  these are only a few of the obstacles which the young victoria has to deal with in this film  there  s also the various power struggles going on  as well as attempts on her life  . needless to say  it makes for very fascinating and informative viewing .  br    br   i had only previously seen emily blunt in the devil wears prada  and little else  . as she was in that film  she is once again the standout here . i was extremely impressed with her portrayal of the young victoria  and thought she handled the role very well . she makes the transition from the young victoria we meet at the start of the film to the queen victoria she becomes later entirely believable . blunt is perfectly cast in the role  showing all the different sides  from the vulnerable  to the strong  from the young victoria who makes mistakes to the queen who takes control  . not enough can be said about emily blunt in this role . she  s  quite simply  exquisite  commanding your attention every second she  s on screen . she keeps you transfixed up to and including the final shot of the film .  br    br   rupert friend proves to also be well  cast as victoria  s love interest  and eventual husband   prince albert . the actors have nice chemistry and you absolutely believe in their developing relationship . they have their disagreements  but you can tell that they are in love . blunt and friend are excellent in every scene that they share and keep you interested in what is happening between victoria and albert . the other actors in the film are also very good . paul bettany as lord melbourne  miranda richardson as the duchess of kent  mark strong as sir john conroy and jim broadbent as king william . there is not a single bad performance in this film . the less  focused  upon people are well  portrayed also  given what little screen time they have . even victoria  s dog  a cavalier king charles spaniel named dash  is memorable and makes an impact in the film .  br    br   although the movie does tend to skip more than a few aspects of victoria  s life  especially at the end  and instead tells us what happened  with her and albert  on screen  what matters the most is what we actually see . this is  after all  a film about  the young victoria   not  the middle  aged victoria   nor  the old victoria   . while there are some embellishments made on history with this film  it remains focused on what it sets out to do  which is tell us the story of how the young princess rose to power .  br    br   the movie looks amazing  the costumes emily blunt wears are visually stunning and the music only adds to the film  never detracts from it . it  s exceptionally shot and  unlike a lot of films these days  this movie is actually a good length  as it doesn  t run on so long that you lose interest or feel that it  s needlessly being drawn out .  br    br   it goes without saying that what makes this film so great is emily blunt . she  s in fine form here  turning in another excellent performance and elevating this film above what it might have been  had another actress been cast in this rather important  historic role . this is one finely  crafted film  with excellent performances that should definitely be seen . if you have an appreciation for a fascinating look at a woman who was extremely significant in history  this is a must  see .  
after having red the overwhelming reviews this film got in my country  i but wanted to see it . but  what a disappointment  to see a bunch of one  dimensional characters in a plot that lacks of originality is not worth the money and the time to spend . i sometimes wonder about the filmcritics in switzerland .  
it is a tricky thing to play a queen . on the one hand  the actress has to be majestic and imperious  and on the other  she has to show vulnerability in a tough situation as well as the gathering of the courage and resolution to overcome the odds  since almost all movies about queens have that basic plot line .  br    br   emily blunt is quite radiant as victoria  but it  s not as full a performance as i  d like  no blame to her . i can  t help but feel like this is a mills  boon novel adaptation compared to a darker  more dramatic movie about another young queen  elizabeth . hence blunt doesn  t get to run the gamut of queenly emotions  at least not to the full extent  since she  s  y  know  the young victoria . to see the old victoria  check out mrs brown .  br    br   jean  marc vallee is an interesting choice of director for the movie . he last did c . r . a . z . y .  which was excellent and propelled him to fame . it was quite a different movie but i remember it looking gorgeous and that  s probably the main similarity between the two movies . but while vallee wrote c . r . a . z . y .  this one was by julian fellowes  and though i really enjoyed his gosford park  the story for this movie was much less interesting . i soon got lost with all the governmental politics . maybe it was less engaging because there was no potential beheading of the monarchy . i  m just saying .  
lame plot and two  dimensional script made characters look like cardboard cut  outs . needless to say  this made it difficult to feel empathy for any of the characters  especially the fianc he looked and acted more like a cartoon . in summary  i guess you could say it was on par with your typical made for tv drama . it uses just about every clich in the book . the tortured classical musician who wants to break  out and play salsa . the free  spirited fiance engaged to a  bean counter  personality she doesn  t love . i won  t list them or else it would be a spoiler because i  d be giving away the whole plot . the dancing was ok but nothing special . i  ve seen worse .  stars for good music . the band was really tight . i saw it on youtube . thankfully i didn  t pay good money to see it at a theater . i  m still a little shocked at how many great reviews this movie has garnished .  
the cinematic interests in the british monarchy continues with the young victoria      to       after having seen in recent years  the efforts with keira knightley  s the duchess  cate blanchett  s elizabeth films  and scarlett johansson and natalie portman  s take on the boleyn sisters with the other boleyn girl . more contemporary stories would include helen mirren  s award winning portrayal of the queen on the current reign of queen elizabeth ii at the turn of princess diana  s death .  br    br   each of the films mentioned featured stunning actresses with acting gravitas  ok  so some may dispute johansson  or were the flavour of their moment  and each film had a definitive moment in their historical character  s legacy that it becomes a no brainer to have those events featured  and in fact elizabeth had enough to span two films . however  the young victoria  as the title already suggests  is a lite  version of the young queen  s life  and if you  re looking for that definitive event  or the staple political intrigue that plague all royal households and their dealings with shady  self  serving politicians  unfortunately there  s nothing of depth here .  br    br   that  s not to say the young victoria is without . directed by canadian jean  marc vallee  best known for crazy  and written by julian fellowes  this film chronicles in very plain terms   the life and times of victoria  emily blunt  soon becoming the new it girl  when she was a child  the troubles she faced before coronation such as the eagerness of her mom the duchess of kent  miranda richardson  and her adviser sir john conroy  mark strong  to appoint themselves as joint  regent to her throne  as already planned for by reigning king william  jim broadbent  . as if that wasn  t enough  the political power play enters the picture with lord melbourne  paul bettany  being a prime minister  in  waiting trying to gain the trust of the new queen  and subtly plants his own trusted allies into positions within the palace . on one hand you  d understand the need for a young  and new queen to have trusted people in key positions  but on the other  are they really acting in her interests  or in the interests of others   br    br   even this angle of intrigue creeps into her romantic story with prince albert  rupert friend   where their relationship forms the bulk of the second half of the film  and pretty much everything already included in the trailers . for both  they  ve been brought up under the influence of others  and told each step of the way exactly what to do . even their union may seem like a firm registration of an alliance  if not for both lovers recognizing their common need to establish their own grounding  and to do so with the help of each other . instead of being pawns  there  s this constant search and probing of opportunities to break out of stifling  and at times absurd  rules and regulations . trust also becomes a much valued commodity  and loyalty too can be traded for wanting to set the slate clean .  br    br   however  all these themes become but a breeze through the narrative  from childhood to romance  marriage and children . in fact  there  s so much fast  forwarding here  especially the last few minutes filled with inter  titles  that it actually leaves the audience wanting for more  and room of course for another movie  which i suspect would probably not see the light of day  but perhaps a television series might pick up on the film  s response  and come out with a mini  series or such . it  s a pity that all the effort here in ensuring the gorgeous costumes  sets and art direction would be confined to a film that  s quite lightweight in theme and brief mention of issues  that they don  t really challenge the protagonists in order to allow for some overcoming of character  defining adversary .  br    br   with its star  studded cast  one would expect more  but one would be left wanting more instead . recommended for those who are ever curious about kings and queens in the british monarchy  only as a complement to other more engaging stories available in the other films already mentioned .  
i wanted to like this movie  but many elements ruined it for me . the use of a fisheye lens throughout and choppy editing did not give me a sense of being in the world of the meth head  but it did make me think i was watching mtv for a few short moments . the movie never did seem to go anywhere and the acting was truly an excellent example of over acting . i love movies that give us a glimpse into the seedy underworld  but this film couldn  t decide if it was a bad horror film or an even worse serious commentary on the horrors of addiction .  
princess victoria  emily blunt  is in line for the throne of england . the present king william  jim broadbent  is not well and may not live long . however  vicky  s scheming mother  the duchess of kent  miranda richandson  and her aide  john  mark strong  want to force victoria to sign papers declaring them to be the  regents  until she is older  since she is only   years of age . the young lady refuses  despite john slapping her around . it is another sign that victoria has a strong will and deep love for her country . yet  when william does pass away  shortly after her   st birthday  victoria knows she has a heavy duty before her . first  she must surround herself with the  right  advisers to govern wisely . she chooses handsome lord melbourne  paul bettany  who  although an older man  is mentioned as a suitor for vicky . which brings us to the young queen  s second major decision . sooner than not  the young queen should select her future mate  as it will bring stability to her life and to those of the kingdom  for an heir must appear in the coming years . meanwhile  in germany  some distant relatives of the british royal family are hatching some plans as well . handsome prince albert  rupert friend   of the saxon  coburg dynasty  is prodded by his father to court the young english royal . once he arrives at the palace  he is smitten and the feeling seems to be mutual . but  since he is a minor player on the map of royal match  making  can he succeed in winning her heart  this is a lovely film  made even better by a completely winning performance by emily blunt as victoria . yes  she is beautiful but it is her intelligent reading of the role that scores mightily . friend  too  does well  as do the other actors  including broadbent  richardson  bettany  strong  what a repulsive role    and the rest . also  the movie is gorgeously shot  costumed  and set  making it a visual treat in every way . if anything is lacking  it is an extra dose of dazzle  as the film seems a bit too straightforward and prosaic  at times  with a somewhat unimaginative edit . however  this is only a minor  minor point of argument in an overall very successful and gorgeous film . in short  young and old  should make time for young victoria . it is a most worthy film among     cinematic offerings .  
judging by the hype  and other reviews on this site  i was ready for an awesome horror movie focusing on junkies . what i got was complete crap focusing on junkies . i wonder if there  s another movie called  cookers  that these people reviewed  there are only  main characters  and none of them struck me as well  written or well  acted . basically the whole movie i just spent shaking my head and marveling at the stupidity of these drug addicts .  br    br   do yourself a favor . don  t rent this movie . rent  cabin fever  or some other decent horror movie . hell  rent  mary poppins   the animated penguins are scarier and more convincing than anything you  ll find in  cookers .   
this film is about the life of queen victoria during her youth and her first few years as the monarch of great britain .  br    br    the young victoria  has amazing production . every scene is designed and decorated to immaculate detail . the extravagant costumes  lavish locations and beautifully landscaped gardens all make  the young victoria  very impressive . i was the most amazed by the thoughtful cinematography . how every person is placed in relation to the background or foreground is well thought out  every scene is well composed . the scene that strikes me the most was when victoria talks to melbourne . melbourne was positioned in the middle of the door frame from victoria  s angle  while from melbourne  s angle victoria was situated between the space where melbourne held his arm on his hips .  br    br   story wise  it is far too compressed to be followed and understood by a person without historical knowledge of queen victoria . many events are rushed through or not even explained . i expected a grand scene of the coronation  and disappointingly it only lasted for a few seconds .  br    br   overall   the young victoria  is a good film  and it would have been even better if it was longer  so that events could be properly explained without rush .  
i see what the director was trying to do but he missed the mark . the main actor was really good but the editing around his moments takes you out of it . the camera work  ie lighting and exposer is kind of amateur which i could forgive if the direction was more fluent but it wasn  t . the sound was a bit off and that takes you out of the film as well . i see could see this director doing a little bit better in the future so not a total right off but don  t expect a dv movie nearly as good as   days later or anything  keep your expectations low and you  ll get more out of it . at least it was only an hour and a half . oh yeah and other than the lead the acting was pretty bad if you ask me . but i  m a movie snob so take that for what that  s worth .  
and that  s why historic  biographic movies are so important to all of us  moreover when they are so well done  like this one   br    br   before i saw  the young victoria   i knew a few things about queen victoria  but in the end i got much more knowledge about it .  br    br   emily blunt is simply great as victoria  who would guess that   and she probably will get a nomination at this years oscar  s . personally  i  m cheering for her . . .  br    br   for technical issues  i am pleased to say that is a very successful production  with wonderful art direction  set decoration and  of course  like it was expected to be  a terrific periodic costume design   br    br   the one drawback is that i want to see more and know more about this interesting queen  but foremost  incredible woman and mother   br    br   bravo  out of     
if this movie as meant to discourage people from doing drugs  it fails . i was ready to start using them i got waiting for something to happen and nothing ever really did . this movie is neither horror or drama . it  s just the paranoia of meth users . this movie may win an award for the using the  f  word so many times and so uselessly . it was not well stated  but i felt like they were making meth to replace meth they owed to someone . hector just got worse and more paranoid as the movie went on and the girl just got more hopeless . the ending really made no sense . the movie made no sense unless it was just showing how annoying is is to be stuck in a house in the middle of nowhere with a meth  head . i relied on the other feedback when i decided to watch this movie and the rating on this movie should be a much lower average .  
rupert friend gives a performance  as prince albert  that lifts  the young victoria  to unexpected levels . he is superb . as we know  queen victoria fell into a dark  deep depression after prince albert  s death and looking into ruper friend  s eyes i understood . the film doesn  t take us to his death but to an incident that may very well could have cost his life . an act of love . i believed it  or i should say  him . i believed what he felt was real . nothing or anybody gets anywhere near the delicacy and profundity of friend  s characterization . emily blunt is good but i didn  t believe for a minute she was victoria . no real sense of period . it may no have been her fault but her prince deserved the crown .  
i picked up tran scan from the library and brought it home . we have considered taking a trip out east and thought it would give us a feel of what it was like . the film was a total waste of time  if i went out to buy it i would call it tran scam when i saw that it costs    .  br    br   the dvd ran for  minutes and showed a roller coaster ride across canada with my stomach feeling ill as they went up and down and around curve with the film at high speed .  br    br   there was a lot of footage they probably shot on this and you would think that they could have made a better product . if i would of done this project i would of provided more footage  paused on road signs to let people know where they were and linger in places to view the scenery . to make a film like this it should of been   to   min . oh yes the case said it was in stereo  the whole film was a hissing sound from sped up car sound  thet could of at least put some music to it .  br    br   if you want a good cross canada film watch the railrodder  national film board of canada starring buster keaton  the one of the last film he made  in this comical film buster keaton gets on to a railway trackspeeder in nova scotia and travels to british columbia  
the   year reign of queen victoria is perhaps one of the most documented and popularly known historical reigns in british history . on the one hand  her story lacks the theatrics of earlier royals thanks to a change in social climate and attitudes  and on the other her story is one that perpetuates because it is notably human . taking on the earlier years of her life where the budding romance between herself and the german prince albert was taking forefront  director jean  marc valle who has only until recently remained in the unbeknownst shadows of the industry here takes victoria  s story and captures that human element so vital to her legacy . it  s a story that feels extremely humble considering its exuberant background  and yet that  s partly what gives it a distinct edge here that separates it from the usual fare .  br    br   taking a very direct and focused approach that centres in on a brief five or so year period between her ascension and marriage to albert  the young victoria does what so little period pieces of this nature offer . instead of attempting a sprawling encapsulation of such a figure  s entire life  valle instead opts to show one of the lesser known intricacies of victoria  s early years which are easily overlooked in favour of the more publicly known accolades . the result is a feature that may disgruntle historians thanks to its relatively flippant regards to facts and the like  yet never to let document get in the way of extracting a compelling story  writer julian fellowes sticks to his guns and delivers a slightly romanticised yet convincing portrayal . valle takes this and runs  making sure to fully capitalise on those elements with enough restraint to maintain integrity in regards to both the history involved and the viewer watching .  br    br   a major part in the joy of watching the young victoria play out however simply lies in the production values granted here that bring early      s regal britain to life with a vigorous realism so rarely achieved quite so strikingly by genre films . everything from the costume designs  sets  hair styles  lighting and photography accentuates the grandiose background inherent to victoria  s story without ever over  encumbering it . indeed  while watching valle  s interpretation come to life here it is very hard not to be sucked in solely through the aesthetics that permeates the visual element and then there  s the film  s score also which works tremendously to further the very elegant yet personal tones that dominate fellowes  script . entwining the works of schubert and strauss into victoria and albert  s story not only works as a point of reference for the characters to play with  but also melds to the work with an elegance and refrain that echoes composer ilan eshkeri  s original work just as well .  br    br   yet for all the poignant compositions  lush backdrops and immaculate costumes that punctuate every scene  the single most important factor hereand indeed to most period dramasare the performances of the cast and how they help bring the world they exist in to life . thankfully the young victoria is blessed with an equally immaculate ensemble of thespians both young and old that do a fantastic job of doing just that . between the sweet  budding romance of victoria  emily blunt  and albert  rupert friend  and the somewhat antagonistic struggles of her advisors and the like  spearheaded by a terrific mark strong and paul bettany   the conflicts and warmth so prevalent to fellowe  s screenplay are conveyed perfectly here by all involved which helps keep the movie from being a plastic  nice to look at but dim underneath  affair so common with these outings .  br    br   in the end  it  s hard to fault a work such as the young victoria . it  s got a perfectly touching and human sense of affection within its perfectly paced romance  plus some historical significance that plays as an intriguing source of interest for those in the audience keen on such details . of course  it may not take the cinematic world by storm and there lacks a certain significance to its overall presence that stops it from ever becoming more than just a poignantly restrained romantic period drama yet in a sense this is what makes it enjoyable . valle never seems to be striving for grandeur  nor does he seem content at making a run  of  the  mill escapist piece for aficionados . somewhere within this gray middle  ground lies the young victoria  sure to cater to genre fans and those a little more disillusioned by the usual productions beautiful  memorable but most of all  human .  br    br    a review by jamie robert ward  http   www . invocus . net   
as an ordinary movie  watcher i can  t say i enjoyed watching this one . it  s not too emotional for a drama  not too gripping for a thriller  not too fast for an action . plus  some moments of the movie are hardly credible . ok  i understand  soldiers become a bit out of their mind out there  but it  s hard to believe that a person would risk his life  carjack into the middle of a hostile city  and after being shouted at by a professor  s wife run away  without having asked a question  in a proper way  . it would seem terribly romantic if it were an animation or so  but it  s supposed to be a serious film about war . . there are several episodes like this  so the whole picture makes an impression that it  s just a raw preview of a movie  and it needs considerable work .  br    br   it feels like the movie makers wanted to create an image of an emotional brave soldier  but all these  curves  of his psychology seem simply unnatural .  br    br   this picture left a question in my head why  why they gave it an oscar  why six  and imho it  s the most thrilling part of the movie    
this is a poem on film  wonderfully presented and photographed with sensitive artistry . it captures the atmosphere of the time and place perfectly .  italy  s lake district in the twenties .  it  s a love story with a twist . the characters are unique and believable . the settings are deliciously exotic . some of the scenes    the funeral boat in the fog    the high long shot of the chess table in the centre of an intricately patterned tile floor    are beautiful images . and rather than the mandatory happy ending  this story has a bitter sweet one . if film is an art  this is close to a masterpiece .  br    br    
it figures this is a french film  lol  with the emphasis on young girls with much older men . . . why is it the french are so fixated on this kind of thing  when the age difference is this great  it really comes off as pervy  valentina cervi is beautiful  she bears a strong resemblance to olivia hussey  of zeffirelli  s    romeo and juliet  set in a similar period   but she looks about   and the actor playing tassi  her painting instructor  looks . . . well    is kind .  br    br   other posters have done the work of explaining the historical record  unusually detailed in this case  of the real artemisia  a great artist and one of the earliest recognized female painters of this period    th century  . her story speaks to us in modern times particularly because of the age  old accusation that  all great artists were men    she pretty much blasts that assertion to bits   and because the story of her rape trial is so poignant . not only was she clearly assaulted  and forced into a degrading sexual relationship  because in those days marriage to your assaulter was the only way to avoid social shame   but tassi was a serial rapist and possibly killed his wife and child .  br    br   the movie does a terrible disservice by inverting this truly fascinating and remarkable real life story   very dramatic and not in need of any  spicing up    because in some weird frencified way  it  s  hotter  to have an oversexed teenager drawing male sexual organs and having a hot love affair with a man old enough to be her grandfather . that  s  sexy    the truth is boring and seems too feminist  politically correct .  br    br   it also disturbs me that this is only part of artemisia life considered interesting enough to film . the fact that she painted for decades  her famous painting of judith beheading holfernes was painted after  not before the rape   that she was the first woman admitted to the prestigious florentine academy  that she went on to have children . . . oh that  s boring stuff . after all  that  s about a middle aged woman and they aren  t  hot  like teenagers .  br    br   i understand that there is a lot of creative license in making a film  or a book  about a real historical character . you need to create dialog  have subplots  create dramatic structure . certainly some details can be sacrificed   it  s no big deal if the dates are moved a few years  or if artemisia is played by a blonde actress  when we know from her self portraits that she was a brunette . . . and a big boned one  not a skinny minny   or something like that . but to turn her story around on her  and make rape into a romance is actually sick and disturbing . it  s even worse because the director is female . she should be horribly ashamed of herself   br    br   if you like this  and i know some people could care less about the real woman artist and just like period costumes and hot sex   you will probably like  dangerous beauty  with rufus sewell and catherine mccormack . similarly based on heavily re  written history  with lots of heaving bosoms and jewel encrusted goblets bon appetit   
despite some reviews being distinctly luke  warm  i found the story totally engrossing and even if some critics have described the love story as  mills and boon   so what  it is good to see a warm  touching story of real love in these cynical times . many in the audience were sniffing and surreptitiously dabbing their eyes . you really believe that the young victoria and albert are passionately fond of each other  even though  for political reasons  it was an arranged marriage . i did feel though that sir john conroy  who was desperate to control the young queen  is perhaps played too like a pantomime villain . as it is rumoured that he was in fact  the real father of victoria  as a result of an affair with her mother the duchess of kent  it would have been interesting to explore this theory . emily blunt is totally convincing as the young princess  trapped in the stifling palace with courtiers and politicians out to manipulate her . she brilliantly portrays the strength of character and determination that eventually made victoria a great queen of england  which prospered as never before  under her long reign . i believe word of mouth recommendations will ensure great success for this most enjoyable and wonderful looking movie .  
really  really     i know if you make a political war movie you will get noticed but this movie was just garbage . horrible in every sense . terribly inaccurate in so many ways . i have an easier time believing the president of the united states suiting up  flying a jet fighter  and shooting down aliens . it is easier to note the few things that were right . my jaw dropped when i saw some one say that this movie was the best in the last   years . it was overacted  seemingly pointless plot diversions  and had questionable cinematography at times .  br    br   x  box  youtube  acupat utilities did anyone check that these things did not exist in      it  s not like you had to do extensive research  it was only five years before this movie came out . i am an iraq war veteran and if you spent one day with an infantry platoon or an eod squad you would realize how b . s . this movie is . to compare this to platoon or saving private ryan is ludicrous . why don  t you just throw commando and red dawn in there too i think those might be more accurate .  br    br   if for some reason you can see past the unbelievable plot  the historical and factual discrepancies  then this movie might just be ok . nothing more . if you keep on hearing  oscar buzz   and have to add your own pompous review  go right ahead . as for me  i am writing the director to see if i can get my    minutes back .  
i went into this expecting not to like it i figured it would be terribly worthy and earnest  and rather plodding and dull .  br    br   it  s actually far better than that  and i found myself really enjoying it . i don  t know too much about queen victoria beyond what most know  married to albert  who died young  and she mourned him ever after . seeing the circumstances she grew up under was fascinating in fact i found myself wishing i  d seen more of the story  and i imagine we may see a sequel at some point .  br    br   visually the film is stunning . the sets and costumes are incredibly lavish without being too gaudy and over the top . the acting is top notch from everybody involved .  br    br   in a word  it was great   
i rented this film on netflix after it won all the oscars  to see if it was really that good .  br    br   the hurt locker is a very realistic portrayal  for the most part  of a group of soldier  s rotation in iraq . the film centers around will james  a reckless soldier who gets his adrenaline fix from taking risks  and defusing bombs .  br    br   where this film seems to lack in my opinion is the plot and direction of the movie . this film has no clear plot unlike other films such as black hawk down . what this film tries to do is focus more on the characters  and their different attitudes about the war . bigelow does an okay job of focusing on the characters  but there are many points in the film where the dialogue seems to drag . hurt locker is    minutes long  yet it feels like a  hour movie .  br    br   one scene in the movie that was particularly awful  and ruined the films perfect credibility  was the sniping scene halfway through the movie . it was both unrealistic  and very long .  br    br   overall  i thought this film was okay  but the reason i gave it a  instead of a   was because it was a major letdown for winning best picture at the oscars . i felt like this film could have been so much better considering saving private ryan lost best picture  but was much better than this film . another notable mention is black hawk down which only won  oscars . i honestly do not know how this won best picture .  br    br   if you are looking for an action packed war flick  rent black hawk down . this film will be forgotten in a year or two .  
apart from having the longest reign in british history    years   queen victoria also holds two other distinctions . she was  apart from our current queen  the oldest ever british monarch  living to the age of   . and she was also the youngest ever british  as opposed to english or scottish  monarch  coming to the throne as a girl of eighteen . and yet whenever television or the cinema make a programme or film about her  they seem far more interested in the older victoria than they do in the young girl the version of victoria with which modern audiences will probably be most familiar is judi dench in  mrs brown  .  the young victoria  tries to redress the balance by showing us the events surrounding her accession and the early years of her reign . it has the rare distinction of being produced by a former royal  sarah duchess of york  whose daughter princess beatrice makes a brief appearance as an extra .  br    br   there are three main strands to the plot . the first concerns the intrigues of victoria  s mother  the duchess of kent  a highly unpopular figure even with her own daughter  largely because of the influence of her adviser sir john conroy  who was widely rumoured to be her lover .  according to one unfounded rumour he  and not the late duke of kent  was victoria  s natural father  . the second strand concerns the growing romance between victoria and her german cousin prince albert  and the attempts of king leopold of belgium  who was uncle to both of them  to influence this romance .  leopold  s hope was to increase the prestige of the house of saxe  coburg  to which both he and albert belonged  . the third concerns one of the strangest episodes in british political history  the bedchamber crisis of      when supporters of the tory party  which had traditionally supported a strong monarchy  rioted because the young queen was perceived to favour the whig party and their leader lord melbourne  even though the whigs had historically supported a quasi  republican system of government  with the monarch reduced to a figurehead .  br    br   scriptwriter julian fellowes is known for his conservative views  and at times i wondered if this may have coloured his treatment of political themes  as he seems to lean to the side of the tories  the predecessors of the modern conservative party . their leader robert peel is shown as statesmanlike and dignified  whereas melbourne  for all his dash and charm  is shown as devious and uninterested in social reform . there may be some truth is these characterisations  but fellowes glosses over the fact that only a few years earlier the tories had opposed the reform act  which ended the corrupt electoral system of rotten boroughs  and that they had benefited from william iv  s unconstitutional dismissal of a whig administration .  br    br   lessons in dynastic and constitutional history do not always transfer well to the cinema screen  and this one contains its share of inaccuracies . prince albert  for example  was not injured in edward oxford  s attempt on victoria  s life  and melbourne  in his late fifties at the time of victoria  s accession  was not as youthful as he is portrayed here by paul bettany . king william iv certainly disliked the duchess of kent  who was his sister  in  law   but i doubt if he would have gone so far as to bawl abuse at her during a state banquet  as he is shown doing here . i also failed to understand the significance of the scene in which the duchess and conroy try to force victoria to sign a  regency order   the duchess  s constitutional position was made clear by the regency act      which provided that she would become regent if her daughter was still under eighteen at the time of her accession . no piece of paper signed by victoria could have altered the provisions of the act .  br    br   there are also occasional infelicities . in one early scene we see victoria and albert playing chess while comparing themselves to pawns being moved around a chessboard  a metaphor so hackneyed that the whole scene should have come complete with a  danger  major clich ahead   warning . yet in spite of scenes like this  i came to enjoy the film . there were some good performances  especially from miranda richardson as the scheming duchess and mark strong as the obnoxious conroy . it is visually very attractive  being shot in sumptuous style we have come to associate with british historical drama . jim broadbent gives an amusing turn as king william  although he does occasionally succumb to the temptation of going over the top .  although not as disastrously over the top as he was in  moulin rouge   .  br    br   the main reason for the film  s success  however  is the performances of emily blunt and rupert friend as the two young lovers victoria and albert . blunt is probably more attractive than victoria was in real life  but in her delightful portrayal the queen is no longer the old lady of the popular imagination  the black  clad widow of windsor who was perpetually not amused  but a determined  strong  minded and loving young woman . her love for albert  and their happy family life together  was one of the main reasons why the monarchy succeeded in reestablishing itself in the affections of the british people .  with the exception of george iii  victoria  s hanoverian ancestors had been notoriously lacking in the matrimonial virtues  . blunt and friend make  the young victoria  a touching romance and a gripping human drama as well as an exploration of a key period in british history .      
i was intrigued to see how a little  seen     film had somehow won the oscar for best picture of     and thus went to see the hurt locker . sadly  all i got for the two hours invested was the grim confirmation that this film had won awards purely for off  the  screen reasons .  br    br   the direction and visual style of this film is some of the weakest you will ever see . when it  s not busy being yet another bourne identity homage with dire  annoying  shaky cam  visuals  it shows off all the hallmarks of a second rate daytime soap opera in terms of lensing .  br    br   the  plot  is threadbare  the characterizations are about as well developed as rejected beetle bailey comic strip ideas and the dialogue  on the instances where the film gives up on being  minimalist  and for no apparent reason turns one or two soldiers into right chatterboxes  is some of the worst ever recorded . in fairness  the actors do the best they can in the circumstances  just not enough to obscure how bad the project is .  br    br   the whole film has the feel of it being intended as some kind of  mockumentary  that they clocked was bereft of humour and thus re  edited as best they could so as to pass it off as a serious drama .  br    br   if you spend two hours on this film they are two hours you will never get back  and two hours wasted that you will regret for the rest of your life .  
the legend of andrei konchalovsky  s towering  and a half hour poem to siberia is not to begin at once  because it must hold back for space  because it takes its time in roundabout explorations of half  remembered childhood memories in a turn  of  the  century backwoods village  yet the movie goes on picking up steam building in emotional resonance as though even the sounds and images which compose it become imbued by sheer association with their subject matter with that quality of fierce tireless quiet dignity that characterizes the soviet working spirit . konchalovsky celebrates soviet collectivity but in an almost revisionist way to paeans like soy cuba and invincible the mood turns somber and reflective . news of the revolution reach the secluded siberian village through the grapevine . the fruits of its labor reach it only when a world war calls for the young men to enlist . through all this  konchalovksy zeroes in on the individual  with care and affection to examine the bitter longing and regret of the woman who waited  years after the war for a fianc who never came back  waited long enough to go out and become a barmaid in a ship with velvet couches and which she quit years later to come back to her village to care for an aging uncle who killed the fianc  s father with an axe  the irreverent folly of the fianc who came back from the war a hero   years too late  came back not for the sake of the girl he left behind but to drill oil for the motherland  the despair and resignation of the middle  aged regional party leader who comes back to his small siberian village with the sole purpose of blotting it out of the map to build a power plant . the movie segues from decade to decade from the    s to the    s with amazing newsreel footage trailing soviet history from the revolution to war famine and the titanic technological achievements of an empire  terrific visuals here  all kinetic violence and skewed angles and flickering cramped shots of crowds and faces  but the actual movie focuses on the individual  on triumphs and follies small and big . by the second half a sense of bittersweet fatalism creeps in of broken lives that never reached fulfillment choking with regret and yearning .  it can  t matter   seems like the world is saying  to which konchalovksy answers  it must matter  because the protagonists keep on trying for redemption .  br    br   yet behind this saga of  man against landscape  something seems to hover  shadowy  almost substanceless  like the eternal old man hermit who appears in every segment to guide or repudiate the protagonists  sometimes a mere spectactor  sometimes the enigmatic sage a little behind and above all the other straightforward and logical incomprehensible ultimatums challenges and affirmations of the human characters  something invisible seems to lurk . ghosts of the fathers appearing in sepia dreams  repeated shots of a star gleaming in the nightsky  a curious bear  indeed the eternal old man himself konchalovksy calls for awe and reverence before a mystical land of some other order . in its treatment of a small backwoods community struggling against nature progress and time and in the ways it learns to deal with them  often funny bizarre and tragic at the same time  and in how the director never allows cynicism to override his humanism  it reminds me of shohei imamura  s the profound desires of the gods . when  in a dream scene  alexei tears through the planks of a door on which is plastered a propaganda poster of stalin to reach out at his  dead  father as he vanishes in the fog  the movie hints at the betrayal of the soviet dream  or better yet  at all the things lost in the revolution  this betrayal made more explicit in the film  s fiery denouement . the amazing visuals  elegiac and somber with a raw naturalist edge  help seal the deal . by the end of it  an oil derric erupts in flames and the movie erupts in a wild explosion of pure cinema .  
yes  this movie is a real thief . it stole some shiny oscars from avatar just because politicians wanted another war  hero movie to boost the acceptance  support   for the wars u . s . is still fighting today . i do not really want to go here into politics  but come on  this is more clear than the summer sky . hurt locker does not really have anything outstanding  no real plot at all . i really feel myself in the    s of hungary when the party told the people what to like and what not to like . the same propaganda movies were produced that time  only with the exception that those were black and white . even if we consider this title a reasonable piece of the  u . s . wars are cool  genre  you surely have much better movies to choose from .  
for anyone who wishes to get an impression of the soviet view of modern russian history this monumental film is a treasure . the story starts at the turn of the century       in the yellowish sepia colours of old photographs which improves to black and white during the middle of the century and to full colour when the story approaches modern times  i . e . the     s  .  br    br   the story focuses on a boy in a remote siberian village  who is marked by the arrival and arrest of an anarchist during the czarist era . he later joins the bolsheviks after the revolution and brings soviet communism to his village . his son  by the local beauty  fights the germans during the second world war . when he returns to the village  the oil industry takes off and we are treated to some soviet economic idealism .  br    br   this film is long and slow  but utterly logic and very well made . it can be seen in three parts .  
i was looking forward to kathryn bigelow  s movie with great anticipation after the endless hype and  oscars which it was awarded . unfortunately it really isn  t a good movie . the depiction of the situation certainly seemed to be accurate and believable on all counts  but beyond that the story simply came across as incomplete and the direction of the movie appeared to be uncertain and haphazard . the actors put in a good effort  but for me i didn  t really get what the movie was trying to be . it  s not as atmospheric and gripping as full metal jacket  not as epic as band of brothers  not as action packed as . . . well  anything . i certainly can  t see why it was nominated for so much  nor why people are  hyping it up  to these epic proportions . mind you  given the calibre of movies in the last couple of years i suppose there  s not a lot to choose from .  
it is a story of siberian village people from the beginning of   th century till the   ties . it is about passion and feelings  about russian soul  and very romantic . this movie is not action packed  it flowes slowely . in second part one can find great songs  russian romances . it is much more better than doctor zhivago . the director of this movie moved to america and made runaway train for example .  
kathryn bigelow and mark boal are already preparing a sequel about a young us corporal in afghanistan . he also happens to be a highly  qualified surgeon and is roaming freely around kabul  operating on wounded nato soldiers . on a particularly difficult mission  he casually picks up a sniper rifle and shoots osama bin laden from a distance of about     yards . he is then finally promoted to sergeant  but is unable to decide between a sniper and surgeon career  so he quits from the army altogether . one year later  frustrated with civilian life  he joins the navy and the last scene shows him proudly wearing a white uniform .  
i have seen the film a few days back on a video tape and even though it was hard to swallow it at one take  because of its length and story   i liked it very much . i was impressed first  by the script and then  by the realization of this script . the film takes you on a ride  but that is not an easy  joyful ride it goes through time and different political regimes and shows the influence of them to ordinary people  s lives . what i loved was the inner logic the film followed logic  which just like logic in life  was rather illogical and confusing at times but in the end  when i thought about it  all the events and twists made sense . it makes no sense though to try to re  tell the story as it spreads in more than   years of time . i also liked very much nikita mikhalkov  s character aleksei and the way he played it  as some critics would saw  with restless abandon . what i didn  t like about it  was that i think he later played characters that remind me of aleksei in films like  cruel romance   zhestokij romans  which i actually love  and to some extent in  the insulted and the injured    unizhennye i oskorblyonnye   .  sibiriada  shows  i think  what a great film  maker andrei konchalovski was before he went to hollywood and made forgettable films like  tango and cash  and less forgettable like  runaway train  . i would prefer  kurochka ryaba  to them . . .  
let  s start by the simple lines . from the viewer  s side  there a couple of good  director details   some points of view at the movie scenes that are nice . the special effects are good enough  a good acting  good scenery also . but the story is way too simple . it shows how a elite army bomb squad unit lives  acts and sometimes dies . it shows the drama of living in war . in my movie experience as a serious action movie  addicted  guy  i missed that click that gets my eyes and mind stuck on the screen . one of the things that need to be present in a movie in order to i consider it a good one is the ability of immerse the viewer in the movie reality and time . it didn  t happened to me . i stayed  conscious   for the entire movie .  br    br   honestly speaking  i think that this movie gained its place in fame based on the  subconscious  appeal of american patriotism  a healthy and genuine feeling  but not the adequate use as a movie fame generator . more than a movie about war  it grows its popularity based on that .  br    br   a simple thought if this was a world war ii or i movie  only changing time  with everything remained the same  would it be this awarded  sure not . why  because there are great ones that elevate the bar way to high .  br    br   compared against its rivals in the oscars  i don  t think that all of the prizes it won are correctly awarded .  
i was young film student in     when the union of the soviet filmmakers came to sofia bulgaria and premiered konchalovsky  s  siberiade   tarkosvky  s  stalker  and danelia  a  autumn marathon  . i was stunned by the cosmopolitan dimension of the art form . then and only then  i saw  siberiade   and    hours epic and was speechless . way better then bertolucci  s       . by far   br    br   hope andron will somehow get to the negative and make  director  s restored version full lenght  someday  on dvd of course  also i fiercely fought in defense of this cinema against most of my colleagues who were equating soviet film with bad taste  time is on my side .  
i went to see this movie simply to see what all the hype is about  and i was as disappointed as surprised about how it got     oscars and  .  rating on imdb as of today .  br    br   kathryn bigelow should be the luckiest director ever to win the best picture and best direction oscar for this sort of a really really bad movie and i wonder why  did the totally unrealistic  cowboy  bomb disposal  man storyline mean anything to somebody that i failed see  why did i keep getting the mental image that this movie was a remake of some old bad western movie about a cowboy doing  brave deeds  in the wild wild west infected with  evil  red indians but just that it was set in a different background this time  was it given the oscars because the director being ex of james cameron  and made it a nice underdog  gossipy  story for day time tv shows to munch on  or was it some sort of emperor  s clothes syndrome  where most people realized it was junk but just couldn  t say so because others didn  t seem to be saying it out aloud   br    br   and finally what was with that sniper scene where they showed the shell casing dropping in high  resolution  super  slow  mo as if to convey a  deep message  or something  something in the lines of  eod guys make good snipers all of a sudden and they will get the filthy terrorists all the time   was it just me who felt like there were so many bits and pieces here and there in the movie squeezed in for no apparent reason  and you can get the oscars for editing and directing for that    br    br   if you haven  t seen this yet  don  t waste your money on tickets . wait till they run it on tv in a few years . you are not going to miss much .  
this movie reminded me that some old black  white movies are definitely worth the look .  br    br   initially i had some reservations  however from the beginning of the movie until the end i was captivated . i was very impressed with the mixture of drama  suspense  comedy .  br    br   arthur askey  tommy gander  is hilarious and had me in stitches the whole time .  br    br   definitely add this movie to your movie  night for some light relief from the sometimes depressing and  too  powerful or overly  funny  movies of today .  
i decided to watch this one because it  s been nominated for oscar this year . i guess as many folks here i really wanted to like this movie  but ended up bored and disappointed . first scene was ok but the whole rest of the movie in  shaky hands  camera mode is really annoying .  br    br   i guess the main reason for making such a movie and nominating it for oscar is this  br    br   american  military machine   people  who makes money on war  urgently need an excuse or justification of war in iraq by bungling up something  sort of  patriotic .  br    br   why these  heroic  efforts of director and the main character to  inspire  the audience with an idea of  loving  war  like  a  drug   . . oh  please  come on  what a bore   br    br   watch this to get an idea of how low the movie academy can fall . . .  
a timeless classic  wonderfully acted with perfect location settings  conjuring a marvelous atmospheric movie . a simple story mingled with humor and suspense . i wish that a video was available in britain . i have seen this film on many occasions and it remains one of my favorites along with oh mr porter .  
 . . . and being let down bigger than ever before . i won  t make any direct references or anything here  but to say the least  this film is pathetic . if you  re military trained  don  t bother watching . i put it on the dvd with  friends wanting to watch a somewhat interesting action  war flick . why couldn  t i just have read the reviews first .  br    br   already at the first  bomb  scene the film has huge glitches  and they continue to show and become bigger and bigger . my  friends  not connected to the military in any way spotted a couple of the filmmaker  s mistakes almost as fast as i myself did and asked me if some of the things going on we  re realistic . well  as you might have guessed  they  re not  at all .  br    br   avoid this movie unless you  re able to overlook these completely idiotic and re  occurring mistakes being made .     for catching my interest at first .  
very few chess movies have been made over the last couple of years  but this one is more than just a chess movie its a story about the need to be loved and the need to win it  john toturro plays a psychologically challenged man  nothing matters to him accept   squares and   pieces  the game validates him as a person  when he looses a game he looses the one thing that makes sense to him and john torturro expresses this in a beautiful fashion  even the love of a woman was not enough to save him from his sad existence . it makes you wonder if there other luzon  s out there who obsess about the game  i am sure they are  if you are a chess enthusiast it won  t hurt to watch it . its an intelligent piece of work laid out properly and executed well  it achieves its objectives  unfortunately i doubt if there will be sequel .  
i didn  t think the french could make a bad movie  but i was  clearly  very wrong . as has been said before  this film essentially uses its title character as a point of departure its portrayal of her life and person have little or nothing to do with the real artemisia gentileschi .  br    br   the script is awful   pretentious  stilted  and vapid   and its rewriting of the facts is unusually offensive even in a genre that all too often makes its living by distorting  rather than retelling  history . along with some fairly decent set design  valentina cervi  s physical charms are the primary asset of this movie  and it  s obvious from the beginning that the filmmakers were aware of this too they waste no time in contriving various  erotic  sequences which have far more to do with titillation than with plot or character development . unfortunately  the appeal of seeing a pretty young girl in a state of feigned sexual arousal cannot  and does not  sustain this movie . the acting is unremarkable  and the score is all too generic despite an interesting chord or two . the cinematography is ok  and there are some pretty colors  but there are also some pretty ridiculous sequences using distorted  lens effects more appropriate for a     s freakout movie than a costume drama . in any event  the script leaves the camera dwelling all too often on artemisia  s body  and all too seldom on her paintings .  br    br   all told  a near  complete failure . it  s not intelligent or tasteful enough to be a serious film  and it  s too slow and pretentious to work as soft  core pornography . so the french can fail  after all   
i have seen the recent region  dvd of this movie displayed in the  horror  section in an oxford street store and also advertised as a  classic thriller  . in reality it is almost solely a vehicle for arthur askey  one of the most popular names in british comedy and light entertainment for over four decades .  br    br   perhaps his incessantly cheerful  exuberant and essentially good  natured humour comes as a bit of a culture shock to many accustomed to the sour and cynical flavour of much british comedy of the past twenty five years . however there are still those who appreciate his lively and cheery persona and total avoidance of pathos . askey was an idol of the great tommy cooper who frequently borrowed the  self  strangulation  gag that arthur attempts to entertain the stranded passengers with .  br    br   there is a striking  rare appearance by the under  rated linden travers  who makes an impact as the mysterious julie .  
this whole film should have lasted   minutes  maximum . although an interesting concept  theme  it really did not develop as a story . once the initial idea of a brave  stupid   bomb disposal expert  cowboy   are introduced  and this happens very early in the film  the rest is repetitious . characters were not explored  and aspects of the location and politics were ignored . there was some nice insight into the appalling difficulties faced by troops in such a foreign environment  and the difficulties in differentiating between friend and foe . but the way in which the unit operated stretched belief  individual performances were good  and special effects were adequate  but not enough to overcome the basic lack of content .  
in the colonies we  re not all that familiar with arthur askey  so i nearly skipped this film  which had its tcm preview recently  on account of the negative comments here on his appearance in  ghost train    which i expected to be thoroughly annoying . instead i was pleasantly surprised to find myself laughing audibly . the physical aspects of askey  s comedy and his timing when delivering a line suggest what you  d get if charlie chaplin and woody allen had a baby . there is no comparing him to bud abbott or any of the other usual purveyors of comic relief who turn up in films of this genre . one can feel  moreover  the thread connecting askey to british comedy   years later at least it is clear from an american point of view that he has more in common with the monty python troupe than with any of his counterparts over here . as for the rest of the film   the more movies you  ve seen  the more likely you  ll guess at the ending  but it is still quite entertaining and atmospheric and worth waiting for its next appearance .  
really     br    br   i am truly amazed to see the glowing reviews here   br    br   this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen . it is one big pathetic  grainy  clich . i would have laughed out loud  and a lot  but was on a date with an ex  military guy . i could not hide my other response  boredom . yes  i think my date  a flat  line  good old boy   liked it . that  s not a compliment . i know an actor wants to work . . . . fine for the others . but ralph  come on .  br    br   it was a painful tease from ralph . i vote a  only because ralph looked so stunning . but i must plead  ralph  how could you  and  why    br    br   i  m going to go watch the end of the affair to heal and recover now . . . . c   
if the very thought of arthur askey twists your guts  don  t worry  you can still watch and love the ghost train  like the equally marvellous back room boy  it is a film that is simply too damn good to be sunk by a single performance  even that of the lead actor . personally  i love askey  perhaps it  s because i go into his world  rather than unreasonably expecting him to come into mine  which is a mistake too many people make . the ghost train is so intensely atmospheric that you couldn  t conceivably watch it without being amazed at the deep  dark world it transports you to  it is immersive in a way that few cheap and cheerful flag  wavers managed to be during the desperate early    s and it  s a film that i would imagine few people have ever watched just the once . the cast are  without exception  extraordinarily good  perhaps linden travers lays it on a bit thick  but against the backdrop of a lonely railway station in wartime  she could hardly play a nutter and not stand out . the sad passing of the lovely carole lynne earlier this year broke the last link we had with this incredible film and now it really is in the past  but waiting patiently for us to press play .  
who did the research for this film  it  s set in baghdad in      however all the soldiers are wearing acus and have all universal camouflage pattern gear . no one was wearing that stuff in   .  br    br   i just saw this film while deployed overseas and i can say that the overwhelming feeling from the audience was wtf  this movie made no sense  had characters come and go with no explanation  and people doing ridiculous things that would never happen in real life . i realize that it  s a movie  but it  s obviously trying to portray something realistic . it fails miserably  but it  s trying .  br    br   it  s like someone came up with a bunch of random ideas  chewed them up and swallowed  then vomited out a film . i would not recommend this film to anyone . i  m still not sure why i sat through the whole thing . gi joe was one that really made you think compared to this . stay away   
as a matter of fact  this is one of those movies you would have to give  .  to . the fact is as already stated  it  s a great deal of fun . wonderfully atmospheric . askey does indeed come across as over the top  but it  s a great vehicle for him  just as oh  mr porter is for will hay . if you like old dark house movies and trains  then this is definitely for you .  br    br   strangely enough it  s the kind of film that you  ll want to see again and again . it  s friendly and charming in an endearing sort of way with all of the nostalgic references that made great wartime fare . the  odd  band of characters simply play off each other as they do in many another typical british wartime movie . it would have been wonderful to have seen this film if it had been recorded by ealing studios . a real pity that the     original has not survived intact  
well i too had heard read all the breathless reviews and comments about how this movie might deserve the best picture oscar so i went to see it today . what a major disappointment    if you read the other reviews you will learn from members of the u . s . military who served in iraq how unlikely the events of this movie are . they mirrored my own thoughts as the movie played i  a complete civilian  kept thinking to myself   say what  there  s no way that would happen like that . .    there  s very little that actually happens in terms of plot . a new bomb disposal guy shows up to replace one who was killed  a death that isn  t really clearly explained  . the new guy gets an adrenaline rush from his work . his attitude puts others at risk . that  s it    this movie is nowhere near as suspenseful as claimed . if you want suspense try one of the bourne movies . if you want to see a war movie that  s emotionally powerful  try renting go tell the spartans  which is about the vietnam war  and stars burt lancaster  who told me personally in a serendipitous supermarket encounter that it was a film he was immensely proud of and one he viewed as some of his finest work  and which he was still upset had been largely ignored in the wake of the over  hyped apocalypse now   or an old wwii black and white classic sink the bismark  which  especially for an english film  is unbelievably heart  wrenching . don  t waste your time on hurt locker .  
one of my favourite films first saw it when i was about    which probably tells you a lot about the type of humour . although dated the humour definitely has a charm about it . expect to see the usual askey  murdoch banter so popular in its day  with lots of interesting  quirky co  characters . the lady with the parrot  the couple due to get married and are in trouble from  her   and my favourite  the stationmaster   nobody knows where it comes from . . . nobody knows where it goes . .  interestingly the ghost train was written by arnold ridley of dads army fame  private godfrey the medic  watch it on a rainy sunday afternoon after your lunch and smile .  
i am definitely in the minority opinion on this one .  the hurt locker  has won more  best picture  awards from the critic groups than any other film this year . however  not only did i not like it  i found it hard to sit through .  br    br   there is minimal plot and little character development . they disarm bombs  fight  and disarm more bombs . that is the entire movie .  br    br   but the worst part was that the camera never stops moving and is constantly shaking . this has been a recent fad in film making and it is supposed to make it seem more real because it has a cheap  documentary look to it . the camera was shaking so much it was making me nauseous to look at the screen .  br    br   i normally don  t care for war movies and  the hurt locker  was no exception . but you don  t need to take my word for it because the critics love it .  
hello playmates . i recently watched this film for the first time ever and it is also my first experience of arthur askey  i have to admit i was very impressed by this film . as a fan of black and white films generally  passport to pimlico  the lavender hill mob and tommy trinder  who is apparently a distant relative   this film appealed in that it provided good old fashioned british humour . i notice that there are some on here who have criticised askey  s performance  however in my opinion it stands the test of time as a fine example of forties comic acting and if anything adds to the picture by creating characters that are more than the mere stereotypes which seem to so dominate films now . if you can get hold of this film i would recommend you get hold of it  shame these films generally aren  t shown on sunday afternoons anymore . i am also glad to have had the opportunity to watch another piece of work by arnold ridley  private godfrey in dad  s army  . i thank you  
there is no artistic value in this movie to deserve any award . well  it does not deserve an audience as well . ironically  one of the awards is for cinematography but frankly  the camera movements are disconcerting to say the least . every frame  you feel you are getting the  full picture   its like someone is  cropping your view  from the edges . the story is pathetic . well  i will be honest  i could not bear to watch the entire movie . the part that sucked the most was when i saw the soldiers partying in their barracks and one of the soldiers coaxed to drink liquor . these and many other similar scenes reminded me so much of steven seagal .  br    br   take my advice  stay away from this piece of crap .  
this is a classic british comedy  thriller i had always wanted to check out but no opportunity had arisen for that until now . it  s based on a popular stage play which had already been filmed a number of times previously  most notably in     by the same director but  unfortunately  this version seems not to have survived in its entirety    for the remake under review  the plot has been updated to the then  current wartime situation .  br    br   anyway  i was mainly familiar with early british comedians through the films of will hay given that this one features a similar plot of legendary hauntings  smuggling and enemy agents  it  s very much in that vein  it was actually scripted by hay  s regular writing team of marriott edgar  val guest and j . o . c . orton   the stranded travelers element  then  was an equally tried  and  true formula . the star this time around is arthur askey  abetted by richard murdoch   none of whose films i had watched before  who is as unlikely a hero as hay himself and whose personality proves to be just as potentially irritating . . . but one soon warms up to him  and askey certainly comes up with a number of witty lines and amusing bits of business throughout to justify the fact that the lead character of the play  and the     film version  was split into two here  with murdoch acting as the star  s straight partner .  br    br   the remote single setting  the events of the film largely take place during one stormy night  provides for some wonderful atmosphere the last half  hour  with the sudden appearance of a mysterious couple  raymond huntley and linden travers  and eventually the arrival of the titular vehicle itself  is especially gripping and well handled . also worth mentioning from the remaining cast list is kathleen harrison as the stereotypical frightened spinster  with a parrot as her constant companion and who is driven by all the excitement to take her very first drink .  
could contain spoilers . . . . . i  m surprised by the high rating of this film to be honest . . really am . all i saw was a slow moving propaganda movie with nothing much to say .  note to self must check the rating for platoon on here  this movie was so black and white . . . americans good . . . anyone else either evil or useless . i take it the british troops in it were meant to be sas  one of the most elite units in the world most would agree with i  m pretty sure  they lost  men and the others ran away while the us troops who weren  t even elite soldiers in the fighting sense held the ground and opened up a can of whoop ass on them evil sneaky iraqis . aye dead  on strings to mind . the only good thing i have to say about this movie did come in this sense when the sniper took out the sas man . . . muzzle flash from distance  good noise used . . . really well done that bit but the rest . . . spare me what am i   years of age over here     well i  m not and can see nonsense propaganda in a movie and boy did this movie have it .  br    br   spoiler . . . oh aye and in the main crazy  wild guy can  t stay at home with his wife and young child . . no he has to sign up for another year to fight in a nonsense lie of a war   why . . . because young men need thrills or something apparently . like say i  m surprised by the high rating of this movie really am .  br    br   p . s . i  m not hating america i  m hating the message of this movie that seems to not even want to confront issues of an illegal war  in my eyes  which ok fair enough because clearly there are people out there who think it  s a just war for whatever messed up reason  wanted to say something else her but censored  but hey that  s up to them . but to churn out a movie so one  sided like it  s black and white . . . good v evil is lazy and treating me as a child . in war there is a lot of grey and it  s two  sometimes more  sides who believe in what they are fighting for . not star wars with something something dark side verses the goodies . f  sake hollywood at times you really do take people for mugs . . . then again  .  . . . . well maybe you are right to but i  ll not be buying it . glad i downloaded this movie tell you all that for nothing .    
this film is one of those nostalgia things with me and i never really expect anyone else to  get it  but am pleased when i recommend it and somebody does enjoy it . my late father hated arthur askey but this film was one he really enjoyed and his consistent enthusiasm for  the ghost train  and  old ted  olmes  transferred to me as a child . years later  i watch it every now and again  enjoying the familiarity . i always wonder if it will not be quite the same but i am never disappointed in it . there is much to enjoy . the sequence on the train is truly inspired when askey and murdoch proceed to annoy the arrogant male passenger . then the whole section in the station is amazing with so much going on you have to keep up . yes  it is dated and full of wartime britishness in accents and plot  based on the original play by arnold ridley of dad  s army fame   but full of wonderful character performances  including kathleen harrison as a dotty spinster . the atmosphere is truly as near sinister as an arthur askey vehicle could get . this is available cheap as chips in the uk on dvd so treat yourself . it is a perfect saturday  sunday morning or any day lazy afternoon lightweight piece of entertainment . i thank you . . . .  br    br   old movies can be good movies   
as usual  i am making a mad dash to see the movies i haven  t watched yet in anticipation of the oscars . i was really looking forward to seeing this movie as it seemed to be right up my alley . i can not for the life of me understand why this movie has gotten the buzz it has . there is no story   a group of guys meander around iraq . one day they are here diffusing a bomb . tomorrow they are tooling around the countryside  by themselves no less and start taking sniper fire . no wait here they are back in bagdad . there is no cohesive story at all . the three main characters are so overly characterized that they are mere caricatures . by that i mean  we have the sweet kid who is afraid of dying . we have the hardened military man who is practical and just wants to get back safe . and then we have the daredevil cowboy who doesn  t follow the rules but has a soft spot for the precocious little iraqi boy trying to sell soldiers dvds . what do you think is going to happen    well  do you think the cowboy soldier who doesn  t follow rules is going to get the sweet kid injured with his renegade ways   why yes  do you think the iraqi kid that cowboy soldier has a soft spot for is going to get killed and make him go crazy  why yes  there is no story here . the script is juvenile and predictable  the camera is shaken around a lot to make it look  artsy  . and for all of you who think this is such a great war picture  go rent  full metal jacket    deerhunter  or  platoon  . don  t waste time or money on this boring movie   
this was fun to watch  spookily atmospheric and effects were pretty good considering they were bang in the middle of world war two . the plot did unravel pretty quickly at the end with the villains getting their comeuppance .  br    br   it must have been a good one to watch at the local flea pit in the      s when they were facing the biggest threat to their liberty from the nazis  well made with quite a serious message about the dangers to britain from third columnists .  br    br   but arthur askey was so annoying  unfunny you just wanted him to shut up  well at least i did  i suppose different tastes in different times but the clowning around became tiresome . if he was playing an annoying little man as part of the script then he succeeded .  br    br   a good watch and quite short at just over   minutes  a good background for older kids too so they have an idea of what train travel in austere times was like uncomfortable slow  dirty trains  being thrown off for no reason  surly staff . . . .  
i love a good war film and i fall into the  been there  done that  category . so i would like to think my review is an accurate one  imho  . having just watched this film on dvd i can safely say that it was a pile of rubbish . there is no way i can recommend this film to you .  br    br   it started off with me shouting at the tv saying  you wouldn  t do that  etc . . . but i soon realised that having a bit of job experience would be a hindrance so i chilled a bit . but on the opening scene when the trailer wheel fell off i got a nasty feeling that this film would be a predictable dud . . . i was right .  br    br   there simply wasn  t any logic to the eod scenes . i just know that the army team had some of the most patient insurgents ever at the other end of the command wire or remote trigger . so much so i was left scratching my head all the time . then just when you think you know where the story is going the guys in the humvee are off out on their own driving around the desert . one of the most valuable assets in theatre out on a jolly bumping into some sas wannabe contractors .  br    br   the sniper scene was just so laughable . it just made no sense at all and made me want to switch off there and then . then for them to drag it out so long really did test my patience . it started with the  contact right  and went down hill fast . if you had a brit accent then you got shot but if you were part of the eod team then suddenly you were a great shot and saved the day . then just as you thought it was over it stretched on for an inexplicably long period without adding anything to the story at all . you are just left watching and asking why hasn  t it ended yet   br    br   then we had the booze scene where they just hit each other for a laugh . . another scene where you just wanted it to end . it added nothing to the film .  br    br   then just as my life seemed very dull the main star went outside the wire to hunt someone down . this most be the most ridiculous scene i have ever watched . it defied all logic and ability to write a good storyline . . . it was senseless and awful . i still don  t understand why they wasted time on it . then to watch him just jog through the busy streets heading back to camp had me rolling on the floor with laughter . pure comedy    br    br   the sad fact is that this storyline is all over the show without really deciding what it wants to be . i thought it was going to be stupid illogical eod scenes but then it kept going off on tangents trying to be something different . but as hard as it tried it just bored me to death . all i wanted was for it to end . it was a messy compilation of stupid scenes mixed into a batch of stupid  senseless  action  ish  scenes .  br    br   there is no way i can recommend this . maybe my work experience compromised the enjoyability but even the naive must realise this just doesn  t make sense . the only thing more stupid than this film is the artificially high imdb rating . . . which must be the     work of the box office pr team who seem to use this website as a way of making everyone think it is good . sorry folks . . . it just ain  t   br    br   not recommended . . . it will just bore you .  
the ghost train is a treat to those who appreciate the typical      s humour . it incorporates world war two into the plot but not as much as i initially believed it would  and the characters are a unique blend who play their roles fairly well . askey  playing the role of tommy gander  is what brightens the story up for the parts which could of been portrayed as boring or  dragging  .  br    br   the story of the haunted station is actually spooky even for present day standards . it is unique and the way the characters communicate with each is fantastic to liven up the mystery which is the ghost train . gander is basically a nuisance to all the other members while the rest get along fairly well . he is always centre of attention and can be dubbed as being  annoying  but that is by those who do not appreciate      s humour . his humour is innocent and childish which makes it sweet to watch .  br    br   if it was not for askey  gander  than this film would of been shorter in action  enjoyment and the result would be not as effective in my opinion .  
i just rented this today . . . . heard lots of good reviews beforehand . wow   what a pile of steaming poo this movie is   does anyone know the address of the director so i can get my five dollars back     finally someone bumped  stop  loss  from the  worst iraq war movie ever  number one spot . to be fair  i don  t think there are any good iraq war movies anyway  but this was really bad .  br    br   i won  t get into any technical inaccuracies  there  s a hundred reviews from other gwot vets that detail them all . if the director bothered to consult even the lowliest e  nothing about technical accuracy however they could  ve made the movie somewhat realistic . . . . maybe . i guess the writer should be given the  credit  for this waste of a film . he or she obviously hatched the plot for this movie from some vivid imagination not afflicted with the restraints of reality . does anybody but me wonder what the point of this movie was  was there a message  seriously though . . . . . wtf      br    br   i  m pretty amazed at all the positive reviews really . this film is hard to watch as a vet because of all the glaring inaccuracies but even if one could overlook that  the plot sucks  characters are shallow  to say the least  and the acting is poor at best . it  s ironic  i suppose  that this movie is supposed to be about explosive ordinance disposal  because it  s the biggest bomb i  ve seen this year .  
alexandr  sascha  luzhin  john turturro  is a former leading chess player attempting a comeback at an italy  hosted tournament . his brilliance is unquestioned but his obsession with chess has stunted his growth in all other aspects of his life . natalia  emily watson  is a beautiful heiress who has come to the same resort with her mother  vera  geraldine james  to scope out possible marriage partners . vera leans toward a handsome count but  astonishingly  natalia is more fascinated by sascha  whom she met on a walk . sascha  too  is taken with natalia and proposes marriage at their second meeting . but  with the concentration that sascha must give to the chess matches and  with other happenings in his past still causing problems  will he win the heart of natalia  oh  and can he become the chess champion  also  this is a lovely film  based on a novel by nabokov . the acting is amazing  with watson very fine as the beautiful little rich girl and turturro utter perfection as the shy  awkward chess enthusiast . james gives quite a nice turn as the overbearing mother and the other cast members are wonderful as well . as for the look of the film  it could not be better . the scenery is of the put  your  eye  out variety  the vintage costumes are gorgeous and the cinematography is deserving of much applause . yes  the story is unusual and told with the use of flashbacks  at times  making it a film not everyone will appreciate . then  too  the ending is bittersweet . however  if you love romance  period pieces  great acting  knockout scenery  or the fine art of motion picture creation  don  t miss this one . you will be defenseless in resisting its multitude of charms .  
i was disgusted by this movie . no it wasn  t because of the graphic sex scenes  it was because it ruined the image of artemisia gentileschi . this movie does not hold much truth about her and her art . it shows one piece of art work that she did  judith beheading holofernese  but shows that being entered as testimony in the rape trial when she did not paint her first judith for a year after the trial .  br    br   i don  t know if you understood this from the movie  probably not  tassi was not a noble character . he raped artemisia . it was not love  it was rape . he did not claim to accept false charges of rape to stop her from suffering while she was tortured . according to the rape transcripts he continued to claim that he never carnally knew artemisia  aka had sex with  while she states over and over again  it  s true  .  br    br   i encourage all of you people to go out and find about the real artemisia and see what she is really about . don  t base all of your knowledge on this fictional movie . i encourage you to do some research  artemisia really does have interesting story behind her and some amazing art work .  br    br   don  t see the movie  but find out the true story of artemisia .  
so your bairns are away on a sleep  over  the wife is visiting the mother in law  you though are at home . it  s a dark and stormy night and there is no football on the telly and the dishwasher needs stacking  so now what are you going to do   br    br   i will tell you   br    br   go make an old fashioned cocoa  frys is best   get hold of some ginger nuts and sit down in front of the dvd . now go select and play arthur askeys world war two thriller  horror the ghost train  return to that comfortable settee and enjoy the night in   br    br   the ghost train is a genuine british war time classic  arthur askey with his side kick  stinker murdoch  entertain you and i suspect the cast  to a high octane  thrills and spills  espionage thriller . it  s set in old rural england during the second world war .  br    br   it centres around a motley group of people that need to stay overnight  through circumstances outside any ones  control  in an old railway waiting room that they discover is haunted by an old train .  br    br   the plot unfolds neatly and precisely and is a credit to the entire cast it is humorous in parts and at times genuinely scary   br    br    the tale was written by that old boy godfrey of dads army fame and it is clever   br    br   arthur askey is entertaining and is very at home preforming his routines to you and the cast  he also shows he can act a bit  the cast are never out staged though  even the railway porter and the parrot help give the film the necessary gravitas .  br    br   oh and when it ends please remember to stack the dish washer   
some unrealistic movie spoilers included .  br    br   from real life experiences  this movie continued to disappoint from the very beginning . i  m currently deployed on my second tour to iraq as an infantry man . this film has nothing near what would happen in real life occurrences . from the very start to name a few the bomb cart  the eod elements rolling out solo with no escorts  the eod staff sergeant sneaking of vbc  having sleeves rolled the entire time in acus  to where i had to call it quits on my  dollar haji copy  the sniper scene . the list would continue  however  it is unnecessary to list things wrong happening with a time span of  minutes before more things were incorrect and the point was made .  br    br   this movie is for people and critics to watch that have no understanding or experience with deployments or the military .  br    br   people with military background or knowledge of the military will be disappointed with the inaccuracy .  
ghost train is a fine and entertaining film  typical of the better british comedy chillers of the     s and   s . the antics of comedian arthur askey are not as funny as they once apparently were  but this can be overcome by viewing him as a period piece or a curiosity .  br    br   for a low  budget wartime production  ghost train is atmospheric  effective  and it provides some genuine suspense . great fun for a dark  and  yes  stormy  night . lighten up  take off the critic  s hat  and enjoy .  
watch a team of bomb disposal experts in iraq count down their time before they can go home .  br    br   that in itself sounds boring . every time that little caption came up telling us how long they had left  it just caused this film with no plot to drag on and on . hurry up and finish your time there so we can all go home .  br    br   i must be missing something . i  m a great fan of war films if they are done well . this had  jarhead  syndrome . a film that at times was beautifully shot  but cinematography doesn  t stop it from being totally dull and pointless .  br    br   and get over the slow mo  cartridges coming out of the gun  shot already . they could have saved money and just got stock footage from any other film with a gun in it .  br    br   i didn  t have any empathy for the main guy in it  i was constantly hoping that his recklessness would cause him to die . in fact the film would have worked much better if he had .  br    br   i read some reviews and seemed to get the feeling that those who had been in the armed forces disliked it  and everyone else loved it . i have never been in the forces  and i  m with them . it  s pretentious drivel . the  stars are for the cinematography .  
now this is one of big  s best  jack hulbert  s single role in     split into two for the band waggon radio team askey  murdoch . it boasts a great stalwart cast  who ham the play up for all they  re worth  especially askey of course . histrionics were provided by linden travers  melodramatics by herbert lomas  and pragmatics by richard murdoch .  br    br   the group of rail passengers stranded at the lonely country station for the night find more than they bargained for  ghostly trains  spectral porters  hairy sausage rolls and arthur trying to entertain them all . his repartee with everyone falls between side  splitting and ghastly dull . when the formula works it  s very good  but it sometimes gets very contrived and forced making the film seem more dated than it is . but those damn treacherous fifth columnists  thank any god britain hasn  t got any nowadays   br    br   ultimately a nice harmless film  to welcome back to the tv screen as an old friend  but if you were expecting to be shivered out of your timbers you  ll probably be very disappointed   
i saw this movie once  and i thought it was ok . then my friends at work said  watch it again  it  s better  . so i did . and to my surprise  it was worse on the second time  there  s a word limit  so i  m going to get the ball rolling here .  br    br    the bombing scenes were all so stupid . why on earth would anyone wait to trigger the explosion     none of the characters here are even remotely likable . not on the first time  not even the second .  br    br    oh  and last time i checked  a car does not explode from a single gun shot  nor can a fire that huge be put out with a tiny fire extinguisher . . . did the above     viewers actually watch the movie     the camera is so shaky  i can barely tell what is going on . that opening scene with the robot had my stomach off  put  the rest of the movie was not much better .  br    br    the sniper scene . the mcmanus brothers  from  the boondock saints   would roll their eyes  it was so stupid . first off  why did the guy plant his gun where one person had gotten shot  furthermore  why would he spend that much time cleaning the bullets  reloading  aiming and not get shot  when there was so much chaos going on around him   sas types running instead of staying and fighting back       huh      are the soldiers . . . gay . . .    i didn  t mean to sound homophobic  but honestly  that scene was so ridiculous .  br    br    too long for its own good  yet too short for the amount of material crammed into it . bigelow seems to think that the more action  the better . looks like she is wrong  the movie is full of superfluous action scenes thrown in there to distract you from the lack of a central plot . i know watchmen is longer at    minutes  but at least that movie didn  t drag . this movie  on the other hand  does  and for it  feels longer .  br    br   the only good thing was renner  who was satisfactory at best . but do yourself a favour  just skip this  and don  t give into the hype .  
i have a thing for old black and white movies of this kind  movies by will hay and abbot  costello especially as those are my favourites . i picked this movie up on dvd as it was using the same idea as will hay  s  oh mr porter  which is one of the finest comedies ever made . i just finished watching this movie less than ten minutes ago  the movie finished at      am  . i find that movies of this kind  to do with ghost trains  etc  are best viewed at night time with the lights out . that way you get into the storyline more and night time viewing works well with this movie .  br    br   the one  liners in the movie may seem a little dated to some viewers  i guess this depends on the viewer . they are not dated to me though . i am   and even though i am not old enough to have been around when this movie was first released  my dad was though  . i still have a lot of appreciation for some of the old movies of this kind . sitting in the room in front of the tv with some snacks and drinks and kicking back and relaxing at night while watching these movies  not many things can beat the feeling you get while doing this . it is an escape from reality for a while .  br    br   i noticed that one of the men in the movie  he has a black mustache  he appears about three quarters of the way through the movie after his car crashes and he is looking for a woman he was followed to the station . this man was in the will hay classic  the ghost of st michaels  as well . just thought i  d point that out in case no one noticed   .  br    br   the set pieces in the movie are very atmospheric . outside the abandoned station looks good and as if there is not a soul for miles in any direction  and the inside of the station is very cosy looking away from the rain storm that is outside . i felt like i would have loved to have been there in the movie with the cast . the atmosphere in this movie is something that is missing from a lot of movies now . it keeps you hooked from the moment the movie starts till it finishes .  br    br   we need more of this type of movie in todays market . but sadly it could be over looked in favour of movies with nudity and swearing and crude humour . this sort of movie making era  the ghost train  oh mr porter  etc  to me is the golden age of cinema  .  
i  m a huge fan of war movies  and  as a vietnam combat vet  have some experience with the technical details . i worked with the bomb guys more than once and have nothing but respect for them . other vets  and iraq vets in particular  have summarized the inaccuracies in this movie very well . poetic license is one thing  but this movie is a complete fantasy  and fails badly because of it . no bomb disposal unit  or any unit  would ever have tolerated this rogue operator for more than  minutes . military units prize conformity and discipline for a reasonit saves lives . the opening scene particularly annoyed me . the guy with the cell phone would have been shot immediately . yelling   stop dialing  is not an effective deterrent . it got worse from there . the scenes with the sniper were particularly egregious . as others have noted  your average eod guy doesn  t know jack about being a sniper  and to think any arab sniper is that good really stretches the imagination . kidnapping an arab businessman for some form of personal revenge just wouldn  t happen . somebody might shoot him  but this kind of risk  taking is limited to the movies . i could go on  but  as i said  others have pointed these things out in detail . this is not a good movie  and if it wins any awards at all  it  s a further reflection of why  la la land  is so named .  
curl up with this one on a dark and stormy night and prepare to be alternately amused  irritated and frightened . the creaky old plot about about a phantom train that  s said to run through the lonely english countryside at dead of night may be implausible  but it  s a lot of fun . there are some wonderful old cliches like  the accident  which the locals can remember but won  t talk about . but primarily the movie  s a vehicle for comedian arthur askey to showcase his particular brand of vaudeville style humour in between the scary bits . askey  s corny humor is not very trendy these days but if you just let it wash over you it can be fun . this is probably the best of askey  s movies .  
like a latter day ayn rand  bigelow is la major muy macho in her depiction in the film of a few tough american hombres stuck in iraq defusing roadside bombs set by the ruthless  relentless  child  killing arab terrorists . as bigelow posits the iraq war as the backdrop of the grand stage of human drama  one veteran bomb expert gets blown up and another shows up to replace him in the dusty  hot  ugly rubble that is iraq  and a new hero is born .  br    br   the new guy is what john hershey described in his book  and later the movie  the war lover  as a sadistic wingnut who actually isn  t fit for civilian life  and requires the stimulation of war to sublimate and suppress his errant sexual desires . the war lover can only fully function in war  peacetime suffocates him . while hershey chastised the war lover   played in the film by steve mcqueen in one of his greatest roles  bigelow glorifies him . the army needs war lovers  they are the bulwark of defense against our enemies . we can  t handle the truth  that it is war lovers who are the best soldiers  the toughest men . according to the unironic bigelow  regular men are pussies  the war lover is a special breed  the last of the cowboys . so what if he wants to bare  back his men  or fondle an iraqi boy  he is a throwback to the sex  and  death cult of war . in war  sex is a thankless  loveless  don  t  ask  don  t  tell kind of male bonding . bigelow has no opinion on this she just limits the options of masculinity in this ham  fisted attempt at realism . only a war  lover can win the moral struggle between right and wrong  between american innocence and arab perfidy . bigelow disguises her racism and arrogance behind the ingenuous facade of journalism . she  s just another gung  ho yahoo depicting a brutal war against civilians as a moral triumph of the spirit .  br    br   on the political front  bigelow returns to the western genre and its relentless clichs again and again  ad nauseam the wonderful world of the open frontier  which happens to be some one else  s country .   you can shoot people here  says a soldier   the tough but human black guy companion  the soldier with a premonition of death  the gruff  possibly crazy commanding officer  the college  educated fool who tries to befriend the enemy . you name it  bigelow resurrects it .  br    br   the man  boy love is palpable in scenes with the cute arab boy who befriends the war lover  but bigelow plays it straight she doesn  t consummate the sex  just sanitizes it . what bigelow really wants to show us is the ugly  sneering face of the arab enemy . any iraqi who isn  t pure evil is either demented  hostile or up to no good  anyway . they all deserve to die for their impudence  and many of them do in this glib gore  fest film . the iraqi women are all hysterical  they only make their presence known by screaming . they could be male stunt men in drag for all i know  you never see their faces . there is no female presence at all on base or in battle  although female casualty rates in iraq would certainly disprove this .  br    br   bigelow goes through all the motions one by one . she glorifies war  she canonizes the sadist nut  case hero . the cowboys  surrounded by the subhuman indians  prove their mettle by doing god  s work and subduing the wretched terrorist  infested hellhole with sheer bravado and suicidal mania . toward the end  i felt like rooting for the indians . in bigelow  s world  though  no mercy or understanding ever makes it through . the iraqis are dehumanized par excellence . the slaughter of civilians is just the dramatic backdrop to our hero  s psycho sexual struggle . every u . s  bullet finds its mark . you have to love the guy  the war lover . it  s just his way  he is the true hero . he  s just a guy trying to get things done the hard way  and so what if he lusts for boy tang on the side .  
the question of whether or not one likes this film version of  the ghost train  invariably depends on one thing and one thing alone your reaction to the performance of arthur askey .  br    br   he tends to steal almost every scene he  s in  and not always in a good way . sometimes you wish he  d settle down or back off just a little  to allow the plot  s many characters to feature and develop  which they do to some extent  . but somehow everything keeps pointing back to askey  s tommy gander character .  br    br   personally i like the film  and even like askey to an extent . i always seem to plonk it into the vcr at those odd hours of the early morning when i can  t sleep and really can  t find the energy to watch anything else . there is something about watching old b  w movies in the quiet dark of pre  dawn that i find appealing . . . .  
i really wanted to like this movie  but ended up bored and incredulous . the first shot is a camera feed from a robot traveling towards a bomb and is  naturally  shaky . but then the rest of the movie stays in shakycam mode  even during quiet conversational moments  to the point of ridiculousness . have the rental houses run out of tripods and steadicams  the fact that it was shot on   mm doesn  t help  as the entire movie is grainy as well as shaky .  br    br   for all the effort bigelow put into accurate vehicles and equipment  there are enough glaring errors and inconsistencies that they undermine the movie  s credibility .  br    br    a car would not erupt in flames after a single shot  and once engulfed would not be extinguished by a small hand  held extinguisher .  br    br    a single humvee would not be driving around baghdad in      but would be backed up by other vehicles in case of breakdown or attack .  it would be exceptionally unlikely to be able to hit a running insurgent at long range  where the bullet is clearly taking over a second to reach the target .  br    br    i believe bombs were brought to designated disposal areas on or near a base  not some random spot in the middle of the desert .  br    br    the oil tanker attack is stated to have occurred in the green zone  a highly secure area that experienced very few attacks from within . the zone is mostly offices and palaces with few residences  yet it is portrayed as a dangerous warren of dark alleys and lurking insurgents . oddly  james never gets in trouble for the ridiculous tactic of ordering his two companions to each take an alley by themselves  thus setting up the attempted kidnapping .  br    br    speaking of which  the   man team is always depicted clearing buildings  chasing insurgents etc . on their own  even when there are clearly dozens of soldiers right there .  br    br    how many hours does the team have to stare at a dead insurgent hanging out a window to figure out he  s not faking it   br    br   there were no establishing shots to show the viewer what the size and layout of the base was or where baghdad was in relation . i had no idea who the eod team reported to  nor were any other characters fleshed out . these are things the characters would know  so we should too .  br    br   many of the  surprises  and scenes are perfectly predictable . yes  it  s obvious that the psychiatrist colonel will get into trouble with the iraqis he  s trying to move along  that the choice of cereals back home will be overwhelming  and that a driver you kidnapped will not wait for you when you leave the vehicle .  br    br   finally  there was an almost complete lack of character development . renner  s character from the beginning has a troubled relationship at home  is reckless and addicted to adrenalin . he  s exactly the same at the end of the movie . what  s the point   br    br   if this is indeed the best so far of the iraqi war movies  it  s a sorry bunch . just based on the half hour i saw of it  i  d recommend generation kill on hbo instead .  
i first saw this movie years ago and have continued to view it several times a year when i have an opportunity . it is on my list of favorite movies along with some of the classics . should anyone tell you it is foolish or outdated  ignore them . . . this movie is for anyone who enjoys laughing and music . the dancing isn  t as important in this film as in other astaire movies so the comedy and acting shine through . see this movie if you can  it may be light but it is still completely amusing . so i know that many people hate black and white films  they think old movies can  t really be funny  this movie should make them change their minds . no one i know can watch this movie without being at least mildly amused . the only problem with the film fred astaire singing without dancing . he may be a great performer and capable singer but it just isn  t fascinating and leaves a big hole in the middle of the story . the comedy gets a bit clich at times but the vaudevillesque performances of g burns and g allen are just perfect for the piece and can satisfy anyone looking for some easy laughs . give this film a chance even if you don  t like old movies  this movie can appeal to the ridiculous in any one .  
for the life of me i can not understand the blind hype and devotion to this totally unbelievable movie . . . . . . and i think i have the qualifications to say so . . . . i am a former special operations soldier with   years in the  lifestyle  . . . this movie was totally totally unreal and obviously written by someone that did very little research into life in the army  in combat or at a team or platoon level .  br    br   three eod guys trouncing around bagdad on their own      get real . . . no chain of command      get real . . . eod clearing buildings    get real . . . . eod  military intelligence  sniper qualified buck sergeant     get real . . . . wait . . . i shot and killed a bad guy and then let two guys take me without firing another shot or being injured at all     get real . . . . i carjack an iraqi civilian  while i am only armed with a  mil  break into another civilians house  get punked by his wife then make it back to camp on foot in the middle of bagdad at night without as so much as a scratch or confrontation     get real . . .  br    br   there is absolutely no adherence to military protocol army and no resemblance at all to any army unit that i have even encountered . totally unbelievable and disrespectful to the men and women of eod who contrary to this poor film are not wild adrenaline seeking yahoos but extremely qualified professionals doing an incredibly hard job .  
this movie appears to have designed as a fred astaire  ginger rogers film   the plot outline  dance numbers  zippy music and the entire formula is there . . . except for ginger  whether it really was originally intended as a re  pairing of the team is uncertain but it sure has the look of one of these films . instead of the usual sidekicks for fred  such as eric blore or edward everett horton   burns and allen are used   probably since despite being known as a comedy team  they could sing and dance quite well . this actually shocked me  but the team were a welcome addition and some of the traditional fred and ginger numbers were done with either fred and gracie or these two along with george . only once  at the very end  does ms . fontaine dance with fred but it  s very brief and with a distant camera shot .  br    br   and speaking of burns and allen  i think i owe it to the team to talk about them in the film . i have never been a fan of their show or their movies . in general  i find gracie  s idiot act very annoying and i have given some poor reviews to their movie shorts and full  length films . however  in this film i must admit that they were great   not only dancing competently but i actually thought they were funny and filled the hole left by edward everett horton very nicely . they were on top of their game and the writers did a wonderful job in this department .  br    br   now as for the rest of the film  it  s all a lot of fun and is entertaining . the problem for me  though  was that joan fontaine was not a particularly good choice for the movie   not just because she was acting outside her range  after all  she wasn  t a singer or dancer   but because she had the screen presence of a ball of lint . because of this  the usual balance and great boy  girl dialog was lacking . there was also a very charming performance by harry watson as a devilish little boy who did everything he could do to play cupid   all because he wanted to win a bet  and finally  i loved the fun house and tunnel of love sequence   it is too hard to describe but is so much fun to watch  overall  i did like the film quite a bit   it had a lot of charm and excellent writing . unfortunately  it also featured a bland performance by ms . fontaine that knocks off a point   bringing my score for this film to  .  
i really liked zb  . really  i did . i have no problem with extremely low  budget movies  and i have enjoyed movies with worse production values than zb   if you can imagine such a thing . check out  wiseguys vs . zombies   if you  re interested  . indeed  i prefer lower budget zombie films  because i am suspicious that hollywood directors do not understand what zombies are  about .   br    br   but zb  was just so bad . it was retarded . i don  t want to bother being dignified in my criticism . i want my   minutes back  etc . except that it really only took    minutes  because partway through i put it into  .  x fast forward .  br    br   okay  here  s some criticism .  br    br    . the pacing was terrible . everyone talked in monologues . even when someone just had a single line  the camera work and the editing and the insertion of a bunch of f  bombs into every sentence made the line feel like a monologue . at first i was excited about the   minute running time compared to zb   s   minutes  but there were actually fewer  events  in zb  . it  s all talking .  br    br    . the gore effects got stupider . just glop rubbed around on people  s tummies .  br    br    . despite the epic exposition  there really wasn  t a plot . and the exposition is indeed epic  i won  t spoil it  if you  re going to watch it .  don  t watch it .  but then  it  s just a bunch of lame characters walking around and bickering for    minutes . or fewer  if you so choose .  
soon americans would swarm over a darkened  damaged england preparing to invade europe  but in     the picture of hip americans in the sunny  slightly ridiculous english countryside was an appealing  idyllic diversion . american dancing star  heartthrob jerry halliday  astaire   on a european tour  weary of the screaming female crowds generated by the lurid propaganda of his manager  burns   is unwittingly caught up in the marriage prospects of frustrated heiress lady alice marshmorton  fontaine  . the tale is complicated by a betting pool among the marshmorton servants that is run by  and rigged for  head butler keggs  gardiner   who  s betting on lady alice  s cousin reggie  noble   the favorite of alice  s stuffy  domineering aunt  collier  . the story would have been much better as a half  hour tv episode . the usual wodehouse plot devices of mistaken identity and jumps to wrong conclusions wear thin in a full  length film . both alice  jerry appear impossibly  and annoyingly  clueless by the second half of the film . the amusement park interlude  the climax in the castle are too long  begin to drag . fontaine is too beautiful  too dignified  too quiet to be a ditzy blonde  no matter how aristocratic  while young footman albert  watson  is painfully awful . but while  damsel  is a pretty diminutive vehicle for so much talent  the talent doesn  t let us down . astaire  s romantic comedy skill is no less enjoyable here than in any of his films with ginger rogers and his dance scenes  both solo  with burns  allen  are up to par  though his one dance with novice hoofer joan is necessarily tame . gracie nearly steals the whole show as george  s bubbly secretary who is at once airheaded  conniving  coolly self  confident . her scene with solid character actor gardiner as the devious snob keggs is a one  of  a  kind classic . this  astaire  s priceless scene with the madrigal singers give  damsel  a delightful color of naive but noble  spirited americans mixing with noble but dull  spirited englishmen . gershwin is at the top of his game with  nice work if you can get it    stiff upper lip   which carry the film through its weak points . and is there another film where madrigals get a gershwin swing treatment   damsel  is more than a piece of trivia for those who might want to see astaire without rogers or fontaine before she was a real star . it  s a fine diversion as entertaining as any of the vaudevillian musical comedies that ruled the     s but will never be made again .  
why in the world would someone make this piece of trash movie  the first two zombie bloodbath movies were stupid enough  but this takes the cake for the worst of the trilogy  perhaps of all time  . todd sheets is still the director  but no longer the screenwriter  which isn  t a negative or a positive  considering he  s just as untalented as the guy who wrote this one . the writing is too heavily reliant on the f  word  which is used somewhere between    and    times at nausea . the acting is about on par with the last two bloodbath movies  so naturally  it  s some of the worst i  ve ever seen . the special effects are better than the last   but they still look godawful . the plot has become too complicated for it  s own good  and was about some government experiment gone wrong and zombies being produced . also featured is cryogenically frozen mutant zombie and school kids that know how to time travel  leading to one of the most idiotic endings i  ve ever seen . after the movie it goes to outtakes  which is strange because this whole movie is an outtake . only see this to make fun of it  because if you go into this with a serious mind  you might possibly kill yourself .  br    br   my rating bomb   .   mins .  
i read that jessie matthews was approached and turned down co  starring with fred astaire in damsel in distress . jessie matthews in her prime never left her side of the pond to do any american musical films . if they had teamed for this film it would have been a once in a lifetime event .  br    br   it  s a pity because damsel in distress has everything else going for it . fred astaire  story and adapted to screen by author p . g . wodehouse  burnsallen for comedy  and songs by the gershwin brothers . in answer to the question posed by the nice work if you can get it  there isn  t much you could ask more for this film .  br    br   except a leading lady . though ginger rogers made several films away from fred astaire  damsel in distress is the only film astaire made without rogers while they were a team . young joan fontaine was cast in this opposite astaire .  br    br   her character has none of the bite that ginger rogers  s parts do in these films . all she basically has to do is act sweet and demure . she also doesn  t contribute anything musically . and if i had to rate all the dancing partners of fred astaire  joan fontaine would come out at the bottom . the poor woman is just horrible in the things are looking up number .  br    br   when she co  starred later on in a musical with bing crosby  the emperor waltz  it  s no accident that fontaine is given nothing musical to do .  br    br   the version i have is a colorized one and in this case i think it actually did some good . the idyllic lush green english countryside of p . g . wodehouse is really brought out in this vhs copy . especially in that number i mentioned before with astaire and fontaine which does take place in the garden .  br    br   burnsallen on the other hand as a couple of old vaudeville troopers complement astaire in grand style in the stiff upper lip number . the surreal fun  house sequence is marvelously staged .  br    br   p . g . wodehouse  s aristocracy runs the gamut with constance collier at her haughty best and for once montagu love as fontaine  s father as a nice man on film .  br    br   the biggest hit out of a damsel in distress is a foggy day maybe the best known song about the british capital city since london bridge is falling down . done in the best simple elegant manner by fred astaire  it  s one of those songs that will endure as long as london endures and even after .  br    br   overlooking the young and inexperienced joan fontaine  a damsel in distress rates as a classic  classic score  classic dancing  classic comedy . who could ask for anything more   
you  ve got to admire director todd sheets for his dedication  drive and enthusiasm when it comes to movie  making between     and      he made a whopping   films . unfortunately  if his zombie bloodbath trilogy is anything to go by  they  re probably all crap  and a quick look at their imdb ratings seems to verify my hunch  .  br    br   part  sees a group of obnoxious students finding detention a little more eventful than usual after they are attacked by hordes of the living dead  who have escaped from a top  secret army base located directly beneath their school . working from a dreadful script by brian eklund  which relies heavily on liberal use of the f  bomb  director sheets delivers yet another embarrassingly amateurish effort featuring some mind  numbingly awful performances from his talent  free cast  dreadful visual effects  some crap cgi and what looks like the front of a giant cardboard space  shuttle  and his trademark shoddy gore  handfuls of offal pulled from beneath his victims  clothing  .  br    br   finally  after what seems like an eternity watching irritating characters running for their lives  and unconvincing undead people fondling animal innards  zombie armageddon finishes with a time  travel  paradox twist ending which forces viewers to re  watch several torturous minutes from the beginning of the film . honestly . . . once was enough  mr . sheetswhat have we done to deserve having to watch it again   
  the luzhin defence  is a good film with fine central performances  but too much of the novel and not enough of the filmmaker  s craft shines through . it felt through most of the film that the characters just helped to push the narrative along . marlene gorris could perhaps have examined the psyche of luzhin  rather than depicting him as a tortured innocent victim torn apart by the cruel motives of others .  br    br   adapting literature for the screen is clearly a difficult task  especially a novel written in the early   th century . this film does not go deeply enough into the relationship between luzhin and natalia . natalia  s rift with her mother comes across a churlish disagreement by the mother rather than a dramatic flashpoint in the film . i felt that i was put through luzhin  s torment and eventual tragic end  without being given the pleasure of having his unusual and complex personality unravelled . however  this was a moving and enjoyable film but certainly not a great one .  
when i saw the preview  i thought this is going to be a great movie . and indeed it could have been . the actress playing the main character was very credible  and the beauty of the filming is undeniable . however the dialogues cast a dark shadow on the whole picture . the level of language was too familiar and too contemporary for an action taking place in      and it took away most of the magic of the film . however  i must congratulate the translator  because the english sub  titles were more refined and appropriate that the original french cues  and it probably explains the good rating the movie received on the imbd   
a damsel in distress is a delight because of the great gershwin songs  fred astaire  joan fontaine  and a terrific supporting cast headed by gracie allen and george burns .  br    br   typically silly plot for an astaire film has him as an american dance star in england with burns as his publicist and allen his secretary . they concoct a story about his being a love bug with women falling victim to him left and right . he runs into fontaine who is being held captive in her castle by a domineering aunt and docile father . silly plot .  br    br   the great songs include a foggy day  things are looking up  nice work if you can get it  and i can  t be bothered now . fontaine does not sing  but does a brief  and decent  number with astaire . surprisingly good in a few dance numbers with astaire are burns and allen  including an inventive and fun romp through an amusement park .  br    br   also in the cast are reginald gardiner  constance collier  montagu love  harry watson  as albert   ray noble  and my favorite   jan duggan as the lead madrigal singer .  br    br   jan duggan is in the middle of the swoony trio who sings nice work if you can get it . her facial expressions are hilarious . she was also a scene stealer in the w . c . fields comedy  the old fashioned way  playing cleopatra pepperday .  br    br   much abuse has been heaped on this film because of the absence of ginger rogers  who  as noted elsewhere  would have been hideously miscast . the tcm host notes that ruby keeler and jessie matthews were considered . yikes . two more would  be disasters . fontaine is fine as alyce and the dynamic allows the musical numbers to belong to astaire  with ample comic relief by burns and allen .  br    br   fun film  great songs  good cast  and jan duggan in a rare spotlight   
horrible  horrible tv show  why comedy central decided to repeat old episodes of this program is beyond me . it really sucks  i am  of course  speaking about the seasons after the first two . the first two seasons were golden  and if i was exclusively talking about those seasons  this show would have gotten eight out of ten stars . none of the comedians appearing after the first two seasons who were not part of the original cast are any good . they were  and are  awful . the comedy is not funny at all . at all     br    br   the original cast was full of very talented comedians  like artie lange  phil lamarr  and mary schorr  or whatever her name is   all of whom should have gotten better deals after they left mad tv . this show is highly overrated  and less worthy of your channel surfing time than saturday night live  another horrible show . go out on saturday night and have fun  and leave mad tv to wither and die  as it deserves to .  
joan fontaine is  a damsel in distress  in this     musical starring fred astaire  george burns  and gracie allen . the plot  what there is of it  is about a british woman  fontaine  in love with an american  who is mistaken for astaire  a musical comedy star .  br    br   the film  directed by george stevens  contains some wonderful gershwin music  including  nice work if you can get it  and  a foggy day .  the best scene is the  stiff upper lip  number  which takes place in a fun house .  br    br   astaire  s singing voice sounds more robust in this film than it does in others  and he has a couple of excellent dance numbers . burns plays his over the top publicist and allen is burns  secretary . she  s hilarious . the problem  as others have pointed out  is fontaine  who has to dance with astaire at the end of the film . stevens could easily have used a double because he shows the dance in a long shot  and it takes place among the trees . i would have thought it was a double except the dancing was so lousy .  br    br   definitely worth seeing despite its flaws .  
in the glory days of the   s  god rest its soul  you could turn on the great comedy central at any hour of the day and see the greatest sketch comedy show of all time saturday night live . whpat a glorious show that was  whether it was the original not  ready  for  primetime players or the second golden age of snl featuring the greats  chris farley  adam sandler  david spade . . . and then  it all went to hell . i was first exposed to madtv about a year and a half ago  and i think i must  ve passed out from shock . how could a show so terrible prevail for so long  there are so many horrible flaws . i suppose i  ll start with the writing . the writing  for most part  is terrible . it is nothing more than kindergarten bathroom humor . the cast  for the most part  is talentless . there are a few sketches i have enjoyed  such as some of ms . swan and stuart  and there are a few talents on the show such as the magnificent alex borstein . phil lamarr is a talented actor  just not as a comedian . although there a few sparse ha ha moments  they are not enough to redeem this endless line of horrible drivel populated by babbling idiots . miss this one .  
this musical is decidedly mixed  and none of the elements really fit together  but it somehow manages to be mostly enjoyable . the plot contains some of the elements of wodehouse  s novel  but none of its virtues  though he co  wrote the script . the songs  though charming  have nothing to do with this particular film  and are unusually crudely squeezed into the plot  even by pre  oklahoma standards . burns and allen do their usual shtick quite competently  but it misses the tone of the rest of the film by about forty iq points .  br    br   there are a few high points . reginald gardiner does good work when he remembers that this is a talkie  and stops mugging like a silent actor . and there are a few bits of writing which could only have been written by wodehouse  though most of the film feels like the production of one of the hollywood meetings he later parodied .  
this show is one of the worst shows of all time  absolutely no original jokes and they  re always a year late . like in     they will finally say something about michael vick  s dogfights . all of the cast members are people who wanted to be on s . n . l but had to go to the lowest of the low  mad tv . its an hour of mad magazine jokes witch aren  t funny to begin with  told by terrible john stewart wanna bees . so if you have any problem tell me id love to hear the opinion of the  people who watch this show . family guy put it well  osama bin ladin was hiding in the one place no one would look  the cast of mad tv . there is a reason why no one watches the show .  
back when musicals weren  t showcases for choreographers  we had wonderful movies such as this one .  br    br   being a big fan of both wodehouse and fred astaire i was delighted to finally see this movie . not quite a blend of wodehouse and hollywood  but close enough . some of the american vaudeville humour  the slapstick not the witty banter  clash with wodehouse  s british sense of humour . but on the whole  the american style banter makes the american characters seem real rather than cardboard caricatures .  br    br   some inventive staging for the dance numbers  including the wonderful fairground with revolving floors and funhouse mirrors  more than make up for the lack of a busby berkley over the top dance number . they seem a lot more realistic  if you could ever imagine people starting to sing and dance as realistic .  br    br   the lack of ginger rogers and eric blore don  t hurt the movie  instead they allow different character dynamics to emerge . it  s also nice not to have a wise cracking  headstrong love interest . instead we have a gentle headstrong love interest  far more in keeping with wodehouses  young aristocratic females .  
why oh why don  t blockbuster movies simply stick to their selling point  everyone in the cinema  young and old  was there to see talking animals make jokes  and whilst they did that we were all happy . . . and then  as with lost in space  came the two killer blows  plot and sentiment . who really cared what happened to the tiger or whether eddie murphy made up with his daughter  not me  that  s for sure .  
in a famous essay he wrote about charles dickens  george orwell points out that many readers always regretted that dickens never continued writing like he did in pickwick papers that is  he did not stick to writing funny episodic novels for the rest of his career . this would not have been too difficult for dickens . his contemporary robert surtees did precisely that  only concentrating on the misadventures of the fox hunting set  mr . fancy romford  s hounds is a title of one of his novels  . among hunters and horse lovers surtees still has a following but most people find his novels unreadable . dickens was determined to show he was more than a funny man  and don  t forget  his first book  sketches by boz  was also a funny book  . so dickens third book is oliver twist  which got pretty grim at points  . orwell says that for any author to grow they have to change the style of their books . dickens would definitely  and successfully  have agreed to that .  br    br   but orwell overlooked the genre writer who transcends his fellows . surtees  as i said  is a genre writer concentrating on hunting  but not everyone is interested in hunting . but p . g . wodehouse saw himself as an entertainer  poking fun at the upper reaches of the british social system . his earl of emsworth is prouder of raising the finest pig in england than being . . . well earl of emsworth  his psmith is always prepared to counterattack when he is supposed to be submissive to an unfair superior . his stanley uckridge will always have a  perfect  scheme that should net a huge profit  but always manages to come apart at the end  . and best of all  his jeeves will always put his brilliant brain to work rescuing the inept bertie wooster  his boss . since wodehouse had a limited view of his mission as a writer  he was there to do cartoon figures of fun for the entertainment of the world  his books never lost their glow . they served  and still serve  their purposes . in fact  compared wodehouse with his far more serious contemporary evelyn waugh  who also wrote funny books  but of a more intellectual type . the best of waugh remains among the high points of   th century british literature brideshead revisited  decline and fall  and the rest . but in his determination to make his points  if his points failed to interest the reader the book frequently collapsed . for every vile bodies there was some failure late in his career like the ordeal of gilbert pinfold . while wodehouse could do lesser hack work too  his falling did not go as far as waugh  s did .  br    br   wodehouse also was a gifted lyricist  when you hear  bill  in the score of showboat  it is not kern and hammerstein  s tune  but kern and wodehouse  s tune transposed from  oh lady  lady  a dozen years earlier  . he was a handy dramatist too . so it is pleasing to see that he took his novel a damsel in distress and turned it into the screenplay here .  br    br   it has the normal wodehouse touches . that perfect butler keggs  reginald gardiner in a wonderful performance  is a scoundrel in rigging a  friendly  gambling game of chance among the staff of the stately home he heads . he is also unable to refrain  occasionally  from singing italian opera  despite constance collier  s attempts to control his impulse . this is typical wodehouse characterization . so is the way the love affair between lady alyce and jerry keeps going well and going down due to the antics of keggs and young albert  both of whom want to win that game of chance pot of cash . wodehouse always does that type of plot switch  with antagonists switching their point of view depending on their present state of interest .  br    br   wodehouse was also lucky here to have burns and allan to work with . it is generally considered that of all the films they made as supporting actors together  such as six of a kind and we  re not dressing  george and gracie did their best support with fred astaire . the fun house sequence  which includes the song  stiff upper lip   is wonderful  as is an earlier sequence where the three do a  whisk broom  dance  that astaire learned from burns  . but gracie  s marvelous illogical logic is used by wodehouse in scenes with gardiner  see how she manages to confuse him into giving her more money than her change deserves to be  only albert happens to notice keggs  gardiner  s mistake  and looks at gardiner as though he  s either stupid or mad  . her dialog with lady caroline  collier   s son reggie  ray noble  the british band leader  leading him to imagine that he will marry her  but saying goodbye to gracie as she drives off with george to get married is wonderful too .  br    br   the film supposedly failed at the box office because of the lack of ginger rogers in it  and the weakness of joan fontaine . fontaine is not doing a remarkable job in the role  but the flaw is really wodehouse  s  he didn  t make the character very interesting . but the film can stand without that  given the other performers and their characters  gershwin  s music  and wodehouse  s marvelous sense of fun .  
everyone involved with this project should be ashamed as to the result of their efforts . oh . i laughed a coupe of times  but i laughed a couple of times during schindler  s list also . they really screwed up a good premise .  
i couldn  t wait to get my hands on this one  when i read about fred astaire teaming up with george burns  gracie allen in a movie with a script by p . g . wodehouse and music by the gershwins . it is definitely worth seeing  but lacks the cohesive quality of the fred  ginger movies .  br    br   the story would probably be better to read in a wodehouse book  where the humor comes across better . some of the acting is downright painful to watch  notably the young boy and the damsel  .  br    br   but . . .  the funhouse dance is worth more than most movies . i never knew that gracie allen could dance  but boy does she in this movie . have you ever tried to remain standing on one of those spinning discs in a funhouse  imagine tapdancing on one in high heels  she keeps up wonderfully with astaire and adds greatly to the overall quality of the picture .  br    br   several nice songs  particularly fun are nice work if you can get it and stiff upper lip .  br    br   recommended for fans of astaire  burns  allen . i had to go back and re  watch the funhouse dance as soon as the credits rolled .  
i just did not enjoy this film . but then i loved babe  a pig in the city and have been spoiled by talking animal films that are exceptionally well done in every way . the animals were not likeable . they were all irritating especially chris rock  s guinea pig  but then what could i expect  it  s chris rock . i believe i smiled once or twice at a couple cute lines  but that  s it .  
first of all  in defense of joan fontaine  it must be said that ginger rogers would have been terribly miscast as alyce  the young british lady who has the title role . fontaine makes a fetching picture as the heroine here  but her acting inexperience shows badly and her dancing is better left unmentioned . fortunately  she went on to better things .  br    br   but here it  s fred astaire  george burns and gracie allen who get the top billing   and they are excellent . fans of burns  allen will be surprised at how easily they fit into astaire  s dance routines . especially interesting is the big fun house routine that won choreographer hermes pans an oscar . they join astaire in what has to be the film  s most inventive highlight .  br    br   unfortunately  not much can be said for the slow pacing of the story   nor some of the stale situations which call for a lot of patience from the viewer . it must be said that some of the humor falls flat and the usual romantic misunderstandings that occur in any fred astaire film of this period are given conventional treatment . only the musical interludes give the story the lift it needs .  br    br   some pleasant gershwin tunes pop up once in awhile but not all of them get the treatment they deserve . the nice supporting cast includes reginald gardiner  at his best in a polished comic performance as a conniving servant  constance collier and montagu love  as joan  s father mistaken as a gardener by astaire  .  br    br   it  s a lighthearted romp whenever burns  allen are around to remind us how funny they were in their radio and television days . both of them are surprisingly adept in keeping up with astaire  s footwork .  br    br   director george stevens makes sure that joan fontaine  s hillside dance number with fred is filmed at a discreet distance but clever camera  work cannot disguise the fact that she is out of her element as astaire  s dance partner  something she seems painfully aware of .  
i have a feeling that dr . dolittle was intended for an audience composed entirely of children . i think i would have had a better time if i sat at home and watched a sit  com . my favorite characters in the movie were the pet hamster and the two alley mice .  
disregard the plot and enjoy fred astaire doing a foggy day and several other dances  one a duo with a hapless joan fontaine . here we see astaire doing what are essentially  stage  dances in a purer form than in his films with ginger rogers  and before he learned how to take full advantage of the potential of film . best of all the fact that we see burns and allen before their radio  tv husband  wife comedy career  doing the kind of dancing they must have done in vaudeville and did not have a chance to do in their paramount college films from the   s .  george was once a tap dance instructor  . their two numbers with fred are high points of the film  and worth waiting for . the first soft shoe trio is a warm  up for the  chin up  exhilarating carnival number  in which the three of them sing and dance through the rides and other attractions . it almost seems spontaneous . fan of fred astaire and burns  allen will find it worth bearing up under the  plot  . i  ve seen this one  or  times  and find the fast forward button helpful .  
just what we need  another remake of vintage hollywood cinema  with eddie murphy miscast again in his second time around after the nutty professor        this shows why we  re running out of special ideas in making a quality movie  ladies and gentlemen  it has some signs of hope for its likeable and delightful imagery of animals who can act and speak with humans . things can only get more worse  unfortunately . bathroom jokes and sexual references kill this piece of  family  funfare instantly . even parents and children saw the trailer ad on the family channel  which was followed by utter angst and disgust in the movie theater . sad to say this is the more progressive pre  millennium era  but enjoy it while it lasts  cause things can only get worse with time . more went wrong with the all  new dr . dolittle . it is absolutely plotless  feeling too flat . i also hate that irritating voice of chris rock    we need more talented voice  overs than a bunch of overpaid celebs who don  t want to declare bankruptcy . i  ll have to agree on my local newspaper giving this among the top five worst movies of     . then again  the original version wasn  t any good  either . murphy  s next project could be patton if he  s not careful   
i gave this film  out of    reserving   for e . g amadeus  and  for slumdog millionaire most recently . this film is close to slumdog  but it is difficult to judge on such film without understanding balkan life  mentality and a soul which kusturica presents masterfully . to understand it you really need to be one of balkan . this is an amazing movie  much better and more contemporary of his previous films  which are boring at this time  i think kusturica is moving forward with this movie . i like humour  balkan humour   photography is an art itself  each scene is artistic to the limit . plot is probably a fairy tale  don  t recall it now  but remember reading to my daughter  going  to sleep a similar story .  
at first i thought that it was just about eddie murphy talking to some stupid animals . i was right . some people called this movie eddie murphy  s comeback  who are these people  jesus if this is the best he can come up with he can just stay away . what was the story again  i was so annoyed by all the lame jokes i forgot . i should have walked out on this one .  
not for people without swift mind or without a drop of balkan blood in their veins . if you don  t have any of these you can not understand it . and if you don  t understand  you can  t enjoy it .   for example if you think picasso is a name of a car produced by citroen  probably if you see a picasso  s painting you just will walk by it  deciding that it  s a trash  work of some street painter .   so do not judge  before trying to understand it   in the end i think it  s a must for every one with open minds . still my n  remains the shawshank redemption  and remember that not all things can be put in frames . because there are things in this world  that any frame just won  t fit .  
this film failed to explore the humanity of the animals which left me with an empty feeling inside . spoiler ahead i was not convinced that dr . d really had a compelling reason to forego the big buyout deal to help his furry friends . whereas babe  the original  bucked the trend of big  budget hits by focusing on the human virtues of the animals vs . their humans counterparts  all the animals in this film were nothing more than comical caricatures which one would gladly stuff in the meat  grinder  even more so if one could understand their pointless babble  . without eddie murphy  s zany behavior  this film would be a flop .  
  the luzhin defence  is a movie worthy of anyone  s time . it is a brooding  intense film  and kept my attention the entire time . john turturro is absolutely stunning in his portrayal of a tender  eccentric chess grandmaster  and emily watson is spell  binding as the gentle but rebellious daughter of a highly respected russian family . the chemistry between watson and turturro on screen is obvious from the moment their characters meet in the story . all in all  this movie is one of the best in  depth looks at the life of a chess grandmaster  and turturro and watson add a whole non  mainstream  non  cliche feel to the film . most people will come out of the theater thinking  and feeling somewhat touched by this brilliant look at the most unlikely of love stories .  
this flick was a blow to me . i guess little girls should aspire to be nothing more than swimsuit models  home makers or mistresses  since that seems to be all they  ll ever be portrayed as anyway . it is truly saddening to see an artist  s work and life being so unjustly misinterpretated . inconcievably  or perhaps it should have been expected   artemisia  s entire character and all that she stands for  had been reduced to a standard hollywood  female character a pitiful  physically flawless  helpless little creature  displaying none of the character traits that actually got her that place in history which was being mutilated here . sadder yet  was to see that a great part of the audience was too badly educated in the area to comprehend the incredible gap between the message conveyed in the film  and reality . to portray the artist as someone in love with her real  life rapist  someone whom she in reality accused of raping her even when under torture  just plain pisses me off . if the director had nothing more substantial to say she should have refrained from basing her story on a real person .  
the movie celebrates life .  br    br   the world is setting itself for the innocent and the pure souls and everything has  happy end   just like in the closing scene of the movie .  br    br   the movie has wonderful soundtrack  mixture of serbian neofolk  gypsy music and jazz .  br    br   this movie is very refreshing piece of visual poetics .  br    br   the watching experience is like you  ve been sucked in another colorful  romantic and sometimes rough world .  br    br   like mr . kusturica movie should be .  
the movie is bad . nothing special  just a  kid  movie with no serious thing in it . there is though one reason to watch this for the animal talk . some of them are so funny in what they say  you just can  t stop laughing . so if you want to hear a dog in the dog pound saying  i  m keyser soze   or another animal saying  you  re a dead cat walking   or many other funny one liners  see it . cause there  s no other good movie to watch it . vote  out of   .  
it takes a serbian or at least a balkan familiarity to understand and enjoy many of the situations  characters and jokes of  zavet  as well as of many other films of kusturica . see for example the opening scenes  with the remote village in the serbian mountains  with the low  tech devices that defend the integrity and way of life of the inhabitants  the nostalgia for the good days of the communist rule  and the awakening of the young brat watching his nude teacher at the sounds of the soviet hymn . kusturica not only tries to depart from the tragic history of serbia described in his previous movies  but creates a whole world of himself in the process .  br    br   this is not a political film or not an explicit political film in any case . it  s a fun film before all . kusturica creates a set of characters that we care about . music plays an active role in this film same as in all his other movies . his style is direct and grotesque  we now what he feels about his characters and we know that he wants us to feel the same . the space he develops melds present  history and magic  and the colours seem to be of a douanier rousseau of modern cinema .  br    br   this is not a perfect film either . the principal flaw is the length  some editing and shortening would have been useful  as at some point in time the director seems to have run out of ideas and repetitions show up . it is yet one of the most catching  amusing  moving films that i have seen lately .  
 . . . and that  s why hard to rate .  br    br   from the adult point of view  hmm  student point of view   . i must say i fell nearly asleep here . sure  there is some laughing scene  all the credit takes here eddie   but that can  t save the disney type of script and whole movie  that  s why  br    br    out of    
before  zavet  there was similarity between tim burton and kusturica artistic vision . they find their own  poetic style  and then they cowardly become prisoners of it . burton has  and still have  depp  kusturica has miki manojlovic  and somehow they got critical praise for repeating same formula over and over again . however  there are persons like me who find joke funny only when they heard it first time . that  s main reason why kusturica  s worst movies are  black cat white cat  and  life is miracle  .  zavet  is something completely different . you may like it  you may hate it  but this is not just another kusturica poetic  balkanic dreamlike stuff . of course  if you want to be praised  you have to play safe . it was very easy for kusturica to make just another flying gypsies movie and get award . fortunately  as a brave person he chooses to make movie that will be ironic look to his previous works .  zavet  can be described as a strong and very harsh parody on previous kusturica movies directed by kusturica himself . it is beautiful to see one big movie director to not take himself too seriously . this is quality that kusturica have and even the biggest  like bergman or kubrick  didn  t have . this movie is so meaningless that becomes absurd  so absurd that becomes deep  and so unfunny that becomes hilarious . same stuff that make  plan  from outer space  cult would made this masterpiece to people who knows how to watch it . average western viewer would not get few references . most notable  tire shop owner is srbljanovic  and this refers to biljana srbljanovic  famous serbian dramatic writer . politically  she is very active as left oriented liberal  and she despises kusturica  s political views and anarchism . kusturica  s  everything but not subtle  take to her work was to castrate miki manojlovic in srbljanovic shop . second reference is made to goran bregovic  previous kusturica  s composer . he formed  funeral and wedding orchestra  and start performing around europe . although he is praised as big composer  bregovic is just performer and most of his songs  if not all  are poor covers of traditional serbian songs . kusturica  s take on bregovic was to confront one wedding and one funeral  with funeral mocking the wedding . also  music is covering western classics as  london bridge is falling down  or french lullabies . you find this unfunny  now you see how we feel in serbia when listening bregovic  s horrible covers . i really liked this movie because it is not pretending to be deep  it is so overfilled with symbols that it becomes parody  and it is beautifully directed  as all of his works are . if you like previous kusturica  s movies  there is a big chance that you will hate this . if you don  t like couple of his last movies  you may find this as pleasant surprise  because this is like fellini directing  pink flamingos  . on purpose . i have massive respect for this guy after  zavet  . next tim burton movie would surely have main character with pale faces . next kusturica movies can easily be about aliens invading earth . that  s the reason why he is most interesting director on earth  whether you like it or not .  
production line collection of fart jokes that pretends  babe  was never made the writers clearly hoped that the gimmick of seeing animals talk would be enough to keep the movie going . it  s not . eddie murphy sells out yet again as a doctor who rediscovers his forgotten childhood gift for understanding the incessant and witless chatter of guinea pigs  tigers  rats  dogs and pigeons . the voice cast is impressive  albert brooks  julie kavner  reni santoni  john leguizamo  garry shandling  ellen degeneres  paul reubens  brian doyle  murray  but the script is so unimaginative  charmless and depressingly unfunny that the whole thing rattles down the bin chute pretty quickly .  
for those of you who are not aware with the theme that kusturica continues to explore intermittently in his films   the western assault on traditional serbian values   it will be impossible for you to understand his narratives . this continuous theme  expressed through fantasy and outrageous comedy as its vehicle  is one that kusturica has elected to mandate . since his fantastic work and magnum opus  underground   kusturica  s films   black cat white cat    life is a miracle   and recently with  promise me this   his slapstick  carnivalistic style underscores the  westernization  of balkan culture  its ambivalent arrival and assault on the traditional idiom . in the case of  promise me this   the paradoxical world of city  urban space  and village  traditional idiom  space are contrasted . the world of the city reflects western attributes that have ensconced the spatial and temporal setting organized crime  sexual exploitation  a ruptured sense of identity and vehement disregard for traditional values   as expressed toward the young kid   villager . the end of the film further exemplifies this notion as we observe a funeral mass and wedding on a one  way dirt road . they are on a collision coarse appropriately  the wedding  which represents the lifeline and pulse of the village  i . e . traditional values  are about to collide with the funeral mourners  exemplifying the death of tradition within this context . yet kusturica brilliantly examines this theme through his own unique  stylistic singularity . with his outrageous and flamboyant style serving as a vehicle in its portrayal .  
this is definitely a stupid  bad  taste movie . eddie murphy stars in what is written like a sitcom . he is surrounded with his perfect family  full of good family values . if you  re looking for politically correct entertainment  this movie is for you . but if you hate the idea of being the only one not to laugh at obscene gags in a movie  theater full of pop  corn addicts  just flee .  
kusturika made it again . another masterpiece . a coral comedy full of his own landmarks  with a frenetic rhythm and many glorious moments  we laughed and laughed  what a party  the music is everywhere  and also the shooting  the animals  the crazy bastards  sex and amazing gadgets and inventions  everything colorfully visual to entertain only . pure cinema in essence . a wonderful experience to watch . and one is specially grateful since good comedies are so rare  and so wonderful . well  this is one  and if you enjoyed kusturica  s previous films  you  ll love this  although  as in all comedies  it is about a chemical reaction  and you have to be in the mood for it .  
too bad neither the animals or eddie murphy had anything to say worth saying . this movie is just bland .  br    br   children  s movie  well  if you  re trying to get them to take a nap  then maybe . it  s just   minutes of some eye  wrenchingly poor animal lip animation to quips that aren  t funny . and the lip  sync  ing makes the old godzilla films look brilliantly done by comparison . meanwhile  eddie  pluto nash  murphy drones on with a suppressed understated delivery that is painful to experience . apparently  he  s trying to modify his old manic persona  but to what  in short  all the magic and wonder of the     original version is lost in this re  imagining  or whatever it is . a town wants to bully some forest creatures and blame them for doing bad stuff . no  really . and pluto nash can psycho  babble with them . things chain along with some stale jokes to a dull uninspired conclusion with no surprises .  br    br   rent the    movie . or some old yogi bear cartoons .  
  father is still away on business  was headline of an review after  promise me this  premiere in cannes . i do understand why many thinks the same but unique expression of kusturica is still present in his new movie and is something why critics can  t touch him . i had two hours of pure energy without rest . even when kusturica is suffering of lack of concentration or fear of empty space he is still unique and unspoiled . surprisingly good performance of stribor kusturica . much more close  ups and less landscapes then in  life is a miracle  . marija petronijevic has femme fatal world class potential  please don  t spoil it . surely  i recommend to everyone to see this film .  
my grandmother took me and my sister out to see this movie when it came out in theaters back in      and so we happily bought the tickets  the popcorn and soda  and walked right in to the theater and sat down to watch the movie . when it was over  the audience didn  t applauded strongly  i remember that i heard a few people say that they didn  t like it at all  i didn  t like it  i thought that it was rather stupid  and not worth seeing . eddie murphy was hysterical in this  but apart from him  the whole movie was bad  i rarely laughed at the parts in this  i also remembered that the other people in the theater almost hardly even laughed . and what i really thought was bad was making the animals talk  because talking animals only exist in cartoons  in live action movies  they are totally a mutt  i said that apart from eddie murphy  s hysterical twist he brings in  this movie is not worth watching  it is rather stupid .  br    br   i have seen eddie murphy in several of movies and i thought that he was funny in those  i have just said that he was the only funny part of this movie  i also have not seen eddie murphy in the really  great  movie  the adventures of pluto nash . this movie is not a movie that i would really recommend that you see  because apart from eddie murphy  you probably are not going to like this  especially because of a lot the the talking animals in it   br    br   i  ll give this movie a rating of  stars out of a possible   stars .  
i don  t know why some guys from us  georgia or even from bulgaria have the courage to express feelings about something they don  t understand at all . for those who did not watch this movie  watch it . don  t expect too much or don  t put some frameworks just because this is kosturica . watch the movie without prejudice  try to understand the whole humor inside  people of serbia did actually getting married while bil clinton bomb their villages  gypsies in all balkans are always try to fck you up in any way they can  love is always unexpected  pure and colorful  and balkans are extremely creative . for those who claims this is a bad movie i can see only that the american  s sht  like meet dave  get smart etc  are much much worse than a pure  frank balkan humoristic love story movie as promise me . the comment should be useful and on second place should represent the personal view of the writer . i think the movie is great and people watch it must give their respects to the director and story told inside . it is simple  but true . it is brutal  but gentle and makes you laugh to dead .  
 . . . when he remade broadway bill       as riding high       . recasting bing crosby as dan brooks did not help a screenplay that was  dated  in   let alone   . this sad film has entire scenes lifted from the original with many of the supporting cast repeating their roles  unless they were dead . though being older did not seem to matter to the director . nor that the cars and clothes in the background plates from     did not seem match up too     s  standards . not even  der bingel  singing can redeem this effort .  br    br   we rated both the original and the remake imdb fourstars . frank  s touch was long gone and all that was left was capra  corn . that did not stop mr . capra though . after floundering around the    s making some educational documentaries he wound up his career remaking lady for a day       as pocketful of miracles       . again a fine cast was let down on that imdb sixstar effort compared too the originals eightstars . sometimes it is better to quit while you were still ahead  right after state of the union       .  
actually one particular person  character isn  t  right there   but my summary line is referring to the power of the movie . and this is all achieved without any fancy camera moves and  or big production sets  but with a great story and very  believable  and good actors conveying the story  arc  .  br    br   you could call it a companion piece to great japan movies  cinema  such as tokyo story etc .   not so much story  wise of course  but more mood  wise  great acting  nuances in the performances that are truly gems . if you  re eager to experience a touching story and want to see a movie touching you emotionally  than this is the one to go . as you have noticed  as with many of my reviews   i  m not getting into the story . there are places here at imdb where you can look those up  i  m not one to spoiler the story whatsoever   
frank capra  s creativity must have been just about spent by the time he made this film . while it has a few charming moments  and many wonderful performers  capra  s outright recycling of not just the script but considerable footage from his first version of this story  broadway bill        is downright shoddy . it is understandable that he would re  use footage from the climactic horse race  which is thrilling . but he uses entire dialogue scenes with minor actors  then brings back those actors and apparently expects us not to notice  for example  that ward bond is   years older  unless you want to see one of the last appearances of oliver hardy  skip this one and watch broadway bill instead .  
kabei our mother       is a poetic and sublime beauty from japan . a real weeper  i had heard great reviews for the film and rented it from netflix . am i glad i did  in many ways this film reminded me of the old style of japanese classic film  making from the      s and      s that i  ve come to love so much  such as seen in yasujiro ozu pictures   the title credits even begin in the same way  with the japanese letters  characters  in red against neutral color burlap material . i immediately thought this director loves ozu . the same style was used too mostly indoor sets with only a few outdoor scenes . even a couple of  pillow shots   as roger ebert calls them . the strength of the film is built on the love of the characters for one another .  br    br   the story follows the lives of a japanese family before  and during  and after  world war two . the mother takes care of her growing girls the best she can after the father  a university professor  is arrested for anti  war sympathies . he  s never freed and only has a few brief meetings with his wife in prison before he dies of starvation and disease . meanwhile a former student of the professor comes by often to help take care of the mother and two girls . he begins to fall in love with the mother and is a substitute father for the two girls . but war starts and he  s drafted and they have to say an abrupt farewell . will they ever express their love for one another  will he ever return from the war   br    br   there is so much heart and gentle spirit in the performance of the lead actress  sayuri yoshinaga . she  s almost a madonna type  she  s so beautiful  big soulful eyes and flawless skin . the actor who plays the student is phenomenal as well his name is tadanobu asano . what a sensitive performance . there is no macho in him at all he  s gentle and kind . i  d certainly love to see both of these two in other movies . i think i  ll check to see what  s available for them . the two little child actresses are wonderful too .  br    br   the film is just released on ntsc dvd for american audiences  with very easy to read english subtitles . i gave it a   out of   on the imdb . i cried almost as much as with the japanese film classic twenty  four eyes       . don  t miss this film   
if you want to make a movie like this  have the threat be real . don  t surround your patsy with a bunch of bonzos . there is no credibility here . the plot is dull and unbelievable . the acting is even worse . i thought that i was watching arthur lake  dagwood  who is one of the worst actors in history  when i saw the main character . oh well  at some point he has to face the music and get fighting mad . i don  t care . do you  there are all these long scenes set in this austere office  the furniture made out of cardboard or masonite  . people talk and smoke and don  t do anything . most of the action happens in a five minute sequence . after that  it  s over . don  t bother .  
a chinese scholar who criticizes harshly the arrogant nationalist  warmongering policies of the ruling clique around the emperor in pre  war japan  is accused of being a  communist  and jailed for life . his loving wife  who supports totally her husband and his ideas  is left alone to save her family from starvation . this movie is a huge statue erected in praise of the role of the mother in the history of mankind . sayuri yoshinaga is not less than sublime in the title role and it was a monumental scandal that she didn  t get an asian oscar for the best female role in     . it went to a young girl with very limited acting potential .  br    br   this deeply moving and most  human  feature is a must see for all  true children  on earth .  
is there anything worse than a comedy film that lacks humor  the answer is yes one that fails to generate any interest throughout the picture . the premise is not too bad  a naive front man for an illegal business  but this is a potboiler with a poor script and screenplay and just does not work .  br    br   was this considered a good  b  in      hard to imagine . the only positive aspect of the picture is the cast  which contains several well  known faces from the     s and     s  such as warren hymer  vince barnett and robert armstrong  i always dismiss richard cromwell as the weakling who got gary cooper killed in  lives of a bengal lancer   so i wasn  t counting him  .  br    br   can  t recommend this one and gave it a rating of   if you have a choice  get a root canal .  
a movie of outstanding brilliance and a poignant and unusual love story  the luzhin defence charts the intense attraction between an eccentric genius and a woman of beauty  depth and character .  br    br   it gives john turturro what is probably his finest role to date  thank goodness they didn  t give it to ralph fiennes  who would have murdered it .  similarly  emily watson shows the wealth of her experience  from her outstanding background on the stage  . to reach the tortured chess master  turturro  her character has to display intelligence as well as a woman  s love . watson does not portray beauty  pageant sexuality  but she brings to her parts a self  awareness that is alluring .  br    br   in a chance meeting between natalia  watson  and luzhin  she casually stops him from losing a chess piece that has fallen through a hole in his clothing  a specially crafted piece that  we realize later in the film  has come to symbolize his hopes and aspirations . later  as their love affair develops  she subtly likens dancing to chess  luzhin has learnt to dance but never with a partner   she encourages him to lead her with  bold  brilliant moves  and in doing so enables him to relax sufficiently to later play at his best  and also realize himself as her lover  .  br    br   this is a story of a woman who inspires a man to his greatest achievement and  in so doing finds her own deepest fulfillment  emotionally and intellectually  or so we are led to believe  certainly  within the time frame  natalia is something of a liberated woman rather than someone who grooms herself to be a stereotypical wife and mother  .  br    br   the italian sets are stunning . the complexity of the characters and the skill with which the dialogue unfolds them is a delight to the intelligent movie  goer  yet the film is accessible enough to make it a popular mainstream hit  and most deservedly so . chess is merely the photogenic backdrop for developing an emotional and emotive movie  although the game is treated with enough respect to almost convince a chess  player that the characters existed . although a tragedy of remarkable heights by a classic author  the final denouement is nevertheless surprisingly uplifting .  
what did the director think  everybody who has read the biography of artemisia is left impressed by her guts to face a public rape trial in renaissance times and even suffer torture in order to show that tassi was guilty . that fact shows the real independence and emancipation  in her most terrible hour she stands her man . why do movies depicting renaissance have to be so clinically beautiful and romantic  are we afraid to see the gritty side of life or has the hollywood happy  happy  mood won  while i would always defend a director  s freedom to create his own reality in a movie i cannot make sense of turning artimisia  s life story on its head . very disappointing choice by the makers of this film .  
my introduction into yoji yamada  s cinematic world is through his famed and recent samurai trilogy with the twilight samurai  the hidden blade and love and honor . i had enjoyed all three films  and looking at the prolific  veteran director  s filmography  i think it  ll take me a very long while to watch all his films  especially the tora  san series . needless to say when kabei our mother has finally reached our shores  i jumped at the chance to watch what would be an ode to mothers everywhere  celebrating their innate love for their children .  br    br   based on the autobiography of teruyo nogami  kabei  our mother tells of a close knit family of four  mother kayo  kabei   sayuri yoshinaga   father shigeru  tobei   mitsugoro bando   eldest daughter hatsu  mirai shida  and youngest child teru  miku sato  . from the get go their lives would be changed forever  when shigeru gets arrested under the peace preservation law for his morally controversial writings against the nation  set in the late   s where japan had begun their  crusade  in china  and thereafter their participation in wwii .  br    br   so begins kabei  s struggle to hold down jobs to feed her family  and the frequent  difficult meetings with her husband behind bars . help comes from relatives  especially on shigeru  s side  since kabei  s own dad had adopted an  i told you so  attitude with her choice of spouse . shigeru  s one time student yama  arthouse buffs should recognize tadanobu asano here  provides laughter as a bumbling man who slowly becomes confidante and surrogate guardian to the children  and kabei  s sister in law hisako  rei dan  from hiroshima  which i believe would have sounded some hindsight alarm bells as to her unfortunate fate as the film progresses through its timeline .  br    br   while the film centers primarily on how the kids are growing up under the presence of their mom  and in a distant relationship with their dad  what i enjoyed is how the microscopic family events unfold under the macroscopic worldwide events that have impacted on the common folk in japan . it  s against the historical backdrop of japan  s push to regional dominance  and there are characters here that don  t mask those ambitions  even discussing what the country would eventually do should it be successful in holding onto conquered lands . this is something i rarely see in japanese films  being that frank in their discussion of that era  and also to get a glimpse of how the common man have to struggle against domestic issues made all the more difficult with resources channeled toward the war effort .  br    br   the actresses casted here are pitch perfect in their delivery and roles  be they the veterans or the child actors . actress sayuri yoshinaga deserves special mention for her role as the motherly figure who has to dig deep and find that inner strength to carry the household through under trying circumstances  while mirai shida and miku sato are lovable as the understanding children who have to learn to make do and compromise . each scene with the three of them together just makes it heart wrenching when the going gets tough  or fill your heart with joy should they be celebrating . before long you  ll soon find yourself being attracted to want to be part of this family  thanks to the primary cast  s powerful performances  with yoji yamada coaxing some really natural performances from the kids .  br    br   kabei  our mother boasts some stunningly beautiful art direction  and is classy in its delivery of both happy and sad moments without going over the top  or relying on cheap melodrama to cheapen the emotions it seeks from the audience . there are plenty of little things here done right which makes it pitch perfect  with every scene not being wasted  and with every nuance very meaningful in conveying its message across  be it compassion or love .  br    br   aside from the very abrupt ending  i had hoped that it could have continued for a lot more  despite its more than  hours runtime   kabei our mother comes highly recommended  and you  ll find it difficult to be holding back either your tears  or that thought about your own mom and her sacrifices she makes for you on an everyday basis . just what those sacrifices are should you need another reminder  then the scene during the end credits roll will remind you of the stuff that you  d probably have taken for granted .  
after  central city  loses its mob boss to murder  partner  in  crime robert armstrong  as  doc  rogers  decides to take drastic measures to preserve criminal continuity  he recruits the dead mobster  s milquetoast son  richard cromwell  as edward  baby face  morgan   to run the family business . the naive mr . cromwell is taken to the city  and installed as president of his father  s  acme protection agency   a front for gangsters . while cromwell sells innocently sells insurance  his  employees  run an extortion racket . cromwell falls for pretty client mary carlisle  as virginia clark   and  the duo find themselves in great danger  baby face morgan  catches star cromwell and ms . carlisle nearing the end of their once  promising  film careers . it  s a quick  light  and inoffensive little crime drama .  br    br    baby face morgan       arthur dreifuss  richard cromwell  mary carlisle  robert armstrong  
  kaabee  depicts the hardship of a woman in pre and during wwii  raising her kids alone after her husband imprisoned for  thought crime  . this movie was directed by yamada youji  and as expected the atmosphere of this movie is really wonderful . although the historical correctness of some scenes  most notably the beach scene  is a suspect .  br    br   the acting in this movie is absolutely incredible . i am baffled at how they managed to gather this all  star cast for a     film . yoshinaga sayuri  possibly the most decorated still  active actress in japan  will undoubtedly win more individual awards for her performance in this film . shoufukutei tsurube in a supporting role was really nice as well . it was asano tadanobu though  who delivered the most impressive performance  perfectly portraying the wittiness of his character and the difficult situation he was in .  br    br   films with pre  war setting is not my thing  but thanks to wonderful directing and acting  i was totally absorbed by the story . also  it wasn  t a far  left nonsense like  yuunagi no machi  sakura no kuni   and examines the controversial and sensitive issue of government oppression and brainwashing that occurred in that period in japan . excellent film  highly recommended for all viewers .  
this is the most boring worthless piece of crap i  ve ever wasted an hour of my life on . all i can say is thank god it was only an hour . over half of this  movie  is footage from the original  criminally insane  . at the very least  i was able to see the highlights from that rare exploitation classic  since for some reality  defying reason my video store only has  criminally insane ii   as it had it   crazy fat ethel ii   . but the rest of this movie is some of the absolute worst home  video acting and backyard filmmaking you  ll ever see . why is it my video store has this and not the original  why does stuff like this actually end up in video stores  why do people rent it and not immediately burn the copy once they  ve seen its sheer horror  why  aauugghh  why  god  why   br    br   unless you enjoy seeing annoying fruits eating an entire candy bar in an excruciatingly slow scene  or said fruit getting hung from the stair railing in an even slower scene  or a character getting stabbed sideways  don  t ask  multiple times in the back  or brain cell  murdering monologues about giving poisoned tea to one  s wife and then complaining that all the talk has made one  s own tea go cold  or the mentally  retarded eating fly soup  or just simply want to see crazy fat ethel dancing with a bloody knife in a garden don  t watch this movie . repeat do not watch this movie . do not rent this movie . if at all possible  do not walk past a shelf in a video store that has a copy of this movie setting on it . you can still be saved  but it is too late for me now . . .  
it  s a funny business  reviewing movies . these days when  internalized emotions  and  emotional detachment  are favored over straightforward sentimentality  it must be hard to stay faithful to your true feelings .  br    br   soon after completing jury duties at the   th berlinale  i managed to catch yoji yamada  s kabei .  br    br   after the screening  i watched folks dreamily amble out of the theatre hall  watery  eyed  men  women  and reviewers alike . even the director of the berlinale  obviously a hardened viewer of cinema  confessed to having been caught unawares and found himself crying three quarter  s way into this unashamedly sentimental experience .  br    br   but what really surprised me were the reviews that came after . despite being ineffably moved by the film  many reviewers chose to be tepid and emotionally non  committal in their writing . apparently  post weeping  they had put on their  thinking cap   and consequently  missed out on what i felt was the genius about kabei .  br    br   allow me to explain .  br    br   set in pre  war japan  the story of kabei revolves around one writer  s family  and their fate therein  after he is held in jail for what was described as  thought crimes  against the imperial will . through a series of protracted emotional scenes  yamada gets us familiar with the man  his loyal wife and two daughters  as well as three side charactersthe man  s pretty young sister  a bumbling ex  student  and a cad of an uncle  all come to help the family cope with their plight  in the absence of the man of the house .  br    br   the story moves along at a slow albeit steady pace  and heartbreaks occur at precisely the moments everyone is able to predict . this of course makes it near impossible for anyone in the audience to get too emotionally distraught by any dramatic event .  br    br   in other words  although you learn to love the family and their helpers  and sympathize with their unfortunate situation  you get so lulled by the certainty of the plot that you find yourself expecting a particular kind of ending .  br    br   however  two hours into the film  don  t worry  yamada provides the viewer with sufficient moments of gravity and levity to tide you along   he slaps you with what i can only describe as  the sting  . all that you have assumed to be what the story was aboutan innocent man wrenched from his faithful wife and daughters  now suddenly points to one of the family helpers . someone you have hitherto taken for granted is now thrown into an unexpected twist of fate .  br    br   at this point  something curious happened in the theatre i was in . everyone started sobbing with little or no inhibition .  br    br    my word   i muttered under my breath . it struck me then that  kabei   in the final analysis  was more than a film about a family torn apart by an empire on the verge of war . it was  in fact  a cunning examination of one common human foible how little we cared about the secret feelings of people who are closest to us .  br    br   now  the most common criticism made about the film was that it was technically solid  but lacked innovation . that  s what happens when reviewers put on their proverbial thinking cap  i guess . with kabei  i believe yoji yamada knew exactly what trick he was going to employ to touch on one unique aspect of humanity . a wicked old trick he so seamlessly applied in the tora  san series  and later  in tasogare sebei .  br    br   after lulling the audience into a sort of narrative comfort zone  he throws us into a realm of emotions rarely explored in cinema .  br    br   this  to me  is the most effective cinematic tool of all . one which avoids detection  but affects you deeply . and proof of its effectiveness was a thousand wet pieces of kleenex  thrown into a litter bin just outside of that thousand  seater cinema hall .  br    br   now if only some reviewers would resist being so caught up with being smart that they forget what cinema is really about . human emotions . pure and simple .  
there are some bad movies out there . most of them are rather fun .  criminally insane   was one of those flicks . so bad that it was enjoyable and had re  watch value to it .  criminally insane   has to be one of the worst movies ever made and coming from me  that  s saying a lot because i am not the type of person to say anything is the worst . but trust me  this was just completely awful and running just  hour is  hour too long .  br    br   the movie has a rather incoherent storyline  but who cares about story when all you want to see is a big fat woman running around killing people because she isn  t being fed . well  you don  t see that in this movie  except for all of the flashback sequences that are from the first one . the new storyline could have been really funny with ethel being sent to a halfway house and murdering everyone in there  but nothing happens until the last   minutes of the movie and at that point you are already falling asleep .  br    br   the camera work in this movie is just atrocious . this literally reminds me of something i shot with friends of mine back when i was   . the sound quality is something else as you can  t understand a word most of the characters are saying . to give an example of how bad it is  go into a new york subway and try to understand what is being said over the loud speakers  that is what this movie sounds like . not that it matters what they are talking about anyway because the actors are about as dry as a dead piece of wood .  br    br   now i know that saying this is the worst movie out there is pretty harsh but words can  t describe just how bad this movie is . if you don  t believe me  see it for yourself .      
we  as a family  were so delighted with  the last of the blonde bombshells  we purchased a copy for our home video library .  br    br   the acting is a  and the cast contains many favorite actors and singers . the theme is unusual and the script well written . the music  songs are timeless and takes us back to our young days when we sang the songs at the top of our voices . to outline the story here would spoil the  plot  as it is really nice to sit back and enjoy the story as it unfolds .  br    br   full marks to this most enjoyable and uplifting production and we heartily recommend it to anyone who is looking for a belly  laugh and lots of music .  
during the cheap filmed in video beginning of crazy fat ethel ii  i wondered if it was the same film that was on the cover . unfortunately  it was . the story itself is mindlessly simple . ethel  a homicidal maniac with an eating disorder  is released into a halfway house because of hospital overcrowding . she is by far the most sane resident watching while one man puts dead flies into another  s soup . ethel is then teased by one of the halfway house employees with a chocolate bar after he hits on the cost cutting measure of feeding the residents dog food . ethel retaliates by strangling him with a wire noose on the stairs and then . . . . well  you get the idea . if this all sounds like fun  it isn  t . this film was poorly made with cheap effects and even worse acting . the characters are so wooden when delivering their lines that they should be standing out in front of a cigar store . to make matters worse  half of the film consists of flashbacks to the first ethel movie  criminally insane  which is little better . a very poor effort .  
for persons of a certain age  w . w . ii was the defining time of their lives  and whatever followed could never compare . as the movie opens  a recently widowed but still lively woman  judi dench  hears a street musician gamely attempting to play the classic song   stardust .   br    br   this recalls her memories of when she played in an almost all  girl band that entertained between bomb raids during the war . the drummer  patrick  ian holm   happily avoided the draft and enjoyed the ladies .  br    br   patrick and dench  s character meet and decide to reunite the band  which takes them on a series of mini  adventures . despite ups and downs  the band does reunite and makes a successful reappearance .  br    br   the movie is exquisitely written and understated  with superb performances from all involved . the characters are well  developed and all people who have not quit living  despite their years . and there  s all that glorious old swing music   br    br   this isn  t the pontification of steven spielberg  but a serious movie nevertheless . the war affected everyone and that lesson is not forgotten in a movie that isn  t afraid to entertain as it teaches .  
criminally insane  is included on the new dvd of satan  s black wedding  criminally insane  and it  s a good thing too  because when i  ve seen a movie and know there  s a sequel  especially something that  s as obscure as this  i  m always curious . i  ve now had my curiosity satisfied and will never watch this again . most of ci  is nothing but  flashbacks  to ci  and footage of ethel asleep  recalling fond memories  i guess . thanks to proposition   she  s released from napa state  wonder if she got to see the cramps play while she was there   and sent to a halfway house run by a nice old lady that ethel promptly takes to calling  granny  . this is all filmed with a video camera so the picture and sound are rather pathetic  and it  s even complete with a couple of  rolls  . of course ethel does her thing  which is to dispatch anyone between her and food  especially the guy that witnesses one of her acts of mayhem and extorts her dessert . also  you have to wonder about any halfway house for murderers having a big drawer full of sharp knives in the kitchen and rat poison under the kitchen sink . guess that  s all a matter of misguided  trust  . if you liked or disliked criminally insane  either way there  s no good reason to watch this except out of curiosity . one wonders why the makers of this even bothered .  out of   .  
possible spoilers re late  appearing cameos  br    br   seldom does one see so many fine  memorable character actors  almost entirely actresses to be precise  in one film . even though a few only appear for cameos  each one is a gem . the british do this mix of comedy and real  life pathos better than anyone imo  so it is no surprise that most of the actors are brits .  br    br   the music is great no doubt much had to be dubbed  does leslie caron really play the bass so well  maybe  who knew   but clio lane was unmistakably herself  her warm visceral sound still turns my crank like few other jazz singers .  br    br   as an aging musician myself  not quite as old and certainly not in that class of course  it was a heartening film as well   a great film for anyone whose wondering if they  re past it in their profession or avocation whatever it may be . and of course a great celebration of the life of the stage .  br    br   i missed a little of the opening  but a provisional       and it certainly makes we want to see the whole thing .  
i should have listened . i was warned  and still  i paid money for this  after reading all the reviews  after knowing the original is  so bad it  s good   and that part  does not fit into that category at all  still  even then  i couldn  t resist . exactly what happened here  part one was hilarious  it had so much politically incorrectness  and other crazy  fat entertainment  and this one  there just couldn  t possibly be a worse sequel on god  s green earth  not basket case   hell  not even troll  . this is truly the worst sequel in history and that  s really saying something considering the groundbreaking  bottom of the barrel qualities of the original . criminally insane part  was just a completely different brand of bad . shot on video  zero score  zero entertainment value     consists of flashbacks of the original  and on top of all that  crazy  fat ethel has lost a portion of her girth . i mean  honestly  is this some kind of sick joke    thank  s a lot  nick milliard .     
the last of the blond bombshells is an entertaining bit of fluff . judy dench plays elizabeth  a newly widowed woman at loose ends . she has spent most of her life being the dutiful wife and mother but has never been truly happy .  br    br   shortly after her husband  s funeral  elizabeth is having her regular lunch date with her stick  in  the  mud children when she spots a street performer . this sparks memories of when she was a member of an all girl swing band in london during world war ii . we soon learn that the band was not exactly all girl as the drummer was a man dressing as a woman ala some like it hot .  br    br   elizabeth pulls out her sax  which she has been secretly practicing throughout her marriage  and joins forces with the guitar  playing street musician . elizabeth is far more talented than the guitarist  and the money begins to flow in . she doesn  t take any money as she is wealthy and doesn  t need it . her playing is strictly for artistic fulfillment .  br    br   elizabeth is seen one day by patrick  ian holm  who was the drummer  in  drag of the band . it seems that patrick was  and still is  quite the ladies  man  and elizabeth  being only fifteen at the time  was the only band member who did not experience patrick  s  talents  other than drumming .  br    br   elizabeth is inspired by her granddaughter to get the old group together once again to play for the granddaughter  s school dance . thus begins a delightful trip down memory lane combined with aspects of a humorous road trip movie  all topped off with some really good swing and blues .  br    br   i guess i  m at the age in which i really enjoy older actresses doing their stuff  and this film is a treasure trove as it not only stars judi dench  but she is supported by none less than olympia dukakis  leslie caron  and a host of seasoned british character actresses . this is all topped off by the extraordinary voice of cleo laine .  br    br   yes  it is fluff  but totally delightful and exceedingly entertaining fluff .  
due to budget cuts  ethel janowski  again played by priscilla alden  is released from a mental institution  even though she killed six people  and delivered to the hope bartholomew halfway house . once there  she immediately relapses into her criminally insane ways and kills anyone who gets between her and her food .  br    br   holy moly  does this movie suck  you know you are in trouble when the open credits start up and they are just the credits from the first film  apparently filmed off a tv screen . nick millard  under his pseudonym nick phillips  decided to return to the world of crazy fat ethel over ten years later and with a budget that probably covered the cost of a blank tape and a video camera rental for the weekend . let  s just say that millard  s unique style doesn  t translate well to video . seriously  i have made home movies with more production value than this . and millard tries to pull a silent night  deadly night  by padding half the running time with footage from the first film  which looks like it was taken off a worn vhs copy  . alden is again good as ethel but the film is so inept that you start to feel sorry for her for starring in this garbage . i mean  at least the first film tried . here we have no music  weaker effects  if that is at all possible   shaky camera work  horrible audio and editing that looks like it was done with two vcrs hooked up . avoid this at all costs   
how can you resist watching a film with some swing  it  s a delightful little film full of wonderful actors and a wonderful story line . too bad they don  t tour out here . . . i  d go see them . see it if for no other reason than to hear some good music .  
the first movie is pretty good . this one is pretty bad .  br    br   recycles a lot of footage  including the opening credits and end title  from criminally insane . the new footage  shot on video  really sticks out as poorly done . scenes lack proper lighting  the sound is sometimes nearly inaudible  there  s even video glitches like the picture rolling and so on .  br    br   like all bad sequels  it basically just repeats the story of the first one . ethel kills everybody who shares her living space  often for reasons having to do with them getting in the way of food she wants .  br    br   at least it is only an extra on the dvd for the first one  which also includes the same director  s film satan  s black wedding . too bad it doesn  t include the death nurse movies though .  
this has just been broadcast on bbc and i am absolutely delighted to have seen it . as the credits rolled  the cast alone made certain that i would give it a go . after just five minutes i was completely immersed in this beautiful film .  br    br   yes it was formulaic and predictable  but that somehow added to it  s charm . the flashbacks to the forties were wonderfully placed and captured a feeling equalled in few productions .  br    br   a real feel  good film  punctuated throughout with outstanding music . when it  s released  i  ll buy it   
nick millard aka nick phillips should have left well  enough alone when he made  criminally insane    years before the release of this god  awful waste of time and effort . the fact that the original  criminally insane  was less than an hour in length should have clued him into the fact that he had probably milked this storyline for all he was going to get out of it . . . but instead he opts to use tons of footage from the original in this one as well  even to the point of recycling the original opening credit sequence  unfortunately  bringing back the rapidly aging priscilla alden did not save this one . what little bit of original footage there was in this flick looks as if it were filmed with a rented hand  held camcorder  if this film cost more than     to make i would be very surprised and i would be equally surprised if it made anything close to that amount  avoid this one and watch the original instead   
this movie was on british tv last night  and is wonderful  strong women  great music  most of the time  and just makes you think . we do have stereotypes of what older people  ought  to do  and there are fantastic cameos of the  sensible but worried children  . getting near to my best movie ever   
the line is funnier in england  where  away from vixen   s native america  the word  fanny  has a whole new meaning . sadly  it  s the only laugh you  ll get in this terrible sex comedy that is neither sexy nor funny .  br    br   oddly unalluring with painted  on eyebrows  erica gavin  acting ability zero  is a nymphomaniac who lusts after her own brother  but rejects his black friend while making derogatory remarks about watermelons . as if in revenge  he asks her if she would go with a shetland pony . reference is also made to  making it with monkeys  . gavin  s ability to shake and tremble with orgasmic pleasure at the slightest touch is matched only in it  s lack of appeal by her seduction dance  which involves a bonfire and a haddock . personally  i preferred the haddock .  br    br   for    this was pretty tame stuff  and belies the controversy it attracted at the time . a character claims to be  getting stoned   though it  s only on bourbon  and for one of the original  x  certificates  there  s no full frontal nudity . just six years later we would be getting timmy lea and his confessions  but here we have to make do with topless shots . only gavin  s final seduction of her own brother really shocks . another activity for vixen is where she helps settle the sexual problems between a married couple by sleeping with them both . the two women clearly aren  t enjoying acting out their scene together  and make a poor effort to disguise it . after vixen irons out their disharmony  the romantic husband concludes of his wife  i guess she  s got it coming to her    br    br   the only near  worthwhile segment involves an unusual discussion of cuban communism . it seems out of place with the rest of the film  though is spliced with shots of gavin  s breasts to rope it in to continuity . this then leads into a vague anti  vietnam stance  which is commendable  though dropped in the middle of such a frivolous film it seems trite and insensitive  not to say downright tasteless . incidentally  the part of would  be communist niles brooke is taken by harrison page  the same harrison page who played captain trunk in amusing comedy sledge hammer  page must be embarrassed by his back catalogue  which also includes meyer  s beyond the valley of the dolls   though meyer apologists would have you believe the terrible dialogue  lousy acting  sloppy direction and dire editing are not just part of the charm  but wholly intentional . as a defence  it fails to hold water .  br    br   the irritating incidental music  a cross between the tunes they play in cinema restaurant ads and muzak used by tv stations when the transmission breaks down  is omnipresent and intrusive while even the silly  amateurishly skewed camera angles can  t generate interest . a wonderful world of jazz saxophones  where women have been  asking for it   black men  or  shines   aren  t good enough for anyone  and rape is an acceptable form of revenge . absolutely abysmal .  
part of the enjoyment that i took from this film stemmed from the fact that i knew nothing more about it than that it starred john turturro and emily watson   reasons enough to watch   was a period piece and involved chess . everything that evolved before me was completely unexpected . i shan  t  therefore  give away much more . suffice to say that turturro is magnificent as an eccentric  obsessive and deeply vulnerable chess genius and em matches him step for step as the strong  minded woman who is drawn to him . it  s about love and obsession  rather than the venerated board game and after drawing me in gradually over the first half hour  became totally compelling . and i defy anyone to second  guess the ending .  
an awful film  it must have been up against some real stinkers to be nominated for the golden globe . they  ve taken the story of the first famous female renaissance painter and mangled it beyond recognition . my complaint is not that they  ve taken liberties with the facts if the story were good  that would perfectly fine . but it  s simply bizarre   by all accounts the true story of this artist would have made for a far better film  so why did they come up with this dishwater  dull script  i suppose there weren  t enough naked people in the factual version . it  s hurriedly capped off in the end with a summary of the artist  s life   we could have saved ourselves a couple of hours if they  d favored the rest of the film with same brevity .  
superb cast  more please   br    br   if you can catch just about anything else written by plater  or starring these wonderful actors  . for anyone who doesn  t know plater has a real feeling for jazz  my recommendation is to see the  beiderbecke  trilogy whenever you can .  br    br    there  s three kinds of jazz  hot  cool and  what time does the tune start     
a movie about vixen  erica gavin  who has a mountie husband who she loves . . . but she loves sex too  in the course of the movie she gets multiple men in bed   including her husband and brother  also there  s a  tame  lesbian sequence .  br    br   this film put russ meyer on the map and was  i believe  the first critically acclaimed x rated film ever . it was a big hit when it came out . unfortunately  it doesn  t date well .  br    br   it is well  directed and erica gavin is just great  whatever happened to her   and it was very colorful . . . but by today  s standards it  s extremely tame . i  m surprised it has an nc    rating now   there  s no hardcore sex and it only has topless females and no male nudity at all . also it  s  sadly  pretty dull and the addition of politics at the end was confusing  and pretty silly  . it is worth catching though to see what was considered very shocking in     . purportedly i saw the cut version  which has an r rating  but i  ve heard only a few seconds here and there are missing .  br    br   meyer  s next film  beyond the valley of the dolls  is much better and dates very well . catch that instead .  
a great concept  a great cast  and what a pity there wasn  t more time to flesh out the story . i loved it and wanted more . dench  dukakis  and laine  now there are some real women  still  dench and her character alone had enough substance to carry the script over some of its lesser moments . i have it on tape and will continue to watch it  hoping that there is a clue at the end that suggests there will be a sequel .  br    br   top drawer   no question   no argument   br    br    
i want to clarify a few things . i am not familiar with ming  liang tsai movies  and i am very familiar with art cinema i grow up in the seventies times of goddard  fellini  bergman  bertolucci and many others .  br    br   art movies then were really art like paints . people did it to express their inner feelings  not really worried about if other people understand anything . they were beyond commercial values just look some old antonioni  or early picasso  and you will understand .  br    br   tian bian yi duo yun  the wayward cloud  has nothing to do with that . it is an opportunistic movie  intended to fool festival judges and critics  playing many things without saying anything .  br    br   the story makes no sense . the lack of water makes the government to promote the use of watermelons to hydrate . a girl in desperation  steal water from the public bathrooms wc . there is also a porno start  neighbor  trying to make a movie with an actress he does not seems to feel comfortable with . there is some romantic awakening between the girl and the porno star . the mess ends with a sexual scene  not pornographic  that many people feel shocked about  but i believe it is less provocative than you can see in american pie or history of violence .  br    br   the two main characters never talk . sometimes  a musical number   style appears and explains  through a song  what is happening in characters minds . these video clips  are really welcomed because the previous scene  without dialog or music only people looking at each other  takes sometimes    or even more minutes which in movie times is too much .  br    br   there is also a few bits about  the difficult to make sex without love   the  selfish mind of the porno industry  .  br    br   it is obvious  this movie intended  get away with it  to fool festival juries and critics . it have a few pseudo  shocking scenes  within the limits of taiwan censorship  and many subjects are open  but nothing is concluded or goes anywhere .  br    br   these tricks  got the movie a few  disputed  important prices in film festivals and get the movie an undeserved commercial success  i see the movie in france and the theater was packed  .  br    br   however  please  do not be fooled . there is nothing new or original or even originally told or filmed in this movie . it is boring and empty really a fraud to public . boogie nights  which i did not really liked   intimacy and  songs are far better movies .  
this was a wonderfully clever and entertaining movie that i shall never tire of watching many  many times . the casting was magnificent in matching up the young with the older characters . there are those of us out here who really do appreciate good actors and an intelligent story format . as for judi dench  she is beautiful and a gift to any kind of production in which she stars . i always make a point to see judi dench in all her performances . she is a superb actress and a pleasure to watch as each transformation of her character comes to life . i can only be grateful when i see such an outstanding picture for most of the motion pictures made more recently lack good characters  good scripts and good acting . the movie public needs heroes  not deviant manikins  who lack ingenuity and talent . how wonderful to see old favorites like leslie caron  olympia dukakis and cleo laine . i would like to see this movie win the awards it deserves . thank you again for a tremendous night of entertainment . i congratulate the writer  director  producer  and all those who did such a fine job .  
they have sex with melons in asia .  br    br   okay . first  i doubted that  but after seeing the wayward cloud  i changed my mind and was finally convinced that they have sex with watermelons  with people dead or alive . no safe sex of course . the  terrifyingly ugly  leading man shoots it all into the lady  s mouth after he did the dead lady . never heard of hiv  guess not .  br    br   the rest of this movie is mainly boring  but also incredibly revolting . as a matter of fact  in parts it got so disgusting i couldn  t take my virgin eyes off . sex with dead people  how gross is that  and what  s the message behind it all  we need water  we need melons  we need to be dead to have sex  sorry  but this stinks   
this film was in one word amazing  i have only seen it twice and have been hunting it everywhere . a beautiful ensemble of older screen gems who still have that energy . judy denchs ability to carry the whole film was amazing . her subtle chemistry with the knight in stolen armour was great  
the movie is actually too slow . there are some nice images but it cannot outweigh the fact that the movie is in fact boring . you see a sexual intercourse a lot of watermelons and a sexual intercourse while eating a melon and maybe a little bit more . it may sound even interesting to someone but believe me to watch it for  hours isn  t fun at all . though you laugh several times but it  s really not enough and it may be more out of despair and disbelieve than out of fun . to disturb the boredom director tries to put few movie video  clips into the movie . they are really colorful clips of absurd songs maybe from the    s but it  s hard to say exactly and they are trying to be funny so hard that it  s really sad . several times you have a feeling that the plot could evolve into something  that a powerful scene is being created but at the end it just somehow evaporates and that  s it . beside the clips there are hardly any dialogs let alone music . the director is trying to be original and artistic at all cost . personally i cannot recommend the movie . i believe that art is something that shouldn  t be boring . during the projection there was yawning all around the cinema which just corroborates my short review .  
i grew up during the time that the music in this movie was popular . what a wonderful time for music and dancing  my only complaint was that i was a little too young to go to the uso and nightclubs . guess it sounds like i  m living in the past   i do have wonderful memories  so what  s wrong with that     world war  was a terrible time  except where music was concerned . glenn miller  s death was a terrible sadness to us . this movie will be a favorite of mine . clio laine was excellent what a voice  i don  t know how i ever missed this movie . my main reason for this commentary is to alert the modern generation to an alternative to rap and new age music  which is offensive to me . please watch this movie and give it a chance   
redundant  everlasting shots  useless shots  useless scenes are what you will find in this film . in other words  it seemed technically poor to me . the musical bits are amateurishly directed  no synchronization in the would  be dancing  badly post  synchronized  bad and obvious improvisation of the actors from time to time  etc  .  br    br   the film is long and boring . eventually  it makes few point and even less sense .  br    br   there are some good ideas though . some of the comic elements are actually efficient  especially the opening scene . however  the film gets worse and worse so that it is completely unbearable and impossible to understand by the end .  br    br   the trailer i saw was very dynamic  that is not true for the film . that is to say the discrepancy between the trailer and the actual film is something very close to a rip off .  
it  s rare that i sit down in front of the tv specifically to watch a particular programme . it  s even rarer when i actually enjoy the programme in the end  but last of the blonde bombshells was one of the best movies i think i  ve seen .  br    br   a remarkable cast  led by dame judi dench and ian holm  and an excellent  witty and poignant script combined to make it a truly rewarding experience . i can  t really express how good i thought it was  so i won  t try  i  ll just say  if you get the opportunity  please see it     i only hope it comes out on video .  
the acting itself wasn  t even that bad  since it did  t come to mind in the movie but whatever had this director in mind  the intended climb towards some climax completely missed the mark  . .  br    br   almost all scenes involve acting that stand so far from our own intentions and way of reacting on things that you don  t really attach to any actor in the movie  . .  br    br   empty silences  . . in this case  see through cheap method of boasting your way into potential metaphorical brilliance  . . which just wasn  t here at all  . .  br    br   i guess i  m bitching but shit  . .  hours of my time  . .  
  i hate those stories that begin with a funeral  but i  m afraid this one begins the day we buried george . not that we buried him . in the interests of the environment we had him incinerated .  so speaks elizabeth  judi dench   george  s widow . she  s led a comfortable  predictable life with george . she has two grown children and a    year  old grandchild . but when she was   and in school  in the midst of world war ii  she played the sax at night in an all  girl  almost all  girl  band called the blonde bombshells . the  almost  was because the drummer was patrick  a charming rogue who had no desire to fight and possibly be killed . with a yellow wig  a long red dress and makeup  patrick looked almost as good as the others .  br    br   one afternoon after the funeral  elizabeth finds herself in the attic of her home playing the sax she had put away . she used to practice  but only when george was out of the house on the golf course . then two things happen . her granddaughter  amazed at how good elizabeth is  starts talking about how the blonde bombshells could be reunited and play at her school dance . then elizabeth encounters patrick  ian holm   now just as much an aging oldster as elizabeth  and just as much attracted to her as he was more than   years ago .  he also was attracted to all the other members of the bombshells . the roses that would appear on his bass drum had a special meaning that attested to his affection .  well  why not see if the other band members can be located  and why not give it a shot for a reunion performance at her granddaughter  s school   br    br   why not  one member of the band is gaga . one is dead . one is in jail . one has found salvation with the salvation army . one they can find no trace of . one is last known to be in the states . one is a professional singer and has no intention of doing a school gig  even for a reunion . but one by one elizabeth and patrick bring together the surviving members of the bombshells . we don  t know if enough of them can be found . the rehearsals more often than not turn into off  key shambles . while they do this  we share elizabeth  s flashbacks of what life was like when she and patrick were young in war  time london  playing in the band while the bombs were falling . as terrible as it was  it was the most exciting time of their lives . when the night of elizabeth  s granddaughter  s dance arrives  of course  the blonde bombshells  filled with jitters and renewed friendship  blow the youngsters away . afterwards  elizabeth informs us that the bombshells are continuing to play at gigs  and that she and patrick have no plans to get married . . . but see nothing wrong with a little fooling around .  br    br   this is sentimental hogwash  expertly done  and not bad at all . what makes it work are the skill and charm of judi dench and ian holm . when i hear the term   warm  hearted comedy   i usually cringe unless the actors are first  rate . dench and holm are wonders to watch as they take something as light  weight and predictable as this script and turn it into something that charms us . then there  s the  old broad  gambit that  s fun if you remember the old broads . among the blonde bombshells are leslie caron  joan sims  olympia dukakis  billie whitelaw and cleo laine . laine sings three numbers and almost over  balances the production . she is so strong and unique a jazz talent that while she  s singing the program nearly becomes the cleo laine show . another attractive feature is the number of great wwii songs played in strong swing .  
i  ll start with what i liked .  br    br   i really liked the songs  everything about them was great  the costumes  music  lyrics  as long as the translation was good     choreography  everything .  br    br   i loved the crab scene and the cooking scene .  br    br   but that  s about it .  br    br   i get it  arty cinema  blablabla  but too much is too much . too much silence  it was interesting for an hour  but two hours of hearing steps and moaning from time to time  really . . .   too much boredom  no movie should ever be boring  no matter how deep it was to be    too much porn  like scenes  i do get it really  i get that they were filming a porn movie there  but really  really  really that is too much  i truly think  that cinema should be for watching and this one is definitely not watchable in no way .  br    br    stars for the songs .  
this film pulls you in from the get  go because it grabs our attention by acknowledging  yeah  that this story is opening with a clich  a funeral .  br    br   in hands other than judi  s i wouldn  t have given it an  as this material has been done over and over again the great reunion of a once famous  pick one please  team  army platoon  theatre group  singers  band .  br    br   but this movie never stoops to cheap sentimentalization  and when you think it is going to it swoops off in another direction . a case in point is the flowers that are sent by an admirer to judi .  br    br   the band members are an interesting group and ride above the clichs too . one is in jail  one has found religion  one is an alkie  and one has sunk into dementia . but the joie de vivre rediscovered by judi  ignited by her granddaughter  s interest  carries us along and makes us overlook the sometimes simplistic nature of the plot .  br    br   the cast are a who  s who of talent  leslie caron  the incomparable jazzist cleo laine with her amazing high notes  a last performance from joan sims  brava joan  a cute as a button flirtatious ian holm having a ball  and olympia dukakis as a money  grabbing divorce living in the highlands of scotland with her ghillie and her whiskey  the closing scene is standard hollywoodland fare  the judgmental children of the star converted to fun  loving supporters  the old lovers reunited  the youngsters swept up in the old timers  music . life should be this simple . but i would watch it again  and intend to  with my own granddaughter . for in the right hands  sometimes one just loves these brazen old clichs .  out of   .  
this film comes as the ultimate disappointment in tsai ming  liang for me . it oozes laziness from its every frame . so i  m not going to analyse it thoroughly either . but some observations  br    br    . if the premise is drought  why we get to see city landscapes with blooming green trees  i wonder if that was supposed to mean something in the metaphorical context of the film  in which thirst notifies the craving for intimacy  and watermelon the trivial substitute  sex  . or it is only a matter of lousy film  making  not giving a damn about being coherent .  br    br    . we don  t get to know what had happened to the porn actress  why she is unconscious or  presumably  dead . it seems a question of no importance as long as the message of supreme alienation is successfully  bombastically  delivered  but in retrospect  her inert body proves to be a cheap dramaturgical gimmick  a pretext  just as gratuitous and exploitative as the activity it is employed in .  br    br    . nothing is expressed in this movie that antonioni hadn  t expressed better   years ago  and without needlessly humiliating his actors .  br    br    . the musical numbers  recycled from  the hole   felt like a secondary  schooler  s idea of artistic counterpointing  executed on that very secondary  school level of skill . if that was the point  the point sucked .  
a charming little film set in the uk about the reunion of a wwii all girl  almost  swing band . a fine cast of oldsters bring lighthearted perspectives on life to this fun tale with an award winning performance by dench and laine  s always great  pipes  . time well spent and a fun watch for all .  
the wayward cloud is a frustrating film to watch . infuriatingly enigmatic  it treats each shot like a work of art . you get the impression that the composition of each shot has been designed and prepared with a degree of exquisite care that borders on obsession expressing how far cinema has progressed since the very first films were cranked out in the nineteenth century and mimicking their construction  the camera here hardly ever moves  apart from during the camp and colourful musical numbers . ambient noise is kept to a minimum and barely a word is spoken . this curious but effective device forces the audience to focus their attention on visual stimuli alone so that  even as the story progresses at a snail  like pace we feel ourselves becoming immersed . unfortunately  for me at least  this immersion begins to unravel somewhere around the hour mark . i began to feel as if the film was challenging me to keep watching while becoming more difficult as the minutes dragged so that the mere act of watching became a battle of wills .  br    br   had the content of this film not been as sexual as it is it would no doubt been even more obscure to western audiences . as it is  there  s an abundance of female nudity and an act of sexual abuse on an unconscious  or possibly dead  woman that is so repugnant that  while it may speak volumes about the degradation to which pornography subjects both men and women  the users and the used  it is so over  zealous in the manner in which it chooses to make its point as to effectively render it ineffective . of course the worst and most enthusiastic participants of the explosion in available pornographic content will seek this film out for all the wrong reasons and watch it with their sticky finger on the fast  forward button of the remote .  br    br   for all its problems  the film is definitely a stayer  and the more you think about it the more sense certain aspects of it seem to make . ironically  for a film in which so little happens  the viewer would probably be proportionately rewarded by watching a second or even third time . for me  however  once was enough  
i  m so glad i happened to see this video at the store . i was looking for some happy movies and this one turned out to be a true gem . i loved that the movie  a love story of sorts  wasn  t about some beautiful twenty  somethings rather  it  s a story of some beautiful sixty  somethings  who used used to be twenty  somethings . it  s a good  well written  and wonderfully acted story with fabulous wwii band music thrown in as well . it  s also got a delightful surprise in it for scottish castle lovers . it left me smiling and ready to watch it again  which i did a couple more times before i turned it in . i highly recommend it .  
after harry reems  teenage girlfriend is raped by zebbedy colt  the night  walker   reems becomes despondent and consoles himself by having sex with some lesbians . meanwhile  colt  who carries a cane and dresses like a magician  rapes some more women . eventually  reems decides to track him down and end his crime spree . despite being shot on film and marginally nasty  it looks like any other    s porno and is ineptly executed . the rape  abuse scenes are surprisingly restrained and the attempt to cash in on  death wish  is laughable . r . bolla   cannibal holocaust   plays a cop . colt  who is usually over  the  top  wigs out in a couple of scenes  but he  s too well behaved for my money . this roughie could have been much rougher .  
walking home after the film  i was humming the familiar waltz music that natalia and alexandre were dancing to . i  ve heard that before  where  ah  from kubrick  s  eyes wide shut   track     got it just as i arrived at the door . it  s  waltz no .  from jazz suite no .   composed by dimitri shostakovich  performed here by the city of prague philharmonic orchestra . yes  i went and picked up the soundtrack from tower  s . what a treat  the film score by alexandre desplat was fulfilling  there are fifteen tracks besides two tracks of the delightful waltz . it  s not often these days we get a soundtrack entirely dedicated to a comprehensive film score . reminds me of favorite scores by maurice jarre  ennio morricone  beginning notes of track  have traces of  nuovo cinema paradiso    georges delerue  and john barry . there are subtle nuances of strains and notes from the strings  celeste  piano  and harp .  br    br   emily watson and john turturro delivered a credibly consuming paired performance . the love story  their intimate connection  is very much between alexandre and natalia  his childlike yet tormenting inner world  and her generous and bold understanding of him  a relationship alone to them both . director marleen gorris of  antonia  s line       academy award  s best foreign language film from the netherlands  gave us a quietly sensitive film  not without its unsettling human conflicts  intrigues  obsessions  family strives  lovingness and respect . the front  end subject is the mind  game and mathematical logic of chess . beneath it can be a mild tearjerker of a drama set in the late      s . cinematography captures the serene beauty of lake como in northern italy near the swiss border .  br    br   i highly recommend the soundtrack if you don  t feel like going to the movies . alexandre desplat  s lyrical film score of  the luzhin defence  is complete .  
the acting is good  the women are beautiful  and the men are handsome  so if you  re looking for well  acted soft porn  this movie is for you . otherwise  you are wasting your time . the motivation of the main characters  in particular the eponymous lead  is often a mystery . she could have just told the truth  the truth as presented in the film  not necessarily the historical truth  and her lover would have been spared time in jail for a rape he did not commit . was she protecting her father  who went off half  cocked  as it were  when he impetuously instigated a malicious lawsuit  was she protecting herself  with her reputation suddenly of concern when heretofore only her art seemed to matter  during the trial  this strong  willed woman turns to mush before our eyes . conversely  her lover  who starts off as a narcissistic jerk  becomes a selfless hero during the trial . at least his motivation is clearer he sacrifices himself for love . naturally  since no good deed must go unpunished  we are told that she never sees him again .  
i  m from belgium and therefore my english writing is rather poor  sorry for that . . .  br    br   this is one of those little known movies that plays only once on tv and than seems to vanishes into thin air . i was browsing through my old vhs video collection and came across this title  i looked it up and it had an imdb score of more than      that  s pretty decent .  br    br   i must admit that it  s a very well put together movie and that  s why i  m puzzled . this is the only film made by this director . . .  how come he didn  t make lots of films after this rather good one . . .  someone with so much potential should be forced to make another movie  ha ha     br    br   anyway  i really would like to see that he pulls his act together and makes another good movie like this one  please . . . . .   
there are some nice shots in this film  it catches some of the landscapes with such a beautiful light  in fact the cinematography is probably it  s best asset .  br    br   but it  s basically more of a made for tv movie  and although it has a lot of twists and turns in the plot  which keeps it quite interesting viewing  there are no subtitles and key plot developments are unveiled in spanish  so non spanish speakers will be left a little lost .  br    br   i had it as a xmas gift  as it  s a family trait to work through the films of a actor we find talented  and matthew mconaughey was just awesome in  a time to kill   and the  the newton boys  so i expressed i wanted to see more of his work .  br    br   however although it says on the dvd box it is a matthew mconaughey film and uses this as a marketing ploy  he has a few lines and is on screen for not very minutes at the end of the film  he is basically an extra and he doesn  t exactly light up the screen while he is on  so die hard fans  really not worth it from that point of view .  br    br   the films star though  patrick mcgaw is great though and very easy on the eye  and his character is just so nice and kind and caring  a true saint of a guy  he  d be well written into a rom com .  br    br   so for true mcconaughey acting brilliance of the ones i  ve seen  i  d recommend   a time to kill    the newton boys   frailty    how to lose a guy in   days    edtv  and  amistad  and avoid too  larger than life  and  angels in the outfield  unless you feel like a kids film or have kids around as neither of these are indicative of his talent  but are quite amusing films for children  again mm is really nothing more that a supporting artist with just a few if any lines .  br    br   as for scorpion springit  s not a bad film but it also isn  t screen stealing either .  
this is a quirky movie that the brits do so well . low budget  cameo type roles  well executed . the story is a little weak  a recently widowed judi dench decides to round up the  blonde bombshells  a all  well almost all  girl band who performed during the war in london . the obligatory son  daughter who thinks she  s gone potty . i did like the way the movie lets young people see that they don  t have a monopoly on feelings  love and even lust  that the  old wrinklies  can have a good laugh too . judi dench was superb as always  a pity we didn  t get to see more of the other  blonde bombeshells  the end was a little rushed i thought . i kept thinking as i watched that david jason would have made an even better patrick than ian holm  although he was quite adequate as the  transvestite  drummer . all in all a cheery movie well worth a night in with the girls    
sex wish was actually released  minus ten minutes of more  ahem   extreme  footage  here in the uk back in the early days of the video boom  and caused a tabloid storm in a teacup when it allegedly inspired a copycat murder case . strangely enough  the papers brushed this ultra  disturbing flick under the carpet in their headlong rush to get the comparatively innocuous likes of frozen scream and night of the demon canned  and the film has been all but forgotten as a result . i jumped at the chance to watch it on a dvd  rw and spent most of the film  s duration with my jaw on the floor . it  s not so much politically incorrect as utterly demented  a triple  x take on michael winner  s death wish  did the title kind of give the game away as far as inspiration was concerned   with hardcore sex and some truly nasty violence thrown into an already bubbling brew of seventies sleaze . if you don  t consider yourself to be squeamish  this may force you to think again . by the time sex wish is over  you  ll want to scrub your eyeballs clean with disinfectant and take a long hot shower to purge yourself . if any film truly deserves the  it  s only a movie  only a movie  only a movie  tag  line  it  s this one .  br    br   highlights  or lowlights   a rapist using a vibrator on a victim as he masturbates over her  harry reems  s scene  stealing moustache  the helpless young black couple who are forced to screw in front the sword cane killer  they  d have won oscars for their entirely credible performances if the academy had gone mad  before the man is castrated for his troubles  and some jarringly slick direction that threatens to lift the proceedings above their obvious grind  house origins . don  t say i didn  t warn you . if you thought the world was a more innocent place thirty years ago  sex wish will prove you very  very wrong .  
no message . no symbolism . no dark undercurrents . just a wonderful melange of music  nostalgia and good fun put to  gether by people who obviously had a great time doing it . it  s a refreshing antidote to some of the pretentious garbage being ground out by the studios . of course anything with the incomparable judi dench is worth watching . and cleo laine  s brilliant jazz singing is a bonus . this lady is in the same league as the late ella . this goes on my movie shelf to be pulled out again anytime i feel the need for a warm experience and a hearty good natured chuckle . just a wonderful film   
the bfg is one of roald dahl  s most cherished books  but in this animated adaptation the magic just isn  t there . this version remains pretty faithful to dahl  s original story so one can  t lay the blame on john hambley  s script . if anything the fault lies with the colourless animation  the lethargic pace and the generally lacklustre voice  overs . one would be right to expect this story to make for a happy  vibrant  fun  filled movie . . . . . instead  the film is a hopelessly dull affair that becomes quite tedious to watch . children who are not familiar with the story should definitely read the book first  all the film will achieve is to put them off read what is actually a children  s  classic .  br    br   young orphan sophie  voice of amanda root  lives in a none  too  friendly orphanage under the cruel supervision of mrs clonkers . one evening she is peering through the window when she spots a massive figure walking stealthily down the village street . the figure realises it has been seen  so it reaches in through the window and scoops sophie from her bed  placing her into its enormous pocket before fleeing into the night . sophie soon discovers that she has been kidnapped by a giant from giant country  and fears that he will eat her . but to her relief he turns out to be a kind and sensitive member of his species who introduces himself as the bfg  voice of david jason  . the bfg refuses to eat people  instead restricting himself to foul  tasting vegetables known as snozzcumbers . however  giant country is populated by numerous other giants who do feast  every night  as it happens  on poor unsuspecting humans . sophie and the bfg become great friends  and soon they come up with a plan to thwart the other giants . together they go to the queen of england  voice of angela thorne  with their remarkable story and beg her to send the army and the air force to fight the man  eating giants . the queen agrees and so begins a dangerous operation to capture the bad giants before they can harm anyone else .  br    br   jason voices the bfg quite well  one of the few pluses in the film  but his good work is almost ruined by somewhat poor sound quality . the rest of the voice work is decidedly uninspired  with very little to bring the characters to life . similarly  the bfg is the only character that is imaginatively animated  sophie lacks appeal  and the giants are boringly designed  and look almost indistinguishable from each other  . even the places are uninventive giant country especially comes up short  being nothing more than a barren wasteland with occasional rocks and canyons . at   minutes the film is not exactly lengthy  yet it drags quite badly in parts due to the soporific handling of several sequences . little of dahl  s mischievous humour is conveyed satisfactorily . one chapter in the book deals with the bfg  s love of  whizzpopping   farting  and is laugh  out  loud hilarious . in the film  the same section is totally killed by unfunny handling . i came to the the bfg expecting lots of zest  fun and enjoyment  but what i got was pretty much the opposite  this one is a failed misfire that simply doesn  t match the calibre of the book in any department  unfortunately  therefore  it must go down as one to skip .  
much to her adult children  s chagrin  nearly immediately after elizabeth  s  dame judy dench  husband  s death  the widowed  attic tenor saxophone player becomes bent upon openly returning to her musical hobby . now that george is dead  elizabeth no longer has to practice playing sax in the attic . as she grows more pleased with playing in the open  elizabeth takes a stroll along memory lane  remembering when she was a   year old member of a jazz swing band   the blonde bombshells   supposedly  an all  girl wwii group of talented jazz swing musicians . one of the  blonde bombshells   band members was a womanizing  cross  dressing drummer  patrick  ian holm   with whom elizabeth remained friends .  br    br   both patrick  elizabeth  s    year  old grand  daughter  joanna  millie findlay   press elizabeth to round up the former band members  take up performing together again this time as a bunch of sexagenarians . among the band members she finds are the  still foxy   bass playing  madeleine  leslie caron   dinah  olympia dukakis   a trumpet playing  alcoholic  out  spoken  money  grubbing divorce  widow living off of wealth from her many  ex  marriages in a craigievar scottish castle gwen   real life us star jazz singer  clio laine   having at the lead vocal annie   june whitfield   as the salvation army trombone player betty   the late piano player  joan sims   who  s located training the ivory keys in a hastings pub .  br    br   as elizabeth  patrick  joanna scout the world for members of the      s band  try to convince them to resume performing together  elizabeth is oft times beside herself as she learns more than she wants to know about their adult lives   including her own   while having a blast playing terrific music with the last of the living  blonde bombshells  .  br    br   amusing  nostalgic  historical  sentimental  multi  generational entertainment that is seriously fun . the actors deliver wonderful performances . regardless of their ages  they are still bombshell entertainers who put on quite a show .  the dvd is now out  worth owning because of the bonus features  dolby digital sound  . surely as a fan of any of these terrific actors the vhs is a collector  s item .  
almost in the same league as yonfan  s rather atrocious color blossoms  spider lillies drives the point home that you can make cutting edge cinema without the edge  or much in the way of cutting . it  s a taiwanese film  which in this day and age is becoming a novelty at an alarming pace  but more than that tidbit  we can find very little in the way of the noteworthy here .  br    br   you should know that ostensibly spider lillies is also a lesbian  themed story  but in every aspect this is nothing but a plastic ploy to lure in the easily seduced and gullible . in several ways we have here a repeat of fellow recent taiwan release eternal summer . then it was gay men getting the shortchange treatment  now we have the same thing with women . zero chou presents  for your non  existent edification  a tale likely to titillate at most a fifteen year old . they managed some of the art house stance  but in the end this results in a most inane  simply uninteresting foray .  br    br   the hong kong angle comes in the form of isabella leung  bug me not  isabella  diary   here sporting her most butch look yet . although somewhat likable in her previous jobs  isabella in spider lillies is listless and lacking in most departments . either her heart wasn  t into it or the whole lesbian drama pitch didn  t quite appeal to her sensibilities .  br    br   she does a taipei tattoo artist who  s shy  reclusive and in charge of a mentally challenged younger brother  played by john shen  who thankfully grants the movie its only thespian  related redeeming feature . isabella  s character  oddly named takeko but supposedly hailing from hong kong  soon hooks up with disaffected youth jade  rainie yang from fondly  recalled meteor garden  . the latter lives with her grandmother and has a whole list of grievances due to being left behind by her parents and life in general . sure  the grandmother component works well and is touching  but otherwise jade as a protagonist is just as unmoving as her counterpart takeko .  br    br   the two women share a past and lots of inadequately covered angst  with jade working as a webcam girl while takeko keeps her father  s legacy alive with a unique tattoo of a spider lilly emblazoned on her arm . jade also wants to acquire this very design  which leads to takeko exploring internal feelings of the issue via flashbacks and rather minimal discourse with the spunky jade .  br    br   well  if there  s little discourse to write the homebase about  is at least the intercourse memorable  in a word  no . they kiss and feign doing the nasty close to the end  but just as eternal summer reminded us not long ago  there  s a gulf measured in lightyears between showing sexual content and making ticket buyers think they  re about to see sexual content .  br    br   this cynical expectation  building seals spider lillies  fate . with a weak story  ho  hum acting and an overall dearth of relics to take away from the theater with you  this one kind of makes color blossoms look good  come to think of it . at least there we got a bit of teresa cheung  s mammaries . no  spider lillies is no av masterpiece and should be stricken from the playlist of even the most mundane and timid glb movie festival .  br    br   amazingly for a pseudo  indie release  not even the soundtrack and cinematography produce moments of inspiration . that  s just as well  since it makes passing on spider lillies much easier . believe you us  avoid it and you won  t be missing out on anything good .  br    br   rating    
inspired at least a little by ivy benson  her all girls orchestra  who performed throughout the war years at the covent garden opera house  this film chronicles the attempts by an elderly saxophone player to reform the  almost  all girl band with whom she played as a schoolgirl towards the end of wwii . all too brief flashbacks to the original band on stage bring us some wonderful music  and help to fill in the background to the band members  and in particular to the girls  relationships with the lone male member  their transvestite drummer  who is trying to dodge the call  up  .  br    br   ian holm   lord of the rings    cromwell and fairfax   and judi dench turn in superb leading performances as the recently widowed elizabeth  and the conniving  womanizing patrick  the drummer . the late joan sims is perfect as the band  s leader  now playing bar piano at the sea  side  and june whitfield glows as the salvation army trombone player . cameo appearances by other greats like cleo laine  leslie caron  olympia dukakis and billie whitelaw make this an unforgettable experience . the movie is a romp down memory lane  with an all star cast of what ought  by all rights  to be a bunch of over  the  hill actresses . all i can say is  i hope i look as good at their age  leslie caron  in particular  is still an incredible fox  at   years of age . she certainly still gets my pulse going  as i watched it  i was mentally berating the casting director for not using women of the appropriate age . afterwards  i looked these girls up  and discovered that every one of them is old enough to have been performing in the london of      although this might be a bit of a stretch for judi dench  .  br    br   if you like swing bands  thrive on nostalgia  or just want to see how good a woman can manage look with almost three quarters of a century behind her  don  t miss this film .  br    br    
i am never a big fan of taiwan movie production as opposed to korean  hongkong or even china . strong acting quality is hardly found in them as clearly shown in this film . i don  t consider myself as hard  to  please audience as i am  in fact  a fan of indie movies . however this movie shows weak plot and slow pace . i found myself lost in the middle as to where the plot is going . the acting certainly does not make it better . rainie  s acting is sub par as she  over  act   trying to be perky and cute . although i have to admit she is a pleasure to look at . isabella leong on the other hand plays a more suitable role as a confused  sad  regretful  extremely reserved character . overall i find this movie is a disappointment .  
charming in every way  this film is perfect if you  re in the mood to feel good . if you love jazz music  it is a must see . if you enjoy seeing loveable characters that make you smile  can bring a tear to your eye and swing like there  s no tomorrow this film is for you . if you are looking for an intense  deep  heavy piece of art to be dissected and analyzed perhaps you best stick with something by darren aronofsky  in other words  reviewer djjohn lighten up  don  t you know a good time when you see one   my only complaint is that the movie was just too darn short . i guess i  ll just have to watch it several more times to get my fill .  
teamo supremo are three kids  consisting of their leader  captain crandall  rope girl and skate lad  all with their own battlecry  buza  chika  woopa   and outfit and moves . they work for the governor  kevin  and were recruited after wishing to be heroes and playing at that game . they lead normal lives as well  and have family and school duties  but most of the action takes place away from school fighting villains . the villains all have rather unique and singular traits  such as mister vague and his men who never seem to know what their plans are but act anyway . from an evil robot to a wicked baron the three have to encounter them and stop their evil  and often strange  plans to gain power  take revenge etc .  br    br   the animation itself is quite nice and smooth  but the style appears to be simple on purpose . the backgrounds have overlapping colour and the buildings seem futuristic . the music is quite nice  and the show isn  t too bad altogether  although the style isn  t my favourite .  br    br   the plots are almost always nonsensical and ridiculous  but after all this is a cartoon and one can  t blame them for that . however this would not be in the same rank as fillmore  or pepper ann .  
  an album of songs so old everyone thinks they  re new .  this film has the elusive combination of pace and mood that set some films apart from the opening moments . and why not  towering talent from dame judith dench as a widow who plays saxaphone with a street musician to help him get the songs right  to olympia dukakis as the merry widow living in a scottish castle on the alimony of her many marriages  to ian holm as the drummer who loved all the members of a world war ii all girl  more or less  swing band . but wait  there  s more . add in leslie caron on bass  and the incomparable clio laine on lead vocal  at last  and the blonde bombshells are the hottest band in england since the beatles . well  ok  not really  but this movie is a winner .  br    br   elizabeth  dench  spends the whole film trying to reunite the blonde bombshells to play at her granddaughter  s school dance . and before you roll your eyes  imagine how difficult and courageous it would be for a bunch of sexegenarian women to step onstage in front of the britney spears generation following an act called  open wound .   br    br   in an age when actresses careers are over by the time they  re    most bands  second album is a greatest hits compilation  and music more than a month old has almost no chance of airplay  it  s great to see real talent  real music and a really good movie come from  where else  the bbc .  br    br   i love this movie  and i know i  ll watch it many more times  and enjoy it more each time .  
i am usually disappointed by network movies . even flix that attract big name actors are usually ruined by the tv people . however  this one is the worst of the worst . the screenplay is weak and the acting  especially that of tracey pollan is abominable . i  ve trudged off to see my kids  high school plays and been treated to better acting . pollan acts as if she is reading the script as she speaks . when she tries to express fear  anger or grief  it  s extremely hollow . because of the overall quality of the production i found it difficult to take it seriously . if you decide to brave this one just be prepared for a big disappointment . scary things won  t scare you  sad things won  t make you sad  romance won  t make you feel warm and fuzzy and you will likely be as anxious as i was to see the end arrive .  first to die  says a lot about this movie .  
i don  t believe this was an acting challenge for richard harris . this was an uncomplicated plot  yet interesting . it is a good movie to watch when you don  t want to do a lot of thinking  just want to be told a simple story . the canadian scenery was breathtaking . the beautiful fall shots alone made the picture worth seeing .  
well i don  t know where to begin . obviously this was a made for tv movie  so my expectations were low . i was pleasantly surprised by the overall direction of the second hour  but anything before or after that seemed to be a paint by the numbers sort of movie .  br    br   and talk about bad chemistry between the tow lovebird detectives . . .  br    br   i would go more in depth  but this movie doesn  t really deserve it . grade d  imdb rating       
a well  made and imaginative production  refreshingly free from clich  this somewhat picaresque affair recounts a tale of a close friendship that develops between a man and a boy under less than ideal conditions the man an escaped convict who has kidnapped the youth for his value as a hostage . expertly directed by alan gibson with a fine sense for balanced narrative movement  the film provides freshness in nearly every scene  as felon martin steckert  richard harris   believing that his rejection for parole was particularly undeserved  contrives a convoluted but ultimately successful escape plan  following which his spontaneous nature comes to the fore as he flees to the lakeside residence of his childhood . often bursting into song or dancing a few steps  the capricious steckert gradually gains the trust and affection of his captive and  as police close in for an inevitable showdown  the tethered pair are seen to be a great deal alike in their responses to forms of rejection  as discerned by a psychiatrist  lindsay wagner  assigned to aid a zealous police lieutenant  james coburn  who is in charge of the manhunt for steckert and his  prisoner  . this is an engrossing story  worth telling  a quickly  paced and novel adventure that profits from a capital performance by harris  fine turns from wagner  coburn  and karen black  along with justin henry as the snatched lad  with an appropriately whimsical score contributed by wilfred josephs  and top  notch cinematography by frank watts  with all footage shot in a beautiful autumnal ontario province .  
spoilers throughout      br    br   i had read the book   st to die  and wanted to see if the movie followed the book so i watched it . for the most part it did . there were some minor differences  location of the last violent scene for instance  but not many and for the most part the movie stayed true to the book more so then most movies .  br    br   this may have been a mistake  although the movie was perfectly cast  with pollen and bellows especially  i was not that impressed with the book . or let me take that back . i started off very impressed  gradually became more disillusioned and by the end was left completely unsatisfied and felt almost gypped . no difference with the movie . here is why .  br    br   there is no  payoff  in the book  or the movie . rarely have i read a who done it thriller that has created such a letdown with it  s final resolution and i had hoped the movie would vary a little .  br    br   the whole   he did it  no she did it  no they both did it   was not interesting  not fascinating and more confusing  annoying and depressing then anything else . add to that  that the love of lindsay  s life dies at the end  after her disease cleares and she cries at his grave  . . and then cut to where she  s contemplating suicide . . . . then all of a sudden she  s in a fight for her life with the real villain who was cleared after being arrested . . but it turns out he and the wife were in it together . . . . hello    this whole thing has now become  general hospital  instead of a good old fashioned thriller . i felt cheated and ripped off by the book and watching the movie  i must admit it held my attention nicely  the acting was very good for a tv movie  was hoping it wouldn  t follow the book which it wound up doing .  br    br   i still think the movie is watchable and for some reason does not leave as bad a taste in your mouth as the book  or maybe it  s just that i knew what would happen  but i have to say the way this story unraveled was not well done at all .  
i first saw martin  s day when i was just   years old  at home  on the movie channel  and still remember the impact it made on my life . it touched me as no other film had touched me  and i remember balling my eyes out .  br    br   after the first time i saw it  i couldn  t find it anywhere else . i would ask around and no one had ever heard of the film  i guess it was one of those more rare films that not many people knew about  because no one  and i mean no one  knew what i was talking about . i searched and searched throughout the years  checking video stores shelves and scanning cable tv listings  but always came up short . finally  in     i found out i could special order it  i did  and have probably watched it at least   times since   and it still makes me cry  every time .  br    br   martin  s day is about martin steckert  a man who is in prison  but genuinely a good guy   who yearns to make it back to the special lake where he grew up as boy . this was a special place  where he lived off nature  spent time with his dog  and was left alone to enjoy life . soon into the movie  he escapes and starts making his way back to the lake .  br    br   it isn  t long before the cops find him  and steckert grabs a child as a hostage to convince the police to back off . soon steckert and his hostage  the  nd martin  become best friends  and have many fun adventures together   from robbing a toy truck  to hi  jacking a train  all on the way to this special lake .  br    br   throughout the movie  steckert has great flashbacks of him at the lake as a boy .  br    br   i won  t ruin the ending for you  but i will tell you  this movie is a must see . it is the best movie i have ever seen in my life  i am  without a doubt  the biggest fan of this movie ever  i managed to find the song that the two martin  s are singing throughout the movie   i  m going back  to where i come from . . .  . i  m even planning a trip to canada to see the lake and cottage where martin  s day was filmed . crazy  i know   but that movie just means so much to me .  
this movie is supposed to be taking place in and around seattle . the  why is porteau cove p  r  o  v  i  n  c  i  a  l park shown  provincial parks are in canada  and not the united states . the inspector uses a palm pilot complete with stylus to  read  that someone has hacked into the computer of the bridal shop . i did not know that this was possible using a database storage device . a woman appears in the movie without any introduction and is never introduced . we learn half  way into the movie that this woman works in the district attorney  s office . then  in the correctional center a guard actually precedes jenks through a door and keeps his back to the offender   this would never happen in a real correctional setting . the director really messed on this one   this doesn  t happen in real life . the acting is adequate . the plot is good . the cinematography is good . however  the many errors found in the continuity lead to a  out of   vote .  
most movies about  or set in  new orleans  turn out to be laughably bad  and laughably inaccurate  examble remember  the savage bees   but i  ll make an exception for  tightrope   which almost got it right  .  br    br   here  s one that doesn  t inevitably get it wrong . the accents are not too bad  yes  the  yat  accent down here is way more brooklynese than southern   the city of     is shown the way it is  was  without the obligatory  tourist  shots  and they understand a good drama without trying to make everyone a  quirky southerner  .  br    br   one of the few films to do justice to this city  and a good film to boot . .  
that  s right  you heard me . i am a huge fan of james patterson . i own   of his books  and i have read the entire series about lindsey boxer . in my opinion  the screenwriter should be shot .  br    br   what right did any film maker have to slaughter a terrific work of fiction and make it into a mockery of the mystery genre  if i ever thought that harry potter was butchered  then michael o  hara has proved me wrong .  br    br   i can only pray that the next screenwriter who tackles this fabulous book will do it a great deal more justice . to michael o  hara and russell mulcahy don  t quit your day job .  
obsession comes in many flavors  and exists for a variety of reasons for some it may be nothing more than a compulsive disorder  but for others it may be an avenue of survival . lack of nurturing  combined with an inability to negotiate even the simplest necessities of daily life or the basic social requirements  may compel even a genius to enthusiastically embrace that which provides a personal comfort zone . and in extreme cases  the object of that satisfaction may become a manifested obsession  driving that individual on until what began as a means of survival becomes the very impetus of his undoing  and as we discover in the luzhin defence   directed by marleen gorris  a high level of intelligence will not insure a satisfactory resolution to the problem  and in fact  may actually exacerbate the situation . obsession  it seems  has no prejudice or preference moreover  it gives no quarter .  br    br   at an italian resort in the      s  alexander luzhin  john turturro  is one of many who have gathered there for a chess tournament  the winner of which will be the world champion . luzhin is a master of the game  but he is vulnerable in that chess has long since ceased to be a game to him rather  it is his obsession  that one thing discovered in childhood that saw him though his total ineptness in seemingly all areas of life  and enabled him to cope with the subtle disenfranchisements of his immediate family . so luzhin is a genius with an achilles heel  a flaw which perhaps only one other person knows about and understands  and furthermore realizes can be exploited for his own personal gain at this very tournament . that man is valentinov  stuart wilson   luzhin  s former mentor  who after an absence of some years has suddenly reappeared and made himself known to luzhin .  br    br   valentinov is an unwelcomed  disconcerting presence to luzhin  and once again life threatens to overwhelm him . not only is he about to face a formidable opponent in the tournament  turati  fabio sartor   against whom in a previous match he emerged with a draw after fourteen hours  but he is also attempting to resolve a new element in his life   his feelings for a young woman he  s just met at the resort  natalia  emily watson  . and  genius though he may be  dark clouds are gathering above him that just may push luzhin even deeper into the obsession that has been the saving grace  as well the curse  of his entire life .  br    br   to tell luzhin  s story  gorris effectively uses flashbacks to gradually reveal the elements of his childhood that very quickly led to his obsession with chess . and as his background is established  it affords the insights that allow the audience to more fully understand who luzhin is and how he got to this point in his life . for the scenes of his childhood  gorris textures them with an appropriately dark atmosphere and a subtle sense of foreboding that carries on into  and underlies  the present  more pastoral setting of the resort . the transitions through which she weaves the past together with the present are nicely handled  and with the pace gorris sets it makes for a riveting  yet unrushed presentation that works extremely well . she also underplays the menace produced by the presence of valentinov  concentrating on the drama rather than the suspense  which ultimately serves to heighten the overall impact of the film  making luzhin  s tragedy all the more believable and unsettling .  br    br   the single element that makes this film so memorable  however  is the affecting performance of john turturro . for this film to work  luzhin must be absolutely believable one false or feigned moment would be disastrous  as it would take the viewer out of the story immediately . it doesn  t happen  however  and the film does work  because the luzhin turturro creates is impeccably honest and true  to  life . he captures luzhin  s genius  as well as his inadequacies  and presents his character in terms that are exceptionally telling and very real . it  s a performance equal to  if not surpassing  geoffrey rush  s portrayal of david helfgott in shine .  and when you compare his work here with other characters he  s created  from sid lidz in unstrung heroes  to pete in o brother where art thou   to al fountain in box of moonlight   you realize what an incredible range turturro has as an actor  and what a remarkable artist he truly is .  br    br   as natalia  emily watson is excellent  as well  turning in a fairly reserved performance through which she develops and presents her character quite nicely . though she has to be somewhat outgoing to relate to luzhin  watson manages to do it in an introspective way that is entirely effective . most importantly  because of the detail she brings to her performance  it makes her accelerated relationship with luzhin believable and lends total credibility to the story . you have but to look into watson  s eyes to know that the feelings she  s conveying are real . it  s a terrific bit of work from a talented and gifted actor .  br    br   the supporting cast includes geraldine james  vera   christopher thompson  stassard   peter blythe  ilya   orla brady  anna   mark tandy  luzhin  s father   kelly hunter  luzhin  s mother   alexander hunting  young luzhin  and luigi petrucci  santucci  . well crafted and delivered  the luzhin defence  is an emotionally involving film  presented with a restrained compassion that evokes a sense of sorrow and perhaps a reflection upon man  s inhumanity to man . we don  t need a movie  of course  to tell us that there is cruelty in the world but we are well served by the medium of the cinema when it reminds us of something we should never forget  inasmuch as we all have the ability to effect positive change  and to make a difference in the lives of those around us . i rate this one     .  br    br    br    br    br    br    
artemesia takes the usual story about the art world  eg   you can  t paint that  but i want to   and plasters it with sex and scandal to make the whole film  well  interesting  but not remarkable .  br    br   the story is about one of the first female painters around  artemesia who course  is fiercely independent  but just can  t stop thinking of men  and their bodies for artistic purposes of course . she soon gets private tutoring from one of a well known artist  but soon tutoring becomes much more then art  and soon after that  scandal erupts  funny how they could take a historical biography and make it almost into a soft  porn fantasy . i mean  was artemesia that much of a man  hungry person  also  it  s quite funny when she  s insisting that she  paints for herself   yet falls for the first person she sees .  br    br   actually  the story itself is quite fascinating  and it ends with a trial  which i always love . but i wasn  t too crazy about the male lead who played her teacher  who looked rather like the person someone like that wouldn  t fall for . i woulda gone for the young fisherman p  
this very good movie crackles with tension . the stakes are  of course  high   will the police and widmark  the public health doctor  apprehend the criminals who don  t know that they are carrying plague before a full  scale epidemic breaks out  but smaller plot elements introduce tension in every scene   between widmark and the police captain  between the bad guys played by palance and mostel  between palance and a dying plague  stricken man whom palance mistakenly believes is the subject of a manhunt because he has smuggled in some valuable commodity  between widmark and his wife  and with the underlying question of whether the public is better served by informing them of the danger or hiding the situation to avoid a full  scale panic . the movie is beautifully shot by kazan  in extraordinarily well  choreographed long takes shot on location in new orleans  and ends in a stunning climax  where palance flees like a rat from his pursuers  through the docks and warehouses of the city . the commentary is superb  probably the best that i  ve heard  covering the cinematography  the framing and lighting of shots  the production design  the casting of non  professional actors in small roles  and the ironies and parallelisms in the plot  like an insightful seminar on     s film techniques and film noir generally . watch it once to enjoy the film on its own  and  if you are interested in film  making  a second time with the commentary on to learn .  
the word   st  in the title has more ominous meaning for the viewers of this film than for its crime victims . at least they don  t have to stick around and watch this interminable film reach its own demise .  br    br    st should refer to  st draft of a script  st takes used in each performance in the final film  st edit in post production etcetera  etcetera .  br    br   the movie is not cast too badly  it  s just that everything about the film come off as worse than third rate  from the goofy script  to the wooden performances . and while suffering through this cobbled together film  by the  hour mark you want to be put out of your misery . at    minutes long it is readily apparent that it should have been edited to under  hours .  br    br   going into details concerning the lame script and acting serves little purposes . even in the equally awful  lake placid  at least the performances bill pullman and bridget fonda constructed out of an extremely weak script  were nuanced enough to make you laugh at the movie . in  st to die  one ends up grieving only for the time lost in waiting to see what happens after the opening scene of the preparation of the female lead  s suicide .  br    br   the editing is so bad one is never introduced to one of the main characters  who i think  were never quite told  is a d . a . she just appears in one scene in the middle of a conversation . obviously the scene where she is introduced to the viewer was dropped on the editor  s floor . and no one realized that a character appearing out of nowhere was an unusual film ploy .  br    br   in a word  don  t waste your time with this one . my wife and i wish we didn  t . but at least we created our own diversions by commenting in various places in the film like it was mystery science theater .  meanwhile  in cleveland . . . .       
this film has  over the past ten years  become one of my favorite pseudo noir experiences . the three storyline threads given us by kazan each have their unique and separate pleasures . the domestic chitchat between bel geddes and widmark  the movement between rooms  the small gestures such as the phone book barbara places on the chair under her son so he can reach the table  those small intimate exchanges between husband and wife  all are well crafted and natural . more than anything else  i love their porch  that second living room where it is clear they spend much of their summer time . the second thread is the professional relationship between many in the film but especially between widmark and douglas  characters . it may not be totally original and does get a bit blustery but all in all  it comes across as real  respectful and efficient . the third thread  the grungy tale of blackie and his tattered little gang  gets us closest to a dark and frightening noir world . palance  s blackie is as cold as a block of ice . this self  proclaimed business man  this self made man clearly has a complexity we only briefly tap in to . for me  this film continues to be a completely satisfying experience .  
first to die      br    br   i  ll admit my mistake first i didn  t realize this was a made for tv movie . i was  thrown off  by the  r  certification . the plot is strong  but the movie is about   minutes too long . the direction and continuity were excellent . for the most part the cast was exceptional and did a good job with their characters . the down side of the movie is that it definitely falls into the  chick flick  genre . although there are some violent scenes  none of the violence should call for an  r  rating . there is no nudity or gratuitous sex scenes . actually  there are no sex scenes . ona grauer  who is absolutely beautiful   kristina copeland  sonya salomaa  and glynis davies were all guests on the sg   series  but this movie did nothing to advance their careers since they were all used as low level supporting actresses . robert patrick was fantastic  as he usually is and mitch pileggi made me think of a modern day lee marvin . the very talented megan gallagher who i came to respect as an actor during the millennium series  was given nothing challenging to show her range of abilities . the greatest disappointment with regard to the cast was tracy pollan . aside from being a below average actress and not particularly attractive  her voice is absolutely annoying . i found myself muting the tv during her dialogue . i would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys the lifetime tv type of programs . i would not recommend paying any money to see this movie however . considering i found nothing that would cause censorship  this is a movie that is worthy for only watching on tv  since nothing will be cut out . as a tv movie i would rate this as a  out   . as a feature film with an  r  certification and such as strong cast  i rate it as a  out of ten .  
one of america  s most brilliant film directors was without question elia kazan . his directorial genius was not particularly suited to taut thrillers  since kazan needed more room to breathe and to be slower and more subtle . however   panic in the streets  is a first  rate social thriller and is if anything more relevant to today than it was to     when it was released . the themes of illegal immigrants  people  smuggling  imminent plagues  rapid transmission around the world of diseases  a worried richard widmark says  i could be in any american city in ten hours and in africa tomorrow .    ethnic isolation and ghettoism are today  s concerns more than ever . this film features a spectacular film debut by jack palance  and a wonderful performance by barbara bel geddes  two casting strokes of genius . richard widmark is allowed not to be a psychopath for once  and is a deeply caring  warmly loving  intense hero of the people . he leads basically a one  man campaign to stop an epidemic of pneumonic plague in new orleans  struggling to convince sluggish politicians and complacent policemen that there is a problem . there is a race against time to find the small  time crooks who have contracted the plague from a dead illegal immigrant within   hours  before the whole city  and as they are always reminding us  the whole country  are endangered with the worst thing since the     flu . one amazing scene where jack palance  who is infected  is prevented from climbing aboard a ship by a rat  barrier on the rope is ironic in the extreme  reminding us in the most gruesome terms that humans can be the worst carriers and vermin of all . the highly dramatic chase scenes in what they call  the coffee factory  at the wharfs rivals the most inventive climax scenes of hitchcock  and with just as spectacular a setting . many non  professionals appear in the film  which has the gritty realism of  well  something called reality . kazan really takes the cameras into places where even people rarely went  and where even rats would have thought twice . this film was a major feat of social realism . if it lacks the electricity of the most highly charged thrillers  it is because kazan took it so seriously that he could not hype it up  for after all  the threat of plague is serious enough to scare anybody without the need for extra guns and molls . the only unfortunate thing about the film is the title  which gives a false suggestion of superficiality . but kazan was anything but superficial . he clearly considered this project a public duty  to alert us to genuine possibilities . if only those possibilities had diminished today  but alas  they are getting worse every day . one day  after a worldwide plague  this film may be shown to a few survivors as an example of how an outbreak was contained on film  but its lessons were forgotten .  
having not read the novel  i can  t tell how faithful this film is . the story is typical mystery material killer targets newlyweds woman investigator falls in love with her partner and is diagnosed with a fatal disease . yes  it sounds like a soap opera and that  s exactly how it plays . the first    are dull  save for the murders and the last    makes a partial comeback as it picks up speed toward its twisty conclusion .  br    br   acting is strictly sub par  though it  s hard to blame the actors alone the screenplay is atrocious . during the last    you stop noticing because the film actually becomes interesting  but that  s only the last    . director russell mulcahy is very much in his element  but there  s only so much he can do with a tv budget and the network censors on his back . he  s pretty much limited to quick cutting and distorted lenses  though he managed to squeeze in a couple  under the floor  shots during the murders in the club restroom . unfortunately  as this is made for tv  the cool compositional details he uses so well with a wider image are nowhere to be found . note to producers give this man a reasonable budget and an anamorphic lens when you hire him .  br    br   summing it up this film is bad by cinema standards and mediocre by tv standards  watch csi  instead  . if you  re in the mood for a film like this  i  ve some excellent suggestions pick up a copy of dario argento  s  deep red   my highest recommendation superb film    opera   or even  tenebre  . they  re stronger in every category .  
the title overstates the content of this movie somewhat  which might lead to some unrealized expectations . frankly speaking  there  s very little  panic in the streets  to be seen here . in fact  throughout the movie very few people actually know that there  s a murderer on the loose who may well be spreading the plague to everyone and anyone he encounters . having said that  what we do have here is a very well done story with a level of suspense that starts out reasonably high anyway  because  unlike the people  in the streets   the viewer knows what  s going on  and that director elia kazan builds very deliberately . as the plague  infected killer is sought  one of the more interesting sidebars i found was the developing relationship between dr . reed  richard widmark  and police captain warren  paul douglas  . at the beginning  the two really don  t like each other  even though they have to work together . by the end  they  ve forged a real bond of respect for each other . kazan did a good job with that .  br    br   pretty much all the performances here were excellent . widmark and douglas were great  and i was quite taken with a very early look at jack palance playing what would become his typical  heavy  role . i found very little to criticize here . perhaps barbara bel geddes came across as a little bit flat as reed  s wife nancy  but her role wasn  t really central to the story . all in all  an excellent piece of work .      
another wonderful patterson book made into an incredibly awful movie . if the big budget movies don  t work then why make a low budget made for t . v . movie that  s   times worse  i am desperate for a good movie that will do one of his books justice   
a small pleasure in life is walking down the old movies aisle at the rental store  and picking stuff just because i haven  t seen it . a large pleasure is occasionally taking that movie home and finding a small treasure like this playing on my screen .  br    br   long before elia kazan turned himself into a brand cranking out only notable movies  not good ones   he made this better than average drama . watching it you begin to notice how many decent  good or nicely observed scenes have accumulated . contrast that with his later films where the drama is writ large . . . preferably large  and unsubtle  and scandalous . kazan was eventually more of a calculating promoter than a director .  um . no thanks   br    br   his future excesses are hinted at here only in the plot . the plague is coming  but here  s an atypical richard widmark playing a family man in     and avoiding most of the excesses of that trope here  s an almost watchable barabra bel geddes  with her bathos turned way down  well  for her   they  re a couple and they share some nicely  written scenes about big crises and smaller ones . here  s an expertly directed comic interrogation with a chatty ships  crew here  s a beautiful moment as a chase begins at an angular warehouse and a flock of birds shoots overhead punctuating the moment . these are the small  scale successes a movie can offer in which a viewer can actually recognize life something hollywood  in its greed  now studiously avoids . these are the moments that make me go to the movies and enjoy them . it  s a personable  human  scaled film  not the grotesque  overscaled production that he and others  david lean  will later popularize  whose legacy is still felt in crap as varied as pirates of the caribean and moulin rouge .  br    br   i just watched it twice and i  ll be damned if i could tell you what jack palance is seeking in the final scenes  but it doesn  t seem that important to me as a viewer . this reminds me of both no way out a poitier noir with widmark as the villain  and naked city  which you should really get your hands on .  
i love a good sappy love story  and i  m a guy  but when i rented  love story  i prayed for the end to come as quickly and painlessly as possible and just the opposite for ali mcgraw  s character .  br    br   ali mcgraw as jenny alienated and irritated the heck out of me within the first   minutes . when we learn that she has been diagnosed with a life threatening illness i couldn  t help but wonder if her death would be such a terrible loss for poor oliver or if anyone watching this film would even care . if she didn  t die her grating personality would probably have pushed oliver over the edge and eventually landed them in divorce court .  br    br   people love this movie but it  s one of the worst of the    s .  
and a rather unexpected plot line too  for the era there is plague in the city of new orleans  and only richard widmark can stop it  elia kazan  s trademark subjects waterfronts  working men  crowds  fugitives  blue collar folk  violence on a backstreet  are all showcased here .  br    br   jack palance is quite effective as the ice  cold mobster out for a big score  zero mostel as dom delouise somewhat miscast but certainly watchable as his go  fer . i enjoyed barbara bel geddes as the stalwart  cool wife  i thought she and widmark were a believable couple .  br    br   he himself always reminds me somewhat of sinatra  in the face and in the intense quiet manner  and that is meant as a compliment if anything . i  d never even heard of this movie  and yes  you have to admire widmark  s performance . i also enjoyed paul douglas  he seemed to play this role many times  they make an unlikely but effective team .  br    br   the plague itself is a mcguffin  and you gotta know it  s not exactly done the way it would have been in real life  rather small  scale at the least no   but i found it carried the plot along nicely .  br    br   check this out . it  s good .  outta   
one of the previous reviewers wrote that there appeared to be no middle ground for opinions of love story one loved it or hated it . but there seems to be a remarkable distribution of opinions throughout the scale of  to   . for me  this movie rated a  . there are some beautiful scenes and locations  and ray milland turns in a fabulous job as oliver  s father . but the movie did not do a particularly compelling job of telling its story  and the story was not so unique as to warrant multiple viewings  at least  not for me . i may be a bit of a snob  but i tend to avoid movies with ryan o  neal   i still haven  t seen barry lyndon   because most of them  but not all  are ruined for me by his presence . the lone exception is what  s up  doc   in which his straight performance is the perfect underlining for barbra streisand  s goofball protagonist   and  not coincidentally  he takes a shot at love story for good measure  mcgraw and o  neal tend to mug their lines  rather than act them .  br    br   this movie is notable for the beginning of one fine career it was tommy lee jones  s first movie .  
plague replaces femme fatale in this highly suspenseful noir shot in new orleans by director elia kazan . kazan as always gets fine performances from his actors but also shows a visual flair for claustrophobic suspense with a combination of tight compositions and stunning single shot chase scenes .  br    br   a man entering the country illegally is killed after a card game . it turns out he has a form of bubonic plague so it remains crucial not only to arrest the killers but to find an inoculate all those who have had contact . city and health officials implement a plan of secrecy rather than alert the community for fear the culprits will flee the city and spread the disease . a detective and an epidemiologist up against the clock form an uneasy alliance as they comb the waterfront employing their contrasting investigatory styles .  br    br   streets raises a huge ethical question about the publics right to know as the medical officer argues for a media blackout thus possibly creating a greater risk to the community . regardless of outcome  you still may find yourself second guessing the actions of the the film  s protagonist .  br    br   richard widmark as dr . clint reed and paul douglas as detective warren display short tempers and grudging respect for each other in their search for the killers . barbera bel geddis as reed  s wife has some good moments with widmark in some domestic scenes that bring the right touch of  restful more than comic  relief from the tensions of the desperate search amid the grim environs of the new orleans waterfront impressively lensed by cinematographer joe mcdonald . zero mostel as a small time criminal is slimy and reprehensible but at times sympathetic . walter jack palance as the skeletal blackie  black death   is simply outstanding . with riveting intensity palance dominates every scene he is in not only with ample threat but disturbing charm as well . in addition he displays a formidable athleticism that allows for a more suspenseful continuity  especially in the film  s powerful final allegorical moments .  br    br   panic in the streets is probably kazan  s best non  brando film . it  s tension filled  suspensefully well paced and edited . it  s ambient on locale setting lends a sense of heightened reality that allows kazan the flexibility to display his visual style beyond the movie stage and with panic he succeeds with aplomb .  
this     hit film has not aged well  but frankly  it was not that good when it was released . yet  it was a hugely popular success perhaps because the idea of fatalistic young love must have appealed to audiences saturated by constant tv coverage of the vietnam war . the plot is pure drivel as it concerns oliver barrett iv  a privileged harvard hockey player  who meets and falls in love with jenny cavelleri  an antagonistic vassar music student proud of her working class background . his old  school father naturally disapproves of jenny  and in a typical act of rebellion  that means the young couple gets married in one of those hippie  era  extemporaneous ceremonies . he lands his dream job in new york  but she gets unexpectedly ill and dies of her terminal disease . there is a veneer of then  contemporary film  making techniques displayed by director arthur hiller  but none of that can hide the old  fashioned  clich  ridden story at its core . the inevitable ending left me particularly unmoved .  br    br   both ryan o  neal and ali macgraw became stars with this movie as oliver and jenny but inexplicably so since neither seems able to convey the depth or complexity required to make their characters compelling . at least the boyish o  neal is sincere in his weakly defiant approach  but macgraw is so wooden and smirky in behavior that it  s hard to see what oliver sees in jenny beyond her sarcastic faade . john marley  two years before finding the decapitated racehorse in his bed in  the godfather   does better as jenny  s plainspoken baker father phil  as does ray milland as the seemingly insensitive barrett paterfamilias . the overly familiar frances lai music has almost become parody in itself over the years . the print quality on the dvd is good  though the only extra is a rather effusive commentary track by hiller . the most interesting bit of trivia is that author erich segal  upon whose book this movie is based  conceived oliver as a mix between two harvard roommates he knew  vice president al gore and actor tommy lee jones  who happens to have a bit part in the movie as one of oliver  s roommates .  
  panic in the streets        owes more to british noir that its american counterparts . like reed  s  the third man        and dassin  s  night and the city         director elia kazan chose to film largely on location  capturing the fresh and vibrant decadence of the new orleans slums . in a decision borrowed from the masters of italian neorealism  he also hired many non  professional actors for minor roles  lending an air of authenticity to the cityscape . however  any further comparisons with neorealism would be misguided  for  panic in the streets  is pure melodrama  of the best kind . a murdered illegal immigrant  fished out of the bay  is found to be infected with pneumonic plague  a deadly air  borne mutation of bubonic plague  which is transmitted from human  to  human and  untreated  has a mortality rate that approaches     . clinton reed  richard widmark   an officer with the u . s . public health service  convinces the doubtful police  chief  paul douglas  to undertake a city  wide manhunt for the men responsible for the homicide  lest they also be infected with the illness .  br    br   in my younger years  i found wolfgang petersen  s  outbreak        to be among the most horrifying movies i  d ever seen . that thriller  which owes plenty to  panic in the streets  working title  outbreak    terrified me so efficiently because it depicted the ebola virus as both an invisible and invincible killer  how does one defend themselves against such a thing  kazan  s film is the first  that i know of  to approach the subject of biological epidemics  though it has difficulty ascribing visual recognition to an enemy that is basically undetectable to the human eye it instead uses jack palance as a human personification of the plague . despite his venturing out among the filthy dregs of human society  you never get the sense that clinton reed is placing his own life at risk some viewers have noted that reed never inoculated himself against the plague  though i think it  s safe to assume that he did so at the same time as the morgue staff . nevertheless  there  s still a strong sense of urgency in the hunt for the infected man  s killers  underground street  rats who pollute the sewers with their misdeeds .  br    br   in medieval times  when the black death  now widely believed to have been bubonic plague  swept across the civilised world  killing a third of europe  s population  many identified the destruction as being the work of the devil . jack palance  s character  blackie  serves effectively as satan in human form the angular  jawed thug can occasionally be charming and charismatic  but is always liable to explode into fits of violence his two hoodlums  played by guy thomajan and zero mostel   through terror more than anything else  are constantly grovelling at his feet . when one lackey falls ill with fever  blackie deduces that the man  s immigrant cousin must have  brought something in with him   the irony of his conclusion not passing unnoticed   and so attempts to ascertain what this presumably valuable object must be . he cradles the dying poldi in his arms  a grotesque display of faux affection that is both pathetic and unsettling . blackie  satan is finally stopped  not by the authorities  but by the burden of his own infection  evil  as he attempts to board a cargo ship  the primary vessel by which the plague spread across europe .  
 spoiler warning   br    br   absolutely without a doubt  one of the funniest comedies ever created for the screen . totally impossible to take any of this seriously . it would take a major novel to list all of the comedy routines in it . during the glory days of her program  carol burnett and company  who often did take  offs on films  skewered this one in ways that were hard to imagine . carol played jenny who suddenly became ill with only a slight cough and immediately the treacly music came up and everyone looked around wondering where it was coming from . harvey korman played oliver with flowing locks and almost look liked ryan o  neal . the only thing funnier than this bit  is the real film .  br    br   what a death scene at the end . jenny really looks like she  s dying alright . . . dying for her make  up artist to come in and give her a little color . and of course  we all know how often hospitals encourage a loved one to get in bed with them during the patient  s final moments . the ending scene with ryan o  neal sitting on a bench in the snow contemplating his future in the movie business is an instant classic . he had plenty to worry about . he never did recover from this .  
as the film opens  two thugs kill another thug . when the body is discovered and about to be autopsied  the doctor realizes that although the man was shot dead  he was also suffering from the pneumonic plague   a very nasty and more virulent version of the bubonic plague  so  it  s a race against time to find those who came in contact with the dead man and treat them immediately  otherwise a disaster could erupt .  br    br   oddly  i actually know quite a bit about the pneumonic plague  as i taught a series of lectures on it for my history classes . the film really did not do a good job of getting the facts right about the disease in that it looked little like what the people had in the movie . the biggest problem is that this illness is so incredibly grotesque that in     they really wouldn  t have been allowed to show it . sure  there is high fever and coughing  they got this right  but also lots of bleeding and explosive vomiting of blackened blood   along with the enormously swollen lymph nodes like you  d get with the bubonic plague   all purply and gross  i can certainly understand why they didn  t go this far . also  i am sure that the federal government would have had a much  much greater involvement in controlling and treating the disease   here in the film it was handled on a very local level and everyone seemed ill  prepared and a bit dumb . no one seemed willing to believe the doctors   as for the acting  the film had some excellent actors here . richard widmark and paul douglas are  respectively  the public health doctor and police chief . good actors but also known actors back in     . however  in his first film is the very menacing jack palance  still going by his original moniker   walter jack palance   as well as the relatively unknown  at the time  zero mostel . palance was great   very scary and very physically adept in his own stunts . mostel played a heavy typical of his early work   a greasy and cowardly sort of evil .  br    br   overall  despite really not getting the details right and wrapping everything up a little too neatly  the film is very tense and has excellent acting   and is well worth seeing .  
a wealthy harvard dude falls for a poor radcliffe chick much to the consternation of his strict father  ray milland  .  br    br   syrupy  sugary  and most of all  sappy story about a battle of the  classes  when rich  kid ryan o  neal brings home a waif of a librarian for his snobbish parents to ridicule . ali macgraw is the social derelict with the filthy mouth while john marley plays her devout  catholic father  but no one in the film is more annoying than o  neal himself with his whimpering portrayal as harvard  s champion yuppie .  br    br   followed     years later by  oliver  s story  .  
kazan  s early film noir won an oscar . some of the reviews here go into extraordinary detail and length about the film and its symbolism  and rate it very highly . i can almost see where they are coming from . but i prefer to take a more toned  down approach to a long  forgotten film that appears to have been shot on practically no budget and in quasi  documentary fashion . pneumonic plague is loose in the streets of new orleans  and it is up to a military doctor  widmark  and a city detective  douglas  to apprehend the main carrier  palance  . the film is moody  shot in stark black and white  and makes very good use of locations . widmark is wonderful as usual . forget the symbolism  crime equals disease  and disease equals crime  and just enjoy the chase . it is not always easy watching a film like this now that we are well into this new century  as it is of a particular style that was very short  lived  post wwii through the early     s  and will unlikely be of interest to the casual film watcher . for those who will be watching this for the first time  sit tight for the big chase at the end . it is something else  and frankly i don  t know how they filmed some of it . i can say it probably took as long to film the finale as it did the first   percent of the movie .  
i  ve rarely been as annoyed by a leading performance as i was by ali mcgraw  s in this movie . god is she bothersome or what   she says everything in the same tone and is horrible  so horrible in fact that  by contrast  ryan o  neal is brilliant .  br    br   there is not much of a story . he  s rich  she  s wooden  they both have to sacrifice a lot for love . his father is stonewall jackson  hers is called by his first name  in case you didn  t notice the difference in the two of them that they overcame in the name of love .  br    br   the oscar nominations for this movie indicate it had to have been a bad year . john marley is fine as wooden  s father  but a supporting nomination  at least ali didn  t win .  br    br   i still think katharine ross should have played jennifer  but then again  if it were up to me  katharine ross would have been in a lot more movies . she  s certainly a better actress than mcgraw .  br    br   i didn  t even cry when she got sick  never occured to me to even feel sad .  br    br   it was nice to see tommy lee jones looking like he was about    and the score is good . but this one is so old by now it has a beard a mile long  and the sin of that is its not that old  but it feels it .  
take  couples whose relationships were already on the rocks and put them on an island paradise where they  ll be tempted by   singles . this was the premise of the show  simple yet outrageous  funny . leave it to fox to throw morality out the window  let the debauchery flow . it was like a real  life version of melrose place . the good thing about the show is that it wasn  t about people conniving  manipulating each other for a cash prize . it was about lust  temptation  pure and simple  the ultimate test for a relationship .  br    br   people either loved the show or hated it . it was kind of like slowing down to look at a horrific traffic accident . you know you shouldn  t watch  but you can  t help but look . drama aside  there was a lot of eye candy .  
as others have noted  this movie is criminally inaccurate in its portrayal of the artist  s life and i for one was very annoyed and offended . . . by its transformation of her rape into a tragic love affair  by the implication that her rapist was responsible for  awakening her talent   by its complete disregard for her work  by the way it turned her into a sex object  on and on  you get the idea . also  i find it disturbing that people who aren  t familiar with gentileschi will see this film and walk away with that kind of impression of her .  
no  not really  but this is a very good film indeed  and is sadly a forgotten gem . black and white suits the film .  br    br   straight forward formula  a guy had the plague and the authorities have to track down everyone he came in contact with before they die .  br    br   very well directed  and the acting is great . richard widmark as the male lead is good but is completely over shadowed in the acting stakes by paul douglas as the police captain  and jack palance  never better than this  and zero mostel as the baddies . sadly palance went on to play similar characters in some really second rate gangster or war movies .  
a very slick modern  keeping it sensually hip  revamp on the dracula story  although staying with the traditional customs  with quite an interesting  if not fully grasped back story of the prince of darkness . the first time i tried watching it i could only make it halfway through  before losing interest . again it gets off to a good start  especially the scenes with the thieves and then their encounters with dracula   but then for me it got less involving when it hits new orleans to focus on van helsing  s daughter . a great place to set it  but never took advantage of its settings  despite etching a paradise in damn  where dracula could flourish  . produced by wes carven  and yeah they throw that name out there   but written  directed by patrick lussier . artistically it had its moments with few dreamlike visuals  but some kinetic editing and cheap jolts don  t help . the messy script does get considerably silly . lussier does a polished job that remains rather glassy  inserting a lot of blood  the make  up is suitably achieved  and a lot of  virgin  advertising . no i don  t mean virgins  it  s the music company  as it does get in numerous shots and helsing  s daughter works there too . oh that wasn  t obvious planting . the soundtrack is an amusing choice of rock tunes . now the performances are all over the shop  but there are few familiar faces to spot  danny masterson  sean patrick thomas  nathan fillion  shane west and lochlyn munro  . gerard butler as dracula just didn  t come off  as not much of a presence was formed . he was simply out  shined by the succulent ladies of the night jennifer esposito  colleen fitzpatrick and jeri ryan as dracula  s brides . the likes of jonny lee millar and justine waddell are respectably okay . christopher plummer gives out a grizzled turn as van helsing and omar epps has fun with his role .  
like a streetcar named desire  also directed by gadg both on stage and screen  panic in the streets depicts a new orleans in which its major claim to fame  the birthplace of jazz  doesn  t even rate a mention . it was richard widmark  s seventh film and arguably went a long way to establishing him as the fine actor he really was rather than merely a psychotic killer . gadg himself appears in an uncredited small role as a morgue attendant but the film is rich in talent beginning with jack palance  still being billed as walter jack palance  as the local mr  big  followed side  kick zero mostel  barbara bel geddes  emile meyer  tommy rettig plus the rock  solid ever reliable paul douglas as the cop who comes round to doc widmark  s point of view . it  s a very rewarding movie more so for being little seen . catch it if you can .  
put the blame on executive producer wes craven and financiers the weinsteins for this big  budget debacle a thrash  metal updating of  dracula   with a condescending verbal jab at bram stoker  who probably wouldn  t want his name on this thing anyway  and nothing much for the rest of us except slasher  styled jolts and gore . christopher plummer looks winded as van helsing in the modern  day   not just a descendant of van helsing but the real thing he keeps himself going with leeches obtained from count dracula  s corpse  which is exhumed from its coffin after being stolen from van helsing  s vault and flown to new orleans . this is just what new orleans needs in the   st century  the film  well  produced but without a single original idea  except for multi  racial victims   is both repulsive and lazy  and after about an hour starts repeating itself .  from   
i wonder what audiences of the day thought when first laying eyes on walter jack palance  blackie  . certainly he looks like no one else of the time  that skull  like face  flattened nose  and elongated body   even now he remains an unsettling presence . and what could be more appropriate than his emergence out of those dingy new orleans slums that appear to fester like the plague blackie is loosing on the city . i  m just sorry he didn  t have more scenes .  br    br   the movie itself is very skillfully assembled the morgue  s black humor  the widmark  douglas interplay  the un  touristy locations  the battles among officialsall are woven into a tensely realistic thriller with a menace unlike others of the time . even widmark  s domestic scenes that put a woman  bel geddes  on the marquee manage not to be too disruptive . director kazan certainly shows his aptitude for helming a studio  fox  product  no matter how he may have felt about the commercial aspect .  br    br   widmark does a solid low  key job as the public health officer . but my money is on the one  and  only zero mostel . was there ever a sweatier performer who could squeal louder or get pushed around more than the bulky fall guy  e . g . the enforcer       . that scene with mostel  where palance argues with mostel  s shrewish wife  liswood   is a gem of frantic subservience as mostel tries to pacify each like some berserk pinball . too bad he lost so many years to the blacklist .  i wonder if it was the voluble kazan who named him .   br    br   but it  s not only the professionals that add color . the locals add both character and authenticity  especially the two asian guys interviewed by the cops . that whole scene has an improvised air  as if kazan recognized their potential and fashioned a nifty little scene on the spot . then too  that colorful hiring hall with all the deck hands is pure inspiration . and what about those flea  bitten coffee shops that have me running to the nearest denny  s .  br    br   anyway  the movie is still a well  staged  riveting thriller with an apocalyptic air that oddly foreshadows many of today  s mega  hits .  
dracula     is a horror film that was continually shown on sky movies in britain and considering it seemed to be screened about three times a week for a whole year i have absolutely no idea how i managed to miss it until its first broadcast on network television tonight . actually seeing as im not much of a fan of horror movies the reason was probably down to my theory that this was going to be tripe . my theory was proved right for the most part  br    br        minor spoilers       br    br   what makes dracula     such a bad movie is the amount of dumb scripting involved . for example early in the film the bad guys are flying draculas coffin from london to america  in a twin engine turbo prop plane   and one of the bad guys is left alone in the cargo hold where dracula comes to life . a fight breaks out  theres lots of noise but the bad guys in the cockpit dont hear a sound until the script demands it . it also appears in this segments climax that dracula can control the weather but this seems forgotten about as the film progresses . sloppy scripting  and there also seems to be a problem with the structure where theres numerous scenes of characters being at the new orleans mardi gras then the characters being at a different location such as police station in the following scene then theyre back at the mardi gras the scene after that which means the lack of credibilty in the plot is enhanced  br    br   theres something else that yanked my chain  product placement . theres umpteen scenes where the logo for a certain record label  retailer chain is in full view . i wont dare publicise the company brand  except to say they also run a train company which is a national joke in britain  but i was under the impression this type of advertising was against british broadcasting guidlines and im surprised the bbc showed this movie if thats the case  br    br   there are some positives in dracula     like the visuals for example . this is actually a good looking movie with a good looking cast and boy were those vampire chicks hot  but its something we should expect from hollywood over the last few years  a very good looking movie thats very dumb  
  panic in the streets  is an exciting and atmospheric thriller in which director elia kazan achieved a great sense of realism by shooting the movie in new orleans  using a number of local people to fill various roles and making intelligent use of improvisation . as a result  the characters and dialogue both seem very natural and believable . an important deadline which has to be met in order to avoid a disaster  provides the story with its great sense of urgency and pace and the problems which delay the necessary action from being taken  then increase the tension to a high level .  br    br   following a dispute between the participants in a card game  a man called kochak  lewis charles  is shot and his body is dumped in the dock area . when the body is found and the coroner identifies the presence of a virus  u . s . public health official dr clinton reed  richard widmark  is called in and his examination confirms the presence of pneumonic plague . reed insists that all known contacts of the dead man must be inoculated without delay because the very infectious nature of the disease means that without such action  anyone infected could be expected to die within days .  br    br   as the identity of the dead man is unknown  the task of finding his contacts is expected to be difficult and this situation is not helped when city officials and the police commissioner are not fully convinced by reed  s briefing . they doubt that the threat to the public is potentially as serious as he claims it is and their initial lack of commitment is just the first of a series of obstacles which prevent action from being taken urgently . the investigation that follows is hampered by a lack of cooperation from the immigrant community  a group of seamen  the proprietor of a restaurant and also some illegal immigrants before the man  s identity and his contacts are eventually found .  br    br   kochak  an illegal immigrant  had been in a gang with blackie  jack palance   raymond fitch  zero mostel  and vince poldi  tommy cook  and when gang leader blackie becomes aware of the ongoing police investigation  he presumes that kochak must  ve smuggled something very valuable into the country . as kochak and poldi were related  blackie assumes that poldi must know something about this and goes to find out more . poldi  however  is very ill and unable to provide any information . blackie brings in his own doctor and together with fitch starts to move poldi out of his room and down some stairs and this is when they meet up with reed and an exciting chase follows .  br    br   richard widmark gives a strong performance as an underpaid public official who copes efficiently with the onerous responsibilities of his job whilst also dealing with his domestic preoccupations as a family man . in an unusual type of role for him  he also portrays the determined and serious minded nature of dr reed very convincingly . jack palance  s film debut sees him giving an impressive performance as a ruthless thug who misjudges kochak  s reason for leaving the card game and also the reason for the intense police investigation . his distinctive looks also help to make his on  screen presence even more compelling .  br    br   in typical docu  noir style  expressionist cinematography and neo  realist influences are utilized in tandem to effectively capture the atmosphere of the locations in which the action takes place . elia kazan directs with precision throughout but also excels in the memorable chase sequence in the warehouse and on the dockside .  
this has to be one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . this movie has nothing positive about it . some of you people actually like this movie  i  ve seen a lot of dracula movies and i  ve liked everyone that i  ve seen  but when i saw this movie i said to myself   what the hell is this   what a stupid movie . now they have dracula becoming who he is because he is judas . for those of you who don  t know who judas is  he betrayed jesus christ and then felt so guilty he hung himself . you have to be kidding me . that  s the dumbest reason i  ve ever heard for why dracula became evil . who asked for a reason anyway  what a piece of sh this movie is . who ever came up with this sorry excuse for a movie should be beaten . even the dracula is horrible . if you ever saw this movie you wouldn  t even think it was dracula . wow  dracula      is that title supposed to impress me  don  t waste your time or your money on this trash .  
a doctor and a policeman in new orleans have only   hours to locate a killer infected with pneumonic plague .  br    br   an effective  and classy  little thriller directed by elia kazan that blends documentary realism with a race against time pulpy heartbeat . set and filmed in and around new orleans  panic in the streets is taken from the story quarantine  some like  em cold by edna and edward anhalt who won an oscar for original story . it also boasts a fine ensemble cast that deliver top rate performances for their director . in turn  richard widmark bringing the method a year before marlon did for kazan in a streetcar named desire  paul douglas  jack palance  as walter jack palance   the wonderfully named zero mostel  all get sweatily moody as the pursuers chase the pursued to halt the onset of a potential black death epidemic .  br    br   where the film scores its main suspense points is with kazan  s astute ability to cut back and forth between the protagonists without altering the flow and mood of the piece . from widmark  s public health doctor  with hypodermic needle in hand  running around trying to locate the bad guys so he can do good to the bad guys themselves who are bemused as to why there is such a wide scale hunt for them the tension is stacked up to fever breaking point . to which thankfully the final thirty minutes becomes a cracking piece of cinema . with palance excelling as a nasty villain that ironically puts one in mind of widmark  s own tommy udo from kiss of death three years prior .  br    br   it  s an imaginative and intelligently written story  one that cunningly links rats and criminals to being carriers of disease . a blight on society as it were . it  s noirish elements  such as paranoia  blend nicely with its basic procedural thriller being . while some memorable scenes are suitably cloaked by the stifling atmosphere that kazan has created . although some of the early character psychologizing threatens to steer the film down some over talky based alleyway  this definitely is a film worth staying with to the end . not essential film  noir  and maybe not even essential kazan  but certainly a highly recommended film that begs to be discovered by a new generation of film lovers and reappraised by the old guard who may have missed it back in the day .  .      
this film is really bad . it maybe harsh  but it is . it really is . poor script  every vampire clich in the book is used  and no sympathy is given at all to the origins of the main character . . . i . e . ole dracula . there have been some truly brilliant dracula  vampire movies in the past  but this doesn  t even make it into the  dire  slot .  br    br   take a selection of people who seem to have dropped out of a teen  slasher move  add a dribble of dracula lore and mix in a heady tonic of religious  surreal day  dreaming . . . and you get a confusing mess of a film  dracula     .  br    br   i really cannot find any good things to say about this movie  as if it wasn  t bad enough that it was made in the first place  they seem to have made johnny lee miller effect an english accent . . . whats the problem with that i hear you cry . . . well  he is english  but he sounds like an american trying to do an english accent .  br    br   all in all you may as well say your money  if you were thinking of buying it   or rent it out  watch it  and discover for yourself why it  s about as scary as the tellytubbies .  br    br   p . s . although la la is pretty frightening   
a neat  race against time  premise  a murdered john doe is found to have pneumonic plague  so while the health authority and nopd battle everybody and each other trying to find his waterfront contacts  the murderers think the heat is because the victim  s infected cousin is holding out on them .  br    br   this movie is freely available from the internet archive and it  s well worth downloading . a lot  all   of this movie was filmed in genuine new orleans locations  which makes it interesting to look at for what is now period detail  though to me it does look under  exposed  even for noir  maybe mobile lighting rigs then weren  t what they are . there is also a plenty of location background noise  which is slightly distracting  car horns in the love scene  anyone  there are a lot of non  professional supporting artists in crowd scenes  and this may explain why the pacing of the film is slightly saggy to begin with  not much chance for retakes or recasting  though the final chase is worth hanging on for . there  s not much wrong with the lead actors either jack palance is genuinely scary as a charismatic  intelligent psychopath  the later scene as he alternately comforts and threatens the sick cousin is terrific  while widmark  as he often did  pitches the righteous anger of the man on a mission at a believable level  most of the time .  br    br   somebody should remake this  no supernaturals  no mysticism  no special fx  just a good yarn full of character conflict  and a topical theme . another reviewer mentioned the writer john kennedy o  toole  and that  s spot on with the number of oddball new orleans types peppering this dark  sleazy  against  the  clock drama . there  s even a midget newspaper seller .  br    br    community  what community  d  you think you  re living in the middle ages    
please don  t waste your time . this movie rehashes the worst of bram stoker  s dracula  van helsing   anne rice  s vampire lestat  rock music and silly biblical references   and blade  high  tech toys  . i really like vampire movies and novels  and there are many out there that are very good . but not this stinker . not even the soundtrack helps it  mostly because the movie resorts to ridiculous scary classical music rather than the  kick  ass metal  some reported . only a few times did i hear any metal mostly it was tortured violins . avoid it like garlic and crucifixes .  
elia kazan  one of the best theater directors this country ever had  showed he was equally at home with movies . with  panic in the streets   mr . kazan gives us an early version of what would come later  with perhaps his master piece   on the waterfront   although both movies share only the water setting  for they are different visions about different subjects .  br    br   mr . kazan shot on location in new orleans . the adaptation by daniel fuchs of the edna and edward anhalt stories that are the basis of the film  is remarkable in that it takes us to places that no tourist dared to see when visiting  the big easy  . one of the big assets of this film is the magnificent black and white cinematography by joseph macdonald that shows new orleans at its best . also the music by alfred newman and the song by billie holiday gives the proceedings a nice touch .  br    br   this film  could have been shot in new york  or another northern big city because it presents us with characters that speak more like  broklynese  than maybe a southern accent one might hear in that part of the country .  br    br   one thing comes clear in the movie  jack palance  making his screen debut  smolders the screen every time one sees him . he was so intense  at the same time  this tough guy shows a tender side of him when he goes to see his sick partner  who unknown to him  is stricken with a fatal disease . blackie  comforts this man caressing his sweaty face and running his hands through the dying man  s greasy hair with abandon . notable also  was the fact that mr . palance and mr . mostel appear to have been doing their own stunts  something so refreshing because both actors make it seem real .  br    br   the film also presents a normal side with the introduction of the reed family at the beginning of the film . we see a family man painting furniture with his young son . later he and the wife discuss how it appears they can  t make ends meet with his salary  something that many families have to deal with on a daily basis . richard widmark  playing a normal person is not as effective as when this actor plays more cunning and intense people . barbara bel geddes  as the wife  sounds as though she  s a suburban woman from connecticut .  br    br   the film is enjoyable thanks to mr . kazan  s direction and the excellent cast working in the movie .  
i saw this movie for  reasons   i like gerard butler and christopher plummer . unfortunately  these poor men were forced to carry a pretty dumb movie . i liked the idea that dracula is actually a reincarnation of judas iscariot  because it does explain his disdain for all things christian  but there was so much camp that this idea was not realized as much as it could have been . i see this movie more as a way for the talented gerard butler to pay his dues before being truly recognized and a way for the legendary christopher plummer to remind the public  me and the  other people who saw this film  that he still exists . i actually enjoyed the special features on the dvd more than the movie itself .  
just a comment on new orleans accents . . .  br    br   an earlier reviewer noted the following  this film  could have been shot in new york  or another northern big city because it presents us with characters that speak more like  broklynese  than maybe a southern accent one might hear in that part of the country .  there was also another comment along these lines from an english reviewer .  br    br   many people in new orleans do  in fact  sound  broklynese  . i have never found out why .  it  s mentioned in  a confederacy of dunces  by john kennedy toole .  i always appreciate movies taking place in new orleans that include this detail  as this one did . too often it  s just the hollywood version of the standard southern accent .  
lois weber  self proclaimed missionary via the cinema  wrote  directed and produced other films on controversial subjects  but this may be the first to get wide viewing  thanks to tcm . this film is her indictment of abortion  but she cleverly muddles the issue by bringing in eugenics and birth control  leaving the impression that they are somehow equivalent to abortion . her talent in writing and the other cinematic skills are well displayed here  but one may be forgiven for wishing she had used them less didactically . if you have wondered what tyrone power  jr .  s  famous father  looked like  here is your chance .     fashions and automobiles are also on display to add to the interest of this museum piece . it  s enjoyable even if you don  t appreciate the propaganda .  
given its time of release  the story that unravels in     thriller  panic in the streets  was hardly a surprise . the corpse of a mysterious illegal immigrant is found and passed off as a nobody until further examination from a public health inspector who claims the corpse carries a strain of bubonic plague . yet with the current drama in the world today  this strangely helps this film in appearing credible for today  s viewers . the cast and crew are flawless . richard widmark in his first role following his breakthrough performance in  night and the city   jack palance in his chilling film debut  also starring in this film are paul douglas and a young  and rather cute  barbara bel geddes . a whole slew of uncredited  non  professional actors  typical of director kazan  fill in the remaining slots . elia kazan directs  joe macdonald films  he would later work with richard widmark again in      s much superior  pickup on south street   and the great alfred newman scores it . nearly everyone involved here has done better work   panic in the streets  is quite the rewarding watch  nonetheless . especially for the film  noir enthusiast .  
this romantic adventure must have seemed shockingly subversive in its day . a wealthy upper class english woman schemes  plots and manipulates everyone around her for her own satisfaction . she uses her privileged position to embark on secret activities of a decidedly anti  social kind . there  s a clever sex  role reversal as her activities prove her more daring and dashing than most of the male characters . but naturally there  s a tall  dark and handsome stranger to keep up the love interest  and this wicked lady is not backward in coming forward when she meets the right man .  br    br   the wishy  washy weakness and gullibility of every other character make the plot unconvincing in the extreme  but those who thirst for romance will overlook that .  
i can  t really condemn the movie because it does work . there is enough film noir elements to consider it a noir movie  but i think it  s only just in the category .  br    br   there  s nothing sinister in this piece  and that  s where the noir elements fail . sure  the disease might be considered sinister  but i have a hard time seeing that . the movie hints at a darker side blackie may be trafficking human beings  the new orleans police are only too willing to arrest a reporter  the specter of the plague hangs over all of the people in the movie . . . but those are really only hints .  br    br   there  s no attempt made to question reed  s motivations  as one with do with marlowe or spade  nor is there any attempt to bring a humans side to blackie  which would make him even more contemptuous if the human trafficking was actually played out .  br    br   that lack of depth is what fails the movie in the end .  br    br   the story is decent  the acting is good  the writing and direction are well done . . . but there is nothing to make this a movie you should return to over and over . worth watching once  maybe twice if you don  t remember it from years ago  and then putting away .  
the spoilers in this review are offered as a public service  because the only way to enjoy this costume melodrama is to know that our protagonist  the lady barbara skelton  gets raped and gunned down in the end . and not a moment too soon . i  d have shot the screen myself but i was afraid i  d hit james mason .  br    br   the original     novel  called  the life and death of the wicked lady skelton   i guess people didn  t whine about spoilers back then   was written by a woman  an english navy brat who was either troubled or cynical or both . her heroine is devastatingly beautiful  and the author seems to think that if you have beauty  nothing else matters . but other things do matter  such as the fact that lady barbara  s immediate and only response when someone gets in her way is homicide . she murders three men in five attempts . a serial femme fatale  she  s got a case of dissocial personality disorder that should have landed her in either bedlam or newgate .  br    br   lockwood plays her as a narcissistic vamp  wearing so much makeup that i thought of her as a restoration  era joan rivers  or a restoration  era joan rivers  ha   . yet lady b . is irresistible to all three principal male characters   michael rennie  james mason  and griffith jones  all of whom do good work  as does patricia roc . of course  all three admirers realize in short order what a psychotic bitch barbara is  but the plot keeps them all in her orbit until one of them finally does gun her down  accidentally  in what is meant to be either irony or just desserts . given the dramatic death scene with a boom lifting the camera out through the windows and heavenward  i presume we  re meant to give a damn about her death . but hers is the first corpse we don  t care about .  
let me first state that while i have viewed every episode of startrek at least twice  i do not consider myself a trekker or trekkie . those are people who live in their parents basement and attend conventions wearing costumes with pointed rubber ears . i gave this movie a seven casting aside the fiction historical errors . the acting was better than average  but the plot held no surprises . they tried very hard to reverse engineer the technology but still the special effects were just to great a temptation . now as to the historical errors  if you call them that  the first capitan to pilot the enterprise was commander april  then capt . pike  jim kirk  etc . . according to a statement made by both riker and kirk we dicovered the klingons and educated them and gave them the technology  that  s the reason a prime directive was created  but like i said these are no reason to discredit this fine series . i hope the plots will get deeper  and then special effects can take a backseat .  
if you  re after the real story of early baroque painter artemisia gentileschi  you  ll be disappointed  however if you  re after a reasonably crafted bodice ripper with an art theme  you  ve found you  re movie .  br    br   this film is such a foundationally inaccurate depiction of artemisia gentileschi  s life that it almost made me weep .  type in artemisia inaccuracies in google and check out some of the fact vs . fiction articles .  from a purely technical point of view though  the film was alright the sets  costumes  and especially the chiaroscuro lighting helped create an immersive early   th century experience although the above mentioned glaring factual inaccuracies let it down a bit .  br    br   i wonder how the director  co  writer agns merlet defended her film at the time  perhaps she refused to portray artemisia as a victim  which would  ve been unfortunate  because lets face it  she was .  
  panic in the streets  was a decent thriller  but i felt a bit disappointed by it . the central theme of a city being attacked by a plague in modern times is fascinating  but the film never really explores or develops it . its well made and entertaining  but its not as interesting as it should have been . the screenplay for this one is really weak and brings the whole film down . none of the central characters are really compelling or believable .  br    br   fortunately  the film is very well made so it compensates for the weak scripting . the direction by elia kazan keeps the film suspenseful and moving at a lightning quick pace . there are some standout sequences  particularly the memorable chase climax . when his direction was combined with better screenplays several years later  the man could mostly do no wrong .  br    br   the acting is also very good . richard widmark was always a watchable leading man and does what he can with an underwritten character . paul douglas spends his time yelling a bit too much but does a decent job as well . the standouts in the cast are the two villains . zero mostel  known primarily for his comic roles  is effectively slimy as one of cinema  s ultimate toady characters . jack palance is  unsurprisingly  a chilling villain .  panic in the streets  is disappointing but still worth watching .        
bad actors  terrible script  totally unbelievable ending  this film had it all . after seeing films like this  you wonder why the makers bothered at all . this film has absolutely nothing to say  all the methods used to create a scare have been used over and over again in previous horror films . a total waste of time .  
when plague breaks out in new orleans  it  s richard widmark to the rescue in  panic in the streets   one of the lesser  celebrated films of the great elia kazan . kazan keeps the pace brisk  and there are lots of marvelous touches  the scenes between widmark and barbara bel geddes  who plays his wife and the scene in the police station show family life and work life and the relationships of average citizens  which is in sharp contrast to the lives and relationships of the low  lifes  portrayed by a menacing jack palance  his weak yes man  zero mostel  tommy cook  and louis charles . there are also some interesting visuals  palance has a couple of scenes with actors who seem to come up to his knees in height .  br    br   the acting is marvelous and the dialogue sharp if the story isn  t quite up to the direction and performances . it has a few questionable aspects which will be spotted by the viewer quite easily . that aside  it  s well worth viewing . kazan was a masterful director .  
this time we get a psycho toy maker named  joe petto   get it   who makes living  evil toys that kill people . he goes after the family who has the bad luck of just simply living in the same house where he and his mutant robot son  pino   again  get it   used to live .  br    br   easily the worst  and hopefully presumably the last  in this semi  series  this one and the previous one look like soft core porn movies  but without the sex and nudity . it  s kind of like a low rent hybrid of  halloween iii    puppet master    dolls  and bad home movies . supposedly in     they started to do a sixth chapter in the series  but it was abandoned and never completed . we can all only hope that it stays that way . . .  br    br      a star out of   br    br    
in panic in the streets richard widmark plays u . s . navy doctor who has his week rudely interrupted with a corpse that contains plague . as cop paul douglas properly points out the guy died from two bullets in the chest . that  s not the issue here  the two of them become unwilling partners in an effort to find the killers and anyone else exposed to the disease .  br    br   as was pointed out by any number of people  for some reason director elia kazan did not bother to cast the small parts with anyone that sounds like they  re from louisiana . having been to new orleans where the story takes place i can personally attest to that . richard widmark and his wife barbara bel geddes can be excused because as a navy doctor he could be assigned there  but for those that are natives it doesn  t work .  br    br   but with plague out there and the news being kept a secret  the new orleans pd starts a dragnet of the city  s underworld . the dead guy came off a ship from europe and he had underworld connections . a new orleans wise guy played by jack palance jumps to a whole bunch of erroneous conclusions and starts harassing a cousin of the dead guy who is starting to show plague symptoms . palance got rave reviews in the first film where he received notice .  br    br   personally my favorite in this film is zero mostel . this happened right before mostel was blacklisted and around that time he made a specialty of playing would be tough guys who are really toadies . he plays the same kind of role in the humphrey bogart film  the enforcer . sadly i can kind of identify with mostel in that last chase scene where he and palance are being chased down by widmark  douglas  and half the new orleans police . seeing the weight challenged zero trying to keep up with palance was something else because i  m kind of in zero  s league now in the heft department .  br    br   kazan kept the action going at a good clip  there  s very little down time in this film . if there was any less it would be an indiana jones film . panic in the streets won an oscar for best original screenplay that year .  br    br   kazan also made good use of the new orleans waterfront and the french quarter . some of the same kinds of shots are later used in on the waterfront . in fact panic in the streets is about people not squealing when they really should in their own best interest . very similar again to on the waterfront .  br    br   panic in the streets does everyone proud who was associated with it . now why couldn  t elia kazan get some decent new orleans sounding people in the small roles .  
silent night  deadly night  is the very last of the series  and like part   it  s unrelated to the first three except by title and the fact that it  s a christmas  themed horror flick .  br    br   except to the oblivious  there  s some obvious things going on here . . . mickey rooney plays a toymaker named joe petto and his creepy son  s name is pino . ring a bell  anyone  now  a little boy named derek heard a knock at the door one evening  and opened it to find a present on the doorstep for him . even though it said  don  t open till christmas   he begins to open it anyway but is stopped by his dad  who scolds him and sends him to bed  and opens the gift himself . inside is a little red ball that sprouts santa arms and a head  and proceeds to kill dad . oops  maybe he should have left well  enough alone . of course derek is then traumatized by the incident since he watched it from the stairs  but he doesn  t grow up to be some killer santa  he just stops talking .  br    br   there  s a mysterious stranger lurking around  who seems very interested in the toys that joe petto makes . we even see him buying a bunch when derek  s mom takes him to the store to find a gift for him to bring him out of his trauma . and what exactly is this guy doing  well  we  re not sure but he does seem to be taking these toys apart to see what makes them tick . he does keep his landlord from evicting him by promising him to pay him in cash the next day and presents him with a  larry the larvae  toy for his kid  but of course  larry  is not a good toy and gets out of the box in the car and of course  well  things aren  t pretty .  br    br   anyway  eventually what  s going on with joe petto and pino is of course revealed  and as with the old story  pino is not a  real boy  . pino is probably even more agitated and naughty because he suffers from  kenitalia   a smooth plastic crotch  so that could account for his evil ways . and the identity of the lurking stranger is revealed too  and there  s even kind of a happy ending of sorts . whee .  br    br   a step up from part   but not much of one . again  brian yuzna is involved  and screaming mad george  so some decent special effects  but not enough to make this great . a few leftovers from part  are hanging around too  like clint howard and neith hunter  but that doesn  t really make any difference . anyway  i now have seeing the whole series out of my system . now if i could get some of it out of my brain .  out of  .  
refreshing lost  gem  featuring effective dialog combined with excellent acting to establish the characters and involve you enough to care what happens to them . the douglas and widmark characters are realistic heroes . palance is his usual evil presence . widmark win the fisticuffs fight scene  a car chase of less than   seconds with a logical  end  and a lengthy chase on foot that shames the overdone chase sequences of contemporary hollywood . you know how it will likely end  but the suspense and interest are sustained throughout . the end of the chase is one of the most realistic you will ever see . the film seems to slow a little past the middle  but stay with it for the rewarding conclusion .  
this movie wasn  t that bad when compared to the first two sequels to the original . it  s directed by martin kitrosser of friday the   th fame . the acting is very bad indeed  but the gore and special effects help make it interesting . thats one thing i like about screaming mad george  make up effects artist for the film   his effects are so off  the  wall and bizarre that they will keep you watching a bad movie just to find out how crazy they  re gonna get . the movie isn  t really all that gory  but there is an extremely nasty eyeball  munching scene in the middle involving a toy maggot  what     mickey rooney makes a guest appearance that he probably wasn  t too enthusiastic about but needed the money at the time  possibly  if you liked the weirdo  th installment  my favorite of all    you  ll probably like this one . i liked it better than the matrix  enjoy .  
  panic in the streets  is a fairly unknown little movie from director elia kazan and was made before his classic masterpieces such as  a streetcar named desire    on the waterfront  and  east of eden  . kazan already won an oscar in      before this movie  so he was not a completely unknown at the time . still  panic in the streets  is mostly a movie that passed under the radar .  br    br   the great thing about this movie is the oscar winning script . it has a very good concept and its excellent tense thriller material with a sniff of crime  film  noir elements . the dialog in this movie is also absolutely magnificent and gives the movie a feel of reality and credibility .  br    br   the cast is fairly unknown  especially at the time it was released  but it still features zero mostel and jack palance in one of their first movie roles . especially palance impresses as the tough gangster boss  with a very powerful looking face .  br    br   still the movie drags a little at some points . the movie starts of very well but after the start the movie slows down and does not always makes the right decisions in terms of pace and the point of view the story is told from .  br    br   yet   panic in the streets  remains a perfectly watchable movie  mainly due to its solid script and powerful dialog that makes the movie a believable one to watch . for fans of the thriller genre this is a great movie to watch .  br    br        
warped take on the pinocchio theme  and set during the christmas season  . . after the previous entry abandoned ties to christmas  has booby  trapped toys sent to murder a child  . . yet through this  other victims are accidentally harmed in the process  perhaps by a toy maker  s  son  . screaming mad george was responsible for the killer toys  . . including a larvae which enters a victim  s mouth and out his eye  another where soldier toys actually shoot real bullets at a babysitter after her boyfriend was practically strangled by a severed hand toy  operating from a remote control  . the little target is a mute child named derek  william thorne  whose stepdad was murdered by a red ball with extending arms that ensnare his face  causing him to land on a fireplace poker . mother sarah  jane higginson  worries about her son  s mental state  figuring his reluctance towards opening presents or  more importantly  talking  derives from watching her husband  s horrific murder . derek  s real father  noah  tracy fraim  fears for his son  t safety  and informs  reluctantly  his ex  girlfriend sarah that the local toymaker  joe petto  mickey rooney  once was arrested for setting traps in toys to harm kids due to the loss of an unborn child when his wife was killed in a car crash . . kind of a retaliation in saying that if he couldn  t have a son  then others shouldn  t either . still quite a heavy drinker  . . often seen swigging jack   petto seems to have set aside his feelings towards kids  but his creepy son pino  brian bremer  hasn  t and derek he harbors angst towards . why  you  ll soon understand .  br    br   pretty disappointing special effects and rather goofy premise . rooney  s name adds an allure to the film  gaining it a notoriety  but his histrionics can only help so much . attractive lead actress higginson  slaughterhouse  and fraim as the man who re  enters her life aren  t so bad  but the lame plot that develops is hard to take seriously . i  m guessing that  s the point  but rooney has no reason to be in such a film as this . . he has no room to bring any personality to his toymaker other than rage and desperation  quite volatile  barely holding himself together as he explodes in anger towards pino  when not downing liquor . bremer is appropriately weird and  robotic  as pino  longing to have sarah as his mama . the practical effects used during the attacks on victims are rather unconvincing . . screaming mad george  s work with savage steve holland was far more effective than what we see in this film . the sex everyone talks about isn  t as gratuitous as many would have you believe  . . i can  t even recall any nudity  . probably the best of the numerous sequels greenlighted  but that  s not exactly an endorsement . i  m pretty sure written on paper  this was an entertaining concept  the idea of spoofing pinocchio using horror elements  but the result doesn  t exactly blow you away .  
in new orleans  an illegal immigrant feels sick and leaves a poker game while winning the smalltime criminal blackie  walter jack palance  . he is chased by blackie and his men raymond fitch  zero mostel  and poldi  guy thomajan   killed by blackie and his body is dumped in the sea . during the autopsy  the family man lieutenant commander dr . clinton reed  richard widmark  of the u . s . public health service finds that the dead man had pneumonic plague caused by rats and he needs to find who had any type of contact with the man within forty  eight hours to avoid an epidemic . the city mayor assigns the skeptical captain tom warren  paul douglas  to help dr . clint to find the killers that are infected with the plague and inoculate them .  br    br    panic in the streets  discloses a simple story  but it is still effective and with a great villain . the engaging plot has not become dated after fifty  seven years . jack palance performs a despicable scum in his debut  and the camera work while he tries to escape with zero mostel is still very impressive . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    pnico nas ruas    panic in the streets    
  cavemen  exceeded my expectations  and not in a good way . it was even worse than i thought it would be . basically  here  s the show the cavemen are an alternate race  they face prejudice  etc . quite possibly the stupidest idea ever created almost being worthy of jail time for the writers . one show featured the cavemen going into a club  trying to pick up girls  and then nothing else happened . it was reminiscent of listening to a   minute andy rooney dialog  followed by death by steak knives via midget cannibals . for those who have not seen this show  here  s an example of the dialog  you  re sure you  re okay with going out with a caveman .   yeah  that  s fine . i  ve had like    thousand   hilarious . . . possibly the best writing i  ve ever witnessed .  br    br     minutes of cavemen with horrible makeup  tackling tough social issues . . . sounds like an entertaining night . i also love how bad the recent ideas are that they  re resorted to making a sitcom out of car insurance commercials . i wonder if they  ll do the gecko next  so that i can have a new title for the worst show i  ve ever seen . i would even say that this is worse than  viva laughlin .  at least  viva laughlin  was ripped off from something that was somewhat inspired .  br    br   shows like this make me hope that there  s a comet up there somewhere aimed for earth .  br    br    unratable honestly . . .   
when a stiff turns up with pneumonic plague  a variant of bubonic plague   u . s . public health service official dr . clinton reed  richard widmark  immediately quarantines everyone whom he knows was near the body . unfortunately  the stiff got that way by being murdered  and there  s a good chance that the murderer will start spreading the plague  leading to an epidemic . enter police captain tom warren  paul douglas   who is enlisted to track down the murderer as soon as possible and avert a possible national disaster .  br    br   while panic in the streets is a quality film  it suffers from being slightly unfocused and a bit too sprawling  my reason for bringing the score down to an eight  . it wanders the genres from noirish gangster to medical disaster  police procedural  thriller and even romance .  br    br   this is not director elia kazan  s best work  but saying that is a bit disingenuous . kazan is the helmer responsible such masterpieces as a streetcar named desire        on the waterfront       and east of eden        after all . this film predates those  but kazan has said that he was already  untethered  by the studio . taking that freedom too far may partially account for the sprawl . the film is set in new orleans  a city where kazan  used to wander around . . . night and day so i knew it well  . he wanted to exploit the environment .  it  s so terrific and colorful . i wanted boats  steam engines  warehouses  jazz joints   all of new orleans  .  br    br   kazan handles each genre of panic in the streets well  but they could be connected better . the film would have benefited by staying with just one or two of its moods . the sprawl in terms of setting would have still worked . part of the dilemma may have been caused by the fact that panic in the streets was an attempt to merge two stories by writers edna and edward anhalt   quarantine  and  some like  em cold  .  br    br   the gangster material  which ends up in firmly in thriller territory with an extended chase scene near the end of the film  is probably the highlight . not surprisingly  kazan has said that he believes the villains are  more colorful   i never had much affection for the good guys anyway . i don  t like puritans  . a close second is the only material that approaches the  panic  of the title   the discovery of the plague and the attempts to track down the exposed  inoculate them and contain the disease . while there is plenty of suspense during these two  moods   much of the film is also a fairly straightforward drama  with pacing more typical of that genre .  br    br   the dialogue throughout is excellent . the stylistic difference to many modern films could hardly be more pronounced . it is intelligent  delivered quickly and well enunciated by each character . conflict isn  t created by  dumb  decisions but smart moves events and characters  actions are more like a chess game . when unusual stances are taken  such as reed withholding the plague from the newspapers  he gives relatively lengthy justifications for his decisions  which other characters argue over .  br    br   in light of this  it  s interesting that kazan believed that  propriety  religion  ethics and the middle class are all murdering us  . that idea works its way into the film through the alterations to the norm  or allowances away from it  made by the protagonists . for example  head gangster blackie  jack palance in his first film role  is offered a  get out of jail free  card if he  ll cooperate with combating the plague .  br    br   the technical aspects of the film are fine  if nothing exceptional  but the real reasons to watch are the performances  the intriguing scenario and the well  written dialogue .  
i wasted my time and gave this show a chance . this has to be one of the worst new shows . if they gave an award to shows that suck this one should sweep the category . the acting is poor and the story line is contrived . now dinosaurs was a bit strange but at least it was entertaining . that show lasted three seasons and was finally scraped . this new show  based on an insurance companies commercials  is not funny and really has nothing going for it . possibly the original commercials and the amount of times they were  and still are  repeated is what is wrong with this show . it just came to tv and already we are tired of seeing the  caveman  characters .  
this film is actually pertinent even today given the threat of bio  terrorism  and the threats of superbugs  west nile virus  and sars . as a thriller  the tension is fairly intense . richard widmark and paul douglas are more than serviceable in their roles . the domestic scenes between widmark and his wife provide a nice interlude to the main plot . the actor in this film who most left his mark is jack palance . his sharply defined features and seemingly easygoing exterior always wither way to reveal the avaricious and cruel man beneath the surface . the chase scene through the packing plant is impressive even today . recommended      .  
this is   minute show about one joke . the joke  cavemen are not treated fairly . hahaha    he can  t dial a phone because he is a caveman . cavemen are not as smart as human beings . oh jeez  those cavemen are so unsophisticated . there is no humor in this show . they can only run off this one joke for so long and they already have with the geico commercials . this show does not deserve a time slot on national t . v .  br    br   this show tries to hard to be funny  but it just isn  t . watching this show  i was thinking that it was trying to be like a  bachelor  s gone wild show .  meaning they go to the bar and try to sleep with many women . the crying caveman is annoying . the caveman with the glasses is too smart to be a caveman  hahaha     . all three of them have personalities  but i can  t figure out why i don  t care about them .  
panic in the streets opens in high noir style  a view along a dark street followed by a camera tilt upwards to a window  behind which is playing out a sleazy card game  an opening flourish which  along with some of the location shooting  anticipates some of the atmosphere welles brought a decade later in touch of evil . one of the players throws open the window it  s an appropriate action  serving as an introduction to the events within as well as literally opening up our first view of the underworld .  br    br   shot in high contrast black and white  panic in the streets benefits immensely from a strong cast as well as some fine location shooting in new orleans . scenes set in such places as the mortuary  the crowded shipping office or amidst the peeling paint of  frank  s place  offer a unique  and sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere  impossible to recreate in the studio . with these elements  kazan  s film shows the influence of dassin  s groundbreaking naked city of two years earlier  which established the gritty  almost documentary style within the noir cycle . in fact  widmark  s previous role had been in dassin  s even finer night and the city  a film in which a sense of rising panic was even more prevalent . joe macdonald  a favourite with the director  photographed panic in the streets  detailed environment . macdonald also worked on kazan  s pinky and viva zapata   and went on to shoot widmark again three years later in fuller  s masterpiece pick up on south street .  br    br   as others have noticed  in a manner typical of some noir films  kazan  s work offers a contrast between the confusion  sickness and immorality of the streets with the modest  calm home life of the reeds . but whereas  for instance  in lang  s the big heat       the home life of the hero is destroyed by elements of vice surrounding the embattled central character  ultimately sending him back to work with an increased vigilance and sense of vengeance  panic in the streets places reed  s rising anxiousness within the confines of what amounts to just another working  day  . despite all the danger  ultimately he returns back to the bosom of his family justified and satisfied . the implication being that social balance has been restored  at least for the moment by his professionalism and curative skills .  br    br   that imbalance of course  has been created by crime and disease . the two are closely associated in this film . it reminds one of the tagline from the much cruder cobra        where  crime is the disease . meet the cure   a neat analogy in context  if one which rings too uncomfortably of social reductionism . at its climax  as blackie attempts to flee aboard ship  the visuals specifically allude to rats as being similar to criminals  both posing a menace to society  s health . as  the presumably infected  blackie prowls round the cheap rooms and the docks with his cronies  in search of something he suspects everyone is after  if without knowing exactly what it is   plague  and  blackie  resonate together in the audiences mind  adding further to connected associations . ironically blackie  s hunch about poldi  s unfortunate cousin  that  he brought something in  of note is correct  even if  finally  its nothing he can sell or steal . blackie  s logical assumption that the police would not normally bother with the murder of some anonymous illegal immigrant has a ring of truth about it  and his so confusion is understandable .  br    br   dr reed  although home  loving  and on the side of society  is a true noir hero . familiar to the genre is the chief protagonist as a man who walks alone  forced to travel beyond the limits of the law . in his way  reed is forced to take morality into his own hands for the sake of society at large  a dimension of the film that is particularly apposite  given director kazan  s controversial personal history . the director testified before the infamous huac  naming suspected communists and fellow travellers . his film depicts suspects being hauled in for questioning  and the manhandling of the press  on the grounds that the overriding public good justified the means . these actions perhaps echo the director  s sentiments at the time  presumably accepting the mccarthyite witch hunt and the suppression of civil rights it entailed in the light of presumed communist infiltration of the entertainment industry . in these times of terrorist threats and state response  such issues as they appear in the film are strikingly modern .  br    br   standout scenes in the film include a notable scene where blackie interrogates the dying poldi as to the precise nature of his cousin  s presumed contraband . cat like  blackie stalks his victim across the room  eventually preying over the doomed man  s sick bed  holding poldi  s feverish head in his hands  a striking  evil cradling . it  s a gesture emphasising the intimate nature of corruption  whether moral or physical . apparently  the actors did many or all of their own stunts  which leads to some other  very dramatic scenes at the end  as the police and health authorities close in on the villains under the wharfs . half crawling  half scrambling over the slippery timbers at the edge of the dock pool must have been an experience very uncomfortable for palance  but it is sequence that adds immensely to the immediacy of it all .  br    br   occasionally less convincing elements distract the viewer . apparently dr reed is left to fight a potential national emergency little government backup . perhaps just as astonishingly  he never inoculates himself  inviting a dramatic turn which never materialises . at the end of the film  too  the potential epidemic has been halted  all contactees located  a little too neatly . but these weaknesses are more than outweighed by the other satisfactions of a film that still makes for compulsive and relevant viewing today .  
cavemen was by far the biggest load of crap i have ever wasted my time watching . this show based on the geico commercials is less entertaining then an actual   sec ad for geico . the makeup was half ass  ed to say the least  hard to imagine a caveman with prefect white teeth even after going to the dentist . this show could of had potential for a funny series if they could of gotten the cast from the commercials  that in it self makes for a lousy show . perhaps if the writers were the same from the geico ads this may of had a chance  instead the pilot lacked a good story line . i give this show a  out of    i would of liked to put a zero out of   but that was not an option . i pray for a quick death to this show  i  d give it less then  episodes before it dies a deserving death .  
this movie is not great  but it is a good and enjoyable one . it feels like an indie film made out of a play script . morgan freeman basically plays himself  although the director swears the script was not written for him . and there is the small irony of the actor that goes in a supermarket to do research for a film that he hasn  t committed to yet . i mean  he actually made the film in the end and we are watching it    br    br   i found the dialogue a bit too positive for my taste  but refreshing nonetheless . this is a film that inspires the viewer to take a look at their own lives and choose the direction in which to go . a bit too much emphasis on appearance  if you ask me .  br    br   bottom line a nice little film  made in two weeks  with basically two actors and a few extras  dialogue driven  makes morgan freeman look good    
peeew this stinks  as everyone knows it  s based upon some geico insurance commercials what no one knows is why   those commercials were amusing on first viewing at best hardly fodder for a series .  the talking geico gecko   that  s another story . now that would make for an intriguing series   and why on earth did abc   as reported in the press   actually agree to buy the cavemen character rights from geico for this  after all  the idea of cavemen struggling in the modern world is hardly unique to tv phil hartman had a recurring saturday night live role as the unfrozen caveman lawyer over a decade ago . and that  s how a concept like this works best   as an occasional installment . but a regular series  fuhgeddaboudit .  a     s series called  it  s about time  also used the cavemen in the modern world concept . it lasted one season .   br    br   one of the show  s directors  who was also responsible for the geico commercials  was recently quoted as saying  we were so excited when we were shooting our commercials because we felt like we had something that was very unique and we had bigger stories to tell .  wrong .  br    br   in the annals of bad tv  this is destined to take its place alongside      s  me and the chimp  as one of the all  time worst . the lead actor in the embarrassing chimp fiasco actually went into shame  by  association hiding after it was abruptly canceled . no doubt our cavemen friends will follow suit .  
i have been a star trek fan for as long as i can remember . when they announced the planning and premiere of the fifth series i was very excited .  br    br   the premiere of enterprise was well worth the wait . it was well done with the perfect setting and a great acting job done by all the characters . the nx     enterprise is the perfect vessel to show the beginnings of what many people have come to love .  br    br   scott bakula was just superior as captain jonathan archer . jolene blalock gave a commanding performance as subcommander t  pol . that it just two people of this wonderful new crew that is boldly going to take us into the great history of starfleet .  br    br   enterprise looks like it  s going to be a good series well worth watching  and i recommend that . watch it .  
dysfunctional family goes home for the holidays and murder and mayhem result . violent sexy milligan at his most home made . little better than a home movie  as much of milligans films are  this is a trip into depravity      s style . notable for the copious nudity and sex this film is neither sexy nor gruesome  playing now more as quaint .  though decidedly r rated  . the film suffers from its uneven cast and from the cheapness of the production .  no one was ever sure where the money went on his movies since he was always broke  . its a bad bad movie thats not worth seeing except as a milligan completeist or because its got some good looking people fooling around .  
this movie is about human relationships . charming  funny  and well written  with meaningful text . it seems that morgan freeman surely have fun at the set . also good music . paz vega is a beautiful and smart woman . i really enjoy her acting . woman like her are a good motivation to learn spanish language . from the moment morgan freeman meets the cute paz vega the view is taken on an intimate journey with two strangers learning to care about where their lives are headed .   items or less is about zest of life . if you enjoy this film see also the pursuit of happiness with will smith and his son . thats not a action film or a nude comedy . its all about human relations .  
this show proved to be a waste of   minutes of precious dvr hard drive space . i didn  t expect much and i actually received less . not only do i expect this show to be canceled by the second episode  i cannot believe that geico will ever attempt to use the cavemen ad campaign ever again . i would have preferred spending a night checking my daughter  s hair for head lice than watching this piece of refuse . i wonder what abc passed on to make this show fit into the    fall schedual  perhaps a hospital  crime  mocumentary reality show featuring the aflac duck  in the event that i failed to express my opinion about this show let me be clear and say that it is not too good .  
i believe a lot of people down rated the movie  not because of the lack of quality . but it did not follow the standard hollywood formula . some of the conflicts are not resolved . the ending is just a little too real for others  but the journey the rich characters and long list of supporters provide is both thought provoking and very entertaining . even the cinematography is excellent given the urban setting  the directing also is excellent and innovative .  br    br   this is a   in my book  this movie will take you places the normal and expected hollywood script will not . they took some risks and did a few things different . i think it worked well  i am purposely trying to avoid any direct references to the movie because seeing it for yourself is the best answer  not accepting someone else  s interpretation .  
i actually didn  t mind the geico commercials the first   of so times i saw them and even found them to be a bit wry and amusing  but seriously  this is the best thing that these people could come up with    this show sucks  it is bland and feels like watching an episode of  the office  with the characters disguised as cavemen  i know a lot of you will hate me for saying that but  the office  just does not do it for me  . okay  i get it we have the poor slob just trying to keep his nose clean and he has a crappy boss who hates him the pseudo  intellectual who really just has a barely  functioning intellect and the dopey one who just wants to be accepted  but so what    i have worked with these people and found them just as annoying in real life as i do on tv . . . why would i want to waste another      th of my week watching more of those type nominates    please call your parents and ask them if they dropped you on your head if after thinking about it  you still delude yourself into believing that this is entertainment .  
i have to admit that for the first half hour or so of this movie i was basically lost . there had been some mildly amusing humour  but at best a barebones plot and a general sense of pointlessness that was on the verge of making me think that i was wasting my time . then  for no apparent reason  i suddenly realized that i was enjoying this . there was no blinding moment of realization and no suddenly dramatic scene that grabbed me . in fact nothing very exciting happens in the entire movie . it was as if i just all of a sudden realized that the movie was meant to be largely pointless  and that in its very pointlessness was its charm .  br    br   morgan freeman starred as an unnamed actor who finds a little project to jumpstart his career . he  s going to play a supermarket manager  and spends the day in a neighbourhood supermarket to research the role . while there he meets and bonds with scarlet  played by paz vega   a cashier who wants more out of life . he helps her prepare for a job interview as if she  s auditioning for a role  while she introduces him to real life . it  s truly funny watching him  for that  s how the character is identified in the credits  be overwhelmed by a visit to the local target store .  br    br   freeman and vega were great together  with a strange but completely believable sort of combined romantic but father  daughter chemistry . if you feel lost at the beginning  stick with this . in the end  it turns out to be a delightfully charming movie .      
every new fall line  up show deserves  at least  my   strikes and you  re out  policy . i give a comedy  chances to make me laugh  that is   complete episodes . after episode   i actually said to the tv   cancelled tomorrow  . it was that bad . i have now watched the first  episodes of  cavemen  and have yet to manage even a smirk . not a titter  a guffaw  a chortle  as a matter of fact  no facial movement at all . i will continue to punish myself by watching every future episode because i am convinced that i am clearly missing something in this show . i  m simply not  getting  it  but i believe that a comedy on a major tv network in prime  time  just has to be funny but there are no laughs from me yet . there  s just no way that abc would put on the least funniest comedy of all time at     p . m . i know there has got to be an inside joke that just isn  t jiving with my brain . i  ve read each of the previous comments  i  get  the social aspect of it  but  where are the jokes     i shall continue suffering for at least   minutes a week  until i have a light  bulb moment and smack myself in the head shouting  eureka  .  
this is film  making at it  s simplest and it  s best .  br    br   i had my doubts  because even though freeman is great actor  sometimes he gets involved in bad projects this is not one of those times .  br    br   it  s a small story that runs just over an hour and fifteen  in a time when we are getting used to having movies become longer and longer  and not necessarily better  the director uses the short time to his advantage  because the characters are so well defined from the start  great portrayals by freeman and vega by the way   that the little bit of background info on them seems real  morgan is himself even though his name is not mentioned  he has been out of movies for a couple of years now because he was saturated by the business  and developed a fear to commit to a script  and is doing research for a character in a indie movie where he plays a store  supermarket manager . the story begins by him being drop of in a supermarket in a rough neighborhood  where he meets the cashier of the   items or less  vega  and has to take a ride with her cause  the production  forgot to pick him up .  br    br   in many ways it  s a road movie  morgan provides the laughs  and quirks with his unbeatable smile and positive perspective on everything  showing off an accomplished actor who has trained his mind to be able to define everyone he sees into a character he could play  and paz  by the way  what an extraordinary beautiful woman  even more gorgeous than penelope cruz  brings the vulnerability of a   years old separated woman who works harder than everyone else without getting any credit in a dead end job at a crappy supermarket .  br    br   it  s a talkie  there is a lot of dialog  but the balance between light and fun and serious and sad is well sustained  the characters become so lovable right away that you spend the last   minutes begging for more screen time of this odd couple  but the shortness is in the nature of the story  so it was a good call from the director not to give in .  
i have watched  episodes of caveman  and i have no idea why i continue except maybe waiting for it to get better .  br    br   to me this show is just pumping itself off the commercials  with no real humor . as we sat around watching these shows  we all speculated on what was going to happen .  br    br   the episode of the woman cave  woman with a attitude was actually a big  yea right  for us . she  s crude in a theater and acts tough to strangers  and truth be told  she needed a slap  br    br   i consider myself a pretty good reviewer  taking in everything  but i must say  cavemen is comparable to the old show  my mother  the car . i give it a   only because they deserve  better than a  because they actually spent money on it .  
not that much things happen in this movie but a lot of meanings . the woman thought she had all that she can in life  but that was indeed not true  and she found out herself when she met this person who was conducting some research for his next job . there really should be more types of movies like this  im not even that old as considered  mature   im   by the way  and i still got the idea and point of the film . the main point is in my opinion don  t think you can  t have a better life  just because you currently have this one .  br    br   though i got to admit i was thinking of watching another movie but after reading all the reviews and seen the trailer i decided on this one even though i knew not that much action would appear in the film . i recommend anyone to watch this movie as it has very good points in the film  and is a really good ending .  
so why does this show suck  unfortunately  that really is the only question  because there is no doubt that it does .  br    br   for those unfamiliar with the premise of the show  the doomed  to  be  shortlived series cavemen focuses on a number of neanderthals and their struggle to exist in modern day america and is based on the characters featured in a series of television ads for geico insurance . the concept is solid and there is every reason to think it could be executed successfully .  br    br   i had to think about it for awhile  but then the tagline from the commercials   something to the effect of  we  re not that much different from you  provided me with the key to the show  s suckiness . even though cavemen  neanderthals are actually a different species than humanity  the title characters of this show  it turns out  are exactly the same as those of us who are boring jerks .  br    br   maybe its my background as a game writer   rather than a soulless  hack  committee  based writer from california   but this show had so much potential  and none of it has been realized . to start with  the producers should have focused on the fun things that would make cavemen different from us .  br    br   what could conceivably be funny  for example  about giving them occupations like perpetual grad student and furniture store clerk  when they would have more compellingly been drawn to things like subterranean utility workers and guides at cave parks  why would they play prosaic games like squash  when a whole episode could be devoted to them trying get hunting licenses to go after game with spears  a show like this could write itself  and it takes some willfully bad writing to make it quite so crappy and boring .  br    br   another tiresome aspect of this show is an attempt to portray the cavemen as being subjected to a number of stereotypes associated with various human minorities . yawn  this has been done so many times before  and never more drearily than this . and  as noted previously  neanderthals really are a different species  so using them as a metaphor for racial stereotyping is both uncompelling and off the mark .  br    br   responses are welcome  including those from anyone who wants to tell me why i  m wrong . i  d like to enjoy this show and am just sorry that i have thus far been unable to .  br    br   michael j . varhola  skirmisher online gaming magazine  
it  s a difficult movie to classify    items or less  . generally  i don  t care about defining genres  but there  s something about this movie that makes you want to put it in a specific category  in order to transmit  even with only one word  your feelings about it . i completely recommend this film to anyone and  if you truly enjoy cinema and if you enjoy life  you  ll want to do the same as soon as you  ve finished watching it .  br    br   i recommend this movie and call it beautiful and delightful admitting it  s not perfect but it doesn  t do anything wrong . i don  t want to sound like i contradict myself  but i believe writer  director brad silberling knew exactly what he was getting into when he finished writing this inspiring script . i  m sure he wanted to achieve a product that had nothing to do with perfection a product that would be as simple  appealing and uncompromising as its title . well  he  s done it .  br    br   silberling  director of long  complex  dramatic movies like  city of angels  and  moonlight mile   proves with    items or less   which closes in at just   minutes  the passion he has for his work and also the faith he has in it . to put an actor  morgan freeman  in front of a woman  paz vega  in a grocery store and take them exactly to the places ordinary life would take them is what silberling proposes here .  br    br   i can  t tell you no more because within the apparent simplicity lies a thought provoking background that shouldn  t be underestimated . because here everyone  s exposed the camera focuses directly on the two main characters  who share endless conversation in a car ride with stops that  s not endless only because life is life . and let me express how praise how well silberling handles the situation by saying that he reaches  in less time  not only in movie duration time  but in the single day that the movie develops its events  and in a smaller place  the kind of connection between two characters that sofia coppola generated in  lost in translation  .  br    br   that movie  set in tokyo  also encountered an actor and a woman  and they also had conversations about the moments they were living in their lives . it  s in the conversations where we sense the though provoking quality of    items or less  and  just as in coppola  s movie  the naturalness of every situation is never lost and the images with all music and no words don  t seem forced or included in the picture to  buy time  .  br    br   in this aspect  the collaboration of silberling and his director of photography phedon papamichael . the man who shot the beautiful sceneries in  sideways  and focused on every emotion in  patch adams   delights us here with visual passages of true natural beauty .  br    br   but the ultimate beauty of    items or less  can be found in its cast  by avy kaufman   in its two protagonists . they are the ones who transmit this feeling i mentioned at the beginning and i can  t specify we feel their connection and we can tell they  re having fun and that they may even be improvising stuff . academy award winner morgan freeman  also an executive producer of the film  simply stands there and confirms the status he has today in the movie industry  and one that  s well deserved a quiet man  filled with wisdom that can easily make you cry as he can make you laugh . and the beautiful paz vega  well  i said she was great in  spanglish   here she proves she  s the real deal  and hollywood  s not small for her .  
sure  this one isn  t really a blockbuster  nor does it target such a position .  dieter  is the first name of a quite popular german musician  who is either loved or hated for his kind of acting and thats exactly what this movie is about . it is based on the autobiography  dieter bohlen  wrote a few years ago but isn  t meant to be accurate on that . the movie is filled with some sexual offensive content  at least for american standard  which is either amusing  not for the other  actors  of course  or dumb  it depends on your individual kind of humor or on you being a  bohlen   fan or not . technically speaking there isn  t much to criticize . speaking of me i find this movie to be an ok  movie .  
bravo  morgan freeman is an actor  who researches a character he is selected to play  before he makes a commitment . freeman is a  good fit  for this film  like he was for  driving miss daisy    and he is not only believable  but he gets a chance to change his image of playing a character with reserved dignity and propriety . although there are no guarantees in life  for anyone  this gives an actor a great opportunity to play different or unique characters that stand out  in order to avoid getting stereotyping . and it must be said that stereotyping has hampered  or completely ruined  a significant number of acting careers .  br    br   this is a low  budget film that  amazingly  was made in a time span of only two weeks . it is a film that is well directed and written by brad silberling . the location manager chose carson  ca for the film  s setting  and the location helps set the tone and timing for the film . the editing is fair to good  but a little rough .  br    br   silberling was the  subcontractor   in getting freeman to do this film  while the actor was in  between film projects .  br    br   there is a good chemistry between freeman and paz vega  a spanish actress  and this opens an effective dialog between each of the cast members  who are diverse and come from different cultures . the film also encourages an understanding between people  who not only speak two languages  english and spanish   but come from two different worlds of ethnicity  race  gender  norms  mores  beliefs  folkways  principles  and values . the film strives for some honesty  and arrives at some truth  to maintain the film  s integrity .  br    br   part of the comedy is that freeman plays an unemployed actor that has been out of work for four years . in truth  freeman is so  in  demand as an actor that he is constantly working .  br    br   the film offers an adventure of bonding  caring  sharing  changing  and exchanging . and  the film  s outtakes give the viewer a preview of some of things an actor must go through in preparing for a role .  br    br   if necessary  tell your boss that you  re taking a  mental health day   and go see this film . if you  re able  take your significant other or your family with you . i rank the film a   out of   . it  s enjoyable  interesting  informative  poignant  and worthwhile .  
admittedly  i watched this piece with already very low expectations . dieter bohlen is a rather untalented composer parvenu whose lack of talent is only surpassed by the size of his ego .  br    br   this was the first cartoon movie that i watched that was    per cent humor free . it is rude  offensive  redneck and blatantly anti  women . as such  it is a creation befitting bohlen  but the average viewer will be rather put off by it . no wonder that it was never shown in a cinema theater it would  ve bombed big time   br    br   not even the expense of  .  megaeuros were able to save this utter piece of crap . save your time . . . and money   
one can only hope that there are many times when someone as powerful as morgan freeman can take the time to assist someone who needs help .  br    br   it all comes down to loving people . as will rogers said   i never met a man i didn  t like .  of course  if you meet paz vega  what  s not to like  that smile of hers can melt diamonds . she is just so fantastic that i can watch anything she is in . the same goes for freeman . he is just magic on the screen .  br    br   the two of them gave us a film that was funny from start to finish . from the mexican supermarket to lorraine  bobby to packy . it was tender  charming and just plain funny .  br    br   you have to check this out .  
dieter bohlen  germany  s notorious composer and producer of slightly trashy pop hits like  you  re my heart  you  re my soul  felt the need to tell his story  and gracefully he decided to hire a ghost writer . the result was a funny book about his life . well  more or less a fuzzy image of it . he didn  t deny that he is a selfish asshole but the whole story was twisted to fit his image of himself . no word that he has probably beaten up his former wife and she ended up in hospital . however it was written in a funny style and a huge success after his appearance as jury member of the german version of  american idol   especially his unforgettable comments .  br    br   this should be the end of the story  really . in the hype of the mentioned  idol  tv show called  deutschland sucht den superstar   abbreviated dsds  somebody must have come up with the terrible idea to make a movie out of the book . the result is  dieter  der film   br    br   i have rarely seen a movie which tries so desperately to be funny and fails so completely . none of the gags really hits the point . naddel  s voice and style of talking was getting on my nerves right away although verona  s voice should have done that more . obvious  childish  predictable and lengthy gags destroy any motivation to watch this movie to the end within a few minutes . the content of the movie is a sloppy film adaption written sloppily down by a ghost writer based on bohlen  s sloppy idealized memory . they could have used this freedom to do almost everything . it was supposed to be a satire  but they failed . the story is totally uninteresting and the fact that the background voice is bohlen himself guarantees that the whole film has nothing satirical at all .  br    br   it  s no wonder that it was considered to bad for a cinema release . the probability that this thing would have rotten in some archive was quite high until recently when the current season of dsds turned out to be a mediocre success . with the  friendly  help of germany  s biggest yellow press newspaper  bild  and the desperate situation for the tv station rtl to have something in the program while the still unbeatable show  wetten dass . . .   is running on channel  the movie finally arrived in television  unfortunately .  br    br   watching this movie is a waste of time  there are certainly better cartoons with much more fun and a story actually worth looking at .  br    br   therefore      
this is a splendidly done simplistic film that explores a theme  and gives each viewer something different that they take from it . the premise is simple an unnamed celebrity actor  morgan freeman  decides to research for an upcoming role by visiting a store and watching people . he takes particular interest in the cashier at the    items or less  lane  paz vega   who he finds an amiable  strong  and curious presence .  br    br   both actors play off each other brilliantly and bring solid dimension to characters in what is a character study . not a conventional character study they each represent entire worlds . the cashier  s life is mired in a harsh and frustrating  real world   while the actor is so enmeshed in his fantasy existence that he can  t do simple tasks like remember phone numbers . he readily admits he  s putting on a face when he talks to people  and the whole point of researching real people shows he  s not one of them .  br    br   but not only is the actor inspired by real people for his work we see the reverse process as well . several characters recognize  him   and make reference to how he has inspired them with his movie roles .  br    br   the cashier  s favorite song  al pasar la barca   about how a girl refuses to hide behind beauty and prefers instead to pay  ie do honest work  for boat passage  couldn  t have been chosen better . it parallels with the vega character  the only store employee with any brains or ambition  who is willing to work hard to succeed .  that  s quite an aspiration  for somebody who looks like paz vega .  it  s an odd little film  probably made on a shoestring . if you don  t mind slow pacing and a  talky  approach  this film will entertain . the characters are perfectly contrasted  and the effective acting makes them endearing . a nice watch .  
i  ve always been enthusiastic about period dramas  an art form in which the bbc has excelled in the past . this presentation of  byron  was unbelievable . unbelievably bad  the script was dreadful  the acting uninspired  and all the characters woefully insipid . apparently byron was  mad bad and dangerous to know   and set the ladies hearts all  a  flutter . not in this production . here he appeared as a tawdry jumped  up little squirt instead of a fiery hero of womenfolk and the greek struggle for independence . it is said that byron walked with a limp . this portrayal of the man was just limp all over .  br    br   i watched the whole two and a half hours waiting for something to spark into life . not a splutter  not even a glimmer . it was utter tedium  if not downright boredom  from start to finish .  br    br   having the opinion that no  one will ever better the bard of avon  i also believe that byron  s poetry is over  revered and to my mind should be flung on the back burner  and this dramatisation of his life should be accorded the same treatment .  br    br   i think the bbc lost its nous with this one  
   items or less is one of those  under the radar  pictures that is drenched in the simplicity that most independent movies have honest  ad hoc performances by its two leads   morgan freeman and paz vega who establish quite a complementary if unlikely duo . the great thing is  this entire movie looks improbable despite its  road movie  roots . how morgan freeman  s unnamed character psychically  not physically  arrives to where he meets this jaded check  out girl who has an unhealthy relationship with her current supervisor  who also happens to be getting it on with her philandering husband played by bobby cannavale in a small role  is somehow left for us to witness more than deduce and their witty banter   two people on opposite sides of the coin of society   is deceptively simple . so  in a nutshell  while there aren  t any bang  moments of earth  shattering revelations  this movie is a quirky little mood piece that probably otherwise got lost in the shuffle of indies which came out in     but deserves to be seen  if only for its honesty .  
ok ok  it might be hard to put the entirety of a man  s life in one film . traditionally therefore  biopics focus on one or two significant parts in the subject  s life . now  byron was a  my week beats your year  fellow  which makes selecting parts that are representative even harder . furthermore  just as byron  s poetry is inseparable from his life  the man  s life itself must be seen as a whole . lifting parts out is not only not showing the whole picture  it  s showing a different picture altogether .  br    br   now  in short my review comes down to this supposedly  byron was indeed the  my week beats your year  prototype  a guy who lived so intensely that he indeed did more in his   or so active years than most do in an entire lifetime . true  he had setbacks and was a victim of the time and social setting he lived in  but in the end  this dude is supposed to be the prototype whose life we  d all want to lead  no  well  i did not  at any moment  want to live the life depicted in this film . so it gets  . not for being so badly done  which  direction  wise  it more or less was   but more importantly for missing the point entirely in a flat plot .  br    br   some more detail . well  to over simplify things  a byron bio should have two distinct episodes  . post  first europe trip england and his rise to fame  marriage   . his life abroad . now  the important thing is that the second part should be at least as important as the first . not only was it a lot longer  but the most significant change in byron took place then . furthermore  it  s where he created his best works  don juan  the vision of judgement etc .  all the stuff that makes him really unique in english literature  .  br    br   instead  in this film  a  byron  s life never comes across as even remotely entertaining   b  it only gets worse after he leaves england . they did two good jobs first  they started at his return of his europe trip  though a bit more of the actual trip would have been welcome as a prologue   second  they chose an angle  and they chose his incestuous love for augusta  who is rather perfectly cast  . the problem with this last thing is that they never let it go . true  byron remained strongly attached to augusta for the rest of his life  but  especially as he was such a mood swing person  the fact that his letters reflect that does not mean that at other times he might not have completely enjoyed life .  br    br   anyway  the first part of the tv film should have ended with him leaving england . there  s no doubt about that . the thing is once abroad  a life of debauchery began  with the infamous geneva period   but in italy byron also discovered a new life  both for his poetry  inspired by italian comedy   already in venice  and for himself when he found the contessa teresa guiccioli and moved to ravenna  afterwards  at the request of shelly  with teresa  to pisa  . in other words  he was also liberated . his mind and life opened up  and not only in the decadent sense   while england  s closed further as it fell into the gravitational pull of the victorian age . true  freedom was augusta  less  but this bitter  sweet freedom tastes sour in this film . we see a lonely  bored snob getting older .  br    br   i mean  hell  byron never thought much about his poetry  except when he finally found his own voice in don juan  apart from poetic and romantic developments  his relationship with shelly  and the down  break  should have been more documented . also  it is in italy in ravenna that he gets involved with politics and revolutionary ideas . this is important  as it shows that the decadent romantic and ultimately escapist language and person of childe harold is changing into the more planted  in  life realistic and lighter passion of the language and person of don juan . life and work are one . true  still a bit naive  but it  s what got him to greece  and the whole thing came full circle in pisa  where shelley  s revolutionary spirit further ignited the spark . missolonghi wasn  t the bored snob suddenly looking for some action . it was the insights in italy  the gambas  stirring him into action . it can be a symbol for the man looking for some ancient  style battle excitement while the rest of europe becomes fixed in the clay of modern reason and conservatism . but it wasn  t just that  there was a true inspiration behind it . meanwhile  byron wrote massive amounts of don juan . true  his end is a bit sad  but it  s not like he  s worn out . that is the essence of byron  s life he may have had some strong emotional attachments    augusta and teresa   but every time he managed to reinvent himself truly . meaning that he wasn  t  less  at the end of his life  no  he  d made a physical and mental journey that  at the time  few people were prepared to make .  br    br   i wonder . why is it that so often the second period in byron  s life is overlooked  because it had less obvious conflicts  as the man was finally coming to his own  in focusing our attention on the frustrated england years fraught with scandals  we show ourselves to be not much better than the english aristocracy at the time  which byron so despised  and which  despite the fact that he had no choice  he willingly fled in      to find a world that was modern and liberal enough to let him find the voice that would make him the first romantic plainspoken language poet and evolve from a self  obsessed snob to a passionate man moving onward with a cause .  
this is the start of a new and interesting star trek series . it has a  down to earth   kind of feel with darker and less  plaggy  scenography .  br    br   the characters need some more time to develop but they have potential . one thing that is fairly disappointing  with all star trek series really  is that they portray such a gloomy picture of the equality between men and women in the future when they paint a very positive picture about everything else .  earth has stopped war  famine etc   br    br   the female characters here are two  subcommander t  pol who is vulcan and communications officer hoshi who is human . hoshi is quite wimpy and t  pol is made to be a  vulcan babe  .  br    br   some of the crew attitudes feel a bit too american  as opposed to the more international feel of the tng  crew  but creates interesting dynamics .  br    br   a very good pilot though for a very good series .  
sloppily directed  witless comedy that supposedly spoofs the  classic    s  alien invasion  films  but really is no better than them  except of course in the purely technical department  good makeup effects  . and any spoof that is worse than its target is doomed to fail   casino royale    our man flint  are worse than almost any james bond movie  . after two hours of hearing the screeching voices of the aliens  you  ll be begging for some peace and quiet .        
knowing when to end a movie is just as important as casting  directing and acting . and it  s nice to see when a director  script get it right . clocking in at just   minutes    items or less doesn  t stretch the story  trying to grasp at inane topics . it stays focused  being funny  sad  and well thought out .  br    br   morgan freeman  lucky number slevin  stars as  him   an aging actor grasping at any roles presented to him . we  re introduced to  him  as he travels to a supermarket in an out  of  the  way section of town by the kid  jonah hill  click  . realizing he has a star in his car  the kid pressures him to talk about his absence in cinema over the past few years . him isn  t very forthcoming because  not only has he been out of it for while  he  s also en route to a shooting location of an indie film he might act in   i haven  t decided if i  m going to accept the part .   . the kid is a relative of the director involved in this indie venture and soon drops him in the middle of nowheresville . stuck  him decides to check out the local market . he immediately runs into the beautiful scarlet  paz vega  who operates the   items or less register . not just strikingly pretty but intelligent  him begins using her as his prime research subject for his upcoming independent film role . he learns how she figures out numbers so quickly and why she knows the quirks of every member of this isolated community .  br    br   but him doesn  t just use scarlet  he helps her so he can see deeper into her life . they travel together to get her car back from a cheating husband  and he teaches her how to act to get a new job she  s pining for  and how to dress for success even when confronted with target as the epitome of local clothing . this is probably one of the funniest moments as we get a glimpse of him  too  showing his complete lack of understanding of the chain  store retail world   these shirts are only    bucks  how is this possible     the ending  as stated at the beginning of this review  is abrupt but apropos . there  s no way these two could ever remain friends even though they form a unique bond . they know when to say goodbye and what each garnered from the other . it  s a quiet but riveting moment as scarlet  s clunker car sits idling outside him  s l . a . mansion .  br    br   this is a great independent production and one that wastes little time getting going . and it won  t waste your time either .  
i think that can sum up this show about as well as anything . batman tas may be the worst thing to ever happen to cartoons based on comic books because everything that comes after will be compared to it and nothing has measured up yet . it  s just too damn good . was batman beyond good   yeah  but it was no tas .  is justice league good   it  s not too bad  but it  s no tas .   br    br   the batman is certainly no tas  either  but i won  t hold that against it . it would be unfair and besides  it has plenty of other problems with it .  br    br   the concept of a younger  less experienced batman fighting crime is a fine one  and at times the art is very nice . but all of the rest of the time  the art is worthless americanime  and this betrays a lot of the flaws of the show itself . it is paced  written  and designed like an americanime . if i wanted to watch jackie chan adventures  i  d watch jackie chan adventures . or i could just bang my head into a wall any time and get the same effect . the joker is a homicidal  mentally unstable clown in a suit who uses his wits  unpredictability  and clever gadgets to fight batman . when he is forced to fight hand to hand  he will either resort to something cheap or be totally outmatched . he is not meant to be a monkey with dreadlocks who knows kung  fu and can leap into twenty feet into the air  accompanied by speed lines . if they had wanted to do that with a villain  there were other less important characters they could have used or gasp they could have created a new one entirely . and it  s not that re  imaginings are a bad thing  don  t get me wrong . tas  there i go again  took mr . freeze from your standard icegun  wielding b villain and made him into a memorable and morally complex character . of course freeze wasn  t exactly a classic villain at the time and they performed an upgrade  but the point stands . what the batman does is it takes everything you liked about batman comics and lore and takes a large  smelly dump on them . guess what  they were eating corn .  br    br   it  s obvious this show can  t stand against tas but stand it on its own legs and it still doesn  t work for me . the plots aren  t good and they don  t develop any better . they  ve been written for the demographic of children under twelve . should children be able to enjoy a show  of course they should . this shouldn  t be an adult show with swearing  nudity  and gratuitous violence . but the mark of a truly good show is that it can be enjoyed on different levels by all ages . this show misses that mark .  br    br   is this show a tas  no  of course not . the problem is it  s not even a jlu .  
in all honesty  if someone told me the director of lemony snicket  s series of unfortunate events  city of angels  and caspers was going to do a neat little low budget indie film and that  d it be real good  i  d say that person must be joking . but that  s what director brad siberling did . and it was really good .  br    br      items or less  has a similar conceit to films like  before sunrise    lost in translation   or more recently  once .  it involves the chance meeting of two people who if serendipity didn  t put them there  they  d probably never cross paths  or if they did  they wouldn  t say word one to each other . like those films     items or less  focuses on the relationship that builds and how the characters come to understand each other and build on each other  s strengths and weaknesses .  br    br   the story involves morgan freeman  playing an unnamed actor who goes to research his role as a grocery store employee for an upcoming independent movie and because of things beyond his control  ends up spending the day with the lady in the   items or less lane played by paz vega . she has a rotten marriage and is hoping to land a new job as a secretary . initially  freeman  s character just needs a lift home . after spending time with her  however  he wants to get to know her and maybe even offer her some advice .  br    br   brad siberling builds the characters almost entirely through the exchanges between freeman and vega . the plot is merely a setup for these two characters to interact with each other for most of the film  s   minute duration . freeman has fun with his character  as he appears an outsider in lower class world that vega  s character  scarlett  inhabits . vega  in the meantime  grows beyond the stubborn checkout clerk upset with her life  s situation looking to move on .  br    br   there a couple things that really stood out in this film . first of all  siberling has probably taken note from independent cinema to make sure the relationship is sincere and doesn  t fall into any hollywood pitfalls . it  s a very mutual friendship that develops convincingly throughout the film . it works  even though the situation itself does seem a little inconceivable .  br    br   i am also impressed with the performances . while freeman  s presence gives this film credibility from the get  go  he shows a certain amount of charm and fun not usually seen from him . paz vega  meanwhile  is priming herself for a breakthrough in us film sometime in the future . i loved her in spanglish and she  s equally good here as the tough  no  nonsense scarlet . towards the end of the film  she successfully conveys the growth of her character . i  m looking forward to seeing her in more films .  br    br   overall    items of less functions best as a character piece  well scripted and directed by brad siberling . he hasn  t done much writing and his feature film work has consisted mostly of big hollywood films . yet there  s certainly an artist at work here and am anxious to see if he  ll take this road again .  
i commented on this when it first debuted and gave it a  thumbs in the middle  review  remarking that i  d give it the benefit of the doubt beyond just the first episode . i  ve seen a total of six episodes now up to this point in june     . and as a lifelong batman fanatic  i can say without hesitation this show is utter crap .  br    br   everything  s wrong with it . everything . getting past just the lousy animation and design  the stories are ridiculously convoluted and with no character development or apparent interest by the writers of this dreck to give any substance to any stories .  br    br   and for god  s sake . . . is it just me  or is the joker in every episode   is gotham that much of a revolving  door justice system  or  again  is it just a complete lack of interest in the writers to put any effort into other villains  see  no character development   above  .  br    br   and to make matters worse  every single joker tale is the same   part formula .  br    br     joker gasses people .  br    br     joker sets out to gas the whole city .  br    br     batman saves the day .  br    br   pfeh .  br    br   there was one episode i saw that wasn  t a joker story . the title escapes me  but the villain was that nefarious cluemaster . . . the  think thank thunk  episode with the quiz show . that was the single  worst batman story i  ve ever seen  heard or read . yes  worse than  i  ve got batman in my basement .   br    br   i can  t really say what i feel this show is because it  s probably against the tos  but it starts with  b  and rhymes with  fastardization  . thank goodness for the existence of the timm  dini  etc . era of bat  entertainment  back from the fox and kids wb days . stuff that good  and i should have known this  just couldn  t possibly have lasted forever  unfortunately .  
reviewed at the sept         nd screening at the paramount  theatre during the toronto international film festival . the film had world premiered the day before at the elgin theatre visa screening room .  br    br   the basic plot involves morgan freeman playing a one time popular actor who is on the downward slope of his career and who is taking on roles that may be beneath him  but which he still does with a positive attitude knowing that he needs to pay the rent etc . the downward slope is indicated by his being a long time between roles with previous flicks in bargain dvd bins and his being chauffeured by a not too sure of himself production assistant who drops freeman off at a local community market where he is going to do research for a role as supermarket manager . he soon discovers the real  life market is run by a iron  willed    items or less  checkout line clerk played by paz vega . when freeman  s ride never returns and vega needs help in prepping for an interview the circumstances cause them to join forces in a ride across town to get freeman back home and to get vega a job that  ll get her on a more upwardly mobile career path .  br    br   while the film was enjoyable  it felt like it was still a sketch or a work in progress . there were two extended musical sequences  one with vega  freeman teaching each other children  s songs in the car  one that literally plays like a paul simon music video  that felt like padding to bring up the time and even then the film was only about   minutes long .  br    br   it  s a good thing morgan freeman is as well liked as he is because without him this would have been too little . sure it was funny in parts and paz vega is a delight as well  but there was just not enough here to say it was a complete film .  br    br   they lost me when morgan freeman started talking about stopping the car to ask for directions and paz vega said she never does that . who ever heard of a guy wanting to ask for directions and the woman saying no   in the real world it  s the exact opposite .  br    br   make sure you stay for the outtakes in the credits . the bit with a target store saleslady teaching morgan freeman how to hustle sales is just hilarious  an early bit where freeman  s chauffeur insists it is freeman  s voice on a  books on tape  reading was also pretty funny .  br    br   the director  writer brad silberling and actress paz vega were there for a brief qa after the screening . silberling answered one question saying that the script was not written specifically for morgan freeman and that once freeman took the role he actually changed very little of what was there . quite a compliment for both silberling  s writing and also about how freeman can just slip into a role and make it feel entirely like he was born to play it .  
okay  i  ve always been a fan of batman . i loved the animated series  and even batman beyond . i even read a batman comic now and then . so as can be imagined   i was a little excited when i heard about this series  and then i was severely disappointed . this series is nothing . it doesn  t even begin to compare with the original series . it  s like one long toy commercial . no depth whatsoever . and what the heck was with the joker  who  in my most humble opinion  is the best batman villain of all time and they killed him . i wish i could say his design was the worst part . actually  i wish i could say there was anything about this series that was remotely creative or interesting . in short  because believe me i could say so much more  do not waste your time on this show  or your money .  
running only seventy  two minutes  this small  overlooked     dramedy is really just a two  character sketch piece but one that works very well within its limitations . taking place almost entirely in various  non  descript spots in southern los angeles  the story itself is inconsequential  but like sofia coppola  s  lost in translation   the film is far more about two strangers who meet unexpectedly  find a common bond and go back to their lives enlightened for the momentous encounter . it also helps considerably that morgan freeman and paz vega are playing the characters . finally freed of the wise sages and authority figures beyond reproach that have become his big  screen specialty  freeman seems comparatively liberated as a somewhat self  indulgent movie star . his character is driven to a low  rent grocery store in carson  where he will be able to research a role he is considering in an indie film .  br    br   out of work for a few years  he is embarrassed when he sees dvds of his films in the bargain bin  but his ego is such that he does not lack the temerity to watch and even mimic the enervated store staff . of particular fascination to him is scarlet  an embittered worker from spain and relegated to the express line where she is the unsung model of efficiency . she has an interview for a secretarial job at a construction company  but her deep  seeded insecurity seems to defeat her chances already . still looking like penelope cruz  s amazonian sister  the beautiful vega  one of the few redeemable aspects of james l . brooks  execrable  spanglish   brings a stinging edge and realistic vulnerability to scarlet . she and freeman interplay very well throughout the story  which includes stops not only at the grocery store but also at target  arby  s and a full  service carwash . nothing earth  shattering happens except to show how two people realize the resonating transience of chance encounters .  br    br   silberling keeps the proceedings simple  but the production also reflects expert craftsmanship in phedon papamichael  s vibrant cinematography  he lensed alexander payne  s  sideways   and the infectious score by brazilian composer antonio pinto   city of god   . there are fast cameos by bobby cannavale  as scarlet  s soon  to  be  ex  husband  and as themselves  danny devito and rhea perlman  as well as a funny bits with jonah hill   knocked up   as the clueless driver and jim parsons  the  knight  in  garden state   as a worshipful receptionist . the     dvd is overstuffed with extras  including a making  of documentary     days or less   aimed at film students and running a marathon    minutes six extended scenes a light  hearted but insightful three  way conversation between silberling  freeman and vega in the middle of target and a couple of snippets that specifically advertise the dvd .  
i have never commented on imdb before  but i feel i have to after watching the batman animation . its absolute rubbish  warner brothers had the perfect animation series in batman in the early   s so what the hell are they doing trying to mess with the winning formula  i feel like writing a complaint letter to wb . the original animation was dark and brooding  exactly the way batman was intended to be . wb had to mess this up with some tripe batman of the future . now they produce this drivel . the joker doesn  t remotely resemble the joker from dc comics . dc should sue . i urge everyone who agrees with me to email or write to wb and use people power to get back the original formula  
a great  funny  sweet movie with morgan freeman  who plays himself  and who meets a spanish girl named scarlet  paz vega  at a small store whilst researching a potential independent film . i was a bit dubious about the film for the first ten minutes but as soon as he was in the store i really started to enjoy the film . it shows how a positive attitude can change anything . it does not contain any complex plots and it is easy to follow but will lift the saddest of moods and make you smile all the way through without the need for petty clich romance . it includes several scenes all the way through which make you clutch your sides with laughter . a very rare masterpiece   
i was raised watching the original batman animated series  and am an avid batman graphic novel collector . with a comic book hero as iconic as batman  there are certain traits that cannot be changed . creative liberties are all well and good  but when it completely changes the character  then it is too far . i purchased one of the seasons of  the batman  in the hopes that an extra bonus feature could shed some light on the creators  reasoning for making this show such an atrocity . in an interview on the making of  the batman   one of the artists or writers  i  m unsure which  said that  we felt we shouldn  t mess with batman  but we could mess with the villains .  so  they proceeded to make the joker into an immature little kid begging for attention  the penguin into some anime knockoff  mr . freeze into a super  powered jewel thief  poison ivy into a teenage hippie  and countless other shameful acts which are making bob kane roll over in his grave .  br    br   to sum it all up i wish i had more hands so i could give this show four thumbs down . it squeezes by my rating with a  out of   simply because it uses the batman name . warner bros . . . rethink this  please   
i don  t know why people always want deeper meaning in movies or else consider them worthless .  br    br   what about just being entertained  something at which morgan freeman excels . he gets a chance to show off a bit . paz vega  his co  star  gets a career boost and brad silberling gets a name to draw people into watching his movie .  br    br   i thought it was a good movie . some humor  some pathos  some bittersweetness but nothing over the top . i got an especial kick out of jim parsons as the receptionist at a construction company . when he looks at freeman adoringly and says   you make me want to be a woman .  he  s just hilarious . the fight scene between ms . vega her ex  husband and his girlfriend is wonderful too .  br    br   in short  it  s a cute  charming film that will make you smile . you could do much  much worse .  
in light of the recent and quite good batman the brave and the bold  now is the time to bear a fatal blow to that mistake in the life of batman . being a huge fan since the first revival by tim burton   years ago  i have been able to accept different tonalities in the character  dark or campy . this one is just not credible  too many effects  poor intrigues and so few questions . what is great about batman is the diversity of his skills and aspects of his personality  detective  crime  fighter  playboy  philanthropist etc . the batman shows him only in his karate days . and by the way  how come the penguin is capable of such virtuosity when jumping in the air regardless of his portly corpulence  and look at the joker  a mixture of blanka in street fighter  and a stereotypical reggae man  what batman fan could accept such a treason  not me anyway . batman is much better without  the  article in front of his name .  
this movie is really genuine and random . it  s really hard to find movies like it in bunches of movies now in hollywood . i really enjoy watching this movie  i bought its dvd tuesday this week and i  ve watched it for  times . i love the spanglish accent of paz  it s just really cute as she is . and her acting and morgan  s are so funny and natural .  br    br   my movie taste might be really different from others but i have to say i really love this movie  the simple is the best   br    br   i  ve learned something more about life from this movie  well  or at least usa  s life  . . . life is really random . . . sometimes  u meet someone  they pass by your life and be your friends coincidently  and u don  t spend so much time with them  maybe just a while but u enjoy that   while   with them  and then u and them will never meet each other again  but the time u are together is really unforgettable . just keep those moments in your mind as grateful and nice memories . . .  br    br   this movie might be cheap in the making price but its meanings are totally not cheap . i rarely can learn anything from movies  but this is an exception .  
when this cartoon first aired i was under the impression that it would be at least half way descent  boy was i wrong . i must admit watching this cartoon is almost as painful as watching batman and robin with george clooney all those years ago . i watched a few episodes and two of them had batman literally get his ass kicked left and right by the penguin who fought like jet li and beat the crap out of batman and i watched another episode where batman got his butt kicked again by the joker  who apparently was using jackie chan moves while flipping in the air like a ninja . since when were the joker or the penguin ever a match for batman  and worse yet when were joker and penguin kung fu counterparts of jackie chan and jet li . it  s truly embarrassing  depressing and sad the way the image of batman is portrayed in this show . the animation is awful and the dialog is terrible . being a batman fan since my boyhood i can honestly and strongly advise you to stay away and avoid this show at all cost  because it doesn  t project the true image of batman . this cartoon is more like a wannabe kung fu flick and if you really wanna see a classic batman cartoon i strongly recommend batman the animated series  but this cartoon is nothing more than a piece of s    t  get batman the animates series and don  t waste your time with this cartoon .  
   items or less was made in two weeks on a shoestring budget by writer  director brad silberling  just a little film shot in carson  ca that feels like the entire story was improvised . . . in the best sense of the word . silberling had the good fortune to pair veteran actor morgan freeman  in between his big projects  with spanish actress paz vega  and the result is a dialogue between two people from different vantages who manage to enhance the life of the other .  br    br   morgan freeman plays himself  yet part of the comedy is that he is depicted as an actor who has been out of work for four years  scouting a location for a little  filler film  to get back into the flow of things . his  role  is to be that of a market manager and he is dropped off at seedy market in carson where he encounters  among others  one scarlet  the girl at the argumentative   items or less checkout line . not only is scarlet tired of her static job  she is also generally angry about her philandering husband  bobby cannavale   currently sleeping with scarlet  s lazy co  worker  anne dudek   and her lack of ability to get a decent job elsewhere . the two pair after a few shared problems and off they go on a  road trip  that results in each of the characters growing from the presence and life story of the other .  br    br   it is a simple story  simply told  but because of the tender bonding between freeman and paz it works very well . this is one of those little films about human relationships where being vulnerable to change and exchange is the message . it is well worth viewing  and this is a dvd that has featurettes that are touching  informative  and comic  a pleasure to view . grady harp  
i cant believe some people actually like this . yet still call themselves batman fans . even going as far as to say it  s better than btas . which it  s not . it should be plagiarism for them to use batman  s name for this piece of crap . it  s not batman .  br    br   the whole premise of the show is   if you cant defeat someone get a bigger weapon to help you   batman isn  t all about weapons . he uses his batarang and grappling hook and batmobile  thats it . he doesn  t come up with some new ingenious tech every time he cant beat someone . i don  t know where the hell they got the idea for a batbot . or whatever . they have ruined all the villains . mr . freeze has gone from a sympathetic scientist to a petty criminal who fell in some cryofreezing thing . catwoman is now a   or   year old woman with a dumb costume . penguin is now a ninja with a   ft . tall top hat . the ventriloquist is now called scarface making the dummy the whole centerpiece for the character . they even got a dumb idea to make him a giant  wtf  and the two worst character changes are that of the joker and riddler . they have changed riddler to a gothic  retro teenage freak . and the joker to an acrobat with dreads . he looks like a bob marley wannabe . they have completely and utterly ruined batman even moreso than br did  i wish i could meet the creators and or writers and animators of this show so i could whack them in the head with a metal baseball bat .  
full disclosure i  m a cynic . i like my endings sad and my hankies dry . i didn  t cry when bambi  s mother was shot . will smith  s new film happiness looks like a desperate plea for an oscar . basically i was born without an artistic soul .  br    br   so why on earth did i like    items or less   maybe it was the double espresso i downed before the show . or  more likely  maybe it was that even the most hardboiled of movie fans could use an occasional shot of sweetness .  br    br   and sweet it is . from the moment  him  meets  scarlet   an event far from a nora ephron  meet cute   the view is taken on an intimate journey with two strangers learning to care about where their lives are headed .  aided beautifully by phedon papamichael  s cinema verity style camera work .   br    br   the main argument about the film is that it  s too far fetched . is the film far fetched  i don  t know . you tell me . i  ve yet to meet adrian brody at the market .  however  not for lack of trying  . do i enjoy considering the adventures that might occur should this momentous event take place  darn straight i do . . . that  s where most reviews of    items or less  fall short . . . they fail to take into account that even we cynics have fantasies . and heck  sometimes  it  s worth the price of admission to vicariously live them    minutes at a time .  
not only did they get the characters all wrong  not only do the voices suck  not only do the writers seriously need to get girlfriends  not only are the drawings really crude  but it seems like it was mainly created for ages    . the only episode i  ve ever seen of this show that kept me watching  was  a mattter of family   because i liked the robin character . and sometimes i think it  s just a general copy of batman the animated series . example in btas  bruce is friends with harvey dent  yeah  over a two episode story  he transforms into the unlikely villain  twoface . in the  show  bruce is friends with that ethan guy  and over a two episode story  he transforms into the unlikely villain clayface . that was just a small example  that may not even be true   but in short  this is the worst attempt on a batman series . and that  s saying something .  
i  m a big fan of morgan freeman .  the shawshank redemption  ranks at the top of my all  time favorite movies . but i have to admit that i have often wondered about his choice of roles . so many of his titles were big budget clichs with no heart .    items or less  for me marks the return of freeman to a role that truly showcases his considerable acting talents .  br    br   freeman plays an unnamed  formerly big time hollywood actor who hasn  t worked in several years . he has been offered a part in an unspecified indi picture for which he is doing some research at a grocery store in a poor neighborhood in la . after being stranded there by his flaky driver  freeman is offered a ride home by checkout girl scarlet  paz vega   whom he has semi  befriended . before she can take him home  however  scarlet has a big job interview she needs to get to  and freeman agrees to tag along in exchange for the ride .  br    br   the movie follows scarlet and freeman to several locations  but the movie is really just a character piece about the interactions between the two . freeman is the quintessential disconnected hollywood type who hasn  t heard of target  and doesn  t know his own telephone number or even what day of the week it is . he spouts wisdom from the dalai lama filtered thru his  the whole world is but a stage  mentality  and repeatedly calls scarlet  s job interview an  audition  . and yet he has a way with people  a way of affecting them that extends beyond his fame . he is a fan of humanity . he studies them  asks incessant questions about them  and delights in their quirks where others would simply be annoyed . in scarlet  he sees the stubborn  proud loner that he was he sees the man he used to be .  br    br   scarlet  for her part  displays a fierce pride and sharp tongue that serve to hide her own insecurities about herself . vega plays the role with a connection to freeman that skates the line between an almost daughterly love and physical attraction  although she plays it beautifully and it  s not at all as creepy as it sounds . but even as she feels her connection to freeman grow  scarlet has a keen eye for the reality of their different worlds and cuts thru freeman  s hollywood bullhit with a sharp pragmatism that refuses to accept anything but the truth .  br    br   the movie is smart  funny  and well written  with dialogue that is simple but effective . i read one imdb review that said the lines were  stilted   which i think is a misinterpretation of realistic human speech . there are no big soliloquies here  no deep soul searching moments . and so the trick is  i think  to show how people in ordinary  everyday life can forge connections with one another . and i think freeman and vega pull it off beautifully  painting a picture of a bond between two people that glitters like sun on the ocean  ethereal and elusive . long after it  s gone it lives on in your memories  tantalizing you with what might have been . ok  that was a bit flowery  but i really did like the performances and the movie . i would definitely recommend it .  
remember the good ol  animated batman show from the    s  the one that people praised  the one that people of all ages could all appreciate  the one that showed batman as a real detective instead of the hulk in a bat suit  the one that had villains you could relate to  the one that had villains with real motives   br    br   well clearly  warner bros . doesn  t . hence this dreck .  br    br   honestly  do these people know anything about batman  have they even looked at a batman comic before  do they know batman  s meant to be a  detective   putting together  clues does not make you a detective  that makes you a slightly intelligent monkey   br    br   this is the basic layout for an episode  br    br   penguin steals something .  opening credits  . batman finds dead giveaway of where he is . batman goes there and get  s into trouble . commercial . batman finds obvious  stupid way out of it . penguin escapes . penguin does something obvious again . batman follows . they do kung  fu  by the way everyone  and i mean everyone know  s kung  fu for some reason  . batman punch  s penguin . he get  s knocked out . goes to arkham .  note it  s usually a different villain every episode   br    br   well as you may have noticed from that  batman  s not a great detective .  joker left this piece of cotton candy on the ground  maybe he  s at the old amusement park   yeah maybe  he was there the last  times .  br    br   and i  ve already mentioned this but  everyone knows kung  fu  even penguin  what where they thinking   probably because it  s from the people who made that jackie chan animated series   br    br   what  s really upsetting is that the show is just action . no smarts . none . if batman needs think  he  ll use technology  then do some kung  fu .  br    br   but hey  let  s not forget the villains . afterall  what would batman be without his rogues gallery   br    br   well first off  i gotta say  kudos for originality . i don  t think other batman media would have envisioned joker and a dread  locked monkey man  riddler like an emo  and poison ivy as a minor  which is kind of confusing when you think about  isn  t her sexuality meant to be her main strength    br    br   what  s even more crap however is that  every character is now a   dimensional  stereotypical crook .  br    br   e . g .  br    br   killer croc wants to flood gotham for no reason .  br    br   man  bat is a power hungry mad scientist who is obsessed with bats for some unexplained reason .  br    br   penguin just wants to steal everything . for no reason .  br    br   noticing a pattern here   br    br   but the most insulting has got to be mr freeze .  br    br   do you remember the emmy award winning  heart of ice  episode from batman the animated series  the one that gave mr freeze motives for his crimes  the episode that was so good that it was used in the comics over his original back story  mad scientist   the one that made him a victim  with a goal  hell  even batman  robin acknowledged that  using that as mr freezes origin in that p . o . s . movie .  br    br   well this series says  fck that  and makes mr freeze a jewelry robber before his accident  with only wealth in his mind  then gets frozen and gives him the power to make things cold . he then continues to steal jewels for no reason  while saying sh  t lines like  have an ice day  .  br    br   maybe they did watch batman robin after all .  br    br   but hey  look on the bright side . this series makes you feel nothing for the villains so that means that you  re a good person . good for you .  
  br    br   there is star trek canon   lots of it . from canon we know the history of the future . advances in technology  events  places  first contacts with new beings  names  dates  etc .  br    br   enterprise pretty much disregards much of st canon . an unfortunate fact for long time serious fans . as one  i assumed that the producers would at least take a look at the first few episodes of tos and retro back from there   but no .  br    br   the phase pistols  like much of the technology  look much more modern than found in tos . an old style starfleet laser gun  a slow gold speckle transporter effect   that  s what i expected to see . also  i did not expect to hear pure beep  based sound effects similar to tng but far apart from tos sound effects .  br    br   in the earliest view of tos  the original pilot the cage   we see a starfleet with a more formal military aspect   a bit of old earth navy . with enterprise  we see a shocking disregard for rank . there is more military code in the cartoon star blazers than in enterprise .  br    br   it is fine that captain archer is unsure about the needs of the universe  quite unlike kirk who never lacked confidence in his application of human justice   but inside enterprise everyone seems like an equal . unprofessional  unsure  more distant from the feel of formal military service than found in any st series   and that says a lot   br    br   the casual country music opening theme song heralds the journeys of a family rather than the adventures of an important large military vessel .  br    br   enterprise looks to show us a mostly fun  warm  fuzzy exploration of human relationships rather than take us on a historic  bold  gritty  high  rick exploration of space .  br    br   i would have selected adrian paul to play the captain and an older human to be the doctor . still  i liked the actors for the most part . linda park  an outstanding ballroom dancer from boston college  is sure to develop nicely . the characters making up the crew seem to be thoughtfully created .  br    br   enterprise begins its run stronger than did the past three star trek series . let  s hope for a good future   
this was an incredibly stupid movie . it was possibly the worst movie i  ve ever had the displeasure of sitting through . i cannot fathom how it ranks a rating of  or  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
this movie is a little ray of sunshine in a dark season . it celebrates a quality best described as plain old friendliness . morgan freeman plays a character very like freeman himself   a successful actor pushing   . he has traveled to a small  rather grimy grocery store intending to research a part he might play  as a manager of such a place . he soon beguiles the staff and the customers  especially the lovely  if cranky  young woman  paz vega  who presides over the    items or less  checkout lane .  br    br     items or less doesn  t have a big statement to make and doesn  t pretend that it does . it follows freeman and vega as they become friendly  and as the older man offers his counsel  in exchange for a ride home   the movie  company gofer who is supposed to pick him up never shows and freeman has forgotten his own phone number so he can  t call for help . i had a little case of the blues on a gray sunday afternoon in new york city and this flick cured what ailed me .  
i am a great fan of the batman comics and i became disappointed when i could no longer find batman the animated series on tv anymore . i was excited to learn that there was going to be a new batman cartoon on tv . i watched the first episode the day it premiered and i was very disappointed .  br    br   first of all  the animation is very poor . it looks like a cheap  crappy japanese anime . then again  just about every modern  day cartoon is like that .  br    br   the character designs are even worse . batman looks more like birdman  catwoman looks more like chihuahuawoman  bane looks more like a red version of the hulk  the penguin is a kung  fu master  mr . freeze is some undead thing with an iceberg on his head  and the riddler is a gothic marilyn manson look  alike  which is funny because i don  t expect people who are obsessed with riddles and puzzles to be gothic  .  br    br   the worst character design is that of the joker . they turned him into a monkey  demented bob marley  kung  fu fighter  the joker is supposed to be batman  s deadliest enemy  but in this show he hardly poses a threat because his crimes are so stupid and pointless . in one episode his plan was to put his joker venom in dog food  oh  how evil  batman is a fascinating and complex character because he is haunted by the deaths of his parents  which is why he fights crime . this version of batman doesn  t seem haunted by his parents  deaths and is not interesting at all . he  s also not a detective  just a fighter . if there  s an enemy he can  t defeat  he won  t study the enemy to find out their weak points like a detective would  he  ll just build a giant fighting robot to defeat them . a lot of times this show doesn  t even feel like a batman show  just another brainless anime that  s nothing but pointless fighting .  br    br   what i hate the most about this show is what they did to the villains . they  ve taken away everything that makes them likable and relatable and turned them into stereotypical evil bad guys . man  bat is the biggest example . in the comics  he  s a tragic scientist who studies bats to find a cure for his deafness . when experimenting on himself  he accidentally transforms himself into a giant bat creature . in this show  he  s a mad scientist who wants to purposely transform himself into a giant bat creature for no apparent reason . just about all the villains are like that none of them  with the exception of about one or two  have an actual motive for their crimes .  br    br   the worst characterization is that of mr . freeze . in the comics  freeze was a just a mad scientist until the genius writer paul dini wrote the btas episode  heart of ice   which gave freeze a new origin that made him a more tragic  three  dimensional  and likable villain . the episode was so popular that fans accepted it as his actual origin and it was even used in the comics as his origin . even that crappy movie batman  robin used it as his origin . in this show  he  s a petty jewel thief before becoming mr . freeze . after becoming mr . freeze  guess what  he  s still a petty jewel thief  great origin . no wonder they used it over the one dini created .  br    br   as a batman fan  i don  t dislike this show just because it isn  t like the comics because i also liked btas  the batman cartoons that came after it  tim burton  s batman films  and obviously  the superb christopher nolan batman films . none of them were     loyal to the comics  but they were still very good . the problem with this show is not that it  s not exactly like the comics or btas  it  s that it lacks any sort of depth that makes other batman media so popular .  br    br   i  ve given this show so many chances  but the more i watch  the more i find that disappoints me . i miss the good old days back when batman cartoons were something everyone could enjoy .  
morgan freeman and paz vega are the mismatched pair who get in the car and go about doing errands according to the need of one or the other . morgan freeman is superbly human  relating with one and all  while paz vega is the edgy cashier behind the    items or less  check out line  intimidating customers and bored out of her mind . together they explore  discover  and learn from each other . to do that of course they must be vulnerable  interested in change  and have a sense of humour  all of which they both have . i wish this film was realistic  i wish this type of story happened more often  i wish we didn  t have to go to the movies to realize that we can indeed connect with each other even if we come from vastly different backgrounds . the film  s message is based in the open heart  and makes us wonder about the possibility of another world where we meet each other from there  a world where peace could be a possibility .  
and thats about all that is . this thing is slow . the actors have ability  they just don  t seem motivated to put forth the effort . the plot isn  t that great and is hampered further by the aforementioned slowness of it all . the accents  when there are any  are british . uh  lots of these folks are supposed to be danes . ok  ok  accents aren  t that important . but language is . i don  t think they used words like  yeah  and  ok  in beowulf  s day . and that supposedly way cool weapon his king gave him  did he ever reload that thing  did he ever sight it in  or was beowulf just that bad an aim  well  his aim did at least match the computer graphics used in generating the monsters . those were rather off too . bad special effects . bright spot  just one that i can think of . marina sirtis has held up well over the years .  
  the brak show  is good . probably not in the same level than  aqua teen hunger  or  space ghost coast to coast   but definitely it have many brilliant moments . basically it follows the life of zorak and brak that have normal lives and go to the school  living in a neighborhood on the style of the    sitcoms . the humor and the animation of this show it  s very much as  aqua teen hunger   and in one episode you could see meatwad  with bizarre situations and strange characters . but it is good  it have funny parts . some of the songs are great  others not very much but i like this show . the funniest character is the father of brak .  that is a human  nobody knows why   
   .     pure crap . and the other .     was a brief moment where i thought the blond chick was going to disrobe . nope .  br    br   the dialogue was legendarily bad . the action sucked  and there was no sex  the afore mentioned blond chick is modestly dressed  alas  the whole movie  . the cgi had the dubious honor of being the worst i  ve ever seen on film  and the anachronisms were numerous and glaring . acting was mediocre even from ben cross and marina sirtis  the only  names  in this movie . and marina sirtis looked really  really bad .  br    br   i  ve seen high school plays more capably produced . this is the kind of movie that mst  k thrived on . heads should roll at sci  fi for allowing this steaming pile on the air .  
leave it to braik to put on a good show . finally he and zorak are living their own lives outside of spac ghost coast to coast . i have to say that i love both of these shows a whole lot . they are completely what started adult swim . brak made it big with an album that came out in the year     . it may not have been platinum  but his show was really popular to tons of people out there that love adult swims shows . i have to say that out of all the adult swim shows with no plot  this has to be the one with the most none plot ever made . that is why i like it so much  it is just such a classic in the adult swim history . i believe this is just such a great show  if you don  t like it . hey there were tons who hated it and tons who loved it .  
turned out to be another failed attempt by the laughable sci  fi channel . i am not sure who wrote the script  and interpreted the poem  but i am sure it was by some   year old teen who thought it would be awesome to a have a scoped crossbow in the movie . aaaaaaah  when i saw that part  i lost all hope . then . . . they set off for heorot in a what looks to be the ship that christopher columbus sailed in  when they reach heorot   which is supposed to be a norse mead hall  the sci  fi group of idiots decided to make heorot look like a big stone castle . when i saw that part . . i wanted to scream . i really wanted this movie to be good  but sci  fi has yet to produce a good movie  so i don  t know why i got my hopes up . oh . . and grendel and his mother  are stupid also .  this comment is off topic about  grendel   if anyone from the sci  fi channel is reading this . . here is some good advice . not every movie you make has to be about a big monster that can rip people in half  thats not what science fiction is about  and also  stop casting low  grade actors like stephen baldwin to be in your films  its not helping the movie  but making it worse     
i really really love this show  i have always liked the      s shows of space ghost  this show was hilarious and i can  t believe why cartoon network  s adult swim would take such a funny show like this off the air . i hope they put this show on dvd or something . the show is about brak  from the space ghost cartoons  sgcc and cartoon planet  who lives his every day life with his mom and dad and his best friend who likes to drop in a lot  zorak  my favorite episodes were the one where zorak gets this really good singing voice and then his voice doesn  t give him any money that zorak made from singing at all . another episode i like is the one where brak and zorak didn  t finish their homework and then they go back from sunday to friday and they just goof off and then they go back to the day homework was invented and then when they go back to the present homework didn  t exist  another episode i like is the one where brak  s dad and their next door neighbor  thundercleese the robot keep getting into this agrument and then they get eaten by a giant worm . another episode i liked was the one where zorak makes a bully stand and then some new guy took over his stand . i also like a lot of the other episodes  one thing that never fails to make me laugh is when zorak is getting beaten up  blasted and zapped   
this movie is a farce  names are grossly mispronounced and the plot is twisted and gnarled into something unrecognizable by any literature enthusiast . and they have the gall to give beowulf a ridiculous cannon  crossbow weapon . beowulf doesn  t need a weapon like that  in the poem  he rips off grendel  s arm with his bare hands  and i can  t believe that the scriptwriters did such a thing . the way grendel is portrayed is impressive however . that and the cast are the only positive points of the feature . my english teacher would go insane if she saw this abomination . unless you are a die  hard fan of the epic poem  beowulf   avoid this film at all costs . and even then  i wouldn  t recommend it .  
of all the football films i have watched  this is one of the  best . the other being fever pitch . but hero is about the greatest world cup ever and consequently arguably also the greatest player ever to play in a world cup  diego maradona . this story is centered around him principally but also revolves around the other giants of the game at the time .  br    br   the musical score is evocative and the images are powerful . the narration by michael caine is suitably unbiased and also calmly dramatic . this story is not about the individual games of the world cup rather it is more about the emotions of the players and the beauty of the event itself .  br    br   exciting games like france v brazil  one of the greatest games of all time  were covered in the same vein . the final argentin v w germany was also in the same vein . highly recommended . a classic of world football . to be watched over and over again  esp if you  re a maradona fan .  
for such a great classic tale  the setting  location   grendel was disappointing . as a writer  i blame the script which completely lacked dramatic tension . the rubric of the club story is useful and would have provided a new take on the literary classic . for some weird reason that rubric was dropped early on . to know this was shot in   days says to me   rushed  and it unfortunately shows . now we  ll have to wait for the hollywood version on the big screen . i word on fx  i can tolerate really crappy cgi but the script has to rock and this one was just too slow  spartan and lacking in drama . i  d blame it on the actors but . . . since i know writing more than acting  i  ll pick on my colleague .  
diego armando maradona had been sixteen years of age in     when argentina won the world cup at home . he was already the biggest star  and the greatest player in a country obsessed with football . everybody had begged cesar luis menotti to play the boy genius  but the manager thought that he was not yet ready .  br    br   history records that argentina won the     world cup fairly convincingly  they hadn  t really needed maradona . the same was not true in     . spain was a catalogue of disaster for argentina . menotti  still chain smoking  played diego this time  but the occasion was too much for such a temperamental boy . maradona had signed for barcelona on june      for around   million  nine days later he played his first game at the camp nou and belgium beat argentina one  nil . it was not an auspicious debut  and even though he scored twice against hungary in the next match  maradona will remember the mundial as the site of his nadir  a crude  petulant foul on brazil  s batista in the second round that abruptly ended his tournament and argentina  s reign as world champions .  br    br   but now that was all behind him . maradona had muddled his way through some crazy times at barca  and left in     to join napoli . it was as if he was finally home . the neapolitan tifosi had done everything to entice maradona to poor  underachieving napoli . gifts from old women and pocket money from young boys nestled uncomfortably with the camorra  s millions as part of the transfer fee  and the city was determined to make him feel at home . so  for the time being at least  maradona was el rey  he brought his argentine side to mexico as one of the favourites  and with a new manager  carlos bilardo replacing menotti .  br    br   maradona is the hero of this story  a one  man world cup winning machine . in      hundreds of young men had died in a pointless battle for the falkland isles now the british press yearned for a rematch  with the same result  in mexico city . maradona was still regarded with distinction in england  remembered more for a superb performance in britain during a     tour than for spain . but he was still an argie the enemy .  br    br   england actually started well  and lineker could have scored after only twelve minutes . a key event happened on  minutes . fenwick  the big and limited english defender  was booked  he was now terrified of making any challenges around the penalty area .  br    br   after a tense first   minutes  the second half started with a bang . maradona danced forward after   minutes  but could find no way through . similarly valdano  s attempt hit only white shirts . then the moment of infamy that serves as diego  s epitaph . hodge bizarrely hooked the ball back into his own penalty area  shilton hurriedly jumped to claim  but there was maradona  somehow rising above the english goalkeeper to thrust the ball into the net . how had he done it  simple handball .  br    br   the most famous foul in football history passed in near slow motion . every spectator waited for mr al  sharif of syria to blow for the foul  he didn  t  . shilton looked and appealed to the linesman  he ran back to the centre circle . unless he assassinates the pope  or becomes the first man to step foot on mars  when the great man dies this moment will be shown first  in long  lingering  slow motion  followed by the look of glee on his face . the next image will be his next gift to the world  the world cup  s finest goal .  br    br   burruchaga stroked the ball to maradona who was ambling around on the right hand side of his own half . he span  and accelerated away from beardsley and reid . this was the real diego  he burst through butcher and attacked fenwick . fenwick now had the opportunity to stop the attack . normally  he would have aimed his boot somewhere near maradona  s thigh  sure he would have picked up a red card  but who cares  then fenwick had a brainwave  he hesitated  and decided to run at maradona waving his arms  perhaps he was trying to put him off  diego shot into the box as fenwick fell over . butcher had been running alongside the genius as if he was offering encouragement . shilton charged out in panic  and maradona twisted around him and prepared to score . now butcher remembered his role and tried to cripple the argentinean  instead he gave extra impetus to the shot  which smashed into the goal . england were coming home .  br    br   during this magical mexican summer  the world had found a successor for pele . in fact the greatest ever footballer had been surpassed  pele had been superb in     and      but had had great players all around him . maradona did not .     was his world cup .  
i understand this movie was made on a very low budget but that is no excuse for the monstrosity that is grendel . deathstalker  the throne of fire  barbarian queen  conquest  the invincible barbarian were all done on shoestring budgets and poor special effects yet they still managed to create cult classics by adding some scantily clad women warriors and a good sense of humor . the primitive costumes  dark castles and beautiful bulgarian landscape gave grendel the potential to be a very good low budget sword and sorcery film  but the makers completely ruined this opportunity by using extremely poor cgi effects and colorless characters . compare this film to beowulf       . it may not be citizen kane but it is a good example of how an entertaining low budget sci  fi  adventure movie can be made by using credible special effects and appealing characters .  
this movie is a must for all people that enjoy soccer as an art . what strikes first about this movie about a soccer world cup is the way it is filmed . besides following the play like a tv broadcast  there is generous footage dedicated to follow individual players in the games . this brings forward the emotions and situations these men go through as they attempt to reach glory . today  s tv broadcasting style  so different than that of      is still inferior in quality compared to this movie .  br    br   the players are not the only stars . the audience  the referees  the journalists covering the matches and the environment itself all play a central role in the development of what today is history . in this movie you can see how all these factors play together in a very explicit way . in that regard  today  s tv broadcasting style has not yet reached this level of quality  although it is now much closer than before .  br    br   there are several highlighted players maradona  argentina   elkjaer and laudrup  denmark   francescoli  uruguay   platini  france   lineker  england   rummenigge  germany   butragueo  spain   socrates  brazil   and sanchez  mexico  .  br    br   this movie is not a collection of the best soccer moves of mexico      although most of them are well covered . across all the movie  there is a stress for presenting several aspects of the game and the competition itself based on the progress of these players and teams  even at the cost of skipping relevant plays of the games themselves . this is what makes this movie so interesting and unique .  br    br   because of what happened because of referees during mexico      much of the comments about this movie and world cup are extremely maradona  biased . much of these comments do not take into account that there is a referee and two linesmen  that they are as human as the players  and that all of the abovementioned make mistakes one way or the other . soccer rules do not allow referees to use tv based replays to make decisions  so for the most part referees have to decide on what they perceive . as a consequence  referees play an active part in the development of a game . their influence can be seen in several parts of this movie .  br    br   the sequel movie for the     world cup  compared to this one  is just a source of bitter disappointment . much of it comes from the fact that it became too involved in the game  whereas this movie tells things from a more distant  unbiased point of view .  
scifi has been having some extremely bad luck making quality movies lately  such as minotaur or dog soldiers  . grendel is supposed to be based of the great epic beowulf  however  it deviates so much  and offers so little in comparison  that the advertisements on television might as well have titled it  some shitty christopher lambert movie  . i wasn  t expecting it to be as accurate as a full blown hollywood production  but i did however expect the  artistic integrity  to not interfere with the actual story  even if a little bit was changed to make a two hour storyboard flow nicely in the allotted time slots  .  br    br   did the director and producers have any idea about what they were doing  did any research go into this   . obviously not  as one could tell from the massive horned helmets that beowulf and his crew  save for mullet boy  are wearing . one major problem i have though was with the very look of grendelif beowulf is supposed to wrestle him  shouldn  t he not have been sixteen feet tall and weigh  tons  grendel  s death segment was also lacking in every way  in my opinion the one in the epic was actually better than the made up junk on the script for example grendel is supposed to have his arm ripped out from the socket by beowulf  not cut off at the forearm after he was set on fire by an exploding arrow from a crossbow that looks like it weighs    lbs  and grendel  s motherdid they just combine her with the dragon at the end of the epic where he eventually dies when he succumbs to his wounds  and honestly  what the hell was with that mullet   br    br   if you want to see this movie because its connection to the epic . don  t  as there really isn  t one  other than character names  . the only way i could recommend this film is if you liked the movie druids  directed by jacques dorfmann   although i don  t recommend watching either .  
diego armando maradona was  and still remains as the best football player  the game has offered . not just an athlete  but an artist . this documetary if the     world cup will forever live in the memories of every football fan around the world . because of his tremendous and unbelievable goal  which he scored against my own country  england  . there  s absolutely no point of diminishing this star . although i dont undersand spanish  i can appreciate the argentine narrator . he actually cries of happiness  and can barely express his emotion . . . . . anything i wrote can be senseless and difficult to comprehend  but readers . . . . . you have to watch this to know what i mean .  
i was expecting the movie based on grendel  the book written by john gardner in the late      s . it was based on the beowulf epic  but told from the perspective of the monster .  br    br   whatever you may think of gardner  s book  a movie based on the beowulf epic should not be entitled grendel  when it doesn  t say anything more about the monster beyond the few pathetic scenes in which the cg monster is shown as nothing more than a modified predator .  br    br   on top of this  the writers should also be punished for screwing up the original story so badly and contributing to the continued growing ignorance of mass tv audiences throughout the us .  br    br   typical hollywood to get this so wrong .  br    br   very disappointing and a complete waste of time .  
it  s wonderful to see that shane meadows is already exerting international influence  les convoyeurs attendant shares many themes with a room for romeo brass the vague class identity above working but well below middle  the unhinged father  the abandoned urban milieu  the sense of adult failure  the barely concealed fascism underpinning modern urban life .  br    br   but if meadows is an expert formalist  mariage trades in images  and his coolly composed  exquisitely surreal  monochrome frames  serve to distance the grimy and rather bleak subject matter  which  meadows  like  veers from high farce to tragedy within seconds .  br    br   there are longueurs and cliches  but poelvoorde is compellingly mad  an ordinary man with ordinary ambitions  whose attempts to realise them are hatstand dangerous while individual set  pieces  the popcorn  pidgeon explosions the best marriage sequence since the dead and the deadly  manage to snatch epiphany from despair .  
first off  this is no where near as bad as some of the other trash the sci  fi channel has produced that isn  t to say that grendel is a good film  in fact  it is very bad  but it definitely had potential to be a lot better . the flaws of the film come from character design  character  absurd additions to the story  the visual effects  the music  and for the most part the acting .  br    br   when speaking of character design  i  of course  mean the way our heroes and villains look . beowulf and the other danes seem like ridiculous vikings  rather than warriors of brute strength   that helmet our main protagonist wears is just too silly . grendel looks like the hulk but with strange tentacle  attachments to his elbows .  br    br   the characters are very limited . beowulf is same from beginning to end  however finn   a useless sidekick   achieved some two  dimensionality  due thanks to his romantic subplot  and unferth gets some notion as well  as he becomes less conceited .  br    br   much like finn  there are useless additions to this story to make it its own  while still holding to the source material . the crossbow that is gifted to beowulf is so ridiculous  i  m surprised the cast didn  t walk off the set . besides additions  there  s omissions  such as the underlying themes of christianity and paganism  as well as the consequences of lying .  br    br   the special effects are mighty terrible . grendel and his mother hag are poorly conceived  and as such  they  re portrayal on screen is less than believable .  br    br   the music is overbearing  especially when a character dies .  br    br   all in all  this is not sci  fi  s worst film to date . no . it is actually one of the better films  though trash it still it is  it is good trash  making it a guilty pleasure at best . the only thing that works is the dialogue  which is still wooden here and there .  br    br   i highly recommend you skip this film and watch robert zemeckis  take on the ancient story of beowulf  simply because this film  grendel  is only half the tale  and not the whole thing  which garners this movie a three  star review .  
enterprise is the entertainment  but it is also the forefront of science fiction and a positive outlook for tomorrow . with gratitude and respect mr . berman and mr . braga . i wish you well  thank you both for your service to trek .  br    br   enterprise is what trek is about . . .  
imagine you  re a high  school boy  in the back of a dark  uncrowded theater with your girlfriend . how bad would a movie have to be  in order that you would feel compelled to leave the theater and head home before it ended  this movie is that bad . really . movies often become so bad that they  re good this movie is beyond that stage of bad  ness . it is painfully bad . horribly  terribly  crime  against  humanity bad .  
some critics found this film bleak  but for me there was enough good humour and optimism to overcome this impression . for example  the quietly positive and stoic character of the daughter is the still centre of the film  often counterbalancing the unhappy aspects of the setting and plotline .  br    br   the film is full of original ideas and characters  and the final outcome is not predictable i felt it could  ve gone either way .  br    br   by the way  many reviews i  ve read mention the effective use of black and white  but the print i saw  shown on the sbs tv network here in australia  was in full colour .  br    br    
good folks  i stumbled on this film on evening while i was grading papers . my academic specialty is anglo  saxon literature  and i can say that no one has ever done the genre the honor it deserves . the icelandic  beowulf and grendel  is the least offensive i have seen  and i did pay   .   for my copy . this sci  fi version ranks with the christopher lambert version . yuck .  br    br   what didn  t i like  cgi for one . amazingly bad . more importantly is the faithfulness to the storyline  not to mention the stilted acting . i am used to both with all the versions i have seen .  br    br   delighted regardless  peter  
this is an absurdist dark comedy from belgium . shot perfectly in crisp black and white  benot poelvoorde  man bites dog  is on fine form as roger  the angry  obsessive father of a family in a small  sullen belgian mining town . roger is a photographer who  along with his young daughter luise  visits road accidents to take photos . he is also obsessed with winning a car by entering a competition where the contestant has to break a record  and he decides that his son  michel  must attempt to break the record of perpetually walking through a door  he even hires an overweight coach to train him . michel dresses as elvis and has a spot on a radio show called  cinema lies   where he describes mistakes in films . luise is friendly with near neighbour felix  a pigeon fancier . roger is a callous figure as he pushes michel right over the limit during the record attempt  which almost results in his death . interspersed throughout the film are magritte  like surreal images . it  s undeniably charming and well worth your time .  
i work at a blockbuster store and every week we have movies that come in with just a few copies  these are the kind of movies that the sci  fi channel shows . the kind of movie that nobody ever wants  and only that idiots rent  when they bring it back i ask them  was it any good    they say  no we turned it off after   minutes   movies with terrible computer generated  super imposed monsters and such like  very unappealing .  br    br   this is the same type of movie that grendel is  and absolute waste of time  if you want a reasonably  and only reasonably  good beowulf based movie then try beowulf  grendel  starring gerard butler  who is also starring in the eagerly anticipated     as king leonidas of sparta .  br    br   plus  later this year we have another beowulf movie  with a star studded cast ranging from anthony hopkins and brendan gleeson  to angelina jolie and john malkovich .  br    br   but don  t let that get your hopes up like we all did with eragon  or we are all in for another big disappointment .  br    br   and regarding rentals  here is my rule of thumb if there is only one or two copies  don  t rent it because its a load of crap .  this is true   .   of the time  usually not true if the title is foreign  or a documentary .   
les convoyeurs attendent was the first film i saw in     and i doubt i  ll see a better one this year . this beautiful tragicomedy by belgian filmmaker benot mariage is set in the industrial wastelands of wallonia . benot poelvoorde plays a father who desperately wants his son to win a car  a lada   for him . to do this the son has to break the record opening doors . what the father actually wants his for his son to be someone  because he himself has never made it further as the reporter of local news for a newspaper ironically called l  espoir  hope  . of course nothing works out as planned . this film can best be compared to aki kaurismki  s drifting clouds  although it is more dramatic and the humour is darker . just like in that film however the tone is more melancholic than depressing and the ending upbeat  without being unrealistically happy . the humour is absurd  without making the plot unbelievable  and mariage finds stunning images in the bleak settings that never seem artificial . the best thing about les convoyeurs attendent is the acting by poelvoorde . this actor shot to fame with the also brilliant cult  classic c  est arriv prs de chez vous in which he played the charismatic hitman ben . since then he only played two small roles in films that were not released in the netherlands  because  as he said in an interview  he was not convinced of his own acting capabilities and all the roles he was offered were reprises of the ben character . with his return to a leading role in lca there should be no doubt anymore about his acting . he  s simply brilliant as a man stupid and evil enough to put his family in misery  but smart enough to realize what he  s done and be torn by remorse about it . a must see .  
it  s hard to say what was the worst thing about this show the bad acting  poor acoustics of different portions  bad cgi  improper sets for the period  the poor script . it would have been nice if the script followed the original tale a bit closer   there  s enough tension and good material in beowulf to provide a great deal of good material  and a better story line  than the scriptwriters could come up with .  br    br   and why introduce a strange new weapon like a crossbow that fires explosive bolts   br    br   i see that this movie was made in  only    days . it shows in the lack of quality . i  m beginning to think this is general  poor  attitude taken by sci  fi channel  and others  when it comes to making movies out of classic tales in the past few years .  br    br   what a waste   
i remember watching this is its original airing in     as a five or six year old and really enjoying this . i recently had the opportunity to watch it again  for the first time since then  as it was aired on  walt disney presents  on the disney channel . i  d forgotten most of it  and some of it was geared towards kids  but it was still enjoyable . i can  t wait to show it to my niece and nephews .  
i stopped five minutes in when beowulf was given a double  shot  automatic crossbow with sights on it . not only do crossbows not have telescoping sights  but beowulf beat grendel in hand  to  hand combat . the terrible  wooden acting and eternal darkness that plagues all sci  fi original movies didn  t help either . having only gotten a few minutes in before i felt my bile rise and decided to watch i love lucy reruns instead  that  s really about all i have to say . but  you might as well just realize that it  s a made  for  tv movie and skip it right there .  br    br   a travesty .  
this was a delightful presentation . hemo  blood  as a greek god was so well played by the animation with vanity  arrogance  snobbish superiority and innocent wonder . the quote  or scene  i recall vividly is when hemo tires of  all this plumbing . . . you haven  t learned my secrets at all  and threatens to storm out  the scientist answers him in a single word  thalassa    salt water which horrifies the fiction writer but mollifies hemo and segues so neatly into the chemical aspects of blood .  br    br   such a splendid blend of entertainment and information make this a classic as fresh and engrossing today as the day it was released . stimulating the interest and imagination is fundamental to teaching kids to love learning .  
may the saints preserve us  because this movie is not going to help .  br    br   someone with access needs to e  mail mel gibson and tell him we need a faithful production of beowulf . something that actually has something in common with the epic poem that is the foundation for all modern western literature .  br    br   the recent  since      versions of beowulf make we wonder two things . first  why is there so much interest in the story . second  why are all these filmmakers squandering mountains of cash on this crap .  br    br   the only reason this got a two is that the version with lambert in it  beowulf      was worse and needed the  .  br    br   what is even worse  some people will watch this and get the wrong idea about the poem . how can an industry where peter jackson gets a literary conversion to film so right can get it so wrong . i mean really  the roman forum as a model for heorot is too much .  br    br   and please  horns on helmets  spare me . this is insulting .  br    br    hjm  
by god  it  s been a long time since i saw this . probably about   years ago   br    br   the movie tells us  kids  all about human blood and the circulatory system . very professionally put together   disney  style animation  plus human actors   it was directed by frank capra  for pete  s sake   br    br   kind of an overkill . i wonder if the very high production value is worth what amounts to a film  strip  s worth of information on the human body  but boy will those kids watching it learn even now i can clearly remember dr . baxter being challenged by hemo himself to name what common material most resembles human blood  to which the doctor immediately answers  sea water .   
after having seen the canadian  icelandic  british     production of  beowulf  grendel   which i thought brilliant and stunning  i approached this   the first of  newer beowulf movies due out this year   with trepidation . as soon as i heard  viking  and saw the horned helmets  i groaned . these were migration era swedes and danes  not vikings  they came later  . and even the vikings never wore horns on their helmets  horns make it easy for your enemy to knock your helmet off and then brain you  . then there  s hrolfgar  s palace  which looks like a set for a movie about greece or rome  not  th  century denmark . the swords and armor look like props left over from earlier films set in various historic periods . i spotted weapons that might have been used by crusaders in  kingdom of heaven   and one character was even wielding a windlass steelcrafts reproduction movie sword from  beowulf  grendel   beyond the basic plot of the original epic poem  the writing was dismal and the acting totally wooden and unconvincing . the biggest yuk was a secret  weapon crossbow  complete with sighting scope and exploding projectiles  that looked like something bought from iraqi insurgents . the special  effects monster and his mom were so on steroids that beowulf could never have torn off an arm  as he did in the poem . thank the gods for bazooka crossbows  i could go on  but i won  t .  
a frank capra wonders of life film .  br    br   keeping the blood pumping through our veins is the responsibility of hardworking hemo the magnificent .  br    br   in the mid       s  att and bell science teamed with famed hollywood director frank capra to produce a series of cbs television science films to educate the public about the universe around them . a far cry from the dreary black  white fodder so often foisted off on young scholars  the capra films would both instruct and entertain with lively scripts and eye  catching visuals shown in technicolor . the four films  our mr . sun        the strange case of the cosmic rays        hemo the magnificent        the unchained goddess        quickly became schoolhouse favorites  where they were endlessly shown in   mm format .  br    br   the star of the series was dr . frank c . baxter             an affable english professor at the university of southern california . this avuncular pedagogue proved to be the perfect film instructor  genially imparting to his audience the sometimes complex facts in a manner which never made them seem dull or boring . dr . baxter  who won a peabody award for his achievements  continued making high quality instructional films after the capra quartet were concluded .  br    br   hemo the magnificent  which was produced  written  directed by capra  relates the story of the human heart and blood circulation system  using animation and gentle humor . film star richard carlson appears as the fiction writer  energetically helping dr . baxter tell hemo  s tale .  br    br   movie mavens will recognize sterling holloway as part of the tv production crew  and the voices of marvin miller  mel blanc  june foray  pinto colvig as various cartoon characters  all uncredited .  br    br   the devotional scripture which begins the film is completely in tune with the tenor  tone of the production .  
i watched grendel the other night and am compelled to put together a public service announcement .  br    br   grendel is another version of beowulf  the thousand  year  old anglo  saxon epic poem . the scifi channel has a growing catalog of inoffensive and uninteresting movies  and the previews promised an inauthentic low  budget mini  epic  but this one refused to let me switch channels . it was staggeringly  overwhelmingly  bad . i watched in fascination and horror at the train wreck you couldn  t tear your eyes away from . i reached for a notepad and managed to capture part of what i was seeing . the following may contain spoilers or might just save your sanity . you  ve been warned .  br    br    just to get it over with  beowulf  s warriors wore horned helmets . trivial issue compared to what came after . it also appears that the helmets were in a bin and handed to whichever actor wandered by next . fit  appearance and function were apparently irrelevant .  br    br    marina sirtis had obviously been blackmailed into doing the movie by the ringling brothers  barnum and bailey circus . she managed to avoid a red rubber nose  but the clowns had already done the rest of her makeup .  br    br    ben cross pretended not to be embarrassed as the king . his character  hrothgar  must have become king of the danes only minutes before the film opened and hadn  t had a chance to get the crown resized to fit him yet .  br    br    to facilitate the actors  return to their day jobs waiting tables  none were required to change their hairstyles at all . the variety of hair included cornrows  sideburns  buzz cuts and a mullet and at least served to distract from the dialog . to prove it was a multi  national cast  all were encouraged to retain whatever accent they chose .  br    br    as is typical with this type of movie  at least since mad max   leather armor was a requirement . in this case it was odd  shaped  ill  fitting and brand  new .  br    br    the female love interest  ingrid  played by alexis peters  followed a long  standing tradition of hotties who should be watched with the volume turned completely down .  br    br    the unintended focus of the movie was a repeating  compound crossbow with exploding bolts . it never needed to be loaded and even had a recoil when fired . it managed to shred the laws of physics  the integrity of the original legend  historical fact and plot suspense all by itself .  br    br    hrothgar  s palace  heorot  rather than being a norse long hall  apparently was designed and constructed by artisans who sank with atlantis .  br    br    beowulf arrived at the danes  homeland in a two  masted stern  castled ship that originally was part of a set  the other two being the santa maria and the pinta .  br    br    prince unferth observed beowulf  s ship  s approach using a telescope . before you could recover from that astounding innovation  you got to see the ship from his point of view . judging from the angle  the prince was in an aircraft of some sort .  br    br    fun fact   in bulgaria  fire  as from a fireplace  creates light without heat . this explains why you could see the actors  breath whether indoors or out .  br    br    fun fact   dark age dancing in denmark looks like slow dances i went to in the  th grade .  br    br    fun fact   you  too  can make a catapult with a timed  release air  burst explosive . but  don  t expect it to actually harm anything . incidentally  beowulf was apparently a veteran of world war ii  yelling  incoming   to shred any remaining suspension of disbelief .  br    br    grendel was so upset and always in a snit because as a completely cgi creation he couldn  t leave footprints . even in snow .  br    br    grendel  s mom   hag   was in a foul mood because she was a single mother and junior hadn  t inherited her wings . recessive gene  i suppose . by the way  we can now make an educated guess that grendel  s pop was probably swamp thing .  br    br    grendel and mom chose to randomly kill  fly away with or drag away their prey based only on a close reading of the next few pages of the script .  br    br    fun medical fact being slammed by a mythical beast hard enough to be thrown fifty feet against stone causes slight facial scratches that don  t bleed much .  br    br    the sword of legend beowulf used to dispatch the hag was as long as he was tall and would have contained enough steel to put a second deck on the golden gate bridge . luckily the wobbling dispelled any concerns over its weight .  br    br    best line of the movie prince unferth had just been impaled by hag and spit a quart of blood roughly six feet . princess ingrid cradled him gently and said   you  re going to be okay  my prince .  so much for that job at the triage clinic .  br    br   i feel better now .  
so many educational films are nothing more than mind  numbing drudgery  saved only by the fact that  mst  k  mocks them   why study industrial arts   comes to mind  .  hemo the magnificent  is actually quite well done . it  s all about blood  the heart  and the circulatory system . i admit that i don  t remember everything from it  but it does a good job explaining everything  keeping it serious but entertaining . i guess that you can always count on june foray  most famously the voice of rocky the squirrel  she plays a deer here  .  br    br   since  hemo the magnificent  itself may be hard to find  probably the best place to see it is in  gremlins   a class is watching it while a gremlin is forming .  
this is a made  for  tv and rather needless sci  fi channel retelling of the beowulf story  especially after the recent     film  beowulf and grendel  . this movie doesn  t really get into beowulf  s story  but just takes us through his battle against the ravenous beast known as grendel as it leaves a kingdom in absolute fear and turmoil while the powerful viking warrior  beowulf is called upon to rid them of the monster  s rampage . if this is successfully accomplished  the king will no longer have to sacrifice the children to keep it at bay . after a few failed attempts  the creature is slain  but it  s angry and vengeful mother soon attacks  leaving it up to beowulf to  again  lend his mighty acts of bravery and strength to defeat it .  grendel  looks like it was shot on a tiny budget and the cg effects are terrible . like i said  this movie is absolutely needless .  
a nice shirely temple short . child actors screaming their lines seemed to be the norm for that day and time . perhaps being  seen and not heard  needed to be made up for . aside from that this is fun . given the films era there are certain aspects of the thing  from a social viewpoint  that strike me as both very progressive and liberal . i won  t go into those here  i  d rather not spoil it for you but let you watch it for yourself and see if you spot those elements . as early on as it was its easy to see from this short the fascination that was already developing for temple . that makes it worth watching if you  re a temple fan . for others its a cool way to kill ten minutes while you  re waiting for your good night glass of milk to warm up on the stove .  
this movie lost me with the crossbow rpg  rocket  propelled grenade  . it was like someone cut and pasted a scene from robocop . i half expected beowulf to say exclaim   i like it    br    br   i watched this because i like chris bruno from  the dead zone  tv show and he did his part . he chose a strange accent  but at least he kept it consistent for the whole movie   unlike any of his costars . they kept slipping into all kinds of speech from old english to modern english  sometimes in the same sentence .  br    br   there are already many comments on how this movie is different from the source material . however  even on its own  this movie  s plot is not good . it  s just boring  which even the low budget doesn  t excuse . having a low budget means that you need to at least have a good story  dialog and decent acting . those things don  t cost much . instead  they spent their money on half  assed cgi and some decent costumes and sets .  br    br   life is too short to watch this movie .  
this is the second baby burlesk short to be released  and probably the most popular one  is a spoof of the     silent film what price glory .  br    br   i watched this and i do not understand the kiddie  porn that is being claimed . it is just a cute little film . i have seen family shows that i grew up watching in the     s and     s that had little girls dressed more provocatively acting in a  mature manner  . it was more provocative because they weren  t dressed in diapers . there  s nothing provocative about a diaper unless you have one of those fetishes .  just a joke  i read that description of the movie and where it states only a pedophile would enjoy watching this . that is sick . to me  if you watch this and are bothered by it  then maybe you need to look into your own psyche and try to figure out why it bothers you . it is an innocent film that was made as a parody of another film . all of the b . b . films were parodies  nothing more . the parodies  spoofs of today are graphic in nature and have true almost pornographic scenes and quite vile language . shouldn  t those be more appalling  i can watch those without issue  but they sometimes take children  s stories and turn them into filth on those parodies . that is what should get under your skin . not that they babified  not a word  i know  an adult movie from      because we know how pornographic those silent films were  huh  not to mention those  forbidden hollywood pre  code era films  so vile and filthy . they would never make such filth today   note the sarcasm   
why oh why can  t anyone make a decent film out of a legendary tale  this is the second adaptation of  beowulf  i  ve been disappointed with in a year . but i have to say  the previous version   beowulf  grendel   starring gerald butler  was far superior to this . that one was only a little disappointing . this one is a mess     br    br   what bugged me most  was it the useless plot elements they added in for no particular reason  human sacrifices  pointless love interest    or the bad cgi  or the inconsistency of the characters or the uninspired acting  even worse was the way they made beautiful marina sirtis look so horrible    and lets not even talk about that ridiculous crossbow   br    br   and why did they continually remind us that beowulf had the strength of   men  and yet he never showed the slightest sign of such strength throughout the entire film . he was tossed around by both monsters he fought  relying on his sidekicks to save his bacon . even when he slugged the arrogant prince  he didn  t knock him out . he was much too reliant on weapons . beo  wimp is more like it . this was certainly not the powerful beowulf of the epic poem   br    br   i  d like to end this on a positive note but i can  t really think of one offhand . all i can say is  if you  ve ever read  beowulf   you  ll be infinitely disappointed by this dismal  inaccurate excuse for an adaptation   
call me adolescent but i really do think that this is a great series . if you haven  t had a chance to experience a few episodes of the latest star trek series  you should definitely watch this one . perhaps more compelling than that of voyager  s caretaker  which launched the series with cpt . janeway  archer  s adventures are completely different  yet strangely familiar . . . the music is catchy too . no true sci  fi fan can go without seeing at least one star trek episode   and these installments make the wait worthwhile .  
this is a really dumb movie . it could be fun with the cool looking aliens and the country setting  but it just isn  t .  br    br   some aliens hear the broadcast of war of the worlds when a small country radio station plays it on halloween . they come to earth to kill humans  but instead of killing  they make people their slaves and act goofy . the front cover of the film shows these aliens riding surfboards in space . . . not really what they do . these aren  t party aliens  they are stupid cartoonish idiots with annoying high pitched modulated voices . the alien with the most tolerable voice also happens to be the jack nicholson rip  off alien who always wears his sunglasses . other than the aliens  the acting is terrible . the writing is obviously meant for children  because every character is written like a kid .  br    br   this is a dumb movie  that only children will appreciate  maybe .  br    br   my rating    out of  .    mins . pg for mild language .  
while browsing the internet for previous sale prices  i ran across these comments . why are they all so serious  it  s just a movie and it  s not pornographic . i acquired this short film from my parents   years ago and have always been totally delighted with it . i  ve shown it to many of my friends  they all loved it too . i feel privileged to own this original      mm black and white silent film of shirley before she became popular or well known . after reading the other comments  i agree that the film is  racy  . big deal  i only wish it was longer . it seems that i must be the only person who owns one of these originals  for sale at least  so i wonder how much it  s worth   
i just read a review defending this film because it had a low budget  now my take on things .  br    br   the cgi monsters was reasonable well animated but was implemented in the worst possible way . the fight scenes weren  t even fights it was just one shot of an actor then one shot of monster with very interaction at all . when the monster did interact it looked like it was done in paintshop pro . in my opinion if you have a low budget you should use models and puppets . they may not look as fancy but at least they interact  just look at peter jacksons early films .  br    br   as for the acting beowulf did an descent job but the rest of the cast were either not trying or they forgot where they where .  br    br   the script seemed confused to me . one minute they would be talking as if it were a modern day setting the next you get drama club shakespeare speech . i  m not say it should be all  ye  and  that it be  but you need to find a cohesive balance so the lines sound like they come from the same person .  br    br   i did notice one part near the start when beowulf was quoting the old testament which would have been find had he not spent the rest of the films talking about the gods and portents .  br    br   in short  this film is a very slightly polished turd  but a turn none the less .  
i myself feel this film is a rare treasure . not only is it the beginning of shirley temple  s career  but a rare look on how our society has changed . you have to understand  certain things we today would view as sexual  back then would be considered innocent . for example  the parents of the children in the film as well as the many parents who took their children to see this movie  saw this as just children mimicking adults . most people didn  t think of anyone viewing children sexually attractive  other than teenage boys lusting over teenage girls . to them it wasn  t sexual . mind you this was before we had internet  tv  etc . . . most sex crimes weren  t openly brought up . occasionally there would be a whisper about the kid with the  funny uncle .  but that was often all that came of it . yes very sad . but it is kinda sad today  for even i too can see this film as anything other than what it was intended  innocent and funny . when i saw shirley dance like that and the boys eye balling her  yes i felt disturbed . i have to remind myself the time this took place  those children didn  t know what sex was . the parents knew that  both those of the children in the movie and those watching it . the thought may not have even entered their minds . in the eyes of the average adult back then  this was no more sexual then if shirley was playing house . even today kids will enter beauty contest  many dressed up extremely maturely  for a three yr old . however the child is merely pretending . i don  t blame the child for wanting to act like an adult . or the old movies that display this . in all honesty  our media has made a lot of things seem back then seem sick and wrong . this sometimes can be for the best . but i truly believe this movie isn  t one of them . it gives a rare look of an innocent mentality  that we have long lost .  
just once i  d like to see a version of beowulf where it appears the screenwriters have at least a passing familiarity with the original poem . yet again  after watching this sci fi presentation  i  m disappointed .  br    br   i  m not suggesting the writers need to understand and analyze the poem in old english  but i wish they could at least try to read a translation in modern english and attempt to construct a story based on what actually transpires . the story is exciting enough why add plot elements that are non  existent and ruin the story  what  s wrong with being faithful to the text   br    br   grendel is immune to weapons of any kind why introduce some super  crossbow that is unbelievable and could not have possibly existed in this time period  as correctly pointed out by the previous reviewer   the fight with grendel was beowulf vs . grendel . that  s it . no one else took part in the battle . the only way beowulf could have defeated him was by choosing specifically to engage the monster without any weapons  the mistake made by all previous challengers . yet  in this version  danes and geats fight the beast and beowulf hacks off grendel  s arm with a sword  again  why couldn  t they portray what really happened  personally  i think a one  on  one grappling match between the two would be much more exciting .  br    br   overall  this is a pathetic and abysmal depiction that is faithless to the true tale . why add in a pact with hrothgar and grendel  s mother that includes sacrificial offering  why create extra characters  like finn  that add nothing to the story  there was no love story in the poem . they couldn  t even set the scenes in the appropriate locations  a forest instead of the swamp and no lair under the lake  . they fail to notice the metaphor that grendel  s lair signifies  it  s supposed to be underground to represent hell . why not instead center on the symbolism inherent in the epic poem  even my high school students last year were able to do immensely better when they created a short film based on beowulf  since they focused on the themes and symbolism underlying the story . if hollywood could create a film that centers on these elements and is faithful to the plot  then that would be a truly great movie .  
i love these  diaper baby  movies  you couldn  t make a movie like this today and it is rich in cinematic history . it is goofy and the film was made to make you laugh  which it does . how they ever got these kids to  act  i  ll never know . i think they are precious and the kids make me laugh but so do the others who made this movie as it shows the naivet that existed in the early    s . you have to remember that this is when the film industry was very young  the stock market had crashed  the world wide depression was beginning and these films were made to give a person a break from the real world . the fact that you could see movies for five cents is beyond my comprehension  but then dinner for   cents is too . it was a different time with a totally different mind set .  
where to begin  anachronism  high tech cross bow with a scope in about    ad  arrows with explosive charges in    ad  a monster grendel that looks like a robocop and obviously never interacts with any of the weapons fired or swung against him  the heart torn out of his victim  s chest without any sense of contact  possibly the blond who would fit in on a recent fashion show with her make  up and streaked hair  the ancient danish court represented in classical greek style  the queen played by marina sirtis more savaged by her makeup artist than by madness  the effects are way too weak to carry this story . there are some stories that don  t mind or even benefit from cheap effects  but this grendel isn  t one of them .  br    br   what about characters who seem to jump about in their attitudes without motivation  a bravado idiot prince whose home has already been savaged more than once by the monster grendel seems to have less respect for the danger he faces than beowulf who was sent from afar from the land of the geats to help the desperate danes . in this it feels more like an old cowboy western than any kind of myth .  br    br   beowulf is an ancient tale from an era with almost no literary tradition and much of both its sentiment and its drama is obscure . i suspect that any modern telling which doesn  t make an intelligent attempt to penetrate the obscurity must fail . i didn  t love the recent  beowulf and grendel  which sees grendel essentially as human and sees hrothgar and his danes as too arrogant and stupid to recognize grendel  s attacks as well  justified vengeance  but i had to respect its revisionist position that hrothgar  s danes were a bunch of macho thugs who never grasped  even after it was all over  that they had brought this nightmare on themselves  and therefore  the original story of beowulf  as it was written  was a misrepresentation of the real story . i think there  s a more complex meaning to be understood than that  but this  grendel  s  terrible secret that grendel  s attacks are tied to previous human sacrifice doesn  t really bring us closer to the shame experienced by hrothgar and the danes .  br    br   this beowulf has little to recommend it as traditional myth or as modern fantasy . i give it a   higher than it deserves  but always hopeful that a poor effort will draw attention by someone who is up to telling the story intelligently . in the meantime  sci  fi  s movie  making seems to be following the nasa policy that it  s better to build lots of probes that fail than a few that succeed .  
a shirley temple short subject .  br    br   it can get mighty rough at buttermilk pete  s cafe when the local contingency of diaper  clad war babies come in for their midday milk break .  br    br   this primitive little film  a spoof of military movies  provides a few chuckles  but little else tiny tots talking tough can begin to pall in a short time . shirley temple  playing a duplicitous hip  swinging french miss  hasn  t much to do in this pre  celebrity performance . highlight the real signs of toddler temper when a few of the infants unexpectedly get well  truly soaked with milk .  br    br   often overlooked or neglected today  the one and two  reel short subjects were useful to the studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents  both in front  behind the camera . the dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film  something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel . economical to produce in terms of both budget  schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material  short subjects were the perfect complement to the studios  feature films .  
corridors of time . the movie you can watch if you  re looking for a sophisticated way of suicide . some use guns  ropes  or gas  but you want to ruin your brains  do not wait any longer  corridors of time is probably one of the biggest possible mistakes  thinking christian clavier is able to act and to bring you fun . i do not miss the   francs this poor thing cost me  sometimes  one has to reset its evaluation system looking at the absolute zero . this film deserves a      but that  s only because i like jean reno . too bad for him  he also stars in ronin . i think i  m gonna dislike him . . .  
  secret of the lens  is perhaps a pretty campy all  time favorite of mine . the best and funniest from kajawari yoshiaki  who is known for splatter anime and sleazy hentai  ecchi anime . i wish he did more campiness like this .  br    br   my favorite scenes are the psychedelic cg sequence  the parts where lord helumis blows up his failing henchmen  the party riots that bill causes  one of the funniest scenes  and whenever my favorite character  worsle appears .  br    br   check this out .  br    br   warningthis is not for serious sophisticated anime fans   
the original  les visiteurs  was original  hilarious  interesting  balanced and near perfect . lv  must be a candidate for  worst first sequel to a really good film  . in lv  everyone keeps shouting  when a gag doesn  t work first it  s repeated another  times with some vague hope that it will eventually become funny . lv  is a horrible parody of lv   except of course that a parody should be inventive . if you loved lv  just don  t see this film  just see lv  again    
people don  t seem to be giving lensman enough credit where its due . a few issues have been overlooked which are key to understanding the lensman experience .  br    br   the year for the year it was made in       lensman features some of the most stunning effects i  ve ever seen . as a person who watches a lot of early    s animation lensman is unique in it  s use of what appears to be computer  generated imagery at a time when computers were extremely primitive . kim  s battle against the geometric cutter pods in the laser maze can be taken as an excellent example of this . every time i watch that i have to keep repeating to myself that it was     when it was made .  br    br   the soundtrack lensman has one of the most insane soundtracks that i  ve heard  and this mad hysterical beat permeates every corner of the film . lensman borrowed heavily on two western mistakes and managed to somewhat deal with the first one  the need to fill in every second of silence in a film with music and the need for a heroine . while the music is attuned well and galvanizes scenes such as the motorcycle battle in the thionite factory on radelyx  the heroine theme fails due to the sheer annoyance value of chris . it  s interesting to note that the constant music thwarted my attempts at noise removal when i was archiving lensman over from analog tape to digital format  since there wasn  t a single second of silence available to use as a reference point .  br    br   western influences helmut  sounds like  helmet  and has roughly the same voice as darth vader . clarissa fairborn  has the same hairstyle as the princess of sw and her name sounds suspiciously similar to marissa fairborn of transformers . takes over han solos role by flying the ship and having some technical expertise . buzzkirk  a definite improvement on chewbaka . the lens  a nice concrete copy of the force that comes across less as a chance to preach christianity at the audience than in the original sw . while the force relied on belief far more than concentration  the lens is a pure concentration tool . theoretically  anyone could wield the lens . the lens is far more limited than the force  being purely a defensive  offensive weapon .  br    br   technology the boskone alliance have interesting meatball sponge ships . they look like stormtroopers only with red uniforms instead of white . the idea of a dna weapon was nice if only it had been developed . the galactic alliance looked like starblazers  or whatever it was called  that    s series where they were battling the xylons  . there weren  t enough ship to ship battles for me  this is much improved upon in the second lensman film .  br    br   finally a note on worzel . this character is a unique and very interesting character  design who fortunately continues on to the second film .  br    br    
in       the visitors  was an enormous hit in france . so  the sequence was inevitable and unfortunately  this sequence ranks among the worst ones ever made .  br    br   this is a movie that doesn  t keep its promises . indeed  it  s supposed to tell a sole story . jean reno must go in the twentieth century and take christian clavier back in the middle ages so that time can normally follow its course . the problem is that clavier feels completely at ease in the world of the twentieth century  and so make him get back in the middles ages is rather hard . . . instead of this  the movie goes on several other stories without succeeding in following the main plot . as a consequence  the movie becomes sometimes muddle  headed  sometimes a bit of a mess .  br    br   but the movie also suffers from the performance of nearly all the actors . reno and clavier fall into the trap that however they could avoid in the first movie they  re going over the top and become annoying . then  why did jean  marie poir the film  maker engage muriel robin in the female main role  he made a mistake because she seems ill  at  ease and is absolutely pitiful . the other actors aren  t better marie  anne chazel is nonexistent and christian bujeau  unbearable .  br    br   of course  the movie contains a few good moments with efficient gags but it often falls into vulgarity and easiness . certain sequences and dialogs are affected . it also appears hollow because poir takes back elements that secured the success of the first movie . thus  a young girl takes reno for a close relative of her family and asks him to take part in her wedding .  br    br   a labored and disappointing follow  up . anyway  what  s the interest of this movie otherwise commercial   br    br    
lensman is a rather lesser  known anime gem from toho and mk studios . it  s loosely based on the novel  but it reminds me more of the game  metroid  .  br    br   if you want to see this  see it in japanese with subtitles or just plain japanese . the english dubbed version was almost cropped and edited to death .  br    br   there is not much new  despite the fact that it  s the  st animated feature to combine cg  graphics with hand  drawn animation  but it  s fun to watch  nevertheless .  
everybody who wants to be an editor should watch this movie  it shows you about every mistake not to do in editing a movie  my grandma could have done better than that  but that  s not the only reason why this movie is really bad   it  s actually so bad that i  m not able to write a sentence without exclamation mark   if the first episode of les visiteurs  was a quite good familial comedy with funny jokes and cult dialogues  this sequel is copying badly the receipe of the first one . the funny parts could be counted on one hand and maybe half of it . clavier is over  acting his role even more than in the first part  robin is trying to act like lemercier  because she  s replacing her  but that  s grotesque  . lemercier is lemercier  robin is robin  even if muriel robin can be funny by herself on stage  she is not in this movie because she  s not acting as she used to act . i know that it should be hard to replace somebody who was good in a role  lemercier obtained a csar award for her role in the first movie  but she made a big mistake instead of playing her role  she played lemercier playing her role   as for the story  it  s just too much  of course we knew at he end of the first movie that there would be a sequel but poir and clavier should hae tried to write a more simple story like the first episode . the gags are repetitive  childish and dj  vu . no  really  there  s no more than  funny parts in this . the only good things might be the costumes and some special effects . so you have only  reasons to watch it   if you want to learn how to edit awfully a movie    if you want to waste your time or if you really need a brainless moment        
though i like e . e .  doc  smith  s books and david a . kyles books of lensman  the anime  which is loosly based on the books  is quite a fun and somewhat innovative fair .  br    br   though the story may seem familiar to sci  fi  fantasy buffs  such as some kid on an isolated planet inherits mystical powers and avenges the death of his family  it is quite an entertaining one nonetheless . plus  lensman was the first animated motion picture to use hand drawn and cg animation all at once . sure  it may look a bit outdated now  but it is still an innovation . if it were not for lensman  none of that would have ever happened  personally  i think computer graphics look better in animation that live action .   br    br   too bad they only released it on dvd  vcd in a few countries in the worls  mostly on formats that are quite foreign and different  . i just wish they release the lensman movie and tv series on dvd  vcd in every part of the world  not just certain parts .  br    br   p . s . worsel rules  i just think he is so amazing and neat looking as well .  
this film is so bad and gets worse in every imaginable fashion . its not just the poor acting and script nor is it the lame and perverse time one wastes on watching it . what really puts this film in my hall of shame is the apparent struggling that the writers and producers do with the film to try and make it funny . the actress replacing jean reno  s descendant is to old and learned her lesson in the first film so they add a new girl who is to be married . nearly all of the original extras and gags return however this time makes me want to ripe my eyes out of my sockets because it  s a waste of perfectly good film . the torture of the constant camera cuts and shots in any scene in this movie can put the viewer into violent convolutions . this second film takes the successful original and drags it out of its coffin and parades the corpse out in the public square and perversely degrades not only the original idea and its legacy but our intelligence as well . this film unlike the spruce goose could not fly for it had no plot in the principals returning for a  necklace  . no script since it was apparently written and added to daily . no attention to camera or shots in mind . poor lighting and special effects done for the sake of doing so . this film would not even pass for a student film in basic film    . how this pile got through no one can tell . it was a big loosing investment and it appears that no one had the strength to put this unnatural cruel mistake out of our miseries . this movie has one good part . . . its end  this film is my   worst film of all time  finally  howard the duck  is no longer the goose .  
man  s castle is set in one of those jerry built settlements on vacant land and parks that during these times were called  hoovervilles  named after our unfortunate   st president who got stuck with the great depression occurring in his administration . the proposition of this film is that a man  s home is still his castle even when it  s just a shack in a hooverville .  br    br   spencer tracy has such a shack and truth be told this guy even in good times would not be working all that much . but in a part very typical for tracy before he was cast as a priest in san francisco  the start of a slew of classic roles  he  s playing a tough good natured mug who takes in loretta young .  br    br   one of the things about man  s castle is that it shows the effects of the depression on women as well as men . women had some additional strains put on them  if men had trouble finding work  women had it twice as hard . and they were sexually harassed and some resorted to prostitution just for a square meal . spence takes loretta young in who  s facing those kind of problems and makes no demands on her in his castle . pretty soon though they  re in love  though tracy is not the kind to settle down .  br    br   the love scenes had some extra zing to them because tracy and young were having a torrid affair during the shooting of man  s castle . and both were catholic and married and in those days that was an insuperable barrier to marriage . both tracy and young took the catholic faith quite seriously .  br    br   also in the cast are walter connolly as a kind of father figure for the whole camp  marjorie rambeau who  s been through all the pitfalls young might encounter and tries to steer her clear and arthur hohl  a really loathsome creep who has his eye on young as well . hohl brings the plot of man  s castle to its climax through his scheming .  br    br   man  s castle is grim look at the great depression  not the usual movie escapist fare for those trying to avoid that kind of reality in their entertainment .  
in a way  corridors of time is a success story because the movie reaches its goal  being seen by thousands . but it fails at making them laugh . . .  br    br   les visiteurs has had its success  because the subject was an original way of considering the time travel  forget about zemeckis  s back to the future  here comes the old france  the middle  age knight and its nearly barbaric way of life . full of pride  funny thanks to the ancient words he uses  montmirail can sometimes be disgusting but he keeps his honor . then comes the sequel .  br    br   nobody had foreseen the tremendous success of les visiteurs  the first . and it  s no use being a movie expert to realize that the corridors of time has been made for money .  br    br   the general story begins after the end of les visiteurs  and immediately tries to justify the sequel with a time paradox that would have needed some second tought . explanation  it  s no use trying to get back the jewelry jacquouille has stolen  don  t you remember this nice red shiny and expensive car he bought at the end of the  st episode  where do you think he found the money  selling the jewelry . . . and that  s only one of many holes poir tries to avoid . . . and fails .  br    br   let  s have a look at the characters  montmirail doesn  t change  he  s just a little more boring . regarding frenegonde . . . that  s another story  valrie lemercier decided not to compromise herself in this sequel to avoid getting stuck in the bourgeoise role . and muriel robin tries to imitate her in a way that i found so pitiful i nearly felt pain for her . and poir doesn  t realize that a cast of humorists isn  t enough to make a good comedy .  br    br   forget about the time travels  about the digital effects  concentrate on the story and you  ll see that there  s enough room on a mail stamp to write it   times .  br    br   the main interest of this film is the landscapes . a movie for youngsters  let  s say up to   years old .  
this is very dated  but that  s part of the charm with this     movie . you can say the same for most pre  code films they  re just different  and usually in an interesting way .  br    br   it was the short running time  the great acting of spencer tracy and the beautiful face and sweetness of loretta young  s character which kept me watching and enjoying this stagy  but  intriguing film .  br    br   you  d be hard  pressed to find a nicer girl than  trinna   played by the    year  old young who was already into making her   th movie   she started acting as a small child . that  and the fact they made movies quickly back in the old days .  the camera  although in soft focus throughout much of the film  zoomed in on loretta  s face and eyes many times and i was mesmerized by her beauty .  br    br   playing a crotchety man with a cynical outlook on life  tracy  s  bill  slowly transformed into a loving man  thanks to trinna . spencer delivered his lines here with such naturalness that you hardly knew he was acting .  br    br   although they have small roles  supporting actors walter connolly  marjorie rambeau  arthur hohl and glenda farrell leave lasting impressions long after viewing this    minute film . i was particularly fascinated with connolly  s role as the minister  father figure of the camp .  br    br   the story is a little far  fetched but  hey  that  s the movies . this story is about two lonely great depression victims trying to survive in a  hooverville   type camp and it winds up to be a very touching tale .  
les visiteurs  the first movie about the medieval time travelers was actually funny . i like jean reno as an actor  but there was more . there were unexpected twists  funny situations and of course plain absurdness  that would remind you a little bit of louis de funes .  br    br   now this sequel has the same characters  the same actors in great part and the same time traveling . the plot changes a little  since the characters now are supposed to be experienced time travelers . so they jump up and down in history  without paying any attention to the fact that it keeps getting absurder as you advance in the movie . the duke  jean reno  tries to keep the whole thing together with his playing  but his character has been emptied  so there  s not a lot he can do to save the film .  br    br   now the duke  s slave  helper  he has really all the attention . the movie is merely about him and his being clumsy  annoying  stupid or whatever he was supposed to be . fact is this character tries to produce the laughter from the audience  but he does not succeed . it is as if someone was telling you a really very very bad joke  you already know  but he insists on telling that joke till the end  adding details  to make your suffering a little longer .  br    br   if you liked les visiteurs  do not spoil the taste in your mouth with the sequel . if you didn  t like les visiteurs  you would never consider seeing the sequel . if you liked this sequel . . . well  i suppose you still need to see a lot of movies .  
this is what i was expecting when star trek ds  premiered . not to slight ds  . that was a wonderful show in it  s own right  however it never really gave the fans more of what they wanted . enterprise is that show . while having a similarity to the original trek it differs enough to be original in it  s own ways . it makes the ideas of exploration exciting to us again . and that was one of the primary ingredients that made the original so loved . another ingredient to success was the relationships that evolved between the crew members . viewers really cared deeply for the crew . enterprise has much promise in this area as well . the chemistry between bakula and blalock seems very promising . while sexual tension in a show can often become a crutch  i feel the tensions on enterprise can lead to much more and say alot more than is typical . i think when we deal with such grand scale characters of different races or species even  we get some very interesting ideas and television . also  we should note the performances  blalock is very convincing as vulcan t  pol and bacula really has a whimsy and strength of character that delivers a great performance . the rest of the cast delivered good performances also . my only gripes are as follows . the theme . it  s good it  s different  but a little to light hearted for my liking . we need something a little more grand . doesn  t have to be orchestral . maybe something with a little more electronic sound would suffice . and my one other complaint . they sell too many adds . they could fix this by selling less ads  or making all shows two parters . otherwise we  ll end up seeing the shows final act getting wrapped up way too quickly as was one of my complaints of voyager .  
i saw this movie when i was much younger and i thought it was funny . i saw it again last week  and you can guess the result . some funny parts in it  very few and too long . the beginning is the only thing that is funny if you ask me .  br    br   if you want a total b  movie this is a good pick  but don  t expect too much from aliens dwarf size  
as other reviewers have noted  this is an unjustly neglected depression  era film . directed by frank borzage  two oscars  and written by jo swerling  leave her to heaven  the westerner  lifeboat  etc .   it is a tough  minded  well  structured and  realized move about denizens of a new york city shantytown . they  re grifters  beggars  and women forced into prostitution  but they  re a community of people both good and bad  with loyalties as complex as any group  s .  br    br   perhaps primary among this movie  s many admirable qualities is the contrast between spencer tracy  s character  bill  and loretta young  s trina . he tough  talking  physically aggressive  and evidently fearless   but bill is not the character who gives this film its steely sense of survival . while he blusters  trina actually hangs tough  if that term can be applied to a character so ladylike  . her devotion to him is obvious  and complete . when she becomes pregnant  she says she will raise it herself if he wants to leave  or  i  ll even give up the kid if you  ll only be happy .  such is the dignity of loretta young  s performance  at age    as a quite simple character  that she seems neither weak or dependent  but rather a woman who recognizes happiness when she finds it  and wants nothing more .  
i can enjoy a guilty pleasure vigilante flick  but this is just bad . and not bad in a way you might enjoy seeing mst  k make fun of it . it  s just nauseatingly bad like you can  t find anything to enjoy about this no matter how hard you try . i truly regret wasting  hours of precious life on this crap . you can tell by watching it that no one was asked to act and everyone in it knew this film would only bury their careers . apparently  walking tall  has garnered enough income that someone decided they could make a buck off their investment . if it  s not the worst film i  ve seen  it  s so bad that it  s blotted the worse films from my memory .  
it  s a shame this movie is so hard to get your hands on in the us . i found it through a rare video dealer  and it was certainly worth it . this is  without a doubt  the best film made during the pre  code era  and the finest film of the     s . masterful director frank borzage made wonderful films about the depression  and with man  s castle he created a fairy tale amidst the hardships of the era .  br    br   loretta young and spencer tracy have a wonderful chemistry between them  and they help make this movie a wonderful romance . young  s trina is sweet and hopeful  while tracy  s bill is gruff and closed  off . the dynamic between the character creates one of the most difficult  but in the end rewarding relationships on film .  br    br   man  s castle is the most soft  focus pre  code film i  ve seen . borzage uses the hazy and dreamy technique to turn the squatter  s village where bill and trina live into a palace . the hardships of the depression are never ignored  in fact they  re integral to the film . but as borzage crafts the film as a soft focus fairy tale  the love between the characters makes the situation seem less harsh . it makes the film warm and affectionate .  br    br   man  s castle is the crowning achievement of the pre  code era . if only more people could see it .  
one of the worst movies i  ve seen shoddy camera work  crappy filter usage  film was grainy  script was terrible  i mean come on  how predictable was the big battle at the end . . . . .  br    br   some of the fight scenes were okay i guess . . . .  br    br   some scenes were so bad it was comical . . . like sorbo getting the horse and riding at the end . . . lol i mean really . . a horse  oh cant forget how the bad assassins roll around in the same vehicle throughout the entire movie . . one would think that after killling key witness and federal agents  they woulda been tracked down . . etc  etc really don  t bother watching it . . .  
i generally find loretta young hard to take  too concerned with her looks and too ladylike in all the wrong ways . but in this lyrical frank borzage romance  and even though she  s playing a low  self  esteem patsy who puts up with entirely too much bullying from paramour spencer tracy  she  s direct and honest and irresistible . it  s an odd little movie  played mostly in a one  room shack in a hooverville  unusually up  front about the depression yet romantic and idealized . tracy  playing a blustery  hard  to  take  regular guy  who would be an awful chauvinist and bully by today  s standards  softens his character  s hard edge and almost makes him appealing . there  s good supporting work from marjorie rambeau and glenda farrell  who never got as far as she should have   and jo swerling  s screenplay is modest and efficient . but the real heroes are borzage  who always liked to dramatize true love in lyrical close  up  and young . you sort of want to slap her and tell her character to wise up  she  s too good for this guy  but she  s so dewy and persuasive  you contentedly watch their story play out to a satisfying conclusion .  
this movie is just another average action flick  but it could have been so much better . when the guns come out they really needed some choreography help . someone like andy mcnabb  who made that brilliant action sequence in heat as they move up the street from the robbery  would have turned the dull action sequences into something special . because the rest of the film was alright  predictable but watchable  better than you would expect from this type of movie . then came the final scene  the show  down  the one we had been waiting for  but was like watching something from the a  team in the   s . they shoot wildly  nothing hits  and they run around a house trying to kill each other  same old  same old .  
unfortunately  this film has long been unavailable  as other posters have noted   but this is one of the essential dramas of the great depression  a lyrical and touching drama of love set in a shanty  town . it features performances by spencer tracy and loretta young that are just about the finest of their careers  and it  s a surpassing example of how the director  frank borzage  was able to create an almost fairy  tale aura around elements of poverty  crime  and horrendous social inequity  which just proves that how truly romantic and spiritual his talents were . this film shows how love survives amidst squalor and desperate need  and it is totally life  affirming . this is a real masterpiece of the period  and is a movie that deserves to be more widely known .  
went to watch this movie expecting a  nothing really much  action flick  still got very disappointed . the opening scene promised a little action with a tinge of comedy . it keeps you hooked for the first half coz till then you are expecting that now its time for the action to kick in . well  nothing of that sort happens . the movie drags and the ending just thumps you down to a point that you get annoyed . wonder what was the director thinking . made no sense watsoever . the movie lacked in all aspects  had no real storyline and it seemed very hollow  even if  rambo  was in it  i don  t think he could have helped the rating at all . there is simply no logic to the movie . a perfect way to waste your time and money . by far the most irritating movie i have ever seen and i am sure there will b others who  ll have the same viewpoint after enduring it . definitely not for people who have a little movie sense left in them .  
man  s castle is a wonderful example of a pre  code film . it involves realistic events with truly enjoyable and imperfect characters . spencer tracy plays bill  a free soul without a dime in his pocket . he makes a living doing odd jobs and traveling to a new city when he gets bored of his surroundings . one night  he meets trina  a beauty by any standards who is cold and alone . she has refused to resort to prostitution so she has not eaten for several days  but the two take very well to each other and form a relationship . his free spirit tempts him to leave her  so life is rocky  but there is a true spark between the two  even if they live in a shack by the river .  br    br   tracy is one of the great actors of the silver screen . his characters are amazing and relatable . we can see his thoughts on his face  making him easy to identify with  even if we believe he is behaving badly . young is great in pre  code films . her character is very sweet but far from perfect  making her all the more likable .  br    br   pre  code elements include skinny dipping  pregnancy before marriage  and crime .  
good movies are original  some leave a message or touch you in a certain way  but sometimes you  re not in the mood for that .  br    br   i wanted something simple  no thinking just plain action when i watched this one . it started of good and was quite entertaining  so why a bad review . well in the end the movie lost it  s credibility . the storyline wasn  t that cheesy at all  the action was not too special but overall good  acting was ok  so more than enough to satisfy my needs . but all got ruined because things happened that were over the top  and it left me with a bad feeling . they should have put a little more effort in making everything credible and would have gotten a  in the  no thinking just plain action  category . so in conclusion if you know you  ll get irritated because things are happening that seem completely illogical don  t watch  otherwise i  d say go ahead . . .  
i don  t think most of us would tend to apply the term  must  see  to action films  but i was very impressed at how good this film was and it deservedly gets the  must  see  stamp from me .  br    br   mandy played by shannon lee  daughter of the late and great bruce lee and sister of the late brandon lee  is recruited by martin  a professional thief to help pull off a diamond heist at a museum for a criminal syndicate  and get rewarded handsomely for it . little do they know that another pair of thieves  lucy and tommy  a pair of lovebirds   who were spurned earlier by mandy and martin to get in on the deal  are also planning to steal the diamond .  br    br   how each pair of thieves plans out the heist is a thrill to watch . things go awry  as martin and mandy unknowingly find themselves a step behind lucy and tommy .  br    br   you  ll find yourself rooting for these thieves as they find that they need each other to stay alive from the crime syndicate  who are not happy at all that the diamond is not in its hands .  br    br   action fans will not be disappointed  as there  s a healthy dose of gun battles  martial arts  and hand  to  hand combat sequences .  br    br   what is surprising is that  it  s not just the action that carries this film  but the romance and laughs  and i don  t mean your typical one  liners prevalent in action films  that sneak in .  br    br   it  s not easy to root for bad guys  but we get to see the human side of these thieves and the chemistry they develop .  br    br   a great film and one not to miss   br    br    out of    
i found it a real task to sit through this film . the sound track was not the best and some of the accents made it difficult to understand what was being said . there was little to move the plot along and often the action simply stopped and there was a prolonged period of conversations which seemed extraneous to the movie . these conversations switched between family groups and the observer was left to try and piece together what the common thread was that tied them together . it is rare that i rate a film this low and do so in this case as the entire viewing experience left me thinking  so what  and  why did i waste my time watching this .   
i  ve seen tons of hk actioners  and this one is right at the top of the genre . the action scenes are as exciting and kinetic as anything you  ve ever seen in any action movie . the kung fu is spectacular  the pyrotechnics eye  popping  the stunt work heartstopping . the editing is perfectly paced  heightening the tension and complimenting the fluid camera work . this film is directed by old pro corey yuen  whose resume is stuffed with some of the best work of the genre  including the jet li vehicle the legend of fong sai  yuk . if there is one thing lacking in this film it is the presence of a three  dimensional character  though martin  the male lead  comes closest to it . this movie is full of archetypes rather than characters   the sexy killer  the goofy thief and his bitchy girlfriend  the cackling villains . that said  shannon lee has a terrific screen presence she  s great with the fighting  the stunts  and the guns . when she  s onscreen it  s hard to take your eyes off her . she  s that good . why isn  t this woman a major star   
i really enjoyed the first half hour of this movie but  wow  did it turn corny  or should i say   just plain stupid .  this is just another example of outdated humor . it might have been funny in      but not now . . . . not even close .  br    br   dick powell is always interesting to watch . i especially liked him once he started switching from his boyish looks and high voice of the busby berkeley musicals to where he  s mature and sounds it  too .  br    br   he was fine as  jimmy macdonald   but the rest of the cast just played stupid characters  the worst being the boss  raymond walburn  of the maxford house coffee company  who did nothing but shout all the time . he was brutal to hear and was a big detriment to the movie .  
this is a great movie for any fan of hong kong action movies . asides from it  s little plot  the weak drama and bits of comedy antics  the movie is action packed with gun  fighting and martial arts action . kept me entertained from beginning until the end . i thought shannon lee was awesome in the movie .  br    br   having an action director like corey yuen is what keeps hong kong action going strong . this modern action film is highly recommended    
 . . . but it  s certainly not without merit . already writer  director preston sturges is experimenting with unusual cinematic effects in telling his stories  creating broadly drawn yet distinctive characters and situations  and writing clever and sometimes unexpectedly wise and compassionate dialogue .  no wonder the coen brothers  next movie is going to be an homage to sturges .   br    br   the major problem is that the plot  s not all the way there yet it lacks surprise  the unexpected plot twists and sudden changes of fortune that keep viewers guessing . the coffee slogan is a lousy thing to hang the plot upon  and the ending is thoroughly predictable . frank capra does this sort of thing much better .  br    br   if you  re new to preston sturges  check out  the lady eve  or  sullivan  s travels  or  the miracle of morgan  s creek  first . if you  ve seen these already  then go ahead and watch this one .  
shannon lee  the daughter of bruce lee  delivers high kicking martial arts action in spades in this exhilarating hong kong movie and proves that like her late brother brandon she is a real chip off the old block . there is high tech stuntwork to die for in this fast paced flick and the makers of the bond movies should give it a look if they want to spice up the action quotient of the next    adventure as there is much innovative stuff here with some fresh and original second unit work to bolster up the already high action content of  and now  you  re dead  . when you watch a movie as fast paced and entertaining as this you begin to wonder how cinema itself was able to survive before the martial arts genre was created . i genuinely believe that movies in general and action movies in particular were just marking time until the first kung fu movies made their debut . bruce lee was the father of modern action cinema and his legitimate surviving offspring shannon does not let the family name down here . although there are several pleasing performances in this movie  michel wong for one  it is shannon lee whom you will remember for a genuinely spectacular performance as mandy the hitgirl supreme . hellyou may well come away whistling her fights   
this one of the best celebrity  s reality shows a ever saw . we can see the concerts we can see the life of britney  i love the five episodes . i was always being surprised by britney and the subjects of the show i think that some people don  t watch the show at all we can how a great person she his . she his really funny really gentle and she loves her fans and we can see how she loves her work . i just don  t give a   because of k  fed he his a real jerk he doesn  t seem to like britney at all . i they make a second season of this great show because it shows at some people how britney really is . go britney your the best and you will never leave our hearts .  
got to this show late  believe it was the  rd  and final episode  when first watched it  and was blown away by a social commentary that hasn  t been seen on american tv since  all in the family  .  br    br   was very surprised cbs would even run this in the first place .  br    br   which is merely to say the last time cbs  had a set   if you know what i mean  was back in the day of  all in the family  . the most controversial decision they  re willing to tackle today is how much eye make  up to put on katie couric .  br    br   if you want to make a bunch of folks really  really mad  let them discover the truth about themselves . and if you want them willing to pull strings  make calls  and get a work of art removed  let them discover that truth by hearing their own words spoken from their own mouths .  br    br   the aardman folks have always been way ahead of the curve . and this show is no different . somehow it snuck under the cbs  corporate  social  political  censor radar  to get it onto the schedule  perhaps the  big brass  never really watched it till it finally aired    but once good  ol middle  merika heard and saw themselves being themselves  well  can bet the farm that message  or the messenger  won  t last long .  br    br   now  if only the  missing episodes  can find their way onto usenet or bit  torrent     br    br   thank you bc kelly tallahassee fla  
i  m ask . . . what a f are whit the real  tv never i see some b in my life is a  dirty  f bad and other a things but anything more is just a piece of american s all time britney saying   oh s  i wanna see his cock  i wanna f  and stuck his d   and he thinking   oh like i gone to still her money   it  s just another show of s any one more the only good are what britney sell in interior clothes but noting special noting it  s just like i say another s show in this s sill out the money pure sex all f time  i just see for i sleep on the before show for this i wanna my f money  
the pilot of enterprise has one thing that has been lacking since the original star trek a dose of realistic  flawed personalities . the utopian characters of the next generation got tiring  they were so noble as to be unbelievable . i also like the sub  plot that humans are bitter toward the vulcans . its funny seeing them as pretentious snobs . it makes me look forward to seeing when the humans become the dominant race between the two  though i don  t think it would work in the time frame of the show . the only negatives that jumped out at me were the  quick cut off the ending at  hours  feel of the end  which is common among many of the trek shows . the second was the shameless dig for ratings by a couple of senselessly sexy scenes . it was out of place  a good science fiction show should be able to stand on its own without trying to pad the pre  teen audience with some skin . but its not my job to make the show profitable  so oh well .  br    br   lets see how the next episode does .  
the horror channel plays nothing but erotic soft porn gothic flicks each night from   pm till about  in the morning  but their  scare  factor is very limited  if one exists at all . in fact i am sure i will find a multi  million pound lottery win more scary than anything this channel has to offer .  br    br   the bloodsucker leads the dance deserves special mention because it is i feel  the undisputed low of a channel full of lows . i cannot even begin to tell you how bad this film is  but for the purpose of completing the minimum   lines demanded by this site  i will at least give it a go .  br    br   firstly the title is misleading and bears no resemblance to the action on the screen . in fact the film might as well have been called  toothbrush  or  wallpaper  for all it has to do with the plot . at least they used toothbrushes . . . at least they had wallpaper .  br    br   there are no bloodsuckers for miles around and whats even worse there are no dances  not one . i  m sure they were making two different films by mistake here .  br    br   a more suitable title would have been   horny italian count leads five people to a scary castle and bores us silly for ninety minutes .  yes that fits better .  br    br   the acting is terrible and and the dubbing appalling  and that guy who plays seymour was almost as wooden in his walk as he was in his character . . . . abysmal .  br    br   the only saving graces of this film are a small but slightly interesting lesbian sex scene  two small and very interesting heterosexual sex scenes  and the added attraction in that every single female character gets her kit off . bonus .  br    br   otherwise steer a wide birth away from this one . no vampires  no dancing  no scenes of a brutal or gruesome nature and no way on gods earth i will ever  ever  ever watch this one again .  br    br   no word of a lie  this film could put you off motion pictures for life .  
if you  get it   it  s magnificent .  br    br   if you don  t  it  s decent .  br    br   please understand that  getting it  does not necessarily mean you  ve gone through a school shooting . there is so much more to this movie that  at times  the school shooting becomes insignificant .  br    br   above all  it  s a movie about acceptance  both superficially   of a traumatic event  but also of people who are different for whatever reason .  br    br   it  s also a movie about unendurable pain  and how different people endure it . in this case  the contrast between alicia  s rage and deanna  s obsession creates an atmosphere of such palpable anxiety that halfway through the movie we wonder how the director could possibly pull a happy ending out of his hat . thankfully  the audience is given credit for being human beings our intelligence is not insulted by a sappy  implausibly moralistic ending .  br    br   above and beyond that  i try to keep a clear head about movies being fiction and all that . yet i must admit  i cried like a lost little baby during this movie . there were certain things about it that hit very close to home and opened up some old wounds that never quite healed . but that is not necessarily a bad thing .  
a very cheesy and dull road movie  with the intention to be hip and modern  shown in the editing style and some weird camera angles  resulting only in sleepiness .  br    br   the cast is wasted  the writing is stupid and pretentious . the only thing worthwhile is the top  notch lalo schifrin  s soundtrack  really cool and also the opening sequence  very original and interesting .  br    br   run if you can  the bad opinions and comments about this flick are totally deserved it is really pure garbage . of course that this has its charm  of watching a movie which everybody would not drop the beer glass on if it were on fire  but save it for a stormy day where you have absolutely nothing else to do .  
futz is the only show preserved from the experimental theatre movement in new york in the     s  the origins of off off broadway  . though it  s not for everyone  it is a genuinely brilliant  darkly funny  even more often deeply disturbing tale about love  sex  personal liberty  and revenge  a serious morality tale even more relevant now in a time when congress wants to outlaw gay marriage by trashing our constitution . the story is not about being gay  though   it  s about love and sex that don  t conform to social norms and therefore must be removed through violence and hate . on the surface  it tells the story of a man who falls in love with a pig  but like any great fable  it  s not really about animals  it  s about something bigger   stifling conformity in america .  br    br   the stage version won international acclaim in its original production  it toured the u . s . and europe  and with others of its kind  influenced almost all theatre that came after it . luckily  we have preserved here the show pretty much as it was originally conceived  with the original cast and original director  tom o  horgan  who also directed hair and jesus christ superstar on broadway  .  br    br   this is not a mainstream  easy  to  take  studio film   this is an aggressive  unsettling  glorious  deeply emotional  wildly imaginative piece of storytelling that you  ll never forget . and it just might change the way you see the world . . .  
this fanciful horror flick has vincent price playing a mad magician that realizes his vocational talents have been sold to another . he devise ways of avenging all those that have wronged him . his master scheme seems to back fire on him .  br    br   price is a little below par compared to his masterpieces  but is still the only reason to watch this thriller . supporting cast includes patrick o  neal  mary murphy  eva gabor and jay novello .  br    br    
creature comforts in america should have been released on a different network  or at least been given the chance to have its full run of episodes . unfortunately  this was not the case . given that american audiences  seemingly  have the attention spans of a gnat when it comes to the humor that does not consist of profanity laced diatribes  or has a preoccupation with scatological functions  both sound and smells   shows like this will be few and far between . one of the main problems was that however brilliant it was  it was made for a rarefied audience who knew what to expect but was viewed by an audience and board rooms that did not have a clue at to what they were watching . which is sad  but not unexpected . i would have liked to have seen at least three more seasons of this show even if it was produced for direct dvd release . the material and the interactions between the creatures were rich with sub context and there were other conversations just waiting to be had under the surface . but thanks to political correctness  such conversations take place only in my mind .  
this is probably the worst excuse for television programming since  oh  i don  t know  whats happening now  nothing ever happened on this ridiculous  series  . even though it  s mostly shot by britney and kevin themselves  you don  t get any good details into their personal lives . it  s mostly just them making stupid  jokey small talk and acting like white trash . look  i love britney  s music as much as the next babe  but this show is just pure filler for a nation so addicted to britney that they would watch her clip her toenails  yes  that could be an actual episode  . thank god these two broke up  because they were painfully dull together . this show is toxic   
aardman does it again . next to pixar  aardman animation proves again and again how to do animation properly .  br    br   i had a great time watching the first episode of creature comforts . i thought it translated well for american audiences . my only concern is that most of the audiences aren  t going to get the subtle humor in this show .  br    br   having been a fan of the bbc version and the short film  i knew what i was in for when i sat down to watch this . the animators did a great job matching up pre  recorded voices to a perfect match animal . look at the first episode with the goat  who sounds stoned  and the dogs on the street that keep calling each other  dawg  .  br    br   is this for everyone  not by a long shot . in fact  i  d be happy to see the show last for a full season . but like i said before  audiences aren  t going to get it .  
i don  t know why i  m commenting this stupid reality  show i happened to watch a few episodes of  a cable marathon broadcast when they aired  episodes in a row or something  i didn  t watch the entire thing though . only like three episodes  as i was nine months pregnant and about to go into labor any day . maybe i  m just bored today    br    br   i feel sorry for britney  i really do . for all her money and fame she seem to have very little sense of dignity . or she  s self  centered to the extreme . she married the nitwit federline  okay anybody can make a mistake  and before that she  starred  this horrible show about her everyday life with him  where she shoves a camcorder wherever she feels like it  no matter if it is in someone  s face or into the shower as federline is standing in there . she  s babbling about her sex  life without leaving anything to your imagination  i don  t care for my part  but i can  t help wondering how she feels about it now when she  s divorced . and yes  for her sake i  m embarrassed . but i shouldn  t be . she seem to live a pretty empty  shallow life though . i don  t want to swap lives with her even if i could . road  kill tv if you like .  
i was privileged to have seen some snippets from aardman  s original run of this show in the uk . it was always fun and always funny . none of the charm has been lost in translation   it  s as fresh as the people interviewed   whether some of it is scripted or not  as has been rumored  is beside the point . it  s always entertaining .  br    br   aardman animations shows great imagination in the characters used for each voice  the single aspect that i probably love most about the show and its concept  the hostility between the pandas  the porcupines discussing fear of needles  the painting ape  . regulars really grow on you as well  such as the horse and donkey teens from maryland  most every married couple  the parrots  the insects  and the cats to name a few  and child  voiced character  and i  ve really come to dig the ferret  monday  s finally become a day to which to look forward .  
how did such a terrible script manage to attract this cast  ridiculous  predictable and thoroughly unbelievable  this is well  acted and slickly directed  but the material is so bad it still qualifies as one of the all  time worst thrillers i  ve seen in years . amazingly bad  and not in a fun way . avoid at all costs  even if you  re a fan of someone in the cast .  
i wasn  t going to watch this show . but  i  m glad i did . the critics of this just don  t get it  it  s one of the funniest and most entertaining thing on t . v at the present moment  though  when the interviews were done with common folks they probably seemed useless but  put them in the mouth of animals and insects  and it  s a laugh riot . i laughed so hard  i had tears in my eyes . the pig with the babies suckling and her mother is priceless . the husband and wife birds talking about health problems  and the male bird taking a crap after the wife said she was constipated completely broke me up  creature comforts is the most imaginative show i  ve ever seen in awhile  hopefully  it will be back next summer when this run is over .  
i  m embarrassed to be writing this review . i say that because those of you reading it will know that i sat through the whole thing and that is embarrassing to admit even to strangers . but i just had to warn those who read the viewer comments on imdb before they watch a film not to watch this one . it  s the least i can do . this is a bad movie  trust me . the plot is goofy . the acting is amateurish . and the directing  camera work  sets  costumes  etc . are all second rate . let it go .  
but just as entertaining and random  love it or hate it  but don  t expect a sophisticated plot or nail  biting cliffhanger . think of it like seinfeld  but without the follow  through and repeat performances of wacky characters  well . . . so far i have a feeling i will develop favourites as the season continues  .  br    br    creature comforts  is not for the faint of humour  it  s meant to be enjoyed with the least amount of effort on your brain  s part . which is why this show embodies everything i need in a program when i get home from work in the evening superficial conversation in the background with just the right amount of  cute  to the characters for me to enjoy when i eventually look up from the computer to see what i  m missing .  br    br   funnier than most of today  s sitcoms  calmer than an evening at nascar . just the right mix of dead air and comebacks . can  t wait for the next one .  
wow it  s ironic since this movie has been out for awhile i think that someone else just reviewed it a couple days ago .  br    br   anyways  i watched this movie simply because it has nick stahl  for the record .  br    br   the movie was ridiculous . the characters drove me insane  they were so clich and stereotyped . this movie had some of the worst dialogue i have ever heard . it had way too many plot twists too .  br    br   there is one scene in the movie worth seeing however  the scene  warm heart  cold gun  where nick stahl kills the obnoxious girl in the shower .  well  actually they were all obnoxious .  but his acting in that scene was excellent . the look on his face  it reminded my of american psycho  a good movie  . the scene is worth seeing but not worth seeing the rest of the movie for  do yourself a favor and don  t watch it .  
with films like  wallace  gromit  and  chicken run  under their belt  the good people from the other side of the pond  aardman animation  are now introducing us to a bit of their twisted humor in the form of  creature comforts  .  br    br   derived from a short done early in their careers   creature comforts  is a slice  of  life show where snippets of conversation are removed from their context and given to an animal of some sort .  br    br   aardman animation went across the country interviewing people with innocuous questions such as   are you a liar   and then speed things up a bit asking about their sex lives .  br    br   the answers  while seeming to be boring and mundane  are actually quite funny  when you understand the dialogs come first and the animals are added later .  br    br   how many of these animals look like the person making the statements  one of the characters discussing what he looks for in a woman   i like them kind of thin .  is an insect  the walking stick .  br    br   there are two dogs discussing odors and smells  while sniffing the behind of a poodle  as they talk about the different smells of a woman .  br    br   there are two birds in a cage . as the  wife  tells the litany that is her health  her long suffering husband stands by her  saying nothing .  br    br   while it might take some time for  creature comforts  to find it  s  legs   it should find a place on television for those who are tired of the ordinary . while there are more reality shows than carter has liver pills   creature comforts  is one of a kind and definitely worth watching .  br    br   some of the humor might seem a little racy  it  s the claymation that catches the attention of the children  like the old batman series of the    s  the jokes are subtle enough the kids won  t get them  and it  s the jokes that are there for the adults .  
a cheesy  compellingly awful  and not in a fun way  c grade movie . everything shouts  amateur   from the crumby script  bizarre premises  limited coherence and predictable endings the turgid lighting  sound and hand  held wobbly camera angles the coy and passe sexual inneundo and references the patchy and unbelievable dialgoue to the z rate acting . i saw it on dvd and kept hoping edward wood would pop out . all is forgiven  your worst films are works of art  and more coherent than this twaddle .  br    br   but still  preferable to the warbling  every night in my dreams i hear you   are you sure the titanic crew weren  t involved in this on the side   
i remember stumbling upon this special while channel  surfing in     . i had never heard of barbra before . when the show was over  i thought  this is probably the best thing on tv i will ever see in my life .    years later  that has held true . there is still nothing so amazing  so honestly astonishing as the talent that was displayed here . you can talk about all the super  stars you want to  this is the most superlative of them all   br    br   you name it  she can do it . comedy  pathos  sultry seduction  ballads  barbra is truly a story  teller . her ability to pull off anything she attempts is legendary . but this special was made in the beginning  and helped to create the legend that she quickly became . in spite of rising so far in such a short time  she has fulfilled the promise  revealing more of her talents as she went along . but they are all here from the very beginning . you will not be disappointed in viewing this .  
nothing like a movie about a group of friends who not only all dislike each other to the point of loathing  but they have little to no redeeming qualities to make an audience like or empathize with any of the characters either . there are movies so bad they are good  a la ed wood or tod slaughter films   and there  s just plain bad  like    of uwe boll  s  work   . this film is barely tolerable even if you are a brilliantly talented mstie riffer  e . g .  mystery science theatre      . thankfully while i am rather talented in that regard  it  s how my mind works all the time   for those who are not so naturally talented in mstie riffing  eventually into this film you  ll just want to pull your own head off  painfully aware the movie  taboo  robs you of about an hour and twenty minutes you  ll never get back . even my mstie talents were barely a match for this slow paced  boring waste of time . the most puzzling aspect of this film is that someone green  lit and  or funded it . . . i rented  taboo  solely for the normally talented amber benson  who clearly must have been blackmailed into doing this film . i  ve another lesser known film of hers in my rental queue  the reviews to which i  d better read first . ironically the best aspect of the film was its impressive labyrinthine mansion for its interior location .  
barbra streisand  s first television special was simply fantastic  from her skit as a child to her medley of songs in a high  fashion department store   everything was top  notch  it was easy to understand how this special received awards .  br    br   not muddled down by guest appearances  the focus remained on barbra thoughout the entire production .  
there is no reason to see this movie . a good plot idea is handled very badly . in the middle of the movie everything changes and from there on nothing makes much sense . the reason for the killings are not made clear . the acting is awful . nick stahl obviously needs a better director . he was excellent in in the bedroom  but here he is terrible . amber benson from buffy  has to change her character someday . even those of you who enjoy gratuitous sex and violence will be disappointed . even though the movie was   minutes  which is too short for a good movie  but too long for this one   there are no deleted scenes in the dvd which means they never bothered to fill in the missing parts to the characters .  br    br   don  t spend the time on this one .  
barbra streisand  s debut television special is still a pinnacle moment in entertainment history  in any media . cleverly divided into three separate acts  to minimize the interruption of commercial breaks   streisand made the bold  yet  masterful decision to drop the typical variety show format of the time  which is why there is no guest stars nor forced banter  and carry the entire show on her shoulders alone . the risky move paid off enormously  as my name is barbra set a new standard for musical programming on television .  br    br   filmed in glorious black  and  white  which actually adds to the effectiveness of the show   my name is barbra is flawlessly  conceived and impressively shot . however  what makes the show truly transcendent is streisand herself . watching the then    year old performer navigate herself through the show  s   minute runtime is nothing less than thrilling . she is in fantastic voice  and even performs the entire first and third acts live   and gives first evidence of the immense star power that would soon follow her to the big screen .  br    br   the special  s biggest asset is it  s boldness in allowing streisand to simply stand on stage and sing some great songs . after the powerful opening performance of  much more   with a brief opening snippet from leonard bernstein  s  my name is barbara    barbra proceeds to wander through a multi  level studio set performing a frantic version of the disney classic  i  m late .  in between verses of  i  m late   streisand stops at various levels of the set to sing some terrific numbers such as the haunting  make believe  and the thundering  how does the wine taste   halfway through the act i  barbra re  enters her own childhood to the strains of  a kid again   and then gives highly energetic performances of  i  m five  and  sweet zoo  while romping among an over  sized set . the illusion is eventually shattered  however  as streisand finds herself out of the fantasy and back in the real world . she then sings about this lost childhood innocence in the lovely  where is the wonder   streisand then dashes out onto a platform stage surrounded by an entire room  full of musicians and performs a rousing rendition of  people  before the thunderous applause of a live studio audience .  br    br   act ii of the special begins with streisand hamming it up for the studio audience with a campy rendition of  i  ve got the blues   before delivering a comedy monologue about  pearl from istanbul .  streisand then heads off to bergdorf goodman  s department store  which allows her to sing a medley of poverty songs while parading around in some of the store  s elegant fashions . this segment is the brightest highlight of the special for many fans and critics . some high points of the act ii medley include streisand singing a restrained version of  second hand rose  to the audience  appearing as a latin bullfighter to the tune of  nobody knows you when you  re down and out   and portraying a frustrated paperboy while mugging to  brother  can you spare a dime .  the third act of the special is a straight concert  with no set pieces or concepts . streisand is a performer who really thrives on the concert stage  and this segment is the most thrilling moment of the special . streisand enters belting out an almost gravity  defying rendition of  when the sun comes out   and continues to amaze the viewer with a lovely version of the yearling ballad  why did i choose you   a scorching performance of  lover come back to me   and an impassioned medley of three songs form funny girl . streisand really outdoes herself  however  with a phenomenal rendition of the fanny brice  billie holiday standard  my man   which instantly became on of the singer  s best  loved signature songs .  br    br   streisand performs her immortal ballad version of  happy days are here again  as the closing credits roll by on the left  hand side of the screen . the iconic finish to the number reaffirms to the viewer that he or she has indeed seen something truly special . my name is barbra was a huge rating triumph when first aired  and it eventually picked up five emmy awards in addition to spawning two top  five  gold  selling soundtrack albums . watching it all again  it  s absolutely no surprise .  
there is no reason to see this movie . a good plot idea is handled very badly . in the middle of the movie everything changes and from there on nothing makes much sense . the reason for the killings are not made clear . the acting is awful . nick stahl obviously needs a better director . he was excellent in in the bedroom  but here he is terrible . amber benson from buffy  has to change her character someday . even those of you who enjoy gratuitous sex and violence will be disappointed . even though the movie was   minutes  which is too short for a good movie  but too long for this one   there are no deleted scenes in the dvd which means they never bothered to fill in the missing parts to the characters .  br    br   don  t spend the time on this one .  
as the first of the tv specials offered on the elaborate box set   barbra streisand the television specials   released last november  this disc is being released separately for those who do not want to fork over the dollars for all five specials . as an investment  this is indeed the best of the bunch if only for the fact that this is streisand at her purest and most eager to impress . that she succeeds so brilliantly is a key component of her legend . signed to a long  term contract with cbs to produce hour  long variety shows  an almost extinct format nowadays  streisand was all of   in this cbs special first broadcast in april     . at that point of her career  her notoriety was limited to a handful of best  selling albums  a few dazzling tv appearances on variety and talk shows  and her successful broadway run in  funny girl  .  br    br   filmed in crisp black  and  white  the program is divided into three distinct parts . with the creative transitional use of  i  m late  from disney  s  alice in wonderland   the first segment cleverly shows her growing up from childhood through numbers as diverse as  make believe  and  i  m five  . opening with a comic monologue about pearl from istanbul  the second part moves on location to manhattan  s chic bergdorf goodman  s where she is elegantly costumed in a series of glamorous outfits while singing depression  era songs like  i  ve got plenty of nuthin   and  the best things in life are free  with comic irony . back to basics  the third segment is a straight  ahead concert which opens with a torchy version of  when the sun comes out   includes a  funny girl  medley  and ends with her classic  melancholic take on  happy days are here again  over the ending credits . also included is the brief introduction she taped in     when the special was first released on vhs . for those who know streisand only for her pricey concert tickets and political fundraising  this is a genuine eye  opener into why she is so revered now .  
this was quite possibly the worst film i  ve ever seen . the plot didn  t make a whole lot of sense and the acting was awful . i  m a big fan of amber benson  i think she  s usually a wonderful actress  i can  t imagine why she decided to do this film . her character  piper  is drunk for almost the whole film  with the exception of the opening scene . on the plus side  there was several points in the film where the acting was so bad  i actually laughed out loud . but despite that  i would not recommend this film to anyone . it  s only   minutes long  but that  s   minutes of your life that you will have completely wasted .  
i  like many die  hard trekkers  or trekkies  i don  t care   suffered through seven seasons of  star trek voyager   dreaming of a better show when it was over  lamenting the end of  deep space nine  in     . prayers  answered .  enterprise  is fantastic . fresh perspective  radically different characters  stunning new visuals  a pop  song for the intro .  i was shocked   i can  t think of anything i didn  t like . sign me up for   seasons of this show .  star trek  is back   voyager   nobody misses you  keep on trekkin    br    br     
the bloodsucker leads the dance  what a laughable title  it  s so utterly misleading . it  s not surprising that the film  makers try and mislead us though because this is one terrible movie .  br    br   the story basically involves a murder mystery in a castle on a remote island .  br    br   very little happens in this film . and when something does wake the viewer from his stupor  it invariably is unintentional comedy in the form of atrocious dialogue delivered by a hopeless group of voice  artists . these guys are so bad they make the actors they deliver voices for appear like a group of remedial  level morons . it really is hard to determine how bad the acting is when you have dubbing this abysmal . but the voice  artists cannot be blamed for the script . it  s a travesty . unintentionally funny at best  pathetic at worst . the story in general is  to say the least  uneven . the women characters are particularly idiotic the men are either creepy or tedious .  br    br   the whole enterprise smacks of pure exploitation of the audience . it doesn  t remotely deliver what it promises and even when the murders  finally  start happening  they all occur off screen . all we get is a few half  hearted severed head shots .  br    br   a few people have said that this movie is a giallo . i cannot agree less with this opinion . anyone who enjoys italian thrillers should give this movie a wide berth as there is nothing remotely thrilling about it . it  s basically a soft  core porn film with a horror angle . but it  s not very erotic either .  br    br   i can  t recommend this to anyone .  
streisand fans only familiar with her work from the funny girl film onwards need to see this show to see what a brilliant performer streisand was  before she achieved her goal of becoming a movie star . there had never been a female singer quite like her ever before  and there never would be again  sorry  celine  only in your dreams    but never again would streisand sing with the vibrancy  energy  and  above all  the enthusiasm and vulnerability with which she performs here  by the time she gets to that central park concert only  or  years later  she  d been filming funny girl in hollywood and her performing style has become less spontaneous and more reserved  more rehearsed  and  let  s face it more angry   there  s a wall between her and the audience . live performing was never what she really enjoyed  she did it because she knew it was her ticket to hollywood  and once she no longer had to do it she  s done it as little as possible  and oh  that legendary stage fright provides such a good excuse   .  br    br   her vocals here and on her earlier judy garland show appearance are incredible streisand could truly make an old song sound new again  and composers such as richard rodgers and harold arlen loved her for it . but by the     s streisand was trying to be a  rock  singer  her albums pandering to the younger audiences  with over  wrought shrieking of songs that were unworthy of her effort or her voice .  br    br   in the    s she came back with that brilliant  broadway album   but went on and on about what a struggle it was to get it done  how  they  told her not to do it  etc . oh please  when has anyone told streisand what to do  she could have been doing good stuff like that all along  bringing audiences up to her level instead of stooping to what she thought the young public wanted .  the  back to broadway  sequel wasn  t nearly as good  as streisand seems to feel it necessary to improve on other composers  work if he were alive at the time  would richard rodgers have even recognized his own  some enchanted evening   rodgers  notorious for taking singers to task for playing around with his melodies  would undoubtedly have been after streisand to sing what he  d written  she also blows michael crawford off the cd in their duet of  music of the night   apparently reminding him just whose cd this is . why does she insist on taking songs that are duets and singing them by herself  and songs that aren  t duets and singing them as duets with someone else who she then goes on to diminish    br    br   supposedly judy garland took streisand aside and advised her   don  t let them do to you what they did to me   advice streisand wasted no time in heeding  despite her protestations to the contrary  surely it looks like it  s always been her way or the highway . just imagine  she told the cbs brass how her first tv special would be done  no guests  just her .  br    br   but nobody can argue with the results that are so evident here . treat yourself to this brilliant musical phenomenon before she was a legend  you  ll be absolutely amazed at the difference   br    br   ps  i watched this again last night        after not having seen it for many years  it was even better than i remembered  the  st act begins with  i  m late  and includes  make believe  and  how does the wine taste   and barbra  s homage to childhood   i  m five   it climaxes as streisand appears with full  and i mean full  orchestra to sing  people   she wasn  t bored with the song yet and although it  s a somewhat shorter rendition it really soars  compare it to some of her later  auto  pilot  versions . the  nd act  after streisand  s  kooky  schtick  patter  which hasn  t changed much over the years  is the famous series of depression songs set amidst the extravagance of bergdorf  goodman  s .  br    br   the  rd act is the stunner  call it  streisand  the orchestra  and the audience   although we never see the audience that supposedly witness this historic event  . with her fear of audiences and dislike of such performing  this may have been the toughest part for her  but if so  to her credit it doesn  t show . she tears through  lover come back to me  and the torchy  when the sun comes out   though i can  t remember in which order    the poignant  why did i choose you   one of my all  time favorite streisand performances  and offers a medley of funny girl songs  including  of course   don  t rain on my parade  and my favorite song from the score   the music that makes me dance  . explaining that  fanny brice sang a song like that in      and it made her the toast of broadway   streisand then sings  my man   and it  s almost a dress  rehearsal template for her later screen rendition in the funny girl film  the main difference being that the black gown here is sleeveless  her film gown had long sleeves and against the black background all we saw were her hands and face   but the vocal here is more urgent and charged than her later film vocal .  her performance of the song has everything to do with streisand and nothing to do with fanny brice who  of course  never sang the song in such an all  out manner as streisand does here or in the film  see the great ziegfield for a glimpse of brice  s more understated version .  the show ends with streisand singing  happy days are here again  over the credits .  br    br   when it was over i said to the friend i was watching it with   she has never  ever  done anything better    br    br   and she was twenty  three years old   
don  t waste your time or money on this one . the half decent cast might fool you into thinking that this teen  thriller  whilst hardly about to break any records  might lightly entertain for   minutes .  br    br   it won  t .  br    br   it won  t make you scared  laugh  cry or even challenge your intellect . it will leave you wondering how on earth this movie ever finished production . yes  it really is that poor .  
this was barbra streisand  s first television special and is  must see  viewing for any streisand fan . even non  streisand fans will enjoy this highly energetic and entertaining piece of entertainment history . performers like this only come our way once in a lifetime . brilliant   
 . . . and i never thought a movie deserved to be awarded a   but this one is honestly the worst movie i  ve ever watched . my wife picked it up because of the cast  but the storyline right since the dvd box seemed quite predictable . it is not a mystery  nor a juvenile  catching film . it does not include any sensuality  if that  s what the title could remotely have suggest any of you . this is just a total no  no . don  t waste your time or money unless you feel like watching a bunch of youngsters in a as  grown  up kind of gothic setting  where a killer is going after them . nothing new  nothing interesting  nothing worth watching . max makowski makes the worst of nick stahl .  
in april of      cbs broadcast the first of barbra streisand  s monumental television specials . the show was not only a runaway ratings success  but garnered  emmy awards as well . this is one of the most memorable moments of      s television and  unfortunately  the kind of television special they don  t produce anymore . filled with wonderful songs and a spectacular performance by barbra  this special is a must view for any streisand fan and anyone interested in early television .  
i watched this movie on the grounds that amber benson rocks and nick stahl is generally pretty cool  i figured that any film featuring two actors i like and respect couldn  t be all bad . and in that sense  i was right  considering the cringe  making dialogue they were given  both of them perform reasonably well . not well enough to stop the movie from sucking  you understand  but well enough that i was able to make it through the    odd minutes of movie  and that  s the main sign of an awful film when  at   minutes through  you  re already praying for it to be over  .  br    br   it  s hard to know where to start with the problems in  taboo  . the dialogue  as mentioned  is appalling wooden and completely unnatural . january jones  acting is unbelievably bad  and since she  s the character we spend most of our time following around the house  this is an unforgivable flaw . the plot manages to be so convoluted that it makes no sense while simultaneously being so clichd as to be completely predictable  literally  not one of the major  twists  in this film would surprise anyone but a toddler  . a few interesting shots aside  the director tries far too hard with far too little success  awkward tracking shots and jittery camera  work distracting from what little element of story there is .  br    br   three of this movie  s stars are awarded for the fact that it contains amber benson  and the last is tossed in on the grounds that one of the jokes made me snigger a little bit . i wouldn  t recommend this movie to anyone  ever  under any circumstances . avoid at all costs .  
if people didn  t know who barbra streisand was before this  . . .  is that possible   . . . they sure knew who she was after   br    br   this show went on to win  emmys   stands out as one the best things streisand has ever done .  br    br   it  s made up of  acts . . . .  br    br   act i . . . barbra singing standards from room to room  filled with musicians  including a segment where she is a little girl again  all ending with a splendid version of her signature song   at the time  . . .  people  .  br    br   act ii . . . . a musical tour of bergdoff  goodman  while barbra sings poverty songs . . it  s better than it sounds . . .  br    br   act iii . . . . . the best part  just barbra  musicians   some great songs  like . . . . .  happy days are here again    a  funny girl  medley . . . .  br    br   all in all  a great part of television history  made by one of the greatest performers in the world   
i won  t argue with anyone who pronounces this film execrable  as is january jones  s performance  but please check her out  if you haven  t already  in the amc tv series  mad men   starting later this month . she  s excellent  as is the entire cast . i  ll charitably assume she took on the  taboo  role strictly for the money  and  realizing what a putrid mess it was going to be  turned in a minimal acting job to avoid starvation . don  t know if that  s the case  but i  now  know for sure that she can act .  br    br   at first  watching  taboo   i was convinced her flat delivery was a shrewd choice that would later give rise to some significant revelation about her character or the plot . no such luck . hard to believe the director didn  t suggest to her at least once that not changing expression for   successive scenes could cause lockjaw .  br    br   ironically  her winning performance in  mad men  comes as a character who  at least in her early appearances  is very repressed  reserved  unsure of herself  and rather colorless  not unlike her  taboo  role . but as the tv series progressed  she began to blossom into someone who questions her traditional early     s whitebread mom role . can  t wait to see where they take her character in the  nd season .  br    br   to sum up  avoid  taboo  like leprosy  but definitely check out  mad men .   
barbra streisand in     was still a curiosity  and probably raised more than a few industry eyebrows when cbs signed her to    year    million television deal  nothing these days  . but more important than that  barbra and her manager insisted on creative control   and got it . she had this special filmed her way  and for the most part her vision was by turns clever  canny  and incredible . opening act i with the title song  not written specifically for her   streisand races through a classy cast of songs linked with  i  m late   from  alice in wonderland     she even keeps in the line about fuzzy ears and whiskers and  too much time to shave     this is a totally charming  if not bizarre  selection   and enjoy it because it didn  t make the two soundtrack albums released . she slows down for  make believe   which gets perhaps too slow   but the dramatic  how does the wine taste   is amazing .  a kid again  is cute  with streisand looking tiny in a huge chair   is that where lily tomlin got the idea    as is  sweet zoo    i  m an alligator   crocodile     no  alligator    .  where is the wonder  is very cool and elegant  and her  people  number  surrounded by an orchestra who tap for her at the song  s close  is stunning . act ii is set in new york city  s bergdof goodman  with streisand acting kooky in high fashion get  ups  when she playfully stomps on the mink  the audience watching the tape actually gasps  . act iii  before a studio audience  made up of lucky fan club devotees   begins with a powerful version of  when the sun comes out   streisand actually looks out of breath at the dramatic close   followed by  why did i choose you    probably her best early song   a too  quick  lover  come back to me   where she  s ultimately drowned out by the orchestra   and a  funny girl  medley . the finale   happy days are here again   which reportedly took   takes  closes the hour in amazing fashion . sponsored by chemstrand  a fiber  making company    this black  and  white gem moves fast  with jazzy set  ups  terrific cinematography  kicky sets and costumes . they really don  t make  em like this anymore   and that pertains to the special and to la streisand .  
the movie has the longest  most tortured and agonized ending of any movie i  ve seen in a long time . unfortunately it starts right after the opening credits . january jones gives such a wooden performance  i was surprised she didn  t go up in flames when she got near the candles in the film . i don  t really remember her from the other films she  s done  a blessing i have to believe . i never criticize an actors performance because in film there are too many things which can affect it but in this case  it is so bad that it actually stands out from the atrocious script . granted she  s given lines and situations meryl streep would have trouble with but i swear at times shes reading from a cue card off set . at other times i thought she might actually be learning disabled or slow in some way . for real  the plot  dialog and pacing are as bad as you  ll ever see but there is still no excuse for this performance nor for the director that let it be perpetrated . i feel sorry for the other actors . cruel intentions    little indians  breakfast club shoved into a rotten burrito then regurgitated by a grade school writer  director . take that back this has studio exec crayola all over it .  
hardly a masterpiece . not so well written . beautiful cinematography i think not . this movie wasn  t too terrible but it wasn  t that much better than average . the main story dealing with highly immoral teens should have focused more on the forbidden romance and why this was . . . should have really gotten into it instead of scraping the surface with basically  because mom says we can  t .  some parts should have been dropped altogether or reworked to have more importance to the plight of the two main characters . couple times i was wondering if the writer  director was a fan of george lucas  classic american graffiti . not that it  s wrong to be a fan of that movie but to make your movie at times look like that  i mean come on  worst part of this was that madchen amick had such a small part  i mean double come on   she was the only one  in one or two lines  who actually tried a southern accent .  take a good listen  it was there even though her character was from california  doh    maybe if she was the star others could have followed and we would have had a more authentically sounding movie . oh well  what can ya do when you have a director who  s just a director and not an artist  also . too bad . overall i give this a b  and that  s being a little generous  cause i  m partial to ms . amick .  
as a movie critic for several dutch websites  i have to see lot  s of movies  and not all very good ones . some movies are so bad  you won  t be surprised that they are released straight on video . with taboo  im surprised that it is released on video at all . this is really low budget bad quality bad written rubbish .  br    br   a group of youngsters plays a game of taboo . they write down their most sickening wish or act  and later on people are murdered for their taboo  s . the question is  should we believe what we see   br    br   the movie has a potential interesting plot  twist  and i won  t give it away here . but what could have been interesting stays stupid  bad acted and without any reason .  br    br   some of the actors have played in bigger titles before  so why on earth did they sign up for this  if you see this anywhere  try to dodge it . there is no logic  no human sense of quality in this movie .  
this movie is one of my very favorites . it  s hard to explain why . maybe it  s the innocence of corin nemec and his awkwardness paired with the boldness of cheryl pollak  but it definitely has something to do with the soundtrack . also  some of the characters have little lines or movements or moments that are amusing in and of themselves . finally  the story is one that always tugs at my heartstrings  and the last scene is so bittersweet . all in all  i love this movie it  s perfect for a gooey  sentimental girls  night .  
the name of nick stahl  the young cast and the attractive cover of the vhs made me buy and watch this flick  expecting to see a good teen slash movie . what a crap  the full of clichs screenplay  the dialogs and the performances are awful  dreadful  very bad  terrible  horrendous  summarizing  a complete waste of time . there is no horror  black humor  only an absolutely boring story  with shameful plot points . the film begins with six characters  indeed three couples  together like a group of friends  but indeed very nasty persons that seems to be enemies  playing a ridiculous senseless game called  taboo   and with each one of them writing yes or no for certain taboo issues . that is it no previous development of the characters  the viewer does not know who they are  their motives and relationship . then  there is an ellipsis to one year later  and the same group is gathered together in a new years eve party  insulting each other in a very sordid way . but the plot and the twists are so ridiculous  predictable  mediocre and unbelievable that do not deserve any additional line in my review . one advice only do not waste your time or money on this garbage  you will certainly regret . my vote is one  awful  .  br    br   title  brazil    taboo  jogando com o assassino    taboo  playing with the killer    
i was   years old when this movie premiered on the television . being raised in texas  i understood the boredom  monotony of teenage life there . this movie touched my impressionable teenage heart  i remembered it fondly through the past   years . i recently got to see it for the  nd   rd   th times thanks the the love channel . i still cry because the movie reaches in  touches my inner confused teenager .  
just finished this movie . . . saw it on the video shelf and being a nick stahl fan i just had to rent it . in all honesty  it probably should have stayed on the shelf . the concept was an interesting one and there were several fairly smart twists and turns but somehow i guessed almost all of them before they came along . and the movie just went a little too far in the end in my opinion . . . if you have to suffer through a viewing of it you  ll see what i mean   br    br   on a positive note  nick stahl  s acting was great  especially considering what he had to work with  . eddie kaye thomas was also good but he always plays the same type of character . . . too much paul finch from  american pie  coming through for my liking .  br    br   and finally  the worst part of this movie has to be january jones  emotionless performance . . . i guess a pretty face really is all that matters in hollywood .  
if you are like me then you will love this great coming of age teen movie . i think it is up there with mischief  book of love  high school usa  shout  calender girl  crybaby  all great movies set in the lat   s  early   s and it has a wonderful soundtrack . not as many songs as in some of these type of movies but still great . it is all so very funny at times and has a great love interest . all the young cast are great . i wish there were more type of these wonderful movies . my favourite movie of all time is back to the future when marty mcfly gos back to     well in these wonderful movies it stays in the fab   s  early   s  there are some movies of this type better than this but not many .  
i rented this film just to see amber benson  though after reading the box i thought it sounded like a good story . . . . . however the first problem was that there really wasn  t a story . . . or actually there was a story but it made absolutely no sense . the second problem was there was no set up for these characters . . . yes i got that they all went to school together  but within the first  minutes of the film you realized they had nothing else in common and didn  t like each other . . . so why did they keep getting together . flaw number  . . . the director though long pauses and tight camera shots equaled suspense  especially with the typical suspense music dubbed in  . . . he was sadly mistaken . it was painful to watch a terrific actress like amber benson waste time trying to bring this back to life . . . . my only hope is the money she made here was put toward producing her own film .  
hi  br    br   my name is jessica  i  m italian   br    br   some time ago i have seen this film   for the very first time   with corin corky nemec . it was the story of micheal and mary margaret . i need to know the title of the song of the most important love scene in micheal  s bedroom .  br    br   in italy this film hasn  t been programmed for many years and i don  t know how to find the song . a lot of thanks for who can help me  i love this film  is very romantic  the soundtrack is beautiful  i love cheryl pollack  jessica  
this film was a waste of time  even rented on dvd . if super  speedy camera shots get any faster than this  we might as well pay twenty bucks to get in the laundromat  get popcorn  and watch the dryer spin . jet li is so much better than this . one can only hope that he won  t be making deals anytime soon to make another cliche  ridden film like the one .  br    br   if there  s one film you should avoid  this is  the one  .  
i think this has the potential of being the best star trek series yet  i say potential . . we all know there is a chance they will drop the ball and run out of ideas . . . but i hope not  for those that have not seen it . . see it  without that annoying  prime directive  floating over their heads every time they encounter races it could be cool . . and scott bakula was without a doubt a great choice for captain  and the vulcan babe is hot too   check out the decontamination scene  i gave this a full   . . . it blows away all the other series openers . . i hope this goes longer than  years . . .  
la sanguisuga conduce la danza  or the bloodsucker leads the dance as i believe is it  s common english title  is set on  ireland  in       where the mysterious count richard marnack  giacomo rossi  stuart  invites soon  to  be out of work theatre actress evelyn  patrizia webley as patrizia de rossi   three more of her fellow soon  to  be out of work actress friends cora  krista nell   penny  lidia olizzi   rosalind  marzia damon as caterina chiani  to his castle situated on a small island just off the coast . at first evelyn is reluctant but is persuaded when it is agreed stage hand samuel  leo valeriano  goes along as well . once there count marnack tells his guests that his father  grandfather both cut the heads off their cheating wives using a ceremonial knife  there  s a feeling of unease when it turns out that evelyn looks exactly the same as the current count  s wife who ran away not too long ago . . . along with having to worry about weirdo servants it turns out that someone wants to use the knife themselves to chop a few heads off . . .  br    br   this italian production was written  directed by alfredo rizzo  is total  complete  utter crap from start to finish . first things first lets start the criticism with the title the bloodsucker leads the dance  lets examine that title because when i do i feel somewhat cheated that there aren  t any vampires or any form of bloodsucking whatsoever  no  one  leads  anything at anytime  there most certainly isn  t any dance or dancing so don  t expect any of these things . what you should expect though is a tedious  dull  boring pointless little  giallo  that takes over an hour before anyone is killed  any sort of murder mystery starts to take shape  the first hour of la sanguisuga conduce la danza is as plot less  uninteresting as anything out there . the best way to imagine it is to think of the most boring soft  core porn film you  ve ever seen  then cut most of the soft  core porn out  that just leaves bad actors  bad dubbing  bad dialogue  a tiny bit of soft  core sex  lesbianism  absolutely nothing else . yep  it really is that bad . the mystery elements are crap  people do illogical things for no apparent reason  the overly complicated  twist  ending is as bad as the rest of it  the sixth sense       this ain  t   br    br   director rozzi does an ok job  la sanguisga conduce la danza actually has a nice look  feel to it despite it  s obvious low budget  i mean there are scenes where he shows a  storm  raging outside the castle however the stock footage used is in black  white  so the film jumps from bright colour to black  white whenever it cuts to the storm  back to colour again  there is one absolutely hilarious scene where a maid  her friend discuss her breasts  she lets her friend feel them who is then full of compliments  this scene is so funny  just so unnatural that it  s priceless  easily the films best moment even if a bad    s porno would be embarrassed by the dialogue  there is minimal nudity  the sex  lesbian scenes are very tame . forget about any blood or gore as there isn  t any apart from a decapitated head .  br    br   technically the films pretty good  the period setting  production design are actually quite impressive although it  s not massive in scope it does the job effectively enough . the film has a nice sense of colour  the cinematography is fine . the film is dubbed so it  s hard to give an opinion on the original performances but the voice actors are terrible  the dialogue is even worse than usual .  br    br   la sanguisuga conduce la danza is a terrible film  it makes no sense  it has virtually no story for over an hour  it has possibly the most misleading title ever  is really dull  boring with a confused stupid  twist  ending . as far as euro horror fans go there are plenty of much better films than this so please don  t waste your time  as for anyone else this is definitely one to avoid . trivia note the notorious   banned in the uk  nazi exploitation  horror film horrifying experiments of the s . s last days       aka ss hell camp  the beast in heat was directed by luigi batzella  he has a fairly substantial role as a police detective in la sanguisuga conduce la danza .  
this is what a movie should be when trying to capture the essence of that which is very surreal . it has this hazy overtone that is rarely captured on film  it feels like a dream sequence and really moves you into a dark haunting memory . the kids were extremely believable and i do expect some things to come of them in the future . very natural acting for such young ones  i don  t know if bill pulled it out of them or there just that good  but no the less excellent . bill scored as far as i  m concerned and for the comment by kevnjeff about mr . paxtons bad acting  what can one do in that role . he played the part rather well in my opinion . this is coming from someone who said hamlet was good  the ethan hawke version   wow . . . . . . . . . do not listen to his comments . great flick to make you feel really uncomfortable  if that  s what you want  cinematography gets an above the average rating also .  
this is the most messed up entry on imdb that i  ve yet to stumble across . all the previous reviewers act like this is the movie . this is not the movie . rather it  s merely a featurette that  s an extra on the dvd of the movie  the one  it also nowhere near being the   minutes that it  s listed here as . in actuality it  s barely over   minutes of how cool jet li can do martial arts . and his reflections on the movie . so yeah this imdb entry is quite a bit fubar . don  t listen to any of the other reviews as they are all wrong . you can trust me  because i never feed you  dear reader  bs .  br    br   and that  s the truth . i guess u can say that i  m  the one  reviewer that matters .  
i rented this movie and watched it   times before i took it back to the store . bill paxton hired some first rate talent to make a good thriller with some interesting twists . the story is original and well written . powers booth and paxton both deliver good performances . the story is told in an interesting manner with both flashbacks   years back  then spots in the present  alternating back and forth . this style of storytelling makes for a good thriller that can  t get dull . bill paxton  please make more horror movies  you have the talent for it   
this is one of the worst movies i  ve seen in a long time . the story was boring  the dialogue was atrocious and the acting hammy . i  m not sure if this movie was the result of a film school homework project  but it certainly played like one . it is not even particularly successful in its central conceit of trying to appear as a single continuous take . the whooshing horizontal camera pans are a cheap and unoriginal way of hiding cuts .  
frailty         it  s non  sensical title and  bill paxton directs  headline aside  this is a pretty good old fashioned rip snorting biblical horror thriller . in the end  it may end up only being the inbred southern gothic cousin of kubrick  s  the shining     but hey  that  s a pretty damn entertaining notion . it  s also got a doozy of a plot twist . . . and a very ambiguous moral message . this is the kind of movie that years from now people will catch late at night on basic cable and scare the beejesus out of themselves watching it . too bad director bill paxton had to go hire himself to star . . . oh well . . . . still a devil of a good rent .  
oh dear  this movie was bad for various reasons . i was expecting to see a very low score for this film and was a bit surprised by the over  all score . sorry  but to rate this highly as many have  is a joke  once you get past the one shot  black and white movie gimmick  which was a nice idea  the movie drags on  even at a run time of only   minutes . the credits sequence at the start was so annoying too  in the van the guys suffer a flat tyre and change the wheel  wow  that was needed in the story  how slow were the guys chasing and actually managing to wound campbell   they did not seem to bother continue chasing him . . . sigh . . i am only too glad i got this free with a special edition of evil dead    
my husband and i just got done watching this movie . i was not expecting it to be this good  i was really astonished at how great the story line was . i  m usually very good at figuring out twisty plots . . . but this one had me . i loved it  i  m going to have to watch it again before i take it back . i might even have to buy it .    
nobody  but nobody  could chew the scenery like the divine one  ruth elizabeth davis  and  elizabeth and essex  is a great example why . although she overplays the part at times  watch her when she gawfs about raliegh writing the lyrics to a song her ladies  in  waiting are about to play in that one moment  she makes us understand how elizabeth was able to rule and rule absolutely  at other times  she is done in by the script  s sappiness . when elizabeth has to be vulnerable  she comes off as weak and shrewish . this has the added effect of undermining her authority when she blows her stack and threatens to dispense justice  it  s hard to take her seriously .  br    br   flynn exudes charm  making us see how essex was able to worm his way into elizabeth  s heart  but he is totally inept at conveying the complexity and sheer evil of the man . it also doesn  t help that essex is badly underwritten . why is he this hothead who wants to overthrow his queen  even as he swears fidelity to her  except only that he is more blue  blooded  thus  more  worthy  of rule  and why does raliegh betray elizabeth by intercepting her and essex  s letters  he  s in no risk of falling out of favor  and we know where essex  and his head  is headed . so why does he risk his own head by speeding up the inevitable   br    br   what did curtiz do with all the  he was given  he doesn  t even bother to try to hide the fact that his battle scenes are shot on a sound stage . he should  ve ended it with elizabeth the first time alone at the tower everything else that follows  especially the final scene between her and essex  is unnecessary . the costumes are fantastic . and is it me  or does bette look exactly like susan sarandon   
i couldn  t help but feel that this could have been a bigger movie than it was . the screenplay is highly intelligent and it just seemed that it could have been opened up in a way more reminiscent of seven . not by changing the story  i think mainly through the cinematography . the cinematography was the only thing that i found to be holding back the film . on the other hand  the pacing was absolutely on point . whoever worked on the editing really did their job well . and i thought bill paxton did a great job of directing . now away from the technical stuff . . .  br    br   this movie threw me for a loop . spoiler ahead     all along  i really felt that bill paxton was crazy and then when adam finally took the fbi agent to the rose garden to show him where the bodies were buried and revealed who he was  i got thrown for a loop . i had suspected the first part of the twist but what really threw me was when he touches the agent and sees the agent murder his mother and the fact that the agent too  without any words spoken  simply by touch  sees it again with adam and asks him how he knew . my dilemma was not that it was yet another twist thrown in but the almost ungraspable idea that this man and his father were not crazy but actually picked out  bad guys  so to speak  knowing their sins and crimes already . i don  t endorse an eye for an eye so i didn  t leave the film being able to believe that they were doing god  s work . instead i chose to believe that they were both clairvoyant and that the father had gone off the deep end one day from it and through the things that he subjected his sons to  disturbed them permanently also . that was my interpretation but the vexing thing about the film was it  s like a house of cards and a never  ending circle and what is the correct interpretation of the disturbing events you  ve sat through . it  s definitely one of those movies where i  d love to be able to meet the writer so i could just ask him what the real meaning was to it all . were they crazy and psychotic  were they simply telepathic and took license because of it  or did they have some sort of appearance from god  and if so  was it god or the devil disguising himself as god . my friends and i found ourselves talking about it all night trying to figure out what was what and what the filmmakers had thought was the answer when they made this movie .  br    br   a definitely perplexing and thought invoking film with some very disturbing but certainly not sensationalistic elements to it . it  s not a perfect film  but it definitely is it  s own thing . great directorial work and acting by bill paxton and the child that played fenton was extremely good . i hope he doesn  t end up relegated to the child actor syndrome as he seems to have a lot of promise . i gave this movie a good vote for the majority of the components that make a film  but i would have voted higher if wasn  t for the feeling that something  although i can  t pinpoint what  was off and if it hadn  t have been  the movie would have gone to an even higher level . still  a definite recommend  especially for those that are inquisitive .  
there  s not much to say about this one . gammera is some kind of fire breathing turtle . he is loosed by a nuclear explosion . he heads for land and begins to destroy building and tanks and other junk  oh yeah  power lines . i almost forgot  . at one time  early in the film  he befriends a little boy  and instead of just throwing him away  or squashing him  he places him down on the ground . safe . from then on we have to watch this chubby faced little twerp show up and run away  show up and run away  show up and run away . for some reason  gammera is able to hear this kid from       feet away . oh  well  the plot is to try to get gammera to get to a place where he can be put on board a rocket and shot into space . as usual  the monster is lumbering and uncoordinated  a guy in a gammera suit  . the japanese army  with the help of americans   uses up enough ammunition and fire power to solve the national debt  and  of course  it does no good . they should know this anyway . we  ve seen a lot of monsters stomp on tokyo . not to put these down because they can be fun  but it  s really not very good .  
man  some of you people have got to chill . this movie was artistic genius . instead of searching for reasoning or messages to justify it in your reality  why can  t you understand that it is a work of fiction  a story . entertainment  for god  s sake  no pun intended  . it seems to me that too many of the people on here are trying to be movie critics   and they  re not doing to well . i  m so impressed by the movie and bill paxton  s job at directing  that i  m going to contact him personally to tell him . ya know  if you weren  t trying to analyze the heck out of the possibility of the story line  you might just enjoy the film . me and all of my friends did   
this  clever  film was originally a japanese film . and while i assume that original film was pretty bad  it was made a good bit worse when american  international films hacked the film to pieces and inserted american  made segments to fool the audience . now unless your audience is made of total idiots  it becomes painfully obvious that this was done   and done with little finesse or care about the final product . the bottom line is that you have a lot of clearly japanese scenes and then clearly american scenes where the film looks quite different . plus  the american scenes really are meaningless and consist of two different groups of people at meetings just talking about gamera   the evil flying turtle  and although this is a fire  breathing  flying and destructive monster  there is practically no energy because i assume the actors were just embarrassed by being in this wretched film   in particular  film veterans brian donlevy and albert dekker . they both just looked tired and ill  at  ease for being there .  br    br   now as for the monster  it  s not quite the standard godzilla  like creature . seeing a giant fanged turtle retract his head and limbs and begin spinning through the air like a missile is hilarious . on the other hand  the crappy model planes  destructible balsa buildings and power plant are  as usual  in this film and come as no surprise . plus an odd japanese monster movie clich is included that will frankly annoy most non  japanese audience members  and that is the  adorable and precocious little boy who loves the monster and believes in him  . yeah  right . well  just like in godzilla versus the smog monster and several other films  you  ve got this annoying creep cheering on the monster  though unlike later incarnations of godzilla  gamera is not a good guy and it turns out in the end the kid is just an idiot  silly  exceptional poor special effects that could be done better by the average seven year  old  bad acting  meaningless american clips and occasionally horrid voice dubbing make this a wretched film . oddly  while most will surely hate this film  and that stupid kid   there is a small and very vocal minority that love these films and compare them to bergman and kurosawa . don  t believe them   this is a terrible film   br    br   fyi   apparently due to his terrific stage presence  gamera was featured in several more films in the   s as well as some recent incarnations . none of these change the central fact that he is a fire  breathing flying turtle or that the movies are really  really lame .  
this is a great movie that everyone should see . it plays like a dean koontz book .  br    br   bill paxton  s performance was great in that it really seems like he believes in what he is saying and doing .  br    br   i don  t know why viewers have to read in some kind of advocacy for religious murder in to the film . it is fiction . the ending is surprising  but fictional . so what  i think that is what makes this movie so good . spoiler do not read further if you havent seen the movie . throughout the movie  the viewer is continually shocked at the sickness of paxton  s character  the impact on the children  and the way the children handle this outrageous conduct . and then at the end  it turns out to be true . god has put him on a mission to rid the world of demons . paxton is not clairvoyant as other viewers suggest . sure  he is given info that he couldn  t have known otherwise  but the movie goes further to show how god is  protecting  adam through the convenient video quality problem and the complete lack of memory of the second fbi agent . the film isn  t advocating christian murder  it is merely taking the viewer on a very unexpected ride .  
flame in  flame out . that seems to be gammera in a nutshell  a prehistoric creature who can take it and dish it out with equal abandon . i  m not a fan of japanese monster films  but wound up committed to viewing all the flicks on the fifty film dvd sci  fi collection put out by mill creek  treeline films . it  s a great value at about twenty five bucks  so at fifty cents per movie  it really boils down to an investment in time to watch some of the goofy offerings .  br    br   gammera is riled from a centuries long slumber by a nuclear blast  and he  s not happy . like godzilla  he takes it out on tokyo  setting the united nations into motion to try and come up with a plan to save the planet . they arrive at  plan z   the hope of the world  and wouldn  t you know it  there  s a scene where a huge shed is shown that  s called the  z plan  building that was a nice touch .  br    br   by the mid      s  this country still wasn  t quite politically correct . one of the american military scenes at the alaskan air defense sector has general arnold asking a female sergeant to make coffee . i guess there weren  t any privates around .  br    br   good old gammera was quite the sight though  walking around on two legs and going for the flame throwing routine when challenged . that  s why it surprised me how plan z managed to capture turtle man in the nose cone of a hidden space ship  whisking him off to mars to save the world . high fives all around for the american and russian team that made the save  now let  s get back to the cold war .  br    br   like godzilla  gammera spawned at least a good dozen films  but having seen this one pretty much satisfies my interest in flying  flaming turtles . especially since that dvd pack i mentioned earlier has  attack of the monsters  with a featured guest appearance by the big g . it took all i had to make it through to the end of both films it was such a relief to get to the final frame in this one that said  gammera  sayonara    
i gave this movie a   because it needed to be rewarded for its scary elements and actors and my god the enging  the thing is i don  t want to tell anyone anything about the acting or story because it will ruin the movie . but i will recommend that you go straight to your nearest moviestore right now and rent it   don  t forget popcorn    
we now travel to a parallel universe where the appearance of giant prehistoric monsters flattening cities are part of the daily routine . it  s the world of godzilla  rodan  mothra ghidrah and their kind  a strange world  and one made even stranger by the appearance of an unidentified flying turtle called gamera .  br    br   forever in the shadow of the monolithic toho studios  second rung daiei studios were more famous for samurai sagas than monster movies . in the mid   s they decided to join the giant reptile race and designed a rival monster series to toho  s mammothly successful godzilla . they wisely chose gamera as their flagship  a giant turtle that shoots flames from between its snaggle  teeth  and spins through the air by shooting flames through its shell  s feet  holes  and at one point you almost see the paper mache shell catch fire   .  br    br   the first gamera film  gamera the invincible   as it was sold to the us  is a virtual mirror of the first godzilla film  only   years behind . american fighters chase an unmarked plane over the arctic to its fiery demise  the nuclear bomb on board ignites and awakens the giant gamera from its icy slumber . feeding off atomic energy  it immediately goes on a rampage  and the world wants to destroy gamera once and for all  but a little japanese boy named kenny  who has a psychic connection with the giant turtle and even keeps a miniature version in an aquarium by his bedside  believes gamera is essentially kind and benevolent . he  s like a little jewish kid with a pinup of hitler .  gamera is a good turtle   he pleads  then sulks  and puts on a face like someone  s pooped in his coco pops . miraculously the world  s leaders listen to him  and so begins z  plan to save the world and gamera from complete destruction .  br    br   released in      gamera was a surprising hit . the annoying infantile anthropomorphism actually worked on kiddie audiences in both japan and the us  and the sight of gamera on two feet stomping miniatures of tokyo and the north pole is gloriously chintzy . most surprising of all is the longevity of the series eight original gamera films  plus a slew of recent remakes . not bad for a mutant reptile whose only friend is mewing eight year old milquetoast  and if i hear  gamera is friends to all children  one more time i  m going to crush tokyo . which appears to be an easy task in the parallel universe where children are smart and turtles are bigger than a seiko billboard in the     turtle  fest gamera .  
it  s really annoying when good movies like this one go unnoticed . but i  m glad i did not miss it .  br    br   they should re  release it with a lot more publicity . i do not think they did anything to promote it . great work paxton .  br    br    
with the rising popularity of the now iconic godzilla series  like with any hit cinema event  there was inevitably going to be a crowd of imitators trying to cash in on the success on the big lizard . with godzilla came the dawn of a rising popularity of the kaiju  giant monster  genre . many sought after success a few gained it . one of the few that not only profited  but garnered popularity was gamera  a giant turtle that could breathe fire in and out and fly by spewing flames from the sockets in his carapace as a means of jet propulsion . but unlike godzilla  gamera was marketed as a friend to all children  later fighting other monsters to save kids in peril  and thus gamera became very popular amongst the kiddies . unfortunately  that  s about the only audience mainstream that the original gamera series will have any appeal to . while the new gamera movies directed by shusuke kaneko are marvelous  revolutionary monster movies  the original series  including the original  is nothing special .  br    br   the first gamera movie  titled in japan as  the giant monster gamera  was clearly a godzilla want  to  be . even though the movie was produced in the era of color films  it was shot in black  and  white . why  to imitate the first godzilla movie from the     s . gamera also attacks tokyo . because godzilla attacked tokyo in the first movie . i don  t know much about the japanese version  for the version i am familiar with the americanized version  where scenes were cut and new footage with american actors were inserted  is it coincidence that the same thing happened with the first godzilla film   now whether this adds or takes away from the film  i cannot say . but  gammera the invincible  is really nothing more than a ponderous bore that just plods along like the big turtle himself .  br    br    gammera the invincible  is a very routine  orientated movie . the characters are from a stock of science  fiction standards  the story is inane  the monster has no real motive for attacking civilization  the acting is laughable  and so on and so forth . the only thing that differentiates it from the godzilla series is the ending of the movie  but that  s also a detractor since the plan that eventually halts gamera  s rampage is completely phony and ridiculous . now the rest of the movie and many other entries in this genre also fit that description  but this is a direfully stodgy monster movie .  br    br   and although shusuke kaneko would later transform gamera into an interesting monster with his trilogy in the     s  in the original series  gamera was not an attractive screen presence . he was neither scary nor sympathetic . he just waddles around like a toddler  swaying with each step  and knocks miniature sets over . as usual  everybody wants to destroy gamera except for a little kid  yoshio uchida who was lazily left out of the credits though he plays a  central  role  who thinks gamera is a nice turtle .  br    br   most movies in the genre that  gammera the invincible  is a part of are easy targets for criticism and this one is subject to extra pressure . even in the company of many other godzilla  imitators  this gamera film is not a particularly good entry . and as far as my cinema experience goes  the rest of the movies in the series are either just as boring or worse . like godzilla  gamera would be filmed in color and go on to fight monsters . and like godzilla  he  d get cheaper and cheaper with every film until it was time to revive the series and make him serious again .  br    br   it  s peculiar . usually i recommend people to stick with the originals and pass on the remakes . but in the case of gamera  my verdict is just the opposite . i strongly encourage people to watch the     s gamera trilogy directed by shusuke kaneko and to skip over the original series unless interested . the new films are inventive  well  made  exciting  and above all  fun . the original series is a long stream of boredom .  
i went into this movie perhaps a bit jaded by the hack  and  slash films rampant on the screen these days . boy  was i surprised . this little treasure was pleasantly paced with a somber  dark atmosphere . more surprising yet was the very limited amount of blood actually shown . as with most good movies  this one leaves something to the imagination  and bill paxton did a superb job at directing . scenes shot inside the car as are well done and  after watching the  anatomy of a scene  episode at the end of the video tape  it was good to see that some of the subtle  yet wonderful things i had noticed were intentional and not just an  oh  that looks good  keep it  type of direction . this is a moody movie  filled with grimness . still  for the dark subject  a considerable portion of it is filmed in daylight  even some of the more disturbing scenes . the acting is exceptional  okay  i  ve always been a fan of powers booth   and never goes over the top . au contraire  it is very subdued which works extremely well for this type of film . if there is any one area where this film lacks  it is in the ending  which seems just a bit too contrived  but still works on a simpler level without destroying the mood or the message of the movie . what is the message  it  s something that each individual decides for themself . overall  on the     scale  this movie scores an  for those who like the southern gothic genre  ie  body heat  or  midnight in the garden of good and evil    and about a  for those who don  t .  
  after the atomic bombs carried by a shot  down soviet bomber explode in the arctic  the creature  gammera  is released from his hibernation . the giant prehistoric turtle proceeds on a path to tokyo and destroys anything in his path . the military and the scientific community rush to find a means to stop this monster before tokyo is laid to waste   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   the re  produced for american audiences version of this  the first film in the  gamera  series  adds english language material that is even funnier than the regularly dubbed japanese fare . clearly  the monster is following in the footsteps of  godzilla  . taking his cue from abc  s faddish  batman   tv series  musician wes farrell  s ludicrous theme song heightens the us version  s camp appeal .  br    br    gammera the invincible           sandy howard  noriaki yuasa  dick o  neill  brian donlevy  albert dekker  john baragrey  
ok  so  this is coming a few weeks late  but it is here . mostly  this is because of statements of various negative natures . starting with the technology . when star trek tos ran  special effect technology was extreamely low tec  and more than that  the crew had little money to do any kind of proper mock ups . in the   years seince tos premiered  the crew of star trek have become experts at economy .  br    br   ultimately  they have decided  quite rightly in my mind  to abandon the look of tos and reverse engineered tng et all . so what if they decided not to make the transporter out of gold glitter or made the phase pistols look closer to the ones from star trek ii  as for the nits being picked about first contact with the klingon empire  it was presumed based upon comments made by kirk and riker that earth only met the klingon  s in     . nothing was firmly established .  br    br   enterprise gives us the most promising venue of exploration that we  ve seen in a while . this is what voyager could have been . no series can evolve without a few inconsistancies  but be thankful that star trek has so few . so  quit gripping and enjoy .  
this movie is not only a very bad movie  with awful actors   or presumed actors    a bored direction and a story unattractive  it also copies exactly an scene from the excellent  giallio   torso   directed by sergio martino in      two years before   one of the most celebrated psycho  thrillers of italian cinema and a cult  movie around the world . in  la sanguinusa conduce la danza   the director replays the bed scene between the black girl and the white girl  with an peeping  tom watching from a window of the bedroom . naturally  the scene in rizzo  s movie is ridiculous and inferior to the softness and charming in martino  s film . to put another black girl  another white girl and another peeping  tom replaying the scene is simply the most appropriate way of prove that rizzo  s movie has no ideas  no originality  no taste  and nothing at all . i think that such things are an offense to spectator .  
something surprised me about this movie  it was actually original . it was not the same old recycled crap that comes out of hollywood every month .  br    br   i saw this movie on video because i did not even know about it before i saw it at my local video store . if you see this movie available  rent it  you will not regret it . the suspense builds throughout and the twist ending is excellent .  br    br    
what  s that there in the skies  is it a plane  is it superman   errr  no it  s a turtle    see  that  s what becomes of the cold war  nothing but bad news and other issues  the americans shoot down a russian combat plane somewhere over artic territory and the subsequent explosion defrosts  literally awakens the giant prehistoric turtle  creature named gammera . he  she is not a very friendly critter as it promptly ensues to destroy everything and everyone on its path . the arguing governments finally decide to kill the ugly bastard with a brand new and super  sophisticated ice  bomb  but gammera has another surprise in store the damn turtle can fly  the first time this happens results in a tremendously grotesque and hilarious sequence  gammera lies on his back looking defeated when suddenly fire blows from his armpits and he skyrockets himself up in the air . how can you not love that  then there  s also a dire sub plot about an annoying kid who  s able to telepathically communicate with the monster  but that  s just not interesting enough . flying turtle  people   there  s very little else to write about this japanese  and american re  edited  sci  fi effort  apart from that it  s an obvious and totally shameless rip  off of such classics like the original godzilla and the beast from   .    fathoms . the effects and monster designs are extremely hokey and  unlike the aforementioned films  it never succeeds in creating an apocalyptic ambiance . respectable actors like brian donlevy   the quatermass experiment   and dick o  neill   wolfen   seem unaware of what film set they  re on and even the original japanese mayhem  scenes aren  t very convincing . gammera  s very own and personalized theme  song is rather cool  though  so it gets one extra point for that .  
this movie is beautifully designed  there are no flaws . not in the design of the set  the lighting  the sounds  the plot . the script is an invitation to a complex game where the participants are on a simple mission .  br    br   paxton is at his best in this role . his mannerisms  the infections used in the tones of his voice are without miscue . each shot meticulously done  surprises turn up one after another when the movie reaches past its first hour . this may not be the best picture of the year  but it  s a gem that has been very well polished . it  s not for the simple mind .  
the original     japanese film  gamera  http   pro . imdb . com  title  tt         was essentially an updating of the darker  less kid  oriented gojira  godzilla  for     s sensibilities . gamera  of course  is a giant  flying  flame  throwing turtle who literally consumes energy  not quite as big as some versions of godzilla  but generally similar in most ways .  br    br   this version of the original film was edited and recut by the notorious sandy frank . and just like the americanized version of godzilla   godzilla king of the monsters     gammera the invincible  gets more than just the spelling wrong . the american scenes are not nearly as ludicrous and annoying as those added to the great gojira  but don  t really add much to the story either because there is little follow up on them .  br    br   the film starts off promising  there are a few scenes worth of character development  and there are enough personalities to create some tension outside of the main plot . once gamera appears  however  the film begins to descend into a fairly run  of  the mill kaiju film .  br    br   the acting is good enough  even the american add  ons are ok . the directing is pretty good for this period and genre  and the special effects are not bad at all for their time  all miniatures  . some of the sets and backdrops are actually very good .  br    br   the biggest problem here  of course  is that there is little to nothing original about this film . gamera  however  develops a much more unique personality in his later films  most of which are worth watching if you are a kaiju fan .  
the movie  frailty  is actually more of a psychological thriller than it is a horror film . it has all the trappings of a horror film but this it is not .  frailty  is a film about perceptions of religion and realizing the differences between right and wrong .  br    br   in  frailty   a middle  aged father  bill paxton  and his two sons claim to be doing the work of god . it turns out that they are a trio of notorious serial killers called  god  s hands  . we watch the father kill the  demons  in some rather brutal ways while convincing his sons and himself that they are doing the work god and that what they are doing is right . he claims that he received a message from an angel who gave him specific instructions to eliminate the demons living here on earth . god has given him a list of names and in return for his  services   he and his sons will be given protection  which basically means the police will never be able to capture them . we see all of this unfold in front of us in a very disturbing manner . but what is really disturbing about it all is the effect that it has on the two sons  particularly the oldest son  adam . adam himself seriously doubts the existence of a supreme being  that is until his father and a week in the cellar changes all of that . he knows that his father has obviously lost his mind and is pretty sure the same is happening to his younger brother  fenton . fenton  the other half of this puzzle  takes everything in as if it were his own religion . he seems trapped in his father  s world of god and demons . i suppose this is because he  s so young and easily impressionable . but everything that happens to these three is rather convincing  in fact  too convincing .  br    br   the events that occur in the film can be looked upon as a vivid hallucination that is being experienced by the three main characters . i say this because they each react to the situation in different ways and at one point in the film they each claim to see god . dad first sees the murders as his mission . his  mission  eventually consumes him and quickly turns into an obsession with eradicating demons . in fact  his hallucination is the primary one . his  orders  and the list of names he receives are all a part of this hallucination . watch the scene where dad finds the ax in a barn to figure out where i am coming from . fenton  the younger son  is easily impressed by all of this talk of demons and destruction . since he is so young  it  s easy for him to fall into his father  s trap . adam  on the other is very skeptical towards his father  s actions .  br    br   spoilers  br    br   in a way  the hallucination ends when dad is killed towards the end of the movie .  i will not say how or under what circumstances  . but i will say that it is not pleasant . after his death  it fast  forwards to the present day .  the story is being told through flashbacks  as seen through the eyes of the oldest son adam  . in actuality  it is fenton that is telling the story  not adam as originally believed . the story is being told the way he perceived it  through his actions and his brother  s actions . fenton has gone insane and is continuing what his father started by luring the fbi agent into his trap .  br    br   since religion is a major theme in this movie  the film also plays on how easy it is for religion to be misinterpreted by those that do not have a full understanding of it . before dad discovered his newfound mission  he himself did not have a clear understanding of religion nor did he fully believe in a supreme being . his sons fenton and adam often sang innocent little children  s church hymns but yet probably did not have a clear understanding of what the lyrics meant . after the revelation of dad  s newfound mission  they both took off in separate directions  adam remained in doubt of there being a supreme being while fenton was gradually sucked into his father  s madness .  br    br   a very good thriller that will creep the heck out of you  do not watch it alone .  
this movie was in a sci  fi    pack a friend of mine got me for christmas . it is very similar to the first gozilla movie  and like that movie  has scenes with american actors inserted for no real reason . one interesting thing about the inserted scenes is that there  s a cold war tension portrayed between america and russia . like in godzilla  gamera is awakened by an atomic explosion and rampages across the world  paying close attention to tokyo because no big monster movie is complete unless tokyo bites it . all in all  this is an okay movie . some of the scenes involving gamera  particularly the scenes in toly  are quite spectacular and have special effects that were pretty decent at the time . if you like japanese giant monster movies  you  ll really get a kick out of this one . i give it a  out of   . had this been the unedited japanese version that i watched  it probably would  ve gotten a  .  
this is one of those movies that  after watching it  you will keep thinking about and coming back to even months after viewing . the acting is spectacular for starring two children  i usually hate movies with whiny kid acting  . bill paxton is awesome  his directorial debut is even better than what i expected of an actor whose most memorable line is  game over  man  game over    from the movie  aliens   .  br    br   the best part about the movie is the dichotomy between those scenes where the actors play a family  and when they are doing their  work .  it really makes the movie believable and memorable .  br    br   keep it up  bill . i  ll be waiting for more movies i  m sure to love   
murders are occurring in a texas desert town . who is responsible  slight novelties of mystery and racial tensions  the latter really doesn  t fit   but otherwise strictly for slasher fans  who will appreciate the gore and nudity  which are two conventional elements for these films .  br    br   dana kimmell  of friday the   th part  infamy  stars as the bratty quasi  detective teen .  br    br       out of   br    br   mpaa rated r for violence and gore  nudity  and some language .  
frailty is a non  gory horror film that achieves its chills by following the logic and impact of a man  s delusion  obsession straight into depravity . dad  we never learn his name  is a gentle man and loving father who  s raising his sons alone after mom died giving birth to the youngest son  adam . the family  s world flips upside down late one night when dad rushes into the boys  room and tells them god has given him a vision . and what a vision  the entire family  s job is to destroy demons  who  of course  are disguised in human form .  br    br   proceeding from this premise  the movie is unflinching in following it . dad kidnaps people  demons whom god has told him to destroy  binds them  lays his hand on them to see a vision of their evil  then kills them  while making his young sons watch . fenton  the older boy  is horrified  seeing only a father who  s turned into a crazed murderer . adam  the younger  is uncomfortable  but trusts that dad is following god  s will . eventually  dad takes his sons on missions to abduct the  demons  that god has put on dad  s list  and finally  invites them to fully participate in god  s mission for the family .  br    br   this is not  you understand  an abusive father . he loves his children . he is only following god  s instructions  this is our job now  son . we  ve got to do this .  when fenton  terrified and convinced his father has gone mad  says he  ll report him to the police  his father explains   if you do that  son  i  ll die . the angel was clear on this .  the pressure that the children are under is unbearable and tragic  and warps their entire lives .    the movie  s structure is similar to the one used in the usual suspects a story in flashback  told in a police station to a fbi agent . the moody lighting  the stormy weather  and the eerie calm in the present day add to the menace of the backstory . i wanted to believe the unfolding horror was just a story  until i remembered the real  life parallel of andrea yates  who believed she was possessed by satan and could save her children by drowning them . even then  i wanted to believe that i was watching a human tragedy  rather than a story of divine retribution .  br    br   the movie gave me no such comfort  though  as it gave strong clues at the end about the veracity of dad  s vision . and this  as much as some plot holes  posed a problem for me . regardless of the accuracy of dad  s visions  regardless of the evil that his victims may have committed  where does anyone derive the authority to act as an angel of death     roger ebert review          
i am very surprised to see such a high rating for this film  and of the few reviews that there are to be positive . i saw the movie and was pretty dissapointed . i didn  t find it very enjoyable at all . it was slow  and lacks the entertainment value . even the murder scenes are lackluster  with real close  up shots of generic stabbings that don  t look good at all . and the supposed great twist ending is really not much  i did see it coming  and then the ending just seemed cliche . this movie may not get much mention  but by the little that it does get  it is overrated . i would not recommend this movie .  
mcconaughey in a horror  thriller  i had to see this . i was pleasantly surprised .  br    br   the plot is told in flashback mode  and it concerns an otherwise normal and happy family of three going through a very bizarre predicament . i can  t say much more without spoiling the whole movie  sorry . just know that if you decide to watch it  you  ll be  in the very least  surprised .  br    br   all the main players are very good . bill paxton did a great job directing those kids  and his acting is awesome . mcconaughey  s acting is solid throughout and fits the bill perfectly .  br    br   this movie challenges you to think . is dad crazy  is there a god  do demons exist  how far would you go to right a wrong . and what is  right  anyway  i  m still thinking .  br    br   and thus i recommend  frailty  .     and this is one of those movies that deserves and rewards a second  or even third viewing .  
melissa  s sixteenth birthday is right around the corner and she  s just discovering her sexuality with boys . but it turns out that all the guys that she spends time with all wind up murdered in this generic     s slasher film . it  s up to the local town sheriff dan burke  bo hopkins  the wild bunch  and his annoying mystery  loving goody two  shoes daughter  marci  dana kimmell  friday the   th part    to get to the bottom of these killings .  br    br   this film focuses more on the mystery and melodrama aspects of the movie and less on the killings themselves and thus is able to differentiate itself from a lot of it  s     s slasher brethren . it doesn  t hurt that alesia has a great body  i feel the need to stress the obvious with stating that the actress is over   and thus convey that i  m not overly perverted  . on the downside  the movie is hampered with a few plot points that are underdeveloped and unnecessary  a grating theme some that is used a bit too often  and an ending that is a tad anti  climatic . but the good outweigh the bad  barely  . give this a rent  but i wouldn  t buy it .  br    br   eye candy aleisa shirley shows her tits  bush and ass  br    br   my grade c  br    br   code red dvd extras an intro by star aleisa shirley and director of intruder  scott spiegel both director  s cut  theatrical version of the film audio conversation with star shirley and director jim sotos interview with shirley  sotos  bo hopkins still gallery theatrical trailer for this film and trailers for nightmare  stunt rock  rituals   balalaika conspiracy  
bill paxton  of aliens  near dark  and terminator fame  surprises me with his debut as director for frailty . he hits on all cylinders  but there is one implausibility near the end that involves the fbi agent  powers booth  which deducts a point from this otherwise chilling and thought provoking thriller . other than that  this movie was just fine .  br    br   bill paxton plays dad . he  s never given a first name  but that is not a weakness of the film . it in fact strengthens the film  allowing the viewer to see him as a sort of symbol of some kind . he has a vision one day which he says was sent from god telling him that the world is coming to an end and both he and his two sons fenton meiks  matt oleary  and adam meiks  jeremy sumpter  must fine the demons and kill them . the demons look like normal people which they kill  and this makes the viewer wonder if dad has just lost his mind  or is he really doing god  s work . there are scenes that reflect both points which adds to the confusion and gives the film more suspense .  br    br   the story is told in flashback by one of the sons who is now grown up  matthew mcconaughey  and is speaking with fbi agent wesley doyle  powers booth  who is very skeptical and rightfully so . after all it  s not everyday that someone comes in to your office to tell you that he knows who the killer is .  br    br   the film has many twists  and bill paxton directs splendidly by keeping us guessing without losing interest . the acting is incredible . the two young leads and paxton work great together  looking like a normal family even though they are all involved in murder . like i said there is the one implausibility involving powers booth  s character  but it really isn  t a big thing . this was an extremely well made film involving faith and family .  
sweet sixteen            minutes director jim sotos cast bo hopkins  susan strasberg  aleisa shirley  patrick macnee  dana kimmell  br    br   fifteen year old bad girl melissa is new in a desert town and it isn  t long before folks around her start dying off . the detective has to put together the clues with the help of his nancy drew good girl daughter played by friday the   th alumni dana kimmell . the local native americans are prime suspects since they seem to upset the prejudiced townsfolk . these events all lead up to the revealing of the killer at melissa  s sixteenth birthday party .  br    br   this below average slasher isn  t too memorable . it has a made for tv feel  without much score besides the title character  s own corny theme song which plays a couple times throughout . lines like  the killer will turn us into coleslaw .  fit into standard eighties slasher screenplays . marci calls melissa a bad name then somehow immediately they develop a friendship . apparently marci sees how hard it is to fit in because melissa knows how to wear make  up . this movie would be hard  pressed to be made today with the main character being fifteen and the director inserting multiple gratuitous close  ups of her . the social commentary on indians wasn  t developed enough to be taken seriously . i am too surprised at the fairly high rating this movie gets . both sweet sixteen and ed hunt  s bloody birthday had the potential to capitalize on that time honored tradition of the birthday party to create an intense sequence of carnage but i feel failed to deliver . but on the bright side releasing obscure movies like this on dvd gives hope that others will follow .  
this could be the most underrated movie of its genre . i don  t remember seeing any advertisements or commercials for this one which could be the reason why it didn  t do so well at the box office . however  frailty is an excellent and a truly original horror movie . i rank it within the top   most favorite horror movies on my list .  br    br   movie begins with snapshots of photos and news articles telling us about a killer who calls himself  god  s hand  . and then a man walks into a police station and tells the chief officer that he knows the killer is his brother . two of them leave together to go to a location where victims are buried which might help solve the case . during that trip  the man begins telling the story of his brother and we go back in time when the events began . fenton and adam are two young brothers living with their strict and religious father who  one day  claims that he has received a divine message from god asking him to kill the demons that appear to be regular human beings . he receives from god a list of names of demons to be destroyed and asks his sons to help him carry out this divine mission .  br    br   this is an absolutely horrifying and suspenseful film that will keep you at the edge of your seat . the tension runs high  innocent people  or demons   get killed and religious experiences are questioned . it has not one but few very intelligent twists at the end . if you like this genre  i highly recommend frailty for you . i own the dvd and it is one of my all time favorite horror  thrillers .  
plot  melissa is a new girl in town  she  s fifteen years old and her birthday is coming up in one week . since melissa is beautiful  every boy in town wants to hook up with her  but the few that manage to catch her interest mysteriously die .  br    br   to be honest the real reason i wanted to watch this film is because dana kimmel of friday the   th pt  was in it which isn  t a proper reason why to rush out and see a movie . when i started watching it i realized that  sweet sixteen  isn  t a very good slasher  it  s really dull and boring and just doesn  t go anywhere . after over an hour  only three murders have occurred and the story hasn  t really developed in any possible way .  br    br   the movie is nicely shot with quite nice photography and good directing but just as with many other slasher flicks from the   s  the movie suffers from being too dark at times . the acting is actually pretty good though and melissa  s character is easy to sympathize with  even though she  s a complete slut .  br    br   the story line isn  t completely rubbish but it  s just way too dull to keep you interested  the only things that kept me interested was melissa she was stunning and dana kimmel whose really sweet and cute in this movie .  br    br   all in all pretty dull slasher flick that doesn  t go anywhere i  d definitely wouldn  t recommend it to slasher fans .  
what a real treat and quite unexpected . this is what a real thriller movie is all about . i rushed into the video shop  grabbed a movie without reading the entire blurb on the back and hoped for the best . i was totally surprised and delighted . i really enjoyed the actors and their characters . i thought they all gave a great performance and made their characters realistic . the plot was well thought out  well written and directed . it kept you interested from start to finish and never got boring for a single minute .  br    br   i highly recommend this movie for those that like thrillers  especially thrillers that are well paced and ones that keep your attention . definitely a   out of   from me .  
did anybody succeed in getting in this movie   br    br   it  s a total mess to me a vague historical  sentimental context instead of a plot  a pretentious imagery as mise en scene and it lasts two hours   br    br   shame on those who wasted money here .  
stunning . absolutely stunning . this is a movie about two kids who  s father suddenly has a vision . he claims an angel visits him  and tells him that they need to kill  demons  . he gets instructions later  and they start rounding up the demons  which are  to the naked eye  ordinary people . they kill these so  called demons with an ax to the head  and chop them up  burying them in the rose  garden . their father claims he can see their sins when he touches them . the movie continues  with a twist at the end .  br    br   the thing that i love about this movie  is that it perfectly captures the frailty of human perception . is their father completely mad  or  is he telling the truth  the audience is left to decide . go make the judgment for yourself  and see the movie . now .  
rex reed once said of a movie   julia and julia  to be specific  that it looked like it was shot through pomegranate juice . i was reminded of that as i snored through purple butterfly . this one appeared to be shot through gauze .  br    br   the story was boring and it was not helped that for large portions of scenes actors  faces were literally out of focus or would only come into focus after extended periods of time .  br    br   also  everyone looked the same so it was hard to distinguish among the characters . i call this the  dead poets society  syndrome .  br    br   there was nobody to care about  nobody to become interested in dramatically  and the movie shed no historical light on a very interesting period of time and set of circumstances .  br    br   a total disappointment .  
after  years of watching that dreadful nonsense called star trek voyager i was feeling pretty numb . next gen and ds  were bloody good stuff and voyager ruined tv trek . this opened with probably the best pilot to a trek show . the crew were really good as were the choice of actors for the parts . scott bakula played a typical first time captain in deep space and his unpolished way of doing things was a refreshing change to the already know everything captains from before . the rest of the crew were really likable in their roles and i think they got off to a good first season . when the show was prematurely canceled i was really disappointed . in a mirror darkly showed us what the cast were capable of . pity a film or tv movie was never considered . so much back story and founding of the federation left to tell  including the onset of hostilities with the klingons . . . . . . . . . .  
after an initial release of  very good eurotrash titles  redemption has managed to scrape the bottom of the barrel with the bloodsucker leads the dance . i found no bloodsuckers anywhere in this movie .  br    br   the story is simple . a mysterious count invites several actresses to his castle for a little vacation . after some sofcore sexual shenanigans the girls get decapitated one by one . who is the killer  who knows  there are more red herrings in this one than at the local fish market on friday .  br    br   the pace is excruciating . the story is silly and the skin scenes aren  t all that terrific either .  br    br   give this one a miss .  
i first saw the trailer for frailty on yahoo movies way back in the day  after hearing stephen king praise it to high heaven . not really a fan of either star  i still wanted to see it because i  m a huge thriller fan .  br    br   i was not disappointed . the acting was superb  especially from the two young boys . usually i loathe child actors  but young adam and young fenton were excellent . bill paxton really did a good job of directing it too . it was beautifully shot .  br    br   one must also note the plot twists . the three twists at the end hit hard and fast  and i didn  t see them coming . the final twist of the film  coupled with the gravity of what had just been revealed  gives me chills to this day  even though i  ve re  watched the film so many times .  br    br   a true gem .  
i read comments about this being the best chinese movie ever . perhaps if the only chinese movies you  ve seen contained no dialogue  long drawn  out far  away stares and silences  and hack editing  then you  re spot on .  br    br   complicated story  line  hardly . try juvenile and amateurish . exquisite moods and haunting memories  hardly . try flat  out boring and trite .  br    br   this was awful . i could not wait for it to be over . particularly when the best lines in the movie consist of  how are you  i  m fine . are you sure  yes .  wow  what depth of character . i guess the incessant cigarette smoking was supposed to speak for them .  br    br   as a huge fan of many chinese  japanese and korean films  i was totally disappointed in this . even zhang  s sentimentally sappy  the road home  was better than this .  
matthew mcconaughey is a mysterious man waiting for agent wesley doyle  powers boothe  in his fbi office . he claims to have information about a serial killer chased by fbi . when agent doyle arrives in the office  he tells him that the serial killer is indeed his dead brother . agent doyle requests some evidence  and the man tells the story of his life  since his childhood . they were a simple family of three his widow father meiks  bill paxton   his brother and himself . one night  his father gathers the two brothers and tells them that an angel of god had just visited him and assigned his family to destroy demons . what happens next is one of the most scary movie i have ever seen .  br    br   i watched this movie four months ago on vhs  and yesterday i watched again  now on dvd . although being a low  budget movie  the screenplay is sharp  with no flaw . the cast is outstanding  but i would like to highlight the performance of matt o  leary as the young felton . it is a very difficult and complex role to be performed by a young teenager . the direction of bill paxton is remarkable . there is no explicit violence in this horror movie . a great debut behind the camera . i regret the brazilian title of this movie  a mo do diabo   the devil  s hand   . if at least it were  the god  s hand   it might be acceptable . but calling this movie as  the devil  s hand  is indeed ridiculous . brent hanley  the screenwriter  did not deserve such a lack of respect from the brazilian distributor . this film is highly recommended . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    a mo do diabo    the devil  s hand    
ye lou  s film purple butterfly pits a secret organization  purple butterfly  against the japanese forces in war torn shanghai . ding hui  zhang ziyi  and her ex  lover hidehiko itami  toru nakamura  find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict after a chance meeting .  br    br   i agree with the reviewer from paris . the film substitutes a convoluted  semi  historical conflict for a plot  without giving the audience a single reason to care about the characters or their causes . the sudden time shifting doesn  t help matters as it appears completely unwarranted and pointless . normally i don  t mind dark movies  but the absence of light  the bone  jarringly shaky camera footage  and the generally bad film  making techniques really make this a tough film to watch and stay interested in . i also agree with the viewer from georgia that this film  has a chaotic editing style and claustrophobic cinematography   but i don  t think that helps the movie . the backdrop to the film is one of the most potent events of the   th century  and i don  t believe you can do it any justice by editing it as if it were a michael bay film . the overly melodramatic moments don  t add to its watchability .  br    br   the actors are all suitably melancholy . zhang ziyi once again shows that she has an exceptionally limited acting range as she spends the entire movie doing what she seems to do best in all her films  brooding and looking generally annoyed . however  at least she adds some variety to this role by chainsmoking and engaging in the worst love  making scene since michael biehn and linda hamilton in the terminator .  br    br   all in all  a very disappointing film  especially seeing as how it comes from the director of suzhou he .      
the synopsis for this movie does a great job at explaining what to expect . it  s a very good thriller . well shot . tough to believe it was bill paxton  s directorial debut  though some shots do look exactly like a storyboard version .  br    br   still  there are a few shots that really look good and show some real imagination on the part of paxton .  br    br   it  s a solid story with some great twists at the end  several of them  all believable  all fun  and best of all  obscured well enough to make them true twists .  br    br   the child actors in the movie do a great  too . i  m usually wary of movies with kids in starring roles because all too often they come off as nickelodeon rejects  but both these kids do a good job .  br    br   this movie is not gory . it  s not very scary . but it is very  very creepy .  
the main complaint with this film is the fact that i can not tell who is who . no racism intended  but these asians look all the same  i can tell somewhat of the story  but heck thats about as far as it goes . the peoples identities are not a mystery  if they were a mystery i would care about them . instead i wasn  t them off the screen asap .  br    br   tons of wide shots and silent emotionless faces occupy this movie . heck is it boring  not only do i not know these people  but they are just sitting there .  br    br   the production is typical chinese john woo  terrible video with blotched scenes . this looks only slightly better than andy lau  s  fulltime killer   which was a great movie .  you would think with a decent budget they could at least make it look like   s hollywood . i didn  t know the chinese had these art  house beatniks .  
a very promising directorial debut for bill paxton . a very dark thriller  who  really  done  it recommended by stephen king . this is a strong  well  conceived horror tale about a devout  but demented man in thurman  texas that goes on a murdering spree after getting orders from god to eliminate demons trying to control mankind . a couple of plot twists and an eerie finale makes for your moneys worth . most of the violence you don  t really see  but still enough to double up your stomach .  br    br   director paxton plays the twisted man to be known as the hand of god killer . matthew mcconaughey is equally impressive as the demented man  s eldest son that ends up telling this story to a dallas fbi agent  powers boothe  . boothe  as always  is solid and flawless . suspenseful white knuckler  highly recommended .  
i am a huge ziyi zhang fan and will go to any film to see her which is what took me to purple butterfly . as much as i wanted to like this movie  i have to agree with many others who have commented on it . it is very confusing and also extremely slow . because all of the film appears to have been shot with a hand held camera  significant portions of it are out of focus .  br    br   the film has very little dialog and what there is doesn  t tell you much . there are endless scenes of people just standing around smoking cigarettes or sitting in a room staring at each other with no conversation . the way the film time shifts is also very confusing and hard to follow . even having read a number of reviews beforehand and having a general idea what the film was about  i still had a difficult time understanding what was going on .  br    br   i knew beforehand that the movie was not remotely similar to previous ziyi zhang starring films but was looking forward to seeing her in something different but unfortunately i was ultimately disappointed . she never smiles in this film although admittedly most of the time she doesn  t have anything to smile about . i could have done without the sex scenes as they were about as sexless and without any obvious feeling between the participants as you could hope to find .  
bill paxton stars in and directs this highly original film . having watched the first time i was by how good it was . the reviews i had heard were ok . as a result i was expecting an average thriller at most . however because of paxtons excellent directing and acting the film is well worth watching  especially if you are a horror film fanatic . the film is also helped by the plot twists which keep coming until the closing credits . the films strongest point is the storyline which i have to say is highly original and is like i have ever seen before . well done also to the  young leads which perfectly convey the emotions if these confused boys . i give this film     and i highly recommend that everyone catches it .  
i was looking forward to seeing this movie after reading a positive review in the new york times . in addition  i  m also shanghainese so there was more than just a passing interest in the subject matter . however  after watching it  i was extremely disappointed .  br    br   the movie  s pace was excruciatingly slow and monotonous . the director lingered on certain scenes for much too long . there was no passion or chemistry between the lovers . there was barely any dialogue . dialogue was sorely needed to compensate for the lack of acting . at the end of the movie  you didn  t feel any compassion for the characters . this movie was lacking in everything . the script was weak  the acting was poor  and the editing was non  existent . the director tried to emulate certain noir film styles but failed miserably . a good movie is one in which captures your attention  maintains it and is successful in concluding without you feeling time has passed by . this movie felt as though it would never end . don  t waste your money on this movie .  
the film is very complete in what it is  keeping one continuously interested with the flashbacks to childhood and growing up with such a bizarre father  and interspersing it with the tails of serial murder  one simply cannot go wrong . the very plot in itself  the very story and essence of the film  is entertaining . it is the sort of story that the director  bill paxton  could do so much with  and in this case  he really did do a lot with it .  br    br   from beginning to end you are kept anticipating more and more about what is happening and where the film is going  and the creativity that is behind this story is first class . i felt as if this film was exquisitely done from start to finish  and one of those rare gems that seemed to be without any boring lulls   the action flowing neatly  quickly  and tightly from one scene to the next .  br    br   it demonstrates just how far people can go so as to do such horrible things to their loved ones  and to do such acts of evil  in the name of  god  when they are disillusioned as in this case . it also is sometimes interesting in its  twists  takes on the concept of morality as a whole .  br    br   overall  this is the sort of film that one easily overlooks  but i would recommend you to not do likewise and to check this film out   it is very much so worth your time .  
claustrophobic camera angles that do not help the movie too long face only shots where you most of the time get the feeling that the lower half of the film is missing  that the screen is cut off   because there seems to be important actions going on  but you cannot see them . there is anyway already too much confusion in the movie  so these viewing angles make it worse and do not contribute to artful visuals .  br    br   i like artfully made movies and unconventional camera work . i can handle deep and slow movies . but this one is trying too hard to be something artful and fails in my opinion painfully .  br    br   nothing to get attached to  to any of the characters  because they are not worked out well enough . to work out characters more is needed  than just minute long face shots  at least with this set of scriptdirectoractors .  br    br   i wonder whether some of the not so good acting is due to the script and director or due to the actors .  br    br   i will stay away from films both written and directed by le you for sure in the future .  br    br   what an annoying film even for someone who would be interested in that part of history  and for someone who spent time in shanghai .  
there is such rubbish on the cable movie channels that i hit a gem with this one . from beginning to end it had me gripped and deserves top marks .  br    br   father of two sons hears messages from  god  to kill people who he is told are  demons  .  br    br   when the opening credits showed the director as one of the cast that can often be a warning of a bad film exceptionally it is the reverse here as the drama is non  stop from beginning to end .  br    br   and there is not one moment in the movie when one is not fully enthralled as there are no unnecessary or needless sub  plots  and the script is first class .  br    br   all the actors give wholly convincing performances especially the lead child actor who is exceptional .  br    br   this film is at least as good as the likes of  silence of the lambs  .  
lethargic direction ruins an otherwise compelling period story that stars the wondrous zhang ziyi  in an excellent role as a woman who joins an extremist group in     china  just prior to the japanese invasion of manchuria  and reunites with a former lover who is now working for japan . every bit of drama and forward motion of the story is sucked dry by director ye lou  s somnambulist directorial style . characters stand still staring at each other for long minutes  saying nothing  hand  held cameras hold forever on faces showing interminable reactions way longer than they need to  edits repeat the same reaction is triple redundancy . we know nothing about the characters as the story begins and are given little new information as the story progresses  only silence and static shots of lovers who don  t speak  who interaction through silent dances but share no apparent emotional intimacy . a very sleep inducing film .  
actor paxton made his directorial debut with this chilling  dark  and competently made thriller about a widowed mechanic  paxton himself  who ropes his two sons into participating in savage ax murders  claiming that the victims are not human beings at all but  demons   and that they have been selected by god to destroy these  demons  . this is all told in flashback by one of the sons  now grown up  matthew mcconaughey  to skeptical fbi agent  powers boothe  .  br    br   hard to automatically forget this film better than most serial killer features  it  s a twisty and unsettling tale told in straightforward fashion with a bare minimum of cinema gimmicks . paxton  commendably  barely shows any blood at all until near the end . well acted by all  especially the two child actors  jeremy sumpter of the recent  peter pan  and matt o  leary of  spy kids   and  domestic disturbance   . the only reason i deducted any points at all is because i can understand that some people may find all of this hard to stomach . in any event  it  s an atypical thriller with a decent script .  br    br        
i wasn  t really going to comment  but then i figured i had something to say . i saw this film two days ago and  although i think it  s not a complete waste of time  it might have been of money though  for the producers   it  s obvious it has serious problems . it  s got really good cinematography and  little but  nice music . a lot has been said about ana cristina oliveira but  let  s be honest  over what  she is not really an actress an she balances permanently between over  acting and preposterous under  acting . her performance passes for good because there has never been anyone like odete in any other film crazy  sad  childlike  an impostor  no one knows  fellows . so she  s kinda sorta dictating the rules here .  br    br   i thought this film was also a good example of the problem most portuguese films suffer from soundtrack . there is a permanent no to dubbing and the result is this usual mass of noise that comes out of the blue . people in other countries may think portugal is the noisiest of places . what thrilled me though  was that some of the dialog was dubbed but it didn  t necessarily solve the syndrome . bad dubbing too  i must say . it  s strange to watch a film in which the first thing that strikes my mind on the first scene  when the first character speaks is it  s dubbed . and all this to say that the film has technical problems .  br    br   it also has script problems . it tries to be classical from the first to the last scene . there was a desperate fear of leaving things suspended and that shows . the writer was obviously trying to get everything straight and he does but . . . it shows   all dialog is too expositive and there isn  t one single piece of talk that sounds like a line from a film . it  s all a little raw and slightly unpleasant .  br    br   not that the film is a total mess  i must stress . i just think the good parts are so obvious that i prefer to concentrate on the bad ones .  br    br   direction brings little to the weak screenplay . all shots are classical and un  innovative  but their beautiful . great work from rui poas  by the way .  br    br   now  what i think was the problem  the one that keeps people from believing this story and laugh throughout the film instead of taking it seriously the guy who plays the guy who dies is obviously not an actor . actually  it  s a rather important role and i can  t see why non  actors are cast for such parts . this guy is neither an actor nor a good  looking man . which means the whole film rolls down the mountain  since we never believe for one second that this gorgeous woman is obsessed with him even though he  s gone  and that his hunky lover who survives is actually having a bad time getting over the loss  when all we see of this character is apathy . too bad . the world is full of beautiful people who even happen to be nice seductive lovers . the world is full of good actors who are also cute boys and capable of causing obsessions on people after they  s gone . the world is full of great films and also of not that great films . c  est la vie   
this is a very dark and intriguing horror type thriller based on the idea of religious murders . the storyline centres on a deranged man who lives in texas  us who suddenly goes on a killing spree with his two young sons after being instructed by god to redeem the world of bad people .  br    br   bill paxton who directs this movie plays the deranged father who is known as the hand of god killer while matthew mcconaughey plays his finest performances to date as the oldest son  fenton meiks . the film revolves around fenton who decides he can no longer hold the burden of his murderous childhood alone and uses flashbacks to hauntingly tell the story to fbi agent wesley doyle  played by powers boothe  .  br    br   i cannot think of many movies that literally keep the viewer chained to their seat from start to finish and this is definitely one of them . even if you want to stop watching  you wont be able to because of the sheer power of this movie .  br    br   the directors have filmed this movie very well  and they help to set the plot through the good scenery . the acting in this movie is great but if there is any drawback it is that some parts are very powerful and may disturb some people .  br    br   whilst the concept of this film is very dark  the young children help to portray the idea through brilliant acting . this really is a spine tingly movie and it is guaranteed to have you at the edge of your seat throughout . i would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys horror  disturbing and powerful movies or anyone who just wants to see something different .  br    br        
i tried . i really did . i thought that maybe  if i gave joao pedro rodrigues another chance  i could enjoy his movie . i know that after seeing o fantasma i felt ill and nearly disgusted to the core  but some of the reviews were quite good and in favor  so i was like   what the hell . at least you didn  t pay   dollars at the quad . give it a shot .   br    br   sometimes it  s better to go to your dentist and ask for a root canal without any previous anesthetic to alleviate the horror of so much pain . i often wonder if it wouldn  t be better to go back to my childhood and demand my former bullies to really let me have it . on other occasions  i often think that the world is really flat and that if i sail away far enough  i will not only get away from it all  but fall clear over  and that some evil  lovecraftian thing will snatch me with its     tentacles and squeeze the life   and some french fries from      still lingering inside my esophagus   out of me .  br    br   is there a reason for odete  i  d say not at all . . . just that maybe her creator thought that writing a story centered on her madness  one that makes alex forrest look like strawberry shortcake  look not only creepy  but flat  out sick to the bone . she first of all decides to leave her present boyfriend  in shrieking hysterics  because she wants a child and he believes they  re too young . she later crashes a funeral of a gay man  and   get this   in order to get closer to him  she feigns being pregnant while insinuating herself into the lives of the dead man  s mother and lover in the sickest of ways . oh  of course  she shrieks like a banshee and throws herself not one  but a good three times on his grave . and there  s this ridiculous business that she progressively becomes  pedro  which sums up some weak  as  bad  tea explanation that love knows no gender . or something .  br    br   i  d say she  s as nuts as a can of cashews  unsalted . but then again  so  s the director . and me  for taking a chance on this . at least the men look good . other than that . . . not much else to see here .  
i had to see this gem twice to really appreciate all of it . when a widowed father of two interrupts his two sons  sleep with a shocking revelation  they are torn between believing him and not . as the horrifying events of this tale unfold  we learn a lot about the father  about his two sons  and about their destinies . with shocking twist after shocking twist  this film never allows for a lull in the plot . bill paxton plays the father  but the most notable performances are that of his older son  fenton  played by matthew o  leary and his younger son  adam  played by jeremy sumpter . this is one of the best thrillers that i have seen in a while  and you will want to watch this a few times to appreciate every intricate aspect of the plot . i give this film a     .  
a group of us watched this film are were really disgusted . we were willing to forgive the fact that our favorite character jo wasn  t on  it  s not like the writers  producers could do anything about that  . the writing was poor  the script was sub  par . what really annoyed us  . when the two guys realized they were both dating natalie  they didn  t just leave they put up with that stupid  and ultimately degrading  contest  but only because they were macho competing guys  not because they really wanted natalie .  . despite being unable to choose between the two guys before the reunion  natalie suddenly decides that she really loves one of the guys and is now ready to marry him   and there was no foreshadowing that he was really a better guy  it  s as if the writers flipped a coin and then just had her spit it out at some convenient point in the film  .  . blair makes a point of talking about how she does not want children and then all of a sudden when her husband says he wants to have children  she blissfully agrees with him .  
okay  the recent history of star trek has not been good . the next generation faded in its last few seasons  ds  boldly stayed where no one had stayed before  and voyager started very bad and never really lived up to its promise . so  when they announced a new star trek series  i did not have high expectations . and  the first episode  broken bow  did have some problems . but  overall it was solid trek material and a good romp .  br    br   i  ll get the nits out of the way first . the opening theme is dull and i don  t look forward to sitting through it regularly  but that  s what remotes are for . what was really bad was the completely gratuitous lotion rubbing scene that just about drove my wife out of the room . they need to cut that nonsense out .  br    br   but  the plot was strong and moved along well . the characters  though still new  seem to be well rounded and not always what you would expect . the vulcans are clearly being presented very differently than before  with a slightly ominous theme . i particularly liked the linguist  who is the first star trek character to not be able to stand proud in the face of death  but rather has to deal with her phobias and fears . they seemed to stay true to trek lore  something that has been a significant problem in past series  though they have plenty of time to bring us things like shooting through shields  the instant invention of technology that can fix anything  and the inevitable plethora of time  travel stories . anyone want to start a pool on how long before the borg show up   br    br   all in all  the series has enormous potential . they are seeing the universe with fresh eyes . we have the chance to learn how things got the way they were in the later series . how did the klingons go from just insulting to war  how did we meet the romulans  how did the federation form and just who put earth in charge . why is the prime directive so important  if they address these things rather than spitting out time travel episodes  this will be an interesting series .  br    br   my favorite line zephram cochran saying  where no man has gone before   not  no one    
a particularly maligned example of italian cult cinema with a nonsensical title to boot  if anything  the alternate the mark of satan is even less relevant to the plot    this hybrid of gothic horror and giallo  with a strong dose of erotica  only contrives a flat sort of atmosphere throughout  actually matched by handling which is downright dreadful  here  we get the usual group of people  an acting troupe  stranded on an island  to which they were invited by a count  since he had become enamored of the leading lady  a dead  ringer for his missing spouse   the characters are pretty much stereotypes middle  aged but dashing hero  played by giacomo rossi  stuart and whose family history bears more than its share of violent tragedy   demure heroine  sluttish companion  recalling mae west and emerging the most annoying of the lot    a meek but devoted stage manager  forever chided by one and all for his unmanly behavior    a couple of lesbians  a mysterious gardener  the ubiquitous luciano pigozzi who  for once  gets in on the action  if you know what i mean   an envious housekeeper  nominal star femi benussi though  for what it is worth  this is really an ensemble piece   a religious fanatic of a butler  an impressionable chambermaid  etc . while the film is not by any means unwatchable  the atrocious dubbing  snail  s pace  shoddy production  with the scenes depicting the raging sea lifted from some black  and  white film   and the fact that the murders only occur within the concluding half  hour do not help matters . besides  marcello giombini  s score  though pleasant in itself  comes off as incongruously modern under the circumstances that said  the revelation proves a surprisingly elaborate one  considering there is surely no shortage of suspects here  .  
we really enjoyed grey owl a simple tale well told in classic attenborough fashion a little over  romanticized  with archetypes  humor  and a stress of dignity and values .  br    br   beautifully shot and told at a nice pace this is the true story of archie  an englishman who turned native indian  and went to live and trap in canada .  br    br   solid performances from all makes this film with a message easy viewing .  br    br   two of the stars of the film are without a doubt the cutest we have ever seen  and the message is a good one with its ecoleanings . it must have been great to meet or read grey owl in the     s  a unique character and this is a fitting film tribute .  
oh my  this was the worst reunion movie i have ever seen .  that is saying a lot .  i am ashamed of watching .  br    br   what happened in the script meetings   ooooooh  i know  let  s have two stud muffins fall madly in love with the most  annoying  character  since  cousin  oliver .   yeah  that  ll be cool    br    br   even for sitcoms  this was the most implausible plot since ron popeil starting spray painting bald men .  
a number of richard attenborough  s films as director have been biographies of major historical figures   young winston    gandhi    chaplin  .  grey owl  is also a filmed biography of a historical individual  but in this case attenborough  s subject is a much more obscure character .  br    br   grey owl was a canadian writer of the     s and     s who promoted the ideas of environmentalism and nature conservation at a time when these causes were less fashionable than they are today . he was widely believed to be an american indian the story he told about himself was that he had been born in mexico to a scottish father and apache mother and had emigrated to canada where he had been adopted as a member of the ojibway tribe . he lived in a cabin by a lake in a remote part of the canadian wilderness  where he earned a living as a trapper . he toured britain twice  in     and      to promote his books and to give lectures on conservationism  and achieved great success  even being introduced to the royal family .  during one of these tours attenborough  then a teenager  saw grey owl at the london palladium theatre  . after his death in      however  it was revealed that he had not been who he claimed to be his real name was archibald belaney  and he had been born in the english seaside town of hastings .  br    br   the film departs somewhat from the facts of grey owl  s life . in a scene set in     he states that he is   years old in reality  he was born in     so would have been   in that year .    would have been pierce brosnan  s age when the film was made  so i am not sure why this change was made  . numerous events are compressed into the last four years of grey owl  s life            . in the film it is during this period that he meets and marries gertrude bernard whom he called anahareo in reality  he met and married gertrude as early as     . the film also omits the fact that they were divorced in     and that grey owl remarried shortly before his death .  br    br   the revelation of grey owl  s true identity adversely affected his posthumous reputation  and he was dismissed as a  fraud  . his supposed deceit was even used to discredit the causes which he had championed . richard attenborough  however  takes a more sympathetic view of his achievements . one of the themes explored by the film is the question of ethnic identity . although the erstwhile archibald belaney was not a canadian indian by birth  there is no doubt that he had a deep knowledge of ojibway culture and lore and that he spoke their language fluently . he was accepted by the ojibway as a member of their tribe . it therefore seems unfair to describe his claim to a native north american identity as being a fraudulent one  merely because it was an identity he had chosen rather than one he had been born into .  br    br   according to the film  grey owl  s wife gertrude was herself of indian descent  but came from a family which had been assimilated into white canadian culture . her marriage can therefore be seen as her reclamation of her family  s original cultural heritage . she was clearly influenced by her husband  but she also had an influence on him  persuading him to give up his work as a fur trapper as she had moral objections to killing animals for their fur .  br    br   one criticism made of the film is that pierce brosnan is  miscast  as the hero  a criticism which seems to be rooted in the preconception that brosnan can only play action heroes in the james bond mould . it seems to me  however  that brosnan may deliberately have taken this role in order to avoid being typecast  the taciturn backwoodsman grey owl being about as far from the suave  sophisticated agent bond as one can get . the original bond  sean connery  also seems to have deliberately opted for contrasting roles when he appeared in films like  the hill  or  the molly maguires  . brosnan is in fact very good in this role  although i would agree with those who found annie galipeau weak as gertrude .  br    br   another frequently  voiced criticism with which i would not agree is that the film is  boring  . certainly  it is not an action film like the bonds  nor is it a great epic biopic like  gandhi   and it may indeed seem boring to those who were expecting it to be either the one or the other . it is however  likely to please anyone with an interest in the early days of the conservationist movement or the philosophical implications of national and ethnic identity . the scenes of the canadian forests are also beautifully photographed . richard attenborough has done us a service by helping to revive interest in this half  forgotten but fascinating figure .      
i  m both amused and disgusted by the people who claim that this movie is so accurate about vietnam  and were never there . this movie is about as true about the whole vietnam war as the rodney king beating is true about all police officers . yes  bad things do  and did  happen  but in general the people there are just like you and me . they have morals  they are not killing machines  they do not all do drugs . atrocities were the exception in vietnam  not the rule . they happened far more infrequently than the  hype  would lead you believe . oliver stone has a knack for making movies that show the vietnam war as this brutal bloodbath  but are based as much in reality as star wars . if you honestly believe the stereotypes of vietnam  do yourself a favour and learn the truth . fact the viet cong and nva did far worse things to the south vietnamese than any soldier in the us armed forces ever did . fact the soldiers in world war ii treated the enemy far worse in general than the soldiers in vietnam did  and they were welcomed when they came home . the fine americans who served this country in vietnam deserve our respect though the war was badly fought from a political standpoint  no one could have asked for more from our soldiers  and it is a great disservice to assert that this kind of  mostly true  fiction is the way things really were there .  
this is an excellent movie . as a canadian who grew up with a rural lifestyle much of it is familiar  the winter  canoeing  trapping  hunting and the like . it is easy to take the familiar for granted but after watching this film a few times it has grown on me .  br    br   the story of grey owl is well known to many canadians credit to director attenborough and screenplay writer nicholson for expanding the story .  br    br   brosnan does well portraying a complex man  a very fine performance . annie galipeau is lovely in her first large role . the rest of the cast is solid .  
platoon is to the vietnam war as rocky iv is to heavyweight championship boxing . oliver stone  s story of the experience of a us army platoon in vietnam in     is so overdone it  s laughable . while most or all of the occurrences in platoon did occur over the    year span of us military involvement in vietnam  to portray these things happening to one small group of men in such a short time frame  weeks  gives a horribly skewed picture of the war . in platoon  the men of the platoon see all of the following in the course of a week or two us soldiers murdering civilians  us soldiers raping civilians  a us sergeant murdering another us sergeant  a us private murdering a us staff sergeant  us soldiers killed  wounded by friendly fire     killed or wounded in the platoon . for stone to try to pass this film off as the typical experience of a us soldier in vietnam is a disgrace . two vietnam war films i would recommend are we were soldiers  the true story of arguably the worst battle for us soldiers in vietnam  and hbo  s a bright shining lie .  
okay  i  ll admit the casting in the film is really strange   part of this is due to the plot  but i still had a bit of trouble believing pierce brosnan playing this lead  though he really did a pretty good job  .  br    br   it  s based on a true story of an englishman who went to live with the canadian indians in the early   th century . he claimed to be a mixed blood indian . he was  in fact  so successful and well thought of that people came from all over to hear his lectures and be taken on his wilderness treks   even though he was not a mixed blood indian and all his knowledge was from books or faked  the movie centers on this and what occurred when the hoax was uncovered .  br    br   the acting and settings were great and i really liked the film  once i suspended disbelief about brosnan  . it didn  t get widespread distribution   probably because it was pretty cerebral   not a bond film nor a romance   just a really odd film about a remarkable man .  
i read one other review that expressed the view that platoon was a never ending cycle of marines killing people  being killed  taking drugs and talking trash .  br    br   i don  t agree with that because the film actually had more to it  but it a way  i can see what this person is trying to say this had no real plot  which is a point i agree with .  br    br   it is self  indulgent stone at his best . he really wanted to show  not only how war leads to death  but also how it is extremely traumatic on those who survive . unfortunately  the film seems to over  glorify  this aspect and the grand finale is just way too champagne  grand  standing  oscar  hunting  let  s create an enduring image  for my liking .  br    br   the problem i have with stone and other film  makers of his ilk is that they fail to understand this simply concept depicting the terribly bloody deadly waste that war is does not prove or even reflect on whether it was an unjust or immoral war . we have seen the same thing emerge at the moment with iraq . in case you  re missing the point  let me put it to you bluntly if you saw how truly bloody the second world war was and how destructive it was on the lives of the surviving soldiers  would you think it was an unjust war  if that fact alone doesn  t convince you that it was an unjust war  then why should depictions of the horrors of vietnam convince you that it was wrong to go to war in that instance .  br    br   personally  i do not support america  s decision to go to war in vietnam  but i certainly don  t subscribe to the  this war is wrong because people died and suffered  theory . i don  t think that motivations are always wrong by default  just because war in itself is terrible .  br    br   this says nothing of the fact that the ending or the final big  twist  was a bit stupid . however  this is not stones first oddball departure . wall street was a magnificent film  up until the last   minutes or so when it made a dreadful  wrong turn .  jfk is probably one of the few films stone did that actually ended very well .  br    br   but it hardly matters in this one because there was very little plot up until that point of the film to twist around . and this is why i gave it such a low mark . it was virtually story  less and ultimately boring  unless you fell for the manufactured poignancy .  
richard attenborough who already given us magnific films as  a chorus line  and  gandhi   once more surprise us making a beautiful hymn to the nature . indeed  the vast and  in that time  unexplored territory of canada helps to compose the stunning beauty of the landscapes picked up by the motion picture camera . if the movie is really based on a true story  once more becomes evidente that  men of vision  are  in truth  men that lives beyond their time  with a historical perspective that only the time will give them reason . the cinematography is magnificient  such as the cast lead by pierce brosnan  whose performance is due to attenborough  s master hands . a pleasing surprise is the appearance of annie galipeau in the role of archie  s beloved . movie that must appears in a list of those who really loves the nature . . .  
we know that firefighters and rescue workers are heroes an ide reue few would challenge . friends and family of these and others who perished in the attacks on the world trade center might well be moved by this vapid play turned film . a sweet  earnest  though tongue  tied fireman recalls what he can of lost colleagues to a benumbed journalist who converts his fragments into a eulogy . they ponder the results . he mumbles some more  she composes another eulogy  etc .  etc .  br    br   the dreadful events that provoked the need for several thousand eulogies is overwhelmingly sad  but this plodding insipid dramatization is distressingly boring .  
i didn  t expect much when i first saw the dvd cover . i mean  pierce brosnan as grey owl    br    br   ah . . . but then the story got underway  unfolded in a beautifully photographed and paced film . i was surprised and delighted at this  basically  true story . made me want to read more about this fascinating character  which means  the director fulfilled his purpose  and the film was a success   
two years ago at sundance i loved josh kornbluth  s directing debut  haiku tunnel . so i was looking forward to his brother  and frequent collaborator  jacob  s  the best thief in the world . this is a drama about a seemingly good kid growing up in a lower  class area of new york . the movie is not without its poignant moments . but at times it is as if kornbluth is working way too hard to state the obvious life can be very difficult for some people . and life isn  t fair .  br    br   more subtle  and more important  is our understanding that despite all of these somewhat abhorrent cultural underpinnings and the anti  social behavior they may spawn  these characters have no shortage of goodness and humanity . we can recoil at their language and their living conditions  but we are cannot discount their intent . and in fact  their struggles to maintain a family under such adversity has a certain nobility that most of us can barely appreciate . kornbluth grew up in this neighborhood  and his compassion for the people is evident throughout .  br    br   having said all this  the best thief in the world suffers from many painful flaws  including the title  . the characters aren  t very believable . the writing is uneven . and the plot  line is barely discernible . and for many the most disturbing is that kornbluth uses two young black boys mimicking gangsta rap between scenes . to each his own but while i don  t question the potential realism of this phenomenon  it pains me to see   year  old children mf  ing and talking about having sex with a line  up of women . it  s unnecessary shock value and is a forced bit of borrowed interest .  
radio was not a   hour  days a week happening when i grew up in the     s england  so children  s hour was a treat for me when we had batteries and an accumulator to spare for the power . the few programmes i heard therefore made a great impression on my young mind  and the  that i recall still are  toytown   one about all the animals at the zoo  and    grey owl  talking about the animals he knew  which he called his  brothers  . it was only in recently that i learnt that grey owl wasn  t a genuine  indian   but the tribute paid by the sioux chief makes great sense to me  a man becomes what he dreams  . would that we could all dream as world changing and beneficial as archie grey owl belaney . would that a new grey owl could influence world leaders to clean up the environment .  
spoilers let  s start with the  good  of this film   the serviceable acting of cynthia rothrock and richard norton . the rest of the acting is awful  this isn  t aided by the atrocious script  . the worst culprit is the villain  buntao  the head of an asian crime syndicate  played by frans tumbuan  . i was laughing my head off as he was expressing his  fury  over having lost a bunch of money horrid performance . patrick muldoon isn  t much better  and his  it  s a hostile takeover  line  that  s the remainder of the title of this film  was delivered about as badly as one could do it . there are no other main characters  but no other actor  actress distinguished him  herself in this film . we next come to the plot . this should tell you all you need to know in the original  rage and honor   cynthia rothrock  who plays chris fairchild  was a teacher in the inner city . now  she  s a c . i . a . agent  or was it some other governmental agency   sorry  but this film was so bad that i don  t even remember  . hmmm . . . i can imagine what that c . i . a . application process was like . interviewer what past job experience do you have  chris i was a teacher . interviewer okay you  re hired  i only give it a    because of some decent acting and a nice plot twist at the end  though we know that tommy  muldoon   the secret villain  will be caught  .  
amazing movie i saw this movie for the first time on a flight and could not believe that i had not even heard of it before getting on that plane . while it may seem  at first to be a  chick flick   it is a film that everyone should see and will enjoy . men  watch this movie with someone you love . you will enjoy it as much as she does and it will score you big points .  
very outdated film with awful  clich  ridden and mawkish dialog and a very poor construction . in addition  cassavetes and falk overact constantly . a pseudo  good movie  . it takes no time to discover how catastrophic this intellectual turkey is . the first scene is a total bore  filled with histrionics and hysteric exchanges . the sound is horrible . camera movements are without imagination as is the building of characters . no poetry  no subtle psychology  no interesting shots . the actors smoke constantly and we see ads for beer beverages . very cheap  indeed .  one exception  ned beattie  s nice and simple way of playing the hit man  .  
there should be more movies about our native americans . i especially think that using actual real native americans  would be the the right thing . i know that this archie belaney  who was played by pierce brosnan he did an excellent job in portraying that character  since he was an englishman . but my suggestion to hollywood  is to put more american indians into the roles  and never use anyone else . the sioux nation has been put on the back burner far too long . their poverty is a disgrace to our country . it is my firm belief that our country should return the black hills to the sioux . we ask israel to return their lands to the arabs  but we do not make any effort to do the same  we should be ashamed of ourselves . we must practice what we preach   
  when will i ever learn    the ecstatic reviewer on npr made me think this turkey was another citizen kane . please allow me to vent my spleen . . .  br    br   i will admit the setting  presumably new york city  has never been so downright ugly and unappealing . i am reminded that the    s was a bad decade for men  s fashion and automobiles . and all the smoking   if the plan was to cheapen the characters  it succeeded .  br    br   for a film to work  at least  in my simple estimation   there has to be at least one sympathetic character . only ned beaty came close  and i could not wait for him to finish off nicky . if a stray shot had struck mikey  well  it may have elicited a shrug of indifference at the most .  br    br   i can  t remember when i detested a film as strongly . i suppose i  m a rube who doesn  t dig  art  flicks . oh  well .  
we viewed the vcr and found it to be fascinating . not knowing anything about this true story  i thought  oh  no  p . brosnan as an american indian   red  indian in the film   what a bad choice  until i discovered the truth about grey owl . the film does a good job of demonstrating the dignity of these native peoples and undermining the racist myths about them . and annie galipeau  wow  what a beauty  and very convincing as an indian woman  i believe she is french  canadian she sure reverts to the all  too familiar speech of such  . in spite  of brosnan  s detached  grunting style  in the end he comes through convincingly as a passionate  dedicated man . the plot is a little weak in demostrating his conversion from trapper to animal coservationist . good film  highly recommended .  
if you want to see a movie about two utterly unsympathetic characters  this is the one . the acting is superb  both from john cassavetes as the insane paranoid whom  as the saying goes  they really are out to get  and from peter falk as his lifelong best friend to whom he turns for rescue . big mistake  but since they  re both amoral mobsters  and misogynistic bastards to boot  it  s hard to decide whom to root for less . only writer  director elaine may could have gotten away with this one . i thought it interesting that in a lengthy interview with producer michael hausman included on the dvd  he disclosed that the two stars had  very different ideas  about the script  that the director was nearly impossible to work with  that the director of photography had impossible demands made of him  that the crew was constantly angry about being made to sit around waiting  and so on . this mood of one big very dysfunctional family comes across clearly on the screen .  
a very good start . i was a bit surprised to find the machinery not quite so advanced it should have been cruder  to match we saw in the original series . the cast is interesting  although the vulkan lady comes across as a little too human . she needs to school on spock who  after all  is the model for this race . too bad they couldn  t have picked jeri ryan . i like ms . park  the korean    lady . the doctor has possibilities . haven  t sorted out the other males  except for the black guy . he  s a really likeable . bakula needs to find his niche   in ql his strong point was his sense of humor and his willingness to try anything . he is  of course  big and strong enough for the heroics . the heavies were ok  although i didn  t like their make  up .  
wow  this one sucks . i  m gonna sum it up as quickly as possible .   br    br   a count invites  naive sluts back to his castle . a bunch of nothing happens for a long time . some lame and un  erotic soft  core sex scenes happen . some girls get their heads cut off  off  screen   the end .  br    br   the only things going for this one are the decent looking sets and costumes  some bad dubbing which leads to some unintentionally funny dialogue  and a few brief nudie shots . and believe me  those things are not enough to redeem the    minutes of tedium that this film is . in fact  the best part is the tacked on beginning from the distributor that features some slutty goth chicks covered in blood and showing their tits  and again  this is definitely not worth the price of admission for this garbage . as everyone else has noted  the title of the film is completely nonsensical  as there  s absolutely no bloodsucking  nor dancing of any sort in the film at all . it may as well have been called  the goat  raper leads the circle  jerk   and at least then it would have had a better title that also pertains to nothing in the film . an accurate title would have been    minutes of torture   another alluring title that would have at least been truthful . . . for the viewer . honestly  the trailer that  s on the disc shows all the best parts  and i use the term  best  extremely loosely . . .  so i highly suggest watching that instead if you  re still curious . i can  t imagine anyone liking this wreck of a film  please take my advice and leave this one on the shelf .       
the movie is wonderful . it shows the man  s work for the wilderness and a natural understanding of the harmony of nature  without being an  extreme  naturalist . i definitely plan to look for the book . this is a rare treasure   br    br    
this movie is a perfect adaptation of the english flick unfaithful . ashmit plays the role of richard gere  emran that of olivier and malikka the perfect cheating wife role of lane . they have changed the second half of the film to adapt for the indian masses .  br    br   even then the movie has got the full traces of unfaithful  though it couldn  t catch up with the original . it was a cheap soft porn of the bollywood lovers  where mallika showed a lot more skin than anyone dared to show . emran did more roles like this and was even nicknamed the serial killer . in the future if the indian directors plan to remake a english movie then they have to look into the feasibility of the plot with the indian censors . though the film bombed at the box office  the actors got the undue recognition . in future the directors should be a little more careful in remaking a oscar nominated film .  br    br   all said  this is not a family film  so take the extra caution while watching it at home with family .  
well worth watching  especially with the nice twist of a journalist with integrity  you are expecting a big fall down story line as grey owl is unmasked as a fraud  but it is not to be and adds to the generally optimistic and uplifting theme and drama of the story and film .  br    br   this has to be brosnan  s best performance to date  he convinces admirably as the english boy playing indians . the stand out scene is the return to his  aunts  where brosnan and the two elderly lady actresses make a wonderful scene full of feeling of nostalgia and a life lost with so little dialogue  just with expressions and good direction . perfect .  br    br   the story is so little known and the message so universal and all important it is a real pity this film did not get better recognition  maybe in time it may become a bit of a classic and a sleeper . i hope so .  br    br   well done dickie attenborough and cast .  
anurag basu who co  directed the flop kucch to hai made his debut in this film  br    br   the film was ahead of it  s times in a way though it has a story not to different and it came closest to hawas which released  week before and luckily this was better and did a better business  br    br   the movie starts off well  malika  s guilt is well shown at the start though the scene with emraan  malika is too crude  vulgar  br    br   the scenes between emraan and malika are well handled and the twist in the tale where ashmith confronts emraan is brilliant  br    br   the pace moves fast and the viewer is kept on the edge but the second girlfriend track of emraan isn  t fully convincing  br    br   also the cop track seems half baked  br    br   the finale is too filmy too  br    br   direction by anurag basu is good music is a winner  all songs were fab camera  work was stunning  br    br   emraan played his naughty streak very well  this was the role that gave him stardom and though he kept playing such roles and got annoying in this film he was superb ashmith too was good in his role for once  he did a nice job and one of his only good performance and he looked good too malika was brilliant in her role esp in the second half but her dial delivery was at times not up to the mark sadly rarely she showed such potential in other films raj jhutsi is okay  
if you know the story of grey owl  you  ll love the movie  annie galipeau is a great actress  and pierce is better than never in grey owl . but in this movie there  s no real scene of action . i think this movie should be nominated at the oscars  welll go see this movie  it  s a classic   
this movie is bizarre . better put  it  s  freakin  weird  . i could give you a plot summary  or some hoity toity analysis  but i would consider it a waste of your time . all anybody needs to know about this movie is two young sisters  one incestuous relationship  homicide  post mortem mutilation  and one really disturbing infatuation . at the end of the movie you feel like you need to go take a shower to wash the filth off yourself  but not in a good way like after  pulp fiction  or  fight club  . it  s like you  re a teenager  or high schooler being that i am myself still a teenager  and have just done something you a wish you hadn  t done  and b hope to the good lord of heaven and earth that your parents never find out about . and nobody likes that . my advise is that rather than defiling your mind and by watching piece of wanton cinematic filth  just go waste your time on something a little less horrible and watch  kazaam   yes  i would rather watch  kazaam  than  murderous maids   read into it what you want  .  
this is an interesting true story of archie grey owl  who dreamed of being an indiain when he was a child until the age of   he was born in england then moved to canada where he was adotped by indiains and he writes collums in magazines and he wrote a book that caugt the attention of millions the book was of his life . but at the end he told his wife that he was not a real indiain and she was fine with it and he died at the age of   two years after he went back into the wildness .  
awful movie . it  s a shame that a few of flanders  s top actors and actresses made such a lamentably poor film .  br    br   there is barely something changed since the first movie and the tv series same actors  same prototype characters  same scenario  emotional complications  the team under emotional pressure but everything turn out tip  top after a predictable grand finale  . another constant fact in the work of jan verheyen is the exaggerated product placement  company logo  s on the team  s shirt and along side the pitch ok but two times a commercial  by one of the characters  about an internet provider is just over the top .  br    br   meanwhile  rumour has it about the making of a second series for flanders commercial tv station  vtm   coincidental or not  the station where jan verheyen is programmation manager since a few months   br    br   to conclude . . . and the golden raspberry award for worst foreign movie goes to . . . team spirit   
this film is wonderful in every way that modern action adventures are not . take some time . relax  enjoy . think . people who see this movie as slow or plodding or dull really need to take a week off and watch it several times until their short attention span mind comes to grips with the possibility of being involved with a cause or even beautiful story in a beautiful place for no other reason than because it isn  t hurrying to make the points you so emphatically need it to make in the short time alloted . at first i was apprehensive of brosnan playing a native american . given the story line though  i think it was apt casting . now  back to my hermiting .  jahfre  
i don  t believe they made this film . completely unnecessary . the first film was okay . but there was no need for a sequel  certainly not after a television series that was already a sequel to the first film . this film feels like a soap  opera . the writing is so bad  it  s utterly simple . the jokes don  t come across  the acting is flat  it  s shot like a soap  it lacks any direction . the first film had a good emotional spine behind it . every character had a little arc . it was very simple then but somehow it worked and i could see the merit of that film . but this time around  there is no cohesive story  line . the characters are dull stereotypes and nothing interesting happens . one good thing the brazilian boy who plays axel daeseleire  s son is pretty well cast . that was their one moment of creative success on this film . i hear they already shot a second television series as a sequel to  team spirit   but please god  don  t let them make a third feature installment . . .  
all in all a good film and better for the fact that had the film not been made the story might remain hidden to the masses . brosnan does a good job as the native american with a hidden past and the photography is stunning . to some  this may be too whimsical  to others boring  for me it is a gentle  well  told tale and perfect for family viewing . now that  s not something you get a lot of recently .  
this movie is just plain bad . weak story  weak directing and below average acting . the thing that really irritated me was the blatant advertising  constantly  for a well known internet provider . it is obvious some scenes are written to do just that  advertising . this movie is a slap in the face to anyone who payed money for this .  br    br   do not watch this  it not worth your time .  
i know some people think the movie is boring but i disagree . it is a biography of a very complex and extraordinary person . i liked the characters in the film and think that leaving parts of archie  s life a mystery captured his humanity . i don  t think the purpose of a good biography should be the detailing of someone  s life but rather the complexities and relationships that make them interesting . and what is more fascinating than someone so successfully reinventing themselves   men become what they dream  you have dreamed well .  good job to lord attenborough . i also wanted to mention that nathaniel arcand really stood out to me as a charismatic actor and i hope to see him in more films .  
this is the worst show . buntch of grown up acting like kids no humor nothing . even sesame street has better humor and more adult than friends  friends  may be the worst thing i  ve ever seen on television and i  ve been sitting in front of the tube observing friends  simply does not stack up well to other  contemporary series . it lacks the smartness of  seinfeld  and the wonderful self  ridicule of pomposity that is the hallmark of  frasier  . the characters in  friends  seem designed to make them repellant dullards . this incestuous group of neighbors makes my flesh crawl .  br    br   the unintelligent show is completely without an edge of any sort . the characters are caricatures of caricatures and the writing is sophomoric   though intentionally so .  it might be interesting to observe a writing session since the writers may have to slave to aim lower than their capabilities so as not to confuse the loyal friends of  friends  .   
here  on imdb . com i read an opinion  that grey owl is best character of pierce brosnan ever performed . i do not know if he had better nor worse roles  i  m not his fan  but this one was really exceptional .  br    br   the other thing  impressive hand of the movie director . i give my respect . the serenity  the beauty and spirit of wilderness was illustrated really exlusively  i never met such proximity it in any movie before .  br    br   another thing left in my mind after the film  this is the movie  closest to the original books  and atmosphere in it .  br    br   and little bit more . i pay my respect to the original grey owl .  
it is quite simple . friends is a comedy of very basic humour aimed at teenagers and young adults  with unsophisticated sense of humour .  br    br   it is also painfully obvious that towards the end  they were desperately trying to make it last   seasons  most likely so they could say they beat seinfeld  s  season run . the trouble with this is  seinfeld had  amazing seasons with great writing  friends had  and i  m being very generous here  at most  or  ok seasons and then  abysmal seasons .  br    br   it became a soap opera with recycled humour and recycled character traits that weren  t that good so start with  then got worse at the    th time you saw them . i find it so hard to understand why people rate this so highly . it is truly awful .  
this film is a wonderful movie based on the life of a man called grey owl in     s canada . i found it to be similarly riveting and heartfelt as  rudy  and  awakenings  . it picks up late in grey owl  s life and follows him through his most tumultuous and influential period .  br    br   the film is about a canadian indian trapper who finds himself promoting the plight of the over  trapped beaver . he also predicts the decrease in natural lands and the overuse of earth  s resources . this is an outrageous concept in the     s and surprisingly well received . he becomes a well known speaker and the masses are ready to listen .  br    br   the casting of pierce brosnan seems rather odd  but is not outrageous . anyone wanting to argue that point must first watch the movie to understand . brosnan provides a wonderful performance as does annie galipeau . galipeau is a strong actress whose place beside brosnan is refreshingly natural compared to the forced pairings in recent bond films .  br    br   i would recommend this film to anyone interested in good drama  beautiful scenery  or environmental causes . it is a movie for families as well  however children under    depending on maturity  would have trouble following the plot .  
i am stunned to discover the amount of fans this show has . haven  t said that friends was  at best an  average  sitcom  and not as great as others have made out . let  s face it  if it wasn  t for the casting of courtney cox arquette  david schwimmer  matthew perry  lisa kudrow  jennifer aniston and matt le blanc  then who knows whether this show would  ve lasted as long as it has done . i very much doubt that . although as the series progressed  friends got more progressively predictable  lame and boring that i couldn  t care less about the characters  of whom are the most overrated in tv history  or of their plight  nor of who was sleeping with whom . and it went from being funny in the first four seasons to occasionally funny . and even when it had all these a  list hollywood actors from the movie world  i still didn  t bother to tune in . the writing in friends became stale that i lost interest in this show from the sixth season onwards and as for the ending  well it was predictable to say the least .  br    br   what was annoying though was that this lasted for ten seasons  whilst some of my favourite shows lasted for only three  four seasons for instance and were eventually cancelled and taken off the air for good . the show should  ve came to an immediate halt by the time the cast wanted bigger salaries . in truth  as much as the series waned  it was the show that was bigger than the actors themselves  not the other way round .  br    br   when it ended in      i was so relieved to see the back of this sitcom . now  there is talk of a friends reunion show coming to our tv screens very soon . and yet  i for one will not be looking forward to it whatsoever .  
the movie is more about pony than grey owl . it  s also about aboriginals  canada  the english  grey owl  s aunts and the north bay nugget . excellent story .  br    br   this is an excellent movie  more like a book  that raises interesting questions about cultural identity and values . the key scene is grey owl admitting his imposture to pony and her reaction .  br    br   a few observations on the user ratings . note that the user ratings are bi  polar clustering at  and   it  s not for everyone  but has a strong following . this movie is underrated and overlooked but will be noticed for years to come . also  few women have watched the movie but they rate it more highly than men . has it been marketed properly   br    br    
i have a severe problem with this show  several actually . a simple list will suffice for now  i  ll go into more depth later on superficial characters  a laugh  track and boring humour .  br    br   if you don  t wish to look at the rest of this review and are only reading it so you can feel superior  as if you see anything in this show i didn  t  to a frequently irked teen from canada i  ll summarize friends sucks  not only because it is unfunny but because it destroyed the tv audiences for new  good shows  arrested development  dexter etc .  . friends is as much to blame for reality tv   two and a half men  and  the king of queens  as the television executives . now then  on with the review .  br    br   these characters have no soul  they are exactly the same in every way  outside of gender and hair colour  . they react the same way in boring situations and are completely secure in their own bodies . where is the conflict and the humour that comes with it  why isn  t rachel storming out on monica after monica starts hanging out with rachel  s enemy  why doesn  t joey contemplate suicide because nobody seems to take him seriously  oh right  cause he  s the dumb one and he  s comfortable with that . this is the curse of having perfect characters lasting conflict and  god forbid  personality becomes an impossibility .  br    br   the laugh  track is the one thing that should have died out right after it was born . any show that has one is almost certainly the opposite of funny . how can i make such a broad generalization  when a show that claims to be  comedy  requires laughter from someone besides the audience it must mean that the audience would not laugh without it . laughtracks destroy humour by preventing quick comebacks . humour becomes a construct rather than a free flowing entity  see the office  arrested development  .  br    br   this leads to my next point the humour is boring . there is no way to make a perfect character anything more than slightly humorous  without a laugh  track apparently  simply because our everyday humour comes from recognition of our flaws . so what if monica dated a   year old  she immediately recognizes that what she is doing isn  t right and breaks up with him . there has to be some sort of conflict rather than an immediate solution . maybe her mother finds out or one of her friends tries to get rid of him and ends up seducing him . that would be great  it would be like a custody battle  so now i  ve provided evidence for my position . many of my friends love this show because they haven  t heard of curb your enthusiasm or arrested development  many of my friends hate this show because they recently started watching curb your enthusiasm or arrested development .  br    br   i have watched very little of  friends  in my life  but i have watched enough to spot huge flaws that make the show  in my opinion  completely unwatchable . if you  ve read this far  thank you  and i hope you at least start watching some of the shows i have mentioned .  
a strong pilot  this two  hour episode does an excellent job of setting up the characters and background for  enterprise   the  prequel  to the original  star trek  series . it stumbles a few times into  trek  convention and clich   candy  colored space strippers never seem to go out of style  and i can already foresee snickering references to t  pol as  seven of vulcan    but the ensemble looks strong  the characters are well  drawn  and one can already see hints that this particular crew will have to be more resourceful  in different ways  than those of earlier  later   series . scott bakula hits the right note as a captain with kirk  s brashness and daring but without his smugness and swagger  and i look forward to the ways in which the series will feature the engineer  weapons master and communications officer  not just a glorified phone operator anymore   as supporting players . the writers seem to have picked up on the one big mistake made in  star trek the next generation    deep space   and  voyager   instead of starting with a big ensemble cast and giving characters short shrift  it  s starting with a smaller core of characters to which a little more variety can be added later   which i hope happens  because after about a half  dozen episodes  more variety will be needed .  
  aka the bloodsucker leads the dance   br    br   lots of naked babes in this one with a couple of lesbo scenes thrown in . the film is supposed to take place in ireland but it looks more like rome and the adriatic to me .  br    br   gothic lesbians get invited to a count  s island castle for the weekend . one by one they seem to be missing their heads due to a madperson running around .  br    br   it  s not very scary or bloody and the rooms look like they are lit with floodlights even though candles are lit . go figure . . .  sic   br    br   dubbing is worse than usual and the plot only serves as an excuse for the eroticism and nudity . directed by euro horror actor alfredo rizzo  this is one snoozer .  br    br   pretty boring  out of    
recently i was looking for the newly issued wide screen dvd of fly away home and came upon interesting title that i had never heard of grey owl . the fact that it was a richard attenborough film caught my attention  he responsible for such fine films as gandhi  chaplin  and shadowlands  . i noticed that the screenplay was by william nicholson  author of shadowlands  . this  special edition  was full of interesting sounding material and the price was just under    .     so i chanced it  bought it . wow  what a beautiful film . pierce brosnan stars as archie grey owl  a real life trapper in the     s  who came to love and respect the wild lands of canada  and worked to help protect them . brosnan  who starred in a james bond film  gives a shaded  warm  powerful performance as does annie galipeau as the young woman who loves and influences his feeling for the creatures of the land   especially the beaver . a fine score by george fenton  the crucible  and beautiful photograhy by roger pratt add greatly to the effectiveness of the film . and the extras on this dvd are something else  includes two shorts made in the     s with the real grey owl as well as audio commentary tracks by attenborough and producer jake eberts  featurettes and many other fine additions plus options for those having access to a pc with dvd  rom features . grey owl has been released directly to dvd in the united states   a fact that richard attenborough attributes to hollywood  s lack of interest in distributing something that isn  t loaded with a lot of violence and sex . this is a film that not only informs and entertains but leaves you with something to think about . i had a very warm feeling at the films conclusion   and a whole new love and understanding for beavers  grey owl is a very fine film   worth checking out  this is one i look forward to sharing with others .  
tv does influence society . . . just look at the surge in popularity of cappucino shops after this shallow little piece of work debuted . besides  real people who look as good as these people do don  t have any problems .  br    br   besides  does anyone really believe that these people can afford to live in a nice manhattan loft considering what they do for a living  nbc just loves to insult the viewer  s intelligence  even if they  re just around gump  s level . i know a person who makes         a year as a web designer and lives in a tiny one  bedroom apartment in manhattan that costs      a month in rent .  br    br   i  d like to see a show called phriends  where it  s six ugly nobodies in dead  end jobs  living in a crummy neighborhood where sirens constantly wail and someone gets mugged every week . . . and then the landlord jacks up the rent . now that i would watch .  
i saw this movie on the hallmark channel and thought it was wonderful  especially since it was based on a true man . pierce brosnan was very good as the loner english man who took on the persona of the half breed grey owl . the photography was beautiful .  br    br   this movie made me do more research into this character archie belaney known simple as grey owl . i want to read as much as i can about him . at the time i did not know richard attenborough had directed it . but i am not surprised . i like all his movies whether he is acting or directing . i gave it the highest rating . however  i would have liked to have seen more in the movie about why he took on this persona as it only showed the two aunts who raised him and his room in their house .  br    br   you can  t go wrong with this movie if you are like me and enjoy a beautiful story without hearing foul language and contrived special effects every few minutes .  
i can  t even believe that this show lasted as long as it did . i guess it  s all part of the dumbing down of america . personally  like david spade said  i liked this show better when it went by its original title   seinfeld  . what bothers me the most about this show  aside from the obvious  base sense of  humor   and general smuttiness  is the pretentious way the episodes are titled . truly great shows are still funny after many  repeated viewings  like   the one where rob gets accidentally hypnotized   on the  dick van dyke show   or  the one where lucy and ethel work at the candy factory .  in other words  it  s an honor bestowed upon great programs by the viewers . that the writers and producers of  friends  would have the unmitigated hubris to actually title the episodes  themselves  in such a fashion  before anyone  s even had a chance to even see it a second time  speaks to not only the mediocrity and lack of original thinking on the part of said writers  but  also  of the stultified minds of their viewers .  br    br   you read the comments of some of these people and can only come to the conclusion that they live in a hallmark card  like neverland  full of greeting card sentiment . the true meaning of friendship  i want to be a friend  i want to live in manhattan  wake up . these people are supposed to be working in coffee shops and looking for work as actors  but they somehow manage to live in       mo . apartments  get real . all i have to say to those amongst us that want to move to manhattan and live the idyllic new york life with your rosses and monicas  good luck with all of that . that new york doesn  t exist for anyone making less than a serious six  figure income . but  good luck with all of that  anyway . now  shut  up and pass the soma .  
pierce brosnan will probably be the only thing familiar in richard attenborough  s new biopic . the rest is new to international audiences canadian history and first nations culture .  br    br    grey owl  is a light examination of how an man came to be adopted into the ojibway of northern ontario  learning and preaching environmentalism decades before it became politically correct to do so . the film contains a love story  a moral message  and a man tortured by his past . that torture  though  is not always brought to life with the dramatic impact that it might .  br    br   nevertheless  it is a film which holds its audience without any violence . it pays deep respect to canada  s first nations  and presents them in a dignified and non  stereotypical manner . brosnan  s performance is somewhat stiff  but i suspect that  s just how lord attenborough wanted him .  br    br   thanks from a proud canadian .  
and a self  admitted one to boot . at one point the doctor  s assistant refers to himself as igor .  br    br   working with the increasingly plausible idea that computers could be used to replace or reconstruct brain functions  this movie doesn  t spend enough time exploring the premise . most of the screen time is split between girlfriend  in  a  coma domestic strife and chasing down the brain donor  s killer . it attempts to be a sci  fi  drama  thriller but fails to deliver on any of the three .  br    br   as a frankenstein remake this one is missing everything that made the original good . nobody calls the doctor insane or even threatens to kick him out of the hospital . the transformation scene consists of a coma victim opening one eye and the amazing computer that makes it happen isn  t even shown . when the experiment works there is no praise  and when it starts going wrong there is little reaction .  br    br   any suspense over who the killer might be is shattered by progressively showing him in the same room with all of the possible suspects . finding the killer is as easy as opening one file and interviewing one person .  br    br   san francisco as a setting is both overplayed and underused . the opening sequence hammers home the point that this is happening in sf  a cable car plays a significant role  the leads live in a hilltop victorian  pier   makes an appearance  and the final showdown happens at golden gate park . more specifically along ten feet of cliff side at the park  just enough to keep the bridge in the picture at all times . once the obvious scenery bases are rounded no other attempt is made to explore the city .  br    br   the acting is the only saving grace here . keir dullea shows a good range and pulls off a couple of genuinely emotional scenes . suzanna love portrays recovery from a coma well . tony curtis only gets a handful of lines and twice as many evil guy stares with most of the frankenscience explained away by his assistant . the little blond kid hits his cues fairly well also .  br    br   i also gave it one extra star for the scene where the husband drives south from the bridge  it cuts to a u  turn in an unrelated parking lot  and then he  s instantly back on the bridge driving north . it takes a whole lot of something  bravery  ignorance  deadlines  to try and slip that one by the viewer during the one single car chase .  
this docu  drama is what you would expect from richard attenborough  the man who gave us  gandhi   beautifully photographed  compellingly casted  well written in the measured  literate manner that hollywood discarded in the    s  and scrupulously accurate . it stands out as a genre film  excelling in its portrayal of native american  or  more appropriately for its canadian setting   first nations   culture and standing with  black robe  as a wonderfully photographed piece of canoe country and its culture  here  circa      . this idyllic portrait derives drama from its subject archie  grey owl  belaney  a scot raised in hastings  england  by maiden aunts who became so obsessed with the  red indian  tales of his childhood that he went to canada  disappeared into the woods  and became a trapper and adopted son of an ojibway band . he was a vain man with a habit of marrying and abandoning  br    br   indian brides  none of whom seem to have thought less of him for it  for he was also an extraordinarily charming and picaresque character . one of his wives  one smarter than he  by most accounts  propelled him into fame as a writer and early advocate for protecting the wild country of the north  and this forms the focus of attenborough  s tale . the chemistry between brosnan and annie galipeau  as grey owl  s wife pony  is engaging and  if not firey  is nonetheless quite touching . a good film when you need some time from the madding crowd .  
the teasers for tree of palme try to pass it off as a sort of allegory for a fairy tale with actual meaning  then immediately start raving about the animation . i should have known what that meant .  br    br   the main character  palme  is a good example of the whole movie  s problem . one minute  palme is a humble hero in search of himself  the next a violent psycho with an unhealthy fixation on a girl he once took care of .  br    br   like all of the characters in the movie  palme is poorly defined . you do not bond with the characters at all  although shatta has acquired a couple of fan girls . it seems that the writer was more interested in cramming all the drama and complexity he could into this movie than actually exploring his characters  motivations and personalities .  br    br   new  useless story lines were being introduced in the last fifteen minutes of the movie . the writer seriously needed to streamline his story . perhaps he was trying to be epic  but it was simply too much information for a two  hour movie . however i can  t help but wonder if a plot with so many dimensions and characters would have been better suited for a tv series or graphic novel .  br    br   in the last five minutes of the movie  i simply could not endure the sheer lack of quality any longer and began laughing at how contrived the characters  the relationships  and the whole plot was . i touched my companion and he started cracking up too  as did a young man seated behind us . we tried so hard to control ourselves  but we simply could not take the terrible quality of this movie .  br    br   on the bright side  the animation is incredible and viewers will find themselves admiring the lush backgrounds and charming character designs . the animation almost guides you when you don  t care about the characters  it tells you how to feel .  
originally conceived as a solo vehicle for dudley moore   not only . . . but also  saw his ex   beyond the fringe  collaborator peter cook guest on the first show  and so well received was it the controller of b . b . c .   insisted that he be on it every week from then on . they were a classic comedy team  cook was tall  handsome and witty  while dudley was short  charismatic  and musically gifted . the sketch that brought the house down had them in a pub  wearing flat caps and mufflers  fantasising about movie stars such as jane russell and greta garbo . it remains one of the most hilarious skits of all time  and even when cook corpses it still holds together well .  br    br   those characters  idiot pete and even  bigger idiot dud  found their way into every episode of the show proper  seen in a different setting  such as a zoo or an art gallery . in the latter  they munched sandwiches while discussing works of art .  that leonardo davinci cartoon . . . i don  t see the joke    says dud . pete points out that when it was first unveiled it probably had people in fits . dud nearly chokes on his repast .  you really are enjoying those sandwiches    ad libs cook . the pair bounced their humour off each other in a way that was joyous to behold . the sketches themselves set new standards for comedy  standards that would not be matched until the arrival of  monty python  .  br    br   as the show  s popularity increased  so did the quality of the guest stars . peter sellers for instance  and john lennon  the latter presenting a filmed item based on his poem  deaf ted  danoota   me  .  one leg too few   had dud as  george spigott   a name later re  used in the film  bedazzled    a one  legged man  who hops into the office of film producer cook to audition for the role of  tarzan  . cook tries to let him down as best as he can .  i  ve nothing against your right leg    he says .  the trouble is  neither have you   .  br    br   dud would on occasion interview the eccentric sir arthur streeb  greebling  cook   who when he was not teaching ravens to fly underwater  was planning on opening a restaurant called  the frog  the peach  . another classic was  the leaping nuns   also reused in  bedazzled   . but my all  time favourite has to be  superthunderstingcar   a wickedly funny  and accurate  parody of gerry and sylvia anderson  s  thunderbirds  . pete and dud played all the roles  with the latter making a fetching  lady penelope  .  ludwig  had ludwig van beethoven as the star of a  this is tom jones  style variety show .  the immortal bargo  was a spoof documentary on the life of reclusive movie star  emma bargo  . in an unforgettable moment  she drove through london  bellowing through a loudhailer  i want to be alone   .  br    br   a season  feature was  poets cornered  with the likes of ronnie barker  spike milligan  barry humphries  willie rushton and others suspended over a gunge tank . they each had to improvise the line of a poem  and anyone failing to make it rhyme wound up in the nasty stuff .  br    br   three seasons were made in all  produced  at different times  by joe mcgrath  dick clement and jimmy gilbert . sadly very few editions survive . to make matters worse  the scripts were destroyed as well . it beggars belief that this situation was allowed to happen .  br    br   the show ended in     . the comics then hit broadway  made the infamous  derek  clive  tapes  but cook  s ever  increasing alcoholism broke them apart . eight years later  cook announced that a new series was in the offing  but it turned out to be wishful thinking on his part . his ex  partner was making films in america  and had no intention of working with cook again  not at that time anyway  .  br    br   enough footage was scraped together for a season of b . b . c .   repeats in the early     s . as expected  some items had not held up as well as others . cook died in      and by way of a tribute the b . b . c put together a programme compiled from various  parkinson  interviews and  not only . . . but also  shows . it ended rather appropriately with pete and dud finding themselves in heaven .  bloody hell    exclaimed the latter . moore passed on in     .  
i saw this movie two weeks ago at the  festival des nouvelles images du japon  in paris . though i wasn  t expecting much from it  i have to say i  ve been disappointed just like many people in the audience . . . if i wanted to sum up how i felt  i  d say i  ve been comparing it to princess mononoke and nausicaa from the beginning to the end . of course it  s silly . but i couldn  t help it . the stories are quite different  but the worlds pictured are very much alike . and from this point of view   a tree of palme  definitely can  t stand the comparison with miyazaki  s masterworks . even if it  s quite good technically  boredom remains . . . in the end its complete lack of originality makes me advise you not to care to watch it . i rated it  out of    a bit harsh  i guess it deserves  or    
a well  made run  of  the  mill movie with a tragic ending . pluses the way the story moves  begins with soorya struggling to live followed by a long flashback about why he  s there . the music . a disinterested look at the life of policemen . minuses the violence and the gore  but i guess they add to the realistic effects . still  having people  s heads chopped off and sent in boxes and sacks could have been avoided .  br    br   no complaints       
the animation was good  the imagery was good  although not totally original  however  the story was too long  way too confusing  and over the top dramatic . after about an hour i couldn  t wait to get it over with . with so many characters that have nothing to contribute and plot elements that either come from nowhere or go nowhere this movie really wasn  t one movie at all and would have been better of as a short series or possibly two movies . if you like this kind of typical story maybe you will like it  but frankly  i  ve been spoiled by much more creative stories that actually have some sort message to tell . go rent a miyazaki film and watch it twice  you  ll get way more out of it .  
it has been almost  years since the release of this stylish action flick . i have watched this movie almost   times and it a great effort by gautham . from my perspective  i feel this movie is virtually flawless . surya as acp anbuchelvan  no doubt . . classy . jyothika played her role as maya very well . the character suits her very well . the character that caught movie  goers attention was pandia . jeevan played the role of pandia very well . brutal and fearsome . jeevan deservedly received the best villain award in the itfa     . the supporting cast of daniel balaji  devadharshini and other performed well .  br    br   racy screenplay  perfectly  timed dialogues and brilliant narration by gautham . the soundtrack by harris jeyaraj are all chart  busters while the bgm suits the movie very well . cinematography by r . d . rajasekhar is rich . peter hein choreographed the stunts well . anthony  s editing is precise . above all  kaakha kaakha is a perfect cop film filled with right doses of action and romance .  br    br   even some hollywood film cant compete with kaakha kaakha . . . undoubtedly .  
the last station  director michael hoffman  s melodrama about the last months in the life of leo tolstoy  begins with fog and sleep . tolstoy  christopher plummer  lives with his family in a compound at yasnaya polyana  taking walks and writing and being seen to by his wife and the adherents to his  movement   people dedicated to his ideas of pacifism  vegetarianism  sexual abstinence and communal property who have gathered in a forest camp not far away . his wife  sophia  helen mirren  wars openly with the head of his movement chertkov  paul giamatti   who she claims in his efforts to convince tolstoy to sign the rights to his works over to the russian people is trying to steal the wealth that is owed to her upon her husbands imminent death . observing all of this is tolstoy  s new steward  bulgakov  james mcavoy   a naive adherent who is torn between his love of the man and concern for his wife .  br    br   hoffman  s script  which is based on the novel by jay parini  quite often veers itself into confused territory  building up a complex tangle of threads and opaque motivations that ultimately don  t resolve themselves in any satisfying way . the scope of the film is grand  and its story should reverberate just as tolstoy  whose beliefs foreshadowed in some ways both the bolsheviks  and those of pacifists like ghandi . it unfortunately doesn  t  it  s un  unpickable  building up with much gusto confrontations that are constantly ravelling off into nothingness . the three  way relationship between the church  the faithful sophia and the unbelieving tolstoy  for example  is referenced often . in the last section of the film a mute priest in a magnificent hat even shows up  but the script never expands on this beyond awkwardly inserting it into the story as an attempt at enriching it or providing some semblance of historical accuracy . there are a ton of details in the film  but not enough attention is paid to most of them and as a result the film feels cluttered  overburdened  energetic but unfortunately pointless .  br    br   at its heart is the love story between sophia and tolstoy  and that story  as baffling and cramped as it is  is the reason to watch the film . mirren and plummer are  unsurprisingly  the best things in the film . plummer  s tolstoy is vague  at once confused and resolute  apprehensive and full of joy and certainty . mirren  s sophia is in full panic  in a righteous lather  forced to watch and expected to be mute as her husband gives away his time  his possessions and his money to people who are unquestionably devoted to him but also clearly in possession of their own agendas . they  re great performances  all the more so given the vast gulf between the real importance of the couple  s place in history and the script  s ability to support that  both sophia and tolstoy seem willed into the film by mirren and plummer alone  both making the best they can out of what meagre material is there . giammati and mcavoy  both talented actors  are unable to do the same and giamatti  s chertkov seems neither a revolutionary nor a thief  and not both at once  either  but rather a cipher  a stand  in for a whole package of unresolved anxieties and aborted historical impulses . the scope of this thing never boils down to anything  it hitches along  getting by on the strength of plummer and mirren and not much else . it  s interesting and pretty  but ultimately unrewarding .  .      
indian cinema typifies cops of two broad categories they are either the honest type or the bad guys . the honest guys always shout at the top of their voice and fight the system while the bad cops enjoy for most part but suffer at the end .  br    br   this movie at least breaks this usual formula and gives a refreshing view of cops and their lives . the direction takes an inside look at the life of a young ambitious cop who . the music is interesting and the editing is a trend setter as far as indian cinema goes .  br    br   the movie is slow at times and the dilemma which anbu faces when it comes to maya is overplayed at times . but i would still give this one     simply because it has many firsts to its credit .  
it was pointed out in a now deleted post from another imdb user that anyone who might see  the medusa touch  should be warned about a scene that  s eerily reminiscent of the sept .        terrorist attacks in nyc . but i hope anyone reading this will consider this warning . despite an interesting pedigree  producer elliott kastner produced  harper  and  the long goodbye   co  producer arnon milchan co  produced the oscar  nominated  l . a . confidential  and screenwriter john briley won an oscar for  gandhi   and an international cast  i found  the medusa touch  to be a heavy  handed  unintentional laugh riot . it was a poorly directed  horribly written and acted mess . it tried to capitalize on the   s telekinetic thrillers genre . the movie fails on many counts . please consider  carrie  and the underrated  the fury   both directed by brian depalma  . they were two entertaining and exciting thrillers that dealt with the same subject matter .  
this one stood out for it  s originality . i  m seriously tired of seeing hindi movies that are a hotch  potch of a whole bunch of hollywood and brit movies . some flaws were inevitable  nonetheless  this movie is a must  see . surya  s portrayal of the clean  cut  conscientious cop  as opposed to the pot  bellied  money  hungry ones that we normally see  was awesome . he  s come a long way from his work in nerukku ner . i liked the movie so much that i had to own it . i  m not usually into the mindless violence type of movies  somehow i actually felt for each character and therefore can  t really bring myself to call it  mindless  violence . i do not appreciate the excessive melodrama and sentimental scenes that go hand in hand with most hindi and tamil movies . i absolutely loved this movie for it  s lack of the same . acp anbuselvan  s reaction to loosing his wife  is not overdone  is heart  wrenching and makes me want to bawl my eyes out . there are certain times when i  m watching a movie when i want to hit the ff button . plenty of times i  ve wanted to do that at a cinema hall . never wanted to do so when watching this movie . i  m really hoping that ghajini releases soon .  
if      s  exorcist ii the heretic  did him no favors  it  s hard to imagine what thespian extraordinaire richard burton saw in this drab exercise in non  thrills . you  ve seen it all before burton plays a writer who discovered at an early age he possesses the power to move inanimate objects through force of his mind  and you thought  carrie  had no impact on hollywood   . though adapted from a novel by peter van greenaway   medusa  plays like recycled goods  though the special effects in the cathedral finale are solid  if typical  . lee remick is somewhat present as a doctor  but otherwise the supporting cast is extremely weak . burton is hammy but weary . . . not even telekinesis could save him at this point .     from   
well  would firstly like to clarify that kaakha kaakha is a part of a tamil prayer and roughly translated it means  to protect  . khakhee on the other hand refers to the color of the police uniform  which is khakhi   .  br    br   also  the tamil film industry is rather full of purely commercial ventures  any rajnikanth or vijay movie would stand testament to that statement .  br    br   now kaakha kaakha is an excellent movie with a great soundtrack . certainly very stunning in the final scene  especially love the ending  which is certainly unexpected   . the gore is rather too much at times  but certainly this is a great movie   
what a great actor to have in such an awful story . . .  br    br   the film and its production  however  is quite good  even though set in london but with exteriors in bristol . no matter  see one cathedral  you  ve seen  em all  sort of .  br    br   the story however . . . is about a man born with the power to wreak death and destruction upon anybody and anything  should he so wish . with just a passing reference to true life instances of telekinesis  the narrative builds a picture of a man misused and misjudged as a boy  a teenager and finally as a man so much so  in fact  that he exacts vengeance at will  literally . over time  he comes to the conclusion that the whole world is heading the wrong way and thus sets out to destroy the lot  just by thinking about it   br    br   the trouble with the narrative  however  is that it tries to mix genuine scientific data about strange mental powers and merge it all with quasi  religious claptrap to produce a hodge  podge theory about it all . mixing fact and fantasy in this fashion rarely works  and i  m afraid richard burton had to overact awfully on some occasions when trying to sound convincing . his very best scene  however  is when he gave his wife and her lover a verbal pasting as they left his home sharp  witty and deadly dialog  delivered as only burton could .  br    br   a good supporting cast helps to make things look and sound a lot better  though  beginning with lino ventura  whom i last saw in garde a vu        as inspector brunel harry andrews as assistant commissioner the much under  rated lee remick as dr zonfeld derek jacobi as a publisher  towney  and a few other well known character actors .  br    br   i liked the way the story was presented  as flashback within flashback to fill in the back story and thus solve the immediate mystery of the attempted murder of morlar  richard burton   the writer with the killer disposition . up till that point  it was a good piece of visual detective work by brunel and his english sidekick . still  it was very predictable as it became quickly very obvious to me about the identity of the would  be murderer .  br    br   then  they went and spoilt it all in the last fifteen minutes . if you want a clue about what that is  think samson and delilah        from the illustrious cecil b . de mille  and how samson got the bad guys in the end . and  the very last scene is just plain stupid . why  because there are at least a hundred ways that morlar  s rampaging could have been stopped  absolutely .  br    br   shame  actually  because this could have been a lot better story and movie . i guess burton really needed the money .  br    br   if you  re burton fan  then spend the time to see that scene i mentioned above . otherwise  don  t bother .  
enterprise  the latest high budget spin  off to the most successful franchise in film and or television history opens to the tune of a    minute episode called  broken bow  . first we are swept into a massive action sequence with a klingon being chased by some suliban  who are the main enemy in the first season of the show  . from there the televised movie takes us on a journey that seldom gets as good as it is  with some of the best character development  story and action  visual effects ever seen in such a short amount of time .  br    br   the opening  credits is a debatable subject among the minority of enterprise fans  whom some believe that the song is out of place . what they fail to realise is the lyrics themselves . if one listens to the actual song  instead of the theme  then they will begin to piece the parts of the puzzle together . and eventually as the series progresses further and further  and we learn more about our valiant captain and his crew  will the song actually become meaningful . overall diane warren  s theme is beautifully orchestrated and is sung just as well by opera singer russell watson .  br    br   what makes any television show watchable and worth watching time and time again is its characters and the way they become structured and layered . enterprise is  in my opinion  one of the most well cast shows since the next generation . choosing scott bakula  as captain jonathan archer was the best decision since gene himself cast patrick stewart as jean  luc picard . as the captain always leads the show  bakula adds a subtlety to his role and brings a huge smile to the faces of anyone with blood pumping in their veins . he simply is  both actor wise and character wise  a superb human being and his charm  wit  and compassion are overwhelming to watch . as for the other cast members  a favourite of mine is john billingsley who plays dr . phlox . it  s also nice to see a non  human playing a role  and the decision to give the captain a dog  named  porthos  was a well  received idea . throughout the show character development was brilliant  it was fast  well timed and almost perfect . i say almost because sadly travis mayweather  s character played by the briton anthony montgomery is a little weak at the end of the first season . he does have some things to say here and there  but remains in the hands of the producers to make him more important . jolene blalock is wonderful as the sometimes harsh but equally loveable subcommander t  pol . dominic keating as lieutenant malcolm reed plays a strong role and is convincing as the armoury officer . connor trinneer plays commander charles  trip  tucker who always adds charm and comedic style to his character and finally linda park as ensign hoshi sato  who often plays a weaker character but thankfully quickly becomes interesting . all of these characters make up enterprise  and all bring a quality that star trek hasn  t seen in a long time . each person makes this show worth watching . smiles and feel  good senses are guaranteed right from the first time we see them all together on the bridge of the starship enterprise nx    .  br    br   the ship itself  the nx    is somewhat questionable in design . the series is set    years from now and    years before captain kirk . so why then does the ship appear to be similar in design to mid   th century ships  namely the akira class starship  continuity has been an issue in enterprise  but thankfully rick berman and brannon braga offer suitable explanations for each and everyone of them . continuity is only a problem if you are forever scrutinising shows and are obsessed with the tiniest of details . if you see the show with and open mind  then you  ll have no problems  but there is an urge to know  why  all the time . so what did berman and braga offer to the star trek fan  base with the issue of the deign of the ship itself  according to them the nx    is how it is because of the incident in first contact . when zefram cochrane saw the enterprise  e through his telescope and from speaking with the away team lead by commander riker  it changed the ideas in his head . that  s a good enough explanation for me . lets move on . of course its not as easy for some fans to accept that sort of answer  some go as far as to refuse to see the show until they get a reasonable answer . come on guys grow up . when george lucas destroyed the star wars saga with the launch of his profit making new trilogy  fans couldn  t do anything  only watch and sap it all up anyway . and then they learned that  well maybe its not that bad after all . if you can  t accept a quality show for what it is  not what it should be in your mind  then go elsewhere . or try becoming a producer on the show and then see what you can do .  br    br   the sets on enterprise remind me very much of the defiant from deep space nine . they often appear cold and have an eerie look of modern structure to them and they cry out that they belong to the military . perhaps that why the crew of the uss enterprise  aka flagship of the american fleet  like it so much . they are striking sets  and represent the show perfectly .  br    br   rick berman  the overlord of the empire  as john logan so accurately put it and his counterpart brannon braga has hit the nail on the head exactly where they should have  and in all the right places . whether that be technicalities  visuals  sound  editing or score . enterprise is a fine demonstration to just how good televised science fiction can ultimately be  when in the hands of geniuses . the late gene roddenberry would be proud of this series and as a star trek fan  so should you .  
in contrast to my fellow reviewers  i always try to find something redeeming in any film i see . yes  the quality of the dubbing and lighting is abysmal  the acting is wooden and the opening sequence highly misleading what with all those lascivious female lesbian vampires with blood dripping . something must be lost in the translation of the word  bloodsucker  from the italian in the title almost as if the producers were originally going to film a gothic vampire tale and then changed their minds but could not afford to give up their dramatic opening sequence  so tacked it onto the film anyway .  br    br   this film made in     has recently been issued on dvd and comes with its own theatrical trailer which in some respects is more daring than seen in the film  now anyone who buys this film has probably already read its synopsis anyway and knows what to expect  italian softporn from the mid     s . i bought it because i am attracted to christa nelli  credited most often as  krista nell   . the absence of a cast of characters i find most frustrating in a lot of these eurosleaze films from the   s    s . i had hoped imdb would show the cast of characters as one hears their names in the film but without a cast list  it is very difficult to link them to the actor concerned . i think krista nell played  cora  but underneath that massive hair style  costume and make  up it is difficult to distinguish her for sure .  br    br   there is mostly a two dimensional portrayal by the actors of their parts and no one really stands out . maybe something is lost in the dubbing process . what were the positive points  well the music was atmospheric and of course if you  re into beautiful lesbian soft porn its there . the external locations used were good and i would like to know where they filmed the castle on its island . it purports to be set in  ireland   north or the republic   in      so everyone sports period piece costumes . some of the scenes i found unintentionally funny especially those sex scenes   anyway an enjoyable romp . i rated it     .  
when ever a film is produced or directed by mel ferrer  you can bet your life any of his pictures will be seen for generation after generation . just having claudette colbert   ellen r . ewing    the egg  i      appearing and starring in the film will make it even more of a great classic film . in this film  ellen ewing gets married and then she encounters all kinds of mental problems and even murder . the mystery gets very much involved and robert ryan   david mclean    battle of the bulge       comes to the aid of ellen and sometimes you even wonder about david being on the up and up . as you view this picture you just about find yourself beginning to understand who is the real nutty person and all of a sudden  you begin to change your mind how the film will end . great acting by claudette colbert and robert ryan who played an entirely different role than he usually portrays on the screen . i forgot to mention that mel ferrer  was married to a great film star  audrey hepburn . great classic film  with great classic actors   
this is a review of the wizard  not to be confused with the wiz  or mr . wizard . the wizard is a late  eighties film about a seriously silent boy  s ability to play video games and walk during the entire opening credits . the wiz is an unnecessary update of the wizard of oz  and mr . wizard is that guy that attached    straws together and had some kid drink tang out of it .  br    br   now that we  ve gotten all that out of the way  let me say this there  s really no reason to see this movie . it  s simply a    minute nintendo commercial designed to capitalize on the powerglove  the legend of zelda and super mario brothers  . i use the word  designed  in the loosest sense possible  because it seems like this movie was written over a weekend by a crack team of people who had never played nintendo  and directed by a man with less sense of style than my grandmother . maybe if the writer and director sat down and actually played some games together  they  d realize that they were about to film total rubbish and instead go to vocational school to learn how to install car stereos .  br    br   i hope that this has been an enlightening experience for you . it sure hasn  t been for me . in fact  i think i might have lost a few braincells in the act of watching this movie and writing about it . next time you  re at the video store and you see the the wiz  the wizard and the wizard of oz all sitting there on the shelf in a pretty little row  give them all a miss and play duck hunt instead .  
this movie was terrific and even with a less than convincing ending  it  s still well worth seeing . the film begins as claudette colbert is about to marry robert ryan . when the minister asks if anyone has any objections  a guy jumps up and announces that colbert can  t get married because she already is married   colbert insists this isn  t true  but when they investigate they find that the justice of the peace and many others remember her wedding and there is even a signed wedding license  slowly  it becomes apparent that claudette  s mind is slipping and people around her seriously doubt her sanity . then  when the supposed first husband is murdered  all evidence and suspicion falls on colbert .  br    br   the film is an exciting mystery suspense film  as what i have so far described is only the first half of the movie . what follows is amazingly intelligent and captivating . unfortunately  the conclusion  though  is a bit of a let  down  as the guiding force behind all this turns out to come  right out of left field    and is baffling since it was so unexpected and impossible to guess based on the information given to the viewer . however  in spite of this  the film was so good  i can even excuse the limp ending . in particular  robert ryan did a great job as the  knuckle  busting  fianc  though apart from him the other performances were also excellent .  
was there a single positive to this film  critics who knew nothing of video games could spot the gaming errors made . no damage taken with damage clearly visible towards the beginning being a primary example .  br    br   and i may have missed something  but wasn  t super mario bros .  suppose to be a game that had never played before  well if that is the case  and i did not miss anything . . . how did fred savage  s character  and even the girl  know so much about the game already  we  re talking things that some people don  t know about by their second or third play  through .  br    br   beyond the factual and gaming errors there is the general low quality of the film itself . nothing here is honestly very memorable . the kid wasn  t even that good at playing video games in the footage they showed . a lot of kids i knew way back in those days were significantly more experienced . on top of all this the acting and storyline are just mediocre at their strongest points . the characters are bland and completely uninteresting  the  wizard   the youngest child  is a very silent  completely dry child clich of a little kid who almost never talks because of a trauma . it isn  t that this is unrealistic  it  s the fact that it had to be thrown into the movie to actually even begin to form a plot that would exceed even   minutes .  br    br   honestly  the only value that is to be found here is that of a nostalgic nature . if you grew up with this movie you  re going to like it whether it was good or not . it was about kids playing video games  and at the time you saw it you likely had an obsession with the nes as well . but unless you loved it as a kid there just isn  t anything that  s going to keep you interested  and very little that will prevent you from turning it off .  br    br   no sir  i didn  t like it .  
the secret fury  in many ways a run  of  the  mill romantic suspense drama  directed by mel ferrer  boasts top  notch principals in colbert and ryan it stays puzzling if not quite gripping until towards the end  when implausibility conquers suspension of disbelief   as so often it does in this genre . but for some viewers the film  s highlight will be the portrayal of blowsy leah by vivian vance   the immortal ethel mertz on  i love lucy .  oddly  vance had very few film roles her true home was broadway  where  among other gigs  she understudied for ethel merman . here she contributes a winning turn as a chambermaid suborned to play a minor part in a nefarious scheme watch her half  heartedly trying to wave away the smoke when she  s puffing a furtive cigarette in the hotel  s linen  storage room   a transgression for which she ultimately pays the supreme penalty .  
it  s very sad that lucian pintilie does not stop making movies . they get worse every time . niki and flo       is a depressing stab at the camera . it  s unfortunate that from the many movies that are made yearly in romania  the worst of them get to be sent abroad  e . g . chicago international film festival  . this movie without a plot  acting or script is a waste of time and money . score  .   out of   .  
in the hands of lesser actors than claudette colbert and robert ryan this film could have become silly and trite . but  with these two experienced thespians leading the way  i found  silent fury  to be a most exciting and pleasurable little mystery . when their wedding is interrupted by a stranger who claims that colbert is already married  and that he was best man at that wedding  one can sense that there is some sort of plot against her at work . as colbert  ryan  and her attorney set out to disprove the strangers claim of a prior marriage  they are met at every turn by more evidence that seems to reinforce the claim that she is indeed already wed . although it  s not very difficult to figure out just who the main  baddie  is  it  s still lots of fun as the intensity and pace of the story increases . all in all  a good  solid mystery film with fine performances by the two leading actors and a fine supporting cast which includes the often underrated paul kelly .  
i find it rather useless to comment on this  movie  for the simplest reason that it has nothing to comment upon . it  s similar to a rotten egg which has nothing good to show to the world excerpt for the fact that it is rotten as other endless number of eggs have been before it . but since a comment is mandatory for such a grandiose insignificance . . .  br    br   filth is definitely the proper word to describe this movie created in the same manner as any other romanian  movie  directed by lucian pintilie who insists to depict the so called  romanian reality  following the communist era      to present days  .  br    br   under no circumstances recommended for people outside romania as for the others  who lately find amateurish camera  lack of plot  lack of directorial  actors  s quality etc  noise etc . as being trendy and even art  like   watch  enjoy this  movie   as i know you will  but do the other well intentioned imdb members a favor  don  t write an online review for it will misguide  irritate and in the end waste their time .  br    br   on the other hand this movie  among others  has some value whatsoever  an educational one for it sets the example for   how not to make a movie .   
i was surprised  that   the secret fury   was an enjoyable good film . . . . . . probably because  i didn  t have any expectations for this movie . . . . . though  the film does have it  s plot holes . . . . . i would say  that you couldn  t guess who was behind the whole scheme  until the very end of the movie . . . . . at first  i thought  it was robert ryan  using the same method  like   gaslight   where husband tries to drive his wife mad  but i was wrong . . . . . . the main problem  with the movie is  they drive at a whole other direction  which gave no clues at the beginning . . . . . . i thought  robert ryan  claudette colbert carried their parts well . . . . . . plus  vivian vance  a fine character actress  who steals scenes in this one . . . . . . those who like movies  that keeps you guessing  will like this one . . . . . .  
i saw this movie twice . i can  t believe pintilie made such a fantasy movie . i  m also a movie  theatre director and i know what i speak . this is not romania anymore  but i see the events are happening in the same period with the incident from   september . no story  no plot  nothing . no conclusion  no message  nothing profound  nothing hidden . just empty images .  br    br   what most of romanians don  t know  this movie is for the french viewers  not for us . they really believe that is the reality in romania . also for teenagers . pintilie should stop making movies . i don  t really know if we can call this a movie  maybe a horror   and we wonder why we  ve got such an image in europe . this was a reality  but isn  t anymore . a good friend of mine from the brithish embassy said  you have no idea what a long way romanian people walked from ceausescu  .  
the tourist season has just ended on a remote island off the coast of scotland  winter is beginning to set in and the inhabitants  both humans and sheep alike are settling down to much quieter times ahead . michael gaffikin  james warwick  a former paratrooper in the british army  is the local dentist  he  s not an islander by birth and as such his relationship with local artist and cartographer fiona patterson  celia imrie  is always being viewed with a little suspicion  not maliciously  but just out of the protective instincts the tight knit community have for their kin . the islands serenity is broken when gaffikin out for a solitary round of golf finds the headless remains of a brutally slain woman . he immediately reports his gruesome find to insp inskip  maurice roves  at the islands police station  inskip arranges for delivery of the remains to local gp  dr goudry  for closer inspection . a quick search for the killer proves fruitless  as does a search for a missing local woman . over dinner that night with michael gaffikin  fiona realises that the dead woman might be sheila anderson  a woman from the mainland  who lives on the island through the winter months . a quick search at her home dove cottage reveals the missing remains of her body  her home proving to be the murder scene  but why did the killer drag her torso over a mile into the woods  suspicion immediately falls on the one stranger left on the island  one colonel howard  jonathan newth  who also happened be the last person to see her alive as they came across on the last ferry together .  br    br   goudry asks gaffikin for some dental expertise on the victims body  it reveals that she had been torn apart my somebody or something with great strength  one set of teeth marks on the body seem to point at a human killer  another points to that of an unknown animal of some kind . a sheep is found mutilated and then a canadian ornithologist is found slain . with a heavy fog rolling in  the island is cut off from the mainland and any possibility of help  the radio also doesn  t work  seemingly being blocked and the phone lines have been cut . reports of ufo  s and the sighting of a camouflaged soldier are compounded by the finding of an odd looking craft hidden behind rocks on the beach . inskip is confused and refuses to listen to anything but the facts and laughs off gaffikin  s idea that aliens might be involved  but a rise in radioactive levels on the island  has him doubting himself .  br    br   the nightmare man is based on the novel  child of the vodyanoi by david wiltshire  it is here adapted by dr who and blake  s  scriptwriter robert holmes and directed by douglas camfield who also had directing experience on both sci  fi classics and the film benefits from having such experienced genre experts on board . the nightmare man though is on the whole  a succinctly better crafted piece  that builds its plot alongside solid character development  even down to the minor characters  time is given to giving them all a firm background . the island setting is perhaps a genre clich that has been used over and over  but its one that i enjoy very much  the remoteness  the sense of being under siege with no way out always add to the atmosphere and here it is given an extra oomph by having an impenetrable fog close in to hamper all efforts . in many genre efforts of this kind it is very easy for proceedings to get silly and for the plot to resort to melodrama  but credit to camfield  he holds it all together with the emphasis being on believability at all times . there is an authenticity about proceedings  the characters even speaking gaelic at times to further this point . if there is one negative about the killer its that  we are given his  her  its pov for the killings  an acceptable clich on its own  but when seen through a red filter and a fish eye lens  it just screams of overkill and dates the film just a little . still though you will be hard pressed to guess the outcome or the identity or for that matter the species of the killer  given the clues presented  but it  s a fun and very well acted piece . the local scottish cast are exceptional  the local bobbies roeves and cosmo in particular spar well off each other and are a delight to behold . imrie  never one i  ve taken to in other works  is also pretty good and displays hew womanly physique as if she were in a hammer production . the outlandish  maybe even preposterous ending may irk some viewers  it disappointed me in some ways  but taking into account when it was made  its an understandable and acceptable addendum that if you think about it  is even more terrifying .  
this movie begins with an ordinary funeral . . . and it insists so hard on this ordinary funeral feel that i lost interest within  minutes of watching  and started skipping scenes . it seems to me whomever made this movie is afflicted to the extent of becoming trapped in a permanent morbid trance  unable to contemplate anything else but death and destruction . well  i ain  t one of the dark kids from southpark  i want a movie that within   minutes gets me well into an interesting story  i won  t sit and watch   minutes of nothing but preparations for a funeral . . my grandma on her last years was fascinated by funerals  perhaps she might have enjoyed this  movie  .  
when i heard patrick swayze was finally returning to his acting career with king solomon  s mines i was very excited . i was expecting a great indiana jones type action adventure . what i got was a  hour long  with commercials  epic that was very slow . the second and third hour could have been dropped altogether and the story would not have suffered for it . the ending was good  no spoilers here  but i was still left wanting more . well all a guy can do is prey that swayze does  roadhouse   so he can get back into the action genre that made him famous . until than if your a fan of king solomon  s mines than read the book or watch the     version with richard chamberlain and sharon stone which is also not very good but its only and hour and forty minutes of your life gone instead of  hours .  
terminus paradis was exceptional  but  niki ardelean  comes too late . we already have enough of this and we want something new .  br    br   big directors should have no problems seeing beyond their time  not behind . why people see romania only as a postrevolutionary country   br    br   we are just born not reincarnated  and nobody gives a st anymore about old times . most people dont remember or dont want to remember  and the new generation of movie consumers dont understand a bit . this should be the first day of romanian movie not the final song  priveghi  maybe younger directors should make the move .  
who the hell rests at night whilst walking in the desert and travels in the heat of the sun  and these people are supposed to be professional trackers  journeymen   who the hell rests at night whilst walking in the desert and travels in the heat of the sun  and these people are supposed to be professional trackers  journeymen   who the hell rests at night whilst walking in the desert and travels in the heat of the sun  and these people are supposed to be professional trackers  journeymen   who the hell rests at night whilst walking in the desert and travels in the heat of the sun  and these people are supposed to be professional trackers  journeymen   who the hell rests at night whilst walking in the desert and travels in the heat of the sun  and these people are supposed to be professional trackers  journeymen    
yes  he is  . . . no  not because of pintilie likes to undress his actors and show publicly their privies . pintilie is the naked  emperor   so to speak . . .  br    br   it  s big time for someone to state the truth . this impostor is a voyeur  a brat locked in an old man  s body . his abundance of nude scenes have no artistic legitimacy whatsoever . it is     visual perversion he gets his kicks by making the actors strip in the buff and look at their willies . and if he does this in front of the audience  he might eve get a hard  on  did you know that  on the set of  niki ardelean   he used to embarrass poor coca bloss  by telling her  oh  coca  how i wanna f you    she is a great lady  very decent and sensitive  and she became unspeakably ashamed  to his petty satisfaction  and  as a worrying alarm signal about the degree of vulgarity and lack of education in romanian audiences  so many people are still so foolish to declare these visual obscenities  works of art   will anyone have ever the decency to expose the truth of it all   
i never had an inkling while watching the movie that it was meant for the idiot box . i always thought that this was some very good successful movie of the late    s . but after i saw on the internet that this was meant for the tv  i was shocked because for a television film  it is absolutely fantastic   br    br   the thing that mostly concerned me was the length . i felt that the one on one battle scene should  ve been removed as it was completely unnecessary . also  it began to drag towards the end as it seemed as if the adventure was never going to end .  br    br   on the plus side  there is a strong  very interesting and captivating plot with magnificent performances by everyone . i just felt that patrik frayze looked a bit haggard . i also felt that gogool  who looked dementing turned a bit stupid at some scenes .  br    br   i was delighted by the beautiful landscapes of africa . also  the first half of the movie would have made me give this movie a  . still  its a great film for the television .  out of   .  
this guy has no idea of cinema . okay  it seems he made a few interestig theater shows in his youth  and about two acceptable movies that had success more of political reasons cause they tricked the communist censorship . this all is very good  but look carefully he does not know his job  the scenes are unbalanced  without proper start and and  with a disordered content and full of emptiness . he has nothing to say about the subject  so he over  licitates with violence  nakedness and gutter language . how is it possible to keep alive such a rotten corpse who never understood anything of cinematographic profession and art  why don  t they let him succumb in piece   
true  it does not follow the book very closely  but it  s still a very entertaining take on the story . swayze was far better in the role than i expected . and doody avoided the  silly woman out of her depth in the wilderness  portrayal most of us probably expected  cf . kate capshaw in  indiana jones  the temple of doom   .  br    br   at any rate  it  s amazingly better than richard chamberlain  s awful pair of quatermain flicks .  br    br   it is very reminiscent of a western in many ways . about the only thing i didn  t care for was all the mysticism  but i guess that is part and parcel of the genre . like  how can you have an african adventure story without witch doctresses and preternaturally wise wandering tribesmen   heh .  
it  s so sad that romanian audiences are still populated with vulgar and uneducated individuals who relish this kind of cheap and demonstrative shows  as superficial and brutal as the  garcea  series or the  vacanta mare  child  plays . . . the difference is that mugur mihescu  doru octavian dumitru and other such sub  artisans never presume to claim their shows as  art  . pintilie  who   years ago made a very good movie   duminic la ora sase   followed by another one  nice enough   reconstituirea    tries to declare his film  lenghts  art works   but  unfortunately  he masters at a way too limited level the specifically cinematographic means of expression . as such   niki ardelean  offers again a sample of  how not   this being about its only merit .  
in      in broken bow  oklahoma  a farmer shoots the klingon klaang with his plasma rifle after the explosion of a methane store in his farm and the klingon is sent to the starfleet hospital . the vulcan ambassador soval proposes to unplug the life support system and bring the corpse of klaang to his warrior empire in planet kronos with honor . however  captain jonathan archer proposes to go with the enterprise in her first voyage and bring back klaang alive to his home planet . jonathan invites ensign hoshi sato and dr . phlox  who is treating klaang  to complete his crew  and the vulcan sub  commander t  pol is assigned to participate in the dangerous first mission of enterprise . when the equipment of the starship is shut  down  klaang is kidnapped by sulibans after a shooting in the hospital . after the autopsy of the suliban killed in the shooting  captain archer is informed by dr . phlox that the alien was actually a mutant  altered in a sophisticated genetic engineering process . t  pol modifies the sensors of the enterprise to track the suliban spacecraft until she reaches planet riger x . they investigate and disclose that klaang was a courier  bringing an important message about the temporal cold war from the suliban sarin to the leaders of the klingons in kronos .  br    br   in spite of being a huge fan of star trek  i have not followed the episodes of  enterprise  on cable television . i have decided to buy the dvd box of the first season and this first episode surprised me . the adventure of the first enterprise  captain jonathan archer  the gorgeous t  pol  reed  mayweather  dr . phlox  hoshi and trip is excellent  at least in this pilot . i have noted in imdb that this episode is actually divides in two parts  but on dvd they are just one  therefore my review is valid for both . i did not like the music score theme  which i found very annoying  but this was an exception in this great show . my vote is nine .  br    br   title  brazil    broken bow   
early film directed by d . w . griffith it features a gloriously happy king  arthur v . johnson  and his queen  marion leonard   but  wait  when the king leaves the scene  his queen makes music with the palace  s minstrel  henry b . walthall  . when the king discovers the lovers  he decides to enact a horrific edgar allen poe  type revenge . it  s difficult to believe the lovers can  t hear those plotting against them although the actors are trying to look alternately noisy  the lovers  and quiet  the cement mixers  . the sets make  the sealed room  look very staged . the performances are okay  and the story is easy to follow .  br    br    the sealed room         d . w . griffith  arthur v . johnson  henry b . walthall  marion leonard  
i loved this movie . great storyline and actors and good movie sets . it told the story in a way i can easily understand and pay attention to without falling asleep . i would like to know where i could get the soundtrack . i can not find it anywhere . please email me if you know where i could get the soundtrack . other than not being able to find the soundtrack i thought the movie was fascinating . swayze did a great job . i think this is some of his best work . his past movies were ok  but this one really told a story for a change . this will go down in history as being one of the best tv films ever aired . congrats to the producers and writers of such a great piece of work .  
  br    br   whether any indictment was intended must be taken into consideration . if in the year     there were still rifts of feeling between caucasian and afro  americans in georgia  such as shown in this film  obviously there remains a somewhat backward mentality among a lot of people out there . it is rather hypocritical  to say the least  if everyone adores halle berry  whoopie goldberg  beyonc  noemi campbell  denzel washington  will smith  et . al .  whilst out in the backs there persist manifest racial divides .  br    br   white grandmother suddenly gets black grand  daughter thrust upon her  only to meet up with black grandfather in a very white social backwater . the story is sweet  not lacking tragic overtones  and eminently predictable as in most of these kinds of tv films  though the final scene has you guessing . . . . . . . . . . . . will he  won  t he . . . . . . .   br    br   gena rowlands in her typical style offers a sincere rendering  and louis gossett is a good match for her the little penny bae fortunately does not steal the show .  br    br   a nice  way of relaxing after sunday lunch without having to force your mind too much  though you might just find yourself having a little siesta in the middle of it .  
watched both parts twice . enjoyed the story and enjoyed seeing an older patrick swayze as the hero . he was very believable as the hunter alan quartermaine and certainly bested the performance of richard chamberlain . i do admit that i would have preferred seeing someone else as the  lady in distress  . alison doody should stick with modern and not period pieces . she didn  t have the look of the woman of the      s . the rest of the cast were terrific and followed the plotlines very well . i am glad to see that the actors of this generation are not afraid to try on different characters and are not afraid to be seen as getting older . age is inevitable  but let  s not hide from it . a man at    can be much sexier  and  patrick truly is sexy  then a green youth  no matter how pretty . hoorah for character lines to go along with a great smile .  
my comment is for the russian version of space race named bitva za kosmos  battle for space  shown on russia  s first channel on april           . bad translation could have ruined some details but i doubt it  s the case . the number of factual errors is such that it  s impossible to list them  especially in the first episode  the development of first missiles  . even the u . s . half of the film contains multiple errors and omissions . the audience is not told of any v    a   launches from the u . s . three different jupiter c rockets are launched with the same serial number  ue  onboard . apollo  is to be launched to the moon  etc . in the russian half  each and every person is ludicrous . korolev is scared of nkvd  glushko is saboteur and traitor  mishin is alcoholic etc . men as functions no motivation  no life at all . uniform and decorations are awful . gagarin sings a frivolous song awaiting launch  i think this was added specially for russian version  .  
i thought king solomon  s mines was beautifully done . my only reservation was alison doody . her acting was superb but her makeup and hair was not of the period  and always seemed to make her look out of place next to the other actors . i thought patrick swayze was an excellent choice for alan quatermain . it was nice seeing a seasoned  rugged looking actor in this role after sitting through movie after movie with the fair haired  fair skinned actors like val kilmer  brad pitt  etc . he was an excellent choice and i enjoyed every minute of this movie . this version cannot be compared with the      s version with stewart grainger . it was a big screen movie and not a made for tv movie . i thought both quatermains were believable but the two medias have to be kept separated . i am looking forward to seeing this once more  and i hope patrick swayze will again look to these type of roles .  
shocking   br    br   in     i saw jury gagarin alive . he was sincere  unpretentious and kindly  he was at ease and looked like well  educated and intellectual person . in this movie i saw a clown  the actor looks like dummy with affected gestures and mimicry . they made a cartoon  the real gagarin was someone else  don  t believe in this movie   br    br   i saw this movie after the movies like  taming of fire  and  apollo    and after reading books  rockets and people  by chertok and  korolev myths and facts  by golovanov . i was shocked by tiresome scenario  poor acting and producing  and a lots of inexactitudes of  space race  .  br    br   the movie is the tedious rendering of well  known in russia historical facts . a lots of interesting known facts of the space projects was not demonstrated . some facts and details were perverted . for example  in     korolev was already not a prisoner  liberated in       and in     he was already not in kolyma prison gold mine  but in special prison design bureau . korolev was the designer in prison design bureau and he was not buried the dead prisoners . but in the movie korolev worked as grave digger after      because jailer have shoulder straps on uniform  . imho  the authors of movie have no profound knowledge about this part of the history and they can  t to make interesting movies .  
the problem with the     version of this movie is simple indiana jones was so closely modeled after alan quartermain  or at least is an alan quartermain type of character   that the    director made the mistake of plundering the ij movies for dialog and story far too deeply . what you got as a finished product was a jumbled mess of the name alan quartermain  in an uneven hodge podge of a cheaply imitated ij saga  with a touch of austin powers  esquire cheese here and there  .  br    br   it was labeled by many critics to have been a  great parody   or  unintentional comedy .  unintentional is the word . this movie was never intended to be humorous witty  yes  but not humorous . unfortunately  it  s witless rather than witty .  br    br   with this new m  tv mini  series  you get much more story  character development of your lead  solid portrayals  and a fine  even  entertaining blend . this story is a bit long much longer than its predecessors  but deservedly so as this version carries a real storyline and not just action and eye candy . while it features both action and eye candy  it also corrects the mistake made in the     version by forgetting ij all together and going back to the source materials for aq  making for a fine  well  thought  out plot  and some nice complementing sub  plots .  br    br   now this attempt is not the all out action  extravaganza that is indiana jones . nor is it a poor attempt to be so . this vehicle is plot and character driven and is a beautiful rendition of the aq  ksm saga . filmed on location in south africa  the audience is granted beautiful  if desolate  vistas  sa aboriginal cultures  and some nice wildlife footage to blend smoothly with the performances and storyline here .  br    br   steve boyum totally surprised me with this one  as i have never been one to subscribe to his vision . in fact  i have disliked most of his work as a director  until this attempt . i hope this is more a new vein of talent and less the fluke that it seems to be .  br    br   this version rates a  .     on the  tv  scale from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
i  ve just visited russian forum of our tv  channel that had showed this film . well . . .   per cent of active russian audience is disappointed . we wanted to see more true facts of our space achievements in this film . but authors had in mind something else . . .   we are big and beautiful country with intelligent people living here . we are proud of all our space dreams  real achievements on the one hand in this field and in science on the other hand . so i  d like to ask authors where is our lunohod  and where  the hell our mir station  ah  i  m quite sure  that lunohod events took place much earlier armstrong  s  walk on moon  . and to comment numerous technical and science mistakes  i really have no time and enough space here  se our constructive critics in russian forum on www .  tv . ru  
if you a purist  don  t waste your time  otherwise  hold onto your hat and enjoy the adventure . i loved the stewart granger  deborah kerr version  i  ve seen it dozens of times  but this film is every bit as good  only different . i won  t detail the differences because it would spoil the film . also  it is a pleasure to see alison doody again  i  m a huge indiana jones fan   patrick swayze is good as quatermain  and the supporting cast is superb . i find the quality of the supporting cast one of the trademarks of a hallmark production and this film was no exception . the cinematography is splendid and the score is perfect . if you are looking for entertainment  you won  t be disappointed .  
this movie sucked . the acting sucked  the script sucked  and the movie overall sucked . there were two threads in the movie that were not developed and the viewer had to do a bit of work to figure out what was happening .  br    br   i  m not saying that it needs to be spelled out  but you suddenly find things happening and being said as if you have the slightest clue as to what they are . examples  br    br   the heroine  s negative comments about the hero . the audience is never shown how she even knows anything about the guy and how he is tied into her fiance  s death . the viewer has minimal exposure to the guy  s death as well .  br    br   also  all of a sudden there is a scene with a bunch of guys loading up and cocking machine guns and that is all you see before cutting back to the other scenes . no explanation what  so  ever about the guns and the folks with them .  br    br   we gave it a  because we didn  t feel like we wanted our time back . it was fun to bad  mouth the movie while watching it  so it at least gave us a bit of entertainment .     
king  s solomon  s mines brings us patrick swayze  playing allan quatermain  who has spent a lot of time in africa  but decides it is time to return to england and be a father to his son . he finds that his wife  s parents have taken custody of his son and that he has very little chance of getting custody of him with lots of money for a law suit . in comes alison deedy  playing elizabeth  whose father is in africa and being held by an african tribe for ransom of the map elizabeth  s father had sent her . elizabeth seeks out quatermain to take her back to africa to find her father .  br    br   there is a good cast of supporting characters that go along with quatermain and elizabeth and of course there are some enemies  russians  who want the map also .  br    br   the movie holds your attention until the end . patrick once again plays a ruggedly handsome honorable man who comes to the rescue of the damsel in distress . patrick is a great dramatic actor who can easily portray passion  loss and despair  the rugged silent good man  anger and strength in king solomon  s minds his character actually smiles a few times . i would really like to see patrick swayze in a relaxed live  loving story again  one in which he doesn  t have to clench his jaws and be quite so strong . maybe a little dancing would help . but this is a good movie for the entire family and worth the time to watch it .  
i sat through this movie this evening  forcing myself to stick with it even though i never cared about any of the characters or what happened to them  because the two leads  grard philippe and michle morgan  were major film stars of their era and i wanted to see them in  something different   which this certainly was . they both gave fine performances  but of distasteful characters .  br    br   indeed  the whole movie is about a shabby little town in mexico inhabited by almost uniformly distasteful characters  the doctor is  of course  the major exception  . what michle morgan ever sees in philippe to fall in love with him is never explained .  br    br   this is supposedly based on a work by jean  paul sartre . all i could think was that  if sartre  s work is anything like this movie  it must be a very mediocre attempt at imitating camus  masterful novel the plague  which dealt with a plague in north africa .  br    br   a well  acted but uninteresting movie .  
this is a sprawling   hours  remake of the rider haggard story  with the usual added female and an extraneous subplot with russian soldiers seeking a  stone of power  buried along with the treasure of king solomon . it  s very well shot  giving a vivid sense of the wide open spaces of africa  and very well acted . patrick swayze is an excellent alan quatermain  and allison doody is attractive as elizabeth maitland  who hires quatermain to help rescue her father . sidede onyulo as umbopa  gavin hood as mcnabb and the leader of the russian soldiers  not named in imdb  s listing  are also memorable . for all that hollywood can  t leave a good story alone when they adapt it  this one is well told and  except that it  s too long  i enjoyed it .     .  
kurt russell  as steven post  works as a mail  boy for struggling tv station ubc  that  s united broadcasting corporation   he is going nowhere at work  offering ridiculous projects like  abraham lincoln  s doctor  s dog  to studio executives  because lincoln  doctors  and dogs are popular . programming director joe flynn  as francis x . wilbanks  wisely rejects mr . russell  s proposals  but has no idea how to pick a hit tv show . his secretary heather north  as jennifer scott   who does double duty as russell  s girlfriend  has a chimpanzee who bugs the heck out of russell when he wants to watch tv . turns out  the monkey watches all the popular shows  and can easily pick the hits . russell discovers the chimp  s talent  and uses him to advance his own career . understandably  things gets hairy for russell and the cast   br    br   raffles the chimp  handled by frank lamping  performs well raffles does look bored and  or distracted during a few scenes  when the chimp is supposed to look interested these could have been corrected with re  takes or editing . a mild satirical edge is present  imagine a monkey picking hit tv shows  and  it  s a monkey who gets a beer during the commercials  drinking in a disney film   a look through the cast will reveal s bunch of fun tv actors to recognize and try to place . you could make a drinking game  in honor of raffles  beer  guzzling  by guessing actors  and where you  ve seen them before . here  s a start  hey  isn  t that  dr . bellows  from  i dream of jeannie   down the hatch   br    br    the barefoot executive       robert butler  kurt russell  joe flynn  john ritter  
this is a very rare film and probably the least known from shirley temple as it isn  t on any of her collections . the reason why is probably because it doesn  t have a happy ending  unlike all her other films . its also not a musical  although she does belt out one song called  the world owes me a living  . the film was made in     and originally in black and white  the version i have is in colour and on vhs  i would say they have done a fine job as the colour does look realistic  unlike i would say the colourised films of laurel and hardy which are dreadful . the film is good for its age and the story hasn  t dated at all  i  m surprised no one has tried to do a remake . at times the film is a little bit to talky as some of the scenes with gary cooper and carole lombard seem really dragged out  in some scenes they seem to take fifteen minutes to say what they could have said in five . although don  t be put off by this because this film does have some genuinely good moments in it  especially when jerrygary cooper steals a necklace  and hides it in shirley  s teddy bear . the tension and slow build up to his actions  while at the same time his daughter is singing to an audience in another roomis very well directed . gary and caroles edgy facial expressions when they are put under scrutiny are also very good . in all this is a good film from the early    s  accept it for its age .  
contrary to most other commentators  i deeply hate this series .  br    br   it starts out looking interesting  with mysterious aliens and giant robots  and i kept my hopes up until the very last episode . at the end of it  i still didn  t understand what the alien attacks were all about  maybe i missed something  who knows    and realized that i had sat through   episodes consisting mainly of the characters  own self  hating  selfishness and self  pitying . it actually flips between alien  robot fights and these dark  depressing blinking  on  and  off scenes where one or more characters can just say or shout  i hate me  you  it       times in a row .  br    br   i can  t really see either shinji or asuka  two of the main characters  showing growth or change .  nor can i see any of the other characters learning or growing either  for that matter .  i wanted to kick them and tell them to get a bloody life during the first episodes  and the feeling didn  t change during the last ones . shinji truly possesses the kind of helpless hopelessness that makes people angry rather than charitable  and asuka is such an infuriating know  it  all that i wanted to smash the tv screen every time she came into view . oh  and more than anyone else  these two hate everything  and say it veeeeeeeery often .  br    br   i  m otherwise a big fan of anim and manga  and never before have i disliked one so much . i read that the series creator  writer wrote this while suffering from a depression  and i can believe that it made me depressed to watch it . is that the aim of this series  i  m honestly asking . is it designed to make the viewer confused and annoyed  and if suffering from a depression  why just not write a book or biography about it  instead of mixing it up with aliens and mecha  s  this alien war plot  as far as i could tell  lead to absolutely nowhere .  br    br   finally  since i  m truly fascinated by how many people claim to love this patchwork of dead  end plots  i can  t help but wonder how many of them actually find it good  and how many say they do because they  ve been told it is .  
even longtime shirley fans may be surprised by  now and forever .  the movie was filmed with paramount studios  not with shirley  s parent company twentieth century fox  in      before fox producer darryl zanuck had perfected the successful shirley formula  cute songs  cold hearts for her to melt  young couples for her to play cupid to  happy endings  . thus  now and forever  falls into the category of a shirley vehicle without the standard shirley story . it is an awkward position for any movie  but this impressive  talented cast makes it work .  br    br   gary cooper and carole lombard star as fun  loving  irresponsible con artists jerry and toni day . the only thing that this devoted yet dysfunctional duo seems to hate more than being together is being apart . when they are suddenly landed with custody of jerry  s young daughter penny  shirley temple   it is toni  and not penny  as many believe  who persuades jerry to give up his criminal career . but jerry flounders at his desk job  and desperate to prove that he can provide for his new family  he soon returns to thieving and dishonesty . in a standard shirley device  penny tries to melt the heart of crusty curmudgeon felix evans  the victim of one of jerry  s cons  but her attempt fails  for evans is revealed to be a con artist himself  and he blackmails jerry into helping him steal jewels . the drama  gunfight  death  and sorrow that follow all make this film a very unusual one for little miss sunshine . there is no happy ending  no dancing  and only one song sequence  the cute number  the world owes me a living   .  br    br   but this does not mean that shirley fans should avoid  now and forever .  rather  it  s divergence from the usual shirley story make it more interesting and memorable than many of her other films . but beware you should avoid colorized version of this film  and see it in black  and  white if you can . the color is bright  garish  and unrealistic  and in many scenes  shirley  s famous curls are actually red instead of blonde . yikes   
this has to be one of the top overrated anime shows ever made . and yes  i was even shown the  end of evangelion  and that still made me hate it even more . not to mention the countless rip  offs of this show   br    br   i don  t mind psychological and philosophy untertones  but evangelion drags it out into the mud like nothing else  not many of the characters seemed to be very interesting . the only ones that seemed to be interesting were asuka  misato and pen  pen . other than that  mostly everyone else were a bunch of whiny crybaby losers . they need to go to a psyciatric center  not piloting giant robots against aliens called  angels  .  br    br   even the mecha and alien fights did not help at all . goes something like this  br    br    well  there are these robots  and they are really cool because they bleed    when they get hurt  but they are not really mecha  but captured angels  so sometimes they go insane and don  t do what the underaged pilots want  and they have to be controlled better . . . blah blah blah    br    br   i am so sorry  but i just cannot recommend evangelion to anyone  anime otakus or not . to those who love this series greatly  fine you  re entitled to that opinion  i respect you . but to thoses that have a  out of your mind  obsession to think that every one will like this series  you are more of an egotist .  br    br   i prefer  macross    mospeada    run  dim  and  robot taekwon v  myself .  
the only reason i came across this movie was that it  s on the little miss marker dvd and i do recommend watching it although you won  t like it as well as the better known movie .  br    br   we have gary cooper and carole lombard as a con man and his companion . the film starts out quite light  but becomes more dramatic as coop first plans on using his daughter to extort a sizable amount of cash from his brother  in  law but upon meeting the girl and seeing the discipline she would be subject to with his brother  in  law elects to keep her . however  he has trouble staying on the straight and narrow path and so the drama develops .  br    br   cooper and lombard are good and shirley still manages to steal the scenes she  s in . there  s little music in this  and shirley only has one song . however this is entertaining and worth watching along with little miss marker .  
this incredibly overrated anime television series    episodes    minutes each  is about a    year  old boy  and two of his girl classmates  who pilots a giant robot to defend japan against invading beings called angels . there is very little explanation given to the angels or why their numbers have increased in recent times  and they just seem to pop out of nowhere for no apparent reason  why not attack all at once instead of at spaced out intervals that are convenient for the humans you  re attempting to destroy   . the robot fight scenes attempt to employ a variety of obstacles  but the action itself is poorly executed and boring to watch . almost every episode seems like a waste of space where nothing of interest occurs .  br    br   some might be intrigued by fans who mention the  very few  symbolic references herein  but that  s all they are  shallow one  liners to religious or philosophical concepts that are randomly tossed in with zero craftsmanship . as a whole the series is incredibly tedious due to the superficiality of the characters  who are really nothing more than self  pitying crybabies . the psychology is pathetic  with hopelessly simplistic conflicts like  i hate my father  repeated over and over and over and over again with no progression beyond their face value . it  s no understatement to say that these characters plunge this series from time  wasting mediocrity to anger  inducing garbage during the final episodes with their endless  angst  ridden diatribes of excessively repetitive psychobabble  some of which is totally meaningless  .  br    br   i  m not kidding when i say that this series just got worse and worse as it progressed . every day i  d look at the dvd set sitting on my living room table and say to myself   damn  i  ve gotta watch the next episode at some point .  sigh  i may as well slug through another one tonight .  the real kicker was that the episodes were only   minutes long  yet they were somehow able to digress into a completely uninteresting borefest within the opening   minutes . this is coming from a guy who will happily sit through     minute films with glacial pacing  so my criticism of this series is most damning indeed .  br    br   never in my entire life have i despised watching a series as much as  evangelion .  i had already purchased it based off of all the fanatical comments on imdb  and i certainly wasn  t going to let it collect dust after spending my hard  earned money . what followed was   hours of pure  unmitigated torture . my love  hate relationship with anime is turning into a hate  love relationship after this highly acclaimed disaster .  br    br    evangelion  represents everything anime should not be  massive quantities of dull  pretentious tripe under the guise of intelligent cinema . the universal acclaim for this piece of crap is simply unbelievable and the ridiculous assertions by fans that this series as  one of mankind  s greatest achievements  is probably the most stupifying comment i  ve ever heard on imdb  and i  ve seen some doozies .  
  broken bow  takes us back to where it all began . set    years in our future and    years before kirk  spock and mccoy . this installment of the  star trek  franchise  is in my opinion the first series since  tos  to recapture the feelings of wonder  danger and excitement of  going where no man has gone before  . scott bakula is perfectly cast as jonathan archer  the first captain of the first  star ship enterprise  . he and the entire cast truly show a true reverence for the star trek legacy . john billingsley is brilliant as the alien dr . phlox  and jolene blalock is totally luscious as the tempting but logical vulcan science officer t  pol . broken bow is in my opinion the best premier episode of any of the treks  and i believe gene roddenberry would surely be proud .  
this film is about british prisoners of war from the world war ii escaping from a camp in germany .  br    br   i find  the wooden horse  disappointingly boring . the subject could have been thrilling  suspenseful and adrenaline fuelled  but  the wooden horse  is told in a very plain way . it  s a collection of plain and poorly told events  with no suspension and thrill . the first half plainly tells how the prisoners of war dug a tunnel  but the events are so plain  with not enough blunders and close shaves to make me on edge . the latter half of the film is even worse  they are just moving from one place to another without any cat and mouse chase . and could the characters talk a bit less and have more action in an action film  i am disappointed by  the wooden horse   it wasted the potential to be a great film .  
my children just happened to stop at this movie the other night and as things started to play out it really piqued my interest . i had to head out for bowling league so i had them record it for me on the dvr so i could watch the rest later . well i just got done watching it and the front of my shirt must be soaked after crying buckets . it was an excellent movie even though i could almost feel the pain and anguish these girls were experiencing . and i never in a million years would have guessed the reason why alissia had gone from this beautiful girl to an anti  social goth . this was probably why my shirt was soaked because i  ve experienced that same pain that alissia was feeling . i too would not have sought out this movie  but i  m sure glad i saw it . very moving  very touching . great for those who love a good drama or tear  jerker .  
three part  horror  film with some guy in a boarded up house imploring the viewer not to go  out there  and  unfortunately  gives us three tales to prove why .  br    br   the first story involves a young couple in a car accident who meet up with two psychos . it leads up to two totally predictable twists . still  it  s quick  about   minutes   violent  well  acted and well  done . predictable but enjoyable .  br    br   the second involves a man on the run after stealing a large amount of money . his car breaks down  he  s attacked by a dog and stumbles into a nearby clinic . very obvious  badly done and extremely slow . even at   minutes this is too long . good acting though .  br    br   the third is just barely a horror story . it involves a beautiful  lonely woman looking for mr . right . it has beautiful set designs  a nice erotic feel and a nice sex scene . but  again  predictable and not even remotely scary .  br    br   it ends very stupidly .  br    br   all in all  the first one is worth watching  but that  s it . tune in for that one then turn it off .  
my definition of a great movie is if you want to continue to see it over again . this movie for some reason strikes a cord in me even though the scenes with scott glenn still make me winch i watch it over and over again and love the music   
this anime series starts out great interesting story  exciting events  interesting characters  beautifully rendered and executed . not everything is explained right away  dangling a proverbial carrot before the viewer  enticing the viewer to watch each succeeding episode . but imagine the disappointment to find that the sci  fi thriller  giant robot adventure is only a backdrop for psycho  babble and quasi  religious preachy exploitation . if you want to hear  you  re ok . it  s good to be you .  after being embattled with negative slogans and the characters  negative emotions  then this is for you . if you want a good sci  fi flick that is simply fun to watch  forget this one . both the original  and the alternate endings were grossly disappointing to me . all that  and this movie was too preachy .  
john travolta  the biggest honkeytonk in the world  and a mechanical bull . . . what more can you ask for  yeah  you  re probably not going to get many surprises or deep meaning in this one . yet  i have always found it fairly enjoyable to watch this redneck romance . bud  travolta  and sissy  debra winger  meet at gilley  s and fall in love . they have all the difficulties you might expect a hardcore redneck couple to have . the honkeytonk scenes are fun with dancing  mechanical bull riding  and  of course  the required brawls . it has a good      country soundtrack  featuring  looking for love in all the wrong places    the devil went down to georgia   and  hello texas  by my favorite jimmy buffett . break out your cowboy boots and have a boot  scootin  boogie   br    br     out of    
the one thing that occurred to me after watching this drivel  was i would never get the time i used to watch this  back again . if you want to see stacey keach and michael dorn try and earn what must have been then  the down payments on a holiday home then stay tuned . wooden acting  poor special effects  the only comedic highlight was whilst our alien hero was in female form and this is over as soon as she has done her obligatory b  movie nude sex scene within   mins into the movie . the opportunity to have made what could have been a decent movie disappears the moment nicole eggbert clocks the alien in a bar within   seconds  whilst the police  military and joe public don  t cotton on that the woman drinking coffee  dosn  t use the cup handle and wears four jumpers at once . she must obviously be from another planet . just where i wish i was when this movie was on .  
don  t mind the soundtrack  which is played out by now .  br    br   still  debra winger is always interesting and while this was an earlier role for her  she is quite good as cissy  girl from the wrong side of the tracks  lived in trailer with bud   travolta   only to be replaced for a time by city slicker madolyn smith as a rival .  br    br   i agree with an earlier review regarding scott glenn  he is used for plot only  thrown in to the mix to create suspense the story is predictable and contrived .  br    br   also  even though i am from the east  many of us did not like  saturday night fever   while it had its moments  the perpetual stereotypes are beyond criticism at this point .  br    br   worth seeing for debra winger she is still so likable  and never had that hollywood persona we are subjected to by too many actresses today .      
nicole eggert was listed as the star of this  despite micheal dorn  stacey keach being much bigger stars than her .  br    br   basically this is a bit of a spin on the  alien lands on earth  film . eggert plays the girl who feels sorry for an alien being chased by the military and takes in the runaway creature in her very sexy disguise . a bit of nudity and partial nudity  a pointless sex scene all feature along the way .  br    br   the film stumbles through a few obvious set  pieces and running jokes about being shown photographs . i quite liked the star trek jokes when micheal dorn had been taken over and he got a really cool death scene .  br    br   it was fairly obvious that stacey keach was going to be taken over and the film had quite a weak ending  it would have been nice to show exactly what kind of talent the alien passed to eggert .  
another entertaining travolta dance flick  great music  mood  and scenes . debra winger is beautiful  like  saturday night fever   this macho film features extremely improbable scenes of beautiful women falling for travolta and almost begging him to have sex with them .  
i  ve long heard that to get their start in  legitimate  films  many behind  the  camera types work on porno films .  br    br   the people who produced and directed this monstrosity stayed too long .  br    br   poorly paced  staged and written  it uses a lot of perfectly good talent  diehl  dorn  eggert  badly .  br    br   much sexual activity is teasingly implied here by the brassiere  popping host to the alien creature  but it never crosses the line . . .  br    br   you  ll still want to shower afterwards  though .  
this is a smart drama about the way of life in a texas honky tonk in the early      s . john travolta and debra winger turn out two very believable performances as bud and sissy davis . this film really opens up the country music scene and helped introduce america to the mechanical bull . if you love a good romance film  then you will love this movie .  
now what  s wrong with the actors that took part in that crap  michael dorn should stick to the star treck merchandise . john diehl  does anyone remember him in miami vice  liked him there . . . well  whatever  what can one expect from a movie with one of the lifeguards from baywatch in the lead  nothing  and that  s what we get . none of the characters is even likable  the special effects are hilarious  but not funny  . the story is a  very bad  joke . there is no logic whatsoever for what  s happening . i got the feeling that the film makers were trying some kind of  attack of the killer tomatoes  kind of thing . especially in the scene where all the important people were discussing national security in some kind of a closet . . .  br    br   if you happen to see it on tv  switch channels  your tv set will be ever thankful .  
how can anyone argue the fact that urban cowboy was  and still is  the best document of texas life for the time period . consider the following men beat their wives  get drunk at bars nightly  get married to settle a fight  commit adultery  and compete on mechanical bulls . try and name a movie that depicts real life so vividly . they dont make them anymore . it seems current films are always about people with lots of money  they live in huge homes  drive expensive cars and don  t work . this movie has a celebration scene about getting a trailer for pete  s sake   br    br   anyway  i watch it at least once a week . no kidding . i have dissected this movie from end to end . feel free to email me to learn more about my reason for calling it a documentary . consider the following scenes bud sees sissy  they are split up  he amicably honks and waves  she flips him the bird  he returns half the peace sign honking his horn to add impact then tears off .  br    br   buds mom calls him approx .   hours after he gets into town  on a sunday  to see if he has a job yet  all he has accomplished is getting drunk and laid  x    with help from his uncle and aunt who cover for him .  br    br    you all live like pigs  think about why this scene is needed . think about it . was it necessary  could we not figure it out without showing the filthy sink  god i love that   br    br   sissy allows wes to help her ride the bull . only a few days  or possibly the next day  after wes just kicked the crap out of her husband . steve asks  hey sissy  remember wes  oh yeah  didnt you beat my husband up the other night  so let  s get this lesson goin   to make no mention of the fact that she seeks solace in him later during one bud and sissy  s many fights  which by the way all take place in public  in gilley  s   br    br   the wedding reception picture taking session  oh the humanity   could they at least arrange or move the chairs out of the way .  my legs are sweatin  momma   br    br   in conclusion  you don  t put scenes like this in a movie to try and show insight into human psychology . it is a documentary of real life .  br    br   i only wish there was a director  s cut . . . .  
i guess there are some out there that remember nicole eggert from her little girl days on such tv shows as t . j . hooker  charles in charge  and who  s the boss  you perverts  you  maybe you remember her from baywatch when she grew up and got breast implants . no matter  you will certainly forget her in this supposed comedy about man  eating aliens .  br    br   there are so many things that do not make sense and are never explained . how did she recognize the alien  why was the alien hot for paprika and cinnamon  why didn  t the alien eat her  you get the picture .  br    br   before the alien eats her boyfriend and assumes his identity  you get to see her in the body of alex meneses . this mexican  ukranian beauty is the only reason to watch this trash . stay for the shower scene and the boyfriend  and go on about your business .  
i guess every time i see one of these old movies from the    s it puts me back at a simpler time  no matter how corny they may seem today . this movie is a good one . i remember seeing it as a small kid and thinking it was the greatest movie ever . it has all the heroistic characters that a young cowboy wants to be . now as an adult  i can look back and laugh and still feel sad  but this time i actually know what  s going on . i did find one thing weird . how many people can move to houston and hook up with sissy  get married  move into a trailer  have a falling out  cheat  have an uncle die  then get back together  all in the course of a month  only in america .  
alien love  as this movie is known in britain  is a very strange movie . i dont mean that its an esoteric art house movie in the style of peter greenaway or derek jarman  i mean its a tvm with swearing  sex  some really good ta  a bad script and a very retro feel . you can just imagine someone like john hughes directing this ten years earlier  though of course he would have cut out the ta  br    br   going back to the bad script  one of the problems is that few of the characters have any type of motivation especially amanda . why does she pick up connie at the bar  just so she could meet an alien  do you see what i mean about retro  et  short circuit and a whole lot of other movies from the mid     s had this type of plot with most of them being more defined and convincing than the one seen here . the storyline continues to follow an ill defined  unconvincing and illogical path  br    br   that said i did find alien love watchable and not only down to the ta on display . as a a sci  fi sex comedy its much better than flesh gordon and earth girls are easy  
what an overlooked    s soundtrack . i imagine john travolta sang some of the songs but in watching the movie it did seem to personify everything that was   s cheese . clearly movies that rely on mechanical bulls  bartenders and immature relationships were in style . the best was his lousy texas accent . compare that to friday night lights . i suggest watching cocktail and stir crazy to start really getting into the dumbing down of film . also  as a side note made in america with ted danson and whoopie goldberg is an awesomely bad movie . i was so shocked to realize i had never watched it . one more weird movie of this genre would have to include cadilac man with robin williams . just remember all of these big stars played big roles in these cheesy movies . . tom cruise  richard pryor  robin williams and john travolta  
there is a uk edition to this show which is rather less extravagant than the us version . the person concerned will get a new kitchen or perhaps bedroom and bathroom and is wonderfully grateful for what they have got . the us version of this show is everything that reality tv shouldn  t be . instead of making a few improvements to a house which the occupants could not afford or do themselves the entire house gets rebuilt . i do not know if this show is trying to show what a lousy welfare system exists in the us or if you beg hard enough you will receive . the rather vulgar product placement that takes place  particularly by sears  is also uncalled for . rsther than turning one family in a deprived area into potential millionaires  it would be far better to help the community as a whole where instead of spending the hundreds of thousands of dollars on one home  build something for the whole community . . . . . perhaps a place where diy and power tools can be borrowed and returned along with building materials so that everyone can benefit should they want to . giving it all to one person can cause enormous resentment among the rest of the local community who still live in the same run down houses .  
this is my favorite all time movie . it used to be my friday night movie with a pizza and bottle of wine when i was single . i first saw this movie with my aunt brend and sister chasity . i was in the  nd grade . i fell in love with travolta and sissy was my new best friend . i  ve read a lot of comments about why bud left sissy  how sissy has to  learn to act  married . but let  s go back and look at this for a second spoiler  my interpretation of the movie now  not when i was eight is this about bud  sissy  s relationship takes a turn for the worst because she makes a fool of him at gilley  s riding the bull . they get in a huge fight . bud tries to make sissy jealous by asking pam to dance . sissy then thinks two wrongs will make a right and wes asks her if  she needs any help  . they  re all on the dance floor acting like fools when bud asks pam   when are you going to take me home and rape me   pam answers  when ever you  re ready cowboy  . bud then goes home with pam to her condo in downtown houston . which daddy has bought for her with his oil money and  all that that implies  . bud is the one who cheats on sissy . sissy is waiting for bud when he returns home the next day . sissy is the one who leaves bud . then  it  s up to bud to prove to sissy that he is a real  cowboy  and win her back .  br    br   anyways  that  s my interpretation . everyone has their i  m sure  i love this movie .  br    br   and believe it or not  i got myself a real cowboy  i love him too     
i can  t help but laugh at the people who praise this show as heartwarming and tear  jerking . for one  it  s entirely unrealistic that these people will have perfect lives after their new homes .  br    br   how can these families afford to maintain these new mega  houses  and what about their poor neighbors  property taxes must surely increase after this happens . plus  the noise would annoy me .  br    br   second  how excessive can a reality television show become  it  s practically the same repetitive junk week after week . we  re introduced to a suffering family  they renovate the home  then surprise the family and everyone breaks out the kleenex boxes .  br    br   not to mention how boring the renovation part is . the only interesting part of the show is to see what the house looks like  but even that segment is destroyed by the phony confessionals and constant sobbing .  br    br    extreme makeover home edition  is a show pretending to be heartfelt but it falls flat . skip this one . if you like reality television   survivor  is far superior and moving .  
i grew up in houston and was nine when this movie came out . as a result i don  t remember anything about the movie . but i do remember the sensation it caused from gilley  s and the mechanical bull to johnny lee  s hit song  lookin  for love  which still brings back memories of childhood whenever i hear it .  br    br   however  a few years ago i saw this movie for the first time as an adult and all i can say is  i was blown away . few movies have hit me harder . this movie is as raw and real as you can get . from uncle bob  s ranch house  the chemical plant in texas city  gilley  s dance hall  and bud and sissy . and maybe for that reason it doesn  t have a wider appeal . but no matter how you feel about country music  i for one can  t stand it despite my houston roots  urban cowboy is a unique slice of american pie . for that reason i love it   
  extreme makeover home edition  is yet another  feel  goody   so  called  heart warming   and out  for  ratings show that abc has had the time to put together .  br    br   i understand the troubles that these families go through . for that  i am sorry . but wouldn  t you think that putting four wide  screen plasma televisions  three flat  screen desktop computers  an inground pool taking up half of a backyard  and closets full of expensive designer clothing is a bit too excessive for any family  sure  these families have been through a lot . sure  they deserve nicer things that what they had previously had .  br    br   but honestly  the things that ty pennington and his crew put into these houses are enough to suit an entire neighborhood .  br    br   another thing that really irks me about this show is how ty and his crew always have something good to say about every little thing that relates to the family  or the family  s condition . telling a wheelchair  bound person that he or she is  so strong   or  very brave  really does get old after a while . that may sound rude  but believe me watch this show  and you  ll see what i mean .  br    br   all in all  this show is overrated . if you want to watch it  go ahead . this comment is just a heads  up for what you  d be watching .  
i just watched this for the first time in a long time  i had forgotten both how imaginative the images were  and how witty the movie is . i had not forgotten however the opening scenes which are  with the scene at the candlelight club in waterloo bridge  among the most romantic ever filmed .  br    br   anyone interested in politics or history will love the movie  s offhand references  anyone interested in romance will be moved by hunter  niven  and anyone who loves visual imagery will enjoy the depiction of the afterworld .  br    br   my favorite movie remains  odd man out  made near the same time  but this one is superb .  br    br    
this is surely one of the worst films ever made and released by a major hollywood studio . the plot is simply stupid . the dialog is written in clichs you can complete a great many sentences in the script because of this . the acting is ridiculously bad  especially that of rod cameron . the  choreography  is silly and wholly unerotic . one can only pity the reviewer who saw    year  old yvonne  s dance as sexual it  s merely very bad choreography . the ballet scene in the film  s beginning is especially ludicrous . if you are into bad movies and enjoy laughing at some of hollywood  s turkeys  this is for you . i bought the colorized version on vhs  making the movie even worse . yvonne  s heavy makeup  when colored  has her looking like a clown all the time . and she  s the best part of this film . what a way to launch a career .  
i was about   years old i found out i live  .   miles from the uncle house . the uncle house is on westway dr  deer park  tx . they have added homes since the movie was made . i don  t know the house number but you can go look it up . i am now   and i enjoy watching this movie . the bar on spencer is no longer their . pasadena isd wants to build a school their . i drove by the house last week the house still looks great . my dad and uncle would go to the street where the house is and watch the actors come in and out of the house trying to make the movie . where john cross over the railroad cracks they have made    higher . when i hear about john loesing his son i start thinking about when he made urban cowboy he was   or   at the time .  
i occasionally see some of this show because my wife watches it sometimes . i try to enjoy it for it  s basic idea which is helping a needy family  but several factors get in the way for me . every episode follows the same format where many parts seem totally scripted  which they are  and tears flow seemingly on cue . the attempt to manipulate the viewer with a mixture of emotional breakdowns and sad music is a real turn off for me . the fact that everyone who donates something to the house  be it sears or whoever  has to plug themselves for being generous is also annoying . probably the biggest problem i have with it all is that what must be huge amounts of money and a small army of workers are combined to build an amazingly over the top home for a single family . now i know that this amount of money is nothing but a drop in the bucket for disney  abc but how much more could be done for more people with the amount they are putting on one house  instead of focusing on one family and getting them all to cry during the episode why not help   families and show highlights  isn  t life difficult enough for the average person  why do i need help finding things to feel sad about  why not show something truly inspiring without being manipulative  i know what is being done for these families is good  but they are also being used for ratings . you can  t tell me they aren  t being coached sometimes on the crying . i guess when i see these people moving into a home that most hard working people in the u . s . could not afford for their children it really bothers me . i can  t help but think of what could really be done with a small portion of disney  s money . instead of giving each member of the family a flat screen tv and or personal shower that tells you the water temperature and shoots out of the ceiling why not help more people afford food  clothes  education and medical insurance  i know so we can be entertained and have a good cry . in terms of money  i feel the same about oprah . i don  t think anyone can actually conceive the amount of money she possesses . yes her recent reality show did good things  but when she gave        to each losing  contestant  i  m sitting here thinking . . . that  s a years salary for many  many people . . . if they  re lucky . don  t get me started on game shows . so i realize that extreme makeover home edition is  doing good   but forgive me if i see it as more self serving than giving of itself . is there anyone out there that feels similar   
does anyone know what kind of pickup john t drove  i looks like a mid to late    s ford . this movie is my favorite as well as my wife  s . it was the first memorable movie we saw as a married couple . the pick up is of interest as it is similar to the first truck i drove and recently found another like it . i would like to restore the pick up i have to resemble the on in the movie . also the music was awesome  and the acting was great . where and what is the lady who portrayed john  s aunt  also did john have a stunt double for the scene on the tower when he almost fell  also what year of mustang did debra w drive in this show . it looked like a    s model . thanks   
i used to be an avid viewer until i personally spent long cold hours helping build a home for the white family  only to be sickened to see the house a year later . all of the beautiful rock landscaping has been removed  the gorgeous rock sidewalk and front fountain have been removed  all the pine trees and pecan trees in the front have been cut down  sprinkler system has been ripped out . it now looks like a disaster area . they don  t even live there any more . . . they live  in town  and come out only for the weekend . it sickens me to think of all the hours that the great people of oklahoma donated to these people and to see the result . the story that we all saw on tv wasn  t completely the truth . . . don  t believe every thing you see and hear .  
this movie has it all  action  fighting  dancing  bull riding  music  pretty girls . this movie is an authenic look at middle america . believe me  i was there in     . lots of oil money  lots of women  and lots of honky tonks . too bad they are all gone now . the movie is essentially just another boy meets girl  boy loses girl  boy gets girl back  but it is redeemed by the actors and the music . there is absolutely no movie with any better music that this movie  and that includes american graffiti . it is a movie i watch over and over again and never get tired of it . every time i watch it  i am young again  and it is time to go out honky tonking . the only reason i only gave it a  is because you cannot rate a movie zero  i do not feel you should rate one   .  
awwww . . . . yes  it is heartwarming and all that some unlucky family gets adopted by abc  sears and has their home  renovated .  that  s where the humanistic appeal ends . i liked it early in its run  but now this show has become disgustingly excessive .  br    br   ten needy families could be given relatively luxurious homes with lots of goodies for every one family that each episode of this show splurges on . the people at habitat for humanity must be shaking their heads in disbelief . for example  is it necessary for a healthy sixteen year old boy to have a jacuzzi in his bedroom  or have his bed tricked  out with  low rider  hydraulics  does the mom really need her dilapidated  non  running and rusted out old pick  up truck restored and  pimped  by some of the best customizers in california  a new one would have done the job quite nicely  and probably for a third of the price . do people really need a sixty  five inch plasma screen in every room of the house  and then there  s the issue of who pays the increased property taxes and utility bills . even after the zaniacs at  makeover  leave  somebody still has earn a living . i doubt the friendly folks down at social services will see the humor in all of this largess .  br    br   this show is nothing more than a ratings grabber for abc  and a tacit commercial for its sponsors .  
this movie was a classic . i would have to say that this movie caught the best of a working man who learns from his mistakes . if we could all get along and learn the way everyone in this movie did . it had an important part of showing how family is an important part of life  and how pride can cause you to lose something important in life if we can not find a  big throat  and swallow are pride .  
this movie was way too slow and predictable . i wish i could say more but i can  t . if you enjoy action  adventure films  this is not one to see . i  d suggest you go see movies likebehind enemy lines with owen wilson and iron eagle with louis gossett jr .  
while urban cowboy did not ooze with the same testosterone you might find at a rodeo  it did provide an accurate glimpse of that day and age  in urban texas . i also think that to truly critique this movie  one would have to have lived in the time and relative place that it was made . there was good music  fun times and  yes  a few  rough and tumbles  at the honky tonk roadhouses . the relationship of bud and sissy  like  two ships passing in the night   was well conceived . when pam tore up the note that sissy had written to bud  it echoed the tragedy of many true life romances . the entire story was well thought out . i thought the cast and crew did an excellent job . i thought the screen play was well written and directed . scott glenn should have received an oscar for best supporting actor .  
this film was bad . bad acting  bad directing  bad writing . but it wasn  t bad in a funny way . it was bad in a boring way . i watched  surface to air  because i thought it might be a laugh . it wasn  t . don  t make the mistake i did . there are plenty of more enjoyable ways to spend an hour and a half such as watching paint dry or reading the dictionary . seriously .  
i did not see this film in the theater . i confess to an anti  vinnie barbarino bias . who the hell was john travolta to be making movies  i remember the oscar broadcast that year  with travolta looking absolutely devastated when he didn  t win . how dare he  when there were  real  actors in the running  i  m sorry john  you should have won . after catching this film on cable years ago  i fell in love with the entire movie . bud  sissy  uncle bob  wes  all wonderfully done . i  also  confess to never passing it by when i channel surf . i have to stop and watch . over the years  i  ve learned to do most of the dialogue  dance with my thumbs in my waistband  and learned to appreciate travolta more . the only disappointing thing to me was the oversight  on the soundtrack  of some of the music from urban cowboy .  looking for love  defines the film  but urban cowboy was chock full of classics that didn  t make it to the soundtrack . it should have been a double cd . . . . . . . .  
this had to be one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen and i  m   years old and a football fan . i went expecting to see a football movie . about   minutes into it  i began to wonder exactly how such a bad movie  particularly the acting  could have gotten into a theater . about half way through  i whispered to my husband that it was awful and he explained to me the facts behind the movie . although i was a little offended  and can see how some could be very offended if they were not christian  at being preached to in a movie theater  it wasn  t that big a deal . it was  however  a big deal to be subjected to such predictability and unrealistic behavior and  above all  the quality of the acting . it is an appropriate movie for a church outing but to be shown in a church auditorium and not in a theater . do i go to church  yes . do i want to go to church when i attend a movie  no . would i recommend this movie  absolutely not     
i must say as a girl with a cowboy of my own  i love this flick . it left me lovin them boots and wranglers even more . i told my friend about it and she loved it just as much  we were  bout   at the time . i think it  s the greatest love story ever told  i own it and never get tired of bud  sissy .  
i rented this movie today thinking it might be a good football movie  since i  m a big football fan . boy  was i wrong . this movie is way too religious and preachy and is really unrealistic . this movie pretty much says that if your a christian you can get anything you want in life easily  like become a great football player  you don  t become a great football player by becoming christian and asking god  you do it through practice and hard work . all you gotta do is ask god and he  ll give you anything . . . . puh  lease . thats not true at all  duh . i laughed several times because of this embarrassment . the only part that was funny was when they were being dumb  shultz the cartoonist  no  the dude that flew over the atlantic  etc etc . .  but really this movie wasn  t that great . i don  t recommend it  especially if you aren  t a christian  lol .  
very few movies have had the impact on american culture the way urban cowboy has . thank god it was temporary . but uc is almost in a class by itself as one of those flicks that when you  re flipping channels at     am you just can  t take your eyes off . . . . my top three are animal house and walking tall btw but that  s beside the point . i remember urban cowboy hit the theaters and overnite there were honkytonks being opened on every corner  men were sporting cowboy hats with their penny loafers  and if you didnt know how to two  step you were considered a social moron  personally i think it  s a great movie . travolta really surprised me on the heels of satnitefever . who  d a thunk . he  s actually believable too . the soundtrack is awesome . too bad charlene tilton  of tv  s dallas fame ruined johnny lee  s career cause that guy was just terrific . the show stealer here is scott glenn as the greaser ex  con redneck cowboy . and i ain  t got nothing against greaser ex  con cowboys semi  being one myself  but i  ve always envied what i feel to be the greatest power line of all time . . . .  pack  at st   sort of like clint  s  make my day .  and watching him slap sissy around is the closest thing i  ll see to my julia roberts fantasy so . . . . . like i said  beautiful .      
i want to state first that i am a christian  and that i do work in the film and tv industry  so i understand what it is like to work on a feature length film so props to the filmmakers in that regard . i  m all for positive  uplifting messages if they are true to the nature of life  that this is a fallen world and that things don  t always work out . . . even for followers of christ  . i  m glad that others are having such overwhelmingly positive reactions to the overt christian message for me it was just that the execution is where the film fell on its face . a movie lives and dies on its story and here you have one dimensional stereotypes  exposition aplenty  and spontaneous changes in character behavior that are inexplicably to say the least . i believe that a film does not have to club you over the head with its message to get the point across . i  m sure the kendrick bros . will improve with time and that their storytelling methods will as well . maybe they could direct someone else  s screenplay as their next project .  br    br    sports films are not exactly my first love but a good one  hoosiers  field of dreams  etc  can inspire in a multitude of ways . if you would be interested in a pg  rated film that inspires  give steven soderbergh  s  king of the hill  a look . all truth is god  s truth . . .  
spoilers   careful  br    br   what can i say  i  m biased when it comes to urban cowboy . i love it and have watched it countless times   and usually find out something new about it with each viewing .  br    br   i think one of the things i like about it is that urban cowboy is about working class people  not rich people who live in either l . a . or new york . well  it is true except for pam .  br    br   travolta plays bud  a small town texas boy who moves to houston to work in the oil fields . and this is when travolta actually played in good dramatic movies like saturday night fever instead of playing stereotypical bad guys  good guys in big budget movies . this is a really good movie   the mechanical bull riding contest and two  step dancing may be silly  but you have to enjoy this for what it is .  br    br   bud meets sissy  played by debra winger with slutty brilliance    and soon after  they are married and living in their dream trailer . but their relationship becomes a real life battle of the sexes . bud wants to be a real cowboy . sissy wants to be with a real cowboy . but in modern times  men  s roles are not as clear . where can bud prove he  s a real man  he can work his dangerous job by day and ride the mechanical bull by night   he can be a  urban cowboy .  but sissy wants to drive his pick  up truck  and she wants to ride the mechanical bull  too . so where does this leave bud  as sissy asserts her independence  she lies about riding the bull and flirts with the ex  con and prison rodeo star   a real bull rider    wes  played wonderfully greasy by scott glenn  . bud is threatened  and bud and sissy break up .  br    br   sissy shacks up with wes  who abuses her . emasculating himself further  bud becomes the boy toy of pam  a rich girl whose daddy is in oil and all that implies . sissy comes by the trailer to clean it up   pam doesn  t do that kind of thing . she writes a make up letter to bud  but evil pam tears it up and takes the credit for sissy  s housework .  br    br   bud  s uncle bob dies tragically at work when lightening strikes and causes an explosion . bud and sissy have a chance at reconciliation  but are too stubborn . later the mechanical bull riding competition is at gilley  s  and you know bud is going to win . pam realizes that bud doesn  t love her  but sissy   he did it for her . wes tries to rob gilleys  but wouldn  t you know that urban cowboy  bud  saves the day and wins back the woman he loves .  br    br   of course  you may ask yourself why bud and sissy would go to gilleys about every night and  live like pigs .  maybe that contributed to their bad marriage . or why didn  t bud stay with pam   she wasn  t that bad and had money . or why they had to kill off uncle bob . or why bud and sissy had such stupid friends like marshall and jessie who were always trying to break them up marshall says to bud   she sissy rides that bull better than you do   but part of the fun of urban cowboy is making fun of it a little bit   and saying  isn  t that bonnie raitt on the stage   
i am a christian and i say this movie had terrible acting  unreal situations and a completely facade front for christianity . you might as well watch  remember the titans  and at least not mix christ in a football film like a formulaic steroid for losers . let me make some really pressing comments of what bothered me in this film .  br    br    . the school was in georgia and was a white academy school . i did not notice a single black student or player in the school . i deal with the white  christian  academies in the south and they were built for no other reason than to reestablish segregation . this is troubling when the movie is about christianity and christ changing lives . . . how about changing the hearts of segregation   note i loved the token black coach like it made up for the entirely white team and all the black  giants  players .   br    br    . the uncritical acclaim by everyone christian about this movie . can i get a couple people to say that it was bad acting  bad filming  bad writing and in short poor compared to other movies . if we were to compare this to another football movie  would it have the same charisma and energy   br    br    . the half  baked christianity which was shown made even less sense to me than the unrealistic ending . if christianity is about simply reading a little scripture and praying to begin a complete life change  then don  t wonder when no one will listen to what christians have to say . we want to sell christ as a cure  all . he doesn  t need sold and he doesn  t need to be attached to such whimsical lifestyles . no wonder everyone considers christianity to be anti  intellectual with this unreal presentation .  br    br   i recognize this film may be inspirational to a few people . to most  it will not be . it will not give a real picture of struggle and heartfelt tension . most importantly to me  it is not christian by any means or stretch . it has values but it falls short as a  pull  yourself  up  by  the  bootstraps  message as shallow as positive thinking . if you live alongside people who struggle and  or those in third world living conditions  this movie will be hollow as most churches are today in their religion .  
i just have to say  this is one of my favorite movies of all time . i cannot even count the number of times i  ve seen it . i was already in love with john travolta  but the first time the camera pans up his body after he  s all clean  shaven looking beautiful for his first trip to gilley  s  i was in awe . debra winger  as always  delivers a perfect performance as the young  naive wife of bud  but with the necessary attitude to be married to a stubborn and hard  working cowboy . if you  re not a country music person  which i wasn  t  this is  soundtrack that  ll have you singing right along with every word . if you get a chance  please see this movie  it won  t disappoint .  
this movie isn  t about football at all . it  s about jesus  god   it  s the same kind of sappy sanctimonious religious drivel you get from those arch idiots who wrestle for jesus  or pump iron for jesus . yeah  jesus was totally buffed  liked contact sports  and definitely owned a full set of dumb bells . duhhh  this movie should have been entitled  hiking for jesus   or something along those lines just to let the general public know that the real intent of this movie is to convert people to christianity  and to pander to those whose brains have already been thoroughly washed in the blood of the lamb . that the title is derived from the bible is made clear when the head coach is reading his bible and asking jesus for help . the recent sports movie  invincible  was    times more inspiring than this was  and jesus wasn  t even a factor . it was just the desire and determination of an individual with a dream .  br    br   any broad appeal as an inspirational sports movie is ultimately lost amidst all of the blatant bible thumping and sanctimonious religious propaganda . one gets the impression that the sole message is the only way you can succeed and make positive gain is if you accept jesus as your personal savior . but this is simply not true  and is therefore a lie being perpetuated by those who believe that it is true and want everyone else to believe it . the image of the winning athlete thanking jesus when he wins comes directly to mind . what does he do when he loses  does he curse jesus  of course not  when he loses jesus isn  t responsible . jesus is only responsible when he wins . and the logic goes round and round and round  and it ends up exactly where the true believer needs it to be  every time   i had to hit pause when the scene with the coach receiving a brand new truck came on so i could stop rolling on the floor laughing my ass off and catch my breath . materialism is not what jesus taught . i find it odd that most so called  christians  seem to either forget or ignore this message from their  savior   especially when i see a jesus fish on the back of a huge gas guzzling suv that passes me like i  m standing still .  br    br   another message this movie implies is that jesus apparently cares more about the win loss record of a mediocre high school football team that he does about the millions of starving children in the world . the final scene where the insecure and unsure kicker boots a   yard field goal and it is hyped up as an unbelievably incredible miracle puts the final gag me with a spoon religious red flag on this turkey . i only gave it three stars because the guy who played the black coach could actually act .  
i first see this film almost   years ago when it was an itv  before the days of cable and satellite  matine . i was off school with the mumps and i was totally wrapped in the film . i have had it on bought video for about   years and i want to obtain a dvd copy of it . david niven is my all time favourite actor and i think it is a travesty that he was over looked so many times when the oscars came around . i also think that the queen should have knighted him as he easily did as much for the movie industry if not more than sean connery or anthony hopkins . the way the film switches from black and white to colour and back again is well done and the film has such stellar actors as roger livesy  marius goring and an early appearance from richard attenborough .  
i was one of quite a few extras in this big bomb . i just happened to be in the right place working safety for the race scenes at a . i . r . as it was know as back then . thank goodness my scene in in the first few minutes of the movie and i don  t have to sit through the whole thing . it was more of a big party than a movie set but hey  the pay was good . attention to detail was not a strong point for this one  but who was going to know . the funny thing was seeing the cars in the track at the really slow speed and then in the movie speeded up to the what was close to normal speed . a lot of the scenes were changed as they were filmed i suppose to shave cost and time . but every one was having such a good time who cared   
quick and simple  i love this movie .  br    br   as some others have mentioned  i also  am not from the south  don  t really care for country music and have never worn a cowboy hat .  i  ve never drove around in a car with a dead body in my trunk either  but i love  goodfellas .   this is just great film making . shot in a  .   aspect ratio and beautifully transfered to dvd .  the vhs was  .   full screen  . and yes  a solid  .  mix for your viewing pleasure . what can you say about this movie   br    br   it  s just a great love  hate story set in texas  with great performances . travolta is fantastic . next to  pulp fiction   it  s the best thing he  s done . it  s been in my top  for   years    br    br   check this one out    it  s a        
this isn  t a film  it  s a     minute evangelical christian sermon draped over red state america  s   sport  high school football . another of the long  earnest messages to the converted who are then presumed to be fired up enough by the spirit to go abroad and convert their unsaved neighbours .  br    br   dialogue like  you won the big one when you accepted christ  loses any possible camp appeal by the disturbing intensity in director  coach alex kendrick  s sunken black eyes . then there are the  parables  .  br    br   two farmers prayed for rain but only one prepared his field to receive it . which one do you think god blessed  this rhetorical question is meant to foreshadow the miraculous climax  in the course of which coach asks his trepidous back  up kicker   son  do you think god could help you make that kick   it  s the kind of entertainment we could have expected would receive faith  based funding ad infinitum  if only the evangelical christian bush administration  s hegemonic pursuits around the world had convinced us all to become  devout  after their example . behold that poor giants coach in the apocalyptic finale  urging his team on crying  who  s with me   while the devout eagles on the other side were quietly going about doing the lord  s work .  br    br   so  do you think our terrified back  up makes his kick to vanquish those self  centrist goliaths  well  we all know zealots can  t lose . put it this way transfer the playing ground to the deserts of the middle east  replace the christian proselytizing  and this virulent nonsense can easily be repackaged as a taliban  vs  superpower parable  which the devout worshippers of this garbage might want to think about a minute .  br    br   luckily they won  t care  nor need to like coach tells his team of earnest empty vessels pregame  the answers are all right here in this book . and the christian right will devour this on their way to their rapture  that final victory they have prepared their fields for .  
i am a big fan of the movie  but not for the usual reasons . i think travolta and winger performed at higher than average rates  i think the sets were representative of the location and the era  i liked the sound track and the charlie daniels band . however  i think the photography was amazing  since the interior scenes were filmed in the actual club and gilley  s had low ceilings   perhaps      feet high and the smoke that was supposed to simulate a  smoke  filled bar  hung    feet below the ceiling . the camera managed to get shots through the smoke and focus on the actors  the bull  the bar  the women  the dancing  the low  level of light that actually was in the bar  what a feat  sure there was auxiliary lighting  but in order to maintain the atmosphere of the bar  it had to be low  light shots . ray villalobos  the camera operator  was outstanding  he got some shots he had no hope of achieving and the impact of them brought a sense of reality to the film . thanks  ray   great work   
i went into this movie thinking that it would be a neat football drama  in the same vein as remember the titans   however  i came away feeling like i had just attended a ted haggard sermon about the rapture . the only thing that was missing was the request for a tithe at the end of the movie . actually  one would probably get more out of a televangelist sermon than this poor excuse for entertainment . at least with the televangelist sermon  there are quotes from the scripture rather than quotes from popularist self  help pulp . the plot was entirely too predictable to the point that anyone with a long  enough attention span could have laid out the entire plot within the first   minutes of the movie .  
  in young john travolta  s trilogy of blockbusters . he dances to disco  rock  n  roll and country . he heads to houston to find work and love . gilley  s is the hot spot  and it is the time of the mechanical bull . not to be outdone  i rode the bull at a club in nashville . i recently saw this nearly forgotten film on television and remembered how good it was and how good a year     was . i wore a black cowboy hat that year just like travolta . debra winger was in her prime . she looks stunning in her red top . there is plenty of charisma . bud and sissy seem the ideal couple even if they are trailer trash . they split up just because it feels so good getting back together . urban cowboy has an amazing soundtrack . we get to hear lyin  eyes by the eagles and lookin  for love by johnny lee .  
i  ve been scolded and scorned by fellow christians for stating my disappointment with this movie . i get hounded by statements like these  i can  t believe you didn  t like it  it was made totally by christians    everyone donated their time and no one was paid for the movie  it was made by a church and not hollywood . we should spend our money on movies like this  they only used         to make the film .   this is by a real church and christian school in georgia  a preacher wrote and directed it .  so  apparently  the reason i should love this movie is simply because of the way it was made and the minimum amount of money used to make it and that is was made by christians . that is all that is needed for me to love the movie .  br    br   look  i got the movie without knowing anything about the background of the film . i had never heard of it and had no idea  other than football  what it was about . i watched it like i watch any other movie and was disappointed . i was disappointed in the lousy editing and lame script . i was very disappointed on the resolution after the climax . don  t worry . there have been other cheap movies and other expensively made movies that have earned less respect from me . it isn  t about the making of the movie . it is the end product .  br    br   the writer acknowledges that god doesn  t say  yes  to everything we pray for in the way we want  but he wanted to show by having faith  god changes our lives . that is true . however  god can change our lives and we  re still infertile . god can change our lives and we don  t get a raise from our job . god can change our lives and our car is still an old jalopy . god can change our lives and our house is still stinky . why didn  t he portray that in the movie  others voiced their concern to the writer  director over the matter  but apparently  he was defensive .  br    br   i did not think the acting was horrible nor many of the landscape shots . i like the idea of going to god and recognizing his awesome power and our weakness .  br    br   the writing and directing were very weak . it is easy to distinguish this because many of the characters have no development . all we really get from the coach  s wife is she is not pregnant  well  until the end of the movie  . it seems as if there was only ball player that had the potential to have an interesting character and that was chopped to bits into  i have a cripple father and i can  t play football well  but i  ll kick the winning field goal even though i  ve never kicked a real field goal before .  another problem was the christian school itself . umm  i have worked for two christian schools  went to one myself  and have had many nieces and nephews in other christian schools . all in all  i  ve had some pretty close connections with about ten different ones . none of the problems that i have seen in all of these schools were addressed . i saw this as totally surreal in the movie about their school and wished they had shown the human factor . it would have been nice to see a dose of reality and how god can work .  br    br   i will close by stating that every work  either written or drawn or played on an instrument  shares the artist  s world view . the world view that was shown to me in this movie consists of  people who pray the right way win ball games  get new cars  conceive when they couldn  t  get a raise  and get their house fixed  all within a short time span .  i know . i should love the movie simply due to the sincerity of the people who made it . i think i should love the movie because it was well done and for no other reason .  
an unmarried  twenty  something hick  played by john travolta  leaves the farm and goes to houston  where he learns about life and love in a texas honky  tonk . at face value  it  s a modern love story . . . texas style . there  s gobs of cowboy hats  pickup trucks  neon beer signs  and references to big belt  buckles and rodeos . the music  if not texas native  is texas adapted  courtesy of the talents of mickey gilley  johnny lee  and the charlie daniels band . and that texas twang . . .  y  all  .  br    br   the story and the characters are about as subtle as the taste of texas five  alarm chili made with jalapeno peppers . it  s enough to make civilized viewers abort the film in favor of a genteel classic  one starring laurence olivier or ingrid bergman  maybe .  hamlet  it  s not . but  urban cowboy  is spicy and explicit  and i kinda like it .  br    br   technically  the film is generally good . the dialogue  the production design  and the costumes are all realistic the editing is skillful . and both the casting and the acting are commendable  if not oscar worthy . i would not have cast travolta in the role he plays  but he does a fine job . . . ditto debra winger . barry corbin and brooke alderson  among others  are good too  in support roles . but  the cinematography seemed weak . the film copy i watched was grainy  and at times suffered from a reddish  orange tint  a visual trait i have noticed in other films from the same time period .  br    br   at first glance  the film does not seem to offer any social or political  message  . but i would argue that when  urban cowboy  was released twenty  five years ago  it had rather prophetic implications . in     the u . s . had all kinds of problems  not the least being american hostages held by iran . in the minds of a lot of folks back then  the u . s . was being pushed around  bullied .  br    br   this film  along with others of its time  offered something that americans wanted to see in their political leaders . . . toughness .  urban cowboy  is a very physical film . the characters in it may not be the brightest people on earth . but  they  re tough   br    br   everything about  urban cowboy  is anti  intellectual . as a vehicle for cultural expression then  this     film was one of several that augured a new get  tough era for the u . s . it started in     with the election of reagan . and that era continues to this day  with a president who probably will not be remembered for his intellect  but will be remembered for his toughness and aggression  traits that americans seem to gravitate to as surely as texans to five  alarm chili .  
it  s interesting how    of the high  vote reviews are all comprised of  random username  from  united states   no state pride    who all say more or less the exact same thing with the exact same grammatical style and all with the exact same complete lack of taste in movies . i would delve further into this suspicious trend  but alas  this is a review of the movie  and not the reviews themselves .  br    br   let me start by saying that i am both a christian and a true avid movie fan . this means i have seen a great many movies  from good to bad  and can wholeheartedly claim that facing the giants is  in fact  not a good movie . it has good intentions  but fails to meet many  if any  basic standards that i associate with a quality filmgoing experience .  br    br   the acting mostly terrible  palatable at best . hearing that most were apparently volunteers does not at all surprise me .  br    br   the dialogue clumsy  cheesy  the script comes off as a long version of some cheesy skit you  d see performed in sunday school or youth group function . the rave review robots revel in the absence of  meaningless words   but the cold hard truth is that such words are a part of the real world  and the complete absence of it is palpable . let  s just say the mean ol  head coach of a team in a state championship game would have a lot more to say than  oh no   when things are not going his way .  br    br   the plot mind  bogglingly predictable . it has been commented that this movie is  not a hollywood clich   and yet it  s like it was pulled directly from making an underdog sports movie for dummies  including the mandatory quasi  romantic subplot for the ladies  and just had a christian  themed coat of paint slapped on it . i  m not lying or bragging when i say i had almost every major detail in both the plot and subplot pegged immediately upon their inception . only someone who has never seen a decent sports movie in their whole life would be emotionally stirred by the story presented here .  br    br   the directing  editing it  too  was patterned almost exactly after the generic underdog sports movie template . still  acting aside  there weren  t many noticeable goofs  so at least facing the giants was technically competent .  br    br   the message ask jesus and he will grant all your wishes . part of me hoped that this movie would end in the team  s eventual defeat to really emphasize the whole  if we lose  we praise you  part  because in the real world  you will fail at one point or another and it  s good to be prepared for that . but in the world of facing the giants  if you fail  clearly someone either screwed up or is cheating . another interesting question being  what if the eagles came across another team that had gotten religion  would they be caught in an endless loop of miraculous plays and last  minute saves  or would the universe simply have exploded   br    br   the bottom line for the hardcore conservative christian parents crowd lamenting the evils of hollywood  facing the giants will be another mediocre  at  best christian film to hold up on a pedestal as the preferred model for modern film  making . for everyone else  the effects will range from boredom to a burning desire to be watching something else . and a warning any attempt to show this to non  christians will lead not to conversion  but to derision . i give this two stars  one for the one scene that did not have me rolling my eyes  and another for basic technical proficiency on a low budget .  
this is a great movie that i don  t think gets enough credit as saturday night fever or grease in john travolta  s career . he plays a man who is in love with a girl but is too pig headed to admit his feelings to her . instead  he wants to engage in mechanical bull riding because he thinks it will show his manhood . even though it was made in      it is still timely today . the great country music soundtrack is terrific .       
i watched this film in youth group  where my otherwise intuitive youth leader and his wife squeed over it . then some adult couple at a church  related christmas party misled themselves into giving a copy of this movie to every single family in attendance  and now my household is stuck with the film  though it thankfully still remains in its shrinkwrap  . i cried bitter tears over these sad events  and here  s why first off this film has good intentions  especially if you  re a christian like me . this movie is trying to show that you should put your faith in god and that it  ll make your life better . not so bad  right  eh . it turns out a be a problem   a big one . this movie was made by a church  so of course every single issue has to be dealt with as tastefully for christians as possible . it is all black  and  white  no gray areas . god  s grace and will in this movie is a predictable thing  and it comes instantly to all those who do his bidding .  br    br   this is not the god i know . this is not the christian life i am familiar with . the god i believe in is a powerful and trustworthy god  but he is not one that grants my every wish . i follow him as best i can  though the going is often hard yet the football team in this movie finds their humility and self  control a lot easier than anyone should ever find it . i cannot relate to cardboard cutouts who flip from bad  side to good  side in the course of a few structured movie scenes . and when i do follow his commandments as laid out in the bible  i certainly don  t find myself showered in blessing as these characters do . the largest of my immediate rewards is knowing that i have done the right thing everything else comes with long  messy  arduous work .  br    br   but take the example this movie sets grant taylor coaches the football team at shiloh christian school  which has had  losing seasons in a row . he may lose his job over it  and he and his wife are low on money as it is . they want a baby  but the doctor tells him he is sterile . oh  and his car doesn  t work . and the boys on his football team are disrespectful to their parents  whiny after their million losses  and bad at kicking field goals . this is sure one rundown community here .  br    br   but wait  grant taylor decides he  s going to trust in god for everything  and he passes on his faith to his team . so far  so good . not for long . as they begin to obey  blessing literally pour in on them . suddenly the students stop disrespecting their parents the school has a big  revival   the team starts winning every game they even win the grand championship against the hardest team in the league  coach taylor  s job is reassured the school gets him a shiny new truck as a present  which  by the way  is the epitome of shallow  fair  weather employers   he gets a raise his wife  get this  even gets pregnant from his sterile sperm  and that skinny kid manages to kick his first darn field goal right when it really matters   wowzers  woot  yay  praise the lord  etcetera  etcetera    . . .  br    br   yipe . just yipe . nobody in my church has ever experienced christ in a such a cut  and  dry manner . yes  there have been miracles aplenty in my family  as well as gifts and creature comforts  and i attribute them to god  s grace and lovingkindness . but god isn  t some faucet tap that you turn on and off by being good or bad  he is by and large a mystery his gifts come unexpectedly  often when you think you don  t need them but you really do . it  s a long  hard slog to the road of fulfillment  and things never turn out the way you thought they would .  br    br   this movie has good intentions . but because of its supreme shallowness and total escapism  it tanks tremendously to a     . the bad acting and sports movie clichs seem to be mere pimples next to the leprous falsehoods that this movie inadvertently pushes .  br    br   to all you future churches planning to make a movie don  t be afraid to show real life  even you have to add some inconvenient truths into the mix . however much the baser populace is wowed by this cotton candy treat  nobody has learned anything substantial from it . give us the meat  the bones  the real stuff  true life applies to everyone  not just christians  and that  s one aspect  facing the giants  didn  t manage to grasp .  
i bellied up to the bar expecting this to be a hot beer on a sweltering texas day but was pleasantly surprised . after suffering through  saturday night foolishness  i had no desire to see a re  make in some south texas barnyard . . . . and i didn  t . john revolta was good as the jealous redneck  scott glenn was well cast as a thuggie ex  con  and debra winger was  as always  a delight . love that woman plus  the soundtrack was dynamite and this comes from a guy that can  t stand the sound of country music . a fun film all the way .  
as a youth pastor i heard good things about this movie . then i watched it . the acting wasn  t the best . that  s forgivable . it  s the message that  s not give jesus your life and everything will change  you  ll tackle better  make amazing catches  stop fumbling  start making touchdown passes  and even make the playoffs . all because jesus magically turns horrible undersized weaklings into all  american athletes . i laughed out loud when a coach quoted scripture to explain to the kicker why he was missing field goals . but wait  that  s not all . you  ll get a brand new truck  a      raise  and you and your wife  s struggle with infertility will suddenly end in pregnancy  twice . then you  ll win the state championship because god helps a weakling kick the winning field goal   yards further than he  s ever kicked before  and into the wind  no less  all because  god wanted him to make it .  then you  ll win the state championship again the next year . none of this good stuff would have happened if the team hadn  t chosen to follow jesus will all their hearts .  br    br   here  s what i took away from the movie god can do anything he wants to do whenever he wants to do it  and it  s all about making our lives better  easier  and more enjoyable . he chooses his favorite team and helps them win games . which bible is this story based on  i  ll bet saint stephen wished he  d known the keys to such a safe life before he was stoned to death . someone should have made this movie before   of the   apostles were killed for following jesus . it would have saved them all a lot of trouble .  
for urban cowboy john travolta plays one of the stronger alpha males ever portrayed on the big screen . he  s a decent enough young kid who leaves his parent  s homestead and strikes out for the big city of dallas where his uncle barry corbin has promised to find him work in the petrochemical industry . in     that was beginning to boom and texas was definitely a growing place in the usa .  br    br   travolta does a good job in making we the audience care about his character who when you come right down to it is a sexist pig . he meets and marries debra winger who  s from the same background  but she  s got some ideas that women should not be shadows of their men . and when she beats him at gilley  s mechanical bull  a man  s game  that  s it for him .  br    br   scott glenn who  s an ex  convict is working at gilley  s and this film was his breakout role . he  s a real snake in urban cowboy  he gets travolta  s goat with a mere look and he moves in on winger . travolta in turn takes up with rich girl  madolyn smith osborne who  s slumming at gilley  s .  br    br   despite the characters  urban cowboy was really one gigantic commercial for the self  styled biggest honky tonk in the world . gilley  s is no longer there in the suburban texas community of pasadena  but the memories do live on . and the best thing about urban cowboy is the wonderful score of country  western songs that were featured in the film . i  m not sure if some of the songs were not written specifically for urban cowboy  but it  s the only reason i can think of why the motion picture academy ignored the musical aspects of this film . i especially liked johnny lee  s looking for love  if it was specifically written for this film  it  s a disgrace that it wasn  t nominated for best song .  br    br   i liked debra winger  s character best in this film . she doesn  t lose a trace of femininity  but she stands up to travolta and does it in style . and this review is dedicated to that yet as unknown woman who will one day be the first woman bull  rider in the professional bull riders .  
i rented this movie because i hoped it would be one the whole family would enjoy . although the movie is family friendly  my family did not enjoy it because it gives a false view of god . if you obey god and follow him  you are not guaranteed success . your football team won  t always win . you won  t magically get better grades . infertility isn  t always cured . you won  t always get a raise . sometimes  you  ll be stuck with the old car .  br    br   god does not exist to meet our every whim . rather  we were created to glorify him . sometimes we glorify him most when things seem to be going bad for us . to live is christ to die is gain .  
okay  so i have come a long way from houston by now  but whenever i see this movie  i am taken back to a little cowgirl  s dream to one day ride the bull at gilley  s .  it burned down before i was of drinking age .   br    br   if you grew up in in east texas  then you know this movie is an accurate depiction of contemporary life at that time . if you didn  t then trust me and watch the movie . either you will join the many who love it  and at the same time strangely repulsed   or at the very least  you can make fun of the red  necks .  there is plenty material for poking fun .  this movie doesn  t try to be p . c .  what was that in the    s  or hide the white trash element and it is honest to the time and place .  br    br   gotta be a   for me   
this film had no huge stars in it  but did have a very good cast filled with excellent supporting actors and gene tierney before she became a big star . with george sanders  reginald gardner  harry carey  bruce cabot  jospeh calleia and cederic hardwicke  you  d expect more from the film than it actually delivered . most of this  i suspect  is because of a second  rate script  as director henry hathaway was a competent and well  established man at the helm .  br    br   the film is set in east africa during wwii   just before the americans entered the war . the brits are trying to control their african colonies while subversive nazi elements are trying to stir up trouble among the locals . one of the white men in the film is a double  dealer   working for the destruction of the british empire  but  lovely tierney  playing a sultan  s daughter     is out to help save the day for good ol  britain .  br    br   american film makers have long sided with the empire and the     s and   s saw a plethora of pro  empire films . nowadays  with changed sensibilities  the notion of seeing the happy black natives dying for queen and country seems ridiculous   and it would be hard to root for either side  still  in its day  this propaganda piece was effective in drumming up support for the british   though when seen today  the film suffers from a long  winded script and silly casting . the one bright moment in the film is the final showdown between george sanders and the enemy agent . too bad after such a potent scene the film just seemed to talk and talk   losing some of its punch .  
first let me say i am not from the south but i am an american . i don  t love country music but i can stomach it . i would never wear a cowboy hat but i wear hats . i don  t live in a trailer but i do eat tuna salad and own a home . what does that have to do with this comment  a lot if you are one of those people who say only  country  people love this movie . this movie is loosely based on the  they loved and lost  premise . james bridges directs an american love story as real as it gets . in an era of jerry springer and  lets put it out there  mentality  this film rings truer than ever .  br    br   bud is  coming of age  and embarks on a life of his own with a little help from his aunt and uncle so he moves to the big city with them . bud finds himself drawn into the local honky tonk world for the only escape a blue collar man can afford . he quickly meets sissy who is from a similar background and the two have a whirlwind romance filled with painful ups and downs .  br    br    this plot takes so many turns that one has to just sit for a few minutes before they get hooked . marriage is a focus here that is often missed . early in the film they marry and we view the transition from being single to married . the film highlights some of the modern struggles a woman has when she marries an old fashioned man . it also brings into view the male ego with women and competition .   br    br   bud is challenged and is excited when micky  s puts in an electronic bull . sissy gets ideas of having fun on it too but is quickly reminded that she is married and need to start  acting like it .  the emotion between the two characters is raw and expressive and the plot continues from there especially when they  note this is giving some of the storyline away  split and sissy falls for an ex con with a penchant for abuse and cruelty . she soon realizes that the grass is not always greener on the other side .  br    br   how anyone can compare bud to vinnie barbirino is shocking to me . john travolta gave an exceptional performance that was worthy recognition . he was believable and real . the scene where he shaves his beard and you first see him at the bar . . still gives me goosebumps . mind you i am not a huge travolta fan  but come on  i see why sissy was kicking of her boots so early in the film . deb winger was so real that you found yourself sympathizing with her as she pens a note of emotions to bud  after sneaking in to clean his house during their break up .  br    br   the supporting cast was incredible . wes played by scott glenn gave a first rate performance that made you hate him and curse him as he abused sissy . madolyn smith  osborne  as buds mistress  girlfriend was so authentic that large chested girls across the u . s . prayed to wake up flat chested to wear the clothes she donned in the film . my biggest kudos  s go to barry corbin and brooke anderson as bud  s aunt and uncle . they seemed like someone  s aunt and uncle somewhere in texas and however small their role  they made the film so much bigger and lifelike . two memorable scenes were the dolly parton contest and the unforgettable scene where bud and his aunt stand outside after one of the characters death . the dialog between them is touching .  br    br   if you can watch this for what it is  a true american love story . then i recommend that you take it for what it is . . . a film before it  s time that gave us voyeurism into a world unlike our own but real enough for our enjoyment and entertainment . if this world sounds similar to yours then you will enjoy it so much more . lastly  the music however dated  is sure to send you back in time if you are over   years of age .  
this early b entry into the patriotic category slapped a gorgeous young gene tierney on the ads and posters  but you have to wait a good time before you glimpse her  riding in a hollywoodized camel train . previously  we  ve set up george sanders and bruce cabot in the desert as guys who barely get along  but must rally in the face of attack . i  ve seen sanders as so many enjoyable cads that it was fun to witness a rare good guy turn . however  bruce cabot  s allure is pretty much a mystery to me  he  s base and unsubtle in comparison  but i  ve always felt he  d just emerged  smiling  from under a car  covered in grease and a sixth grade education . some people like  em that way  as did gene  s gypsy queen character . this is an action adventure filler  tho  and just as we  ve been warned of invading locals with guns  ready to sabotage and attack the brits in their land  there is a final gun battle in which we must lose a main character for the good of all . this feature requires nothing more than your barest attention on a saturday afternoon  a programmer that made whatever else it was paired with better . it was almost more interesting identifying the great supporting cast and a surprise appearance by dorothy dandridge in one of her first roles . a two or two and a half stars out of five .  mdm  
i can see why this film was oscar  nominated for best live action short  as it was constructed masterfully . even if you don  t particularly like the blues  though to me  this sounded much more like jazz   you can easily appreciate this film . it is simply very well made  though for the life of me  i can  t see why director gjon mili only got to direct one film   this one . in other words  the film is nominated and yet the director didn  t get any sort of career boost . as for the black performers  i could understand this not causing their careers to shift into high gear  as unfortunately most of white society have indifference  or worse  for blacks or  that kind of music  .  br    br   if you do watch this film  if you aren  t particularly enjoying the earlier portion  skip ahead to about the     mark   where it picks up considerably . when the lady stopped singing and the performers began to improvise  the pace improved quite a bit .  
the message of this movie is  personality is more important than beauty  . jeanine garofalo is supposed to be the  ugly duckling   but the funny thing is that she  s not at all ugly  actually she  s a lot more attractive than uma thurman  the friend who looks like a model  .  br    br   now  would this movie work if the  ugly duckling  was really unattractive  when will hollywood stop with this hypocrisy   br    br   in my opinion  despite the message that it wants to convey  this movie is simply ridiculous .  br    br    
  stairway to heaven  is a outstanding invention of movie making  probably never duplicated . i rank it with  the wizard of oz  and  african queen   although it is a totally different type of movie than  african queen .   stairway to heaven  is a psycho  drama that uses performance concepts and technical effects that  to my knowledge  are totally unique .  br    br   for example  there is the combination of bw and color footage  as in  oz   but the significance of the contrast goes way beyond the simple  but beautiful  effect achieved in  oz .  in  stairway  the purpose and effect of the contrast can only be described as powerful .  br    br   another brilliant aspect of  stairway  is the concept of  time  and how it is used here . how could anybody have conceived of a better way to make time stand still  literally  and then there is the stairway itself   br    br   if you have any imagination at all  you will agree with me .  stairway to heaven  is a true gem .  
it occurs to me that some of the films that have been banned during the course of cinema history were actually very important and very good films . i  d like to argue that instead of banning challenging  controversial movies the censors should consider banning films that are so bad that they pose a threat to your iq and your sanity . if they were to do so one of the first films to be quickly hidden away would undoubtedly be  stroker ace  . this film is awful with a capital  a  . it is the worst film burt reynolds ever starred in . . . . quite a feat for for a man with  cannonball run ii    cop and a half  and  rent  a  cop  on his cv   br    br   the wafer  thin story introduces us to successful stock car racer stroker ace  reynolds   a man who loves fast cars and fast women . he gets stuck in a demeaning contract with crooked promoter clyde torkle  ned beatty  . the contract requires him to do some humiliating promotional work for a new chain of fast food restaurants  such as dressing up as a giant chicken . thrown into the mix are lugs  jim nabors   ace  s dim  witted pal  and pembrook feeney  loni anderson   a bimbo with a brain fractionally smaller than a pea who is wooed by ace .  br    br   hal needham  the director of this low  grade garbage  was formerly a stuntman and he made numerous films that relied on his expertise in staging spectacular stunts and car chases  races . some of these films were ok  like  hooper  and  stunts unlimited   but with  stroker ace  he reaches a career nadir . the characters are so stupid that you actually feel pity for the actors playing them . anderson especially is saddled with such a dumb role that it makes you grind your teeth with despair . the humour is weak and infantile throughout  and the stunts and race sequences are unremarkable . even the out  takes during the closing credits  which can be found in all the reynolds  needham collaborations  are generally unfunny  which gives the impression that maybe the film wasn  t much fun to make .  stroker ace  is a stinker of considerable magnitude .  
 . . . may seem like an overstatement  but it is not .  br    br   what is so hard to comprehend is  why didn  t they make more musical shorts like this  wasn  t the beauty of it totally apparent to everybody involved  i guess not . so many shorts were made for commercial reasons only  and with some luck there may be some artistic value in there . this is one exception  the only one   where it seems they were the director had a vision and clearly could appreciate the music as art . why didn  t anybody ever think to shoot lester or charlie parker on a live date  crazy  man .  br    br   a pity there were no sequels . if you  ve seen anything of similar quality please share it   
janeane garofalo has been very public in her displeasure about this film  calling it  among other things  anti  feminist . she has also said on her radio show she hates making  romantic comedies  because she doesn  t believe in them . i wholeheartedly agree with janeane here . this film is a trifle at best . she does her best  but overall  it was just another boring  unbelievable  romantic comedy  that has no basis in the real world . whereas there will be some who will say  suspend your disbelief   one grows tired of having to suspend it nearly every time you get a romantic film from hollywood . janeane  s character  for some reason  is usually filmed in shadows and darkness  which makes her look unattractive  while uma  s character is filmed in lighter tones  which probably displeased janeane and is probably one of the reasons she detests this film  . that really hurts the film if we are to buy the premise that janeane is supposed to be the better looking of the two . as many have said here and on other comment threads  janeane is not ugly  but in fact  quite beautiful . i haven  t read one review where someone said uma was better looking . having said that though  i believe that ben chaplin  s character would more than likely stay with uma  not janeane . many men don  t like really intelligent women  and many women don  t like really intelligent men   and sadly  ben probably would have stayed with uma . and despite the director  s attempt to make janeane unattractive  it doesn  t work . her natural beauty comes through anyway .  br    br   i think a lot of janeane  s male fans who are obsessed with her like this film because they like to think of themselves in the ben chaplin character  and actually scoring with janeane . janeane is a lot more complicated than the character she plays here  real life is always much more complex than hollywood can imagine   so take a cold shower gentlemen . this is the role that janeane is best known for  and that  s a shame  as this really isn  t that good of a film .  
jammin  the blues is an oscar  nominated short from     that is basically   minutes of improvisational jazz played in one long jam . marie bryant sings  the sunny side of the street  at one point for the film  s highlight then jitterbugs with archie savage to bring this most entertaining  jam session  to its exciting end . the director gojn mili was a photographer and that experience shows in some of the double exposure shots of some of the musicians that makes this one of the most innovative angles of the    s . according to some notes i read one of the musicians was white and had to be filmed in silhouette in reflection of the social attitudes of the time . what a shame . still  this most unusual film of the time is available on youtube so if you love jazz  i suggest you seek it out there .  
i liked it but then i think i might have been ironing at the same time . this reworking of cyrano de bergerac  roxanne is an utterly undemanding  formulaic romcom rescued from straight  to  video ignominy on its release by the sharp turn of janeane garofalo . playing the frasier of pets  she finds herself caught in a love trap when insecurity leads her to pass her best friend  uma thurman  off as herself when a caller comes a  courtin  .  br    br   this is an interesting film in the fascinating career of ben chaplin . an average british actor  he gave the hollywood treadmill a shot with this film . he is unremarkable and his anonymity in studio productions is unsurprising on the basis of it  although he has appeared in substantial cameos in both the later terence malick films . uma thurman does a ditzy turn on autopilot and michael lehmann packages it all together competently . icky phone sex though .      
jazz aficionados will treasure this classic short showing some of the best men of jazz just doing their thing . it  s like watching a no frills music video today .  br    br   the jazz men give us an additional treat in the person of marie bryant who sings a classic version of on the sunny side of the street . i had never heard her sing before  bryant sounds remarkably like billie holliday . that  s a compliment folks .  br    br   their instrumental work is tops as well . with the black cinema of its time fed a lot of white stereotypes  this film is to be watched and treasured . no great production values  just a lot of good music .  
i found out about this film because jewish ben chaplin from game on was in it . game on is a funny british sitcom and apparently he left because he wanted to break into hollywood and star in this film . he failed thank god .  br    br   the film is a very simple romantic comedy with janeane garofalo playing an ugly woman who uses her neighbour uma thurman to date ben chaplin because she thinks ben chaplin won  t like her because she  s ugly . the film is just bad for so many reasons . the plot is unbelievably predictable from the overtly slapstick bits to the serious mushy bits ugh just that montage where all three of them are having fun and then the photograph bit . those two scenes made me cringe  janeane  s character is sickeningly arrogant  and guessing from her role as stand  up  comedienne  and arch  feminist is in real life too  . she claims that the film is  anti  feminist  when in fact it  s just realistic . men more often than not go for looks over personality . it  s interesting to note her hypocrisy too . she  d been a feminist and  comedienne  for years before taking this role and then suddenly decides afterwards that the film was bad . i imagine she hated the idea and script of this film before it was released but she made sure she kept that quiet so she could get paid for this travesty of a film . i mean come on  she acted in it for heaven  s sake  what this film was really was anti  men if anything . it portrays men as stupid animals whose brains are in their groins with the men doing stupid things to attract the attention of uma thurman  s character noelle .  br    br   there are other bad things about this film too like ben chaplin  s character being the british man every american girl finds cute and jamie foxx being the token black best friend of chaplin and of course foxx had to try and mimic his accent a few times for good measure . is that the best the script writers could come up with  blimey they  ve never done that before except with every hugh grant and dudley moore film ever made . there  s also a truly awful phone sex scene which is just grotesque and proves how cheap the film is . the other comments on here all say how janeane garofalo isn  t ugly but is actually beautiful . erm was i watching the same film as they were  she  s certainly no looker and the only good thing about this film was that she was rightly cast as the ugly one . although having said that  i fail to see the appeal of uma thurman as well she  s lanky and gaunt looking .  br    br   i guarantee three things about this film if you  ve never watched it  br    br   you will know what the ending will be  br    br   you will find the phone sex scene painfully embarrassing and  br    br   you will be bored after ten minutes .  br    br   watch at your own peril .  
each of the major studios cranked out jazzy one  reelers throughout the thirties and forties  with universal taking the lead  . while most looked as cheap on screen as they were to make  warner bros .  which abruptly stopped making them in      often distinguished theirs with offbeat camera angles  mirrors and optical effects  thanks to some creative directors like jean negulesco . it is fitting that the best of this genre should come from this studio .  br    br   what sets  jammin  the blues  apart from the rest of the pack is that it more closely resembles an avant  garde experiment than a hollywood musical . filmed in july      it transforms an ordinary jam session into a  trippy  dream  escape from war  time troubles  highlighted by the tune of  on the sunny side of the street  . gjon mili and cameraman robert burkes  later to work with hitchcock  were allowed plenty of artistic freedom  perhaps because lester young was not glenn miller and the studio could care less how he and his fellow musicians were presented . the optical printer is put to good use  with multiple images of the same performer appearing at once .  norman mclaren really milked this process two decades later in  pas de deux   while linwood dunn  s team achieved different effects in  citizen kane  .  the strong emphasis on silhouettes and lit cigarette smoke was also ahead of its time in some ways  this predated the psychedelic sixties  but with a distinctly forties film noir style .  
i had no real expectations going into this movie and i  m glad . even if i had expected it to be bad i would have been disappointed .  br    br   where to start  first  i think    of the movie consisted of stock footage of stationary scarecrows in a dark jungle  field . i get it . there  s scarecrows . i think the title  scarecrows  was sufficient .  br    br   second  not a damn thing is ever explained regarding the scarecrows and paranormal occurrences . there  s too many times where i was left going wtf   br    br   third  the movie takes itself seriously . i  m all for a b  movie with buckets of blood  screaming women  and senseless violence that is the result of a simple psychopath or ancient curse . but those movies often know they  re b  movies and even flaunt it  like dead snow  hilarious scandanavian zombie flick  or evil dead  . but this movie seems oblivious to its crapdom .  br    br   finally  there should of been more blood and  or nudity . yea  i said it . if you  re going to have a crap horror movie  make with the killing . and if you  re going to have one hot and one semi  hot girl  one of them needs to show some side  boob at a minimum .  br    br   so  like the summary says  skip  scarecrows  and just poke yourself in the eye . you  ll thank me .  
this short was nominated for an academy award and i wish it had won  basically a filmed jam session between some very talented musicians  including lester young and joe jones  the music is incredible  hollywood quite often embraced jazz  particularly animation  believe it or not  but this is a rare look on film at an improvisational jam . this has been added to the film preservation list and deservedly so . tcm runs this as filler periodically and runs it every march sometime for its     days of oscar  tribute . from downtown at the buzzer  swish  nothing but net and the shot  s so smooth  the net barely moved . most solidly and highly recommended     
scarecrows seems to be a botched horror meets supernatural film . a group of thugs pull off a paramilitary  like robbery of the payroll at camp pendleton in california . they high  jack a cargo plane kidnapping the pilot and his daughter with demands to be flown to mexico . along the way one greedy robber decides to bailout with the money landing in a cornfield monitored by strange looking scarecrows . these aren  t just any run  of  the  mill scarecrows . . . they can kill . the acting is no better than the horrible dialog . and the attempts at humor are not funny . very low budget and shot entirely in the dark .  br    br   the cast includes ted vernon  michael david simms  kristina sanborn  b . j . turner  phil zenderland and victoria christian .  
simply but imaginatively filmed studio  set performance short  a perfect match of music and images that defines the very coolness of cool and the hipness of hip . the precise visual and musical arrangements give the lie to its claim to be a record of a jam session what it is  is a pop video  every bit as stylised and knowing as that implies  and all the better for it . among the very best music films ever made  and almost certainly the most cinematic . these cats are solid gone  daddy  o . . .  
i think scarecrows are creepy  so it  s a pity this movie doesn  t make more of them .  br    br   a bunch of robbers do an emergency parachute from a plane into a enormous field with scarecrows . one of them goes missing with the loot and so the rest chase him down while being set upon by inexplicably evil scarecrows . the acting is hammy and the scarecrows unimpressive  when they move  . on the positive side  the director does get some suspense out of the static scarecrows . it is as alfred hitchcock says   a bomb under a table goes off  and that  s surprise . we know the bomb is under the table but not when it will go off  and that  s suspense .   
maybe the greatest film ever about jazz .  br    br   it is jazz .  br    br   the opening shot continues to haunt my reverie .  br    br   lester  of course  is wonderful and out of this world .  br    br   jo jones is always a delight  see the sound of jazz as well  .  br    br   if you can  find the music it  s available on cd .  br    br   all lovers of jazz and film noir should study this tremendous jewel .  br    br   what shadows and light  what music  what a hat   
falls into the film category of  way too ridiculous in the dialogue and execution departments to be taken seriously  . whereas shriek if you know what i did last friday the thirteenth or my boyfriend  s back know they are bad  scarecrows doesn  t . evil dead set such a high standard for the comedic horror on a budget genre  that scarecrows is simply out of place .  br    br   suspicions of inexperience are immediately at play as there are no hints of noise or vibration in the hull and cockpit of an airborne plane . the repeated display of a picture of  men just screams for a story arc  but nothing comes . although the men are obviously the scarecrows  there is no explanation .  br    br   knowing this film is too serious for it  s own good may produce some grins . i don  t recall if joe bob briggs ever previewed scarecrows  but i believe that he wouldn  t stoop this low . however  with an imdb rating of over   there are many people that disagree .  
interesting  fast  paced and amusing .  br    br   i  m not one of those people who watches loads and loads of television . i stumbled across this show while home sick with a bad case of the flu one day  and was immediately hooked . i developed quite a crush on john burke . both he and claire did an amazing job of hosting the show together . you could really tell that they both loved their jobs .  br    br   the super  collector segments were excellent . i found myself interested in things i had never previously given a single thought to .  br    br   what i would really like to know is whatever happened to jack the dog  did one of the hosts adopt him   
scarecrows is one of those films that  with a little more acting  a little more direction  and a lot more story logic  would have been quite compelling as a horror entry . as it stands  it is still a creepy film that has solid make  up and gore effects  and a premise that sustains the mood of terror in spite of itself . and hey  there are no teenagers getting killed one by one   just dumb adults  so that is a refreshing change of pace . and the plot line is amazingly similar to dead birds  with a precipitating robbery  an abandoned spooky house in the middle of nowhere  and demonic monsters . but just like dead birds  the adults are still witless  they run around cluelessly before getting slaughtered one by one  and they ignore the obvious danger .  br    br   in scarecrows  though  we never really find out the supernatural why  and that sustains the atmosphere of creepiness . and like clowns  scarecrows can be very creepy unless they look like ray bolger  of course . escaping in a hijacked plane with the pilot and his daughter  after a robbery netting millions  a para  military bunch is double  crossed by one of their own a very nervous guy named burt . he jumps out of the plane with the big  and heavy  box that holds the money with apparently no plans as to how to move it around once he is on the ground . being the dumbest of the bunch  he is murdered first . but not before he happens upon the fowler residence  nestled snuggly amid lots of really creepy  looking scarecrows  and surrounded with a wooden fence encircled with barbed  wire and lots of warnings to stay away . and the weird weathervane on the roof  with the pitchfork and pterodactyl  should have been a warning sign  too . the inside of the house is also quite foreboding  to us in the audience  anyway  .  br    br   annoyingly  we must listen to burt  s thoughts in voice  over  as he walks around and mysteriously comes across the key to the decrepit truck in the yard . the way the key pops up would be enough to have my pants   with me in them   flying out the door . perhaps it  s just me  but i really enjoy watching people  s lips move on screen  even when they are just thinking out loud . it helps to intensify the action  and gives the actor more to do than just look like what the voice  over is saying . burt hoists the box onto the truck and makes his getaway . sure why not  decrepit trucks always have lots of gas in them  especially with today  s prices  and the battery  no problem . now  i did mention that burt was the dumbest of the bunch  and here is why  in addition to the above  of course  . wearing night  vision goggles to walk through the foliage and find the house  he takes them off to drive the truck away  and instead  turns on the headlights to see where he is going . of course  the crooks still in the plane spot the headlights of his truck  and know where he is headed . brilliant . he deserves to die . definitely . i am not sure why he needed night vision goggles in the first place  as every scene is brightly lit  from the interior of the plane  to the night  time outside scenery  and the house . the cinematographer was either a . myopic  b . just out of school  or c . dealing with really cheap filmstock .  br    br   burt meets his demise when the truck dies in the middle of nowhere . go figure . one very nice touch  and there are  i must admit  a few in the film  is the fact that when he opens the truck  s lid  there is no engine . creepy  to be sure  and insert pants comment again here  . the story logic fails when dead  now  stuffed  like  a  flounder  with  money  and  straw  burt returns to the house . the rest of the bunch are there  rough him up  then realize that he is indeed dead  and was gutted and stuffed like a flounder with money and straw . dead burt does manage to put up quite a fight  though  and grabs one fellow by the mouth  pushing him through a window  causing him to bite off more than he could chew in a gorylicious scene . at this point  you would think they  d would be racing out of the house and back to the plane   but noooo  they decide to stay and look for the rest of the money . in fact  the whole burt is dead episode is treated rather matter  of  factly  although one bright bulb in the bunch does argue   burt was walking around dead  for chrissakes    br    br   the stolen money suddenly appears on the grounds outside the house  and the crooks blithely go for the bait . soon  another one of them  jack  is dispatched  and again the scene is well done and horrific  involving a dull handsaw and no anethesia . now there are three scarecrows going about wreaking mayhem  and one of them needs a hand  literally .  br    br   when one of the crooks sees the scarecrows and jack getting scarecrow  ized  he starts screaming  running away like hell  and shooting off his gun in typical para  military fashion . so much for all that training under pressure crap . he meets up with the others and stops in his tracks to explain why he is screaming  running away like hell  and shooting off his gun  even though the scarecrows appear to be chasing him . again  that script logic thing . . . dead and gutted  jack returns to the house  and goes after the screamer with the usual results . if you listen to jack  s demonic growl  by the way  you may notice  depending on your age  that it is the same monster  growling sound heard often in the lost in space tv episodes .  br    br   the last two survivors race away from the house and back to the plane  barely escaping . but do they  you will have to see the film to find out .  
back in      i had a really lengthy vacation around the fourth of july  something like   days off in a row what with two weeks paid vacation  weekends and the holiday itself . i stayed in town during that time  hanging out at my parents  house a lot .  br    br   i didn  t have a tv in my apartment so i used to watch my parents  tube . i had just finished watching a segment of the x files when a program came on called personal fx . i was hooked instantly . i had always been fascinated with items in our home that had come from my parents  family homes and through inheritances from relatives  estates  and often wondered about their history  value  etc .  br    br   after my long vacation  i used to go to my folks  house on my lunch  hours just to catch personal fx .  br    br   i can remember one episode during which co  host claire carter announced that the new york apartment in which the series was filmed was being renovated and that once said renovations were complete that personl fx would return to the air .  br    br   it never did  personal fx was the first  and best  of the collectible shows . and it vanished from the air  almost fifteen years later  i  m still sore .  br    br   way to go  fx .  
i watched scarecrows because of the buzz surrounding it . well  i can  t imagine anyone liking this movie because it  s just bad  bad  bad .  br    br   it  s obvious that whoever made this movie doesn  t know a single thing about horror . the whole story is an unsuccessful marriage of two genres action movie  guns and criminals  and horror  living scarecrows  . when the criminals are killed one by one by the poky looking scarecrows  the two genres automatically cancel each other out because  first  they  re criminals and who cares about criminals  and second  because they  re stupid criminals to boot  having zombie scarecrows go after them just doesn  t work here . where  s the horror in that  i wanted the criminals to die horrible  painful deaths .  br    br   but the story is so badly constructed that this marriage of genres  which could have been original if handle well  never gels . we  re simply left with is a bunch of super dense criminals and a bunch of scarecrows  which are  alive  for whatever flimsy reason the filmmakers thought up . making things even worse is the fact that the cinematography is terrible  tv like  and  worse offense of all  whole bunches of the dialogue are told on cbs  and we continuously hear inane dialogue spoken over disconnected images as if we  re watching some sort of radio show . this part was really bad . the director should have been shot on the spot for coming up with such a stupid idea  i can  t tell you how annoying that was .  br    br   as i  ve already mentioned  the criminals in scarecrows are amazingly stupid . for instance  when someone suddenly shows up  gutted and filled with money and straw  yep  straw  in his huge open wound  the others ask  what drug is he on   after they shoot tons of bullets in him  unable to kill him  he  s been  zombiefied  by the scarecrows . don  t ask . . .  . get a freaking clue  morons . i  ve never seen such stupid people in a movie . and then there  s the girl . i wished one of the scarecrows had killed her quickly because she was a pain in the butt . when she finds her father nailed to a scarecrow  cross   she actually blames the criminals in an embarrassing scene  bad acting   even though the criminals couldn  t have done it . what a dimwit she was  but the scarecrows are the biggest weakness in this very weak flick . they  re not scary . nothing much is explained about them . they  re just a plot device in this plot device filled movie .  br    br   mr wesley  filming the face of a scarecrow for   seconds nonstop doesn  t elicit anything but sheer boredom . and that scene with the talking head in the fridge . thanks for the laughter .  br    br   all in all  this had to be one of the worst movies i  ve seen recently  and i  ve seen a lot of movies these days   between the equally woeful silo killer or scarecrows  i  d rather watcher silo killer again . yep  scarecrows is that bad .  
this movie shows us once again  how genius the japanese directors are and were . this movie could be seen as a sort of a  silent  movie tetsuo  . well eisenstein . . .    
a lot of horror fans seem to love scarecrows  so i won  t be very popular in saying that i found it to be rather boring . the idea behind it was interesting  but it seems to drag so much . i think the main problem is that it is all set in darkness . sometimes horror films set in darkness can work  such as humongous   but scarecrows is in darkness for the whole film . a lot of the time it  s hard to figure out what  s actually happening  and although some shots of the scarecrows were creepy  most were hard to even see . if a little more lighting had been used  perhaps it could  ve been better .  br    br   there  s not many films involving killer scarecrows to my knowledge  apart from dark night of the scarecrow  which is much better . i would recommend that over scarecrows any day .  
  br    br   filmed just after the war  this story was made in order to highlight anglo  american relations after the war . it ended up receiving the honour of being the first royal premiere after wwii .  br    br   remarkably the film tangles together the royal air force  sigmund freud psychology  the founding fathers of america and various others up the long stairs  special effects in its infancy  and beyond the heavenly gates without losing any of its integrity .  br    br   although sounding absurd  this clever script leads and dances the viewer between heaven and earth with the skill of a mountain goat and a presents a charming ease rarely matched in cinema since .  br    br   be prepared to have your heart warmed by this sweet  innocent and charming love story . roger livesey acts like a man possessed to steal the show      br    br   british cinema should cry when it remembers how good it used to be in those early post war years .  br    br    
burt reynolds came to a point in his career where he appeared to just be going thru the motions . he  d show up  party with his friends on film  and take home a big paycheck . it didn  t seem to matter to him that the product he was representing was pure crap .  br    br   no film epitomized this more than  stroker ace  which makes  cannonball run  look like a classic and  cannonball run ii  look watchable . save for a few race scenes there is absolutely nothing worth seeing here . even the beautiful loni anderson hams it up so bad as a dumb blonde it  s embarrassing .  br    br   if the thought of burt hamming it up with jim nabors and dressing like a chicken sounds funny then this is your movie . otherwise pick almost any other film comedy and it won  t be any worse .  
i saw  a page of madness  in a silent film course at wesleyan university and it haunts me still after   years . truly ahead of its time  perhaps even still  this gem of a film reveals both the frightening and attractive aspects of madness .  
demer daves  is a wonderful director when it comes to westerns and  broken arrow  remains in everybody  s mind . as far as melodrama is concerned  he should leave that to knowing people like vincente minelli  george cukor or the fabulous douglas sirk . the screenplay is so predictable that you will not be surprised once while you are watching such a tepid weepie . natalie wood  s character was inspired by fannie hurst  s  imitation of life   see stahl and sirk   but who could believe she  s a black man  s daughter anyway  susan kohner was more credible in  imitation of life   and sinatra and curtis are given so stereotyped parts that they cannot do anything with themthe poor officer  and the wealthy good  looking  and mean  sergeant . guess whom will natalie fall in love with  france is shown as a land of tolerance  where interracial unions are warmly welcome . at the time  circa      it was dubious  it still is for narrow  minded people you can find here there and everywhere .  
i have to admit  i wasn  t expecting much going into this film viewing in my japenese film class  but this film really blew me away . the director does a wonderful job following through with the title of his film  truly portraying a picture of madness . i think the fact that this film is silent adds to the resemblance of madness  helping the viewer experience the characters inner world rather than the world outside his mind . this film just added to my feelings about foreign silent films vs . american  in that the foreign films work much more to exercise your mind and make you think rather than going for the fluffy film always with the happy ending  exercising the imagination very little .  
     was an amazing year for charlie chaplin . it was his first year in films and he appeared in more than   films  while most of these films weren  t particularly good  they did give him a chance to slowly evolve his screen persona . however  by this film  the familiar  little tramp  character was still in development . sure charlie looked the part  but his character still lacked the sweetness and decency that he later developed . instead  chaplin often hit  kicked or did other nasty things to people for seemingly no reason at all .  br    br   as for this very slight film  it is interesting to watch for the cast . while they are not familiar today  chaplin stars along with mabel normand  chester conklin and mack swain   all exceptionally popular stars with keystone films . the problem with this film is that while it has a few nice scenes  the plot seems very vague and improperly developed . chester and mabel got to the race track  a very common theme in keystone productions   it must have been located near a race track  . charlie and mack show up and sneak in . mack is chased by the police for doing this while charlie slaps chester around and steals his girl . in the end  for no apparent reason  the cops take chester and mack away   leaving charlie with mabel  who  oddly  didn  t seem put off by charlie  s boorish behaviors  .  br    br   unless you are a huge silent comedy buff or film historian  this is a very forgettable film that is only important in the evolution of chaplin . what he and the other actors actually do on stage  while not unusual for a keystone film  isn  t particularly funny when seen today .  
it  s easy to make really general comments about a film like this . the fact that it  s one of the only remaining japanese films from this era causes people to say that it  started japanese cinema  and was  unlike anything the west ever made .  the latter of these two comments is particularly false as kinugasa himself admitted to ripping off  caligari  on more than one occasion . but style was meant to be imitated  and doesn  t take away from this film  s importance . what we have here is experimental themes and composition built on already established visual styles  opening the doors for a truly brilliant layering of narratives and realities . for this purpose  the madhouse is the ideal setting  and the writers knew this . this is a landmark film  and every effort should be made to track it down .  br    br    out of   essential  
after chaplin made one of his best films dough  dynamite  he made one of his worst gentlemen of nerve . during this first year in films  chaplin made about a third of all his films . many of them were experimental in terms of ad  libbing  editing  gags  location shooting  etc . this one takes place at a racetrack where chaplin and his friend try to get in without paying . mabel normand is there with her friend also  and chaplin manages to rid himself of both his and mabel  s friends . he then woos mabel in the grandstand with no apparent repercussions from his behavior . lots of slapstick in here  but there is very little else to recommend this film for other then watching chaplin develop . the print i saw was badly deteriorated  which may have affected its enjoyment . charley chase can be glimpsed .  of  stars .  
with rapid intercutting of scenes of insane people in an asylum  and montage  superimposition of images  and vague  interwoven narratives  this is a very hard movie to follow . apparently a man  masue inoue  takes a job as a porter or janitor in an asylum so he can be near his imprisoned wife  and maybe to rescue her . but she  s clearly mad  huddled on the floor  with a vacant expression much of the time and fear  misery  and confusion written on her face the rest of the time . the film  maker switches to her point of view sometimes  and we see vague images of her at the side of a pond drowning a baby  or clutching at a drowned child . she  s tormented by something . when the point of view shifts to her or other mad folks  the filmmaker uses distorting lenses and such things  showing us what mad people see and then how they react . and the place is swarming with mad folks  laughing  hiding  and in one case dancing frenetically night and day . at one point the man tries to take his wife outside  but the night outside the door terrifies her and she runs back to her cell . gradually the man slips into a nightmare in which he  s interrupted in another attempt to steal her away  and he kills the doctor and many attendants  and all the while the mad folk laugh and applaud . when he wakes he is relieved  and mops the floor . some fascinating shots of japanes life  streets  buildings in the     s .  
even if       of people that has seen this movie is brazilian  i  ll keep up with the english since it is the language of this website .  br    br   this movie is a piece of crp . worst acting i have seen for a loooong time . the kids are terrible . specially the boy . this was the first time i saw someone with less facial expression than arnold schwarzenegger  and one single voice tone  like a  years  old kid reading in front of the class . how can someone so bad be the main actor of a movie  the storyline is so shallow my daughter could have done better  she is  yrs old  . it is so simple it could be written in a napkin and told in  minutes .  br    br   there are only three possibilities for someone enjoy this movie   you are a pre  teen   you have been so brainwashed by globo  s stupidities that you think that anything that has the globo  s seal is awesome   you have a serious brain damage .  br    br   avoid at all costs  a shame to the brazilian movie scene .  
this very strange movie is unlike anything made in the west at the time . with its tumultuous emotions and net of visions  dreams  and startling images  its effect is both beautiful and unsettling . the actors are choreographed more like dance than acting . it contains the only dream sequence i know of that actually resembles a real nightmare  sorry  dali fans  .  
the orange tone to everything was just yucky . oh yeah  the main character lives in a ghetto that is all orange  tinted with orange  tinted people . meanwhile  to mentally escape from this crushing poverty of the body  she plays a full  immersion video game  which sucks in that no rules are clear and no logic follows the gameplay  . she apparently earns an income playing the game but she is revealed to not be an employee of the game company  . lots of non  speaking pauses later the story drags on slowly . she uses a glitchy orange computer interface with an operating interface that is so visually annoying and i can only suspect a microsoft future release .  br    br   meanwhile  i the viewer  ask basically why she is wasting her precious time in some moronic game when she barely has the necessities of life  oh yeah  playing games is fun  but what is the point when you  re almost starving  while she is piddling her life away playing some lousy even  more  orange  tinted lame full  immersion video game her dog runs off  probably looking for an owner who pays at least a moment of attention to it and feeds it regularly  or is stolen from the woman  while she is ignoring her lousy orange  tinted reality  .  br    br   meanwhile she obsesses over some game her game  playing team lost the entire uninteresting movie . yawn . so she wants to be the best of the best  go get them ash catchem  got to bore us all  . golly  this main character sucks as a human being as well and has no redeeming qualities aside from her physical beauty  which she could barter for some manner to escape her crushing poverty  .  br    br   so she reaches the  real  level and it  at least  not sucks horribly and she is sent to kill a former comatose teammate mentally living in the  real  level . finally the sucky boring bland orange  tinted movie is no longer a tedious chore to watch  but has the potential to say something along the lines  the main character is trapped in imaginary computer  generated poverty and she is actually in the real world now  . perhaps she will do the murder deed and live in the real world now  well  she kills the guy and he vanishes in a digital effect . wow  thanks idiotic director . you suck  you suck so very much  director .  br    br   here the director had an iota of a chance to redeem himself slightly by burying this lousy lame moronic cruddy movie with a philosophical twist .  br    br   the director could have said   the real world is there and if you live in it and contribute to it to make it better  it won  t be some cruddy orange  tinted poverty land .  a clever way to make this suck  tacular movie a agonizingly slow lesson on basic civic pride  for the   of the viewers that haven  t found something actually entertaining to watch at this point or are movie  masochists  .  br    br   nope  director . the director had to screw this all up by tossing in some cruddy digital effect and ruin all chances of redemption for this awfully lousy movie which was a waste of money  a waste of time  and a waste of viewer trust .  br    br   after that  it ends . good riddance . i hope the director chokes on it . i  m putting this hack on my  avoid at all costs  list for any other films his name is attached to .  
  br    br   an old man works as a janitor in a mental hospital to be close to his wife who is a patient there and to try to get her out .  br    br   this is surely one of the most forgotten masterpieces of the silent era and an oddity in the history of japanese cinema . long thought lost  a print was found in the   s and a music soundtrack added to it  which fits perfectly with the images . it might have been influenced by cabinet of doctor caligary  director kinugasa claimed he never saw the german film  . however it surpasses it in style and in its more convincing  and chilly  portray of the inner mental state of the inmates in the asylum . to achieve this  the film makes use of every single film technique available at the time multiple exposures and out of focus subjective point of view  tilted camera angles  fast and slow motion  expressionist lighting and superimpositions among others . it is also a very complicated film to follow  as it has not got intertitles .  br    br   the film opens with a montage of shots of rain hitting the windows of the hospital  wind shaking trees and of thunder . the unsettling weather metaphors the mental condition of the patients and introduces one of the them a former dancer . the combination of sounds produced by rain  wind and thunder serves as the music that incites the dancer to get into a frantic  almost hypnotic dance . in another sequence involving the same patient engaged in another frenzied dance  she is being watched by other inmates . multiple exposures of the dancer represent the patients  point of view and their confused  view  of the world .  br    br   these are just two examples from this amazing film trying to represent the patients  subconscious and view of the  sane  world .  br    br   in three words a must see .  
i must say  when i read the storyline on the back of the case  it sounded really interesting  but when i started to watch the movie seemed boring at first and even more at the end . some scenes are way too long and the story has not been worked out properly .  
as someone who was born to a german mother and english father  who spent five years in a prisoner of war camp  i come from unique position . one of having to deal with the various nazis on one side of the family and the victors of ww  on the other . this miniseries cannot delve into every single part of hitler  s psyche and must give the viewer a general flavor of the situation at the time and as best as one can hitler  s state of mind . in this the series does quite well . carlyle is very good as is o  toole  i would however liked to have got more information on the relationships with others in party because hitler did not do anything on his own . he had people around him that followed him to the letter often without question and certainly without question later on in his murderous career . what was going through goebbels  goring and hess  s mind  it would have been helpful to see more of these relationships . but i hope it will make people research the subject more . it might also make people understand why someone like saddam hussein cannot be allowed to continue in power .  
for a lot of time i was looking forward to see this movie  here in latinamerica japanese or any oriental movies have no distribution in theaters  we can find some of those movies in some underground stores  and i just found avalon  i was expecting something good  but the only good thing in this movie is the first scene  the rest of the movie is boring and senseless  just plain stupid  with a lot of useless scenes  and a boring story . i am wasting my time even writing about this film . sorry but is the truth .  
first week of may  every year brings back the memories of the holocaust  through movies on televisions . among many movies they showed  this was the one i had not seen .  br    br   the story is about hilter  s life and how he came to power . it starts with his childhood and ends with his holding the top most position of power in germany .  br    br   the movie was earlier presented as a tv series and later converted into a movie format . scottish actor robert carlyle plays adolf hitler with great guts  conviction and flare to give a real portrayal of this man .  br    br   it is a good screenplay and narrative  that educates the audiences on the main events that lead hitler into power  and also tries to show the probable psychological make up of hitler . the movie is a biased viewpoint of the director christian duguay  who shows hitler as a one  track  menacing  angry  and shouting person  who had such a strong hold on the germans and people around him . hitler is not shown as someone having charishma and attraction  and there the movie fails to convince hitler  s portrayal .  br    br   even though the venture was for tv  all the ingredients of production are first class and at par with any main stream movie . the production value  sets  costumes  etc . were perfect .  br    br   there is a lot of criticism of this movie  in the authenticity about the historic events that is presented . but still the movie is gripping  every engaging and entertaining . robert carlyle overpowers and dominates the screen as no one else does . he is amazingly good  brilliant  i would have liked a more balanced view of hitler  s life  because i think  hitler was able to bring out the dormant feelings of million of germans and it is not only him who should be blamed for the holocaust . as i have told several times  that  very sadly  our society loves to garland or prosecute one person  as a representative of the society  s good or evil respectively .  
  blue desert  may have had the potential to be even a half  way plausible and more enjoyable thriller had the main character  lisa roberts  courtney cox  not been so stupid . when she is the victim of another attack on the streets of new york  comic book artist roberts moves to a small town out west . in her first days there  she meets the suspiciously crazy randall atkins  craig sheffer  playing this part well  who will eventually not leave her side . fearing for her safety after having been in the situation already twice before  she strikes up a friendship and relationship with the suspiciously amicable town cop  steve smith  d . b . sweeny  who  s character does not seem convincing enough  leaving disbelief among viewers who should otherwise be convinced of the red herrings thrown by the writers  . smith needs roberts cooperation because  as he tells her  atkins is an ex  con and guilty of sexual assault . but  the cops have lacked the evidence to put him away before .  br    br   the movie had enough ploys to at least make an interesting movie because soon enough  there is such confusion as to whom roberts should trust . however  much of the intended suspense appears too forced because roberts character never seems to react to simple things as we think any reasonable person might . and her delayed responses allow much of that suspense to occur to easily and unconvincingly  particularly in the finale . perhaps sweeny was the wrong choice for this role too baby faced in ways that kind of recall kevin anderson  s persona evident in his character in  sleeping with the enemy .  or  if lisa roberts was written as a stronger character  this might suffice as well . in the meantime  the film is not all that great  even as a low  budget b  thriller .  
i don  t know what it is with this movies . but movies about history or religion are always criticised by their accuracy . of course it  s not     accurate . it  s difficult to make     accurate films nowadays when even the  experts  disagree with each other . therefore i rather like to judge a movie by what it is trying to say than pick on all the inaccuracies .  br    br   so i start by saying that i liked this mini serie . but i do agree with the critique that his childhood years went by too fast . the series should have been a three part story  his childhood being the first part . but if they didn  t have more money to shoot more story who am i to criticise that     br    br   there  s only one real problem i have with this movie and that  s the fact that it  s told in a history book way . especially the second part which is just a sum of events that happened . i rather would have liked to see hitler more humane  more scenes where he doubts himself etc .  . noah taylor did that more in the movie  max  which seem to work better i think . nevertheless i  m glad this was made and own it on dvd . just to remember more vividly what happened and see carlyle giving his best .  .      
there is an awful lot wrong with this picture  beginning with a script that is both obvious and redundant . courtney cox plays a comic book artist who escapes to a small desert town after being raped twice in the big city . she immediately is stalked by a local who appears quite unhinged  craig sheffer   and who seems to be attempting a third rate mickey rourke imitation . d . b . sweeny is a local cop  who is supposedly there to protect and serve . meanwhile  the script manipulates the audience as to who  s really the good guy  logic flies out the window after the first ten minutes and never returns  and there are more unanswered questions than there should be . if you think  blue desert  might be saved by the wonderful philip baker hall  you will be disappointed . his part is insignificant  just like the entire movie .  merk  
this is a tepid docu  drama that covers no new ground  reworks all the cliches and is sloppy with facts . for example  munich is a very flat city . so why is it hilly in the movie  for example  the end of the great war in     was not a surrender but an armistice . yet it is announced as a surrender . for example  european news vendors did not  and do not  shout headlines as they hawk their papers . yet this strictly american custom is employed in the film . for example  the nazis did not adopt the german eagle until after they had taken power but there it is on the lectern as hitler delivers one of his stem winders . indeed  most of this disappointing production consists of little more than hitlerian oratory . the movie also perpetuates the myth that the beer hall putsch was hatched at the munich hoffbrauhaus . it was not . robert carlyle does a fine portrayal of his subject . but his supporting cast is adequate at best and very often not even that . these comments are based on the first episode only . one only can hope the second will be better but don  t bet on it .  
this movie is about a female rape victim  comic book writer from new york that decides to get away from all that awful big city glamor and move to a dirty  run down small town where she finds refuge in a single  wide trailer on a dirt lot in the middle of   th and nowhere . the townspeople are mentally ill  yet so is she for inviting crazy men into her trailer . annoying is the fact that she has the ability to do exactly the right thing to place herself in dangerous circumstance after dangerous circumstance . db sweeney  s performance was high school at best . he  s one of those kinda  cute young actors with a sweet grin . unfortunately career has not been kind and mother nature has been right in tow . to the previous commentator stating that the acting was  so real   well i agree . actually it wasn  t acting . the two main characters really are pathetic  weak and incapable of making mature  healthy decisions . in brief  this movie sucks like no other  rent it to laugh at it . the real crime scene  the atrocious wood paneling in the trailer  enough to make me commit murder . and lastly  she  s a artist  writer  so couldn  t she afford a double  wide trailer and something other than a sun  yellow chevy chevette for love of god   
surely one of the best british films ever made  if not one of the best films ever made anywhere . script  cinematography  direction and acting in a class on their own . this film works on so many levels . so why is it completely unavailable on tape  dvd . never shown on tv  why is it hidden away when it is regularly shown at the national film theatre in london to packed houses   
this is one of the most insipid  lackluster  unoriginal  and pointless movies ever made  it almost feels like everyone involved in this project didn  t even try to make an appealing movie . this is nothing more than a continuation of a tiresome series of films that attempt to cash in on the success of smokey and the bandit  which i think is the best film of them all . as for this waste of film stock  burt reynolds sleepwalks his way through the entire movie  jim nabors is wasted  the other actors aren  t given very much to do  the car races are obviously stock footage  the humor is uninspired  and many of the scenes are more dull and lifeless than staring at a wall for two hours .  stroker ace  is simply a superfluous film with nothing unique or distinctive about it .  
even though ian kershaw distanced himself from this project due to inaccuracies in regards to hitler  s life and yes  this is dramatised  but essential . robert carlyle plays hitler during his later years  during this documentary that only deals with hitler from boyhood until he became chancellor of germany  including the night of the long knives . this tv  film  also a two  part mini  series  shows how a series of factors allowed hitler to come to power  e . g . the financial disaster of     .  br    br   the series follows hitler and little else  apart from the lives of fritz gerlich and ernst hanfstaengl . all in all  valuable and filled with interesting actors  yet i feel it should have been more tightly directed with stronger cinematography most actors are portrayed in half  body shots which  for me  makes for a theatrical stance  not cinematic . the tempo is at times drowsy  and the film does suffer from it  being approximately    hours long .  
i got the dvd from the library in the expectation of getting a good idea of how things go on in the background at a major opera production . i have to say  i was very disappointed . the subject had so much potential . the sets in a wagnerian production must  of necessity  be elaborate and impressive and the story behind their creation and use could have been an excellent educational experience . instead  what we get it a hodgepodge of clips of people moving around big items of scenery  vaguely help together with a commentary which failed to hold my attention . i found myself listening primarily to the background clips of music from operas . i was impressed by the sheer enormity of the effort required to put on such a production  that did come across fairly well and next time i am at the opera i am sure i will remember that part if this video  but was left feeling somewhat cheated by the lack of detailed commentary and explanation .  
there is no greater disservice to do to history than to misrepresent it . this takes the easiest and most shallow route  simply portraying him as a monster . only showing his negative sides  and exaggerating them .  those who are ignorant of the past doom us to repeat it  . he was a human being . that may prove tough to some people to accept  but an important part of life is facing that which we don  t want to . rather than demonizing the man  we ought to try to understand him . otherwise  we stand little chance of preventing anyone similar in the future  or possibly even the present  from succeeding at anything of remotely comparable scope  as far as damage and misery goes . hate him and what he did  don  t make him into something mythical  intentionally or otherwise . frankly  far too much of this mini  series could play  dumb dumb duuum   after or during scenes . the whole thing nods  nudges and winks at the audience  with a clear message of  was this guy evil or what   incorporating every single bad trait  as well as making up several that go directly against who and what he was   letting them appear more or less out of nowhere  and having them be constant throughout his life  not something he came to believe or claimed to . this should never be used to educate . use der untergang  downfall  in english   and maybe point out the few inaccuracies of that  instead . this  this is disrespectful to the actual events that took place  and to any and all survivors  not to mention those who died . the cinematic quality  top  notch . it  s well  done  through and through  excellent production values  a solid arc to the well  told plot  what characterization does occur is strong and credible  dialog and script are great  all acting performances are masterful  carlyle looks and behaves the role . . . as it was written . . . perfectly   the music is well  composed  cinematography and editing are flawless and creative  and this is definitely dramatic  entertaining and riveting . they get dates and many occurrences  and do them justice . if i had been offered to work on this  and did not feel i could be objective enough to have hitler appear as a fully fleshed  out person  i would have declined  citing that as the reason . i don  t blame anyone for loathing him . how can you forgive what he did  and are we sure that we should  that is not what i am suggesting . finally  let me point out that  as i write this  we are in a world  wide economic crisis that has lasted for about two years  and that is not terribly dissimilar to the stock market crash of     . the two reasons it hasn  t led to a depression of the new millennium are as follows governments are giving money to the banks to keep the market going  and the majority of the countries is now friendly towards one another . apart from that  the lesson hadn  t been learned . hopefully  it has now . back to this . . . my suggestion  read a book  non  fiction  dealing with the subject . there are plenty of informative  smart ones . the dvd holds a trailer . i recommend this only to those who know better  and vehemently urge anyone who has watched it  to seek out the truth .      
i thought this was a great idea but  boy  was it poorly executed . we do get a broad sense of how complex and challenging the backstage operations of a show are  but virtually no specifics about any of it works . the producers don  t seem to have found any way to tell a story or give the viewer a  through  line .   which is not to say they didn  t try  but having the stagehands relate a synopsis of the ring cycle as the program  s narrative does nothing to tell us about the job of physically mounting an opera .   br    br   we see lots of things happening  but are told little about what it is that the people are doing and why . there  s little sense of who is who  or how the various production departments fit and work together . for instance  several times we hear about a problem of some sort   one expects then to see the problem and its consequences and  or how it gets resolved . but instead the filmmakers generally just cut to something else  generally  pretty generic footage of people pushing stuff or talking into headsets .   br    br   overall the film ends up feeling more like a pastiche of images that you  d see run under the closing credits of a show  rather than anything worth watching for its own merit .  
  hitler  the rise of evil  is clearly produced by people emotionally unburdened by the horrors of world war  . which makes watching a refreshing experience .  br    br   i think its greatest value lies in its crystal clear revealing of the nazi  mechanism . of the utterly corrupt ways hitler used to make it to the top . having arrived there  this film ends .  br    br   when on top  the  fuhrer    german for  leader   led his germany to the biggest  most devastating war in history of mankind . ending six years later in germany  s utter defeat . as a result  germany lost its eastern provinces   about    of its prewar soil   and was forced to accept a   year  split of its remaining territory . both west and east germany had to be rebuilt from scrap  their reputations severely damaged by the many nazi  atrocities inspired by racism .  br    br   as i said   hitler  the rise of evil  makes an good watch . set in an acceptable thirties  environment  with  more than  competent acting . in particular peter o  toole  s role as the aged president von hindenburg stands out  even adds an extra dimension .  br    br   my copy of  hitler  the rise of evil  also provides a second dvd with two good documentary films . one is about hitler  s personality  the second deals with the forgery of the hitler  diaries . in     this forgery caused a hilarious scandal in england and germany  damaging the reputations of several historians and journalists .  
the worst movie in the history of cinema . i don  t know if it was trying to be funny or sad  poignant or droll  but the end result was unwatchable . everyone from key grip  to robin williams  and back down to best boy should be ashamed to be a part of this film   
in christian duguay  s movie  hitler the rise of evil  hitler  s early years in life and politics is shown in a successful way with some minor historical errors and some exaggeration . it is quite natural for a hollywood movie to contain such things as the main purpose of production is the income that they will get from the movie . even though such errors may disappoint some members of the audience who believes that everything should be done by the book  i believe that most of them fits well with the rest of the movie  making it more interesting . we should not forget that this movie is not a documentary . who cares how did his dog died anyway .  br    br   throughout the movie  hitler is portrayed as a psychologically unstable figure that gets angry very easily and is very passionate about his ideals . but he was not portrayed as a super  villain but more like an ambitious politician . i believe that this is a nice perspective as the movie is not contaminated by tons of negative emotions and this made the movie somewhat objective . yes he was a little mad  and his methods were rough but he was still a human not a totally insane figure as portrayed in  inglorious bastards  . i believe it made the movie more realistic even with some inaccuracies in the historical facts .  br    br   the flow of history is nicely reflected to spectators . even though the movie  s focus was around hitler we also had chance to see what is happening in the country as a result of these actions via newspapers  discussions of people and the songs in a jewish cabaret . also society  s reaction was also reflected to movie but it was very limited . struggles of journalist fritz gerlich and ironic plays that are played in the cabaret was amusing and interesting but that was all . mostly we only saw his followers rampaging the streets and cheering him .  br    br   another thing that was missing in the movie is information about the origins of his hatred for jews . in the beginning of the movie  some ideas about this is given but they were quite superficial . all of a sudden he was a politician who is giving speeches about necessity of extermination of jews .  br    br   in conclusion  hitler the rise of evil cannot be considered as an excellent movie that everyone will like but it is not unsatisfactory at all . if you can stand directors that change history for cash  it is an interesting movie reflecting hitler  s personality in a successful way .  
bad movie . its too complicated for young children and too childish for grown  ups . i just saw it because im a robin williams fan and i was very disappointed .   
as an amateur historian of ww   nazi germany  i couldn  t wait for this to come out on dvd . i missed it when it was first on in     . i don  t want to repeat what  s already been said in the previous  pages of comments about the historical inaccuracies . a better job could  ve been done portraying the  charming  hitler . i also had a small problem with some of the casting choices  not so much for their acting  but for their appearances . peter stormare doesn  t look much like rohm  why didn  t they make babson as hess wear a wig  and my biggest complaint . . so much has always been made of hitler  s striking blue eyes  why didn  t they make carlyle wear blue contacts  on the plus side  i thought the actors who played goring and drexler looked pretty good . again  as long as people watching this understand that this is supposed to be entertainment  st  history  nd i don  t think a lot of harm will be done .  
this is the only movie i have ever walked out on . bad acting   bad plot   bad casting   bad directing   bad cinematography   if they had set out to make a bad picture they couldn  t have done a better job . i hope they are proud of his turkey . i  m surprised anyone associated with this film was ever hired again in hollywood . don  t waste your time   
  hitler the rise of evil  was shrouded in controversy before it ever aired  and that controversy may obscure the accomplishment of the film .  br    br   those who criticzed the film  which they hadn  t seen  did so with good intentions  based on the misguided thought that it would be overly sympathetic to hitler . however  they misunderstood the point to humanize the evil hitler is not sympathize with him . it is far more disturbing to realize that the unspeakable acts committed by one of history  s greatest villains were committed by a human being . a sick  diseased maniac  to be sure  but a human being nonetheless . it is necessary to know the story of how hitler was able to come to power to prevent it from happening again .  br    br    rise of evil  is highlighted by a brilliant  career best performance from robert carlyle  who makes hitler a human being without ever redeeming him in any way . carlyle flawlessly captures the look and mannerisms of the nazi leader  while never letting the impersonation become cartoonish or distance us  something anthony hopkins was not quite able to accomplish when he portrayed hitler in  the bunker   another very good made  for  television film  . while were are repulsed by hitler  s depravity and virulent ant  semitism  carlyle gives him a certain magnetism and power the real adolf hitler must have possesed . after all  while else would a nation have followed him   br    br   of the various subplots  by far the most compelling features matthew modine as reporter fritz gehrlich  who makes it his life  s work to draw attention to the reality of of hitler and nazism . while modine  s performance is a little stilted in part   by part  he seems to have settled in  the character gives us a real  life hero in a film full of villains . peter stormare and liev schrieber also give strong support .  br    br   part  of this two  part mini series suffered a little bit from being overly choppy  including a look at hitler  s childhood which lasts only the duration of the opening credits . and in part   sections detailing hitler  s relationship  s with his niece  and his mistress eva braun  are less successful than the central plot  but do serve to give us further insight into his mental and emotional state .  br    br   ultimately  no film about hitler can make us understand him . the average person is  thankfully  incapable of ever understanding a man who would try to exterminate an entire race of people .  hitler the rise of evil  tries less to make us understand hitler  and more to make us understand how he came to be power . it is an important story that must be told  and it is impossible to believe anyone who has seen the film would accuse it of having anything but the best of intentions  and the capability of doing anything but good .  br    br    out of   .      
if you are planning to rent or buy this movie don  t . it  s the worst thing i have ever seen . i would comment on it more but it has been   years since i saw it and have blanked all of it from my mind . save yourself some time money and well being and stay far far away .  
i agree with many of the negative reviews posted here  for reasons i will go into later on . but this miniseries is powerful and convincing because the talented cast really captures the dark truth of hitler  s world .  br    br   peter stormare is perfect as ernst rohm  the brutal brownshirt leader . each scene he has with hitler is explosive  hitler is so evil he dominates everyone but the thuggish  primitive rohm   and he clearly digs rohm for just that reason . the interplay between stormare and carlisle illuminates the way hitler relished rohm  s brutality  but later sacrificed him for political reasons .  br    br   jena malone turns in a heartrending performance as geli raubal  hitler  s doomed niece and the victim of his unspeakable perversions . without revealing any of the sexual filth directly  jena malone plays out all the horror of the slow extinction of a young girl  s spirit . she uses her eyes and voice to suggest all the horror that will be visited on millions in the years to come . and she  s brilliant  zoe telford very nearly matches jena malone with her portrayal of eva braun . eva is clearly sick  cruel and heartless   but at the same time almost pitiably dependent on her adolph  s twisted tenderness . the aborted lovemaking scene between them  hinting at the spine tingling truth of hitler  s enormous self  loathing  is both chilling and erotic .  br    br   liev schrieber gives a deliciously weasel  like performance as putzi hanfstaengel  the spineless man  about  town who is seduced by hitler  s promises of wealth and power . while a brute like rohm simply loves the idea of crushing skulls under his boots  schrieber  s character is one of many germans who abhors nazi violence but can  t resist the quick and easy route to money and power . his weak  willed fawning over hitler soon loses him the respect of his wife  played with style and sensuality by the stunning and regal julianna margulies . they provide a true portrait of marriage and betrayal .  br    br   these performances carry the mini series along  easily overcoming occasional weaknesses in the script . there is one exception . regrettably  matthew modine  s acting chops just aren  t up to snuff . his noble lunk  haid journalist ruins every scene he has   the viewer can hardly wait for rohm  s brown  shirts to stomp that smug  righteous look off his ignorant  corn  pone low  rent hollywood golden boy face . but the story still works .  br    br   now in regard to the factual inaccuracies of the script   hitler  s perversions and cruelty are rendered in a vibrant  compelling drama . but the battlefield record of corporal hitler is badly distorted . as if afraid the audience can  t handle the idea of evil and courage in the same person  the writers make hitler look like a whining coward who  begged  for an iron cross . as if anyone in the kaiser  s army could get a medal just by whining about it  the movie makes it look as if hitler were a coward in the trenches  when he was a fearless soldier . they also suggest his comrades despised him  when in reality he was widely admired by officers and enlisted men alike . the depressing thing is that the mini  series succeeds so well in representing hitler as a monster in honest ways   but they just couldn  t resist the cheap shot .  br    br   all in all  however  hitler rise of evil is a soaring success highlighted by powerful performances .  
  laughter is a state of mind  says the tag  and i hesitate to comment on barry levinson  s . what could he have been thinking during the making of  toys   when he watched the rushes  did he see a successful  funny fantasy  if so  then he  s working on a different plane than i . this is an excruciating picture  one in which the production design is    of the thing  and even the cartoon colors are a disappointment  . robin williams and  most especially  joan cusack are humiliated as brother and sister of a toy mogul who are bypassed as inheritors of the factory when their dad dies . there  s nothing remotely funny  satirical or slapstick  wise  on display here . it is uniformly draggy  ugly  and one of the very worst  big  movies ever made . no stars from   
the next  to  last episode aired of the original star trek series is an interesting  sometimes melancholy installment that proves the show was still exploring its characters even at this point in the third season though flawed   all our yesterdays  has its moments and overall a moody  compelling feel to it . kirk  spock  and mccoy beam down to a planet  assuming they are arriving in the nick of time to save or at least give some warning to whatever populace is there  since the planet  s sun is due to explode within hours . but as it turns out  the people there are all too aware of the planet  s fate  and using a kind of time travel device  have escaped into the past . each person has been able to choose the time and place in the past where he or she would like to live at a  library   run by an elderly man named mr . atoz . atoz assumes the three men are looking for a past to live in as well  and shows them various periods from which they can choose on viewers . there is some rather forced confusion at the start of the episode  with lines like  br    br   mccoy  where did they go  atoz  wherever they wanted to .  br    br   the misunderstanding could be cleared up rather easily  but for plot purposes  it isn  t  and soon kirk finds himself transported back to a period resembling   th century england  while spock and mccoy are sent to an ice age      years in the planet  s past . from here  the main focus is on spock and his relationship with a woman exiled to this time by a tyrant as punishment . spock begins acting increasingly emotional  showing anger toward mccoy and deep affection for zarabeth  the woman . he eventually realizes that he is reverting back to the primitive emotional state of his ancestors on vulcan      years ago . kirk makes his way back to the library first  and finally convinces mr . atoz they don  t belong in his planet  s history . spock and mccoy return just before it  s too late  leaving zarabeth behind the enterprise beams the three up and speeds away as the sun explodes  destroying the planet . the interaction between spock and zarabeth provides this episode  s most memorable moments  though kirk  s adventure into the  english  past is amusing . all in all  a very decent latter  day star trek outing .  
i truly despised this film when i saw it at the age of about  or  as i was a huge fan of robin williams and nothing he could do was bad . until this . this complete trash ruined robin for me for a long time . i  m only recovering recently with his funny but serious part in fathers day but then he went on to create another mistake  bicenntinial man i think it was called but the point is . robin should be getting much better jobs by now and now he has returned to performing the slime that originated with this  classic  .  
there  s something compelling and strangely believable about this episode . from the very beginning  an atmosphere of tension is created by the knowledge that a certain planet is going to explode within a few hours . kirk  spock and mccoy have beamed down to evacuate the inhabitants  all of whom seem to have left already for parts unknown  except for an elderly librarian .  br    br   the librarian  s polite but cryptic advice about where all the citizens have gone to is interrupted by a crisis in which all three enterprise crew members find themselves unexpectedly hurled into different eras of the planet  s past . kirk finds himself in a time period resembling   th century england  while spock and mccoy are stranded in a desolate  frozen waste .  br    br   the intercutting between the two stories  and the different hazardous situations the men find themselves in is superbly handled  with return to the present an unknown chance  while the minutes are counting down to the planet  s explosion .  br    br   imaginative writing and fine acting characterize this episode  with a touching performance by mariette hartley as a woman exiled to the ice age  and ian wolfe as the urbane librarian . somewhat reminiscent of the classic episode city on the edge of forever  this time travel story is a rich and compelling finale to the series  which concluded one episode later . this has to be one of the best of the whole series  especially remarkable given the generally lesser quality of the third season overall .  
sometimes  making something strange and contemporary doesn  t always work to everyone  s advantage . while i will admit that the set design and concept of the film was rather interesting  the execution of these ideas into one congruent story just didn  t work . this film was so hideously slow and pointless  not even robin williams could save this garbage . it  s obvious barry levinson  s dream fell flat on its face  but he should have warned the rest of the world about this slop .  
this is certainly one of my all time fav episodes of trek . there is just so much going on in this one film that its crazy cool . first the guys beam down to an alien planet thats about to explode . they meet a freaky librarian type dude  very well played  . then kirk manages to get himself transported back to what is very much like   th century earth . mccoy and spock try to follow but instead nearly freeze to death on the frozen version of the alien world        years in the past . kirk manages to get himself locked up and charged with witchcraft while spock enjoys some amok time with a sexy cavegirl who was vanquished to the this frozen  awful world by some bad guy .  br    br   spock decides hes happy where hes at and gives mccoy a royal assestment whuppin  when the doc suggests they need to look for a way out . anyhow  they all finally escape  leaving the poor cavegirl behind . it takes a ton of convincing before spock finally gives in and leaves . you can literally taste the sadness at the end . leaving the cavegirl all alone in her frozen wasteland just seems cruel and is really touching . spock must have been out of his vulkin  mind to leave behind his greatest hope for love and being human . albeit  in a not so nice neighborhood   br    br   anyway  you just get so much bang for your buck with this episode . . . . a love story  the salem witch trials  spock as a human  the desperation of being left in total isolation . . . abandoned  and three entirely different settings on the alien planet . its amazing they managed to jam all this into one fifty minute film . this one is a classic  don  t miss it . . . . i want it on dvd fer shure vulcans        
watching this movie is like eating a banquet of nothing but meringue . it initially looks great but ultimately provides no satisfaction   none .  br    br   the plot is a muddled mess about a toy factory and the forces of evil . so  how is it possible that with this basic plot and robin williams that the movie still turns out so badly   it  s because the picture is all appearance with no substance whatsoever   much like the terrible popeye picture williams did at the beginning of his film career . the film must have cost a fortune but perhaps there wasn  t enough money left over to hire writers who had graduated grade school .  br    br   the film is one unfunny joke that goes on and on and on and on . i really am unsure why it was made in the first place   it certainly wasn  t made to provide any sort of entertainment .  
i remember the first time i saw this movie   i was in the office working over the weekend  the tv was on for background noise . but i gradually found myself more  more engaged in this movie i  d never seen or heard of  until i was completely absorbed . a matter of life  death  the british title   stairway to heaven in the us  is delightful  compelling  whimsical   moving  all in one superbly  written  well  acted  perfectly  directed package . it  s a classic that really does rank right up there with casablanca  it  s a wonderful life  gone with the wind  citizen kane   chariots of fire . why has it never received the same public notice  video  store prominence  fortunately  some knowledgeable critics have put it on their  top    of all time  lists . there is hope        s fantasia wasn  t a hit  til the    s   the wizard of oz was a dud at the box office  but made a hit by tv . buy it   rent it   watch it   demand it  you won  t be disappointed   
oh man is this movie bad . it flows horribly . the story is about a race car driver who is in love with himself  and then has to promote a chicken fast food chain and while doing this  doesn  t love himself . he tries getting out of the contract and horrible  painfully unfunny gags ensue . jim nabors seems as if he  s sleepwalking  not acting . you  ll miss such burt sidekicks as dom deluise and jerry reed while watching this stinker . loni anderson  s hair is downright scary  proving that tons of hairspray didn  t go out in the sixties . or maybe that was a wig . speaking of  burt  s wig wasn  t bad in this film . his worst  wig day  was in  smokey and the bandit   . anyhow  this movie is the worst reynolds car movie  ever  ever  right up there with  cannonball run   . the original  smokey  and  cannonball   and  hooper  which  thankfully  had no sequel  are great  funny films . this one isn  t . even ned beatty  who is a great actor  stinks . you  ll long for a jackie gleason type villain who is fun to hate . and mind you  this isn  t one of those fun movies to bag on . it  s lousy  pure and simple . even the outtakes at the end were tiresome and boring  and worst of all  unfunny . and least i forget   stroker ace  was one of the first heavy nails to seal burt  s coffin before his somewhat  revival years later in  boogie nights   another film that  like  deliverance  years earlier  shows that the man can act quite good when he has a decent platform to do so .  
dr . mccoy and mr . spock find themselves trapped in a planet  s past ice age  while capt . kirk is in the same planet  s colonial period . however  it  s the former pair that has the most trying time . besides the freezing temperatures and sanctuary to be found only in caves  there is a third inhabitant  the beautiful and so sexy zarabeth  mariette hartley  . as spock spends more time in this era  he slowly begins to revert to the behavioral patterns of his ancestors  feeling a natural attraction to zarabeth and throwing  caution to the wind  about ever leaving this place . only with dr . mccoy  s constant  reminders  does spock hold on to some grasp of reality .  br    br   this stand as one of the few times when the character gets to show some  emotion  and nimoy  spock  plays it to the hilt  coming close to knocking the bejesus out of deforest kelly  mccoy  . surprising to previous installment  captain kirk  william shatner  wasn  t allowed to get the girl  another plus for this one .  br    br   perennial  old man  ian wolfe assays the role of  mr . atoz   the librarian responsible for sending the trio into the past .  
you get a gift . it is exquisitely wrapped . the box it is in is hand crafted out of the finest wood and shows skill down to the smallest detail . that is then wrapped in gorgeous paper  handmade and hand  painted by the most talented of artists . the whole thing is wrapped in ribbons made from fine silk lace . it is a sight to behold .  br    br   then you cut the ribbon  rip off the paper  open up the box  and find . . . nothing . that  s toys . you either enjoy the packaging  or forget about it .  br    br   the film isn  t without its point and purpose war is a not a good thing . well  isn  t that original  the moral is so obvious that it is almost embarrassing to even point it out . and even that feeble insight is undercut by a story in which elements of war   war toys in particular   are clearly a bad thing  until they need an exciting climax and the film simulates a war using innocent toys . it  s like someone preaching a stern  condescending sermon  only to end by saying  just kidding .   br    br   but even as an empty box  the film fails close scrutiny . yes  it is a sight to behold with some remarkable  striking images . the sets are imaginative and the cinematography catches the colorful scenes with skill . but the images are cold and emotionally sterile . like the screenplay  the look of the film is joyless and at times aesthetically barren and surreal . it is a film that wants to praise toys as wonderful and special things  yet shows them to be creations of a world that is empty and cold . the film strives to be funny  in a morose sort of way  but the humor is forced and artificial . robin williams  as the beleaguered heir to a toy manufacturing empire  tosses in his ad  lib shtick  which only seems alien to the bizarre  coldly structured world he is inhabiting . indeed  the topical references and tasteless sexual innuendo that are scattered throughout are jarringly contradictory to the childlike fable the film is vaguely trying to be . for this film to work  or make sense  it needs to be set in its own universe  an oz far removed from kansas . every time the jokes jerk us back into reality  the toyland of the film increasingly becomes an obvious sham .  br    br   it is said that this was director barry levinson  s pet project  one that he had been striving to get made for ten years . it is sadly obvious why he had trouble getting backing . like most pet projects that finally get made  radioland murders  radio flyer  battlefield earth being great examples  it seems to be a blind spot in the filmmaker  s field of vision . perhaps levinson directed and redirected toys so often in his head that he no fresh vision for it when he finally got on the soundstage . he had already perfected it to death .  br    br   many of the toys featured in the film are clumsy  mechanical  wind  up monstrosities . so is the film itself .  
kirk and crew land on a lonely planet where the sun is about to explode . they intend to evacuate the inhabitants but find the place deserted except for a mr . atoz who operates some sort of high  tech library . despite trying to get a straight answer from him about everyone  s whereabouts  atoz is indifferent to their questions and insist they must quickly  make a selection while there is still time  . they have no idea what he  s talking about but wander about looking at the hand mirror  like disks on the viewers and they see images of the planet  s past . then  while a disk is in the viewer  kirk runs through the doorway and is magically transported back in time to what on earth would look like the time of louis xiv  the     s  . when mccoy and spock follow  a different disk is in the viewer and they are sent to an ice age hell . all too late they realize that the library is a time travel machine and repository .  br    br   while kirk  s visit is pretty short and not all that exciting  spock and mccoy  s is much more eventful  as spock falls head over heels for mariette hartley   who was sent to this awful place as a punishment . the scenes with spock are exceptionally interesting and very atypical of the normally logical guy .  br    br   spock  s departure from the norm  the wildly inventive script and very diverse locales make this an exceptional episode   one well worth seeing .  br    br   fyi   ian wolfe  the excellent character actor  played mr . atoz . i am a huge fan of older films and have seen him as a supporting and bit player in countless films in the   s and   s and he looked almost exactly like he did in this episode from     . interestingly enough  despite looking ancient  he lived on another   years   dying at over   years of age    
my life is about saving animals . i do volunteer work with a cat rescue organization . i am a vegetarian because i couldn  t kill an animal even to sustain my life . i can  t even kill a spider  i put it outdoors . the scene where the children throw rocks at the bird until it dies  with sooner participating in an attempt to be accepted by the other children  made me sick and has haunted me ever since . it simply convinces me that human beings are pathetic in their need for acceptance . the ending  the foster parents adopt sooner  does not redeem the depiction of animal cruelty . why would anyone want their child to see this film   
the penultimate episode of star trek  s third season is excellent and a highlight of the much maligned final season . essentially  spock  mccoy and kirk beam down to sarpeidon to find the planet  s population completely missing except for the presence of a giant library and mr . atoz  the librarian . all  trek characters soon accidentally walk into a time travel machine into different periods of sarpeidon  s past . spock gives a convincing performance as an ice age vulcan who falls in love for zarabeth while kirk reprises his unhappy experience with time travel   see the  city on the edge of forever    when he is accused of witchcraft and jailed before escaping and finding the doorway back in time to sarpeidon  s present . in the end  all  trek characters are saved mere minutes before the beta niobe star around sarpeidon goes supernova . the enterprise warps away just as the star explodes .  br    br   ironically  as william shatner notes in his book  star trek memories   this show was the source of some dispute since leonard nimoy noticed that no reason was given in lisette  s script for the reason why spock was behaving in such an emotional way . nimoy relayed his misgivings here directly to the show  s executive producer  fred freiberger  that vulcans weren  t supposed to fall in love .  p .     however  freiberger reasoned  the ice age setting allowed spock to experience emotions since this was a time when vulcans still had not evolved into their completely logical present state . this was a great example of improvisation on freiberger  s part to save a script which was far above average for this particular episode . while shatner notes that the decline in script quality for the third season hurt spock artistically since his character was forced to bray like a donkey in  plato  s stepchildren   play music with hippies in  the way to eden  or sometimes display emotion  the script here was more believable . spock  s acting here was excellent as freiberger candidly admitted to shatner .  p .     the only obvious plot hole is the fact that since both spock and mccoy travelled thousands of years back in time  mccoy too should have reverted to a more primitive human state  not just spock . but this is a forgivable error considering the poor quality of many other season  shows  the brilliant spock  mccoy performance and the originality of this script . who could have imagined that the present inhabitants of sarpeidon would escape their doomed planet  s fate by travelling into their past  this is certainly what we came to expect from the best of  classic trek    a genuinely inspired story .  br    br   shatner  in  memories   named some of his best  unusual and high quality shows  of season  as the enterprise incident  day of the dove  is there in truth no beauty  the tholian web  and the children shall lead and the paradise syndrome .  p .     while my personal opinion is that  and the children shall lead  is a very poor episode while  is there in truth no beauty  is problematic   all our yesterdays  certainly belongs on the list of top season three star trek tos films . i give a  out of   for  all our yesterdays .   
this film reminded me so much of  a history of violence  which pretended to be a close study of violence and violent behavior but ended up just being nothing short of a cheap action movie masquerading as some thinking film on violence . dustin hoffman and his new british bride move to a small english town and encounter endless harassment from the local drunks who do nothing but hang at the pub all day and make trouble . don  t these men have a job  anyway  dustin takes all he can take and by the end of the film he holds up in his house and fights off each one of the drunk attackers by such gruesome means as boiling whiskey poured over someone  feet being blown off by a shotgun and someones head getting caught in a bear trap . funny that someone would have a need for such a large bear trap in a small british town except maybe put a mans head in it .  br    br   sam peckinpah who made the  wild bunch  which also covered the topic of blood letting violence in which no one was spared . but it was done with style  and you believed it . straw dogs is not believable . first of all the location is wrong and does not work . why place it in england  i would think maybe in some inner city location or a small town in the american south in the      s or something . second it is not in my view ever really explained clearly why these men are so quick to violence except maybe they got drunk and felt a need to kill hoffman and rape his wife .  br    br   sam peckinpah missed the mark on this one .  
an unusual take on time travel instead of traveling to earth  s past  the main trio get stuck in the past history of another planet . they beam down to this planet  whose sun is scheduled to go nova in  or  hours  that  s cutting it close   . in some kind of futuristic library  they meet mr . atoz  a to z  get it  ha  ha  and his duplicates . it turns out  instead of escaping their planet  s destruction via space travel  the usual way  the inhabitants have all escaped into their planet  s various past time eras . mr . atoz uses a time machine to send people on their way after they make a selection  check out the discs we see here  another trek prognostication of cds and dvds   . when mr . atoz prepares the machine  the atavachron  what  sis   gallant kirk hears a woman  s scream and runs into the planet  s version of earth  s   th century  where he gets into a sword fight and is arrested for witchery . there  s an eccentric but good performance here by the actress playing a female of ill repute in this time  using phrasing of the time   . . . you  re a bully fine coo . . witch  witch  they  ll burn ye . . .    . spock  mccoy follow kirk  but end up in an ice age      years earlier .  br    br   kirk manages to get back to the library first . the real story here is spock  s reversion to the barbaric tendencies of his ancestors  the warlike vulcans of     years ago . this doesn  t really make sense  except that maybe this time machine is responsible for the change  even so  spock  mccoy weren  t  prepared  by atoz  oh  well it also seems to me spock was affected by the transition almost immediately  he mentions being from  millions of light years  away  instead of the correct hundreds or thousands  a gross error for a logical vulcan  . in any case  spock really shows his nasty side here  forget  day of the dove  and remember  this side of paradise   mccoy quickly finds out that his vulcan buddy will not stand for any of his usual baiting and nearly gets his face rearranged . spock also gets it on with zarabeth  a comely female who had been exiled to this cold past as punishment  a couple of trek novels were written about spock  s son  the result of this union  . all these scenes are eye  openers  a reminder of just how much spock conceals or holds in . it  s also ironic that  only a few episodes earlier   requiem for methuselah    mccoy was pointing out to spock how he would never know the pain of love  and now all this happens . kirk  meanwhile  tussles with the elderly atoz  who insists that kirk head back to some past era   you are evidently a suicidal maniac   great stuff from actor wolfe  last seen in  bread and circuses   . it all works out in the end  but  like i mentioned earlier  they cut it very close . a neat little trek adventure  with a definite cosmic slant .  
ridiculous fluff  that compounds its error by trying to have meaning . joan  this time as a congresswoman  agatha reed  chairwoman of a committee dedicated to  investigating the high cost of food .  says congresswoman reed   the housewife has been getting it in the neck too long . i  m going to keep fighting long enough so that the american family can take a vacation once a year  see a movie every week and feed an occasional peanut to an elephant .  she  s all business  but becomes all gushy when she is awarded an honorary degree from good hope college  where she was expelled for the crime of having stayed out all night  the parallel to joan  s real life is unmistakable here  as it is in all joan movies  . the degree causes much consternation on campus   that would make it the most broad  minded institution in the history of education     but joan is unaware of this as she arrives . the college president  jim merrill  played by robert young  at his handsomest  happens to be joan  s former teacher  and lover . it was with him that she spent the night out  all those years ago  but joan felt it was better to just disappear rather than try and explain to the skeptical college that they were about to be married . naturally  this high  profile event will be covered by life magazine  and who does the photographer turn out to be  yet another of joan  s old lovers  this one  she hung out with in china  during the war   and he thinks joan might be headed for trouble with her old flame . eve arden  playing joan  s assistant   woodie   is at her butchest and most smart  alecky in this movie  with her flippant and unnecessary remarks that would make you dismiss her from her job  if you didn  t like her so much . but you not only like eve in this  as in all her roles  you adore her . she is so droll and no  nonsense  you  d like to pay her just to hang around and be one of the boys . when joan cries upon arriving at her alma mater  eve tells her it  looks fierce .  but joan says that maybe others only see a collection of buildings  she  joan  sees youth  herself at    eager  expectant  a little frightened  asking  what is life  what am i    but  of course  if we actually go into depth about joan at    the truth may be a little different .  br    br   for me  this is the major problem in watching any joan movie . you can call her characters whatever you want to  but it  s always all joan  all the time . so  since what we  re always seeing is joan being herself  it  s easy to dispense with character  s names . it  s just that it gets confusing when joan tries to tell us something patently untrue  like her description of herself at    when we know that at    joan had already been around the block several times . many men would have described her as eager  and as far as being expectant  she had already had several abortions at this point . but that  s a personal problem  and i digress  but i simply wanted to explain why i say things such as  and then joan does  this or that  or  we see joan as . . .  when we are not literally watching a home movie .  br    br   there is an unintentionally hilarious moment in which joan is given the clara bow doll that she left behind in college  quick arithmetic tells us that joan and clara were contemporaries and this is a transparent ploy to make us believe joan is much younger than she actually looks . it fails . what also fails is an attempt at early    s political correctness . in the story  joan has written a book about free speech and made a film  no  not the one about the plumber   and she attracts the attention of an early   s campus radical  dr . pitt  who is about to be fired for his views  which are shockingly similar to joan  s . this is where the movie mysteriously becomes a morality tale a weak one  to be sure  but perhaps the only thing that keeps it from sliding into oblivion .  
i attended camp chesapeake . it was located at the head of the chesapeake bay on the north east river in md . it was a similar type summer camp with cabins . it was established by the coatesville  pa ymca . i started out as a young camper and later became a junior  senior counselor and later  the waterfront director . if the camp had continued  i would have done anything within my power to become the camp director . alas the powers of the ymca decided to close down the camp and sell it to the state of md . i visited the former camp some years later by boat and was dismayed by the neglect of the state of md and natural destruction by mother nature . the    acre site served so many with all the benefits of contact with natures offerings . a black man by the name of curtis ford  and his family were residents and caretakers of the property . mr curtis was my friend and mentor . i idolized his every being . even as he could not swim he was a waterman . if i asked him where the fish were biting  he would designate the spot  and i would have a ball . ther was also a family camp at the end of the summer . these memories will be with me for eternity .  
the basic plot in this movie isn  t bad . a lady makes it big and comes back to her alma mater to be adored . but  despite good acting by robert young and eve arden  the movie is a mess . the blame for this i place on either joan crawford or the director or both  as her performance is just awful . instead of being a real person  she does a wonderful impersonation of a deer caught in the headlights . in other words  she stares off into space and has a  golly i am soooo stunned  expression . after just a few minutes it really became annoying for me . now this is certainly not the only crawford film i dislike for her performance  as she had done more than her share of overacting   in films such as johnny guitar or many of her later films  such as berserk  my advice is to try a different crawford film   there certainly were better .  
this ensemble piece about adults who return to the formulative summer camp of their youth was a very quiet entrant and exiter to the cinemas in the autumn of     . i  d say that was a shame  but then again  some of the better movies are quiet releases that don  t get much hype or praise .  br    br   diane lane  kevin pollack  elizabeth perkins  vincent spano  julie warner  bill paxton  kimberly williams  matt craven and alan arkin  who is painfully good here  are the group of actors who flesh out these roles as people who have grown old with good  bad and funny memories of summers gone past . this film covers the gambit of emotions  mostly pleasant  and the film never hammers away at the viewer to feel what the characters are feeling  preferring to allow the viewer to enter into the memories on their own . since i am a movie viewer who bristles at bluntly  brazen manipulation in films  this is something that i appreciate from writer  director mike binder .  br    br   this film  s a great cheap rent  a good main rent and even a pretty sit in a theater flick . you might run across this on tv  and i would definitely suggest a look  see .  
i was looking forward to this ride  and was horribly disappointed .  br    br   and i am very easily amused at roller coaster and amusement park rides .  br    br   the roller coaster part was just okay  and that was all of about   seconds of a   second ride .  br    br   it was visually dull and poorly executed .  br    br   it was trying desperately to be like a mixture of the far superior indiana jones and space mountain rides and disneyland  and failed in every aspect .  br    br   it was not thrilling or exciting in the least .  
indian summer  it was very nostalgic for me . i found it funny  heartwarming  and absolutely loved it  anyone who went to camp as a kid and wishes at times they could go back to the  good ole  days  for a brief time really needs to see this one  it starts out as   years later  a group of old campers returns for a  reunion  . i won  t comment on the plot anymore cause you have to see it for yourself . the actors were great  and it contains an all star cast . everyone in it played a terrific role . you actually felt like you were a part of the movie watching it . alan arkin was especially good in his role as uncle lou . he plays the kind of guy that everyone wishes they had in their lives . this is also a good family movie for the most part . i would suggest this one to anybody in a heartbeat  highly recommended   
terrible acting  lame plot  stupid story and just all around terrible movie sums up this piece of junk . it was excruciating to sit through . just awful . do not waste one penny on this . the movie theaters should feel bad about actually putting this movie out there for people to watch . this  horror  film was not even in the least bit scary  creepy or disturbing . it was in no way visually appealing . the acting was so terrible by all of the actors that any attempt to draw you into the movie through dialog are completely destroyed within moments of the actor  actress opening their mouth . plus the entire story  i don  t know why someone would make a movie with this story again . do not waste your time or money . even if it  s a free ticket don  t waste one moment viewing this movie . you will feel dumber for watching it .  
i have to say the worst part of the movie was the first half hour . i was really confused about who was who . for example  bill paxson  s character had long hair and was wearing a jacket . then  when all the males arrived at camp  it turned out there was a character who looked like bill paxson  but wasn  t . i said where  s bill paxson  then  there was a guy with his girlfriend . he said she was   . this was supposed to be a    year reunion of the camp director  s  alan arkin  most memorable . later on  this same girl was interacting and talking about her camp experiences . that made no sense . she would have been one years old . that said  the movie turned out to be pretty good . kevin pollak was the nice guy who was always being teased . one guy was a complete narcissist  and ended up losing his beautiful girlfriend . alan arkin was interesting as an old  style camp director  who admits that he has grown out of touch with modern youth . the best part was that none of the grown  up campers were successes in life . none of them had very great careers . this seemed very real life . the movie was compared to the big chill . in some ways it wasn  t as exciting as the big chill  but it was a lot more realistic . so  even though the beginning is not promising  the movie ended up turning into a pretty good one .  
i rate this movie with  skulls  only coz the girls knew how to scream  this could  ve been a better movie  if actors were better  the twins were ok  i believed they were evil  but the eldest and youngest brother  they sucked really bad  it seemed like they were reading the scripts instead of acting them . . . . spoiler if they  re vampire  s why do they freeze the blood  vampires can  t drink frozen blood  the sister in the movie says let  s drink her while she is alive . . . . but then when they  re moving to another house  they take on a cooler they  re frozen blood . end of spoiler  br    br   it was a huge waste of time  and that made me mad coz i read all the reviews of how this movie was great  how many awards this movie won  and this movie was fing st      
i am a sucker for films like this . films that take you back and let you relive your childhood . i  m a grown up now and have many grown up responsibilities like a mortgage  kids  dogs  a wife and a slew of others . i enjoy my life but it is not as innocent and carefree like it was when i was twelve . mike binder  s indian summer knows this and explores this like he was twelve years old . it brings you back to a time when life was simpler and much more fun . it brings you back to a time when worrying about your first kiss and wondering if you could finish the camp marathon were important issues . indian summer is a fantastic film and it is one that should be watched at least once a year just so you can sit back and laugh . . . and reminisce .  br    br   the film stars kevin pollak  bill paxton  diane lane and matt craven  to name a few  as childhood friends that are being summoned back to camp tamakwa by their former head camp counsellor  uncle lou . uncle lou is played perfectly by alan arkin . he is kind of guy who is the patriarch of the group . he is also all knowing and encompasses the true spirit of a father figure and someone who understands the simple things in life . he has a hard time relating to today  s kids that need a walkman blaring in their ears when they are at a place of immense beauty like tamakwa . this is a camp that has moose wandering through the camp  leaves turning colours that god gave them and water for as far as the eye can see . uncle lou yearns for the days of old and asks his former campers back to the camp to see one of them will take over the camp . while they are all together again  we get to see their trials and tribulations and perhaps a new love could spring between them .  br    br   as the adults return to the camp  it isn  t long before they act like kids again as the typical camp pranks get played all over again . they take toilet paper out of the stalls  the put toothpaste on sleeping bags and so on . all of this is done hilariously and with actors like pollak and paxton  it is all very funny stuff .  br    br   but beyond the hilarity  we get to explore some very real adult emotion that anyone can relate to . in one of my favourite scenes  kevin pollak and elizabeth perkins are overlooking a bay where they used to go canoing as kids . pollak can  t get over how small it all looks and perkins finally tells him that the bay didn  t get smaller  they just got bigger . it doesn  t hammer the point home  but it does it subtly . we all grow up  we all move on and we all unfortunately can  t live like we did   years ago . the more things change  the more they stay the same .  br    br   indian summer is a character driven film and it is written beautifully by mike binder who actually did attend camp camp tamakwa   as did sam raimi  who played stick in the film  and it is his fond and vivid memories of his experiences that fuel the film . there are many touching scenes and there are many hilarious ones also . both are perfect .  br    br   i love this film . i love everything about it and it is a true hidden gem .  br    br         
if you are going to attempt building tension in a film it is always a good idea not to build it beyond the point of total tedium .  br    br   unfortunately the butcher brothers haven  t grasped this yet .  br    br   this film sucks  unlike the majority of its characters who  if you didn  t work out they are vampires in the first few minutes then shame on you  preference stringing up the plentiful supply of  no one knows where i am  cheerleader types and homosexual drifters that waft conveniently and with a fast food swagger  past their isolated door .  br    br   the only tiny bit of originality in the plot is how these vampires come to be vampires in the first place but the rest of it is ludicrous and sloppy .  br    br   forced to up sticks  as opposed stakes  on a regular basis due to their penchant for filling their basement with bloodless corpses  they really are none too bright . if they fed their victims they could run their own little blood farm and it would cut down on the mortality rate  thereby allowing them to settle down and get chintzy .  br    br   why the producers felt it necessary to introduce the incestuous twins and the homicidally gay older brother i am not sure . it added zero to the plot  which was unfortunate given that there wasn  t a great deal of plot to start with and had no shock value at all .  br    br   one was never told why the parents had died  unless of course that was explained during one of my frequent tea breaks . clearly the social worker must have been alerted to the family for some reason or other but again  it was for the viewer to write their own reason .  br    br   the only well rounded character was the youngest brother who emerges looking like pugsley from the adams family . indeed he was way too rounded  having the appearance of a child who has inadvertently wandered from a weight watchers  class in to a very bad horror film . oh heavens  he had . never mind dear  have another doughnut with a yummy blood centre .  
i saw the last five or ten minutes of this film back in     or     one night when i was channel  surfing before going to bed  and really liked what i saw . since then i  ve been on the lookout  scouring tv listings  flipping through dvd  vhs racks at stores  but didn  t find a copy until recently when i found out some internet stores sold it . then  being a world  class procrastinator  i still didn  t order it . finally  i found a dvd copy in a circuit city while visiting portland  or  a few weeks ago . then it only took me about a month after returning home before sitting down and watching it .  br    br   so  what do i think about the film  it  s good . not as good as i remembered and hoped for  but still well worth the   .   it cost me . after seeing the whole film for the first time i rate it as a      with potential to become an     . i  ll have to be less sleepy then  and have a better sound system to avoid rewinding to catch some dialogue .  
warningi advise anyone who has not seen the film yet to not read this comment .  br    br   although i haven  t seen them all  the hamiltons sure did deliver one lowsy piece of entertainment  which it did not entertain me at all     i thought that in common with the semi  bad acting  stupid plot scheme  and the twist at the end of the movie  which was very retarded  this movie sucked    okay  so supposively these are people who eat other people . yeah . . . . . . notice i said people not humans  not because they aren  t human  or wait i think they are  oh no wait  they didn  t tell you      so okay  are these people cannibals  or are they imbreds  or what are they     i mean  maybe they  re just  things  that came here to see what people taste like or  are they cannibals who have eaten people for a long time now  or maybe this movie was hhoorriibbllee   which it was    so if you think the hamiltons is good  i ask of you  why  why  why  why  why was it so awesome  because to me it was just flat out terrible    one big booooooo for the hamiltons    go see the gravedancers  tooth  nail  or borderland for a piece of entertainment       
one of the few best films of all time . the change from black and white to colour for the heaven and earth sequences was directorial excellence .  br    br   the plot is extremely clever  the complete film leaves you overwhelmed by all of the human emotions  and although a war film it doesn  t discriminate . i must have seen this film more times than any other  and i never tire of it . it is a film that makes you question your own mortality and beliefs on what happens after our demise .  
ever notice how in his later movies burt reynolds  laugh sounds like screeching brakes   br    br   must have been hanging out with hal needham too much .  br    br   and from the looks of  stroker ace   way too much .  br    br   can you believe this was based on a book  neither could i  but it was . and probably not a best  seller  i  ll wager .  br    br   burt  s another good  old  boy in the nascar circuit who hitches up with beatty as a fried chicken magnate with designs on his team . anderson provides what love interest there is and nabors does his umpteenth gomer pyle impression as faithful mechanic  best friend lugs .  br    br   a lot of people here are friends of burt  s or hal  s . others must have needed the work . and even real nascar drivers get in on the act  and look to have more talent than those with sag cards .  br    br   as far as laughs go  bubba smith  pre   police academy   gets them as beatty  s chauffeur . and petersen  in full elvira mode  gets lots of appreciative leers as a lady who wants to get to know lugs real well . real well .  br    br   it  s a shame that burt threw away as much time and effort in a film like  stroker ace  where it didn  t matter whether he bothered to act or not . they didn  t bother to write a character for him  why bother to act   br    br   two stars . mostly for petersen  and for the out  takes at the end . now they  re funny .  
i rented this movie when it came out on video tape and really enjoyed it . i had the opportunity to purchase it on dvd a few weeks ago and have watched it several times since . i would have to agree with others when they said indian summer was nostalgic film . when i watch it i wish that i could be      again . i think that is why we all like the movie to some extent . we all at times wish that we could relive our lives as children with the wisdom  knowledge of adults . wouldn  t it be nice to have all your friends  parents be young again  to not have to worry about your job  being a parent etc . . .    i know that i would like to jump into a de lorean and go back in time . while i enjoyed the film very much my all time favorite camp film though is meatballs with bill murray . i wish that they could make an indian summer version of that .  
wow  could have been such a good movie  starts of with brittany daniels tied up  im thinking cool we are going to get a flash back  but nothing  movie starts anew with the kid filming . this movie probably would have been better if it wasn  t for the acting . i mean the acting was mostly horrible . . although with the lines the poor actors had to deal with i guess they did the best they could . . still it really ruin the movie for me . . the twins were the only ones that seem to have some acting skills . . the movie drags to long for the supposed shocking conclusion . . all in all i have seen worse low budget movies but considering this was hype with the  films to die for i was very disappointed . . by the way  were did some reviewers say there was gore and stuff . did i see the same movie . . well this is  out of the eight  and so far only one has been any good . .  
if i could go back  even as an adult and relive the days of my summer  s spent at camp . . . i would be there so fast . the camps i went to weren  t even this great . they were in texas where the mosquitoes actually carry people off but we had horses and fishing . the movie cinematography was astounding  the characters funny and believable especially perkins  pollack and arkin . sam raimi  s character and sub  antics were priceless . so who ever thought this movie was lame . . . i have deep pity for because they can  t suspend their disbelief long enough to imagine camp life again as an adult or they never went as kids . the whole point was that these people had an opportunity to regress and become juvenile again and so they did at every opportunity . i wish i could . it was funny  intelligent  beautifully scripted  brilliantly cast and the artistry takes me back so i want to watch it over and over just for the scenery even . sorta like dances with wolves and ladyhawk . . . good movies but the wilderness becomes a character as much as the actors . rent it  see it  buy it and watch it over and over and over . . . never gets old .     
just okay horror film about a nice suburban family dealing with the death of their parents and the  thing  in the basement that they keep feeding people they pick up off the street . of course there is more to it then that but to say more would be telling .  br    br   for me this just didn  t come together as it tries to have it two ways both as a family drama and a horror film . the film tries very hard to walk the cutting edge between the two genres but seems more to stumble all over the place as it tries to be shocking  something it never really is . it doesn  t help that the final revelation is less a scare then an  oh   as on  oh thats it   . maybe if i hadn  t been watching so many horror films recently this might have been better or it may have just seemed it since i wouldn  t have compared it to so much .  br    br   i  d take a pass  
indian summer is a good film . it made me feel good and i thought the cast was exceptional . how about sam raimi playing the camp buffoon . i thought his scenes were very funny in a buster keaton  like performance . solid directing and nice cinematography .  
this is the second movie i saw for horrorfest this past weekend  the gravedancers being the first . gravedancers was better . i can only guess from watching this that the production must have been quite limited . i will admit the story started out interesting but really fizzled for me in the end . we weren  t really given time to sympathize or understand any of the characters which only made each of their erratic characteristics even more annoying . i have to mention that there was also a bit of mis  casting with a    year  old boy acting as sheriff . the only reason i sat through the whole film was to find out what the big secret was  which turned out to not be all that interesting . some more background about the family would have helped but they didn  t really seem like a family at all to begin with .  br    br   to me  this film is so amateur that i couldn  t even see putting it on dvd . the four rating is for the initial potential the story might have had . this was one to skip for horrorfest .  
rarely do i see a film that i am totally engrossed with this was one of them . it had good acting  dialogue  plot  and the scenery was beautiful . i laughed out loud many times  especially the scene dealing with the kitchen raid . the slapstick comedy performed by the lunkhead hired hand had me one the floor  but i admit that i am a sucker for slapstick . the story dealt with a group of people in their    s coming back to a summer camp that they had attended   years previously . it was a farewell week of camping  as the place would be closed down permanently at the end of the season . as adults the camp looked different  and they felt differently about it and each other . i recommend this funny  moving movie to all .  br    br    
when i saw this at a shop i thought it looked really good and original . like wolfs creek meets texas chainsaw massacre  and i mean it only cost three quid  around    . to be honest i don  t think it was even worth that .  br    br   it seemed like the directors  the  butcher brothers  couldn  t decide whether wanted to do a artsy sort of horror or a gory slasher horror . it ended up with a clich ridden gory sadistic hour and fifteen minutes with all the characters being one dimensional and you couldn  t care less what happened to them but to try to make the audience care about the characters they added a useless monologue at the end and the beginning of the film which to be perfectly honest wasn  t needed .  br    br   the only good part really was the middle  end  i won  t ruin it for you . but that was the only  good  part .  br    br   overall a pointless watch . it felt like a two hour film but was in fact only   minutes . if you want an artsy film  don  t bother . if you want a slasher movie  don  t bother  the film moves so slowly with nothing ever happening .  
i swear i could watch this movie every weekend of my life and never get sick of it  every aspect of human emotion is captured so magically by the acting  the script  the direction  and the general feeling of this movie . it  s been a long time since i saw a movie that actually made me choke from laughter  reflect from sadness  and feel each intended feeling that comes through in this most excellent work  we need more movies like this    mike binder are you listening     
this movie was so bad i don  t know whether to laugh or cry . i had high hopes for horrorfest that year  which was also the first year i attended horrorfest  and i have to say horrorfest and all of its films take false advertising to a whole new level . mad kudos to the advertisers because i  m sure they tricked a lot of people into spending money and seeing those movies that year . the hamiltons was easily the worst one of the ones i  ve seen  the other ones i saw were unrest  dark ride  and reincarnation  . the movie cover and trailer made it seem like a family of cannibals terrorizing the neighborhood which i thought was a rather interesting plot  only to be disappointed at the end discovering that it was some  coming of age  tale about a boy  s transition into being a vampire . which is why drama prevails over any sense of horror in this film . and to make the plot even more ridiculous  they add in a set of horny twins who can  t wait to take a  bite  out of one another  and some deadly creature locked in the basement  which if i had discovered what  it  was had the secret not been revealed at the very end of the film  i would have left the theater halfway into the movie .  br    br   complete waste of money and time . cut forty minutes out of this film  and make it into an episode on some show like smallville or charmed or supernatural and it would have received more praise than this . absolute rubbish  so bad that two years later  i have to come back to imdb and write a review about it because it still stands out in my memory as one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . also  while you  re reading this  steer clear from the rest of the horrorfest movies in the future . the most you could do is rent them from blockbusters or watch it online somewhere . horrorfest features movies from independent filmmakers who can  t make it onto the big screen  and all the crap about  stuff they don  t show you in theaters   they weren  t referring to blood or guts  or horror . . . they were referring to the movies themselves . because they  re horrendous . think of horrorfest as a less renowned version of sundance film festival  but for horror movies .  br    br   sorry for all the  hate   but next time think twice before you cheat costumers out of their money .  
a great ensemble cast  a fond remembrance of younger carefree days . this movie takes me back to when i went to summer camp . indian summer  while full of practical jokes and pranks  is about growing up and coming to terms with life with middle  age life . my family  i thoroughly enjoyed this movie .  
the hamiltons tells the story of the four hamilton siblings  teenager francis  cory knauf   twins wendell  joseph mckelheer   darlene  mackenzie firgens   the eldest david  samuel  who is now the surrogate parent in charge . the hamilton  s move house a lot  franics is unsure why is unhappy with the way things are . the fact that his brother  s  sister kidnap  imprison  murder people in the basement doesn  t help relax or calm francis  nerves either . francis know  s something just isn  t right  when he eventually finds out the truth things will never be the same again . . .  br    br   co  written  co  produced  directed by mitchell altieri  phil flores as the butcher brothers  who  s only other film director  s credit so far is the april fool  s day       remake  enough said  this was one of the  films to die for  at the     after dark horrorfest  or whatever it  s called   in keeping with pretty much all the other  s i  ve seen i thought the hamiltons was complete total  utter crap . i found the character  s really poor  very unlikable  the slow moving story failed to capture my imagination or sustain my interest over it  s    a half minute too long   minute duration . the there  s the awful twist at the end which had me laughing out loud  there  s this really big sustained build up to what  s inside a cupboard thing in the hamiltons basement  it  s eventually revealed to be a little boy with a teddy . is that really supposed to scare us  is that really supposed to shock us  is that really something that is supposed to have us talking about it as the end credits roll  is a harmless looking young boy the best  twist  ending that the makers could come up with  the boring plot plods along  it  s never made clear where the hamiltons get all their money from to buy new houses since none of them seem to work  except david in a slaughterhouse  i doubt that pays much  or why they haven  t been caught before now . the script tries to mix in every day drama with potent horror  it just does a terrible job of combining the two to the extent that neither aspect is memorable or effective . a really bad film that i am struggling to say anything good about .  br    br   despite being written  directed by the extreme sounding butcher brothers there  s no gore here  there  s a bit of blood splatter  a few scenes of girls chained up in a basement but nothing you couldn  t do at home yourself with a bottle of tomato ketchup  a camcorder . the film is neither scary  since it  s got a very middle  class suburban setting there  s zero atmosphere or mood . there  s a lesbian  suggest incestuous kiss but the hamiltons is low on the exploitation scale  there  s not much here for the horror crowd .  br    br   filmed in petaluma in california this has that modern low budget look about it  it  s not badly made but rather forgettable . the acting by an unknown  to me  cast is nothing to write home about  i can  t say i ever felt anything for anyone .  br    br   the hamiltons commits the cardinal sin of being both dull  boring from which it never recovers . add to that an ultra thin story  no gore  a rubbish ending  character  s who you don  t give a toss about  you have a film that did not impress me at all .  
a must see movie for anyone who ever went to camp  or wanted to . this film captures the absolute essence of what summer camp is all about . it is funny  it is compassionate it makes you want to watch more about the characters once the credits begin to role . if you have not seen this movie . . what are you doing  get off you butt and run the video store . have a great summer    
when a film is independent and not rated  such as the hamiltons  i was expecting out of the norm  cut out your heart violence . i know that good movies don  t always contain blood and violence  but i read reviews  i visited the website  and i even convinced a few of my friends to pay   .   to see this god awful movie with me . when there is a festival called horrorfest  i am expecting horror  not dawsons creek with incestuous undertones . my expectations were extremely low for this film  yet the little expectations there was for the film were shot to hell once i saw that an hour had passed before we saw the first drop of blood come out of someones finger . there were too many plot holes and left too much to the imagination . i regret not seeing happy feet . i think there might have been more violence and gore in that movie than in the hamiltons   
i watched this last night after not having seen it for several years . it really is a fun little film  with a bunch of faces you didn  t know were in it . arkin shines as always . check it out you won  t be dissappointed . by the way  it was just released on dvd and contrary to its packaging  it is widescreen . the transfer is rather poor  but at least the whole movie is visible .     
this is so bad  so very very bad . the acting is the biggest joke in history . don  t even bother to see it  i did ff it after   min and it was just as disappointing in the end as in the beginning . . . i really don  t understand peoples taste  i  m a horror movie fan and i  m not fastidious but i do have a limit  maybe it was a quarter of a star better then the beginning of the hoast but that  s it . so i recommend you don  t waste the   minutes you  ll be able to watch . i mean the acting is better done by monkeys . and the big brother with the parental role is just awful . don  t they pay characters in c  movies  no i must say it  s not the first time i think a horror movie is bad but it  s absolutely one in my down ten movies and it will be charing places with portrait of a vampire  cabin by the lake  the hoast   
before tuscan sky  i saw diane lane  s tender performance in this otherwise lark of a movie . campers are invited to the camp of their youth and experience it as adults . each of those that return seem to be looking for something they lost  which makes it so realistic . maybe you had to be a camper to really get it  but in the words of one character noticing all her clothes were wet  this is so camp   from the practical jokes and fighting over boyfriends  to the scary lunch lady and the early morning bell . . . it  s amp . once exciting activities now seem mundane . a terrific ensemble cast makes the best of one  two dimensional roles and makes them believable . bill paxton  diane  elizabeth  mrs . brad paisley  probably when he first fell for her    the beautiful scenery  bright colors  comical music  including variations of hello muddah  and a comic acting turn by noted director sam raimi makes this a movie you can pull out again and again like looking up an old friend .  
i feel it is my duty as a lover of horror films to warm other people about this horrible and very very bad  horror  film . don  t waste your time or money on this film  the acting is bad  the story is just one of the worst i have come across and the script was just awful . nothing about it was good  you end up thinking to yourself why am i watching this crap . the plot had so many holes in it and they never got cleared up in the end  it was just so bad  i don  t know how a film so terrible could be made . as i said before i love horror films and i was so let down  it was an   but you see little blood and no scares or jumps at all . also what annoyed me was how stupid things happened in the film that had no point to the plot at all like the brother and sister kissing  why  is all i can say . just don  t bother  there are far more great horror films out there  just don  t waste your time life is too short .  
indian summer is a warm  multi  character film  that would make a fine afternoon film  with a bit of editing  .  br    br   the film begins in the past with a group of children being shown a moose  which sets the tone perfectly before cutting into the present  when a group of adults from the  golden age  of the camp are invited back again to spend a few weeks holiday by the head of the camp  uncle lou . the film then allows the viewer to spend time with these characters as they remember their times at the camp  and form new memories in their latest stay .  br    br   the film succeeds in the great way it brings across its characters in this gorgeous setting  and allows them room to develop without having to worry about plot developments . watching these people reminisce  and their relationships with each other is what the film is all about and why it works so well . it never goes to over the top and melodramatic  always keeping its warmth  charm and realism . i  ve never seen a film where nostalgia is captured so well  and found myself getting drawn in despite never having been to one of these camps as a child myself .  br    br   for a warm  nostalgic character movie  i sincerely recommend .  
without effective indulgence of the supernatural or the poetic motivating nuances of humanity  all this creative team has to hope for is effective usage of its middling  unoriginal elements .  party of five  gone maniacal then genetically unescapable there  s little rooting interest because the singular non  homicidal element is a second  rate bland awful  acting  wes bentley  mopester . in fact  all of the acting is skin deep . even though the dark  haired women appeal  the salaciousness is kept to a minimum . no nudity here . also lacking are sufficient buckets of blood . all sensations are kept at a teasing  safe distance . . . an unfortunate fact considering the given name of the directors is  butcher .  only the soundtrack  the droning angsty alt  country and the tense fluctuating score provide any palpable tension . sometimes some static storyboarded compositions add appealing low  angles that adds to the malaise . . . but for a film that calls itself horror  i did not even get close to flinching once . perhaps a greater emphasis on societal rejuvenation through blood intake  scenes directed with varying geometric shapes outside the square  and a sustained focus on playfulness through the family  s maliciousness or traps sympathetic characters need to escape in order to escape their dilemma would have improved my opinion  but this was not a good start to my excursion through horrorfest .  
pressburger and powell  s greatest movie . david niven plays the raf bomber pilot who misses his own death but is granted a second chance at life when heaven notices that he is awol and dispatches an angel to investigate . the scene when the young soldiers  men and women  black and white  all killed in action  arrive in heaven to be processed for eternal life is unbearably poignant . watch out too for roger livesey  a deeply under appreciated actor  and kim hunter as the love interest  later  of course  zira in planet of the apes  . incidentally  steven spielberg cast the actress who played the chief angel  kathleen byron  as the elderly wife of the eponymous private in saving private ryan half a century later  an act that speaks volumes for his cinematic literacy .  
  the return of chandu  is notable  if one can say that  for the casting of bela lugosi as the hero rather than the villain . why he even gets the girl .  br    br   the story as such  involves the black magic cult of ubasti trying to capture the last egyptian princess nadji  the delectable maria alba  and use her as a sacrifice as a means of reviving their ancient leader who just happens to look like nadji . lugosi as chandu  who possesses magical powers  tries to thwart the villains .  br    br   director ray taylor does his best with limited resources and extensive stock footage . fans of king kong       will recognize the giant doors that were used to keep kong at bay in several scenes . the acting is for the most part  awful . the actor who plays the high priest  i believe lucien prival  for example  uses that acting coach inspired pronunciation that was so common in the early talkies . the less said about the others the better .  br    br   it is a mystery why lugosi accepted parts in independent quickies at this stage of his career  because he was still a bankable star at universal at this time . maybe it was because in this case he got to play the hero and get the girl  who knows . as his career started to spiral downwards in the late   s  this kind of fare would become the norm for lugosi rather than the exception .  br    br    
there is this private campground in plymouth  massachusetts  that  s been around since     . my grandparents were among its founders  my parents had a site starting in      and my two brothers have sites there now .  br    br    this doesn  t have anything directly to do with the movie bear with me .   br    br   i spent summers at blueberry hill from when i was five years old to when i was eighteen  and it is to people like me to whom this film speaks the ones for whom a group camp in the woods was  as my fiance tells of me   the good and happy place .  if you  ve never experienced the lifestyle  indian summer will probably be lost on you don  t bother . it  s not quick  paced  it doesn  t have rapid cuts  the plots aren  t in the least bit convoluted  it has no explosions  such dramatic tension as exists is mild  there aren  t any a  list actors  there are no rapid  fire quips just to show off how clever the scriptwriters are  other than  perhaps  kimberley williams  killer line about how her fianc shouldn  t  overwind his toys .  that is not the least degree what this movie is about  any more than the godfather is a slasher flick just because it has a lot of on screen gore .  br    br   but indian summer is godfather  s polar opposite . if you have experienced the lifestyle  see this movie . don  t read any more  just do it .  br    br   for me  this is a     film .  
 . . . that seem to be fooling people into seeing qualities in this film that are just not there .  br    br   near dark covered the same territory but with much more class  and action .  br    br   why the script kept their  big secret  so long was a total mystery to me  i guessed it at the breakfast scene at the start of the film . by the time it was revealed to the viewer it was just a case of  big deal  tell me something i don  t know .   br    br   i found this to be pointless movie that may have challenged the genre conventions  unfortunately those conventions are that horror films are tense and packed with genuine sense of horror . this was woeful  
i thoroughly enjoyed this film overall  but four things really stand out sam raimi  s perfect comic timing and performance as the camp handy    man  alan arkin  s wonderful characterisation of the camp owner  and best of all  the cinematography . the beautiful golden tones of the exterior scenes draws me into the film like a sunset at the lakeshore draws me into my own summer memories .  br    br   the dialog and mood feel very natural and believable . some reviewers criticise the lack of a more  profound  script . to me  it is exactly that lack that makes this film work . the characters and their problems seem real and because of that  i care about what happens to them .  br    br   the bottom line is that all the parts come together to create a whole that feels right .  
this is the first film of the horrorfest i have watched and after im almost thinking i don  t need to see any of the others . i was told its a  thinking mans horror movie  and have to say that if this was supposed to make me think i shutter to think what the splatter  gore films in the collection will be like . don  t get me wrong not even the gore in this film is worth sitting through .  br    br   the plot is very washed out with way too much art for arts sake . the camera effects and music are out of place most of the time and the characters are banal to say the least . several characters and scenes seem worthless in the end when they start to reveal some of the hooks of  the hamiltons  . i figured out who lenny was about half hour in when i figured out the movie . i was so visually under whelmed and confused by the lenny reveal that i completely felt ripped off . i expected what i got but they could have gone so much further  in fact all the gore falls completely flat . with movies out there like  hostel  and  saw  you need to come a little better for a film that is  considered to graphic or too disturbing for general audiences  .  
a quiet  sweet and beutifully nostalgic movie on how it is to be confronted with old friends and surroundings from your youth with all that memories and the problems and sorrows of the present with you . a movie that makes you feel good . all the ingredients are here old jelousy  rivalry  friendship and loyalty . mischief  nightly fridge  raids and all the other fun stuff that we all remember from our summer camps . all the characters get the opportunity for a week to experience this again as the old camp  leader now is retiring and want to meet the children from the golden years of the camp . all of them are now in their thirties and in the middle of their careers .  
like most of the festivals entries hamiltons makes for an interesting watch a film thats all ideas and little execution . although impressive for it  s obvious low budget the film falters in it  s final twist and becomes dreadfully long during it  s drawn out and obvious conclusion . the film is about a family of murderous outcasts trying to survive after there parents have died . they kidnap people  drain the blood from them and feed something locked away in their basement . there  s some nice darkly humorous performances from mckellhar and firgens and the rest are just so  so . the film never feels realistic or very disturbing for that matter . but for the first half taps into an oddly humorous and dark mixture which is a surprising accomplishment . the next half isn  t so successful as it receeds into film oblivion with unrealistic twists into a ridiculously cocky finale that turns the entire film into utter crap . it  s a shame though there is no doubt that some talent was involved with this production and although deeply flawed it remains original and creative . too bad that when it comes to the delivery it completely fails on every level .  br    br       
  br    br   this movie is by far one of my favorites . i saw it while in college in the early    s  and while i couldn  t identify with the thirtysomethings in the film  i felt that the story  characters  and movie in general were top notch . to the people who spoke negatively of indian summer  feel free to stick to your overblown armageddon  type movies and leave the movies with a great  wholesome story to those who can appreciate them .  
this is the first of these   films to die for  collection that i  ve seen and it  s certainly not made me want to see any of the rest . . . although i  ve heard at least a couple of them are decent . i don  t know  this wasn  t terrible but it didn  t really do much for me . your basic dysfunctional cannibal family in suburbia kind of thing  mom  dad died  the family sold the farm  moved to san francisco    where they continued to bring home stray food sources whenever possible . the best part of this was the creepy goth sister  who of course invites a friend over from school that never leaves . anyway  of course we have a butcher shop in the basement and so on and so on . this family is sort of like the white  bread version of the sawyer clan  they  re nasty  they do bad things but they ain  t go no soul . i see a lot of reviews from people that liked this  and i guess i don  t know what i missed  but i found it to be very mediocre  i wouldn  t recommend it to anyone  really .  out of   .  
deeply humorous yet honest comedy about a bunch of grownups  bill paxton  julie warner  kevin pollak  elizabeth perkins  vincent spano  matt craven  and diane lane  who are invited back to spend a week to tomawka  a camp in  ontario  canada by their former consuelor  alan arkin  . writer  director mike binder drew upon his experience at the same camp as the main source of creating a gentle and understanding yarn that makes sense . also  the movie has plenty of funny moments  some of which are completely bizarre like my favorite  the one involves using masking tape . newton thomas sigel   the usual suspects    three kings   provides the film with some impressive shots of the canadian wilderness . among the cast  sam raimi  director of  the evil dead  films and  the gift   appears here as arkin  s bumbling right  hand man . one more thing  this film reassured me that a camp doesn  t have to be a site of bloody murders .  
i expected to enjoy a romantic comedy featuring hip hop  but was disappointed on many levels . first of all  the story is so badly recycled as to make it almost unbearable . second  the setting  acting and story are not very authentic or believable . third  there are a lot more good black actors to choose from than these standard picks . how about some originality  third  there were very few hip hop songs played in entirity  if any . none seemd really central . overall  film was a great disappointment  but the editing style was very interesting and almost made the film worthwhile .  
i have watched this movie well over        times  and i love it each and every time i watched it . yes  it can be very corny but it is also very funny and enjoyable . the camp shown in the movie is a real camp that i actually attended for  years and is portrayed as camp really is  a great place to spend the summer . everyone who has ever gone to camp  wanted to go to camp  or has sent a child to camp should see this movie because it  ll bring back wonderful memories for you and for your kids .  
a complete waste of time  br    br   halla bol is a complete waste of time . the script and dialogues are poorly written  the direction is lacklustre and the acting borders on hammy . this movie was clearly aiming for the rang de basanti crowd but it falls far short of the mark because it does not have even one of the elements that made rdb connect with its audience  great script  terrific acting  good direction and a powerful social message that was never preached but shown .  br    br   compared to that near  masterpiece  halla bol takes a step backwards by resorting to scenes such as the hero taking a leak on the villain  s persian rug and the hero  s mentor staring down bullets in a truck no less  all of this might have been acceptable in the   s when there was a downturn in movie quality and bad movies like divyashakti and phool aur kaante became big hits  but movie  making has become  should have become  more subtle and thoughtful of late .  br    br   rajkumar santoshi is a capable director and i appreciate that he wants to give a social message in every movie he makes but maybe he simply does not know how to do it  he resorts to sermonizing without a care as to the audience  s intelligence in understanding what he is trying to say . maybe he should just concentrate on entertainment and leave the social messages to the rakeysh mehras and aamir khans .  br    br   even if you don  t agree with everything i say  you will agree that throughout the screening you will be thinking that rang de basanti was much much better and mr . santoshi should have left the industry  bashing to om shanti om . industry  bashing  that  s right   santoshi has depicted the industry as a place of back  biting  bitching and the casting couch which the hero happily indulges in with a starlet curiously named sania . there are some people who will think that these portions show the real face of the industry . don  t believe everything you see   br    br   all in all  raise your voice against movies like this and don  t spend your hard  earned money on this bomb .  br    br    out of  .  
i was delighted to finally see the release of amazing stories the first season on dvd . i had forgotten just what a stellar cast of actors and directors worked on this series . for the longest time the only way you got to see this remarkable series was with the vhs  or  episode collections or when sci  fi would re  run the episodes . however  when sci  fi would host the re  runs  they generally stuck to the same episodes . there were a few outstanding episodes in season one like the mission that they didn  t repeat . does anyone know exactly how long this series ran  it says     to     at the top here at imdb but i thought it ran longer than two years . if you loved the twilight zone  night gallery and outer limits  you will love this series and you will not be disappointed with your purchase .  
rks films always have been commercial films which suited the    s  from ghayal  damini  br    br   his last few films khakee were watchable family was crap  br    br   this film is a decent film but could be better  br    br   the problem lies in there is lot of old fashioned clichs thrown in and many scenes come out too filmy and lengthy  br    br   ajay devgan  s character is shown very well but his character gets heroic which could be subtle  br    br   the lengthy flashback could be avoided as thigns are simply long drawn  br    br   even the street play in the second half look too simplistic and hardly a solution though the message is well brought out  br    br   direction by rks is decent  though it could be better music is okay  br    br   ajay devgan looks the part very well and is at ease playing his part mostly though at times he does look ill at ease in light scenes he excels in dramatics vidya excels in the scene front of media pankaj has a not proper defined role and too filmy yet he excels in his part darshan jariwala hams as the old age villain the rest are okay  
this series was just like what you would expect from mr . spielberg . it is truly one of those frighting  funny  childish shows that you won  t forget . just like outer limits  another great show  this little series does what not a lot can . it was great  and deserved to run longer . it was a great show  that even kids could watch  though some of the shows were a little scary when they wanted to be  but all of them always had a moral at the end  like the twilight zone  that made you realize what situation you didn  t want to end up in  or ones that you did . i remember watching some of these on sci  fi when i was    and even now  i still enjoy seeing them when i can . truly a fun  imaginative show . i loved it  and still do .  
i  m not going to approach and critique the theories of raw . i mean  this is a site about movies and whether the movie delivers or is well  made  and not a site debating philosophy .  br    br   having said that  this video really blows . it  s one talking  head shot of raw after another . some of it is archival video  so you can see how he has aged over the years  and that  s pretty cool . but  otherwise  the viewing experience is relentlessly monotonous .  br    br   it  s a strange comparison  but i kept thinking of the sunday afternoon when i watched some of the barbra streisand star vehicle funny lady  another really bad movie  . after a while  i was so od  d on barbra  i kept wishing there would be one scene that she wouldn  t appear in you know  a  meanwhile  other characters in the movie were up to something else . . .  moment . but it was all about barbra . well this video is raw  s funny lady .  br    br   so  if your idea of a good time is to look at multiple takes and angles of the face of raw while he prattles on with his theories  assembled in a lame structure that doesn  t add any interest or insight  then be my guest . for me  i couldn  t take it after   minutes .  
steven spielberg produced  wrote  came up with ideas for and even directed episodes of amazing stories  so naturally this would have to be the greatest anthology ever right  unfortunately wrong . some episodes are just fantastic  but all too often it was a mixed bag . in fact  that might have been it  s downfall is it was way too mixed . some episodes were light comedies  some were dramas  some were horror  and one was even animated  which made this a similar  but not as good   s version of the twilight zone  which also was around  .  br    br   normally i  d like having a mixture of stories in an anthology show  but they just didn  t fully work here . some of the more fantastical dramatic episodes felt like they would be better being shown late on night on the lifetime network  like the episode  ghost train   which was directed by spielberg himself . in that episode  it gave the message of hope  and gave us a fantasy story  but overall it was just a build up to the ending which didn  t blow me away anyways . the horror episodes tended to work better than the drama  but there were far more dramatic ones  and they grow tiring to watch . acting wise  this anthology got some big stars  similar to the original twilight zone . kevin costner  kiefer sutherland  milton berle  dom deluise  harvey keitel  beau bridges  charlie sheen  forrest whitaker  tim robbins  john lithgow  rhea perlman  danny devito  patrick swayze  christopher lloyd  june lockhart  kathy baker  weird al yankovich and many other well knowns have been in episodes of the show . it  s fun to see well known actors in almost every episode of the series . great directors have also had part in episodes including spielberg himself  clint eastwood  burt reynolds  bob clark  joe dante  mick garris  paul bartel  joe dante  robert zemeckis  danny devito and even martin scorsese . i  d actually recommend this more to fans of the directors and  or the   s than anyone else .  br    br   amazing stories was sometimes amazing  usually good  occasionally mediocre  and every once in a while a real stinker came out . but  this show has nostalgic value to me  and it  s sort of fun to sit on boring afternoons and watch some episodes . john williams  theme music for the show is sure to be caught in anyone  s head who watches this  too .  br    br   my rating good show .   mins . per episode . tvpg  
tv pilots  don  t you love them  quinn martin tried this one out after being successful in a bunch of other tv detective movies  but this one goes nowhere except in the realm of mst where it belongs . roy thinnes is diamond head who takes orders from aunt mary to find super spy lovejoy  i mean tree . zulu and tso  tsing are there for ethnic comic relief and not much else . tree sucks as a bad guy despite all his disguises that makes him look exactly the same as he normally does . there  s more unnatural clothing fiber here than you can ever imagine  required in the      s  and the show itself is so anti  climatic . why did it not go to series  you figure it out  it  s quite blatant . again it  s fun for mst  but not a lot else    
another woo  s masterpiece   br    br   this is a best wuxie film i  m ever seen  woo  rulez forever  except some hollywood moments . . .  . john woo  greater director of the century .  br    br   maybe hi is not more intellectual than lot of big directors . . . but he is lyrical and spiritual idol of all free  mind people   br    br   his movies like the great poetry  woo is a movie sheakspeare  woo is a movie biron  woo is a mozart of bloodshet      br    br   imho violent in woo films is not a directors bloodlust  but a instrument of art . themes of woo movies is more humanistic that more of the new films .  
this series would have been a lot better if they had just done one simple thing made ian mcshane code name diamond head instead of code name tree . diamond head the character needs someone who could handle the role of the lovable rogue  which mcshane proved he could do with the lovejoy series . roy thinnes  the actual diamond head  is really only so  so in the role . mcshane is not really that good as the bad guy tree . france nuyen  s character  tso  tsing  can  t seem to make up her mind as to whether she  s the hapless victim or the tough  and  ready  to  fight woman . she really earned her pay at the end when she had to play the role of diamond head  s lover . after viewing an episode or two  i ended up not caring what happened to anyone . tree gives us a lot to hate him  but diamond head gives us nothing to like him . unfortunately  the spy genre in the     s was not quite as it was in the      s .  
also known as  stairway to heaven  in the us . during wwii british peter carter  s  david niven  plane is shot down in combat but he survives . he meets and falls in love with lovely june  kim hunter  . but it seems a mistake was made in heaven   he should have died  a french spirit comes to get him but he refuses . he is soon to plead his case in front of a heavenly tribunal that he should be allowed to live .  br    br   sounds ridiculous but this is actually an incredible film . the script is good with the actors playing the roles completely straight  faced and it  s beautifully directed   the scenes on earth are in breath  taking technicolor  i  ve never seen such beautiful blue skies  and the scenes in heaven are in black and white  niven is a little stiff at times but hunter is just great  and very beautiful  and roger livesey is superb as a doctor trying to help niven . the imagery throughout is amazing  especially the staircase and during the final trial sequence  and the special effects are truly great  considering the age of the film  . there  s also a very strange sequence when niven runs into a totally nude young boy herding sheep  this is an absolutely beautiful  thought provoking film   highly recommended . this remains unknown in the us which is a shame .  
bela lugosi is not typecast in this fantastic twelve  part adventure serial  playing the lead as frank chandler  chandu the magician  enjoying his role as a representative of the forces of white magic pushed against those of black  while displaying vigourous fighting skill  successfully wooing a young egyptian princess  and cutting a lean and dashing figure in yachting gear  complete with nautical cap . the somewhat lumpy plot engages chandler  chandu in an ongoing series of escapades pointed at achieving the rescue of his fiancee  princess nadji  maria alba  and others from the clutches of the idol  worshipping sect of ubasti  which covets nadji  s blood in order to revivify an ancient mummified princess entombed upon the mysterious island of lemuria . director ray taylor  an old hand at such entertainments keeps events moving briskly  but repeated scenes and footage  a good deal of which is to be found in the previous year  s skull island setting from king kong  and the port locale from son of kong  reduces original action to less than   minutes from the serial  s running length of over two and one  half hours and  if viewed at one sitting  becomes lacking in effect to most viewers  unless insomniac .  
the pros of this film are the astonishing fighting scenes  absolutely incredible sword  moves and martial art show off . a true john woo masterpiece . the story tends to be a bit week though  but it never overshadows the overwhelming display of acrobatic martial art action . if you are into martial art movies  you are going to love this one   
think of this pilot as  hawaii five  o lite  . it  s set in hawaii  it  s an action  adventure crime drama  lots of scenes feature boats and palm trees and polyester fabrics and garish shirts . . . it even stars the character actor  zulu  in a supporting role . oh  there are some minor differences  roy thinnes is supposed to be some front  line undercover agent  and the supporting cast is much smaller  and less interesting   but basically the atmosphere is still the same . problem is   hawaii five  o   another qm product  already existed at the time and had run for years . it filled the market demand for hawaii  based crime dramas quite adequately . code name diamond head may have been intended as the hier to h   as the older series eventually dwindled away . . . but it comes across as a superfluous   nd rate copy . it doesn  t suck  but it  s completely derivative and doesn  t do anything as well as the original .  br    br   there is some decent acting talent involved here . thinnes is an old pro  and he gives the role his best shot  and he isn  t bad . but thinnes is only as good as his material and his director . ian mcshane is in here as an evil spy master named  tree   and mcshane tends to be the most interesting actor in any scene he appears in . but he  s phoning his part in here . frances ngyuen is reasonably exotic looking  but her astounding skinniness  opaque features  thick accent and wooden delivery aren  t the stuff of which dreams are made . relying on her to supply the  romantic interest  for thinnes was probably the series  biggest mistake . at least for for a series aimed at white audiences brought up with marsha brady and peggy lee as our love goddesses . give her another   lbs and a year with a dialog  voice coach  and she might cut it . zulu is  well  his usual self  enjoyable in bit parts  but he isn  t a person who can carry a feature by himself .  br    br   in addition  the plot and dialog are strictly by  the  numbers  with nothing to distinguish them from any other quinn martin production . and by this point  the american tv audience had seen a whoooole lot of qm productions . . . . i think  cn dh  was one too many  and it sank without a trace . it wasn  t the really the actors  fault  and i hope they walked away from this with a decent paycheck and one more entry on their c . v . s .  br    br   mst     revived this for their treatment in their sixth season  and they had a lot of good natured fun with it . worth seeking out in that version if you enjoy the mst approach to movie japery and lampoon  but i can  t imagine anyone caring about this pilot for any other reason .  
scott is right . the best  person sword duel ever put on film is in the middle of this movie . the sword fights with multiple fighters are not the best although quite good . however  the fight in the middle is the best even compared to japanese samurai movies . chinese swordplay scenes in my opinion have never surpassed the japanese in terms of entertainment value . especially in scenes where one guy must battle a group of enemies  japanese movies excel  example being the lone wolf and cub series . even though duels in japanese cinema last only seconds or a minute at the most  the sheer intensity of those moments made them better . but  this is one example where chinese swordplay surpasses the japanese . the scene in the middle of this film was a five minute long fight with the most amazing choreography ever . the other fights in this movie are good too but even if they sucked this movie would get a  for that one scene . if you haven  t seen it  you have to . john woo is the man .  
ahh  the dull t . v . shows and pilots that were slammed together in the    s to make equally dull t . v . movies  some examples would be riding with death  the most hysterically cheesy of the lot   stranded in space  confusing and uninteresting   san francisco international  horribly dull and unbelievably confusing   and this turgid bit of quinn martin glamor .  br    br   shot in hawaii  although you wouldn  t know it from the outside shots   it  s apparently a failed pilot for a lame spy show . the real problem is that you don  t like most of the characters  including the drab main character diamond head  who seemed half asleep for the entire movie his boss  aunt mary   who had a really weird delivery of his lines and shellacked white hair as well as the a tan that looked like it had been stuccoed on diamnd head  s girlfriend  fellow agent  hell  i can  t even remember her name  a skinny  wooden woman with a flat way of speaking that is just not sexy or interesting and the singing sidekick zulu  again  i can  t remember his character  s name  who wasn  t bad in small doses . the most interesting person in the whole production was ian mcshane  who sucked as a bad guy but still proved his acting chops . alothugh the make  up jobs this so  called  chameleon  used to disguise himself were just laughable . i have absolutely no idea what he was doing or what he was trying to steal from the lab that caused him to dress as a south american dictator cum american general . nor do i care . the plot simply wasn  t interesting enough to hold your attention for even ten minutes at a time  let alone the hour and a half or so it goes on . just call this one  hawaii five no   
i am a kung fu fan  but not a woo fan . i have no interest in gangster movies filled with over  the  top gun  play . now  martial arts that  s beautiful  and john woo surprised me here by producing a highly entertaining kung fu movie  which almost has too much fighting  if such a thing is possible  this is good stuff .  br    br   many of the fight scenes are very good  and some of them are less good   and the main characters are amusing and likable . the bad guys are a bit too unbelievably evil  but entertaining none the less . you gotta see the sleeping wizard   he can only fight when he  s asleep  it  s hysterical   br    br   upon repeated viewings  however  last hurrah for chivalry can tend to get a little boring and long  winded  also especially because many of the fight scenes are actually not that good . hence  i rate it  only  a  out of   . but it really is almost an    .  br    br   all in all one of the better kung fu movies  made smack  dab in the heart of kung fu cinema  s prime . all the really good kung fu movies are from the mid  to late     ies  with some notable exceptions from the late    ies and early    ies  and early    ies  to be fair  .  
it doesn  t take long to see why code name diamond head didn  t make it onto the network schedules . the tv pilot movie doesn  t get past the credits before it  s obvious just how bad it  s going to be . maybe i missed something  because the plot didn  t make a whole lot of sense . based on what i got out of the muddled mess  a terrorist or thief or something named  tree   ian mcshane  goes to hawaii to steal something to do with a secret weapon . the world  s dullest secret agent  johnny paul  roy thinnes   is out to stop him . there might have been more  but trust me  it really doesn  t matter anyway .  br    br   action movies should have action . suspenseful moments should have suspense . and dramatic moments should have drama . there  s none of that in code name diamond head . i  ve seen others use the word  turgid  to describe this made for tv snoozer  and it  s better than any one word description i can come up with . none of the characters is in the least bit exciting or worth caring about . and roy thinnes makes for the worst leads imaginable . his charisma is just slightly north of a slug . ian mcshane is easily the best thing the movie has going for it  but unfortunately for everyone else involved  it doesn  t appear he was going to be back as a regular cast member . now if mcshane had been cast in the series lead  well then you might have had something .  br    br   i  m quickly discovering that these gawd awful   s made  for  tv movies make great mystery science theater     episodes . and that goes double if quinn martin was involved . very funny stuff from mike and the bots . so while i may only give the movie a      i rate episode     a    on my mst  k rating scale .  
the sword fighting was out of this world  the fights scenes spectacular without the flying on a wire techniques  until the end  that are way too common today . the scene with chan and pray was probably the highlight of the movie . the characters in the assault on the bad guys mansion were clich but the movie is comfortable with it . an injection of humour from woo .  br    br   the plot with it  s twists and turns was unpredictable and exciting and you couldn  t tell who was good or bad or which side people were on .  br    br   a good sense of suspense and well timed surprises . the depth of the story is quite intense for a flighty film of this genre and reaches you in ways most kung  fu flicks don  t .  
another turgid action  adventure flick from the quinn martin productions factory . roy thinnes plays undercover agent diamond head  mr . head  to you   working for his g  man handler  aunt mary   looking for  tree   who  s on a mission to . . . well  just watch the movie .  br    br   this one deserved and got the full mst  k sendup . as the boys and various reviewers have pointed out  the movie  fargo  had more hawaiian locations than this film . apparently shot on a puny budget  this movie highlights hawaii  s broken  down dive shops  gas stations  and cheapo hotels . zulu   later to star as kono in hawaii  five  o   appears as thinnes  lumpy  inept sidekick  while france nguyen models the jenny craig diet gone horribly wrong . others sharing the flickering screen include a drunken richard harris knockoff  a george takai imitator  a not  so  smart hit  man with sprayed  on sansabelt slacks  and the villain  tree   sporting a veddy british accent . you can pretty much figure out the plot halfway through the opening credits  but relax   just enjoy the giddy mediocrity of this    s movie  of  the  week .  br    br   whenever i think of this movie  and i think of this movie often   i catch myself humming the theme  written for flute and tuba . . . no one knows why .  br    br   trivia note   diamond head was directed by jeannot szwarc  one of three contract directors at universal who would go on to make much bigger films  in his case jaws  . the others were john badham  war games   and a young fellow named steven spielberg . . .  
this is one of my favourite martial arts movies from hong kong . it is one of john woo  s earliest films and one of only a few traditional martial arts movies he directed . you can see his influences from working under chang cheh in this film . the action is good  the fight choreography is conducted by fong hak on who appears as one of the bad guys in the movie . it stars wei pei of  five venoms  fame and a whole host of faces familiar to fans of golden harvest and shaw brothers productions . the story line is interesting  there are a few decent plot twists and the build up of the characters and their relationships with each other is cleverly done . this film has only had a vhs release in the uk . media asia have released a region  dvd and there are versions of it on dvd available from the usa . the film is lovely to watch in either it  s original language or in it  s english dubbed version . i highly recommend this movie .  
don  t get me wrong  i want to see marijuana legalized as much as the next guy . i shall digress now . the writing  though  was unrealistic . a pta mom dealing drugs but adamant about her drugs getting into the hands of an underage person . give me a break . the smugness of very pretty mary louise parkers character was an insult to my intelligence . the characters were not at all likable . basically  the plot lines went nowhere . i understand its only tv land . the hypocrisy was blatant . mary louise parker is supposed to be a great mom and i am supposed to believe this . . . . why     i just got the feeling i was being preached by a show reeking of seediness . its like saying its ok to cheat on your wife  but with someone of legal age status . ok not exactly the same thing  but i think you people get my point . that save the children stuff is wonderful for campaign trails  i guess  but it does not hold water in a cable sitcom about a suburbanite mom  as the local pot dealer .  
as a lover of bad movies  i definitely hit paydirt with this one . the plot isn  t really that bad  but there are a few instances where you really have to ask yourself  what the heck is going on here    br    br   there are many many things that make this the funniest bad movie ever . first off  rudy ray moore had gotten so fat and slow when this movie was filmed that the special effects consist of speeding up the fight scenes to double time . there are also scenes where there is a slow  motion instant replay  jumping onto a ten foot high wall  by playing falling off of it backwards   naked men walking out of huge letters  and sex that literally brings down the roof  with the cable holding up the roof catching on fire  .  br    br   of course  no rudy ray moore movie would be complete without a completely gratuitous and random comedy club scene where rudy makes fun of all the customers  interposed with people doing some odd dance . there are so many things bad about this movie  but they  re bad in an entertaining way  and if you take your eyes off the movie  you might miss another mistake .  br    br   rating     for actual value       for cheese factor       for picking out mistakes and goofs  averages out to     .  
i had heard  and read  so many good things about weeds that i was looking forward to getting hooked on another great cable series  like entourage  sopranos or mad men  but that slowly eroded away with each episode i watched from season one .  didn  t make it past the first six episodes   br    br   the writing was unoriginal  contrived and the portrayal of blacks embarrassing . the dialog felt forced  like the writers are trying way too hard to be clever and hip . it was a rare moment when i actually emitted an audible laugh .  br    br   the characters never developed enough for me to care about them  they were selfish and unappealing . i absolutely hated the addition of the brother  in  law  who should have been hauled away on to catch a predator  and the removal of the hodes  daughter quinn from the cast by sending her to boarding school in mexico was so unoriginal and clich  i had to conclude the writers were testing the viewer  s loyalty .  br    br   episode after episode i liked the characters less and couldn  t get past many of the technical flaws in the story line .  br    br   add to that i heard that season two wasn  t as good  so i lost all motivation to continue to watch this play out .  br    br   if you  re a fan of good casting and writing  i suspect this show will be a challenge for you to like  unless of course you  re stoned and then all bets are off .  
human tornado       is in many ways a better film than it  s predecessor . the director knew what he had to work with and catered towards rudy ray moore  s limitations as an actor . it  s a fun movie that  s more technically sound and acted . the performers don  t take themselves too seriously and it seems that this time around everyone is on the joke and goes with the flow . rudy ray moore seems more relaxed in front of the camera and not as stiff like he was in dolemite .  br    br   i enjoyed the film very much and i highly recommend it . just like his first film  it  s catered towards a certain audience  i highly doubt that mr . moore was trying to broaden his audience at this point in his career  . check it out   br    br   highjly recommended .  
though a bit more polished technically than the previous film in the series  bulldog drummond escapes  this is a weaker escapade in both a plot that  s less thrilling and a leading man who simply doesn  t have the charisma of ray milland .  br    br   that said  several actors and characters continue in their roles and manage to keep the flag flying . also john barrymore is present  popping up all through the film in a variety of outlandish disguises .  br    br   anyway it  s another endless night for bd as he and his cohorts chase around trying to rescue the poor girl he intends to marry . the clues are stupid but again the supporting actors often make them entertaining .  
this movie completely ran laps around the original dolemite . it had everything that makes a movie great . . except for real actors .  ernie hudson couldn  t do it alone and you know that  lol  i admit that i have killed my first video tape of this movie and i plan to buy the dvd version again as soon as possible  this movie has so many catchy lines it  s pitiful  i am embarrassed to say that i know the theme song backwards and forwards  i love jimmy lynch  s character to death  and he should have won the best supporting actor award in blaxploitation  but the oscars were never ready for this  this is a random film consisting of crooked cops  breasts  chases  bad editing  and of course martial arts .  being that it  s the    s and i can say everyone knew some kind of martial arts  . i think this movie should be restored and shown one night in the midst of a marathon in local theaters   
weaker entry in the bulldog drummond series  with john howard in the role . usual funny banter and antics  but not much plot . barrymore gets something to do as the inspector  swapping disguises to follow drummond  algy  and tenny on a wild goose chase  mostly in circles perhaps the budget was tighter than usual  to rescue poor phyllis  who is being held captive by people who want to lure drummond to his doom . for those keeping score  in this one  drummond is planning to ask phyllis to marry him and algy is worried about missing the baby  s christening . it  s fun to see algy and tenny dressed up as fisherman to blend in at the angler  s rest  but little of it rises above silly .  
what can be said about mr . moore  he  s the godfather of rap  he  s the king of the z  level blaxploitation flicks  and here  he is back as his most famous character  dolemite  can you dig it  this movie is one whacked  out roller  coaster ride of politically incorrect humor  trippy kung  fu  nudity  cheese  violence  and a whole lot of other stuff you  d never find in most modern movies  or any movies  really  haha   . the stand  up routine he gives early on is not to be missed  at any rate  d  is definitely an entertaining way to waste an hour or so . dolemite  he think he  s bad and ain  t got no class  i  m gon  rock this shotgun up his beep a    
this isn  t the worst movie i  ve ever seen  but i really can  t recall when i  ve seen a worse one . i thought this would be about an aircraft accident investigation . what it really was is a soap opera  and a bad one at that . they overplayed the  conflict  card to the extreme . the first hour or so seems like a shouting match  with some implausible scenes thrown in .  br    br   possible spoiler  br    br   the    or  so minute  memorial  scene  with requisite black umbrellas and rain  to fictitious crash victims was lame  and i thought it would never end .  br    br   avoid this one at all costs  unless you revel in  conflict  .  br    br    
not only is this a great african  american classic comedy  but one of many great american cult classics . i have recently purchased the collection edition of rudy ray moore . if you love the old school karate movies and black comedies  this is for you  they don  t make movies like these anymore . my entire family are movie buffs  so this site is an extreme help on solving many debates . i am deployed in iraq right now . this helps me to stay connected to world that i know in the states . thank you imdb . i recommend this site to all my friends . dolemite rules  don  t just take my word for it  check them out for yourself . ten lines is a lot for commenting on one movie i think  but if it gets the point across  i  m all for it   
in the first   minutes  every cliche possible was trotted out by the hack writer and director . there was the ntsb primary investigator with the tortured family life the politically  tortured ntsb board member played by i can kill any tv ted mcginley the tortured father of a crash victim and the torturing sleazy ambulance  chasing lawyer .  br    br   hollywood still has no concept of the fragility of aircraft . the crashed plane was a    and it was mostly sitting on the ground like a hippo who decided to take a nap . the first third of the fuselage was intact  the rear half of the plane was intact and the debris field showed no wings or engines . most of the people should have walked away in light of how many people survived that plane that got shredded in iowa after it lost its hydraulics . most of this tv plane wasn  t even burned .  br    br   it reminded me of the scene in  air force one  where the    hits the water and then skips along like it  s made of inch  thick steel .  br    br   the show was so bad it was impossible to watch . even my wife  who is more accepting than i  was commenting on technical flaws . what had me stunned was how this pos could ever get made . are the producers of these things so used to clichs that they can  t even recognize them  somebody read this script and said yes  i want to spend a million bucks making this real . i wish i was the guy  s next appointment . i have title to a wonderful bridge in new york that i  d sell cheap .  
i first saw this movie about   years ago and have never forgotten it . it  s beautifully filmed and the story keeps one riveted for the entire time . it  s difficult to believe this was made in      as the tale is still fresh today  and really makes one think . i  m not very knowledgeable regarding film technique however the special effects in this film are terrific considering when this was made . in addition  the acting is superb  and the use of english and american actors quite astounding . i recently purchased the dvd so now i  m able to watch whenever i wish . i highly recommend anyone interested in post  war british films to watch this .  
at least with the teenage geek gets the girl films  the guy is usually unpopular with girls . in the   year old virgin he is replaced with a   year old guy who is popular with women but somehow has remained a virgin . but then you are not supposed to engage your brain with this film or did i miss the bit about him being comatose for   years   br    br   one of a series of films where   somethings act like teenagers and women for some reason find this a sufficiently attractive quality that they want a serious relationship with them . i find it hard to understand how a country that has produced such excellent tv comedies seems to think it has to rely on crude and shallow characters for laughs . they  ve done the gross out movies . they  ve done the let  s act like all americans have a mental age of   . where will they go next   br    br   this film is crass and crude entertainment with nothing to recommend it .  
busy is so amazing  i just loved every word she has ever done  freaks and geeks  dawson  s creek  white chicks  the smokers . after the first time i saw home room i went and got it the next day . i am a big fan of her and she has a lot of fans here in israel . if someone hasn  t saw is excellent movie than don  t waist more time and go see it now . i recommend to all of you to see all of her movies . i saw busy in the late night show with conan and she was so beautiful and cute i just love her  everybody who saw the movie  in home room she looks very scary but in real life she is so beautiful  you have to see all her half nude pictures for stuff magazine  maxim  she looks so good there  danielle  
this film was a major letdown . the level of relentless cruelty and violence in this film was very disturbing . some scenes were truly unnecessarily ugly and mean  spirited . the main characters were impossible to identify with or even sympathize with . the lead protagonist  s character was as slimy as they come . the sickroom  hothouse atmosphere lent itself to over  the  top theatrics . little or nothing could be learned about the spanish civil war from this film . fortunately  i  ve been to spain and realize this is not realistic  in addition  the use of same  sex attraction as a lurid  horror  was also very offensive and poorly handled  while the dvd is being packaged and advertised to attract gay viewers . the actors seemed uncomfortable in their roles  as if they were trying to distance themselves from this mess . i guess if you like watching children and pets being brutally killed  this film might especially appeal to you .  
rudy does it again with this hot off the streets follow up to dolemite . this entry is filled with the requisite rudy ray moore raunch  humor and martial arts . rudy eludes a crazy red  neck sheriff in this movie that also features an infamous scene where rudy dives down a steep hill . see it for laughs and for a brain  blasting hit of blaxploitation magic .  
this movie is very very very poor . i have seen better movies .  br    br   there was a bit of tension but not much to make you jump out of your chair . it begins slowly with the building of tension . which is not a success . at least if you ask me . though at some points or moments i must say it was a bit funny when people got shot and how they went down .  br    br   they should had made it something like scary movie  then it might be a better movie . because i watched only pieces of the movie by skipping scenes and it got to boring through out the movie . i must say that i felt sleepy watching this movie so i sure can say it is not worth it .  br    br   don  t waste time on even thinking to do something with this movie besides leaving it where it already is . somewhere very dusty . .  
the human tornado is a campy    s blaxploitation movie starring nightclub comedian rudy ray moore in perhaps his most endearing role to date . the movie tells the tale of dolemite  a bad ass pimpin  hustler who gets on the wrong side of a white  racist sheriff by sleeping with his wife . dolemite barely escapes  and journeys to sunny california to visit an old friend  a nightclub owner  and madam to dolemite  s  ladies   named queen bee . however  it seems that a rival nightclub owner with mob connections is trying to muscle in on her racket  so dolemite takes matters into his own hands . rudy ray moore showcases many diverse talents in this landmark film  including strong dramatic skills  a mastery of kung fu  an impressive singing voice  he provides two of the songs on the soundtrack   a touching  compassionate side with the ladies  and an overall compelling charisma and keen sense of comic timing . this film has it all  people a deep plot  blistering action  laugh  a  minute comedy  beautiful women in distress  a slam  bang ending . . . what more could you ask from a movie  run  don  t walk  to your local video store and rent the human tornado today . and be sure to share it with your family .  
the story is seen before  but that does  n matter if you can figure out to make a proper storyboard . it is clear that the director haven  t spent his work on the storyboard . alongside this  the cameraman spent far too much time leaning angles that do not match the message of the movie . the funniest is  however  if you take a look at the movie  s website  you can read that it was on purpose that the director has chosen to make the film with bad camera angles . because it remind us about hunting . but i have never heard of hunting with poor camera angles    it will have  stars because the story is ok . it is a pity that ti west  has not spent more time to review his story . it is as if the movie was more important than the planning . because you have a camera does not mean you should make a movie right away . . . come . everyone can make a movie  but not all will be just as good . so a word of advice to ti west are stop and labeling what you want . use your time to start planning and not filming until everything has come down on a storyboard . you certainly have the ability and desire  so don  t abuse your talent .  
just got through watching this version of  samhain   and even though i still like it  it  s nothing like the  rough cut  version i have . if you check the message board  you  ll see an apology from the director for this cut down version    minutes .  and he says he had nothing to do with this r  rated trimmed down edit with a completely new screwed up ending . christian really doesn  t need to distant himself that much  because the basic gore elements still stand up  even though highly trimmed down . this is a damn shame  because this had the potential of being one of the goriest and best gore films in years . it still has the porn stars  and the inbreds  and some of the extreme gore can at least be partially seen . i  m just glad i have that  rough cut   because to me  it  s a jewel for any gorehounds library . christian viel definitely has the skill and vision to deliver the goods  and hopefully his next project will be better produced . the idiots had a near classic in their hands  and screwed it up for everybody .  samhain  may be one of the most controversial and mishandled horror movies ever  and too bad gorehounds didn  t get to see what the director intended .  br    br    just so you know what you missed  this is my review based upon the  work print  of samhain .  br    br   the movie runs a little over   minutes and has no chapter stops . there is absolutely no music soundtrack  and some of the scenes have no audio on the dialog  because i think they are meant to be looped in later . however  most of the movie does have audio with sound affects  and when an effect or scene is missing  a message appears as a cue for insertion when the movie is completed . it  s exactly as it says  a  rough cut   but the only uncut version of  samhain  you are ever likely to see . reason  because the gore is extremely graphic  much more than even an nc    would allow . yes there are a few porn stars  but they are just there for the killing  and to add a little sugar and spice . the story is pretty standard  american tourists on a vacation in ireland and end up staying in a home in the middle of the woods . an area that is heavy on folklore  involving the ancient druids and the celebration of samhain  or as we call it halloween .  spooky   br    br   the movie starts off with a huge dose of gore  as a camping couple is attacked by one of the local inbred mutants . this is a great gore scene  as the guy find his girl hanging from a cliff  with her crying for help . all he sees is her head  arms  and shoulders hanging in front of him and when he pulls her up  she has been completely sliced in two . this is what i would call extreme gore  with entrails  blood  and severed limbs all over the place . we are in herschell gordon lewis territory here folks  except the effects look much more realistic . i  m going to just skip the story  because it  s your standard stalk and kill plot .  br    br   the next gore scene is something to behold  as the boyfriend from the first killing is taken to a cave like location  tcm   stuff   and bound to a table . this geek then cuts all of his limbs off  off camera  with a cue to insert a scene   and then we see his torso on a barbecue pit  turning slowly over a fire  and the torso has a hard  on  if you can believe that  . yes  very bad taste  gross  gruesome  you find the right word  and it will probably fit too .  br    br   then later jenna jameson  her beautiful body and all  is cut from neck to crotch  and all her entrails are pulled out in graphic glee  and her blood drains into a pot . yummy  a real turn on huh   br    br   but the best gore scene happens inside the house  and i have to admit  this is one of the best gore scenes i have seen . this guy  doesn  t matter who  is caught from behind from a geek  and cut open at the ass hole . the geek then puts his hands in and rips out all the guys entrails  intestines  and what the hell ever else there is  right from his asshole . this goes on forever  as the guy is screaming and more and more innards are pulled out laying all over the bathroom floor . this is so extreme  so over the top  that i found myself laughing all to hell . obviously  you will never ever see this scene on a proper dvd  imo  along with most of the other really extreme gore scenes .  br    br   so  what to think of all of this . well  first of all  even though i doubt this movie would ever be released in this totally uncut presentation  it makes this  rough cut  a rare jewel for gorehounds . yes  it  s a little difficult at first  with no soundtrack  a few scenes to still be inserted  and credits that have missing names all over the place . but that  s what makes this so unique  and i wouldn  t trade it for anything right now . extreme gore  yes yes  extreme extreme gore . this makes  haute tension  look like a disney movie .  
contains spoilers the movie plot can be summarized in a few sentences three guys go hunting in the forest . two of them along other people get shot in the head without explanation . the last guy can stand in the clear  shout and do anything without getting shot . he gets to walk through an old factory and has the evil people walk right into his scope without a struggle . the villains are conveniently dressed in black and look like villains .  br    br   that is the whole story  not summarized but in detail . everything is drawn out with a guy standing ringing a door bell . we wait with him . long shot of guys being bored in the woods and sleeping . we can take a nap with them . the one drawn out shot of following a female jogger could have been redeeming  if we could see her butt or boobs bouncing .  br    br   there dialog is less then terminator and it is not because there is so much action . the characters just don  t talk . and  then they don  t even have something corny to say like  i  ll be back .  if my buddy shot this on the weekend  i  d cheer for him  because it is quite a feat to figure out the camera controls . to pay money to rent this as a dvd is totally inappropriate .  br    br   the one thing that is a little funny is the extra with the director telling  how they local police didn  t realize that they were shooting and treated them like a random guy walking around with a gun . if they  d have filmed that  i  d be sure it would be more fun to watch then the movie .  
honestly  i was expecting to hate this one  and really only checked it out because jenna jameson is in it . . . but i have to say i got a kick out of evil breed . a group of college kids and their teacher go on a  field trip  to ireland . their lodgings are located near the woods where it is rumored that strange things happen and tourists often disappear without a trace . the group of post  teens is warned by the property  s caretaker not to venture into the woods  but being the stupid b  movie characters that they are  of course they pay no attention and pay for their mistake one  by  one . . . first off  there is plenty wrong with evil breed . the acting  dialog is pretty weak  and my major gripe is that a film that has jenna jameson  chasey lain  ginger lynn  and taylor hayes should have far more gratuitous nudity than was on display here  and jenna  s role in this production is grossly over  hyped  as she has a combined total of about  minutes of screen time . even less with chasey  and ginger lynn shows no skin and has the worst irish accent ever . also the last scene of the film makes absolutely no sense and feels like it  s thrown in just to end the film . those gripes aside  there is some good stuff as well . richard greico and chasey lain are both dispatched early on  with greico  s nude torso ending up on a roasting spit and chasey  s guts hanging out from being torn in half  though how she ends up this way isn  t shown on  screen  . . . not bad for the first  minutes . the other kill scenes are pretty inventive  including jenna  s forced breast implant removal  a guy getting his colon pulled out through his ass  a knife through the face  and a few other notables . the implant and colon scenes also have uncut versions that are on the special features and it  s a shame the producers made them chop  em  so to speak . also the film moves along at a pretty good clip once it gets moving so you don  t really have too much time to be bored . the  creature  fx are also done competently which definitely helps . overall  evil breed was not nearly as bad as i expected . this one  along with satan  s little helper have almost renewed my interest in american low  budget straight  to  video films . i usually steer clear of them as a whole  but these two have been decent enough to give me some faith . evil breed is no masterpiece  but it is a decent way to blow   minutes  might not hurt to suck on a bottle of cheap bourbon while you  re at it  i know i was  and i  m sure it didn  t hurt the experience .  .      
i have seen poor movies in my time  but this really takes the biscuit  why oh why has this film been made  there just is nothing here whatsoever . please put your trust in me  flick the off switch and destroy your copy of this film . there is a plot . . . that could take about  minutes to show on camera . this is the key problem  the story  based on a true story   mmm . . . whatever  just in no way lends itself to be padded out for   minutes . and so we therefore have to sit through over an hour of watching people walk around . that is it  in the whole first half an hour absolutely nothing happens  apart from watching someone walk to a shop . . . and then  guys walking through a wood . this time could perhaps have been spent on developing character . . . but no . and so there is absolutely no connection to the people on screen  and so when they start to get shot  we couldn  t care less  in fact i was in the end vouching for the baddie so that the film would end  on top of this the camera work is truly horrific  this director  editor  writer  producer  ti west is rubbish . i hate to hit a guy  but really  his work is pants  these dull close ups continuously  and then long single takes following people as they walk  i  m sure he thinks he  s clever  but the results are so dull i just wanted to stop the film and slit my wrists  how this man has been brought on to direct the next cabin fever movie is beyond me  to finish  the acting is also woeful  . . . which goes for the film as a whole . preserve your sanity  stick clear of this heap of total excrement   
i don  t watch much porn  but i love porn stars . and i love gory movies . so when i heard about a porn  star gore movie  i was really excited . of course  that was years ago and when i heard about all the trouble with making and finishing the movie  i never thought i  d actually get to see it . but i did and i  m not ashamed to admit i loved it  even with all its flaws .  br    br   first  the flaws . the story is set in ireland and is called samhain  but the story it seemed to want to tell is about the sawney beane clan from scotland . so why not just set it there and skip the third  grade report about samhain  irish immigrants  halloween  also  it breaks its own rules by stating that you  re safe on the trails  but then the cannibal mutants just start running amok everywhere . it  s never clear how many cannibals we  re dealing with . there  s a big stone castle that  s obviously ancient  yet no one  s noticed it before . the self  conscious horror film references are annoying and so are the characters . the heroine has a flashback montage of all her dead friends that include a character she never met . the ending makes no sense .  br    br   so what works  the gore  sure i would have liked more  but it was refreshing to see such a nasty movie that wasn  t afraid to be nothing more than a gore movie . two murders are waay over the top and taylor hayes has a nice disgusting scene . the two wild murders are even given extended shots on the dvd . i  ve always been of the mind that gore can overcome a stupid story and evil breed reinforced that .  
  trigger man  is definitely the most boring and silliest movie i  ve ever seen in my life . my aunt  s holiday videos are more fascinating .  br    br   the actors seem to be recruited at uglypeople . com . they do not have any talent to act in a convincing manner .  br    br   they walk and walk and walk through the forest . there  s more walking  around than in all three parts of  the lord of the rings  together . after the first hour  i began to read a porsche brochure while watching  trigger man  along the way . awful .  br    br   a total waste of time and money . i  d give that movie  stars out of    since this is not possible  i have to give  star .  
a bunch of american students and their tutor decide to visit the ugliest part of ireland in order to study ancient religious practices . despite being repeatedly warned about the dangers of straying off the beaten path  by the local creepy irish guy  natch   they do just that  and wind up with their insides on the outside courtesy of a family of inbred cannibals  the descendants of the infamous sawney bean clan  who according to the film  s silly plot  upped sticks from scotland and settled on the emerald isle  .  br    br   if you think that porn stars plus low budget horror automatically equals tons of nudity and terrible acting  then think again evil breed is bristling with adult stars  but in fact  there  s not nearly as much nudity as one might expect given the  talent  involved  and the acting  although far from oscar worthy  ain  t all that bad  with the exception of ginger lynn allen  who we know can do marvellous  french   but whose irish is lousy  .  br    br   evil breed opens in superb style with the brutal slaughter of a couple of amorous campers after some brief under  canvas sex  the silicone enhanced hottie is dragged from the tent and torn in half the guy has his arms and legs cut off and is roasted on a spit . it  s a very gory start  and bodes well for the rest of the film .  br    br   unfortunately  after this promising beginning  things start to go seriously downhill we are introduced to the main characters  an annoying bunch of twenty  somethings just begging to become cannibal chow  and are subjected to a fair amount of time wasting in the form of some terrible false scares  a lot of blarney about murderous druids from local irish weirdo gary  simon peacock   and worst of all  some sub  scream  post  modernistic conversation about the conventions of horror films  how clever   .  br    br   then  just as it looks as though the film is never going to get any better  director christian viel decides to get serious a guy gets a knife rammed through his head and there  s a gratuitous sex  in  the  shower scene featuring lovely blonde gillian leigh  not a porn star  but i  m sure there  s a career there waiting if she wants it  . after that  things improve rapidly as the cannibals kick into top flesh  eating gear  and the film is transformed into a veritable bloodbath gary has a machete rammed up his ass  about time    and is strangled with his intestines ginger lynn kick  boxes a mutant jenna jameson is torn open  eviscerated and has her silicone breast implant gnawed on by confused cannibal a guy gets decapitated by cheese wire and taylor hayes is seen bloody  bruised and naked with a dead foetus between her legs  apparantly  she  s been captured and used as breeding stock  .  br    br   all of this is so outrageously gory that it makes sitting through the less interesting stuff worthwhile  and earns evil breed a final rating of     .  br    br   nb . a very troubled production and studio meddling resulted in christian viel eventually abandoning the project . re  shoots were done and the gore was heavily trimmed for a us release . the good news is that although the film doesn  t flow as well as it might have  and is cursed with a terrible ending  the uk dvd  the version i watched  seems to have been left relatively intact as far as the splatter is concerned  only   s were cut from the film in total  .  
minimal script  minimal character development  minimal steady camera . maximum stretched scenes  maximum headache inducing jerky zooms  maximum characters walking around in the woods doing nothing . up until the time flashes on the screen of      pm  you can fast forward and miss nothing  since there are three hunters who we know nothing about doing nothing . to be fair  the movie does have some string music that was interesting  so perhaps a music video would have been the way to go with this . unfortunately that was not to be  and what should have been a twenty minute short is stretched beyond belief . forget about  trigger man   i know i am trying to .  merk  
this film evil breed the legend of samhain contains very little thought or effort . it is ridiculed with specs of ultra fast  slasher  style death and plain disgusting acts of death . the acting was rated a d as the actors show very little ability  and the stupidity of them in the film is too questionable . the way they portrayed what people their ages act like was incredibly different . the odd split of porn is fit in thought it really doesn  t offer much  and any area that is respectable but is quite quickly run down with absolute gut wrenching death . example is the poor fellow whom is disemboweled from his anus  and the scene lasts for about  minutes . it is terribly obvious of how little of a fight the kids put up . this film is a good choice for someone who likes to watch some awful deaths and practically torture .  
adapting plays into cinema is often a bad idea because they  re two different mediums . do you think it  s a great idea to make zulu into a stage play  imagine it where two valiant redcoats sit in a tent gasping  blimey there  s thousands of them out there  great movie and a bad stage play  br    br   in order for a stage play to make great cinema there  s two essentials needed  br    br     a fine cast that creates on screen chemistry  br    br     great dialogue  br    br   on paper cher and chazz palminterri would be a good casting choice but not in these roles . the story revolves around a hit  man played by palminterri breaking into a house to kill a wife played by cher with most of the action taking place inside the house . i was unable to take these two characters seriously though perhaps it was the fault of the script which can  t decide whether it was trying to be serious or funny . since the story is very static it  s of the utmost importance that the dialogue shines and once again because of the bizarre tone of the screenplay it embarrasses more than anything else with much of the conversation revolving around sex acts . if you want to see a great translation of a stage play transferred to the silver screen give faithful a miss and watch   angry men instead  
if you were a director that was looking to cast female victims for a slasher movie  then surely it would make sense to add a couple of porn stars  it  s not as if they  re inexperienced in front of the camera  they have no qualms with the requisite nudity and how many unattractive porn queens can you name  christian viel obviously recognized the potential of mixing hardcore actresses with hard  gore effects and so he cast four of adult cinema  s sexiest and most notorious stars . jenna jameson  chasey lain  ginger lynn allen and taylor hayes all turn up for cameos in arguably the most intriguing slasher flick to be released since scream reinvigorated the genre .  br    br   samhain was originally intended for a cinema release in october      thus keeping in check with the halloween  based synopsis . unfortunately  the shoot was plagued by numerous problems  which have thus prevented the feature from achieving the exposure that it deserves . last i heard it had been signed by film     here in the uk and was penned for a late october release direct to dvd . unfortunately that label has got a peerlessly abysmal track record with dtv slashers . not content with polluting our shelves with camp blood and its follow up  they were also responsible for unleashing granny  bleed and the rancid paranoid . could samhain finally be worthwhile ammunition to their contemptible catalogue cannon   br    br   five canadian  american students and their teacher head to southern ireland as part of their history course . upon arrival they are told the legend of a cannibalistic clan that roamed the hills of scotland and murdered locals for food . the cannibals were eventually caught and burnt at the stake  but it  s rumored that one of the tribe escaped and headed to the woodland of ireland to find refuge . after the kids have settled and begun doing what all massacre  fodder does in these flicks  the mandatory goody two  shoes  and definite heroine candidate  begins to be spooked by a shadow creeping around late at night . could it be that the flesh hungry maniac is still at large in the forest  well what do you think   br    br   it looks as if samhain  s production was jinxed right from the start . almost immediately wallmart refused to develop jenna jameson  s nude make  up shots  and chasey lain began acting characteristically like a drugged  out primadonna . finally to add insult to injury  the producers got cold feet just before the flick was about to hit shelves and began talking of re  editing and removing all the gore . reports have said that they were unhappy about the copious amounts of violence and they wanted to trim scenes down so it would achieve an r rating . veil of course disagreed  seeing how his entire synopsis was boosted by its creatively graphic display . eventually after months of arguments  the director parted company with warehouse productions and the feature was once again locked in the vaults .  br    br   despite countless disruptions  veil  s slasher opus is still one of the best genre pieces to be released since the new millennium . the copy i was sent was the pre  release screener  which was obviously a test press without sound effects or the complete soundtrack . but still it boasted a few credible jump  scares  some superb cinematography and a couple of the goriest set pieces that i  ve seen for some time . one guy is disemboweled via his rectum before being strangled with his own intestine  jenna jameson is stripped naked and gutted in unflinching close up and chasey lain ends up  spilling her guts  after an unfortunate rescue attempt from her boyfriend  richard grieco  . even though the murders are uncommonly gruesome  samhain never feels mean spirited  which is basically due to the characters being thinly portrayed as basic slasher clichs . in all honesty the script was perhaps the movies biggest downfall  because the dialogue was not so much inspired by wes craven  s scream movies as it was flagrantly cut and pasted from them .  br    br   certainly the inclusion of the mouth  watering jenna jameson was a great move by the producers . her fans will be excited to know that she does whip off her top  as expected  and so does chasey lain and taylor hayes . but samhain is no soft porn movie  and it benefits from sticking to the structure that it set out to produce . it  s worth noting that the aforementioned xxx stars almost out  perform the supposed  actors  of the feature  which isn  t much of a complement . ginger lynn was at least notable  if you ignore the shameful  oirish accent   and her battle with the hulking killer was superbly performed and choreographed by alan chou . taylor and jenna delivered expectedly poor dramatics  which could have been caused by the numerous problems on  set . veil  s direction of the cinematography was excellently constructed and he provides some much  needed injections of suspense . exciting and crisp photography is mixed with a good flair for storytelling and the net result is a slasher extravaganza to satisfy even the most critical gore hounds .  br    br   it will be interesting to see what kind of final cut is released of samhain . rumor has it that a second director was drafted in to shoot a different ending  and i  m curious as to how much of the explicit gore will remain intact for worldwide distribution . if the end result is only half as good as the rough print that i watched  then it  s still better than nearly all of the genre pieces that have been unleashed over the past ten years . this one is certainly worth checking out  
anemic comedy  drama  an unhappy  seemingly rushed affair featuring cher as a woebegone housewife who slowly makes friends with the hit  man who  s been hired to kill her by her husband . chazz palminteri  as the talkative hired gun  adapted the screenplay from his own play  with stagy set  ups and back  and  forth dialogue that quickly tires the eye and ear . an air of gloom hangs over the entire project  and director paul mazursky can  t get cher out of her perpetual funk  she  s listless  . despite all the top talent  including robert de niro as one of the producers    faithful  is fraudulent  with no substance to the story and characters who rarely come to life .     from   
if you want your vision of chaplin limited to a lovable tramp and you get your belly laughs from pathos  watch something else . if  however  you love slapstick comedy as performed by one of the best  do watch this one .  br    br   the image is of the tramp who really cannot get the girl . he spots another couple kissing on a park bench  and he has a blast ruining their fun .  br    br   this is one of chaplin  s  park comedies   filmed in mack sennett  s park  with pickpockets and cops and couples . these shorts work  as the format allows chaplin to shine as he weaves through predicaments .  br    br   i checked the box  as this could be considered a spoiler  though it  s not if you  ve seen these films . everyone ends up in the pond except chaplin . he gets the girl  who in this case was played by minta durfee  a . k . a . mrs . roscoe  fatty  arbuckle .  
this mini series  also based on a book by alex haley as was queen   tried to use similar formulas  that is  constructing a long history following the lives of a family over many years . whereas in queen  the result was masterful  here in mama flora the inspiration was lacking . firstly perhaps in the book itself  and most certainly in this tv production . too much is put in with too much haste over the years  such that the unfolding saga is shallow  superficial  not nearly so authentic as in queen  . full marks for the scenification in the earlier parts of the film  which was prepared with great care  but as the film progressed it seemed to degenerate into a kind of dallasian  forsythian unpalatable mix in the last third of its three hours or so duration . i had hoped for more but evidently haley was less inspired with this tale than his near  biographical queen   and peter werner iii is no match for john erman . only recommendable for those who have an appetite for these lengthy tales of generations growing up .  
i saw this important intense film tonight . its richard gere and claire  s dane  s most important and best work . gere deserves an oscar for his fine portrayal of a man being forced into early retirement as a sex offender registrar administrator . claire danes is riveting as the woman gere handpicks to replace him  a woman he tries to teach all he can while investigating one final case in which gere  s character is convinced one of those he is charged to monitor may be holding a young girl hostage . the subject matter is shocking  sex offenders and those who monitor them  but this film will not soon be forgotten . i know i will be haunted by gere  s portrayal for a very long time . not since anthony hopkins portrayal of a serial killer has a screen portrayal terrified and so engaged me . the film opens with a shocking statistic so don  t miss the opening credits . intense and memorable . richard gere  s finest role proving the man can act . danes can as well and both do extraordinarily well in this often challenging film .  br    br   this is a gutsy film and gere gives a multi  layered deeply felt performance . just give him the oscar now . . . he deserves it   
ok so i was bored and i watched it all the way through .  br    br   this film is mild  inoffensive and lacklustre . the story is so sugary it rots your teeth on the opening titles . a tail of two  traumatised  children learning about  god  the fairy story way which frankly left me rather traumatised . it uses the irish  blarney  in such a stereotypical way one hopes no true irish ever see it . aimed at children who frankly would switch off after the first attempt at an  oirish  accent . all in all why do they pump these out .  
my only minor quibble with the film i grew up knowing as stairway to heaven  is the fact that the wonderful raymond massey is relegated to the last twenty or so minutes in the trial scene . and the trial itself  imo  is the least interesting portion of this fascinating fantasy .  br    br   david niven and kim hunter are wonderfully cast as the young lovers  but it  s roger livesey who gives the liveliest and most credible performance . french accented marius goring is a delight  he even gets in a remark about technicolor  as the heavenly messenger sent to reclaim niven when his wartime death goes unreported due to an oversight . goring has some of the wittiest lines and delivers them with relish .  br    br   seeing this tonight on tcm for the first time in twenty or so years  i think it  s a supreme example of what a wonderful year     was for films . the technicolor photography  somewhat subdued and not garish at all  is excellent and the way it shifts into bw for the heavenly sequences is done with great imagination and effectiveness .  br    br   the opening scene is the sort that really draws a viewer into the fantasy aspects of the story   and niven  s tense talk with radio operator hunter while his plane is crashing toward earth  unexpectedly leads to a memorable romantic encounter . truly a marvelous film from beginning to end  another triumph for michael powell and emeric pressburger .  
after we counted the use of the f word  oh  about   times in the first   minutes or so of the film  listened to some really bad actors going on about a woman and a horse  and pretty much acting like   year old boys being naughty together  well  we turned it off . relying on gratuitous profanity and potty humor is a sure sign of a loser hollywood movie  the product of unimaginative and no  talent writers .  br    br   we did give it a second chance  thinking surely it would get better . no dice . later  my boyfriend skipped through the rest of the movie in case it improved  still no dice .  br    br   the main character did have a cool bike .  br    br   i wouldn  t recommend this to anyone except maybe really immature adolescents  or frat boys .  
its a shame she didn  t get screen credit  she by far did the best job in the film has the girl on the cross  best part of the movie . she had much more impact than avril  or just about anyone else in the film . she almost made s  m look like fun  she really was believable has the s  m model that gets scared of her situation . although they seem to really have messed up that sort of dreamy feeling of looking for the bad guy  those sets were very well built but they just sort of skimmed the surface of what was shot . this is one film were both cuts should be made available . it seems they left out a lot of what was shot  and almost all of the really dark stuff that would have made the film much more demented . its kind of like they stopped short of the mark they were going for during filming . what was shot would not have gotten a r rating probably a nc    or x  but that is what it would have needed to make the film they way it should have been .  
first let me be honest . i did not watch all this movie . i watched the first five minutes and when i realized that i had nearly fallen to sleep i decided that i may as well fast forward and see if it got any more interesting later on . . . it didn  t . this film is just a collection of lame attempts to make a story which is already uninteresting and badly told into something that it would never become a decent horror movie . because i feel it is important to say that even a movie with poor special effects can still be good if it is well made . this film isn  t and will only put you into a deep sleep if you attempt to watch it . lastly i feel it is important to say that i think this movie is in the publicdomain so if you feel that you must absolutely watch it than a littlesearch on the internet will surely show you a place where you won  t need to pay to watch this pile of cinematographic dung .  
since their nasty divorce from the disney company  with disney keeping the miramax brand  the weinstein company seems to specialize in above average movies which are then under  promoted and seen by few . the flock is a prime example .  br    br   a story about the civil servants who have the nasty job of keeping track of registered sex offenders  this picture will tell you more about sex criminals than an entire season of law and order  svu .  br    br   richard gere gives his best  ever performance as the soft  spoken agent worn  out by the task . claire danes for once has the opportunity to get into a solid role  instead of the junk she normally gets stuck in  and she makes the most of playing the novice . the cinematography  pacing  editing  all of it is first rate    and i saw no trace of the attention  deficit  disorder camera jump  around or excess camera cuts that others complained about . the subject is handled with restraint  but it  s still a tough subject and might make you sick .  br    br   fifty years ago there was almost no problem with the kinds of sex crimes herein shown in abundance which will shock even the jaded . then came the supreme court decisions which simultaneously tied police hands as the  rights  of sex perverts were opened up and america was turned into a shopper  s paradise for sexual perversity  both willing and unwilling . each such step was met with praise by liberals  who celebrated the warren court  s ill deeds with glossy covers on time and newsweek . everyday liberals also praised the court  s action and mocked those who disagree . in     how many americans know that the kind of pornography that depicts savage violence and torture of young women   can be subscribed to  and delivery of it is subsidized by the discount periodicals rate by the us post office . just one part of the problem   a problem that can tare anyone  s family to shreds .  br    br   richard gere is a liberal  but he gives his best in his performance here . perhaps in his maturing age he  s gained a measure of wisdom .  
ha . without a doubt tommy  s the evil one here . i don  t know why  but for some reason  little kids in horror movies tend to come across as little butt munches . and since they  re kids  they won  t die . because they  re annoying . . . well . . except for asylum of terror . but those are few and far between .  br    br   anyway onto the movie . can  t find this movie on dvd  sure you can  all you have to do is buy the chilling classics dvd pack  not only do you get metamorphosis on dvd for     but you also get   other movies  what a bargain  pff . ok . i  m done advertising for these cheesy movies . let  s just say  this movie ain  t worth the   bucks on its own .  br    br   so we have a chemist scientist . yeah . cause all chemist scientists look as handsome as this guy playing peter . he  s trying to come up with a serum to stop deterioration of the body . the college he works at wants to pull the plug on his project  so he tries it on himself . but because this is a horror movie  he sucks it up and starts and incredibly long transformation sequence that takes nearly    of the movie .  br    br   to pad out the movie he gets into a relationship with some woman who has a son . and she was never married  scandalous  but of course tommy is one of the most irritating characters . . . . no . i take it back . he is the most irritating character . far worse than the old crippled guy who wants to take over peter  s work and gloats over him while he  s in the hospital . that  s right  even as an old cripple  you can still be the villain .  br    br   so we see peter start to randomly kill some people in visions he has until he realizes he  s the one doing it and just decides to kill everyone in his path to get back to normal . however at the end he ends up de  evolving into a lizard . yeah  i know don  t ask . the ending really doesn  t make any sense . and if you  re hoping for any really good payoff  you  re not going to get it .  br    br   this isn  t a horrible movie . . . . it  s just frustrating because of the lack of a good payoff . if you already own the   movie pack and this is next on your list  you  re not in for a snoozer  but you  re also not in for a great movie . just sit back  relax  and eat a lot of snack food . because this movie isn  t going to be making you jump out of your skin anytime soon .  br    br   metamorphosis gets  plastic lizard heads  out of   .  
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   a notably bad actor  getting by on his  now fading  looks rather than any strong dramatic talent  richard gere has always occupied a rather curious position in the american hollywood scene  always a sure bet in leading man roles who still holds a notable presence today . but nowadays he seems to have settled more into these sort of direct to dvd  limited release roles and as such maybe seems to be more settled in his forte now .  br    br   he has to draw on some stern matter here as hardened  cynical case worker earl babbage  one such worker assigned to a few hundred sex offenders in one area of the us  who along with his new protg allison allthrop  claire danes  must take to his latest case  delving into the abduction of a young woman while trying to forgive himself for a case he failed on ages ago .  br    br   this is a certain dive into the darker side of humanity  treading on material definitely not for the squeamish or those looking for light viewing . and as such it  s a pretty strong  compelling film  unflinching and not constrained by it  s direct to dvd budget . the only thing really pulling it back is the overly used jittery  fast cutting camera sequences used in the more dramatic moments that look a bit corny after a while . but it  s still some of the solidest material i  ve seen gere in  relentlessly getting darker and more over the edge as it goes on .   
i unknowingly had this movie on my shelf for a while in a mill creek collection  and one night i just decided to watch it though not expecting much . as the beginning credits roll around i  m surprised to discover this film was made under the filmirage company . filmirage brought the world such amazing stinkers as  troll     ator the invincible   and  quest for the mighty sword   so i was compelled to watch .  br    br   as the movie started out it had potential to be pretty decent  even though it was unoriginal . the gore scenes could have been improved if they were extended and more frequent . but after a while into the film  the pace started dragging and i found myself thinking  okay someone better get killed soon   or  someone better mutate  . at the onset of this drag  when i was having these thoughts  though someone may have gotten killed or have mutated  however as noted  the gore and effects weren  t very good . what made matters worse was that the scene transitions were confusing example first dr . houseman would be at the zoo  then he  d have a flash back about possibly killing someone  finally he  d wake up in a cold sweat in bed   making the audience ask  was he dreaming he was at the zoo   . like the movie  s pace  these scene transitions got progressively worse .  br    br   i could try to say the character development of dr . houseman was pretty good  but towards the end of the film  that is  once you  ve seen what the doctor has metamorphosed into  hopefully you  ll laugh   which really  is the only reason to see this movie at least once this movie unintentionally runs like a long  winded joke .  br    br   the costume of the um  thing that doctor houseman becomes can also be seen in joe d  amato  s  quest for the mighty sword   which was made in the same year . you  ve gotta love filmirage movies  they  re always re  using the same stuff   
this is the first review i  ve wrote for imdb so bare with me  but i caught this flick on hbo and was sure glad i watched it . richard gere is great in this film as the passionate agent  detective who bends the rules to get the job done . i think the story is great  and there  s never a dull scene that slows the pace of the movie down . some parts of the movie which have to do with demented sex addicts are pretty shocking  but if you  ve ever seen a crime film like se  en  you  ll be able to stomach the scenes just fine .  br    br   so all in all  if you  re looking for a good detective  suspense movie  ignore the low rating this movie got on imdb and definitely watch it .  
as others have mentioned  this movie is similar to the fly  both versions  and the lesser known sci  fi flick altered states . the big difference is that those two movies were well made by people who knew what they were doing and were good at it . metamorphosis did not have these advantages . metamorphosis is a potentially interesting science fantasy story that had the wrong people in charge of it and the wrong actors playing the roles .  br    br   the story follows scientist dr . peter houseman  gene lebrock   an obsessed man working on a genetic cure to aging and death . when the university he works for threatens to cut funding  he decides to inject the anti  aging serum into himself . as a result  dr . houseman spends the rest of the movie slowly turning into a lizard . and oh yes  watching the good doctor go through the process of becoming that lizard is a great joy . it really is so bad that it  s good . some of the lines are classic  what was it    a nightmare . . . from the past    br    br   many of the reviews that i  ve read for this point up how stupid and ridiculous the last five minutes of this movie are . i  m just going to go ahead and spoil it the good doctor goes from being a shuffling half  man  half  lizard thing to being what appears to be a man in a rejected godzilla costume  when the police finally gun him down . in the final scene  some obnoxious kid is seen with a little pet lizard which he claims will never die  and the movie  s heroine  sally donnelly  catherine baranov  evidently decides that the little lizard is the final incarnation of dr . houseman . the camera then gives us a close  up of the lizard  s face this is  i assume  the director  s way of showing us that the lizard is evil . yes  it is goofy  but i fell over laughing so i can  t complain .  br    br   i watched this movie because it was a part of the chilling classics   movie megapack that i purchased . i  m sure many of those who are reading this did exactly the same thing  as the   pack is the only way to see this movie on dvd . if you have recently bought the boxed set and haven  t watched this movie yet  it really is worth your time  even if i did just ruin the ending for you . it might also be possible to find this movie online for free .  
hong kong directors crossing over to hollywood to make movies is nothing new  with the temporary exodus of the likes of tsui hark  john woo  ringo lam in the   s . from their collective output  only a few movies  or may i say just one   made an impact at the box office . the andrew lau and alan mak partnership has been a tour de force in recent hk cinematic history  especially with their now famous infernal affairs trilogy which was remade into martin scorsese  s the departed  so it  s no surprise when hollywood comes knocking on the door .  br    br   but without fellow collaborator mak  who usually has script  story duties  how did lau fare with writers hans bauer and craig mitchell  it  s like the x  files without the x  in the way the story is crafted  the characters and the parallels drawn with the chris carter series . richard gere and claire danes pair up ala david duchovny and gillian anderson  only that they don  t belong to any federal investigative agency who bear arms  but are employees of protective services  who  s chief role is to ensure that sexual predators who belong to their jurisdiction  are kept safe from society when they are released from having served time . hence they are the shepherds tending to their flock  only that their flock suffer from sick sexual perversion with the propensity for violence .  br    br   the parallels in characterization are so blatantly obvious  that it  s just a cosmetic touch up on the outside . like fox mulder  gere  s erroll babbage is a strange  lonely man  consumed by his obsession in his quest to doggedly harass his flock to tote the line . pained by a failed attempt to rescue a missing child  just like how mulder pines for his missing sister  babbage is shunned by colleagues and given the marching orders disguised as a retirement plan . he has deep disgust for the people he  s monitoring  sick of their crimes and what they stand for  that he has no qualms in using unorthodox methods  short of flying off the handle while dishing out illegal  preemptive punishment . at the same time  he too has strong urges that he has to fight against  in order not to cross the line into becoming like those he loathes . as part of routine  he also scans newspapers and tabloids for clues and leads toward his objective  that of seeking closure  salvation for himself  and possessing a strong belief that the truth is still out there  and he wants to believe .  br    br   danes  allison lowry on the other hand  is the ingnue brought in to replace babbage . but in the meantime while learning the ropes on the job for the next   days  she is required to spy on him  and to report his shenanigans  pretty much like what dana scully was tasked to do with fox mulder . as the disbeliever of pre  emptiveness and holding onto the notion that those discharged back to society have been cured of their temptations  she slowly starts to see what babbage sees  and understands that it takes a whole lot more than being just a desk and administrative job if she truly wants to help people .  br    br   and it is this discovery of the world of fetishes and deviant sexual practices  that we open all our eyes to  much like how  mm starring nicolas cage brought snuff films into the spotlight . it  s a decent investigative drama with the usual red herrings  and my  are they really good ones as it made you wonder quite often if your guesses are correct  and you soon find yourself firing from the hip as you get proved incorrect at alarming frequency  though i don  t credit this to a tight narrative  but more from the sprawling number of characters  watch out for avril lavigne  s cameo  and sub plots . the scene in the darkened ware  shophouse was akin to se  en  s david mills and william somerset when they raided john doe  s apartment and find plenty of bizarreness inside  though here  given the subject nature  it wasn  t lingered upon much .  br    br   apparently  the flock somehow decided that enrique chediak  s cinematography was good enough  despite its very strange style of having no style  utilizing almost every trick in the book to try and recreate feelings of watching another se  en  only that this was deeply steeped in tinges of brown  rather than the doom and gloom of black . it does take a little while to get used to this  and i put this effect as one which actually distracts from what is happening in the story . not a really good move though  with somewhat frequent repetition of scenes involving flashbacks .  br    br   but the flock still makes decent entertainment  though x  philes out there would probably find it hard not to picture their favourite actors in the lead roles  given so much similarities in character . gere and danes do put forth some chemistry as the old fogey  heh  and his protg  and while it  s not exactly great  andrew lau did manage to pull off something enjoyable .  
metamorphosis i am working my way through the chilling classics   movie pack collection and metamorphosis is the seventh movie in the set . released in      metamorphosis seems to be a remake of  the atom age vampire   which also featured a scientist striving for similar results . set in modern times  metamorphsis is not my kind of horror movie .  br    br   a university researcher is working to crack the human genome in order to create a serum that would prevent aging . pressured by the administration to publish his papers and  produce some results  or risk losing funding   the scientist decides to use himself as a guinea pig  at first thinking that he suffered no adverse side effects  he eventually discovers that the serum has indeed altered him in the most unexpected manner   br    br   the acting is stilted and  the performances left me with a much diminished interest in the film . the score is pandering . and  the science behind the experiments and their findings is not only fallacious it  s absurd it  s ridiculous  at best .  br    br   as others noted  the end turns into a    minute gag  which is seemingly endless . without giving too much away  i  d call this one   dr . jekyll and mr . hyde meet the creature from the black lagoon meets home alone .   
all i can say is  first movie this season that got my attention . i picked it because of the actors  gere and claire  and the story looked promising . . i have just watched it and i can say  i  m overwhelmed . there are shocking scenes  true . . but that  s what makes it more realistic . we shouldn  t run away from our reality  these things are happening right this moment . and there are experts who are trying to change things and make things better and who get laughed out about their commitment to the cause . actually i can  t seem to feel the  hollywood touch  in the movie . . and that  s what makes it better . both claire and richard did a great roles  and deserve a   from me .  
it  s the same old   if i can  t get the funding for my project  i  ll inject myself  monster movie . there is nothing new here . it  s a lot like the jeff goldblum  fly  movie . the man manages to keep some semblance of sanity  but eventually succumbs to the effects of his experiments . the acting is pretty bad . there are people acting stupidly all along the way  putting their lives in danger for no apparent reason . the guy keeps going back to the lab he has been forbidden to enter . then there  s his relationship with a young woman and her son . admittedly  he is good looking  but he seems like a lot of trouble . it  s just a pretty big waste of time . even his tyrannosaurus suit looks like it came off the rack at a star trek convention .  
erroll works for the department of public safety and his job is to check up on sex offenders . sometimes he pushes the line at his job and beats on the sex offenders . i don  t blame him but his boss is ready for him to retire so along comes allison . erroll is now training her to do his job and it  s like job shadowing . allison is somewhat naive about the job in the beginning but she doesn  t realize how much danger she really is and it  s all erroll  s fault . he starts to go to far with his obsession of finding a missing girl when his job isn  t to be a police officer .  br    br   it  s a fairly decent movie about a crazy guy who pushes the boundaries and works outside his  scope of practice .  erroll did do a good job but at the sake of the safety of allison . it has some good mystery to it too and just when i had it figured out  there was more to it .  
  metamoprhis  is the story of a dashing young scientist  revered at the local college  is brought under investigation by financial providers for the college . this forces him to take shortcuts in typical bad  hollywood melodramatic fashion .  br    br   my first thought after this movies conclusion was this .  not good  but not bad  for early  to  mid eighties .  of course  i then realized that it was made in      which almost propelled it down to a     but decided to keep it at the mediocre    that it is .  br    br    metamorphis  does on a few occasions  seem like a good movie desperately trying to get out . the acting  while not stellar  is mostly competent . you can even see the occasional glisten of a modest quality . pacing is a large problem with the movie . after thinking i had been watching for ninety minutes  i realized i  d only been watching an hour . special effects aren  t stellar  but the director seems to be mostly competent enough to work around that weakness .  br    br   the lead  a mildly charismatic male that seems to be attempting a blended channeling of tom cruise and christopher reeves  reminded me mostly of matt dillon  s character in  wild things  . the female heroine does an ok job  but does not distinguish herself in anyway . there  s a  naughty girl  role in here  and the actress does what she can with it  but it doesn  t seem like much . there is a child actor that the director can  t decide if he  s morose  cheerful or just weird .  br    br   pacing  as i said  is the worst problem with this movie  until a final battle with the bad guy that would make a power ranger blush . it is bizarre and inexplicable  until the final scene which is supposed to be dramatic but simply hilarious  saturated with every bad camera trick and overacting that can be compressed in about thirty seconds .  br    br   a decent one  time watch on the  mill creek   chilling movie pack  . nothing that is going to bring you back  and nothing to buy on its own .  
i caught this movie late at night on cable  and i was pleasantly surprised . i can only imagine the reason this movie was not better known  is because the subject matter is very disturbing . but if you can handle the sexual abuse topic  it is a well acted  suspenseful and very interesting movie . both richard gere and claire daines are very good in it . and although the subject matter is not for the faint of heart  the movie doesn  t go out of its way to be brutal either  like  mm for instance  .  br    br   i highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys serial killer and suspense type movies .  
meet peter houseman  rock star genetic professor at virgina university . when he  s not ballin  on the court he  s blowing minds and dropping panties in his classroom lectures . dr . houseman is working on a serum that would allow the body to constantly regenerate cells allowing humans to become immortal . i  d want to be immortal too if i looked like christian bale and got the sweet female lovin that only vu can offer . an assortment of old and ugly university professors don  t care for the popular houseman and cut off funding for his project due to lack of results . this causes peter to use himself as the guinea pig for his serum . much to my amazement there are side effects and he  get this  metamorphoses  into something that is embedded into our genetic dna that has been repressed for  millions of years  . he also beds dr . mike  s crush sally after a whole day of knowing her . she has a son . his name is tommy . he is an angry little boy .  br    br   metamorphosis isn  t a terrible movie  just not a well produced one . the whole time i watched this i couldn  t get past the fact that this was filmed in     . the look and feel of the movie is late seventies quality at the latest . it does not help that it  s packaged along with      s movies as metamorphosis is part of mill creek entertainment  s   chilling classics . there is basically no film quality difference whatsoever . the final five minutes are pure bad movie cheese that actually  for me at least  save the movie from a lower rating . pay attention to the computer terminology such as  cromosonic anomaly  . no wonder peter  s experiment failed . your computer can  t spell  this is worthy of a view followed by a trip to your local tavern .  
the flock is unjustly maligned as a lesser  se  en  ripoff . there  s really no reason to compare the two  except maybe for the similar scenery in the final showdown .  br    br   now that that  s out of the way i  ll go into why the flock is very interesting in some respects . mostly it  s a drama piece rather than a full blown thriller about a very vigilant social worker who monitors sexual offenders . at the very beginning you can clearly see his work has got the better of him . evident in two scenes where first he  s interviewing an offender and slaps him around and second when a woman tries to pick him up and all he can think of are his standard questions from his questionnaire .  br    br   gere is very good as errol babbage  the aforementioned social worker . his way of performing his job is not unlike that of a police officer  he carries a gun and is constantly checking newspapers and supplies law officials with information if some of his  flock  may be responsible for a sexual crime . he  s also a person who  s lost all happiness of living and his only relief seems to come from exacting his own vigilante justice on his flock . twice you see him smile  once when he  s apologizing for treating his partner rudely and the other after he  s beaten up a member of his flock .  br    br   as a suspense flick  the flock isn  t as successful . somewhat confusing and with some irritating plot holes but it does have a number of striking set pieces .  br    br   overall the flock is a solid drama about a man performing a dehumanizing job and in the end he has to work hard to keep from being swallowed by the abyss he  s surrounded himself in . the world we live in is a pretty sick place and the further one can distance himself from the worst the happier that person is . the flock gets that point across nicely .  
all the elements for a bad night at the movies are in place dialog riddled with biological techno  babble  chintzy sets  balsa  wood acting  a horrific late     s casio score  and an overall look that suggests anything on the sci  fi channel  s programming schedule  circa     . though  metamorphosis  starts off with a lot of promise  the film unravels into bland idiocy and mst  k  style cheese as clark kent wannabe  doctor  peter houseman  gene lebrock  is pressured into releasing information on his secretive projects . but when he tests his vague experiment on himself  he transforms into a vaguely  defined creature  that bears more than a passing resemblance to  dr . freudstein  from  house by the cemetery   . the fx work is fairly good for such an obviously low  budget production  though i suspect most of it is kept in shadow for a reason   but overall   metamorphosis  leaves a bad retro aftertaste in your guts  in spite of its hopes to sway us otherwise . i can  t help but agree with one character  s closing remark   it was  a nightmare . . . from the past    
gere and danes star as  workers for the department of public safety who keep track of released sex offenders . gere  who plays babbage  refers to them as his flock . gere is an over obsessed vigilante whom is on his way out . he is training  new comer allison  to take over his job . gere sees his flock as very sick  disturbed puppies . he asks them questions that are not on the list  and tries to act like the police and solve crimes . he keeps getting warned for this behavior  hence the reason he is being replaced . during his final few days on the job  a young girl goes missing  and babbage is sure it is one of his flock whom has gone astray . him and allison narrow a list down and discover some of the offenders have gone awol . so  he decides that he needs to track the missing girl down rather than help the police . that part is a little far fetched .  br    br   there is some sick  twisted stuff shown in this film . like when babbage and allison go to this building where a bunch of sick people do disturbing things to each other . also  there are the people who kidnapped the girl . at the end of the film  we see what sick freaks they are . however  i wouldn  t call this movie excessive because not really much is shown on film .  br    br   final verdict if you like thrillers and films about serial killers and cops chasing killers  then you will like this .  
  metamorphosis  hold a tiny bit of cult  value  simply because it was written and directed by george eastman . this italian bloke is more or less the personification of male sleaze and starred in pretty much every rancid joe d  amato production during the late    s  early    s . wouldn  t it be interesting for avid euro  cult purchasers to own the only movie directed by the guy who walked around bare  butted in  erotic nights of the living dead  all the time  i thought so  now  unlike the movies he starred in  eastman  s own  metamorphosis  is kind of disappointing in the gore  sleaze departments . there are a handful of nasty murders  cheesy monster effects and naked female bodies  a guest appearance by sleaze  queen laura gemser   on display  but it  s mainly a talkative movie . the handsome  eloquent dr . houseman is on the verge of a scientific breakthrough with his research on human dna codes when suddenly the university he works for threatens to cancel his funds . he developed a theory to decode genes and block the human ageing process  but if he doesn  t come up with detailed reports any time soon  his research will be stopped . so dr . houseman does what any intelligent scientist would do and injects the untested serum into his own veins . needless to say  and like the title implies   he slowly turns into murderous monster that actually ages much quicker  in other words  his research sucked  like the other reviewers already mentioned  this movie  borrows  a lot of ideas from david cronenberg  s  the fly   the dramatic romance sub plot included  but doesn  t add any originality from its own . the big difference is that you constantly feel connected with jeff goldblum  s character in  the fly   whereas dr . houseman becomes just another monster that needs to be destroyed as fast as possible . the rapid  ageing  syndrome aspect also reminded me of ruggero deodato  s sadly underrated giallo  phantom of death   only the protagonist in that film inherited the disease and didn  t inflict it on himself . the physical deterioration of the carriers is very similar in both films  though . few scares or excitement to discover here  instead the movie features loads of bad acting  poor lighting  lousy editing and a completely retarded climax to boot . feel free to skip this one .  
this is probably one of the most original love stories i have seen for ages  especially for a war based  briefly  film . basically it is a story based in two worlds  one obviously real  the other fictitious but the filmmakers say at the beginning that it is only coincidence if it is a real place . anyway  peter carter  the great david niven  was going to crash in a plane  he talked to june  planet of the apes  kim hunter  before he bailed out and said he loved her . he was meant to die from jumping without a parachute  but somehow he survived  and now he is seeing and loving june in the flesh . this other place  like a heaven  is unhappy because he survived and was meant to come to their world  so they send french conductor    marius goring  to persuade him to go  but he is obviously in love . peter suggests to him that he should appeal to keep his life to the other world  s court  he is granted this . obviously love prevails when the two lovers announce that they would die for each other  june even offers to take his place  also starring robert coote as bob trubshawe  kathleen byron as an angel  a brief  then unknown  lord sir richard attenborough as an english pilot and abraham sofaer as the judge  the surgeon . david niven was number   on the   greatest british actors  the film was number   on the    greatest tearjerkers for the happy ending  it was number   on the    greatest war films  it was number   on the   greatest british films  and it was number   on the    greatest films . outstanding   
wow  this film is truly awful . i can  t imagine how anyone could have read this badly written script and given it the greenlight . the cast is uniformly second rate with some truly horrendous performances from virtually all of the cast . the story is disjointed  fragmented and incoherent . the telling  leaden and predictable . no wit  no charm  no humour . not sexy in the least . the characters remain as flat as the proverbial pancake . there  s also a strong current of misogyny which became increasingly hard to stomach as the film went on . when your lead  carrell  is unfunny and unappealing it  s uphill from there . despite it  s phony turn  around ending where love triumphs over lust i was left with a sick feeling in my stomach . if this is what passes for humour and social comment then we  re definitely doomed .  
i really like richard gere . . . i always have and it seems as of late that his status as a hollywood star and money maker has slipped but it would appear to me that the reason is that he is taking very mature  intense roles and has been very successful at it just not financially because i have seen him in some truly great gems as of late including the hoax  the hunting party  both must see films  see my reviews  and now this the flock which apparently was meant to be a big release considering it  s substantial   million  budget . it seems that some of the other imdb reviews are very  very harsh because i thought the film dealt with a potentially very serious social issue in a very direct  violent and disturbing way and gere just brings it all home . it  s an action thriller drama that kept my glued to the television with it  s story . i think part of the problem that people seem to have with it is that it hollywood  izes a very serious issue but i don  t think it does it with disrespect but rather tries to take a different spin to make people aware that this exists . in fact it  s much the same way that the hunting party dealt with war . hong kong director wai  keung lau did a decent job holding it together but i think the cast is what made it watchable .  br    br   richard gere as you may have guessed from my previous comments is brilliant as a social worker of sorts erroll babbage who has kind of created his own style and laws when it comes to keeping track of his  flock  who are registered violent sex offenders . he holds no punches in tracking these people  following them and making absolutely sure they don  t re  offend and if they do he  ll be the one to identify and stop them any way he can . gere is so intense and looks drained from this job and he  s become violent and angry at watching these monsters loose on the street . he is just fantastic . claire danes is also terrific as babbage  s new partner and his replacement who he has to train to do his job . danes  character is far more typical social worker and is a little taken aback by babbage  s style and methods but slowly realizes what he is trying to accomplish and go up against . the two of them are brilliant together and have terrific chemistry with such vastly different characters . kadee strickland plays a disturbed registered offender who appears to be torn from the headlines as she plays a character very reminiscent of karla homolka  paul bernardo  s wife who is now out  for those of you who follow canadian serial killers . her character goes a little over the top but she is convincing and horrifying all at once . russell sams has a small role as strickland  s new boyfriend and he would have been better probably given a bigger role . ray wise  who is a terrific character actor  check him out in dead end as well as the amazing turn as satan himself in the wb show reaper  and he gets a small but good role as the head of the public safety department and babbage  s boss .  br    br   the movie isn  t perfect despite the terrific performances of it  s lead cast . it takes liberties by really trying to make the film more entertainment than educational but it  s just a different angle not unlike the nicholas cage dud  mm . the flock takes you into the underbelly of the sex trade  kidnapping  human trafficking and more and is just really something to watch . perhaps it wasn  t directed or written as well as it could have been but i am telling you that danes and gere together make this movie completely watchable and a really great thriller . it  s disturbing but also something that isn  t very complex and yet gere  s character in many ways is intensely complex with many layers and also opens social stigma and makes you contemplate about vigilantism in many ways when you see the people gere deals with . i encourage you all to ignore poor reviews and see it for yourself because it  s worth checking out    .      
a young basketball  playing professor of genetics is doing research on the genetic sequence  using human fetuses . he hopes to be able to find a cure for all diseases and aging . he  s pressured into concluding his research because he hasn  t published  so the university is having trouble justifying funding him  i think  .  br    br   he does a trial injection on a monkey  which quickly dies . he then tries it on himself . he starts a relationship with the single mother of an extremely annoying little boy she  s the one who had been demanding results from the research .  br    br   initially  he seems to have no effects from the injection  except some new strength . he then realizes that he had some memory loss  and starts recalling what happened . additionally  he starts to appear very unhealthy .  br    br   since the movie is named metamorphosis  he does eventually change into something else . you won  t believe your eyes  either what he turned into  or the absolutely crappy costume the actor is wearing to depict what he  s turned into . incredibly  there  s a further change in store  the end of the movie is really  really absurd .  br    br   about the only thing this movie has going for it is that laura gemser is in it  but she has a very small part .  br    br   i  d once seen a the video box for this with a sculpted plastic form glued to the boxcover . possibly it might even have had some electronics in it at one time  perhaps eyes that light up  the main character  s eyes occasionally turn green in the movie  . the copy i watched had a box that only showed tear marks where the glue had held on the plastic  which had been removed . the novelty boxcover  if it still had it  would have been the only reason i would have held onto this movie i  m definitely getting rid of it .  
i did not have too much interest in watching the flock . andrew lau co  directed the masterpiece trilogy of infernal affairs but he had been fired from the flock and he had been replaced by an emergency director called niels mueller . i had the feeling that lau had made a good film but it had not satisfied the study  so they fired him and hired another director . this usually does not work well  let  s remember the invasion  . but the flock resulted to be better than what i expected . it  s not a great film but it  s an interesting and entertaining thriller . the character development is very well done and i could know the characters very well . also  the relationship between the two main characters is natural and credible . richard gere and claire danes bring competent performances . now  let  s go to the negative points . one element which really bothered me  there was a moment in which it irritated me  was the excess of edition tricks to give the movie more  attitude  and style . that tricks feel out of place and their presence is arbitrary . plus  i think the film should have been more ambitious . in spite of that  i recommend the flock as a good thriller . it  s not memorable at all  but it  s entertaining .  
hello i am from denmark  and one day i was having a film evening with my friends . one brought this movie with him  russian terminator  and it was extremely awful . after watching less than half a minute we decided to fast forward only stopping at some laughable  highlights  or should i say  lowlights  in the movie . i was actually mostly surprised to find out that this film was produced here in my homeland denmark . . . that must have been the biggest mistake this country ever made .  
after chicago  i was beginning to lose all respect for richard gere and then along came the flock . there  s just so far a nice smile and a couple of stock facial gestures can get you  but he proved to me that he  s finally gotten hold of his craft and can act with the best of them . clare danes was also super as his  trainee  replacement  . some have suggested there was too much unnecessary violence  but i don  t see it that way . nothing i saw detracted from the power of this film . i was really shocked i hadn  t heard of it being released in theaters and came across it at blockbuster instead . really an exceptional film with just the right blend of action  suspense  thrills  and social consciousness . as good as  even  well  maybe . and you  ll see better acting out of gere than anyone  s ever gotten out of pitt .  
this is really a very bad movie . why  first of all  the story is bad . it is an artificial story  combining all sorts of things together that make no sense . it just seems a wrong experiment . secondly  the actors cannot play in a realistic manner . they cannot even talk as an actor should . why did i buy this movie  and what must i do with it now   
it does not seem that this movie managed to please a lot of people . first off  not many seem to have seen it in the first place  i just bumped into it by accident   and then judging by the reviews and the rating  of those that did many did not enjoy it very much .  br    br   well  i did . i usually tolerate gere for his looks and his charm  and even though i did not consider him a great actor  i know he can do crazy pretty well  i liked his mr jones  . but this performance is all different . he is not pretty in this one  and he is not charming . his character is completely different from anything i had seen from him up to that point    old  ugly  broken  determined . and gere  in what to me is so far his best performance ever  pulls it off beautifully . i guess it is a sign of how well an actor does his job if you cannot imagine anyone else doing it instead    think hopkins as hannibal lecter  or washington as alonzo in training day . that is how good gere was here .  br    br   the rest of the cast were fine by me  too . i guess i would not have cast danes in this role  mostly because i think she is too good  looking for it . but she actually does an excellent job  holding her own with a gere in top form  which is no small feat . strickland easily delivers the best supporting act  in a part that requires a considerable range from her . i actually think she owns the key scene with gere and danes  and that is quite an achievement .  br    br   so what about the rest of the movie  apart from some excellent acting  the story is perhaps not hugely surprising  some  mm  ish aspects to it  but adding the  veteran breaks in rookie  storyline to the who  dunnit  and also  like silence of the lambs  adding a sense of urgency through trying to save the girl and the impending retirement of gere  s character . all that is a backdrop to the development of the two main characters  as they help each other settle into their respective new stations in life . that  s a lot to accomplish in a    minutes  but it is done well  and we end up caring for the characters and what happens to them .  br    br   direction and photography were adequate . i could have done without the modern music  video camera movements and cutting  but then i am an old curmudgeon  and it really wasn  t all that bad  in fact i think it did help with the atmosphere of the movie  which as you might have guessed  by and large isn  t a happy one .  br    br   worth seeing .  
shamefull as it may be  this movie actually made it to the videomarket  bringing shame on my proud country  any attempt to watch this movie without stopping or pausing  will be a fruitless attempt . one cannot bear to see more than one hour of this  then having either fallen asleep  or visited the bathroom for puking .  br    br   note if you haven  t seen anything else from denmark  please remember this  br    br   some things were never meant to be  but still some idiot goes ahead and makes it anyway   
ayone who whines about how this movie was crap or that it had no plot must have been looking for  jean de florrette  . hello  this film was made to be a random act of comedy and in no way involves a plot in any way shape or form . i would also like to remind these whiners that if you are going to flay the crap out of this film that they seem to be missing the point . this film is clearly made for people who don  t appreciate the so called  american humour  which seems to me just a pile of smutty crap . the point is everyone has an opinion and you should be a bit more appreciative that some peoples sense of humour may not be in line with your own before shooting your mouth off .  br    br   thankyou  
a mix of ninja stuff mixed with a sub  james bond storyline . the result is incredibly awful and boring  being just the stage for endless gun battles . i can  t believe this was released in theaters . terminate this movie .  
i think this movie is a very funny film and one of the best  national lampoon  s  films  it also has a very catchy spoof title  which basically sums up what the whole movie is about . . . . men in white     the story is a spoof of many films including a will smith film  as you might have guessed   men in black  . i will not give the ending away but it has a very good ending in is very funny  leslie nielsen style humour  from start to finish  especially the bit near the beginning when thy are in the street collecting the dustbins  garbage cans  . also  they have a pretty cool dustbin lorry  garbage collecting truck  in that scene too . the acting is not superb  actually  it is not very good  but that is what makes the film funny  it is a comedy  loosen up   i love the story line  partly because it is so far fetched and partly because it is interesting to see how subtle  or should it be un  subtle  they rip off all the other films . i am great fan of un  serious spoof films  but i am also a fan of the real thing  and with this films  it is hard to decide which is better  the film it mainly rips off  mentioned earlier i this review  or the actual film it is  but also when you are actually making a spoof of comedy films  it actually makes it even harder  but this film carries it off successfully . the two garbage men are so funny  it reminds me of a tv sketch show in the uk called  little britain  . this film is a must for your collection and is one of the best  most entertaining  funniest  best storyline  national lampoon  s film to date    
this drummond entry is lacking in continuity . most of them have their elements of silliness  the postponed wedding  and so on . however  this has an endless series of events occurring in near darkness as the characters run from one place to another . the house seems more like a city . there  s also leo g . carrol who is such an obvious suspect who no  one seems to even look at . he is a stranger and acts rather suspicious  but drummond and the folks don  t seem to pick up on anything . still  it as reasonably good action and a pretty good ending .  br    br   i know that algie is supposed to be a comic figure  but like nigel bruce in the rathbone sherlock holmes flicks  he is so buffoonish that it  s hard to imagine anyone with taste or intelligence being around him . is there a history behind him that will explain how he and drummond became associates   
what is with all of the european  especially england  comments here  all i gotta say is that when i saw this movie for the first time when i was like   i thought it was great . of course it  s stupid . that  s the point . you have to see the movie dr . strangelove and men in black to get the whole joke behind this movie  but come on people  what did you expect to see  i can think of many movies that are far worse than this  and they were expensive hollwood films with real actors in them . for what it  s worth  men in white is a very stupid  funny mock of a movie . and with all the stupid  funny stuff that england has been making for the last half century  i am shocked at all the negative comments . us stupid americans like our stupid humor . p . s .  see  team america world police  for some true laughs that europeans will especially like . ha   
this was one of the lamest movies we watched in the last few months with a predictable plot line and pretty bad acting  mainly from the supporting characters  . the interview with hugh laurie on the dvd was actually more rewarding than the film itself . . .  br    br   hugh laurie obviously put a lot of effort into learning how to dance the samba but the scope of his character only required that he immerse himself at the kiddie end of the pool . the movie is based on the appearance of a lovely girl and great music but these are not sufficient to make good entertainment .  br    br   if you have never seen rio  or the inside of a british bank  this film is for you .  out of   .  
the  men in white  movie is definitely one of the funniest  if not the funniest  comedy movies i ever watched   and i watched quite a lot   it is about two garbagemen  who become  men in white  and then stop an invasion from space . it is also a parody of lots of classic movies  such as  men in black    star wars  or  dr . strangelove  . anyone who says that this movie is crappy has something wrong with his head . there are tons of funny gags and jokes here  and you might actually get injury to your mouth from laughing too hard  it happened to me   . if you can watch this movie on tv  watch it now  you certainly won  t regret it   
 . . . . . . . . and an extremely bad one at that    how long did this train  wreck last     episodes or something   i can see why now .  br    br   i bought the  serenity  episode from amazon unboxed . it was my first purchase  so was free . that is the only good thing about the experience  incident     br    br   i won  t comment really on the acting  since these were  i guess  fairly new people who hadn  t really gotten the job down just right yet . at least i  ve never seen them before in any type of major show  theater or tv . if i did  then i have easily forgotten them .  br    br   but the special effects were absolutely horrendous . true  this isn  t exactly a multi  million  project  but the original star trek did better than this  that was thirty  five years ago . i especially got a laugh out of the bad guys  reapers or something like that  ship as it chased the hilarious looking firefly  with smoke coming out of the engines looking something like a gigantic model rocket . i fully expected to eventually see the wiley coyote riding on top  while chasing after the roadrunner . modern jet  rocket engines don  t even do it that bad .  br    br   and that wasn  t even the worst of it . the wild  west type shoot  outs had me wondering if i was actually watching a sci  fi film or a gene autry one .  br    br   regardless of the hype  don  t waste your time . . . i did . . . all    something minutes of the disaster called  firefly  .  
i found this movie hilarious . the spoofs on other popular movies of that time were some of the funniest i have seen in this sort of movie . give it a try . if you saw the movies that this movie is spoofing  and you get the humor  you should enjoy the movie .  br    br   i  and the others who watched the movie with me  felt the funniest part in the movie  this is not a spoiler because i will not tell you what actually happens  was a scene with the  flashy thingy  from mib . when they first discover the device and do not know what it is does . . . and then again later in the movie . . . you  ll understand when you get there .  br    br   my only complaint about the movie is that i have never been able to find it in dvd so that i could buy a copy .  
i saw this movie the other night . i can  t even begin to express how much this movie sucked . the writing  the voice acting  even the claymation . terrible  terrible  terrible . it  s like watching   hours of c  span for the sake of comedy . it just doesn  t work . it literally falls flat at about every spot possible .  br    br   also  the movie  s animation is very poor quality . i know that this is an movie made by one person  but to think that he could make   minutes worth of crap  maybe he could at least make  second worth of funny .  br    br   this show may take the cake for being the worst film of all time . yikes . it really was that bad . if you  re looking for a movie that will make you laugh  steer clear from this abomination . my advice don  t even buy it  or look it up for that matter . your brain will than you .  
this movie has recieved horrible ratings from just about everyone who has voted here but i am here to say if you like movies like dude wheres my car and dumb and dumber this movie is for you . if your into movies like citizen kane and casablanca id have to sugest you in a different angle . yet i still love this movie and everything about it even if it is kind of  kiddy  this is one of the few movies me and my freinds have been able to keep watching over the years and quote whenever possible . great movie . this movie should the afis number  because its so friggin  high class . the only problem with this movie is you may have trouble seeing it because it was a made for tv movie on a channel that no longer exists . so i dont know how to get this movie  id like to buy it for dvd but i cant find it anywhere . i still have it taped from when it was first on  you can come over if you want and watch it bute i might be sleeping . this movie rocks and thats basicly all you need to know .  
boring stuff we got here . his  minute shorts are better than this . know why  because there only  minutes and not   minutes or how ever long this is .  br    br   the plot is kinda . . . eh . . the last half hour is alright the rest is boring and not funny   i had my hopes up  the trailer made it look funny but the pace of this movie is pretty slow and sadly not funny . just plain boring klaymen running into each other and trying to make us laugh . . not working .  br    br   maybe next time knox .  br    br   maybe re  cutting this movie and adding better scenes would do a lot of healing but for now its just not good .  
a wonderful film by powell and pressburger  whose work i now want to explore more . the film is about what we perceive as real and what is real  and how the two can be so difficult to distinguish from one another . beautifully shot and acted  although david niven doesn  t seem to be   years old  as his character claims to be . fun to see a very young richard attenborough . this film made me think  while i was watching it  and afterwards .  
about   minutes in  my wife was already wanting to leave . not so much because of the material  but the lack thereof . they decided to fill in the blanks where the funny stuff should  ve been with as much language and absolutely vulgar talk as they could . when this would let up  very rare   we  d sit back and watch  not laughing  mind you  and wait for the next gross  out or offensive remark  s  . after about   minutes  we both got up and left . everything we  d read said how great this was . the trailer looked good and roger ebert actually called it  intelligent  and said it wasn  t a crude sex comedy . did he go to the right movie  along with be cool  it  s the only other movie i  ve ever walked out on . . . and i have no regrets . i  m sick of trying to go see comedies in america .  
actually i liked this movie very  very much . not because of its plot  acting  jokes  no . i liked it  because its one of the worse movies ever created . its so lame  so bad  that it becomes terribly funny . some jokes are actually cool  but the rest makes me pray for unemployment for the scriptwriter .  men in white  are so dumb and stupid  that you can do only two things . turn the tv off or roll on the floor laughing  beer helps a lot  . i chose the second option .  
although robert  knox  benfer has his fans  i  m not one of them . his films are asinine and amateurish  and and just not very funny  unless you  re a   year old with an underdeveloped sense of humor .  br    br   he  s certainly not famous  as him immature fans would like you to believe  by harassing people at wikipedia  or stuffing the ratings votes here at the imdb . he  s certainly not been profiled by any major media outlets  which speaks volumes about his and his creation  s  fame  .  br    br   benfer does have some slight skill at limited animation  but he needs to get away from his young sycophants and learn to write some actual funny material before he  ll be taken seriously as a real entertainer . as of this moment  though  he  s just a kid with a camera  and it shows .  
to communicate in film essential things of life  like what is life  does it have a meaning   is sheer impossible . of course possible answers to these questions are demonstrated in every film  story   but communication needs a direct appeal to consciousness . this happens if the input from the senses overrules the  input  from our mind  i . e . our thoughts . few directors know how to communicate essential things . tarkovsky  is one . his  stalker  shows images of existence  communicates life as it shows itself and yet escapes your mind . i think de zee and de graaff do the same .  
one of the many vigilante epics that flooded the market by the mid    s . the routine plot has echoes of  the magnificent seven   believe it or not   the action scenes are lamely handled and the special effects are non  existent . you could do worse . . . . but the film is still just a waste of time .        
this movie is a journey through the mind of a screenwriter caught in his own paradoxical philosophy . he examines the ever illusive question of  who am i  and  what is i   it  s a courageous and thought provoking enterprise . there is a shipload of beautiful images  dream  inspired  escher  like paradoxes reminiscent of the hand drawing itself  or rather  erasing itself . more and more we follow the writer in his agony over what to say and what to film  we see him phoning with his wife who left for peru  leaving him to take care of their baby  a task he performs with less and less attention until he  s so absorbed in his dilemma  s that he hardly looks at the child anymore . his wife comes back and makes a scene  destroys his notes and helping him go over the last treshold until he erases him  self . interspersed with eye  pleasing and i  destructing images  the story is mainly philosophical . it  s about the veils of maya  the world of illusion . the paradox of the movie however  is that it needs a lot of talking and thinking to prove that thinking should stop . during the more than two hours of provocative beauty and rapid philosophising the movie made me long for silence or a shorter movie . if that was the purpose of the maker  he succeeded quite well .  
becky harris plays the female shopper whose misfortune it is to be in the store at the wrong time and obviously only purpose to be in this film is to supply a reason to wear out remote controls  miss harris seems to me to be in her fifties or older when she first comes on the scene . once the red haired thug is done with her it becomes apparent that this is no aarp queen . if these are not some of the finest assets ever displayed on celluloid  i want someone to clue me in . absolutely breathtaking in my opinion and i literally wore out my vhs copy capturing her charms . i would like to know if this movie is available on dvd .  br    br   the rest of this movie really is not worthy of mention . i was hoping to see something fairly convincing and intelligent  however i was disappointed on both counts . god bless becky harris   
one is tempted to define the genre of gert de graaff  s movie as event of the thought  following the example of merab mamardashvili . the nominal storyline is a certain bart klever  s torturous quest for that ephemeral substance which constitutes the essence of personality . the script for his new movie is taking shape simultaneously on his computer and in his own imagination . this film  monologue originated as a response to fellini  s     and cost gert de graaff   years of work . excitedly playing with real and fictional characters as well as with the audience  it reveals the whimsical interconnection of the real and imaginary  the paradoxical co  existence in two different galaxies that of guttenberg and that of maclhuen . for some time we are apt to side with the script writer  who believes that the cause of all misfortune is the damned stereotypes of mass mentality  man   catholic   window washer   . and together with him we fall into a trap when the author  creator is finally faced with the insoluble dilemma how can one eliminate from the future movie . bart klever  just five minutes before the finale thanks to the common petty reproaches of the wife of the creator  who is deeply immersed in work  we realize that together with the main character we have again been framed  . really  what is the price of the art for the sake of which it is acceptable to renounce one  s own name and the day  to  day care for the young daughter   br    br   so who is he  this bart klever  is he a brilliant prophet or someone possessed like frenhoffer from balzac  s masterpiece  just like the latter the script writer in the end erases from the computer memory everything has written   gert de graaff suggests that we answer this question ourselves .  br    br    
pretty awful but watchable and entertaining . it  s the same old story  if you  ve lived through the   s  . vietnam vets fight together as buddies against injustice back in the states . a  team meets death wish  my favorite   br    br   time goes on  the soldiers go home  and years later a friend is in trouble . no  wait   in fact  the friend is dead and it is his dad that  s in trouble . our first hero  joey  is killed by an exceedingly horrifying  super pointy  meat tenderizer as he tries to defend his father  s small store from the local  protection  gang despite being wheelchair bound from the war . desperate for help  the father talks to sarge  the leader of joey  s old unit from vietnam  when sarge shows up for the funeral .  br    br   well  the squeaky wheel gets the grease  and the old gang saddles up for the city . you can pretty much imagine most of the rest of the movie .  br    br   the one thing that drove me crazy is that sarge keeps haranguing his men about planning  and about how they  re really good at what they do when they plan ahead . but joey wouldn  t have been put in a wheelchair by a gunshot in vietnam in the first place if the unit hadn  t been messing around  then when things are going really well in the city as they battle the gangs  they do it again . for no reason at all  they completely bypass their plan and try to nail the gang without everyone being present . phh     i raise my hands in disgust . foolishness   br    br   there is also a suspicious moment when all present members of the unit make sure to try out the heroin they snatch from the gang to make sure it  s real . every single one of them . hmm . . . .  br    br   what are you going to do  keep watching  i guess . the movie isn  t too horrible to watch  but it is a tease . there are all these climactic moments when nothing actually winds up happening . the most dramatic things that happen are those at the beginning of the movie   the explosives in vietnam  joey  s death battle  and the gang brutally kicking an innocent teddy bear aside  poor teddy   .  br    br   i guess my main beef with this movie is that i feel let down by it . even the confusing subplots with  mystery helpers  and their bizarrely cross  purpose motives wasn  t enough to save it at the end . but someday maybe it  ll all come right and they  ll make a sequel . ha ha ha ha     
after going for a bike ride that day  lying beside a lake in a nature reserve  spending half an hour feeding and talking to a donkey who lived in a beautiful field with a small wood in it  this film made absolute sense to me .  br    br   the imagery of the film was beautiful and that is all you need . switch off the conscious control knob of the mind and job done .  br    br   reminded me of baraka       but with the added lesson of my previous paragraph .  br    br   this comment requires a minimum of ten lines  ten lines is the minimum not  lines but ten . after finishing counting all the lines you realise that there are less than ten even though less than ten lines is all that is needed to make my comment .  
this is a strange sex comedy because theres very little comedy but a whole lot of sex  most of which takes place in the back of a car and is so graphic it makes basic instinct look like an edition of teletubbies . i kid you not  the sex in this film is so in your face it might just choke you  especially if youre watching with your grandparents .  br    br   as for the rest of rita  sue and bob too theres not much else worth mentioning except the language where every single sentence seems to contain the f word . this a rather bleak hyper  realist british film made at a time when channel  was the main investor in british movies which explains its made for television low budget feel  
the plot doesn  t begin to describe the film a man is writing a film  or rather  this film . it  s totally self referential to the point that you think it  s going to fold in on itself like a black hole . the writer writes something and it happens  or something happens and he writes about it .  br    br   it  s very philosophical  like  waking life  but more zen oriented and for that matter  much better  in my opinion . at one point there are person  on  the  street interviews and then you see shots of these people being filmed  and then you discover that their responses are scripted when one keeps flubbing her lines . there is beautiful scenery and optical illusions .  br    br   i hope it comes out on dvd so i can watch it again more carefully . seen at cinequest  the san jose  ca film festival  on          .  
i can just about understand why some people might wish to stress this film  s link with the eighties but i really wouldn  t say it  s an accurate depiction of most peoples  lives in that era  even on the poorest bradford estates . it is however typical of the blunt agitprop rubbish the dear old royal court theatre was churning out at that time . plenty of  right  on  artistry for small  small audiences but enough well  connected backslapping to ensure future commissions for turgid playrights . ithe simple fact is that if you want to reflect upon truer common experience you  ll find millions more nodding in knowing agreement to love and live as depicted in  gregory  s girl  .  br    br   i would be tempted to call this a  kitchen sink  drama but that would be doing a great disservice to the plumbing industry . however  as far as having a decent script is concerned  this film is indeed all washed up . for some reason it has accrued an odd following amongst guardian reading film  goers  i can only assume they get a visual frisson out of pretending to slum it . steer clear my friends . it is a poor film with a poor script that likes to think it is breaking boundaries by adding humorous insights into grim life on the estates . it isn  t . . but it is grim . do the washing up instead .  
this stylistically sophisticated visual game presents a story within a story  . the protagonist is scriptwriter bart klever who fights persistently with his new text  which is  at the same time  the screenplay of the film we  re watching . in the movie bart plays a scriptwriter writing the script of the film bart  s struggle with the text becomes a narrative theme  as does the environment of the flat where he works and takes care of his little girl . the intimate environment offers ample opportunity for games of illusion involving space  light  colours and a couple of cats . the outwardly simple world of the room is further complicated by the unstable dimensions of a text continually influenced by the filmmaker  s interventions  which appears on a computer monitor and serves as a counterpoint to the similarity mutable environment . the constantly changing viewing angle complicates answers to questions which arise what is truth  and what illusion   which of the observed worlds is primary and superior to the rest  can anything serve as a basic orientation point in the narrative space   
my friends and i saw this film about a week ago and i feel it absolutely necessary to tell all the world  or at least those who will read this  that this movie is not only on the top five worst movies i have ever seen but actually has the honor of being the number one . i have seen quite a lot of films but none beats this one in being stupid . you could say i suffered watching it . . . my only excuse is that we were waiting for a few hours and weren  t able to go anywhere else without freezing our buttocks off . i do not recommend this to anyone . at first i thought we were watching some really bad porn movie but figured out after   minutes that is not the case . it is not a comedy  it is not drama  it is not action  it is not horror  it is just horrible   
we all create our own reality  or do we  that is the core question behind this highly original and masterfully crafted examination of the illusionary nature of reality . blending eastern and buddhist philosophies with the visual chicanery of m . c . escher  this fascinating treatise manages to take on the rather cerebral question of who are we and what is our place in the universe    and turn it into a captivating and fun  filled    minutes . the film centers on bart  a writer struggling with his screenplay  the sea that thinks .  as he sits at his computer  the work begins to unfold as nothing more than a description of his sitting at the computer  writing the screenplay . before long he is stuck in a whirling conundrum in which everything he writes becomes reality . director gert de graaff approaches his subject with an impish sense of humor and dazzles the viewer with a series of astounding visual tricks that confront the nature and validity of our perception . ultimately  de graaff  s film challenges the audience at several levels to question whether anything we see or touch or taste is really what it appears to be  or whether our entire understanding of the universe and our place in it is merely a trick played on us by our senses . note after you  ve seen the movie  check out the film  s entertaining web site .  dutch with english subtitles    eric moore  
one of  if not the worst film to come out of britain in the   s .  br    br   this tawdry tale of a middle aged lecher who  seduces  two teenage scrubbers who babysit for him and his faux  posh wife has nothing to redeem it .  br    br   in turns gratuitous  puerile  uncouth and unrealistic  this film plumbs the depths as it fails miserably in its attempts to be funny  provocative  intellectual and controversial .  br    br   perhaps the worst thing about this film is the way the strong cast of george costigan  michelle holmes and siobhan finneran are completely stitched by such a lame script . it  s no surprise that this was the late andrea dunbar  s only work to make it onto the screen . complete and utter rubbish on every level .  
i liked top gun . it held my interest . predictable plot  decent character development and story line . it is pretty similar to high noon in that the town people appear weak and scared to stand up to a villain . this movie has some quality actors who really did not get a chance to share all of their talents . also some of the actors did not receive credit for their roles . denver pyle was a good looking man in his younger days . john dehner  rod taylor are outstanding in their roles . sterling hayden did the best that he could with poor material . it is hard to imagine him as a gunslinger . laura  played by karen booth  was a nauseating character . she seemed flattered that two men may have been fighting over her . ugh . finally  how can people travel without luggage  especially women .  
i don  t understand the positive comments made about this film . it is cheap and nasty on all levels and i cannot understand how it ever got made .  br    br   cartoon characters abound  sue  s foul  mouthed  alcoholic  layabout  irish father being a prime example . none of the characters are remotely sympathetic  except  briefly  for sue  s asian boyfriend but even he then turns out to be capable of domestic violence  as desperately unattractive as they both are  i  ve no idea why either rita and  or sue would throw themselves at a consummate creep like bob  but given that they do  why should i be expected to care what happens to them  so many reviews keep carping on about how  realistic  it is . if that is true  it is a sad reflection on society but no reason to put it on film .  br    br   i didn  t like the film at all .  
this movie shows how savage the troubles really are . people who do not want to be involved have no say in the way their lives are altered . this movie shows how the people of northern ireland  both catholic and protestant are held captive . at any moment their lives may be changed forever whether they want to be involved or not .  
i watched this film based on the very favorable reviews that i read about it here by others .  br    br   they definitely saw something in this movie i didn  t see  that  s for sure .  br    br   the movie starts off at a good pace  and the first   or   minutes of it are interesting  then it begins to get logged down and draggy  not to mention completely unbelievable .  br    br   eventually you find yourself saying  what    he  s going to do that too  just how far is he going to go with this thing    br    br   the plot begins with jeff goldblum  s character  john  going into a deli to purchase a bottle of wine . there is a robbery and a new store clerk  auggie rose  gets killed during the robbery .  br    br   john gets in the ambulance and goes to the hospital with the guy . this seems a little much  but wait  there  s more .  br    br   john becomes totally obsessed with auggie rose .  br    br   for reasons that never make any kind of logical sense  john  who has a very good life  a beautiful  loving girlfriend  a secure  well  paying job  nice house  nice car  expensive suits   decides he wants to be a loser like auggie rose was  and experience life in a low paying job  living in a dump with a dippy girlfriend and possible connections with dangerous people .  br    br   why this dim  witted  half  baked film got favorable reviews i  ll never know . sure goldblum does a good acting job  he always does  and his looks have improved with age   but unless you have a big infatuation with jeff goldblum and have to see every film he  s in  i wouldn  t recommend this turkey . it  s approximately two hours of your life you  re not going to get back  and believe me  you  ll have nothing to be thankful about when those two hours are over  other than being grateful you  re not still sitting there watching this film   br    br    
why is this movie not in the    best  this movie looks still astoundingly fresh   years after its production but it could only have been made at the aftermath of w . w . ii because of the perception of the nearness of death . people were more aware that life could be stopped at one unexpected moment . and what after life  i liked the scene at the end with the judgment and all people of all nations gathered . the phlegmatic judge  abraham sofaer  a typical british judge    doctor reeves  roger livesey  defending peter carter  david niven  and also june  kim hunter  against the american prosecutor abraham farlan  raymond massey i  there is a reason why it is an american   . it is all so imaginative  michael powell wrote  directed and produced this astonishing movie which is a real  tour  de  force  . the message of the movie is clear in the universe the law is the most important but on earth nothing goes beyond the love between humans . the way in which this beautiful story is told is far more interesting than any hollywood  movie could ever make .  
it is amazing to me what passes for entertainment today . maybe i am a dinosaur from the fifties  and i am out of touch with todays movie going generation  and apparently that is the case with regards to this movie  since so many people loved it . i found it foul and vulgar . i haven  t said that about many movies in my life but this one fits the bill . the humor is sophomoric and crude . i am not a politically correct person  and even i found the gay jokes  not only not funny but downright offensive  i  m not gay  . the main character in the movie is not even a likable person  just pathetic . when the movie was finally over i heard a number of people comment on how disappointed they were in what they had just pay good money to see .  
some of the acting was a bit suspect . i remember that asswipe alexander walker  evening standard critic  yeah ok  he  s now dead  launched into a rant about this film saying it was a disgrace portraying ni protestants as murderers . now with respect to all ni protestants  this film was loosely based on the shankill butchers  who were loyalists  and who roamed belfast in the      s . believe me  they were not called butchers for nothing . my main moan about this film is the it shows no ray of light or hope  it  s all doom  gloom  i mean did the little girl at the end have to die . maybe this sounds corny but it could have taken the tact that not all prods  tiags are bad or wholly good either .  
as soon as it hits a screen  it destroys all intelligent life forms around  but on behalf of its producers i must say it doesn  t fall into any known movie category  it deserves a brand new denomination of its own  it  s a  neurological drama   it saddens and depresses every single neuron inside a person  s brain .  br    br   it  s the closest thing one will ever get to a stroke without actually suffering one . it drives you speechless  all you members go numb  your mouth falls open and remains so  and the most strange symptom of all is that you get yourself wishing to go blind and deaf .  br    br   no small feat for such a sort of a  movie  .  br    br   the only word that comes to my mind just having finished my ordeal is outrage        
excellent film from thaddeus o  sullivan featuring strong performances from a host of british and irish actors . the film deals well with a thorny subject matter  and effectively captures the hopelessness and grim atmosphere of     s belfast . surprisingly realistic  it does nothing to glorify either side in this conflict . on one hand  it shows a young catholic father trying to raise his family without getting drawn into the troubles . on the other it deals with a loyalist gang who are intent on propagating violence . very interesting and  thankfully  entertaining . don  t be expecting any laughs  though .  out of   .  
tell the truth i  m a bit stun to see all these positive review by so many people  which is also the main reason why i actually decide to see this movie . and after having seen it  i was really a disappointed  and this comes from the guy that loves this genre of movie .  br    br   i  m surprise at this movie all completely  it is like a kid  s movie with nudity for absolutely no reason and it all involve little children cursing and swearing . i  m not at all righteous but this has really gone too far in my account .  br    br   synopsis the story about two guys got send to the big brother program for their reckless behavior . there they met up with one kids with boobs obsession and the other is a medieval freak .  br    br   just the name it self is not really connected with the story at all . they are not being a role model and or do anything but to serve their time for what they have done . the story is very predictable  though expected  and the humor is lame . and haven  t we already seen the same characters  play by mc lovin   in so many other movies  like sasquatch gang   . i think i laugh thrice and almost fell a sleep .  br    br   well the casting was alright after all he is the one that produce the screenplay . and the acting is so  so as expected when you  re watching this type of movie . and the direction  what do one expect  this is the same guy who brought us wet hot american summer  and that movie also sucks . but somehow he always managed to bring in some star to attract his horrendous movie .  br    br   anyway i felt not total riff off but a completely waste of time . only the naked scenes seem to be the best part in the movie . can  t really see any point why i should recommend this to anyone .  br    br   pros elizabeth bank  two topless scenes .  br    br   cons not funny  dreadful story  nudity and kids do not mix together .  br    br   rating  .      grade f   
i quite enjoyed this movie for two reasons . the first is that it gives an insight into the world of loyalism in northern ireland  which is very rarely treated in movies  most of which tell us about the republican struggle . the second reason is the performances of the actors . i thought they gave very honest and convincing portrayals of a very seedy underworld that not many people hear about outside my native shores .  br    br   all in all  it is an entertaining ganster movie with stellar performances from a who  s who in northern irish actors cast . it wont move the earth  although it may slightly open some peoples eyes to the murky world of loyalist paramilitaries .  
well  i hated knocked up  i despised    year  old virgin  and this little gem is a worthless piece of trash movie . do yourself a favor  and skip it . i admit  i don  t like the actors in this movie  and after my    year  old son showed me the cover of the dvd  i was like   i wouldn  t like that movie   but at his insistence  i decided to give it a try  unfortunately .  br    br   about two minutes into the movie i turned it off  i was so offended . it  s just disgusting . any decent person would be offended by the filth in this movie . call me old fashioned  but shoving your pussy juice  covered hand into your friend  s face so he will know you  got some  is over the line of decency  in my opinion . yeah  that  s how this putrid little film starts  and i can only imagine it gets much worse from there . another real winner for mr . rudd . i bet he  s proud as punch . imagine if you could only get worthless roles like he gets  would you stay in movies  despite the pay  i wouldn  t .  br    br   i should have known better next time i will .  
i sought this film out because i  m a new frain fan and wanted to see more of his work . first of all  his irish accent is great . he  s got a keen ear for dialects  it seems . his acting was marvelous  as usual . james frain aside  i thought the film was very well done . it showed the conflict in northern ireland as the mess it really is . both sides are guilty of grave injustices  and the men drawn into the conflict usually have very little to say about their circumstances .  br    br   also  it is interesting to realise that not every man  or woman  that is supposedly fighting for his country  is really doing just that . for example  when kenny  james frain  asks ginger  ian hart  why he does  it   ginger can  t come up with a morally acceptable answer . why  because ginger isn  t in it for the noble cause of protecting his country or the rights of his fellow protestants . . . ginger is in it for the fun of killing . he  s full of blood  lust and it  s the perfect job for a guy like him . in a struggle like this there are guys like liam  john lynch  who just want to live their daily lives and enjoy their families . . . guys that see all of the fighting just begats more fighting . there are guys like kenny that are born leaders full of charisma  and they add fuel to the flames  rather they mean to or not . also  kenny genuinely believes in the  cause  . he believes what he is doing will make a difference in the future . . . which is a bit odd  cause his character seems too intelligent for it all . but  like a lot of other seemingly intelligent men  he is sucked into a gang lifestyle not even realizing it . . .  til it  s too late . then there is ginger  a pure psycho who isn  t in the fighting for any other reason but for the sheer thrill of it  which in a gangland type war makes him a valued asset  some might argue . however  now  in this film  ginger has out lasted his worth  and has become a very dangerous loose cannon .  br    br   everything comes to a boiling point  and predictably  the ending is a tragic one . what makes this film worthy is that is shows both sides of this ages old conflict . being american  i can  t begin to fully understand what all struggle is about . but  i do know there has to be a better way .  br    br   all in all  a well acted  touching . . . but troubling film .  
make up your own mind . personally i found it as much fun as receiving a spinal tap from stevie wonder . no offense mr . wonder . maybe it is comedy  but i just found it stupid . not exactly the first two choices to babysit your kids wheeler  seann william scott  and danny  paul rudd   two energy drink salesmen  to avert jail time are court ordered to mentor two kids from a development center run by gayle sweeny  jane lynch  . one of the misfits is ronnie  bobb  e j . thompson   a foul  mouthed fifth grader and the other is augie  christopher mintz  plasse   a bashful young man that roll plays in a fantasy medieval world . wheeler and danny desperately try to give their charges an invaluable inside view of life  love and heavy metal . lynch is hilarious with her dry wit analogies . supporting are elizabeth banks  ken jeongg  kerri kenney  silver  amanda righetti and david wain .  
  the ladies man  suffers a common problem among movies based on  saturday night live  skits . and that is  a sketch that usually succeeds in five minutes will not do so well in ninety minutes . although this movie does have its laughs  like tim meadows as leon phelps  a sex  maniac straight out of the    s  and will ferrell as a wrestling  obsessed husband cuckolded by leon . so this movie is funny enough  but it  s no  wayne  s world    
if you are having a bad day  or bad week . if you are looking for a film that will make you laugh and forget about your troubles . i don  t think role models is that movie for you .  br    br   the film centers around danny  paul rudd  and wheeler  seann william scott  two juice promoters  who go to schools promoting the product  telling kids to stay off drugs  and more juice . but danny is having the worst week ever  and crashes his company car  with wheeler in the seat next to him . his soon to be ex girlfriend beth  elizabeth banks  who is a lawyer  manages to avoid getting them jail time  by doing hours of community service  volunteering at a big brother place called sturdy wings led by gayle  jane lynch  . wheeler is assigned to ronnie  bobb  e j thompson  who is   years old  and has a foul mouth like he  s chris rock . danny is assigned to augie  mclovins  christopher mintz  plasse  who likes to dress like a knight  and fight like he is in medieval times . but will this be good for danny and wheeler  or will they be better off in jail   br    br   okay i  m not gonna beat around the bush  this movie was very unpleasant in many ways . namely the ronnie character  hearing those bad words coming out of a kid that young  was very shocking . if he was a little bit older  it would not have mater  d as much . i mean what where his parents thinking  when they sign  d him on to this . elizabeth banks character is so unwatchable  maybe i was supposed to feel bad for her character  but i felt nothing  because she is annoyingly predictably portrayed as a female who would be played in these types of comedies . and jane lynch  who  s the worst of the worst . she delivers the most overacting performance ever . playing a former drug addict  who acts like she still is on drugs . listening to her give all that annoying dialog  made me want to throw my head up against the wall . seann william scott once again playing another stifler like character  he should really try to separate himself  and this film won  t do it . and the more scott tries to hard to be funny  is what keeps him from being funny .  br    br   now paul rudd on the other hand  i  m gonna separate from the others in the film  cause he manages to deliver a solid performance  although he does not get higher laughs  but he is the most interesting character from the rest . cause rudd does not overact  and does not try so hard . the scenes with him and mintz  plasse are watchable . but the rest of the film is so stupid  it picks up at times . but it becomes so predictable and uninteresting . it is a reminder that these types of comedies try nothing new  there all the same  they take no chances . role models is an example of that .  
i thought this movie was lol funny . it  s a fun  not to be taken seriously  movie about one man  s twisted views on life  love  and . . . well  ladies  from the lowly bus station skank  to the high  class dbutante . . . bus station skank .  tim meadows plays a guy  leon phelps  who was raised by in a playboy  style mansion by a hugh hefner  esquire father figure  surrounded constantly by beautiful porn models and actresses . when his  father  kicks him out on the street he must learn to fend for himself with nothing but the chauvinistic outlook on life that his youth has taught him . . . that and an unfathomable  nearly mystical level of charm and dumb luck . and so the hijinx begin  if you haven  t seen this movie and you enjoy a light  hearted  semi  mindless  comedy  love story  then i highly recommend renting  the ladies  man  .  
i am a current a . s . l . student  was forced to watch this movie in class  and what i got out of it was the blatant bias involved in the film . the film is obviously leaning towards to p . o . v . of the  common deaf perception  their is no middle ground . also  the film didn  t make mention or take into account other situations that are also under debate in this topic . i . e . deaf people who were born hearing and later went deaf . is it right or wrong in that instance  the film is biased and virtually all in the opinion of the deaf w  a capital  d  . not that this is bad  but for it to be a true documentary film is should attempt to be slightly unbiased .  
this film deserves a   for its brilliant portrayal of the world as experienced in the mind of a playboy . while i found that world morally repulsive  the film did best what storytelling should do  and that is take us through an experience that we would otherwise never undergo . tim meadows so convincingly portrays leon phelps  and the story so drew me into the reckless world of leon  that i momentarily forgot that i was watching a parody of the playboy world and felt compelled to rebel against it . herein lies the film  s undoing because its great and bold achievement in storytelling comes at the price of its own success . understanding that the vast majority of moviegoers will respond only to the story of this film that lies on the surface  and reject that story  i hesitate to be misunderstood by them and admit that i loved it . i loved it not only for its fascinating insights into the deluded mind of the playboy  not only for its amusing portrayal of the idiocy of the human sex drive  but also for its courage to fearlessly explore what is in the shadows of heterosexuality . besides  it  s just funny .  
wow  the spookiest thing about this episode was the price of houses   years ago . i  ll preface by saying i  m not a fan of narrated episodes . if the story  actors  etc . are worth their salt  they should be able to convey the bulk of the narrative without having to read it out  reminded me of personages who can  t think off the cuff but rely on teleprompters . the psychobabble was tedious and boring  but some enjoy that kind of thing  it  s just not my cup o tea . they could have kept the narrative but at least made it much more believable and interesting if it was coming from a psychiatrist or maybe a newspaper reporter or something . niggling little things like peugeot being at the house  which has a singular half circle driveway  yet he seems to have parked his car in the tree he was standing under  because it  s nowhere to be seen on the road or on the property . sloppy editing  as she pulls into the driveway  for what seems the    th time  exactly who are those  guys you see at   m   s walking towards the car as she pulls into the driveway of the deserted house  the dolly close  ups were also overdone  like some jr . high drama student discovering the zoom function on his camera for the first time . i could keep picking apart  but that might get almost as boring as this episode was . it kept dragging on and the true purpose seemed to be to use absolutely all the stock footage they had shot of elaine driving the newport convertible . i fully expected to see the chrysler logo and a nice jingle play while a voice over told us all about the  track player  automatic top etc . the only good thing i have to say about his one is that it just ends  abruptly . no loose ends tied up  nothing explained or terminated . not that many would notice  i suspect most had already changed the channel or dozed off by the end .  
clearly an hilarious movie .  br    br   it angers me to see the poor ratings given to this piece of comic genius  br    br   please look at this for what it is  a funny  ridiculous enjoyable film . laugh for christ sake   br    br    
this film came recommended as a good action film  which i don  t really think it is . i found the story convoluted and not all that easy to follow . there really isn  t that much action until the end of the film and it  s pretty dark and hard to see what  s really happening . i was sure hoping for something different  but  alas  didn  t find it here .  
okay  like many other such films  spawned out of a snl skit . but tim meadows does a fairly fantastic job of making a  minute one  dimensional character into a moderately viable comedic movie character . he drops amusingly consistently  threated one  liners with fair frequency  billy dee williams is in it though his lando days are long gone  and the entire thing is shot pretty well . true  it  s not great art  but if you went into wayne  s world looking for the gone with the wind  you did something wrong . enjoyable for what it is . . . . . . .  
  die sieger  was highly recommended to be one of the few good action movies made in germany . i watched it last night and i must admit  that i am deeply disappointed . if that is supposed to be  the last best hope  for entertaining and challenging german action cinema  well then there is not much left .  br    br    die sieger  tries to be sexy  daring and furious but it is nothing of that kind . the characters are wooden and stereotype and whenever they do something unexpected  which doesn  t happen too much  the act against their nature . that makes it hard  for me almost impossible  to follow them or even identify with them .  br    br   most of all i think the film is very bad cast . there is not one character in whom i believe . maybe the superior officer at the swat unit  but that  s about it . those people that try to look like or act like special units  like elite cops  i don  t believe them . not for a second .  br    br   the story is not so bad after all . but i think it  s badly told . you don  t get to know the bad guy at all  for example . and when after a  very dark  show down karl simon  the good guy  asks his already dead opponent  why  . . . what for   i did ask myself that very same question  knowing  that dominik graf wouldn  t have the answer .  br    br   i sincerely hope  no  i believe that germany can do better  even with action films .  
the choice to make this snl skit into a movie was far better thought out than other recent ones . the humor involved in the character is not annoyance humor  and is also character driven enough to be stretched out for an hour or two .  br    br   oddly enough the sexual content seemed like it could be avoided  but that may have been because the constraints of live television schooled me to not expect it . i suppose i was thinking more  leisure suit larry  risqu than the producers were . . .  br    br   definitely not a pg    movie  which will probably hurt it from ever reaching the heights of its more successful predecessors  but still better premise and writing than its more dismal ones .  br    br   i liked it  but i doubt it will be a smash hit . . .  which is sad  as tim meadows tends not to do characters that annoy me with quite the frequency other snl alumni tend to   
i am   and i hated this film its the worst film on earth i totally wasted my time watching it and was disappointed with it cause on the cover and on the back the film it looks pretty good  but i was wrong its bad . but when i saw delta she was totally different and a bad actress and i really didn  t know how old the  girls was trying to be i was so confused . the film was in some parts confusing and i didn  t enjoy it at all but i watched all the film just to see if it was going to get better but it didn  t  it was boring  dull and did i say boring . and i don  t think many other people liked it as well as me . boring boring boring  
i saw this movie years ago on late night television . back then it went by the title of  stairway to heaven  . even as a young boy  i remember being deeply moved by the story and astounded by the visual effects of the court trial  those who have seen it know what i  m talking about  . such imagination  a perfect blend of romance  drama  humour and fantasy  this movie is right up there with the greatest classics ever made citizen kane  casablanca  gone with the wind . this movie is rated extremely high by imdb voters and rightly so  over    voters rated it   out of    over    rated it  or higher out of   . i was surprised it was not listed in the top    films until i realized so few have seen  rated this movie  compared to those on the list . what a pity . i hope this movie gets released on dvd for region   north america   so that    i can purchase it  and    others discover this hidden treasure .  
  the   year old virgin  exists in a world i don  t understand . a world where an electronics store employee can tell his boss to  f off  and broadcast videos of his naked ass throughout the store and not get reprimanded . a world where it  s really funny to go drunk driving and smash into other peoples  cars . a world where it seems okay for a boss to sexually harass her underlings . a world full of raging and offensive stereotypes of ethnic minorities . and a world without any funny jokes  i am absolutely shocked at the seeming chorus of viewers who liked this movie . i thought every scene was like a bad saturday night live sketch  not very funny to begin with  and stretched out beyond all rational thought . the chest  waxing scene went on forever .  br    br   the characters  aside from carell  were totally one  note . and the romantic elements were completely contrived  particularly the scene where keener finds porn in carell  s apartment . that was just lame .  br    br   and i also found the  aquarius  sequence totally annoying and excessive . i hated hated hated this movie   
the world is made up two different types of moviegoers . . . there are the  english patient  types  who can  t be bothered to enjoy anything that isn  t high  brow enough to be shown on pbs  and there are the  happy gilmore  types  for whom an hour and a half of genitalia puns are definitely worth the   .  br    br   certainly  there  s a ton of gray area  but you know to which side you  re leaning . if you  re an english patient person  save your time  save your money  and save us all your  oh  this movie is so childish and stupid  comments . i know  you thoroughly enjoy belittling every movie you don  t like  and every person that likes them  but maybe you could hold off just this once .  br    br   but if you  re a happy gilmore type . . . go see this one . . . you  ll find it hilarious . tim meadows has created a hilarious character  and will farrell continues to be hilarious in just about everything he does . go check it out . you  ll be glad you did . and that  s ok .  
i absolutely adore the book written by robin klein  so i was very excited when i heard that a movie based on the book was in the making .  br    br   but i was severely disappointed with the movie when i did see it because it didn  t capture what i loved about the book  the absolutely ridiculously funny erica and the interesting way in which she views the world .  br    br   from the start of the movie  i realised that things weren  t the same as i had imagined in the book . so  i just went along for the ride . it wasn  t all that bad  i guess . miss belmont was totally different to what i had imagined her to be  i didn  t think she would be one to smoke and drink  jean kittson  who plays her  is hilarious   br    br   on it  s own  i thought the movie and it  s actors  actresses in it did a good job  but alas  i  m such a fan of the book  one of my all time favourite books  that i couldn  t help but feel disappointed p  
well  wayne  s world  is long gone and the years since then have been hard for snl off  shoot movies . from such cinematic offal as  it  s pat  to the recent   minute yawn   a night at the roxbury   many have  no doubt  lost faith that any other snl skit will ever make a successful transition to the silver screen . well fear not because tim meadows comes through in spades . the well  written plot maintains audience interest until the very end and while it remains true to the leon phelps character introduced in the five minute skit  the storyline allows the character to develop . the humor  consisting largely of sex jokes  is fresh and interesting and made me laugh harder than i have in any movie in recent memory . its a just great time if you don  t feel like taking yourself too seriously . tiffany  amber thiessen of  saved by the bell  fame  makes an appearance in the film and looks incredible . finally billy dee williams  reliving his colt   days  gives the movie a touch of class . and for those out there who are mindless movie quoters like myself  you will find this movie to be eminently quotable   ooh  it  s a lady    
this self proclaimed  very talented artist  have directed easily the worst spanish film of the   st century . lack of emotion  coherence  rhythm  skills  humor . . . it repeats the same situation over and over again . it shows no character development . it does not even show any violent and  or sexual content  and it does not add anything new to the psycho  killer sub genre . so lame it should be shown at film schools as an example of  what not to do  in a first movie .  br    br   btw where the hell is the  talent   there are scenes which have been shot almost identically there are scenes which have two or more master shots and it is quite awful to see the action jumping from one master shot to another without a reason . the camera almost never moves  as if the  very talented artist  was afraid of showing his lack of visual skills . the actors playing the main roles act like amateurs  and the supporting cast is hardly believable . there are more holes than plot in the script  if ever there was one  . . .  br    br   a really disheartening movie  and a whatsoever talented director .  
when i heard about this movie it was supposed to be the funniest thing i  ve ever seen  yes it was funny . i mean i liked it all until the end where . . . . . . . . . . . oh no i can  t tell u should it for yourself . it is funny except . the vulgar language . that  s why i say if u like movies that r funny in sexual ways watch it  but if not don  t waist ur money on renting it or buying it .  
i read some comments on the internet about this film like  . . . harder then hostel . . .    the camera never screens of when it  s getting really brutal . . .  . but none of them is true . the camera never screens of  because there is nothing to screen of . the same scene is repeated hundred and hundred times again . women lies on a table  killer rapes women a few times  killer cuts women into pieces  you never see this during the whole film   . police come and arrested him . killer fools the jury . film over . in germany we would say   viel lrm um nichts  . all in all  one of the most boring films i ever see . absolutely non  recommendable .  
i really don  t understand why people get so upset and pan this movie  remember folks  this is an snl movie  not anything that is supposed to be unpredictable and original in plot or direction  the ladies man is a hilarious movie  albeit stupid at times  with a wacked  out cast and  as usual  wonderful performances by will ferrel and tim meadows . yes some of the jokes are stupid  and yes  the characters are unbelievable but its comedy  i really don  t understand how anyone couldn  t laugh a lot during this hilarious film . anyway  all i ask is that people take this as it is   an snl  silly and irreverent comedy . nothing that will win awards  but nonetheless  some modern comedy gold .      apricot    
the name  frau  of the main character is the german word for  woman  . i don  t know if that was intentional or not  but if sure got some giggles from the german audience at the fantasy film festival last year  when it was shown .  br    br   but those were the only giggles the movie got . not that it was aiming for giggles  it  s a horrible movie for heaven  s sake  a horrible movie in more than one meaning . it  s a shame that a premise like that was wasted with horrible even unbearable moments for the viewer  definetely not for the faint of heart     and it wasn  t even necessary to show all the things that are shown . i  m not even going into a moral obligation  because movies don  t really have that kind of task or function  discussion of what is shown here  but this is a new low on the whole  torture movement  that has grown in the last few years   
enjoyable and watchable . tim meadows at his best . a big boost from billy dee williams . he and a very funny john witherspoon provide a solid foundation for mr . meadows  riffing . have fun with this one .  
  only minor spoilers except as noted  .  br    br   i  ve enjoyed a lot of spanish cinema recently both the actual spanish cinema of people like almodovar  and the latin american cinema of directors like del toro  whose superb  devil  s backbone   set in civil war spain  was the finest horror film of the last decade . it  s no surprise  then  that this film is both well  made  well  acted  and manages to sustain that distinctively different spanish atmosphere . but it  s also as nasty and pointless a film as one could hope not to have to see .  br    br   what actually is the purpose of all this  we have no real idea what caused the creepy central character to embark on his killing spree  despite the fact that large amounts of narrative voice  over are drawn directly from his own narcissistic journal . in a routinely unpleasant opening sequence  set more than a decade earlier  we see the central character killing his girlfriend in a rage of jealousy and control  freakery   if i can  t have you nobody can .   . oddly enough  that is perhaps one of the best sequences in the film  but it has no discernible relation to his subsequent killing spree  which appears completely different in both motivation and execution . what happened to him in jail to cause this change  we have no idea  though we do later discover  as an absurd sort of afterthought  that he obtained a law degree while imprisoned .  br    br   in britain  in several of our notorious  serial killer  or  sex killer  cases  the terrible question arises what about the wife  did she know  or suspect what was going on  this is a question that this film could have asked  and indeed the wife does begin to emerge as one of the more intriguing characters . but banally  the answer to the question is quite clearly  no  she didn  t  . even when a dramatic opportunity like this is presented on a plate  the film still manages to bungle it . all we actually get  sketched perfunctorily out at the end  is her slightly amoral preparedness to cash in on the proceeds after the event . compare this to the awful revelatory moment in ten rillington place  where christie  s wife says  you know what i mean .  thereby sealing her own fate and allowing us an appalled glimpse into unimaginable chasms of suppressed knowledge and horror .  br    br    major spoiler in this paragraph  . in the meantime  we are supposed to believe that the killer himself is a criminal mastermind who comprehensively outwits the police  thereby securing the briefest of incarcerations in a mental hospital before being released so that he can kill again . how exactly did he achieve this  the plot gets extremely sketchy at this point something to do with deliberately leaving certain clues for the police but how this all works or why  or how the subsequent court case actually proceeds  remains a mystery .  br    br   i actually don  t believe serial killers are like this . the silence of the lambs may be comic book stuff  but  lecter aside  it gets its serial killers right . they are deeply disturbed  deeply dysfunctional  deeply inadequate people not the creepily charming mastermind presented here  closely related to the equally implausible suave killer of the last horror movie  or indeed even man bites dog  though it appears not to have been noticed that that was a satire  .  br    br   this film has little suspense  and bungles what little intrigue the plot might have generated . it has nothing useful to say about the motivations of serial killers  either generally  or in the specific cultural milieu of spain . this is nothing more than a poorly plotted excuse to show some pretty misogynistic violence to women . and oddly  what makes that violence even more repulsive is a certain prissy failure of nerve even in how it is presented . the soft core character of what is actually shown just makes it seem even more repellently titillatory . just one explicit shot  properly timed  would have been infinitely more shocking  and would have rendered all the rest completely unnecessary  freeing up more film time to flesh out the gaping holes in plot and characterisation . instead we just get endless shots of young women vulnerably spreadeagled on a table in their pretty but slightly revealing underwear . very  very creepy . i  m sorry to be rude i love horror films  and can tolerate even the most extreme  to the extent even of worrying my partner . but i think anyone who finds this film good  or interesting  even i  d find myself edging away from . the purpose of a horror film is to scare you this is just lascivious .  br    br   it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth indeed . i have to give this film more than one star just because it  s competently executed  but morally it deserves none at all and should never have been made .  
tim meadows has to be the most underrated of snl  s recent cast members . what initially was a low  brow look at a sleazy gigilo develops into a thoroughly entertaining   minute run  albeit  still low  brow . don  t pop this one in expecting beautiful cinematography or oscar  worthy performances . walk into it expecting brilliant silliness with tim meadows and will ferrell doing what they do best  making the audience laugh .  br    br   leon  the ladies  man  phelps is a naive  likable radio sex show host who knows very little about anything except the ways of the wang . as a gifted ladies man  he lays waste to the wives of countless saps who  ve banded together in order to hunt him down . the director does an inspired job of guiding the actors on a comedic tryst which makes up completely for the lack of plot development . how much plot would one expect from an snl skit  while some scenes are a little off the mark  for the most part  meadows  one liners and absurd sexual comments hit the funny bone squarely . for instance  in one scene  meadows compares himself to mother theresa  but for bonin  . sure it  s crass  but don  t we all in the privacy of our homes get a chuckle out of his advice to an entire city for  doin  it in the butt   in another scene  immediately after a heartfelt kiss with the female lead  he suddenly remembers the name of his would be benefactor  a woman he slept with years ago . he stands up in front of the woman who  s obviously fallen for him and proclaims that  the ladies  man is back   to her obvious chagrin .  br    br   billy dee williams hits the ball out of the park as the bartender  narrator . will ferrell  the repressed homosexual  rounds out solid performances .  br    br   see this movie if you  re into adult humor . if not  stay away with extreme prejudice .  
visually speaking  this film is stunning . it has some delightful black comedic moments . but on the whole  the plot is very clichd  as is its seeming message . if you  re a fan of over  the  top violence in mainstream movies like hostel or saw  you  ll love it . if you  re looking for something at all high  brow  steer away . i saw it as part of the edinburgh film festival    and i only chose it because i was looking for something disturbing . ultimately  it isn  t disturbing . just grinding and unpleasant to sit through . if you genuinely want to be challenged  go see something like the lost . if you want to be grossed out  or tell your friends about a really messed up film  then this is for you .  
this movie was so good . leon phelps is hilarious . i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac      i went out after and bought a case of cognac       
the movie starts out fine . widower out with new girlfriend and the children .  br    br   the movie is filled with stupid director  s choices . like  lets separate .   i am coming down to . . . .  do what  stupid stupid stupid .  br    br   please do not waste your time hoping that it will get better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . not hardly .  
i must say  this movie has given me a dual personality . i  ve been told again and again to shut up and start speaking like a normal person . but  it  s very hard . . . no not the wang . did you find that disgusting and disrespectful  well  get in the mood for a lot more . this movie is just filthy  it  s not a film to show your grand  parents  but you should show it to a teenager or some immature guy at your workplace . anyway  back to the voice mannerisms . fortunately this site has some ladies man  did anyone at the studio notice that there  s supposed to be a apostrophe    between the e and s   so you can always have a fine little something to say to your boss or the cops . i have a sheet in my wallet .  
for a made  for  tv  horror  movie the movie started off very interesting . i was really intrigued by the story and the mystery of the film . but the ending was a total dissappointment . the movie was going along fast  paced and was building up to  it seemed like anyway  to a very climatic end . but guess what there is no end . the movie is just over and after almost one  and  a  half hours the audience is just left wondering what happened . why were all the unanswered questions in the film left unanswered . there was no explanation at all about any of the key points in the plot . this film is like watching a murder mystery and then never finding out who did it . very dissappointed . this film looks like the producers just ran out of money and never completed the film . a real bomb   
the ladies man is laugh out loud funny  with a great diverse cast as well as having some very stupid but excellent scenes  including the funniest love song ever written  .  br    br   ferrell is his usual quality self in a brilliant side role .  br    br   tim meadows plays an idiot surprisingly well and has written himself some of the funniest lines you  ll find in any comedy out there .  br    br   it is definitely worth a purchase as watching it every  months or so will lead to you still laughing as hard as you did first time round .  br    br   i am distraught to think at the time of writing this that it has a meagre  .     and i urge you to vote   br    br   and remember kids   theres more motion in the ocean   
well  i rented this movie and found out it realllllllly sucks . it is about that family with the stepmother and the same stupid fights in the family  then the cool son comes with his stupid camera and he likes to take a photo to damaged building and weird things and weird movie  and then he asks his father to take him to a side trip and simply agrees  etc etc etc . . . . . they go to that town which no one know it exists  blah blah blah  and the most annoying thing is that the movie ends and yet you don  t understand what is that movie     i have seen many mystery movies but that was the worst  honestly it doesn  t have a description at all and i wish i didn  t see it .  
  what is love  what is this longing in our hearts for togetherness  is it not the sweetest flower  does not this flower of love have the fragrant aroma of fine  fine diamonds  does not the wind love the dirt  is not love not unlike the unlikely not it is unlikened to  are you with someone tonight  do not question your love . take your lover by the hand . release the power within yourself . your heard me  release the power . tame the wild cosmos with a whisper . conquer heaven with one intimate caress . that  s right don  t be shy . whip out everything you got and do it in the butt . by leon phelps  when tim meadows created his quintessential snl playboy  leon phelps  i cringed . hearing his smarmy lisp and salacious comments made my remote tremble with outrage . i employed the click feature more than once  dear readers .  br    br   so when the film version of  the ladies man  came on cable  i mumbled a few comments of my own and clicked yet again . but there comes the day  gray and forlorn  when  nothing is on  any of the     channels . . . sigh . yes  i was faced with every cable subscribers torment  watch it or turn my tv off  there he was  leon phelps  smirking and . . . making me laugh  what had happened  had i succumbed to hollywood  s  dumb  down  sit  com humor  was i that desperate to avoid abdicating my sacred throne  the truth of the matter is i like  the ladies man  more than i should . a story about a vulgar playboy sipping cognac while leering at every female form goes against my feminist sensibilities .  br    br   what began as a crude snl skit blossomed before my eyes into a tale about leon and his playboy philosophy  going through life  helping people  solve their sexual conflicts .  i am the mother teresa of boning   he solemnly informs julie  karyn parsons   his friend and long  suffering producer of his radio show   the ladies man  . and he  s not kidding . leaving a string of broken hearts and angry spirits  leon manages to bed and breakfast just about all of chicago . that he does so with such genuine good  will is his calling  card through life .  br    br   our self  proclaimed   expert in the ways of love   manages to get himself into a lot of trouble with husbands and boyfriends . one such maligned spouse  lance  will ferrell   forms a  victims of the smiling ass  usa  club  vowing to catch our lovable don juan .  oh yes  we will have our revenge   he croons to his cohorts  in a show  stopping dance number .  br    br   plus it  s such a total delight to see billy dee williams as lester  the tavern owner and smooth narrator of leon  s odyssey to find his  sweet thing  and a pile of cash .  where has he been hiding   but would i choose this movie as my valentine  s day choice  leon  s search for the easy life changes him in so many profound ways  that i had to give the nod to our  ladies man  . that he can  at the movie  s close  find true happiness with one woman  while still offering his outlandish advice  is the stuff of dreams   
after i got done watching this movie i was so upset that i had wasted  hours of my life . that  s  hours i  ll never get back . ugh . when you start this you might think  wow this is really good   but rest assured that first impressions mean nothing . i was so excited about this movie until the dumbest ending i have ever seen . this movie is simply pathetic . the acting is bland  the story line is anything but original and there  s nothing especially unique about this except that it  s the worst movie ever    do not watch this movie    warning   dumbest movie ever you will be sorry if you waste  hours of your life on this         
just after the end of wwii powell  pressburger were asked to come up with something to try to heal the rift developing between the uk  the usa . at the time there was a lot of  overpaid  over sexed and over here  type of comments . somehow they came up with this masterpiece .  br    br   my favourite movie of all time . it  s got everything . romance  poetry  emotion  religion  drama and very quirky .  br    br   i can never explain exactly why  but it hits all the right buttons and although i  ve seen it hundreds of times  yes  really  i  m still guaranteed to be in tears at many points throughout .  br    br   was it the magnificent acting  the wonderful sets  the inspired script  who knows . but do watch it and you  ll see what i mean .  
i looked over the other comments and was thoroughly amused to find that clearly only people who actually worked on the movie had commented . i mean  i hate to say bad things about an amateur production  but if you make a bad movie and want to comment on it  tone it down a little .  groundbreaking  is a little over the top . this is a boston based college production that doesn  t even achieve the level of most amateur college film . it  s what you would expect a bunch of kids to do . a silly action film without much creativity . it  s pretty funny if you  re willing to poke fun at it . not something you will ever see unless you are a student at emerson college .  
yes it may be goofy and may not seem as funny as many high budget comedies out there  but this movie is truly hilarious if you really watch it . tim meadows has always struck me as being funny off of the saturday night live show . whenever he would do this character on the show i would crack up laughing . so after i saw this was going to be playing on comedy central one night i decided to check it out . all in all i was farily impressed with this movie  because it wasn  t meant to win any oscars or become comedy of the year  but it did entertain the saturday night live fans that love the ladies man character . this movie is also packed with some highly quotable lines that can be recited for years to come .  
normally  i have no problem with a movie or story with an ending that leaves you wondering to puzzle out what really happened  when it  s done on purpose . . .  br    br   but this movie really feels like they got all but the last   minutes done  then realized they had   left to finish on . . .  br    br   i saw it on tbs . . . i recommend you not spend money on it either . if you catch it on tv  watch all but the last   minutes  then walk away and make your own ending in your mind .  br    br   really  the movie would have been better if they had simply got away  and come back with the state poice of feds only to find that the town and the car graveyard was gone  and by all appearances had never been there . . .  br    br    wish i had more thumbs  so i could give that movie  thumbs down    
do you like really inventive comedy or do you love  the wedding crashers   if the answer is the latter stop reading now . i can  t believe this movie is not higher rated . basically meadows plays a character not unlike austin powers . there are so many inventive moments in this gagorama . from crudity  leon playing with himself on the porch  the ex boyfriend tricked into eating . . oh well . to inspired lunacy  clown sex  the broadway routine  the voice over . meadows is great as the childish  but very sweet natured leon . some great lines  don  t blame the wang   freaky deaky sex world  too many . . . why this movie wasn  t huge is a mystery . great comedy .  
i  ve read some of the other comments and i do have to agree with the ones that didn  t get the ending . i thought it was going rather well . . until the end . it kept your mind running and then splat . i have not clue what went on the last couple minutes of the movie except a complete mess . it  s like they ran out of money to come up with a good ending so they improvised . first they had a mysterious thing making people disappear then they had a guy talking about area    which makes you think about aliens  then after they it went to crap . i thought the actors and actresses did fine it  s just the script went sour . anyways  if you do watch this movie be prepared to be disappointed at the end .  
sometimes they get lucky and have a hit on their hands  wayne  s world  the first one  not the second  . but most often they have duds  it  s pat comes to mind rather quickly  . this time out it  s tim meadows as the ladies man . this movie falls somewhere in between a hit and a dud . it was very funny for the first   minutes  but then  as usually happens with snl skits  it starts to slow down  before finally ending  long after it should have .  br    br   tim meadows is leon phelps  a radio dj with a nightly show called the ladies man . he answers any and all questions dealing with sex and relationships  usually in the crudest way possible . everything seems to ultimately come down to the butt . after pushing the buttons of the station manager  leon  along with his producer julie  karyn parsons  gets fired  and needs to find another job . out of the random blue  comes a letter from one of his ex  ladies . the letter offers him wealth and luxury for the rest of his life  the only problem being that the letter isn  t signed . so leon needs to track down all the women he  s been with to find the woman of his dreams . but sometimes  as billy dee williams says in the film  the woman of your dreams is standing right in front of you . there is also a sub  plot about a bunch of guys who  s wives  girlfriends have all slept with leon  and they want to first figure out who he is  by a tattoo he has on a part of his anatomy   then kill him . leading this bunch of guys is  surprise  will ferrell from snl . first off  i thought the sub  plot was rather lame . the singing and dancing stuff was just completely worthless . i usually like will ferrell but here he just never clicked for me . and the rest of the guys were just schlubs who tagged along  and in the end all decided that having their wives  girlfriends cheat on them was in fact their fault . so back to the main story . the story basically centers around leon and sex . so what it comes down to is  if you don  t like the character of leon  you won  t like the movie . his voice  his mannerisms  his dialogue is what carries the movie . i am not a big fan of tim meadows . i never thought he was a particularly good actor on snl . the only thing i ever really liked of his  was his ladies man skits . but the best thing about those  is that they usually involved the guest host  remember the one with cameron diaz    and they were short . for about  minutes  they were pretty funny . and here  for about   minutes  it  s really funny . what i thought was good about the character in the movie  is that he stayed in character throughout . he never wavered from his wanted to just get laid persona . until right at the end where there was this transformation  and the ever present speech to tie things up . other than that  it was pretty good at keeping leon as leon  and not changing him into something less crude than he was . there isn  t a lot of substance to this movie  if you couldn  t guess . but like i said earlier  the beginning of the movie i found to be very funny . some real laugh out loud moments  all revolving around sex and his crudeness . the problem of course with this movie  and most other snl spin offs  is that these are characters that are only supposed to be shown for a few minutes at a time . stretching the concept into   minutes is very difficult . that difficulty is obviously why they needed the sub  plot  because without it  this movie would have been a little under an hour . when it was good  it was good  but when it wasn  t good  it got to be boring .  br    br   so overall  the ladies man wasn  t as bad as other snl films  but it wasn  t as good as others . it had some funny moments  the first   minutes was pretty good  but the rest of it dragged on . there was an unnecessary sub  plot whose only purpose was to lengthen the film . the bottom line is  if you like tim meadows and his leon phelps character  you  ll be able to watch the film . if he annoys you  don  t even bother going . unless you just want to see tiffani theissen in some nice revealing clothing .  br    br    
we had to go to an appointment  so we turned on the dvr to record the ending . after it was over  i looked at my husband and said   do you have a clue   . he shook his head no . i said   so you made me watch the end of this movie and i have no clue what just happened  . he didn  t  make  me  but you know .  br    br   the movie body itself was quite good . there was a lot of suspense . it kept you wondering . then came the ending . the ending was . . . well it just ended . you weren  t let in on what happened or why . right up until the credits i kept thinking something would happen to explain it  but it never did . so i came here expecting someone figured it out and i just wasn  t paying attention . nope . here four years later  i  m just as clueless as tom sawyer was .  br    br   i still have no clue what went on . i  m just glad i didn  t waste any  to buy it because i sure would have been mad .  br    br   ohhhhh  i get it  the end of the movie is what disappeared  rofl  
netflix should mention this short feature on the info for silk stockings . superior in every way to that over  produced fluff . this had much better cole porter songs and lots more energy . silk stockings turned out to be a big disappointment . fred was getting too old for this sort of thing  though the dances and cyd are lovely . i will be on the watch for the garbo   melvyn douglas version of ninotchka . was peter lorre ill during the making of silk stockings   he seems to be very passive in the more active numbers and with less lines  very glad that i ran across paree   paree by pure accident . made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable . bob hope  as a simple  song and dance man  is pure joy .  
this is hands down the worst movie i can ever remember watching . everything was unbelievably clich and retarded . the acting was horrible too . the camera work wasn  t bad but that still couldn  t redeem it . the writer  director of this film must suffer from down  s syndrome if he believed this movie would help his career . i want the hour and a half of my life back that i wasted watching this crap . i would rather watch a video of the grass growing than this . i cant believe imdb is making me write   lines in order to post this but i feel that this movie is so bad that i must continue to warn others about it . the reason i came about this movie is that my girlfriend requested it from the local library thinking that it was the kris kristoferson movie which ended up being entitled  disappearances  . i don  t know whose fault it was for this garbage ending up in my dvd player but i feel that someone owes me at least    for my time  pain and suffering . in conclusion  the director  writer of this movie better hope i ever recognize him on the street .  
a delight mini movie  a musical short based on three of cole porter  s broadway smash songs . bob hope  s first credited film is a delight  he plays an american playboy millionaire on vacation in paris . the film opens with him sitting at a table of an out door caf telling his friends about this beauty that takes his breath away . suddenly he spots her a few yards away . he is so over come his friends tease him and suggest  just show her your bank book .  but hope claims he can win her in less than   days with  no  money  they bet polo ponies over the issue and take all his cash and id  s . hope follows her and when they are alone gushes out a proposal she does not believe he is sincere until he sings to her   you do something to me  by cole porter . but she must leave and he tries to earn money as a tour guide so he can pursue her . but when she sees him showing another girl around town  disillusioned she wants to drop him . he continues to chase her and catches up to her and her family at a race track where he bets his meager earnings on the last race hoping to win enough to impress her . through a series of events and large synchronized dance numbers he loses the winning ticket and she decides to marry him rich or poor . so he wins the girl  the race and the bet and sings two more songs   
disappearance is set in the mojave desert as jim  harry hamlin   patty henley  susan dey  plus their two kids katie  basia a  hern   matt  jeremey lelliott  along with ethan  jamie croft  a friend of the family are travelling along  they stop at a roadside diner  ask about an old deserted mining town on the map called weaver . no  one claims to have heard of it but it  s definitely there  the family decide to take a detour in order to check it out  take some pictures . once at the town they take some pictures  have a look around but when it comes time to leave their car won  t start  they have to spend the night there . while looking around they find a camcorder videotape which they play only to discover footage of a scared woman saying all her friends have disappeared  the next morning  their car has disappeared as things take a very sinister turn . what is weaver  s secret  will the henley  s ever leave there alive . . .  br    br   written  co  executive produced  directed by walter klenhard i have to say that disappearance is one of the most frustrating films i have ever watched . for the first   minutes it was a pretty good mysterious mix of thriller  horror film but then we are treated to one of the single worst endings ever in motion picture history . the script suggest lots of different things but never elaborates or confirms  i was sitting there genuinely intrigued about what was going on  from the families car mysterious disappearing  the four recent graves  the thing in the abandoned mines  the supernatural sandstorm  the sudden  unexplained disappearance of ethan  his just as unexplained reappearance  the sheriff  s sinister motives  the compass in the car going crazy  the crashed plane  the townspeople denying weaver existed  the possible side effects of a neutron bomb being dropped near weaver in the    s but they are all tossed out of the window  for all we know could have been totally separate random events . everything was coming along nicely  was set up for a big twist revelation but none was forthcoming  instead i was treated to the most ambiguous  strange  surreal  downright frustrating ending possible . if nothing else the ending contradicts much of what has gone before  leaves the viewer with more questions than answers . it  s almost as if the makers had these great ideas but then didn  t know what to do with them  just made the ending up on the spot . i just felt i put so much effort into watching the film which can be pretty slow at times without any sort of reward  in fact the ending felt more like a kick in the teeth or a good two finger salute   br    br   director klenhard does a reasonable job here  the old ghost town has a certain atmosphere  the large expansive desert locations give a good sense of isolation . it  s well made but what were they thinking with that ending  nothing fits  nothing makes sense  it  s just a huge frustrating mess that after sitting through the thing for nearly an hour  a half leaves you confused  wanting to know more . despite being a horror film there  s no blood or gore although there are one or two creepy moments here  there . the film actually reminds of the hills have eyes       remake for large parts as that is what the film is set  up to be before a bizarre ending which does nothing to bring any closure to the film .  br    br   technically the film is good with high production values  good special effects  sets  locations  cinematography . set in america but filmed in south australia . the acting is fine from a decent cast .  br    br   disappearance is a really odd film  for a long time it shapes up to be a neat little horror mystery thriller but it never explains anything which happens  the truly surreal ending just throws up more questions than answers . i really can  t see anyone making head nor tail of this  i really can  t .  
i can remember watching this for the first time  when i was  years old . i wanted to be one of the  barbarian brothers  . this movie is still great . one original aspect was that the fight scenes where very short . implying that the  barbarian brothers  where so good that they finished there enemies off quickly  plus  you have chases  a cage fight  a dragon  and yes even a bar brawl   br    br   yes  the acting is bad so that  s why it  s not a ten  also the story line has received a lot of criticism . i think it is quite original . not to many movies in it  s genre have the same original story lines  or colorful dialogue .  br    br   i definitely recommend this film .  
this movie tries to hard to be something that it  s not . . . . a good movie . it wants you to be fooled from begining to end  but fails . from when it starts to get interesting it falls apart and you  re just hoping the ending gives you some clue of just what is going on but it didn  t .  br    br    
well  some people would say that this particular movie stinks . . . but hey  thats not right  not right at al . . . the movie may not have the best special effects  and may not have the best actors  except the exelence of the barbarian bros .  dispite theese minor fact  i can honostly say that this is one of the funniest movies ive ever seen  and ive seen em al   
in the beginning and throughout the movie  it was great . it was suspenseful and thrilling . yet in the end it gave no answer to what had happened . they mysteriously turned into zombies by a raven or crow  it did not answer the questions that we all had and therefore  was not as good a movie as i thought that it was going to be .  
apparently ruggero deodato figured out  early on  that his story wouldn  t work if he approached it too seriously  so he decided to camp it up . the result is a film that can be viewed as either a ludicrous sword  and  sorcery epic or as a very entertaining comedy  and i think i  ll go the second way . the brief gore moments are well  done  the paul brothers openly mock the material  they even bark at each other in one scene    and there is also a charming  spirited  good  natured performance by eva la rue  as the girl who tags along with the  boys  . plus  where else can you see the insides of a dragon lighted like a discotheque       
the progression of the plot is enough to  rope one in  and create curiosity about the outcome . however  ultimately  the feeling that remains is that the producers of the movie forgot to end it . if the intention was to create a perpetual circle  occasionally done in the twilight zone   it was too sloppy to view as a positive effort .  
the barbarians maybes not the best film that anybody of us have seen  but really     . . . . . . . . its so funny . . . . . . i cant discribe how mutch i laughed when i first saw it . . the director really wanted to do a serious adventure movie  but itsso misirable bad . . . . so bad that its one of the funniest movies ive ever seen . . . . . . so my advise is that you should see it . . . . . and if you alredy did  se it again         
the ending of this movie made absolutely no sense . what a waste of  perfectly good hours . if you can explain it to me . . . please do . i don  t usually consider myself unable to  get  a movie  but this was a classic example for me  so either i  m slower than i think  or this was a really bad movie .  
i love bad movies . not only  because they often are as entertaining as  really   good  films  like pirates of the caribbean series and other hollywood pathos   but they often are far better than those films . and that  s the reason why i love italian rip off cinema of     s and     s . and that  s the reason why i especially love this movie  the barbarians  the company .  br    br   director ruggero deodato has made some actually very good movies  like house on the edge of the park  and also his atlantis interceptors and live like a cop  die like a man are enjoyable action movies . but this is really bad . the barbarians is so idiotic movie . peter and david paul as the barbarian brothers kutchek and gore are very funny  because of their lack of charisma and acting skills . but if they can  t act  they yell and scream every time they do something important . in one scene people try to hang the barbarian brothers  and they escape very extraordinary way .  br    br   bad acting  bad special effects  very stupid story  bad direction  actually everything is bad in this movie . i can  t describe how much i laughed when i watched this first time . the barbarians  the company is camp classic everybody should see once . if you thought plan  from outer space is fun camp  this will be a real killer .  
this movie was lame  lame  lame . what a build up  what a let down . all form  no substance . a terrible waste of talent and time . would not recommend it to my husband  s dog  who will watch anything .  
if ever anyone queries whether cinema is an art form  you can do worse than pointing them at this movie .  br    br   quite simply it is the perfect combination of story  script  actors and cinematography ever committed to celluloid .  br    br   the story of a doomed bomber pilot who is missed by his heavenly conductor in the english fog during the second world war  and his subsequent brushes with the celestial authorities  or is it in his head  is played with panache by david niven and kim hunter and is incredibly touching  especially in the opening scenes when the doomed pilot  niven  describes his plight to the ground radio operator  hunter  .  br    br   the sense of otherworldliness is heightened by jack cardiff  s photography and the incredible production designs .  br    br   the supreme touches extend to the heaven shots appearing in black and white and earthbound scenes presented in technicolour  this is even mentioned by the celestial conductor  a fantastic marius goring  .  br    br   not only a highpoint in british cinema  but a highpoint in cinema  period .  
almost as tedious to watch as it was to read  evening is a gorgeously produced failure . . . until meryl streep walks in and quietly shows her other cast members how to act this kind of stuff . vanessa redgrave is shockingly off in her role as the dying ann and claire danes is a cipher . perhaps if vanessa and claire had switched roles we could have seen the vibrancy in the young ann that gave her entre to the rarefied world of the story and we could have imagined that the older ann actually was dying .  br    br   i was hoping the addition of michael cunningham to the writing credits would smooth out the jumpy storytelling but alas . it gave me a headache .  
this movie maybe really bad  but it is alot of fun . the bad acting and poor direction enhance the film  s hystericalness . the twins are very funny in their conanesque roles . if you go into this film expecting the first conan or excalibur  than you will hate it . if you watch it while in a good mood and accept it as good  dumb fun you will have a good time . watch for the scene where they try to hang the brothers  its funniest scene in the film . i wish mystery science theatre     would have done this    
what starts out as an interesting story quickly disintegrates into nothing . don  t bother watching to the end hoping for an explanation of what is stalking the visitors  there is no ending . no explanation  no resolution  zip . this could have been a good movie it they had purchased an entire script .  
as shallow as it may sound  i actually delayed my viewing of  the barbarians  several times just because the vhs cover  as well as the picture image displayed here on the website  looks so incredibly gay  by now i wish i had watched it earlier because the movie isn  t so much gay . just trashy  cheesy  campy and enormously fun  it  s almost unbelievable that ruggero deodato  director of  cannibal holocaust  of all people  was the man responsible for this comical cash  in on the contemporary popular sword  sandal fantasy flicks  particularly schwarzenegger  s conan movies . the film opens with a terrific  once  upon  a  time  type of off  screen narrator  introducing us to the ragneks . their founder once traded an entire mountain of pure gold for just one magically powerful ruby that would allow them to travel in freedom and access every country as entertainers . in other words  the ragneks are a bunch of traveling circus freaks  their happiness abruptly comes to end when the greedy kadar kidnaps the ragneks  beautiful queen canary and continuously attempts to discover the whereabouts of the ruby . meanwhile  and as some sort of amusing waste of time  the two orphan twin  brothers gore and kutchek are trained to become muscled warriors and they  re unwarily prepared to fight each other to the death . instead of that  however  they escape and develop a plan to free their queen . actually  the plot isn  t half as bad as i initially feared  but still the most fun is provided by the beefcake brothers  on screen chemistry  the crazily inept dialogs and of course the utterly cheesy fantasy  monsters  like a dragon with adorably cute eyes  some kind of werewolf creature and zombies that randomly appear to pop out of the swamp . the soundtrack and make  up effects are great and our almighty director deodato maintains a terrifically fast pace . the barbarian brother  s acting capacities are much better than i anticipated  apart from the fact that one of them constantly produces gross belching sounds . the supportive cast is splendid as well . eva la rue never looked more beautiful as the witty savage girl cara  virginia bryant is indeed bewitching like richard lynch states on several occasions and the lovely sheeba alahani makes her first and only appearance on film as a vicious sorceress with a donut  shaped hair style  i kid you not   . last but not least   the barbarians  stars everybody  s favorite eyes in the hills creep michael berryman as the appropriately named dirtmaster . i know the displayed picture looks gayer than a promotional campaign for the musical version about the rise and fall of the village people  but  the barbarians  really is a must  see italian exploitation highlight .  
a bickering  american family  vacationing in the west  discover a strange ghost town in the middle of the desert . little do they know that this ghost town was once a test site for nuclear bombs  and a deadly presence is stalking them . i generally love mystery  horror films like this .  cube   spielberg  s  duel  and  the birds  are all great examples of movies that give no answers but nonetheless leave us intrigued and wanting more . apparently   disappearance  writer  director walter klenhard was trying to make just that kind of film  and whether or not he succeeded is up to the viewer . i personally think he got about half way there  then the film just sunk .  br    br   the actors are all kind of just  ho  hum  . their not especially bad but we as an audience never really feel their fear and they react to situations in unrealistic ways . is anyone else absolutely sick of characters just walking out off to investigate strange sounds      at least give them some kind of justification for doing so        br    br   as far as made  for  tv films go it  s an above average fair for sure . director klenhard should be commended for really milking the desert environment for everything it offered and some of the setting were striking . there  s a really cool scene where two characters find an old nuclear test ground were the sand had been completely melted to glass for as far as the eye could see . i wonder if that was real  br    br   no gore to speak of  and the  creatures  or what ever the hell it is that  s after these peopleare never shown  not to mention that we are never even given a real clue as to what they are  mutants  aliens  ghosts or ancient evil indian spiritsoh  that really narrows it down for us   or where the come from .  br    br   there are lots of clichs here  too . why is it that towns  folk in these kinds of films are always really  really dumb  why is there always an old guy everyone thinks is crazy that turns out to be correct  why  why  why  how  bout a new scenario  folks   br    br    disappearance  tries to be different and intelligent but ultimately fails in that in many ways it  s too familiar to us fans of direct  to  video horror fodder . hey  i  ve seen much worse films  and disappearance ain  t bad  it  s just too average .  br    br       .  
deodato brings us some mildly shocking moments and a movie that doesn  t take itself too seriously . absolutely a classic in it  s own particular kind of way . this movie provides a refreshingly different look at barbarians . if you get a chance to see this movie do so . you  ll definitely have a smile on your face most of the time . not because it  s funny or anything mundane like that but because it  s so bad it goes out the other way and becomes good  though maybe not clean  fun .  
this is waaaaay to much . . so frustrating to watch . . i was waiting for the whole damn movie to end and to finally get some answers   . . and what i  ve had in the end was nothing but a huuuge neon  sign question mark above my head      i haven  t seen such a bad acting and such a nonsense movie in a long long time . . and what  s bothering me is . . how come someone  an actor  read the script of such a bull    movie and say ok  i  m in    let  s film this  this is horrible    this movie suuuuuuuuuuuucks       i just can  t believe i  ve spent an hour and a half of my life on something like this     
this was directed by ruggero deodato  a true icon to many horror film fans after he directed the seminal and notorious cannibal holocaust . however  don  t expect to find any such notoriety in the film reviewed here as it proves to be incredibly tame in comparison and plays more like a conan inspired outing for a young audience .  br    br   such a description may instantly put off most fans of the whole conan inspired sword  sorcery genre but before you turn your nose up at this  it has to be said  this movie is just so much fun   br    br   it  s mostly played for laughs and features two huge and highly likable heroes in the form of david and peter paul aka . the barbarian brothers who both seem to be having a ball with their characters .  br    br   b  movie favourite richard lynch turns up as the main villain in the piece and it  s also great to see roles for big george eastman and michael berryman .  br    br   added to this  the ladies are stunning to behold and suitably scantily attired throughout the films duration  a staple and much welcomed ingredient in the genre    br    br   what can i say   this simply is a really fun and lighthearted take on the genre and i recommend it wholeheartedly   
spoilers spoilers when i saw a preview for this movie i thought it was going to be atleast a slightly admirable storyline . but as most superstation original movies i was left disapointed . this gullible family ends up driving through this  deserted  town to take a brake and find this video camera showing these people doing everything their donig and finds out they all eventually disappear  the family goes through all these mysterious stages and never discovers or displays what the heck is stalking them . their are more gaps than i can count and they don  t explain anything that happens how or what . it ends where the family gets in a car accident and get posest or brainwashed or something  which is never explained  . the next thing you know ur hoping they somehow find out how all it happened but it ends leaving you completely confused .  
yes  i loved this movie when i was a kid . when i was growing up i saw this movie so many times that my dad had to buy another vhs copy because the old copy had worn out .  br    br   my family received a vhs copy of this movie when we purchased a new vhs system . at first  my mom wasn  t sure that this was an appropriate movie for a   year old but because we had just bought a new vhs system she let me watch it .  br    br   like i said  this movie is every little boys dream the movie contains a terrific setting  big muscled barbarians  beautiful topless women  big bad monsters and jokes you  ll only get when you get older . so  a couple of days ago i inserted the video and watched the movie again after a long time . at first  i was bored  then started thinking about how much i loved this movie when i was kid  and continued watching . yeah  the experience wasn  t as great as i remembered the acting is pretty bad  the storyline is pretty bad  the jokes weren  t funny anymore  but the women were still pretty . yes  i  ve grown up . even though the movie experience has changed for me  i still think it  s worth  stars . for the good old times you know  
if you like movies about creepy towns  hotels  houses  states  ala the eagles  hotel california    etc . that possess the people that are  just passing through   read almost any stephen king novel instead . if you like the setting of  disappearance  start by reading king  s  desperation  but also check out  the shining    salem  s lot  and  needful things .   br    br   the crow motif  the desert  the family driving in desperation to escape or avoid possession are tired . why didn  t they just make the film from the  desperation  novel  maybe they approached king and he nixed  must be .  br    br   susan dey and harry hamlin look happy to be reunited and they have both worn well over the years  but they  re still tv and direct  to  dvd caliber actors .  
this movie is great  this movie is beautiful  finally  a movie that portrays moslems as people  no stereotypes here . this movie is driven by the story  by the acting and above all by its theme  that of cultural affirmation and discovery . they may seem like clichs but they are not  at least not in this movie . the vista of the grand mosque of mecca is absolutely stupendous and the audience is given a glimpse of a side of the moslem world that is rarely of ever shown in the west . here the people are caring  supportive  devout  tolerant and devoted to each other . what a welcomed and way overdue departure from the usual negative portrayals of arabs . outstanding movie .  
disappearance is about a couple who take their family on vacation in new mexico and find themselves in deep trouble after taking a detour off the main highway to visit a town that was seemingly abandoned in     for unknown reasons . the town of weaver seems harmless at first and has tourist appeal until the family is stranded there overnight and they begin to have good reason to suspect that others have experienced their same predicament with fatal outcomes . the henleys watch a blair  witch  project  esquire video diary left by the town  s last victim  which ironically demonstrates the best performance of anyone in this movie . although hamlin and dey  s performances are much better than the supporting casts   their emotional affect seems  flat  to me throughout the movie .  br    br   disappearance has appeal for most of the movie as there is much suspense and good direction . however  the plot takes unexpected and implausible turns that seemingly make no sense . worse yet it that there really is no understanding of what exactly is going on in the movie  which makes the bizarre ending less tolerable . it appeared to me that the movie makers were so focused on making a stream of suspenseful scenes  that they threw away all the elements of good story making plot development  gradual explanation of themes and symbols that lead to a cohesive solution  outcome .  br    br   the most difficult aspect of the movie for me was that the first three  quarter of it was spent building up tension and curiosity about certain aspects of the plot that were then suddenly disposed of as if we didn  t deserve an explanation  br    br   what was the significance of the indian symbols on the walls  what happened to the original people of weaver  what was the connection with the people at the dinner  what did the sheriff know  what did the missing boy discover if anything   br    br   this was  i believe  a bad move  since it engendered some resentment . i had invested quite a bit of brainpower into hypothesizing some plausible explanations for some of these plot turns and strange events  only to have the movie makers simply end it without giving an answer to any of these things . these are some nice cliffhangers for the ending of a miniseries that is about to pickup again next week  but a totally frustrating and inappropriate ending for a stand  alone movie .  
i  ve joined imdb so people know what a great film this is  it  s not often you come across a film that  s moving and visually cinematic yet humble . you  ve read the plot so all i want to say is don  t watch it because you want to see a clash of cultural religious identity babble  because that  s the typical misconception people read in to  instead just appreciate and realise it  s about a father and son on a voyage growing to know each other through their struggles . buy it and pass it on before film  get round to it . this was one of the very few films to be nominated for a bafta being independent and foreign . the beauty of it is that it manages to appeal to anyone even if you never watch anything subtitled or just used to the hollywood formula  just a great story that will keep you engaged . the only thing i wish is for it to be longer and see what happens  
no  this is nothing about that fairy tale with the pumpkin coach  fairy godmother and the glass slippers  but if i were to elaborate  i would have to spoil it for you  which i won  t . but don  t let curiosity get the better of you  as this movie is not fantastic . it  s one of those movies that start off promisingly  before betraying its audience with cheap scare tactics and an incoherent storyline . and that  s real horror .  br    br   yoon  hee  to ji  won  and hyun  soo  shin se  kyeong  are your ideal mother and daughter . one  s a successful plastic surgeon  while the other your dutiful  obedient  and beautiful teenage daughter . their relationship is like hand in glove  so close you  d think of them more as siblings rather than parent  child . but things start to go wrong  don  t they always  when hyun  soo  s friends  whom yoon  hee has operated on  start to go berserk .  br    br   perhaps it  s a warning to audiences  and for those koreans ladies who don  t bat an eyelid when going under the knife  if news reports are to be believed . the only truly scary moments are those scenes in plastic surgery  though somehow  i thought kim ki  duk  s time actually had more gore when featuring and describing what goes on during the surgery itself .  br    br   it  s a tale of two halves  the fist being an attempt to shock audiences with standard scare tactics  which  i admit  did get to me now and then . however  the second half degenerated the movie into mindless mumbo  jumbo melodramatics  and was quite contrived into its forcing its ideas down your throat . some things begin not to make sense  and while attempts are always presented to explain  you probably won  t buy it  not that horror movies are logical to begin with .  br    br   the leads are all beautiful  and there is a distinct lack of male presence besides the negligible cop role . but hey  i  m not complaining  though the storyline could have been improved tremendously . i  d recommend you to watch this  only if you  re a fan of mediocre korean horror  on vcd . watch out for those face off  ish moments   
le grand voyage is a gentle miracle of a film  a work made more profound because of its understated script by writer  director ismal ferroukhi who allows the natural scenery of this  road trip  story and the sophisticated acting of the stars nicolas cazal and mohamed majd to carry the emotional impact of the film . ferroukhi  s vision is very capably enhanced by the cinematography of katell djian  a sensitive mixture of travelogue vistas of horizons and tightly photographed duets between characters  and the musical score by fowzi guerdjou who manages to maintain some beautiful themes throughout the film while paying homage to the many local musical variations from the numerous countries the film surveys .  br    br   reda  nicolas cazal  lives with his muslim family in southern france  a young student with a western girlfriend who does not seem to be following the religious direction of his heritage . his elderly father  mohamed majd  has decided his time has come to make his hadj to mecca  and being unable to drive  requests the reluctant reda to forsake his personal needs to drive him to his ultimate religious obligation . the two set out in a fragile automobile to travel through france  into italy  and on through bulgaria  croatia  slovenia  and turkey to saudi arabia . along the trip reda pleads with his father to visit some of the interesting sights  but his father remains focused on the purpose of the journey and reda is irritably left to struggle with his father  s demands . on their pilgrimage they encounter an old woman  ghina ognianova  who attaches herself to the two men and must eventually be deserted by reda  a turkish man mustapha  jacky nercessian  who promises to guide the father  son duo but instead brings about a schism by getting reda drunk in a bar and disappearing  and countless border patrol guards and custom agents who delay their progress for various reasons . tensions between father and son mount reda cannot understand the importance of this pilgrimage so fraught with trials and mishaps  and the father cannot comprehend reda  s insensitivity to the father  s religious beliefs and needs . at last they reach mecca where they are surrounded by hoards of pilgrims from all around the world and the sensation of trip  s significance is overwhelming to reda . the manner in which the story comes to a close is touching and rich with meaning . it has taken a religious pilgrimage to restore the gap between youth and old age  between son and father  and between defiance and acceptance of religious values .  br    br   the visual impact of this film is extraordinary  all the more so because it feels as though the camera just  happens  to catch the beauty of the many stopping points along the way without the need to enhance them with special effects . nicolas cazal is a superb actor  be sure to see his most recent and currently showing film  the grocer  s son   and it is his carefully nuanced role that brings the magic to this film . another fine film from the film movement  this is a tender story brilliantly told . highly recommended .  br    br   grady harp  
i caught this on showtime tonight and was amazed by how a movie with such a interesting premise could wind up being so unbelievably awful . who  s your daddy  stars brandon davis as an adopted high school senior chris hughes  a geek who inherits the heir to a porn empire left to him by his biological parents . though the premise sounds like the movie could be a lot of fun  it is ruined by inept directing from first  time director andy fickman  a clichd and predictable screenplay  and acting that is even bad by direct  to  video standards . even the normally funny charlie talbert turns in a surprisingly dismal performance as the best friend . ali landry is the only good part of this lame and unfunny dud .      
what starts out as generational conflict in this movie  ends in understanding  solemnity and grace . the movie meanders through europe with the father and the young son cramped in a car over     miles . the cramping forces lifestyles  beliefs and life skills to collide . there  s really no clear winner . it all adds up in the end as experience  experience of multiple layers of life . for those interested in understanding islam  this movie offers a generous and gentle outlook  without being pushy about the agenda . it  s a coming of age story for the young son  his dismissive and rebellious nature turning to openness for receiving more ways of life .  
when a comedy movie boasts its marvelous soundtrack on the back cover you know your not dealing with a top notch movie . i rented this movie with friends expecting to get some chuckles but overall to get most of our laughs off each other making fun of the movie . we couldn  t have chosen a worse movie .  br    br   the movie may have been alright with a few changes . first off  the comedy was painful . physical gags were poorly performed and placed . the fat kid in the movie made us want to kill ourselves  bless him for trying scene in and scene out but he was like a puppy begging for love . if he had been pulled from the movie everything might have been bearable . there were some funny jokes  i believe one was when the group of boys steal one of the parent  s porn movies and it turns out to be gay porn . but to best sum up the comedy i will simply tell the opening gag for the fat kid . he wears a puke stained shirt and talks about not knowing when something is done .  br    br   to finish off  the editor of the movie could have saved the movie by removing the fat kid  cutting out   minutes of the school scenes and making an ending that is longer than thirty seconds of random bickering .  br    br   oh  btw  there are two good elements that the movie possesses . kadeem hardison plays his role wonderfully and performs his jokes so that none are missed or under  appreciated . the other redeeming element to the movie is the beautiful mrs . ali landry . her character is ignored most of the movie which is a shame .  br    br   don  t waste your time even renting this one . it didn  t appeal to me and i was part of the target audience    male  .  
i won  t repeat all that has been said already by other viewers of this film .  br    br   in my opinion this is an excellent film  not only as a very human tale of the developing relationship between a father and his grown  up son  but also as a little window onto the world of practising islam  for those like me who are not very familiar with that religion .  br    br   an important aspect of this story is that of the young man  s relation to his father  s beliefs and practices  and how his attitude towards the religion seems to alter in subtle ways as we progress on their journey with them .  br    br   this is a very thought  provoking  enjoyable and well  made film that i would recommend to anyone with brain and heart .  
my friends usually can put up with a lot of hopeless movies but this one was too poor for us to even watch it to the end . it was just so boring and unoriginal . not even the  hot  girls that starred in this movie could keep me watching . everything was just predicable and annoying .  br    br   the acting was at times good . . . . . but more times bad . the most annoying character in the whole movie that you just wanted to die would have to be the main characters best friend . the more i saw him the more i wanted to smash my screen .  you know what fat ugly kid i  m talking about   br    br   the plot has been done so many times before i think they should be sued by other movie companies . ok  it is a good idea but thats all this movie had .  br    br   overall this movie can only be watched if by your self  to save any abuse from your friends . or  if you have absolutely nothing better to do .  
it is no surprise that writer  director michael powell considered  a matter of life and death   his and emeric pressburger  s spellbinding fantasy from     to be his favourite of their films together . released during the aftermath of world war   this colourful romantic adventure would have provided just the tonic for a traumatised  recovering nation in need of a good uplift .  br    br   following a string of other patriotic war films   the archers  made this one their quirkiest  skittish and most patriotic of the lot . quintessentially british for upholding british heritage  shakespeare  beer  fair play  good manners   it is also visibly americanised in its baroque compositions  technical inventiveness and a fine multi  ethnic cast .  br    br   oddly echoing another     classic   it  s a wonderful life   amolad opens on a grand firmament  with one of those jolly voice  overs preaching about the earth and the heavens  and what a big  wonderful world we live in .  br    br   it then cuts to the inside of a british cockpit  badly hit  up in flames and with the co  pilot already dead . it sounds misconceived  but the connection is soon made lucid with the events that follow .  br    br   clocking in at nearly  minutes  the rapid  fire exchange between british pilot peter  david niven  and american radio contact june  kim hunter  is breathtaking in its intimacy . resigned to dying  peter nevertheless exhausts plenty of vigour  charm and outpouring confessions  and his warm affiliation with june closes with a mutual exchange of  i love you .   br    br   keeping with the magic of the moment  peter  by oversight of his conductor   whose job it was to transport him to the  other world   escapes death and finds himself stranded on a beach . he later encounters june riding a bicycle  and instantly matches the body with the voice .  br    br   but realising their error  the high court want peter sent back  and order the french conductor  maurice goring  down to earth to retrieve him . but peter is adamant to live because of june and the conductor  s mistake  and wilfully guards his corner .  br    br   peter  s fate ultimately lies with the heavenly court and american prosecutor  raymond massey   whose jury consists of several deceased war heroes and posh british delegates . the surreal trial  which dissolves from b  w back into rich technicolor  once the verdict is announced  may well be a dream  but the final shot in the hospital validates the predictable outcome .  br    br   the abstract  frame filling  stairway to heaven   the american title of the film  is used twice the first time in b  w  when it elevates peter and his enigmatic french guardian upwards  crossing giant statues of peter  s potential attorneys for the trial  including abraham lincoln and plato . the second time  the softly lit colour stairway provides the setting for what is an iconic image in cinema  peter and june frozen side  by  side  their marvelled eyes fixed forward in the frame  their fate sealed .  br    br   the unlikely affection shared between peter and june never turns mushy or verbose it  s treated with nobility and the perception that the couple are already suitable enough to be married and simply need to convince people of their love  so it can keep them together .  br    br   the french conductor  who can freeze time and people  s bodies  obtrudes many of their key moments together  lecturing peter about history and among his mischievous tricks  pinching peter  s  top    game tricks  book and his coffee cup .  br    br   as visually inspired as other powell  pressburger collaborations  this was the first time they combined colour with b  w  the latter having a cheerful quality when used for the heaven scenes  and both are equally captivating .  br    br   the outstanding script more than matches the imaginative set design  with dialogue that sounds so immediate that is doesn  t feel like it was written or performed for the screen . amusing and witty  powell  pressburger  s writing deserves equal acclamation with their forte for colour and composition .  br    br   made in       a matter of life and death  is one of those films that defies it age  looking fresh and inventive  even in this age where cgi would vamp up its artificial effects  probably stripping them of their emotional wonder .  br    br   other jarring changes would include the need for reduced average seconds for cutting and the inevitable plea to shorten dialogue so it can preserve the low attention spans of most audiences . powell weaves a spell that subconsciously absorbs the viewer from the first frame  giving him freedom to experiment with images without betraying the logical development of peter  s predicament .  
cast to die for in a movie that is considerably less . vanessa redgrave is dying but before she goes she begins to tell her daughters the story of her life and of her secret love . . .  br    br   this is one of those movies which has the look and expectations of being a great film simply because they have so many great actors and actresses in it so it seems to be about something other than the potboiler that it really is . not bad as such but with redgrave  toni collette  glenn close  meryl streep  clare danes  natasha richardson  eileen atkins  patrick wilson  hugh darcy and others  all giving fine performances  you expect more than a weepy story thats a bit more than a harlequin romance .  br    br   wait for cable .  
reda is a young frenchman of moroccan descent . despite his muslim heritage  he is very french in attitudes and values . out of the blue  his father announces that reda will be driving him to the hajj  pilgrimage  to mecca   something that reda has no interest in doing but agrees only out of obligation . as a result  from the start  reda is angry but being a traditional muslim man  his father is difficult to talk to or discuss his misgivings . both father and son seem very rigid and inflexible   and it  s very ironic when the dad tells his son that he should not be so stubborn .  br    br   when i read the summary  it talks about how much the characters grew and began to know each other . however  i really don  t think they did and that is the fascinating and sad aspect of the film . sure  there were times of understanding  but so often there was an undercurrent of hostility and repression . i actually liked this and appreciated that there wasn  t complete resolution of this   as it would have seemed phony .  br    br   overall  the film is well acted and fascinating   giving westerners an unusual insight into islam and the hajj . it also provides a fascinating juxtaposition of traditional islam and the secular younger generation . while the slow pace and lack of clarity about the relationship throughout the film may annoy some  i think it gave the film intense realism and made it look like a film about people   not some formula . a nice and unusual film .  
chris  an adopted son of a moral family  a loser whom works at the school newspaper with kate  christine lakin from of the awful sugary  step by step  show of the now thankfully defunct abc  s tgif line  up   finds out that he  s just inherited a porn empire from his biological parents . he loses sight of what true friendship and love is and blah blah some other nonsense . he also has to contend with an uncle who wants control of the family business and a shifty lawyer  arn  t they are   a slightly below average teen comedy that steals from better teen comedies  the opening alone is highly american pie  esquire   bops you on the head with the moral every chance it gets  and wastes the only star talent it has  wayne newton  lin shaye  and if i  m really stretching the star word  martin starr of  freaks and geeks   and justin berfield of  malcolm in the middle   . it  s not bad exactly  but it  s far from good .  br    br   eye candy a few extras get topless  br    br   my grade c   br    br   where i saw it starz on demand  available until september   th   
this isn  t  bonnie and clyde  or  thelma and louise  but it is a fine road movie . it sets up its two main characters gently and easily . viewers learn the underlying tensions quickly  which is a tribute to the director . there is the young french  and english  speaking son who wants to do well in france  has a french girlfriend and who drinks alcohol  parties as young men do . and there is his moroccan arabic  and french  speaking father who devoutly follows his muslim faith  with generosity and the wisdom of elders and who rejects the new culture surrounding him  like mobile phones  . the film could explore very powerful politics  the odd couple drive thru the former yugoslavia  thru turkey and then thru the middle east to get to mecca . these are areas where the muslim populations have been involved in wars  repression  ethnic cleansing where dictators have pursued torture and summary executions to hold power and where religious communities are in constant deadly battle with each other . yet the film moves thru those places and possibilities with only hints of such agendas . the relationship between the two is key to this film  and faith  politics are the backdrop . it seems to be saying that we are all human  and need to understand and care for each other in order to manage well in this world . it certainly isn  t  natural born killers  and is all the better for it .  
the humor in who  s your daddy is such poor taste that i actually closed my eyes in certain scenes . close ups of semen are not funny  nobody thinks they are . people get nervous when they see something so gross and to hide their nervousness  they laugh . watching who  s your daddy gave me a disgusting nervous feeling .  
i don  t know . . . maybe it  s just because it  s an impressive tribute to some muslim religious action  hajj  but i just felt the movie is so underrated . i just can  t believe that the movie has just been voted by only    people so far given that the movie was produced in     and it has won many awards since then . about the movie . . . it  s one of those well  acted sweet movies . reda  a french teenager due to sit for baccalaurat  is asked by his devout elderly father to take him to mecca . strange as it may seem  if one doesn  t know much about islam  the father wants his son to drive them from their home in france to saudia arabia on a once  in  a  lifetime religious pilgrimage . the generation gap between the father and the son is based on simple enough terms   you may know how to read and write  but you know nothing about life   the unnamed father to his son  but some sort of bromidic generation gap literature is avoided . bot of them are affectionate in their frustrations . the father never speaks in french though reda understands arabic but can only seem to answer in french . though they encounter many people on the road  there  s the scary old woman they pick up in the bosnian border on the way to belgrade  and the talkative mustafa  jacky nercessian   who helps them out at the border of turkey  the reticent and shy women wearing burqas on the way to damascus  the focus is always on the mismatched father and son . there is not much of a conversation in the movie which makes it enjoyable to your eyes . you see magnificent views in every city they go . the director shows you even the blue mosque and the hagia sophia even though the movie is not relatively long .  br    br   generally i don  t like movies which don  t have enough dialogs and which take their power from camera subtleties but this one was really great . despite some unanswered details  like reda  s unseen french girlfriend  the movie appeals to senses . great work of art and remember this movie is ismal ferroukhi  s debut .  
i have to confess that i am severely disappointed .  br    br   this version can in no way compete with the version of     . the reason why i watched it was that i wasn  t entirely happy with ciaran hinds as captain wentworth and thought that rupert penry  jones looked much more like the captain i had imagined when i read the book . and he was too .  br    br   unfortunately that is the only redeeming quality of the film . the rest is as un  austen  like as possible .  br    br   miss elliot would never have run through the streets of bath like this . it wasn  t in her character and it just wasn  t done by a lady of the those times . the anne elliot of the book was a lady and she had dignity . there are other painful anachronisms but this was the worst .  br    br   although there are  important quotes from the book  they are at entirely inappropriate moments  warning those who know the book that yet another important part of the book will either be missing or completely changed .  br    br   and although this version is not much shorter than the other one  it feels like everything is rushed . very little care was taken to introduce the characters  show their dispositions and motives . important scenes were omitted . how could they possibly have butchered the final scenes in this way  a disaster  and it was by far not as beautifully photographed as the other one .  br    br   no  no  no . if you love austen  then don  t waste your time with this .  
the premise for this movie is simple and so is the script an elderly muslim gets his teenage son to drive him in his similarly elderly station wagon from france to the haj in mecca  saudi arabia  so that he can fulfill his holy muslim obligation before he dies . the father is clearly devoutly religious  but the son is unimpressed he accepts out of obligation to his father rather than to religion  he  d rather be with his  non  muslim  girlfriend . the father is stubborn in a lot of things which the son doesn  t understand and the petulance between them is the device that maintains the drama  although it is often rather irksome . however  like any good road movie there are oddball characters encountered along the way for example a woman on a backroad in croatia who upon being asked for directions to belgrade simply gets in the backseat and points with her hand uttering one word which they assume to be a place but can  t find it on the map . in bulgaria another man they ask directions of confirms he can speak french but then provides an extensive commentary in bulgarian . there is also occasional humor  in one country the son tires of eating egg sandwiches and wants meat  they are given a goat  but unfortunately  perhaps fortunately for the viewer  it runs away before the father can perform the muslim slaughterman ritual . they eventually make it to mecca  the muslim equivalent of the vatican but on a much grander scale . for westerners it is all bizarre but fascinating . the movie isn  t sophisticated but is charming in its own way  a kind of national geographic with soul .  
i had eagerly awaited the first screening of this film ever since it was given to me on dvd at christmas . having reserved a special slot for it last night  i sat down to watch it with my daughter  aged   and a film studies student   with chocolates of course  in eager anticipation . we love jane austin .  br    br   after just the first two minutes we knew we were sunk . the shaky camera shots and angles  general poor cinematography  direction and wooden performances had already left us feeling flat and dissatisfied . despondent  we viewed on .  br    br   anne  played by sally hawkins  looked oddly and with no particular purpose  directly at the camera on several occasions  breaking our hard  won  fantasy of the moment  and engaging us directly in an almost  i  ll find you  stalking fashion .  br    br   poor rupert penry  jones  who played captain wentworth  did his best with the script and direction  bless him . i hope they paid him well  however  as he was practically drowned on one occasion by a huge wave which predictably breached the seawall  drenching him and his co  actor . they were nearly swept out to sea . health and safety would have had a field day  poor rupert was left spitting out sea water in order to deliver his line . presumably there was not enough money left in the kitty for a re  shoot of this scene . anyone with any sense would have not attempted it on such a day in the first place .  br    br   other than mr . penry  jones  alice krige gave the only convincing performance as lady russell but her efforts were soon counterbalanced by those of anthony head  s unconvincing portrayal of annoying sir walter elliott .  br    br   towards the long  awaited end of the film  captain wentworth appeared to oddly grace anne with a visit every two seconds having taken great pains to avoid her for the majority of the movie . it was as if he had developed a memory impediment which caused him to forget his very reason for being . in contrast  anne ran  hyper  ventilating  from pillar to post in search of the good captain who  in the meantime  had managed to call upon almost the entirety of bath we are told  in the course of only three or four minutes  without even having worked up a sweat .  br    br   we experienced none of anne  s charms crossing the screen . indeed  we were left wondering what charismatic captain wentworth had ever seen in plain  spineless  opinion  less anne and why someone  anyone  did not tell mean  winging sir walter to just shut the heck up .  br    br   the crucial kiss  normally our favourite girlie moment  was painfully drawn out . as they moved in closer  anne kept opening and closing her mouth which had the effect on screen of making her look as if she were chewing gum before lips finally met . eww   br    br   the most enjoyable thing about last night was the chocolates and the half hour exchange of views between mother and daughter on just how bad the film had been .  br    br   what a pity to ruin such an enchanting and engaging story  filmed in some of england  s finest scenery .  br    br   sorry jane .  
father and son communicate very little . in fact they speak different languages . but when the son drives his father     miles for his pilgrimage  s to mecca  the conversations finally take place . they are difficult and growth is necessary on both parts .  br    br   this movie takes us into the hearts of these two travelers  and it is indeed a grand voyage for the audience as well as the two principals . the imagery throughout is impressive  especially the final scenes in mecca . it underlines for me once again how much different the world can be  but also at the same time  how similar . the same was true for the father and son in this film .  br    br   see this movie . tell your friends to see it . you  ll be glad you did .  
this production never really got off the ground for me . the plot is so cut up as to be disjointed and the production is so short that unless you  ve read the novel or seen a better adaptation  like the     one with amanda root  you  re going to be a bit lost since there  s no time for character development .  br    br   i liked sally hawkins as anne  but the rest of the cast fell rather short of what they should have been . mrs . croft was far too old  as was anne  s elder sister elizabeth . mary uttered everything in such throbbing accents that the general peevishness and selfishness of her character was lost . much better was sophie thompson  s mary  whose selfishness and sense of ill  usage is so well established that by the time wentworth suggests anne stay with the injured louisa and mary objects that she  as louisa  s sister in law  should stay instead  you can  t imagine anyone less suited to do so . in this version  she might as well stay as she is insufficiently differentiated from anyone else in the production .  br    br   rupert penry  jones is nice to look at  but he made a much better st . john rivers      jane eyre   probably because that character required less implied depth of feeling . i agree with the comments made earlier about the gig scene seemed more like he was trying to get rid of anne than do her a favor . likewise the accident scene it happens so fast and with so little context  you wonder what all the fuss is about . and moving the speech that wentworth overhears in the novel to the beginning of this production is a critical misstep that only contributes to the disjointed nature of the script .  br    br   my other problem with this version was the lighting . sometimes everything looked like a scene from the csi morgue   very very blue . other times the lighting was so bad it was hard to make out the scene very well  like when anne visits her old school friend  mrs . smith  who  by the way  is supposed to be more or less paralyzed . having her run up to anne on the street to tell her of mr . elliot  s awful character was such a violation that for a minute i couldn  t think who she was   i thought she was one of the musgrove girls . and she might as well have been . all the girls were pretty much interchangeable  . and the running scene at the end . . . in an era where propriety was at a premium  it  s hard to imagine gentle anne tearing all over bath like some demented hoyden . how silly can you get  it  s too bad . sally hawkins had all the makings of a good anne elliot  but she was completely hamstrung by a poorly organized script and an over  truncated production .  
you  d think you  re in for some serious sightseeing when the premise of the movie takes place primarily between two characters as they travel     miles or so from france to saudi arabia  going through most of europe  italy  bulgaria  croatia  slovenia  turkey  before arriving in the middle east . but this is not a tour  and there are no stopovers for soaking in the sights .  br    br   reda  s father is in his twilight years  and wishes to do the haj . however  since walking and taking the mule is out of the question  he chooses to travel to mecca by car . he can  t drive  and therefore enlists the help of reda  to his son  s protest  to get him there in their broken down vehicle .  br    br   but reda doesn  t see the point of having him go along  when his dad could opt for the plane . he resents the idea of having put his personal life on hold for this pilgrimage he couldn  t understand . and hence  we set off in this arduous journey with father and son  being not the best of pals .  br    br   the beauty of this movie is to witness the development of the father and son pair  the challenges they face  the weird people they meet  having to duke it out in varied weather conditions  and alternating rest stops between motels and sleeping in the car . we see an obvious generation gap in them trying to communicate to each other  the father trying to impose on his son  and the son trying to assert himself as an adult  but circumstances we see  reveal that reda is quite a fish out of water . through the many encounters  they actually team up quite well despite their differences .  br    br   it  s perhaps quite apt to have this film released here last week to coincide with hari raya haji  and having the opportunity to watch our protagonists join the other pilgrims in their haj . the final scene in mecca is truly a sight to behold  and you too would feel the claustrophobia and fear as reda tries to hunt down his dad amongst the thousands of people congregating . the sights of europe were perhaps deliberately not dwelled upon  so as to build up the anticipation of and focus on the final destination .  br    br   it certainly rang home the thought of telling and showing loved ones how much you appreciate them for who they are . don  t miss this  and yes  book early  i was pleasantly surprised that this evening  s session was still a full house .  
somewhere  on this site  someone wrote that to get the best version of the works of jane austen  one should simply read them . i agree with that . however  we love adaptations of great literature and the current writers  strike brings to mind that without good writers  it  s hard for actors to bring their roles to life . the current version of jane austen  s persuasion shows us what happens when you don  t have a good foundation in a well  written adaptation . this version does not compare to the     version with amanda root and ciaran hinds  which was well acted and kept the essence of the era and the constraints on the characters  with the exception of the bizarre parade  kissing in the street scene in bath  . the     version shows a twitty anne who seems angst  ridden . the other characters were not very developed which is a crime  considering how austen could paint such wonderful characters with some carefully chosen understatements . the sequence of events that made sense in the novel were completely tossed about  and mrs . smith  anne  s bedridden and impoverished schoolmate is walking around in bath   twittering away  as many of the characters seemed to do . the strength of character and the intelligence of captain wentworth  which caused anne to love him in the first place  didn  t seem to be written into the rupert penry  jones  wentworth . ciaran hinds had more substance and was able to convey so much more with a look  than p  j was able to do with his poses . all in all  the     version was a disappointment . it seemed to reduce the novel into a hand  wringing  costumed melodrama of debatable worth . if they wanted to bring our modern emotional extravagances into austen  s work  they should have done what they do with adaptations of shakespeare adapt it to the present . at least  bride  prejudice  was taken out of the historical  locational settings and was fun to watch  as was  clueless  . this wasn  t persuasion  but they didn  t know what else to call it .  
part of what was so great about the classic looney tunes cartoons was their irreverence and how they weren  t afraid to do anything that they wanted . in this case  marvin the martian has an assignment to bring back an earthling . sure enough  he comes across bugs bunny  who warns of a mutiny on the part of marvin  s dog . after marvin finally traps bugs  by means of an acme strait jacket  ejecting bazooka   bugs has more stuff planned for the voyage back to mars . what i mean is  if you thought that it was a major change in the solar system when they stripped pluto of its planet status  then you ain  t seen nothing yet  yes   the hasty hare  goes all out . how they buy acme products in outer space is probably beyond most people  but the point here  i mean  hare   is to have fun . and believe me  you definitely will . after all  a little space  out never hurt anyone .  
i am a huge jane austen fan and i ordered the movie from amazon . uk just so i could see it without waiting forever for it to come to the u . s . i really should have saved my money . what is with anne running after wentworth  the whole point of anne elliot  s character is that she was quiet and refined . she is not impulsive and vulgar . and mary  was she suffering from a stroke or something  her speech wasn  t normal  nor was her walking normal . there was no chemistry between the two main characters which made their whole  romance  completely unbelievable . in the final scene they even have sally hawkins wearing the same dress amanda root wore during the letter scene . the same clothes do not make it the same movie . in my opinion they didn  t watch the     version  which even though it had it  s flaws  it did stay pretty close to the book . the book  i don  t even think they read it . this is kind of like a cliff  s notes movie of persuasion . hit on all the high points without explaining anything .  
this is one of quite a few cartoons with bugs bunny and marvin the martian  and a space dog called k   is included as well . this looney tunes episode is very funny  has reasonably good cartoon animation  marvin  s animation is very well done  and the plot is well done . the end is rather weird  so be prepared for it  it is slightly boring .  br    br   in this episode  marvin the martian has been sent to earth to capture an earth creature and bring it back to mars . with his trusty dog k    marvin sets out and soon finds the tracks of no other rabbit but bugs bunny  he greets them with treats  thinking they are trick or treaters in their costumes . little does he realise they are preparing themselves to take this rabbit to mars . . .  br    br   i recommend this episode to anyone who likes bugs bunny  marvin the martian and looney tunes in general . as far as the beginning and the middle of the episode are concerned  you are likely to like this . enjoy  hasty hare       
i have no idea why they made this version of  persuasion  when they already had that fine mini  series with amanda root and ciaran hinds . i suppose that they wanted to make a feature  length version  but of course a lot had to be deleted alas  what ended up on the cutting  room floor was all the lovely wit and humour  leaving a film that was mere melodrama rather than an amusing exposition of english country manners and mores .  br    br   also  the characters were shallow and uninteresting . they had poor anne chasing up and down the streets after captain wentworth like a silly modern adolescent  and if you happen to be a silly modern adolescent reading this  let me tell you running after a male like a female in heat is not cool  . that is something a well  bred woman of the napoleonic era would never have done  and certainly not this level  headed heroine .  br    br   some have said they found this antic laughable my reaction was not laughter  but outrage . the very idea of such a corruption of an austen work is beneath contempt .  br    br   it was ghastly .  
this amusing bugs bunny cartoon sees the return of the still unnamed marvin the martian and his sidekick k   the green dog .  br    br   this time instead of trying to destroy the earth marvin is on a mission to land  capture an earth creature and take it back to mars . of course the creature he picks is bugs bunny . at first bugs thinks marvin and k   are trick or treating but realises this can  t be right when marvin drastically enlarges bug  s rabbit hole with a ray  gun . bugs tries to trick his way out of the situation in a couple of ways  including persuading marvin that k   is planning a mutiny . eventually he is captured using an acme strait  jacket ejecting bazooka . amazingly  for an acme product  it works as advertised and bug  s is forced to use his wits to get k   to release him  the tables are soon turned and the two disgruntled martians are trussed up and bugs is trying to fly their saucer back to earth .  br    br   i really enjoyed this although the ending is a little weak compared to the rest of the story . marvin  s voice has changed slightly here and he gets visible emotional when he is angry but this didn  t make me like him or the cartoon any less .  
my god  was this the  run  lola  run  adaptation of persuasion  it was horrible . bad enough that the  screenwriter   and i use the term very loosely  cut and pasted dialogue from one character onto another  often completely out of context and to rush the story along but anne elliott running from location to location in pursuit of wentworth near the end of the piece was an abomination  austen must be spinning in her grave . no respectable young woman would have acted in such an atrocious fashion . and the actress that played mary  horrors . needless to say  if the rest of the austen remakes are this bad  they will be turning off a new generation of watchers .  br    br   if you want to see an impeccable version of this  otherwise  wonderful novel  get the     roger michell directed version starring amanda root  whose expressions alone can speak volumes  and ciaran hinds . it is superb .  
john waters has made the most effusively buoyant  heartfelt  dark  personal little film i think i  ve ever seen  well maybe fast food fast women comes in close second  the directors vision is untainted . . . the narrative is whimsical  the characters are personal and odd reflections of family and his own inner life . . . the tone never forced or stylistically over  arch .  br    br   there is no pretentious shot design  ennui  or magazine grading . . . . martha plimpton is amazing as the sister . . eddie furlong is inspired casting . a grandmother with a talking mary  tea  bagging  recycled clothing  yesterday  s garbage becomes today  s art   and the lesson of the film is that the most important thing we can value is family . . . and a humble life .  
i love jane austen  s stories . i  ve only read two of them  pp and ss   but after having seen this adaption  i  m reaching for  persuasion  from my bookcase just to make sense out of the story  and also  because i refusing to believe jane austen could have written such nonsense . for me  i thought that if you base a film on a jane austen novel  you can  t really go wrong . it will turn out great pretty much by default . i was wrong .  br    br   first of all  where are the characters that you sympathise with and like  you have to have at least one likable character to get the audience to invest their emotions in them  and this did not deliver . sure  i wanted anne and wentworth to get together  but only because that  s what you know the purpose of the story is  them getting together . instead  i had to resist urges to throw my teacup at the tv and to continue watching it to the end .  br    br   anne was utterly annoying throughout  and in the end  i really have no idea why wentworth was so smitten by her  as there seemed to be nothing there for him to be attracted to . she was meek  bland  dull  socially inadequate and came across like a sheep following everyone else  s instructions rather than having a mind of her own . this can still work for a lead character  if you do it well . this wasn  t done well .  br    br   the other characters were just displaying various degrees of narcissism  of which mary was the worst  with a full  blown narcissistic personality disorder . where mrs . bennet in pp had similar flaws  she was still endearing  whereas mary was more of a freak  show . more loathsome than funny .  br    br   wentworth was very handsome and seemed like a decent kind of guy . for the most part of the story  i was just wondering what kind of person he was and why he  s in love with anne  as surely  he  s the kind of guy who would want a person who is a little bit more . . . alive  acting  wise  not too much to say  as i reacted more to the characters being portrayed rather than how good  bad the people acting were . anthony head was excellent  but as soon as i saw he was in it  i expected no less .  br    br   also found the story very confusing . it wasn  t until the end of the movie where it seemed as if elizabeth was not anne  s stepmother  but in fact a sister  i  m still not     on that  . the whole anne  wentworth back story was also a bit fuzzy . they had been together but then broke up and they  re both bitter about it  how come  i was wondering this for quite some time  and the explanation seemed to be she dumped him because she was persuaded to do so by someone  but it was said in a kind of  by the by  way that it was almost missed  as if it was somehow unimportant . how can it be unimportant when it  s the very core of the story   there was also a lot of name  dropping  but no real feel for who the characters were . this louisa person for instance  who was she  a friend  family  what  it wasn  t made very clear who the different characters are and their relationship with one another . lady russell was there a lot  but why  mrs . croft and wentworth were brother and sister  which felt very unrealistic as mrs . croft looked old enough to be his mother .  br    br   the final kiss  yes it was a bit strange them kissing in the street  but i didn  t really think about it  because i was too busy yelling  get on with it already    at the tv  because anne  s lips trembled and trembled and trembled for what felt like ages before they actually met wentworth  s . have some hesitation there  but only for a couple of seconds or so  not half a minute .  br    br   then there  s the issue of camera work . as a regular movie watcher  you don  t pay attention to angles and such unless you decide to look out for it . i didn  t decide to do so here  but i still noticed them . to me  that means the filmmakers are not doing a good job . a lot of conversations were with extreme facial closeups  something that should only be used when there  s a really important point to be made . in this adaption  it was over  used and therefore lacked meaning . the hand  held feeling on occasion also didn  t really work in a period drama . the camera work in the running scene in the end also felt too contemporary .  not to mention the running itself .  this was the only austen adaption i caught in itv  s austen season . makes me wonder if it  s worth watching  northanger abbey  and  mansfield park  or if i should just read the books and leave it at that . i  m sad to say  this is a jane austen adaption i did not enjoy . maybe i  ll watch the     version instead . the bbc are renowned for having done beautiful austen adaptations before  after all .  
if you want to be cynical and pedantic you could point out that the opening where a raf lancaster bomber is mortally wounded on the  nd of may     is somewhat unlikely since german air defences were as lively as adolph hitler on that day but this isn  t a movie that should be viewed by a cynical audience and i guess a character being killed in literally the last hours of the war adds to the poignancy . in fact you  d have to have survived the second world war to fully appreciate the intellect  beauty and soul of powell and pressburger  s masterpiece . the scenes of heaven are painfully twee when viewed today  again you have to view the movie of the context when it was made . raf bomber command lost       men during the war  the same number that america lost in  nam but during a shorter period and a far  far smaller pool of active combatants  there  s no atheists in a fox hole and i doubt if you  d lost a relative during the conflict you  d view material atheism as being a sensible thing . when richar attenborough  s young pilot looks down in awe at the sight below him many war heroes must have openly wept at this scene as they remembered much missed comrades who didn  t survive the war . also bare in mind that despite losing several million people from        there seems to be very few people from germany passing through the pearly gates . it  s obvious nazis don  t go to heaven  br    br   the plot itself where dashing young pilot peter carter arguing for his life in front of a celestial court wouldn  t have had much appeal to me if it wasn  t for the subtext  you see a matter or life and death is a highly political and visionary film that laments the end of the british empire as it  s replaced by american ambitions . there  s little things that show up the film as being made by people aware of american history and culture . one is the ethnic mix of america  even today many britons think that the usa is overwhelmingly composed of white anglo saxon protestants when in fact only    of americans are  white european  . the film rightly contains a scene where a multitude of different races confess  i am an american  as peter is judged by abraham farlan  an anglophobe who was the first revolutionary killed by british forces in the american war of independence . as for the  special relationship  between britain and america  what special relationship  powell and pressburger know their history when it comes to britain and america . they obviously know their future too  br    br   so remember to watch this movie with some of your mind in the past and some of your mind in the present . it  s strange  beautiful  poignant and clever but most of all it  s a film that would never ever work if it were made in the last   years . can you imagine if the story was set in     and revolved around a british soldier killed in iraq   
i never expect a film adaptation to follow too closely to the novel  especially a beloved one  like evening  but when i saw that the book  s author  susan minot  was a screenplay writer and executive producer on the film  i thought that evening would be a good adaptation .  br    br   if you enjoyed the book  don  t bother with this movie . it is so far afield of the book that the two hardly bear any resemblance to one another .  br    br   here  our characters are completely different the bride is in love with harris . harris is the son of the housekeeper . buddy is a drunk  in love with ann and  or harris . i don  t think a single character made it from the book to the screen oh it just gets worst with every passing moment .  br    br   and  really  didn  t we learn from bridges of madison county that cutting from the story we are meant to be enthralled in  to scenes of our heroes  grown children having obnoxious and juvenile fights  simply does not work on film  this film is a disaster . skip it .  
going for something far away from the deliberately gross stuff that he usually makes  john waters  happy birthday  john   made this parody of the celebrity  art world . edward furlong plays the title character  a working  class teenager in baltimore who loves to photograph things . when a new york agent  lili taylor  discovers his work  she offers him his big break  which he accepts . but once he hits it big  he has to reconsider everything .  br    br   basically   pecker  looks at how he loses his friends and his normal life once he becomes a celebrity . the sort of thing that we might expect  sure  but with waters directing  there  s always a few things to shock us  you  ll know them when you see them  . i certainly recommend it . also starring christina ricci  mink stole and patty hearst .  
i  m not usually one to slate a film . i try to see the good points and not focus on the bad ones  but in this case  there are almost no good points . in my opinion  if you  re going to make something that bad  why bother  part of the film is take up with shots of anne  s face while she breaths deeply  and violin music plays in the background . the other part is filled with poor and wooden acting . rupert penry jones is expressionless . jennifer higham plays anne  s younger sister with modern mannerisms . anne is portrayed as being meek and self effacing  which is fine at the beginning  but she stays the same all through the film  and you see no reason for captain wentworth to fall in love with her . overall the production lacks any sense of period  with too many mistakes to be overlooked  such as running out of the concert  kissing in the street  running about in the streets with no hat on  why was this scene in the film at all  the scene in the book was one of the most romantic scenes written .  . to sum it up  a terrible film  very disappointing .  
it has only been a week since i saw my first john waters film  female trouble   and i wasn  t sure what to expect the second time around .  br    br   while the previous film was outrageously over the top  pecker is actually a funny film that satirizes the art critics in new york to a t . anyone who cannot imagine what these  experts  find so appealing about modern art  will enjoy seeing these pretentious snobs get so full of themselves over pecker  a boy who just found a broken camera and starts shooting his friends and neighbors .  br    br   edward furlong  pet sematary ii  terminator   judgment day  was surprisingly good as pecker . there wasn  t a lot of meat on any of the roles in this film  but he really shines .  br    br   christina ricci  prozac nation  comes in with another great performance as pecker  s girlfriend . in fact  it was a banner year for ricci  buffalo     the opposite of sex  and pecker .  br    br   lili taylor  who had the only good role in the haunting  was also a significant part of the film and really made it enjoyable .  br    br   there are many funny scenes  but i have to say the best was when a crown gathers screaming   we want bush    we want bush    we want bush   i thought it was a republican convention until i saw the police hauling off the dancer .  br    br   i am going to have to look for more of waters  work  especially hairspray  now that that is in the news .  
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   ray  ray winstone  has a criminal past  has had problems with alcohol and is now forming a drug habit that is making him paranoid and prone to domestic violence to his wife valerie  kathy burke  who tries to hold the family together but ends up coming off more like a doormat . meanwhile  her mother janet  laila morse  is aware of ray  s son  billy  charlie creed  miles  and his escalating drug habit that is sending him off the rails . the film follows these despairable characters as they tredge along with their lives .  br    br   it is said that the british seem to enjoy being miserable  and that would include watching films that entertain them this way . films like nil by mouth highlight this . it  s a tale of a broken family  torn apart by crime  poverty  booze and drugs  the kind jeremy kyle would lap up like a three course meal . it is also essentially a tale of self destructive men  three generations apart and each copying the other  tearing a family apart and women trying to hold it together  despite not being strong enough . if you pick up a little of what it  s about from the off  set  you can see it doesn  t promise to be cheerful viewing from the start and it certainly doesn  t disappoint in this .  br    br   it  s true what everyone said about the performances  and the lead stars  winstone and burke  do deliver some great acting . we see winstone lose it with his wife  beating her senseless after some more coke induced paranoia  breaking down during a phone conversation with her and unleashing a typical arsenal of f and c words when she refuses to let him see his kid . likewise  in a private moment  we see burke skillfully lose her composure on a staircase  the full impact of the night before kicking in .  br    br   this is another of those films where there  s no  plot  to follow  as such  just a real life feel of these hopeless lives carrying on from one day to the next . it  s been acclaimed by many  including the baftas   but it really was just too grim and bleak for me . i have no right to criticize it for this  knowing what i knew about it from the off  set  but sadly this is how i found it .   
after  a dirty shame   i never thought that i was going to see another john waters movie . that movie was really so bad  that i was convinced that all his movies would be like that . but when the dvd of this movie was reviewed in a popular magazine and they said that this was an excellent movie  i decided to give it a try anyway . only a couple of days later it was shown on television . i taped it out of curiosity and now that i  ve seen it  i can tell you that this  pecker  sure is a lot better than  a dirty shame  .  br    br   in this movie we see how a young  nobody  from baltimore becomes an overnight sensation in the art world of new york . he  s a sandwich shop employee who photographs his weird family or things that he sees on the street as a hobby . when he keeps his very first  exhibition  in the shop where he works  his pictures are noticed by a gallery owner who loves the pictures full of misery and weirdness . his photographs are sold for enormous prices  but when he sees how his family  friends and strangers react to his success he decides that he will no longer go to new york  they will have to come to him if they want to see more of him . and they do  but what they get to see there  is a bigger shock than they could ever imagine . . .  br    br   it  s not difficult to see why i loved this movie a lot more than  a dirty shame  . the first reason is that this movie has an actual story . this movie really has something to say and isn  t just intended to shock as many people as possible . the fact that they make fun of the art world who considers everything out of the ordinary as art because they don  t know what the reality is like  isn  t just funny  it  s not that far from the truth either . i guess there are many people who feel about modern art that way . nobody understands why they are making such a fuss about it  but apparently we are all supposed to like it . the second reason why i liked this movie is because this one had much better acting performances to offer . i  m not saying that everything that you will see is great  but at least the characters have some meaning thanks to the performances of the different actors like edward furlong  christina ricci  . . .  br    br   overall this isn  t a great movie  but thanks to its criticism and some good jokes  which never really go too far  this is an enjoyable movie . it certainly isn  t the best comedy ever  but i liked it a lot more than  a dirty shame  . i give this movie a  .     .  
i can  t recommend this film as a date movie . gary oldman  s semi  autobiographical account of life lived on a south east london estate is a violent  beckettian account of one of dante  s circles of hell  frankly . at the centre of it is ray winstone  who has done this sort of character before but never as well . the film opens with him ordering drinks at a pub bar  that  s all  and you are already gripped with a sense of the frustration  self  loathing and barbarism that he exhibits in many different ways throughout the course of the movie . it  s an acting masterclass .  br    br   of course the stymied and dispossessed need a foil in a drama such as this and winstone is matched by kathy burke as his long  suffering wife  who absorbs and ultimately rejects his unbearable behaviour . charlie creed  miles does an able turn as the fuse  lighting druggie son billy although he must have wondered sometimes exactly what he let himself in for . gary oldman directs close up on the actors  maximising the claustrophobia of their council flat squalor .      
this is a very light headed comedy about a wonderful family that has a son called pecker because he use to peck at his food . pecker loves to take all kinds of pictures of the people in a small suburb of baltimore  md .  and manages to get the attention of a group of photo art lovers from new york city . pecker has a cute sister who goes simply nuts over sugar and is actually an addict  taking spoonfuls of sugar from a bag . there are scenes of men showing off the lumps in their jockey  s with grinding movements and gals doing pretty much the same . it is rather hard to keep your mind out of the gutter with this film  but who cares  it is only a film to give you a few laughs at a simple picture made in     .  
i picked up this video after reading the text on the box  the story seemed good  and it had keanu reeves  but after  minutes of watching  i noticed how horrible his acting was  he walks and talks so stupid the whole time  it  s fake and not convincing . it doesn  t end there  almost all the characters act so badly it  s laughable  the only acceptable acting was by alan boyce  david   but the guy commits suicide early on and you don  t see him again  you never even know why he did it  everything about this movie screams low quality  i can  t believe how such a thing gets released  i was tempted many times to stop watching  in fact i did  half way through it i decided to stop watching and turned the thing off  came to the imdb to check what other  s thought about it  i found zero comments  not surprised   so i decided to force myself to handle the pain and go back to finish it then come here to comment on it . the only good thing going  for me  was the high  school rock band theme  the occasional guitar playing and singing parts  but that  s not worth it .  br    br   very bad acting and directing . . . terrible movie .  
  pecker  proves that waters has no intention of changing his tacky ways in his old age . a lot of things have changed since waters started making films in the     s  but   years later he is still doing what he wants to do . over the years  the budget of waters  films has increased considerably . this is one of his most recent productions  but i was amazed to see that waters still has that  trailer  park  touch . edward furlong plays pecker  a kid who is obsessed with photography . he lives a quite life in baltimore  md  with his friends and family . but pecker attracts the attention of a new york art agent  the always watchable lili taylor   and his life changes for the worst . once again  waters makes fun of art  fame and heterosexuality . it is not among his best films  but there are some big belly laughs here   memama  has the best lines in the film   . it is consistently clever and funny  and has that very  queer  sensibility that i have come to love in warters  movies .  
keanu reeves stars as a friend of a popular high school student who suddenly commits suicide . . . he and his friends go through emotional turmoil and share their reactions to this horrible incident . . . good acting by reeves and a young jennifer rubin . . but on the whole is a little too much . .  of    
i thought this was an utterly charming film . the story seems to be a thinly veiled autobiography of john waters pecker  s greatest gift is his ability to find beauty in unexpected places . edward furlong does well in the lead  but the best performances are by his grandmother  mink stole  a hilarious cameo  and  of all people  patty hearst . i think the reviewers are way off base on this one . they seem to be taking pecker  s worst valuation of his work as gospel  when i think the film pretty clearly states that he is indeed a promising artist .  
a teenager who seems to have it all commits suicide . it leaves his family and his best friend  keanu reeves  asking a lot of questions . . . and blaming themselves .  br    br   good idea  badly handled . for starters this has been done before       mostly in tv movies and after school specials . aside from some swearing and dialogue  hence the pg    rating  this added nothing new . the outcome is predictable and reeve  s attempts at acting were truly painful to watch . he  s good now but not in     . aside from that his character was dressed like a slob and always looked so dirty is was hard to build up sympathy .  br    br   that aside the movie is dull . i saw every scene coming and every  surprise  was telegraphed . i basically couldn  t wait for this thing to get over .  br    br   i have a vague recollection of seeing it in a theatre in     and hating it  it bombed badly  . it still looks lousy almost   years later . the subject is worth handling but it  s been done better  with better acting  in countless other movies .  ordinary people  comes to mind . you can skip this one .  
absolutely hilarious . john waters  tribute to the people he loves most  baltimoreans  is a twisted little ditty with plenty to look at and laugh at . it  s like being turned loose in a museum of kitsch  i haven  t laughed so much in a theater since serial mom . i loved seeing old friends from the dreamland days  sharon nisep and susan lowe  back in front of waters  camera . the cast is simply wonderful  especially edward furlong and martha plimpton  . uses the best elements of past waters atrocities  especially the underrated polyester  and plenty of new surprises . made me sick  in a wonderful way . thanks  john   
i  m not a big fan of slasher flicks as a genre  but even by the standards of low  low  budget exploitation  this one is really lame . even on a nudity  and  gore level  it  s incredibly boring  there is some of both  but it  s all sort of . . . meh  . before the home video revolution  it might not even have been released theatrically  though it might have after all  plan  from outer space played in theaters  . there is precisely one good  and competently  delivered  line in the entire movie i assume they stole it from somewhere .  br    br   the acting is among the worst i have ever seen . i mean  even ed wood had a couple of competent actors  and the rest tended to be ludicrously hammy  which can be fun to watch . anyway  most of his actors could pretty much pass as literate . here  those who don  t read their lines like cigar  store indians sound like they learned them phonetically . and this film does have one distinction it manages to be badly underplotted for most of the movie  then laughably overplotted for the ending .  br    br    update i should have singled out the actress playing the receptionist as an exception . she is by no means wooden . not that she  s good  but she certainly isn  t wooden .   br    br   even the worst slasher flicks are generally good for a few puritan meditations on their grotesque offensiveness  but with this one  there doesn  t even seem to be anything there to work up a moral outrage about .  br    br   and you know the funniest thing  they clearly expected to make a sequel   br    br   it  s so bad and boring that it actually becomes fascinating in a weird way . i sat enrapt through much of the video wondering why anyone would go to the bother of making it .  
went to see this movie with my brother and his girlfriend . the place was pretty packed and we all laughed so hard it was easy to miss lines . i knew it looked like it would be good but it was much funnier than i thought it would be . i liked both edward furlong and christina ricci  they seemed really weird just like normal people  if that makes sense . i get sick of movies that show teenagers as being like cookie cutter people  like  jock  or  geek  or  cheerleader  . . . etc . both characters were unique but still very human and normal enough to relate to . i will be recommending this movie to all my friends and waiting very eagerly for it to be out on dvd  go see this movie with your friends who can laugh at the funniest parts of life  i plan to see it again in the theater and i don  t go see things more than once very often .  
it really boggles my mind when someone comes across a movie like this and claims it to be one of the worst slasher films out there . this is by far not one of the worst out there  still not a good movie  but not the worst nonetheless . go see something like death nurse or blood lake and then come back to me and tell me if you think the night brings charlie is the worst . the film has decent camera work and editing  which is way more than i can say for many more extremely obscure slasher films .  br    br   the film doesn  t deliver on the on  screen deaths  there  s one death where you see his pruning saw rip into a neck  but all other deaths are hardly interesting . but the lack of on  screen graphic violence doesn  t mean this isn  t a slasher film  just a bad one .  br    br   the film was obviously intended not to be taken too seriously . the film came in at the end of the second slasher cycle  so it certainly was a reflection on traditional slasher elements  done in a tongue in cheek way . for example  after a kill  charlie goes to the town  s  welcome  sign and marks the population down one less . this is something that can only get a laugh .  br    br   if you  re into slasher films  definitely give this film a watch . it is slightly different than your usual slasher film with possibility of two killers  but not by much . the comedy of the movie is pretty much telling the audience to relax and not take the movie so god darn serious . you may forget the movie  you may remember it . i  ll remember it because i love the name .  
john waters has given us a genuinely enjoyable film . this certainly isn  t without its shocking waters  esque moments  but it is tamer than his older culty stuff  such as  pink flamingoes  .  pecker  harkens back to john  s early mainstream stage in that it reminds the viewer of the same kind of humor that was evident in  polyester  . overall  a really fun comedy with some great moments   
i rented this movie because i was browsing through the horror movie section for those movies that no one  s heard of and could be a possible gem . i saw this and  since i  m a fan of violence and gore  i got it . it got the rating of em which means extremely mature . thinking that this rare and high rating was totally meant for violence and everything else  i got it . the warning on the box said extreme violence  extreme langauge  and nudity . the  extreme violence  struck my fancy . the movie ended being a pretty tame slasher flick . it had one or two gory scenes but i  ve seen worse in a pg    movie . of course the amount of gore in a movie isn  t all that counts  right  you have plot also . well  the plot was boring and there nothing really special about it . don  t rent it . i speak the truth . i can  t imagine how someone could really enjoy it to the point where they say  i  m gonna rent that again .  it had it  s moments where it kept you going but i  m never going to see that film again .  
once you can get past the film  s title   pecker  is a great film  perhaps one of john waters  best . a wonderful cast  headed by strong performances by edward furlong and christina ricci  make the story very funny  and very real . there are some shocking scenes that are definitely not suitable for young children  but they are there for a purpose . unfortunately this movie was not mass produced  and most of the public will be denied the opportunity to view it . if the opportunity knocks  then go see this film .  
i really like slasher movies  but this one is truly awful . the acting is lame  the script is bad  and the atmosphere is non  existent . the plot is as followsa deformed gardener charlie puckett slaughters people in a small american town . that  s right  this is the plot . very original  eh   the night brings charlie  isn  t even gory enough  if the film ain  t gonna be scary  at least they should make it bloody . avoid this cheap piece of trash at all costs . if you want to see some good slasher flicks check out  madman    the burning    the prowler    just before dawn  or  humongous   just don  t waste your precious time with this worthless piece of garbage .  
this is one of the most overlooked gems hollywood has ever produced .   a young wwii british fighter ace whose plane is about to crash  has radio contact with a young american woman who comforts the brave pilot  knowing that within minutes he will be dead . for some reason the man who should certainly be dead walks away from the wreckage and eventually learns that he was meant to report to heaven . when a messanger is sent to ask the pilot to accompany him to heaven  the man refuses and demands to have his  day in court  to argue his case . the man argues that his situation had changed during the final moments of his earthly life  that he had fallen in love and therefor had become a different person  one who deserved a chance to live on .  br    br   the  heavenly court  is a cinematic delight  the  announcement of the jury of peers  is a definite highlight . the story  as fantastic as it seems  is an engaging one and will keep you spellbound for the nearly  hours play time . the final scene is simply beautiful and will require a  kleenex treatment  for most viewers . this film is in my personal all  time favorite top    it has my highest recommendation   
this is  without a doubt  the most offensive  chick flick  i have seen in years  if not ever . the writing  characterizations are so riddled with stereotypes that the film verges on parody . before walking out of the theater an hour and five minutes into this disaster  we were subjected to the following themes having a baby will solve all of your problems   performer types  are miserable messes   musicians can  t be good mothers unless they toss their dreams for a more conventional lifestyle . what a waste of a talented cast  some great  looking sets  costumes . when natasha richardson told toni collette that unless she lives a more mainstream life  she  ll end up  shudder   alone    i felt queasy . i can  t believe this movie made it to theatrical release . it  s the sort of fare one expects from those  women  s  cable channels that i always pass right by when channel  surfing . i am female and over    so i should be part of this film  s target audience  but boy  does  evening  miss its target .  
this movie is incredible . if you have the chance  watch it . although  a warning  you  ll cry your eyes out . i do  every time i see it  and i own it and have watched it many times . the performances are outstanding . it deals with darkness and pain and loss  but there is hope . this movie made me look at the world differently vicarious experience  according to my english teacher . also  if you  ve seen it  note the interesting use of shadows and light . home room is a phenomenal movie  and i rate it       for real  because of the excellent acting  amazing plot  and heart  wrenching dialogue . very tense  very moving . doesn  t give all the answers  but makes many good points about humankind  
i was excited to view a cataluas film in the berlins competition . but after the presentation i was total disappointed and furious . too much blood  too much time  too much themes for nothing . the spanish civil war  like every war  was horrible . the revenge  a very human behavior  not pretty at all  is shown in uncountable films and plays  as well as the relations between homosexuals and the scepticism in spain about catholicism . but what mr villaronga try  is a pseudo tragedy that can belongs to the worst of the films history . it is really a pity to see angela molina in this movie . i advise nobody under no circumstances to go to see this film .  
i found this film to funny from the start . john waters use of characters reminded of some of the down to earth characters from fellini films . christina ricci has once again expanded her abilities in this film . if you are looking for a fun movie without preaching  i recommend this film .  
i  m one of the millions of columbo addicts all over the world and just watched this  the episode that started it all  on british channel  . it is fascinating to think what sprung from this so  so movie and i can only marvel at whoever spotted the massive potential of  columbo  and added all the little touches that make it such a marvellous  classic series . that said  this particular movie is not as good as the rest  except for the embarrassing final episode  the patronising british episode  . if columbo had been made as per the original  pilot  it certainly would not have gone on for very long  or be watched and loved world  wide . in this film lt columbo is smartly dressed  drives a normal car  has a partner  doesn  t talk about his alleged relatives and comes across as quite aggressive . there  s also none of the cat  and  mouse chemistry between columbo and  the villain  . watchable  but only for the novelty of seeing how columbo started out .  
in a very short time  the movie showed a boy  s odd life of taking pictures  showed his life and everyone else  s get turned upside down as a result of his photographs  then brought everything back to normal in the end . one to see if you  re looking for something interesting .  
i bought this movie because this was shah rukh khans debut . and i also liked to see how would he do . i must say he is excellent in his role . divya bharathi is superb in this movie . rishi does a wonderful job . susham seth supported well . alok nath was good in his role . amrish and mohnish did their parts well too . dalip also was good in his small role . actors shine in a mediocre movie . the direction is average . the editing is poor . the story is boring . it tells us about ravi a famous pop singer . he has a lot of female fans . one of them is kaajal . ravi and kaajal fall in love and get married . ravi gets killed by his cousins . kaajal becoems a widow . . to escape from ravis cousins . they go to bombay . she comes across raja . she falls in love with him and gets married . ravi returns . the story is predictable . the climax is predictable . the first half bores . it also drags a lot . but it is saved by the actors and music . the second half entertains . the music is catchy with some nice songs . the cinematography looks outdated in the first half but it looks unimaginative . the song picturisations are dull except for  sochenge tumhe pyar  and one rain song . the costumes are outdated . any way watch this just for the actors and music rating       
this movie kept me constantly entertained . in comparing this to serial mom  mr . waters has gone back to his grittier side . this is not nearly as polished .  br    br   there is a dark side here . a message about how success and fame changes a person   but more importantly how it changes the people around you .  br    br   there is not a false moment in this film .  br    br   the characters are somewhat cartoonish . . . but i want to believe that is what mr . waters is trying to achieve .  br    br   it is fascinating to watch how mr . waters has evolved . . . this is truly his finest work .  
dewaana as a film goes through the usual clichs . man and woman fall in love and marry  husband is supposedly killed by a family friend who wants their family fortune  woman remarries and surprise surprise husband no .  reappears . the movie is reminiscent of yash chopra  s chandni and countless others . divya bharti and shah rukh khan give good performances . amrish puri as a villain goes through the motions and is nothing more than a standard bollywood villain the music by nadeem shravan is superb  all the songs were brilliant . my favourites are sochenge tumhe pyar or koyi na koyi chahiyye . dewanna is an ordinary movie that goes through the motions .  
john water  s   pink flamingos  . . .   pecker  is the best movie i  ve seen in a while . it gives the viewer a surreal image of life in baltimore  i live in nearby washington  dc   with a warhol  like use of color  exaggerated motions and emotions . pecker becomes larger than his town can handle  and he is separated from his loved  ones  including a sexy ricci  by his man  loving art manager . the picture left a refreshing taste in my mouth   kind of like a fresh strawberry ice cream on a hot summer day   and though this taste was rather flat and simplistic  it only made the whole thing more profound and critical . it is a celebration of life  liberty  and the right to bear arms . . . and everything else this country stands for .  juan pieczanski  jpieczanskisidwell . edu   
i did not really want to watch this one . it seemed to be an old raj kanwar movie which disgusted me even before i started watching it because i don  t consider him even close to being mediocre as a filmmaker . the only reason i took this one is obviously the shahrukh khan appearance in the film . i had not even known what the film was all about because i was sure it would be just an ordinary fairy tale . so i just imagined a love story between shahrukh khan and divya bharti with a substantial supporting role by rishi kapoor who i thought would be playing her father or uncle . and to my complete shock  rishi kapoor is actually the hero  he is the one who romances the young divya  i was saddened to find out that shahrukh had a small part of no substance and that too  only in the second part of this idiotic film .  br    br   just let me repeat the question why would a   year  old lovely divya have fallen for a    plus long haired  chubby  swollen piglet like rishi kapoor  rishi kapoor should be ashamed of taking this part the only thing he did is ridiculing himself . he romanced a girl who could logically be younger than his own daughter and to make things worse   acts like a teenager at his forties . on top of that  just to make himself more pathetic  he plays a pop  star . . .  br    br   to make things clear  i have no problems with actors romancing ladies much younger than they themselves are . as long as they make a convincing couple  there should be no problem . in fact  leading actors have always been cast opposite young girls  amitabh bachchan  sridevi  mithun chakraborty  madhuri dixit  shahrukh khan  deepika  salman khan  sneha ullal  and made the pairing pretty well . also  i have nothing against rishi kapoor  i think he is a good actor  and his act in bobby is still well  engraved in my heart  but it  s not that he looks in this film like  say  shahrukh khan  salman khan or aamir khan look today .  br    br   that was such a disappointment . oh  and as for the reason every person actually watched this film  shahrukh khan made a good debut . he excelled in the very little his part allowed him to do . the late divya bharti made a promising debut as well . if you want to watch this film  go for the second half only . personally  i would not do even that .  
pecker is a hilariously funny yet twisted film about a small town in baltimore whose daily  humdrum routine is broken by pecker  a young photographer who takes pictures of  real things .  no pretty models  no gorgeous men  just hard living . this wonderful film pokes fun at the plasticness of the urban art chain . there is one particular scene when a homeless woman who shops at pecker  s mom  s thrift shop buys the same exact coat as one of the whitney art junkies for only   cents instead of five hundred dollars . this just goes to show you that no matter what kind of money you have  you might not always have taste . yet again john waters sends you into a never  ending spiral of laughter and raw reality . you can have your mainstream hollywood movies with special affects and mountains of celebrities  but give me a  pecker  or a  hairspray   another excellent john waters film  over a  titanic  or a  godzilla  anyday    
i am not one of those people that will walk out of a movie that was based on source material and automatically say   the book was better .  i know better than to demote the value of a movie just because it wasn  t a faithful adaptation . there is a lengthy process and lots of decisions that go into making a movie that are sometimes out of the director  s  editor  s  cinematographer  s  producer  s control and certainly out of the original author  s control . therefore  it is unreasonable to expect a movie to be exactly the same  word for word  as a book or play or video game or disneyland ride  or whatever  a movie should be judged on its own standard and how it fits in society . moreover  a successful movie should be made because the material is relevant to the society which it belongs and  if it is based on source material  its relevance needs to be reexamined and enhanced by the filmmakers .  br    br   films like there will be blood follow this paradigm because while it was based on a novel written at the turn of the century  oil   it feels relevant because of things like the iraq war and energy concerns that the film  s country of origin  the us  was and is experiencing . even king kong  based on the original film  benefits from using new technology and concerns of animal rights that people have .  br    br   with that said  i just don  t understand why they even bothered to make this movie  besides the great performances  guaranteed oscar nods and shanley  s director  writers fee and royalties he will get  this movie seems to come from nowhere . it should have simply stayed as a play . the movie  which is essentially the same as the play  says nothing new about the reprehensible sexual atrocities committed and in many cases covered up by the catholic church here and abroad . it says nothing new or different than the original play . i can  t help but compare this movie to another movie that came out at around the same time frost  nixon  which was also based on a play . frost  nixon  while about nixon  s regrets  seems relevant because it seems to have come at a time when president bush was about to leave office . the regrets that nixon had  as depicted in the play  movie  about the war and his presidency could just as easily reflected on bush and his presidency . in that respect frost  nixon seemed more relevant and actually benefited from a wider distribution via film because it got people talking and reflecting about the political status quo in the country at the time . in contrast  doubt felt like it was yesterday  s news and didn  t seem to offer anything that the play didn  t offer .  br    br   of course the movie is  good   the performances are outstanding  and the screenplay adaptation is apt  but so what  why didn  t it just stay as a play  why  besides marketing and financial reasons  make it into a movie  it gave audiences nothing new to discus about the awful subject .  
this is john waters best film to date . the characters are obvious and symbolic  just as in his other films . so there are no surprises or character changes . i enjoyed the film because of the wittiness and pace of the story . it was good story  telling with honest people .  
the oscar season has arrived so this means a slew of these deep  engaging  powerhouse ensemble films are all over the movie theaters in hopes of gaining an audience and having the opportunity to earn best picture in the big show . among them is this film that is based off a very popular and well  acclaimed play . the original playwright was actually the writer and director of the film adaptation which comes as a double  edged sword . on one hand  who better to translate the play than the original writer  on the other hand  who better to not see the mistakes and drawbacks of the play and fix upon them than the original writer himself  doubt mixes excellent acting and plenty of tension and suspense with a frustrating ending  unnecessary dialogue  questionable directing  and of course  the inability to provide substantial answers . it is a growing trend among these  high  caliber  films to not answer all questions it provides  and this has to stop .  br    br   doubt is like a joke without its punch line  like a book with the final   pages missing  like losing reception while watching the fourth quarter of a hotly contested football game  and like not having the   cents to continue playing the arcade game and see what happens next . doubt  just like the previous best picture frustrationfest no country for old men  doesn  t really end it doesn  t provide us with considerable answers nor does it deliver enough for us to figure out the ending . yes  that was the intent  but this isn  t a test of humanity  it  s a cop  out . i do not pay money to see an unfinished work  i pay money to see a beginning  middle  and end  and pray that i don  t fall asleep during the three acts . we are forced to become the  writers  of the movie by filling in the blank ourselves as to what happened before and what will happen to the characters we saw screaming at each other .  br    br   this little drama is about a nun  meryl streep  who seems very sure that the well  beloved priest  philip seymour hoffman  is making sexual advances towards a child that goes to the church the first african  american boy in the catholic church . the church is secretly torn as to whether or not he really is committing heinous sins behind everyone  s backs . the plot thickens as some of the kids begin behaving differently  which attracts the notice of a young teacher  amy adams  . the story is set right after the assassination of john f . kennedy  which shook the nation for quite some time and questioned their faith in humanity and in each other .  br    br   doubt  s strong points come in the acting ensemble and also the ever  engaging suspense that builds slowly and never boils over . streep seems to be oscar  worthy in every role she  s in  and here she is no different as her sternness and cold  hearted behavior places a blanket of fear in all the students and with some of the staff in the church . hoffman excels yet again as the priest  by successfully meshing suspicion with a charming personality and a friendly aura . the seemingly hypocritical personality is tough to pull off  especially when we are suppose to like him and also ponder about him at the same time but hoffman steps up to the plate against one of the best actresses of our generation and fantastically delivers . when these two argue  you can hear the fireworks fly without ever seeing one launched . but let  s not forget amy adams  enchanted  and viola davis  law ad order  for their superb job either . doubt  s casting ensemble is among the best in     .  br    br   yet  like previously stated it  s the writing and directing that ruins this film  especially when dwindling down the third act . questions pop up  but they aren  t answered . characters pop up  but provide no real enhancement towards the plot . kids behave different  but we never truly find out why . there are awkward angles in the camera  workandthere  s no actual reason why . john patrick shanley  the writer of the play  had one previous film in his directing repertoire joe versus the volcano . whether sheer arrogance or stupidity  we are stuck with seeing overdrawn sequences of random conversation  utter annoying chatter that bores to no end  there was a two minute discussion about coffee and how much sugar the priest wanted  thanks to mr . shanley .  br    br   bottom line the lack of an ending is a stupid trend that  s just as irritating as the seizureific camera  work in action films . it doesn  t matter that we have a great talented acting cast  or decent cinematography  or a good story being worked upon  or good usage of sound and music because we have a barrage of unanswered questions that sprinkles all over a film that is over    minutes yet doesn  t even finish  the translation from play to film is good and quite accurate  because we have the original madmen behind the projectbut he took the mistakes and stupid hiccups from the play to the film as well . this decade has seen its share of blockbuster and high  profile films that could have gotten a much higher score from me if they had just decided to add a few more minutes of footage and actually end sideways  cast away  no country for old men  burn after reading are a few examples .  br    br   newsflash end your stinkin  movie . please or at least provide a good amount of clues for us to easily fill in the blank  like wall  e  s depressing backstories   instead of staring into space as the credits suddenly start rolling and you are left with a feeling of emptiness  confusion  and mental anguish . have a beginning  middle  and the end please   as a critic  i prefer my films to be whole  not incomplete . doubt feels incomplete  which is why it gets an incompetent grade .  br    br   someone has to break this stupid trend .  
saw this again recently on comedy central . i  d love to see jean schertler  memama  and emmy collins  hippie in supermarket  cast as mother and son in a film  it would probably be the weirdest flicker ever made  hats off to waters for making a consistently funny film .  
ok  i am blessed . i have seen two very strong stage productions  the one in new york with the original cast  and another at the san diego rep  rosina reynolds and monique gaffney  you rock   . compared to either of these the movie is almost unwatchable . i  ve been plodding through the dvd for the past two evenings and am still not finished . way too much extraneous dialog  and waaay too many added scenes and people . yes  the four major performances are quite good  esp . ms . streep  s . but comparing stage to film is definitely an example of  less is more .  the thickening of the play to satisfy film  goers  need for scenic variety and specificity was a poor choice . please  please  please go find a stage production somewhere near you .  
  pecker  is a young  unknown photographer from baltimore who becomes a big star in the public  the media and the local art scene with his pictures showing the dirty reality of all  day life just as dirty underwear or human excrements . it  s a typical topic of john waters baltimore  based independent comedies to show the weird sides of the american way of life between political correctness fashion and conservative backlashes by exploring the backgrounds of the middle class society of his hometown .  br    br   edward furlong of  terminator   fame plays pecker  supported by christina ricchi  photographer cindy sherman  legendary patricia hearst and water  s long  time actress mink stole . although the pacing of the plot becomes a big flaw sometimes and can  t compete with the fast and furious joke attacks of water  s brilliant  serial mom   it  s still has some good laughs in it and some unforgettable scenes like a former junkie  girl who became a vegetarian by sniffing peas from a vegetable dish . . .  pecker  is a great comedy about the arrogance of the art scene  media hypes  middle  class sex angst and the strange ways of how to become a pop star without realizing it . recommended   
what happened   doubt  had so much potential to be a brilliant film  but instead it faltered with a dragging simplistic plot line which made me want to stop watching . the only thing the film had going for it was the brilliance of meryl streep  who no doubt deserved the oscar  nomination . though it was not one of her best performances  she still gave a solid and truthful character to us which blossomed through the screen .  br    br   however  not even the brilliance of a screen legend could save this film from going down hill . from the boring start  which had no power or punch  to the less than convincing ending  the film was truly a disappointment  especially since it provided so much potential through its promotion and trailers . it was obvious the director had trouble with the simplicity of the plot and he ended up with a boring film  which dragged on for too long  with too much talk and not enough action .  br    br   furthermore  the other oscar  nominations were less than convincing . though philip seymour hoffman gave a decent performance  it was by no means oscar  worthy .  especially since they completely left out performances such as will smith  in seven pounds  . amy adams did not deserve the nomination . watching amy adams was like watching a cardboard box  as it was one sided and plain . it would have made more sense to nominate her for a razzie  as i am sure she would have walked away victorious . viola davis gave a short but truthful performance  but the length of her performance made me question whether the academy really should have given her the nomination .  br    br   overall  i consider doubt to be one of the most disappointing films of     . it was a mess of a film with so much potential  and i do not recommend it . the only shining light in the film is meryl streep  who though gives a stunning  solid performance  doesn  t even do enough to save this film .     .  
im from germany and i love the mvovies . i go    times a year . tonight i saw  pecker   it was a wonderful evening . thank you  mr . waters . everybody who has a chance to see the movie  go     
nothing can prepare you for another lousy bimbo outing  this time  it  s being brought to you by the never  inevitable fred olen ray  as far as exploitation movies go  this one doesn  t click  as science fiction  it  s plain unoriginal  all that we see is an an ugly feminine android wearing a bikini out to destroy the earth  and showing off all that  s nearly bare to resist  give me a f    ing break    if this kind of entertainment is your thing  then why not dust off those old si swimsuit mags from the attic for a change   this would have been much better if it didn  t set the sleaze factor on very high  but that still wouldn  t make this one great . i  d like to point out another film called the assault       by jim wynorski  which resembles the identity of alienator . it illustrates why top  notch  st  person  femme fatale  action movies don  t translate well in america . sorry  fellas   
the best thing about this movie is that it is fun . it is full of humorous characters and interesting situations  starting with the blithe  innocent pecker  played appealingly by edward furlong  who likes to photograph almost everything he sees in every day life . other great characters include pecker  s friend matt   he  s a thief  but he  s really a nice guy    pecker  s sister chrissy  who is addicted to sugar   and pecker  s catholic grandmother who discovers life in a statuette of the virgin mary in her room .  br    br   the movie gently makes a point about how every day life has many riches to offer  and it succeeds in making this point without being too heavy  handed about it . there is always a risk  when making messages about the value and dignity of  common people   of sliding into a kind of reverse  holier than thou   but  pecker  avoids these traps  allowing the audience to get the point while allowing enough breathing room for viewers to compare this message to their own thoughts on the subject .  br    br   i recommend the movie mostly because it is a lot of fun .  
i saw the movie late one night on cable and could not believe how bad it was . i usually enjoy bad movies  but this one was so revolting that it wasn  t even entertaining . some of the highlights of this film include the absurd music which is constantly playing throughout the movie  the hideous special effects  when someone is shot with a laser gun they turn neon green and promptly disintegrate   and the disgusting acting . the acting  in fact  is what i feel steals the show . i didn  t recognize any of the actors in the movie  and i hope that i never have to see any of them again . overall  i recommend renting this movie  if you can find it i can  t imagine a video store carrying this garbage  just so that you can learn to appreciate quality films after seeing this trash .  
the great talents of michael powell and emeric pressberger are noticeable in their wonderful  a matter of life and death  . it was part of the recent tribute to mr . powell that played at the walter reade in new york . this film  in particular  shows us one of the best british films from that  or any other era .  br    br    a matter of life and death  has a brilliant cinematography by jack cardiff  a man who knew how to work wonders with a camera . particularly impressive is the contrast from the monochromatic tones given to the scenes played in heaven  and the colored ones when the action comes back to earth . this was quite a coup  and well ahead of its times . the black and white sequence that involves the long staircase where peter and the conductor are chatting has to be one of the most amazing things on any film .  br    br   much has been said in this forum about the film  so our comment will be about the great acting powell and pressberger got out of the large  distinguished cast  who responded magnificently to the directors  guidance .  br    br   david niven  is peter  whose aircraft is hit and his best friend dies as a result of it . this film marked one of the highlights in mr . niven  s career . he was an excellent film actor as he shows us in this movie . kim hunter is surprisingly good as june  the woman who talked to peter as his plane was falling from the skies . as fate would have it  peter and june fall in love at first sight .  br    br   some of the best british film actors grace this film with their presence . robert coote  is bob  the man who is admitted to heaven  but he is surprised his friend peter never made the trip with him . an excellent star turn by marius goring  who as the conductor   steals the film . mr . goring  who had worked with the directors  is one of the best things in the movie . also  roger livesey  as dr . frank reeves  does one of the best appearances of his career  as well as raymond massey  who is seen as abraham farlan .  br    br    a matter of life and death  is a timeless film that will always be seen with gratitude toward its creators .  
i saw this in a sneak two days before the official opening  and i must say i was extremely disappointed . and i have to put the majority of these problems on the decision to cast claire danes in the lead role . depending on what you think about danes  she was either horribly miscast  or is so far in over her head that she should be the early favorite for the     razzie for worst actress . i think we were supposed to be sympathetic to her . instead  she is completely unlikeable . the other  great  actresses do an ok job  but certainly don  t light up the screen . out of all the  great  actresses in this movie  i  d say the one who did the best job was natasha richardson . streep is barely in the picture  and only appears near the very end .  br    br   horrible screenplay as well . it comes off more as them reading lines than truly being  in character .   
pecker is another mainstream film by john waters done on a smaller than serial mom . the title character of pecker has a hobby of taking pictures of anything he sees . it doesn  t matter if it  s dirty or shocking when he takes pictures . he soon uses the pictures he taken and puts them on display at his work . pecker live in a semi  normal middle  class family . his dad works at a drinking bar with a claw machine  but doesn  t make enough money with a lesbian stripper bar across the street . his mom runs a thrift shop and loves to dress  up poor people . his older sister  tina  works at a gay bar where her specialty is trade . his younger  little chrissy  has a habit of eating sugar  sugar  and nothing but sugary food . his grandmother  memama  has a small statue of the virgin mary and plays ventriloquist with it . he also has  friends . on of his friends  matt is a chronic shoplifter and his girlfriend  shelley  runs a laundry mat as if she was a dictator . soon  a tourist from new york buys his pictures and displays them at an art gallery . with the picture comes fame  but the pictures expose the unusual life style of his friends and family  s simple life . for an r  rated film  pecker is sure tamer than most of waters previous r  rated films and even pink flamingos . another   out of     
i don  t what that other review was talking about . this definitely isn  t a bimbo movie  in fact  i don  t think there was one decent looking girl in it . no  it  s just cheesy  poorly  done  ed wood  style science fiction schlock . and it  s bad . i can  t even begin to tell you how bad it is . i saw it late at night on cable  and i was in shock . the fact that this movie was ever released is an insult to us all . the actors were either friends of the producer or mentally retarded  the special effects are a joke  and the pace is insanely slow . to me though  the music tops it all . a monkey could write a better theme with a toy xylophone . do not rent this thing  but if you ever see it on cable  watch it . you  ll be amazed at how bad a movie can be .  
john waters most accessible film to date is one of his better ones  considering it cut down on all of the campiness and outright vulgarity which seem to litter most of his previous work . sure  the nudity and the sexual references are still there  at least it is presented in a fashion  br    br   that cannot be deemed too foul or disgusting . due to some great casting choices  this film really brought out the silliness associated with modern art and the subjective nature of your modern artist . funny and somewhat lighthearted  if that is possible for waters   this is one of those films i would watch on a rainy day .  
this is almost the worst film you will ever see      doomsday currently pulls the rug from under this one  for me . the props are a perfect example of what frank zappa once referred to as  cheepnis .  it looks as if the space scenes were made in a     s power station  just prior to demolition . the music really sucks . the acting is wooden and ham . the characters they portray are shallow and unconvincing . the plot is predictable . it is immediately and brazenly obvious when they copy techniques and ideas from other films . the quality of direction beggars belief .  br    br   but you have to see it  if only to experience what has to be one of the biggest wastes of a tiny budget ever . this is a priceless example of a stupid movie   
edward furlong and christina ricci are an excellent couple and demonstrate it with their unique charisma featured in this movie .  br    br   this is the typical  alternative  or indie movie with a plot that features a rare situation that suddenly becomes really important .  br    br   pecker is an average boy who has an old camera and his main hobby is to take photographs of the exotic habitants of the small town where he lives in . suddenly an alternative artist pays attention to his work and hires him in order to expose his work in some important festivals and more .  br    br   but pecker life changes drastically as now fortune and fame seem to infuriate the town  s people who are pecker  s main inspiration . even his sexy girlfriend gets mad because now he does not pays the  adequate  attention to her .  br    br   well this is an indie movie with an edge but not for everyone . it may seem boring or pretentious for some people but still i think it worths a watch only because it offers something  different  than hollywood  s typical standards .  br    br   to describe in a few words this is the typical christina ricci and john waters movie . that  s it .  br    br   oh and i almost forgot to mention that the  full of grace  lines are really annoying . geez .  
typically terrible trash from director fred olen ray about a female cyborg hunter  teagan  commissioned by warden jan  michael vincent to find and execute escaped alien convict ross hagen who has charted course for earth . soon forest ranger john phillip law will have to protect a group of obnoxiously hammy college kids headed by the grating richard wiley who ran over hagen with his rv on a camping trip gone awry . soon the cyborg will be blasting away with her arm laser burning one innocent alcoholic doctor  robert quarry of count yorga  vampire fame  proving that no one will stand in it  s way of retrieving the hide of the convict  whose collar is a tracking device that weakens his body . law finds an ally in leo gordon  an old vietnam war vet with way too weapons stashed in his cabin .  br    br   perhaps intentionally made awful  this features what fans of  rancid cinema  yearn for . . dreadful special effects  acting  and premise . at least  the film has pj soles for some eye candy . . even in     she was quite smokin  . that laser gun sure is funny . . it can incinerate some houses yet when the cyborg shoots at law it barely leaves a mark on the location fired .  
as i am no fan of almost any post   desperate living  john waters films  i warmed to  pecker  . after he emerged from the underground  waters produced trash  lite versions of his earlier works   cry baby    polyester   hairspray   that to die  hard fans looked and tasted like watered down liqueur .  pecker   which doesn  t attempt to regurgitate early successes  is a slight  quiet  humble commentary on the vagaries of celebrity and the pretentiousness of the art world . waters clearly knows this subject well because he has also exhibited and sold  at ridiculous prices  some of the most amateurish pop art ever created that you couldn  t imagine anyone being able to give away if it wasn  t emblazoned with the waters  name  . edward furlong is fine as  pecker  and waters  non  histrionic style is at ease with the subject .  
intergalactic criminal kol  ross hagen  has been sentenced to death and awaits execution on a spaceship designed for just such a purpose . but tonight there  s going to be a jailbreak  and kol flees on a conveniently  placed escape pod and flies towards earth  which apparently is nearby  . there he confronts a group of  teenagers   who look thirty  and a game warden  john phillip law   who help protect him from his worst nightmare . . . the bounty hunter and executioner android  or more properly  gynoid   the alienator .  br    br   from the cover of the box  i was confident this was going to be an awful movie . but  as awful as it turned out to be  it was a ton of fun as well  probably at least partially because i was watching it with someone who happens to be intensely awesome  . the director  fred olen ray   who has specialized in making over one hundred low  grade films  most notably  hollywood chainsaw hookers    does what he does best and throws together a plot that only half makes sense and gives us rudimentary special effects . bonus p . j . soles appears  as  tara    obviously at a low point in her career .  br    br   sure  there  s plot holes . why are there hillbilly rednecks in california  allegedly los angeles county if i understood the warden correctly  . what  s up with the space woman  s tacky blouse  why is there a subplot about the ship captain forcefully trying to win her heart when this story goes nowhere  what the heck is  quadrant    how does chicken wire create an electromagnetic field that will short  circuit an android  yet land mines do virtually nothing  why does kol look like a drunk  native american football player with emphysema  and the lund guy  robert clarke  . . . does his character even have a point  does the game he plays with the captain have a point  does this movie have a point  but the biggest mystery is the android  or gynoid  the alienator  played by teagan clive . what is an  alienator   why does it look like daryl hannah from  blade runner   only much larger  because  see  if something is a cyborg  it  s part human . but if it  s an android  it  s all machine . this was an android  so there was no reason to make it look human . it could have looked like anything . yet  the person who designed her made her the size of a linebacker  with david bowie  s hair and a leotard that shows me just a little too much . if you  re going to make a female android  wouldn  t the purpose be to have her be seductive and lure enemies in  mission not accomplished . they say beauty comes in all shapes and sizes  but i think i found a huge exception .  br    br   if  mystery science theater      were still around today  this film would be on a very short list of movies that need to get harangued .  br    br   beyond the butt  nasty alienator  sorry  teagan  female weight lifters are gross  the film is alright . maybe there  s not much of a story and maybe the characters aren  t really very interesting . and maybe the scene with the deer is incredibly adorable for no particular reason   what use does a killer robot have with a deer  but overall  i actually liked the movie . i won  t be pimping it out to my friends or running out to my local video store to pick up the latest dvd copy  which i  m sure is just packed with amazing special features   not  . but i consider seeing this movie time well spent and look forward to similar adventures in the future .  
i first saw this movie at the sundance film festival this year  and being a teenager myself i found the movie to be quite appealing . these kids are out of the ordinary and very unexpected to be in a movie of this stature but with the right dialog and junk they made the movie a complete success . i enjoyed this movie more then others but i highly recommend releasing and watching this movie . it is a mixture of witty comments and hilarious reality . capturing the essence of high school  high school record has topped my favorites list and hopefully has a chance to be released into theaters . i truly thank all of the kids who put the hard work into making this film  it helped me cry my eyes our in laughter .  
music that grinds on the nerves like fingernails on a blackboard  acting that is so zombielike it was a shame to waste the cast by not making a second movie casting everyone in it as true zombies    with the cast of sabrina the teenaged witch as the heroes . . . a movie so downright awful that if  stoners  were still around it might be considered a cult movie    but  oh so amateurish  the scripts might as well have been carried around by the actors  their lines read as they slowly shuffled through the movie    banal  illogical sets modeled after la subdivisions  props straight from toysrus  was a movie ever made that is so completely and totally inept    logic flies to the wind in this plodding  senseless  pointless and with a  monster  so stupid and uncoordinated that it couldn  t catch a turtle in an icebox    lowcut  leggy    and amazon  it kept my attention all the way through the way a terrible  ongoing chain accident in the fog involving multiple vehicles keeps one watching to the very end . . . as  after a ridiculous ray  gun fight in a prison on another planet  a pneumaticaly  disadvantaged sexy and mentally unbalanced bounty hunter chases a retarded extra  terrestrial fugitive    to earth  don  t let anybody ps on your popcorn  you might actually enjoy watching this one . it  s that bad   
this movie was very  very strange and very  very funny . all of the actors are quite real and very odd . the overall  look  of the film was different  too  sort of dreamy and bleached  out  which only added to the spacey  fumbling  weird vibe of the whole thing .  br    br   it  s not for everyone  i mean  it  s not what you would call  mainstream  but that is what i liked about it . it  s unlike anything i have ever seen before . . . unpredictable  with a weird rhythm and punch lines in the strangest places . the kids are so heartbreakingly goofy  and pimply  that you can  t help but feel for them . in other words  these are far from  hollywoodized  versions of teenagers .  br    br   all of  which for me  makes it a good thing .  
kol  space prisoner on space death row  manages to hijack a space shuttle and escape to the woods of america where he  along with some new found friend try to escape from the  alienator  a female cyborg killing machine . made one year after the best movie of fred olen ray  s career   hollywood chainsaw hookers   this one can  t help but feel like a bit of a letdown . just as low  budget as that earlier film  but not nearly as fun as i had with it . none of the actors really stood out at me . the film is alright for the undiscriminating viewer during a rainy saturday afternoon  but that  s pretty much all it  s good for .  br    br   my grade d  br    br   where i saw it showtime thriller  
this is the second film i  ve seen of ida lupino as a director after    s the hitch  hiker . i think this one was a better film then that one . this one has a girl who is about to get married and she is then sexually assaulted and doesn  t like everyone looking and talking about her so she runs away and and is taken in by a family . i think leonard maltin  s review is right only to give it  and    stars .  
throw this lame dog a bone . sooo bad . . . you may watch anyway . kol  ross hagen  is an intergalactic bad guy that escapes being vaporised by an over zealous spaceship commander  jan  michael vincent  . kol manages to steal a shuttle that crash lands on earth . an unstoppable android killer is sent to bring back the villain dead or alive . john phillip law plays a forest  park ranger that urges caution in dealing with these two visitors from far  far away . costumes are outrageous and the script is lacking intelligence . vincent surely took the money and ran . law shows the only sign of effort . so bad it is almost comical . also in the cast dyana ortelli  p . j . soles and dawn wildsmith .  
before this little black  and  whiter  the touchy topic of criminal rape never made it onto the american screen . there were lots of these topics that hollywood and the production code kept hidden until the rebellious      s . so it  s not surprising that it would take a little independent company like ida lupino  s filmmakers to raise the subject . the result is well  meaning but somewhat compromised  which is not surprising since director lupino had to work with code demands to get the movie released .  br    br   interestingly  ann walton  s  mala powers  main problem following the assault is not how others might see her  but how she sees herself . and it  s a heavy load she  s carrying . will she ever be able to relate to men again  will they look at her as  spoiled goods   after all  this is       small wonder she runs away rather than face these anxieties at home and at work  even though family and friends are generally supportive . overall  this first part is earnest and well  done . the chase is hyped to inject some action into the plot  but then this is a movie   notice how the incurious neighbor fails to respond to the honking horn near chase  s end . had those been screams of alarm from powers instead  the neighbor  s lack of response would have raised an interesting albeit complicating issue .  br    br   the second half is pretty much given over to the production code in the sentimentalized person of rev . ferguson  tod andrews  . it  s he  to quote a phrase  who  gives her courage to face life again  . there  s some effort at humanizing him   is it ann or her dilemma that he  s most interested in . still  his gentle and understanding presence comes across as a little too miraculous and a little too hollywood . fortunately  the ending avoids the usual hollywood cop  out by emphasizing only the hope of a happy resolution for ann rather than its certainty .  br    br   give lupino a ton of credit for dealing with the topic in the first place . given the overall results  i expect she dealt as honestly with the topic as she was allowed to . i also expect today  s audiences find the treatment mildly interesting mainly because of powers  excellent performance that brings out the purely human drama . however  the film works best now as a document of its time  and what the cultural watchdogs of that day thought was appropriate for adult viewing .  
for the initial   minutes or so  i was watching it on a ps  so i  ve really no idea how long it took  alienator sets up an interesting premise . i don  t think i  ve seen a slasher movie with an alien from another planet as the baddie before . however  interest soon turns into stunned disbelief as you realise the  alien  is a huge body  builder woman in a steel bikini . yes  alienator is patently ridiculous .  br    br   don  t think i hold that against it . in the world of shlock  horror  patently ridiculous can often be a good sign . however  the blatant stupidity of its premise is all the movie really has going for it . alienator is funny as hell  but it is also a shambolic suckfest of the highest order . actors heap on failed attempts at seriousness  potentially genius lines of pure cheese dialogue are stumbled over with unnerving incompetence and the direction fails to sum up even one or two decent set  pieces . by the time the movie  s finished you can barely see the original concept through the haystack of total tripe the team piled on it .  br    br   add to this the fact that the  alien  just kills people by vaporising them  as opposed to doing any  slashing  as such and you have a giant throbbing heap of good ideas being left to rot . you  ll laugh at alienator  but at it  not with it . if that  s your thing then go ahead and check it out .  
ida lupino was one of the few women to break through the directorial glass ceiling in hollywood under the studio system . not surprisingly  she also tackled proto  feminist themes that  when touched at all  were approached in so gingerly a manner that it was seldom quite clear what was being talked about . in outrage  she treats rape and its aftermath  and though throughout the short movie it  s referred to as criminal assault   she leaves  for once  no doubt about what happened .  br    br   mala powers  in her official debut  plays a secretary  bookkeeper at a big industrial plant she lives with her parents but is engaged to a swell guy  robert clarke   who just got a raise and now makes    a week . leaving the plant after working late one night  she finds herself being stalked . in the ensuing scene  the best in the movie  she tries to escape her pursuer in a forbidding maze of buildings and alleys but fails .  br    br   when she returns home  disheveled and in shock  the police can  t get much out of her she claims she never saw her attacker  who manned a snack truck outside the factory  . trying to pretend that nothing happened  she returns to her job but falls apart  thinking that everybody is staring at her  judging her . she goes into a fugue state  running away to los angeles on a bus but stumbling off at a rest stop .  br    br   waking up in a strange ranch house  she learns that she  s been rescued by tod andrews  a young minister in a california agricultural town . she lies about her identity and takes a job packing oranges . the two fall vaguely in love  but it  s clear to andrews that powers is keeping dire secrets . when  at a company picnic  she seizes a wrench and cracks the skull of jerry paris  who was trying to steal a kiss  the truth about her past comes out . . . .  br    br   it was a courageous movie to come out in      and that may explain and excuse some of its shortcomings . lupino never recaptures the verve of the early assault scene  and the movie wanders off into the bucolic and sentimental  ending up talky and didactic . yes  lupino had important information to impart  but she didn  t trust the narrative to speak for itself . her cast  pleasant but bland and generic  weren  t much help  either  reverting to melodramatic postures or homespun reassurance . but outrage was a breakthrough  blazing a trail for later discourse on what the crime of rape really is  and what it really means to its victims .  
well  i had to be generous and give this a  . this was mainly due to the gratuitous holes cut in that lady  s shirt where her breasts are . i found that mildly amusing . other than that  this movie does nothing more than provide a few good laughs with a friend . funny if you  re willing to throw  mystery science theatre  comments at it with someone  but it ain  t no better than a  . and a  pretty much sucks .  
forget that this is a  b  movie . forget that it is in many ways outdated . instead give writer  director ida lupino much deserved credit for addressing a subject which at the time       was taboo in hollywood . to my knowledge  this was the first film to address the subject of rape and the emotional and mental effects that that crime has upon its victims .  br    br   although much of the cast  s acting is pedestrian at best  mala powers  who at the time was eighteen or nineteen  gives an excellent performance throughout as the traumatized young woman  ann  who tries to run away from her  shame .  based on her work in this film  i  m surprised that she did not have a more successful acting career . tod andrews  too  has some fine moments as the minister who reaches out to help her .  br    br   ms lupino  obviously working on a limited budget  was still able to create some memorable scenes such as the pursuit through the streets and alleys leading to the rape  and the police lineup following it . and  she created a bittersweet ending which left me wondering if ann really could ever have a normal life again .  
recipe for one of the worst movies of all time a she  male villain who looks like it escaped from the wwf  has terrible aim with a gun that has inconsistent effects  the first guy she shoots catches on fire but when she shoots anyone else they just disappear  and takes time out to pet a deer . then you got the unlikable characters    year old college students  a lame attempt at a surprise ending and lots  lots more . avoid at all costs .  
this movie has the most beautiful opening sequence ever made . i  ve seen this movie for the first time a week ago  since then every day i see the opening and every time i feel as thrilled as i felt the first time i heard david niven uttering the immortal words from sir walter raleigh  s the pilgrimage  br    br   give me my scallop  shell of quiet  my staff of faith to walk upon  my scrip of joy  immortal diet  my bottle of salvation  my gown of glory  hope  s true gage and thus i  ll take my pilgrimage     br    br   do you know why it would be a truism to say michael powell  s and emeric pressuburger  s lives are thoroughly justified for having crafted such a wonderful opening  because they had been already admitted in the paradise of poets long before they made this movie .  br    br   i imagine both of them facing trial during doomsday and saying nonchalantly to an irate god i beg your pardon  sir . so  do you want to know what have we done during our lifetime  well  well you  ll see we  ve written directed and produced i know where i  m going  colonel blimp  red shoes do you think that enough sir  it is rather obvious that these two great artists had already fulfilled their duty with god  nature the muse or whatever you may call it when they shot a matter of life and death . the fact that other people  s lives would be justified for their deeds could be not apparent to everybody  notwithstanding i feel my life would have a meaning had i never done anything else that to see this movie .  br    br   of course old  timers will be tempted to say they don  t do movies like this one any more . they  ll be partially mistaken they didn  t make movies like this in the past times either .  br    br   i  ve have already quoted keats here  but i  ll repeat his words a thing of beauty is a joy forever .  
with a cast list like this one  i expected far better . venessa redgrave spent the majority of the movie lying in bed . the best actresses in the world cannot make anything very interesting when their acting is limited to lying down and falling asleep throughout the entire movie . the plot summary says that a secret is revealed to the daughters as their mother comes closer to death . the thing is  she never tells her daughters anything except cryptic advice to be happy . all the relationships in the movie are underdeveloped . i also felt that the back and forth between the past and present was unnecessary . it seemed as if the idea was stolen either from the book the da vinci code in which the device was used to increase suspense  or from the notebook in which they used the device to create the never ending romance of the story  s main characters . either way it was a cheap device in this movie because it didn  t work to create anything . it was a way to attempt suspense in a movie that has none . i left wondering why good movies can  t be written for women . it really was a disappointment .  
i started to watch this movie expecting nothing  just another movie to watch  but since the first twenty minutes  the artwork and main character  who is enigmatic  doesn  t talk much  really got me in this movie .  br    br   i really liked this movie  it was dark  beautifully acted and really touching . it  s a bit slow but the immersion was complete . the directing was awesome by letting us know bits by bits the story leading to the conviction of joey and his life behind bars . the music was really great and very well incorporated into the scenes . the ending was unexpected with a twist i didn  t see coming . it  s not the kind of movie we see often .  
this is a dry and sterile feature filming on one of most interesting events in wwii and in history of warfare behind the front line . bad drama composition is worst about this film as plot on killing hitler suppose to be pretty dramatic event . there is no character development at all and idea that tom cruise suppose to play a high rank commander that questions his deepest inner thoughts on patriotism and treason is completely insane . i believe that mister bin would play it better . generally speaking  film pretty much looks as a cheep copy of good german tv movie  stauffenberg  from      but can  t get close to that film regarding any movie aspect whatsoever . however  movie obviously gets its financial goal with pop  corn audience that cherishes hollywood fast  mood blood and shallow art values .  
this movie really surprised me . i had my doubts about it at first but the movie got better and better for each minute .  br    br   it is maybe not for the action seeking audience but for those that like an explicit portrait of a very strange criminal  man  lover and husband . if you  re not a fan of bad language or sexual content this really is not for you .  br    br   the storyline is somewhat hard to follow sometimes  but in the end i think it made everything better . the ending was unexpected since you were almost fouled to think it would end otherwise .  br    br   as for the acting i think it was good . it will not be up for an oscar award for long but it at least caught my eye . gil bellows portrait of a prison man is not always perfect but it is very entertaining . shaun parkes portrait of bellows prison mate clinique is great and extremely powerful . on the downside i think i will put esai morales portrait of markie .  br    br   take my advice and watch this movie  either you will love it or dislike it   
a singularly unfunny musical comedy that artificially tries to marry the then  cutting edge rock  n  roll explosion with the middle  class sensibilities of a suburban sitcom . the result is a jarringly dated mish  mash that will satisfy none of the audience that went for the music  but will at least keep their parents sated .  br    br   a quick glance at the promo write  up on the back of the video release should give some idea of the content . tom ewell is a drunken agent  overplayed with so little comic ability you almost expect him to bellow  hi honey  i  m home   the blurb sites him as  so funny in  the  year itch   . it sounds almost like an excuse . what other film would sell itself on the fact that a leading player was good in something else  it reads like  so funny in  the  year itch  . . . but he  s rubbish in this  .  br    br   mansfield  a beautiful girl with rumoured    inch assets  is  unfortunately  a bargain basement monroe with all the acting ability and comic timing of a rotting haddock . her wooden delivery combined with ewell  s ott double  takes make this a comedy partnership from hell . for her part  the sell gives us  jayne mansfield whose more obvious talents are the cause of many of the film  s biggest laughs   as you can see  a movie sold on the idea that it  s lead has a big chest is not the most sophisticated of things . most of this  humour  is men literally falling over themselves  their glasses cracking upon site of mansfield  etc . only the freudian nightmare of a milk bottle overflowing casts doubt upon its  u  certificate .  br    br   for the musical side  the most adenine of players are chosen . would you really care to see eddie fontaine offer  i love your eyes  i love your lips  they taste even better than potato chips  in a song called  cool it  baby   only the incendiary little richard breaks out of the mor  though is forced to sing some of his more dad  friendly songs in a four  minute sequence . and how come all the acts sing without a single microphone  attempted satires on the industry are broad and childlike in their conception .  br    br   technically  the picture was quite advanced  with special effects  including a ghost  like julie london  and deluxe color  which now looks flat and artificial . in fact  with its reds that bleed and fake  looking flesh tones  it resembles a colorised movie  . direction  though  isn  t outstanding  and the sound quality is also quite poor .  br    br   perhaps it comes down to it being so old . a time when men still smoked on screen  sickeningly cute child actors made adult remarks and black servants only got to cook and dance .  all of which happen here  . yet some like it hot  the african queen  ben hur and many  many more stand as examples of films from the period that can still be enjoyed today  so the  good at the time  argument doesn  t really stand up . at its heart the girl can  t help it is a cynical and patronising venture that doesn  t bear close inspection .     .  br    br    
a true dark noir movie and a very graphic film  nice storyline of a man pursuing redemption  that may have just left it all too late . visually there are some really nice scenes artistically amazing as to what can be done with a minimal budget . full marks to gareth maxwell roberts and team  i look forward to the next project with new ideas although hopefully more british actors would be great . lisa ray looked lovely not seen her before and hope to see her again in the future . subject all interesting sex  drugs and violence . bring it on . i would definitely say to rent this one and check it out if you  re in the mood for a semi moody noir .  
there are two kinds of     s musicals . first you have the glossy mgm productions with big names and great music . and then you have the minor league with a less famous cast  less famous music and second rate directors .  the girl can  t help it  belongs to the latter category . neither tom ewell or edmond o  brien became famous and jayne mansfield was famous for her . . . well  never mind . seems like every decade has its share of bo dereks or pamela andersons . the plot itself is thin as a razorblade and one can  t help suspect that it is mostly an attempt to sell records for fats domino  little richard or others of the     s rock acts that appear in the movie . if that music appeals to you this is worth watching . if not  don  t bother .  
there are a number of things that are not correct  although this is not too important since what happened to whom and when is still in dispute . the most blatant liberty with the facts i think is when they start to play at bruno koschmidder  s kaiserkeller  when in fact they played at the indra and moved to the kaiserkeller later .  br    br   i agree with semprinni   that the film was biased in favour of pete best  s version  but if he is the story consultant then i guess he calls the shots . i also agree with semprinni that the recordings pete best plays on say the last word on the subject of why he was fired .  br    br   although the film is not such a lavish production as the later film  backbeat   i prefer this film because it is more accurate  and because it has a better script with deeper characterisation .  br    br   there is plenty in the film that is quite substantial  such as brian epstein trying to hide the fact that he has been  queer  bashed   only to find out that the band knew he was gay all along . little touches like the band going into a caf and ordering  corn  flakes mit milch .  my favourite scene  which does have some bassis in fact  is where at an audition stuart sutcliffe has just bought his bass guitar but can  t play it  so he stands with his back to the impresario and tries faking it  but gets caught . that  s rock  n  roll .  br    br   well worth watching .  
i can  t believe that in the   prior comments  nobody mentioned that this film is a blatant rip  off of born yesterday . a man is hired to bring an ostensibly dumb blonde up to the requirements of a gangster . hired gun and blonde fall in love and live happily ever after . gangster is left in the lurch . but born yesterday was an intelligent treatment whereas this is just so much fluff . technicolor transfer to dvd is deplorable . natalie kalmus would be rolling over in her grave . check out the paperboy . recognize him  but  it  s historically interesting to see the roots of rock  n roll . also interesting is ewell  s introduction to cinemascope  a new format at the time .  
having just watched this film again from a     showing off vh    i just had to comment .  br    br   the first time i saw this film on tv  it was about      and i remember taping it off of my mother  s betamax . it wound up taping in black and white for some reason  which gave it a period look that i grew to like .  br    br   i remember very distinctively the film beginning with the song   my bonnie   as the camera panned over a scene of liverpool . i also remember the opening scene where paul gestures to some girls and says   look  talent   so it was with great irritation that i popped in my     taped version and  remembered  that the film opens with  she loves you   instead of  my bonnie  . when you see how slowly the camera pans vs . the speed of the music  you can see that  she loves you  just doesn  t fit . also  in this  later  version when paul sees the girls  he says   look  girls   . . and somehow having remembered the earlier version  that word just didn  t seem to fit  either . why they felt they had to americanize this film for american audiences is beyond me . personally  if i  m going to watch a film about a british band  i want all of the british colloquialisms and such that would be a part of their speech  mannerisms  etc .  br    br   another irritation was how  choppy  the editing was for television . just after stu gets beaten  for example  the film cuts to a commercial break  lots of  em . yeah  i know it depends on the network  but it really ruins the effect of a film to have it sliced apart  as we all know . what some people might find as insignificant in terms of dialogue  and thereby okay to edit   may actually go the way of explaining a particular action or scene that follows .  br    br   my point is  the  best  version of this film was probably the earlier version i taped from      which just so happened to include the  shake  rattle  roll  scene that my     version didn  t . i started to surmise that there had to have been two different versions made for television  and a look at the  alternate versions  link regarding this film proved me right . that the american version had some shorter  cut  different scenes and  or dialogue is a huge disappointment to me and something worth mentioning if one cares about such things . imo  ones best bet is to try and get a hold of the european version of this film  if possible  and  probably even less possible   an unedited version . sadly  i had to discard my old betamax european version because i didn  t know how to convert it .  br    br   all that aside  i found this film to be  perhaps  one of the best films regarding the story behind the  birth of the beatles  . being well aware that artistic and creative license is often used in movies and tv when portraying events in history  i didn  t let any discrepancies mar my enjoyment of the film . sure  you see the beatles perform songs at the cavern that made me wonder   did they even write that back then   i don  t think so   but  nevertheless  i thought it was a great film and the performances  wonderful .  br    br   the real stand  out for me  in fact  was the actor who played john  stephen mackenna . i just about fell in love with him . his look  mannerisms  personality and speaking voice seemed to be spot  on . he looked enough like a young john for me to do a double  take towards the end of the film when you see the beatles performing on ed sullivan for the first time . i actually found myself questioning whether or not it was actual beatle footage  until i saw the other actors in the scene .  br    br   if you  re looking for a dead accurate history of the beatles  life and beginnings  you can  t get any better than   the beatles  anthology   as it was  written  by the boys   themselves . however  if you  re looking for a fun snapshot of their pre  beatlemania days leading up to their arrival in america and you leave your anal critical assessments at the door  you can  t go wrong with the  birth of the beatles    a must for any  real  or casual beatle fan .  
vovochka is your everyday hooligan vs authority movie . vovochka  the main character  is branded early as a bad influence on the children in the neighborhood . with the words of wisdom from a couple of grownups he meets along the way  he finds changing his mischievous ways hard  yet worthy of doing . personally  i found actor who played vovochka too annoying to sympathize with  however the change of tone of the movie would allow most to feel the emotional struggle vovochka has when he wants to be good but bad things still happen . this struggle makes the movie a little different than other movies of the same genre  that  s the little flavor i meant . all in all  i did not really care for this movie  although it was most likely aimed for a younger audience .  
the idea of making a film about the beatles sounds doomed idea  as no production can catch the idea of the actual historic beatles . then it is perhaps best not to try to recreate the past  but to produce an illustration that works best with the other available beatles material . this is exactly what  birth of the beatles  offers to us  the simple story known to us without any extravaganza .  br    br    spoilers here on   br    br   be warned that not everything is that accurate as some beatles  graduates might expect . the beatles are seen performing songs that hardly were even composed by that time . the beatles perform  ask me why    p . s . i love you  and even  don  t bother me  . the beatles  graduates should see that if the beatles on the film only performed songs that they actually did at hamburg  the younger viewers might not anymore recognize the beatles they have learned to know them . of that original hamburg repertoire only  johnny b . goode  and stu sutcliffe  s  love me tender  are retained .  br    br   the guys who play the beatles in this production scarcely look like the originals  but the rest of the film still make good viewing as the film is for the rest fairly accurate . the guy who plays lennon does it good and the rest of the band are not bad either . brian epstein is great and the moment when he sacks pete best from the group is probably the most memorable scene in the whole film . also as a bonus you get to see the original cavern club in the film .  
the reviewer from poland must be a feminist  for she finds  young catherine  to be a great film and historically accurate . nothing could be further from the truth . as a practicing russian historian for many  many years i took exception with yc at almost every turn  and in particular the politically correct depiction of her as the boss who single  handed moved russia into a direction of dominance . the truth  she was only brought to st . petersburg to be a wife and mother  and found she had to  bond  with the dvoriane  the boyars  and the military just to survive . so long as she did not challenge them she was able  permitted to indulge her cultural wishes  filling up the hermitage with art treasures  etc .  . there are so many proofs that she was not  great   but in this area of post  modern revisionism proof is not very popular . yc is only a costume drama  a bit of fluff from ted turner that  like  peter the great  in      is one more example of how badly russia is portrayed in the west .  
  birth of the beatles   for being a us television movie  released in the fall of     has actually been  so far the best movie which tells the tale of the the four lads from liverpool that revolutionized the music industry and the world . as told by the point of view of former beatle pete best . the performance from the entire cast is excellent but  most especially the performance by stephen mackenna as john lennon and rod culbertson as paul mccartney . the film was produced by a legend of the rock and roll era  mr dick clark . who a year earlier in     had produced another tv movie  that has stood the test of time starring  kurt rusell  in the lead role about another musical legend  elvis  . that movie was directed by an unknown director named  john carpenter  who went on to direct other successful movies such as  halloween    escape from new york   and  the thing  . the same can be said for the director of the  birth of the beatles   mr richard marquand . he went on to direct other theatrical blockbusters such as  star wars return of the jedi    eye of the needle   and  jagged edge  among many . the only other film that tells the story of the fab four that i know of  is back beat which had a theatrical release in     . however  the critics did not care for it  nor did the public  for it did not have a long life span in the theater . birth of the beatles is very charming and simplistic film that gives you the essence of the beginning of the legend and the struggles  hardships they went thru and ends at there pinnacle of success when they arrive in nyc and appear in the ed sullivan show in     . i highly recommend this film .  
  smithereens  is the kind of worthless flick which just hangs out among the cable channels taking up space like a cheesy dime novel in the public library . a worthless bit of tripe and first effort for mediocre director seidelman  the film is fraught with bad acting  bad sound  bad camera work  and poor quality in all aspects of the film . many better films never make it to market and why junk flicks like this one do and never seem to go away is one of life  s great mysteries .  d    
as a knowledgeable fan i recommend this film as faithful to the facts and well acted . as an   year old living in istanbul i heard some friends talking about a new music sensation that caused girls to scream . i thought hmmmm  if girls like them  they must be crap . my only records until then were haley mills  the everly brothers  ricky nelson . soon after while on vacation with the family at a military cafeteria in ismir i heard a song  which i later learned was  love me do   and was floored by the difference between it and every song i had ever heard until then . when i heard the  meet the beatles  album of my older brother i was hooked for life . having read the definitive book of their beginnings  by davis  i was surprised that this movie followed the facts very well with the exception of leaving out most of the sex and some of the drug use  it did touch on the use of methadrine  dexadrine  .   
a rating of    does not begin to express how dull  depressing and relentlessly bad this movie is .  
i can still remember first seeing this on tv . i couldn  t believe tvnz let it on  i had to own it  a lot of the humor will be lost on non  nz  ers  but give it a go   br    br   since finishing the back of the y series matt and chris have gone on to bigger and better    things . nz  s greatest dare  devil stuntman  randy campbell has often appeared on the british tv series balls of steel . yes  he still fks up all his stunts because he is too drunk .  br    br   also the  house band  deja voodoo have since released  albums  brown sabbath and back in brown . the band consists of members of the back of the y team and singles such as  i would give you one of my beers  but i  ve only got    and  you weren  t even born in the    s  continue their humor .  br    br   the south  by  southwest film festival also featured their feature length film  the devil made me do it  which will be released early     in nz .  br    br   all up  if you don  t find these guys funny then you can just fk off    
susan seidelman seems to have had a decent career with a few top notch credits under her belt . i  m certainly glad she bounced back from this film which seems to have its admirers . i  m not one of them .  br    br   i  ve seen better acting in high school plays than i did in smithereens . the plot such as it is involved young susan berman who is ambitious to make it in the world of music and is willing to do just about anything to get there . she even rejects the sincere advances of a young artist who is living out of his van off the east river played by brad rijn .  br    br   young mr . rijn contributes the worst performance in the film  in fact one of the worst acting jobs i  ve seen in a long time . no wonder he  s not gone anywhere .  br    br   i will say that seidelman  s eye for the camera is a good one in capturing the familiar east village locations where the film was mostly shot . but her work with her live performers didn  t measure up . i  m not sure she had that much raw material to work with .  br    br   look fast and you  ll see a very young christopher noth before law and order and sex in the city as a street hustler .  br    br   if you like punk rock  you might sit through this for the soundtrack . i  ll stick to bing crosby .  
this film was great .  br    br   the plot was preposterous .  br    br   the action sequences contrived .  br    br   but  provided you can lighten up enough to laugh  it was a throughly thrilling romp combining keystone cops and the lone ranger .  br    br   the baddies were more silly than bad . the good guys weren  t too good . the black actors played normal characters rather than black stereotypes .  br    br   the inclusion of a baby added a good touch . sympathy might have been a little difficult otherwise .  br    br   i have to disagree about the acting . it was  on the whole  very good . i really wanted to punch judge reinhold .  br    br   and  after all  isn  t that the mark of a really good movie  wanting to punch judge reinhold   
as a true elvis fan  this movie is a total embarrasment and the script is a disaster . the movie opens with the beautiful son  stay away  and the scenery of the grand canyon gives the viewer hope of something special . elvis gets in the picture and his talent is wasted big time  especially on the rest of the featured songs . i sat through this movie twice  just to make sure it is a piece of junk     out of       
enchanting  romantic  innovative  and funny . the vision of this extraordinary film is almost unparalleled  exceeding better known  death romances  such as ghost . while we know intuitively that peter and june will find ultimate happiness at the end of that long  long stairway  the joy is in the journey . the moral of the tale  of course  is timeless love conquers all . but the struggle to achieve that victory is played in a celestial arena of sweeping vision and gripping grandeur . with more than    suitably clad extras portraying various ages and cultures  the directors  vision of heaven remains memorable six decades later  far into the cgi era .  br    br   yet for all the cosmic scale  powell and pressburger knew an essential truth the best story is told at the smallest level . the wonderfully  determinedly romantic aspect of  stairway  is captured with ultimate simplicity june  s teardrop  preserved on a rose petal .  br    br   this film  like the story and the set itself  is one for the ages .  
just ppv  d this . i don  t want to waste too much time on this as most of the posters here put it better than i ever could  but i did want to say a few things .  br    br   i didn  t know which was funnier redgrave chasing tiny moths and tripping over her nurse close wailing that her  precious  boy  whom she and the mr . had decided was a drunken loser  has been turned into roadkill that the tone  deaf ann schmoozed with peggy lee or the horrid cgi of crypt keeper annie gazing at her younger self   br    br   i never bought danes as the younger redgrave . i didn  t buy richardson and collette as sisters  either . if meryl streep  s daughter wants to be an actress  she better get mama to give her a few lessons  i had zero idea why any girl  or buddy  would make fools of themselves over vapid stud du jour harris  ann  s daughters are as whiny and thoughtless as she  luc is a retarded slacker on crack  and i didn  t give a rot about any of them  evening gives chick flicks a bad name   
i thought it was pretty interesting my social studies  language arts teacher was the police chief guy that was holding the microphone on the water barrel part d i was excited my teacher is in some commercials he was in a gas  coffee  phone  play station commercial its nice seeing him on tv he was also on everybody hates chris except he always get the small part la la why do we have to right   lines thats so stupid    i think i  m done never mind i  m still not done what is this a joke  why do we have to go all the way to line ten . . . really what  s the point of it     i will just right random words for now    maple story is fun i love my friends  
some here have commented that this is the worst elvis movie ever made . well  they are only partly right . for me  this is the worst movie ever made period  i have never seen anything so basely crude  and insulting  and vile  and against human nature as this film . a true embarrassment to the motion picture industry  this isn  t even so bad  its good . there is no campy trashy fun to be had here like in some of elvis  other bad movies like clambake . this one is so rotten to sit through its painful . pure garbage . native americans should sue for their poor clichd and stereotypical treatment here . actually  perhaps all human beings should sue for the crime and disservice this movie does to the species as a whole  stars  seriously . grade f  
just watched it on sky tv missed the first half an hour . i did wonder if it was a true story so watched it to the end . there was no brief at the end to say what happened to everyone . it did remind me of speed but at the end of the day i don  t suppose it was released at the cinema as we did see the following error . the goof that we saw was that they remove the bonnet  hood  and then later on there are two shots of the car with the police car in front trying to slow it down when the bonnet is back on . it did have me on the edge of my seat especially when i thought the baby was going to hit the bridge and of course when the bridge wasn  t going to be lowered and then it was . i  m afraid i did burst into tears so it wasn  t that bad      
without question  the worst elvis film ever made . the movie portrays all indians as drunk  stupid  and lazy . watch elvis  s skin change color throughout the film .  
in light of bad reviews  or car crashes  i feel possessed to get in gear and make a transmission to give merit where due  and do a service . i  m not sure people have license to say it was so bad  almost automatically .  br    br   it  s rare for a movie to have suspense . this movie maintained suspense it  s whole length  for me  despite any flaws that may be . how many films can say that  not even many big ones . because of the simple premise you don  t know if the people will get out of the life  threatening situation  which lasts the whole movie . yeh  the suspension was tight  and over some bumps the shocks did their work . it  s not just a tv movie  but an all  action movie there is no point where it stops  or deviates  or becomes talky . it would be hard to make a film like this  always on the road . only duel  or speed  are this that i recall . the best thing in them also was the constant tension .  br    br   acting is not bad the judge is as good as ever  and the others are .  br    br   script is good . but the jury is out as to whether it sometimes may be  or seem to be  a little awry . what seems unrealistic is not necessarily so . your first judgments are not always right  but i think the lead actor  s was right in being in this movie .  br    br   stunts are mostly terrific  especially for a tv movie . their only failing may be the noticeable  and again  apparent  slow speed . but we all know how deceivingly slow grand prix cars can look .  br    br   i liked that the beginning said   inspired by a true story .  so you are not going to go how much is true  you know just the basis is . the usual  based on a true story  makes me think it should mostly be true . but maybe that  s my error .  br    br   how to save them good idea of the reviewer to suggest a tow truck to lift the back wheels up . just a few inches would do . a stunt driver could do that at    mph . odd that they didn  t call a car expert  or auto electrician or mechanic  to see if there  s a way .  br    br   i hope this review has put in reverse that this film is a disaster . or at least neutral . and help it become a runaway success .  br    br   pic quality is a little soft for a dvd .  br    br   spoiler they would have been winched out after the baby was  but strangely that life  saving idea was cleverly dealt with in some joking conversation to fade it out . i guess we know why . end of movie . suspension of disbelief went out the top window with the baby .  
ok  the portrayal of the stereotyped  indians  in this story is just plain wrong . i do agree that elvis looks rather good here  but yeah  his skin color does seem to change during the movie . i was thinking  ok  . . . he was never that tan in real life . it  s some of the most obvious brown  indian  makeup that i have ever seen . it  s as bad as the  indians  on  f  troop  and the old hollywood westerns who were played by jewish and italian american actors and not real native americans   br    br   this movie is o . k .  but typically lame story and mediocre songs  like in all of elvis  later films . he just did them because colonel parker had him tied down to long term movie contacts to squeeze as much money out of elvis as possible  i keep thinking  thank god  that elvis stopped making movies forever not long after this movie came out . it is cool to see character actors joan blondell  katy jurado  l . q . jones  henry jones and burgess meredith in this movie  though .  br    br   burgess meredith  s  indian  makeup is absolutely awful . it  s the worst of the bunch for sure . what were the filmmakers thinking  was mr . meredith doing this one just for the money or what  i do love certain elvis movies  though . for example  love me tender    jailhouse rock    viva las vegas  . i can even stand to watch his movie with future tv co  stars mary tyler moore and ed asner   change of habit  in which elvis plays an inner  city doctor .  br    br   oh well  at least elvis made a few good films  but the mediocre and bad ones overwhelm the decent and good ones .  br    br   i  ll always love elvis  thank you  thank you very much   
how this has not become a cult film i do not know . i think it has been sadly overlooked as a truly ingenious comedy   br    br    runaway car  attempts to pass itself off as a fast  paced thriller  but taking the quality of acting  good god it  s bad   the storyline  the practicalities of the car  s demonic possession and the baby evacuation scene into account there is nothing you can really do but laugh . and laugh you will . films are made to entertain us  and the degree to which they do this can be an indication of a film  s worth . this film is the pinnacle in entertainment  i laughed from beginning to end . at one point i got short of breath and nearly choked  it really is that funny at some points . when the baby was airlifted out of the sunroof in a holdall by a helicopter with a robot pilot who managed to maintain a constant velocity identical to the car and a perfectly flat flight plain that meant the grapple hook didn  t rip the car roof to pieces  i was laughing hysterically . but when the baby starting swinging around in the air  nearly hit a bridge and almost got tangled up in a tree  tears were running down my face .  br    br   it also occurred to me that the black cop was the guy who played jesus in madonna  s  like a prayer  video . he seems to get everywhere .  
a squashy slapstick mess posing as a comedy . elvis presley plays an indian bull  riding champ who leaves the rodeo for a stay at home on his folks  desert  spread in arizona  where government suits have just invested in the family  s herd of cattle  which is in dire need of a stud  . what director peter tewksbury is in dire need of is some narrative skills  though what he lacks in assessment he makes up for in sloppy comedic montages  his social commentary isn  t exactly pointed  but tewksbury does have a satiric bend to his outlandishness and there are some funny scenes  . despite colorful supporting turns by katy jurado and joan blondell  the general wackiness gets way out of hand  and there  s too much hoopin  and hollerin  to sustain much interest . as for elvis  he  s loose and frisky throughout   and while it  s nice to see him having fun on  screen  one has to wonder if he had just given up on movies at this point . this shambles of a picture has a distinct what  the  hell feel to it  and though spirits are high  the returns are mostly low .     from   
look  although we don  t like to admit it  we  ve all have to suppress our fears concerning the extreme likelihood of experiencing the events that take place in this movie . you know you get into your car and you immediately start thinking   gosh  i hope today isn  t the day that my accelerator sticks at a comfortable cruising speed of   mph  all four door latches break in the locked position  both my main and emergency brake fail  my ignition switch can  t be turned off  and i  ve got a full tank of gas all simultaneously .  fortunately  for most of us  our thorazine kicks  in before we actually decide that it  s a bad idea to be driving a car . not so for the makers of the harrowing  white  knuckle  edge  of  your  seat  if only in preparation to leave the room  action juggernaut   runaway car  but they go ahead and drive anyway   br    br   i am endlessly pleased to have found  thanks to the imdb  that this movie is real  and that i didn  t merely dream it .  br    br   this movie is  at the very least  one of the fantastic sights you will see on your journey to find the el dorado of very bad cinema .  br    br   i highly recommend it .  
after a few lean years      was a pretty swell time for elvis not only did he make that celebrated  comeback  tv special but he also became a father and starred in two pretty decent movies as well  speedway and live a little  love a little . therefore  personally i can forgive him for the misstep that was stay away  joe which  at best  emerges as an interesting misfire and is not all that bad considering . sure  burgess meredith and joan blondell are indeed embarrassing  as  respectively  a dopey indian father to elvis  character and a bawdy bartender who has her eye on mr . presley too  but one is glad to see elvis surrounded by top veteran hollywood talent like katy jurado  as meredith  s mexican wife   the two jones  henry and l . q .  and thomas gomez who is particularly amusing as sarcastic chief thundercloud who is meredith  s stubborn father still donning his old chieftain clothes in the present day   br    br   while there is a surprising  if not unwelcome given their usual blandness  lack of songs  there seems to be no shortage of free  for  all parties were the male indians hit the bottle steadily while presley practices his womanizing skills behind their backs  as can be expected  the typically  western  arizona scenery is a major asset here and the sleepy  snoring bull gag is not only a good one but a major plot point . on the other hand  the climactic  destruction of the house  episode is one we  ve seen too often since and doesn  t work too well here . . .  
it  s a lovely movie  it deeply reflects the chinese underground bands  current lives . if you chinese culture  traditionaled rock n roll music  there you go  i will highly recommend this one . but one thing i am wondering is whether this movie has been showed in mainland  i sorta doubt it  d  
it  s been a looooonnnggg time since i saw this comedy  and i  d forgotten just how idiotic it is . i  d place this easily in the lower two or three of elvis presley  s very worst movies . presley plays joe whitecloud  a half  breed indian bull rider who returns home to arizona and the broken  down shack where his family lives  and where his friends love to party all night long . his parents are played by burgess meredith and katy jurado  and his old indian grandpa is thomas gomez . none of the three offer anything of substance  comically or otherwise . the government has invested in the family  s cattle  but they  re lacking a bull . elvis gets to sing just a few utterly worthless songs  and is pursued by a young boy  crazy gal and her gun  toting mother . this is just a real slapdash of a mess  and the dilapidated surroundings practically stink of manure and don  t make this much easier . the one thing that puzzles me  however  is that elvis actually seems to be having a good time in the film . hard to believe  considering he got so upset about being stuck making so many mediocre movies .  
i really like this movie because in australia  chinese movies like these never get shown during prime time . i must say this is one of the best serious movies ever  which outlines the difference between the hong kong people  and mainland chinese . it really shows that there  s discomfort between the two  but can only get better as hk are learning mandarin . it also showed me how in mainland china the indie rock scene exists  and that chinese people do know how to strum the guitar and get the house funking  whoever said china isn  t ready for rock music  daniel wu is absolutely superb  with his clean and crisp voice  honest acting  and a total chick magnet . i recommend this movie to those who don  t know much about asian people to cleanse themselves from the typical western stereotypes  and people who just love chinese  asian cinema like myself . check it out   
this movie is not very good . in fact  it is the worst elvis movie i have seen . it has very little plot  mostly partying  beer drinking and fighting . burgess meredith and thomas gomez are wasted . i don  t know why they did this movie . you could say elvis was wasted as well  he is much  much better in  follow that dream .   
it may be the remake of     autumn  s tale after eleven years  as the director mabel cheung claimed . mabel employs rock music as the medium in this movie to express her personal attitude to life  in which love  desire and the consequential frustration play significantly crucial roles . rock music may not be the best vehicle to convey the profound sentiment  and yet it is not too inappropriate to utilize it as the life of underground rock musicians is bitterly more intense than an ordinary one . the director focuses on the depiction of subtle affection and ultimate vanity of life rather than mere rock music . the love between father and son  lovers  and friends is delicately and touchingly delivered through the fine performance . mabel does not attempt to beautify rock musicians as artists at all  instead  she tries to reproduce a true life on screen  making huge efforts of years  working on this project and gathering information in beijing underground pubs .  br    br   daniel has given probably the best performance in all his movies made so far . his innate dispiritedness and reticence fit the blue mood of the film perfectly .  
there  s so many negative reviews about  stay away  joe  in here i just can  t stay quiet any longer and let this injustice happen . here  s a side you haven  t heard yet .  br    br   elvis presley  s movies are my guilty pleasure for a simple reason they are perfect films for a pure relaxation because i don  t have to think when i watch them . that means i don  t have to worry about missing a complex plot because there never is a proper plot to start with . i can just kick off my shoes  grab a beer  sit back  switch off my brains and enjoy all the general wackiness and catchy easy  going rock n  roll tunes from the grooviest decade of them all .  br    br   in my books  stay away  joe  definitely falls into the  so bad it  s good   category . now if you  re like me and appreciate  the trash value   this is the ultimate      s camp experience . it  s so bad that it  s almost surrealistic to watch and just when you think that it can  t possibly get any worse it surprises you in the most imaginable ways . in the end you  re so amazed by all the new levels of stupidity you just don  t know whether to laugh or cry . in a nutshell i love it because it  s so damn amusing that there once was a generation that actually made films like this . i still give it  out of   though  once it hits the bottom    it will became an instant bad movie classic .  
if i  m going to watch a porn movie  i prefer it to have some sort of plot  and a descent dialogue . behind bedroom doors is one of the few i  ve come across with those attributes .  br    br   the new girl next door scams on the neighbor  s human nature and weaknesses where seduction and sex concerned . chelsea blue   i mean brooke lavelle  is the choice actress to play the part of the blackmailing seductress  and plays the part magnificently . chelsea blue is a very talented and extremely beautiful actress . the movie get  s an overall   just because she is in it . her partner in the movie  monique alexander is a definite cutie . the two should do more work together . in this movie  though  monique  who plays gigi  doesn  t have a whole lot to do or say . that  s too bad . she seems like she has more talent to be shared . i like the girl who was the  possible  da  s wife next . i forget her name  but she  s pretty good looking  and not a bad actress . nicole sheridan . . . i  m still trying to figure out what some people are so excited about . it  s obvious there are parts of her bought an paid for . which is okay  but is she finished  sorry  but come on  i  m afraid her performance here would have dropped the rating some  except chelsea  s talent and beauty overrides any negatives . overall  this movie is a good one .  
elvis presley plays a  half  breed  native american   indian   who has to defend his reservation from nasty business tycoons . everyone likes to get drunk  fight  and make children . fighting  wrestling  and  punching out  each other replace the stereotypical hand  raised expression  how    br    br   although he does have make  up on  it  s obvious elvis is healthier than he appeared in prior films possibly  he was getting ready for his famous  comeback  . it couldn  t have been because this movie  s script was anything to get excited about . joan blondell trying to seduce elvis  and burgess meredith in  war paint   should be ashamed .  br    br   the best song is  stay away   actually   green sleeves  with different lyrics  . the most embarrassing song is elvis  love song to the bull  dominic  . there are some surreal scenes  but it never becomes trippy enough to succeed in that genre though   stay away  joe  might provide some laughs if you  re in the right  mood  .  br    br   otherwise  stay away .  br    br    stay away  joe       peter tewksbury  elvis presley  burgess meredith  joan blondell  
i just saw  behind bedroom doors   and this was the first softcore flick with a solid story behind it that i  ve seen in a while .  br    br   we begin with two neighborly couples   vivian and james fenway  julia kruis and eric carrington   and lillian and gabe harris  nicole sheridan and chris gustafson  . vivian appears to be a housewife  james is a lawyer running for district attorney  lillian works in real estate  and gabe is a successful plastic surgeon . got all that  now  let  s get into it .  br    br   enter abby  played beautifully by porn star chelsea blue . she  s renting the house across the street from the fenways and lives all by herself . at the beginning of the movie  james looks out his window and sees abby engaged in playtime with her girlfriend  gigi  played by prolific pornstress monique alexander  and secretly begins to wonder what it would be like to be with her . the next day  abby gets acquainted with all four of them  and appears to be a nice woman who just happens to be living an alternative lifestyle . she makes a pass at vivian  who seems startled and says to her   oh . . . i  m . . . not that way .  everything seems okay . . . until the plan gets set in motion  br    br   first  abby shows up at gabe  s office  naked  asking gabe if she should get a boob job . this is where we get our quote of the movie  br    br    tell me about gabe .   what do you want to know    is gabe happily married    i  m married .   there  s trouble . . . . . let me guess . your wife stays at home  and does everything you ask . but  she  s a good girl .   yes .   she  s not a bad girl    no .   does that door have a lock on it    br    br   you know what happens next . . . . abby gets it on with gabe  right there in the exam room . after that  she puts on a little show in her window for james  who comes over and wastes no time in having sex with her . what james doesn  t know is that the teddy bear on the piano with the flashing red eye is really a camera taping all the festivities  it  s so obvious anyway  . abby has sex with gabe again later  and this time gigi joins in to make it a three  way . now that abby has something on both men  she requests         from each in order to buy her silence . not only could she ruin james  s run for office  but she could destroy gabe  s practice .  br    br   while gabe and james wrestle with their guilt  abby finds time to seduce lillian   who  experimented  with women in college . that was a long time ago  but you wouldn  t know that seeing her in action with abby   she looked like an old pro .  br    br   while gigi goes along with the plan  she  s seems jealous of all the sex her girlfriend is having .  it  s only business   abby says . confessions and apologies are sure to follow  as is some startling info on abby  s true identity   it seems she  s been doing the same thing to different men in many different places . gabe and james use this info to fight back against abby  s blackmail .  br    br   now  on to the sex . the sex scenes were pretty good  and considering all the women involved in this film except for julia kruis have a lengthy porn background  i wouldn  t have expected anything less . nicole sheridan  s four scenes were the best of the movie  with the three  way coming in a close second . monique alexander only got naked once  but she was a relatively minor character . julia kruis was a major character and got naked the same number of times . i suppose since she was surrounded by experienced hardcore pros  she didn  t have to have as many sex scenes .  br    br   to wrap up   behind bedroom doors  had a great storyline  which enhanced the overall grade of the film . i consider it tapeworthy .  br    br   women a   nicole sheridan was good in this film   better than her later offerings in fred olen ray  s comedies . at least she can do drama somewhat . chelsea blue was a scene stealer   she wasn  t that bad as the antagonist . i  d give her an a all by herself . julia kruis was her usual self . i wish monique alexander had more face time in this film  though .   br    br   sex b  solid  very solid sex scenes . nicole sheridan  s performances were almost hardcore quality . chelsea blue looked good in her scenes  too . the two girl  girl offerings weren  t scorching  but they did warm up the screen .   br    br   story b  i liked the dialogue and the main storyline . chelsea blue  s performance was good for the genre  and i was impressed with nicole sheridan  s turn at drama .   br    br   overall b  this was a nice softcore flick . i  m glad i was able to watch this one  as i was pleasantly surprised . if chelsea blue ever wanted to do more of these  she  d be welcome anytime . that goes for nicole sheridan  too   even though she  s probably better at doing comedy . i don  t mind hardcore girls who can act doing softcore films .   
ok so i am like most people  give me free tickets and i will go and see most things  now that multiplex cinemas are so good  i remember the old  flea pit  single screen cinemas and i am the healthy side of    . in england this film was released as  liar   it  s a dog . it is a total waste of good celluloid .     for the photograpy and set only .  
i love this movie . director michael powell once stated that this was his favorite movie  and it is mine as well . powell and pressburger created a seemingly simple  superbly crafted story  the power of love against  the powers that be  . however  its deception lies in the complexity of its  is it real or is it imaginary  premise . basically  one could argue that it is simply a depiction of the effects of war on a young  poetically inclined airman during wwii . or is it  the question is never answered one way or the other . actually  it is never even asked . this continuous understatement is part of the film  s appeal .  br    br   the innovative photography and cinematography even includes some nice touches portraying the interests of the filmmakers . for instance  pressburger always wanted to do a cinematic version of richard strauss  opera  der rosenkavalier  about a young   th century viennese aristocrat . this is evident in the brief interlude in which conductor    dressed in all his finery  holds the rose  which appears silver in heaven  . the music even has a dreamy quality .  br    br   all of the acting is first rate  david niven is at his most charming  and he has excellent support from veteran roger livesey and relative newcomer kim hunter . but  in my opinion  the film  s charm comes from marius goring as conductor   . he by far has the most interesting role  filling each of his scenes with his innocent lightheartedness  brightening the film . it  s a pity that some of conductor    s scenes were left on the cutting room floor . it is also a pity that goring  s comedic talents are rarely seen again on film  except in the wonderful videos of the scarlet pimpernel television series from the     s . this is by far and away the most memorable role of his film career . he is a perfect foil for relaxed style of niven  and his virtual overstatement contrasts so nicely with the seriousness of the rest of the characters . ironically  also in the mid      s  niven also starred against another heavenly  messenger   played by cary grant  in the bishop  s wife . their acting styles were so similar that i found the result boring  unenergetic  and disappointing . as a note  according to powell  goring desperately wanted the role of peter carter  initially refusing conductor   . it  s a good thing he gave in and gave us such a delightful portrayal .  br    br   the movie   commissioned  to smooth over the strained relations between britain and the u . s .  overdrives its point towards the end . but it is disarming in its gentle reminders of the horrors of war  the numerous casualties  both military and civilian  the need to  go on  when faced with death . there is a conspicuous lack of wwii  enemies  in heaven  but the civilians shown are of indeterminate origin . powell and pressburger could have been more explicit in their depiction but it wasn  t necessary . the movie may not have served its diplomatic purpose as was hoped for  but its originality continues to inspire moviemakers and viewers alike on both sides of the atlantic .  
i knew that  evening  was a girlie film  so i was expecting to be bored . a wicked tease on imdb had said that it was a  chick flick  but that your companion would survive .  br    br   survive  yes . i am still here  but when the two of us came out we were amazed to find that it had only lasted two hours  it seemed a much longer evening than that  i suppose that  for yanks  it is supposed to be elevating or fascinating because it is about rich people living on the beach  well  next to the beach  in a house with a wide verandah and a lawn but no apparent lawnmower . if that sort of thing impresses you it might seem quite a short film .  br    br   there  s a monty python film about a knight who just won  t die . he ends up a wriggling  why do yanks add an third syllable to this word i wonder  torso in the road still shouting threats at his nemesis . this film is also about a sort of living dead . vanessa redgrave  inappropriate name for the grave dodger shown here  goes on and on dying whilst having inappropriate guilt . she  s not worried about having been a wide  eyed  breathless bimbo  but imagines herself a murderess .  br    br   obviously  being a girlie film  there  s a chap who is supposed to be the mr darcy  heathcliff character . i  m not a woofter  so i can  t claim to be a good judge of such things  but the tedious wimp who is wheeled out for this role seems only to have the title of servant in his favour . he  s a bloodless cypher .  br    br   as you might gather  the main characters aren  t much cop  but the minor ones manage  amazingly to be much worse . there  s a fellow whose only job is to react to the news that his girlfriend is preggers . fair enough  but it isn  t the role of hamlet  why ham it up so badly  forgetting that it was a girlie film  i thought he was going to be thrown out because any decent girl  friend would have told him that face  fungus didn  t flatter him  but then i realised that she must have encouraged him to grow a  beard  because he looked worse without it .  br    br   i kept awake by noticing which actors and actresses had their earlobes attached or free and noting interesting bits of scenery  if you  re dragged along to it  see if you can spot the stuffed buffalo head  just the sort of thing you  d expect in a beach cottage .  br    br   apart from the obligatory wedding  there is only one piece of action . you  d have thought that they  d have got it right . sadly  though  the hit and run accident is carried out by a car that couldn  t be there . when the accident is discovered the cast wander about shouting for a character that they can  t know is nearby  but we do as the audience  . if they don  t have any clue that the person is within a couple of miles of the place  then why do they wander about aimlessly shouting for him  i suppose that the director  s excuse is that it is supposed to be a half  remembered dream sequence . . .  br    br   another scenery item that caught my attention was a copper bottomed saucepan . i didn  t think that the technology to do this was developed until the fifties .  
clara lago is wonderful as the title character of the film  essentially a film about a spanish  american girl who moves to spain with her mom at the time of the spanish civil war . it turns out  the mother goes home to die  and she is left with her grandfather . she also makes friends and experiences much in a short time . tomiche  juan jose ballestra  is at first a nuisance to her then they become close . the film is shot beautifully  bathed in soft colors mostly . carol yearns for her dad  who is a pilot in the war  and you can feel the love sher has for him . while the war itself is kind of taken a back seat in this film  it envelops the character  s lives . i think you  ll like it . see it especially for clara lago  who does a great job as carol . she is definitely one to watch .  
spoiler alert  br    br   i love tim roth  i really do  and he does his best with an unbelievable role . i can see how this is a movie that might look good as a script  but it  s convoluted  unlikely and ultimately silly . i saw the fake death ending coming a mile away . rene z . tries hard with an underwritten part  and so does patricia arquette . the detective whose name i can  t remember  the one that  s not chris penn  is a big sweaty over actor . see it if you  re not smart enough to differentiate between a movie being so clever you can  t follow it  and so confusing you can  t understand it . see it if you like cheesy camera work that makes you seasick . see it if you love to watch tim roth work with an unwieldy script . see it if it comes on late at night for free . otherwise  rent the usual suspects .  
carol  s journey is a pleasure to watch for so many reasons . the acting of clara lago is simply amazing for someone so young  and she is one of those special actors who can say say much with facial expressions . director imanol urbibe presents a tight and controlled film with no break in continuity  thereby propelling the plot at a steady pace with just enough suspense to keep one wondering what the nest scene will bring . the screenplay of angel garcia roldan is story telling at its best  which  it seems  if the major purpose for films after all . the plot is unpredictable  yet the events as they unravel are completely logical . perhaps the best feature of this film if to tell a story of the spanish civil war as it affected the people . it was a major event of the   th century  yet hardly any americans know of it . in fact  in   years of university teaching  i averaged about one student a semester who had even heard of it  much less any who could say anything comprehensive about it   and the overwhelming number of students were merit scholars  all of which speaks to the enormous amount of censorship in american education . so  in one way  this film is a good way to begin a study of that event  keeping in mind that when one thread is pulled a great deal of history is unraveled . the appreciation of this film is  therefore  in direct relation to the amount of one  s knowledge . to view this film as another coming of age movie is the miss the movie completely . the left elbow index considers seven aspects of film   acting  production sets  character development  plot  dialogue  film continuity  and artistry   on a scale for   for very good   for average  and  for needs help . carol  s journey is above average on all counts  excepting dialogue which is rated as average . the lei average for this film is  .   raised to a   when equated to the imdb scale . i highly recommend this film for all ages .  
loaded with fine actors  i expected much more from  deceiver  than was delivered . the plot is extremely contrived and manipulative . the many flashbacks only add to the confusion . believability flies out the window and with the ending becomes unbearable and downright ridiculous . i would strongly advise anyone who likes their movie plots to be based on something that is at least possible to avoid  deceiver  because you will be very frustrated . maybe i am just not hip enough to get it  but my suspicion is that many others were totally confused by the story line and especially by the ending . blurring the line between reality and lies simply does not work because the entire movie made no sense .  merk  
i was deeply moved by this movie in many respects . first of all  i just want to say that clara lago was the most precious little thing  such a pretty little girl . her acting was superb as well . true to life and very human . though i don  t like the part where she had to smoke i hope it was only a fake prop . either way  she was absolutely wonderful and the story was so moving . i found myself immersed in the story and her character .  br    br   it  s quite interesting how i came to discover this movie actually . i was walking in blockbuster and i just happened to notice her pretty smile on the cover as i was walking by . luckily i glanced in the downward direction that this movie was in  i thought to myself   awe  look at her   so i picked it up and saw that this movie was described as such wonderful things as  a little gem .  i read the plot on the back and then thought that  well  maybe i  d look it up on imdb first and then come back and rent it at a later time . i  m glad i didn  t  because i certainly would have been missing out . after searching for a movie with my friend  i knew that i would end up regretting not renting this film  so i went back to the spot in which i originally found it and snapped it up .  br    br   it had been on my dresser for a week  since school started for me this week and i really hadn  t any time to watch it  but tonight was the perfect opportunity . i popped it in and was glued to the beautiful cinematography  delightful score and moving plot from beginning to end . i was so captivated and must say  some parts nearly moved me to tears .  br    br   i would also like to make a special mention for the young boy in this film  juan jose ballesta . he was remarkable . also the actor who played carol  s father  who  s name is unfortunately not listed on the site . his voice was just so loving and gentle that i could really sense his love for carol . even though his appearance is not prominent  i really felt his character  s presence .  br    br   this is truly a wonderful movie . if you are a person who is moved by light  but emotional films  then this is definitely one for you .  
rachel  jo  hannah  tina  bradley and john are all on top form here . they deserve oscar nominations for their performances . i am a great fan of the tv show aswell . their music rocks and they  re all so talented  i am also a great exponent of sarcasm        br    br   if you  re an s club fan do not read this       br    br   the performances are terribly weak  the dialogue is terrible and the jokes are not even executed properly  i feel sorry for the director  . the jokes are so unbelievably bad that  little  passionate s club fans weren  t laughing . they thought they could do it better . and they did . they conquered the world . they became s club juniors . paul   the fat  ugly one who started a mosh band  must be thanking his lucky stars that he left when he did . one of the worst movies ever made . beware of this movie  do not go and see it  you won  t laugh  you will cry      rjt  
some unsuspecting films carry a message that resonates in the hours and days after viewing . such is the case for carol  s journey  el viaje de carol   a beautifully crafted     film from spain based on the novel  a boca de noche  by ngel garca roldn who also adapted the book as a screenplay . war and its consequences are not new subject matter for films  but when that war theme plays in the background as a subtle driving force to develop characters  especially children  who must face adult life influenced by the games of adults  the result is a different and more tender examination of the coming of age film genre .  br    br   carol  clara lago  is a    year  old spanish american youngster from new york who with her critically ill mother aurora  mara barranco  returns to her aurora  s home in     at the height of the spanish civil war  a home that has been left deserted by her father don amalio  lvaro de luna  since his wife  s death . carol  s father robert  ben temple  is a fighter pilot who has sided with the republicans against franco and is rarely with his family . aurora has a past she left her lover alfonso  alberto jimnez  to marry robert  and alfonso in turn married aurora  s cold sister dolores  lucina gil  . carol is an independent girl who remains aloof to all but her grandfather don amalio until she meets others her age but not of her  class   tomiche  juan jos ballesta  and his two friends at first resent carol  but as events develop carol and tomiche are bonded by what feels like the first awakenings of love . when aurora dies of her illness  carol must live with alfonso and dolores and their daughter blanca  luna mcgill   yet turns to her grandfather for support and to her mother  s best friend and teacher maruja  the always radiant rosa maria sard  to understand the disparity between classes and the senseless war that keeps her beloved father from her side . through a series of incidents carol and tomiche learn the rigors of becoming adults  facing more traumas in a brief period of the war than most of us experience in a lifetime . the ending  though sad  is uplifting as carol  s journey to maturity is complete .  br    br   the film is shot in galicia and portugal and contains some extraordinarily beautiful settings captured with gentle sensitive lighting by cinematographer gonzalo f . berridi and enhanced by the musical score by bingen mendizbal . director imanol uribe understands the fine line separating pathos from bathos  and in electing to concentrate the story on the children involved  he makes an even stronger statement about the futility and cruelty of war . the cast is exceptional the stars clearly are young clara lago and juan jos ballesta  but they are supported by the fine veteran actors in the adult roles . this is a visually stunning work with a lasting message and should find a much larger audience than it has to this date . grady harp  
being s club seven  the film already boosts an ecstatic atmosphere  but seriously  oprah has a point when claiming  don  t go there  girl   spice world suddenly doesn  t seem to be all that bad . . . i take my money elsewhere   
this is a very good spanish movie but i am worried that many out there will feel lost because many around the world have no idea what the spanish civil war was all about or when it was fought . being a history teacher  i had a big advantage but could easily see how the film could be confusing until you piece together all the pieces . i doubt if this would be a big concern in spain where this film was made  but for other audiences they may be a bit confused until later in the film .  br    br   the movie begins with   year  old carol and her mother returning to her mother  s home town . years have passed and you gather that they are coming to spain from new york city . despite the strangeness  carol speaks reasonably good spanish and much of the film is about how she adapts . as for why her and her mother are alone  i  ll spill it now for those who don  t pick up on the fact that carol  s father is fighting in the war on the side of the republicans  who eventually lost in this very bloody conflict  .  br    br   the movie gets exceptional marks for its lovely camera work and music . the rather slow and rambling pace isn  t bad provided you are someone who can accept films this way . i have seen several other spanish films about this war and this compares pretty well to them   not better or worse   just a decent slice of life film about those who are left behind as well as a nice coming of age flick .  br    br   ps   if you don  t know which side is which  the republicans were mostly socialists and they were backed by the soviet union and mexico as well as volunteers from many countries  including the usa  . the nationalists were led by franco and were aided by portugal and the fascist states of germany and italy .  
you remember the spice girls movie and how bad it was  besides the songs   well their manager simon fuller  also this band  s manager  makes the same error putting s club  another of my favourite bands  in their own film . s club tina barrett  jon lee  bradley mcintosh  jo o  meara  hannah spearritt and rachel stevens  what happened to the seventh member  paul cattermole   basically ask their boss for a break  they go on  and while there they see themselves on tv  three of them swap  and vice versa  half discover they are clones made by a greedy scientist  and the other half just get themselves in trouble . also starring gareth gates as a clone of himself . this film may have more of a plot than spice girls  film did  but besides the songs  bring it all back    don  t stop movin   and  never had a dream come true  this is no goo reason to see this film . not too long after the band split for good . adequate   
yesterday my spanish  catalan wife and myself saw this emotional lesson in history . spain is going into the direction of political confrontation again . that is why this masterpiece should be shown in all spanish high schools . it is a tremendous lesson in the hidden criminality of fascism . the american pilot who gets involved in the spanish civil war chooses for the democratically elected republican government . the criminal role of religion is surprisingly well shown in one of the most inventive scenes that uribe ever made . the colors are magnificent . the cruelty of a war  could anybody tell me the difference between any war and a civil war   is used as a scenario of hope when two young children express their feelings and protect each other . the cowards that start their abuse of power even towards innocent children are now active again . a film like  el viaje de carol    carol  s journey  tells one of the so many sad stories of the   th century . it is a better lesson in history than any book could contain . again great work from the peninsula iberica   
if you can make it thru  classic meyer  titles  intro  you can wade thru anything . but would you want to  i did not find a lot there to dig my teeth into . i suppose if you go into it with low enuff expectations you will be delighted  a la charlie  s angels .  but for my money i  d like a little something more  more visual  more moving . more . i feel like i  m begging for gruel  the foot of the master . the mans got the goods . but he just won  t share .  
carol  the young girl at the center of the story  is transplanted to a foreign land  spain  at the height of the civil war conflict in the late   s . for this girl  everything is new  in it  s foreignness . the war and her father are her constant worries  while she has to immerse herself in a provincial culture that is years behind what she has in new york .  br    br   imanol uribe directs this film by the numbers . carol  s family is obviously divided  while carol  s mother is married to someone that is an air force pilot with the leftist faction  the rest of the family  s sympathies are with the franco and the fascists that won the conflict .  br    br   the story adds nothing to what has already been told  much better  but it  s an easy film to watch . northern spain  s magnificent landscape is shown . don  t expect a lot of action since most of what happens revolves around carol and the young boys she befriends .  br    br   clara lago plays carol with sincerity and innocence . maria barranco is carol  s mother aurora  the one that went away to america . rosa maria sarda is maruja  the teacher who befriends carol . carmelo gomez  plays alfonso  the man that aurora left behind when she left for america . this actor  who usually has lead roles in most spanish films  doesn  t have anything to do  as he remains an enigma throughout the movie .  
i had to watch this film because the plot was so outrageous and the film lived up to expectations . in fact it makes for quite uncomfortable viewing at times . unlike other meyer films  the sexual antics are down to a minimum . some of the scenes of violence are unnecessarily gratuitous and offensive . the plot is chaotic and some of the acting and lines are dreadful .  br    br   the film is a strange combination of sado  masochistic fantasy combined with a window of the brutality and immorality of the slavery and fails on all counts . it  s as though meyer was trying to make up for the sexploitation  blackploitation by having a higher moral message . meyer knows we feel a bit guilty about getting turned on by the blatant dominatrix connotations of the early scene showing lady susan wielding a whip in a provocative outfit . he then tries to steer back to the righteous path by turning it into a film about the triumph of good over evil . however  because they cancel each other out  you end up with nothing .  br    br   because it so bad in so many ways  it is actually worth watching if you appreciate the art of making an awful film in the worst possible taste . perhaps  because it is so bad  we almost let meyer get away with the unacceptable .  
another spanish movie about the     civil war . this time we  re told about the story of carol  lovely played by dbutant clara lago   a little girl which comes to live to a little spanish village from new york . it is such an initiating trip  and soon she  ll find about the injustices of the human race  their stupid fights and conflicts  their contradictions .  br    br   imanol uribe makes his best film since  das contados        with such a sober pulse  a beautiful photography  and a nice script . he tries not to take part in the conflict  he just shows us some facts and let us decide  ok  the facts are explicit enough to make us decide in which band are we in  and he takes a huge advantage of the presence and the freshness of the young starring couple clara lago and juan jos ballesta .  br    br   a well cared production .  br    br   my rate      
made one year before ilsa  she  wolf of the ss  blacksnake could have easily been called susan  she  wolf of the plantation and it probably inspired the producers behind the nazi sexploitation epics to go ahead with their more infamous films because the stories are identical a gorgeous  horny  head strong  but stupid  blonde woman degrades and kills many people under her control  whom all hate her and want her dead . sounds familiar  director russ meyer and david friedman  the producer behind the ilsa flicks  are good friends and they started their careers together . so  obviously  there  s a connection there . looking at blacksnake  i can  t help but think that russ meyer wanted to move on and do something else than his typical busty women epics because xxx movies were all the rage during the mid     s  and russ meyer films  though filled with nudity and kinkiness and violence  were never even close to real porn . his films started to look positively quaint next to deep throat and other hard  core porno blockbusters . meyer knew he couldn  t compete with such films and blacksnake is sorta the end result of such a quandary in his career . he obviously wanted to branch out into different uncharted territory . but blacksnake bombed at the b . o . and meyer quickly returned to making vixen type of films that  even if they still weren  t pornographic  they were most definitely more over  the  top than any of his previous films .  br    br   it  s no wonder blacksnake was a b . o . failure . it  s just terrible . trash  o  rama . jaw  droppingly bad . it  s a quasi  campy take on slavery  if you can imagine that . the end result is jarring . one minute  we  re in typical meyer territory exuberant  playful and silly  and then the next minute  super serious meditation on slavery and violence . huh  it just doesn  t work . the slavery  racism aspect is woefully mishandled and veers this movie in the true exploitation category . but blacksnake is not as sleazy as ilsa she wolf of the ss and those kind of films  so i imagine fans of the latter were disappointed by it  which would explain the almost lack of interest in this movie from either exploitation fans or russ meyer fans . meyer blames the failure of blacksnake because  and i quote   it didn  t have enough breasts in it .  well  i  m sorry russ  but the film is just bad  breast or no breasts . but he  s right though about the low breast quota . except for anouska and the maid  the film  s cast is male . meyer replaces his usual bevy of buxom babes with throng of hunks with massive pecs  in the form of anonymous black actors playing the slaves and the big david  darth vader  prowse . and with anouska  s right hand man around  who is portrayed as a ruthless but clever gay man who enjoys the power he has over the men  one can only wonder what meyer was really trying to create here .  br    br   blacksnake stars david warbeck  who is lusted after by anouska and her right hand man . poor david . he looks totally befuddled by the whole experience . he did seem to have fun making the movie but you can clearly see that  at times  he has no idea what  s going on . and then there  s anouska hempel . she  s a beautiful woman . . . for the     s  not the     s . with her makeup and hair  she looks like a typical     s brit pin  up babe than a turn of the century dominatrix . and her wardrobe is hilarious . at one time  she actually unzips her leather boots  i didn  t know they had zippers in those days . but the character she plays is  in itself  really degrading  no pun intended  . she  s nothing but a cipher to the object of lust and scorn of every men  and that woman  on the island . for example  one night  when david and anouska are getting it on  her annoying slave driver walks in the room  knocks david unconscious and tries to rape her  groping her savagely . the next day  the slave driver is still working for anouska and the two act as if nothing had happened . it  s totally ludicrous . under any circumstance  had her character been a real person  anouska would have whipped the slave driver senseless and kicked his butt off the island . or even killed him . but the fact that the woman keeps him on her plantation after he tried to rape her is stretching the flimsy story and characters  credulity to the max .  br    br   ridiculous details like this  and the thoroughly startling blaxploitation angle makes blacksnake a strangely unpleasant but watchable movie . watchable in the train wreck variety . i just couldn  t help but watch the film for the utter baseless aspects of it all  the excellent cinematography sorta makes it easier to watch  . so  this being an exploitation film  i guess it succeeded in doing what it was supposed to do . but blacksnake is mainly for russ meyer completists .  
another excellent arnold movie . this futuristic movie has great action in it  and is one of arnie  s best movies . arnold is framed as a bad guy in this movie and plays a game of death . this movie is excellent and a great sci  fi  action movie . i  ve always liked this movie and it has to be one of the greatest adventure movies of all time .   out of    perfection  
inventor wayne szalinsky  rick moranis  is preparing to donate his problematic shrinking  expanding machine to the smithsonian institution as he and his wife diane  eve gordon  get ready for a long weekend away from their son adam  bug hall  . wayne  s brother gordon  stuart pankin   his wife patty  robin bartlett   and his kids jenny  allison mack  and mitch  jake richardson  volunteer to look after adam while his parents are away  but as luck would have it  and the title would lead you to expect   the grown  ups are accidentally zapped by wayne  s shrinking ray . as the kids run amok  their miniaturized folks must contend with monstrously huge insects  wrinkles in the carpet that look like canyons  and other threats to them . this was bad  like most straight to video sequels are  honey  we shrunk ourselves was sort of laughable . i had to laugh at that movie  roach  stuart pankin and the party bullies were even more ridiculous  view at own risk   
the running man is one of those films that if overwatched  would become boring and depressing even .  br    br   my advice is to watch it maybe once or twice a year with a couple of mates and a few drinks .  br    br   in todays climate of tv media domination and the capitalist mode in society it really does work as a revisionist social commentary  post     s  boom . forget that though  there are other brilliant and better reasons to watch this film .  br    br   schwarzenegger is on top form as ben  the butcher of bakersfield  richards  and the inclusion of bond  belting one liners was completely inspired  thety are truly leg  end  dary  with his rant to killian over a camera the main highlight  .  br    br   the design of the stalkers is authentically american  and mirrors the characterizations seen in the pc  gladiators  tv show  and the wwe as well . buzz  saw  s grisly end will chill any viewer to the core  as a foot note  why does his death stand out as particularly disturbing in what is ostensibly an upbeat actioner with a bitter sense of humour    br    br   jesse venturer and sven ole thorssen are great as backing muscle  and are arnies buds in real life   and its even got mick fleetwood in it too  what more could you ask for   br    br   i highly recommend the running man if you  re looking for a great piece of entertaining action  with a glossty finish and some great characters . just don  t expect an education from it  at least on surface value  .  br    br   quality  i bloody love it actually . you will too unless you  re a thesp .      
this straight  to  video duffer is another nail in the coffin of rick moranis  s career . as is the disney tradition  quality is sacrificed in the name of a quick cash  in this is a lazy retread with moranis accidentally shrinking himself and a few relatives so they can repeat all the best scenes from the original movie . instantly dated visual effects and crummy dialogue abound in this cheesy lamer  which did nothing but make me pine for the days of  the incredible shrinking man   when this kind of thing was done properly . shockingly  this is directed by top cinematographer dean cundey  who should either stick to the day job or pick better material next time .  
the opening flourishes left me purring with delight at their inventiveness  the altered version of the archers  logo  the introductory disclaimer  the way the camera pans over the cosmos . it  s strange to think that it  s a wonderful life  came out in the same year . no great coincidence the     s was awash with heaven  and  earth films but the glowing cotton wool nebulas and cutesy angels of the competition look tattered  something best passed over in silence  when placed next to alfred junge  s vision .  br    br   it continues to look great all the way through  as more and more striking ideas are sprung upon us . i  m not a great fan of mixing colour with black and white in general . one of the two visual schemes almost always looks ugly when placed next to the other . not so here . powell dissolves colour into monochrome and monochrome into colour as if it  s the most natural thing in the world  a mere change of palettes . both the colour photography and the black and white could stand on their own .  br    br   as for the story . . . this may be pressburger  s best script  or at least it would have been had the conclusion been a more logical outcome of preceding events . other than that it  s tight  yet with more going on than i can possibly allude to here . was the heavenly stuff real or imaginary   or both  perhaps carter dreamt up a fantasy that was  as it so happened  true .  everyone says we  re meant to neither ask nor answer this question  but i don  t see why . i  m sure we are meant to ask the question . the film even gives us clues as to what the answer is  indeed  the problem is that there are too many clues and they seem at first to be pointing in different directions . the fact that other things ought to occupy our attention as well doesn  t mean that this shouldn  t occupy us as well . there is  as i  ve said before  a lot going on .  br    br   consider the scene in which abraham farlan  heaven  s prosecuting lawyer  plays a radio broadcast of a cricket match  and contemptuously says  the voice of england      .  dr . reeves  the defence  acknowledges the exhibit with a great deal of embarrassment  and then produces one of his own a blues song from america  which farlan listens to as though he  s got a lemon in his mouth . reeves looks smug .  br    br   snobbery  well  i don  t see why it  s snobbish to condemn blues music  and that  s not what powell and pressburger are doing  anyway . as the song is being played  we get a shot of the american soldiers listening to it several of them nod their heads to the rhythm  perfectly at home . they don  t find it incomprehensible . there  s something valuable about the song and neither reeves nor farlan knows what it is . reeves probably realises as much . all english audiences  and all australian  indian  etc . audiences as well  know without being told that there is something of value in the cricket broadcast  too and that while reeves understands that  he is unable to explain it to farlan  hence the blues broadcast  which shows that people can understand each other without sharing an understanding of everything else . it  s a clever scene .  br    br   one last thing . i found david niven a bit cold  without the charisma he would acquire later in his career but even so  i don  t think a film has grabbed my heart quite so quickly after the action began  as this one did .  
this crap is like watching paint dry . i  m so disappointed because i was so eager to see it .  br    br   there simply is no meaning to this film . if it were never made  no one would notice or care . it  s hyped up because of all the big names in it  but if  nobody  s  were in  nobody would give this film any love .  br    br   seriously  i was at the point where half  way through the film i would look at vanessa redgrave and think   hurry up and die already   this is like the  joy luck club  without any of the friggin  joy . it  s the  ocean  s     nothing but a big  named cast  of mother  daughter movies and completely anti  climatic . . . oh until it  s finally over .  br    br   i  m sure they  ll all be nominated for oscars . . .  br    br     stars for cinematography and the ability to convince great actresses to commit to this junk .  
i have seen the running man several times as i am a stephen king fan and have all his movies but now it is even better because up until  days ago i didn  t know about this website and i didn  t realize that the paul michael glaser that was involved with this movie was the same paul michael glaser that i grow up watching on starsky and hutch television show . for me this is a pleasant surprise because i can  t tell you how many times i cried when starsky or hutch got hurt . the episode where starsky  kill starsky  almost died i cried so hard my dad had to turn away from the show . what to you expect of a kid at age   . now  i intentionally look for films and programs involving paul or david soul and anything that stephen king has his hands on i  m so there         just got to say happy birthday paul       
yes  talk about bad sequels . rick moranis stars in this awful third sequel to the once  funny  and  entertaining  honey i shrunk the kids  . the concept basically plays the same way as the first film  but with the adults instead of the kids being shrunk and the inner house instead of the garden as the universe to explore . if you think this sounds interesting  think again . the movie is boring at best  right down an embarrassment at worst .  br    br   first of all  the continuity of the series has been completely flushed down the toilet . the only remaining actor of the first movie is apparently rick moranis . the actress playing his wife has changed  the actors playing the kids have changed  the ones playing the neighbors have changed . . . you name it . they try to make us believe this is the same family  but the results are puzzling to say the least .  br    br   second  the story is a rehash of the first one  with not one bit of originality . all the few jokes  and there  s barely any  and the dangerous situations presented in the movie are just copied straight from  honey i shrunk the kids  .  br    br   third problem  the special effects . i  m sure this has been done on a smaller budget  but they are pathetic  way way worse than the ones appearing in the rest of the series . you  re supposed to admire in awe these tiny figures exploring the huge domestic area  but you  ll probably end up cringing most of the time .  br    br   fourth problem  to locate the action inside the house is just boring . only few things happen  and when they happen  they are not thrilling at all . the first movie was amusing because the kids were dealing with nature  the grass  and the bugs that live in it . in this one  the adults  which come up as rather boring  compared to the kids  deal with dust  a cockroach and a cockroach trap . disgusting .  br    br   i don  t know why the idea of releasing such a trite sequel to the already moribund series appealed disney  s executives  except maybe because they needed to cash in without spending five minutes thinking about something new . i  m warning you leave this tasteless cash  in garbage where it should stay getting dust on the shop  s shelves .  
although this film is somewhat filled with eighties cheese i have a place for it in my dvd rack and i don  t know why . i think i like it because the moral of the story is  television is garbage so turn it off and go and get a life  . for those of you who do decide to heed the message then you should try reading the book  its nothing like the film at all . to ruin it for you at the end of the story a fatally wounded richards ends up crashing a plane into the network building  killing himself  everyone inside and shutting down the network at the same time . i read it many years ago but today it would hard not to compare it to     .  
if you liked the first two films  then i  m sorry to say you  re not going to like this one . this is the really rubbish and unnecessary straight to video  probably tv made sequel . the still idiotic but nice scientist wayne szalinski  rick moranis  is still living with his family and he has his own company  szalinski inc . unfortunately his wife wants to get rid of a statue  wayne is so stupid he shrinks his statue and himself with his brother . then he shrinks his wife and sister  in  law too . now the adults have to find a way to get the kids of the house to get them bigger . pretty much a repeat of the other two with only one or two new things  e . g . a toy car roller coaster  swimming in dip  etc . pretty poor   
this is an arnold movie . now that you know that  i  ve saved a lot of you the time it would have taken to read this review . if you don  t like arnold  then you wont like this movie . if the case is the other  then you will very probably like it . it  s as simple as that .  br    br   now  if you  re still reading this i expect you like arnold . good for you  he is quite good isn  t he . the running man is a very typical arnold feature . it  s got the usual retro  future we know so well from    s b  sci fi  it  s got a bunch of terrible one  liners  lots of violence and explosions  and a good  looking heroine and a happy ending .  br    br   in this case  the evil opponent is the all  controlling     ish government  which uses television as an effective crowd  control with gladiator  type game shows . arnold  of course  ends up in one of these shows and turns it all up  side  down  with a little help from his two confederates and the good  looking amber .  br    br   it  s not a big budget movie  but it still managed to create a pretty good atmosphere of the future  with some nice matte paintings and sets to help it . it  s hopelessly    s  but i find that charming . acting is varying  arnold doing his usual grunt and shout thing  with a helping of stone  faced one  liners . heroine amber is  to put it lightly  a bit stereotypical  and the subtly named damen killian is a typical evil tv man .  br    br   in spite of all it  s flaws  the movie shows its message very clearly television is an opiate of the masses  a good way to control people . it also features some at the time futuristic digital video editing  allowing the bad guys to change faces in a video to fool their audience . this does not seem futuristic at all today  which is a bit alarming .  br    br   if you  ve seen arnold movies before then you know when to watch this one . enjoy .  
the honey  i shrunk the kids franchise was a huge deal and not to mention very famous . i loved honey  i shrunk the kids when i was little . it was an original story and had such an exciting plot  the sets were so amazing and the cast seemed like they enjoyed each other  s company . now honey  i blew up the kid was pretty stupid  so i think they wanted to go back to the story that everyone loved .  br    br   basically  adam is a little more grown up now and the mom  s are going on vacation to leave their husbands with their children . but when wayne  s favorite item is threatened for the garbage  he wants to shrink it and keep it  but he and his brother get in the way . but when the wives come back after forgetting to give some meds to their son  they get caught in the machine as well  leaving the kids in the house alone   br    br   the plot is silly  but like i said  it was just a family film that i think some might get a kick out of . the original honey  i shrunk the kids is the best  i think everyone could agree . the third one wasn  t so bad  i would recommend this one at least over honey  i blew up the kid movie  it was at least a little more fun .  br    br        
set in      although one might easily mistake it for      judging by the hairstyles and clothing   the running man sees all  round good guy ben richards  schwarzeneggar  framed for a crime he didn  t commit . after a daring prison break  he is captured and entered as a contestant in the brutal tv game show the running man  along with some fellow escapees and the pretty token female  amber  maria conchita alonso   .  br    br   used by the totalitarian government as a way of controlling the masses  the show pits convicts against a range of colourful  and often quite camp  opponents  each having his own unique killing style dynamo fires electricity from a special suit  buzzsaw uses chainsaws  sub zero has a razor edged ice hockey stick  and fireball prefers a flamethrower to finish off contenders . but these killers are no match for ben richards  who dispatches each one in a fittingly gruesome manner  followed by the obligatory witticism  .  br    br   towards the end of the movie  ben joins a group of freedom fighters in a battle against the authorities  and gets to exact revenge on the show  s nasty host  killian .  br    br   twenty years ago  arnold schwarzeneggar ruled the action  movie universe and  to his legion of fans  he could do no wrong . the austrian beefcake had a successful formula that almost guaranteed box office success for his movies comic book violence plus logic  free plot plus pretty female sidekick plus witty one  liners  minus acting ability equalled massive profits . the running man faithfully followed this blockbuster recipe to a t and arnie  s  mostly male teenage  audience lapped it up  myself included  .  br    br   now  two decades later  and having just finished re  watching the movie for the first time in years  i find it a strange movie one totally devoid of technical merit  decent acting  and convincing effects  yet somehow totally entertaining . directed by paul michael glaser  best known as det . dave starsky from cult   s cop show  starsky and hutch   and adapted from a short story by stephen king  writing under the nom de plume  richard bachman   the running man is cheesy   s tat that looks both incredibly cheap and very dated  yet despite  or maybe because of  the film  s shoddiness  it has a special charm which is hard to describe .  br    br   with no attempt at creating a realistic near  future setting  the film provides plenty of unintentional giggles . check out the scene in which ben discovers amber  s secret cache of forbidden cassette tapes     marvel at the crap  futuristic  graphics used on advertising billboards and the running man board game  as a graphic designer  i found these particularly amusing   be amazed at the distinct lack of convincing technological advancements .  br    br   the running man may be utter rubbish  but it is hugely entertaining utter rubbish that i have no hesitation in recommending to fans of arnie and sci  fi action in general .  
i had the  privilege  of attending a special screening of  the absence of light  at a horror convention in ohio .  br    br   first off  you know you  re in trouble when the director introduces a film  saying  now keep in mind  we didn  t have much money . . .  not that no  budget films are bad  but when a filmmaker uses this as an excuse  the results are always poor . and there is no better example than this unwatchable sleep  fest .  br    br   actually   absence of light  marks a first in the world of underground cinema it  s the only time i  ve seen a dream  cast of talented genre vets actually bore me . charismatic actors like david hess  tony todd and reggie banister randomly enter and exit the movie and prove to be every bit as uninteresting as the amateurish no  names . who are their characters  what are they talking about  who cares  it  s all so dull  you  ll cease to care about anything or anyone .  br    br   after thirty minutes of this endurance test  i gave up and walked out of the theater . not surprisingly  so did most of the cast members in attendance .  br    br   any curious genre fans would do well to stay away from this . with a little luck  this movie won  t ever see the  light  of day .  
why didn  t dynamo have any pants   where did they go   it was never explained . that  s why this movie was so awesome . plus starsky gave his kids the aids     great acting too . richard dawson deserved to win best supporting actor  a i d s my favorite line from the movie was  that hit the spot  a i d s . this movie was for the  birds  . i tried to give this movie the  stinkeye  but it continued playing . what am i doing wrong        i thought the  hateboat  was funnnny lol   i would like that for a show . why wasn  t dynamo wearing pants . i know his arm was skewered but . . . what  s up with those crazy futur nets . why didn  t that family feud guy ray combs get a net   he could have used one . aidsssss  
absence of a good plot  absence of decent acting  absence of good cinematography  absence of decent looking special effects . . . need i go on  review may contain spoilers . the actors appear to be reading their lines  and not very well at that . most of the  actors  were acting like they were in a second grade play . the story appeared to have been written by one of the aforementioned second graders . . . it  s not really all that convoluted . . . it  s just so simple and dumb  that a person thinks they must be missing something so they think it is convoluted . nope it  s not  it  s exactly as simple as you think it is . i understood the  film   that  s how i know that it stunk  most of the film just had people sitting around talking  reading their lines   trying to look sinister . the narrator was annoying . the  special effects  were laughable . i love low budget movies . i also like carolyn munro  tom savini  jack scarry  and michael berrymore . . . just not in this movie . . . you can tell they weren  t getting paid  or weren  t getting paid much  because neither their hearts nor their talents were in it . i love tony todd . . . however  he was only adequate in this movie . in fact  tony todd  s performance is the only reason i gave it  stars instead of  . . . and tony was only in it for a whole two minutes  seriously   i would suggest to fast forward the dvd to the two minute tony todd segment . if i had gone to the theater  and paid more than a dollar to see this  film  i would have been p . o .  d and demanded my money back . hopefully the people who made this will do better next time .  
running man viciously lampoons the modern  day american media complex  and hits its target dead  center . it may be an easy target  but they pull it off none the less . rm effortless takes on pro  wrestling  featuring some pro wrestlers as the hunters   network television  the nielsen ratings  the american government  suggesting it  s entertainment  oriented anyway   crime  punishment  and a half  dozen other things along the way . it  s a far cry from the original stephen king novella  and arnold is not the ben richards of the novella either . but who cares  it  s basically a arnie flick  with all the well  choreographed action sequences and one  liners such an undertaking requires .  
now i don  t hate cheap movies . i just don  t see why you should waste any money for a movie you could shoot with your dad  s camcorder . if i rent a movie  i want it to be a movie  not a bunch of people thinking it would be a good idea to waste some minidv  tapes .  br    br   maybe i hate this one so much because the guy in the video store said it was great  and it wasn  t . maybe i hate it because it  s cheap  has the dumbest plot ever  the most unrealistic characters ever and the really  really  really worst showdown in the history of films ever . even tom savini can  t save this .  br    br   seriously  this one is a complete waste of time .  
running man isn  t a great movie  in fact it  s kinda silly . but it delivers what you want in an arnie movie and that is action and entertainment . i don  t see how anyone couldn  t enjoy this picture  it  s so silly and over the top  that it almost makes fun of itself . by the way  this is probably one of the most quotable arnie movies out there .  
i am sorry to say that this film is indeed bad . it reminds me of a c  grade porn movie with one major difference no porn .  br    br   the story and dialogue needs a complete overhaul . maybe then the bad acting would not have been as noticeable . at the very least  the pacing should have been picked up .  br    br   while i accept that this had a low budget and the director did a good job visually given what little resources he had  he should have spent more time on the story or better yet  get someone else to write it . many of the action scenes were just pointless .  br    br   it was a complete waste of my time .  
this comic book style film is funny  has nicely paced action and a great futuristic style to it . writer steven de souza  who also wrote commando  gives arnie plenty of lines to dish out  send me a copy   after signing a contract and stabbing a pen into the lawyers back  what a pain in the neck   after strangling subzero with barbed wire  he had to split   after slicing his body between his legs and finally  as killian slams through a billboard bearing his own face  arnie concludes   now that hit the spot .  funnily enough  bears some similarities total recall  another sci  fi flick starring schwarzenegger .  
i don  t know where to begin . this movie feels a lot like one of those cheap saturday morning kids shows that they used to make back in the late eighties early nineties . sort of like captain power or the power rangers . it  s full of bad digital overlays and really cheesy sounding  secret agencies  and villains .  br    br   the acting is so bad that it  s not even funny . the direction is terrible and there is little to now continuity . it seems as if someone just threw a bunch of scenes together and forgot that there was supposed to be a plot .  br    br   perhaps one of the most ridiculous scenes in the movie comes early on  when several villains plant an explosive device in an agents car . for some reason  even though the device is clearly stated as being  remote detonated  the bad guys decide to chase her down on their motorcycles as she drives away . this chase carries on . all the while with the bad guys doing ludicrous and completely pointless bike stunts . standing up on the bikes  doing wheelies and so on . at one point  a crash happens and one of the attackers is thrown from his bike  we see the bike  clearly cgi  thrown over the agents car but the rider has vanished . then  a few seconds later the rider and bike return . . . apparently unscathed by the crash . at this point even though the car has an explosive device planted in it  the attackers choose to shoot the agent while driving past  then blow up her car . which was also clearly done with cgi . sound confusing  it is  and so is the rest of the movie .  br    br   i might point out that when i say cgi  we aren  t talking about lord of the rings type cgi here . we  re talking the cheap cheesy power rangers type cgi  actually i think it would have been done better on power rangers .  br    br   why savini and todd did this movie i will never know  i can only assume they did for money  as a favor to someone or because they were blackmailed into it . . . probably the last one .  
this is one of the great movies of the   s in my collection that i think about all the time .  br    br   the running man is one of arnolds best and most different films even to this day and when i first saw the running man i was so excited to see a movie like this . i just adore all of the fights and this is truly a special movie . it also has jesse ventura  the legendary professor toru tanaka  sven  ole thorsen  the beautiful maria conchita alonso  yaphet kotto  kurt fuller  richard dawson  and thomas rosales jr . who seems to always like death in his movies because he has been killed in such films as universal solder  the lost world  robo cop   predator   and among others . all arnold fans should love this film from the beginning to the end because its action packed  star filled  and its one its one of arnolds best to date   
it  s obvious that all of the good reviews posted for this movie so far are from insiders who were either involved with the film or who know somebody who knows somebody and have thus seen multiple cuts . well  i don  t know anyone involved  and i  ve seen the final cut  and it is pure garbage . the only thing it has going for it is ambition and multiple cameos from horror legends  none on screen for terribly long  . it  s as if the filmmakers made this movie on a weekend during a horror convention and got actors like tony todd  tom savini  david hess and michael berryman to film scenes during their coffee breaks . this is an ultra  cheap  shot  on  video wannabe x  files with terrible acting from a cast of non  actors with more mullets than is acceptable in the   st century . there is little or no action it  s all overly explanatory dialogue that attempts to explain a pointlessly convoluted plot . ther computer fx are a joke  but there aren  t enough of them nor enough action to make this film enjoyable in a mst  k way . after about  straight scenes of nothing but talking  you  ll find yourself reaching for the fast  forward button . . . and not letting go . absolutely worthless .  
didn  t mystic pizza win the oscar for that year  this movie never had a chance  due to the casting  but perhaps by now people can see why i felt that way upon leaving the theater . only  wargames  left me feeling similarly disturbed after leaving the theater  with the feeling i was getting a glimpse of our future . history has shown that this is exactly what happened .  br    br   the casting is a pop  culture cuisinart of the     s you get arnold as ben richards  the framed fugitive offered a chance to  run  for his freedom on the game show with the same title as the movie richard dawson as damon killian  treating his role as if he were the host of family feud with the contestants using real guns jesse ventura as  captain freedom  and co  wrestler professor tanaka as  subzero   both  stalkers  who kill the  running men .  even mick fleetwood  mic  and dweezil zappa  stevie  show up  while the  dancers of the future  are none other than the laker girls . this movie screams    s .  the plot is a good excuse for the action ben richards is determined to prove his innocence  but agrees to be the running man when he is told that his buddies would be set free instead  they join him as  contestants .  maria conchita alonzo as amber mendez is the standard by which one can properly judge salma hayek in the     s .  br    br   the production value on the film was a bit poor  the lines were cheesy  and  at the time   the plot seemed a bit far  fetched . i remember thinking when i was leaving the theater that we were definitely heading in the direction of the film  but who could have seen how far we  d go there and how fast  if the running man were listed in tv guide  most people would assume it were just another reality show pushing the envelope today . the government influences on the media have only gotten worse  and the dumbed  down american public of the future that surrenders all of its freedoms for  national security  is downright chilling . ben richards is played brilliantly by arnold as one of the few remaining holdouts against a government tyranny that the rest of america is all too willing to accept in return for good television and some parting gifts for the audience .  br    br   the movie was way over the top  maybe even off the cliff for its time  but as with back to the future iii  the  ravine  it appeared to be sinking itself into in     was replaced by completed tracks in     and beyond  and this movie will sail into the future as one of the more prophetic films of our time . it is tragic that  as with wargames  the academy did not give this brilliant screenplay the recognition it deserved .  serious  actors acting seriously while being so pretentious that you want to throw up may win more oscars  but that doesn  t make them better films than their  common man  counterparts  such as this one .  br    br   an absolute must  see .  
in a time when the constitution and principals the united states were founded on are trampled underfoot by an administration desperate to distract attention from its own internal problems  where the geneva convention  human rights and foreign sovereignty are unapologetically discarded  a thriller about the state taking illegal action that far exceeds that of the terrorists they are countering might seem appropriate . however  if you want to see a film about that  try ed zwick  s flawed the siege instead  because nada is one of the most infantile  political  thrillers ever made . like robert altman  s pret  a  porter  the director has taken on a subject he seems completely ignorant of  and imprints his ignorance on almost every frame .  br    br   his terrorists are a wildly unconvincing group of stereotypes  fabio testi dresses as if he were auditioning for mad magazine  s  spy vs . spy  strip  michel duchaussoy behaves like an absurd kids in the hall send up of the sociology professor from hell  mariangela melato a cardboard middle  class revolutionary wannabe  who behave at every unconvincing plot turn as if they want to be caught . the corrupt authorities fare a little better  but are still painted in unconvincingly broad strokes .  br    br   it is possible to make a smart film about dumb people  cf election   but this is a moronic film about dumb people made by people who think they  re intellectuals who are talking down to the masses . in truth  were one to recast testi  duchaussoy and melato with jim varney  johnny knoxville and shannon tweed  the result would actually be to raise the intellectual content of the film  not lower it .  br    br   chabrol might just have got away with his characters and events if he took them seriously  but his staging is so inept  the fight scenes would embarrass a kindergarten class while the shooting of the kidnapping is more inept than the kidnapping itself  and his inability to get his cast to perform with at least some approximation of recognisable human behaviour so blatant that it is actually embarrassing to watch  special mention must be made here of duchaussoy so very good in chabrol  s que la bete muere  he is stunningly bad here in a performance that is so far over the top it  s back again  .  br    br   chabrol has made some fine films  but you would never guess it from this amateurish mess  a newcomer to his work would never want to see another of his films after this  which would be a great shame . utter drivel  and a sad waste of a potentially interesting material . one star out of ten  and that  s being very generous .  
a matter of life and death  what can you really say that would properly do justice to the genius and beauty of this film . powell and pressburger  s visual imagination knows no bounds  every frame is filled with fantastically bold compositions . the switches between the bold colours of  the real world  to the stark black and white of heaven is ingenious  showing us visually just how much more vibrant life is . the final court scene is also fantastic  as the judge and jury descend the stairway to heaven to hold court over peter  david niven   s operation .  br    br   all of the performances are spot on  roger livesey being a standout   and the romantic energy of the film is beautiful  never has there been a more romantic film than this  if there has i haven  t seen it  . a matter of life and death is all about the power of love and just how important life is . and jack cardiff  s cinematography is reason enough to watch the film alone  the way he lights kim hunter  s face makes her all the more beautiful  what a genius  he can make a simple things such as a game of table tennis look exciting . and the sound design is also impeccable the way the sound mutes at vital points was a decision way ahead of its time  br    br   this is a true classic that can restore anyone  s faith in cinema  under appreciated on its initial release and by today  s audiences  but one of my all time favourites  which is why i give this film a       in a word  beautiful .  
some of these viewer comments are just ridiculous . not painful to watch with your significant other  i was apologizing to my boyfriend the entire movie .  br    br   it was so slow and awfully strange .  br    br   both redgraves  vanessa and natasha were unfit for this  especially with vanessa doing that ridiculous brash american accent .  br    br   claire danes was the same wiggly  lipped awkward girl that she was in my so  called life . she has yet to push herself in any way . girl  find a new way to pretend to cry   br    br   meryl streep was one of the only redeeming part of this movie  she was on screen for five minutes  and i swear to god  she reached out of the movie screen and slapped me awake .  br    br   oh  and hugh dancy  who gets better every time i see him .  br    br   glenn close and eileen atkins were also great in their two and a half scenes .  br    br   i mean  this was a well  shot movie  it was very pretty  the settings were interestingly dressed  providing relief for the intense boredom i was feeling .  br    br   i don  t know  it  s just pretty pathetic when a movie that boasts a cast comprised of  the greatest actresses of our time  sucks so much . it sure had more than a few noticeable editing errors  and the main character  ann  was a huge jerk . i was glad she died . but that  s because i felt bad for lila  ann  s friend   mostly because these two ladies were better actors and made me feel a little empathy .  br    br   ugh . bad job  evening the film . you weren  t entertaining and you weren  t even thought  provoking . i sure hope the book was better  so it didn  t waste even more of people  s time .      
amongst the standard one liner type action films  where acting and logic are checked at the door  this movie is at the top of the class . if the person in charge of casting were to have put  good  actors in this flick  it would have been worse  excepting richard dawson who actually did act well  if you can call playing yourself  acting   . i love this movie  the running man is in all likelihood god  s gift to man  okay maybe just men  . definitely the most quotable movie of our time so i  ll part you with my favorite line  it  s all part of life  s rich pattern brenda  and you better fg get used to it .  ahh  more people have been called  brenda  for the sake of quoting this film than i can possibly imagine .  
  nada  was the most inadequate follow  up to  les noces rouges  which  with hindsight  appears now as the last good movie of chabrol  s golden era             nada  is chabrol  s first real attempt at a wholly political movieits previous work  les noces rouges  had also political elements but it was more a psychological thriller with the usual look at society in french provinces .  nada  includes terrorists  ambassador  hostage  taking  a lot of blood  not really chabrol  s field . a heterogeneous cast gives the movie the coup de grce only duchaussoy  who had already played with the director  and maurice garrel are up to scratch . viviane romance  one of duvivier  s actresses   la belle equipe   panique    is wasted as a madam  gabrielle  . italian actors  fabio testi  lou castel  are awful .  br    br   with  nada  this a second period of barren inspiration for chabrol . it would be  violette nozires  before he was again at the top of his game .  
if you were brought up on a diet of gameshows you  ll understand that you gradually need a bigger and better fix . well  in the world of the running man  your needs will be sated . for in this game show  prisoners compete for freedom  and the ultimate prize  their very lives .  br    br   i loved this film . it was such a parody on the mind  numbing tripe that we watch on a daily basis . it isn  t one of schwarzenegger  s best performances  but on the whole it is a very good film . the underlying idea that television corporations will one day be the  real  rulers of the planet is very believable  and is very well portrayed in this film . of course there are the usual arnie one  liners  my favourite is when he is about to be catapulted into the gamezone  the gameshow host asks  any last words   arnie says  yeah  i  ll be back  but the host quips  only in a re  run  and presses the eject button . i give this film a   for sheer originality . i must have watched it   or more times . the only film apart from the die hard series that i watched this often    br    br   in short  do not for a minute think that you own the t . v .  it owns you . . . . .  
saw this movie when it first came out in the      s and hated  hated  hated it  easily the most booooring movie i have ever seen in my life . don  t know where leigh got his inspiration but this is one of those movies where you want to shake the characters to get them to open their mouths and communicate . the title says it all because there are no saving moments in this movie  just long  long silences with people unable to articulate what they are  presumably  feeling . if you want to watch something that will drive you to drink then this is the one for you . if you have nothing better to do for two hours then stick a fork in a toaster the experience will be infinitely more pleasurable than anything you will get from this  yes  leigh came up with a lot of really worthwhile stuff much later in his career but give this one a miss .  
the running man  along with total recall  is my favorite schwarzenegger movie . no  this isn  t      but it  s not meant to be . and the acting and script here isn  t even up to par with other arnie movies like predator or the terminator . but i submit that the idea behind this movie is one of the coolest ever to hit the big screen . a state  sponsored game show in which criminals convicted of serious crimes compete against  heroic  stalkers armed with all kinds of weapons  the runners are equipped with none  in order to satisfy the public  s lust for sport and blood . the ultimate prize for a winning runner freedom . or so the rules claim .  br    br   for a movie with such over  the  top gory death scenes and cheesy one  liners  it really does have a lot to say . someone else has pointed out all the commentary on culture  government presented in this movie  so i won  t go into it here . suffice it to say that if you can look beyond the seemingly silly feel of the movie  you will enjoy it very much  especially if you  re a big sf fan with a lot of imagination  . like i said  it  s not trying to be a serious art film  but it is surprisingly layered for a   s shoot  em  up flick . the premise is borrowed from a richard bachman  aka stephen king  short novel  but diverges fairly strongly from its source material  especially towards the end .  the book ends rather nihilistically needless to say this movie doesn  t .  i enjoyed both  but i like the movie better .  br    br   my favorite line  guess it  s caused from steroids .   
woman with wig  who  dyes  her hair in the middle of the film  takes of wig  presumably does not see what the audience can see from miles away  br    br    begin spoiler alert  that her hubby is having an affair with her best girlfriend and they both try get rid of her .  end of spoiler alert   br    br   and what a spoiler that was the title already gives it away  doesn  t it  bad acting  bad script waste of time oh yeah in the end  she lives happily ever after . . . .  br    br   if you liked this movie  you  ll really love  cannibal women in the avocado jungle of death  . . . .  
this is a classic action flick from the    s featuring arnold schwarzenegger in one of his most memorable roles . set in a futuristic police state where the government controls everything  including the television networks . one of their most popular tv shows is  the running man   where convicted felons are hunted down and killed for the entertainment of millions . it  s set up like a game show  where the audience votes for their favorite  stalkers   trained killers who hunt down and kill the show  s unlucky  contestants  . audience members also win prizes for correctly predicting who will be killed by whom . and the host is played by none other than family feud  s richard dawson  who  s game show experience makes him well suited for this role . when ben richards  arnold  is falsely accused of mass murder  he is forced to play this sadistic game .  br    br   this movie is chock full of classic arnold one  liners  such as his famous  i  ll be back  right before he enters the arena . and he taunts a stalker armed with a flamethrower with  how about a light   i could go on and on  but i don  t want to spoil the movie . it  s funny stuff   br    br   whether it was intended or not  this movie serves as a great parody of today  s  reality tv  craze . already there are numerous programs that show people enduring pain and humiliation for the entertainment of viewers  and even court cases are televised for their  entertainment value  . running man demonstrates what would happen if reality tv hit rock bottom  and it is a scary picture . one can only hope that the networks have the common sense not to let it go that far .  br    br   overall  this is a fun film  i highly recommend it .  out of     
i did not think this movie was worth anything bad script  bad acting except for janine turner  no fantasy  stupid plot  dumb  ass husband and unfair divorce settings . if you have never seen this movie before don  t even bother it  s not worth it at all . the only thing that was good about it was that janine turner  did a good job acting . terry  s husband is a stuck up smart  ass defense attorney who has won a lot of cases and even gotten guility murderers off . he think he is so smart but he is really just a nut . her best friend has an affair with her husband and betrays her . nice girl huh . yeah she  s a real peach  not . she  s no day at the beach either .  
arnold once again in the    s demonstrated that he was the king of action and one liners in this futuristic film about a violent game show that no contestant survives . but as the tag line says arnold has yet to play  the movie begins in the year     in which the world economy has collapsed with food and other important materials in short supply and a totalitarian state has arisen  controlling every aspect of life through tv and a police state . it  s most popular game show is the running man  in which criminals are forced to survive against  stalkers  that live to kill them .  br    br   the movie opens with ben richards  arnold  leading a helicopter mission to observe a food riot in progress . he is ordered by his superiors to fire on them  refusing to gets him knocked out and thrown in prison  in the meantime they slaughtered the people without his help . the government blames richards for the massacre earning him the name  butcher of bakersfield  . eighteen months later richards along with two friends william laughlin  koto  and harold weiss  mcintyre  breakout of a detention zone they worked in . they make their way to the underground  led by mic  mick fleetwood  . mic quickly identifies richards as the  butcher of bakersfield  and refuses to help him  but his friend  s convince him otherwise . they want him to join the resistance  but he  d rather go live with his brother and get a job . soon he finds that his brother has been taken away for reeducation and a woman name amber mendez  alonso  has taken his apartment . knowing who he is she won  t help him  but he convinces her  but is busted at the airport by the cops after she ratted him out .  br    br   meantime  the running man is having trouble finding good new blood for the there stalkers to kill . damon killian  dawson  the shows host and one of the most powerful men in the country sees richards escape footage and is able to get him for the show after his capture . richards refuses to play  killian threatens to use his friends instead of him  so he signs the contract . you  ll love that part . but soon he finds they will join him as well and makes sure killian knows he  ll be back . the runners begin to make there way through the zones and fight characters that are memorable  sub  zero  buzz saw and many others . eventually richards is joined by amber who suspected he was set up but was caught and thrown into the game too . together they find the underground and make there way back to killian and give him a farewell send off .  br    br   the running man is another one of arnold  s great movies from the    s . the movie was apparently somewhat based on stephen king  s book of the same name . some have said that the book is better . i  m sure it  s not and i don  t care anyway i loved the movie . as in all of arnold  s films the acting is what you would expect with classic one liners from arnold and even ventura gets a couple in . but without a doubt richard dawson is the standout in this film . being a real game show host he easily spoofed himself and was able to create a character that was truly cold blooded . the whole movie itself somewhat rips on game shows and big brother watching you . keep an eye out for them poking fun and some old shows   hate boat  among others . also the cast was great besides arnold  koto  and alonzo don  t forget professor toru tanaka  jim brown  ventura and sven  ole  with all the reality tv nonsense that goes on it almost fits in better now  but i  m sure the hollywood liberals would make it into a movie about the  evil bush  . the new dvd had mostly poor extras meet the stalkers being the only redeemable one . some how the aclu managed to get some of there communism into the dvd and is laughable garbage that should not be anywhere near an arnold movie of all things . blasphemy  overall for any arnold fan especially we who grew up in the    s on him  you can  t miss this . its one of the first ones i saw back in the    s and it  s still great to this day . the futuristic world and humor are great . overall   out   stars  definitely one of his best .  
the complaints are valid  to me the biggest problem is that this soap opera is too aimed for women . i am okay with these night time soaps  like grey  s anatomy  or ugly betty  or west wing  because there are stories that are interesting even with the given that they will never end . however  when the idea parallels the daytime soaps aimed at just putting hunky men  taye diggs  tim daly  and chris lowell  into sexual tension and romps  and numerous ridiculous difficult situations in a so  called little hospital  it seems like general hospital . . . or a female counterpart to baywatch . that was what men wanted and they had it  so if this is what women want so be it  but the idea that this is a high brow show  or something men will watch  is unrealistic .  
the running man is often dismissed as being just another arnie action thriller full of explosions  bad puns and gunfire  and to be fair  there is a lot of that in it . people used to look at it and compare it to the terminator series  saying it was one of the poorer schwarzenegger films .  br    br   but  give it   years  and you find yourself being able to appreciate it in a different light . rather than just being another brainless action film  it works very well as a parody of reality tv . it is quite different to the stephen king book  true  but i doubt whether hollywood  with its love of upbeat endings and so  called  ordinary guys  who turned out to have the skills of a trained commando  would have accepted it in its current form .  br    br   but  on with the review .  br    br   ben richards  arnold schwarzenegger  is a cop working in a dystopian united states where democracy is a thing of the past  and the entire country is ruled by a government  media conglomerate amalgamation . the economy is in tatters  food is scarce and the state keeps people distracted by producing sadistic gameshows for them to watch  like jumping for dollars  where people jump for money over a pit of rabid dogs  and the most popular one is the running man  a gameshow hosted by the slimy damian killian  played by the entertaining richard dawson  where supposed  criminals  are hunted down by theatrical  pro  wresting  esquire  stalkers  .  br    br   some  however  try and speak up against the government . when a group of hungry people hold a protest in the town of bakersfield  california  a helicopter piloted by richards is sent to  calm   i . e . kill  the protest . when richards refuses to fire on innocent people  he is arrested and framed for the murder of the people in the crowd . he is sentenced to a slave labour camp  but escapes with the aid of a resistance leader  yaphet kotto  and goes on the run .  br    br   however  his freedom does not last long  and after he kidnaps network employee amber mendez  marita conchita alonso  in an attempt to escape those pursuing him  he finds himself taken prisoner again  but this time he is forced to appear on the running man .  br    br   and there  of course  the entire film kicks into standard arnie mode . richards is launched into the post  apocalyptic wasteland of los angeles  why is la always destroyed in these dystopian worlds   and forced to run from the  stalkers   along with two other prisoners who escaped from the labour camp with him . amber also becomes curious about richards  protestations of innocence  and discovers he was framed . guess what happens to her  then  so  as amber  richards and the two other guys run around trying to avoid the stalkers  we soon become aware that richards is no ordinary cop . he  s super arnie  the unkillable one man army who can collapse evil corporate dictatorships and fight obese men covered in christmas lights all while being just your average american guy with an austrian accent .  br    br   yes  the remainder of the film becomes dumb  loud  classic    s arnie fun . there  s a lot of exciting fight sequences  the trademark dreadful puns   he had to split  being my favourite   and the general formulaic final confrontation and happy ending . it  s a lot of fun watching killian react to it in the typical  wholesome  gameshow host way  as well  and some of the funniest moments in the show revolve around the contrast between his interactions with the crowd as the seemingly benevolent host  watch out for the cursing old lady   and the cold  cyncial man he is in reality who will do anything to increase ratings .  br    br   if you expect a high  brow  intelligent film  you  ll be disappointed . but if you want a great   s flick  well  this is it . but the great thing about this film is it was quite prophetic .  br    br   if you look at the entertainment we have today  you  ll have noticed the way reality tv is going nowadays  shows featuring people willing to put themselves through anything for five minutes of fame  and producers all too willing to let them humiliate themselves on tv . it  s not too far a leap to imagine that some vile tv exec out there has been trying to get the right to show people be executed live on tv . we  ve already had that  however  with the ghoulish al  qaida hostage beheading videos posted on the internet . it seems that in the current climate  at least some people are perfectly fine with watching real death on their television sets .  br    br   with that in mind  and coupled with the fact that everything these days appears to be a revival of the   s  you have to be impressed by the far  sightedness of this film . of course  we haven  t reached there yet  as it  s terrorists  rather than the mainstream media  who have bought us easily available programs featuring real human death  but you just have to wonder how long it is before some exec decides to see if he can find a way of pitching a show that combines people  s desire for entertainment and desire to indulge their morbid curiosity . . .  
  private practice  is being spun off the fairly successful and well written  grey  s anatomy  . the cast is fabulous . the premise might even work . but the writing is just terrible .  br    br   the pre  pilot disguised as a grey  s anatomy episode should have been my first warning . the plot was just blah . i thought maybe it was a fluke . so i set the dvr to tape the pilot and all other episodes .  br    br   as i was watching the pilot  i just kept wondering how a show with such a cast of fine actors could put together a boring pilot . the pilot is supposed to suck people in and keep them coming back for more . there  s supposed to be excitement  flash  great writing  intriguing storyline with a cliffhanger that needs to be answered throughout the rest of the season . amazingly  this show had none of that .  br    br   thinking it was a fluke  i just watched the second episode hoping for the best . and although marginally better  it doesn  t come close to what it needs to be interesting can  t miss tv .  br    br   i just scrubbed this show from my list of shows to watch . not worth the effort imo  and i would be very surprised if this show even makes it through mid season . pass this one up folks .  
i  m sitting here nov     and i still can  t help rave about this movie . arnold  s best movies came in about a    year span . running man  predator  and total recall       . all  are amazing . the cheesy one liners by arnold in this movie will make you laugh on more than one occasion . i find the acting in this movie surprisingly good as was the case in predator and totall recall . they did a great job in trying to make the scenes futuristic as it is supposed to take place in      but you can  t help but snicker at the    s style haircuts on the men and woman in the crowd and the normal television monitors in the running man studio which we all know here in     are on the way out with the emergence of flat panel and hdtv  s . also the computer graphics of the  the running man  game show intro would not look like that in     . nevertheless the storyline is absolutely fantastic . not once during this movie did i want to get up and not care about the ending which is something i do often with today  s movie  s . i really think that arnold  s acting is much better than he  s given credit for . now i would not have elected him governor but that  s california for you . buzzsaw  dynamo  fireball  subzero are fantastic  stalkers  as well and i find the producers don  t try to overkill the fight scenes . when the stalker is dead . . . he  s dead . it doesn  t go on for   minutes each . the stalker scenes are quick and entertaining but they don  t try and overplay it . i give this movie a      and that  s coming from someone who doesn  t enjoy a lot of movies these days . if you get the right actors and the right story then the futuristic graphical displays that you  d see in     are not important or necessary .  
i  ve watched a few episodes of this show and have found certain elements of it to be rather interesting  considering medical facts that can be learned . but this is totally upstaged and wrecked by the neverending immoral relationships of the show  s characters . everybody seems to have slept with just about everyone  even during office hours  which is ridiculously unrealistic . there doesn  t seem to be one solid  lasting marriage or relationship in the entire show  everyone is broken up and on the prowl  hardly a true reflection of all americans . indeed  there is a total lack of respect for marriage or monogamy and it  s truly fulsome .  br    br   then we are presented with endless little moral  dilemmas  and they  re generally solved in such a way that belittles anyone who doesn  t agree with the all  knowing degenerate management and staff of the private practice . for instance  in one of the latest episodes we  re presented with an exceedingly rare situation of a baby who is born with an uncertain gender and addison absolutely refuses to perform the surgery because we  re supposed to let the baby decide his gender later on . anyone who disagrees with this is portrayed as immature and stupid .  br    br   and i think that anyone opposed to abortion would be offended by the way the show treats pro  lifers . addison made the comment that no man was allowed to have an opinion on the issue and only one black character was given dignity for opposing abortion on moral grounds . the general feeling was that if you opposed abortion  you  re a freak  hardly the popular sentiment in the us . two of the main characters in the show nonchalantly mention that they had abortions when they were younger and had no apologies or regrets  in spite of the fact that research has shown women can undergo intense depression . what  s more a young girl comes to the clinic for an abortion and then thanks the staff on the way out and someone talks about it as how they were helping this young person and it was like something to exult in . the script could have been written by planned parenthood .  br    br   all in all  this is a cheap show that lacks much of a future unless it decides to present more real relationships rather than just totally unbelievable soap opera relationships and far  fetched medical situations throughout the whole show .  
this movie is one of the most underrated movie of its time . when watching this movie  your filled with action  and when somethings not really happing  the humour is un matched . brilliant writing for a movie that was made to give us a bloody mix  of a game show where criminals are the contestants  and a near future where the general public all have a thirst for blood . also arnold doesn  t let us down with some of his best one liners . i don  t want to spoil anything for you  but i will tell you when arnold gives his  i  ll be back line  he gets the best response of them all in this movie . hope you enjoy this gem as much as i did .  
i have seen every episode of this spin off . i thought the first season was a decent effort considering the expectations of following such a success that is grey  s anatomy . thus i have continued to watch . i  m afraid the second season lacks the charm  the chemistry and more importantly the drama of it  s predecessor grey  s anatomy . the relationships seem contrived and the acting is so  so . the writing lacks the intelligence and comedic hints seen in ga . there are shows that a formulaic but do not feel formulaic and contrived  unfortunately pp is not so . i loved kate walsh  s presence in ga . i  m afraid kate walsh  s life in la is simply not interesting .  
this is an awesome action film with great one liners from arnie  . it  s stylishly made  with lots of tense action to keep one satisfied . the characters were awesome  and richard dawson  is very menacing as the main villain . yes it has tons of plot holes  however it  s highly highly entertaining  with a great ending as well . it had a great story  too it  and arnie and maria conchita alonso had great chemistry together . the character development was also pretty good  with  some superb performances . the directing is great  . paul michael glaser  does a very good job here  with awesome use of colors  keeping it stylish throughout  awesome camera angles  and overall keeping the film at a very fast pace  good job . there is a little bit of gore . we get a few bloody gunshot wounds  exploding head  slit throat  bloody chainsaw slices  skinless corpses  blood  and an impaling . the acting is great  . arnold schwarzenegger is amazing as always  he is excellent in the acting department  has tons of hilarious one liners  kicks that ass  and as always is a big physical presence   and was tons of fun to watch   arnie rules   . maria conchita alonso  does well here  she was really cute  and had good chemistry with arnie  . yaphet kotto  is decent here  with what he has to do  which is not much . marvin j . mcintyre  is good as the geeky type guy  he was cool  . richard dawson is awesome as the main villain  and was very very menacing  and he was fun to watch . jesse ventura  jim brown  erland van lidth  gus rethwisch  and professor toru tanaka  all do what they have to do very well as the stalkers . overall a must see      out of   
private practice is supposed to be a medical drama . so i guess my biggest complaint is the lack of originality in the medical story lines . just by watching house  i  solved  two  out of nine  medical mysteries before the doctors did . boooring . seriously  if you are a lazy writer  why not copy some cases out of older er episodes or some obscure brazilian medical soap  house is recent and popular  recycling their ideas is hard to get away with . . .  br    br   second biggest complaint these people are supposed to be forty  somethings  right  then why do they have to behave with the emotional maturity of    year  olds  is three weeks  ie . three whole damn episodes  of intense thinking really necessary to understand that if your best friend doesn  t want to be your  friend with benefits   it  s maybe not because he wants to hurt you  but because he doesn  t want to risk your friendship  the character doing all the thinking is a psychiatrist by the way  the whole storyline is just so unrealistic that you can  t really buy into the supposed  drama  .  br    br   and i won  t even start complaining about what the show did to everyone  s favorite addison as we got to know her in grey  s anatomy . . . on a sidenote  don  t you think it  s funny the way addison ends up lusting after loser pete  sorry  but everyone who tries to cure insomnia with mozart  s requiem is a loser  phd or not  and derek ends up entangled in a relationship with whiny  irritating meredith miles away in rainy seattle  apart from that little fling with mark  they seemed to be perfect for each other . sometimes i think shonda rhimes  subconscious is trying to tell us that in relationships  our first choice is often the right one . . .  
mild spoilers  br    br   in the near future  arnold stars as ben richards  a wrongly convicted man coerced into playing  the running man   a deadly tv game show where people have to keep moving to try and escape brutal deaths at the hands of the  stalkers  . of course  people are expected to die eventually and its up to arnold to prove the system wrong .  br    br   i haven  t read the stephen king book  but this is a great film regardless  one of arnold  s best . he does what he does best in the action man role  delivering death with unforgettable one  liners . classics are probably the  he was a real pain in the neck  after strangling a guy with barb wire  and  he had to split    referring to whereabouts he just chain sawed someone vertically . dawson is perfectly irritating as the tv presenter  and all the  stalkers  are suitably camp . the action is violent  but its an action film . that  s the point . the film is fast paced  and at   minutes it doesn  t overstay its welcome .  br    br   with starsky and hutch  s paul michael glaser at the helm  and made in the wake of the success of the terminator  previously this film was probably seen as just another mindless action vehicle for arnold  and very far fetched . but today  anyone who watches a lot of tv could see how the film is getting closer to reality . i wouldn  t be surprised if i turn on the tv in the  near future  and see a show not to far from this .  br    br   on that depressing note  i must however recommend  the running man  to anyone who likes the   s  arnold  ridiculous acts or violence or just a good action film .  .      
it looks like the brilliant team of shonda rhimes outsourced the writing of this one somewhere offshore  maybe to the mediocreland   pp  reminds me any one of the many tedious  promising at first but predictable within  season david kelly flicks  picket fences  ally mcbeal  and now boston legal  . the crazy cases they get are so outlandish  they barely evoke sympathy or sadness . and that  s what actually makes good medical dramas tick  dramatic situations you are afraid of   this could be me  sentiment . they are not funny either .  br    br   the actors are quite good  but the plot lines are dead and cannot be brought back to live . i  m a therapist  and let me tell you  amy brennan plays the most unbelievably incompetent  unethical  untrained therapist . whoever writes her stuff flunked the ethics and the transference  counter  transference courses in stanford . somebody should give them a code of ethics to read  the episode with the nose  bleeding wife and the therapist  s involvement in it  . no therapists are that bad .  br    br   women yearning for men who have moved on  had been done to death  we  ve all graduated  sex and the city  . addison in her youthful aggression towards the guy she likes  very age  inappropriate  looks so unnatural on a woman over    and this otherwise talented actress doesn  t believe it herself and doesn  t deliver it very well . the only successful  palatable developments are addison struggling with her decision to move to la  and the  voodoo dr  and his coping with widowhood .  br    br   this concept might work with a whole new writing team .  
few movies can be viewed almost   years later  yet remain as engrossing as this one . technological advances have not dated this classic love story . special effects used are remarkable for a     movie . the acting is superb . david niven  kim hunter and especially roger livesey do an outstanding job . the use of black and white  color adds to the creative nature of the movie . it hasn  t been seen on television for   years so few people are even aware of its existence . it is my favorite movie of all time . waiting and hoping for the dvd release of this movie for so many years is  in itself   a matter of life and death  .  
the story of a woman  ann  on her death bed  her two daughters  nina and constance  and her thoughts about her past . the flashbacks are concerning a weekend where young ann is in the wedding of her friend lila . at the wedding she meets harris who will impact her for the rest of her life . through all the ups and downs of her professional and family life she remembers him as her true love . her daughter constance is older  more  responsible   a mother of two and has things together . nina jumps from boyfriend to boyfriend and job to job and is unsure of her direction in life .  br    br   first of all the good . the period detail in the movie is great . the dresses  hair  cars  houses  etc . really put you in another time and place . and there is some very quality acting in the movie . vanessa redgrave is quite good at portraying the main character and her fragile mental state as her life comes to an end . claire danes is beautiful and does a great job as the main character when she was young  and she is an outstanding singer  . hugh dancy brought a lot of life to the character of lila  s brother buddy .  br    br   now for the bad  which unfortunately is everything else . things constantly disrupt the story as it is being unfolded for us . the chemistry between young ann and buddy is great . they have fun and dance . then . . . you are supposed to believe that she doesn  t really like him more than a friend and that his pining only annoys her . and i thought the whole   he might be gay  thing was out of the blue and didn  t serve a purpose .  br    br   then we have harris . the character acts wooden and creepy . had this been another genre  you would have known that harris was the serial killer from the get go . it is an unbelievable stretch to think that all these girls loved him so  but they do portray the other guys as pretty lame to try and help him out  .  br    br   and the grandest problem of all . why don  t ann and harris get together  they fall for each other . they have this great night of sex in an old dirty gardener  s shack  come home to find out about buddy  s tragic end and then . . .  br    br   nothing .  br    br   they meet up a few years later and get all misty eyed about each other and i couldn  t help but wondering why . why  the movie doesn  t let you know why they were forced to marry other people and so i had a hard time feeling sorry for them .  br    br   the part of the story in the present is fairly boring . the clich good daughter and the clich bad daughter . nina changes over the course of the movie but i am not sure why . i  m not sure what convinces her to change her life . there is a  touching  scene where the daughters are connecting that coincides with old ann dreaming she  s chasing a butterfly . it is really lame and embarrassing .  br    br    there are no mistakes   ann advises at us . the statement doesn  t ring true with the story . and it doesn  t ring true after seeing the movie and wishing they hadn  t wasted the talent of such good actors .  
of all arnold  s mid     s movies who would have thought that most relevant today would be the running man . a chilling and surprisingly realistic tale of reality tv gone mad . it may have been far  fetched back then but not so now . not when you think about it . currently  reality tv shows are either scraping the bottom of the barrel or desperate to raise the bar . if the next one isn  t more controversial as the last  it  s a dud . how long will it be before we really do see shows like the running man  how long before we have  court  appointed theatrical attorneys  or the entertainment division of the justice department  there is so much satire and intelligence in this movie that may have been missed back in     that is desperate to be seen again considering the current state of tv shows .  br    br   the biggest message of all is  you are being lied to  . it  s no secret that the government and the media work in cahoots . and the masses believe what the media tells them to believe . it  s a very scary state of affairs and unless more accurate representations of the truth emerge we may easily accept a brutal show like the running man in the near future . it  s no secret that reality tv is not very realistic . it  s edited and reshaped before being aired and it  s only what the networks want you to see . usually it  s far from the real truth .  br    br   although rather different than stephen king  s book  the ending is completely changed  the script does conform to the typical arnie formula . yes  he does have numerous and very corny one  liners and he does say  i  ll be back   which he never really said that often anyway  when you think about it  in the most ironic situation yet but he  s still a zillion times better in the role then christopher reeve or dolph lundgren would have been  these two were considered before arnie believe it or not  .  br    br   the director is none other than dave starsky himself  paul michael glaser  . it may not be artistic but it is still strong enough to generate excitement and his use of neon and flourescent colors gives each individual set a pretty cool look . andrew davis  not a director i particularly like  was attached before glaser  though no matter who directs  the film is still marred by a very heavy    s feel .  br    br   first of all  harold faltermeyer  s score  remember him   is incredibly dated and robs the action scenes of any timeless integrity . and the fashion sense of the movie is far too excessive to be convincingly set in the future . apart from the dated feel  the only other thing that bugs me is the poorly staged shoot  out that passes as the climax .  br    br   this new dvd is a zillion times better than the original release . gone is the horrid letterbox picture . in its place is a brand new hi  definition  .     anamorphic transfer . the colors sparkle and literally pop from the screen . the new dolby  .  ex and dts es soundtrack are also amazing . there constant use of the surround channels to great effect and the bass is strong and powerful . definitely one of the best re  masters i  ve seen so far . two intriguing documentaries  a trailer and a  meet the stalkers  gimmick are included in this   disc set that comes in a rather neat slip case .  
rzone is an awful movie  it is so simple . it seems they tried to make a movie to show the reel life . just like zappa did many years ago . but unfortunately denmark lacks good young actors . leon are by many still the little girl in  krummernes jul   and laura is simply not good enough to play such an important role . several times in the movie she plays with out soul and this is destroying the movie   br    br   even though i consider it a movie you ought to see . i do not agree that the youth are behaving like this  but i think it can show how it can end  if you are letting your child down . also it is important to support danish movies and new companies like  film folket    br    br   all in all i think people should see rzone . not because it is a great film  but because it is a movies which is dealing with important themes . i also think it is important to point out that there are some violent scenes in it  and actually it is in these scenes  laura is acting best .  like the ending where she is holding the gun   
i entered my first comment on this film almost five years ago . then  the ideas presented in the movie still seemed mostly fictional  if indeed they could ever transpire at all . not any longer . now  the politics  society  and media in the running man seem very close to home indeed .  br    br   consider the following factors  which were mostly absent in      the year the running man came out  that are present today  br    br   concern with  as richard dawson  s character damon killian puts it   traditional morality .  check  br    br   entertainment in the form of extreme reality  including pain  fear  and discomfort on the part of contestants . check  br    br   cameras everywhere . check  br    br   restricted travel for citizens at the whim of the government  controlled by a centralized computer system complete with barcoded passports   travel passes  in the movie  and sanctioned under the guise of national security . check  br    br   an increased intermingling  bordering on incestuous  of government and media . check  br    br   computer  generated graphics that are advanced enough to manipulate real film footage  such as the  digital matting  of ben richards  image onto the stunt double  . check  br    br   jailing of conscientious objectors or detractors of the current administration . check  br    br   flagging economy further widening the gulf between the wealthy and not  so  wealthy increasing numbers of fringe groups reacting to the tightening noose of big government civil unrest brewing just under or at the surface of nearly every sizable public event regardless of its origin or intent . check  check  check  br    br   then again  maybe it  s just a movie based on a stephen king novella . but just to be safe  i  m moving to switzerland .  
this film was rather a disappointment . after the very slow  very intense  and quite gory  beginning the film begins to lose it . too much plot leaves too little time for explanation  and coming out of the theater i wondered what this was all about . the characters remain shallow  the story is not convincing at all  most of it is dja v stuff without hints of parody  and there are some very cheesy parts . . . like  the young cop has to do dig up a body . of course it  s night and it rains and he has to do it alone . . . yawn  or the manifestation of the evil being  nazis  plus  genetic manipulation  . . . wow  that  s really original . there are some nice bits  though  like the fistfight scene  mountain views and some  running  gags  but  though reno and vincent cassel do what they can  that  s definitely not worth it .   out of     
out of the first five episodes of hammer  s short  running  hammer house of horror  series  this fifth episode with the wonderful title  the house that bled to death  is arguably the creepiest one . as a great fan of the hammer studios  gothic horror films for many years  i wonder what took me so long to finally start watching the series quite recently . so far  i  ve only seen the first five episodes  and i have a strong feeling that the best is yet to come  but even if the series stays as entertaining as the first five episodes are  i will be satisfied . whereas the second and third episodes were great to watch for their morbid and ingeniously dark sense of humor  this fifth entry is definitely the one out of the first five that delivers the most genuine horror . the episode begins when an elderly man murders his wife out of unknown motivations . years later  william  nicholas ball  and emma peters  rachel davies  move in the house with their little daughter sophie  emma ridley  . soon after moving in  however  the family have to find out that there is something terribly wrong with the house  which is seemingly haunted . . . the second episode directed by francis megahy is a lot better than his mediocre previous entry   growing pains   episode    and the fairly unknown actors deliver good performances . the film is also well  made in terms of effects  cinematography and score .  the house that bled to death  is a solid episode that delivers the elements that my fellow hammer  fans should like to see in a short horror tale . the film delivers a creepy atmosphere  genuine scare moments and intelligent twists  and is suspenseful and highly entertaining from the beginning to the end . overall  this is highly recommendable to hammer fans .  
one wonders why this picture was made at all  the plot as such is totally unbelievable if not ridiculous  the characters  experienced loner cop versus younger one  quite fascinated  quite predictable  the ending totally murky and impossible to understand  maybe after several viewings but you  d have to have a masochistic tendency for that  the idea being you have to read the book to understand fully what it  s all about  and the acting is bad . was the basic idea to show that french film makers are able to do as well as americans in the genre that include  seven  and  silence of the lambs   if so  it is a total failure . it was quite a success though  and has a sort of cult  status as the first french serial killer film  and  it seems  considered as a good product to export . strange .  
perhaps not the absolute greatest entry in the hammer house of horror series  but it surely wins the award for most inventively titled episode   the house that bled to death   i could yell out this title all day without ever getting tired of it  and besides the wondrous title  this short movie also benefices from a solidly written screenplay and a handful of genuinely suspenseful moments . it might require an extra viewing before you fully understand the peculiar end  twist  but it  s definitely an original idea for a horror short . the story opens with images of an elderly couple drinking tea in their middle  class house . the husband sadistically kills his wife and several years later the  cursed  house is still for sale . a young couple and their cherubic daughter move in and start to restore it  but mysterious events occur and affect especially the young sophie . her beloved cat is killed an even her birthday party gets ruined when one of the house  s pipes suddenly sprays blood all over the guests  a particularly chilling sequence  this one   . is the old house really haunted  or maybe the seemly helpful neighbors cause all the horror  the answers to these questions are provided in the original and fairly unpredictable climax and there  s even room for a real shock at the very end . the tension is masterfully built up and the titular house is filled with eerie scenery  like the pair of rusty machetes used by the husband to slay his wife . little warning though  the sequence with the cat is hard to watch when you  re an animal lover . in conclusion  another winner for hammer  s short  running tv series   
this is a classic example of an increasing problem with films . why is the background noise and the soundtrack dramatically louder than the dialogue  what sense does that make  this film isn  t alone . most films seem to do this now . for  years  i wondered if it was just something wrong with my tv  but then i got a new tv  there it is again . background noise that could be taking place a city block behind the actors drowns out the dialogue .  br    br   it was even more distracting in this film because  in the english version anyway  the woman mumbles constantly . i kept hoping jean reno would say  excuse me  would you speak up or get the marbles out of your mouth .  if you watch it on dvd  you have even high  school french  i recommend the french version with subtitles .  br    br   i give it  because reno was so good in leon . people rave about the scenery  but i saw it on a tv  i lived in the rockies for a few years  so  enh  .  
william  nicholas ball  and emma peters  rachel davies  buy an old house where a brutal murder happened years ago in very bad condition with the intention of restoring it . they move with their daughter sophie  emma ridley   and become friends of their neighbors jean  patricia maynard  and george evans  brian croucher  . however  eerie events happen in the house  inclusive the death of sophie  s cat . in sophie  s birthday party  a pipe leaks blood and they leave the place  disclosing a secret later .  br    br    the house that bled to death  is a scary and one of the best episodes of the series  hammer house of horror  . the fantastic twist  disclosing a secret  and the tragic conclusion are really excellent . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    a casa que sangrou at morrer    the house that bled to death    
the crimson rivers is one of the most over  directed  over  the  top  over  everything mess i  ve ever seen come out of france . there  s nothing worse than a french production trying to out  do films made in hollywood and cr is a perfect example of such a wannabe horror  action  buddy flick . i almost stopped it halfway through because i knew it wouldn  t amount to anything but french guys trying to show  off .  br    br   the film starts off promisingly  like some sort of expansive horror film  but it quickly shifts genres  from horror to action to x  files type to buddy flick  that in the end  cr is all of it and also none of it . it  s so full of clichs that at one point i thought the whole thing was a comedy . the painful dialogue and those silent pauses  with fades outs and fades ins just at the right expositionary moments  made me groan . i thought only films made in hollywood used this hackneyed technique .  br    br   the chase scene  with vincent cassel running after the killer  is so over  directed and over  done that it  s almost a thing of beauty . the climax on top of the mountain  with the stupid revelation about the killer  s  with cassel and reno playing  buddies  like nolte and murphy in   hrs  completely derailed what little credibility the film had by then .  br    br   it  s difficult to believe that the director of the crimson rivers also directed gothika  which though had its share of problems  doesn  t even come close to the awfulness of this overbaked  confused film .  
i  m still new to the krimi genre and the only one i  ve seen prior to seeing this one was the earlier and somewhat disappointing  the dead eyes of london   which didn  t exactly inspire a great hope for the rest of the genre in me . if i  d seen this one first  however  the feeling would have been different as while the college girl murders is a bizarre and rather wacky attempt at a crime flick it  s great fun to watch and it  s really hard to hate a film that throws so many weird and wonderful ideas into the script and manages to pull it off with style . the film begins in a lab where a crazy scientist has invented a new and highly toxic poison that kills its victim and makes it look like they died from a heart attack . this poison is used by a mysterious criminal mastermind who breaks common criminals out of jail to carry out his murders using this poison  and then has them put back in jail  . as the title suggests  it  s a nearby college full of girls that provides most of the victims . there  s also a mysterious monk dressed in a red robe who marauds around breaking necks with a bullwhip .  br    br   of course  with a plot like that this is not exactly a serious affair and the director clearly knows that as there is a very tongue  in  cheek vibe to the film  which does bode well with the plot . the fact that there are so many different sides to the plot does unfortunately mean that everything does not run smoothly although this isn  t a big problem as things are kept ticking over nicely throughout the film and there  s always enough going on to keep the audience interested . the atmosphere is superb and the colour scheme on display is great too look at . of course  the film is based on an edgar wallace novel and clearly the man has a great imagination the locations used are also superb and while a killer  s lair decked out with a host of wild and exotic animals might not serve any relevance to the plot  it does help to give the film that extra  something  . you cant expect a conclusion that fully makes sense after all the stuff that goes on in this film but the reason for the murders sort of makes sense and is a satisfying way for the film to climax . overall  college girl murders is an excellent little mystery flick and one that comes highly recommended   
having just watched this movie  i almost feel like having wasted  hours of my life  but i guess there is some good in everything  br    br   if i was to rate this as any other movie  it can only receive  or  tops  but if i grade it like a low budget ind . movie  it may get  or  . that is a movie is supposed to be  complete  and without too long passages of boredom or waste of time . this movie isn  t . but i guess a lot of independent movies are about showing movie skills  and considering this  this movie has a few highlights . if i am to comment on what the directors should take with them to their next project  i guess the distorted sound effects had some quality . they also manage to build some characters  this however takes me to what they should leave out in their next project  because the character building takes too long  since it is mostly irrelevant for the movie plot . neither should the long spaces of time dedicated to walking around be continued in the next project  whats the point  i guess this movie tries to be a little bit of everything  building characters  suspense and a plot   and ends up being nothing  not a lot   br    br   this movie tries too much and too hard  and i guess it should have been cut to a short film . i could easily manage to find one hour of walking around or pointless dialogue to cut from the movie .  br    br   there is too much irrelevant things going on in this movie . the story should have been more streamlined . i know there is supposed to be some mystery in this movie  but a slight surprise to who the killer is  doesn  t make a mystery . the story behind the  mystery  receives almost no attention during the film  which leaves the final  point  as a quick an unsatisfying wrap  up .  br    br   therefore i would like to say this movie was a nice try  but i cant . i hope the directors learn from their mistakes  and produce a better product next time .  br    br   if you don  t have an interest in bench learning from producing low budget movies  there is no need to watch this  not even too see why everyone thinks its bad .  br    br   as others have stated i am pretty sure the many    s given to this movie are from people somehow involved in the movie . this movie could not receive a     judging from any remotely objective standpoint .  
prussic gas  a murderer donning a red clansman suit and hood wielding a white whip  and the murders of college school girls at the hands of paid convicts enlisted by a mysterious mastermind who keeps his face hidden within an office containing aquariums of turtles and fish . the inspectors at scotland yard  higgins  ijoachim fuchsberger  and his superior sir john  siegfried schrenberg  certainly have their hands full with this case . it all seems to center around student ann portland  uschi glas   who  when she turns    is to inherit a great deal of wealth . the girls who are targeted share a room with ann  but the reason for their murders remains a mystery sy  s finest must figure out . the staff of the girls  dormitory all seem to be hiding something and certain members of the faculty are falling prey to the killer in the red monk robe disguise  talented enough to precisely strangle the necks of those attacked with the whip . two prisoners are commissioned by a mystery man to use the newly created toxic gas created by a scientist murdered at the beginning of the film during what was supposed to be a monetary exchange for his creation . it  s a clever scheme where a driver  greaves  gnter meisner  meets the convicts  . . who hide in a barrel  who are assisted by a corrupt prison guard . taken blindfolded to the secret room of the mastermind  he gives them orders on who to kill and how . uncovering this operation is a top priority for higgins and sir john for it will lead them to the truth they seek in regards to the murders and why they are happening . under suspicion are girls  dormitory headmistress  her author brother  a sweaty  incredibly nervous chemistry teacher  a snooping gardener  and the bannister . some are red herrings until they are disposed of  throwing the viewer for a loop each time until the real mastermind is discovered . the ending features multiple twists .  br    br   out of the krimi films i  ve seen  the college girl murders is the closest to a giallo with it  s colorful killer  a convoluted plot yielding lots of surprises and potential suspects   sordid shenanigans between adults and the college girls at the dormitory . i think you can also see the influence of james bond on this particular krimi film with the villain mastermind  s secret hideout with an alligator pit  . . which isn  t used   the fake bible  water pistol  when opened  fires the gas into the face of startled victims  the greaves  royles royce which has latches that cause flaps to darken the windows without revealing the passenger in the back seat  and the peep holes used to spy on the girls in their rooms and while swimming . many might consider sir john a liability due to his bumbling  buffoonish behavior and how he often undermines higgins  abilities to get at the truth  . . perhaps poking fun at know  it  all british inspectors who harm a case more than solve it  . . i felt he was used as comedy relief  particularly with his attempts at psychoanalyzing suspects and potential victims  often misunderstanding what are told to him . higgins  using the skills adopted over his years as an investigator  instead follows the clues  facts  often avoiding sir john as much as possible . capable direction by the reliable alfred vohrer who keeps the pace humming at a nice speed  and the screenplay is full of interesting characters and lurid content . . the fact that so many of the adults surrounding the dormitory are suspect  any of them might be the one wielding the whip or calling the shots behind those murdered girls  executions . i  d say this may be one of the best  . . if not the best  examples of the krimi genre  for it keeps you guessing  always one more ace up it  s sleeve . . the revelations unearthed at the very end are quite eye  opening  . . and  you even get a literal unmasking of the real mastermind pulling the strings to top it all off  .  
the choke  aka axe in the uk  is a slasher produced supposedly as a straight  to  dvd movie . i say  supposedly  because the title of the movie does not have the  v  in brackets to indicate that it was a made for dvd movie  even though it does have the appearance of one  .  br    br   the plot is simple  a band is holding a gig in a former meatpacking factory and they are killed one by one .  br    br   i think most would agree that the movie was never going to be a masterpiece  but this does not excuse the faults here . even straight  to  dvd movies such as bachelor party massacre  which has a very low imdb rating  have a lot of redeeming qualities and sometimes come off as being one of the so  called  so bad  they  re good  movies . however  the choke falls far short of being either a serious slasher  such as halloween  or being a  so bad it  s good  movie  such as the nail gun massacre  .  br    br   the movie does start off good with a character killed using a drill . the blood effects were very cheesy but understandable given the very low budget . but  from there onwards  it  s downhill all the way .  br    br   there are so many faults in the choke that i could spend all day talking about them . but  a few obvious ones stand out and i  ll go into them .  br    br   the aforementioned gig that the band holds seems to start off with around   people present but after the music stops  there seems to be only around  people left  and yet they  re all meant to be locked in   .  br    br   the characters in this movie are not likable at all . most of the band members are aggressive foul  mouthed morons or just downright weird . no one really cares about what happens to them  and even their supposed friends forget about them when they  ve been dispatched . the highlight of the movie is the presence of a homeless man who seems to regard the meatpacking factory as some kind of church  seriously   . he spouts some really funny lines for no apparent reason . but sadly  even his presence can  t save the movie .  br    br   there are too many scenes of people walking around and talking without any characterisation . around   minutes of the film is spent watching characters walk around talking . characters disappear for long periods of time without explanation . as in other straight  to  dvd movies such as crocodile and grim weekend  the characters spend a lot of time swearing at each other aggressively without any provocation at all . there are plenty of over  the  top outbursts  mainly from the male characters  and one nearly results in a full  blown fight . in fact  the format could be said to go as follows characters walk around   murder takes place   characters walk around   murder takes place . you get the idea .  br    br   the dialogue is terrible and it seems that few lines are spoken without the f  word being used . perhaps this was meant to be funny  but it just comes off as sad . and more to the point  we have all seen this done a thousand times before  usually to much greater effect  .  br    br   the movie is totally devoid of any suspense at all . the dead bodies serve to provide the only indication that the characters are in danger . a maniac is running around loose and yet the characters just behave like total morons . they make little attempt to get out of the factory or find a weapon with which to protect themselves . and much of the time  they don  t even pretend to be scared .  br    br   in the same vein as drive  in massacre  the killer is not seen at the time the murders are being committed  with the exception of the final murder when the killer  s identity is revealed  . a random weapon appears out of nowhere to kill the victim in question . there is no one seen stalking the characters at any time . in drive  in massacre  this served to make the film funny  unintentionally of course   but here it is not funny at all .  br    br   and  as another reviewer has pointed out  the soundtrack includes music that is very bad  even for those who like punk rock . the extras look uncomfortable dancing to it . the score  at the end  there is no music at the beginning   consists of a band of sugarbabe wannabes singing some very bad song that is completely unrelated to the movie .  br    br   don  t misunderstand the points made in this review . this reviewer likes bad movies  such as the nail gun massacre and bachelor party massacre  as much as the classics  such as halloween and friday the   th  . but  it seems that the choke tried too hard to fit into one of those categories without fitting into either . and even as straight  to  dvd movies go  this is a poor effort .  br    br   on a positive note  the film does contain some fairly good gory murder scenes . but  when the surviving characters do not take the situation seriously  these scenes lose their importance quickly as the intensity they provide disappears into oblivion .  br    br   fans of the traditional     s b  movie slashers should take steps to avoid this movie . and fans of the classics such as halloween and friday the   th should do everything in their power to avoid it   
  the college girl murders  is my first acquaintance with the writing work of edgar wallace  and generally my first real acquaintance with  krimi  films in general  and i can say that i  m moderately impressed . this stuff is really entertaining  although i never would have expected it to be so  goofy  the film has an exhilarating and nicely convoluted plot  with a healthy dose of humor  flamboyant twists and pretty inventive killings . there  s some james bond type of evil mastermind  who always sits in the shadow and in front of a large monitor  recruiting prisoners to kill certain girls at a specific college with a new type of poison . there  s also a villainous monk with a whip  dressed like a communist kkk member  getting rid of the leftover characters  like overly curious teachers and such  as well as a kooky police commissioner who persists on solving the case with a psychological approach . seriously  if i had known sooner that these krimi films were so colorful and crazy  i would have purchased a whole collection of them already . the pretzel plot actually raises more questions than it answers in the end  and the overload of comical gimmicks on the account of scotland yard inspector higgins are sometimes a bit much to swallow  but i don  t care because it was sublime entertainment . even the funky    s soundtrack remained stuck in my head for a long time . it  s like a variant on the italian giallo  but with slapstick elements .  
the choke starts as a rock band known as the choke prepare for a gig at a nightclub called  club     owned  run by guy johnson  andrew parker  . lead singer dylan  sean cook   guitar player mike  jason mckee  plan to tell the other band members  bass player london  brooke bailey   drummer nancy  tom olson   that they are both going solo  their services won  t be needed any longer . once at the club dylan prepares but mike doesn  t show up  the gig turns into a disaster . then just as the band think things couldn  t get any worse they find a dead body in the cellar  that all the doors have been locked so they can  t get out  that they can  t trust anyone as a mysterious killer begins picking them off one  by  one . . .  br    br   produced  directed by juan a . mas the choke is a standard by  the  numbers teen slasher that really doesn  t have anything going for it . the script by jessica dolan  susannah lowber  not too many horror films out there penned by ladies . . .  has some surprisingly good character  s in it  some nifty dialogue but while it  s much better than a lot of modern shot on a camcorder type horror in that respect it  s so slow  boring that even a few interesting character  s can  t come anywhere close to saving it . as one would expect all the usual teen slasher clichs are used  from the isolated location the victims can  t escape from  the cast of good looking teenagers who keep splitting up  a few murders  a really poor twist ending that tries to mimic something like scream        be surprising but doesn  t make a whole lot of sense when you think about it logically  they couldn  t have done some of the things they were supposed to   to make matters even worse i guessed who the killer was fairly early on  even though i don  t want to boast i was spot on . then there  s the fact that the makers of the choke felt that it  s audience would be entertained by showing endless  well it feels endless while watching it  scenes of teenagers walking around dark corridors doing nothing in particular  i am sorry but there is only so many scenes like this that i can take before it starts to become tedious . the kill count is low  at first they all decide to stick together  good idea  but then they all just randomly decide to split up  go their separate ways  bad idea when there  s a killer on the loose   the pace is lethargic  the kill scenes are unimaginative  to top it all off the twist ending is poor .  br    br   director mas does alright  the film looks ok for the most part although there are the odd occasions where he uses some annoying post production editing technique like slow motion or frame skipping . the gore levels aren  t really up to scratch  there  s some blood splatter  a guy with a hole in his chest  a few dead bodies  someone impaled on some metal poles . most of the kills happen off screen with the axe kill at the end a good example of the film not actually showing anything . since the film is about a rock band there  s quite a rock orientated soundtrack with some truly horrible  horrible rock songs used on it . i am sorry rock fans but to my ears this crap is just noise pollution . it  s not scary  there  s no real atmosphere  the lack of blood  gore is just inexcusable when the rest of the film is so bad .  br    br   with a supposed budget of about           the choke is well made with reasonable production values  it looks cheap to be sure but not as cheap as many low budget horror films look . shot in a place called spokane in washington apparently . the acting is one of the films strongest points as it  s generally pretty good all round  i mean no  one is going to win an oscar but it ain  t half bad .  br    br   the choke is a throughly routine scream style teen slasher that has one of the weakest twist endings ever  a criminal lack of blood  gore  violence  nudity  dead bodies . i mean if a slasher hasn  t got any sex or gore then what  s the point  those are the only things that the average slasher is worth watching for  right   
this is an interesting little flick made in      with cool jazzy twangy soundtrack music and a plot that will make you laugh . . . ok  it  s not really stupid but it  s cheesy fun . i saw many similarities between this and  creature with the blue hand   aka the bloody dead  and they do have the same director  scotland yard  s finest is investigating the murders of young ladies at a college . seems that criminals are being let loose from a local prison to do the bidding of some evil person and then returned when their work is done . there  s a nifty device hidden inside a bible that squirts prussic acid  and there  s another device that is neither nifty nor clandestine  it looks like a large squirt gun and the victim must be pretty near soaked before they expire . joachim fuchsberger plays an inspector and he mostly chews gum and looks off into the distance . there  s a  monk   and how anyone identifies this thing as a  monk  is beyond me  it carries a whip and dresses in a red outfit with a red hood  more of a klan member of a different color than a monk . there  s all kinds of nifty devices like a fireplace hearth that goes up and down to admit the monk  and it steps right over the fire without setting his robe alight  a nifty trick right there . this is an odd combo of crime drama with goofy overtones  and while it  s rather silly at times it is fun to watch .  out of    not bad . . . .  
i watched this film not really expecting much  i got it in a pack of  films  all of which were pretty terrible in their own way for under a fiver so what could i expect  and you know what i was right  they were all terrible  this movie has a few  and a few is stretching it  interesting points  the occasional camcorder view is a nice touch  the drummer is very like a drummer  i . e damned annoying and  well thats about it actually  the problem is that its just so boring  in what i can only assume was an attempt to build tension  a whole lot of nothing happens and when it does its utterly tedious  i had my thumb on the fast forward button  ready to press for most of the movie  but gave it a go  and seriously is the lead singer of the band that great looking  coz they don  t half mention how beautiful he is a hell of a lot  i thought he looked a bit like a meercat  all this and i haven  t even mentioned the killer  i  m not even gonna go into it  its just not worth explaining . anyway as far as i  m concerned star and london are just about the only reason to watch this and with the exception of london  who was actually quite funny  it wasn  t because of their acting talent  i  ve certainly seen a lot worse  but i  ve also seen a lot better . best avoid unless your bored of watching paint dry .  
there  s a lot going on in the college girl murders . a mad scientist creates an almost undetectable poisonous gas . before he can reap the rewards of his discovery  the scientist is killed by a hooded  whip  welding monk . after a co  ed is killed in a church by the gas  scotland yard is called in to investigate  but the killing continues . who can stop this mad killer who seems to be able to come and go as he pleases in and out of the college   br    br   what works  br    br    the killer . what  s not to like about a killer who sneaks around wearing a vivid red kkk looking outfit  complete with red gloves . the white whip he carries and uses very effectively stands out nicely against the bright red gown . although the idea of a killer in a flaming red  pointy  head outfit sneaking around a girl  s school is fairly far  fetched  it  s one of the more sinister looking costumes i  ve seen .  br    br    groovy   s music . i really would like to track down the title music to the college girl murders . it  s got a jazzy  hip    s feel to it that i just loved .  br    br    bizarre touches . beyond the killer  s red gown and hood  the movie features a sliding fireplace  a pit of alligators with a cage handing overhead  poison spraying bibles  a strategically placed mannequin  mini  skirts  go  go boots  and mile high hair . i would describe it as a cross between the   s batman tv show and an italian giallo . the college girl murders is a real treat for the eye .  br    br    the end . let  s just say that there are more twists than a mountain road . just when you think the killer has been uncovered  here comes a twist . . and another . and anotherand another .  br    br   what doesn  t work  br    br    chief inspector sir john . i know the guy was meant to be comic relief  but his buffoonish character has way too much screen time .  br    br    why have alligators  previously  i mentioned the alligators in the pit . and while they are a nice touch  they serve very little purpose . why go through all the trouble and not use them   br    br    plodding plot . some of the college girl murders has no flow or rhythm to it . there are far too many moments throughout the movie when things come inexplicably to a screeching halt . better pacing would have made this a much more enjoyable movie .  br    br   i haven  t seen many of these german krimis but of the few i have seen  phantom of soho  strangler of blackmoor castle  dead eyes of london  this may be my favorite . this one has a real funky feel to it that i really go into . had the plot flowed a little better  i could have easily given the college girl murders a     .  
released on dvd in the uk as axe  the choke is a teen slasher that fails in pretty much every department the story is almost non  existent  resulting in a film which comprises mostly of people wandering around a dark building with the exception of two characters  who are quite obviously destined to be the film  s survivors   everyone is thoroughly objectionable  meaning that the viewer couldn  t care less when they get slaughtered the deaths aren  t gory enough  unless a brief shot of a pound of minced beef covered in fake blood turns your stomach   and the gratuitous sex scene features next to no nudity  an unforgivable mistake to make in a slasher flick   .  br    br   the wafer  thin plot sees members of a punk band locked inside what appears to be the world  s largest nightclub  there are endless abandoned corridors and rooms  unlike any club i  ve ever seen  where they are picked off by an unseen assailant . for a low budget effort  the production values are okay  and the cast are all seem to be fairly capable actors  but with not nearly enough genuine scares  a reluctance to get really messy  this is a slasher  so where  s the graphic splatter    way too much dreadful dialogue  particularly from the not  dead  soon  enough drummer  and some ill advised use of tacky video techniques in an attempt to add some style  the movie quickly becomes extremely boring .  
to me a matter of life and death is just that  simply the best film ever made .  br    br   from beginning to end it oozes class . it is stimulating  thought provoking  a mirror to the post war world and the relations between peoples .  br    br   the cinematography is simply stunning and the effect of mixing monochrome and technicolour to accent the different worlds works seamlessly . the characters and plot development are near perfect and the attention to detail promotes a thoroughly believable fantasy .  br    br   no matter how many times i watch the film  and i have watched it a lot  it never fails to touch me . it makes me smile  it makes me laugh  it makes me think  it makes me cry . it is as fresh today as it was in     .  br    br   if i were allowed just one film to keep and watch again a matter of life and death would be that film .  
i went to see  evening  because of the cast . i  d gone to see  norman  s room  for that reason   that movie offering diane keaton  leonardo de caprio and  also  meryl streep   and had loved every minute of it . same for  the notebook  even though it was chick  flit lite . and my feeling was  anything offering performances by vanessa redgrave  meryl streep  patrick wilson and glenn close would be at least as good . instead  i found sometimes even the greatest actors cannot overcome trite  simplistic and   on one occasion   truly offensive material .  br    br   now i had no problem with the way the film was structured . i actually enjoy movies that cut back and forth in time to tell a story . . . so long as one era illuminates the other and vise verse . but while vanessa  s character being on her deathbed and recalling a past event she felt  was a mistake  was riveting  at times  the part actually showing what that  past mistake  was does nothing to clarify the matter . in fact  it makes it seem meaningless in the silliest  girl meets boy  girl gets boy  girl loses boy  fashion  and in the most unbelievable  clichd  wrong  headed way possible .  br    br   and from here be spoilers  so bear that in mind should you continue reading .  br    br   first of all  claire danes was brutally miscast . not only does she not even begin to resemble vanessa redgrave as a young woman  she has nowhere near the chops when it comes to acting . don  t get me wrong  she can be good in the right role   just not this one . and patrick wilson was miscast  though he has the acting chops to almost pull it off . he  d have been better suited to the part hugh dancy played   the rich confused wasp   and not the object of sexual attraction to one and all he  s a bit too wasp  y for that . hugh dancy  one note    i  m a tortured drunk and wait till you find out why .  and the  why   i  m a closet case in a sexually repressed world  so i have to drink to excess and make a fool of myself in front of everyone i know  was so offensive to me and the manner in which he died  as you knew he would because that  s the only thing that can happen to a faggot in the fifties  so ludicrous  wrong  headed and mishandled  i nearly threw my candy at the screen .  br    br   as for the modern part between toni collette and her sister  her fear of commitment  her jealousy of her sister  s  perfect life   her sister wondering if she  s made the right choices  her pregnancy and her too  perfect boyfriend  which actually might have been more interesting and meaningful if played by patrick wilson  and ebon moss  bachrach might have been a more interesting harris  given his dreamy eyes    anyway  all this was hashed over in the    s and    s . and in much greater depth . do we really have to present it  again  and all as if it was fresh and momentous   br    br   and to top it off  meryl streep doesn  t even appear until the last ten minutes of the movie  all in old lady makeup that hides many of her facial expressions . she  s still good  but only because she  s meryl  and meryl can find a way to pull off even the silliest dialog under the heaviest of makeup .  br    br   so to put it simply  this movie has every clich in the  really meaningful message  movie book  and it adds a few that really had no business being trotted out  again . at two hours long and laced with  lifetime movie  of  the  week  music that is guaranteed to rub you raw  it  s a complete failure in both the  meaningful  and  moviemaking  aspects . i give it    only because of meryl and vanessa .  br    br   now  if all you require from your films is twadd le  then please set my comments about  evening  aside and have the time of your life . but if you want a truly meaningful experience being served up by great actors and filmmakers who know what to do with a simple story about life and death and all the nonsense it brings  rent  norman  s room  and find out what truly great acting is .  
this is probably the fastest  paced and most action  packed of the german edgar wallace  krimi  series  a cross between the dr . mabuse films of yore and    s pop thrillers like batman and the man from uncle . it reintroduces the outrageous villain from an earlier film who dons a stylish monk  s habit and breaks the necks of victims with the curl of a deadly whip . set at a posh girls  school filled with lecherous middle  aged professors  and with the cops fondling their hot  to  trot secretaries at every opportunity  it certainly is a throwback to those wonderfully politically  incorrect times . there  s a definite link to a later wallace  based film  the excellent giallo  whatever happened to solange    which also concerns female students being corrupted by  and corrupting   their elders . quite appropriate to the monk theme  the master  mind villain uses booby  trapped bibles here to deal some of the death blows  and also maintains a reptile  replete dungeon to amuse his captive audiences .  br    br   alfred vohrer was always the most playful and visually flamboyant of the series directors  and here the lurid colour cinematography is the real star of the show . the monk appears in a raving scarlet cowl and robe  tastefully setting off the lustrous white whip  while appearing against purplish  night backgrounds . there  s also a voyeur  friendly turquoise swimming pool which looks great both as a glowing milieu for the nubile students and as a shadowy backdrop for one of the murder scenes . the trademark  kicker  of hiding the  ende  card somewhere in the set of the last scene is also quite memorable here . and there  s a fine brassy and twangy score for retro  music fans .  br    br   fans of the series will definitely miss the flippant eddie arent character in these later films . instead  the chief inspector sir john takes on the role of buffoon  convinced that he has mastered criminal psychology after taking a few night courses . unfortunately  klaus kinski had also gone on to bigger and better things . the krimis had lost some of their offbeat subversive charm by this point  and now worked on a much more blatant pop  culture level  which will make this one quite accessible to uninitiated viewers .  
at the time of writing this review it would seem that over    of imdb voters had given this film a rating of either a   or a  . i can only surmise then that those giving it a   were either cast or crew members .  br    br   they say that given enough monkeys and enough time and enough typewriters  those monkeys  just by random proddings at the keyboard  would eventually type out the complete works of shakespeare . however  i seriously doubt that given the same number of monkeys and time  you could find a single one to give this movie a rating of   .  br    br   i patiently watched the first half  foolishly assuming that the film would  on some level  develop either the plot or the characters  or maybe make some kind of social comment or provoke barely intellectual thought . failing that  i was quite prepared to accept action  suspense  comedy  horror or even gratuitous sex as a way of holding my attention . ultimately  i was disappointed and consequently  much of the second half was viewed at double speed as i searched in vain for some small snippet of cinematic redemption . sadly  there was none .  br    br   if  the choke   was put up against an episode of scooby doo then i  m afraid the cartoon would win hands down in terms of mystery  intrigue and unpredictability . and speaking of cartoon characters  the acting abilities of the various cast members varied between acceptable  at best  and embarrassingly poor with brooke bailey  s portrayal of the freaky  death obsessed pseudo goth  london  being so bad i almost felt sorry for her .  br    br   i would have liked to have finished on a positive note but even the soundtrack  a second rate feast of contemporary punk rock  failed even to entertain  let alone serve to enhance a very poor flick .  
for a low budget movie this was really good . i put this well above your average action b  movie . sean and corinne delivered in this movie  and they didn  t seem camera shy . watch out for the cameos of jeanne and jared . i didn  t think that the producers would even consider that  but the runner  ups deserve that much .  br    br   i  ll be looking forward to more of sean and corinne  s involvement in the movie entertainment industry . sean  s character seemed very genuine  and sexy corinne  s character was pretty hard  nosed and on point . she connected well with the action sequences and executed with confidence . it was a great idea to cast billy zane as the smart and witty villain . his charisma on screen is always a pleasure to watch . the chemistry between zane and sean  s character was pretty good . the action sequences weren  t cheesy and seemed to connect throughout the movie . of course there were flaws  but that comes with the territory .  br    br   overall  this was a good movie considering the budget and the fact that it was made for tv . sean and corinne did a good job considering that they are newcomers to the game . i hope that jeanne  jared  and the rest of the next action star cast get their chance to also join their co  stars in entertainment success .  br    br   final judgment     
four eyed monsters follows the relationship of a shy  reclusive videographer and an equally estranged struggling artist  who  both living in the big apple  develop an unlikely romance with the help of an internet dating site . this in itself is not so unusual  but what is  is their method of communication . foregoing the verbal  they take to writing notes and later communicating through video .  br    br   the film is based upon the creator  s  arin crumley  susan buice  own relationship  who besides writing and directing  take to acting as the lead characters as well . with elements of avant  garde  anti  plot  and docudrama  the film scatters itself to the wind with an undecided structure nestled neatly between narcissism and self  indulgence .  br    br   as the movie wears on  a brief separation and deterioration of their once intriguing form of communication grow old as the couple face the hardship of reality . focusing solely on inner conflict  or the woes of relationship  the film struggles through a stagnant narrative that is neither original  nor poignant . this could have been easily circumvented with the addition of subplot and external conflict  and a third act  to which there is none  just a montage of melodrama that leads nowhere .  br    br   what is even more aggravating is the film  s descent from story into reality that abruptly concludes with an open ended and unsatisfying finish . this would have been all fine and dandy  but there is no question asked and no meaning to be discovered or pondered .  br    br    on a side note  the film contains beautiful animation and a vivid and moving soundtrack  one of the more interesting aspects of the production .   br    br   but as always  watch the film and decide for yourself .  
after watching the next action star reality tv series  i was pleased to see the winners  movie right away . i was leery of such a showcase of new talent  but i was pleasantly surprised and thrilled . billy zane  of course  was his usual great self  but corinne and sean held their own beside him . it was also nice to see jared and jeanne  also from the competition  in their cameo roles . sean  s character  not billy  s  is the hunted  and his frustration at discovering new rules in the game is well played . corinne walks the tightrope well between her character liking sean  s and only being in it for the money . i loved how the game was played right to the last second . and then beyond  not a great movie  but an entertaining one all the way and a great showcase for two folks on their first time out of the gate .  
definitely the product of young minds  this piece may very well appeal to the   s crowd  who is still trying to find their place in the world  while obsessing over every neurosis . however  i can  t imagine that the heavy amount of narcissistic navel  gazing  trite humor  or banal subject matter would be particularly engaging to anyone over   . another problem is that the peripheral characters  whom the filmmakers obviously have nothing but contempt for  are hyped up to such absurd caricatures for comic effect  that they fail to be relatable in any real way .  br    br   however  one has to give some style points to the filmmakers  who obviously grew up in the video generation  and use every conceivable editing trick in the book in order to spruce up an otherwise non  existent plot . there are  points to remember here . first  beware of festival darlings . second  even though we live in the age of youtube  not everyone  s account of their mundane lives deserves big  screen treatment . but these young filmmakers have every right to make their film  and if others    somethings can find something in it to identify with  then all the better . yet i could not help but think at the end of this film how this latest generation  just now coming of age  will fare in the real world that presents so many challenges and complications . in the age when every child is constantly reassured of how special they are  and that they all deserve their   minutes of exposure  resiliency and the ability to deal with adversity does not exactly appear to be this generation  s strong point .  
i thought this movie was excellent  for the fact that corrine and sean are newcomers to the business . it was packed with action and a little romance  but there were some points when corrine didn  t speak very clearly  when she threatened sean with the gun  and she clenched her teeth . . . maybe she was supposed to  i think the roles of joseph and sonny were portrayed very well  and there was an obvious contrast . also  because i watched next action star  i am certain that corrine and sean did their own stunts  which were performed very well . i am looking forward to another movie by the pair  as they make a great team  or perhaps a sequel to bet your life  possibly called  making it big in the big apple   it could this time be about carmen . . bet your life is excellent   
i think i should start this in saying that nearly any style of work can be entertaining in parts . the true test is whether it is good from start to finish  which is the reason i gave the analogical title for this review . most of us would agree   even those like me  who enjoy reading many blogs   that blogs can  t compare with good novel writing for a number of reasons . likewise  fem can  t compare with good film making for a number of reasons  and i actually believe it  s a poor example of independent filmography . from start to finish  fem feels like a pieced together vlog .  heck  even myspace gets some pimping .  if i wanted to see an hour of lonelygirl     i don  t   i  d go watch it . fem  while certainly grittier than the bubble gum atmosphere of the aforementioned media  is so personal that it is without an interesting story . it  s like watching the mundaneness of life  which i think most would agree is very naturally boring . and yet the creators of fem want us to applaud it  their very postmodern film about making a film . cue my yawn .  br    br   ultimately  i come away not caring the least bit about any of it . i  m shocked that i  m actually interested in taking time out to write this review  even . it  s not that fem is downright bad  because it isn  t it has a few moments where i crack a smile or think that maybe   just maybe   something of interest is about to happen . it  s rather that it  s just downright . . . mediocre . i feel so indifferent about it that it  s almost fitting of an oxymoron passionate indifference .  br    br   i hope the creators   actors  in the film get out of debt from their efforts . they  ll probably need it for when one of them moves out and moves on with life .  br    br   see this movie if you  ve got time to waste and nothing much you want to do otherwise  pass it by  and don  t worry that you  ve missed some great  undiscovered talent . you really haven  t .  
i thought the movie was fairly well done for a made for tv movie  and it contained both a lot of action and humor . i found the entertainment value worth watching  and would watch it again or a similar show again . i  m disappointed that sean was not credited here on imdb .  br    br   i can see a possibility for an action series based on this concept or a sequel with sean once again playing for even higher  cash  stakes  since his life would be on the line again anyway .  br    br   i felt that sean played the role very well  and reminds me of an actor by the name of matthew ashford who plays jack deveraux on days of our lives  the soap opera .  
all hype  what better way to describe a movie about people who are upset because they can  t release their film through a mainstream distributor  consequently  they do it themselves . otherwise  the hype of the film doesn  t justify the content in the film . the story is absent and could easily be a short . the acting is poor  but the animation and music is pretty good . otherwise don  t waste your time  don  t believe the hype  however  if you have the chance to see the film for free  do so . then you won  t have to waste money . still  the filmmakers do a good job of pressing their story and creating cliffhangers with their self  indulgent mini  series . otherwise  they  re one hit wonders who never had a hit .  
i never watched the  next action hero  show  and until reading the other comments here  did not know that this movie was the  prize  from that competition . i was just flipping channels and came across this  and found myself watching  dare eagerly  all the way to the end .  br    br   yes  the plot  s been done  the most dangerous game  etc .  but i was hoping for  and almost received  the  gotcha   how the protagonist was going to beat the hunter in the end . i think the high  tech was overdone  gps  s  and gave me cold  sweat flashbacks of night rider  but it nevertheless was not too overdone .  br    br   the basic problem i had with this movie was the degree of sod  suspension of disbelief  that was required of the viewer . do we really think that someone flying in a helicopter could lob countless incendiary grenades at a public bridge and no cops show up to investigate  could a limousine do countless donuts in a las vegas intersection and no cops show up  pleeease . way too much of that type of thing  fun to watch  but keep it at least plausible  thank you very much .  br    br   the final solution was good  but the ending was disappointing  with the after taste of a bad star trek episode . at least now i understand why the acting was so cheesy  except for zane  who doesn  t get near as much work as he deserves imho  they were winners from a reality show .  br    br   knock me out .  
i don  t know where to begin . the cast is full of people who  ve never done anything before or since . debralee scott is listed on cover boxes  but does not appear in the movie at all . the writing is quite bad  even for college films . it  s obviously very low budget  with one scene at the sorority house having extremely choppy editing .  br    br   the characters are pretty typical for college films  timid guy  nerd  suave black guy  tough guys  guy with mustache  attractive girl  small town girl  etc . the featured teacher is about what  s you  d expect . . . middle aged heavy set guy who gets sidetracked easily .  br    br   if you wan  t to see a college flick  stay clear from this one . it  s so bad  it  s not even funny .  
this film is one that played very well back in     and probably wouldn  t work as well today because its style it a bit old fashioned and contrived . however  if you are the sort person  like me  who adores older hollywood films  you cut the film a bit of slack and can enjoy it for what it is   an interesting soap .  br    br   the film is set in a ward for problem pregnancies . in this large room are about a half dozen beds in which women are waiting to give birth   but doctors are concerned about possible complications  yikes   such a room would really traumatize the mothers   . and  like an episode of  love boat  or  fantasy island   each mother has her own special story . with so many rather extreme and crazy stories  you have to suspend disbelief . i could and enjoyed the film quite a bit .  br    br   here are a few of the stories one involves a father . you don  t see the mom  but he is a very  very nervous father and it  s included for comic relief . however  he was wonderful here   very touching .  br    br   loretta young and eric linden are a sad case . loretta is sent to the hospital from prison   she apparently killed some horrible guy . you don  t know exactly what occurred  but you assume he was trying to force himself on her  yet  she was given a   year sentence   and her husband is devoted to her and is by her side as much as he can .  br    br   glenda farrell is an awful person . she has the maternal instincts of a hamster   a really  really bad and alcoholic hamster  she is pretty funny and worth seeing through most of the film . i loved her drinking from a hot water bottle filled with gin as well as becoming upset when she learns she can  t make money selling her twins   late in the film  she has a typical hollywood  style change of heart that was supposed to be touching   i found it contrived .  br    br   there is a woman who has given birth to a still  born baby . amazingly  afterwords  they put the lady back in the same ward as the women waiting to give birth    a crazy woman  who you assumed lost a baby some time ago  wanders down from the psychiatric unit . she insists she  s having a baby . later  she escapes again and actually takes one of the kids   br    br   there are most stories than this but the ones i mentioned are the main ones . as i said  it  s a soap opera of sorts and is highly entertaining   and quite sad in the case of several of the stories . the ending  in particular  is heart  breaking and exceptionally well done . there were a few particularly good performances   especially farrell and aline macmahon as the head nurse . all in all  a very good film   and i have no idea why they felt they had to remake the film just a few years later  which was typical for warner brothers  .  
while being one of the  stars  of this film doesn  t necessarily give me sage insight  i do know quite a bit of what was first there . . . and what ended up on the screen . i remember seeing the original cut of  incoming freshman  and being very pleased . it was funny  sexy  raunchy  all the main requirements of a drive  in film . you have to remember this was shot and released before all the rest . . . animal house  porky  s  etc . . . so in its own way  this flick was truly ahead of its time . for whatever reasons  the film was given to the main distributors who editing out half the original film  and then edited in  should i say  shuffled    the most random scenes ever . the fat guy  the people with goat heads . . . . what the heck was all that   i  m sure it was put in for additional ta  but it was so slowly paced  it caused anything going on prior to it to grind to a screeching and painful halt . but all in all  it  s a fun memory for me . . . especially in that i  m able to say that the worst movie i  ve ever seen . . . i  m in   
even in the   st century  child  bearing is dangerous women have miscarriages  and give birth prematurely . seventy  five years ago  it was not uncommon for women to die during childbirth . that is the theme of  life begins   a look at the  difficult cases  ward of a maternity hospital . loretta young plays the lead  a woman brought here from prison  what crime she committed is not germane to the plot  to give birth she  s conflicted about the fact she  s going to have to give her baby up after birth . she  s in a ward with several other women  who share their joys and pain with each other .  br    br   although loretta young is the lead  the outstanding performance  as usual  is put in by glenda farrell . farrell was one of warner  s  b  women in the     s  showing up quite a bit in supporting roles  and sometimes getting the lead in b movies  farrell played torchy blane in several installments of the  torchy  b  movie series .  here  farrell plays an expectant mother who doesn  t want her children  since they  ll only get in the way . she does everything she can to get in the way of the nurses  including smuggling liquor into the ward  this of course during the prohibition days   and drinking like a fish   apparently they  d never heard of fetal alcohol syndrome back in the   s .  br    br   interestingly  unlike most movie of the early     s  it  s not the women being bumbling idiots getting in the way of the heroic men   that situation is reversed  with the expectant fathers being quivering mounds of jelly .  watch for veteran character actor frank mchugh as one of the expectant fathers .   life begins   being an early talkie  treats the subject with a fair dollop of melodrama  to be sure  but it  s quite a charming little movie . turner classic show it  albeit infrequently i  ve only seen it show up on a few days honoring loretta young . but it  s highly recommended viewing when it does show up .  
in one instant when it seemed to be getting interesting  it never got there .  br    br   the people are going from one point to another point  with really no point  if there was one it was very dull  . there was no action  suspense or any horror and the characters were pretty heartless  so there was no caring what happened to them .  br    br   all together the movie was pretty boring .  br    br   i give it a     .  br    br   i like that it wasn  t shaky choppy camera  work and if there was music it didn  t annoy me like some really bad movies and the acting was not horrendous .  
i saw this movie yesterday on turner  and i was unable to stop watching until it was over  even though i sort of could guess what would happen . farrell was great in her role  and everyone else did a super job . some of it seemed to stretch the limits  but all in all  i loved it   if you get the chance to see it  please do  i actually cried at a few scenes  but then i guess if you are a mom you would . loretta is beautiful  and i was just in astonishment at the very idea of their being unwed moms there  it seemed ahead of its  time . i say  watch it if you can  and don  t listen to criticisms . as they say  i laughed  i cried  i thoroughly enjoyed it   
there  s a good movie lurking here  but this isn  t it . the basic idea is good to explore the moral issues that would face a group of young survivors of the apocalypse . but the logic is so muddled that it  s impossible to get involved .  br    br   for example  our four heroes are  understandably  paranoid about catching the mysterious airborne contagion that  s wiped out virtually all of mankind . yet they wear surgical masks some times  not others . some times they  re fanatical about wiping down with bleach any area touched by an infected person . other times  they seem completely unconcerned .  br    br   worse  after apparently surviving some weeks or months in this new kill  or  be  killed world  these people constantly behave like total newbs . they don  t bother accumulating proper equipment  or food . they  re forever running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere . they don  t take elementary precautions when meeting strangers . and after wading through the rotting corpses of the entire human race  they  re as squeamish as sheltered debutantes . you have to constantly wonder how they could have survived this long . . . and even if they did  why anyone would want to make a movie about them .  br    br   so when these dweebs stop to agonize over the moral dimensions of their actions  it  s impossible to take their soul  searching seriously . their actions would first have to make some kind of minimal sense .  br    br   on top of all this  we must contend with the dubious acting abilities of chris pine . his portrayal of an arrogant young james t kirk might have seemed shrewd  when viewed in isolation . but in carriers he plays on exactly that same note arrogant and boneheaded . it  s impossible not to suspect that this constitutes his entire dramatic range .  br    br   on the positive side  the film looks excellent . it  s got an over  sharp  saturated look that really suits the southwestern us locale . but that can  t save the truly feeble writing nor the paper  thin  and annoying  characters . even if you  re a fan of the end  of  the  world genre  you should save yourself the agony of watching carriers .  
sort of like a very primitive episode of  general hospital  set in a natal ward  and one for tough cases at that   this fast  moving programmer has a satisfying emotional impact   mainly because eric linden  as the distraught young husband in the main plot  is so palpably a wreck  and with such good reason . his expectant wife  loretta young  is brought to the ward at the beginning of a    year prison sentence for offing a lecher who probably had it coming to him ms . young  as always  doesn  t do anything to disinvite audience sympathy  and she  s a little too good to be true  though sympathetic and lovely to look at  of course . her difficult pregnancy and relationships with the other girls of the ward form the heart of the movie  and the outcome   not an entirely happy one   feels right . aline macmahon   one of the cinema  s few perfect actresses   in the apt words of film historian david thomson  exudes warmth and authority as the head nurse  and glenda farrell  as a none  too  willing new mom of twins  gets to croon  frankie and johnny  as a drunken lullaby . frank mchugh figures in another subplot  and he gets to show more range than warners usually permitted him . it  s scaled and paced modestly  and linden  s expectant  dad panic stays with you for days   this sort of part was often played for laughs  but he  s a terrified young kid in trouble  and very persuasive .  
if you  ve seen other movies like this  they  re probably better . the omega man comes to mind . to the studio  s credit  they avoided the sprawling  unnecessary  big budget technofest that typifies movies of this ilk . additionally  the set  up and premise were excellent four people whose past is virtually irrelevant to us are trying to get away from an overwhelming infectious fatal disease . what  s bad is everything else  i get tired of endlessly stupid  careless  wimpy  ineffective  arrogant characters in a movie . that pretty much describes everyone in the movie at some point . i rented it  and found myself yelling at the tv repeatedly   no  don  t do that     why are you so stupid    look out    etcetera . a true lack of character development is evident about halfway in . a movie should give you a strong personal connection with at least some of the characters so that you actually care what happens to them . this one does not . also  there should have been a longer  more involving end to the movie as well .  
return to cabin by the lake is perhaps one of the few sequels that can live up to the original . it had black humor  good suspense  nice looking girls  and of course  a psycho killer . what are we missing  i think nothing . except we are left with a small amount of gore and nudity because it was made for television . besides being one of the best sequels  it is one of the best thrillers to watch as a family . recommended for everyone .  
wow  what a waste of acting talent . my husband and i sat there  both thinking  this has to get better  these actresses are too good to have wasted their time on this crap . unattractive characters  hackneyed script  and listless pacing make for a long two hours . i actually couldn  t hack it and left to do the grocery shopping  cat litter being more appealing than this film  . the husband stayed and confirmed that it didn  t get better   by the time buddy is killed  you were wishing they all would get hit by a car and end their miserable lives . it would be infinitely more entertaining . beautiful scenery and costumes can  t keep this one alive .  
life begins is a wonderful pre  code film starring some of the best of the era . it is set in the maternity ward of a hospital  particularly in the room for the women expected to have trouble . in it is an older woman  a tough unwed mother  glenda farrell   a frail young woman  an italian woman  and the main character  loretta young  who is spending   years in prison for murder . her husband  eric linden  is at the hospital at every second aching to know that everything will be okay . aline macmahone plays the nurse who is great at her job .  br    br   this film is highly interesting and entertaining . it isn  t terribly shocking in any way  but it is interesting to see such a neglected subject on the silver screen . the acting is brilliant all around . loretta young is gorgeous here in her prime . eric linden comes out of nowhere and is sincere as can be . his innocence is reminiscent of michael j . fox . glenda farrell is great as always  a staple of pre  codes and for good reason .  
do not be mistaken  this is neither a horror  nor really a film . i firmly advise against watching this   minute failure the only reason it merited a star was the presence of chris pine .  br    br   nothing happens . you wait patiently in the hope that there may be a flicker of a twist  a hint of surprise  a plot to emerge  but no .  br    br   the characters take erratic turns of pace in their actions and yet don  t have the time to develop  thanks to the thrifty editors and frankly ashamed writers  before returning to an idyllic and playful  bring on the teen rock montage  state . the only thing that could have made it worse would be adding the perishable token ethnic  companion  .  br    br   their encounters with obstacles  be they human or physical  are brief  confusing and entirely pointless .  br    br   chris pine fights to keep himself above the surface whilst being drowned by a misery of a lightweight cast . lou taylor pucci couldn  t be dryer if he spent the summer with keanu reaves combing the navada desert .  br    br   watch  the road   watch    days later   watch day time tv . . . anything but this i implore you . suffer the boredom  unlike you may be led to believe in the film  this film is no cure .  
life begins  and ends  in a typical      s maternity  recovery ward  where we view   hours in the lives of several high risk pregnant women  played by loretta young  glenda farrell  clara blandick  aunty em      vivienne osborne  dorothy tree  and gloria shea  as they await to give birth . while the film features plot devices which seem far fetched today when maternity wards are much more controlled and restricted  it does offer us a look back in time to see what giving birth in a typical city hospital in     was like for our grandmothers and great  grandmothers . i found the film fascinating and exceptionally moving .  br    br   oddly enough  the most outstanding performance in this film comes from a male cast member  young eric linden as jed sutton  grace  s  loretta young  husband . what an actor  as a first time father  jed is distraught and uneasy with hospital staff who seem to brush off his concerns about his wife as they might brush crumbs off a cafeteria table . i felt his every concern keenly . i  d like to see more of this actor  s work . he had a very emotional voice  which was used to unforgettable effect in gone with the wind . in that film eric played the young soldier whose leg was amputated without anesthesia  who screamed  don  t cut  don  t cut   as scarlett fled the hospital in horror . chilling  another great performance is from aline macmahon  who plays miss bowers  the nurse . her character is a salt of the earth type  the kind of nurse we all hope to get for our hospital stays  who breaks the hospital rules constantly in order to show a more humane side of the medical profession .  br    br   loretta young did another superb acting job here as well  a very authentic and deeply felt performance as grace . my  she is great in these precodes  i  ve really grown to appreciate her more as an actress the last few months .  br    br   glenda farrell played her role of a shrill unwed mother a little over the top for my taste  didn  t anyone know back in     that swigging brandy from a hot water bottle might be hazardous to unborn babies  health   but her character redeems herself in the end .  br    br   also in the cast was an uncredited gilbert roland  silent movie star  as a grieving italian husband . his screen time was brief  but notable .  br    br   life begins is a must  see precode  try to catch it sometime on tcm  but remember to bring a few hankies to cry into .  out of   .  
i really hate most end of the world movies . they show what jaded hollywood people think of the rest of the world  and they clearly think we  re a bunch of sadistic idiots  or at least that watching sadistic idiots react to things is somehow entertaining  . i  ve been to l . a . many times  i have family that works in show business  and i just want to say that these are the last people we should be looking to for a reality check . some disaster movies at least paint a clever picture children of men    monkeys  but usually the message is just  people will do anything to survive  all is dark and sad and purposeless  we should all be ashamed of ourselves  .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i like the idea of a story that explores throwing off the system of social order and testing people  s mettle in the face of horror  and i do believe some people would act like this film portrayed  but sadistic idiots aside  i seriously doubt society would just dissolve into every man for himself  that  s just insulting .  
the waiting womans ward of a large lying  in hospital  with all its joys and sorrows  is the place where life begins .  br    br   this nearly forgotten drama is a fine little soap opera  replete with comedy and tragedy  all tied into the lives of the maternity staff and their patients . the frankness with which the subject matter is handled points up the movie  s pre  code status .  br    br   marvelous aline macmahon  as the sympathetic head nurse  is the calm center of the film  the rock around which all the currents flow . able to handle any crisis or emergency  she is the mothers  best  sometimes last  friend . surrounding macmahon is a bevy of excellent costars loretta young as a convicted murderess released from prison long enough to give birth eric linden as her frightened young husband brassy glenda farrell as a dame who hates children sweet clara blandick as a very mature mother in for her sixth birthing preston foster  hale hamilton as thoughtful  compassionate doctors and frank mchugh as a comically frantic father  to  be .  br    br   movie mavens will recognize bobs watson as a wee tyke who wants to see the stork paul fix as a nervous husband who promises to behave like a little soldier  gilbert roland as a distraught italian husband and elizabeth patterson as a snooty doctor  s wife interested in adopting farrell  s son  all uncredited .  br    br   there are a few absurdities in the plot  some of the mothers are obviously much too old farrell becomes blatantly drunk in the ward but none of the staff seem to notice an obviously psychotic patient is able to wander around at will  but this really only enhances the quirky entertainment value of the film and keeps things from becoming too serious .  
  carriers  follows the exploits of two guys and two gals in a stolen mercedes with the words road warrior on the hood hightailing it down the highway for the beach with surfboards strapped to the top of their car . brian  chris pine of  star trek   is driving and his girlfriend bobby  piper perabo of  coyote ugly   has shotgun  while brian  s younger brother  danny  lou taylor pucci of  fanboys   and his friend   not exactly girlfriend   kate  emily vancamp of  the ring    occupy the backseat . this quartet of twentysomething characters are living in a nightmare . apparently  a viral pandemic   which co  directors  co  scenarists alex pastor and david pastor tell us absolutely nothing about   has devastated america . naturally  the lack of exposition shaves off at least fifteen minutes that would have slowed down this cynical melodrama about how humans degenerate in a crisis and become their own worst enemies .  br    br   this lethal virus gives you the shingles and then you bleed and die . most everybody runs around wearing those white masks strapped to their nose and mouth by a thin rubber band . initially  this foursome encounters a desperate father  frank  christopher meloni of  runaway bride    and his cute little daughter jodie  kiernan shipka of  land of the lost   blocking the highway with their suv . brian swerves around frank when he tries to waylay them  but in the process  the oil pan in their mercedes ruptures and they wind up on foot . reluctantly  they hitch a ride with frank after they seal jodie up in the rear of the suv . she wears a mask over her nose and mouth and it is speckled with blood . frank has heard that doctors are curing ailing people at a hospital and they head to it . sadly  somebody has lied to frank . the hospital physician is giving the last couple of kids some kool  aid that will put them out of their misery . the cure did not improve their condition . everybody else in town is dead . kate tries without success to get a dial tone on every phone . frank realizes that there is no hope for his daughter and he lets the heroic quartet appropriate his suv and take off .  br    br   indeed   carriers  qualifies as a relentlessly depressing movie about the effects of a pandemic on four sympathetic people who degenerate into homicidal murderers to protect themselves . they reach a country club and frolic around on a golf course until another four show up in suits and masks with pump  action shotguns . incredibly  our protagonists manage to escape without getting shot  but brian has a scare when he almost falls into the water with a floating corpse . eventually  they discover that one of them has become infected . later  as they are about to run out of gas  brian blocks the highway like frank did at the outset . danny tries to stop a pair of older christian women driving the car . danny lies that his pregnant wife is about to give birth and he needs their help . brian throws caution to the wind and blasts away at the ladies with his automatic pistol when they refuse to help them . brian catches a slug in the leg from the passenger  but he kills her .  br    br   no   carriers  is not a beer  pizza movie that you can either laugh off or laugh with because the humor is virtually non  existent . by the end of this    minute movie  our heroes have turned into villains who only care only for themselves and their plight . chris pine makes quite an impression as fun  loving brian and his energetic performance is the only reason to hang with this hokum  while the only other well  known actress  piper perabo  is relegated to an inconsequential girlfriend role . as bobby  she makes tragic the mistake of showing compassion to a dying little girl and pays an awful price . it is a testament to pine  s performance that he can change his character to the point of putting himself before others . essentially  pine has the only role that gives him the ability to pull a one  eighty from happy  go  lucky guy to heartless guy .  br    br   the two directors are spanish brothers  and they never let the momentum flag . since there is no relief in sight   carriers  sinks into predictability .  irrversible  cinematographer benot debie does a fantastic job with his widescreen lensing and as unsavory as this road trip becomes  debie makes it look like a dynamic film . aside from the lack of a happy ending or closure in any sense of the word   carriers  suffers because it is so horribly cynical . the scene when the german shepherd attacks danny conjures up the most suspense  but even it could have been improved . unfortunately  the pastor brothers do not scare up either much tension or suspense . by fade  out  you really don  t care what happens to anybody .  
i was probably one of the few australians not watching the tennis when this series aired . i have to say when william mcinnes first appeared i though  that is one crappy actor  but as the series continued he toned down his performance and i totally loved him . he was such a rotten guy but he did make me laugh . i watched the show to see hugo speers  heart and bones  the full monty  and tom long  seachange  two hands  . it was interesting to see speers play a nice  quiet man and even more interesting to watch tom longs  rippling muscles  sigh . . . seriously  long  s performance was a total shock and really brilliant . he stole the show . martin sacks was good also in a small role  and the leading actress put in an entertaining performance . i  d recommend this programme if you enjoy stories with a twist and watching tom long walk around with no shirt on . . .  
i am a shakespeare fan  and i can appreciate what ken branagh has done to bring shakespeare back for a new generation of viewers . however  this movie falls short of conveying the overall intentions of the play with the ridiculous musical sequences . add that with alicia silverstone  s stumbling over the dialogue  reminiscent of keanu reeves in much ado about nothing  and other poorly cast roles  it all equals an excruciating endurance of viewing .  
i was absolutely mesmerised by this series from the moment tom long walked into shot  the whole  bad boy  thing  it was just addictive .  br    br   the story has you hooked  what will happen next  will joey get the girl in the end  after doing  years in prison  and all that time thinking about his lost love  crossing paths with her again  finding he has a son . . . although he is a violent bad guy  you still want him to find happiness .  br    br   a truly captivating two parter  please bring it out on video   
i do get irritated with modern adaptations of shakespeare when the director can  t make his mind up whether to use the original or to update it . if it  s using the original words in an updated setting  that  s particularly tricky if set in the   th or   st century although it can work ok in period styles  eg the trevor nunn twelfth night set late victorian very effectively . it could work with the    s setting if only there had been far less of the song and dance and far more of shakespeare  s text . unfortunately  it just ends up being a pretty trivial though very pleasant show .  br    br   another problem is branagh himself . i agree he  s far too old to play one of the students but more important  he  s such an experienced shakespearean actor that in spite of all his efforts to be just another student  his strength of acting shows all the time . of course he should have played the king  no problem in having a mature student king surrounded by younger students . instead we had a pleasant but unimposing actor for the king  thus an unimposing so  called king with no kingly attributes .  br    br   the amount of song and dance  which i found tedious in spite of the nice songs and pleasant enough dancing  unfortunately meant the great shakespearean dialogue had to be cut down drastically . so the whole thing ends up a trivial and mild confection  and i got very bored  including with the comic turns  and was glad when it ended . branagh has not done shakespeare justice in this production .  br    br   accolades however to richard briers and geraldine mcewan  absolutely splendid as the older couple .  
i remember watching this film  thinking was so interesting . i really wanted to know what happens next . i was amazed by how much they could fit into an  minute short . we start in a school yard . . two friends are debating on skipping class . kid b says to kid a  lets not go to class today .  and kid a declines  claiming they could miss something really important . so kid b skips and kid a goes to class . when he gets there the teacher informs him that today they were going to learn the only and most important lesson they will ever learn . they were going to learn the meaning of life . she gives everyone a pamphlet  and when she gets to kid a  she runs out and tells the boy next to him to share . well  the kid won  t share  so kid a goes looking for the teacher . when he finally finds her  he gets a shocking revelation on what the real meaning of life is . i suggest everyone watch this short . it will only take  minutes from your life  but the message is so important  it could help you for a life time .  
kenneth branagh attempts to turn william shakspeare  s obscure  rarely  produced comedy into a     s  era musical  with the result being both bad shakespeare and bad musical comedy as the actors are rarely adept at one or the other of the two styles and in some cases flounder badly in both . particularly painful is nathan lane  who seems to be under the impression that he is absolutely hysterical as costard but is badly mistaken  and alicia silverstone who handles the shakespearean language with all the authority of a teenaged valley girl who is reading the script aloud in her middle school english class .  br    br   the musical numbers are staged with the expertise of a high school production of  dames at sea   leaving the cast looking awkward and amateurish while singing and dancing  with the lone exception being adrian lester who proves himself a splendid song and dance man . the only other saving grace of the film are natascha mcelhone and emily mortimer  s contribution as eye candy  but they have given far better performances than in this film and you  d be wise to check out some of the other titles in their filmographies and gives this witless mess a pass .  
simple  meaningful and delivers an emotional punch . i regularly trail through dull short films and it  s always nice to come across something that has a simple and enlightened message  without pretensions or self indulgent directing .  br    br   a boy at school has to attend a lesson when his friend plays truant and is given the most important lesson of his life  only to find that when there are not enough copies to go around he has to share with the school bully .  br    br   unlike most short films featuring children or actors these kids hold their own and it  s believable . the soundtrack nicely complements the emotion of the piece and the punchline of the film works well .  
i  ve read comments that you shouldn  t watch this film if you  re looking for stirring shakespearian dialogue . this is true  unfortunately  because all the stirring dialogue  this wonderful play contains  has been cut  and replaced with songs . i  ve read this play  and recently was lucky enough to see it performed  at it remains one of my favourite shakespearian comedies  but this movie seems to take all that i like about it away . the princess  though no doubt doing what she was directed to do  had no regal bearing  and all the girls seemed to lose the cleverness of their characters  also affected by unwise cuts  which not only took away the female characters already sparse dialogue  but took comments out of context  it was a little unnerving to hear the princess proclaim  we are wise girls to mock our lovers so    when mocking had not taken place at all . the news reels throughout the film also disrupted the flow  and took away many excellent scenes  as they showed the information in the scenes after them  and were in modern phrasing . in conclusion  an excellent play  ruined by an odd concept  and unwise cuts . kenneth  i usually love what you do . what were you thinking   
tenchu aka . hitokiri  directed by hideo gosha  starring shintaro katsu and tetsuya nakadei belongs  together with goyokin  hara kiri  rebellion  to the best chambara movies existing .  br    br   its the story about shintaro katsu  who plays okada izo  working for nakadei  who wants to become the daymio . okada  being the  cleaner  for nakadei is being treated like a dog  and after quite a while he realises  what he realy is to nakadei .  br    br   but there is so much more in this movie  every fan of japanese cinema should have seen it         br    br    tenchu means heavens punishment   
i think this is one of the weakest of the kenneth branagh shakespearian works . after such great efforts as much ado about nothing  etc . i thought this was poor . the cast was weaker  alicia silverstone  nivoli  mcelhone     but my biggest gripe was that they messed with the bard  s work and cut out some of the play to put in the musical  dance sequences .  br    br   you just don  t do shakespeare and then mess with the play . sorry  but that is just wrong . i love some cole porter just like the next person  but jeez  don  t mess with the shakespeare . skip this and watch  prospero  s books  if you want to see a brilliant shakespearean adaptation of the tempest .  
this is one of the best of the genre . i saw it twice about   yrs ago and have not had another opportunity to see it again since then . it rivals the zatoichi series  also starring katsu  in exciting swordplay .  
this self  indulgent mess may have put the kibosh on mr . branagh  s career as an adapter of shakespeare for the cinema .  released  years ago not a peep of an adaptation since .  i just finished watching this on cable   holy god  it  s terrible .  br    br   i agree with the sentiment of a reviewer below who said that reviewing something so obviously and sadly awful is an ungenerous act that comes across as shrill . that being said  i  ll take the risk  if only because love  s labour  s lost is the perfect reward for those who overrated mr . branagh  s directorial abilities in the past . branagh has always been a pretty lousy director grindingly literal  minded star  struck unforgivably ungenerous to his fellow actors  he loves his american stars  but loves himself more  making damn sure that he gets all the good lines  .  br    br   along those lines  the sad fact remains that love  s labour  s lost is scarcely worse than the interminable  ghastly  bloated hamlet from     . in fact  this film may be preferable  if only because it  s about    the length . branagh decided it would be a good idea to update this bad early work of shakespeare  s to the milieu of cole porter  george gershwin  fred astaire  yada yada . so he sets the thing in      leaves about an eighth of the text intact in favor of egregious interpretations of thirties  standards  wait till you see the actors heaved up on wires toward the ceiling during  i  m in heaven    and casts actors not known for their dancing or singing  himself included  . the result is a disaster so surreal that one is left dumbfounded that they just didn  t call a horrified stop to the whole thing after looking at the first dailies . i don  t even blame the cast . to paraphrase hamlet   the screenplay  s the thing   no one could possibly come off well in this hodge  podge the illustrious rsc alumni fare no better than alicia silverstone . who could possibly act in this thing   br    br   branagh  s first mistake was in thinking that love  s labour  s lost was a play worth filming . trust me  it isn  t . it  s an anomaly in the bard  s canon  written expressly for an educated coterie of courtiers   not the usual audience for which he wrote . hence  there  s a lot of precious  and tedious   word  play  references to contemporary scholastic nonsense  parodies of lyly  s euphues . . . in other words  hardly the sort of material to appeal to a broad audience . hell  it doesn  t appeal to an audience already predisposed to shakespearean comedy . the play cannot be staged without drastically cutting the text and desperately  updating  it with any gimmick that comes to hand . which begs the question  why bother   br    br   branagh  s second mistake was in thinking that shakespeare  s cream  pie of a play could be served with a side  order of gershwin  s marmalade . clearly the idea  or hope  was to make an unintelligible elizabethan exercise palatable for modern audiences by administering nostalgic american pop culture down their throats at the same time . but again  this begs the question  why bother   br    br    
gosha  s last great film of the      s . a resolute stylist with a great sense of purpose to his films  gosha teamed up with shintaro katsu  of zatoichi fame  to produce this scathing indictment of mindless nationalist loyalty .  br    br    tenchu   heavenly judgment  is the word that the loyalists to the emperor yell while assassinating enemies or  traitors  to the cause . katsu plays up his character  simple minded allegiance to a manipulative politician all in the name of patriotic pride . anybody who questions the politician is labeled a  traitor  and becomes an assassination target .  br    br   one of the best photographed films ever  many shots are incredible compositions of form  color and light . the fight scenes are frequent and very bloody and brutal . the blood becomes a part of the color palette gosha uses for his images . gorgeous and disturbing . while the personal story is simple to follow  the historical background is complicated and while a basic history lesson for this time in japan would be very helpful you can struggle through the film without it . the few drawbacks to the film are the music track  the length and katsu  s occasional scenery chewing . he has a drunken scene that  s way over the top for a film but actually a very accurate depiction of a drunk .  br    br   downbeat but one of the great chambara films .  
spoilers all too often  hollywood  s shakespeare adaptations entertaining pieces of cinema . beautifully shot they are well performed and faithful to the text . films including branagh  s  henry v  and      s  much ado about nothing  are powerful pieces of work . watching  love  s labour  s lost  therefore  it  s such a huge disappointment for expectation to be so hideously thrown to waste . sadly  love  s labour  s lost  is awful  the king of navarre  alessandro nivola  and his friends have forsaken drink and women for three years to focus on their studies . plans begin to fall apart however when the enigmatic princess of france  alicia silverstone  and her entourage arrive . soon love is in the air and philosophy is off the prince  s mind .  br    br   from the start  you realise that this film is not quite shakespeare . cleverly relocated into a     s musical by ken branagh  the plot is still there and the script remains  but now it has been sacrificed in favour of dire musical taste . classics like  the way you look tonight    let  s face the music and dance    i  m in heaven  are all destroyed by weak singing and a strong feel that they just don  t belong here .  br    br   aside from weak singing  we are also treated to an increasingly large number of awkward performances by regular stars . ken branagh and friends might enjoy making this film  but they provide us with a stomach turning collection of roles .  br    br   the main eight actors  four men  four women  are all equally dire  and the only positive on their behalf is a vast improvement on the truly dreadful timothy spall .  br    br   in fact  only one individual leaves the film worthy of any praise and that  s the consistently magnificent nathan lane . lane has proved over the years that he is a comedy genius and in this feature he once again adds an air of humour to the jester costard .  br    br   there  s little else to be said really .  love  s labour  s lost  deserves mild praise for branagh  s original take on an old tale . unfortunately though  that  s where the positives end . weakly acted  performed  sang and constructed   love  s labour  s lost  is perhaps the weakest shakespeare adaptation of the last forty years . it should be avoided like the plague and should never have been made . a poor  disappointing choice by branagh and here  s hoping his next effort is better .  
the first was good and original . i was a not bad horror  comedy movie . so i heard a second one was made and i had to watch it .  br    br   what really makes this movie work is judd nelson  s character and the sometimes clever script . a pretty good script for a person who wrote the final destination films and the direction was okay . sometimes there  s scenes where it looks like it was filmed using a home video camera with a grainy  look .  br    br   great made  for  tv movie . it was worth the rental and probably worth buying just to get that nice eerie feeling and watch judd nelson  s stanley doing what he does best .  br    br   i suggest newcomers to watch the first one before watching the sequel  just so you  ll have an idea what stanley is like and get a little history background .  
around the late      s  animator don bluth  frustrated with the output his company  disney was churning  defected from the mouse house to form his own studio . his first production  the secret of nimh  was a brilliant feature that still holds up well to this day . this was followed by an american tail and the land before time  both of which were made under the involvement of steven spielberg and were commercially successful . although none of those two films had the dark adult appeal of nimh  they still are very charming  enjoyable features for both children and grown  ups . but before long  don bluth had his first major misfire with all dogs go to heaven critics were especially harsh on this film  and matters weren  t helped by the fact that it opened alongside disney  s the little mermaid .  br    br   considering that the movie has such a friendly  sounding title  one would expect all dogs go to heaven to be pleasant family fare . instead bluth provides a surprisingly dark story involving gambling  deceit  crime  mistreatment  and murder . that itself is not a problem for an animated feature per say  but it does call into question over whether the film is for children . on the other hand  it  s hard to say whether adults will find much to enjoy in all dogs go to heaven . in short  it  s a movie with a major identity crisis .  br    br   set in a dreary junkyard of new orleans  the movie starts out when charlie b . barkin  a rough  and  tumble german shepherd  is run over by a car courtesy of his former gambling casino partner  a nasty  cigar  puffing pitbull  carface . before you know it  charlie finds himself in heaven  albeit by default . here a whippet angel  annabelle  tells him that  all dogs go to heaven because unlike people  dogs are usually loyal and kind .  this line represents the confused nature of the movie  since the dogs in the movie  the whippet aside  are presented as anything but .  br    br   upon realizing that he  s been murdered  charlie steals his way back to earth and plots to get even with carface . with the reluctant help of his dachshund pal itchy  charlie  rescues  carface  s prize  annemarie  a human girl who can talk to animals  in order to predict who will win the rat races  . charlie claims that he will help the little cutie find her a family  but in reality he is using her skills to win fortunes at the race so that he can build a more elaborate casino of his own to bring carface down . although he refuses to admit it  charlie does grow to love annemarie . . .  br    br   the concept of the story isn  t as problematic as the execution . aside from the human girl annemarie and a flamboyant musical alligator who appears about three  quarters through  with the vocal pipes of ken page   none of the other characters emerge as likable  nor frankly  are even worth caring about . unfortunately  that also applies to charlie in trying to make him an anti  hero  the script  composed by more than ten writers  only succeeds in rendering the character too unlovable . as such  the audience feels no empathy for charlie  and worse  his redemption at the end of the movie does not come across as convincing .  further damaging to the character is the disappointingly uncharismatic vocal performance from burt reynolds .  besides the lack of an endearing lead  the movie  s other problem is in the structure of the story . the slowly  paced plot jumps all over the place and makes a habit of throwing in extra scenes which serve no purpose but to pad out the movie  s running time . the aforementioned musical alligator  who resides in a danky sewer infested with native rats  seems to have been thrown in from nowhere  as does a scene where charlie tries to show his generosity to annemarie by feeding a pack of pastel  colored pups pizza . the whole screenplay feels like a rough first draft a bit more polish could have made this a tighter  impactful story .  br    br   matters are not helped by the lackluster musical numbers by charlie strouse and t . j . kuenster  annemarie  s song and the gator  s ballad are the only good ones the latter in particular benefits from ken page  s mellifluous vocal  or the uneven voice cast . as mentioned  burt reynolds  stiff and lifeless charlie detracts from his already unlikeable character even further  the only exception is a fiery confession to itchy about his true intentions toward the end  . dom deluise as itchy is pretty good  but he  s had better roles  notably tiger in an american tail and jeremy in the secret of nimh . ken page  as mentioned  is awesome in anything he does  but his character has such a small part that his overall contribution is unremarkable at best . similarly wasted are loni anderson  as a collie who once sired a litter with charlie   melba moore  and charles nelson reilly . judith barsi as annemarie is probably the only voice that comes across as truly memorable  partially because her character is the sole legitimately likable one in this depressing and joyless show .  br    br   barsi aside  the only real positive about all dogs go to heaven is the animation . technically  this film has some of the most imaginative visuals from bluth  s team  by      s standards  that is   particularly a frightening scene where charlie has a nightmare about ending up in a fiery underworld ruled by a gargantuan satanic canine  demon . if anything  the movie is more of a triumph of animation than storytelling .  br    br   on the whole  however  i cannot recommend all dogs go to heaven as good entertainment . even though i recognize that the movie has its fans and the climax does admittingly provide some energy and a moving conclusion  the overall package is not in the same league as bluth  s better efforts . animation buffs will marvel at the lush artistry  but by the time it  s over  all dogs go to heaven could very well leave a bad taste in your mouth .  
home room really surprised me . in comparison to other movies that were written regarding columbine high school this one is the best . home room does not show the school shooting but rather the aftermath and the effects of the community and the town . the movie focus  on two opposite characters .  alecia  busy phillips  and deanna  erika christensen  . alecia is an outcast who witnessed the entire shooting . she seems to show no emotion about it . deanna is a popular girl and the only surviving victim . alecia is forced to visit deanna at the hospital in order to graduate . meanwhile the police are investigating alecia as she might have known the shooting was going to happen . alecia and deanna are very different and do not get along at first . eventually they develop a mutual understanding for one another and become friends .  very much in the style of the breakfast club  . home room beautifully shows the power of closeness and turmoil after a school shooting . i would recommend this film to anyone and everyone .  
i  m studying catalan  and was delighted to find el mar  a movie with mostly catalan dialogue  at my art  house video store .  br    br   hmmm . . . not so delighted to have seen it .  br    br   yes  as other reviewers have said  it  s well  made  and beautifully photographed . although the opening sequence of the children is shockingly violent  it  s well  acted and convincing .  for the most part  that is . . . would the mallorquins strip a corpse in preparation for burial right in the middle of the town square  in full view of the dead man  s    year  old boy   oh  well . . . minor detail . up to this point  it had something of the feel of a non  magical pan  s labyrinth  also set in the spanish civil war .  br    br   fast  forward  and the three children who survived the opening incident have come of age . francisca is a nun working at a tuberculosis sanatorium and the two boys  manuel and ramallo  both are patients . i know  but hey  coincidences happen .  br    br   the problem  as with so many spanish movies  apologies to almodovar fans   is that with one exception  francisca  the characters are just so dang weird . their motivations  personalities  and dialogue are often simply incoherent .  br    br   what  s more  it descends into some horrific wretched excess . be prepared for lots of pain and lots of blood . the reviewer who called it a  potboiler  is quite on track . if it had been made   years ago  the poster would  ve said see forbidden love   rape   murder   mutilation   fanaticism   animal cruelty   betrayal    br    br   the opening sequence is not nearly enough to make the personalities and relationships of the characters believable . to work  this should have had multiple flashbacks to flesh out the characters . as it is  it seems a bizarre and depressing cross between  brother sun  sister moon  and  pulp fiction .  if that sounds like something you  ve got to see  by all means  enjoy . i think i go with something that doesn  t make me feel i need to take a shower to wash off the gore and gloom .  br    br   as for the catalan  it  s the mallorqui dialect  fairly different than the barcelona dialect  though i was surprised by the comment that said that even barcelonans apparently needed catalan subtitles to understand it .  
this movie is a brilliant lesson on japanese history set in at the end of the tokugawa shogunate shortly before the shogunate lost a big battle against the loyalist  who wanted the emperor back on the throne to rule japan . really  i had to read a lot of history to get the entire background .  br    br   shintaro katsu  also known as the original zatoichi  gives a superb performance as izo okada  one of the four hitokiri  human slayer  of the bakumatsu . he is a simple samurai who looses all of his wealth . in order to have a good life he becomes a retainer of takechi hanpei  played by tatsuya nakada  ryonosuke out of sword of doom  . hanpei is a ultra  nationalist politician who lets his band of hitokiri assassinate a lot of high ranking pro  west politicians in order to achieve his political goals . izo okada follows his leader without really questioning what they are doing . as long as he has money to go and drink and spend at his whore . okada  s killings get more and more brutal in the course of the movie and he is proud to have a reputation based on fear wherever he goes .  br    br   it is a splendid portrait on the life of a simple samurai who gets caught up in political affairs and is really to naive to realize what is happening . first after being betrayed and tortured and always having talks with sakamoto  who is a samurai who rejects violence  does he change his ideas and views on life . but too late . . . .  br    br   watch the movie to see the end of izo okada . . .  br    br   shintaro katsu and the rest of the staff give a brilliant performance . each actor reaches up to their role . the sword  fights a very unique and fast . . . probably faster than several movies nowadays . . .  br    br   check it out if you have the chance     
this is just short of a full blown gore fest based on a stephen king story . two tabloid reporters  one seasoned  miguel ferrer  and one not so accomplished  julie entwisle   begin to believe that a serial killer  michael h . moss  may actually be a vampire . stranger than odd is this modern day blood sucker does not wing his way naturally  but by way of a black cessna he seeks his victims . the gore actually gets gruesome as the film nears its stupid finale . keep in mind that mr . king had nothing to do with this film . i do admit it is a bit scary in the wee hours of the night .  
it  s a testament to gosha  s incredible film  making prowess that he was able to complete both hitokiri and his stunning masterpiece  goyokin  in the same year      . and it  s a testament to how criminally underrated he remains for the general public  compared to media darlings like the great akira kurosawa   that both hitokiri and goyokin have received less than    votes between the two of them .  br    br   shintaro katsu is okada izo mad dog killer  loyal to the tosha clan and their boss takechi  played by another genre stalwart  tatsuya nakadai . the tosha clan was part of a larger alliance that supported the emperor against the flailing shogunate . the historical backdrop is fairly accurate  with japan  s increasing political turmoil between imperialists and the tokugawa and the pressure by the west to end a    year social and political seclusion . it helps a lot to know a thing or two about japanese history and what eventually led to the meiji restoration and the abolition of the tokugawa shogunate  but it  s not essential by any means . the movie was made primarily for a japanese audience so certain things are taken for granted but it flows very well for the uninitiated as well .  br    br   as one would expect from a hideo gosha film in his golden years  the late    s  the visual palette is breathtaking  the use of external and internal symbolism hiding behind pictorial beauty . style however is never decorative for gosha  it is always employed in the service of story .  br    br   and speaking of story  hitokiri is dominated both literally and figuratively by the tortured main character izo okada . as most chambara protagonists  izo finds himself in a moral double  bind  torn between giri  obligation  and ninjo  natural impulse   although it takes a while for him to realize what exactly his giri is . in the first half of the movie izo is trying for social self  advancement . lofty aspirations of social rank and marriage with an aristocrat  s daughter  a great progression for someone coming from a farmer  s background in the rigid social caste system of   th century japan .  br    br   the turning point for izo is when he realizes at what cost self  advancement comes  the loss of identity and by consequence the loss of self . it is at that point that he undergoes a very symbolic transformation from a famous swordsman of the tosha clan to a  nameless  drifter without past or future  torazo the vagrant . although not technically nameless and not a genre drifter in yojimbo  s mold  it is the loss of his former self and the cast off of ego  ambition and self  dillusion that allows izo to see things as they really are and redeem himself .  br    br   hitokiri ends  which i won  t reveal here  in the best way any story can end both positive and negative with a deeply ironic twist that gives izo the last laugh  a last sardonic remark in the face of death .  
would have better strengthened considerably by making it as a  br    br     minute episode of the outer limits . too much superfluous material and stuff like the chief bad guy looking like he  d escaped from the phantom of the opera didn  t help . the whole  night of the living dead  sequence was extremely silly and quite unnecessary . after all  if the dead were to punish anyone for their sins  now remind me exactly who was killing everyone again   
hitokiri  which translates roughly as  assassination    a  k  a  tenchu  which translates roughly as  divine punishment   showcases hideo gosha at the top of his form . do not miss this one  or gosha  s other classic  goyokin  hitokiri is not only one of gosha  s best films  it  s one of the best  samurai  chambara  films ever made  and perhaps one of the best japanese films ever exported .  br    br   be warned  all of the intricate plot details in hitokiri can be a little hard to follow for those unfamiliar with   th century japanese history . even so  the underlying human drama is obvious and open to all viewers . as per the norm for gosha  hitokiri provides yet another variation on his traditional theme of  loyalty to one  s lord  vs .  doing the right thing  . however  gosha develops his favorite theme with such sophistication  that it  s really  the  movie to see  along with goyokin  of course  .  br    br   i suppose it breaks down like this if you want a simpler  more action  oriented tale  you might want to see goyokin . however  if you want a more thoughtful  multilayered  albeit grim  drama  see this one .  br    br    ok  ok  essentially  the historical backdrop is a massive power grap between many different samurai clans who are either    working to reform  yet retain  the tokugawa shogunate  and    those who are trying to install the emperor meiji as the supreme ruler of japan . of course  those clans working  for  emperor meiji were often less interested in  reforming  japan than in ensuring their own clan more power in the  new world order  . ironically  the entire feudal system was officially abolished as one of the first reforms of the meiji government . it  s ironic twists like this   gosha  s big on irony   that make the entire plot all the more bittersweet .   br    br   what distinguishes  hitokiri  from gosha  s other movies is gosha  s mature sense of cinematography . every shot is thoughtfully composed  and  much like kubrick  s barry lyndon  each frame of the movie could hold its own as a still composition . of course  this is typical gosha . hitokiri really stands out with stunning backdrops  including  as with goyokin  many riveting seascapes . just watch the opening sequence  and you  re hooked  make no mistake  this is no english period piece hitokiri is extremely violent  don  t say you weren  t warned  .  br    br   what else  other than cool camera work  makes hitokiri stand out  the performances seem  to me  a bit more subtle in this one . katsu shintaro  of zatoichi  hanzo the razor fame  turns in a star performance as the conflicted protagonist  antihero  okada izo . katsu manages to instill humanity to a character that seems almost more wild animal than villain . throughout the movie  you  re never quite sure if you  re engaged or revolted by okada  s character . at the same time  katsu  s portrayal of okada  s ravenous hunger for respect  and his later pathetic attempts at redemption  seem so human that you can  t help but feel empathy  sympathy . of course  after seeing nakadai tatsuya play the tortured hero in  goyokin   it  s great to see him play such a ruthless villain in  hitokiri  . he  s just perfect  there  s nothing more to say   br    br   as a final note  perhaps more interesting to buffs than to casual fans  don  t miss the last screen appearance of mishima yukio  yes  the closeted gay right  wing ultranationalist novelist who committed suicide by seppuku before the crowd of jeering japanese military personnel he  kidnapped  in      and had a movie on his life and work made by paul schrader   who actually does a pretty solid job of portraying the honorable  for an assassin  shinbei tanaka .  
this film is so unbelievable  the whole premise is bunkum the fact that a serial killer  vampire or otherwise  could fly around untraced and kill as many people as the film implies is laughable . the vampire himself would not look out of place in a bela lugosi film . most of the acting is so wooden the actors should be treated for dry rot . i await the day when someone makes a decent film from a steven king novel  with the exception  possibly  of stand by me  . this film suffers from what most stephen king films do  lack of money used for the  special  effects  poor actors  appalling characterisation and dialogue . this film is cheap  tacky and fails in everything it tries to do .  
this movie is the next segment in the pokemon movies which supplies everything on hopes and dreams of a pokemon warrior named ash ketchim and his friends . they go out and they look battle and run into new pokemon and take on new adventures with pikachu and other pokemon favorites . this adventure takes on with a new pokemon called celebi a time pokemon . go join ash brock and misty to find all sorts of new things   
i gave this movie a single star only because it was impossible to give it less .  br    br   scientists have developed a formula for replicating any organism . in their lab  a run down warehouse in l . a .   they create a t  rex . a group of industrial spies break in to steal the formula and the remainder of the film is one endless foot chase .  br    br   of course the t  rex  a rubber puppet  gets loose and commences to wipe out the cast . it has the amazing ability to sneak up within  or  feet of someone without them noticing and then promptly bites their head off .  br    br   one cast member escapes in a police car and spends the remainder of the film driving aimlessly through the city . she is of such superior mental ability that she can  t even operate the radio . she never makes any attempt to drive to a substation or a donut shop and appears hopelessly lost .  br    br   the t  rex wreaks havoc throughout the city  there are blazing gun battles and buildings  cardboard mock  ups  blowing up  but a single police car  or the army  nor anyone else ever shows up . such activity must be commonplace in los angeles .  br    br   we can only hope that a sequel isn  t planned .  
whoever says pokemon is stupid can die . this movie is superlative . i even shead a tear when celebei died . i don  t cry much  this film is a touching animated thriller .  br    br   in this fourth installment of pokemon  ash and friends must stop the bad jerk from making celebei the ultimate evil weapon with his dark ball . in the time  sam and celebei travel through time and continuously are hunted by game hunters . i like the part with the double battle and sam has the apricorn pokeball  if you  ve played pokemon gold  silver  or crystal  you know what it is .   br    br   i also enjoyed having miramax in charge instead of warner brothers . putting the mini movie at the end was a great idea . the pokemon in this movie come to life more than ever .  
you ever get that itch to just kill an hour or two doing chores and watching a movie so bad it defies reason  well  out renting movies one weekend i see the box art for this one and see the t  rex . knowing full well that the dinosaur on the package was the t  rex from jurassic park  i knew i had to rent this just cause i was in the mood for a bad movie .  br    br   i was not disappointed in the least .  br    br   mad scientists  secret formulas  a company more concerned about its fortune and shareholders than lives  and of course  a big  poorly animated  sock  puppet t  rex . is it me our through out the movie was there scenes clearly spliced from other movies  not to mention the rex  s hungry is never satisfied . . . ever . how he has hungry is beyond me because he actually doesn  t have an throat  really if you look down his mouth when he roars  it  s solid . . . like a toy or something  . now  i like watching incredibly bad b  movies from time to time because it reminds me how much better a blockbuster movie is . this one was hilarious . i  m not even sure if this was supposed to be a thriller or a comedy  because there are scenes where  make no mistake  you will laugh .  br    br   do i blame the movie  s budget . . . yes  but the acting didn  t help either . ok  tony todd was actually pretty good  as for some of the female roles . . . when you cry shouldn  t  tears  come out  meh  i am not going to be angry at this movie  i knew what i was getting into and if you  re looking for a bad movie to watch with friends  here  s what i recommend watch this movie  then immediately watch jurassic park and then lost world back to back . you will be writing mr . spielberg thank you letters the next day .  
my brother and i have pokemon  ever on dvd . we watched it like a couple of times and it was the best . too bad it a new pokemon didn  t talk this time . i  ll get used to it .  br    br   the iron masked marauder was pretty mean when he captured celebi with his dark ball . good thing ash and sam managed to snap him out of his control .  br    br   there was only one song in the ending credits called cele  b  r  a  t  e performed by russell velazquez .  br    br   pokemon  ever became a success since the three previous films and people will always love that film .  
i got this as a turkey movie and was i not disappointed .  br    br   acting  overall even though many have been in other movies it is clear that they had to work hard to act this bad so constantly over this entire movie with out accidentally letting slip some degree of acting .  br    br   plot  being generous i could say that the scriptwriter did originally start with a plot but but did his best to ignore it . the plot broke down faster then a chinese knock off computer  br    br   scrip  now that was an abomination of nature . it failed to flow with any rhyme or reason . the majority of the lines by the characters were at best pathetic to imbecilic . the script worked hard to make sure that no character managed to get to be considered memorable . i have watched other movies where the extras were more interesting and memorable .  br    br   special effects  rotflmao      they were short bus special  br    br   directing  until you can come up with your own directing ability copy the style of your favorite directer otherwise you will only make failures like this .  br    br   it is good to know that your friends  family have been giving you   stars for this movie  
the  th pokemon movie made me cry when celebi died . don  t you dare say that pokemon sucks  i don  t like it when people say that . . . . i  ve liked pokemon for  or  years  so everyone should enjoy pokemon  including this movie and other pokemon movies . so  without further ado  please say that pokemon is great and should be enjoyed by people for all ages . and also  why do pokemon  haters give low ratings for all or most of the pokemon movies  i don  t understand . . . . they shouldn  t do that . . . . there  s absolutely no reason why people should just vote without proving that pokemon sucks besides the fact that   pokemon is for little kids only .   pokemon is stupid . and   people shouldn  t like pokemon . i think this is why people don  t like pokemon .  
my first opinions on this movie were of course bad . i was expecting a horrible  crappy acting  bad entertainment  ridiculous special effects movie . what i got was actually not that bad . the special effects were absolutely horrible  but i found the movie itself quite interesting  and the script was actually pretty good and decent . the acting wasn  t that bad  and overall i had fun watching this movie . it  s still a pretty bad film  but it  s not completely worthless like i thought it was going to be  and i  m pleased to know that this movie managed to wow me  even when it wasn  t that good . overall  it  s a film that should be avoided  but to me it wasn  t as bad as i was expecting it to be .  
i have always enjoyed the pokemon movies . yes  i know  all of them are very corny  mediocre in some certain areas and sure  even though they  re aimed at little kids they  re too adult in some fields to be able to guard them with the statement   hey  lighten up  it  s a kids movie   but all that aside  aren  t they still good pieces of entertainment  in my opinion  they are so and i enjoy them greatly . this one is just as enjoyable as the previous three  and certainly cuter . it has some really sweet and touching moments since it is the introduction of the lovable  fresh pokemon celebi . it  s not the best pokemon movie  but i do enjoy it more than the third installment  even though the third is not bad  and the entire series is just entertaining  harmless  popcorn family fun and should be considered nothing more  nothing less . this film has some high marks of intensity and interest  especially around the climax  ending  as do all the installments  and the characters  while a bit more lackluster than the previous three  i thought  are still likable and humorous . this films is the lowest rated and most criticized of the four feature length adaptions  and it doesn  t deserve that .  
if you want to watch a real  quality  movie get hold of the eden formula . this wondrous film must have cost all of    to make . it features a wafer thin script  pathetically bad sets  lighting and camera work  and a stop motion  paper  mache monster that is utterly laughable  it looks like they sometimes used a guy in a rubber suit and  or a glove puppet for the monster  but all were equally dreadful  .  br    br   the actors all speak their lines as though they  ve never seen them before and are reading off a teleprompter . the special effects are way beyond lousy . and the only sad thing is that they dropped the really nifty original title  tyranasaurus wrecks  which sums up exactly what you get for the full   minutes .  br    br   this is what happens when you scrape the bottom of the barrel so hard you break through to the crud that lies underneath .  br    br   i loved every minute of it .  
out of these pokemon films  which are in order of best to least for me   pokemon the first movie  pokemon  ever  pokemon heroes  pokemon    and pokemon entei and the unknown  this is probably the one most concerning the environment  arguably the most beautiful and the most calming one . whether these are good points for you or not   pokemon  ever   still has entertained many .  br    br   as well as the three points covered above  this pokemon film includes good humour and good cgi  as well as anime  . the time travelling theme of the film is represented in a good way and team rocket  the comic reliefs  rubbish baddies  end up with quite good gags and end up being more main characters than sidekicks .  br    br   the flaws are  as always  the rather unnecessary violence and action and the baddie is pretty uninteresting  even more so than a few pokemon film baddies .  br    br   a strange pokemon is being tracked down by a pokemon hunter in a forest . a young boy tries to save the pokemon and it takes him somewhere . . .  br    br   meanwhile  ash  brock and misty are entering a large forest . . .  br    br   curious  watch the rest . . .  br    br   good for all pokemon fans and  american  anime movie fans  enjoy  pokemon  ever       
this review is mostly all spoilers . if you plan on enjoying this film  don  t read this review .  br    br   that  s the problem with kids tv nowadays . it  s all so patronizing and condescending . wow  that was fun  wasn  t it   no it wasn  t . and unfortunately it seems to have permeated into children films as well . and that is what  flight of the reindeer  is all about . admittedly i haven  t seen  flight of the reindeer  in a few years so i might be hazy on some points  but i remember being thoroughly unimpressed with it at the time .  br    br   essentially  the story follows a lecturer who is given a book for christmas . now  the lecturer is an esteemed scientist on the flying habits of some animal . i think it was bullfrogs . anyway  through this book  mr lecturer  family man learns that reindeer can fly in exactly the same way as bullfrogs . apparently this book was written by a scientist many hundreds of years ago who disappeared in the north pole . now  if it were me i would have thrown the book out the nearest window . flying bullfrogs are a naturally occurring phenomenon  but flying reindeer is a fantastic and wholly unrealistic concept . but  mr lecturer isn  t me  so i guess that explains why he decides to fly to the north pole leaving his wife and kid at home with no idea where he  s gone . of course  things go awry and before he knows it  a flying reindeer has crashed into his private plane and he  s stranded at the north pole .  br    br   are you still following this  good .  br    br   his family  of course  are devastated . i would be too  i mean  what a suck  tacular christmas . elsewhere  mr lecturer finds himself in a hidden town at the north pole inhabited by midgets and one tyrannical figure who dresses only in red and white . rather than try to escape immediately  as i would have done  he greets everyone there with open arms . this hidden civilization of midget monsters  and he greets them with open arms . oooo  kayyyy . they feed him this story that they are the elves of santa claus and they spend all year round making toys for kids they have no idea exist . and mr lecturer accepts all this . he even accepts that santa claus is in fact the scientist who disappeared two hundred years ago or whatever . there  s just one problem  they don  t want him to leave . the world can  t know of their secret existence . after all  before they  d know it there  d be a mcdonalds and a starbucks on every street corner .  br    br   still with me   br    br   now  mr nice guy  s family find the book and assume he  s gone to the north pole . boy  wouldn  t they be embarrassed if they found out he  d just gone for a brisk walk  before the audience knows it  they  re jetting off to spend a christmas in the most authentic winter wonderland on the planet . meanwhile  mr lecturer gets sick of all the uppity midgets and decides to leave . i can  t remember exactly  but i do recall him holding santa claus to gunpoint . a fire fight ensues when the midgets attack and he manages to escape via santa  s sleigh . with santa hot on his heels and with bloodlust in his eyes  mr whatever  through some marvellous co  incidence  finds himself flying alongside his family  s plane that is looking for him . so he jumps on to their plane  the planes flies back and everyone lives happily ever after .  br    br   the fact is  there have been some shocking films made in the name of christmas over the years but because they feature that festive charm they get away with it . and it  s that charm that is utterly devoid from  flight of the reindeer  there isn  t much wrong with it nothing which insults the intelligence  well  obviously there is  but it  s a kids film and thus can get away with such things  or anything particularly offensive  but the problem is there is nothing much right about it either . it just doesn  t feel christmassy . and for a film that is all about christmas  that it a pretty major flaw . but hey  i don  t think  flight of the reindeer  s target audience mind about that  why should they  they  re all so doped up on sedatives they probably couldn  t spell christmas   br    br   i give it three out of ten . if it was a tv  movie then i  d add another two stars onto it . we all know how bad they can get .  
i so love this movie  the animation is great  for a pokmon movie   the cgi looks so awesome . i love the music in the movie . so great they kept the japanese music .  br    br   as for the story its great . it has a great feeling of friendship . celebi is a very cute and powerful pokmon . ash is really great in this movie  and i like his friendship with sam . the only thing i didn  t like was suicune  s appearance  he just suddenly pops up  helps ash  co a bit and leaves . they could have made his part in the movie a little bigger .  br    br   but overall  awesome movie  can  t wait to own the usa version on dvd   
the christmas secret was touted as a wonderful film  but i was truly disappointed . they even sold vhs and dvd copies of the film when it was over  which leads me to think the producers were really proud of this project . as a screen actor myself i felt most of the performances were phoned in  although beau bridges  as nick  did have a moment or two . if i were richard thomas i would not put this film on my otherwise fine resume . it was an embarrassment . i had been a fan since his waltons days  but have found myself untempted to watch any of his subsequent work  so poor was this offering .  br    br   in defence of the actors  the directing was stilted  mechanical  and thoroughly amateurish .  br    br   i hope this is not considered a spiteful review and negative assumptions made about my qualifications as a critic . i turned the movie on because it had a good cast and i was prepared to enjoy the film . however i would challenge any one out there to watch this film and not wish for their money back  even though it was on t . v .  
actually . . . that  video camera  effect  is just that  it  s an effect  a rather good one . .  u don  t know much about directing a film do you   this film is in fact better than the original  it  s great fun to watch  made for tv  doesn  t need to follow any rules . i find it hard to watch number  because of how he kills the first girl  its disturbing . and all the time we are routing for judd nelson to get away with it  we as the viewers are on his side . i hope one day we will see a  rd cabin by the lake but i doubt it . watching this film you can understand how real movies are made  as this is sort of like a film within a film . judd is one of the scariest villains ever  and he  s more realistic  he doesn  t just mindlessly chop people up like in other horrors .  
all for love  as it titled when it was broadcast at the weekend  is a romantic period drama featuring captain saint ives a french officer in napoleons army who is captured by the british and imprisoned in scotland where he meets and falls in love with a young maiden who visits the prison . theres also a storyline involving a murder .  br    br   i will be honest and confess that i wasnt too taken by the movie since im not much of a fan of period dramas and the screenplay feels somewhat episodic but i will say that this is well acted by everyone involved and its got a good cast that features miranda richardson  anna friel  richard e grant  michael gough and jason isaacs . the costume design as you can expect is also excellent  br    br   ill be very surprised if this movie doesnt get any complaints after being broadcast on bbc  at teatime . captain saint ives lies in bed with a prostitute where a nipple is fully exposed and theres a scene of french prisoners bathing that includes full frontal male nudity not to mention a murder scene where blood is clearly seen . you really do have to worry if bbc schedulers have any type of clue as to what theyre doing  
another pokemon movie has hit the theaters  and again  i  m hearing the same old   pokemon is dead  blah blah blah .  the franchise  s detractors couldn  t be more wrong . kids are still playing the trading card game  they  re still watching the tv series  they  re waiting for the game boy advance games  and they want to see  pokemon the  th movie .   br    br   that said   pokemon the  th movie  introduces us to two more  legendary  pokemon suicune  the  north wind  of lore  and celebi  guardian of the forest  and star of the show  . celebi transports itself and a boy named sam   years into the future  to the present day  where pokemon trainer ash  his faithful pikachu  and his friends brock and misty are traveling through johto . sam and ash become fast friends  once they discover the other  s mutual love for pokemon  sam  s vintage pokeball with screw  on top is a great moment  . together  they decide to protect celebi from the villain of the story  the team rocket agent aptly named vicious  who is hell  bent on capturing celebi for his own ends . will ash and sam be able to protect celebi from vicious  dark balls  where does suicune fit into the picture  will jessie  james  and meowth have bigger parts in this movie than before  and just who is sam  really   br    br   like with the first  movies  if you go into the movie deciding that you  re automatically going to hate it no matter what simply because it  s pokemon  or just because your child  niece  nephew  younger sibling  et cetera  dragged  you into it   then you  re going to hate it because you  ve decided that you want to hate it . that may be  but to blindly trash  pokemon the  th movie  simply because it is a pokemon movie  and especially without having seen it  is just plain stupid . even non  fans can enjoy this movie without having to know every last detail of the world of pokemon . i  m not saying that you will become a pokemon fan because of this movie  but you can indeed enjoy it  if you  ll let yourself .  br    br   unlike the first  pokemon movies   pokemon the  th movie  is being distributed by miramax  who i  ve heard is also working on securing the rights to the  th pokemon movie  which was released this past summer in japan . miramax claims to have some boffo  aggressive marketing strategy for  pokemon the  th movie   but all i  ve seen so far is a feeble limited release  which doesn  t include the usual pikachu short in the beginning  which i was really looking forward to this time . i hope that miramax will see fit to put the pikachu short  called  pikachu  s exciting hide  and  seek   onto at least the dvd  vhs release  if not with a future wider release of  pokemon the  th movie .  i hope that the current release is just the tip of the iceberg for this very entertaining film .  
this thing was bad . really bad . i mean  low budget can sometimes be very inspiring  but not this . the story was so off  the  shelf  the alien  s behaviour so illogical  the characters so cliched . i found nothing good in it . and i did try .  
i can  t see the point in burying a movie like this in sulfuric sarcasm  when it is in no way intended to be anything more than a vehicle to entertain children and prepare them for the next line of merchandise to beg madly about .  br    br   this is a fun movie . my children sat quietly through the entire thing and loved every minute of it . granted  the villain is a bit over the top with his silly costume and maniacal laugher  but this is a lot more easier to take than the dark  gloomy  and very morbid pokemon  .  br    br   my children have been watching pokemon since it started and they are soon getting to the ages where they will  put off the childish things  and move on to others . i am glad that we got to enjoy this together .  
i  m a big fan of movies that make you think . i  m still thinking long and hard about this one  fully seven minutes after the credits have rolled . what  s really confounding my neurons is the attempt to fathom the relevance to the plot of the naked girlie fondling her slick oily body  made extra  tacky by being filmed on cheap video . this happens three times and i was certain it would be explained in the end . i put my trust in the film  makers that this lurid attempt to lure viewers would be justified . it was not .  br    br   the movie has to be the most apathetic i  ve come across in the genre . the sets look like a cross between a     s dr who set and someone  s ill  formed idea of a sponge  painted living room . the lighting is unimaginative  if your sets are going to be that bad  at least film them in semi  darkness to hide the plasterboard and create some ambiance  . of the abducted quartet  the girl stands out as being particularly lame  but none of them is given a personality . the aliens  plans for world domination are just plain silly  all they need is a birth control pill and their problems are solved . most of the movie consists of people running down corridors . yes  it really is that exciting . the  ray gun  special effect is . . . curious  to say the least  what use is a weapon that takes a    second concentrated blast to kill  and even then the guy comes back for more   . the script is like a bad episode of the a  team  and the ladies  hairstyles come from the same era  so they look like school teachers instead of an advance team of murderous alien invaders . when we finally get to see what the aliens really look like  they  re in suspended animation and never even get out of their boxes . the resolution of the story  traitor alien simply has a few words with invading fleet commander and without a second thought he heads home  is truly the sign of a writer who  s never had an idea more complex than a saturday morning cartoon  i mean the bad ones with no plot  action  or characterization  in his or her life .  br    br   but seriously  what is with the naked chick   was it really just so they could justify putting flesh on the dvd cover to boost sales   
as a pokmon fan i enjoyed this movie very much . it introduces new legendary pokmon  as each movie does  and adds depth to the relationships between its characters . i however do not expect those who are not pokmon fans to enjoy it  this includes most adults  . some of the lines were corny  but that can be somewhat unavoidable when dubbing the movie over to english . the animation was beautiful  although there were a couple parts that did not look good . and although the villain is kind of corny  i think that the movies have done a good job of cycling through different types of villains  and i guarantee you that they aren  t all like this one . those who did not like it  i say to each his own  but pokmon fans will love it .  
pyare mohan can be safely included in the blacklist of one of the worst  ever films made by mankind . the film  one of the many handicapped  people flicks that arose after the phenomenal success of black is makes a mockery of the handicapped fraternity . vivek oberoi and fardeen khan are mere caricatures of handicapped people . while black portrayed the poignancy and emotions of a handicapped woman and gave us a glimpse of her world  pyare mohan shows two desperado  like monkeys who have no qualms about being handicapped and bash up half of the world to protect their love interests . anu malik  s music is fair enough . vivek oberoi who made a promising start with saathiya is sadly losing his balls quickly in hindi cinema . fardeen khan was never an acceptable actor and deserves to be banned from the film industry . amrita rao and esha deol are just pretty damsels in distress having nightmarish times in thialnd with no one to save them  except for the afore  mentioned desperados . boman irani  as the villainous don toni  is somewhat acceptable . avoid the film if possible .  
the late   s and early   s were a golden age for adventure movies  what with the rise in budgets during the economic recovery  the changes to screen entertainment since the production code became enforced and the general carefree optimism of the times . while most of these were rip  roaring swashbucklers about the wild  superhuman and often frankly misogynistic exploits of heartthrobs like errol flynn and tyrone power  gunga din is very different in its focus  scope and tone .  br    br   part of gunga din  s secret is the division of labour in its writing team . the original story is by ben hecht and charles macarthur  two of the most skilled and celebrated writers of hollywood  s golden age . however the actual screenplay was the work of joel sayre and fred guiol  both of whom  guiol especially  had a background in comedy . what we get from these four is a plot that is well  balanced and engaging  yet also cleverly spiced up with comical touches . most of the adventure flicks of this time were at least partly comedies  usually featuring one or two comic  relief supporting players  but they didn  t use laughs in the way gunga din does . here  all the main characters are capable of being objects or originators of jokes . we see the sinister menace of the bad guys suddenly diffused as the scene dissolves into a light  hearted brawl . the first main battle scene is an even  handed blend of action and gags  in the style of the silent swashbucklers of douglas fairbanks  sr .  something which the flynn and power vehicles largely failed to replicate . towards the middle of gunga din the action must necessarily take a break and there are lots of talky scenes for the sake of the plot . however the continual forays into comedy  such as the spiked punch routine  make this  slow  portion bearable .  br    br   producer  director george stevens was a natural when it came to this sort of thing  himself having cut his teeth at the hal roach studios  and almost exclusively having directed comedy up to this point . this was his first full  on action feature  and he does a startlingly good job . in particular his use of moving point  of  view shots make the battle scenes extra exhilarating . he also brings something you seldom see in action pictures of this era  a sense of real dread and fear . he sets this up with those stark and foreboding mountains dominating many of the shots and dwarfing the characters . the portrayal of the abandoned village and the thuggee cultists cry of  kali   is genuinely haunting . this dimension of fear plays into all the other emotions that are at work here  causing us to worry for these likable characters  and making the comedy a greater relief of tension .  br    br   a real touch of genius is in the way the eponymous hero is introduced to the audience . we are made aware of din visually  as he is prominent in a number of scenes before any of the characters actually address him or verbally refer to him . because of this  we are given the impression that din is not an important figure within the regiment  but he quickly becomes a notable character to us  and crucially a sympathetic one  as we see him risking his life and giving water to dying men .  br    br   but the best efforts of writers and directors are all for nought without a capable cast . fear not  for gunga din has a top  notch one  victor mclaglan and cary grant were ideally suited to the material  since their best roles were generally found somewhere on the spectrum between drama and comedy . grant in particular is at his best  largely believable but just occasionally breaking into that over  the  top whooping and capering that was his trademark . douglas fairbanks  jr . is not quite up to the standard of his heavyweight companions  but he is by no means bad . and of course there is sam jaffe  cursed by his looks to forever play these wizened little oddballs  but who else could play them with such dignity and humanity  i have not set out to bash the swashbuckling adventures of errol flynn and tyrone power  and indeed many of their pictures are absolute classics that i love absolutely . but gunga din does things that even the best of those swashbucklers could never achieve . not only does it dispense with the dashing male lead or the clichd defiant damsel  it successfully merges the action genre with comedy and poignancy  in a way that few pictures have done before or since . and that  s fabulous .  
after the reasonably successful masti which was tad better inder kumar returned again with a comedy pyaare mohan based on the hollywood film see no evil  hear no evil  br    br   the film reminds you of hum hai kamaal ke       where kader and anupam play the blind and deaf  br    br   this movie is a tedious exercise  br    br   the film has jokes of such nonsense that you don  t feel like laughing like snehal dabi  s head getting stuck in the back of the horse and all those type comedies which we don  t laugh at now but mock  br    br   the film starts off in a clichd manner and some scenes are funny sadly such moments don  t last long as the story never moves in this half even the comedy gets boring the twist is well handled and the second half becomes an action film where the blind guy and the deaf go to rescue the heroines and we have all ott chase scenes and fight scenes  br    br   direction by inder kumar is bad music is okay  one song stands out i love you my angel  br    br   vivek is awful in the comic scenes  his timing is very bad and is okay in serious scenes for some reason he keeps doing comedy and ruined his career fardeen khan is tad better but too wooden amongst the rest esha and amrita are the heroines boman irani annoys here snehal dabbi is okay  
this happy  go  luck     military swashbuckler  based rather loosely on rudyard kipling  s memorable poem as well as his novel  soldiers three   qualifies as first  rate entertainment about the british imperial army in india in the     s . cary grant delivers more knock  about blows with his knuckled  up fists than he did in all of his movies put together . set in faraway india  this six  fisted yarn dwells on the exploits of three rugged british sergeants and their native water bearer gunga din  sam jaffe  who contend with a bloodthirsty cult of murderous indians called the thuggee . sergeant archibald cutter  cary grant of  the last outpost    sergeant macchesney  oscar  winner victor mclaglen of  the informer    and sergeant ballantine  douglas fairbanks  jr . of  the dawn patrol    are a competitive trio of hard  drinking  hard  brawling  and fun  loving alpha males whose years of frolic are about to become history because ballantine plans to marry emmy stebbins  joan fontaine  and enter the tea business . naturally  cutter and macchesney drum up assorted schemes to derail ballentine  s plans . when their superiors order them back into action with sgt . bertie higginbotham  robert coote of  the sheik steps out    cutter and macchesney drug higginbotham so that he cannot accompany them and ballantine has to replace him . half of the fun here is watching the principals trying to outwit each other without hating themselves . director george stevens celebrates the spirit of adventure in grand style and scope as our heroes tangle with an army of thuggees . lenser joseph h . august received an oscar nomination for his outstanding black  white cinematography .  
this movie is even a big step down form the typical fare dished out by bollywood . the performances were horrible . even boman irani  who always manages to shine  goes completely ott as the villain . the soundtrack is not memorable either . and in spite trying hard  the female leads don  t manage to be  sexy  . vivek oberoi is capable of far better projects while fardeen khan seems to be stuck in similar fare for the time being . but this monstrosity is even beneath his limited capabilities as an actor . esha deol and amrita rao are horrible in badly written clich roles . it  s high time for indra kumar to hang up his directorial hat . hope he never directs another eyesore like this . future of hindi movies are in better hands now . to sum it up  stay far away from waste of celluloid .  
early hollywood at it  s best   a classic kipling poem is transformed into an epic adventure featuring memorable performances by a stellar cast . i think the measure of a good film is how many times you can watch it and still genuinely enjoy it . i  ve seen it a dozen times and still cry at the end and  admit it  you do too    
dil was a memorable movie that bring to the celluloid a great director like indra kumar . the movie followed with beta  ishq  raja  masti all of whom were superb .  br    br   but then every successful director gives a few horrible movies alongwith some hits too . pyare mohan is one such movie .  br    br   though the comedies are told nicely but then they fail the viewer to laugh . comparing with the kind of comedy movies being made today this is a dumb .  br    br   if you really want to watch a movie and laugh  please don  t watch this . because the pathetic comedy will make you cry only .  br    br   in short  the movie is worth a miss .  
i only saw it once . this happened in      i was seven  the movie   .  br    br   we were so young . . . but i kept in mind  forever  the strong moments of gunga  s sacrifice .  br    br   i realized that time how much a people can be hardly submitted and used by a foreign nation . under these historical circumstances  in the movie  the personal relation of friendship  a kind of friendship that ignores itself  the one raised between people who share daily life  who see each other faces  who knows each other names  but belong to different worlds  can only make appears . then  in the most critical moments a troubling question emerges  whom are we  in first  supposed to be loyal    which people  family  motherland  the person you know close to you  . you do not have time to give a perfect answer  urgency is there  and it is for life or death . gunga  din gives his answer with sacrifice of himself . somewhere  in a confuse manner  a problem remains unsolved  the emotion grows with the rhythm of the movie until somebody dies  just one life  nothing compared to so many other fictions or realities we can see today  because this death  this unique vanishing life i lived it  i shared with my child unconditional friendship . it was lived by the spectator i was . that day i loose gunga  din for ever . as i left behind  later  my pretty childhood  as i left from then so many worlds i lived in . i left all that for good and these lines are today a short visit i didn  t expect to do this morning when getting up .  
this was director von stroheim  s third effort  it is quite crude and shows none of the exceptional flair for the camera and editing mastery he would display a few years later with his masterworks  greed and the wedding march . essentially we have a trio of grifters  masquerading as a russian count and two russian princesses who have rented a villa in monte carlo . their aim is to use counterfeit money at the gambling tables and win a fortune . part of that plan is for the count  von stroheim  to insinuate himself between a visiting american ambassador and his  foolish  wife  wooing her and hoping to gain some money by playing on her weaknesses . he makes the mistake of also taking the life savings of the maid  whom he has promised to marry . when she sees them together  she sets fire to the room   von stroheim and his prey are on the room  s balcony  . here von stroheim first establishes his persona as  the man you love to hate .  he is thoroughly bad and his character flaws eventually bring him to a very bad and deserved end . the film is crude in its cinematography and editing and not worth seeing unless you are fascinated by the director . there is a cute bit  when he first attempts to meet the ambassador  s wife  she is reading a book  we see the title  foolish wives by erich von stroheim . this was originally envisioned as a    minute film  cut down to    minutes by the studio and finally released at   minutes . the restoration on kino video restores surviving footage  damaged in some way in most scenes  from the alternate earlier version to give us a    minute print .  
this movie had it all  action  comedy  heroics  and best of all some of the finest actors . gunga din will remain a classic to be enjoyed by all who like good movies . excellent picture  i have it in my collection .  
three russian aristocrats soak up the decadence of monte carlo  despite the fact they are down to their last franc . in order to support their lavish lifestyle  the three use the services of a counterfeiter  and use the notes at the casinos  hoping to exchange the bogus currency for a jackpot . andrew hughes  a us envoy  arrives at monaco with his wife helen  and the three decide to make pals with the visitors  hoping for financial assistance . one of the three russians  count sergius karamzin  plans to go further  with continuous advance towards helen  while disappointing the count  s maid  who loves sergius . eventually  circumstances play their hand against the three aristocrats . its obvious that von stroheim was trying to convey a message  with the foolishness of american women and the improper behaviors of the aristocrats   rather than tell a story  and the film really can bore modern audiences  like me  easily by doing that . even the acting  which is great in later evs like greed and the wedding march  is just run of the mill here . the film could have used improvements on various levels . rating   .  
cary grant  douglas fairbanks jr . and victor mclaglen are three soldiers in   th century india who  with the help of a water boy  sam jaffe  rid the area of the murderous thuggee cult . the chemistry between the actors helps make this one of the most entertaining movies of all time . sam jaffe is exceptional as the outcast water boy who is mistreated by all and still wants to be accepted as a soldier in the company . loosely based on rudyard kipling  s poem . a must see by anyone who enjoys this type of movie .  
this movie is like the material s . e . hinton was writing in the     s and copola was adapting to the screen in the early   s  and  had trueblood actually been a product of either  the results might  ve been much better  especially in the acting department  . instead  we get a rather so  bad  its  funny piece of mediocrity .  br    br   jeff fahey plays ray trueblood  a former street rumbler  i suppose is the accurate description . this was in the days of action movies that used guys in their   s and mid   s and dressed them up in greaser threads or some kind of more effeminate selection of gang garb and they fought to lousy   s music . nonetheless  ray is the lone caretaker of his younger brother  donny  chad lowe in a part where he screams a lot   who he is forced to leave behind inexplicably in a train station when  on the run from the cops  he is nabbed and forced to serve time in the marines . flash forward to present day and ray is back in town and looking for his brother who has also become part of the street gangs  although in a gang that was ray  s adversary and now old scores must be violently settled  and again  cops must be dodged and this time  a lady  s honor defended in the action film sense  before ray can carry on life at normal pace with his brother  donny .  br    br   for the most part  the film is quite ridiculous . for me  most of this has to do with far too much overacting  although not by fahey or sherlyn fenn who plays the waitress he befriends . the guys in the gang and lowe himself seem to do quite a bit of needless exaggerated as new york street toughs . although  the bigger hang up is recycled plot lines and perhaps a kind of movie that was well past its prime as a product of     .  
this is a ripsnorting  old  fashioned adventure yarn . i understand that by today  s political standards  the treatment of the indians was unacceptable . but this moving isn  t about politics . it  s about action  dialogue  comradery  acting  direction  music  and photography  and it  s marvelous on all these factors . grant  fairbanks  and mclaglen are electric together  and jaffe is superb . this is the ultimate buddy movie .  
why do movie makers always go against the author  s work  i mean  yes  things have to be condensed for the sake of viewer interest  but look at anne of green gables . they did a wonderful job of combining important events into a cohesive whole that was simply delightful . i can  t believe that they chose to combine three novels together for anne of avonlea into such a dreadful mess . look at all they missed out on by doing that . . . paul irving  little elizabeth  the widows  windy poplars . . . and anne  s college years  for heaven  s sake    wouldn  t it have been delightful to meet priscilla and all the rest of the redmond gang  kevin sullivan should have taken things one movie at a time  instead of jumbling them all together and combining characters and events the way he did . this movie was good  if you leave the novels out of it   but l . m . montgomery  s beautiful work is something that should not be denied . this movie was a let down after seeing the successful way he brough anne of green gables to life .  
as a sequel  this is not a bad movie . i actually liked it better than the  st one . i found it more entertaining . it seemed like it was shot documentary style . at first this bothered me  as i thought it just looked too low budget . but it grew on me  and it made the movie seem more authentic . this movie has more dry one liners than the original  which is a good thing  in my opinion . i do think at times they went a bit over the top with some of the scenes and the characters . it almost becomes a parody of itself  which may be the point . this movie at least has some suspense  which the  st one did not have  in my view . it has some of the same great music from the original  which is great . the acting again was pretty decent for the most part  though like i said  some of it seemed over the top . i also felt that the movie loses a lot of momentum towards the end and there are a few minutes which seem really slow and just don  t seem to flow  like the rest of the movie . overall  though  i thought this was a pretty sequel . my rating for  return to cabin by the lake  is       
i found this film to be quite an oddity . from the very get go i found it extremely hard to like this movie  and now after a little thinking about it i can pretty much pinpoint the reason why . jean  marc barr  although i love him to bits  i think zentropa is one of the best movies ever made  is quite miscast here  and although i can  t figure for the life of me who would be better  i am sure someone could have taken his place quite easily and make this film work . everything else is fine  except for the stabs at weak comedy  a meet the parents joke is not really needed  filmmakers   and i really like richard e . grant as the british major . it just suffers from one thing . . jean  marc .  
the film is based on kipling  s heroic lines that inspire hollywood  s biggest movie     . out of the drumbeat rhythm of kipling  s most famous   lines rises a picture that will become known as the one great movie of the year . big on the score of its armies in battle  its war elephants  its bandit hordes  its terror temples thugs and mystic mountains of india . the picture is bigger still in its scope and sweep  is thrill and action but biggest biggest of all in the life breathes through three  gary grant  victor mclagen and douglas fairbanks jr  roaring  reckless  swaggering sons of the thundering gunfighters men who stride its mighty scenes in the flesh and blood of high adventure  it  s a honest film of it all that makes gunga din a new experience in entertainment . joan fontaine gambled her against the valiant sergeants three . the romance between fontaine and fairbanks jr aflame through dangerous days and nights of terror in a land where anything can happen . the motion picture has thrills for a thousand movies plundered for one mighty show . it  s a fabulous  furious and far  flung adventure with the red  blood and gunpowder heroes who rise from the storied mystery of india and storm the screen with the lusty  rousing  robust life  thunder of men who fight for the love of it and love for the fun of it . the pictures is interpreted for the brave and roguish gary grant who rounded hundred villains thugs and the mean guru  eduardo ciannelli   grant shouts  you  re under arrest  . besides is the heroic water man  sam jaffe  who regiment colonel  montagu love  says of him  you  re a better man than i am  gunga din   
we faw down  br    br   aspect ratio  .      br    br   sound format silent  br    br    black and white  short film   br    br   stan  n  ollie get mixed up with a couple of floozies  kay deslys and vera white  after setting out to visit a theatre which burns down in their absence  needless to say  their tyrannical wives  vivien oakland and bess flowers  are not amused . . .  br    br   leo mccarey  s ok comedy laid the narrative framework for william seiter  s masterpiece sons of the desert        with lh playing brow  beaten victims of circumstance  forced to tell a monstrous lie which backfires in spectacular fashion . much of it is very funny  especially the scene in which stan is teased by deslys  leading to a violent game of push and shove . however  some of the fun is undercut by oakland and flowers  playing their roles completely straight  which adds an element of unpleasantness to the  henpecked husband  scenario . originally released in the uk as we slip up .  
  now in india  s sunny  clime  where i use to spend my time as a soldier in the service of her majesty the queen . . .  so goes the famous poem penned by rudyard kipling . this is the literal foundation upon which the movie  gunga din  is based . if you are fortunate enough to watch this legendary classic  you will enjoy films the way they use to make them for the sheer pleasure . taken from the script of the established novelist and poet  this is a story of a humble indian native named gunga din  sam jaffe  who works as  a regimental beasty  during the british occupation of india during the   th century . his greatest wish is to become a soldier . the water boy is part of a british calvary contingent threatened with death by a notorious blood cult of kali called the  thuggee .  three particular soldiers stand out in this company who are noted for their bravery and comradeship . first is handsome and debonair  cary grant playing sgt . archibald cutter . next is victor mclaglen as courageous sgt . macchesney and finally there  s flamboyant douglas fairbanks jr . as sgt . thomas ballantine . all three and their fellow soldiers are surrounded by a hoard of mountain stranglers led by their fanatical leader called the  guru   eduardo ciannelli  . amid the chaos of war  is the brave water  boy who hopes to earn a place in the army by playing a bugle he found . a solid story for an old black and white film which needs little fanfare for anyone looking to enjoy a classic .   
this is one of those topics i can relate to a little more than most people as i hate noise  have no idea how those in big cities  new york especially how people get any sleep at all  it astounds me that people can stand all the noise out there these days . the basic plot of the film is that it makes for an interesting topic . it  s too bad that  s about it . tim robbbins is decent although except for a couple of scenes  especially with the absolute supermodel looking margarita leiveva  he didn  t seem to really be altogether there . my biggest hope for this film is that casting agents will see the absolutely stunning  talented actress to boot  margarita levieva . she doesn  t have a lot to do  but she is supermodel beautiful . even when they are trying to make her look at more girl next door . it makes me sad that there can be people such as paris hilton  kim kardashian in the world w  no redeemable skills or talent  to have more fame and success than this talented beauty . i didn  t care for much of this film because the script isn  t very good  but am glad i got to see some new talent . i hope that producers  directors think about margarita when they need a beautiful new actress to be in there big budget film . if they can make megan fox a star  c  mon she isn  t that hot   her acting  talent  is worse than made  for disney channel tv shows  from  film  it should happen easily for her  as she is gorgeous  has talent  i  d recommend her changing her last name so we can pronounce it and make it more marketable . here  s hoping this makes her career   if there is any justice she can pop up on some big summer movie or two in the next couple years .  
the story of the untouchable who acted like a great soldier  saving the lives of hundreds if not thousands  is told in the     film  gunga din .  based loosely on the rudyard kipling poem  the film is brilliantly directed by george stevens and stars cary grant  douglas fairbanks jr . and victor mclagen . the title role is played by sam jaffe  well known in my era as ben casey  s boss  dr . zorba  a name that became synonymous with big  out of control hair . say  dr . zorba hair  to anyone of my generation  and they know what you  re talking about .  br    br   set in india at the time of the british occupation  three soldiers  two romantic  dashing figures in grant and fairbanks  and mclagen as a big lug  are cut  ups  in reality  three overgrown boys . gunga din is the water carrier  treated somewhat meanly  verbally  anyway  by mcchesney  mclaglen   but cutter  grant  is fond of him . when he catches din  pronounced deen  practicing being his soldier walk and salute as he apes the unit during their maneuvers  cutter gives him a few pointers .  br    br   the merry band of musketeers is going to break up when ballantine  fairbanks  announces he  s about to be married to a lovely young woman  joan fontaine  and leaving the service . however  when gunga din and cutter run across thugees  a murderous cult led by a guru  eduardo cianelli   gunga din escapes to warn the unit  and ballantine insists on re  enlisting to help save cutter . it  s a buddy movie after all .  br    br    gunga din  starts out lightheartedly  with slapstick and wonderful  broad comedy  particularly by cary grant  who is quite funny . both he and fairbanks are so handsome  it  s hard to decide which one to look at first . much of the film is made up of huge action sequences which are very exciting . in the last part  the story becomes very dramatic and culminates in a tense  thrilling battle .  br    br   grant has the showiest role  fairbanks is the lovesick romantic  and mclaglen as mcchesney  mostly due to his treatment of gunga din  is the most unlikeable character  although one detects his soft heart in his love for his elephant annie . his softness comes through toward the end of the movie  particularly in the very touching  tear  jerking final scene .  br    br   always a gentle and likable actor  sam jaffe gives a beautiful performance as gunga din  a simple  brave man with a big smile  powerful imagination and lofty dreams . without much dialogue  jaffe conveys gunga din  s soul magnificently .  br    br   this is truly the ultimate adventure film  massive in scope  with good acting  rousing scenes  a wonderful musical score  and some beautiful cinematic images . another one from that remarkable year      . highly recommended .  
what  noise  fails to do is get us to understand its character . tim robbins plays an obsessive new yorker who can  t deal with the obtrusive noises of the city any longer  particularly car alarms . it  s an odd idea for a film  which has about as much creative credibility as  death wish .  it is clever at points particularly a scene in which our hero is trying to read through hagel   i  m too stupid to be understanding this .  he reads and rereads a paragraph in confusion  we read it and don  t get it either . just then a car alarm goes off . throughout the movie is constant interference of alarms and city noises . though  all in all it does little to help us understand our hero  who allows this all to ruin his marriage and gets distracted with side plots instead of digging deeper  into his persona .  br    br   the film  making itself is too oblivious to notice its own sound problems  shoddy editing  and visible boom mikes . no   noise  isn  t all  bad . william hurt is at least colorful . at least the ending doesn  t fall flat . overall it drives home a logistical point  one you haven  t probably thought of . at least i hadn  t . though all in all  ninety minutes long  it couldn  t have ended sooner . the story dragged on and seemed to be lost as soon as it started .  br    br   this is another one of those movies that you might see at a film festival  but probably won  t get picked up for distribution . check it out on dvd if you  re really partial to someone involved in the project . otherwise skip it .  
gunga din       is based on rudyard kipling  s poem . the movie is directed by george stevens . it  s set in india during the   th century where three british soldiers have to stop an evil guru and his murderous cult . gunga din is a marvelous adventure war comedy with plenty of thrilling moments . the three leading men are brilliant . cary grant is sgt . archibald cutter  victor mclaglen is sgt .  mac  macchesney and douglas fairbanks jr .  the son of the legendary you know who  is sgt . thomas ballantine . let  s not forget the other fine players who include sam jaffe playing gunga din himself in a brilliant way . the beautiful and gifted joan fontaine is emaline stebbins . it  s awfully fun to watch the difficulties of tommy  s and emmy  s wedding plans . gunga din is awfully lot of fun . it can be funny  it can be thrilling . it can be everything a good movie requires .  
i  ve been using imdb for a few years now  but have never written any reviews before . however  this movie so disappointed me  even with a modest score of  .  at the time of writing  that i couldn  t keep quiet anymore .  br    br   noise is the story of a new yorker  tim robbins  who is so perturbed by noise pollution that he takes on an alter  ego as a as a vigilante   the rectifier   and vandalizes any cars he finds with a car  alarm sounding .  br    br   i take the name of the movie to be somewhat of a misnomer . although there are one or two instances of other sources of noise being addressed or mentioned  the only true focus of our protagonist is car alarms . car alarms  car alarms  car alarms . there is really no other focus . when the movie tries to tie other examples of noise pollution to the problem of car alarms  it seems to be just thrown in to give merit to the actions of robbins  character .  br    br   yes  we  re all annoyed by noise . nobody likes the sound of car alarms . of course we all have that internal urge to take a baseball bat to a shrieking vehicle  and this movie uses that fact  and pretty much that fact alone  to sell this movie . i say  pretty much  because there is also a blatantly contrived sexual relationship  including a completely needless threesome  which is obviously thrown in for those movie  goers who need such things thrown in in order to enjoy a movie . honestly  it  s eye  rolling .  br    br   robbin  s character  very shortly into the movie  becomes completely unrelatable . it seems less that he decides not to put up with the noise anymore  and more that by focusing so much on the noise he has begun to lose his sanity . the first half of the movie is essentially the story of how he turns from just an angry  car  bashing dude into this hero of the little guy  the rectifier . however . . . the transformation doesn  t take place . he just renames himself .  br    br   i could go on for a while . annoying generalized social commentary comes in every now and then to add to the pretentiousness of the movie  and the self  satisfied smirk which never quite leaves robbins face doesn  t help either .  br    br   overall  i think it  s very obvious what this movie is trying to be  as it  s pretty much shoved down your throat  but in my opinion  it fails in a big way . just one guy  s opinion  cheers .  
  gunga din   one of the greatest adventure stories ever told  a story about the british foreign legion in   th century india and a lowly  water  bearer  named gunga din  a local denizen who aspires to be just like his military counterparts three british sergeants whose loyalty and camaraderie for each other extend far beyond the bounds of mere patriotism . their  s is a true and abiding friendship for one another and each would be willing to sacrifice his own life for the good of the other . gunga din longs to be a soldier too  a bugler in particular  but can never attain that rank due to his subordinate social standing . however  heroes are not made according to their social credentials  they  re made through their willingness to sacrifice for the greater good of others . gunga din tries at every turn to prove his mettle  but will he ever attain the rank he so passionately seeks  . . . .  you  re a better man than i am  gunga din   one of hollywood  s classics and a perfect        
mirror . mirror       is a flat out lame movie . why did i watch movies like this when i was younger  who knows  maybe i was one for punishing myself by watching one terrible movie after another . i don  t know  i guess i needed a hobby during my teen years . a teenage outcast  rainbow harvest  seeks solace in an old mirror . soon she learns about the horrific power this antique mirror has and uses it to strike out against those who have wronged her . movies like these  the power giver has a nasty side effect . this one changes her inside and out if she likes it or not .  br    br   a mess of a movie that for some reason was restored on d . v . d . a few years back . i don  t know why . they should have left it on the shelf and collect dust . people love this movie foe some reason . if you do i would like to know why . until then i dislike this movie and i have no reason to ever watch it again .  br    br   not recommended at all .  
this  and not a certain slightly overrated southern soap opera  was the greatest epic to come out of hollywoods greatest year      . i will not not restate the obvious  cary grant  victor mclaglen  who was a bengal lancer   and douglas fairbanks jr . give superb comic performances . however  i want to note two other  less understood elements of this masterpiece . the magnificent final battle sequence  as the wonderful sam jaffe climbs laboriously up to the pinnacle of the temple to blow his bugle and warn the regiment  is simply grand . it never fails to enthrall me . yet another underrated element in the film is eduardo ciannelli  s performance as the guru . this is no fu manchu caricature  but an well drawn  articulate  historically informed   have you ever heard of changruputra maurya  he defeated the armies left in india by alexander the great   villain . indeed  one can see parallels between this mystical  evil nationalist and a certain well known figure of the thirties  a german  not an indian  . gunga din  anti  nazi tract  not quite . but still  a tremendous  funny  moving epic .  
i got mirror mirror mainly because yvonne de carlo was in it  i thought she was great in american gothic  but sadly she didn  t have a very big role in this film . it starts off ok and the pace moves along nicely . . . but by the end it starts getting a bit tedious and dull . that  s not to say that this is a boring film  but it  s just very average and nothing spectacular . i didn  t like the  posession  side of it and there were no decent gore scenes . plus the  main  story was very confusing and the ending doesn  t make much sense at all . i did however like the story surrounding the gothic girl and how she got revenge on her tormentors .  br    br   i wouldn  t particularly recommend mirror mirror to horror fans  it  s nothing to wet yourself over .  
its about time that gunga din is released on dvd . i cannot accurately say how many times i have watched this fine film but  i never tire of it . the lead actors worked so well together . victor mclaglen  sgt mcchesney   cary grant  sgt cutter  and douglas fairbanks jr  sgt ballentine  are an unbeatable team .  br    br   i just cannot get over their exploits in india . your first glimpse at the sergeants three  is when you see them engaged in fighting with other soldiers over a so  called treasure map . the three sergeants are sent on an expedition to find out what happened to the communications line an they enter a mostly deserted town  or so they think .  br    br   they engage in the necessary repairs and soon find a few  residents  in hiding . soon after they get attacked by a group of madmen and barely make an escape back to base .  br    br   later they are sent on another mission which gives sgt cutter a chance to go hunting for the gold with din . they find the temple of gold and are trapped by the evil kali supporters . din is sent to fetch help and cutter gets captured . soon mcchesney and ballentine arrive with din  and they are too captured .  br    br   faced with being killed  they watch helplessly as their regiment comes to rescue them . the evil doers watch and are about to spring their surprise attack when a wounded din climbs onto the golden dome and blows his bugle which then alerts the british to the ambush . in doing this  din is shot dead .  br    br   the soldiers attack the evil ones and soon defeat them . at the end  din is honored as he is made an honorary corporal in the british army .  
in the tradition of  carrie  and  heathers   try a shameless ripoff of not only those two films  but  the evil dead  and  the shining  as well .  that said  they really don  t make bad horror movies like this anymore  and that  s a shame   cause it  s a gas .  br    br   rainbow harvest is the winona substitute here  and although she barely does more than mumble her lines  and occasionally scream  you  re ugly     into her haunted mirror   she  s goth way before it  s fashionable  so you have to respect her .  and she  s quite creative about it too  accessorizing with black leather scarves and a kind of black  spray  painted hawaiian  punch  guy hat . eat your heart out  cher .   br    br   karen black overacts a bit  but she  s not totally without dignity  and you can  t help but sympathize with her .  unless you  re a certain friend of mine  who asked  who is that  horse lips from  m . a . s . h    the first time she came onscreen .   br    br   there are decent supporting performances by kristin dattilo  as the square chick who befriends rainbow   ricky paull goldin  in his trademarked wisecracking hunk role   and william larry  darryl and darryl  sanderson  as some kind of pet undertaker  or something  . but it  s sad to see the once smokin  yvonne decarlo reduced to playing what can only be thought of as the charlotte rae part .  br    br   the eighties were the heyday for hilarious  mindbogglingly dumb horror movies like this  and mirror  mirror  was one of the last of its kind . definitely worth a look .  
three sergeants in the british army stationed in india  are sent out to stop an uprising of a tribe of murderers known as the thuggees . one of the sergeants  cutter  leads away from the camp in search of a golden temple and is captured by the thuggees lead by the sinister guru . gunga din  the regiment  s water boy  goes back to the camp for help and the other two sergeants go after him  but are also captured . now the major sends a full detail out after the three  but do not realize that they are walking into a trap set by the thugees . it is though  gunga din who saves the day . excellently made buddy film  even though it is today politically incorrect . grant  mclaglen  and fairbanks do give very humorous and thrilling performances with jaffe very well in the title role and cianelli very sinister as guru . rating    out of   .  
a typical goth chick  rainbow harvest looking like a cross between winona ryder in beetlejuice and boy george  gets even with people she feels have wronged her with the help of an old haunted mirror that she finds in the new house she and her mom  horror mainstay  karen black  the only remotely good thing about this travesty  buy . the acting  s pretty laughably bad  especially when rainbow interacts with the aforementioned mirror  and there are no scares or suspense to be had . this film inexplicably spawned thus for  sequels each slightly more atrocious than the last . people looking for a similarly themed  but far superior cinematic endeavor would be well advised to just search out the episode of  friday the   th the series  where a geeky girl finds an old cursed compact mirror . that packs more chills in it  s scant   minutes than this whole franchise has provided across it  s  films .  br    br   my grade d  br    br   eye candy charlie spradling provides the obligatory ta  
my favorite  imperialism  movie and one of the best action  adventure flicks of all time . grant  mclaglen and fairbanks dominate the screen with daring  do and wise cracks to please all but the most  pc  of film goers . memorable scenes abound   the  sergeants and their   sepoys fighting off hundreds of thugs macchesney  cutter giving bobby coote the spiked punch   save some for the elephant    cutter to macchesney    i  m an expedition   din breaking cutter out of jail  with a fork   what do you think i  m trying to break out of  a bleedin  pudding    and the incredible temple scene with cutter singing and then annoucing  bold as brass    all right  you  re all under arrest    br    br   i could go on  but suffice it to say i try to catch this film whenever it is on . for armchair adventurers and generals  it  s hard to imagine a better  hours .  
another priyadarshan  vohra flick another movie that was seen for tp rather than actual desire  the only reason i did see this movie was the fact that the regulars were not there in this movie  akshay paresh and many others   but needless to say i had low expectations from this movie .  br    br   i was happy with the casting in general except  rajpal yadav who once again annoys to no limit  he does however extract some laughs  but these were those standard slapstick non  original jokes  in fact this whole movie is like playing the dhol  i mean it takes hardly any talent to make loud noise  or even play the odd good beat on the dhol for a small time does it   its only those who can carry different beats in a nice sequential manner  for an extended period who are considered great .  br    br   which brings us to the other instrument  the dumroo hardly requires any talent  it has no variations  and it may be enjoyable for a while the monkey dances  hmm sounds like rajpal yadav  good analogy   but its not a instrument that will entertain you for long or even get you dancing like the dhol does .  br    br   this movie was like the dhol and the dumroo being played  sometimes the dhol was played sometimes the dumroo  sometimes both together  but mostly the dumroo played alone and the monkey danced . and like any   year old sooner than later i got bored .  br    br   the movie has some good dhol  good  moments but after a while all i heard was the annoying dumroo  entertaining initially  then tolerable then irritating   the large ordinary parts really ensure this movie is mainly good for a few funny clips on  mere bhains ko anda kyun mara   if you haven  t watched it watch it on filmy  it comes in the evenings and is really quite funny  .  br    br   this movie had its moments  the actors did a fine job  except rajpal yadav  who can act though  i  ve seen him in main meri patni  who annoys more than entertains  i  ve said it many time and i  ll say it again i really think sharman joshi and tushar kapoor have a fine career ahead of them in the multi  star comedies especially .  br    br   some scenes were really funny such as the aborted attempts to impress the girls father  the zany attempts to woo the girl and take her away from each other .  br    br   but after this was over there was a failed attempt to make this movie into much more with a mystery added  this mean that once the girl was in  the following      mins was increasingly torturous  the climax was  so bad its almost good category   i mean what were they thinking if you had to have tense ending at least make some attempt to make it palatable .  br    br   the movie is also extremely predictable  there  s hardly a scene you cant predict and you wont be breaking into spontaneous burst of laughter here  its more like you see it coming and almost start laughing before the gag .  br    br   the movie follows a gradual decline throughout the movies except for the odd bump  down or up  and then rapidly tumbles downhill once they have made friends with the girl .  br    br   most of the really bad scenes were towards the end  one the movie tries to be more than a run of the mill comedy  also many of the jokes were very very stale and reeked of repetition  the last      was especially distatefull and completely spoils this movie .  br    br   i didn  t find tanushree datta quite the siren she was to play  and her acting talent is in serious question  especially in view of her non  appealing looks  if you cant be a hot and cant act how much time can you survive .  br    br   technically also this movie was weak  with the constant female gaze and shoddy lighting and camera  work .  br    br   the songs except the title track were no good either  when the songs played in the  nd half i could feel the collective gasp from the audience .  br    br   in all a movie that  s just ordinary merely because of the cast  and the very low expectations .  br    br   avoiding it wont be a bad idea .  br    br   and if it has to be watched watching it on tv for free or a very cheap matine or something is a must  if you pay full multiplex rates you will feel disappointed .  br    br    s lots of stale jokes  rajpal yadav  last   mins and last   mins especially  bad technically  bad songs .  br    br      s tries to be more than what it was  not the regular cast  i  m happier for it   tanushree datta .  br    br   s some good scenes towards the beginning  title song  good acting and cast except ry .  br    br   total  .      i  m trying to be objective here  i don  t like rajpal yadav or tanushree datta and this movie did meet my very low expectations  so i  m giving it the benefit of all doubts  on absolute terms this movie was not more than a    
i did not know for some time in my youth all that could in general be known about this film however the ways of making a film was not what in fact drew my attention  what made this motion picture one the most liked films even to this very day that i have ever seen was of the heroism  bravery and the honor to have served in her majestys service . this film is not always what it seems and that is perhaps as it should be  however i cant say enough for the courage exhibited by sgt . cutter in defense of the uniform that he too would of sacrificed his life to save from peril of the sort that they and the troop were threatened with the emergence of this thugee group .  br    br   to be certain sgt . cutter is the kind of individual you might suggest something about and then you watch this unequivocal belief not only in each other but in her majesty the queen of england . i think for all of his lust for money and the such that that character was great . a reckless brave courageous soldier who did not know fear . i think grant was excellent in this role  truly a very capable rendering made compelling by the uniform that he wore . i never felt ballantine was a shoe  in  in fact there was so much confidence in there assumptions that you might be well not to look to close because it is still only a picture . what do i mean  this picture is still only a motion picture and like the times in which these events take place as well as when the picture was actually made provide a look at how things were done then and what or why there are so many different opinions as to this motion picture will distract your attention . both ballantine and machesney are equal in there dedication with both men from time to time providing a unflinching daring as to there jobs as men in the service of her majesty . these three seem to bring things off rather well and i believe it is a useful  even enjoyable interlude when ballantine has a date with destiny or so it would seem only to have fate as you would have it intervene . is it believable  i don  t know . i think it is very fitting when the company having escaped the clutches of death in tantrapur and they are dragging there tails as they are approaching the main gates to the regiments post when ballantine allows the other two to know that he is leaving the service  and getting married and going into the tea business . machesney says he could sign up for another  years . it will make a man out of him . i like that sentiment .  br    br   i don  t think there is any doubt as to just what it means to have brave dependable courageous soldiers representing your very best interests . where does this end  in fact it may never end . those interests are so well placed as to what is important in this world that i enjoy this picture today as much as perhaps i enjoyed the picture when i was ten years old . i had never known about the truthfulness of this film up to recently when i went into history and found the information about kali . there is quite a good deal to learn however once all is said and done about the historical significance of the goddess of kali  this motion picture takes on a quality that i refer to as intelligence . this is a very honest attempt to convey a belief in what is being attempted . i think this is an excellent film . george stevens directed .  br    br   there is a few items to be aware of i don  t think all the information will jive with history however when the journalist is addressed as mr . kipling things can get very emotional because all the rest are characters but this is rudyard kipling  george stevens went over the top to convey a time and a time before when these events actually occurred . the information is honest  compelling and it will not only draw you in but you will need to understand about why we so love gunga din . there is in the distance the black watch is out in front and they are approaching a most certain peril and possible defeat unless the troop can be warned . sgt . cutter is seriously wounded and ballantine as well as machesney are restrained . din having a deep wound at the base of his back as the result of a bayonet thrust deeply into his body from behind is up to the demand of having to warn the colonel of impending peril . with a effort worthy of our most sincerest desires in this life time din slowly climbs and manages to scale the steeple which rests as the top of the tuggee temple . the sound of gunga dins horn allows the approaching army to be forewarned . a very large scale battle ensues and the enemy is nullified . it is so dramatic and tense filled position that as gunga din lay dead on a pile of rocks which his bullet riddled body now shows  sgt . cutter says good work soldier . i don  t know of any more dramatic moment nor one where we learn what sacrifice means then when the troop is forewarned of the impending peril .  br    br   the end is far from being anti  climatic  it is the telling of who gunga din is and what he means now to the honored men in uniform for whom he willing sacrificed . ballantine knows his heart and asks the colonel to take care of his enlistment papers and this makes machesney quite pleased with the colonel being honest places the enlistment papers in his pocket to be dealt with at perhaps at a more appropriate time . the colonel says at the place where now all are gathered that we have all done enough soldiering for one long day and further comments on how pleased there efforts were in defense . machesney says he would rather here that from the colonel than get a bloomin medal . this is a very sober point and then he comes to din . now here is a man who has no actually status so i am going to appoint him a corporal and his name shall be written on the rolls of our honored dead . the poem is read as though it was just penned by kipling himself who stands by the gravesite with the colonel and the rest of the men . gunga din bravo   
the movie starts with a nice song looks like a thriller  with arbaaz khan walking around in a suspicious way but then suddenly we are forced to a comedy with the routine stupid idiots like golmaal with tusshar  sharman  kunal and rajpal acting like grown up kids their scenes are quite funny first and then get boring there is a bored sub plot of tanushree  s brother being killed towards the end the film tries to get serious with the villain kidnapping our heroes but here it gets even stupid then a lengthy bashing bashing climax straight out of hera pheri and wait  there is also a long chase in payal  s house  br    br   the film is so boring that it makes you fall asleep  br    br   direction by priyan is very bad music  pritam  is routine except the first song  br    br   cinematography is bad  the film has a cheap look throughout  br    br   rajpal yadav is good in his  st scene where he goes to pay his rent and i was happy that the actor isn  t loud and over the top like other films but no  he becomes his usual self and gets irritating most of the times tusshar should not speak in a film  his dial delivery is terrible sharman is the saving grace  he is the sole actor who acts very well in this film kunal khemmu tries hard in his first comic film as an adult  but doesn  t impress much tanushree is bad as always arbaaz khan gets less scope and is usual payal is a non actress murli sharma is terrible  
when i first found out that brian krause was going to be in this movie  i wanted to watch . it took me weeks to realize that i  ve seen the original of this and loved it . so i had even more reason to watch . well  i watched . it was actually better than most sequels for tv movies . i hate what happens to brian  s character  you can find out for yourself  and i didn  t like most of the characters  brian  s one included . but the movie needed the cheesy and annoying and jerk  like characters to make stanley caldwell  judd nelson  shine once more . at the end  i was cheering for stanley and his own happy ending . if you liked the original cabin by the lake or if you like horror movies without the blood  i  d suggest you watch this .  
first of all there is gujarati theatre then there is bollywood . both have their strengths and fan following . director vipul shah should look elsewhere instead of gujarati theatre when making a bollywood production . first he made aankhen  adapted from a gujarati play   which had a unique plot  but could not hold as a hindi film . now he  s adapted another gujarati play and named it waqt  a race against time . in sum  the emotions are alien . the plot development is not for hindi films . for example  the role play between father and son is best left to gujarati theatre  don  t bring it in a hindi film . even the comedy track is best left for the gujarati stage . all performances are average  nothing to shout about  barring shefali chhaya shah who is fantastic .  
of all the british imperialist movies like four feathers  charge of the light brigade for example  this movie stands out as the cream of the crop . it reflects a time when  the sun never set on the british empire .  get over it . i won  t go into why because so many others have expressed the many reasons that makes this film great . i have visited the alabama hills and have photographed the pass through which the british marched and it remains as it was  unchanged by time and encroachment by man and vandals . and even though i know it  s coming  seeing din lying dead on a stretcher and when these lines are read  br    br    yes  din  din  din   br    br   you lazarushian  leather gunga din   br    br   though i  ve belted you and flayed you   br    br   by the livin  gawd that made you   br    br   you  re a better man than i am  gunga din   br    br   i still  at   years of age  get misty eyed and anyone who says they don  t is a liar . the range of emotions within it is the mark of a great movie . like the ending of another great film  of mice and men .  
priyadarshan  whenever a person heard his name  his first thought would be  comedy  . that is what this man is known for  or rather  was known for . after giving stupendous blockbuster comedies like hungama  hera pheri and hunchul  his train derailed slowly with movies like chupke chupke and a few others whose names i can  t recollect for now . now with hideous films like dhol  the first word that would strike our mind after hearing his name would be   torture  .  br    br   dhol is a mixture of bad  unfunny toilet jokes  somewhat of drama  poor suspense and idiocracy . the only good thing about dhol was one or two of the scenes which were funny  though not witty  and secondly  except for kunal khemu and the hysterical grandma  the acting was decent .  br    br   speaking of the acting  i felt that rajpal yadav and sharman joshi were at the top  if you compare them with the others in the movie   then came tusshar kapoor  then tanushree and at the last the two idiots mentioned above . the flaw in kunal khemu was that he was loud in his jokes and even in his acting . the grandma  firstly resembled a ghost  plus she was not funny at all but rather silly .  br    br   the plot was the same  seen before one . four boys behind girls and in need of money  but with a few twists . there is a  bad  man who is preposterously stupid and dumb . and at last  the good wins over the bad and everything is fine . the idea of having a dhol with a tone full of cash in it is simply not witty .  br    br   the worst thing about the movie is its length . after an hour or so  you get exhausted and want to leave the theater . but being a critic  it is my responsibility to tolerated the whole two and half hours of the movie . the movie goes on and on and the same kind of jokes are repeated again and again and the situations are perennial just at a different place .  br    br   if your mother  in  law has arrived to your house and starts mocking you at everything  then send her for this movie and have fun .  out of   .  
i have seen this movie many times and each time i watch it i can  t help but be entertained by it . gunga din is one of those classic movies made in hollywoods golden years when the actors themselves had to draw the audience into a movie without relying on fantastic special effects and man made  monsters  to carry a scene . the onscreen charisma and comraderie demonstrated by cary grant  victor mclaglen and douglas fairbanks jr . is suberb and very entertaining to watch . the tongue and cheek attitude in which the three actors play their roles works beutifully and flawlessly . some might consider it  corny  but i consider it  classic  filmaking and acting at its best . one must remember when watching this film that europe was involved in a war with germany and audiences went to the movies to escape from the horrors of war and to be entertained and taken away to a place where people were larger than life and did heroic deeds and good would always conquer over evil . gunga din accomplishes this perfectly by letting the audience laugh at and with the actors during their harrowing escapades . in short  its a classic film that doesnt take itself too seriously and doesnt want the audience to either .  
this is your typical priyadarshan movie   a bunch of loony characters out on some silly mission . his signature climax has the entire cast of the film coming together and fighting each other in some crazy moshpit over hidden money . whether it is a winning lottery ticket in malamaal weekly  black money in hera pheri   kodokoo  in phir hera pheri  etc .  etc .  the director is becoming ridiculously predictable . don  t get me wrong as clichd and preposterous his movies may be  i usually end up enjoying the comedy . however  in most his previous movies there has actually been some good humor   hungama and hera pheri being noteworthy ones  . now  the hilarity of his films is fading as he is using the same formula over and over again .  br    br   songs are good . tanushree datta looks awesome . rajpal yadav is irritating  and tusshar is not a whole lot better . kunal khemu is ok  and sharman joshi is the best .  
 . . . . rather well done  actually   attack the evil villains in their lair  stop a little big horn style ambush  save the day via the waterboys  bugling  works for me . stiff upper british lip and all that .  br    br   so how does it play on a dvd   years later  struck me as being like a western  subbing apaches or sioux for the thugs  and the us cavalry for the imperial british army . it  s very colonial in it  s outlook  you know  white man  s burden and all that  kipling certainly would have approved .  br    br   cary grant  fairbanks and maclaglen play it as broadly as possible  putting some buddy buddy slapstick into the mix between the shootings and brawlings for good measure .  i had no idea it was joan fontaine as the token army wife   did they leave some of her scenes on the cutting room floor  very short   none of them were aiming for an oscar here   in fact grant was not at his best in a few scenes   but sod it  it still works . and where else would ben casey wind up as an indian bugler  only in hollywood .  br    br   def . check this out if you like adventure and pseudo  western style antics . it was done by a bunch of pros  well i might add .  br    br    outta   
a battleship is sinking . . . its survivors  hanging onto a nearby liferaft  sit there doing nothing while we go into each of their minds for a series of long flashbacks .  br    br   even though noel coward  s name is the only one that you notice during the credits  everything that  s cinematic in it is because of lean . and on technical terms  its very good . david lean just knew films from the get  go . there are many moments where coward  s studied dialogue takes a second seat and lean  s visual sense takes centre stage . try the soldiers getting off the ship near the end  and that whole scene the tracking shot towards the hymn singing  the scene where we  re inside a house that gets bombed .  br    br   noel coward is one of the worst actors i  ve ever seen . he  s totally wooden  not displaying emotion  character or humanity . you can see it in his eyes that he  s not really listening to what the other performer is saying  he  s just waiting for them to finish so he can rush out his own line .  br    br       .  br    br   its episodic  a bit repetitive  and the flashbacks overwhelm the story there  s no central story that they advance  just give general insights into the characters . still  its an interesting film worth a watch  and a good debut for lean . its not a very deep or penetrating film  and its definitely a propaganda film  but its also a showcase for lean  s editing skills  its all about how the pieces are put together .  
this movie is one of my all time favorites . cary grant  victor mclaglen  and douglas fairbanks jr . . . what a cast . not to mention sam jaffe as gunga din . drama  action  adventure and comedy all rolled up into one . the final battle scene still to this day gives me chills and the ending always leaves me in tears . if you haven  t seen it  i  d strongly recommend it .  
noel coward  a witty and urbane man  was friends with louis mountbatten . mr coward  a long  time admirer of all things naval  was commissioned to write a story loosely based on the loss of mountbatten  s ship . in a peculiarly british way it was considered that a film about the royal navy losing an encounter at sea would be good propaganda . it was also considered a good idea to have mr coward play the part of the ship  s captain . amang the many qualities needed to command a fighting ship  the ability to speak in a very clipped voice and sing sophisticated  point  songs does not come very high up the list at admiralty house  or at least one would hope not . a captain must earn and retain the respect of the wardroom and the lower deck alike . mr coward might have had the respect of the gentlemen of the chorus at drury lane and binkie beaumont might have been terrified of him but his ability to tame  mould and direct a ship  s crew in wartime must be brought into question . he folds himself languorously around the bridge  patronising the other ranks and barking orders at the officers  he only needed a silk dressing gown and a cigarette holder to seem right at home . much is made of the  warship as a microcosm of british society  theme  and the crew largely comprises of the usual cheery cockneys  canny northerners etc . without whom no war can be fought . they spend most of their time on board smoking  moaning about lord haw haw and getting blown up . never mind  there  s plenty more where they came from . once ashore they go straight to the pub where they spend most of their time smoking  moaning about lord haw haw and getting blown up . by contrast mr coward lives in a dream cottage with a rose covered door somewhere very quiet with very little chance of getting blown up . he  his lady wife and their two rosy cheeked cherubs converse in ludicrously convoluted tones and said lady wife spends much of her time knitting things for the poor unfortunates who comprise his crew and who she refers to by their surnames . that nice young master johnny mills has a prominent role as a completely unbelievable lower deck type who worships mr coward in much the same way as a thrashed dog will worship its master . he marries his girlfriend after kissing her on the cheek  presumably on the grounds that she might be pregnant after such unfettered passion . so yes  we do have a microcosm of british society here  but perhaps not in the way the makers of  in which we serve  intended . at the end mr coward gets one last chance to patronise his men as the few survivors shuffle past him   goodbye edwards  it was a privilege to sail with you  he enunciates as if he was reciting  how now brown cow  . it may have been david lean  s feature debut  but the hand of noel coward looms large right across this picture . he was a funny and clever man  better suited to writing waspish plays about poor little rich girls and boys interspersed with the occasional wry song . he had a talent to amuse  no doubt  but he could neither write nor speak convincing dialogue . being noel coward was a full  time job  he had no time to be a real person .  
the film was shot at movie flats  just off route     near lone pine  california  north of the road to whitney portals . you can still find splashes of cement and iron joists plastered across the rocks where the sets were built . and you  ll recognize the area from any randolph scott movie .  br    br   i won  t bother with the plot  since i  m sure it  s covered elsewhere . the movie stars three athletes   fairbanks fils  who must have learned a good deal from his dad   grant  an acrobat in his youth   and maclaughlin  a professional boxer from south africa . their physical skills are all on display .  br    br   not a moment of this movie is to be taken seriously . it  s about thugees  a sect in india  whence our english word  thug .  i can  t go through all the felicities of this movie but probably ought to point out that the director  george stevens  was a polymath with a background in laurel and hardy movies   see his choreography of the fight scenes   and went on to the infinitely long dissolves of shane and the diary of anne frank . dynasties rose and fell . geological epochs came and went  while liz taylor and monty clift kissed in  a place in the sun .  here  in his comic mode  he excels .  br    br   this is a story of male bonding and it would be easy   too easy   to read homoeroticism into it  as many people do with howard hawks . or hatred of women . but it isn  t that at all . sometimes things portrayed on screen don  t deserve too much in the way of heuristic attention . men will form bonds by working together in a way that women do not .  women share secrets .  read deborah tannen  nobody  s idea of an anti  feminist . well  when you think about it  that  s what evolution should have produced . for most of human history   about nine tenths of it   hominids have been hunters and gatherers  and the men tend to hunt and the women to gather . hunting is more effective as a team enterprise . men who were not very good at bonding were darwinianed out  leaving men who have a lot of team spirit . and grant  fairbanks  and maclaughlin have got it in spades .  br    br   sorry to ramble on about evolution but i  m an anthropologist and it is an occupational disease . did i ever tell you about the horse in vaitongi  samoa  that slipped on the cement and fell in the bathtub with me  you  ve got to watch the hooves .  br    br   joan fontaine is lovely  really . only got to know her in her later years and wondered why she was in so many movies . i lived in saratoga  california  where her sister  olivia dehavilland  grew up and went to a convent school . pretty place .  br    br   if you miss this adventurous lively farraginous chronicle of the british empahh at its height  you should never forgive yourself . it  s so famous that it  s parodied in the peter sellers movie   the party .  yes   the colonel  s got to know .  
wow . what a terrible adaptation of a beautiful novel . here are just a few gripes .  the screenwriter eliminated two major characters from the book .  plot has been grotesquely altered .  voiceovers sound as if they were directly lifted from written passages  which may read well but are not the same when spoken  especially with chabon  s writing style  .  the acting is more wooden than a log cabin .  esp . bechstein   this is supposed to be set in        feels more like     . . .  br    br   to be fair i couldn  t bring myself to finish watching this movie  so it  s possible that it redeemed itself . . .  sarcasm  . i truly hope that no one paid to see this  or at least anyone who read the book hoping for something decent  a la wonder boys  . i like chabon as a writer but he should be ashamed of this adaptation .  br    br   no stars .  
i saw this picture in     for  .   and i would like to secure a dvd in     the film was the greatest adventure of the time and  like all epics  is still an entertainment marvel  bw and all  you get a sense of real bonded friendship in the chemistry between the actors and the performances of sam jaffe  eduardo cianelli are outstanding  this could not be done today i particularly liked the ending where the colonel recites the end of kipling  s poem over the body of gunga din and tells the  untouchable   you  re a better man than i am gunga din  they don  t make movies of this character today . the only cast member that is still alive today is joan fontaine  
 . . . they bothered making this movie  anyone  i didn  t think so .  br    br   if you are looking for a coming  of  age movie  go rent summer of    . this is no summer of    .  br    br   when your big stars are nolte  sarsgaard   sarsgaard gets more screen time  that is your first warning sign and  of course  for such an  artsy  movie  there is plenty of cursing  skin flung around  just to make it look  artsy  .  br    br   sarsgaard did his usual uninteresting  cardboard character  punctuated by moments that were supposed to be intense . the intensity is that of someone with bi  polar disorder .  br    br   miller is most famous for her looks  what she had to say about the city of pittsburgh after this movie . pittsburgh should hold a grudge against her . she misrepresented an actual pittsburgh native .  br    br   foster gave sarsgaard a run for his money in the cardboard acting style . wow  was this his first role after high school graduation   br    br   so  we have this weird triangle . foster has a crush on miller  but is with his boss  girlfriend . he can  t take miller to bed   won  t take his boss to bed . so  he hangs with sarsgaard  miller   watches them get it on .  br    br   then  after one of sarsgaard  s pseudo  intense moments  foster  miller get it on  a scene that we are  treated  to in every sloppy  moaning detail . finally  just to round it all out  foster  sarsgaard get it on  with foster in the miller role . now i know how  guys get it on  as if that was ever anything i needed to know  .  br    br   after all that  all that  s left is the tragic ending for one character  the retrospective views of the remaining  . it gets me right in the pit of my stomach . oh  wait  that was the pepperoni pizza i just had .  br    br   i  d like back the time this movie took out of my life  please .  
for years i thought this knockabout service comedy was a product of john ford  especially with victor mclaglen as one of the leads . it certainly has the same rough house humor that ford laces his films with .  br    br   to my surprise i learned it was george stevens who actually directed it . still i refuse to believe that this film wasn  t offered to john ford  but he was probably off in monument valley making stagecoach .  br    br   victor mclaglen along with cary grant and douglas fairbanks  jr .  play three sergeants in the indian army who have a nice buddy  buddy  buddy camaraderie going . but the old gang is breaking up because fairbanks is engaged to marry joan fontaine . not if his two pals can help it  aided and abetted by regimental beastie gunga din as played by sam jaffe .  br    br   the rudyard kipling poem served as the inspiration for this rko film about barracks life in the british raj . the comic playing of the leads is so good that it does overshadow the incredibly racist message of the film . not that the makers were racist  but this was the assumption of the british there at the time  including our leads and gunga din shows this most effectively .  br    br   the british took india by increments  making deals here and there with local rulers under a weak mogul emperor who was done away with in the middle of the   th century . they ruled very little of india outright  that would have been impossible . their rule depended on the native troops you see here . note that the soldiers cannot rise above the rank of corporal and gunga din is considerably lower in status than that .  br    br   note here that the rebels in fact are hindu  not moslem . there are as many strains of that religion as there are christian sects and this strangling cult was quite real . of course to those being strangled they might not have the same view of them as liberators . but until india organized its independence movement  until the congress party came into being  these people were the voice of a free india .  br    br   but however you slice it  strangling people isn  t a nice thing to do and the british had their point here also . when i watch gunga din  i think of star trek and the reason the prime directive came into being .  br    br   cary grant got to play his real cockney self here instead of the urbane cary we  re used to seeing . fairbanks and mclaglen do very well with roles completely suited to their personalities .  br    br   best acting role in the film however is eduard ciannelli as the guru  the head of the strangler cult . note the fire and passion in his performance  he blows everyone else off the screen when he  s on .  br    br   favorite scene in gunga din is ciannelli exhorting his troops in their mountain temple . note how stevens progressively darkens the background around ciannelli until all you see are eyes and teeth like a ghoulish halloween mask . haunting  frightening and very effective .  br    br   it was right after the action of this film in the late nineteenth century that more and more of the british public started to question the underlying assumptions justifying the raj . but that  s the subject of gandhi .  br    br   gunga din is still a great film  entertaining and funny . it should be shown with a passage to india and gandhi and you can chart how the indian independence movement evolved .  
a friend of mine gave me this movie . a friend of mine is now in a hospital were a team of doctors are trying to surgically remove a dvd casing from his  .  br    br   i got quit excited by the prospects of an other michael chabon movie . after all his novels have brought me much entertainment and previous screenplay adaptations were great  but boy  was i wrong .  br    br   first off the people that did the casting must have been asleep whilst doing so . i imagine the castings went something like this .  tell me  do you like fish    yes i enjoy fish very much .   wonder full  you  re hired . have some money .   br    br   than there is the script . i have read chabon  who i hope went blind before he could see this piece of dong  and it has absolutely nothing to do with his novel . i  m not quit sure why it annoyed me like it did  but it might have something to do with the fact that listening to a speech impaired   year old drunk duck hunter with a right cranial lobe dysfunction would have been a treat in comparison to the one  liners these  nd degree model massacre kids spat out .  br    br   this is an actual line from the movie  if you tell me something that you  ve never said out loud to anyone before  than this moment becomes unique   unique  does it  does it really  off course not you plank . please pass me the imodium . i  ll have a whole ing strip .  br    br   the directing is . . . well . i  ve got nothing . maybe rawson marshall thurber just got word his grandmother exploded or something . stick to directing comedies . no stick to directing commercials .  br    br   this movie is so horrible it left me banging my head against a wall so hard it brought me back to the stone age . i give it  stars because i don  t wanna be the guy that watched a  star movie .  
pandro s . berman was  in charge of production  but that made him the so  called line producer . but who produced this epic  filmed not in arizona but in california  s mohave desert where scavengers have made off with all of the remnants of the  gold temple   the thuggee huts  the british outpost at muri  the village of tantrapur  etc . the minor technical faults can and must be forgiven . what  s unforgivable is the lack of an oscar for best music  although maybe the academy didn  t offer such at the time . a single theme was played in various tempos including waltz  march and sweet  mood  setting . brilliant  one of the curious aspects of the production was the widow kipling  s demands . an actor playing kipling appears briefly before and after the battle scenes . in the initial release his scenes were cut  per mrs . kipling  s demands . later they were included and lent a  connection  of kipling  s immortal poem to ben hecht  s screenplay . interestingly  this very typically and pro  british story was by a great screenwriter who himself hated the british .  
based on the novel by michael chabon  the mysteries of pittsburgh is about the young son of a notorious gangster who spends his last teenage summer roaming around with two friends . the year is      and young art bechstein  jon foster  is at a crossroads . completely opposed to his father  s lifestyle  art plans to become a stockbroker . visually contrived with painful attempts to create beautiful hip indie cinematography  the whole film feels like the director  whose previous effort dodgeball was funny if outright commercial  is desperately seeking indie credibility by cobbling together aspects of other indie films but sprinkling it with stars like mena suvari  sienna miller and nick nolte . like so many of the star  laden premieres at sundance this year it felt like this was a secrety studio  sponsored vanity project to help the director earn some indie credibility points  it failed in that respect and as a film in its own right .  
a rousing adventure form director george stevens  before he would turn to more serious fare such as      s i remember mama and      s giant  that set the standard for all future action yarns to follow . loosely based on rudyard kipling  s poem of the same  gunga din follows the journey of three military officers in   th century india . the noble trio must brave a series of battles and other various dangers including a thuggee cult and a temple full of gold . their screen adventures remain thrilling even after more than six decades  and have lent inspiration to nearly everything from the cliffhanger  inspired space opera star wars       to the similarly  plotted raiders of the lost arc       .  br    br   the biggest reason for the picture  s success  however  is the pitch  perfect performances by the film  s trio of extremely charismatic actors . victor mclaglen has rarely been better as the strapping tough guy  cary grant is the ultimate comic foil  and douglas fairbanks  jr is as suave a swashbuckling hero as imaginable  perhaps even more so than rival errol flynn . the chemistry between the three actors simply could not be improved upon  and such warm and believable comradely is precisely what  s missing from most modern action pictures  and they receive tremendous support from the marvelous sam jaffe  who overcomes the obvious physical miscasting and makes the title character a beacon of humane sweetness and quiet strength . a huge hit in its day  the film was reportedly the second  biggest money maker of     behind the outrageously successful gone with the wind   and it remains arguably the best film of its kind .  
i am quite a fan of novelist  screenwriter michael chabon . his novel  wonder boys  became a fantastic movie by curtis hanson . his masterful novel  the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay  won the pulitzer prize a few years back  and he had a hand in the script of  spider man    arguably the greatest comic book movie of all time .  br    br   director rawson marshall thurber has also directed wonderful comedic pieces  such as the gut  busting  dodgeball  and the genius short film series  terry tate office linebacker  . and with a cast including peter saarsgard  sienna miller  nick nolte and mena suvari  this seems like a no  brainer .  br    br   it is . literally .  br    br   jon foster stars as art bechstein  the son of a mobster  nolte  who recently graduated with a degree in economics . jon is in a state of arrested development he works a minimum wage job at book barn  has a vapid relationship with his girlfriend  boss  phlox  suvari   which amounts to little more than copious amounts of sex  with no plans other than to chip away at a career for which he has zero passion .  br    br   one night at a party  an ex  roommate introduces jon to jane  miller   a beautiful  smart violinist . later that night they go out for pie  and she asks jon a question that begins to shake him from his catatonic state of existence   i want you to tell me something that you have never told a single soul . if you do  it will make this night indelible .  jon then tells her a reoccurring dream of his in which he wanders about town looking at the faces of strangers passing him by  yet none of them look him in the eye .  i imagine it must be what death feels like   he says .  br    br   the next day jane  s wild boyfriend cleveland  saarsgard  kidnaps jon from work and takes him out to a hulking abandoned steel mill  and soon jon  cleveland and jane are spending every waking moment together going to punk rock concerts  doing drugs and drinking lots of alcohol . this doesn  t sit well with phlox  who pushes jon for a more personal relationship  namely letting her meet his new friends and his father . the film then attempts to take us on jon  s journey as he shakes off the shackles imposed on him by his father  phlox and his dead  end job as he finds freedom and expression through his relationships with cleveland and jane .  br    br   there is a problem having us follow jon throughout the film he  s completely uninteresting . he has no ambitions  passions or goals . he walks through life like the invisible wraith he described to jane the night they met . at the outset this isn  t a problem . but he never gets any more interesting . he  s a completely passive character . he simply follows along the bohemian cleveland and jane  but he never once gives us any inkling as to what he cares about or wants to to do with himself .  br    br   consequently  the film and its supporting characters have nowhere to go and little to do other than party  have sex and get in arguments . in other words  much ado about nothing . what we have here is the shallow skin of a good movie without anything on the inside . sweeping cinematography  ponderous voice  over with characters staring off into the distance  lots of sex scenes both straight and gay  big arguments  more angry sex  a chase scene and a tragic death . . . but it doesn  t seem to matter . ironically  at one point jane  confused at a number of jon  s aimless actions  asks him   what  s going on  jon  what is this all about   yes  jon  do tell . we in the audience are dying to know  too .  br    br   the title  the mysteries of pittsburgh  must refer to the characters themselves  because that  s what they are . they are all facades  one  dimensional stand  ins for actual people . the film never lets us in . we never know what makes any of them tick . we see them do lots of things  but we don  t know why . and the absence of  why  is one of the worst things a movie can have .  
obviously a film that has had great influence not only on the buddy genre but action genre as well . george lucas had to be a fan of this flick as so much of his star wars series seems to a homage to gunga din . the characters that grant  mclaglen  and fairbanks play are just precursors of han solo  luke skywalker  and chewbacca . even sam jaffe  s gunga din morphed into c   po and r   d  and like him or not jar jar binks .  br    br   today this film is viewed as non pc but there is a speech by eduardo ciannelli as guru the leader of the indian opposition to the british raj that could can be echoed in the sentiments of many today .  br    br   to a young boy this was a great film . three strong male leads and only a hint of romance . there was a time when young boys deemed kissing the girl in saturday matinee film was just mush . not like today when the more skin is greeted with delight . too late to lament lost innocence .  br    br   hopefully this film will not be forgotten and a few who are channel surfing will stop at tcm and catch a film with action  adventure  and a cast of thousands instead of cgi actors .  
cecil b . demille  s     parlor  to  prison tearjerker manslaughter finds the lovely leatrice joy as a good  at  heart but decadent young lady with more money than she knows what to do with . her recklessness leads to imprisonment  which in turn leads to her regeneration . thomas meighan is the crusading district attorney who has made it his personal crusade to bring out the goodness and wholesomeness in lydia  joy  but he gets sidetracked by alcohol and once she is released  it is up to her to rescue him   br    br   if the plot doesn  t sound too bad  you  ll be floored by the woeful presentation . the quality of demille  s direction is very low  and he does not show any particular skill that is unique to him . the photography is standard and flat  and the editing is hardly more dynamic . one could easily classify it as a fashion show and be pretty correct . demille gets to dress miss joy up in so many different types of clothes  evening gowns  golfing costumes  motoring costumes  piles of furs  that it  s subtitle could be  fashions of       br    br   one thing more disappointing than the photography or editing or the direction is the acting  which is mostly flat and wooden . when it is not  it is merely routine silent gesturing  rolling eye balls  twitching eye brows and deliberate pointing and arm movements . what would have been enlivened for modern viewers by mugging and scene chewing of some of the worst silent films  is here merely dull to watch . the only member of the cast who succeeds in any form of excellence is lois wilson  who is not only beautiful but is able to play her role naturally . she is convincing and endearing in tearful close  ups  as long as you don  t read the moralizing title card that follows once she opens her mouth to speak . like i said  everybody else is droningly routine  joy  meighan  even julia faye . her performance here makes a good argument for why she never attained true stardom .  br    br   the worst and most amusing part of this movie is the heavy moralistic tone that carries through all of it . meighan  s character has plenty of intertitles where he drones on about how the youth of america is declining in it  s moral stance  and going right back to the decadence of rome .  insert absurd flashback  this movie  s moralizing has been described as victorian  but it  s further than that . it has so little bearing in reality that i have a feeling audiences at that time didn  t take it any more seriously than modern viewers could .  br    br   this movie is exactly what the unknowing tend to think of as a  typical  silent movie  with it  s archaic moral structure  wooden acting and bad direction . demille shows that he could be a terrible director  with no sense of pacing  camera placement  or skill in handling either script or actors . i can  t imagine anybody in their right mind taking it seriously . boring  slow and idiotic  i recommend it to hardcore silent movie dorks like myself only .  
this movie is the best horror movie  bar  none . i love how stanley just dumps the women into the lake . i have been a fan of judd nelson  s work for many years  and he blew me away . its a blend of horror  and drama  and romance  not so much comedy . his evil  yet charming look captured me right then and there . that look in his eyes  i will never forget . there  s something about him  i cant describe .  
well well one cant b wasting time just cause of a big star  cast . . i think all i could see is a bunch of talents wasting their time on a big screen with some pathetic humor which will appeal to i do not know who  some pathetic songs that will be heard by who  some pathetically abrupt turnings justified by who  race against time  u mean waste against time  ok so first you spoil your kid  then you teach him a lesson wow we are so ignorant of this fact whoever said its a brilliant new concept probably is some other species other than human alright fine let me come comment like humans do movie has a nice message to be given but it could well have been given by a stranger sitting besides you in the bus rather than you going for such a wasteful movie to learn it hindi movies have proved it a lot already and also i cant waste my time writing about waste anyway   
a trio of buddies  sergeants all in the british army  carouse  brawl their way across imperial india . intensely loyal to each other  they meet their greatest  most deadly challenge when they encounter the resurgence of a hideous cult  its demented  implacable guru . now they must rely on the lowliest servant of the regiment  the water carrier gunga din  to save scores of the queen  s soldiers from certain massacre .  br    br   based more on the three musketeers than kipling  s classic poem  this is a wonderful adventure epic  a worthy entry in hollywood  s golden year of     . filled with suspense  humor  while keeping the romantic interludes to the barest minimum  it grips the interest of the viewer and holds it right up to the  sentimental  conclusion .  br    br   it is practically fruitless to discuss the performance nuances of the three stars  cary grant  victor mclaglen  douglas fairbanks jr .  as they are really all thirds of a single organism  inseparable and  to all intents  purposes  indistinguishable . however  this diminishes nothing of the great fun in simply watching them have a glorious time .  br    br    it  s interesting to note  parenthetically  that mclaglen boasted of a distinguished world war one military career fairbanks would have a sterling record in world war two  mostly in clandestine affairs  earning himself no fewer than  honorary knighthoods after the conflict while grant reportedly worked undercover for british intelligence  keeping an eye on hollywood nazi sympathizers .   br    br   the real acting laurels here should go to sam jaffe  heartbreaking in the title role . he infuses the humble man with radiant dignity  enormous courage  making the last line of kipling  s poem ring true . he is unforgettable .  br    br   montague love is properly stalwart as the regimental major  whilst eduardo ciannelli is evil incarnate as the thuggee guru . the rest of the cast  joan fontaine  robert coote  lumsden hare  are effective but have little to do . movie mavens will recognize cecil kellaway in the tiny role of miss fontaine  s father .  br    br   the film picks its villains well . the demonic thuggee cult  worshipers of the hideous  blood  soaked kali  hindu goddess of destruction  was the bane of indian life for  centuries  ritualistically strangling up to       victims a year . in     the british military  in cooperation with a number of princely states  succeeded in ultimately suppressing the religion . henceforth it would remain the stuff of novels  nightmares .  
i have been a huge lynn peterson fan ever since her breakthrough role in the     blockbuster movie  far north   and even though i loved her in her one other film  slow        where she plays  francis   this is by far and away her strongest role .  br    br   lynn  as i  m sure you all know  or should   plays the critical role of  driver  .  br    br   unfortunately  other than lynn  s amazing performance  i  m afraid this movie doesn  t really have much going for it .  br    br   oh wait  there was one other thing  the amazing creativity of the editing to remove profanity for tv viewers . memorable lines like  you son  of  a  gun     you son  of  a  witch     shoot    and  well  forget you    br    br   o . k . bye .  br    br   p . s .  does anyone know where i can get another lynn peterson poster   
anyone with a young boy in the house who won  t watch black  white movies should put this on their television set . when the child walks by  wondering what all the on screen shouting and shooting  s about  tell him this is a picture for adults and that he isn  t big enough to watch it yet . that  ll hold him there for a few minutes director george stevens and his team will keep him to the end .  br    br   i think my father did that to me  anyway  and i  m the better man for it . this classic adventure yarn  set in india during the british occupation  features a trio of army sergeants who find their tight union facing dissolution as one prepares to marry his sweetheart . help arrives in the form of a vicious thuggie revolt that the soldiers find themselves united against .  br    br    gunga din  was one of the great movies to come out of hollywood  s finest year      . even more than most great movies from that golden year  it is entertaining in a very immediate and accessible way . the theme music is instant hummable nirvana . while shot in california  the camera work  the only thing in  gunga din  that got so much as an oscar nomination  has a windblown grandeur that feels very much like the raj of a hundred years before . the battle scenes are shot in a very realistic manner  not too violent but very messy as people fall and shoot and run in all corners of each frame in a way that feels real  not staged like some cecil b . demille biblical slaughter fest .  br    br   the script doesn  t just set up action scenes  it also develops the relationship of the three sergeants with great dollops of humor . the main focus is on sgt . cutter  chasing after tall tales of golden treasures . it  s a rare actioner for cary grant  and his lightness is just right for a film that never takes itself seriously even as it develops taut suspense .  br    br   anchoring the trio is sgt . macchesney  victor mclaglen   who dotes over his elephant annie and tries to protect cutter from his own hare  brained schemes . he  s just as funny in his own way  leaving sgt . ballantine  douglas fairbanks jr .  displaying some nice errol flynnish dash  as the one with the love interest and grounding enough to know he needs to chuck his boyish pals and grow up .  br    br   if  gunga din  was a lifetime movie  it would be about joan fontaine  s efforts to save her man from his two loser friends and their skull crushing hijinks . but since it  s a guys  film  the accent here is on how the threesome must stay together and save ballantine from a fate worse than death  not only marriage  but as cutter indignantly exclaims several times  the tea business  too .  br    br   the political correctness police are hard on this film  not so much for the gender issue but the idea of british soldiers saving poor indians from the vicious thuggies . it reeks of colonial apologia . thankfully  this film was made back when  and the producers thus felt no need to spell out the obvious liberalism at the heart of the film  that these three sergeants  so full of derring  do and false racial pride  have to be saved along with the rest of their army by a humble bhisti that only one of the three had any time for when he sought their approval . after all  for all their swashbuckling glory  the film  s true sacrifice involves the title character  played so heart  wrenchingly by sam jaffe .  br    br   back when this film was made  movie mogul jack warner had a saying you want to send a message  use western union . still  it seems like the messages were flying fast and furious in  gunga din .  i watch the film now and wonder if audiences back then were meant to wonder what gunga din was really up to when he led cutter to the golden temple . was he really plotting revenge against his british overlords  would he have been justified in doing so  especially given macchesney  s cold treatment of him  when col . weed delivers that eulogy  the poem by rudyard kipling on which the film is loosely based  was it with a nod in the direction of imperialism  s folly  of lording it over someone who proved  a better man than i am  in the end  what did they make of the guru  s great speech  delivered in perfect clipped english  you have sworn an oath as soldiers to maybe die for a faith  which is your country  england . well  i can die for my country and my faith as readily as you . . . india  farewell .   br    br   of course  the same character also instructs his brutal followers  kill for the love of killing  kill for the love of kali  kill  kill  kill   which means we are allowed to hate him and root for the british  and save the questions about what it all means for later .  br    br   what  gunga din  means to me  most of all  is the quickest  surest    minute thrill ride on video . cutter never found his golden temple  but there  s one for all of us watching  gunga din .   
of all the films i have seen  this one  the rage  has got to be one of the worst yet . the direction  logic  continuity  changes in plot  script and dialog made me cry out in pain .  how could anyone come up with something so crappy   gary busey is know for his  b  movies  but this is a sure  w  movie .  wwaste  .  br    br   take for example about two dozen fbi  local law officers surround a trailer house with a jeep wagoneer . inside the jeep is ma and is  confused  as to why all the cops are about . within seconds a huge gun battle ensues  ma being killed straight off . the cops blast away at the jeep with gary and company blasting away at them . the cops fall like dominoes and the jeep with gary drives around in circles and are not hit by one single bullet  pellet . ma is killed and gary seems to not to have noticed  damn that guy is tough . truly a miracle  not since the six  shooter held    bullets has there been such a miracle .  
this is a great movie . in the same genre of the  memphis belle  . seen it about   years ago . and would like to see it again . there is a link with the history of the hells angels   how the pilot crew fight the germans in wo  . and most changes form pilots to harley motor cycle rs . the movie is in a way really happened . see the movie  and reed the history of the hells angels at hells at hells angels . com regards frederik .  br    br   cast  crew john stamos  john stockwell  teri polo  kris kamm  directed by graham baker more  synopsis the story of a rowdy backwoods rebel biker who joins the army to avoid a stiff prison sentence after a minor brush with the law . though he chafes at army discipline  he soon proves himself under fire as a daring and charismatic leader of men in a motorcycle scout troop in pr  world war ii spain . more  mpaa rating pg runtime   minutes  
aside from the horrendous acting and the ridiculous and ludicrous plot  this movie wasn  t too bad . unfortunately  that doesn  t leave much movie not to suck . do not waste your time on this film  even if you find yourself suffering from insomnia  as i did . watch an infomercial instead .  
for what it is  this is a pretty good movie . i like both johns  stamos   full house    stockwell   christine    top gun   . they both give strong performances . the love interest is ok  but this is more of a guy  s movie than a good date movie . i love harleys  and i hated seeing them paint over the    coats of hand  rubbed lacquer  with good old army olive drab . there is a small history lesson here in that harley  davidson motorcycles played a key role in wwii . i don  t know if the training was quite like this bunches  the movie kept my interest all the way through without getting slow anywhere  with good riding action sequences . i love looking at the demographics of the vote history  one   year  old man gave the movie a    true bike lover  i guess  . i wouldn  t give it a    but i did give it an  . i do not weigh every movie with the same scale . there are movies that were big  budget  with great actors  that you expect to be good so when they fail they fail big .  star wars  episode i is my best example  i loved the first three sw movies  but i thought episode i was weak in comparison . so it gets a lower rating from me than this movie . i expect more from george lucas .  
too bad  i really like kristen cloke and gary busey . but the director failed to put this together . there  s a lot of action  a lot of promise  but it all comes off hokey . the director didn  t do his job . promising action comes off lame . so much seems contrived in a desperate attempt to save the film . this version of  the rage   directv credits it as      simply isn  t worth the time to watch it . another director would have done a better job .  
class reunion is a very underated comedy gem . it  s     and the     class of lizzie borden high return for there   year reunion  among them are the usual stereotypes  the hunk  babe  the fat guy  nerd etc  but the former students are in for a bumpy night  one of their classmates is walter baloer  the class wimp who was subject to a comedy prank by the rest of the class on graduation night and since then has been in a mental home  walter escapes and now plans to avenge his humiliation      br    br   despite the dark premise  this is really just an excuse for lots of very funny gags  set pieces . to say too much more would spoil the film but if you enjoyed the naked gun  airplane movies you  ll love this   what other film offers a music cameo by chuck berry  . a great comedy which deserves a wider audience .  
it was     and it starred martin sheen .  br    br   that alone says what to expect of this movie .  br    br   and it was a movie . according to the movie  slovik had reformed  got a good woman  and didn  t want to fight .  br    br   in real life  slovik may have been a naive innocent  or he may have just wanted to manipulate the system .  br    br   whoever slovik was or wasn  t is for history to decide  but this was a movie that dealt with dessertion at a time when a country was questioning why it was fighting  and the movie took sides .  br    br   with no regard to servicemen who were in viet nam either in      as willie nelson would say  let  s tell the truth  it was about the viet nam war  not wwii   eoes was as propagandistic as gung ho was in the forties .  br    br   according to this movie  slovik stated his position  plain and simple . he had a nervous problem . heck  i have a clinical nervous condition  and trust me  if i had done military duty  it would have been no problem for me to either just let my nerves go and fail at my tasks and get a demotion or put on kp duty or latrine duty with no problem .  br    br   if we believe the teleflick  slovik didn  t have that option  no doubt because of his criminal history .  br    br   whatever the viewer wants to believe is up to the viewer . i  ve learned that movies from this decade or that decade  in dealing with service or military duty  will pretty much take the same stance over and over .  br    br       s and     s  serve your country .  br    br       s and     s  mock your country .  br    br   this is the history .  br    br   the whole movie seemed predictably hollywood to me . he refused to serve and only when he was being strapped up to be executed does he show emotion .  br    br   such an emotional outburst could have easily worked to his advantage in his declaration of his nervous condition  but obviously the movie wanted to show him as a human being and only when he is about to die does he become sorrowful .  br    br   i  m not a catholic  but i thought the recital of the hail mary by ned beatty and sheen at the end  with the lord  s prayer  was funny as it sounded like they were trying to see who could say it faster .  br    br   i don  t see how this movie could be watched without realizing it was aimed at tricky dick nixon and the viet nam war .  br    br   i hope it was all worth it for slovik and anyone who chose to follow his example .  
i first saw this film around ten years ago and i thought it was very funny indeed . it was not as bad as some critics were making it out to be . the fact that it was written by the usually dependable john hughes shows that you can at least expect some funny dialogue .  by the way  i also think weird science is quite good which was also penned in lightning speed by hughes  .  br    br   the film has a very garish look to it using all the primary colours  reds  yellows etc  which makes it look quite unique . the cast are also quite good . the prudish bunny packard and the devil  possessed delores salk are a stand out .  br    br   the film has certainly dated a little but i personally prefer it to all the other  lampoon  series .  
ooof  this one was a stinker . it does not fall  somewhere in between star wars and thriller   thats for sure . in all actuality  it falls somewhere between the cracks of a wham  video and captain eo  only with not as big of a budget  and a lot more close ups of ugly teenagers crying . simon le bon preens front and center  while the rest of the band gamely tries to hide the fact that they stole their whole career from roxy music  s last  albums . brief clips from barbarella add nothing . avoid at all costs .  however  i liked the part when they played  hungry like the wolf  but why was there a tiger lurking in the audience changing into a woman painted with tiger stripes  i mean  they aren  t singing  eye of the tiger  or  hungry like the tiger  it  s a wolf  whatever .  a dvd of duran duran  s    s videos is probably worth a look for nostalgia  s sake  
national lampoon  s class reunion is a classic comedy film from the early    s which combines unique characters  lots of laughs  and some great music from chuck berry . when walter bailor is absolutely humiliated by his classmates at their high school graduation he seizes the opportunity to get his revenge at his class reunion . one by one he stalks his classmates who include an innocent blind girl  a horny fat guy  the high school beauty  the king of all preps and even the ugly old lunch lady who served up slops to all the kids during highschool . this film has a sort of scary element in it and it has a few brief scenes of sexuality so i wouldn  t recommend it for young children but it  s a great movie for teens . if you are looking for a movie with a beautiful score  complex characters or killer special effects you might not love class reunion . if you want to sit down for   minutes and have some great laughs and a lot of fun  and who doesn  t  then this movie should be on your movies to see list .   
for loyal duran duran fans who want to watch a good music video  skip this one . the producers decided to get creative and make this    s video something of a sci  fi story  involving the evil barbarella villain from which the band got its name .  br    br   what makes this idea fail is that right in the middle of some great    s duran duran songs  confusing and annoying cut scenes take place showing the fictional antagonist trying to stop the band at one of their concerts . not only is the good music repeatedly interrupted  but we have to suffer through some cheap spin  off story hosted by an evil dr . mario . it  s almost too much to bear .      
personal taste rules when it comes to talking about movies such as this treasured little gem . way back in the eighties  the early eighties  i discovered this movie  like so many released at the time   night patrol   bad manners  or even  king frat  the artwork and blurbs on the back of the covers tempted and teased you .  br    br   of course being of an age  movies like that i have already mentioned as well as stuff like  screwballs  and the many others  captured the imagination  and thankfully many years later i still remember some with fondness and some with disdain the many movies that help maintain my love of such genre as parodies or pastiches .  br    br   made many years after the huge success of  animal house  and having seen how it had fared down through the years  i now know that there would be no way this movie would ever eclipse the box office bucks obtain aforementioned nor would it linger in the memory  much like that of national lampoon  s vacation .  br    br   to be honest  not everything that has carried the national lampoon logo has been a wild success  however to me class reunion remains one of my all time favourite movies  with instantly recognisable characters  such as the aloof bob spinnaker played to perfection by gerrit graham  so good in charles band  s  terrorvision  still lingering in the past glories of his youth . or how about stephen furst  s brash and ballsy turn as the high school lazy drunken sex crazed bum hubert downs .  br    br   sweet as . which makes me ponder . as i already said  personal taste not withstanding . people can be so cruel  so it will never win any awards or be compared to the like of its  s peers within the comedy world . it does have some merit . being one of the earlier scripts penned by john hughes  who would later go on to do one of my own favourites of his work  weird science  as well as having a wonderful theme title sung by the great gary u . s bonds .  br    br   what more can i say  it  s a movie just waiting to be rediscovered  time and time again .  
only the most ardent doris day fan could find this one even bearable to watch . when one thinks of the wealth of material available for a story about new york city  s most famous blackout  a film that could have dealt with numerous real  life stories of what people had to cope with  this scrapes the bottom of the barrel for lack of story  telling originality .  br    br   once again doris is indignant because she suspects she may have been compromised on the night of the blackout when she returned to her connecticut lodgings  took a sleeping potion and woke up in the morning with a man who had done the same  wandering into the house by mistake .  br    br   nobody is able to salvage this mess   not doris  not robert morse  terry  thomas  patrick o  neal or lola albright . as directed by hy averback  it  s the weakest vehicle day found herself in  committed to do the film because of her husband  s machinations and unable to get out of it . too bad .  
this movie is probably my favorite movie of all time . miriam flynn is excellent as bunny packard . zane buzby as delores is comic genius . the rest of the cast is amazing  and the film is really really funny . a definite satire of horror films  with a zany twist . if you enjoy a fun  comedy filled evening  then go and rent this classic . you  ll laugh all the way through   
doris day never lets a bad script get her down . even in the most trying of circumstances  day gives     and usually comes out unscathed . this comedy  perhaps inspired by a real  life new york city black  out in     but actually adapted from a late     s french play by claude magnier  gives doris little to do but spoof her own goody  goody image and  in the second  half  be comically sedated  which is amusing because of the spin day gives to the situation  . there are some funny lines here  yet the staginess of the material has obviously been carried over from the play . . . and instead of conjuring up some amusing incidents within the big apple  we get stuck in the suburbs . doris  co  stars  patrick o  neal  robert morse  and terry  thomas  are not well  suited to her  and neither is the shapeless hairdo they  ve got her wearing . still  it  s not terrible  it features a few big laughs  and for day  buffs it  s a must  see .  from   
did you know  that anthony kiedis   singer from the red hot chili peppers  father is in this movie . blackie dammit  is anthony  s father . i noticed this after reading  scar tissue  anthony  s autobiography  and saw a picture of his father . i thought   well  that guy kinda looks like that guy from that movie i saw in the eighties . then i read more and it said his father was an actor that had a few small roles . after checking this site  and comparing with a search on the net  i realized it really is his father in the movie . it  s funny  because nowhere in the book does it mention him being in this movie . perhaps his son was ashamed of his father  s acting job in this flick  but he need not be . i think his father  blackie  did a great job in the show .  
the idea is to have something interesting happening in the first ten minutes to keep the audience hooked . late night shopping manages to avoid interest for much longer than that . when we do get to a point  it is so monumentally moronic that i kept thinking i must have misunderstood it . but i didn  t .  br    br   sean tells the story of an osaka landlord who rented the same apartment to two people at the same time who worked different shifts and so didn  t realise they were sharing . his friend asks  but what about the weekends   sean doesn  t have an adequate explanation . sean then tells the story of his own similar problem  which is that he isn  t sure his girlfriend is still living at home as he works during the night and she works during the day so they never see each other . this has been going on for three weeks . but his friend doesn  t ask  yes  but as i said before  what about the weekends  you must see her then . it doesn  t make sense . what are you going on about  sean  are you on medication or something   but let  s be generous and assume that they both work seven days a week .  br    br   we see sean checking to see if the soap and towels have been used .  in fact  bizarrely  he starts to carry the soap around with him .  but what about his girlfriend  s conditioner and shampoo  sanpro and moisturiser  toothpaste and toothbrush . let  s go to the kitchen . what about food and drink  is any missing  has any been bought  in the bedroom  has the shared bed been made or not  are her clothes being used and exchanged for clean ones  is the laundry basket fuller  in the toilet  is the seat up or down  i mean  good grief   br    br   and to cap it all paul arranges to leave work early to see if his girlfriend is still living at home . why doesn  t he just phone her   br    br   but it gets worse . in the last act although no  one told vincent where the rest of the group are going he manages to find them . lenny  s love interest and sean  s girlfriend conveniently appear to be best friends and also manage to find the group . there isn  t even the slightest attempt to explain any of these extraordinarily unlikely coincidences .  br    br   to be fair the dialogue is ok but not nearly good enough to make up for the weak characters or annoyingly lame story .  br    br   i heard one of actors interviewed and he promised  no guns  no drugs  no corsets .  i thought   great  . but after half  an  hour of tedium i was yelling at the screen  i want guns  i want drugs  i want corsets    br    br   it wouldn  t have taken much to sort these problems out but on the official website the director boasts that the film wasn  t script  edited . that  s all you need to know .  
i loved this movie . it was almost the same as the first  cabin by the lake   only instead of just killing women  he kills men also . and the scenes are much more interesting   of my favorite scenes are firstly  when stanley and allison are in the dance club and he is describing kimberly  s last moments before she is thrown to the water  and secondly  when stanley is visiting allison in his basement  right before they head down to the set  when she kisses him . those scenes  for me  were very intense and riveting . i gave the movie a rating of      not because the movie was bad  but because the filming was bad  i mean  there were times when you  d notice nothing was wrong  like its being shot the way a film is usually shot  you wouldn  t see the  live  camera shooting  but then  very little  you would notice the filming mistakes . what went wrong    
pros akshay kumar  s performance  is it just me or does this guy always manages to trump ab in their movies together   . some touching scenes in the  nd half .  br    br   cons the whole  st hour  the jokes were flat to say the least  . every scene involving rajpal yadav . major stupidity in ab  s decision making . let me get this straight  he believes brutally insulting his son  s soul in every possible way  that will likely ruin their relationship beyond repair  is a better way for him to make akshay finally take some responsibility then actually telling him the truth   wtf  he considers akshaye is too soft to bear the fact that his old father is soon gonna die due to cancer  but thinks insulting him will make him stronger  am i the only one who doesn  t see the logic here  easily the movie  s biggest flaw .  br    br    akshay becoming a stunt man . lmao   we  re told he finished  st in college every year and has a degree in mba . but when the time arrives to support himself  and his pregnant wife  he becomes a stunt man . lol   how abt actually applying for a normal job in ur field  or heck  anywhere else where ur life isn  t in danger  this is some incredibly dumb writing .  br    br    the ending . i hate this sort of melodramatic crap . everything is pushed down our throats to feel sorry for ab  s character  which i couldn  t . the entire thing reminded me a little too much of srk in khnh  which i hate  . this  please feel sorry for the guy with the illness  crap has run its course . i felt more like puking than sympathy for the old man . couldn  t watch the final   or so minutes because of it and thus had to fast fwd . the whole thing .  br    br   bottomline waqt is just too dumb to be called a good movie . its obvious director vipul shah targeted this at the emotionally fragile chicas and oldies who could care less about a story that actually makes sense . give  em some decent song picturizations  fancy outfits  plenty of glycerin  filled scenes and some star power and they  ll happily lap  up crap like this .  
barbara stanwyck plays lily powers . she  s a waitress for her father  s speakeasy in a little crummy mining town . he also sells her to men . she escapes to new york and literally sleeps her way to the top .  br    br   originally i had only seen the   minute version but it  s pretty extreme   for its time . nowadays it  s pretty tame . the movie moves very quickly and has tons of sexual innuendo   some of it comes off as pretty silly  but fun  today . it moves so quickly you can easily ignore that most of it could never happen   even in     . there  s nothing classic or monumental about this   it  s just a quick  gleefully dirty little film that  s lots of fun . it only falls apart at the end with a little  moral  ending that the censors demanded . it comes across as unbelievable and stupid  i saw it in a theatre and the audience laughed at it   one guy quite rightfully said  no way   i just saw the uncut   minute version which has a different  somewhat tragic and much better ending . this version was thought to be lost until     when it was discovered by mistake  i believe this is the only one in release   but be aware .  br    br   the acting is good   stanwyck jumps into her role and plays it way over the top . she makes you believe that she enjoys being cruel and sleeping around . there are also strong supporting performances from handsome donald cook and george brent . also look for a pre  stardom john wayne in a hilarious bit as a meek and mild office worker  fun  dirty and fast . i give this a  .  
such a pretentious and lame attempt to hipness . diabolical script and dialogue and truly embarrassing acting . really the worse movie i have ever seen  at the cinema  . nothing in my opinion saves this movie from being a total disaster . i saw it when it came out in a cinema in brighton . people were walking out and there were more people chatting outside the toilets than in the auditorium  at the end there were boos and scorn from the meagre crowd left  which was quite sad as relatives of one of the main actors were present and looked really sheepish . however the movie was that bad that i really could not feel like that sympathetic with them . everybody has to start from somewhere and their son started off his acting career with this truly awful attempt at  tarantinism made in the uk  .  years have gone bye  but sometimes i still cringe at the memory of that sad night at the movies  this is a movie with no redeeming features whatsoever  i gave it a  as  was not available . they should invent a  shameometer  for everybody involved in this sorry mess of a movie . i know some of them have moved on to better things  the positive thing is that none of them could have sank any lower than this .  
i  d love to give this movie a       but in its existing state i can only go to     tops . the post  code editing  read destroying  of this film warrants a   point demerit .  br    br   from my very limited knowledge of film history  baby face was apparently one of two movies that finally broke the camel  s back and brought the full wrath and enforcement of the production code into play in     .  i don  t know what the other movie was .  as a result  the movie in its original incarnation was never allowed to be re  released after     . it was chopped and edited to bits  and no original version is known to exist today . the best that we can see today is the version that tcm  turner classic movies  shows  but that is blatantly edited in several scenes  and has a really disappointing  happy ending  slapped onto the end .  br    br   all the above being said  the movie is still pretty darned great and lots of fun to watch . barbara stanwyck is  as always  absolutely amazing and wonderful . she is so beautiful and powerful she just owns the whole movie  she plays a woman who  s been used by men her entire life  starting with her father who pimps her out to the local erie  pa steel workers as well as to local politicians in a quid pro quo of  if you don  t shut down my speakeasy i  ll let you sleep with my daughter  . when the father dies in a fiery explosion near the beginning of the flick  the smile on stanwyck  s face is priceless .  br    br   after the fire  stanwyck leaves erie with her maid and heads to new york city . she sets her sights on a skyscraper and starts literally working her way to the top . starting out with the personnel clerk in the hr department  she sleeps with him to get an entry level position at the bank . from there  she sleeps with man after man after man  including a very young john wayne  using each new man to help her land a higher paying job on a higher floor of the skyscraper  with increasingly powerful male bosses cum sugar daddies . stanwyck stops at nothing in her rise to the top . it is great fun to see her and her maid in increasingly fancier clothes and apartments as stanwyck works her way up the corporate ladder . stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale  manipulating  she  vixen in this flick  if you watch this movie  i recommend stopping when you see the george brent character  courtland trenholm  die in stanwyck  s arms . skip the remaining  minutes or so  the  happy ending  slapped on to the end of the movie for post  code audiences is insulting to the audience  s intelligence and lame beyond belief the bank board members are sitting around a table expositing about mr . and mrs . trenholm  s million dollar donation to the bank and how they are living happily but poor in erie  with former vp trenholm now working in the steel mills  cut to the exact same footage of a steel plant that we saw in the beginning of the movie   the end  . puh  leeze  how lame  the movie originally ended with george brent succeeding in his suicide attempt . i think that ending fits the overall mood of the movie much better than the slapped on post  code ending .  br    br   i certainly hope that a print of the original pre  code version of this flick is discovered during my lifetime  update the original has been found and should be out on dvd and  or tcm in       . until then  i  ll enjoy the tcm version and switch it off before the lame  o post  code ending .  
filmfour are going to have to do a lot better than this little snot of a film if they  re going to get the right sort of reputation for themselves .  br    br   this film is set in glasgow  although only a couple of secondary characters have anything approaching a scottish accent  . the premise  about people who  s lives are going nowhere  who all meet up in the same cafe in the early hours of the morning as they have night jobs  could have made for a really funny  insightful  quirky  cultish film . instead we have a group of self  obsessed saddos and a plot which has been so done to bits i  m suprised it hasn  t been banned . x and y are friends . x is sleeping with z . y sleeps with z as well . oh you figure it out .  br    br   a total waste of time . painful dialogue  it sounded like something that a group of   year olds would have written for a gcse drama project . the female character was completely superfluous  just written in as a token female in the hope that women would be cajoled into seeing it .  br    br   if you  re the sort of thicko lad who laughs at beer adverts and can usually be found wandering round in packs shouting on saturday nights in nondescript town centres then you will love this film and find it  a right laff  . everyone else  run  don  t walk away from this sorry little misfit .  br    br   and one question  when the group left the  boring  seaside town  saltcoats incidentally although they changed the name on the film   to go back to glasgow  why did they do it via the forton motorway services at lancaster which is in england   
a pre  code stunner with stanwyck playing a speakeasy whore who sleeps her way to the top . these pre  code flicks really let it all go with nothing left to the imagination . stanwyck is outstanding as lilly the daughter of a speakeasy owner  father who sold more than booze to his patrons  johns  . after the old man dies  good   barb heads for the big city for better things . she uses her female attributes to sleep her way to the top . john wayne makes a poor  cameo  and proves that actors get better with age and an acting coach . i loved the banter and strong lines between the actors . i highly recommend this film to all film buffs and to watch stanwyck who is great and beautiful as lilly .  
as far as films go  this is likable enough . entertaining characters  good dialogue  interesting enough story . i would have really quite liked it had i not been irritated immensely whilst watching at the utter disrespect it shows the city it is set in .  br    br   glasgow . in scotland . yet every character is english  save for sean  s girlfriend  who is dutch  . scottish accents are heard only fleetingly in menial jobs  roles . as a scottish woman   as a viewer who likes her  real life  films to be a bit more like real life  i really don  t think it would have hurt to use any one of the countless talented scottish actors . . . or at least got english ones who could toss together a decent accent  the futile attempt at using the word  wee  a few times did nothing but to further the insult .  
in ten words or less to describe this film  barbara stanwyck is too appealing and it is great  the film is wonderful  except for the perhaps tacked  on ending  but i love happy endings anyway . barbara stanwyck  however  as the platinum  blonde gold  digger is amazing . she knows what she wants and goes after it  this film is sexy and excellent   
ok i caught this film halfway through  but . oh . dear . god . it . sounds . like . they  re . all . reading . from . scripts .  br    br   especially that guy who is now in teachers and the book group  although at least he has proved that he can act if he wants to   the part where someone has a heart attack stands out as a bastion of bad film making both in terms of acting  scripting and general plausibility  it quite clearly appears to be a cash  in on human traffic  but whilst that is not the best film ever  it is at least original and had actors whose delivery did not resemble that of earnest  yet  hopeless gcse students trying to get a pass grade . not so much as human traffic as a bit of a car crash   
this is one of the most daring and important of the so  called  pre  code  films made in hollywood during the     s . unlike some pre  code films that occasionally dabbled in subjects that would have never been allowed after        this film fully immersed itself in a very sordid yet entertaining plot from start to finish . the conventional morality of the late   s and   s was definitely not evident in this film  as the film is essentially about a conniving woman who sleeps her way to the top   and with no apologies along the way . this  broad  both enjoyed sex and used it on every man who could help her get rich   something you just never would have seen in films made just two or three years later .  br    br   the film begins with barbara stanwyck working in her father  s speakeasy . in addition to being her boss  he is also her pimp and encourages her to sleep with a local government official so that he  ll allow the illegal bar to operate with impunity . while not especially clear here  it appears as if daddy has been  renting  his daughter  s body out for a long time .  br    br   however  after nearly being raped and attacking this man by breaking a bottle of beer over his skull  barbara has had enough and heads to the big city . it doesn  t hurt that the still blew up and killed her father  but her feeling that she was whoring herself out and had nothing to show for it appeared to be the impetus to move .  br    br   despite the depression  barbara uses sex to get a job at a huge mega  bank . she starts out at a pretty menial job as a file clerk  but in the space of what seems like just a few weeks  she sleeps her way from one job to another to yet another   until she is sleeping with the head of the bank and his future son  in  law    this all ends in tragedy  but babs doesn  t seem too shook up over the deaths of these two men . in fact  some time later  she is able to insinuate herself into the life of the new ceo and once again she  s on top  perhaps in more way than one  .  br    br   now so far  this is a wonderful movie because it was so gritty and unrepentant . barbara played a     sociopath   a woman with no morality and no conscience   just a desire to squeeze as much out of life as she could no matter who she hurt in the process . however  the brave writers and producer  chickened out  and thought it important to tack on a redemptive ending . considering that this woman was so evil and conniving  her change of heart at the end was a major disappointment and strongly detracted from the film . in many ways  this reminded me of the ending of jezebel   as once again  a wicked person somehow  sees the light  and changes at the not  too  convincing conclusion .  br    br   my advice is to try watching red  headed woman and downstairs . red  headed woman is much like baby face but features no magical transformation at the end   the leading lady really is a skunk down deep  in downstairs  a film very much like red  headed woman  the roles are reversed and a man  john gilbert  plays a similar conniving character . both are classics and a bit better than this film .  br    br   this film is an amazing curio of a brief period of often ultra  sleazy hollywood films and in this light it  s well worth seeing for cinephiles . also  fans of the duke take note   john wayne plays a very small part in the film and it  s very unusual to see a very young wayne playing such a conventional role .  
wow  this film was just bloody horrid . so bad in fact that even though i didn  t pay to see it  i still wanted my money back .  br    br   the film is about nothing intelligible . it  s a mish  mash of sci  fi cliche  s that were done better by much more skilled film makers . the performances  especially by the leads were over the top in a less endearing ed wood sort of way . speaking of ed wood  he  d be proud of the character  s dialogue . it  s just too taciturn with no hint of irony or sense of humor . on top of that  it doesn  t make sense  nor does the plot  or lackthereof .  br    br   the visual effects are okay  but not enough to go  oh wow  that  s cool  and they just seem to be thrown in to  be cool  rather than be a good plot device .  br    br   the soundtrack was another mishmash of stuff that really never set any sort of mood . again  it seemed as if the director was just throwing in songs in the film in an effort to  be cool  .  br    br   which brings me to my final point . perhaps if the director actually worried more about plot  story and dialogue instead of trying to  be cool   he wouldn  t have made such a dorky cliche  of a short film .  br    br    
infamous pre  code film  really the one film that caused people to insist on the hayes code being strictly enforced . barbara stanwyck stars as a young girl whose liquor  selling father has no problem pimping her out to customers . when he dies in an accident  she  s released out into the world with the knowledge that her nubile body can get her whatever she wants . she goes to new york and proceeds to climb the corporate ladder  one bed at a time . although obviously there  s no actual sex shown  the film is quite sleazy . unfortunately  after the initial shock value fades  around the time stanwyck screws a rail car inspector so she can travel for free   the film becomes a tad repetitive and dull . stanwyck herself is the only thing that keeps the film worth sitting through . as always  she  s fantastic .  
saw this piece of work at a film fest in ca . my god  what was the director thinking  film professors should use this film as a case study on what not to do when making a short film . first off  this project makes absolutely no sense whatsoever . the film takes place partially in  the waystation   some stupid vapid bar in the middle of nowhere  where nothing really takes place .  br    br   the acting is beyond bad . so bad in fact that i almost thought it was a comedy . the lead actress julia reading is a step below the acting in most amateur porn films . there is one or two decent performances  including the guys who played jacob and fenner but it  s like the director had no clue on how to work or use his thespians . the only thing worse than the acting was the dialogue  which bordered on absurd . the writer  whom i assume is also the director  writes each character like they are auditioning for a comic book villain .  br    br   the overall production value is pretty good  but to be honest  with a film this bad it  s easy to overlook it . the production design is pretty good  although the waystation looks like any ordinary bar . the costumes and make  up are okay  and i understand the production was working with a low budget . it  s just when the characters speak  or they try and push the plot forward  the film unravels into a muck of crap .  br    br   as i  ve said  this film is god awful . it  s like the director  writer watched a lot of sci  fi films and threw all the parts he liked into a blender and came up with this . my only hope is that he used other people  s money on this  because if he used his own  he  s a total sucker .  
director alfred green  s melodrama  baby face  with barbara stanwyck ranks as one of the more notorious of the pre  code movies . these films were produced before the production code administration had the power to enforce its rules in     .  inspiration  scenarist gene markey and  midnight mary  scribe kathryn scola penned the screenplay  based on mark canfield  s story  about the rise and fall of a girl who used her sexual charms to acquire wealth and position in society . incidentally  mark canfield was a pseudonym for producer daryl f . zanuck . these pre  code films today seem tame  but they aroused controversy galore and contained more racy material than most movies until the late     s when the code began to erode . the themes that the filmmakers explore are women versus men  women versus women  and women versus society . our crafty protagonist does enough skulduggery that all themes are about equal .  br    br   lily  s worthless father nick powers  robert barret of  distant drums   operates an illegal speakeasy bar during prohibition  when the thirteen amendment outlawed liquor  and brews his own booze in a still out back . nick is such as an obnoxious fellow that he pimps out her beautiful  but hard  working daughter lily  barbara stanwyck of  night nurse    but lily refuses to help her father out with a sleazy local politician . the politician . ed sipple  arthur hohl of  private detective     vows to retaliate for lily  s refusal to accommodate him . later  nick chews his rebellious daughter out . lily reproaches him .  yeah  i  m a tramp and who  s to blame  my father  a swell start you gave me  nothing but men  dirty  rotten men . and you  re lower than any of them .  no sooner has she stormed off than nick dies when his still blows up and kills him . lily and her african  american maid chico  theresa harris of  arrowsmith   pack their bags and catch a ride of the first freight leaving town .  br    br   no sooner have our heroines arrived in new york than lily uses her charm to get a job in a bank . visually  director green shows lily  s shrewd ascension up the ladder with camera angles that move upward until lily  s sexuality threatens to destroy the bank . at one point  lily breaks up a marriage between one bank officer  ned stevens  donald cook of  the public enemy   and his fiance  anne carter  margaret lindsay of  cavalcade   after stevens had almost fired her for flirting with her boss  brody  douglas dumbrille of  his women   in the employee restroom . lily is extremely shrewd and manages to emerge from each debacle better off than before . the board of trustees hires courtland trenholm  george bent of  jezebel   to take over as president of the bank . the first thing that trenholm does is pay off lily instead of letting her publish her diary entries about the higher ups at the bank . moreover  trenholm ships lily off to their branch bank in paris where lily doesn  t create any commotion until trenholm arrives and they become romantically attached . lily fights tooth and nail for everything that she has gotten and hates to throw it all away  but she sacrifices everything at the end for her husband .  br    br   ironically  lily winds up back in the same town that she started out in  but trenholm and she are happy now .  baby face  qualifies as one of the five best pre  code movies . look for john wayne dressed up in a suit and tie in one scene .  
this is just one more of those hideous films that you find on lifetime tv which portray the abhorrent behavior of some disgusting woman in an empathetic manner . along with other such nasty films as  the burning bed    enough   or  monster   this film takes a disgusting criminal and attempts to show the viewer why she  s not such a bad person after all . give us a break  here  s my question to the filmmakers if letourneau were a man  and vili were a   year old girl  would you have made a picture sympathizing and empathizing with this person  answer hell no .  br    br   imagine switching the genders in this film  and then you  ll see just why myself and others here consider this a worthless piece of garbage . were the genders switched  there would be no attempt to empathize with the criminal . instead  we  d likely be treated to a portrayal of a monstrous and hideous man preying upon a young girl  his lascivious behavior landing him in prison  and his brainwashed victim suffering from stockholm syndrome . the only reason letourneau does not receive the same treatment in this film is by virtue of her sex .  br    br   let  s call a spade a spade . letourneau is a pedophile . plain and simple . no ifs  ands or buts . she  s a criminal who belongs in prison  and deserves our derision and contempt  but certainly not our pity or empathy .  
this film is one of the more risqu black and white films of this time in the early      s before the hoyts code was enforced . it  s the story of a young beautiful woman moving to new york and making her way to the top of the business by using her body as a tool to get there .  br    br   barbara stanwyck plays the young and beautiful lily powers who indeed does a fairly well job with her performance . lily moves to new york and makes her way up the business place by sleeping with all the men . stanwyck does an outstanding performance as being a strong woman who uses men as one time deals  hardly any emotion towards them playing them as if they were pawns . lily powers is a woman who doesn  t have love on her mind just power and money .  br    br   i thought this movie to be a little bit different then other films i have seen because there is hardly any background music heard . i believe it is only because this is when people were first introduced to live sound and dialogue between the people of the film . the few times the music is heard is during the beginning as we are shown how she makes her way up the chain . the filming and different scenes were something fantastic  the director of this film did all the right angles and all the right tricks  making this film full of realism .  br    br   this film was all together an alright movie . the ending to this movie wasn  t as good as it should have been  but it didn  t entirely ruin it . baby face had its slow moving scenes throughout the movie  and perhaps a few predictable parts such as who she will sleep with next . but this is a lovable movie that can be watched more then once  and suggested to some people and friends .  
an actor asks   what  s my motivation    to understand his or her character . after viewing this this  docudrama   this vague and haphazard farce  a viewer wonders what anyone  s motivation was .  br    br   this inept offspring of daytime t . v .  the oprah show  missed by a mile a great opportunity to explore weighty issues .  br    br   its characters were all shallow and superficial  its story line far less socially redeeming than a  simpsons  episode . it gratuitously portrayed investigating police as unprofessional and incompetent . it failed to offer why the court might treat the main character  a female child molester  so differently than it would have a male perp .  br    br   why did this unrepentant woman begin  grooming  her second grade student  beginning an affair with him when he returned to her sixth grade class  why did the boy  s mother testify in her behalf  the simple answer is overwhelming narcissism  plus generational rationalization and greed . the movie gave no hint of that .  br    br   why wasn  t the viewer informed that the victim  s mother sold interview rights to print and television tabloids  parading her adolescent son on  the today show   that mary kay  s lawyer cashed in  she herself appealing a  son of sam  statute so she could benefit from her crime by selling her story to the highest bidder   br    br   why wasn  t it explained that letourneau  s father was a former right wing republican congressman  the     american independent presidential candidate  the john birch society president  in     john schmitz  s political career ended when he was found to have had children by his own community college student  exposed only when that mistress sexually mutilated their infant son  yet letourneau  s dad had removed his many kids from  too liberal  catholic schools  fighting to keep all schoolchildren from receiving any sex education   br    br   a month after her conditional release  again pregnant with the now    year  old  s second daughter  mary kay received     years in prison for numerous probation violations . a prophetic editorial regarding the sad affair then appeared in the seattle times  at the end of two wretched hours  letourneau was led off to jail  and this salacious melange of made  for  tv seaminess was over  until casting begins .   br    br   sure enough    months later  filming of this travesty was underway .  
i enjoyed this movie a lot . i thought that the plot of the movie was realistic and relevant to anytime period in american history . there is always that woman that does what she needs to do to climb the class system . i feel that the character of lilly was portrayed correctly and could of not been done better . what i enjoyed most was when she realized what love really was . throughout the movie all of the men that fell for her were in love with her  had given her everything  even lost their careers for her . until she had met cortland  she did not understand why these men gave up everything for happiness . the way her life had ended up was far from what she expected to be possible . i  d recommend this movie to anyone of a mature audience so you are able to understand the content and the under  laying meaning of the movie and plot .  
this movie is a pathetic attempt  apparently  to justify the actions of mary ann letourneau . in order to do this  they cast a    year  old  well  probably not  in order to do this .  there was no way they could have cast a   or   year old as the boy because the love scenes would have grossed everyone out  if they had even been allowed to do them   as they should . mary ann  s boyfriend was my nephew  s age  making her a pedophile . sixth grade  people . the definition of pedophile doesn  t have to include many children  all you need is one .  br    br   i really don  t care about her upbringing or her unhappy marriage . she had a responsibility to her students that she did not live up to . the reason given is that she is bipolar  rejected the diagnosis  and refused to take her medication . it  s understandable  then  that she was not thinking rationally . one hopes that she now understands her actions .  br    br   now that she and vili are married and have two children together  i pray that she is on her medication and thinking clearly .  br    br   all that aside  penelope ann miller was totally convincing and perfect casting for the role .  
baby face is a fast paced  wise cracking  knowing smirk of a film that  br    br   lasts only an hour and   minutes  but oh what a smart   minutes they  br    br   are  that a story that covers so much ground could be told in such a  br    br   short time puts most of today  s movie makers to shame . screenwriters of  br    br   today should study the economy of baby face and cut the bloat that  br    br   overwhelms so many of their films .  br    br   the story is no nonsense . an amoral woman rises to wealth first under   br    br   and then over the bodies of the men who fall madly in love with her .  br    br   sure the production code loused it up with a redeeming  happy ending   br    br   but it isn  t hard to see in which the direction the writers wanted to  br    br   go  so enjoy what  s there and use your imagination for the rest . stanwyck is terrific as is george brent and douglass dumbvrille as a  br    br   hapless suitor . not a great film but certainly an enjoyable one . if  br    br   you  ve never seen baby face catch it the next time it  s shown on cable  br    br   or rent the cassette . it  s worth the effort . .  
this was a very brief episode that appeared in one of the  night gallery  show back in     . the episode starred sue lyon  of lolita movie fame  and joseph campanella who play a baby sitter and a vampire  respectively . the vampire hires a baby sitter to watch his child  which appears to be some kind of werewolf or monster  while he goes out at night for blood . the baby sitter is totally oblivious to the vampire  s appearance when she first sees him and only starts to put two and two together when she notices that he has no reflection in the mirror  has an odd collection of books in the library on the occult  and hears strange noises while the vampire goes to talk to the child . she realizes that the man who hired her may not be what she thought he was originally . she bolts out the door  the vampire comes out looking puzzled and the episode is over . i don  t know what purpose it was to make such an abbreviated episode that lasted just  minutes . they should just have expanded the earlier episode by those same  minutes and skipped this one . a total wasted effort .  
sequels hardly ever live up to the original . this definitely proves true in this case . however  if you  re a big fan of the original than definitely give this a watch . although the camera work is lacking  brian krause  s character is annoying  and the plot is clique  it  s much more funnier than the first and that is what i find entertaining about it .  br    br   don  t see this movie expecting the same performance as in the first film . quite frankly it  s a bit different . rather than sitting in his cabin writing screenplays  stanley is off in hollywood trying to direct his dream project  cabin by the lake . this movie has a much different feel but it  s still great to see stanley back in action .  br    br   i  m giving it a  out of   .  
this is just usual indian garbage that gets turned out as cinema  as indians we can proudly boast that we have the biggest cinema industry  however it also the worst .  br    br   how can other poor countries have films with real characters that challenge the views of their respective societies and we just keep on pumping out garbage . take a look at russia  iran  china and latin america  look at the brilliant films they have and we get crap like kisna    br    br   get real people  no wonder the international community in general laughs at indian cinema .  
lily powers works at a speakeasy until her father dies . she then goes to new york to work at an office building . there she notices that if she wants to get any higher she has to give the men what they want . and what men want is her . . . well  you know . alfred e . green  s baby face       is a movie of high sexual content . for a movie of that era  anyway . this was one of the last pre  code films that were made . barbara stanwyck gives a very sexy performance as lily . other actors of this film include george brent  courtland trenholm   donald cook  ned stevens   alphonse ethier  adolf cragg   henry kolker  j . p . carter   margaret lindsay  ann carter  and theresa harris  chico  . the young john wayne is seen as jimmy mccoy jr . this movie deals with a brave topic and it does it good . baby face is historically significant movie and therefore good to watch .  
curiously  season  of the columbo series contained only three episodes and there is very little evidence of quality in at least two of the scripts  based on this outing for the  man  in  the  mac  and also  fade into murder  .  br    br   furthermore  it is not a coincidence that peter s . feibleman penned both the aforementioned scripts  incidentally he plays the part of the murdered security guard here  .  br    br   this adventure is very rarely compelling and many of the performers just look disinterested with the material . the story is rather weakly developed with some protracted periods of boring conversation .  br    br   columbo is also shadowed by a colleague here  similar to  last salute to the commodore   but the entertainment value is minimal . to add to this  celeste  s holm characterisation  which is intended to provide comedy  induces embarrassment rather than laughs .  br    br   the script wavers off to deal with the family history and the murderess does enough to gift columbo the case  though there is never a credible discussion relating to the motives of her crime .  br    br   ironically  what turns out to be  arguably  columbo  s worst adventure produces the funniest moment in the series . he quizzes a male hairdresser and has a haircut  manicure at the same time . the next  minutes are hilarious  it  s just that columbo  s hair is so perfectly groomed  then he can  t afford to pay the bill and then  when he makes enquiries at a jewellers he keeps glancing in the mirror to admire his hairstyle   br    br   sadly  this is the only decent moment from a script that looks like it has been cobbled together in ten minutes .  br    br   for columbo completionists only .  
escaping the life of being pimped by her father  . . and the speakeasy waitressing  who dies in an explosion  lily powers  barbara stanwyck  who is simply ravishing  sluts her way through the branches inside a bank business in big city gotham . when a possessive lover murders who was supposed to be his next father  in  law  and lily  s new lover   the sky  s the limit for lily as she has written down her various relationships in a diary and subtlety makes it known the papers will receive it if certain pay doesn  t come into her hands . newly appointed president to the bank  courtland trenholm  george brent   sends lily to paris instead of forking over lots of dough  but soon finds himself madly in love after various encounters with her in the city of love . this makes lily  s mouth water as now she  ll have reached the pedestal of success seducing a man of wealth and prestige bring riches her way . though  circumstances ensue which will bring her to make a decision that threatens her successful way of achieving those riches . . trenholm  now her husband  is being indicted with jail certain and has lost the bank . he needs money lily now has in her possession or he  ll have absolutely nothing .  br    br   stanwyck is the whole movie despite that usual warner brothers polish . being set in the pre  code era gives the filmmakers the chance to elaborate on taboo subjects such as a woman using sex to achieve success and how that can lead to tragedy . good direction from alfred e green shows through subtlety hints in different mannerisms and speech through good acting from the seductive performance of stanwyck how to stage something without actually showing the explicit act . obviously the film shows that money isn  t everything and all that jazz as love comes into the heart of lily  s dead heart . that ending having lily achieve the miraculous metamorphosis into someone in love didn  t ring true to me . she  s spent all this time to get to that platform only to fall for a man who was essentially no different than others she had used before him .  
like all cult tv shows  there is a group of people who love the twilight zone so much that they rate practically every episode like they are the greatest shows ever . while several of them are indeed wonderful classics  the truth is for every great episode  there were several that were mediocre and at least one that stank . however  like die  hard trekkies  these zone lovers insist that all of them are gold . in fact  this is what initially got me to review some individual episodes of a couple cult series instead of the movies i usually watch .  br    br   while this isn  t the worst episode ever made nor is it among the very worst  it is poor by any reasonable standard . a widow watches a long procession of civil war soldiers going past her home . in the end  a very unexpected twist is revealed and there isn  t a whole lot of excitement or suspense here .  
first off  if you  re planning on watching this  make sure to watch the uncut version  although it is very interesting to go back and then watch the scenes that were tampered with due to censorship   it makes a huge difference . this film is about a young woman  played by barbara stanwyck  who since the age of   has been forced into prostitution by her own father . when her father suddenly passes away  she is able to go out into the world on her own . after reading about nietzsche  s philosophies on life  she uses her sexuality to manipulate men into giving her what she wants and leaves them in ruins and desperate for her love . throughout the movie she becomes increasingly materialistic and manipulative and the audience begins to wonder is she has any sense of morality left at all . overall  baby face is a very shocking movie with blatant scenes of sexuality that most people would not expect to see in a black and white film . while no sexual acts are explicitly shown on screen  it is very obvious what is happening off camera .  br    br   i enjoyed watching this film very much and i believe most modern audiences will get at least some enjoyment out if it  especially with the films shock value . i did think while watching it that the pacing seemed a bit slow at parts  but i think that about most movies the first time is see them . actually  i think that almost all movies i  ve seen made from the early    s had some minor pacing problems or certain parts just didn  t quite  flow  right . this was probably just the craft of film  making wasn  t quite perfected yet  it would take just a few more years . compare a film from     and compare it with an early    s film and i think you  ll see what i mean .  br    br   once again  i  m very glad i was able to watch the original cut it really does make a big difference . also any john wayne fans will be surprised to see him in this movie before he was famous in an uncharacteristic role .  
this programme bugs me  there is no humour to it and is far too serious to be called  fun   it  s just far too educational for my liking  the characters are very stereotyped and unappealing . the plots are redundant and the morals are just repeated over and over again . where  s the fun in it  also i feel this has been on the bbc for far too long and is broadcast way too much . does it really need to have a slot on t . v every  or  months when a brand new show runs out of episodes  i think it  s time that the bbc starting bringing back some of their older shows like inspector gadget  bananaman  the smurfs  snorks  moomins  the raccoons and count duckula other than continually giving contracts to these newer shows  i thought the bbc where bring back danger mouse  so what  s going on with that        
very slick  very pre  hays code  and still very sassy . i would highly recommend seeing this movie  even if you are not a fan of stynwyck . she  s funny  she  s sexy  she  s hard  working  and love that perm she gets   br    br   barbara stynwyck is fantastic as a doozie of a floozy who rises up in the world  perfectly portrayed by a bank building . john wayne  in a suit   plays one of her first conquests .  br    br   the last three minutes are a letdown  but the sets  the lines  the clothes all add to one heck of a movie about rising vertically in the horizontal position .  
i saw arthur  the tv series and the books  years ago and never was fond of the show very much  if you  re a fan of this cartoon  sorry if i  m spoiling it for you  but this is actually what i think  . lots of people liked it  but i didn  t .  br    br   the school kids characters seemed to fought all the time  especially arther and dw   they were nice to each other frequently  but gradually i got tired of arthur  s complaining attitude towards everyone and his sister dw  however the name was spelled   and dw was an adhd  or add   like   year  old sister of arthur who was sometimes demanding  which could be why arthur got annoyed with what her routines were  like her imaginary friend and her stuffed animal collection etc .   arthur  s friends acted like teenagers instead of what they were like in the arthur books  and the parents  well  they didn  t care very much .  br    br   the greatest cartoon was rocko  s modern life  not arthur  no offense  .  
babyface  notorious barbara stanwyck flick where she is told by the local professor type that she has power  he tries to get her to read nietzche  she says books ain  t never done her no good . soon we find out her father is basically pimping her out to a local politico and others . finally she has had enough and relocates to the big city . we follow her trail of men up the ladder of success in an international bank . the dialogue is quite saucy for it  s time and it was one the last films to come out before the self inflicted hollywood production code . look for a cameo by a young john wayne as one of stanwyck  s willing victims . part of the forbidden hollywood collection  i watched the extended version  the dvd has both versions plus red  headed woman and waterloo bridge . an interesting movie and foreshadowing for future femme fatale roles that stanwyck would play in the era of film noir . b  
first one was much better  i had enjoyed it a lot . this one has not even produced a smile . the idea was showing how deep down can human kind fall  but in reference to the characters not the film  maker .  
this is a hard  boiled warner brothers film starring a very young barbara stanwyck . a consummate master at portraying machiavellian cool  a technique she perfected eleven years later in billy wilder  s  double indemnity   stanwyck plays lily powers  the well  worn daughter of a violent speakeasy owner in a suffocating steel  town . she has been rendered cynical and numb by years of being offered up as a sexual favor to her father  s customers . once her father dies in a distillery explosion  she hops a freight train to new york and literally sleeps her way up the corporate ladder of a bank .  br    br   this would come across as preposterous were it not for stanwyck  s blazing work here . with her dead  eyed stare and amoral seduction methods  it is easy to see why men become addicted to her aggressive carnality . one of the young men she seduces along the way is a fresh  faced john wayne as of all things  an accountant named jimmy mccoy . the melodrama gets heavy  handed toward the last third of the film with a murder  suicide  a hush  hush job in paris to keep lily quiet and the new bank president who is so addicted to lily that he embezzles company funds to keep her in luxury . a tacked  on ending is somewhat disappointing but not before stanwyck sears the screen . the film has curious touches like lily  s bonding friendship with an african  american woman named chico and the german immigrant who teaches lily about nietzsche philosophy regarding the importance of avoiding sentimentality .  
this film has a special place in my heart as the worst movie i have ever seen . it is about as fun as doing hard manual labor with stomach cramps . the movie starts out bad  i would rate the first few minutes of the film a      and then it get progressively worse  minute by minute . the only way to rate it at all would be some kind of abyssmal spiraling negative number that grows for ninety  long minutes . unfunny is not a real word but it best describes the humor in this video . somehow the video manages even to make cute  scantily clad females and sex look grotesque and distasteful . this movie is amazingly bad . i would say it would be better to be locked up with the titanic theme playing over and over and with buscemi  s character from escape from la droning on in your ear than to watch this movie . the sequels are not nearly as bad . if you have to rent a troma film  get tromeo and juliette or combat shock . i would rather watch  tony little infomercials back to back than to see class of nukem high again . don  t get me wrong  it took some kind of criminal genius to make a movie this terrible and if ever a movie deserved an award for being awful  this is it .  
excellent  pre  code amoral tale with barbara stanwyck as the newly inspired  by writings of nietzsche   to drive out her sensitivities and exploit herself  use men to her advantage . not really fair on the german philosopher but interesting that this was the year hitler came to power . stanwyck  even in this young version doesn  t do a lot for me but she certainly performs well here  ever driving herself and the film forward . not as much flesh on display here as one might have expected but plenty of risqu situations and astonishing quips and innuendo . great fun  if not a particularly attractive presentation of men and i suppose in all honesty not a very attractive view of the gold digging female . still  that  s life   
it looks to me as if the creators of  the class of nuke  em high  wanted it to become a  cult  film  but it ends up as any old high school b  movie  only tackier . the satire feels totally overshadowed by the extremely steretyped characters . it  s very un  funny  even for a turkey .  
in my opinion this has to be one of barbara stanwyck  s best performances . she was one of only a handful of actors  then and now  who could say more with a single look than an entire page of dialogue . and i was lucky enough to see the original and uncensored movie  with the extra  minutes of additional footage . too bad the movie is so short . lily is a young woman barely holding it together working for her father in his illegal speakeasy . her only link to anything is her good friend  chico  played wonderfully by theresa harris . though chico is african american  and having a white woman be best friends with a black woman back in the   s was as controversial as the subject matter of this movie   and lily is not  they have a special bond . and it is not sexual . just  women stuck  or shoved  into a situation beyond their control . after lily  s father dies  and she does not know what she will do  she is told that she has the power to get out and to get what she wants . yes  it  s immoral  but that  s the entire point of this movie . then  they  had to go and ruin the last few minutes . so  up until the last few minutes of the movie  it  s a superb film and worth watching . the  lesson  of the movie is still as valid today as it was back then  and i  m sure will be a    years from now . women  it  s awful what lily does in order to get what she wants  but it works . men  take note .  
what to say about this movie . well it is about a bunch of good students who have some bad drugs and turn into delinquent students that sell more of the bad drugs to people . two of those people have adverse effects as one turns into a toxic avenger type and his girlfriend throws up some creature that grows in the school  s basement . that is about all there is to it and they stretch it out for   minutes . this movie is pretty bad and should be locked away forever . though that is not fair  some people like troma  s movies and they can watch it if they want . troma movies for me though  are the worst movies there are out there . i just watched this one out of morbid curiosity .  
i hand  t seen the restored  or any version for that matter  of  baby face  with barbara stanwyck till i caught it on tcm . what a great movie  in a nutshell lily lives in a speakeasy  she  s been pimped out by her own father since she was    then his still blows up and he  s killed leaving lily  stanwyck  alone cept for her black maid chico  played very nicely by theresa harris . lily leaves for the big city  new york  deciding to use her sex to get to the top . she does this in great style   br    br   she seduces a pudgy clerk to get in on the ground floor and proceeds to go through men like disposable candy  one dumps his fiance and kills his near father  in  law  also lily  s sugar  daddy  then commits suicide  lily barely blinks  stanwyck is terrific as a girl who really doesn  t know what love is .  br    br   then in paris  she falls for courtland  played by george brent  they marry  but when he  s in deep financial straights  she bolts . nearly free with chico and a half  million  she realizes she loved court  lily races to find him  but will she be too late   br    br   this is pre  code hollywood at its best . stanwyck is tremendous and the look and music in the film are perfect . this reminded me of  original sin  with angelina jolie  another unfairly ignored flick with an amoral woman  those who disliked that films ultra  romantic leanings  will not like baby face any better  those with belief in sex  love and power  will love it . highly recommended  see it   
i absolutely adore the  toxic avenger  series  but this weak offering by the troma people didn  t make any sense  and it had me yawning all the time .  br    br   a leaking nuclear plant  and the growing weed next to it  makes the youngsters of tromaville high go nuts  which causes them to join a gang  have sex  explode  and whatever . also there  s some sort of monster breeding in the high school . . . my god  this movie  s a mess .  br    br   the actors pretty much stopped their efforts after this one and they should . the  intended  overacting started to get on my nerves in about  minutes . . .  br    br   disappointing .     .  
the pre  release version of      s  baby face  would make an ideal introduction to a corporate seminar on sexual harassment . mentored by a nietszchean professor  lily powers rises from a life of easy virtue at her father  s speakeasy to a rapid climb up the corporate ladder at a large bank . because each rung of the ladder is an executive with his brain below his belt and his ethics locked in the vault  the film has no victims  except lily  s childhood  which was destroyed by an abusive exploitative father . the destructive relationship with her father suggests lily  s hidden motive for using men to advance without regard for their fate . while lily is cynical and obvious in her approach  the men she targets willingly betray wives and fiancs to trade jobs for sexual favors . perhaps the bank failures in the      s owed less to economics than to morally corrupt executives distracted by ambitious women .  br    br   the plot moves fast  and the camera amusingly moves from window to window up the faade of the office building as lily climbs ever higher . barbara stanwyck reveled in tough hard  bitten roles  and she is in top form here . sentiment does not intrude when she is ready to climb the next rung . only her african  american confidante  chico  receives lily  s affection  trust  and loyalty . in more enlightened times  the fresh natural beauty of theresa harris  who plays chico  would have had the men throwing the furs and penthouses at her . stanwyck often appears overly made  up and stiffly coiffed in comparison to harris . however  despite stanwyck  s tough demeanor  obvious tactics  and artificial visage  she manages to leave a trail of duped and seduced men  including douglass dumbrille  donald cook  and a young john wayne .  br    br   the preferred version of  baby face  is the    minute restored cut . the edited release version of the film shyly turns from the hard facts  which the longer cut restores and makes explicit . perhaps darryl zanuck  who wrote the story under an assumed name  intended a lesson by quoting from nietszche  whose views on women were controversial . however  despite alphonse ethier  s lectures and advice not to be defeated by life  lily  s grab for power and money likely owed more to her upbringing and her father than to her professorial mentor . however  the philosophy is but a distraction . short  fast paced  and entertaining   baby face  is as contemporary in its morality as  wall street .  substitute gordon gecko for nietszche  and lily could have declared her guiding philosophy to be  greed is good .   
this film might have weak production values  but that is also what makes it so good . the special effects are gross out and well done . my favorite part of the movie had to be chrissy played by janelle brady . she is super hot and also has a good nude scene . robert prichard as the leader of the gang is hilarious  as are the other members . this film is actually trying to make a point  by saying that nuclear waste plants are bad .     fair comedy  gross out film .  
i thought it was one of the best sequels i have seen in a while . sometimes i felt as though i would just want someone to die  stanley  s killing off of the annoying characters was brilliant . it was such a well done movie that you were happy when so and so died . my only problem was in some scenes it looked like someone with a home camera was filming it and it was weird . judd nelson is cute  at least in my opinion and he was excellent in the role as stanley caldwell . brilliant movie .  
those  points are dedicated the reasonable performance from akshay kumar . i know bollywood films do not really strive to be realistic but please a walt disney production is more realistic than this plot . the father is dying and does what any good parent does . . . kick his son out the son with his pregnant wife . a few things that were too hard to swallow   . priyanka  cool indoor swimming pool in the bedroom  and to go from that to living hungry in her in  laws garden shed          . akshay suddenly got the job as a stunt man  gets bitten by rabified dogs  to then just walk off . this film is an insult to our intelligence i really cant believe i contributed financially to the  people  who made this film by taking my family to see it  we left the cinema with a frown  please do not subject yourself to this mess to watching this take my advice and do not waste your  waqt  .  
baby face is one of the better of the  forgotten  films before the code . it was shown last night after the     version of waterloo bridge on the turner classic network  so i was able to watch the film as it is now with four plus minutes of it restored .  br    br   stanwyck is living in east st . louis  where she may have known the drunken parents of  myra   mae clarke  in waterloo bridge  . her father is robert barrett . she has lived with him since the death of her mother  and  in the restored dialog  he has been pimping her since she was   years old . now she is resident waitress and part  time whore in his speakeasy  her closest friend being chico  theresa harris   the african  american servant who barrett keeps bullying . it is one of the two good points of stanwyck  s personality that she keeps standing up to her father about harris  threatening to leave if harris is fired  and since it is the grubby workers like nat pendleton  who enjoy seeing stanwyck serve them  rather than the flavor of the hooch he serves that brings them in  barrett has to obey her  .  br    br   the one guy who comes to the speakeasy regularly whom stanwyck likes is the shoemaker and intellectual adolf cragg  alphonse ethier   who sees great potential in the spirited girl if she will just leave her forsaken home . he is also pushing the philosophy of friedrich nietzche  and the idea of the will to power . more about this later .  br    br   after she knocks out the local political bigwig  arthur hohl   and has an argument with barrett about this  a still explosion kills barrett  and enables stanwyck to leave her home town . she and harris head to new york city  managing to get free transport by a railroad freight car by sleeping with a brakeman  james murray  . they reach new york  and after walking about they see the gotham trust company  established       and the friendly guard tells her where the personnel office is .  br    br   we slowly watch stanwyck ascend the corporate ladder to the top  similar  but sleazier  than robert morse dared in how to succeed in business without really trying . but morse was a man in a man dominated company . stanwyck knows her sexual allure is her weapon . she goes through john wayne  douglas dumbrille  a section of the film that i always felt was the most shocking  curiously enough  when i watched it   douglas wood  henry kolker  and finally george brent . each ends up falling for her  and either being pushed aside when no longer useful  or destroyed by her . brent  the new president of the bank his grandfather founded  eventually marries her  and the crisis of the film is when the bank  s economic situation is shaken  especially after brent buys her a fortune in jewels and gives her valuable bonds  . brent is indicted . will she stick up for him   br    br   spoiler coming up  br    br   the one thing about these films that is not admitted is that the theatrical and moral conventions of the time still dictated endings . the original ending had stanwyck boarding a ship for europe abandoning brent to his fate  but realizing she can  t do it to him  returning to their apartment house  and finding he  s shot himself . she is riding with him to the hospital as it ends . now before the rediscovered footage was found  the film ended with them apparently giving up all their money to the bank to save it  and retiring back to east st . louis  to live happily if poor .  br    br   neither of these are good endings . stanwyck should continue on her destructive course  with brent the last of her victims . but even without the breen office the script writers  one is darryl zanuck  by the way  saw fit to have her find a moral center . she has none  at least none for powerful men  whom she hates  . i don  t think that a depression audience would have tolerated that type of conclusion .  br    br   there are other problems  due to the changing styles of public opinion and changes in society . it was a man  s world in the corporate world in      so stanwyck has her work cut out for her . wood  when she is going to be fired for an indiscretion with him  admits that he did not want her to work .  br    br   but in      stanwyck would have been finding woman all over the place . in the film there are nasty  catty remarks  obviously some based on jealousy  towards stanwyck from other secretaries and female employees at her rapid rise . in      she  d be frequently confronting women superiors  and she would find them cutting her off at the legs very quickly . of course  if she finds one or two are lesbians she might try that road but it is doubtful . and she also never seems to meet any men who are gay . they do have gay male executives in business  who wouldn  t give a damn about her legs or breasts .  br    br   then there is her mentor  mr cragg . cragg is remade in the  bowdlerized  version into trying to make her seek a moral center . in reality he pushes nieztsche  but the way  in a broader sense  the nazis pushed nieztsche  find your way to power and push it . while nieztsche did stress power sometimes  it wasn  t the be  all and end  all of his theories . otherwise nobody would read him today in college courses . cragg is obviously self  educated  but only half  educated . in short if somebody who thoroughly studied nieztsche confronted cragg he  d make him look like a half  educated fool . and this is stanwyck  s mentor  a good film  and for it  s day worth a   . . . but seriously flawed .  
tromaville high has become an amoral wasteland of filth thanks to the aftereffects of the nearby nuclear plant  s accidental release of toxic waste .  br    br   unrestrained chaos crammed with absurd violence and crude behavior . rather horrible  obviously intended to be  mess of a film with the filmmakers cutting loose the reins allowing the untalented cast free reign to ham it up . craft was far down troma  s list of objectives for this gory sleazefest . the honor society are punks with eerie face paint jobs and wacky outfits . the german teacher who becomes a member  through a  toxic kiss  has the streaks down one side of her face that really gave me the creeps . the toxic monster  which dispatched the annoying punks towards the end  is pretty cool  though .  br    br   kind of movie trash connoisseurs will embrace wholeheartedly .  
during     this film had many cuts taken from it because it was very over the top for the story content and the fact that lily powers   barbara stanwyck  would do anything to obtain great wealth and power . lily  s father had forced his daughter into prostitution at the age of   and she grew up in a steel mill of a town with very poor people and her father ran a speakeasy which brought into his home all kinds of male characters who had their eye on lily . as the story progresses  lily meets up with man after man and eventually finds a guy who has everything and is a playboy bank president it is great to see a very young john wayne   jimmy mccoy jr .  who was only   when this picture was produced and jimmy did not even get to first base with lily  not even for lunch . a very young george brent   coutland trenholm  stars along with barbara stanwyck and both gave outstanding performances . this is a great film from     which was produced by darryl f . zanuck and was locked up in a fault for many years and just recently is being shown on the silver screen . this film is rather mild compared to what we view on the hollywood screens today  but in     it was very naughty to watch this type of film . enjoy  
typical troma  trash  this smutty    s flick is considered one of the  highlights  of lloyd kaufman  s notorious production studio  alongside  the toxic avenger  released one year earlier .  the toxic avenger  is far superior if you ask me  but this demented splatter  flick is nevertheless endurable as well just make sure you leave your full brain capacity at the door . the events take place in tromaville  a little town that proudly claims to be the toxic chemical capital of the world  and they certainly aren  t lying . the safety precautions in the local nuclear power plant are substandard  to say the least  even homer simpson never was this nonchalant  and toxic waste seeps through to the nearby high school . the first intoxicated victim is the stereotypical nerd  who starts spurting green stuff out of all his body cavities  but his death is believed to be an accident because he had no less than two microwave ovens in his house  oh  the humanity  shortly after  however  the nuclear leaks also affect the school  s weed plantation and thing really start to get messy . after smoking a joint at a party  the cutest couple in school produce a gigantic worm monster that settles in the basement and feeds on teenage scum .  class of nuke  em high  is bottom  of  the  barrel horror film  making  with dialogs so dumb they hurt your ears and make  up effects that give a whole new meaning to the word tasteless . if you enjoy watching faces melting away  getting crushed or splitting in half  this is definitely a must  see  unlike the aforementioned  the toxic avenger   this film suffers from a couple of really dull and overlong moments where nothing really significant happens  like for example when chrissy and warren try to figure out what  s wrong with their hormones . the crude humor isn  t as effective as in  toxic avenger  and the acting performances are unforgivably amateurish . proceed only if you  re an avid troma  fanatic .  
barbara stanwyck as a real tough cookie  a waitress to the working classes  and prostitute at the hands of her father  who escapes to new york city and uses her feminine wiles to get a filing job  moving on to mortgage and escrow  and later as assistant secretary to the second in command at the bank . dramatic study of a female character unafraid to be unseemly has lost none of its power over the years  with barbara acting up a storm  portraying a woman who learns to be a first  rate actress herself  . parlaying a little nietzschean philosophy into her messed up life  this lady crushes out sentiment all right  but she never loses our fascination  our awe . she  s a plain  spoken  hard  boiled broad  but she  s not a bitch  nor is she a man  eater or woman  hater . this gal is all out for herself  and as we wait for her to eventually learn about real values in life  her journey up and down the ladder of success provides heated  sexy entertainment . john wayne  with thick black hair and too much eye make  up  does well in an early role as the assistant in the file office  though all the supporting players are quite good .  from   
all day now i  ve been watching dinosaurs  and all day they  ve had the same fundamental problem .  br    br   they don  t believe in firearms . they just don  t seem to have been  told  about them or something . bullets  bounce  off of dinosaurs  maybe it  s because they became extinct millions of years before the invention of gunpowder  and the laws of physics were just different back then . . . aah  no . come on . if they  re close enough to chemically operate today  they  d have to be vulnerable to fast  even subsonic  lead projectiles . it  s that simple .  br    br   look  the toughest  skinned reptiles on the planet today  alligators and crocodiles  are completely vulnerable to basic rifle fire . they  re nothing magic . you can shoot a pistol round right through the heavy scales on their backs . they don  t take armor  piercing bullets or anything special . small bullets penetrate them  they just don  t kill them . somewhat  but not really  large bullets are preferred because the challenge  as with most game  is to kill the animal with one shot  so it doesn  t run .  hunters consider it immoral to allow prey to run off and die unharvested .   br    br   most animals  including predators  are easily repelled by gunfire . between the noise  and the pain of even a non  lethal wound  most will run away . an exception are big bears  which are so fearless that they  re merely enraged by mortal wounds . cape buffalo are regarded as highly dangerous because they are well known to charge when wounded . we  ve seen video of the big bulls of a herd of cape buffalo rescuing a calf from an entire pride of lions . a big cat will run if it can  but if it can  t it will charge as a final act of desperation . where a t . rex would fit in this spectrum is unknown . their behavior simply has not been observed . with these larger animals  safe hunting becomes a matter of applying an appropriately large and powerful projectile  and  or applying several of them rapidly enough to counter its charge . with a t . rex  of course  this could be a serious problem . i  ve seen a t . rex skull  they have one in the museum downtown  and carrying a gun big enough to bust that might be impractical . chewing its neck off with lots of smaller fire might be a more viable approach . small bullets would still  penetrate  them  they wouldn  t just bounce off just because the animal is too big to easily kill   br    br   so here we have cortez and his men  this is  before  the famous mexican campaign  apparently  captured by american natives and scheduled for sacrifice on the pyramid . it appears that all those human sacrifices were about appeasing the bloodthirst of the pair of t . rexes that terrorized the continent in the day . rather than just having their hearts cut out and being fed to the lizards  cortez et al talk the aztecs into letting them hunt  kill them . ok  maybe they don  t have m    s like the guys in the  carnosaur  series  but they  do  have flintlocks  crossbows  pointed sticks  big ones  made from trees  and swords . maybe that  s a little less uneven than squads of soldiers with full auto  but they  ve several guys and i  d quickly bet on them over a dinosaur . oh  wait  there  s a  cannon   about a   incher . that  s just the ticket for busting a tyrannosaurus  skull  so they lay a trap  with a squad of men  cannon  pointed sticks in a ravine  and lure the first t . rex into it  using a pretty brown girl as bait . cortez points out that they  ll not have time to reload  so they  ll have to close the range until they can be certain of their aim . t . rex totally ignores their volley of flintlock fire  and we see both a crossbow bolt  and  the cannon ball  bounce  off  forget it . end of credibility . a crossbow bolt would defeat cortez  torso armor  and a   cannon ball might penetrate the hull of a wooden ship  this would also  certainly  get through the hide  ribcage  or skull of any animal ever to walk this planet .  do you think a  whale  could withstand a   cannon ball   and here  s t . rex  still standing  not even bleeding . so cortez lures it to the ravine  where it falls onto the pointed sticks  which  i guess by magic  penetrate it and kill it . yaaay  pointed sticks   br    br   the dinos aren  t completely invulnerable to gunfire  they manage to put out an eye of the second one with a pistol . this runs it off  so it  s not as mean as a bear or a buffalo  at least in the movies .  br    br   they kill the second dinosaur with a bomb  made from a gourd filled with gunpowder and gemstones . my money would still be on the cannon . it  s engineered function is to concentrate all the gunpowder  s energy in one direction  toward the target . a bomb is a much more diffused application of force . a  real  bomb  not a gourd bomb  has a steel casing which contains the explosion to extremely high pressure .  think pipe bomb vs firecracker .  a pile of gunpowder set on fire will simply go poof .  trust me on that one .   
this one is considered a key pre  code film  from the director who later made the musical biopic the jolson story        but also the paranoid sci  fi invasion u . s . a .         and features one of barbara stanwyck  s best early roles .  br    br   she  s supported by a fine cast which includes popular actors and valued character performers of the day  george brent  douglass dumbrille  edward van sloan  nat pendleton and john wayne  at one point addressing stanwyck with the titular nickname  derived from a popular song which is heard constantly throughout  in the former category and  in the latter  robert barrat  as stanwyck  s father   donald cook  as her most tragic conquest   alphonse ethier  as her elderly mentor  more on this later   arthur hohl  as a lecherous politician  and henry kolker  as cook  s boss and father  in  law  whom stanwyck also seduces  . curiously  scenes in which walter brennan appeared were subsequently deleted at his own request when the film ran into trouble with the censors   br    br   abetted by crackling i . e . typically hard  boiled dialogue and realistic anton grot sets  the narrative contains unexpected overtones of nietzschean philosophy fed to our small  town heroine by the intellectual ethier  stanwyck complains to him early on that she  s no  ball of fire  which  of course  contradicts her later comedy  directed by howard hawks and co  starring gary cooper  of that name   . under ethier  s auspices  she quickly blooms into an essentially heartless character determined that nothing shall stand in her path to success the symbolic depiction of her rise in stature at the new york firm she  s eventually employed with is reminiscent of a similarly sardonic one  relating to an ambitious statesman  s lust for power  in sergei eisenstein  s october        sociologically  it  s also interesting that stanwyck is constantly seen sticking her neck out for her black maid  companion .  br    br   the first two  thirds of the film are simply terrific at first  i found the latter stages somewhat disappointing  because i was expecting to see stanwyck get her comeuppance by falling for the belatedly  introduced george brent character while he ignores herbut  just like the others  he  s soon under her spell  on second viewing  however  this aspect felt less jarring  as it  s evident that stanwyck has been affected by the two deaths her selfish behavior has caused  and that her tenure in paris has softened her  even if she tries to cling to her hard  earned wealth for as long as it  s possible  .  br    br   released on dvd by warners as part of their forbidden hollywood volume  collection  the film is presented in two strikingly different edits  a recently unearthed pre  release version and the tamer theatrical release print . among the considerable footage cut from the latter is dialogue pertaining to stanwyck  s life as a tramp from the age of    though it  s heard in the accompanying trailer    while many other scenes have been shortened  i . e . censored for content   the violent fisticuff which develops between stanwyck and hohl after she resists his advances the seduction at the railroad car the scene in which dumbrille is surprised with stanwyck by cook the shooting  followed by a suicide  only shots are heard in the shorter version   stanwyck thinking about her conquests while the phonograph is playing  again  only brent appears in the version released to theaters   etc . tha latter  then  utilizes alternate takes for some scenes  and includes an establishing shot of the city which is missing from the longer version however  we also get an obviously tacked  on happy ending  the pre  release version concludes abruptly on a very effective open  ended note  and an equally unconvincing cautionary letter sent by ethier to stanwyck in new york which  basically  has the function of substituting all references to nietzsche   
i have never seen one of these scifi originals before  this was the first . i think it only fair to judge the acting  direction  production  set design and even the cgi effects on the other scifi movies . to compare it to your typical hollywood production is unfair . i will say  however  that overall aztec rex was not exactly reminiscent of werner herzog  s masterpiece aguirre  wrath of god .  br    br   i will begin by noting that  yes  i do recognize the fact that this movie has more to do with culture  clash than it does with dinosaurs . despite this being a made  for  tv sci  fi movie  there is some underlying context to the story which i shall examine . the symbolic elements included are evident enough .  br    br   consequently  as a student of history  theology  mythology and film i found the dialogue outrageous and the plot themes to be somewhat insulting . i am not asking for any mea culpas on behalf of the producers  as i said before the movie is what it is . but what concerns me is that much of the younger demographic for this movie probably rely on television to provide them their lessons when it comes to history and cultural diversity .  br    br   the main problem manifests itself most visibly with the character ayacoatl  not a commentary on dichen lachman  s performance  but simply how her character was written  although  i  ll say she has some work to do before she receives any emmy nods  . it is through her character that the spanish europeans actions are justified . her function in the film as the love interest of rios affirms that the european way is the right way  simply because they are european . there is really no other reason given . it  s really just left to the assumption that the viewer is meant to associate themselves with the europeans over the aztec because their dress  language  ideology  etc is more familiar to them than the aztec  so therefore the aztec are portrayed as adversarial and  backwards .  and it  s not simply that the viewer is left with that assumption due to ethnocentric perception on the viewers part  but it really seems like the story is trying to convince the viewer  as if the aztec were not capable of coming up with a plan  if not a better one  to lure a dinosaur to its death on a bed of punji sticks .  br    br   in fairness  there is a subgroup of the spanish who are portrayed as looting temples and intent on simply abusing the native mesoamericans . there is also a scene where we have the christian holy man noting the achievements of the aztec  they have agriculture  medicine  calendar  etc .   but in the end it is still the aztec warrior who is portrayed as the main antagonist of the movie  even over the  thunder lizards   more on that later  . he his portrayed as treacherous  duplicitous and attempts to dispatch the romantic european spaniard by tricking him into consuming hallucinogenic mind altering mushrooms  an important spiritual component to certain aspects and religions of the native meso  north americans  again  more on this later  so that he can keep the female he feels belongs to him and away from the spaniard .  br    br   now in analyzing the true nature of the story  leaving the obvious christian vs . pagan themes off of the table  from a symbolic standpoint  a viewer can easily take these so  called thunder lizards to be representatives of the mesoamerican ideology  theology  which in this movie is portrayed as being one intent on bloodthirstiness  mercilessness  cruelness  wicked  maybe even evil  in opposition  we have this group of christian wanderers  led by a young hernando cortes who are portrayed as naive  yet overall noble  lambs caught up in the dark heathen world of the aztec . also  the name of the film is aztec rex  leading one to believe that it is about dinosaurs out to eat people . however  what aztec rex translates to is aztec king  a the head of the aztec state  or in this instance  state  of  being .   hence  why the title of the film was changed  . and so who in fact do we see as the new aztec king at the end  it  s the remaining spaniard  rios . aztec rex is in reference to the new european ideology which overcame  through disease  bloodshed  war  famine  native americans . rios symbolizes the ideal european  as the presenters of this film would like them to be remembered  in opposition to cortes who represents the  practical  yet  still  noble european   . but when you examine the holocausts of the americas  let us be honest don  t the symbolic components of this film  s story have it backwards   br    br   i have to say aztec rex is at worst a little racist  or to be kind about it  ignorant at best .  br    br   and yes  i know it  s just a movie  all meant to be in fun  i understand  but so at the end we  re left with the idea that rios was the father of the last remaining aztec lines  i wonder what native mesoamericans would have to think about this ending . . . as for myself  i thought it was a little too self indulgent .  br    br   best supporting performance of the movie goes to ian ziering  s wig  although conspicuous  it did at least alter ziering  s appearance enough so that i didn  t think i was watching the yuppie from      leading a bunch of conquistadors into the heart of darkness . ziering actually proves himself to be a more  than  capable actor in this movie  i actually bought his performance  or at least i forgot it was ian ziering anyway . i don  t know whom his agent is  but he should get more work .  br    br   in closing  it was also a pleasure to see jim mcgee again . i  ve been a fan ever since his all too brief scene  stealing performance in      s scrooged .  br    br   alexander quaresma  deusexmachina    aol . com  
the national gallery of art showed the long  thought lost original uncut version of this film on july        . it restores vital scenes cut by censors upon its release . the character of the cobbler  a moral goody  goody individual in the original censored release of     is here presented as a follower of the philosopher nietsze and urges her to use men to claw her way to the top . also  the corny ending of the original which i assume is in current vhs versions is eliminated and the ending is restored to its original form . a wonderful film of seduction and power . hopefully  there will a reissue of this film on dvd for all to appreciate its great qualities . look for it .  
to be fair they did as well as they could with a budget of five shillings and sixpence  but the dialogue was more cheesy than  lbs of emmental and the cgi was a little old hat now . maybe if some of the actors were not so perfectly chiselled out of granite it would have made the film a little better too . . to say this was awful is to do this film a mis  service  if you want to see something that is totally execrable  you gotta sit and waste a couple of hours of your life watching  sickle   that is soo mind numbingly awful  its actually good   several large alcoholic beverages are deriguer though . any road up  i enjoyed this film and its gotta be worth a look if you have not seen it yet  just don  t expect anything along the lines of  jurassic park  the lost world  or  apocalypto  .  
finally  the uncut version of  baby face  surfaces and from what source  the library of congress . the restored four minutes  snippets here and there  make for a much better film . we now know that baby face was pimped by her old man from the time she was at least fourteen years of age . another reason d  tat for her behavior and cold  calculating exterior .  br    br   barbara stanwyck is indeed amazing in the role of lily powers  notice the moniker   a part that called for just the right amount of sexuality coated with power  cunning  and revenge  yet tinged with virginal pretense when called for  a very difficult portrayal to make convincing . barbara stanwyck conveys the necessary nuances to show that though she sleeps her way to the top  literally   she still has good in her heart   note the way she treats those few who have been kind to her such as chico  the marvelous actress theresa harris  and the old philosopher . and though she exploits her sexuality to make mush of men who are rich and powerful  those same men are attempting to exploit her for their carnal desires with no intention of permanent ties until they fall in love with her .  br    br   lily powers fails to understand  at first  that emotions are difficult to ride  that it  s easy to lose control . one possible result is death . hitching a wagon to a star of course materialism can take one to a destination where nothing else exists but the ephemeral  and it  s a cold lonely location .  br    br   a word should be said about the philosophy of friedrich nietzsche whose will to power is stressed in  baby face  by the elderly philosopher who befriends lilly when she is still turning tricks for her old man .  baby face  was released the same year adolf hitler came to power in germany . though it  s highly unlikely that the semi  literate hitler understood much about nietzsche  he considered himself a nietzschean to the nth degree and touted it along side his other rantings .  baby face  serves as an indictment of the popular interpretation of nietzsche  s will to power concept  especially in the final scenes .  br    br   although  you  ve got the cutest little baby face .  is apropos as a theme for  baby face   an even more telling and applicable melody is w . c . handy  s  st . louis blues  played throughout the film  especially at times when the camera has to drift away from what would otherwise be sexually explicit scenes .  st . louis blues  is also used wisely toward the end as lily begins to see beyond materialism to eternal values . chico is singing a raw  salacious version of  st . louis blues  when lily  now disagreeing with the lyrics  orders her to stop .  br    br   the restored version of  baby face  makes the film more modern in its approach and attitude toward sex as power than many a new hollywood release . by all means watch this gem from the distant past and enjoy .  
tyrannosaurus azteca is set during the sixteenth century where famous spanish explorer hernando cortes  ian ziering  has landed in mexico with six of his best men including lieutenant rios  marco sanchez   they intend to claim the land in the name of the spanish  maybe steal some gold too if the opportunity arises . within minutes they have their first sight of local aztec savages  within minutes after that cortes  his men are captured  held prisoner . if that wasn  t bad enough it turns out that a couple of tyrannosaurus rex live there  like to eat the locals  in an effort to win their lives the spanish offer to help the locals get rid of their monster problem but with various hidden agendas  ulterior motives it  s not just the dinosaurs they have to watch out for . . .  br    br   directed by brian trenchard  smith  who  coincidently  made one of my all time favourite exploitations films turkey shoot       which i throughly recommend to one  all   also more commonly known under the spoof sounding title of aztec rex  the title was changed by the sci  fi channel when they aired it maybe as the original title tyrannosaurus azteca sounds like it might be a foreign film  this is yet another idiotic  cheap looking sci  fi channel  creature feature   that  s all you need to know really . based on  around the real spanish conquistador cortes during his expedition to mexico the film definitely doesn  t strive for historic accuracy although i will admit that the story tries to do something slightly different here but ultimately tyrannosaurus azteca is still just a  creature feature  with a bunch of people running from some poor cgi computer graphic of a monster despite it  s period setting . not too sure what else i can say  despite being set centuries ago the usual clichs are here  the character  s are the usual cardboard cutouts  make stupid decisions  the selfish one  the heroic one  the backstabbing one  the faceless victim who exists just to get eaten  the pretty woman are all here  easy to spot . the film is predictable  silly  dull  doesn  t really entertain on any level although it does move along at a decent pace  there  s one or two half decent moments of gore if that sort of thing interests you . the story isn  t that good  has plenty of holes too  this is also the sort of film that you will have completely forgotten about within a few days .  br    br   now i have seen  commented on plenty of sci  fi channel  creature features   usually the cgi computer effects are terrible  while tyrannosaurus azteca doesn  t exactly buck the trend i will admit there are a few effects shots which look alright but then they are usually ruined by an absolutely awful effects shot straight afterwards . there  s a few decent gore effects here too  there  s a cut out heart  a guy  s leg is bitten off  there  s some blood splatter  a cool shot of a guy left holding his own intestines after he has been attacked by the dinosaur  there  s a few dead bodies seen  someone is stabbed with a spear . the t  rex gets to eat a couple of people too . the production values are really cheap  the aztec set looks like one of those theme park attractions made from styrofoam  those spanish men must have been imprisoned in the worst enclosure in cinematic history with the fence supposedly keeping them in lower than a mans waist  they could have simply stepped out of it  run away it was so low .  br    br   with a supposed budget of about         i can  t see where the money went  shot in o  ahu in hawaii in apparently fifteen days . the acting isn  t great from no  one i have ever heard of .  br    br   tyrannosaurus azteca really isn  t any better than any other cheap sci  fi channel  creature feature  despite an almost interesting  unusual premise  that basic statement should basically be enough for you to decide whether you will enjoy this or not  at a guess probably not  .  
  baby face  is a precode melodrama starring a very young barbara stanwyck  an almost unrecognizable george brent  and theresa harris . it  s about a girl who goes to the city to make good . . . or should i say make time . stanwyck  s father has been pimping her for one reason or another her whole life in dingy  depressed  filthy erie  pennsylvania . after her father dies  one older father type who knows what she  s been through and truly cares about her future advises her to go to the big city and take advantage of opportunities there  and not the easy ones  and to take the high road in life .  note that i saw the censored version and not the uncut  this part of the film was redone for the censors .  she and chico  harris  go to new york where lily  nickname baby face  decides the low road  s a lot smoother and will get her where she wants to go a lot faster . in the movie  s most famous scene  the camera moves us up the corporate ladder by taking us from floor to floor as lily sleeps her way to the top . she finally corrals the big man himself and is able to quit her day job . trouble follows  and she  s soon involved in a huge scandal .  br    br   stanwyck wears lots of makeup and for most of the film is cool as a cucumber as she seduces one man after another with no regrets  and she  s great at playing the innocent victim . in one scene  she sits staring at a king  s ransom in jewels while wearing a black dress that looks like it  s decorated with diamonds at the top . then she asks chico for another case  and that  s filled with more jewelry  plus securities . all in a day  s work .  br    br   theresa harris was an interesting talent  she could be played down or glamorous  and was a talented singer and dancer as well . here  she sings or hums the movie  s theme   st . louis woman  throughout . she worked in literally dozens of movies and is very good here as a friend of stanwyck  s  her best work being in the precode era . as a bizarre byproduct of the code  blacks were often given less to do in films after it was put in place .  br    br   precode films could be more sexually blatant and therefore  though they  re    years old  seem more modern . even though these films didn  t have to have moral endings  baby face learns her lessons  how like life it is after all . there were several endings of this film  all with the same message . the one i saw had an added scene  but apparently  there were two other endings that didn  t pass the censors .  there wasn  t a code but there were always censors .  at any rate  it  s a neat surprise .  baby face  is an important film in movie history  a must see .  
i don  t know if this is one of the syfy channel original movies  but that  s exactly what it feels like . a cheap  low budget action movie that was probably made very quickly  it contains laughable effects  lame dialog  and one vaguely faded star to give some name brand recognition to it  funny how many of the kids from      are doing cheap tv movies now  .  br    br   ian ziering plays cortes  who we know from history as the explorer who wiped out entire populations of native people while conquering parts of north america . here  he is not played as a hero or even sympathetic  but as a slimy opportunist his character would probably be killed off if this weren  t loosely based on a historical figure . in this story  cortes is on a brief surveying mission  trying to find something of value to prove he deserves financing to further explore america . he and his men find a small tribe of aztecs plagued by dinosaurs .  br    br   the actual hero of the story turns out to be lt . rios  who proves to be honorable  resourceful  and wise . he knows the right thing to do in every situation  which puts him at opposition with cortes  as well as with the young  ambitious aztec shaman . of course  the native girl who is supposed to marry the headstrong  scheming shaman falls for rios  furthering his anger towards the spanish outsiders . so it  s all pretty clich . the dinosaurs are dispatched with relative ease . despite taking place in an area that seems wide open  the story pretty much takes place in either the woods  or the aztec village for    of the time  so it isn  t visually exciting either .  br    br   i didn  t even recognize ian ziering . they gave him a ridiculous wig and an unconvincing accent  and somehow he disappeared into it . he doesn  t look or sound spanish for a second  however  making the casting choice wrong in every way . if this movie had been released theatrically  he would have been singled out for a razzie  no question .  br    br   overall  forgettable .  
an original uncensored print of this amazing film was discovered in     in the library of congress  and has been shown in a few specialized theaters around the world in     . according to current reviews that i  ve found online  the original has all of the nastiest dialog and innuendos intact they were later either removed or completely re  shot by the studio prior to initial release  in order to pass the new york state censors . i have also read that a dvd is  expected in      and one can only hope  if we  re really luckily  it will include comparisons between the  versions . note that the released censored version was originally available on laserdisc  which i have seen . stanwyck rules   
take a scifi original movie and mix in a little alternative  revisionist history  and you get  aztec rex .  apparently hernand cortes  before conquering the aztec empire  had to first conquer a tyrannosaurus rex and her mate . that  s the thrust of this movie . given the plot it could have really sucked the fact that it only kind of sucked is a tip of the cap to the writers . there are a few problems . for starters  cortes is played by ian ziering . even with a black wig  ziering as cortes is about as convincing as axl rose playing gandhi . and though cortes conquers the indigenous peoples of mexico  the aztecs here seem to be played by an all  hawaiian ensemble . casting aside  the t  rex  es  look reasonably good  though every time one of them gets shot it just oozed cgi . and they die too easily i suppose if a t  rex were around in real life they probably could be felled or at least wounded by some rather rudimentary    th  century weaponry . but it takes something away from the movie . there are also some graphic t  rex  swallowing  human scenes  which is surprising  but in this context i thought they worked ok . there  s plenty of action  and the whole colonization angle is prevalent throughout but doesn  t overwhelm the dinosaur angle  unlike the other recent scifi original dinosaur movie  warbirds .  overall  a mediocre  but decent by scifi original standards  movie that rates a modest  .  
no sense going over the story since enough reviewers have done that . here  s a few different slants on it from one of those  religious nuts   as one bigoted reviewer puts it so tolerantly .  br    br      baby face        offers perhaps the classic example ever put on film of how women can manipulate men with sex . there is a lot of truth to what barbara stanwyck demonstrates in this film look cute  bat your eyelashes  offer your body for free . . . . . and men will fall over themselves to help you out with whatever you want .  br    br   in this case  it was job advancement with the ultimate goal of money . . . . . lots of it . at least four men in this film do provide just that  even if it ruins their lives in the process .  br    br     the ending  which many of the reviewers here seemed to hate  gives another great message all the money and material goods in the world won  t make a person feel fulfilled . a sad comment that so many  critics  here would rather have immoral messages  preferring sleaze over substance . no surprise  i guess .  br    br   any way you look at it  the movie is entertaining start  to  finish and stanwyck has some great lines  particularly in the beginning when she tells off her crude father and his unruly bar customers . at a little over   minutes  this film moves at a fast pace and is over before you know it .  
with nothing better to do i decided to check out  aztec rex   as it was being billed  for the hell of it .  br    br   the silly story might have played better if the dinosaur effects were convincing . they actually looked like animatics  those rough designs that artists later use to finish the cgi effects  adding more details  smoother movements  etc .  absolutely awful  looking dinosaurs  which is the only reason you  d probably want to sit through this anyway .  br    br   the one redeeming factor was the lovely dichen lachman as ayacoatl . she kept my interest if only the budget had been ramped up and some convincing dinosaurs could have been used .  br    br   disappointing . at least the cast and crew got a free trip to hawaii  where the movie was filmed .  
  br    br   arriving by boxcar in new york city  the shrewd young woman with the baby face begins to methodically canoodle her way to the top floors of power in a great bank .  br    br   barbara stanwyck is fascinating as the amoral heroine of this influential pre  code drama . without a shred of decency or regret  she coolly manipulates the removal or destruction of the men unlucky enough to find themselves in her way . a wonderful actress  stanwyck has full opportunity here to display her ample talents .  br    br   appearing quite late in the story  george brent is a welcome addition as the one fellow possibly able to handle stanwyck his sophisticated style of acting makes a nice counterpoint to her icy demeanor . douglas dumbrille  donald cook  henry kolker portray a succession of her unfortunate victims .  br    br   john wayne appears for just a few scant seconds as an unsuccessful suitor for stanwyck  s affections . this would be the only time these two performers appeared together on screen .  br    br   movie mavens should recognize nat pendleton as a speakeasy customer  and charles sellon  edward van sloan as bank executives  all unbilled .  br    br   the music heard on the soundtrack throughout the film  perfectly punctuating the plot  is baby face        by benny davis  harry akst and st . louis blues        by w . c . handy .  br    br   baby face is a prime example of pre  code naughtiness . in its frank  unapologetic dealing with sex  it is precisely the kind of film which the implementation of the production code in     was meant to eliminate .  
i  ll bet none of you knew that the famous conquistador hernando cortes made a preliminary scouting expedition to mexico before taking on the aztecs . good thing he did because he would never have known about those t rexs that inhabited one particular valley where the locals revered them as gods .  br    br   that was understandable . what wasn  t was the casting of blue eyed ian ziering as cortes . even with the blond hair made famous in beverly hills      dyed black  ian looked positively ridiculous . at least he made no attempt at a spanish accent .  br    br   the real hero of tyrannosaurus azteca is marco sanchez also late of a television series with a semi  recurring role in walker texas ranger as detective sandoval of the dallas pd . he finds true love with an aztec princess and life would be just perfect if it wasn  t for those pesky prehistoric beasts the natives worship .  br    br   tyrannosaurus azteca looks like they used some outtakes from the famous sidmarty krofft series the land of the lost . all that was needed was some sleestak to appear .  br    br   if you  re interested in finding out about this reconnoitering expedition that didn  t quite make the history books by all means check out tyrannosaurus azteca . then try and sit through it with a straight face .  
i don  t know if i  m just weird  but i thoroughly enjoyed this film .  br    br   return to cabin by the lake is of course the sequel to another one of my favorite films cabin by the lake . in fact  i think that i enjoyed this movie even more than the first one . i also thought that the cast in this movie was great  judd nelson is always the best  i also enjoyed the plot as a whole . i liked the fact that this second movie focused on the filming of stanley  s screenplay cabin by the lake  it wasn  t a completely redundant film of stanley grabbing other girls and drowning them .  if you  re looking for some deep meaning  then this film is probably not the one for you . however  if you  re looking for a fun way to spend two hours  then go ahead and watch it . i  ve probably already killed at least ten hours watching this film .    
this movie  s full title is  waqt race against time  . that  s a race no one can ever win  but you can certainly cut your losing margin by not wasting any of your precious  waqt  on this bakvaas . this movie was clumsy and manipulative in a way that made k  g look honest . it strained my credulity too far . it was ridiculously stupid in its storyline  and deserves to be mocked for it .  br    br   it  s not quite as awful as baghban or black  but this movie has nothing to recommend it . stupid  pointless  with a ridiculously ott performance by amitji . the central  plot  is another nasty example of the crudely manipulative propaganda that infests so many  family  bw films . if my father  who raised me  and who i love dearly  treated me like big b did akshay  i  d shoot him myself . to say nothing of the trivialising of terminal illness .  
this is a great movie  it shows what our government will to to other countries if we don  t like their government . this isn  t as bad as what reagan and bush number one did to south america  but the us still has no business messing around with other countries like this . this movies also proves that american media spouts government propaganda . this is exactly what they did to aristide in haiti . the reason this coup against chavez didn  t succeed is chavez was elected with over    of the vote .  br    br   this movie isn  t just a political documentary  it would still be a great movie if it were a drama  it  s amazing that this is real .  br    br   the other reviewer is lying when he says  chavez seizes the airwaves   the private media is running anti chavez propaganda all the time .  
it was  a . m . in the morning and i had nothing else to do . don  t judge me . . . please .  br    br   we  re back in time during the spanish settlements . a group have made their way onto an island . it doesn  t take too long before they encounter a large  reptile   which gobbles up their horse . soon they  re captured by the natives and in order to gain freedom they must kill the  reptile gods .  the cg sucks it reminds me of the cg of early console video games . the encounters were lame . the only positive thing i have to say about this was the hottie native running around in a skimpy outfit . otherwise it  s just a middling effort .  
to me this was more a wake up call  and realization that most all we see  hear  read and think about most anything  is dependent on what the media feeds us . this is a classic example of high level spin doctors attempting to control the masses through controlled information . it is also an excellent example of how people that have a constitution that they freely bought in to  will not be swayed by this media control or any attempted mis  information . once again this shows that at the end of the day the needs of the many will in fact outweigh the needs of the few . it is also enlightening to see that in in a country where there is no religious civil war going on  that democracy is not a real hard thing to implement .  
  br    br   not only do alien visitors look exactly like furry armpitted human woman and not only are alien visitors able to perfectly speak english  with an australian accent  they also call their stars by the same names our earthly astronomers have given them   br    br   and topping all that off  all alien life knows just how mean  evil  wasteful and destructive us humans are . and they  re quite willing to tell us just how bad that is .  br    br   if you ever have the chance to see this movie  don  t . well  unless you suffer from insomnia or the choices are this movie or exploratory surgery without anesthesia .  br    br   this movie tries to get a moral  ecological point across but only succeeds in making you yawn and pray it ends soon .  
this is an astounding film . as well as showing actual footage of key events in the failed coup to oust chavez  we are given the background picture which describes a class  divided society . many of the rich  it appears  have a choice with the people  s democratic choice  and are willing to use the military for regime change .  be careful what you say in front of your servants  is a revealing comment . the head of the country  s biggest oil company appoints himself as the new president  with us backing  and these young irish film makers have it all on camera . a great film to educate young people about democracy . we see transparent documentation of how media can be manipulated  and force used  in the interests of big business  against the interests of the democratic wishes of the people . riveting stuff .  
epsilon  a . k . a . alien visitor  is not what i expected . this is a no  budget australian film with no special effects other than speeded  up film and quick scene cuts . the female alien  who comes over immediately able to speak perfectly accented australian  can  blip  from place to place or time to time and alter her perception of the flow of time to match the  faster  humans .  br    br   an elderly grandmother tells her two granddaughters about a story a wandering man told her   years before  when an unnamed  she  came to the planet naked and completely disoriented  unable to recognize which star in the sky she came from . . . she meets a man alone camping in the australian outback  apparently bewildering him . she is here by  mistake   and gets angry when she is told she is on earth . the earthlings are known as consummate despoilers of the environment and a metaphor for the most insulting thing imaginable to the rest of the universe those who  breathe the foul air  but do nothing about it  sticking their heads under the sand like an ostrich . in another amusing metaphor  earthlings are  frogs  .  br    br   from there  it is entirely a film about dialogue  as the perplexed man tries to understand she  s peculiar psychology and viewpoints  even as she calls him unintelligent and  quaint  . the man begins to realize maybe it  s humans who are irrational and not thinking straight . yet  while waiting to be  beamed up  back home  she sees that this human is not entirely faulty in his thinking and even falls in love with him .  br    br   the dialogue about perspectives is in spots interesting  but it is all layered with a heavy  handed environmental message and a low  budget feel  there are only two main actors  who blip around various deserted scenes  and the evil despoiling humans on the planet are never seen at all  . the environmental message offers no solutions  but paints one or two dire metaphors about what will happen to nature and man if something isn  t done . the logic also doesn  t hang together the rest of the universe has  given up  on earth  yet one space woman caught on earth by mistake manages to effect some positive change by the conclusion of the movie . what would a battalion of aliens deliberately sent here manage to achieve against pollution and waste   
i very much enjoyed  the revolution will not be televised  . it gave me  once again  a positive feeling about the power of people to decide for themselves how they wish to be governed .  br    br   it is unfortunate that in venezuela the twenty percent of wealthy citizens have made all of the decisions for the eighty percent of the poor for decades  if not centuries . however  when their coup failed after the interim government dissolved the supreme court  and the constitution  and the ombudsman  and the electoral boards  and all civil rights  no one took the plotters out behind a barn somewhere and shot them . they haven  t even gone to jail . the major plotters are living in florida  carrying on . and the protection that they had was the  bolivarian constitution  passed by a large majority of the venezuelan people . it is not only history that bites . democracy can give you one hell of a nip if you let it loose . and in venezuela it is loose .  
i just blew four dollars renting this movie  why alliance atlantis would promote such a poor excuse for a film is beyond me . but even more surprising was the reasonably good reviews that a couple of canadian newspaper critics gave this film . i  m tired of our media justifying a film simply because it  s canadian and low budget . it  s like they expect canadian films to be lousy  so they give it a good review regardless .  br    br   now about the movie the acting was below average  with the exception of the lead male character  who was actually pretty good  . the film quality was poor  which i guess could be expected from the extremely low budget . the script was absolutely horrendous . an example is the story  which revolves around one of the lead characters  a female drug dealer who flirts with one of her clients so that she can recruit him to fix and steal bicycles for her gang  whose only purpose is to randomly destroy suv  s . supposedly many of her gang members  bicycles are destroyed in these activities  i don  t know how she can  t afford to just buy new ones  since she is supposed to be this big drug dealing connection from vancouver to toronto  .  br    br   anyway  the point of the story  which isn  t revealed until well over halfway through the movie  is that the drug dealer plans to firebomb buildings in the toronto area to attempt to make houses more affordable  as no one will want to live in the area .  br    br    need i say more .  br    br   shame on the toronto film festival for accepting such a film  telefilm for supporting it  and the globe and mail and georgia straight newspapers for giving such biased reviews .  br    br   a film shouldn  t get special treatment just because it  s canadian      
this movie is basically a documentary of the chronologically ordered series of events that took place from april        through april        in the venezuelan presidential palace  caracas venezuela .  br    br   the pathos of the movie is real and one feels the pain  sorrow and joy of the people who lived through this failed coup d  etat of president hugo chavez .  br    br   one comes away from viewing this film that hugo chavez is truly a great historical figure . hugo chavez  s persona single  handedly brought the venezuelan people to overthrow the   day old military  installed junta and re  establish the democratically installed government of venezuela .  br    br   it is obvious from the film footage that george w bush aided and abetted the venezuelan coup d  etat . that the mainstream media aided and abetted george w bush is not surprising .  br    br   what is surprising is how few people has seen this movie and how few people realize the total corruption of america  s mass media .  br    br   it has taken only   years for ronald reagan elimination of the fairness doctrine in     to turn america into blind and rudderless state .  br    br   may hugo chavez open patriotic americans  eyes to the truth and beauty of the true american vision .  
this film is about a family trying to come to terms with the death of the mother  wife by moving to genova  italy .  br    br   the plot of  genova  sounds promising  but unfortunately it is empty and without focus . the film only consists of a collection of scenes depicting the daily life of the family  such as swimming  taking piano lessons or cooking eggs . most of such scenes are redundant and tiresome  completely failing to engage viewers emotionally . the ending is very disappointing as it is not spectacular  moving or emotional . i can safely say that i am disappointed and bored by  genova  the only thing good about the film is the sunny weather and the beauty of genova .  genova  can serve as an extended tourism advertisement for the city  but not as a film to be enjoyed .  
one of the most timely and engrossing documentaries  you  ll ever watch . while the story takes place in the venezuelan capital of caracas  it provides an intimate look into political dynamics  that prevail throughout the western hemisphere . while essentially another chapter in the story of the  u . s . backed  latin american coup   this film chronicles in real  time  what can happen when the poorest people  are armed with unity  political savvy  and courage   br    br   the political insights offered by this film are invaluable . one gets clear examples of the private media  as a formidable force for mass deception and propaganda . we see the poor people of caracas grappling with the brutal realities of  american politics  . one gets a clear sense of impending doom  if the people fail to address the blatant tyranny  which has been abruptly  and illegally  thrust upon them by the conspirators . we also see the arrogance and fascism  of the cia backed  private media  plutocrats  and generals  who  ve conspired to bring venezuela back under washington  s domination . though ably led by president hugo chavez  the people of caracas are forced to act without him  after chavez was forcibly kidnapped by renegade generals . their response is the highpoint of the film . if one seeks an excellent portrait of what the u . s . government  hugo chavez  and revolutionary venezuela  are all about  this movie is it   
without reiterating what was said above about this movie  i would like to add that i was looking forward to watching this film . . . the cast  location and the work of the excellent director michael winterbottom etc . . . it had a vague shadow of  don  t look now  about the storyline from the beginning . a stay in different surroundings  italy again  to dim the heartbreak of loss . . . or perhaps that  s how i saw it  so consequently i sat there waiting for the story to unfold and put a spin on what we expect to happen to this family in a foreign european country . . . . and i sat there and sat there . . . . and guess what  nothing actually happens  and i mean nothing   you are not even given the chance to get into the characters as they are so  dimensional and vacuous . . you are led to believe from the pace of the movie that something was going to happen to turn the whole film on it  s head . . . the eldest daughters flirtation with the local vespa boys  had great scope to take the movie in another direction  the youngest daughters visions of her dead mother ended up being a fruitless and pointless exercise  the fathers attempts at being seduced by one of his female students felt ridiculous given his age . it felt as if the script had a last recall made where they decided at the last minute to eradicated any guts to the story and went for paring it down to a bare minimum to no effect . when the credits started to roll  unexpectedly  you can  t help but feel robbed of your time spent sat watching this pile of rubbish .  
yes  the cameras were in the right place at the right time . it  s so interesting to see how a world leader  like chavez  who supports the poor people in his country  can be held in such low esteem in the us . his worst  sin   in my opinion  is caring about those who are at the bottom of the barrel . what can be so bad about that  i have always been fascinated by the us governmentmedia reaction to fidel castro . at first  castro was a good guy  around      when he supplanted batista . soon  however  castro started turning the corporations in cuba toward the needs of the poor instead of the fat cats . we  re a decent country  but why does our media and government have such a problem with sharing with the poor  if these guys are  dictators   then we could use more  dictatorships  especially where the poorest of the poor live in the world .  
first of all this movie starts out on a really dumb note a    year  old girl  playing around in a moving vehicle  decides it would be funny to cover up her mom  s eyes with her hands  and then causes a horrific accident which kills the mom . . . . duh . . . . i am sorry  there is positively no    year  old that dumb . the rest of the movie does not get much better . after the death of the mother by the apparent dumbest    year  old on the planet  the dad moves the family to genova  italy  where he is to teach at a local university  but here is the clincher he does not speak a word of italian  then the little girl has  visions  of mommy  who she killed   and often subsequent night terrors which always  always end by the father holding and coddling her . then we are forced to watch this family continually get lost and then found and then hug and then cry and lost and then found  followed by of course more hugging and crying  to the point that i was actually wishing for some sort of natural disaster to just wipe all of these vapid  ignorant people off the planet . do not get me wrong  because i love indies  but an indie about dumb people  and i mean really dumb  is simply ridiculous and pointless . it is really a shame that this movie was based on such insipid characters wallowing in such retarded scenarios  because the locale was interesting .  
you  ve never seen anything like it . once the coup begins  it  s the most dazzling  edge  of  your  seat thriller you  ll ever see   even though you know the outcome . and it  s all real  because it  s a documentary   amazing .  br    br   by the time it was over  it was on my top   list of all time great movies .  br    br   disregard the slobbering right  wing fanatics . everyone i know who has seen this film gives it the   star rating . even if you don  t care about politics or about venezuelan politics  you will find yourself nerve  racked and   believe it   on the edge of your seat .  br    br   it  s a roller  coaster ride .  
this is one of those films the british lottery fund wastes its money on . the main problem is a rambling script which gets nowhere . the characters are not interesting  the story is conventional and insipid  the only thing of interest is the location the city of genoa  genova in italian  . having only a superficial acquaintance with genoa  i had no idea of the intricate alleyways of its old town  and that the city was so interesting . i had thought genoa was dull . i am delighted to say that i have been proved wrong . so from the travelogue point of view  this film has interest . the film contains one splendid performance  by a little girl named perla haney  jardine . she has already made seven films despite being only    so she seems determined upon a career as an actress  and judging by her performance in this film  she should go far  as she is a natural and has a great deal of talent . colin firth  a reliable and professional actor  was on hand for the filming and when asked to be earnest  he was earnest  and when asked to be anguished  he was anguished . but somebody forgot to give him any worthwhile dialogue . the script is a total shambles . catherine keener does exceptionally well in a supporting role  and showing sympathy comes naturally to her  so that everybody would like to have her around  i would like to tell her every time i feel a cold coming on  as i know she would get me a soothing hot drink  . so there we have it genoa  s fascinating narrow alleys  an interesting little girl  and a sympathetic woman . forget the rest . the older sister played by willa holland is such a disgusting character that the fact that the young actress does a good job of being repellent is not exactly the kind of acting tribute she would like to hear  i suspect . the notion that this family go off to genoa to forget the unfortunate death of the mother is so trite that if we have another film like that  all dead mothers have a right to complain at being exploited . if michael winterbottom wanted to make a film about how interesting the old portion of genoa is  why didn  t he just go to the bbc and say he wanted to make a travel film with some mindless celebrity presenter  why waste money on a feature film which is nothing but a vanity project of idle and meandering vacuity   
a case of being in the right place at the right time . what a fascinating film . it is easy to see why chavez is so popular with his people . he gets things done . he is accessible . and it is also easy to see why the west hates him so much . he has control of the resources of his country and gives the profits back to the people . mostly the poor . and it easy to see how the tv stations can portray misleading images to put there case . just like the iraq war  or the war on terror . or those missing wmd  s . or how about the axis of evil . people need to wake up . and get different points of view . stop the neo cons ruling the world . go watch this movie with an open mind . and make your own mind up . then i suggest you see aaron russo  s america freedom to fascism . it is not the people of america that are the problem . it is the government .  
why on earth is colin firth in this pointless film  has he really been that strapped for cash   br    br   the film isn  t clear on what it wants to be about  grief   exotic places   ghosts   a vehicle for mr darcy  it  s a muddled  muddy mess .  br    br   there seems to be some sort of idea that italy must be good  in itself  and that italian has something to offer as a language  but in the end the girls just want to go back to yankland .  br    br   there are pointless episodes on the beach  in churches  on busy roads  but what it is all about  or why anybody should care simply isn  t clear .  br    br   there was also a yank woman in the film . it wasn  t clear what here job was  but she seemed only to be there to make vapid  inappropriate and maudlin comments to the girl . was it supposed to be about paedophillia    br    br   a pretty dreadful mess  all in all . i gave it  rather than  because it doesn  t have the charm of an utterly ghastly film .  
very good point there   only an elite few  the upper classes  would both have access to the internet and be able to communicate on an exclusively english speaking site such as the imdb  some might think internet is not reality but this point of view really put media society and democracy at stake you are probably right . . even if there is internet cafe  s in venezuela most chavez supporters will not afford to even rent a computer for half an hour to comment on imdb .  br    br   screw you faschist upper class rich right wing capitalist liberal intellectual surpressors . . probably this is your first time using internet   . .  
the story is similar to et an extraterrestrial run around on earth and tries to come back home . while its stay on our planet  it will create friendly ties with humans .  br    br   but  unlike et which exudes drama  comedy  poetry  this movie is only fun . it is indeed a pure dysney production its core audience are children  the movie is more more in the visual than in the message .  br    br   thus  you will find some funny scenes  the first sighting of the town  a  cosmic  stray toaster  and the casting is experimented  with special mentions to  doc   who rejuvenates in a  mac fly  character  and to hurley  who seems open to auto  derision .  br    br   ice on the cake the main title is scored by danny elfman  and like every other great composer  you recognize his  voice  before he is even credited .  
this movie was just as good as some of the other westerns made by anthony mann and james stewart like winchester    and the naked spur  and much better than thunder bay and bend of the river . this film starts out like a run of the mill western but gets more complex as it goes along . it starts out with jimmy stewart and walter brennan arriving in seattle and stewart is charged with murder . he is found innocent but is cattle is stolen by a corrupt judge . stewart then agrees to lead something but i forget what it is but stewart only cares about getting his cattle back . as the movie goes along it  s like stewart only cares about himself just like his character in the naked spur . it gets much better at the halfway point after they arrive in alaska . this is one of stewart  s better westerns .  
i saw the  .  imdb rating on this movie and on the basis of that decided to watch this movie which my roommate had rented . she said she had seen it before .  it  s funny and sad  i cried the first time i saw it   she gushed . maybe compared to other bollywood movies this deserves a  .  out of    but in comparison to all the other movies i have seen in my lifetime  this deserves no more than a  . any movie where i can perpetually guess what is going to happen next is no good for me . the characters are unbelievable  how the act is not realistic at all and their motives are contrived . it is over dramatic and the songs aren  t all that great . my biggest problem with bollywood movies is the lack of subtlety . all the emotions are way too overdone and thus not at all realistic . any emotion or bond between characters that is the least bit subtle must be magnified with an unnecessary song . i think i understood that the relationship between the father and son was more like one between friends than one between a parent and child without having to have it conveyed via a five minute long song . the stupid comic relief complete with laugh track was not funny or necessary  we get it  laxman isn  t the sharpest tool in the shed  . if a movie tries to elicit tears through the most hackneyed means possible it just isn  t meaningful  just a bit embarrassing .  br    br   spoiler  br    br   generally if someone has terminal stage lung cancer their son who lives with them would know something was wrong without having to be told . too many plot holes to count . at first the movie was amusing and cute in the way bollywood movies are to people who don  t watch them that avidly but it just got tedious . it takes a lot of skill to make a movie that is amusing and heartwrenching and the best way to do it is usually not having all the amusing parts in the first half of the movie and all the heartwrenching parts at the end .  br    br   spoiler over perhaps it had a very little more depth than other bollywood movies that i have seen  but not much at all . i spent more time laughing at the stupidity of the movie than the parts that were supposed to be funny . i didn  t shed a single tear nor did i feel like it  rather i was overwhelmed with a feeling of disgust at the attempt at a dramatic ending . i don  t recommend this movie if you want to watch something good  i recommend it if you want to watch a bollywood movie that is kind of sad .  
this really is an incredible film . not only does it document the eternal struggle of indigenous and disenfranchised people to gain their rightful voice but it also shows the united states up for its dishonesty  subterfuge  and blatant disregard for human rights and self  determination . chavez is shown as a very brave and charismatic leader struggling against what can only be characterized as a despicable elite devoid of any sense of proportion or justice . these filmmakers have recorded a coup unlike anything witnessed before .  br    br   and in the cross hairs we see the usa  once again pulling the strings and blurring all sense of reality . it  s heart  breaking to watch the initial stages of the revolt knowing full well that the subversion of democracy that we  re witnessing is a tool long used by successive american governments and their seemingly blinkered citizens . the footage makes it clear that this is not a manipulation of tv or generic footage but an active documentation of a people and its government fighting for its future . truly a moving experience for anyone with a conscience . these irish film makers deserve our gratitude . long live chavez .  br    br   we need to enshrine the notion that each country must be allowed to choose its government and to develop in ways that the majority sees fit . first phase in this process is the need to know what the realities of the situation are  and this documentary does a great job of doing just that .  
when i was a kid we always used to be babysat  and we always used to rent a film or see a film at the cinema . this is one of the films we watched . this is one of the stupidest films i  ve ever seen  i think it might even be a walt disney pictures film  a martian is dropped on earth  turns into a human  befriends a human  and is trying everything he can to get back home . but he is distracted by the wonders of the earth . the only good comment i can give is the choice of actors  back to the future  s christopher lloyd as the martian  uncle martin  dumb and dumber  s jeff daniels as tim o  hara  elizabeth hurley as brace channing and daryl hannah as lizzie . but apart from that it  s complete crap . poor   
even though we know how the story ends  this is a gripping fly  on  the  wall film that plays almost like a political thriller . during the calm before the storm  we meet hugo chavez as a charismatic  larger than life man who has an unbreakable connection with the mestizos who make up    of the population but have previously been shut out of venezuela  s political process and its oil wealth . he seems as devoted to them as they are to him . he travels the country at a hectic pace  reaching out to the campesinos  addressing huge crowds  hugging and kissing ordinary people  accepting letters on scraps of paper  and hearing pleas for help . the people are excited that one of their number has made it to the highest office in the land . there is an electric sense of hope and optimism that change for the better is coming to the festering barrios .  br    br   but not everyone is happy with the situation . the pure  blood castillian spaniard elite who are a small minority but previously controlled all the wealth are full of bitterness and resentment . one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments in the film is when an ann coulter lookalike  at a residents  meeting in an exclusive gated community  complains of the mestizos   they have no concept of struggle or sacrifice .  minutes later  a speaker tells the meeting to  beware of your domestic servants  they could be chavez supporters .  duh  of course they are .  br    br   in a late night interview alone with the film crew  chavez reveals something of his soul as he tells the story of his grandfather . he can be a sensitive  poetic person  though with an impish  even clownish  sense of humor  like we saw when he addressed the un and called bush the devil .   br    br   then the storm starts to gather force as the coup organizers call for a mass protest and cynically manipulate their supporters into changing the route at the last minute and marching on the presidential palace  knowing it is surrounded by chavez supporters and violence is inevitable .  br    br   another element of the plot falls into place as snipers on rooftops begin to fire on the chavez supporters  some of whom fire back . the local equivalent of fox news shows this return fire and claims that chavez supporters are massacring protesters . then the camera pulls back and reveals that there are no protesters  the street is empty  the protesters took a different route . needless to say the footage of the empty street was edited out by the rabidly anti  chavez private tv stations  who had been airing a constant barrage of propaganda calling chavez mentally ill and sexually fixated on fidel castro .  immediately after the coup  we see the ringleaders and their media propaganda masters openly bragging on tv about how they had manipulated the situation with reckless disregard for the lives of supporters and opponents alike .  br    br   the filmmakers continue to be at the heart of this chaotic  fast  changing situation as the military coup surrounds the palace and threatens to bomb it . chavez eventually surrenders to avoid bloodshed but refuses to resign and is whisked away to an offshore island where a plane awaits to take him  where  the us  how can the remaining cabinet members avoid arrest and defeat this heavily armed conspiracy of right  wing generals and ultra  wealthy businessmen who are closely linked to the bush administration  watch the movie and find out   br    br   if your only knowledge of hugo chavez and venezuela is from the us media  then you know nothing . he is not an  unelected tyrant  and does not  rule by decree   he is enormously popular  having been elected and re  elected several times with over    of the vote  something george bush junior has never achieved  and the devotion he inspires in ordinary venezuelan people is ultimately the reason why the coup fails .  br    br   this is an extraordinary film about an extraordinary man in an extraordinary situation . the skill of the filmmakers is in being unobtrusive and letting the story unfold through the voices of venezuelans at every level from the barrio to the presidential palace  the tumultuous scenes  the chaos and confusion out of which a coherent whole emerges that is tense  riveting and moving . not to be missed   
we should have been suspicious to discover that with only two minutes to lights out we were the only ones there . only five others joined before the movie began .  br    br   there is nothing at all to redeem this movie . the acting is awful  especially ms hurley  . the script is banal . the effects we  ve seen a million times . the film direction the worst that we  ve seen . meandering and disjointed . no  one laughed including the kids .  br    br   we left after   minutes . it would have been sooner if my wife hadn  t gone for a hot  dog     br    br   do not waste your money on this film . if there  s nothing else to watch at your cinema then buy some drinks  popcorn and hot  dogs and do some people watching . you  ll have a much more enjoyable time     br    br    
i  ve been impressed with chavez  s stance against globalisation for sometime now  but it wasn  t until i saw the film at the amsterdam documentary international film festival that i realize what he has really achieved . this film tells the story of coup  conspiracy by venezuela  s elite  the oil companies and oil loving corrupt western governments  to remove democratically elected president chavez  and return venezuela back to a brutal dictatorship . this film is must for anyone who believes in freedom and justice  and is also a lesson to the rest of world  i commend the people of venezuela for taking matter into their own hands  and saving their country from the likes of halliburton and the bush regime .  
the folks at disney have a lot to explain . first and foremost  why anyone thought this lesser  sitcom material would ever make even a half  decent motion picture . in the kooky    s teleplay  the unique idea of martians among us had not yet been given the sophisticated x  files treatment . quaint visions of little green men have long since been dispelled by the likes of e . t .  close encounters and aliens    .  br    br   any charm the property had was mainly due to the endearing relationship created between the late bill bixby as tim and ray walston as the unworldly visitor . the conceit that martians have antenna seemed dopey back then . now it seems positively idiotic . yet  christopher lloyd  s uncle martin sports the metallic appendages . in an early shot  the antenna on a sign for the tv station tim works at is supposed to make us think  martian   when  s the last time you saw a tv with rabbit ears  eh   br    br   disney doesn  t trust quaint or relationships and crams this flick with youth  wooing special effects that include a talking space suit named zoot  yes  you read that correctly  uncle martin  s silver space suit speaks . he is supposed to be a real hilarious cut  up  figure again . i got stretch socks that are funnier than zoot . whenever the action lags  and it lags constantly   computer graphics are put into play to liven things up . tim is here played by the amiable jeff daniels  who can  t  or won  t  do anything to save this floudering mess . zesty christine ebersole brings some comic zeal to her neighbor lady role . even ray walston himself is dragged painfully into the procedings  all to no avail . this alien visitor is dead on arrival .  br    br   constant talk of sitcoms turning to screen makes me only hope that the i dream of jeannie movie won  t feature a talking harem outfit . i pray that samantha  s cat in the movie bewitched doesn  t have lines . i live in fear that i love lucy  the movie will proudly feature a cg conga drum named bongo .  br    br   paging michael eisner  mickey mouse  take me to your leader .  
it  s really rare that you get an inside view at a media deception that has been so widely reported as official  truth  and caught so many  news  agencies with their pants down . this movie  in my view  deserves every price there is in journalism  it  s objective  yes    courageous and a real  scoop  . it can do without comment  fake scenes or leading questions  everyone  including chavez equally gets to make fools of themselves in their own words . the filmmakers  only  had to keep track of events and keep their cameras rolling .  br    br   the venezuelan elite teaches us  how to depose of a president and sell it as a victory of democracy  . it  s amazing that they lost in the end  so far . from what i know  the biggest tv station involved only got its terrestrial license revoked  they  re still broadcasting via cable and satellite . i highly doubt whether george w . or barack obama would be that tolerant after an attempted coup . but then  they don  t have to worry .  br    br   the fact that the  chavez supporters shoot innocent civilians  scam was so willingly repeated around the world reveals just how biased the so  called  free   established  media really has become  or has always been  only more so . an important lesson to anyone interested in what  really  goes on in the world .  br    br   the famous  objectivity  challenge always comes into play when journalists dare to oppose the mainstream view  or reveal unwelcome facts that accuse  us   it has been true with the effects of the atomic bomb  the us secret history of spreading  democracy  around the world or the iraq war that  according to johns hopkins  has killed    million iraquis by now  not to mention the       afghans  in      that are never mentioned . to be objective  saddam hussein was less damaging to his people than the us . and the us is ready  willing to be more damaging to the iranians that he was .  br    br   i  m quite curious about the upcoming trial of some khmer rouge leaders before the international tribunal in the hague  whether there will be any mention of  our  involvement in supporting and training pol pot  s guerrillas in the    s  when they had been largely defeated by the vietnamese . probably not .  br    br   all the more reason to turn to the independent media for balance  if not exposure of fraud .  
so so special effects get in the way of recapturing the interesting relationship between uncle martin and tim o  hara that we remember from the tv series . and what was with the suit  annoying   
with part reconstruction and part direct shooting  the directors made a formidably limpid documentary on a coup d  tat against president chavez in venezuela  organized by a foreign secret service and fully supported by the wealthy venezuelan minority  the political opposition  the church  a cynical laughing cardinal  and the us government . it was another chapter in the history of us foreign policy  which steven kinzer calls  overthrow  or  sowing democracy american style  . in fact  this foreign backed intervention was not only a coup d  tat against president chavez  but also against the democratic majority which elected him .  br    br   that this is a brilliant documentary is mightily confirmed by the violent reactions for and against it on internet . as saint augustine said  men love truth when it bathes them in its light they hate it when it proves them wrong .   br    br   this movie is a must see for all those who want to understand the world we live in .  
  br    br   cheap  looking and ugly  this film didn  t even seem to entertain the kids in the audience  except for one fairly amusing toilet joke . christopher lloyd is way past his prime and actually quite tiresome in this role  although the sorry excuse for jokes by the writers don  t help .  elizabeth hurley is embarrassingly amateurish in a supposedly comic role . jeff daniels and darryl hannah avoid humiliation . there is really no reason to make this movie  especially since it is unavoidable that one will compare it with robin williams  s often brilliant improvisations in mork  mindy .  br    br    
one of the best documentaries released in recent years . some points . . .  br    br    . hugo chavez was elected venezuela  s president in      his support largely coming from the poorer regions of venezuela .  br    br    . in      a coup briefly deposed chavez . at the time  irish filmmakers kim bartley and donnacha o  briain were in caracas  shooting a documentary about chavez for british television . their film deconstructs the coup and its aftermath  and electrifyingly records history unfolding on  the  spot  outside and inside the presidential palace .  br    br    . chavez aimed to free venezuela from the free  market policies imposed on it by the us . though venezuela  s oil was already state  owned  it was run for private benefit by executives who chavez wished to replace .  br    br    . despite being the world  s fourth largest oil supplier  venezuela remains swamped by poverty  its resources literally sucked away by foreign multinational corporations .  br    br    . the documentary begins by portraying chavez  s first years as president before the coup . it focuses on his popularity with the poor  and his various policies which proved popular with working class locals  educational plans  distribution of the oil revenue  grass  root democracy etc  .  br    br    . chavez was a huge proponent of education  and printed thousands of copies of the venezuelan constitution  encouraging children and adults to study and understand it .  br    br    . when chavez came to power  he immediately pledged to redistribute oil profits . this  understandably  made the oil companies nervous .  br    br    . a media  war broke out . the six private tv stations promptly began opposing the state  run tv station . they questioned chavez  s motives  sanity and sexual orientation .  br    br    . without media support  the coup would not have been successful . the film makes it clear that coups rely heavily on the media to disseminate information and that news can be easily fabricated .  br    br     . under the guise of  re  establishing democracy   the opposition silenced the state  run tv station  dissolved the national electoral board  supreme court  national assembly and took control of the military .  br    br     . moneyed interests  backed by the military elite  encouraged by the us and cia   organised a citizens  march on the presidential palace to effect the coup . snipers shot at chvez supporters  but the private media stations edited footage so it appeared that return fire was aimed at the opposition march that in fact had been safely diverted .  br    br     . police went on a shooting rampage against chavez supporters  further bloodying the streets .  br    br     . chavez  held captive  refused to resign . of course the media  government then lied  saying he had resigned  but chavez  s cabinet members communicated the truth to the international community  which eventually got the message back to venezuela by cable tv .  br    br     . the people rose up  pressuring the return of the president they had elected  whom only a referendum could constitutionally replace .  br    br    .      at a little over an hour long  this doc is far too short . nevertheless  its an engrossing piece of journalism and deals with a form of  media warfare  which rarely gets touched upon . makes a great companion piece to  the battle of algiers  .  br    br   worth one viewing .  
my ten  year old liked it . for me it was hard to get through it . christopher lloyd played it way over the top and the suit was tedious and unfunny . sorry to see jeff daniels in this .  
someone has already mentioned  being at the right time at the right place  it was so true for this documentary that i had doubts about the genuineness of the scenes and thought it included perhaps some acting but it is not . it is all real . the story is nothing new for the people of the developing and  or poor countries . it sheds light on the manipulation of the people by corporate media  the misinformation  the artificial polarization of the people by deliberately creating tension on the streets  sometimes to the point that the army  intelligence agency or even the government  many believe  led by the us  uses agents who attack  any  side to provoke the masses into violence and therefore justifying their coups . a marine officer in the film mentions this also . that they wanted to see the peoples confront on the streets . all of these scenarios have been played in turkey  usa  s pet dog in the middle east  throughout its history who has experienced  coups and lately  secret plans made by the turkish army have been exposed  ironically through a pro  government religious  conservative media opposing the a  religious doctrines of the army  in which a very important mosque is bombed by an army agent to provoke the people etc .  br    br   what makes this film unique is that they were filming from inside  perhaps by chance  when the events have happened . it is clear that the directors are pro chavez . whether or not this caused the directors to filter and manipulate the events and the information  i would not know .  br    br   and whether chavez will be defending the people of venezuela against the dictatorship of us and the global economy without repressing any opposing thought with force and in the end becoming a self  indulgent tyrant  history will tell .  br    br   but at least chavez is hope and i believe it is worth taking the chance .  
if this movie had not been labeled a disney picture  i probably would not have been so disappointed . the nudity was unnecessary and did not add anything . the same can be said for the toilet bowl scene . this is one disney film that i will not let my four year old nephew watch .  
a remarkable piece of documentary  giving a vivid depiction of a country deeply divided within itself  for further evidence  check out some of the comments on imdb . . .   . compares extremely favourably with oliver stone  s  comandante   which is mainly an in  depth examination of fidel castro  s nostril hairs  . i don  t know whether chavez is everything he presents himself as being  or yet another in the long line of populist latin  american  caudillos  . nor do i know whether he will be able to make good on the huge expectations he has clearly built up among the poor majority of venezuelans . it  s hardly reasonable to expect a film like this to be able to answer such questions  but i  ve certainly now got a pretty vivid idea of what  s at stake  and what it feels like to be caught up in the middle of a coup . someone says in the film  we  re making history   and that  s exactly what the film feels like it  s capturing . outstanding stuff .  
the movie starts little cute . there are a number of revolting scenes . people in toilets . good actors wasted and the original television series has all but ruined here . this did not need to be crude .  br    br   forget it . find the tv show . disney at new low .  
this documentary has been aired on both rte and bbc in the last number of months . having seen it twice now i would recommend it to anyone with an interest in media and documentary film making .  br    br   initially this documentary was meant to detail the political life of venezuelan president hugo chavez . the irish crew set off with those intentions . what happens when they get to venezuela is startling as they witness first hand the attempted overthrow by rebel factions  particularly the oil concerns in venezuela  of chavez and his government . what we the audience witness is just how the media manipulates the situation and in effect backs the overthrow of chavez by distorting events that transpire as the coup heightens .  br    br   it really is an excellent documentary and a remarkable piece of work by a couple of novice filmmakers .  br    br    
i think my summary sums it up . i found it inane and stupid . i also saw the ending a mile a way . everyone is copying that ending anymore when doing a tv  theater crossover anymore . sometimes  it  s better to let the movie stand alone .  br    br   others  its better to forget the movie altogether . this is one of the others . . . .  
i had no idea of the facts this film presents . as i remember this situation i accepted the information presented then in the media a confused happening around a dubious personality mr . chavez . the film is a revelation of many realities  i wonder if something of this caliber has ever been made . i supposed the protagonist was mr . chavez but everyone coming up on picture  br    br   was important and at the end the reality of that entelechy the people  was overwhelming . thank you kim bartley and donnacha obriain .  br    br    
i saw this bomb when it hit theaters . i laughed the whole time . why  because the stupidity of it seemed to have made me go insane . i look back on it and realize there was not one funny thing in the whole movie . at leat nothing intentional . it is awfully funny that lizzie cn chew a piece of nurplex and become a gigantic  carnivorous demon . . . yet her itty  bitty little dress is perfectly intact  despite the fact that she is now hundreds of times larger than she was when she first put it on . or the kind of movie in which a man can be shocked with a defibulator and only fall unconcious  and return to conciousness without any medical attention . and don  t let me get started on the ridiculous fate of the  villain  that they decided they needed to create  conflict .  uh huh .  br    br   to the person complaining about disney only targetting kids  the raunchy parts of this film seems to disprove that statement . do we really need daryl hannah accusing jeff bridges of having kinky video tapes  you do if you  re disney and you  re out of ideas for making the movie appeal to the above   crowd without writing a more intelligent script  i am thoroughly convinced that disney pays off the ratings board so it  s movies can get away with murder and still get family  friendly ratings .  br    br   what a waste of the dvd format .  
the year is     . jeff webster  james stewart  doesn  t like people . there  s only one friend he  s got and he  s ben tatum  walter brennan   an old sympathetic man . they  re driving a cattle herd with them . that would be their key to richness . in skagway they run into trouble when sheriff gannon  john mcintire  takes the cattle . now jeff only has to get it back and drive it through the u . s . canadian border to dawson . now they have a group of other people with them  like the ladies ronda castle  ruth roman  and renee vallon  corinne calvet  . there the two men get into the gold business . anthony mann  s and james stewart  s fourth collaboration  the far country       is a fine western  indeed . the acting work is superb . walter brennan makes a terrific sidekick to stewart . ruth roman is brilliant and corinne calvet  s delightful . jay c . flippen is very good as dawson marshal rube morris . the great jack elam and kathleen freeman are seen in smaller roles . it  s fantastic to watch how jimmy stewart overcome  s all the troubles in his way . there  s just the man and his rifle . but also he  s vulnerable .  
i cannot believe that the indian film industry still puts out such third  rate dross as waqt . for starters  the storyline is totally implausible  spoilt son gets thrown out of family home so as to teach him some self  sufficiency . so what does he do  he promptly goes on to win some national talent contest by doing some star jumps in front of a panel of judges  i honestly am not joking here  . in the meantime  his dad is dying of lung cancer  but keeps it a secret from the son  but he survives long enough to see his son become famous  to see his new grandson and also make a new toy giraffe with his own hands .  br    br   the acting is cringe worthy in its hamminess  no effort was made to try and act in any convincing manner by any of the main players in this film . as usual for indian films  the family lived in a huge mansion and seemed relatively untouched by the concerns of the real world .  br    br   to be honest  the main losers when such dire films are made are the intelligent viewers who made the mistake of seeing such a film . the actors  such as amitabh bachchan and akshay kumar  will still be revered as gods by those people who have nothing but blind faith in bollywood .  
home room deals with a columbine  like high  school shooting but rather than hashing over the occurrence itself the film portrays the aftermath and what happened to the survivors  their trauma  guilt and denial .  br    br   spoilers the shooting itself is treated as a foregone conclusion  with no action footage other than the reaction of an almost teenage swat commando after shooting the high school killer . the film has three protagonists the detective investigating the crime of which no guilty parties are left to convict and two teenage girls surviving the incident  played by a very young erika christensen and busy philipps .  br    br   the two girls having nothing in common besides the shooting are put together because of it and the drama ensues .  br    br   erika christensen  though only   has been around the block so much that film viewers are pretty much acquainted with her solid and reliable style of acting . busy philipps  three years older than christensen and altogether unknown to me  blew me away with her overwhelming dramatic strength and screen presence . this girl was the part .  br    br   it  s a great movie and it connects to you with its intimate focus on the fragile yet growing relationship between the two traumatized girls . gus van sant  s elephant       though good  seems almost superficial and paltry compared to home room when it comes to dramatic flair and acting . what i can see this film got very little screen time and exposure  so much more a loss for an equally traumatized america .  br    br   ten out of ten  
the only good thing about this movie was the shot of goldie hawn standing in her little french cut bikini panties and struggling to keep a dozen other depraved women from removing her skimpy little cotton top while she giggled and cooed . ooooof  her loins rival those of nina hartley . this movie came out when i was fourteen and that shot nearly killed me . i  d forgotten about it all tucked away in the naughty roladex of my mind until seeing it the other day on tv  where they actually blurred her midsection in that scene  good grief  reminding me what a smokin  hottie of a woman goldie hawn was in the    s . kurt russell must have had a fun life .  
this documentary  now available free on video . google . com  is a fantastic demonstration of the power of ordinary people to overcome injustice . everyone must see this .  br    br   chavez was elected in a landslide vote in     . his platform was to divert the fantastic oil wealth from the    middle class to the    poor . he banned foreign drift net fishing in venezuelan waters . he sent       cuban doctors to the slums to treat the sick for free . he wiped out illiteracy and set up new free universities .  br    br   but it was his    tax on oil company profits that got him in trouble with the bush administration . in      while irish film makers kim bartley and donnacha o  briain were interviewing chavez inside the presidential palace about his social programs  a cia backed coup was launched . with the cameras rolling  chavez was captured and flown out of the country . it was announced on national tv that he had  resigned  .  br    br   but the poor of venezuela didn  t believe the media . they went to the palace in their millions and demanded that chavez be returned . in the face of such overwhelming numbers  the military turned on the coup leaders and the plotters fled to the us . chavez was rescued by military helicopter and returned to jubilation .  
this movie tries hard  but completely lacks the fun of the     s tv series  that i am sure people do remember with fondness . although i am    i watched some of the series on youtube a long time ago and it was enjoyable and fun . sadly  this movie does little justice to the series .  br    br   the special effects are rather substandard  and this wasn  t helped by the flat camera  work . the script also was dull and lacked any sense of wonder and humour . other films with under  par scripting are home alone   cat in the hat  thomas and the magic railroad and addams family reunion .  br    br   now i will say i liked the idea of the story  but unfortunately it was badly executed and ran out of steam far too early  and i am honestly not sure for this reason this is something for the family to enjoy . and i was annoyed by the talking suit  despite spirited voice work from wayne knight .  br    br   but the thing that angered me most about this movie was that it wasted the talents of christopher lloyd  jeff daniels and daryl hannah  all very talented actors . jeff daniels has pulled off some good performances before  but he didn  t seem to have a clue what he was supposed to be doing  and elizabeth hurley  s character sadly came across as useless . daryl hannah is a lovely actress and generally ignored  and i liked the idea of her being the love interest  but sadly you see very little of her   not to mention the monster attack is likely to scare children than enthrall them  likewise with wallace shawn as some kind of government operative . christopher lloyd acquits himself better  and as an actor i like lloyd a lot  he was in two of my favourite films clue and who framed roger rabbit  and i am fond of back to the future  but he was given little to work with  and had a tendency to overact quite wildly .  br    br   overall  as much i wanted to like this movie  i was left unimpressed . instead of being fun  it came across as pointless  and that is a shame because it had a lot of potential  with some talented actors and a good idea  but wasted with poor execution .     bethany cox  
ten out of ten stars is no exaggeration . this documentary provides the viewers with unique footage about the     coup in venezuela . this great film is now the minimum knowledge requirement if you want to express a competent opinion about venezuela or hugo chavez .  br    br   the dramatic  electrified atmosphere  the unique footage will allow you to experience a true historic moment . you  ll feel like you  re in the middle of the situation .  br    br   the film will help you gain unique insight in the happenings of     and will help you hear a side you will rarely hear on tv . it  s something you shouldn  t miss .  
i thought that my favorite martian was very boring and drawn out   it was not funny at all . the audience just sat through the whole movie and didn  t laugh at all    not even the kids laughed   that is sad for a disney movie   i thought they could have found somebody better to play the martian rather than christopher lloyd   he was really stupid   and he was not funny   i thought the talking suit was really dumb    in the original television series the suit doesn  t talk and move around   in my opinion they should not have wasted their time on this movie   i give it two thumbes down   really a waste of time and i would not recommend the movie to anybody    thank you    
whether this movie is propaganda or not  i firmly believe it is not   it really shows the power of media . the importance of this documentary is not to show how good of a man chavez is . it is really to demonstrate the way the bolivarians saw how it happened  the chavez way of seeing it . although it may seem wrong and bias to support a film  i think the point of view shown in the movie is utterly legitimate . the venezuelian people via the private media corporation of venezuela only saw a one side perspective of the coup  the neo  liberal side . this movie shows us the way the bolivarians saw it . call it propaganda  i say it  s a judgment call on your part .  
silly  often ridiculous romp involving the landing of a space ship and the resulting havoc this causes on tim  jeff daniels  and the people in his orbit .  br    br   am always amazed by daniels . he showed such depth and promise in      s  terms of endearment  as shirley maclaine  s philandering son  in  law . as the years have passed  daniels has been unable to get his hands on a good  meaty role . instead  he is in inane comedies such as  dumb and dumber .   br    br   as for this picture  it fails because of the subject matter . at least  the television show brought about a variety of situations . in the film  we have constant slapstick and people turning into monsters as the government is thwarted into capturing the martian  martin .  br    br   the part of mrs . brown is a perfect example of the non  success of the film . on television  pamela britton portrayed a ditsy individual caught up in situations with the martian leaving her perplexed . in the film version  a blond bomb  shell as brown  tries romantic entanglement .  br    br   television star ray walston has a small role as a government agent  or is he really that   br    br   a very big disappointment for those who enjoyed the television show so much .  
the material in this documentary is so powerful that it brought me to tears . yes  tears i tell you . this popular struggle of a traditionally exploited population should inspire all of us to stand up for our rights  put forth the greater good of the community and stop making up cowardly excuses for not challenging the establishment . chavez represents the weak and misfortunate in the same way bush is the face of dirty corporations and capitalism ran amok . indeed  latin america is being reshaped and the marginalized majority is finally having a voice in over five centuries . though  in the case of mexico  the election was clearly stolen by calderon . chavez is not perfect  far from it . he  s trying to change the constitution to allow him to rule indefinitely . that cannot be tolerated . enough with the politics and back to the movie the pace is breath taking at moments  and deeply philosophical at others . it portrays chavez as a popular hero unafraid to challenge the us hegemony and domination of the world  s resources . if you think the author is biased in favour of chavez  nothing  s stopping you from doing your homework . one crucial message of the film is questioning info sources  as was clearly demonstrated by the snippers casualties being shamefully blamed on chavez  s supporters . venezuela puts american alleged democracy to shame . hasta la revolucion siempre   
i grew up watching the original tv series in the sixties and one thing that i can tell you right away  there is no comparison . this film was totally ridiculous with a flying suit that was alive . a martian that took different shapes . special effects that looked like something that a little child would create . in contrast  in the original  characters were developed and the viewers developed a feeling for tim and uncle martin . the only highlight in this film  yes  actually there was one  occurred when ray walston finally made an appearance at the end . he wore dark glasses and made references to living on this planet for   years as a sort of homage to the tv series . but even the real uncle martin could not save this turkey .  
i just saw this last night  it was broadcast on the canadian broadcasting corporation  s  passionate eye  series . it has been screened recently  sept .      at the toronto international film festival as well as many others . it is a quite remarkable film . the filmmakers literally stumbled into the story  being there to make a documentary about chavez himself . instead  they found themselves squarely in the middle of events as the coup unfolded . they had unprecedented access to events and people and  for the most part  let the story unfold as it happens . they  of course  have their own ideological perspective  which they make evident  but they keep themselves in the background and instead try to focus attention on the events  the people  and the background and history leading up to the coup . as a film  it is not ground  breaking in a stylistic or aesthetic sense  and that is  i think  the way it should be . what we get to see what  embedded  journalism should really be . what we get to see is a remarkable account of a country struggling to attain democracy . . . a charismatic leader  chavez  who actually cares for his people . . . a story about power and greed as a coalition of corporate  military  media interests combine to lead a coup of a democratically elected leader . . . and unprecedented access to a historical event as it unfolds .  br    br    
there is no possible reason i can fathom why this movie was ever made .  br    br   why must hollywood continue to crank out one horrible update of a classic after another   cases in point mister magoo  the avengers  awful    br    br   christopher lloyd  whom i normally enjoy  was so miserably miscast in this role . his manic portrayal of our beloved  uncle martin  is so unspeakably unenjoyable to be almost criminal . his ranting  groaning  grimacing and histrionics provide us with no reason to care for his character except as some  dimensional cartoon character .  br    br   the director must have thought that fast movements  screaming dialogue and  one  take  slapstick had some similarity to comedy . apparently he told every actor to act as if they had red ants in their pants .  br    br   fault must lie with the irresponsibly wrought script . i think the writer used  it  s a mad  mad  mad  mad world  as an example of a fine comedy script . as manic as that     classic is  it is far superior to this claptrap  in fact  suddenly it looks pretty good in comparison .  br    br   what is most sad about this movie is that it must have apparently been written to appeal to young children . i just am not sure whose children it was made for . certainly no self  respecting  card  carrying child i know   br    br   if they had to remake  my favorite martian   why didn  t they add some of the timeless charm of the original classic   br    br   unfortunately  imdb . com cannot factor in  zero  as a rating for its readers  that is the only rating that comes to mind in describing this travesty .  br    br   one good thing did come from this movie  the actors and crew were paid  i think .  
this is something new .  br    br   there  s a coup d  etat and a couple of irish documentary filmmakers are right inside of it .  br    br   a democratically elected president who uses his power to bring literacy to his people and encourages them to read the constitution is being slandered by the private media openly as dictator  mentally unstable  new hitler  etc . without repercussion from the governments side  like  say  silencing them via bullets and other traditional dictatorial methods  . oh  and they still claim that they are being suppressed  of course .  br    br   see how the media gloats about their own role in the coup d  etat on tv after they toppled the government with the help of rouge generals  how much more stupid can you get    .  br    br   and see how the people of venezuela march to the palace  holding the constitution in their hands  and reinstall their elected government .  br    br   this sounds like a hollywood fairytale  but it happened for real  against the explicit wishes of the usa . the documentary is a historical masterpiece  shot from the center of the action  acute and totally embarrassing for the prime supporters of the coup the good  democratic  freedom loving  benevolent usa  who still channel large amounts of money to chavez  political opponents  .  br    br   also highly entertaining and exciting .   points .  
shazbot  is this embarrassing . in fact  here  s a list of    that makes up the embarrassment  .  a failed comeback for christopher lloyd .  .  jeff daniels basically playing the same role he played in the live    dalmatians remake which wasn  t too juicy to begin with . he sure has a funny way of promoting his purple rose theatre . . .  .  disnefluff .  .  another disappointing reminder that wallace shawn is to disney what jet li was to bob hoskins in unleashed .  .  ray walston  the original martian from the tv series  played a bit part  read  cameo   in this flick and died two years later of lupus . coincidence   .  awful special effects . seriously  awful .  .     .  that damn talking  farting suit voiced to an annoying degree by wayne knight   newman    . my favorite scene  ha  ha ha  ha  ha ha ha ha ha . . . whew  . . . good one . you  you  re a joker . okay  let  s wrap up this review with a moment of silence for this franchise  s agonizing death  and if you would like  you can say a quick prayer that disney doesn  t forget this travesty and do something silly like a movie adaptation of  mork and mindy  starring tim allen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
i can not quite understand why any of the  reviewers  gave this documentary    other than for political reasons . no  the film did not investigate both  sides  of the story  but then surely one film in favour of chavez against the tides of propaganda against him should be seen as an attempt to balance out the narrative overall  especially given a . the history of cia involvement in latin america in fermenting civil unrest  google national security archive and b . the coverage in that country and elsewhere of the clearly faked scenes of chavez supporters shooting non  existent opponents  . what is most amazing about this film is the fact that the film makers stayed in the presidential palace all of the way though the coup  surely a first in documentary making  images of a coup from both sides     
we went into this movie because my husband had enjoyed the original version of my favourite martian  . we had our  year old daughter with us . she wanted to leave halfway through the movie which was fine with both her parents  the parts we did see were only occasionally humorous  mostly either too silly or gross . i would expect that this movie might appeal to kids between      if that . it  s definitely not suited for younger children . from what i  ve heard the original series was by far superior and if you are going to  relive the past  you  ll probably be disappointed .  
i wouldn  t be surprised if soderbergh was pressured to avoid making pre  revolution cuba as graphically corrupt as it was . merely reciting a few statistics isn  t going to make it with the younger crowd . still  part one  which is almost entirely shot in the jungle  does capture the feel of that place  especially when traversing the mountainous areas of cuba . i liked del toro  s interpretation of che guevara  s personality . and the actor who plays castro  bichir  also did a great job  against all odds . it  s clear soderbergh doesn  t look down on these people  but it  s also clear he  s not going to plea their case to  yanquis  far removed from the recent past . some of the more important historical aspects contradict what i  ve read . to my knowledge castro did not court the soviet union until all attempts to gain acceptance from the united states were exhausted . but on other aspects he is right on  especially as to the looting by the expatriates as the island went other rebel control . the country  s treasury was left empty .  
this was yet another big screen outing for a us tv show from the sixties it is amusing enough but was very much to formula . intelligent martian lands on earth and meets the not too bright humans  in his view .  br    br   the usual wackiness ensues with the human  bridges  eventually bonds with him and helps him to get home . along the way he also gets the girl  hannah .  br    br   this is a nice outing for some pleasant hollywood stars who i had not seen for a while .  br    br   pleasant enough to pass some spare time if you have not got anything better to view .  
the year is     . ernesto  che  guevara  having been a cuban citizen for the last five years  disappears from the face of the earth  leaving a glum fidel castro to announce that he is probably dead  when in truth  he has left cuba to move to bolivia to live an assumed identity . whilst living in la paz  guevara undertakes an idea to overthrow the corrupt  bourgeois government there . once again  steven soderberg takes up where  chepart one  leaves off  only better this time  . the pacing is more on target  the job of acting is ever so fine  including a turn by a sickly looking benecio del toro  as che guevara  . suffice it to say  it  s probably best if you see both films  to get the true story of guevara  what kind of a man he was  i had the rare open window of opportunity to see both films at one screening     talk about a long haul   . as with  che  part  the argentine   this film has no mpaa rating  but contains enough salty language  violence to easily snag it an  r  .  
tim  gary daniels  wants desperately to break into serious television reporting . when a job he begged for goes awry  he is fired . his beautiful but empty girlfriend  elizabeth hurley  says sayonara  too . coming home  tim is startled to discover his house has an uninvited visitor  christopher lloyd  from the planet mars  calling him uncle martin  tim soon tries to help his new friend navigate life on earth . but  martin gets in trouble wherever he goes  from the bathroom to the laundry room and more . lovely lizzie  daryl hannah  finally sees an opportunity to make time with tim but the course of true love does not run smooth in this case  either . soon everyone in television is stalking tim  hoping for a story about a true alien . what  s a man to do  for those who loved the old television show of the same name  with bill bixby and ray walston  this film is not worthy to tie the proverbial boots . its truly  undeniably awful  with no plot and a reliance on supposed special effects which fall flat  too . daniels is okay as the earthling but lloyd is simply terrible as the alien  overacting up a storm . the rest of the cast is adequate  as are the costumes  set  and production details . even if your children see the cover and beg for this film  convince them to pick out another flick at the video store . be assured  kids and adults will find this movie a colossal bore  so opt for a night at the museum or around the world in   days instead .  
i  m going to review the  films as a whole because i feel that is how it should be considered  and watched . when i talk about  the film  i am talking about parts    together when watched one after the other  as they should be .  br    br   thank you jon anderson  steven soderbergh  benicio del toro .  br    br   this film is a refreshing  bold  gritty and true film . and  it hearkens a new style of film making . no faux drama . no swelling sound track . not faux documentary style . just clean shots and an attempt to stick to the facts . i have been reading jon anderson  s  che guevara a revolutionary life  and recently finished fidel  s auto biography  and this had helped my ability to soak this film in properly . but i have to say that it is jon anderson  s exhaustive  penultimate and wonderful biography that has given this film the proper historical back bone . anderson was consultant on this film  or these  films  . what makes this film a true thing is that it is clean . no swelling music or slow  motion photography to heighten drama  and even more importantly no fake documentary shaky camera . just square shots and straight forward shooting style . the type of camera used makes you feel right there in the jungle . benicio del toro should be given full honors for this  i never doubted him as che throughout the film . . . not once . he did a wonderful job and i will respect him for ever for this . some people complain that the film only deals with  slices of his life and not the whole . but i think this is one of the true beautiful aspects of this film it doesn  t try to be everything . it doesn  t try to  tell the story  . a person  s life is too multifaceted to try and tell in         or   hours . this is one of the subtle beauties of this film  it resists that temptation  and stays focused on the intent of letting us get a feel for che  his developing militaristic mind and the forces around him . it focuses on  slices of time the battle to over throw batista  che  s u . n . speech and the gorilla preparations in bolivia .  motorcycle diaries  already told his young man side  and i applaud s . soderbergh for focusing on other aspects instead . i keep referring to jon anderson  s book and the film stays true . the only weak link for me are the casting  not the performance  of matt damon . in a film so loaded with true to life performances  an american   matt damon  playing a bolivian is a clunky stretch  he does well  but after so much care in the casting  this was an over  site . small and completely forgiven . the reality that the rest of the casting gives you  and most notably benicio del toro  s amazing job  put  s this film at the top of my list .  br    br   the fact that this film went almost straight to video say  s something about how the cold war ethics that would never allow the  revolutionized cuba  to become what it might have  are still at work keeping it  s story quiet . if not out of clandestine muffling  then out of the effects of properly done propaganda that has prejudiced this topic .  br    br   this is a must see film  and jon anderson  s  che guevara a revolutionary life  is a must read if you want to start to get a grasp of the early effects on the global mind set regarding the expansion of international  political financial chess moves of the    s     s     s that placed unfair pressure on our south american neighbors  and the effects it fostered .  
when i was a kid in the    s and    s anything connected with disney was by definition great . what happened  they are able to get any actors and actresses they want  the best of their time . but somehow disney manages to screw things up in spite of their abundant resources .  br    br   disney can afford the best writers  the best producers and directors  but still . . . they screw things up  this movie is crap . the sad thing is that i suspect disney in their arrogance does not even know when a movie is good or bad .  br    br   it is only due to the talent of the actors that i can even give it a  of   .  
this is such a fantastic movie  a western about a self  concerned man  jimmy stewart  going up to the klondike for gold . on the way  he gets hassled by a local sheriff in alaska  john mcintire  giving a wonderfully evil performance   whom he hassles back . mcintire threatens that he  ll be a dead man if he ever comes back through his town  which is  unfortunately  the only way back to the states . the main chunk of the story is about the peaceful klondike town of dawson being turned upside down by new residents from mcintire  s town . ruth roman  for instance  who has come with stewart and his two companions  jay c . flippen and walter brennen  who plays stewart  s best friend   builds a saloon  a hollywood front for a whorehouse  and tries to run the town  s restaurant and hang  out place out of business . she paves the way for mcintire and his goons to come up  too . in      jimmy stewart and director anthony mann made one of the peaks of the western genre  the naked spur . the far country is just the tiniest bit less  and it contains   .   of what made that film so special without  of course  feeling like a cheap copy . like the naked spur  the far country boasts beautiful  on  location cinematography . the landscape is gorgeous . stewart gives one of his best performances  nearly equal to his biggest success of      rear window  . i suppose it could be considered cliche  as he starts out a selfish loner and learns how that kind of existence plays out in the end . still  stewart plays it so damn well  he makes this character very human . and the supporting performances are universally fantastic . in addition to those i  ve mentioned  the adorable french actress corinne calvet is very good . and i ought to single out walter brennen  as well . he seems to have specialized in playing best friends . his relationship with stewart is very touching  since he is  at first  the only character who is able to bring out any humanity in the cynical man . the screenplay is very well written  and mann  s direction is impeccable . a masterpiece .      .  
after the superb aankhen       which was a remake of a gujarati play he comes with waqt which too looks like a stage play  br    br   in stage plays  we have characters shouting  overacting here too the same  br    br   the first half shows amitabh almost kidding the    akshay kumar who acts too funny like a small nerd  br    br   the film has a good message how not to spoil your son but sadly the way amitabh wants to make akki responsible is absolutely fake  br    br   even his reason for hiding his sickness  his runnign from the hospital and the melodramatic speech by akki is a put off  br    br   some emotions do touch you but most are too over the top  br    br   rajpal  s comedy is hilarious but too stretched in second half  br    br   direction by vipul shah is too overdone though some scenes are good music is okay  br    br   amongst actors amitabh overdoes it in the first half but is superb in emotional scenes akshay kumar too does his part well but looks umcomfortable in some too weepy scenes his chemistry with bachchan is matchless rajpal is a highlight  he makes you laugh without overacting and just his presence and his dumb behaviour and deadpan humour he is a riot boman is good in some comic parts but too loud at places priyanka is the heroine so nothing to do  this is her last film with akki so far shefali is awesome though she looks too young for bachchan  
possibly the most brilliant thing about che part two  as we begin to integrate it with part one in our minds  is that there is no clarification of why che chose to confidentially abscond from cuba after the revolution  no allusion to his experience in the congo  no clarification of why he chose bolivia as his subsequent setting for a coup d  etat  no allusion to the political decisions he made as a young man motorcycling across south america  which walter salles has given prominent familiarity . extraordinary focus is given to che meeting the volunteers who accompany his guerrilla factions . yet hardly any endeavor is made to single them out as individuals  to establish involved relationships . he is reasonably unreasonable . che drives an unbreakable doctrine to leave no wounded man behind . but there is no feeling that he is deeply directly concerned with his men . it is the concept .  br    br   in part   in cuba  the rebels are welcomed by the people of the villages  given food and cover  supported in what grows to be a victorious revolution . here  in bolivia  not much understanding is apparent . villagers expose him . they protect government troops  not his own . when he expounds on the onesidedness of the government medical system  his audience appears uninterested . you cannot lead a people into revolution if they do not want to comply . soderbergh shows u . s . military advisers working with the bolivians  but doesn  t fault the united states for che  s collapse . che seems to have just misfigured his fight and the place where he wanted to have it .  br    br   in showcasing both wars  soderbergh doesn  t build his battle scenes as actions with specific results . che  s men attack and are attacked . they exchange fire with faraway assailants . there is generally a cut to the group in the aftershock of combat  its death toll not paused for . this is not a war movie . it is about one man  s reasonably unreasonable drive to endure . there is no elaborate cinematography . soderbergh looks firmly at che  s inflexible dedication . there are remarkable sporadic visceral shots  but being few they are all the more powerful  such as che  s pov shot during his final beats . there is an abundance of the terrain  where these men live for weeks at a time  and the all  consuming effect is of languor  guevara himself having malaria part of the time .  br    br   benicio del toro  one of the film  s producers  gives a champion  s performance  not least because it  s modest . he isn  t portrayed as the cutting edge like most epic heroes . in cuba  he arises in conquest  in bolivia  he falls to the reverse  and occasionally is actually difficult to distinguish behind a tangle of beard and hair . del toro illustrates not so much an identity as an attitude . you may think the film is too long . i think there  s a genuine cause for its breadth . guevara  s affairs in cuba and particularly bolivia was not a sequence of episodes and sketches  but an undertaking of staying power that might virtually be called insane . in the end  che as a whole or in parts is a commercially ballsy movie  one where its director begins by understanding the limits innate in cinematic biography and working progressively within those means .  
rodney dangerfield isn  t the main character of this movie . he  s barely in it . most of the screen time is dominated by unfunny jokes . one running gag is that a character is named jerk off . there are also lots of erection jokes  where the punch line is someone has an erection . this movie is as funny as kirstie ally  s british accent is convincing .  br    br   this movie started off like a weak action movie five minutes of back story and then bam  unfunny jokes . but  aside from the terrible writing  the movie is also poorly directed and the acting is terrible . also  this movie does the old bad comedy clich of having lots of well  known b  movie actors . harland williams  gilbert godfried  randy quaid  and phil la mar . these are just some of the people that spend more time on the screen than rodney  even though he  s billed as the main character . don  t be surprised to find this movie at a drug store selling for five bucks . even that is too much .  
part ii or formerly known as guerilla  is also a great achievement but not quite as entertaining as part i because this is where we begin to witness what might have caused the fall and death of che guevara . once again  i  m impressed by the cause  and  effect that both parts have in their interconnecting stories . we  re reminded again and again that the lead character  che guevara is an argentine . some of the men in fidel  s army chose not to take orders from a foreigner and now that che has chosen to leave the comfort of victory to continue the revolutionary in bolivia  he doesn  t get much respect from his new army and the natives either  only because he  s a foreigner .  br    br   as far as technical goes  i think part ii would  ve been more helpful if before everything else  right after the display of the map  it would show some highlights from the previous installment just to refresh memory about his characters and what he  s set himself on doing  to make the audience understand why his methods was successful in cuba but they don  t work in bolivia . it is clear now in this segment  that che is not as charismatic as fidel castro . in bolivia  he  s dealing with a bunch of soldiers whose hearts are not fully in it . it  s said that the ingredient for revolutionary is love . . well  they don  t give a damn that much about their country so it  s a tough sell . it  s excruciatingly painful and difficult for che to get the others to buy into his vision .  br    br   i like one particular scene that illustrates che  s deteriorating condition  a scene in which his horse would not go no matter how badly che tries to direct it  and then his temper took the better of him and for a moment there  he forgets he  s a doctor  and he becomes this desperate soldier who  s stabs his own horse . his army is like a horse that doesn  t want to be led . but at the same time  the film drags  it relies on small cameos from familiar faces that you  ll recognize just for the sake of brief entertainment and for the most part  you get pounded left and right by one obstacle after another  but maybe that is the intention of part ii  if so . . then it definitely works . standing ovation to the cinematography that gives us a first person view at the moment of che  s last breath . this movie may not answer the questions of why che guevara was so stubborn  why he was so determined he could pull it off even wen the odds were against him and why he deeply wants south america to have the same fate as cuba but the movie che is a story worth telling .  
i must agree with the very first comment this movie sucks very  very hard . despite having a very big b  list cast  the cover of this film  for those who aren  t watching it on comedy central during a weekday which is probably the only exposure this film will ever get  tries to put the blame on dangerfield but in reality is just a paycheck for every has  been comedian from the    s . randy quaid  check . ed begley  jr  check . the voice of lisa simpson  she can now say that maximum overdrive wasn  t her only horrible flick double check . and so many  many others .  br    br   the saddest thing about this flick is that it was so lazily written with already  told jokes . nothing about this movie outside of its existence is funny . you  re better off watching paint dry . this is definitely direct  to  video scraping  the  bottom  of  the  barrel stuff that still believes in the old video adage throw an old  time star on the cover and you  ll get some money back off of the rental . considering the days of video rental are changing  consider this one of the last examples of putting out garbage .  br    br   the only use this movie has if you  re having trouble falling asleep . it  ll get you there .  
the first one meant victory . this one means defeat . it takes place in a bolivia  there the guerillas are sick and wary and don  t meet that much sympathy from the farmers . if you know your   s history  you understand how it ends . you will understand it even without that knowledge .  br    br   del toro is once again splendid . he goes on building this icon about the revolutionary who remains the same  regardless of success or failure . that  s what guevara is according to the legend  but still it  s so well acted .  br    br   the documentary feeling is there around the icon  which is one of the greatest achievements in this big soderbergh project . he has succeeded .  
put a dvd of this flick in a time capsule  and it will definitely illustrate for future generations a perfect example of one which warrants the minimal rating on a   to     star scale .  br    br   bill cosby and ray romano have been at the top  in ratings and with tens of millions in earnings annually  with their television series  . yet each has had no success in big  screen offerings . this has also been true for other tv personalities  perhaps because many of the stories which are presented for two hours or so seem more suited to either a    minute skit  or at most  the   or   minutes of drama during a half  hour program .  br    br   this film  however  doesn  t have one single element which would warrant two or three minutes of time on mad tv  snl  or anywhere else on a screen or stage .  br    br   its origination date is listed as      but release date  to dvd only  is shown as     . it also was filmed not long before rodney dangerfield  s death  so its one redeeming value is that it probably provided at lease a few hundred thousand more dollars for his heirs .  br    br   i  d never heard of it  but found it when turning  on my set  and frankly became fascinated by it . some movies are so truly awful that they rate a sort of top rating in reverse  so bad that you can move the dial backwards to a  or   .  plan  from outer space  is the best example  and the bruce jenner  village people opus   can  t stop the music   is another .  br    br   unfortunately this flick falls short even there . even if rodney  s earlier work  as well as some of his fellow cast  members   fell short of  citizen kane  or  casablanca   there were many moments of humor and a story providing at least a modicum of interest .  br    br   unfortunately  this presentation doesn  t seem to possess even a minute or two  s worth of such material .  
from what i  ve read a lot of people were disappointed by this film  compared to part  . initially i could understand this but after a bit of thought i think they are wrong to be . soderbergh continues his fact based telling of che  s life that he started in part  . part  told a story of a revolution moving from unpromising beginnings to an ultimately successful conclusion . part  tells a story of a revolution that moves from unpromising beginnings to a completely unsuccessful conclusion . it is not soderbergh  s fault that these  parts of che  s life had completely different outcomes . he bravely chooses to tell both in a fairly straightforward way . the viewer may feel a lot better coming out of the cinema after part  than part  but that is the reality of che  s life and not in my opinion any fault of the director . the film is far from perfect . it is probably too long . at least in part  we saw different aspects of the war as the guerrillas had successes . in part  they can  t catch a break and we see their numbers constantly being reduced by death and capture . che  s capture and death are dealt with well . the film is greatly enhanced by the dialogue being in spanish . benicio del toro is again excellent as the charismatic argentinian . so if you  ve seen part  you will see a very similar telling of a very different story in part  .  
i  ve noticed over the years that when a rock star makes his final album before his death  that album  if it  s not his best  is usually prolific in some way and worthy of a listen at least . the album is usually good enough to cement a legacy . however  when it comes to comedians  especially mainstream comics who star in their own vehicles  their final movie is usually god awful . john belushi had  neighbors   john candy had  wagon  s east   chris farley had  almost heroes   phil hartman had  small soldiers   and rodney dangerfield had this movie .  br    br    back by midnight   although it may not have been dangerfield  s very last film  is weak in every sense of the word . it wrapped filming in     according to this website  and it  s safe to say that it would have stayed on the shelves if dangerfield was still alive . i have been a big fan of dangerfield  s since i was in my early teens  and it pains me to see how rotten this film was .  br    br   what amazes me the most is that a number of other talented people took part in a movie with a very weak premise to begin with . dangerfield  a great comedian who usually played his comic persona on film  is a prison warden who houses a close knit group of inmates . when the owner of the prison  colonel  tom  parker  meets  sam  walton billionaire eli rockwood  randy quaid   cuts funding for the prison  the warden sends a group of inmates to break out of prison  rob rockwood  s eponymous convenience stores of consumer goods  and break back into prison with the loot . by taking what  s in the convenience stores  they are  i guess  taking what they believe rockwood owes them .  br    br   with this flimsy premise  the movie sputters and stalls frequently . on top of that  the jokes that you think would be this movie  s salvation are not even close to funny  not even from mr . no respect himself . that is incredibly disappointing too  because you  d expect a movie with oscar  nominated      randy quaid  kirstie alley  gilbert gottfried  ed begley jr .  yeardley smith  and others to be at least a little bit funny . instead  quaid plays a character we  ve seen before in countless other comedies  alley plays a british heiress with an awful british accent  could this movie not afford an actual british person      and every joke was poorly set up and poorly timed by virtually every member of this ensemble . it was just not a good comedy in any sense of the word .  br    br    back by midnight  was rated r mainly for language  and one scene of nudity  . the irony in this fact is that many of the jokes are so audience insulting that even kids  if you edit out the language  would walk out of this film . the physical gags are also incredibly predictable  especially when alley  s pet monkey torments quaid  s character . when the monkey grabs a pair of scissors and jumps on quaid  s couch  who wouldn  t know where that gag was going   br    br   being a direct  to  video comedy  of course i didn  t expect any oscar  winning material on here . the truth is  though  dangerfield has made some great  timeless comedies before .  easy money  and  back to school  are hilarious still  and were definitely not oscar  worthy in the slightest . however  there  s a difference between making a dumb comedy that  s funny  and making a dumb comedy . with the latter kind of comedy  it seems like the filmmakers don  t even try  which is precisely the case with this lame excuse for a wasted   minutes . rest in peace  rodney  but add this film to your batch of forgettable comedies like  meet wally sparks        and  the godson        . this film  dare i say it  is not even worth seeing .  
i watched part one two days ago and today i saw part two . of course the two parts are worlds apart so i am a little shaken by all that i just saw . i felt consumed by the knowledge of the inevitability of che  s death for me  it clouded the entire movie . i suppose that is exactly what soderbergh wanted us to feel  the slowly evolving inevitability of his death . part two was so downbeat compared to  again an inevitability but in cuba it was positive and in bolivia it was so negative . the politics of the movement in bolivia were only alluded to but rarely confronted didactically . for me the memorable scenes were all at the end of the film the confrontation with the jailer and the milder talk with the bolivian official where that official questions che about the failure of the peasants to support his revolution . i had not considered the national differences playing as much role as they did in the conflict  argentine versus bolivian . i thought soderbergh dealt admirably with the inevitable problems of supply in a revolutionary struggle how do you get food without antagonizing the peasants who do not have enough themselves . i was struck by how hard it would be to try something as che tried . i guess it is all in the timing is there sufficient anger against the government to begin the movement in bolivia there wasn  t . che realized the terrible corundum of revolutionists in his letter to fidel read at the beginning of the film if not now  when    years from now . a very thought provoking and well done film make every effort to see it .  
i don  t know about you  but what i love about tom and jerry cartoons is the  often violent  interaction between the two characters . mouse in manhattan sees jerry leaving tom behind to have an adventure in new york  and as far as i am concerned  this one definitely suffers from a lack of cat   br    br   as magical as jerry  s exploration of the  big apple  might be for the other tj fans who have commented here on imdb  i couldn  t wait for this self  indulgent rubbish to end  so i could watch the next cartoon on my dvd .  br    br   in fact  the only part of the whole episode that i genuinely enjoyed was when jerry almost  buys the farm   hanging precariously off the end of a broken candle  hundreds of feet above a busy road .  
i  ve read up a little bit on che before watching this film and you wanna know something  he was a real hero for the people because he only wanted to see equality for everyone and that he hated what the oppressive forces were doing to his people as well as all other latin americans in general  now  i don  t know about others  but to me he did the right thing by wanting socialism so that everyone had to pay their fair share . however  the powerful elite obviously weren  t going to go for that . so  rather than understanding what che guevera wanted  they were forced to kill him in attempting to suppress the revolution . it didn  t work since there were too many of his other followers who only picked up where he left off . a good example of this was when castro continued his leadership in cuba . as far as i  m concerned and as che said it himself right before he died  if you kill me  that  s fine . but you  re only killing a man  you  ll never kill the cause   i couldn  t have said it any better myself .  br    br   but . . . anyways . . . . that  s why i give this film a  out of   .  
there  s a lot of good that can be said for this cartoon the backgrounds are rich  lushly colored and full of nicely done art deco details . the animation is up to the usual studio standards of the time  which are unquestionably higher than those of the present day . however  i find it tedious for a number of reasons .  br    br   the music it  s definitely not up to scott bradley  s usual standards . although it  s probably supposed to be evocative of a  great gatsby  setting  it ends up being dreary  sleepy  repetitious and monotonous  repetitious and monotonous are not the same  as beethoven  s  th symphony attests  . since most people  including me  tend to close their eyes when they yawn  there  s a lot of the visual part of the cartoon that will be missed by the average viewer .  br    br   the storyline i  m not giving away any secrets that aren  t already in the plot summary  country good  city bad . this is a common theme in films  both animated and live  from this era . it  s a misplaced nostalgia for a nonexistent rural idyll  which  in the present day  is reflected in a similar nostalgia for  values  that never were .  
it surprises me that i actually got the courage to watch the bio flick or flicks  che parts     . why  because if my cuban exile parents would ever found out i saw this movie about this despicable mass murderer of the cuban revolution  i would be grounded for life . hey wait  i am an adult  they can  t ground me no mas . director steven soderbergh  and newbie commie  sorry steven  but i had to take soder shots here  divides the movie in two partes on commander ernesto  che  guevara  s revolutionary life .  che part   presents how che in the mid      s joined fidel castro  s guerilla crew in their revolutionary quest to overthrow cuban president fulgencio batista  s regime which as we all know was a revolutionary success for them  but a gargantuan guerilla disaster to many cubans as it revolted into communism .  che part   presents che trying to revolutionize the t  shirt industry by pitching t  shirts with his appalling bearbado face to t  shirt manufacturers . ok  i am che  chatting a lot of crap towards your way  i meant to say the  che part   focuses on che in the late    s trying to bring back the revolution  this time to a poverty  stricken bolivia  but with far different results . in fact  che ended up being dead meat enchelada when he was captured and killed by the bolivian militia in     . soderbergh does not include the in  between time of those two instances in che  s life when he commanded the despicable la cabana fortress prison in cuba  where he mass murdered many cubans who opposed communism . that is where i think soderbergh executed a cinematic injustice by not showing the viewers how atrocious guevara really was . i did decide to see  che  in hopes that soderbergh would not glamorize him  but instead present how disturbed he really was . unfortunately  soderbergh did not do the latter and sadly decided to present guevara as a revolutionary hero  which he was not . he was a sick man who thank god is now probably at the bottom of the devil barrel . now  i do have to be an objectivistic reviewer and must admit that benicio del toro  s performance as che was extremely commanding  and worthy of merit . and that demian bichir was a haunting dead  ringer as fidel castro in his meticulous performance . but the rest of the cast of  che  was primarily comprised of mediocre performances of actors portraying guerilla soldiers . and as much as i do admire matt damon  why did sodebergh throw him in the revolutionary mix in a spanish  speaking cameo performance portraying a bolivian delegate  soderbergh did not have to present this biopic which is mostly  too much talk and not enough action  in  hours and   minutes . we have had too much of che already  even posthumously with those ridiculous t  shirts  so why give us too much more of him  but i guess when you have the del toro by the horns  as you did here steven   i guess it is your saving grace for not totally executing  che parts     .  average  
i am uncertain what to make of this misshapen     dramedy . attempting to be a new millennium cross  hybrid between on golden pond and the prince of tides  this film ends up being an erratic mess shifting so mercurially between comedy and melodrama that the emotional pitch always seems off . the main problem seems to be the irreconcilable difference between garry marshall  s sentimental direction and mark andrus  dark  rather confusing screenplay . the story focuses on the unraveling relationship between mother lilly and daughter rachel  who have driven all the way from san francisco to small  town hull  idaho where grandmother georgia lives . the idea is for lilly to leave rachel for the summer under georgia  s taskmaster jurisdiction replete with her draconian rules since the young    year old has become an incorrigible hellion .  br    br   the set  up is clear enough  but the characters are made to shift quickly and often inexplicably between sympathetic and shrill to fit the contrived contours of the storyline . it veers haphazardly through issues of alcoholism  child molestation and dysfunctional families until it settles into its pat resolution . the three actresses at the center redeem some of the dramatic convolutions but to varying degrees . probably due to her off  screen reputation and her scratchy smoker  s voice  lindsay lohan makes rachel  s promiscuity and manipulative tactics palpable  although she becomes less credible as her character reveals the psychological wounds that give a reason for her hedonistic behavior . felicity huffman is forced to play lilly on two strident notes  as a petulant  resentful daughter to a mother who never got close to her and as an angry  alcoholic mother who starts to recognize her own accountability in her daughter  s state of mind . she does what she can with the role on both fronts  but her efforts never add up to a flesh  and  blood human being .  br    br   at close to seventy  jane fonda looks great  even as weather  beaten as she is here  and has the star presence to get away with the cartoon  like dimensions of the flinty georgia . the problem i have with fonda  s casting is that the legendary actress deserves far more than a series of one  liners and maternal stares . between this and      s execrable monster  in  law  it does make one wonder if her best work is behind her . it should come as no surprise that the actresses  male counterparts are completely overshadowed . garrett hedlund looks a little too surfer  dude as the nave harlan  a devout mormon whose sudden love for rachel could delay his two  year missionary stint . cary elwes plays on a familiar suspicious note as lilly  s husband  an unfortunate case where predictable casting appears to telegraph the movie  s ending .  br    br   there is also the omnipresent dermot mulroney in the morose triple  play role of the wounded widower  lilly  s former flame and rachel  s new boss as town veterinarian dr . simon ward . laurie metcalf has a barely  there role as simon  s sister paula  while marshall regular hector elizondo and songsmith paul williams show up in cameos . some of andrus  dialogue is plain awful and the wavering seriocomic tone never settles on anything that feels right . there are several small extras with the     dvd  none all too exciting . marshall provides a commentary track that has plenty of his trademark laconic humor . there are several deleted scenes  including three variations on the ending  and a gag reel . a seven  minute making  of featurette is included  as well as the original theatrical trailer  a six  minute short spotlighting the three actresses and a five  minute tribute to marshall .  
che part one was a fascinating experiment  which did not only tell a very interesting story  but it also tried to do something different with the  biopic  genre . che part two is the excellent culmination of this experiment .  br    br   this movie offers all of the same attributes from the first one  from the extraordinary performances  specially from benicio del toro  to steven soderbergh  s brilliant direction  without forgetting its intention of breaking with the conventional rules from the biopics . that is what i admire from soderbergh  s experiments . . . they always try to do something different and unusual  and they succeed most of the times .  br    br   the final message from this film is perfect  and it includes everything we have been told about che guervara  s life . the only fail i found on che part two is that a few parts felt a bit irrelevant .  br    br   in summary  i give che part two a very enthusiastic recommendation because  as the first one  it is a brave and fascinating experiment which challenges the spectator and leaves us thinking .  
i  m only rating this film as a  out of pity because it attempts to be worthwhile . i love to praise a great movie and i  m not biased toward  male  movies . legally blonde was an excellent film . georgia rule on the other hand  was a disorganized  weak  poorly written  unrealistic example of movie making at its worst . by the end of the film i didn  t care who was lying or if anything was resolved .  br    br   the most important thing in a film is a good story . this story is weak and never develops  just because the subject matter is deep  doesn  t mean the story is good  . a good story has dynamic characters . a dynamic character is one that experiences a major character change  and is primed for that change over the course of the movie . in georgia rule  the character changes were abrupt and undeveloped . secondly  there were too many attempted dynamic characters . pulling off a really good dynamic character is a tough job and takes time  you  ve only got a couple hours in a movie  . that means that too many attempted dynamic characters will get too little attention to their personal change . even if i ignore the poorly written story  and the litter of weak dynamic characters  i can  t even say i liked anyone . every character was a mess . that  s fine if your  re writing american beauty but not when you  re attempting a dramatic comedy . georgia was a horrible mother  her daughter was a horrible mother and daughter  and lohan was a horrible excuse for a human being  no i  m not cutting her any slack because she was molested  crap happens to everyone and we  re all responsible for our own actions  . the  dudley do right  mormon kid should have had the guts not to compromise his religion and commitments . . . and simon  i mean seriously  what kind of guy lets a   year old girl who  s been molested just stay over occasionally  unless he  s an actor or a politician  . this movie is worth watching if you want to remind yourself what good movie making is not   
i came to watch guerrilla  part two of steven soderbergh  s biopic of che guevara  without having seen the preceding film and without more than a cursory knowledge of che  s life . at the same time i was rather apprehensive that this would be both a heavy  going history lesson and an unrepentant love  letter to the iconic revolutionary . as it turns out  this film far exceeded my expectations .  br    br   guerrilla works remarkably well as a standalone film . the story of che  s failed attempt to lead a revolution in bolivia  then under military rule  is a compelling tragedy . the initial impetus brought by che  s arrival incognito to lead the guerrilla war is lost as misfortune follows misfortune . the odds stack up against the revolutionaries . us backing for the bolivian army  hostile conditions in the rainforest  suspicious locals and che  s failing health are just some of the difficulties which beset the nascent rebellion .  br    br   soderbergh  s portrayal of che is largely uncritical  but this film is no hagiography . the style is refreshingly undramatic  with a subtle and effective soundtrack by alberto iglesias adding quiet drama to many scenes . che is undoubtedly the centre of the film but there are very few close  ups of his face and we are encouraged to see the people fighting alongside him and sometimes against him too . where soderbergh wishes to demonstrate che  s virtues we see it in small episodes such as the loyal acolyte who upbraids two fellow guerrillas when they question che  s leadership  and emphasises the sacrifice that he has made in leaving behind cuba to fight again for revolution .  br    br   the direction throughout is superb . part two feels tightly edited despite its narrow focus and is able to communicate a great deal through images without the need for a narrator to spell things out for the audience . at the start of the film we see a few short clips of lavish parties in post  revolutionary cuba  immediately furnishing us with ideas as to why che would sacrifice his old life to fight again in another country . later on  the portrayal of guerrillas marching through the unending rainforests stands out as a strikingly beautiful scene and helps to create a feeling of the enormity of the task before this tiny band of revolutionaries .  br    br   if there is a problem with the film it is the distance between the viewer and che  which  though it does allow us to appreciate the context of the insurgency and the people around him  makes it hard for us to understand him better as a person . true  benicio del toro is utterly convincing in the lead role  so much so that it is difficult to remember that you are watching an actor and not the man himself . however  watching guerrilla as a standalone film means that we are given precious little insight into what is shaping che  s thoughts  words and actions . it is to be hoped that this is more to the fore in the first part of soderbergh  s biopic  i cannot comment on that yet   and certainly the strength of part two is making me look forward eagerly to seeing the prequel .  
i haven  t seen this   don  t plan to see this movie or any other that includes lindsay . . . . . . unless  until  poor little rich girl  straightens out her life for a  year period beginning with her most recent arrest in july     .  br    br   in fact  i don  t know anyone that has gone to see any of lindsay  s recent movies . i rather imagine     will be the high water mark in her movie making career  until she cleans up her act . all of the recent publicity has only hindered her movie making career  if she has any further aspirations to make any more movies  br    br   up to this time  movie producers have actively sought lindsay for roles in their upcoming production . now  lindsay will probably have to go to auditions  actually compete for any role . her reputation is currently  poison   quite possible could have a negative effect on box office ticket sales on any movie she is in .  br    br   sooooo . . . . now lindsay is going to have to deal with  not being wanted  . . . . . is she going to be able to handle this   br    br   i wonder if even jay leno will want to have lindsay back on his tv show   br    br   all of the foregoing is merely my opinion . i have no inside information .  
i sat through both parts of che last night  back to back with a brief bathroom break  and i can  t recall when  hours last passed so quickly . i  d had to psyche myself up for a week in advance because i have a real  thing  about directors  producers and editors who keep putting over blown  over long quasi epics in front of us and i feel that on the whole   to  .  hours is about right for a movie . so  hours seemed to be stretching the limits of my tolerance and i was very dubious about the whole enterprise . but i will say upfront that this is a beautifully  i might say lovingly  made movie and i  m really glad i saw it . director steven soderbergh is to be congratulated on the clarity of his vision . the battle scenes zing as if you were dodging the bullets yourself .  br    br   if there is a person on the planet who doesn  t know  ernesto  che  guevara was the argentinian doctor who helped fidel castro overthrow fulgencio batista via the     cuban revolution . when i was a kid in the     s  che  s image was everywhere on bedroom wall posters  on t shirts  on magazine covers . che  s image has to be one of the most over exploited ever . if the famous images are to be relied on  then che was a very good looking guy  the epitome of revolutionary romanticism . had he been butt ugly  i have to wonder if he would have ever been quite so popular in the public imagination  of course dying young helps .  br    br   movies have been made about che before  notably the excellent motorcycle diaries of     which starred the unbearably cute gael garcia bernal as young che  touring south america and seeing the endemic poverty which formed his marxist politics  but i don  t think anyone has ever tackled the entire story from beginning to end  and this two  parter is an ambitious project . i hope it pays off for soderbergh but i can only imagine that instant commercial success may not have been uppermost in his mind .  br    br   the first movie  the agentine  shows che meeting castro in mexico and follows their journey to cuba to start the revolution and then the journey to new york in     to address the un . cleverly shot black and white images look like contemporary film but aren  t . the second film  guerilla  picks up again in     when che arrives in bolivia to start a new revolutionary movement . the second movie takes place almost entirely in the forest . as far as i can see it was shot mostly in spain but i can still believe it must have been quite grueling to film . benicio del toro is excellent as che  a part he seems born to play .  br    br   personally  i felt that the argentine  ie part one  was much easier to watch and more  entertaining  in the strictly movie sense  because it is upbeat . they are winning the revolution will succeed . che is in his element leading a disparate band of peasants  workers and intellectuals in the revolutionary cause . the second part is much harder to watch because of the inevitability of his defeat . in much the same way that the recent valkyrie  while being a good movie  was an exercise in witnessing heroic failure  so i felt the same about part two of che  guerilla  . we know at the outset that he dies  we know he fails . it is frustrating because the way the story is told  it is obvious fairly early on that the fomentation of revolution in bolivia is doomed che is regarded as a foreign intruder and fails to connect with the indigenous peoples in the way that he did with the cubans . he doggedly persists which is frustrating to watch because i felt that he should have known when to give up and move on to other  perhaps more successful  enterprises . the movie does not romanticise him too much . he kills people  he executes  he struggles with his asthma and follows a lost cause long after he should have given up and moved on  he leaves a wife alone to bring up five fatherless children .  br    br   but overall  an excellent exercise in classic movie making . one note as i watched the us trained bolivian soldiers move in en masse to pick off che and his small band of warriors one by one  it reminded me of the finale to butch cassidy . i almost turned to my husband and said so  but hesitated  thinking he would find such thoughts trite and out of place . as we left the theatre he turned to me and said  didn  t you think the end was like butch cassidy    
okay  so the previews to this film only tells you that a rebellious young girl goes to live with her grandmother for the summer in order to straighten out . that is actually not the case  it  s about a young rebellious   year old girl who reveals a secret and it  s up to her mother to believe if she  s telling the truth or not .  br    br   to be honest  i really enjoyed the concept of this movie . they had a really good plot and a really good theme of a love  hate relationship between mother and daughter . i did not however  enjoyed watching lindsay lohan  s acting . in reality  this movie would have been great if they had someone else  perhaps a better actress . the character of rachel  lohan  is a very sexually aggressive person and it sort of reminds us of the real lindsay so it takes away a lot from the film .  br    br   i do however  think that if you put lindsay aside  you will enjoy this film . the ending is pretty great  and sad  .  
the fourth of five westerns anthony mann did with james stewart  this one involves a hard bitten cattleman named jeff webster who takes a cattle drive from wyoming to alaska  via seattle . he hooks up in seattle with his partners ben tatum  walter brennan  and rube morris  jay c . flippen  that he has sent ahead of time in order to make preparations for the boat trip  north .  br    br   but first  he has to put up with insubordinate trail hands  cheating riverboat captains and the charms of coy  manipulative ronda castle  ruth roman  who believes jeff could be a valuable ally in the future . that  s why she hides him out on the boat while the captain  s looking for him for the earlier  and justifiable  killing of a trail hand .  br    br   jeff also has the misfortune of running into sleazy judge gannon  john mcintire  who runs the town of skagway  alaska . gannon locks jeff up for disrupting his public hanging by running his cattle through town . he fines jeff the ownership of his cattle and jeff just has to eat crow for the time being .  br    br   in the meantime  jeff agrees to ride point for ronda up to dawson in order to deliver supplies . but this is just a ruse so jeff  ben and rube can slip back into skagway and steal his cattle back . of course judge gannon finds out about this and is right behind but is delayed by jeff with a rifle while ben races the cattle over the canadian border out of gannon  s reach .  br    br   after avoiding an avalanche and another shootout with some other skagway men  they finally reach dawson where jeff sells his cattle to the highest bidder  which just happens to be ronda who then promptly sets up a new gambling house in dawson . jeff then takes his money and buys himself a claim and starts panning for gold .  br    br   but then judge gannon comes up to dawson to get in on the gold action up there  and tells jeff that he was getting a little bored with skagway and wants to try his luck up in the klondike  himself . that involves bring some hired gunman with him and forcibly stealing some of the other miner  s claims . jeff and ben now feel it  s time to clear out while the goings are good  leaving rube to fend for himself as a most ineffective sheriff against gannon and his gang .  br    br   they look for a back way out only to find themselves ambushed by gannon  s men because ben made the mistake of opening his big mouth . ben is killed and jeff is severely wounded but that doesn  t save judge gannon from his just due . the ending shootout at night on the muddy dawson street pretty much takes care of that . first jeff kills two of gannon  s best gunman  jack elam and robert wilkie  . then as ronda comes out to warn jeff that gannon is trying to slip around behind him  gannon shoots her in the back and she dies right there in jeff  s arms . then jeff kills gannon as he  s hiding under a wooden sidewalk . revenge has spoken .  br    br   this is another rip  roaring western that  s right up there with the naked spur and the man from laramie . why the universal dvd uses a pan  and  scan print instead of the widescreen print tcm uses  is beyond me . you  ll wind up missing half the glorious alberta cinematography by william daniels . so if you like well  written   s westerns  then this one  s an a  list keeper .  br    br    out of    
i  ve been going through the afi  s list of the top    comedies  and i must say that this is truly one of the worst . not just of the   movies on the list i  ve seen  but of any movie i  ve ever seen . drunks are funny sometimes  dudley isn  t . liza almost made it worthwhile  but alas . . . just go watch arrested development if you want to see her in something good . seriously  dudley laughing and drinking is supposed to be funny  i would highly recommend almost any other movie on the afi  s top    comedies for more laughs than this . if you want to see a funnier  drunk   try the thin man . funnier movie in general  any marx brothers movie will kill  especially if you  re as drunk as arthur  .  
many reviews i  ve read reveals that most people tend to like part one better than part two . i feel exactly the opposite . part one played around a bit much with trying to find different ways of showing che guevara  s personality through different types of film stock  different locations  and cutting back and forth between an interview and the cuban revolution . for the most part it was structured finely but somewhat distracting . in part two  che enters bolivia  and along with changing geographical location  the rules and the structure changes . gone are the spacial jumps and switching between stocks  the  documentary realism  and the treatises . instead  now we are literally trapped with che in a desaturated  depopulated landscape where the only people who exist are burdened too far with their lives for anything but survival to be an option . i posit that it  s the dark turn of che  s life that is the real reason why most people prefer part one to part two .  br    br   the change in geographic location also signifies  for me at least  that che part one and che part two are  in fact  the second two acts of a three act structure begun by motorcycle diaries . motorcycle diaries is che  s coming  of  age  or more appropriately  coming  of  ideals  in argentina  che part one is his military leadership in cuba  and che part two is his downfall in bolivia . these movies do not completely illustrate his life  we  re missing his experiences in guatamala and  more importantly in my opinion  his post  cuban revolution executions   but they create a very detailed exploration into the controversial aspects of his character and nature as worldwide symbol . he both symbolizes the idealism and need for armed resistance to oppression  and revolutionary failings in the post  world war ii third world countries and their hindering by such activities as  um  the cias meddling .  br    br   but  yet again  all of that is projected on  screen in this case not through long scenes of dialog and speeches  but through a much more intimate  suffering portrayal of che at the end of his thread and his life . again  the rules have changed  and in this case it  s hard to tell if there was any chance of success at all . the number of times the camera shows people literally trapped between a rock and a hard place and the desaturated  shaky long takes involves the audience into the narrative of people imprisoned in a hostile landscape  an existential hell  where revolutionary beliefs ultimately end up taking second tier to the desperation of hunted people starving to death . it  s just not that easy of a movie to watch  but it  s very effective .  br    br     polarisdib  
this movie was portrayed in the trailer as a comedy . it is an extreme tragedy . it left me sick to my stomach . i hated it . i think if they want to make a movie like this than they should be man enough to reflect the true intentions of the movie in the trailer . i would not have seen this movie if i would have known . i think the trailer should reflect the theme and intentions of a movie . i am tired of it . i really wanted to have a fun comedy and i am extremely disappointed . it has been several days now and i still have a bad taste in my mouth from this movie . i have never been more disappointed in a movie  nor have i ever written a comment on a bad movie . i really think that true deception was involved in this trailer because if they showed the true intention of the movie  no one would have seen it .  
following directly from where the story left off in part one  the second half which sets about telling the inevitable downfall and much more grim side of the man  s legacy is exactly as such . in direct contrast to the first feature  part two represents a shift from che the pride and glory of a revolutionised country  to chestruggling liberator of a country to which he has no previous ties . the change of setting isn  t just aesthetic from the autumn and spring greys of the woodlands comes a change of tone and heart to the feature  replacing the optimism of the predecessor with a cynical  battered and bruised reality aligned to an all new struggle . yet  as che would go on to say himselfsuch a struggle is best told exactly as thata struggle . while part one certainly helped document that initial surge to power that the revolutionary guerrilla acquired through just that  part two takes a much more refined  callous and bleak segment of che  s life and ambition  and gives it an assertive portrayal that is both poignant and tragic in a tangible  easy to grasp manner .  br    br   while the movie  s tone in some regards does stray off and differ quite drastically from part one however  there still remains that same documented approach taken a month ago that avoids melodrama and fabrication as much as possible . this somewhat distant  cold approach to telling che  s story and struggle will no doubt turn some viewers off indeed  i still remain reserved about whether or not the feature itself should have been named after one manif anything  the entirety of che  taken as a whole  delivers a tale that goes beyond mere biography and instead documents a man  s struggle alongside those who helped carry him along the way . by no means does soderbergh try to paint a humanistic portrait here akin to what hirschbiegel did with der untergang half a decade ago  excuse the ironic contrast   che is a slow moving  reserved and meditative approach to telling a history lesson that just happens to be narrated by the one man who arguably  conducted the whole thing .  br    br   yet by moving from the lush green landscapes of cuba and retreating to the bleak  decaying backdrop of bolivia for part two  the story does inevitably take on a distinctly contrasting tone that doesn  t feel too disjointed from its predecessor  but does enough to give it its own reference points . here  the basic structure of part one is echoed backthere  s the initial struggle  the battles  the fallen comrades and the recruiting of those to replace them  all the while we see some glimpses of the man behind the movement . yet  as anyone with the vaguest idea of the actual history behind the feature will know  part two is destined to end on a much more underwhelming  and disquieting note . this difference  in combination with the similarities to part one  make a compelling and memorable whole by all means  both could be digested one their own  and kudos to soderbergh for achieving as such  and enjoyed as they are  but taken as one statement  che delivers exactly what it sets out to achieve .  br    br   indeed  everything that made part one the treat that it was one month prior is still evident here from the subtle yet engrossing performances from the central cast to the slow building  realistically structured combat scenesthe drama inherent to the characters on screen is just as vague and indiscernible  but with a feature such as this  part two once again proves that avoiding such elements don  t necessarily hurt a film when there is enough plot and reflection on other elements to keep the viewer engaged . in fact  upon writing this review i was at odds as to whether or not to simply add a paragraph or two to my initial review for part one  and title the review as a whole  yet i felt that to do so would only serve to disillusion those who may sit down to watch the entirety of both films consecutively .  br    br   with that said  i cannot rightfully decree whether or not che holds up to the task of engaging an audience for its sprawling four hour plus runtime  but upon viewing both segments i can at least attest to each part  s ability to do just that . with a reflective  intricate screenplay combined with endlessly mesmerising photography and nuanced performances that do justice to the movie  s characters without drawing attention to themselves  che part two is every bit as compelling and rewarding as its predecessor  but this time with a tragic but uplifting  reaffirming conclusion fit for the history pages of film .  br    br    a review by jamie robert ward  http   www . invocus . net   
i just came from seeing this movie and decided to see what others thought of it . i  m left wondering if these people who give glowing reviews saw the same film  this is potentially a very good story  but it fails to hit the mark . the script is very weak  the plot has so many holes that it would make a great dip net for the fishing scenes . the characters were not well developed and the storyline jumps around so much that i found myself asking the question  how did we get here   at least a half dozen times during the movie .  br    br   there was a lack of any chemistry between the cast members . this is probably related to lindsay lohan  s antics during the filming . it was pretty clear that everyone showed up and did their job  but didn  t commit to their roles .  br    br   this is not a movie worth seeing . . . go for a walk  play a board game  take a nice warm bath and save your money for something that  s worth it   
part two picks up . . . not where the last film left off . as part of the quasi  conventionality of steven soderbergh  s epic   hour event  che  s two stories are told as classic  rise  and  fall  scenarios . in part two  che guevara  leaving his post as a bureaucrat in cuba and after a failed attempt in the congo  only in passing mentioned in the film   goes down to bolivia to try and start up another through  the  jungle style revolution . things don  t go quite as well planned  at all  probably because of che  s then notorious stature as a communist and revolutionary  and in part because of america  s involvement on the side of the bolivian government  and  of course  that castro wasn  t really around as a back  up for che .  br    br   as it goes  the second part of che is sadder  but in some ways wiser than the first part . which makes sense  as guevara has to endure low morale from his men  betrayals from those around him  constant mistakes by grunts and nearby peasants  and by ultimately the enclosing  larger military force . but what  s sadder still is that guevara  no matter what  won  t give in . one may see this as an incredible strength or a fatal flaw  maybe both  but it  s also clear how one starts to see che  if not totally more fully rounded  then as something of a more sympathetic character . true  he did kill  and executed  and felt justified all the way . and yet it starts to work on the viewer in the sense of a primal level of pity the sequence where guevara  s health worsens without medicine  leading up to the shocking stabbing of a horse  marks as one of the most memorable and satisfying of any film this year .  br    br   again  soderbergh  s command of narrative is strong  if  on occasion  slightly sluggish  understandable due to the big running time   and one or two scenes just feel totally odd  matt damon    but these are minor liabilities . going this time for the straight color camera approach  this is almost like a pure militia  style war picture  told with a great deal of care for the men in the group  as well as guevara as the lord  over this group  and how things dwindle down the final scene . and as always  del  toro is at the top of his game  in every scene  every beat knowing this guy so well  for better and for worse  that he comes about as close to embodiment as possible . overall  the two parts of che make up an impressive package history as drama in compelling style  good for an audience even if they don  t know che or  better  if they don  t think highly of him . it  s that special .  .      
i have been searching for the right words to describe this film . at first i was inclined to simply skip to more significant matters  as the film does not rise to a level deserving comment .  br    br   yet  i stopped  puzzled as to how to describe such stuff and somewhat intrigued by the challenge presented by the question  what can one say about such a film   rubbish  no  its not rubbish  rubbish can be recycled into something useful . greenhouse gas  no  its not greenhouse gas  greenhouse gases help plants grow large and healthy .  br    br   finally  i struck on  not even bad   a rework of the phrase  not even wrong  used sometimes in theoretical physics to describe a theory that is hopelessly flawed and not even worthy of correction . that  s it then  georgia rule not even bad .  
ironically the most talked  about american film in the     new york film festival is    in spanish . the extra  long film  s controversy began at the cannes festival . there were love  hate notices  and considerable doubts about commercial prospects . as consolation the star  benicio del toro  got the best actor award there . i  m talking about steven soderbergh  s  che   of course . that  s the name it  s going by in this version  shown in new york as at cannes in two   hour  plus segments without opening title or end credits .  che  is certainly appropriate since ernesto  che  guevara is in almost every scene . del toro is impressive  hanging in reliably through thick and thin  from days of glorious victory in part one to months of humiliating defeat in part two  appealing and simpatico in all his varied manifestations  even disguised as a bald graying man to sneak into bolivia . it  s a terrific performance one wishes it had a better setting .  br    br   if you are patient enough to sit through the over four hours  with an intermission between the two sections  there are rewards . there  s an authentic feel throughout   fortunately soderbergh made the decision to film in spanish  though some of the actors  oddly enough in the english segments especially  are wooden  . you get a good outline of what guerrilla warfare  che style  was like the teaching  the recruitment of campesinos  the morality  the discipline  the hardship  and the fighting   as well as che  s gradual morphing from company doctor to full  fledged military leader . use of a new   pound   mm  quality red  digital high performance cine camera  that just became available in time for filming enabled dp peter andrews and his crew to produce images that are a bit cold  but at times still sing  and are always sharp and smooth .  br    br   the film is in two parts   soderbergh is calling them two  films   and the plan is to release them commercially as such . first is  the argentine   depicting che  s leadership in jungle and town fighting that led up to the fall of havana in the late    s  and the second is  guerrilla   and concerns che  s failed effort nearly a decade later in bolivia to spearhead a revolution  a fruitful mission that led to guevara  s capture and execution in     . the second part was to have been the original film and was written first and  i think  shot first . producer laura bickford says that part two is more of a thriller  while part one is more of an action film with big battle scenes . yes  but both parts have a lot in common   too much   since both spend a large part of their time following the guerrillas through rough country . guerrilla an unmitigated downer since the bolivian revolt was doomed from the start . the group of cubans who tried to lead it didn  t get a friendly reception from the bolivian campesinos  who suspected foreigners  and thought of the cuban communists as godless rapists . there is a third part  a kind of celebratory black and white interval made up of che  s speech at the united nations in     and interviews with him at that time  but that is inter  cut in the first segment . the first part also has fidel and is considerably more upbeat  leading as it does to the victory in santa clara in     that led to the fall of the dictatorship of fulgencio batista in cuba .  br    br   during  guerilla  i kept thinking how this could indeed work as a quality european  style miniseries  which might begin with a shortened version of walter salles  s  motorcycle diaries  and go on to take us to guevara  s fateful meeting with fidel in mexico and enlistment in the   th of july movement . there could be much more about his extensive travels and diplomatic missions . this is far from a complete picture of the man  his childhood interest in chess  his lifelong interest in poetry  the books he wrote even his international fame is only touched on . and what about his harsh  cruel side  really what soderbergh is most interested in isn  t che  but revolution  and guerrilla warfare . the lasting impression that the   hours leave is of slogging through woods and jungle with wounded and sick men and women and idealistic dedication to a the cause of ending the tyranny of the rich . someone mentioned being reminded of terrence malick  s  the tin red line   and yes  the meandering  episodic battle approach is similar but  the thin red line  has stronger characters  hardly anybody emerges forcefully besides che   and it  s a really good film . this is an impressive  but unfinished and ill  fated  effort .  br    br   this   years  gestating  heavily researched labor of love  how many more ocean  s must come to pay for it   is a vanity project  too long for a regular theatrical release and too short for a miniseries . radical editing   or major expansion   would have made it into something more successful  and as it is it  s a long slog  especially in the second half .  br    br   it  s clear that this slogging could have been trimmed down  though it  s not so clear what form the resulting film would have taken   but with a little bit of luck it might have been quite a good one .  
georgia rule has got to be one of  if not the worst movie i have ever seen in my life . the whole movie has a very surreal feel that made me gasp   what   out loud at least     times throughout its grueling two hour course .  br    br   advertised in its trailer as a movie about three generations of women  jane fonda as the matriarch  felicity huffman as her daughter  and lindsay lohan as the rebellious  over  sexed  scantily clad grand  daughter  the viewer thinks this will be a clich  light  chick  flick about growing up and coming together as a family .  br    br   talk about false advertisement at it worst .  br    br   after many shots of animals doing  funny  things in the background of  pivotal  scenes and not to mention a whole five minutes focusing on an old woman who comes into a doctor  s office weekly to have her diaper changed  or the fact that this movie is actually about lindsay lohan  s character being sexually abused by her step  father  georgia rule creates its own genre of cinema  the ungrounded  horribly acted  inappropriate comedy dealing with extremely serious issues in the most awkward  surreal  strange way . if garry marshall wanted this movie to be a drama  comedy  then he should have watched the royal tenenbaums . sideways . junebug . and so on . and so on .  br    br   the only way i feel i can get a reader to understand the horrific genre that georgia rule falls under is to create a hypothetical situation . say that the movie  the   year old virgin  was about the main character being celibate because he was sexually molested as a child . but instead of having the movie take a more dramatic turn  belly laughs and comedy would ensue  with all of the characters  reactions being that of fake  lifeless  human beings pretending to care .  br    br   throw in a yellow parakeet  dermot mulroney as the flattest  most non  dimensional character that could have been cut completely out of this poorly written script  along with a male character who throws away all of his religious beliefs and morals to be with a trashy  too  tanned girl who shares none of the same interests as he  as well as an an unnecessary car chase scene  unreal moments of characters trying to relate to each other  and you  ve got georgia rule .  br    br   i found this movie to be an insult to any of those people out there who are struggling filmmakers  screenwriters  actors  editors  etc . . who have a lot more talent and aren  t getting noticed .  br    br   don  t see this movie  my rule .  br    br   and if you must  get sufficiently drunk before hand .  
neatly skipping over everything from the coup in cuba to his undercover entry into bolivia  part two of soderbergh  s portrayal of che guevara is that of the tragic hero . as with che  part one  this rather rambling guerrilla warfare escapade through the colourful mountains of bolivia is probably destined to disappoint more people than it will satisfy  so why was the film  and particularly benicio del toro  s performance  so loudly praised at cannes   br    br   james rocchi  for instance  called it  a work of art that  s   not just the story of a revolutionary   but   a revolution in and of itself .  the guardian  s peter bradshaw called it a  flawed masterpiece .  i return to my original contention for part one  that the value lies particularly in depiction of a hero figure . and in an age when there is a surfeit of poor hero role  models  could it not be salutary to see a strongly honourable one  even if stripped of some of the less endearing episodes of his life  this is the psychological hero enshrined by the great scottish essayist  thomas carlyle  in his seminal book  heroes and hero worship . heroes can be real or imaginary  or somewhere in  between  . but should genuinely inspire us to higher goals  a higher purpose . compare this with the unrealistic  heroes  of standard western storytelling where a person undergoes trials and tribulations before obtaining a barely  believable reward  usually everlasting love or material wealth  as if by divine studio intervention . real heroes have an excess of moral courage  not lost ark dare  devilishness or james bond super  toys . they rise  and empower others to rise  to be the best that they can be . in part one  che succeeds . in part two  he fails . it is not for want of moral courage but since a  not all good plans can succeed and b  being human  mistakes are inevitable .  br    br   guevara  s intellectual clarity is flawed when he equates conditions that justify armed struggle with conditions that make that armed struggle able to succeed . it is a serious miscalculation .  br    br   high in the mountains from la paz  the colours are breathtaking . there is an air of mise  en  scene authenticity that was occasionally lacking in che  part one  the u . s . would not allow soderbergh to film in cuba .  visual treats are heightened by maximising natural light and the extreme flexibility and realism offered with groundbreaking red cameras . this is a high performance digital cine camera with the quality of   mm film and the convenience of pure digital . designed for flexibility and functionality  the package weighs a mere  lbs .  shooting with red is like hearing the beatles for the first time   says soderbergh .  red sees the way i see . . . so organic  so beautifully attuned to that most natural of phenomena  light .  if che had stopped with the successful cuban revolution it would have enshrouded him with an almost mystical invincibility . that he fails in bolivia shows not only that he has human limitations but that it is his moral virtues that are remembered  not the political triumph . critics will say  and with some justification  that his armed struggle inspired much less noble characters to achieve tin  pot dictatorships . his development of guerrilla fighting tactics are not good or bad in themselves  and have since been used for both  .  br    br   but for all its praiseworthiness  the film often seems to lack dramatic and narrative tension . we stumble from one escapade to another  knowing that he will eventually meet his death . i found myself glancing at my watch and thinking it could have been shorter . but the work that has gone into this  interviews with people from all sides and even getting one of guevara  s ex  comrades to coach actors on the minutiae of the bolivian operations  make the film a commendable achievement . it might not be top  flight entertainment  but it demonstrates integrity in documenting a significant slice of history .  br    br   there is also another very important point in the che  hero  figure here . it  s about failure . that if you try your utmost  even if you fail  your effort will not have been in vain because it may give others hope and moral courage . one could cynically call it a  martyr  complex  and it is found  of course  in many religious figures as well . but che does not  sacrifice  himself . he does what he does best  to the best of his not inconsiderate ability  and so provides an example . success or failure in any particular instance become mere details .  br    br   with the u . s .  s longstanding and illegal blockade of cuba  all in the name of  freedom    i am tempted to write that che parts    are too good to be wasted on the u . s . but that would be to invite a contention that the film has sought so earnestly to avoid . one must hope that many viewers will have the skill to view che without politics and the bias that inevitably engenders . whatever its faults  it rehabilitates soderbergh from the populist nonsense of oceans   .  br    br   but if you haven  t heard of che guevara or seen part one  or if you can  t get past the phrase  murderous marxist  without frothing at the mouth  i might struggle to imagine what you would get from this film . the same can be said for many who have  and can .  
i disliked this movie for numerous reasons . within the first ten minutes of the film  i grew extremely disappointed and came to the conclusion that if this movie was going to salvage itself  for me at least  that it was going to have to pull itself out of the enormous hole it had dug . unfortunately  that did not occur . the two draws of the movie for me were to see jane fonda and felicity huffman . i don  t know enough about lindsey lohan  s work to have been interested in what she would bring to the film . afterward  i just felt disappointed in and for all three of them even though there were  moments  in each of their performances . i imagine that for each of them to find their  moments  was a very difficult task given the fact that there was an amazing lack of character development and uninspired dialog . although the plot is an interesting one  the movie on the whole is so poorly written  directed and edited that anybody  s performance as an actor would suffer and be tainted by it . the disrespectful way in which it dealt with sexual abuse and the trite and insulting viewpoint of small  town america  i think  were the two main reasons why this film failed in hitting it  s mark . as one reviewer has noted and i would agree  the movie is almost impossible to market given it  s finished form . i suspect that  or at least hope that  for the actor  s sakes anyway  there are some real gems on the cutting room floor . sad for us but if that  s true then the actors can take solace in that and feel somewhat good about lending their talents and time to such a flop . oh yeah and another thing . . . i wished for just once i could go see an american movie which included the sadly disappearing but wonderfully bucolic settings such as the one in this film where the main characters weren  t absentmindedly and  or disrespectfully littering the country side with pop cans  smashed cds and  other such trash   
a lot of the problem many people have with this movie is that they seem to think that the story should have been more entertaining  ignoring it is based on a true story  or ranting against a film that glorifies che  which it really doesn  t  . this film is very close to jon anderson  s definitive bio on che and gets the story right . soderburgh does an excellent job of setting the mood for the unraveling debacle that was che  s bolivian adventure . you really get the impression of the total timidity and bewilderment of the bolvian peasant to che  s revolutionary ideas or of the difficulties that his men faced with hunger and the terrain . sorry to bore the attention challenged movie fan out there but that was how it happened . so don  t go into this movie expecting a rambo shoot em up  its a true story   
the problem with family dramas is that  outside of tv movies on channels like lifetime  most people don  t want to watch them . and the ones that do get watched tend to be sensationalized and about current or topical problems or issues in the news  or recent news  . movies that explain or explore the human condition aren  t popular . particularly with the young crowd that would be miss lohan  s fan base or the younger crowd that tends to make movies not simply popular but financially successful for studios .  br    br   the specific problems i had with this movie is the cartoonishness of some of the characterizations . it was a bit much to blame all of the lohan  s character  s acting  out  wrecking the car  drug use  etc .  on what her step  father did to her . while not improbable  it  s just a bit much to expect the audience to swallow . additionally  other aspects  such as her giving the young morman boy  oral sex  or that she would actually make a good assistant to the vet  who coincidentally happens to have a thing for her mother  etc .  all these elements just did not really help this movie along . it placed it more in the element of a situation comedy trying one of their  special dramatic episodes  then it did for a fully realized  well  written feature film .  br    br   when you watch the dvd and listen to the commentary  particularly for the various alternate endings  you can really see all of this is sharp focus .  
i love cinema so what i  m about to confess embarrasses me deeply . i had given a thumbs down to  che  parts  and   without having seen the film . terrible i know . but i felt into a trap perpetrated by . . . who  i don  t really know but there has been a negative word of mouth that spread like wild fire and  no matter how smart i think i am  i fell into it . but  thankfully  i bumped into an argeninean film director  martin donovan  a man i love and admire . when i told him i wasn  t going to see it because i knew the film was a failure he looked at me as if he was ready to punch me right on the face and donovan is a pacifist  he took me aside and told me how much he loved the film and why . i went to see both parts straight away and   che  part  and   is the best film i  ve seen in     . it is  of such purity that it will remind you of the work of some of the great masters of the past . the regard for its audience is something that we  re not used to anymore . i don  t know if we ever were . riveting  moving  without concessions and benicio del toro is just extraordinary . we can see his soul  we can actually perceive it . the humanity of the man is overwhelming . so  thank you martin donovan once again for educating me so honestly . bravo del toro  bravo soderbergh and everyone involved in this landmark film . don  t commit the mistake i was about to commit . go see it  now  on the big screen  
knowing how old a film is  ought to prepare the viewer for a few things  and  with those things in mind  perhaps the movie  ll be more tolerable . so it was when i watched revolt of the zombies . the heavy reliance on tedious dialogue and corny movements should be expected  as should the primitiveness  or absence  of special effects in those days . a great deal is asked from the imagination of the onlooker  maybe too much  in this case . and the plot isn  t easy to follow some zombiefied southeast asian soldiers in wwi performed very admirably . although skeptical as to why  if true  the explanation should stay out of the wrong hands  so  off goes a group to archaeologically investigate . the key to long  distance hypnosis is learned by a member of the expedition  who uses it to  among other purposes  temporarily dispense with the beau of the gal for whom he has the hots . to prove his love for her  he gives up his hold on everybody  which he shouldn  t have done  cause  once they  re all unzombiefied  many want to kill him so that he  ll never control them again . below average  even with precautionary forethought . recommended for only the extremely patient .  
there  s perhaps a special reason why the fox and the child hit a special note in my heart . having just said goodbye to my new fiance  of oh . . . one day  for an unknown period of time  i was a bit overwhelmed with varying emotions and was suffering the fallout from putting on the brave face she needed to see .  br    br   i watched a few movies and tv shows  but my interest darted from what i was leaving behind to what is out there and what i haven  t seen . for that  i have this movie to thank .  br    br   being a nature lover and having heard about the film beforehand  i was sure i was going to like it anyway . but i didn  t just like it  i loved it .  br    br   the technical mastery is astounding . how did they do it  how did they capture the animals in the way they did   it  s just wonderful .  br    br   the moral of the tale is a good one and while the ending is oh so french and ambiguous  it  s a happy  sad one . again  it caught me a bit off  guard . as a man who usually keeps his emotions to himself  the ending was tough going while on a plane full of people i would be seeing for the next   or so hours  perhaps it  s because the ending made me think back to what i left .  br    br   but for those few hours on the plane  i was happy to see something new and original . and that  s life . sure  there are those things you love and feel comfortable around . . . but the great outdoors holds many a mystery . so the next time i see something out of the ordinary while out in the open i  m going to explore it  observe it and embrace it . that  s precisely what happens in this movie and that  s precisely what you should do with this darn good movie  nature doc too .      br    br   p . s . it  s two months on from the plane journey . we still don  t know when we  ll see each other again  but we will .  
revolt of the zombies is bad . there is nothing remotely entertaining about the movie . it is dull  lifeless  poorly acted  and poorly scripted . i  ve often complained that the original dracula is a little slow for my taste  well this movie makes dracula look like a roller coaster ride . the   minute running time seemed like    minutes .  br    br   the story an expedition is sent to cambodia to find the secrets of mind control through  zombification  . one man finds the secret and uses it to make the woman he loves marry him . once this happens  he releases the zombies under his control to horrific consequences . that  s it . that  s the whole story .  br    br   for most of the movie  i was trying to figure out where i had seen the male lead . he looked so familiar . i had plenty of time to think this over . nothing was happening in the movie . just before the  zombies revolted   it hit me . it was dean jagger . i had seen him recently as the general in white christmas . this is how i  entertained  myself throughout most of the movie .  br    br   i  m just glad i didn  t buy the dvd for this movie . king of the zombies is on the other side and it  s a masterpiece of film making compared with this movie . for what it  s worth  i  ll give it a     .  i won  t go to     because  believe it or not  i  ve seen worse .   
this is a very beautiful and almost meditative film  there is hardly any dialogue in it  apart from the narration and the scenery and music compliment each other perfectly . i didn  t at first connect the red hair of the girl and the fox until it was pointed out to me by a friend  who also has red hair   it is almost an old fashioned type of children  s films  saying that children nowadays prefer animations like shrek or toy story etc  but i feel that young people should be introduced more to the beauty and wonder of nature which this film certainly does . maybe not the best ever film of its type but certainly an excellent and relaxing view for all ages  not just children .  
with this movie only running   minutes and nothing all that good on television  i decided to pop revolt of the zombies into the dvd to pass the time . even while realizing the era from which it was coming  i was sorely disappointed . it started with the oddly upbeat quality of the opening score  what  no brooding music   and then the rather slow moving opening sequences . gosh  i figured a movie about zombies  even from the     s  would have some chills to it  white zombie  with bela lugosi  certainly did  but this had none . zero . it was scarcely even dramatic  except for the few moments with the burning eyes superimposed on the film to indicate the mesmerization of someone  . like the equally dull king of the zombies  this movie may be an interesting curiosity to own  but nothing more .  
i first saw this movie in a theater in france a year or so ago . it came and went with little fanfare  but i enjoyed it for the beauty of the landscape photography and the fascinating wildlife footage .  the story  while nice  is really incidental . if you actually thought about it  there is no way most of what happens could happen in real life .  i just saw it again tonight  here in the states  on dvd . again  i gather it has very limited distribution . blockbusters only had one copy of it  and i don  t recall it ever playing in the art houses in cleveland .  br    br   seen on my tv  the photography is not as breathtaking  though it is still very beautiful . the wildlife footage is still fascinating . the story of the relationship between the    year old child and the fox is even less convincing the second time around  when you know where it  s headed .  br    br   still  as i said  the story is incidental . it  s a beautiful film to watch  and if you like wildlife footage  you should find this fascinating .  
revolt of the zombies starts with armand louque  dean jagger  trying to convince general duval  george cleveland  that his mate tsiang  william crowell  is a priest who has the power to hypnotise people  render them under his control turning them into mindless zombies  a bit like the people i work with really  . anyway  tsiang is murdered by colonel mazovia  roy d  arcy  but fails to gain the knowledge of turning people into zombies . an expedition has been set up by general duval to hunt for the secret since tsiang ain  t going to tell them much anymore . general duval heads the expedition along with his daughter claire  dorothy stone  who is engaged to louque who also comes along . during the expedition claire dumps louque for his mate clifford grayson  robert noland  at which louque isn  t too pleased about . in a way that could only happen in a film louque finds the secret to turning people into zombies by himself  starts to use his new found power to gain revenge on claire  clifford . . . co  written  directed by victor halperin revolt of the zombies has a bad reputation  after watching it i can see why . the script by halperin  howard higgin  rollo lloyd all uncredited  has a good central idea but is killed stone cold dead by being dull  as exciting as watching paint dry . nothing much happens for ages  then nothing much happens afterwards either . how halperin depicts his zombies is different to that which most modern audiences would consider to be a zombie  these zombies are just brainwashed people  filmgoing audiences would have to wait over thirty years before george a . romero would define what a zombie is now thought as in night of the living dead       . at only about an hour in length revolt of the zombies still feels too long . technically the film is ok considering it was made   years ago  the black  white cinematography is adequate although some of the scenes look like they were shot against a photo of the background location . the acting is wooden  largely unimpressive . revolt of the zombies might have been hot stuff in     but it hasn  t dated well  in     it  s an absolute chore to sit through . i believe the film is now public domain as it turns up on lots of ultra cheap dvd compilations  budget labels  but it  s still not worth watching no matter how cheap you can get it for .  
now  admittedly  i  m no ardent student of the genre . as a matter of fact  i  ve tended always to shy away from westerns because  in spite of all their critical cachet as america  s primal stories  or whatever   they seem to me to forever devolve into tiresome retreads of either  shoot up the injuns    the big gunfight   or  hey  let  s form a posse   in other words  it always seemed to me a genre so rooted in and tied to convention  that it left precious little room for surprise or originality .  and yes  i have seen at least some of the so  called  greats   and unapologetically lump them into this negative assessment  including stagecoach  rio bravo  my darling clementine  and of course the infamous but profoundly dull clint eastwood  sergio leone teamups in the    s .   br    br   but when i saw this movie on tv  as part of a commemorative jimmy stewart weekend upon his death  i finally got it i understood  at least in theory  what the western mythos has to offer as a serious thematic preoccupation  aside from just action and thrills  . it is the push  pull between lawlessness and order the american west represented freedom  but also the prospect of the wild  the untamed . respectable folk could get hurt out there . which  of course  meant that perhaps  just perhaps  it wasn  t meant for respectable folk  and that the only residents should be the amoral and the shifty  those who dispensed justice strictly from the barrel of their revolvers  and where kill or be killed would ever be the law of the land . in such an environment  of course  the true heroes are the ones who are ornery and free  spirited enough to be out there in the first place  and so reject  society   at least as it manifested itself on the eastern seaboard   and yet have enough sense of justice to believe that a society based on chaos and fear just is not right . catching and examining that disparity between law and disorder in the main character himself is  i believe  after seeing this movie   the highest and truest goal of any western . sadly  it is so often not the case  as the white hats are completely white  the black ones completely black  and let  s not even get started talking about the indians  ok  and there is precious little shades of gray in between .  br    br   not in this one . jimmy stewart plays a blatant fortune hunter who follows the trail of miners before him into the alaskan wilderness to prospect for gold . he is joined in this by his lifelong buddy  played by walter brennan  perhaps the western clich character to end them all  but nevertheless enjoyable here  as always   and no one else . pointedly  they are out for themselves  and while stewart displays his patented charm  come on  we could never really dislike the guy  now could we    we are left with little doubt that his is basically a self  centered  self  interested character none of his  gosh  or  oh golly gee  humanism is allowed to come through . or  rather  it has to be earned  by the end of the picture  in the way i described above . he must confront the lawlessness in himself  and weigh it against the need for order and justice which are so blatantly lacking in the border town which serves as the miners  starting point on their gold dust trail . this town is ruled tightly by its wicked sheriff  mr . gannon  played by john mcintire in one of the best  bad guy  performances i  ve ever seen . he comes on with so much charm and humor  and has such a relaxed and interesting rapport with stewart  that it actually takes awhile to recognize that he is the bad guy  so that when it finally sinks in  it does so with double force . further  by establishing a type of breezy  if necessarily guarded  camaraderie between mcintire and stewart  the film plays up the notion of how close in temperament they really are  and so how far a moral distance stewart must walk by the end of the film .  br    br   i won  t go through all the twists and turns the plot takes  see those for yourself  as well as the rugged and gorgeous alaskan scenery  filmed on location  mind you  not cheap painted stills that the studio made up  . what  s key here is how much this story focuses upon character  with great dialogue and character interaction substituting for gunplay much of the time  although the film has just enough action and adventure to prevent it from ever being static  read  talky   . definitely one of the greatest performances i  ve seen from stewart  showing he could play the renegade  the  man  s man  just as convincingly as the decent and upright guy next door . if anything  in fact  his  everyman  qualities lend greater strength to his characterization  making him seem less mythic or overblown   like  say  eastwood or john wayne  and more a three  dimensional personage . his relationship with brennan is well  played understated  but nevertheless touching  with a faint suggestion of george and lenny from  of mice and men   an altogether different type of  western   .  br    br   i certainly have more westerns to see  but this is for now my favorite  and the yardstick by which i will necessarily judge all the others . it deserves to be much better known and appreciated than it is .  
i sat through almost one episode of this series and just couldn  t take anymore . it felt as though i  d watched dozens of episodes already  and then it hit me . . . . . there  s nothing new here  i  ve heard that joke on seinfeld  i saw someone fall like that on friends  an episode of happy days had almost the same storyline  ect . none of the actors are interesting here either  some were good on other shows  not here   and others are new to a profession they should have never entered . avoid this stinker   
a must see for anyone who loves photography . stunning and breathtaking  leaves you in ore . seen it twice once in a cinema and now on dvd . it holds up well on dvd but on the big screen this was something else .  br    br   took my two daughters to see this and they loved it  my oldest cried at the end . but she was the one who wanted to see it again tonight when she saw it at the video shop . its simple telling of a child  s love for nature and in particular a fox is told well . in some ways it reminded me of the bear in its telling a story not documentary formate . which works for children very well . not being preached to is very important  you make your own mind up .  br    br   but the star of this film is the cinematographers  how did they do what they did . amazing just amazing .  
of the many problems with this film  the worst is continuity and re  editing it on vhs for a college cable channel many years ago  i tried to figure out what exactly went wrong . what seems to have happened is that they actually constructed a much longer film and then chopped it down for standard theatrical viewing . how much longer  to fill in all the holes in the plot as we have it would require about three more hours of narrative and character development  especially given the fact that the film we do have is just so slow and takes itself just so seriously .  br    br   that  s staggering what could the halperins have possibly been trying to accomplish here  their previous film   white zombie   was a successful low budget attempt to duplicate the early universal studios monster films  the mummy  dracula  etc .   and as such stuck pretty close to the zombie mythology that those in north america would know from popular magazines .  br    br   revolt of the zombies  to the contrary  appears to have been intended as some allegory for the politics of modern war . this would not only explain the opening  and the change of dean jagger  s character into a megalomaniac  but it also explains why the zombies don  t actually do much in the film  besides stand around  look frightening  and wait for orders  they  re just allegorical soldiers  not the undead cannibals we  ve all come to love and loathe in zombie films .  br    br   i am the equal to any in my dislike for modern war and its politics  but i think a film ought to be entertaining first  and only later  maybe  educational . and definitely  a film about zombies ought to be about zombies .  br    br   truly one of the most bizarre films in hollywood history  but not one i can recommend  even for historic value .  
watching  the fox and the child  was an intoxicating experience . the lush visuals  integrity of point of view  and utter beauty of the setting and characters left me in a swoon of pleasure .  br    br   the plot is uncomplicated . deceptively simple . within the container of that simplicity a world unfolds that draws you in and leaves you breathless .  br    br   i laughed . i wept . i learned .  br    br   this is a movie you can trust yourself to   give yourself over to . dare i say it is an act of love intended for any innocent heart . it reaches to the heart of the viewer   of any age   and reveals the world through new eyes  as if seen from the heart .  br    br   adi da samraj once said that true art draws the viewer beyond point of view into ecstatic participation in reality . i feel i have been privileged to watch   no  to participate in   this film  a work of true art .  
  after world war i  an expedition representing the allied countries is sent to cambodia to stop the efforts of count mazovia in creating a zombie like army of soldiers and laborers . hoping to prevent a possible outbreak of war due to mazovia  s actions  the group presses through the jungle to angkor wat in spite of the perils . the group includes armand who has his own agenda contrary to the group  s wishes   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   heads up  the zombie make  up department revolted before the cameras started to roll .  br    br   also  this  revolt of the zombies  has little to do with its supposed predecessor  white zombie          which starred bela lugosi . if that film  s zombies didn  t thrill you  this one  s certainly won  t . a younger  than  usual dean jagger  as armand louque  stars as a man obsessive with blonde dorothy stone  as claire duval  . a couple supporting performances are good devilish roy d  arcy  as mazovia  and subservient teru shimada  as buna   however  neither are given enough material to really pull this one out of the dumps .  br    br    revolt of the zombies       victor halperin  dean jagger  dorothy stone  roy d  arcy  
maybe i  m biased to foxes  fox stories and all but i thought this was wonderfully done .  br    br   i really enjoyed that it was shown when lily wasn  t comfortable  such as the fire and the room  trying not to spoil too much here  . i think that  s important for kids to see and try to understand .  br    br   after reading a few others comments i  m a bit confused  one says that at the end  spoiler  the mother and her son appear  as she  s been the one telling her son about her story . the movie i saw did not have the mother or son at the end  merely a painting of a girl with a fox . can someone enlighten me on that  anyway i really enjoyed this movie  although some scenes can be a bit slow which might be difficult for high energy kids to sit through . still worth it if they can sit still .  
the revolt of the zombies is not the worst movie i  ve ever seen  but it is pretty far down on the list . when an expedition is sent to cambodia to discover the trick to making zombies after world war i  one of the members decides to use the knowledge for his own evil ambitions . and he succeeds  at least at first . a love triangle complicates the story some .  br    br   this really was a tedious movie  with horrible acting that made it difficult to tell who were zombies and who weren  t . the dialog was little better and the plot was unbelievable  not the zombie part of it but parts related to the  romance   . and while i am not any student or expert on cinematography  the camera work didn  t seem to help the film much either .  br    br   while i have seen a few movies that are worse  this is unlikely to please anyone . it  s bad  and not in a so  bad  that  it  is  good kind of way .  
from the filmmakers who brought us the march of the penguins  i guess that came with plenty of expectations for the fox and the child . from the harsh winters of the south pole to the lush wilderness in france  the narrative now becomes part documentary and part fairy tale  which tells of the friendship between the two titular characters  renard the fox and its friendship with the child who christened it  played by bertille noel  beuneau .  br    br   the story  s frankly quite simple  and at times this movie would have looked like the many japanese movies which children  miscellaneous animals striking a friendship after the development of trust  and how they go about hanging around each other  dealing with respective adversaries and the likes . here  the child meets the elegant fox near her home up in the mountains  which provide for plenty of beautiful picture  postcard perfect shots that a cinematographer will have to go into overdrive to capture .  br    br   but while we indulge in wistful scenery  the characters don  t get to establish that level of trust from the onset  and we have to wait a few seasons to past  and   minutes into the film  before they find a leveler in food . the child persistently attempts at striking a bond with the objective of taming the creature for her own amusement  but the fox  well  as other notions of course . while i thought the narrative was pretty weak  unlike march of the penguins which has that human narrative interpretation of what  s happening on screen  what excelled here were the documentary elements of the movie  tracing the life and times of the fox as both a predator  and a prey .  br    br   between the two  more tension and drama was given to the latter  especially when dealing with traditional foes like wolves  and granted  those sequences were fairly intense especially when the child got embroiled in it . otherwise  it was plain sailing and quite a bore as the two of them go about their playing with each other  in shots that you know have undergone some movie magic editing . there were surprisingly dark moments in the movie that weren  t really quite suitable for children  as those in the same hall attested to it by bawling their eyes out suddenly  so parents  you might want to take note and not let your toddler disturb the rest of the movie goers .  br    br   as a film  i would  ve preferred this to be a complete documentary ala the march of the penguins  but i guess the way it was resented  probably had the objective of warning us not to meddle with nature  and that some things are just not meant to be  and should stay as such . decent movie that leaned on the strength of the chemistry between bertille noel  bruneau  and the multiple foxes that played renard .  
before the release of george romero  s genre  defining night of the living dead  zombies were relatively well  behaved creatures . they certainly had much better table  manners in the old days . but social etiquette aside what thrills did these early zombies offer to the movie  going public  judging by this film  none whatsoever .  br    br   the story is about an expedition to cambodia  whose purpose is to find and destroy the secret of zombiefication . one of the party discovers the secrets on his own and sets about building his zombie army .  br    br   this film is basically a love triangle with zombies . but seeing as this is a    s movie  the said zombies are more like somnambulists than the flesh  eating variety we think of today . they seem to respond to mind  control  rather than insatiable appetites . and  quite frankly  the  revolt  is somewhat underwhelming too . the whole thing is really very dull . aside from the lack of horror  there isn  t any over  the  top melodramatic theatrics to keep us entertained . it seems unlikely that this could  ve provided much entertainment even   years ago . see it if you have to see everything with  zombie  in the title but otherwise i would advise skipping this one .  
the fox and the child is the latest film from march of the penguins filmmaker frenchman luc jacquet . the movie  which boasts just one human being in its cast  young actress bertille nol  bruneau  tells the story of the rather rare  though seemingly believable relationship between a child and a wild fox .  br    br   part  nature documentary  and part  fairy tale  the film focuses on l  infant  the child  who on her way to school one day comes across the path of a wild fox in a picturesque setting  possibly france  though the exact location is never mentioned . over the coming weeks the child revisits the place where she found her fox hopeful that one of said days she will see said fox  who she begins to call lily  once again . and so it goes on . days turn to weeks  and then the summer disappears  turning to fall and then winter  promting some superb cinematography of the sweeping  white winter landscape . eventually  spring comes around again  and the young child finds her fox  and indeed does strike up a friendship with the animal . and so on .  br    br   i had little to no expectation for the fox and the child . i had seen march of the penguins and was simply in awe at the film  making contained in that movie . luc jacquet is a hugely talented  and indeed rare film  maker  and i was expecting some superb  breathtaking cinematography  sweeping vistas and brilliant footage of the wildlife . this was delivered in spades . but here jacquet has a screen writing credit  and not knowing anything about the movie prior to the screening  i expected something a little different than what had previously been seen in  march  . a fictional story .  br    br   the child and the fox and the story is simple . a young  seemingly lonely child lives in a house in the middle of nowhere and walks to school  seemingly on her own  every day  seemingly without a care in the a seemingly perfect world . without the hint of an adult in sight . brilliant . so she strikes up a friendship with a fox .  br    br   with a film like this  you have to dismiss your own opinion of the movie and put yourselves in the shoes of the target audience . this is a film which is aimed directly at children from the age of  i  d say  six and up . or to families who fancy a trip to the cinema with their breed one wet sunday afternoon . not a    year  old male who gets his kicks from films like the recent  brilliant wanted and the like . but  me being the newbie london critic  i put myself in the shoes of an excited eight  year old girl for the   or so minutes of the fox and the child . now  i have a few problems with this film . as a    year  old lad  and loyal lover of all things cinematic  i loved the wildlife and landscape photography . it  s visually stunning . the direction of the animal characters is brilliantly executed   as good as you will find on any of attenborough  s efforts . as an impressionable  short attention spanning eight year old  i loved about the first half hour   then i lost interest . it  s a little repetitive and in places quite harrowing and bloody scary for a younger child  particularly the rather dark ending . as a    year  old male   i was a little frightened in places . wuss .  br    br   so  it  s not a child  s film . it  s not really an adult film and i felt a little let down . is it a good family film . depends . it  s educational maybe  and the film carries a message . it  s definitely not a film i would pay the hard earned green to go see and i  m racking my brains to try and recommend it to a certain type of film goer . it  s hard  but i know some will go see and fall in love this film . it  s very european in feel and certainly if you are a fan of wildlife themed flicks  give it a try . unsure  well i  d wait for the dvd for a wet sunday afternoon in then .   paul heath  http   www . thehollywoodnews . com  july     .  
i  m working my way through the horror classics   movie pack collection and revolt of the zombies is one of the movies in the set . i am watching them with my soon  to  be seven  year old daughter  which makes most of these movies a laugh riot .  br    br   i had high hopes for revolt of the zombies  after watching white zombie  which is really the precursor to so much that is the mainstay of zombies in cinema  think clive barker  s serpent and the rainbow and james bond  s live and let die funeral scene  not night of the living dead  .  br    br   however  even though the title includes the word  zombies   it is little more than a love triangle  involving anthropologist armand louque  who is smitten with claire duval who in turn is taken with his companion clifford grayson . what a yawn  fest  my daughter fell asleep half  way through .  br    br   i had a real hard time deciphering who these people worked for   the allies or the axis but  i guess that doesn  t really matter .  br    br   i was shocked to see bela lugosi in the credits for this movie but  of course those were his eyes  from white zombie  serving as the mind  control device for the zombies .  
the very first image of the movie shows a mountain ridge in early morning autumn mist  and my thought was  this is almost too beautiful .  and it goes on like this images of landscape and animals that look like a series of romantic paintings  each of them perfect in every detail . even the girl  s room  her father  s car  everything is nostalgic  romantic  beautiful . this could seem outdated and escapistic  but it fits a story that is itself of silent beauty  happening on the border between life and fairy tale  between dian fossey and le petit prince . i enjoyed every minute of it . the extreme parsimony of the movie  having a simple  slow story  just one actor and hardly any special effects  exerted a strong magic . i therefore find it deplorable that this parsimony is given up in the last minutes  when suddenly two additional actors  the girl as a grown  up woman  and her son  are introduced . another shortcoming is the music  which is often intrusive  hollywood  like  and sometimes inappropriate i couldn  t bring an english pop  song together with french mountain glory . i went to the movie together with my two small daughters  but i recommend it to adults as well  given that they appreciate this kind of movie . obviously  not everybody does .  
i think the biggest failing something can have is to be boring . bad is actually better than boring . this thing has no breath . it does have the interesting fact of taking place in cambodia . how many american made films of the    s take place in cambodia . nevertheless  the conflict there is a little hard to figure out . even the troop movements are a little confusing . what drags it to a resounding halt is the love story . why those two guys are so totally transfixed on the dippy blonde i don  t know . i thought he should continue to use his zombies  such as they are  and forget all about her . the movie just plods along . the perfect microcosm is where one of the principle characters follows a cambodian priest through the water to get to the secret place where the hieroglyphics  or whatever  that explain how to turn people into zombies is kept . i thought they would never get there . one guy takes two steps . he stops . he looks around . the other guy hides behind some columns . he takes two steps . he stops . he looks around . the other guy hides behind some bushes . this is the movie in a nutshell . then there is the bad acting and insipid dialogue . i actually have a lot of patience when it comes to b movies . this one is insufferable . by the way  a more apt title would be revolt of the hypnotized .  
i actually quite enjoyed this show . even as a youngster i was interested in all sports and that included horse racing . it was always going to be difficult to make a series based on racing corruption and at the same time get permission from the race tracks to record filming about this controversial subject . one episode i particularly remember centred around a horse expected to win a big race that looked a bit off colour . a syringe was found on the stable floor and everyone thought it had been drugged but nothing showed up in the blood tests . all too late they realised the horse hadnt been doped but had had its knee cartilage removed . like running a car with no oil and the engine seizing up  the horse broke down with tragic consequences .  
revolt of the zombies has no redeeming features . i  m tired of people arguing that it  s not that bad  and that the effects must have packed more of a punch in     . i suspect this isn  t true it  s not like iq  s have risen sharply in the last  decades . the average viewer in     was probably just as bored by this rubbish as the average viewer today . why  just try watching the first scenes  and count the pauses between things happening  the awful choice of when to cut to close  up  the slapdash editing that seems to include an extra two seconds on every shot to pad out the running time . pay attention to the utterly redundant dialogue  i  m going to make some tea  go outside  read my book now .   are you    yes  i am .  that sort of exchange happens several times . normally i would love that  being a huge fan of bad movies  but watch the listless actors mumbling their trite and tedious lines  and all desire to laugh at the movie slowly fades away . this sort of disinterested  pot  boiling time  waster is far worse than energetic  imaginative mind  blowers like plan nine from outer space or santa claus conquers the martians . those who claim that this is  better  than those more interesting movies have a backwards idea of entertainment . this movie is not bad in the sense that your jaw hangs open in astonishment it  s bad in the sense that your eyes slowly close in boredom . which is far worse .  
maybe it wasn  t that good as a whole  but the second episode  which was the first one i say  was so memorable i still remember it today . i became a fan of dick francis . i would recommend it if you are interested in horse racing and mysteries .  br    br   the cockney slang of the sidekick  chico barnes  is a lot more amusing to those of us who have never been close to hearing london  s bow bells  but the leads are attractive and the shows were interesting .  br    br   sid halley was one of francis  more interesting characters  and the show actually minimizes some of the difficulties with his hand . interestingly  electronic hands of the sort used in the stories are apparently less functional for the user than the sort invented after world war ii .  
what  you were not aware that scooby  doo battled zombies  well  you might also not be aware of this little film that was directed by victor halperin  who had also directed white zombie four years earlier . that would probably make it the second zombie film made .  br    br   no  don  t go looking for dorothy stone to expose her breasts as you would expect in most zombie films  and don  t even look for any brains being eaten . this is      you know .  br    br   so  what you will see is typical of the period  lots of talking .  br    br   you do get to see dean jagger  twelve o  clock high  and bela lugosi  s eyes  but that is about it . zombies in cambodia  indeed   
a couple  janet and richard  go camping out in the woods near a giant swamp . after camping and enjoying nature  the couple takes shelter in what they think is an abandoned farm house . soon  a pair of escaped convicts show up and  after much delaying of the inevitable  they proceed to rape janet and lock richard in a birdcage .  br    br   this last house on the left  like film has to be one of the most underrated horror films ever made . it  s one of the more sick and twisted early   s shockers . moreover  i found this to be quite enchanting and beautiful in it  s perverse tone . i love caged terror . the music definitely helps lend a sense of personality to the film as well as a lot of beauty . i found the film to be quite creepy .  br    br   the flaws mainly have to do with the pacing of the film  which is to say that the film is rather slow and meandering . while i didn  t mind the pacing due to the beauty and suspense of the film in question  i do think that it will both most people . the acting isn  t too good nor is the dialogue  at least in the early scenes . this film takes a little more patience than usual  and it  s really not for everyone .  br    br   in short  this was a good film . not the greatest horror film i  ve ever seen  but it is certainly a lot of fun . it  s not exactly the easiest film to find . it  s possible to find it in the used section of a lot of stores if you look hard enough . it  s not for everyone  but if you  re a fan of trash cinema then it  s definitely worth checking out .  
this is not really a zombie film  if we  re defining zombies as the dead walking around . here the protagonist  armand louque  played by an unbelievably young dean jagger   gains control of a method to create zombies  though in fact  his  method  is to mentally project his thoughts and control other living people  s minds turning them into hypnotized slaves . this is an interesting concept for a movie  and was done much more effectively by fritz lang in his series of  dr . mabuse  films  including  dr . mabuse the gambler        and  the testament of dr . mabuse        . here it is unfortunately subordinated to his quest to regain the love of his former fiance  claire duvall  played by the anne heche look alike with a bad hairdo  dorothy stone  which is really the major theme .  br    br   the movie has an intriguing beginning  as louque is sent on a military archaeological expedition to cambodia to end the cult of zombies that came from there . at some type of compound  where we get great   s sets and clothes  he announces his engagement to claire  and then barely five minutes later  she gives him back his ring declaring her love for his pal  clifford greyson  robert noland  . it  s unintentionally funny the way they talk to each other without making eye contact . this would have been a great movie for  mystery science theater       if they hadn  t already roasted it .  br    br   it  s never shown how louque actually learns the  zombification  secret  but he then uses it to kill his enemies  create a giant army of rifle carrying soldiers and body guards . we won  t see such sheer force of will until john agar in  the brain from planet arous        .  br    br   finally claire consents to marry him if he will let greyson live and return to america . louque agrees  but actually turns him into one of his hypnotized slaves . on their wedding night he realizes that claire will only begin to love him if he gives up his  powers .  to gain her love  he does so  causing the  revolt  of the title  in which all his slaves awaken and attack his compound and kill him . greyson embraces claire  and we seem to be at the end of a parable  whom the gods would destroy  they first make mad .   br    br   so really then  it  s not that bad of a film  despite the low imdb rating it currently has . on repeated viewings    one can see the artistry in the well formed script  dean jagger had yet to develop into a good actor  and is almost unrecognizable in his youngness   is that really his own hair  we remember him more for his bald  old man roles in  white christmas          x the unknown        and  king creole        . the story borrows a lot of its basic themes from the halperin brothers better  earlier film  white zombie        in which hapless robert frazier  as charles beaumont  uses  zombification  to win the love of madge bellamy  as madeline parker  .  br    br   if you want real zombie movies  of which there are hundreds   i  d start with  white zombie          king of the zombies          i walked with a zombie          night of the living dead          the last man on earth        and its two remakes . in the modern era of classy films  there are  horror express          the serpent and the rainbow            days later        and its sequel  as well as many  many  others too numerous to mention .  br    br   this one is not really a zombie film . judging this movie on its own terms  it  s more of a semi  gothic romance . as such it ranks a little below some of universal  s bottom billed b horror movies of the late   s and early   s . so i  ll give it a  .  
when i watched this film the first time  it was a taped copy and the title was  is caged terror . i still own the tape  and i confess  i  ve watched it more than once from beginning to end  the film is extremely low budget and the dialogue is often unintentionally amusing  i have gotten a few of my friends to watch this and we  ve had some great laughs from the terrible script . the film concerns a couple   remember this is like early    s so they are just too hip man   who go on a week  end camping trip in what i believe was supposed to be upstate ny . they have some hilarious dialogue after catching and eating a fish and the girl bemoans the death of the fish and that they ate it  the guy comes back with something goofy about how they ate the fish and now it was a part of them  and he goes  and that  s beautiful man   heavy man  really heavy  lol  anyway  along come a couple of vietnam vets  one of who plays the flute  i believe .  at any rate they are musical fellows   the guys are clearly attracted to the girl and when the couple prove unfriendly  they end up terrorizing them during the night . the guy ends up caged in a chicken coop  and has to watch his girl friend being ravished by the two guys . actually  by the end of the night  she seems to be pretty into it  and when morning comes  the guys leave and the girl and guy are free to leave . supposedly the guy has learned a lesson about how to treat people  and the girl has a smile on her face    anyway  i would recommend this film highly to anyone looking for a damn good laugh  it never fails to amuse me anyway  if i could find this on dvd and replace my old tape copy  i  d actually buy it again  it  s classic camp  you gotta love this stuff   
wimpy stuffed shirt armand louque  blandly played by veteran character actor dean jagger in a rare lead role  joins a group of researchers who want to find and destroy the secret technique of creating zombies . armand falls for the lovely claire duval  fetching blonde dorothy stone   who uses the meek sap to get armand  s colleague clifford grayson  the hopelessly wooden robert noland  to marry her . furious over being used and spurned by claire  armand uses his knowledge of voodoo to get revenge . sound exciting  well  it sure ain  t . for starters  victor halperin  s static  non  direction lets the meandering and uneventful talk  ridden story plod along at an excruciatingly slow pace . worse yet  halperin crucially fails to bring any tension  atmosphere and momentum to the hideously tedious proceedings . the mostly blah acting from a largely insipid cast doesn  t help matters any only george cleveland as the hearty general duval and e . alyn warren as the irascible dr . trevissant manage to enliven things a bit with their welcome and refreshing hammy histrionics . the drippy stock film library score  the painfully obvious stagebound sets  and the crude cinematography are pretty lousy and unimpressive as well . in fact  this feeble excuse for a fright feature is so crummy that not even the uncredited starkly staring eyes of the great bela lugosi can alleviate the brain  numbing boredom . a dismally dull dud .  
after losing his cattle herd to a dishonest lawman  a trail boss winds up in the yukon gold fields with a bad reputation and small chances of being able to return to the states . while there his fortunes take a turn for the best until a bad luck specter from the past comes calling . good western with many favorite old faces in the lineup .  
after eagerly waiting to the end  i have to say i wish i wouldn  t have joined the whole series at the first place . the final episode was everything against the previous seven years . it has ruined everything . the journey was   years  but captain janeway has the power to reduce it . . . let say  seven years only . why seven  why not just one  or nothing  why not avoid the whole adventure  crewmemebers were dying all along the journey . why she wants to save seven of nine only  the others don  t count or what  the most ridiculous part when the crew states that getting home is not really the most important thing to them . as the say   journey is more important than the destination  . unbelievable . and at the finale scene the are surrounded by other federation ships and the earth is in sight . nothing about landing  returning to the normal life .  br    br   worst ending ever .  
at first  this movie seems so bad that i almost fell in a trance the first time i saw it . it was like a bad dream . a cosmic bore . but i gave it a second chance  then another and another  etc . . . i finally got addicted to this film  due to it  s dreamlike slow pace  wonderful natural sets  bathed in a mellow autumn light and especially the musical score  which is made of some    s progressive rock and absolute exquisite folk songs by actor  singer  songwriter derek lamb  the troubadour  . you should notice the song about hazel wood  silver trout and lady vanishing in the air . . .  heard in the middle and near the end of the film . there are some carnal scenes in the beginning  wich allow us to appreciate the natural charms of elizabeth suzuki . if that movie had been made by some  repertoire  directors like bergman  lars von triers or jean  luc goddard  critics would have rolled on the floor  raving about that movie as if it were a cosmic masterpiece . i personally think this film is one million times superior to any of fellini  s cinematic sht  definitely not for the pretentious .  
after watching revolt of the zombies starring future academy award winner dean jagger i was left with one burning question . how was a society that created these ultimate warrior fighting machines ever defeated in the first place   br    br   that  s the question you  ll be pondering if you take time to watch revolt of the zombies . towards the end of world war i  the french discover a cult from occupied cambodia where these undead creatures who cannot be stopped with bullets form a brigade of monks who go over the top and dislodge the hun .  br    br   this scares the living fecal matter out of everyone concerned so an international expedition is formed to find out destroy the secret of these zombies so no nation can get their hands on it and rule the world .  br    br   but we  ve got some dissent in those ranks . first is snidely whiplash villain roy d  arcy who murders the buddhist monk who has the secret and second is dean jagger . power is the ultimate aphrodisiac as we all know and he  s determined to woo dorothy stone away from rival robert noland .  br    br   i think you  ve got some idea how this comes out  especially since a race of zombies didn  t conquer the world for one country . dean jagger as he got the oscar for twelve o  clock high must have shuddered every time he thought about this film and the awful dialog he tried to give a spark of sincerity to .  br    br   moral of the story  you might make an ultimate warrior with the zombie potion and the zombie chant  but you can  t make an ultimate love slave .  
a highly atmospheric cheapie  showing great ingenuity in the use of props  sets and effects  fog  lighting  focus  to create an eerie and moody texture . the story is farfetched  the acting is merely functional  but it shows how imaginative effects can develop an entire visual narrative . this movie is recommended for its mood and texture  not for its story .  
ever since the cinema  loving universe made acquaintance with a guy named george a . romero  the word  zombie  automatically gets associated with blood  soaked horror images and non  stop acting sequences . it  s safe to say that his  night of the living dead  formed the zombie movie as we know it now . yet  in the earliest years of cinema  the premise of reanimated corpses was merely used in slow  nearly action  less psychological thrillers . jacques tourneur  s  i walked with a zombie  is a perfect example and so is  white zombie   starring bela lugosi . this  revolt of the zombies  could have been another example but unfortunately it  s a failure over the entire line and easily one of the most tedious movies i ever saw . dreadful acting  a very poorly written screenplay and a complete lack of atmosphere and tension  the film only lasts   minutes and yet the first half hour is entirely wasted on stupid love  story intrigues and unexciting monologues . the setting in the legendary cambodian city of angkor surely could have resulted in a more compelling story but all we ever see are interior shots . the lead actress  dorothy stone  textbook blonde with curly hair and an ugly nose  irritated me enormously and i kept hoping a ravenous undead would suddenly appear out of nowhere to devour her . unlucky again . if you manage to struggle yourself through   soporific minutes  you  ll be rewarded with a fairly decent finale . still  this is far too little to give this film a positive rating  let alone a recommendation . avoid  this is the type of movie you should only see in case you already saw everything else .  
probably the best picture producers releasing corp ever made  this little horror piece rivets the attention from first to last . director frank wisbar obviously knows a good story when he writes one and what  s more important he knows how to realize its full shock potential on the screen . not only is the plot involving and the characters fascinatingly drawn  but the setting is absolutely out of this world  just about all the action takes place either at night or in the middle of a clinging  pervasive fog . this chilling atmosphere is augmented by wisbar  s inventive direction and the wholly convincing performances he has drawn from all his players . the lovely rosemary la planche makes an ideal heroine  beautiful  spirited yet vulnerable . robert barrat delivers his usual no  nonsense  straight  down  the  line portrait of the local bigwig  though it  s hard to believe that the personable  good  looking guy who plays his son is none other than the later dullsville writer  director blake edwards .  
well  first off  if you  re checking out revolt of the zombies as some very early night of the living dead        type film  forget it . this is about  zombies  in a more psychological sense  where that term merely denotes someone who is not in control of their will  but who must instead follow the will of another . the  zombies  here  as little as they are in the film  are largely metaphors for subservience to the state or authority in general  as in wartime . it is quite a stretch to call this a horror film .  br    br   the film is set during world war i . a  french cambodian  contingent had heard strange stories about zombification   supposedly angkor wat was built by utilizing zombies   and there are tales of zombie armies easily overcoming foes . armand louque  dean jagger  brings back a priest who supposedly knows the secret of zombification  but he won  t talk . so louque and an international military contingent head to angkor wat on an archaeological expedition designed to discover the secret of zombification and destroy the information before zombies have a chance to  wipe out the white race  .  br    br   one of the odd things about revolt of the zombies is that it seems like maybe writer  director victor halperin decided to change his game plan while shooting the script . the film begins as if it will explore the zombie  military metaphor  and maybe even have adventure elements  but after about   minutes  it changes gears and becomes more of a love triangle story .  br    br   halperin does stick with a subtext about will and power  and a nietzschean  will to power   . the film is interesting on that level  but the script and the editing are very choppy . this is yet another older film for which i wouldn  t be surprised if there is missing footage  especially since some scenes even fade or cut while a character is uttering dialogue .  br    br   amidst the contrived romance story  halperin tries to keep referring to the zombie thread  but little of the zombie material makes much sense . louque discovers the secret of zombification  but it doesn  t mean much to the viewer . the mechanics of the zombie material are vague and confusinghalperin even resorts to using superimposed footage of bela lugosi  s googly  eyes from his     film  white zombie  but never explains what it has to do with anything . there are big gaps in the plot  including the love story . promising  interesting characters from early reels disappear for long periods of time . one potential villain is disposed of unceremoniously before he gets to do much .  br    br   if you  re a big fan of old  creaky b movies  revolt of the zombies may be worth watching at least once   the acting isn  t all that bad  and if you  ve got a good imagination  you can piece together an interesting story in your mind to fill in all of the gaps . but this is the second time i  ve seen the film  with the first only being about five years ago  and i could barely recall anything about it   so it  s not exactly memorable .  
very well done and spooky horror movie from poverty  row film company prc who usually put out really cheesy films like devil bat or the flying serpent . german expatriate director wisbar does wonders with a small budget and his studio  bound swamp set . gaunt and ghoulish charles middleton is effective as the strangler .  
seriously  i absolutely love these old movies and their simplicity but i just watched this for the first time last night and it easily slotted itself into my bottom five of all time . was this supposed to be about the love story or the zombies    this movie was so bad that after it mercifully ended all i could do is laugh at how ridiculously bad it really was . thankfully i  m too anal to turn a movie off without seeing the entire thing or i wouldn  t be able to brag about watching this all the way through in one sitting  i like to think something positive can be said about anything in life so in keeping with that theory i will acknowledge this film  s most positive asset  it was very short for a full length film .  
prc which was the lowest of the low actually struck gold with this moody little thriller . they did the same thing a year earlier with  detour  which is probably one of the finest low  budget films ever made .  br    br    strangler  is basically a one set film  filled with mist and shadows  a technique used by most poverty row studios to hide the sets  or lack thereof . but here  it works well . the ghost of charles middleton  better known as ming the merciless  lurches around the swamp killing those involved in his wrongful execution for murder and generates some sympathy from the viewer . his final victim is to be the daughter of the ferryman . . . . . he concentrates his wrath not only on those directly involved in his fate but their relatives as well .  br    br   rosemary laplanche does her usual imitation of someone in a coma that passes for her acting style . she offers herself up to the strangler in order to put a stop to the killing but as a sop to the audience  the strangler sees the goodness of her gesture as a sign that his mission is complete and he returns to the hereafter  somewhat chastened . if ulmer  who directed  detour   has directed  strangler  she would be hanging from the nearest tree and the strangler  s job would be done . but who  s complaining  it  s not the story that is the major attraction but the shrouded sets  lighting and the general moodiness of the piece . it stands  right behind  detour   as prc  s finest hour  
while this film certainly does possess the stench of a bad film  it  s surprisingly watchable on several levels . first  for old movie fans  it  s interesting to see the leading role played by dean jagger  no relation to mick  . while jagger later went on to a very respectable role as a supporting actor  even garnering the oscar in this category for   o  clock high   here his performance is truly unique since he actually has a full head of hair  i never saw him this way before  and because he was by far the worst actor in the film . this film just goes to show that if an actor cannot act in his earlier films doesn  t mean he can  t eventually learn to be a great actor . another good example of this phenomenon is paul newman  whose first movie  the silver chalice  is considered one of the worst films of the     s .  br    br   a second reason to watch the film is the shear cheesiness of it all . the writing is bad  the acting is bad and the special effects are bad . for example  when jagger and an unnamed cambodian are wading through the water  it  s obvious they are really just walking in place and the background is poorly projected behind them . plus  once they leave the water  their costumes are     dry    horrid continuity and mindlessly bad dialog abounds throughout the film   so much so that it  s hard to imagine why they didn  t ask bela lugosi or george zucco to star in the film   since both of them starred in many grade  z horror films . in many ways  this would be a perfect example for a film class on how not to make a film .  br    br   so  while giving it a  is probably a bit over  generous  it  s fun to laugh at and short so it  s worth a look for bad film fans .  
 includes spoilers   br    br   i  ve been a horror film fan now for many decades . just when i think i  ve seen all the great ones another pops up to surprise me . i had never seen this film before . it was a treat  off the beaten path too . . . not just the path to the swamp ferry boat either . here was a horror film made in the     s that dared to try something very different . the pretty girl is  gulp  fearless for a change and saves the men  including the man she loves  from the monster  how is that for a twist . this girl was the complete opposite of most women in films of that time  no screaming at her own shadow  no fainting from fright  no tripping over a leaf as she runs . this gal wasn  t afraid to live alone in a secluded hut far away from the rest of the villagers . not only that but the place was on a foggy swamp rumored to be haunted . heck she even takes naps on the swamp grass outdoors . . . like a regular     s version of ripley . no snake  gator or ghostly strangler would dare bother this gal . books on early feminist films should be sure to include this overlooked work .  br    br   see this if you are a fan  like me  of those wonderfully atmospheric classic b  w horror films they made only in the   s and   s . and be sure to wear your cast iron turtle neck for protection .  
  revolt of the zombies  proves that having the same director revamp and recycle an idea doesn  t necessarily make lightning strike twice .  br    br   the halperin brothers  responsible for the horror classic  white zombie   made this trite piece of garbage a mere few years later to cash in on its popularity and even recycled close  ups of lugosi  s eyes from that previous film . there was a court battle with the  white zombie  film  s rights owners  who didn  t want the halperins to be able to use the word  zombie  in this title . that word was the only thing that could help this film  because  as everyone knows  bad films can make much more money simply by having the word  zombie  appear in the title . knowing what victor halperin was capable of a few years before only makes this uninteresting film more insulting . it seems he never directed another horror film after this debacle . the zombies here seem not to be true walking dead  but simply hypnotism victims .  br    br   wanna create a mind  controlled army of zombies  be ready to crack a few eggs  including your own .  br    br   the lame plot man falls in love with scheming woman who plays with his heart and becomes engaged to him only to make his friend  whom she loves  jealous . this sends man into a spiral of madness in which he tries using zombie mind  control techniques to change things to his advantage in an attempt to win over a woman who isn  t worth spit .  br    br   this includes one of the most blatantly obvious plot developments i  ve ever seen . you  d have to be blind or stupid not to see the ending coming . the acting isn  t even good . this movie makes the racially insensitive  king of the zombies   which appeared on the same double bill dvd i bought  seems like an atmospheric horror masterpiece by comparison and reminds us that not every black and white film is a classic . it makes the atomic age sci  fi alien zombie cheese fest  invisible invaders  seem like a serious drama . this is one big ball of cheese so ridiculously melodramatic it could probably make many a korean film fan twitch  south korean films are often known for their use of melodrama  . the credits list the ironically named company favorite films . i  m not sure whose favorite film this would be  but they  re obviously an idiot .  br    br   not recommended for fans of zombies  romance  or classic films .  
some people say this is the best film that prc ever released  i  m not too sure about that since i have a fond place in my heart for some of their mysteries . i will say that this is probably one of the most unique films they  or any other studio  major or minor  ever released .  br    br   the plot is simple . the ghost of a wrongly executed ferryman has returned to the swamp to kill all those who lynched him as well as all of their off spring . into this mix comes the granddaughter of one ghosts victims  the current ferryman . she takes over the ferry business as the ghost closes in on the man she loves .  br    br   shrouded in dense fog and set primarily on the single swamp set this is more musical poem than regular feature film . listen to the rhythms of the dialog  especially in the early scenes  their is poetical cadence to them . likewise there is a similar cadence to the camera work as it travels back and forth across the swamp as if crossing back and forth across the door way between life and death  innocence and guilt . the film reminds me of an opera or oratorio or musical object lesson more than a normal horror film . its an amazing piece of film making that is probably unique in film history .  br    br   this isn  t to guild the lilly . this is a low budget horror  mystery that tells you a neat little story that will keep you entertained . its tale of love and revenge is what matters here  not the poetical film making and it holds you attention first and foremost  the technical aspects just being window dressing .  if there is any real flaw its the cheapness of the production . the fog does create a mood but it also hides the fact that this swamp is entirely on dry land . the constant back and forth across it is okay for a while but even after   minutes you do wish that we could see something else .  br    br   don  t get me wrong i do like the film a great deal . its a good little film that i some how wish was slightly less poverty stricken . its definitely worth a look if you can come across it .  
this film is something like a sequel of  white zombie   since it is made by the same man  halperin  and features zombies . halperin  the george a . romero of his day  fails to deliver with this one  though .  br    br   we have a man who can control the minds of people in cambodia  and a search to destroy the source of his power so the zombies can be sent free . also  a love interest for the evil man .  br    br   where this film really excels is in the imagery . the cambodian temples and dancers are very nice and the zombie look very powerful in their large numbers . unfortunately  we don  t really get to see much of the zombies in action and the love story seems to play a much too large role for a horror film  though this has a valid plot reason later on  .  br    br   i would have loved to see some     s zombies attack helpless city folk  but this film just did not deliver . and no strong villain  like bela lugosi  was waiting to do battle against our heroes . and the use of lugosi  s eyes  a nice effect  but misleading as he is never in the film . . . why not recreate this with the new actor  s eyes  overall  a film that could be a great one with a little script re  working and could someday be a powerful remake  especially if they keep it in the same post  war time frame  . heck  if they can fix up  the hills have eyes  then this film has hope .  
strangler of the swamp was made by low budget studio prc and is certainly one of their best movies i  ve seen .  br    br   a man who was hanged for a murder he didn  t commit returns as a ghost for revenge on the people who accused him . he uses a rope to strangle his victims and after several deaths  including the old man who operates the ferry across the swamp  he disappears . the old man  s granddaughter takes over the ferry herself and also falls in love with one of the local men and they decide to get married .  br    br   this movie has plenty of foggy atmospheres  which makes it very creepy too .  br    br   the cast includes rosemary la planche  blake edwards and charles middleton  flash gordon  as the strangler .  br    br   strangler of the swamp is a must for old horror fans like myself . excellent .  br    br   rating  and a half stars out of  .  
revolt of the zombies   outta  stars  no  this is not a long  lost ancestor to the classic george a . romero zombie flicks . this is a low  budget potboiler from     that probably seemed very cool to audiences of the time . . . but seems awfully routine these days . there is actually a pretty good scene at the start of a soldier firing off his pistol into a horde of approaching zombie soldiers . . . and a close  up of bullets entering the bare chest of one of them . the effect looks hopelessly fake these days but in     i  m sure it had audiences gasping . the story concerns the search for the secret of mind control . . . ostensibly to create an unstoppable zombie army . . . but later as a means for one character to win the woman he loves . the movie is barely an hour long but moves at a snail  s pace so it seems feature  length  believe me  there really isn  t much to recommend it . . . you may get some amusement from the faked studio shots of the star  wading  through a  swamp  . the ending is interesting . . . so i  d say the movie is worth seeing at least once . more than likely you will see it as an extra feature on some cheap   movies on  dvd  compilation at wal  mart for five bucks . hey  it  s well worth the money . . .  
star pickford and director tourneur   along with his two favorite cameramen and assistant clarence brown doing the editing   bring great beauty and intelligence to this story of poor  isolated scottish islanders   the same territory that michael powell would stake twenty years later for his first great success . visions of wind and wave  sunbacked silhouettes of lovers do not merely complement the story  they are the story of struggle against hardship .  br    br   the actors bring the dignity of proud people to their roles and pickford is brilliant as her character struggles with her duties as head of the clan  wavering between comedy and thoughtfulness  here with her father  s bullwhip lashing wayward islanders to church  there seated with her guest  s walking stick in her hand like a scepter  discussing her lover  played by matt moore .  br    br   see if you can pick out future star leatrice joy in the ensemble . i tried  but failed .  
though the title includes the word  zombies   this film is not what you  d expect from a movie made today  though for     the concept is played out about as well as would probably be expected . dean jagger portrays armand louque  an officer in the french army of world war i  who has stumbled upon an ancient tale of soldiers turned into automatons  or  zombies   who are impervious in battle and may hold the key to victory in the war  though on whose side is not certain . at first he has trouble convincing his superiors of this phenomenon  but eventually french general duval  george cleveland  orders a non military expedition into the ancient cambodian city of angkor to find the secret of the zombies and destroy it .  br    br   the story is played out against the backdrop of a love triangle involving louque  duval  s daughter claire  dorothy stone   and clifford grayson  robert noland   all a part of the expedition . when louque laments over his lack of forcefulness and resolve  grayson offers him advice to go after what he wants in life with all his power . that advice begins to transform louque  particularly after he  s successful in obtaining a stone tablet resembling a photo from the ancient city . having followed a temple priest into a swamp  louque now appears to hold the secret he had been seeking  though it  s not made clear how he has instantaneously been able to command the power of  zombiefication  . all it takes is placing his right fist to the forehead simulating a third eye  and casting his thoughts out to those he wishes to control . this comes in handy for winning back his girl  and taking grayson  s early advice as he comments to his servant   buna  we  re learning to be ruthless  .  br    br   fans of early  b  horror flicks will recognize the use of bela lugosi  s signature eye stare  plucked from the     film  white zombie   also from director victor halperin . of the two movies   white zombie  is preferably superior  both in story content and in it  s depiction of the undead  where the zombies have a more sinister appearance and are more threatening . in  revolt   the zombies are enemy soldiers with a glazed over look that merely react to their mentor  s commands . in fact  the actual revolt of the title occurs only when louque releases the soldiers from his mental command in deference to his love for claire they overrun his compound and kill him in the process .  br    br   not to be too harsh on the film  it plays out decently within the parameters of it  s story outline  but if you  re thinking  zombies     within the traditional context  you  ll probably be disappointed . if you want to sample an early treatment of the subject  the aforementioned  white zombie  with bela lugosi is the way to go .  
the silent film the pride of the clan starring mary pickford was supposed to be set in a fictional island off the coast of scotland . in actuality  most of the exterior shots were filmed in marblehead massachusett on marblehead neck near several rocky seaside geographic areas including the churn and castle rock . my initial interest in the film was because of two factors   the marblehead film location in my hometown and    the fact that my grandmother lizzette m . woodfin was hired as a stand  in for mary pickford during filming of several scenes including the  cliff scene  . both women were small     in stature and both my father and grandmother related the fact that she was a stand  in with her back to the camera for the cliff scene as part of the chiefton filming set . i just wanted to relate this story for future film historians and buffs . the film itself  my dvd copy is somewhat poor  is very well done with lots of action and expressive acting including several scenes where miss pickford portrays a strong woman characterization . i enjoyed it and would love to get a better copy of it although i am unsure whether one exists as i have seen in various movie sites that remaining copies are dark because of deterioration . a very nice film of the silent genre with lots of action   
  this might mean the end of the white race   gasps a general as a dozen native zombies wander around the battlefields of europe during the  great war  . an expedition sets out tor the long  lost  back  projected city of kennif  angor to stop this sort of thing and keep the battlefields clear for decent honest white people to slaughter each other by the tens of thousands .  br    br   it is a bit hard to tell when people are zombies or not in this film as the acting is so wooden . even by     standards the acting in this film is bad . from a previous decade . it looks like it came out of a correspondence school text book on  how to act   br    br                chapter three emotions               br    br    how to express fear and loathing  female  clench both fists . place fist of one hand on heart . open mouth as it to scream . place other fist  palm out  against mouth . hold pose for   seconds longer than is comfortable then quickly turn head   degrees away from direction of loathed object and sob  .  br    br    how to have difficult  heavily emotionally charged scene with ex  fianc explaining your love for someone else . do not make eye contact . do not move . do not show any emotion . do not move your eyes too much as you read your lines off the studio wall .   br    br   to give us a respite from the leaden acting the director cunningly cuts in long pauses where nothing much happens except that film keeps running through the projectors . thus   minute  s worth of story is padded out to   ish minutes .  br    br   the revolt of the zombies when it comes is so slow  released from mental bondage the armies of ex  zombiefied minions turn on their former master by ambling slowly up hill and then sort of stabbing a door a bit and smashing a window .  yea . . . let  s . . . oh  i dunnno yeah . let  s get him grrr . frankenstein must be destroyed  manana .   though i have just found a bit of hidden symbolism . jagger is shot by a native as some sort of ironic counterpoint to all the natives being shot by the germans at the start of the flick . see  even downtrodden natives don  t want the end of the white race   the chase  it you can call it that  through the back  projected swamp is hilarious and worth the admission price alone . roy d  arcy has a hell of a time camping it up  but is totally wasted  as col . mazovia .  br    br   there is one interesting moment in this film . a nice little montage of the zombied natives and white cast members falling under the evil eyes spell . face after face  cross  fade into one another . it works  though there is a strange little blip in the middle of each close up like a frame has been cut . i guess these must be neg cutters  frames between the fades .  br    br   best watched with friends and in a silly mood .  
  contains slight spoilers   br    br   it  s interesting how anthony mann uses james stewart here . stewart is  of course  remembered by many as george bailey from frank capra  s  it  s a wonderful life   so it  s easy to find parallels between the two films . in  it  s a wonderful life   bailey gets to see the world as it would have been if he had never been born . in  the far country   stewart  s jeff webster  by not getting involved to help anyone else  except himself   gets to see essentially the same thing a world in which he  for all practical matters  doesn  t exist .  br    br   by not getting involved  and by attempting not to care about anyone   webster is forced to see those for whom he can  t help but care get hurt  pushed around  and even killed while he stands by and does nothing . this reminds the viewer of george bailey watching a world that has turned upside  down because he has also decided not to get involved by not ever having been born .  br    br   both movies end with the same image  a close  up of a ringing bell . stewart  by turning around his philosophy of non  involvement  has  it would seem  earned his  wings  .  
this film is awful . the screenplay is bad  the is script mediocre  and even the sex scenes are worthless . the thrill and intrigue of the original film are completely lacking . this movie was shot in a dark  shadowy and monochromatic style  a la  war of the worlds    which is so disappointing after the beauty of the original film . greg morrisey  s brooding character displays one facial expression throughout the film . the twists and turns of the original plot are woefully lacking here the few that do exist are simply anticlimactic . the only highlight is sharon stone  s performance as catherine tramell  faithfully continued in this sequel  but it isn  t enough to make up for the other shortcomings . the only circumstance under which a  basic instinct   should be made would be if michael douglas agrees to join the cast .  
are highlights of this     feature . the pride of the clan tells the story of a young girl who becomes clan chieftain after her father dies . on an island off the coast of scotland  the villagers live the simple lives of  fisher folk .  my copy is very dark and sometimes hard to read  but the film boasts some stunning ocean scenery  and the camera work on boats is splendid . maurice tourneur directed pickford in this pleasant film . pickford was already a major star in      and this film seems to have been written just for her plucky young woman succeeds over misfortune . pickford whip lashing lazy villagers toward church is very funny . and the final scenes on the sinking ship are very well done . not a great picford film  but still worth seeing . matt moore  pickford was married to his brother  owen moore  is the love interest  and is good as the strapping island lad . leatrice joy is one of the villagers but i couldn  t spot her either . my copy intersperses lots of bells and gongs and adds an eerie feeling when the village warning bells are rung . very effective .  
you do realize that you  ve been watching the exact same show for eight years  right  i could understand the initial curiosity of seeing strangers co  exist on an island  but you  d think that after watching unkempt  stink  ladened heroes run roughshod through the bush with an egg on a spoon for half a decade would be enough to get you to commit to something a little more original  and interesting  .  br    br   and i  m not even speaking of the shows validity which for the record i find questionable . it  s just hard to suspend disbelief for  bushy bill  eating a rat when the entire crew of producers and camera people are housed in an air conditioned make  shift bio  dome sipping frosty mochcinno  s with moxy .  br    br   what  s the appeal here  i don  t care about these people or their meandering lives . i just don  t get it . but if you do find yourself being captivated by hairy  unwashed people  i suggest you turn off your tv and just take a trip to your local bus station where you can see people like this in their true habitat . they call them homeless people  and free of charge  you can sit back and marvel in their uncanny ability to retrieve various cigarette debris from a plethora of garbage canisters  eventually striking  pay  dirt  and fashioning a homemade dr . frankenstein  styled cancer  stick  all the while begging people for change for food when the stink of  aqua velva  on their breath is enough to suggest otherwise . and the best part  much like survivor  every week one member of the tribe  leaves  the  island  when they are unceremoniously sent packing to the local institution when the frightening unmedicated state of full  blown schizophrenia kicks into gear  now that  s entertainment   
i really wanted to like this film and i don  t think i was terribly disappointed . being an american history teacher  i felt an obligation  almost  to see this film and as far as the history went  it wasn  t bad . sure there were a few mistakes here and there  especially with the timeline   the movie only appeared to last a few months or perhaps a year   not over six years of actual fighting   but the overall spirit of the film and the battle sequences were excellent . unfortunately  the movie also included a pretty meaningless subplot involving a difficult to believe romance between a poor patriot and a rich loyalist . for the most part  it really served to distract from the overall plot and just seemed  tacked on    like a plot device instead of a real honest  to  goodness romance . in fact  as much of the romance boiled down to the dumb clich of  love at fist sight   it was kind of annoying the more i think about it .  br    br   however  in spite of this romance  the film is truly interesting and inspiring    plus  in so many ways it seems as if the much later film  the patriot  was copied from this griffith film    both films followed the exploits of an evil leader fighting for the british and using horrible and evil tactics against the civilians   and both having the secret intention of using this as a  springboard  to starting their own nation in the america    the only major difference is that this film is set in the north and the patriot was in the carolinas . it sure would have been nice if mel gibson and the rest had acknowledged their debt to d . w . griffith for the story ideas . it just doesn  t seem all that likely that the two stories were created independently of each other .  br    br   ps   despite me liking this film and some other of griffith  s films  he does deserve to once again  burn in hell  for his having white actors portray all the black servants in the film  this is a sick and bigoted thing that griffith did in so many of his films   especially in birth of a nation . i gotta assume based on this and the way he portrays blacks that he was a  ok with slavery and was quite the apologist for this  quaint institution   don  t get mad at me   this is meant as sarcasm  .  
how has this piece of crap stayed on tv this long  it  s terrible . it makes me want to shoot someone . it  s so fake that it is actually worse than a     s sci  fi movie . i  d rather have a stroke than watch this nonsense . i remember watching it when it first came out . i thought  hey this could be interesting  then i found out how absolutely  insanely  ridiculously stupid it really was . it was so bad that i actually took out my pocket knife and stuck my hand to the table .  br    br   please people  stop watching this and all other reality shows  they  re the trash that is jamming the networks and canceling quality programming that requires some thought to create .  
i waited until the  th of july to write this because . . . well . . . because it just feels right to be doing it on this day .  br    br   in     d . w . griffith needed a hit  he had not had a big one since orphans of the storm       . he  d been working steadily since then but his movies had been smaller in scope and had failed to hit the right chord with audiences . he was planning a film about patrick henry when he was contacted by members of the daughters of the american revolution  dar  who asked if he might expand his ideas to encompass more of the american revolution . this movie is the result . by the time he had finished he had a   reel history lesson and there wasn  t a trace of patrick henry anywhere .  br    br   we all know the story of the revolutionary war but griffith threw in a love story with patriot farmer nathan  neil hamilton  falling in love with tory aristocrat nancy montague  carol dempster  a leading lady for griffith for many years  . complicating matters is the fact that nancy  s father hates nathan . . . well not just nathan  he hates all rebels . it does not help matters when  during a skirmish on the streets of lexington someone jostles nathan  s arm causing him to discharge his gun and accidentally wound nancy  s dad   br    br   paralelling the love story is the  mostly true but partially embellished  story of capt . walter butler  lionel barrymore  a renegade british officer who feels he owes allegiance to no one . with thousands of indians form the six nations on his side he hopes to crush the colonials and become monarch of his own empire .  br    br   comparisons with birth of a nation       are inevitable . the montague family might just as well be the cameron  s from the earlier film while nathan could be a part of the stoneman family . the sequence of the battle of bunker hill is staged very similarly to a scene in birth of a nation with the attacking army  in this case the redcoats  storming a trench packed with patriots . the only thing missing is henry walthall charging across no man  s land to stuff a flag into the muzzle of a cannon . amazingly enough the battle scenes in america seem to lack the energy of the battle scenes in birth and fail to draw the audience in . something is clearly missing . it isn  t scope  g . w .  billy  bitzer  s camera work is quite good . maybe what is missing is . . . dare i say it . . . sincerity   br    br   the brutality of capt . butler and his men is well underscored although much of it happens in long shot or offscreen . don  t expect any heads to be lopped off in closeup like we saw in intolerance       . in one scene butler  s second in command  capt . hare  louis wolhiem  gouges out the eyes of a captive colonist . we see only the beginning of the deed  for the remainder the camera focuses on hare  s face as he obviously has a good time doing this . lionel had been working with griffith on and off since     . a story goes that he approached griffith for work and d . w .  knowing the reputation of his famous family  said  i am not hiring stage actors .  to which lionel replied  and i am nothing of the kind  sir   he makes a very good and quite believable villain . louis wolhiem appeared with lionel  s older brother john three times in sherlock holmes and dr . jekyll and mr . hyde  both      and later in the tempest       . as capt . hare his wild staring eyes and disheveled hair not only mark him as a villain but make you think he is quite mad also .  br    br   neil hamilton later remarked that america was his first time on horseback and  i was scared to death .  . he hides his displeasure very well though and we can believe he was quite the equestrian by the time shooting was over . mr . griffith was very much in love with carol dempster and at one point asked her to marry him . she refused and soon left his stock company  after which her star status gradually waned .  br    br   speaking of horses  one accidentally amusing moment which had to be unscripted came during the depiction of paul revere  s ride . he rides his horse right up on the front porch of a family to announce  to arms  the regulars are coming   but as he tries to leave the horse cannot negotiate the steps backwards and stumbles spilling his rider on the ground  i am amazed griffith did not do another take .  br    br   so is america a classic  yes  don  t wait for july  th to see it  it is enjoyable anytime .  
this show comes up with interesting locations as fast as the travel channel . it is billed as reality but in actuality it is pure prime time soap opera . it  s tries to use exotic locales as a facade to bring people into a phony contest  then proceeds to hook viewers on the contestants soap opera style .  br    br   it also borrows from an early cbs game show pioneer  beat the clock  by inventing situations for its contestants to try  overcome . then it rewards the winner money . if they can spice it up with a little interaction between the characters  even better . while the game format is in slow motion versus beat the clock  the real accomplishment of this series is to escape reality .  br    br   this show has elements of several types of successful past programs . reality television  hardly  but if your hooked on the contestants  locale or contest  this is your cup of tea . if your not  this entire series is as i say  drivel dripping with gravy . it is another show hiding behind the reality label which is the trend it started in     .  br    br   it is slick  well produced  so it might last a while yet . after all  so do re  runs of gilligan  s island  green acres  the beverly hillbillies  the brady bunch . this just doesn  t employ professional actors . the intelligence level is about the same .  
slow but beautifully  mounted story of the american revolution . griffith  s story  telling seems a lot less heavy  handed than in his earlier historical epics and his tableaux work is fully integrated into the action . lionel barrymore is an utter swine  neil hamilton is poor but dashing and carol dempster is . . . . well  carol dempster is most of what is wrong with griffith in this period  but she doesn  t show up often enough to slow the pace and drama .  br    br   note that the trivia for this movie says it came in originally at slightly more than  hours when first released  but that no cut exists that runs longer than   minutes . however  the dvd release has been presented at a slower fps rate that increases the tension and brings it back to a bit over two hours .  br    br   far better in terms of story  telling than sound versions  such as the patriot . while not quite in the league of griffith  s best  such as way down east and broken blossoms  an excellent way to spend a couple of hours .  
this third darkman was definitely better than the second one  but still far worse than the original movie . what made this one better than d  was the fact that the bad guy had been changed and durant was not brought back again . furthermore there was actually some hint of character development when it came to the bad guy  s family and darkman himself . this made my heart soften and i gave this flick as much as      i . e .    .  
this entertainingly tacky  n  trashy distaff  death wish  copy stars the exceptionally gorgeous and well  endowed brunette hottie supreme karin mani as billie clark  a top  notch martial arts fighter and one woman wrecking crew who opens up a gigantic ten gallon drum of ferocious chopsocky whup  a on assorted no  count scuzzy muggers  rapists  drug dealers and street gang members after some nasty low  life criminals attack her beloved grand parents . the stunningly voluptuous ms . mani sinks her teeth into her feisty butt  stomping tough chick part with winningly spunky aplomb  beating jerky guys up with infectious glee and baring her smoking hot bod in a few utterly gratuitous  but much  appreciated nude scenes . unfortunately  mani possesses an extremely irritating chewing  on  marbles harsh and grating voice that  s sheer murder on the ears  my favorite moment concerning mani  s dubious delivery of her dialogue occurs when she quips  don  t mess with girls in the park that  s not nice   after clobbering a few detestable hooligans . the delectable karin  s sole subsequent film role was in  avenging angel   in which she does a truly eye  popping full  frontal nude scene  but doesn  t have any lines .  the film  s single most sensationally sleazy sequence transpires when mani gets briefly incarcerated on a contempt of court charge and shows her considerably substantial stuff in a group prison shower scene . of course  mani  s lascivious lesbian cell mate tries to seduce her only to have her unwanted advances rebuffed with a severe beatdown  strangely enough  the lesbian forgives mani and becomes her best buddy while she  s behind bars . given an extra galvanizing shot in the vigorously rough  n  ready arm by edward victor  s punchy direction  a funky  rockin  score  endearingly crummy acting by a game  if lame  cast  a constant snappy pace  numerous pull  out  all  the  stops exciting fight scenes  and howard anderson iii  s gritty photography  this immensely enjoyable down  n  dirty exploitation swill is essential viewing for hardcore fans of blithely low  grade low  budget grindhouse cinema junk .  
darkman   die darkman die is directed by bradford may  the same guy who made the first darkman sequel too . darkman  is worse than darkman   and is nothing special  in my opinion . larry drake is no more as a main villain  who is now played by great jeff fahey  whose character once again wants to get darkman  s work and create this time some ultra strong humans in order to get the leadership of the whole city . the film is pretty much the same in plot and execution as darkman   but i was mostly irritated by the presence of many scenes from darkman  . these sequels were made in short time and with little money  so these kind of decisions had to be made . couple of scenes are pretty stylish and exiting  but still this is pretty tired film and often irritatingly stupid  too . the characters scream and laugh too much and it is very annoying . there is no any philosophical depth in the film  and this is like a remake of darkman  which it still cannot equal . darkman  had many great scenes and stylish camera work  and larry drake  s ability to play great villain . darkman  offers only some nice scenes and moments  but mostly this film is tired and full of cliches . the few positive things in this movie are flashback edits  westlake  s nightmares  and couple of truly surprising plot turns and tricks . and worth mentioning is also pretty nasty death scene of the main villain which was pretty comic book like and inventive without any gore . far more interesting than the death of main villain in part two .  br    br   darkman  is worst in the whole series  and we must remember that these two sequels were made directly to video and they don  t come even close to raimi  s original darkman with liam neeson . darkman  was okay actioner with plenty of great scenes and suspense  but this last    entry is tired and often stupid and boring piece of sequel . it has some merits as mentioned  but overall feeling is that this should not been made in the first place . may is talented director so hopefully he can get some more noteworthy projects in the future .  br    br        
action  adventure . billie clark is twenty years old  very pretty  and without a care in the world  until a brutal street gang violates her life  and she turns into an alley cat bent on revenge  when the gang attacks her grandparents house and her car  billie uses her black belt prowess to fight them off . but at the same time she earns their hatred  and she and her grandparents are marked for vengence . when her grandparents lose their lives to the brutal thugs . billie becomes like a cat stalking her prey  and no prison  police force  boyfriend  or crooked judge can get in the way of her avenging claws . she  s a one  woman vigilante squad  a martial arts queen  a crack shot with no mercy . she  s the alley cat . watch for the dramatic ending versus the gang leader  rated r for nudity  violence  other films with karin mani actress  filmography  avenging angel       . . . . janie soon lee   from here to eternity         mini  tv series . . . . tawny  filmography as actress  stunts  filmography  avenging angel        stunts  p . s . she should have been catwoman in the batman movie   br    br    
normally i  m quite disposed to like low budget gonzo films  but darkman iii is so appallingly unengaging that i feel nothing but contempt for it .  br    br   it looks and feels like a tv show  and a particularly shoddy one at that . the sets are sparse  the lighting flat  the score and effects disjointed  and the camerawork is film school    . there  s no plot to speak of  the characters are one dimensional  and the actors are sleepwalking . most of the cast look like they should be doing soft core porn . . . . . in fact  the only reward that i got from this mess was spotting the startling squint faced roxann biggs  dawson  b  elanna from star trek voyager  without her klingon bumpy head makeup on . her skin tone is about two shades lighter than it is in voyager either she  s been bleached down for this role  or blacked up for voyager . very strange either way .  
tom and butch cat fight over the capture of jerry mouse because the one who doesn  t catch jerry gets kicked out . the two cats dress in their master  s clothing to disguise themselves and lets the other have it  confused  tom and butch whack their master  s rear and all three of them get kicked out .  
within the first   minutes of director bradford may  s  darkman iii die darkman die   we have already been subjected to a silly recap and accompanying voice  over on the first two films  hilarious over  acting  about three minutes of footage simply ripped from the second film and re  edited slightly to seem like new footage  and a lengthy advertisement the scarred and tormented title character watches about universal theme parks  universal being the company that distributed this film . yes   darkman iii die darkman die  is quite the handful when it comes to cheap cash  ins on the success of a previous film .  br    br   this time around  the disfigured anti  hero peyton westlake  aka   darkman   portrayed by  mummy  actor arnold vosloo  locks horns with evil crime  lord and lousy husband peter rooker  played in a brilliantly over  the  top performance by jeff fahey   and over the course of the   minute film grows to develop an affection for rooker  s wife and daughter  once again learning to care for another person .  br    br   blah . blah . blah .  br    br   this film is basically just a silly way for the studio to make some more money off of sam raimi  s original film  which i consider to be a great action  suspense film .  br    br   oh yeah  and there are also a number of silly sub  plots  including a villainess who supposedly was one of the original doctors to save darkman following his scarring  and her seducing our hero into thinking she is an ally before revealing her nefarious plot to help rooker create more super  human powered thugs like darkman . apparently  she can  t just do the same procedure on the thugs that she performed on darkman . why  i can  t really explain it  because the movie certainly doesn  t .  br    br   there  s also an assassination sub  plot involving a district attourney who is threatening to bring down rooker  s organization  and some other very silly things going on .  br    br   but it doesn  t really add up . this film feels like two or three episodes of a television show edited together more than an actual film . the direction alternates between pretty good and downright sloppy  a scene where darkman rides his train  like vehicle and dodges a rocket  launcher is just plain silly   and the editing is a mixed  bag . the film just moves too quickly for anyone to really care what  s going on . and without spoiling it  the final   minutes of this movie  and indeed  the entire series is just kinda . . . i dunno . . . another   minutes of mixed  bag footage .  br    br   in fact  commenting on the editing  one of my favorite things in this film is watching for footage re  used from the previous films  and then looking for footage within this film that is repeated multiple times . yes  it  s that cheap . it  s one thing to do a re  cap at the beginning of the film  and maybe repeat a shot or two  but in the sheer volume they do it  minutes of footage repeated from previous films   it  s just sloppy and amateurish .  br    br   also  i have to say that darkman  s psychedelic montage freak  outs are a bit overdone in this film . they are so stylized and overdone that they do work  but only in light doses and in proper context  as raimi did in the original film . here  there are at least four or five  and they feel very abrupt and out  of  place .  br    br   that being said  the film is not without some good points . a few action scenes are well  done . the clich story of darkman yearning for a real life works suitably for a direct  to  dvd feature . some of the acting is nice  particularly from rooker  s wife  portrayed by the beautiful roxann dawson . also  while no danny elfman  composer randy miller composes some nice music that builds off of elfman  s original themes .  br    br   but overall  the film is too quick  cheap and silly to be taken seriously . arnold vosloo seems alternatively bored and exuberant from scene to scene  and fahey  while a joy to watch as an over  the  top villain  just doesn  t quite fit in with the series .  br    br   like  darkman ii   i would recommend this to fans of the original  who will surely get a laugh . otherwise  you need not apply . a four out of ten .  
  a mouse in the house  is a very classic cartoon by tom  jerry  faithful to their tradition but with jokes of its own . it is hysterical  hilarious  very entertaining and quite amusing . artwork is of good quality either .  br    br   this short isn  t just about tom trying to catch jerry . butch lives in the same house and he  s trying to catch the mouse too  because there  s only going to be one cat in this house in the morning   and that  s the cat that catches the mouse .  br    br   if you ask me  there are lots of funny gags in this cartoon . the funniest for me are  for example  when mammy two shoes sees the two lazy cats sleeping and says sarcastically i  m glad you  re enjoying the siesta and that she hopes they  re satisfied because she ain  t  making the two cats gasp . another funny gag is when tom disguises himself as mammy two shoes and slams butch with a frying pan and then butch does the same trick to tom . of course that  even funnier than this  is when the real mammy two shoes appears and both  dumb   cats think they are seeing each other disguised as mammy and then they both attack her on the  rear   lol . naturally that she gets mad and once she gets mad  she isn  t someone to mess with . but even jerry doesn  t win this time  because he is expelled by her too .  
ok  but does that make this a good movie  well  not really  in my opinion . there isn  t a whole lot to recommend it . i found it very slow  tediously  in fact . it  s also predictable pretty much through and through . number one and two were somewhat predictable  but not as much . i also felt this movie was quite campy at times  which i didn  t really think fits this series and the character . jeff fahey plays the main bad guy in this installment . he  s a decent enough actor  but i felt he played his character too over the top . i guess that fit with the tone of the movie  which would have been great if i had liked the movie . plus  there were some pretty bad one liners . arnold vosloo returns in the title role  but is given little to work with in this movie . the character has not really evolved  as i had hoped . oh well . this is just my opinion . anyway  for me  while this movie is not abysmal  it is pretty bad . my vote for darkman iii  .     
this story is a familiar one in the long  running tom and jerry cartoons  especially in the     s  the only difference being that two cats instead of one are threatened to be evicted if they don  t catch the mouse  jerry  . tom has an unnamed buddy   butch    living in the house with him  so this really upsets  mammy two shoes  who can  t believe that they have a mouse despite two cats in the house .  br    br   anyway  the one who catches jerry can stay while the other gets the boot  so the competition is on   br    br   even though it  s familiar territory i still enjoyed this because the cartoon had enough original sight gags to make entertaining . you not only had the cats competing against each but jerry in the equation as well  so there were enough good gags to definitely recommend if you are a tom  jerry fan .  
i wont take too much time here  just wanted to state that darkman  is awesome . i have all  on dvd  added these to my collection of dvd movie sets . darkman ranks up there with the best  like indiana jones  aliens  star wars  die hard  you get the point . there isn  t too many good horror  thriller  sets out there . many thanks to the whole crew  and set for giving us the darkman trilogy . by the way if your wondering how i came across this one on dvd . i purchased it through the internet  it is however region   as you know most us dvd players are region  . if you own a sony playstation   you have the best dvd player since it is an all region player . just go to set up then choose witch region setting you want      .  
this was stupid funny movie . . cheech and chong are the dopiest wasted guys ever . . . i rate this film a  . . but if you like this one then go see jay and silentbob  there funnier and crazier . now cheech is a sellout working on kids movies . . . . . wheres chong   
this is the worst movie i have ever seen . the avengers held this dubious honor but no longer . the acting in  jill the ripper  is terrible and was only eclipsed by the plot . this movie is as intellectually stimulating as the telletubbes . it doesn  t know whether it wants to be an sm flick or a really bad thriller . only watch under extreme intoxication or if you  re bed ridden and need a leather clad distraction . this script should be reworked into a porn  it wouldn  t take very much effort and would have a longer shelf life . a porn  even a bad porn  wouldn  t do the damage to dolf lundgren  s career the way that this movie has .  
my comment would have been added to the release date section  but i couldn  t find a place for it . i was really surprised to see that this movie was released in the u . s . in feb .      . i saw it in a  first run  theater in washington  d . c . in march      . wonder if it was re  released  or some problem  in my opinion  this movie is very light entertainment  but has some classic characters . john mcintyre does a bang  up job as a corrupt judge  entrepreneur  thief . walter brennan does basically the same role he did in red river years earlier . and  in my opinion  james stewart gives as fine a performance as he ever did . i have seen this movie a half dozen times or more  and never tire of seeing parts of it again . the photography and scenery are splendid  and it offers a remarkable amount of entertainment in one hour and thirty  six minutes .  
the film is pretty confusing and ludicrous . the plot is awful . . . but on the plus side the acting is pretty good  with a few good shouts and rants . sharon stone is ok this time . . . not even half as good as the original mind you . the murders aren  t as gory as the first one either  which is a shame . its not the unpredictable mess everyone say it is though . the sex is pretty graphic at times while others it is clear it is fake  they are fully clothed  . the script is weak most of the time  but the scenes with banter and arguments between dr . glass and washburn are highlights . the plot twists a few times  but the ending is awful . the tension is always constant with a huge dollop of  oh my god   . the chase sequences are brilliantly directed  and shots and camera angles are impressive and bring a bit of class to an otherwise  rush  felt film . sharon stone is a bit old for this too . the bits where we see her breasts were  in the first one  delights . this time around  they are too horrid to describe . the films its self is rather average  but it is worth a go . mainly because the film does deserve some good buzz . . . with the opening sequence being a highlight . not to be critical  but if you liked the first one  leave this one . don  t ruin the run . you  ll be glad you left this stone unturned .  
spoilers  br    br   a buddy of mine said next movie was the best cheech  chong flick and went out of his way to have me borrow it and the blues brothers . next movie has no plot  has no pacing  really has no anything of what defines a movie . . . but it is funny . and for what it is worth  cheech and chong show some heart .  br    br   well  in this little paragraph i put in the plot  but being that four  fifths of the movie  nothing happens that would usually start a story . i will just say that cheech  s cousin shows up .  br    br   was there no other funnier moment when chong made cheech drink the pee twice  what about the rooster  was that pee  wee herman  s first movie appearance  you would have to watch the movie yourself to enjoy it . i don  t think next movie has strong enough balls to make it awesome  but the movie has heart and hey  my buddy let me borrow it so it gets a  .  
it just seems to run true to form  any movie starring dolph lundgren is bad  i don  t know if it is the fact that the storyline in full of holes  or that dolph is such a bad actor . no spoiler here  he seems to overdue the pushing and shoving and grabbing and touching thing in this movie . in my opinion it is a wonder that some of these projects find venture capital to get in the can and to the theatre .  
ok  needless to say  this film is only going to appeal to a certain audience namely stoners and like  minded people .  br    br   that being said  if you are one of these aformentioned people  this film is a must . in fact  i think it should be mandatory for head shops to sell a copy of it to anyone purchasing their first bong . what monty python  s holy grail is to geeks and nerds  so is this movie to potheads . i first saw this film   years ago or so  and i still crack up every time i watch it . the jokes perfectly lampoon the pothead lifestyle  far better than latter day knockoffs like half  baked attempt to .  br    br   there isn  t a plot  so to speak the film is more of a collection of various skits as the films protagonists wander around los angeles in their legendary haze . despite this  the film has an excellent sense of pace  and doesn  t drag at all . many people cite up in smoke as cc  s best work  but i would have to say that next movie is superior .  br    br   so if you  re in the mood for an hour and half of belly laughs  light up  tune in  and let your mind float away    br    br   oh  and free tommy chong   
i saw this film under the title of  tied up  . in general i have enjoyed dolph  s movies  so gave this one a try . it wasn  t worth it . i have read some of the previous comments about the box enticing viewers . don  t be fooled . this is a poor film at best . the acting is nonexistent . the plot  what little there is of one  is very predictable . the movie in places seems to be chopped together . this one just plain stinks the place up . not even worth the price of a cheap night rental . as a bit of a dolph fan  i kept waiting to see him in action . by the end of the movie  you will still be waiting . best to avoid this film  and spend your time watching almost anything else .  
this has the funnist jokes out of all the cheech  chong flicks . it  s the first one i saw with these guys . i found it to be really good . my dad actually recommended me to get it . what a great role model  and my grandma actually bought it for me  knowing what it was like . what a family i have . well this movie is pretty good and great to rent when you want to see a good classic . i must warn you though  this isn  t gut  busting funny . it has its moments but not as funny as there  s something about mary . check it out anyway . i  m sure you  ll laugh . unless your an anti  drug activist or something .  
this unpleasant film has little to recommend it . dolph lundgren gives a performance that is better than either this script or his other action films have allowed . and there are occasional snippets of dialog that suggest the film might have been able to provide some insight into a bizarre subculture .  br    br   but no . motivations are either murky or trite . most of the acting is sub  par . the script creates needless confusion . and the director  s needless fascination with focusing on gore is distracting .  br    br   it  s hard to imagine who the audience is for this film .  
the opening sequence alone is worth the cost of admission  as cheech and chong drag that big ol garbage can across the parking lot  filled with gas .  don  t spill it man    hilarious stuff . and then  as  the plot  ensues  you  re in for one heck of a ride . i watched this film recently and it holds up  being just as funny upon each viewing . check it out .  
dolph lundgren broods and scowls his way through this incoherent mystery  thriller that  s not nearly as cool as the box would have you believe . he is actually quite good here  but the story is a mess of b  movie cliches  detectives  revenge  tycoons  hookers  sm  that looks like it was made up as they went along . the film picks up a bit in the second half but for a more decent lundgren flick  rent red scorpion instead .  
the best cheech  chong movie so far   of all the cheech and chong this is most certain the best so far . i think i  ve seen them all about twelve times at least  and i love them all . but this is most definitely the best . compared with the others this one covers a lot of themes and gives you a lot of good laughs . part of the texts are still part of our language today  after   years . i hope that one day they can make another one  because they still are great comedians . i heard they are writing a new script so who knows . . . i guess these guys are the only ones who succeeded in making decent movies in this genre . i wonder if john ashcroft ever watched one of them . . .  
probably the worst dolph film ever . there  s nothing you  d want or expect here . don  t waste your time . dolph plays a miserable cop with no interests in life . his brother gets killed and dolph tries to figure things out . the character is just plain stupid and stumbles around aimlessly . pointless .  
i  m a fan of cc  going back to their records  and liked this movie  but at one point in the mid       s on cable television in san jose california  it was aired with an alternate plot line that destroyed the entire point of the movie . all references to marijuana were replaced with  diamonds  . the bag that  red  drops to chong has diamonds in it instead of marijuana  but the conversation still remains the same   . . . it  s worth       lb   . there is also a subplot in which clips of aliens on a ship were added observing cc  and talking to each other about getting the diamonds . at the end  instead of  space coke   it  s something else . i  m not sure who created this version  but it was horrible  and obvious that they were attempting to make it family  child friendly . it would have been better if that network had not aired it at all .  
i think dolph lundgren had potential at being a big action star a la schwarzenegger  stallone  and even van damme to certain degree . he had some big moments in his career but he also made some poor choices and this is definitely one of them although made later in his career . the strange thing about jill the ripper  or jill rips . . . or tied up  is that i honestly think they seriously thought they were making a provocative and serious thriller  it shows in the way that they describe it on imdb  on the dvd case  in the commentaries  and this film is not serious . to call it campy would be a huge understatement . the film tries to be complex and intelligent when in fact it  s nothing more than shallow  confusing and gratuitous . on top of that they put lundgren  who is known for action films  in an attempt at a serious role which makes it even more campy because his range as an actor is pretty limited . the entire film revolves around the kinky sex world and yet they attempt at making it a serious thriller  just the plot and premise immediately make it a b  movie porn at very best .  br    br   dolph lundgren plays disgraced former cop and raging alcoholic matt sorenson who decides to play detective when his brother is murdered . i mean put aside the numerous plot holes that has lundgren getting free roam to investigate crime scenes  and witnesses and everything else even though he  s not a cop anymore and you still have a pretty strange and rather lack luster performance from lundgren . danielle brett is lundgren  s eventual love interest and his brother  s widow . brett plays her role decently enough considering the script and campy story . the supporting cast is huge and no one particularly stands out in their performances unless it  s on the negative side such as the absolutely horrible performance by victor pedtrchenko who seems to go by several different names in the film  boasts an awful accent and is a really awful villain .  br    br   i honestly tried to get into the mystery and film and watch closely but there wasn  t any reason to because it was all a jumble of ridiculous plot and gratuitous sex games including a downright ridiculously hilarious scene where lundgren goes under cover and is strung upside down nearly naked . to explain how classy and well done this movie is  sarcasm . . . sarcasm  the back of the dvd i picked up  it was really cheap  has lundgren  s character listed as  murray wilson   not the name of his character in the film .  while somehow lundgren manages to be usually watchable the film falls flat on it  s face trying to be serious . considering director anthony hickox is infamous for really b  movie horror flicks it only makes sense even though i think he was really trying to be serious . hard core cult lundgren fans will have to see it . . . no one else should . . . certainly for any sort of mystery or suspense .      
this movie is fun to watch  doesnt have much of a plot  well  there isn  t a plot   but there are good jokes and situations that you will laugh at . the basic storyline is cheech is trying to have a nice date  while chong is partying with cheech  s cousin  they smoke dope  go in a music store  a massage parlor  a comedy club  and even go into someones house they don  t even know  rated r  
dolph lundgren stars as murray wilson an alcoholic ex  cop who gets involved with a serial killer who kills during sex  after his brother is murdered  wilson starts his own investigation and finds out a lot of his brother  s secrets in this very dull thriller . lundgren mails in his performance and the movie is flat and lethargic . also when has anyone watched a dolph lundgren movie for anything but action   
and i  ll tell you why whoever decided to edit this movie to make it suitable for television was very ill  advised . everything concerning drugs is cut out and covered up    how do they do it  you might ask  well  they don  t do it very well  that  s for sure . anyway  instead of the marijuana which cheech and chong are supposed to have in their possession  they are said to have diamonds  still  the characters go around in a haze of marijuana smoke stoning others along their way with no explanation whatsoever   
okay  i rented this movie because of the director . . . he has made some interesting flicks in the past  if you haven  t seen waxork you are missing a fun ride  . anyway  i had my doubts about this movie from the beginning but i decided to suck it up and give it a look . it  s bad . very bad . if you haven  t seen the movie and don  t mind spoilers read ahead . first of all  the old saying  you can  t judge a book by it  s cover  applies here . the box for this flick seems to indicate that jill is the stone fox with long hair with highlights . the back of the box has a cool shot of the red  leather jill and some other shots . the description makes you want to rent the movie because it sounds good . you start watching it and suddenly you find out that the movie takes place  inexplicably  in     . jill is a total dog who is not the girl on the cover . the movie is not quite as predictable as you would think . . . and that  s not a good thing . characters do so many stupid things without any modicum of motivation . . . it  s embarrassing to watch .   minutes before the end of the movie dolph and another lady have sex for no good reason . also  what was the point of having dolph kill this other lady in cold blood who had been helping him . anthony hickox the director should have seen a stinker when he read the script . had it been set in the underworld of the new milennium and made the characters halfway intelligent it might have been decent . to set it in the    s makes no sense and has no bearing on the story whatsoever . avoid it   
a typical romp through cheech and chong  s reality which includes drugs  singing  more drugs  cars and driving  even more drugs  pee wee  aliens  gasoline  laundry  stand up comedy  surprisingly more drugs and space coke   . it is not as coherent or plausible as up in smoke but it still is incredibly funny  without becoming as strange as nice dreams . there are some classic scenes  which include the opening scene where they get some gas for their car and the drive to work . also funny is cheech  s song  mexican  americans  and chong  s follow up song . another notable scene is the welfare office scene with jones  human noise machine   from the police academy series  and the old laughing man . all in all  this is a great follow up to up in smoke and is quite watchable when sober or not .  br    br    celluloid rehab  
dolph lundgren stars as a former cop  boxer who searches boston  s kinky scene to find out who killed his brother  who was well thought of in the community  however along the way he learns how his brother enjoyed kinky sex and that a serial killer is to blame . dolph lundgren is very good in this movie  in fact on the basis of his performance here  one would forget lundgren  s rise to fame involved action roles . that said the material gives lundgren nothing to work with  in fact  lundgren is completely left out to dry in a dreary thriller which is both predictable and incomprehensible . co  star danielle brett is also good  in fact the film works best when it centers around the chemistry of lundgren and brett  indeed had the film taken the time to explore their relationship the film would  ve been fairly decent . however the movie is lackluster  the action is non  existent  the plot not given enough exploration  too much boring b . s around lundgren  s investigation of his brother  s employer  and the film is needlessly gory and ridiculous . once again  lundgren is actually really good  as is newcomer danielle brett  but the film just lumbers from one sequence to the next  which makes this movie particularly disappointing . if anything else though  it shows how underrated lundgren is  as an actor .  br    br       out of    poor   
cheech  chong  s next movie       was the second film to star to pot loving duo of cheech marin and tommy chong . the lovable burn out smokers are now roommates . they live in a condemned building looking for ways to score more smoke and just lay about all day . but cheech is the  responsible  one . he has a job and a steady girlfriend . one day  cheech wants to get his freak on so he tries to get chong out of the house . another problem arises as well  cheech  s brother  red   cheech is another role  is in town and wants to hang with him . firguring that he could kill two birds with one stone  cheech pawns chong off and red . what kind of adventures will chong and red get into  will cheech get his freak on  how long will chong go without some smoke  just watch cheech  chong  s next movie to find out    br    br   tommy chong takes over the directorial reigns for the sequel . he received some experience when he did some uncredited work on up in smoke . funny but not as good as the first film . but cheech and chong fans will enjoy it . followed by nice dreams .  br    br   recommended .  
i  ve tried to like this film  really . in watching it  all i can think is   this guy gives me the creeps  i would have gotten a restraining order  . it also calls out codependence in capital letters . was this really the conversation before making the movie   let  s make a film that puts two chronically depressed  socially inept people into a relationship which deepens their isolation and encourages them to complain about how bad their lives are   from what i  ve seen in life is that the last thing on earth we find attractive in a potential mate is constant self  pity .  br    br   the mood of the movie is distinctly    ish brooding and slow . don  t get me wrong  the film has its moments  just very few of them .  
cowboys james stewart and walter brennan take their herd from seattle to alaska and on into canada to stake a claim . once there  they have to contend with seductive  shifty businesswoman ruth roman and ice  cold  happy  go  lucky villain james mcintire .  br    br   john wayne may get talked about more  but his good pal stewart made some excellent  hard  edged westerns too  some with the great director anthony mann . frankly  i  d take this  with it  s sturdy action sequences and fine melodrama  over north to alaska any day   br    br   the far country features some breathtaking scenery and cinematography that should definitely have been shot in widescreen .  br    br   also  there  s some strong support by the always reliable brennan  roman  who  s great   the incredibly cute corrine calvet  and james mcintire  who plays one of my favorite types of bad guy  the kind that doesn  t take himself too seriously .  br    br   this would make a great double  bill with another highly recommended mann  stewart northwest  set western  bend of the river .  
in my book  basic instinct  was a perfect film . it had outstanding acting on the parts of stone  douglas and all the supporting actors to the tiniest role . it had marvelous photography  music and the noirest noir script ever . all of it adding up to a film that is as good as it will ever get   br    br   this sequel is the exact opposite  it cannot possibly get worse  bad acting and a lame script  combined with totally inept direction  this is really bad  boring  annoying . the only thing that somewhat keeps you concentrated is the relatively short wait for the next scene that is an exact re  enacted copy of the original . these copies are so bad they make you laugh and i laughed a lot in spite of myself  because it was like watching the demolishing of a shining monument . the only thing that is good in this horrible mess are the excerpts of the jerry goldsmith score of bi  . michael caton  jones and the half  wit responsible for the script even included the  there is no smoking in this room  dialog in the interrogation scene and yes she sends her attorney  who is now a solicitor  away   br    br   i am sorry i have seen this awful film that should have never been made  it does damage to the original  so bad is it . the only redeeming value is the realization that cosmetic surgery  and i am sure ms stone afforded the best surgeon money can buy  can do a good job but can obviously not restore the perfection of the original . and what concerns the human body applies to film  making  too . there should be a law don  t ever make a sequel to a perfect film   
sophmoric this film is . but  it is funny as all get out . it shows the  boys locker room mentality  being played by the  other side  . it is good to see such tides turned and how silly they are . but that  s probably not news to most women   cause  just ask one    they  ve heard  em all before  .  br    br   watch it with a small group or party of mixed gender and   .   of the room will laugh for  hours straight . and the other  .   . . . can you ever really please them   
let  s value it .  br    br   entertainment a trashy script which has been typed by unintelligent people in front of typewriters a thousand times . . pathetic acting that is thwarted by the story . . . ok production value  including good set  location and gorgeous girl . .  rating      br    br   social message the movie has no social message . it  s thought free . . . . but if i pretend i were    and my iq were   . i feel the message isdon  t be afraid to love   rating      br    br   objectionable things nothing special  just the mild jewish hedonic and arrogant attitude that is presented by the writer  director . generally speaking  good  nothing degenerate       br    br   overall rating is      
after viewing  whipped  at a distributor  s screening at the afm the other night  i have to say that i was thoroughly impressed . the audience was laughing all the way through . unfortunately  every territory was already sold  so i did not have the opportunity to purchase the film  but i truly believe that it will be a big hit both domestically and over seas . i agree with the comment that  whipped  should not be pitched as a male  sex and the city   mainly because unlike  sex and the city    whipped  is a satire about dating that never takes itself too seriously .  whipped  pokes fun at relationships in a way that most sex comedies wouldn  t dare . also  the film that i screened at the afm had more of a plot and story than  swingers    clerks   and  sex and the city  combined .  whipped  never slowed down for a beat and provided the audience with non  stop comedy . the performances of amanda peet and the rest of the cast were all rock solid  which only made the film more impressive considering the budget .  
nothing new in this hackneyed romance with characters put into unbelievable situations  speaking dialogue that borders on the ridiculous . this is an example of another movie put into production before serious script problems were solved . don  t waste your time .  
this movie was hysterical . i haven  t laughed this hard in a long time . i mean  it  s not  good will hunting   but was it supposed to be  i actually went into the advanced screening expecting a lot less and was pleasantly surprised . the comedy hits hard and is fairly constant . amanda peet is hot and awesome . the entire audience that i screened it with seemed to be enjoying the film as much as i did .  
yet another colourful excuse for men in rubber suits to wrestle with each other . this time around  time travellers from the future arrive in     and recruit a few people to go back with them to     and prevent the creation of godzilla  thus saving a future japan from destruction . but having accomplished this task  the time travellers are revealed to be a bunch of double crossers whose own creature goes on the rampage  and with no godzilla to stop it eek  it all sounds very silly  and it probably is  but the plot is surprisingly decent and the final battle looks pretty good too . unfortunately the rest of the visual effects are just rubbish rather than enjoyably rubbish  and the movie turns out to be just as dull as its predecessors . look out for the shaky spielberg in  joke .  
a must see  i saw whipped at a press screening and it was hilarious . we  re talking nonstop laughs . it makes something about mary seem like a meandering drama . amanda peet screams star quality with her winning combination of beauty  brains  and serious acting ability . peter cohen  the director  has made a cutting edge film that shows the raw inside of men  s egos in the urban dating world . for all of it  s comedy  whipped succeeds with it  s intelligence . which is so rare for a first time director  especially with a romantic comedy . he is a major talent . judah domke  brian van holt  jonathan abrahams  and zorie barber round out the cast with depth and very strong performances as the would be slick lady  s men . you  ve got to see these guys go to work and get caught in peet  s web . check out the trailer on whipped . com  it  s worth the  minute download .  
i cant understand at all why so many godzilla fans think this is excellent  one of the best godzilla films ever in fact . this film is horrible and one of the very few gojira films i cant stand to watch again  the other being g . vs megalon  .  br    br   the plot is too campy to be in the heisei series  a series that attempted to turn the aging godzilla franchise into bonafide action films  revolving around ideas that seemed more in place in     than     . it just sounded ridiculous  especially with some of the subject matter  take for example the ww  scene  with the japanese soldiers praising a dying godzillasaurus  a mournful and serious tone  take the exuberant former commander turn capitalist and his death  serious seens in a film its fans somehow denote as played for laughs  as a goofy romp with guilty illogical fun  if so than this is easily one of the most tasteless films i  ve seen  however i think its more likely it was only talent the filmmakers lacked and this was a case of a straight faced action movie gone bad . it was made ever worse by the fact that the special effects are terrible beyond compare  from the jet packs to the android  to the hokey sound effects emitted from everything  its impossible to take anything seriously  and yet the film expects you to  there  s no nudges to the camera .  br    br   like nearly all godzilla films there  s a pointless romance  and this is no exception  though something can be said about the fact that this one is especially pointless since and inexplicable . there is literally no reason at all presented for the romance  it just happens and there lives make    degree commitments for it . aside from this the other terrible aspect of this film is dialogue  both the japanese and english is horrible  clunky and possibly the inspiration for battlefield earth .  br    br   the tristar dvd compounds the problems  making everything look grainy  blurred  dim and just plain ugly  the same was for the sound . i first saw the japanese region  version and the differences are night and day  with the original vibrant colors and texture  the noteworthy score  the fight scenes especially  are actually watchable .  br    br   in my opinion  the heisei series is a disappointment  with the exception of godzilla      japanese version  there is little to praise here  and godzilla vs . king ghidorah is case in point of this failure . it doesn  t even come close to deserving the reputation and fans it gets .  br    br    out of    
peter m . cohen has a winner satire on the mating game  twisted around and turned inside out . the critical bashing of the movie in mainstream media publications as  offensive  and  raunchy  only serves to underscore its intensity as a refreshing and concentrated dissection of people  s sexual pursuits and passions . it is in the tradition of what i call  reality based  satire following in the footsteps of  in the company of men    chasing amy    your friends and neighbors  and  two girls and a guy  . cohen  s dialogue is hilarious and i was continually intrigued by how perfectly he captured the real pace of today  s conversations . brian van holt  zorie barber  and jonathan abrahams are three distinct  unrelenting sex  obsessed predators who along with the foil of their recently married buddy  superbly played by judah domke  are turned upside down on their own terms by a female predator  amanda peet  . underneath the satiric surface lurks a romantic comedy far more satisfying than most sugar  coated studio products .  
  godzilla vs king ghidorah  is a perfect example how a great idea can be ruined by pathetic topics like pseudo  patriotism . here  travellers from the future try to ruin japan  replacing the local hero godzilla with their puppy monster  the three  headed golden dragon king ghidorah . they fail  however and in the end godzilla fights ghidorah . the battles between the two behemoths are very cool  but the plot of the movie is full with holes and the all thing about  japan is great  is really stupid . the creators of this movie didn  t even threat with respect the enemies of japan  making them stupid big blond guys  who are easily outsmarted by the clever japanese . the good thing is that in the end godzilla and king ghidorah nearly destroyed the both japan and it  s ridiculous enemies in one  actually two  spectacular combats . but till this battle royale  the film was really dull and pathetic .  
i didn  t expect much from this  but i have to admit i was rolling on the ground laughing a few times during this film . if you are not grossly offended in the first ten minutes  this might be a film for you . ditto if you are the type that would enjoy watching amanda peet shuffling cards for an hour and a half . it  s certainly not a momentous work of comedy  but given the low  budget indy genesis this is masterful . to level the playing field for comparison  imagine all of the studio films with their budgets slashed by a factor of    or so and see what you get  kudos to peter cohen and his network for seeing this through . i look forward to his next effort .  
this is one of those movies in which people keep saying  that  s a great idea   about the worst ideas you  ve ever heard . then they act on them . i like it . this picture  s funnier than any  dozen seth rogen projects . well  so is shoah .  br    br   gojira movies have been cannibalizing their own origin  stories since the   s  but this one goes further . what can you say about a culture willing to rape its own sacred cultural icons for a quick buck  this travesty presents a ww  suicide brigade on  the last of the marshall islands  presenting arms to a dinosaur who chased the us marines away . then the japanese inexplicably decide not to fight to the last man  and instead abandon the territory annexed on their behalf by this giant lizard . they retreat to the mainland  where one of them becomes a business tycoon .  br    br   then it gets complicated .  br    br   blonde men from the future  irritable over not yet curing male pattern baldness  come back in time in a sort of flying saucer to ask a failed writer and a celebrity psychic for their help in eliminating godzilla before he destroys japan . the  help  is questionable  as all these     citizens do is go back to     to watch some closed  circuit tv  but  hey  they shot the script . you would think that by the   s the japanese would know better than to trust people in spaceships . fortunately for nippon  the white guys  you can tell they  re american because they say  nucyaler   erred by bringing back in time the one japanese girl left in the future . in a touching display of ancestor worship  she outs their duplicity after donning a flying suit made from ductwork taped to a sailor moon backpack . turns out these time  traveling  fashion  disabled caucasians are just jealous of japan  s impending economic imperialist takeover of the known world  in the   d century japan  s going to buy africa  which sounds more like a liability than an asset  . these blondes in padded chintz suits with nonfunctioning straps and redundant zippers want to replace godzilla with king ghidorah  who will destroy all of japan except tokyo . a strange choice  but toho  s been known to go out of its way not to have to build that tokyo skyline set again .  br    br   sure enough  we are given the alternate spectacle of fukuoka   my garden city   and some other heretofore unscathed  by  rubber  monster metropolitan areas being laid waste by a flying gold metalflake    of a hydra . in a surprise revelation  we are informed that king ghidorah was created from some hand puppets left too long in the microwave . godzilla also does his share of demolition as the movie winds down . wait  didn  t the spaceship blondes already destroy godzilla  yeah  they killed him in the third reel . but nobody expected that the japanese of     had a secret submarine filled with nuclear missiles   ha ha  don  t worry . we don  t keep it in japanese waters   with which to jumpstart a new godzilla from the bones of an old dinosaur . only they don  t have to  because a leaky old nuclear shipwreck has already made godzilla whole again . oh  and godzilla finally gets to tokyo  reuniting with his old army buddy in a heartwarming moment of tearful recognition . they look into each other  s eyes  and godzilla nods as if to say   gotta do it  man .  the tycoon nods in understanding . then godzilla blows him up .  br    br   i should also mention here that  in order to prevent godzilla  s revamped angry self from fulfilling his destiny and destroying japan  the japanese girl from the future goes back to the future to ask for help from  yes  a balding white man . probably because he pities her as the sole asian character from the   d century  he agrees to build a mecha  ghidora and send it back to the     s  so that together  these two giant monsters can  uh  fulfill godzilla  s destiny and destroy japan . in a wonderful nod to those notoriously self  willed whipping heads  the girl piloting mecha  ghidora has trouble controlling the joystick .  br    br   this godzilla suit design owes much to the sumo  his thighs are flabby enough to double for rush limbaugh  s  and his belly and chest are thick and ponderous . but there  s more exploding masonry in this picture than in most of his adventures  which makes up for a lot . also features a man with a passing resemblance to robert patrick playing a killer robot . yes  in the future even the robots will have bald spots . plus megumi odaka  reprising her role as micki  the only japanese girl ever born with ears larger than her disney namesake and an acting style even bigger than that . it  s not her fault many japanese directors seem to feel that a seventy  foot screen isn  t quite large enough to display the emotion of a human face . i did some acting for japanese television  and i can tell you  they push you to go for it . they apparently urge their writers in the same way . thank god .  
this movie is hilarious  i watched it with my friend and we just had to see it again . this movie is not for you movie  goers who will only watch the films that are nominated for academy awards  you know who you are .  i won  t recap it because you have seen that from all the other reviews .  br    br    whipped  is a light  hearted comedy that had me laughing throughout . it doesn  t take itself too seriously and should be watched with your friends  not your girlfriend . it won  t win any awards  but it just has to be watched to be appreciated . true  some of the jokes are toilet humor  but that is not necessarily a bad thing . everyone can use some of it sometimes . some people need to lighten up and see  whipped  for what it is  not what it isn  t .  br    br       out of  .  
to this day when you speak of the japanese cinema  most folks won  t talk about rashomon  or the seven ronin  or ran . to the masses the japanese cinema means all those monsters we  ve grown to love destroying those japanese cities over and over again  lots of times in battles with each other . the first and greatest of these is godzilla who  s come back a dozen times or more and in a few films faced the three headed hydra like monster from outer space  ghidrah .  br    br   oddly enough in keeping with the times  the special effects got slightly better . but part of the charm of those old films was seeing those paper mache city sets destroyed  they looked so phony  maybe three steps above ed wood .  br    br   some visitors from the future have time traveled to japan to urge that godzilla be destroyed from when he was first discovered . and in fact he was first discovered as a surviving dinosaur during world war ii when he protected the japanese garrison on a pacific island from those american troops . but later on with atomic testing on bikini  godzilla the friendly dinosaur just like barney became the mean machine we  ve grown to know in the cinema .  br    br   of course you eliminate godzilla than you give ghidrah a clear field to wreck japan so it does not become the economic colossus it was by     when the film came out . more i won  t say  but we all know japan is doing reasonably well as     .  br    br   like all the other japanese monster films  just sit back and enjoy the mayhem .  
i hadn  t laughed this hard for a movie in a really long time . the garbage that hollywood has been putting out lately drives me up a wall  this one was definetely fresh and witty . if you look at the demographic figures for the ratings  only a few women have voted  i don  t want to ruin the movie for you but i  m sure that every guy who saw this ran to their computers to rate it and gave it a poor score  why  because the movie puts men in their place  that  s why . if more women vote for this movie because of its actual humor value and not because it is damaging to men . . . it could easily be a    rated movie   
somehow they summed up the    s  ten years that radically changed our country  in four hours . and what a painful four hours it was . they trivilized the major events and happenings and they  claimed  it was about two families yet you barely saw the african  american family . if i were nbc i would be ashamed and embarrassed for airing such trash . what was amusing was this happy  go  lucky family you saw in the very beginning was tortured in so many ways  but managed to attend every major    s event through the country . and the second family was such a non  factor . they devoted maybe five or six scenes total to this family . that poor son . . . please nbc  do not make any movies about any other eras . . . . leave that to pbs and the history channel  
a hilarious and insightful perspective of the dating world is portrayed in this off beat comedy by first time writer  director peter m . cohen . the story unfolds as the four male protagonists meet weekly at the local diner to confer about their dating woes . we meet brad a good  looking  wall  street playboy with a quick  wit and sharp tongue zeek a cynical  sensitive writer jonathan a sexually perplexed nice guy with an affinity for hand creams and masturbation and eric the married guy  who cherishes his weekly encounters with his single friends in hope for some enlightenment to his boring and banal married existence . the trials and tribulations of the men  s single lives in new york are amusingly expressed  mirroring that of sex in the city and hbo  s new comedy the mind of married man  and bring an astute light to scamming . the story takes a twist as the three singletons meet mia   wittily played by amanda peet  and all fall for her . she seduces them each with her uncanny ability to conform to the personalities  they exhibit . when they come to realize they have all met and fallen in love with the same woman  they chose her over their friendship . whipped is a realistic portrayal of the dating world  one that the critic  s failed to recognize . in plain language  they missed the point . the protagonist  s here are caricatures of real people . the exaggerations are hysterical  mixing satire and humility  and are not to be taken as seriously as the critic  s disparagement suggests . see this movie  you  ll laugh from start to finish .  
even if you could get past the idea that these boring characters personally witnessed every significant moment of the     s  ok  so katie didn  t join the manson family  and nobody died at altamont   this movie was still unbelievably awful . i got the impression that the  writers  just locked themselves in a room and watched  forrest gump    the wonder years   and oliver stone  s   s films over and over again and called it research . a canadian television critic called the conclusion of the first episode  head spinning  . he was right .  
i had never heard of this film until i came across it by accident when browsing imdb . i saw it had gotten many awful reviews containing very colorful expletives on how much it stunk . of course this meant i had to see it . i was pleasantly surprised as whipped is actually rather a good movie . i watched it with a group of friends and we laughed more than we had at many recent highly acclaimed hollywood fluff comedies . this is an independent film and as such portrays its subject matter  sex and dating  without the usual hollywood fakery . i distinctly suspect that people  s opinion of this film will depend very much on their experience of life . if you  ve never dated or partied much you won  t get this movie because you won  t have met people like these characters . if you have  you  ll recognize many of the situations that portrayed here in comedic fashion . the ending was also good  as it did not portray women as unreal  helpless  virginal romantics in contrast to many hollywood movies .  
the    s is an occasionally entertaining film  most of this entertainment is from laughing at the film . it is extremely uneven  and includes many annoying elements . take for instance the switch between black  white  and color . if done right  this could of been fairly effective  but because it was done poorly  it turned into a nuisance and only detracted from the already bad experience much of the film had an odd feel to it . the acting wasn  t extremely bad for a made for tv flick  but then again it was downright embarrassing at other times . many of the events were not coherent  and ending up being confusing . how did this family somehow end up being at many of the big events during the      s  the ending was much too sappy for my tastes because it was hollywoodized  everything had to turn out right in the end . i would advise you to not waste your time on the    s and do something else with your time . i  m glad i watched this in class  and not on my own time . i think i can safely say that the best part of the movie was the inclusion of bob dylan  s music . those are just my rambling thoughts on the flick . i hope you take my advice  and stay away from this .  
as i drove from skagway  alaska to dawson city  yukon a couple of years ago and was impressed with the scenery  i cannot help but wish that this film even though it has beautiful color and scenic views would have been shot in the actual location . jasper in the canadian rockies is a magnificent place  but still not the real place where the film takes place . when the story moves to dawson  that is when i feel anthony mann  who used the outdoor locations so well  could have made the most if he filmed in the actual place . james stewart here is again a man fighting within himself  one side of him does not want to get involved and help people who stand in the way of him making money  and the other side just is not able to look away from people being murdered . ruth roman is the ambitious woman who does not care on whom she steps  corinne calvet is the nice girl . mann is excellent directing the shootouts  but the high point of the film is how well he does in the outdoor scenes . he uses the outdoors as much as he can and he is helped by the winter scenery  the predominating white  like it was with the greens in  the naked spur  and the browns in  the man from laramie  . like all of the mann  stewarts  this is a traditional western  with a difference in the elaboration of stewart  s character which is more complex .  
it  s hard to believe  after waiting   years  we wind up with this piece of cinematic garbage . the original was a high impact  dark thriller that achieved  cult  status demonstrating the fine art of cinema as directed by paul verhoeven . this film adds nothing  delivers nothing  and ultimately winds up in the big box of failed sequels .  br    br   the opening sequence could have triggered an intriguing set of plot developments using a considerably talented and able cast . unfortunately we are treated to a   minute dissertation in the self  indulgent life of catherine tramell . . . or is it sharon stone . possibly a copulation of both .  br    br   if the desire is too see a continuation of the sensually provocative stying of sex as in  b . s .    forget it . you wind up with soft  porn boredom which ultimately upholds the old adage that a woman can be more alluring in clothes than out of them . it  s interesting to note that the wonderful charlotte rampling was romping around in her skivvies  via the     georgy girl  when ms . stone was only  years old . a very talented actress and quite adept at holding her own even here .  br    br   if you  re a true cinema fan then you must see this film and judge it using your own rating system . if not  you might as well wait for the dvd release in the  rated  version   unrated  version   collectors  edition  or  ultimate  version  and perhaps in another   years we will be saturated with news of  basic instinct   at which point ms . stone will be   years old and nobody will really care .  
young beautiful eva  hedy lamarr  marries an older man  zvonimir rogoz  . unfortunately he can  t satisfy her sexually and ignores her . frustrated she goes home and plans to get a divorce . then  one day  she  s skinny dipping in a lake in the middle of the woods . her horse gallops off with her clothes . . . and she runs after it  she meets young and very handsome adam  aribert mog  . they make love and she realizes this is the man she wants .  br    br   ending spoiler     naturally  since this was made in      she has to be punished for her sin so it leads to a tragic finale . end of ending spoiler      br    br   this horrified people in     but it  s pretty tame by today  s standards . lamarr  s nude swim shows nothing and when she runs after the horse totally nude  it  s either shown in extreme long shot or is covered by branches and such . there  s only a few minor shots of her breasts . also when she has sex with mog  nothing is shown but her face but you see her achieving an orgasm . these scene were considered pretty extreme in their day and were cut out completely of the american release . now today they  re back in . this film would get by with a pg    easily now .  br    br   shock episodes aside this is just ok . it is beautifully filmed and there  s next to no dialogue . except for the music score this could be a silent picture . luckily all the actors are good   lamarr and mog especially and they  re so attractive that they just take your breath away watching them . also the sequence where they make love is easily one of the most beautifully shot and acted sequences i  ve ever seen in a movie . the scenes with the sexual symbolism  there  s quite a few of them  are unfortunately pretty obvious today . i actually started to giggle during one   br    br   so  great direction  beautiful imagery  attractive actors  good acting all around   but i wasn  t exactly bowled over by it . i found the movie slow  moving  beautiful imagery does not make a picture for me   somewhat dull  obvious  static and had a negative ending . i can live with the ending but it doesn  t excuse the other problems i had with it . also the final sequence is really strange   and out of place . so i admire this film more than anything else . it was well  done and i  d recommend it but with caution . many people seem to love this movie so i  m in the minority . use your own judgment .  
i like a lot of the actors  actresses involved in this project so being insulted by the movie felt even worse than if they used a unknowns . the main problem was this movie was clearly just a concept created to appeal to baby boomers . in   or   years nbc will probably do a movie just like this about the early    s . i can see it now a black family where the kids are involved with the la riot  s and the white family has the kids rebel and listen to grunge rock music . the soundtrack will feature bands like nirvana  n . w . a  public enemy  soundgarden etc . the movie like this will be just as cheesy as the    s and i gurantee you nbc will do it . see the biggest problem with period pieces when done buy networks is that when you are living in a certain time period you aren  t thinking i am living in the    s or whatever decade is trendy retro at the time . next time someone does something like this they should put more weight into there project  
this picture was banned from american movies houses in the     because of nudity by hedy lamarr   eva hermann  which caused all kinds of problems among the ladies in the      s but not so much for the male population . this story concerns a young woman named eva hermann who gets married to an older man and is carried over the threshold on the wedding night and the husband never consummates the marriage and worries about all kinds of very petty things like his shoes and killing bugs . eva leaves her husband  s house and lives with her father and tries to explain her situation . on a hot summer day eva takes a ride on her horse and decides to go for a swim naked in a lake in the woods . her horse runs off and she runs after him and is observed by a young man who finds her clothes and returns them to eva . these two people become very acquainted and there is a romance that starts to bloom . there are many more interesting problems that arise as you view this film to its very end . enjoy a great classic film which was a shocker film in     . enjoy .  
the   s       d mark piznarski . josh hamilton  julia stiles  jerry o  connell  jeremy sisto  jordana brewster  leonard roberts  bill smitrovich  annie corley  charles s . dutton . nbc mini  series  later released to video  dvd as full length feature film  about the treacherous     s  as seen through the eyes of both a white family and a black family . the film  s first half is driven by the excellent performance of dutton as reverend willie taylor and evenly spreads the storyline between the families . however  dutton  s character is killed halfway through and the black family is completely forgotten in a dull  incoherent  and downright awful  nd half . rating  out of   . not rated  later rated pg    for video  dvd release  .  
in      europe received quite a shock when luis bunuel  s  l  age dor  was released  causing a riot in paris when screened there  resulting in it being banned for something like over forty years . three years later  in      when europe had gotten over the shock  it was once again turned on it  s ear with  ekstase   a symphony  of sorts  to love . the film starred a young  unknown german actress named hedwig kiesler  who would later change her name to hedy lamarr  when she moved to america to escape the madness of adolf hitler  as eva  a young bride who has just married a cold  distant loveless husband  played by emil jerman   only to discover that she has made a major mistake . one divorce later  eva is footloose  fancy free  is out one day  skinny dipping in a lake  when she discovers adam  a handsome  young engineer  played by aribert mog  who takes a real fancy to her  and she  him  . after a wild night of passion  eva  s ex  husband turns up once again  hoping to win eva back  only to find he now has a rival . i won  t spoil what transpires . czech director  gustav machaty  who directed the original screen version of  madam x   another parable in romantic obsession  directs from a screenplay by jacques koerpel  frantisek horky  machaty  from the novel by robert horky . the film  s velvety cinematography  which reminded me of avant garde photographer  man ray  s photos of the era  which goes for some impressionistic use of light  shadow  a lot  is by hans androschin  jan stallich  . the film  s brisk editing is by antonin zelenka  the films art direction  which goes for a lush  nearly art deco look  is by bohumil hes  . if i have any quirk about this film  it is the music score  by giuseppe becce  which goes for an over the top  melodramatic feel to it that gets old fast  certain themes are repeated over  over again  wearing out it  s welcome  fast    kind of like some of david lean  s over use of certain musical themes  especially in  lawrence of arabia   and  dr . zhivago   . some years back  a brand new restored print was made up of the best source material  cobbled together from various european existing prints available  restoring it to what is quite possibly the closest version of what it originally looked like before the vatican condemned it as  decadent   yeah  right . . . like the church never did anything wrong   and the hayes office cut it to ribbons  when it was finally released in the u . s . a . in      in a  hayes office  approved cut  likewise  . minimal dialog in german with english subtitles  it was meant to be a mainly visual experience  . not rated  but contains that infamous nude skinny dipping scene by hedy lamarr  done tastefully  mind you   some suggestions of sexual content  likewise  that would scarcely earn it a pg    rating  nowadays . worth a look if you have any interest in early european cinema  or avant garde  experimental cinema  
the      s were a time of change and awakening for most people . social upheaval and unrest were commonplace as people spoke  out about their views . racial tensions  politics  the vietnam war  sexual promiscuity  and drug use were all part of the daily fabric  and the daily news . this film attempted to encapsulate these historical aspects into an entertaining movie  and largely succeeded .  br    br   in this film  two families are followed one white  one black . during the first half of the film  the story follows each family on a equal basis through social and family struggles . unfortunately  the second half of the movie is nearly dedicated to the white family . admittedly  there are more characters in this family  and the story lines are intermingled  but equal consideration is not given to the racial aspects of this century .  br    br   on the whole  the acting is well done and historical footage is mixed with color and black and white original footage to give a documentary feel to the movie . the movie is a work of fiction  but clips of well  known historical figures are used to set the time  line .  br    br   i enjoyed the movie but the situations were predictable and the storyline was one  sided .  
i gather at least a few people watched it on sept .  on tcm . if you did you know that hedy had to change her name to avoid being associated with this movie when she came the u . s . it was a huge scandal and i gather that the original release in the u . s . was so chopped up by censors that it was practically unintelligible . i watched because i had just seen a documentary on  bad women   actresses in the u . s . pre  movie censorship board set up in the early    s . it looked to me as though they got away with a lot more than hedy  s most  sensational  shots in  ecstasy  . in fact hedy looked positively innocent in this  by today  s standards  and it was nice to see her early unspoiled beauty . it was a nice  lyrical movie to relax to . i loved it for what it was a simple romance . i watched it after pre  recording it during a sleepless early a . m . i would love to see the first version released in the u . s . for comparison  s sake .  
is there any other time period that has been so exhaustively covered by television  or the media in general  as the     s  no . and do we really need yet another trip through that turbulent time  not really . but if we must have one  does it have to be as shallow as  the    s    br    br   i like to think that co  writers bill couturie and robert greenfield had more in mind for this two  part miniseries than what ultimately resulted  especially given couturie  s involvement in the superb hbo movie  dear america letters home from vietnam  which utilized little original music and no original footage  letting the sights and sounds of the time speak for themselves . this presentation intercuts file footage with the dramatic production  but it doesn  t do anyone any favours by trying to do too much in too little time like so many of its ilk  it  s seen from the point of view of one family . but the children of the family seem to be involved tangentially with almost every major event of the    s  it  s amazing that one of them doesn  t go to the rolling stones gig at altamont   making it seem less like a period drama and more like a cliff notes version of the decade .  br    br   the makers rush through it so much that there  s little or no time to give the characters any character  with the stick figures called our protagonists off screen for ages at a time  the children  s father is especially clichd  and then when they  re back on blammo  it  s something else . garry trudeau could teach the filmmakers a thing or two about doing this kind of thing properly . in fairness  jerry o  connell  jordana brewster  jeremy sisto  julia stiles and charles s . dutton give their material the old college try  but they  re wasted  especially the latter two   it  s undeniably good to see david alan grier in a rare straight role as activist fred hampton  and rosanna arquette  in an uncredited cameo in part   is always welcome .  br    br   what isn  t welcome is how  the    s  drowns the soundtrack with so many period songs that it ultimately reduces its already minimal effect  and this may well be the only time an american tv presentation about post    s america never mentions the british invasion  no beatles  no rolling stones . . . then again  there  s only so much tunes you can shoehorn into a soundtrack album  right   . capping its surface  skimming approach to both the time and the plot with an almost out  of  place happy ending   american dreams  and  the wonder years  did it all much  much better . nothing to see here you can  t see elsewhere  people . . . except for julia stiles doing the twist  that is .  
i cannot comment on this film without discussing its significance to me personally . as a child bad health prevented me from ever going to a cinema . i first encountered movies at the end of wwii through roger manvilles splendid penguin book  film   which brought me so much pleasure as my health began to improve that i wish i could buy another copy to re  read today . my introduction to many classics films such as the battleship potemkin  drifters  grierson  s magnificent documentary   metropolis  the cabinet of dr caligari  and ecstasy came first through this book and later at my university art  house cinema . ecstasy had incurred the wrath of the vatican  for condoning eva  s desertion of emil  her subsequent divorce  and the brief swim she took in the buff  but roger manville ignored these trivial matters and discussed the film as a triumphant  outstandingly beautiful  visual paean to love  a view echoed by many imdb users . a very lonely young man  when i saw it  i willingly concurred . no further opportunity to see ecstasy arose until the introduction of home videos  by then it had become a treasured memory not to be disturbed . quite recently i finally added ecstasy to my home video collection and found this assessment very superficial . ecstasy is much more of a parable on the continuity of human existence  against which individual lives are insignificant  perhaps a tribute to what bernard shaw in his aggressively agnostic writings used to term  the lifeforce  .  br    br   ecstasy portrays a young bride marrying a middle aged man whose sex urge is no longer strong . disappointed  she returns home and divorces him . soon after she experiences a strong mutual attraction to a young virile man she meets whilst out horse riding . she makes love for the first time and it is an overwhelming experience . her former husband cannot face rejection and gives the young man a lift in his car intending that a passing train will kill them both on a level crossing . but the train stops in time and the apparently ill driver is taken to recuperate at a nearby hotel where he later commits suicide by shooting himself . after these exciting climacteric sequences  a bland  predictable and almost inevitable ending emphasises that whilst individual human lives exhibit both joy and tragedy  collectively life continues to carry us all forward in its stream and only through contributing to this stream can we be truly happy . this story is trite  the acting is no more than adequate and normally such a film would have disappeared into the garbage  as did most of its contemporaries  long ago . what has given ecstasy its classic status is exceptional cinematography  a continuous lyrical score and very careful loving direction  coupled with something fortuitous but in cinematographic terms very important  it appeared just after the introduction of sound and was probably planned as a silent film . it is sub  titled and its director has exploited the impact of brief verbal sequences accompanying some sub  titles  and occasionally breaking into the score which so lovingly carries the film forward . this makes it not only almost unique but extremely rewarding to watch . the parable in the tale is stressed continuously but so subtly that only when reflecting after viewing does one become fully aware of it . for example  the names  eva and adam the obsessive behavior of emil on his wedding night which shows that triviata have become the most important thing in his life and predicate his eventual suicide since he has no adequate purpose to sustain him the ongoing series of beautiful sequences showing erotic imagery  a bee pollinating a flower  a key entering a lock  a breaking necklace during eva  s virginal lovemaking sequence with adam  etc .   and the final post  suicide sequences which could have been filmed in many different ways but serve to extol the importance to individuals of performing some type of work that contributes positively to society  as well as of creating new life to sustain this society after we ourselves pass on .  br    br   as a     film i would rate this at   even comparing it with contemporary works i would not reduce this below  . for me the film will always remain a  must see    although you may feel that my background remarks above indicate some bias in this judgment  . unfortunately in north america contemporary assessments of this film have been distorted by the extreme      s reaction to hedy kiesler  s very brief and relatively unimportant nude scene which she had difficulty living down in hollywood  some critics  who have clearly not seen such classic films as hypocrites  hula  back to god  s country  bird of paradise or some of the early works of d . w . griffiths and c . b . demille  have even erroneously referred to this as the first appearance of a nude actress in a feature film  . this scene was probably part of the original novel  and the film would have been very little different if the director had chosen to rewrite it .  br    br   two further thoughts firstly this is a czech film  released there in     . its final message about hard work generating positive benefits for society must have seemed very superficial to its viewers when a few years later their country became the first victim of nazi oppression and was virtually destroyed for at least two generations  i do not remember these sequences being screened just after the war when i first saw this film  were they removed from the copy i saw then   . secondly for me its main message today is that things of real beauty are often very transitory even though their memory may stay with one for a lifetime . we should all be thankful that today some of them can be captured on camera and viewed again at our convenience .  
do we really need any more narcissistic garbage on the baby boomer generation  technically  i am a boomer  though at the time when all the  idealistic youths  of the    s were reading marx  burning their draft cards  and generally prolonging a war which destroyed tens of thousands of lives i was still in grade school . but i remember them well  and  out of   were just moronic fools  who would believe anything as long as it was destructive .  br    br   this is just another excercise in self  importance from the kids who never really grew up .  
this was a very daring film for it  s day . it could even be described as soft  core porn for the silent era . it was a talkie  but dialog was extremely limited  and in german . one did not need it anyway .  br    br   the young     hedy lamarr gets trapped in a loveless marriage to an obsessive  stereotype   german and after a short time in a marriage that was apparently never consummated  returns home to her father .  br    br   in a famous and funny scene  she decides to go skinny dipping one morning when her horse is distracted by another . she is then forced to run across a field chasing after it  as she left her clothing on the horse . an engineer retrieves her horse and returns her clothing  after getting an eyeful .  br    br   they sit for a while and  in a zen moment  he presents her with a flower with a bee sitting on top . this is where she thinks back to her honeymoon and the actions of her husband and an insect . she knows this man is different .  br    br   she returns home and eventually seeks out our young fellow  and finds the ecstasy she was denied . you can use your imagine here  but his head disappears from view and we see her writhing with pleasure . since he never got undressed  you can imagine . . . certainly  an homage to women by the director gustav machat  and a shock to     audiences .  br    br   the only thing that mars this beautifully filmed movie is the excessive guilt  and a strange ending .  
the problem is the role of the characters in the film . man to man shows a british anthropologist kidnapping two pygmies and taking them to scotland and then realising that they are not animals or subhumans but actually equal to himself . the problem is the role of the pygmies in the film  two people who are kidnapped  treated like animals  and yet given such a shallow  stereotypical role within the film . . . the kidnapper  british anthropologist  ends up being the hero of the film because he  manages  to relate to the pygmies . . . no notion of how the two hostages feel  of their point of view  of their ordeal . . . i find it is a shallow film  with a one sided fundamentally racist view . . . it never manages to move away from the  white mans  view  
eva  hedy lamarr  has just got married with an older man and in the honeymoon  she realizes that her husband does not desire her . her disappointment with the marriage and the privation of love  makes eva returning to her father  s home in a farm  leaving her husband . one afternoon  while bathing in a lake  her horse escapes with her clothes and an young worker retrieves and gives them back to eva . they fall in love for each other and become lovers . later  her husband misses her and tries to have eva back home . eva refuses  and fortune leads the trio to the same place  ending the affair in a tragic way . i have just watched  extase  for the first time  and the first remark i have is relative to the horrible quality of the vhs released in brazil by the brazilian distributor video network the movie has only   minutes running time  and it seems that it was used different reels of film . there are some parts totally damaged  and other parts very damaged . therefore  the beauty of the images in not achieved by the brazilian viewer  if he has a chance to find this rare vhs in a rental or for sale . the film is practically a silent movie  the story is very dated and has only a few lines . consequently  the characters are badly developed . however  this movie is also very daring  with the exposure of hedy lamarr beautiful breasts and naked fat body for the present standards of beauty . another fantastic point is the poetic and metaphoric used of flowers  symbolizing the intercourse between eva and her lover . the way the director conducts the scenes to show the needs and privation of eva is very clear . the non  conclusive end is also very unusual for a     movie . i liked this movie  but i hope one day have a chance to see a   minutes restored version . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    xtase    ecstasy    
man to man tries hard to be a good movie it has its heart at the right place  it aspires to be epic and it has a message that no doubt everybody will appreciate . but there lies also some of the problems of this picture . it strives so hard to be good and to get its message across that sometimes the viewer must feel unchallenged . so it is only adequate that the images which are used by this picture are simplistic  man to man doesn  t let the viewer decide what he thinks is right but is hammering its message in his head . joseph fiennes exemplifies this in his role he does his best to look concerned  genuinely moved and all the other emotions you can express with the single one facial expression his repertoire has to offer . add that the movie is overlong and loses its speed towards the end you would be easily led to the conclusion that man to man is not worth watching . but there are enough points to defend it it is entertaining  has some humorous scenes and the show  stealing kristin scott thomas . of course you should not compare it to humanistic masterpieces like the elephant man  david lynch  but you  ll be leaving the theatre satisfied . it tries to grab your heart  even if your brain thinks that it is too obvious  and succeeds most of the time .  
first  let  s get the  hoopla  out of the way . hedy lamarr was regarded as one of the most beautiful of women and the movies were a perfect medium for the many to see her beauty on screen . here we have hedy as a young fresh  faced   year old speaking in her native austrian . i recently bought a     uncensored version of this       classic . yes we see a brief close up of hedy bare from the waist up but although she filmed the swimming  runaway horse scenes naked  the director gustav machaty uses the cover of branches  reflections in puddles  medium and long shots to show her thus in this famous scene so don  t go imagining there are any lascivious close ups or clinches . her boyfriend  pierre nay keeps his clothes on at all times . yes  fairly daring for its day but how innocous it looks now through     eyes .  br    br   as other learned reviews have stated this film should be looked at for the imagary  expressionism  and allegorical statements it makes with pictures of drops of water forming a ripple on the surface of a pale of water  farm machinery  landscapes etc . sweet sounding strings run for most of  extase  s  length and the film has a  feel  of a transition between silent and sound in its direction and concept . the script is highly minimalist and economical the story being mainly imparted through the medium of facial and bodily gestures with just a few words of german spoken by the actors with english subtitles beneath . even these few words seem almost superflous in the general lyrical vein which runs through the film .  br    br   put very simply this is the story of a young girl who marries a much older man  why we are never told and what did eva see in him anyway  money    who is then trapped in an unconsumated and loveless marriage . she then returns to her father having left her husband and her father has to lie to his son in law . after a ride on her horse eva decides to take a swim in the buff and loads up her clothes onto her horse  s saddle . however her horse gets romantic notions itself and gallops off to greet its stablemate . hedy rushes out of the lake naked and tries to recover her mount but an engineer at work sees and retrieves the horse then looks around for its owner . and so the romance is born . her husband seeing that his rival must win eva  later decides to shoot himself but i thought this was rather illogical and its main weakness bearing in mind his previous loveless relationship with eva .  br    br   despite being a     reissue title on vhs  the sound being   years old  is a bit soft and with background crackles  in line with films of its age . after a period of mourning our handsome boyfriend obviously is so in love with eva he imagines her as a mother with an infant so we have to assume they live happily ever after . just let the imagary wash over you and disabuse your mind of the style of films even of late      s vintage . this is a lyrical piece that can be enyoyed for its own sake and not just for its eye catching title . i gave it     .  
in addition to his  tarzan  series  the prolific edgar rice burroughs did write many other books  although  aside from the popular  at the earth  s core   few of these have been filmed . one exception is the novel entitled  the lad and the lion   brought to the screen as  the lion man         an over  talkative  static  old  hat  slow  moving and rather dull movie  despite being filmed on real desert locations . actually  movie  is the wrong word . the narrative doesn  t move but proceeds at a snail  s pace in an abrupt series of jerks . for instance  at least five characters are given elaborate opening scenes and then just disappear . even more frustrating for the keen movie fan  are the characters who make an impression of sorts  like the lass who plies hall with drugged wine  but are enacted by players who are not credited  the credited thespians generally come off worse than the unknowns . one exception is australian actress finis barton who gives a good account of the kidnapped harem girl who rescues young master fairy . admittedly  most of the cast are saddled with atrocious king james dialogue which has to be heard to be believed  but the way to play this rubbish is tongue  in  cheek  a stratagem which does not seem to have occurred to a single one of the film  s roster of no  talent players . maybe director j . p . mccarthy scotched that idea . anyway  it  s sad to see the lovely kathleen burke forced to trade lines with the likes of richard carlyle  her dad  and jon hall  her suitor  . admittedly  mr hall delivers his lines with marginally more conviction than mr carlyle  but that is no recommendation .  
the first time i had the window of opportunity to see this all but forgotten classic was back in the early      s  at one of our art houses as a revival . as i watched this fever dream of an exercise in      s sexuality  i thought yowza  they got away with murder in europe back in the day . unfortunately  this film was heavily cut in it  s original u . s . release by the blue nosed hayes office  the staunch government censorship board  started by the  holier than thou  bible thumper  will hayes . . . a former post office official  if you can believe that   due to it  s overall theme of human sexuality  heaven  s forbid humans actually had sex in the      s  . the plot of ecstasy concerns a young woman  played by hedy lamarr  who marries a much older man  and later regrets it . she  lamarr  meets a handsome younger man  has an affair with him  resulting in a divorce from previous husband  another no no in hollywood movies back then    divorce   . despite the fact that the film was produced in      it was probably the director  s first time working in the sound format  i . e . the film seems to possess techniques that were used mostly in silent films    i . e .      s expressionism  s  . it  s still worth searching out for a window into early european talking pictures  along with luis bunuels l  age dor        and karl gustav dryer  s  vampyre        . not rated  but contains that infamous nude swimming scene  some thinly veiled sexual references  which would fare little more than a pg    by today  s standards  but would have easily landed the dreaded  x   back in the    s  if it existed then   
this is an attempt  by both author edgar rice burroughs and filmmakers  at an arabian  tarzan of the apes  . but  this desert  set film shows none of the majesty present in burroughs  more successful jungle adventure . the focus is on the love between handsome english noble jon hall  as  el  lion  chatham  and exotic arab beauty kathleen burke  as  princess  eulilah   with revenge happening to coincide with their urge to merge . the opening states that  although guilty of conduct unbecoming  the lad  s mother is living  but  she never re  enters the picture . unfortunately   the lion man  has deteriorated  and is looks like it  s missing footage .  br    br    the lion man       john p . mccarthy  jon hall  kathleen burke  ted adams  
dripping with symbolism and filled with marvelous cinematography  extase is so much more than the erotic drama we  ve all come to expect . this is almost a silent film  with what dialogue there is in german  and highly simplified german at that . perhaps the filmmakers intended the film to reach the widest possible european audience  as anyone with even a little high school level deutsch can easily dispense with the subtitles . the story is of little importance anyway  with the film succeeding on a cinematic level  not a narrative one . symbols of fecundity and the power of nature overwhelm the human characters   there are even scenes where flowers obscure the face of supposed star hedy lamarr   and there are moments here that will remind viewers of the works of dreyer  vertov  and riefenstahl . if the film has any message to convey  i think it  s a political one bourgeois man is timid and impotent working class man is a happy  productive creature and woman is the creator  destined to be unfulfilled until she has borne a child . this blend of soviet socialist realism and national socialist dogma doesn  t overwhelm the film by any means   it  s a beauty to watch from beginning to end   but it does place it in a very distinct artistic era . and  oh yeah  hedy does get her kit off .  
i was skimming over the list of films of richard burton when i came to this title that i recall vividly from when i first saw it on cable in     . i remember dialogue from tatum o  neal that was just amazingly bad . i remember richard burton  s character looking so hopelessly lost  and then remembering how his motivations didn  t translate to me . in short  i remember  circle of two  because it was so phenomenally awful .  br    br   this movie came out at a time when america was going through a rather disturbing period of fascination with unhealthy or skewed angles on teenage sexuality . recall  the blue lagoon   and other brooke shields annoyances    lipstick    little darlings    beau pere  and other films that just seemed to dwell on teens having sex  particularly with adults . as a teenager during this time  i found the obsession  combined with the sexual excesses of the    s and    s  made for a subconsciously unsettling environment in which to figure it all out  so to speak .  br    br    circle of two  is not execrably acted or needlessly prurient  like  blue lagoon  . in fact  it tackles the question of love between the young and the old in a brave  if totally failed  way . but honestly  it is one of those films you will never see if you didn  t see it on its first run because it was so truly awful . no one would want to have this garbage ever surface to be publicly distributed again .  
classic drama  action western with incredible cinematography that is well ahead of it  s time       . the production is very good and you can tell that it was done with pride and love . unique peek into the american northt west pioneers is very educational and entertaining . this movie is very under rated because most people do not like to see the reality that many  lawmen  during this particular time and place were very crooked  corrupt much like most developing countries today . the action sequences could have been more realistic though but still  this movie really covers most of the essentials . not for an audience who wants only pure testoterone type westerns for this movie is more for those who have a sense of history and philosophy . . . . . . .  
it  s been about   years since sharon stone awarded viewers a leg  crossing that twisted many people  s minds . and now  god knows why  she  s in the game again .  basic instinct   is the sequel to the smash  hit erotica  basic instinct  featuring a sexy stone and a vulnerable michael douglas . however  fans of the original might not even get close to this one  since  instinct   is painful film  making  as the mediocre director michael caton  jones assassinates the legacy of the first film .  br    br   the plot of the movie starts when a car explosion breaks in right at the beginning . catherine tramell  sharon stone  trying to look forcefully sexy  is a suspect and appears to be involved in the murder . a psychiatrist  a horrible david morrisey  is appointed to examine her  but eventually falls for an intimate game of seduction .  br    br   and there it is  without no further explanations  the basic force that moves this  instinct  . nothing much is explained and we have to sit through a sleazy  c  class erotic film . sharon stone stars in her first role where she is most of the time a turn  off . part of it because of the amateurish writing  the careless direction  and terrifyingly low chemistry . the movie is full of vulgar dialogues and even more sexuality  a menage a trois scene was cut off so that this wouldn  t be rated nc     than the first entrance in the series .  instinct  is a compelling torture .  br    br   to top it off  everything that made the original film a guilty pleasure is not found anywhere in the film . the acting here is really bad . sharon stone has some highlights  but here  she gets extremely obnoxious . david morrisey stars in the worst role of his life  and seems to never make more than two expressions in the movie  confused and aroused .  instinct   is a horrible way to continue an otherwise original series  that managed to put in thriller with erotica extremely well . paul verhoeven  how i miss you . . . .  br    br    basic instinct   never sounded like a good movie  and  indeed  it isn  t . some films should never get out of paper  and that is the feeling you get after watching this . now  it is much easier to understand why douglas and david cronenberg dropped out  and why sharon stone was expecting a huge paycheck for this . . . . . .           
  no need to recap the plot  since others have done so already .   br    br   it  s understandable that many viewers find fault with the film  raised as we are with the slam  bang sensurround of today  s cineplex experience . against that background  a movie like ecstasy appears to have wandered in from another planet . i think there are several worthwhile reasons why .  br    br   most importantly  the film unfolds poetically  as the camera pans slowly over surrounding hills  trees  clouds  etc .  providing a serene and lyrical sense of a natural world that integrates the man and woman into its fold . together these reveal a style and dimension almost totally missing from today  s technology  driven cinema  where rapid  fire editing works to divert audience attention and not to concentrate it . additionally  the story is conveyed by eye and not by ear  with almost no dialogue to explain what  s happening . this amounts to another extreme departure from today  s very literal fare  where visuals only seem to count when they excite the audience . but perhaps most unsettling   the movie is sometimes eerily quiet  not in the sense that silent films are quiet since we expect them to be . but in the sense that the characters seldom speak when we expect them to . thus  the burden of the story is shared between the film  maker and the viewer . the former must choose his visuals artfully so as to convey the narrative  while the latter must think about those visuals  since they  re not going to be explained .  br    br   none of this is intended to belittle today  s film  making . it  s simply to point out that a movie like machaty  s comes out of a very different aesthetic from the one we have today . i don  t claim either to be any better or worse . however  i do claim that ecstasy represents a perspective sorely missing from today  s movie  going experience  where such  contemplative values are routinely dismissed as slow and boring .  br    br   the film itself is no masterpiece  though at times it reaches artistic heights  as in the beautifully composed beer  garden scene with its final crane shot rising to reveal the exquisite tableau below . the slow pans of the countryside with its pantheistic celebration of life  nature  and regeneration are also wonderfully expressed . these are the kind of scenes that don  t overwhelm you  but instead   given half  a chance   accumulate quietly into an experience as memorable in its own way as the spine  tingling variety of a  jaws  .  br    br   on the other hand  the film is sometimes heavy  handed  as when machaty piles on the imagery  particularly in the final  ode  to  labor sequence . it  s hard to know what to make of this rather disruptive presence . perhaps the symbolism has to do with the heroic dimension that hard work holds for the love  lorn hero and people in general   a theme then being promoted by the influential soviet cinema . still  its presence here is rather tediously over  done .  br    br   anyhow  i  ve got to admit that i tuned in initially to see the gorgeous hedy lamarr in the buff . but now i have to admit that in the process i also got a lot more than just a peek  a  boo romp in the woods .  
horrible film . about an old crusty painter who hangs around with a young girl . boring . tatum o neil goes through the motions in her part  and has some of the corniest lines in film history . richard burton looks close to death in this film  and we  re supposed to believe he looks  good for sixty  . the acting is bad  as is the plot . the characters are awful  as is the story . it  s really hard to feel for anyone in this film  except larry ewashen who plays a guy in a porno theater who hits on tatum  he  s kind of funny . this movie is really a waste of time . if you are a tatum fan  like me  which is why i rented it in the first place  please don  t see this movie . she is really bad in it  and you  ll wonder if maybe paper moon was a fluke . it wasn  t  because of bad news bears and little darlings it  s known she can act well  but still  don  t rent this movie . and if you  re a fan of burton  rent something when he was good looking  and not a fossil .  
the alternate title of ecstasy  is symphony of love a title which appropriately describes the mood and feel of the film . ecstasy is an early talkie  and could have very well been a classic film  if released during the silent film era . this film is a visual treat  and is deliberately paced so the viewer can savour its sensuous lyric quality  which is presented in an artistic low  key fashion . the director  s style is distinctly european . the subject matter and approach to sexuality was far more sophisticated  than what was being produced in hollywood  at that time . consider the censorship code in the us  during the    s  that pretty much sums it up . hedy lamarr  one of the great beauties of all time  was a perfect choice for this  symphony of love .   
the premise for circle of two is an intriguing one . a forbidden love between a sixty year old painter ashleigh  richard burton  and a fifteen year old girl sarah norton  tatum o  neill   and the question of whether such a relationship is acceptable given society  s standards . the problem with circle of two  however  is that it fails to live up to its promise . director jules dassin and hedley should have put more thought into the screenplay . when i watched this film  i expected to learn something new about love and sexuality . instead  i got boring dialogue  a pointless lecture on art  outings where sarah seemed to have more fun away from ashleigh  and a closing scene so artificial that its emotional impact was lost . this script makes good actors look bad . so one can imagine how the film  s problems were compounded even further with the largely amateurish cast that jules dassin assembled . tatum o  neill was not in her element . i did not believe for a second that her character sarah was in love with ashleigh . her performance seemed superficial  like a contestant at a beauty pageant . it was as though she forced herself to be happy  when the script required her to be happy  and to be sad  when the script asked her to be sad . the only scene i liked with her in was at the very end when she said nothing at all . that was probably the closest tatum  s sarah norton ever came to being real . but tatum was not the only one at fault . richard burton  s ashleigh lacked the charm  the charisma and the complexity to attract even women of his own age  let alone a fifteen year old . the rest of the cast was also dismal . even their arguing was unconvincing  because they waited to take turns . who does that  michael wincott as the jealous ex  boyfriend paul was probably the best thing in this film  but his role was small . to be fair to the actors  dassin  s direction let everyone down but it is also true that a great movie goes beyond the script . kubrick  s lolita did that with james mason and sue lyon konchalovsky  s runaway train went beyond the script with jon voight and eric roberts playing convicts . the directors of these films also knew how to use music to dramatize their films and reveal something about the characters in them . in spite of its own score  a combination of antonio vivaldi  carl off and bernard hoffer   circle of two never succeeds in doing that .  br    br   in conclusion  the idea of a forbidden love story between an elder painter and a teenage girl is a good one  but its execution in circle of two is terrible . in many ways  it is a shame that a controversial  lolita  type story  which most film directors for understandable reasons would prefer to avoid  did not have receive more intelligent treatment that a script which actors would have gladly rehearsed was not written that actors  who were committed to their part or had the talent to make their characters real  could not be found and that the director jules dassin  who did so much better with films like rififi and topkapi  did not have to will to put his foot down and say   before we do any filming  we must rethink the love story and revamp the script .  the only silver lining is that one day an intelligent film about an elder painter and a teenager girl falling in love may one day be made . if such a film ever appears  this it will be surely spark controversy  debate and questions for many years to come .  
famous for introducing the world to hedy lamarr and full frontal nudity  but it  s oh so much more . in fact  this is one of the pinnacles of cinematic poetry  up there with some of the seminal works of     s art cinema  in the same prestigious group as under the roofs of paris  tabu  olympia  and even l  atalante . it  s nearly a silent  relying mostly on its miraculous images  and also its fantastic  symphonic score by giuseppe becce . it  s a masterpiece of cinematography and music  yes  and also of editing  direction  writing  and acting . a good    of the film moves along perfectly . machat seems an expert at using motifs . perhaps not as subtle as it could be  and perhaps a bit overused  but the appearances of objects like insects  lights  and horses carry the story forward beautifully . the small snatches of dialogue are  thankfully  unintrusive . they don  t jar as much as one would imagine . the final bit is odd  to say the least . reminiscent of russian silents  we have a montage of workers . this barely makes sense in the course of the narrative  but it  s so gorgeously done that i refuse to harp too much on that flaw . ecstasy is a film that is desperately in need of rediscovery . it belongs amongst the best films ever made .  
it is hard to describe this film and one wants to tried hard not to dismiss it too quickly because you have a feeling that this might just be the perfect film for some   years old girl . . .  br    br   this film has a nice concept  the modern version of sleeping beauty with a twist . it has some rather dreamy shots and some nice sketches of the young boy relationship with his single working mother and his schoolmate . . . a nice start you might say  but then it got a bit greedy  very greedy  it tries to be a science fiction  a drama  a thriller  a possible romantic love story  fairy tale  a comedy and everything under the sun . the result just left the audience feeling rather inadequate . for example  the scene when the girl  played by risa goto  finally woken by his  yuki kohara  kiss  instead of being romantic  it try  s to be scary in order to make us laugh afterwards . . . it is a cheap trick  because it ruin all the anticipation and emotion which it was trying to build for the better half of the film .  br    br   i have not read the original story the film is base on  it is the well  known work by the comic  book artist osamu tezuka is famous with his intriguing and intricate stories  i wonder if all the problems exsist in the original story or did it occur in the adaption  it is rather illogical even for someone who is used to the  fussy logic  of those japanese comic  book . for instance  how did yuki kohara  s character manage to get to the hospital in an instant  when its suppose to be a long bus  ride away  to run away risa goto  s character in front of the tv cameras right after he saw her live interview on the television   br    br   there are also some scenes that is directly copied  very uncreative   from other films and they all seem rather pointlessly annoying ie . the famous  the lion mouth has caugh my hand  scene from  the  roman holiday   br    br   the film tries to be everything but ends up being nothing . . . it fails to be a fairy tale and it did not have enough jokes to be a comedy . . . and strangely there are some scenes that even seem like an unintentional  ghost  movie . nevertheless  one should give it credit that it has managed to caputured some of the sentiment of the japanese teenager .  br    br   it is by watching this film i have a feeling that there might be some films that should have come with a warning label that said  this film might only be suitable for person under the   of age   it would have definitly been on the poster of this film .  br    br    
this film could have been a silent movie it certainly has the feel of one . i was extremely  extremely lucky to see this very rare version of this film . extase  is a  symphony of love   and transcends all language versions . french  which is the ultimate romantic language  seems quite suitable for this very sensual and lyrical version . a young hedy lamarr lights up the screen  in this film which  in a way is almost like a sex fantasy but definitely far from being pornographic . tech qualities may have been a little crude but that does not detract from the magical spell this film exudes . many lovers of early cinema  would absolutely adore this film .  
i love dracula but this movie was a complete disappointment  i remember lee from other dracula films from when i was younger  and i thought he was great  but this movie was really bad . i don  t know if it was my youth that fooled me into believing lee was the ultimate dracula  with style  looks  attraction and the evil underneath that . or maybe it was just this film that disappointed me .  br    br   but can you imagine dracula with an snobbish english accent and the body language to go along with it  do you like when a plot contains unrealistic choices by the characters and is boring and lacks any kind of tension . .  then this is a movie for you   br    br   otherwise  don  t see it  i only gave it a  because somehow i managed to stay awake during the whole movie .  br    br   sorry but if you liked this movie then you must have been sleep deprived and home alone in a dark room with lots of unwatched space behind you . maybe alone in your parents house or in a strangers home . cause not even the characters in this flick seemed afraid  and i think that sums up the whole thing   br    br   or maybe you like this film because of it  s place in dracula cinema history  perhaps being fascinated by how the dracula story has evolved from nosferatu to what it is today . cause as movie it isn  t that appealing  it doesn  t pull you in to the suggestive mystery that for me make the vampyre myth so fascinating .  br    br   and furthermore it has so much of that tacky   ies feel about it . the scenery looks like cheap theatre . and i don  t say that rejecting everything made in the   ies . cause i can love old film as well as new .  
ecstasy        usa      starring hedy lamarr  as hedy kiesler   br    br   the world  s first glimpse of a   year  old hedy lamarr occurs in the early moments of this      s treasure as she sweeps across the screen in an angelic wedding gown . this was to be the start of a legendary career . this was our glorious introduction to the most beautiful woman ever to grace the silver screen .  br    br   it is eva  s  lamarr  wedding night and her older husband seems uninterested in her romantic advances . she retreats to the lonely bed and  in a beautiful scene  she fiddles with her wedding ring as the realization of her marital mistake overcomes her . the husband seems more interested in neatness and order than he does in love . gustav machaty uses gorgeous camera angles and pristine shot framing to capture lamarr  s considerable talent and beauty . with no words spoken in the early part of the film  she is able to grasp our sympathy  our hearts and our support . it is that combination that prepared the      s audiences for what they were about to see as the film unfolded .  ecstasy  was considered shocking for its time . . . some thought it to be scandalous .  br    br   she returns home to her father  s estate and files for divorce . the next day  she wakes with a complete sense of freedom and happiness . she just has to go outside and feel the freedom of the countryside and fresh air . eva goes for a horseback ride and happens across a beautiful lake . and in one of the most famous scenes in film history  hedy lamarr became the first person to ever appear nude in a major film . her frolic in the woods and her skinny  dipping adventure in the lake were legendarily scandalous . but the audiences couldn  t stay away . as with many of today  s movies  the controversy made it a must  see film .  br    br   eva  s mischievous adventure introduces her to a handsome young man who helps her find her horse  who had run off with her clothes . after an awkward meeting  they eventually fall for each other . their first romantic rendezvous was almost as controversial as the nude scene  with its blatant waves of eroticism . however  machaty does beautiful work in these romantic moments . machaty creates one delightful moment  when eva literally seems to sink into her new lover  using a gorgeous early camera trick .  br    br   it cannot be overstated how brave this performance was on lamarr  s part . many might have presumed it was career suicide . instead  it gained her worldwide fame and caught the eye louis b mayer  who signed her to a contract with mgm . there are some truly erotic moments in this film  even by today  s raunchy standards . it is impossible to imagine how they were received in the      s . again  machaty was very clever with his imagery  leaving a lot to the imagination . but we all understand very well what we are seeing and it is supremely well done .  br    br   the meeting of eva  s former husband and her current lover is perhaps inevitable . however  the consequences of that meeting are not . the film takes a few unexpected turns in its final act and it all makes for a great story and a lovely debut on the grand stage of movie stardom for hedy lamarr .  br    br   i highly recommend this once controversial  now tame film and urge you to seek it out in its restored form on dvd . it is easily worthwhile  if only for the pleasure of seeing hedy lamarr . but the story is compelling too and the direction is ahead of its time .  ecstasy  is a memorable early treasure .  br    br   www . tccandler . com  tc candler  s movie reviews     
that  s the question you have to ask yourself when you watch this movie  what was the point   this movie was nothing but an hour and a half of confusion with completely unlikable people  not going to use the word actors  and a script that you could tell didn  t exist .  br    br   one of the things that made me laugh the most about this movie was how it said  victorian story written by  which means that there was actually a script to that part of the story . the entire victorian section had no dialogue  and was just comprised of shots of a guy staring at a girl and vice versa . making that part of the movie as scripted as a camera left on at a train station .  br    br   ok  time for the story . it starts out with a guy sitting in a chair never once getting out of it . oh blocking  who needs you  these newspeople come to his house and practically beg him to tell this story about these dead girls . so he starts off the story in victorian times . and here  s how the scene goes  guy and girl are in a field . pretty music starts to play   guy stares at girl   girl stares at guy   guy stares at girl  cut back to movie . that  s pretty much all that happens for about half the movie .  br    br   the rest of the film is incredibly awkward dialogue about a bunch of models wanting to buy an apartment . so this real estate agent shows them one and when i say the dialogue is awkward i mean  if it were a dancer it would trip during the macarena . none of the characters in this movie are likable . the models are incredibly irritating  the victorian people don  t talk  and the guy telling the story has the personality of a sack of onions . so eventually all the girls get killed off . and by killed off  i mean drug offscreen . ooh . you showed one death  and by death i mean holding her face till they put the blood makeup on  awesome .  br    br   how this guy even knows this story baffles me . he says it  s because he saw it . but how  there was no guy in that apartment  the door was locked shut with no way out  the windows were attached to a fire escape that was too rotten to work  how the hell did he see all that  oh plot holes . we do love you . so the movie finishes up with the newswoman saying  i think you made it up . you  re wasting our time  despite the fact that she begged him for the interview in the first place . whatever . this movie was stupid  pointless  and made no sense with a lot of plot holes . i could go on and on about this movie  but i don  t see the need . i  d much rather spend my time doing something uselful . like widdle something .  hell  s threshold  more belongs in purgatory with  dumb models . out of   .  
polanski returns to the themes of solitude and madness which he explored to such tremendous effect in repulsion and rosemary  s baby  in the tenant .  br    br   the atmosphere is trademark polanski  dark  brooding  unnerving  but there is something awkward about this movie and i am not sure whether or not it is deliberate .  br    br   sven nykvist  who was responsible for some of bergman  s most beautiful films  doesn  t quite do himself justice here . as his name was one of the things which really attracted me to this movie  i was a little disappointed in how few instances of truly impressive cinematography are in the film .  br    br   the only thing that really lets the movie down is the acting . polanski is certainly not a bad actor  but he seems to have bitten off more than he can chew with the difficult role of trelkovsky . some of the supporting cast are great  notably melvyn douglas as the landlord and shelley winters as the concierge  but others are weak and miscast . it is also hard to get past the fact that all these supposed parisians have american accents .  br    br   quite unexpectedly  there are some fine moments of dark comedy in the film . anyone who has seen the fearless vampire killers knows that polanski is certainly a good comedic actor . however  there are moments when it slips dangerously close to being a parody of itself . trelkovsky  s sudden  and somewhat unexplained   transformation  is more likely to raise giggles than eyebrows  which detracts from what should have been a powerful moment in his psycho  dramatic journey .  br    br   all in all  the tenant is an enjoyable and intriguing experience  if a little too languorous for its own good . there  s a handful of exceptionally chilling moments and a consistently uncomfortable and foreboding atmosphere but this film  while being very good  does not quite hit the mark as successfully as it could have .  br    br   alas  at the end of the day  an  okay  polanski movie is still better than most other  good  movies . definitely worth a watch  just don  t expect to be blown away .  
wow . . . ok . so  after reading the little feud on here  i decided i had to see this movie for myself . this movie is horrible . i stopped watching it . i strongly recommend cleaning a closet instead of watching this movie  you  ll be more spooked  entertained .  br    br   it  s low budget with bad acting .  br    br   whoever is giving this movie   s is completely incorrect and should be disregarded .  br    br   i am in no way connected to any of the other reviewers .  br    br   simply put  this movie is not worth watching .  br    br   very  very bad movie .  
  the tenant  is roman polanski  s greatest film imo . and i love  chinatown   but this one is so much more original and unconventional and downright creepy . it  s also a great black comedy . some people i have shown this film to have been very disturbed by it afterwards so be forewarned it does affect some people that way . polanski does a great job acting the lead role in  the tenant  as well as directing it .  
a group of models is seeking an apartment to live in  and are shown one by a local real estate agent . unknown to the models and the agent  however  is that  hell  s threshold  is in the apartment and when crossed  the demon  dethman  is summoned to kill all those in his path . the story is told by sam bishop  a journalist who was accused of the murders .  br    br   although i am a champion of low budget  microbudget  and independent films  i cannot praise this movie . the creators take pride in their    hour shooting schedule and at least one actor boasts on the dvd of his acting prowess  but i cannot wrap my head around this . why make a film in   hours if an extra one or two hours of editing would make all the difference  and why pride yourself on acting that is poor  nonsensical and results in the bad delivery of a handful of lines   br    br   through much of the film  the models are being shown parts of an apartment by a real estate agent . the dialog is clearly ad  libbed because no scriptwriter could come up with such empty diction . the agent  also  clearly knows nothing about housing . . . she focuses on aspects of a home that no one could care about  incorrectly explains the heat source  didn  t she see the radiator   and says the vermin problem will be solved when they call  the terminator  . please  write a script   some deviation is fine  but this was a mess .  br    br   and why were the girls moving in models  their careers had no point in the plot  and this seems like a forced situation . at one point  an actress breaks character and says something to the effect of  dude  they  re going to be  upset   which sounded more natural than any other line  though out of place because of the other bad dialog .  br    br   the demon made no sense . i appreciated the attempt to explain how  hell  s threshold  jumps to random places on earth  including apartment fireplaces   but why not explain where the demon came from  his background involves a man whose love is killed by another man . how does this make you a demon   also  why did we need all these victorian flashbacks with no dialog and glances across a field  it was overdone .   br    br   the dramatic pauses between lines was awful . the sam bishop character was by far the worst  with the interviewer not far behind . does every question require a pause  a funny face and a response . . . followed by a pause  a funny face and a response  i was so frustrated . to me  the only point was to drag the time out . . . but i  d rather have thirty minutes of good delivery than an hour of horrible delivery  and then more time is wasted by rolling through the same credits twice  .  br    br   who was the sam bishop character  anyway  allegedly he  saw  all this and was accused of killing the girls  but yet at no point was he ever in the part of the tale with the girls . so how did he see them  and if he didn  t  how did he know dethman killed them  and if he didn  t see dethman  how does he know dethman is the spirit of apostoles  i was so lost . . . was there even an outline for a plot when this was written   br    br   the only part i found enjoyable in this movie was a scene with one of the models in the bathroom . not that it was really important or anything  but it was the only break from boredom i was given . i wonder what director felix diaz was thinking . his music is very good  see the dvd behind the scenes for his impromptu playing   but i wonder about his movie making skills . although  by far the best part of the dvd was the trailer for his  superhero excelsior   the trailer alone was better than this entire waste of time  .  br    br   i am sorry i have to be so harsh . i  d like to think that this movie was a test of what can be done in   hours or maybe just an experiment for fun and the idea was never to make a quality film . but if  superhero excelsior  is any indication  diaz can make quality . . . so why did he choose to avoid that here  perhaps the world will never know .  
  le locataire    the tenant   is without a doubt one of the most important horror movies ever made . polanski stars as a trelkovsky  a timid file clerk living in paris  who answers an advertisement for an apartment  only to find that the previous tenant attempted suicide by leaping from the apartment window . trelkovsky is compelled to visit her in the hospital and there he meets stella  isabelle adjani  . trelkovsky immediately moves in when the previous tenant dies and  at first  is quite pleased with having found such a nice apartment . his happiness is soon replaced by waves of paranoia as he becomes increasingly suspicious of his neighbours  who seem to be trying to provoke trelkovsky into repeating the previous tenant  s suicide . this film is great . polanski manages to create a surreal atmosphere of dread and paranoia . plenty of brilliant moments such as the classic scene where trelkovsky discovers the previous tenant  s tooth in a hole in the wall  or the fever dream where he wanders into the building  s bathroom to find the walls covered with hieroglyphics . the photography by sven nykvist is truly beautiful .  the tenant  is a neglected gem . it may be difficult to track down  but it is more than worth the effort .  
i will say that at least the movie makes sense  but it  s bad . the acting for the most part is not good  i think only sky showed any promise  and you feel awkward watching it . all of the scenes that should be meaningful are really shallow  like when ng comes out to her parents . there are a lot of corny details  like the kanji tattoo on the sky  s shoulder  the magnets on the girls  refrigerator and the god awful decor at the sets . . . and the music . . . and clothes . . and everything . real life has never been like this movie . the boy says at one point  i  m gay  not corny .  and not aware . even the commentary is awful  i turned it off after ng talks about how she was weirded out playing a lesbian .  
i can understand how fans of filmmaker roman polanski could love this movie  and i could understand how some could totally hate it  ebert was one of the few who couldn  t understand why people weren  t running out of the theater  . after a first viewing  i  m not sure i could fall into either category  however as someone who can  t get enough of kafka and bizarre dark comedies of paranoia the tenant is effective enough for its running time . or maybe not  this is one of those cases where it might have been more of a masterwork if it were a half  hour twilight zone episode  with serling delivering the coda as terkovsky  or whomever it might be     writhes in his bed in bandages . it  s very similar in the treatment of the doomed protagonist as repulsion was  however it could be argued that there was more ambiguity  more of a sense of the surreal coming out through a sustained disintegration of character and location  and  quite frankly  a better lead performance  than the tenant .  br    br   as it stands  the tenant does have an intriguing premise  the kind that one doesn  t tire telling about to other people polanski is a polish migr to paris who takes an apartment that was most recently acquired by simone choule  who jumped to her near death out of the window and died soon after . but the other tenants are conservative to the max in terms of noise after a saturday night at terkovsky  s with a few friends  there are complaints of too much noise . it won  t happen again  polanski  s good  natured but slightly nervous tenant says  but there is no peace even in moving a cabinet or a chair . soon complaints get registered against another tenant  but from him  can he register complaints  this is a case of not so much mistaken identity but of there being a lack of peace of mind with oneself and the surrounding people . as the downward spiral goes on  polanski ratchets up tension  and  dare i say  black  comedic laughs  by showing terkovsky in the midst of a horrible dream  one of polanski  s strongest scenes from the period  and in finding teeth in the wall  not to mention the bathroom across the way  which  i might add  is always a cinematic lynch  pin of horror and surreal madness  .  br    br   but somehow  the film never really feels all that significant aside from its excessive design as a would  be mind  f machine  with terkovsky  s tenants only seeming to not be what they seem for a little while there  s not as much suspense when finding out that they really aren  t out to get him  which makes the paranoia more self  fulfilling . at least once or twice i thought to myself as well  why did polanski take the title role for himself   it  s not that he  s at all a bad actor  and he has appeared in several films and plays that aren  t of his own direction . but aside from being great at looking awkward and tense  like in the church  or in his moments of sort of flipping out when thinking that they really are out to get him to kill himself  his transformation is less creepy than tongue  in  cheek  a test of himself to see if he can pull it off  which he doesn  t entirely do . despite polanski working at it well to look like the meek and frazzled terkovsky  i could see at least a few other actors who could pull it off with more subtlety and affecting personality . by the time one sees him in drag  it goes between cringe  worthy and true camp  particularly when he goes for the double  climax at the end  which  of course  is of little surprise  .  br    br   and yet there is pleasure for the film  buff and polanski fan to see the supporting cast try and dig into the much more ambiguous characters  winters and douglas do this the best  even as they have to strain through limited characters   and the unexpected moments like polanski and adjani getting hot and heavy during a bruce lee movie  or when he gets really drunk  or in one almost random scene where he slaps a kid near a fountain  are rather brilliant in and of themselves . it  s a very good film  and one that could maybe stick my attention up when on too many coffees after midnight . but an essential film  not exactly .  
saw it at the philadelphia gay and lesbian film fest .  br    br   what can i say  against my better judgment  i liked it  but it seemed to me that that acting was a little . . . weak  mostly i noticed this from the family of the teen boy  . i mean  the script wasn  t stellar to begin with  but the actors didn  t make me believe the relationships .  br    br   the plot is also predictable .  br    br   nonethelss  i liked it . the characters are likable  and the plot is not challenging or upsetting . it  s sweet  the characters care about each other  and i don  t count it as fifty minutes ill  spent .  br    br   but i don  t recommend it .  
this was my second time watching the film  via the french  language version as opposed to the first  which was dubbed in italian  and i feel that it improves on subsequent viewings .  br    br   a compelling if slowly built  up character study that  s beautifully shot and with the parisian settings being equally impressive . in the long run  it  s not top  grade polanski and i would rank it at number  in his filmography but it  s still a confident mix of subtle chills and  surprisingly  often broad comedy . it also features a fine cast  all of whom are in good form  but especially isabelle adjani  melvyn douglas and jo van fleet .  br    br   even so  i  m a bit baffled by the sudden compulsion for trelkovsky to  change  into the previous tenant apart from the owner of the caf opposite the apartment building  where he is given whatever simone used to have without asking him if he wished any different  there is little to indicate  as far as i could discern  anyway  that this is what everybody wanted of him  okay  so he found simone  s belongings still lying in the apartment but what exactly drove him to wear her dresses and make himself up as her  even if he apparently started doing this unconsciously   following his nightmarish visions in the bathroom  the last section of the film  where adjani all but disappears  is almost anti  climactic  especially the scene where the landlord and the other tenants witness his attempted suicide as if it were a night at the opera  a concept which had already been used   years earlier by jean cocteau in the blood of a poet         br    br   the ending  then  is at once predictable and unresolved just what made the two occupants of this particular apartment jump out of the window    i remember this factor bugging me on first viewing as well  and i  m sorry to say it  s no clearer now  mind you  the film  s first two  thirds are pretty solid but i wish that polanski had been less reliant on obscure plot points throughout .  
watching floored by love one thought comes almost immediately to mind   my god this looks like a really bad sitcom .  sure enough  it turns out that fbl is a pilot for a series that may start this fall in canada  poor poor canada .  br    br   cara  shirley ng  and janet  natalie sky  are a lesbian couple living in vancouver . janet has come out to her mother already but cara  s parents are still in the dark about their daughter  s homosexuality . the pressure is on to out herself though when the parents come from malaysia for her younger brother  s wedding . that same week british columbia legalizes gay marriage . with janet wanting to wed  cara has to decide whether or not to tell her conservative chinese parents that  s she  s gay . will she  would she  could she  cara  s situation is contrasted with that of jesse  trent millar  . jesse has just declared his homosexuality to the world at the age of fourteen . his biological father daniel  andrew mcilroy  is coming for a visit soon . his stepfather norman  michael robinson  fears that his chances of finally being fully accepted by jesse are harmed by the fact that daniel is gay and he is not . will dialing       makeover help   br    br   the dialogue and delivery come straight out of a lesser      s program along with the overdone physical emoting . the full house  style melodrama is enough to make you wince from time to time and the attempts at comedy largely fail . mcilroy  millar  sky are the only performers that approach competency in this miscalculation but given the material they have to work with  it  s no surprise that none impress . it  s possible that the campiness was purposeful . it often seems like there is no way the performers are really that bad  that they must be trying to mimic the inferior sitcoms of days yore . if this is indeed the case than this review should probably be rewritten . the rewrite would focus on floored by love being a poor and ineffective send  up of old sitcoms .  br    br   writer  director desiree lim has put together a by  the  numbers bland  fest that  s entirely forgettable . there was a time when merely having an openly homosexual protagonist was enough to make a mark on the screen . that time is gone . in this day we need quality as well .  
a good film with   for its time   an intense  sprawling  rather dark story somewhat reminiscent of john ford  s  the searchers  though not so brutal . the story starts fast and doesn  t let up  with several scenes of really good dialog between  stewart  s  jeff webster  ronda castle and sheriff gannon . this film is in some ways reminiscent of  bend of the river         also a mann  stewart work  but i found it far less sentimental and more interesting . there are a few caveats a too  quickly wrapped up  and rather sentimental  ending    year  old corrine calvert is not very convincing as a naive french teenager  and of course the film takes place in the mythic west  a land of fable where the real laws of nations and physics don  t apply . but these are trivial concerns . james stewart is surprisingly good as a dark  disengaged man who thinks he cares for no one but himself  and the mountain scenery can  t be beat . a fine western costume drama .  
i saw this film at the london premiere  and i have to say  i didn  t expect much  but i did expect something that was at least mildly entertaining .  br    br   the original  basic instinct  was no great film and is still something of a  smut classic  but it was entertaining . i can recall countless times flipping through channels on tv on a late friday or saturday night having come across the movie and finding myself beginning to actually pay attention to it .  br    br   however  this lame  brain  waaay  belated sequel has nothing . is sharon stone still gorgeous  well  let  s put it this way   for a    year  old  she  s pretty hot . is she as beautiful as she was in the original  no . she also has clearly had plastic surgery on her face  and her haircut in this movie is somewhat unappealing . she doesn  t look as soft or genuine or innocent as she did in the original   which is sort of the whole point of being an evil seductress  and whatnot .  br    br   the rest of the performances range from bad to terrible   and michael caton  jones  a typically safe director   one who doesn  t always do great work but manages to make worthwhile movies  has officially delivered his first true turkey a movie so bad people were laughing at certain moments that were intended to be serious .  br    br   i hear the film went through multiple editing sessions  and it  s very clear from the start . nothing makes much sense . the whole plot is a cosmic mess and the ending   oh my  talk about stupid and unbelievable .  still predictable  though .  i saw  gigli   i saw  son of the mask    and although i  m not looking to  smear  this film  i can say with my own authority  which you don  t have to agree with at all  mind you  that i prefer both those films over this catastrophic failure .  br    br   by the way  stone left five minutes before the movie began and people in the theater began throwing things at the screen during a particularly outrageous and insulting scene inside an orgy  type nightclub .  br    br    basic instinct     basically  it stinks  too .  
at first i wasn  t sure if i wanted to watch this movie when it came up on my guide so i looked it up on imdb and thought the cover looked pretty cool so i thought i would give it a try expecting a movie like elephant .  br    br   once i got past the fact that i am supposed to dislike the alicia character played excellently by busy phillips  i realized what a good job this movie was doing toward setting up the relationship between alicia and deanna . alicia is so mean to deanna played by erika christensen almost throughout the entire movie but we eventually find out that they despite being polar opposites they have one thing in common besides being present at the shooting . they share loneliness and to what extent is revealed as the film progresses .  br    br   i  ve just got to say how much i loved this movie and was glad to see all of the positive comments about it . i couldn  t even get through elephant because it just seemed to be exploiting the columbine tragedy . this movie on the other hand was compelling and realistic . busy phillips acting is off the chain    that is a good thing and i would love to see her progress into some more mature roles .  
there are only two movies i would give a     to  this stinker and  the man who fell to earth .  i remember seeing protocol at a theater in the early   s when i was in high school . the script is insulting to anyone  including a high school student  s  intelligence . it completely lost me with the  hillarious  gag of someone getting shot in the butt . goldie hawn is supposed to be charming but comes across as vapid and moronic . then there are offensive stereotypes about arabs  followed by goldie winning over everyone by spouting populist dribble . the acting was terrible  including goldie hawn  s . i could not stand to see another movie she was in until imo she redeemed herself in everyone says i love you . this is the kind of movie you make if you want to put no effort into screenplay writing . the worst .  
this is my kind of film . i am fascinated by strange psychotic nightmares and this movie is just that . but it is also a dark comedy . while i see it mostly as a horror  thriller  there will be others who might see it as a black dramatic comedy .  br    br   but either way  it is a fascinating descent into madness . the ending caught me off guard  but what an ending  it leaves the viewer a lot to think about .  br    br   powerful performances  a complex and detailed plot  a great script filled with dread and dashes of humor  and an eerie atmosphere make this a film worth watching .  br    br   personally  i think that i will need to watch this several more times to pick up and understand all the subtleties that are within . but it is such a film that it will be a pleasure and not a chore so to do .  
fulci experiments with sci fi and fails . usually in his non horror films we still get sum great gore  but not here . sum very funny scenes like when the prisinors are forced to hold onto a bar for   minutes and if they drop they are electecuted . the guy falls and and has some kind of fit on the floor for about two minutes until his friends who were struggling to hold on anyway lift him off the floor . the city is an obvious model but not a bad one . and the end explosion is at best laughable . and dont get me started on the terrible battle scenes .  br    br        
one thing i  m sure everyone who has seen this film will agree on is that it is very creepy . the other films in polanski  s unofficial trilogy are creepy too  but they are all different in what makes them creepy  but they all roughly deal with the same thing  they all deal with the mind . definitely the staring people are very creepy  each of them sent shivers down my spine that made me incapable of sitting still . again  if you have seen the other two films mentioned  i  m sure you  ll find this quite creepy  because you begin to expect typical polanski traits that you think you have caught onto  he is aware of this and will keep teasing you with simple things  personally every time trelkovsky would slowly turn around i would be bracing myself for a jump  maybe that  s just me  but it felt intended to do that  though it was quite subtle  there is no build up of the music in those moments .  br    br   the acting in this was pretty good  mostly that from polanski of course  the other characters in the film don  t have all that much time to outshine the lead . polanski really proves himself as an all  round great filmmaker  he not only can direct and write great films  but he can actually act too . i don  t think there is any other better person who could have pulled off the trelkovsky character  polanski settled right on in perfectly . i like seeing films where the director is also apart of the main cast  to me it really highlights their fantastic versatility and talent  which i respect greatly .  br    br   one thing i didn  t like about this film is how it was done in english . for those who don  t know  this is a french film  american financed  and as well to make it more commercially successful it was mostly done in english . there are parts which it is very obvious there has been dubbing  and i don  t know why it is  but    of the time when there is a dub they get the complete wrong person to do the dub . there is a women in the film who when she speaks it  s obvious it  s a dub  but they got the most annoying person to do the voice  over  it was seriously pain to my ears to hear her speak  she had the loudest high pitch voice i  ve heard in a while  it almost seemed fake  but i don  t see what the point was  she was a rather small character . i honestly would of preferred if they just left it as it was filmed  parts of it in french and parts of it in english  because the dubbing in this film was a pain and was not near  two completely different films  i know  the high standard of another film that did a similar thing  which was  the good  the bad and the ugly . i realise it  s not a big problem  just when you do realise it  it gets annoying  but i  m sure you won  t sit there the long trying to lip read what they are actually saying  regardless if you know french .  br    br   whats so great about polanski is that he will let you think you know him  that you know his style  which in some aspects you do  but really  you can  t see whats behind that corner . this film is a lot more open to interpretation than the other two films mentioned  which i think really strengthens this one in particular . i personally feel this is the best of the three  i  m unsure which comes next  but they are all relatively close in their level of greatness . the ending is fantastic  it is so easy to dwindle on it for a long time to come and get nowhere . i choose not to think to much on it  just to have my personal opinion and leave it at that .  br    br   i  ve rambled on  and i haven  t really given any insight on what makes this film so great  i don  t think  so i  ll quickly do it here . if you liked repulsion and  or rosemary  s baby  i guarantee you will enjoy this film to say the least . for those who are too unfortunate to have seen either then i recommend you check this film out if your looking for something that is quite a creepy film that is quite intelligent  particularly the end  as well if your looking for something that deals with the mind  paranoia even  though that is better fitted under repulsion .  
i only watched this because it was directed by lucio fulci and featured claudio cassinelli  an actor i like . i was certainly disappointed .  br    br   the idea that condemned prisoners would fight to the death for tv ratings has been overdone with rollerball  logan  s run  blade runner  and the new film  death race  which will certainly suck me in because it stars jason statham .  br    br   this was just a bore for the most part . the  kill bike  action was ridiculous . the  training  was a snooze  fest . it just never grabbed me and made me want to care about anyone  including  dallas  star jared martin or fred williamson .  br    br   pick one of the others mentioned and you  ll be better off .  
roman polanski plays trelkovsky who rents an apartment in france . the previous tenant is in a hospital after a suicide attempt . he goes to see her there where he also meets stella  isabelle adjani   the friend of simone . he and stella become pretty close . later simone dies . trelkovsky begins to think the landlord and the neighbors are trying to change him into simone so that eventually he would also jump out of the window . le locataire  the tenant  from     is the last film of polanski  s apartment trilogy . the previous ones were repulsion and rosemary  s baby . roman polanski does not do good job only as the director but his acting is also superb . isabelle adjani with her big glasses is wonderful . the landlord  monsieur zy is played by the great melvyn douglas . jo van fleet plays madame dioz . the fantastic shelley winters is the concierge . the tenant is something very scary from time to time . it gives a lot of that psychological scare . this film is not the easiest one to understand or explain but that makes it all so fascinating .  
  pandemonium  is a horror movie spoof that comes off more stupid than funny . believe me when i tell you  i love comedies . especially comedy spoofs .  airplane    the naked gun  trilogy   blazing saddles    high anxiety   and  spaceballs  are some of my favorite comedies that spoof a particular genre .  pandemonium  is not up there with those films . most of the scenes in this movie had me sitting there in stunned silence because the movie wasn  t all that funny . there are a few laughs in the film  but when you watch a comedy  you expect to laugh a lot more than a few times and that  s all this film has going for it . geez   scream  had more laughs than this film and that was more of a horror film . how bizarre is that   br    br        out of four   
here is the example of a film that was not well received when it was made  but whose standing seems to be raising in time .  the tenant  is quite an interesting work by polanski  one of the first of his european exile . it is set in paris  and as in so many other exile films the city  its streets  the seine and especially the building where the action takes place play an important role . it is just that polanski chooses his principal character not to be an american  as in  frantic  for example  but a pole  as himself was when going west . there is actually a lot of personal commentary in this film  made at what must have been a time of crisis in the director  s life  and the fact that he decided to play the lead role  and does it masterfully  may also be seen as some kind of exorcism .  br    br   it  s in a way a circular story . the hero named trelkovsky rents an apartment in old parisian building  inhabited by what seem to be first a well assorted team of grumpy old or just ridiculous neighbors . the previous tenant tried to commit suicide by jumping out of the window of the flat  and trelkovsky has just the time to visit her in the hospital before she dies and meet there her young and beautiful friend stella  a spectacled isabelle adjani in her first role after truffaut  s  l  histoire d  adele h .   . soon the neighbors do not seem to be what they are  it  s a conspiracy to make him crazy  or to make him enter the life and role of the dead girl . he fights  tries to run  enters the game and ends by entering the circle and slowly becoming her . the circle is closed .  br    br   it  s not the most believable story we may have seen or heard  but the strength of the film does not reside in the story but in the details of the psychology  in the slow degradation of the mental state of the hero  in the permanent balancing game between reality and delusion . to a certain extent it is not what happens on the screen that matters  but how it happens  reminding the classical  knife in the water  made more than a decade before  at the end of the polish period of polanski . there are many details that are never explained  but then this is how mystery films must be and this is actually how life is sometimes . the feeling of claustrophobia slowly contaminates the viewer . unfortunately some of the graphical details in the last part of the film are not too well executed and the english spoken dialogs  the film was made in english  almost neutralize the overall atmosphere . however  waiting for the final punch scene is very worth the patience .  br    br   it  s not the best film that polanski made  yet has many good parts  it shows the hand and the style of the director  and was a significant step in the building of his career .  
this is pretty funny .  saturday the   th   a  . . . great work . . . i laughed every minute of the movie . . . this is like  scary movie  for the      s . great student bodies  styled gags . . .  br    br   too bad this isn  t on video . . . but you can still watch it on flix . . .  
if you liked roman polanski  s  repulsion   you should probably check out  the tenant  since it  s a similar concept  just with polanski stepping in and playing the schizophrenic wacko . this is actually one of my favorites of his movies  second  after  rosemary  s baby   of course  and is a straight forward journey into the mental collapse of a man who moves into the former apartment of a suicide victim . the other residents of the building are all flaky and sticklers on keeping the noise level down  even the slightest  titter  becomes a big deal and polanski  who stars  becomes increasingly paranoid and succumbs to his loony hallucinations further and further as the film carries on . it gets to the point where he is dressing and acting like the former tenant and you realize it  s only a matter of time before he decides tor re  enact her fatal leap out the window . . . the film is a bit slow and dawdling for a while  but if you have ever seen a roman polanski movie  you should know it  s going to end with a bang and this flick doesn  t disappoint . it  s also best if you don  t question the intricacies of the premise and just take it as a descent into madness  because it  s pretty trippy surreal at times . polanski is very good as the timid  deranged resident who  somehow  attracts the ever illustrious isabelle adjani . we also get to see him running around in drag  which is disturbing and hilarious all at the same time  damn  he makes for one ugly chick  so  polanski fans  who can actually look past his thirty year  old pedophile charges  should enjoy  the tenant  as an entertaining psychological head  trip . . .  
i  ve heard about this movie for many years  and finally got a chance to see it . a massive murdering of cheerleaders back in     and     eventually cause a cheerleading camp to close up . fast forward to      and bambi  a former student  opens it back up with new recruits  among them candy  carol kane   glenn  judge reinhold   and sandy  debralee scott  . one by one  they are murdered by the killer  until only one remains . it is then when we find out who did it and why .  br    br   also in the movie are tom smothers doing a terrible accent as a canadian mountie  and paul reubens doing his pee  wee herman schtick . the plot overall isn  t very well developed  and quite lame  but some funny scenes do occur  namely the house of bad pies and the strip poker scene . the ending seems like it  s thrown together  which is a shame .  br    br   overall  good for about ten or fifteen minutes total  the rest you can just fast forward through . maybe catch it on tv  but it  s not worth buying .  
this oddity from roman polanski clearly shows where his preoccupations lay at the time he made it . polanski himself plays a timid man who rents a parisian apartment where the previous tenant committed suicide . he becomes obsessed with discovering what led her to it  to the point that he  s dressing in drag and reenacting events the way they might have unfolded . the movie  s unsettling to a point  and it has that atmosphere of creepy dread that polanski excels at  but it comes off too much as a rehash of  rosemary  s baby  and  repulsion   two other better polanski films that deal with the eerie goings on in moody apartments .  br    br   but as for the preoccupation . . . . unless i  m reading too much into the film  i have to believe that this was polanksi  s reaction to the feelings of persecution he felt at being labeled a sexual pervert and exiled from america . not making a judgement about him one way or the other myself  but it  s hard to deny the evidence of that in the movie itself .  br    br   grade b  
i was very disappointed with this film . i expected more of a thelma and louise female  buddy crime movie . instead  the women prison escapees in this flick  had no sense of loyalty to one another . they were an extremely vulgar pack of hyenas  who beat each other up  double  crossed each other  and even committed lesbian rape against other women in the film .  br    br   instead of being shrewed thieves  who stuck together to plan their escape and find the hidden stash of money  the women escapees were too selfish and vicious  to trust each other for long . these women weren  t liberated in a positive sense . they just ended up being a bunch of loose  cannons  incapable of respect for themselves  or each other . if you like   s female crime caper films  skip this bomb  and see the great texas dynamite chase  which stars claudia jennings and jocelyn jones .  
this is a very difficult movie  and it  s almost impossible to get a handle on what  s going on . at first it seems to be a rather pedestrian movie about a guy  trelkovsky  who needs an apartment and rather crassly invites himself into one when the current tenant  a woman  commits suicide . then the twists and turns start . are the neighbors trying to kill him  and why are the dead tenant  s clothes turning up in the apartment  one wonders  finally  if trelkovksy  is  the prior tenant .  br    br   spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler  br    br   one of the tricks polanski pulls on us is to lie to us . we assume when we see things from the point of view of a character that we see things as the character does and that there may be distortions of reality . we assume when the camera is showing us things from its omniscient point of view that we see actuality  but polanski has the camera lie to us .  
i believe shakespeare explained what i just read beautifully . me thinks he  the lady  doth protest too much . the whole thing sounded to me as if the author was trying to convince himself  he sites profane literature  writings from the same time period but not connected with the bible  a number of times however i can think of at least three references off the top of my head which lend historical accuracy to events contained in the bible . anyone can skew data  prove anything they like but it doesn  t make it true . customs change  word definitions change over time  look at english  german where it is very obviously a common root  nothing stays the same  it  s always growing and changing . the bible has many different translations but the king james version is the one i  ve found to be the best when it comes to any kind of research . in the king james version you will notice there are certain words written in italics . these words have been added by the translators and can be dropped  the mean of the entire verse changes . writings from around the time of christ were written without spaces  without punctuation  without paragraphs  without numeric verses . these writings look like one long word  the translators added all of the above . for example how would you read this godisnowhere do you read it as god is nowhere or do you read it as god is now here  same string of letters two entirely different meanings . this is why many biblical researchers use a  lexicon  to assist them in translation as it provides a word for word translation from the original arabic  greek or hebrew depending on the language in which the scripture was originally written . it  s also interesting to note that when translated into symbolic logic you can prove god exists but you can not prove he doesn  t exist  in the end i just love listening to people who think they are so smart that they are qualified to judge the almighty . talk about ego  putting soapbox away  god bless maegi  
once i watched the tenant and interpreted it as a horror movie . it uses many of the tropes of the genre the sinister apartment  suspicious neighbors  apparitions  mysteries  hallucinations . the life of the hero  trelkovsky  seemed surrounded by evil  secret forces trying to drive him mad .  br    br   last time i watched it i challenged this initial interpretation . if this movie is a horror movie  it  s only horror in the sense that a kafka novel is horror . in fact this movie can be understood on a literal level as a lonely man slowly becoming crazy without any external influence .  br    br   polanski made in his career three movies dealing with madness repulsion  which i don  t particularly like because the development of madness in the heroine never convinced me rosemary  s baby  in which the heroine is driven mad by evil forces and the tenant  which might be the best study of paranoia ever made in cinema .  br    br   trelkovsky is a young man who rents an apartment in which a woman killed herself . he becomes obsessed with her and slowly starts becoming her he wears her clothes  puts on makeup  talks like her . but is he being possessed by a spirit  or is he just letting his wild imagination get the best of him  it  s this hesitation between what is real and imaginary  and which polanski never resolves  that makes this such a fascinating movie . many events in the movie can be attributed to the supernatural as easily as they can be to normal causes  and it  s up to the viewer to decide what to believe in .  br    br   although this is not my favorite polanski movie  it is nevertheless a good example of his ability to create suspense and portray madness in very convincing terms . and technically speaking  it  s a marvel too . suffice to say he collaborates with film composer philippe sarde and legendary director of photography sven nykvist  bergman  s dp  in the making of this movie . a slow pacing and sometimes uninteresting segments may make this movie difficult to enjoy  but it  s an experience nevertheless .  
i sat through this movie expecting a thought  provoking  fact  based film . but instead was given some of the least thought out arguments against the christian faith imaginable . for instance  in an effort to prove that christianity is inherently violent  the narrator constantly quotes the bible without giving context  and thus altering the meaning of the text . jesus is quoted as commanding the execution of those who disobey him  when in fact  the quote is from a parable jesus told  involving a king who is then quoted . thus the narrator makes it appear as if jesus says one thing when he is actually telling a story where one of his characters says it . this is dishonesty in a very obvious form . is this really what atheism has to offer the world  this film also attempts to use the success of the passion of the christ over jesus christ superstar and the last temptation of the christ as evidence that christians are bloodthirsty . he makes no mention of the fact that the passion was the most historically accurate bible  film to date . he makes no mention of the fact that it was actually the best liked by critics of the bunch . he then edits in a series of violent images from the passion as if to hammer home his point . ironically  he makes no mention of the texas chainsaw massacre which came out a few months later and plays violence for entertainment  versus dramatic effect .  br    br   one thing that really bothered me was his mockery of people who actually knew more about the subject matter than he did . all the christians he interviewed were average schmoes in the parking lot of billy graham  s new york crusade . atheists he interviewed for the film were notable authors and scholars . he asked the christians how the christian movement started  and of course  they said it started with the holy spirit coming to the disciples at pentecost . which is correct  acts   . he then gives the commentary   isn  t it funny how so few christians seem to know the origins of their own faith   and proceeds to explain that the apostle paul started christianity after being stopped on the road to damascus . the poor chap seems convinced that acts  happens before acts  . more deception  or is this simply ignorance  he also throws around nonsense that paul didn  t believe jesus was a real person . are you kidding me   corinthians   describes jesus death and resurrection being witnessed by people  whom paul names in the passage  for the corinthians to question if they are in doubt   br    br   there are many many other examples of how full of crap this  documentary  is . but because i don  t have time or patience to go into them all  i  ll skip straight to the end . it  s obvious throughout the whole movie that the narrator has an emotional vendetta against his upbringing in the church . and the climax interview is his childhood principle  in a last  ditch attempt to disprove the christian faith  the narrator tries to make a fool out of someone who gave him a detention as a child . is this what passes as an intellectual documentary for the atheist community  surely there are intelligent atheist filmmakers out there who can make a documentary that isn  t a load of made  up crap passed off as  facts  .  
sure  he became rapidly uneven after this film  but from  knife in the water  up till  the tenant   roman polanski could always be counted on to deliver something fascinating and unique . despite many running themes  alienation  paranoia   no two of his films are really alike . the story of this is somewhat similar to his own  repulsion  from ten years earlier  but the tone is completely different .  the tenant  manages to balance darker than dark absurdity  i  m a bit hesitant on calling it humor  even though the protagonists bizarre behavior and dialog was occasionally funny  with some truly suspenseful paranoia . polanski was always a master at building unease  and moments in this film are almost unbearably creepy . the overall weirdness of the film is also a plus .  br    br   in addition to polanski  s exquisite as usual direction  the rest of the cast and crew offer great contributions . polanski the actor is often overshadowed by polanski the director  but his performance here truly captures his characters awkwardness and sense of being an outcast . the themes of social discrimination make this film more than just strangeness for the sake of being strange . the rest of the cast offers strong performances also  especially isabelle adjani  s sympathetic turn  and melyvn douglas and shelley winters  appropriately annoying ones .  the tenant  is often underrated because of how ready people are to heap praise on both  repulsion  and  rosemary  s baby   but its just as brilliant as either of those classics .        
i was curious to watch this movie . a lot of people seem to be excited . i also have my beliefs . i believe in jesus christ but i  m opened for any kind of views or opinions . it doesn  t matter for me  if jesus existed in the way it  s written in the bible . if maria was a virgin or not  or all the other similar pagan coincidences . what matters for me is the idea of salvation  the idea of love as the only way to find peace in this world .  br    br   what made me angry is when somebody takes a sentence  present it as a fact but without showing the context it was written . for example  they showed in this movie following sentence big  those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them  bring them here and kill them in front of me  jesus  lukas       what they didn  t tell you is the context . jesus told a story about an evil king . there is no passage in the bible where jesus supports killing . he is love  after quoting the bible wrong they present us yelling people  pseudo  christians  filled with hate . the majority of viewers don  t check the informations presented so they start thinking jesushatenot good for me or for anybody else . this is pure manipulation people . please use your brain . don  t take everything as a fact they tell you in this movie . we destroy our own basis  our civilization if we start dismantling jesus in this way and the message he brought to us . you saw off the branch you  re sitting on .  
when this film opened back in      legend has that it was met with massive jeering and disdain    it was widely considered a failure . i vividly remember ebert giving it one star and it was supposedly booed at cannes .  br    br   apparently these people didn  t understand the movie  which is not that hard to comprehend since it  s very esoteric  dark  and layered in ways that still astound me . reading through many of the reviews here i find  even after about    viewings over the years  many elements of the film i had previously glossed over . but even without understanding much the psychological underpinnings of the story  it  s still a cracking suspenser . . . even if you just take the escalating paranoia and persecution that overtakes polanski  s title character like a tsunami wave over the course of it  s two hour running time .  br    br   examining the source material    an excellent novella by underrated novelist roland topor    uncovers more intriguing layers . polanski  s trekovsky is a milquetoast of the highest order . though he seems at first to be yet another mild everyday soul  one gradually realizes he is one of those people who seems to aimlessly drift through life  letting it direct him . he seems to have few strong feelings about his likes and dislikes . he finds himself gently pushed this way and that  but never seems to get too bent out of shape regardless . this vague sort of wishy  washy  ness is more noticeable in the novel than the movie  but there are hints of it early in the film too .  br    br   making a play for the apartment of a woman  one mademouiselle choule  who is in the hospital recovering from a recent suicide attempt  appears to be the most daring thing he has attempted  even effectively haggling down the price of the deposit in the bargain  . he soon finds  however  that he is paying for his  good thing  in more ways than he cares  as he finds himself in the center of maelstrom created by a building full of neurotic  control freaks who are hypersensitive to even the slightest sign of human life  such as a footstep in the night or a knock on the door .  br    br   instead of taking a stand though  trelkovsky becomes increasingly alienated by the situation  and overtaken by paranoia and a sense of persecution . he becomes obsessed with choule  imagining himself to be like her  dressing like her  etc . as his own personality rapidly begins to be wiped away by his own insanity .  br    br   if anyone has ever doubted polanski  s fearlessness as an artist  they  d be well  advised to see this film . his trademark black humor is prominently  and sometimes embarrassingly  on display here and    god bless him    he makes himself the butt of it . it  s a tour de force performance in one of the richest  riskiest  most gothic horror movies ever made . that more people haven  t seen it is a true crime .  
first let me state that i do not believe in god  if you want to use the word atheist  fine  but i don  t like that word since it describes what i  m not  not what i am  but i hated this  documentary .  the production values were damn near non existent  the premise extremely shaky and whole thing seemed to be an exercise in brian flemming  s insecurities .  br    br   the production values were terrible and brian flemming is clearly an amateurish director at best . the narration sounded like he just narrated over the film all in one shot  and he didn  t practice at all . there were way to many umms and pauses when he should have been talking in the movie . animation was also pretty damn bad .  br    br   the whole idea that jesus is a mythical character is not taken seriously by historians and biblical scholars . as i stated before  i do not believe in god  and i don  t think that whether or not jesus was a real man says nothing about the existence of god . my personal view  jesus probably was a real man but he lived in a time where there were many massiah  s  look up apollonius of tiana  and that the stories of his life and preaching were blown out of proportion the farther you got from his death . according to the wikipedia article on the historicity of jesus  and there  s a good citation for this so it  s garbage   virtually all scholars in the fields of biblical studies and history agree that jesus was a jewish teacher from galilee who was regarded as a healer  was baptized by john the baptist  was accused of sedition against the roman empire  and on the orders of roman governor pontius pilate was sentenced to death by crucifixion .     i was left wondering at the end of the documentary if this was more about the director  s insecurities than anything else . i was left wondering if he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else . the most telling example of this is the final interview he was with the religious school principal . he  s not even coy about it . the way he bombards the teacher is unfair and while i agree with the director partially  that teaching kids about hell fire is a bad thing  the way that flemming confronted the principal was just awkward to watch . flemming had a chance to perhaps get a good discussion going  if he was more tactile with his interview . instead he comes off aggressive with  isn  t it bad to teach kids this stuff .  the guy cuts the interview short and i mean  what did he expect  the principal to say  oh yes  i see it is  i have seen the light  this will now be a secular school   it seems that flemming is getting revenge for what he feels was a wrong done to him in childhood . this isn  t about the documentary  this is about flemming  s insecurities  and has nothing to do with the supposed topic of the documentary . flemming shows what he  s really doing here  and that is the real downfall of this so  called documentary .  
another very good mann flick thanks to the father  son combination of walter brennan and jimmy stewart . brennan  ben tatum  is often the comedic conscience of either stewart or wayne  red river  rio bravo  . he  s there to see that the younger man takes the ride fork or bend .  you  re wrong mr . dunston  . jeff webster  stewart  gives off the impression he cares only for himself but it is clear he cannot desert brennan . john mcintire is excellent as the law of skagway with due respect for the trappings of justice over the reality of it . another key theme is helping people and in turn being helped by people . the loner can do neither and suffers for it .  br    br   the caption above plays on tatum  s assertion that he can  t live without his coffee . this nicotine addiction proves fatal . probably the first and last time on the screen .  br    br   i recommend this film and now own the dvd .  
it  s not like i have overwhelmingly fond memories of verhoeven  s original pants  down shocker  it always struck me as a glossy  well  made airport  novel  of  a  movie . thrilling  sexy trash  but trash nonetheless . it was also a film that tapped into a certain sexual zeitgeist . after a decade of anti  sex aids  induced hysteria  a film about a wildly  sexual hotbod who thrill  kills to heighten her sexual pleasure was pretty enticing stuff . basic instinct  was always going to struggle to provide the same social relevance and immediacy  so the fact that it  s desperate attempts at raunchiness are so lame can sort  of be overlooked . all it really had to provide was that thin veneer of titillation and a mildly engaging story and all would have been watchable . that it resoundingly fails on so many levels  and in such a way to be a career nadir for everyone involved  is really quite extraordinary to watch . let  s state the obvious for starters  sharon stone is too old for the part of sexual magnet catherine trammell . what was so photogenic thru verhoeven  s lens looks like mutton dressed as lamb in the hands of gun  for  hire michael caton  jones  who  s flat  drab colours and static camera render her undeniable beauty totally moot . i like sharon stone a lot  but if the first film launched her career  bi  could kill it . she has no chemistry with stuffed  shirt david morrissey  their only sex scene is embarrassing too watch . his dough  faced mamma  s boy of a character made me yearn for the swaggering  orange  skin machismo of michael douglas . supporting turns by david thewlis and charlotte rampling waste these fine actors on talky exposition scenes and clich  heavy posturing . and what of the much  touted sexual shenanigans  poorly  lit  fleetingly  glimpsed  as utterly mainstream as an episode of desperate housewives  the european sensibilities that verhoeven brought to the sexual content of the first film are sorely missed . don  t watch this film for carnal thrills  there are none and what there is is tragic . the film is  as a whole  convoluted to the point of utter confusion  boring and laughable . the last   minutes in particular  where you come to the realisation that the film is  in fact  not going to go anywhere of interest at all  are particularly gruelling and hilarious in equal measure . as a failed sequel  basic instinct  will come to occupy similar cinematic ground as exorcist  the heretic  beyond the poseidon adventure and xxx  . as a vanity project  it rivals battlefield earth in its misconception . as a multi  million dollar piece of hollywood film  making  it  s a travesty that will be hard to top as the years worst .  
roman polanski masterfully directs this sort of a variation on the same theme as repulsion . i can  t imagine there is one honest movie goer not able to acknowledge the fine director in le locataire  yet both parts of the dyptic may not be thoroughly satisfactory to most people  myself included .  br    br   polanski is very good at making us feels the inner torture of his characters  deneuve in repulsion and himself in le locataire   starting with some lack of self  assurance soon to turn gradually into psychological uneasiness eventually blossoming into an irreversible physical malaise . the shared ordeal for the characters and audience is really dissimilar from the fright and tension of horror movies since there  s no tangible supernatural element here . while horror movies allow for some kind of catharsis  be it cheap or more elaborate  polanski sadistically tortures us and  if in his latter opus the dark humour is permanent  we are mostly on our nerves as opposed to on the edge of our seats .  br    br   suspense  horror  all this is a matter of playing with the audience  s expectations  alternatively fooling and fulfilling them   not literally with people  s nerves . in my book rosemary  s baby is a far greater achievement because sheer paranoia and plain rationality are in constant struggle the story is about a couple moving in a strange flat  while we are forced to identify with a sole character . what  s more if the fantasy elements are all in the hero  s mind the situation is most uncomfortable since we  the viewers  are compelled to judge him  reject him while we have been masterfully lured   paint  n lure   into being him .  
this documentary begins with an interesting premise   it makes an intriguing and convincing argument that the history of jesus as is commonly believed is probably a myth . sadly  though  after priming us with this  the movie completely shifts gears and becomes little more than a non  stop attack on christianity  and pretty much focusing on the easy targets .  br    br   the writer  director clearly has some issues with the church  he is a former evangelical christian and has some legit anger  and this film seems to be his form of release . it  d be interesting to see the first   minutes expanded  but as a whole  the movie is disappointing .  
i saw this film at a time when i was timidly toying with the idea of moving into my own apartment and starting life on my own . maybe that is the reason why i took it so seriously . i believed totally in the poor character  s psychological degradation inside a paris of perpetual construction sites  dust  squalor  selfishness  rudeness  malice and decay . i  m giving all the credit to polanski  s artistry in his direction  his playing and his inescapable script but i fainted during the horrible final scene and had to be revived by cognac in the office of the theatre  s manager . luckily for me  my life on my own didn  t turn out as disastrous as this  so far  but i have always kept a great respect for an artist who can perform such illusions and so totally immerse himself in the  fake  reality he is trying to convey . simply put  the man is a genius of the first order and a credit to the human race . this film is the sum of many  many instances of great acting and great casting . as some performances were done in english  the scenes with shelley winters and melvyn douglas among others  and others in french  with most other characters  and polanski did his own dubbing in english and french  i heartily recommend  if you happen to be bilingual  to switch the audio from french to english and vice  versa  during the appropriate scenes while watching the magnificent transfer on paramount dvd . this film is part of polanski  s so  called  apartment building trilogy  which also comprises  repulsion  and  rosemary  s baby  . unfortunately   repulsion  still hasn  t made it to a decent dvd transfer in region  . needless to say  the three films would make a magnificent boxset .  
i personally found this movie to be terrible  first it was hardly objective  and provided one side of the debate . the only people who were presented as the side saying he did exist being a bunch of people coming from a billy grahm revival . secondly it deviated heavily from its supposed topic did jesus  yeshua  exist  to talking about how violent christianity is  and showing scenes from mel gibsons  the passion  . in the end it has the director con his former principal of a conservative private school into being interviewed  and attempts to trap him about teaching the kids there faith . oh and also the techno music just made the film harder to watch .  
in paris  the shy and insecure bureaucrat trelkovsky  roman polanski  rents an old apartment without bathroom where the previous tenant  the egyptologist simone choule  dominique poulange   committed suicide . the unfriendly concierge  shelley winters  and the tough landlord mr . zy  melvyn douglas  establish stringent rules of behavior and trekovsky feels ridden by his neighbors . meanwhile he visits simone in the hospital and befriends her girlfriend stella  isabelle adjani  . after the death of simone  trekovsky feels obsessed for her and believes his landlord and neighbors are plotting a scheme to force him to also commit suicide .  br    br   the weird  le locataire  is a disturbing and creepy tale of paranoia and delusion . the story and the process of madness and loss of identity of the lonely trelkovsky are slowly developed in a nightmarish atmosphere in the gruesome location of his apartment  and what is happening indeed is totally unpredictable . the performances are awesome and isabelle adjani is extremely beautiful . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    o inquilino    the tenant    
as a spiritualist and non christian . i thought i really was going to be holding onto my faith  but what a load of i seers . i thought the film would have great arguments  but only got one sided views from atheists and jews    and who are all these street people he  s interviewing who don  t know the back of their arm from their head . where are the proper theologians and priests and stuff he could have got arguments from . not retired nuts who wrote books and finished their studies in     . personally this dvd was a waste of time and not worth my time to check if the facts are right or wrong or if i should or should not believe because an anti  christ told me so . please to think he came up with the conclusion of not finding god because his own ego and demons got the better of him . no im not going to say the movie was stunning to help atheists reading this feel better about themselves . but if you really want to show the world you care about us poor souls who believe in jesus then entice us with your worth  not your beating off the drums .  
i  m a pretty old dude  old enough to remember the taste of oreos and coke as they were      years ago  when every taste for a kid was fresh . i wish i have somehow set some aside then is some magical suspended locker  so that i could taste those things today . this magical locker might even have adjusted the fabric of the food to account for how i  ve drifted  physically and otherwise  a sort of dynamic chemistry of expectations . over the half century  they would have had to adjust quite a bit  because you see i would have known that i set them aside . eating one now would be a celebration of self and past  and story  and sense that would almost make the intervening years an anticipated reward .  br    br   i didn  t have enough sense to do that with original coke . and i couldn  t have invented one of those magical psychic lockers  not then . but i did something almost as good . in the seventies  i really tuned into roman polanski . he was a strange and exotic pleasure  you know  movies smuggled out of the soviet block . movies so sensitive to beauty that you cry for weeks afterward . movies that make you want to live with polish women  one  and then deciding that they would be the last to get it .  br    br   here  s what i did . i took what i knew would be my favorite polanski movie and set it aside . i did not watch it . i deferred until i thought i would be big enough to deserve it . over the years  i would test myself  my ability to surround beauty and delineate it without occupying it . there probably are few poles who have worked at this  practicing to deserve chopin . working to deserve womanness when i see it . trying to get the inners from the edges .  br    br   recently  i achieved something like assurance that it was time to pull this out . i already knew that i was already past the time when this would work optimally  because i had already seen and understood   th gate .   br    br   if you do not know this  it is about a man who innocently rents a room in which the previous tenant  about whom the story is named  jumped out the window  to die later after this man  played by polanski  visits . what happens is that time folds and he becomes this woman . we are fooled into believing that he is merely mad . but the way we follow him  he is not . he merely has flashes that the world is normal  and that the surrounding people are not part of a coven warping his reality .  br    br   the story hardly matters . what matters is how polanksi shapes this thing  both in the way he inhabits the eye that only makes edges and in inhabiting the body that only consists of confused flesh . the two never meet . there is a dissonance that may haunt me for the next   years . its the idea about and inside and an outside with no edges at all  at all except a redhead wig .  br    br   i know of no one else that could do this  this sketch that remains a sketch  this horror that remains natural .  br    br   to understand the genius of this  you have to know one of the greatest films ever made  rear window .  the genius of that film is the post  noir notion that the camera shapes the world that the viewer creates the story . what roman does is take this movie and turn it inside out . in rear window  the idea was that the on  screen viewer  jimmy stewart  was the anchor and everything else was fiction  woven as we watched . here  the on screen apartment dweller is the filmmaker . we know this . we know that everything we see is true because he is the narrator . we know it is true that bodies shift identity  that times shift  that causality is plastic . we know that the narrator will kill us . we know that the narrator will leave us in a perpetual horror  on that edge that he imputes but never shows us and lets us imagine .  br    br   ted  s evaluation    of   every cineliterate person should experience this .  
in my opinion this movie advances no new thought . seems to me like taking a spear to a spear without looking to the side  the director seems to have an agenda  duh  i find that his rational is lacking there does not seem to be room for the alternative view . i for one am usually on the side of the naysayer but this movie lacks credibility as it relies on the fantastic observations of the man  woman on the street . really now if you wish to cr  eate a credible alternative to a creed held onto for      years you have got to make more of an effort allowing the other side to voice their beliefs . i  m not sure but at the beginning of the movie it felt like an attack on the cristian faith  i for one am a non believer  but allow for the beliefs of others  and would not wish no ridicule them but try to understand and tolerate .  
it took a long time until i could find the title in a special videothek in berlin  and i was lucky to find an english version with hollandish undertitles . i think its one of the best horrormovies ever . it seems strange for me that some people call this movie a black comedy . i must admit  i wasnt able to laugh about  when i saw it the first time  and it was the same with the second time   on the one hand trelkovski seems so nice and even cute in his shy behaviour  but on the other hand he beats this boy on the playground and there is no explanation for that . but the most weired thing is of course his transformation in simone choule and the fact  that he doesnt know  who he really is . his halluzinations are the most terrifying in this movie . of course its all in his mind  but is it this flat that brings out this female side of him or was it also before he moved in  i think thats an interesting question . his shizophrenic behaviour is hard to understand and its horrible to see his two sides or identities fighting against each other . the result of it is that he cuts his hand first and later jumps out of his  her window . but this terrible cry  does that mean  that all will repeat again and again and again . . . that his soul is in a cage or something  and these egyptian hieroglyphs and other egyptian stuff  the fact  that he  she looks like a mummy in the hospital  thats not an incident  but a clue in my point of view .  
one of the most popular rentals at my local video store is not borat or the departed but a     documentary about jesus christ called the god who wasn  t there by director brian flemming  an ex  christian fundamentalist . flemming  in his    minute documentary  asserts that jesus was not a historical figure but a legend based solely on pagan traditions . using interviews with authors  philosophers  and historians to debunk the long  held christian belief that jesus  the son of god  lived among men  was crucified  and was resurrected  flemming compares the christ story with those of cult figures isis and osiris in egypt  dionysus and adonis in greek mythology  and roman mystery cults such as mithraism and finds many surprising similarities .  br    br   in addition to his evidence about pagan cults  he also states that the earliest sources for the christ story  the four gospels  were written forty or fifty years after the date given for jesus  crucifixion and that the letters of st . paul show little evidence of jesus being a flesh and blood figure . flemming  unfortunately however  is not out to conduct a solid investigation of the truth about jesus  life but to use the subject only as a point of departure for a full throttle attack on christianity and all religion . most of the interviews are with those philosophically aligned with the director including avowed atheists such as biologist richard dawkins and author sam price . the only christians interviewed are those on the fringe such as scott butcher  the creator of the website rapture letters . com  and ronald sipus  principal of the fundamentalist village christian school  which flemming attended as a boy .  br    br   like michael moore  s interview of charlton heston in bowling for columbine  his interview with sipus is so contentious that sipus walks out in the middle . in a sarcastic tone  flemming tells us how wrong christianity was wrong about the sun revolving around the earth  then points to atrocities committed in the name of christianity such as those by cult leader charles manson who killed   people and dena schlosser  who cut her baby  s arm off for god . he also lifts a statement from a book by lahaye and jenkins that says that christians  look forward to the day when all non  christians are thrown into a lake of fire  howling and screeching .  to further turn us against christianity  flemming shows us extended clips from mel gibson  s the passion of the christ  detailing in minute detail each scene of violence and torture . what could have been a serious discussion on a very interesting subject eventually becomes a childish rant and a polemic against all religion . in the process of condemning those who used christianity to commit unspeakable acts  he ignores such people as socialist muriel lester  a famous christian pacifist  rigoberta mench tum  a mayan indian of guatemala who helped found the revolutionary christians and received the nobel peace prize in recognition of her work for social justice  and mother teresa  whose work was about respect for each individual  s worth and dignity .  br    br   his most telling argument is his comparison of christian doctrine with the pagan cults and he makes some good points  yet flemming does not tell us that while some aspects of these cults may resemble christian doctrines  there are no texts or source materials for these cults before    ad  long after the new testament . also it is important to note one major difference . the immediate goal of the initiates was a mystical experience that led them to feel they had achieved union with their god . this is anathema to christianity which believes that a church hierarchy including priests and bishops all the way up to the pope are required to interpret god  s will to mankind .  br    br   although i am not a christian and have some doubts about whether or not jesus christ was in fact a historical figure  the truth is that  in the long scheme of things  it may not matter . what matters is that a message was introduced to mankind and spread around the world that contributed to mankind  s spiritual evolution . regardless of the distortions and crimes later committed in its name and there were many  christianity as conceived was a doctrine of compassion and love  and a moral and ethical code that furthered respect for our fellow man .  br    br   while i applaud the fact that the film was made and that a taboo topic was discussed  what is sorely needed is not another divisive attempt to use religion as a field of combat but to see it as a common thread that can bring the world  s people together . while there is room for debate and discussion on religious subjects  in the words of annie besant   spiritual truths are best seen in the clear air of brotherhood and mutual respect . the god who wasn  t there is recommended only for those whose idea of a good time is to trash the religion of others .  
a kafkaesque thriller of alienation and paranoia . extremely well done and polanski performs well as the diffident introvert trying hard to adapt to his dingy paris lodgings and his fellow lodgers . horrifying early on because of the seeming mean and self obsessed fellow tenants and horrifying later on as he develops his defences which will ultimately be his undoing . personally i could have done without the cross dressing element but i accept the nod to psycho and the fact that it had some logic  bearing in mind the storyline . nevertheless it could have worked without and would have removed the slightly theatrical element  but then maybe that was intended because the courtyard certainly seems to take on the look of a theatre at the end . i can  t help feel that there are more than a few of the director  s own feelings of not being a  real  frenchman and jewish to boot . still  there is plenty to enjoy here including a fine performance from a gorgeous looking isabelle adjani and good old shelly winters is as reliable as ever .  
i watched dvd  only . the program proper may have   minutes of good information otherwise it  s snotty putdowns of religious people . it  s as if director brian flemming only recently discovered both atheism and sarcasm  and feels with these tools he can easily bludgeon his opposition .  br    br   also  flemming wanders extensively into his own personal issues  and they take over the movie . it never gets back on topic .  br    br   religious people are prone to discount skeptics when their objections to religion are obviously rooted in abusive upbringings . arguments from such victimized people seem irrational  and therefore unconvincing .  br    br   anti  religious people will want more data . we don  t need to be told that religious people are nutty  any more than american jews need to be told how annoying christmas music gets by mid  december .  br    br   in the best scene  the superintendent of fleming  s childhood christian school rather insightfully confronts the director on his motivations . that seems like the most honest part of the movie  and it was too short .  br    br   if fleming were a bit more self  aware  he might have a good story in him about his own  past  current  relationship to christianity  and the abusive institutions that indoctrinated him in his youth .  br    br   and perhaps he could lend his  christ never walked the earth  material to a more serious documentarian . i  m not studying the writings of saul  paul to find out how air  tight this all is  but a quick browse of wikipedia suggests most of these arguments are discredited .  br    br   the bonus interviews are pretty good  tho they don  t bolster fleming  s thesis much . sam harris is a good spokesperson for the anti  religious pov  and he doesn  t go light on those other  non  christian religions . harris also has some good  and easily google  d  interviews on salon . com  amazon . com  and samharris . org .  
what can be said  really . . .  the tenant  is a first  class thriller wrought with equal amounts of suspense and full  blown paranoia . it  s an intricately  plotted film   every detail seems included for a reason   even though the plot seldom makes sense  and much of it is never even addressed in an objective manner . therefore we are left with the increasingly unstable trelkovsky  polanski    a meek polish man who has obtained an apartment due to the previous tenant  s suicide   to guide us through a world of escalating fear and uncertainty . after an apartment  warming party thrown by a group of obnoxious coworkers  trelkovsky comes under increased  seemingly inexplicable scrutiny by the fellow occupants in his building the rest of the film chronicles his mental deterioration and gives us a thorough mindfuk on par with the later efforts of david lynch .  the tenant   however  is more brooding and sinister  laced with unexpected comic relief  fine performances  and a truly haunting score . it  s a movie that  s better experienced than described  so hop to it .  
this will be brief . let me first state that i  m agnostic and not exactly crazy about xtians  especially xtian fanatics . however  this documentary had a tone of the like of some teenager angry at his xtian mother for not letting him play video games . i just couldn  t take it seriously . mentioning how charlesmanson thought he was christ to illustrate the point that xtianity can breed evil  i don  t know it was just cheap and childish   made the opposition look ignorant . furthermore  the narrator just seemed snobby and pretentious . the delivery was complete overkill . i can  t take this documentary seriously . might appeal to an angry teenager piss  d off at his xtian mother for not letting him play video games .  
after his classic film noir homage chinatown roman polanski returned to the themes that had given him his greatest hits in the   s with this creepy psychological horror which  like repulsion and rosemary  s baby  deals with the paranoia and claustrophobia generated by apartment living .  br    br   claustrophobic environments are the ones which polanski is best at creating  and this has to be the most suffocating and confined picture he ever created . the emphasis on side walls and distant vanishing points is greater than ever  and even in the small number of exterior scenes the sky is rarely glimpsed . but the tenant is not just confined spatially  but also in the intensity with which it focuses on its protagonist . trelkovsky  played by polanski himself is not only in every scene  he is in virtually every shot . when he is not on screen more often than not the camera becomes trelkovsky  s point of view . and of course almost everywhere he looks he sees his own reflection staring back at him in a mirror .  br    br   i can  t think of any film that is more about the internalisation and solitude of one character . some psychological thrillers  like m or peeping tom  manipulate us into feeling sorry for the mentally ill protagonist . others  like psycho  attempt in  depth scientific analysis of his mental condition . the tenant fits into neither of these categories  it simply immerses us completely inside trelkovsky  s experience without demanding we actually understand or appreciate what is going on inside his head . we feel his paranoia and obsession even though it is constantly revealed to us that they are irrational .  br    br   polanski was also a master of the slowly unfolding horror film . often in his horrors there is an ambiguity as to whether there is actually anything sinister going on  but they are among the most effective at frightening audiences . why  precisely because they unfold so slowly and invest so much time in painstakingly setting up situations that they immerse the viewer in paranoia . a much later polanski horror  the ninth gate is a bit of a mess plot  wise but at least it still manages to achieve that creeping sense of dread .  br    br   this is a rare chance to see polanski himself in a major role . his talent in front of the camera was as good as behind it  and he is absolutely perfect as the meek trelkovsky . another standout performance is that of the all  too  often overlooked shelley winters as the concierge . in actual fact it is rather a stellar cast  although many of the familiar faces look out of place in this strange  gothic european movie . also sadly many of the french actors in supporting roles are atrociously dubbed in the english language version .  br    br   the tenant is more polished and less pretentious than repulsion  but it lacks the suspense and the character that make rosemary  s baby so engrossing and entertaining . the tenant is good  with no major flaws  and polanski was really on top form as a director  but it  s not among his most gripping works .  
this documentary film is based on incomplete considerations of the evidence  in which brian flemming  perhaps purposely  fails to mention important evidence to the contrary . perhaps his most crucial mistake is one of the earliest his claims concerning the invalidity of paul  s testimony about jesus christ disregard key facts  like the existence of some formulated creeds within paul  s letters . these creeds suggest that most of the central claims about jesus were already formulated into statements of faith possibly within a few years of christ  s death and resurrection . the testimonies of the early christians can  t just be tossed out as mere fantasy . there were indeed many people claiming to be the messiah during that period  but only one of them has remained jesus . why  because it would have been preposterous for anyone to have actually believed christ was the messiah  and go on to die for those beliefs  if they knew that he had not been resurrected . even if the gospels are dated more liberally  we are still talking about accounts of jesus written within the lifetimes of other eyewitnesses that would have pointed out inaccuracies in these gospels . and there is evidence that the gospels were written much earlier .  br    br   what i am saying is that flemming  s documentary is an incredibly biased and self  serving piece of work that hodge podges different arguments and evidence to serve his anti  christian view . don  t be fooled by poor investigation .  
this is one creepy movie . creepier than anything david lynch  and that shows what a great director polanski is since this is not his usual type of work  and it is brilliant .  br    br   it all starts of with trelkovski moves into a tenement block in paris . he soon learns that the previous tenant  a young woman  committed suicide and he believes the rest of the people living there drove her to it . he also believes that they are trying to do the same to him . what results is a amazing and frightening look at paranoia .  br    br   the whole production has classical horror written all over it from the imagery to the music the viewer can feel poor trelkovski  s terror building up .  br    br   are they all out to kill him  or maybe just drive him mad  is there a difference  find out for yourself .       
i  m actually surprised at the amount of good ratings this anti  christian pseudo  documentary got . now  i respect the guy  s opinion and faith  i myself am not  at this state  believer of the taught christian doctrine . however  anti  christian propaganda is somewhat of a different issue .  br    br   this film has valid points  but they are very few and represented in a very biased context . i  m not recommending against seeing it . in fact  i think everyone should see it and decide on their own whether they believe it or not . and this is actually more of a chance than the one the director gives to christian teachings . rather than an inquiring approach on the subject  it looks like a personal vendetta on the christian school that affected his childhood . it also misrepresents the christians most of the times as either incredibly naive or fundamentalists  no moderation in between .  br    br   the director uses movie scenes from passion of christ without permission  sets up an interview with the headmaster of his former school and presents almost solely anti  christian historians and writers . i actually found the headmaster to be the most down  to  earth person and think that his attitude was fully justified . i also strongly doubt that any of the christian believers who were interviewed were consulted afterwords or even told before the interview the purpose of the inquiry .  br    br   with this being said  there are certainly new and interesting facts to be found here and some very original thoughts on the question of christianity . but the way in which this whole think is produced is often offensive  highly unprofessional and dreadfully biased .  
i once lived with a roommate who attempted suicide  and our apartment was in a building where you could get a fifty dollar noise violation for sneezing after midnight  so  needless to say  i can easily relate to polanski  s  the tenant .   br    br   but i also enjoy the film for other reasons . i  m not sure that it works  on the whole  the polanski character  s descent into paranoia and madness  which takes up the final half hour or so  seems rather jarring and bizarre . ebert  for one  was totally unconvinced  and he slapped the movie with a vicious one  star review . but i think that individual scenes and moments work beautifully  so even though i don  t quite understand the whole film  what does egyptology have to do with it  for example   i still have an overall positive impression of it .  br    br   i love the obnoxious friend portrayed by bernard fresson  for example . god  how many times have i settled for having stupid friends like that instead of no friends at all  i love the movie theater scene  the funniest  making out  moment in the history of film  i  d say . and boy  do i love isabelle adjani  she  s so foxy in this movie  it  s almost unbelievable . and she gives a great performance  as always .  br    br   polanski is a good actor  too i don  t agree with the occasional disparaging remarks made about his performance here . his character is supposed to be low  key and thoughtful  so his low  key performance fits . i  for one  found him perfectly sympathetic  though he did lose me a bit when he started dressed in drag for no clearly discernible reason .  br    br   yes  the movie  s obscure . and slow . but it captures the alienating qualities of apartment living  something i  ve done entirely too much of  so i dig it . it  s funny how all you need is a common reference point  and suddenly a weirdo movie like this becomes deeply significant  definitely worth picking up for pocket change on dvd .  
let me start by saying that i totally agree with the basic thesis of the film  that there probably was no historical jesus and christianity is a sham . with that said  this movie does a pretty poor job of proving that thesis . it makes good arguments   the gap between jesus  theoretical life and the writing of the gospels  filled only by the writings of paul  who doesn  t indicate a historical jesus   and then utterly fails to convincingly argue them . it makes broad statements without presenting the evidence the statements are based on  and it resolutely ignores counter  arguments presented by christian apologists . the intellectual dishonesty  emotional manipulation  and lack of serious argument are obvious  and stunning . the only christians we hear from in the film are the head of the filmmaker  s old school   who comes off like a reasonable  rational person attempting to deal with a twit with a chip on his shoulder   and various christians encountered apparently at random in a parking lot . i  m sorry  but revealing that average christians don  t know much about their religion isn  t exactly damning evidence of christianity  s fraudulence . you may as well claim that jay leno has disproved the existence of michael dukakis on his jay  walking segment . the interviews with experts can be interesting  but the film is filled with too much of  let  s be honest  the filmmaker just being snarky . within the first five minutes the film has already conflated jerry falwell with charles manson and the writers of the left behind series with the branch davidians . and by the end  the film becomes so self  centered that there  s no rational argument left  just an angry former christian lashing out at the people and places he blames for his messed up childhood . y  know  maybe that movie could  ve been interesting  but it  s misplaced in a documentary about the historicity of jesus  and it  s so self  congratulatory as to deflate any sympathy . this is a michael moore film without the humor or the film  making acumen combined with a richard dawkins book without the wit or the intellectual rigor . skip it .  
anthony mann  s westerns with jimmy stewart are slowly gaining for that director a position with john ford and howard hawks as the best film director in that genre . he certainly knows how to give dimension to nice guy stewart  in mann  s films there is an edge to jimmy that is slowly demonstrated to the audience . in winchester    it was the relationship of stewart to his brother and how it twists him into a figure of vengeance . here it is a  i trust only myself  attitude  which leads to one complication after another . even before the film properly begins he  as jeff webster  kills two of his hired cowboys who were helping on a cattle drive to seattle because of some dispute  we never are clear about it  either they wanted to leave the cattle drive  or they tried to steal the cattle  .  br    br   he meets his match in skagway  the port he has to get to in order to take his herd to dawson . skagway  s boss is a so  called law man named gannon  john mcintyre  who reminds one of the real boss of skagway in the  gold rush  jefferson  soapy  smith and judge roy bean . the problem is that neither smith nor bean would have gotten quite as sleazy as gannon in turning every opportunity into a chance to make some money . stewart  s herd interrupted a public hanging  so  as a penalty fine  the herd is confiscated  to be sold later for gannon  s profit  .  br    br   stewart is partner with ben  walter brennan  who oddly enough won his last oscar playing judge roy bean  . they are also joined by rube morris  jay c . flippen  and also meet two women  the sophisticated rhonda castle  ruth roman  and the friendly and helpful renee vallon  corinne calvert  . rhonda works closely with gannon  but had helped jeff earlier in fleeing the authorities in seattle . however  she has a similar  i only trust myself  attitude to jeff . she does offer him employment to get supplies for herself to dawson . he  ben  and rube go but at night  while the others are asleep  they go back and steal back their cattle . renee follows and warns them that gannon and his associates are following . jeff holds off gannon long enough for the cattle herd to be brought over the canadian border  although gannon points out that since jeff has to return by way of skagway gannon can wait until he does to hang him .  br    br   the reunited party of rhonda and jeff split over the trail to take to dawson  jeff opting for a longer and safer route . after he is proved right  they go by his route and reach dawson only to find there is a lawless element threatening the community due to the gold fields . the herd is sold to rhonda  and jeff  ben  rube  and renee start prospecting . there is soon two groups in the town of dawson . one led by connie gilchrist and chubby johnson want to build a decent town . but the mounties won  t be setting up a station in dawson for months . the other  centering around the  dancehall  run by rhonda  are in cahoots with gannon who has a vast claim jumping scheme using his gang of gunslingers  robert j . wilke  really scary in one sequence with chubby johnson and jay c . flippen  jack elam  and harry morgan  . jeff wishes to steer clear of both  and head with his new wealth and ben for a ranch they want in utah . but will they get there  and will jeff remain neutral   br    br   the performances are dandy here  including stewart as a man who is willing to face all comers  but would otherwise be peaceful enough . brennan is playing one of his patented old codgers  whose love of good coffee has unexpectedly bad results . flippen is a drunk at first  but tragedy and responsibility shake him into a better frame of mind  and one who has a chance to verbally stab stewart in the heart using stewart  s own words against him . mcintyre would achieve stardom on television in wagon train replacing ward bond  but his work in mann  s films show his abilities as a villain  such as his trade post opportunist who outsmarts himself in winchester     . he is  as is said elsewhere on this thread  really sleazy  but he has a sense of humor . roman is an interesting blend of opportunist and human being  whose fate is determined by her better feelings . and calvert is both a voice of conscience and a frontier  gigi  aware that she is more than a young girl but a budding woman .  br    br   best of all is the canadian rockies background  as wonderful in its way as the use of monument valley by john ford . mann certainly did a first rate job directing this film  and the viewer will appreciate the results .  
well  i saw this movie yesterday and it  s  unfortunately  worse than you could think . first of all the plot is idiotic  it has no sense at all . the screenplay is full of intentionally funny dialogues . the audience was laughing many times . and the suspense is very low . actors play so  so  with an exception of sharon stone  who has some good moments but also some awfully bad acting moments . the saddest parts are when she tries to be aggressively sexy and says things like  i want to beep you  and it looks like  let  s say it gently  a very very mature woman acting rude and not sexy at all . that erotic tension from bi  is totally gone . from the technical point of basic instinct  is a mediocre movie  better than typical straight to dvd  but on a far lower lever than the original movie . for instance the scene of crazy joyride is done poorly . the director of basic instinct  is no paul verhoeven and it shows . the new composer is no jerry goldsmith and its shows . the script is done by people who are no match for joe eszterhas . there  s no substitute for michael douglas in it . the film looks cheap and badly edited at times . i  m sorry but my first thought after i left the theater was  why heaven  t they made this movie earlier and with original talents behind the success of the first movie   all to all the original movie is like citizen kane compared to this . the first basic instinct is a classic and was a kind of break  thru in the popular cinema . it was provoking  sexy and controversial . it had the best sharon stone  s performance in her career . it had this specific paul verhoeven  s style . unfortunately basic instinct  is a unintentionally funny movie  badly directed and a sure razzie award winner in many categories . it  s a pity that they made this film .  
roman polanski is considered as one of the most important directors of our time  as the mind behind classics such as  rosemary  s baby  and  chinatown  . probably what makes polanski  s cinema a very interesting one is the fact that while he is capable of creating commercially attractive films such as the afore mentioned masterpieces  he is also fond of making low  key movies that are of a more personal nature .  le locataire   or  the tenant   is one of those movies a horror  suspense story about paranoia and obsession that is among his best works and probably among the best horror movies ever done .  br    br   polanski himself plays telkovsky  a young man looking for an apartment in france . when he finally finds one  he discovers that it is empty because the previous tenant  simone choule  attempted to kill herself by jumping out of the window . after simone dies of the injuries  trelkovsky begins to become obsessed with her  to the point of believing that her death was caused by the rest of the tenants in the building .  br    br   while sharing the same claustrophobic feeling of his other  apartment  themed  films   repulsion   rosemary  s baby    this film focuses on the bizarre conspiracy that may or may not be entirely in trelkovsky  s head  the catastrophic effects the paranoia has on his mind  and the bizarre obsession he has with the previous tenant .  br    br   trelkovsky  s descend into darkness is portrayed perfectly by polanski . while at first his performance seems odd and wooden  slowly one finds out that polanski acts that way because trelkovsky is meant to be acted that way as a simpleton with almost no life  who traps himself in this maddening sub  world that happens to be inhabited by a collection of bizarre people . the supporting actors really gave life to the people in the building creating memorable characters that are very important for the success of the film .  br    br   also  the beautiful cinematography polanski employs in the film helps to increase the feeling of isolation  and gives life to the beautiful building that serves as cage for trelkovsky . the haunting images polanski uses to convey the feeling of confusion and madness are of a supernatural beauty that makes them both frightening and attractive .  br    br   if a flaw is to be found in the film  is that it is definitely a bit slow at first . this may sound like a turn  off but in fact the slow pace of the beginning works perfectly as it mimics trelkovsky  s own boring life and how gradually he enters a different realm . also  the convoluted storyline is definitely not an easy one to understand due to the many complex layers it has . however  more than a flaw  it is a joy to face a thought  provoking plot like this one .  br    br   while  the tenant  may not be for everyone  those interested in psychological horror and surreal story lines will be pleased by the experience .  le locataire  is really one of roman polanksi  s masterpieces .       
really no reason to examine this much further because of a few very glaring and bias misleading statements .  br    br   a perfect example is when the filmmaker claims  saul  or paul of tarus  the writer of the book of hebrews he asserts  has no idea jesus is or was a human being  this assertion is either purposely false as he accuses others of presenting  or he is ignorant of what  the bible  says .  br    br   first we can examine his misleading claim about hebrews  .   which he shows a quote  if jesus was on earth  he would not be a priest   hence right here he sets up the ignorant and unlearned viewer to accept his false premise . . why  he does what most so called bible believing people he accuses of doing  the same . . that is taking things out of context .  br    br   verse one of hebrews  is  . .  now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum we have such an high priest  who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens  the context above is clearly speaking of a jesus who was on earth and ascended into heaven after his alleged resurrection .  br    br   it has nothing to do with how the filmmaker wants the viewer to take his out of context scripture . here he offers a foundation  that  paul was not aware of a human jesus  but only one in  heaven   br    br   follow   br    br   lets see if the filmmaker is being honest hebrews     .  for it is evident that our lord sprang out of judah of which tribe moses spake nothing concerning priesthood .   br    br   heh  didn  t the filmmaker just quote from the writer of hebrews trying to show the writer of that book has no knowledge of a  human jesus   it  s likely anyways paul didn  t write hebrews  but i will not go into that here  but the film maker asserts paul did  and that is the premise of the point given here .  br    br   it is not like this film maker does not make decent points in certain areas  he does  but he is engaging in the same blind bias of the religion he is bashing on . once he engages in these tactics  in my strong opinion  he loses credibility as the religion he picks out  and the film is no longer a documentary  but a personal opinion  and a bias of the film maker  nothing more  nothing less .  
meek  tiny  almost insignificant . polanski finds the invisibility of his characters and makes something enormous out of it . in front and behind the camera he creates one of the most uncomfortable masterpieces i had the pleasure to see and see and see again . it never let  s me down . people  even people who know me pretty well  thought  think there was  is something wrong with me  based on my attraction  or i should say  devotion for  le locataire  they may be right  i don  t know but there is something irresistibly enthralling within polanski  s darkness and i haven  t even mentioned the humor . the mystery surrounding the apartment and the previous tenant  the mystery that takes over him and  naturally  us  me . that building populated by great old academy award winners melvyn douglas  shelley winters  jo van fleet  lila kedrova . for anyone who loves movies  this is compulsory viewing . one  two  three  many  many viewings .  
i  m an incorrigible skeptic and agnostic and was thus expecting to enjoy this film . after watching it  however  i honestly believe that i could have made a better documentary myself . its arguments appear to have only four spurious sources  despite his being listed in the credits on imdb i didn  t see richard dawkins anywhere   it  s edited together crudely with laughably amateurish computer effects  and it doesn  t make even the slightest attempt to appear impartial . the narration is pervaded throughout with a sneering  almost adolescent anti  christian sentiment  ruining any possibility that the film might actually change someone  s mind as opposed to just preaching to the choir  i . e . me  . though there is some interesting discussion of the historicity of jesus  the movie hits an unbearable snag when it begins to dwell heavily on the christian school which the director attended as a child  an institution which apparently scarred him badly psychologically as it obsesses him to this day .  br    br   though tgwwt obviously had a low budget  there was still an opportunity here to make an intelligent commentary on the highly questionable roots of christianity . there  s certainly a dearth of skeptically  minded religious documentaries on the market  and this film could have helped fill the void . instead  the director chose to insult our intelligence with this piece of garbage  which in the end appears to be some sort of therapeutic exercise for him . it  s too bad that his christian upbringing traumatized him  but he needn  t subject an audience to his coping mechanism .  
farrah fawcett gives an award nominated performance as an attempted rape victim who turns the tables on her attacker . this movie not only makes you examine your own morals  it proves that fawcett can excel as a serious actress both as a victim and victor .  
ok  aside from the psychedelic background imagery  the info presented here was good . the music i could have done without  not that it was bad music  just that it didn  t fit this film at all  .  br    br   as for the content of the film  the director brings up the often  lacking pagan perspective on christ  s existence and a startling comparison of the deeds and events of christ  s life vs . the lives of mythological figures  deities such as mithra and dionyses . then he brings up the chronology of christianity  s origins and presents an  ok  case  but not one that blew me away .  br    br   if the director had stuck with the facts and continued on with them  this film would have been good . however  at this point in the film  it disintegrates into a group of personally  gratifying attacks on mel gibson  s  passion of the christ  and a christian private school which the director attended in his youth . during an interview with his old principal   which during the course of  it comes to light that the director set up under false pretenses  i felt that the director was acting sort of childish . he was asking good questions but  like the film itself  the interview crumbled into an attack on this particular private school  s rules  not christianity .  br    br   all in all  if you  re just interested in some info  watch the first   minutes or so and then shut it off .  
farrah fawcett gives the best performance by an actress on film in this gritty real life attempted rape thriller where she turns the tables  gives james russo a taste of his own medicine . a must see for any movie fan .  
hollywood  s attempt to turn jack london  s life into a  jack london  adventure film isn  t a bad idea certainly  he led an interesting  and sometimes adventurous  life . this film  however  winds up flat and unsatisfying . most importantly  it lacks integrity . michael o  shea  as london  has some londonesque speeches and  it  s nice to see his bearded jack receive  the call of the wild  after spending some quality time alone  in the snowy mountains  with his dog   buck  . virginia mayo and susan hayward are both very pretty . the film draws unfortunate  yellow peril  parallels between london  s life and world war ii  which are both strained and insulting .  br    br    jack london           alfred santell  michael o  shea  susan hayward  virginia mayo  
i  ve never been a fan of farrah fawcett . . . until now . she was truly amazing in this movie . the emotion she must have gone through shooting re  take after re  take doesn  t bare thinking about . this was a very hard movie to watch  the subject matter is decidedly unpleasant and you feel so helpless just sitting and watching a woman being abused for what seems like an eternity . i actually felt that the whole thing deflated somewhat when her friends returned to the house and i didn  t find the conclusion at all plausible . the director seemed very keen in using height in his shots and loved using mirror reflections  i believe he should have paid more attention to the pace in the second half of this piece . i  m sure this makes a heck of a powerful piece of theatre  this movie for me  although it had merit  just fell short .  
in his brief   years on earth  author jack london managed to cram as much adventure and incident as would seem possible . this    minute film  purportedly a biography of the man  s life but patently fictionalized  doesn  t even scratch the surface  and remains a story very ripe for a modern  day retelling . here  michael o  shea  in one of his first roles  portrays london  and his performance is both rugged and sympathetic . he is not the problem here . nor is a young and very beautiful susan hayward  playing his future wife  charmian  whose biography on london is the  basis  for this film . london  s life has here been broken down into a series of episodes  which the film skips lightly through . so we have brief incidents with london as an oyster pirate  a sealer in the bering sea  a gold prospector in the yukon and a correspondent during the russo  japanese war . . . colorful events  for sure  but hardly given anything like in  depth treatment . and alfred santell  s direction  he also directed one of susan  s first films   our leading citizen   in      is lackadaisical at best . making things rougher here is a very poor  quality dvd  with a crummy  looking print source and hissy sound . perhaps the best thing about this movie rental  for me  was one of the dvd  s extras a catalog of all the alpha video films  featuring hundreds and hundreds of full  color movie posters . let  s just hope that these films are in better shape than  jack london    
attractive marjorie  farrah fawcett  lives in fear after being accosted by a lone biker . she is mortally shaken with the fact her attacker knows her address . as expected  joe  james russo   the attacker forces his way into marjorie  s home and subjects her to humiliating terror . bruised and bloody  marjorie manages to get an upper hand on her attacker  knocking the living daylights out of the jerk and renders him helpless thanks to wasp spray in his eyes and throat . hog tied and battered himself  joe tries to explain himself to marjorie  s roommates  diana scarwid and alfrie woodard  when they get home . there is almost a hint of mercy  but it is not coming from marjorie . should she continue to render her own punishment  violence  sexual abuse and rough language makes for an r rating . fawcett really gets away from the ditsy roles that would forever stain her career . kudos to director robert m . young .  
jack london  s life was certainly colorful enough for a dozen films about different aspects of him . sad to say though that what his life was used for in film was some wartime propaganda that put the best face on some of the least attractive parts of his character .  br    br   jack london who barely saw the age of   when he died wrote some of the best stories around . he wrote on what he knew  but he also wrote as does everyone else bringing the baggage of his own life experience with him . some of that experience in another day and time would have been condemned as racism . but this was world war ii and london was a big believer in the  yellow peril  as it was called back in the day .  br    br   two thirds of the film covers his life as author  we see his years as a seaman from where he got the inspiration for the sea wolf . we see him up in the yukon in a miner  s cabin with a dog that was no doubt his inspiration for the call of the wild . london was able to capture the spirit of adventure that his own life was all about right on paper for the world to enjoy ever since .  br    br   the final third dealt with his time as a war correspondent covering the russo  japanese war . london was a socialist  but his socialism did not encompass folks who were oriental . like a few million others he saw the rising immigration of the chinese and japanese to our pacific coast as a threat to jobs for the white people . he advocated strict immigration policies for orientals .  br    br   the film puts the cart before the horse . london is presented as a man who saw because he was on hand at the russo  japanese war what japan  s ambitions were and for that reason was as xenophobic as he was . actually the kind of atrocities present in world war ii were not existent during the russo  japanese conflict . japan had her imperial ambitions  but so did everyone else including the usa at that time . but our immigration policies caused by pressure from our west coast politicians was a big contributing factor to the deterioration of relations with japan over a couple of generations . london was part of the cause not a prophet crying in the wilderness .  br    br   this film was the first independent production of samuel bronston who later did some films with a bit more budget than jack london . had he a bit more money bronston might have gotten james cagney or spencer tracy  both who would have been right for the role . instead they got michael o  shea who was making his second film after lady of burlesque . o  shea is fine in the part  but certainly was no box office .  br    br   as london is covering the war  he meets up with a captain tanaka who is played by leonard strong  an actor who specialized in orientals and played a ton of them in world war ii . from the vantage point in     strong outlines in the best fu manchu tradition japan  s imperial aims right up to taking on the usa eventually . must have gone over great with the swing shift crowd .  br    br   a lot of course is left out of london  s life including a first wife . playing the second and only wife in this film is susan hayward who only comes into the movie when it  s half over . i wish we  d have seen more of her . charmian kittredge london survived her husband by almost   years dying in     .  br    br   o  shea in fact met and married the leading lady of his life in jack london . virginia mayo has a small role in jack london and they married for   years until o  shea died in     .  br    br   maybe one day we  ll get a view of jack london that will be a lot better than this one .  
marjorie  a young woman who works in a museum and lives with two female roommates  pat and terry . one night she gets in her car and is attacked by masked man with a knife . his plan is to rape her  but she manages to escape . the man has her purse . the police can  t help her  since the actual rape didn  t happen . then one day  when marjorie  s roommates are at work  her assailant comes there . his name is joe . a long battle begins against this man . but then she manages to spray his eyes and mouth with insect repellent  stuff that will kill him if he won  t get help soon . she ties him up and makes joe the subject of the same kind of physical and mental assaults he used on her earlier . the extremities       is directed by robert m . young . it  s based on the controversial off  broadway play from     by william mastrosimone . farrah fawcett  who sadly lost her battle with cancer last year  is terrific as marjorie . james russo  who played the attacker also in the play  is convincing as joe . alfre woodard and diana scarwid are great as pat and terry . james avery is seen as security guard . she got a golden globe nomination . this is not a movie that is supposed to entertain you . it asks a question is revenge justified . this is not a perfect movie  but i recommend it .  
caught this movie on the tube on a sunday . i thought it was so bad i looked it up on imdb to see what others thought of it . i was not surprised at the amount of silly people who enjoyed this fluff . i was however surprised when i looked into the comments to read the hated it categories only to find that their were none . i was shocked at this i always look at the hated it  s as their are always those who hate a movie no matter how good it is . somehow this movie made it through unscathed by the haters i say nay to that and proclaim proudly that i hate this movie  i know i should go into detail about why i hate this movie but to do so would only grant this movie more respect than it deserves .  
this move actually had me jumping out of my chair in anticipation of what the actors were going to do  the acting was the best  farrah should have gotten a oscar for this she was fabulous . james russo was so good i hated him he was the villain and played it wonderful . there aren  t many movies that have riveted me as this one . the cast was great alfie looking shocked with those big eyes farrah looking like a victim and you re  lived her horror as she went through it . farrah made you feel like you were there and feeling the same anger she felt you wanted her to hurt him  yet you also knew it was the wrong thing to do . the movie had you on a roller coaster ride and you went up and down with each scene .  
as i watch this film  it is interesting to see how much it marginalizes black men . the film spends its time showing how powerless the most visible black man in it is  save for an heroic moment  . for much of the film  the other black men  and dark  skinned black women  in the film are way in the background  barely visible .  br    br   vanessa williams  character was strong and sympathetic . the viewer can easily identify and sympathize with her . there are also some fairly visible and three  dimensional support characters who are light  skinned  and some white characters of some warmth and dignity . but    of the black males in this film are nothing but invisible men . voiceless shadows in the background  of no consequence . such a horrible flaw  but anything but unusual in the mainstream media .  
having looked at some of the other comments here  i have a main complaint with this presentation .  br    br   the two primary characters are attractive in their own ways  the beautiful  victim   and the handsome  obviously extremely  off  center   blue  collar protagonist  if just short of  totally  deranged    take turns beating the hell out of each other  sort of like a caucasian kabuki scenario .  br    br   this is all right  and this is  of course  mainly a  turning  the  tables  story . however  my referenced complaint is that i believe the director got caught  up in his desire to display farrah  s well  known and obvious physical attributes . beginning with her being enticingly clad in a thin robe  and with a number of scenes displaying more than needed for any dramatic effect  while immensely pleasing to the eyes  these distract from the poignancy level of the drama .  br    br   her roommates i  m certain give performances as written and directed  however  their respective skepticism and histrionic babbling and sobbing  don  t ring true   based upon farrah  s previous experience with this guy  the obvious evidence of his having come to their premises with only the worst of intentions  and that she would have absolutely no grounds to be exaggerating what has occurred .  br    br   but this is a film and story  compelling as much in spite of  as because of  the director  s work .  
i am not an artistically inclined individual . i am a science minded woman and i felt that this movie was maybe one of those campy artsy type films on a budget . i watched part of it with my fianc and my future step daughter . we tried very hard to find something in this film to keep our interest . my fianc and his daughter voted it off and we moved on to ocean  s    but that is another story . not to be deterred i awoke the next morning and gave the movie another shot . i began again watching this movie in earnest . i just don  t get it  i thought i would get it . i thought the funniest part was the flushing of the ashes and the urn finding a spot by the fireplace being used as a vase for what appeared to be dead flowers . interesting and still it had dead stuff inside . it was an odd and bizarre movie . maybe this is what they were after  however i won  t be tricked a second time   
i loved this excellent movie . farrah fawcett played the part phenomenally and with good heart . she plays a woman who is driven to extreme measures to protect herself and her friends after she is attacked by a stranger . after being rejected by the police she realizes she is on her own .  br    br   then one day when she at home alone the stranger breaks into her home and attacks her again . not being about to call the police or get him out she is forced to spray him in the eyes and imprisons him in her fireplace .  br    br   i think there is a need for a wake up call to the laws of the land . they are too easy on these criminals . it  s time for more harsh punishments .  
i just rented  yes  i paid money to see   this film . omg . it is one of the very worst films i have ever seen . as another reviewer put it  ms . colagrande  get out of films  please  please never make or appear in another film  the lady has the charisma of a cantaloupe . no  that  s not fair to the cantaloupe  which probably has more going for it . she does not know how to act she affects a disgusted look all the time  reminded me very much of my always  disgusted young sisters  in  law from europe  . she is not charming she is not pretty . there is no real story . and the editing  there wasn  t any  that i could see  it  s pretty bad when you are watching a film and  just to get through it  you press  forward forward  on your remote  and still nothing happens  i mean  . . . . . i kept involuntarily screaming   cut  cut   what were they thinking  well  obviously  they thought they would make a film together and get paid to make love on screen  pretty good deal for them pretty raw deal for the viewer  i think i  m going to throw up now . . . .  
this is mostly a story about the growing relationship between jeff webster  jimmy stewart  and ronda castle  ruth roman  . she takes an instant liking to jeff in a brief encounter on the deck of the steamer to skagway  and a longer look when he hides in her cabin while authorities seek him on a charge of murder . they find out they have some things in common besides an animal attraction . neither trusts a member of the opposite sex  apparently because both have been married to spouses who cheated on them . gradually  they learn to trust each other  as they journey from skagway to dawson . but ronda clearly has close dealings with corrupt sheriff gannon and engages in some shady practices in her castle saloon in skagway . she eventually has to decide between gannon and jeff . meanwhile  rene  a young naive french woman also takes an immediate liking to jeff  but only gets insulting brush offs in return . yet  she sticks with him in his travels from skagway to dawson and his activities around dawson . along with ronda  she nurses him back to health after jeff is left for dead by gannon  s gunslingers at his gold claim . walter brennan  as ben  serves as jeff  s long time sidekick . he doesn  t have a meaty role  but serves to soften jeff  s hard edges . his demise symbolically opens the door for a woman companion replacement for jeff .  br    br   john mcintire  as sheriff gannon  makes probably the most charismatic evil town boss you will ever see on film  oozing charm and humor to go along with his bullying . evidently  he sees something of himself in jeff  repeatedly declaring that he  s going to like him . he makes a believable incarnation of the infamous soapy smith  who spent his last years in skagway  as one of the premier con men of his times .  br    br   jeff is the quintessential antihero  a loner  except for companion ben   who doesn  t want to stick his neck out for others  even when he knows he is the one right man for the job . in this respect  he closely resemble  s burt lancaster  s character in  vera cruz   for example . thus  jeff not only turns down the job of marshall of dawson  he is convinced to leave dawson after gannon  s gang move in with clear intentions of taking over everyone  s insufficiently legal gold claims  while disposing of some miners and suggesting that the rest make a hurried exit from dawson . even ronda suggests that she and jeff make a hurried exit from dawson while they are still alive . then  jeff has a sudden change of heart  apparently still nursing desire for revenge for the shooting of ben and himself . he changes from anti  hero to hero in leading the expulsion of gannon  s gang from dawson . in this respect  he differs from lancaster  s character  who never reforms  but is jeff truly changed  or just handing out revenge for wrongs committed against his own interests    br    br   the main problem i see with the plot is the  principle women . clearly  ronda is groomed as the right woman to tame jeff . although she is clearly characterized as a  bad  girl  jeff has a checkered recent past himself  having shot at least  men in the us or yukon  and having stolen his cattle back from gannon . ironically  soon after jeff changes from anti  hero to hero  rhonda makes a similar change in running into the street to warn jeff of gannon  s impending ambush . she dies as a result and jeff asks her why she didn  t just look out for herself  his supposedly just abandoned creed   .  br    br   it  s clear that corine calvert  as renee  just doesn  t make a credible substitute for the dead ronda  in jeff  s mind . yet  the apparent implication of the parting scene is that they get together  even though jeff never visibly gives her a kiss or hug . her image as a good  if naive  young woman is somewhat compromised by her job in rhonda  s saloon of bumping miners weighting their gold dust  pushing the spilled dust on the floor and recovering it later . i  m also very unclear about her relationship with rube morris  a middle aged miner who followers her around and works a claim with her .  he  s not her father  .  br    br   another problem is the amateurish handling of the gun fight between jeff and gannon  s gang . if gannon had any skill at all with a pistol  he should have killed or seriously wounded jeff under that boardwalk  before jeff did the same to him . and how did jeff  s badly shot up right hand suddenly become well enough to shoot a pistol with apparent ease  i also wonder what jeff and friends did to help save the avalanche victims . they were much too far away to pull them out alive from under the snow . and why weren  t most of ronda  s pack horses and mules also buried by the avalanche   br    br   you will see a host of probably nameless but familiar faces among the miners and gannon  s gang . the sequences shot in the canadian rockies provide a breathtaking backdrop to the action . all  in  all  a very entertaining western  with most of the major flaws concentrated at the end . no doubt  this film takes some great liberties with history and geography  especially  the part taking place in the canadian yukon  which was in fact much tamer than the us skagway .  
i like musicals but as a dickens fan i hate this one . mild spoilers starving boys who have enough energy to sing and dance in the workhouse  the poor of london coming out to sing  fagin and dodger walking off into the sunset  not exactly faithful to the novel . as i recall  dodger was publicly hanged and fagin went crazy in prison . end of spoilers  br    br   oliver reed is very weak as sykes  doing little more than growling to indicate his evil . worst however  is mark lester as oliver  who often comes across so awkward and passive you wonder if he  s really the main character . his portrayal is in no way helped by the fact that the best they could do when he sings is dub in the voice of a girl . guess they didn  t realize that boy trebles can be found in almost every church in england .  br    br   self  respecting dickens fans stick to david lean  s amazing     film or the bbc   hour adaptation from the mid     s . avoid this bloated whitewash of a musical .  
marjorie  a splendid and riveting performance by farrah fawcett  narrowly avoids being assaulted in her car by vicious serial rapist joe  superbly played with frightening conviction and intensity by james russo  . however  joe steals her wallet and finds out where marjorie lives . he pays her a visit one fateful day . after subjecting marjorie to plenty of degradation and psychological abuse  marjorie manages to turn the tables on joe and locks him in the fireplace . what is marjorie going to do with joe  director robert m . young and screenwriter william mastrosimone concoct a harsh  gritty and often disturbing morality tale that astutely nails the stark brutality and painful debasement of rape while also showing how any person when pushed to extremes is capable of shocking acts of violence and inhumanity . joe perceives women strictly as objects while marjorie only sees joe as an  animal .  however  this movie to its admirable credit refuses to make joe out to be simply a vile one  dimensional creep instead he  s a terrifyingly real and ultimately pitiable human monster with a wife and kid  joe  s climactic confession in particular is genuinely poignant  . fawcett and russo are both outstanding in the leads they receive fine support from diana scarwid as the passive terry  alfre woodard as the sensible patricia  and sandy martin as sympathetic policewoman officer sudow . both curtis clark  s agile cinematography and j . a . c . redford  s shivery  skin  crawling score greatly enhance the considerable claustrophobic tension . a real powerhouse .  
the only reason i watched the movie till the end was the  hope  to see something interesting . the movie is really bad and the performance of the girl it is really  really bad  honestly  i am not a movie critic neither an expert but you just need common sense to notice that this work it is incredibly bad .  br    br   the first thing that came to my mind as soon as she started to talk was  she has an affair with willem dafoe and he accepted to help her with the screenplay and appear in her movie since she is the brilliant director  . . . surprise  surprise  next day after i watched the film i found out on internet that giada colagrande is his wife . awful story and terrible performance .  
kudos to fawcett to taking on roles that  at the time were considered controversial . to my recollection  rape was still a taboo subject in the      s  and women  s rights and emotions were rarely so deeply examined during that time .  br    br   fawcett is simply a woman who is followed  then stalked by actor james russo . he is adequate as the obsessed psychopath  but at times a bit transparent .  br    br   diana scarwid has a bit role  as does alfre woodard as the house mate . woodard worries about the legal consequences when fawcett  the rape victim  takes revenge on the culprit . the scene where she throws a frying pan of hot oil at russo is classic  and as the rapist he deserves it . she then keeps him in bondage  and the consequences must be faced .  br    br   a very real story reflecting the emotions and rage of rape victims who have been violated  physically  and mentally . highly recommended .     .  
the photography on the dvd is so dark i thought the screen had died . i think i missed seeing half of the movie . still  it was poorly crafted and not interesting . i did not find the story related to the title  the black widow  . i was hoping for a mystery or a thriller but did not get involved enough to care after the first few frames . i rented the movie especially for willem dafoe and was sad it wasted his talent . i do not believe giada colagrande has studied movie making long enough to develop a major motion picture . she is attractive and might develop into an actor but she took on too many tasks in this movie . although they are married in real life  they lack chemistry on the screen . their relationships did not seem believable . i do not understand why the other characters were even introduced into the plot .  
riveting drama  scripted by william mastrosimone based on his stage play  in which farrah fawcett plays marjorie  attacked in her car by rapist joe  james russo  . she manages to get away but the cops inform her that there is nothing they can do . she realizes  however  that joe did get her wallet and knows where she lives . when her housemates pat  alfre woodard  and terry  diana scarwid  are off at work  joe pays her a visit to finish what he started . after joe humiliates and degrades her in a variety of ways  she gets a chance to strike back at him and imprisons him . knowing full well she  s in another  his word against yours  situation and that no rape technically took place  she has no intention of taking it easy on him until he confesses to pat and terry what his intentions were .  br    br   the movie ultimately amounts to a showdown between its two opponents . as it goes on  marjorie displays such ruthlessness that one has to wonder if she hasn  t become as unhinged as her nemesis . fawcett does a creditable enough job  while russo is truly excellent as the depraved creep who does his best to manipulate the situation . with only two characters on screen for much of the running time  the film has an intimate nature that does suggest that it would work even better on stage . director robert m . young doesn  t shy away from the uglier and more exploitative elements of the situation the film does become uncomfortable to watch at times . and by the time marjorie has the upper hand  things change enough so that it no longer becomes quite so easy to encourage her to go for blood  and one hopes that pat can make her see reason .  br    br    extremities   i felt  was a pretty good movie that at least maintained interest and a fairly high level of intensity . woodard and scarwid are both fine in support  scarwid has a great moment where terry reveals herself to be a rape victim   and the pace is consistent . granted  the dialog isn  t always very sharp  but the material is compelling every step of the way .  br    br        
i watched the dvd  called black widow in the u . s . a .  and felt afterward that it was  indeed  a truly awful movie . but they must have cut quite a bit out of the original film  or i missed a lot . the sex scenes had very little vulgarity and no nudity  not even a breast   but i  ve read several other comments on imdb . com mentioning the vulgarity and something about a tampon . i did not see anything like that  just a bad  boring film with unlikable characters and a trite  sophomoric plot . giada colagrande is either paralyzed from the mouth up or botoxed to the gills  and nary an expression touches her face . and her name makes me think of super  sizing a beverage at taco bell  i  ll have the cola grande   it was actually kind of fun it was so bad  i got to play like i was in my own mystery science theater      noting things like the fact that dafoe  s skin is too big for his face . it  s really like silly putty   
farrah fawcett is superb in this powerful     drama  where she plays marjorie  a woman who manages to escape the clutches of a would  be rapist . well done to farrah for being a golden globe  best actress  nominee .  br    br   when her rapist joe  terrifically played by james russo  comes into her home  which she shares with her two roommates  who are conveniently out    marjorie has to play along with joe  s frightening demands . it does make for some disturbing and shocking images   br    br   when her roommates come home  they are astounded  to say the least  by marjorie  s actions  and a great performance by alfre woodard who desperately tries to convince marjorie to do the right thing and turn him into the police  makes the film even more nail  biting .  br    br   i do find diana scarwid quite irritating  but when joe finally admits that he came there to kill them all  it makes the film a very emotional piece of drama indeed .  br    br   overall  extremities is a brilliantly thought  out and well  acted movie and i must have watched it hundreds of time by now  well done to everybody involved .  
italian  born eleonora has inherited from her deceased lover karl  an ultra  modern and isolated house in the middle of the woods . it  s winter and she meets the mysterious caretaker leslie  who eventually ends up not only just looking after the house  but also that of eleonora  as she tries to adapt to her new surroundings and a growing attraction between the pair .  br    br   what was i expecting  a thriller indeed  but it wasn  t quite so . that  s just the advertising on the package for ya  i  m quite perplex about everything . the title  the story and the motivation . so how to classify it  well  this wooden character drama is more a enigmatically moody romance bound  story of alienation  possession and dependence twisted into a complicatedly passionate relationship of two masked individuals . co  writer  along with william dafoe  and director giada colagrande  s art  house film is just too clinical  distant and calculated with its mysteriously metaphoric story  which it leaves you questioning what does it all really mean although when its sudden conclusion materialises  you  ll thinking why should i actually care . what we go through feels aimless with ponderous exposition of dead air that focuses of insignificant details and images . sterile dialogues can contributed to many awkward developments  but more so make for an leaden experience  as it never delves deep enough . like it believes it does . the sexually salty activities filtered in just never convince and are far from erotic . they are kind of a bump in the already sluggish flow . the base of the plot makes for something interesting and fresh  but it  s never fulfilling and i thought there  ll be more to it then all of this dreary lingering . colagrande  s direction is professionally stylish and suitably gloomy to want she imagines  but everything feels like it  s in slow motion and can get caught up admiring the same views . most of the action stays at the one location the house . camera  work is potently taut  but the sullen musical score can get a bit ridiculous when it goes for some dramatically stabbing music cues that served little sense and purpose to the scenes . giada colagrande plays it sensually and william dafoe sleep walks the part . he looks dog tired  while seymour cassel  pokes his head in now and then .  br    br   just where is it heading  is anyone  s guess . well  that  s if you can wait around for it . i think i  ll give it the benefit of the doubt  as it  s definitely not what i was expecting from this indie film .  
extremities is the disturbing  yet riveting screen version of a play by william mastriosimone  who adapted his own play for the screen  about a woman who is attacked in her car one night by a would  be rapist on her way home and is terrified when she realizes the man got her purse and knows where she lives . after her roommates leave for work the next day  the guy shows up at her home and attempts to rape her . the story takes a surprising twist when  at one point  the woman turns the tables on the man and is able to overpower him but when she realizes there is no way that attempted rape can be proved and if the man is arrested  he will just get off  she decides to keep him prisoner in the house until she can get a confession out of him . far  fetched  maybe . disturbing  definitely  but there  s a wonderfully claustrophobic feel about this film  especially the middle with just the woman and her attacker  that you can  t help but feel completely a part of what  s going on . i did not see the play on broadway  but i would imagine a piece like this works better onstage  but that doesn  t make this film any less riveting an experience . farrah fawcett  one of the last actresses to do the role on broadway  was awarded the role of marjorie in the film version and delivers a taut and deeply moving performance as the victim who refuses to be a victim . many critics found fawcett  s performance to be one  note  but for me  marjorie is a woman completely numbed by what she has been through and the performance works for me . james russo  in the performance of his career  is slimy and menacing as the would  be rapist who finds marjorie to be much more of a challenge than he assumed . alfre woodard and diana scarwid co  star as marjorie  s roommates  who come home after marjorie has overpowered the guy and has him tied up and stuffed in their fireplace upon their arrival . and it  s the arrival of the roommates that take the story to an unexpected level because they didn  t see what we saw marjorie go through and therefore  think she should call the police and let them handle the guy . not for the faint of heart  but if you can stand it  a gripping film experience anchored by a lead performance that will surprise you .  
the poster who called this  plotless and pointless  literally took the words i would have used in my subject line . the only thing i  d add is  passionless .  for a film made by a real life married couple and featuring lots of graphic sex scenes this movie manages to make what should be a sultry situation into one beyond ice cold . dafoe and colagrande look bored during the sex scenes  and the viewer might as well take a valium and have done with it . also  please  the women in the audience have seen way too many used tampons in their time  and any guy who is turned on by seeing willem dafoe pull a bloody tampon out of his wife  s vagina really needs to get therapy .  br    br   i think the key to the film  if there is one  is the restaurant scene where a waiter explains to the perpetually sleepy  eyed dafoe what a  deconstructed jambalaya  is .  all the ingredients of the dish still separate rather than simmered together .  this movie is a  deconstructed thriller  . all the elements are there spooky  isolated house  dead spouse  creepy violins on the score  weirdo caretaker who comes and goes as he pleases  auto accident deaths and near deaths  characters with a secret past . basically every thriller clich you can think of  but nothing comes together . everything just sits there and never meshes into a coherent plot or even an artsy mood piece . at the restaurant  dafoe passes on the  deconstructed jambalaya  . prospective renters of this mess would do well to leave this deconstructed thriller on the video store shelf .  
this review owes its existence entirely to a review . we take a weekly tv magazine to see what is coming up  and duly decide what we will watch . obligingly  there are brief reviews of most of the films scheduled to be shown on the five major terrestrial channels . in addition to the prose  each film is allocated a    star rating .  means don  t miss  superior to  for excellent    down to  standing for poor . we have learned from vast experience that  with few exceptions  stars are awarded for gross taste  foul language  offensive content  promiscuity  horror  blood  guts  and especially killing off the hero  heroine just when everyone was about to live happily ever after .  if that isn  t done  the movie is denigrated as being  predictable   the worst insult imaginable    br    br   brave new girl was given only  star  thereby suggesting it was a candidate worthy of our time and attention . this was confirmed by the reviewer  s description of the movie as being a  truly awful tale   and   stupid  just stupid  . we watched it  and my wife and i were glad we did so . the tv magazine reviewer further stated that the movie was  not a reworking of war and peace   with which we have to agree . reading through the imdb reviews for this title a day or two later  the urge to pick up my pen  so to speak  to add my halfpennyworth  pronounced harf  pen  uth  emphasis on the first syllable  for the uninitiated  became overwhelming .  br    br   why did we take to this movie  well  it  s just a matter of taste . we like attractive characters  believable relationships between them  interesting situations  courtesy and respect  good triumphing over evil  and so on . we liked the integrity and personalities of holly  lindsey haun   her mum  virginia madsen   ditz  barbara mamabolo   grant  nick roth   zoe  joanne boland  and the two male professors involved in the story . so what if the storyline includes a  wicked witch of the west  in the form of angela  barbara mamabolo   provided that she plays the part with some conviction . we appreciated the friendship depicted between the two room  mates  with one having a financially challenged upbringing by a loving single mum  and the other having every material advantage but receiving little parental time and affection . is it any wonder that ditz felt the way she did about holly  s mum  is it surprising that grant should take an immediate interest in holly  considering the manner of their initial meeting  holly  s dazzling smiles and her lively self  possession  i think these issues and the events are believable enough  but it is necessary to pretend that the scholarship and other circumstances are realistic in order for the tale to have a setting .  br    br   my wife and i are greatly blessed by not having any significant musical education . this enables us to enjoy the sounds produced by instruments and voices without having our critical faculties intruding unduly on our listening  and thus spoiling the experience . we enjoyed both the classical pieces and the pop  which came over well on the tv  and we weren  t struck by any lack of talent . also  it mattered not that holly  s classical vocals were dubbed by someone else .  br    br   we enjoyed the movie enough to look for a dvd . the average delivered price we have paid per disk for the movies in our collection currently stands at   .      rounded to four decimal places  . brave new girl was available from a trusted supplier on the amazon marketplace for   .      rounded to four decimal places  above this figure . such a purchase would increase the average . why i should resent this is a mystery to me  but it is a testimony to our enjoyment of this film that we placed an order anyway . i have awarded this film  imdb stars out of ten  having docked one for overenthusiastic reception of the performances by the audiences  one for britney advertising and one for something else i can  t remember right now .  in case it hasn  t tumbled  this review is an anthem in celebration of the use of brackets    
i too like dafoe as an actor but i wasted a few hours of my life actually watching this film  i still cant believe i managed to watch it in its entirety . was there actually a point to the film   and the ending  well  im glad i never paid to see this awful pointless piece of pathetic excuse of a film   br    br   im not sure without hunting the facts out but is dafoe married or seeing the awful actress in this film in real life  if so was it an attempt to kick start her career   if so im afraid it must have failed . .  br    br   i post this in the hope i can actually put someone off watching this film  even if  person takes heed of my comments and decides they would much rather watch paint drying i will feel i have made some good in the world  if only i had had the same advice . . .  
in  brave new girl   holly comes from a small town in texas  sings  the yellow rose of texas  at a local competition  and gets admitted to a prestigious arts college in philadelphia . from there the movie grows into a colorful story of friendship and loyalty . i loved this movie . it was full of great singing and acting and characters that kept it moving at a very nice pace . the acting was  of course  wonderful . virginia madsen and lindsey haun were outstanding  as well as nick roth the camera work was really done well and i was very pleased with the end  it seems a sequel could be in the making  . kudos to the director and all others that participated on this production . quite a gem in the film archives .  
this movie was the worst i  ve ever seen .  br    br   it doesn  t seem to have a plot but the time you realize this is far beyond the beginning of the movie so you have to watch the shut for a long time to recognize the total incompetence of the director  aka the sloth that plays the tampon chick in the movie  and we do not believe the willem dafoe in this movie  he  s a clone  because the real dafoe  like we know from  apocalypse now  and  the boon dock saints   would never agreed to such a script .  br    br   duh   da  foe wrote this bill shut together with his twenty years minus baby . this movie starts with the credits of the two main characters  dafoe and colagrande  and then the two script writers  dafoe and colagrande  and then the director  colagrande .  br    br   bottomline  the story   widow meets guy  guy bangs widow  widow smashes windscreen with guy who banged her .  br    br   title in netherlands the black widow  different title  same bullshit  .  br    br   do not watch this movie    it  s a total waist of time     
i  d just like to say that i  ve seen this film twice now and i love it  the acting is great and even though it is a similar plot to  raise your voice  i think that the plot never gets boring for people who like that kind of thing . it has some great lessons in it and shows us that we can do anything if we try . an incredible film . i am sure that this is one i will be watching for a long time to come . even though britney spears write the book it is quite a realistic plot  maybe not about the falling in love part  but the part about being different and struggling but coming out best in the end is very true to real life . the only minor criticism is why is the main girl in these films always beautiful  do you really think that holly would have met the perfect guy of her dreams if she was ugly or average  i doubt it . .  
i understand wanting to make a movie that is edgy and different . i understand the previous reviewer comments that this is a miss  understood movie . my point is as soon as this movie ended my first comment was  this is what happens when a rich princess wants to be a movie star and has no talent  . . . . . she uses daddy  s  money to make a movie she wrote  directs  and pays for . . . . . obviously to close to the movie to realize there was no character development and no directions such as a beginning  middle and ending . . . . . the voyeur part was good and edgy but what was the point  i saw a women go to a house  find some pictures  screw the caretaker  come out side on a very cold night  not believable  to check on noise and runs over her caretaker lover . . . . movie ends . . . . . . some one educate my ignorant arss   i really want to know what the point is . . . . what was the directors  vision . . . . . why no development of the dead lover  why no background on the caretaker  what is the point of the night vision  what is the point of the lipstick on the car  why a dead caretaker  why tell us about an escaped mental patient  peeping tom  what  s with the urn  oh and the lamp is that suppose to signify whose  house this is  territorial  why  why would the caretaker feel like it  s his house  that aspect was never pursued . . . . . . as for william defoe . . . i rented this movie because he was in it and known for edgy characters . . . . . write back and do tell me what i need to learn . . . . i am just a mom in middle america who loves movies . . . . chris . . . .  
i really enjoyed this movie . britney is an excellent role model for teens and should be more appreciated . this movie is about following your dreams and never giving up no matter what people might do or say to discourage and criticize you . holly fulfills her dreams just like britney .  br    br   there are times in everyones  lives when people judge them for what they are not who they are . watching this movie will make you understand that you are special in your own way and that you should follow your dreams no matter what happens .  br    br   i would like to thank britney for encouraging me and my friends to follow our dreams . she will never know how much that means to me . bravo britney . you are the greatest     
only one thing could have redeemed this sketch . a healthy gunfight between the happy couple  the exotic model at the delicatessen  and the old  timer from the motel who was  it would have turned out  secretly watching from the woods and had been aging rent  boy to the guys when they  d shared the rubber house .  br    br   in the process  they could have blown that freezing shack to smithereens  resolved most of the snags such as the  whore bitch  ode on the windscreen  the reason why the protagonist had  no friends   as well as explaining his coolness under pressure from bloody tampon  incessant phone calls . . . and that crawl  space chic  the green thumb  and his attraction to the simpler life . quite the technician with the human body  though . ex  abortionist  morgue attendant  a bit of a heartbeat would have been nice .  br    br   it was fun watching these people move around  i guess  but eleanora  s silly italian games were suffocatingly stereotypical while the caretaker had been to too many yoga classes a dick  a mind  and a pick  up truck about summed it up for him . i also wished they could have had a bit more luggage eleanora is ready to go after putting some black underwear into her nifty red suitcase and the caretaker just needs a cardboard carton there at the motel .  br    br   trifling matters  you may well say . i agree  although the niggling bits just didn  t add up right in this rush job . good owl  wrangling  though  and i really felt cold all the way through .  
i  ve read the other reviews and found some to be comparison of movie v real life  eg what it takes to get into music school   britney bashing  etc  etc . so let  s focus on the movie and the message .  br    br   i have rated this movie  out of   for the age range  to   years  and for a family movie . for the average adult male . . . .  out of   .  br    br   i like pop  rock music  i  m   . i know of britney spears but never realised she actually sang stronger until i read the credits and these reviews . i didn  t recognise her poster on the wall so i was not worried about any  self promotion  .  br    br   i watch movies to be entertained . i don  t care about casting  lighting  producers  directors  etc . what is the movie and does it entertain me .  br    br   i watched this movie for the message . the world  s greatest epidemic is low self  esteem  which is a whole other story  so watched with the message in mind  as that is an area of interest . the movie is light  bright and breezy  great for kids . i found the texan twang began to fade throughout the movie and of course there are only so many ways to convey the give up  don  t give up message  so yeh  it was a bit predictable . great message though . . . should be more of them .  br    br   this movie is a great family movie  but for a bloke watching by himself  get hannibal .  
i saw this movie today at the haifa film festival in israel after hearing rave reviews  but i guess the critics were just sucking up to willem defoe and his wife  the director  who were present at the festival . it is definitely the slowest movie i have ever seen with numerous pointless  ridiculously long scenes of nothing . besides defoe who was decent  the acting of the two and a half other people in the movie  defoe  s wife giada included  was ridiculously awful  how they cast the part of the salesgirl at the bakery is beyond me  . this movie is pretty much plot less with a lame attempt to be abstract and off the wall . the only scene that stirred any kind of reaction in the crowd was vulgar and came from nowhere as if just to add some kind of shock value to the dullness that is this movie . sorry for being so harsh  but really this movie is a precious waste of time and money . i appreciate good indie cinema  but this movie is not worthy of moviegoers  time .  
the penultimate collaboration between director anthony mann and star james stewart  excluding the few days mann worked on night passage before parting company with the star under less than amicable circumstances   the far country belies its mainstream look to offer another portrait of an embittered man dragged unwillingly to his own redemption  fighting it every step of the way . this time he  s a cattle driver whose response to labour problems  challenging troublesome cowhands to a gunfight at the end of the trail  results in his cattle being confiscated by john mcintire  s larcenous judge of the roy bean school of law and order . stealing them back and taking them across the canadian border  he soon finds himself unwillingly drawn into the growing conflict between prospectors and the judge as he cheats or kills them out of their claims . . .  br    br   while it  s no great surprise which way stewart turns at the end  he  s a surprisingly callous critter along the way  even using his desire to just be left alone to excuse not warning a group of prospectors of an impending avalanche when he has the chance because it  s not his problem . for most of the film there  s really only a hair  s breadth between him and mcintire  something the judge recognises immediately  revelling in the company of a kindred spirit even as he  s genially planning to lynch him . in many ways the townspeople who put their faith in him probably recognise it too  despite their appeals to his dead  and  buried better nature  there  s an unspoken acknowledgement that the only person who can stand up to the judge is someone almost as bad as he is .  br    br   as usual with mann there  s an exceptional use of high country locations  though for once the final showdown takes place on level ground  and the film is almost perfectly cast with strong support from walter brennan  harry morgan and ruth roman  though corinne calvert  s young romantic interest veers to the irritating  . sadly the great cinematography of the canadian rockies is done few favours by a distinctly average dvd transfer  with only the theatrical trailer as an extra .  
must every good story be  improved  with added corny broadway music  apparently those who can  t come up with their own plots think that classic literature is just there for the plundering . i confess that oliver twist and similar stories are not my favorites  as it is certainly true that dickens often wrote things that leave you considerably bummed out  and this was a great example of just that . . . so of course  take this serious tale and add nauseating music and camp it up with every character from prancing orphan boys to mincing bobbies and suddenly it  s uplifting  argh . fetch me a basin .  br    br   the four stars in my rating come from casting  which i could liken to that of my fair lady . each of these films had a cast that a play version could be proud of  but then they must go and have them sing  see complaint above  . unlike my fair lady  those singing here could actually do so and they mercifully spared us the singing voice of oliver reed  pardon if i  m mistaken  it  s been a while  .  br    br   my biggest complaint i  ve stated . why embarrass everyone except the truly shameless by putting silly songs into a perfectly good story  seldom has this been done to good effect . generally it ruins the story . it did with this one . jury  s still out on whether this story is worth saving  but with all that gadding about  it  s impossible to tell .  
i really think that this movie is great  personally . but  in every movie there is a downer . now  some of you may not have watched hilary duff  s  raise your voice   but if you think about it  those two shows are very very similar  if you know what i mean . in  brave new girl   holly wants so bad to get into haverty conservatory . in  raise your voice   terri wants to go to a conservatory in l . a .  don  t remember the name of the conservatory there  . they are both in the music field  and they both have to sing at the ending of the semester . it  s really funny how these two films are alike . i personally like  brave new girl  better than   raise your voice  though .  
i am a huge willem dafoe fan  and really sought out this film  i had to get a region  chinese dvd of it   . but  it is truly one of the worst that i  ve seen in quite a while .  br    br   the acting  except for dafoe  is horrible . dafoe and colagrande both wrote and directed this  though he isn  t credited as a director   and they have no discernible talents for writing or directing .  stick to acting willem giada get out of the business  please    br    br   absolutely nothing happens . except a series of completely unconvincing  totally without believable motivation  acts by these two people  that just met  in this house . colagrande  s sleepy  i couldn  t care less expression practically never changes . and the sex scenes are downright lame . i actually cringed twice at one of them . yuck  they  re definitely not the least bit erotic  and yet are the only time the film isn  t putting you to sleep . then  it  s busy repulsing you .  br    br   just awful .  
yes  the plot is predictable yes  there are a few plot holes yes  it has a made  for  tv quality and yes  britney spears  wrote  the book with obvious self  promotion .  br    br   but forget all of that . . . this movie is fun .  br    br   fun in an after school special sort  of  way  but fun nevertheless .  br    br   virginia madsen as the mother does a great job . . . so good that i  m going to start watching for her movies . she reminded me of diane lane for all the good reasons .  br    br   the rest of the cast does a fine job  too . if i was a casting agent  i  d be scouting some of these young actors .  br    br   the production values are above usual tv standards and the music was really great . . . better than several big  budget movies i  ve seen .  br    br   if you  re in the mood for german noir this movie isn  t for you . if you want a safe  fun and underrated movie  this is a good one . it  s one you could show to your   year old daughter but enjoy it yourself too .  
predictable  told a thousand times story with the usual drama in between  a couple of pretty raunchy sex scenes intermingled with some character paranoia     s style incidental violin horror music that is comical at times  i couldn  t help chuckling to myself .  br    br   i usually like defoe  and it has to be said that the acting is not all that bad  the  plot  develops at a reasonable pace and does keep you guessing from time to time . its just that it  s all too predictable  i felt like i was watching a made for tv drama instead of a new movie . maybe thats the style the directors wanted  but it has to be said that the review i read on here before i saw the movie could only have been written by someone involved in its production .  br    br   don  t expect too much  and if i could wind the clock back i wouldn  t have gone to see it at the cinema . i would wait for the bargain bins at your video shop  i  m sure it wont take long .  
  spoilers in first paragraph  this movie  s anti  german sentiment seems painfully dated now  but it  s a brilliant example of great war  time propaganda . it was made back when cecil b . demille was still a great director .  ignore all his later best picture academy awards he never made a very good sound film .  this movie lacks the comedy of most of pickford  s other films  and really it was demille  s movie  not pickford  s . the vilification of the germans can be compared to the way  the patriot  of     did the same to the british . the only good german in the film was a reluctant villain who had the ironic name of austreheim . they even had pickford take an ill  fated trip on a luxury ship that gets torpedoed by a german submarine . so what  ll get the americans more stirred up to war  the sinking of the lusitania  or watching america  s favorite canadian import sinking in it  all throughout the film demille runs his protagonist from one kind of horrible calamity to another  barely escaping death  hypothermia  depravity  rape  execution  and explosions that go off in just the right place to keep her unharmed . the way she is saved from a firing squad is no more believable than the way the humans in  jurassic park  were ultimately rescued from the velociraptors . if i was any more gullible to such propaganda i would punish myself for having a part  german ancestry .  br    br   was it a good film  aside from a humorous running gag about americans abroad thinking they  re untouchable  that was apparently a joke even back then  you might not be entertained . you  ll find it more than a little melodramatic  and obviously one  sided  but the first thing that came to my mind after watching it is that it was years before potemkin  s false portrayal of a massacre revolutionized the language of cinema as well as a movie  s potential for propaganda . it made me wonder what became of cecil b . demille  somewhere between the advent of sound and  the greatest show on earth  he seemed to lose his ambition . ben hur looked expensive  but not ambitious . in a sentence  this movie is for   film historians    silent film buffs    mary pickford fans  or   demille fans  if such a person exists .  
this title seems more like a filming exercise than a film that should have been released to be seen by the public . for dafoe and his wife it must have been fun working together in a film for the first time  without taking into consideration that people might actually watch it . i felt like it was   mins wasted as i waited anxiously for a plot to develop  or even begin .  br    br   try to fit this film into a genre and you won  t  because it lacks a beginning  middle or ending . i  ve seen  arty  movies before and this doesn  t even come close to being arty  abstract or original  it just seems to me to be completely pointless .  br    br   i think it speaks for itself when the only persons that rated this film a   were the under   age group . no doubt for the constant pointless erotic scenes that the film was insistent on throwing at us . that is if you can call it erotic . it certainly didn  t have taste .  
mary pickford   born on the fourth of july  as angela moore  is  the little american   of french heritage   she falls in love with jack holt  as karl von austreim   who had moved to america with his german father and american mother . french  american raymond hatton  as count jules de destin of the  fighting destins   has fallen in love with ms . pickford . the love triangled threesome eventually wind up in france  with the great war  world war i  in hindsight  complicating their lives considerably .  br    br   a mostly entertaining  if propagandistically flawed  cecil b . demille film . the torpedoing  and sinking  of a ship carrying pickford is  titanic   like . the war intrigue gets dramatic as pickford slowly becomes an undercover spy for france  while the germans occupy her ancestral home . of course  german lover holt arrives . it was difficult to believe they took so long to recognize each other as he moved in for the rape  but it was dark and  prior events had them believe each other dead . the film goes way over  the  top in its symbolism . pickford was  by the way  canadian  though  few could deny she wasn  t a  little american   for all intents and purposes .  br    br   fun to spot  extras  who later became major stars include wallace beery  colleen moore  and ramon novarro  especially  watch for mr . novarro exhibiting  star  quality during one of the film  s more memorable sequences pickford and the wounded soldier saluting each other as he is taken by her on a stretcher . novarro even gets mary pickford to write a letter for him obviously  he  s got a future in pictures . also future  bound is ben alexander  who plays the boy  bobby   he becomes a dependable child actor  and grows up to become a jack webb partner on  dragnet  .  br    br    the little american          cecil b . demille  mary pickford  jack holt  raymond hatton  
i own  home entertainment stores and i  ve seen a lot of bad movies in my time but this one was so bad it compelled me to register here and comment on it . how bad was it  let  s just say that sofia coppola deserved an oscar for her performance in godfather iii when compared to giada colagrande  s in this movie .  br    br   it was robotic and uninspired . her lover has just died one month prior to her arrival at the  rubber house  he had given her . once there  she discovers he has cheated on her throughout her relationship but none of it seems to register with her . within a day  she starts a relationship with leslie   dafoe  the caretaker of the house . even though she is married to dafoe off screen  her scenes with him were cold and unemotional .  br    br   if there was a plot  i missed it . not even willem dafoe could save this movie from the amateur  cinematic train wreck that it is .  
when the us entered world war i  the government forced hollywood to churn out propaganda films . the little american is probably the best of the lot because it stars mary pickford .  br    br   pickford plays a young woman torn between two men jack holt  german  and raymond hatton  french   but her decision is delayed because of the war as both men enlist .  br    br   when the ship pickford is sailing on is sunk by the germans  think lusitania  because it is carrying munitions  pickford has a great scene as she stands on the lifeboat and yells at the german commander . later on  of course  she runs into both holt and hatton when she is being held as a war prisoner at a chteau .  br    br   director cecil b . demille provides one truly great scene in this film as pickford and holt are wandering through a bombed  out village . they pass a destroyed church of which only one wall remains standing . against the wall is a very large crucifix . as they stand and watch  the wall collapses but the jesus figure remains  suspended in mid air . it  s a very surreal moment in a film that is otherwise very straightforward and un  artsy .  br    br   pickford is  as always  a pleasure to watch . she was always a very natural actress who avoided the arm  waving histrionics many other actors of the day used . she  s also very very pretty . holt is very good here in a leading  man role . hatton is ok . among the list of name actors in  extra  parts are wallace beery  ramon novarro  colleen moore  ben alexander  hobart bosworth  norman kerry  walter long  james neill  and edythe chapman .  br    br   not a great film  but interesting to see us propaganda at work .  
whatever happened to british tv drama  from john major through tony blair  the focus of the genre appears to have shifted from social realism to smugly normative women  focused tales about the piddling domestic problems of nice middle class professionals .  br    br    or perhaps tvnz doesn  t buy the good stuff  please let that be what it is . . .   br    br   the writer  s long career in soaps probably explains why the dialogue is made up mostly of stale clichs . niamh cusack  s performance is strong on meaningful looks  each held by the director for at least half a dozen beats longer than they deserve . baleful looks  however  are a poor substitute for depth of character  if the writer has failed to provide such material for actors to work with .  br    br   of course this is theoretically a thriller  about a murder investigation but that  s not as important as the central character  s failing marriage and its attendant problems . is cusack  s character  s husband a complete bastard  will her son be utterly traumatized by the marriage break up  making these the central issues isn  t a sign of insight   it indicates a profoundly narcissistic identification by the writer and director with a character who should be getting on with her job .  br    br   lynda la plante knows how to write this stuff so that it feels as if it matters and involves viewers other than housebound neurotics  evidently paula milne isn  t up to the task .  
i purchased the dvd set on a recommendation from amazon . com based on my other interests . they hit the nail on the head with this one . i remember watching the show when it was on tv but always wondered what happened to it . ten years later  it  s like watching it all again for the first time . lucas black as caleb temple and gary cole as sheriff lucas buck are great together  even though they are somewhat rivals . almost representing good  caleb  and evil  sherriff lucas buck  . i never really understood exactly what lucas was supposed to be  but let it suffice to say  he has some special powers that i don  t believe were granted by anything holy . he can make phones ring  writing appear  or even cause a person  s emotions to change . none the less  there are a few episodes where he actually becomes the good guy in spite of it all . all in all  this is an excellent series that like so many others i can think of   i . e . point pleasant  threshold  nowhere man  and seaquest dsv just to name a few  were cancelled way before their time . the steven king  s the dead zone  sunday  s usa network  seems to be the only thing in this genre that seems to be making it . there is just nothing fit to watch on tv anymore . this is because anything that deals with christianity and satan is considered offensive and must be immediately pulled from tv . so  in the meantime  i  ll just keep buying dvd sets and watching shows that should still be on tv but were booted off tv by religious zealots so we could watch  quality  shows like family guy and american dad and the simpsons  what a bunch of crap that is  .  
  i thought i  d be locked away in a padded cell and they  d throw away the key   thus is a paraphrased snatch of dialogue from  state of mind  .  br    br   one wonders in what tangled forest paula milne and her co  writer found the magic mushrooms they must have eaten  to create this feeble  whodunnit  and bring such rubbish to our screens . a padded cell should indeed be left available .  br    br   niamh cusack did her best   as did the other actors  but surely her talent deserves a better vehicle than this . the height of absurdity has been reached  and this particular  state of mind  is best buried and forgotten  and certainly not just  placed in a box and locked away in a drawer  .  
recently when i was shopping  i saw the box  set of americian gothic  and i thought  i remember that   i used to set my alarm to get back up  watch this when it was on ch  in     at  .   am  i was    . i remember it mostly because it was really scary and weird  no person could ever be as frightening as lucas buck  with a b    no one ever was anyway .  br    br   what annoyed me though was they did the same thing to the box  set as when on tv . episodes in funny order  i kept thinking when does dr matt leave     they made it so confusing .  br    br   however this is not the writers  producers or directors fault  its tv people in background the money makers they still do the same  just look at shows like carnivale and farscape they don  t like originality in studios        br    br   to finish  if you  ve not seen this and you call yourself a sci  fi fantasy  horror  supernatural drama . . fan  you must . they even said the same in sfx when reviewing the box  set .  
utterly predictable silly show about a man who has killed his wife by mowing her down when driving and claimed he had blacked out . why was he still driving a car  why did he still feel able to drive a car having killed his wife with one  this question has not occurred to the writers . the story then witters on about a psychologist and her failing marriage which is tied into the failing marriage of wife  killing blackout driver . an omniscient mother and one dimensional child are thrown in for good measure  and the whole builds up to a predictable denouement and crashing finale . are police psychologists so easily taken in  deadful writing that the actors do their best with  but they are doomed to failure . this is on a par with a harlequin romance . don  t waste your time watching this one unless that  s what you are aiming for .  
i don  t want to bore everyone by reiterating what has already been said  but this is one of the best series ever  it was a great shame when it was canceled  and i hope someone will have the good sense to pick it up and begin the series again . the good news is that it is out on dvd     i rushed down to the store and picked up a copy and am happy to say that it is just as good as i remembered it . gary cole is a wonderfully dark and creepy character  and all actors were very good . it is a shame that the network did not continue it . shaun cassidy  this is a masterpiece . anyone who enjoys the genre and who has not seen it  must do so . you will not be disappointed . my daughter who was too young to view it when it was on television  she is    is becoming very interested  and will soon be a fan . she finds it  very twisted  and has enjoyed the episodes she has seen . i cannot wait to view the episodes which were not aired .  br    br   this show rocks      
we purchased this series on dvd because of all of the glowing reviews we had seen here . i gave it three stars because there can be little doubt that sometimes the acting  directing and writing are brilliant . in fact they are so brilliant we did not see the propaganda that was being transmitted so smoothly on the series . if one watches it with discernment  one will see the entire litany of the radical right wing beliefs being promulgated by the fox  faux  news network . to avoid giving away any spoilers i will refrain from pointing out all of the dozens of specific instances . a brief look at the plots found here on imdb will disclose that everything from torture to gun control to the right of a network to provide  infomercials  and call them news is justified with cute plot twists and impassioned speeches given by some of the best actors in the world . we watched many shows and finally gave up in disgust when they justified torture using attorney general gonzales as a shining example of why all kinds of torture should be used in the name of protecting all of us . the series also manages to demean male and female gays in subtle ways by using them as plot devices depicting evil people . all in all the complete litany of the radical religious right wing .  br    br   no doubt the popularity of this program will be used by future historians as proof that america lost its way in the early part of the this century . as a student of history myself i would characterize this program as being in a league with the propaganda produced by goebbels for hitler and some of the propaganda produced by hollywood for the american audience during wwii .  br    br   so if you want to use this as a teaching tool to help your students understand how subtle propaganda can be then by all means do so . just be sure to purchase an inexpensive used copy so you can avoid enriching the ultra right wingers at faux network who produced this travesty .  
i recently purchased the complete american gothic series on dvd and it lived up to my memories of it . i was very grateful to be able to view for the first time episodes that were never televised . i loved  ring of fire  in particular of the stories i hadn  t seen the first time around .  br    br   gary cole is fantastic as  evil  sexy  lucas buck . lucas black as caleb is also a superb player . i thought brenda bakke as selena coombs was also superb in her portrayal . in fact  the whole cast was fantastically talented and had great chemistry with each other .  br    br   it  s a shame the series was screwed by the network  in collusion with a burgeoning group of censors  because it was truly designed for adult viewing . a mixture of comedy  tragedy  farce  satire  gothic romance and horror genres  it offered brilliant characterizations supported by acting at the genius level .  br    br   i had the most tremendous lust for the devil for once in my life . long live gary cole  sheriff lucas buck   the most luscious  fallen angel  ever .  
boston legal has turned its tail and is headed for the barn door and th pig slop it has created  when this show first aired almost four season back it was a humorous slap at the legal system which all actors seem to take pride in portraying . it was funny  diversified  and to some extent factual . the characters portrayed were acceptable and to an extent real in their portrayals . the sexual comment and activity were limited and humorous . julie bowen is and was beautiful as in other series she participated but is now dragged to the lower depths of media programming of sex and violence . julie is an excellent actress and needs a more stable platform than this  production  . rene adjurdubois is an excellent actor who has from the days of  benson  to this production held his own in the field of entertainment  always showing the humor and respectful acting of the production . captain kirk  is  . funny and humorous is candace bergan and is to be admired for her continuing in this production and is a good actress . james spader  there is no doubt in his acting ability  however he should go back to his xxx origins such as  crash  as it appears he has much talent and inclination in that direction . we ask that this series be trashed as it already is and its really starting to smell     
i  m watching the series again now that it  s out on dvd  yay   it  s striking me as fresh  as relevant and as intriguing as when it first aired .  br    br   the central performances are gripping  the scripts are layered .  br    br   i  ll stick my neck out and put it up there with the prisoner as a show that  ll be winning new fans and still be watched come     .  br    br   i  ve been asked to write some more line  it seems imdb is as user unfriendly and anally retentively coded as ever  pithy and to the point is clearly not the imdb way .   br    br   well  unlike imdb  s submissions editors  american gothic understands that simplicity is everything .  br    br   in   episodes  the show covers more character development than many shows do in seven seasons . on top of which it questions personal ethics and strength of character in a way which challenges the viewer at every turn to ask themselves what they would choose and what they would think in a given situation .  br    br   when the show first aired  i was still grieving for twin peaks and thought it would be a cheap knock off . personally i  m starting to rate it more highly and suspect it will stand up better over the years . reckon it don  t get more controversial than that   
i don  t think this is too bad of a show under the right conditions . i tolerated the first season .  br    br   unfortunately  this is a show about lawyers who aren  t really lawyers . god forbid anybody actually go to law school based on these shows  which i had heard was the case when i watched some interviews of the show . it just made me gag a bit .  br    br   that aside  spader and shatner  who are supposed to be the stars of the show  are the most annoying . while this might be a compliment in some situations  it  s certainly not here . their constantly harassing the women on the show is funny at first . but since that  s what they  re doing literally all the time  i  ve realized that this is as deep as the show is going to get . trying to intersperse some serious  dramatic  and even tear  jerking moments in the middle of this mockery of a real show fails to compensate for the progressive loss of interest i  ve been experiencing trying to enjoy the show .  br    br   alan shore  s flamboyant and gratuitous  public service announcements  where he spouts off his opinions do not impress . denny crane is just annoying . i was embarrassed for him and for the writers of the show for crane  s speech wearing a colonial outfit .  br    br   i  m giving two stars because there are moments where i thought the show  s attempts to deal with some contemporary issues were done with care .  br    br   i think the show  s writers became aware that the sexual harassment displayed by denny and alan was getting overbearing even to those who were more inviting of them from the start . the thing is  i don  t care if the sexual harassment treatment in the show is done well  but i just felt that the writer was insulting me with artificially implanting sexual banters all over the show in the hopes that my libido will keep me coming back for more . i  m not a teenager anymore  and i think this show is promising if its goal wasn  t to cater to the lowest common denominator to get ratings .  br    br   of course  i  m writing this after i realized that it  s really not gonna get much better than this . it  s a shame because it  s one of those shows i  d love to love .  
colorful western .  br    br   wyoming cowboy james stewart moseys on up to the yukon territory to dig for gold  sell his steers  and try to get a date with pretty saloon  owner ruth roman if he can shake the tail of crooked sheriff john mcintire who wants stewart  s cattle . beautiful cinematography in a collaborative effort by william fritzsche and bill daniels . good technicolor adventure from universal  international  directed by anthony mann .  br    br   also starring corinne calvet  connie gilchrist  and walter brennan as stewart  s sidekick .  
the producers made a big mistake casting mark lester  who couldn  t act or sing  in the title role . aside from his very bad  acting   all of lester  s singing had to be dubbed by a girl . i don  t know why they cast him at all  since there would have been so many boys who could have played the part infinitely better and done their own singing as well . shani wallis was far too old to play nancy  who was only supposed to be   . the current west end version is so much better than the movie in every way . ross mccormack is the best artful dodger of all time and he is certainly far better looking than jack wild ever was . it was clearly political to award this old  fashioned musical so many oscars after the tumultuous events of     .  
  someones at the door  . ohhh  how i miss this show so bad . . but we are lucky to now have  invasion  . thank you  shawn cassidy . american gothic  had it all . if i had to pick one thing that i liked best about the show  it has to be its  not predictable plot  lines  . favorite actor was lucas black . . i adore that southern accent . i bought the dvd asap  and my kids are fans too . there is some hot n steamy scenes . some devilish ones too . so  if kiddos will be watching you may want to edit  fastforward  skip  . it has humour  on a joss wheedon level  which so many shows lack . adult wit and adult situation  that are handled with finese . the dvd has some extras  but i wish it has many more . if you want to get thrilled and enjoy a great show  come watch  american gothic    
william shatner in small doses is tolerable . unfortunately  instead of leaving his character as a minor irritation  and in that moderately amusing  it has been seen fit to enlarge his role and overdo it . just as occurred in the original star trek series . i guess i will never understand american humour  which frequently goes  over the top  to get the message through . i vote with my feet . i no longer watch the show  which is a shame  because the rest of the cast were good . it is pity that shatner  s overdone role also  affects james spader  s performance . but the majority demonstrate the way society is going  i guess . i don  t travel the same routes . frank  
it was a bit bizarre and evil and i enjoyed it a lot  the characters in the show were great as well  and complimented one another well . i was sorry to see it cut off . . i would have loved to see where it could have went . you found yourself leaning toward lucas buck the sheriff who had more secrets than anyone . lucas was frightening and alluring . and i would have liked to have seen more of him and how his character became . i will however buy the show just to enjoy  it was great to something different on tv . and paige turrco who was caleb  s cousin  she was a big mystery as to where and what she meant to lucas . its a shame it isn  t around still . . or was never finished  i would have loved to see what would have happened .  
in my life i have seen many great and awful movies . i am not an expert in professional reviews  but i have definitely something to say about this one . firstly  these actors are the worst i have seen . . . their acting is so unreal that you even want to throw away the dvd in the first  minutes . i think that these actors were not interested in the quality .  br    br   another awful thing is about these dialogs  they are so lame . you sometimes feel uncomfortable when you hear them . it seems that your   year old son could act better . i feel that this movie had a budget similar to the cost of my   year old european car . . .  br    br   please  if my message reaches you  save your time and money .  
i love the series  many of the stereotypes portraying southerrners as hicks are very apparent  but such people do exist all too frequently . the portrayal of southern government rings all too true as well  but the sympathetic characters reminds one of the many good things about the south as well . some things never change  and we see the  good old boys  every day  there is a lucas buck in every southern town who has only to make a phone call to make things happen  and the storybook  po  white trash  are all too familiar . aside from the supernatural elements  everything else could very well happen in the modern south  i somehow think trinity  sc must have been in barnwell county   
this isn  t a bad movie . . . but it  s the type your girlfriend makes you watch . the story isn  t bad . . . . it just makes the hour and a half seem so long . it  s hard for me to trash this movie because i really do like the idea of it but it was just to long and thin on story . . . too bad . the main character never really seems to change all that much from beginning to end . i mean goes through something  life changing  and he can barely break a smile . i really thought mac was really good . his weird quirkiness kept the movie from being a complete disaster . maybe i just don  t  get  this film . if anyone can explain it to me i  d love to be informed .  
this was an absolutely spellbinding series and was sorry that i was only able to catch a few shows way back when it aired late night in the uk . the style of it was so different from others of its kind and the whole thing had an unnerving air of stylish dread to it . all you have to do is read all the positive comments  not a single negative that i can see  to realise what a really innovative series this was and how it caught at the imagination . i now understand from reading the comments it got cancelled that  s just so unbelievable . what a bunch of  headless overpaid suited turkeys  there must have been  or just maybe still are  running around to do that .  
lets put it this way . i actually get this movie . i get what the writer  directer was trying to do . i understand that the dialog was meant to be dry and emotionless . i understand that the plot was supposed to be non  climactic and stale . that was what the writer  director was going for . a very very very dry humor  comedy . with all that understanding  i still think the movie sucked . it seemed like the writer  director was trying to recreate napolean dynamite with this movie . it had all of the same features . even the main character behaved similar to napolean . but napolean dynamite was actually funny . its script worked . this movie is not . it has no purpose . well  let me rephrase that . its only purpose is to rip off napolean dynamite and try to capture that look and feel . too bad it didn  t work .  
i watched the show   years ago and loved it    am now in possession of the dvd and was watching the series  and waiting for scenes i knew were in the show  when lucas confronts gail in his house  and realized it was missing  all of a sudden i was watching the seduction without the lead up . then i went on line to check out all the bios of the stars and came across the comments about the shows being out of order . thank you      but there seems to be some conflict . some comments state  strangler number   then triangle    when another had them around the other way . and also potato boy   and dead to the world   were reversed as well . can someone clarify       
i never heard of this film til it played as part of a robert mitchum retrospective at the national film theatre in london . almost   years on the cast list looked tasty to say the least with seven names  in addition to top  billed mitchum  in the public domain charles mcgraw  not long off the killers  barbara bel geddes  long before dallas and arguably still better known as the daughter of theatre set designer norman  walter brennan  who needed no introduction  frank faylen  the sadistic male nurse in the lost weekend and the much nicer small  town mensch in it  s a wonderful life  robert preston still a decade away from harold hill in the music man with tom tully and phyllis thaxter making up the numbers . alas  most of them were wasting their time . i looked in vain for any  signature  scenes given that it was robert wise on bullhorn . by this time he  d made around a half dozen films and had still to find a style . the story is our old friend the range war and mitchum must have thought it was barely a cut above the hopalong cassidy oaters on which he  d cut his teeth . there are no new twists  if you don  t count the unbelievable scene when mitchum accuses preston of sleeping with thaxter to gain information about her father  s plans to move his cattle . this is perfectly true but how did mitchum know  we  ve seen or heard nothing to indicate how he discovered it . on balance not a lot to be said for this .  
i watched this show on the basis of it being told it was reminiscent of david lynch  s twin peaks  a show which i adore . the show quickly starts introducing us to the main characters and rather unusually the pilot episode is to me the best of the lot  its extremely dramatic and really gets out the whole evil side of the show ready to progress throughout the rest of the season . my one biggest criticism is i felt a little let down by the show  probably not through its own fault  as it got cancelled after a mere  season  it seemed to display show much potential and it deserved a lot better treatment than it got . the acting is excellent  and this show has some of the best characters  good and evil  in it i have ever seen that are well developed in a short space of time . there is the odd cheesy effect for the first  or ten shows which are a bit overly dramatic  but this is rectified as the season progressed . well worth a watch  definitely something out of the ordinary   
the egyptian movies has a lot of filmes with high level of drama or romance or comedy or action even sports . . .  ziab la ta  kohl al lam  was banned in egypt because it content nudity  full frontal female nudity  and this kind of nudity is prohibited in the egyptian movies . . when i saw this movies i felt down . . . fool story . . nude actress . . bad action . . some horror  awful colors . . dear friend . . if you wanna see a great egyptian movie . . . simply stay away form  ziab la ta  kohl al lam  . . we have great movies in egypt . . . we have a great actors who won a global wins like omar el sheriff or gameel rateb . . we have great directors like  yousef shahin  so believe me pall . . you don  t need to see this movie . .  
i could never remember the name of this show . i use to watch it when i was  . i remember staying up late when i wasn  t suppose to just so i could watch this show . it was the best show to me . from what i remember of it  it is still great . this showed starred lucas black making him the first boy i ever had a crush on . i am from the country  therefore boys with an accent have no appeal to me  but for him i would definitely make an exception . which after seeing crazy in alabama  friday night lights  and tokyo drift you should see why . he is a great actor and has been since he was a kid . i miss this show and wish it would come back out . if anyone ever sees where they are selling the season please email me . kywildflower   hotmail . com  
ziab la ta  kol al lahem is an awful movie . this is only a superposition of scenes without a clear link . acting is also very bad  despite the presence of a good actor like ezzat el allayli . but something is really astonishing in this movie  talking about sexuality  emancipation of women  nude scenes are very rare in arab cinema  even in this days . i really congratulate the director and the actors for their courage . we want to see more of this style in egyptian movies  but with better quality . the reasons that led me to vote this film as an awful one are not only scenario and acting  but also the lack of prfessionalism . this movie look like an amateur one . we can see a lot of errors in the screen . if you want a good arab movie ziab la ta  kol al lahm is not the one recommended . but if you wish to encourage the uncensored movies in all the arab world watch it and make your friends and your family do the same .  
i remember watching american gothic when it first aired  it came into my mind recently  all i could remember was the same guy appeared in midnight caller  which is gary cole  i don  t watch much tv  but i watched american gothic  i purchased the complete series on dvd this week   it  s still as good as ever  this is one of the best tv series ever  the reason i don  t watch much tv is because it  s just rubbish that  s on  except for derren brown  it  s all reality tv or soaps  such as grease  big brother etc  i  m fed up with it  i got the complete series of american gothic for    .   form the asda website  that  s the cheapest i can find it .  
i  m a great admirer of lon chaney  but the screen writing of this movie just did not work for me . the story jumps around oddly  i  ve since learned that the film is missing a section   and characters appear and disappear with irritating suddenness . some of the intertitles are overly explanatory  e . g .   why  you  re not a child anymore     cut back to picture for a long  slow beat    you  re a woman   yes  we got it the first time  but there are a few talking sequences that beg for explanations that never appear .  let  s hear luigi and his blond girlfriend  s argument  please   the plot  which involves incestuous desires  figuratively if not technically  was disturbing to the point that it was hard to watch . to the writer  s credit  this issue was treated as a problem  and a may  december match is not portrayed as the right  and  good inevitability of some mary pickford films  e . g .   daddy  long  legs   . chaney gives a good performance  as usual  but i think he has been better  directed in the past   he overdid it a few times here  imho . i did enjoy the clown sequences  and was very impressed at the stunts . loretta young was charming  though astonishingly young . the film has its moments  but so far  it  s my least  favorite chaney picture .  
this was one of the best shows ever made for tv . full of mystery and intrigue and twists and turns . compulsive viewing . i was lucky i saw this in the uk . they might have got the episode order wrong  i can  t remember  but it at least was on at a regular time every week . my girlfriend and i got hooked from the trailer in  and neither of us is a big fan of american series normally .  br    br   after the pilot  we knew this was something special . we missed a couple of episodes  and it made you sad and mad for a week missing those ones lol .  br    br   great casting  superb acting . gary cole was absolutely brilliant  better even than his role as custer . lucas black turned in an amazing performance for a kid  and paige turco was at her best too since party of five . and nick searcy of course  as the sheriff  s long suffering sidekick .  br    br   yes  there were some confusing and perplexing bits  which i presume would have been explained later  and no doubt would have been in a later series . that made the ending weak  and you could tell they  d killed it . made us go what  why did they do that with one of the best shows ever  shoot the exec .  
  laugh  clown laugh  released in      stars the legendary lon chaney as a circus clown named tito . tito has raised a foundling  a young and beautiful loretta young  to adulthood and names her simonetta . tito has raised the girl in the circus life  and she has become an accomplished ballerina . while chaney gives his usual great performance  i could not get past the fact that tito  now well into middle age  has the hots for the young simonetta . although he is not her biological father  he has raised her like a daughter . that kind of  ick  factor permeates throughout the film . tito competes for simonetta  s affections with a young and handsome  count  luigi  nils asther  . simonetta clearly falls for the young man  but feels guilt about abandoning tito  out of loyalty  not romantic love  . the whole premise of the film is ridiculous  and i find it amazing that no one in the film tells tito what a stupid old fool he is being  until he reveals it himself at the end  . the film is noteworthy only because of loretta young  who would go on to have a great career . while i adore chaney  s brilliance as an actor  this whole film seems off to me and just downright creepy .  
ag was an excellent presentation of drama  suspense and thriller that is so rare to american tv . sheriff lucas gave many a viewer the willies . we rooted for caleb as he strove to resist the overtures of sheriff lucas . we became engrossed and fearful upon learning of the unthinkable connection between these two characters . the manipulations which weekly gave cause to fear what lucas would do next were truly surprising . this show lived up to the  gothic  moniker in ways american entertainment has so seldom attempted  much less mastered . the suits definitely made a big mistake in not supporting this show . this show puts shame to the current glut of  reality  shows  which are so less than satisfying viewing . the call for a dvd box set is well based . this show is quality viewing for a discerning market hungry for quality viewing . a public that is tiring of over  saturation of mind  numbing reality fare will welcome this gem of real storytelling . bring on the dvd box set    
a disappointing end to a season that started so well . . .  br    br   exodus part  and other notable episodes were amongst the best seen on tv in any series  where as this was rather bad .  br    br   well i am not sure if it was the episode that was a disappointment  but the cheesy guitar music at that accompanied the closing sequence was laughable and would have been more at home in the original series .  br    br   its almost as if the corporate execs didn  t like the low key down note ending and wanted to jazz it up . they failed and rather spoilt everything .  br    br   lets hope this is not a trend for the future .  br    br   still at least we saw the return of a certain person even if somewhat bizarrely and tritely done .  
this first  rate western tale of the gold rush brings great excitement  romance  and james stewart to the screen .  the far country  is the only one out of all five stewart  mann westerns that is often overlooked . stewart  yet again  puts a new look on the ever  present personalities he had in the five stewart  mann westerns . jeff webster  stewart  is uncaring  always looking out for himself  which is why he is so surprised when people are nice and kindly to him . ironically  he does wear a bell on his saddle that he will not ride without . this displays that he might just care for one person  his sidekick  ben tatum  played by walter brennan  since tatum is the one that gave it to him . mann  yet again  puts a new look on the ever present personalities he put into the five stewart  mann westerns . he displays violence  excitement  plot twists  romance  and corruption . the story is that jeff and ben  through a series of events  wind up in the get rich quick town of dawson  along with gold partners calvet and flippen  and no  good but beautiful roman and her hired men . they are unable to leave  because crooked sheriff mr . gannon  mcintire  and his  deputies  will hang them  since the only way out is through skagway  which is gannon  s town . but  eventually  mcintire comes to them  but not to collect stewart and  or his fine that he supposedly owes to the government . what is mcintire there for  he is there to cheat miners out of their claims and money . people are killed . a sheriff for dawson is considered needed  and calvet elects stewart because he is good with a gun . stewart  however  refuses the job  because he plans to get all the gold he can  and then pull out . he also refuses it because he does not like to help people  since law and order always gets somebody killed . so  flippen is elected instead . a miner is killed because he tries to stand up to one of gannon  s men  a purely evil  mustachioed fancy gunman named madden  who carries two guns  played by wilke . flippen attempts to arrest madden and see that justice be done  but he cannot stand up to him  so he becomes the town drunk . a man named yukon replaces flippen . stewart and tatum start to pull out  but are ambushed by gannon  s men . tatum is killed  and stewart is wounded . stewart finally realizes that he must do something  or gannon will take over dawson  set up his own rules  and it will become his town  just like skagway . the audience also realizes what stewart must do . another thing that the audience realizes is that stewart is the only thing that stands between the townspeople and gannon . if stewart leaves  gannon would take over the town . if stewart stays and keeps on not doing anything about it  the townspeople will be killed one by one mercilessly and uselessly . this is where a great scene occurs . stewart walks into his cabin . he has a sling on his arm . for a few seconds  his gun  in the gunbelt  is hanging on a post beside his bed  the gun is close up  stewart is in the background  just inside the door . he stares at it for a few seconds . he tosses the sling away . the sling lands on the back of a chair  and falls to the floor . this is symbolic  because he is throwing away his old life  which consisted of not caring about anybody but himself . he comes into his new life  of helping people when they need help . what ends the film is a guns  blazing  furious show of good against evil  and a genuinely feel  good feeling that everything will be alright .  
the same difficulty i have with the musical version of  les miserables  applies equally to  oliver .  instead of the composers  writing in the stylistic period of the play settings  they merely wrote broadway  type melodies  which were historically unidiomatic and stylistically skewed .  br    br   too  the blatant brutality and unsavory activities of the dramaturgy do not mix well with some of the sunny ditties which permeate the score . it  s a uncomfortable mixture that leaves a decidedly sour undertaste .  br    br   the casting of the boy oliver doesn  t help matters tentative of timbre and vexingly precious  there  s something less than solid here . fagin performs his traditional routine adequately  though the tunes he  s obliged to sing have little basis in period manner .  br    br    as long as he needs me  is given a strident rendition  throaty and strained . the two big production numbers   who will buy  and  consider yourself  seem over  produced  with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in . it  s one thing to go all out  yet another to cross over the line into excess .  br    br   the gloom  despair and depravity of much of the novel does not seem to lend itself to such ditties and choreography . while the novel is considered a classic  i must confess i have trouble with mr . dickens  consciousness  in that his works tend to emit a negative vibration . this may be due to the extension of his joyless personal life  which was full of disappointment and regret .  br    br   not all the combined talent of this production  either on  or behind camera  can overcome the unconstructive nature of the basic material . all this results in an uncomfortably downer experience for me .  br    br    
i may have seen an episode or  when the show originally aired but when i watched  episode on netflix i was also hooked . i watched the whole series in like  days .   i really liked gary cole  s character . first he  s thoroughly reprehensible then you start liking the character   these things have a thousand uses    his folksy andy griffith meets charles manson meets satan is great . charming  charismatic  smarmy  and uh kind of dangerous and by  kind of  i mean  really  . i wanna be like him when i grow up . lucas black is great too . the accents are great too . anyway  i thought this was one of the best tv shows ever and you owe it to yourself to see it .  
i am glad to read so many negative comments about the tritter plot . everyone i talk to says the same thing . they like house  s gruff nature and his intelligence  but really dislike the vindictiveness of this continuing plot . it cuts into the real nature of the hospital story and makes everyone angry at police authority . it needs to have a more caring nature instead of the vindictiveness to everyone at the hospital . also  there seems to be many questionable legal aspects to what tritter is actually doing . he alone cannot freeze accounts and have the authority to stop doctors from writing prescriptions for patients . a lot of the vindictiveness he is showing also is hurting the very sick patients at the hospital and the is not a good storyline to portray . i voted the episode awful not because of the story itself  but when you insert the trittor piece it turns me off and the rest of the plot gets hurt by it  people say they hate to watch the story lines anymore . please change it . get tritter out .  
i see a lot of folks on this site wishing ag would come out on dvd . well  i bought it on dvd .  from borders  no less   while it is great to have this terrific show in a boxed dvd form  i am upset by the fact that they added very few in the way of  extra  s   a director commentary from shaun cassidy on the pilot episode  and the episodes are shown in the same order they were put out on tv . the missing episodes that were never shown prior to being run on sci fi channel are in the box set  but are tacked on the final dvd . if you buy the dvd set  get the actual order they are to be viewed and you will be happier .  you will need to swap dvd  s in and out of your player to see them in order  but you will be glad you did .   br    br   s  
the premise  while not quite ludicrous  was definitely ridiculous . what should have occurred  by the second encounter with tritter was that tritter should simply be wasted . house hires some guy and de  physicalizes tritter . in real life  tritter would have been hauled up for harassment  the rectal thermometer episode would have been exposed in court  providing motive and opportunity and the hospitals lawyers would have made mincemeat out of tritter and the particular department he worked for . he would be in prison as would anyone complicit in the harassment of house  chase  foreman  cameron  wilson and cuddy . the lawsuit would have won house a tasty settlement  enough to keep him supplied with vicadin well into his old age . while tritter would wind up somewhere driving a cab  trying to rehabilitate himself by doing good for people for two years before people tumbled to the fact that they  d seen it all before .  
after realizing what is going on around us . . . in the news . . in our homes . . the whole new world . . i remembered this show and how obsessed i was watching it every week  in my town  . .  br    br   i started looking for this series . .  days ago . . didnt have luck till this moment . . and i was shocked when i read about it and about cbs . .  br    br   people  i believe they stopped the show because it  s talking about something way ahead of our understanding of the new world . . . it was trying to deliver a hidden message about something terrifying . .  br    br   the people who stopped it are the same who are controlling the world now . . i remember in one of the episodes it was talking about the one dollar and the pyramid with the one eye . . .  
when i read most of the other comments  i felt they were way too glowing for this movie . i found it had completely lost the spark found in the earlier zatoichi movies and just goes to prove that after a long absence from the screen  it  s often best to just let things be . i completely agreed with the star trek analogy from another reviewer who compared the first star trek movie to the original series    millions of excited fans were waiting and waiting and waiting for the return of the show and were forced to watch a bland and sterile approximation of the original .  br    br   the plot is at times incomprehensible  it is terribly gory  though the recent new zatoichi by beat takeshi is much bloodier  and lacks the heart of the originals . i didn  t mind the blood at all  but some may be turned off by it  particularly the scenes with the severed nose and the severed heads  . in addition  time has not been good to ichi   he seems a broken and sad man in this film  much  much more than usual    and that  s something fans of the series may not really want to see .  br    br   this was a very sorry return for zatoichi . unless you are like me and want to see every zatoichi film  this one is very skipable . see one of the earlier versions or the     all  new version .  
   years since this show was made and it is still is the best show ever made . the writing was  st class and the production second to none . this show would never be made today and that this a shame . i hope if you are thinking about finding this show to watch that you do .  br    br   ag came out the year i left high school at the time my fav tv show was the x files this gives you an idea of why i first got into this show . ag was a far better program with better writing but only got one reason  i know this is not the only program to only get one season another example that comes to mind would be the lone gunman  x files spin off  it had good writing and was funny but also only got one season . it does not seem right   br    br   we also have to remember that this show was around before shows like twilight made dark shows  cool  so i think this may have also let to the show going down hill .  br    br   watch this program and enjoy it    out of   for me .  
this is to the zatoichi movies as the  star trek  movies were to  star trek    except that in this case every one of the originals was more entertaining and interesting than this big  shiny re  do  and also better made  if substance is more important than surface . had i never seen them  i would have thought this good  looking but empty since i had  i thought its style inappropriate and its content insufficient . the idea of reviving the character in a bigger  slicker production must have sounded good  but there was no point in it  other than the hope of making money it  s just a show  which mostly fails to capture the atmosphere of the character  s world and wholly fails to take the character anywhere he hasn  t been already  also  the actor wasn  t at his best  . i  d been hoping to see ichi at a late stage of life  in a story that would see him out gracefully and draw some conclusion from his experience overall this just rehashes bits and pieces from the other movies  seasoned with more sex and sfx violence . not the same experience at all .  
i really like this show . i can readily see how it achieved cult status . it  s original  and thought provoking . for some reason though  i have never felt the kind of resonance from it that i could have . it doesn  t pack the kind of open door  winter chill that was to be had from such an awesome premise . each time i watch an episode  i find myself prodding  and pushing for it to answer some nameless  formless question .  br    br   before continuing  let me preface this by saying that what follows is my opinion  and my opinion only . different strokes for different folks .  br    br   i would have liked to have seen more scenes in  american gothic  that were shot at night . there  s too much daylight in this show  and i think it had a tendency to counteract the suspense . we  re not afraid of the daylight  after all . we  re concerned about what  s in the shadows . the devil isn  t always in the details . what we  re not seeing is often the most frightening .  br    br   second   and this is the one that  s probably going to lead to tar  and feathers gary cole is a tremendously talented actor . . . a character actor . i  ve followed his career from the brady bunch films on  which is why it pains me to say that he was probably miscast as lucas buck . he  s almost too petroichan  too likable to be embodiment of evil  even by biblical standards . lucas buck is a narcotic . he  s heroin . he  s freebasing in a kitchen laboratory next to a gallon of drain  o . you keep going back  even though you know the end will be madness  and death . he should be like the ultimate loan shark . he  s a maker of book  but also of unspeakable condemnation . sure . you  ve got the money  and before long you  re also going to have broken fingers a severed hand  a decapitated head  and eventually  a damned soul . turning to buck is an act of desperation  and whenever he  s around  there should be some immediate  ambient finality   with interest compounded daily   in the air .  br    br   it  s all largess  all strings attached  and by the time you realize that  you  ll also know that it  s too late .  br    br   which leads me to three they showed buck a little too often . he  s in most of the scenes  in fact  which may have caused him to lose his edge . the sheriff would be like the next door mythology . he  s the apocryphal acquaintance . many would know  of  him  but only an unfortunate few would really know him . he  d be the stuff of flashbacks  and cryptic conversations  and the perfect person to deliver this plot exposition would have been the deputy character that nick searcy portrayed .  br    br   four  the show could be very self  reverential   to a fault  some might say   and this is typified by the whistling of  meet me at the fishing hole  in the series pilot . i think we  ve already established that what cassidy  and raimi were shooting for was the anti  andy taylor . we probably didn  t need the concept delivered to us via fed ex . i gathered that within the first five minutes so  for me  the piano on the head was unnecessary .  br    br   these remarks are all about what  for me  would have made a good show great . i also understand that the producers had their own  unique style  and that there were many hands in the soup . in their everlasting quest for lcd programming  the network played a definite role in the demise of this series .  br    br   the least these jerk  off suits could have done was to air the episodes in order .  br    br   get real .  br    br   either way  it  s a grievous loss to both genre fans  and casual viewers alike .  
i liked boyle  s performance  but that  s about the only positive thing i can say . everything was overdone to the point of absurdity . most of the actors spoke like you would expect your   year  old nephew to speak if he were pretending to be a jaded  stone  hearted cop  or an ultra  evil villain . the raspy voice  overs seemed amateurish to me . i could go buy a cheap synthesizer and crank out better opening music . and what  s with the whole     ish police torture stuff  it was totally superfluous and had nothing to do with the actual events of the story . cox added a lot of things  in fact  that he apparently thought would be really cool  but had nothing to do with the story . that  s a big disappointment because one of the things that makes borges  stories so good is his minimalism   they are tightly bound  with no superfluous details . this movie is just the opposite . i stopped watching after the scene where lonnrot is questioning the guy from the yidische zaitung  or thereabouts . i wasted   renting this  but at least i can get some satisfaction from writing this review and hopefully saving others from making the same mistake .  
they had me from the first show .  br    br   welcome to trinity county . a sleepy little mayberry  like place with one slight difference . the sheriff is really satan . there  s the spoiler . not like you wouldn  t figure it out in   minutes anyway .  br    br   oh  but that  s not all . it turns out that satan has a son named caleb . some people are trying to keep him good  but it  s an uphill battle . sheriff buck  satan  knows who caleb is and likes to spend time with him teaching him the ways of darkness . subtle . sneaky . he doesn  t always come off as evil . most of the time he  s a hero . everyone owes him a big favor  because he often sets up a calamity and saves them from it . so every time you think someone will finally take him down  one of his friends comes out of nowhere to sabotage it .  br    br   in one of my favorite episodes  lucas and caleb were out in the woods in a cabin and some guys with guns decided to rob them . lucas used it as an excuse to teach caleb a lesson about evil .  br    br   the robber  ted  was hesitant to shoot them . lucas told caleb that ted had half a conscience . if he had no conscience  he would have shot them by now . if he had a real conscience  he never would have become a criminal . so he started calling him half  ted . it was pretty funny . he was taunting the criminals . and of course he stayed   steps ahead of half  ted at all times . and of course he was in complete control at all times . they actually had you favoring satan .  br    br   very very excellent show . it was one of my favorite horror shows of all time . twilight zone night stalker circle of fear american gothic supernatural  br    br   that  s good company .  
this wilfully bizarre adaptation of borges short story is typical cox . his strong visual sense is  as usual  undone by the appalling half baked acting of most of the cast . the film is definitely in the surreal tradition of bunuel  s mexican period  and looks at times like a poor man  s take on lars von trier  s elements of crime . cox  s apparent preference for single takes  jump cuts  and ambient sound recording all work against the film  s effectiveness . worth a look but ultimately disappointing .  
i loved this show when it aired on television and was crushed when i found out that someone somewhere decided that it wasn  t worthy of being continued  for years i hung onto my copies of this show  ones that i had taped or had someone tape for me . that is until now . the powers that be finally decided to release this beautiful series on dvd and i finally was able to get my eager little hands on the complete set . which  brings me to this part the part about that this show is all about .  br    br   american gothic is about good verses evil  basically a struggle between lucas buck  that is buck  with a b  . he is an evil sheriff of a south carolina small town that runs things the way he wants things to be ran and stops at nothing to get his way .  br    br   i felt the show was wonderfully written and directed and had lots of life left yet to be lived . i really hated when it was canceled  but that is the way it seems to go for me when i finally find something worth watching on television .  br    br   gary cole did a great job as the role of sheriff lucas buck  he has just the right amount of charm verses evil to pull it off . the other actors did a super job as well  so i guess you could say  even the casting was a hit with me .  
i respect alex cox the filmmaker  i really do . he  s like the kid at school who you think at first is just trying a little too hard to be  different   a literary punk  rocker who has dipped more than his feet into spaghetti westerns and science fiction and fringe  culture and come out into the world ready to take s on . . . but then you see what he can actually do  the talent and raw feverish artistry and moments of true absurd hilarity capable of him  and you are ready to see whatever he has to offer . but there  s two sides to his proverbial coin he can either really hit it out of the park  repo man  sid  nancy  walker arguably  or just try just a little too hard and pull way too many pretentious rabbits out of the hat  straight to hell  . death and the compass falls into the latter category  and while i respect its  mostly  original approach to tackling a detective  killer story  it too falls on its face and its weirdness becomes oddly dull .  br    br   it has a strange enough set  up and already irreverent style to follow a detective  erik lonnrot  is after a killer with a hell  fire voice  red  something   and it seems that the killer is leaving disturbing clues with his victims scrawled in blood on the walls are messages that  according to eyewitness alonso zunz  christopher eccleston looking as if he just walked off shallow grave without changing his look  has religious significance in the kabbalah . we follow lonnrot on his case  and his methods of going after the perp  which include following at first a triangular and then compass  shaped pattern on the map  this despite the protests of the flabbergasted commissioner treviranus  miguel sandoval   who also looks back in flash  forwards sitting at a desk and speaking to the audience in garbled but sad descriptions of his former employee and colleague after the fact of the case .  br    br   oh  cox has his moments of creativity and interest  such as a shot where we see the entire scope of the harrowing depths of the police station where eccleston  s character is taken in by handcuffs   for his own protection  says lonnrot in case of getting lost in the wrong room  and we  re followed in a long tracking shot  maybe the best or just most curious  where we  re taken through very dark hallways with very little direction  lost in the maze of turns and oddities among the characters . and it  s never something that isn  t fascinating to look at  with miguel garzon  s cinematography a morbid delight . but the plot goes through hoola  hoops to keep things so off  beat it might as well be beat  less all  together . the performances  save for a confident boyle and for eccleston at the very end  are pretty bad  especially sandoval who just seems to squirm in his seat reciting the goofy dialog given to him to speak at the audience .  br    br   while the murder plot itself contains an intention for the audience that this isn  t something we  ve seen before  that it  s in a society with a good many rioters and architecture suggesting alphaville  s next decrepit wave  it too fizzle  s out very quickly . what  s the conflict here  i was never that much engaged with boyle  s own personal mission to find this killer  and only mildly caught up in the few flashes of deranged scenes of the killer  and  or killers  going after people like in the building early on  cox himself has an amusing cameo  . and just when i started to think it was leading up to something spectacular  with boyle and eccleston in that big   not as big as you think   building in the south section of the city  it suddenly gives us a  twist  that we know in the back of our minds is coming but hope isn  t  and it deflates any of the humdrum mystery it  s been leading up to . for all of cox  s uncanny touches as a filmmaker  for all of his opposition to spoon  feeding the audience with a  conventional  approach  which i do respect  death and the compass ultimately cuts one off at the brain  stem it  s masturbatory .  
definitely spoilers in this review  i adore american gothic and have done since i first saw it late at night when it first aired on ch  in the uk when i was   . the comparisons made to stephen king are just about right . it  s small town supernatural eeriness but with fantastic layered characters . best of all  and the reason i love it so much  is it had the guts to never be black and white  lucas buck though lacking any conscience often works by  as he says  giving people enough rope to hang themselves with . his manipulation only works because of other people  s weak morals . caleb though generally a thoughtful  kind  insightful boy can at times show the latent dark side inherited from his father . none of the characters are wholly good or bad with even the angelic merlyn showing a wrathful side through reckless vengeance in the plague sower . not only that but having gail  the closest thing to a mother figure for caleb  not only sleep with but fall in love with lucas despite all she knows made me realise this show would just go there and not apologise for it . i  m a huge buffy fan  but when that show tried to go really  dark  in later seasons it failed miserably because it lost it  s humorous side and didn  t commit fully to its ideas . ag shows that you can have a morally bankrupt character right at the heart of the show  and still have a hell of laugh doing it .  br    br   i can  t even think about why it was cancelled as i  ll just get too angry at the ridiculousness of it all . so much rubbish on tv and good  original shows get kicked around and stamped on . thanks to the emergence of dvd at least i can see the show in it  s entirety  yes some of the visuals look dated now  but the creepy strange atmosphere is provided well enough by the story lines . the actors also all give such perfect performances that it more than makes up for some odd camera work .  br    br   the only reason why i think someone may not like this show is that it isn  t like the x  files where there are cases to  solve  or lost where there  s huge unanswered questions . it  s pretty obvious from the get go that lucas buck has some kind of evil powers  and that the show is all about fighting for caleb  s soul . so this show might frustrate people looking for a purpose or an unknown  truth  to find . yes there are some mysterious unanswered aspects  with some such as the truth about gails parents getting resolved  but unlike lost and x  files this show isn  t about trying to find out more  facts  about what  s going on imo . it  s all about the characters and the way they have to confront moral choices in the twisted world of trinity . personally i would just get such a kick out of seeing lucas turn every situation to his advantage .  br    br   all in all the main thing i have to say is check it out . i  m pretty certain most fantasy  horror fans will love it . also even though it got cancelled all characters have arcs and there is enough in the finale to give some small sense of closure . the only hanging thread i felt was dr matt . having him not be in the final episodes is strange .  br    br   i would have done anything for a second season  but at least the full   episodes exist and perhaps given how brainless some tv execs appear to be i should be glad this wonderful show got made at all     
had i checked imdb before renting this dvd from netflix  i  d have a couple of hours of my life back . i  m frankly suspicious when i see that a film  s director also wrote it . in this case  according to the credits  the same guy was  writter and director   unfortunately  an indication of the overall quality of this production . there were a few interesting moments  e . g .  judy tenuta  s scene reminded of her early comedy routines touting judy  ism  which led me to rate this two stars rather than one . those moments  however  were few and far between . . . and i almost did not get to see them because the opening sequence was nearly incomprehensible to me  not to mention reprehensible in its violence . i admit i went back to watch that part again to see if i had missed something that would help me figure it out once i  d seen the whole thing . nope  though i at least recognized who the characters were who would turn out to be important later . the  spinning camera  technique was overused and essentially pointless . i found myself talking to the tv screen  what     or  for goodness sake  get on with it   not recommended .  
i stumbled on this series rather by accident . after half an episode  i was hooked . american gothic was a dark  strange series with gary cole as the mysterious  probably evil sheriff buck who is trying to gain control of his illegitimate son caleb  played by lucas black . i was impressed with gary cole  s sinister sheriff and i was even more impressed with lucas black . lucas black  s caleb was able to stand up against sheriff buck  one of the most frightening characters ever created for a tv series . i have rarely seen a child actor with as much presence or talent as lucas black . if you were not lucky enough to see lucas in american gothic  see him in slingblade .  br    br   it was a remarkable show with many ambiguities and mysteries that were never explained during it  s short run .  
first off  there  s absolutely no flirting going on in this film  with anthony or anyone else . these people don  t flirt  they just do it . your first test of endurance is to wade through more than   minutes of intense violence and sexual perversion . this wouldn  t be so bad  hell  i like violence and perversion as much as the next reviewer  but without a context to put it in  it is repellent . so you make it through the torture and mayhem . then we meet donna and the movie turns into something all together different  not better  just different a road picture without heart . there are lame attempts at comedy thanks to cameos  broadly written and broadly played by broads like judy tenuta and mink stole  and a few hookers and drag queens  too  . they all deserve better . the photography is purposely disorienting  so if you get motion sickness  or really any kind of sickness   this flick is not for you . come to think of it  i  m not sure just who this flick is for  except maybe gay and bi  sexual sm fans who like poorly scripted  poorly shot indy films about themselves .  
in her first nonaquatic role  esther williams plays a school teacher who  s the victim of sexual assault . she gives a fine performance  proving she could be highly effective out of the swimming pool . as the detective out to solve the case  george nader gives perhaps his finest performance . and he is so handsome it hurts  john saxon is the student under suspicion  and although he gets impressive billing in the credits  it  s edward andrews as his overly  protective father who is the standout .  br    br   bathed in glorious technicolor  the unguarded moment is irresistible hokum and at times compelling drama .  
the director  outfitted in chains and leather  warned the audience at the sf frameline film festival friday night that we were about to see an  experiental  film . experimental  leave the video camera on the back seat of the car  let the tape roll and edit in all the pointless dreck within eyesight . a meandering pastiche road show manqu that starts nowhere and takes the audience no place . the gratuitous violence that opens the movie drove more than one patron from the castro theater . i would have left  too  but my cine  buddy needed a ride home and has this thing about seeing even the worse merde through to the end . by the time the lights came up the audience had thinned considerably . tepid applause . pro forma questions of the director who seemed pleased with the product . avoid this film   
cunningly interesting western from a director who had few peers in the genre . much like other anthony mann pictures  the far country blends a potent pot boiling story with an adroit knowing of impacting scenery . both of which play out amongst some of mann  s peccadilloes like honour  integrity  betrayal and of course  death  the story sees fortune hunting partners jeff webster james stewart and ben tatum walter brennan travel to oregon territory with a herd of cattle . aware of the blossoming gold  boom  they plan to make a tidy profit selling the cattle in a klondike town . arriving in skagway they find self  appointed judge mr . gannon john mcintire ready to meet out justice to webster on account of webster having fractured the law  all be it with honest cause  along the way . in punishment gannon takes the partners herd from them  but they steal them back and head across the canadian border to dawson  with gannon and his men in hot pursuit . here beautiful women and a meek and lawless town will fill out the destinies of all involved .  br    br   interesting from start to finish  the far country benefits greatly from james stewart  s bubbling anti hero in waiting portrayal and mann  s slick direction of the tight borden chase script . the cinematography from william h . daniels is superlative  tho not done any favours by current dvd prints  and the film has a few surprises and a  will he wont he   core reeling the viewers in . paying dividends on re  watches for hardened genre fans  it still remains something of an essential viewing for first timers venturing into the wonderful  yet dark  western world of anthony mann and james stewart .      
this movie was very very mediocre and very very gory . everyone left their acting lessons at home and totally forgot how to act i mean it was so bad and had no real plot and kindergarteners could have written a better story plot wait what story plot . not at all scary   
esther williams gets her first post mgm starring role and gets off  br    br   to a good start . this film is a well acted entertaining suspense  br    br   with a mature theme that would be repeated a million times more  br    br   in the future  innocent girl stalked creepy woman hater . esther  br    br   looks great and if she wanted to  probably could have gone on to  br    br   do more and better films but according to her autobiography   br    br   pretty much gave up working for marriage . either way she is so  br    br   likable and engaging that its fun to see her in a totally different role  br    br   outside of the  swimming musical  . universal was fabulous for  br    br   making films with former mgm stars after that studio began  br    br   dropping its biggest names as it began to slide down hill . stars  br    br   like lana turner  june allyson and others got to make quality first  br    br   rate films at universal as they obviously still had drawing power at  br    br   the box office . i wish esther had made more but since she didnt  it  br    br   makes this one all the more special .  
the only reason  the norliss tapes  deserves any stars is the presence of angie dickinson in the cast . other than getting to see angie baby in a pre   police woman  performance  there  s nothing else worth seeing here .  br    br   the synopsis  br    br    minor spoilers   br    br   david norliss is tapped to write a book on the supernatural . one day he mysteriously disappears after phoning his publisher and suggesting he has stumbled across something that has placed him in mortal danger . the entire series for which this miserable pilot was written was apparently intended to be a series of flashbacks via the  norliss tapes    a set of audio tapes the writer recorded while investigating cases of the supernatural .  br    br   in the pilot episode  a wealthy sculptor dies   but not before purchasing an ancient egyptian scarab ring from a local occultist who assures him the bauble will give him immortality after death . we soon discover the ring itself doesn  t grant immortality . instead  it only reanimates the sculptor  s corpse  allowing him to escape his crypt so he can run around town draining pretty girls of all their blood .  br    br   blue  faced  yellow  eyed and growling out arrrghhhhhhs you haven  t heard since you last watched  scooby doo  cartoons  the sculptor attacks his wife  dickinson  one dark night . she escapes and  via a mutual acquaintance  contacts norliss to get his assistance in solving the mystery behind her late husband  s uncanny reappearance on her estate .  br    br   so is this guy a vampire  no . there  s no vampire in this story despite what you may have read or heard . the sculptor doesn  t drink his victims  blood   he collects it . how  don  t know . we only see him attacking  never collecting . why  to fulfill the second part of his bid for immortality . it turns out the reanimated sculptor will only be allowed to live forever if he builds a life  size statue of a demon named sargoth out of a mixture of clay and human blood . once it  s finished  sargoth plans to inhabit the statue  using it as his gateway into our world .  br    br   the final analysis  br    br    the norliss tapes  wasn  t picked up as a series for a very good reason . . . it was garbage . as you can see from my synopsis  the story is a paltry  ill  conceived mess . the acting and dialogue offer no better . this isn  t even a contender for a  so bad it  s good  award . sometimes bad is just bad .  br    br   after years of hearing underground rumblings about the great merits of  the norliss tapes   i was very excited to find it airing on fox movie channel on         . i wish i hadn  t set myself up for the fall .  br    br   having screened this groaner for the first time two days ago  i can only assume any applause you  ve heard so far from other imdb reviewers is coming from those who are reviewing the show based on dim memories and the nostalgia of youth . or perhaps they are simply loyal fans of dan curtis . either way  they  ve offered you misleading reviews of  the norliss tapes .   br    br   pauly orchid   october         
the invaders is a fast moving sci  fi thriller starring ben cross and sean young . ben plays renn  a traveller from another galaxy trying to find annie  played by sean  who is physically ideal to have his child . this child  if allowed to be born and returned to his planet  may be the only chance for his race to survive . the enemy  an alien who has destroyed renn  s people  has also followed renn across the stars to stop this birth . cross again shows great range from comical beginnings as the alien enters a local bar and orders his first earthling cocktail  to his race with the enemy and the drama of whether he can keep annie and the child she is carrying alive .  
if you like to see animals being skinned alive  their heads smashed  dogs throats being crushed my men stomping on them  then this one is for you  but if you are somewhat normal  and don  t need to see real footage of animal cruelty  pass this one up . this movie tries to shock the viewer  and it sure does . with the animal snuff at the beginning  and the killing of babies in the movie  fake at least  its was enough to make myself turn it off . i  ve seen movies like this before that show slaughterhouse footage  btk movie  and this kind of footage should not be allowed in a horror movie . we watch gore and horror because we know its just make  up  and special effects  so we shouldn  t sit down to watch a movie and see the real killing of animals  its not what we rented the movie for . if anything  there should be a large warning label put on these types of garbage movies so people wont be surprised by it . as a very hardcore horror fan  this one turned my stomach . the entire movie cast and crew need their heads checked .  
in this installment of the series  edmund blackadder is stuck in the regency period in britain  during the later portion of george iii  s rule  . this time  blackadder  s prospects are much poorer   as instead of royalty  he  s a servant to the very  very thick george iv  the price regent  . unlike the historical accounts of george iv  this one is about as bright as a tomato and as a result  blackadder  s able to take advantage of him and scheme to his heart  s content . the only major difference in style between this one and earlier ones is that the series ends on a very  very  very different note   you just have to see it to believe it . other than that  all the usual story elements are there and the show is hilarious . the only reservation i have  as always  is that this show is not appropriate for the kids due to its crude language and adult situations .  
i am ashamed to have this movie in my collection . the most redeeming factor to owning the dvd is the short film in the bonus features . my vote for this movie is a big fat zero . don  t misunderstand  i  m a horror girl . but i want some meat behind the story  not to mention i prefer the evil to happen to humans  not to be tricked in to watching  what seemed like forever  clips of animal snuff . acts of brutality interrupt achingly long silence and poor acting . if i was forced to make a comparison to another film  the only one that comes to mind is cannibal holocaust . bad  boring  pointless and a wholly uncomfortable watch .  
i think  blackadder the third  is the best one of the series .  br    br   actuelly all the episodes are funny  personally i really like the episode with the  french invasion   but the one with the superstitious actors  in  macbeth  is also really funny  the way rowan keeps playing on with them is really  english  humor at the highest level .  br    br   actors  never say that again  always call it the scottish play blackadder oh  so you want me to say the scottish play  actors yes blackadder rather than macbeth . . .   br    br   i am a big fan of rowan and i have the majority of his work  but i think he did the series of blackadder especially good .  br    br   i hope rowan is going to continue his great style  but i think we can count on him  because he is already working on a bean  movie  that will be out this year  i can  t wait . . .  br    br   i give this  rd blackadder a  out of   rating .  
i quote oedpius rex because it is a tragedy that this film was even made     br    br   this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen  i am in no way an uwe boll hater like most of the humourless people on imdb   br    br   uwe boll movies like postal and tunnel rats are hilariously bad and therefore entertaining . but honestly  this movie was just horrible . i hated it so much that i  d give it a zero star rating if i could . the story is just crap  it spends four fifths of the film building the plot and then they have the middle which is just scenes of grizzly horrible tastelessly done murder  the finally end it with a  villan wins ending  which is totally acceptable but surely it could have been more tasteful than this   br    br   i am not against uwe boll  like i said earlier  nor am i against violent movies  i fking love violent movies  i loved the saw movies  the hostel movies  tokyo gore police  the new york ripper  the   movies  dog soldiers  my bloody valentine  last house on the left  watchmen  wolf creek  every tarantino movie  every sam peckinpah  even cannibal fking holocaust  but this  omfg     br    br   this was just cruel  sadistic and perverted  and look at the movies i just listed  if i liked cannibal holocaust and not this then it must be bad  uwe  don  t go all dark again  you  re funny when you are light hearted  just like ed wood . this was just an awful experience  i felt horrible all over after seeing this   br    br   do not watch     avoid at all cost       
this time around  blackadder is no longer royal  or even particularly close to being any such thing  . . . instead  rather a butler to the prince regent  portrayed by hugh laurie  who replaces tim mcinnerny  who presence is sorely missed  and that hole is never filled . . . his character had an innocent charm . . . while he was a bumbling and complete moron  we can  t help but care for him  which isn  t at all true of his replacement  as being intolerably daft  which he apparently was  according to the trivia page   not to mention loud  mouthed and utterly non  threatening . edmund can now do just about what he pleases  and does so . why is he so frustrated and angry  honestly  it gets depressing at times   yes  his master is a buffoon  they always are . he doesn  t seem to lack money  nor is he in any danger . in the second series  the queen was mischievous and childish  and would cut off someone  s head  or marry them  on a whim . here there is simply never enough at stake for any of the conflict to be exciting and interesting . there is still commentary and even a little satire . too often  it seems as if they thought that the history was funny enough on its own  so they merely restate it  not bothering to actually turn the facts into jokes or gags . and i can  t tell you how many of them i figured out before they were done  literally more than a minute away . it  s not usually a positive when you know the punchline before it is delivered . baldrick doesn  t change from last season . . . he  s still rather pathetic and stupid  leading to  silly  humor . frankly  the amount goes through the roof . don  t get me started on the gross  out stuff . the sarcastic  verbal wit can still be great  though much less of it is than before . i  d say about half of the episodes were rather amusing and downright funny  while the other three didn  t really get me into them at all . i was disappointed in how predictable some of the plots and developments thereof were . . . i could see many of such coming a mile away . some of the material tries way too hard to be funny and winds up coming across as incredibly forced . this continues with the tradition started by  ii  of letting the plans work out occasionally . the theme is the worst of the bunch  the credits sequences the least creative . all in all  this is  by far  my least favorite of the four . i recommend it to fans of the franchise and of british comedy in general .      
my god  what  s going on  a uwe boll film and positive comments  wow   br    br   nice to note that most of the positive reviews are coming from newbies to boll  s work . i myself  as i have stated in previous uwe boll reviews  only watch his films in the hope that one day he will actually make something good . i mean . . it must happen one day   br    br   alas  seed is not that day . i don  t quite know where to start with the lame attempt at a horror film that seed is . the thing to remember people is that all the sickos in the world are that way due to having watched various sick acts on video or the net . . . . . or so mr boll believes . i still can  t for the life of me figure out why footage of real animal abuse and killings was needed in the first   minutes of this film . i understand the concept that seed  the killer  is a sicko and enjoys watching such stuff . . . . . but can  t understand why mr boll thought putting real footage in the film would work . maybe to shock us  hmmm . . . . . well  i for one am not squeamish and can handle seeing anything on film . i don  t though  find the use of real animal cruelty footage entertaining in the slightest . if you were trying to shock me  it didn  t work . it just reminded me how messed up the world was because such things happen and also because uwe boll is allowed to continue making films . this sort of context may have worked for films in the       s  cannibal holocaust  but not todays market .  br    br   with that out of the way  we can move on to the fact that uwe has managed to give the film a very cheap feel all round like bloodrayne  . you can just tell that there wasn  t a huge amount of money floating around for production .  br    br   as per usual  mr boll does not really care for making a decent story as we are treated to boring shots of police officers watching various videos of seed  s victims in the first   mins . each of these videos ends in a speeded up decomp of the victim . it  s all very boring and tedious . i won  t comment on the toddler scene as it  s laughable and just another cheap  shock  factor .  br    br   if you manage to sit through the first   mins then you will be treated to the police officers walking through a very dark house in order to catch seed . the lighting here is horrible and uwe has the old  i  m not using a steady cam  fiasco that he did with bloodrayne  . watch as the police officers die in ever stupidly increasing ways until such point as seed is caught . this scene is soooo bloody stupid you have to see it to believe it . the cop actually tells seed he could have shot him . for some un  be  known reason  the cop doesn  t shoot him . given that seed is a sicko that kills kids as well as adults  you  d have thought at this point in the script that sense would prevail .  br    br   from here we are treated to a stupid execution scene  followed by the cops burying seed alive  and they know he is alive . . why not shoot him in the head       followed by seed getting out of the ground and then killing some random woman with a hammer and then kidnapping the one of the cop  s family .  br    br   what i  m trying to get across to you all here is that it  s just plain stupid  it  s not even hollywood horror stupid . . . . just plain dumb . uwe boll can not direct  . anyone with any ounce of taste would agree with that statement . anyone who watches this film and found it entertaining in any way shape or form needs to take a serious look at themselves as a person .  br    br   once again we are treated to a poorly acted  directed  lighted  produced  scripted piece of ub crap .  
blackadder  is probably the blackadder series that people have least heard of  it has basically the same principles as the second and fourth ones and has nothing revolutionary in it . but it is still great  a fiery duke of wellington and a fat foolish dr johnson  writer of the first dictionary in england  make this series one to be reckoned with . there are still more hilarious one  liners to be delivered in this series  and it brings out the humour in a lesser  known era  in historically accurate and enjoyable episodes . blackadder  s third outing is not the most famous and well  known of the lot  but rowan atkinson  s role as a butler to a stupid prince is a funny and effectively done one  and hugh laurie is at his best in this series . very good       
set in the   s   seed  centers around convicted serial killer max seed  will sanderson   who killed    people in  years . he is sentenced to death  but in the electric chair he doesn  t die  even after being shocked three times .  br    br   detective matt bishop  michael par  and other officers cover up this secret by burying seed alive . seed breaks out and goes after the people who put him in his living coffin .  br    br   filmed by the worst director in the world  uwe boll    seed  is nothing more than a snuff film about trying to stretch the envelope of decent society and fails to deliver in any aspect of a storyline . and he said this is based on true events because if a person survives the electric chair after being shocked three times  they will be set free . this is an urban legend  and it would never happen . much like boll  s other abominations   alone in the dark  for one    seed  is just utterly horrendous .  
series three  blackadder the third  if you want something done properly  kill baldrick before you start  hot on the heels of the second series the show returned with the current owner of the famous name down on his luck and in service as butler to the prince regent  a vain and stupid foil for blackadders venom  played by hugh laurie . baldrick is still in tow as the other piece of the comedic jigsaw . the format is similar to the previous show  after all now they had found the winning formula why change things . we see blackadder trying to get rich off of the back of the gullible regent in many more ingenious ways  trying to make bladrick an m . p . or trying to woe a suitable bride for the prince . in many ways this is one of the most accurate of the series historically  the prince regent did take control of the throne during his fathers bout of madness and some of the characters lampooned tell a lot about the times . samuel johnson  william pit and wellington all pass through the events and all manage to steal their scenes  not an easy thing with such a stellar cast  
this movie shows a clip of live animal mutilation of an animal getting hacked by a machete and getting its skin ripped off . i know these horrible things happen in the world  but im watching movies based on the fact that what im watching is not actually happening on the screen . these live animal clips are not meant to be in movies  they are meant to show people that belong to certain organizations to help the horrible things that humans to do other species .  br    br   this should be banned and destroyed . i have also contacted netflix and other resources to collaborate getting this movie off the market    br    br   this movie should be removed from the public . the person who made this movie needs psychological help .  
the  rd and in my view the best of the blackadder series .  br    br   the only downside is that there is no lord percy who was the funniest character from the previous series but hugh laurie  s prince regent is suitably madcap laugh a line .  br    br   as a package it  s quality through and through with convincing regency sets  superb cutting sarcasm and little bits of the wacky  the  macbeth  actors standing out and prince georges  lucky us  chicken impression  and the missing words from dr johnson  s dictionary .  br    br   few comedies have been quite as both clever as they are funny  okay the odd lame observation or line gets in but mostly it  s a scream .  
  seed  is torture porn . . . no doubt about it . but  strangely  uwe boll has written  produced  and directed a more polished film than any other he has made in recent memory .  br    br   every time i watch a boll film  i feel that some pages of the script must have gone missing . there are simply huge gaps in the story and dialogue . of course  nothing makes much sense  either . the films are somewhat surreal in this respect .  br    br   spoilers  br    br   why do the six cops who go to arrest seed split up and go their separate ways when they get to the darkened residence  unlike real cops who would enter and clear the house in pairs or by threes  why don  t the cops ever use their radios  how can the bodies decay so quickly  a process that would normally take many months   i know it  s time  lapse photography . . . but seed would never be able to stay on schedule killing people if he always waited around for the previous victim to decay to the point shown .  how come seed gets to wear bib  overalls and a mask while he  s waiting on death row instead of typical prison uniforms  how can seed enter a maximum security prison  stroll around the cell block  and then walk out again without being stopped or even noticed  if nearly   people  according to some newspaper articles shown in the movie  have been murdered  why is there only one investigator working on the case  why did the investigator suddenly decide that he should go look for seed at seed  s house  where he was originally arrested and where he murdered his victims   didn  t he think of doing this sooner   why does the police detective go it solo  without back  up and without even letting dispatch know what he was doing and where he was headed   br    br   this is particularly frustrating when boll obviously goes far out of his way to make sure we understand why the electric chair fails to work properly . he spends several screen minutes in setting this up  when he could have spent them making other aspects of the film at least a bit more logical .  br    br   end spoilers  br    br   in short  the film just sort of serves as a framework for a few assorted scenes  perhaps boll would think of these as his  visions   of a brutal death by bludgeoning  gunshots to the head  execution by electrocution  and the skinning of live animals raised for their pelts .  the opening scenes of animals being skinned were indeed unnecessary and disturbing  but i understand their purpose in the context of the film .  the centerpiece is undoubtedly the bludgeoning death of a middle  aged woman by seed using a hatchet . it  s obvious that much time was spent on this and it vaguely reminds me of the classic scene in  reservoir dogs   though without the steely dan soundtrack .  br    br   is this a good movie  no . is it worth seeing  only if you are a dedicated fan of the torture porn genre or if you are absolutely determined to see a sample of torture porn . as i said at the start of this review  even though this movie is pretty disgusting and can be sickening at points  it is truly much more competent than most of boll  s movies . perhaps he will continue to improve as a filmmaker . i can only hope that he progresses beyond torture porn and continues more in the vein of  postal  .  
we could still use black adder even today . imagine rowan atkinson resuming the role of assistant to the prime minister played by the wonderful hugh laurie . hugh is sensational as the dimwit prince george and edmund as his brilliant assistant . i love the episode which kenneth connor guest stars as a british thespian . every time  edmund says macbeth . the two thespians do a silly little act to ward off evil spirits . it  s the funniest things that you will see . of course  none of this brilliance and comedic genius could be without ben elton and richard curtis who are also behind the films like love actually  the thin blue line  four weddings and a funeral . black adder is funny and almost too good for television . humor can be smart  sexy  and funny all at one . i was hoping last night on saturday night live that hugh laurie would pay homage to his background in british humor . if the gang at snl did some research  they would know what a treasure it was to have hugh laurie grace their stage .  
this would have to be one of the worst  if not the worst  movie i  ve ever nearly seen .  i couldn  t watch it all the way through  . purely and simply it  s gratuitous violence just for the sake of it and the ridiculous story line only adds to the lacklustre and incompetent filming . sick . and only suitable for those with a love for manic mutilation . after murdering several hundred men  women and children  seed is finally caught after effortlessly killing several more police officers that finally get a tip as to his whereabouts . he  s sentenced to death by electric chair and miraculously survives  buried alive  he digs his way out and plots revenge against those that put him away and flicked the switch . needless to say  more gruesome murders ensue . . .  
after the success of the second instalment  richard curtis and ben elton decided that blackadder should have a third appearance . this time instead of tudor times or elizabethan times  edmund blackadder  bafta nominated rowan atkinson  is living in the time of the french revolution . accompanied by the now stupid but lovable baldrick  tony robinson  blackadder is the  faithful  butler to george  the prince regent of wales  hugh laurie  . throughout this third series to the wonderfully written sitcom blackadder tries everything he can to get rich and powerful . he tries electing a lord for a rotten borough  tries to sell a book  tries to win a bet about the scarlet pimpernel  tries to be a highway man and finally poses as the prince . this is a very good instalment to the popular comedy . includes appearances from robbie coltrane  tim mcinnerny  miranda richardson and stephen fry . it won the bafta for best comedy series  and it was nominated for best design and best make up . rowan atkinson was number   on the   greatest british actors  he was number   on the comedians  comedian  and he was number  on britain  s favourite comedian  edmund blackadder was number  on the    greatest tv characters  and he was number  on the world  s greatest comedy characters  and blackadder  all four series  was number  on britain  s best sitcom . outstanding   
i was so disturbed by the real footage at the beginning of the film that i felt sick to my stomach and ended up shutting the movie off . how any can give this film more than a rating of  baffles me . i know that the intent of the movie is to shock  but showing actual footage of a dog that had been skinned alive  holding back vomit as i type   please  i shut it off after the scene with the decomposing baby . i had had my eyes covered most of the time up to that point . no wonder this movie was found at the bargain bin in hmv . i really have no desire to see any other movie by this uwe person . anyone who enjoyed this needs therapy . period .  
jimmy stewart and anthony mann teamed to do some of the best westerns ever made and this is one of the best .  br    br   the real star of the film however is the spectacular canadian rockies that serve as a backdrop for the story . some of the best cinematography ever done in the history of film .  br    br   in all five of the westerns that stewart and mann did together the supporting roles were perfectly cast . no exception here  right down to parts that might only have a few lines  the characters are firmly etched with those lines .  br    br   stewart is a cynical hard  bitten loner in this film whose only real friend is his sidekick walter brennan . it  s brennan  s death at the hands of the villains that makes him want to finally free the gold settlement from the bad guys and incidentally redeem himself in the process .  br    br   john mcintire is the head villain of the piece and he was an under  appreciated actor with a vast range . he could play delightful old codgers  authority figures and in this case a particularly nasty and crafty villain .  br    br   one of the best westerns ever .  
this movie is one of the most awful movies ever made . how can jon bon jovi play in a movie  he is a singer not an actor  what  is he killing vampires with his guitar  and what about the dreadful plot  o my god this movie really sucks . in the end is the queen of vampires played by the eternal vampire arly jover  blade  surrounded by an army of vampires  but when the  fantastic  slayers arrive only  vampires are left   what happened with the other      vampires  they run out in the sun    and what about the  grand finally  when bon jovi blows her head with a shotgun    that  s really a  not  . in  buffy the vampire slayer  in    episodes not a single vampire is killed with a shotgun    this really is a lack of originality   
holy crap this is so hysterical  why aren  t american comedies written like this  for anybody who thinks comedy has to be dumb   there is more wit and intelligence in the six episodes of this series than in a shelf of novels  hugh laurie is a complete hoot . i couldn  t believe it was the same guy as house  there are so many great lines and gags in this series you could watch each show dozens of times and still pick up on new things each time . rowan atkinson is hilarious as the verbose and put upon butler edmund . this is my favorite of all the blackadder series . and tony robinson is wonderful as ever as the somewhat obtuse heart of the series   the oppressed mass  baldrick . some of my favorite lines  when someone messes with a wellington he really puts his foot in it  and baldrick explaining how he got his name and cousin macadder  the top kipper salesman  and homicidal swordsman from scotland .  
if at least the cruelty and drawn out deaths had a purpose to the story to justify their inclusion but the script was just unintelligible and just plain stupid .  br    br   it went nowhere  the story had no legible continuity . it was just a bunch of drawn out pointless snuff scenes and a really stupid ending tacked on as if to say . .  the end beep you my haters and my few defenders for watching my garbage .   br    br   i don  t get it  a masked murderer who never had his mask removed in prison  a prison rape scene that was suppose to be the guards raping a a ugly deformed serial killer and getting killed by him and nothing else  no explanation  no punishment  a really weak main cop character that was a waste of a actor like pare  who didn  t try to off the guy who killed his cops  tortured a baby  a woman and a dog and sent them to you to watch on video .  br    br   cops who for some unknown reason all wandered off in the dark by themselves  individually  in his farm house at night like a bunch of poorly written teenage characters to be killed one at a time like a bunch of idiots  and no other cop hears them die in the darkness one after the other and just keep wandering around for no reason till each is killed in turn .  br    br   a bunch of horrible real life animal snuff scenes in the beginning for no reason or explanation  was he reminiscing  was he watching it to masturbate  was it comedy for him . . . what was it  nope boll just thought to throw it in to upset animal lovers . . whatever .  br    br   then pare believing the word of a psycho path to let his family go if he kills himself . . . a more gullible  stupider cop you never saw in a film .  br    br   i dunno why i try not to totally hate his works . i try to find some reason to explain a horror writers art but this stuff . . . pure crap .  br    br   boll what are you doing anymore  i hope you figure it out because i know a lot of more deserving people who can  t dream to get the budget you get over and over again to make their movies .  br    br   if you want to see boll actually at his best check out  postal  it was actually okay .  
i had no problem with the film  which i thought was pretty good . it  s the actual lapd crime scene video that disturbed me . i wonder if lion  s gate really thought that the general viewing audience would want to see people that were brutally beaten to death and blood all over the place . sorry lion  s gate  this was an incredibly bad idea     br    br   getting back to the film the cast was excellent  especially val kilmer as the late john holmes . john holmes was a sleaze  mistreats the women in his life  lisa kudrow as his wife  kate bosworth as his girlfriend   and he is hopelessly deep into drugs . his connection to eddie nash  eric bogosian  creates a spiral that resulted in the infamous wonderland murders . exactly how much was holmes involved in the murders  we may never know the entire truth to the story  nash is still alive and a free man   but the film does a pretty good job nonetheless .  
after having seen and loved postal  yes  i actually loved postal   i decided to try another uwe boll film and i picked out seed because i happened to stumble on it in a local dvd  store and it  s supposed to be one of his better films .  br    br   while the first   to   minutes of the film were very promising and seemed like the beginning of a not too mainstream psychological thriller  it soon went downhill from there and eventually degraded into one of the most generic slasher films i  ve seen so far  including a massive amount of plot holes  unrealistic emotional responses and sub  par acting . it seems like boll tried his best to come up with a decent plot but after a while just gave up on it . maybe he should stick to comedy   the few good things about this film is that he does manage to create an overall creepy atmosphere  that the special effects are better than i expected and the soundtrack does go well with the overall atmosphere  but the unbalanced pacing of this film combined with the utter generic nature thereof makes he last half hour quite tedious to watch  which ruined my experience altogether . there are a very fairly well done shocking scenes  but they seem to be there for the shock value alone . and let  s not forget the camera work that was pretty nauseating at times .  br    br   i hope uwe boll will one day learn what makes a good film  because between a lot of horrible films he does seem to make a decent film every now and then . seed just isn  t one of those .  
no  this is not no alice fairy tale my friends  this wonderland  fable is based on the true story of the gruesome bloody wonderland murders that occurred back in    s california . at the center of this bloodbath was no other than johnny wad  himself . yes  john holmes  daddy ding  dong used other shotguns than his infamous    inch milk machine . besides being a legendary adult film actor  holmes was as also a hardcore drug addict who befriended various hollywood junkies . val kilmer was occasionally majestic as holmes  but for once this holmes character did not milk it through completely . the film possesses a who  s who  of supporting players josh lucas  dylan mcdermott as hollywood riffraffs  kate bosworth  lisa kudrow as the women in holmes life  and eric bogosian as a menacing tinsletown entrepreneur . these characters do play integral parts  directly or indirectly  in the wonderland  murders . out of this support group  it was josh lucas who was the most fierce  impressive as the ardent ron launius . lucas is gradually escalating into a major hollywood player with such charismatic turns in a beautiful mind   sweet home alabama  . director james cox sometime proved to be a bit of a coxsucker by displaying a vast amount of overextended scenes  just like holmes  famous organ . holmes was eventually acquitted of the wonderland  murders . he died of complications from the aids virus . wonderland  will keep you wondering what really happened that bloody night  and if holmes really laid out his weapon . oops  wrong holmes movie  ok  that is enough before i get penislized  i mean penalized . bye holmies   average  
this movie is unbelievably ridiculous . i love horror movies  but this is the worst one i  ve ever seen . i am a huge fan of gore  but most of the deaths in this movie aren  t shown . it just shows us the already dead bodies  and the only death scenes that they actually show in this movie are terrible . the graphics look so obviously fake . the actors are awful as well . there is no real emotion from any of them . not only did i waste my time watching this piece of sht movie  but i had to subject myself to actual footage of animals being beaten during the beginning of it . if i could rate this a     i would . fck this movie . it  s crap .  br    br   don  t watch it .  
just saying you  ve got a movie about john holmes is a guarantee to get some folks in front of the screen  but writer  director james cox delivers oh so much more . a  rashamon  of the sleazy hollywood set  the film splitters the july     wonderland murders through a variety of angles  and film stocks   but mostly through the filter of john holmes  coked out weasel brain . in a film full of bad guys holmes is either the most vile  the most pathetic or both . several versions of the story emerge and merge as cox flashes jump cuts and twisting title cards amid effects and emoting . the dialogue is fast and naturalistic and never once rings false . while the film takes places two years after holmes had fallen out of porn and into a truly wicked drug fueled depravity  kilmer relentlessly exudes a sexuality so intense it can be measured in inches . this sexuality at its edges creates a sense of foreboding that hangs over the entire film almost as heavily as the violence at its center . those murders are teased at through the whole film though are never clearly shown  not even at the climax  though the violence of them relentlessly infuses the whole picture and much blood is splattered across walls and crime scene photos . once again val kilmer as holmes shows he can act wacko better than anyone else working . strutting  cringing  bragging or begging  kilmer is constantly in character and the character is constantly a fascinating car wreck . stand out performances beside kilmer definitely include ted levine as the lead cop in the investigation and lisa kudrow as holmes estranged wife . the trio of criminals holmes falls in with include the frighteningly high energy josh lucas  the ever interesting timothy blake nelson and an absolutely unrecognizable dylan mcdermott in a pivotal role as the teller yet another version of the murders . cox suggests that no matter how much we learn about wonderland  there is always a worse version possible  but looking through the debauchery surrounding it is much more fascinating than understanding the truth .  
from the beginning of the movie i had a feeling like its a movie about another jason  s from friday the   th . and it is . . . dispute that the movie starts interesting . but as the times goes by its just a pointless movie about muted  supernatural  silent serial killer . i mean he goes under the guy  s bed without making any sound  not seen by anyone . he was supposed to be blind after failed execution but he walks and kills people like he used to . i  m tired of it . for me it  s all over the same thing .  br    br   in another words  unreal . too many mistakes and confusing information .  br    br   well scene with tide up woman looked impressive but just at first time  for that and for intriguing intro  stars .  
wonderland is the fascinating film chronicling the x  rated film star john c . holmes involvement in the brutal wonderland murders .  br    br   the movie  s promotion misleads one into thinking this a romanticized portrayal of the porn industry in the vein of boogie nights and that is not the case here . in fact  except for a few references made by newscasters that john holmes is a porn star and a brief montage of real  life footage of john holmes this film is strictly drama about a fallen celebrity  s involvement with murder and how it happened .  br    br   despite being mislead the film is actually engaging . the acting from all the cast is excellent and i  d like to say that val kilmer is amazing in his ability to get down all the mannerisms of john holmes . i was completely convinced that i was watching what john c . holmes probably looked and acted like in real life .  br    br   if you are a john c . holmes fan or like stories about hollywood then i think you will enjoy watching wonderland .  
badly directed garbage . a mediocre nihilist sadistic gorefest . . . if you are the sort of person who likes that . . . see a shrink . even if you are that person it doesn  t make this a good film  the acting is really poor  the story full of plot holes  the director really should just give up and find a real job as he has no talent for this one . i can see why people dislike uwe boll . . we have had a few of his films on lately and this is the best of them  which is really sad  a complete absence of any sort of humanity seems to suit some people but here it just grates . horror films can be full of desolation  they can be miniature works of art  they can be just good viewing when there is nothing else on . . . seed is just really really poor .  
kudos to director and cast for such a realistic film . the grittiness  lack of glamor and desperation drew me into the film and kept me there . i was truly impressed by how dates and information were relayed within the film ie newspapers  letters  etc . it kept the film moving at such a fast pace i didn  t feel the urge to fast forward once . personally  i thought all the principles did a tremendous job . . . it was great to see bosworth and kudrow in such difficult roles . it made me want to cry at times . val kilmer didn  t surprise me . . . his performances of this nature usually leave me in awe . overall  this is a brilliant film not to be missed   
the name uwe boll is automatically linked to bad horror  cult cinema and every new movie he releases  which is about two  three per year  immediately always receives negative ratings and harsh criticism . you  re actually almost tempted to think this is just a contemporary hype . you know  like it  s popular to hate uwe boll whether you liked his movies or not . let me just assure you that this is not the case . uwe boll is a terrible writer  director and quite frankly a menace to the entire film  making industry .  seed  is another most unfortunate of proof that . in here  boll tries so desperately hard to come across as controversial and shocking that he overlooks numerous other elements that any movie essentially needs to exist  like a plot  a narrative structure  character development  tension building  seed  is a hideous movie  full of gratuitous filth and incompetent padding footage . i once read that  seed  was uwe boll  s interpretation of the nowadays popular horror trend of torture porn flicks  but that  s not even close . the film inarguably does borrow some influences from  saw  and  hostel   but basically it  s just another umpteenth dull slasher with an indestructible killer and video game violence .  br    br   the first   minutes of  seed  are beyond boring and actually just confirm all the obvious things you already knew were going to happen . for you see  boll was stupid enough to begin his film with a  hyper  fast  scrolling text explaining there  s a federal us law claiming that death row prisoners have to be set free if three attempts to electrocute them fail . so you know this will happen later on  but still the first three quarters are wasted on catching a serial killer and bringing him to the electric chair . seed is a mute serial killer who supposedly slaughtered    victims  exaggerate much   who wears a bag over his head . he watches real  life animal cruelty footage  and thus we watch real  life animal cruelty footage thanks for that mr . boll  and videotapes people as the slowly decompose in their cellar  including a crying baby which is really sick and twisted  . when he  s finally captured  during the most amateurish and implausible police manhunt ever filmed  and put on death row  the film even becomes more retarded . after being buried alive because the electric chair couldn  t fry him  max seed crawls back to the surface and goes on a brand new killing spree this time mainly focusing on the people who arrested and executed him .  br    br   the senseless plot twists and complete lack of story depth of this movie go way past being just bad they  re downright infuriating and insulting the intelligence level of the average horror movie fanatic . multiple twists and sub plot in  seed  are simply impossible to accept by the reasonable functioning human mind because they  re just too dumb  nobody believes that cops and prison staff members will just bury a mass murderer alive without shooting a few bullets through his head first . nobody will accept that a fugitive convict cannot be found for another six months even though he went straight back to the exact same hideout place where they first caught him   seed  is full of retarded little things like these and the movie gets dumber with each minute that passes . personally  i refuse to accept that the cast  crew members didn  t notice this as well . it really makes you think that uwe boll simply neglects all advice and criticism  and just stubbornly shoots his movies the way he wants to . i imagine his yelling stuff like  shut up and do as you are told  to his actors whenever they remark that the scene they  re shooting doesn  t make a lick of sense .  br    br   just for the fun of upsetting people  there  s a gigantically overlong sequence where max seed smashes an elderly lady to death with a hammer whilst she  s tied up to a chair in the middle of her own living room . instead of shocking  as boll intended it to be  this sequence masterfully epitomizes how pathetic and wannabe controversial the whole film in fact is .  seed  is horrendous  it  s disgusting  it  s pitiable  it  s  boll .  
wonderland spoilers  br    br   july  st       five people  ron launius  josh lucas   susan launius  christina applegate   billy deverell  tim blake nelson   barbara richardson  natasha gregson wagner  and joy miller  janeane garofalo  are attacked while they  re asleep and brutally hit on the head with steel pipes in their home at     wonderland avenue  laurel canyon  la . only susan survives .  br    br   main suspect john holmes  val kilmer   former king of porn  owner of a   cm long dick  and now a hopeless addict .  br    br   two investigators  luis  frankie g .  and sam nico  ted levine   are investigating on the case and try to crack it with the help of a witness that claims to know that john at the very least took part in the murders  david lind  dylan mcdermott   barbara  s boyfriend  and trying to get a witness report out of dawn schiller  kate bosworth   holmes     year  old girlfriend and from susan  who sadly doesn  t remember anything more than shadows about the night her husband  s head was bashed in and hers almost suffered the same fate  and the name of eddie nash  eric bogosian   a major drug kingpin  who is always around ladies such as barbie  paris hilton    comes into light as a suspect planner of the wonderland massacre .  br    br   but what did happen that night  and could sharon  lisa kudrow   john  s wife  know something about it   wonderland  is a taught  intense thriller  a desperate love story and a story of a man  s sad decline all in one there is a clever use of the  rashomon  technique  we see the events of that fateful day and night from the eyes of david  john  dawn  susan  albeit very briefly  and sharon   a nice direction and a great script  but is mostly compelling for the performances  especially kilmer  s  who takes central stage with his hopeless  tormented  sometimes childish holmes  lucas   whose launius is strangely alluring  kudrow  s strong sharon and bosworth  s innocent dawn .  br    br   wonderland     .  
hello . this is my first review for any movie i have seen . i went through the trouble of doing this to tell everyone that this is quite literally  the most disgusting movie i have ever seen . i feel like the movie was porely made  which i will give some understanding due to budget constraints on making it . i felt like i was watching a very bad remake of the movie saw . which i can agree  saw as well is also very graphic  but  i did like the movie saw .  br    br   the scene where he takes the hammer to the head of the tied up victim in the chair is the most disturbing scene i have seen . the scene lasted almost forever  well actually  it was probably around  min but still . i want to note that i like some horror movies and i do give credit if they are good . this director uwe boll  and his group of people used to make this movie should think it over before making another one similar to this one . one final note haha   for all the people who enjoy watching animals beatin to death  letting rot  with women and children as well and a five minute scene of someone getting there head smashed in with a hammer then you will enjoy this movie  if not  and you like horror  go with a higher budget film  like saw for example . i cant believe people actually make movies like this . anyway sorry to anyone who loves uwe boll and took it to heart  this is just my opinion on the movie .  
unfortunately  in cases such as these  there are so many conflicting stories as everyone tries to cast blame on to others that it is a near impossibility to get a clear picture of what really happened . this movie is a victim of such circumstances . the writers  too many of them  have decided to take all of the stories and give them to the audience to let them decide which version of the truth they like the best . as in the real life case  there is no clear answer  no conclusion  and the audience is left with a general felling of being unfulfilled  like coffee without the caffeine  or sex without the climax  . whodunnits with no whodunnit are generally frustrating and makes you wonder why someone didn  t do research before they put it out there . at least tout your movie as a fiction if that is what it amounts to  and this does  .  br    br   that is not to say there are not some great performances here . kilmer  as holmes  does an outstanding role bringing some humanity to what is otherwise an unsavory character . kilmer  and the real life lovers and friends who consulted on the film  let the audience see a selfish  troubled human being who  though his faults were many and large  was loved and cared for by many people  except himself  . kudrow as holmes  s wife  only gives a glimmer of the dramatic actress she can be  but it is very noticeable and unforgettable glimmer . bosworth  s character was not as emotionally complex as she could have been and needed to show more inner conflict to give credence to what ultimately happened between dawn and holmes  she turned him in  months after they fled to florida  . bosworth  s apple  cheeked performance is at time annoying  at times touching  but shows none of the backbone the real schiller must have possessed . the other characters fade in to the woodwork which is a pity . lucas is a great performer who could have sunk his teeth in to this role had it been fleshed out for him . even dylan mcdermott was surprisingly capable in his role of drug dealing biker .  br    br   the fault of this movie does not lie with this cast  but with the writing . too many cooks spoil the soup  and this kettle  filled with so much promise  ultimately leaves you hungry . the story and characters may have been less than sympathetic  but in what movie of this ilk are they not so  other movies such as      s drugstore cowboy starring matt dillon  who was reportedly asked to take this role and refused  worked with similar subject matter and mastered it to such a degree that you felt a kinship with the main character by the end of the movie despite what he had done . van sandt could have given james cox and his crew a few lessons . had someone bothered to try and find the truth  this would have been an intriguing story . as it is  you will find the accompanying wadd documentary more palatable  in the  disc dvd  and much more informative . you will realize from the dvd that holmes was not a bad guy  but not a very good one either . . as are most people .  
while not as bad as his game  to  movie adaptations  this hunk of crud doesn  t fare much better .  br    br   boll seems to have a pathological inability to accept that he doesn  t make good movies . one of these days he  ll run out of money and stop inflicting the world with his bombs .  br    br   the acting was sub  par  the dialog sounded like they were reading teleprompters and boll  s special little  touches  were seen throughout the whole thing .  br    br   like all uwe boll movies  this one just shouldn  t exist .  br    br   plain and simple .  br    br   just like uwe boll himself shouldn  t exist .     
opening credits great . music just right for this film . cinematography sleazy to great effect .  br    br   harrowing excitement in a train  wreck sort of way . this is how out of control some lives can become .  wonderland  depicts drug  induced wildness  and its consequences  not as an aberration  but shows how it really does happen in our society . it is better than depictions of another wild group  manson  s  because all manson films  books etc concentrate so much on manson  s insane mind rather than the overall picture of the cheap fame and randomness that is so pervasive nowadays .  br    br   if you want to see some of the best  method  acting  on film  watch kilmer in this movie . he shows how  the method  can be riveting in the right role .  br    br   the filmmakers here succeed in raising  out  of  control  to the level of an art form  not just for the sake of giving us cheap thrills .  
short version seed isn  t worthless . it  s just derivative and inferior . and soulless .  br    br   long version if you have never seen any of the films comprising the vaguely  defined  psychological horror  genre  this movie will probably melt your face off . maybe not  but it will give you a good burn . the opening montage of real animal abuse will be sufficient to open your eyes to possibilities of brutality  on  video  and the  only  memorable gore scene later in the film will perhaps be more than you can handle . the climax will play with your emotions in a way that perhaps no other film has .  br    br   but that  s if you don  t have much experience with the genre . if you  ve seen the real thing . . .  august underground  s penance   for example  you will  as i did  find it terribly difficult to stay awake until the end of the film .  br    br   other reviewers have compared this to the video nasties of old . i understand this comparison . like the video nasties   seed  is more violent than a mainstream horror film and less subtle . but the reason the video nasties are still known to us is not only for the above reasons   those that are still popular had something special . permit me to be ambiguous  i think you will understand those that have stuck around had  soul  .  br    br   take this quote from gabriele crisanti  director of  burial ground   on an interview on the new  ish dvd  . . . we will never have more films like these  because today  technology has surpassed imagination . and technology is cold . so many things will disappear because small films like these won  t be produced anymore . today we have great  exceptional tricks that are very expensive  but they are cold . today a horror  a terror film of this kind costs more than a million dollars . these films were not so expensive . . . they are real effects  made with our hands  .  br    br   perhaps it is wrong to take the comparison to old school horror so seriously . but crisanti has hit the nail on the head . even at their most seemingly exploitational  the best of the video nasties were pursuing a primitive  truth .  and this is where boll falls short . it  s like he  s seen the movies and not understood them . everything on the checklist is there . . . bs about  making a statement about humanity   an obscene torture scene  etc . but it is  as crisanti puts it   cold .  the gore is all cgi . the whole thing feels like scenes pieced together from other movies of various genres . and the pacing is sooooo slow . man  so slow .  br    br   another interesting note the one gore scene really reminded me of a video game .  br    br   anyway  enough bs . weak movie .  
first  this is a review of the two disc set that came together with the  wonderland  dvd rental .  br    br   the two movies included with the rental   wonderland  and the johnny wadd documentary  totally obliterate the myth created by  boogie nights  . that myth being that the characters involved in the adult movie trade were considerably more than slimy lowlifes that would do anything for money  basically denying that they were anything other than detestable self  centered whores . this is amazingly similar to what the book  wiseguy  and the movie  goodfellas  did to  the godfather  fable and most of the rest of the gangster romanticism lore .  br    br   now  what irritated me most while watching these movies  and will probably irk anyone who saw and liked  boogie nights   is how foolish and gullible supposedly educated and sophisticated people can be .  dirk diggler  in  boogie nights  is without a doubt john holmes  who unlike  dirk diggler   had no redeeming quality . holmes was a criminal sociopath who abused anyone close to him  was totally consumed by his quest for self  gratification  and was without a doubt a key participant in the brutal murders on wonderland avenue in los angeles in     . the movie lays bare the big lie that  boogie nights  was  and reinforces the linda lovelace description of the cruel and pathetic business that is known as the adult film entertainment industry . this should be required viewing  both features on the  wonderland  dvd  for anyone who had any positive opinions on the story in the movie  boogie nights  .  
over the past year  uwe boll has shown marginal improvement as a filmmaker  cranking out the competent  in the name of the king   a  lord of the rings  clone  and the proudly vulgar  post      satire  postal .  but then came  seed   and the counter was reset to zero  keeping his bid for legitimacy and respect that much further out of reach . and i  m a fan of the guyhis films exhibit a uniquely screwball vision  and are never dull .  br    br   spawned from his frustration over the savage notices his early films received   seed  is a colossally misguided attempt at social commentary  and an even worse jab at creating an iconic slasher mythology  boll often seems to be taking a page from rob zombie  s successful reboot of  halloween   . the antagonist is maxwell seed  will sanderson   a mute  hulking brute who  s slain    people and sits on death row  awaiting execution after unsuccessfully frying the beast  he rises from the grave to seek revenge on those who put him there . . . and so begins a string of wholly gratuitous mayhem .  br    br   trying to create a new  millennium slasher in the vein of michael myers or jason voorhees  max seed is too nondescript and boring to leave an impression  ultimately resembling a washed  up pro wrestler doing  the toolbox murders  on a succession of equally boring victims . furthermore  seed  s character and boll  s  message  run contrary to one another the death penalty is wrong  sure  but are we really expected to sympathize with a soulless killer who  s left a couple hundred corpses in his wake  i think not .  br    br   meanwhile  michael pare acts like a listless  long  lost brother to james remar  s character on  dexter   a cop who sits at his desk a lot  thumbing through newspaper clippings  and watching pointless stop  motion scenes of decomposing animals and people trapped in seed  s lair . by the time he and a bunch of cardboard cops storm seed  s hideout  the sequence is so drawn  out  ill  conceived  the lighting is almost non  existent   and unexciting  despite a healthy dose of gore  that it almost put me to sleep .  br    br   the shoddy film  making isn  t limited to just that sequence  seed  appears to have been shot by a drunken cinematographer  since the camera bobs and weaves endlessly  a technique that  s more stomach  turning than the gore itself these protracted takes of very little happening only draw attention to the meandering  almost non  existent narrative . at   minutes  the film is distended enough to be considered a form of torture  which might have been boll  s intent all along .  br    br   pure genius . . . i guess the joke  s on me .  
stewart is a wyoming cattleman who dreams to make enough money to buy a small ranch in utah ranch his only real companion is his sidekick ben tatum  the great walter brennan to accomplish that  they drive the cattle clear to alaska and on to dawson  in canadian territory  where they sell them . . .  br    br   along the way they meet the man who runs the gold  crazy town behind a dishonest lawman john mcintire . . . he attempts to steal them the herd . . . later  in dawson  mcintire and his gang reappear  this time interfering with stewart  s gold claim . . .  br    br   captured by mann  s camera in the wonderful scenery of the canadian rockies  stewart is a thoughtful loner forced into violence by his need to get rid of the treacherous actions of a corrupt entrepreneur robbing local miners of their claims  br    br   in this entertaining  beautiful western  stewart has two leading ladies to struggle with ruth roman  a bit too valuable to describe as a sexy woman resisting the worst vicissitudes of the territory and the more docile  the french canadian girl corinne calvet who does create a nice portrait of a likable girl with the ability to form a judgment . . . in spontaneous manner  stewart is lost between the ostentatious saloon owner and the wife  candidate . . .  
this  debuted  today on the scifi channel and all i can say is  i am speechless  i taped it today so i could watch it tonight after work . i had high hopes  now i am tearing apart the closets looking for a length of rope so i can hang myself . possibly the worst movie i have ever seen . i wish i could say something nice like  it was fun to make fun of this movie  but this movie is giving me nothing to work with . i know you are not supposed to post spoilers here with out prior warning but i am going to anyway  this movie sucks  there i said it  they should show this flick to film students to show them what not to do  my nine year old niece could make a better film . the only decent thing about this film is the sound and  or sound track . oh  i just found a rusty c  clamp in my old tool box . i am going to put it on the thumb of my left hand and tighten it until the pain erases the memory of what my eyes have seen . i could just tape over this vhs but i think i will burn it in the fire pit instead . i could wash with soap but i fear i will never be clean again . christmas is coming . buy this movie and give it to people you hate .  mike  
just watched this movie on dvd and thought the acting was very good  but the over all story left a lot to be desired . this movie has the same texture and look of panic in needle park or drugstore cowboy . hard to believe that human beings can live this type of lifestyle on the underbelly of society  in which their total existence is based on hardcore drug use  crime  violence  sex  and a total lack of self  respect for anyone or anything  including themselves .  br    br   val kilmore is outstanding in his role of  burnt  out  former porn star john holmes . the supporting cast is just as good . however  this is a bleak  dark  disturbing  and depressing film . the murder was brutal  but the daily lives of these people were brutal as well . unless you have an interest in these murders or were a  fan  of john holmes  this really isn  t a film to see . if you want to see a docu  drama on murder  truman capote  s     s in cold blood starring scott wilson and robert blake is much better .  
first off . . . i never considered myself an uwe boll hater since i think i never even saw one of his movies but after seeing this cheap excuse for a movie named  seed   which is the name of the serial killer this movie is about  i am close to joining the hate club . this movie makes absolutely no sense at all . . . the plot is a joke and although boll clearly tries to get attention by shocking people    of this movie is just plain boredom . you can sum up this movie like this  br    br    . hooded killer watches clips of animals getting tortured on tv . this is real life footage from pelt farms and the movie opens with the ridiculous reason of  making a statement about humanity  and giving a peta address . since this movie has no message at all and is the worst piece of torture porn  exploitation you already have a reason to hate the movie from the beginning onward .  br    br    . death by electrocution with a pretext that gives away what happens later in this movie printed on screen so every retard gets it .  br    br    . cops watch videos of animals  babies and women starved to death and decomposing in seeds basement  having stupid nightmares and crying into their whiskey because seed is such an evil bad mofo . although the acting is ok the movie takes a dive every time it tries to incorporate any emotions . . .  br    br    . cops bust seed in his house  act stupid and get slashed in the dark . this sequence reminds me of a video game  you barely see anything except flashlights . seed is a super killer that is everywhere at once and all cops act stupid enough to be killed . . . except for one who busts him .  br    br    . seed gets the chair and we see his electrocution as lengthy as everything else in this  movie  . . . he won  t die and we are reminded of the opening statement that he must be set free if he survives  electric jolts . guess what . . . they just bury him alive to solve the problem .  br    br    . seed comes out of his grave  kills everyone off in another slashing part and then seeks the main cop to take revenge on .  br    br    . a woman gets her head bashed in with a hammer in an endless sequence from one point of view just for the fun and shock value of it .  br    br    . seed captures the cops family  lures him to his house  threatens to kill his wife and daughter . after killing his wife with a nail gun the cop shoots himself in the head considering thats whats seed wants  its hard to get into that guys head since he not just wears his mask even in prison but also never utters a word . . . the movie has barely any dialog anyway so don  t mind  .  br    br    . boll goes for a nihilistic shocker end where seed locks the daughter in with her dead dad to rot like the persons we saw on video on sequence  .  br    br   this is it . . . no message  no plot  no reason  no face behind the mask  no background except a stupid story that seed was burnt as a child .  br    br   this movie relies purely on few key scenes and their shock value . i hardly remember a movie this empty of any emotion or message or entertainment . its like watching august underground . . . thats fine with me  some people will enjoy this brainless snuff . but what is really hard to stand about it is the pseudo  message in the beginning and the fact that the movie is well made considering camera  work  effects and even the acting is too good for this waste of celluloid .  br    br   so how does boll get money to make such  movies  when thousands of talented directors work on shoestring budgets    seed  is not just the essence of ridiculous  its living proof that the free market is flawed . . . lucky uwe that the german taxpayer is paying for a lot of this waste to get deductments .  
i was very interested to see this movie when it first came out in the theaters  however  i wasn  t able to get around to it . so  finally  it hit the shelves  and i picked it up . not knowing exactly what to expect  i plopped the dvd in the player  settled in the for an evening of murder  and pressed play . what followed was one of the more engaging flicks i  ve seen in the last couple years .  br    br   some spoilers  br    br   this is the story of the wonderland murders  which led to the seediest parts of la and straight to the biggest porn start of the    s  john holmes  val kilmer  .  br    br   i was hooked from the beginning  and the feel of the movie held me all the way until the very bloody end . i was surprised to find that the movie focused less on the actual murders and more on the events before and the investigation after . aside from a few blood splattered walls in the beginning  and the actual showing of the murders towards the end  the movie was more or less an engaging show of great dialoge and great acting . val kilmer all but sells me as a junkie porn star  and even the  beautiful but that  s it  bosworth was a joy to watch  and just for her looks  mind you   br    br   i personally felt the best aspect of the movie was  as i mentioned  its lack of outright showing the murders . it was shown in a very dark atmosphere  so you couldn  t completely see the brutal bludgeoning bestowed apon the sleeping foursome . furthermore  the sound effects of said murders were more than enough to whet my appetite . they were being beating with lead pipes  there  s not much more that needs to be said .  br    br   my only real problem was carrie fisher  s brief appearence . her portrayal of the overly  religious figure was  i think  a bit too cliche of her appearence . maybe that person was actually part of the story  maybe not  but i wasn  t sold  and for some reason  fisher seemed a bit too  akward  in her portrayal .  br    br   overall  an excellent movie worth the watch  even if once   br    br          
consider for a moment what it must be like to be uwe boll . somewhere  perhaps in those places that jack nicholson said  you don  t talk about at parties   boll knows that david lean had head lice as a child that had more talent for film making than him . gore whores  metal  heads and the socially dysfunctional may bump into him on the circuit and tell him otherwise but general audiences find the teutonic helmsman  s output so bereft of originality  wit or imagination that he  s become the internet  s bogeyman  an online discursive synonym for photochemical excrement . boll does his best to ride over these naysayers  exploiting tax credits available in germany and canada to keep working and raising money from a network of dentists as zero mostel did with old ladies in the producers . the difference being that mostel  s character knew he was making bowel fill . maybe uwe knows it too .  br    br   such is the level of hostility toward each new  bollbuster  that imdb patrons sabotage their ratings by voting  before they  ve seen it . boll  s attempts at silencing his critics by challenging them to a boxing match and knocking them out just made them more determined . indeed he  s probably the only filmmaker that  s boosted thesaurus sales as critics search for inventive ways of describing garbage .  br    br   this onslaught has made uwe a very thick skinned man  so much so that he must feel like he  s wrapped in a carpet  but one who feels as if he  s bullied by the entire world . like most people in that situation he lashes out  determined to upset as many people as possible with the memory of a tearful evening holding variety  s review of house of the dead  never too far from the surface . this  i know you are but what am i  strategy for reclaiming the initiative produced the blunt satire of postal  which attempted to napalm the dissenters with jokes about      christian fundamentalism  jihad  nazism and paedophilia . such a litany of invective requires a satirist with the mind of peter cook and the visual imagination of chris morris but the closest boll gets to either man is the o in their surname .  br    br   in seed  shot back to back with the aforementioned game adaptation  boll is back with a story about a sadistic serial murderer  is there any other kind   who gets the chair only for two attempts to fail in permanently curtailing all signs of life . mindful of the fictional law that says anyone still alive after  attempts must go free  though if you  d been fried with that much electricity why would you want to  they pronounce him legally dead and bury him  only for the disgruntled killer to resurface and begin a whirlwind tour of his gaolers .  br    br   boll begins his  exploration of nihilistic rage  with seed watching footage of animals being tortured for experimental purposes . from there we  re treated to the killer  s stock in trade  kidnapping dogs  babies and grown women and allowing them to starve to death on camera only to become maggot food . we  re invited to reflect on what a depraved race of amoral meat sacks we all are  our inhumanity to each other and our fellow creatures acting as a lighting rod that acts as a catalyst for the most disgusting vestiges of the human condition . yes  we  re worthless  gormless sadists and worse than that  we won  t give uwe a good rating on the imdb . in short  humanity is bunk .  br    br   of course you might think that uwe relies on our worst excesses for his livelihood and with that in mind it  s a bit of a bipolar piece  on one hand hating its audience and positively basting itself in the sour milk of human kindness  the milk that poor old boll has had to drink for so long  while simultaneously whipping out its member and inviting those with a pornographic lust for on screen depravity to marvel at its sheer arse splitting girth .  br    br   the result says nothing about society and its discontents  more the corrosive effect bad press is having on its director . poor uwe is obviously a very angry man  one scene in which a poor woman gets her brains hammered to a pulp while tied to a chair  no doubt a surrogate for his own fantasy  s about dispatching various web critics . that it  s there but takes an avant  garde approach by failing to be attached to any kind of narrative thread  shows that boll is a pornographer whose happy to engage with the blood lust of his audience and knows that plot is surplus to requirements . he  s made a film which is competently shot but utterly desolate .  i wanted to make a horror movie that was no fun  boll told the audience at the film  s world premiere and he has  on that flimsy manifesto  succeeded but if this was supposed to convince the director  s detractors that he was a serious genre filmmaker  he  ll need something genuine to say as well as a better  more original way of saying it .  
this is the second movie based on the life and times of ultra hung porn star  john curtis estes  better known as john holmes . boogie nights is also roughly based on his life . maybe someday someone is going to do a movie on the life of tommy byron instead .  br    br   the problem is  that the story is not very well told . there are many law  order episodes that have more twists and turns than wonderland  and the director never gets the criminal case going with any kind of gusto . val kilmer has two problems  he is not nearly as hung as holmes is  and no prosthesis this time around  unlike in boogie nights   and he is much better looking than mope holmes .  br    br   the director does not introduce one single likable individual among the cast . the racist  immature lowlifes he hangs out with  or his wife  and the police don  t get much in the way of characterization .  br    br   the best part of the movie is eric bogosian telling paris hilton to  get lost  .  br    br   having said all that  anyone interested in the sleaziest side of the porn business in the     s or true crime shouldn  t miss it .  
dissapointing action movie with an interesting premise a young mafia would  to  be killer  chandler  must demonstrate to his boss that he is a good man for the service so he goes to california to take some lessons with a very known professional killer  beluschi  . first and most important task to kill a young woman  lee  that is a completely strange for all of them . but is she a easy target  the movie goes on and on based upon this principal idea but the result is just bad routine even the weird twist at the end does not save the movie . good performance by chandler . i give this a   four  .  
the true story of a bunch of junkies robbing a not so honest businessman of drugs  jewelry  guns  and money . some would say this is the tragic tale of america in the excessive eighties where the high of the peace and free love sixties had crashed into drugs and aids . honestly  this is just regular people with no aim in life who sit around getting high and decide to rob a ruthless man . what is the second part of their master plan  once they have his stuff . . . they  ll sit around and get high again . great plan . even if you don  t know the story  there is no suspense in this movie and no surprises . the fact that cox tries to make some kind of folk heroes out of these characters  with party scenes and a montage of their loot  is weak and insulting . the story was better off with a more straight forward approach . as it is  this is just a sad story of small time drug dealers getting killed by big time drug dealers . the bigger story  in more ways than one  is john holmes . he is the center of this story anyway . this movie should have been all about him  his life . he was the one in wonderland  with the wonders about to fade away .  br    br   p . s . although it isn  t official  boogie nights is a better version of holmes life . it isn  t entirely factual  but it  s far more enjoyable .  
i can  t believe the positive reviews of this movie  i thought it was one of the worst  most poorly executed and poorly acted movies i have ever seen . and the plot was completely ludicrous  sp   . she starts making out with him while he  s tied to the chair  puh  lease . the worst part was that it wasn  t even bad in a good  laughable way . just plain terrible  i couldn  t figure out why they even bothered to show it on hbo . i thought belushi was ridiculously silly  very unbelievable as an  eccentric  hit man . idk  i could go on  again  i am shocked by the positive reviews . the only thing that kept me watching it is that it  s fascinating to see how a movie can go wrong and what makes it bad . and the ending didn  t disappoint in its silliness either   live by the sword  die by the sword . . .  ridiculous .  
val kilmer and dylan mcdermott are terrific . i have seen kilmer on the doors  however his interpretation of john holmes is superb . nothing compared to boogie nights which was kind of slow . wonderland is a movie which is able to show you a horrible crime story from the perspective from a guy who is just indulged in his drug vice and indolent of what ever happens around . at the same time  the john holmes character shows a very clever hustler who is able to pass through the nastiest and ugliest situations almost unharmed . the movie deserves being watched more than once . the seventies ambiance sensual and full of drugs is amazing .  
i  ll be honest  the reason i rented this movie was because i am a huge fan of kyle chandler  s  most notably from early edition  . since he usually plays the good guy  i wanted to see him as in a different role  out of curiosity  . the plot itself also drew me in a wanna  be hitman  tony greco  a . k . a . mr . chandler  must kill a person at random before he is trusted with the life  or  rather  the death  of a witness who will testify against someone in  the family  . the movies was nothing like i expected . it was sick  i hated the end  if you saw it  you  d know why   and there were so many unnecessary parts . basically  it was filthy  and made little sense . yes  it was a mob movie  and yes the guns do go boom . but there  s more to a movie than that . this film acted as if it didn  t have the time to go into detail  just deal with it and understand it . the acting really made up for it  james belushi was pretty amusing as  the rose  . sheryl lee made angel seem as believable as she could get . she surprised me the most . and kyle chandler was equally convincing as an anxious newcomer to  the family  . if only the script did justice to the actors .  
some films manage to survive almost on originality alone   wonderland  is certainly one of those films . the script manages to throw everything into a near  fever pitch  but without making it incoherent . the speed of this thriller is not to chosen to cover up a weak script  but rather to accurately reflect the drug  addled reality .  br    br   as director  james cox as a very peculiar way of working his actors . most of the characters are perpetually on edge  and often because they  re rather quite ugly personalities . val kilmer has described john holmes to be a hustler  able to manipulate and control . no offense to kilmer  but his version of holmes seems only able to control the drastically weak  minded . nonetheless  it  s a stunning performance . comparing this to kilmer  s more  hollywood  roles like in  the saint  it seems to prove he is far more at home in gritty indie flicks .  br    br   the actors are the main force holding all together . there are various little performances that stand out  especially the women . carrie fisher  kate bosworth  and lisa kudrow all have limited screen time next to their male counterparts  but they are all fantastic . aside from kilmer  ted levine and dylan mcdermott give a weird  stunning energy to their roles .  br    br   i originally put off watching  wonderland  because i assumed it was a film about a porn actor  in the strictest sense . yes  the story revolves around john holmes  but it has literally nothing to do with his professional career . basically  this film is a murder mystery  and as such  it  s excellent .  br    br   rating  .  out of    
this film is described as a action  comedy . the first   minutes and james belushi  s presence point to it being a humorous gangster film .  br    br   however  the introduction of the ridiculous female lead begins a number of ludicrous plot twists which do little to conceal the contrived ending . the film moves between comedy  description used loosely  and surreal drama with some out of context adult scenes thrown in . the lead female  the angel of the title  is poorly acted and the actress is not helped by the script which requires some unbelievable  extremes of character to be portrayed . james belushi is the only one who handles his part well but is also let down by the poor script . one to avoid .  
what do you do with a    inch cocked porn star who was involved in drugs and murder  and then died of aids  you make a movie  of course . the probable reason why it wasn  t made earlier is the fact that eddie nash would have been in the way of its production . so it  s no coincidence that the film was made just a little while after nash was sent to prison .  br    br   the best thing about the movie is its quick pace . there is no time wasted on unnecessary crap . and why would it be  there is too much good material here to require dull filler scenes . the cast is good . kilmer has been mediocre in a string of movies  so here was finally a role quite suitable for him . bosworth is cute so it  s irrelevant how she acts  she  s solid   and mcdermott  who is otherwise quite annoying  is rather good  to a large extent because he is wearing so much facial hair that i didn  t recognize him at first .  i wish they did that to cruise in every movie so i wouldn  t have to watch his dumb face .  i utterly failed to recognize christina applegate  and wouldn  t have known she was in it  had i not seen her name in the end  credits . kudrow is charming as ever  a bit unusual to see her in a dramatic role .  btw   friends  is the worst tv sitcom of all time .  the only casting choices that were questionable were an early near  cameo by carrie fischer and the totally absurd inclusion of the   s moron janeane garofalo . you thought i  d include paris hilton  too  didn  t you  no  i think hilton is the ideal choice in her    second appearance as a dumb whore . because the film is about decadence  among other things  and about a porn actor  she fits in perfectly .  
it kept my attention to the end  however  without spoiling the film for anyone . . . . . . . when she fixed the fridge by getting a book from the library  you knew how the film would end when she went back to library for a book on self defence against and assassin . the film  for me  said nothing of worth . . . . is becoming an assassin really a remedy for mental illness or just another symptom .  
may      wonderland is fairly new in the uk . brilliant film of a brutal true story . if you know la from the early    s  you will appreciate how well it is captured . the use of the elements which make up its gritty cinematic style is original  amplifying the experience and bringing the viewer very close to actually being there . the use of a disjointed  pulp fiction  style time line allows exploration of the uncertainty concerning what really happened  while the direction and performances of the cast command attention  especially val kilmer as john holmes an oscar for sure if i were handing them out .  
this is the most elementary sort of traditional ghost story  not even enlivened to any great extent by the use of irish locations . if the great m . r . james had ever come up with a tale this thin   doesn  t james in fact have a story called  a thin ghost     he wouldn  t have bothered to have it published .  br    br   orson welles appears in the limp endpieces as a favour to a brace of old friends  this film  s producers . his presence and the one movie industry in  joke would have earned this will  o   the  wisp its oscar nomination . this is yet more proof  if any more were needed  that the academy awards have never been any guarantee of merit .  
val kilmer . . . love or loath him  sometimes he gets under the skin of a character and pulls out a performance that makes you go  hey  this guy is a great actor   he did in the leather pants of jim in the doors and he  s done it again in the leather underpants of john .  br    br   revolving around the fall and fall of uber porn king john holmes  kilmer strutts to his knees as we unravel one of the biggest murder mysteries hollywood has never solved for over twenty years  with holmes the key suspect to a brutal manson  style slaughter .  br    br   what kilmer does so effortlessly is exhude the low  life of the celebrity  the do anything to anyone craving that overwhelms anyone who had it and then lost it . go see him  you  ll know what i mean .  
i almost drowned in cheese watching this movie . in fact i could not even finish it . i want my money back . one more of hollywood  s feeble attempts to come up with a new idea . good thing i keep a bowl of lemons in the fridge . just in case . they should of gave nic cage a hat and a bull  whip . swashbucklin  . cage  s performance in raising arizona or leaving las vegas beats this  lemon  . people who are completely and totally marketed  and most of them are  should love this movie . if this film had been animated  i would have taken it more seriously . i would of rather paid to see a completely stupid movie that did not try to hide it . in my opinion  this was a incredibly stupid movie and it made a even more incredibly sad attempt to try and hide that fact .  br    br   all the sheep seem to love it though .  
one of the most disturbing and tragic periods in american history began . the members of the summer of love culture  at the end of the seventies and onset of the    s  were eventually tool old for love beads and all night parties and evolved back into mainstream life  whatever that meant . for those who could not out grow their youthful and sometimes irrational exuberance  their  s was the culture of wonderland . a love for drugs and a sense of entitlement coupled with a distaste for authority  values and  the establishment  is the world that the film captures .  br    br   the sixties were a time of revolution and violent change that tore the american  house  apart . once the battles were over  we all had to deal with the aftermath of the carnage . the characters in the wonderland house are icons of the misfits of the seventies part biker  part hippie  part crook  all outcast . no ideology to express  just a sense of dissatisfaction with everything and allegiance to nothing . ron  billy and david fancy themselves as some sort of robin hoods with dope . they talk of love and behave violently they take from the rich and sell to the misbegotten they steal from everyone .  br    br   holmes and company are the end result of a strange collision of anti  matter like sex  and drugs and rock  roll  when the lab technicians get bored and move on .  br    br   the film is skillfully directed and paced and captures the frenetic world of the drug fiends in their element . the fact that holmes is a porn star is almost irrelevant . that story was told in  boogie nights  . this is a story of a transitional and forgettable era .  
wow  this movie was so horrible . i  m so glad i didn  t have to pay money to see this horrible movie . it was like a history nut went on a coke binge  the previews of it made it look decent but it was really bad . i will say the idea sounded decent but come on . it was really really bad . if u sat down and thought about it you would also realize it was unrealistic . come on back in the day u think they had all that stuff to work with . it wasn  t like ben franklin sat down one day and made a damn riddle . it was completely ridiculous  and it you want to see a bad movie then by all means go see this one . all and all horrible movie it might actually be on my top   worst films i  ve ever seen .  
a river runs through it is based on the true story of two fly fishing brothers  norman and paul   brad pitt and craig sheffer  whose reverend father  tom skerritt  is a strict man whose two passions are his faith and fly fishing   and  for him and his sons  there is a fine line between the two . this story describes the slow progression of the brothers  lives and how their lives separate on two different paths . it is a touching movie narrated by the director  robert redford  playing the elderly norman and reflecting on times long gone and people long dead .  br    br   certain themes recur in the movie  such as memory  death  eternity  and dreams . most of these themes revolve around the almost tragic hero of paul . he is a capable  charming  and brave man  but has his fatal flaws .  br    br   the closing lines sum up the  point  of the movie  then in the arctic half  light of the canyon  all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the big blackfoot river and a four  count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise . eventually  all things merge into one  and a river runs through it . the river was cut by the world  s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time . on some of those rocks are timeless raindrops . under the rocks are the words  and some of the words are theirs . i am haunted by waters .   
thanks for killing the franchise with this turkey  john carpenter and tommy lee wallace . this movie sucks on so many levels it  s pathetic . the first vampires was fun  but this low budget retread makes me yawn .  br    br   jon bon jovi  the poor man  s kevin bacon  drives around mexico with a surfboard housing a hidden compartment holding his vampire killing gear ala antonio banderas  s guitar case in desperado . he picks up some lame  hunters  along the way  including an annoyingly feminist infected girl who takes pills to keep from turning into a vampire   and they set out to stop some female master vampire who is given no backstory and so we could care less about her or her quest  to walk in the sunlight by stealing the black cross and performing a ritual to allow her to do so  . if you  ve seen the first vampires  you  ve already seen this  and done much better .  br    br   john carpenter has been responsible for a lot of bad movies lately . frankly  i think he  s past his prime and incapable of making another horror classic . the only decent film he  s done since they live       is vampires . everything else is complete crap  right up until the unbelievably cheap looking and retarded ghosts of mars . . . and now this waste of celluloid . where are more greats like assault on precinct    halloween     escape from new york and the thing   br    br   carpenter crony wallace proves he can  t write his way out of a paper bag with his paper  thin script packed with yawns  groans and recycled gags from the original . did i mention i hated every character in the movie  there was not a single memorable character in the whole film . how does that happen  this film has nothing to recommend it . not even the dvd presentation is good the menu looks awful .  br    br   by comparison  jason x  friday the   th in space  was a masterpiece . now that is how you make a sequel and  re  energize a franchise  ladies and germs  as well as create an exciting dvd menu .  
this is one of the most amazing stories i have ever seen .  br    br   if this film had been directed by larry clark  then this story about a school shooting probably would have been shown through the eyes of the killer and whatever led that person to go insane in the first place .  br    br   instead  the plot focuses mainly on the aftermath of a school shooting  and how it effected the victims who survived .  br    br   i had seen busy phillips in other films before  but her performance in this movie is by far  her best . the only other movie that i  ve seen with erika christensen is  swim fan  which made me almost not want to watch this film  but she turned in a very good performance herself .  br    br   this is one of the few movies i have seen that was actually able to make me cry . trust me when i tell you  that doesn  t happen very often .  br    br   home room is a beautiful film  and that  s all there is too it . . .  
outlandish premise that rates low on plausibility and unfortunately also struggles feebly to raise laughs or interest . only hawn  s well  known charm allows it to skate by on very thin ice . goldie  s gotta be a contender for an actress who  s done so much in her career with very little quality material at her disposal . . .  br    br    
i  ve read many negative reviews of this movie and finally got a chance to see it on dvd . to be honest i really don  t know what the problem with it is .  br    br   it  s a decent murder mystery thriller  shown from various points of view  from an eccentric cast of often drugged out potential killers  suspects  including the late porn king  john holmes . please read the plot synopsis for the exact details of the movie  s plot  i wish to contribute more to a review than a synopsis .  br    br   many reviewers went so far to give this movie their lowest rating due to violence but i really don  t see it . many modern movies were worse  saving private ryan was ultimately more violent than this movie  which often relies on implied blood stains than actual brutal slayings  the murders depicted in this film were done with lead pipes  afterall  .  br    br   i was enthralled with both halves of the movie  the first showing john holmes as a hopeless cash hungry drug addict  and the second half showing his side as a minor conspirator in a senseless bloodbath . the movie has excellent acting  even though dylan mcdemorant looks more than a bit out of place in his biker  esque personia and goatee  ed bad boy personality .  br    br   the soundtrack was also awesome  a fantastic mix of    s b  side rock and obscure pop  spread out over a couple of hours in all the right places ala boogie nights .  
how this film gains a  .  rating is beyond belief . it deserves nothing better than a  .  and clearly should rank among imdb  s worst    films of all time . national treasure is an affront to the national intelligence and just yet another assault made on american audiences by hollywood . critics told of plot holes you could drive a   wheeler through .  br    br   i love the justifications for this movie being good . . .  nicholas cage is cute .  come on people  no wonder people around the world think americans are stupid . this has to be the most stupid  insulting movie i have ever seen . if you wanted to see an actually decent film this season  consider kinsey  the woodsman  million dollar baby or sideways . national treasure unfortunately got a lot more publicity than those terrific films . i bet most of you reading this haven  t even heard of them  since some haven  t been widely released yet .  br    br   nicholas cage is a terrific actor  when he is in the right movies . time after time i  ve seen cage waste his terrific talent in awful mind  numbing films like con air  the rock and face  off . when his talent is put to good use like in charlie kaufman  s adaptation he is an incredible actor .  br    br   bottom line  i  d rather feed my hand to a wood chipper than be subjected to this visual atrocity again .  
john holmes is so famous  he  s infamous  as the three amigos would say  . this is a rashomon  like story about the events surrounding the wonderland murders of the early      s  in los angeles . the story is pieced together from the retelling of a few of the participants . there is story from the friend  s perspective  namely david lind  played by dylan mcdermott  . he is a participant in the robbery assault at eddie nash  s place  eddie nash is a infamous drug dealer  and is the suppose to be the same character alfred molina played in boogie nights  and is heavily into the drug scene . there is john holmes  perspective  played by val kilmer   which makes him out to be a pawn stuck between two kings  with a severe case of cocaine cravings  . there is also the patchwork recollections of john  s wife  sharon  played by lisa kudrow  and his girlfriend  dawn  played by kate bosworth  that fill in the spaces between the two stories . it is basically the same time frame that we are looking at  just each character  s version . the only thing that is missing is the perspective from the dead people .  br    br   paul thomas anderson  s boogie nights portrays john holmes as a slightly heroic character  with a tragic yet comedic karma . he is a caricature of a real person . he was more of less  a mixed up kid that got what he got through his  large  endowment . director james cox turns the comedy off and makes this episode in john  s life into a nightmare for all of us watching . the details of the real life murders make this movie even more eerie .  br    br   val kilmer took what he learned of jim morrison  from the doors  enhanced the performance for the salton sea  and then further enhanced that to bring us the deterioration of john holmes through cocaine . all of the actors pull off very realistic looking portrayal  s of cocaine junkies . josh lucas  performance stands out as one of the best in the movie . he plays ron launius  i think this character is suppose to be the same as the thomas jane character from boogie nights  . ron was the leader of the gang  loved having john holmes around as a novelty and had a cocaine craving like sharks enjoy blood . the cocaine use seems so realistic as to make one think . did they really use splenda    br    br   where boogie nights has a bubblegum pop feel to it  lots of color and    s nostalgia   wonderland is dark . the action is fast and furious  with a lot of jumps . it is twitchy and grainy . there is no comedy  just a never ending pace  as if the director is trying to put us into the nervous  fast paced  edgy cocaine high to make us feel what the characters are feeling . this is a graphic movie . it has one of the most intensely violent scenes i have ever seen in a movie . it actually shows the murders themselves  through the eyes of john holmes at first and then from a third person perspective  . it is so graphic  it looks like police evidence of a crime . i had to pause after this scene and remind myself this was just a movie . this movie is definitely not recommended for everyone . i recommend it as a good alternative to boogie nights  for those interested in the other sides of john holmes .  br    br    celluloid rehab  
and so the great rewriting of history continues hollywood style .  br    br   this was senseless ridiculous rubbish .  br    br   its shocks me that such an amazing amount of money can be spent to produce what is the most contrived  poorly acted inaccurate film i have ever seen . it is appalling .  br    br   nic cage  s brief flirtation with serious acting appears to be over . i can only assume that leaving las vegas was a glitch in an otherwise litany of dreadful films .  br    br   diane kruger proves that her performance in troy was no fluke  she really can  t act .  br    br   harvey keitel should be ashamed of himself for working on such tripe .  br    br   only recommended for those either recovering from a recent lobotomy or people of an opinion that america invented the world .  
i didn  t expect val kilmer to make a convincing john holmes  but i found myself forgetting that it wasn  t the porn legend himself . in fact  the entire cast turned in amazing performances in this vastly under  rated movie .  br    br   as some have mentioned earlier  seek out the two  disc set and watch the  wadd  documentary first it will give you a lot of background on the story which will be helpful in appreciating the movie .  br    br   some people seem unhappy about the lapd crime scene video being included on the dvd . there are a number of reasons that it might have been included  one of which is that john holmes  trial for the murders was the first ever in the united states where such footage was used by the prosecution . if you don  t want to see it  it  s easy to avoid it  s clearly identified as  lapd crime scene footage  on the menu   
what a disappointment  i hated the mummy but this one was even worse  it was very tiring and unbelievable and at a certain point i found myself sighing and yawning all the time . i can  t believe that people actually liked this movie . the role of nicholas cage wasn  t very convincing . the whole movie felt like a grand tour around america  s most wanted buildings . the never stopping flow of hints and combinations wasn  t very convincing either . i stopped paying attention around   minutes . what was supposed to be a happy night out became a total disappointment . what a drag . . . i guess i  ve just seen too many movies to enjoy national treasure .  
i  m a fan of crash and blade runner and this movie explores some of those highway death and   s film noir themes that i like to see  so i enjoyed it .  br    br   in general though  the essential stupidity of the film noir protagonist is not pulled off well by the female lead and her hero is nearly a neanderthal  hence the kitch warning .  
everyone in a while  disney makes one of thoes movies that surprises everyone . one that keeps you wondering until the very end . in the tradition of pirates of the caribbean  this movie is sure to turn into a ghost  and kill and rape your village . it  s terrible . if you want a mindless  senseless  predictable  action  movie  go right ahead . i believe that young kids might enjoy this  as they like it when good always wins . but me  i like movies where it  s a toss up who  s going to win . this movie never lets the bad guys have the upper hand . by the end  when th heroes are left in an  inescapeable  pit  you just know that they can get out . everything works out perfect for cage and his friends  he never has to think over a riddle or clue for more than   seconds  no matter how complex it is . see this movie if you want to see some impressive set designs  not if you want to see good acting  or a good film . go watch a superman movie  it would be much shorter  and the kids would like it more . for instance  the scene where cage is fleeing from armed gunmen  and the bullets are all deflected by a the railing of a fire escape .  and i  m not talking about a fence or anything  just one little pole  this movie shows the decay of films and the film industry to cheap gags and dull  unrealistic action  which this movie provides in huge quantities .  
to be fair  i expected car chases in this film . there was only really one  but apart from that   freeway  was a great movie which i am glad to own on dvd . the only really big names in the cast are homicide  s richard belzer as the radio psychiatrist and b  movie villain par  excellance billy drago as the revelation  quoting freeway killer . but the rest of the cast generally give good performances . i especially liked how darlanne fluegel gave her character  sunny  a bit of guts . she could have been a helpless victim character but she is fully rounded as she seeks out drago with the help of bounty hunter james russo .  br    br   russo  i  m afraid  comes across as rather wooden  but then again  the character he plays  frank  isn  t very well fleshed out save for a back story sunny is given by his former commanding officer . the tone of menace is kept up superbly throughout the film and the atmosphere of the lonely la freeway at night with the killer prowling its  length in his sinister grey sedan is an excellent way of building tension  and the music used to underscore the film is suitably composed . i don  t know why there are some people who hate this movie so . different strokes for different folks  i suppose . but i absolutely enjoyed  freeway  and i can strongly recommend it .  
having read some good reviews about this film i thought it was about time i go and see it . well i don  t know why i bothered . basically this family is entrusted with a clue that leads to a whole big stash of ancient treasure  hidden by the knights templar during the war of independence . apparently it had to be kept out of the hands of the british at all costs . firstly  why did said knights move the treasure from europe to america  how did nic cages character figure out that  charlotte  was in fact a ship  how do they figure out all the clues and riddles in about a minute  and how could two people suddenly become master thieves and steal what is probably the best guarded bit of paper in the world  these are just some of the plot holes in this inane bit of hollywood action gone wrong . cage has been in some great action movies   face  off  and  the rock   so why has he lowered himself to this  is he getting too old   his character is pretty annoying really  somehow this  ordinary  guy steals the declaration of independancd  outruns thieves with guns  escapes from the fbi and generally seems invincible . the whole film doesn  t really make any sense and all in all it was quite a disappointment .  
a wonderful early musical film from rene clair  as fun and witty as his silent  the italian straw hat  . using sound in a expressive way and not just for dialogue and effects  clair influenced early musicals in america  the opera scene from a night at the opera is strongly influenced by le million  for example  . should  but won  t  be seen by all cinephiles  and the dvd from criterion is exactly as good as you  d expect . there  s not a ton of extras  but most dvd extras i  ve seen are useless fluff  and the clair interview on disc is one i hadn  t ever seen . get it while it  s still around .  
  national treasure        is a thoroughly misguided hodge  podge of plot entanglements that borrow from nearly every cloak and dagger government conspiracy clich that has ever been written . the film stars nicholas cage as benjamin franklin gates  how precious is that  i ask you    a seemingly normal fellow who  for no other reason than being of a lineage of like  minded misguided fortune hunters  decides to steal a  national treasure  that has been hidden by the united states founding fathers . after a bit of subtext and background that plays laughably  unintentionally  like indiana jones meets the patriot  the film degenerates into one misguided whimsy after another  attempting to create a  stanley goodspeed  regurgitation of nicholas cage and launch the whole convoluted mess forward with a series of high octane  but disconnected misadventures .  br    br   the relevancy and logic to having george washington and his motley crew of patriots burying a king  s ransom someplace on native soil  and then  going through the meticulous plan of leaving clues scattered throughout u . s . currency art work  is something that director jon turteltaub never quite gets around to explaining . couldn  t washington found better usage for such wealth during the start up of the country  hence  we are left with a mystery built on top of an enigma that is already on shaky ground by the time ben appoints himself the new custodian of this untold wealth . ben  s intentions are noble  if confusing . he  s set on protecting the treasure . for who and when  your guess is as good as mine .  br    br   but there are a few problems with ben  s crusade . first up  his friend  ian holmes  sean bean  decides that he can  t wait for ben to make up his mind about stealing the declaration of independence from the national archives  oh  yeah  brilliant idea   . presumably  the back of that famous document holds the secret answer to the ultimate fortune . so ian tries to kill ben . the assassination attempt is  of course  unsuccessful  if overly melodramatic . it also affords ben the opportunity to pick up  and pick on  the very sultry curator of the archives  abigail chase  diane kruger  . she thinks ben is clearly a nut  at least at the beginning . but true to action  romance form  abby  s resolve melts quicker than you can say   is that the hope diamond   the film moves into full x  file  ish mode  as the fbi  mistakenly believing that ben is behind the theft  retaliate in various benign ways that lead to a multi  layering of action sequences reminiscent of mission impossible meets the fugitive . honestly  don  t those guys ever get  intelligence  information that is correct  in the final analysis   national treasure  isn  t great film making  so much as it  s a patchwork rehash of tired old bits from other movies  woven together from scraps  the likes of which would make il  betsy ross blush .  br    br   the buena vista dvd delivers a far more generous treatment than this film is deserving of . the anamorphic widescreen picture exhibits a very smooth and finely detailed image with very rich colors  natural flesh tones  solid blacks and clean whites . the stylized image is also free of blemishes and digital enhancements . the audio is  .  and delivers a nice sonic boom to your side and rear speakers with intensity and realism . extras include a host of promotional junket material that is rather deep and over the top in its explanation of how and why this film was made . if only  as an audience  we had had more clarification as to why ben and co . were chasing after an illusive treasure  this might have been one good flick . extras conclude with the theatrical trailer  audio commentary and deleted scenes . not for the faint  hearted  just the thick  headed .  
had this movie been made just a few years later  i would have knocked down the score a point or two because the sound quality was rather poor . at times  the movie appeared to be a silent film during the in  between  scenes  normal ambient sounds are missing  . but  given it was     and a french movie  this is quite forgivable . especially since this also occurs in later french films   by which time the sound difficulties should have been worked out completely  such as in l  atalante from      .  br    br   okay  apart from some minor sound problems  this is a cute little film about a missing winning lottery ticket and a long list of people trying to get it . and  during the search there are lots of jaunty little songs that you can  t help but like . a nice charming film all  in  all .  
this movie is like the thousand  cat and mouse  movies that preceded it .  the following may look like a spoiler  but it really just describes a large class of movies  there is the passionate  wise main character  his goofy but well  meaning sidekick with his ill  placed attempts at humorous comments  the initially  hostile but soon softened gorgeous lady who triggers the inevitable  unlikely  love story  the loved ones taken hostage  and of course the careless evil adversary with his brutal minions . everybody has seen tons of these movies already  and  national treasure  is like any one of them  with only a slightly modified wrapping . every turn of the story was easily predicted  and i can assure you i am not the sharpest tool in the shed  . i am quite tired of feeling tricked for money after exiting the theater from a hollywood movie  and if you have ever felt that way too  heed my warning stay miles away from this movie .  
if one would see a ren clair film with the kind of distracted semi  attention which is the rule in tv watching  one might be better off doing something different .  br    br   watching  le million  with all attention focused upon what takes place before eyes and ears will reveal a wealth of delightful details which keep this musical comedy going from the beginning to the end with its explosion of joy .  br    br   in the danish newspaper berlingske tidende a journalist once wrote  in my younger days i saw a film which made me feel like dancing all the way home from the cinema . this film is on tv tonight  see it    
i watched this movie last night on one of the pay  per  view channels  and while watching it i quickly wondered why i bothered . in all honesty i really did expect something more from this film . maybe something along the lines of  conspiracy theory  . why  maybe because of the casting . i mean  nicolas cage and harvey keitel  after all . not to mention jon voight and christopher plummer . now i  m wondering  why did they bother  but instead of an absorbing action cum mystery drama i was caught up in a pastiche of breakneck silliness a l  the goonies   which to my great surprise appears to have garnered some actual critical praise . perhaps it  s because  the goonies  was clearly targeted toward the pre  teen and teen audiences . whereas  national treasure   judging from the previews  was seriously intended to appeal to an adult audience .  br    br   suspension of disbelief is one thing . it  s how one can enjoy sci  fi and horror . but i found myself actually resisting the heaping tablespoons of paranoid and conspiracy  laden tripe being shoved at the audience . oh  the screenwriter threw around all the jargon intended to evoke a sense of serious engaged wonderment .  wow  the masons . the knights templars . you know  this could really be true   i think the writer really lost me when gates said the founding fathers hid the treasure to keep it out of the hands of the british  and just were did the knights templar come from  new jersey  oh  i forget . from france  which goes a long way to explain how it ended up in philadelphia during the revolution . it was brought there by agents of napoleon  anyway  you see what i  m getting at . the premise of the movie is interesting . and i really do think it could have succeeded as a serious mystery drama . but it just comes off as another kid flick in grown  up clothing . in the end i think it asks the audience not simply to suspend belief but to render itself willfully ignorant to an insulting degree .  br    br   i  ve just finished watching several items by werner herzog and istvan szabo . it  s a shock to switch from fine dining to hollywood big mac and fries .  br    br   okay  okay . if you pant over chases  explosions  and  gee  whiz  gimmickry you  ll enjoy  national treasure  . but it  s the sort of movie  well  have you ever stood outside a cinema waiting to get in while the previous audience comes out  and all the young kids are talking excitedly among themselves and saying things like   wow  did you see how that thing blew up  that was so cool    national treasure  is that kind of movie .  
this is so exciting  after i saw  la roue  this afternoon  a short  light  hearted little movie  i consider this one a real treat  this is absolutely delightful and one of the most charming pictures i saw this year . it is the more amazing since it is an early talkie and puts some great pictures of the    s to shame due to its innovative use of sound in cinema . it  s simply filled with music and an adorable mood that  s really upbeat and  bottom line  it made me happy  obviously it wouldn  t be so difficult to retrieve the lottery ticket the male lead was looking for  but the pace is so exhilarating and the movie is so spectacularly entertaining that i didn  t even think of it twice . the comedy is many times hilarious and i think it is even superior to the marx brothers  possibly the biggest comedic force of the time . this is rather perfect .  
people like me will tear this movie apart . it  s just not realistic . the plot is sooooooo predictable . you can anticipate everything that happens convientantly of course  they find the treasure and become filthy rich  and trick the bad guy . we  ve seen it a million times before . the writers of this movie must think that the majority of the movie going public is stupid . they must be right because the majority of people actually liked this film . i mean solving riddles in a matter of seconds . the secret treasure room hidden under the manhattan subway  you  d think with all the work that  s gone on in new york underground that room would have been discovered before . and all that was constructed during the civil war  please and the love story between ben and abigail   how cute  and i thought the romance in clive cussler novels was weak . they just fall in love like that  in  seconds whatever i  d be more concerned with saving my own ass then getting some . the hell with the girl and the stupid piece of paper .     garbage  
made in      this foreign film should be seen and enjoyed more often .  br    br   we open on a quiet little french village  scanning the roofs of the sleeping citizens . then we hear something that sounds like a party . upon investigating the uproar  two neighboring men are told the story of two men  supposedly friends  who picked two numbers for the lottery .  br    br   our star of the picture has his number and his friend his . when he asks his friend  would he share half of the dough  should his ticket be the winning number  his friend promptly says no . in fact  h . e . double hockey sticks no  is the way he acts about it .  br    br   so when our man discovers he has the winning ticket and that it has been lost  through no fault of his own  he is frantic . everyone is out for themselves  looking for this ticket  in something like a precursor to  the great race .  even though this is all a flashback  i was in knots the whole time and got so upset over every little thing in this all  for  me show  me  the  money cash  in  the  bank film . watch le million today   
nick cage is gates  a treasure hunter  oh  excuse me . . . treasure  protector   whatever that means  who is descended from a long line of treasure hunters . one of his ancestors had been given a clue to the whereabouts of a huge treasure that our founding fathers  most if not all freemasons  had decided to hide because they just didn  t want to finance their independence all that badly .  br    br   the first clue turns out to be in a long  lost ship hidden in the arctic . gates and his crew  consisting of financier ian  sean bean   movie dork riley  justin bartha of the immortal  gigli   and a couple of faceless lackeys  enter the cargo hold of the ship . they immediately spill out tons of gunpowder all over the floor  not that this is significant in any way . at last they find the clue  a skeleton is hovering over it  and it turns out to be a pipe with writing . . . on it . sort of . don  t ask me to explain .  br    br   it  s a riddle  and despite the fact that his expedition is clearly miffed at not finding the actual treasure  gates wanders around yammering to himself about the meaning of the riddle  in this frozen cargo hold  while the crew just stands around slack  jawed . i mean  come on . someone should have been a little vocal in their disappointment of coming all the way to the freaking arctic and not finding anything interesting  but they just stand there as gates enters his own world  solving the riddle .  br    br   the next clue turns out to be on the declaration of independence . ian decides to steal it . gates is appalled . various characters deliver gratingly obvious exposition  get used to it  . all this leads to ian  s lackey pulling a gun on gates  and the gunpowder going off in a big explosion .  oh  that  s why they spilled all the gunpowder  huh    ian and his henchmen make their escape  and gates and movie dork riley walk nine miles in subzero temperatures to an inuit village in order to stop them .  br    br   to stop them  gates concludes after trying the fbi and super archivist abigail chase  diane kruger   gates and riley must steal it themselves . riley then tells gates in excruciating detail why they can not steal the declaration  because it  s so protected with metal and laser eyes and high tech security blah blah . gates then tells riley that there  s an opportunity to steal it from the preservation room . does riley know what the preservation room is  gates asks   a place where they make jams and jellies   i am not kidding that  s the actual line . bartha doesn  t deliver it like a joke  either . so riley does all this research about the library of congress and the archives and water and sewage  fercryinoutloud  but doesn  t know what the preservation room is . this pretty much indicates what level this script is on .  br    br   to make the rest of this short  gates does in fact make off with the d of i  in a ridiculous break  in that could only happen in a movie .  i also hate the way they depict computer monitor technology in movies   full of improbable and impractical graphics and fonts .  abigail chase ends up tagging along for convenience  s sake  and as an obvious  love interest  angle . at one point  the three of them  on the run from the law  discuss all their plans really loudly in a clothing store  surrounded by people .  br    br   a series of clues and the kidnapping of gates  father  played by a dyspeptic jon voight  leads good guys and bad guys alike to a huge indiana jones fun  house located underneath new york city . odd that the subway builders never found this thing . gates and gates senior lead ian off on a wild goose chase . ian believes they  re trapped in a cul  de  sac and leaves them there . however  after they  re gone  riley asks how they  re going to get out . gates . . .  br    br   . . . oh boy . . .  br    br   . . . presses a button and a door opens . no  i  m serious . a button  like they might have on a vacu  flush lavatory in an office building . good thing he knew where that was . anyway  after some more knob  twiddling  they find this immense treasure room  remember  this is all underneath manhattan   full of all sorts of historyish golden things . riley gets to deliver a really stupid line . again . and fbi officer harvey keitel forgives them  arrests sean bean  and allows the two chemistry  less leads to get married .  br    br   for any viewer  i think it would be hard to ignore all the exposition  the leaps of logic  and the stereotyped characters for very long . though some of its exposition involves nice history lessons inserted into conversation at random moments . i  d like more conversations like that in my life .  
embarrassingly  i just watched this movie for the first time    years after its release . it  s a story that any father or brother can relate to . . . one brother is a bit  wild   the other brother is the typical older child . craig sheffer is a little too unemotional as the oldest brother  but pitt is amazing  and skerritt is perfectly cast as the father . the fishing scenes that were filmed in montana are absolutely breathtaking . . . i had no idea that fly fishing could be so attractive . the movie closely follows the book  with only a few modifications to make it more appropriate for a movie format . unlike most book to movie stories  this one measures up . it  s a perfect movie for anyone who wants a quiet night with a powerful and somewhat emotional movie .  
john carpenter  s career is over if this sad excuse for a movie is any indication . his excuse is that he only produced it . jon bon jovi looks like a girl . in fact  bon jovi and the two vampire girls  natasha wagner and arly jover probably all fit in the same clothes . in short  it was hard to tell which one was cuter in an anorexic ramp  model sort of way . bon jovi has the most charisma . at least he looks happy when he is smiling . the two vampire girls on the other hand are all cramps and complaints . at one point they are about to give each other a wet kiss  but stop . amazing how each vampire movie has some set of morays for the respective vampires . at one point  arly jover is providing fellatio to a very dumb vampire hunter and then she sucks his blood while doing the sex act . it would have been an erotic moment except that it was filmed like a total goof  and the male actor looked mildly amused as he watched arly jover move her head to mimic something that was very obviously not happening . as far as gore is concerned  a few heads are ripped off  and the blood spurts profusely . these scenes have so little suspense or build  up that when they happen it is almost funny  and there is no  horror  pay  off from the scene . all you get as a member of the audience is a feeling of  wow  that sure was a lot of red paint splattering on the walls . i wonder who has to clean it up .  throughout the movie  these vampire hunters who are obviously trying to kill arly jover  the top vampire in the world    keep reaching out to her . at one point  bon jovi goes into the abandoned church and after he just shot her with an arrow  and has done so on other occasions   he says  i am not trying to hurt you . i just want to talk to you . i want to get to know you .  huh   of course  the dumb vampire arly jumps out to say hello and bon jovi sticks her again with another impaling device .  why can  t we be friends  the     s hit song by war should have been the theme song for this movie . aside from all of the other silly moments  there is a transfusion sequence when natasha wagner has all her vampire blood removed  and the town people all line up to donate blood for her transfusion . i guess blood type is not important  anyhow  all her vampire blood is removed . bon jovi then decides that if that blood is transfused into him  he can beat arly by becoming a vampire also . of course  as the vampire blood is transfused into him  none of his healthy blood is removed . so apparently bon jovi is walking around with twice as much blood as any human can have in his body . and just like the first vampires  this one also has the vampires  bursting  into  flames special effect .  
rene clair  s groundbreaking musical . if you want to see where songs first drove a story this is the place . this is the story of a starving young artist who finds he  s won the lottery just as his creditors come calling . unfortunately his ticket is in his coat  which is in his girlfriends apartment and has been given to an on the run convict who then . . . oh but that would be telling .  br    br   this is a light and frothy story where much of the dialog is sung  most people think this didn  t happen until oklahoma or andrew lloyd webber  . its the sort of movie that they don  t make any more  and rarely did when they did . its sound a film from the early days that plays like a movie from five or six years later . clair moves his camera around in ways that not even busby berkeley was doing  though to be honest comparing the two film makers is unfair since berkeley was doing essentially stage bound dance numbers and clair was moving the camera through  the real world   . its an amazing little movie . and its a charming movie that will just make you smile . its just a fluffy piece of enjoyment .  br    br   i  m sorry i can  t say more . its just a nice little movie and thats really all you need to know .  
well it looked good on paper  nick cage and jerry buckheimer collaborate again  this time on a mix of heist movie  da vinci code  american history    and indiana jones . but oh dear  this is to indiana jones what speed  is to speed . a reasonable cast  including john voight and harvey keitel  battles against a puerile script and loses badly . the film is little more than an extended advert for the freemasons . however these freemasons are not your usual shopkeepers who use funny handshakes and play golf  these freemasons are the natural descendants of the knights templar  and nobody mention  from hell  or jack the ripper .  i don  t think i  ve revealed any plot spoilers because there are none . there is virtually no suspense  no surprises and no climax  it just stops . national treasure aims for dan brown but hits the same intellectual level as an episode of scooby doo sans the humour .  
in le million  rene clair  one of the cinema  s great directors and great pioneers  created a gem of light comedy which for all its lightness is a groundbreaking and technically brilliant film which clearly influenced subsequent film  makers such as the marx brothers  lubitsch  and mamoulian . the plot  a witty story of a poor artist who wins a huge lottery jackpot but has to search frantically all over town for the missing ticket  is basically just a device to support a series of wonderfully witty comic scenes enacted in a dream world of the director  s imagination .  br    br   one of the most impressive things about this film is that  though it is set in the middle of paris and includes nothing actually impossible  it achieves a sustained and involving fairy  tale  fantasy atmosphere  in which it seems quite natural that people sing as much as they talk  or that a tussle over a stolen jacket should take on the form of a football game . another memorable element is that le million includes what may be the funniest opera ever put on film  o that blonde  braided soprano   i laugh  ha  ha    also a delight is the casting clair has assembled a group of amazing  sharply different character actors  each of them illustrating with deadly satiric accuracy a bourgeois french  type   so that the film seems like a set of daumier prints come to life .  br    br   the hilarity takes a little while to get rolling  and i found the characters not as emotionally engaging as they can be even in a light comedy  as they are  for instance  in many lubitsch films .  for these reasons i refrained from giving it the highest rating . but these minor cavils shouldn  t distract from an enthusiastic recommendation .  br    br   should you see it  by all means . highly recommended whether you want a classic and influential work of cinema or just a fun comedy .  
national treasure is about as over  rated and over  hyped as they come . nicholas cage is in no way a believable action hero  and this film is no  indiana jones  . people who have compared this movie to the indian jones classic trilogy have seriously fallen off their rocker .  br    br   i can  t really figure out what kind of target audience this film was shooting for . maybe the pre  teen audience will like it  but i found it to be absolutely ludicrous . i also can  t imagine adults or young adults to find this to be that great of a film . simply put it  s just ok at best .  br    br   national treasure is unimagined and uninspired  borrowing what it does have from  the da vinci code  . i would recommend waiting for that movie to be released in      and passing on this nonsense .  br    br   the whole idea of being able to so easily steal the declaration of independence and run around all over washington dc and philadelphia with it  while never damaging it once   while fighting the  bad guys  and experiencing what is supposed to be  non  stop action  is absurd . i particularly loved the scene with the declaration folded in its tube laying in the middle of a busy road while cars whiz by it without damaging it . oh brother   br    br   reminded me of that episode of the  brady bunch  where they go to the amusement park and mr . brady loses his architectural plans . except  that episode of the brady bunch was much better than this whole film   br    br   the idea of such huge treasure that nobody believes exists being buried within a secret ruin of the us is outlandish . literally  there are thousand of undiscovered  priceless  items in this treasure trove . yeah right   ridiculous    br    br   even worse  the speed and accuracy of which cage finds and figures out what are supposed to be  tough  clues to these ancient riddles are pre  posterous    oh . . the humanity   br    br   the performances by cage  voight  and the other actors in  national treasure  are as stiff  wooden  and flat as they come . however  when you  re working with such lousy dialogue  it  s hard to fault the actor  s     for that .  br    br   national treasure is an ok film to see once . i can  t recommend it beyond that and would definitely not purchase this over the top  outlandish scavenger hunt of a mess .  br    br   rent it if you must see it first . . . . . . .  
this is one irresistible great cheerful  and technically greatly made movie   br    br   the movie features some of the greatest looking sets you  ll ever see in a     s movie  even though it  s all too obvious that they are sets  rather than real place locations . often if a character would fall or shake a doorpost too aggressive  the entire set would obviously move .  br    br   the best moments of the movie were the silent  more old fashioned  slapstick kind of moments . it shows that ren clair  s true heart was at silent movie  making . the overall humor is really great in this movie . also of course the musical moments were more than great . this is a really enjoyable light and simple pleasant early french musical . though the best moments are the silent moments  that does not mean that the movie is not filled with some great humorous dialog  that gets very well delivered by the main actors  who all seemed like stage actors to me  which in this case worked extremely well for the movie its overall style and pleasant no  worries atmosphere . no wonder this worked out so well  since this movie is actually based on stage play by georges berr .  br    br   it  s a technical really great movie  with also some great innovation camera  work in it and some really great editing  that create some fast going and pleasant to watch enjoyable sequences . there is never a dull moment in this movie   br    br   ren clair was such a clever director  who knew how to build up and plan comical moments within in movies . it  s a very creative made movie  that despite its simplicity still at all times feel as a totally original and cleverly constructed movie  that never seizes to entertain .  br    br   the last half hour is especially unforgettably fun  without spoiling too much  and is really among the greatest  as well as most creative moments in early comedy film  making .  br    br   the movie is filled with some really enjoyable characters  who are of course all very stereotypical and silly and were obviously cast because of their looks . it all adds to the pleasant light comical atmosphere and cuteness of the movie .  br    br   one of the most pleasant movies you  ll ever see   br    br        
after sitting through this pile of dung  my husband and i wondered whether it was actually the product of an experiment to see whether a computer program could produce a movie . it was that listless and formulaic . but the u . s . propaganda thrown in your face throughout the film proves   disappointingly   that it  s the work of humans . call me a conspiracy theorist  but quotes like   we have to steal the declaration of independence to protect it  seem like ways to justify actions like the invasion of iraq  etc . the fact that nicholas cage spews lines like   i would never use the declaration of independence as a bargaining chip  with a straight face made me and my husband wonder whether the entire cast took valium before shooting each scene . the  reasoning  behind each plot turn and new  clue  is truly ridiculous and impossible to follow . and there  s also a bonus side plot of misogyny  with dr . whatever  her  name  was being chided by all involved for  never shutting up .  she  s clearly in the movie only for looks  but they felt the need to slap a  dr .  title on her character to give her some gravity . at one point  cage  s character says   don  t you ever shut up   and the camera pans to her looking poutily down at her hands  like she  s a child . truly grotesque . the only benefit to this movie was that it  s so astonishingly bad  you do get a few laughs out of it . the really scary thing is that a majority of the people watching the movie with us seemed to enjoy it . creepy . . . .  
i have lately got into the habit of purchasing any interesting dvd that the criterion company releases . i figure that even if i dislike the movie  criterion usually supplies enough extra material to compensate for any shortcomings in the actual film . i read up on them  and i buy the ones which are the most interesting to me .  br    br   le million is my latest purchase  and i must say that i was not disappointed in the film . it is cheery  funny  and romantic . everything about it is quite excellent . the songs are wonderful . if i understood french  i would probably hum them and sing them all day long . the acting is very good for this kind of movie . american musicals of the classic hollywood era relied more on song and dance than the actual characters and story  but in le million  the characters are rather well developed and the story  while not being anything extremely impressive  is not at all lacking . i loved the developments of the relationships  especially the relationship between the once best friends michel and prosper . the romantic moments are also very well developed . the direction is nearly perfect  with several very memorable moments . probably the single most perfect scene of the film occurs right after the lead couple has an argument . they hide on the stage of an opera performance  and the opera singers sing lines which the couple  michel and beatrice  interpret to their own situation . this is definitely one of the high points in cinema history . the scene managed to make me laugh  to win me over with a very sweet romance  and make me smirk at just how clever the director was . i give this film a     .  br    br   p . s .  some information for anyone who has the same faith in criterion that i do and is planning to buy it . amongst the criterion discs i now own  le million contains the fewest features . all it has is a photo gallery  not all that useful one might flip through it once  and a rare television interview with rene clair  the director . this piece is of some interest . he was one of the many directors who had started out in silent film  and when talkies were first appearing  he said that they represented the death of film . i think most film  savvy people understand what these directors meant when they said that  but it is interesting to hear him explain it . also  if you have read the description of this movie on amazon . com  please note that they were wrong in one important respect not every line in the film is sung . in fact  it contains no more songs than a regular musical . it is actually a lot more like a chaplin or buster keaton or marx brothers film . my criticisms of the disc are not that important . heck  criterion has the right to smack me around for making those complaints . the fact is  their people probably spent hundreds of hours fixing up a film which only    now     people have voted for on imdb  and only about a hundred people  if that  will ever see the film . heck  if you look at the criterion web site  le million is nowhere to be found . i have no clue why not . it  s something they should really be proud of  of course  their web site is surprisingly horrible  . they did a fine job on this film . bravo  they deserve all the money i can stand to give them   
there  s nothing worse than renting an asian movie and getting an american movie experience instead .  br    br   it  s only my opinion  but a good thriller is dependent upon the establishment of likable  intelligent characters . as far as likability is concerned  the protagonists in say yes are a quaint married couple . nicely done . unfortunately  they are stupid beyond belief . let us count the ways they mishandle being terrorized by a stalker .  br    br    . after a hitchhiker threatens to kill you  be sure to tell him what hotel you  re staying at when you drop him off .  br    br    . beat the hell out of the stalker in broad daylight and in front of dozens of witnesses  thereby allowing him to press charges of assault .  br    br    . don  t bother telling the police about the stalker and simply assume  for no apparently good reason  that the cops were bribed by him .  br    br    . while trying to escape  let your lady out of your sight as much as possible to ensure that the stalker kidnaps her .  br    br    . after getting help from someone to find the stalker after kidnapping your wife  be sure to send them away as soon as possible so you can face him one  on  one . no point in being unfair  right   br    br   now  i  d never expect that any person would be immune to making a few mistakes under these stressful conditions  but the characters in say yes are so dense and make so many unbelievable mistakes that it  s effectively impossible for the viewer to care about their safety  since they are victims of their own doing . this kills the enjoyability of the entire film .  br    br   in case you were wondering  the scriptwriters didn  t stop with dim  witted characters . since they themselves are surely dim  witted for writing this crapfest  they decided to make situations so absurdly unrealistic that all sense of reality goes out the window .  br    br    . the stalker kills a cop inside a police station  while the protagonist is asleep no more than ten feet away .  br    br    . the stalker engages in all sorts of dubious activities in broad daylight and around tons of people  yet no one other than the married couple seems to notice his odd behavior .  br    br    . the stalker survives an absurd amount of violence that would have killed any human being .  br    br    . the  suspense  scenes had no imagination whatsoever . in fact  some scenes were direct rip  offs from american movies .  br    br   the only positive is the decapitation near the end  which was a pretty brutal scene since it was inflicted upon the wife . it  s too bad the filmmakers followed it up with an outrageously stupid ending that comes out of left field .  br    br   truly  the koreans behind the making of say yes should be ashamed of themselves . better yet  they should just move to california and take employment with people who make movies with a similar disregard for quality and intelligence .  
i was so excited to see this film because i had always heard it was very scary .  br    br   what  s interesting about it is that it is a japanese film they decided to bring to america  but they actually filmed it in japan with the original crew  i think this made the film . . . more japanese  which is probably why it managed to be fairly successful unlike most japan  to  america horror movie flops  but it also made it a bit inaccessible to american audiences . the difference in what scares the japanese culture and what scares the american culture felt present throughout the film . this worked well in moments when they meant to capture the nervous fear of the main character a frightened fish in a big  busy  unfamiliar  tokyo pond .  br    br   the storyline was quite confusing as well . in typical japanese fashion it is extremely complicated and confusing . the beginning of the movie is actually the middle of the story and from there we move constantly forwards and backwards until  at the end of the film  we see the ending and beginning of the whole story . this constant flipping through time was very much confusing for me . also  i didn  t think some things were explained so well and i had to ask my friend to explain them to me  she had already seen it  as well as the sequel which apparently reveals more of the story  .  br    br   overall  there is plenty for american audiences to love  tons of freaky imagery and macabre details which a healthy splash of jump scenes .  
i have seen many good korean movies including thrillers and movies with darker overtone  but this one sucks . the director seems to be a sadist  who happened to get someone to produce some junk . the movie lacks any sort of entertainment value and is not even a thriller . i can  t believe someone really made such a movie . even though acting is ok  the story line and the feeling it leaves is awful .  br    br   i am sure  i am not going to see any movies of this director . no sense of movie making  and utter disappointment in having thriller moments . all this has is showing scenes with psychopath wasting the reels with badly shot scenes and showing more blood and violence thinking that makes it thrilling . very disappointing movie and i strongly recommend skipping all the movies of this sort .  
karen goes into a japanese house as a substitute nurse to emma  a strange woman who sleeps at day and wakes at night . karen goes upstairs after hearing noises when she encounters a frightening ghost . she will learn the house  s secrets .  br    br   it is very scary  the scenes are shocking and frightening  the characters are good . the settings are creepy . i love the whole plot  the ending was shocking  i paused at a scene where the little boy meowed so loudly to the man finding his sister upstairs and i was shocked . this is the scariest movie i have watched . i did not see the japanese version . i recommend this to horror fans .      and  stars   
  say yes  is one of those flicks that you keep hoping is going to get better  but it never does . it  s the kind of  motiveless psychopath decides to menace an innocent couple  crapfest  so beloved of straight to video film  makers .  br    br   the dialogue is clunky and  in several places  poorly translated . the acting is uniformly poor  especially from the villain of the piece  played by joong  hoon park . he seems to think that by not blinking and trying to talk in a deep voice he is making his character seem threatening  when all it really does is make him seem a bit simple .  br    br   the plot deserves special mention  as it is idiotic beyond all belief . the  heroes  don  t think it overly strange that their hitchhiker threatens to kill them . the  heroine  twice manages to miss seeing the villain when he is no more than a foot away from her . the villain gets past a police checkpoint  while wearing a shirt covered in blood  and a bloody head bandage  by showing the cops a burnt corpse in the passenger seat of the car he is driving . the villain is punched  clubbed with a shovel and stuck through with a pitchfork  but never seems to be impeded by these  rather serious  injuries . and don  t even get me started on that terrible  twist  ending . sheesh .  br    br   the only plus point in this film  for me  is sang mi chu . who is very pretty  but really no more than a mediocre actress .  br    br   overall  this film comes off like a poorly written  flaccidly acted and shockingly directed attempt to copy  the hitcher  and  spoorloos   but it fails at every turn due to a lack of talent in everyone involved .  
haven  t seen any of the japanese grudge  films  but i really enjoy this one . i rarely get scared when watching films . i can jump  if the effect and sound is startling enough  but getting scared from a movie is a rare thing for me . but i did get scared from grudge . maybe because i didn  t expect anything at all when i watched it . i didn  t expect getting scared . i didn  t know anything about it either . that was probably a good thing .  br    br   this is a film that you  apparently  either love or hate . most people seem to compare it to the japanese grudge  films  but even though i haven  t seen them  i believe it isn  t right to compare any film  actually . this film stands on it its own .  br    br   the story is weak  most people say . i don  t agree . the story is minimalistic  and done so on purpose . the story  telling techniques used  the broken time frame for instance  is perfectly done . the director knows exactly what he  s doing  and i believe he got his vision through as he wanted it .  br    br   i gave this film  of   . it is a film you will enjoy watching  or hate . it  s as simple as that .  
this film is not deserved of the next few minutes i will spend criticizing it  but i know many people  like myself  rely on imdb . com to assist in deciding on films . for that reason alone  i am writing this .  br    br    live feed  is like an asian version of      s  the incredible torture show   aka  blood sucking freaks   http   www . imdb . com  title  tt         . torture  dismemberment  murder  cannibalism . . . sure  it  s all here along with a third  grade script  pathetic acting  and a perverted failure of an attempt at black comedy .  br    br   the film takes place in china  yet everyone speaks english . there is an abundance of girls in the film who are horrified by the butchering of dogs in a marketplace  yet are sexually excited about entering a porno parlor . one gal who is disgusted by the filth in a restroom stall moments later is still there having at it with her friends boyfriend  how he even got in there might be the only engaging thing about this whole film .  the film is absolutely awful  even for a b  movie . even if you were to download it for free  it would be an insult to your hard drive .  
omigosh  this is seriously the scariest movie i have ever  ever seen . to say that i love horror movies would be an understatement  and i have seen heaps  considering the limited availability in new zealand  that  s quite a lot   but never before have i had to sleep with the light on . . . until i saw the grudge .  br    br   some may say that it is a rip off of the ring  both based on japanese horror movies   both similar  yet different  story lines  but the grudge holds its own as a terrifying movie  seeing at at the cinema  i even screamed at a certain point in the movie .  br    br   the acting is great  particularly from the supporting characters  kadee strickland is fantastic and steals the show  she is such an enthusiastic person . jason behr is a real hottie  and william mapother looks like he is having fun . however  while i am normally a fan of clea duvall  s  she doesn  t really seem into this movie . of the supporting characters  hers probably got the most depth and back story  but she doesn  t seem like she is all there . as for sarah michelle gellar  well  she stays about the same through all her films and roles doesn  t she  the ghosts were genuinely scary  the music and sound effects were chilling  particularly the noise being made when kadee strickland  s character answered the phone in her apartment   the ending was cool too .  br    br   super highly recommended .      
whoa nelly  i  ve heard a ton of mixed reviews for this . . . but one of my go to hardcore horror reviewers really found it to be disappointing . man was he right on the nose  this movie was acted by pure amateurs . they had to have done one take  maybe two on each scene  the movie seemed soooo rushed . the script was also poor . . . . they had lines that tried to be unique but failed . miserably .  get your meathooks off of me   oh man  i hate it when movies try to do that . it happens all the time with comedies . . . but  with a horror movie and with below average actors . . . . the results are incredibly pathetic . the lines and scenarios were all very predictable . but what made me feel so negative towards this movie was  again  the damn acting . it was awful . besides by the little asian guy who worked the booth . i thought he was great .  br    br   the movie is about  stupid dumbsh  t tourist who are on a vacation in asia . they end up at the wrong place and fall into the hands of a mafia run sex  slaughterhouse . sounds like a cool story . but watching someone with a bad case of diarrhea is probably more fun and intense to watch . the only reason this is considered horror is because of the killing . there wasn  t a trace of suspense .  br    br   i like many other horror fans were dying to get their bloody little mitts on this . but unfortunately with a huge capital u  the movie was incredibly disappointing . i did enjoy the ankle break and the blood effects . the flabby chicks were also so so .  br    br   everything about this movie screams amateur . this is ryan nicholson  s first feature length  and for the most part he failed . there  s no denying he has a sick sense of humor and taste for horror . i pray his next movie doesn  t play out like another b horror flick . . . unless he tells us that  s what it  s gonna be . even after this disappointment i  m willing to give ryan another shot . from what i  ve seen of him  he  s a true  dedicated man to the genre . good luck next time  because this was bad news .  
i wanted to see sarah buffy on the big screen  so i first bought tickets and then checked the reviews at imdb . i worried about seeing a bad movie . well  i had fun watching the movie . some parts  which obviously were meant to be scary  were actually quite humoristic  almost as in buffy the vampire slayer .  br    br   i don  t consider this a bad movie . it  s not a great movie either . just a rather well made horror movie . it does not rely heavily on special effects  but on camera angles  acting  music . in my opinion  the acting was ok . sarah did a very good job  quite convincing . the other actors were definitely not bad either  i liked yoko .  br    br   the sets are nice  and i don  t care that the sets are the exact same ones that were used in the japanese original  .  br    br   the scary moments were often predictable . but not always . i have seen quite some horror  and did not expect to be scared now  but it happened at least twice . nice .  br    br   the movie had some nice scenes that were almost original  like the trails of rubbish  the simple special effects for he ghosts  the eyes of the boy  the cat that made eery noises  the gurgling of the dead boy and his mother .  br    br   don  t go if you want to see sarah in another buffy episode  because it is very different from her buffy work  much more serious . don  t go if you only want to see movies that gather oscar nominations . it  s a good horror movie  enough suspense . i gave it a  .  
there was no characterization in this movie and really shows how much this talentless hack who directed this needs to learn his craft . all his characters in this movie were so unlikable and i could care less . the best point in this movie was the end credits and the hour long shower after this cause i felt so damn dirty that i wasted money on this stinking load . hey genius . . . . triads and yakuza are from two different places learn something about asian culture . the dog scene in this felt so tacked on and useless . this dvd does prove useful i do love my new coaster .  br    br   so kids don  t waste your cash on this crap buy hostel instead .  
as i  ve noticed with a lot of imdb comments  certain reviewers seem to demand that every film they see have smugly intelligent plots that wallow in there own cleverness . i am not one of those people . if i watch an action film  i want to see explosions  gunfire and heroics . if i watch a comedy  i want to have tears of laughter in my eyes . you get the idea . therefore watching a horror film  i primarily want to be scared . the grudge is a very scary film  in both it  s well executed  jump  scenes  and it  s creepy imagery . i  ve been a horror film fan for many years  and i  m talking about the masters such as dario argento  rather than directors of some of the treadmill teen horror flicks that are churned out these days . if you want to be scared  watch this film . way scarier than the original japanese  ring   which i also think is a great film  .  
this movie is a lot like the movie hostel  except with bad acting and not much suspense . the gore elements are there  but you don  t really feel anything for the characters  making the violence not very effective . some parts are just strange . . . like forcing a snake down someones throat . what  s up with that  is that supposed to be scary or gory  it  s just kind of stupid . as for torture  there really isn  t any  except for the guy getting blow  torched in the beginning  which they don  t show anyway  . the main bad guy keeps saying  make them die slowly   yet the butcher kills them all very fast . the deaths are all relatively quick . yes  i did watch the  unrated  version . so  overall  not the worst gore movie i  ve seen  but not at all good either . you won  t miss anything if you skip this one .  
in watching how the two brothers interact and feed off of each other through the whole movie makes me personally happy to live in the rural area much like they did in the movie . i have watched this movie countless times and have the book right beside my bible . after watching the movie i agree that this is one of the few movies that does a book justice . i strongly recommend anyone that has the chance to go to montana to fish or be outdoors to do so . it is amazing . i can not think of anyone else that could play the role better than brad pitt . do yourself justice and watch one of the better movies in the modern movie era . strongly recommend and as a guide for fishing trips in both montana and wyoming  do not try to learn how to fly fish from the scenes of the movie because although it looks great on the film you have no idea how much practice and skill fishing like that actually takes . thank you for listening watch this movie please if you would like a long sad movie .  
i only rented this because i loved the first movie . however  calling it john carpenters vampires los muertos is just a con trick to get you to rent it . he is in fact executive producer and clearly had nothing to do with the making of this film  jeepers creepers anyone    br    br   a tragic storyline  terrible special effects and jon bon jovi as the least convincing vampire hunter of all time . it  s not even comically bad .  br    br   what we end up with is a dull  uninvolving film with a terrible script and indefinsibly bad and clichd acting . it just reeks of low budget .  br    br   avoid like the bubonic plague .  
i saw  the grudge  yesterday  and wow . . . i was really scared  a good thing . i love horror  movies  and i really liked this one . there were so many  surprise   scenes  what  s the english word   that made you jump in your seat . though  too much screaming from the audience made it difficult not to laugh . i think the most scary scene was . . . on the bus  when the face flashes by on the window  or when yoko  s walking without her chin . the make  up is also very good . sometimes you could really see it was there  but it was still adding a freaky look to the scene . the boy was very good indeed  so cute without make  up and so terribly scary with it on . the next time i hear a cracking noise i will probably feel pretty scared . . .  
some gorehound  friends recommended  live feed  to me  and basically i can  t really complain as the film certainly does deliver copious amounts of gross smut and buckets full of sleaze  but it is of course not a very good film . more than obviously cashing in on the latest trend in horror cinema  the so  called torture porn  ryan nicholson tries to surpass every other film in this sub genre  and that includes the role models  hostel  and  saw   with its sick  twisted make  up effects and thoroughly depraved shots of naked co  eds tried up  suffering and begging for their lives . there  s no actual plot to describe . five utterly brainless twenty  something friends take a trip to asia . one of them has asian roots  but other than that i don  t really know why they opted to travel there instead of to cancun . they  re clearly not interested in the continents culture and even cause a hectic scene when they witness a local butchering a cute puppy dog on the market . the quintet subsequently dives into the lurid night life and one of them accidentally insults the leader of a criminal clan . a simply apology clearly doesn  t suffice  as the gangster follow them into an adult theater and gradually subject all of them to vicious torture . one girl has her breast impaled and another poor wench even has a poisonous snake shoved down her throat yikes .  live feed  is surprisingly boring despite of all the bloodshed and the amateurish production values are quite difficult to overlook  even if you  re used to watching independent fan  boy trash cinema like this . the fat bloke depicted on the cover  an oriental sm executioner  is admittedly quite cool and he  s also the most talented of the whole bunch  because he at least keeps his mouth shut the entire time . i wouldn  t exactly recommend this pile of filth  but hey  if you like loud  hideous metal music  nauseating torture footage and dim  witted losers  go right ahead and watch   
i  m not sure i understand where all these enthusiastically anti  grudge people are talking about here  perhaps it  s just that some people like to rant about things .  br    br   the movie was certainly imperfect  uneven acting  some may have had difficulties with the time  changes  actors all too willing to go places i  d really rather not go  etc .  but imho there were some things that more than made up for the imperfections .  br    br   first and foremost  i loved the  breaking of the rules  bit . normally when you leave the haunted house the baddies leave you alone  giving you time to regroup  get friends  and find the token mysterious paranormal type . normally  semi  spoiler alert  when you  re hiding under the covers they can only get you through that little opening you peek through . normally at the end the ghosts somehow have become less creepy because you  ve found out they  re just misunderstood  or they  ve been freed  or whatever .  br    br   secondly  the production was exceptional . while the movie was hardly special  effects  laden the supernatural bits while brief were extremely well done .  br    br   probably not the best sort of movie for those who think freddy and jason are the ultimate sort of horror  nothing against  em  they  ve got their place   but great for those who  ve begun to take the conventions for granted and who don  t have trouble with the time distortions .  
i wasn  t at all a fan of the     gore fest hit  hostel   and most of these lame ass knock  offs are just as bad or worse  yet  live feed  managed to keep me somewhat entertained for about the first   minutes . started off with plenty of sex and sleazy settings  followed by some good death scenes involving the chinese organized crime squad and a   foot  leather  aproned butcher . . . what put me out of the movie was the tough  hero  with the guns and a grudge saving the day . . . i would call this movie mediocre  at best  since a premise mainly involving obnoxious young people being slaughtered in a seedy porno theater  doubling as a hideout for the mafia  is appealing to me . if only the torture was prolonged enough to be thoroughly effective  then my rating would have differed greatly . unfortunately  most of the gruesomeness is heaped together in one scene  leaving the rest of the movie to conclude as a revenge  type scenario . so  basically  it is just a low  budget  hostel  rip  off with the redeeming use of gratuitous sex  almost constant during the first half of the film . . . overall  i would say don  t bother with this one .  
this was great . when i saw the japanese version first  it was probably the scariest movie i had ever seen . it was not blood and guts  it was eerie  atmospheric and terrifying . when the mother ghost lent over the bed in the japanese version  i nearly had a heart attack . . . i was concerned that the american version would be watered down  and that buffy would take away from the dark creepy nuances of the original version . i needn  t have been concerned . the makers of this movie wisely kept the same japanese people who were involved with the original movie on hand  and gave the direction of the movie to the same man . they also set it in japan in the same location  in the same house . in fact  the japanese director took pains to remake the same movie as it was in the original  the only difference was the casting of american actors . that actually turned into a benefit as it added the element of  strangers in a strange land  to the overall horror . not only were they being haunted by an absolutely terrifying and relentless ghost  but they were also stuck in a completely foreign land  having difficulty integrating into society . it just added to the overall anxiety built into the movie and i thought it was an excellent touch .  br    br   buffy actually does a very good job . she looks vulnerable and is able to convey her fear well . there are none of the smart aleck remarks that are so common to american horror movies  or one liners that detract from the overall darkness and horror of the characters  situation . in fact  it was easily as good as the ring which i also thoroughly enjoyed . i hope the future of american horror follows more closely the japanese new wave of horror started with the incredible success of ringu . we are finally getting movies that actually can be categorized as  horror         
first i  d like to excuse my bad english .  br    br   i  m not a hostel  hardcore  fan  but i liked that movie nevertheless . live feed  however  sucked big time  i have never seen a gore  movie with superb acting  but hey  who  s surprised  the acting in live feed was . . . well  not there  i  ve seen some commented this as it must have been a school project or something . okey  but not by students in media or acting school . this was no class at all  and what about the story  a really sad rip  off on hostel . and what about the gore  what about the psychopathic torture scenes that supposed to make your guts twist and leave you cold  sweating  that was the most disappointing about the hole movie  short  quick and no edge . more like an execution rather than a torture . okey  there where buckets of blood  but it didn  t even look real . the slaughtering and the violence reminded more of braindead than hostel or any of the saw  movies . and braindead was fun  okey  i laughed at live feed a couple of times  but that was more out of disappointment than out of sheer fun   br    br   so instead of wasting   minutes by watching live feed  watch anything else   
so  being a fairly deep fan of horror movies  it  s been a while since i  ve seen one that really made me jump  or fidget nervously .   br    br   definitely going to get this on dvd when it comes out . . . a hell of a lot better than the ring . the thing that i don  t get is that so many people that we talkd with after the movie thought that it was horrible  well  if that  s what you think  then so be it . . . i know what i liked and it takes a fair amount to get me to actually feel scared  so i have to say that this one is worth watching .  br    br   now  you might be disappointed in the story if you need everything in a neat and tidy line  because the plot goes back an forth a little bit to help build the story  i think that if it was shown in chronological order  it would have ruined the whole thing .   br    br   i  m actually glad that this movie had very little bloody messes in it . . . maybe the rest of you studio writers and whathaveyous will realize that you don  t have to splash the red stuff all over the set to make people afraid .  
anyone who has said that it  s better than hostel is talking complete crap  believe me i  m not a fan of hostel but this is just ridiculous . this is just another shot on camcorder  straight to dvd  low on ideas waste of your time  i can  t believe how many of these films there are and i  m yet to see a decent one . in the    s video nasties  gore and horror movies were made with no budget but a great story and a load of new ideas and most importantly the heart and soul of the director who had something to say . now they just seem to be pumped out in an attempt to trick people browsing in blockbuster to rent a copy  until people stop doing this then i guess these films will keep appearing . this film is so low on ideas it  s just amazing how it ever got made  the acting is also terrible  the location completely unconvincing and the soundtrack is so annoying it beggars belief . this waste of time has absolutely nothing going for it  unless you  re on a quest to compile a list of the worst movies of all time . my best  worst part of the film is when a female character is pointing a gun at someone and threatening to shoot them if they don  t back off  you can see that she isn  t even covering the trigger with her finger just holding the grip . an absolute joke .  
massive multiple chills down the spine  i  m surprised there  s people who didn  t like it  i saw it at   o  clock in the morning and still got scared stiff  and i  ve seen hundreds of thrillers  horror movies  for crying out loud  i  m      i mean  ok  voice acting  not particularly good  probably even b  movie  ish . but the genuine look of terror  the sound effects  the flow  from the very start  hitting you again and again with relentless  unforgiving  terrorising scenes  so many clichs yet none fails to surprise  scare  you know it  s coming  it  s coming  it  s coming  boo  and you still jump off the chair . grab a pillow and a blanket  call your closest friend over and do not watch it at night  hats off to the japanese   
i agree with the last reviewer that this movie had terrible acting . yes  there was a lot of gore and some nudity . but it was overshadowed by a slow  moving  meaningless plot and dumb ending . where was this supposed to be filmed anyway a canadian chinatown or hong kong  hostel was a much better movie and i would recommend seeing that instead . a technical annoyance i had with the dvd is that if you shut off the spanish subtitles  they return after a few scenes and then you have to go back to the main menu and turn them off again . also  don  t waste your time on the deleted scenes because there  s no audio and it just looks like tourist footage .  
this is what i wrote to some friends earlier  br    br   holy crap  the grudge is  honest to god  one of the scariest films i  ve ever seen  i am either getting very soft in my old age  or sam raimi and ghost pictures did a kick a job   can  t wait for boogeyman    br    br   i was very scared sitting in the dark theater and wished i had someone  anyone  sitting next to me  except the protagonist in grudge . i saw the movie by myself .  i swear  there were many many jump scenes that were not expected  i felt foolish but my nerves did not care  i was on edge the entire movie  from the opening credits  and the music was fantastically scary . i keep thinking of that sound  though  and i do not like it   br    br   i actually gasped aloud a few times  and cried   oh  at one scene   oh  yeah  i even half  covered my eyes a few times  word to the wise  though i thought some of the scenes were a little psychotic . my dh hated event horizon and thought whoever wrote it was sick and psycho  but i don  t remember the movie so can  t compare .  br    br   i can  t say i  enjoyed  this movie b  c i was terrified  but it was very very good and scary . the ending scene  too . . . whoa  for being a    year  old  mommy  i think i may have nightmares from this movie  especially because of that sound . please get out of my head    br    br   in summary  this is not a slasher flick like i grew up with  jason  freddy  . this is a most  of  the  time spooky movie . perfect for halloween .  br    br   two great trailers for this movie were boogeyman and the ring     
     gave us the very decent  gore porn  flick hostel  and     gave us live feed a not so decent rip  off of hostel . live feed follows pretty much the same formula as eli roth  s earlier film  except this time the dumb kids are in asia rather than central europe . the plot focuses on these dumb kids  and one of them has annoyed one of the locals so they find themselves in trouble . the locals decide to lock them all in a theatre  and kill them . despite the fact that i  d heard some less than favourable things about this film before seeing it  i still hoped that it might be at least half decent because director ryan nicholson previously made the very decent   minute rape and revenge film  torched   but this film falls down simply because most of it is either ridiculous or boring . the film is obviously trying to hark back to the good old days of grindhouse cinema  which hostel did  successfully   but it really doesn  t come off . surprisingly  considering nicholson  s previous work in special effects  not even the gore is impressive . . . although it is a lot better than the acting  there  s not much else i can say about this film . . . it  s bad and not in a good way . avoid it   
  the grudge  is a remake of shimizu  s own series of popular japanese horror films . shimizu knows he is not dealing with anything new  so he does what any intelligent person would have done in his place he forgets logic and concentrates in giving viewers a fun ride . he uses commonly known clichs associated with ghost stories but shimizu plays with these elements in an imaginative manner . the nonlinear narrative is not a mere gimmick but an interesting way to present sequences from different perspectives . at the end  all i can say is that if the only purpose of a horror film is to scare the audience  the same way a comedy is to make people laugh   this movie succeeded with flying colors . i watched it in a theater with an audience and it was fun to see viewers go wild over this one . it probably doesn  t play as well in your living room .  
an obvious b  grade effort to cash in on the hostel  saw buzz  my expectations for this film were low  really low   and yet it still managed to disappoint on every level . the acting is so bad it  s not even funny  the plot  line is non  existent and the only scare was realizing that i had wasted  hour   minutes watching it  i  m surprised to note that   people gave it a   star rating . i can only suspect that   of these are cast and crew . the   th is possibly the directors mother   although i  m sure even she would find it hard to go higher than a   dvd extras include an hour long  making of  feature . which raises the question   why    although perhaps it serves to demonstrate what not to do   . avoid at all costs .  
karen  sarah michelle gellar   an exchange student in japan who is just beginning to do some social work  is sent to aid an elderly semi  catatonic woman  emma  grace zabriskie   after her previous caretaker  yoko  yoko maki   disappears . karen soon learns that something is not right in emma  s home  and she attempts to  see how deep the rabbit hole goes  .  br    br   maybe it  s a delayed influence from the success of m . night shyamalan  s films  but slower  paced  understated horror films are a recent trend . in some cases  such as hide and seek        the approach works remarkably well  and in others  such as white noise        the pacing tends to kill the film . i didn  t like the grudge quite as much as hide and seek  but this is still a very good film   it earns a  out of   from me .  br    br   the grudge has a couple significant differences from other recent examples of that trend  however . one  it is well known that this is a remake based on the japanese film series that began with ju  on        in particular  it  s extremely close to the first half of ju  on the grudge  aka ju  on   from      . two  as with many japanese horror films  the slower pacing here isn  t so much in the realm of realist drama as with surrealism . as is also the case with a large percentage of european horror  the grudge should be looked at more as a filmed nightmare .  br    br   director takashi shimizu  also the director of the five japanese entries in the ju  on series to date  the fifth is currently in production   and writer stephen susco have largely dispensed with linearity and are not overly concerned with logic or plot holes when it comes to the horror behind the story . the idea instead is to present a dreamlike sequence of scenes  with dream logic  where the focus is atmosphere  creepiness  the uncanny  and for many viewers   scares . how well the film works for you will largely depend on how well you can adapt yourself to  or are used to  this different approach to film  making  although admittedly  some of the seeming gaps are filled in by previous entries in the ju  on series  . traditionally  american audiences consider as flaws leaving plot threads hanging and abandoning  rules  for the  monster  . a more poetic  metaphorical  surreal approach to film isn  t yet accepted by the mainstream in the u . s .  br    br   however  even if you  re not used to it  it  s worth trying to suspend your normal preconceptions about films and give the grudge a shot . this is a well written  well directed  well acted film  filled with unusual properties  such as the story interweaving a large number of  main characters   which is done better here than the more episodic ju  on    good cinematography  subtle production design touches  check out gellar  s clothes  which match the color and texture of the exterior of emma  s house  when gellar first approaches   and beautifully effective horror material .  br    br   even though it is more slowly paced that your average horror film of the past  the pacing usually enhances the eeriness  and there is no shortage of bizarre events to keep horror fans entertained . the supernatural premise of the film is absorbing  and based on interviews on the dvd with shimizu  have prodded me to pay more attention to japanese beliefs and folklore . although the most interesting subtexts would probably arise with a more intimate knowledge of japanese culture  it  s interesting to ponder why so many japanese horror films feature scary children and adults who look like scary children .  br    br   i subtracted one point for the film slightly veering into clichd mystery  thriller territory with a  here  s what really happened  flashback  but even that was fairly well done  and otherwise  this would have been a   out of   .  br    br   now that i  ve said all of the above  let me finish with a mini  rant it  s not that i  m anti  remake  but it is ridiculous that u . s . distributors and studios feel that we need remakes of foreign films to make them appropriate for consumption . the original versions of these films should just be playing in u . s . theaters in wide release . there is no need to present an almost identical film but just substituting white american actors for non  white or foreign actors . yes  the grudge is a fine film  but ultimately  i  d rather see something original using this talent  and be treated to the latest foreign horror films   not just japanese  but also indian  spanish  chinese  etc .   at my multiplex . in the hope that someone with some pull at the studios reads this  it is also more cost  effective to do this  as    you can completely avoid production costs  and simply make domestic distribution deals from which you receive profit  and    you can make money off of fans like myself who otherwise pick up the foreign film dvds in foreign manufactured or even bootleg versions .  
i just want to start by saying this is the first review of a film i have done on the net . i felt the need to warn people about this film because it truly is one of the worst films i have ever seen . after reading interviews with the director he says he respects constructive criticism and so i will try to avoid bashing the film just for the sake of it and offer my opinions as to why i found it to be so catastrophically terrible .  br    br    . the actors . i know the budget may not have allowed for great thespians but with nicholson working in the industry for over ten years surely he knew some actors who were at least average .  br    br    . the incredibly lame make up and special effects . once again budget obviously interfered with what was originally intended but after working in make up for so many years there is really no excuse .  br    br    . the obvious similarities to hostel . whilst not being exactly a rip off it sure does try to cash in on the former films success . only problem is roth knew where he was going and exactly how to get there . . .  br    br    . the music . not at all creepy or haunting not even sickening just plain annoying .  br    br    . the script in general . all dialogue was forced and terrible  also the sub plots about the theatre and the guy who comes in to save them were weak as and almost like an afterthought .  br    br    . the editing . wtf . how jarring  and not in a good way . nuf said .  br    br   seriously i would like to hear the director  s thoughts on my post  he no doubt frequents his pages on imdb .  cause buddy . . . what were you thinking . surely at some point during either the shooting or editing you realised what a turkey yolu had on your hands . . . sorry i don  t want to be harsh but you must have more talent than this i hope your next feature that gutterballs movie or wahtever is better  hopefully practice makes progress .  br    br   but in the mean time avoid this like the plague . i want my   mins back with interest .  at least i didn  t pay to watch it .   
i went to this movie expecting an artsy scary film . what i got was scare after scare . it  s a horror film at it  s core . it  s not dull like other horror films where a haunted house just has ghosts and gore . this film doesn  t even show you the majority of the deaths it shows the fear of the characters . i think one of the best things about the concept where it  s not just the house thats haunted its whoever goes into the house . they become haunted no matter where they are . office buildings  police stations  hotel rooms . . . etc . after reading some of the external reviews i am really surprised that critics didn  t like this film . i am going to see it again this week and am excited about it .  br    br   i gave this film   stars because it did what a horror film should . it scared the st out of me .  
live feed is set in some unnamed chinese  japanese asian district somewhere as five american friends  sarah  ashley schappert   emily  taayla markell   linda  caroline chojnacki   mike  lee tichon   darren  rob scattergood  are enjoying a night on the town  taking in the sights . after a scuffle in a bar with a japanese triad boss  stephen chang  they decide to check out a porno theatre  as you would . inside they are separated  quickly find out that the place belongs to the triad boss who uses it to torture  kill people for reasons which aren  t made clear . can local boy miles  kevan ohtsji  save them   br    br   this canadian production was co  written  produced  directed by ryan nicholson who also gets a prosthetic effects designer credit as well  one has to say that live feed is another pretty poor low budget shot on a camcorder type horror film that seems to exist only to cash in on the notoriety  success of hostel        the mini craze for  torture porn  as it  s become known . according the imdb  s  trivia  section for live feed writer  director nicholson wrote it after hearing about certain activities taking place in live sex theatres  for my money i reckon he wrote it after watching hostel  the script is pretty poor  there is no basic reason given as to why this porno theatre has a big fat ugly freak dressed in bondage gear lurking around torturing  killing people  none . was it for the triads  was it for his pleasure  was it to make snuff films to sell  some sort of explanation would have been nice . also why did he turn on the triad boss at the end  if your looking for a film with a coherent story then forget about live feed . it seemed to me to be some sort of uneasy misjudged mix of sex  sm  horror  torture  gore  action films which doesn  t come off . i mean just setting a horror film in a porn theatre isn  t automatically going to make your film any good  there still needs to be a decent script  story  right  the character  s were fairly poor clichs  some of their actions  motivations were more than a little bit questionable . it moves along at a reasonable pace  it  s fairly sleazy mixing gore  sex  nudity but it does look cheap which lessens the effect .  br    br   director nicholson doesn  t do anything special here  the editing is choppy  annoying  he seems to think lighting almost every scene with neon lights is a good idea  the film has a cheap look about it . available in both  r    unrated  versions i saw the shorter cut  r  version which really isn  t that gory but i am prepared to give the benefit of the doubt to the  unrated  version  say that it might be much  much gorier but i can  t say for sure . there  s a fair amount of nudity too if that  s your thing . i wouldn  t say there  s much of an atmosphere or many scares here because there isn  t  aren  t respectively although it does have a sleazy tone in general which is something it has going for it i suppose .  br    br   technically live feed isn  t terribly impressive  the blood looks a little too watery for my liking  entire scenes bathed in annoying neon lights sometimes makes it hard to tell whats happening  it to often looks like it was shot on a hand  held camcorder  the choppy editing at least on the  r  rated version is at times an annoying mess . shot on location in an actual porn theatre somewhere in vancouver in canada . the acting is poor  sometimes i couldn  t tell if the actresses in this were supposed to be crying or laughing . . .  br    br   live feed is not a film i would recommend anyone to rush out  buy or rent  i didn  t think much of it with it  s very weak predictable storyline lacking exposition  which goes nowhere  poor acting  less than impressive gore  at least in the  r  rated cut anyway  . watch either hostel films again or instead as they are superior .  
this is a bit of a puzzle for a lot of the artsy lynch crowd . they tend to try to write this off as some kind of meaningless  crude  side project of lynch  s . like this is lynch passing gas between his real pieces of film art . well it may be a fart  but its one of those intriguing farts that you catch of a whiff of and are embarrassed to admit you enjoy .  br    br   dumbland distilled down beyond this is art . what can you do with aspects of modern life but laugh at it . if you took it seriously you would go nuts . you hook into it  smell it  taste it  feel its agonies  its unreasoning stupidities  and then express it in any medium you choose . thats called art  and art isn  t dumb . but it is dumbland .  
this has to be the worst movie ever    the acting is scarier than the movie . lots of blood  but no idea where it comes from  cuz they don  t even show you the cuts . i can  t believe i wasted my time watching this movie . we laughed like we were watching a comedy and not a horror movie . this is a disgrace to horror films    for one if they are in asia why is there a white cop driving past waste management trash cans   there  s so much of another language that you don  t even know what  s going on half the time . the film editing is a joke  my teenager could do better . and if i went to a movie theater and that nasty old man was working the window that would be the first clue . do not watch this movie    not to even see how bad it is  you will be sorry you did    
in answer to the person who made the comment about how the film drags on and who believed there was no purpose to the role of jess  s brother here is my response  br    br   the role of jess  s brother is to provide a form of dramatic irony in the story . craig sheffer  norman could have foreseen the troubles associated with living life to the full by looking at how jess  s brother turned out . there are various instances where brad pitt and his lives run in parallel  for example  when jess  s brother takes craig sheffer to a disjointed bar and subsequently he finds brad pitt there a few days later . the dramatic irony was there so craig sheffer  s character would have a bigger emotional turmoil at his brothers death  knowing he could have done more to prevent it and subsequently creates a more compelling mood in the film .  
ugh  what can i say other than  ugh . i rented this film because it was labeled as a sequel to the original vampires . this movie could not have been any lamer . lacking not only in plot  but the acting is atrocious . combined with some obvious plot holes makes this movie a very hard one to watch . many times i questioned my own sanity at continuing to watch the film long after the plot had jumped the shark . here  s a sampling of the lamer aspects . . .  br    br   spoilers  br    br   professional  slayer  insists on sleeping outdoors by himself at night . he wakes up to a woman crying  sitting no more than  feet from him in the middle of nowhere . he immediately goes to comfort her without questioning her sudden appearance . she goes from crying to seducing him  and he lets it happen with obvious results . . .  br    br   one of the main characters is zoe  was bitten by a vampire  but as long as she takes these  experimental pills  she got in mexico city  she  s fine  although her body temperature is below room temperature . . .  br    br   guard outside of monastery where hero is staying the night is killed by vampires  hero leaves the next day . he then returns a day later only to be surprised that the vampires attacked the monastery the night after he left . . .  br    br   . . . avoid this movie .  
dumbland is not for all . in fact dumbland maybe in for nobody except lynch and that  s what make it funny and a collective cartoon . violent  yes . profanity  yes . absurd  yes . a piece of garbage  never . dumbland is a wonderful picture of some americans that don  t have brains and hit wife and kids for fun . from mxico i can say i love it  my favorite episodes are   my teeths are bleeding  all the noise around and violence make me wanna scream and put me behind my bed .   get the stick  yeah baby get it and learn a lesson some people never be thankful for your actions .   ants . the more lynch episode of all  music  surrealism and a very sweet revenge . . .  
where to even start  the horrendous acting  the nonsensical plot  the bargain basement effects  the completely loathsome characters  the choppy editing  the headache  inducing casio keyboard score    the embarrassingly racist remarks   watch it  charlie     back off  jackie chan       the constant misogyny    i am a lifelong horror fan  and i have no problem at all with the current  torture  thon  trend of movies . however  this is a poorly  made piece of garbage . i think i suffered more pain watching this than the characters did dying in it  if you like girls being forced to eat stir  fried penis  really poor soft core porn and think lines like  i  m gonna find that b and staple her c shut    are clever  live feed is for you .  br    br   as for me  i feel the need to go wash my eyes out with oven cleaner to prevent from ever seeing this movie again   
it is said that david lynch  s films and shorts won  t appeal to everyone . neither will dumbland  maybe more than ever . i have a feeling that dumbland  as people come across it  will be a true mark of  i get it  or  what the hell  . it  s not surrealism exactly  but absurd to the point of no return . it  s also very  very  very stupid . but in this stupidity can be a sort of ironic intelligence to it  that the maker knows so well how childish and repugnant this is  and this self  consciousness is a plus  not a detraction .  br    br   it  s just a bunch of crudely drawn shorts  the kind that might not even make it on hertzfeldt and judge  s animation show  which  i might add  lynch here has a lot in common with both directors in their work  centered on a lummox with an iq of   who has a constantly quivering  with  fear wife  and a child who looks like a cross between the gingerbread man and  or an alien . the episodes include little situations like a faulty treadmill  a salesman who can recite the gettysburg address  watching over a sick brother in law  ant hallucinations  and just wallowing on the couch with noise all around . all the while  lynch is still experimenting  as he was constantly for better or worse during the period of five years he made on and off inland empire .  br    br   for one thing  he  s going back to the roots of his very first short  six figures getting sick six times  in the usage of repetition as a means to an end . this sometimes works excruciatingly well  and sometimes not . sometimes  like with the episode with the sitting around the house doing nothing as teeth are bleeding and a fly buzzes around  the absurdism sort of waxes and wanes without much of a good effect . and even an episode like with the guy  s friend coming over is funny more  so for the beavis  butt  head comparison  both laugh like idiots  and are equally engrossed by killing things like fish and sheep  . what ends up working is how lynch shows up front delirious abstractions  in the crudest ways imaginable  and excessive violence .  br    br   in what comes closest to surrealism in  ants   the guy mistakenly sprays bug  spray  just called  kill   one of lynch  s very cheap but fun pokes at societal conventions  on himself  and envisions ants in a musical chorus line  solos included . and one of the most harrowingly funny things i  ve ever seen from the filmmaker is  get the stick   where we just see the guy  cheered on by his son  getting a stick lodged in his mouth . soon the neck breaks  eyes pop out  and once said stick is removed he doesn  t watch out for traffic waddling like a manhole cover . other moments pop up like this in unexpected crevices  and it  s drawn as if on cheap paper with an impetus to shock with foul  mouthed language  mostly from the man  as well as from the  grandmother   who in one of lynch  s voices for the characters is the deepest of all   and a shaky quality that  s reminiscent of the cream of the crop from  early  hertzfeldt .  br    br   all the same i  m still not sure if dumbland is something i would put into someone  s hands if they haven  t seen much of lynch yet let alone anything by him . there are some little points on society made via complete exaggerations that may or may not be in lynch  s mind closer than we usually think to those in real life . however in general there  s not a whole lot that should be read into it  which is why i  d say more than half who see it will hate it with a passion . those who dig the bottom  less pits of animated comedy  be prepared have a blast .  
i watched the unrated version of this film and realised about   minutes into it that i was never getting my time back . i persevered to the end hoping that the dialogue would improve  the martial arts would look realistic eventually  the special fx would actually look special . i was so wrong . i love horror  i am a complete gore hound . i number some of the eighties splatter flicks amongst the greats of the film world . this however was not made in the eighties  if this film had come out in the early eighties the fax could be forgiven for looking so bad . it wasn  t so it hasn  t got that defence . the dialogue is terrible with so many bad lines i was wincing at the writing rather than squirming at torture . i don  t like hostel  never have  i thought it was over rated  over hyped and i felt nothing for the protagonists  however it shines as a beacon to greatness next to this garbage . the back of the cover for live feed promised a twist you would never see coming  i  m still waiting for the twist that was promised .  
since september of last year  i have been borrowing four to six films each week from the harold washington library  which boasts an impressive dvd collection .  the hwl truly is a circulating library three  quarters of its films are out at any given time   recently  i was thrilled to find the short films of david lynch . yesterday  knowing little about the animated series  i picked up dumbland . i  m here to report that  for david lynch fans  watching the eight episodes is half an hour well  spent .  br    br   the most remarkable feature of these brief pieces are their soundtracks . each episode has its own rhythm . respiratory and digestive systems provide percussion . outrageous voices accent pauses  ends . physical violence supplies the beats . chirping birds and buzzing sockets brush along the edges . many other elements fill out the orchestra . the pacing of the crude animation often keeps in sync with the sound  but the soundtrack itself struck me as lynch  s primary interest in creating and disseminating this work . in a way  these eight shorts are unique lynchian rhythms .  br    br   that said  the situations are odd  ugly  profound  dumb and funny as hell . and there  s enough space within them to reflect on how absurd we humans can be . i can  t say that i  ll watch the collection again  but for anyone who revelled in the movements that is the suite inland empire  dumbland is worth half an hour of your time .  
i  m all for a  bad  horror movie but this was just a pile of dog sh  t  how anyone can call this movie cool or decent is beyond me . if you like rushed editing to cover the special effects  bad acting and a bad script then go for it  there was no suspense whatsoever and the gore factor was laughable because it was so fake . i  ll take hostel or wolf creek over this pile any day . my partner gave up after about   minutes  she knows a stinker when she sees one . i on the other hand stupidly sat through the whole movie just to wait and see if it got any better . no such luck  i haven  t sen his other movie torched and i doubt if i  ll bother now .  
i  m gonna tip the scales here a bit and say i enjoyed this . however  the cartoon is really only going to appeal to those who have very absurdist tendencies . it  s definitely something that most people will not get  as is the nature of absurdism .  br    br   the animation is horrible  but yes  that  s the point . the main character is foul mouthed  violent  and stupid . no redeeming qualities whatsoever . his wife shrieks and wails  apparently just barely capable of the most basic communication skills . most of these stories completely lack any kind of point .  br    br   but again  that  s the point    br    br   if non sequiters  foul language  and complete and utter randomness are your thing  you  re going to love this .  br    br   it is really short  so i would probably rent instead of buying .  
just watched it  me and my better half could not believe how awful and badly acted it was . if anyone else thinks its good then you must be easily pleased . i actually gave up a night out to watch this  its all been done before . ie . hostel springs to mind  but at least that did not make you cringe with the bad acting and lack of story line  same old stuff  re  hatched  i read so much about this film  i even recommended it to my mates  my fault  someone said it was good  no more gory  horror or reeling back in disgust than your average  scary movie  it has to be said  please don  t bother with this movie . get mary poppins . now thats scary  i  m off out now  go to the cinema and watch something scarier than this  little miss sunshine maybe  
i consider myself a great admirer of david lynch  s works  for he provides the viewers with absolutely unique motion pictures with typical  lynch  elements .  having seen most of his works  i naively thought i could predict lynch  s next step . i was dead wrong . dumbland is something i could have never imagined under the name of david lynch . still  after my recovery from the first shock  i started to contemplate about this extremely primitive main character  and i drew the conclusion that all the absurdities  cruelty  brutality and disgust presented here are mirroring bits from reality  being emphasized by distorting it . there are things in our lives we hardly ever emphasize  for they are either disgusting or horrible  however  they are surrounding us  so i take the courage to say  dumbland focuses on these bits and pieces . this is not a movie to enjoy  though you  ll sometimes laugh out of a strange  perverted sense of humor  this is an animated reflection of all things we rather reject to observe  with its simplicity  morbidity and absurdity . take it as it is  you don  t have to like it . it just exists . and finally  if you  re attentive enough  you  ll find elements typical to lynch as well . i recommend it for tolerant people     
this is the kind of movie that  s so extremely bad that you cant stop watching it because you keep telling yourself that  it cannot continue to be this crappy all the way to the end . it just cant  . you know   worse than jaws    kind of bad .  br    br   i honestly think i  ve only seen one movie that was worse than this  and then we  re talking religious crap about how you  d end up in hell for lying or watching football .  br    br   gore  indeed and lots of it . well made gore  no way .  br    br   the acting is beyond bad and all the lines are lousy clichs . same goes for the storyline which only really consist of sex  blood and violence  like so many other gore movies .  br    br   if you  re hoping for a mix between ichi the killer and august underground keep looking . you wont find it in live feed .  
this is a short  crudely animated series by david lynch  as it says in the beginning   and it follows the misadventures of a backwoods  overall  wearing large man  with a wife who has a stress disorder and an annoying son . both of those elements are harped upon repeatedly in the short episodes  and there  s no real plot to be seen . it  s easier if you think of this as an exceptionally odd  slightly macabre looney tunes  with far more gore  profanity  bloody violence  and occasional moments of hilarity .  br    br   i bought the dvd along with eraserhead  having previously seen eraserhead . don  t look to this series if you want an artistic masterpiece  this is anything but . in fact  it seems to almost be a statement against such things  as its rough style spits in the face of any sort of animation convention you may see . as lynch says   if this is funny  it is only funny because we see the absurdity of it all .   
first of all  this is a low  budget movie  so my expectations were incredibly low going into it . i assume most people looking at the info for this movie just wanted a bloodfest  and essentially that  s all it is .  br    br   plot  there really is none . it  s basically saw but in china and a whole hell of a lot worse . cast  there is none  period . special effects  absolutely awful in my opinion . . . there were cutaways and the blood was often completely unbelievable because of amounts  splatter  color  texture  etc .  br    br   i believe the purpose of this movie was supposed to be a brutal  shock film . now it had some great potential on a bigger budget but poor scripting  poor dialogue  awful acting  what seemed like camcorder video shots  and just plain unbelievable  gore   made this movie truly awful .  br    br   there are movies worth taking a chance against some reviews  even  b  rate  movies deserve some opportunities  blood trails for example was the most recent i saw against reviews that was worth it   but this was simply awful . i hope that people considering this movie read my comment and decide against it .  br    br   i  m all for brutality and shock  but the overall unrealism and truly awful acting makes for an awful experience . save your time  money and chance something else  you won  t be disappointed .  
dumland focuses on the lives of one  american   family . . . the father a violent and obscene person who loves to fart and use profanity and who has no redeeming qualities . the mother who appears to be a paranoid psychotic  never really says much . the son an obscure annoying repetitive little fellow . the animation is simple and crude  but does suite the stories and the characters . the episodes were originally only available from the davidlynch . com website  but have now been released on dvd . there are  episodes on the dvd and a brief synopsis follows  br    br     the neighbor we meet the next door neighbor  and find out three things about him . . . he has a really nice shed  he only has one arm and he likes to do naughty things with ducks .  br    br     the treadmill we find out that the wife has an affinity for exercise  but the husband doesn  t really think it  s a good idea . in the end  the exercise treadmill is victorious .  br    br     the doctor the father has an unfortunate accident with an exposed live wire . . . the doctor  s examination is quite thorough  if not unconventional  but the diagnosis is  you are perfectly normal   but we knew that  .  br    br     a friend visits after an altercation with the new clothes hoist  a friend comes to visit  believe it or not  he has one  but after we meet him we can understand why   no surprises when he tells us what his hobbies are .  br    br     get the stick we meet another neighbor  he has a stick stuck in his mouth  although we never find out how it got there  . unfortunately  removing the stick from his neighbor  s mouth ends up being harder  and more violent  than expected . . . but he is victorious in the end . . . jesus some people can be ungrateful     br    br     my teeth are bleeding this was my favorite episode . . . and was also the most mind  numbingly repetitive and annoying  hmm  what does that say about me    . not sure why the son  s teeth started bleeding  but believe me when i say it was minimal to the plot of the story . which is an oxymoron  as the story had no plot . but did have a funny ending  involving a fly     br    br     uncle bob after meeting uncle bob  and uncle bob  s wife  we get a distinct feeling that the dumbland gene  pool is very shallow . uncle bob is a sickly fellow  i shan  t elaborate  lest i spoil it for you  . uncle bob  s wife definitely wears the pants in his family . . . and the father definitely ends up on the wrong side of her ample fist  and spends the rest of their visit cowering in a tree in the back yard  .  br    br     ants after the home gets infiltrated with ants  and a misbegotten attempt to bug  spray them goes awry . . . he ends up spraying himself in the face with the bug  spray and starts hallucinating . the ants put on a fabulous song and dance show . . . he goes berserk trying to kill them  winds up in a full body plaster . . . and lets just say  the ants get their vengeance in the end .  br    br   as bad as these stories are  there is something that kept compelling me to watch them . they do give another insight into the mind of one of my favorite directors . david lynch . maybe they were an outlet for him  to get rid of some of his violent thoughts   i did actually laugh out loud at many points within the episodes . many aspects are absurdly funny    
this is one of the worst films i  ve seen in years   you could randomly pluck  people off the streets and they could act better than anyone in this film . absolute waste of time watching it . i only gave it a  as i like gory films but this is just plain rubbish . the acting  and i use that term very loosely  is abysmal  someone please tell me that the  main actors in this were making their first ever film   don  t waste your time watching this . hostel was a better film by some way . i cannot believe that someone has spent money making this  i hope for the producers sake it only cost        to make  it looks like a school project  made by kids who haven  t got a clue . did this even make it to the cinema    
i  m gonna tip the scales here a bit and say i enjoyed this . however  the cartoon is really only going to appeal to those who have very absurdist tendencies . it  s definitely something that most people will not get  as is the nature of absurdism .  br    br   the animation is horrible  but yes  that  s the point . the main character is foul mouthed  violent  and stupid . no redeeming qualities whatsoever . his wife shrieks and wails  apparently just barely capable of the most basic communication skills . most of these stories completely lack any kind of point .  br    br   but again  that  s the point    br    br   if non sequiters  foul language  and complete and utter randomness are your thing  you  re going to love this .  br    br   it is really short  so i would probably rent instead of buying .  
first of all  the actor they have to play jesus has blue eyes . . . half the actors they have playing jews have blue eyes . aren  t there enough brown  eyed actors out there  jesus being depicted as having blue eyes is one of my pet peeves . he was a full  blooded jew  second of all  what is it with old english  language movies that are supposed to take place in non  english  speaking countries  and everybody has english accents   another example is david lean  s  dr . zhivago  .  aren  t there enough either jewish actors or actors who can do a israeli accent  the movie often is not true to the scriptures  and so seems to doubt the legitimacy of jesus  s claim to be the messiah . in the bible  when jesus is baptized by john  a voice comes from heaven saying  this is my beloved son  in whom i am well pleased   matthew      mark      luke      . in the movie  john the baptist says this  the screenwriter seems to be trying to portray the believers as crazy  as well . for example  in the bible  the angel gabriel tells mary she will become pregnant with the son of god  luke          but in the movie  we do not see or hear any angel  mary appears to be talking to a moonbeam  and when mary  s mother hears her talking to someone and peeks in on her  she doesn  t hear or see anyone either . also  in the movie  when jesus is speaking to the pharisees in the temple in jerusalem  he says   you shall not see me here again  not until you learn to cry   blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord   for i and my father are one and the same .  the correct line  matthew      and luke       is  you will not see me again until you say   blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord .   period . jesus never claimed to be god . the movie cuts out a lot of important parts  the sermon on the mount is very expurgated   but then spends a lot of time on stuff that isn  t even in the bible  a whole scene with mary magdalene talking with a john  . it seems like the screenwriter  instead of wanting to do a movie version of the scriptures  wanted to make a movie about what he thinks might have really happened behind  and between  the scenes . the movie has one gem though  during the scene where jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son  at matthew the tax collector  s house  i had tears streaming down my face . it is the best movie i  ve seen about jesus  s ministry  but that isn  t saying much  because the others are just terrible  .  jesus christ superstar  is my favourite movie about jesus  s last days   the passion of the christ  is way too graphic   though i like how  jesus of nazareth   instead of just ending with jesus  s death  continues on and shows his resurrection .  
i just purchased and viewed the dvd of this film . the dvd transfer is from last year      . this     film is really a great little film . overlooked by most people . i saw it in the theater in     and have loved it ever since . i love the opening shot of pittsburgh  not baltimore  as another user commented  . makes pittsburgh look like one of the most beautiful cities in the world  and i must say  the tour of pitts on the garbage truck with nicky is a very scenic  interesting one  tom hulce  as everyone else has said  gives a remarkable  wonderful performance . the dvd is a good transfer  with no extras  but a widescreen format . i recommend it to those who love the movie .  
  darkness  was entertaining to some degree  but it never seemed to have a plot  lacking one more so than other films that have been accused of this detriment i . e .  bad taste  . it started off really good  with a man running from something . it was very creepy for these first few minutes  but after a time the film just became entertaining on the level of gore  which was hard to make out at some points due to poor lighting and horrible recording quality anyway . the film was hard to believe because of the juvenile acting  which most of the time  seemed like some friends talking to a video camera  making lines up as they went . that  with a lack of any plot whatsoever  made it look like the film was started without  and ended without  a script of any kind . as said before  gore was this film  s only drawing point  which much of the time was hard to make out .  
ray liotta and tom hulce shine in this sterling example of brotherly love and commitment . hulce plays dominick   nicky  a mildly mentally handicapped young man who is putting his   minutes younger  twin brother  liotta  who plays eugene  through medical school . it is set in baltimore and deals with the issues of sibling rivalry  the unbreakable bond of twins  child abuse and good always winning out over evil . it is captivating  and filled with laughter and tears . if you have not yet seen this film  please rent it  i promise  you  ll be amazed at how such a wonderful film could go un  noticed .  
a small town is attacked by a horde of bloodthirsty vampires . the only hope is a lone avenger and a group of ragtag survivors .  br    br   released in       darkness  garnered something of a cult following upon release . it  s easy to see why  it  s loaded  and i mean freaking loaded  with gore  and it  s energy and enthusiasm  like that found in other no  budget cult horror flicks like  the dead next door  and  the children of ravensback   is actually rather infectious .  br    br   while that may be true  that  s sadly not enough to save it . the film was shot on a super   so the image is grainy and dark  making things very difficult to see  it would have been great if it had obscured the protagonists dreadful mullet .  also grating is the soundtrack  made up of annoying casio keyboard and even more annoying death metal  seriously  what is it with these no budget horror flicks and bad death metal   while one isn  t expecting oscar worthy performances  the acting is still strictly amateur hour  as the actors sometimes seem almost confused instead of frightened or threatened .  br    br   in the end  i  m sure fans of no  budget gorefests will love this . everyone else though  will wish there was a little more meat on the ribs .  
i  ve always enjoyed films that depict life as it is . life sometimes has boring patches  no real plot  and not necessarily a happy ending .  a river runs through it  is the perfect name for this film  and norman maclean  s novel  . life ebbs and flows like a river  and it has it  s rough spots  but it is a wonderful trip .  br    br   robert redford brings a lot to the film . his narration has a friendly feel that fits the picture perfectly . as a director  he is restrained and calm  and captures some incredibly beautiful scenes . as for the acting  craig sheffer and brad pitt work surprising well as brothers . i don  t know quite how to describe tom skerritt and brenda blethyn  s performances  except that they truly feel real .  a river runs through it  is a wonderful film .  br    br    .  out of    
the last reviewer was very generous . i quiet like the first movie  but can  t say i enjoy this one very much . the beginning is bearable  but it goes downhill pretty quickly . i just don  t see jon bon jovi as a  bad  ass vampire hunter  and the vampire princess is neither sexy nor scary . a lot of the scenes just do not make sense . i mean any normal person would suspect something is up when a strange woman suddenly appearing out of nowhere to seduce you  let alone an experienced hunter . why una is able to communicate with jovi  nothing was ever explain in this movie  you wouldn  t mind if it was entertaining  but that was too much to ask . this has to be one of worst vampire movie i have seen .  
the emotional powers and characters of dominick and eugene are the things that hollywood doesn  t make anymore . this is one of the most emotional  sensitive  and heart  felt movies that i have ever seen  roy liotta  tom hulce  and supporting actress jamie lee curtis  deliver oscar winning caliber performances  there are not enough words to express how great this movie is . sure  people who are not into sentimental movies may not care as much as the rest of us about dominick and eugene  but for the rest of us  this movie goes right to the heart and sole of compassion and humanity . you will never forget this film  ever   br    br   spoilers below  br    br   the simple yet eloquent story is masterfully told . eugene is a med  school intern who faces long hours and a demanding work load at the hospital . his fraternal twin brother dominick  born   minutes earlier  is a little slow and awkward because of brain damage due to a victim of abuse by their father .  a heartbreaking moment when this is found out in the film that will leave you in tears   eugene  a . k . a  geno   faces a painful dilemma . he must decide whether to finish medical school  which would mean accepting his residency in another city and leave dominick  a . k . a  nicky   behind  or forfeit the rest of his education to take care of him . nicky helps pay his brother  s med  school tuition by working as a trash collector .  br    br   the questions of ethics  morals  and responsibilities are masterfully blended in this landmark movie . just when gino thinks nicky might be making progress toward independence  dominick turns around and winds up doing things like helping out a drug dealer  or tying to use a faulty cord that he finds at the dump on an electrical appliance .  br    br   larry  is  the character  and nicky  s partner on his garbage route who fills gullible dominick  s head with all kinds of stories like geno and jennifer  his girlfriend  whom he is tutoring in clinical pharmacology  going to atlantic city and gambling away all their money . but deep down  you can see that larry cares for him . on their rounds  nicky also befriends a little boy  whom we find out has also been beaten by his father . an end result is also tragic and the pain that you see on nicky  s face when it happens  speaks volumes .  br    br   the sensitivity that the two brothers share for each other can not be overstated enough . all nicky wants to do is be loved and look for acceptance in anyway he can .  i . e he goes to church  loves hulk hogan  geno loves nicky more than anything in the world . but can his brother become independent enough so that geno can pursue his dream of becoming a doctor  a brilliant film that should have gotten tons more recognition than it deserved  but unfortunately came out around the same time as rain man  which dealt with a similar issue . however  i like dominick and eugene better because it has a far stronger emotional component . be forewarned that this movie is aimed right at the tear  ducts  so have kleenex handy  what a film      
i found darkness to be just too dark . it had a kind of cool idea and some ambitious ideas  not bad action scenes and a few splashy moments to make you go ugh  but  it was underlit to the point of confusion . you don  t really know what is always going on in the dark scenes and for a film that is shot on super  film  you already have all that nasty grain to deal with . as with nathan schiff movies  it  s just too much . director leif jonker seems to want to make an original film  but he lacks the know  how to do it . the camera is never pointed in the right place  lack of fundamentals such as how to shoot simple dialogue scenes and how to light a movie hurt as well . the actors are all pretty uneven and hammy . but despite these negatives  the music is good  the gore is plenty and ranges from silly putty to really good appliances . is this a classic like it says  is it worthy of the two discs worth of praise  no . but it is a good first try . now if these guys would stop patting themselves on the back about this movie  from what i understand here the only one they have ever finished  for a while and try again  they may do better .  
one of my favorite movies i saw at preview in seattle . tom hulce was amazing  with out words could convey his feelings  thoughts . i actually sent mike ferrell some donation money to help the film get distributed . it is good . system says i need more lines but do not want to give away plot stuff . i was in the audience in seattle with hulce and director  a writer i think and mike ferrell . they talked for about an hour afterwords . not really a dry eye in the house . why hollywood continues to be stupid i do not know .  actually i do know  it is our fault  look what we watch  well you get what you pay for guys . get this and see it with someone special . it is a gem .  
  br    br   i am a big  time horror  sci  fi fan regardless of budget  but after watching countless horror movies late night on cable and video  this has to be the worst of all movies . with bloody special effects  what looked like a roast covered in fake blood or ketchup that kept being shown over and over again  and people running around screaming from left  then to right  then back again . it should have stayed with the beginning convenience store scene and stopped there and been   minutes . instead  it is dragged out very long . it is very  very x  low budget . many scenes were way  way too long . narrator sounded very amateurish like a random person out of junior high was talking . this is the only movie to rate lower in my opinion than manos  red zone cuba  benji  and godzilla vs . megalon despite their higher budgets .   snoozes  try to stay awake through whole movie in one setting or better yet  avoid it like you would an undead brain  eating mob . the why  did  i  ever  see  this  piece  of  zombie  dung  blues . epitome of nauseatingly bad made movies etc . . ad infinitum .  infinity     
tom hulce turns in yet another oscar  worthy performance as dominick luciano  the brain  damaged garbage man who  s helping put his brother  ray liotta as eugene  through medical school .  br    br   this is a must  see for all movie lovers and all lovers of life and people   br    br     from the small studder to the eratic dancing  to the repeated words  oh  jeez  whenever nicky is in a bind  the belieavablitly of tom  s performance is so excellent that you will have to concentrate to remember that it  s an actor on screen   
when i borrowed this movie from a friend  thankfully i did not buy it  on the package  which truly looked bad and ugly  was printed  the ultimate vampire horror  . after watching it i thought that the marketing campaign was probably more expensive than the film itself . the  story  begins when a teenager  surprise   is chased by some vampire  zombie  creatures .  br    br   lighting  sound and everything reminded me of my first attempt to make a holiday  video on a ten year old vhs  system if not worse . i gave the movie a  out of   and only because the promo  t  shirts looked kind of cool . i don  t want to dis  film  students or splatter  movies generally but i  ve seen braindead and i  ve seen a    dollar  budget movie from students that was ten times better than this crap .  
i loved this movie  it was all i could do not to break down into tears while watching it  but it is really very uplifting . i was struck by the performance of ray liotta  but especially the talent of tom hulce portraying ray  s twin brother who is mentally slow due to a tragic and terrible childhood event . but tom  s character  though heartbreaking  knows no self pity and is so full of hope and life . this is a great movie  don  t miss it    
yes  i know i  m one of the few people longing to trample this movie into the dust of oblivion . so let me me tell you why i feel this way . in truth  had it been advertized as a zombie film or the like  i might have enjoyed it . but right now  i  m totally speechless .  br    br   spoiler . . . though i  m not sure what  s to spoil let  s start with the first huge flaw . if i did not know that the movie is called  darkness  the vampire version  and had i not seen some sequences where some individuals seem to be sucking blood  i would not have seen the connection with vampires . i mean  fangless     give me a break     br    br   second bad point what  s with the metal  it appears that all young people  but mainly those so  called  vampires   are into various kinds of metal  judging mainly by their shirts  don  t get me wrong  i  ve been into the more extreme forms of music for almost   years  but nobody  s going to scare me by showing me some ridiculous teenagers in iron maiden  of all bands     t  shirts running around  pretending to be vampires   pathetic  is the only only word that i could use here .  br    br   third weakness the actors . wait a minute . what actors   you mean the director  s wooden friends  words would be a waste here .  br    br   yes  alright  the movie is very gory  but what difference does that make  it would have been a strong point and something to enjoy if the  briliant  director had not chosen to create an artificial vampire topic in this movie . i wanted to see vampires  but was treated to some stupid looking kids i would have loved to use my baseball bat on . the film  makers should simply have advertized the movie saying  cheap b  grade horror with no plot but a lot of gore      br    br   this movie is blasphemy against the whole concept of vampirism . and it makes me sick .  
this was on at  or so in the morning one saturday a few years ago  for various reasons i don  t remember the entire story but what remains are the two standout performances from the central characters . dom has had a unfortunate lot  manipulated  literally working a rubbish job  eugene torn between personal aspirations and duty towards his sibling . tom hulce  dom doesn  t plead for sympathy  it comes naturally . ray liotta is a universe away from henry hill  displaying a soft centre in what must feel a thankless position .  br    br   in many ways this deals with the dilemma many young carer  s face  the past or the future . as it turns out  with some work the two can happily co  exist . thoughtfully handled  sensitively played dominick  eugene is difficult not to warm to .  
this movie was horrible  simply put . it was so bad i registered with imdb to warn you of its dangers .  br    br   i am a campy horror film expert  per se . i have watched  redneck zombies    house of the psychotic women    slumber party massacre ii  and many others . i know my schlock . and i know this movie sucks .  br    br   three fourths of the film is comprised of scared individuals running from one side of the screen to the other . when they are not running  they are spouting non  sequitur lines  devoid of emotion or motivation . when the actors begin to be acceptable  the direction falls to pieces . there were so many jarring low  angle shots i figured leif jonker had a  foot tall tripod . he used what i call the  leif maneuver  several millions times that is  zooming out from an object of interest like an amateur . apparently the film crew couldn  t get up early enough to film a sunrise  so they filmed a sunset . . . and played it in reverse . with direction this lazy  you are actually impressed with the final gory scene . the only thing you can figure is that the last five minutes was filmed before the first eighty  five minutes .  br    br   if you want a good  bad  gory movie  rent  riki  oh  or the foundational  dead alive .  if you are a schlock buff  and are looking for a challenge  give  darkness  a go .  br    br   quote o  the movie   br    br   vampire it  s die time   
dominick  nicky  luciano wears a  hulk  t  shirt and trudges off everyday to perform his duties as a garbage man . he uses his physical power in picking up other  s trash and hauling it to the town dump . he reads comic  book hero stories and loves wrestlers and wrestling  going to wrestlemania with his twin brother eugene on their birthday is a yearly tradition . he talks kindly with the many people he comes in contact with during his day . he reads comic books  which he finds in the trash  with a young boy who he often passes by while on the garbage route . unfortunately  dominick has a diminished ability to use his mind . he has a disability .  br    br   dominick  s disability came as a result of an injury to the head in which he suffered traumatic brain injury  tbi  . this injury left him slower  though it did not change his core characteristic as a strong individual who helps to protect others . dominick is actually more able to live independently than he may seem at the beginning of the film . he lives with eugene who is studying to become a doctor . dominick provides the main source of income  while eugene is off studying . eugene must face the fact that he is to continue his education in a different city  and that he must move away from dominick . eugene also develops a romance which begins to separate him from his twin brother .  br    br   the film deals specifically with domestic abuse and how this can impact individuals  families  and then society as a whole . the strain that escalates between eugene and dominick as eugene realizes that he must eventually leave nicky  exploded on their birthday night . eugene yells at dominick and throws him against the wall . in this moment  eugene must confront his own fears of being like his abusive father  the father which dominick protected him against while he himself became the victim of the abuse . this event cemented the love between the two brothers  who from then on became the best of friends . though they needed each other  they also both needed independence and the ability to grow and develop relationship with others . the fact that they must part ways became a very real emotional strain . however  by the end of the film  dominick is able to say good bye to his brother and wish him luck . eugene is able to leave his brother with the confidence that he has started to make a social network of people who care about him and will help him with his independence .  br    br   when dominick witnesses the abuse of his friend he is forced to come face to face with the cause of his own trauma . in this state of extreme stress  dominick almost completely shuts down . he then runs after the ambulance to the hospital to see what happened to his friend . after learning that the boy has died  he is confronted by the abusive father who  fearing his testimonial  tells him he didn  t see nothing  doesn  t know anything  and not to say anything  and that if he does he will kill him . now that his own life has been threatened  he goes and find the hand gun that larry used to kill the rats . he goes to the wake of the deceased boy and at gunpoint  kidnaps the baby of the grieving family . he runs away from the scene and hides in a building . when the police surround him  eugene goes in the building to talk to his brother . eugene then reveals the cause of dominick  s disability and they bring the baby back . the abusive father then wields a gun of his own threatening to kill dominick  but eugene stops him and dominick tells the crowd that he saw the father throw his son down the stairs .  br    br   through the climactic ending  the issue of dysfunctional behavior comes into view . though dominick  s instinct to save the baby can be understood  we also see how damaging this response is . dominick put the baby  s life and his own life in grave danger . the larger societal consequences of these events is not directly implicated  but rather shown through the films ending . despite the more optimistic ending portrayal  another sequence of events might just have likely occurred  in which dominick is charged with kidnapping and possession of a firearm . it is somewhat difficult to believe that this went completely unaccounted . furthermore  even if dominick is not charged  there may still be a stigma against him within the community  not that there wasn  t one before these events . instead  the film shows that we must be able to recognize problematic behavior and act to curb it .  br    br   dominick and eugene was released in      the same year as another film  rainman  which won  academy awards . while rainman was an achievement and helped increase the visibility with person with disabilities  it could be argued that dominick and eugene holds more valuable lessons for society . whereas  rainman demonstrated that mainstream american society might be able to learn from and care for a  savant   if the  savant  is the inheritor of a large estate . dominick and eugene show that a person with a disability might be able to care for and help save members of american society . the message of an independent person with disabilities may have been too strong for     . hopefully someday society will see the strengths of individuals with disabilities  not as a threat  but as imperative for the strength of society .  
this film was the recipient of the     academy award for best animated short film . over the last few weeks  i have seen dozens of the nominees and recipients of this award from the last   years and i really think that this film might just be the worst of them all   yet it wasn  t just a nominee but it won   i assume that     must have just been a horrible year for the genre .  br    br   the film shows a group of characters that look a bit like super  skinny uncle festers . the appear to be simple articulated figures who are moved using stop motion animation . all are identical   with the same faces  bodies and clothes . the only difference is that each has a different number drawn on their backs . they are all standing on a large platform that is suspended  as if by magic  in space . each has a pole and their is also a box on the platform . the platform begins tilting slightly and in response the men move about in an effort to balance the platform . this goes on and on and on and on for the longest time . the only relief from this tedium is when one of them acts rather nasty towards the end  but it just isn  t enough to make this fun to watch in the least . aside from passable stop motion animation  this short offers nothing of interest to me . . . . nothing .  br    br   by the way  the great short knick knack also came out in     and i have no idea why it was not among the nominees . it was a great short and was far better than any of the nominees that year or the year before . perhaps pixar  s success in previous years resulted in a bias against them  but knick knack is so clever and so funny it seems almost criminal to have ignored it . could pixar have not entered it  this seems unlikely .  
words are seriously not enough convey the emotional power of this film it  s one of the most wrenching you  ll ever see  yet the ending is one of the most loving  tender  and emotionally fulfilling you could hope for . every actor in every role is terrific  especially a wise and understated jamie lee curtis  a tightly wound and anguished ray liotta  and a heart  stopping turn from tom hulce that should have had him up for every award in the book .  he  s the   pick for      s best actor in danny peary  s  alternate oscars .   the last half hour borders on melodrama  but the film earns every one of its tears   and unless you  re made of stone  there will be plenty of them .  
about the worst movie in distribution right now  i love zombie movies and saw this in the used rack so i thought why not  oh my god a shame to zombie movies and fans to the genre  whoever made this movie needs to put away your camcorder and go to film school  there are so many gore hounds out there who have put time and effort into their films and they have something that this film doesn  t dignity . i know it what it takes to make films and i  m sure there was a lot of money and time spent in making meat market but none of that money and time went in to making it good . you need actors  a script  a real camera  invest in some books on how to make independent films . i don  t know how you got a dvd release but whoever did that is either a really good friend or banging their head on the wall . in gore films it is quality not quantity  the effects are weak  i was so angry that this is actually in stores and that i couldn  t get my money back . please if you have seen this film write here and put an end to shlock . i know i  m being very harsh  i only had   lines so i  m trying to get to the point .  
if you have any kind of heart and compassion for people  this is a tough movie to watch  at least in the second half of it .  br    br   it  s in that segment where we see nice little kid get beaten up and then a retarded  mentally  challenged  man go off the deep end after he witnesses this brutal act against the child . it  s not pleasant material .  br    br   however  it  s a good movie and the acting is good  too . the story will sit with you awhile .  br    br    dominick  is the mentally  disabled guy and is played by tom hulce . i think this might be hulce  s best role ever . he  s looked after by a med student   eugene   played by ray liotta  who became a star the following year with kevin costner  s  field of dreams .   br    br   dominick is a goodhearted garbage man who reads  hulk  comic books and loves wrestling . he  s the type of  slow  guy that you can  t help but love and root for to live a happy life . when he freaks out  it  s for several good reasons and . . . well  see the film for the whole story . it  s worth your time but be prepared to go on real emotional roller coaster and possibly be very upset at some things you see .  
i love zombie  movies and i love amateur  productions . and meat market  starts really promising with a nice homage to fulcis classic  zombi  .  br    br   so i leaned back and waited to be impressed . okay  some of the makeups are great for such a no budget movie and some actors  the vampirelady and the cook  really stand out  but else theres nothing .  br    br   i didnt expect a new romero here but there is not one sequence in the whole movie which has even a little bit of suspense or shock value . the director sure knows how to stage body rippings and interesting eating habits  but now  after two parts  its time to learn something more .  br    br   in meatmarket  gore rhymes with bore  for me thats not enough  sorry .  br    br    out of   
this film was excellent  the emotional power of tom hulce and ray liotta  s performances brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart  this film shows us that there is still hope in the world . if this film had come out at the end of      instead of rain man  hulce would certainly have been at least nominated for a best actor oscar . definitely a must  see   
i have to say i hated this movie . i don  t like to say that because gerard butler is in it . about a half an hour of boring conversation  sorry to all who actually care about the plot  i started fast  forwarding to gerry  s scenes . i really don  t know the ending  i was that bored with it . if gerry wasn  t in it  i probably either done one of two things fell asleep or turned it off  but gerry is the bright light of this movie  as he is with most of his earlier movies . if you  re a fan of gerry  s don  t worry  he  s as adorable and precious as he always is  but if you actually want to watch the movie for the plot  good luck because you  ll need it  either that or lots of coffee or soda to keep you awake   br    br       . . . and that  s just because the casting director had the sense to put gerry in this movie  even though they had no idea of how to spell his name   
i want to warn you that there is a very bittersweet quality to this comment . also  this comment will be much more meaningful to you after you have seen the movie .  br    br   although it is tragically sad to say  that movie bears a resemblance to my life that is so striking that it is truly scary . the rest of you will never know how accurately that movie depicts how persons who have been in situations like that act and react in their later lives .  br    br   this could not have been a work of fiction it had to be based on personal experience .  br    br   my testament to the how good the movie was is shown by the fact that  although it was one of the best movies i  ve ever seen  watching my life portrayed on the silver screen was such a searingly painful experience that i will never be able to see it again .  br    br   but i endorse it heartily to all others as a chance to peer into the soul of another human being to the extent that you probably never experienced before or will ever again . i know that for a fact  because that  s my soul you will be observing .  
this is surely one of the worst films ever made . each scene is painful . you will groan at the flimsy attempts at humor  the awkward camera work  the sexism and racism  the ridiculous story line  the wooden acting . poor joan bennett she is the only one in the movie who is not an embarrassment . in all  dreadful .  
academy award winner robert redford  best director . ordinary people      captures the majesty of the montana wilderness and the strength of the american family in this acclaimed adaptation of norman macleans classic memoir .  br    br   craig sheffer stars as the young norman  and brad pitt stars as his brother paul  an irresistible daredevil driven to challenge the world .  br    br   growing up  both boys rebel against their stern minister father  tom skerritt  .  br    br   while norman channels his rebellion into writing  paul descends a slippery path to self  destruction .  br    br   also starring emily lloyd as wild  hearted jessie burns .  br    br   the film won an academy award for best cinematopghaphy in     .  
this movie was messed up . a sequel to  john carpenter  s vampires   this didn  t add up right . i  m not sure that i enjoyed this much . it was a little strange . stick to the first  vampires   it  s a good movie .  vampires los muetos  wasn  t a good attempt of a sequel .  br    br        
but the rest of us  who love a good sentimental and emotional story that is a lock to get you crying . . enjoy   br    br   tom hulce is magnificent as dominick  a mentally slow trashman who loves professional wrestling and his brother  eugene  played by ray liotta  who is a doctor and who works very long hours .  br    br   due to eugene  s work schedule  dominick is alone a lot of the time and tends to make questionable judgment calls . he really just wants to be a good boy  to do the right thing  and to make his brother proud of him . he stops in church to pray at one point and expresses his emotions so openly and so well that the character has you crying before the damn movie even gets really started .  br    br   not about to give anything away here  but the movie is extremely involving and sad and heartbreaking . those unafraid of these things will have a field day with this beautiful story  its loving characters and a great song i cannot quote here  that has nothing to do with the movie at all but is strangely appropriate . . but you hear it in a bar .  br    br   i thought tom hulce would be nominated for this movie  since he was for  amadeus  i figured that might give him the inside track to actually winning . no such luck . liotta is just as good but has less of an emotional impact  but then he does later on . all i can say about jamie lee curtis is that she doesn  t have much of a part here but it was nice of her to lend her name to a small drama set in pittsburgh about two brothers who you will never forget .  
actually  it was pretty funny . . . in a  god  how the hell did this movie get made  kind of way . if you life making fun of movies . . . which i kinda do . . . go ahead and watch it . . . but if you  re actually thinking  is this a good movie   eff off .  br    br   this movie sucked from the very beginning scene with the worst acting i  ve ever seen in any movie . . . . usually they get five minutes into it before you realize  this movie might suck  . . but no  you know right off the bat . this movie talks about edgar allen poe . . . never tried to explain it though  to people who haven  t memorized poe  s life story . . . so i don  t know if any of what was said is fact .  br    br   this movie is about a writer  ethan poe  hookin up with his cousin  ann  . . . . they  re both descendants of edgar allan poe . . . or are they    apparently  people give a what their ancestors did . this guy ethan poe is actually ethan  usher   who is supposed to be descendants from the story  the house of usher  that was written by edgar allen poe . ann  s brother shows up sometimes to try to rape her . . . ann  s also being stalked  at one point in the movie  by three different people on the same street  seriously  three . . . they  re like right behind her glaring at her and she doesn  t even realize  . the characters that are being murdered throughout  show up at the end to try to save the day . . . . but they can  t . at the end  ann shoots ethan while he  s trying to kill her best friend . of course  before she shoots him she has to scream out  nevermore   this movie should be seen nevermore   
what can i say about this movie  i have seen it quite a few times since the first time when i was around  . i have seen the english version and it is done very well . it is a great movie for all ages  but it is directed more for children . i love the childlike humor and appreciate it . if you have not seen it  you should try to rent a copy  you will not be disappointed   
the film must have been shot in a day  there are scenes where you can see the camera reflections and its red pointer  even the scenery  s green light that blends with the actors    the plot and the lines are really awful without even the slightest inspiration  at least as a thriller genre movie  . everything that got to do with poe in the movie  has a shallow and childish approach . the film is full of clise and no thrilling . if you want to watch a funny b  movie for a relaxing evening with friends then go for it you will enjoy it  as i did  but there  s no way to take this film seriously   
this movie was very good because it remember when i was young when i maked snow castle . it was so fun . this movie is interessant . this is a good quebeker movie with no much money and is also a magical movie because their wonderfull castle is very big and beautiful .  
i don  t usually comment  but there are things that need to be said . where to start . . .  br    br   the acting  on jeremy london  s part was horrible  i didn  t think he could be so bad . the plot could have been good  had it been well directed  along with a good solid performance from the lead actor . unfortunately  this is one of those movies you read about and think it has great potential to be entertaining  but get disappointed from the start .  br    br   well  at least i got good laughs . i wouldn  t waste my time if i were you .  
    out of  while i am not concerned with the fact that this is an english dubbed version as some reviewers have mentioned  it should be noted  as it seems to reside in many quebecois native hearts . however  this was a movie as a child that i was a fervent admirer of keeping in mind now that it was made for children  i rate it on a relative basis . the story is of children on winter break building an awesome snow fort  and jostling back   n  forth for control with weapons such as snowballs and other concoctions  as idle hands and free time equal winter break lessons . if i had children  this definitely is a film i would try and get them interested in  as the snow fort wowed me when i was young  and i think even children today would agree  albeit with pixar and all the computer animation  maybe i am out of date and just don  t realize it . in addition  the movie  s message is wonderfully allegorical and a positive one at that  for children  and adults alike  .  
 . . . though for a film that seems to be trying to market itself as a horror  there was a distinct lack of blood .  br    br   there was also a distinct lack of skilled directing  acting  editing  and script  writing .  br    br   jeremy london put in one of most appalling performances i  ve ever seen  his  descent into the maelstrm  of madness is achingly self  aware and clumsy . oh look at him twitch  oh look at him drink strong spirits  oh look at him raise his brow  and cock his head at a jaunty angle  oh look at his unwashed  greasy dark hair  oh listen to his affectedly husky voice  he must be a tortured artist  writer  genius  oh  yes  out comes the poet  shirt  it  s another boy who thinks he  s byron .  or poe .  oh for the love of . . . did someone give this guy a manual on  how to act good  or did they just pull him out of a cardboard box somewhere  the defunct little plastic toy  prize in a discontinued brand of bargain  bin cereal . okay  that was a stupid line  but that  s only because london  s performance has melted my brain with its awfulness .  br    br   katherine heigl is cute  and very briar rose  but has yet to grow into her acting shoes in this film  she delivered her lines like she was being held up  in fact  her whole performance was very wooden  her poses as stiff as her lines  who knows  perhaps she was just reacting to  and trying to neutralise  jeremy london  s flailing excesses  but if that  s the case  she takes it too far .  br    br   notable is arie verveen as poe  while his character  s role is confused  he delivers the best performance of the piece . he  quite simply  looks right  but it  s more than that  he has some sort of depth  i believed that he had a life beyond the dismal two  dimensional quality of the rest of the characters . huh  maybe it  s just because i like poe  and could thus just let my mind wander and invent while he was on screen  whatever  he had an interest factor otherwise missing .  br    br   the rest of the characters are a faceless blur  there are all the usual caricatures the perky blonde best  friend who  s a bit of a floozy the smitten local cop who  s a bit of a dork the protective older man who perhaps has too much un  fatherly interest in our heroine the scheming old witch  etc .  etc .  yawn  yawn .  br    br   as with the  distinct lack of blood for a horror movie  issue  none of the themes that they mention  and that london  s character mentions  so scathingly  in his attack on poe  s writing  are followed through on . as another reviewer said  there was potential here murder  incest   genuinely shocking stuff  but instead they skirt away from the issues  and cut away from the violence  a raised candlestick swinging through the air  closing in on it  s victim  then    cut to black  this is fine in a noirish traditional horror  indeed  it  s expected  and is fondly received when it happens  it  s a dear convention  especially when accompanied by fake lightning bolts and intense siouxie eye makeup  but in  descendant  it just comes across as clumsy  or as though the editor got queasy at the last minute and cut it out .  this could have either been a very tense psychological thriller  the horror of palingenesis  delusion  madness  or a simple  and fun  slasher movie it tries to be both  or neither  something new and exciting    but either way it fails dismally . the only horror element of this entire movie is it  s epic dullness .  br    br   i think the editor  if there was one at all  must have been drunk when s  he chopped this thing up  there are awkwardly foreshortened scenes scenes that appeared to be out of order  but that could have just been the poor script  . likewise the director  cinematographer  there were some very strange shots and framing that i think were meant to be tributes to hitchcock or browning  but just ended up looking silly  again  fine in a noir  but this was trying to be something else .   br    br   the whole thing perhaps may have been funny  in that way that previous reviewers have mentioned   omg how did this get made      if i had been in the mood for some trash  bagging  unfortunately for me i had settled on the couch  with the lights down low  with the express intention of scaring myself silly  this is a very poor film  and i  m afraid i can  t recommend it to people  not even for laughs .  br    br   please  please  don  t waste your time or money on this  either borrow a real horror  thriller film  or find yourself a copy of poe  s fantastical tales  either way  you  ll have a far more enjoyable and frightening night than you could ever hope to achieve with this rubbish .  
i remember seeing this one when i was seven or eight . i must have found the characters round  because they left a impression in my mind that lasted for a long time after the end of the movie . and the ending  now that  s sad  well . . . for a    year old kid .  br    br   i had the opportunity of seeing this movie again lately  and found that the plot was too simple  the character  two  dimensional . . . i guess it  s the kind of movie that you can only with the innocence of a young child . . . pity . . .  br    br   i recommend this one for all you parents with small kids . . .  i saw it in its original french version  so i cannot tell you whether the translation is good or not .   
i watched mask in the    s and it  s currently showing on fox kids in the uk  very late at night  . i remember thinking that it was kinda cool back in the day and had a couple of the toys too but watching it now bores me to tears . i never realised before of how tedious and bland this cartoon show really was . it  s just plain awful  it is no where near in the same league as the transformers  he  man or thundercats and was very quickly forgot by nearly everyone once it stopped being made . i only watch it on fox kids because ulysses   comes on straight after it  that  s if mask doesn  t put me to sleep first  . one of the lesser    s cartoons that i hope to completely forget about again once it finishes airing on fox kids   
this is a pretty strange movie . it does comes across as an exploitation film with over  the  top violence and unrealistic situations  but unusual for being constructed around rural characters at war with each other  as opposed to an invading  other  .  br    br   the movie is an excessive stereotype of vietnam veterans  in a long line of films that portrayed the vets of that war as dangerous psycopaths . kris kristofferson  s last line is  i ain  t lost a war yet   as he meets his demise after wreaking a long trail of murder and destruction  including the town  s chief of police and his brother  s girlfriend in a particularly chilling scene . however  kristofferson is a good enough actor  and charismatic enough  to carry this villain with a surprising depth . vincent is clearly the golden boy  but with enough intensity layered over his clean cut goodness . the movie bears some plot resemblance to winchester   where jimmy stewart tries to tolerate a criminal brother until being forced to act against him .  br    br   the movie has b  movie grade action  though the presence of kristofferson  vincent  a gorgeous victoria principal and bernadette peters give it an a  grade lineup .  br    br   i give it a  for being a long lost view into an american psyche of post  vietnam  pre  reagan introspection  paranoia  and confusion  and a movie industry that was willing to address such topics at that time .  br    br   seen on the this channel  a great network that keeps playing lots of old movies of the   s through   s  regardless of political bent .  
i saw this film at its new york  s high falls film festival screening as well and i must say that i found it a complete and awful bore . although it was funny in some places  the only real laughs was that there appeared to be o real plot to talk about and the acting in some places was dreadful and wooden  especially the  lovely lady  and the voice of the narrator  whom i have never heard of  had a lot to be desired . j . c . mac was  i felt  the redeeming feature of this film  true action and grit and  out of the cast  the only real acting . i am sure with another cast and a tighter reign on the directing  this could have been a half decent film . let us just hope that it is not sent out on general release  or if you really want a copy  look in the bargain bin in lidl .  
anarchy and lawlessness reign supreme in the podunk hick hamlet of elk hills . the town elders deputize tough  cagey vietnam veteran aaron  a wonderfully robust and engaging performance by kris kristofferson  and several of his fellow vet buddies to clean up the place . the plan goes sour when aaron and his cruel cronies decide to take over elk hills after they get rid of all the bad elements . it  s up to aaron  s decent do  gooder brother ben  amiably played by jan  michael vincent  to put a stop to him before things get too out of hand . writer  director george   miami blues    gross pointe blank   armitage whips up a delightfully amoral  cynical and wickedly subversive redneck drive  in exploitation contemporary western winner he expertly creates a gritty  no  nonsense tone  keeps the pace brisk and unflagging throughout  and stages the plentiful action scenes with considerable muscular aplomb  the rousing explosive climax is especially strong and stirring  . the first  rate cast of familiar b  feature faces constitutes as a major asset victoria principal as ben  s sweet hottie girlfriend linda  the fabulous bernadette peters as flaky saloon singer little dee  brad dexter as the feckless mayor  david doyle as a slimy bank president  andrew stevens as an affable gas station attendant  john carpenter movie regular charles cyphers as one of the  nam vets  anthony carbone as a smarmy casino manager  john steadman as a folksy old diner owner  paul gleason as a mean strong  arm shakedown bully  and dick miller as a talentless piano player . moral don  t hire other people to do your dirty work . william cronjager  s slick cinematography  gerald fried  s lively  harmonic hillbilly bluegrass score  and the abundant raw violence further add to the overall trashy fun of this unjustly neglected little doozy .  
this should be a great film . . . meryl streep and jack nicholson co  starring as two newspaper writers . mike nichols directing . uh uh . it  s dull dull dull  pointless and predictable  slow and unfocused   br    br   it  s a cookie cutter  boy meets girl  boy marries girl  boy has affair  girl leaves boy  story . now theres an original concept  after squirming through two hours  was it only two  it felt like six .  i wasn  t sure whether it was a comedy  a romance  a tragedy or a soap opera . it was done in     . i  m sure all of us did things sixteen years ago that we rather would forget . i hope the damage to the reputations of streep et al is beginning to heal and that the emulsion on the master is beginning to fade . it  s not that it  s such a bad picture . it  s just that it  s such an un  good one .  
this movie could only originate in the      s   it  s a bizarre action movie set in a small california workers town . some sort of mill or plant is closing down  so suddenly  rampant bad behavior is occurring in the streets  the townsfolk  s are fed up  so ben arnold  jan michael vincent   goes to another town to recruit his brother  aaron  played by kris kristofferson . aaron is a vietnam vet who looks and acts a littleoff balance . he hangs out with a bunch of other surly vietnam vet  s . they come into town to clean it up  they become deputized   but underneath their good deeds  they are actually running gambling houses  asking for protection money  etc .    it takes a while for people to catch on  and in a biblical cain and abel showdown  vincent has to take on his older brother . there  s an interesting blue  collar sleaze atmosphere to this movie  which makes it interesting  note the cock  fighting scene   . vincent is almost too angelic in this role  he thinks so highly of his brother  he cannot conceive of him committing the evil deeds he  s accused of . he finally comes to his senses  his girlfriend  victoria principal  is brutally shot in the back  he himself is beaten up in his home . kris kristofferson is creepily effective as aaron . he coolly denies any wrong  doing  and even gently coos and talks to vincent  s young daughter  she refers to him as  uncle aaron   even while he  s threatening her father  s life  all the while smiling  vincent and kristofferson have good contrasting chemistry with each other . bernadette peters makes an interesting appearance as a  saloon  girl who attracts aaron  s attention . this is a good    s action movie  if you can find it   it is not available on dvd yet  
the movie was watchable while nicolson was on the screen . however  i had to fight against passing out from boredom when the film depended on meryl streep to carry scenes without jack she was as bland as could be . the relationship between the characters was nothing special these characters have been portrayed before   and much better . it felt like a based  on  real  life scenario in the absolute worst sense    of daily life is boring  and not worth writing about or watching . why ephron felt her life and relationship with carl bernstein was interesting enough to write about escapes me . perhaps she wrote it as therapy   for many writers  putting an episode from their life on paper is cathartic . fine but then why anyone in hollywood felt this story was worth filming remains a mystery to me .  
this in my opinion is one of the best action movies of the     s . it not only features a great cast but is also loaded with wild shootouts and explosions that are still impressive today . the story is about a vietnam vet  kris kristofferson  being recruited by his brother  jan  michael vincent  to help clean up the criminal element in a small town and what happens when kris starts taking advantage of his position and becomes as bad as the criminals he was hired to get rid of . it  s great seeing kris play against type . bernadette peeters and victoria principal both offer great support as the respective ladies of the two male stars . jan  michael shows real movie star persona in this film . i don  t think vigilante force is on video but it occasionally shows up on tv . it  s a great flick for guys who like movies .  
you could say that the actors will make a movie  but this clearly proves that statement wrong . most of the characters in this film lack anything to hold on to . they play the part of cardboard cut outs being moved about in predictable and uninteresting ways . the story is very simple . it could be summed up in a few words  but i  ll hold back in case anyone reading does want to see this film .  br    br   i had to fast forward the parts where jack showed us how to be an obnoxious eater . i  d have to say that    of this film revolved around cooking  eating  or getting ready to eat . quite frankly  i  d rather not spend my time watching jack chew noisily with an open mouth . personally  i could have done without the footwear references and jokes that pepper the first half of the film too .  br    br   outside of my own personal dementia  the film really lacked anything worth it  s time . there were countless scenes and camera shots that felt like it was dragging . when something happens  the reactions of the characters are vague and dry .  br    br   best not to look this one up .  
i collect horror films from all over and i have seen the good and the very bad  zombie bloodbath is a low budget video . sure  the acting is bad  the storyline is basically a mix of all zombie movies thrown together and the quality is low in some spots . the thing you seem to be missing is that it  s still entertaining and really very fun . the effects range from  like someone on here has said  pasty  faced zombies that look like kiss rejects to really good ones with some amazing latex work . but the reason you buy a movie with a title like this is for the gore and this film is amazing in that area . the effects are very good for such a small film . someone called it a party movie and it is .     fun party movie . i have heard from various websites that this is actually a  rough cut  of the film that got general release but the actual  director  s cut  is coming on dvd and it is very nice quality . i will buy it and judge for myself .  br    br   story is basically a nuclear power plant goes bad and makes zombies . the gov  t closes it down  hides the story and sanctions houses to be built over it . some of the plant is still underground and these undead come up and attack the area . a few actors do a great job  there  s some pretty straight social commentary that is insightful and true  good music  great lighting  some effective suspense and tons of blood and sick gore . one guy gets attacked and ripped from the lower area all the way up  if you know what i mean . then his guts are shoved out of his mouth . another is torn in half like in day of the dead and they did a great job of that effect . there are a million gore gags and it  s almost all action . i say stop being a prude  enjoy life and get more movies like zombie bloodbath and meat market . two great undead epics .  br    br   ok  update    i just got the dvd set and here is what i thought  br    br   much better picture quality and for once i was able to see the actual director  s cut of the film and it is a much better movie . i liked it before  but now i can see what todd sheets was actually trying to do with this one . and the commentary helps too  hearing sheets talk about the film in detail  he knows it  s a trashy zombie movie  but he does show respect to all people involved . also  sheets has a great sense of humor and some humble integrity that others could learn from in the movie field . the behind the scenes of zombie bloodbath is pretty fun as well . i felt it was almost as entertaining as the film it was made for . there are some great interviews and behind the scenes footage  mixed with news stories about the film from some major places like cnn  fox and mtv . over all  a fun little film that is very rough around the edges  but still had me laughing and enjoying the ride  i have seen many dv films  and some shot of video films  and many are quite dull  but this one really wasn  t . while newer dv films are technically superior  they just aren  t this much fun   br    br   ps  i heard they are now remaking this on a big budget     
this is the third parody of the scary movies and hopefully the last . this time the spoof is mainly on the ring  signs and  mile for some weird reason . in my opinion this movie was very pointless and unnecessary and not even funny . i laughed maybe three times and that is not enough for a comedy . i really enjoyed the first two but this one was just plain dumb . if your jokes consist of corpses getting beat up and people constantly throwing stuff at each other then this movie is for you . in my opinion  if your smart enough stay at home and save your money and please stop making these kind of movies  they just keep getting worse     .  
great drama with all the areas covered except for screenlay which was too slow and should have shown more relevant scenes like pitt  s character interviewing the president  or pitt getting murdered instead of just having it described to us . scenes like those would have kept the audience awake . cutting away some useless minutes could have made more room for more heartpounding scenes like those . the dragging of the film kept this one from all time greatness although to see pitt here makes the film so worth watching . also  big fans of fising  early   th century styles and montana will really like this as well . . . . . . . .  
this movie isn  t very good . it  s boring  and not much blood for a horror film . the plot just trods along with not much happening . and i think the female vampire was so stupid . she had many chances to kill the vampire hunters since it shows her having lighting like reflexes . but  whenever she has one of them pinned  she just takes her time and something always happens where she doesn  t bite them . no wonder this went straight to cable .  br    br   final verdict not anywhere near as good as the first vampire movie . you  re a sucker if you waste your time on this .  
my room  mate ordered this one off of the web a while back and i finally got around to watching it . it is gross . it is cheezy . it is pretty dumb . . . but it is also a lot of fun . i mean  this was the most fun we have had watching a movie like this since  city of the walking dead  ages ago . it was like being at the old drive  in theater again  you could tell the guy who made this movie liked all the horrible dubbed zombie movies . this one has all the cliches and tricks from those films rolled into one  and it  s neat because it is suppose to be like that . the cheeze factor is high  the gore flows and the laughs roll  the effects go from sloppy to good  with the one where the guy gets torn in half and the one where a guy gets his heart shoved through his chest both being excellent  the acting goes from terrible to actually pretty good . there is not much plot  just lots and lots of gore . this one is patterned after the zombie movies from italy and spain i think  because they linger on the gross scenes forever  like this movie . if you like troma movies  cheezy b  grade stuff  then you can do no wrong watching this one . a nice way to waste a friday night   
well . . . i was going to wait till this came out on video to see it  and i wish i had  i actually caught scary movie  on cable the other day  and it made me yearn for more of the same  what i got was airplane on crack . . . i mean if you like airplane or any other leslie nielsen vehicles  then you  ll probably be in heaven  but if your used to the usually wayans comedy  then you will be dissapointed  there was alot more eye candy in this one which will keep young hormone raged teenage boys happy  which is probably why it was a box office hit the first week it came out . i enjoyed scary movie  ten times more then this fodder  and part one  times as much . odd that the better of the  is part   but then again i always liked halloween  better then the original as well . . maybe its just me . the funniest part of the movie has to be the way the aliens say goodbye . but that wasnt worth the   dollars i spent to catch a matinee of this with my fiance . save yourself cash and catch part  again on cable till this is released on video tape  and then rent it  dont buy it .  
i swear  that zombie was killed like twice  and kept coming back . i gave this movie an  . let  s face it folks  this is exactly what the other reviewers are saying  i . e .  a  handy  cam   shot film . hey  hey  hey  welcome to total indy film making . the fact that todd sheets got over    zombies to appear in this movie is a tribute to his talents . yes  the story has gaps  yes  we see the same zombies over and over again  but who really cares  take it for what it is  a fun and gory horror film  one to share with your buds  or to gross out the people you really care about lol . mellow out people  i suppose you all liked hunks of garbage like  titanic  or  twister  instead . peace  and support independent film making     
hollywood does it again . lots of money  no creativity . i  m sure the writers were on something other than oxygen when they wrote this one . based on the previews  i thought that this would be a funny movie . but if you are not up on the latest stupid pop culture then you  ll miss most of the silly humor in this movie . why waste your time . you can sit on a log doing nothing and have more fun than this movie will provide .  br    br    
i have to admit to enjoying bad movies . i love them i watch all of them . horror especially . my friends and i all gather after a hard week at school and work  rent some crazy tapes  order a pizza and have a blast . this one had a great box  so i was expecting less than usual .  br    br   the story is about a housing project that is built over a nuclear facility that has had the above  ground layers bulldozed  and the other underground layers are simply covered up . the inhabitants of this neighborrhood find the covered up facility when some kids fall into a hole inside a cave . this wakes up some zombies .  br    br   from this point on  it  s chunk  city . the gore effects and action never stop until the end credits roll .  br    br   ok  it  s not great art  but this one  with its in  joke dialogue and over  the  top gruesome stuff was our favorite of the evening . actually  it was one of the best  party tapes  i have ever had the pleasure of watching . and you could tell it was done on no money  with a bunch of crazy people . there are hundreds of zombies  and the director looks like brendan frazer  he has a cameo  and it is just a wild trip .  
scary movie  isn  t as funny as its predecessors but its still has its funny moments . it all begins when roving reporter cindy campbell sets out to find a hard news story in the middle of television sweeps . she soon uncovers an outrageous onslaught of globe  threatening developments including alien invaders  killer videotapes  freaky crop circles and much more . faced with conspiracies of massive proportions  and a crew of very strange people following her around  cindy must fight to stop evil from taking over the world yet again . the plot is a non  issue here as the first two were pretty much plot less . this time around they focus on signs  the ring  matrix reloaded and  mile as well as many others just not as much as the previously mentioned ones . the first one was imo one of the funniest films i have ever seen . the second one wasn  t as good but still quite funny . the third one is mildly enjoyable but its nothing special . let  s just say that i didn  t mind seeing it once but i probably wouldn  t want to see it again . the jokes are either hit or miss and the ones that are funny usually involve charlie sheen . the lame ones usually involve anthony anderson as he is very overrated . why he keeps getting cast is unclear because he isn  t funny . anna faris gives a funny performance and she  s also kind of underrated . simon rex shows some potential as he actually wasn  t so bad . regina hall also returns as brenda and she gives a pretty funny performance . the rest of the cast were pretty much a bunch of cameos . jenny mccarthy and pamela anderson probably had the funniest scene out of all the cameos . their in the opening sequence spoofing the ring and that scene turns out to be on of the more enjoyable ones in the film . denise richards  queen latifah  camryn manheim and many others also have cameos . david zucker directs and while this isn  t another airplane  it  s also not another my boss  s daughter either . its pointless to really analyze a straight comedy as the main thing that people want to know if its funny or not . like i said before if you do like it  you probably won  t really like it that much . in the end  i found it a bit disappointing as the pg    rating kind of weaken it but it can still be enjoyed . rating  .      
  br    br   i have to admit to enjoying bad movies . i love them i watch all of them . horror especially . my friends and i all gather after a hard week at school and work  rent some crazy tapes  order a pizza and have a blast . one of the ones we got at hollywood video  was this one  zombie bloodbath . this one had a great box  so i was expecting less than usual .  br    br   the story is about a housing project that is built over a nuclear facility that has had the above  ground layers bulldozed  and the other underground layers are simply covered up . the inhabitants of this neighborhood find the covered up facility when some kids fall into a hole inside a cave . this wakes up some zombies .  br    br   from this point on  it  s chunk  city . the gore effects and action never stop until the end credits roll .  br    br   ok  it  s not great art  but this one  with it  s in  joke dialogue and over  the  top gruesome stuff was our favorite of the evening . actually  it was one of the best  party tapes  i have ever had the pleasure of watching . and you could tell it was done on no money  with a bunch of crazy people . there are hundreds of zombies  and the director looks like brendan frazer  he has a cameo  and it is just a wild trip .  
  br    br    step aside for hollywood veterans    the wayan brothers were  asked   thats what hollyweird demanded and thats what it got . however  like so many of its recent decisions this one was a stupendous mistake .  br    br   the director is so out of touch with todays audience  attempting to bring back physical pratfalls and gags in place of funny dialogue is just a disaster . i knew it  the audience knew it and the cast knew it .  br    br   what a shame  why did they ever consider changing directors  not only that but the two wayan brothers played as two of four primary characters  without them its just a farce and a sad one .  br    br   sp  br    br    
i originally reviewed this film on amazon about  or  years ago  and blasted it . i believe i called it  wretched  and a  turkey .  okay  well  by most standards  it  s still a turkey . it  s got almost no production values  what little plot there is makes almost no sense  and the acting is on the level of a third  grade play . that said  this has really grown on me over the years as a sort of camp classic . in fact  all of director todd sheets  films have had this effect . they  re almost like ed wood in that regard watch them over and over and pick out the flubbed lines  continuity errors  same zombie  two different locations    and other flaws .  br    br   i  ll say this sheets is a very nice guy  and while this  one of his first productions  isn  t that great  he has gotten better . and i must add that the only really decent actor  actress in the film is kasey rousch  though i may be biased  as i attended school with her .  
scary movie  is such a stinkfest its hard to put it in words . it makes movies like malibu  s most wanted look like oscar material  lets just say that .  br    br   the original scary movie was great fun  one of the better   s spoof movies  coming from a great team who previously rocked our world with dont be a menace to south central whilst drinking your juice in the hood . but what the hell happened   after the tragedy that was scary movie   i thought the cast and crew change would help matters  but its even worse .  br    br   within   mins i  d smiled twice . not one laugh  the jokes were recycled and originality was obviously no factor . the fact that at this point in writing  the majority of people on this site have voted it      has made me feel physically ill . when there  s great flicks like school of rock out  which actually have jokes that are gasp funny  anyone wasting their money on tripe like this needs their head examined .  br    br   no stars    
zombie bloodbath is a movie made by zombie fans for zombie fans with a true love of the horror genre . as i understand it from the commentary and things i have read  it was made during the huge midwest flood of     when half of missouri was underwater . buildings were under water . cars and houses were underwater . one article said that zombies and the crew from this movie would help sandbag the river after shooting each day . the fact this movie got made at all is a miracle . it is like a huge mashing of every zombie movie ever made put through a troma filter . it is a party movie to enjoy with friends who like loads of splatter and goofy characters . and it is fast paced and energetic and really funny .  br    br   a toxic spill accident in a nuclear power facility causes people to melt down or turn into zombies . the local government covers it up  tears down the factory and builds houses over it . some ground shifting    causes a cave opening to develop and some new residents find the cave and unleash the undead on the newly built community . from there it just gets crazy and gory and fun .  br    br   i have read these reviews on here a few times . and it seems obvious to me that the same person attacked this fun little movie three times as a different reviewer  using fake names . they use the same words and sentences . zombie bloodbath is cheap . it is raw . it has some bad acting . so does half the movies made . there is much much worse out there than this fun movie . if you hate this film so much  don  t buy it . there is no need for personal attacks and to call the crew or cast  trailer trash .  and it is obvious you are not from australia or england . it is just upsetting that this great service  the imdb does not catch people using it just to trash others . there are bad reviews and good reviews  and i don  t mind those . i give both bad and good reviews myself . but it is painfully obvious that some fool just wants to use this forum to personally attack the director of this movie . sad .  br    br   some of these so called  reviewers  even basically sue their  review  just to promote their own movies . one called this film boring  well  love it or hate it  one thing you can never say about this film is that it is boring . it moves fast and never has a dull spot .  br    br   oh and this reviewer from the netherlands    um  liar . you tried to post this same review at amazon and it got yanked there . the same review only it said it was from missouri .  br    br   this nonsense has to stop . love it or hate it  give it a real review or type nothing . it is obvious you have not seen the films .  br    br   but for the record  i have and though this one is not nearly the best that i have seen  it is far from the worst . and even the worst i would give an actual revoew and would not attack the director personally .  br    br   hope this review helps some people see through the stupidity going on here .  
scary movie        was a bad idea to begin with . the last film was a mediocre effort . put it next to this load  it  s a comedy classic . whilst part two was filled with a lot of dated humor and cheap shots  at least it was funny . there  s nothing funny about forced humor . jokes  pratfalls and sight gags are supposed to be naturally funny . hitting the viewer over the head with tired jokes is not cool . the humor in this film was caters to juvenile imbeciles who  ll laugh at anything . when they catered to the junior high school crowd  any sense of self respect was tossed out the window . ring parodies are not funny . i have watched them in comedies since     . they  re so dated . michael jackson jokes are not cool either . what  s even worse is making fun of two broken down has been  performers  whose best days were never .  br    br   the death of american cinema has been a slow one . films like this are the nails that are being pounded into it  s coffin . whatever happened to real humor  i haven  t laughed out loud in a movie theater in a long time . too many bad movies rot the brain . you want proof  go to your local mega chain video rental store and see what  s on the shelves . this movie is bad . don  t believe the hype . i would rather watch scary movie  in a continuous loop than to suffer through this poor excuse of a comedy ever again   br    br   definitely not recommended  unless you have a handful of brain cells  .  
just got my copy of this dvd two disc set and while not perfect  i found the overall experience to be a fun way to waste some time . i have to say right up front that i am a huge fan of zombie movies  and i truly think that the fine people who made these films must be too . i also have a soft spot for people who are trying  sometimes against all odds  to live a dream . and again  these people are doing it . is this some award  winning collection of amazing film  no . not even close . but for what they do on their meager budgets  these films should be recommended . for me  the bottom line is always  was i entertained  did i have a good time with this movie  and here the answer to both was  yes .  the first in the series is also the most raw . it opens with some kind of accident at a nuclear facility and people melt down or something . cut to some years later and a new housing community is built over the old reactor site . some kids making a video fall into a hole and find themselves trapped in the bottom levels of the facility . they get rescued  but the hole is not sealed and the people from the opening start lumbering out of the hole . soon  the whole town is overtaken by the undead . and these zombies are fun . they go from cool rot makeup to the cheapest slap on white  face ever  but they are fun . the whole movie culminates in a showdown between the final survivors of the area and the undead  with our heroes going into the reactor  s lower levels to take out the flesh eating zombies and seal the hole forever  pretty cheesy  but i think it was meant to be . still  it moves very fast  has buckets of gruesome effects and really tries to have some style . the acting is uneven  but a few good performances shine through and one really should listen to the commentary track . i went back and watched it again with that on and found it to be a good bit of information on the trials and fun that the crew and cast experienced on the movie . director todd sheets seems pretty proud of this  his first film  but also has no delusions . he knows it  s a trashy zombie movie  but he does show respect to people involved . also  sheets has a great sense of humor and some humble integrity that others could learn from in the movie field . the behind the scenes of zombie bloodbath is pretty fun as well . i felt it was almost as entertaining as the film it was made for . there are some great interviews and behind the scenes footage  mixed with news stories about the film from some major places like cnn  fox and mtv . over all  a fun little film that is very rough around the edges  but still had me laughing and enjoying the ride  i have seen many dv films  and some shot of video films  and many are quite dull  but this one really wasn  t . while newer dv films are technically superior  they just aren  t fun  overall  this is a solid  if a bit flawed  release with plenty of extras and tons of gore and splatter . while not breaking any grand rules of move making  i found the series to be fun and always a laugh  so i give this set a solid recommendation . todd sheets was not trying to make award winning art here folks  he was trying  sometimes against all odds it seems  to make fun zero budget  splattery horror and to that end  he has succeeded in spades .  
this was thought to be the flagship work of the open source community  something that would stand up and scream at the worlds media to take notice as we  re not stuck in the marketing trap with our options in producing fine work with open source tools . after the basic version download  die hard fan here on a dial  up modem  eventually got here i hit my first snag . media player  mplayer classic  winamp failed to open it on my xp box  and then totem  xine  kaffeine failed to open it on my suse server . mplayer managed to run it flawlessly . going to be hard to spread the word about it if normal users cant even open it . . .  br    br   the film . beautiful soundtrack  superb lighting  masterful camera work and flawless texturing . everything looked real . and then the two main characters moved . . . . and spoke . . . and the movie died for me . everything apart from the lip syncing and the actual animation of the two main characters  except for proog in the dancing scene  looked fluid and totally alive . the two main characters were animated so poorly that at times i was wondering if there are any games on the market at the moment with cut  scenes that entail less realism than this .  br    br   any frame in the movie is fantastic . . as a frame  and the thing is great if neither actors are moving . i  m so glad i haven  t actually recommended this to anyone . i  d ruin my reputation .  br    br   oh  and final fantasy had a more followable and cunningly devised plot .  br    br   this movie would get   stars if it wasn  t for the tragedy that sits right there on the screen .  
so  todd sheets once stated that he considers his      shot  on  video z  epic  zombie bloodbath to be his first feature film . anyone who  s ever seen a little beauty called zombie rampage knows exactly how untrue that statement is . i mean  what makes this one that much more superior  well  then again  zombie rampage doesn  t include that mullet guy  now does it   br    br   for one to comprehend exactly why zombie bloodbath is actually considered worth a damn  one must remember what the    s were like for lovers of bad horror . a decade that all but said goodbye to b and z  cinema as we knew it . technological advances  awkward trends  and the internet would abolish the mysterious charms of the s . o . v .  s big  boxed golden years . and anything remotely resembling quality schlock was all too self  aware for it  s own good  basically defeating the purpose . luckily  not everyone changes with the times . enter zombie bloodbath .  br    br   and i guess this is the part where i explain the same exact premise from    other zombie flicks from the last   years . alright  so  some kind of accident at a nuclear plant infects everyone in sight  turning them into flesh  eating zombies  who go on a rampage  inflicting some of the most gruesome  yet humorous gore  scenes of the    s . the first   minutes are cluttered with the most awkward  sounding conversations you could imagine . conversations that let you know that this isn  t just a low  budget zombie flick  this is a z  grade disasterpiece  fella . plenty hysterical  non  existent acting to go around  and that goes triple for mr . mullet . that guy is truly the highlight of the night .  br    br   the fact that todd sheets seriously considers zombie bloodbath to be that superior to zombie rampage  amuses me to no end . i mean really  both are complete jokes on celluloid  but then again  so is redneck zombies  so  obviously todd sheets is in the company of awsomeness . by      a movie this bad would no doubt  be a full  blast spoof  but mr . sheets stands his ground  giving us some good old fashion schlock  the way it was meant to be  unaware  clueless  and pointless . god bless todd sheets . for anyone seeking surprisingly worthwhile    s b  horror  leif jonker  s darkness should be at the top of your list . as for zombie bloodbath  if you  re a gorehound who got bored sometime around      then    would be the perfect time to pick up .      
as said before  the visual effects are stunning . they  re breathtaking . i personally use blender and graphics like that are not easy at all . but that  s all this movie is . not only is the plot confusing  but the overall conflict is not clear . for example  in the first scene  proog and emo are trying to run away from who knows what . the conflict seems to be between man and nature here . later  when they enter the room of the bottomless pit  proog explains that  one step out of place and  you  re dead   . here  there  s a more precise conflict between the careless man and nature . as the movie progresses  it  s clear that a conflict exists between man and nature . but suddenly  a conflict exists between man and man when proog  out of nowhere  murders emo . proog immediately changes from being a caring guardian looking after a lost child to being a  sick man  . he betrays us . not only is this depressing  but we don  t care because the conflict between the character  s thoughts and actions is not developed . it  s not a story about someone  through struggle  emerging stronger . it  s depressing and has not point because there  s no great truth about the human soul or about the world brought to light like a great drama does . in my opinion  the movie is severely underdeveloped in all aspects . however  the graphics are stunning  but a movie is so much more than mere eye candy . there  s no truth  no struggle and a bad surprise ending . in conclusion  an underdeveloped movie without a point . . . . but the graphics are good .  
a meltdown at a nuclear power plant causes a majority of people to turn into lethal  rot  faced  shambling zombies who naturally go on a grisly rampage . a ragtag handful of uninfected folks do their best to survive this grueling ordeal . director  co  writer  producer todd sheets displays an appealingly sincere love and passion for go  straight  for  the  throat lively and gruesome horror fare he maintains an unflagging snappy pace throughout  fills the screen with wall  to  wall crazy action  and thankfully keeps the terrible dialogue to a pleasing minimum . moreover  sheets certainly doesn  t skimp on the gloriously graphic and excessive over  the  top splatter this picture delivers a tasty truckload of flesh melting  evisceration  lots of gut munching  one dude has his heart yanked out  and there  s even a nice impalement on a tree branch . sheets earns bonus points for keeping the tone grim and nasty to the literal bitter end  for example  almost all of the main characters wind up becoming zombie chow  . granted  this flick has its fair share of flaws the ragged editing  several ham  fisted attempts at pathos  and the largely awful acting from a rank no  name cast all leave a good deal to be desired . top thespic honors go to the pretty and perky kasey rausch for her winningly spunky portrayal of the resourceful daria trumillio . frank dunlay likewise does well as rugged take  charge army veteran ralph walsh . best of all  sheets  sure grasp of an infectiously slambang sense of unrelenting headlong momentum and obvious affinity for the horror genre ensure that this remains a total blast to watch from start to finish .  
well  i was excited at first to download an animated open source movie  only to be ruined by a demo reel . the animation is excellent  the lip syncing is awful  and you keep watching the movie hoping to understand what  s going on  only to realize nothing is going on . you feel no emotion for the characters  only pity for the creators for wasting their time . i have seen short films with twice the emotion in half the time  this could of been an excellent short film  if they had just taken the time to hire a real director . i  m sure everyone over at blender is excited to showcase their software and its rendering capabilities  but sorry guys  story telling is what makes a movie .  
will all of you please lay the hell off todd sheets    let  s give you        to make a movie and see what you come up with  the guy got    zombies and a regular cast to work for free  sure the acting is laughable at times . yes the make  up is not greatest you  ll ever see . but it  s not the worst either  if you want to see that  go watch zombie nation with it  s raccoon zombies .  br    br   this is pure  good old fashioned guerilla film  making  todd is a consummate professional  and an all around nice guy . there are holes in the plot  yes . the plot does seem far  fetched . but what the hell  i still love this movie . i wish todd sheets would come out of hiding and do the remake of this that he was going to . if anyone has ever tried to make a movie  they know that just finishing it  is an achievement in and of itself .  
elephants dream was supposed to be the flagship project of the open source community . and while it was a very interesting idea in concept  in reality it has failed miserably .  br    br   the film is beautifully rendered  which is probably the only redeeming factor . a huge problem with them  however  is the vast overruse of light bloom . it  s horrible  although i guess it helps give the film a dreamlike quality .  br    br   one thing to note is the terrible voice acting . while proog  s voice actor is at least semi  competent  emo  s voice actor is horrible . i guess when you have a budget that basically amounts to zero  you can  t afford to hire real voice actors . to me it seems like they hired one of the animators to do his voice .  br    br   as a whole  the movie doesn  t really go anywhere . to me it seems like it  s more of a  look what we can do  kind of movie instead of a real film . the plot goes nowhere and fails at really showing any interesting point . the whole movie feels like it was made as an excuse to make interesting looking areas .  br    br   overall  it may be worth a quick download from the official site  but don  t expect anything except pretty graphics .  
this film was just brilliant  casting  location scenery  story  direction  everyone  s really suited the part they played  and you could just imagine being there  robert redford  s is an amazing actor and now the same being director  norman  s father came from the same scottish island as myself  so i loved the fact there was a real connection with this film  the witty remarks throughout the film were great  it was just brilliant  so much that i bought the film as soon as it was released for retail and would recommend it to everyone to watch  and the fly  fishing was amazing  really cried at the end it was so sad  and you know what they say if you cry at a film it must have been good  and this definitely was  also congratulations to the two little boy  s that played the part  s of norman and paul they were just brilliant  children are often left out of the praising list i think  because the stars that play them all grown up are such a big profile for the whole film  but these children are amazing and should be praised for what they have done  don  t you think  the whole story was so lovely because it was true and was someone  s life after all that was shared with us all .  
hi folks  br    br   forget about that movie . john c . should be ashamed that he appears as executive producer in the credits . bon jovi has never been and will never be an actor and the fx are a joke .  br    br   the first vampires was good . . . and it was the only vampires . this thing here just wears the same name .  br    br   just a waste of time thinks . . .  br    br   jake scorpio  
this was the best bonnie and clyde movie i have seen . it has more accurate accounts of what happened and while it doesnt glorify their crimes it casts the pair in a normal light . i give this movie a   . it has great actors  realistic scenes and excellent writers .  
if i were to create a movie thermometer  this movie would be absolute zero . out of ten stars  i would rate it as follows  br    br   plot zero stars video quality zero stars sound quality zero stars acting zero stars  br    br   it is as though high school students got together one afternoon with a camera  made up a plot and shot a movie . it is so lacking in any artistic value that i  d rather watch kids walking around a high school than watch this movie .  br    br   however  something is to be said for the abysymal depths . the  shootout  in the staircase is one of the most train  wreck funny scenes ever . first of all  the combatants simply wave plastic guns at each other  jerking their arms back and forth to simulate recoil . the pair actually  duck  each other  s non  existent bullets . no squibs  no sparks  no blanks  just waving spraypainted squirtguns around . if you want to see two grown men play  actor   give it a spin someday . . . after you have cleaned the fridge  combed the carpet  polished all of the doorknobs  raked the gravel  straightened the books on the shelf  etc .  
this is one of those movies that you happen across when you  re channel surfing on a saturday afternoon  and you get drawn into it and end up watching the whole thing . i thought that it was well acted and it really made me feel for the characters . though it  s a bit slow moving  focusing more on the relationships between bonnie and clyde and their family members  it never got boring . we don  t really see too much of all the robberies that they were so legendary for  and instead most of the shootouts take place when they  re ambushed by the police . i thought tracey needham  who played bonnie  really did a good job with her character . going from a nice country girl to a cold  blooded killer is a challenging thing to portray  and i enjoyed the subtlety she brought to the role .  br    br   overall  an above average effort  especially considering it was a made for tv movie .  
i  ll start by apologizing to filmmakers everywhere for using the terms  filmmaker    film   or  movie  in connection with this  but  criminal  and  crime against humanity  seem a bit harsh .  br    br   the writing pathetic .  br    br   the directing pathetic .  br    br   the acting pathetic .  br    br   the cinematography too inept for words .  br    br   the technical skills used to assemble this atrocity none whatsoever .  br    br   this lump of waste could hardly be called cinema . the majority of family home movies come closer to earning that distinction than revenge quest . no  this is just a   car pile  up caught on video .  br    br   we  ll skip the plot in this review  because there are far too many holes to be covered at once . let  s just say that it stinks worse than the rest of this movie . to call the acting one  dimensional would be giving them credit . what little there is  is atrocious to begin with  and made much worse by the terrible video and editing .  br    br   the worst part of this atrocity  though  apart from the plot  would have to be the effects . . . or rather the disturbing lack thereof . there are no blanks in the guns  no flashpots  and what few sound effects existed were either stock  gun  sounds  or they were generated by mouth  yeah  you read that right  . the filmmaker actually had the audacity to record a  shh  sound for the elevator doors i guess he felt it made them sound more futuristic . this is supposed to be set in the year      after all . that doesn  t explain the sounds he created by mouth for the fist  fight scenes  however .  br    br   if it wasn  t bad enough that the sound quality is terrible  he just used the microphone that was mounted on the video camera  and it shows   the use of stock gun sounds was almost worse than not using any sounds at all . the sound effects stand out from the rest of the soundtrack like a drunken yak in a herd of sheep  and they  re just as clumsy . picture this the bad guy enters an office building searching for his prey . a lady starts to run in fear . he raises his gun  an uzi   and shakes it . we hear a sound that is clearly not an uzi . the woman runs away from camera  and suddenly a single blood pack  only   explodes on her back  looked like she was hit by a paintball   and she falls flat on her face .  br    br   bear in mind that my description does far too much justice to the ineptitude of the actual sequence .  br    br   in another sequence  one which almost  but not quite  makes the movie funny enough to watch  takes place in a stairwell . the bad guy chases the good guy and the lady he  s protecting down the stairs  shaking his plastic uzi all the way . you may wish to duck there are badly timed sound effects flying all over the place .  br    br   i supposed alan deherrera can  t be locked away for conceiving of this train wreck  but he did follow through all the way to editing and releasing it . if there  s any justice  there  s bound to be some karma out there with his name on it .  br    br   should you decide to watch this lump of industrial waste  and i would strongly advise against it  be sure to watch for the entire scenes lifted nearly verbatim from bladerunner  and the am radio that doubles as a walkie  talkie . try not to focus too hard on the plot it will only hurt you more if you do .  br    br    stars of   . and that  s being generous .  
i used to watch this show as a child  and i loved it  i watched it when it came on toonami years ago . . . . sheesh  i sound so old  i must  ve been   or   when it came on . . . but anyways  it had a great plot line  and i  m one of those girlie  girls who watched  and adored  sailormoon  and i enjoyed it very much . the animation wasn  t the best . . . . quite amusing in some parts  actually  and the voice acting was extremely lame in the beginning  but it was all a good watch  and i found myself sucked into it day after day .  br    br   samurai troopers  ronin warriors is a classic  and an all  time one of my faves . go ryo      
i just have to add  in case anyone actually reads this and hasn  t completely gotten the point yet . these other reviewers aren  t joking around  this really is the worst colour movie you  re likely to ever see . when the movie started i couldn  t believe something like this actually made it out for the world to see .  br    br   they  re not just saying it when they said it looks like a home movie . it really does . like the  director  took the family hi  camcorder  before dv cameras and computer non  linear editing   no other equipment  lights  sound gear  etc   grabbed some decent  looking acting students  and went out to shoot a movie . no script  just making it up as he went along .  br    br   when i watched it  it was on my mono tv  so i only have one channel of audio  left of right speaker  . at first i thought i  d hooked it up wrong . the movie was silent until someone spoke a couple of minutes in . i got up and switched over to the other channel and suddenly i could hear music and sound effects but then couldn  t hear the dialog . they recorded the sound on different bloody channels  i mean  there  s movies that can be funny to watch  so bad they  re good  kind of thing . i  m not sure this is one of those . i mean  i  ll admit to being a bit of a budding film maker . and seeing bad movies just makes you want to go out there and prove you can do it better  you know . but watching this just made me feel sorry for whoever made it .  br    br   as bad as they were  the actors are the only good thing about this . i thought the chick was hot and was disappointed in the brevity of her bath scene . a bit of t and a from her would have raised the score from nothing to maybe a  or  . but alas  no . if you want to make a movie but it  s turning out crap  throw in some gratuitous nudity . worked for roger corman .  
since i am so interested in lake monsters i really dug this movie . this movie is worth a see . if you like the so awful they are good types of films check it out . the effects are really good as well just think  land of the lost  . i originally watched this movie in the early    s maybe more like      on a local channel monster show called  morgus presents  . i didn  t scare me but i was  and anything b felt more like an a . years later i seen it on dvd at a local circuit city and bought it immediately so i can give it a  because it has a personal spot in my heart right there with the monster squad and gremlins . good b movie fun for all ages .  
another fine effort by america  s most underrated filmmaker . his knowledge on the subject of racism is staggering  and impresses me on more than one level . accusations that lee is really just a devious little racist  a poisonous dwarf who opportunistically exploits hollywood  s affirmative action system to make movies of inferior quality is utter nonsense  mere right  wing propaganda . the very notion that lee would resort to misusing the current climate of political correctness in america in order to produce hate  filled anti  white movies is simply false and malicious .  br    br   some of lee  s detractors even go so far as to suggest that gotb glorifies african  americans  while putting down other races obviously  another falsehood disseminated by people who are against peaceful co  existence between different races in america and elsewhere .  br    br   my favourite scene in the movie is a lengthy dialogue early on between the rich black republican and the others in the bus . the views presented by that man are simply wrong  all across the board .     untrue . he lacks education  unlike the brilliantly informed guys who quite deservedly throw him off the bus .  br    br   terrific performances  and an intelligent script make for a viewing experience that has been rarely rivaled by any political movies made since .  br    br   i also want to point out the incessant lies that the million  man march had only       people taking part in it   br    br    and now all you have to do is take the antonyms of all the words written in capital letters . . .   br    br   so what message does lee send here  if someone doesn  t agree with your political views  you simply apply violence and throw him off the bus . i thought the movie said  get on the bus  . . .   br    br   apparently  mr . lee is for bus  segregation after all  i . e . is no different than those kkk lunatics before him the bus is only for those blacks who are in line with the democratic party  s line of thinking . so much for  freeing the slaves  . . .  br    br   the end  credits  this movie was entirely financed by black people .  and distributed and marketed by a major hollywood studio run by jews and whites whom farrakhan despises . . .  
a meteor drops from the sky and reawakens a plesiosaur that long ago used to terrorize the area around crater lake . as the monster eats the locals they try and find away of killing the monster .  br    br   recent attempts at sending up old horror and science fiction films like lost skeleton of cadavra and alien trespass are kind of rendered moot when you have films like crater lake monster available for screening . it  s the sort of film that those films spoof and send up only this is the real deal . its everything those films try to be only with out the tongue in cheek and its so much more fun because of it . this is a real drive  in sort of film that had the unfortunate luck of coming just as star wars changed the way we look at special effects . the monster  a mix of stop motion and a life size head  is a charmingly quaint little beast . the filmmakers spoil the audience with frequent shots of the monster and its mayhem . sure its clear that its all fake  but isn  t movies about suspension of disbelief  actually i think its about really cool monsters  which this has .  br    br   i like this movie in a low budget drive in sort of a way . if you want a real authentic drive in monster movie look no farther . this would be perfect for a double or triple feature with similar lake monster films  boggy creek etc .   
this movie is a modest effort by spike lee . he is capable of much more than this movie . get on the bus while apparenly anti racist  does nothing but berate whites and degrade the black status quo . the plot of this movie is about a group of black men who travel on a bus to louis farrakhan  s million man march . the bus has every type of person you could imaginegay  muslim  gangbanger and the uncle tom  he is thrown off the bus though  . there was one only white person on the bus . he was accused of being a racist the minute he got on the bus to drive . despite him being a jew and the fact that he explained is situation he ended up being a racist and leaving the bus . i hate to say it but films like this need to realize their own hipocracy and rienforcation of steryotypes . this should not be seen as a triumph but a sad dissapointment . you may think i am a racist for writing this but i mean well . better luck next time spike .  
c  mon people  look at the title  lol  i remember seeing this movie on saturday late night creature features years ago . it  s a great  cheesy monster flick with hilariously bad acting and two wonderfully moronic hillbillies that add to the schlock factor . the  redneck boat rental guys are the movie  lol  and you  ll love the boat scene where the english guy and his wife are talking about all the stars and it  s midday and sunny . bloody hilarious    you can tell they just didn  t care about plot  they just wanted to blow through the filming of the movie as fast as possible . bottom line  you  ll love it if you love    s schlock .  
they  re showing this on some off  network . it  s well crap . while it is not as bad as the b  movies they show on the sci  fi network on saturdays but still a fairly large pile of crap . the acting is passable . the plot and writing are fairly sub  standard and the pacing is entirely too slow . every minute of the movie feels like the part of the movie where they  re wrapping things up before the credits  not the peak of the movie  the denouement . also  large portions of the cast look way to old for the age range they  re playing . the whole thing is predictable  boring and not worthy of being watched . save your time . it  s not even worth the time it takes to watch it for free .  
one of my all  time favorite so  laughably  lousy  that  it  s  totally  lovable el cheapo and stinko nickel  n  dime independent horror creature features  an enjoyably dreadful marvel that was released by the formidably fecund exploitation outfit crown international pictures so it could play numerous crappy double bills at countless drive  ins back in the    s and eventually wound up being rerun like crazy on several small  time secondary cable stations throughout the    s . i naturally first saw this gloriously ghastly abomination on late  night television one fateful saturday evening while in my early teens and have had a deep  seated  albeit completely irrational abiding fondness for it ever since .  br    br   a meteorite falls out of the sky and crashes into the still waters of a tranquil country lake  thereby causing a heretofore dormant dinosaur egg to hatch . of course  the baby dino immediately grows into a gigantic waddling  grunting  teeth  gnashing prehistoric behemoth with goofy flippers  an extended neck and a huge mouth full of little sharp  jagged  stalagmite  like chompers . our southern  fried male cousin to the loch ness monster promptly starts chowing down on various luckless local yokel residents of a previously quiet and sleepy hillbilly resort town . it  s up to drippy stalwart sheriff richard cardella  assisted by the painfully idiotic hayseed comic relief brotherly fishing guide duo of glenn roberts and mark seigel  feisty gal pal kacey cobb and terminally insipid nerdy scientist bob hyman  to get to the bottom of things before the over  sized gluttonous jurassic throwback ruins the tourist trade by eating all the campers and fisherman that the hick hamlet makes its cash off of .  br    br   director  co  screenwriter william r . stromberg displays a wonderfully woeful and thoroughly clueless incompetence when it comes to pacing  atmosphere  taut narrative construction and especially eliciting sound  credible acting from his hopelessly all  thumbs rank amateur community theater level cast . the performances are uniformly abysmal cardella is way too bland and wooden to cut it as a solid heroic lead while the pitifully dopey redneck comic antics of roberts and seigel provoke groans of slack  jawed disbelief   you aren  t laughing with these two atrociously mugging clods so much as at them  particularly when the insufferable imbeciles discover a severed head bobbing up and down in the murky lake water . better yet  a clumsily integrated sub  plot concerning a vicious on  the  loose criminal leads to a spectacularly ham  fisted supermarket hold  up scene which degenerates into a hilariously stupid mini  massacre when a young lady shopper interrupts the stick  up artist in mid  robbery  a subsequent car chase is likewise severely bungled as well it  s so limply staged and unimpressive that one feels more relieved than scared when the monster abruptly pops up to devour the nefarious fugitive . moreover  david allen  s funky herky  jerky stop motion animation dinosaur is the authentic gnarly article  projecting a certain raw charisma  sneaky reptilian personality and overall forceful screen presence which makes all the horrendously underwhelming human characters seem like pathetically unbecoming nobody bores in comparison . and as for the rousing conclusion where the sheriff takes on our slavering beastie with a bulldozer  the operative word for this thrilling confrontation is boffo all the way .  
bad acting  bad southern accents  inconsistent cinematography  horrible script . . .  br    br   i was looking forward to this film at a recent film festival and was so discouraged after seeing it . it contains quote  unquote name talent  but they do not deliver . of course the basis for this is the uneven and uninteresting story that is told .  br    br   don  t bother  
a meteor crashes into crater lake  the heat from the impact causing a prehistoric egg to hatch .  br    br   alright  so the plot is just trash . but despite its obvious low budget  this comes across as one of the most gripping and entertaining monster  on  the  loose films in existence . there are also some good moments of humor . in an age filled so  called  monsters  which are no more than laughable men  in  rubber  suit creations or lizards dressed up in frills and forced to rip each other to pieces  cheap exploitation  style   it  s refreshing to discover that the plesiosaur in this little gem is an excellent harryhausen  style stop  motion creature .  br    br   quite a hard film to find  but it  s worth finding .  
it  s funny  when you stop and think about it fright film fans tend to a deep and abiding affection toward those who scare the daylights out of them . the texas chainsaw massacre may give us nightmares  but who among us  the faithful  didn  t feel a very real twinge of love for gunnar hansen in brutal massacre  or for ken foree  forever and ever the resolute hero of the original dawn of the dead  his cameo in the remake made me want to stand up and cheer  as did tom savini  s cameo   i kid you not . and brian halloran and . . . well  you get my drift  if not  just stand downwind . . .  . these are some of the heroes of horror . to see this many of them gathered together in a single movie is almost unheard of  at least to this degree  to my knowledge  . if only the writer  s  had been up to such a monumental task . maybe someone else  somewhere along the line  will try again . as long as it  s not another half  hearted effort  like brotherhood of blood  for instance  .  
despite its budget limitations  this is a great film  proof that effort and imagination can overcome lack of cash . the opening  in which cave  paintings seem to show how some dinosaurs at least survived into the age of human beings  is a nice red herring . after that  a meteor comes down into a lake and causes heat which  in turn  causes the hatching of a frozen dinosaur egg  maybe the cave  paintings suggest instead that this isn  t the first time such a thing has happened  . when the prehistoric beast appears  it  s a well  animated plesiosaur which is soon causing disappearances in the local area . alright  so it  s not jurassic park  but it  s still genuine entertainment for fans of monster movies .  
alright  so i  ve been dying to see this movie . stoked about the   who  s who  in horror land that are in the film . . . . well  my friend rented this  brought it over  and we started watching it . it  s supposed to be a comedy . . . . i did not smirk even once  until the   min mark .  br    br   does it have to do with the budget  not at all  in fact  there  s films out there that cost close to absolutely nothing  and they  re amazing  to me anyways  . also  while watching this film  i couldn  t help but realize the similarities  i . e .  stealing  to a low budget indie film titled   actress apocalypse   read my review about it  it destroys this film btw  .  br    br   this film . . . it had potential it really did . it had the  star power   stolen plot  lets film the behind the scenes of the making of a movie . . . ie . . .  actress apocalypse  . . . . seriously  this angers me the more and more i think about   . . . it really could  ve been funny . a lot  a lot of the jokes fall flat . the acting is alright for what it is . but it dragged on  wasn  t funny  and the plot was totally stolen .  br    br   i give this a two  because it wasn  t sooo awful  but that  s the only reason .  
for starters  i didn  t even know about this show since a year or so because of the internet . i have not once seen it on tv before in my country  and a lot of people do not usually know about this show . it is a pity though  because this is easily the most original and clever animation i have witnessed in years .  br    br   i don  t hand out   points a lot  but this is one show that truly deserves all   points . even though at first glance this might seem like a typical cartoon but keep in mind that this is not a kids  show though . when the complete story unfolds itself  you know that this is a real deep storyline  with a spiritual message . this spiritual part of the story is largely based off spirit  animals  a old indian believe that has been preserved for many years . this gives the show a original twist that you can  t often find in animated shows .  br    br   the overall design is also something very different . at times it resembles spawn a bit in terms of gritty design  and other times it takes on a more cartoony approach . i believe david feiss who also created and directed cow and chicken animated a segment in the show  as he also drew that segment in the comic  .  br    br   if you are looking for a mind  twisting show  a show that takes on various subjects such as reality  suicide  spirituality  life  then this is something you should not miss . once you begin watching  you are probably going to watch it to the end . one minor fact may be that the show takes on less material from the comic  but this is not too annoying . the only question remains though  where is the dvd    
i saw this movie a few days ago . . . what the hell was that   br    br   i like movies with brian o  halloran  they are funny and enjoyable . when i saw a name of this title and genre i thought great  this one could be really good . . . some parody for slashers or another gore movies . . . but . . then i read a preview and thought right it could be good anyway . . . but it wasn  t . . .  br    br   my opinion if like movies they look little bit like documentary  with little bit of comedy try some moore  s movies or alien autopsy  they are really about something . this one was empty .  br    br   and put a comedy to title . . . no comment . . . really bad joke  
this is one of the most beautiful films i have ever seen . the footage is extraordinary  mesmerizing at times . it also received an oscar for best photography  and deservedly so . i have many movies in my film collection and several more i  ve seen besides them  and not many of them are more beautifully or even equally as beautifully shot as this one .  br    br   it  s unique and an overall great movie . the cast is terrific and do a great job in portraying their characters . we follow their destinies with devotion  and get very emotionally attached to them . along the way  we also learn things about ourselves and our lives . i think much of this film for what it represent  and how it present it . i warmly recommend it  
first of all  jon bon jovi doesn  t seem to be in place in a vampire movie . together with the other not so interesting characters and the poor storyline the whole movie becomes predictable . if you keep that in mind and you  re a total vampire movie fan  you can have some fun with a few of the scenes . don  t expect any tarantino  style chapters here and neither an anne rice storyline .  i expect to have have forgotten the whole movie by tomorrow    
the maxx is a deep psychological introspective lightly camouflaged as a weird  out superhero story . julie winters is a  freelance social worker  in an unnamed filthy city  ridden with crime  and she and everyone she knows has a lot of issues to work through . the maxx is her friend and client  a street bum who thinks he  s a costumed superhero  or is it the other way around   br    br   the maxx is not to be missed for the artwork  the story itself  or the excellent voice work  particularly the late barry stigler  s deliciously urbane  drippingly evil voicing of the main villain  mr . gone .  br    br   if you get the chance to see this  don  t miss it .  
i really wanted to like this movie and watched all the way through thinking it had to get better . don  t get me wrong  it  s not the worst flick ever but it never lives up to it  s potential . the premise is good  the cast is great  i was especially pumped to witness the return of david naughton  and  god love  em  you can tell everyone tried their best . it just falls short over and over again .  brutal massacre  should serve as a constant reminder to filmmakers that only christopher guest can do christopher guest movies and  despite the fact he makes it look easy  you should probably just forget trying to do the same . naughton and brian o  halloran are fantastic in this and they should be seen more often . . . they are the reason this gets  stars from me . if you  re going to have the  spinal tap  of horror i suspect you might want the guy who made  spinal tap  to helm it . . . just thinking out loud there .  
  most of us at least inhabit two worlds  the real world where we are at the mercy of circumstances and the world within  the unconscious  a safe place where we can escape . . .  with those words  mr . gone introduces inside the world of  the maxx  a fascinating world where the fantasy and the reality are combined . inspired in the comic books of sam kieth   the maxx  is very faithful to the material in what it was inspired  not only in the story but also in the graphic style  that look like the pages of the comic  giving this show a surreal and unique appearance . but also  the story it  s interesting and entertaining . at moments it could turn too weird  but when you got inside it  it  s hard to get out of it . the story and the characters are wonderfully developed . the music goes perfectly with the style of the show and give it the proper atmosphere . unfortunately  like many good animated shows  this one was short  lived .  the maxx  is a must see . it  s one of my all  time favorites .  
roman polanski has made many  many movies that are unexceptional . his fame bewilders me . nothing stands out as a high point except chinatown  i haven  t seen  knife in the water  or  tess   . any contribution he  s made to film concluded more than twenty years ago his work is just embarrassing  safe and  or dull  the pianist  frantic  oliver twist  the ninth gate  pirates  .  br    br   r  s baby must have signified the end of the establishment at the time it came out . it  s lux  produced and fairly high concept for a      horror  movie  never show the baby  . but this is just misconceived horror sap . everything is arty to the point that the plot line becomes hopelessly clear very early  um  thanks for that finale  destroying title   and on a clear day you can see the twist ending coming for days . it did not sustain my interest . i find that whatever this movie might have been  it is utterly derailed by the      s version of what femininity was . farrow is such a chronic distracted  helpless waif  housewife . her frailty is oversold . . . she  s irritating in the extreme . there  s no real ideas in it . . . nothing to consider except being the mother of the devil .  br    br   the dakota is barely exploited for it eerie potential .  
the internet database lists this as a tv show . and yes  it was a series on mtv shown on the  oddities  program  after  the head  and before  aeon flux  if i recall correctly . but the version i watched this time was a vhs tape with all the episodes run together into a film without annoying credits in between or having to wait a week for the next fifteen minutes .  br    br   you have the story of the maxx  julie winters  sarah and mr . gone . the maxx is a super  hero or a bum  julie a social worker or a leopard queen  sarah a girl who should listen to less of the smiths and mr . gone a guy who can  t seem to keep his head on . and then there  s the other weird creatures . . .  br    br   i use  or  with maxx and julie  because part of the fun is trying to figure out which parts of the story are real and which are dreams . maybe they  re all real or dreams . maybe one of the characters doesn  t exist . maybe only one exists and dreams of the others . you  ll have to wait and find out .  br    br   i had the comic books before the show came out  and it was one of my favorites . the artwork was spectacular and the story was original   unlike anything you  ll find in superman or batman . it will bend your mind  and has strong adult overtones without being obscene or offensive . and the show used basically the same exact artwork  only now it moves  and the same story . . . guaranteeing that the beauty intrinsically found in the comic would be faithfully reproduced . this was the best show to appear on  oddities   hands down .  br    br   if you like comics of a darker nature or need a good mind trip  this is a show to check out . it  s  donnie darko  before there was ever such a thing .  br    br   the most astonishing thing is that this never went on to become another movie or television series  but i don  t say this in disappointment . by keeping it simple  they have sealed this movie in gold and kept it free from the blemishes brought on by successive failures .  
lesbian vampire film about a couple on holiday who are staying on the grounds of what they think is an empty manor house but is really being used as a pair of lesbian vampires . as the vampires bring in the occasional victim the couple go about their business until the two groups come crashing together .  br    br   great looking film with two very sexy women as the vampires there is nothing beyond the eye candy that they provide to recommend this cult film . yes its a sexy vampire story . no it is not remotely interesting beyond the women . to be honest there is a reason that i  ve been seeing stills of this film in horror books and magazines it looks great  but other than that . . .  br    br   for those who want to see sexy vampires only .  
i  ve read reviews of kerching on imdb  and frankly  i  ve not seen one positive review  until now . i actually like kerching . kerching is about a teenage boy named taj lewis  in order to make           for his mother  he sets up a website called rudeboy . the website offers a lot of interesting things  if only taj  and his  friends  danny and seymour can stop taj from getting exposed . i find this show quite funny and i enjoy watching it . the acting is o . k .  but it can definitely be better  the characters are funny  especially danny spooner  taj  s friend  his stupidity is what makes him funny . and taj  s other friend seymour . also carlton  the owner of the caf  e called  the chill .  we never see him  we only hear him . taj  s younger brother omar  and his older sister missy is funny too . and missy  s best friend kareesha . so many times taj  s has almost got exposed  almost . as well as the comedy  the drama in kerching such as love life and the loss of loved ones makes this programme great .  
ah  the sex  and  gore movie . it  s too bad they don  t make these anymore  unless you live in japan  . but if they all turned out like this  that is not a bad thing .  br    br   the movie basically consists of the two lovely vampires picking up  johns  along a country road  taking them home to their castle  having crazy sex with them  and then eating them  except the first victim  who they keep around for no particular reason  . things are complicated when a woman camping with her husband becomes too curious about these mysterious women she keeps seeing . it gets real ugly from here . by the end  the two vamps are in such a bloodlust that they  re eating everything in sight  and manage to let their captive victim escape . oops  so much for that secret existence .  br    br   the fact that the two vampyres don  t mind taking their clothes off and fooling around with each other is the only thing this movie has going for it . otherwise  it  s a bloody  confusing mess  why is their tomb so far away from their castle    watchable only for the scant few minutes of vampyre playtime . the only thing i got out of this movie was these two valuable bits of advice shooting lesbians will not kill them it will only turn them into vampires  and  don  t pick up hookers along a country road they are probably vampires . other than that  it really wasn  t worth my time .  
i  ve noticed that a lot of people who post on the  kerching   board seem to hate this show  which i actually find very surprising . i think it  s one of the best british kids  shows there is . it  s a shame it  s ending because it  s very funny  if a bit cheesy sometimes  and has great characters . the main character is a little like del boy  although quite a lot smarter . with his  best friends he tried to make a million pounds for his mum by starting an online business and adopting a pseudonym of  rudeboy  . his friends are seymour  who likes to cook  and danny  who is simple minded and the comic relief character  . throughout the show  some characters have left and new ones have come in  but it  s always been entertaining and improving .  
i was not nearly as smitten with this as many other reviewers . sure  it has a pair of lovely girls playing erotic  lesbian vampires . marianne morris and anulka d . play these two lovely sirens with razor teeth that run up to cars on a road out of the way  hitch to their home  at dusk   and invite their prey . . . sex  starved men to their boudoir . what happens there . . . well  after they disrobe and kiss each other mostly  they kill their visitors . director jose ramon larraz does have some flashes of brilliance with his camera . some scenes are quite eerie and effectively shot  but sex alone does not hold a film up  no pun intended . . . at least consciously  . there really isn  t much of a story here . we have the two girls . we are shown some inexplicable and unexplained beginning where we see them shot with pistol . why  what does it mean  why do we have the guy that stays for several days greet a guy at the hotel that insists he knows him from years ago  does that have a purpose  of course i have even more general questions like what is a couple of nice  looking girls doing as vampires in the english countryside and having a wine cellar filled with wine from the carpathians  anyway  the script is riddled with such flaws . it is also very sparse on the action outside of catch victims  wine and dine them  quite literally   and then go to bed in the crypt . the end gets going with some juicier scenes  but it is anti  climatic . there are  as i said  some effective scenes by the director . . . i particularly liked the way the girls dressed and were filmed in the woods looking for their prey . the house is also a most impressive set . and both girls are as i said very lovely . marianne morris in particular stands out  in more ways than one . for you older film fans  silent screen veteran bessie love has a brief cameo at film  s end .  
whilst reading through the comments left for this show  i couldn  t help but notice that a large percentage of the reviewers had either not actually watched any episodes of the show either all the way through or of their own free will . the thing about kerching  is that it  s a children  s show  for children so obviously if your older it is going to seem cheesy  forced  and probably stupid . i even found one person saying the sets were stupid  but i remember as an eight year old wondering why taj had ikea icecube moulds on his wall  and also wondering if my parents would let me stick some on mine  they didn  t  . yeah  it can be annoying  the acting could be better and some of the characters do really weird things with their hair  but as a kids show  i rate it      . compared to the stuff they air in its place today  well  lets just say i wish it  d be re  aired . dvd release  anyone   
vampyres  br    br   aspect ratio  .      br    br   sound format mono  br    br   a motorist  murray brown  is lured to an isolated country house inhabited by two beautiful young women  marianne morris and anulka  and becomes enmeshed in their free  spirited sexual lifestyle  but his hosts turn out to be vampires with a frenzied lust for human blood . . .  br    br   taking its cue from the lesbian vampire cycle initiated by maverick director jean rollin in france  and consolidated by the success of hammer  s  carmilla  series in the uk  jose ramon larraz  daring shocker vampyres pushed the concept of adult horror much further than british censors were prepared to tolerate in      and his film was cut by almost three minutes on its original british release . it isn  t difficult to see why  using its gothic theme as the pretext for as much nudity  sex and bloodshed as the film  s short running time will allow  larraz  who wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym  d . daubeney   uses these commercial elements as mere backdrop to a languid meditation on life  death and the impulses  sexual and otherwise  which affirm the human condition .  br    br   shot on location at a picturesque country house during the autumn of      harry waxman  s haunting cinematography conjures an atmosphere of grim foreboding  in which the desolate countryside  bleak and beautiful in equal measure  seems to foreshadow a whirlwind of impending horror  larraz pulled a similar trick earlier the same year with symptoms  a low  key thriller which erupts into a frenzy of violence during the final reel  . however  despite its pretensions  vampyres  wafer  thin plot and rough  hewn production values will divide audiences from the outset  and while the two female protagonists are as charismatic and appealing as could be wished  the male lead  brown  past his prime at the time of filming  is woefully miscast in a role that should have gone to some beautiful twentysomething stud . a must  see item for cult movie fans  an amusing curio for everyone else  vampyres is an acquired taste . watch out for silent era superstar bessie love in a brief cameo at the end of the movie .  
simple story . . . why say more  it nails it  s premise . world war  kills all or most of the human race and we  re viewing  of the survivors . the message is that the  warring sides should not have been at odds in the first place . distilled down to representatives from each side  we see they have everything to come together for  br    br   security . . . finding resources . . . food  shelter  etc . . . survival . . . love . . .  br    br   at the end they  ve decided to pool their resources   she finally does   so they will survive . simple story  expressed in the limited budget of the early   s television landscape . we see it in     as somewhat old and maybe predictable . in the early   s  no one had seen such stuff . . . i give it a   . . .  
when you look at this now and hear all the language in here  it  s amazing this was rated  pg   but that  s the     s rating system for you . peter falk spews out the lord  s name in vain six times in the first ten minutes alone in this movie  yet  few people consider that offensive  and certainly not the scumbags who make movies nor the people who  rate  them .  br    br   the cast is a clue to how profane this film can be falk  peter boyle  allen garfield  warren oates  gena rowlands and paul sorvino aren  t exactly actors you wouldn  t find in  the sound of music .   br    br   i like heist movies  and a lot of films by director william friedkin  but this script doesn  t deliver and it just has way too much of the  sleazy    s  feel to it  visually and audibly . for those who loved falk in tv  s  columbo  it must come as a shock to hear him use as much profanity as he did in films . this is far from the only case .  
a lot is dated in this episode  just like most twilight zone episodes   such as the woman  s incredibly sexist military  uniform .  and some things are so unbelievable  like the easy availability of clean water . still  consider the year this was made and the time  and you quickly understand why this episode is so special as you watch . it has a nice sense of hope  something missing from a lot of twilight zones  as well as an interesting female character  despite the fact that she rarely speaks   something else rare on the twilight zone .  two  is a great example of how the twilight zone  in just over   minutes  could pack more emotion and drama than most two hours movies today . and it  s great to see two people who became american icons so early in their careers .  
as far as heist movies go  this one is pretty weak . continuity is pretty lousy  there isn  t enough character continuity to really feel like you understand any of the characters . peter falk is great  and he is one of the reasons its worth watching . falk has some great lines  like  he  ll be right back  he goin  buy to some saugages  or something like that . . . there are a few nice scenes  although they are entirely due to the efforts of the actors . direction  script  and editing is pretty lousy .  
this episode apparently grew out of the cold war . there has been a holocaust but somehow elizabeth montgomery and charles bronson have come through unscathed . it then becomes a battle for turf . she is attracted to him and vice versa  but the instinct for survival takes over . it  s a quiet  slow moving  chess battle as they attempt to achieve trust . they come to truces but distrust takes over and they start again . of course  the male female role of the sixties comes into play and modern viewers might find that her need to follow him is a bit offensive . but it still is captivating and interesting . because she doesn  t speak  we don  t know here mind very well  but in the end we can guess .  
ok  so mr . agrama  s company  which is involved in some dubious business with former italian pm silvio berlusconi  produced a horrendous mish  mash by a mr . carl macek .  br    br   what is this horrendous mish  mash i  m talking about  well  macek took three entirely unrelated japanese sci  fi animated series  namely  macross  southern cross and mospeada   added tons of dialogue  believing firmly that the american audience is too dumb to understand the narrative and artistic virtue of silence   edited the whole lot heavily for violent content  added some metaphysical mumbo jumbo  dubbed it using some of the worst voice actors this side of acting hell  reba west  s singing was  and still is  unbearable and a total outrage  especially compared to mrs . mari iijima  . . . and the result was an    episode series with hundreds of continuity problems and plot holes .  br    br   of course  the mecha were cool to look at  especially those in the  macross saga   and the plot parts that remained unscathed were good . but whatever was good about robotech was not the result of macek  s work or the  voice talents  he recruited . it was because of the toils and efforts of the  uncredited  why  would i be too bold to accuse hg of plagiarism here   japanese creators . those of us who eventually got wind of the real deal and compared the originals to robotech now wish we had never been exposed to robotech . the originals are so much better  naturally  and make a lot more sense .  br    br   robotech  however  did something worthwhile it prompted legendary anime creator leiji matsumoto to start a campaign for the protection of japanese anime creators  intellectual property from such unauthorized and uncalled  for reworkings that talentless people like carl macek produce .  
this is one of my favorites along with the mariette hartley and robert lansing  sandy  and the agnes moorhead  and  the  tiny  spacemen episodes .  br    br   it is an important take  from mid       on the long cold war that the u . s . was then embroiled in . the beaten  down city  scene  the near  starving characters  sparse dialog  their threadbare uniforms  and the minimal action  says  it all the absurdity of an on  going conflict that threatens to destroy human life  modern civilization  and all that is sweet and redeeming about it .  br    br   it is a  fable  because it was made in a time in which  had events turned out differently  such as the second berlin crisis  spring      and the subsequent cuban missile crisis  oct .       it would have actually been a reasonable representation of one of the u . s .  s major cities  ruined and replete with a few miserable survivors . i also see it as a  fable  because it is not only a cautionary tale  but because it is the most redemptive of all our popular myths it is a love story  set in an impossible situation  and involving two highly mismatched lovers .  
my wife and i really had high hopes for this film  but it was a major disappointment . it was a native american version of mr . magoo . a pathetic father who fails at everything he tries e . g . fishing  hunting  in an obvious way he subjects his family to his wild fantasies . his  visions  are not only ridiculous but in the process he lies to his son numerous times about various obvious things . words cannot express how bad this film is . the children and wife are very real which makes the film even sadder . i don  t get the humor . . . unless you like laughing at other people making a fool of themselves . i don  t get how this could have come up for awards . save your bucks  it  s not worth the rental .  
there is not much more i can say about this movie than all of the commentaries on page one  except  as jesse says   it  s the berries  . all of page one  s commentators wrote eloquently  as almost so as the dialog is in this movie . this just may be one of those illusive things we hear so much about  but usually are made so by the actors who deliver the lines a beautiful script . maybe robert redford did hold strict sway onto the actors  actresses during the filming of this movie  so that the beauty of the story would not get lost .  br    br   i  too  attended church when i was very young and into my late teens . the church  s pastor spoke very eloquently and quietly as the rev . maclean did in his church . that  in itself  is a totally different picture that is portrayed of southern baptist churches  no holy  rollering in my church . it was a big church  with many different programs to keep its congregation busy  the most inspiring perhaps was the music  department with its huge choir and almost classical anthems . too  the sunday evening  congregation was almost entirely younger people . are you even aware it was once safe to go to church on sunday night  how i wish it still was  watching  a river runs through it  is very much like going to hear a beautiful sermon in a church whose members are fully involved in life . as has already been so beautifully written  the sermon for this movie is the open  space beauties of montana  yet  aren  t there also missile  silos there  too  fly  fishing or any other activity which draws family  members closer together for a happy life  and deep understanding of one another  becomes a blessing . although you see some of the shadier aspects of life then  too  the simplicity of the story paints a lasting impression on your heart  if you let it . speakeasies and prostitutes are counter  balanced by the simple gatherings of old  fashioned  community picnics as this movie contains  in heavy contrasts to modern families taking their kids to disney land for screeching joyrides and calling it  a day together  . there is noting wrong with that  but as  river  demonstrates  some of its taciturn beauty could do nothing but make life richer . this is the third film i  ve seen in which tom skeritt    plays a father  all different styles and brilliantly acted .  br    br   brad pitt  mostly an undiscovered talent except for  thelma and louise  and  meet joe black   and all of the cast  members deserved many awards . little stories superbly told will get    of    from me over any movie with violence  foul language  ugliness and  action  . i am thinking particularly of  crash  and most of  arnold  s  movies . what a savior for peace this movie is .  
this is not a good film . the acting is remarkably stiff and unconvincing . the film doesn  t seem to know whether it is going for a real horror approach or to go down the camp and kitsch route . i never saw the first film but this one doesn  t stand up on its own merits  there are several unconvincing plot twists and the viewer is never made aware of the importance of the lead female vampire . not worth the effort of watching  
wow  all i can say is that if elizabeth montgomery is the enemy  she speaks russian   then i  m surrendering right now . in her short skirt  high  top boots  and pronounced bust line  she  s a real babe  even if her zombie  like eye  shadow sort of comes and goes . this   minutes is no doubt the sexiest of the series . note the realistic and revealing wrestling match with bronson until he ungallantly slugs her on the chin  ruining all the fun . okay  probably i should leave off my hormonal response .  br    br   this is a very well produced half  hour by that underrated force behind the series  s success  buck houghton . naturally  the producers want to lead off the third season with an above average entry . it  s post nuclear  holocaust america  we know because she  s part of the invading force  and only american bronson and soviet montgomery are left  along with about twenty tons of realistic wreckage . they wander among the destruction in alternating moods  while we wonder how long it will take for biology to trump politics  which of course it eventually does   lucky bronson  . and that  s about it . no real talk  except for what bronson has to say which is pretty overblown . nonetheless  the screenplay is still entertaining  and rather daring for its time  even suggesting that not all russian women looked like truck drivers  a popular cold war stereotype of the time  .  br    br   in passing   it  s rather curious that the very slavic  looking bronson  buchinsky  would be cast as the american and the glossy  looking montgomery as the slav . appearance  wise  it should be the reverse . my guess is that the producers did not want to cast the american in the physically weaker role of the female  regardless of appearances . however that may be  there is little of the usual tz fright or atmosphere  still the episode remains a very  very watchable   minutes .  
this movie is ridiculous . anyone saying the acting is great and the casting is superb have never seen even mediocre cinema . the acting is obviously terrible in the first  characters you meet . lame . i feel like all the other  soaring  comments must have been made by people associated with the filmmakers . i was not very impressed by the storyline  but just wanted to see some beautiful oregon countryside  and there was some decent cinematography   but the casting was anything but inspired . i think this movie also makes a mockery of the generally noble suggestion that something deep in the amerindian culture has been ignored and perhaps lost and that reviving it is worthwhile  and possible . it places jokes in the wrong and all  too  obvious places  and makes me think it was written by the state department or something . back to the drawing board . to even suggest that this film deserves a place in the same vicinity of classics like harold and maude is absolutely retarded  and along the same line of begging and pretension and  joking  as is rampant in this film .  
this has got to be one of my very favorite twilight zone episodes  primarily for the portrayal of two lonely souls in a post  apocalyptic environment .  br    br   the cobweb  strewn shops and rubble  laden streets are eerie in that particular way the twilight zone does best .  br    br   while the parable can be a bit heavy  handed by today  s drama standards  it is an excellent one  using the setting to make a statement relevant to the human experience  as well as geopolitics  in a way that is timeless . the entire drama rests solely on the shoulders of mr . bronson and ms . montgomery  who do not disappoint .  may they both rest in peace .   br    br   a true classic .  
as a native film professor  i can honestly say that this is perhaps one of the worst films with native content that i have ever viewed . i would rather get a root canal than view this film again . the use of stereotyping  uncreative attempts at utilizing portions of traditional coyote stories and poor camera work were only made worse by the glib uncreative story  line and bad script . the writer and director have displayed the worst parts of a colonized approach to portraying native people and communities . if this person is native  they need to go home and apologize to everyone they know for being an apple and for the internalized racism and poor sense of humor that they have developed . if this person is non  native  they need to seriously re  examine their white privilege and ask themselves if they are displaying unexamined  unintentional racism  or if they are intentionally being ignorant . my only hope is that the native actors in this film had a good time and at least got paid for their efforts . if you want to see good native films then check out christmas in the clouds  dance me outside  medicine river  powwow highway  smoke signals . . . to name just a few .  
this movie is the only movie to feature a scene in which michael jackson wields a tommy gun . plain and simple .  br    br   this movie rocks because it is freaking  hilarious  it may be creepy to see jacko w  little kids  but this movie also stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wait for it  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   joe pesci                       br    br   think about it  joe pesci and jacko with tommy guns  throwing coins into jukeboxes from   feet away  whats not to like  as stated before  this movie rocks                                                                                                                                            
another made for tv piece of junk  this is an insult of a war movie  i use the word movie in it  s loosest possible form   i thought telly savalas  s career had hit rock bottom when he did the voice over on that visit birmingham video that  s shown on tarrant on tv on a semi regular basis  but then i  d forgot he was involved in this  i  d tried to push it into my subconscious memory  but cable tv brought the memory kicking and screaming out of me    br    br   i like the bit  laughs sarcastically   in the film which claims to be a scene from liverpool in the forties  but it  s blatantly a shot of zagreb cathedral in the late eighties . also the steam train the commando  s are training on shows the jz  jugoslavia zeleznice  or yugoslav state railways  logo  s on the side of the locomotive quite clearly  even though the makers have tried to black them out . why not just film in the uk  if that  s where most of the film is set   br    br   cheap rubbish  and a waste of celluloid   
moonwalker by michael jackson is a real adventure film for the whole family   br    br   before the real story of the movie starts  we get a performance of the bad tour  man in the mirror   and it kicks off a great movie . after that we get a kind of a collage of michael carrier  as it was until moonwalker came out in     . after a few music videos also  speed demon  leave me alone  etc .  the story starts .  br    br   the plot is basically that michael and his  friends  who are kids  are being chased by the bad guy of the story  mr . big   because they discovered his evil plans of getting children all over the world hocked on drugs . during the chase we see fantastic segments  fx . michaels video for smooth criminal  which is absolutely fantastic with its dance sequences  etc . but then one of the kids get kidnapped by mr . big  and michael will haft to save her before she gets a drug addict .  br    br   during the movie we see special effects not only amazing for those days standards  but also impressive today . for instance  see michael turning in to a robot  spaceship in order to protect his friends  it  s so cool   br    br   the movie ends with a performance of come together  later published in michaels double  album of history   and you leave the movie with a magic feeling . amazing   br    br   i recommend this for every family who wants to spend a nice night together with candy and popcorn in front of the tv . and now some parents might stand up and say  but michael jackson is an alleged child abuser   yeah  he is indeed  but  come on  we all know it isn  t true  wait and see . .  
it really was that bad . on a par with the  mercifully   short  lived  dirty dozen  tv series that starred ben murphy and was made at around the same time  also on the cheap in yugoslavia  .  br    br   i was embarrassed for the cast members of this film  and for telly savalas in particular . he was waaaaaay too old and fat for the role  pushing   when he made this garbage   and the reviewer who draws parallels with telly the greek in this and john wayne in  the green berets  pretty much sums it up .  br    br   other reviewers have pointed out some of the many laughable howlers that this crime against celluloid contains  so i won  t repeat them here . but i will add that i  m amazed that no  one  s yet mentioned the ridiculously tiny  looking helmet that savalas wears on his big  bloated head .  br    br   i  m also astonished that this trainwreck of a film has a rating as high as  .  here at imdb .  br    br   as far as i  m concerned  it  s a    right across the board . if you want a good example of why flogging a franchise to death really is a bad idea  especially    plus years after the original   look no further than  the dirty dozen  the fatal mission  .  br    br   awful  avoid      
michael is king . this film contains some of the best stuff mike has ever done . smooth criminal is pure genius . the cameos are wonderful  but as always  the main event is mj himself . he is the best  hands down .  
the germans all stand out in the open and get mowed down with a machine gun . the good guys never die  unless its for dramatic purposes . the  plot  has so many holes its laughable .  where did the german soldiers go once they rolled the fuel tank towards the train  erik estrada  please   and the whole idea  hijacking a train  how moronic is that  the germans know where you are going to go  its not like you can leave the track and drive away  what a waste . i would rather bonk myself on the head with a ball peen hammer   times then have to sit through that again . i mean  seriously  it felt like it was made in the   s  but it was produced in           the a  team is more believable than this horrid excuse for a movie . only watch it if you need a good laugh . this movie is to tele sevalas what green beret was to john wayne .  
this movie is my all time favorite    you really have to see michael jackson in this wonderful film   i  m always over the moon  watching it   this is a film  that you really have to see  also if you aren  t a mj fan  cause this film writes  like captain eo  e . t . and ghosts  a bit of film and music history   this wonderful film  out of michael  s feather  is a must have   and smooth criminal  is really the most wonderful  exciting and amazing song i  ve ever heard in my life   thank you michael for this film and i love you    mj  s the best musician to hit this planet  he  s a fine man and he always brings sparkles in your eyes  when you listen to his music   please  if you don  t know this film  watch it and don  t miss it  because would be too bad for yourself if you  d miss it    highly recommanded film  for every movie lover   
  lies  tells about an affair between an   year old bucktoothed female student and a scrawny   year old married man with the pair of protags spending about half the screen time engaged in naked sex and hokey whipping and the other half meandering through the pathetically naive storyline which seems little more than an excuse for the sex scenes . with very poor production value including obvious sanitary appliances and phony softcore sex to a story which is a messy mix of comedy and drama   lies  quickly becomes redundant ad nauseam . with an almost  hour run  subtitles  and so little substance   lies  is simply not recommendable .  c    
moonwalker is a fantasy music film staring michael jackson with different segments . i will rate each segment individually .  br    br   segment  opens the film with a music video . the music video is a concert of michael jackson performing the song  man in the mirror   the music video also show  s montages of historical figures such as gandhi  martin luther king jr  john lennon and more . the first segment was a good choice to open the film i liked the song and also loved the montage of the historical figures . i even loved the message in the song . i give the first segment a     .  br    br   segment  shows a montage of michael jackson  s start from the jackson five to his solo career . the montage i thought was well made  i liked the animation they put into it and i also loved their choices of songs such as  i i want you back  beat it  thriller  can you feel it and the way you make me feel .  the only thing i wish they could have done a little a better in one of the songs in the montage is  we are the world  . the reason why is all you see is rain drops and in those drops are images of michael jackson and the chorus of the celebrities  but it  s a little hard to see the chorus . other than that the segment is still good . i give it a      br    br   segment  is the song bad . you  re probably thinking it  s michael jackson  s music video of bad  well yes and no . this segment is the music video but it  s redone by kids . the segment was cute but it wasn  t as good as the other segments . i give it a      br    br   segment  is a short claymation music film that takes place after the kid  s version of bad called  speed demon  . the short is about michael jackson being chased by his beloved fans and the press and he disguises himself as a rabbit and rides a motorcycle to try to get away from them . the claymation in the chase sequence was great but some parts in the film the claymation characters looked a little fake when they interact with real people . also at the end of the clip out of nowhere michael jackson rabbit costume comes to life and he  s dancing with it . i liked the dancing but that was like out of nowhere . i give it a      br    br   segment  is michael jackson  s grammy winning music video  leave me alone .  the music video is about the media poking their nose at michael jackson  s personal life and michael jackson feels they won  t leave him alone no matter how much he  s proved innocent . the music video really speaks out  but keep in mind this happened before the child molestation this just all about the rumors of him in the    s .  but i didn  t feel this video should be in this movie because it  s a kids movie and i don  t think kid  s will understand what he  s singing about . i give this music video      br    br   segment  leads us to the main story of the whole movie called  smooth criminal .  michael jackson plays a gangster who uses his powers of a wishing star as a crime figure to protect children  including john lennon  s son sean lennon  from an evil mobster named mr bigg  played by joe pesci  . the segment i thought really brought out the film especially when he danced and sang the song  smooth criminal  with a bunch of criminals . i also thought the special effects were good . the weird thing about the segment is why are kids hanging out with a grown man it never explained why . also joe pesci character talks about drugs and what he plans to do with them . i mean why would you talk about drugs in a kids film . other wise it was good . my rating for this segment is a      br    br   segment  is the final segment of the whole movie . the film end  s with michael jackson singing a cover version of the beatle  s song  come together  and then during the credit  s we see michael jackson singing with ladysmith black mambazo . michael did a good cover of  come together  and i think it was good idea putting including a group of good singer  s with a talented musican like him . my rating is      br    br   this movie is a good michael jackson film i think it really brings out children s imagination . the film is almost as imaginative as the beatles animated movie  yellow submarine  if you like michael jackson and you  re up to a film with a lot of creativity this is the film . my overall rating for this movie is      
i saw this feature as part of the asian american film festival in new york and was horrified by the graphic  sado  masochistic  child pornography that i witnessed . the story line is hidden beneath way too many graphic sex scenes  and  not one is in the least bit erotic  sick is the more the feeling . the director seemed to be going for shock value rather the exploring the various levels of why these characters are like this . see it if you can stomach it  i still have flashbacks .  
and i don  t say it in a bad way .  br    br   i watched this movie at the cinema when i was  or  . for me and my cousins it was magical  beautiful and scary at the same time . when we left the theatre  michael was our best friend even though we knew he had no idea about it .  br    br   over the years  i saw this movie being aired a few times but i always changed the channel . even seeing a few seconds of it would bring back that feeling of magic and warm my heart . and i liked it that way .  br    br   so i  ve only seen this movie once and i believe it was a good decision not to watch it again . if i saw it today  i know i couldn  t help but criticise mj  s acting  the plot  if there was one  and this and that . for me this is a childhood memory  so my feelings towards it are those of a child from   years ago .  br    br   i see my adult self intervenes in my rating and gives it an  for the memories and wonderful music . for that little kid who watched it in awe   years ago though  this is definitely worthy of a   .  
i was at first disgusted with director sun  woo jang because i had felt that he cheated me . jang had the potential to create a strong  deeply emotional film about sex and its effects on people  but instead chose to focus his strength on the pornography element more than the actual human element . i couldn  t see the characters at first and his sloppy introduction which blended both realism and cinema together was amateurish at best  yet this film remained in my mind for days after i viewed it . what stayed with me wasn  t the story  it wasn  t the characters  nor was it the apparent pornographic nature of the film  but the transition that jang demonstrated between y and j . if you watch this film carefully  you will see that both begin in an exploration phase of their relationship  eager to jump into the unknown  but not quite certain the next step . as they continue to meet  exploring new avenues of pleasure  they continually jump between the aggressor and the aggressed . jang initially explores the idea that j is the one that in control of the situation  then hauntingly  the reversal happens when j becomes obsessed with y . it is a very small change  and due to the graphic content of this film  it can easily be missed  but it is there . it becomes apparently clear near the end when j cannot live with y  as their meetings become less frequent  and j attempts to become a part of normal society . this was a huge and very exciting element to this film to see right before your eyes  but alas  it was the only element of this film worth viewing .  br    br   i will ignore those that speak of this film as nothing more than pornographic  because there are human elements at the core of this film  as underdeveloped as they are  they are there . it is a film about a facet of our lives that is very rarely explored in cinema or talked about in the papers . what happens behind closed doors is never known  or so we should believe . while the act itself does becomes repetitive after a bit  director jang tries to change it up a bit with some constantly changing scenery . our characters are continually moving from hotel room to hotel room to best quench their thirst for each other  s flesh . this is fun at first  but again  jang  s repetitive streak seems to make it feel boring than exciting . this leads me to the biggest issue that i had with this film . jang had a great story with gojitmal  but where he failed  outside of the obvious choice to focus directly on the pornographic side  was that he took scenes  repeated them time and again  without changing in front of us to allow us to get to know the characters . where was jang going with this movie  did he want the sex to tell the stories  or did he believe the characters would  he failed in this sense because by the end of the film we know so little about y and j that we could care less how they resolve themselves . the ending seems almost random at best as jang attempts to create a final resolution for our two  absolute unknowns  of this film . i have to give jang some credit for trying  but not much . he attempted to create some sub  stories that would create the personal element that we were lacking  but they just couldn  t congeal well together . y  s brother and j  s wife were those plot points  but again  due to him focusing so strongly on the sexual element  these stronger sub  stories became un  rememberable and down  right dull . maybe it was just how i viewed this film  but outside of the sexual scenes  nothing else worked together . we knew nothing about j and y and that is why gojitmal failed .  br    br   finally  i would like to say that this film could have benefited from having a strong score or a daftly remote music genre element to it to bring us  the viewers  closer to the emotions being felt by j and y . from what i can remember  and i am trying to push this film far from my mind  i don  t remember any musical undertones . gojitmal may have been a stronger film if jang either stylized it with music or done something to allude towards our character  s beings . while i understand that he wanted the sex to speak for itself  there was just a technical element missing from this film that may have quenched a stronger desire for more . technically  this was a poor film . obviously an independent film in nature  it felt more like director jang was trying to make symbolic references out of nothing instead of your typical independent of this nature . i didn  t see as much of a social message or human element like mentioned above  i just felt like he threw this film together over the course of two weeks and understood that the sex would sell it enough . this was no larry clark production this was sub  par and definitely needed some further technical clicks to develop it stronger than the final release   br    br   overall  i think i could have liked this film and there were smaller elements that i did enjoy  but i felt this film was rushed  repetitive  and played too much towards the taboos instead of breaking them . the obvious pitfalls of this film can be seen by the last scene of this film when we are privy to how the title of this film was conceived . our characters were uneventful  our story was underdeveloped  and we could have used something memorable to make what was happening between y and j into something more symbolic than sex . to me  jang was trying too much to capture art house meets pornographic  and it failed miserably . this was not a film worth the time and effort that it took to make .  br    br   grade  out of   
i first saw this when they showed this around easter time       and didn  t think much of it then  i bought this on dvd last summer when i started getting into michael jackson  i liked his music before  and enjoyed it more now i am older . it is a good film but it won  t be this classic film like the sound of music  west side story  the wizard of oz etc . michael jackson as an actor was good and so were the other cast members . there were a disturbing scenes like the little girl katie getting slapped by the gangster frankie lideo who was played by joe pesci . the scene that frightened me when i was younger was when michael turns into a robot . my favourite song on the film was smooth criminal i think it was better than thriller in my opinion .  
this movie is a rather odd mix of musical  romance  drama and crime with a sniff of film  noir to it . it  s basically one messy heap of different genres  of which none really works out like it was supposed to .  br    br   this movie is an attempt by mickey rooney to be taken more serious as an actor . he  s a former child  star who always used to star in in happy comical  and musical productions at the start of his career . in this movie he picks a different approach  although the musical aspects are still present in the movie  . but his role is actually quite laughable within the movie . i mean mickey rooney as a tough player  he  s an extremely small boyish looking man . he actually was in his    s already at the time of this movie but he seriously looks more like a   year old . hearing him say babe to women and hearing talking tough to gangsters who are about  times bigger than he is just doesn  t look and feel right . he simply isn  t convincing in his role .  br    br   because the movie mixes so many different genres  the story also really feels as a messy one . somewhere in it there is a crime plot and somewhere in it is a romantic plot  line and one about living your dream but none of it works out really due to the messy approach and handling of it all . it just isn  t an interesting or compelling movie to watch . lszl kardos is also a director who has done only   movies in his lifetime  despite the fact that his career span from     till     . he must have been a struggling director who had a hard time getting work into the industry and instead once in a while was given a lesser script to work with . his movies are all unknown ones and normally also not of too high quality .  br    br   let  s also not forget that this is a     s movie but yet it more feels like a     s one or perhaps even as one from the     s . this is of course mostly due to the fact that this movie got shot in black  white . generally speaking black  white movies from the     s often have a cheap looking feeling over it and this movie forms no exception .  br    br   it  s a rather strange sight seeing mickey rooney and louis armstrong and his band as themselves performing together in a sequence . it wasn  t the only movie armstrong appeared in though and he would often pop up in these type of movies  often simply as himself . i guess jazz lovers can still somewhat enjoy watching this movie due to its music  since there is quite an amount of it present in this movie . the movie actually received an oscar nomination for best original song .  br    br   an awkward little movie and outing from mickey rooney .  br    br        
at long last  one of michael jackson  s most well known and beloved films comes to dvd  in michael jackson moonwalker   michael jackson  stars as michael . a man with powers that are not of this world . michael must save sean  sean lennon   katie  kellie parker   zeke  brandon quintin adams   and the rest of the worlds children from drug lord frankie lideo aka mr . big  joe pesci  who  s mission in life is to get all of the worlds children hooked on drugs  a note to people in the usa looking for this film on dvd make sure when buying this film on dvd you buy warners product wk      as ntsc region  which plays on north american ntsc region  players .  
i rented this film yesterday mostly due to the good  looking art and the summary given on the back of the jacket . after popping it into my dvd player i re  examined the jacket cover and even though i took the cover out of from the plastic viewer  i still could not read any of the production detail information about the film . this film is entitled evil on the jacket and had to locate it by going to faith films website to find out any linkage to it here on imdb .  br    br   the filming and special affects done in the film looked quite good . . . then  a line  reading actor spoke . oh dear . . . this actor  s reading sounded like some pimple  faced high school jock whose voice just managed to change pitch  and no attempt given to go beyond reading the lines from the script . at first i thought i got a bad disc out of audio sync  then had to surmise it was a foreign film since i couldn  t read the jacket . . . english dialog dubbed . if they  d casted the right person for dubbing the dialog  this film might have been decent . i gave it a chance of about   minutes before ejecting it when i discovered the bad line reader wasn  t going to get killed off  but stay as the constant main fixture . yes  it is that bad  the jacket cover art and the art done in the film are great  so gave the one star  but minus          stars for the rotten dialog . i do not recommend this one   
in my humble opinion  this movie did not receive the recognition it deserved . robert redford lives near me here in provo  utah  at sundance . i enjoy most of his work  and this was my favorite . i  m sorry that more people didn  t appreciate it . my grandmother was an avid reader and read the book years before it came out on the big screen . she gave it to me to read after we had seen the movie together . the movie and book hit an emotional spot within my heart  and i was weepy for several days after seeing the movie . sometimes love isn  t enough to keep our loved ones from hurting themselves . we see this in our own family relationships  yet our love and our families and their stories endure throughout generations of time . the cinematography was perfect and breathtaking   i was awed by its beauty and how well it brought to life the words of the author of the book  norman maclean   but when i am alone in the half light of the canyon  all existence seems to fade to a being with my soul  and memories . and the sounds of the big black foot river  and a four count rhythm  and the hope that a fish will rise . eventually  all things merge into one  and a river runs through it . the river was cut by the world  s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time . on some of the rocks are timeless raindrops . under the rocks are the words  and some of the words are theirs . i am haunted by waters .  these words  taken from the book and spoken at the end of the movie  by robert redford who is narrating as norman maclean   are basically scripture  in my opinion . any possible flaws the movie may have are overshadowed by the beauty and grace of the story and the cinematography . it was beautiful   
listening to the director  s commentary confirmed what i had suspected whilst watching the film this is a movie made by a guy who wants to play at making a movie . the plot is the kind of thing that deluded teenagers churn out when they  re going through that  i could write a book  screenplay  award winning sitcom  phase . there  s a germ of an interesting idea buried in there  probably because its a sequel to some  one else  s movie   but it is totally buried under an underwritten  badly executed and laughably un  thought  out script .  br    br   the lines are dire  and the performances are un  engaging  though again  i  m inclined to blame the director . he does not appear to have consulted the actors at all about what is required  rather plonked the script in their hands  pointed the camera at them and told them to get on with it . who knows  with a little coaching  these actors could have acquitted themselves better  say what you like about musicians in movies  jon bon jovi was excellent in row your boat and more than acceptable in the leading man  .  br    br   as it stands  the cast have no chemistry whatsoever . a beautiful opportunity to use the classic sex and vampirism parallel is passed up when  in order to infect bon jovi  s character with vampire blood from his ailing co  hunter  he is given a transfusion . she should have bitten him . mind you  they should have looked vaguely interested in each other throughout the rest of the film too . the only real moment of sexual tension  between the two female leads  is by the directors own admittance accidental . he had originally intended to use this silent sequence as an excuse for more pointless plot exposition  so  i suppose the finished product could have conceivably been worse . but not a lot .  br    br   frankly  as movies go  this is badly plotted  silly and forgettable . even as trashy movies go it  s not sexy enough or gory enough to be entertaining . it could have been a fun and bloody little romp  but the director has left with more of a comedy  for all the wrong reasons .  
i have to say that this is one of the best movies i have ever seen  i was bored and looked through the t . v . and found  home room  and it was already in about  min .  but i got hooked . it was so interesting and moving . it shows what can happen in anyone  s life . i give it a    more if possible . the director  writer and actors did an amazing job . i think teens should watch this movie and will learn from it . it was great  drama  mystery  and more . i cried for hours  i think that the director  writer should write more movies like this one . i loved it  i didn  t even know about this movie  which is sad because it was so good . i wish it could go in the movies for more people to see .  
what does the  executive producer  do in a movie . if i remember correctly it  s the person who raised the financial backing to make the movie . you might notice in a great number of movies starring sean connery that he is also the executive producer which meant connery himself raised the money since he is a major player . unfortunately it should also be pointed out that a great number of movies  starring sean connery were solely made because he managed to raise the money since he  s a major hollywood player  it  s usually an indication that when the credits read that the executive producer and the star of the movie are one and the same the movie itself is nothing more than a star vehicle with the story  screenplay not being up to scratch  br    br   protocol follows the saga of one sunny davis a kooky bimboesque cocktail waitress who saves a visiting dignitary and as a reward gets made a top diplomat . likely  as things progress ms davis  who has problems being able to string two sentences together  finds herself in more outlandish and less likely situations . when i say that protocol stars goldie hawn who is also the film  s executive producer do you understand what i  m saying about the story  screenplay not being up to scratch  exactly  
this is by far my most favourite movie in the world      i enjoyed it when i was  and i still enjoy it at     its an absolute masterpiece  no video collection is complete without it    i enjoy every second of it and not only does the film have some great special affects but its sends a great message to the youngsters of the audience which may sound sheesy but in actual fact the movie is done very cooly in actual fact  although michael jackson has been in afew movies now  people still dont see him as an actor . in reality he  s the most talented actor i know  he  s so talented  he  s incredible    moonwalker is a must see        
as a horror  movie fan i try to watch all significant novelties of this genre  especially those which are the products of my native cinema . and i can say that that the  power of fear   or  vedma  as the russian title of it  is one of the weakest film among them . firstly  it can  t scary even a little kid  it paces so slowly and so predictable that there is no place for the real horror . frankly speaking  it  s bad in all points from the goofy plot  i don  t know why the russian producers  director decided to transform the classic story about ukrainian witchcraft into some lame and ridiculous modern  day  america thriller . i absolutely agree with the previous reviewer  it doesn  t thrill a bit  and to the terrible and cheesy actors  work . all actors including the leading valeri nikolayev and yevgeniya kryukova who are quite famous in russia look like wooden dolls or something like that and it seems to me they didn  t even bother to play at all  only spoke their english lines without any expression . and at the end i don  t really understand why they filmed this flick in english with russian actors  i think it was their wrong turn . at least they could cast some american or english actors for the leading parts to make them look more convincing . the same i can say about so called  small american town backgrounds  which were shot in estonia and look like it . the only positive moment i found in the  power of fear  is the visual effects . they are not excellent but rather good for the russian film . and the music is ok  at least it doesn  t irritate me . that  s why i give it two stars . overall  if you want to see good horror film  don  t waste your time and money on this boring flick . and if you are looking for something that claims to be a russian horror i  d advise you to find a copy of  viy or the spirit of evil  . it  s really the terrific movie based on the same novel as  power of fear  but much  much better .  
this movie is exciting  daring and the music is very good . the movie moonwalker was meant to coincide with the album bad       . i have bad . it is excellent    . the movie begins with michael jackson performing  man in the mirror  on stage . then  it shows a history of michael  from his early days in the jackson  right up to the bad era . oh  and badder is good too  badder is a music video parody of the music video for bad the single  . it then shows the speed demon video . the song and the video are very  very good indeed . same for leave me alone  which appears after . then it shows the movie moonwalker . after a few minutes  he plays smooth criminal in a club called club   s . like it when he does the lean . anyway  nice to see you . bye bye .  
ivan  valeri nikolayev  is a bitter  cynical journalist who investigates the unexplained . he travels to this small town where it  s said that a witch  ita ever  is terrorizing the community .  br    br   his car stalls and he takes refuge in a small building  and meets a beautiful  mysterious girl . suddenly she turns into a demon and he kills her  and the town is wondering who murdered this woman . . . who i guess was the witch but i am not entirely sure . ivan is now being pursued by her spirit  or something  and he has to have faith  or something  to beat it .  br    br   i really hate christian films . they are usually filled with lame actors  stupid storyline and minimal effects . not to mention that this isn  t just a christian film . . . but a foreign one as well . the voice  over actor for ivan made the movie more comical than terrorizing  because it is so high pitched and whiny . you won  t miss much by missing out on this film .  
moonwalker is absolutely incredible        what else can i say   michael jackson is the true king of pop  rock and soul    moonwalker has everything  great story line  fantastic music  great visual effects  and of course it has michael jackson        
nikolai gogol  s story  viy  has been filmed again and released to home video in the us via faith films .  br    br   the original story concerns a priest who has to watch over the body of a witch with only his faith to protect him . greatly expanded and set in america  though clearly filmed in russia  the houses  clothing and furnishing are all wrong despite the english signs   this is an odd film that doesn  t really work . part of it is the weird setting that tries very hard to be backwoods america but clearly isn  t . there are also some weird  intentionally oblique moments as the main character being a reporter at the start and a priest a short time later . i  m not sure why they did that  even after watching the making of piece on the dvd  the other problem is the dubbing which is beyond awful . its done in such away that everyone speaks when their lips are not on camera  or if they are the voices don  t even remotely match the lip flaps . i don  t know if its faith films fault or that of the producers who made the film hoping to dump into the west  revealed in the making of piece  .  br    br   the film isn  t very good . as i  ve said it has all sorts of technical issues that just make this an odd ball curio . despite some really good looking horror images the film never works as a horror film . as film to engender faith its much too confused in this retelling to amount to make anyone feel anyone closer to god .  br    br   given the choice i  d give it a pass  even at a bargain bin price . my advice would be to find the      s version of the tale called viy which will bring both some shivers and some understanding about a belief in god .  
wow  i forgot how great this movie was until i stumbled upon it while looking through the garage . it  s a kind of strange combination of a bio of michael jackson  a collection of musical vignettes  and a story about a super hero fighting to save some little kids . the vignettes are good  especially speed demon   but the best part of this movie is the super hero segment  in which michael jackson turns into a car  a robot  and finally a spaceship  and it  s just as weird as it sounds  . joe pesci is hilarious  and has enough cool imagery and great music to entertain throughout   br    br   the real gem however is the incredible  smooth criminal  video  which makes the movie worth owning for that part alone   
possibly very minor spoilers  br    br   this movie is billed as the first russian horror movie . unfortunately  as far as i am concerned   the witch   its russian title  will take a place of dishonor in the gallery of horrible russian movies . it is based on nikolai gogol  s story  viy  which is a classic in russia .  based  is the key word here since no familiarity with the story is required . instead  the less you know about gogol  the better .  br    br   it is a unique production because we are quite used to directors taking stories from other cultures and adapting them to their own culture . the spate of american remakes of foreign films is a prime example  but then again  sturgess turned kurosawa  s seven samurai into the magnificent seven with splendid results  and kurosawa transferred shakespeare  s macbeth into japan to make an incredibly powerful throne in blood  while king lear became a riveting ran . however  with  the witch   we have russians transplanting a russian classical tale onto the american soil . the movie was shot in estonia in english with the aim of dubbing it into english using american actors and have reasonably synchronous lip movements .  br    br   as a natural consequence  lost is the colorful ukrainian background for the story  in comes a drab american small town seemingly lifted from some outdated horror book manual . gone is the boozy seminarian khoma brutus  instead we have a boozy journalist who is about to win pullitzer prize  and who at the same time writes about x  files  like events and frequents miss boobs contests .  i never thought pullitzer prize was given for that kind of writing  now i humbly stand corrected .  in a strange nod to russianness  the journalist is named ivan berkhoff . they should  ve named him john smith because it is impossible to get more hackneyed  clichd and generic than this movie .  br    br   berkhoff goes to a town named castleville  gets stranded on a dirt road  staggers on until he finds a dilapidated house and is rather un  welcomed by an old crone . all that to the accompaniment of a radio announcement about the forces of evil being at their most powerful  and people better staying indoors and avoiding water . need i mention that it  s raining really hard  after a few supposedly frightening scenes which had me laughing  the story finds our journalist dressed as a priest  he  s mistaken for a priest  and the local sheriff tells him his daughter who died after being brutally attacked wanted the new priest to pray for her for three nights . at this point  the action supposedly starts . those who have time to kill are welcome to it .  br    br   what is wrong with this film  everything  starting with the dialog and down to the prop department . the dialog which i heard in russian was clearly originally written in english  and it was compiled exclusively from clichs and platitudes picked from american films . the actors just as clearly struggled with english because the timing of their speech was labored and unnatural  and the russian dubbing followed suit . the acting is mostly atrocious  and not only because the actors find it often difficult to talk but because they don  t have anything approaching a range of facial expressions . for the most part  they  re just blank or you wish they were . the only exceptions being the sheriff played by lembit ulfsak  a fine estonian actor  and arnis lizitis who plays a wheelchair bound resident of castleville . oh  and a rooster of course who  s absolutely natural on camera  i know actors complain of being upstaged by dogs and cats but when nikolaev is upstaged by a rooster it is a sad testimony to the general quality of acting in the film .  br    br   there wasn  t a single scary moment in the entire film  and there wasn  t a single original moment in the film either . mind you  this comment  s coming from somebody who  s rather inexperienced with horror . the film is filled with standard moves used in horror movie since the genre  s inception . at a critical moment  the camera lingers lovingly on a kerosene lamp . the lamp promptly goes out . it must have seen a few horror movies  too . an example of supreme idiocy comes at another moment  a character jumps out of a bathtub and runs at the camera . he  s wearing something the looks like loincloth  it doesn  t get any more idiotic than this   br    br   those in russia who liked it claim it should  ve been advertised as a mystical thriller . i wasn  t thrilled either . it was run  of  the  mill from start to finish . i particularly enjoyed the fact that the entire population of the little town behaved as if they knew exactly they lived in a horror movie  except they weren  t quite sure whether it had zombies or not . therefore  some of them acted zombie  like just in case .  br    br   the makers of the film say it  s about finding faith . such a fine collections of idiotic actions  stupidly contrived moments  and  yes  clichs  doesn  t deserve to be about finding faith . the movie is so thoroughly and utterly fake it deserves only to be an exhibit in a wax figure museum .  
michael jackson is not very popular in usa anymore  however in europe  especially germany  he has still got lots of fans . many will say that this is a bad movie  and it is it has no plot  it  s full of cliches  michael praises himself constantly .  br    br   but  you can  t expect a plot or non  cliches in this kind of movie  it has entertaining visual effects and the music is perfect . the smooth criminal fragment  the greatest song ever  full of moonwalks  group dance acts and even the famous  michael jackson  s bench  over   makes this film one of jackson  s masterpieces with an even good  looking  and white . . .  michael jackson   br    br   a must for jackson fans  a must for music fans  a must for dance act fans .  br    br   however  as i  m an mj fan  i should warn all michael jackson haters out there don  t watch this movie  you  d only make your hate increase . . .  
what  s in here   let me tell you . it  s the presence of  alec baldwin  . he  s not a great actor but maybe a nice star with some good movies which this is not one of them . he did nothing here more than anything he did before or after . so not to mention  literally   the matter of  steve mcqueen  being at the same role in the original because i don  t want to make that comparison in the first place . i  m not a big fan or even a fan of  kim basinger   she got a lot of bad movies on her and even at her best she looks average  and it gets on my nerve indeed whenever they talk about her seductive rare beauty     well  if being a blond would make anyone captivating then i  ll dye my hair in yellow as soon as possible  and what is it with all the craziness over miss basinger  s legs     it  s surely insanity or bad tasting  as i don  t see them both as not sexy only  but ugly too  and if you hate that so shoot me down but you know what   i  ve just watched this movie so i  m dead already  . yet  what would make you really suffer in unbearable way is that nothing of the credits goes to the one she deserves the mostand of course i mean  jennifer tilly  . . now we  re talking about a true genuine seductive chick with such unforgettable body and one unique sense of allurement like a nasty brunette  marilyn monroe  however much more healthier    i can  t help it  she was the only new and watchable thing in here   .  michael madsen  as the bad guy was much appealing as well as effective more than the good guys   james woods  is here to summarize the early events beside the pool  so the trailer would be by his voice later   and he knew before all that this is a whole hollywood  s stuff so  do your thing  take your cash  and good luck as an actor in other movies    the editing gave the movie a serious personality along with violent atmosphere done by suitable shining cinematography  so the main goods of it  the action  the thrill  . .  are here and fairly well  made  though any echo for deep meanings about  the kinds of betrayal  as the main dramatic motif of the whole thing is not that strong so don  t wait for it . ok  it  s all in all another remake without anything special  except jennifer tilly  s spicy moments   so i think i tried to be objective as much as i could therefore i shouldn  t end my review saying that  basinger  or anyone here did better than this movie . . it would be an insult because frankly . . anything is better than this movie   
  there isn  t much in the way of spoilers  since there isn  t a plot to reveal  but still  i guess i describe some of what happens so . . .  this is it . this is the most nonsensical film i  ve ever seen . there are simply no words to describe this movie  although  bizarre   ridiculous  and  ego trip  are pretty close . the opening half hour or so are really  really weird music videos  with absolutely no plot or continuity  apart from that mj falls into some from the previous . one of the highlights of this part of the  film  in the section where mj is flying a merry  go  round aeroplane through what seem to be half  arsed bond intro rejects and sections cut from yellow submarine  dear lord you could not make this up  .  br    br   then  with a little over an hour remaining  the  film  begins  with a lot of claymation  some of it really creepy  spotting our  hero  and chasing him looking for an autograph . obviously  this leaves our as of yet mute  discounting songs  lead somewhat worried  and he manages to temporarily lose them . fortunate for him  because it means he can witness a falling star and  and again  i  m not making this up  turn into a claymation rabbit . he uses this cunning disguise to try and sneak past them  but  for reasons i can  t recall right now  they see through it  oh no   and the creepy chase begins again . cue another song  big shock there  .  br    br   shortly after the end of the chase  mj somehow brings the rabbit to life  until he is busted by a policeman  in the middle of the desert  because it is  apparently  illegal to dance there .  br    br   the rest of the film is equally as strange  highlights including mj cleaning up a bar to the tune of smooth criminal  including shooting a man with his finger  not only killing the guy  but burning his shadow into the wall  a la nuclear fission weapons . another good moment is when mj  seeing  mr big  joe  what the hell happened to his career at this point   peschi  kidnap one of the children he was friends with  magically creates a tommy gun  and in another moment of violence that pepper this film seemingly at random  opens fire at everything that moves . a final moment i shall mention is when mj  surrounded by mr big and his private army . seriously  this guy has dozens of people working for him  and they  re decked out more like commando units rather than mobsters  which i guess they are . how does he get out  why  he turns into a robot  complete with weapons and shield . this is the third of four transformations he makes  almost always when backed into a corner and  or on the run .  br    br   this film is quite  quite surreal  with little in the way of plot  and virtually no continuity .  
any one who saw the original would have to go out and destroy this dreadful remake . alex baldwin trying to imitate the late steve mcqueen in a word for word remake just doesn  t work . while baldwin has done some admirable work this is a flop from start to finish . mcqueen had charisma  never try to compete with a star . as for kim in the role of ali mcgraw enough said . mcqueen looked dangerous  menacing and believable as doc  the film had excitement and suspense  baldwin and company made this into a comedy  i laughed the one and only time i saw this miserable film . and that dreadful hairstyle for michael madsen who is one of today  s more exciting and believable actors  did the makeup people have it in for michael  what were they thinking . if you wish to see movie  making the way it was under sam peckinpah  s direction get the original   
if you see this movie  you know you will see an extense video  clip of popular music . but you will find more . incredible fx  great music and a nice time to enjoy with your kids . if you compare this movie  you have to remember is a pop extravaganza . clips of  man in the mirror    leave me alone    smooth criminal  and beatles   come together  .  
nowhere near the original . it  s quite accurate copy bringing nothing new to the story . but the directing is very poor . basinger is weak  without good directing . baldwin is simply just a second league compared to mcqueen . i watched it just out of curiosity  being a huge fan of peckinpah  s masterpiece  and i got what i thought . almost a b movie with second rate acting and directing . i wasn  t even disappointed  i just don  t know what they were trying to do . this remake doesn  t try to play with the original material  it  s not a tribute and indeed it lacks some really good actor of its era .  br    br   it reminds me of a bad xerox copy of wonderful photograph .  br    br   this is a complete waste of your time . save yourself  hours or watch the original  again     
this is  in my opinion  a very good film  especially for michael jackson lovers . it contains a message on drugs  stunning special effects  and an awesome music video .  br    br   the main film is centered around the song and music video  smooth criminal .  unlike the four  minute music video  it is normal speed and  in my opinion  much easier to watch .  br    br   the plot is rather weird  however . michael jackson plays a magical  gangster  that  when he sees a shooting star  he transforms into a piece of machinery . throughout the film  he transforms into a race car  a giant robot  and a space ship .  br    br   the robot scene in particular is a bit drawn out and strange . i found it a little out  of  whack compared to the rest of the film .  br    br   a child is kidnapped  michael tries to save her  is tortured and beaten  and suddenly turns into a giant robot that blows up all the bad guys . a little weird  yeah .  br    br   but besides the bizarre robot scene  it  s a very good movie  and any michael jackson fan will enjoy both the smooth criminal music video and the movie .  
don  t even bother with this movie  it  s bad when judged on it  s own merits  but when compared to the     original  which is a classic  it  s down right awful . and btw  somebody commented that the     movie is bad when compared to the book . this is silly  movies should never be judged against the books they are taken from . they are  completely different art forms  as if this needed to be pointed out but apparently it does  . if you used this criteria for all movies then       would suck and so would  forest gump  and  silence of the lambs  .  
moonwalker is such a great movie  from start to finish you cant take your eyes away . i love all the clips of michael singing and dancing and i just love the  studio tour  bit . . . soo funny   and the  mini movie  is to cool  with all the special fx etc . . . michael is a genius and always will be     
back when alec baldwin and kim basinger were a mercurial  hot  tempered  high  powered hollywood couple they filmed this  nearly  scene  for  scene remake of the     steve mcqueen  ali macgraw action  thriller about a fugitive twosome . it almost worked the first time because mcqueen was such a vital presence on the screen   even stone silent and weary  you could sense his clock ticking  his cagey magnetism . baldwin is not in steve mcqueen  s league  but he has his charms and is probably a more versatile actor   if so  this is not a showcase for his attributes . basinger does well and certainly looks good  but james woods is artificially hammy in a silly mob  magnet role . a sub  plot involving another couple taken hostage by baldwin  s ex  partner was unbearable in the    film and plays even worse here . as for the action scenes  they  re pretty old hat  which causes one to wonder why even remake the original   from   
i think that this movie is very neat . you eithier like michael jackson or you don  t  but if you like him then you have to see this movie . i think that it is a very neat film with great song play and good imagination . not to mention the film center piece smooth criminal which has some of the best dancing you will every see .  
i cannot see why filmmakers remade this movie .  br    br   the     movie with mcqueen and mcgraw is almost a classic . steve mcqueen was an outstanding actor and baldwin is only an inadequate actor . he has no passion in his play . also the action in the original  getaway  was fantastic . but the remake has no action  it is almost boring despite the fact that the film  making in     was more difficult than in     .  br    br   i don  t understand the way that baldwin imprisoned from mexico . i think this is a mistake in the story .  br    br   so i think that there was no need to remake it  or if they decided to remake a classic  they must choose an excellent actor for the first role  like johnny depp or brad pitt . . .  
when i first saw this movie i was with my dad . he encouraged me to watch this movie because it was one of his favorites . after watching the movie it instantly became one of my favorites .  br    br   a river runs through it is about two brothers who each take a different path in life . norman maclean  craig sheffer  is the older of the two brothers and he is set on the path of education . paul maclean  brad pitt  is the rebellious younger brother who travels on a path full of obstacles . the movie follows these characters as the each follow their own path .  br    br   there is no downside to this movie . you will be entertained the whole way through . the acting  directing  and script is all perfect . the two things that are exceptional are the cinematography and the score . both of which entrap you in the world robert redford creates for you .  br    br   this is an all around great movie that is destined to be a classic . it sure is in my book . if you haven  t seen this movie definitely watch it as soon as you can because it will stay with you forever .  
really bad movie  the story is too simple and predictable and poor acting as a complement .  br    br   this vampire  s hunter story is the worst that i have seen so far  derek bliss  jon bon jovi   travels to mexico in search for some blood suckers   he use some interesting weapons  but nothing compared to blade   and is part of some van helsig vampire  s hunters net   ok  but he work alone . he  s assigned to the pursuit of a powerful vampire queen that is searching some black crucifix to perform a ritual which will enable her to be invulnerable to sunlight  is almost a sequel of vampires       directed by john carpenter and starred by james woods   derek start his quest in the search of the queen with some new friends sancho  diego luna  really bad acting also  a teenager without experience  father rodrigo  cristian de la fuente  a catholic priest  zoey  natasha wagner  a particular vampire and ray collins  darius mccrary  another expert vampire hunter . so obviously in this adventure he isn  t alone .  br    br   you can start feeling how this movie would be just looking at his lead actor  jon bon jovi   is a huge difference in the acting quality compared to james woods  and then  if you watch the film  i don  t recommend this part   you will get involved in one of the more simplest stories  totally predictable  with terrible acting performances  really bad special effects and incoherent events  .  br    br   i deeply recommend not to see this film   rent another movie  see another channel  go out with your friends  etc .  br    br        
mr michael jackson is an artistic phenomenon . his short movies  i . e . music videos  are simply the best . i do not care if i get a sane sci  fi feature from this man  but i do care to get a medley of his crazy dancing  shriek yells  cool crowd choreography  and some bits of cgi and animation . there also should be a few uninterrupted videos . everything i  ve mentioned is here . stupid plot and over  the  top  vanity fair  are not a problem when i witness mr michael jackson in action . to me he will always be the ultimate king of music videos  not  king of pop  which sounds moronic  especially for us  russians  because  pop  sounds like the russian word for  arses  and mj is definitely not  king of arses   . i can re  watch his best music videos  which are artistically beautiful  and i never get tired of them .  br    br   my first impression of this film was  what is this . . .    bits of different videos  some drawn images  unsettling jumps from one theme to another  absence of any cohesive plot line  some kids fooling around  etc .  but as i watched it till the end  i could tell that it was great and really nothing like anything else shown on tv nowadays . what i like here too is that it never shows any shameful material and can be watched by kids easily .  br    br   without mr michael jackson the universe of music videos would be rather poor . even the best classic videos of other artists cannot come very close to the energetic hyperbole of mj musical insanity and artistic quality . he knew how to get the audience of different ages and he knew how to remain a man with moral principles .  br    br   when i see a proper dvd release with mr michael jackson videos i know that it deserves to be purchased even if some clips have already appeared in some other previous release .  history i    history ii   and  moonwalker  are all great  though only  moonwalker  is more like one movie  with a solid  smooth criminal  theme   paparazzi  topic  and a few weird spoofs and twists  .  br    br   being no fan of mj i can still give this  film . . . like no other  a solid  out of    i  ve been hit by  smooth criminal  for sure and my major complains are the following initial segments of the movie could have been dropped while the main  mj anti  drug campaign  should have been given more  sky  rocketing insanity and stress  and there should have been more  moonwalking  itself of course  . thanks for attention .  
spoilers throughout  br    br   the gettaway is mostly an action movie . and what action there is to   shootouts  chases  dumpsters and much much more . it stars kim bassenger and alec baldwin as the mc coy  s .  br    br   this is a remake and i have not seen the original but really didn  t care for this one at all although bassenger and baldwin have some nice screen chemistry . but the movie itself didn  t do it for me .  br    br   the gettaway became really tiresome really quickly . the plot is overshadowed by one fight  chase after another and as the violence keeps piling up  bassenger and baldwin retain their great looks no matter what perils they maybe in . in fact  by the end of the movie they almost look better then in the beginning . i don  t think bassenger  s eye makeup moves once during the whole picture .  br    br   this isn  t the worst movie i  ve ever seen  certainly not  but it isn  t very good and unless one is an action movie purist i can  t see really enjoying this movie because there  s just not a lot here . the gettaway isn  t terribly original either  and goes every way from unnecessarily brutal to rather dull . it really could have been better i think .  br    br   bassenger and baldwin give ok performances but they don  t have a lot to do except get chased and run for their lives . sometimes less is more  after seeing the same thing over and over again it gets stale . didn  t enjoy this one to much .  
only a     from me  a perfect ten would have been if there was more of a plot to the movie  but nevertheless moonwalker to this day remains a fun fest of music  dance and entertainment . beginning with the montage of video clips from jackson  s long career  it reminds the viewer of just why he is often regarded as  the king of pop  . from his hit  i want you back  to  we are the world  the multi  award winning charity record for the benefit of africa . following this a short movie of sorts  although lacklustre in an oscar winning script  nonetheless provides a fantastic and entertaining drama for the audience . ending with a perfect  sexy   rendition of  come together  . something the whole family can watch and enjoy .  
i have not seen this movie in ages but figured i  d comment on it anyway  mostly because the memory of disliking it so intently is burned into my memory cells . the original the getaway was no prize to begin with but at least had the distinctions of being   a sam peckinpah movie    featured steve mcqueen  ben johnson  and slim pickens    was a relatively painless way to blow away an hour and a half of time .  br    br   by comparison  the     version comes across as little more than a vanity piece for the then red hot alec baldwin and his soon to be divorced wife  kim basinger . mcqueen and his then wife allie mcbride also split up soon after their version of the film was made and one can sort of picture the baldwins at their marriage councilor arguing over who  s stupid idea it was to make this movie .  br    br   let  s just get it said and out of the way   alec baldwin never was and never will be anything close to the cooler king  and one of the reasons why this remake annoyed me so much is the perceived arrogance on baldwin  s part to presume to challenge our memory of steve mcqueen in the lead role . like someone else points out  peckinpah  s     vision of the film was a satire piece meant to sort of parody the action  adventure heist genre . by contrast baldwin  bassinger  company seem to be trying to evoke a more serious tone  with only michael madsen  s and james woods  slimy unprincipled villain characters coming off as real people .  br    br   the movie is also decidedly mean spirited and unlikeable at a fundamental level that is difficult to put into words . one viewing was more than enough  not just because it didn  t have anything new to offer but because of how artlessly it was made . peckinpah  s movie was actually a stylish little entertainment that had an upbeat mood  where this version is a slog that takes too long to amount to little or nothing . there  s no artistic urgency to it  s existence and some of the more uncomfortable scenes are so uncomfortable that they make the film difficult to enjoy .  br    br   so i don  t know  this was probably one of the films that helped to initiate the wave of pointless  artistically vapid big budget remakes propped up around a then name brand actor  actress  which in itself isn  t a really good thing . i  d always rather see a filmmaker at least try to come up with a new idea for a movie  fall flat with something original . this movie just made me want to pull my eyebrows out  and it  s revealing that over the ensuing   years since it  s release mr . baldwin has become widely renowned as one of the biggest jerks in hollywood . thank god for  team america  for putting him in his place .  br    br        
moonwalker is probably not the film to watch if you  re not a michael jackson fan . i  m a big fan and enjoyed the majority of the film  the ending wasn  t fantastic but the first   or so minutes were  if you  re a fan .  br    br   i personally believe the first   minutes are re  watchable many times over . the dancing in each video is breathtaking  the music fantastic to listen to and the dialogue entertaining .  br    br   it includes many of his finest videos from bad and snippets from his earlier videos . it also includes some live concert footage .  br    br   if you  re a big fan of michael jackson this is a must  if you  re not a fan  don  t like michael jackson  steer well clear .  br    br        
  this story is dedicated to women   according to the introduction   who have been fighting for their rights ever since adam and eve started the loose  leaf system .  when  politics  was filmed  the nineteenth amendment  guaranteeing women the right to vote  was only a decade old . and  the film deals with the wielding of political power by women as a voting group . advocating prohibition  and shutting down speakeasies  was a main concern for women at the time .  br    br   good  natured marie dressler  as hattie burns  becomes politically active  after a young woman is shot and killed coming out of a speakeasy . she wants the liquor  selling joints closed and  is drafted into a mayoral run  after delivering a powerful speech at a women  s rally . ms . dressler is supported by her tenants  best friend polly moran  as ivy higgins  and her stuttering husband roscoe ates  as peter higgins  . dressler  s run for mayor of lake city draws opposition from men in town so  dressler orders the women to go on strike  denying them   everything  in the  parlor  bedroom  and bath .   br    br   the film sounds much better than it turned out . the humor  frankly  isn  t too good and  it features some unfunny and moderately offensive situations   you look like madame queen  refers to an amos and andy character  . and  the mixing of shootings and slapstick doesn  t mix well  this time . producers might have considered making the film more dramatic  focusing exclusively on dressler and the characters played by william bakewell  as benny emerson  and karen morley  as myrtle burns  .  br    br    politics          charles reisner  marie dressler  polly moran  roscoe ates  
this movie is great .  br    br   now  i do tend to like my films heavy on the story and dialogue  but now and then  something like moonwalker comes along  and it  s watchable  despite numerous flaws .  br    br   this film is no more than a highly entertaining michael jackson advertisement . beginning with sickly video set to  man in the mirror  a montage listing his achievements  and bits and bobs from his career  it goes through all the highs of his life  then crashes down into a really  really entertaining segment which acts as a funny music video for  bad  and  speed demon   following the adventures of mj as he runs from manic stop  motion fans  and finally dancing against a rabbit costume . the stop motion isn  t that bad as some would have you believe . it  s passable .  br    br   then we see the great video for  leave me alone   and straight into the main feature .  br    br   yes  the plot is laughable . very laughable . we see michael walk out of a building  then get shot at by thousands of troops . then we hit flashback  showing mj and three children stumbling upon an underground lair .  mr big   joe pesci  is the nefarious villain who has a plan to get every child in the world hooked on  drugs   no specifics are mentioned  at an early age . mj and the little girl he is with get caught  then chased . . . yada yada yada . the plot isn  t really the important part . we get two very cool sequences where mj turns into a car  then a robot  spaceship thing  and of course  the amazing  smooth criminal  sequence .  br    br   it  s a so  so film  but it is fantastic for anyone who likes mj . it has most of his greatest hits  and some cool little bits  and some quite good special effects  the robot  spaceship sequence in particular  worth it  especially seen as though you can pick it up for about a quid on ebay . it  ll keep the kids quiet for a couple of hours  as well as most   somethings who were kids when it was first released .  
tierney  s an authentic tough guy  but this movie misfire from normally competent rko undercuts his impact at every turn . the script is about as plausible as oj simpson at a ten cmmandments dinner . just count the times tierney  s incredible car companions swallow one lame excuse after another for his evasive and violent acts . the old clich about it  only happening in the movies  applies here in spades . then there  s the guy playing the watchman  who appears to have wandered in from a boozy wc fields comedy  ruining the menacing mood in the process . the static one  room sets don  t help either  and neither does director feist  s obvious lack of feel for the material . then add a final car chase missing both imagination and pay  off  and the results are pretty flat . in fact the movie only picks up in the station  house scenes where hard  bitten cops discover the hidden powers of innocent  looking gas station attendants . too bad that tieney  s career never really gelled . i gather that was due largely to being as big a tough guy off  screen as on and getting in one sleazy scrape after another . his ice  cold manner and clarity of emotion remind me at times of lee marvin at his tough  guy best . anyway this project might have worked as a radio play  but as a movie with a promising noir title  it  s a disappointment .  
with all this stuff going down at the moment with mj i  ve started listening to his music  watching the odd documentary here and there  watched the wiz and watched moonwalker again . maybe i just want to get a certain insight into this guy who i thought was really cool in the eighties just to maybe make up my mind whether he is guilty or innocent . moonwalker is part biography  part feature film which i remember going to see at the cinema when it was originally released . some of it has subtle messages about mj  s feeling towards the press and also the obvious message of drugs are bad m  kay .  br    br   visually impressive but of course this is all about michael jackson so unless you remotely like mj in anyway then you are going to hate this and find it boring . some may call mj an egotist for consenting to the making of this movie but mj and most of his fans would say that he made it for the fans which if true is really nice of him .  br    br   the actual feature film bit when it finally starts is only on for   minutes or so excluding the smooth criminal sequence and joe pesci is convincing as a psychopathic all powerful drug lord . why he wants mj dead so bad is beyond me . because mj overheard his plans  nah  joe pesci  s character ranted that he wanted people to know it is he who is supplying drugs etc so i dunno  maybe he just hates mj  s music .  br    br   lots of cool things in this like mj turning into a car and a robot and the whole speed demon sequence . also  the director must have had the patience of a saint when it came to filming the kiddy bad sequence as usually directors hate working with one kid let alone a whole bunch of them performing a complex dance scene .  br    br   bottom line  this movie is for people who like mj on one level or another  which i think is most people  . if not  then stay away . it does try and give off a wholesome message and ironically mj  s bestest buddy in this movie is a girl  michael jackson is truly one of the most talented people ever to grace this planet but is he guilty  well  with all the attention i  ve gave this subject . . . . hmmm well i don  t know because people can be different behind closed doors  i know this for a fact . he is either an extremely nice but stupid guy or one of the most sickest liars . i hope he is not the latter .  
the film did what it set out to do show how a young girl copes with poverty and grows into her maturity . however  for most of us  this subject has been explored adequately and in most instances with more sophistication than done here . the movie fixated on breasts  which soon became boring and i lost interest . if this was on tv  i would  ve switched to the latest news on the starr report . that  s how boring i found this movie .  
i was a kid . . crazy about michael jackson . his music  his dancing . . he was and is the greatest of all times . few days ago a friend gave me a present . .  moonwalker  dvd . . i just couldn  t believe it  so i took my time and saw the movie again . . after a lot of years  and it kicked me back in time . i almost cried . not because of michael jackson but of the good old times i remembered back than when i went to his concerts  enjoying music and dancing . the movie gave me some other perspective than back then when i was a kid . you can truly see the parody that michael went through his life . thank you michael jackson to bring me back to those great times  to your great music and dancing . it  s a shame that people has forgotten you . . i didn  t because you gave me great moments with your music . . all the best to you where ever you are out there . .  
i was really looking forward to this movie based on the previews and press it received  but after viewing it i was terribly disappointed . slums is a totally unfunny film mixed with a todd solondz type of disturbing family reality sans todd  s brand of humor . the story drags along and each scene is worse than the last . maybe i missed the point  but if this film is an example of every girl  s growing up experience i am glad to be a man .  
the first time i saw this  film  i loved it . when i was    i was more interested in the music and dancing . as i  ve grown older  i  ve become more interested in the acting as well . while the first half is just a retrospective of michael  s career  from the jackson  up to  bad    it was still entertaining to watch . the  badder  sequence could  ve been left out  though the kids were pretty good .  speed demon  and  leave me alone  were funny  especially when the police officer tells michael   i need your autograph right here   after stopping him for dancing in a no  dancing zone . but it  s  smooth criminal  that  s the icing on the cake . joe pesci did an excellent job as the toughie  and that hair was wild  . the dancing is perfect  and so are the special effects . the only thing i could have done without was the spiders . any fan of michael  s should see this  if you haven  t already . i give it a      
from the critical acclaim  i expected more from this movie and from tamara jenkins . the story just meandered along and didn  t seem to have a point or a plot . and i find it hard to believe that a   year old girl  mature for her age or no  would be so blase about getting the loss of her virginity  over with .  maybe i am too young to relate  i was four years old in       but i didn  t have any problems connecting with the stories of shakespeare in love or life is beautiful and i wasn  t alive for either of those settings . the cast is very good but unfortunately for them the script did not alow them to engage the audience . overall  slums had its moments but unless you are yearning to reminisce over halter tops and tube socks  i would say skip this one .  
if you want to remember mj  this is a good place to start . this movie features sweet tunes  mj as robot  and a crazy  messed  up plot . i recall  many a night  passing out to this fine feature film in college  and pondering the sheer awesomenes of whoever decided to green light this ridiculous piece of .  br    br   there is lots of singing . lots of dancing . there is lots of singing while dancing . mj slays it as you would expect when it comes to this stuff . but there is much more to this movie . there is claymation . there are fat children  clay  . there is an anthropomorphic rabbit that michael jackson has to battle in a dance off  obviously clay too  . there is joe pesci as well  not made of clay  .  br    br   rip  we love you michael  it is a sad day for all of us .  
the most difficult thing about this movie is to say anything positive about it . the characters were stereotypical  white  trash   the movie  s  plot  was stunted from the beginning  and the worst feature of this movie was that the nudity was so blatantly from body doubles it was funny . regretfully  that was the only funny thing in the movie . ms . jenkins would be better served if in the future  she would refrain from using her life  story to  entertain  people . it was simply that bad . the one positive aspect of this movie  this has nothing to do with the lack  of  quality of the film  is that my brother shelled out the money for this stinker .  
actually this movie has silly moments  both in the claymation part and in the joe pesci and children part  and it  s much worse than other mj movies like  the wiz    captain eo  and  ghosts  . but as a die hard michael jackson fan since almost eleven years   yeah  that  s half my life  you guys    i can  t complain too much about it . just seeing this lovely guy and hearing his wonderful music is a trip to heaven for me . but as a movie  it  s not good at all  and i  m afraid  that it would get a much lower grade for me  if my darling mike hadn  t been the one starring in it . but since no one but mike is the moonwalker  it has to get a  out of   from me .  
    what happened to these unlikeable people . alan arkin was  as usual  unfunny and just walks through the role . the kids are all a mess . mariesa tomei probably wishes this role had never come her way . and what are carl reiner and rita moreno doing in this really bad  mean movie  if you enjoy watching losers wallow in their disfunction  and not try in any way to do better  this is your film . all others  take a walk  read a book  or see something else .  br    br   jane  
i  ve loved this movie ever since it first came out . i was about nine years old  and now i  m   . i remember playing the video game on sega genisis . i had so much fun  i would love to show my son this movie . he likes michael jackson as well and i know he will love this movie just as i did when i was a kid . even though he  s much younger than i was when i first saw it . i can  t wait for it to come out on dvd  i hope it comes out on dvd  please let it come out on dvd   i  m dying to see it again    well that is my comment i hope that one day soon i  ll get to view this movie again . i love all of the videos in this movie . my favorite mini  video is badder   
this is a story of a jewish dysfunctional family . the parents have divorced and mom remains back east in the house . the father  murray abromowitz  moves with his children to california  and moves around beverly hills so that his children can get the best education possible .  br    br   things really become funny when marisa tomei  murray  s niece  comes to lives with the group .  br    br   the film deals with the various adventures of the family complicated by the drug scene of the affluent neighborhood .  br    br   jessica walter costars as a woman who wants murray to move in with her since she wants a companion .  br    br   carl reiner and rita moreno come in towards the end . they play murray  s brother and sister  in  law respectively they  re also the parents of tomei . in front of the children  reiner lets loose reminding murray that he has been paying the bills for them all along .  br    br   the film ends on a sour note as the embarrassed family moves out of their fancy digs and take to riding around beverly hills in their car . i guess the film is promoting independence and some good old self  esteem .  
a river runs through it is one of those movies that deserves to be seen in the theater so that the majesty of its cinematography can be truly appreciated . the acting is wonderful and understated  with every gesture and smile and nod carrying meaning . brad pitt gives a radiant performance and tom skerrit is powerful as the preacher father . the movie moves like a river  you have to be willing to follow it through ebbs and flows  but it is well worth it in the end .  
before i go on i have to admit to being a huge bon jovi fan . in fact thats what attracted me to the dvd case in the first place . i probably would have bought it anyway being such a big horror fan and having enjoyed the first vampires title so much .  br    br   but this isn  t half as good . not even jon could save this film for me . my main problem would be that it simply isn  t scary . apart from jon  s character derek bliss none of the other characters make an impression and you couldn  t care less whether they die or not  especially the annoying vampire  drug addict woman . the female vampire simply isn  t scary or sexy . rather she looks like an anorexic   year girl  no wonder she is so desperate for blood then . another huge problem is that everything is just  too bright  . there is no atmosphere or sense of dread . i know the first vampires being set in new mexico wasn  t exactly the twilight zone in terms of creepiness but yet it still managed to be dark and foreboding when it needed to be . this film has no tension like that .  br    br   the story is basically the same as before . vampire wants berzier  s cross to be able to walk in daylight . however the story has less cool bits this time . there is no wow factor in knowing this is the master of all master  the original vampire  as in the first film . you really don  t care who or what this one is . there is no army of masters . instead she hides out in some old ruin which looks more like a disneyland attraction then a creepy temple .  br    br   so there you have it really . lack of scares  lack of atmosphere  lack of interesting story . a real let down for me personally .  
ah  moonwalker  i  m a huge michael jackson fan  i grew up with his music  thriller was actually the first music video i ever saw apparently . believe it or not there was a time where michael jackson was like a god to people  a time where women fainted at the sight of him before really fainting before seeing the sight of him  sorry  michael . but moonwalker was what started to be a tribute to all of michael  s success of the time right when he released his famous bad album that was record breaking  was the first album to have  top ten singles . michael is an incredible artist  there is no doubt  he writes  sings  dances  but when it comes to acting or keeping a story straight with his audience not so much .  br    br   we start off pretty simple jackson  s music  life  career  success and the mania that was the    s biggest star in the world michael jackson . later on  jackson is a    s style gangster who uses his powers as a crime figure to protect the children . when jackson was allowed to be near children  we cut to him playing in a field with the children and their dog . the dog runs away  and in their search for it  jackson and the children uncover the lair of mr . big  frankie lideo  a drug dealing mobster with an army of henchmen who wants to get the entire populace of planet earth addicted to drugs  starting with the children . mr . big discovers jackson and the children  but they escape jackson tells the children to meet him at club    s  which turns out to be a haunted nightclub abandoned since the     s . the story goes back to the mobsters attack on jackson  and here it is revealed that jackson is actually a magical gangster  who draws his power from shooting stars . as one passes by the club  jackson transforms into a sports car and mows down several of mr . big  s henchmen . the story picks up on the children at club    s  and at first the children are afraid  but when jackson appears the scary atmosphere of the club transforms and the children find themselves back in the     s . the club is now filled with zoot suiters and swing dancers . jackson participates in a dance  off with the other club members  which serves as the music video for  smooth criminal  . at the climax of the song  mr . big lays siege to the club and kidnaps one of the children  katie . jackson follows them back to big  s lair and ends up surrounded by his henchmen . mr . big appears and mentally tortures jackson by threatening to inject katie with highly addictive narcotics . while katie manages to just grab joe pesci  s glasses and get free from being injected  mr . big decides he  s had enough and orders his men to kill katie before finishing off jackson  but not before a shooting star flies by . jackson transforms into a giant robot and kills all of mr . big  s soldiers . yup  ummm  you want more weirdness  watch the movie .  br    br   moonwalker is fun for the first half hour  seeing michael  s success and all his hard work really makes his fans appreciate him once again . is it mostly to hype up his album  yeah  i love how he spends the first   minutes praising how awesome he is  then we go to his song called  leave me alone   which is kind of hypocritical  not that it  s not a great song  just a small turn of events . then when we skip the crummy acting  the story was incredibly weak the villain spells his name out loud while michael and katie are spying on him  lol  michael is a transformer all of a sudden  the villain  s big monster plan is to make kids high  also the villain has some sort of massive ray gun that would make marvin the martian blush . but if there is one new thing that is incredible that the movie gives us is the new video for smooth criminal . this music video is perfection  it  s choreographing  it  s setting  it  s song  it  s smooth style  michael always goes above and beyond perfection and smooth criminal was incredible . i loved moonwalker as a kid  i still watch it for fun to this day  but it  s not the best movie by any means  it  s pretty silly  but it  s all good if you  re a michael jackson fan as well .  br    br        
this film is probably the worst film that i have ever seen . i  m studying french at college and thus understood all the dialog  so the language barrier wasn  t an issue . i must say it is really hard to empathize with any of the characters depicted in the movie . there is only one professional actor in the cast and i  m guessing no professional directors or writers .  br    br   although i have rated it  out of   it probably doesn  t merit such a poor rating . this is merely a futile effort of lowering its current overall rating of  .  to something more realistic . perhaps  .  would be a more accurate rating because the film is a true non  event    minutes or so in length that you will never get back .  br    br   the real shame is that i am sure some college student is busting his nut making a film twice as good and half the length . however if you want to join the bandwagon which seems to be rolling around imdb you might as well go ahead give  lost in translation  a   as well .  
i was quite surprised to read some of the comments on this work  honestly . some people were looking for a plot    ok  when this video came out over a decade ago  i watched it for what it was a collection of music videos . it  s not a movie . it doesn  t have a plot  nor a central storyline . it  s a rather artistic anthology of mostly long  form videos  all of them rather smartly or creatively done . michael jackson may be considered a freak these days  but  after all  this was the man who gave us thriller  considered by many to be the greatest music video of all time  and set trends with billie jean and beat it . with moonwalker  he and the filmmakers and artists who collaborated with him once again took his music and dance moves to create some vividly entertaining stuff  incorporating claymation  special effects  live performance footage  and even self  parody  the  badder  sequence  . and for those wondering what joe pesci was doing there  this video came out just a tad before he became a household name  and was one of his most memorable appearances on film . and  imho  i think the smooth criminal sequence  the choreographed section  beats anything else michael jackson did up to that point   
as others have noted  this should have been an excellent hammer  style film  and it seems to me that that  s how most of the actors were instructed to play it . . . but the screenplay is so leaden  poorly paced  and filled with a lot of dull soliloquies  poor timothy dalton is saddled with most of them  that it  s all too overblown and self  important . this is an uncharacteristically weak performance from dalton  although he quietly nails the climactic scene where dr . rock finally realizes what he  s done . the only actor who comes off really well is patrick stewart who is a most welcome sight . freddie francis may have been a great cinematographer  but he was a lousy director .  
the three stooges has always been some of the many actors that i have loved . i love just about every one of the shorts that they have made . i love all six of the stooges  curly  shemp  moe  larry  joe  and curly joe   all of the shorts are hilarious and also star many other great actors and actresses which a lot of them was in many of the shorts  in my opinion the three stooges is some of the greatest actors ever and is the all time funniest comedy team   br    br   this is a good three stooges short . it funny and its cast includes christine mcintyre  symona boniface  gino corrado  fred kelsey  sam flint  chester conklin  theodore lorch  lynton brent  judy malcolm  vernon dent  john tyrrell  heinie conklin  and bess flowers . the stooges performed very well in this short  i recommend this one   
renowned cinematographer freddie francis  glory  the elephant man  directs this pretty bad horror  drama film .   th century england has a different view of how the practice of medicine should be handled than dr . thomas rock  the law stating that only the bodies of hung criminals can be studied and experimented on . but the stockpile of these bodies is a small one  and rock needs more  and he prefers them fresher . being a maverick within his circle  he begins to pay people to find bodies for him to study and test on . desperate sleazebags robert fallon and timothy broom get wind of this job opportunity and begin to murder people and sell these bodies to rock . naturally  this kind of action has even worse consequences than practicing on the dead bodies of non  criminals  and leads to trouble for everyone . while the overall story sounds intriguing on paper  almost everything about the doctor and the devils is laughably bad .  br    br   after the first fifteen minutes of the film you are already beginning to question your decision of sitting down to watch the film . the entire look of the film is just ugly . seeing as how the film takes place in the slums of england during the   th century  the filmmakers were probably going for an  ugly  look  but they don  t do it in an artful way . everything from the sets to the cinematography just look cheap  feeble  and disgusting . also  just about everything scene is filled with something that you simply cannot take seriously  and most of the time this has to do with someone  both in the small and large roles  doing something that looks or sounds completely ridiculous . francis sure didn  t help out his actors much .  br    br   jonathan pryce and stephen rea play the twisted buddies of the film  fallon and broom respectively  and are very bombastic but very bad . their characters are by nature crazy  but pryce and rea overact the parts to death . they especially have trouble keeping the same accent from shot to shot  pryce in particular goes from cockney to irish to long john silver to some kind of lagoon creature and so on and so forth . it  s also a humor riot to see twiggy in this film at all  let alone playing an in  demand street whore  since she can  t act to save her life  though her song during the final credits isn  t so funny  . boy she sure came a long way from  flower power  to  i  ll take mee clothes off for a shillin    as bad as those three actors are in this film  julian sands takes home the award for the worst performance of the film . he is just as lame as it gets  giving one laugh  out  loud attempt after another at portraying anger  love  happiness  anxiety  pick an emotion  any emotion   br    br   there  s only one good thing about the doctor and the devils timothy dalton  s performance of dr . rock . despite being surrounded by cinematic sewage  dalton is quite excellent giving an electric portrayal of an overly driven yet good natured man . too bad the rest of the film could not have been as good as mr . dalton . . . .  
in micro phonies the stooges are at there best . in this short the trio are handymen working in a recording studio . they end up getting a look at alice van doren  christine mcintyre  singing the voice of spring . the voice is amazing . curly in drags is heard by mrs . bixby  symona boniface  . moe calls curly senior cucaracha . the three stooges end up going to party where curly is going to dress up in drags . they play a record of the voices of spring and all is going well until moe destroy the record on curly  s head . they end up using the lucia sexlet until the baritone recognizes them and unplugs it . alice van doren catches on to the boy scream and hides behind a curtain to help them out . all is well until the baritone wonders how curly is singing without the aid of a phonograph discovers alice behind the curtain . the three stooges are revealed to be frauds but alice  s father discovers his daughter  s talent and agrees that she should become a singer . the stooge are pelted out of the room . excellent .  
  drawing restraint   is a kind of movie one either loves or hates fortunately or not  i left it with a strong feeling of wasted time and of being thoroughly stuffed with  killing whales is bad  propaganda . aesthetically  the movie could have been pleasing  especially its first half  until it is not clear that every action portrayed serves as an allegory of various aspects of whale hunting . until then  it might be slightly amusing to look at daily chores of japan workers  but later it becomes obvious that anything that appears on the screen is a propaganda  and no single frame is an exception . i use the word  propaganda  because the movie uses basically the old morality play device  where  good  and  bad  are not deduced in the course of action but are set in stone . probably it  s just me  but i find such type of art shallow and preconceived  even when it  s all about the noble  no sarcasm here  quest of protecting the environment .  br    br   in my opinion it is a cardinal sin when a movie material is stretched out without any justification  for the sake of stretching only . in my opinion   drawing restraint   could  ve been easily fit into   minutes  but has a torturous length of  and    hours . yes  there were interesting shots  but there were not enough of these to leave    minute gaps of nothingness without notice . the movie has no standard scenario  and there  s no evolution of characters  but neither it is a documentary  it  s rather a kind of conceptual installation . that  s an unusual form for a movie  but it still can be viewed as art even when the concept is as simple and naive as here . otoh i also believe that the director should  ve had some honesty and did not pretend that it could be only delivered in no less than    minutes .  br    br   and yes  the music score mostly resembled whale sounds . how surprising .  br    br       .  
this is without a doubt the funniest of the curly stooges shorts . i  ve seen it dozens of times and it always makes me laugh . hilarious pantomime sequences . a perfect example of  musical comedy  . even people who don  t like the knuckleheads remember this one fondly .  
i thought it would at least be aesthetically beautiful . it was slow  pretentious  and boring . i almost fell asleep . there are some decent songs  but there is this one song at the end which is just some guy yelling out  yaowwww   while someone taps randomly on a wooden object . that being said  there are some pretty songs  but it  s not worth seeing hte movie over . go on itunes  they have the album   preview it  and choose the good ones .  br    br   half the movie is some guy making tea . well  that  s a slight exaggeration . but you  ll see what i mean if you see it . that being said don  t see it   
most stoogephiles consider this to be the best stooges short bar none  and they  re right . curly is a scream dressed up in drag as  senorita cucaracha   and moe and larry are in top form as  senor mucho  and  senor gusto   respectively . christine mcintyre  s beautiful operatic voice is given full rein   she actually was a trained opera singer   and it  s wonderful . the great gino corrado is hilarious as a pompous italian singer terrorized by the stooges at a society party . some truly funny gags  good direction and very tight editing make this rise to the very top of the stooges  prolific output . what  s even more amazing is that curly was having severe health problems at the time  and in several of the shorts he made during this period  you can see that he is obviously ill his timing is way off  he speaks very slowly and haltingly  and has trouble getting around . fortunately  his health was in an upswing when he made this film  and it shows . classic stooge comedy  and enjoyed by even non  stooge fans  i had a girlfriend who couldn  t stand the stooges  but even she laughed at this one  . a must  see .  
this has got to be one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen  there were people leaving the theatre  others were falling asleep  ok  it was a late night show  . . . this is a no  sense movie  one of those who can make you never want to see an out of mainstream picture again . i would love to watch the making  off of this movie as i am deeply interested on what goes on the minds of the authors of such garbage . do they laugh when they create all this ridiculous stuff or do they actually think they  re doing something interesting  i wonder . . . the soundtrack is awful apart from some instrumental stuff that reminds you of a previous bjork album . even if you  re a fan of bjork  s music  stay home . it  s the best thing to do . the little  tiny  pieces of nice music are no reason for you to go out and submit yourself to this torture . god  . . .  
i remember when i first saw this short  i was really laughing so hard  that like with a lot of other films that i have seen  no sound came out  curly is really great at  singing  opera in this one  i am surprised that he did not consider a career as a professional singer  because he was really good   br    br   if you noticed  this was filmed near the end of curly  s career as a stooge  you could really tell he had changed  because he had lost weight and was thinner  his voice was deepening  his face was getting lined with wrinkles  though he still could pull it off  he looked like he was fifty at the age of forty . this was because he was suffering many minor strokes before his big one that ended his career . be he still managed to pull it off in his last ones   br    br   if you don  t mind the fact that curly was really getting very ill at this point  this is actually one of their funniest shorts . i know that i didn  t mind the fact that curly was really changing  because i still thought that he was great   br    br         
slow and nice images changed one another  with sometimes annoying music  you know bjork  in background  for the first    of the movie . if you did not have enough sleep  that  s a good time .  br    br   but  in the last    of the movie director decides to bring idea of re  birth  re  incarnation or else  through sm images  spiritual lovers  are cutting each others bodies with knives . for me it was very much disturbing and actually changed general impression of blend of abstract art and images of modern japanese mystery .  br    br   operator and director are great  but weird .  br    br   did not enjoy it at all .  
this three stooges flick is at a tie with my other favorite flick  disorder in the court  . this is an uproar of laughter for any three stooges fan to enjoy .  br    br   the boys are janitors at a recording studio when they hear the lovely christine mcintyre sings a great version of  voices of spring  . she is going to be offered a record deal  but she is scarred to be honest with her father about her choice of a career and prove herself as a real singer . when she and the others leave the studio  the stooges decide to have a little fun and play her record and dress curly up as christine . the contract lady who can make christine  s career  sees curly and mistakes him for christine and invites curly to sing for her party . of course there is a man that they have upset that is at the party and they destroy his solo in front of the crowd  so he  ll find a way to get back at them .  br    br   what a great stooge flick  this should not be missed   br    br         
don  t get the impression from other reviewers that this film stinks cos it  s ambivalent about the japanese whaling industry  which  morally  is no worse than the us meat trade or the scottish haggis cull   it stinks cos it  s pretentious tosh  the sort of up  its  own  behind guff that gets modern art a bad name . that said  there are some stunning images  but there are stunning images in the average bus ride if you use your imagination  so that  s no reason to go and see this nonsense . what happens in the film happens very slowly and often accompanied by a soundtrack that sounds like a cat being gutted  and then  just when you thinks it  s finished  it starts again . i saw it it in a porn cinema in rome which had been hired for the weekend to show barney  s film works  which is an admirable and clever way to reclaim what had once been a local fleapit from the dirty  old  men  in  macs brigade  but if the trendy young things and the slightly older beard  stroking bjork fans were to be honest  everyone might have had a lot more fun if they  d just shown one of the pornoes   
micro  phonies is a classic stooge short . the guys are inept repairmen working at a radio station  and during some horsing around in a broadcast booth  curly  s perfect mimic of a recording of  voices of spring  is mistaken for the real thing  leading to a radio contract and a zany musical party . the trio  s mock rendition of the quintet from  lucia de l  amamore  is especially entertaining . no doubt this is essential viewing for stooge fans .  br    br   although the evidence of curly  s failing health is visible in his face and voice  his performance is amazing  and it is probably the last glimpse of the old curly . some fans think that  a bird in the hand  is the last great curly short  but his coarse voice and slow movement are just too difficult to watch .  
i couldn  t agree more with another reviewer that mentioned jodorowsky .  br    br   barney seems to be utterly boring and uninspired  content  wise  . he can produce eye  candy  and i like candy   but its pretentiousness and fundamental artistic emptiness just diminishes all the joy .  br    br   i am afraid that many people don  t distinguish between similar  but really only on the surface  works of jodorowsky or even more linear film  makers like tarkovski or kubrick  i love     odyssey and was never bored through the ending scenes . . .  that kind of art as m . barney  s makes adds confusion and fends off the viewers that could otherwise start to appreciate experimental cinema . typical empty post  modern  conceptual  art . and check his interviews . i just don  t buy it  sorry . and so boring .  br    br   i was never bored seeing alejandro jodorowsky  s movies  while drawing restraint  was an utter disappointment . especially while it offered the possibilities to be something  to actually tell something in a non  linear unorthodox way  like the beginning and the great choreographed dance and preparations for the ship to sail out . ships  meeting  on the sea . . . ideas of feces as an object of value  if it was feces  . those  pearl  divers . . . everything could construct a great surreal movie with some content . but it didn  t . and those horrible pretentious scenes of dressing up and fake tea ceremony . . . how vain and fake and philosophically pretentious but empty can it get   br    br   i has some great picturesque scenes  but the whole movie became so boring and pretentious and utterly empty and fake that it made me physically sick .  br    br   and it doesn  t have good tempo . i like slow pace movies  but this was just boring in some scenes  because it was pretentious and fake  so i was just forced to witnessed prolonged scenes of artistic vanity . . .  br    br   that kind of movies just kill the art and spirit in my view .  br    br   i want more jodorowsky     
this is one of my two or three favorite stooges shorts  and undoubtedly christine mcintyre  s best performance with the trio . she is good in a number of other shorts  but here she is absolutely brilliant . her singing is not funny at all  in fact it is downright beautiful  but the plot is constructed in such a way that the singing enhances the humor rather than detracting from it . we listen to mcintyre sing the entirety of voice of spring no less than three times  but it never gets old  partly because we don  t tire of her voice  and partly because it blends so well with the stooges  antics . the use of operatic soprano in a comedy is reminiscent of kitty carlisle  s role in the marx brothers   a night at the opera   but the singing is much more a part of the comedy here than in  opera   and mcintyre  perhaps more in other performances than here  exhibited a comedic talent of her own that carlisle never did . the stooges  buffoonery  mcintyre  s singing  and a well  constructed plot combine for  out of  stars .  
i watched this movie as a preview of a matthew barney art exhibit . it certainly prepared me . i almost skipped the exhibit and  in retrospect  probably should have .  br    br   aside from the score being great  bjork  and the photography rich and colorful  the content was mostly tedious and predictable . gee  i really needed to see someone wearing pearls to figure out what the pearl  divers were up to . the film was mostly a silly mixture of japanese cultural references and industrial shots of modern whaling technology being used in a mock  hunt  harvest . the film  peaks  with enough gratuitous shock  art to turn your stomach .  br    br   what was the point of the movie  while others might argue that it is an anti  whaling piece  one could equally argue that it somehow also justifies whaling . personally i think it was barney  s attempt at  flashing  the audience with his anal  fecal  self  mutilation  and cannibalistic fetishes .  br    br   bottom line unless you really get off on barney  s sense of art  don  t bother seeing this movie . the message is obscure  the pace slow  and the cultural references pretentious . if you  re after shock  art  you  ll do better at one of the many  undead  movies or hunting down an old copy of hustler and taking in a fecal  cartoon .  
as a habit i always like to read through the  hated it  reviews of any given movie . especially one that i  d want to comment on . and it  s not so much a point  counterpoint sorta deal i just like to see what people say on the flipside .  br    br   however  i do want to address one thing . many people that hated it called it  to paraphrase   beautiful  but shallow   some even going so far as to say that norm  s desire yet inability to help his brother was a mundane plot  at best .  br    br   i  d like to disagree .  br    br   as a brother of a sibling who has a similar dysfunction  i can relate . daily  you see them abuse themselves  knowing only that their current path will inevitably lead them to self  destruction . and it  s not about the specifics of what they did when how or why paul decided to take up gambling and associating with questionable folks it  s really more how they are wired . on one hand  they are veritable geniuses  and on the other  painfully self  destructive  it  s a lot like people like howard hughes  the same forces which drive them are the same forces which tear them apart  and all the while you see this  you know this  and what  s worse  you realize you can  t do a damn thing about it .  br    br   for norman maclean  a river runs through it was probably a way to find an answer to why the tragedy had to occur  and who was to blame . in the end  no one is  and often  there is no why . but it takes a great deal of personal anguish to truly come to this realization . sometimes it takes a lifetime . and sometimes it never comes at all .  
brilliant book with wonderful characterizations and insights into human nature  particularly the nature of addiction  which still resonate strongly today .  br    br   as for the movie . . . eh . nothing special . the cameraman clearly had an unfortunate addiction to circling and circling and circling around everything  making the viewer quite nauseous . why the director didn  t put a stop to this is beyond me   but maybe he was too busy trying  and somehow failing  to draw good performances from these normally excellent but inappropriately  cast actors . all in all  a weak adaptation . your three hours would be better spent reading  or re  reading  the book .  
the boys are working outside a recording studio when they hear  the voice of an angel .  that would be miss van doren  auditioning and going under the name of miss andrews because her father doesn  t approve of her being a  radio singer  . however  she hopes a certain big  wig  mrs . bixby  a friend of her dad  s will hire her  and then he will have to give his approval .  br    br   she leaves but within minutes the boys are running amok in the studio causing havoc and having other musicians out to kill them after they ruin the recording session . finally things calm down .  whew  we eluded them   says moe .  yeah  we got away  too   answers curly .  br    br   the boys then fool around in the studio  put on miss van doren  s record and curly gets dressed in women  s clothes and pretends he  s singing . mrs . bixby walks in  is impressed and hires  seniorita cucacha  on the spot  for an extra      she  s asked to come and sing at their high  society party that night . the rest  as they say  is history as curly pretends to be an opera singer with some funny results . oh  by the way  he accompanied by  senior mucho  and  senior gusto .   br    br   what happens at the party is simply that the truth wins out  but not before a few slapstick antics take place . in all  a pretty good episode . i enjoyed it but wouldn  t rate it as anything special .  
drawing restraint  . dir matthew barney .  br    br   how do you know when you  re in the middle of a pretentious art film  is it that there is only  lines of dialogue in    minutes of film  is it when bjork is wearing what looks like a giant furry pita on her head in a pseudo  asian ritual  maybe when mammoth turds and spinal columns are used in a whale blubber experiment . or  when you  re about ready to kill the composer for making a minimal  and still annoying  version of a philip glass score  in any case  drawing restraint  is among the most pretentious of the modern art movies . at    minutes  it adds to its pretension by being boring to boot . i would call the use of color stunning  and the opening sequence interesting  but the rest of the movie looked like it was filmed for a discovery channel documentary . that is until it looks like they were trying to film their version of p  ss christ  but that will be coming up later .  br    br   actually  the documentary  esquire portions were the best parts of it . the surface plot is about a whaling ship  and then there is a ritual about making whale fat . then  there are the guests in the form of bjork and matthew barney who are welcomed on the ship by being put through a ritual of humiliation which includes passed  out head shaving  think frat boy pranks   nicotine patches  and giant furry pita hats . then there is mutual evisceration  cannibalism  and lets not forget the giant turd .  br    br   matthew barney has written that this is about  the relationship between self  imposed resistance and creativity .  that  s almost like saying   if you don  t get it  then you  re not creative in your interpretation  so sod off because i  m an artist .  oh  wait  that  s the post  modern interpretation of that sentence and what the movie would be about if it was post  modern . but  its supposed to be modern art . which is about the art itself .  br    br   so  let  s start this whole interpretation bit  shall we  the following lines are only    serious and should not be taken as any realistic attempt to interpret the movie .  br    br   the first half  hour concerns pearl divers and the construction of a giant ramp . obviously  the ramp is symbolic of the need for self  elevation to whatever standards you hold dear  and the pearl divers are looking for pearls of wisdom . then  on a whaling ship  they build a crate that looks like it is in the crude shape of a whale . obviously a crude element of foreshadowing .  br    br   on the ship  they make whale fat inside the shape of the whale  and take out the fins portion . they replace this with a spinal column and later a giant turd . these are supposed to be the states of the movie itself . when its fat  its entertaining but bad for you . when it is the spinal column  its the  important  parts of the movie  or the backbone so to speak . then  the giant turd is the bowels of the movie  or when the movie is crap .  br    br   bjork and matthew barney the arrive on separate ships  are put into strange humiliating outfits which aren  t even well made or symmetrical  one suspects that they ran out of money and barney was trying to quit smoking . so  they put patches on his head . they go through a ritual and learn about the ship from a japanese wise man  who tells them that the ship is scarred from when another ship hit it a crash or intersection  if you will . this inspires bjork and barney  who are different on the outside  to start cutting each other  s legs off and eat them so they could turn into whales themselves and be the same person . they intersect . oh  did i forget to mention that this has been done in a robbie williams video  then  the pearl divers come back with their mouths full of pearls of knowledge which they let fall to make a stupid venn diagram . barney made it through  th grade geometry  obviously . or  maybe at least some social studies .  br    br   oh  and did i forget bjork  s ear  gouging i  want  to  kill  her score  at times it is hypnotic  but at others you just want to assassinate her .  br    br   art film is one thing  but when you just throw up all sorts of symbolism in the hopes of getting a reaction out of people  it becomes a self  destructive joke . when do you cross the line between becoming a joke in terms of art  dali and bunuel frequently made surreal pieces of nonsense but were more coherent and  or entertaining than this piece of trash . un chien andalou had the sensibility to cram as much symbolism as it could into less than half an hour .  br    br   so  can i recommend this  only if you like dull high art films with lots of symbolism and flat imagery .  br    br   d  
saps at sea is evidently a pun on a gary cooper film  souls at sea . the title aptly describes the starring team  stan laurel and oliver hardy . who go on an ocean voyage to soothe ollie  s nerves only to run into escaped killer nick grainger . as played by rychard cramer  this criminal is both amusing and chilling  making him a fine foil for the boys  comedic characters . despite his powerful presence  cramer never upstages the boys  a tribute to stan and ollie  s beguiling charisma . that is as it should be  since the boys are supposed to be the protagonists in this film .  br    br   such is the charm of laurel and hardy  s personas that they elevate average material . for saps at sea has its slow spots . for instance  as a previous commentator has noted  a bit where a doctor  the delightfully flustered james finlayson  tries a balloon called  lung tester  on ollie  lacks punch . the scenario is very episodic  with the first part  taking place in the boys  apartment  almost completely unrelated to the second part where they go off to sea . but on the whole  the film is highly pleasant entertainment with a sufficiently brief running time so that it doesn  t wear out it  s welcome .  br    br   there  s a certain poignancy viewing the final collaboration between laurel and hardy and producer hal roach . i haven  t seen all of laurel and hardy  s post      films but those that i have seen don  t measure up to even the weakest hal roach products . in these later movies  laurel and hardy seem to be in an alien environment  deprived of such colorful supporting players like finlayson and charlie hall and marvin hately and leroy shield  s sprightly musical scores . they also aren  t the well  meaning and optimistic bumblers we know and love but in the later films  are either exasperating blockheads or pathetic misfits .  br    br   it is a pity that many hal roach laurel and hardy films are now generally unavailable to the public . even in a minor entry like saps at sea  one can see that laurel and hardy were great comedians . this was because hal roach  for the most part  allowed stan laurel  the guiding force behind the team  complete artistic freedom . once laurel lost his autonomy at other studios  the team lost much of its uniqueness .  
this film is massively boring and pretentious . there is only one good moment when a sailor shaves mr barney  s  think the purple dinosaur  less pretense  eyebrow . the music is relentlessly cloying  it is sad that bjork  someone with so much inner beauty  has been brought down to pretentious falsity in her art . the pomp of the tea service makes a beautiful ritual seem vapid . the mythology and culture are not respected in this film they are lifted . not just from japanese culture but from another filmmaker . . .  stay tuned  in a perfect  art imitates life  moment  the crew of the ship finds a giant piece of sht . which is what the audience found in the theatre . there are some set pieces which are very composed and arty without heart    thenprepare for spoilers  i  m talking to you mr barney .  br    br   the emperor has no clothes  mr . barney you have been outted  i have seen jodorowsky  s holy mountain . and your thin  fake veil of bs has been lifted . you have stolen your images your style and your entire art catalogue from this man . now that holy mountain has been released finally let  s hope the powers that be at the art councils of the world stop financing you  poor jodorowsky  lost in a financial battle with the beatles lawyer when he is the lennon  mccartney of film  making . and btw while jodorowsky is the beatle  you are the monkees  a cheap thin soulless rip off only liked by facile kitschy college freshmen . and btw i am a filmmaker . if you are interested in making a reality film  i will legally fight you in a ring defending jodorowsky  you  defending outright thievery .  
ever since seeing this film as a child  over   years ago  i never tire of watching it . from the opening scenes in the horn factory  to the car motor running from the back seat of the car  to ollie answering the phone and being accidentally pushed out the window by stan  i think this was perhaps their best latter day film . after this they moved to   th century fox  and while those films weren  t terrible  they lacked the comic timing of this movie . jimmy finnlayson  their long time foil  in his last appearance with the boys  showing up as the doctor is super  quote  i said goat milk  his reply to stan asking him how do you milk a ghost  charlie hall and even ben turpin show up  i  d say all in all one of my favorite l  h comedies .  
i can appreciate what barney is trying to achieve  but after sitting through this last night at a college movie house  i couldn  t help but think . . . when is this gonna end  a very long and ponderous two hours and fifteen minutes . i had only seen a part of cremaster  on dvd and thought i knew what to expect . that said  experimental films such as this are better digested in small increments . there are a couple of beautiful  horrible images . . . including the title sequence  no kidding   but if you go into this expecting any kind of plot or meaning  then you are in for a long  snooze  inducing ride . i managed to stay awake for the whole thing  if that  s a compliment  but more often than not  i was waiting for some kind of meaning or narrative . . . big mistake . among the collection of images are a very ornate gift  wrapping ceremony  the creation of a disgusting dish of what appears to be petroleum jelly slabs formed with a cookie cutter and sprinkled with shrimp  this is served to the crew of the ship which is shown throughout the film   a large blubber cheesecake with a large tentacle turd placed in the center of it  and the mutual evisceration of bjork and director matthew barney which eventually culminates in some bizarre kind of communion  followed by their transformation into whale  like creatures . the soundtrack is at times beautiful and annoying . . . sometimes even maddening . at one time  there is a song being sung by bjork to go along with the ephemeral rituals being played before us  and at other times there is just a constant droning of a high  pitched instrument  which we see a mysterious woman playing at the beginning and end of the movie . if this sounds like it doesn  t make sense  that is because is doesn  t  if this sounds like your cup of tea  then you will absolutely love it  if this sounds like something that you probably won  t like  then stay far away from it  because you will most likely walk out of the theater during the halfway mark like several people at the screening i attended . this is the very definition of an art film . you get from it what you take from it . but otherwise  there really isn  t much there  other than a few oddities and constant construction and deconstruction rituals . i  m glad that there is a place for films such as this  but i can  t say i would want to sit through it again . however  i can  t say i wouldn  t want to see one of barney cremaster films from start to finish and compare it with this . i think  perhaps now that i know what to expect i might enjoy something like this more . to give you an idea of what kind of comprehension factor this film has  i probably would  ve liked it better if i had gotten stoned . then again  it could  ve felt twice as long as it was  and then it would  ve really gotten ponderous . definitely not for everyone .  
i can  t believe people are looking for a plot in this film . this is laural and hardy . lighten up already . these two were a riot . their comic genius is as funny today as it was   years ago . not a filthy word out of either mouth and they were able to keep audiences in stitches . their comedy wasn  t sophisticated by any stretch . if a whoopee cushion can  t make you grin  there  s no reason to watch any of the stuff these guys did . it was a simpler time  and people laughed at stuff that was funny without a plot . i guess it takes a simple mind to enjoy this stuff  so i qualify . two man comedy teams don  t compute  we  re just too sophisticated . . . aren  t we fortunate   
  lbs is obviously just a self indulgent programme for stanley tucci to be a producer  moody deep doctor . unlike house he has absolutely no personality and unlike grey  s anatomy the brain surgery cases are  t even interesting . this programme is supposed to be set in a leading centre for neurlogical cases  yet there  s nothing interesting or exciting going on  not even the so called pathetic  feud  between him and a rival adds anything to the show and neither do those hallucinations . in the pilot there was a brief glimpse into the leads  s social life as a father  snooze  boring and pointless .  br    br   this show is pants  there  s a glut of medical dramas around at the moment and this does nothing to make it stand out as special .  
this is my third comment here attempting to connect two legendary movie comedy teams laurel  hardy and abbott  costello . the connection here is the year     . that  s the date that the former had their last movie from their longtime home studio of hal roach . i  ll mention the significance of the latter later on . besides being the last time stan and ollie worked at the lot of fun  it  s also the final time they would appear with such familiar supporting players like charlie hall and james finlayson who appeared in most of their films . it  s also the last time art lloyd would serve as their cameraman and marvin hatley  who composed their theme song which would be known as  the cuckoo song  dance of the cuckoos    their score . and it would be the very last time stan laurel would be allowed to exercise complete creative control over what goes on film . if there is a more gag  laden structure than usual in this l  h film  it  s nice to know most of those gags are indeed funny . that includes most of the sound and visual effects  the latter provided by longtime roach staffer roy seawright . in this one  ollie has  hornophobia  from working at a noisy horn factory so dr . finlayson prescribes going out to sea for his rest . ollie doesn  t like to go boating so stan suggests they just rent one that  s docked so they wouldn  t have to go anywhere . after they find one they like  we find out that convict nick grainger  richard cramer  has just escaped . . . i  ll stop there and say this was as good a finale for l  h  s longtime home as one could hope for . it  s hilarious mostly from beginning to end and knowing this would be their last for the man partly responsible for their teaming is indeed poignant when one thinks of it . oh  and i have a couple more lasts to mention it  s the final film appearance of both harry bernard  who plays a harbor patrolman after years of encountering stan and ollie as a policeman  and that of ben turpin  the cross  eyed comic who was born in new orleans which is a couple of hours away from my current hometown of baton rouge  whose second l  h appearance this was having previously  married  the boys in our wife . the latter performer especially has a genuine comic moment . all right  i mentioned     being the year stan and ollie had their last movie released from hal roach studios . it was also the first year that a comedy team  both born in the state of new jersey  would make their first picture at what would be their home studio  universal . the director of that movie would be the same one that guided l  h in the flying deuces the previous year . his name was a . edward sutherland . p . s . it was during this filming that script supervisor virginia lucille jones had an accident involving a rolled  up carpet . that incident caused oliver  babe  hardy to send her roses to her hospital room . they fell in love and married on march       . it lasted until babe  s death in     .  
i watched the pilot and noticed more than a few similarities between  lbs and house  m . d . . tucci  s character is brilliant but socially inept out of choice  similar to laurie  s character house  but without the acerbic wit that laurie brings to house . meanwhile  tucci  s  straight guy   the emphatic doctor seger  is not developed into a more interesting character  like the fallible  straight guys  cuddy and wilson . indira varma  s character adrienne holland is too similar to jennifer morrison  s doctor cameron to be a co  incidence .  br    br   someone at cbs obviously noticed the success of house  m . d . and told his staff to get him  her  a similar show  hoping that mimicry would prove successful . however  copying a show like house demands the same high level balance of wit and suspense and tucci and company are just not up to the challenge .  br    br   i didn  t know the show was canceled until i read the comments on imdb  but it doesn  t come as a surprise to me .  
stan  ollie become saps at sea when their wayward little boat is commandeered by a vicious murderer .  br    br   the boys are wonderful in this feature  which starts out with one of their most hilarious set pieces  the horn factory . always a few steps out of sync with the rest of creation  laurel  hardy inhabit a world where icy radios  bedded billy goats are the rule  not the exception . with its brief length  the film is more in style with their classic short subjects  which explains its episodic nature .  br    br   only the boys get screen credit  but movie mavens will recognize other familiar faces james finlayson appears as a loony doctor  richard cramer does full justice to his bad guy role  sweet mary gordon plays the boys  perplexed neighbor . that  s charlie hall as the apartment house desk clerk and silent screen comic ben turpin portrays a most peculiar plumber .  br    br   one of the film  s script writers was silent comedian harry langdon .  br    br   stan  ollie are the main focus  however . watching hardy go berserk at the sound of a horn  or laurel  s antics with bananas  for instance  reminds the viewer why these fellows remain absolute cinematic giants .  
ah winter kills  based on the novel by richard condon which deals with a conspiracy that killed the president of the united states   years ago . i knew condon also wrote the manchurian candidate which dealt with a similar theme and was looking forward to seeing an intelligent thriller  br    br   winter kills left me cold . it  s not a thriller  it  s a piece of worthless crap  possibly the worst movie i  ve seen this month and boy have i seen a lot of bad movies in june . the problem lies in both the direction and the script and seeing as william richert was responsible for both then he should be blamed entirely for this unfunny farce  br    br   there  s two things wrong with this movie . first off is the way everything is presented in a totally over the top manner . it  s not as ott as say something like that james bond movie with david niven and peter sellers but everything has a farcial edge to it with actors completely mugging their performances . this might have been justified if there was entertainment value to the movie but there  s none . as a satire it  s very silly  so silly that it becomes almost unwatchable . secondly the scenes seem to have been cut so much that they  re rendered senseless . take for example a scene where the hero is confronting a loopy militia leader called dawson . dawson tells the hero he has   seconds start then it cuts to the hero being on board a plane . the scenes begin and end with no rhyme nor reason  br    br   a dire movie that  s an ordeal to sit through  
yes  as the other reviewers have already stated  this may not be vintage lh but it  s far from being their worst work as at   th century stupid . . . i mean fox . this film certainly has all of the basic ingredients for things to go wrong for the boys . but it  s their serious approach and determination that makes them funny . they don  t play it for laughs as other comedians might but they take their work and situation quite seriously and that is the essence of their eternal humor . in this film  they are faced with some basic issues that really might be encountered by any one of us today  namely job related stress . first  we would get checked out by a doctor and he would prescribe some much needed rest and perhaps staying by the sea . that  s where the surrealness comes in to all of this . lh always take a most plausible set of circumstances and exaggerate it but never to the point of being incredible  except maybe once in awhile . this makes us laugh because we can relate to their self caused predicaments and attempts at extrication . that  s what makes stan and ollie universal in their appeal . in this film all those ingredients are presented in a delightfully artful and gracefully slapstick way . not their best in comparison to their earlier work probably because this was the actual last film they did for roach because he wanted to mirror the  big  studios and go into making features exclusively and also wanted to hurry up and finish their contractual obligation . big mistake  they should have all stayed together and continued for maybe five more years . what the world may have missed in their not considering this as an option . watch  laugh  and enjoy this as their last great performance .  
from the pen of richard condon  the manchurian candidate      comes this muddled tale of political intrigue and assassination . the story  told in almost comic book fashion is difficult to swallow . all  star cast considered  this poor effort is not entirely the fault of the cast and crew the novel was replete with the same short  comings . it seems as though at times the story is actually mocking the more sincere effort put forth in  manchurian candidate .  a disappointment on all counts .  
with oliver hardy bedeviled by the sound of horns  bells  phones and trombones  his doctor finlayson advises peace and quiet and a diet of goat milk . partner stan laurel comes up with a great solution  living on a docked boat so the salt sea air can help ollie get all the rest he needs . it  s a great premise for all the mad cap hijinks to ensue  as the boat is set adrift by the hungry goat  and an escaped convict  richard cramer  stows along for the ride .  br    br   i got a kick out of all the gags in the film  starting with that sign in the horn testing factory   silence while men are working  . the early story at the boys  apartment features a number of mixed up plumbing and appliance mishaps  with stan doing a banana within a banana bit . laurel has a couple of great lines in the picture  like  we must have been dis  unconnected   but the one that had me rolling was his response to the criminal on board ship   self preservation is the last law of averages   precisely   br    br   i  m not as great a student of laurel and hardy  s films as many on this board  all i know is i enjoyed them as a kid and find them to be as entertaining today as they were back in my youth . on that count   saps at sea  provides a decent hour of hornophobic fun  well on it  s way to hornomania .  
i can  t say i liked this movie very much . it has some amusing moments  but it doesn  t seem able to make up its mind whether it is a comedy or a drama . it doesn  t really work as either . it  s too light in tone to be a drama  and the amusing moments are few and far between . it also doesn  t make a lot of sense . things seem to happen for no reason . and it  s also extremely convoluted . i feel like they just made things up as they were going . if they had just taken a bit of time to explain things  this might have been a better movie . i would say the ending was anti climatic  but that would mean the rest of the movie had actually been building up to something  which it didn  t . it just sorts ends  and that  s that . i didn  t find it boring  really  but like i said  there there just isn  t any point . i  ll give winter kills a reluctant and weak      
it follows block  heads and a chump at oxford  two films that are hard to top . not that saps at sea is a bad film  it is the last good comedy  unless one insists on jitterbugs or another of the later films  that laurel  hardy made . it  s just that it is a toss  off little film  without the crazy destructive crescendo of block  heads or the astounding sight of stan  s  real  personality in a chump at oxford to revel in . at   minutes it is shorter than the other two films a bit  but that actually is not a bad point for it . it has just enough time to it to hit the right notes . it  s just not as special as the other two .  br    br   stan and ollie work in a factory that manufactures horns . i suspect that there was a bit of chaplin influence in this sequence  one recalls a similar assembly  line incident in modern times only four years earlier  . ollie  s nerves finally snap  and he goes on a rampage . he goes home and  naturally  his roommate stan does not help  stan has a music lesson with an eccentric professor on his instrument  you  ve got it  a trombone  . after beating up the poor professor  ollie has problems with the incompetent janitor  engineer  ben turpin in a nice brief appearance   and then faces his doctor  jimmy finleyson  and his nerve tester  a balloon that inflates as you push air out of ollie  s stomach  . finleyson announces that it is a bad case of  horniphobia   and ollie needs a vacation with plenty of quiet and goat  s milk . they end up going to a ship but ollie and stan know nothing about seamanship  so they plan to sleep on the ship . unfortunately the goat gnaws the rope until it breaks and the ship sails off . also unfortunately  on board is richard cramer  an escaped dangerous criminal . this is not going to be a peaceful vacation .  br    br   saps at sea  like a chump  could have been three shorts  one at the factory  one at the apartment  and one on the boat . each would have been a successful short  and they all make a funny film  but the stitching of the parts together shows . there are some very amusing moments in the film  the discoveries of how turpin  s ineptitude causes various mishaps with water taps and stoves in the apartment the accidental remarks of building manager charlie hall when stan or ollie runs by him and asks for directions   can you help me find the basement   asks stan   certainly  you can  t miss it  it  s downstairs    says hall  who realizes what a stupid comment he just made   and cramer  s mistreatment of his two hostage slaves . he calls ollie  dizzy  and stan  daffy   an allusion to the dean brothers of the st . louis cardinal teams of the     s  see dan dailey  s the pride of st . louis  . cramer has the boys cook him up some food  and they make a synthetic meal  boot laces for spaghetti  for instance  to get him sick to be overpowered . when he realizes what they have done  he forces them to eat the meal themselves . their reactions are brilliant .  br    br   saps at sea is not on par with the top line of laurel  hardy films  but it is a good film on the whole  and a good conclusion to the best years of their film career            when they were with hal roach . in the immediate couple of years before it appeared the boys and roach had serious problems involving production costs  our relations  where stan was producer on the film   artistic problems  scenes from swiss miss were cut meaninglessly   and contractual arguments  leading to ollie appearing with harry langdon in zenobia  . stan and ollie hit back with the flying deuces  wherein the production was not roach  s but boris morros  . at last a two picture deal of a chump at oxford and saps at sea concluded the arguments and problems  and on a high note the boys left roach . unfortunately they never found any subsequent film relationship with a producer as satisfactory as this had been .  
with an absolutely amazing cast and crew  this might have been a classic . instead it is a repetitive paraphrasing of all the conspiracy theories extant in     about the jfk assassination grafted  rather pointlessly  on to a vaguely incoherent plot about the murder of fictitious president kegan in     . many superb character actors are wasted as they are either not given enough to do  sterling hayden or eli wallach  for instance  or they are asked to go rather luridly over the top  john huston . jeff bridges and anthony perkins do manage to acquit themselves very well  in their very different ways  though .  br    br   the photography is gorgeous  but does not justify an hour and a half of your life  or the price of the dvd purchase .  
the last  i believe  of the movies the boys made with hal roach  this is also the last truly funny film they made  before going to   th century fox  which so famously misued their talents . although there are weak moments  the business with the  lung tester   for instance  is a bit  ah . . . overblown  but worth having  just to see  dr .  jimmy finlayson   but on the whole this flick is a good summary of what the boys brought to the screen . richard cramer  uncredited  appeared in other lh flicks  and he is delightfully threatening here as the convict nick granger . the scene where the boys have to eat their own synthetic meal   looks good  smells good  and it probably tastes good . eat it .   is one of my favorite moments in the oeuvre . stan  ollie will always be pleasant companions in the lives of their millions of devoted fans .  
winter kills is a terrible  incoherent and very disappointing conspiracy comedy  thriller from little  known director william richert . while watching the film  i honestly felt as if i was the emperor in the classic fable the emperor  s new clothes . the film made me feel like a fool because i couldn  t make head nor tail of the serpentine plot and the nonsensical characters . but i felt kind of embarrassed to admit to myself that the film was tying my brain up in knots . so i stuck with it to the end  hoping that the whole tangled mess would untangle itself . then i realised . . . . the film is supposed to be serpentine  nonsensical and illogical  because that  s the whole point . this is a satirical look at conspiracy theories and theorists  with the knotting  up of the plot used as a metaphor for the knotting  up of truths  half  truths and lies that define any conspiracy . even when i got that the joke was on me  i still felt winter kills to be a pretty awful movie .  br    br   young nick kegan  jeff bridges  is the younger brother of a former united states president who was assassinated in philadelphia . nick is present when a dying man claims that he shot the president and gives detailed information about where he hid the gun . nick follows the clues  but every step of the way the people helping him seem to die in mysterious circumstances . also  his father pa kegan  john huston   a vulgar and disgustingly wealthy businessman  keeps interfering with nick  s investigation . the deeper he delves into the assassination  the more nick realises that he is descending into a web of complex lies and red herrings  where nothing is as it seems and no  one can be trusted .  br    br   the film is an utter nightmare to follow  and in many ways is not worth trying to follow for the afore  mentioned reason that it deliberately tangles itself up . the cast is packed with extraordinary talent but most of them are wasted . toshiro mifune has one of the briefest and most pointless cameo roles in cinematic history elizabeth taylor appears uncredited and has not a single line of dialogue richard boone is given what seems to be an interesting role but his character goes nowhere . john huston has the best role as the powerful patriarch and provides us with the film  s few enjoyable moments with his acerbic delivery . anthony perkins also gets a creepy role and handles it well  though his screen time is far too short to do complete justice to the character . some nudity and sex scenes are tossed in for no real reason and  while they  re quite graphic and might appeal to voyeurs  they really belong in another film . the film  s semi  comic climax is farcical and disappointing  yet paradoxically memorable in its weird little way . there  s obviously a cult audience out there somewhere for winter kills . . . . but i won  t be counting myself among its number .  
in a little town in montana two brothers grow up . one of them is norman  craig sheffer   the other is paul  brad pitt  . their father is reverend maclean and they grow up with his lessons that has to do with religion  and the lessons of fly  fishing . in this movie fly  fishing represents life  a little .  br    br   the story is good and keeps your attention although there are some moments you need a little action . probably the movie has this moments because it is not really about the events that happen  but about the message . some things do happen though . norman goes to dartmouth to study . after six years he returns and gets involved with a nice girl named jessie  emily lloyd  and he is invited to teach in chicago . paul has become a reporter and is known as the  fishing reporter  . he is famous and it seems he has a nice life  but he drinks a little too much and gambles too much .  br    br   the movie is very well directed  it has a nice score and all of the actors are good . the most beautiful thing in this movie is the cinematography . the mountains  the woods and the river all look very beautiful . if the movie was only made for these things it was good enough to watch . fortunately there is more .  
i bought this adaptation because i really liked anne bront  s novel when i read it some time ago and usually particularly enjoy bbc dramas . but i  m very disappointed  i never thought it would be as bad as that the whole series made me laugh much more than moved me as the novel had .  br    br   first of all  the music  and songs  seems totally out of place in a period drama  sounds as if it  s been written for a contemporary horror film  and like another commentator  i was particularly annoyed by the way the cameras spun and spun round the actors . i  ve seen some scenes filmed that way in  north and south  and it seemed all right there but in the tenant  it  s definitely overdone and simply annoying . camera movements cannot make wooden acting lively .  br    br   most of the second roles were difficult to distinguish at first and the script lacked clarity . none of the characters were properly introduced at first . the little boy gave a very good performance  he  s very cute and the best feature of the film .  br    br   spoilers tara fitzgerald  s characterisation of helen graham made her appear cold and harsh  letting no emotion pass through . she doesn  t seem to be able to cry at all in a realistic way . i just couldn  t believe markham could have fell for her and i  m not mentioning the awful hairdo she was given . i could not help feeling some sympathy with her husband  fancy being married to such a virago . . . besides  he was the only main actor that sounded right to me . toby stephens i found just ok  helen graham  s brother not very good .  br    br   maybe it  s difficult to adapt a novel that deals with such bleak subjects as alcoholism and cruelty . besides  what is only hinted at and left to the reader  s imagination in the book is dwelt upon with complaisance in the tv adaptation making some scenes both gross and comic   like when huntingdon  s eye starts bleeding  and others far too sexed up for a period drama  i mean  don  t we get enough of those bed scenes in contemporary dramas   
while the premise of the film is pretty lame  ollie is diagnosed with  hornophobia    the film is an amiable and enjoyable little flick . it  s also a darn bit better than the films they went on to make after this one   probably since this was the last hal roach  produced laurel and hardy film . in fact  it wouldn  t be a bad idea not to see any of their latter films  as the entire chemistry is lost in these films and the boys play their parts purely for pathos   something true laurel and hardy films never would do . they had a bit of an edge that all the later films lack .  br    br   stan and ollie work at a horn factory . this sounds pretty funny  but it isn  t . not surprisingly with all the racket  ollie is about to have a nervous breakdown and must take some time off work . the doctor  james finlayson   in his last film with the team  recommends an ocean voyage . however  they don  t like sailing and stan has an idea of just renting a boat tied to the dock   then they can get all the sea air they want without all the bother  once they are on the boat  a dangerous escaped criminal boards the boat and they all accidentally set out to sea . fortunately  this portion of the film actually was well  paced and the very end worked out very well .  br    br   while not a great full  length laurel and hardy film  it was much better than many of them since it had no annoying and distracting musical numbers  like in the devil  s brother or babes in toyland  . additionally  there is still a decent amount of physical comedy   something you would see almost none of after this film . part of this was due to the boys  declining health  and ollie  s increasing girth  and part of it was due to the overall insipidness of these later films .  
well then . i just watched an crap  load of movies   all with varying degrees of quality . i wasn  t too sure about which one i wanted to review first . then it hit me like a sack  a  rats rodentz . warn people about rodentz . this monstrosity stars nobody and is painfully dull to sit through . and it  s about mutant rats killing people . yeah . . . real freaking  original .  food of the gods   or  willard  anyone  those were better than this  and that doesn  t say much . . .  br    br   possible spoilerokay here  s the story inna laboratory the scientist and his plucky assistant are experimenting on rats and their laboratory is in a crappy neighborhood and crappy building and the plucky assistant  s moronic friends show up drunk and everyone becomes food for the crazed rats and just about everybody dies and  oh yeah  there  s one giant rat that looks crappy  but it gets killed  the end . there  all in once sentence  spoiler  you say  ppfff   i beg to differ  the second we all realize that there  s a giant rat  we all know it  s gonna die eventually   end spoiler  br    br   here  s the breakdown  br    br   the good  br    br     well  i watched it for free  but for everyone else . . . hmmm  no . there  s nothing good here .  br    br   didn  t hurt it  didn  t help  br    br     um . . . well . the gore was decent .   very average cinematography .  br    br     cg rats not as bad as they could  ve been in some shots . . .  br    br   the bad  br    br     . . . and in other shots  the cg rats were pathetically cheap  looking . look  if your film has a low budget  maybe you shouldn  t rely on cg . lesson to take to heart .  br    br     the acting is extremely poor .  br    br     the characters are beyond uninteresting   we have a mish  mash of clichs and none of them are even done that well .  br    br     booooooooooooring .  br    br     been done before   plenty of times .  br    br     stupid story  just stupid .  br    br     giant rat looks like fat man in poorly conceived bear costume   that was kind of funny   but not funny enough to give this film any worth .  br    br     retarded  unrealistic  and boring dialog .  br    br     all the college student rat chow people are drinking tequila from huge plastic milk jugs   and yet they don  t appear to be drunk for anything longer than a few seconds . way to stick with continuity  guys .  br    br   the ugly  br    br     this film is bad . simply terrible . worse than you might imagine . it  s not even laughably bad like  for instance   scarecrow        or  house of the dead .  now those movies are crap you can enjoy . even if they do make you stupider .  br    br   memorable scene  br    br     the lame action  movie ending  complete with uninjured heroes and explosion . because it didn  t feel at all like the rest of this monstrosity   but still sucked .  br    br   acting     story     atmosphere     cinematography     character development     special effects  make  up     nudity  sexuality      i was tending to my son occasionally during the film  so i may have missed it  but was supposedly in there  violence  gore     dialogue     music      average for the time  writing     direction      br    br   cheesiness     crappiness      br    br   overall      br    br   watch it only if you love rat and vermin  based horror films . wait . . . check that . don  t watch it . it  s crap .  br    br    www . residenthazard . com   
the story of peace  loving farmers and townspeople fighting for land  water  law and order  and the respect and ultimate subjugation of the long entrenched cattle interests and their hired guns had been worked over better in earlier  shane  and probably later films as well . there  s some good action scenes and the general layout of the story  excluding a disappointing ending  is well executed . law and order and religion have established roots in the town  but the old order of cattle drives  cowboys  and gunslingers is still around as well . the clash of the two occurs in a nicely staged ambush scene where the townsmen ride right into a trap . granger  an ex  gunfighter  plays the guy who is shunned by the very townspeople who need his expertise with a gun .  
spoiler below  but read on or you  ll never know the horrible fate that awaits all planing to rent  rodentz  .  br    br   on a moonlit night  in a remote research laboratory  a major medical breakthrough is about to have deadly results . a chemical compound that was created to  hunt and destroy  deadly cancer cells has leaked from the hazardous waste disposal system into the building  s basement . now  the rodents involved in the laboratory experiment upstairs are not the only rats in the facility that will become the altered species . professor schultz  a leading bio  researcher  has just determined that the addition of a new enzyme now enables his  hunt and destroy  formulation to regenerate for the length of time necessary to neutralize deadly cancer tumors . when three varying degrees of the new mixture are administered to three different rats and the rest poured down the faulty  waste hazard  sink  shocking side  effects result in a night of terror . . . . . right . . . . .  br    br   seriously  this is probably the worst film i  ve seen this year . everything about it screams  low  budget    from the horrendous acting to the special effects which are some of the worst i  ve ever seen . the characters are clichd morons and act in stupid  predictable ways walking down dark hallways alone  looking for a cat  tripping and falling so the  rats  can catch up with them  boarding themselves up in a small room  etc .  br    br   while some films are cheaply made  this film really takes the cake . every possible corner is cut  everything from reusing earlier shots  filming the  lab  hallways from different angles to make it look bigger  that reminds me   why were only two guys working in this freakin  massive building          to music and special effects that could be done on a children  s workshop pc .  br    br   that brings me to the worst aspect of this steaming pile of dung   the special effects . just horrendous . the computer generated rats look so fake and stand out in every scene so even the dumbest of film buffs could see they are computer generated . and that giant rat suit   oh my god         seriously  are we supposed to believe that freaking beany baby is a monster  just pitiful . . . . . . . . on the better side  some of the gore looks pretty cool  especially considering the budget .  br    br   the actors all suck . no one involved with the production cared or knew what they were doing . i  ve wasted enough time with review  just take my advice  it  s garbage .     .  br    br   about the dvd the transfer sucks  the audio is passable and there  s a commentary track on the disk by the director and two of his friends  who say they had absolutely nothing to do with making the film but were there to ask questions and make comments . all three of these sub  human primordial slime are so incredibly stupid that they should be institutionalized before they can harm themselves or others . i don  t want to waste any more of you kind reader  s time or mine  for i am starting to remember more than i want to about this film . . . . . dvd rating     .  
can i be as simple and primitive in my evaluations as to simply say  i liked it   it  s reasonably funny by bits  it got great stars and it  s gorgeous to look at . the songs  there are about two which are then repeated  are forgettable  but they get a healthy ironic treatment  such as the terribly handsome mr fairbanks exploding into frenzied wagnerian version of the tender ballad miss grable has just rendered   there isn  t much dancing with all the     crinolines draped around miss grable  and the comedy might be a bit heavy handed  but the result still is very uplifting . the photography  including real outdoor shots which are a thrill  is amazing  playing around with different shades of lush heavy gold . miss grable is a bit past her prime and on the plumpish side  but still fresh and comfortable in this continental  olde worlde  comedy . it  s pretty much along the line of  down to earth  with rita hayworth  and that one tends to be rather disliked by many . so i suppose several people would deem  that lady in ermine  to be outdated and stuffy . but it  s a fairy tale  and these tend to move along at a certain paste anyhow . my suggestion is  just enjoy the artwork  the costumes  the witty script and everything else this film has to offer  and stop complaining . the film has been released on dvd in germany  with both german and english soundtrack .  
what a terrible film .  br    br   it starts well  with the title sequence  but that  s about as good as it gets .  br    br   the movie is something about rats turning into monsters and going on a killing spree . the acting isn  t so much poor  but the script is pointless and the film isn  t even scary despite the atmospheric music .  br    br   it really is amazing that some group cobbled together this bag of rubbish and thought it would make a good film .  br    br   it isn  t a good film . it  s trash  and i urge you not to waste a minute of your life on it  one out of ten .  
lubitsch  s last production but not his least interesting film . somehow largely ignored by critics as he couldn  t finish it himself and as the movie wasn  t co  signed by preminger who he did most of the staging . . . a very strange mix of musical  a remembrance of the merry widow   and classic lubitsch touch sentimentalism  an impossible love  story like cluny brown  yet a very clever and intelligent one yet not to be understood as some nostalgia of some lost world but rather a testament on eternal feelings prevailing on the foolishness of mankind and especially men in times of war with a  moral  lesson still true today as it was in     . billy wilder as an answer to preminger who grieved at lubitsch  s funerals about having lost a great man replied that we still had his films and that sums it all up about that lady in ermine . . .  
altered species starts one friday night in los angeles where dr . irwin  guy vieg   his laboratory assistant walter  allen lee haff  are burning the midnight oil as they continue to try  perfect a revolutionary new drug called  rejenacyn  . as walter tips the latest failed attempt down the sink the pipes leak the florescent green liquid into the basement where escaped lab rats begin to drink it . . . five of walter  s friends  alicia  leah rown in a very fetching outfit including some cool boots that she gets to stomp on a rat with   gary  richard peterson   burke  derek hofman   frank  david bradley   chelsea  alexandra townsend  decide that he has been working too hard  needs to get out so they plan to pick him up  party the night away . back at the lab  the cleaner douglas  robert broughton  has been attacked  killed by the now homicidal rats in the basement as walter injects the latest batch of serum in a lab rat which breaks out of it  s cage as it grows at an amazing rate . walter  s friends turn up but he can  t leave while the rat is still missing so everyone helps him look for it . all six become potential rat food . . .  br    br   also known as rodentz altered species was co  edited  directed by miles feldman  has very little to recommend it . the script by producer serge rodnunsky is poor  coupled together with the general shoddiness of the production as a whole altered species really is lame . for a start the character  s are dumb  annoying  clichd . then there  s the unoriginal plot with the mad scientist  the monster he has created  the isolated location  the stranded human cast  the obligatory final showdown between hero  monster . it  s all here somewhere . altered species moves along at a fair pace which is just about the best thing i can say about it  thankfully doesn  t last that long . it  s basically your average run  of  the  mill killer mutant rat film  not a particularly good one at that either .  br    br   director feldman films like a tv film  the whole thing is throughly bland  forgettable while some of the special effects  attack scenes leave a lot to be desired . for a start the cgi rats are awful  the attack sequences feature hand  held jerky camera movement  really quick edits to try  hide the fact that all the rats are just passively sitting there . at various points in altered species the rat cages need to shake because of the rats movement but you can clearly see all the rats just sitting there as someone shakes the cages off screen . the giant rat monster at the end looks pretty poor as it  s just a guy in a dodgy suit . there are no scares  no tension or atmosphere  since when did basements contain bright neon lighting  there are one or two nice bits of gore here  someone has a nice big messy hole where their face used to be  there  s a severed arm  decapitation  lots of rat bites  someone having their eyeball yanked out  a dead mutilated cat .  br    br   technically altered species is sub standard throughout . it takes place within the confines of one building  has cheap looking cgi effects  low production values . the acting isn  t up to much but it isn  t too bad  a special mention to leah rowan as alicia as she  s a bit of a babe  makes altered species just that little bit nicer  easier to watch . . .  br    br   altered species isn  t a particularly good film  in fact it  s a pretty bad one but i suppose you could do worse . not great but it might be worth a watch if your not too demanding  have nothing else to do .  
in     this was my all  time favorite movie . betty grable  s costumes were so ravishing that i wanted to grow up to be her and dress like that . douglas fairbanks  jr .  was irresistible as the dashing hungarian officer . silly and fluffy as this movie might appear at first  when i was eight years old it seemed to me to say something important about relations between men and women . i saw it again the other day i was surprised to find that it still did .  
this film is easily one of the worst ones i have ever seen . and i don  t mean that in a good way . we wanted to see a crappy horror  thriller  so we picked the one that seemed to be the lousiest in the store . for once  the film was everything we  d expected . and more   or should i say less    br    br   the actors look like they are reading their lines from posters behind the camera . the so  called special effects are created by putting red see  through plastic in front of the camera to give the impression that we are seeing through the eyes of the killer rats . and the script  don  t even get me started on the script . . . and just when you thought it couldn  t get any worse  it turns out that the first part of the film was oscar  material compared to the ending .  br    br   take it from me  this film is hilarious if you  re into crappy horror  films  but if you want a good film  keep on looking . this is not for you .  
i enjoyed this film far more than anything had led me to anticipate from reading other comments here  i suspect it benefits enormously from being seen on a full  size screen in the cinema  in the company of a cheerful and enthusiastic audience . i was lucky enough to have that experience  borne up on ripples of laughter from all around  and had an immensely good time with this undemanding comedy .  br    br   for it is as a comedy that it shines  if it shines anywhere at all . the music is nothing special   in fact  i hadn  t realised it was a musical  and was very surprised when the assembled ancestors burst into half  spoken lyric   but i do have to admit that the half  threat  half  promise of  oh  what i  ll do . . .  has proved far more catchy than it ever seemed at the time  as it  s still going round and round in my head   br    br   the plot  such as it is  largely pivots around the past history of the eponymous francesca  a sixteenth  century portrait sporting a distinctly anachronistic hairstyle and fur  coat . her idea on the sanctity of marriage don  t quite jibe with those of her distant descendant  the countess angelina  and one can almost hear the storyline creaking at the seams under the strain of the production code in order to ensure that the heroine arrives unsullied in her much  delayed marriage  bed with the right man . . .  br    br   the romance is scarcely earth  shattering  and in fact the first few scenes  played pretty well straight  verge on the tedious . but where script and film really come to life is in the battle of the sexes that follows . the impudence of douglas fairbanks jr  s courtship of betty grable  s married angelina is equalled only by betty  grable  as  francesca  s pursuit of him in turn  culminating in complete role  reversal in the hilarious fantasy sequence where she   literally   sweeps him off his feet . this is probably the comic climax of the plot  although the consequences of the colonel  s understandable confusion are worked out with a deft touch in the remaining two  acts  of the operetta  structure  and the spectacle of fairbanks  blissful  bemused awakening is more or less worth the price of admission on its own .  br    br   grable is entirely convincing in establishing her two contrasting characters  wisely gets almost all the  limited  singing opportunities  and shares the honours where the swathes of quotable dialogue in the various verbal duels are concerned . but in the field of unspoken reaction she is really outclassed by her male supporting leads fairbanks in particular is an absolute treat in a number of wordless sequences whose set  up and humour is worthy of the silent screen .  br    br   this film is too uneven in style to be a classic  varying from sparkling repartee to hackneyed tedium . but at its best it is quite honestly very funny indeed  and brought a round of spontaneous applause and laughter across the auditorium at the end as the lights went up . out of tune with its times  it may have failed to draw contemporary audiences   but  on this showing  really didn  t deserve to be disowned by both grable and preminger  the  uncredited  director . this is no masterpiece  but a thoroughly entertaining minor work  and i for one found myself grinning in remembrance all the way home .  
well after watching this i can say that it ain  t the worst movie ever made   yes folks there is worse than this   there are some good points to the movie   you get to watch drunken teenagers  have horrible deaths   and cute looking rats eating some science experiment  and getting grotesquely huge   the drunk janitor   the cranky doctor   and yes a girl in thong underwear that has absolutely no shame   dumb jocks   i could  nt personally wait for the rat to eat these drunken fools   i was rooting for the rat the e ntire time   it had a good premise   the first part of the movie   was interesting though with the scientific explantation about the rats   and the little back story   but i think that it ruined when the dumb drunken horny teenagers come into play   the rat in my opinion  the one that get  s lost   her name is brenda  was so fake   must have been a cgi rat   looked like a guy dressed up in a beaver suit   this was pretty schlocky  lame   but not totally horribble    
it was on at     am  too close to school to see very often . the animation  computer graphics were spectacular for the time . the idea of cowboys  ordinary people casually throwing around space vehicles  robots was amazing . maybe it inspired treasure planet .  br    br   unfortunately  it  s really boring in the dvd format . the shows are all basically identical . when viewing non  sequential episodes on a dvd  you  re stoned by disk   . by today  s standards  the animation is spotty . we don  t notice the computer graphics anymore and focus on how corny the characters are instead .  br    br   the bright spots are the heroine characters . they were a lot more believable  took themselves more seriously than modern heroines  and weren  t corny . they actually saved men .  
yes  this is one of those movies  so terrible  so insipid  so trite  that you will not be able to stop laughing . i have watched comedies  good comedies  and laughed less than my wife and i laughed at this movie . the other comments give the idea well enough . the characters are so unpleasant you cheer the rats on  the effects are so poorly done you wonder whose elementary school art class was in charge  the acting   oh the acting   talk about tired dialogue and embarrassing pauses .  br    br   but the rat  yes  the big rat . why we didn  t get to see the rat until the end rather surprised me . often the  big one  isn  t shown until the end because the budget is limited and good effects chew up so much money . i surmise  however  that in this case the big rat was hidden until the end because the filmmakers were ashamed that the best they had was a guy running around dressed up like a woodchuck with third  world dentistry .  br    br   the most sublime part of the whole movie is the elevator scene . after figuring out that the rats couldn  t stand loud noise  migraines from the bad acting    the main dude rigs up a fire alarm to send the rats into a frenzy . if you  ve ever wanting to see a pair of rats waltz while blood squirts out of their heads like a geyser  this film is for you . really  you need to rent it and see for yourself .  br    br   but not for more than     ok   
though this series only ran a season  it has stayed with me for   years . it was by far and above my all time favorite cartoon ever . i would give nearly anything to have it on dvd or whatever format i can get . if you find any means of seeing this series i suggest you take full advantage . this series was the first one  in my opinion  that had a truly coherent storyline that spanned across multiple episodes . it also made me truly care about the characters and what happened to them . heck the character goose actually scared me sometimes . he was just that odd at the time . also the leader of the group reminds me a lot of a combination of clint eastwood  tommy lee jones . if anyone has any way of contacting the creator  holder of the rights to the series and can get them put out on dvd please by all means do so     
i enjoy quality crapness  and this ranks up there with some of the finest . the cg is out of this world  or at least pre  dates our world  and the insanity of a  foot bloke in a rat outfit chasing after people is laughably bad . i quite enjoyed some of this  but the acting is so goddamn awful  and even the obligatory nude scene doesn  t really have any baps out in it . just a complete waste of time if ever i saw one . i don  t know who wasted more time  me watching this  or the poor saps who got dragged into making it in the faint hope that this will launch their acting careers . i can assure you  it wont . however  on a brighter note  i have managed to successfully do the  degrees of kevin bacon from this movie  so i think it was almost worthwhile watching the   minutes of it .  
and i gave it a high  . . . . .  br    br   why  because it bloody well rocked . at the time when there were so many other shows on that were tied to toys  games this show was unique in that it had overlapping stories . as others have said here it was ahead of its time .  br    br   sadly this is why the show was doomed . they have released  dvds with   episodes of the series so far . i am hoping that more come out .  br    br   how does this compare watching it now   years after it first came out . . i don  t know i still like it despite the sometimes clunky animation  and that imho is it  s only flaw . the writing was almost top notch and way ahead of the competition . . . . . . . .  br    br   i do hope for more dvds or even a set of all the episodes in proper order . . . the dvds are good but i don  t think the stories are in their proper order  but despite this the show rocked .  
nell shipman must have been paid a hefty sum of money to promote the maxwell automobile  s off  road capabilities . the plot of the movie is pretty simple  nell plays a writer who has a bad case of writer  s block  and needs inspiration  so she goes to visit mexico to absorb the atmosphere . there she meets the hero  bert van tuyle   a cowboy who chooses to drive a car rather than ride a horse . while nell is visiting with her father  s partner at his mining camp  a gang of local bandits kidnap her and bring her to their camp deep in the wilderness . the hero needs to get to her quickly  so he decides to drive there in his car . this is where the film takes a weird twist . bert proceeds to drive over every terrain imaginable  huge rocks  small streams  heavy brush  scraggly tree stumps  steep inclines  etc etc  for the greater part of the film we get to see this car struggling to crawl over obstacles . now mind you  this isn  t a modern  day atv  it  s a     maxwell automobile  so it looks very out  of  place as an off  road vehicle . and it clearly has limitations for some of the terrain it encounters  we get to see it stuck more than once in this film . but the filmmakers made an effort to show it beating the odds and eventually passing all the obstacles . once the hero gets to the hidden camp and rescues the girl  he jumps in the car with her and drives off with the bandits in hot pursuit  on horseback   and at this point it became hysterically funny to me . watching this car slowly rolling over huge rocks  getting stuck in gravel and mountain brush  going forward and back to get momentum enough to pass over fallen tree limbs  the bandits should have had ample time to catch up . but they never do  even though we are to believe this wilderness chase goes on throughout the night . and in a silly climax  the car climbs a mountainside  and helps nell and the hero push a huge boulder down the side to crush the pursuing bandits .  br    br   after seeing this film you would think the army should invest in     maxwell automobiles because they clearly have better off  road capabilities than hummers and bradley tanks combined . watch this film just for laughs  it  s worth it just to see nell cuddling up to the car grill and saying  you did your best  brave little car   
damn straight . . . . . this show was kick ass back in the day and still continues to outshine cartoons today . i can  t wait to track down some of the dvd  s to share with my little guy and see the same sparkle in his eyes . i  ve already introduced him to voltron  the  lions one  not the   vehicles one  and i laughed my head off when he said to me one day  dad . . you sure watched some awesome cartoons when you were a kid    how cool is that .  br    br   come on hollywood  dust this one off and give it a live action attempt . couldn  t be any worse than spiderman  was . . . man oh man . . .     has been pretty lame so far for summer movies .  br    br   ok  i  ll shuddup now  br    br   cheers  
being a fan of silent films  i looked forward to seeing this picture for the first time . i was pretty disappointed .  br    br   as has been mentioned  the film seems to be one long  long  commercial for the maxwell automobile .  br    br   perhaps if the chase scene was about half the length that it is  i may have enjoyed the film more . but it got old very fast . and while i recognize that reality is stretched many times in films  without lessening a viewer  s enjoyment  what was with the mexican bandits  i mean  they are chasing a car through the mountains  a car that most of the time is moving at about one mile per hour  yet they can  t catch up to it   
excellent film dealing with the life of an old man as he looks back over the years . starting around      he reminisces about his boy and young adulthood his family  friends  romances  etc . very nostalgic piece with a bittersweet finale . . . .  all things in life come together as one  and a river runs through it . and that river haunts me .  worth seeing .  
this film  like the first one   the man from snowy river   has the same good and bad features  perhaps even more so than the original . unfortunately  the bad outweighs the good .  br    br   the good  magnificent scenery  better than the first film . i love those high country shots in australia . tom burlinson is still a likable guy  as  jim craig .  bruce rowland did a nice job with the music  too .  br    br   the bad  once again we get an extremely obnoxious feminist heroine  jessica   sigrid thornton  who is a world  class pouter with an extremely annoying face and manner about her . in this film  we also get a big downgrade in who pays the father . previously it was kirk douglas  now replaced by the always  profane brian dennehy . speaking of that  it is a disgrace that a walt disney film would includes usages of the lord  s name in vain . that was one reason was almost totally down the tubes in the     s . this film  like the first one  
it has been   years since it  s original run  i would have hoped by now some  marketing wizard  would have promoted a live actor version of this classic by now  or at least sought to re  release the original   episodes . i can  t fathom why the sci  fi or cartoon network haven  t snapped this up . galaxy rangers actually had well thought out plots  and even better scripts . the animation was above average quality for it  s time  and excellent when compared to the talking slide show japanese animation of today . it predated the heavy toon  toy tie in market  this may have sealed it  s doom too . i would willingly spend cash on a dvd of gr if available .  
nell shipman attempted a plot to lead up to a chase finale in  back to god  s country  of the previous year  and she failed miserably . this time  she does better  although it seems pointless .  something new  hardly has a plot lying outside of the chase . there  s a brief premise  which sets up the hero  co  author and shipman  s boyfriend  to have to save the girl  played by shipman   then it  s nothing but an exciting  implausible chase from there . of course  it plays out like an hour  long advertisement for a maxwell sedan  but the entire movie is congruously ridiculous . it doesn  t seem that she learned much from the last  minute rescue films of d . w . griffith or its parodies by mack sennett and other comedians  which she  s imitating .  br    br   one point of interest is that shipman writes and directs herself into the film as the writer of the film  s story  which has as its protagonist a writer  shipman again   although she doesn  t do much else clever or humorous with it  even though she attempts to . again  others had pioneered the writer  s joke in the intertitles  like anita loos with  wild and woolly  or frances marion with  a girl  s folly   both      . at least  shipman gives the impression that she doesn  t take herself or the film seriously   and neither do i .  something new   despite its claim  is hackneyed .  
spoilers  br    br   this is only the second pay  per  view i  ve given a perfect    the first being the     royal rumble . it was full of exciting matches that weren  t memorable  just disposable fun . and that  s why i love it .  br    br   the opening match between razor and dibiase  as well as ludvig borga vs . marty jannetty were the only low points . they were ok matches  but dibiase deserved better in his final pay per view match . these days  a match like this would have run  ins and a bigger climax for razor  s first major babyface push . and jannetty  fresh off a intercontinental title run  could have had a better match with borga . but i don  t think anyone really cared . they just needed a borga push on pay per view television .  br    br   irs and the kid were great  as were michaels and perfect . i wish perfect could have won  but michaels lies down for no one . notice how right after this  he left the wwf so he wouldn  t have to job to razor . bret hart had two great brawls with doink  notice how everyone  s best match is against the hit  man  and then lawler . their rivalry was a classic that  s why that year  s feud of the year was a no  brainer . how often do you see two legends win feud of the year this late in their careers   br    br   the steiners  heavenly bodies match was one of the best of the year . who knew the bodies could hold their own against one of the best teams ever   br    br   many say that the undertaker  giant gonzalez match was a waste of time . but i loved it . remember  what made the old wwf  as in  pre  wwe  great was the mix of athleticism and freak show . is there a soul out there who didn  t like akeem   br    br   the main event wasn  t bad  although nowhere near match of the year status . they put lex luger over well  but made a wise choice in having yokozuna keep the belt . he was the first heel since superstar graham to hold the belt for more than two months . nowadays  heels are champions all the time . but from the beginning of the wwwf through the wwf of the   s  if you blinked  you missed a heel title reign .  br    br   as an old school wrestling fan  this one and summerslam    are my favorites .  
i doubt jigsaw was hip even at the time  the whole lsd theme married to a murder mystery being a patently obvious attempt to grab a young audience of the era without in the least truly showing any understanding of the sixties counterculture . the dated aspect aside  jigsaw suffers from many problems  including overwrought acting  silly and stilted dialogue  lsd flashbacks that go on interminably long even after the point has been hammered home in the first   seconds  a failure to create any true suspense even though the actual plot is  on paper  a great vehicle to do just that  and an ending that is so trite and predictable  not to mention reminiscent of a lot of bad television shows  that the climax is actually an anti  climax . if it was a better movie  we might be able to suspend disbelief on a few things where it would help enjoyment  but the weaknesses are so glaring they only serve to highlight the improbabilities viewers might otherwise overlook . i saw jigsaw on television and it is definitely late night tv fare meant to fill airspace and pass the time to kill somebody  s insomnia rather than anything anybody ought to actively seek out . at very best  a three out of   .  
this was the first ppv in a new era for the wwe as hulk hogan  the ultimate warrior  ric flair and sherri martel had all left . a new crop of talent needed to be pushed . and this all started with lex luger  a former nwa world heavyweight champion being given a title shot against yokozuna . lex travelled all over the us in a bus called the lex express to inspire americans into rallying behind him in his bid to beat the japanese monster  who was actually samoan  and get the wwe championship back into american hands . as such there was much anticipation for this match .  br    br   but every good ppv needs an undercard and this had some good stuff .  br    br   the night started off with razor ramon defeating ted dibiase in a good match . the story going into this was that dibiase had picked on ramon and even offered him a job as a slave after his shock loss to the      kid on raw in july . ramon  angry  had then teamed with the      kid against the money inc tag team of ted dibiase and irwin r shyster . to settle their differences they were both given one on one matches dibiase vs ramon and shyster vs the kid . razor was able to settle his side of the deal after hitting a razor  s edge .  br    br   next up came the steiner brothers putting the wwe tag team titles on the line against the heavenly bodies . depsite the interference of  the bodies  manager jim cornette  who hit scott steiner in the throat with a tennis racket  they were able to pull out the win in a decent match .  br    br   shawn michaels and mr perfect had been feuding since wrestlemania ix when shawn michaels confronted perfect after his loss to lex luger . perfect had then cost michaels the intercontinental championship when he distracted him in a title match against marty janetty . michaels had won the title back and was putting it on the line against mr perfect  but michaels now had a powerful ally in his corner in his  foot bodyguard diesel . micheals and perfect had an excellent match here  but it was diesel who proved the difference maker  pulling perfect out of the ring and throwing him into the steel steps for shawn to win by count out .  br    br   irwin r shyster avenged the loss of his tag team partner earlier in the night  easily accounting for the      kid .  br    br   next came one of the big matches of the night as bret hart prepared to battle jerry lawler for the title of undisputed king of the wwe . but lawler came out with crutches  saying he  d been injured in a car accident earlier that day and that he  d arranged another opponent for hart doink the clown . hart and doink had a passable match which hart won with a sharpshooter . he was then jumped from behind by lawler . this bought wwe president jack tunney to the ring who told lawler that he would receive a lifetime ban if he didn  t wrestle hart . hart then destroyed lawler  winning with the sharpshooter  but hart refused to let go of the hold and the referee reversed his decision . so after all that lawler was named the undisputed king of the wwe . this match was followed by ludvig borda destroying marty janetty in a short match .  br    br   the undertaker finished his long rivalry with harvey wippleman  which had started in     when the undertaker had defeated wippleman  s client kamala at summerslam and continued when wippleman  s latest monster the giant gonzales had destroyed taker at the rumble and then again at wrestlemania  with a decisive victory over gonzales here . gonzales then turned on wippleman  chokeslamming him after a poor match .  br    br   next it was time for six man tag action as the smoking gunns  bart and billy  and tatanka defeated the headshrinkers  samu and fatu  and bam bam bigelow with tatanka pinning samu .  br    br   this brings us to the main event with yokozuna  flanked by jim cornette and mr fuji  putting the wwe title on the line against lex luger and it was all on board the lex express . lex came out attacking  but yokozuna took control . lex came back though as he was able to avoid a banzai drop and then body slam yokozuna before knocking him out of the ring . luger then attacked cornette and fuji as yokozuna was counted out . luger had won a fine match      balloons fell from the ceiling . the heroes all came out to congratulate him on his win . yokozuna may have retained the title  but luger had proved he could be beaten . the only question was  who could beat him in the ring and get that title off him   
bradford dillman plays a scientist who wakes up one morning in the middle of a bloody crime scene having partial amnesia  or  global amnesia   which one character claims to define as elective loss of memory   the scientist finds a private detective in the phone book in the hopes of piecing his life back together . abhorrent concoction very loosely based on walter ericson  s book  fallen angel   filmed in     as  mirage  with gregory peck  . it was probably too racy for television   what with drugs and hippies added to the mix   that nbc initially refused to air it  which is how this low  budgeter wound up in theaters . director james goldstone gets freaky with the hyperkinetic visuals and camera  tricks  while editor edward a . biery goes wild with the zig  zag cuts . unfortunately  their admittedly  colorful gimmicks cannot cover up the weaknesses of this updated plot  and the acting is woefully overripe . dillman  under pressure to recall the events of the night in question  goes through an actor  s seminar of tics  stammers  nose  wipes  and crazy half  laughs while spitting out dialogue like   dream . . . a dream . . . drugs . . . yeah  drugs . . . that sound . . . bells . . . help   as a villainous fellow scientist with a cheshire cat smile  pat hingle nearly upstages dillman in the grand thespian department by continually addressing everyone in baby  talk  strutting about like a middle  aged peacock and twisting his mouth around in agony . hope lange  s scientist  love  interest is given the short shrift  but not before she screams at indifferent  lover dillman  what do i have to do  talk ape man  me want you   this is one frantic  jigsaw       from   
i really liked this summerslam due to the look of the arena  the curtains and just the look overall was interesting to me for some reason . anyways  this could have been one of the best summerslam  s ever if the wwf didn  t have lex luger in the main event against yokozuna  now for it  s time it was ok to have a huge fat man vs a strong man but i  m glad times have changed . it was a terrible main event just like every match luger is in is terrible . other matches on the card were razor ramon vs ted dibiase  steiner brothers vs heavenly bodies  shawn michaels vs curt hening  this was the event where shawn named his big monster of a body guard diesel  irs vs      kid  bret hart first takes on doink then takes on jerry lawler and stuff with the harts and lawler was always very interesting  then ludvig borga destroyed marty jannetty  undertaker took on giant gonzalez in another terrible match  the smoking gunns and tatanka took on bam bam bigelow and the headshrinkers  and yokozuna defended the world title against lex luger this match was boring and it has a terrible ending . however it deserves      
the immortalizer was  uh  interesting . it certainly didn  t kill me during its hour and a half duration  but it didn  t impress me much either . a group of kids are abducted in an alley by musclehead mutants  in a scene featuring cinema  s least convincing head crushing sound effect  and taken to a fancy house in the suburbs . here dr . divine and his team are performing brain transplants for his rich old patients so they can have young bodies again . hey  this was quietly remade with a big budget a few years later as freejack  who knew that when you transplant an old person  s brain into a different body that their new voice will sound exactly like their old voice  with all this talk of pineal glands and the use of a glowing green serum  you can almost see visions of from beyond and re  animator dancing in the producers  heads . but the production literally doesn  t have the guts to pull it off . i  ve never understood why  when someone is making a low budget horror film  that they don  t pack it to the edge of the frame with gore . the acting is uniformly terrible  with the only good performance coming from clarke lindsley as the assistant dr . price . he has a nice evil laugh . the only other thing of note about the immortalizer is that it features lots of old people doing their own stunts . seriously  most of the cast takes some serious bumps for old folks .  
this game is fun and it has a plot that you could actually expect to see in the comics . spider  man has been framed by a mysterious impostor . the city is being overrun by a strange gas  and symbiotes like those of venom and carnage are appearing all over the city . who is behind these crimes  could it be doc ock  well he seems to have turned over a new leaf . venom also does not seem to be involved as he is just ticked off that spider  man has apparently cost him a rather good photo opportunity . well cameos from other heroes and lots of villains later spidey will unravel the mystery . the fighting is basic  not to hard to pick up  the fights with the bosses are rather fun . you get to collect comics  you run out of web and it is somewhat fun traversing the city . however  that is also a weak point . the swinging is not all that great as all you do is hover through the city as spider  man seemingly attachs his webs to the sky . you also do not have much maneuverability web  slinging either especially compared to a say spider  man  movie video game . still  it makes up for the rather bad swinging with the other elements especially the story . so be prepared to see scorpion  rhino  venom  mysterio  doctor octopus  and carnage for one wild action packed ride .  
i just saw this movie on flix after timer  taping it . i grew up watching f troop and had a major hard for wrangler jane so i was shocked  literally shocked  to find out after seeing this film that the degenerate homicidal nurse was melody patterson  who looks pretty good but also looks completely different and is unfortunately poorly photographed . i would never have guessed it was her in a million years . what the hell is she doing in a picture like this  i agree with the guys here that the movie lacks what it  s pushing . no sex  no gore  no tease . it  s also a remake of the atomic brain aka monstrosity      or thereabouts  . most of the action is tedious the main character spends enormous amounts of time running around the crazed doctor  s house and basement  and the neighborhood in general  or being roughed up by the cop  all of it boring and time  filling . now if the italians would have made this  half the film would have been the slingblade  uncle ernest  jack elam henchman fondling the unconscious nude girls . but you only get that for   seconds .  
if you played  spider  man  on the ps version  then you  ve seen it all . to truly experience it you should get the dc version . simply put it  s a much graphically superior game the textures are sharp  levels are easy to navigate  and it has much better sound then it  s ps cousin . i bought this game back in late    s and it still holds up even till this day . well  marvel ultimate alliance is a much superior and strategic game but if you  re a fan of  ol web head then you owe it yourself to pick this up for your gaming library . swinging around the city as spidey has never looked this good and dead  on in a video game . if you have a dreamcast  snag this up for cheap . the dc version is simply incredible .  
the film released at the start of     alongwith mela both disasters so sad to start a millennium with such nonsense  br    br   the film seems to suit    s but looks like an unintentional comedy for      br    br   anywayz some classic gems from the film paresh rawal i don  t understand to laugh at his role or cry reason he goes searching his mother in the village worst part is when he realises a secret of anil he keeps the secret in his stomach which becomes big and makes him look pregnant i remember in my childhood my teacher told me the same joke urrf     as a child i laughed at it that time but here   br    br   the whole film is a joke can  t explain we have anil in a dual role  one older and younger  and rekha playing the older  s wife and raveena the youngers we also have reject harish while shakti playing the son of aruna irani who both fight on who has the worst wig  br    br   direction is outdated music is bad  br    br   anil tries hard looks too old in the younger role and too young in the older role yet good effort rekha is adequate  raveena too is okay harish is bad shakti kapoor is terrible aruna irani is as usual rajnikant is okay in a cameo  
rated e  contains violence  .  br    br   i had the original spiderman game for the pc for a couple of years now . i still have not beaten it because on windows xp there is a glitch on one level which i cant beat because of it . so be warned if you have xp . but for those who don  t have xp give this game a try . its a fun clean family game with action and its great for any spiderman fan . in the game you play spiderman and you take on various criminals who commit crimes . spiderman is a fun little game and i recommend it to any spiderman fan or a parent wanting a fun  clean game for their kids .  br    br        
t . rama rao made some extremely beautiful films in the     s  but he seems to be a filmmaker who cannot mature with the changing times  styles and fashions . he  s like stuck with the same old  fashioned film  making style .  br    br   actors are not bad  not good either . anil kapoor generally acts convincingly his two roles of a father and his son  but the flawed script often makes him look funny and pathetic . rekha is good  but then  she  s always good  and here she  s nothing more than such . she makes the best of what she is given  but she always does that . in conclusion  nothing great at all . raveena is ok  which means ordinary  not bad  not good  nothing .  br    br   this film is melodramatic  occasionally stupid . maybe it  s a delayed film  well  even then it still would be below standard . the script is terrible  the film is overdone  and the story goes nowhere . it feels like a film made in the early     s  but the script makes it look even older  the style is like from the     s .  br    br   don  t recommend  unless you  re a big fan one of the starring actors .  
summary  this game is the best spider  man to hit the market  you fight old foes such as scorpion  rhino  venom  doctor octopus  carnage  . . . and exclusive to the game . . . monster  ock  monster  ock is the symbiote carnage on dock ock  s body .  br    br   storyline  dock ock was supposedly reformed and using his inventions for mankind . . . supposedly . . . he was really planing a symbiote invasion  see the rest for yourself .  br    br   features  you can play in numerous old costumes seen throughout the comics . almost every costume has special abilities  you can collect comics in the game and then view them in a comic viewer . and last but not least . . . . . . . . . . . . . . spidey  armour  collect a gold spider symbol to change into spider  armour . it gives you another health bar   br    br   graphics  great  though they they can be rough at times . but still great   br    br   sound  sweet  nice music on every level and great voice overs   br    br   overall    out of   . this game rocks . buy it today   
wwf survivor series      br    br   this was among the worst events of     . perhaps its biggest flaw was the fact that it didn  t follow suit to most of the previous survivor series  . there was only one survivor series match . and that survivor series match went on for   minutes . what  s more  anyone with a working brain would know that it would end with the rock versus austin and the rock prevailing for his team . and don  t get me started on the preview before the event . no matter who won it was obvious that no one was going to fing die . there was no need for all of that pointless hype . whatever the storyline  it was just a wrestling event .  br    br   and as for the rest of the matches the first match was christian defending his european title against al snow . it was a good fast paced match and its good to see a heel winning a match fairly . william regal versus tajiri was boring and we  ve seen it  or  times before . edge versus test was good but nothing great . the tag titles steel cage match was the best match of the evening . the battle royal went on for   minutes and no one really cared who  d win in the first place . the women  s title match wasn  t great . no  not in the slightest . the main event must have been the most hypocritical match in history . the alliance lost but guess what  after  months every single alliance superstar returned . the match itself was poor . the rock eliminated  of them and jericho eliminated  . the rock was too caught up with his acting to be there when the invasion began . jericho was the one that jeopardised the whole match . if i wanted any  to be eliminated in the early going it would be them . everyone knew that kane  big show and undertaker were just fall guys .  matches isn  t enough for a survivor series . if there  s ever a survivor series as bad as this again i  ll  
spider  man is in my opinion the best superhero ever  and this game is the best superhero game ever . while it may be somewhat easy  you have to play it several times to get all the costumes and comic book covers  which makes up for how easy it is to get through the game . it may seem hard to control at first  but once you get the hang of it  you will be web  slinging like spider  man himself .  br    br   the bosses  while like the levels are somewhat easy  are fun . the first boss  scorpion  is incredibly easy to beat  which shouldn  t be so because as fans of the comic books know  scorpion is one of spider  man  s most deadly villains . the second boss  rhino  is also very easy . the  rd boss is venom  who is in my opinion the easiest boss in the game  which definately shouldn  t be . the  th boss is venom again . this time  he is a little bit more difficult to beat but still easy . the  th boss is mysterio  who i think is the funnest boss to battle in the game . he is also one of the harder bosses  but once again  still fairly easy . next boss is carnage  who is  you guessed it  easy to beat . but carnage is actually kind of fun to fight .  th boss is doctor octopus  who is like all the other bosses easy  but not as easy as the other ones because he has a shield . the  th and final boss is exclusive to the game  never in a comic book or cartoon . i won  t spoil it for you for those of you who haven  t played the game  but the boss is the only boss in the game that isn  t too easy . took me  or  tries to beat while the others i beat on the first or second tries .  br    br   all in all  a very good game . i gave it an  out of   . the reasons why i didn  t give it a  or   are that once you get all the costumes and comic book covers it gets kind of boring  getting all that stuff will take a while though   it is not very accurate according to the comic books or cartoon show  the bosses are too easy  and they should have used hobgoblin and  or green goblin as a boss  i think it would be fun to battle someone flying around in the air  they didn  t use them in the sequel to this game either  well the green goblin is the villain in the upcoming spider  man movie  so hopefully they will make a video game based on the movie .  
this was allocated to the fans as the  winner takes all  match occurred between two separate  companies   the world wrestling federation and the  alliance   an amalgamation of former wcw and ecw superstars . because the final match to duduce the superior company was a tag  team match  the wrestlers were confined to tossing opponents from each side of the ring to another each wrestler concludes that in order to debiliate their opponents and to intensify the match  interfernce is necessary . each wrestler merely pummels an opponent with punches  executes a special move  and tags in a partner . the storyline had previously been tarnished by the subterfuge of vince that a member of the allance would be fradulent and join the wwf . it was obvious  with that statement  that the wwf would prevail . overall very innovative storyline but poor execution  which is not the scarcity of the wrestlers because the match format is tag  team . the remaining matches are just revolting  br    br   edge versus test potent  big boot  by test  but this did not display the true talents of both stars  br    br   al snow versus christian good match but superflous to the pay  per  view  br    br   taji versus william regal the worst match of the night  br    br   immunity battle royal this was an outstandingly fun match to watch  but because the main stars of both companies were involved in the main event  only a wrestler who characteristically appears on  heat  and is probably a wcw light  heavyweight reject  i . e . the hurricane who is merely hired as an entertainer   br    br   hardy boyz versus dudley boyz the best match of the night jeff hardy executed a  swanton bomb  from the summit of a cage and through a wooden table and matt was wedged into the cage  which appeared to be extremely painful .  br    br   because stone cold was the wwf champion  rob van dam was the hardcore champion  and kurt angle was a  mole  in the alliance  all fundamental stars in the main event on the faction of  the alliance  were granted work after the match  s outcome  except for booker t .  who recently attacked a wrestler on  raw  and will inevitably be given work . shane mcmahon will return to television somehow  and everyone desired to witness the downfall and demise of  the alliance  to see stone cold out of work . the wwf has done much better . a match in which all tiltes were brought to one faction would have been better  and what ever became of casket and iron man matches   
this cool marvel superhero game pays proper tribute by staying true to the comics . of all the marvel superhero games that have been so lame with weak graphics and gameplay  spiderman improves in both departments . it also features the voice of stan lee  the creator of spiderman comics .  br    br   as you  d expect spiderman does whatever a spider can . he does more than spin webs . in fact  he uses them as weapons and shields . when he  s not using web in combat  he punches and kicks as well . spidey has his hands full as he battles venom  rhino  mysterio  scorpion  and dr . octopus to name a few . look for captain america in a cameo .  br    br   most of the levels are challenging  but some of them require patience to beat . the only complaint about this game is that it  s so short and can be completed in less than three hours . if you  re a real marvel superhero fan  this game is for you but don  t expect long gameplay . better luck in  spiderman  .  my evaluation  out of   .  
turkish cinema has a big problem . directors aren  t interested in global cinema . they are local and folkloric  but want to be international . this brings kitsch results such this movie .  br    br   film has jokes translated to spanish from turkish and they don  t have any meaning for non  turkish audiences . even for turkish audiences after   years .  br    br   players  even ferhan sensoy have a worse acting than average . they act like puppets .  br    br   movie was shot in cuba  but nothing includes about cuba . so cuba is thought like a banana republic .  br    br   waste of money  waste of time .  
upon seeing this film once again it appeared infinitely superior to me this time than the previous times i have viewed it . the acting is stunningly wonderful . the characters are very clearly drawn . brad pitt is simply superb as the errant son who rebels . the other actors and actresses are equally fine in every respect . robert redford creates a wonderful period piece from the days of speakeasies of the     s . the scenery is incredibly beautiful of the mountains and streams of western montana . all in all  this is one of the finest films made in the     s .  br    br   you must see this movie   br    br    
the original movie  man from snowy river  is one of the best i  ve seen  nearly perfect . a lady and the tramp storyline in two senses   rich girl  poor boy  and ability vs . bloodline . the sequel  however  is not only a shameless attempt to capitalize on the good name of the original but also a ridiculous  overblown disneyfied mess best summarized as  rambo meets the black stallion .  without the charm of the black stallion . the young hero comes back from a   year absence  and suddenly he  s superman on horseback in the original  good film  he was real and believable  but sadly reduced to a caricature in the sequel . i  ve hardly been as disappointed in a movie  and at times this thing made me quite angry   they missed hardly a clich . brazen audience manipulation   do studio heads think that all you have to do with a horse  loving audience is put pretty horses in front of them  to make them happy  a mess of a movie .  
an enjoyable game  which offers fun and easy game play and fair replay ability . staying true to the comic and providing a low learning curve gives this game something not seen in most action cartridges today . also  the narration and animated scenes used  though lengthy animations are replaced by slide shows on the nintendo   version  use full advantage of the platforms  capabilities .  
it  s difficult to precisely put into words the sheer awfulness of this film . an entirely new vocabulary will have to be invented to describe the complete absence of anything even remotely recognizable as  humor  or even  entertainment  in  rabbit test .  so  as a small contribution to this future effort  i  d like to suggest this word  br    br    hubiriffic   adj .  a combination of  hubristic  and  terrific   used to describe overly ambitious debacles like the film  rabbit test .   br    br   joan rivers and  hollywood squares  producer jay redack have severely over  reached their meager abilities to amuse in this    minute festival of wretchedness . trying to put together an airplane  style comedy with a moldy collection of gags   note to joan german doctors haven  t been funny since vaudeville  disinterred from their graves in the catskills  that  s is bad enough . but compounding this cinematic crime is river  s directorial style  which can best be described as  ugly   and a cast of once  and  future has  beens so eager to please they overplay even the weakest of throwaway gags .  br    br   adrift in this sargasso sea of sap is a hapless billy crystal in his film debut role as the film  s hapless protagonist lionel . watching crystal in this pic is much like watching a blind person take a stroll in a minefield eventually the cringe reflex becomes a semi  permanent condition as cheap joke after cheap joke blows up in his face .  br    br   i can only speculate about the sort of audience who might actually like rabbit test . cabbages  mollusks and mildly retarded lizards are all likely candidates . but for self  aware  thinking humans  i  d enthusiastically recommend pouring bleach in your eyes before i  d recommend  rabbit test .   
overall  i agree wholly with ebert  s review . in a sense  i feel that i should not even be commenting since it is so much a vet  s movie and i am not a vet  i was a resister  . the flaw is that martha is badly underdeveloped and does not act consistently . my guess is that stephen metcalfe is a vet himself and spent too little planning time on her character .  
i saw this film when it first came out in      when i was a sophomore in high school . i took a date to see it . i didn  t  get any   needless to say  because the film was so bad  joan rivers  career never tanked as badly as it deserved after making this awful  unfunny crap . in fact  unfunny isn  t a severe enough term this film is anti  funny  you walk out feeling like any laughter that might have occurred was beaten out of you before it could happen . this isn  t worth watching out of curiosity  or out of any sense of it being  so  bad  it  s  good .  not even the gang at mst  k could  ve made this worth watching  the fact that billy crystal  s career survived this early suicide attempt is a miracle .  
there isn  t a whole lot going on in this story   just two men employing very different ways of handling memories of vietnam . but what it lacks in premise  it more than makes up for in acting and realism . it  s a quiet film about the bonds of friendship and shared experience . we even get romance  not gratuitous   just another very real piece of this story  . it  s well worth seeing .  
well to answer one persons  s question of  why doesn  t anyone remember this film   it  s because really  not that many people saw it in     and it  s not been shown much on tv since .  if it  s on video that  d be news to me   even in the era of sometimes mindless comedies that was the    s  movie  goers had the smarts to avoid this film . unless they love billy crytal  paul lynde or joan rivers  that  much   br    br   paul lynde was funnier on  bewitched  or  hollywood squares  than here . joan rivers at this time in her career was getting laughs making cruel jokes about singer karen carpenter  s lack of weight  har  har joan  it also seems like every  somewhat  famous name from the era is in the cast .  most surprising is doris roberts later of  everybody loves raymond  .   br    br   anyhow  a somewhat good idea for a storyline  a man getting pregnant instead of the woman goes to waste here . with help from a male friend crystal gets set up with a hooker to finally lose his virginity but because she was  on top  instead of him  he gets pregnant   a commentary on women taking positions of power away from men  .  br    br   crystal  s stomach grows  he goes through all the female emotions and related feelings . unfortunately  he is now a socially misunderstood outcast  he  s attacked by a mob who wants him rubbed out  i guess  .  br    br   he  s forced to go into seclusion to have his baby . . . in a barn . or if you will  a manger  god only knows where it may have exited from  ewwww   it turns out  no shock here  to be a girl   br    br   everything else about this movie is worthless and forgettable  the humor is high school level or less .  br    br    stars for a good idea and a few good touching  relevant moments w  billy crystal . ignore the rest of rabitt test  it flunks big time   br    br   i can  t believe roddy mcdowell signed on either   end   
even   years after the end of the vietnam war  jacknife  came not too late or was even superfluous . it  s one of the few that try to deal with the second sad side of the war the time after . different from movies like  taxi driver  or  rambo  which use to present their main characters as broken heroes in a bad after war environment this movie allows the audience to face a different view on the vietnam vets . their development is shown very precisely before and especially after the war . the problems are obvious but in all this tragic there is always the feeling of some hope on the basis of love and friendship .  jacknife  might be the quietest vietnam movie ever but after almost   years this is really plausible and therefor justified . moreover  it can make us believe that the war has not finished  yet at least for some of us .  br    br   the three main characters are amazing . de niro has done one of his best jobs but ed harris is the star of this movie . possibly  this was his best performance ever .  
i really can  t believe this movie is not in the imdb worst     it is absolutely terrible . when i originally saw it i remember talking about it in a college class and two other people had also seen it . we were all telling other class members not to see it because it was so horrible . by the time we were done some others wanted to see it just because they could not believe anything was as bad as we were saying it was . don  t be like them  just pass this by . i  m sure everyone involved with this movie would also prefer you never see them in this movie .  
i did not like the pretentious and overrated apocalypse now . probably my favorite vietnam war film is the deer hunter . the deer hunter focused on one part of the war  and then focused on the lives before the war . this movie is essentially deer hunter  . the script is too loose compared to the deer hunter . the story is never developed to the point that the audience can truly understand and feel for the characters like the deerhunter did . the vietnam flashbacks are not as gripping or involved as the ones in the deerhunter . this is why i can only give this movie  out of   .  br    br   however  i think that the acting was outstanding . deniro and harris are truly amazing actors . they totally immersed themselves in their characters and expressed the great anguish of two former friends who lost their best friend bobby in combat . harris  character is a half  dead alcoholic  who hides the guilt that he has in bobby losing his life trying to save his .  br    br   i also like the supporting cast . everyone in the town is part of the movie . the town obviously can  t handle vietnam vets very well . like many small towns  it is all about being quiet  humble  and minding one  s business . harris  character  however  can  t be any of these things . it is interesting how wars effect people . some people rebound quickly  while others never really recover .  
i am quite sure that this was the worst movie ever made . if you can  t make a   year old boy laugh at silly humor you should give up comedy forever . unfortunately joan rivers chose differently . the movie is full of predictable gags  some of these are racist  and very unfunny jokes . particularly memorable is the scene where the doctor tells the lead character that the rabbit has died and he is pregnant  as i write this  i cannot believe this was actually a movie scene  . the man rushes to a dead rabbit on the doctors desk and tries to give it mouth to mouth . rotflmao  not  the punch line that can tell you how bad things are in this movie is  i knew i should have been on top .  ha ha ha ha ah ugh . . . . . . . .  
saw this on cable back in the early    s and loved it . never saw it again until it showed up on cable again recently . still find it a great vietnam movie . not sure why its not higher rated . i found everything about this film compelling . as a vet  not from vietnam  i can relate to the situations brought by both harris and de niro . i can only imagine this film being more poignant now with our situation in iraq . i wish this would be offered on cable more often for people to see . the human toll on our soldiers isn  t left on the battlefield . its brought home for the rest of there lives . and this film is one of many that brings that home in a very hard way . excellent film .  
i cannot say enough bad things about this train wreck . it is one of the few movies i  ve ever been tempted to walk out of . it was a bad premise to begin with  first pregnant male  but then they tried to make it a spoof . what were they spoofing all those real pregnant males    this was the worst movie i have ever seen . if it had enough votes it would be on the imdb bottom    . if it was possible to give it a zero i would  and i would still feel i had given it too much credit .  
jacknife is a war movie that is just about as far removed from the war as war movies get . it can hardly be classified as a war film  because the only way that any war has an effect on the story or the characters is in their memories of it  and even these we are hardly ever shown . it poses very interesting questions about life  especially in the way that the movie  s tagline says that only one of them is really alive  and by the way  even though the tagline refers only to dave  ed harris  and megs  robert deniro   it is talking about all three of the characters in the film  . dave and megs were friends in the vietnam war  and megs has returned to take dave out on a fishing trip that they have been planning for a lot longer than you might have guessed .  br    br   deniro provides a perfect performance of the character of megs  who we are not really sure if we should like or if he really is as nuts as martha thinks he is . dave reminds martha several times that megs is not his friend  just someone he knows . there is a great scene early in the film where megs has gone out to grab a six pack of beer from his car for breakfast  and he is just around the corner of the room when dave says this . megs pauses for a moment and then proceeds into the room with a smile and a huge greeting . it isn  t until later that you realize how megs must have felt when he heard that  having been the one to remember what they had planned to do on this day . it reminds me of the fakeness of the old  sure  let  s do that   thing that people so often say to each other  never having any plans to do any such thing .  br    br   ed harris delivers a wonderful performance as dave  who never got over the effects that the war had on him . even so many years later he has not managed to get over the death of a friend during the war  blaming himself to this day for it and thus drowning his life in alcohol  cigarettes  and loneliness . all he wants  he says  is for people to leave him alone . this is not a man who is living his life the way he wants  whether people actually leave him alone or not  he is a man trying to forget that he  s alive  to detach himself from the world of the living as much as possible .  br    br   his sister martha reminds me of myself  at least in terms of my roommates . i have two roommates who are   and   years old  and both act like they still live with their mothers  expecting their messes to just go away when they leave the room for a while . one on particular  the older one  sadly enough   has absolutely no clue how to care for himself  i  m surprised i don  t have to wipe his chin while he eats . martha has to do much the same for her brother  who she waits on hand and foot while he staggers through life from one hangover to the next . martha and dave are stuck in a stagnant life and neither of them can get out of it until something major changes  and dave is the one that needs to do the changing .  br    br   i tend to complain about romance in movies where it just doesn  t belong about as much as roger ebert complains about those pathetic little tension devices  the red digital readout . but in this case  i don  t think that the romance that develops between megs and martha had any adverse affect on the rest of the movie . on the contrary  it made it that much more interesting  because it was not predictable . the problem with the romantic subplots in bruckheimer movies and whatnot is that they are so predictable that you just wait for the obvious end to come and hope that something interesting happens along the way . in this case  however  it  s not as obvious that something is going to happen between megs and martha because we don  t know enough about megs . martha could be right about him  that he  s one of dave  s crazy war buddies and that he  s not the kind of man that she should be dating . dave certainly encourages this idea .  br    br    spoilers  a couple years after this movie  deniro did cape fear  where he plays a deranged criminal out for revenge against the lawyer that landed him in prison  a character that  in retrospect  makes it pretty easy to think that maybe at the end of jacknife martha realizes her mistake  gets rid of megs  and she and dave make up because he saved her from a horrible relationship and then he decides to clean up his act because he has done something good for her . i was half expecting this to happen  so i was pleasantly surprised when martha and megs wound up together and even more pleasantly surprised when megs asks dave all the questions about what they had planned to do after the war was over .  br    br   at times this is a slow moving drama  but jacknife is entertaining along the way and has a huge payoff at the end  which amazingly manages to be sappy without being cheesy . there is an almost excess of emotion at the end of the film that scarcely fits with the rest of the movie  but it is so good that it doesn  t dumb down anything that the movie has accomplished up to that point . everyone involved gives a wonderful performance  and it is one of those rare films that just about makes you want to stand up and shake your fists victoriously in the air .  
i remember this movie when i was    seems a lot of reviews are saying the same thing age     with a group of school buddies . we all wanted to see billy crystal in his first movie  and fell for the typical commercial ads telling us this was a great comedy . we suffered through about   minutes of it  and all agreed to leave the theater . it was grotesque  tasteless  and a far cry from the ability billy crystal had to make us laugh  we were not laughing . i stumbled upon this review by accident  and decided to register just to tell the rest of the world what a rot  gut waste of film this was  now if you rent this  you deserve what you get  you  ve been warned    
jacknife is a masterpiece of the    s . it  s a movie that breaths through amazing acting and a very interesting directing touch . in jacknife both lovers of european and american cinema can find things to relate on . the screenplay is very compelling and full of beautiful characters . ed harris is giving one of the greatest performances up to date . he portrays his alcoholic hero superbly making us feel his broken heart in each line  in each move . robert de niro makes us once again think of him as one of the greatest actors of all time in one of the simplest but also most realistic performances in his career . jacknife is never getting boring as it shows its heroes clear of any typical hollywood  s typical character elements . after the war none is a hero . everybody is a loser  and this movie is about that simple truth . none can mend up his pieces after a war  just like the heroes of this movie . jacknife is about the diseases of the soul that war creates . simply magnificent movie .  
leonard maltin compared this film to a mel brooks comedy . he was far too kind to ms . rivers  and far too cruel to mr . brooks . not even the raunchiest mel brooks films are this tasteless  and at least they  re genuinely funny . this picture deserves a place on the hundred  worst list .  
i loved this movie . it is rare to get a glimpse of post  partum vietnam  and this movie  sans combat scenes and exciting bombs and gunfire  did it . i had no idea i  d be so affected by it . what an amazing look at how alien vets feel . it was tough to watch  quite frankly . we all understand the fighting and the apocalypse now type of drama  but this is so so different . what happens when they come back and try to live a life  they can  t . it made me very aware of a large group of men that are rattling around lost in america . not able to relate  can  t sleep  can  t have love affairs  can  t deal with  normal society  . they feel totally apart . this is a huge tragedy  and one that isn  t addressed enough . yeah  we  ve changed our attitude about vietnam vets  we like them now  but so what  it doesn  t seem to have made any difference to them . it  s too late  so it was a great film  but i cried a lot . i have no other criticisms .  
absolutely one of the worst movies of all time .  br    br   low production values  terrible story idea  bad script  lackluster acting . . . and i can  t even come up with an adjective suitably descriptive for how poor joan river  s directing is . i know that there  s a special place in hell for the people who financed this film prolly right below the level reserved for child  raping genocidal maniacs .  br    br   this movie is a trainwreck .  br    br    terrible  x  infinity   rabbit test .  br    br   avoid this at all costs .  br    br   it  s so bad  it isn  t even funny how bad it is .  
after just having watched the deer hunter  which is a masterpiece  the movie jacknife had big shoes to fill . it has same themes as the deer hunter  the devastating effects on a person after the vietnam war . robert de niro is in this film  as in the deer hunter and is very good here  as is kathy baker . but this movie belongs to ed harris  who gives a powerful  emotional and impactful performance . the movie is based on a stage play  and there are one or two scenes where that felt obvious to me . by that i just mean that for those one or two scenes it felt like i was watching a stage play . that was not that big a deal  and doesn  t really diminish the film . i actually really liked this movie . it  s not an epic like the deer hunter . they are about similar era and have similar themes  but they are two very different films . i thought the deer hunter was great  and i also think this movie was great . it  s the acting in this one that makes it so great . for me  jacknife is a       
it  s been nearly   years  and i still hate everyone involved in this movie . it remains the worst movie i  ve ever seen .  br    br   before seeing this  i never much minded rivers  one way or the other . after seeing this movie  i have an allergic reaction when i accidentally see her on television .  br    br   i got dragged to this  against my better judgment  by peer pressure . however  coming out of the theater  those friends swore an oath to never again overrule my choice of movie . nearly thirty years later  we still carry around mental scars from this movie .  br    br   on my deathbed  one of my regrets will be the time i wasted hoping that this movie might get better . it never did .  br    br   if you are ever given a choice  you would prefer putting your own eyes out to sitting though this movie .  br    br   i registered for imdb comments just in the hope that perhaps i can warn others against viewing this movie . if i can save just one person from watching this  then my existence on this earth will have been justified .  
the combination of reading the novella and viewing this film has inspired my wife and i to new levels . recently i was pondering a statement made by the artist thomas kinkade in one of his inspirational books he states  you and i were not designed to breathe the fetid air of five o  clock traffic . nor do i think god had banal television programs  media hype  worthless purchases  and soul pollution in mind when he created the universe . . .  i hadn  t seen  a river runs through it  in a couple of years  but after pondering kinkade  s statement something drew me to watch the film with a spiritual eye . i watched it and saw a whole new world to the film and it inspired me to read the book  a must read  . i have always been frustrated in southern california but somehow got caught up in its materialistic society . the film really puts into perspective of how we should really experience god  s creations . a combination of macleans story and my desire to move back to the northwest has driven me to move to montana . i want my future kids to be able to rome the landscape  go fly  fishing with me  ride horses into nothing but open land and serene lakes set in the mountainside . a place where you seldom worry about crime . i look around socal and all i see is shopping malls  rude snarling people in their mercedez bens  miles of vehicles on congested freeways  gangs  racial turmoil on the verge of violent eruption  and everyone skeptical of each others intentions .  br    br   anyway the movie is very inspiring with brilliant acting and a deep story about the fragile connections of loved ones . there is a lot of deep thinking in this film . the scenery is worth seeing alone and actually helps relieve tension . you should finish this film relaxed yet full of insights to your own life . it takes a compassionate  intelligent  and spiritual person to really grasp the meaning . if you don  t understand the art of cinema and how a director achieves his goals through dialogue  tone  light  colour  scenery  camera angles  movement  etc . then this film is probably not for the crowd that thinks  the fast and the furious  is the greatest film . granted it was entertaining but shallow .  br    br   the bottom line this film helps to realize that life is not about how much money you have or what things you posses . rather it is about your relationships with family and friends and the experiences you share together . quality not qauntity  
after what i thought was a masterful performance of two roles in man from snowy river  why was kirk douglas replaced by brian dennehy in the sequel  it just wasn  t the same without spur and harrison  as portrayed by douglas . maybe he recognized how poor the plot was   jim returns after extended absence  to find jessica being pursued by another man . he could not expect any girl to wait that long with no contact from him  and not find competition . for a disney movie  this contains foul language  plus the highly unnecessary part when jim  jessica shacked up without being married   very lame . quite an insult to viewer intelligence  according to members of my family . i  ll stick with the first one  and try to forget i ever saw the sequel   
jacknife is a fine adaptation of stephen metcalfe  s play  strange snow   the screenplay was also written by metcalfe   sensitively directed by david hugh jones  that explores the too frequently forgotten effect of battle on veterans damaged permanently by the heinous cruelties of war . it is especially poignant to return to this     film now as we watch the soldiers returning from the war in iraq and the raw treatment they are receiving in our veterans  hospitals .  br    br   three friends went off to the vietnam war together and only two returned alive the problem is that while both men suffered in battle the one david  highschool  flannigan  ed harris  is so severely damaged by posttraumatic stress syndrome that he  exists  in a drunken vacuum with his very plain schoolteacher sister martha  kathy baker  . as david deteriorates his buddy joseph  jacknife  megessey  robert de niro  returns to the town in an attempt to help his friend . in the course of events jacknife at first offers succor to martha and eventually the two date  at a prom martha must attend  and at that prom drunken david completely falls apart  destroying relics in the school and terrifying the townspeople and students . jacknife makes dave relive the moment in vietnam when they lost their buddy and in doing so brings david to the point where he can begin his climb toward recovery . and the long  suffering martha finds her needs tended by jacknife  too .  br    br   all three actors give astonishingly fine performances ed harris offers one of his most fully realized roles while de niro and baker maintain the high standards set by their careers . more people should help resurrect this all but forgotten film as it is a brittle reminder of the damages our wars bring to the men who fight them and to the families who receive them after battle  s end . highly recommended . grady harp  
i didn  t like this film at all  first of all  i don  t know why  but everyone here says  that clmence posy  s play is excellent  which in my opinion is absolutely wrong  she is not like natasha another appearance  another character . . . what  s worse  she is a very unexperienced actress and that  s why she wasn  t able to play this role  she disfigured the heroine completely  that was really disgusting to watch her play  to my mind  that would be much better to give this role to a russian actress  because that would be much easier for her to understand the russian soul for a russian person . unfortunately  kutuzov looked like a drunk man  who hasn  t shaved  weeks and defeated a battle in which he lost his eye . . .  thank  s god  in this film there  re some actors  whose play was awesome  i suppose  that alessio boni coped with his task very well  i was pleasantly amazed  he is one of the few people who  s read the book  which is very important for the play . in addition  i liked plays of our russian actors  that was really wonderful to watch them   the only thing i liked in this work was very beautiful views and amazing dresses  my advice is to read the book and to understand a real sense  the aim  with which leo tolstoy wrote this masterpiece  and maybe realize the whole idea of the book . . .  from    
i cherish each and every frame of this beautiful movie . it is about regular people  people we all know  who suffer a little in their life and have some baggage to carry around . just like all of us . robert deniro  ed harris and kathy baker breathe life into their portrayals and are all excellent  but harris is especially heartbreaking and therefore very real . you would swear he really is a trucker who drinks so he won  t have to feel anything . baker as his put  upon sister also has some delicate moments  when deniro gives her flowers in one scene  it seems like she was never given flowers before and probably wasn  t . very worthwhile .  
for me the only reason for having a look at this remake was to see how bad and funny it could be . there was no doubt about it being funny and bad  because i had seen  voyna i mir        . shall we begin  here we go . . .  br    br   robert dornhelm  brendan donnison  s pierre bezukhov  a lean fellow that lacks the depth of the original robert dornhelm  brendan donnison  s natasha rostova  a scarecrow  her image can cause insomnia robert dornhelm  brendan donnison  s andrej bolkonsky  an ok incarnation which  like the lean fellow  cf . above   lacks depth of a russian soul and  struggle within   robert dornhelm  brendan donnison  s napoleon  a rather unimpressive leader robert dornhelm  brendan donnison  s prince bolkonsky  a turd with an english face robert dornhelm  brendan donnison  s count bezukhov  a spineless freak  show . . .  br    br   the rest of the characters are not much better .  br    br   the movements of the actors and the way they look and speak are often atrocious . they behave like modern eu citizens dressed up for a one  day masquerade . it all looks cheap and never comes close to the standards of our russian men and women of the early   th century .  br    br   a good piece of entertainment to scrutinize and make fun of . we had quite a few giggles in our office when remembering this modern product  which had been shown the previous evening on our tv .  br    br    user rating  .        votes    i guess  many young people have never watched our film   voyna i mir       or have weird sense of  tarantino  spielberg  quality . remember the scene when our hussar is saving his friend  turns around  shoots  and the bridge goes boom  looks like a cgi explosion .  br    br   there is neither sense nor craft to make a better version of the novel  which was screened properly in our country once . but i would be happy to watch a russian remake of  gone with the wind  . hey  directors  wake up and get busy with that  instead of spoiling our classics .  br    br   now back to common sense . jokes aside . what i mentioned above is nothing new  though deadly exaggerated .  br    br   to make foreign actors trying to pass for russians  while participating in very serious epics and dramas  is a rude mistake and the filmmakers are making this mistake again and again . of course it results in numerous laughs  especially clemence poesy is uncomfortably ridiculous and her dancing and singing makes a russian viewer think  this sucks so much that it  s funny    .  br    br   in order to say something new  i  d like to mention the pace of the movie . to my mind  this new version is very patchy . the narration and the scenes are not naturally flowing  they stagger and pop up like in a modern video . again i have to remember our  voyna i mir   where the action is so natural and the narration is so easy that you simply sit back and enjoy  going with the flow  .  br    br   i thought that maybe the borodino battle would be great  to somehow rehabilitate numerous drawbacks  but it has turned out to be no match for the war scenes filmed in     .  br    br   there should be something good in this movie after all . and there is . the actors seem to be trying hard to make it all work . they did not have a chance from the start but they still joined  the losers  team  . plus  point for that recklessness . it makes a russian viewer uncomfortable  some scenes are ironically ridiculous though they are intended to be dramatically powerful and the actors are doing their best . it all evokes pity  and sometimes  fits of laughter .  br    br   what i still like about this serial is the last part of it . it shows very vividly how everybody gets his or her  salary and taxes  . besides  judging by the movie trailers i thought that the film would have an adult sex scene  which would definitely kill the whole project . but  fortunately  it does not have such rubbish . and that  s a big plus .  br    br    voyna i mir  is no  harry potter  and nowadays even we  here in present  day russia  do not have enough craft to film it properly . do i have to say that the moral quality of our life has deteriorated immensely  fortunately  a proper film was screened during our soviet times . the american version of the     s was justified to some extent  ours did not even exist yet . there were extenuating circumstances then .  br    br    out of     point is given from the start   point goes for the recklessness  and  points for the last part of the serial . thanks for attention .  
who votes in these ratings   jacknife  is a beautifully acted  brilliantly observed piece of work  with actors on top of their game  especially ed harris and the peerless robert deniro  please don  t mention marlon brando in the same breath of this man  see  taxi driver  for confirmation of this point  . is it a  mundane  movie because it doesn  t have sex  meaningless action  nudity in it . this movie is about the complexities of the characters involved . ed harris makes you feel every moment with him and his emotional outburst towards the end is heartbreaking . the part where he orders a young man in a bar to take off his army clothes is a wonderful observation of how fashion and the movies exploit tragic situations and how frustrated real men must feel to see a young upstart sporting military attire . while we are on this subject   casino   .  out of    one of the greatest films of all time  from one of the greatest directors  starring the greatest movie actor of all time  with the scariest film psychotic gangster ever  only warrants just above average  come on       
i saw this for gary busey and fred williamson thinking they were buddy cops . they are but busey is in the opening scene then doesn  t show up again until like   minutes into the movie . though every scene he  s in is awesome . especially when he disguises himself as a blind hobo .  br    br   what  s incredible about this movie is the plot . in the movie fred williamson is trying to find out who stalking and killing phone sex operators . at one point i think thats its busey . but it turns out i  m only partly right . busey is not the killer  but he is calling up and harassing the women over the phone . why  i don  t know . in no way is he connected to the killer  he just does it for kicks i guess .  
this would  ve been a sure fire classic had they chosen almost anybody else for john abraham . this guy is an awful actor . be it comedy  drama  tear  jerkers etc . he stinks . it seemed like at some point priyadarshan realized this too  and pretty much had him jumping around like a monkey in order to make his solo  scenes a bit funny .  br    br   he  s the only noticeable drawback  there are a couple more annoying tid  bits  of an absolutely hilarious movie otherwise . best comedy to come along in bollywood since hungama  imo . like hungama  it  s a situational comedy carried on the shoulders of a brilliant screenplay and of course  akshay kumar . this is probably his best performance to date . he better be a shoe  in for best comedian at every award function . ak  s always been good at comedy  but he takes it to a different level here . the body language  the facial expressions and just the way he delivers every line . it  s a genius performance . the packed theater was going nuts for pretty much the entire length of the movie and i don  t think i  ve ever seen such an atmosphere for a bollywood movie here in usa .  br    br   garam masala doesn  t have one  lead  heroine . it stars  incredibly hotbeautiful girls who i thought did a fairly good job . pretty sure they are all making their debuts . paresh rawal is solid as usual  although his routine wears itself out after a while . rajpal yadav is his typical annoying self  sick of his over  the  top act in every movie  . rimi sen has nothing to do .  br    br   overall  definitely worth a dekho . i  d say it  s funnier than no entry  and that  s saying a lot . could  ve been even better had they chosen someone a little more competent than john abraham .  br    br        
i don  t know what they were thinking . by they  i mean anybody even remotely connected to this disaster . i  ve seen so bad movies  i  ve seen so really bad movies  and then there  s this . but i will say one thing . whoever wrote the script has manged to put what could possibly the most inane dialogue over written  onto the screen . there is nothing good about this movie  either from a technical standpoint or any other standpoint . whoever allowed it to be made and then released should have been fired immediately . there are a few fairly well known names in this movie . actually i hesitate to use the word movie . it  s more like a collection of random scenes that have no relation to another and make less than  sense . anyway  i fail to see why anyone with any dignity would appear in this . i got it really cheap  and i still got ripped of . even if i had gotten this movie for free  i would still have been ripped off . this is an absoluter      
this move was friggin hilarious    funniest i  ve seen in a while  akshay and john kick ass as always  and the chicks are hot too . the story is awesome  lots of great jokes  and whoever reviewed this before me is an idiot . to him i say that u are not of indian background so u wouldn  t understand the humor u moron . don  t rate movies u don  t understand . what did u watch  the subtitle version where majority of jokes are lost in translation  thats what i thought jackass .  br    br   akshay kumar is the best actor ever and proves once again his versatility  he can do not only action but comedy as well  and is excellent at it . john has proved himself as well  this is his first comedy role and he was also excellent at it .  
one of the worst films i have seen to date . pathetic action scene and really bad acting also do not help . the only good point is gary busey  s parts but this does not lift the film very much . it lives up to its b film ranking and passes the test with flying colours . a waste of my money although i found entertaining to begin with its gets annoying after a few watches . i do not recommend this film unless you watch it for free or its a gift .  a gift you can ask for the receipt and send back for a complete refund  .  br    br   really bad .  br    br       .  
these are one of the movies that don  t require any brain or thinking  it  s a very funny time pass which you forgot in the next hour or so . i was really surprised with john abraham  s acting he usually playing the gangster like character with the emotionless face  so from that to playing the complete opposite and does it successfully  by managing to shine amongst the comic geniuses such as paresh rawal and akshaye kumar . i was also quite surprised with the akshaye  s  girls because there roles don  t require much talent but mostly moaning about akshaye  s dissapearence  to the other girls  i was surprised as they managed to establish and actual persona and you could differentiate between them which is a good thing  also majority of songs are good  it is colourful and fun so on a boring sunday evening this will sure lighten your mood .  
this film deals with two ex  football players who are fred williamson   mack derringer  and gary busey   lenny  who work as private eyes and meet all kinds of ladies and men with some bad backgrounds . mack derringer is approached by his ex  wife vanity  jennifer derringer  who works at having sex talk over the telephone . jennifer is being threatened by one caller who wants to do horrible things to her and she asks for his help along with several other ladies . mack  lenny have more time on their hands and often go to miami  fl . golf courses or hang out in a sports bar where all kinds of city things go on . there is lots of punches  killings and plenty of double meaning words that bring this film completely down to a big zero . don  t waste your time  this film cost me only   cents and that was too much .  
now i really liked this movie  it was so funny . both akshay kumar and john abraham are brilliant actors  i think after watching this film they should do lots more films together in the future .  br    br   akshay kumar gets himself into a bit of trouble by dating  women at the same time  but the way he handles in when one comes out of the door and then the other one was just so funny to watch  he acted really well int his film and i hope that he makes more great comedy  s like this one in the future  john abraham plays his best friend  he plays his role really well and he is so underrated i am glad that some of his amazing work has got noticed but he is a really good actor . i just love john  neha dhupia has a small role in this film and plays it well .  br    br   the muse is really good i really recommend this movie to everyone .  
i had to compare two versions of hamlet for my shakespeare class and unfortunately i picked this version . everything from the acting  the actors deliver most of their lines directly to the camera  to the camera shots  all medium or close up shots . . . no scenery shots and very little back ground in the shots  were absolutely terrible . i watched this over my spring break and it is very safe to say that i feel that i was gypped out of    minutes of my vacation . not recommended by any stretch of the imagination .  
okay this movie fine like i said but you surely need to watch it as its worth a watch . it  s about two boys mac and sam who are great friends and work as fashion photographers and the laughing time starts when mac  akshay kumar  starts dating with  air hostesses at the same time leaving his wife suspicious . sam attains fortune and almost forgets his friend but not completely . but mac thinks so and so he starts dating with air hostesses . there  s garam masala at every step of the movie  songs rock but somethings lacking . the comedy  s not up to the mark and deserves an award . its nice but not all that excellent . some people laughed till their stomaches ached but it didn  t deserve that many laughs . but of course everyone  s opinion is different . so if you wanna watch the movie you  re welcome to do so .  
williamson  s accent is tough to wade through . he speaks incredibly quickly  like he is in a rush to get through the lines . during the soliloquies he acts as if he is talking to someone  when he is supposed to be talking to himself . all that and his bald spot just annoyed me . he was just too old for this role . in reading other accounts of williamson  maybe he got this role because he was mad and the director decided to do a bit of life  imitates  art or forced method acting . when the actors declare hamlet mad you believe it  marianne faithful is a stunning beauty and could botch the role of ophelia and still get a pass . the set is dark and foreboding but it does look as if shot in a real castle especially the scenes in the tunnels  corridors where the dead king shines as a great light in the sky .  
garam masala is one of the funniest film i  ve seen in ages . akshay kumar is excellent as the womaniser who has affairs with  girls and engaged at the same time . john abraham is amusing at times and this is one of his best works so far . paresh rawail is superb as usual in most of his films . the director priyadarshan has delivered great movies in the past . hera pheri  hungama and hulchul being some of the best . garam masala is his funniest film he has made . the three newcomer actresses are average . rimi sen doesn  t get much scope in this movie . i was impressed to see how priyadarshan made a movie with a simple storyline of a guy having a affair with  girls at the same time . all  girls have a day off in the same day and end up in the same house . packed with loads of laughs  this is one non stop entertainer .  
as the front cover says  the hamlet of our time  for our time  .  br    br   i had to study this filmed version of hamlet directly after watching keneth branagh  s version and it was truly a disappointing experience .  br    br   this version takes a different approach to several aspects of the play including sexuality one very very homosexual osric and an interesting interaction between hamlet and ophelia . i think for the time     s  this was a very well done version of hamlet but cannot compare to branagh  s complete version .  br    br   just a note . . . i found the video at my local video store  in australia  and i  m actually looking for a keneth branagh dvd to buy if such a thing even exists . if anyone knows of one please tell me .  
one of the more sensible comedies to hit the hindi film screens . a remake of priyadarshans   s malayalam hit boeing boeing  which in turn was a remake of the   s hollywoon hit of the same name  garam masala elevates the standard of comedies in hindi cinema .  br    br   akshay kumar has once again proved his is one of the best super stars of hindi cinema who can do comedy . he has combined well with the new hunk john abraham . however john still remains in akshays shadows and fails to rise to the occasion .  br    br   the new gals are cute and do complete justice to their roles .  br    br   a must watch comedy . leave your brains away and laugh for  hrs     after all laughter is the best medicine  ask priyadarshan and akshay kumar       
i wonder how the actors acted in this movie . annette bening was really herself  half in and half out  was she faking or being natural  it didn  t make any difference considering that even if she had been walking on the ceiling it would not have changed the pattern of the film . brian cox acted really well . i almost thought that he had always acted this way  tricky  dishonest  in a dirty surrounding where nobody really cared about hygiene . as for gwyneth paltrow  the question is what she was doing in this film .  br    br   this film is quite sickening and disgusting . who would pay to see such a crap   
one of the things about the film that warmed my heart strings was that dry fly fishing was a major part of the scene . i have occasionally carried out my times of dry fly fishing  having tied my own flies  and being accompanied by my brother and my father we spend a day on one river or another seeking to tempt the ever elusive brown trout to rise and take the fly that has been offered to them .  br    br   when we had occasions like this any differences between us disappeared and any of the pressures of the world melted away to be replaced by the glory of being absorbed in the activity and the surroundings of the place we were in .  br    br   this was one of the amazing things that was portrayed to me in the film as the minister and his two sons  norman and pauly carried out the ritual . for there is something ritualistic about fly fishing as there is something ritualistic about so many pastimes . you can  t just start casting your fishing line and hope for the best . you have to attune yourself to the place you are in  you have to scan the surface of the water considering how it is flowing and where the best point might be to place your fly and  depending on your skill level  you might even get your fly to land there long enough for a fish to take note of it and strike . the  art of fly  fishing  was directed and represented so well that they themselves can be classified as artists .  br    br   the title for the film could not be more aptly chosen  for the river did in fact run through the life of father and two sons . this film however spreads itself broader than the family and community in montana  by the the blackfoot river  where the film is played out . it has the capacity to draw you in  to enthrall you  to capture you  as the history of the family  community and period is unfolded . the story told is not just a family history  but a history of life . what may be classified as a  river of life   
this film differentiates itself from the run  of  the  mill  wonder of the human body  documentaries by bravely  if bizarrely  opting to elicit disgust in the viewer . in one scene  the camera closes in on a gigantic    foot zit as a teenager squeezes pus and fluid out of it . in another  the camera is semisubmerged in a swamp of half digested food and stomach acid as parts of a pasta salad drop in from the esophagus and plop into the goo . in a final tour de force  the camera takes the viewer on a harrowing ride through a forest of . . . teenage armpit hair . unfortunately  i  m not making any of this up . see this film if you must  but bring your vomit bag  and don  t have pasta salad beforehand .  
on the contrary to the person listed above me i felt that this movie was really funny particularly in the scenes were there is a lot of mix up . i don  t want to give the plot and the storyline away to the people that haven  t watched it yet but i will say that paresh rawal does not have an extensive role such as past priyadarshan movies  for example  hera pheri and hungama . paresh rawal does an amazing part in the little role given to him  john abraham does equally well  akshay kumar has proved that he is no less in this movie like he had from waqt and almost all his movies after andaaz . even though all three heroins in this movie were at a debut they did a pretty good job of acting particularly nargis who is very good looking and hot . i would say that if you liked hungama or hera pheri this movie is a must watch .  
the film starts to slowly when we got to the cinema we thought it looked quite good but after about  mins we were all bored out of our minds and wondering what kind of film we had come to see  i don  t like this film and wouldn  t recommend it to anyone  the best part of the night was when the alarm and lights came back on because the project broke down because we thought we could all go home . this has to be one of the worst films i have ever seen we were all bored out of or minds and most of the people in the cinema actually ran out of the doors at the end because it was so rubbish . i am surprised that no one walked out earlier than that . if you go and see it make sure you something to keep you busy  better still don  t go and see it at all .  
this movie was a fantastic comedy . it had a lot of comedians star in it like akshay kumar  rajpal yadav  paresh raval and john abraham .  br    br   rimi sen was good at playing akshay kumars wife and so were all the air hostesses . mr hot as mac  akshay kumar  and mr cool as sam  john abraham  are two fashion photographers who like the same girl maggie  neha dupia  . when john abraham cheats on his work he becomes akshay kumars senior and akshay kumar gets really jealous because his flat has to be given to john abraham and neha dupia starts liking john more . akshay kumar wants to be better than john abraham so he finds a flat and he is going out with three different girls  nitu chandra  nargis bagheri  daisy boppana  .  
absolutely the most boring movie i have ever spent my money on . this was a wrong choice for all these great stars to waste their reputations on . boring  boring  boring  each character was portrayed in a less than inspirational way . no acting talent shown  just reading a part . alec can play realistic characters normally  gwynyth made herself look ugly for an unrewarding part  annette needs advise on how to pick the movies she chooses to play in as do all these big stars who have left me disappointed at the way they have all allowed their talents to be smothered in a feature that leaves much to be desired in entertainment .  running with scissors  leads the public to anticipate great acting in a film that suggests experiencing tension and deep emotion . there was not one moment when the cast was able to portray any interpretation of this onto the screen . maybe it was the director  s fault     whatever .  
in mexico this movie was aired only in paytv . dietrich bonhoeffer  s life  is a true example about a good german and specially  about a good man . the conversations between tukur  s character and the nazi prosecutor are specially interesting . a true ideas  war two different germans  both with faith in there believes . bonhoeffer was a very complex person man  freedom fighter  boyfriend  churchman and a great intellectual ulrich tukur is outstanding as bonhoeffer . i recommended this film a lot  specially in this difficult times for the planet . in mexico we don  t know a lot about pastor bonhoeffer life and legacy  this is a great work for rescue a forgotten hero .  
not sure why this film was advertised as a wild  quirky  laugh filled comedy . there is not much in this movie that will entertain  nor amuse the moviegoer . annette bening  whose acting was touted as being oscar worthy  comes off here as mannered  with her performance seeming routine . brian cox  s character is confusing and irritating  and the lead playing augusten  joseph cross  appears to simply not have the personality to carry his role . the best thing about the film is evan rachel wood  but she is not enough to endorse this boring  unsavory film .  br    br   the film disappeared quickly and it seems with good reason . i found some of the scenes distasteful  the scene with brian cox and his just utilized toilet rivals some of the worst scenes in  you and me and everyone we know  and  the squid and the whale    some embarrassing  and most of them unsettling . i found the whole experience a waste of time . don  t you waste your time  
i watched  entranced and mesmerized  by the vocal and physical acting . the roles each character played were done with excellence . the lyrics  the words  every gesture  the sunrise  told it all . the movie spoke to me . it enlightened me to a different perception of a person who believes in mankind . who believes in peace and gentle behavior . i was also held in disbelieve  by the sacrifices and human dignity was portrayed . power without grace  is demented and without feelings . to want power at the cost of mankind  is so unbelievable . this movie made me so afraid for the people who are no longer in this world . and  it is with sadness that i think of them . i like this movie for the conversations and face expressions to it all . may this movie be blessed .  
this movie contains no humor for anyone who has lived with a family member who has a mental illness . so many scenes reminded me too graphically of my own life experiences . this movie was the man  s version of  mommy dearest .  it depicts both graphically and accurately the life many children of a mentally ill parent goes through . it also shows how easy it is for a psychiatrist to become corrupt and act like they are god .  br    br   someone told me it was funny . no way  i say  it is sick humor at best .  br    br   the movie is so intense and depressing that my son and i had to leave the room . the best use for this movie is for people who don  t understand mental illness or don  t believe what we families actually do live through .  
really  i liked it . the premise was good  the story fit where both respective series left off  and here  s my favorite part . mary and valerie aren  t bitter  they aren  t like others who become synonymous with a certain series and then refuse to talk about it  or do possible reunions  a prime example is susan dey   the partridge family   . in fact  valerie was saying that she  d be thrilled to do another movie  and then mary said the same thing later  so i would be on the look for another . . . but if that doesn  t quite work out  then they can re  run this one .  
i am a big movie fan . i like movies of all types . this is arguably the worst movie i  ve ever seen .  br    br   i get that it follows the book closely  which raises the point that not everything should be made into a movie . especially since the authenticity of the experiences in the book have been called into question more than once .  br    br   these characters are not quirky  they are mentally ill . the things that happen are not funny  they are disturbing especially considering they are supposed to be true .  br    br   this movie had the feel of the royal tenenbaums  another movie i hated  only running with scissors was even more dysfunctional and less funny .  br    br   i will never get those hours back . i wanted to wash my brain after watching .  
this movie pretty much surprised me . i didn  t have very high expectations for it but i was wrong . mary  rhoda was very funny and well written . they didn  t spend too much time rehashing the past so they weren  t relying on the success of the old tv show to carry the movie . overall it was very entertaining .  br    br   my girlfriend commented that this could be a weekly sit  com and i think i might agree with her .  
to make up a movie  going audience  i  m certainly stunned by the number of positive comments this wretched film has garnered here . i can  t credit it  can  t help but be suspicious  for that matter  of back alley payoffs to critics who are touting annette bening for an oscar the hole in the kitchen ceiling might be more appropriately attributed to her scenery chewing . she  s a wonderful actress but this is an unfortunately unbalanced performance  lacking that essential quality film actors must master of catching the cadence of the screenplay and maintaining it for the duration of the disjointed madness that is a film shoot .  br    br   i don  t really want to blame miss bening or most of the other performers  well  gwyneth paltrow has no excuse for her muzzy work   however  because this is a horrendous adaptation  a classic case of mistranslation  i am prepared to assume . i haven  t read the book and don  t think i will after this  . the script launches us into the middle  muddle of unaccountable behaviour and extreme emotional angst spewing from mystifying characters who have developed relationships neither with us nor each other . it quickly becomes a grotesquely excessive tsunami  like assault that sullies characters and audience alike and left me like a survivor shaking my head at the detritus left at the end of each repetitive episode . shock and awe would describe my reaction to frantic  bi  polar mood swings between ranting and oh  so  quiet sensitivity  the latter telegraphed by one of the most irritating  manipulative  droning soundtracks i  ve heard  that is  when all this isn  t being set to ludicrously incongruous toons  period stuff  ya know  but chosen with an astounding disregard for the tone of the scenes .  br    br   how this fine cast got mixed up in this i don  t know  i can  t believe they saw the screenplay before signing . they certainly apply their skills with commitment  i felt so sorry for the wonderful jill clayburgh saddled with a cartoon bag lady costume and wig trying vainly to wrench something of significance from sketchy and clichd dialogue . in contrast  somehow  alec baldwin rises above the material to deliver a consistent  nuanced  real performance . can somebody give this man a lead role of substance  please  and how about rachel evan wood  or joseph fiennes  you  d think the industry could make better use of him  and without appearing as hirsute as elliot gould in m . a . s . h .  br    br   my vote  a standup turd  all right  but no link with heaven .  
mary tyler moore and valerie harper still can turn the world on with their smiles . the combined talent of these two wonderful stars make this combination reunion  newstart movie work . watch it and look forward to hitting sixty  mary defies the youth oriented society with wit and charm . a touch of drama adds     realism . a tv series follow up would broaden the new characters and give us a chance to occaisionally see lou grant  phyllis  sue ann  murray  and georgette   
i would have left the movie halfway through if i hadn  t been with people who liked it . the movie is based on real incidents  but it  s so over the top it didn  t feel real at all . i have some psychological background  hang out with a lot of psychotherapists  and have known seriously crazy people  so it  s not that i think people like this don  t exist . but in the film  the only characters who seemed consistently human were augusten  s father  alec baldwin  and the young augusten  jack kaedin  .  although evan rachel wood was an intriguing diversion  very sexy with a wicked sense of fun  . there were a few amusing moments  but the overall tone of the movie was grim  bizarre  and nasty . what a waste of an outstanding cast  as i watched them go through their turns  i just felt like i was watching an acting class . this was brought home during the credits  when a couple of people were shown just sitting there  not acting  not talking . those few moments were more entertaining than the previous  hours .  
so mary and rhoda have aged   who hasn  t  i was a teen when mary premiered  and a  young adult  when it left the air . yes  it was great to see mary and rho together  and yes  maybe the film didn  t sustain the comedy of the original series  but there were enough moments that recalled the spirit of the series to make this a fitting tribute . example the producer who hires mary and then dictates the idea for a new series about  old people .  isn  t this typical of the mentality of present  day hollywood tv and film  bean counters   this may not be the mary tyler moore show at its best   but it  s a pretty damned good look back at one of the best shows we grew up with in the   s .  
jane russell proved to be a delightful musical  comedy performer in the similarly titled  gentlemen prefer blondes   but  sadly  this film squanders those skills . there is a budget  and nice paris photography  but the film just doesn  t work . ms . russell seems to be playing marilyn monroe . that leaves nobody to adequately play jane russell . some of the other players are way out of their element .  br    br   there are several embarrassing scenes most of all  be warned there is a musical number where boneheaded african cannibals  cook  the brunettes in a pot  after alan young sings in a gorilla suit .  br    br   this is an interesting  at times embarrassing  waste of resources .  br    br    gentlemen marry brunettes           richard sale  jane russell  jeanne crain  alan young  scott brady  
i was able to watch this movie in its entirety and was deeply moved by it . i wasn  t sure if it was really a comedy or a drama  it had elements of both . mary tyler moore and valerie harper both looked wonderful  our image of    year  old women has certainly changed since aunt bee  they are vibrant  beautiful  sexy  the only drawback in this movie was that there was absolutely no mention of other characters in either the  mtm  or  rhoda  shows from the      s . i  d have thought that since it was set in new york city  where  rhoda  had been set  that at least some mention would have been made of her sister brenda or that julie kavner would have appeared  assuming of course she was still in the big apple .  br    br   it is my hope that abc will make this a series and bring back for guest appearances all the old casts of these shows . by the way  what was wrong with cbs doing this reunion  or an eventual series  wasn  t that the network that carried the  mtm  and  rhoda  shows   
i saw this recently on a faded old vhs tape  and remembered it dimly . looking at it now  it seems charming .  br    br   when it was first released  it was recognized by pretty much everyone as a spoof of coming out as a gay teenager . to hammer the point home  the mother is seen reading a paperback copy of   teenager in     the most popular coming out book of the time . david warner hams it up as the persecuting vampire hunter  gay  hating evangelist  who is of course a self  loathing closet case . the list of sight gags and in  jokes that were included to make sure nobody missed the point would be too long to go into . the producers were having some good  natured fun  and hoping  no doubt  to lighten  up as well as to enlighten .  br    br   but i have no clue how a teenage audience would look at this film  nowadays . in some places  where there is education and culture  the terrifying ordeals that gay teens had to go through are a thing of the past . but i  m sure there are plenty of dark  nasty corners of our continent where it  s just as bad as it always was .  
alright  i have to admit that i have never seen  rhoda  and only one or two episodes of  the mary tyler moore show .  even though i don  t know anything about this duo of comedic talent  i still liked this movie a lot .  br    br   mary goes back to work . rose tries her luck at being a comedian . rhoda struggles with a photography career . and meredith . . . what exactly does she do again  these three stories that we follow over two hours are amusing and entertaining in their own way . when the two long time friends reunite  it only makes the film better .  br    br   i was surprised about how good the writing was . the little jokes thrown in by mary and rhoda were funny . the script itself was very well put together .  br    br   i had seen moore and harper in other movies over the past few years and thought that they were very good . but i had no idea that they worked this well as a team . while both actresses do their share to fulfill the title of this movie  they never seem to let me down .  during the run of this movie .  joie lenz and marisa ryan play their roles okay but nothing great . the rest of the cast like jonah  cecile and . . . . everybody else also works well together .  br    br   being that this is a reunion  you would expect for a fan of either show to enjoy this . from a non  fan i still enjoyed this little get  together . good story lines for each character and the two main characters is what makes this film very good .  the newer version of the mtm theme song doesn  t hurt either .   
first of all  i firmly believe that norwegian movies are continually getting better . from the tedious emotional films of the    s and    s  movies from this place actually started to contain a bit of humour . imagine . . actual comedies were made  movies were actually starting to get entertaining and funny  as opposed to long  dark  depressing and boring .  br    br   during the    s and    s several really great movies were made by a  new generation  of filmmakers . movie after movie were praised by critics and played loads of money . it became the norm   br    br   then came united . . .  br    br   minor spoilers it  s just simply not funny . not once . not ever . but the thing is . . . we think its funny . because we  re used to norwegian movies to be funny . especially with a cast like this with a few really funny comedians . but . . they neither say nor do anything funny  where  s the humor  show me the humor  is it the awkward clerk played by harald eia  is it the overacting totally ridiculously unrealistic football coach  is it the commentaries by arne scheie  the movie is just not funny   br    br   but thats not my main rant about united . that namely is the predictability .  and it is here i fear that norwegian comedies have come to a standstill since i have seen this in many other movies as well .  all the time you just know its going to end well . all characters are exactly as they are presented in the start of the movie  and everybody gets exactly what they deserve in the end . there  s absolutely no room for surprises at all   br    br   all in all i can say that i sat with a bad feeling after seeing this movie . it was the one movie that made me realize that we probably need some new blood in norwegian movie making . . . again   br    br   rating     
i have seen all the films directed by robert redford and appreciated his love of the american people and the land . in a river runs through it  redford displays the lyric romanticism and visual splendor of the high rocky mountains of montana as if he were a   th century landscape painter of the ilk of thomas moran or albert bierstadt . this film makes love to the visual and the word with text by author norman maclean  and stunning camera work by phillippe rousselot  serpent  s kiss  reigne margot  .  br    br   redford  s cast is perfect . tom skerritt is the rev . maclean  a man whose methods of education include fly fishing as well as the bible  brenda blythen  the mother  and his sons  craig schaffer and brad pitt create a family whose interactions reflect the same problems all encounter with growing teenage sons  and later  complex young men . both schaffer and pitt are totally believable as the brothers whose love of fly fishing and each other will tie them together forever . it is the relationships between men  father and sons  brothers  and their women to the outside world that grounds a river runs through it to a vein of storytelling that is missing in so many of hollywood films produced in recent years .  br    br   what makes these relationships special however  is the attention redford gives to the language as spoken in dialogue . this is a literate script  beautiful to hear and unforgettable when coupled with the stunning montana rivers and mountains . the words and setting are equal to performances by a cast that rises to their material . while the idea of fly fishing may seem an odd device to center a story  it is not so implausible in redford  s directorial hands . given the material  redford  s ode to a simpler time and life is worth revisiting again and again .  
i am compelled to write a review of this imax feature as a means of warning others to save your money . almost any episode of desmond morris   the human animal  or david suzuki  s  the nature of things  could have bested the material presented . not only does the director fail to make use of imax  s incredible   to   mm film stock and gigantic presentation screen  everything on screen is extremely unimpressive given the accessibility of such programming mentioned previously . viewers are introduced to a pregnant heather  her husband buster  and their niece and nephew . we follow them for an interminable forty  odd minutes as they eat  sweat  listen to music  etc . although we are given access to scenes inside the human digestive track and learn about babies  natural diving reflexes  do we really learn anything more than most grade  school graduates  are we even remotely entertained by the trans  atlantic heather  do we care  avoid this film at all cost . if you do wish to see an imax feature  i suggest the beautifully photographed  india kingdom of the tiger  or the technically thrilling  space station  d  . trust me .  
  the italian  is among the great or near  great films of     that are available today . the year was a turning point for the feature  length film  especially in america lois weber  s  hypocrites   cecil b . demille  s  the cheat  and  of course  d . w . griffith  s  the birth of a nation  set new benchmarks for the art . additionally  that year  russian filmmaker yevgeni bauer made two of his best pictures   after death  and  daydreams  . the french serial  les vampires  also has its admirers today  although i disagree with them . the emergence of the feature  length film was led by europe  mainly denmark  france and italy  but dominance of this market and  to a degree  the art shifted to across the atlantic in     .  br    br   the most overriding artistic achievement of  the italian  is its stunning and often innovative cinematography . there are some picturesque sunsets  mobile framing  including a brief overhead angled shot of the italian racing to buy a wedding ring and another shot of him holding onto a moving car  and  in general  there is wise use of varied camera angles and expert lighting throughout . an especially amazing shot is a close  up of the italian enraged as he slowly approaches the camera for an extreme close  up  in reference to d . w . griffith  s  musketeers of pig alley        . he  s so enraged his environment even begins to shake around his anger .  br    br   unfortunately  the cinematographer appears to be unknown . the director  although originally without credit in the film  is now known to have been reginald barker . five or so of his other films made for ince are also available today  but are rather unremarkable .  civilization         which he worked on  was a large production  but a deeply flawed movie . by the way  i  d guess that one or more of the various cinematographers who worked on  civilization  also photographed  the italian  .  br    br   moreover  the entire production is very advanced for then . venice and new york are well rendered despite the film being shot in los angeles  for romanticized venice  and san francisco  for the ethnic slums of new york  . there are extensive flashbacks  although perhaps one or two too many . i especially like the clever framing of the narrative as being read in a book by a character played by the same actor  george beban  who is also the lead in the inner  main narrative . the reading of the story is further briefly framed by the opening at the beginning and closing at the end of curtain drapes   la the theatre  which is reflected within the inner story during the revenge climax in the child  s room  with the opening and closing of window curtains . parallel editing  in  camera dissolves and irises and such are handled expertly . additionally  beban and clara williams  as his wife  play their parts well .  br    br   on the other hand   the italian  does have a few drawbacks . the film  s early moments of comedy clash rather disharmoniously with the latter parts of harsh and heavy melodrama  although the environmental changes from romanticized italy to naturalistic new york works wellmostly because it  s supported by the lighting and photography . the harsh dissolution of the american dream in this film  enhanced by the stark photography  must have been poignant to the immigrant classes who comprised a disproportionately large population of the movie  going public back then . the corrigan character should have been foreshadowed more his brief introduction campaigning for another politician seems inadequate for his later centrality to the italian  s revenge . in addition  the filmmakers were either medically naf or careless to not explain the lack of breastfeeding of the infant and the unwarranted faith in the healing powers of quietness for the other child . aside from the deficiencies in plot   the italian  is exceptionally well made .  
this romantic comedy isn  t too bad . there are some funny things happening here and there  and there are some rather memorable characters in it .  br    br   the acting  however  is amateurish  with the exception of the banker  . while some scenes are great fun  others are simply embarrassing . in particular  i found the  romantic  part of the story poor .  br    br   all in all  i guess it  s worth seeing if you like football and romantic comedies . it  s not really a bad movie  and the ending did feel quite good . just don  t expect anything out of the ordinary . fair enough if you have an hour and a quarter to kill .  
the italian is an astonishingly accomplished film for its time . stunningly shot  with lighting effects that are truly sublime  this is an early gem that clearly reveals reginald barker to be a pioneer director of equal standing to d . w . griffith and maurice tourneur . how much control thomas ince exerted over the production is hard to know  but this film still has extraordinary power . the simple story of an italian immigrant struggling to keep his family alive in new york  is very moving . the themes of social injustice  revenge and forgiveness are completely relevant today . the use of close  ups is outstanding and the powerhouse performance of george beban is electrifying . what we need now is a really good print transferred to dvd so we can truly appreciate this early masterpiece of cinema .  
this norwegian movie is so crap  the actors can not act cause they seems to be reading from a book and the story is so  wannabe  hollywood . . the only actor who did a ok job was haavard lilleheie . .     if you want a really good norwegian movie watch buddy  great actors and a feelgood story      
thomas ince always had a knack for bringing simple homespun stories to life with fullness and flair .  the italian  is such a film . solid acting  particularly by george beban  father of silent child actor george beban  jr .  and wonderful sets convey a realistic feeling of early immigrant tenements in new york . these give this     film an authenticity which is unusual in features of this vintage .  br    br   the film begins with the modern day and a man  george beban in modern clothes  reading a story about an italian immigrant  and then we transition into the story with george playing the immigrant . he raises enough money to bring his fiance from italy to america  marries her  and has a son with her . but times are hard and the family struggles to survive . i found myself wondering why the mother didn  t breastfeed her child  and avoid the complications with the dirty formula  but oh well  even the early dream factory was pushing political correct behaviour for women in       br    br   the best scene in the picture is when beban has a chance to seek revenge on a crime boss who inadvertently put him in jail  and at the last minute he decides against his planned course of action . very neat . i loved the curtain effect  it was great . wonderful use of lighting in this film .  br    br   i give  the italian  an  out of   .  
clearly rips off hideo nakata  s ringu  ring       and hongurai mizu no soko kara  dark water        with hints of ju  on  the grudge        but atrociously done gore  a green corpse with red eyes    weak story  and a weak theme  i find it very difficult to find a picture message scary  . there were two moments in this film that made me shudder  both involving an unexpected hand  and after oodishon  another miike takashi one  this one from      had me tingling all over for hours after seeing it  and all of the films this steals from were actually scary  i can  t see this film as anything other than a sell  out to the western popularity of the big japanese horror films . two out of ten .  
beautiful story of wisconsin native  dan jansen  and his real life  agonizing struggle to win the     olympic gold medal in speed skating  despite his overwhelming emotional loss with the death of his much loved best friend and family member his sister  jane .  br    br   this story  s main focus is to sensitively portray the real life emotional turmoil of grief  that one feels in loosing a special loved one  and the struggle to productively cope and rise above the great loss  it is the incredible story of dan jansen  s heartbreak in loosing his beloved sister to leukemia  his struggle to cope with the intensity of his grief  while still maintaining his dream to win at the olympics  and his ultimate triumph in winning the gold medal in speed skating for america  and in honor of his sister  s memory thereby fulfilling his childhood promise to jane   br    br   after dan jansen  s remarkable gold medal performance in the winter olympic in lillihamer  norway  he established a foundation in     to help fight leukemia  which claimed the life of his sister  and to support youth sports programs  educational and scholarship awards . his dan jansen foundation promotes the philosophy that  as his father always told him at a young age  there is more to life than skating around in circles   maintaining a proper perspective is key  so  too  is setting goals  and realizing one  s dreams through perseverence  overcoming adversity and never giving up    br    br   recommended for anyone who has ever suffered the great loss of someone very special  and dearly loved within your life  and  for anyone who still believes in the achievement of dreams  and never giving up   
this movie was fantastic great movie all through scary as hell . and i mean it freaked me out as much as pulse and it and the omen etc . but with a great movie comes a crap ending right  right  this movies ending was pathetic stuff . i mean a ghost turned back time in a chicks house and it thinks now i have done that it means i can call her and itll be the right time cause she thinks it is . right  wrong . my ass  i don  t care if the ghost is satan  it just doesn  t happen . its a movie yes but most evil movies or praised movies like this are meant to make sense but it didn  t . it just showed us what i just said and people don  t think anything of it . can someone please tell me why you all haven  t noticed that pathetic part . the movie for me ended in the hospital and that is all . check out number  its much more kick ass  
a brother  s promise is a wonderful family film . this is a biography of dan jansen  a champion olympic speed skater . the movie depicts this athlete  s life from a young age through full adulthood . the love and support of the family members is evident throughout . how dan and the rest of his family handle winning and losing races is a life lesson for all of us . the commitment and determination of dan  s coach and his teammates  shows what it takes to make a real team . how dan and his family deal with a devastating illness of a loved one is depicted without undo sentiment or sugarcoating . the faith of the family is shown in basic terms and is obviously a major part of their lives . this is a powerful family film which can be meaningful for a person of any age .  
how many centuries will pass until the japanese  asian horror films abandon the long  haired ghost  woman shtick  admittedly  they  ve managed to rip off  ringu  a million times  and often it worked well  which just goes to show that originality isn  t that much of a requirement in the horror genre  or that i  m very uncritical and easy to please   . however  this time around i found myself a little restless  somewhat bored . it  s not a bad film  but it  s at least half  an  hour longer than it should be  with its absurd    minutes length . compared to many other japanese horror films  omc lacks atmosphere and excitement . plus  the ending is confusing it makes no sense at all . as for the ring  tone miike could have come up with a melody that is more effective than that forgettable little thing . even though it was played a dozen times i can  t even remember it  that  s how scary it was . speaking of miike  for him this is something of a commercial venture  so if anyone thinks they might be getting perversion of the  bijita q  or  audition  kind  they  re wasting their time .  
i had read an article about dan jansen  s olympic and personal journey before seeing this movie . i  m always intrigued by a story of hope and overcoming life altering events  and this was no exception .  br    br   the background of the characters that is provided gives you a sense of the family  s closeness and how they positively affected each others  lives . i can  t speak to the accuracy of specific details in this movie  it is customary to take some creative license when organizing a script . however  the spirit of dan and his family is what matters here .  br    br   its a worthwhile movie of a story that should be told . i felt empathy for the characters and cheered at the end .  
is miike like chabrol  alternating art with dreck  sometimes confusing the two  does he match the fifty  fifty rate some claim for chabrol  do we see here too much or too little miike  i don  t know . i don  t know . i don  t know . but i could easily fill ten lines just citing chakushin ari  s  one missed call  s  steals  allusions  and clichs . others here will hit on most of them  though not perhaps ochiai  s saimin  hypnosis  for the sleazy telecast taunting things supernatural . only once  when yumi takes the zombie  like mother in her arms  did one missed call startle me a little .  br    br   one other point of interest renji ishibashi  looks like christopher walken  as the detective . ishibashi in audition  s abusive back story  and as dead or alive  s boss aoki of the vat of excrement drowning and more  may be the most convincingly evil character actor i  ve ever seen . so here he  s a cop .  
a really great movie and true story . dan jansen the greatest skater ever . a touching and beautiful movie the whole family can enjoy . the story of jane jansens battle with cancer and dan jansen love for his sister . of a important promise made by jansen to win a gold medal to prove his sister jane was right to believe in his talent in speed skating was justified . this picture is well worth the time . i wish they would make more films of this quality . thank you for a great film with excellent actors and an excellent story . it is a very touching story about a beautiful family support and faith for their children and a special dream for their youngest son and his sister .  
one missed call  another asian horror based on the cell phone . i recently rented a korean horror film based on a cell phone called  pon  . one missed call was just as boring as that one . maybe phones just aren  t scary or something  but this move was dull and drab . no tension or thrills for me  and the final monster was disappointingly cheesy and unscary . the movie dragged quite a bit in different parts  and felt too long . didn  t keep my attention . it seems phones are hard to make frightening  it  s kind of like trying to make a pop vending machine eerie . and it is ridiculous to compare this with  the ring   it seems every asian horror movie is compared to it and so far i haven  t seen any that measure up in the least . to horror directors  take the phone off the hook as a horror device .  
this movie needs to be put on dvd . it was so funny and i loved it . really  really cute and funny . not realistic  but not suppose to be . the only thing i did not like about it was the girl relying on the guy too much . it represents the time period way of thinking though . i have been trying to get this movie for so long and it has been unavailable for us format only in the uk and will not play on us dvd players . it is sadly an over looked classic film  believe it or not  but this film could easily become a cult favorite  for all ages . too bad  we do not legalize certain things that could really save small countries or our own . lindy is unsinkable  a positive character that makes lemonade out of lemons . she is funny and charming . she stole the show   
acclaimed japanese director takashi miike can  t seem to get the wheels moving with this torpid thriller  an adaptation of yasushi akimoto  s book concerning an evil old woman  and child abuser   who is part of a new urban legend if your cell  phone rings with a strange tone   and you see the message  one missed call    you will replay the message only to hear your own final words before your death . most successful part of the film is the trenchant satire of reality tv cameras intruding on the future victims  but the not  so  elaborate deaths  which include a hidden piece of red candy   are disappointing and dispiriting . the frequent shots of ravaged dead bodies are actually displayed rather discreetly  and this overall politeness may be the reason why the film is ultimately so staid . hollywood predictably jumped on the far  fetched plot in      yet the u . s . version fared no better . no stars from   
penny princess finds american working girl yolande donlon the inheritor of a small kingdom that lies in that triangle where france  italy  and switzerland meet called lampidorra . it seems as though the lampidorrans owe bills all over europe and the main occupation of the country is smuggling due to its geography . an american multi  millionaire buys the place  but dies before he can take title . his nearest heir is donlan .  br    br   but of course the estate has to go through probate in america and what are the lampidorrans to do  especially since donlan who has now become a princess has forbade smuggling .  br    br   enter dirk bogarde who is on a trip to switzerland to learn about the cheese industry . it seems as though the lampidorrans have a kind of cheese that they playfully refer to as schmeeze . with a few bumps in the road  schmeeze solves all the problems both financial  geopolitical  and romantic between donlan and bogarde .  br    br   how does schmeeze work  well that  s the gimmick to the whole film . but here  s a hint . in lover come back jack kruschen might just have gotten a hold of the secret of schmeeze when he was busy inventing vip for rock hudson and his advertising agency .  br    br   anyway penny princess is a delightful blend of british farce and romantic comedy . yolande donlon once again plays a role that marilyn monroe would have been cast in if the film had been made this side of the pond . dirk bogarde was well cast in the part which was at the beginning of his career as a romantic heart throb  way before anyone but him suspected he had the acting chops he had .  br    br   this film was sadly shown at three o  clock in the morning on tcm . but at least i found a reason to be grateful for insomnia .  
basically  take the concept of every asian horror ghost movie and smash it into one and you get this movie . the story goes like this a bunch of college kids get voice mails from their own phones that are foretelling their deaths . there  s some s going on with ghosts  which if you  ve seen any asian ghost movie  isn  t scary by now . this movie was quite upsetting because it  s very clichd . it  s the same bullcrap  different movie .  br    br   the acting was pretty good . unfortunately the actors are put into a very ring  esquire situation  so it  s nothing we haven  t seen in the past . the two lead acts did a solid job though .  br    br   as far as gore  there  s not much going on . we get a cool sequence that includes an arm twisting a head off  i don  t know how else to explain that   but it was cut away so you don  t see anything except the final result . you see some blood at times  including decapitated arms and a zombie  that looked really cool i might add   but this movie isn  t too bloody .  br    br   the scares in the movie are few and spread out  and it  s really not that scary . you  ll get some creepy images at times  but it  s not enough for me to consider scary . it  s nothing different from ringu  ju  on  or dark water  and none of those scared me either . that  s really the downfall of this  and most asian horror movies  is that if it doesn  t deliver the scares then it  s just not that good .  br    br   as far as directing  takashi miike still did a pretty good job . he seemed a little tamed in this movie compared to his past movies  but he still portrays a lot of his messed up style he  s become famous for . a lot of images were a lot like miike  including a scene with a bunch of jars of dead fetuses   and the last      minutes seemed far more miike then the rest of the movie . still  the movie is flawed by its unoriginality .  br    br   i would recommend this only to people who are huge on asian horror movies  even if you are  i can recommend much better  or big miike fans . warning to those who want to get into miike  this is not his best work .  br    br   i  m giving it a  because it  s just mediocre . perhaps if this was released  or  years ago it might be worth a higher rating .  br    br   also  i  d like to b about asian horror movies real quick . how come if it  s an asian horror movie it  s automatically suppose to be good over here  us   a lot of these movies are the equivalent in japan to what scream  urban legends  and i know what you did last summer were over here in the    s . if you  ve seen one you  ve seen them all . and a lot of these movies rely way too much on scares and imagery that if it doesn  t deliver the scares they set out to do then they  re just not that good  and nothing would change that . more asian horror films need to be more like audition and a tale of two sisters  two movies that if they don  t frighten or scare you  at least they have great stories  acting  direction  cinematography  and much more to back them up . two movies that aren  t just great horror movies  but great movies in general . more asian horror movies need to be like these instead of the clich   a ghost just wanted to be found so it went around killing people through their phone  video tape  house  electric appliance  water pipes  google search engine  vibrator  groceries  etc .   
cute idea . . . salesgirl linda smith  yolande donlan  inherits a teeny tiny little county of lampidorra . that country  which wasn  t even in north america  was made the   th state . . .  of course  there were only   states at the time  since this was made in     . . .  linda travels to the country she has inherited  and we follow her along as she tries to figure out what to do with this strange country and its even quirkier people . at one point  she sings a song that she claims is from her people the navajo  and it gets ever  more sillier from there . . . . although yolande donlan  s heavy lipstick and omni  present smile never get ruffled or shmeared . there are other songs scattered through  out as the citizens sing to welcome their new princess . filmed in a glorious british version of technicolor  or some such equivalent  about the only big name here is dirk bogarde as british subject tony craig  cheese vendor . bogarde made a big splash in the uk film industry after serving in the war  and was even knighted by qe ii . craig and  the new princess  keep bumping into each other  and their adventures become more intertwined as lampidorra  s financial problems worsen . . . fun little farce . . . . along the lines of marx brothers film . also note that donlan later married val guest  the writer and director of our little project  and stayed married for   years  guest was better known for writing and directing his sci  fi flicks  in both the uk  the us .  
by all the fawning people have been doing over miike and his work . i sat through this flick tonight . i figured  if it  s half as good as ringu  as i assumed from these comments it might be  than it will be worth my time .  br    br   no such luck .  br    br   i  m all for finding the next great director  or writer   but i don  t think miike is the one . i don  t have an nyu masters of fine arts  but i do know this much a horror movie has to have pacing . it also has to give the viewer more credulity than this movie does .  br    br   this film  s pacing had me shaking my head . some of the scenes near the end dragged so badly  i went to the fridge and lingered there while kou shibasaki stared at the camera for seemingly minutes on end  eyes wide and mouth agape . a famous director once made the claim  and i  m paraphrasing  a movie could be made by turning the camera on a beautiful woman and letting it roll . kou is not a good enough actress to make that work . she stares paralyzed at the undead girl for more scenes than i care to remember . and she isn  t the only one doing an impersonation of a deer in headlights other cast members apparently feel the need to imitate this non  performance . the script gives them little room to do much else for far too much of the time .  br    br   i like asian cinema . hong kong action flicks from the last   years  korean horror like  phone  and  koma   ang lee  s work  some of the trashy but fun filipino movies with gratuitous sex and fighting  as well as others . chakushin ari i could have done without .  
have you seen the graduate  it was hailed as the movie of its generation . but a river runs through it is the story about all generations . long before dustin hoffman  s character got all wrapped up in the traps of modern suburbia  norman maclean and his brother paul were facing the same crushing pressures of growing up as they tried to find their place in the world . but how could a place like post ww  montana be a showcase for the american family  at a time when the wild west still was not completely gone  just what has maclean tapped into that strikes so deeply at who we all are and what we have to go through to find ourselves  as the movie opens  norman is an old man  flyfishing beside a rushing river  trying to understand the course his own life has taken . the movie is literally a journey up through his own stream of consciousness  against time  s current and back to when he was a boy . he and his younger brother paul were the sons of a presbyterian minister and devoted mother . the parents fit snugly into their roles . mom takes care of house and home . dad does the work of the lord . the boys ponder what they will be when they grow up . norm has it narrowed down to a boxer or a minister like his dad . given the choice  little paul would be the boxer  since he  s told his first choice of pro flyfisherman doesn  t even exist . the boys grow up and get into trouble with their pranks  fight to see who is tougher and do the things brothers do  all the while attending church and taking part in all other spiritual matters like flyfishing . they are at similar points in their lives before college . but when norm returns from his six years at dartmouth  things are very different . paul is at the top of his game . master flyfisherman . grad of a nearby college and newspaper reporter who knows every cop on the beat and every judge on the bench . norman is stunningly well educated for his day but has little idea what to do with his life  even as his father grills him about what he intends to do . you  re left feeling that at least to pops  god will call you to your life  s work . but you have to stay open and ready to receive it   all your life . father has always taken his boys to reflect by the side of the river and contemplate god  s eternal words .  listen   their father urges . it  s both zen and quakerly . pretty radical for a stoic clergyman . but with all the beauty and contemplation  and even though the macleans are truly a god  fearing  scripture  heeding household  how is it that rev . maclean  s family is unraveling  paul is true perfection as he fishes the river  but he  s feeling the pull of gambling and boozing  while his family doesn  t know how to keep him from winding up where he seems to be headed . mom  dad and brother all seem to have the same quiet desperation of not knowing what they should be doing and why they can  t seem to help . pauly just waves it all off with a grin and his irresistible charm . but the junior brother is losing his grip . norman starts getting his life on track  finding love and career  but paul continues to slide . the family that loves him watches helplessly . mother  father  brother flounder in their own ways trying to help  but none very effectively . how can a family that loves each other so much be so ill  equipped to handle this  how can someone be so artful and full of grace when out in god  s nature  yet be somehow unfit or unwilling to fit into the constructs of society that god  s peoples have made for themselves  these are all questions norman will ponder his entire life . the eternal words beneath the smooth stones of the river forever haunt him  yet keep their secrets . the movie is beautiful to watch . this is certainly god  s country  and filming it won an oscar . director robert redford plays with the story from the book and teases the narration a bit to follow the emotional pattern he  s presenting  and it works well . but do go back and read the book  too . you  ll see norman made connections with his old man even deeper than the movie can suggest   and you  ll see the places where the storyteller  s very words gurgle and sing right off the page with an exuberance of a river running through it  leading into the unknown .  
honestly  i went to see the movie  not because of the actors  not because of the plot but because it was rated   here in luxembourg and a movie has to be really brutal or pornographic to be put in this category . believe me  being a movie  freak  i have seen quite a lot of brutal films in my lifetime  ichi the killer  irreversible  hellraiser  but this movie was by far the most disturbing and brutal picture i have ever seen .  br    br   the plot is plain stupid  the directing is awful  acting was mediocre even the music was a cheap copy of so  called  horror soundtracks  . there isn  t a single intelligent aspect in the whole movie  and some of the scenes are really hard to stand .  especially the scene  where you see the embryos in the glasses and hear the baby cries   horrible  . i can  t understand why the movie was rated   in germany  where normally the criteria are real tough  e . g . kill  bill  brutal but it made fun of itself and had great allusions to asian cinema and besides a magnificent directing  even a movie like state of grace is rated    . no one can call this a horror movie  because actually it was more about showing gore than about scaring the public  showing the  creep  s  face in the middle of the movie was a very bad decision   for me  excuse my expression  it is just one insane director living out his disturbing fantasies . in some scenes you see violence  that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot nor does it explain anything . the plot has holes and flaws  the dialog is boring  honestly i can  t mention a single positive aspect of the movie except for the british and scottish accent .  br    br   if i had something to say  i would ban this movie from the theaters  i fully understand why none of the big production companies invested their money in this crap .  br    br   i  m looking forward to getting feedbacks to my thread and i  d be happy to discuss about one or the other topic .  br    br    livin  the dream baby  livin  the dream  david aames  
caught the tail end of this movie channel surfing through the cable movie channels  and was so intrigued i sought out the next showing .  br    br   i really didn  t know what to expect after reading the program summary  but i came away from this movie feeling quite disturbed and distressed . it also gave me as adult who attended high school in the    s  a little better insight into what our kids have to contend with these days .  br    br   the fact that you don  t see the shooting only adds to the chillness of the plot . to see both child and adult alike struggle to comprehend and come to terms with the senseless shootings was at times overwhelming . and will admit that i shed quite a few tears throughout .  br    br   on the whole  not a movie that i would seek out to what  however i am sure glad i did see it .  
when an attempt is made to assassinate the emir of ohtar  an arab potentate visiting washington  d . c .  his life is saved by a cocktail waitress named sunny davis . sunny becomes a national heroine and media celebrity and as a reward is offered a job working for the protocol section of the united states department of state . unknown to her however  the state department officials who offer her the job have a hidden agenda .  br    br   a map we see shows ohtar lying on the borders of saudi arabia and south yemen  in an area of barren desert known as the rub al  khali  or empty quarter . in real life a state in this location would have a population of virtually zero  and virtually zero strategic value  but for the purposes of the film we have to accept that ohtar is of immense strategic importance in the cold war and that the american government  who are keen to build a military base there  need to do all that they can in order to keep on the good side of its ruler . it transpires that the emir has taken a fancy to the attractive young woman who saved him and he has reached a deal with the state department they can have their base provided that he can have sunny as the latest addition to his harem . sunny  s new job is just a ruse to ensure that the emir has further opportunities to meet her .  br    br   a plot like this could have been the occasion for some hilarious satire  but in fact the film  s satirical content is rather toned down . possibly in     the american public were not in the mood for trenchant satire on their country  s foreign policy this was  after all  the year in which ronald reagan carried forty  nine out of fifty states in the presidential election and his hard line with the soviet union was clearly going down well with the voters .  if the film had been made a couple of years later  in the wake of the iran  contra affair  its tone might have been different  .  br    br   the film is not so much a satire as a vehicle for goldie hawn to show off her brand of cuteness and charm . sunny is a typical goldie character  pretty  sweet  natured  naive and not too bright . there is  however  a limit to how far you can go with cuteness and charm alone  and you cannot automatically make a bad film a good one just by making the leading character a dumb blonde .  actually  that sounds more like a recipe for making a good film a bad one  . goldie tries her best to save this one  but never succeeds . part of the reason is the inconsistent way in which her character is portrayed . on the one hand sunny is a sweet  innocent country girl from oregon . on the other hand she is a    year  old woman who works in a sleazy bar and wears a revealing costume . the effect is rather like imagining rebecca of sunnybrook farm grown up and working as a bunny girl .  br    br   the more important reason why goldie is unable to rescue this film is even the best comedian or comedienne is no better than his  her material  and  protocol  is simply unfunny . whatever humour exists is tired and strained  relying on offensive stereotypes about arab men who  apparently  all lust after western women  particularly if they are blonde and blue  eyed . there was a lot of this sort of thing about in the mid  eighties  as this was the period which also saw the awful ben kingsley  nastassia kinski film  harem   about a lascivious middle eastern ruler who kidnaps a young american woman  and the mini  series of the same name which told a virtually identical story with a period setting . the film  makers seem to have realised that their film would not work as a pure comedy  because towards the end it turns into a sort of latter  day  mr smith goes to washington  . sunny turns from a blonde bimbo into a fount of political wisdom and starts uttering all sorts of platitudes about democracy and the constitution and the citizen  s duty to vote and we the people and how the price of liberty is eternal vigilance blah blah blah  but in truth the film is no more successful as a political parable than it is as a comedy .  br    br   goldie hawn has made a number of good comedies  such as  cactus flower    overboard  and   housesitter   but  protocol  is not one of them . i have not seen all of her films  but of those i have seen this dire comedy is by far the worst .      
i am very sorry that this charming and whimsical film  which i first saw soon after it was first released in the early fifties  has had such a poor reception more recently . in my opinion it has been greatly underrated  but perhaps it appeals more to the european sense of humour than to  for example  the american maybe we in europe can understand and appreciate its subtleties and situations more  since we are closer to some of them in real life  particular mention should be made of the limited but good music  especially the catchy and memorable song  it  s a fine  fine night   which was issued separately on an hmv   rpm record    inch plum label  i think   in the fifties . i would urge anyone interested to give it a try if you get the chance you may have a pleasant surprise .  
young and attractive japanese people are getting on the wrong side of some curse again  this time it involves mobile phones . various people die until the disgruntled spirit behind it all is unearthed  so essentially if you  ve seen more than  recent japanese horror films you can plot this film in the dark with your hands tied .  br    br   the main attraction here is the fact that takashi miike is behind the camera . so far i  ve been more impressed with his low key works like city of lost souls  however as one missed call plodded along i was yearning for his more renowned envelope pushing of dead or alive or the overly pseudo  cronenberg style of audition . despite a lot of his films being essentially empty  at least they do have merits such as these  or at least something to keep your attention like tadanobu asano prancing about in shiny suits impersonating johnny depp . there  s none of that in one missed call there  s just very little of credit the acting is bland and average  there is very little  nothing  in all honesty  in the way of scares or suspense  and in places it  s just downright boring .  br    br   however  there are moments where miike  s glacier  like sense of humour seeps through the bland commercialism most notably with the instance of the tv show intent on filming the demise of one of the cursed subjects  and the tv programmer more concerned about his ratings than the girls  life . but aside from this there is nothing to suggest it is miike behind the camera most notably his usual visual flair has vanished without a trace  and that includes his famous gore   although it  s more likely he just didn  t have any enthusiasm for the project  and i can understand why . one missed call isn  t offensively bad . it  s just frustratingly average .  br    br   miike obviously loves directing . with his huge yearly output it  s obvious he isn  t going to be     concerned about all his projects . but even with this in mind  one missed call felt like he was just paying the bills .  
it  s a rehash of many recent films only this one has fewer stars  lesser complications and a more fuzzy feel to it . abhay and ritika  played by fardeen khan  esha deol respectively  meet at a friend  s wedding where their own marriage  unbeknowst to them  begins its process of being arranged . within no time the two strangers are married and sent of to a honeymoon camp where they meet other couples going through the motions similar to theirs . as they spend time together  secrets are revealed  hearts broken and  or mended and love blossoms .  br    br   if you  ve seen honeymoon private limited and  or salaam  e  ishq  then you  ve seen this film . the plot twists are the same  there is not a single element of surprise in the entire two and a half hours of the film . everything is predictable . i only enjoyed it because i had seen  darling   also starring the leads deol  khan  earlier in the day and enjoyed their chemistry in that so i said  why not  when my sister suggested we rent  just married  as well .  br    br   see it because kirron kher co  stars and is her usual darling self in it .  br    br   skip it because you  ve had enough of all this couple  fest nonsense   br    br   c  
something to sing about was produced at grand national studios where james cagney was working while under a contract dispute with the brothers warner . he did two films for this b studio  neither of which rank high in the cagney credits .  br    br   one of the great losses to cinema is the fact that jimmy cagney did so few films that utilized his terrific dancing abilities . the two that come to mind immediately are yankee doodle dandy and footlight parade . two lesser films are the west point story and never steal anything small . cagney himself said he never used to watch anything but his musicals in retirement . so why did he make so few of them   br    br   well this one was all wrong . the plot of something to sing about concerns a hoofer who fronts for a band who  s discovered and given a movie contract . there are the usual complications of a conniving studio boss and a conniving press agent played respectively and well by gene lockhart and william frawley . his contract calls for a no  marriage clause  so cagney and band girl singer lady evelyn daw marry in secret . then we get the complication of a publicity driven studio romance with screen leading lady mona barrie . i think you can figure where this is going .  br    br   the most disappointing thing about something to sing about is the lack of dance numbers for cagney . he dances briefly at the beginning and the end of the film and nothing in the middle . evelyn daw had a nice singing voice and the charisma of a ham sandwich . she got the musical numbers such as they were . i  m sure the movie  going public was paying their tickets to see cagney dance .  br    br   also in addition to giving him some dance numbers a female dance partner would have been nice . he danced well with ruby keeler in footlight parade and with virginia mayo and doris day in the west point story . weren  t ginger rogers  eleanor powell or ruby keeler available   br    br   no memorable songs came out of this . and daw  s voice is waisted as well . she has a jeanette macdonald soprano voice which was so out of place with a swing band .  br    br   no wonder cagney went running back to warner brothers . but they should have given him some decent musicals .  
as a westerner watching another culture  s view and tradition of marriag  i found just married mesmerizing and delightful . the idea of marrying a stranger through the mutual arrangement of parents is difficult  especially in this modern age . yet this is the case in this hindi film . told with humor  and fresh perspective  we learn of abhay and ritika who have only met once and are now on their traditional five day honeymoon . as said  it is difficult to believe in this cell phone affluent age that such an archaic custom as an arranged marriage still take place . we see the awkwardness that this young couple feels as they come together on their first night  and how they try to forge a bond  even though they do not know one another . we see different views of marriage and commitment as presented by the other couples also on holiday  from a couple of forty years married to others still unsure of making marital commitment . there  s song  witty dialog  poignant moments  blending and comparison of new ways and tradition . watching the movie with subtitles definitely loses some of the trueness of the story  yet it is still a delight to watch . granted some of the plot is a little trite and the bus incident a bit drawn out and contrived however the overall movie was worth watching .  
i went in expecting the movie to be completely dumb . with such a low expectation  any form of entertainment would be a pleasant surprise . the soundtrack was the best part of the movie  but poking fun at the nonsense that goes on in singles wards was also amusing .  br    br   this said  there were many things about the singles ward that were completely annoying . the entire film was poorly dubbed and made watching mouths while listening to their voices very irritating . this lack of professionalism was surpassed only by the cameos of mormon celebrities who have no business acting .  br    br   this film will do well among mormondom  especially in college communities where singles ward exist . however the conclusion will offer no hope for the poor losers who find themselves unmarried .  only the pretty girls in the singles ward get married  the fat  ugly ones don  t  but all the ugly men do  ultimately we realize that the whole film was an advertisement for ldssingles . com  
i liked this movie sort of reminded me of my marriage . it is very clean you can see it with family . very nicely done . songs are ok too . i think the writer director is great . the movie shows how marriages progress thru time . they have couples at different stages of life and relationships in their life the film beautifully depicts quite a few stages in parallel in the same story . some of the dialogs are quite good . the movie depicts complex human emotion very nicely not with over dramatization . also shows perfect is after all not so perfect . shows very nicely the dynamics of arranged marriage when it is new . the movie is very well written and directed .  
i live in salt lake city and i  m not a mormon  so why did i rent this movie  well because i live in utah and thought it  d be nice to see locations i know in a film . i really knew going into it that i wasn  t going to get the inside jokes so i wasn  t surprised when i sat with the deer in the headlights stare . what i was surprised at was the ant  non mormon actions that were placed in this film .  br    br   i know it  s a mormon film  catered to the members of the lds church  but i found it offensive because of the typical stereotype of people that isn  t of their faith . every non mormon  which wasn  t many  drank  smoked and had an amazing selfishness attitude  why   br    br   that really ticked me off about this film  they made the mormons so pure  yet the rest of the state of utah i guess is filled with punk psychos just because they don  t follow the scriptures of the lds church .  br    br   i can understand having the plots revolve around all lds members  but you  d think salt lake city was     mormon  which isn  t even close to being the truth . and as i said  the non mormons in the movie were portrayed as drunken jerks  please   br    br   i guess i just don  t get it because i don  t belong to their faith and i guess i never will .  
i was waiting to see this movie from a long time . it  s promos gave a fair idea about the content and when i finally saw it  i really find it was quite well made . most of the conventional romantic movies end with the lovers finally getting married or start of with a happy life after marriage but there is really a great adjustment needed for this transition from an old life to a new relation and life . this is what this movie is all about the period when a newly wed couple fardeen and esha get married through an arranged marriage and start off their life with their honeymoon . the acting is really spell binding though i think esha remained a bit quiet and she could have used some lines for herself . the story was well knitted and dialogs were more or less appropriate . the editing and direction were also good  meghna gulzar really did a good job here . to summarize i would say it is a good drama cum romance  a true combination of what bollywood can offer a clean entertainer .  
with the runaway success of  god  s army   every mormon with a camera seems to be trying to make a movie now . in the case of the recent  the other side of heaven   this wasn  t at all a bad thing . that film  while not great  was quite good .  the singles ward   however  is not .  br    br   telling the story of a young  divorced mormon guy thrust back into single life  the writing and shooting style of  the singles ward  is  in many ways  very similar to the   s comedy  ferris bueller  s day off  . however  the similarities end there . while  ferris bueller  was funny  original  and well  acted  as far as stupid comedies like this ever are    the singles ward  is completely the opposite . it tries very hard to be funny . however     of the gags either fall flat or are cliches and jokes you  ve probably heard a million times before . the other    seem to be thrown in to fill out the time . and the acting  while not awful  is amaturish at best .  br    br   in addition  if you  re not either a mormon yourself  or very  very familiar with mormon culture  you won  t get hardly anything at all . whereas  god  s army  and  the other side of heaven  were appealing to a broad range of viewers  both inside and outside of the mormon church  this film is most definitely one big inside joke  and even if you get it  it  s just not that funny .  
this is a really well made movie . sumitra bhave has always made sensible cinema and this is my favourite film by her . this movie should have won the national award and would have been my pick to represent india at the oscars . it is at least a thousand times better than  shaaws   which is going to the oscars  from india  this year .  br    br   it is such a pity that the information about this  and all other indian movies  on imdb is lacking and sometimes even wrong . sadashiv amrapurkar played a very important character in this movie and he is not even credited on these pages . the rest of the cast and crew too are not mentioned at all . awards and nominations for this movie are not given even when sonali kulkarni won the indian national award for this movie . there was not even a single vote cast for  doghi  .  br    br    doghi  is not a hindi movie . it is marathi  and thankfully escapes the song and dance sequence  does not get tangled up in glitzy glamour and half  witted designer ware . it is a real life  soulful story that is made with a rare understanding and respect .  br    br    doghi  which can roughly be translated as  two women  is a story of two sisters  gauri and krishna . it is actually a very simple story  sumitra bhave does not venture into many sub plots  and that makes it a very difficult film to direct . the entire movie is set in a non  descript remote village in maharashtra and the screen rarely ventures far from the house of the two female protagonists . no aesthetic sunsets in this one .  br    br   the movie opens and we are introduced to the entire house  which is preparing for gauri  s wedding . gauri and krishna  s father being a hard working farmer  the house is full and happy there is nothing wanting in their simple lives . however on the eve of the wedding gauri  s to  be  husband meets with a fatal accident . gauri  s father cannot bear the tragic news and suffers a major stroke . without a strong  working member the house could have fallen apart but gauri  s mother shoulders the responsibility . she works as and when she can  but cannot make ends meet . but her life still  is easier than gauri  s . superstitions  that people half  heartedly try to forget  make gauri an evil luck bringer . she is outcast from the society .  br    br   gauri  s mother writes to her brother . desperate for help she accepts his suggestion . he takes gauri off to mumbai where she is made to work in brothels . gauri sends home the money she earns and their conditions improve . gauri gives her life for that of her family  s .  br    br   however when gauri returns home for krishna  s wedding  her mother does not come out to meet her . she does not allow krishna near her and does not allow gauri in front of the guests . she loves gauri but fears for krishna  s life . this breaks gauri completely and she decides to return to her unfortunate life . but krishna runs out and holds gauri . she begs her beloved sister to return . krishna promises to stand by her . promises that they would face the world  together .  br    br   there is nothing that is not required in this movie . everything is necessary and sufficient . gauri goes off to mumbai but what she does there is never told  the subtle dialogues tell us what there is to know . it just the bare story  which is profound in its simplicity .  br    br    doghi  is responsible cinema . it is respectful to the subject it handles . it is respectful towards its audience  it does not think them to have the mental capability of a four year old .  br    br   the acting is first rate . the direction is marvelous  the silences carry the story forward in a way  no words could have . the script is well researched .  br    br   anyone who appreciates good cinema is bound to like  doghi  .  
don  t see this . this was one of the dumbest movies i have ever seen . its hard to be mormon sometimes when there are movies like this out there . what a sad view of mormon life . i can tell you if you did see this movie that it is not all like this at all in a singles ward . if it was i don  t think i would have made it through it . its too bad that most mormon movies are made by a group of geeks who have nothing better to do . the acting was so bad that my wife and i barely made it through . i guess you could say that it had all the signs of a b movie . or are there c movies  anyway . . . i just thought this movie sucked and was full of cheese . i wish some mormons would start making some quality movies .  
doghi is a wonderful movie and renuka daftardar is excellent . so is uttara baokar who is usually excellent in most of her roles . along with kairee  its an example of marathi cinema at its best . there are certain parts in both movies that tend to the didactic  it would have probably enhanced the movie to not have the few scenes where the social message is hammered in . these scenes probably emerge from the film  maker  s political concerns but the movie is realistic and moving enough to not need it . but apart from such minor quibbles  its a movie that deserves to be seen more and one i strongly recommend . sumitra bhave  s concern and humanism shines through .  
this movie was terrible . the plot sucked  the acting was bad  the editing was inept and this movie makes me want to poke my eyes out . i wish i had the time i spent watching this movie back . the balloon scene was stupid  the mormon jokes are really old  the soundtrack sucked  i saw no chemistry between the two leads  it  s full of stereotypes  stupid local  celeb  cameo  s . . most noted was del  i  m going to drive as fast as i want to . .  computer idiot . what is worst is that these actors had to play themselves on the spiritual side and even they screwed that up . this movie help create a long line of lackluster efforts to mainstream lds beliefs into hollywood . i . e . the rm  church ball  etc . etc . i would forgo watching this movie and instead run head first into a brick wall . you will be more entertained than watching this poor excuse for a show .  
this is one of the best movie i have ever seen . my parents comes from rural india and to some extend i have seen the life of the villagers . peoples are really poor and have financial and social problems .  br    br   the movie just reflects exactly the same . full credit to the director and the actor . they have done an excellent job . i just wonder how can movies like lagaan and paheli can go for oscar and not doghi . i don  t understand the criteria on which the movies are selected . is the money that makes the difference or having some big names in the movie makes the difference .  br    br   hope to see more movies like this in the future .  
yeah  that about sums it up . this movie was horrifying . two minutes in i wanted to gouge my eyes out . this has been praised as an  innovative lds comedy   but it  s not even good for members of that church  i don  t think any human being should be so victimized as to watch a movie of this low quality .  br    br   first of all  you can tell that absolutely no effort whatsoever went into this movie . it seems as if the horribly drab  glib  trite plot was thrown together by two crazy weasels somehow imbued with the gift for coherent  at least semi  coherent  thought . then  there  s the acting  which is dismal from everybody involved . even the cameos fail to liven anything up .  br    br   and let  s not forget the fact that our protagonist is a shallow jerk who we would like to believe can change  but that road is full of embarrassingly bad dialogue  appallingly hideous  gags   and a lot of mormon  in  jokes  that anyone in their right mind  lds or not  should consider purely stupid  this has to be one of the worst films i  ve ever seen   
this is one of the most brilliant movies that i have seen in recent times . goes way above even any international movie of any repute . i am really surprised why this has not received the recognition it deserved . sonali kulkarni winning the national award is perhaps the only consoling fact . renuka daftardar simply amazes as she speaks volumes through her eyes . there are a few scenes that stand out when gauri comes back from the city on krishna  s wedding  she and krishna meet for the first time in many years . krishna notices a change in gauri  but not a single line of dialogue is said . the entire gamut of emotions is conveyed through subtle mannerisms and the eyes . there  s another towards the end when krishna pleads to abhay kulkarni to marry gauri instead . if you are not moved by that scene  you don  t have a heart .  br    br   watch this movie for sheer movie  making brilliance and acting capabilities .  
this one is a little better than the first one . it still relies on a lot of its humor which basically keeps saying that the old bond movies were not realistic . that wears thin after so many parodies . the girls were more interesting in this one .  br    br   there is a tremendous amount of total gross out humor . hopefully one day real comedy will come back .  
i remember when i was five and my parents thought it was a regular cartoon movie . . . . except when the bras and bullets started flying . i have to agree this movie will make anyone and everyone upset because it is set to discriminate everyone and anyone . . . . but the truth is it is funny as hell as it is deep . i recommend this to anyone who likes cult classics . also try fritz the cat and the nine lives of fritz the cat . if i  m correct ralph bashki did that movie too . it involves a cat that goes through hard times with family  streets  jobs  etc . when i was old enough i rented all of these movies out . because coonskin was an offensive title during that era it was also labeled as street fighter . ralph bashki also made cool world starring a very young brad pitt . heavy traffic was another cartoon that dealt with the street life of a young man .  
the opening  minutes gave me hope . then meyers proved he only had one good idea for the rest of the movie . absolute lowest common denominator humor . painful viewing . a complete chore . written no doubt in less than a week  just like the first one . give meyers the hook and lock him in a cell with adam sandler and will farrell . and don  t let him out until he  s developed a decent script for something  anything . he has it in him . these austin powers things are just embarrassing .  br    br   let goldmember sink without trace .  
i have read the short story by norman maclean  and the movie did justice to norman maclean  s writing . my husband tends to reread it occasionally  and i myself have read it over and scenes of the movie keeps coming to mind . we have videos of many of redford s movies and we have watched  a river runs through it  many times . redford is part of the  famdamily  as he is always around . we never get tired of redford  s perception of norman maclean writings  and the beauty of montana . the script reminds me very much of my own upbringing as my father had the same calling as mr . maclean  s father . according to  a river runs through it    methodists are baptists who can read   a line which by the way is not in the short story  but i think that is a funny line  my husband and i are well  read baptists   br    br   i have heard a movie critic state that the pace of this movie is too slow . i disagree . as one search for inner peace  this is the type of movie that will make you contemplate the beauty of nature in three  four rhythm of the metronome . the photography is outstanding  the acting is great . i love the scene where norman and paul as boys talked and wondered whether one could be a fly fisher or a boxer  then as adult paul played by brad pitt  se  ven  is the  perfect guy  who needs help with his alcoholism but will not accept it . the same applies to neal burns  who uses worms as bait  he also needed help but would not accept the fact that he needed help . the scene where paul refuses to eat oatmeal and the entire family has to wait an eternity to say grace  finally after hours  they all kneel around the table to say  grace   and they all leave . but the oatmeal stayed on the plate  that scene where the two love birds and their tattoos on their posteriors  that is funny  the sunburn  the drive back home where jessie burns  emily lloyd  decides to go via the train line  beautiful dialogue when norman proposes to jessie because he wants her to come to chicago with him   br    br   redford himself does a superb job as a narrator . i could not stop myself from comparing brad to the young redford  barefoot in the park  . the nominated director  producer  actor  is a visionary who deserves to be praised for his advancement not only in the cinema in the us but around the world . i am glad to live in nineteen hundred because i have seen the beginning of the black and white television  the movies and all the technology and special effects  to be able to watch videos at home and to live in the same century as redford because i have had the chance to see his works . redford needs no special effects to show us the beauty of montana in this masterpiece . the river to me means that line that separates life from death  memories and realities . redford shows the hands of the creator so magnificently and a river runs through it .  
i was sadly disappointed by this film due to the fact that it felt false and the characters were not strong enough to carry the films pretty weak attempt at horror . the basic idea for the film was interesting but unfortunately it wasn  t able to excite  really scare or shock me  there was one part in the entire film that i thought was gruesome but even that didn  t redeem it . i did get to like the character of kate by the end of the film as she seemed to soften and become a little more realistic by the end  the character played by jeremy sheffield was not actually needed for this film and i think the director  writer got carried away with the myriad of characters used for no purpose  if he had left it at the basic characters making it more of a solo effort on kate  s part  it may have worked  jeremy  s acting was wooden to say the least and i felt uncomfortable watching the bad on screen chemistry  or lack of it . such a shame . disappointing .  
ok  ok  don  t get bent out of round . i was kidding .  br    br    bustin  out  is actually a better and truer title anyhoo .  br    br   racism and crime dramas get the satiric treat meant from our x  rated animator friend ralphie boy . and he does one of his better jobs here .  br    br   on the crime front it shows the truth . they build it  defend it  then boredom and stronger rivals cause them to  maybe  lose it . see for yourself to see what goes down .  br    br   racist  i don  t know . with scatman  rip  and the love walrus  also rip  being black and the main point of view  i saw it as an attack on racism mostly . the fact that richard pryor liked it says as much as well . and the younger  pre  miami vice   phil mike thomas in there was a nice surprise .  br    br   it  s an animated  blacksploitation  film . that  s a good thing . done well and well done . it will make some squirm  like the lynching scene  but unfortunately that  s based on fact .  br    br   but ralphie really should have re  thought that title .  
this film is not even worth walking to the movie theatre . no jokes  but stupid and boring laughing on repeated disgusting stuff . the music and the girls are great  unfortunately you have to watch the whole movie to enjoy them . it was weak  very very weak .  
remember ralph bakshi  the guy that was an animator on terrytoons  then on paramount cartoon studios  after that  he was a director on fritz the cat    and heavy traffic  well  this is coonskin . and it  s actually pretty good . racist  but good . the movie takes place in harlem nights  no  duh  it was a working title .  but with a twist that becomes a lampoon of a disney movie  song of the south .  br    br   it  s about sampson  barry white  and the preacherman  charles gordone  rush to help their friend  randy  philip michael thomas  escape from prison  but are stopped by a roadblock and wind up in a shootout with the police . while waiting for them  randy unwillingly listens to fellow escapee pappy  scatman crothers   as he begins to tell randy a story about  three guys  i used to know  just like you and your friends  . pappy  s story is told in animation set against live  action background photos and footage .  br    br   brother rabbit  voice of thomas   brother bear  voice of white   and preacher fox  voice of gordone  decide to pack up and leave their southern settings after the bank mortgages their home and sells it to a man who turns it into a brothel . arriving in harlem  rabbit  bear  and fox find that it isn  t all that it  s made out to be . they encounter a con man named simple savior  a phony revolutionary leader who purports to be the  cousin  of black jesus  and that he gives his followers  the strength to kill whites  . in a flashy stage performance in his  church   savior acts out being brutalized by symbols of black oppressionrepresented by images of john wayne  elvis presley and richard nixon  before asking his parishioners for  donations  .  br    br   rabbit first goes up against madigan  a virulently racist and homophobic white police officer and the bag man for the mafia  who demonstrates his contempt for african americans in various ways  including a refusal to bathe before an anticipated encounter with them  he believes they  re not worth it  . when madigan finds out that rabbit has been taking his payoffs  he and his cohorts  ruby and bobby  are led to a nightclub called  the cottontail  .  br    br   a black stripper distracts him while an lsd sugar cube is dropped into his drink . madigan  while under the influence of his spiked drink  is then maneuvered into a sexual liaison with a stereotypically effeminate gay man  and then shoved into clothes that women were representative of the racist archetype  adorned in something racist  and finally shoved out the back of the club where he discovers that ruby and bobby are dead .  br    br   then  while recovering from his delirium of being drugged  shoots his gun around randomly  and is shot to death by the police after shooting one of them .  br    br   rabbit  bear  fox and the opponent boxer rush out of the boxing arena as it blows up . the live  action story ends with randy and pappy escaping while being shot at by various white cops  but managing to make it out alive .  br    br   this movie was controversial at that time of release  and was re  edited by the director several times under the title  street fight  which is obvious  since street fight is a     documentary about racism in the streets . in fact  this movie has the same subject as the documentary .  br    br   that caused bryanston pictures  the distributor of this film and the original tobe hopper classic  texas chainsaw massacre  to go out of business . because paramount wanted to produce and distribute this film  but due to racism  bryanston took over bakshi  s production .  br    br   despite the controversy  it was worth the entertainment . the animation was awesome at that time  the plot makes sense  and it  s actually funny too .  br    br   final verdict      
possible spoilers  br    br   the spy who shagged me is a muchly overrated and over  hyped sequel . international man of mystery came straight out of the blue . it was a lone star that few people had heard of . but it was stunningly original  had sophisticated humour and ample humour  always kept in good taste  and had a brilliant cast . the spy who shagged me was a lot more commercially advertised and hyped about .  br    br   ok i  ll admit  the first time i saw this film i thought it was very funny  but it  s only after watching it two or three times that you see all the flaws . the acting was ok  but heather graham cannot act . her performance didn  t seem very convincing and she wasn  t near as good as liz hurley was in the first one . those characters who bloomed in the first one   scott evil  number  etc .  are thrown into the background hear and don  t get many stand  alone scenes . the film is simply overrun with cameos .  br    br   in particular  i hated the way they totally disregarded some of the scenes in imom . when they killed off vanessa at the start and had basil sat that he knew she was a fembot all along . what was the point of that  they killed off number  in the first one  and now they bring him back with no explanation whatsoever . this is supposed to be a spy  spoof  i don  t think any of the characters even hold a gun in the film . it just goes on a trail  further and further away from the point .  br    br   the new characters are very unwelcome . the whole mini  me make fun of my size  joke gets old very quickly . fat bastard is just a lame excuse for gross  out humour . in total there  s about two or three good jokes . the rest are either tasteless or rehashed from imom .  br    br   if this were the first movie of the series then i  d probably be easier on it . but the series started on a note of dry wit and then plummeted down to a level of gross out humour . so i say  only watch this film if you haven  t seen its predecessor  because the spy who shagged me is one ultimate disappointment .  
by dane youssef  br    br    coonskin  is film  by the one and only ralph bakshi  is reportedly a satirical indictment of blaxploitation films and negative black stereotypes  as well as a look at life black in modern america  modern for the day  i mean        . paramount dropped it like a hot potato that just burst into flame .  br    br   but this is a bakshi film  controversial  thrilling  and a must  see almost by definition alone . not just another random  shock  jock  of a movie which tries to shock for the sake of shock . it  s by ralph bakshi . anyone who knows the name knows that if he made a movie  he has something big to say . . .  br    br   although it  s roots are based in cheap blaxploitation   coonskin  isn  t just another campy knock  off of mainstream white film or any kind of throwaway flick .  coonskin  wants to be more . it aims it  s sights higher and fries some much bigger fish .  br    br   the movie doesn  t just poke fun at the genre . nor does it just indict black people  but actually seems to show love  beauty and heart in the strangest places .  br    br    coonskin  tells a story out of some convicts awaiting a jail  break . the fact that it  s even possible to break out of a prison in the  coonskin  world alone makes it old  fashioned .  br    br   one of the inmates tells a story about a trio of black brothers in harlem named brother bear  brother rabbit  preacher fox who want respect and a piece of the action and are willing to get it by any means necessary . the itallian mob is running all the real action .  br    br   big name black musicians star barry white and scatman crothers  as well as charles gordone  the first black playwright to take home the pulitzer . something big is happening here obviously .  br    br   the movie plays out like a descent into this world  this side of the racial divide . from an angry  hip  deep  soulful black man with a hate in his heart and a gun in his hand .  br    br   bakshi  s films never know the meaning of the word  sublety .  this one looks like it  s never even heard of the word . but maybe a subject like this needs extremism . real sledgehammer satire . some subjects can  t be tackled gently .  br    br   bakshi is god  dammed merciless . here  no member or minority of the harlem scene appears unscathed .  br    br   the characters here are  animated  to  real  all depending on what the mood and situation are . the animated characters and the human ones all share the same reality and are meant to be taken just as literally .  br    br   bakshi never just shows ugly caricatures just for shock value . he always has something to say . nor is black  face is gratuitously . here  unlike in spike lee  s  bamboozled   he seems to be using it to try and really say something .  br    br   like   .   of all of bakshi  s films  this one incorporates animation and live  action . usually at the same time . bakshki isn  t just being gimmicky here . all of this technique is all intertwined  meshing together while saying something .  br    br   somehow  this one feels inevitably dated . many of these types of films  bakshi  s included  are very topical  very spur of the moment . they reflect the certain trend for the day  but looking back of them years later  there  s just an unmistakable feeling of nostalgia  as well as timeless truth  .  br    br   even though the music  clothes  slang and the city clearly looks like photos that belong in a time capsule  the attitude  the spirit and the heart remain the same no matter what f   king ear it is . anyone who  s really seen the movies  the state of things and has been in company of the people know what i  m talking about .  br    br   even some of the of the black characters are a bunny  junglebunny   a big ol  bear and a fox . one of the most sour and unsavory racist characters is a dirty harlem cop who  s hot on the trail of these  dirty n      s  after the death of a cop . but for him  it  s not just business . nor is it for the rest of the brothers who wear the shield . it  s just pure sadistic racist pleasure of hurting blacks .  br    br   the sequence involving the godfather and his lady is one of the most moving pieces in the whole film  of which there are many . it plays out like an opera or a ballet .  br    br   the promo line warning  this film offends everybody   this is not just hype . proceed with extreme caution .  br    br   you have been warned . . .  br    br   by dane youssef  
having enjoyed mike myers previous work  waynes world and saturday night live  my expectations of a   s bond spoof were fairly high . it became plain after the first minute that this was an exercise in how to be as puerile and unfunny as possible . i swit ched off after ten minutes . i watched it the other day a second time to see whether i had been unfair the first time . i switched it off after ten minutes . i find it hard to believe how even a twelve year  old boy could find this funny . the dialogue is an e mbarrassment  myers is painful to watch  as is heather graham  and the succession of characters including fat bastard makes matters even worse . apart from the mildly amusing title and the psychedelic set design this is one of the worst films i have ever seen . i personally recommend you avoid this like the plague  though several friends of mine enjoyed it  maybe they were blindfolded at the time  .   
coonskin might be my favorite ralph bakshi film . like the best of his work  it  s in  your  face and not ashamed of it for a second  but unlike some of his other work  even when he  s at his finest  which was before and after coonskin with heavy traffic and wizards   it  s not much uneven  despite appearances to the contrary . bakshi  s taking on stereotypes and perceptions of race  of course  but moreover he  s making what appears to be a freewheeling exploitation film blaxploitation almost  though bakshi doesn  t stop just there . if it were just a blaxploitation flick with inventive animation it could be enough for a substantial feature . but bakshi  s aims are higher throwing up these grotesque and exaggerated images of not just black people but italians  mafioso  homosexuals  jews  overall new york  types in the urban quarters of manhattan in the   s  he isn  t out to make anything realistic . the most normal looking creation in looking drawn  real  is  in fact  a naked woman painted red  white and blue .  br    br   in mocking these stereotypes and conventions and horrible forms of racism  i . e . the  tar  rabbit  baby  joke  yes joke  plus black  face   we  re looking at abstraction to a grand degree . and best of all  bakshi doesn  t take himself too seriously  unlike spike lee with a film like bamboozled  in delivering his message . this is why  for the most part  coonskin is a hilarious piece of work  where some of the images and things done and sudden twists and  of course  scenes of awkward behavior  i loved the scene where the three animated characters are being talked at by the real  life white couple in tux and dress as looking  colorful  and the like   are just too much not to laugh at . it  s not just the imagery  which is in and of itself incredibly  over   stylized  but that the screenplay is sharp and  this is key for bakshi this time considering  it  s got a fairly cohesive narrative to string along the improvisations and madness .  br    br   using at first live  action  then animation  and then an extremely clever matching of the two  ironically  what bakshi later went for in commercial form with cool world is done here to a t with less money and a rougher edge   pappy and randy are waiting outside a prison wall for a buddy to escape  and pappy tells of the story of brother rabbit  who with brother bear and preacher fox go to harlem and become big  time hoodlums  with rabbit in direct opposition to a jabba  the  hut  esquire godfather character . this is obviously a take off on song of the south with its intentionally happy  go  lucky plot and animation  here taken apart and shown for how rotten and offensive it really is .  br    br   yet bakshi goes for broke in combining forms animated characters stand behind and move along with live  action backgrounds when violence and gunshots and fights occurs it  s as bloody as it can get for      when a dirty cop is at a bar and is drugged and put in black  face and a dress  he trips in a manner of which not even disney could reach with dumbo a boxing match with brother bear and an opponent as the climax is filmed in wild slow  motion archive footage comes on from time to time of old movies  some and some from the   s that are just tasteless .  br    br   like mel brooks or kubrick or  more recently  south park  bakshi  s coonskin functions as entertainment first and then thought  provocation second . it  s also audacious film  making on an independent scale everything from the long takes to the montage and the endlessly warped designs for the characters  however all based on the theme of the piece  all serve the thought in the script  where its b  movie plot opens up much more for interpretation . to call it racist misses the point it  s like calling dr . strangelove pro  atomic desolation or confederate states of america pro slavery . and  for me  it  s one of the best satires ever made .  
the concept was ok but hardly original . the acting was plastic . but the real spoiler was that there was only one joke and a grubby one at that . this is a film for fourteen year olds who have been let out on their own for the first time . don  t dare to watch it with your kids .  
mpaarated r for violence  language  nudity and brief drug use . quebec rating    canadian home video rating   a  br    br   i saw coonskin today . this film is also known as bustin out and street fight . after watching fritz the cat  i wanted to see more of bashki  s films . i saw cool world and thought it was mediocre and i saw this . when it was first released  the film was very controversial . it was considered racist and al sharpton wanted the film banned  he even led protests outside the theatre where the film was playing . the film was only released on vhs under the title  street fight  . it is now considered a cult  classic film and african  american celebrities such as comedian richard pryor  director spike lee and the rap group the wu  tang clan are said to have enjoyed this film . i personally thought fritz the cat was a much better film but this is very enjoyable as well . worth watching for bashki or blaxploitation film fans . the film mixes live action and animation sort of like the film who framed roger rabbit . i would have preferred it in full animation but whatever . the film starts off with a reverend and another man racing to rescue two of their friends from prison . while the prisoners wait  the older one tells a story of three men he knew . the film then switches into animation format  we see three black men who sold their house to this man . they decide to make names for themselves in harlem . so the leader  a black rabbit  kills a big player in harlem and he basically becomes a big shot . the film moves on as the italian mafia want him out . the mafia involves the godfather  his three sons who are homosexual and an italian clown . coonskin is an entertaining animated film that  s worth checking out  if you can find it .  
this movie is truly boring . it was banned in chinese cinema and i can see why . it  s not because it  s critical of the communist regime but simply because the movie is of such low quality . i would never want to pay money to watch this . i love movies from chen kaige and zhang yimou and i am disappointed such a poor movie could come out of china . it totally seems to ignore the audience and the director seems to have made the movie for himself . the shots of a person standing there doing nothing for up to a minute are hilarious and there  s plenty of them . the cinematography and video quality are unbelievably bad . i looked this film up on the net and it seems like people actually like this film . the only explanation i have for this is that some film buffs think that if a film is not in english it is automatically good . i can  t see any reason why people would like this . this is not an art film it  s of waste of celluloid .  that  s if they actually shot it on film  which they didn  t   
after finally watching walt disney  s song of the south on myspace  i decided to watch ralph bakshi  s response to that movie  coonskin  on afro video which i linked from google video . in this one  during the live  action sequences  preacherman  charles gordone  takes his friend sampson  barry white  with him to pick up pappy  scatman crothers  and randy  philip thomas  years before he added michael for his middle name professionally  as the latter two escape from prison . during their attempt  pappy tells randy a tale of brother rabbit  voice of thomas   brother bear  white   and preacher fox  gordone  and their adventures in harlem . as expected in many of these bakshi efforts  there  s a mix of animation and live  action that provides a unique point  of  view from the writer  director that is sure to offend some people . another fascinating animated character is miss america who  s a big  as in gigantic in every way  white blonde woman dressed in skin  tight red  white  and blue stars and stripes who has a hold on a little black man and has him shot in one of the most sexually violent ways that was shockingly funny to me  there are plenty of such scenes sprinkled throughout the picture of which another one concerning brother bear  s frontal anatomy also provided big laughs from me . there  s also a segment of a woman telling her baby of a  cockroach  she was friends with who left her that was touching with that part seeming to be a tribute to the comic strip artist george herriman . i was also fascinated hearing grover washington jr .  s version of  ain  t no sunshine  heard as part of the score . most compelling part of the picture was seeing the scatman himself depicted with his head in silhouette during the opening credit sequence singing and scatting to a song that has him using the n  word in a satirical way . when i saw a vhs cover of this movie years ago  it had depicted brother rabbit in insolent mode in front of what looked like the warner circles with the slogan   this movie will offend everybody  . that is ample warning to anyone who thinks all cartoons are meant for children . that said  i definitely recommend coonskin to fans of bakshi and of every form of animation .  
i have seen many  many films from china  and hong kong . this is the worst . no  the worst one was  unknown pleasures  . i watched  platform  yesterday evening and thought that jia zhang ke  s other two films must be better . this evening i was disappointed again . i will not be watching  xiao wu  tomorrow evening because i have just placed all three films in the bin  whoever gave this film   platform  ten out of ten  needs to watch more cinema  the photography was very poor it was very difficult to differentiate between some of the characters because of the lack of close  up work . the storyline was so disjointed that i fast  forwarded it towards the end out of pure frustration . i would not recommend this film to anyone . give me zhang yimou or chen kage any day . these are true masters of chinese cinema  not pretentious con men   
i had watched this film from ralph bakshi  wizards  hey good lookin    one night ago on www . afrovideo . org  and i didn  t see anything racial  i am not stupid   i do admit the character designs are a bit crude and unaccpectable today  but i think it  s a satire and a very  very urban retelling of the old uncle remus stories that the black american culture  created right down to the main characters and the blatant nod to  the tar baby  and  the briar patch .  these aren  t bigoted stories  mind you  but cultural icons created by black americans  and me being a white woman read and love those stories . and i also found it an interesting time  capsule view on the black culture in harlem  new york in the    s .  br    br   well to get to the nitty  gritty of this film this film is a live  action  animated film  which begins in live  action with a fellow named sampson  barry white  and the preacherman  charles gordone  rush to help their friend  randy  philip michael thomas  escape from prison  but are stopped by a roadblock and wind up in a shootout with the police . while waiting for them  randy unwillingly listens to fellow escapee pappy  scatman crothers   as he begins to tell randy the animated story of brother rabbit  a young newcomer to the big city who quickly rises from obscurity to rule over all of harlem you know  to me rabbit  bear and fox are animal versions of randy  sampson and the preacherman . an abstract juxtaposition of stylized animation and live action footage  the film is a graphic and condemnatory satire of stereotypes prevalent in the   s  racial  ethnic  and otherwise .  br    br   so anyway  it is another good bakshi movie and should we sweep films like this under the rug  pretend they never exist  hmmm . . . i think that would be a shame i think we should watch these films entacted  and learn about what goes on back then  just how far we come since then .  
the excruciatingly slow pace of this film was probably the director  s express intention  in order to convey what life was like growing up as a village teen in china . however  i found the combination of the glacially slow  plot  and the general filming style so impersonal as to be totally alienating  particularly to a western audience . at times i actually had trouble telling some characters apart  as they were filmed from such a distance . two hours in and i was totally past caring . as someone who is not only interested in music but is also very into the history and culture of china  and is by the way no stranger to chinese cinema   i couldn  t engage with a single character and found nothing to get my teeth into . it begs the question if i disliked it  who on earth would like it  give me zhang yimou  give me chen kaige . give me the work of just about any other chinese director i  ve ever seen . this sorry effort just doesn  t measure up at all . i  d be sorry to see chinese cinema judged against this benchmark .  
streetfight  aka coonskin  is a very unique film directed by animation pioneer ralph bakshi . it is an oddity of the cinema  and is very much worth seeing . it is live action mixed with animation  seemingly influenced on disney  s legendary song of the south  almost as if it is a response to that flick . philip michael thomas  later to become don johnson  s sidekick on miami vice  and scatman crothers  most famous for his role in kubrick  s the shining  are prison escapees . charles gordone and barry white  yes  that barry white  are thomas  friends and plan to help him escape prison . they are stuck at a police roadblock  and crothers tells thomas a story about a black rabbit  a bear  and a fox who move from the south to harlem in order to find a more peaceful existence . the story is animated  and provides a lot of wonderous things to see . like all of bakshi  s films  most will be annoyed and will dislike the animation . true animation lovers will forgive its clunkiness and fall in love with its inventiveness . the movie is very violent  very sexual  and it is mostly about battles between the races . for a long time  i thought i was watching something extremely important  but after a while  especially after i got done watching it  it started to seem more like a run  of  the  mill blacksploitation flick  along the lines of superfly . it  s very sloppy and doesn  t really say anything . besides  isn  t bakshi white  whatever the answer to that  coonskin  streetfight is still very much worth watching for animation aficionados as well as cult movie fans .     .  
this movie wants to elaborate that criminals are a product of modern society . therefore  can thieves  rapists and murderers  the killer of this movie  carl panzram  james woods   is all three and worse  be held fully accountable for their deeds  an interesting notion  but very difficult to bring to the screen in an intellectually and emotionally satisfying way . and this is where killer a journal of murder falls very short . although the film tries to put panzram  s behaviour into perspective  with flashbacks to his violent youth and dysfunctional upbringing  the viewer never gets the idea that panzram is a victim rather than a culprit . sure  the system is corrupt  with one mobster occupying the whole sick bay of leavenworth prison  where most of the movie takes place   most prison guards are sadistic bullies  and the prison director something like a megalomaniacal despot . but why on earth does new prison guard henry lesser  robert sean leonard  take such pity on panzram  even after having read his gruesome diaries  the movie offers some explanation lesser witnesses panzram being beaten to a pulp by the most sadistic  and stereotypical  guard  and is impressed by panzram  s intelligence  though it isn  t clear why exactly lesser thinks this man is so smart  . surely this isn  t enough to sympathize with a hostile man like panzram  even though this movie tends to downplay his crimes and highlight his personality  towards lesser  panzram is quite loyal  and the viewer is given the impression that for lesser this outweighs all of the atrocities he has read about in panzram  s diaries . does this man lesser have so little friends that he takes at face value everyone who seems only remotely friendly to him  perhaps it is lesser who is a product of modern society  judging on appearance rather than substance .  br    br   i can advise monster  starring charlize theron and christina ricci  as a movie which handles roughly the same themes with far more integrity and scope .  br    br   btw killer looks as though shot for tv  not so good   
one of the most interesting movies to be classified as  blaxploitation   bakshi  s  coonskin  is a rich text full of wonderful insight . he wrote it in collaboration with scat man crothers and barry white  who appear in the film as well . the racist imagery can often be disturbing  but the message of the movie was so powerful that the naacp gave it an endorsement  but only grudgingly  .  br    br   i highly recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in an examination of the pervading atmosphere of racism that bakshi attempts to deconstruct . wonderful stuff .  
carl panzram lived an amazing life and scribbled down his memoirs on scraps of paper for possibly the only person who ever did anything selfless for him . the book  panzram a journal of murder  by thomas e . gaddis and james o . long  which came out the better part of a century after panzram  s death  gives the historical context to a first  generation american  s account of running away from home to go west and be a cowboy  getting caught  thrown in the boy  s home  getting away repeatedly and thrown into prison over and over all the time getting tortured and sodomized . as panzram grew huge and strong  he sought to take revenge for the wrong done to him as he traveled to south america  europe and africa  and it didn  t matter what people he raped  robbed  or murdered because we are all equally worthless .  br    br   this film casts skinny james woods as the rough neck  mean  ass  son of a bitch carl panzram who in the film is a  drunk   overly  dramatic and emotional  and who never mentions the joy of sodomizing men and boys . the film neither elaborates on anything else particularly of note about this world traveler and career prisoner  like robbing former president taft or being released from the oregon prison as long as he gave his word to return  . in short  i don  t think carl would be too happy .  
street fight is a brilliant piece of brutal satire . this is not a movie you just watch for fun . it is not a comfortable experience  although it does have some laugh  out  loud moments . this is a movie you watch when you need food for thought .  br    br   to dismiss this film as simply racist is to miss the point entirely . this is not only a satire of song of the south  it  s also a biting commentary on the prejudices that americans still have as a society . every ethnic group portrayed in the movie gets shown as grotesque caricatures of their stereotypes  which in turn are grotesque caricatures of real people . through this wild exaggeration  the filmmaker shows just how absurd these tightly  held beliefs really are .  br    br   if you  re the sort of person who  s willing to acknowledge the ugliness of the prevalent prejudices american culture still holds  and if you  re not afraid to look your own prejudices in the eye  this movie may be for you .  
i rented this movie yesterday and can hardly express my disappointment in little laura ingalls for getting involved in something so poorly produced . i am not sure if it was horrible writing or bad directing or both but it leaves a viewer very disappointed in having wasted the time to watch this swill . it consisted of a weak naive story line  very poor lines  and relied solely on pretty scenery  and pretty people to sell it . unfortunately this was not enough . you would be better off to rent a tape full of static than to waste your time on this crap . lindsey wagner also played a pretty pathetic part as a ranch owner who apparently works very hard doing nothing  anybody who has ever been near a ranch knows that this was obviously written by a young person from los angeles and not someone with much knowledge of the world .  
a stunning realization occurs when some sort of phenomenon takes place   be it  firecrackers going off  witnessing a robbery  a hurricane nonchalantly devastating everything in it  s path  or  for that matter  any other spectacular occurrence   in the case of the maclean family  however  reveille was something which was no more complex than their day to day lives . . montana in the early twentieth century was an environment which was rough and tumble . . . the maclean family was comprised of four people  the father  a minister  who was ideologically driven to raise his family properly . his wife was god fearing  and dutiful . the two boys were  well . . . boys   . . what else can you say  . . . brad pitt starred in this film before he was really the   brad pitt  and his acting performance in this film was  to say the least  remarkable    . . his brother  norman  was the cerebral type  he was touched by emotions that were genuine  and motivated by a set of values that missoula  montana concurred with   paul  brad pitt  was a misfit from the offset  and lived on the edge . . . you would think that montana in the      s had no such thing  yet somehow  gambling  drinking  and violent confrontations  were as much a part of paul  as was his fly fishing rod   fly fishing   did i say that  parenthetically  this was the core of this movie  s theme   the recreation of fly fishing served as the cohesive bond which homogenized the kindred spirits of the maclean brothers  and to a lesser degree  the father   i would describe the acting in this film as incredibly believable  and the cinematography went beyond sensational . . put it this way  anyone who sees this film will want to live in montana . . breathtaking filmography of bluer than blue mountains and streams captured the youth and effervescence that the maclean brothers had for life . . . seldom in a film do you witness whereby feelings immediately invoke a dogged tenacity to accomplish whatever it may be that someone wishes to accomplish . . the maclean brothers lived life to the fullest  and for better or worse  the father knew that this was going to be the only way the two of them could become men   . . . robert redford directs this film  and tells the story of the maclean  s through the perspective of the older brother  norman . . . norman gets offered a position at the university of chicago at age    and marries the woman he will always be in love with . . . what this film also points out  is that the younger brother  paul  has attained an accomplishment of his own by being the epitome of a remarkable fly fisherman   the seedier side of life prevails in the younger brother  s existence  and exerts an insidious form of consternation for the maclean family   as most human shortcomings go  the maclean family made light of turbulent waters   literally  and thus  established unity as a family  by putting necessary blinders on     br    br   the end of the movie  river runs through it  presents an epigram of life through the eyes of the older brother . . for norman maclean  stoicism is a prerequisite to perseverance in his emeritus years   such a fate is largely due to the fact that reflecting on his life is tantamount to yearning for people who have passed away  the fond memories of his brother  his wife  his mother  and his father  must now be viewed philosophically   for norman  his life has been relegated to stubborn facts that have determined his dubious outlook  and precarious resolve  something as simple as the statement  this was your life  and that is how you lived it  is a somber recollection of the joy  the sorrow  the regrets  and the love  he gave  as well as was the recipient of   best put in the last sermon he heard his father give  his father said  we can completely love someone without completely understanding them  . . whether you agree with what has happened in your life or not  it happened nonetheless  norman maclean must come to grips with the fact that his life has been fragmented by misunderstandings  norman maclean has become a decrepit octogenarian who is polarized by virtual conclusions to his life   the murky waters of montana  s picturesque rivers serve as a vicious and desultory finalization to his years on earth   without question  the very prolific statement of  what seems complicated is really very simple  purveys a very acrimonious message in this movie . . . more simply put . . . the people and places which were important in norman  s life  are now only a bittersweet memory . . . . merely a painfully intellectual rumination of events which are aggravated by the haunted waters of montana  s beautiful streams and rivers . . . to which  for the entire maclean family   all things merge into one and a river runs through it   
i was really  really disappointed with this movie . it started really well  and built up some great atmosphere and suspense  but when it finally got round to revealing the  monster  . . . it turned out to be just some psycho with skin problems . . . . . . again . whoop  de  do . yet another nutjob movie . . . like we don  t already have enough of them .  br    br   to be fair  the  creep  is genuinely unsettling to look at  and the way he moves and the strange sounds he makes are pretty creepy  but i  m sick of renting film like this only to discover that the monster is human  albeit a twisted  demented  freakish one . when i saw all the tell  tale rats early on i was hoping for some kind of freaky rat  monster hybrid thing . . . it was such a let down when the creep was revealed .  br    br   on top of this  some of the stuff in this movie makes no sense .  spoiler   br    br   why the hell does the creep kill the security guard  whats the point  apart from sticking a great honking sign up that says  hi i  m a psycho and i live down here    its stupid  and only seems to happen to prevent franka potente  s character from getting help .  br    br   what the hells he been eating down there  i got the impression he was effectively walled in  and only the unexpected opening into that tunnel section let him loose . . . so has he been munching rats all that time  and if so why do they hang around him so much  why is he so damn hard to kill  he  s thin  malnourished and not exactly at peak performance . . . but seems to keep going despite injuries that are equivalent to those that . cripple the non  psycho characters in the film .  br    br   the dvd commentary says we are intended to empathise with creep  but i just find him loathsome . its an effective enough movie  but it wasted so many opportunities that it makes me sick .  
american icon henry fonda portrays  elegant  john howard  an aging trucker who has had his beloved big rig  eleanor  repossessed after a lengthy hospital stay has forced him to miss his payments . deciding that he would like to make just one more perfect run  he breaks out of the hospital  steals back eleanor  and hooks up with old friend penelope pearson  eileen brennan   who is in need of relocating her troupe of prostitutes .  br    br   fondas  wonderful performance is a natural anchor for a film that tugs at the heartstrings as effectively as it tickles the funny bone in the more comedic scenes . a superb cast including robert englund  as a reluctant young sidekick  susan sarandon  who also gets co  producer credit   and dub taylor  a delightful ham  as always  in the most blatantly comedic portion of the picture  helps immeasurably .  br    br   the ultimately life  affirming nature of the picture and the poignancy of the journey carry incredible weight this is a picture  that provided you get into it  you can remember long after it  s over .  br    br   the promise of the open road is vividly displayed here the countryside just looks beautiful . set to craig safans  wonderful music score  it  s a remarkable picture in terms of aesthetics .  br    br   it loses a little something in its final act  the characters played by john byner and austin pendleton are little more than intrusions   but it still maintains its good vibes thanks to the appeal of its central characters .  br    br   not at all the exploitation  drive  in schlock picture one might expect from the title  especially its alternate title   the great smokey roadblock    it  s a rewarding movie experience that i can recommend without qualms .  br    br        
unusual  yes   br    br   unusual setting for an american wartime movie  new zealand .  br    br   unusual subject matter  four sisters and their relationships with american soldiers  from one bearing the illegitimate child of the dead son of a senator  to another living with seven marines  one at a time  before being murdered by her returning pow new zealander husband .  br    br   unusual to see paul newman deliver such a poor performance so soon after his unforgettable role as rocky graziano in the brilliant  somebody up there loves me  .  br    br   unusual for two fine  stars  joan fontaine and jean simmons  to leave so little of themselves on a movie .  br    br   unusual that i could be bothered to write a review of such a poor film  give it a miss   
i was the production accountant on this movie  and i also got to do some voice  over work on it  so i  m not entirely unbiased  but if it were awful  i would say so . i thought it was a fun film  not a critically acclaimed masterpiece  by any means  but there were plenty of laughs along the way . the bible states that laughter does good like a medicine  so watching this movie could be good for your health .  br    br   so many of the actors in this picture hadn  t yet reached their peak at the time we made this film . susan sarandon  of course  is one who has since gone on to much greater fame . melanie mayron was seen on tv on a weekly basis as a photographer in the  thirty  something  tv drama series . robert englund later became known as freddie krueger  still haunting people  s dreams . one of my personal favorite actors on this show was dub taylor  who played the sheriff . he was an excellent comedic actor  and a truly nice  sincere person . we all had fun working on this show  and i think that fun comes through .  
what exactly was going on during world war   in new zealand when american forces were there   br    br   this awful story of  sisters was really pathetic to view . can you imagine casting joan fontaine as the older sister to sandra dee  fontaine looked more like her mother . even funnier was that fontaine becomes pregnant in the film .  br    br   piper laurie and paul newman who showed such great on screen chemistry  years later in  the hustler   have no scenes together in this film . laurie plays another sister who goes off to wellington to tramp around there  despite the fact that she is married . woe to her when her husband comes back from the war .  br    br   jean simmons is widowed and finds romance with a much subdued paul newman . there is even romance for the young miss dee here .  br    br   the picture has little to no meaning . are they trying to say that all is fair in love and war  if they are  they did a poor job in selling this .  br    br   the conflict of interest with newman and simmons is quickly disposed of . that is what should have been quickly done to this terribly disappointing film of     .  
i found this movie to be exciting right from the start   like a spielberg movie is   and found the plot to be intriguing as i tried to figure out what the actual situation was .  br    br   right from the start   before the opening credits   the action starts  bringing with it immediate suspense .  br    br   the two main characters are very likable .  i have trouble liking any of the baldwins  due to alec  s extra  curricular  political activities  but william was not too bad in this movie .   br    br   there were several highly unexpected twists  which contributed to the enjoyment .  br    br   there were  unfortunately  many places where there was an annoying high pitch sound in the soundtrack   something like   k hz . i suspect the microphone was picking up video monitors on the set .  
my mother keeps a cassette of this film as a general threat to any film loving person who annoys her . everything about it stinks .  br    br   as such it is a true classic .  br    br   who gave it       were you inadvertently watching a good film and accidentally voted for this one   br    br   everyone involved in the movie making process should be forced to watch at least a small section of this film . it should be an indelible stain on the minds on all that hold film sacred and be revered as the tide mark of the cinematically dire .  
a woman who hates cats  alice krige  and her son  brian krause  have moved into a small town  and must deal with a mean teacher  glenn shadix   their incestuous relationship  a lovely girl  mdchen amick  and one hell of a big secret .  br    br   okay  so technically  this is a  bad film  . but  who cares  it  s so very fun   br    br   impossible things  involving corn  happen  people freak out about kitty cats  there  s bad one  liners  there  s too much cheese to handle   br    br   so  yes . you will enjoy this . a lot . it won  t move you  touch you  scare you  or thrill you in any way  but it will keep you entertained and laughing   
during the civil war  there were many cases of divided loyalties obviously  many occurred  in the border states   where north met south by happenstance of geography . from the border  young father owen moore goes off to join the union army . shortly  confederate soldier henry b . walthall  separated from his regimen  wanders onto the enemy  s property  desperate for water he finds a supply where the unionist  s young daughter gladys egan sits . when the yankee soldiers track him down  little gladys innocently helps the confederate hide . later  when he returns to kill her father  the little girl  s kindness is remembered . a sweet  small story from director d . w . griffith . location footage and humanity are lovingly displayed .  br    br    in the border states          d . w . griffith  henry b . walthall  owen moore  gladys egan  
woah  is one thing i can say about this movie . personally i  m one of those people who loves cats so that would have been a big down side to the movie  but i loved it how cats from every were got their revenge at the end .  br    br   i liked the movie  but i have to admit it was because i found brian krause who played charles brady very very irresistible  i guess lust got the better of me while watching this movie .  br    br   there was one thing that i was disappointed over . i  ve watched charmed before and brian krause is married to holly marie combs  his kissing scene was o . k . in sleepwalkers  but really bad compare to his kissing scenes with holly marie combs  i don  t know if it is because krause and combs have great chemistry or maybe more it a bit more  that was the only disappointment in the movie but i guess it was made up for with brian krause in those tight ass jeans he was wearing in the movie .  br    br   if you are use to seeing brian krause as holly marie combs heavenly husband and the father of her son your in for a big surprise with this movie  he was nothing like angle boy . although now that i think about it  it would be great to see krause  s character on charmed taken over by evil making him something like his was in sleepwalkers .  br    br   i also have to say the music was great in this movie too   
diana muldaur appears on star trek for the second time  but this time as a different character . no one on board seems to notice   maybe it was the hair . regardless  this time she is not the receptacle for a god  see the previous episode  but is a very famous lady with magical powers that enable her to communicate and see a medusan without going crazy  the standard human response  . unfortunately  the man that is most in love with her is a few cards short of a full deck and he tries to kill the medusan ambassador  who  oddly  lives in a small crate   this is a lousy way to travel  . and  unfortunately  muldayr isn  t wound all that well herself . what happens next is kind of dumb and by the time the episode was over the first time i saw it  i was pretty relieved . watching all the men on board go ga  ga over muldaur was pretty silly and the acting of spock when he briefly went crazy was pretty campy . do yourself a favor   if you haven  t seen the show before  pick a different episode .  
because of all the negative reviews of this film i almost didn  t watch it . however  i was pleasantly surprised that it was a fairly enjoyable horror movie . the acting wasn  t great  apart from the wonderful alice krige  but some of the dialogue   just consider yourself lunch .   was quite amusing .  br    br   on the whole an above average stephen king effort      .  
is this the  worse  star trek tos episode  maybe  at least it gets my vote as being in the bottom  . i mean  this episode makes absolutely no freaking sense . seeing something that makes you go mad  give me a break . this episode also has a different feel to it  the music is heightened  almost forced to enhance a feeling of distress  to the point that it sucks . give me some klingons  gorns  tholians  romulans  higher beings like triskelion  s or anything but medusin  s  these are very boring aliens to make an episode around . mccoy gets to utter his famous phrase  he  s dead  jim  . spock puts on the protective goggles when transporting the ambassador away but kirk does not . they go through that freaking  barrier  now for the third time that i can remember  boring . at least season three  s next episodes would be  spectre of the gun   and  day of the dove  and others to follow  making trek a decent show to watch in syndication where it would pick people like me up as avid fans . personal observations  trek loved to use the color purple  its kind of a pinkish purple  like when they are in the corridor outside the compartment  the gangway that is normally grey is now purple . we never had a purple bridge but its interesting to see  i noticed it in several episodes  it was done by a light filter and it works very well but in this episode  in the ships corridor is pretty lame .  
sleepwalkers are creatures who drain the life force completely out of humans to survive . . . but they can only use virgins  it  s not explained why  . charles brady  brian krause  is one such who needs to feed his mother mary  alice krige  . he goes after likable tanya  madchen amick  . will she escape   br    br   on one hand this is a great horror film . fast  paced  plenty of blood and gore and a nice  twisted sense of humor . there are plenty of in joke references for horror buffs  castle rock is mentioned once  . also krause is excellent  who would have thought he could act after  return to the blue lagoon   as is kirge and amick . but i find this film annoying .  br    br   it was written for the screen by stephen king and it  s maddeningly vague . the sleepwalkers are never fully explained . where are they from  why are they called that  why does the son have to feed the mother  why do cats hate them and can kill them  what are their powers after all  at one point krause makes a car disappear and change color and style    why do they need to feed off peoples  life force  why does it have to be only virgins  why is the son having sex with his mom  none of these are explained leaving the story confusing . it  s really too bad because  those questions aside  this is an excellent horror film . excellent makeup and special effects too .  br    br   fast  gory and lots of fun . if only the script were better . also a fairly explicit sex scene between krause and krige was edited  you can tell  to get an r rating . i can only give this a  .  
another weak third  season entry   is there in truth no beauty   nonetheless has at least one key plot element that is very different and as spock would say  fascinating . the main character is an alien who must be carried around in a black box because his appearance is so horrendous that it drives humans insane . it  s too bad the episode cannot live up to this incredible premise . obviously  i think  it was a mistake to ever  show  the alien  as its actual visage in no way even approximates such a daunting build  up all we get is the standard star trek psychedelic light display used for any number of things in different episodes  usually when the ship is passing through a magnetic storm or something similar . in any event  kollos  appearance can at least be tolerated by mr . spock  and then only if spock is wearing a special visor .  for the longest time  i thought the alien  s name was  carlos   which i found humorous  but i digress .  spock is required to mind  meld with kollos at one point so that the alien can pilot the enterprise back to safety . this is accomplished  but when spock  kollos go back to end the mind  meld  by golly  spock forgets his visor . uh oh . he goes crazy but eventually recovers with the help of kollos  assistant  a blind woman with psychic powers . this might have been a really bizarre  excellent episode but it is poorly directed and comes across as yet one more badly executed show of the series  last season .  
stephen king movies are a funny thing with me . i either really love them or i loathe them . some of the fancier productions  such as desperation and storm of the century  i didn  t enjoy . some of the smaller ones  i really loved . sleepwalkers is one that i really do enjoy and watch it regularly .  br    br   the story revolves around charles brady and his mother mary . they are sleepwalkers  shape shifting creatures who although human like in appearance shift into a feline like creature . they are immune to the scratch of cats and whenever they move to a new town  lay out traps to catch and kill the animals . when they move to their latest town  they need to seek out a virgin and when charles finds one  he actually falls for her  but his mother needs to feed from her to keep up her strength . the story revolves around what will happen with the girl . will charles spare her or use her to save his mother .  br    br   although this story has overtones of incest which some may find unappealing it does actually play a part in the story and is therefore not just plonked in the movie for scandal  s sake . like most stephen king stories it  s based in a small town with lots of interesting characters . the acting isn  t the best  nor are the special effects  however  somehow  the whole thing tends to  gel  and is very watchable and enjoyable adaption .  br    br   for uk readers this production has most recently been shown on bbc   sci  fi and sky thriller  horror channels .  
i am very unpolitically correct guy  so when i say sexist i really mean it reduced the female guest lead  dr miranda jones played by diana muldar . in spite of all her supposed brilliance and self control  to nothing more inside but a big  jealous unreasonable baby you prolly got the plot by now  after her technical sidekick marvik  also a spurned lover  flips out when he tried to kill the medusan  ambassador kollos  out of a jealous rage  but glimpsed first it instead .  you think he could have just walked in to the room with his eyes shut and phasered the box  too easy  he takes the enterprise into un  navigable space outside the galaxy before the boys could subdue him . well  the ship is stuck in limbo  at that point they could have gone to the good lady doctor  liaison and discussed it .  spock has to make a mind meld with the medusan so we can get home . i mean like beetch do you want to stay adrift until we run out of supplies and die   but the lady in true star trek fashion is a jealous monsters who whines and wails when the idea is broached  even when her medusan idol told her to shut up  go along with them . so the beetch out of spite messes with the melded spock causing him to forget to put on his visor which makes spock go insane . kirk  naturally  figured out what a total twit she was and shamed her into fixing spock up with her superior telepathic powers . of course  at the end the lady and medusan leave and all is forgiven . you almost wish the president from battle star galactica showed up to jettison the witch out of an airlock for her destructive stunt . but in star trek land  ladies are permitted to be totally unreasonable and cruel  yet at the same time supposedly there is sexual equality . this is what i mean by sexist .  
this is not a good movie but i still like it . the cat clovis is gold in a jar as well as the premise of the cats themselves  intrinsically opposed to the evil sleepwalkers . i think there is more to this movie than people realize  basically it is very harsh  but this brusqueness can sometimes be good . it  s got the corny lines  the abrupt ending and a comedic element conveyed by the bumbling policemen .  br    br   did anyone find the incestuous element a bit disturbing  ultimately this movie is casually and randomly acrimonious  which is quite effective  i liken it to psycho  the relationship between the mother and son  the changing of protagonists . i think the abruptness works also  this is not a movie that you want them to lengthen  it only works if it  s short .  br    br   i  m still not sure whether the director lacked depth  or whether he did these things with purpose  we know stephen king has ability  yet i haven  t even read his books  only seen some of his movies .  br    br   anyway  i liked it . if you like harsh corny movies with    s overtones just watch it . but don  t expect too much . it really is so bad its good .  
i just don  t get some of the big premises of this episode  that miranda is so remarkable  and that there  s anything so ugly it would make you insane . someone here made the remark that maybe it  s the frequency of the light waves or something rather than it being ugliness . miranda is just a jerk . the episode is slow  inconsistent and way too talky . i also don  t quite understand why kolos is an ambassador  why doesn  t the federation just leave the damn medusans be  there  s one part i do like  when kolos is speaking through spock about the loneliness of the human experience . overall  i love tos and even at its lamest  i  ll always tune in . this episode though  mmm  i wouldn  t purchase it except for a used copy under   .  
stephen king was raised on flicks like this .  flicks not films .  br    br   movies like this and  jeepers creepers  are  throwbacks  to the good  ol day drive  in horror flicks . they are meant to be fun  cheaply made and hopefully a few good scares .  br    br   anyone looking for a theory on the human condition should pass on this creature feature because that  s all this is . . . all it ever will be .  br    br   stop trashing what has already deemed itself as trash .  good  fun  trash   br    br   if you enjoyed this i recommend  jeepers creepers   jeepers creepers      days of night   scarecrows        they live   planet terror   death proof  and  halloween iii season of the witch   
the people who are praising this film are the real disappointments   i am hoping at least that leonard will see some good  out of this  as his life savings were embezzled away by a manager a couple of years ago and he  s over   now . but this film is simply terrible . at the beginning leonard himself says he is not sentimental about his past  and then for the next hour and a half the film emphasizes all the worst sentimental elements of leonard  s songs . it is so bloody precious with its endless close  ups of over emoting singers . cohen  s interview is all done in lo  fi video closeups and i so wanted to see a medium or a long shot of his whole body  i couldn  t care less about the comments of the performers  especially those overblown ego boys edge and bono . none of the performers in this film have done even one song as good as leonard  s own music and if you are thinking about seeing this and you have any doubts at all  heed them . this would be an acceptable pbs special  maybe  for a one time showing . but i will even hesitate at getting a dvd of this . when the film finally shows leonard semi  performing  tower of song  it  s ruined by bono taking a verse . even the occasional good performances  antony  rufus  first number  martha  s the traitor  are spoiled by the context of the rest of this turgid blabla . forget this one  and go buy leonard  s most recent album if you want to pay tribute to him .  
in arlington heights  il we never had a cafeteria in any of the elementary schools       so i rode my bike home from school for lunch and always watched this game . true  i was    but i thought it was the greatest thing on  i  d draw hidden pictures on my blackboard and see if my family or friends could find it . i also remember winning wonderful cars  pontiac or oldsmobile  if the contestant got the final hidden picture game . i even had the home version   br    br   i wonder why this game lasted so briefly . i enjoyed the music and the hidden pictures  the only one i could ever get was the lemon hidden as part of a bridge over a garden stream .  br    br   really good memories are connected with camouflage .  
all logic goes straight out of the train window in this british horror film  set in the london underground and starring the usually reliable franka potente  run lola run   franka plays kate  a businesswoman on the way from an office party to meet friends who falls asleep at an underground station  only to wake up and find she has been locked in and finds herself being chased by  someone  or  something  with killer intentions .  br    br   plot holes and unbelievability are rife and there are very few moments that are actually jumpy  scary but plenty that are just plain dull .  br    br   all in all an unpleasant film that should just stay locked underground forever and do us all a favour .  br    br   the only plus point here is the inclusion in the cast of popular veteran actor ken campbell  who  s done better than this  that  s even including  erasmus microman   .  
monstrous mother  son  duo  alice krige and brian krause  sucks life  force of virgins  and their newest target is pretty but lonely tanya  madchen amick  . however  these monsters are allergic to cat  s scratches . . . i have never been fan of sleazy  overrated bestsellerists like king  koontz or barker  but this b  movie  written by mr dung himself  is actually not near as bad than it could be . yes  it is sometimes jaw  droppingly atrocious  but there is actually some surprisingly impressive touches good old  fashioned graveyard  eerie soundtrack and candlelit  gothic  house  scene  mirror showing the monstrous form of the villains  etc . of course  the film is polluted by mr dung  s potty  mouthed dialogue and all  tactics  of  toilet  seat obsession to vilify fat people  leading to totally pointless subplot of rapist teacher  but there is roses among manure .  
hey   br    br   if your going to make a documentary about leonard cohen try making it about leonard cohen  this is filled with only enough leonard to anger the viewer who will be left wondering why they are listening to all these other singers  some of them questionable  talk about themselves . puleeze . . . . sounds like them reliving their diary entries in junior high  who cares about you  what about leonard  guess what people  if you  do something  worthy maybe someone will make a documentary about you . i found particularly insulting the parading of u   s members as if that would add credibility to this movie  not . leonard doesn  t need bono or the edge talking about his spirituality . what would have been nice would have been for the filmmakers to embody some piece of his spirituality through the film . gee  what a concept  i will give props to rufus wainwright and jarvis cocker for their covers of cohen tunes  the rest of the performances were a bore and some were unbearable .  br    br   cohen fans  don  t say i didn  t warn you   
although written by stephen king  an overrated writer if there ever was one  this is actually quite entertaining b  movie . vampiric  incestuous creatures who live in the candle  lit house and drain the life  force of virgins  great graveyard scenery  heroic cats and very pretty virgin . the soundtrack even has enya  s music  an idea which i found quite . . . nice . i  m sure king is disappointed to this little movie  although it has crappy dialogue and ideas  all of them from a true and tedious king potboiler .  albeit sleepwalkers  if i  m understood right  is a script without any novel or short story behind it  . still  those touches of sewer  odors show he didn  t use a ghost  writer after all . . .  
this film should have been only   minutes . i mean there is really only   minute worth of watchable content in this thing  i even hesitate to call it a movie  . the opening credits of the film was somehow promising . as the film begins by short comments of the man himself  you really rub your hands and stay tuned for more footage from cohen  s life . well  nick cave does a reasonable job covering one of cohen  s famous songs . the length of cave  s performance makes you even more eager to see more of cohen whose wit and well spoken words have already tickled your fancy . but as it turns out cave  s performance is only the start of lengthy super boring performances by literally a bunch of no ones who don  t even have a minimal attraction to keep you on your seat . i mean what does the filmmaker really think  five  minute close  up shots of wanna be singers in a fake concert in australia    what does the filmmaker really think to insult the audience by adding  fake applause  to these endless nasty performances . the film is a perfect torture that shows you very little of what you came to see . there is not a single footage of cohen  s past . in fact  except for a few photographs of his early days as a singer  poet there is absolutely nothing  if you add up all the minutes that cohen talks it may not even reach   minutes . but these   minutes are tortuously presented bit by bit in between disastrous camera  work that captures some of the most unattractive people screaming cohen  s lyrics . if you ever decided to waste your money on this film  don  t  just throw it in the garbage and at least save your time .  
best stephen king film alongside it  though this one is more fun than scary .  br    br   this one  s got it all  br    br    a great cast with a alice krige and brian krause and a fun cameo from king himself  br    br    well dosed horror in an amusing storyline  br    br    great use of music  santo  johnny  s  sleepwalk  in particular  br    br    likeable characters in a typical king setting middle of nowhere village  br    br    lots of humor . you can  t really get good scares here because it  s too much fun and over the top  br    br    old but really nice makeup effects like they don  t make anymore   br    br   a    rating i don  t get it really . when was the last time a horror film was as much fun as this one   
what kind of a documentary about a musician fails to include a single track by the artist himself   unlike  ray  or countless other films about music artists  half the fun in the theater  or on the couch  is reliving the great songs themselves . here  all the tracks are covers put on by uninteresting characters  and these renditions fail to capture cohen  s slow  jazzy style . more often  the covers are badly sung folk versions . yuck .  br    br   the interviews are as much or more with other musicians and figures rather than with cohen himself . only rarely does the film feature cohen reading his own work  never singing    like letters  poems  etc . the movie really didn  t capture much about the artist  s life story  either  or about his development through the years . a huge disappointment for a big cohen fan .  
there  s a legion of mick garris haters out there who feel he couldn  t direct a horror film of quality if he had to . and  sleepwalkers  . . screenplay written by stephen king  is often used as an example of this . i like sleepwalkers  though i fully am aware that garris just says fck it and lets all hell break loose about fifteen or so minutes into the movie . forget character or plot development  who needs them anyway . it  s about violent mayhem and bloody carnage as a mother and son pair of  sleepwalkers   . . feline  human shapeshifting creatures who suck the lifeforce from virginal female innocents  moving from town to town  living a nomadic existence  truly powerful  set their sights on a teenager who doesn  t surrender without a fight . before all is said and done  many will be slaughtered as a mother shan  t tolerate the possible death of her beloved son .  br    br   garris wastes little time setting up those to be executed  as a teacher  glenn shadix   suspecting handsome  all american charmer charles brady  brian krause  to be someone entirely different from who he claims  gets his hand ripped off and his neck torn into . charles lures pretty virgins into his arms  drawing their energy  in turn  feeding  his hungry mama  mary  alice krige  . the fresh new target is tanya robertson  mdchen amick   and she seems to be easy pickens  but this will not be the case and when charles is seriously injured in a struggle  . . thanks to a deputy  s cat  clovis   mary  s vengeance will be reaped on all those who get her way . mary  come hell or high water  will retrieve tanya in the goal of  refreshing  her dying son .  br    br   like many teenagers  i had a crush on certain actresses i watched in movies . such as amy dolenz  i was smitten with mdchen amick . she  s simply adorable in this movie and i love how she bites her lower lip displaying an obvious attraction towards charles  unaware of his ulterior motives . i just knew that mdchen amick would be destined to be a scream queen  but this would never be the case . too bad because i would  ve welcomed her in the genre with open arms .  br    br   krige is yummy as the menacing  damn sexy  but vicious and mean bitch who wipes out an entire police force and poor tanya  s parents in one fail swoop  in less than ten or so minutes . she stabs one in the back with a corn cob  she bites the fingers off of poor ron perlman  before cracking his arm  . . a bone protruding   knocking him unconscious with his own elbow  she tosses tanya  s mom through a window after breaking a rose vase over her father  s face  a deputy is stabbed in his ear by charles  cop  kebab    falling on the pencil for extra impact . poor tanya is dragged by her hair from her home by mary  driven to the brady home  and forced into an impromptu dance with the crippled monster  the sheriff is hurled onto a picket fence and we see how cats combat the sleepwalkers unlike humans . we see mary and charles  abilities to  dim  themselves and his car using a power of invisibility . writer stephen king even finds time to include himself and horror director buddies of his in a crime scene sequence with clive barker and tobe hooper as forensics officers  joe dante and john landis as photograph experts .  br    br   the film is shot in a tongue  in  cheek  let  it  all  hang  out manner with music appropriately hammering this technique home . it  s about the ultra  violence  simple as that  with some deranged behavior and jet black humor complimenting garris  direction and king  s screenplay . the incestuous angle of the sleepwalkers is a bit jarring and in  your  face . without a lick of complexity  this is closer in vein to king  s own demented maximimum overdrive than his more serious works .  
i  ve been a fan since his first album . this film is a disservice to him . the performances  except for one by rufus wainwright and teddy thompson are simply terrible .  br    br   those by martha wainwright  nick cave  antony  and jarvis cocker were particularly annoying . even the one by the mcgarrigle sisters was ruined by the so called harmony of martha wainwright .  br    br   i  ve never seen my wife get up and walk out of the room on a film before and i found myself fast forwarding through the performances to get to the few interview segments  which were also difficult to watch due to the poor camera work .  br    br   there are many who have been able to interpret mr . cohen  s songs  jennifer warnes  kd lang  billy joel  aaron neville  and willie nelson come to mind  but those people selected for this performance were just awful .  br    br   hopefully there will be another attempt at capturing leonard cohen on film that will illustrate his insight  talent  and intelligence .  br    br   so sad  
sorry to say i have no idea what hollywood is doing . sure give us movies like batman begins . oh  by the way hollywood i think they may cover the story line in the movie batman  but please don  t entertain us what we would really want to see batman and superman together . i really hated this trailer because it left me wanting for more . i was looking around to see when it was coming out . it was like a terrible practical joke . the graphics where good the story line seemed solid and it had all the trappings of a great movie . unfortunately it  s not going to happen for now . to the producers  directors and all the actors great job but i hate you for doing this to me . you left me wanting more .  
i would not consider myself as one of leonard cohen  s greatest fans . he does however feature as an important poet  musician in my literary  musical heritage . by far the most valuable element in this documentary is to hear leonard  s reflections on his own life and career . warming and humble .  br    br   unfortunately the most of the musicians featured in the concert didn  t converse the nuances of leonard  s musical  literary manner . nick cave  jarvis cocker  beth orton were the exceptions  even though leonard highly values rufus wainrights interpretations of his songs .  br    br   what particularly failed in this documentary was the ability of the filmmaker to allow the viewer to see who leonard cohen is and how these musicians connect to him . a lot is said in this respect  but the viewer is not drawn into the person leonard cohen . this failing is especially evident with the interviews with bono and the edge . they view leonard as a special icon  but can  t translate their exact value of leonard cohen . the collaboration with u  is a farce . the entire live registration looks like a rushed job . and just as in the whole film  only leonard cohen remains his part and can tell about his own part .  br    br   the entire montage and screenplay is much like a high school extramural project . the use of effects such as echo  slow  motion or flashed images are ill placed . some of the camera  work is dismal . part of the score hardly recalls any associations i may have expected . at times it seemed the filmmaker was adding psychotic elements to the film . perhaps a reference to his once use of lsd .  br    br   some unintentional humor . . . at some point leonard tells how he influenced a musical genre . initially he can  t recall the genre  s name  until eventually he says it was punk  the punksters really picked up on his music . the next scene in the film is a live cover of  i can  t forget  . . .  br    br    and i can  t forget  i can  t forget i can  t forget but i don  t remember who   
after seeing the terrible  terrible  terrible batman dead end i knew i had to see this as soon as i heard about it .  br    br   pressing play to view the trailer i thought i was in for another hideous short from what so  far looked like another bad wannabe film  maker trying to bring new depth to an existing character . but was instead greeted with a greatly put together trailer for a movie that sadly doesn  t exist  as i would love to see a finished movie even if it was only   minutes long .  br    br   world  s finest makes up for batman dead end and then some .  br    br   i look forward to the next short   
the saddest thing about this  tribute  is that almost all the singers  including the otherwise incredibly talented nick cave  seem to have missed the whole point where cohen  s intensity lies by delivering his lines in an almost tuneless poise  cohen transmits the full extent of his poetry  his irony  his all  round humanity  laughter and tears in one .  br    br   to see some of these singer upstarts make convoluted suffering faces  launch their pathetic squeals in the patent effort to scream  i  m a singer    is a true pain . it  s the same feeling many of you probably had listening in to some horrendous operatic versions of simple songs such as lennon  s  imagine .  nothing  simply nothing gets close to the simplicity and directness of the original . if there is a form of art that doesn  t need embellishments  it  s cohen  s art . embellishments cast it in the street looking like the tasteless make  up of sex for sale .  br    br   in this cohen  s tribute i found myself suffering and suffering through pitiful tributes and awful reinterpretations  all of them entirely lacking the original irony of the master and  if truth be told  several of these singers sounded as if they had been recruited at some asylum talent show . it  s cohen doing a tribute to them by letting them sing his material  really  not the other way around they may have been friends  or his daughter  s  he could have become very tender  hearted and in the mood for a gift . too bad it didn  t stay in the family .  br    br   fortunately  but only at the very end  cohen himself performed his majestic  tower of song   but even that flower was spoiled by the totally incongruous background of the u   all of them carrying the expression that bored kids have when they visit their poor grandpa at the nursing home .  br    br   a sad show  really  and sadder if you truly love cohen as i do .  
i  ve just seen it . . . . for those who don  t know what it is  i suggest to download the entire feature and enjoy viewing it . . . it  s kinda amateur made trailer featuring the same producer of the famous short batman dead end  but this time besides the black knight there is also superman . . . it would be wonderful if they made the entire movie . . . but i  m afraid that it  s almost impossible  especially just before the official batman  film .  br    br     there is no greater crime against peace than the refusal to fight for it .  br    br   lorenzo  purifier  pinto  
this film was a disaster from start to finish . interspersed with performances from  the next generation of beautiful losers  are interviews with bono and the edge as well as the performers themselves . this leaves little time for the clips of leonard cohen himself  who towers over everyone else in the film with his commanding yet gentle presence  wisdom and humor . the rest are too busy trying to canonize him as st . leonard or as some old testament prophet . many of the performances are forgettable over  interpretations  especially rufus  martha wainright  s  or bland under  achievements . only beth orton and anthony got within striking distance of leonard  s own versions by using a little restraint . annoying little pseudo  avant  garde gestures are sprinkled throughout the film  like out of focus superimpositions of red spheres over many of the concert and interview shots  shaky blurred camera work  use of digital delay on some of leonard cohen  s comments  making it harder to hear what  s being said  and a spooky  pretentious low drone under a lot of the interview segments  an attempt at added gravitas   . for the real thing  see the songs from the life of documentary produced by the bbc in     .  
after seeing the  batman dead end  short  i didn  t know what to really expect from world  s finest . of course  superman and batman . all my world  s finest comic books have them as the team  up .  br    br   after seeing this   and  a  half minute trailer  it made me wish someone would make a serialized fan film for world  s finest  if not an actual full  length film .  br    br   sure  some of the superman stuff was cheesy  but movie trailers in theaters are always teasers  giving you only certain aspects of the entire product . this looks like it needs a complete product .  br    br   other than director sandy collera  s relative playing an achingly poor perry white  most of the actors were unknown . if an actual movie was made  actors would be cast to fit the bill for the film  though i believe nina kaczorowski would make a good lois lane  especially if given closer  to  the  character dialogue .  br    br   good to see clark bartram wearing the batman costume from dead end  but it should be updated a bit more and not be like the   s batman with the   s    s leather cape and cowl . his demeanor is batman  like  but i still wonder about the validity of white contact lenses instead of just allowing his eyes to show through the mask . i believe the goal was to get it as close to the comic character than the movie persona .  br    br   michael o  hearn cannot play superman  period . he stands around with a goofy look on his face that simply says   slap me .  and line delivery seems to be a problem with him .  br    br   overall  though  i would love to see a complete story and film based on this ingenious piece of work . there was a rumor about a world  s finest movie being made  and with the correct additions to the script  this could be it . hope more like this are made .  
sure  if you ask any mom who  s the most beautiful baby in the world  she  d tell you her son is the most amazing kid in the whole world . she  s right  at least in her own world .  br    br   the producers of the movie were biggie  s mother and his good friend puffy . oh  well  do i need to say more  i  ll break it down for those who doesn  t want to do a simple deduction .  br    br   the whole movie was fake . you may just put a few biggie  s mtv video together and call it a movie .  br    br   the beautiful angela bassett played biggie  s mother . the real one in life looks like a dog .  br    br   i just wonder why he called himself biggie small . big body small dick  big mouth small sound  big fat small eyes  disclaimer i  m a person of color . so keep your racist remark to yourself .  
another exquisite taste of what a superhero movie should be after batmandead end that just helps stimulate our taste buds and leave us wanting more  this is what a real superhero movie should look like and feel like  even tough this is a fanfilm of sorts . the attention to detail  character and action is undeniably real . although this is a limited resources production  it puts to shame big budgeted  star  casted  hyped productions  other  superhero related movies . here the main and supporting characters act and look like they are real life people . finally  a superman that actually looks  super  and looks like the real thing  batman the way it should be  without the flashy rubber  casted  ripped body armor to hide scrawny physiques for over paid actors that don  t deliver . i just wish that some sensible warner bros . exec gives the ok to produce a full length adaptation of this jewel . i don  t care if it goes to theaters or straight to dvd  i would never get tired of watching it . just the plot itself is worth my hard earned dough for this . hope the  bigwigs  at marvel  dc productions take a look and see what a real well produced superhero movie should look . no more  batman  robin  fiasco  or hulk  daredevil  etc . learn from these small time directors and learn that there shouldn  t be any reason to  reinvent  the hero for the movie  just to have it  bomb  in theaters . mr . collora . . . we need more directors like you    
if you didn  t live in the    s or didn  t listen to rapper ever   this movie might be ok for you  but any for any fan or any single person who ever listened to rap this movie was boring and there was no point in the movie where i said thats interesting or i didn  t know that . another thing that bugged me was it made it look like anything in his life he did was very easy there was no struggle he made jail look easy  selling drugs  and even rapping it wasn  t realistic . i think if the movie where released in about   years from now it might have more of an impact maybe    good rap movies hustle and flow  get rich or die trying not notorious  
batman and superman . iconic . the better part of a century old . who doesn  t know of these two  there must be countless of fans who would die to make a film about them . sandy collora went ahead and put together a trailer for such a film  which does not exist  and is not being created  much less by this team  . perhaps what this has most going for it is how polished it is . throughout  the cinematography is solid . the editing is spot  on . the production values  even with the costumes looking more like their comic counterparts than the ones of the feature films featuring these character  are quite high . it looks quite  hollywood   this trailer . the physical types fit for  as far as i can tell  every single character . the lines are reasonably written . the shots are well  thought up  nicely achieved and fairly effective . however  this does have problems  and in spite of looking good  it doesn  t quite match the energy and skill of grayson  which only had the problem of teeter  tottering too much back and forth between a short and a trailer  as well as unbridled passion leading to the inclusion of too many characters and ideas  . the acting is perhaps the most evident . it  s . . . not good . even some of those who only have one line and  or hardly appear on  screen at all manage to fail at delivering a good performance . the actors cast in the parts seem to have been chosen more for how much they look like the characters they  re playing than their talent . then there is the writing . really  the plot  well  what minuscule amount there is  this and this character team up  something about some evil plot . . .  is fine . there is a problem in the characterization . while most characters seem to fit  two  face is  well  about as much as a cackling lunatic  which is quite simply  as far as i  ve understood  not what the character is  as he was in batman forever  and having your work on portraying any element of the batman universe compared to joel schumacher  s efforts can be considered the greatest insult to a fan  . also  putting that character in this is going to cause comparisons between this trailer and that film  honestly  collora is practically begging for it with such a similar initial reveal  to be made  and  let  s face it  this loses in every respect . michael antonik most definitely does not possess the screen presence that tommy lee jones does  and the make  up  which  in aforementioned reveal  is essential  isn  t as strong as that of the film  whether or not it was good in the film is another matter  . the sad thing is that while fiorella  john  who created grayson  seems to be far more into the comics  and get them  the depth of them  better  not to mention possessing more of an ability to come up with compelling plot . . . grayson had enough material for half a dozen feature films  or more   collora seems to be the one with access to funds and the one who  s more likely to have contacts  on account of having non  indie credits on his filmography  to actually have a shot at making an actual feature out of his trailer . i intend to watch other of collora  s work . but fiorella is the one of the two whose work i will most definitely be most interested in . i recommend this to fans of the characters .      
i thought the movie was ok but very disappointed that they didn  t capture the true image of his life . i was so anticipating to see his mother being an actual jamaican  that it  s driving me crazy . just watching the beginning of the movie told me that the movie was not accurate . which i completely lost interest just a matter of seconds from the beginning of the movie . i  m very disappointed  that  s like watching a biography story on mark anthony and having arnold play the part . i don  t know what the writer was thinking missing a valuable piece of the movie which i  m sure his mother played a huge role in his life . i will say the movie was ok besides the major fla        
this game show lasted just one season  but was intriguing to audiences because it required visual aptitude and a steady hand . one false move would disqualify the contestant from winning the prize  even though it was clear the contestant knew the correct answer . it was always exciting as the contestant began drawing  wondering if they would complete the drawing or be buzzed out allowing the other contestant to easily win the contest . it was a light  hearted show  but it was clear that the contestants were often times embarrassed from a silly mistake made unintentionally . rarely seen  the game show did not survive past one single season . only a seasoned game show addict will remember this show  as it proved to be quite unpopular  even though game shows were making a big return to the tv screen after the scandals of the      s game shows . but it was a unique concept for a game show  and one that has as yet never been seen again .  
this is quite possibly the worst film i have ever seen . worse than the most abhorrent american dross worse than glitter  mariah carey in american dross par excellence . i can only imagine that the writer and producer were taking huge amounts of recreational pharmaceuticals  and when discussing the plot actually thought it was a good idea . it  s not . it is abject rubbish from very bowels of satan himself  who could probably have written a better script had he put his mind to it  . robert jones as exce producer  spending our tax payers money  lottery money folks  on this piece of nonsense  should be accountable . who on earth thought it would be a good idea to re  make deathline    i ask you  camp as a christmas tree  deathline . . .  mind the doors  is classic of really bad british film  we really don  t need a reminder . and we certainly don  t need a poor  second rate  badly scripted  badly developed and badly piece of rubbish like this . all this this from the uk funding agency that brought us sex lives of the potato men . . . i rest my case .  br    br   do not pay any money to see this . it is absolute and utter crap  the one saving grace for the producers is that they got a huge wedge of cash . . . our cash . . . for making it . they should hang their heads in shame .  br    br   i am staggered at the low  low standard of this film . it makes me mgr that our national body for the support of film actually thought it was worth supporting . there is no hope for the british film industry whilst idiots are running the show . harvey wienstein where are you  come back  we forgive you     
this short film trailer is basically about superman and batman working together and forming an uneasy alliance . obviously  the two characters have vastly differing views on how to deal with crime and what constitutes punishment . it  s a lot of fun to see these two iconic characters try to get along . i won  t go int to the storyline here . but i will get into the acting  which is terrific . everyone is well cast . the two actors playing superman and batman are well suited to their characters . the same filmmakers that made batman dead end and grayson also made this short film . of the three  i probably liked this one the least  but i still thought it was well done . for me  world  s finest is a      
look  i  m reading and reading this comments and there  s a lot of it that i wanna say but i will try to make it short but clean . . .  br    br   first of all  lets forget all of the things how bad this movie was made . . . how it didn  t show anything of notorious and i agree with the most people here saying that it was  hollywood   i mean  what did you expect a real life story  when will people wake up and see that u will never ever find the real truth about  pac and biggie . . . its all covered up and buried deep down .  br    br   second  i  m not against neither  pac or biggie i love them both but  pac and lil kim did get embarrassed in this movie for sure . . .  br    br   next  for all of ya that are saying that the movie is awesome and cant see the truth  either u are too blind too see it because u think u know something about big or you don  t know anything about him at all and u love this hollywood teenage movies . use your mind and see though the clouds . . . there is a lot of it you could say when it gets to this topic  i did not say    of what i have to say because its a very wide topic but for the movie i can only say that it could have been a little bit  i mean a much better done . but anyways i  m just some person giving her opinion . . . . no hard feelings . . .  br    br   look  i love hip hop and i live for it but after seeing this movie every person with a little intelligence could see that this is not how someone is suppose to live . with all do respect for  pac and big  like all the other artists who are making for a living like this should turn the other page because u are ruining the youth . . . . bringing the wrong message to the children and that is not going to school but living from the streets  hustling and just grabbing for the paper . . . .  br    br   the true hip hop is suppose to be about love and intelligence  be smart and all .  br    br   ok i know that many of you will think that i  m crazy  but this is just my point of view . look i am maybe wrong about something and im not saying this is a completely bad movie because even if i  m in hip hop for      years i still don  t know anything bout  pac or biggie no matter how many articles i read or how much i support them and listen to their music . . . like most of you all out there . only people who were really close to them and the killers know the truth behind all this .  br    br   and for the end i just wanna say for all of ya biggie and tupac fans and family  this two men were and will be the greatest of all time  no matter how they lived their lives but please in the future try to be better  learn and love each other  think good even for the ones that don  t like you  because at the end . . . its not about how many money or fame u could get and how fast u could get to the top  its about accomplishing your self to the fullest and feeding your soul  your body and mind . . . because if u manage to do that  you will be living a life even after death     peace and love to ya all     rip biggie   pac  aaliyah  left eye  jam master jay and the others who make a change in this world      
this is a fan  made short film that pretends to be a preview for a new movie that pairs batman and superman  it  s the sort of film that fans adore and watch at places like comiccon and was made by the same person who made batman dead end  sandy collora .  br    br   as far as this film goes  i could easily pick it apart . sure the cgi effects aren  t perfect and the costumes are far from perfect . but  this was made on a shoestring budget and for a fan film this is incredible . i was particularly impressed by the very buff superman   he was no wimpy little guy  if only this were a preview for a real film   they  d have fans lined up from here to omaha to see it . great job .  
as a fan of notorious b . i . g .  i was looking forward to this movie . i am unfortunate to see it is a terrible movie . jamal woodward is not convincing or realistic enough to portray notorious b . i . g . a lot of the story follows notorious b . i . g .  s real son  christopher jordan wallace as notorious b . i . g . as a kid . unfortunately  he is not convincing enough to pay tribute to his father . derek luke is just as unconvincing as sean  puffy  combs . in a nutshell  no one is convincing enough to play their roles here . the big problem with this are these are actual people they are playing . it was boring  and did not give any information about notorious b . i . g . that fans and non  fans alike did not already know . i was especially disappointed with angela bassett  a very good actress wasted here as voletta wallace . the movie slugs and slugs along thinking that notorious b . i . g . fans will spend tons of money on it . i am unfortunate to say that that happened . it  s nowhere close to a good movie . i was expecting so much out of it  but unfortunately i didn  t get anything i wanted from this . i think you should definitely skip this one .  
i really liked batman dead end  i thought that it had a theatrical feel to it and that given a chance collora could make a fine film . this trailer didn  t quite give me the same impression . the story line  or potential story line  was quite good but due to the acting and special effects left me feeling like this would have made a good tv movie or television show .  br    br   first  michael o  hearn is not that good a superman . i actually thought he  in his brief appearance  made a decent clark kent . sorry  i just don  t think of superman as being that buff . the suit kent wore masked his size . batman may have the body of a bodybuilder but not superman . supes is toned no doubt but not bulk . anyway  i didn  t care for all his posing and his transformation from kent to superman seemed cheezy . now this may not be just o  hearn  s fault  collora may have to take some of the credit for poor scripting and direction .  br    br   second  the special effects for flying were cheezy . superman flies through the sky . if was obvious that this superman flew close to the ground  with the telephone cables and buildings visible above him . i don  t think there were any full body shots of superman flying . evidently the harness and rigging supporting o  hearn must have been located on his lower torso .  br    br   all in all it was a good trailer . i  d probably pay to see a film  if ever made  and would be sure to catch it on television . the story line  an alliance between lexcorp and wayne industries  superman jealous of lois  s attraction to wayne  lex and twoface teaming to beat superman and the joining of forces between batman  superman is a good one . i  m sure with a larger budget and approval for a full film collora and company  even o  hearn could deliver a decent film . certainly one better than the most of the comic based crap coming out of hollywood lately .  
if this is supposed to be the black experience  let me out at either the front or back door .  br    br   a mama  s boy one day sees  young hoods walk by and from then on it  s all down hill for him . angela bassett  the one shining grace in this film  plays his over protective  religious mother . despite her anger at how his life has turned  by the middle of the picture  she really decides to accept this . she allows his friends to come in and suddenly it  s all right to use the profanity as long as it  s not in front of the children .  br    br   this is a sad state of affairs regarding gangster rap . you knew where this film was heading .  br    br   i literally laughed out loud when at the end  when bassett is accompanying her son  s body for burial  she states that while his life had been cut short at age    he had become a man . what man  he had been a convicted criminal  wrote the most atrocious rap music with constant vulgarity  and scorned society . that scene in the classroom where he tells a teacher that as a sanitation worker  he will earn more than the teacher is a perfect example of what goes on in our schools . the complete and utter lack of respect for the teacher .  br    br   the east coast  west coast gang rap rivalry is never fully explained . all we see are guns blazing .  br    br   a terrible picture doing nothing to prevent gang violence . what horrible role models are these rap singers and their foul music . the african american community should take umbrage at their very being . who was this classless fat slob who portrayed biggie  he made rerun from the old television show look thin by comparison . i know it was the streets of bedford stuyvesant that changed this chubby little boy into the vulgar monster that he was . what a sorry state of affairs when this is called motion picture entertainment .  
this film is really cool . every thing looks like it came out of the comic book . the sets  the costumes  and the plot is great . clark bartram is again our favorite batman . he looked a bit better in dead end  but he still pulls it off . superman is great too . the flying effects are ok . but its a fan  film so we cant expect them to be the greatest . the shot with superman catching the car was very believable . it was cool . this is a movie i would definitely see if it were real . its got every thing you would want in a batman  superman movie . one exception though  i would cast the joker instead of   face . . . . . overall i give this film a   because its a great film .  
this film reminded me of the sopranos  and not in a good way .  br    br   david chase  s seminal mob opera only ever put its foot wrong twice  the most jarring and inexplicable instance of which took place in its fourth season  when junior soprano went on trial for his life . rather than pursue this riveting  and pivotal  plot line  the writers instead chose to completely ignore it  focusing instead on bobby baccalieri  s constant whimpering over his recently deceased wife  s frozen pasta dish .  br    br   when something of genuine interest happens in notorious  for example that first  mysterious assassination attempt on tupac shakur that ignited the whole east coast  west coast feud in the first place  and ended up leading to the deaths of both tupac and christopher wallace  the film treats it as just another bit of plot to plod through . why exactly was tupac so convinced that he was sold out by his own people  did he alone nurture his subsequent affiliation with suge knight  and was lil  kim  s transformation from prim office drone into sex  obsessed  vampish diva really as banal as it appears here   br    br   none of these questions are even fleetingly addressed by the film  s screenwriters  who are far more interested in depicting wallace  s turbulent love life to zero compelling dramatic avail . these sequences  including a brain  frazzlingly clichd groupie indescretion in a hotel room  are so toothless and bruisingly manipulative that the only real comparison to be made is with a network tv movie .  br    br   the storytelling  in both structure and content  is simplistic and trite . but more fundamentally  as a biopic as something designed to celebrate its subject and educate the uninitiated on the intricacies of their life and work the film is almost entirely worthless . the reliance on meat  and  potatoes genre plotting  coupled with the lifeless musical performances  an area in which a film like this should soar  surely  result in a film that appears to have been designed only to satisfy the whims and demands of those involved  leaving wallace  s questionable status as a giant in his field as the preserve of the easily persuaded and previously converted only .  br    br   and the final twenty minutes  in which wallace  s posthumous cultural identity is broadly painted as being akin to that of a latter day saint  quite frankly made me feel like throwing up .  br    br   on that score  much as with any other  notorious is crass  calculating and compromised .  
i  ll say this to begin with . . . why  oh why  can  t wb do what these short film directors do  sandy is obviously an amazing director  and deserves some credit from wb and dc . but i guess they  re kinda put on edge when a man with a        budget can make a super  hero fan drool . the world  s finest is one of the best short films i  ve ever seen  trailer or not .  br    br   i think choosing a bodybuilder  mike o  hearn  to play superman was a genius choice . let  s face it people  superman is no super  model . he may be handsome  but a gq stud he is not . and i don  t know what that guy a few comments above me was on  but superman is actually pretty beefy  have you ever actually read a superman comic   . i guess that fact alone just floors me . . . it seems like such an obvious choice to get someone with some actual muscle  mass to play a super  hero  rather than a pretty  face . same thing for batman  bartram is in incredible shape  and an excellent batman . . . i don  t know guys . . . if given a bigger budget  and his own movie . . . i think bale and bartram would be neck and neck . bottom line  this is one of only a scant few of super  hero movies with actors that actually look the part .  br    br   the acting is pretty nice as well . i don  t know what every one is talking about  o  hearn isn  t that bad . he  s damn convincing as superman  and bartram . . . well  he is batman . i mean  come on people  this movie had a        dollar budget  what were you expecting  . everyone else is great too  except two  face seems a tad crazier than usual . . . but hey  we only have tommy  lee jones as a reference . oh  lois is pretty hot too .  br    br   the sfx are flippin  sweet too . i mean  seeing superman lift the car up . . . man   how cool is that . versus the  tank  scene in grayson  i may have to put this one above that  since mike actually looks like he  s flying  and with ease . the flying sequences left something to be desired  but once again  with a bigger budget . . . oh  and he even used a batmobile   it was probably a model  but it looked damned convincing  .  br    br   all in all  this trailer  s only downfall was a lack of a serious budget . and wb refuses to admit that collora is a credible director  and needs to be apart of some kind a project . . . but no  they  ll  like most of the marvel projects  just keep getting these hack directors who show almost no regard for the fans and what they care about  and keep churning out these gamble movies . thank god superman returns was a hit  or that seriously would  ve been the end of it . world  s finest is excellent  and in my book  counts as a superhero movie .  
not exactly my genre  this straight  to  dvd street fight action is one i only encountered due to a friend putting it on whilst we had a few beers . i  m relatively open minded  and quite a fan of eamonn walker  so i sat back ready to enjoy myself .  br    br   blood and bone is the story of isiah bone  an ex  con who becomes a street fighter for unclear reasons which eventually unfold as the film progresses . blah blah blah .  br    br   what a tedious film . i understand that films like this don  t rely hugely on plot  but do they have to stuff in such a silly  predictable and entirely stupid storyline  it may not be important  but by golly gum does it annoy me . better no plot and pure action than a clche  ridden fleabag mongrel of a narrative . infused with entirely unfounded and unachieving sentimental drivel  it is the cinematic equivalent of a thin  skinned turkey stuffed with rotten innards . i should probably at this point mention what is  of course  the film  s drawing point the fighting . even in itself  the fighting is rather poor . bone manages to take out well established tough  man street fighters in single punches  a large oaf or two is the filmmakers  laughworthy attempt to rectify this inconsistency   fighters who never seem to conclude that attacking one by one is a foolish ploy . even this is repetitive and stupid  arms broken and faces kicked with a steady alacrity that we get to see time and time again .  br    br   a run of the mill  film  by  numbers movie which fully deserves its straight to dvd status  doing absolutely nothing new and everything we  ve seen time and time again . and not even particularly well .  
let me make one thing clear . for the most part  the mentality of those who run the show in hollywood frankly psses me right off in general and even more specifically in relation to its treatment of much loved  iconic characters from the pages of comic books . why  well let  s take a typical hollywood executive board meeting scenario to illustrate shall we . .  br    br   executive no .   hey there  s lots of dollars to be gleaned from superhero flicks these days .   br    br   executive no .   good point  let  s make one with haste then   we  ll do a lucky dip in a hat and pick out a superhero at random to base a film upon    the dip takes place and a famous superheroes name is pulled out   br    br   executive no .   great  now who can we get to play the part    br    br   executive no .   who  s a big box office star at the moment    br    br   executive no .   name of big actor is the in thing this week .   br    br   executive no .   but does he really suit the role  i mean he doesn  t resemble the character whatsoever .   br    br   executive no .   who cares   he  s a big name we  ll make the film with him in it anyway .   br    br   executive no .   you  re quite right  and besides we  ll fill the entire film so chock full of glitzy special effects to appease the moronic masses that no one will ever question it anyway    br    br   the above scenario clearly illustrates one of the reasons i generally loath most modern superhero movies . all style  no substance and simply pathetic casting of the iconic leads . of course to be equitable  there are exceptions to the above rule when hollywood does get it right  take the casting of the original  and still easily the best   superman christopher reeve and more recently patrick stewart and sir ian mckellen in the x  men films .  br    br   but back to the general negative traits displayed by hollywood today . . wouldn  t it be wonderful if our studio executives were to always choose actors who actually suited the roles  well in this less than ideal world  one filmmaker does just this believe it or not  by casting actors based upon their genuine resemblance to their comic book counterparts . his name is sandy collora . sadly  but typically  hollywood has not as of yet allowed collora to direct a full length film but luckily for us  he has given us tantalizing glimpses of what the finished outcome would likely look like in the form of two  as of yet  famous super hero short features . one is the superb batmandead end and the other is this mock trailer for an entirely fictitious film called worlds finest .  br    br   well  let  s not mince our words here  this is absolutely awesome stuff   br    br   the casting of mr . universe winner and male model michael o  hearn   who looked similarly awesome but was utterly wasted in the lackluster barbarian  makes for the most perfect choice to play the iconic man of steel . in fact  in terms of physical resemblance  there has undoubtedly never been a closer approximation to the comic character .  br    br   added to this clark bartram is back fresh from his splendid portrayal as the dark knight in batmandead end again  yet another hugely judicious piece of casting   br    br   what can i say   if only this was indeed a real  full length film  hollywood studio executives  take note  this is how it should be done   br    br   as a final note  i am once again intrigued by the vastly split reactions this short film has evoked from fans . tellingly  the most acerbic and vehemently adverse reactions against it clearly come once more  as similarly with batman dead end  from a younger  less cinematically experienced audience a fact betrayed by their somewhat grammatically primitive rants and liberal usage of base diction . such an unfortunate state of closed mindedness is indeed a sad phenomenon albeit one that our aforementioned studio executives in hollywood  will no doubt derive great satisfaction from . after all  these very same misguided individuals are in all probability the exact same sort of cgi addicted  popcorn stuffing imbeciles that revel in the majority of crap that hollywood churns out by the deluge these days .  
a black guy fights . . . . . and supposedly wins . . . . yeah . . .     . obviously fiction .  br    br   so we  re presented with a damm nice title  a real nice tag line and even a nice plot line . . thats about it  thats where it ends . . we move into fiction after that .  br    br   michael jai white  the black guy so don  t get confused with the name . . portrays a black guy . . umm  thats all there is to the name . .  br    br   its so hard to find decent help  must have hired the black guys friends to help cause the low budget  low ineptness of this movie  has the camera  s shadow trailing the first scenes . . . . yeah obvious idiot moment for the average guy like you and me . . but yeah . . .  br    br     lines . review submitted  . if you paid to see this movie  you got screwed .  
  world  s finest  is an unique project . it  s a trailer for a superman  batman crossover movie that doesn  t exists and will also never exists  at least not in this form  with these characters  actors and plot line anyway .  br    br   so the movie is one big tease  even more than standards everyday real movie trailers . the trailer will hype you all up for nothing . in that regard  i really didn  t liked this short project . when watching this trailer it makes you hungry and excited for more and at the same time sad  and perhaps you  ll even feel cheated afterward  when it turns out that a full length movie of this trailer will never exist at all . sort of makes you wonder why this project was made in the first place . surely to show off sandy collora  s skills but couldn  t he had also done this with a real movie short  like his earlier movie  batman dead end  .  br    br   but when you have to judge this short purely for what it is  so from a movie technical point of view  it  s a really great one . it  s great looking and way more professional than you  ll perhaps at first would expect  although the people who  ve already seen  batman dead end  will already know better than to expect a short with cardboard sets  cheap homemade costumes and third  rate actors . the short is not constantly impressive looking and obviously the budget wasn  t sky  high but for most part it  s very impressive and professional looking  with nice costumes  sets  special effects  cinematography and lighting .  br    br   the short has a good quick and typical trailer build up  with perhaps a bit too many posing shots too completely find it credible but hey  it works well for the trailer style . it has some impressive shots but also a couple of lame ones  mainly the superman flying sequences . it was obvious that the guy was just standing at a moving car  with a camera aimed at him from an angle below . i even found it a pretty laughable thing to watch . but really the better and more spectacular moments really compensate for this .  br    br   michael o  hearn seemed like a pretty good superman  clark kent  although he obviously isn  t the greatest talented actor around . clark bartram reprises his batman role well again and kurt carley seemed like an awesome lex luthor . the rest of the cast also served its purpose well enough .  br    br   it  s especially interesting to watch this short after the recent new modern reinterpretations of the two main superheroes of this movie  in the movies  batman begins  and  superman returns  . it  s interesting to compare the style and character treatment of those movies with this one . it  s actually amazing and fun to hear how much kurt carley does sound like kevin spacey  the actor who played lex luthor in  superman returns  .  br    br   it  s a good looking and well made and constructed trailer that however will makes you hungry for more  even though you know that there won  t be more . whatever happened to the waner bros . plans to create an actual full length superman  batman movie by the way  i thought that developments were underway for it a couple of years ago but nothing has been heard of it ever since . instead two new separate batman and superman movies were made  batman begins  and  superman returns  .  br    br        
there is absolutely no plot in this movie . . . no character development . . . no climax . . . nothing . but has a few good fighting scenes that are actually pretty good . so there you go . . . as a movie overall is pretty bad  but if you like a brainless flick that offer nothing but just good action scene then watch this movie . do not expect nothing more that just that . decent acting and a not so bad direction . . a couple of cameos from kimbo and carano . . . i was looking to see carano a little bit more in this movie . . she is a good fighter and a really hot girl . . . . white is a great martial artist and a decent actor . i really hope he can land a better movie in the future so we can really enjoy his art . . imagine a film with white and jaa together . . . that would be awesome  
   years old  this musical comedy fantasy might look its age  but it wears it with dignity .  br    br   this film is still great fun . crosby was never really romantic lead material  but he delivers the material with the lightly humorous edge it needs . bendix plays broad and is huge fun in a part which calls upon his strengths . hardwicke  how joyous for a knight of the realm  a genuine one  to throw himself into caperings like this with such abandon . and rhonda fleming enjoys herself in the least showy of the main roles . only murvyn vye disappoints as an unconvincing merlin .  br    br   though not a musical  the songs are very good  and the  dance  routine accompanying busy doing nothing is perfect  funny  appropriate  dexterous without being challenging  and making a virtue out of crosby  s musical movement which  let  s be fair  was inherently amusing due ti its never being his greatest strength .  br    br   the colour is fine  the sound is a little muddy in places .  br    br   and the story  well  it takes some liberties with the original  but i suspect that mr clemens might well have been pleased with the result .  
this is one of the most hateful and cruel movies i  ve seen in a long time . sadly i was duped into sticking with it  since donald sutherland  s presence misleadingly gave it some credibility . that  s the last time that  ll happen .   br    br   lesley ann warren  s character was annoyingly whiny and as stupid as they come . there were smarter characters than hers who were killed in the film . thats just one of many things in this movie that made me ask   where is the justice    br    br   why is late  night cable so filled with sadistic garbage filled with pathological mayhem  most of these films seem to have a particular problem with women  and seem to focus on them being terrorized and murdered . this film could have been every bit as suspenseful without being sick and twisted in the process . all it ends up doing is turning the viewer  s stomach with its sickness  and insulting the viewer  s intelligence .  br    br   the cast is misleadingly good . my guess is that they bagged sutherland first  and used him to lure the others like lemmings into this .  br    br   i  m kicking myself for wasting time  giving this piece of garbage a chance .  
some of the posters seem less than gruntled because this is neither mark twain nor rodgers and hart but clearly it doesn  t pretend to be either . you  ll look a long time to find a greater rodgers and hart fan than me but burke and van heusen weren  t exactly chopped liver in addition to which they knew der bingle inside out and tailored some great songs  but beautiful  moonlight becomes you  it  s always you  the day after forever  etc  to fit his highly personal style and here they come up with yet another fine  and unfairly neglected  ballad  once and for always  plus a couple of upbeat philosophy  lite entries in if you stub your toe on the moon and busy doing nothing . the flimsy plot isn  t meant to be taken seriously  why else make merlin a heavy when in most  if not all  of the other versions he is more a friend  mentor to arthur  so if you start wondering aloud why sir lancelot who has been sold to historians as the epitome of chivalry and uprightness metamorphoses into a schoolyard bully you  re not going to get much fun out of what is essentially a fun movie . on balance it does what it sets out to do  entertain  so good luck to it .  
i won  t mention any of the plot  because  although it would be highly predictable anyway  the one notable plot twist is given away everywhere  in the movie comments  in the plot summary here  and even in the synopsis on my netflix envelope . i might have enjoyed it more if i hadn  t known that . maybe . this film has a deceptively good cast  most of whom did creditable acting with the rather limited material at hand  including donald sutherland  lesley ann warren  and tia carrere and rosemary dunsmore in smaller parts . it was impossible to like william mcnamara  but that was clearly by design . and there were a couple of quick nude scenes by the callipygian lenore zann . but none of this brings the slightest recommendation from me . don  t any of these fine actors actually read these scripts before signing on   
hello again  i have to comment on this wonderful  exciting  and believable tale of romance and intrigue . the music in wonderful and memorable . very good colorful movie . another movie i liked as well later on was high society with bing crosby . wonderful music . thanks for listening  florence forrester  stockton  reno  nevada  
it is not un  common to see u . s . re  makes of foreign movies that fall flat on their face  but here is the flip side    this is an awful re  make of the u . s . movie  wide awake  by the british   br    br    wide awake  is strange but entertaining and funny   liam  on the other hand is just strange . i must give credit to  liam  for one thing  and that is making it clear that i made the right choice in changing my religion   
   days to glory tells the traditional tale with sympathy toward the mexican viewpoint . the major problem in this movie was that while cowboy actor james arness played the part of jim bowie persuasively  the rest of the name actors in the cast brian keith  davy crocket  and lorne greene  sam houston  were too old .  br    br   raul julia played general antonio lopez de santa anna with grace and dignity owed to the professional soldier who after all won the battle . the scene where he upbraids his officers for failing to mount a guard and prevent a sortee is one the scriptwriters did not understand . failing to keep watch is a major remiss in the military . santa anna was within his prerogatives to be angry . raul julia magnificently carried poor writing through the scene .  br    br   kathleen york was an impressive susannah dickinson  a woman who deserves to be remembered for her courage . however  kathleen york might have been reminded that as dickinsons hailed from pennsylvania they probable dis not sound very southron .  
i just rented creep and was not at all impressed . i didn  t feel anything in this film . i felt sick because the gore alone was shocking .  br    br   i walked out of my living room several times in desperation that something would happen with this film . haven  t we seen this all before  i didn  t like any of the characters barr the guy in the sewer cage . i felt bad for him . but then again i couldn  t think as to why he was still alive and not murdered by the creep  so many questions need to be answered .  br    br   someone mentioned references to the ps  game silent hill and i can see similarities vaguely .  br    br   not a bad film  not a good one . judge for yourself .  
this movie is a great . the plot is very true to the book which is a classic written by mark twain . the movie starts of with a scene where hank sings a song with a bunch of kids called  when you stub your toe on the moon  it reminds me of sinatra  s song high hopes  it is fun and inspirational . the music is great throughout and my favorite song is sung by the king  hank  bing crosby  and sir  saggy  sagamore . overall a great family movie or even a great date movie . this is a movie you can watch over and over again . the princess played by rhonda fleming is gorgeous . i love this movie   if you liked danny kaye in the court jester then you will definitely like this movie .  
my first question after seeing this film was   why is the title liam   if the intent was to tell a story from the boy  s perspective  it was not carried out well . of course there was the formulaic use of camera angles in the boy  s scenes  but much of the crucial action took place outside of his field of view . having a  main  character unable to speak  obviously suggesting the mute  powerless position of a child  makes it difficult to give that character much depth .  br    br   melodrama is defined as  dramatic or other literary work characterized by the use of stereotyped characters  exaggerated emotions and language  simplistic morality  and conflict  liam fits this definition to a t . the viewer is hit over the head with the typical stereotypes of the fire and brimstone catholic church in the stern school marm and the well  fed priest squeezing money from parishioners .  a stereotype which is becoming very tiresome .  what  s more   the jewish characters are money lenders and factory owners   br    br   much of the film was predictable . . . who didn  t think that we  d see theresa scrubbing the toilet after her mother had told her  no daughter of mine will scrub another woman  s toilet   i  m a fan of british realism if it  s done well . in my opinion  liam is not .  br    br    
stylishly directed  picturesquely photographed and brilliantly acted  crosby  s interpretation seems exactly right  hardwicke has his best role ever  while bendix is a treat too  this yankee  s appeal is universal and irresistible .  br    br   one of the principal joys of the movie  of course  are the songs . as might be expected  bing is in fine voice . and although hardwicke  s solo has been cut  we can still hear him sing heartily as he dances merrily with crosby and bendix in their famous novelty number   busy doing nothing  . it  s also a treat to hear rhonda fleming  who  although she enjoyed an extensive stage and concert career as a singer  was rarely given a chance to be heard in the cinema . she has a lovely voice that more than matches her ravishing looksand she looks very fetching indeed in her mary kay dodson costumes .  br    br   director tay garnett gets the most out of his lavish budget  using all the resources at his command to present every fabulous scene as effectively as possible .  perhaps the eclipse looks a trifle too contrived  but who  s complaining    br    br   in short  as the trailer actually describes  an entertainment delight from start to finish .  
written by the excellent mcgovern and directed by frears this film was a slight disappointment . it seemed too short . it spent far too long creating the hovis atmosphere  and laughing at the catholic demands . then very quickly you have the fascist and socialists vying for the family  s attention  and the terrible conclusion .  br    br   still my wife thought liam was cute .  
this movie is humorous  charming  and easily becomes a favorite for those who enjoy light entertainment . hollywood is hardly the place for serious history lessons so i simply accept it as is . bing  in his usual inimitable style  performs quite well as the blacksmith  hank martin  who by accident is transported back to another age  the time of king arthur . the beautiful rhonda fleming is breathtaking as alisande  or sandy  the object of hank  s affections although she is betrothed to the brave and formidable sir lancelot  played by henry wilcoxon .  br    br   i just love that episode when king arthur  cedric hardwicke   sir sagramore  wm . bendix   and hank  bing crosby  dress up in tattered clothing and take to the high road with their knapsacks to experience the kingdom at firsthand . king arthur  s comment   i say  we are not alone  while giving his scruffy garments a good scratch  is one of those hilarious moments in the film . william bendix  s portrayal is superbly ridiculous  not to mention his attempts at quaint  ye olde english .   br    br   the story is not deep but it  s well done in my opinion and i enjoy it more each time i see it . it  s great family entertainment too .  br    br    
you do realize that you  ve been watching the exact same show for eight years  right  i could understand the initial curiosity of seeing strangers co  exist on an island  but you  d think that after watching unkempt  stink  ladened heroes run roughshod through the bush with an egg on a spoon for half a decade would be enough to get you to commit to something a little more original  and interesting  .  br    br   and i  m not even speaking of the shows validity which for the record i find questionable . it  s just hard to suspend disbelief for  bushy bill  eating a rat when the entire crew of producers and camera people are housed in an air conditioned make  shift bio  dome sipping frosty mochcinno  s with moxy .  br    br   what  s the appeal here  i don  t care about these people or their meandering lives . i just don  t get it . but if you do find yourself being captivated by hairy  unwashed people  i suggest you turn off your tv and just take a trip to your local bus station where you can see people like this in their true habitat . they call them homeless people  and free of charge  you can sit back and marvel in their uncanny ability to retrieve various cigarette debris from a plethora of garbage canisters  eventually striking  pay  dirt  and fashioning a homemade dr . frankenstein  styled cancer  stick  all the while begging people for change for food when the stink of  aqua velva  on their breath is enough to suggest otherwise . and the best part  much like survivor  every week one member of the tribe  leaves  the  island  when they are unceremoniously sent packing to the local institution when the frightening unmedicated state of full  blown schizophrenia kicks into gear  now that  s entertainment   
i understand that paramount wanted to film this with the rodgers and hart score  but couldn  t work out the copyright problems  so burke and van heusen who wrote the between them the most songs for bing crosby contributed a very nice score .  br    br   i read leonard maltin saying that this movie   fit crosby like a glove  and i couldn  t have put it better . no  it  s not mark twain  s satire  it  s a bing crosby film and in     crosby was the most bankable star in hollywood . for once paramount used technicolor and rhonda fleming was never lovelier on the screen . this was a woman that technicolor was invented for .  br    br   william bendix  s brooklyn origins kinda stand out  but it  s to a good comic effect . the trio of crosby  bendix  and sir cedric hardwicke have a rollicking good time with busy doing nothing . bing has one of his patented upbeat philosophical numbers with if you stub your toe on the moon .  br    br   the third song he sings once and for always by himself and with rhonda fleming . that song was nominated for best song  but lost to baby it  s cold outside .  br    br   nice also that bing managed to record the score for decca with rhonda fleming and bendix and hardwicke .  br    br   one thing i like about this film is that it shows crosby  s comic talents without bob hope . i like the road pictures  but bing was a comic talent onto himself and this film better demonstrates than any other .  br    br   this is crosby at the top of his game .  
how has this piece of crap stayed on tv this long  it  s terrible . it makes me want to shoot someone . it  s so fake that it is actually worse than a     s sci  fi movie . i  d rather have a stroke than watch this nonsense . i remember watching it when it first came out . i thought  hey this could be interesting  then i found out how absolutely  insanely  ridiculously stupid it really was . it was so bad that i actually took out my pocket knife and stuck my hand to the table .  br    br   please people  stop watching this and all other reality shows  they  re the trash that is jamming the networks and canceling quality programming that requires some thought to create .  
i sense out there a mix of confusion and varying degrees of personal taste in the reactions to this film . yes  there are vampire stereotypes . yes  there are scientific stereotypes covered here . even martial arts stereotypes . all well and good  and sure  not all perfectly done . however  i sense one crucial point about this film is being overlooked . . . the cultural significance of its location . the film is set in pensacola  florida  and does not try to avoid saying so . that  s a bold move in the film world today  and a rare treat for fans of indy films . and indeed  it may not be the last . pensacola is world renowned as a navy town  an aviation town  a lumber town  and sometimes even as a hotbed for political controversy . rarely is it seen as a growing film town . but that  s all changing now . more film companies are coming in to shoot . and more native pensacolians are discovering the power of cinema for themselves . this film is part of a growing trend of pensacola  based indy films  and more are on the way . pensacola is making a big noise in the global film community  and by and by  the world is taking more notice . watch and listen  world . the pensacolians are coming . like a virus .  
this show comes up with interesting locations as fast as the travel channel . it is billed as reality but in actuality it is pure prime time soap opera . it  s tries to use exotic locales as a facade to bring people into a phony contest  then proceeds to hook viewers on the contestants soap opera style .  br    br   it also borrows from an early cbs game show pioneer  beat the clock  by inventing situations for its contestants to try  overcome . then it rewards the winner money . if they can spice it up with a little interaction between the characters  even better . while the game format is in slow motion versus beat the clock  the real accomplishment of this series is to escape reality .  br    br   this show has elements of several types of successful past programs . reality television  hardly  but if your hooked on the contestants  locale or contest  this is your cup of tea . if your not  this entire series is as i say  drivel dripping with gravy . it is another show hiding behind the reality label which is the trend it started in     .  br    br   it is slick  well produced  so it might last a while yet . after all  so do re  runs of gilligan  s island  green acres  the beverly hillbillies  the brady bunch . this just doesn  t employ professional actors . the intelligence level is about the same .  
as the maker of  this darkness   i admit we neglected  very important acknowledgments in our end credits . the omissions were over  sights that could not be corrected once committed  nor did the parties involved    who saw the movie    mention it at the time . on behalf of the excellent cast and crew of the film  i extend them an apology . obviously  some criticisms posted here are harsh in light of their credit being accidentally . our production values were negligible and our  special effects  were quite special indeed  but the plot is very strong and the cinematography by john mcleod is superb . we hope you  the reader  enjoy  this darkness  and the efforts of those who worked their butts off for free . thank you  dylan o  leary  director .  
using tons of stock footage  not only from trader horn but also the first two films in the series  for example the alligator fight was used last time out  this is one of the weakest films in the mgm series . its a huge let down after the classic tarzan and his mate which is possibly the best film in the series .  br    br   the plot has jane  s cousins coming into the jungle to tell her that she has inherited a fortune if she  ll come back to claim it . they are kind of in the bind since the relative that left her the money cut them out of the will . hiring a great white hunter  who secretly wishes to capture tarzan and sell him  the pair heads into the jungle where they run into the usual jungle troubles  more so because of the stock footage  . after lots of talk jane decides to go back to civilization and we get long sequences of tarzan and jame making kissy face . finally into the last half hour the plot to capture tarzan is put in motion and things at last become interesting as plans go awry and things look very grim for all concerned . .  br    br   painfully dull film is clear evidence of a troubled production . the film seems to have been assembled from several different films with the first half hour playing as an almost exact repeats of the previous film . the middle third shows signs of having to stretch things out and having plot lines that ultimately went nowhere . the last third where tarzan is captured and the party is put into peril is the point that the film finally comes to life  it also shows signs of the graphic violence that caused much of the need to re  shoot the film  . to me its a great wonder how the series managed to continue on from here since this film isn  t very good  except at the end  . i would be hard pressed to explain it except i would have to say that it was the relationship between weissmuller and o  sullivan as tarzan and jane which kept people coming back . its a beautifully acted pairing and really is one of the screens great couples .  br    br    i should probably also mention that this is the point that the film became less real and more fantastical with the appearance of the tarzan tree house .  i really dislike the first hour or so of this film a great deal and find it a great waste of time and energy . if you can come in towards the end i would recommend giving the film a try . otherwise i would just skip the whole film and move on to the next film in the series .  
yes  this is an ultra  low budget movie . so the acting isn  t award winning material and at times the action is slow  paced because the filmmakers are shooting longer sequences and not a million instants that then get edited into a movie . this film makes up for that with an outstanding script that takes vampirism seriously  explains it and develops a full plot out of it . aside from the vampire story  we get detailed genetics info  legal and law enforcement  martial arts action  philosophical musings  and some good metal music . kudos go to dylan o  leary  the director  writer  main actor . it is beyond me how this man could have fulfilled all these roles and do them so well . i think to appreciate this movie  you have to be well  versed in all sorts of themes to see that the writer did a lot of research and knows about all these things . there are some great camera work  too  interesting camera angles and one underwater vampire attack  something i haven  t seen before  but which pays homage to the underwater zombie attack in fulci  s zombi . the casting is good  in so far as the sexy female is sexy indeed . the main vampire also looks perfect for the role . the female victim looks vulnerable . my only complaint is that for a low budget horror flick  there should have been more nudity . if you want to see an original vampire movie with a great story  this flick is for you . i  m looking forward to seeing future projects by mr . o  leary .  
another horror flick in which a goof  ball teenager battles a madman and his supernatural sidekick who want to take over   yes  but the fact that this one was from canada gives it a slightly different feel .  the brain  has troublesome teenager jim majelewski getting put into a treatment whose leader turns out to be a cult leader aided by a big ugly  brain  . can jim stop him  i guess that since our northern neighbor has accomplished all that they have accomplished  they  re entitled to make at least one ridiculous horror movie . but still  they  ll probably want to be known for having national health care and all .  br    br   the bad guy had a brain . why didn  t the people who made this movie   
the title says it all .  br    br   i  m not a film critic nor will i act like the rest of the snobbish people commenting on this movie .  br    br   obviously this movie didn  t have a multi  million dollar budget  but the plot was very well done  the acting was awesome and the cinematography was great  it looked like you all had a lot of fun making this movie  i voted  out of   as the sound was strong on only one channel instead of both  but i imagine this might have been an error in the recording of the dvd .  br    br   i  ll definitely be checking out other movies produced by brain damage films   br    br   dylan o  leary  cast and crew  i thank you   
insignificant and low  brained  haha      s horror like there are thirteen in a dozen  yet it can be considered amusing if you watch it in the right state of mind . the special effects are tacky  the acting atrocious and the screenplay seems to miss a couple of essential paragraphs   the brain  takes place in a typical quiet  american town setting  where every adolescent works in the same diner and where the cool  kid in high school flushes cherry bombs down the toilet . it is here that a tv  guru named dr . blake and his adorable pet  brain begin their quest for nation  wide mind controlling . under the label of  independent thinkers   a giant cheesy brain sends out waves through television sets and forces innocent viewers to kill  how cool is that  now  it  s up to the meadowvale teen  rebel to save the world  the funniest thing about the plot is that it never explains where dr . blake and his monstrous brain actually come from . there are obvious references towards extraterrestrial life but that  s about it . meh  who needs a background in a movie like this  really  there  s not that much bloodshed unfortunately and the  evil  brain looks like an over  sized sock  puppet . the only more or less interesting element for horror buffs is taking a look at the cast and crew who made this movie . director ed hunt and writer barry pearson are the same men who made  bloody birthday   guilty pleasure of mine  and  plague  . both those are much better movies and they wisely decided to resign the film industry . the most familiar face in the cast unquestionably is the great david gale  whom horror fans will worship forever for his role in re  animator . a girl named christine kossak provides the nudity  factor and she  s obviously a great talent she has exactly  movies on her repertoire of which this is her  masterpiece  . in her debut  she was credited as  runaway model  and in   men and a baby   her character is referred to as  one of jack  s girls  . i really wonder how she feels about her career as an actress  
unlike some comments  mine is positive . this movie wraps around the dinner table with a group of friends  some you like  some you don  t . a few are related   mother  daughter  son . their stories are not one smooth  happy with everyone and everything  type of life   much like real life . some story lines do not evolve  they just happen . but like true families and good friends  they stick together . the wanna  be parents who are buying a baby are such a   holes  you are happy for the ending . poor delmar is stuck between a rock and a boulder taking care of herself  her mom  her son  and trying to keep all their lives together . this does not end with a sunset walk or house in the  burbs and all are living in a dream world  but is a very real life portrayal of people living day to day  month to month . overall  this is a good story and a great movie    
in the small american town of meadowvale dr . anthony blake  david gale  the imdb listing for this character is wrong it  s definitely dr . blake not dr . blakely  is the director and founder of the famed  psychological research institute  and also host  s a local t . v . programme called  independent thinkers  . he uses this t . v . show to hypnotise the viewers and make them commit acts of violence . dr . blake has the help of a large brain with an evil face that uses it  s spinal cord as a tail thingy . usually the brain is just sitting in a tank  eats mice and the odd bad actor  each time it eats someone it gets much bigger . meanwhile at the local high  school gifted but troublesome teenager jim majelewski  tom bresnahan  has been caught putting sodium down the toilets . jim is sent to dr . blake at the pri for help with his attitude and behavioural problems . while there dr . blake hooks jim up to  well something i  m not actually sure what . this whatever it is  is attached to the brain . at first jim is able to resist the brain  s mind control . the brain feels that jim is a threat to itself and it  s plans . once out of the pri jim starts having bizarre hallucinations and crashes his car . jim makes it to his waitress girlfriend janet  cynthia preston as cyndy preston  but is handed back to dr . blake  s assistant verna  george buza  soon after by officer marks  harry booker  . the brain wants to kill jim because he is the only one capable of withstanding it  s mind control techniques  and with  independent thinkers  going national the brain doesn  t want anything or anyone to stop it  s evil plan for world domination  jim quickly realises that the brain is controlling the entire town and he alone must stop the brain  before it takes over the world   br    br   directed by ed hunt who calls himself edward hunt here  the brain wasn  t as bad as i thought it was going to be . don  t get me wrong as it certainly isn  t great either . the script by barry pearson tries a stab at satire with the brain washing and mind control by t . v . storyline . it moves along at a fair pace and isn  t too boring . no explanation is given for the existence of the brain at all  it  s just there and that  s it we have to accept it . the story is a little choppy and never fully explores one single element  there  s the t . v . mind control  the brain itself  jim being hunted by the police  his misbehaviour and various other little bits and pieces here and there including a bizarre revelation regarding dr . blake that isn  t explained at all . production wise this film looks cheap  and probably was cheap . the acting isn  t great but i  ve seen worse  and what is david gale doing in this  in fact this role is similar to gale  s role in re  animator       even down to his character  s deaths in both films . the brain itself at first sits in a tank and starts to grow whenever it eats someone and by the end it is pretty big . each stage is just made of rubber . it doesn  t look particularly good and isn  t scary or creepy  just cheap . there  s no blood or gore in it apart from a blink and you  ll miss it decapitation . the nudity is provided by dr . blake  s assistant vivian  christine kossak as christine kossack  before she gets eaten . the brain had a certain entertainment value for me but i would think most people would dislike it . maybe worth a watch if you can see it on t . v . for free .  
while this movie won  t go down in the annals of great cinema  it is a fun way to spend an hour and a half with the family . the film is finally being released in video where it should have debuted in the first place .  br    br   the film is about an eclectic group of friends who gather for dinners which they have named   the hungry bachelors club  . jorja fox plays a woman who serves as a surrogate in order to get a down payment for the restaurant that she wants to open . bill nunn plays a cadillac  loving mystery man who becomes her lover . fox gives an understated and touching performance and nunn is reliably talented as always . micheal des barres is a hoot as an over the top attorney . the ensemble casts  made up of familiar faces  works nicely together to bring this wacky group of characters to life . this is a good rental and one of the few you can watch with the whole family .  
a spoiler .  br    br   what three words can guarantee you a terrible film  cheap canadian production . the brain fits those words perfectly . terrible script  idiotic acting and hilarious special effects make this a must for every bad movie fan . the horror is hilarious . the post production team looks like it gave up . what makes the brain admirable is in the second half  it actually tries to be good  can a bit of ingenuity and consistency save what is already a joke   br    br   it  s around christmas time . a mother and daughter are murdered by one of the funniest looking villains ever . the day later  a rebel teen gets into enough trouble that he is sent for a psychiatric analysis .  br    br   if a cop  s head is chopped off and a stranger with blood on him and a bloody axe told you some kids did it  who would you believe  what begins as funny turns dull and tiring toward the end when the brain tries to be serious . a child cannot be frightened by the scary moments . the brain is too funny a concept to try and be gritty . the psychological research institute is larger than major manufacturing plants  our ugly villain and its cohorts get credit for pulling some of the worst acting i have seen . viewer discretion advised heavily .  
when john wayne filmed his alamo story he had built a complete alamo set in the town of brackettsville  texas which is still there and quite the tourist attraction . as long as that stands  we will have a set for future alamo interpretations for the screen . one such with dennis quaid and billy bob thornton was done in this century .  br    br   but i would say the alamo thirteen days to glory is the best alamo story filmed i  ve seen . john wayne  s film is a good one if over  hyped  but it  s a john wayne film with the story redone to fill parameters of screen character of john wayne . brian keith plays davy crockett here and gives a fine interpretation of the rollicking frontier character he was .  br    br   it  s a lot closer to professor lon tinkle  s book on the alamo than the wayne film was and having read the book years ago i can attest to that . tinkle  s book is listed as the source in both films  but tinkle who was alive back then when the wayne film was done and he was not pleased with the result .  br    br   alec baldwin was around the right age for young william barrett travis  the idealistic freedom fighter who incidentally was a slave owner . back in the day no one saw the ironic contradiction in that . one thing that was not explored and hasn  t been was travis  s hyperactive sex drive . he was the casanova of the southwest  he even kept a salacious diary of his libidinal conquests .  br    br   but the man who always gets the whitewash is jim bowie  played here by james arness . he was a hero at the alamo to be sure  but his career before the alamo was that of a scoundrel . he was a smuggler  a slave trader  an all around con man selling land he had questionable title to . but his heroic death certainly redeemed him . no hint of that is in arness  s portrayal nor any others i  ve seen of bowie on the screen . and of course he did design the bowie knife  done to his specifications . that man needed such a weapon .  br    br   however the main asset that the alamo thirteen days to glory has is a full blown portrayal of antonio de lopez de santa anna  the president of mexico who comes up personally to put down the rebellion stirred up by the north americans who  ve come to settle in texas at mexican invitation . unfortunately those americans came with some pre  conceived notions about liberty that just hadn  t made it that far south  at least liberty for white people . raul julia plays santa anna who remains an even more controversial figure in mexican history . he was also quite the scoundrel  but he was the best mexico produced until a genuine reformer named benito juarez came along .  br    br   this film was the farewell performance of lorne greene who appears briefly as general sam houston . greene  s not quite my conception of houston  he really was way too old for the part  houston was in his early forties in      he was not yet the patriarch of texas . but within the limits imposed on him  greene does a fine job .  br    br   for a romantic telling of the alamo tale by all means see john wayne  s version  but for historical content i recommend this film highly .  
creep   your journey terminates here .  some very graphic scenes and . . . well  yeah  that  s about all for this film .  br    br   no real plot  no storyline . no likable characters  well   characters  isn  t correct considering you don  t have a clue who anyone really is . i mean  they are being chased by some weird looking  thing  in the sewers  who is this thing  why is he there    that  s quite scary i guess  but do i really care  no  i don  t . why don  t i  because i don  t have a clue who these people are and i don  t know if i should want them to live or die . it  s one dimensional and relies upon gore and sound effects to scare you  which it rarely does .  br    br   this film lacks any meaning  any purpose . it feels like i fell asleep and missed out the   mins of build up . it jumps right into the action . basically  some women and her friends get locked in the london underground  get chased by a weird creature  then they eventually escape from it .  br    br   creep has its moments which make you jump  the art is good  the location is excellent and the sounds are ok  but that isn  t what makes a decent horror film  so unfortunately all that goes to waste .  br    br   it  s nothing new . another predictable modern  horror   where kate  the lead  character   consistently does the stupid  hey  i know you lot sitting at home think i should do the sensible thing in this situation  but  oooh no  i  m going to do the total opposite because i  m a dumb blond  thing . i wish they wouldn  t do that  it  s done so many times  it  s boring and gets predictable . in fact  i  m pretty annoyed the silly woman didn  t get stabbed by the  erm  grey alien  looking creature .  br    br    your journey terminates here  is the films tag line . well  creeps journey terminates only a short while into the film . if you  ve had a few beers  got a couple of mates back at yours  then sure  watch it by all means . but if you want something original and clever  avoid .  
it  s great to see jorja fox in a role where she gets to smile a lot . also loved hearing her sing . nice change to see her out of her csi  west wing  er roles . the movie itself was entertaining  but it seemed skip some explanation in a lot of parts . several of the characters seemed to be miserable one minute and happy the next and it was left up to your imagination to figure out why . each character was quirky though and in some cases  i couldn  t wait to see what they would do next or hear what they would say next . this movie wasn  t full of squeaky clean people  but rather complicated realistic people who could make mistakes  feel bad about them and then find a way to fix them .  
my friends and i rented this for  bad movie night  with high hopes  but the brain was something of a letdown . the brain itself is gloriously goofy  looking  but it mostly just sits on its little platform . who thought that it would be cool that the brain only gets to munch on three people throughout   drawn  out minutes  this movie has a number of things going for it at first  including an estevez  knockoff lead playing a rebellious genius  we  re told that his enormous intellect is misdirected into his elaborate pranks and school stunts  which include putting krazy glue on someone  s chair  . it also has some great lines  a hilariously out  of  shape and out  of  breath henchman who just barely manages to be everywhere  and  yeah  some chick gets naked . however  the director desperately needs some schooling in the art of pacing . during the last half things just start to drag on and on  with at least  or  pointless  boring chase scenes making up the middle third of the plot . the scenes inside the pri complex are especially bad . at least   minutes of this movie are people running up and down the same stairwell . i could  ve fixed the screenplay to this thing in half an hour  more cheese  more gore  more nudity  more brain action . if you  re going to make a bad horror movie  at least give me something cool to look at while my superego shuts down . maybe the director was trying to really bring the audience into his movie  i started feeling like one of the zombified townsfolk by the end of this crapfest .  
i may be biased  i am the author of the novel the hungry bachelors club  self  published in     . the screenplay was written by my good friend and hungry bachelor  fred dresch  who was the inspiration for the character marlon in the film . i couldn  t be more pleased with the trailer  i hope to see the film in its entirety and i will further comment . but jorja fox  who plays delmar youngblood  my character  is stellar . she carries the bulk of the emotional vehicles in fine form . i couldn  t have done better myself  this looks like real people  hardly formula driven and thankfully drives my statement against racial prejudice home  gracefully and heartfelt .  
it was all over with the slashers around   so it was time for the cheesy rip offs of those older movies . the brain is well done  the script reminded me of videodrome but then in a more cheesy way as said before . the acting can go through with it . but it  s the effects that makes you laugh  the so called brain is really a turkey and the blood is never shown . the opening sequence is what makes this movie worth watching  the hallucinations are really nicely done and reminded me of nightmare on elm street  remember the telephone coming alive . . . . some how you keep watching this flick  waiting what is happening next . it  s viewable for all freaks out there cause there isn  t any gore in it and as said the blood isn  t there neither but there is nudity for the perverts . i have seen worser movies than this one  only wished they had made it bloodier . . .  
i  ve seen a slew of    s rocker horrors  over the years  from rubbish like  terror on tour  to ridiculously fun gems like  slumber party massacre  .  somehow i managed to keep putting this one off  which is strange because it  s probably the most popular and well received one . well  i finally caught up with it and it  s easily the best of this mostly awful  but almost always endearing   subgenre . the plot  which was pretty much lifted in the film  black roses   concerns a mulleted misfit named eddie  whose ridiculed by all in his high school for his taste in music . he loves   s metal  especially his idol sammi curr  played by the late great tony fields .  after sammi is killed  eddie favorite radio dj gives him sammi  s final recording . once eddie plays the record backwards  he discovers he  s a bit tougher  and bad things start happening to those who taunt him . is sammi  s music possessed   trick or treat  is well  made and a total hoot . the special effects are awesome  even though it does feature the typical   s laser beams . i grew up in the   s  and while i wasn  t a fan of heavy metal  i do remember the urban legend about playing a record backwards hearing the sounds of satan worshipping . haha  i also remember being told by my older siblings and neighbors that both kiss and ozzy worshipped satan  so it  s very amusing to see them both make cameos as a harmless radio dj and a anti  rock priest . if only i had seen this film as a kid  while the film seems to poke fun at the popular connection in the   s between alleged devil worship and heavy metal  the viewer never really finds out why sammi curr is back from the dead creating havoc and killing whoever gets in his way . this is movie  s weakest point  but if you can overlook that  it  s loads of fun .  
paul naschy made a great number of horror films . in terms of quality  they tend to range from fairly good to unwatchable trash and unfortunately  horror rises from the tomb is closer to the latter . the plot is just your average story of a witch  wizard or  as is the case here  warlock  who is put to death  but not before swearing vengeance on those who did it . . . etc etc . we then get a sance and one thing leads to another  and pretty soon the executed warlock is up to no good again . the plot is slow  painfully boring and the film constantly feels pointless . the characters string out reams of diatribe and it never serves the film in any way whatsoever . paul naschy wrote the script  and if you ask me he should stick to acting because the dialogue is trite in the extreme  and only serves to make the film even more boring than it already is . carlos aured  who also directed naschy in blue eyes of the broken doll and curse of the devil provides dull direction here  which likes the dialogue does nothing to help the film . sometimes crap films like this have a certain charm about them but horror rises from the tomb doesn  t even have that . this is a painfully boring film that has little or nothing in the way of interest .  
this movie is horrible  but you have to see it because of that . i  m not here to discuss the entire film  just the greatest chase scene ever . when eddie dumbs milk on tim  he gets chased down the hallway . eddie puts obstacles in the jocks way with hilarious consequences  like a cymbal nailing a trumpet player buy the dvd and watch it slow  . the best obstacle is a knocked over mop bucket which one jock jumps over but proceeds to slide on the ground out a door . but when he slides he picks up speed thus defying physics  mainly friction   yet what lies behind the door is supreme . the steepest stair case in any school ever  which this jock proceeds to clear in the air . in reality he probably would die of a broken neck . not only does he defy all concepts of reality  he makes the funniest noise ever made in that situation . go and buy this one . trust me this scene is worth your  bucks .  
this movie starts out with an execution of a practitioner of witchcraft and his mistress . his head is chopped off and buried separately of his body . . . sounds like  the thing that wouldn  t die  doesn  t it  well it does play out a little like that  but once the body is reunited with the head  all the interesting and gruesome deaths are done and the movie moves very slowly . i mean the movie is only   minutes long and i kept thinking  when is it going to end   the characters in the movie are idiots for the most part and they pretty much deserve to die for being really stupid . the villain is also very bad as he is slow moving and really you wonder how he manages to do anything considering he is afraid of jewelery . the only thing to keep you watching after the head is reattached is the fact that there are so many boobs being flashed that you really begin to lose track . still i want to see a horror movie  not a soft core porn flick and as a horror movie it is way to slow moving with way to many slow stretches to be even somewhat enjoyable . and don  t read the back of the box as it made it out like there were flesh eating zombies attacking the town  there isn  t . . . only a small scene where three or four zombies attack a house and are so easily repelled they are not a factor in the movie at all and their scene is rather pointless . so for the most part i say you should avoid this movie unless you come across it for really cheap .  
being a genre film fan  a child of the    s and a fan of hard rock music . . . this movie holds a special place in my heart . it has everything you could want in a supernatural movie action  great special effects  for      and a guitar wailing glam  rock soundtrack . it certainly was the movie for all the heavy metal fans at the time . i didn  t see this at the cinema because it was never released theatrically over here . . . but it  s popularity on video during the mid to late eighties secured it  s cult status and eventually led to a  sadly  mediocre  dvd release in     . if you  re not a fan of creepy movies or rock music then this probably isn  t your cup of tea . . . but  trust me  there are worse films of this type out there . . . and  despite average acting and some outrageously ridiculous situations  trick or treat is most definitely a wailing riff above the usual horror fare . you  ll never look at your stereo the same way again . or should i say mp  player   br    br   trick or treat trivia  marc price  eddie  played geeky skippy handelman on the popular long running comedy sitcom  family ties .  after a string of direct to video flops including   little devils   killer tomatoes eat france  and  the rescue  he gave up on acting to pursue a career in stand  up comedy . recently  he has been considering a tv comeback .  br    br   glen morgan  roger  is now a major hollywood producer  screenwriter . he has written and produced several major films and tv series  including  space above and beyond   the x  files   final destination   jet li  s the one   willard  and most recently  final destination   .  br    br   tony fields  sammi  started his performing career as a dancer on the tv series  solid gold  . he appeared in several low budget films and tv shows before landing his breakout role as the devilish sammi curr in  trick or treat  . sadly  tony passed away on february   th     of aids related cancer .  br    br   doug savant  tim  is probably best remembered for his pioneering role of homosexual twentysomething matt fielding on the popular sitcom  melrose place  . since then he has had a long and varied acting career  appearing in such films and tv series as  the one   godzilla   csi crime scene investigation  and the short lived joss whedon sci  fi series  firefly  . currently he can be seen as tom scavo on the smash hit series  desperate housewives  .  
the version of this film i saw was titled  horror rises from the tomb  . the horror in question is a wicked medieval magician played by spanish horror legend paul naschy looking like he  s playing abanazer in a church hall panto . he rises from his tomb when a stupid descendant  i think he  s a descendant  as he  s also played by naschy  returns to his ancestral home and reunites the magician  s head and body  which had been separated by by the witchfinders who executed him  in an attempt to stop him  er  rising from the tomb .  br    br   obviously  once head and body are back together all hell breaks loose and lots of people die . like all good magicians  abanazer here has a lovely assistant . this one  s played by another spanish horror great  the beautiful helga line . like practically every other woman in the film line periodically gets her kit off . there  s a lot of nudity in this film  and not just female  we even get to see naschy  s paunchy body  which isn  t a pretty sight  i can tell you . most of the film  s sex angle is laughably gratuitous . there  s one particularly funny scene where naschy and line discuss their evil plans and then suddenly decide to both have a grope of the nubile young blonde they  ve possessed .  br    br   it  s also pretty gory in places  notably a herschell gordon lewis  esquire moment where line plunges her hands into a man  s chest to remove his heart .  br    br   the best part of the film is the pretty effective zombies who turn up towards the end . they  re quickly scared off by a fire though  and don  t bother coming back . which is a shame . the scene where the zombies rise  however  is the film  s most ludicrously inept moment . it all happens in long shot  and we haven  t really got a clue what  s happening until we see some figures shambling on from the distance . there are several rubbish moments like this  thanks largely to poor editing . when a labourer falls under the hypnotic spell of naschy  s head there  s a big close up of his face that seems to last forever and serves no purpose whatsoever .  br    br   all in all  not a great horror film  but entertaining enough . of course  the version i saw was a dubbed american version that had probably been chopped to pieces . for all i know  the original spanish version could be a masterpiece . . .  
i gave this a   out of   points . i love it so much . i am a child of the   s and totally into heavy metal for many years . those are the reasons i like this movie so much . its so cool to see those posters in the bedroom of that boy  judas priest  lizzy borden  raven  twisted sister . . .  and his vinyl collection  unveiling the wicked by exciter  rise of the mutants by shock metal master impaler and killing is my business by megadeth  . also the soundtrack by fastway is totally incredible and fits very well with the plot . if you are into metal  then trick or treat is your friend . don  t buy or watch this movie for ozzy or gene simmons because they are in the movie for seconds  watch it because the soundtrack and the story that will take you back to the glory   s . you will not be the same person after .  
in      in france  the sorcerer alaric de marnac  paul naschy  is decapitated and his mistress mabille de lancr  helga lin  is tortured to death accused of witchcraft  vampirism and lycanthropy . before they die  they curse the next generations of their executioners . in the present days  in the    s   hugo de marnac  paul naschy  and sylvia  betsab ruiz  and their friends maurice roland  vic winner  and his beloved paula  cristina suriani  go to a sance session  where they evoke the spirit of alaric de marnac . they decide to travel to the villas de sade  a real estate of hugo  s family in the countryside  to seek a monastery with a hidden treasure . they find alaric  s head and the fiend possesses them  bringing mabille back to life and executing the locals in gore sacrifices . after the death of her father  elvira  emma cohen  recalls that he has the thor  s hammer amulet hidden in a well together with maurice  they try to defeat the demoniac alaric de marnac and mabille .  br    br   last weekend i bought a box of horror genre with five dvds of paul naschy per us  .    despite of having no references  i decided to take the chance . the first dvd with the uncut and restored version  horror rises from the tomb  is a trash b  or c  movie that immediately made me recall ed wood . the ridiculous story is disclosed through awful screenplay  direction  performances  cinematography  decoration  special effects and edition and with lots of naked women . the result is simply hilarious and i can guarantee that ed wood  s style is back . my vote is three .  br    br   title  brazil   not available  
actually  i never bought into the metal was satanic and stuff  but this movie kind of played on that idea . though certainly not a movie to take seriously or to rate really high  it does serve its purpose in that it entertains while it is playing . the story has a metal band burned to death in their hotel  one of their fans has a dream to this effect and said band starts to go on a kill spree from beyond the grave . so yes  a bit of  nightmare on elm street  plot going on here . granted freddy never molested a girl in a car before . there was another movie featuring a heavy metal band in it  but it was very different in how it played out as it had a band that kind of took over a town of kids and made them crazy . this one simply has the one fan of the band kind of helping the killer spirit at first then trying to stop him . nothing to gruesome in it as i do not remember all that many gory kills . quite frankly  the scene i do remember most is the scene of the girl wearing the headphones and then being molested by some creature incarnation of the band . nothing great  but a nice time filler .  
wow  i watched the trailer for this one and though  nah  this one is not for me  . i watched my husband and our friend  s faces during the trailer  and knew this was a  boy movie  . i mean  hallo  a bunch of chick barmaids that dance  another striptease   br    br   then  i started watching it  it didn  t look all that bad . so i carried on watching . i watched it right to the end . what an awesome movie . if anything  this is a chick  flick . these girls have attitude . it is really a feel  good movie  and a bit of a love story . really leaves you with a nice feeling .  br    br   basically  the story of a small  town girl making it big in the city  after going through the usual big  city cp . there have been a couple of these  it is almost a new urban legend . but it also makes you think of your life  and what you have achieved . well  me anyway . i think it is because the whole working in a bar scenario is very familiar  not just for me  but for many people i know . don  t trust the trailers for this one  it is aimed at bringing the men in .  
sammi  curr a metal rock god  they tried to stop him  they tried to ban him  the tried to censor his music    much like the real life dee snider  from twisted sister  tipper gore or ozzy osborne  killed in a fire  sammi cure was suppose to play on halloween at his old high school for a dance . . now eddie weinbauer  his   fan  and the only one who knew how sammi was  and what he felt  or did he   nuke  the d . j . at the local radio station  gene simmons  has and gives the only copy of sammi  s last record eddie . . but when eddie tries to play the record backwards  he finds sammi talking to him from the dead  and telling him what to do to get back at the bullies at his school that hate him and his music . . everything works out until  sammi starts to kill   a great movie and must see for heavy metal hairband fans  with a great sound track by fastway  and just in case you don  t know what the songs sound like or know fastway and doesn  t like them  they changed there voice a bit and there style as well to sound like the more known cinderella  or ratt . . is the movie a true horror movie  well that depends on what you call a horror movie  to me a true horror movie is a slasher  with lots of killing  or just plain be scary . . this movie is neither  not enough deaths  but it can  t be called a action  comedy  drama  suspense  or thriller  so that is why i would guess it has to be a horror . . so if you wanna  rock n  roll  rockin  on the mid night steel your soul    than sammi curr and trick or treat is the for you . . i mean  what are you afraid of  it  s only rock  n  roll      
just think  it cost a total of         to make  clerks  . how the hell did they spend    million to make this glorified music video  a practically unknown cast  two or three sets  no special effects that i could see . . . i know  it must have been spent on that expertly crafted  economical  tension filled screenplay . shoot  that bar set must have cost a bundle . anyway  i guess jerry bruckheimer wouldn  t be caught dead producing anything for less . i  m just surprised he didn  t blow up anything .  br    br   anyway  it wasn  t an awful film i guess . the female leads seemed to have some good chemistry and the soundtrack was ok . imo it just seems a pity that this rather mediocre project could have been made for   million without any loss to the production  and  more   million dollar indy films of merit could have been made as well .  
when you come across a gem of a movie like this  you realize why the    s were the greatest decade to live thru . the rock music ruled   so did movies . . . especially horror movies . filmmakers knew how to entertain us    trick or treat  is evident to this . when rocker sammi curr  who was most likely written after w . a . s . p . singer blackie lawless  dies in a hotel fire  his   fan eddie  is distraught . he goes to friend  local dj nuke  gene simmons  for support . nuke gives him a copy of the very last recording that sammi made this is the only copy available . it was given to the radio station to be played live halloween night . when eddie plays it  it somehow brings back sammi . he helps eddie with the bullies at school  but then goes out of control . it is definitely one great movie . the bad thing is  this movie is out of print . i paid    .   to finally get it off of ebay . you should too . . .  well spent   
if this movie were more about piper perabo  s character and less about the bar  this might have been halfway decent . piper  s violet stanford and karen friendly  adventures of rocky and bullwinkle  both have a virgin kindegarden teacher quality to them that  s endearing . here  s hoping she  ll find a better movie to be in .  
this movie is sort of a carrie meets heavy metal . it  s about a highschool guy who gets picked on alot and he totally gets revenge with the help of a heavy metal ghost . it is such a classic . the soundtrack is a . you  ve got living legends of metal in it . and marc price was great in this film . this is a must have for metal fans .  
spoiler do not read this  if you think about watching that movie  although it would be a waste of time .  by the way the plot is so predictable that it does not make any difference if you read this or not anyway   br    br   if you are wondering whether to see  coyote ugly  or not don  t  it  s not worth either the money for the ticket or the vhs  dvd . a typical  chick  feel  good  flick   one could say . the plot itself is as shallow as it can be  a ridiculous and uncritical version of the american dream . the young good  looking girl from a small town becoming a big success in new york . the few desperate attempts of giving the movie any depth fail  such as the  tragic  accident of the father  the  difficulties  of violet  s relationship with her boyfriend  and so on . mcnally  director  tries to arouse the audience  s pity and sadness put does not have any chance to succeed in this attempt due to the bad script and the shallow acting . especially piper perabo completely fails in convincing one of  jersey  s  fear of singing in front of an audience . the only good  and quite funny thing  about  coyote ugly  is john goodman  who represents the small ray of hope of this movie .  br    br   i was very astonished  that jerry bruckheimer produced this movie . first  gone in   seconds  and now this . . . what happened to great movies like  the rock  and  con air   that was true bruckheimer stuff .  br    br   if you are looking for a superficial movie with good looking women just to have a relaxed evening  you should better go and see  charlie  s angels   it  s much more funny  entertaining and self  ironic  instead of this flick .  br    br   two thumbs down   out of    .  
this made for television version of the legendary stand against hopeless odds is more objective  more realistic than earlier filmed versions of the events  though the one movie made after this went perhaps too far in humanizing the figures of sam houston  bowie  travis and crockett .  br    br   the focus here is on jim bowie  played with sharp  cynical detachment by james arness who is apparently still alive at age   . then    he made a comeback to acting after years away from the screen to do this part .  br    br   puerto rican  born raul julia humanizes gen . santa ana as no one since j . carol naish back in    had done . however  the mexican dictator is portrayed as a lecherous  vainglorious popinjay   gaudier uniforms have never been seen before or since . he receives excellent advice from the european officers he has hired but  convinced of his own infallibility  he does not heed it .  br    br   alec baldwin is the one actor whose age is appropriate to the character he plays col . william travis . his portrayal is earnest . he is almost in awe of the older men who share command with him .  br    br   the one jarring note was brian keith as crockett . in a coonskin cap and carrying ol  betsy  he stumbles about as if he had wandered in from another movie . with no conviction in the portrayal  the character is reduced to a few stage conventions .  br    br   the script reveals some historical facts overlooked or suppressed in earlier film versions . we learn that jim bowie was  in the person of santa ana  fighting his own brother  in  law . the mexican soldiers performed poorly in part because they were armed with rifles left over from the napoleonic wars a generation earlier .  santa ana likes a bargain .  bowie wryly explains . the whole project of defending the former spanish mission as a fort was militarily ill  advised   a fact explored in greater depth in the     film  the alamo  .  
basically what we have here is little more than a remake of the hilarious      s classic kitsch horror  death line  which ironically was like this cobblers  also partly filmed at the disused aldwych underground station .  br    br   making good use of the now disused jubilee line platforms at charing cross as well as the aforementioned aldwych  this film contains basically the same plot  dodgy murdering mad zombie in the tunnels preying on the lost passengers who have missed the last train  originality is not this film  s strong point .  br    br   indeed strong points are sadly lacking . the gore ranges from the poor to the unnecessarily over gory whilst the sub  gollum nutter is never really fully explained as seems little more than an under developed plot device .  br    br   franke polente has little to do with a thin script than run down a lot of tunnels and scream every so often  indeed she was like pretty much everyone else in this film  out  acted by a small dog and a pack of tame rats .  br    br   if creepy films set on the london underground are your bag  or you just want to play  spot the tube location  them pick this up on dvd when it hits a bargain bin . if you are looking for classic horror  go and dig up a copy of death line  aka raw meat  .  br    br   if you are looking for a quality well written and acted film  you will need to change trains . . . . .  
i love this movie and never get tired of watching . the music in it is great . any true hard rock fan should see this movie and buy the soundtrack . with rockers like gene simmons and ozzy osbourne you can  t go wrong .  
coyote ugly might have been much more effective if the film  makers had made it an r  rated guilty pleasure  exploitation film  with plenty of nudity .  but since the pg    rating is what all the studios are wanting these days  we end up with a movie like this a pg     tease  flick that isn  t allowed to go nowhere near as far as the movie should have gone .  br    br   the script is go generic that it is easy to guess what plot point is going to occur   minutes before it actually happens . the acting is adequate  but the characters are so paper  thin that nothing could be done with them . there were also a lot of points where it seemed like i was watching a music  video rather than a movie .  br    br   the film  s only assets are the amazingly beautiful female leads . we get to see them in some extremely tight and pretty revealing outfits . . . . . but only so much could be shown due to the pg    constraints . there  s plenty of cleavage and toned  heaving bodies doing some well  choreographed dance numbers  but there  s no nudity or sex to speak of . tyra banks  she keeps getting even more insanely beautiful with age  is also in the movie for a very small amount of time . sexy newcomer piper perabo is also very easy on the eyes  and she has a killer smile  and shows some genuine acting potential .  br    br   the only people i could see this movie appealing to is pre  pubescent boys who aren  t allowed to watch r  rated movies yet . that audience might get a lot out of it from a titillation aspect  but adult audiences will feel annoyed and cheated .  br    br   rating the movie   the women     
skippy from family ties goes from clean  cut to metal kid in this fairly cheesy movie . the film seems like it was made in response to all those upset parents who claimed metal music was turning their kids evil or making them kill themselves  except in this one a dead satanic metal star is trying to come back from the grave  using skippy to help out  . and while the plot is corny and cliche  the corniness  for example  an evil green fog taking off a girl  s clothes  and the soundtrack are what make the movie so hilarious  and great  . and of course  there  s nothing like ozzy osbourne playing a preacher who  s asking what happened to the love song   . definitely a movie for having a few friends over for a good laugh . and while you  re at it  make it a double feature with slumber party massacre   there  s an  evil rocker   as stated on the video box  driller killer in black leather w  fringe . a must see for cheesy movie fans .  
i was talked into watching this movie by a friend who blubbered on about what a cute story this was .  br    br   yuck .  br    br   i want my two hours back  as i could have done so many more productive things with my time . . . like  for instance  twiddling my thumbs . i see nothing redeeming about this film at all  save for the eye  candy aspect of it . . .  br    br        and that  s being generous   
nobody said movies had to be realistic did they  i really liked this movie because i remember when i first saw it in junior high . for all the kids who remember the pmrc and albums before there were warning stickers  it  s a cool story for all those kids who were part of the mid to late    s headbanger crowd .  
what a disappointment  piper perabo is adorable  tyra banks is beautiful but pitiful as an actor and the talented and beautiful maria bello is wasted  bello must have been embarrassed by some of the lines  the plot  script and premise is a joke   br    br   i  m not against silly movies  i think that something about mary is a masterpiece  but coyote ugly is a waste of   minutes . . . . . . . .  
this is a great  ridiculous horror movie that captures the essence of the mid to late   s  obsession with how evil metal music supposedly was . i can remember being freaked out by metal teens when i was a kid . it doesn  t help that i found a desecrated grave in my hometown  s graveyard when i was ten . turns out this weird metal kid had dug up some old bodies and used their bones in some weird sacrifice to satan . so maybe stuff like deterred me from metal for awhile  but i love it now  as a   year old .  br    br   i bought this dvd used for  bucks and i expected it to suck due to the lame cover  but to my surprise  it ruled . it is all about the extreme demonic power of metal . and you gotta love a scene where a guitar shoots lazers and vaporizes headbangers in the crowd . this movie is awesome  if you love   s metal and bad movies  this one  s for you .       
this movie is another fine example of what jerry bruckheimer  since about      seems to be best at   hyping up a movie a year before its release and not coming through with a quality movie . i  m no film critic  but this movie was as predictable as they come . every attempt at a joke  every attempt at a touching moment  and the pitiful attempt at a love story  was exactly what i was predicting in my mind . do yourself a favor and save your money on this one .  
i heard about this movie when watching vh   s     most metal moments .  on the segment  gene simmons  who played a cameo  and several other interviewees discussed how utterly awful this movie is . unlike most people  i  m often more curious about checking out movies that have reputations for being ridiculously bad than  say  a masterpiece of cinema . the advantage of having that sort of attitude is half the time i find out that the movies are nowhere near as bad as people said  and i end up enjoying them a lot more than i initially expected . that was my experience with  trick or treat .  now  it  s hard to make a movie about a teenage boy who receives messages from a dead heavy metal star by playing one of his vintage records backwards without people scoffing at the premise . sure  it  s certainly a strange premise  but one that  s never been done before  give the filmmakers points for originality for pete  s sake  if you  re looking to buy the dvd  having no prior knowledge of the movie  don  t be fooled into thinking ozzy osbourne and gene simmons are the stars . however  though simmons has a thankless role  ozzy does have a funny cameo as a reverend  that  s right  a reverend    who speaks out against heavy metal . for one thing  it  s funny seeing ozzy with short hair . and for another thing  you can  t help but laugh at the irony . sure  it  s a cheap shot  but an effective one . the acting is pretty good . i found the performances convincing . the teen characters are horribly clichd . so expect the usual array of jocks and nerds . and like in every one of these movies  the pretty girl is a decent person who has sympathy for the alienated main character  yet continues to go out with her jock boyfriend . why  s she going out with such a complete jerk in the first place  because the plot needs an obstacle . no other reason . but i can  t deny that one of my guilty pleasures is watching the evil jocks in these movies go down  since i was an outcast in high school . the movie kept my interest for the most part  but the third act is way too conventional and caused me to roll my eyes as there would be one predictable situation after another . but altogether the film is not at all bad and definitely worth viewing on a rainy day .   out of     
let me start off by saying that this doesn  t seem or feel like a movie . it seems like just another tv show about popular girls and boys with no real film language top back it up .  br    br   the camera angles are so straight forward that the story is told the simplest way possible never making the public connect with it . this film takes us to where no movie i  ve seen has done before to a realm where the film theater becomes a warm medium giving the public every element of interpretation . too obvious . the large movie screen is only used as an enlarged tv from where we can see every attribute of these women in a larger than life manner .  br    br   lately it seems that young directors are compromising the art of film making for sales . this is very scary . the industry is spoiling the art in movies . we must educate ourselves and our children about what cinematography and its language are really about . not just sales and entertainment  but a way to communicate feelings  passions and even culture . not as a launching platform for young divas and jocks .  
every movie critic and metal head hated this movie but i enjoyed it . i saw this as a child on tv somewhere and was amazed by the scene where sammi comes on stage and plays trick or treat by fastway .  br    br   the movie itself was typical    s  guy gets pushed around by bullies and enlists supernatural help to beat up the bullies but goes to far and has to be destroyed .  br    br   matt from melrose place picks on skippy from family ties so skippy gets a record of tony fields from gene simmons to comfort him and all hell breaks lose  the highlight being where tony sings  lip  synchs  and dances to a metal song before the shyt hits the fan .  br    br   there were a lot of errors and stuff but the music and the overall imagery was enough to keep my fists pumping  out of    
i never wanted to see this film  then one day  for a joke i watched it to see how bad it was my preconceptions were confirmed .  br    br   for starters i  d like to question the politics of the film . it hides behind of mask of women  making it big in the city  but the only way that women can make it big is through using their sexuality rather than their intelligence or skills . these women are nothing more the whores . are slightly less attractive girls not allowed to be successful  this is not the only right wing message of the film  there are hundreds of shots of american flags and huge wads of cash . a fine example of how the only powerful thing in america is capitalism and anything of spiritual  moral or artistic value is not even given a look in of this film . money is depicted as the only important thing to young people .  br    br   the manageress of the bar states that she does not allow drug users in her bar  and then she goes on to poor gallons of hard liquor down her own neck and then the necks of her staff and customers . any one who knows anything about intoxicants will know that liquor can be just as dangerous as heroin and more dangerous than most illegal drugs .  br    br   and finally  why are scenes in which the lead character is a point of sexual interest to the audience  when she is getting undressed or with her boyfriend  is her father always involved  we watch get her undressed with the camera virtually caressing her legs while she is one the phone to her father . she  auctions  her father just as she  auctions  her boyfriend . i find this most strange .  br    br   in conclusion  this film is immoral  fascistic  degrading to women and frankly  disturbing . but what else do you expect from jerry bruckhiemer   
trick or treat  quickie review this zany romp of a film revolves around the    s culture of heavy metal and horror movies   two things which i love dearly . so  as you can imagine  this movie appealed to me pretty easily . plus  for no apparent reason  ozzy osbourne plays a preacher .  br    br   this film is about an unpopular high school youth who  like all us losers  ended up drenched in a world of  evil  heavy metal . his favorite metaldude dies and  of course  is miraculously resurrected   by playing his latest unreleased album backwards . this allows the corpsified singer to go around killing people with demons and sht helping out .  br    br   okay  it  s pretty cheesy at times  but you know what  it  s got a surprising number of good qualities . decent acting  including gene simmons as a radio dj   pretty good special effects  very brief nudity  decent atmosphere . . . all in all  it  s actually a decent horror film . but what really sucks is the music . ironic  huh  well  this  uber  evil  metal guy is one of the most obnoxious  high  pitched  wailing  motley crue rejects on the planet   and the  metal  is little more than putrid    s pop  hair metal . he hits all the clich  s here  from prancing around like a gay fairy  to looking mean  to screaming  rock and roll     in a pitch high enough to make king diamond retch . aside from that atrocious musical representation  it  s actually pretty good .      br    br   www . residenthazard . com  
the rumor is true girls like coyote ugly more than guys . and the reasons are obvious as soon as the plot is given . jersey girl goes to new york to become a song writer . and after initial frustration of having no luck  overhears some girls partying about the     each they made last night . she gets an audition at the bar they work at and surprise  the place is completely full of  two year old toddlers  bursting at the sight of babes dancing .  br    br   the story is not bad and some characters are likeable  especially cammie  the  fashion coordinator  part was cute  and the bouncer but let  s face it  the drama was horrible and completely laughable from the beginning . violet and her father looked far too ridiculous while they were relating throughout the movie . and check out violet too jamming on that keyboard with the break dancer   br    br   for the first time i could think of  how could the production be so terrible  for a brief moment with this movie  hollywood could stand on its two feet and show a new low without any major public outcry without saying   you were warned   instead  it seems coyote ugly has a purposeful intent on trying to kiss every major rear in the world . advertising babes in a bar  but showing a paper thin  pursue your dream  story disappointed every male teen you targeted   br    br   and finally  the music . there was absolutely no break of music i found in this movie  especially when it was needed  the hospital scene  . every scene felt like some short music video you just wish would stop until the bar opened . but the climax was an ultimate laugher an    s like song you would expect cyndi lauper to jump on the stage and jam with violet . heck  i personally thought bon jovi was going to jump out with the long hair and jam too   br    br   other than some really smart camera work with the coyote girls when dancing  especially the wet scene   and a couple cute cliches  coyote ugly is something to be purely embarrassed about . whether you watched or made it  it looked like nothing but time killing . or wasting depending on how you look at it .  
teenager eddie spends his life being bullied and humiliated due to his obsession with heavy metal music . one day he finds out his hero sammi curr has died  supposedly burned by the establishment which wanted to put a stop to his music . but eddie has his last record  never released  and when he plays it he starts receiving messages telling him how to deal with his tormentors . before long sammi has revealed he intends to return to life at the local halloween party to exact revenge on the town which once mocked him .  br    br   filled with humour and in  jokes  this is a highly entertaining film . sammi himself is an original horror movie villain  plays on the  evils of rock music  obsessions of the    s . well worth watching .  
wow . i don  t even really remember that much about this movie  except that it stunk .  br    br   the plot  s basically a girl  s parents neglect her  so this sicko pokemon pretends to be her dad . am i the only one disturbed by that  then  this weirdo pokemon kidnaps ash  s mom to pretend to be the girl  s . i don  t care if he was trying to make the girl happy  that  s just gross .  br    br   there was no real plot . the girl was just a whiny brat who wanted things her own way . she played with unowns  was the  daughter  of entei and apparently could grow and shrink in age on a whim with the help of her  dad  .  br    br   that  s pretty much all i can remember  but i think you can take it as a hint  and not see it .  or if you do see it  don  t expect much .   out of   .  br    br   seriously . if you want a pokemon movie  rent  pokemon the first movie  .  
this is a true     s movie   back then they made maybe    times more movies than nowadays  and that makes many of them quite interesting . . . it was a cultural phenomenon  that don  t exist anymore . nowadays maybe the same kind of people that would have made cheap  straight  to  video   movies in the eighties  are doing cheap porn . porn seems to sell . anyway  this is above the medium trash  movie level it has goodfascinating story  and it  s quite well made i think . in one scene you can even see the microphone swinging on the upper edge of the picture . of course there are also little cameos by ozzy and gene simmons  but they don  t very much contribute to the film  success   although they are good in their small roles . the monster  heavy  singer  sammi curr   looks really terrible  especially when he  s singing . one of the scariest monsters i  ve seen in horror flicks . i may have nightmares of him next night . not recommended for intellectual movie lovers .  
this third pokemon movie is too abstract for younger kids to follow and too repetitious to entertain older kids . the message of the film   about dealing with loss   is subverted by the return of the young girl  s father during the film  s credits . team rocket provide some amusement  but they  re not really part of the small plot  so they don  t appear very often .  
undoubtedly the best heavy metal horror item made in the manically headbangin     s  which admittedly doesn  t sound like much considering how utterly abysmal many other entries in this odd little fright film sub  genre like  hard rock zombies    blood tracks    terror on tour   and the especially ungodly jon  mikl thor  starring stinker  rock  n  roll nightmare  tended to be . that aside  this one still deserves props for downplaying the excessive splatter and needlessly flashy special f  x razzle  dazzle in favor of focusing on adolescent high school characters who are depicted with greater acuity and plausibility than the norm for a mid     s teen  targeted scarefest . moreover  the film  s pointed sardonic parodying of both ridiculously overblown    s heavy metal stupidity and the nauseating self  righteousness of the uptight killjoy conservative stiffs who claimed it was the devil  s music are very clever and on the money funny  famed greed decade heavy metal god ozzy osbourne has a hilarious bit as a smarmy anti  metal tv evangelist   .  br    br   marc price  the hopelessly dweeby skippy on  family ties   gives a surprisingly strong and winning performance as eddie  ragman  weinbauer  a geeky  socially awkward and severely persecuted heavy metal aficionado who  s constantly picked on by the stuck  up jerk preppie bullies who make up the majority of the student body at lakeridge high school  the cruelty and mean  spiritedness of the high school kids is nailed with painfully credible accuracy  . eddie  s life takes a turn for the worse when his rock star idol sammi curr  an impressively whacked  out portrayal by tony fields  perishes in a hotel fire . hip local disc jockey nuke  kiss front  man gene simmons in a cool cameo  hooks eddie up with sammi  s final  unreleased album  which when played backwards resurrects curr  s malevolent spirit back from the dead . sammi encourages eddie to sic him on all the vile scumbags who make poor eddie  s life the proverbial living hell  only to have meek eddie prove to be a most reluctant would  be accomplice . it  s up to eddie  assisted by token nice girl leslie graham  likeably essayed by the lovely lisa orgolini   to stop sammi before things get too out of hand .  br    br   ably directed with commendable thoughtfulness and sensitivity by character actor charles martin smith  who also briefly appears as a nerdy school teacher   smartly written by michael s . murphy  joel soisson  and rhet topham  and capably acted by a uniformly up  to  snuff cast  this surefire sleeper even comes complete with a handful of nifty  jump  moments  an outrageous attack in the back of a car by a grotesquely lecherous long  tongued mutant thingie rates as the definite highlight   a rousing  carrie   style high school dance slaughter sequence  a neatly utilized halloween setting  revenge being correctly shown as a truly ugly business  and a solid central message that you shouldn  t make a particular over  hyped person your hero strictly because of the calculated anti  establishment posturing said fellow does to qualify for that special status .  
pokemon  is little more than three or four episodes of the tv series  strung together without the usual commercials . the story is typical of pokemon  conflict  fighting  and a resolution where all are happy in the end   and there is nothing original or unusual in the animation . some of the holes in the plot are filled in  over the closing credits   without explanation  and everything is just a bit too sweet .  br    br   why see it on the big screen  the only reason is to be a part of your child  s world . both of my sons enjoy pokemon  and by my showing an interest in what they like  we are closer . seeing a film in a theatre is still different than seeing it on the tube  and my sons enjoy the full movie  going experience . i gave the movie a   mostly from my children  s point of view .  br    br    
the best film on the battle of san antonio  texas in march      was john wayne  s     epic the alamo . in a one shot job as director producer  that temporarily financially strapped him  wayne demonstrated that he was talented in movie making outside of his icon  like acting ability personifying the west .  br    br   i have commented on that film in a review the other night  and i pointed out that wayne and james edward grant  the screenwriter  tackled some points that were barely mentioned in earlier films about the battle . they did bring in the issue of slavery . they also finally discussed the contribution of local mexican land owner juan seguin as an important leader in the war for independence on par with crockett  bowie  travis  austin  and houston .  br    br   but there was one weakness  though well hidden  in the film . wayne worked hard to cast it properly  thinking of many people for lead roles in it . but  he did not properly handle the leader of the enemy forces  general antonio de santa anna . the role was played by an obscure actor  ruben padilla  on this board  his thread shows only three credits listed  . padilla did not have any spoken dialog  even in spanish  . and while he does have one of the last shots in the film  he just is shown as a silent tyrant  observing the burning of the bodies of the americans and their allies .  br    br   despite several poor choices in the casting of this television movie  the alamo thirteen days to clory   it is the best film in showing the man who was  from     to      a leading bogeyman to american policy makers . raul julia was a wonderful stage actor . i was fortunate to see him in a production  in the late     s  of arms and the man in manhattan  as sergius . he was never boring  and usually first rate in his acting .  br    br   here we see the egotistical monster at his worst . nothing is acceptable that does not fit santa anna  s wishes or activities . it can be the failure of an orderly in the army to bring some item he requested fast enough  or it can be the temerity of these  foreign brigands   as he saw the americans  in not knuckling down to himself   the napoleon of the west  .  br    br   santa anna was president of mexico five or six times between     and     . he claimed that he first got involved in overthrowing a president because that president did not live up to the country  s constitution  but it was the power that kept him going year after year . it is a sad commentary that he was the leading mexican historical figure in those two decades . no political figure or military figure would rise to override him until benito juarez did in the late     s . initially he claimed great liberal ideals  but he once admitted that the people of mexico were children who needed guidance for one hundred years before they could rule themselves  and thus he sounds like gilbert roland in crisis talking about the people he has helped lead against jose ferrer  . the amazing thing about him was he managed to keep coming back . his policies were disasters . while we know about his attack on texas  to put down a revolt there   he also tried to expand into guatamala  and probably saw himself controlling much of central america  . he did win at the alamo  but at great cost of lives . his massacre of col . fannin  s men at goliad was inexcusable  one might make a case for the destruction of the defenders of the alamo who were fighting to the last  but fannin had surrendered  . then came the disaster of san jacinto  where his army was wiped out  he failed to take adequate precautions to watch for the american troops  . he was captured  and humiliated  and forced to sign a surrender of texas . houston was kind to him the troops wanted to string him up .  br    br   except for losing a leg in a battle against the french in      he managed not to get wounded in most of his wars . he repudiated the forced surrender of texas  but could not militarily undue it . instead  he would lead mexico into defeat in the war of        against the americans  leading to the mexican session . the u . s . was  decent  enough to pay mexico            for the southwest  but mexico lost half of it  s territory . he would be president for the last time in      in time to give franklin pierce  s horrendously bad administration it  s one moment of glory  santa anna sold the border of arizona and new mexico  the  gadsden purchase   to the u . s . no other mexican president  not even porfirio diaz  ever cost his country so much  diaz did sell out to foreign business interests  but he built up mexico  s economic muscles doing so  . he was exiled in      and settled in staten island . there he managed to do his most creative work he introduced chicle to the u . s .  and it became chewing gum . some achievement   br    br   julia  s santa anna is younger than the practiced cynic and schemer who became america  s best land purchase agent . he is not going to stand for opposition and he jumps into furious tantrums at a moment  s notice . most of the time his chief aide  col . black  david ogden stiers  here a british born officer  holds his tongue  he does not wish to be in front of a firing squad as he could be . but stiers is secretly less than enchanted by his boss . at the end  when alone with the newly widowed wives of the dead alamo defenders  stiers suggests that they tell the world what santa anna is really like . and they did   
this film is a perfect example of the recent crop of horror films that simply are not fully realized . there are two routes to take in horror films either you don  t really explain what  s going on  or who the killer is  like in texas chainsaw massacre  or give the characters a lot of back story and characterization so that everything is explained  halloween could potentially be an example of this  .  br    br   unfortunately  creep fails in this area . i see absolutely no reason to give a small shred of the back story for craig without fully capturing the essence of his character or his motivation . no character is fully realized  although the circular nature of kate  s character in the film is the most accomplished part of the story .  br    br   in the end  this story is mostly unmotivated and none of the performances give it the necessary life to make it enthralling or interesting enough to overcome the lack of context and empty film  making that drag down the film .  br    br   this film will go down as another example of a film  as most are  that could be so much better even though it would never be great . the only thing that was used properly in the film was the setting the characters  story  direction  and overall writing would have benefited from a serious face lift .  br    br   creep does serve a purpose as a mindless  silly horror movie with no intellectual or emotional investment  but sadly  that  s about it . . .  
first off  this really is my favorite film ever . i don  t need to give anyone a description because every ahole does that . i am literally obsessed with this practically bloodless  cheesy  lame effects having   boom  stick showing   badly edited     s metal horror masterpiece . the director  i heard  had hoped for a hit at the box office so that he could do sequels and have a freddy  jason type of deal for himself . damn  i wish that could  ve went down like that  the soundtrack  s banging  . the acting  s good . . . . check this mofo out . and any die  hard fans out there  feel free to email and chat sometime . midgetorgy . . . . i can be found at yahoo .  
there  s a group of fox tv executives sitting around a boardroom table wondering what new show to commission .  br    br    how about aiming for something like   or the west wing   says one of them  but they all agree it would be too expensive  and cheap tv is less likely to harm the station if it flops .  br    br    well  how about getting together some great comedy writers and doing a quality sitcom   offers another and is fired on the spot .  don  t you know good writers cost lots of money   the big chief barks .  that  s why we invented reality tv .   br    br    we could do yet another crime drama . . .  suggests a man in a bland suit .  i  m listening . . .  the boss replies  suddenly interested .  people like csi  so let  s do another copy of that   blandman adds .  br    br    but there are already far too many csi clones out there  what can we do to make ours stand out   a naive junior enquires and is sacked instantly .  stand out  if we do that people may be confused  let  s give them more of what they already like   the big chief screams .  br    br    let  s just add more violence and make it really grisly  we are fox after all   another suit suggests to a hearty reply of  now you  re getting it   from the big chief .  we could make them the deviant crimes unit   he goes on to add  clearly on a roll .  br    br    by jove  he  s got it   the big chief laughs   and the victims could be beautiful and vulnerable women who wear very little on screen .   well that would certainly distract people from the average acting and poor scripts   blandman points out .  br    br    then it  s settled  we just need a name   the big chief announces .  we could call it sex cops violence    br    br    too literal  how about killer instinctit conveys violence  but sounds a bit like basic instinct which had lots of sex .   br    br    puuurfect   the big chief replies and then they all slap each other on the back and go and cancel arrested development .  
trick or treat is a fine example of hollywood jumping on the  backwards messages in metal music  bandwagon that tipper gore and her washington wives kick  started in the mid     s  other  less successful entries in this mini  genre include the awful black roses and silly the gate  . i was a sophomore in high school when trick or treat came out and couldn  t wait to see it . it seemed to disappear from video stores by the end of the    s  but i finally picked up a budget  priced dvd copy a short while ago and it brought back many pleasant metal memories from back in the day . any teenage metal nerd could relate to the trials of eddie  ragman  weinbauer  marc price of  family ties   in this film as he is persecuted by the preppie  beautiful  people in his high school for his heavy metal fashions and musical taste . eddie  s favorite rock star is sammi curr  who looks a lot like tommy lee of motley crue   who is killed in a hotel fire early in the movie . eddie is inconsolable till he receives a test pressing of sammi  s final  unreleased album from a radio dj  gene simmons of kiss in a brief cameo  . eddie soon discovers that this lp  when played backwards  allows him to communicate with the undead spirit of sammi curr himself  soon sammi is giving eddie advice on how to get even with his preppie torturers but when the messages escalate in scariness   waste  em all . . . no false metal    eddie tries to destroy the album  which results in sammi coming back to life via eddie  s stereo speakers . sammi rampages to the big dance at eddie  s high school and takes the stage to rock the crowd and disintegrate a few unlucky  false metallers  before eddie arrives to save the day and the girl of his dreams .  sigh  no  it  s not terribly scary in      it wasn  t even scary in      but trick or treat is a movie that will bring a smile to the face of any     s metaller and has a kick  ass soundtrack courtesy of the cult band fastway . well worth seeking out if you  ve ever banged your head or have a taste for b  grade horror movies  or both  like me  .  
i just saw this movie  mainly because brady corbet is in it   and i must say that i was not pleased .  br    br   of course  the computer graphics were amazing  but the story line needed a little touch  up . also  i think this movie would have done much better with more curses and blood  as well if it were rated pg    .  br    br   that would definitely attract more people to see it    teens . what would also attract more teens  particularly teen girls   would be a large close up of brady corbet on the thunderbirds poster   br    br   even though the movie had it  s down points  i still saw it and thought it was okay   
one of my favourite films . it has everything  rocking soundtrack  courtesy of eddie clark  ex motorhead  loads of action  loads of laughs  totally ridiculous plot and the most wonderful     s stereotypes as characters . eddie  the put  upon nice guy  who just wants to be left alone to be different  leslie  about as wet as they come   nuke  the rock burn  out   eddie  s mom  pathetic   roger  the geek  and ozzy as the preacher  surely he exists in america   . then there are the boys  rich  vicious and stupid  and the girls  vacant  vain and stupid  . what more could you ask for   br    br   well  first of all  there  s sammi curr  the rock star  an amalgam of every     s badass rocker you can think of . what about that rocket firing guitar  then there  s the scene where sammi pulls the old lady through the tv screen and smashes her up . and what does roger do  why  hoover her up  just like a good geek would . my favourite scene is where tim hainey gets his long overdue reward from sammi via the wet finger in the plug  magic   br    br   if you were into rock in the     s or just love ridiculous films like i do  then check this one out . it  s available on dvd and very cheap so  trick or  treat yourself .  
i am very sorry to say this but  thunderbirds  does not even come up with a loud pop  never mind any thunder . at one stage i gave serious consideration to walking out of the cinema  i stayed in the forlorn hope that the film might improve . i was to be disappointed  it did not get any better  it got worse if that is at all possible . had i gone to see the film with the thought that it was going to be a  spoof  i would still have been let down . they had an excellent opportunity to make a great franchise of films here  they have totally wasted that opportunity . bill paxton and sir ben kingsley should be embarrassed to have there names attached to this film and jonathan frakes well what can i say  he should be embarrassed and ashamed would not be to far from the truth . i saw this film at a pre  release showing  i had been waiting to see it most eagerly  having grown up in the sixties with the original shows . to say i was disappointed would be something of an understatement . one final thing i will say about the film was the puppets in the tv shows were just a bit more wooden than where the actors in the film .  
i first saw this film as a teenager . it was at a time when heavy metal ruled the world . trick or treat has every element for a movie that rocks . with a cast that features skippy from family ties  gene simmons of kiss and ozzy osbourne as a preacher  how can you go wrong  backwards evil messages played on vinyl  yes thats right  they use records in this movie . in one scene eddie  skippy  is listening to a message from the evil rockstar on his record player when things begin to get scary . monsters start to come out of his speakers and his stereo becomes possessed . as a teenager i tried playing my records backwards hoping it would happen to mine . almost   years later trick or treat is still one of my all time favorite movies .  
i was one of those  few americans  that grew up with all of gerry andersen  s marvelous creations . thunderbirds was a great series for the time and would have made a great action  adventure movie if only the writers could have figured out where to target it .  br    br   i expected it to be a romp  but i did not expect it to aim at such a low age group . like lost in space  this could have been both visually stunning and exciting . it should have focused on more action  adventure and the goal of the original series . . . saving people in trouble .  br    br   instead  it focused on alan saving the day instead of his brothers  who were cast too young anyway vs . the original  . the breakout part was lady penelope and parker . i didn  t care too much for the characters in the original  but i was grateful for them in the movie . they stole the show   br    br   i always enjoyed thunderbirds more for the high  tech than the stories  and even that did not get enough screen time as far as i was concerned . i would have enjoyed seeing more of the cool gadgets .  br    br   but then  i  m just a big kid . . .    
this is a great movie if viewed in the proper context  it was meant to be a parody of teen  horror  devil  worship movies  and the    s saw plenty of them   i saw this movie when it first came out  and instantly liked it . being a big fan of kiss  it was great to see gene in the movie . and anything with ozzy as a metal  hating preacher can  t be all bad  also  fastway was already a favorite of mine  so it was great to hear them on the soundtrack .  br    br   the original vhs  this was pre  dvd  cover for trick or treat featured an illustration of sammi kneeling  playing his guitar in a ring of fire with a  demon  looking on . it was a special order  and the price for the vhs copy at the time  circa      was     i really wanted the movie  but not at that ridiculous price . the  ozzy  gene  cover was only created for the   re  release . the company releasing it probably figured gene and ozzy were the only recognizable people in the movie  so they had better put  em on the cover  same thing with the original  little shop of horrors   jack nicholson was in it for all of five minutes  but now they have him on the cover as if he were the main star .  br    br   i have a  trick or treat  web site  and it  s surprising how many people believe sammi curr was a real person  fastway helped perpetuate that myth by dedicating their soundtrack album to  sammi curr  .  br    br   all  in  all  it was just a good time  rock  n  roll movie . definitely not to be taken too seriously  but just enjoyed   
i was one of those  few americans  that grew up with all of gerry andersen  s marvelous creations . thunderbirds was a great series for the time and would have made a great action  adventure movie if only the writers could have figured out where to target it .  br    br   i expected it to be a romp  but i did not expect it to aim at such a low age group . like lost in space  this could have been both visually stunning and exciting . it should have focused on more action  adventure and the goal of the original series . . . saving people in trouble .  br    br   instead  it focused on alan saving the day instead of his brothers  who were cast too young anyway vs . the original  . the breakout part was lady penelope and parker . i didn  t care too much for the characters in the original  but i was grateful for them in the movie . they stole the show   br    br   i always enjoyed thunderbirds more for the high  tech than the stories  and even that did not get enough screen time as far as i was concerned . i would have enjoyed seeing more of the cool gadgets .  br    br   but then  i  m just a big kid . . .    
god i love this movie . if you grew up in the    s and love heavy metal  this is the movie for you . they really don  t get much better than this . the fastway soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks ever . i put on the record when it first came out and spent the next month learning every song on guitar note for note . the plot outline is your standard heavy metal horror movie . kid  s favorite singer dies . kid plays record backwards . hero comes back in demonic form and rocks the town . what more could you ask for   br    br   if you haven  t seen it yet  rush out and buy it . you will not be disappointed . metal rules . . .  
this film is just a kids against evil genre . thunderbirds is just the hook to get people to see it  but are almost incidental in use . the fact that the action takes place on tracy island is just a ploy to pull in the public . it was interesting to note what the film makers view of future london will be and how the world all fits together .  br    br   the best part of this film are some of the lines delivered by lady penelope which are highly comical . these provided some light relief for those expecting a rerun of the tv series .  br    br   having said that it passes   or so minutes in a  fun  way and so may just be worth watching .  
this film is the most cult movie on metal there is . premise a kid gets a hold of the final recording of his favorite artist sammy curr who recently dies in a hotel fire . he plays it backwards and summons him back from the dead to get revenge in the name of heavy metal on those btardly jocks who torment him . any fan of true metal will enjoy this movie  and if you are a metal head being tormented by jocks  play a sammy curr album backwards . . . . . . . . . no wait he is fictitious  well get a hold of this movie and watch it with your fist in the air  your head banging  and the volume at     
to say that thunderbirds is a horrid  forced  in  your  face  ugly looking  nasty to listen to and painful to watch film wouldn  t be saying enough . there are only two reasons i can think of why you  d watch this film   you  ve seen thunderbirds when you were young  like i did  and are curious as to what it is like but you will really only be watching to find out how badly they screwed things up . or    you  re seeing it with someone under ten years old .  br    br   thunderbirds manages to cock up everything it attempts . the list goes on and on but there are other more subtle  humiliating things that are painfully obvious when you think about it . from the off  thunderbirds is wrong  wrong  wrong . the whole moral message and  goal  is set up in an excruciating way jeff tracy  a new low for bill paxton  tells his youngest son alan he  s not yet proved himself to be a thunderbird after alan randomly and stupidly decided to go down into tracy island  s bowels to fire up thunderbird one . the whole film is then a series of events and miss  fires consisting of alan trying to prove himself whilst his father and other brothers are trapped in space aboard thunderbird five .  br    br   the film relies on kid actors to carry the film a   year old alan tracy  corbet   a   year old tin tin  hudgens  and a   year old fermat  fulton  who is brains  son . to say that watching the  adventures  they get up to is painful is an understatement . frequently trying to act and utilise the script whilst combating the evil  hood   kingsley  in ridiculously unfunny and hammy ways acts as the entertainment for the duration of the film it only differs when everyone  s in a different location . also  the whole  mind control  thing was very tiresome and basically dragged the film down as it was overused and offered a way for our heroes to see a weakness in the hood  forced and incidental .  br    br   i know that most  film  s for kids  these days try to integrate some sort of material for adults but in thunderbirds it  s done in a way that fetishises lady penelope . sophia myles plays penelope and i think it  s no coincidence she  s a little older than the rest of the kids  at   years old  it  s almost too good to be true . her scenes are often highly charged and carry an erotic push . we see her in the bath  bubbles up to her neck watching tv in comes her butler and sneaks a peek as she seductively changes channels with her wet  bare and bubble covered foot . frequent shots of her massive  bright pink high heeled shoes filling the screen during various scenes this first happens when she is actually tied up with the second happening during a fist fight with another woman  twinned with this  her bright pink costumes that reveal just enough yet cover just enough are particularly outstanding as is the way she moves and talks with that posh  dominant  english accent sounding like a commanding mistress  well  she is lady penelope after all  and you  d better make sure call her that  the whole thing is laughable but the editing is so quick that the kids won  t notice but it sure as hell is there .  br    br   the actual plot of the hood doing all that he does just to rob a few banks is very bizarre  the characters that are his bodyguards a geeky looking woman and hard bodied black man who gets agitated a lot . are we supposed to be laughing at this  what about the fight scenes  poorly choreographed stunts and what the hell was with the silly noises  it  s utterly  utterly laughable .  br    br   the list goes on . the way bill paxton plays it all so seriously  like he was told they were doing it one way but it was made another  the way ford motor company have their logo slapped all over the place . news bulletin sponsored by ford  the camera even moves to endorse ford several times when cars are in shot  the way the cgi looks like something out of a computer game video clip  it  s infuriating . the fact we are told to believe that a   year old girl can swim in the freezing thames  against the current  rescue a downed monorail  monorail over the thames     get back to the hatch and thus save the day all the time holding her breath . it is absolute bull and the makers know it  i don  t even know if a   year old would swallow it .  br    br   in short avoid  avoid  avoid . thunderbirds is infuriating  unfunny  poorly scripted and even the rolls royce was taken out and replaced by a flying car  everything that could go wrong  did go wrong .  
gabe ryan  frankie thomas  gets out of reform school and goes back to the slums . his sister  ann sheridan  does her best to keep him out of trouble  but it just seems to follow him . aside from his associations with the termite gang  gabe is followed by real  life gangsters who have a scheme to set fire to random buildings to collect the insurance . they need someone to blame for the arson  and gabe is it . it is up to the termites to work the law in their favor and give the gangsters their just desserts .  br    br   the the scene that introduces the dead end kids is really quite good . the boys wander on over to the new resident  s furniture on the street  and proceed to make it their own . they talk to each other in phoney posh accents and talk about drinking tea together bernard punsley takes a nap in a chair . the boys then proceed to start a fight with the new boy  but after he proves himself a good fighter  they ask him to join their club .  br    br   the initiation scene is rather good too  filled with mischief that seems dangerous at first  but is really rather clever and innocent .  br    br   later  when billy halop studies to become the boy mayor  he has a dream about schoolwork . this is wonderfully staged  with tiny holograms of the kids walking on his face and firing questions at him .  br    br   angels wash their faces is a great title because it plays off of the success of angels with dirty faces  and really tells what the kids are doing . notorious for bad behavior on and off the set  these boys make nice in this film . but rather than seem disingenuous  it makes for some great laughs . this is a preview of what many of the boys would become in the bowery boys series . we even get a few garbled words from leo gorcey .  
i really didn  t like this film . the plot was very predictable . typical american plot  i  m sorry . guy gets the girl kind of thing at the end . and london has a monorail  bank of london    bank of england is what it really is    i did however like the look of tracy island and the thunderbirds themselves . and the brits were baddies   apart from parker and lady penelope  what was up with that  oh and they kept on saying stuff like  here come  the thunderbirds    but it was never known as  the thunderbirds  in the series  why do that   i  d like to see this re  made in   years with more british cast . i preferred the original series . sorry   
this     film tried to capitalize on the much better michael curtiz  s film  angels with dirty faces  . as directed by ray enright  the only interesting thing is how tamed these kids were in comparison with what  s going on with the youth in america  s inner cities today .  br    br   the film is only worth seeing because of the presence of ann sheridan and ronald reagan  who showed they were well paired together . the dead end kids have larger parts as the plot concentrates on them rather than in the older folks .  br    br   in a way it  s curious how arson was used in the same way some scrupulous landlords did in later years right here in new york . it was the quickest way to turn a property around never considering the social problems it created . in today  s climate with so many guns around there is a new reality . the young kids of the story seemed mere pranksters rather than criminals . how times change   
the original thunderbirds earned a place in tv history . it was  and still is  much beloved  indeed  the entire first   minutes of the wallace and gromit movie  the wererabbit  is a direct lift of thunderbirds  down to a direct replay of the original thunderbird  launching sequence  if you don  t believe me  get the movie  and then get a copy of the original episode where thunderbird  is launched  .  br    br   this movie was a crass attempt at making a kids  movie  when the original was loved and enjoyed by kids and adults alike  in the original  the thunderbirds spent all of their time rescuing people who were often trapped when mother nature or technology went horrible wrong  yes  there was also the occasional criminal act  . the thunderbirds put their own lives and resources at risk for no reward  the very essence of heroism and selflessness . there was little physical violence . the thunderbirds challenged the imagination to a degree  how many of us would dream of someday building a thunderbird   and don  t underestimate the power of entertainment to do this  many japanese attribute their fascination with humanoid robots to the old astroboy cartoon .  br    br   but this movie was a poor re  image of the original . this movie came across as a meld between thunderbirds and loony tunes  i mean  we have anthony edwards as brain imitating porky pig  s stuttering      much of the action consists of kung fu  power rangers type fighting . indeed  there were funny sound effects when someone got nailed on the head with a frying pan . the tech that fired our imagination was absent  instead we have these kids running around  using a plot device that was never in the original series  having the entire team take off at once  leaving the base occupied by the kids and brain  . then there was a dose of  use the force luke  mysticism thrown in when tintin would levitate something or another  coupled with the the hood using aerodynamics that looked like they were lifted from  crouching tiger  hidden dragon  . about the only thing missing was for the hood to go  tintin  i am your uncle  with a breath mask voice . the heart that made thunderbirds unique was gone .  br    br   the only bright point was ron cook  s portrayal of parker  he caught it perfectly . but the actress playing lady penelope came across as a child  huh      br    br   and this is why we hate this movie . when someone puts out something that was popular to a fan base  and expects the fans to shell out money to watch  and then delivers something than wasn  t even close to what the fans expect  well  i am sorry  that is just plain wrong  ok  so if they were making a kids  movie  fine  next time distribute it straight to video  where many of these belong . but don  t package something up in a familiar wrapper and change the innards .  
the film begins with a bunch of kids in reform school and focuses on a kid named  gabe   who has apparently worked hard to earn his parole . gabe and his sister move to a new neighborhood to make a fresh start and soon gabe meets up with the dead end kids . the kids in this film are little punks  but they are much less antisocial than they  d been in other previous films and down deep  they are well  meaning punks . however  in this neighborhood there are also some criminals who are perpetrating insurance fraud through arson and see gabe as a convenient scapegoat   after all  he  d been to reform school and no one would believe he was innocent once he was framed . so  when gabe is about ready to be sent back to  the big house   it  s up to the rest of the gang to save him and expose the real crooks .  br    br   the  dead end kids  appeared in several warner brothers films in the late     s and the films were generally very good  particularly angels with dirty faces  . however  after the boys  contracts expired  they went on to monogram studios and the films  to put it charitably  were very weak and formulaic   with huntz hall and leo gorcey being pretty much the whole show and the group being renamed  the bowery boys  . because angels wash their faces had the excellent writing and production values and hall and gorcey were not constantly mugging for the camera  it  s a pretty good film   and almost earns a score of   it  s real close  . in fact  while this isn  t a great film aesthetically  it  s sure a lot of fun to watch  so i will give it a   sure  it was a tad hokey  particularly towards the end when the kids take the law into their own hands and reagan ignores the bill of rights   but it was also quite entertaining . the dead end kids are doing their best performances and ronald reagan and ann sheridan provided excellent support . sure  this part of the film was illogical and impossible but somehow it was still funny and rather charming   so if you can suspend disbelief  it works well .  
wow i payed   .   to go see this movie at the cinema . cant believe i wasted my time . the acting is cringe worthy at best and the special effects are crude . probarly the worst script in history some extremely embarrassing quotes i have ever heard in my life . i swear to god  swept away  is better than this . madonna should of won and oscar compared to these guys . an hour and a half of my life i want back . honestly people don  t see this  even toddler would find this movie an insult to their intelligence . i found this movie very strange in the fact that it was hard to tell who is more wooden  theses guys here of the actual puppets . pleas guys don  t waste your time on this movie you will live to regret it .  
heres a fun fact  i was the baby in the movie  the one in the crib .   i am   years old now . my parents took me to try out for the part  we lived in texas at the time . i think i only made like   bucks for it  but i wasn  t in it very long . my parents said i would cry when i was supposed to be happy and would be happy when i was supposed to cry . i was all mixed up . strange and funny fact i suppose . . and no i am not a child actress . i am livin  in san antonio  workin  at a walgreens . i graduated here in texas but i lived in maryland most my life . this movie is a great movie  though  good concept . i have seen it several times in my short   years .  
please  be warned this movie  though a pretty bad storyline  was one of the most gruesome movies i have seen . . . ever . just remember that before you settle on your sofa to enjoy the movie .  br    br   so  it officially begins with a party . just your average party but there  s some guy there . he  s pretty into kate . . . if you know what i  m saying . memorise his face it  ll help later .  br    br   so anyway kate goes of to find george clooney  didn  t i say the plot was bad   and so takes the tube . that  s london underground at the middle of the night  but she  s just stupid like that . so the timetable says the next  and last  train will come in  minutes . now kate  dumb party girl that she is  decides that she can have a nap in the spare  minutes . typically  she misses the train and finds herself locked in the london underground . alone . well  almost . . .  br    br   so the movie just carries on from there . blood  guts  limbs  even certain parts of the body i shall not mention are slashed and gashed and eventually amputated from the body .  br    br   in short  it  s a typical horror pretty but thick damsel in distress  type women and sick  weird psycho . or as the case may have it  creep .  br    br   i  d say give it a go if you  re into saw  hostel or the texas chainsaw massacre but for the rest of us  scream with satisfy out horror needs thankyou very much .  
i don  t have much to add to what has been said before  but it  s very much a film of it  s time  and the first  and likely only  time that the studio hung the film totally on the dead end kids .  br    br   the warner  s gave the boys plenty of help  from director ray enright and an  a  budget  to an almost magical cast of supporting actors . at every turn  we get one of those gem performances from real pros . they are too many to list  but it seems like just about everybody on the warner  s lot  sans the very biggest stars  walk through this picture .  see if you can spot john ridgely   br    br   the only over the top performance is from the always reliable eduardo cianelli as a mob boss with a messianistic complex . he plays this character almost exactly like that of the thuggie leader in  gunga din  . he  s something to watch  and marjorie main is excellent and gets her best role since  dead end  .  br    br   my bid for this one is a second feature on a double bill with something like  city for conquest  .  br    br   hooray for warners   
i still haven  t gotten to see all of this it  s running on cable right now  and i seem to keep coming in on the middle of it . my main reason for being interested in it is that i  m a bill paxton fan he  s a pretty good actor  and has turned in consistently good work over the course of his career .  br    br   the other thing is that  while never really a fan of the old series  i kinda liked thunderbirds for the ships and effect work . derek meddings was quite possibly the best in the business during the sixties and seventies  and his designs for the international rescue craft are wonderful . the current team has done a fine job of translating his work to the big screen .  br    br   but . . .  br    br   this is one lame story . the kids are asked to drive it  and while they do an okay job  it  s hard to suspend your disbelief  especially when you have brains  eight  year  old son flying t   an enormous multi  ton transport with all the aerodynamics of a buick . everywhere you look  you see a ford logo . product placement is way over the top here  and it  s annoying . ben kingsley does an good job as the hood  but he can only do so much with a one  dimensional role . if you can accept the film on its very slim merits  thunderbirds is a fun  enjoyable ride . just don  t look too closely at the machinery that drives it .  br    br   addendum i finally got to see all of this  and it  s worse than i thought . the acting is fairly uniformly poor  and while the effects are fairly good  the story on multiple viewings has gotten cheesier . the overdone product placement for ford is annoying  and the kids as central characters grate on my remaining nerves . as with the avengers  if you ignore the source material  it  s bearable . but not very . watch the original show  and you  ll see what i mean .  br    br   and a word of advice to jon frakes . take a refresher course at the director  s guild . you can do better than this  old friend .  br    br   another footnote . . .  br    br   i saw this again . last night . on telemundo . dubbed in spanish  with cheesy comedy sound effects . and yes  i came in roughly in the middle  with ben  ron and sophia in their fight scene on tracy island .  br    br   i didn  t think it was possible for an already lame movie to be worse  but it was . it was embarrassingly bad .  br    br   if this had been done straight  no kids  to  the  rescue  no tongue  in  cheek jokes  it might have worked . as it is  it  s just another beloved childhood joy that  s been ruined .  
a sequel to angels with dirty faces in name only  the angels wash their faces suffers somewhat from the usual shenanigans of the dead end kids . as a matter of fact  with the presence of the dead end kids and ann sheridan this should have been treated as an actual sequel to angels with dirty faces  at least for continuity  s sake .  br    br   speaking of ann sheridan  she is the one true shining light of this movie . to paraphrase a clich  ann sheridan could read from a phone book for two hours and i would buy the dvd   br    br   another virtue of this movie is the chemistry between ann sheridan and ronald reagan . unfortunately  this aspect of the film is kept too far in the background . for a better example of the sheridan  reagan duo i would recommend juke girl or kings row .  
ba ba ba boring . . . . . . this is next to battlefield earth in science fiction slumberness . genie francis  aka general hospital  s laura  has a small role as a reporter and that in itself should tell you that this movie must be bad . . . . there is ben kingsley  an academy award winning actor  in this stinker and a few others decent actors . you have to wonder what possessed them to decide to do this awful movie . the music dramatically goes up and down like it  s a major dramatic story . even if you pay attention the plot is impossible to follow . the effects are mediocre as well and seem really dated . all of the actors speak in a monotone voice and have no realism to their dialogue . i could go on and on on how this is a bad movie . at least with battlefield earth it  s so bad it  s funny but this is just b o r i n g . avoid unless you want to be lulled to sleep .  
i admit i had no idea what to expect before viewing this highly stylized piece . it could have been the cure for a zombie virus or the common cold for all i knew . it began with great visuals  little snippets to grab your attention and cause your imagination to run wild . as it continued i learned quickly through voice overs what was taking place . a nice little neo noir story that i felt was not a waist of a few minutes of my time . the little clues given to the audience through visuals at the beginning give them a sense of accomplishment as they piece together the plot . along with a nice twist at the end its a cool package overall . the score  though not bad  gave the film almost a music video feel . it just felt a little dated  not adding anything to further the storyline . some of the performances felt overly dramatic but fit perfectly with the feel of the overall piece . i walk away from this very satisfied . i was given a lot of information in a short period of time but through great editing and voice  over work it didn  t feel rushed or pushed . great job   
the most embarrassing moment in this film is when brady corbet says  you  ve blossomed   near the end the film . i practically died . i  m still not really sure why the screenwriters put that line in there . was it supposed to create romance  because it nearly made me sick .  br    br   the rest of the script was almost as bad .  br    br   i  ve never liked the original thunderbirds  but a thunderbirds movie had the potential to do so much . this movie doesn  t . if it didn  t have the big draw card of the thunderbirds brand  it would have been shafted straight to tv  or canned in the post  production . maybe even before .  br    br   like i said  the best thing about the movie is when the credits roll up and they play busted  s song  thunderbirds are go  . i can  t believe i wasted   watching this through pay  per  view .  
the cure uses voice over to create an intense mood . although the vo accounts for all of the film  s lines it amazingly does not take away from the visual story . the use of multiple film stocks add a lot of texture to the story . the choice of combining b  w and color worked nicely to enhance the leaps in time . the ending will make you jump despite being able to anticipate the result . i was especially enjoyed the thrill of the film  s suspense . the close  ups for the love scene are also lovely and reflect a tasteful eye . the piece is quite short but accomplishes a lot . the tight editing really helps to show off what a short film can do . worth watching more than once   
i grew up  b .      watching and loving the thunderbirds . all my mates at school watched . we played  thunderbirds  before school  during lunch and after school . we all wanted to be virgil or scott . no one wanted to be alan . counting down from  became an art form . i took my children to see the movie hoping they would get a glimpse of what i loved as a child . how bitterly disappointing . the only high point was the snappy theme tune . not that it could compare with the original score of the thunderbirds . thankfully early saturday mornings one television channel still plays reruns of the series gerry anderson and his wife created . jonatha frakes should hand in his directors chair  his version was completely hopeless . a waste of film . utter rubbish . a cgi remake may be acceptable but replacing marionettes with homo sapiens subsp . sapiens was a huge error of judgment .  
i had pleasure to watch the short film  the cure   by first time director ryan jafri . what really impress me are the camera work and music .  br    br   i think many young filmmakers  as i myself am one of them  would experience hard time with cinematography when just start making of an indie . we see the output are not exactly what we imaged or below our ambitions . but this film  directorial debut from a young director  handled very well on screen . the camera motion  color  lighting  compositing all contribute to the story and emotion of the film .  br    br   and music  as a key element of film language  helps a great deal too .  br    br   it  s hard to portray a woman  s heart  her desire  her fear  especially in a short . but still  i have to admit i am not a fan of v  o  narration   especially when the film is advanced by narration  instead of shots and cuts . my personal feeling to some of the narrative part is  my guess was the narrator tried a bit too hard . so the energy pushes audience back from the emotion of the film .  br    br   overall  it  s a short film nicely done  i could see the input from a director . way to go  ryan  greeting from china  looking forward to your next .  br    br   tim  
ok . . this movie could have been soooo good  all generations have been exposed to thunderbirds and have come to love it and this film had some of the features one would look for in a good thunderbirds movie . the craft themselves and tracey island were realistically transferred to the big screen  whilst still keeping to the designs we fell in love with . sophia miles was  simply  fantastic  as lady p and bill paxton  whilst not exactly who i envisaged jeff tracey being  was solid enough . . . but then the adults were taken out of the equation and we were asked to believe  year olds could fly    tonne machines .  br    br   it  s not so much the fact that the movie was centred around the children that made me feel like jonathon frakes was slapping me with a wet fish and laughing at my hard earned money spent on the film  it was the fact that alan tracey was so obnoxious in the film and that he seemed to be as able to fly the machines as well as his brothers . . . who were at least      . seriously  these are some pretty damn simple machines to use if this is the case .  br    br   the film didn  t seem to know whether it wanted to be serious or farcical . it tried to pay homage whilst satirising and it just generally fell flat on its face .       for the machines   for lady p   
not sure if it was right or wrong  but i read thru the other comments before watching the short . i have to say i disagree with most of the negative comments or problems people have had with it .  br    br   as a first time  lone wolf  director  producer  i like to see things that i can aspire to  not necessarily from the pro  s  but by people just getting their feet wet like me .  br    br   if indeed this is also from a first  timer  as i read  i applaud the effort . marvelous job then in that respect  there were some comments about the music . i thought it was quite nice for the piece . some say it kind of droned along for a while  but i found that created tension without  us  necessarily being conscious of it  and when he pulled the gun out and the guitar started crunching chords  it was like we knew there was a train on the tracks  but realize it is just now moving . yes there is a    degree slip  clip in there  but shi happens . did anyone else see hugh  s dirty shirt turn white  near the end  in the rain  in  australia   look how much money and people were behind that movie  give the kid a break for gods sake  all in all i think it was very well done . only  things i would have mentioned are hardly worth mentioning  don  t walk up to a shiny brass picture frame with the camera  and i would have just displayed the splatter at the beginning shots to a still shot  so people wouldn  t necessarily know what it is .  br    br   my experience so far has taught me that it  s not that it  s hard to make a movie  it just takes time to learn how to do it  then the time to actually do it  and then you better take some more time still to think of all the details you  ll need to have shot before you call  post  production time   imho  it looks like director  writer ryan jafri did his homework  and if this indeed is his first report card  i  d give him an  a  . the rest of you report to the principals office for a whuppin  .  
this is a truly awful film . what they have done is taken a tv show  which was never aimed at young children  given it the george lucas treatment  i . e . ruined it by kiddifying it to appeal to the younger audience  .  br    br   ok so the thunderbirds tv show wasn  t exactly the most cerebral of shows  in fact it was pretty formulaic  but it was always enjoyable to watch  especially when the models got blown up  and the voice cast wasn  t too bad .  br    br   this suffers from bad casting  bad acting  with the notable exceptions of sophia myles as lady penelope  ron cook as parker  who seem to be the only cast members to have a clue about how their characters should be played   after this travesty i wouldn  t let frakes direct traffic .  br    br   the whole point of thunderbirds was that it was about the whole tracy family  how they worked as a team  preventing disasters or coming to the rescue of those involved in disasters .  br    br   avoid this rubbish like the plague .  br    br   i only give it  out of   because a zero rating is not supported .  
time and time again  i  ve stated that if people don  t want remakes or sequels made  they should stop seeing them and instead venture into the world of independent film . having said that though  the last time i saw an independent film myself must have been easily six months ago . so here  s a review for an indie that i had my attention drawn to on youtube the cure .  br    br   right away  you can tell that the film is going for an avant  garde film approach which is telegraphed in its use of extreme close ups  scopophilia and fast editing . it is proud of the way it looks  and it has a right to be . for the most part it is a very nicely composed little piece  save for one inexcusable disregard for the    degree rule and a comically bad gunshot effect which is a phenomenon that seems to be the calling card for self funded projects .  br    br   still  despite these amateurish mistakes the majority of the shots are actually a pleasure to look at . we  re presented with a good use of props and locations  good visual acting and some very atmospheric  fluid editing  which is made more commendable as this is definitely something you won  t see very often at all from a youtube submission . the plot is fragmented and although the basic premise is fairly simple some may find it hard to follow exactly what is happening  but what we are seeing here is avant  garde storytelling at work you can  t really expect a straightforward three act structure and if you do you might not be ready for this kind of movie .  br    br   where the film is unfortunately let down however is the sound . what you  re going to hear throughout is a distorted voice  over which often sounds insincere and worse still is the continuous background music  which goes through minimal change and doesn  t add much to anything . so much attention is paid to the visuals that the audio frankly sounds neglected  and this becomes really apparent when you realize you  ve just missed about four sentences of the narration and have to backtrack to pick up what slipped past your attention .  br    br   so  give it a watch  but do it with the sound turned off .  br    br   last thought was anyone else reminded of the cover for doug naylor  s red dwarf novel  last human  early in the film  if you have the book you know what i mean .  
thunderbirds        br    br   director jonathan frakes  br    br   starring bill paxton  ben kingsley  brady corbet  br    br             thunderbirds are go   br    br   and so began thunderbirds  a childhood favorite of mine . when i heard that they were going to make a thunderbirds movie  i was ecstatic . i couldn  t wait to see thunderbird  roar in to save people  while thunderbird  would dive deep into theyou get the idea . i just couldn  t wait . then came august      when the movie was finally released . critics panned it  but i still wanted to go . after all  as long as the heart was in the same place  that was all that mattered to me . so i sat down in the theater  the only teenager in a crowd of   everyone else was over thirty and under ten . quite possibly the most awkward theater experience that i have ever had  br    br   the movie  which is intended to be a prequel  focuses on alan tracy  brady corbet   the youngest of the tracy family . he spends his days wishing that he could be rescuing people like the rest of his family  but he  s too young . one day  he finally gets his chance when the hood  ben kingsley  traps the rest of his family up on thunderbird   the space station  . this involves him having to outsmart the hood  s henchmen and rescue his family in time before the hood can steal all of the money from the bank of england .  br    br   trust me  the plot sounds like a regular episode of thunderbirds when you read it on paper . once it gets put on to filmwhat a mess we have on our hands . first off  the film was intended for children  much like the original show was . however  gerry anderson treated us like adults  and gave us plots that were fairly advanced for children  s programming . this on the other hand  dumbs down the plot as it tries to make itself a ripoff of the spy kids franchise . the final product is a movie that tries to appeal to fans of the thunderbirds series and children  while missing both entirely . lame jokes  cartoonish sounds  and stupid antics that no one really finds amusing are all over this movie  and i  m sure that jonathan frakes is wishing he  d never directed this .  br    br   over all  everyone gave a solid performance  considering the script that they were all given . ben kingsley was exceptional as the hood  playing the part extremely well . my only complaint about the characters is about the hood  s henchmen  who are reduced to leftovers from old looney tunes cartoons  bumbling about as  amazingly enough  the kids take them on with ease .  br    br   what  s odd about this movie is that while i was watching the movie  i had fun . but once the lights went up  i realized that the movie was fairly bad  i was   lighter  and two hours of my time were now gone . a guilty pleasure  perhaps . nonetheless  thunderbirds is a forgettable mess . instead of a big  go   i  m going to have to recommend that you stay away from this movie . if the rest of movie could have been like the first ten minutes of it  it would have been an incredible film worthy of the thunderbirds name . however  we get a movie that only die  hard thunderbirds fans  if you  d like to watch your childhood torn to pieces  or the extremely bored should bother with .  br    br   my rating for thunderbirds is   stars .  
let me start by saying i have never reviewed a movie on imdb before however  i am in the video biz myself . and coming from that perceptive i can say  without a shadow of a doubt that this film is what a short should be . it has a very good story and another thing i love   an even better twist ending  . opening was very well done  i loved video chosen for it and how it was edited .  br    br   i am not a fan of bw but the way this film uses the effect it works . and with any film that is all that matters . the flow of the film works perfectly and editing was very well done . from a technical side of things  which is side i normally work on  everything is also very well done . there is no major tech . stuff to point out . only minor one i have is that the end credits are a little bouncy . this is probably due to a rendering issue . let me also say that i would have prefer to seen more of the love scene but i am guy  so you can chalk that up to a guy factor  .  br    br   so overall i rate it a     . it is worth the watch if you fan of indies and  or short films .  br    br   ps . sorry for bad grammar or spelling .  
  thunderbirds  was an immensely popular sixties show that has transcended the years and generations to the point it is still as popular now  with both adults and children alike  as it was in its heyday . so  one would deduce the chance to produce a live  action feature film with a million pound hollywood budget was an excellent opportunity to revive the series as has been done with  spider  man  and  the x  men  . but a terrible storyline and bland acting obliterated this opportunity and it was soon apparent all that was destined for this film was a trip to the bargain bin of the kiddies  section .  br    br   instead of a film focusing on the five tracey sons  their father and trusty geek brain striving to rescue people and protect the world from villains  our hero in this drudge is a malcontent and bratty thirteen  year  old alan tracey  fourteen  year  old tin  tin and ten  year  old brain  box fermat  son of brains  yes  brains  son despite this being a man who could surely never score a woman if he tried maybe he grew the kid in a petri dish  . as one can tell from a run  through of our three lead characters  this     remake  thunderbirds  was clearly aimed at entertaining only children under twelve instead of trying to appeal to a broad age  range as those involved in the much superior revival of  spider  man  did . the plot itself was so bland with clunky  awkward dialogue and weak jokes that probably wouldn  t amuse brighter pre  teens . the scriptwriter seemed more interested in ripping off  spy kids   which was at least quirky and original  instead of remaking the show people know and love .  br    br   although sophia myles and ron cook were excellent as miss penelope and parker  they only had about three lines between them so their presence was barely felt . bill paxton  s jeff tracey was just boring and there was only the slightest of mention of the other four tracey boys while anthony edwards and ben kingsley  as brains and the hood respectively  were just embarrassing . the hood  in particular  is not at all threatening or sinister and instead comes across as a campy  two  bit stereotypical villain as limp as a piece of rotting lettuce .  br    br   brady corbet  who plays alan tracey  may well be a good young actor but it was hard to see that in a film where he plays a whinging brat who just grates and the same goes for vanessa anne hutchinson as tin  tin since the most she gets to do is look pretty and be all for  girl power  . ironically  it is young soren fulton  s fermat who is the only interesting character of the film as fulton delivers a natural and relaxed performance .  br    br    thunderbirds  the series will be forever remembered as an excellent show that proves puppets can give solid performances   thunderbirds  the film will be forgotten by most and remembered by a few as one big flop .  
the cure is an amazing film . . . so suspenseful and just so real  i was lucky enough to catch a screening of  the cure  at it  s nyc premiere and it completely blew me away  i also heard it won an award from that particular festival  and it definitely deserved it . the first thing that struck out at me was the cinematography . eric giovon did an amazing job . the shooting style of the love scene halfway into the film was amazing . a love scene was necessary in this film  and jafri got the point across but also kept the scene tasteful . giovon and jafri make an excellent creative team and they should definitely work together on future projects . judy maier  s narration was so surreal but simultaneously heart wrenching  it made me feel what the main character felt . i  m a very tough critic but i must say the cure is one of my favorite films . . just love it  if you haven  t seen it yet  check it out   
the basic formula for the original series was take someone  get the audience to like them  then put them into mortal danger . this formula worked for the   episodes made between        .  br    br   now  we jump forward   years to     . . we are introduced to alan tracy  a somewhat less  than  diligent college school kid  with his friend  fermat  a young know  it  all . they are whisked off by lady penelope in her pink ford thunderbird to the island paradise where the tracy family live  for the school holidays . almost immediately  they are left in the care of kyrano and his daughter  tin  tin whilst the adults go to rescue john from thunderbird  which has been damaged by a staged accident . this is all part of the hood  s scheme to take over tracy island so that he can steal the thunderbird machines . . .  br    br   to rob a bank   br    br   yes . the plot is as limp as that   br    br   the dialogue is banal  the acting more wooden than that of the  fibreglass  puppets  the effects  anything but special and hans zimmer  s score  what little there was of barry gray  s glorious theme shone through zimmer  s lackluster orchestration . the rest of the score was eminently forgettable . in fact  part of the score was broadcast the following week on the radio and didn  t recognise it  i didn  t even bother to stay to witness busted  s mediocre efforts with the end titles  br    br   to be fair  ron cook worked quite well as parker  he and sophia myles as penelope seemed wasted . with the right material  they could have been show stoppers . the cgi work was what i would have called leading edge   years ago .  br    br   the dynamics of the main craft were just wrong the original series models at least moved as if they had mass  br    br   another sore point is that the whole production seemed to be one long set of product placements  from every vehicle being built by ford to the entire content of the tracy freezer being produced by ben  jerry  s .  br    br   my son    enjoyed the film but this cross between spy kids and  clockstoppers   aimed squarely at his age group  added nothing to the thunderbirds legend . when star trek hit the big screen in     with  the motion picture   a whole new lease of life was breathed into the franchise which then continued for another   years or so . with this film  frakes has missed a golden opportunity to do the same with the thunderbirds franchise .  br    br   i predict that this film  like  the avengers  and  the saint  before it  will sink into obscurity within  months  leaving the original series to its  classic  status .  
this is an odd film for me  as after i reviewed a nice film from a new film maker  far out by phil mucci   another writer  director  ryan jafri  contacted me and asked me to watch and review his film  the cure . i don  t normally review films this way  but what the heck   i love shorts and couldn  t wait to see another .  br    br   interestingly  while it turned out i did like the cure  i was not thrilled by it and let jafri know . to his credit  he encouraged me to review it anyway   giving it my honest appraisal .  br    br   the film has tremendous style and as far as jafri  s direction goes  it  s exceptional   especially for such an inexperienced film maker  it  s his first film  . the combination of exceptional choices of color  pacing and music that well  suited the film created a great sense of atmosphere . you really are pulled into the film and that is a credit to the film making . however  the thing i didn  t love was some of the writing . while the basic idea was great  the ending was just too easy to foresee . i really would have loved the ending had it come as more of a surprise or there to have been an unexpected twist . however  considering that this film is from someone who shouldn  t be able to make such a professional film given his experience  it bodes well for his future . good job .  
i  ve always thought that most huge box  office flops usually have something to recommend them  but after the remake of around the world in   days and thunderbirds  i  m beginning to doubt it . for those not familiar  it  s based on a puppet show about a family of astronauts who use state of the art rockets  spaceships and subs to rescue people from various disasters  falling bridges  stricken planes  burning buildings  etc  each week . well  the puppets are gone  replaced by far more lifeless teenagers   and so is the premise  only one ineptly staged rescue and a plot shamelessly ripped off from spy kids without any signs of imagination  wit or entertainment . young alan tracey feels left out of all the rescuing we never see the other traceys do because dad won  t let him play with a real rocket until he passes his exams . grounded on a beautiful tropical island  some punishment    his chance to shine comes when the rest of the family  a bunch of identikit bleach  blondes who look like a gay neo  nazi boy band without a single bit of characterisation between them  are stranded in space and he has to have the day by  er  running around the jungle  making a phone call  firing a hose at the inept comedy relief villains and dousing them in gunk for bad measure .  br    br   the good points are few and far between . one of them is that the film is mostly in focus . the other is they all got to go to the seychelles  which looks nice .  br    br   the bad points where to start  ben kingsley  s career lowpoint performance  the aforementioned inept comedy relief sidekicks who would disgrace the children  s film foundation at its worst  the almost complete lack of action or effects in a    m sci  fi film  the terrible script  the lifeless direction  the odious moralising  but most of all is the fact that the film is so patronising in every possible way . forget the life lessons and off the peg sentiment  this is a movie aimed straight at the under  eights by people who know they  re making a kid  s movie and are constantly talking down to their intended audience  throwing in fifth  rate jokes and routines that would insult most children who had only recently mastered the art of speech . this film could replace being sent to bed early without their dinner as parents  favourite punishment for kids .  br    br   the biggest flop in british film history  it didn  t even cover the cost of prints and marketing   it  s just about watchable if only as an object lesson in how not to make a summer movie .  
i thoroughly enjoyed this movie because there was a genuine sincerity in the acting . the writing was top  notch . james arness is a great actor and he showed it here . brian keith was too old to be davy crockett  and can anyone really play davy but fess parker   br    br   another great actor in this move was raul julia  who gave depth to santa anna  a vain and complex person who led mexico through turbulent times .  br    br   while some may think the movie was slow  paced  it captured the battle as it unfolded  lots of tedium followed by a couple hours of horrific terror .  br    br   what impressed me most about this movie is that it made you think about a cause and how some people are willing to die for what they believe in . in this day and age when nobody stands for anything  i found it refreshing to think that there was a time when people died for freedom  no matter how you may feel about the politics of the time .  
okay i must say that before the revealing of the  monster  . saying that he really didn  t fit into that category  just some weird thing that had an annoying screech  and personally i think a granny could have ran away from that thing  but anyway . i actually was getting into this film  although having the main character a drunk and a heroine addict didn  t come as an appeal . but such scenes as when she runs away from the train  and you can see the figure at the door was kind of creepy  also where the guard had just been killed and the  monster  put his hand on the screen .  br    br   but then disaster stuck form the moment the monster was revealed it just became your average horror  with limited thrills or scares . slowly i became more bored  and wanted to shut the thing off . i like most people have said was rooting for the homeless people to make it  specially the guy  he gave me a few cheap laughs here and there . i think this film could have really been something special instead it became what every other horror nowadays are  just boring and well not worth the money .  br    br   if you are looking for a cheap scare here and there  or a mindless gore fest  which is limited  hardly any in fact  by all means give it a go  but for all you serious horror watchers look somewhere else  much better films out there .  
while i was the video store i was browsing through the one dollar rentals and came upon this little gem . i don  t know what it was about it but i just had a gut instic about it and wow was i ever right .  br    br   the story centers around two girls who have just survived a school shooting . one of the girls is alicia a teenage reble who is the only witness for the full attack and another is deanna another survivor who survived a bullet to the head by some miracle . thrown together by fate  they slowly begin a painful and beautiful display of healing and moving on .  br    br   i just hate it when amazing movies fall through the cracks . because wow what a performance by busy phillips and erkia christensen not to mention the rest of the cast  my only complaint is that the dvd was sorely lacking in special features . oh and some of the jump cuts in the movie were kind of jarring . but all in all a excellent movie .  
protocol is an implausible movie whose only saving grace is that it stars goldie hawn along with a good cast of supporting actors . the story revolves around a ditzy cocktail waitress who becomes famous after inadvertently saving the life of an arab dignitary . the story goes downhill halfway through the movie and goldie  s charm just doesn  t save this movie . unless you are a goldie hawn fan don  t go out of your way to see this film .  
i came in in the middle of this film so i had no idea about any credits or even its title till i looked it up here  where i see that it has received a mixed reception by your commentators . i  m on the positive side regarding this film but one thing really caught my attention as i watched the beautiful and sensitive score written in a coplandesque americana style . my surprise was great when i discovered the score to have been written by none other than john williams himself . true he has written sensitive and poignant scores such as schindler  s list but one usually associates his name with such bombasticities as star wars . but in my opinion what williams has written for this movie surpasses anything i  ve ever heard of his for tenderness  sensitivity and beauty  fully in keeping with the tender and lovely plot of the movie . and another recent score of his  for catch me if you can  shows still more wit and sophistication . as to stanley and iris  i like education movies like how green was my valley and konrack  that one with john voigt and his young african american charges in south carolina  and danny devito  s renaissance man  etc . they tell a necessary story of intellectual and spiritual awakening  a story which can  t be told often enough . this one is an excellent addition to that genre .  
i basically skimmed through the movie but just enough to catch watch the plot was about . to tell you the truth it was kind of boring to me and at some spots it didn  t make sense . the only reason i watched this movie in the first place was to see chace crawford    he is so hot  but in this movie his hair was kind of weird . but still hot .  br    br   however  despite how hot chace is  it really did not make up for the film . i guess the plot isn  t that bad but what really threw me over was the fact that they cuss in like every sentence . is it that hard to express your anger without saying the f word every time  the cussing was annoying and the whole flashy  camera shaking thing gave me a headache .  br    br   all in all  although the plot was ok  i found the film to be a bore and over dramatic . that  s why i only cut to scenes with chace in it . lol anyways  not worth renting unless your a die  hard fan of a specific cast member like i was . oh yeah the cast was hot . the girls were hot    but chace is the best    
kristine watts  molie weeks  is broken apart  missing her lover she is not able to overcome her love for him that is lost in the past . she hires a stranger  douglas davis  and gives a list of her mistakes to him with things to fix . but time is irreversible and sometimes the cure for the pain is a tragic end .  br    br   the first point that impresses in  the cure  is the stylish cinematography that alternates black and white with color . the concise and sharp screenplay is capable to develop a tragic and bleak tale of love with an unexpected plot point in the very end in less than eight minutes . the soundtrack is beautiful but the volume is a little loud and associated to the fact that english is not my native language  in some moments i needed to repeat some words whispered by the narrator . the unknown lead actress has magnificent performance and is extremely gorgeous . i hope to have a chance to see her again on the screen . last but not the least  the debut of the director and writer ryan jafri could not be better . my vote is nine .  br    br   title  brazil   not available  
johnathan frakes is a good actor and  when he  s not directing a family film  a fine director . but  he really shouldn  t have directed this movie  and the screenplay should  ve been rejected . the director and writers must understand what the original tv show was really about  as well as who the characters were and how they worked . the original series had many episodes with razor  sharp writing using good dialogue and with situations that american producers would never consider using in children  s programming  much less a movie  which made the original series so well received by adults . i mean  the tracys were college graduates and some of them did even drank alcohol and smoked tobacco  and  there were characters who did get killed  although most were bad guys . if they had written it the way that it was originally done  which isn  t dumbing things down with poor dialogue  kindergarten humor  and a weak plot  this universal  studio canal joint venture wouldn  t have such bad reviews .  br    br   this motion picture is almost pure blasphemy . if you  ve seen the original supermarionation series  then you  ll know what i  m talking about   br    br   the first thing that was out of place and annoying were the constant references to ford motor company  even going so far that lady penelope was riding around in a disfigured ford thunderbird made up to look like fab   instead of using what would  ve been more appropriate considering ms . penelope  s station  not to mention being more faithful to the original   a rolls  royce fab   . she  s supposed to be a distinguished member of british society  hence the preference for england  s finest make of motorcars in the original series . one other reviewer here indicated that penelope wouldn  t be caught dead in a ford . he  s pretty much right in the context that the idea of her riding in a ford doesn  t work . at least they could have had penelope ride in a jaguar made up like fab  since jaguar is a british car make that is owned by ford  but no  they had to use a straight ford  but the ford product placement doesn  t end there . every single car you may see is a ford  even the news flash that is shown on the tv sets in the movie were sponsored by ford  ford  ford  ford  the predominance of ford vehicles makes this movie an obvious marketing vehicle for ford .  br    br   the original series had a design that was futuristic for the     s and still remains ahead of its time even today . but  the futuristic design in the original series worked because there was an effort to make the design look practical and functional . this kind of treatment didn  t exist in the movie  where everything is stylized to excess  defeating the sense of functionality and practicality . a lot of things that were done in the design of the movie were done strictly for style  many times with no sense of function to give that style a sense of reason .  br    br   the original series relied on good acting performances of the voice talent to overcome the limited expressions in the puppets  bringing them to life in the episodes . the brilliant and lively music score by barry gray helped even further to connect the audience with the story  the characters  and how everything came together to help achieve the super objective  a little bit of stanislavski talk  . the movie  on the other hand  had some overly grating performances . anthony edwards overplayed brains to a fault  bill paxton as jeff tracy just didn  t work despite decent acting  one of few   there were better choices for the hood than ben kingsley  and many others that i don  t care to mention  it would take too long  . quite simply  the puppets were more believable  second was the overly generic and underwhelming music score by hans zimmer  sounding more like a mix between  days of thunder  and  apollo   .   br    br   and  of course  the hood . the hood in the original series had an ability to communicate with kyrano through a statue of kyrano as an outlet for esp contact . but  that was where his extraordinary capability ended . he  s a master of disguise and deception  which allows him to sneak around undetected  for the most part  anyways  to gather information of the thunderbirds vehicles for his own means . he also uses weapons for his own defense  including pistols  and generally collects information using a film camera  although he tried to steal thudnerbirds  and  in the     s united artists release of  thunderbird    which was the last thunderbirds show filmed in supermarionation and was the second thunderbirds theatrical release  . but  while he is a nemesis of international rescue  the hood isn  t the villain in every thunderbirds episode and he tends to avoid direct confrontation with international rescue . in the movie  he  s obviously the main villain  but he and his cohorts seem to act more like morons  along with the hood having extended mind control ability  including the ability to move objects and move himself into flight for brief periods of time . this totally deviates from the hood as a character in the original series with one that may leave kids laughing and people familiar with the series scratching their heads in confusion or leaving the theater in disgust .  br    br   there are more criticisms  but the     word limit for imdb reviews will not allow me to list all of them . so  i will close with the point being made that i didn  t enjoy this movie . as a matter of fact  i think it sucks  having seen the original series and supermarionation movies  thunderbirds are go  thunderbird    i was hoping for something a lot better than this .  br    br   the original supermarionation was a lot more sophisticated and elegant than this live action farce .  and that  s saying it nicely .   kip wells  
by no means a masterpiece  and far from errol flynn  s best  istanbul still has much going for it . the locations and beautiful technicolour cinematography  bring us back to a time long since past . errol flynn does show moments of his past glory  and is ok as jim brennan  a pilot who  s past comes back to haunt him . the picture is actually a remake of      s  singapore   and the story seems awfully contrived and cliche  by today  s standards . also many of the supporting cast seem to be simply  going through the motions  in this picture . many people have also compared it to one of the all time greats  casablanca . while watching the film  i could see many of the similarities  but hey  casablanca has inspired countless imitators  so take that for what it  s worth . in closing  if you are a fan of flynn  or old fashioned love stories  you might want to give this film a look . otherwise  i  d recommend casablanca  or the maltese falcon  as a good introduction to some of hollywood  s classics . . . .  
this may sound crazy to even the people who remember this show . . . but i remembered this as being live  action . i don  t think i ever saw the cartoon . but movie  maybe . i remember it very clearly . the guy was in a building kinda like a showroom . he even had the red jacket . it was dark out and he turned into a red car and there was this guy on the second level looking down at him . the car  guy spun around and crashed through the big showroom type window and out onto the street . and then proceeded to drive off . that is all i remember . i really hope someone else out there remembers this too . if not  maybe i  m still crazy . but i  m hoping i  m not .  
this film had my heart pounding . the acting was great  the erotic music and the beautiful women add up to make this one a winner . the lead actress decides to join an escort service when she realizes that her husband has no time for her . she step  s into a whole new world her first client being another woman . this is a film you definitely don  t want to pass up .  
  sundownthe vampire in retreat  is a rubbish . the acting is terrible  the atmosphere is non  existent and the characters are uninteresting . the only scary thing about this piece of scum is that majority of the imdb users gave it a   . this is really horrifying . no gore  no suspense  no violence  nothing . bruce cambell   the evil dead    intruder   is completely wasted  the supporting cast is also terrible . yes  some people may like this picture  especially a mainstream society but hard  core horror fans or gore  hounds won  t enjoy this piece of crap . personally i hate horror comedies  i prefer watching serious horror movies like  cannibal holocaust  or  last house on the left  . in my opinion  a real horror movie is supposed to be scary  excessively bloody and disturbing  without stupid humour  which usually ruins the whole concept . this one isn  t scary  isn  t gory  isn  t even funny as a comedy  so don  t waste your precious time .  
heart pounding erotic drama are the words that come to mind when i think of  secret games  . it becomes more erotic as the film goes along and at one point blew me away  i didn  t expect the delightful scene i was about to encounter . the  call girl  has her first customer and what a customer  one of the most erotic lesbian scenes i have ever seen . the husband should have listened to his wife and perhaps she wouldn  t have gone on this erotic journey . it turned out to cost them in the end but  it was one exciting ride  go see this movie     
sundown  featuring the weakest  dorkiest vampires ever seen  accompanied by one of the most unfitting  pretentious scores ever written  and with shane the vampire  who  s every move and spoken word was so ridiculous that i burst out laughing half the times and rolled my eyes the rest .  br    br   the vampires don  t seem to have any special powers at all  except for strength  sometimes   being able to switch off a lamp with their mind  one time  and . . . that  s it  really . ever imagine count dracula worriedly recoiling from a fight  cause he ran out of bullets  neither did i . practically any other movie  dracula would eat this one for breakfast  skin his followers and use their bones as toothpicks .  br    br   the main plot of the movie is that a human family of four gets caught up in a vampire gang fight  dracula  s vs . some old geezer  s . it could have been some good old b  flick fun  but the overly dramatic music was clearly written by someone who took this movie a bit too seriously  and ends up ruining the remaining part of the movie not already ruined by clay bats  mediocre acting and the laughable screenplay .  br    br   in the end it  s just too silly to be funny . sure  it has some amusing moments  but they  re few  and far apart .  
the entire      minute presentation is done in a very non  threatening and non  medical way that even preteen children can easily understand . it dispels many of the myths surrounding menstruation that were going around in those days       while sex is not explicitly mentioned  the part about fertilization is . this is also  purportedly  the first hollywood production to ever use the word  vagina  in the dialogue .  br    br   it is cute how the animated character is shown topless in the shower in a purely animated character way with no defining features as was the way of the day . many of the betty boop cartoons showed her undress without revealing any defining features either . max fleischer was a bit of a card and did this with many of the betty boop cartoons which required frame  by  frame viewing to find them .  br    br   there is no mention at the beginning or end of the film as to who the female narrator is . in fact  there are no credits whatsoever other than those mentioning kotex and kimberly  clark corporation .  br    br   this title is nearly impossible to attain but for those who are bittorrent downloaders  it can be found out there in the ether . this is one of those  keepers  that will become increasingly hard to find as older short subject features fade into obscurity .  
the best thing about camp films in general is that you know what to expect . it  s like watching a professional wrestling match or a day time soap opera or a jerry springer show you immediately can follow the skimpy plot  identify the cardboard characters  and watch in satisfaction while all the cliches are being fulfilled . however  at times  the director does something real unexpected . it may be something extraordinarily stupid  or something weird  or something insightful . the director makinen is up there with the best camp directors  and this is his best movie .  br    br   in yon saalistajat  everything seems to come together . there  s nothing good about it  but still manages to be a coherent whole . not once does the movie slow down  the action flows on and punches keep on coming .  br    br   the weirdest thing is that there  s no sense of time some characters seem to take months doing something while other characters have only spent one hour at a bar . this is partially due to finnish summer where the sun never sets  so you don  t experience the day turning into a night at all .  br    br   finally there is a plot  there  somewhere . you may have to watch the movie three times before you realize it  though .  
although this film is somewhat sanitized  because it was made at a time when people just didn  t talk about sex   it is an extremely helpful short film to show prepubescent girls so they know what to expect during menstruation . not surprisingly  it was paid for by the kotex company  though what may surprise many is that disney made this film   as they made a lot of educational films during the     s    s . however well made the film is  though  i think the film maker  s missed a real opportunity . instead of the nice female narrator  s voice and the relatively bland visuals it would have been great if they  d used minnie mouse and the rest of the disney gang   i know this would have given old walt a heart attack  but wow that would have been a great film  by the way  although the notion of sex is barely hinted at in the film  it does adequately explain menstruation in general . however  it does lack some details  especially about intercourse  that i assume were included in the accompanying booklet .  br    br   now if only i can figure out why i watched a cartoon about menstruation .  
this is a classic stinker with a big named cast  mostly seniors who were well past their prime and bedtime in this one .  br    br   this is quite a depressing film when you think about it . remain on earth  and you will face illness and eventually your demise .  br    br   gwen verndon showed that she could still dance . too bad the movie didn  t concentrate more on that . maureen stapleton  looking haggard  still displayed those steps from  queen of the star dust ballroom   so much more down to earth from   years earlier .  br    br   i only hope that this film doesn  t encourage seniors to commit mass suicide on the level of jim jones . how can anyone be idiotic enough to like this and say it gets you to think   br    br   why did don ameche win an oscar for this nonsense   br    br   if the seniors were doing such a wonderful thing at the end  why was the youngster encouraged to get off the boat  why did steve guttenberg jump ship as well  after all  he had found his lady  love .  br    br   this would have been a nice film if the seniors had just managed to find their fountain of youth on earth and stay there .  br    br   sadly  with the exception of wilford brimley  at this writing  vernon  gilford  stapleton  ameche  tandy  cronyn and lord knows who else are all gone . the writers should have taken the screenplay and placed it with this group as well .  
when i saw this as a child  it answered all of my questions and dispelled any fears or misconceptions that i had . it is easy to watch because it is animated  which makes it unthreatening . it has no moral bias or  preachy  aspects  so nobody should have any objections to it . it is a pleasant film that simply gives the facts of menstruation in a reassuring   matter  of  fact  way . i hope to show it to my daughter .  
i didn  t agree with any of the theology in the left behind series  but nonetheless i found the books gripping and i read  of   of them . undeniably good writing and interesting story . however  i didn  t have very high expectations for the movie . there was no way mainstream hollywood would have taken up a christian series and produced a big  budget movie . so it was done independently . . . and it just felt like i was watching a really long tv show . it just didn  t feel like a movie it didn  t have that movie  experience  to it  if anybody knows what i  m talking about . so the movie suffered because of that  and the low  budget  poor special effects were another detraction for me .  br    br   on top of that  i feel that gordon currie was woefully miscast as nicolie carpathia . reading the book  my impression of nc was that he was supposed to be this charming  dazzling  amazingly handsome guy who spoke english with almost zero trace of an accent . so i imagined somebody like pierce brosnan in the role . instead  they found some clay aiken pencil  neck who looks like an employee of the month from best buy  and gave him a really bad fake accent . so that lost a few stars for me right there . a movie is just not convincing when the major villain doesn  t look or sound the way he  s supposed to .  br    br   the acting was okay  but nothing to write home about . some of the scenes  like one of the conversion scenes  can  t remember which one   were real seat  squirmers for me . and some of the christian rock music or whatever it was  was really out of place for some of the scenes  like in the one with kirk cameron praying in the bathroom .  br    br   in short  it wasn  t a bad movie  but it just didn  t do it for me . stick to the book  folks  it  s much better .  
if you have not heard of this film from walt disney pictures  do not worry about it . it would be classed along the other films by disney that are meant for educational purposes like  family planning  .  br    br   it was co  produced with kotex to teach pre  teen girls about menstruation  supposably . it only educates at a superficial level  so it does not go into heavy detail for the animated  ram  s head   reproductive system sequence .  br    br   the film does show  the wonderful world of disney  elements like the turning of the page and the use of animation to tell the story .  br    br   this film is impossible to find  so if you can find the film  best luck to you and enjoy .  
surprisingly enough does movie does have some redeeming quality in it when it moves toward its end . for the other part this movie is being a really bad and lame one  with a small budget  insultingly bad written script and everything that goes with it .  br    br   it  s silly that with all the money going around in the christian circles they never can seem to get sufficient funds to make a decent movie with . i  m not a religious  so i couldn  t care less really but film  making does some like a good tool to reach a new audience for churches and getting people more interested and curious in reading the bible for instance . in that regard these movies always seem like a wasted opportunity .  br    br   the low budget does really hurt the movie and brings it down . it makes the movie laughable to watch with its effects and it just gives the overall movie a campy b  movie like feeling .  br    br   but what  s hurting this movie more is its writing . the stuff that just happens in this movie is just insulting to the intelligence and then i  m not even complaining or talking about the religious aspects of the whole story . the way the movie progresses is just so improbable and the people within this movie do such highly unlikely things that it  s being insulting to its viewers .  br    br   i also hated how the movie was being like a soap opera at times . seemed to me that they simply had a hard time turning this into a full length movie and they added in some characters and dramatic developments just to fill things up . i just couldn  t cared less really at times .  br    br   still it needs to be said that the movie gets more solid and steady toward its end  when its story gets more focused on its essence . still it remains predictable all but it prevented this movie from being a complete wreck to watch and as far as these type of movies are concerned  there are far worser one to watch out there  though i don  t think this movie will win over any new souls .  br    br        
when i saw the film for the first time in the early     s  i was in awe of this film . visually it was stunning and the events on campuses in europe and usa made you relate with what antonioni was trying to say so well visually in the final   minutes of the movie blowing up in your mind the  tyrannical  establishments and big business interests . the repeated blowing up of the beautiful house in the middle of a desert  the lead female character enjoying the natural stream of cold water  painting a plane in psychedelic designs  even the staid british airways did it a few years ago  are some of the images that were copied by advertising personnel all over the world for decades . even pink floyd increased their fan following after the film was released .  br    br   you see this film some   years later and you begin to wonder why the same film has lost its appeal . today anti  establishment films have more substance   facts  documentation  fine performances  and superb screenplays . antonioni seems to be out  of  date a flawed genius . even viewing antonioni  s  blow up  today gives you the similar feeling that he is passe .  br    br    zabriski point  has to be evaluated for what it was when it was released . it was a great film if you were to see it on a wide panavision screen as opposed to the dwarfed tv screens . the visual and aural  mick jagger  kieth richards  pink floyd  et al .  allure of the film still remains . the lead pair were not great actors but they were cute and natural . one of them  mark frechette  died in prison in usa extending the reality of the non  conformist values he personified in the film .  br    br   today  antonioni seems out of  sync .  but watch carefully and you will appreciate the muted sounds of the regular actors   rod taylor  g . d . spradling  the ladies at the swimming pool  the cops at the air  strip . the real sounds in contrast are from the non  conformists . antonioni was relevant   years ago but his grasp of the medium cannot be questioned even today . he knew what he was doing .  
if you made the mistake of seeing the movie before reading the book  please don  t give up on the series . i bought my first copy of any of the books in may of this year  and already i  m almost finished with book   . i dare say the movie is a piece of trash that doesn  t do the series even a sniff of justice . while  left behind the movie  only vaguely follows the story of the  left behind   the book   the characters aren  t even close to accurate .  br    br   a few examples rayford never acts on his feelings for hattie  he is about to when he  s informed of the vanishings   buck williams is a blonde haired  magazine writer  not a tv reporter chloe is at stanford  and a lot of the book details rayford wondering if she  survived   buck and chloe don  t meet until much later  at a meeting in new york  set up by hattie irene and raymie are never  in the book   rather just in rayford  s flashback thoughts the roads are so jam packed with wrecks following the rapture that rayford and hattie have to helicopter back to the suburbs . . . etc  etc  etc . . .  br    br   and that  s just from the first movie they  re about to release the third . please  even if you didn  t like the movies  give the book series a chance .  
mark frechette stars as mark  a college radical leftist . mark is accused of killing a cop during a campus riot  and he flees all the way to the desert . he does so by stealing a small plane at the local airport  and flies it himself .  br    br   once out flying over the desert  mark spots a car from the air . a young woman named daria steps out  and sees mark circling in the plane . mark swoops the plane very low several times  causing daria to duck or get hit . when he lands  he becomes acquainted with daria  who is strangely charmed by mark  s aerial highjinks .  br    br   after engaging in soulful conversation for hours  mark and daria get naked  and make love in the sand . but with mark evading the law  they realize that he needs to keep running . so mark and daria  s brief tryst is quite poignant  because it doesn  t get to develop into a full  blown romance .  br    br   zabriski point was the eraserhead of the early   s . both films have a rambling  vague quality  along with complicated meanings and characters . frechette was as reckless in person  as his character was in this film . a few years after making zabriski point  frechette robbed a bank in real life . while serving his prison sentence  mark died an ignoble death . he was killed by a    lb . weight  which fell on him when he was weightlifting .  br    br   the best thing about this movie was the splendid cinematography  and special visual effects . the incredible  slow  motion scenes of debris floating in the air after an explosion  were a stroke of genius . although not as ground  breaking a film as easy rider was  zabriski point still resonated with the early   s counterculture . i recommend it  for those who like avant  guard films which showcase the upheaval  of the youth rebellion during the early   s .  
what is it with americans and their hang  up with religious gobbledy  gook  to think this was a best  selling novel is incredible  but to pull it off as a movie you really need good acting and a script that delivers . in this case  all the good actors have gone to heaven and we  re left with kirk cameron as a cnn  type journalist    trying to discover why a lot of people have simply disappeared . oh yeah  there  s a subplot about an evil world conspiracy and famine  or something . the good news is that this is done so cheaply  and with such inane dialogue  that it has sheer entertainment value in all of its unintended laughs . not recommended for anyone with a   digit iq .  
michael bowen plays an innocentish young man who hitchhikes a thousand miles to visit his absentee millionaire father  the creepy ray wise  at a sprawling  windmill  powered ranch and ends up tangled in the dangerous web of his young  scheming and seductive stepmother from hell  the yummy clare wren   thus causing trouble for the already dysfunctional family . an edgy  stylish and exciting drama that received no promotion and was sent straight to vhs and cable tv   where i first saw it . it is beautifully written  smartly acted  and tightly directed from a script that keeps you biting your nails . i cannot believe the reviewers who disliked it ever actually saw it . it is an undiscovered classic .  
 . . . . . . in a horror movie that is . alright first off  lets start with kate . her main goals include getting laid by george clooney  looking good and last but not least screwing everyone over . gotta love her . she had about  amazingly good chances to finish off this sicko but . . . . . instead she ran . i mean she didn  t wanna bring guy out for   minutes and when she did it was too late . i mean the guy tried to rape her . i cant get into these movies where the main character is a sad idiot . i mean who honestly would have any sympathy for a guy who finishes off everyone she has meet in a night . the movie kept going on . and as a result lost all its credibility .  
  zabriskie point         this was especially interesting to me on a personal level  since it takes place under identical circumstances  with identical peers  in my own life  the counter culture movement of the late    s  early    s  on and off campus . we follow two unrelated young people in separate stories  who are slowly woven together . one is a young man in los angeles  tired of all the endless  pseudo  revolutionary jabber in the classrooms and lunchrooms of his campus  and  the other  a young woman driving to phoenix to see her father  employer  and take on an  establishment  job . the film is full of our italian director  s  michelangelo antonioni  visual notations of america  and  the confused  psychedelicrazies of that era  s self  righteous   we know it all  we  ll change everything for the better  youth . just who is the  revolutionary   what does that really mean  do you dress like one and march around chanting  do you  fly in under the radar  but give advance notice of your arrival  do you keep your plans to yourself  and go about the business of change  with no need for group approval   zabriskie point  is definitely a  period piece   full of slang  uniforms  somewhat surreal film moments  after all  this is a film by the man who gave us the amazing  blow up  of       and the era  s artifacts  but it is more . it presents options for cultural revolution  and going by antonioni  who does seem to be supportive of it   the youth are too self  involved to see what is needed for radical success . because of this  it becomes a powerful  frightening film that applies to anyone  any time  any place .  
this movie is maybe one of the most boring movies of     that i have seen  especially the music fails to create suspense when people suddenly disappear . also aspects such as martial law are not treated with the necessary seriousness . the story itself has problems the un could never take power over the world since the united states alone would not allow it but nations such as china  russia  japan  etc . would not either . this would also play against someone trying to take over the world as nicolae carpathia does . this reminds me of james bond movies  only that those have more action  naturally the movie is made for christians and only for christians and they may enjoy it . since i cannot count myself a christian i find the whole idea ludicrous . this prophecy furthermore seems to be  if believed to be true  dangerously close to other prophecies by cults for the end of the world . why fear such a possibility when we can make life as good as possible here on earth without  
for my opinion  the middle of the film  specially the love scene is a bit too long  but the whole time you can imagine this desert feeling . but the best  what made this film unforgettable are the great explosion pictures  their color  slowmotion and the pink floyd music are unique in filmhistory   br    br   destruction in its propper and popular form .  
i didn  t expect much from this film  but oh brother  what a stinker .  br    br   i found this gem in a giant crate of awful   dvd  s at walmart  where else   as cheap as this disc was  i feel ripped off . the special effects had a high school look to them  the camera work marred by wobbly tripods and sketchy lighting and the acting was a perfect example of the  christian school  . one can imagine the long and exhausting  prayer meetings  by the production company after seeing the rushes come back  the people who bankrolled this thing must have had seriously anti  biblical feelings towards the inept production company that cranked this thing out . think of their anguish as they saw their     .   investment go up in smoke .  br    br   someone asked why christian movies are so bad  perhaps the xian film  makers need to look at good movies and attempt to copy some of the things that make them so good . believable stories and characters  less hysterical arm  waving and fanaticism  oh  and a story that appeals to  everyone   not just true believers . i . e . stop the sermon  save it for church . take the omen or prophesy series  for example . excellent films with compelling story lines  great cinematography and intense music . no hysterical arm  waving . no preaching .  br    br   if this film had a laugh track it would have been much better .  
antonioni was aiming for another hip masterpiece  this time on the other side of the atlantic than  blow up  . it wasnt the success with critics and youth like the former though . why  maybe because it was a europeans view of america filled with clichs that didnt work then and that have not aged well .  the revolutionary students at the beginning is embarrassing .   br    br   maybe when it was released big blockbuster movies and those aimed specifically at the youth market seemed dated . if it had been released a year before maybe hippes in deserts would have seemed fresh . . . its a very interesting film tho  very beautifully shot with some brilliant and antonionian scenes in between  like the love  making in the desert  the stillness of the desert mansion and the explosive ending . . . that the leads were two amateurs didnt help . they were beautiful but inexperienced . mark freshette is slightly better than daria halprin . it would have been so much better with proper actors  maybe michelle phillips or a young jessica lange . . . the dialog is actually quite funny and poignant at times  tho you wouldnt know the way the lines are delivered . . .  br    br   a very intersting document of the late sixties definitely worth a look for the photography and the soundtrack . . . .  
i  m not a fan of the left behind book series  the books are written at a  th  grade reading level with a lack of research and understanding of science  technology  and politics . while the books do manage to remain faithful to scripture  their methods of fulfilling prophecy are often ridiculous  an example is their explanation for the russian  arab invasion of israel  . also  the books have an unmistakable preachy tone that will turn off unbelievers rather than bring them to the gospel . still  i found myself reading these books because of my interest in the events of revelation . for a similar reason  i watched this film adaptation . i am sad to say that it is a rather mediocre film bordering on poor . the acting is actually rather decent for the most part with occasional bits of poor acting and over  acting . the script is rather bad  though it is hardly unexpected when starting with the novel as a basis . the characters are poorly drawn and underdeveloped . events feel scattered and disconnected . the dialogue sometimes sounds rushed . at least the book managed to flesh out its hokey conspiracy theory . here  the viewer is left with an incoherent mess that only makes much sense if one has read the book . the pacing of the film is also very poorly executed with the opening and conclusion seeming extremely rushed  and the middle dragging to an excruciatingly slow trudge that makes it feel padded . the music is schizophrenic . at times  it successfully underscores the mood and sounds fitting for a motion picture . at other moments  it reminds me of sitcom and mini  series music . and still other bits remind me of a poppy mtv soundtrack that just doesn  t belong in the film . i can give the film points for the scene of panic on board the plane  but that  s it . the other scenes involving the disasters after the rapture are far from compelling . the film also suffers from the book  s preachiness although its message isn  t quite as in your face . in all  i found the movie just as disappointing as the series . this is not the film to rally christians around it . i hope that this film does not get any attention at the theaters next year . it would be more unnecessary bad publicity for christianity . for an example of a compelling  intelligent  well  researched series based on revelation that presents a realistic and christian world view without offending the secular reader  who after all should be whom a christian is trying to reach  read the christ clone trilogy by james beauseigneur . it  s a great read and is a much better choice for unbelievers or believers who appreciate quality .  
watching this again after a gap of many years and remembering the flop it was upon its original release  i am surprised at how well it has held up . one of the reasons for its failure was that one generation just thought it was over indulgent crap and a younger one was disappointed that it did not show the full hippy glory . seen now it is clear that antonioni was already aware of and fascinated by the heady mix of fervent enthusiasm for change and a lack of any clear vision for the future . the lead pair are excellent and it is shameful that they took so much flak for the film  s perceived failure . they are ideal and convey perfectly the various contradictions and demonstrate a pure delight in lovemaking . i blame others for the over emphasis on the student revolt sequences at the start but have to say that from there on in this is one of the directors most beautiful looking pictures and he certainly got the very best out of the man made and natural landscapes . oh  and i haven  t even mentioned the highly explosive ending .  
i  ve read every book to date in the left behind series  and the movie hardly does any of them justice . sure  i  ve seen worse movies  but this was incredibly disappointing . this movie would have made a good mst  k episode . the script was a horrible adaptation of the book  and it felt like the actors were reading their lines  instead of actually saying them . the characters were stiff and unlikeable . the effects were cheesy  and looked terribly fake . the ending was awful . first of all  it didn  t even go all the way through the first book . second  it made no sense . if you hadn  t read the book  you  d have no idea what was going on . it had to have been the most cheesy  film student  like ending i  ve ever seen in a movie . i  m upset that i actually paid money for this movie . if by some miracle  it does get wide release  they ought to totally overhaul it and let hollywood take over . those two wannabe film producers  and the wannabe director should leave movie making to the professionals .  
all of the reviews here about how much zp lacks plot  the acting is wooden  the orgy scene makes no sense  etc .  all miss the main point .  br    br   let  s be honest . this is a movie made in the heady times of late     s and early     s los angeles . it is a movie meant to be watched while your are h  i  g  h out of your mind on some psychedelic substance .  br    br   find some kind bud and smoke up  or get a mild hit of acid . seriously  these straight and sober reviews of zp miss the point . you can  t get anything out of this movie in a straight frame of mind .  br    br   until you  ve watched this movie on the big screen  which i am lucky to have done three times in the     s when zp was quite rare  tripping out  you have no idea what this movie is all about .  br    br   if you insist on watching it not intoxicated  you can at least appreciate the ending when the crap blows up to the soundtrack of pink floyd  s wonderful re  working of  careful with that axe  eugene    come in number    your time is up .   
left behind is an incredible waste of more than   million dollars . the acting is weak and uninspiring  the story even weaker . the audience is asked to believe the totally implausible and many times laughable plot line and given nothing in return for their good faith . not only is the film poorly acted and scripted it is severely lacking in all the technical areas of filmmaking . the production design does nothing to help the credibility of the action . the effects are wholly unoriginal and flat . the lighting and overall continuity are inexcusably awful even compared to movies with a tenth of the budget . however none of this will matter in that millions of families will no doubt embrace the film for it  s wholesomeness and it  s religious leanings and who can blame them . however it is unfortunate that they will be forced to accept  rd rate amatuer filmmaking .  
in the early     s  many of us who had embraced hippy  acid  alternative culture wholeheartedly  had realised that mainstream society was not going to change in the way we thought it would . for me this film defined the tension of  now what   that many of the people i knew felt at that time . do we head for the commune and create our own vision of utopia or do we radicalize and push for change   br    br   from the futile gestures to police  the radical rhetoric  the music of pink floyd  to the love  making and the explosive images in the desert  so much is in there . it captures well a significant moment in time .  
never before have the motives of the producers of a motion picture been more transparent . let  s see first  they get every willing televangelist to hype this film as the greatest thing since sliced white bread . next  they encourage as many fundamentalist christians as possible to purchase copies of the film so as to recoup its paltry production costs and pump up its advertising budget . and finally  when the film hits the theaters  get as many said christians as possible to see it yet again  bus them into the multiplexes if necessary  not on the merits of the film itself  but because a   box office opening will be seen as some sort of profound spiritual victory .  br    br   but that  of course  won  t be enough . i imagine that any film critic with the audacity to give  left behind  anything short of a glowing review will be deemed  anti  christian .   br    br   of course  this shamelessly manipulative marketing campaign shouldn  t surprise anyone . it is  after all  good old fashioned capitalism at work . what does surprise me is how many people have been suckered into the whole  left behind  mindset . as someone who tries to balance his spiritual beliefs with some sense of reason and rationality  it leaves me scratching my head . it would appear that there are many  many people who actually believe that sometime in the near future a  rapture  is going to occur  and that millions of people all over the earth are going to simultaneously vanish into thin air . what kind of reality  i wonder  are these people living in  is this  rapture  something they actually believe in  or is it something they fervently want to believe in  and when they reach the end of their lives and realize this  rapture  has not occurred  will they be disappointed and disillusioned  will there still be people    years from now insisting that the  rapture  is imminent   br    br   in a way  i almost wish that such an event would occur  what an interesting day that would be  what would be even more interesting is if the apocalypse were to occur in a more spectacular fashion  not in the anthropological sense the authors of the  left behind  series have portrayed  but as more of a stephen spielberg production  with boiling clouds  trumpets  angels descending out of the sky  moon turned to blood  the whole nine yards . imagine coming to the realization that it was all coming true  just as the evangelists had been warning for years  and that there was something more awesome than just the cold  hard  physical reality we inhabit . wouldn  t that be something     br    br   yet in the final analysis  it  s that cold  hard  physical reality that i will content myself with . my life is not so meaningless that i need the fear of a  rapture  and the  end times  to make sense of it all . . . nor do i need heaven or hell to bribe or scare me into behaving decently  thank you very much .  
this movie is one of the masterpieces from mr . antonioni . it is about youth  distraction  happiness  alienation  materialism  honor  corruption . and it is like everything else from great italian director  true art .  br    br    
this movie which was released directly on video should carry a warning label that it is dangerous to human health and may subject the viewer to terminal boredom . it is yet another thinly veiled  evangalizing  rapture  religious movie with the good guys  the believers  suddenly vanishing and the bad guys  the non  believers  left behind . it  s an interesting concept  especially since we see it happen on a flight captained by a non  believer who is having a sinful affair with a stewardess aboard  needless to say that sinner doesn  t disappear either   . unhappily  with all the pilots being non  believers  the plane did not crash or the movie would have been mercifully over . though this could have be interesting without the heavy religious browbeating  as a whole the plodding movie makes one gag  the acting is horrible and the obviously computer  generated simulations are very fake looking . plus it  s yet another movie shot in canada that purports to be new york city . spare me . . . i  ll just read the bible .  
there  s no way to confront  zabriskie point  from a rational standpoint or attempt to describe it using words and conventions you  d use for other movies . this is because it isn  t a movie . it  s an idea and a feeling that the filmmakers have that somehow got turned into an object as mundane as a film . what we see are not the unfoldings of a plot  but rather a sequence of events that we don  t see in films every day but only imagine happening as the background we ourselves will supply when we hear about some tragic event in the news of or from friends . we we see is our imagination of people that are abstractions to us  no one we know  but we  ve doubtless heard of them in a book or on tv or somewhere . so what do we see  events . we see people arguing  driving  and inevitably  escaping . only the escape is from something intangible  it is the collective situation and cruelty that the mass of a civilization has allowed to exist though laziness  or . . . human nature . set in late     s los angeles  our players act against and in response to the self  inflicted miseries of modern existence . these creatures are effectively blank slates that can display any trait we can imagine if we desire . although the actions taken might be seen as criminal or irresponsible   the characters are not themselves criminals . they are human beings seeking a return to a familiar  non  manufactured existence that is beyond the normalcy they experience everyday . not that they are ever happy or sad  but they achieve a type of self actualization when they move beyond and away from the suicide of modern living . they only achieve true life in the natural world  even though that is the next victim of modern existence . at the end   zabriski point  is a eulogy of humanities attachment to the natural world . as even the most desolate pieces of the earth succumb to our notions of progress  we lose our souls on the path to death of the human spirit .  
the only enjoyable thing about this highly mockable movie is playing  guess  that location . what toronto landmark will stand in for what american  international location .  br    br   who knew that the anti  christ would be russian  obviously he can  t be american since we need the yanks to save the day  oh buck . . . you  ll tell us all the truth . . . you  ll show us the light . . . and the way outta the building should those nasty anti  christers get their way .  br    br   five golden raspberries . faith is not enough to hope they don  t make another of this ilk  we don  t gotta prayer .  
i saw this in the early   s  when i was     and despite the long slow set  up  meetings  riots  etc  once the desert section began all fell into context and i loved it .  still do  it has aged very well .  back then i was in what seemed to be a tiny minority . all criticisms seemed to concentrate on the lack of action and narrative . happily i  m no longer in such a minority .  br    br   it deftly shows  in a somewhat prophetic way  the political splintering  unrest  confrontation  brutal repression  commercialisation and deception which lay ahead .  br    br   appreciation for this magistral film has grown  and i  m glad about that .  
i find it sad that christians  and i am one  feel that we must make movies like  left behind .  we have much better stories to tell that don  t have to be so preachy . i was very disappointed with this film . as an aspiring filmmaker who believes in christ  i see this film as the perfect example for what i am not going to do with my career in film .  
zp is deeply related to that youth dream represented by the hippie movement . the college debate in the beginning of the movie states the cultural situation that gives birth to that movement . the explosion that daria imagines  represents the fall of all social structures and therefore the development of all that huge transformation that society is suffering through and finally mark  s death anticipates the end that a sees for the movement itself . the film will be more easily understood if we go back to that time in life . during the    and     young people were the driving force for the profound explorations for change . one of the more significant changes intended was to bring sexuality out of the closet  and i think the scenes in the desert do not represent an orgy but the sexual relationship that men and women in absolute freedom would perform in the hipotetic situation where there would be nobody to hide from . i watched the scene where the couples would throw sand to each other and appreciated the magnificent way in which a depicted the impossibility to continue hiding this basic human instinct . repression was the way to  control  social outbursts at that time and that is the method  police applies to stop the students . this society suffers from hipocresy  and that comes clear when the students gain access to weapons skipping all fake controls . the dialogue between the policeman with the college professor  who  s detained for no reason shows part of society interested for this youth feeling and part completely uninterested . presenting flying as the more accurate symbol for freedom  the stealing of the plane represents mark  s inner wish for it but  his  going back or coming back or returning  segun   shows the difficulties to come free from these bonds and as i  ve said  a depicts the death of the dream by these difficulties winning the game . in my point of view a film to remember .  
this movie is one reason imdb should allow a vote of     . the acting is awful  even what some here have lauded  the carpathia character  the script looks like it was written in haste . in one scene  the black preacher who was left behind  when asked by buck what  dan   in the computer graphic meant  said   daniel   chapter   .  he probably meant verse    but the film makers missed this slip up . perhaps the worst part is that the film  s eschatological position is biblically unsound . while many christians have espoused the film  s interpretation of end  time events  such interpretation  in my opinion  is faulty . to understand these flaws  read  christians will go through the tribulation  by jim mckeever and  the blessed hope  a biblical study of the second advent and the rapture  by george e . ladd .  
i was surprised at the low rating this film got from viewers . i saw it one late night on tv and it hit the spot  i actually think it was back in     when it first appeared . yet i remember it pretty well  with a nice twist or two  and an interesting ambiance on a windmill farm . michael pollard looks suitably seedy for his role which pretty much sums up the unfulfilled early promise of his career  and everyone else plays it pretty straight ahead . i definitely recommend it as a rental  although some of the themes  which might have seemed a bit edgy in      now may seem tame  which is a shame  considering that contemporary  edginess  is often just used as a necessary marketing tool  sort of like clamoring just to get noticed .  
      of course there  s spoilers      i  m sure this project started off as a screen writing workshop on avoiding clichs in horror movies female protagonist  check bad things happen to drug takers  check heorine knocks out villain  check heroine doesn  t notice villain recovering unconsciousness  check frame the sequence so we see recovered villain creep up behind heroine  check unfortunately it seems someone has sent this clich list to a film studio instead of using it for class . dear oh dear if only london transport was as regular as the clichs turning up here . in fact there  s so many clichs and seen it all before moments that no one actually thought about going into detail as to what the eponymous creep is or how long he  s been killing people on the underground . i  m led to believe it  s the result of some human experiment and perhaps it  s not until that night he decided to take his revenge out on humanity but all this is so vague as to be meaningless not to be totally negative i doubt very much if the producers thought they  d be making a film that was going to sweep the oscars that year and there  s always a market for horror movies . likewise i doubt if it cost too much produce and had one eye on the dvd market rather than cinema distribution and i will state that it  s slightly better than      s death line which also featured a murderous cannibal hiding in the london underground . it  s just that when you think all the clichs have been used up in this film another clich comes along to raise its ugly head  
a beautiful new print of  zabriskie point  is playing in paris and seems to be doing well in the latin quarter . it  s time for a full evaluation of the film . let  s hope that the new print means that a dvd with some insightful  extras  will be out in the near future .  br    br   i remember watching zp when it came out and thought it was a crashing bore . this time around i was totally awed and would classify it as a  near  miss  masterpiece . the first part of the movie is a time capsule of late     s los angeles  i lived there then  and antonioni did a masterful job of capturing the essence of the place . kudos to production designer dean tavoularis who found some incredible locations and did outstanding work .  br    br   the print i saw runs  hour   minutes . it is forbidden to those under    or    i can  t remember  . i suspect there is quite a bit of restored footage in this print . spoiler   i wonder how much of the desert sex scene was originally cut . what appears today seems rather tame by current standards .  br    br   there is no soundtrack music until almost  hour into the film . before we hear extraneous noise such as radio broadcasts  etc . antonioni was very daring to do this . i remember how much was made at the time of the lack of acting skills of non  actors mark frechette and daria halprin . this time frechette did not bother me . halprin is weaker but gradually improves as the film continues .  br    br   much of the student riot footage looks like stock footage to me . one shot is in a different aspect ratio  distorted by the wide screen . of course  there is actual staged footage  but not all that much .  br    br   i  m still trying to figure out how antonioni did some of the shots of frechette flying the plane . it looks like he really did some of the flying  there  s no blue screen or double in some shots .  br    br   i hope to get back to see the film a second time . recommended highly to all antonioni fans .  
i like end  of  days movies . i like b  movies . i was hoping i would like this movie .  br    br   i could ignore the poor effects  the often atrocious music  the cringe  inducing lines . i could ignore the unexplained events  and the fact that the movie constantly relies on deus ex machina is excusable  given the subject matter . i could ignore the fact that the people who fight hunger and try to reach world peace are the bad guys . none of these things kill the movie . what kills this movie is that it  s just plain and simple boring . nothing actually happens almost all scenes in the movie are designed to push the movie creators  morals on the viewers  at the cost of actually having a coherent story  or any kind of suspense .  br    br   if you  re looking for an entertaining b  movie  look elsewhere . this movie is just boring .  
though this may not necessarily be a so  called  classic  film by today  s standards  it  s still worth seeing . the main reason why is because after experiencing this film  you get the feeling that you  ve also experienced the counter  cultural idealism of the    s  no matter however good or bad .  br    br   i happened to see this film in an english literature class at suny geneseo  and though at first it appears to be just a meaningless composition of    s icons  the film is far from being simply  thrown together  .  br    br   my point is that if you leave the film feeling unsatisfied and confused  the film has done it  s job it  s conveyed a desolate view of the future that leaves you feeling unsure and angry . it was perhaps this same feeling that the film sought to explore in the youth it exemplified .  br    br   as such   zabriskie point  may not tell a very good  or interesting  story  and at the same time its characters may be one  sided and predictable . however  it also conveys so well this sort of clichd  rebellious desire to get out of the existence which both mark and daria must share . even the anti  establishment students are as inauthentic as the gov  t they rebel against .  
i cannot believe that they managed to spend us   million on this film . spectacularly bad acting  egregious scripting and effects that you could do on your average pc  unbelievable plot contrivances . . . a reporter who can get an inexperienced stewardess a major job at the un  what  not only that  but the message of this film is so unsubtle that you come out feeling as if they  ve tried to batter you over the head with a full size crucifix . all this movie will do will preach to the choir and make everyone else laugh at such a ridiculous waste of money . if the makers of this film really wanted to sway people to christianity and show what it means to truly believe  they would have used the money to help people truly in need . now   that  might have swayed some people into actually listening to them .  
the often misunderstood zabriskie point is antonioni  s political film  antonioni  s american film . stylistically  it follows suit after  blow  up   meaning that the pace is faster than the previous epics  though certainly no less idiosyncratic .  br    br   basically the common mistake is that the film glorifies the hippie generation . not so .  br    br   the two protagonists come from vastly different environments . mark from the  rebel  youths  daria from an estate agency corporation . but in true antonioni fashion  they are both alienated  both trying to escape their surroundings . mark leaves a meeting of rebel students and black panthers disappointed with the verbose empty rhetoric  while daria keeps uneasily being on the move with her car .  br    br   antionioni  the master director  after portraying the rebelling youth as confused and shallow  then moves to the city . an environment saturated by corporatism  billboard advertisements  meaninglessness  that has to keep expanding to accommodate the similar expansion of the population  generating a profit at the same time . it is this environment that the two protagonists escape from  though it seems mostly out of coincidence .  br    br   indeed  when daria stops by a small village in the outskirts of the desert  the environment is just as suffocating  and the people just as lost cases  best exemplified by an old boxing champion  now reduced to a shadow of himself  sitting around drinking and smoking and talking nonsense . a stunning melancholy sequence  made even more powerful with the inclusion of some half wild children living around  brought in by some  benefactor  but  destroying a genuine piece of american history  . in a not  so  obscure symbolism  there is antonioni  s opinion on the hippies . just a half  positive glimpse in the canvas of human alienation .  br    br   and then there is the desert  the landscape used to devastating effect  by turns pure and terrifying  primeval  wild and dead . the sequence where the two protagonists make love   joined  in fantasy by the  flower  generation reflects the similar sequence in  red desert   where giuliana tells her son a story . it is a colourful intermission in a colourless landscape . a vivid half  fantasy in a suffocating reality .  br    br   the ending probably belongs to the pantheon of great endings in cinema  the western civilization blown to pieces . a catharsis  an exorcism .  br    br   antionioni  s two  international  films  the british  blow  up  and the american  zabriskie point   are lesser efforts than the previous masterpieces  but that is largely because of the faster pace and the inevitably contrived settings  swinging london  flower  power america  . but when it comes down to it  it  s clear he hasn  t lost the edge .  
i  m getting a little tired of people misusing god  s name to perpetuate their own bigoted view on the world . well i don  t dismiss the idea of armageddon  or the coming of the anti  christ  i do dismiss the idea that only certain people who live truly good lives  they seem to be mostly white christian children  will go to heaven  while the rest of us must suffer through a millenia of hell on earth  just because we weren  t good enough . god may be a judge  but i don  t think he is going to measure every level of goodness . give the creator some credit .  
i have to admit i have always found it difficult to watch an antonioni film from start to finish at the first try  and even for this one  i ended up watching it in three parts on repeated occasions . in the end  i realised perhaps it was better that way  because it forced me to stop thinking in the usual terms of plot and just enjoy the scenes one by one .  br    br   the first part seems a lot more fragmentary  which is not a bad thing  it just requires more of an effort to follow . when it gets to the desert scenes  all efforts are repaid in full . the stunning cinematography is only a part of it  what really makes it all unforgettable is how the landscape is made into an overwhelming presence  the silence and vastness of it  the sense of sadness and freedom  the way it fuses and contrasts with the two young characters . the desert is dead  but at the same time it feels less distant and alien than the urban scenes in the first part . the dance between the airplane flying over and the girl  s car makes for a series of great shots . the love scenes in the desert are simply beautiful  it is hard to imagine this kind of approach from a film of our times . there is of course something very stylish and studied about them  but at the same time they manage to express a sense of natural  spontaneous innocence that is very rare these days . it all feels loose and unscripted  thanks also to the understated acting   but that is the result of a maniacal attention to detail and form  which comes to its climax in the series of explosions at the end  a really mesmerising spectacle . it just leaves you in awe .  br    br   i don  t really care for some the usual objections boring  well  yes  it is  if you want all films to follow a classic plot development and be packed with action twists  but then if all cinema was like that  that would be truly dull and sad pretentious  maybe  but when that kind of ambitiousness is coupled with actual skills  depth  and style  pretentious is a compliment . the  political  criticisms make the least sense to me  i don  t see the point of approaching a film like this with ideological blinders or worse  patriotic requirements . it just defeats the purpose . perhaps it  s true that  like a previous commenter remarked  antonioni viewed these young  hippies  and the politics of protests and riots with the police with the fascination of a foreigner  but i think that adds something rather than detracting from the film . it  s not true that hippies did not exist in italy at the time  think of the    protests  like in france   although they were obviously different from the american counterpart and in some ways even more militant . but his interest in this film was not narrowly political . the events seem more like a pretext for a film whose appeal has a universal  timeless quality .  br    br   a special mention for the fantastic soundtrack . amongst other things  this film  along with easy rider  is probably one of the main earliest precursors of the contemporary  artsy  music video as well as the concept of a film soundtrack that would stand on its own  but unlike the former  it uses music in a much more subtle way  blending it with the landscape rather than the action .  br    br   if you want traditional narrative in a film  then don  t bother . if you want to be stunned  be patient and you won  t regret it .  
this reminds me of when i was a born  again believer who was going to be a minister . i never actually thought i would be a minister or even graduate from high school because i was almost positive i would be raptured to heaven before that would ever happen . that was before i discovered that christianity was a bunch rubbish . i am now an atheist  and that just proves that the  once saved always saved  doctorine that christians tell us is no more real than elves . if it were true then why did i leave after many years of being a devout born again believer  yes  i really was saved . i prayed that silly sinners prayer with all my heart .  br    br   if christians were to read their bible they would discover that their god thinks like rape  genocide  abortion  and many other atrocities are alright according to him . they might be surprised to learn that no where is the word  rapture  mentioned .  
i saw zp when it was first released and found it a major disappointment . its script seemed forced and arch and too fakey    s . it  s politics too upfront and ridiculous . and let  s face it  i was still under a love  spell known as blowup  and i still haven  t completely shaken it . now the  love  is twisted up with all sorts of nostalgia it evokes and  oh well . . . good luck to me   br    br   but time marches on and time has been kind to zp and time has been a teacher to me . i revisit this film about every ten years and it just gets better and better with age . and zp is it  s own  experience  and is only really linked to blowup through its creator  the late  great mr . antonioni .  br    br   twelve years ago  i had the great good fortune to see an absolutely pristine print  projected at its correct size  immense   restored by an italian government cultural agency who knows a good work of art when they see it and knows the importance of keeping such a thing of beauty in good shape . to this day i remember the gasp from the audience when the first shot of death valley appeared . it was like a thousand volt visual shock antonioni had intentionally delivered to wake us up to a new level of awareness . and indeed what follows from that point is an entirely different sort of  place  .  br    br   what is astonishing to me is how this film is coming into its own .  br    br   i remember the second time around seeing it    the early   s    i had begun to feel affection towards the film as a whole and towards daria and mark in particular . whereas  before these two seemed like a smart  alecky shadow version of zefferelli  s olivia and leonard  read romeo and juliet  they now were engaging me    particularly the girl in her insistent slo  motion  ality . she  took  her  time . . . to live . everything  everything dies around her .  br    br   upon exciting the theater the daylight of reality quickly began to erase my new found  enjoyment  . the encroaching shoulder  padded  big haired   s whispered  but that  s a hippie fantasy    let it go   br    br   the force of antonioni  s vision had  i had realised  already worked itself inside of me the first time around so i answered    s  with an  uh  huh  and guarded my  love  secretly  possessively and jealously .  br    br   but  this  then is what good art does it lives inside of you  and  if you wish it has its way and  loves  you back secretly  jealously  and possessively . and you get  changed  .  br    br   was thrilled to see that turner classic movies had decided to show zp in its march lineup . undoubtedly  zp must be seen on a gigantic screen so that it can truly take you into its constructed environment . but  hey  sometimes even a glimpse of the beloved in a newspaper photo is no better than no glimpse at all .  br    br   today reality hit  zp has been withdrawn mysteriously and replaced with the whiney antics of alice  s restaurant .  br    br   so  it is still too  difficult   too  disturbing   too  what    br    br   maybe it  s that  as with all good art  it lives while everything dies around it .  br    br   peace .  
i watched about   minutes into this film before i finally got sick of getting bludgeoned over the head with this movie . the soundtrack  the so  called  plot   and each and every actor . it  s like they all think they  re the main part of the movie and scream  notice me   over and over again . the bad guy has his bad  guy music going on and says sinister bad  guy  like things  just in case you didn  t quite catch on . the good guy does brave and noble things just in case you didn  t know he was the good guy . and oh lord  the plane scene .  my husband is missing  oh my god  it  s impossible that he got up to stretch his legs or go to the toilet or anything  he must be missing    and yes  i know  his clothes were still there  but honestly  she woke up and started to panic before she even had time to look at the damn seat he  d been in .   br    br   as a religious girl  i want to apologize to the world for wasting the film this was printed on .  br    br   and i want my   minutes back .  
when this film was made  the hippie thing had gone mainstream . the ideas of the counter culture was well established  that is why such a big film could be made . yet it has something to say  and it is said really beautifully . apart from those who  re only waiting for the wanking material  this film is given credit for its beautiful scenes  which in itself is more than enough reason to see the film  by the most . the soundtrack to this film  which actually became more popular than the film itself  is another plus . pink floyd  s  careful with that axe eugene  suits really well with the explosions  the absence of music in other scenes gives the film a nice quiet mood . but . it seems as though the messages in this film have been overlooked by the most . if you didn  t understand it  which seems to be the case for the most  i  ll give you some hints the man  tough guy  what ever his name is  mark   is a part of a  reality group  . he leaves this group saying something like  i  m willing to die . but not of boredom  he later go for a joyride with a stolen plane  probably to seek some action . as he is in the air  grateful dead  s dark star  from the live  dead album  is played  i think  . this song contains the phrase  shall we go you and i while we can   this is though not heard in the film .  perhaps stretching it a bit too far meaning that quote is essential   in the plane  he checks up a girl  daria   who is driving in her car to a conference  about giving typical suburban families the opportunity to live in a super  relaxing place in the desert  where everything is so simple and nice . for the whole family    by diving down  almost hitting the car . he lands the plane  and joins the girl on her way to detroit . they stop at zabriskie point  where they enjoy each other as living creatures and the nature . later a family with a big car  of the type which you sleep in  and a speed boat is showed visiting zabriskie point  the father saying something like  what a waste driving all the way up here   and the kid sitting inside the car  grinning . i sensed a  this wasn  t much better than on the telly   attitude . daria takes mark back to the plane which now is painted in a psychedelic style  with the identity number changed to  no war  on one side and  no words  on the other .  bucks sucks  is also written on the plane . mark takes the plane back to where he stole it from  saying to daria before he leaves  i don  t risk anything  or something  one of several hints about he not caring too much about his destiny .  this because he has the feeling that the environment that surrounds don  t give him anything   i wonder what happens in the real world   on the airport he is met by police officers who shoots him even though he just has returned the plane . daria hears this on the radio  but decides to go to the conference in the fancy mansion . here she feels alien after the adventures with her just killed friend . she enjoys fresh water running down a rock  more than the swimming pool . inside the house the viewer is once again given a hint about anti  materialism  she looks out through a glass wall  holding her hands on the glass like she was trapped . the business men is seen arguing  the one side eager to make a big deal  the other afraid of losing money . daria leaves the house and looks back at it  visualizing it blowing up . after the house  several other things blow up  for example a television . she smiles  happy she has inside herself destroyed what she after the meeting with mark look upon as something negative .  br    br   to summarize mark obviously experience the  reality group  as not very useful as they just sit and talk  taking no action . he clearly has bad feelings about things being as they are  and it seems like he feels that it  s no use fighting against it . he wants to leave . he helps daria  who is  in mind but not in action  seeing his point of view . where his feeling of being misfitted turns out leading to his death  one can hope daria uses the ideas in a way that will turn out more constructive . in the film you see how a town  la  is being polluted by commercial  too bad you have to show the commercial to make the point   you see business men deciding what is the future  et cetera  and you see people being unhappy with these and other situations which is parts of the modern world .  br    br   i have only seen the film once  so i have not caught all points  but i certainly got a feeling of what this film has to say  and i find it strange that this film can be called meaningless . if you say the points are being too obvious  i can see why  this film probably intended to appeal to the post  hippie radicals  digging  the thoughts of anti  establishment . even though  it has a lot to say  and its message is still needed today  things pretty much evolving in the same direction as it did before the sixties . zabriskie point is a really great film  telling a story about quite normal young people  not far out hippies tripping around tip toe on acid  digging everything  seeking what they percept as real  dissatisfied with the conventional . and it is done in a truly beautiful way .  
left behind is the kind of  we know what we know cause we know it  movie that christians  and most any other naive person  needs to help them feel like what they  think  and  believe   not  know   is right . but  at the same time i feel bad for the little guys  because this is not a well made film . it does not help any message . i work at a video store  and i know the only reason people went to see this movie was because they were religious and they thought it was . anybody on this earth who thinks they know what will happen in the future is wrong  unless they think they know that they don  t know . i  ve had about enough  but only after i  ve had too much  of these people walking around with their noses in the air thinking that a movies starring a semi  talented tv actor means something above me .  br    br   please  if you love yourself you  ll stay away . i refuse to go into any detail about this movie  not because a  i didn  t see it  because i did   b  it was too shocking for my atheist  self to handle  because it wasn  t   or c  i really don  t have anything to say bad about it  because i do  . the reason   which is a word nobody who helped make this movie understands  is that i want this movie out of my head  i want that it was made out of my head  i want that i watched all of it with an open mind out of my head  i want the message that kirk so proudly and coachly gives at the end of the movie out of my head . i only want all the things that were in my head before viewing this movies there  anything directly connected with this movie that  s floating in my head get out  my peaceful rage is ending . i  m sorry that somebody in this world went to the theater to see this movie about what could happen in the future  but won  t  when they could have given that seven dollars plus to any number of human  animal  or rain forest charity . but if they did that then they wouldn  t be able to  believe  in the fact that it  s real  they might have to fact what is . left behind zero  out of    
this film has a powerful philosophical ending . but that ending has meaning only if you watch the movie from the beginning .  br    br   youth alienation in the late      s  from the viewpoint of a young man and a young woman  is the obvious theme of  zabriskie point  . neither mark frechette nor daria halprin had much acting experience  a fact that actually enhances the film  s message . having untrained actors conveys a sense of realism  as both players seem emotionally detached from the turmoil around them .  br    br   this is not a script  driven film . except for the first ten minutes  it is mostly visual  with stunning cinematography . the beautiful naturalistic images seem other  worldly  and perfectly in sync with the emotional detachment of mark and daria .  br    br   i would have replaced the thematically weak pink floyd music with the more cogent music of the doors . many scenes cry out for  riders on the storm  .  br    br   even so  i like this film . it  s different it  s unique it is artistic and imaginative . and the desert badlands are beautiful .  br    br   as the years go by   zabriskie point  seems more and more attractive . it conveys the mood of the late      s in america . it is amazingly artistic  in a bohemian sort of way . and the film  s last eight minutes are philosophically mesmerizing .  
review may contain spoilers  br    br   predictable  campy  bad special effects . it has a tv  movie feeling to it . the idea of the un as being taken over by satan is an interesting twist to the end of the world according to the bible . the premise is interesting  but its excution falls waaaay short . if you want to convert people to christianity with a film like this  at least make it a quality one  i was seriously checking my watch while watching this piece of dreck . can  t say much else about this film since i saw it over a year ago  and there isn  t really much to say about this film other than . . . . . skip it   
i was told it was one of those  either you love it or you hate it  movies . well  i loved it . obvious hippie  era  dated and easy symbolism and all . so  i probably have no taste at all when it comes to antonioni  but this and la notte  made exactly a decade earlier  are my favourites among his movies so far . made two years before i was born  zabriskie point was supposed to have been michelangelo  s great american epic . but apparently  it turned out to be a flop . i really can  t see why . before watching it i  d read that it was rather boring  so i braced myself for a very slow movie  though i love me a slow movie . for my taste  zabriskie didn  t have a tedious minute in it . while watching it  i made a mental note of how european it was on the director  s part to make such frequent use of advertisement billboards in almost every urban scene  enormous billboards dwarfing any human form in sight . this recurrent visual element is obviously there to underline the way that consumerism crushes the individual in american society . but then i watched l  eclisse straight afterwards  which is set in rome in the early   s  and noticed that antonioni often included billboards in it as well . after all  the masterful use of landscapes  architecture and inanimate objects in each frame with or without human beings is an antonioni trademark  this is precisely the way that he evokes his characters  psychological states  with more or less understated power and great visual impact . he is virtually unsurpassed in this skill .  br    br   zabriskie point starred two very appealing leads that should have become big stars of the   s  but never did . mark frechette  whom i  d already seen in francesco rosi  s fine wwi  set movie uomini contro  had a very tragic life and died aged just   . according to his biography page  he donated his        earnings from zabriskie to a commune . mark  s co  star daria halprin  apparently also dennis hopper  s wife later on  has the stunning  natural beauty and appeal of a young ornella muti  one of those luminous beauties that don  t need a shred of make  up to turn heads . like frechette  she has only graced a couple of obscure movies and has never become a star  but at least she didn  t die tragically . most notably  zabriskie point contains one of the most original sex scenes ever filmed  one that brings home a sense of youthful playfulness like few i  ve seen  as well as a powerfully cathartic ending . it may be the most banal sequence ever filmed as far as its symbolism goes  but i can  t see how anyone can deny its beauty and wonderful sense of emotional release . never has an explosion looked so good  and so poetic . it seems to be an explosion that restores order rather than bringing chaos .  
i grew up baptist and i know the story this movie is trying to tell  although i no longer believe the story . i  ll give the movie kudos for being as good as the average lifetime movie of the week . mildly interesting  mediocre acting  a bit slow  the script is predictable  the music is sappy  and it is a bit melodramatic . and all the people left behind have got to be the squeakiest clean non  christians  ever . not a single curse word from any of them . but i laughed out loud when the actor playing the man who runs the united nations pronounced  nuclear  as  nu  cu  ler   just like bush . is there some christian code of honor that mandates that since bush claims he  too  is called by god  that all christians must cover up his ignorance by mispronouncing that word the same way he does  lol  i really had a difficult time taking the movie seriously at all after that . after the  nu  cu  ler  incident  the movie began to feel like packaged  manipulative propaganda . i was looking for something bold . actually  i was looking for something that might make me think  but i didn  t find it here . if you  re looking for mindless entertainment  stop here  it  s good for killing a rainy afternoon . but if you  re looking for intelligence  look elsewhere .  
this is the film in antonioni  s middle period that most critics dismiss quickly  as a  flawed  look at   s american youth culture  politics . for what it  s worth  i found it more touching and memorable than his more acclaimed films like l  avventura  perhaps because he shows more emotion  empathy here than anywhere else . the story is simple  but it is used as a frame for antonioni  s brilliant observations of  and critique on american consumerist culture  student life  the counter  culture  and the whole anti  establishment  anti  war backlash that was so prominent then .  br    br   even from a purely technical point of view  it is a remarkably crafted film from the opening credits sequence to the bizarre desert  love  in   to the use of billboards  and right down to that jaw  dropping  cathartic finale that used   camera set  ups  in it  s own way  as powerful as the climax of the wild bunch  . also  antonioni chose one hell of a leading lady with daria halperin  one of the most beautiful ever to grace the screen . there isn  t much  acting  involved  as this feels more like a docu  drama  and so the use of non  professionals as the lead couple works quite effectively within that context . and the soundtrack is not only filled with marvelous music  its use is impressive as well  i can  t forget the start of the film  mostly due to the selection of music  by pink floyd  that grooms the visuals so well  .  br    br   contrary to popular opinion  this is quite an achievement in cinema  and one i would enthusiastically recommend to anyone with a taste or tolerance for the off  beat . well worth seeking out  and one of those key films of the   s that demands a dvd restoration  release .  
i am a christian . . . and i feel this movie is awful .  br    br   nobody but hard  core  bible  belt christians are going to like this movie . the message is just too in your face . if you want to touch a wider audience  you have to be way more subtle . you can  t have the dad waving the bible around and carrying it with him in every scene . ridiculous   br    br   poor direction . the reveal of people missing should have been terrifying  but it was laughable . they leave their clothes on the ground  it reminded me of old ed wood movies  oh my god  people are missing   that scene in the plane is just stupid . think about it if you found your relative  s clothes next to you  you wouldn  t just scream  oh my god . they disappeared  they  re missing   and start crying and yelling . you would first be in denial . . . you just wouldn  t jump to that conclusion . watch jodie foster in flightplan . my favorite shot is the dog sitting out on the lawn with a pile of clothes and boots sitting next to him . i about fell off the couch i was laughing so hard .  br    br   the music was so bad and so distracting . it was as if the composer was in his own world scoring his own movies .  here  s my chance to do a thriller    here  s my chance to do action   stop telling me how to feel james covell  a good score supports what  s happening on the screen . . . this movie needed more of an under score  but instead it was as much in your face as the message was .  br    br   the writing was bland . so was captain christian kirk cameron . chelsea was the worse  you don  t understand  people are missing   . brad johnson was laughable . the two stand out performances came from the anti  christ and the older guy  sorry  can  t remember their names  in watching the  making of   to answer my question of  what were they thinking       the producers and filmmakers and actors are just deluding themselves . . . saying  we  re gonna reach wide audiences  and  brad johnson is amazing  and  this is just like a hollywood movie  . i came to the conclusion that they just don  t know what the  heck  they are doing .  br    br   i commend the effort . getting the message to a wide audience is a fantastic idea . film is the best medium possible to do that . look at movies like wide awake  signs  contact  passion of christ  even o  brother  where art thou  the bottom line is that the film needed to be made by people who have talent and vision . unfortunately  it was not .  
there aren  t too many times when i see a film and go   huh  what    but this was one of them . maybe after seeing zabriskie point i felt much the same way woody allen felt after seeing      he only liked the film after seeing it three times over a two year period  realizing the filmmaker was ahead of him in what was going on . michelangelo antonioni  in one of his few tries at making films inside of the us  after red desert  he did blow  up  this film  china  and the passenger  all filmed outside his native italy   i could sense he almost tried to learn about the ways of the country through his own mastery of the medium . the results show that he doesn  t lack the means to present images  feelings  tones  colors  sounds  and a visual representation of this era .  a director  s job is to see   antonioni once stated . whatever that means  he doesn  t disappoint for the admirer of his post  fifties work  i say post  fifties since i  ve yet to see any of his films from before l  avventura  .  br    br   what he does lack is a point  at least the kind of point that he could bring in blow  up and the eclipse . you get the feeling of what is around these characters  what the themes are bringing forth to their consciousness  however in this case the characters and the actors don  t bring much conviction or purpose . antonioni  coming from the school of hard  knocks  neo  realistic film  making  does do what he can with his mostly non  professional cast  those who look most like real actors are subjugated to the roles of the corporate characters   but the two stars mark frechette and daria halprin seem as if antonioni  s under  directing them . perhaps that was the point . the story  s split into three acts  thankfully not too confusing  as mark escapes his existence around the boiling  dangerous campus life going on in the circa late    s la area  and daria is sent out from la to drive to phoenix for some business meeting . they meet by chance as mark  s plane  how does he know how to drive  maybe a little background info there   and daria  s car meet up  and they spend some time together in an existential kind of groove out in the desert . aside from a stylistically mesmerizing if bizarre sex scene  much of this act isn  t terribly interesting .  br    br   the two leads are fair enough to look at  but what exactly draws them to each other outside of curiosity  the ideas that come forth  in part from a screenplay co  written by sam shepard  aren  t too revealing  except for one brief instant where drugs vs . reality is brought up . then the film heads towards the third act  as mark decides to do the right thing  under disastrous circumstances  and daria arrives at her boss  place  only to be in full disillusionment  not taking into account the infamous last five minutes or so of the film  . although the film took its time telling its story  i didn  t have as much of a problem with that as i did that the story only engages a certain kind of viewer . i understand and empathize with the feelings and doubts and fears as well as the self  confidence of the  anti  establishment   but maybe antonioni isn  t entirely fully aware of it himself . in some scenes he as director and editor  and the often astounding cinematography by alfio contini  find the scenery and backgrounds more enlightening and fixating than the people in the foreground . not to say the technical side of zabriskie point isn  t involving to a degree  this may make some feel drowsy  as antonioni is probably far greater as a documentary filmmaker as he is a theatrical director like say francis ford coppola is  .  br    br   the deserts  skies  city  and even the faces in close  ups are filmed with the eye of a filmmaker in love with the art of getting things in the frame  bringing us in . the soundtrack is equally compelling  with a master stroke including a sweet rolling stones song at one point  and then a crushing  surreal pink floyd song  re  titled from  careful with that axe eugene  one of their best pre  dark side  in the explosion sequence . if only the performances weren  t so one  sided i might find this to be on par with blow  up or the eclipse . it  s an unconventional stroke of genius on one hand  and on the other a boring take on what was the hippie  radical movement of the late    s . but hey  what may be boring for an american such as myself born in the eighties may not be to others outside the us  such as say  italy . and it does ask to not be discarded right away after one viewing .  
if you are wondering where many of the conspiracy theories and paranoid ideas about the the un  israel  and international affairs come from  look no further .  br    br   this isn  t a supernatural hollywood film loosely based on some biblical passage . instead  this movie was made by a company  cloud ten pictures  with a political and religious agenda . as a movie  the end result at times more looks like clips out of a televangelism program  complete with family prayers and light breaking through church windows while harps are playing  .  br    br   for mainstream viewers  it may be hard to believe  but many people believe in this stuff literally  as presented in the movie . and that  perhaps  makes the movie important . you probably won  t find a more concise exposition of the bizarre views of a significant number of your fellow citizens . so  if you view it  view it as a social  cultural document . if you are at all media savvy  you don  t need to be warned about the unsubtle attempts at propaganda and manipulation in the movie .  
i have never danced flamenco before  but somehow i feel like this movie was perfect . the colors  how blatant the dances were  the gypsies  and the rivals all put together made a movie that seemed to have ended too soon . i have seen other carlos saura movies and i agree that this film may be his best production . i feel that the best characteristics of his past films were put together and aligned to make iberia . i appreciate the use of mirrors in revealing the activity going on behind the cameras . while watching this movie i felt like i was sitting in a small restaurant in madrid  comfortably watching the dancers bang on a wooden plank over a delicious fruit cocktail . for me  this movie fit like a glove . i don  t know how i will be able to get a copy of this film in the us in the next few years . i recommend this movie to anyone who is attracted to the livelihood of other cultures . it is safe to say that this movie is certainly on my favorites list .  
yet another example of the complete waste of uk lottery money . just how commercial did this film prove . the film council  who funded this miserable garbage should be stranded  on one of the london undergrounds disused stations  for allowing this clichd  dismal specimen to be committed to film  a half mutant thing made up of all the horror movies the director has seen and felt fit to imitate  most notably deathline . amongst its many sins is the quite obvious failure to make the lead character remotely sympathetic until the last minute . it  s a little bit too late then  surely all those development executives  at the uk film council  could have noticed this at the script stage . add to this the terrible acting and the laughable appearance of the creature and you get a prime example of how not to scare .  
i know that this is an unpopular position concerning zabriskie point  but i loved this film . i know  i know  i can legitimately be called an antonioni fanatic . i love l  avventura  i love la notte  i love l  eclisse  i love red desert  i love blowup  and i love professione reporter  aka the passenger  . the only antonioni film that i don  t love  the only one i  ve ever given less than an      and one of only three that i have given less than a       la notte and l  eclisse being the other two  though i fully acknowledge that i have to see both of them again   is beyond the clouds  which can fairly be called an awful film . however  there is not better awful film  if you catch my drift . so if you  re not an antonioni fan  you should only logically ignore me . if you are even a casual fan  though  and you are wondering whether this particular film  whose name  when spoken  is often followed by  br    br   a spit  which is generally despised by even antonioni  s admirers  is at all worth seeing  the answer is yes .  br    br   okay  the reason that people tend to hate it is because    of film watchers care only for the narrative of a film . well  that  s not exactly true . if a film is amazing in a particular aspect  say acting or cinematography or direction  and just decent in its narrative  film watchers might very well love it . but a film can be the most amazing visual masterpiece and have a lame or illogical story  that  s another thing that has ruined the cinema over the years logic  then they absolutely hate the film . i will actually agree with that in some ways . as much as i may dislike it and want to change my view  it really is difficult to love a film whose narrative i perceive as poor . however  other people tend to get annoyed at a loose narrative . this is certainly what must drive viewers away from zabriskie point . i could relate the story to you  but you probably would just think it was nonsensical . it is  actually  but  to me  that just made the whole endeavor more fantastic and beautiful . i  d actually compare it favorably to      which is my favorite film . however      is perfectly coherent compared to the rambling narrative of this film .  br    br   what zabriskie point has in spades is mood . the music helps a lot the score includes a lot of acts of the day  including pink floyd . the mood is kind of similar to the moods of antonioni  s other masterpieces  filled with loneliness and desolation . also the freedom that comes from that . the best sequence in the film is when the lead man and woman  her name is daria  i know  but i don  t remember his name  pull over in their vehicle next to a historic marker on a desert highway . there is  beyond the stone wall that has been erected to keep cars from flying off  an ancient lakebed . it  s basically a rocky desert  and the two go to play in it . the setting is enormously beautiful . the woman says  this is such a beautiful place . what do you think   the man  i think it  s dead .  there  s no inclination to whether that  s a good thing or a bad thing . this is a lot like sentiments expressed in other antonioni films  characters are constantly wanting to disappear or become invisible . instead of david locke  the protagonist of the passenger  fed up with journalism  we have the young hippie sick of his friends  politics  he thinks they talk too much and don  t act out what they feel is right  or at least he says he does . it seems to me more like he just wanted out of the situation .  br    br   the film is also simply amazing visually . antonioni  s films are all identifiable by just a few frames  but his visual style was always building . i like the passenger more than i do zabriskie point  but zabriskie point might be his ultimate accomplishment in that aspect . well  that might sound odd  l  avventura and red desert are amazing pictorially . i think it  s the camera movements that are particularly amazing here . he obviously made a ton of money on blowup  which was the biggest arthouse hit of its day  the biggest ever at that point . he spends it well here  especially with his aerial shots . one of the film  s greatest sequences involves the man  who has stolen a man  s private airplane  dive  bombing daria in her car .  br    br   the one thing that can be fairly criticized is the film  s politics . they  re certainly facile . not that hippies were facile  but that antonioni  s vision of hippies  there weren  t any in italy  of course  are bizarre and  well  filtered through a foreigner  s eyes . there  s a rather childish criticism of advertising  but it  s a criticism that still exists today . i say  can  t you people just ignore it  what does it hurt  are you walking around buying things you don  t want because of billboards  or there is also the criticism against capitalism . daria  a secretary  works for a company that is stealing the land in the desert  the land that she and the man enjoyed to themselves  in order to make cheap  suburban homes for families . rod taylor  a very underrated actor whose most famous roles were in the time machine and the birds  plays her boss . the ending  which i won  t ruin  you  ve got to see it  is almost offensively cheap . i can  though  understand the treatment of police officers . not that i disdain them generally  but they were awful at the time . they can still be awful now . they  ve always had too much power .  br    br   these trite arguments against the american way of life still don  t effect my opinion of the film much . i find this filtered view of america extremely interesting . i really don  t think a hippie would have disagreed with antonioni .      .  
okay  now  i know there are millions of americans who believe in the rapture that moment when all people born again in christ will be raptured up to meet god and all the rest of humanity will be left on earth to perish in plagues and fire and the heartbreak of psoriasis as the antichrist battles it out with jesus  in an uncharacteristically warlike mode  . and i know the books were best sellers . . . among believers  anyway . and i mean no disrespect to all that .  br    br   but i have to say  they stuffed this movie into a sack and beat it with the suck stick .  br    br   i  m sure the books are much better . really .  br    br   the plot needs no reprising . if you  ve watched this movie  chances are you read the book . i may be one of the only people on earth who actually watched this just for the sheer bad  moving  making experience  and i wasn  t disappointed . especially not by kirk cameron  the creepy little  growing pains  gremlin  who came of age on that show  found christ  and decided that the show should reflect his christian values . well  kirk  your career has gone to the dogs  but now you can be happy that you  re spreading the word of god in movies so bad  they never even make it to theatrical release . well  that  s not strictly true i guess this was the only movie ever made that went to dvd first  with a voucher for a free viewing of the movie when it was briefly released in theaters  i still have the voucher  how many people do you suppose showed up  i don  t know about you  but it never came to my town . of course  i live in nyc  where we godless liberals sit around tearing pages out of the bible and use them to roll joints . so there you go . in fact  i  ll bet out of three million people on manhattan island  not one would be raptured .  br    br   check out the supplementary materials on the dvd  where you  ll learn the creepy behind the scenes details of these movies . . . the cast and crew all must be of the same religious mindset . they don  t come right out and say this  but listen closely to what the filmmakers say . it  s like a bunch of pod people got together to make a pod movie . how creepazoid is that  honestly  this stuff just preaches to the converted  doesn  t it  can you imagine anyone who doesn  t subscribe to the whole apocalypse thing watching this  slapping his forehead and saying   holy hoover dam  i better get saved pronto   anyhow  i  m hooked . i gotta see the rest of these christian fiasco movies  especially the one with gary busey  which i think is tribulations . at least busey has an excuse for taking the part . . . . he cracked his head on some pavement when he crashed his motorcycle .  br    br   oy .  br    br   oh  and one more thing . what  s with all the shots of poor  innocent dogs whimpering  their leashes dragging uselessly along the ground  because their owners have been called to heaven  what  s up with that  are we supposed to feel badly for the dogs  and if we do  what are we to make of god  doesn  t it irk people that there  s no room in heaven for man  s best friend  foo .  br    br   this is one more reason i  m agnostic . good night and good luck .  
about two hundred members of a cleveland  ohio usa film society  named cinematheque  gathered on august        to view a pristine cinemascope print of michelangelo antonioni  s     film   zabriskie point .  cinematheque director john ewing  who does a superlative job of obtaining the finest prints for his series  shared with the audience beforehand that this print was specially flown over from italy for this one showing only .  br    br   the audience was held spellbound as the film unfolded its artisty on the huge panoramic screen . watching this superb print  shown the way antonioni intended  made one aware that this is indeed a modern art work . it was all the more fitting that the series is housed in the cleveland insititue of art in university circle .  br    br   antonioni  s compositions are created for the cinemascope landscape . his beautiful balancing of images  striking use of colors  sweeping choreographic movements  all are the work of a genuine artist  using the screen as his canvas .  br    br   at last the audience could understand  zabriskie point .  as its narrative unfolded  it became obvious that this work is not about story per se  but rather an artist  s impressionistic rendering of fleeting images of his subject . the setting of some of the more turbulent activities of the sixties provides only a dramatic motor for the artist  s sweeping collage .  br    br   antonioni is not bound by conventional narrative standards  and can pause at any point to creatively embroider an event with grandiose embellishments . the audience willingly went with the flow of his remarkable imagination  as his huge images on the massive canvas held one in rapt attention . while the audience may have been only tangentially involved in character relationships  it realized the theme here is human aleination  the director  s recurring theme .  br    br   it was also realized that no print any smaller or of lesser quality than this original one in cinemascope can do justice to this particular rendering . the audience was therefore all the more appreciative of viewing  zabriskie point  in its original  breathtaking format  and broke into thunderous applause at the end .  
it  s been a while since seeing this the first time  so i watched it again with the second movie in the series . while i realize there is a  rd movie out that i haven  t seen yet  i  ll review under the original title . . .  br    br   just from the standpoint of production value  screen writing  and movie making  this movie fails on many levels  though it succeeds on a few as well . what can you expect from a low  budget   b  movie  not much  and it works from the standpoint of production . however  the writing is certainly disjointed  with little in the way of character development . . . exactly what i  d expect when there is an agenda to a film . i didn  t have a problem with the acting . . . the cast is solid however  the screenplay in both movies gives the actors little opportunity to really stretch themselves . because the film is  christian   this is predictable  as you can  t very well portray violent chaos of the  end times  without also breaking some of the ethics which are normally associated with christianity . in other words  the mistake comes in making this into a g  rated film when the content  even in the most conservative of bible interpretations  would be r  rated by any measure . so  if the purpose of the movie is to scare people into christian faith  then the movie should be somewhat scary  right  however  you can  t comment on a film adaptation from a book without commenting on the book  or in this case  series of books . there are certainly plenty of christian materials worthy enough to be made into movies . . . but not the  left behind  series . . . and these movies ultimately fail because  while being best  sellers  they are poorly written novels based on bad theology .  br    br   as a southern baptist minister  i confess that the books were a guilty pleasure for me  though i have yet to finish the last two books of the series . i have described them as decent fiction  and if the books would take the point of view that this is one  possibility  or interpretation of the subject of biblical eschatology  study of the  end times   then i could live with that . however  this series is divisive in christian circles because it promotes the  literalist  interpretation of all scripture above a more proper hermeneutic . inevitably  this leads to the  pre  trib  pre  millenial  dispensation point of view  which confines an all  powerful god far too by humanity  s world . in other words  as i  ve always said  god shouldn  t need our helicopters and bombs to do his ultimate work . but because many people  particularly unstudied christians  can  t think beyond their own world  views  we are left with a pro  conservative  fundamentalist stance with regard to bible interpretation  and attempts to push it through as the  only  interpretation .  br    br   thus  the books carry with them an agenda  not so much to get the  lost  to understand their need for christ  but to state that the fundamentalist point of view is the only valid way to understand the bible . i recall very clearly reading  several years ago  in the second novel a scene where the characters reference a person who was  left behind  because of his non  adherence to this point of view as if  real  christians worthy to be  raptured  couldn  t possibly hold to another eschatology . this is disturbing for several reasons  the least of which is because a  rapture  is only briefly mentioned in scripture and it  s connection to real  end  time prophecy is tenuous at best .  br    br   but the real issue with these books is comes in the way they divide the christian community and how they portray  true  christian behavior . ultimately  i feel they harden more people to an otherwise legitimate faith  religion instead of win people towards it . it turns all christians into caricatures  equally disdained and laughed at by the world despite the fact that there is theological room for a wide diversity of believes within christian thought and practice . as a christian body  on the whole  we  ve done enough of that kind of damage to society over     years of history . . . and we certainly don  t need to promote it by film to thousands  maybe millions of others .  br    br   thus  the  left behind  movies fail because the  left behind  books aren  t worthy to be interpreted into movies .  
antonioni really showed some  cojones  when he had this movie made . he went to america working under a contract from the most lavish studio  mgm  and he made the most damning portrait of american society i  ve ever seen . having seen la first hand this is the most accurate portrayal of the crowded  overheated and impersonal city . if only antonioni had met bill hicks . . .  br    br   the subsequent burial by the studio is understandable  after such a whopping investment and dismal return . it is sad that people don  t get to see this film any more as i believe antonioni has been proved right . here he predicts the end of the hippie  civil rights movement in the politics of america . everyone is much more interested in what goes into their pockets and the relentless expansion of living space into the inhospitable  yet beautiful  desert and beyond . how i would love to see interest in this film re  kindled and a lavish dvd release .  br    br   i beseech people to watch zabriskie point with an open mind and an open heart . we have a genuinely unique film commenting on a turning point in the history of the most powerful nation on the planet  and we have forgotten about it .  br    br   an unexpected gem .  
i  m a christian who generally believes in the theology taught in left behind . that being said  i think left behind is one of the worst films i  ve seen in some time .  br    br   to have a good movie  you need to have a well  written screenplay . left behind fell woefully short on this . for one thing  it radically deviates from the book . sometimes this is done to condense a     page novel down to a two  hour film  but in this film i saw changes that made no sense whatsoever .  br    br   another thing  there is zero character development . when characters in the story get saved  i won  t say who   the book makes it clear that it  s a long  soul  searching process . in the film it  s quick and artificial . the book is written decently enough where people like rayford steele  buck williams and hattie durham seem real  but in the movie scenarios are consistently given the quick treatment without anything substantial . in another scene where one character gets angry about being left behind  again  i won  t say who   it seems artificial .  br    br   i realize as a christian it  s unedifying for me to say i disliked this film  but i can  t in a good conscience recommend a film that i feel was horribly done . perhaps it would  ve been better to make the first book into    films . either way  christians need to realize that to be taken seriously as filmmakers  we need to start by putting together a film in a quality way . i realize a lot of effort probably went into left behind  but that  s the way i see it .  
i would just like to state that this may be biased  as i am a producer on the film . however  i will maintain some sense of dignity .  br    br   the star of the film  oscar ovies  gives a stellar performance as jeff grinderlin  a nebbish hypochondriac who spends more time worrying than living . he brings a certain touch to his character that really allows the audience to connect with him  by stating his mind often and with a sense of harsh comedy . his mother  played by christine haber  is the constant support beam  that without  he would crumble upon himself . his friends also lend a hand in jeff  s life  often making choices for him rather than letting him use his free will . . . which often times he neglects is there anyway .  br    br   the writing is superb  and the conversations flow like scenes from a kevin smith movie  with half as much ben affleck boo  hoo fests .  br    br   the camera work is a little shoddy at some points  and the sound could also use a boost  however the performances out shine the minor details . it is also backed by a beautiful soundtrack with local talents and an exceptional composer .  br    br   all in all  this was a treat . a rare gem  among many jewels .  
guys who  ever even thinks about watching this movie has already got some disturbance going through their heads . . this movie has nothing to do with jack the ripper  incase you thought  its another b  i mean e  grade movie comprised of a bunch of horny teens in certain sex scenes being watched just before they get their spleens splattered on a nearby tree . its not scary  funny or amusing . if you really feel like gory stuff with no plot  then watch cabin fever  at least the director did not fall asleep midway through directing this crap . only watch this if you absolutely have nothing to do in life  the only thing on tv is oprah winfrey crying on the tv set .  
last november  i had a chance to see this film at the reno film festival . i have to say that it was a lot of fun . a few tech errors aside  it was a great experience . i loved the writing and acting  especially from the guy that played the lead role . there is a lot of heart in this movie  a lot of wit to . i got a chance to speak with a few of the filmmakers after it was done  and they seemed real nice . all in all the whole movie was just a positive experience  and one i  d definitely recommend . the story was entertaining and cool  as a woman i  ve been through a lot of the same problems as the lead guy  and i could really understand his problems because of it . the movie does a great job of giving us people we can sympathize with . the friends in the movie are really well written to  they are realistic . i know people like these  i only wish imy friends and i could sound as cool as these people when we talk . the whole movie is just real cool  i wish there were more films out there like it .  br    br    jayden  
oh my  where to start . . . this movie was just awful . the writing was bad  acting was bad  special effects were bad . i think the only good thing about this movie is that it made me laugh  i was in the mood for a scary movie but certainly didn  t get that  i thought it would be decent enough since i  m not picky . i  ve watched several bad horror movies . in fact  it is my goal to see all horror movies  not matter how awful they may be . at one point in the movie i made a comment about the  corn syrup blood  and in the special features they actually admit that it was karo syrup  brand name corn syrup . . .  the movie had all the necessary things for a horror movie  blood  nudity  crazy killer  stupid moves  but it was just completely lacking anything to really make it good . the writer should either take some classes or just give up   
i am decidedly not in the target audience for this film . i am a man nearly   who has only recently stumbled across the world of independent film . this happened quite by accident  with the discovery of a movie called clerks late one night on television . the first two things i noticed about that film were that it was   technically amateurish and   brilliantly written . when i read an interview with the director in the local paper and he said that one of his influences was clerks  i started to get interesting . when he said his main influence was the station agent  a movie i  d seen on dvd a week prior  i decided i had to go and check it out . the result could be described along the same lines as clerks  although the two films are nothing alike content wise . both films suffer from technical gaffes that are overcome through amazing writing . whereas clerks is a day in the life of a man who has nothing in his life at all and is afraid to ask tough questions about himself and his situation  less like me is about a man who seemingly forces himself to be constantly busy  he  s always running one way or another  filling his life with little things so that he will never have to deal with the big ones . the themes and ideas of this film are strong and poignant . i can tell from watching it that not much has changed since i was growing up  young men still have the same problems they always have . the writer dresses up these problems and themes in the modern vernacular  crafts wonderfully honest characters  and has them do completely believable things . as far as indie cinema goes  this may not be perfect from a technical standpoint  but from an artistic one  it is very close .  
i really wish i could give this a negative vote  because i think i just wasted   minutes of my life watching the worst horror movie ever put to film . the acting was just god awful  i mean realllyyyy bad  the dialog was worse  the script sounded like it was written by . . . . i can  t think of anything horrible enough to say . and the day  outside  and the night  inside  shots make you think the events took over several days . terribly acted  directed  written  etc etc . all the way down to the gofer how gets lunch for everyone . stay away from this one at all costs . if my only saving grace to stay out of hell is by doing one good deed  it is to tell the world to not watch this crap . this movie is the exact reason why horror movies are never taken seriously .  
i am decidedly not in the target audience for this film . i am a man nearly   who has only recently stumbled across the world of independent film . this happened quite by accident  with the discovery of a movie called clerks late one night on television . the first two things i noticed about that film were that it was   technically amateurish and   brilliantly written . when i read an interview with the director in the local paper and he said that one of his influences was clerks  i started to get interesting . when he said his main influence was the station agent  a movie i  d seen on dvd a week prior  i decided i had to go and check it out . the result could be described along the same lines as clerks  although the two films are nothing alike content wise . both films suffer from technical gaffes that are overcome through amazing writing . whereas clerks is a day in the life of a man who has nothing in his life at all and is afraid to ask tough questions about himself and his situation  less like me is about a man who seemingly forces himself to be constantly busy  he  s always running one way or another  filling his life with little things so that he will never have to deal with the big ones . the themes and ideas of this film are strong and poignant . i can tell from watching it that not much has changed since i was growing up  young men still have the same problems they always have . the writer dresses up these problems and themes in the modern vernacular  crafts wonderfully honest characters  and has them do completely believable things . as far as indie cinema goes  this may not be perfect from a technical standpoint  but from an artistic one  it is very close .  
starring an unknown cast which seem likely to remain that way  this  film  is yet another cheap slasher flick which amazes me how this was released . i have no problem with horrors and slasher flicks in particular  in fact they are my favourites . but when they are done this bad  it really does take the monkey and its no wonder the genre has such a hard time . the story is as clichd and without imagination as possible with a bunch of people in a cabin out in the woods being slashed and hacked up by this zombie  ghost guy . its not the story that sucks the most  its the atrocious acting and dialouge  home made directing quality and an awful soundtrack . not to mention laughable effects and some incredibly lazy film making  these morons are outside in clear daylight yet we are meant to believe it  s night   what the hell was the director thinking with this move  what  he had only one day to film all this in  he was scared of the dark   is hilarious seeing a cop walking around in pure daylight with a torch acting as if its pitch black  though   br    br   i guess the positive side for the actors is they look like people who work in the local supermarket so at least they could possibly escape from this film without ever being noticed . im sure one of the  teens  plays bingo down the local pub  but she  s      .  br    br   anyway  good for a laugh but just another waste of film and time .  
what a great british movie  a screaming good laugh and sexy gary stretch too  and oh  lots of bikes and lovely welsh countryside .  br    br   members of our club the arrowhead bike and trike social club appear in it as extras  hooray    br    br   there are some genuinely hilarious bits  good acting  a good idea .  br    br   met the director  jon ivay at a showing in wareham  dorset . a great man  down to earth and a good laugh . this film must be supported  as all great brit movies should   br    br   so please go and see it if you can  they have a website with cinemas that are showing it  so find one near you   br    br   i can  t wait to get the dvd . some of our biker friends have seen the film two or three times already and can  t get enough of it .  br    br   amanda  
moron and girlfriend conduct some ritual to resurrect the dead  in attempt to prove that the dead can not be brought back to life . not surprisingly  they do resurrect a dead soul who commences chopping them up with an axe  and the next day some college aged people are telling the story around a campfire . the guy with the axe turns up and starts hacking up the idiots telling the story . the group calls the cops  the cop sees blood splattered all over and thinks it  s a mountain lion     and soon after is axed by some deformed killer who may or may not be a ghost .  br    br   moronic little splatter movie which was filmed in broad daylight but where several characters are carrying flashlights and talking as though it were the middle of the night  and wanting to send up a signal flare to attract attention . one guy has a gun in one hand and bullets in the other but doesn  t bother to load it  then after he finally loads it  he has several opportunities to shoot the killer but doesn  t bother to  because that would end the movie too early . then he throws the gun away  also detrimental is characters who show no emotion and don  t look the least bit concerned after their friends are chopped up into pieces and lousy effects  the human heart looks like a piece of chicken meat  the car blown up at the end clearly was a model car  and awful dialogue and some really ugly female nudity doesn  t help . and in the end it tries to get away with it  s incoherence by saying that it was all the invention of the same college aged people telling campfire stories at the start of this movie .  br    br   then the killer turns up for real in the last scene hacks them into pieces . again .  br    br   mediocre of it  s kind  good only for some unintended laughs .  br    br       out of   
but the opposite  sorry bud  i completely understand how you can be dragged into a film because you relate to the subject  and you have  . this film is terrible  the main character would give any charlie brown subtitler a run for his money he just constantly mumbles which is always a laugh  most scenes just feel awkward with characters more often than not gazing across to another with a look of . . . its your line now  then i will react . best british comedy  please buddy  have a strong word with your bad bad self . . . at the end of the day . . . the sun goes down . . . and this film is awful . i mean well done to the people involved . . . they have made a film . . . and maybe motorbike enthusiasts may be into it but people that still live here on earth with an actual sense of humour will struggle with this more than smiling at the christmas present they  re nan bought them . . . was that overly harsh  i do apologise . . .  
i had no expectations other than to be entertained for   minutes  and that is exactly what i was .  br    br   of course it is campy  of course some of the dialog wasn  t perfect  of course the  special effects  were a bit hokey . that is exactly why i enjoyed the movie so much . it is a perfect fit for this genre of a    s horror classic .  br    br   the talent needs to start some where  that goes for the actors and the crew  and what better piece of material to sharpen your skills on than this .  br    br   i for one look forward to another film from these producers and directors .  
was lucky enough to be an extra in this great film and loved every minute of the filming . went to the premier in london and had a great chat to phil  peter  martin  and jon as did my wife . fantastic after party too . then a few weeks later had trip to the cinema with members of our bike club . what a brilliant film  it deserves to be up there with all the great biker films . now we have the dvd sue my wife can  t get enough of it neither can the kids . get a bit of stick from the club who seem to think i  m a film star now oh well one can only dream . i think they are just jealous . the only downside of the first part of the filming was the weather  rain  rain and more rain but hey we was in wales . hopefully there will be a follow up so keep me posted jon . danny beck  
the legend of bloody jack is set in the alaskan wilderness  starts as a relative of some murderous deceased occultist lumberjack reads incantations  the evil dead       style  from an ancient spell book in an attempt to resurrect him  he succeeds  not being a big believer in family unity the lumberjack dude kills his relative . two days later  ray  travis quentin young  along with his sister dawn  erica hoag   her boyfriend nick  craig bonacorsi   four of their friends pull up outside a cosy log cabin  the evil dead style . . .  with a view to a relaxing weekend in the wilderness . unfortuntaely the killer lumberjack dude show  s up with his axe  starts to slaughter the friends one  by  one . . .  br    br   edited  written  executive produced  directed by todd portugal this is a pretty rotten modern slasher flick the likes of which are killing the horror genre for me  i  m just not a big fan of ultra low budget horror films with the production values of a holiday video . the script is absolutely terrible in every way for   minutes  it has every bad slasher clich  the character  s are awful  the dialogue is terrible  it  s hard to care about anyone or anything in this pretty worthless excuse for a teen slasher film . the teens are even more annoying  stupid than usual  the script is more moronic  predictable  flawed than usual  the killer lumberjack dude is just lame . then there  s the final   minutes or so which  if you make it that far  believe it  s tough going  produces one of the worst twist ending in slasher film history which as far as i  m concerned pokes fun at us the paying audience who has just had to sit through   minutes worth of crap . i will now spoil the ending so anyone who doesn  t want to know it stop reading now . basically just before the end of the film it cuts back to ray telling a story  it turns out he was telling the story of what we had just seen  nick  dawn  everyone else berates him for telling such a bad story  i felt their pain   then proceed to pick holes in it  laugh at it . from saying why did they stand around  argue  why didn  t they pick the axe up  such things  i felt like this was poking fun at the audience as those were the sorts of things i was asking myself while watching this crap  to have it shoved down my throat  made perfectly clear that the makers knew the script was crap  could see all the holes in it  went for a twist ending which unashamedly rubbishes the preceding   minutes  which we have just had to sit through remember  is just a little grating . then to add insult to injury the lumberjack dude turns up  kills everyone within two minutes  why didn  t he do that to start with  it would have saved everyone a lot of time .  br    br   director portugal turns in a real mess  this has the worst continuity between night  day in a film i have ever seen . the whole film is meant to set at night  i suspect the makers tried to use the day for night process but it didn  t work  most of it looks like it is set during the day . for example  look at when lisa is trapped in the bathroom  she climbs out of the window . it is clearly pitch black outside when we are looking out from inside the bathroom but when she falls to the ground  the films cuts to an exterior shot it  s bright daylight . then there  s the fact ranger vince says we can  t get a search party out here until  the morning  indicating it was supposed to be night  then several minutes later when he walks outside  it looks like it  s the middle of the day he is actually carrying around a torch which is clearly on  he is clearly pointing it in the directions where he is looking like it  s night . anytime there is a scene set in the cabin look at the windows  it  s pitch black outside  when the ranger walks in through the door to start with is also another clear example . the continuity in this film is simply the worst i have ever seen . there isn  t much gore  there are a few scenes of an axe going into people bodies but nothing memorable . it  s not scary  there  s no tension or atmosphere  the appalling day  night continuity is just so distracting because it  s so obvious .  br    br   technically the film is rock bottom  again the continuity between night  day has to been seen to be believed how bad it is . the special effects are poor  they couldn  t even afford to show a car blowing up even though it  s pretty vital to the plot . this has amateur hour written all over it from start to finish . the acting is absolutely brilliant  everyone involved should get an oscar  nah only joking  not really they were utterly awful  even the girls who got their breasts out weren  t very good looking .  br    br   the legend of bloody jack is just an awful teen slasher flick  it looks like it was shot on a camcorder without the use of a tripod or steadycam  it has awful effects  is boring  has a twist ending which is either the most insulting in horror film history or i  ve got it totally wrong  it  s the most clever . not recommended  watch a decent slasher from the    s or    s to remind you how they should be done .  
the music of albeniz pervades this film . once and a while it is played with original instrumentation  e . g . piano  but never full orchestra   but often it is re  worked with various contemporary ensembles  e . g . guitar  and treatments  e . g . jazz piano  . only occasionally is the music the sole focus of the film the vast majority of the time the music is set to various dances  often flamenco  but not always . i would guess that there are      scenes  which are not united by a plot . not all scenes will reach the heights for an individual viewer . in my case about half reached the pinnacle  though all the rest were in their own way very fine . those that worked for me moved me to goose  flesh aesthetic delight indeed  the final scene left me weepy with joy . and in some very magical way it brings you deep into spanish culture . if you don  t like subtitles  don  t worry . the film is virtually wordless  though each scene carries a title of an albeniz piece . seeing this very beautiful film sharpens my complaint that virtually none of the films of saura are available on dvd in the usa . i am thinking here particularly of his flamenco version of  carmen   a spectacular work of art that is available in europe but not here  european dvd  s won  t play on american dvd players  . this is a scandal .  
absolutely laughable film . i live in london and the plot is so ill  researched it  s ridiculous . no one could be terrorised on the london underground . in the short time it is not in service each night there are teams of maintenance workers down there checking the tracks and performing repairs  etc . that there are homeless people living down there is equally unlikely . or that it  s even possible to get locked in and not have access to a mobile phone in this day and age . . .  br    br   the worst that  s likely to happen if someone did find themselves there after the last train is that they might get graffiti sprayed on them . although this has been coming under control due to the massive number of security cameras on the network  another thorn in the side of the story .  remember in london as a whole we have more security cameras than any other city in the world .   br    br   if it had been set in a city i am not familiar with perhaps i could have enjoyed it through ignorance  but it  s not a high quality film so i just couldn  t bring myself to suspend my disbelief and try and enjoy it for the banal little tale that it is .  br    br   i would have given it     if such a rating existed  possibly the most disappointing film i ever thought i would like .  
i simply never tire of watching freebird . my husband was an extra so i was involved from the start . have kept in touch with jon and have helped out with promoting the film both in cinemas and now the dvd release . even to the extent of distributing promotional postcards on cross channel ferries and various places throughout france . freebird was expertly written and directed with the perfect combination of fun and serious moments plus choice casting . only phil daniels could fit the role of grouch . great privilege to meet jon and the cast at the party following the premier in january . anything else you want doing jon just ask  either email or phone  you know how to get me . sue xx  
where to start  this movie started badly and ended badly  it consists of extremely poor acting and unrealistic effects that had me cringing in my seat  seriously  my cat could have acted better than this lot .  br    br   some of it was actually laughable because it was so unbelievable  i would of rated this lower but they haven  t got anything else  so  heed my warning and unless your so bored your close to suicide and would like a good reason to continue with your suicide mission  don  t bother with this one . i  m still in shock that this could actually be released to the public  this should be a crime and all involved should be arrested . i gather you  ve got the gist by now so i  ll leave it up to you to decide .  
this is one to watch a few times . the excellent writing shows they had to have lived this story or know someone whom did because they nailed it . freebird made me relive and laugh at my misspent youth . the title was a great choice . great film  setting  story  soundtrack and characters . it  s a biker flick but would be a shame to pigeon hole it that way . funny to the bone  kinda like trailer park boys in the u . k . if you  ve never seen tpb  make a point to if you like this film . you will thank me . i hope to see more of these characters in other films . sequel  could be done . there  s a whole lot more of the world i would like to see through their eyes .  
this story about three women is a very sensitive study about muril  charlotte van den eynde  the youngest  laura  els dottermans  who is about   and martha  frieda pittors  the oldest who is the mother of muril . they live together in the same building . they have different expectations of life . the vital laura wants a child . muril comes from a village and wants to change her life in brussels . martha dreams about her youth when she was a young girl . in fact nothing happens in this movie so you wait for something  for instances an accident  which could dramatize this story . as times goes on  you discover that the director dorothe van den berghe only wants to develop a psychological portrait of the three women and nothing more . this movie is disappointing because you expect the women to learn from their experiences which is not the case  so one is left with a feeling of emptiness .  
running out of films to rent  i picked up freebird . i struggled through the first third of the movie wondering if the rest would be a waste to see . fortunately  it really warmed up  and i loved the movie quite a bit . the second half of the movie had me grinning and laughing the entire time . thankfully  although there were bits of cgi included  they were not overdone or prevalent .  br    br   i would have to say  though  the actors all have heavy european accents  so be warned if you have trouble understanding those voices or their cultural humor .  br    br   i really loved this movie  and will have to order myself a copy for my own collection .  
i should say right away that i checked the spoilers box only because i  m giving this comment the amount of thought proportional to what this mess of a movie deserves  and don  t want to be held responsible for some plot point incidentally slipping out .  br    br   this comment will take the form of a tirade for the simple reason that i am still under the influence of this movie  having just watched it  and the unique effect this has renders one incapable of the sort of forethought and paragraph structure required for coherent  reasoned criticism . that is not a compliment . it isn  t the narcotic effect of a truly hypnotic or thought provoking movie . the feelings it stirs up combine like some uncomfortable emotional voltron  composed of a confusing mix of some form of rage  the vague desire to take a shower  the rudderless  sinking feeling of true betrayal one gets when they realize they have given    minutes of their lives into the hands of someone who would not only squander it  but do so in such a pompous  artless way . and i probably wouldn  t have done anything super productive with that    minutes anyway  but even if i  d spent it on something trivial  like a power block of masturbation and online poker  i would have felt more fulfilled when all was said and done .  br    br   the problems with this movie are myriad  and in better times i  d articulate exactly what they were in a semi  adult fashion . but in keeping with what this movie deserves  i think i  ll most likely stick to the realm of masturbation jokes and cartoon references .  br    br   the most irritating and terminal flaw is that while watching this movie one is keenly aware that the makers and participants think they are making a much smarter movie than they are . demonstrating the depth of knowledge one could pick up in a one semester survey of western art history at a community college or trade school  the art  jargon is piled on thick and from all directions  with much of it supplied by talk between our hero  the tortured detective stan  willem dafoe  who i will forgive for this movie due to him being willem dafoe  and his accented antique dealer buddy blair  peter stormare  taking a break from playing a sociopath for whom murder comes easy by playing a   dimensional plot device in a movie about a sociopath for whom murder comes easy  . and talk they do . in fact  we are dropped into this story at a crime scene that may indicate the reemergence of a serial killer stan thinks he killed years earlier  so all the back story is established partially through unclear flashback  but primarily through stilted conversations between stan and his dealer  or stan and his colleague  the unforgivably irritating carl  scott speedman  . and although i differentiate the character carl  scott speedman  from the actor who plays him by using parentheses  i must admit that very early on in the film i despised this character so much that i actually found myself sincerely wishing harm on the actor portraying him  scott speedman  . not anything too fancy . not death or paralysis  necessarily . . but maybe herpes  or maybe a stage light could fall on him and crush his arm  this is a dangerous digression  but i  m not editing it out because i want to leave anyone reading this who  s thinking about paying to see this train wreck of a movie with a clear impression of the horrible wishes and feelings it stirs in even the most peaceful man .  br    br   well  i  m sort of running out of steam here . . over the course of writing this the sick feelings this movie brought up in a me have subsided  my head has cleared a bit . realizing now that i  m still investing time in something related to this piece of sh  t is startlingly similar to waking up after a night of suicidally heavy drinking next to the heaving form of a still slumbering    pound college girl . your first urge is a desperate desire to flee . this is natural .  
i have seen the freebird movie and think its great  its laid back fun  about time the british film industry came through with something entertaining   its good how the guy who met them at the service station gets mentioned way into the film in the news agents  nice touch . the acting was convincing  i am a biker  they reminded me of some good times i have had in the bike scene . it was good to see the film director getting in on the acting  well done jon  at the end a new crop gets mentioned  in ireland is this the foundation for a  nd film  hope so keep them coming . great film  well written  realistic characters   
you must be seeing my comments over many films under evren buyruk . . i am off to make another comment over a movie that is not even worth a minute of talking though . . this film is basically two hours of dafoe  s character drinking himself  nearly literally  to death . the only surprise in this film is that you didn  t have enough clues or character knowledge to be surprised . it was just a grim  sad waste of time .  br    br   willem dafoe is excellent actor . peter stormare is an excellent actor . but this film just sucked . slow doesn  t make the movie bad  it was just bad . the sketchy plot mixed with artistic ramblings of anamorphic detail aren  t cohesively drawn together in a meaningful way for a plot except to highlight some gore which is illustrated from several perspectives  finally at the end . i really appreciate the artistic vision  but as entertainment  it put me to sleep .  seriously  i fell asleep and had to re  watch the film  which was even more disappointing .  i generally don  t like to make negative comments or reviews on the works of others  even when they suck  but this film warranted one . it  s just too bad that these great actors were shamed with this end result .  
a great british indy movie  fantastic chemistry between the  main characters make for some hilarious drug  fuelled set pieces that cheech and chong would be proud of . great to see phil daniels back on the big screen  even if he has swapped sides since quadrophenia   and gary stretch is surprisingly good and a treat for the ladies  loved the final fight scene with it  s nod to zulu and now i know what happened to arthur brown after he set himself on fire on top of the pops  . . . he  s not acting . . . . he really is a bona  fide british hippie    you don  t have to be a biker to enjoy this and it  s straight into my friday night post  pub repeat viewing collection .  br    br   give this film a go and you won  t be disappointed .  
a well put together entry in the serial killer genre that unfortunately gets mired down in its own pretentiousness to be really satisfying . willem dafoe is superb as a nyc detective trying to track down what appears to be a copycat using the same renaissance art  related killing techniques used in a series of murders he solved years earlier . scott speedman is dafoe  s junior partner and they have pretty good chemistry  at least for a while  . other characters pop up to conveniently tie the two cases together . clea duval is the friend of an earlier victim and peter stormare is some sort of art broker  mentor to dafoe . . . that  s a bit hard to take  although stormare is  of course  never dull . the film  s ending is particularly disappointing . look fast for deborah harry as dafoe  s less than forthcoming neighbor .  
i was in the film too  but i don  t know if they actually put this scene in . on the way back from a school trip  in      we stopped at a service station at the same time as they were doing the film  and we were asked  the whole of us  to run in and shout go  freebird  we were all around   years old  could anyone who has seen the film tell me if that part was actually kept in the film  it would be great to know  i remember i thought the film had never come out  because it was another  and a half years before it was released . all of your comments seem to be good so i  m guessing it has been quite a successful film  i might buy it  but first i would like to know if i  m in it  d thank you  
this is an interesting idea gone bad . the hidden meanings in art left as clues by a serial killer sounds intriguing  but the execution in  anamorph  is excruciatingly slow and without much interest . there is no other way to describe the film except boring . the death clues are the only interesting part of  anamorph  . everything connecting them is tedious . willem dafoe gives a credible performance as the investigator  but he has little to do with a script that is stretched to the limit . several supporting character actors are wasted  including peter stormare as the art expert  james rebhorn as the police chief  paul lazar as the medical examiner  and most notably deborah harry  who is featured on the back of the dvd case  yet only has a couple lines spoken through a cracked door . not recommended .  merk  
i was pleasantly surprised by the film . let  s face it the premise doesn  t sound particularly appealing when having to hand over money for a the night  s flick  but it had an easygoing nature that wins one over . there were no moments that i found uproarious  and i doubt any that i  ll remember the next day  but this doesn  t fail as a nice diversion . what i found funny was watching it here in peking with my chinese girlfriend who never understands anything i like . i told her there was a plot  three guys have to bring back some weed to london . hardly satisfying for her . there is no mugging going on here for the camera which i  d been expecting after reading a number of the comments . i do take exception however to comparisons with withnail and i not in the same league  and i doubt was it intended to . www . imperialflags . blogspot . com  
this film is basically two hours of dafoe  s character drinking himself  nearly literally  to death . the only surprise in this film is that you didn  t have enough clues or character knowledge to be surprised . it was just a grim  sad waste of time .  br    br   willem dafoe is excellent actor . peter stormare is an excellent actor . but this film just sucked . slow doesn  t make the movie bad  it was just bad . the sketchy plot mixed with artistic ramblings of anamorphic detail aren  t cohesively drawn together in a meaningful way for a plot except to highlight some gore which is illustrated from several perspectives  finally at the end . i really appreciate the artistic vision  but as entertainment  it put me to sleep .  seriously  i fell asleep and had to re  watch the film  which was even more disappointing .   br    br   i generally don  t like to make negative comments or reviews on the works of others  even when they suck  but this film warranted one . it  s just too bad that these great actors were shamed with this end result .  
the brilliant thing about withnail  i is that it captures that not long left college and life could go either way moment along with all its other finery . freebird is something for those who probably never considered higher education and just went straight to work aged      . i know some of the broad sheets stuck the knife into this film when it came out in cinemas but i saw it at a packed house in hailsham and everybody seemed to really enjoy it . i grew up in the forest of dean and this took me straight back to my mushrooming and dope days  had some great mates  hate to think what they  re all up to now  probably running the local council  . i  ve watched it a couple of times on dvd and already i see the film as an old mate that will stay forever as part of my collection  how can i like this film and the dambusters  doesn  t seem right somehow  i certainly edge towards the second half of this film and i think the social interacting scenes with the locals are brilliantly done . i like the mix of the three lead characters and there really is some lovely writing in here along with some very quotable lines and dare i say a good smattering of integrity . i have tried to obtain the soundtrack  but it has not been released  shame  as it  s a corker  . someone told me it was originally a stage play  not quite sure how that worked but i  m sure it was fun . i liked the little shakespearian touches  references that seem to crop up throughout the film  also spotted the dylan thomas ref as well  and like all little gems  there will always be little things to discover like the final scene giving a nod to easyrider as they start they  re next journey . all in all a genuinely unpretentious piece of film making  love it    
what made the french connection work so well was the relationship between doyle  hackman  and russo  scheider  . in this catastrophe directed by frankenheimer  who also brought us such gems as raindeer games and the island of dr . moreau  the movie focuses on doyle and his singular obsession of capturing charnier  rey  . the fictitious idea that the nypd would allow doyle to travel to marseilles to find charnier with the help of the french local authorities is laugh out loud funny . correct me if i  m wrong  but didn  t charnier skip town with   pounds of pure smack    a street value of   million but yeah  let  s send doyle to find this guy  it was his pinch after all . please    the story was weak . the acting was terrible  with the lone exception of hackman  who completely overplayed his part  . the direction was all over the place . even the cuts between scenes were terrible . do yourself a favor and watch the first installment twice and skip this one .  
what a class bit of british cinema  it  s about time . and a side splitting comedy to boot   br    br   anyone searching to relive a bit of freedom from their misspent youth this road movie will prove the ticket .  br    br   it  s a mix between  withnail and i  and  easy rider  . the movie runs at a solid pace and doesn  t let you drift off for too long . . . at times there are reflective moments  but i think they are well justified and add to the characters the actors are portraying . i was a little concerned with phil daniels character at the start but thankfully was won over half way through in what was one of the funniest scenes of the entire movie  generally i found myself belly laughing through the film most likely annoying some people around me . oh well .  br    br   i would thoroughly recommend it . this will become a cult british comedy . well worth a visit .  
even duller  if possible  than the original  i hope i may say that under the imdb guidelines  . the french connection at least tried to absorb european influences  to complicate the conventional view of the american police detective  even if the attempt was foundered by friedkin  s ambivalence  americaness and general indirection . the  relative  arthouse boom of the     s  especially with the nouvelle vague  allowed for a huge influence of european cinema in hollywood . this lent a new vigour and complexity to a weary medium  and  in the best of them  eg bonnie and clyde  early scorcese   a new subversion of received practice . the original connection was part of this movement  with its difficultly distanced style  and anti  detective figure . two is old hollywood  s right  wing reassertion of american values .  br    br   this is figured in the film  s very tiresome america vs france dialectic . for instance  two is shot like a   s french policier . it was the french  of course  who insisted on the greatness of american movies when they were ignored at home  and this  in a sense  is a reclamation  a warning against gallic presumption . this can be seen in the pattern of the two movies . connection has french gangsters invading new york  with the french style smothering the american thriller  this leads to the dissolution of the detective figure  and irresolution of plot  the baddie got away .  br    br   two has the american returning to france  with american thriller values imposed on the native genre  the power of the detective is reasserted and conventional resolution is achieved . this is further dramatised in doyle  s relationship with french inspector barthelmy  whose dominant influence he must shake off before he can control the plot .  br    br   two seems to follow the original by undermining its detective hero . from the start  doyle  s importance is diminished at every turn . despite the ending of connection  he is considered a hero . but he is an american in a foreign land  and his inability to control language or customs means he cannot dominate the plot . he even misreads the signs of the police force  mistaking an informer for a criminal  and getting him killed .  br    br   a detective  s power comes from his power as subject to see and interpret  but doyle spends much of the movie being watched  controlled  an object  a body  literally in the scenes after he is dumped by charnier  to be viewed and interpreted . in connection  he instigated the action  chasing the criminals  forcing the plot here he is passive  tied to a bed  locked in a cell  an addict  a dependent .  br    br   this loss of phallic power is predictably symbolised in the loss of his gun  and the film follows a depressingly familiar oedipal trajectory . in the heroin sequences  he is comforted by an old lady who says he looks like her son . his drugged state is like a return to the womb  robbed of adult pressures . her taking his watch reinforces the timelessness of this state  doubly significant for a man whose career depends on timetables and precision .  br    br   oedipus was the first detective  and to avoid his fate  doyle must reject this false mother who is dissolving his unified identity  and kill the father  charnier  so that he can take his accepted masculine role in society . psychoanalytic theory was popular among academics in the   s  ironically instigated by a frenchman  jacques lacan   but it  s rare to see a film so literally full of it .  br    br   if all of these facts tended towards the minimising of doyle  then the film  s style doesn  t . friedkin distanced us from his hero by refusing empathy or character motivation  focusing on the mechanics of plot . here  doyle is a very conventional hollywood hero . instead of being lost in murky long shot  he is made knowable and understandable to the viewer with the traditional devices  point  of  view shots  close ups  connecting shots etc .  br    br   two is all about the fall and rise of popeye doyle . plot in this case is subservient to the acting  which is the usual hackman showiness . the cold turkey scenes  therefore  despite their tediousness  are not disturbing . we are allowed to share rather than coldly observe this a far less discomforting experience . the scenes are also shot through with a lachrymose manly sentimentality that is very american .  br    br   so while connection tried to imitate the complex thrillers of jean pierre melville  two does the complete opposite . melville  s le samourai featured a gangster who started the film whole  powerful  outside language  and charted his eventual disintegration . two starts with a disintegrated character  achieved partly through inability with language  whose dominance begins when he steps outside language  the concluding action sequences are largely wordless .  br    br   in the film  the locale and language are important as they fixed and undermined the detective  but as he regains his power  figured in the return of his gun  and the cathartic burning of the primal site of vulnerability  the tower block where charnier held him   the marseilles setting becomes more irrelevant  and the mythic stand  off  which could take place anywhere  takes over . compare the endings of the two films one admits ambiguity and despair  the other absolute certainty .  br    br    
freebird is the perfect marriage of road trip comedy  gang caper   stoner  film and feel  good british movie .  br    br   it is the brilliant lead characters that set this movie apart from other films in this genre . stars phil daniels  gary stretch and geoff bell have a great chemistry and make their characters hugely likable and realistic . the main story centres around their road trip from london to wales  and the adventures and mishaps that occur along the way . this small film also has a great heart  it is not just for bike fans  as it bases around the character  s relationships with each other including dreams and regrets  such as gary stretch  s fred longing for the family he left behind . the cinematography is also great  a love letter to the welsh countryside as well as capturing the grittiness of london streets and typical pub life in the welsh country towns .  br    br   stylish  slick  fantastic soundtrack  likable characters and funny storyline  i would recommend freebird in a heartbeat   
first off  anyone who thinks this sequel to william friedkin  s  the french connection   is superior is most definitely completely insane or moronic or both . the problem with reviewing this film is that  a .  it  s a sequel to a brilliant movie  which always makes watching it objectively difficult  and b .  it  s directed by john frankenhimer  one of the best american directors ever  so i wanted to like it . william friendkin was the perfect person to direct a film about drug traffic in decaying new york city  because of his documentary  like approach to the action and story  frankenhimer on the other hand is one of the most stylish directors ever  i . e .  the manchurian candidate  and  seconds   and with his  french connection   it feels like someone trying to be gritty and not having the true understanding to pull it off . that fact that frankenhimer was chosen to direct the sequel by gene hackman himself really tells a lot about hackman  s understanding about the original film too . it  s well known hackman hated friedkin on the set and vowed to never work with him again  it  s also known he envisioned the character to be more one dimensional  loosing weight and trying to play him like a straight character . it shows you hackman  despite being a great actor  had no idea who to make the movie and the story great . the plot point of doyle becoming an addict is interesting  but doesn  t warrant the rest of the film . an unfortunate low point in frankenhimer  s filmography .  
saturday june       pm the neptune  br    br   monday june       pm the neptune  br    br   few celebrations of ethnic and cultural identity succeed as mightily as carlos saura  s brilliant interpretation of isaac albeniz  masterpiece iberia suite . at the approach of its centennial  saura drew together an unprecedented wealth of talent from the spanish performing arts community to create this quintessential love song to their homeland . the twelve  impressions  of the suite are presented without narrative in stark surroundings  allowing the power of each performance to explode before saura  s camera . creative use of large flats and mirrors  moved throughout the set  combined with screens  shadows  fire  rain and rear projection add glorious dramatic effects to the varied selections of song  dance and instrumental performance . photographs of albeniz reappear throughout the program  connecting the passion of the music to its great creator . saura encompasses all spaniards on his stage from the beautiful elegance of elderly flamenco dancers in traditional costume to children joyously dancing with their instructors .  
i was so disgusted by this film  i felt obligated to warn off others . this film has no story  plot or hint of purpose . the film starts after the standard  lets be scary  movie intro  which by now every film watcher has become accustomed . so we can ignore the beginning completely . we are soon introduced to the main actress and from this point it becomes clear to all that you have just wasted your hard earned and would be better off watching static .  unless you have seen white noise  eek  acting is a disgrace and all of them should return to the travelling pantomime from where they came . having said that  even the best actors in the world would struggle to make this film remotely watch able . their poor performances merely contribute to the disaster . senseless violence and what i can only assume is the written word of yet another junked up  eccentric  writer  who probably considers himself to be an artist  has resulted in a film which will test your patience . it was not until my fellow watcher turned to me and said   we have been watching this for   mins  did i realise that this film is as thin and tasteless as a cup of tea without a tea bag . clearly something was missing and unfortunately it wasn  t the audience . rather than suggest what the film is missing  let me tell you what it has dumb blonde  surprise surprise   victims  bad  monster  guy  thing  about  mins of storyline which is stretched over hours  days  weeks  months . . . and credits .  br    br   want a silver lining  well  the blonde girl is a bit saucy looking in some of the scenes  but expect to want to see her face ripped off for the rest of the film   
at last  a decent british comedy that isn  t centred around some mockney bank robbers or spun off from a tv series . john ivay  s film is a psychoactive tale of discovery  dressed in biker gear . the three protagonists are gentle fools with a penchant for failure and each at a turning point in their lives  giving a sensitive  emotional trio of sub  plots to sew the riotous comedy together . the chemistry between the three amigos is palpable and makes for a touching companionship with hilarious dialogue and some classic comedic moments . it feels part withnail and i  part american werewolf in london  and part quadraphenia  but only because of the bike gangs  and phil daniels  . in fact  phil daniels  lovable rogue reminds you of danny the dealer in withnail and i  with his scholarly approach and scientific commitment to drugs . this is a great film  particularly for those who  ve dabbled in psychoactive substances in the past  who will relate to many moments in the film . a personal favourite is the brilliant scene in the welsh corner shop  buying munchies while tripping on  shrooms . this gentle comedy will warm the cockles of your heart and have you laughing out loud . and you don  t have to ride bikes or even like them to enjoy it . but it  ll add to it if you do . brilliant .  
i simply cannot believe the number of people comparing this favourably with the first film . it moved me to leave this comment  this is just an obvious attempt to cash  in on the success of the first film . the dialogue is appalling and nothing like as authentic or compelling as the original film .  br    br   the storyline is ridiculous  the portrayal of the french police laughable and the characterisation of doyle a mile away from the first film .  br    br   how many drug bosses do you think go down to the docks in person to see a shipment come in  the ease at which doyle finds his guy is just pathetic . like all the french police were just drinking coffee until doyle turns up from america and does some real police work . what a joke . try going to a foreign city and unearthing the biggest crims in the place with a travel map and some tourist pamphlets . pathetic .  br    br   a truly awful sequel  anyone who thinks otherwise is crazy .  
this is a great british film . a cleverly observed script with many quotable lines  which captures perfectly what magic mushrooms can do to a man over a weekend . as per usual phil daniels is excellent along with that most under rated of british actors geoff bell . peter bowles with a joint hanging out of his mouth is a casting masterstroke and gary stretch with his brooding looks brings something strangely atmospheric to the piece . although it seems to be billed as a biker movie  i think it will find an audience outside of this  purely on the premise that a lot of people have been there done it and got the t  shirt . also a great original soundtrack with a blinding version of freebird . this really could be a   st century heir to the famous ealing comedies . like the weed in the welsh fields it  s a grower   
urgh   things a movie needs a good script  a good plot and good casting . i watched this movie expecting it to be hilariously terrible and was unfortunately disappointed when it was just plain terrible . i lost the will to live halfway through . the only thing which stopped me from stabbing my eyes out with a fork was rose byrne  who was the reason for me watching it in the first place  . she did a good job as rastus and her appearance hasn  t changed much since she was   . it was a fantastic first effort in a movie . the dog was also very good . both did a great job with such awful material . sandra bernhard i think was the biggest mistake of the movie . she was completely miscast  and i don  t think she ever quite got the character .  br    br   i give the movie  out of    and thats only because of rose .  
highly recommended    br    br   a well written  funny film which will appeal to everyone out there with a sense of humour    . give it a go  it  s good to see an independent british movie more than holding it  s own against the big established studios   definitely worth adding to any film collection . there are scenes in this film that i  m sure a lot of people will be able to relate to . you will laugh out loud at the antics and enjoy the great soundtrack . i especially enjoyed the orb  s version of jimmy cliff  s vietnam and the tower of london  s take on freebird .  br    br   go on give it a go . . . . . . . . . . . . you won  t be disappointed .  
despite its flaws  i enjoyed  cigarette burns   john carpenter  s season one episode in the masters of horror series . yes  the story seemed like a cheap cross between in the mouth of madness and  mm  but it was still quite good for the budget and time constraints given to it . with  pro  life   however  the low budget and time constraints definitely show more than anything else . there is solid directing as always from carpenter yet there is a quality to the writing and whole production itself that gives the feeling it was made in a total and complete rush . the script isn  t always clear  the message fuzzy  and the story is full of plot holes once you look back on them . maybe had carpenter re  written the script  it could have been a worthwhile episode . instead  it  s a mess that only hardcore carpenter fans will find the slightest enjoyment in . definitely the worst carpenter has ever done .      
a comedy gem . lots of laugh out loud moments  the shop and pub scenes had me belly  laughing uncontrollably . the characters are recognisable and the dialogue well  observed  i know people like this  the humour is surprisingly gentle and the film  this may sound strange  puts me in mind of an ealing comedy . it  s a quirky little film with lots of detail . it certainly takes a number of viewings . i  ve watched it a few times  i  ve been showing all my friends   and notice something new each time  a bit of dialogue  something visual that i hadn  t picked up on before . i could get really picky and find a couple of shortcomings in the film but i  m not going to because overall this is a great fun  feel  good film which is really worth a watch and which anyone with a sense of humour must enjoy . it is a film which will find it  s friends and i hope there are a lot of them out there . oh . . . . and it has a great soundtrack .  
absolutely trash . i liked halloween and from then on johnny  s been in a downward spiral . this is about the pits . we get it john . pro  lifers are scary  you don  t have to make a shitty film that bores the hell out of me to  tell  me .  br    br   the pacing is way off here . it feels like john didn  t have much to work with here . to his credit it looks like he did not write this junk . there are countless times where the camera just sits and waits for the actors to look dumb or say something dumb . i love the long cut . too bad carpenter doesn  t know how to employ it . he needs to bunk up with herzog and fassbinder   years ago . please john  stop making a fool of yourself and boring me to death   
i saw a preview of freebird at the isle of man tt as i had heard about it in a couple of motorcycle mags . although i was over mainly for the racing  the lure of seeing phil daniels in a motorcycle movie  yes i love quadrophenia like everyone else  proved enough to get me away from the beer and partying . at last  we  ve done it  us british have actually made a great motorcycle film  and no it  s not like torque  this is up there with the best of british comedy . mark my words  this is phil daniels best screen performance  and as far as geoff bell is concerned  there  s a new british legend making his name felt . i loved gary stretch in shane meadows  fantastic dead mans shoes and here he gives a quietly touching performance that he can proudly add to his growing film reputation . this is a film not just for us bikers  but i think for everyone  even my girlfriend loved it  . i hope it gets the same brilliant response on the mainland as it got at the isle of man . i  m not going to go into the details of certain classic scenes that this movie has   watch out for the shop   as it would spoil the fun  but i would say  go see  enjoy  and have one of the best nights in the cinema you  ve had in a while . i really think this could well be a cult classic . as they were saying at the tt . . . c  mon freebird   
i  m not sure if carpenter is looking to raise questions on abortion  and make the really heavy  handed and obvious point that a woman should be allowed an abortion if satan is the father  but it drags on and on . ron perlman is laughable . the baby is really stupid looking  basically a crab with a baby head mounted on it . you can pretty much see the material on the satan costume . what a mess . this episode has about five minutes of story and   minutes of tedium . very  very bad . and the ending is just ridiculous . after learning his baby is dead  does the devil destroy the abortion clinic and kill everyone in a huge  bloody  gory  uproar  no  he just puts his head down and sulks out of the room . terrible .  
i was not expecting much from this movie  but was very pleasantly surprised  as it is light and funny and very well observed . the central trio of deadbeat bikers were surprisingly likable as they staggered and clowned their way through their drug  centred trip to wales . the humour was gentle and subtle  as indeed were the three characters  witness their sympathetic treatment of the little old lady shopkeeper  . the atmospherics of rural wales were captured perfectly  and the soundtrack was very well chosen . cleverly and carefully scripted  with great attention to detail  i have never seen such a realistic portrayal of alternative culture  i felt i was there with them . very light in touch and full of fun  not what you might expect from a movie about bikers and drugs . a delight on all fronts  and difficult to criticise  though i thought the last two scenes were a bit lame  the film should have ended when they left wales . but overall  an unexpected treasure of a film .  
i originally gave this episode a rating of two  i now wish i  d thought more about it . i also wish they had negative rating options .  br    br   watching it  i was amazed at how poor the whole thing was from start to finish . i adore ron pearlman  and john carpenter . . . so what went wrong   last season episode   was pulled due to the way it handled the abortion issue . i think that this season mr carpenter managed to make something so grey  area that you can  t immediately see if he is pro  choice or anti  abortion . it was only after i sat and thought about it that i realized he is very much anti  abortion  you get this most clearly in the end when the  mother  shoots the baby and kills it  to the dismay of the  father   who walks off in grief  leaving the mother unharmed . but you also see it in the way the ron p . character is treated  i hardly think that if someone has proved themselves enough of a threat in the past so as to have a restraining order against him that they would not immediately be ringing the police . instead we have the guard almost sympathetically dealing with him  only to pay for it in the end  i don  t mind someone having a strong view on something  even if it isn  t something i agree in  but i do think its a bit lame not to stand by that view  rather than trying to look like they  re sitting somewhere in the middle .  br    br   but  political issues aside  this episode was beyond poor . the music was retro     s and just plain didn  t work . the acting  other than ron p .  was poor . the effects were dreadful  it might have been better just to  not  show the monster at all rather than show the lame excuse for a monster they had .  br    br   all this being said  i  m glad they have the masters of horror  i don  t mind sitting through some really poor episodes to find the good ones . its a bit like renting horror movies from the video store  every now and again you get a good one and it makes it all worth while . i do agree with the poster that said maybe the name needs to change from masters  some of these people just plain don  t deserve the title .  let me stress tho  even tho i hated this episode  john carpenter totally deserves the title . he is a master thru and thru   
super speedway makes a great demo of your new dvd  bigscreen   .  channel sound system . the imax camera puts you right in the race car  where you cruise around various tracks at high speed  reminiscent of the driving sequences in grand prix  if only that would appear on dvd   . i enjoy watching it again and again .  br    br   the only minus  and why i didn  t give it a    is some of the driving sequences look suspiciously like the film was speeded up . the soundtrack also requires a little suspension of disbelief  all you can hear in a real car is the engine . you won  t hear swooshes as you go under bridges .  
to be honest  this film is another in a series of huge disappointments . . . most of these so  called  masters of horror  films are only horrifying in terms of their sub  par effects and laughable story lines . . . aside from ron perlman  everyone else in this film cannot act to save their life . . . the gunshots sounded like someone was playing bop  it under the boom mike or something  and looked completely unrealistic . . . overall  this film is about as scary as home alone . . . the only good masters are cigarette burns  jennifer  and maybe pelts . . . i don  t know how these directors can sleep at night knowing that they have ruined the very genre that some of them used to actually understand . . .  
sure  for it  s super imagery and awesome sound  it  s a great home theater  show off  disk  but this is also a touching drama as well as an informative documentary . the parallel stories that are intertwined throughout this film will keep all viewers interested . young  old  boys and girls alike will find that deep down  we are all fans of the automobile  especially the high performance indy machines that are the result of generations blood  sweat  tears  ingenuity and perseverance . the mark knopfler and ry cooder sound track is perfectly matched to the visuals and the content . i don  t want to give away the ending  but the final driving sequence to quincy jones   days like these  just might bring a tear to your eye . enjoy it   
could anyone please stop john carpenter from continuously and deliberately ruining his reputation  how low can you go  it seems this man has lost any self respect .  br    br   this episode looks like it has been done by a film student  it isn  t even worth beginning to talk about what was bad  because it was just a borefest  directed by somebody with no talent as a filmmaker or without any motivation . . .  br    br   come on  mr . carpenter  please retire immediately with a rest of self  esteem and stop spilling out trash like this in a bad tradition from escape from l . a . to ghosts of mars .  br    br   get drunk instead .  
this is a well  made documentary on the exciting world of indy car racing . the photography is simply outstanding . the scene were mario andretti drives the old racing roadster down the new england street lined with the ancient maples  leaves blown to the side by the speed of the car  is incredible . the film does lose some of its beauty on the small screen but if you like watching cars driven to their limit you should see this film .  
a plot that fizzled and reeked of irreconcilable differences in opinions constituted a judgmental havoc with one side pro  life and the other a destroyer of a demon  s seed . the horror was left out and replaced with an overall dull effect quite possibly meant to be horrific  but  instead demonstrated an ill dose of beliefs which ridiculed each other to death  despite the title itself . being a fan of masters of horror since the beginning  this ridiculous plot twist with it  s sordid depictions crashed apart like a spindly old rocking chair after being sat upon . i view this episode as being thrown together from the get go  never really taking off anywhere other than to see it through for what its worth and relieved when it finally came to  the end  . .  
this is an excellent documentary  packed with racing action beautiful pictures and a great story . the imax cameras give you a very wide perspective  as a dvd movie it is perfect . your hear every speaker working almost all the time  the film is not speeded up and just gives you the natural feel of    mph . of course there are some sound effects added but i think they are good  they give a depth to the driving scenes . . .  
i have to say as being a fan of the man who created halloween  the fog  christine  the thing  probably his best films .  br    br   then you got this pos . i can  t logically think he put any effort at all into this like he did with cigarette burns . at least his son made a decent soundtrack .  br    br   you have to look at this from the standpoint that it didn  t seem like a movie . it looked as if someone else directed it for one thing . i won  t believe carpenter put any effort into this at all .  br    br   i was just listening to his old school h   h   the fog soundtrack and it was awesome  especially for the times .  br    br   he was using a style that no one had and it worked so well for his films .  
if saura hadn  t done anything like this before  iberia would be a milestone . now it still deserves inclusion to honor a great director and a great cinematic conservator of spanish culture  but he has done a lot like this before  and though we can applaud the riches he has given us  we have to pick and choose favorites and high points among similar films which include blood wedding        carmen        el amore brujo        sevillanas        salom       and tango       . i would choose saura  s     flamenco as his most unique and potent cultural document  next to which iberia pales .  br    br   iberia is conceived as a series of interpretations of the music of isaac manuel francisco albniz            and in particular his  iberia  suite for piano . isaac albniz was a great contributor to the externalization of spanish musical culture   its re  formatting for a non  spanish audience . he moved to france in his early thirties and was influenced by french composers . his  iberia  suite is an imaginative synthesis of spanish folk music with the styles of liszt  dukas and d  indy . he traveled around performing his compositions  which are a kind of beautiful standardization of spanish rhythms and melodies  not as homogenized as ravel  s bolero but moving in that direction . naturally  the spanish have repossessed albniz  and in iberia  the performers reinterpret his compositions in terms of various more ethnic and regional dances and styles . but the source is a tamed and diluted form of spanish musical and dance culture compared to the echt spanishness of pure flamenco . flamenco  coming out of the region of andalusia  is a deeply felt amalgam of gitane  hispano  arabic  and jewish cultures . iberia simply is the peninsula comprising spain  portugal  andorra and gibraltar the very concept is more diluted .  br    br   saura  s flamenco is an unstoppably intense ethnic mix of music  singing  dancing and that peacock manner of noble preening that is the essence of spanish style  the way a man and a woman carries himself or herself with pride verging on arrogance and elegance and panache   even bullfights and the moves of the torero are full of it   in a series of electric sequences without introduction or conclusion they just are . saura always emphasized the staginess of his collaborations with choreographer antonio gades and other artists . in his     flamenco he dropped any pretense of a story and simply has singers  musicians  and dancers move on and off a big sound stage with nice lighting and screens  flats  and mirrors arranged by cinematographer vittorio storaro  another of the spanish filmmaker  s important collaborators . the beginnings and endings of sequences in flamenco are often rough  but atmospheric  marked only by the rumble and rustle of shuffling feet and a mixture of voices . sometimes the film keeps feeding when a performance is over and you see the dancer bend over  sigh  or laugh or somebody just unexpectedly says something . in flamenco more than any of saura  s other musical films it  s the rapt  intense interaction of singers and dancers and rhythmically clapping participant observers shouting impulsive ol  s that is the  story  and creates the magic . because saura has truly made magic  and perhaps best so when he dropped any sort of conventional story .  br    br   iberia is in a similar style to some of saura  s purest musical films no narration  no dialogue  only brief titles to indicate the type of song or the region  beginning with a pianist playing albeniz  s music and gradually moving to a series of dance sequences and a little singing . in flamenco music  the fundamental element is the unaccompanied voice  and that voice is the most unmistakable and unique contribution to world music . it relates to other songs in other ethnicities  but nothing quite equals its raw raucous unique ugly  beautiful cry that defies you to do anything but listen to it with the closest attention . then comes the clapping and the foot stomping  and then the dancing  combined with the other elements . there is only one flamenco song in iberia . if you love saura  s flamenco  you  ll want to see iberia  but you  ll be a bit disappointed . the style is there some of the great voices and dancing and music are there . but iberia  s source and conception doom it to a lesser degree of power and make it a less rich and intense cultural experience .  
i  ll keep this short as a movie like this doesn  t deserve a full review .  br    br   given the setting  this movie could have been something really special . it could have been another    days later  or even a  blair witch project   br    br   the first   or so minutes of the movie i was really excited  directer did a decent job with cinematography and suspense  although i don  t think he managed to capture true eeriness of an empty london underground .  br    br   characters were a big let down . our  heroine  in this movie is a worthless piece of crap  and you really don  t care if she dies or not . as many people have said before  i was rooting for the homeless people and the black guy  who managed to give me a chuckle or two  whether intentional of the writers or not  .  br    br   the main villain  is kept in the dark for the first half of the movie  but when he is revealed i was really disappointed . i won  t spoil it but lets just say my   year old sister could probably beat him in a wrestling match .  br    br   all in all this is just another mediocre horror film which falls into the trap of following a simple hollywood formula . this film had a lot of potential but really failed to hit the mark .  br    br   just to highlight how lame this movie was  the characters in this movie had at least five times to finish off and kill the main villain . instead they run away .  
this is a great documentary film . any fan of car racing should own a copy of this outstanding film . director  stephen low  did a great job  as well as the main stars of the film  father  son  mario  michael andretti . the dvd looks  sounds amazing . and best of all it  s imax  great home theater test disc .  
there is this girl and she  s running in the woods but she ends up at this woman  s clinic and she wants an abortion . her daddy is outside in a van and he is all angry about it . the whole episode takes place in and outside of this abortion clinic . i  m not really pro  choice but i wanted the choice to kill this episode . i was laughing when i saw the baby come out and it went into the corner . the part where they were doing the ultra sound was pretty funny too . i was really feeling sorry for the poor dad in this episode . he just wanted to protect his daughter and i couldn  t really blame him for what he did . i don  t know what happened to him at the end or what happened to the other father and daughter in the waiting room . i was just laughing too hard and i would suggest watching  pick me up  instead of this episode . it wasn  t the worst episode but it wasn  t that great .  
i enjoyed this movie so much that i watched it twice and that is something to say about a documentary . the musical score  cinematography and sound are absolutely stunning as you might expect from an imax production . even though it is shot for those huge imax theaters  it looks and sounds wonderful on my home system . in fact this would make a perfect dvd to demo your system .  br    br   the subject is also so fascinating . it is about mario andretti and his son michael . i was already a fan of mario because he is the best racecar drive in history since he is the only person to win the cart championship  f  championship  the daytona    and the indianapolis    . the script follows the path of two cars very important to the father and son . the first car is found in a chicken coop and turns out to be the first roadster that mario ever drove and we follow restoration to gleaming perfection . the other car is michael  s new racecar and we follow it from cutting the mold through the race season . imax lends just the right magic to make car construction entertaining and fascinating .  br    br   paul newman  who was michael amoretti  s team owner at the time this movie was made  narrates the film . his anecdotes and witticism  drawn from many years as an owner and driver  lends much to the production .  br    br   the main feature is the race scenes . turn up the volume here  there is something about riding along at over    mph and the musical score that totally draws you into the screen for an experience you will not forget . wow   br    br   the final magical element is the humanity of the andretti family . this god of the racing world  mario andretti  is loving father who proudly watches over his son  s career . they work together so well that every father and son should see this . you can tell that they are a close family . i wish we could all have that experience .  
this installment of masters of horror was terrible . apparently  mr . carpenter needs to learn a thing or two about pacing and decent  plausible dialog . there were times when i literally shouted at the tv for something to happen . maybe he thinks he building suspense  but carpenter needs to trim back that overdone  over  simplified musical score of his  or his son  s  and advance the action a little bit . how many times did the girl say   oh no  i can  t have this baby   and  oh  no here it comes   carpenter takes elements from much  much better films  assault on precinct   and the thing  and throws them in here as if we are supposed to acknowledge and appreciate his trademark style . what is lacking here is genuine suspense and energy . it  s as though he  s sleepwalking through the process of movie making .  br    br   for better carpenter films  stick to the tried and true classics   the thing  halloween  and they live . for better masters of horror episodes  check out my personal favorites family  jenifer  and dreams in the witch house .  
only the chosen ones will appreciate the quality of the story and character design of this movie . superior ancients that dwell in the lands of lore far beyond any average human creature  s understanding . this movie pulls the adventure genre into a unique centrifugal magical force of fantasy unto thee mystical crystals of chalice . stories come and go  but the idea for a good story is to think positive  not negative thoughts . to create a good versus evil battle like never before . embracing an impounding shimmering process that keeps imagination glowing in one dimension and out the other . striking a quick flash of energy that transports a human to another world .  
wow . the only people reviewing this positively are the carpenter apologists . i know a lot of those . the guys that  ll watch john carpenter squat on celluloid and pinch out a movie and proclaim it a masterwork of horror . this  movie  is utter crap . it looks and sounds like a porno  good lord  the soundtrack is awful . . .   and has sub  par porn acting  which is shocking  because normally ron perlman is really a very good actor . i honestly have no idea what carpenter was thinking when making this . most likely  beans  beans  beans . .  until somebody fed him and rolled him up into a blanket for the day . . . they say nothing about the abortion debate whatsoever  when they could have had a very interesting central theme  how do religious zealot anti  abortionists feel when it  s the devil  s baby   but instead they chose to have ron perlman and his terribly acted kids kill a bunch of people and have the horribly cast doctors try to calm the hysterically bad pregnant girl . not a single person from this episode or what have you should come away unscathed . it  s just awful . like  plan  from outerspace awful . like  good god please would somebody turn it off before i soil myself awful . try watching this and the thing in the same day and your mind will implode .  
wizards of the lost kingdom is a movie about a young prince  simon  who is banished from his kingdom due to his father  the king  being killed by the cliche  evil adviser  . this movie  s about simon  s adventures . the special effects  plot  acting  and generally everything about this movie is bad . however  it  s so bad that it  s funny . you will keep watching this movie simply because it  s so bad it  s funny  and  like the other reviewer of the movie said  it  s so bad it  s good .  
  masters of horror  has proved itself a poor arena for  message episodes   and while a definite case can be made for joe dante  s  screwfly solution   one of the best episodes of the series  period   most efforts to do so have come across as anvil  heavy and unimpressive  nothing defuses horror more than a soapbox  . and  pro  life  simply fuses reactionary viewpoints with ultra  violence young angelique  caitlin wachs   seen running through the woods  is nearly hit by  doctors  mark feuerstein and emmanuelle vaugier  who just happen to be driving in to work at the local  and isolated  abortion clinic . angelique  s father  dwayne  ron perlman   is a stone  cold  far  right holy roller who will do anything to prevent his daughter from getting an abortion . if for nothing else   pro  life  accumulated some buzz for its controversial issue  but john carpenter treats this whole venture with startling indifference   he seems even less interested in making a movie than the script itself  which is admittedly poor   the slow pacing builds no tension  and simply brings the already ambling plot to a crawl . even when dwayne and his sons storm the clinic  guns blazing  it is a stunning non  event later  when a doctor is tortured with a  male abortion   the scene comes off as gratuitous and unnecessary   an effort to pad out the underwritten film . the poor performances  perlman is sadly wasted here  become an outgrowth of the script  and carpenter  s direction feels exhausted  as if  pro  life  is the source of his next hot meal . by the time a spider  creature with a human head and a guy in a latex monster suit are prowling the hallways  you just have to wonder what the minds behind this mess were thinking . . .  
i have to start by telling you how i came across this movie . it was winter time in alaska around the year     . a friend of mine from australia was staying with me and my girl friend in a shoe box of an apartment . winters in alaska can be a bit brutal and most people stay indoors  drink heavily and watch anything that comes on the television . i had found this movie outside of a thrift store laying in a snowbank and right away new it was a treasure . it is quite possibly the best worst movie ever . we spent the next two weeks watching this movie and drinking like fish . we watched it so many times in fact that we would sometimes turn the television on its side or upside down for a more full filling effect . it is a true gem . the laughs will come nonstop and the memories last forever . if you see this movie for rent in a video store  steal it . you won  t regret it   
well well well . as good as john carpenter  s season  outing in  masters of horror  was  this is the complete opposite . he certainly proved he was still a master of horror with  cigarette burns  but  pro  life  is perhaps the worst i have seen from him .  br    br   it  s stupid  totally devoid of creepy atmosphere and tension and it overstays it  s welcome  despite the less  than  an  hour running time . the script is nonsense  the characters are irritable and un  appealing and the conclusion is beyond absurd .  br    br   and for those suckers who actually bought the dvd  one of them being me   did you see how carpenter describes the film  he  s actually proud of it and he talks about it as his best work for a long time  and he praises the script . and in the commentary track  where he notices an obvious screw up that made it to the final cut  he just says he didn  t feel it essential to rectify the mistake and he just let it be there . i fear the old master has completely lost his touch . i sincerely hope i  m proved wrong .  br    br   i want to leave on a positive note and mention that the creature effects are awesome  though . technically speaking  this film is top notch  with effective lighting schemes and make up effects .  
this movie is horrible  in a  so bad it  s good  kind of way .  br    br   the storyline is rehashed from so many other films of this kind  that i  m not going to even bother describing it . it  s a sword  sorcery picture  has a kid hoping to realize how important he is in this world  has a  nomadic  adventurer  an evil aide  sorcerer  a princess  a hairy creature . . . . you get the point .  br    br   the first time i caught this movie was during a very harsh winter . i don  t know why i decided to continue watching it for an extra five minutes before turning the channel  but when i caught site of gulfax  i decided to stay and watch it until the end .  br    br   gulfax is a white  furry creature akin to chewbacca  but not nearly as useful or entertaining to watch . he looks like someone glued a bunch of white shag carpeting together and forced the actor to wear it . there are scenes where it looks like the actor cannot move within  or that he  s almost falling over . although he isn  t in the movie that much  the few scenes are worth it  watch as he attempts to talk smack to bo svenson  taking the solo  chewbacca comparison  s to an even higher level   br    br   i actually bought this movie just because of that character  and still have it somewhere   br    br   gulfax may look like sh  t  but he made this movie    the only reason i  ve never seen the sequel  or even sought it out  was because of his absence  perhaps should there be a final film  completing the trilogy  gulfax will make a much  anticipated return   
i went into a video store and looked around to find some horror movies  after about   minutes i just rushed and picked out a few . i stumbled upon  masters of horror  which contained  pro  life  and  right to die  . they seemed ok  same  old cheesy horror crap  but i was interested for some reason . it said about pro  life on the case about being a classic  a return to form for john carpenter  i loved his  the thing   so i thought this would be good  and all that . so i turned it on thinking it would be something great and interesting  i was very wrong . . . it started off casual  just a girl running through a forest  scared of something . a car stops and picks her up  just so being the people she needed to see  amazing   they take her back to some clinic and examine her  at the sametime all this is happening her father appears at the gates and they don  t allow him in  he isn  t aloud near the area . most likely from something he would of done in the past  but you don  t know of any of this at the moment . he really does not want his daughter in this place  an abortion center . he is very strongly against such acts  believing it  s sickening and not what  god  would want . he  supports  what i heard is called  pro  life  . acting against abortions and going to extremes to allow the babies to be born  they are sick . they don  t like the life of an unborn being taken  yet they  ve killed humans in the past to allow the birth  justice is only a figment of the mind . anyway  back on track  after the girl is examined they find out shes pregnant  but far ahead than what she should be . she is only a few weeks pregnant  but is months ahead . she keeps telling them they wont understand her  and that she wants an abortion and all  but finally tells the truth that she was raped by a demon from hell  and that her father wants this baby  but believes  god  wants this baby  not who truly does  . he gets his  sons  they arm themselves with pistols and shotguns   and begin to make they  re way into the clinic  shooting down anyone who won  t co  operate  . the head of the clinic  who must of had trouble with them in the past  is well prepared this time . ends up killing one the fathers sons  but in the end gets shot a few times  wearing a bullet proof jacket  . the father then performs what he believes is done to the women . he cuts a hole  where the vagina would be if he we  re a female  and sticks some sort of sucking thing up there and sucks out all this blood . whilst all this is happening  the girl gives birth to some demonic baby with many legs  and some demon raises from beneath the earth  not in the same room  and starts looking for its child . the father sees this later on  and starts questioning why this happened  he did what he was told to do  and doesn  t understand why it  s like this . the demon had killed both of his sons earlier  and now goes for father . . . whilst the girl kills the baby  and the demon carries it away  not in the same scene  .  br    br   yeah  it probably sounds pretty cool  and a thrilling horror movie  but it isn  t . the acting is horrible and lacks enthusiasm  the script is boring and not even creative  they choose the wrong characters and don  t even build on them just everything put together  all the small parts  don  t even add up to something great  a waste of time . i wouldn  t classify this as a horror  though it has elements of horror  they ultimately fail at what they try to succeed . it felt more like a  beginners  short  movie  than by john carpenter .  br    br   sorry for my lack of information  and detailed review  i just didn  t have the time to waste to write something exciting . also sorry if my spelling and details are incorrect  i couldn  t really be bothered to research anything .  
when i saw this movie first  it was long ago on vhs  video . i did like this movie  because it was funny and excitingly . some years ago i saw another movie  called andy colby  s incredible adventure in this movie were parts of wizards of the lost kingdom used in . they called this movie  kor the conquerer  . i began to search for the  kor   movie many years  because i wanted to see the complete movie  not only the parts which were used in the andy colby  movie . no shop had this kor  movie to rent and no shop did know this movie . many years i watched my old vhs  tapes i had at home  and what a wonder . . . i had this movie since many years still at home  but the movie had a different title  because in germany it has  or  titles . so i was happy to find this tape at home and this time i had much more time in watching kor the conquerer again . the music is great during the hole movie  but the best part of filming in combination with the music is this moment  when kor is walking drunken through the green forrest . the music in the background had some kind of magic . i like bo svenson  and also the boy  who played simon in the movie . both of them did their job very good . manfred kraatz  germany    .   .     . thanks to all for reading my comment .  
i was looking forward to seeing john carpenter  s episode in season  because his first  cigarette burns  was by far the best from season   and i did like other episodes from that season  . oh  how i was disappointed .  br    br   in fairness to carpenter i think the primary problem with this episode was absolutely horrible writing . the characters  aside from the subject matter  seemed to behave and speak as though they were written for an episode of walker  texas ranger . the acting was bad  and i normally like ron perlman a lot  but i can only blame them so much because the writing was so horrible . i  m not going to try to guess what the writers were trying to do because that would be useless but it appeared as though they were trying to mix horror  obviously  with some form of social commentary on abortion and religion . in this case  not surprisingly  it seemed a chance to bash a certain variety or religious nuts as well as fanatical anti  abortionists . and i am in favor of both aims but it was done so horribly that i was embarrassed to watch characters act and speak with such stupid inconsistency . this failed totally to offer any worthwhile opinion on the subjects and the horror element failed as well alongside such inept writing .  br    br   while i don  t think carpenter can be blamed for most of the badness here i will say he did choose to direct the teleplay and therefore has that to be held responsible for . there are a couple small bits that i found nice  hence the  stars i gave it .  br    br   the actual gore and monster effects were good  but the cgi gore  two separate gunshots to the head  were so obviously inferior quality cgi they should  ve never been given the ok . i  m generally very critical of cgi but not because i have a problem with it in principle . i have a problem with the execution of it . the technology  while amazing in some respects  is not good enough to match  real  effects  whether they be miniatures or gore especially when it is supposed to match something organic and  or alive  and therefore shouldn  t be used until they are . cgi can be used well in small amounts or obviously if the whole film is animated .  br    br   i  ll also take this opportunity to note that the show title  masters of horror  is a bad title to have . there simply aren  t many actual  masters of horror  around . maybe two or three . if the show were called  tale of horror  or something like that it would be fine . but as it stands the criteria for directing one of these episodes  and therefore being criticized for not being a  master of horror  is that they have directly at least one horror film in their career . and it didn  t even have to be a good one .  
although i am inclined to agree with the other comments made by people who have seen this movie  i am ashamed to say i rather like it . not often can such a huge pile of   s pap be found outside of a wham  video  so it is most definitely worth a viewing    .   a night in my local store   . watch out for the insanely obvious seams and zip on the monster  s costume  the fact that the  hero  looks a lot like keith chegwin and such classic lines as the following evil wizard  type bloke  at last we meet kor . . .  kor  thrilling  isn  t it    br    br   amazing   i also like the fact that although the video box looks quite exciting with images of a castle surrounded by raging seas and a dangerous falcon  like bird carrying a handsome hero to safety  among other such  interesting and engaging  suggestions of what goes on in the actual film  none of them actually happen . no  i  m not joking . . . there really isn  t a raging sea or a ferocious bird  it  s just trying to make you interested . . . classic in my opinion . this film gets   for pure entertainment value    
slight spoilers  but it doesn  t matter anyway  .  br    br   an exercise in gobblygook of catastrophic proportions not even worthy of the l  lines i need to put these remarks on the netwaves . this is the single worst episode of the masters series to date and the first that qualifies for the defunct mystery science theatre treatment . even if it took me a full half hour to realize the intended ironic angle  it was still a very lame mess . its sole value lies in the perspective that forces one to realize that in addition to gore and ugly masks the genre only succeeds when the classic cinematic notions of photography and lighting  dialogue and acting  editing and timing are put to use . here they are absent and john carpenter is no master . period . and no trite analysis of the easy social comment herein will change that . oddly  carpenter never has been anything more than a b director  but at least such films as  fog  and  the thing  had terrific atmosphere  the latter is one of my cult favorites  .  br    br   abominable acting . camera angles stuck in cement . tensionless rhythm . yet perhaps the single most obnoxious element of the episode is the storyline which of course jc cannot really be blamed for  unless the writers were buddies of cody .  the initial two minute slo  mo of a girl running through a forest only to be nearly run over by a would be scully  mulder duo is the first and last thing that works in the film . but come on  a girl hurtling through a deserted woods to nowhere in particular in desperate need of an abortion fortuitously rendez  vous with the fender of a pair of  women  s rights  mds whose clinic just happens to be at the end of the road around the corner . oh  and i won  t even nitpick about how the doc whips the accidentee into the car and speeds away at  to   in six seconds . does wonders for possible broken ribs or concussion .  br    br   then things fall apart real quick . the vacuous dialogue  i just want to help you   the interminably sluggish back and forth at the gate  grandiose battle tactics like cutting the telephone line  in the age of cell phones   followed by the the shoot  out a born  again ramboesque clinic director vs ron perlman and the high school bullpen out for a few kicks at easter break . another lovely line  so what are we going to do   from the kid who had just been sitting on a pile of assault rifles in the back of the van . er  no it isn  t yet pheasant season . so who needs those teen boys anyway . what about the good old tried and true method of the lone lunatic who bashes his way through the gate with his all  american suv   br    br   as for the exchange of bullets scenes themselves  the cuts here were as stiff as the staccato of a dc comics strip . all that was lacking were the wham  bam  and whiz of the balloon titles . and all to the tune of a soundtrack worthy of an old mannix episode .  br    br   at one point we learn that daddy isn  t really the daddy  but at this point we haven  t been led to care much any more either . this story  s single source of drama is the conflict between the pro  life father and his pregnant daughter who is only thankful she  s not having twins . yet there is not a single scene  flashback or not  where they are actually ever found together . they remain mere abstractions to each other throughout .  br    br   with the exception of the gatekeeper every single one of the characters is absolutely dislikeable . bland  hysterical  dull  headed  macho . as perfectly flat as human wallpaper can be . none of the doctors seem to have anything medical about them . and there  s that bickering dad who rails at his pregnant daughter as though he himself were the stressed out boyfriend . he fortunately got his . there are two great mst  worthy comic moments the gusher when angelica  s plumbing goes out and later the new  born lobster with a glued on baby  s head . also cute was angelica  s rugby ball belly before she finally popped the right  to  life little monster from hell . as for that audacious male abortion scene . . . well  they should have retained miike  s episode and banned this one instead .  br    br   in short  a  rd rate rosemary  s baby meets alien set on the turf of a m . a . s . h . episode . this stinker alone  appreciable only to today  s permissive under    generation  will assure as someone else said here  that this series will not be renewed for a third season . a real shame  since there have been a number of brilliant productions  including such really decent spoofs as dante  s  homecoming  or mckee  s deliciously quirky  sick girl  . not to mention the superb imagery of malone  s  fairhaired child  .  br    br   sorry john carpenter  i believe your directing days are over . it  s time to run for president .  
red skelton was still another major star who made the transition from movies to television with ease .  br    br   his shows certainly brought a laughter to the american households of years back .  br    br   he would begin the show with an opening monologue . afterwards  we would have a variety of characters . remember gertrude and heathcliff in the monologue  how can we ever forget san fernando red  i remember one episode where as a king red introduced his queen by referring to her as your fatness .  br    br   go know that red would use his comedic talents to really hide from his tragic life . he lost a son to leukemia at age   or so . his wife  georgia  died by suicide .  
vodka lemon is a charming  yet extremely uneven arminian film that will delight some and bore others . though reasonably well  crafted  the film lacks any real  zing   relying instead on many scenes that will seem commonplace to the astute art  house viewer . the film contains a handful of moments of sheer cinematic brilliance  unfortunately  they deserve a film worthy of their genius . too dark to be a dark comedy and to light to be a serious drama  vodka lemon will leave many views disoriented and ultimately disgruntled . you may laugh  but these moments will be few and far between amid a sea of washed out snow filled landscapes and a seemingly endless series of bus rides . a noble effort  ultimately done in by lack of narrative cohesion .  
 . . . . . . . playing kaddiddlehopper  col san fernando  etc . the man was pretty wide ranging and a scream . i love watching him interact w  amanda blake  or don knotts or whomever   he clearly was having a ball and i think he made it easier on his guests as well   so long as they knew ahead of time it wasn  t a disciplined    take kind of production . relax and be loose was clearly the name of the game there .  br    br   he reminds me of guys like milton berle  benny hill  maybe jerry lewis some too . great timing  ancient gags that kept audiences in stitches for decades  sheer enjoyment about what he was doing . his sad little clown he played was good too   but in a touching manner .  br    br   personally i think he  s great  having just bought a two dvd set of his shows from    or so  it brings his stuff back in a fond way for me . i can remember seeing him on tv at the end of his run when he was winding up the series in     or so .  br    br   check this out if you are a fan or curious . he was a riot .  
it never ceases to amaze me how you can take an excellent actor  and put him to waste in a film such as this . robert de niro is one of the best hollywood stars of all time  but even he couldn  t save this movie . in fact  his character is much the same as the one he played in cape fear  which was actually pretty good  but i can  t stand it when actors do the same schtick over more than one movie . i believe it gets old  and that is the case here .  br    br   there  s nothing surprising in this movie  but then  the story has been told a million times before . wesley snipes is your typical baseball player  and his conceit shows through in his characterization . de niro plays the obsessed fan  but his role in this film is less than entertaining .  br    br   however  because de niro is in this film  that makes it a draw if you are a fan  no pun intended  who sees everything he does no matter how bad . but to see de niro at his best  see  midnight run    goodfellas   or  cop land   or even go way back and check out  taxi driver  or  godfather ii  . don  t waste your time with this drivel .  br    br   my rating      
i have seen a lot of saura films and always found amazing the way he assembles music  dance  drama and great cinema in his movies . ibria shows an even better saura  dealing with multimedia concepts and a more contemporary concept of dance and music . another thing that called my attention is the fact that  in this movie  dancers and musicians  dance and music  are equally important the camera shows various aspects of music interpretation  examining not only technical issues but also the emotional experience of playing . the interest of saura on the bridge between classical and contemporary music and dance is one more ingredient in turning this movie maybe the most aesthetically exciting among his other works . that  s why i recommend it strongly to those who love good cinema  good music  good dance  great art .  
the potential was there . i saw creep and thought   oooh  this is getting interesting  several times . yet somehow the interesting plot lines wound up unexplained or ignored  like they never happened . the lead character was irritating throughout the movie  and at one point my fella and i both shouted that we wanted her to die . there are some genuinely spooky  scary moments  but these are grossly overshadowed by the moments that just annoyed the hell out of me . it  s another one of those horror movies that crops up and intrigues you for a while  but ultimately leaves you frustrated and a little confused about what the movie makers were trying to achieve .  br    br   the one saving grace of this movie is the bad guy  but when the baddie is more likable than the lead character you know you  re on to a loser .  
yes  shakespeare would indeed have been proud . laurence fishburne was not at his best but certainly not bad . kenneth brannagh on the other hand was brilliant . his scheming was wonderful as was his toying with the audience . very nice work .  br    br   there were at times too little drama where more would have been expected . cassio  s slaying  for instance  was a bit clouded by too much happening to far apart  causing the spectator to twist his head to grasp it all .  br    br   did i mention michael maloney  his madness striken roderigo was unusual annoying even .  br    br   if you haven  t seen othello before  see this . if you haven  t read othello  see this . if you haven  t heard othello  see this . you do  on the other hand  do yourself a favour by reading it  seeing it acted onstage and hearing it sung too .  
tony scott directs a thriller sports flick that should attract even the non  sports fan . and some say baseball is a dead sport . . . boring . . . too damn slow . well perk up  on the outside he appears to be a disgruntled salesman  robert de niro  while on the inside he is a psychotic san francisco giants fan . along comes a new slugger  wesley snipes  and designated savior from the doldrums . our salesman harbors a murderous obsession when the hard hitting all star falls into the worst slump in his career and the giants are feared to crumble along with him . de niro is terror personified . snipes seems very natural as the ballplayer . other notables in the cast are the still attractive ellen barkin  john leguizamo  benicio del toro and patti d  arbanville . you are a free agent . . . so enjoy . violence and very strong language is to be expected and you get your moneys worth .  
i claim no matter how hard i seek i  ll never find a better movie version of  othello  . if you love kenneth branagh  s magnificent masterpieces  much ado about nothing        and  hamlet        as much as i do i  m dead certain you  ll also find oliver parker  s  othello  irresistible . laurence fishburne has been in a various splendid roles during his career . he was quite terrific in  boys n the hood         i  ve always considered his amusing role of furious styles as his very greatest achievement . that was  of course  way before i saw this .  br    br   he plays the part of othello and he is probably in the most challenging role of his whole career but he does a brilliant  fantastic job . irne jacob is absolutely charming desdemona and kenneth branagh is just simply phenomenal in a most fascinating role of the story  s crooked  manipulate villain iago . marvelous  othello  is part of the absolute elite among shakespeare  s ingenious works . it deals with his favorite topics crookedness  envy  deceitfulness and jealousy . this movie adaptation is certainly one of the finest films i  ve seen that  s based on william shakespeare  s plays .  
to put it simply  the fan was a disappointment . it felt like as if i was watching taxi driver  except taxi driver was much better than this . it seemed like the filmmakers wanted us to root for robert deniro  s character    percent . this approach didn  t work .  
branagh and fishburne deliver excellent performances in this version of the shakespeare classic . branagh plays iago better than i  ve seen the character played in film or on stage . some might say this film is overly iago  centric  but i disagree . fishburne  the first black othello in film history ironically  delivers a powerful performance . fishburne has always been a good actor  but this performance as the moor of venice may be one of his best .  br    br   the one problem i have with this film  is the simple subtraction of a number of important scenes . desdemona  s character is given far less depth than she has in the play . in this film  she might as well not be added at all . one of the worst cuts made by branagh in this film  was the subtraction of a conversation between iago and desdemona at the beginning of the second act . this part of the play shows that desdemona may not be the innocent child she is portrayed as in this film . there were a number of subtractions that hurt the integrity of this film .  br    br   however  if you have not read the play  or seen a film version of othello before  i recommend this movie . the story  cut or not  is still incredibly enthralling . the acting  as stated previously  is very good . if some important scenes had been added  and desdemona  s character been prioritized a bit further  this would be a great movie . as it stands  it  s still an admirable version of the original . i give it a marginal recommendation .  
deniro is a master . . . one of my favourites . and i love good sports movies not into baseball so much  but hey  its sports movies  right  . i was expecting much more for this movie . it seems to start out well deniro is what i expected  snipes whom i don  t really like is very good as the spoiled star . barkin  s role  to me  was ok . she  s a good actress  but seemed out of place in this role . to me  they always seemed to rush the scenes  and then it drags a bit in places . it just seemed tio me to be so uneven  considering the cast and the plot  it could have been so much better . i rated it a     and i was being generous  i  m a tough one with numbers   
my college professor says that othello may be shakespeare  s finest drama . i don  t know if i agree with him yet . i bought this video version of the film . first i love kenneth branagh as iago  he was perfectly complicated and worked very well in this adaptation . surprisingly  he didn  t direct it but played a role . lawrence fishburne shows that american actors can play shakespeare just as well as british actors can do . not that there was a british vs . american issue about it . in fact  if we all work together then shakespeare can reach the masses which it richly deserves to do . apart from other shakespeare tragedies  this is dealt with the issue of race . something that has existed since the beginning of time . the relationship between iago and emilia could have been better and shown the complicatedness of their union together . while othello loves desdemona with all his heart  he is weak for jealousy and fears losing her to a non  moorish man like cassio . it  s quite a great scene at the end of the film but i won  t reveal the ending . it  s just worth watching . i think they edited much of the lines to  hours but they always edit shakespeare .  
many many spoilers in this review this movie was horrible . i am a huge baseball fan so i thought i  d watch it  and i was very disappointed . it started out okay . . when i saw the bad influence deniro had on his young son  i was hoping that he would become a better father throughout the movie or something . anyways  at the beginning it seemed as if deniro was supposed to be the protagonist . he was the only one that believed in bobby  and he had his adorable son that he was losing custody of  which gave me a reason to feel bad for him . he wanted to help bobby by talking to primo  when out of absolutely nowhere he brutally stabs primo to death . . . not to mention that sketchy reoccurring song  i want to  you      at random unfitting moments .  br    br   later  when deniro saves bobby  s son from drowning  i was hoping that the movie could redeem itself . . he could forgive himself for killing primo if he saved bobby  s son . but of course this is far beyond the depth of the movie  because all he cares about is getting credit for the murder  and does so by stealing bobby  s son  car  and dog and holding them hostage  bobby just has to hit a home run and announce that deniro is a  true fan  while displaying a picture of him biting a knife .  br    br   now we get to the completely unrealistic scene at the end . . . it is pouring like hell and we are expected to believe that the game hasn  t been called . then deniro somehow magically appears on the field in an umpire suit and calls bobby out at home  proceeding to pull out his knife and start stabbing everyone that runs onto the field . there are seemingly no officers on the field  but the police are on their way   so deniro steps on the mound and prepares to pitch a knife to bobby when he gets shot to death . but don  t worry  this cheerful and pleasant movie has a happy ending  because bobby find his son .  br    br   this is not a sports movie . it is not about a fan . as far as i know  fans are not rabid psychopaths that threaten  rob  and throw knives at their admirees . this is likely to be the sickest movie i will ever see in my life . the plot was shallow  the soundtrack sucked  the movie had no purpose whatsoever . i warn you not to waste your time on this disgusting excuse for a film .  
laurence fishburne is a fine actor  and deserves respect for trying this  but he is not in a class with the great shakespeareans like olivier and welles and he further suffers from kenneth branagh . this irishman  always brilliant  cleanly steals the show away . olivier recognized that potential in his production  and cast iago with someone he knew he could upstage . i didn  t nearly realize the possibilities of iago  shakespeare  s most evil character  but branagh shows us the depths . nice to see the views of venice  too .  
what a bad movie . i  m really surprised that deniro and even snipes would be associated with something like this . if you  re going to make a movie that involves baseball  and shows scenes of baseball  at least make the action look somewhat realistic . why was the crowd always standing up for no particular reason during games  possible spoiler and the last scene in the movie . . . . what was that  we are somehow led to believe that deniro has found his way onto the field in an umpire  s uniform  and that the game is even being played in a torrential downpour . . . . one of the worst ever scenes in a sports movie .  stars out of   .  
students often ask me why i choose this version of othello . shakespeare  s text is strongly truncated and the film contains material which earned it an  r  rating .  br    br   i have several reasons for using this production first  i had not seen a depiction of the moor that actually made me sympathetic to othello until i saw fishburne play him . i saw james earl jones and christopher plummer play othello and iago on broadway  and it was wonderful . plummer  s energy was especially noticeable . but in spite of jone  s incredible presence both physically and vocally  the character he played just seemed too passive to illicit from me a complete emotional purgation in the aristotelian sense . jones  in fact  affirmed what i felt when in an interview he noted that he had played othello as passive   seeing iago as basically doing him over . unfortunately this sapped my grief for the character destruction . thus  i felt sympathy for jone  s moor but not the horror over his corruption by an evil man . in contrast  fishburne  s othello is a strong and vigorous figure familiar with taking action . thus  iago  s temptation to actively deal with what is presented to othello as his wife  s unfaithfulness is a perversion of the general  s positive quality to be active not passive .  the horror of the story is that this good quality in othello becomes perverted . fishburne  s depiction is therefore classically tragic .  br    br   second  fishburne is the first black actor to play othello in a film . both orsen wells and anthony hopkins did fine film versions  but they were white men in black face .  why is this important  why should a black actor be the black man on the stage   certainly in shakespeare  s day they used black face just as they used boys to make girls . perhaps then  the reason is the same . female actors bring a special quality to female roles on the shakespearian stage because they understand best what shakespeare  s genius was trying to present . a gifted black actor should play the moor because his experience in a white dominated culture is vital to understanding what shakespeare  s genius recognized the pain of being marginalized because of race . an important theme in othello is isolation caused by racism . although it is a mistake to insert american racism into a shakespearian play  there can be little doubt that racism is still working among the characters . many  including desdimona  s father  think that a union between a venetian white christian woman and a north african black christian man is unnatural .  br    br   third  shakespeare was never g rated . he never has been . his stage productions were always typified by violence and strong language . but shakespeare  s genius uses these elements not as sensationialism but for artistic honesty .  
one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen with robert de niro  the fan is a pointless clich of an exercise in slasher flicks . it tries to spin or twist the genre with preposterous plot lines of a a crazed fan turned psychotic  the movie meanders into nothing .  spoiler  we  re to believe that a knife  wielding idiot has access to and murders a baseball player in a lavish hotel with no witness  security  or cameras  the movie is nonsense trying to tug at our heart  strings through the hoopla of baseball ending up mockingly unsophisticated and gimmicky . not sure what all the actors were thinking when they got onboard this razzie . this is as big a dud as they come . stay far away if you prefer thought in your movies  
 . . . or was honest iago actually smirking at the end  as he died   br    br   loved how the bard  s iambic pentameter just rolled of fishburne  s tongue  with excellent clarity and emotion .  br    br   and how branagh made honest iago seem to celebrate his own evilness . . .  br    br   this is a wonderful film .  br    br   i have often thought that shakespeare is inherently not film  friendly he uses words to create pictures in our minds  which creates a perennial battle with the camera  which only knows to show us what we need to think and feel . every effort to film shakespeare ought really to be celebrated . it is not an easy thing to do .  
in the fan robert de niro plays gil renard . or is it travis bickle  or rupert pupkin  or max cady  you see the problem with this type of role is that de niro has played very very similar characters in taxi driver  the king of comedy and cape fear and unfortunately the characters were better developed and had better scripts . i found it slightly difficult to believe that renard would have started out as a frustrated obsessive sports fan into being an out and out psycho  br    br   the character arc isn  t the only problem with this script  it also lacks a character focus  a problem i had with the untouchables where de niro should have been superb but ended up slightly flat   for several stretches of the movie i kept thinking that bobby rayburn was the main character then the story switches back to renard . it also seems to have disappointed a lot of sports fans who seem to think this should have concentrated a bit more on baseball . i  m not sure if this was meant to appeal to baseball fans originally but again there are elements which hint it might have if the producers had made up their minds has to who and what the story should focus upon  br    br   i will admit i was entertained by the fan  especially by the soundtrack  but it is a very flawed film and it should be remembered that by the mid     s characters being stalked by nutters as in single white female  unlawful entry etc had run out of steam a long time ago  
i don  t pretend to be an authority on actors who have played othello  but i  ve never witnessed a performance of the play  on film or on stage  wherein othello was portrayed with more humanity and authenticity .  br    br   according to the biographical notes  fishburne never received any professional training as an actor . perhaps this explains why his acting  in this beautifully edited film  comes over as so believable and so powerful . instead of chewing the scenery in the approved fashion for such high  powered roles  fishburne  s portrayal is focused more on othello  s love for his wife  and on his profound sadness at her supposed betrayal  than on violence and vengeance . in a word  the performance is understated  and made far more impressive by fishburne  s extremely intelligent interpretation than it otherwise would have been .  br    br   the acting throughout is superb  and the  abridged  speeches gain grace from their light editing .  even shakesspeare  after all  can be improved upon  now and again   and if that be treason  make the most of it   
would anyone really watch this rubbish if it didn  t contain little children running around nude  from a cinematic point of view it is probably one of the worst films i have encountered absolutely dire . some perv woke up one day and thought i will make a film with little girls in and call it art  stick them in countryside and there isn  t any need for a story or explanation of how they got there or why they don  t appear to live anywhere or have parents because prn films don  t need anything like that . i would comment on the rest of the film but i haven  t ticked spoilers so i will just say avoid  avoid avoid and find yourself a proper film to watch  
i was especially delighted that in this movie othello himself was dark  skinned and desdemona didn  t have fair hair like almost always . the cast played very well  too  and i liked the script following shakespeare  s original text so faithfully . but i must say some scenes were acted too erotically for such a character as desdemona . i have always thought she is very modest  and that  s why it is not proper at all to show her in bed with cassio  although it was happening only in othello  s imagination . at first  i was a little surprised even that a love scene between othello and desdemona was shown so openly . but as a whole  i liked the film and especially desdemona crying in the dying scene .  
i rarely comment on films but i  ve read the other comments and i cannot believe that there are people applauding this celluloid rubbish . i know there are certain people who have their own agenda but lets take it on merit poorly acted  badly shot and the story felt as the director was making it up as he was going along . i am not going to focus on the sexual aspect of the film involving little kids as the makers of the film obviously knew what they wanted and what their audience would want . all i can say is it is a terrible film  the content is poor and offensive  the production is amateurish and i am glad they could not make a film like this legally today  
shakespeare  s plays have a way of transcending time . the language somehow breaks the time barrier . but perhaps it is the actors who really do that .  br    br   after the disappointment in romeo and juliet  the version with claire danes and leonardo dicaprio   was hesitant take on another modern rendition of shakespeare . to my surprise othello was great   br    br   iago  s character was played so well by the kenneth fellow  even thoough iago is really evil and despicable  the character was played so well that it does what shakespeare intended for the charater to be  a pleasure for the audience to hate . i have to say that fishburne  s performance here was really good as well .  br    br   i recommend this for shakespeare scholars and lazy students  who refuse to read the book  alike .  
the tortuous emotional impact is degrading  whether adult or adolescent the personal values shown in this movie belong in a bad psychodrama if anywhere at all . this movie has a plot  but it is all evil from start to end . this is no way for people to act and degrades both sexes all the way through the movie . teen killing  bad preteen sex  bad emotional battering  bad animal cruelty  bad psychological torture  bad parental neglect  bad the only merit if any is the excellent color shots of contrasting red  blond and green leaves a bad feeling for anyone that respects life and peace  what a bad mistake to make  or to watch . . . it is ugly  
maybe i loved this movie so much in part because i  ve been feeling down in the dumps and it  s such a lovely little fairytale . whatever the reason  i thought it was pitch perfect . great  intelligent story  beautiful effects  excellent acting  especially de niro  who is awesome  . this movie made me happier than i  ve been for a while .  br    br   it is a very funny and clever movie . the running joke of the kingdom  s history of prince savagery and the aftermath  the way indulging in magic effects the witch and dozens of smart little touches all kept me enthralled . that  s much of what makes it so good it  s an elaborate  special  effects  laden movie with more story than most fairytale movies  yet there is an incredible attention to small things .  br    br   i feel like just going ahead and watching it all over again .  
the london underground has something inherently creepy about it  with its long winding tunnels  the escalators taking you deeper and deeper underground  and of course the rats roaming the tracks . it a source of wonder that it is not used in horror films more often . it was used in the seventies horror deathline aka raw meat  featuring a cannibalistic tribe living in a disused tunnel  and the celebrated chase sequence in american werewolf in london . so i was pleased to see that someone else had tried to capitalise on the atmosphere of the tube at night with the recent uk production creep .  br    br   i thought the film started off well  with a highly effective credit sequence that was genuinely unnerving  followed by a scene in the sewers that sets up the premise of there being something evil lurking below the streets of london . however  creep went downhill from here  and i found myself wishing that i  d switched it off after this opening scene  leaving me with a favourable impression of the film . all the characters become unsympathetic and unlikable  even potente herself  and the director felt the need to hit us over the head with social commentary about homelessness . he also made the mistake of showing the  monster  in full lighting  where he ceases to become remotely scary  and reveals his name to be craig . how can you have a monster called craig  it turns into an x files  type thing  and reminds one of the episode tombs . in fact  i was wishing mulder and scully would turn up and sort them all out for me .  br    br   as for the infamous sexualised violence  it is very graphic  disturbing and totally unnecessary . it seems to be there merely to shock the audience rather than for any intrinsic plot value . the trouble is it is so over the top and horrific that it actually numbs you to the rest of the horror  which is a mistake as it  s only halfway through the film .  br    br   so there you go . the only redeeming feature of the film for me was a rare appearance from ken campbell  one of my favourite occasional actors . you don  t see him very often  but when he  s on screen he acts everyone else into a corner . casting him as a sewer inspector was a stroke of genius  unfortunately the only one evident in the film .  
othello  the classic shakespearen story of love  betrayal  lies  and tragedy . i remember studying this story in high school  actually i found othello to be probably my favorite shakespeare story due to the fact of how fascinating it was  the fact that shakespeare captured the feeling of friendship  love  and racism perfectly . i mean  when you really do study this story  you could go into so many philosophies on why othello went insane with jealousy in the blink of an eye . but later on for my report i also watched this version of othello and i have to say that it was absolutely brilliant . lawerance and kenneth just capture the story so well and understood it  s darkness .  br    br   othello is the big time soldier in his city  he is loved by everyone  including the king . but when the king finds out that othello snuck off with his daughter  desdemona  the king is infuriated  but excepts it . othello is welcome in the city and makes his best friend  cassio  his side man instead of iago  who has stood by othello . due to his insane jealousy  he  s out for revenge . still pretending to be othello  s best friend  he just mearly hints at othello that desdemona is cheating on him with cassio  never says that they are  just makes othello think that it  s happening . othello is driven insane and doesn  t have pleasant plans for desdemona or cassio and iago is more than happy to help him out .  br    br   othello is an incredible story  i highly recommend that you read it . it  s an incredible story that keeps you thinking after you  ve read it . othello the movie is also great and once again i recommend it  it captured the story perfectly and has a big tearjerker type of feel  or you could just be in utter shock of what happens between othello and desdemona  how quickly he believes that his true love would betray him . this is a terrific movie  great acting  good sets  and good direction  this is what shakespeare meant when he wrote the story .  br    br         
  maladolescenza  has the air of a dark fairy tale  with its child protagonists  forest setting  and the discovery of a castle  s ruins . yet at its core  the film is essentially an unusual psychosexual study of adolescents . opening with a dream sequence employing the not  so  subtle metaphor of fabrizio wrestling with his menacing hound  the film details his psychological persecution of laura  the girl who has pledged her love to him  and his eventual romance with the equally malicious sylvia . the film  s psychological complexities do give the film merit  yet there  s no doubting how unnecessarily exploitive the film is in its depiction of nudity and sex . the film  s look relies more on its gorgeous locations rather than particular cinematographic skill  and there  s no doubting the film  s greatest asset is the creepy  children  s choir  augmented soundtrack . with its odd dreamlike quality  the film is at best interesting  yet pales beside louis malle  s surreal and brilliant  black moon  from the same era . certainly deserving of the art versus pornography debate  for unlike many banned films  pasolini  s  salo  or larry clark  s  ken park  for instance  the film is rather unremarkable from an artistic perspective . cinema seems to be gradually losing its ability to shock  so perhaps  maladolescenza  should be admired for retaining that power thirty years after its release . however shock value is the one reason alone the film is memorable .  br    br   the film does have its defenders . yet so does nazism .  
you do not get more dark or tragic than  othello  and this movie captures the play fairly well  with outstanding performances by lawrence fishburne and irene jacob . fishburne  s expresses to the viewer othello  s torment as he falls prey to iago  s lies very convincingly  even providing a realistic epileptic episode . jacob is the loving and loyal wife who becomes either the instrument of iago  s revenge against othello  or the object of his wrath  it is not clear which since no motive for iago  s behavior is offered  . although kenneth brannagh  sp   displays his usual talent for shakespeare in this movie  he is somewhat marginalized . the characters of cassio and emilia also wander in and out of scenes even though they  like iago  seem more crucial to the plot . i have not checked the movie against the play to see how many lines were cut out  but i know that shakespeare tends to develop his characters  even the seemingly unimportant ones  very well .  br    br   if i had any criticism of the movie it would be that the story unfolds too quickly  and that the relationships between some of the characters are not laid out more . the director had a great cast  and no one offered a bad performance . the relationship between cassio and othello and that between emilia and desdemona need to be further developed earlier in the film . i have a feeling that they were closer to each other than the movie suggests  although you get a sense of this very late into the movie . also  othello and desdemona need more time together . although their anguish is convincing  the amount of interaction they have with each other makes it seem like they just met . on the other hand  maybe the did just meet    like romeo and juliet .  br    br   in brief good performances  too short .  br    br    
a typical   s italian coming of age film  original and good music  but with some quirks  interesting but not fantastic photography  poor and at times confused storyline  e . g . the role of the wolf  dog  and where does the boy come from   with poor dialogue  nice ambiance .  br    br   the reason it is still  relatively  well  known and sought after is probably the nude scenes  including typical   s pseudo  coitus  involving an   and   year old girl with an older teenage boy  eva ionesco and laura wendel   it is interesting from a socio  political point of view to see how these representations of very young adolescents was considered acceptable and normal in the whole of europe  and us    years ago  whereas now it is more than taboo .  br    br   the story revolves round bullying of one girl  laura  by the other two characters  and her discovery of sex  a quite accurate representation of an aspect teenage life . the character of eva  silvia  does not evolve to the very end of the film and already appears very versed in the erotic arts  there is no  coming of age  for her she is a very vain young girl who is already aware of her sexual charms  but ultimately is just used and ends the film crying like the little girl she really still is . the boy is an utterly despicable bully  while laura comes across as a very naive and weak victim .  
i  ve always enjoyed kenneth branagh  s versions of the shakespeare classics  as he always does a very good job  but in this movie  the one who lifts the whole movie  is none other than  the  always  great  actor  laurence fishburne . surely he has made some poor choices in films  even though he  s a wonderful actor  but in this one we  re truly given the real othello the passion  the intensity of jealousy as it grows stronger alongside with fishburne  s well portrayed paranoia and  furthermore  we  re finally given a black othello   br    br   i don  t think they could have chosen a better othello . who else could have given him that blend of sympathy  antipathy  love  hatred and  not to forget  those fiery eyes . . .  branagh is good as always  but not at his peak  irne jacob  s desdemona is fairly good but a bit bleak  whilst laurence fishburne truly lifts it and makes it a very interesting and enjoyable movie . do watch it .  
although there are a lot of familiar  television  names associated with  a man called sledge   there is nothing extraordinary about the film itself or about any of the performances . in fact  the only thing that distinguishes it from a      s     s television series like  the rat patrol  is a bigger cast and a lot more violence .  br    br   james garner is the biggest star and apparently thought he should try to break away from all the light comedy stuff he had been doing   maverick    support your local sheriff    gunfighter  etc .  . unfortunately his earthy likability works against him  as sledge is a humorless character written to cash in on the popularity of clint eastwood  s spaghetti western character . but eastwood  s stuff was not this flat and uninteresting .  br    br   i suppose that  a man called sledge  could be classified as a spaghetti western although the pacing is too slow to really fit that sub  genre . fans of the slow  paced  combat  television series will feel an instant connection as vic morrow directed the film and co  wrote the script with frank kowalski . throw in some then trendy slow  mo shots and cross  dissolves  which call attention to themselves rather than serve a story  telling purpose .  br    br   the plot is the standard  big heist  thing  insert  the war wagon  here  with sledge plotting how to heist a         gold shipment . his gang includes claude akins and dennis weaver . the problem is that while on the move the shipment is guarded by   outriders and while stopped it is locked in a vault inside the territorial prison . i think there was an episode of  alias smith and jones  with the same plot .  br    br   the story would make a decent hour of television but gets old very fast as a very padded feature length film . garner does not allow any of his charm to leak into his characterization and the film does not generate enough suspense to hold a viewer  s interest .  br    br   the thing finally crashes and burns shortly after the heist when the gang engages in a contrived and totally illogical card game .  br    br   then again  what do i know  i  m only a child .  
brian dennehy  bill paxton  joe pantalino and  best of all  jeff fahey  all in one film . wow is all i can think to say about that . these are four of the most underrated actors in the biz and they work beautifully together . it  s like poetry the way they play off each other and ooze the natural ability to seem as though they had been best buddies for eons for even shooting the film .  br    br   the film itself is fine and one that can be quite intense to view the first time  and the four stars help the re  watch  ability to a great extent . i cannot describe how good it was to see bill paxton and jeff fahey together on screen  the greatest moment being when they watch a couple from a distance and fill in the vocals themselves  it almost brought a tear to my eyes .  br    br   a good film  a great cast  go see . why  four words  fahey  dennehy  paxton  pantalino .  
two kinds of movies we like are    westerns  and    movies from   or   years ago . we ought to have liked a man called sledge but . . . . .  br    br   but . . . this picture is disagreeable  annoying and stupid from start to finish . since there is nobody in the story  good or bad  to warm up to  there is nobody to motivate the necessary suspense to keep the viewer interested . no camaraderie among the guys trying to steal the gold  and no camaraderie among those trying to protect it . sledge has a pretty girl friend  but there  s no reason why she slobbers all over the guy or why she wants to be in the same room with this no  account pig .  br    br   the film also suffers from an intrusive and gawdawful musical score  and from extremely bad writing and direction by vic morrow .  br    br   of the last   older movies rented from netflix or video vault  this was the rock bottom  the only true dud in the bunch .  
i was pleased with the cast of reputable players . the story is one of standing up for a cause  even if you are at personal risk in doing so . in a time where violence and pain are often in the movie forefront  this movie focuses on the old fashioned good cop . although similar plots have been done repeatedly  these guys pull it off well . kick back and enjoy . dennehy is a master of taking over a movie .  
it  s possible that a man called sledge might have been done irreparable damage on the cutting room floor . maybe someone will demand a director  s cut one day  but i seriously doubt it .  br    br   james garner decided to cash in on the spaghetti western market and in doing so brought a whole lot of americans over to fill the cast out . folks like dennis weaver  claude akins  john marley . and of course we have vic morrow who both wrote and directed this film .  br    br   garner always gets cast as likable rogues because he  s so darn good at playing them . but he has played serious and done it well in films like the children  s hour and hour of the gun . he can and has broken away from his usual stereotyped part successfully . but a man called sledge can  t be counted as one of his successes .  br    br   he  s got the title role as luther sledge notorious outlaw with a big price on his head . after partner tony young gets killed in a saloon and garner takes appropriate eastwood style measures  he  s followed from the saloon by john marley .  br    br   marley  s spent time in the nearby territorial prison and it seems as though gold shipments are put under lock and key there on a rest stop for the folks transporting the stuff on a regular run . garner gets his gang together for a heist .  br    br   here  s where the movie goes totally off the wall . usually heist films show the protagonists going into a lot of methodical planning . certainly that was the case in the war wagon which some other reviewer cited . but in this one garner decides to break into the prison as a prisoner of fake us marshal dennis weaver and cause a jailbreak at which time the gold will be robbed .  br    br   that was just too much to swallow . if taking the gold was this easy it should have been done a long time before . but i will say for those who like the blood and guts of italian westerns  during that prison break there  s enough there for three movies .  br    br   that  s not the whole thing  of course the outlaws fall out and we have another gore fest before the film ends . but by that time the whole film has lost a lot of coherency .  br    br   the great movie singer of the thirties allan jones is listed in the credits . but for the life of me i can  t find him in the film . maybe a chorus of the donkey serenade might have made this better .  br    br   couldn  t have hurt any .  
the critics are dumb . this movie is funny and smart . i loved this movie a lot . why does everyone hate this movie so much . i wish people would love this movie more than they don  t . ben stiller and jack black are true comedians and they put through a lot of work to make this movie . i don  t see you people out there making movies like them . so people should just watch it and not comment it . i like this movie . it is ok through it all . there are parts were it get  s dumb but at least they made it . jerry stiller would love this because this movie has the acting just like the show king of queens . but this is better than that . i can  t believe this was rated so low .  
in this paranoia  driven potboiler  our reporter hero battles hindersome authorities  duplicitous co  workers  renegade ufo debunkers  and silent  skulking aliens .  though capable of mind control and zapping objects from afar  it takes three of them to operate a control panel of about two dozen buttons .  the script clomps from event to event  leaving puzzlers aplenty . why did the aliens blind the dog  why do they fry the soldiers with radiation when they  re only patrolling an empty landing site  and what space dudes worth their moon cheese abduct the ugly photographer first instead of his model  inquiring minds want to know  writer  director mario gariazzo apparently researched his subject by skimming a stack of ufo  themed tabloids as he took in a sunn classics double feature .  the closing screen crawl boasts that it  s based on actual events . . . just like  plan     some may feel burned by the abrupt finale  but it should still appeal to conspiracy cranks .  
i saw this movie about a year ago  and found it to be completely laugh  out  loud funny . a real winner  in my mind . it had the underlining of a stupid comedy  but indeed had an actual plot as well . much like the hit comedy  elf  in fact . it had a few serious moments  sandwiched between hilarity . when stiller shot black  s horse  an ordinarily sober moment  you found yourself laughing at his bumbling antics . you can actually find common ground there  as i  m sure many people have done something they wouldn  t want a friend to find out about  lest your friendship should end .  br    br   when i found out how much people disliked this movie  i was completely dumbfounded . that absolutely terrible movies like napoleon dynamite had ratings higher than it makes me wonder about the sanity of people on imdb . take my advice and rent it . if you don  t find yourself laughing at least once  i  ll compensate you the rental fee . d  
for some reason  in the late    s and early    s the local cbs affiliated station in new york kept playing this movie in it  s late  night slot on friday or saturday nights for several years  usually at  a . m . or some such time . it  s a fitting movie for that time slot since it  s really hard to follow and quite odd  see the other reviews for specific story info  . anyway  after catching it numerous times in those days just before cable tv  and even after it hit but before they offered much all night programming   i kept catching this little oddity . after not seeing it for many years i decided to see if i could find it on dvd . well  it is only available  from every search i  ve conducted anyway  in a pretty lousy grainy print on the budget label  brentwood video  as part of a   pack of movies   movies on  double sided discs  called  alien worlds  if anyone is interested . it  s usually available for around     but even much less if you shop around . the other  movies on this set are readily available in numerous other collections of public domain movies  so no need to comment on them here . but i haven  t seen  eyes  available anywhere else . though hardly a  restored  version in any way  this print runs exactly   minutes  so for once imdb  s stated running time of   minutes is not correct . even with the   minute running time it  s not unusual for a movie dubbed into english from another language to also have some of the running time trimmed . it seems to be a common budget  conscience practice to sometimes save money by not bothering to dub some scenes at all if they are not considered to be important to the story . would a longer version make in any less confusing  who really knows  unless you  ve seen it in it  s native language . . . by the way  my attempts to watch this during the day don  t work and i end up just turning it off . there  s something about watching this in the middle of the night that just fits this movie . . or maybe it  s just from my earlier experiences  who know    
i saw this movie in the first couple of weeks it was out   i don  t remember exactly when .  i thought that it was alright  for a ben stiller movie . this movie isn  t for a person without a good sense of humor . like most of ben stiller  s jokes you have to think about them . or like i said you have a good sense of humor . from a couple of people on this website i saw that people didn  t have anything good to say about it and it didn  t get a very good rating  but i would have given it a larger one this movie  i thought  was very good and it should have gotten a better rating . maybe this isn  t a movie for you . i  m just giving you another person  s opinion .  
this film was not nearly as much of a chore as i expected it to be . there are a few seconds of brilliance in this somewhat idiotic hardcore ufo conspiracy paranoia  fest . most of the acting is mediocre  but fairly typical for     s  style stuff replete with pregnant pauses . a photographer and a model witness some strange goings  on in the woods and soon fall victim to these same goings  on . flying saucers are spotted  more people disappear  but is it the aliens or our own government  s ultra  secret group of cover  up guys  soon enough  a reporter and a  ufologist   apparently modeled on the character of the writer  director  are drawn into this unraveling fiasco and become the target of the ultra  secret agents who are as menacing as they are improbable and witless . then the fun really begins .  br    br   the movie  predictably  makes about as much sense as the average ufo conspiracy theory  but should be commended for taking itself so seriously . the camera work is ok for a low  budget film  the pacing is pretty good  the script is silly and absurd  and there are continuity issues which are fun to look out for . what are the few seconds of brilliance i mentioned  honestly  i can  t say much you without writing a spoiler . suffice to say that the end of the film is  at least  worth fast  forwarding to if you can  t take the middle .  
was the script more fitting for a   minute sitcom  yes  but they still make it work  i thought the actors did a fantastic job with an otherwise bland script  especially jack black and christopher walken . most people on the board seem to really hate this film . i personally can  t see how that could be  but envy is just one of those film that you either love it or hate it . much like napoleon dynamite and every leslie neilsen movie ever made . you either think it  s one of the worst movies ever made or one of the funniest . don  t avoid this movie because of the reviews . watch it and see if you  re one of the ones who really like it  if you do  i guarantee it  s worth your money . if you don  t like it . . . well  now you know .  
why do i watch movies like this   other than i have some weird misguided masochistic belief that one day i will find a true gem amongst all this dross i can  t think one one good reason . this movie was dross from start to finish  but semi  hilarious dross . where else but in a bad italian dubbed movie could you find heated exchanges of surreal mangled english like this one between a honest military type and the sinister chief of a secret x  files like organisation dedicated to hiding  the truth    br    br   man in black silence is best for us until we are able to prove that the ufos have no bellicose motives .  br    br   military type in any event i find your interference abusive .  br    br   man in black whoever has to impose his will is .  br    br   i rewound the dvd  you know what i mean  a good half dozen times and i still can  t make those lines mean anything sensible . my other fave line was  br    br    we can be quite hard on those who contravert our interests .   br    br   it  s english jim  but not as we know it .  br    br   the other highlights of this dull plonker of a movie for me were the totally spaced out acting of the photographer character at the start . saddled with the worst haircut ever in the history of everything  the man just wandered around looking like a stunned fish in a bad wig till kidnapped and forced to look at a piece of plexiglas by some aliens . the aliens are most effectively not seen as a pov shot  hand held camera with a fish  eye lens  sort of spooky the first time but  used over and over again it lost its power  incidentaly  if it is a point of view shot  it means the aliens always walk out of rooms backwards for some reason  .  br    br   the film was set in  england  . this meant the spanish italian set designers put some british number plates on a couple of english cars and put a union jack on our hero  s press card . . . and that was about it . no other attempt to make it look like the uk at all .  br    br   favourite moment  when the foley artists didn  t notice that characters they were foleying  is there such a word   were no longer walking on gravel but were now on the lawn so their feet kept on making loud  crunch  crunch   noises . other than that  another total waste of   minutes of my life . i hope they prove those ufos have no bellicose motives soon . . .  
ok  i overrated it just a bit to offset at least one of those grumpy reviews . but i did enjoy it . i didn  t laugh out loud  but it held my interest and pulled me along without dropping me at any point . the story built . yeah  you knew it would have an happy ending   this genre always does . meantime  it was quirky with sight gags you could miss  so pay attention when you watch . stiller and black delivered expertly yet again . good team . they should work together more . don  t know that it will be a cult classic  but it was certainly a fun ride . not as good as what about bob  or dirty rotten scoundrels but what is  it is still worth going out of your way a little to get and watch this movie .  
i like movies about ufos  which is why i recently decided to rewatch eyes behind the stars after seeing it when i was a kid back in the late     s . and now i  m compelled to write a review about it because i  m afraid i  ll start forgetting everything about it fast . you see  even though ebts ain  t bad  it  s very dull and nondescript . the story is sorta interesting but flat . the actors are good but their roles are boring and a little confusing . the fx are terribly amateurish but i can overlook something like that if the movie is compelling  which  unfortunately  this one ain  t .  br    br   also  there  s very little violence and there  s no nudity whatsoever  which makes this     s italian sci  fi opus a true oddity  because if there  s one thing that distinguishes italian genre movies made in the     s from genre movies of other countries made in the same decade  it  s the astonishing amount of violence and sex to be found in them . oddly enough  because of the almost complete lack of exploitive elements  ebts stands out from the rest of the pact . i don  t know if this can be seen as a compliment though . personally  i can enjoy a movie without sex and violence but i think ebts needed more violence and some sex here and there to spice it up because it is so deadly dull and dry . and the special effects aren  t that special .  br    br   the story itself is actually interesting . it  s a combo of the x  files and antonioni  s blowup a photographer accidentally captures aliens on film during a fashion shoot in the country . the aliens know they were captured on film and they proceed to kidnap the photographer and a model  subsequently destroying any evidence of their presence on earth . the problem starts when the model meets a man at the recently abducted photographer  s apartment  this taking place just before she  s to be abducted herself  . the man takes some of the negatives and leaves  with the aliens having no knowledge of the missing negatives . the whole story is about this man wanting to know more about the aliens and a secret spy group who want to get a hold of the negatives . the majority of the movie centers around boring political intrigue  in the spy vs spy variety . the ufo element of the story is almost unimportant and could have easily been replaced by any cold war mcguffin . but as dull as eyes behind the stars is  it does resemble the x  files a lot  i wonder if chris carter saw this movie . anyway  the best thing in ebts are the pov shots  which are creepy and effective . but the rest is almost completely forgettable  including the goofy looking aliens .  br    br   even though i  ve been mostly negative about this film  i sorta cherish it nonetheless . i still remember the effective ad campaign which scared me when i saw it as a kid . and i own the video . the film could have been so much more if it had been done properly . oh well . . .  
going into seeing this movie i was a bit skeptical because fantasy movies are not always my cup of tea . especially a romantic fantasy .  br    br   little did i know that i was in for a ride through cinematic magic . everything in the movie from plot to dialogue to effects was very near perfection .  br    br   claire danes shines like the star she is in this movie . from beginning to end you fall more and more in love with this character .  br    br   michelle pfeiffer is menacing as an evil witch bent on capturing the star for eternal youth and beauty .  br    br   robert de niro is a lovable character who gives the audience the greatest bit of comic relief as the movie is gaining momentum towards the climax .  br    br   overall this was a movie that surprised and delighted me as a movie fan . if you are looking for a fun and enjoyable movie that will be fun for the kids and adults alike  stardust is the way to go .  
creep is the story of kate  potente   an intensely unlikeable bourgeois bitch that finds herself somehow sleeping through the noise of the last underground train  and waking up to find herself locked in the tube station . after somehow meeting workmate and would  be rapist guy on a mystery train that runs after the lines have closed  things go awry and she finds herself pursued by what lurks beneath the city  s streets . her story is linked to that of george  blackwood   an ex  con working in the sewer system they meet in the final third of the film  brought together by their attempts to escape the monster that pursues them .  br    br   the pair proceed through a set of increasingly unlikely locations from the tube station  they end up in the sewage works before somehow finding themselves in some sort of abandoned underground surgery . most tube stations don  t have toilets  so how one has a surgery is beyond me . naturally  the film cares to explain that the surgery doesn  t have running water . yet it has electricity  just one of many inconsistencies that work against the atmosphere of everyday believability that the film tries to create .  br    br   the monster itself is a problem . there  s a complete lack of reasoning for its actions  it just kills people for no obvious reason . and then of course it keeps some alive for no real reason either  perhaps just so that they can eventually escape and give the film an extra   minutes or so running time . i understand that natural evil is supposed to be scary  but then the film attempts to explain itself via a photo of a doctor and his son  and a few shots of some jars containing babies  and yes  it is just as tired and pathetic as it sounds . it also fails to explain how the creature has been underground long enough to lose the ability to speak  communicating only in raptor screams  but not long enough for its pair of shorts to decay . hmm .  br    br   this doctor business leads to scene that is the film  s desperate attempt to implant itself on your memory  and while it is gory and uncomfortable to watch  it just isn  t enough . the final third of the film hinges on an emotional relationship that never existed  and the characters break down and recover for little or no obvious reason . george breaks down  unable to cope with something despite stating that he wants to escape so he can see his daughter again  and kate becomes emotionally tough seconds after going to pieces over someone that ripped her off for a travelcard . yeah .  br    br   after starting out as a  this could happen to anyone  movie  it quickly falls apart as it introduces ideas that make it more and more unrealistic . a complete lack of emotional interest in the characters and an absence of suspense make this one to avoid .  
envy is not as funny as i thought it would initially be  but after some of the reviews i read i found it to be much funnier than people was giving it props for  now true its not a gag a minute movie like zoolander or dodgeball  but ben stiller and jack black work well with each other and christopher walken is as great as ever  so the story is about jack black  s character inventing a spray that makes dog pooh disappear  obviosly ben wants no part of it  but when the product makes jack black rich ben stiller starts to see the envy  its not great by all means and both ben stiller and jack black have funnier and better movies under their belt  but if your a fan of either i recommend this as its still a funny flick and i laughed my ass off quite a few times  as a big fan of ben stiller id have to say this is a lesser stiller but still great fun  give it a watch  
originally called the changer . the nostril picker is a poorly constructed tale about a loner named joe bukowski  carl zschering  who  likes em young  . unable to socially interact with girls he bumps into a tramp who teaches him a special vietnamese chant . this  chant  involves whistling  london bridge is falling down  whilst hopping around like an epileptic morris dancer . nonetheless  ugly joe tries it out and hey presto  he is now a girl . ideally he needs to be a young guy in order attract girls . but lets not talk about ideals here  this film was made in     and released in      in an ideal world it should have never been released .  br    br   the film asylum dubbed this horror hokum as  mind numbing  ham handed story telling  . its worse than that . the nostril picker really takes the biscuit  in fact the whole god  damn cookie jar . terribly scripted dialogue delivered by brain  dead actors  a ridiculous plot and a predictable twist . just when things couldn  t get any more absurd the story goes off on its own nonsensical tangent . for instance  joe decides to kill the girls by changing back into himself . but i thought he wanted to get close to them  not content with being a murderer joe also turns into a cannibal and eats some of his victims  of which there were only around    .  br    br   the highlight of this terrible movie involves joe picking up a hooker  steven andrews  then taking  her  back to his apartment . what happens next defies belief . . . joe turns back into a man  but also discovers the hooker is a man . how does he react  well  in a benny hill  esquire fashion  he chases  her  around the apartment with a bunch of squirty dildo  s only to trip up on a blow up doll . god knows what patrick j matthews and stephen hodge were thinking of . at least this scene paved the way for another priceless moment . this involved the male hooker reporting the incident to a curly haired police officer with a   bit joke shop  cop  uniform . the hilarious acting is a must see . especially the hooker  s inability at saying  dildo  and his demand for  satisfaction  .  br    br   apart from the above mentioned incident this monotonous slash flick was a complete bore . you know a movie  s bad when the dvd trailers were more exciting . normally  i  d fast forward to the good bits  only there weren  t any here . the main action sequences involved joe simply stabbing his victims repeatedly . forget quick cuts  matthews utilizes fadeouts  one during a stab scene  to limit any form of suspense there might already be . one girl  s non  reaction to her fingers being chopped off is laughable . normally i  d relish the words  uncut  but in this case they were far from a blessing . just more agonizing cinematic torture . the whole movie felt like an unedited episode of midsummer murders  only less entertaining . i  d hate to see the cut version .  br    br   to sum up  the nostril picker is the most unentertaining thing i  ve seen since richard hammond  s  o  clock show . dismal performances made worse by a terribly tinny soundtrack and bad dubbing . don  t be fooled by the box label  this is not a cult classic unless it qualifies for the lets  use  shitty  horror  dvds  for  coffee  coasters cult . which i think it does . unless re  edited to   minutes stay away from this coma inducing mess .  
like ishtar and king of comedy  other great  misunderstood comedies  envy has great performances by two actors playing essentially  losers  may be too harsh a word  i will call them suburban under  achievers  .  br    br   this film was a dark comedy gem  and i  m not sure what people expect . i relish seeing a major studio comedy that isn  t filled with obvious humor  and i believe that the small moments in this movie make it worthwhile . the look on stiller  s face when he sees the dog doo disappear for the first time captures a moment  a moment that most people should be able to recognize in themselves . yes  it was a fairly simple story  but it examined the root of envy in a really interesting way . there were a lot of great scenes  the j  man  s decrepit  cabin by the lake   corky  s unceremonious burial  weitz  s wife role  and walken  s j  man   all great stuff .  br    br   i can  t stand people that get on imdb and mercilessly trash films when they have absolutely no idea what it takes to make one . i will take envy over almost any of the top ten grossing comedies of the year  save napoleon dynamite .  it  s wittier  wackier  and an offbeat  enjoyable gem .  br    br   remember this people most times  popular doesn  t equal good .  
i bought this movie exciting a gloriously gratuitous  over the top  entertaining bloodbath . i got none of them . this film fails on practically every level  not in the least frightening  or funny  it is simply terrible film  making  and never provides the audience with anything worth seeing . what is so bad about it is that far from being as raw  violent and brutal as it had promised to be  there is very little violence at all . virtually no blood shed  and no excitement whatsoever . acting  direction and dialogue is absolutely unbearable . honestly  it is truly laughable . i could hardly sit through this total garbage once i certainly will never want to watch it again . don  t waste your time with a waste of celluloid like this it is truly possibly the worst film ever made . if i could give it minus stars  i would .  
cult classics are nearly impossible to predict . who could guess that vision quest  fight club  and      a space oddysey  movies that were panned by critics and audiences alike upon their release  would become immensely popular  like many imdbers  i consider myself a movie expert . unlike the majority of those who hated envy  evidenced by a dismal  .  rating   i found envy to be one of the funniest movies in the last decade .  br    br   the plot of the movie is ridiculous . the dialogue isn  t clever  the scenes have little continuity  and the script seems like it was written by a fourth grader . but that  s exactly why the movie is so hilarious . you see  in order to appreciate the accidental genius of envy  you have to enjoy the movie from an ironically  detached point of view .  br    br   why do i love envy  because the movie is bad to the point that it becomes good . this is the recipe for a cult classic  and envy definitely fits the bill .  
someone must have been seriously joking when they made this film .  br    br   firstly  it is an absolute impossibility that this movie was made in     . the fashions and music dictate that this is seriously    s . my guess is that this has sat on the shelf for a long while before some crazed distributer picked it up and released it to a disbelieving world .  br    br   there is a plot . kind of . a strange loner meets a random man with a beard who tells him that if he meditates while singing his favourite song he will be able to turn into whomever he chooses . at this point i feel obliged to point out that the loner  s favourite song is london bridge is falling down . why is this his favourite song  because he  s an idiot . we are only a minute into the film and already the film has reached a monumental level of stupidity . it gets even stupider .  br    br   the loner is the nostril picker . i can only assume this as there are two scenes in the film where he is seen picking his nose . that clears up the title . he decides to change into a girl so that he can get close to other girls . and kill them . that  s more or less it .  br    br   the acting is universally appalling . every single performance in this movie sucks . in fact  i would go so far as to say that the acting is of the standard of a pornographic movie . it really is that terrible . the nostril picker appears to the audience as the nostril picker . the characters in the movie see him as the girl he has become through singing london bridge is falling down . man  i feel like an idiot even typing this . anyway  it is kind of strange seeing a middle aged weirdo hanging out with school girls . and not in a good way . there is even an extended montage of scenes where the nostril picker is at school with the girls and a song plays over the top . it is very possibly the worst song ever recorded . i  m not even going to describe it . you  ll know it when you hear it . and you  ll agree with me .  br    br   there are some scenes of violence  sure . and there is a benny hill style chase sequence involving a transsexual . there is even an immortal bit of dialogue  that may or may not have been taken from shakespeare or john milton  where the nostril picker says to a prostitute   i  ve got the cash if you  ve got the gash  . lovely  i  m sure you  ll agree .  br    br   utter nonsense .  
i just saw this movie at a sneak preview and all i can say is . . .  what did i just watch      and i mean that in a good and bad way .  br    br   the plot is really simple . stiller and black play friends  neighbors . stiller is the focused  hardworker while black is a dreamer . black invents this idea to create a spray that erases poo . the idea becomes very popular  and black becomes very rich . the extravagant lifestyle that black gains and the fact that he still tries to be best friends with stiller causes stiller to become crazy with envy .  br    br   as i said  the plot is simple . everything else is plain odd . the direction is odd  with a weird rotating opening shot to out  of  nowhere sped up sequences . the dialouge and the acting is very odd odd in a rambling sort of way . and the sound track is the oddest thing in the movie  from the weird  envy  song that keeps on reappearing to the scene where you think you  re going to hear a classic    s song but suddenly it  s in japanese .  br    br   so  the true question is this . . . is odd funny  that depends purely on the individual . i was cracking up at the shear unwavering weirdness of the movie . after the screening i heard people call it horribly unfunny and glad that it was free . strangely  i understood their point . there are no jokes whatsoever  so if you aren  t hooked by the uniqueness of it all  you will hate this movie . absolutely hate it .  br    br   this movie is destined to lose a lot of money at the box office and become a dvd cult classic . if you can laugh at a movie with no real jokes  like cable guy or punch drunk love  then i suggest you see it . if you don  t  run away from this movie . it  ll only make you mad .  
this has to be the worst film i have ever seen . i bought the dvd and it didn  t work  well the dvd worked fine  its just the film didn  t  in fact its so bad that i think non of the actors have worked since  or before judging from the acting  . there is no real plot to speak of and no real horror . the production values are rubbish even for a low budget film with some outside scenes being hard to hear due to wind on the microphone .  br    br   all in all it was so bad a film that a viewer could think it was going to turn into a porno if they didn  t know any better  which have been an improvement  . there are only two lines in the film that are funny  both of which revolve around the transvestite prostitute .  although they hardly merit watching all   minutes for   br    br   as for the marketing of the dvd i feel thoroughly cheated . i mean reading the back i expected it to be bad  br    br   he chose his weapons . he selected his victims . he picked his nose . he turned into a girl   br    br   but i thought it might be funny . also the case claims it is digitally re mastered  i would love to have seen it beforehand  the print is so grainy you could use it as sand paper . the case also says it is an absolute disgusting movie  in what way   disgusting production  acting .  br    br   this film out stays it welcome in the first five minutes   if you are considering buying this i would say buy bad taste  instead it is a much better film and is funny  also it has peter jackson the director of the lotr in it .   br    br   incidentally if anyone knows anything about any of the actors  or director patrick j mathews  and what they have done since  please post here as i would love to know  purely to find out if there is a worse movie out there  or if anyone in this film ever bothered to learn to act  
these two stars are the only iconic heroes  villains i know that got a good tv series  so let  s compare .  br    br   freddy   movies robocop   movies  br    br   freddy   tv series   seasons  about   episodes robocop   tv series   season  about      episodes  br    br   freddy   extra films  freddy vs jason  freddy vs ghostbusters  robocop   extra films  robocop prime directives dark justice  meltdown  crach  burn  resurrection   br    br   freddy   upcoming film robocop   upcoming film  br    br   who  s had more screen time  well they  ve both had  movies   tv series  and  upcoming film . but freddy wins it thanks to his  extra films  one being a fan film        tv episodes .  br    br   since this is a comment for the series  between freddy  s nightmares  anoes the series  robocop the series i would personally choose robocop . . .  
i  ve been largely convinced to write this review for a number of reasons  br    br     this is  without doubt  the worst film i  ve ever seen   unless it gets more reviews it will not be listed in the all time worst films list  which it deserves to be   i was kinda lucky  i paid five pound for it . i  ve seen it in shops for   pound . don not pay that much for this film  you will be very angry   there are a lot of films out there in the horror genre that are not given a fair rating  in my opinion  and giving this film a higher rating than them is criminal  br    br   the plot summary a guy with no friends meets a tramp who promises the world  well  the magic ability to appear to everybody else like somebody else . our hero cunningly turns into a teenage girl and joins their gang  sitting on swings  baby  sitting . he kills them one by one until he is tracked and found by the police .  br    br   why is it so bad  to begin with the acting is very very bad . someone else compared it to a school production . no  this is worse than any acting i  ve seen on a school stage .  br    br   i  ve bought a number of these previously banned films from the dvd company vipco and not been as disappointed as i was at this . okay  the acting is bad but the film fails to deliver in every other sense . what was the point in making this film when there isn  t even any gore  okay  no gore . what else can a film like this offer  breats  no  not even any titillation   br    br   it  s true this film may have a certain charm in its unique naffness but any potential buyer  watcher of this film should be fairly advised that this film is  at best  worth only one out of ten .  
i  m a bit conflicted over this . the show is on one hand awful  the acting is terrible  even when we get actual name actors like brad pitt and bill moseley in one episode   the dialogue is moronic and the premise  moral of each episode feels like something lifted out of a   s educational short . there  s no way you  ll be scared for a moment from any of these episodes  and robert englund  s cameos are short  pointless and corny in a sort of a bob saget on america  s funniest home videos kind of way .  br    br   on the other hand this is one of the funniest things to ever be on television . the   s fashions  the soft focus makes the actors look like their on the set of the view at all times  the premises lend the material more to self  parody than scares  so we  re left with an episode where a high school kid is afraid if he fails his sat  s his girlfriend will dump him and his parents disown him  another is afraid she  ll be locked up in prison because she  s a substandard mom  her husband is played by brad pit   another is afraid that all the parents in the world are in league against him when he runs away from home  another is afraid she  ll be confused with her socially  retarded twin  another is afraid if he doesn  t break up his mom and step  dad he  ll get killed for having a party at his house . the list goes on and on .  br    br   being that these are dreams i suppose you could look past the ludicrous plot points and devices  but they  re so out of left field that there  s no opportunities for the writers to actually scare the audience . you have characters dressed like something out of a   s  themed nightmare wandering around delivering bad dialogue in very hammy fashion and making illogical decisions that serve no other purpose but to move the story to the next weird plot point  typically watching as a peripheral character does something uncharacteristic of a sane person while our main character stares aghast and too shocked to do anything about it  .  br    br   if you  re looking for something that  ll scare you stay away . if you  re looking  on the other hand  for one of the funniest things to come out of the   s ever . watch it .  br    br   its been showing on chiller tv lately  pretty much every day  and i  ve been watching  earlier out of morbid curiosity  and now just so i can get a good laugh in each day . with arrested development and extras off the air this is officially the funniest thing on television right now .  
i  ve seen a movie thats sort of like this  were a transsexual drugs woman and he then picks there nose with a knife and rips there nose to peaces . he then slices there tongue and eats it .  br    br   the most gruesome part of the movie is were he cuts there left eye out and starts dancing with it . he then starts to eat the woman naked .  br    br    i  m not sure what the movies called but i know it  s a cult movie and that it was made in germany  .  br    br   anyway the nose picker is fairly crap .  br    br   its a crap movie and the picture and volume quality is very rubbish .  br    br   please don  t waste you  re time buying and watching this movie its totally crap .  br    br   i prefer day of the woman also known as i spit on your grave  its one of the best cult movies ever  check out this link http   www . imdb . com  title  tt          
i know technically this isn  t the greatest tv show ever  i mean it was shot on video and its limitations show in both the audio and visual aspect of it . the acting can at time be also a little crumby . but  i love this show so much . it scared the hell out of me when it first aired in     . of course it would i was  years old . but i recently purchased the dvd of the first  episodes  which unfortunately i hear is now deleted . and i also heard warner  s aren  t going to release any more due to the first dvd  s bad sales . also the tv show didn  t have the same feel as the movies  in fact i thought it had a more sinister tone . even though the colour palette is similar to nightmare on elm street   both that film and the tv show were made the same year   this has more of a serious tone whereas the fims were progressively getting more and more sardonic and jokey . not a bad thing  i like freddy as the clown wise cracker . but i think that was the strenght of this tv show  you didn  t have freddy popping up every minutes cracking a joke before and after he kills somebody . in fact this has more of a dream feel to it  reinforced by the soft focus of the lense . im not sure if its deliberate on the part of the shows creators or just to the limitations of being shot on video . i love this show  and taken not as a companion piece to the movies can be very enjoyable . much better than anything on tv today .  
sometimes a film comes along that is unique . the nostril picker is one such film  the nostril picker is like no other film i have ever seen  unfortunately for the nostril picker  myself it  s unique for different reasons than what the filmmakers had originally intended . read on  all shall hopefully become clear . . . the nostril picker  as it  s commonly know although it was apparently filmed under the title the changer  starts with some extremely dull shots of an american town somewhere  streets  factory  s that sort of thing  as the opening credits play . when the nostril picker begins proper we  the viewer that is  are introduced to a real loser named joe bukowski  carl zschering  who is in his    s  he lives on his own in a crappy little apartment where he watches t . v .  eats beef flavoured dog food  listens to old vinyl records as he dances with a blow up rubber sex doll . joe likes teenage girls  he has various porn magazines but enjoys the real thing even more . however  being an ugly git joe can  t tempt any young ladies to go out with him  or do anything else with him for that matter . one fateful day an old homeless vietnam vet  horace grimm  sees the agony  pain that joe has to go through  actually he sees joe being spoken to by the cops for hassling a teenage girl   decides to help him out . he tells joe about an incantation that he learned from the  gooks  in vietnam that will transform joe  s appearance into whatever he likes . a process he calls morphosynthesis  but at the same time he warns joe that  it makes you crazy if you do it too much  . that night joe decides to give it a try  in a public place on a podium for some reason . joe says a few words  does an extremely silly dance  starts yodelling . joe finishes off by whistling london bridge is falling down  listen yeah  i ain  t making this up either . at first joe is visibly disappointed when nothing significant happens . to console himself joe tries to buy a porn mag but is shocked when the clerk  kevin devoy  refuses to sell it to an underage girl . joe  the bright spark that he is  realises what has happened  talks his  her way out of it by claiming his  her dad had sent him  her to buy it . joe  who now calls his alter  ego josephine  ann flood   senses the possibilities  heads straight for the local high school . joe befriends four teenage girls  jennifer armstrong  laura cummings   crisi stroud  gail didia   tracy harper  heidi m . gregg   brenda kearn  aimee molinaro  while under his disguise  oh  joe manages to become a pupil at the school simply by asking the sports teacher miss van dyke  vicki hollis  . at first joe seems harmless enough  he just likes to hang around the girls toilets  stuff like that . but things soon change as joe brutally murders brenda . jennifer  s dad  vince armstrong  edward tanner  is a detective so along with his partner ed simpson  clyde surrell   walt spencer  bruce alden  the pathologist is determined to catch the sicko responsible for killing his daughter  s friends  but will they succeed before joe strikes again  the imdb listing for the nostril picker is wrong  i watched it mere hours ago  it clearly states that it  s directed by mark nowicki who was also a co  producer  definitely not patrick j . matthews who was credited as a co  producer  the cinematographer  not that it makes much difference  i  d have though that nowicki would have been more than happy for matthews to take the  credit  for making this piece of crap . no one involved in the making of the nostril picker should be allowed to go anywhere near a camera again  ever . the nostril picker is easily one of the worst films i  ve ever seen   that  s saying something . it  s absolutely terrible in every possible way imaginable . the script by steven hodge is atrocious  there  s no narrative structure  excitement  tension  drama  character development  the things that do happen are so mind numbingly dumb it  s untrue . the plot devices  chain of events in the nostril picker are totally incomprehensible . the scene where joe finds out the prostitute  steven andrews  he hired is in fact a man  joe starts to chase him around his apartment with two squirting dildo  s is simply jaw dropping stuff . the subsequent scene when the transvestite reports the incident to the police is hilariously written  had me psychically laughing at the dialogue . i hated the ending as well  not only was it predictable but it leaves the door open for a sequel  i psychically shudder at the mere thought  on a technical level the nostril picker is awful  point  hope photography  bland  inappropriate music  forgettable locations  poorly edited  brenda is killed in the kitchen yet her blood splashes on the t . v . screen that was clearly in the opposite room   some of the worst acting i  ve sat through  very unimpressive special effects which consist of a few cut off rubber fingers  a slit throat  a quick scene where joe eats some flesh . it comes as no surprise that the cast  crew who worked on the nostril picker have virtually no imdb credits for anything before or after . even at   odd minutes the nostril picker is far to long  really boring to sit through . i could go on  on all day long about how bad the nostril picker is  i really could . one thing i can  t quite work out is was all this intentional by the filmmakers  the nostril picker is indeed a unique film  unique in it  s awfulness  incompetence . in the the case of the nostril picker i hope it remains unique too  having said that it  s still not the worst film i  ve ever seen but it comes close that  s for sure . definitely one to avoid .  
i don  t see how you can say that freddy  s nightmares is cheesy and a rip  off . you obviously don  t know good tv when you see it . the episodes are packed with drama and blood . freddy is creative in the way he kills people . i love freddy  s nightmares and i hope to get all   episodes on dvd . the best episodes are saturday night special  school daze  and love stinks . if you think this series sucked then you  re entitled to your opinion but remember it  s only your opinion and it means nothing . freddy  s nightmares will always be one of the best series ever and you  ll come to accept that fact soon enough . if you don  t like it then don  t watch it but don  t deny it  s brilliance .  
back in     i caught this thing  i can  t even call it a movie  on cable . i was in college and i was with a high school friend whose hormones were raging out of control . i figured out early on that this was hopeless . stupid script  a bunch of old guys hiring some young guys to show them how to score with women   bad acting  with one exception  and pathetic jokes . the plentiful female nudity here kept my friend happy for a while   but even he was bored after   minutes in . remember   this was a high school boy  this was back before nudity was so easy to get to by the internet and such . we kept watching hoping for something interesting or funny but that never happened . the funniest thing about this was the original ad campaign in which the studio admitted this film was crap   one poster had a fictional review that said   this is the best movie i  ve seen this afternoon    . only grant cramer in the lead showed any talent and has actually gone on to a career in the business . no  budget and boring ta . skip it .  
this is one horror movie based tv show that gets it right . friday the   th the series had no connection to the movies . poltergeist the legacy i  m not so sure . it may have been loosely connected to the movies . it feels like they just throw a famous title on a show so fans will watch it .  br    br   it shows freddy being burned by the elm street parents  in the  st episode i believe  and the amount of parents were disappointing . with all the kids he targeted in the  st  movies  you  d expect there to be more parents . but oh well .  br    br   freddy is basically the narrator for the show . he watches the actions of people in the real world sometimes getting involved somehow . just like other anthology shows like tales from the crypt  there  s a supernatural or surprise ending twist involved .  br    br   the acting lacks but believe it or not the violence sometimes surpasses that of the movie . this show lasted a couple of seasons and was made around the time of the  th movie . i heard it was canceled due to protesting parents . i watched a lot of r rated stuff as a kid  so its a shame parents had to ruin it for everyone .  more movies came after the series  so it wasn  t a total loss .  
scotty  grant cramer  who would go on to star in the great b  movie  killer klowns from outer space   agrees to help three middle  aged guys learn how to  dialog  the ladies in this bad     s comedy . not bad as in     s lingo  which meant good . bad as in bad . with no likable characters  including  but not limited to  a kid who  s the freakiest looking guy since  friday the   th part    a girl who leads men on and then goes into hissy fits when they want to touch her  and the token fat slob  because after all what would an     s sex comedy be without a fat slob   well this one has two . this movie is pretty much the bottom of the barrel of     s sex comedies . and then came the sequel thus deepening said proverbial barrel .  br    br   my graded   br    br   eye candy too numerous to count  you even see the freaky looking kid imagined with boobs at on point  think  bachlor party  but not as funny  and very disturbing .  br    br   where i saw it comcast moviepass  
i still have grainy  late night  no  cable  cheap vhs dubs of this show from waaaaaayyyy back when  late  night  commercials and all  when i would stay up to whatever weird hour they would slap this show on   just so i could tape it .  br    br   the series wasn  t really about freddy kreuger  only the first couple of episodes actually involved him as anything but a rod serling  esquire announcer . instead  each episode was a distinct nightmare  using the traditional horror themes of horrific childhood  dating  cannibalism  dating  money  death  dating  and . . . hmm . . . dating .  br    br   from the episode where a teenage boy accidentally says  i will love you forever  to the wrong girl  and is stuck with her  literally  at least for a moment  they grow together . . .   to the one where a young stewardess goes home with a strange man  only to find herself in his cabin  where he has a trophy room full of other stewardesses  and one i only vaguely remember which compared blind dates to hockey  and the injuries and penalties that go with it   dating was definitely the scariest thing in the series .  br    br   one episode had jeffrey combs  re  animator  etc .  as a motivated pizza merchant with a tasty new secret ingredient . not original  but still creepy and fun . . . .  br    br   even so  some of the episodes were great . my personal favorite was  it  s a miserable life  where a young man is trapped working in his parents  burger joint  when he wants to go off to college . stuck talking to himself and doing little puppet shows with old cheeseburgers  until one late night when a weird guy comes through the drive through and suddenly his life is not the same . no  not freddy  just a thug with a gun  turns out the whole mind  blowing episode is just that  the last thoughts that pass through the kid  s head . . . along with a bullet .  br    br   the second half of the same episode  many of the freddie  s nightmares episodes were essentially two vaguely connected short stories  followed his girlfriend  who was also wounded  but not killed in the drive  by  and who is taken to  the hospital from heck   they cram in all the most creepy hospital nightmare clichs  and then some  from accidentally having your mouth sewn shut  or waking up during an operation  to having your dead boyfriend try and lure you into the morgue for a little cuddle .  br    br   again  that was my favorite .  br    br   some of the episodes were much dumber  like almost all of the ones they  ve made available on video . they put the crummy ones out as representative of the series  and then nobody likes them  thinks the show stunk  and then they don  t put any more on video . it  s a miserable life is only available on pal dvd in england  but i  m still gonna buy it .  
this was a less than exciting short film i saw between features on turner classic movies recently . while the film popped out due to its very intense technicolor  the film itself just wasn  t that moving and at times the plot looked pretty cheesy   like this was made for classroom use and capturing the attention of a wider audience wasn  t even a consideration . in particular  i really hated how many times in the film things were reiterated   such as when the characters talked to her  they usually said  clara barton  instead of  ma  am    miss barton  or  clara  . plus  one sickly confederate soldier said that he was a  johnny reb  a confederate a rebel  . . .    almost like he was the cartoon character mojo jojo from the powerpuff girls . this was just sloppy writing   period .  br    br   it was interesting to see john hamilton  later   perry white  on the superman tv show  in a beard as president garfield . yep   it  s him under that beard .  
highly enjoyable  very imaginative  and filmic fairytale all rolled into one  stardust tells the story of a young man living outside a fantasy world going inside it to retrieve a bit of a fallen star only to find the star is alive  young  and beautiful . a kingdom whose king is about to die has said king unleash a competition on his several sons to see who can retrieve a ruby first to be king whilst a trio of witches want the star to carve up and use to keep them young . these three plot threads weave intricately together throughout the entire picture blended with good acting  dazzling special effects  and some solid sentiment and humour as well . stardust is a fun film and has some fun performances from the likes of claire danes as the star  i could gaze at her for quite some time  to michelle pfeiffer  i could gaze at her at full magical powers even longer  playing the horrible witch to robert deniro playing a nancy  boy air pirate to perfection . charlie cox as the lead tristan is affable and credible and we get some very good work from a group of guys playing the sons out to be king who are constantly and consistently trying to kill off each other . mark strong  jason flemyng  and ruppert everett plays their roles well in both life and death  loved this whole thread as well  . peter o  toole plays the dying killer daddy and watch for funny man ricky gervais who made me laugh more than anything in the entire film in his brief five minutes  nice feet  . but the real power in the film is the novel by neil gaiman and the script made from his creative and fertile mind . stardust creates its own mythology and its own world and it works .  
this was an absolutely terrible movie . don  t be lured in by christopher walken or michael ironside . both are great actors  but this must simply be their worst role in history . even their great acting could not redeem this movie  s ridiculous storyline . this movie is an early nineties us propaganda piece . the most pathetic scenes were those when the columbian rebels were making their cases for revolutions . maria conchita alonso appeared phony  and her pseudo  love affair with walken was nothing but a pathetic emotional plug in a movie that was devoid of any real meaning . i am disappointed that there are movies like this  ruining actor  s like christopher walken  s good name . i could barely sit through it .  
  home room  like  zero day  and  elephant   was inspired by the recent wave of school shootings . but unlike the other two films   home room  focuses on two survivors  not the shooters or those killed  in the aftermath of a shooting . making it less exploitive and more useful because little effort is wasted in asking questions for which there are no answers .  br    br   don  t give up on this little film during the first   minutes  it is supposed to set up the real story but plays like a rejected  hill street blues  episode . it is lame but bear with it  at least it pads the running length enough to get the film classified as a feature . i recommend skipping this entirely and just jumping ahead to the hospital scenes  there is nothing here that you can  t pick up from the remainder of the film .  br    br   like a lot of good little films this was creatively a one  man show as paul f . ryan was both the writer and the director . while this arrangement does not guarantee a good film  it is usually a good sign because it will mean a certain unity of construction and execution that is often lacking in big budget dramatic features . because the script of  home room  is its real strength it is fortunate that the writer also executed the production and insured that his vision made it onto the screen .  br    br   ryan takes a huge chance with the ending which tests the limits of the average viewer  s sentimentality tolerance . he runs it right up to the edge but against all logic leaves you crying instead of cringing . why the ending works is some combination of the audience need for a reward at the end of this kind of journey  the song  sarah mclaughlin  s  sweet surrender   he goes out on  and the amazing editing of the final minute .  br    br   the other strength of the film is the casting of busy phillips  alicia  and erika christensen  deanna  as the main protagonists . although phillips plays her standard alienated surly teen and christensen her intelligent daughter of a good family  they both bring more intensity to their roles than ever before . the family life of both girls is more than satisfactory and of little interest to ryan . what is happening here is all about the two of them despite a lame side story about a police detective wondering around town trying to tie alicia to the lone shooter . if they ever re  cut and trim the film this side story should be condensed .  br    br   a story about two extremely disparate girls bonding and helping each other is hardly a novel idea and ryan could have easily steered this film into clich and predictability . but instead his script has them engaging in a fascinating and convincing sparring match  slowly chipping away at each other and sharing moments of vulnerability  only to retreat back inside themselves . deanna  s  i  m dying inside  line just tears you apart  i can  t think of a moment in any other film that i felt as intensely as that one . she desperately needs a connection that alicia just as desperately resists . deanna only makes progress when she retreats . the viewer keeps expecting the group hug that never seems to happen .  br    br   ultimately this not only generates a lot of suspense but leaves you admiring both characters and the two actresses who brought them to life .  br    br   then again  what do i know  i  m only a child .  
i like goldie hawn and wanted another one of her films  so when i saw protocol for   .   at walmart i purchased it . although mildly amusing  the film never really hits it a stride . some scenes such as a party scene in a bar just goes on for too long and really has no purpose .  br    br   then  of course  there is the preachy scene at the end of the film which gives the whole film a bad taste as far as i  m concerned . i don  t think this scene added to the movie at all . i don  t like stupid comedies trying to teach me a lesson  written by some     s burn out especially   br    br   in the end  although i  m glad to possess another hawn movie  i  m not sure it was really worth the money i paid for it   
this is a really funny  and sexy  movie  that is not just silly but has great acting . it  s the kind of movie where the characters are so entertaining that you feel like you are connected to everyone in the theater . i saw it at the boston film festival  and i found myself frequently laughing out loud with everyone else  and also moved by some of the movie  s more serious parts . it  s a unique movie about two doctors  and i don  t want to give anything away but there are some powerful scenes as well really funny ones  plus the dialogue is great . wood harris  character has a unique relationship with his girlfriend zoe saldana  and brian white and mya are also funny and sexy in their roles . if you get a chance to see it  go  you won  t be disappointed . it  s worth seeing again . wood harris deserves an award .  
effort aside  this isn  t a review about good intentions  its about the final product   this film is poorly written  overacted  and poorly directed . the story obviously had potential  but that story is nowhere present in this film .  br    br   clara barton was a human being . she had passions  desires  love  pain  embarrassment  weakness  and self doubt just like the rest of us . you would never know that from this film of the lead actress  s performance . in fact apply that to every character in the film  but in barton  s case every sentence is a speech . an epic over the top speech as though from an inhuman robot . in fact the only scene that plays well in one in the board meeting  and i realized thats because she  s making a speech  every idea she has is unbelievable in its context and she comes up with ideas that sound like they take a lifetime of soul searching right on the spot . for example  when she sees a wounded man  she  ll start pontificating about the needs of the battlefield and to protect soldiers and putting up white flags  etc . as played in the film  there  s no way she could come up with such a detailed well thought out idea in seconds .  br    br   in conclusion  this film robs clara barton of her struggles . it robs her of her humanity  and it inherently cheapens all she did because the script is written in clichs . the writer doesn  t know clara barton  and seems to have based his script on an encyclopedia britannica article .  yes they had those back then  but hey  nice technicolor   who cares   
so i don  t ruin it for you  i  ll be very brief . there  s some great acting and funny lines from the attractive cast . a young graduate of harvard med school  brian white  finds out he doesn  t know as much as he thinks about people . he goes to a small hospital in florida for his internship because a girlfriend  mya  left him for a job as a tv producer . his senior resident  wood harris   helped marvelously by his  creative collaborator   zoe saldana  bring him up to speed . they help protect his career and show him the wider possibilities that come from being a compassionate doctor instead of a player who just wants to make money  as seems to be true for many of my pre  med friends  .  
almost a two  person play  and as such the dialog and the performances of the leads will be important . neither are particularly good . this might have been stronger  in fact  if it had first been crafted as a two  person play  and then worked into a film .  br    br   anyway  a twitchy vampire who seems slightly autistic becomes infatuated with a stripper  as a result of watching too much porn in his crappy home  . he wants to have her tell him about the daylight . he would have been better off finding someone with a day job  or someone who excels at painting a picture with words like a poet  but then they might not have a hot bod .  br    br   after he gets her to do whatever he wants  and he  s not terribly good at it   he intends to feed on her at  am  at which point the sun rises . much is made of that deadline  despite the fact that he also says that he can go without feeding  it will just make him hungrier . additionally  he claims he can  t let the stripper go  since she knows about him  but he lets a number of other people go who learn what he is . there are a lot of inconsistencies .  br    br   why this vampire chooses to live in a house so poorly boarded up that light from streetlamps and neighboring buildings pours in as if it were daytime  i  m not sure . with all the time in the world  you  d think he  d have done a better job  or fixed the place up a bit . he  s clearly not a wealthy vampire .  br    br   this is supposedly a remake  and i  m curious to see the original version of this  dance of the damned . although  that was directed by katt shea  and the other films she directed for corman  stripped to kill  stk ii  were pretty bad .  
i had to give this film a   simply because it did what so many films thrown at black audiences have failed miserably to do . this film was void of all the video whore clichs  and it also skipped the gangsters  rappers  and foul language . it examined several relationships among physicians  african americans  and african american male  female romantic relationships on a completely new and refreshing level . i was highly impressed with the films careful mix of light headed humor with some pretty tough and heavy issues . the film will leave you feeling happy and sad all at the same time . i saw it at the boston film festival as well . it premiered at amc loews boston and i truly hope this film makes it to much larger audiences . black people  and everyone else  would love a movie like this  if only the industry was smart enough to put them out there   br    br   as an extra  if your a doctor  a resident  a medical student  a premedical student  married to a doctor  have a doctor sibling  have a doctor in the family  or know a great doctor period  they would love this film as well . it portrayed residency and the practice in a true  to  life way that was greatly appreciated by the doctors  residents  and medical students who viewed the film . dennis cooper completely his residency in internal medicine  so he definitely applied his knowledge  experience to the film and that is greatly apparent .  
this movie features charlie spradling dancing in a strip club . beyond that  it features a truly bad script with dull  unrealistic dialogue . that it got as many positive votes suggests some people may be joking .  
i saw the movie recently during the boston film festival . the movie was very entertaining and is something that i believe the world  and black america is ready to see . it has comedy  drama  the soundtrack is great . it is an all around good film . the characters were well developed  and the movie had a wide variety of prominent actors  such as wood harris  remember the titains  paid in full   brian j . white  trois   mr       and the wonderful zoe saldana  drumline  pirates of the caribbean  . the movie tackles many relevant topics in todays society in a short period of time  and does so with class and grace . this is not only a story about life in the hospital  however it is a story about people and their personal journey to discovering who they are  or who they are going to be .  
to be honest  i  m surprised by the positive votes that this film has received . the movie just drags along its   minute life span  and the audience has to suffer the whole way through . actually there are some positive moments in this film charlie spradling gives a decent performance . she is given some pretty pathetic dialogue and she handles it pretty well . scott valentine  merrideth  s boyfriend in family ties   on the other hand  is a pretty rough watch . i guess the highlight of his performance is witnessing the guy laying on the beach wearing tiger  patterned chummies . . . . give me a break . also  valentine gives us a boorish and pathetic portrayal of a suffering vampire who misses the day  to see a much more convincing rendition of the suffering vampire see denice duff in  bloodstorm subspecies    . the movie moves so slow and is only positively punctuated by  and to be honest  charlie spradling  s dance scenes . this movie can honestly only be recommended to the die hard fans of charlie spradling  which i am  and i still had a rough time watching it   .  
i must admit  out of the eros movie collection  this has to be the one that i love the most as well as one other that i have also reviewed . the story is something that really keeps you watching . a lot of the eros films have a plot that looks like a hammer broke it in pieces before production when you watch it . all centering around sex  and who can get with how many different people come the end of the film . and oh dear god  never watch one of these films when someone pulls out a gun . it does not work that it is almost laughable  but you do not want to waste the energy to do so .  br    br    losing control  is exactly as its name comes on . the protagonist  the leading character  the wonderfully talented and beautiful kira reed  . the control is the control a person has over their senses  their body and feelings . and one man changes everything for her  makes her a different woman almost . but the mirror is shattered at the same time . this makes for a great film that i wish i had come up with first    br    br         
  fungicide  is quite possibly the most incompetent  embarrassing  pitiful  film  i have ever seen . the acting is criminal  the direction practically non  existent  and the special effects presumably put together by unleashing a monkey with learning difficulties on a defenceless laptop computer .  br    br   far be it from me to stifle creativity  but i actually believe things like this shouldn  t be made . i am sure the  film   makers will say that  yes  the  film  was hampered by a low  as in nothing  budget  but in that case they just really shouldn  t have bothered . as it is  they have offered the world something so dire  so execrable  that only imbeciles could get the merest shade of enjoyment from it .  br    br   starting the  movie  it wasn  t as though i was expecting  citizen kane  or anything . i was expecting a low budget little horror with perhaps a modicum of inventiveness  a hint of fun  and even some energy . what i got was the cinematic equivalent of a used handkerchief .  br    br   the plot  well  our leering antihero scientist  who works in his parents  basement  is seen manically stirring some goo in a cup . apparently  such high  level science is the end  result of years of research . his parents then send him off to a strange hotel  type place in the countryside to relax . there are some other people there  who are simply too awful to write about . anyway  the scientist drops his test  tube onto some mushrooms  and soon the mushrooms grow and kill some people .  wow  i  m getting suicidal just writing the plot summary  . our heroes save the day by detonating a barrel of balsamic vinegar  by attaching a  fuse   really a piece of string  to it  . the barrel unaccountably explodes with the power of a small nuclear weapon  destroying all the mushrooms . the end .  thank goodness  .  br    br   that summary is as good as the  film  gets  and actually makes it sound a lot more interesting than it actually is  . it really should never have got past this stage of development  by which i mean a plot outline scribbled on the back of an envelope with crayons  . somebody should have really stepped in and given someone a vigorous shake and said  no .   br    br   and those  special  effects . well  they  re  special  all right . this is cgi gone crazy . and done by a person who i can only assume believes the bicycle pump to be the pinnacle of modern technology . and when the mushroom monsters are not in the style of a     home computer graphics package  they are represented by actors shuffling along covered in a sheet  i kid you not  .  br    br   one of the most inexcusable things about the movie is its laziness . this can be summed up by the scene in which the hero spins his guns  a la clint eastwood  and then fails miserably to get them in his pockets . i mean come on  a couple of retakes and he could have pulled it off  but just to leave it as it is  really weak .  br    br   i cannot believe money was spent on this camcorder  shot rubbish . the  film   makers should hang their heads in shame and be banned from going within fifty metres of any movie  making equipment .  br    br   i also think it  s wrong that friends and family of the makers come onto imdb and post mendacious reviews and give stupidly high user ratings which give a totally inaccurate picture of the  movie .   fungicide  is an absolute travesty of film  making . mr wascavage is either very  very stupid or very  very cynical .  
all kira reed fans must see this . the film  s premise has struggling romance novelist kira unable to come up with any new ideas . she  s also getting over a divorce . however  she meets this guy at a restaurant and he helps her out of her shell  and clothing  . they go into a corner room and they do it . thankfully  kira gets a condom out  now don  t ever tell me these playboy films are worthless piles of soft  core fluff . remember kids  safe sex  . later  she marvels to her publishist how great it was  but she didn  t get his name . despite this  the guy finds her and they continue their kinky games . but eventually she tires of his sneakiness and wants to know more . when she does  all hell breaks loose  and i  ll leave it at that . this is easily the best of these soft  core playboys films i  ve seen . check this out  and marvel at the greatness of kira .  
if you are the sort of person who can get a kick out of a very bad movie  then i highly recommend this one . if you aren  t  stay away . this is an astonishingly cheap  looking movie  and at times you may find yourself wondering if it isn  t just a prank someone is pulling on you . the most positive comment i can make about it is that the people responsible seemed to realize that it was super  low  budget nonsense  so there is at least a sense of fun here .  br    br   but this is as amateurish as it gets . their idea of giant killer mushrooms are simply guys covered with beige colored sheets with what looks like trash can covers on their heads . it  s obviously not meant to be taken seriously  to say the least   but even with that disclaimer you  ll find yourself shaking your head at the awesome cheesiness of it all . or laughing out loud frequently  as i did .  
when it comes to the erotic genre  i  m lucky to get through the first   minutes of the plot without getting up or looking for something else to watch . this movie is different . julie davis  i love you don  t touch me  directed two very strong lead actors kira reed and doug jeffery in this enthralling thriller . kira is convincing as  kim  a sweet innocent romance novelist that gets caught in the web of seduction of doug jeffery  s  the man  a handsome stranger . kira loses control of her inhibitions in the role  and as actress  giving what could have been simply another t and a depth and believability . i believe it to be her best performance yet . and julie davis  direction is a great gift to erotica .  
this was just horrible the plot was just ok  but the rest of the was was bad . i mean come on puppet and then they even tried to make the movie digital and that made it even worse  normally i would like low  budget movie but this was just a waste of time and almost made me want to return the set that it came on . i have about ten low  budget movie set with like    movies on them and i would have to say this is the worse movie out of all of them . also the wording is off and they use a fake plastic machetes that doesn  t even look like a real one  they could of used one that looked even a little close to a real one so save your time and money and don  t watch this horrorible movie .  
after  i watched the films . . . i thought   why the heck was this film such a high success in the korean box office   even thought the movie had a clever  unusal scenario  the acting wasn  t that good and the characters weren  t very interesting . for a korean movie . . . i liked the fighting scenes . if you want to watch a film without thinking  this is the film for you . but i got to admit . . . the film was kind of childish . . .      
the only way we survived this stinker was by continually making fun of its stupidity . funny thing is none of the audience around us seemed to mind   we all joined in .  br    br   this movie is soooo bad  its only potential is to become a midnight cult movie that people can invent lines and throw popcorn at .  
i enjoyed this film very much . many korean people will feel familiar with this film because many of them have tutors when they go to school . cinematography was average . the movie would have been better if the angel or the movement of the camera was more irregular . editing  however  was very neat and unusual .  br    br   the acting was also very good . kim ha neul usually played an innocent  weak girl in the korean soap  opaeras . but this time  she plays a cute tomboy very well . kwon sang woo also plays his role very believable .  br    br   what i like the most about this film is  the emotion of the characters are not too exaggerated . there are many korean romance films that the characters cry river before the audience and i always thought it was very stale . there was no such crap in this movie .  br    br   very funny and well  done .  
tarzan the ape man is a remake of the     film of the same time  and like that earlier film  it has little resemblance to burroughs  literary character . but while the     tarzan was reduced to  tarzan  jane  speech  this tarzan  played by miles o  keeffe  doesn  t speak or even grunt . he does do the the tarzan yell a couple of times  which sounds like it was sampled from the earlier film .  br    br   no  tarzan plays second banana to bo derek as jane . or rather  as third banana to bo derek  s left breast and her right breast . this movie has no point but to show derek naked .  br    br   the two action scenes in the film are presented in slow motion  and are really bad . more evidence that no one cared .  br    br   bizarrely enough  tarzan has an orangutan side kick in this film . maybe he car pooled in from sumatra with the indian elephants that are also on display .  
my tutor friend is a well scripted romance comedy movie that has something similar to my sassy girl . . there  s no kissing  sex scenes . hollywood should learn more from korean productions . sex is not always required in a good romantic movie .  br    br   the movie is of light hearted tone with occasional cartoon cg scenes blended into the movie . i like the part when ji  hoon almost kissed su  wan . the funniest moment is when ji  hoon punched su  wan  s first love because he dumped su  wan for another girl and he is going to be a father soon . how he became a father was revealed in the next scene  which brings smiles to the audience .  br    br   mao points      
i wanted to vote zero or lower . i loved the commentary . it is the worst movie ever made and  unendurable  is the perfect word for it  unless there is something worse that roget never thought of . i am also at a loss to think of anything negative enough to accurately describe bo derek . the best that could be said of her is  she  s consistent .  
although stardust seems to be a fantasy film with predictable ending and average performances  it is certainly not . when i saw the movie  i knew it was going to be one of my favorite movies . and i was right .  br    br   stardust is more of a fairytale than an adventure film . it has this magical  aura  from the beginning to the very end of the movie . the storyline is well written  and it keeps you on the edge of your seat . like every tale  it has some short of morality . therefore we know in our hearts that the evil brothers won  t take the throne but the innocent boy who manages to overcome every obstacle and difficulty he encounters during his journey . we also know that the true love is yvaine and not victoria  the material girl who is shallow and manipulative .  br    br   i have to give extra credits to claire danes . she literally shines in this movie . her eyes have this sparkle that fit totally in her character . moreover  she and cox do have chemistry which makes the romance in the film even more notable . the rest of the cast are well known actors and actresses which of course make stardust an interesting and   high classed   movie  br    br   overall  the movie is fantastic  the locations magical and the plot interesting . i was very disappointed that the film didn  t get nominated for more awards . i have to give at least     stars for this .  
i purchased this film on the cheap in a sale  having read the back of the dvd case and assuming that either way i can  t lose  it if was rubbish then no loss  if it was any good then bargain . . .  br    br   then i watched it . . .  br    br   i am normally a fan of christopher walken  but in this film he commanded very little screen presence  seeming not to do a whole lot  even the death of his friend near the beginning which sparks off the  action  in the plot seems to affect him very little  and his eventual revenge is just boring and undramatic .  br    br   normally a film which has themes as grand as revolution and revenge are able to capture the audience and snare them into feeling something for the characters  however watching this film felt more like seeing a series of confused  and almost random events that loosely tied together towards it  s eventual conclusion . . .  br    br   at this point i wept . . .  br    br   i thought this film was the most horribly painful piece of viewing i have ever been subjected to  the scene where the pilot sacrifices himself by refusing to jump out the explosive laden truck due to not wanting to kill any civilians is not so much tragically sad as it is unnervingly horrible and painful  although not quite as bad as the emergency surgery on the wounded girl . the acting was poor all round  the script and story was weak  the  action  was even weaker  and the  visuals  were but bluntly not all that visual . to summarise there are films which are good  films that are bad  films that are so bad they are good  films that are terrible . . .  br    br   and then on a whole new level is  mcbain   
like  my sassy girl   this movie is based on a true story posted from the internet  but that  s where the similarities end . the story is generally about this rebellious guy named ji  hoon  kwon sang woo  who is still trying to finish high school  whose parents hire a tutor named su  wan  kim ha neul   a woman who comes from a poor background  but happens to be the same age as him . add to that some obstacles  martial arts  thugs are always after ji  hoon for revenge   a scorned  thuggish love  sick girl who is after him  his proclivity for ditching the lessons  and you generally can guess the whole story . did i mention it  s a romantic comedy  this movie has some good fight scenes  great visual humor and a lot of spunk  thanks to the good chemistry between kim ha nuel and kwon sang woo  that bring a lot of energy to the story . the romantic elements also work because of that reason . and  i must say  i  d want a girlfriend more like kim ha nuel than that girl from  my sassy girl   personality  wise  at least  . she has some spunk  but it  s more on the cute  sweet  good  hearted way . characters are already mostly likable  so one might say it had less of a hill to climb than  my sassy girl    an obstacle that worked for that movie to its credit   and the movie is quite clever and interesting most of the way . the story kind of sags  though  about    of the way  where it sort of treads on familiar  standard fare  where nothing really interesting happens   but near the end  it picks up a bit again . overall  a fun  cute movie .      
bo is jane parker  whose long  lost anthropologist father  richard harris  in the worst role of a very inconsistent career  is in africa studying something or another . she tracks him down  how   and he tells her of the natives  stories of a giant monster whose nightly howling can be heard throughout the jungle . turns out to be the ape man himself  miles o  keeffe  who has the film  s best dialogue   who rescues her from bad guys and falls in love with her  leaving them just enough time in this agonizing two hours to romp naked while a horny monkey looks on and cheers . normally i  m very open  minded to varying opinions about any film  but this is the sole exception . this is the worst film ever made . if you don  t agree  you haven  t seen it .  notes newsday called it  unendurable   which is the best one  word summary i can think of . the maltin movie guide comments that they almost had to think of a rating lower than bomb .   
i first came across  my tutor friend  accidentally one or two years ago while tv surfing . prior to that  i  d never watched any korean films before in my whole life  so mtf was really the first korean film i  ve ever watched . and  what a delightful surprise  i was thoroughly amused from the beginning to end  and had a great time laughing . its comic style is quite different from those of the hong kong comic films  which i  ve been to used to all my life and hence tired of as well   breathing fresh air into my humdrum film viewing experience . i thought there  re quite a few scenes and tricks in mtf that are pretty hilarious  witty  and original too .  br    br   i watched mtf the second time a few days ago  and having watched it once already  the surprise  comic effect on me kind of mitigated . that has  however  by no means affected negatively my opinion of the film . instead  something else came through this time  it moved me  the story about how two young  seemingly  enemies  who  re utterly incompatible get thrown together  and how they gradually resolve their differences and start caring for each other without realizing the feelings themselves  reminds me of the long gone high school days . to me  su wan and ji hoon are actually compatible as they both have something that is pure and genuine inside them  a quality that separates them from people like say  ji hoon  s sassy girlfriend .  br    br   the film is divided into two distinct parts  the  st part deals with the  fight  between su wan and ji hoon  and is more violent and faster in pace . after ji hoon gets a pass in his final examination and su wan dances the  in ji hoon  s opinion  provocative dance  things start to change . the pace slows down and . . . ji hoon suddenly realizes he cares for su wan more than he could ever imagine . so the  nd part deals with the development of their mutual feelings  leading of course to a happy ending accompanied by a final showdown with the gang boss .  br    br   just one last comment . i find this to be a bit unbelievable  the fact that a    year  old self  proclaimed  bad boy  would feel embarrassed being almost naked in front of the girl he bullies and loses his  cool  is just a little . . . odd . i guess that shows that ji hoon is just a boy pure at heart and isn  t really what his appearance seems . btw  kwong san woo  ji hoon  does have a sexy body and perfect figure      br    br   mtf is definitely on my list of top   favorite films of all time .  
bo derek will not go down in history as a great actress . on the other hand  starting in the     s  actual acting talent seemed to be less and less of a required ability in hollywood  so bo could very well have gone onto bigger and better things after the big box office take of blake edwards     .  that is if she hadn  t allowed her husband  john derek  to take over her career . numerous playboy spreads and bad movies like this one  this one in particular  directed by john destroyed what momentum she had and made her the butt of many a joke . in the     s it was assumed that you could put a certain personality in a certain movie and it would be box office gold . john figured that putting bo in a movie wherein she was nude for much of the running time would make people flock to the theaters after the   hype . maybe if the movie had been any good perhaps . this version of tarzan has got to be the all time worst of the many iterpretations of burrough  s lord of the jungle  a slap in the face to character  s book and film legacy . tarzan is in fact an after thought as the film is primarily a vehicle for bo  s breasts and richard harris  wonderful over acting  remember  the pair had worked together in orca  . his scenery chewing helps you to stay awake during the boredom of it all and yes  the film is quite boring . nothing really exciting happens and the few action scenes seem to have been shot by someone in a trance . bo  s body can only get you so far . miles o  keeffe who played tarzan at least would go onto a long and enjoyable b movie career and richard harris can put this behind him after his recent acting triumphs  but bo and john derek never recovered from this fiasco and future collaborations between the two only served to show why his directing career and her acting career died in the first place .  br    br   and how did the orangutan get to africa   
it is first and foremost a chick flick  it is a romantic comedy . there is a fair balance between the two . this particular movie has the addition of some pretty sweet fight scenes  i don  t think any wires were used or if they were they weren  t flat out blatant . it isn  t a terribly complicated movie so it easy on the brain  no need to analyze anything to get the deeper meaning  pretty simple  good chemistry between the leads  and a fun watch . i  d like it if they made brought out the full potential of the girls looks just once cause she can be amazingly cute  but throughout the movie they keep it low key kind of pretty . i  d watch it again . . . with a girl .  
i was thirteen years old  when i saw this movie . i expected a lot of action . since escape from new york was    rated in germany i entered the movie as fallback . it was so boring . afterwards i realized that this was just crap where a husband exhibits his wife . i mean today you do this via internet and you pay for instant access . it is more then   years ago  but i am still angry that i waste my time with this film . this is a soft  porno for schoolboys . undressing bo derek and painting her with color  nice . but then they should named the film undressing bo and painting her .  
after having seen  marrying mafia   i  d nearly lost my faith in korean movie business . but this one brought my faith back .  br    br   leading female character who is university student forced to teach the spoiled  rich but charistmatic high school student guy . he is actually female character  s age . through some hilarious quarrells  these two end up being great friends .  br    br   i was pleasantly surprised that newcomer kwan sang woo did his job with excellency . he was such a revelation   actress kim ha nul was also charming as usual .  br    br   this movie tried hard to avoid any cliches that can be seen in typical romantic comedies . and it didn  t show us any unnecessary nude  sex scenes . it was brilliant  lovely  fresh  made me want to see it again .  br    br    
i screamed my head off because seeing this movie was my first movie going experience ever at some   months old . i remember it being incredibly bloody and it made me angry . i watched it again on tv a few years ago . big mistake   the acting is wooden  the plot non  existent and the movie lacks merit unless   year  old t  a is what gets you going . . .     
a really sweet movie that has some similarities to the      hit  my sassy girl  but is able to enchant most of the time . the biggest applause should go to the two leads . ha  neul kim is both sweet and quirky  sang  woo kwon is both attractive and rebellious . the chemistry between the two is very good .  br    br   director kyeong  hyeong kim uses some cg  inserts to pepper up the visuals and also offers impressive fight scenes in which sang  woo kwon can shine . i liked him a lot better here than in the highly overrated  volcano high  . and that boy has a future  those looks  those fight techniques  and a romantic lead . not bad .  br    br   well  i can make it short nice film . my rating      
because that  s all she does through out this whole movie  is get naked for no good reason . when tarzan is bitten by a snake  she suddenly removes her clothes . since when is a boa constrictor poisonous  how did tarzan get poisoned by the way  this whole movie is screwed up . they couldn  t get the species of animals for this movie right . whats an orangutang doing hanging around those chimpanzees  he must have wandered off the set of a much better film . the group of cannibal tribe  s men look caucasin . why  and why was bo and her dad painted  if they were going to be eaten later  it was probably just a lame excuse to show her breasts and curves again . her dad while hunting  approaches and acts stupidly around a bull elephant while standing too close to it . any real african bull elephant that wasn  t from the circus  would  ve stomped this moron  s butt . any smart hunter would  ve started shooting the minute he saw it . and i can  t help but wonder if the camera was on lsd  because it kept showing various scenes that went in slow motion  for no good reason . it didn  t make good sense at all . the boa constrictor that tarzan wrestled with in the water  looks like one of those   ft rubber snakes you can buy at a local spencer gifts . tarzan was strangly speechless in this film  maybe from bo flashing herself so much . i  m sorry  but this is a rip off of a classic black and white tarzan movie  with a similar but better story . not to mention plotting . there  s one scene in that i saw that everyone forgot to mention .   spoilers alert  the scene where he is trying to rescue jane and her dad  has him standing too close to a running water spout . it made it seem like he  s urinating on someone below him . eww  also  him and jane are fooling around on a beach  with perverted monkeys jumping and clapping . she sure did take her dad  s death real well .   end of spoilers  there should be a surgeon general  s warning on this film . that seeing bo naked too much in this movie  will make you go blind .  
did you ever wonder how far one movie could go   br    br   schizophreniac relentlessly explores the world of the extreme with harry russo .  br    br   harry is an aggravated writer  killer and drug addict scumbag who will stop at nothing to destroy those who stand between him and insanity . driven by the demonic voices of his ventriloquist dummy rubberneck  harry begins his killing spree .  br    br   from director ron atkins comes the  st installment of the vilest story ever to be filmed  br    br   the only other movie i have seen similar to this would happen to be the  nd installment entitled schizophreniac necromaniac  br    br   this is a really low budget film and will not be for everyone  but if you are looking for something disturbing  different and horrific then this would make a fine choice .  br    br   do not expect anything like modern day horror  such as scream   br    br   viewer discretion is advised  
the character of tarzan has been subjected to so many clichs  and so many bad interpretations  that those who are hoping for a different kind of version  people like me  i mean  who liked the tarzan books as a kid and have always wished for a movie version that followed the books just a little  ought to know how the recent renditions stack up . some of the imdb reviews address this point  but here  s my  .    br    br   i am aware of only two   count  em   cinema depictions of tarzan  namely greystoke with christopher lambert and the disney animated version  that try to depict edgar rice burrough  s rather interesting character  the son of a marooned english noble couple  picked up after their death by a tribe of apes who raise him as one of themselves  and who becomes  lord of the jungle  because of his superior human intellect before making it back to england and claiming his other identity  rather than the usual hollywood jungle  man whose origin remains obscure and whose trademarks are his famous yell  his mysterious inability to speak proper english despite long exposure to people who know the language  his habit of swinging on vines  his strength  heroism  etc . about the only thing these two characters have in common are the name tarzan and the fact that they both have a wife named jane . ron ely  s tv version is something of a compromise like burroughs  character  he speaks good english and is adept and suave in both cultures in a sort of jamesbondish way  but he  s no lord greystoke and there  s no jane .  br    br   well  this film is in a third category of tarzan films  and i hope it remains a category of one because it  s awful . this category uses the character as a vehicle for  of all things  soft porn . jane  played by legendarily bad actress bo derek is in africa looking for her dad the absent  minded professor who is combing the jungle looking for something which is never specified . though her dad is supposed to have been missing for a long time  she finds him effortlessly . richard harris as the dad is the best thing here he sees the film is stupid so he has fun overacting and hamming in a way that reminds me of peter o  toole  s deliberately silly performance in what  s new pussycat . dad explains the legend of tarzan   some sort of ghost or spirit  he says   either a steal from  or an inartistic attempt at homage to  king kong  to his daughter  who is at this point unfamiliar with the ape  man . shortly afterward  we hear the infamous clich of the tarzan yell . dad dies  which oddly doesn  t seem to faze his devoted daughter very much . and then . . . . .  br    br   then tarzan appears  but says nothing . indeed  he says nothing during the entire film . he and jane fall in love  and they romp around wearing almost nothing as she recites doggerel love  poetry off  screen . the end . that  s the plot .  br    br   well  not exactly there  s also a scene where tarzan wrestles unrealistically with a boa constrictor   a most unusual boa  since it  s the only poisonous one ever seen . jane treats the bite with the aid of a chimp who helps by wringing out the garment she tears off to bind the wound with  i  m not making this up    and this is only one of many excuses for her to take her clothes off .  br    br   i always like to conclude a review by saying something positive  but this time it  s hard . let  s see . . . well  it  s unfair to criticize this film for featuring an orangutan  even though we all know orangutans don  t live in africa after all  the classic tarzan movies all used indian elephants  did they not  also  you have to admit that bo derek is pretty in face and form .  but in that case why the hell didn  t she just make a career as an art model  what does it say about a movie when it becomes plain boring to look at a pretty woman  i actually haven  t decided whether it  s a positive or a negative that they never showed her crotch .  but now i realize try as i may  i can  t end on a positive note .  br    br   see this film if you  re a bad film buff . i  m outa here .  
this film is like marmite . you either love it or you hate it . if you go into this film expecting a proper film with decent production values  a good plot and great characters you  ll hate it . if you go into this film expecting a low budget slasher you  ll probably hate it .  br    br   if you go into this film expecting to see one of the most deranged characters ever put to film in the form of harry russo you will love it . john giancaspro is absolutely brilliant in his over the top portrayal of the insane  murderous coke fiend .  br    br   the special effects are abysmal at best but really  who cares  if you  re the kind of person who  s prepared to watch a film schizophreniac the whore mangler you  ve undoubtedly seen scores of horror films filled with gore . with the budget this film was made for even if they had tried it probably would  ve mediocre at best . i  d much rather be able to laugh at something abysmal than be unaffected by the mediocre .  br    br   to sum it up  you  ll probably hate this film but if you  re one of the few who decide to see it anyway it  ll become the best thing since sliced bread   i hate marmite .  
bo derek might have had a career had she not let her late husband  john  take over as her director . it  s a real shame  no really  with the right direction and the right part  see       bo was okay . she wouldn  t win any awards even at her best  but she is no worse than many an actress who has made it big in the past   years or so based on looks alone . but therein lay the problem  john was determined to ride the wave that bo created with her appearance in    that of bo being the  perfect      the hottest woman in america    the sex symbol of the     s .  problem is  in john  s hands  this wave crashed with a resounding thud in only a few year  s time . maybe he knew her limitations as an actress  perhaps that is why he fashioned movies for her that concentrated on her body  not her acting skills . but it got old real quick . it didn  t help matters any that the films of john and bo derek are  let  s be honest  really  really bad . and bad sums up their take on edgar rice burrough  s literary icon  the lord of the jungle  tarzan of the apes .  br    br   you know what  s worst  this film is boring  make me laugh  make me cry  just don  t bore me . not even bo  s stunning looks and figure can rouse any interest  and that is what the film is of course built around . richard harris  god bless his soul  he and bo were previously in orca btw  hams it up and makes his scenes at least a little interesting and miles o  keefe makes a physically impressive tarzan . maybe he got the last laugh  after being hit with a ton of venom from the critics over this film  miles went on to a solid career as a b movie icon  in films that were not great art  but a million times more fun than this one . but other than that  it  s bo  s body  and you can only see it so many times before you long for something else to go with it . tarzan the ape man has nothing else . john derek was a truly dynamic actor  he was not a director . he should have stayed with his strength . this film unfolds at a mind numbingly slow pace and nothing really happens in the action scenes . burrough  s tarzan was all about excitement and wish fulfillment  who wouldn  t want to be as agile  strong and good looking as lord greystoke   and fun  you get none of that here . watch it  and you will have wasted    minutes of your life . on second thought  you may come away with a valuable lesson  how not to handle someone  s movie career .  br    br   bo derek is all right in my book though . she stood by john until his dying day  has a true love of animals and nature and even looks back with a giggle at her time in the spotlight . she has also proven that she is not the dumb blonde many want her to make her out to be . if she could survive tarzan and bolero  she can survive anything . so come back bo  all is forgiven .  br    br   and as an aside  is the steve strong who plays the bad guy the same steve strong who a brief pro wrestling career   
all i can say about the necromaniac  schizophreniac  series is . . . if you are even remotely  pc  or don  t have a seriously messed up sense of humor  then you probably wont get it . as sick and disgusting as this movie is  it really is a comedy and not a  horror  movie at all . if you can appreciate somebody who pushes the bounds of good taste and political correctness to the most extreme limits imaginable  to the point where is becomes so out of hand that it  s comical  then you must see this to believe it . this movie is so out of control that a major film studio couldn  t touch this with a   foot pole  with a condom on the end  . in my opinion though  the best  most extreme pieces of art come from way underground . if you don  t stick to the same old formula that people are used to seeing  then they reject it .  br    br   i have seen stacks of terrible  boring  z  grade  indy movies that were just a waste of a perfectly good vhs tape or dvd  r . i have also seen stacks of stink bombs coming from the big named studios that were a complete waste of millions of dollars . when a no budget film like these two from ron atkins  john giancaspro come out and blow all of the other  shock  films completely out of the water  you really have to take a second look at the whole indy movie scene . after seeing this  you can really see how much freedom an indy film maker can have when they work on their own .  br    br   the funny thing is  even the other people who saw this movie and  hated it  admit to the fact that they laughed all the way through it . i don  t think that is is possible for anybody to get bored watching either of these two . so if don  t take everything that you seen in the mainstream media too seriously  and are able to laugh at a misanthropic  puppet wielding psychopath who has finally snapped  you have to see this . you may just be able to see it for the stand alone  cult classic that it is . both schizophreniac  schizophreniac  are among the favorites in my collection of well over     dvds .  
i can  t say this is the worst movie ever made  but personally i think of it that way because when it was originally released in theaters     the initial buzz was positive enough that my girlfriend insisted we go see it  and we actually stood in line to get tickets  and    it  s still the only  serious  film i recall where the audience started snickering at a certain point and basically laughed at the movie the rest of the way through . once we reached the infamous  and interminable  snake fight scene  i think everyone gave up .  br    br   the only positive i can concede is the lush location shooting . oh  and there  s also bo  s breasts  although her acting is so wooden that the nudity is unerotic and doesn  t rate much more than a playboy pictorial .  br    br   the  dramatic tension  in this film is between bo  s terrible acting and her husband  s horrible direction . the snake fight has to be one of the most incompetent  action  sequences ever filmed . however  this is one of those films that  s bad enough  it may be worth watching on the level of unintentional humor . definitely the worst film i ever paid to see .  
jack frost is really a cool movie . i mean . . . . its funny . its violent . and very enjoyable . most people say that it is b rated  but that couldn  t be farther from the truth . it has great special effects and good acting . the only weird thing is of course  the killer snowman . i think this movie was actually one of the best films of the late  nineties . most films these days lack the criteria of a clive barker master piece . that is  be original and give the viewer what they do not expect . jack frost is very cool .   out of   . grade a . ed also recommends the movie uncle sam to fans of jack frost .  
this is not a very good telling of the tarzan epic . there was only one reason for this movie . john derek wanted to show off his beautiful wife in the buff  bo derek in     was at least a humorous movie and there was a reason for nudity and sex . this movie is nothing more than soft porn . if you  re into that  well  then fast forward to it and skip the rest  this movie  like bolero  was again a vehicle for bo derek to show off her terrible acting . she is undoubtedly a beautiful woman but a poster of her is more exciting than this movie  richard harris was a better actor than this this was one of his few mistakes  don  t waste your time on this movie . . . go buy the book instead .  
okay  but just plain dumb . not bad for a horror  comedy film . i was reading how people switched it with the michael version and that is a good trick in my opinion because some grown ups hate horrors and when they see this one it will get them interested in horror films like this one or maybe  never seen it  the horror  possibly comedy  uncle sam  i  ll have to see about renting or buying that film but the  nd is way better then this one but i bought this one on vhs of amazon and got it november    the day before thanksgiving . worth the four bucks  l . o . l . at this film .  br    br        
muscular man  ape in the jungles of africa is hunted by an opportunistic expedition team the comely daughter of the team  s leader finds him first . much  ballyhooed version of the tarzan tale has an ok production  but is crippled by the single  handedly worst direction of a film i have ever seen . john derek is bereft of inspiration beyond cheesy slow  motion action shots and peek  a  boo glimpses of wife bo derek  s unclothed body he has about as much talent behind the camera as ed wood . trying for tongue  in  cheek sexuality  the dereks lack finesse  snappy timing  and taste . they have a sense of self  parody and bravura abandonment  they do throw caution to the winds   but after a promising opening it all goes to hell . miles o  keeffe  who possibly had marbles in his mouth the entire time  has the title role  but plays third fiddle to john derek  s ego and bo derek  s sense of self  importance .  from   
i contend that whoever is ultimately responsible for creating  approving the trailer for this movie has completely blundered . no one i know wanted to see this movie based on the previews  and everyone who actually saw it  that i know  absolutely loved it . . . the advertising campaign is disgrace  disaster  blunder .  br    br   opened at   behind . . .  br    br      rush hour  which i have not seen  average imdb score of  .  .  br    br      the bourn ultimatum  which i have seen  awesome movie but  rd week out  average imdb score of  .   deserving i would say  .  br    br      the simpsons movie  which i have seen  okay movie but  th week out  average imdb score of  .   a bit high in my opinion  .  br    br      stardust  average imdb score of  .   lower then bourn  but that  s been our for  weeks  .  br    br   whether it was poor scheduling or poor advertising i think that the powers that be behind this movie screwed up big time  this should have been advertised as an amazing movie that happens to be a fantasy  fairytale and not advertised as just another fairytale too bad   anyway  now that i have very pointlessly ranted on  and  on . . . awesome movie  go see it   
okay   enjoy  is a pretty relative term  but flexibility is in order when you  re dealing with a filmmaker of james glickenhaus  calibre .  br    br   mcbain is truly one of the most ridiculous  over the top action films i  ve ever seen  without the nasty edge of the exterminator . other reviews have commented on a suspension of disbelief regarding the film  s heroic middle aged commandos  but how about making a film in the philippines that is set in colombia  all the extras are filipino . in fact the only character who looks remotely hispanic is good ol  victor argo as the much reviled  el presidente   oh yes  we also have maria conchita alonso overemoting like crazy as a rebel leader . there are tons of explosions and bodies flying everywhere in this amusing paean to the glories of american imperialism .  
as far as horror flicks go  this one is pretty darn good . while it may not be a classic tale of horror and suspense  it does provide many quality chuckles that make this movie a must see if you  re into the horror  comedy genre .  
there are three kinds of bad films  the cheap  the boring  and the tasteless . the only really bad movies are boring and tasteless .  br    br   boring films are just  well  boring  if you don  t leave quickly enough  you fall asleep .  br    br   tasteless films actually have their defenders but the fact remains that they are masturbatory aids for very sick people .  br    br   only the cheap bad films are really funny  because the filmmakers wanted to make their films so desperately  they way  over  reached beyond their abilities and available resources .  br    br   bo derek is just naturally boring and tasteless fortunately  fate and a lack of funds and skill redeem her by making her seem cheap as well . this film is hilarious and it may well be the last really funny  bad film ever made .  br    br   i first saw this in a theater  may god forgive me i was laughing so hard i was rolling off my seat  and so too with most of the rest of the audience .  br    br   it  s clear that derek and her husband  promoter  conceived of this film as  partly  a satire unfortunately  the dereks clearly lacked any of the necessary resources to pull that off consequently  the  satirical  element comes off as some school  girl  s impression of some gay young man  s impression of frank gorshin  s impression of the riddler in batman trying to pretend he  s robin  it doesn  t fly over our heads  it has no clue where any human head might be .  br    br   on the other hand  there are some supposedly serious moments in this film  it is supposed to be an action film  remember  that are so astoundingly cheesy  one wonders if someone squirted spoiled milk in one  s eye .  br    br   as for derek  s infamous tendency to reveal her breasts  i can  t imagine a less erotic nudity photographic display  she is so weird looking with those broad shoulders  i can  t imagine what any one ever saw in her .  br    br   as for the plot  such as it is  well  it isn  t derek chases around africa  and god alone knows why . then her father  harris  pretends to act in some maniacal puppet  show  and then of course there  s the hunk  o  tarzan that seems to have wondered in from advertisement without knowing that the subject  s changed  probably because he hasn  t seen a script  apparently no one has .  br    br   negligible camera work  shoddy editing  if it weren  t for the   way with the chimp  the film would be unbearable   br    br   as it is  it  s a real hoot .  
how can someone not like this movie    this movie is so good  that the first week i saw it on the shelf at the video store it was stolen . . . . best horror movie ever    . . . . i mean he took the carrot and he . . . well you know hahaha . . how is that not funny  the only movie that comes close to touching this is bride of chucky and that was just great    
this is a re  imagining of tarzan in the era of the soloflex and apocalypse now . there  s nothing inherently wrong with using films eased moral constraints to portray an erotic side to the tarzan legend . there  s nothing inherently wrong with the premise that tarzan doesn  t speak . there  s plenty wrong with suggesting a woman who could get herself to an african jungle in      could be this offensively stupid and plastic . bo has as few lines as possible when bodies are explored because this movie is merely a video  centerfold  as neutral as possible so that you can project yourself and your lecherous fantasies into the project . if it succeeds anywhere it  s in the implication that national geographic has influenced the way the imagery of a tarzan movie might be constructed .  br    br   it would be ridiculous to argue that movies shouldn  t employ the sexual tease as one of many tools to draw in viewers . some really great film moments incorporate it . but this move is at the opposite end of the spectrum  the tease is the only thing going on here at the time of its release and now . you sit through awful  dumb scenes that offer no interest  and miles of footage of bad acting to drool over the next peek at either of two bodies . yes . . . bo derek and miles o  keeffe are beautiful  um  congratulations on having a working libido .  but if that  s your excuse for giving this schlock a good rating you really should visit a porn store and stock up . there  s only a hairs  breadth difference between the two formats and  i  m just guessing here  a horny viewer would probably really enjoy the latter . the question is whether a mainstream movie is the best venue in the marketplace for viewers to seek out products that satisfy lust alone .  br    br   as a showman  john derek successfully capitalized on the sexual mystique developed over wife bo in the movie      and created a media event out of a shallow project whose only merit was the hotness of the two leads . the movie itself was beside the point . he was about   years ahead of his time in thinking audiences would applaud him for making an insipid  shallow movie that was only about showcasing superficiality .  br    br   as a director  john derek appears to require only that mrs . derek look pleasant  empty and hump  able in every scene . it  s hideously shot . the camera placement is annoying . in terms of editing  the entire  wipe  catalog is exhausted . the credit sequence is garish . and it  s a toss  up as to who commits the worse screen offense bo derek who  s such a bimbo that she can  t even figure out how to play a bimbo  or richard harris who shouts every line  as he likes to do  until you want to shoot him . at least with bo you can imagine her blaming some horny writer for shortchanging her .  
this film is absolutely hilarious . basically  the plot revolves around a serial killer being somehow turned into a snowman through some b  movie chemical accident . he then heads for town and starts terrorising the locals . its up to the local police chief and some other characters to try and stop him . its made on a wee budget and it certainly shows  but the great thing about this film is it knows that its rubbish . the improvisations of styrofoam and polystyrene mimicking the giant killer snowman are classic  and this is clearly the intention  its one of the few films that has its budget as its main selling point . alongside the comic tackiness there are some other great comedy moments  listen out right in the beginning for the voice over of a dad scaring his kids to death  and the funniest rape scene ever committed to film . fantastic tacky fun  
surely one of the most ill  advised remakes of a classic in film history  especially since the promise of its tag  line  the most beautiful woman of our time in the most erotic adventure of all time  isn  t even properly exploited  although this film was regularly shown on tv in my neck of the woods since my childhood days  its notoriety  for awfulness not erotic content  mind you  kept me away from it until now  and i only relented because i have recently enjoyed bo derek  s previous film           and have been watching a lot of fantasy stuff as well over the christmas period .  br    br   lead actress  producer bo derek is rather ridiculous playing the schoolgirl  ish sexual innocent  witness the inept banana scene  and  as was to be expected  she is made to get her clothes off a few times but  as welcome as these scenes were  she came off as far more sensual in   than she does here richard harris  then  chews the scenery incessantly as jane  s obsessed explorer father  but john philip law barely registers as his aide who meekly shows some initial interest in jane herself newcomer miles o  keeffe has the title role and he only makes his entrance   minutes into the movie  is completely silent throughout except for his famous yodel  which is probably lifted from johnny weissmuller anyway   and  furthermore  is as inexpressive as one of the trees he dangles from at regular intervals throughout the film  s second half   for the record  he later starred in two ator movies  or would  be conan imitators  for joe d  amato and the king arthur  era set  sword of the valiant       .  br    br   when still an actor  director john derek  who also serves as his own cinematographer here  had worked with some good film  makers  cecil b . de mille  william dieterle and robert rossen  and a few great ones  otto preminger  nicholas ray and don siegel  but he clearly learned zilch from them as his direction of this one is a major liability appallingly pretentious at times  witness the perfectly horrid python attack sequence  with a senseless overuse of the slow motion technique and cheesy transitions this was derek  s seventh film as a director  and his second of four with wife bo  and  eventually  he would only get to make two more .  br    br   the film  s utter failure only needs to be gauged by the fact that the tarzan legend was tackled once more on film  in greystoke the legend of tarzan  lord of the apes  which  surprisingly enough  i haven  t watched myself yet   a mere three years later   nominated for six razzie awards  including john derek  richard harris and miles o  keeffe  and winning one for bo derek herself  tarzan  the ape man was co  written by gary goddard  the future director of another highly anticipated but ultimately disappointing transposition to the silver screen of a  this time animated  heroic figure  master of the universe       which i will be revisiting presently as well  yay   despite a charming closing credit sequence showing tarzan and jane playing with around with an orang  utan and a music score that is not half bad actually and quite rousing on occasion  any belated good intentions are defeated by an extremely silly climax involving natives painting bo completely white and  fatally  john derek  s clear disinterest in the character of tarzan himself which makes him come off as an unimportant supporting character in his own self  titled movie    
before i comment about this movie  you should realize that when i saw this movie  i expected the typical crap  horror  b  movie and just wanted to have fun . jack frost is one that not only delivers but is actually one of the best that i  ve seen in a long time . scott mcdonald is great as jack frost  in fact i think he has a future in being psychopaths in big time movies if ever given the chance . mcdonald is a serial killer who becomes a snowman through some stupid accidental mix of ridiculous elements . as soon as that snowman starts moving around and killing people  though  you will find it hard not to laugh . the lines that are said are completely retarded but really funny . the fact that the rest of the cast completely over  acts just adds to stupidity of the film  but it  s stupidity is it  s genius . the scene where the snowman is with the teenage girl is truly classic in b  movie  horror film fashion . i truly hope there is a sequel and i  ll be right there to watch it on whatever cable channel does it . of course it  s only fun to watch the first few times and it  s not exactly a good work of motion picture technology  but i just like to see snowmen kill people . i gave it a  out of    this is a great movie for dates and couples in the late hours .  
when i was a teen  ager seeing this film for the first time  i thought it was one of the best movies ever made . of course  the reason for that is bo derek and her various states of undress in this film . however  now that i  m older  i can honestly say that this film is awful . mind you  bo derek is absolutely incredibly beautiful  and she and husband  director john derek make sure you see plenty of her . but when you take that aspect out of the film  it becomes one big dull ride . and tarzan  well  he  s all muscular like you think he should be  but when he sees jane  that  s bo  of course  for the first time  he doesn  t know what to think . this despite the fact that bo is wearing a wet see  thru shirt  with her breast prominently displayed . tarzan would be the only primitive man on the planet who would have that problem . if you are looking for a movie to slobber over a beautiful naked body  then this might fill the ticket . if you are looking for a thoughtful  entertaining and worth  while film  go elsewhere . . . almost anywhere else at that     
this movie is goofy as hell  i think it was written as a serious film  but then when it came time to film  michael cooney said  hey  let  s throw in some humor and spice it up   the characters are actually slightly developed  too . oh  and the death sequences are the best . one thing i hate  though  was the hairdryer  weapons . what was that all about   
it is a great tragedy that both richard harris and john derek are no longer with us . but that shouldn  t blind anybody to the fact that in      a pretty ugly blotch appears on both men  s cvs . no doubt john derek conceived this movie doing for his wife what  some like it hot  and  one million years bc  did for maryln monroe and raquel welsh respectively  creating an iconic sex symbol for the new decade . having run to embrace dudley moore on the beach in     bo  s reputation  an all  star cast and location filming in sri lanka meant that nothing could go wrong . alas  as they say  mortals plan and god laughs . it is said that when this film premiered in      the edgar rice burrows estate tried to take legal action against it . bo derek plays jane parker who sets off into turn  of  the century africa to be reunited with her boozy  abusive dad  richard harris . daddy parker is an explorer who has set out to find  the great inland sea  the stuff of local legend  whose existence has been poo  pooed by conventional wisdom . harris is worth watching for a wonderfully hammy  tanked  up performance which includes singing an irish ditty at an indian elephant that somehow found its way into africa  did it arrive at the same time as the orang  utan from sumatra     furthermore  although jane professes to despise parker  bo and rich  s relationship is creepily incestuous  testimony perhaps to the effects of the tropical heat . before long  however  local legends start to circulate about a  great white ape  and jane hears the famous yodel . this is the movie  s cue for miles o  keefe  a future b  movie star  making a rather odd debut as the loin  clothed lord of the jungle . unlike johnny weismuller with his pidgin english or ron ely who speaks the language fluently  the o  keefe tarzan is mute . given some of bo and richie  s dialog  though  this is probably not a bad thing . harris and his caravan eventually reaches the great inland sea  located atop a gigantic plateau that seems to run halfway across africa . . . . hang on  aren  t seas  lakes and other watery places generally located in low  lying areas   nevermind  it is just one of many anomalies in the john derek universe . the crew attempt to mount the cliffs and when the ropes snap  harris roars echoing abuse at the hapless men who have plummeted to their deaths . on another occasion  jane decides to take a nude swim by the inland sea  giving another occasion to see some gratuitous nudity . out of nowhere a single male lion appears . now lions usually travel in prides and never go near beaches but later on  tarzan will be wrestling with a  venomous  boa constrictor . zoology doesn  t seem to have been one of john derek  s strong points . . . . . this being a tarzan movie  jane becomes enchanted with the lord of the jungle and resolves to take his virginity . but having seen his closeness to some of those chimps  you do have to wonder . . . speaking of which  it  s not only the edgar rice burroughs estate could have sued . it is highly probable that certain primates were on the phone to their lawyers the chimps here make you miss cheeta badly . especially when they do ridiculous things like ride on the backs of elephants and clap their hands when tarzan and jane finally get it on  the climax of this film has bo and harris captured by some rather stereotypical cannibals who paint our heroine and prepare to sacrifice  eat  execute her . suffice is to say that the great wooden ape gets his girl and spoiler harris gets himself impaled on a huge elephant tusk  this doesn  t stop the dying parker from delivering a rambling monologue to jane . as far as i am aware  the law suit from the rice burrows estate never materialized but  tarzan the ape man  was crucified at the box office  no kidding   a pity . john derek could have directed  tarzan the ape man   with bo derek and miles o  keefe living in domestic bliss and dudley moore as  boy .   
okay  here  s what i think about jack frost . i looked at the morphing box for the vhs tape and i thought to myself  this looks interesting . i rent it and i take it home . boy was i right  it is interesting . they put serial killer  s spirits in dreams  in walking corpses and inside every day machines . but this has got to be the most unique place to put the spirit of a serial killer . inside the body of a snowman . i liked all the friendly snowman images littering the landscape  the pot holder  the snow globe  etc . i like the actor who played jack  he put some fun into a killer really not seen since freddy krugger . that  s right  i said it . freddy krugger . it  s that level of  cool  . i wish some of the puppet effects were better  the mouth movements could have matched better . but i chalk that up to a small budget . the cast does a great job  there are some great one liners and scares to make any hardcore horror fan jump . all and all  a great story  good effects  great dialog and a great cast . i give jack frost . . .  stars  
this is the best film the derek couple has ever made and if you think this is a recommendation then you haven  t seen any of the others . there are the usual ingredients it is just as poorly acted as their other efforts  we can watch bo disrobing or auditioning for wet t  shirt contests quite frequently  the story is just laughably idiotic  and the film takes itself much too seriously . and then orang utans in africa   br    br   but it has a few things going for it . bo looks great  the production values  sets  costumes  etc .  are quite good  and this greatly enhances its camp value . in a strange way it is actually quite funny  simply because it tries to be serious and fails so badly .  
i saw jack frost for      at my local store and i thought it looks pretty good for a low budget movie so i bought it and i was right it was good . for starters this film is about a killer snowman so that  s something to laugh about and the way it looks was funny compared to the snowman on the cover .  br    br   the acting was okay and the lines jack frost said had me laughing  i only axed you for a smoke  and  worlds most pied off snow cone  how funny and camp is that  the tale at the start was pretty funny and silly too  jack be nimble  jack be quick  jack gouged eyes with candle sticks  . if you  re looking for a for a b  movie comedy horror that  s full of puns then check jack frost out .       
for that matter one of the worst films ever made . plot goes as follows . slog through jungle looking areas for   minutes or so . have bo go somewhere and strip . slog through the jungle some more . give bo another excuse to strip . back to the jungle . oh look  there  s a tarzan looking guy  strip  bo  strip . kill the safari people . tarzan looking guy has a fight scene . saves bo . bo strips . run credits . run credits  run .  
jack frost is about a serial killer who is sentenced to death . on the way to his death sentence the prison truck that he rides in collides with a chemical tanker filled with a chemical that turns his molecules with the snow on the ground turning him into a snowman . being a killer himself that would turn him into a killer snowman . jack now wants revenge on the sheriff who caught him . jack now starts his rampage all over again killing people in a small town .  br    br   i don  t think jack frost has a chance of becoming a horror classic but its a entertaining flick . just put your brain on hold and have fun with it  but just don  t take it too seriously .  
as i am from hungary i have heard many people saying better and better things about vegtigris so far  but actually i don  t understand the reason of all the fuss .  br    br   i liked many points of the movie  some of the quotes really cheered me up  but the stereotyped characters are present again  like in every hungarian film  and the story is also pretty dull . i liked the first half  but then i started to get bored  and then i found the whole film just boring .  br    br   rudolf pter is good as always  reviczky is brilliant also  but the others are just there . . . doing nothing .  br    br   how many years still have to pass for a good hungarian film     
yes this a b  grade horror . but at least the producers  directors  and cast does not pretend this flick is manna from heaven . the plot is corny  a psychotic serial killer on his way to execution is splashed with genetic acid turning him into a snow man . the snowman a . k . a . jack frost then goes on a murdering rampage to find the small town sheriff that finally arrested him . with a limited budget the crew had to make do with limited special effects  most of the money appears to spent on the snowman  s costume . particullary difficult shots are managed by cartoons or pan away shots  shots where the camera moves away to disguise the details  .  br    br   this is no kid  s movie and should not be confused with disney movie of the same title . if you do not let your children watch pg    movies alone than parents should not let their kids watch this movie . this movie has two claims to fame .  . the beatiful shannon elizabeth  american pie  did her first major movie role . the scene where jack frost attacks shannon elizabeth is worth watching a few times .  . this movie has the worst snowman joke ever . the joke is so bad that the directors credit the joke teller in the credit list .  
this movie was boring   br    br   yes  there are a few funny moments and jokes  but you cannot base a whole movie on that   br    br   the characters are too stereotyped  there is no real story  but short episodes with freaky side  characters  who are not freaky enough to make the plot genuine .  br    br   shame  because most of the actors are acknowledged in hungary  a mystery why they took the roles .  br    br   this is not a new hope for the hungarian film . it was boring  though it was meant to be genuine or unique . they could have tried much more harder than this . . .  out of    
note that i did not say that it is better . . . just more enjoyable . the lack of social commentary and realism helps keep things moving .  br    br   i was actually sort of surprised that this was not a troma movie  as it has all the troma trademarks  including spewing acidic liquids  wisecracks from the villain after every murder  a ridiculous bathtub rape scene  which is sort of hard to get upset about  since the rapist is a snowman   and dumb deputies .  br    br   there  s a lot to love  br    br    . a snowman  about whom it is remarked that he has no legs or feet  drives a police cruiser around town .  br    br    . even though it is supposed to be close to  or below  freezing  nobody  s breath shows and there are no signs of car exhaust when cars are running .  br    br    . the snow reminds you more of flocking or styrofoam peanuts than actual snow .  br    br    . a teenage girl gets the hots for her boyfriend just a few hours after her brother is gruesomely murdered . she talks him into breaking into the sheriff  s house  of all places  in order to get it on . but first  she tells him that he has to build a nice fire in the fireplace and open some wine .  br    br    . after teen  aged jake  s head is cut off by a sled runner  his father argues with the sheriff about whether tommy  the sheriff  s son  had anything to do with it . the sheriff maintains that tommy wouldn  t have been fighting with jake because jake  is at least two feet taller than tommy .  at that moment  someone in the background chimes in   not anymore    br    br    . when the evil snowman finally starts to melt away  the sheriff wrestles with a flat snowman made out of some sort of fabric for an extended period . this is much better than tarzan wrestling with rubber crocodiles or gladiators wrestling with stuffed lions . if i were an actor  i would not have been able to keep a straight face at this point .  br    br   all in all  a fun film . there  s not really even that much blood .  
judging from this film and the strong man  made the same year  i would not place harry langdon at the top of the list of great silent screen comedians . there simply is not enough there . perhaps he was on his way to developing his style but sabotaged himself by taking his first big successes too seriously . in any event  all of his tricks are reminiscent of the greater funny men  but he lacks the acrobatic skills of keaton and the prodigious ingenuity of lloyd . he also undermines his own persona by dressing and walking like chaplin  s tramp character . his trademarks are childlike innocence  timidity of approach and a tendency to under  react to calamity by looking perplexed  batting his eyes or touching his pursed lips with the tip of his forefinger . the comedy in langdon  s films results from fate throwing various obstacles in his path which he tries to overcome in wimpy or nave ways or with a minimum of physicality  such as throwing rocks at an approaching tornado to drive it away  propping up a collapsing building with a two  by  four or dodging boulders by lifting a leg so that they roll under him . in this story  about the son of a shoemaker who joins a cross  country walking race to publicize a rival company  s footwear  he manages to win by sheer luck . there is nothing here that hasn  t been done far better by the big three .  
this remarkable film can be summed up very easily . first of all  while the comparisons to  princess bride  are inevitable  it  s almost futile to do so . while both films combine adult wit and humor with a fairy tale backdrop   stardust  is so much different than any other fantasy  sci  fi film i  ve ever seen . it  s such a hybrid of those genres  but its plot and script are so unique that   along with the performances  special effects  cinematography  and score   the finished product is simply not all that comparable to anything that has ever appeared on the silver screen . secondly  the score is very effective at simultaneously pulling us into the story and the fantasy world in which it takes place and pushing the story along  while creating just the right amount of awe and excitement necessary to make the magic believable within the realm where the characters exist . thirdly  i did not find the film to be even remotely difficult to follow or confusing in any way . in fact  the interesting interplay between the three main subplots actually made it even that much more compelling to watch . wonderfully casted  and superbly acted across the board . this fantasy adventure  with sci  fi elements  was the best one i  ve seen since  return of the king   not that i am comparing the two at all  . ok  so its not that easy to sum up  but don  t let any crude and  or heartless and cynical review nor the film  s pathetic pr prevent you from partaking in the best time you could have at the movies this summer  or even possibly in a long time    
a far as b  movies go  scarecrow is one of those that are so bad  that it becomes incredibly annoying to sit through . a lonely loser high school student who is constantly picked on by classmates and rejected by girls  ends up walking in on his trailer trash mother having sex with a drunk redneck . he then chases the kid out into a nearby cornfield and kills him . apparently  the kids soul was transfered into a scarecrow which then goes around killing the bullies who tormented him as well as teachers . this scarecrow  aside from having a snappy one  liner for each of his victims  can also do matrix  like flips through the air and kill people on sidewalks in broad daylight . also  why did he always look like a rotted corpse  just like the two needless sequels that followed this  this isn  t even worth a laugh .  
surprisingly good . the acting was fun  the screenplay was fun  the music was cheesie fun  the plot was stupendously fun . this was a fun movie to watch and to give your brain some rest . parts of the plot and quotes i found to be very creative .  out of   . actually for what it was  it would deserve a   out of   . you are not supposed to compare this to an arthouse film or to a bloody slasher film .  
during the early      s  kurt thomas was something of a hero in the united states . inevitably  men in his position get offered film roles that exist solely to capitalize on that . i have no idea what thomas was paid to make this film  but i would have to be paid a big heap of money to agree to make a national fool of myself in a motion picture . the film is obviously derived from  enter the dragon   as are most martial arts pictures . only instead of a real martial art  they concoct an absurd new martial art  accurately described by one critic as  a cross between kung fu and break dancing .  a gymnast  thomas  of course  is hired to rescue some lady from an impenetrable fortress  yet every room has a prop that is exactly what thomas needs to kick the assistant baddies . of course  he fights his way to the lead villain  and of course they have a fancy  dancy fight  with an ending that will surprise only those who have never seen a marshal arts film . there are touches which nostalgic types will like  particularly the mullet haircuts of thomas and many of the male co  stars have . but the only reason to watch this film is if you have a grudge against kurt thomas  who now wishes he had never set foot on the film set .  
this is one of the funniest movies that i have seen this year . the people that made it must be so incredibly whacked and twisted . it is a beautiful thing . there were a lot of quality one  liners . this movie blew uncle sam out of the water  it was made by tha same people  i think   
kurt thomas in one of the series of gymnast olympic stars turned movie stars movies that mercifully only includes one other . . mitch gaylord in american anthem . . . at least that one had janet jones . . this one has . . . um . . . a gymnast using his martial arts and his gymnastic skills to save a european country from dictatorship . . sure it could happen . . on a scale of one to ten . . a   
i  m glad that users  as of this date  who liked this movie are now coming forward . i don  t understand the people who didn  t like this movie  it seems like they were expecting a serious        treatment  c  mon  how the hell can you take the premise of a killer snowman seriously  the filmmakers knew this was a silly premise  and they didn  t try to deny it . the straight  faced delivery of scenes actually makes it funny  yes  there are times where the low budget shows  such as that explosion scene   but i think an expensive look would have taken away from the fun of the movie  so if you like b  movies  and the goofy premise appeals to you  then you  ll certainly like  jack frost  .  
as a kid  my friends and i all believed that gymkata was the most violent  bloody movie ever made . i  m not sure who started that rumor . it was probably born out of the frustration of   year olds who weren  t allowed to see it for one reason or other . years after gymkata was released  it became a perennial late night cable movie  and as a result  i  ve been able to make up for lost time . i must have seen scenes from this dreadful excuse for a film over a dozen times  and i can always spot it from    seconds of screen time . however  aside from the forced coupling of gymnastics and martial arts  the bad dubbing  the stiff dialog  and the outrageously difficult story  line  the film has some things going for it . with all that  s bad about the movie visually  the sound is actually pretty entertaining . never before has a punch or kick landed with so little force and so much volume  the canned kung  fu sounds are cheeky  but the slowed and pitched  down music  and the nearly  minute slow motion scene are truly weird . the chase through the city of demented  blood  thirsty villagers isn  t really tense as much as it is irritating  and there are enough bad wigs and extras who all but look into the camera and wave to make this train  wreck a little fun . could it be headed for cult  classic status  where is mst  k when we need it   
easily the greatest low budget horror film of all time . i first saw this movie when i was around nine years of age  and i have to say that it scared the hell out of me . now that i  m all growed up  however  i see this movie for what it really is . . . a work of genius . everyone  or at least everyone with any taste  has dreamed of seeing a snowman going around killing people  even if they won  t admit it . i have always found something genuinely frightening about snowmen  so naturally  for a horror junkie such as myself  thismovie was a dream come true . some people say that this movie is silly  or otherwise void of any intelligence . . . it  s a movie about a serial killer snowman  what the hell did you expect  anyone who gave this film a low score is obviously too uptight to sit back and have a good laugh at stupid one  liners and cheap gore . i love this movie for what it is  a comedy  and until the movie industry wises up and makes a serious horror flick about a killer snowman  which seems impossible  unfortunately  i will forever hold this great piece of indie horror close to my heart .  
kurt thomas stars as jonathan cabot some kind of a gymnast who trains for a special game which involves being hunted by a group of ninjas  but those ninjas won  t stand a chance  especially since cabot is a gymnast  taken as a whole gymkata is one helluva bad movie  the atrocious acting  the god  awful script and really incompetent directing make the quality below human standards  however this movie is so terrible it becomes really  really funny . i mean with dialog such as  i know i  ll outsleep them   or  ha   your through   only add to the mock value that gymkata more then obtains . besides it  s  wisely  the only movie that has are hero a gymnast who finds things to swing on in the heat of the moment .  
certain dvd  s possess me until i just have to go out and buy it . this was one of those movies . like many on here  i remember seeing it as a child and loved it . i never knew there were scenes and musical numbers that were cut  so i was intrigued to see what they might be . i will agree that the  portabellow road  sequence is now a tad long  as is the soccer game  but other than that  i found no qualms with the remaining scenes that were put back in their respectful place . perhaps disney should have had the original version  which is the restored version  on one side with the restored version on the flip side  then people could choose what they wanted to view . all in all  it  s still an entertaining movie that still manages to recapture some of my childhood memories .  
if i could say it was better than gymkata  i at least felt my money was not totally wasted .  br    br   then i saw steven segal  s on deadly ground .  br    br   this movie should see a resurrection though on mst  k . if santa claus conquers the martians could make tom servo  s head explode  one wonders what mayhem this movie could cause .  br    br   there is a very good reason why kurt thomas never had a movie career .  br    br   the writers of this dreck should be forced to wear placards every day of their lives that say  bitch slap me  i was a writer on gymkata .   
bedknobs  broomsticks is another one of disney  s masterpieces . it was filmed with sequences of animation and the actors and actresses interacting with the animations .  a similar concept was used in mary poppins when the children and mary disappear into the sidewalk art .  i am mainly rating this film through child  s eyes because i have not seen it in years . back then  it was one of my favourite films . it was magical and mystical  and the last scenes  the conflict beginning with the ghostly armour walking into battle  were my favourites . there was also a lot of stop  animation used with the spells  ie  people turning into rabbits   which may be a little dated and silly now .  also  i believe that the film starts off slowly .  through the eyes of a child  this is a fun film and it is easy for children to put themselves into the places of the children in the film . it is an imaginative film which is sadly largely  forgotten today .  
america needs the best man possible to win  the game  so who do they hire  a gymnast  oh brother   played by kurt thomas who has the necessary skills to win in a game which involves ninjas  a village of crazies and richard norton who is told by kurt thomas  to keep his hardware in his pants .   his exact words  i missed this in theaters and it  s a good reason because i would have probably been kicked out due to the laughing i broke into at regular intervals . the first thing that went through my mind was just how lame these ninjas are if a gymnast can kick their ass . kurt thomas is like  foot  and he hardly strikes one as  the best man for the job  as to the acting talent of kurt thomas  well if you can  t say something nice . . . in all seriousness though one has to wonder how much cocaine was being used to furnish an idea so stupid . only the decision to cast tara reid as a scientist tops the dumbness here . for   years though this held the title of the dumbest movie i had ever seen . not to say i didn  t find this unwatchable  i was laughing so hard i almost choked to death . twice . only in the    s could a movie with such a bad idea get made . although for the record it is the only movie to ever feature a hero so wimpy  he can  t even pull a wedged sword out from the ground . this is the wimpiest action movie ever made  and one of the most hilarious also .  br    br    out of    bad   
i love bed knobs and broomsticks so much that it makes me cry a thousand tears of joy every time i have the magnificent pleasure of seeing it . i would also like to reiterate the simple fact that i love it so much . too much some have said . i have   copies on video and i love them all equally . i also love anyone else who loves it . i love you . my favourite scene is the dance scene at portobello road . i have learned the dance moves and practice it everyday . i have some audio recordings of myself singing the song . if anyone can play the drums or guitar i am thinking of forming a bed knobs and broomsticks band . i hope to call it  the knobs  . love me  liz   
buck  s role as the kahn brings to mind bob barker  of the price is right  running a country the same way he runs his show . but there  s lots more to chuckle and snort through in this turkey . kurt thomas as the baby  faced  hero  displays some considerable acrobatic skills  but not a whit of acting talent whatsoever . there  s a few spooky moments  in the village of crazies  mostly   and some mildly impressive martial arts sequences . but any given  ninja  movie will give you much more entertainment  and you won  t feel as guilty about laughing .  
what a great gem this is . it  s an unusual story that is fun to watch . yes  it has singing  but it is very nicely crafted into the story and is very melodic to hear . it was so pleasant to watch i enjoyed it from start to finish   br    br   the movie takes place in england during world war ii . it is about an apprentice witch who is searching for a missing portion of a spell that she needs . she uses her rough  magic  to transport her and  children under her care to various destinations to find it . they are joined by her correspondence teacher  who is surprised to learn that the lessons from his school actually work   br    br   although the special effects may seem a little dated at first  once you get used to them they become part of the charm of this movie . in fact  the movie won an oscar for these effects   br    br   the movie is innocent and fun  and it  s hard not to like the tuneful songs . the characters are wonderfully interesting to watch . i think anyone at any age could find something to like about this movie .  
whew . what can be said about gymkata that hasn  t already  this is nothing but pure halarity from beginning to end . if you want a movie that will keep you on the floor laughing  this is the perfect movie to get . from cabot  s wild  style mullet  sweater combo to parmistan  and it  s four billion assorted ninjas   everything about this film reeks of crap .  br    br   directed by robert clouse  the infamous mind that brought you the mirror scene in bruce lee  s game of death  he once again showcases his complete lack of directing talent . a few other faces you most likely won  t recognize will appear for your enjoyment as well  from buck kartalian to tadashi yamashita  although you won  t remember them or care about them after the movie is done .  br    br   supposedly based on a book called  the terrible game   which  if i could find a single trace of it  s existence anywhere i would be interested in reading it  to see where this thing went wrong . instead  the book apparently is a figment of gymkata  s imagination . probably something clouse made up in order to sell his lame idea .  br    br   pick this one up and yakmallah it for yourself . it is easily one of the best bad movies i have ever seen  and that is saying quite a bit .  
this is an old fashioned  wonderfully fun children  s movie with surely the most appealing novice witch ever . unlike many modern stories which seem to revel in dark witchcraft  this is simply a magical tale of hocus pocus that is cute  light hearted  and charming .  br    br   the tale is set back in     in the english village of peppering eye  where three cockney children  charlie  carrie   paul rollins  are being evacuated out of danger from world war ii city air raids . they are mistakingly sent to live with eglantine price  who is studying by correspondence course to become an apprentice witch . eglantine and the trio of children use a magic bed knob in order to travel to london on their flying bed . here they encounter emilius browne  the fraudulent headmaster of miss price  s witchcraft training correspondence school . miss price sets about working on spells designed to bring inanimate objects to life . meanwhile  they must also deal with a shady character called the bookman and his associate  swinburne .  br    br   angela lansbury is of course marvelously endearing as the eccentric witch in training  miss price . david tomlinson plays mr . browne  headmaster of the defunct witchcraft school  who has now turned street magician . this actor was previously cast as the children  s father in the movie mary poppins . in fact  this film is a tale quite reminiscent of the earlier mary poppins  both wonderful fantasy stories for children . perhaps this movie doesn  t have quite such memorable music as chim  chim  cheree  but it does boast some appealing little tunes . some have been critical  but the movie features excellent special effects . all in all  the story is enchanting family entertainment . it  s a pity if modern children are too sophisticated for this lovely  bewitching tale  which should appeal to the child in all of us .  
this movie was god  awful  from conception to execution . the us needs to set up a  star wars  site in this remote country  this is their premise  the way to gain access  the us concludes  is to win an obstacle course like cross  country race  where the winner can ask anything of the leader . and who better to win this race known as the  game  than a gymnast  of course  a gymnast would be the perfect choice for this mission . and don  t forget that his father was an operative . lucky for our hero  there happen to be gymnastic equipment in fortunate spots  like the stone pommel horse in the middle of a square  for no reason  amidst crazy town . perfect .  br    br   but above and beyond the horrible  horibble premise  is the awkward fumblings of the romantic scenes  the obviously highly depressed ninjas whose only job seems to be holding a flag to point out the race path  and the worst climax ever . after winning the race  our hero puts forth the wishes of the us government . and lo and behold  all the effort was worth it  because the us gets its  star wars  site  huzzah  this is your triumphant ending   wow .  br    br   but still  being such a bad movie  it can be great fun to watch . the cover alone  depicting ninjas with machine guns  was enough to get me to rent this film .  br    br   but if i were ever to meet kurt thomas  the gymnast  star  in real life  i would probably kick him in the face after a double somersault with     twists in the layout position .  
a great movie . lansbury and tomlinson are perfect  the songs are wonderful  the dances  with a particular mention for the  portobello ballet  are gorgeous . as for the animated section  the match between animals has become an instant classic the climax with the attack of the armatures is chilling and fascinating . i recommend to see the restored    minutes version or at least the    minutes video . here in italy we have only the   minutes version  although the film was presented in its original release at the running of    minutes . if possible  watch also the german videocassette it was generated from the   minutes running but it  s missing of every refer to world war ii and of all the scenes between english people and their nazi invaders   
thank g  d it bombed  or we might get treated to such delights as  skate fu  where we can see the likes of brian boitano performing a triple lutz  slashing bad guys to ribbons with his razor  sharp skates  but i digress . one thing that could have helped this turkey would have been a little t  a from ms . agbayani . it  s not like the world would have seen anything new  at least that part of the world who saw her playboy spread .  i truly believe that porn would have suited her  talents  much better  although aubrey hepburn couldn  t have stayed afloat in this sewer . one explanation for kurt thomas  presence could be a traumatic brain injury  possibly from coming up short too often on dismounts . it  s a good thing the ioc wasn  t as diligent on  doping  as they are now  or kurt would surely have been stripped of his medals . to be avoided at all costs .  
please  future writers  producers  directors  learn from this movie   br    br   never before have i seen such a bold and original tale created for the big movie screen . bold  because the script constantly made a step so many fantasy movies safely avoided  a step to something new  creative and daring . just when you think  oh  i  ve seen this before  or  i am sure this is what will happen now   stardust would make an unexpected twist and involve you more and more into the story .  br    br   the actors are great  even the smallest part is performed with such talent it fills me with awe for the creators of this movie . robert de niro is gorgeous and performs with such energy that he simply steals the show in each scene he  s in . michelle pfeiffer is the perfect witch  and claire danes a wonderful choice for the innocent and loving  star   yvaine . other big names make outstanding roles . i had the filling everyone is trying to give his best for this movie . but once again  the story by neil gaiman  all the little things he  invented  for this universe  simply outstanding .  br    br   i watched this movie at a pre  screening today  a day before the official release  and do hope it will have huge success . there is so much humor  but also tense moments as well as lovely tender scenes . the look in the eyes of yvaine  the  frivolities  of captain shakespeare  the passion of lamia the witch  impressive  unforgettable  br    br   for me this is the number one entertaining movie of      watch it and enjoy it  br    br         outstanding  br    br   peace and love  
wow  what can i say about this film  it  s a lousy piece of crap . i  m surprised that it got rated as high as it did . what  s wrong with this film  here  s a better question what  s not wrong with this film .  br    br   the story itself is just crap and clich . here  s pretty much what it  s about . . . some kinda nerdy kid with no friends gets picked on  gets killed  and comes back as a scarecrow for revenge .  all  of that is packed into   minutes of worthless film . if you haven  t seen this movie don  t waste your time watching it . also  the second one isn  t much better  so don  t bother watching that either . . . i rated this movie a three because i liked the scarecrow  s outfit  not because there was anything good about the movie . i think you get the picture .  
this movie is one of the best ever produced by disney .  br    br   the plot is very original and entertaining . the animated sequence is also very well done with the live actors .  for the time  .  br    br   perhaps one of my favorite sequences is contained in this movie with the march of the suits of armor .  
this movie is hilarious . the problem is that it  s not a comedy . one classic scene involves kurt thomas just happening to find a pommel  horse in the middle of a village square  which he uses to pummel the bad guys .  another is the trek into the  village of crazies .  too bad this movie wasn  t made to be a farce  or it may have gotten better ratings .  
angela lansbury plays eglantine a middle aged lady in war torn england  during the wwi . she has been studying witchcraft by mail  and has been secretly learning it in her home  she is doing well  until three children who have been separated from their parents from the last air raid  are sent to stay in angela lansbury  s huge house . she is not happy about having them  because of her secret . they only want to go back home . the oldest boy is very hard to get along with he is a brat . the other two a boy and a girl are just inquisitive about their new place to stay and the lady that is their hostess . the kids find out about her secret and that is when the fun begins . fun and more of it . family fun . laughter  frolic  adventure  something for everyone . the special effects are quite good . this is a musical the tunes are every bit as catchy to sing later as any of the other disney films . add this to your family video library . you will not be disappointed .  
one night i was waiting for my friends to come back to the apt and  gymkata  happened to be on i watched way too much of it . it is indeed hilarious  and horrifying  really . think about it this way   if in your job you had an idea for something this bad and went on to execute it in as terrible a fashion as this  how long exactly would you last  not as long as this movie . it  s a must  see  obviously .  
delightful disney film with angela lansbury in fine form as a middle age spinster whose interest turns to witchcraft in world war   england .  br    br   lansbury was about age   at the time of the film and she is just ideal for the part . she is jessica fletcher again but this time it  s for the benefit or children and for mother england during a time of great peril .  br    br   the film follows the adventures of miss price  lansbury  and david tomlinson as the professor of witchcraft in trying to obtain certain information on sorcery . those  little darlings sent to live with price to escape the london bombings are just wonderful in this enchanting film for all of us regardless of age .  br    br   too bad that tessie o  shea  roddy mcdowall and sam jaffe are given so little to do in this endearing film .  br    br   i really thought of the ben stiller film   night at the museum   at the end of the film when the relics come to life to do battle with the nazi invasion in the small british coastal town .  
gymkata is without a doubt one of the worst movies ever made . but not the bad kind of bad movies . this one is so awful it  s fun to watch and laugh . kurt thomas clearly does not have a lucrative career in acting . he should go back to gymnastics . but who can forget such memorable scenes as the high bar with chalk  the stone pommel horse or the five minute chase scene through the village of the crazies in slow motion . i don  t think it was meant to be this bad  but who can tell . it  s not art  but if you want something lite and fluffy that will make a good conversation  rent gymakta . makes for an evening of fun .  
never viewed this     film and was greatly entertained by this great production created by the walt disney studios and great animation creations . angela lansbury   eglantine price  played an outstanding role as a woman who had taken a course in witch craft and was an apprentice who was beginning to fly on a broomstick and had quite a few difficulties taking off . eglantine discovered many tricks and was able to make a bed travel to different parts of the world . however  eglantine missed her final exams to becoming an accomplished witch . mr . emerlius browne   david tomlinson  was the person who sold eglantine this course in witchcraft and he tries to help her in every way possible to find her solution . eglantine has a purpose to her madness and that is to stop the nazi  s from evading england . great family entertainment and we need more films like this today .  
this is indeed quite the strange movie . . . first  we have an ex  u . s .  gymnast trying to turn actor  or something   and this seems to be the only role he ever got  that i know of anyway    and for good reason . while he does pull off the role well enough to keep some interest  it is a rather bland and flat performance . second  we have the worst ever sound effects ever used in a movie    i  m not kidding . this alone makes the movie extremely comical  but in that annoying way . hehe and third  while we have a generally decent acting supporting cast  including the required hot chick    an actually not  so  bad story  and some cool visuals the dialogue  fight scenes involving gymnastics  hilarious    and overall execution of the plot are weak . this movie would have been barely better as a network tv movie  too bad fox wasn  t around in      . it  s one of those movies that  s simply bad  yet you can  t resist watching and even enjoying it once you get used to it  especially now that it has found the perfect eternal home on late night tv and cable .  
i saw this when on the wonderful world of disney as a kid  so i didn  t recall much of it . as i watched it recently  i sat there thinking   this is the weirdest thing i  ve seen  .  br    br   the  traveling  scenes look like something caused by an lsd overdose . the animated characters are mostly oddly colored  voiced versions of jungle book and robin hood characters . some not  so  disney things i noticed kids being threatened at knife point and prostitutes  during the portobello road song  .  br    br   it was very entertaining  though the musical numbers were long and i can see little kids getting bored with them . also  the subject manner was a bit dark  seeing as it was set during ww  .  
ironically  although he can do the  splits   thomas is a complete stiff as an actor .  br    br   this film is seared into my memory as one of the most side  splittingly cheesy and incompetent movies i have ever seen . as such  i  m actually rather fond of it .  br    br   still  the only reason this gets more than one star is that thomas is great shape  and it  s fun to see his tiny  muscular body performing various feats of gymnastic skill on the oddly shaped rocks and poles scattered about the east european country side  including the infamous  pommel horse  shaped well cap in the middle of a village square that thomas uses to plant his feet in the faces of various insane villagers  . but let the poor guy open his mouth and try to emote  and any illusion that he might have a film career is immediately dashed to bits .  br    br   thomas at least had the excuse that he wasn  t really an actor . everyone else in the film  actors  director  editor  camera guys  etc . is at least as bad  or even worse  and most of them are professionals . so kurt doesn  t come off quite as badly as you might think .  br    br   i hope poor kurt took the money and ran . if anyone ever asks him to perform in a martial arts film again  i  ll bet that thomas kicks the guy in the face .  
mary poppins is definitely much better  but this is a lovely film nonetheless . angela lansbury is splendidly dotty as engletine price  and david tomlinson has great fun as mr . brown . their chemistry was just brilliant as well . the children  however just lacked the same sparkle  though paul is very funny and cute . the songs were actually not as bad as some people say   beautiful briny sea  is the best  in fact all the songs are outstanding . the special effects were wonderful  that had plenty of magic  and the story is original enough . the highlights  though  like mary poppins  were the animated sequences . the underwater sequence was beautiful  but my favourite was the football match  which was absolutely hilarious . the only other criticism was that i didn  t quite get the ending when i first saw it . all in all  a lovely film  that is hardly ever on .     bethany cox  
although i had seen  gymkata  in a theater way back in     i couldn  t remember anything of the plot except for vague images of kurt thomas running and fighting against a backdrop of stone walls and disappointment regarding the ending .  br    br   after reading some of the other reviews i picked up a copy of the newly released dvd to once again enter the world of gymkata .  br    br   it turns out this is one of those films produced during the    s that would go directly to video today . the film stars champion gymnast kurt thomas as jonathan cabot  recruited out of the blue to infiltrate the nation of  parmistan  to enter and hopefully win  the game   a suicidal bloodsport sponsored by the khan who encourages his people by yelling what sounds like  yak power .  the goal of the mission involves the star wars defense system . jonathan is trained in the martial arts by princess rubali  who never speaks or leaves the house . once trained tries to blend in with the locals by wearing a bright red sweater with dashes of blue and white . needless to say cabot finds himself running and fighting for his life along the stone streets of parmistan  on his way to a date with destiny  and the game .  br    br   star  kurt thomas was ill served by director robert clouse  who it looks like was never on the set . the so called script is just this side of incompetent . see other reviews for the many howlers throughout . the town of crazies has a few good moments  but is ultimately ruined by bad editing . the ending . . . meh . still there  s the germ of a good action adventure here . a hong kong version with more visceral action and faster pace might even be pretty good .  
perhaps disney was hoping for another mary poppins but this is a very different story and while angela is delightful she was a very different performer to the great julie andrews . having said that lansbury is perfectly cast and delivers a magical performance . there is something deliciously dotty about her character and she is given wonderful support by david tomlinson . tomilinson can carry a tune but he is certainly not much chop as a singer . it does not matter he was such a gifted actor you hardly notice . there are some great cameos from much loved stars of another time like roddy mcdowel who gives a winning performance and the much loved tessie oshea who does very little but its nice to see the old gal again . its also lovely to see sam jaffe and the king of english television bruce forsythe in small roles . the score has a couple of beautiful songs especially the briny sea and the age of not believing . the big number portabello road is stretched to the limit but it has plenty of theatricality . the effects look a bit clich today but the scene with the german invaders being attacked by the wildest army in film is pretty impressive . the kids are not as annoying as other movies but one does struggle to understand what the youngest boy is saying . i loved the marching song of the home army . the home guard were very important to britain and this is a warm tribute . the animation is delightful  much better than pixar which i find grotesque . a warm happy film and its a wonder its not done on stage .  
how this movie escaped the wrath of mst  k i  ll never know .  gymkata  is a ridiculous action movie  filled  or is that empty   with paper  thin plots  dumb characters  and preposterous situations . but take it from me  if you enjoy watching poor  yet goofy  movies  you will enjoy  gymkata  a great deal .  br    br   the action centers around a gymnast who is chosen by government agents  at least i think they were government agents  to become a spy . you see his dad was another quasi  government agent  who has gone missing competing in this game  called  eloquently   the game .  so the gymnast  played blandly by kurt thomas  trains to compete in this game and find out what happened to his lost dad .  br    br   sounds promising doesn  t it  okay  so it doesn  t but still  that bare bones plot sypnopsis doesn  t begin to describe the joys of this movie . they can be found in the movie  s strange details . like the gymnast  s mysterious asian girlfriend  who doesn  t speak for the first half hour of the movie  then all of a sudden begins to talk  and doesn  t shut up for the rest of the time  or the really tough shirtless bad guy who likes to make and break  the game   s non  existent rules whenever he so pleases . and of course there  s our hero  s delightful romp through the  village of the crazies   evidently that  s the place  s real name   . nice place to visit  but i wouldn  t want to live there .  br    br   but where this movie really shines is the action scenes . since our protagonist is a gymnast  the director thought it wise to stick gymnastic equipment into the back alleys and town squares of middle eastern cities  so that our gymkata master would be better able to use his gymnast skills to fight the scourge of evil on parallel bars and pummel horses . it has to be seen to be believed .  br    br   one interesting thing of note . a lot  i  d say about half the cast  dies from being shot with an arrow . interesting because the arrows are the only believable effects or action in the entire movie . if these were indeed effects  my one major note of compliment to whoever devised these very realistic arrows wounds . more likely  this was the film  s way of not paying extras . nevertheless   gymkata  deserves a look if you can see it without paying and are looking for some silliness that is an easy target for riffing .  br    br    
okay  this film is about bedknobs and broomsticks  it  s one of the most charming  delightful movies you  ll ever see as a kid . it  s the unforgettable movie about two adults and two spunky kids on an adventure for fun . it may be a little deniable to watch  but try it  i neither my mother didn  t think it was bad  i was very enthused with the movie and the animation  they were all quite good .  br    br   it is a delightfully wondrous comedy for the whole family to enjoy even the kids . ages  years and up will enjoy this wonderful  musical comedy with you and your family especially the animation . the animation movements and layouts are really nice and deserve a thumbs up . it  s a terrifically good musical for the whole family so what are you waiting for  go to the video store and rent bedknobs and broomsticks now .  
i really don  t get all the adulation that this film has received . it  s mawkish  unnecessarily manipulative and dodges many of the big issues  ie nash  s affairs and his predilection for having sex with men in public places . that  i suppose  in the context of a commercial hollywood film is just about tolerable  but what  s with all the praise for russell crowe  s performance  the man just seems to shuffle about  clutching his briefcase and wearing a grungy hat and somehow that seems to qualify as fine acting  anyone who has ever known a person with mental health problems will realise that crowe  s performance is little short of caricature . it is also rather offensive . and  dare i say  just on the right side of being truly terrible  
in loving memory of david tomlinson             br    br   when i watched this movie for the first time i was  years old and i got fascinated by this story of witches in the  nd world war . the scene  which impressed me the most  was the fight between the nazi soldiers and the medieval army . it was exceptional to see this army without a body walk to fight the astonished singing their march . this movie is fantastic  from the trip to portobello road  which became to me the most fantastic place of london  to the journey to naboomboo . angela lansbury and david tomlinson are really a fantastic couple . she is always great  it seems the good aunt of a family and david with his always astonished face is her great co  protagonist . we  ll miss him a lot .  
first off  the movie was not true to facts at all . i just saw the documentary a few days earlier and the movie wasn  t anything like it . first of all nash was a genius at mathematics and this is what the movie should have been about not a story about a man who was cured and who found love at the end and so on . also there are a lot of scenes that were just plain wrong  the scene where he rode around with a bike at the campus happened in his early university years not after it . in my opinion russell crowe didn  t fit to this part at all since he doesn  t look the intelligent  individualist type  therefore he really couldn  t play one . it would have been great if it would have focused more on the mathematics  similar to pi  and not the over  dramatized lovelife . at this level abm was too hollywood  ish and too superficial to be great . personally i think he wasn  t mad nor paranoid and he was onto something since people of that caliber tend to know more than we  lesser mortals  .      
i  ve just purchased the restored version of a film that i remember with much affection from childhood and it  s certainly made for a curious afternoon  s entertainment . bedknobs definitely makes more sense in its complete form  the deleted scenes  especially those with mcdowall  link events together quite neatly . what is a little disconcerting is the way the scenes have been remastered . clearly  the soundtrack to this footage had been lost or damaged  so some bright spark at disney decided to dub the scenes with new dialogue . which would have been great except that half the cast weren  t around to do it  some for better reasons than others  and the whole thing has a rather shoddy quality to it . some of the lip  synching is pretty poor  and david tomlinson  s voice has been dubbed by a bloke who sounds absolutely nothing like david tomlinson  there  s actually a hint of german in it  i think  . however  good to hear the full versions of all the songs  although  step in the right direction  is still absent  and the moments of magic in this film still shine through . and i challenge you not to giggle when young paul gazes so innocently at angela lansbury and coos  but what  s that got to do with my knob     
i will spend a few days dedicated to ron howard before i swear off his work entirely . having  unfortunately  dealt with lucas at such a young age  howard is now caught up in so many of lucas  traits . how else do you explain his rampage of disasters  his only useful film  of course  has been  willow  . everything else  including this  is too reliant on superficial junk .  br    br   some spoilers .  br    br   he can  t even have semi  intelligent focus like peter weir . no  poor howard so stuck on his spielbergian knockoff qualities that he will be quickly forgotten .  br    br   here we have the old adage  love conquers all  even disease .  too bad for howard that lynch already got through the whole subtext with more skill . heck  even disney did better than this . ron even goofs up on the possibilities presented by imagined realities .  br    br   howard  s commentary track is just awful . don  t even rent the dvd .  br    br   final analysis   cinematic dud  
what a wonderful  fanciful movie  stardust  is .  br    br   i could easily end it with that one statement and suffice to say  one could take it as a very strong recommendation to go see it .  br    br   at a time when hollywood seems bent on forcing remakes and sequels down our throats   stardust  makes us remember why we go to the movies in the first place  to escape reality for a couple of hours and explore other lives  other times  or other planets . ironically   stardust  takes us to all three places effortlessly and with a childlike glee we all long for .  br    br    stardust  is full of all the characters we remember as children princes  witches  pirates  ghosts and scoundrels . it has the damsel in distress  the hero  the rogues  the obstacles  spells  antidotes  charms  and even a touch of light  speed to make it quasi modern .  br    br    stardust  is about a man from the town of wall  which is conveniently situated next to a wall that separates their town from a magical kingdom . the only way past the wall is through a breech that is diligently guarded by a scruffy old codger  played wonderfully by david kelly  . one day a young man from wall named ben barnes out maneuvers the old guard and escapes through the breech . he happens upon an enchanted kingdom called stormhold where he meets a chained  and very sexy  young lady named una . she is held captive by a witch and leashed by an unbreakable chain . while the witch is away  una seduces ben and sends him on his way . ben returns to wall without incident and continues his life . but nine months later he is summoned to the wall breech where the old guard hands him what you might expect  a baby boy .  br    br   the boy  named tristan grows up to be a rather hapless young man  charlie cox  who is smitten with a girl way out of his league and also betrothed to another . nevertheless  the young lady  named victoria and played sienna miller  goes out once with tristain and he confesses his love to her . after they espy a falling star  she tells him he can have her if he retrieves the star and brings it back to her . he agrees and sets out on his quest  which will take him to the other side of the wall .  br    br   meanwhile in the kingdom of stormhold  the old king  perfectly played by peter o  toole  is dying . he calls his remaining living sons to tell them who shall succeed him to the throne . his sons  names are primus  secondus  sextmus  and septimus . the other sons where killed by the other brothers in a humorous competition to see who lives to get the throne .  br    br   anyway  he tosses his ruby charm to the sky and voila  that what brings the star to earth .  br    br   the star crashes in the form of a beautiful woman named yvaine  clare danes  and she  of course  is wearing the charm . but little does she know she is now being persuaded by tristain  the princes  and also an aging witch named lamia  michelle pfeiffer  who wants to cut out the stars heart to regain her own youth .  br    br   complicated  yes . but it all comes together as the adventure unfolds .  br    br   tristain is the first to find yvaine but is so blinded by his devotion to victoria he doesn  t recognize the growing bond between he and yvaine . his initial interest lie only in returning yvaine to victoria as proof of his love . but he must get past the princes and lamia first . the princes aren  t that big an issue as they are constantly trying to kill each other  and just as in  pirates of the caribbean   never has death been so funny .  br    br   but tristain also encounters the witch who enslaved his mother  though he doesn  t know it  s his mother  and a band of flying pirates led by robert deniro .  br    br   his is the most important character in the movie and deniro plays it to a tee . he steals the movie with his toughness and soon we learn an undercover secret that will leave audiences on the floor with laughter . though his role is small in length  deniro is extraordinary   br    br   michelle pfeiffer is wonderful as lamia  a sexy evil witch . claire danes is most appropriate as the confused and distressed yvaine . she makes a perfect damsel . jason flemyng  adam buston  rupert everett  and mark strong add the perfect dose of levity as the fighting princes whom  as they die return as ghosts ala  blithe spirit  and  high spirits  .  br    br   moreover director matthew vaughn  whose only other directing experience was  layer cake   weaves an enchanting tale that everyone will enjoy .  br    br    stardust  may be too complex for young children  but anyone over the age of   will want to see this movie multiple times . it  s that good .  stardust  is what movies are supposed to be . perfectly written  perfectly cast  perfectly directed  and perfectly acted . in other words . . . perfect .  
i  m watching this on the sci  fi channel right now . it  s so horrible i can  t stop watching it  i  m a videographer and this movie makes me sad . i feel bad for anyone associated with this movie . some of the camera work is good . most is very questionable . there are a few decent actors in the flick . too bad they  re surrounded by what must have been the director  s relatives . that  s the only way they could have been qualified to be in a movie  music was a little better than the acting . if you get around to watching this i hope it  s because there was absolutely no other option  the sequel  yes sequel  is coming on now . . . . i think i  ll skip it  jason  
i have personally seen many disney movies in my lifetime  though absolutely none of them match up in any way to bedknobs and broomsticks . although i personally wouldn  t have crossed live  action with animation  it was an improvement on trying to dress people up as animation characters . the movie pits three evacuees from world war two who are sent to stay with a silent and socially awkward woman in the country . i would have to say that the casting was brilliant . angela landsbury made a perfect miss price  while david thomilson made a great desperate entertainer love interest . endings always surprise me and this was no exception . it was neither happy nor sad  though i do not know if this was intentional . the dialog wasn  t great  but considering it was designed to be a kid  s movie  that is alright . overall  i would give the performance nine out of ten  the dialog six out of ten  the casting nine out of ten and the costumes eight out of ten .  
i saw this movie with the intention of not liking it . i sure didn  t . it  s one of those movies that seems to have been made exclusively for the oscars music throughout the film in almost every single frame  almost no profanity  set in a time long gone  sepia  toned imagery  pretentious title  no sex  and a genius that explains everything he thinks and concludes in sfx  cgi so that we  the stupid audience  get it . one thing that amused me though is the fact that they spelled the nobel price wrong  instead they call the nobel  price  named after an actual person called alfred nobel   the noble  price  . . jesus  how can one make such a mistake in such a big production  supposedly based on a true story . what a sham  what were you and the others thinking ron   
i will always have a soft spot for this disney flick  another of their part live action  part animation entries that sought to recreate the success of  mary poppins  and never quite made it . when i was in grade school  every once in a while we would have a movie day  where the whole school would crowd into the cafeteria  and a movie would be projected the old  fashioned way  multiple reels and all . at the time  it seemed like a momentous occasion whenever this day arrived  and  bedknobs and broomsticks  is one of the movies i can remember seeing this way .  br    br   and from what i remember  it  s quite charming . angela lansbury never put her name to anything that wasn  t at least competent  and she  s winning here as a witch with a magic bed  boy  that could be misconstrued  couldn  t it   who can take her and a couple of young kids on magic adventures to far  off places . come on  what kid wouldn  t want a bed like that   br    br   grade a  
 . . . and in no way as clean  logical  and understandable as in pictured in that pathetic sum of tired hollywood cliches .  br    br   i  m    and i  ve spent   years of my life struggling through delusional phobia and paranoid hallucinations . like the main character in the film  i was successful mainly because of logic  because i kept thinking over and over to keep delusion away from reality  and to know what was really going on and what wasn  t . in the end  i was really successful because of medication  by the way  but i certainly escaped madness because i knew before i took medication the difference between what was real and what wasn  t .  br    br   so  i feel entitled to tell you that this movie is a total fraud . not only does it cheat with the main character  s story  who wasn  t faithful to his wife  who was bisexual  something really important here   but mostly  it shows a comforting  tamed view of schizophrenia  which is entirely missing the point .  br    br   schizophrenia is a mind structure  not a disease . a schizophrenic isn  t a  normal man with a disease   it  s someone who from early on views and feels things differently from most people  for him  things like time  space  and people  s personalities aren  t solid things . he feels it can be bent  it can change  it can mutate  and maybe even disappear . to cope with this  a schizophrenic has a rich  very imaginative inner world which  normal  people don  t expect  but he  s trapped in it because he can  t relate with most people  and his world gets poorer and poorer until he finishes in a blank  delusive dead end .  br    br   this is very different to what  s depicted in this ridiculous  cure   tear  jerking movie . it should be violently frightening . people other than the main character should appear strange  weird and absurd  like in lynch  s  eraserhead   for example . there should be really impressive  weird  gross hallucinations  because that  s what schizophrenia is all about . it  s not about details .  br    br   i mean  watch  naked lunch    lost highway   read p . k . dick  s  martian time  split  or  ubik   do watch  the cell    perfect blue    dark city   or play  american mcgee  s alice  on pc  and you may have a vague idea of what it  s like . don  t watch the  feel good  movie of the month  with banal situations  cleaned characters and visuals  and stupid plot tricks .  the cell  is the most accurate movie about a schizophrenic  s mind  his visions and his inner consistency  it  s violent  weird  confusing  and very  very scary .  br    br   once again  schizophrenia isn  t about details  it  s not a neat  tame trick played to you . it jumps in your face and won  t let you go  walls fall apart  people turn into strange hostile creatures  you feel like you go backward in time  you  re not sure you  re who you think you are  everything feels . . . strange  unnatural . believe me  this is much much more than what  s depicted in this soap  like melodrama  
fabulous  fantastic  probably disney  s best musical adventure . i have loved this film for over   years because it is so imaginative  clever and fun . even despite the silly  flying bed  scenes  the other scenes and dialog are magical and funny . could they have picked anyone better than angela lansbury to play eglantine  i cannot think of anyone more suited to the role . remaking this classic would be as stupid as remaking mary poppins .  br    br   david tomlinson  though he had few quality movie roles  absolutely shines in this adventure . he was a comic genius who is often forgotten nowadays . blustering  prim and proper englishman   nobody could really do slapstick and pull it off as gracefully as he does . it would be tragic to remake this film because tomlinson has been deceased for a few years and nobody could step into his shoes and do his character justice .  br    br   the dancing nightgowns and armor have a magical aura about them that other movies with witches just don  t capture . i particularly enjoy the parts where the germans invade eglantine  s house and she must defend it in any way she can .  br    br   bobbing along  bobbing along on the bottom of the beautiful briny  sea . richard and robert sherman outdid themselves on the musical numbers . all of them are fantastic and worth remembering  portobello road being one of my favorites .  br    br   a great film that still holds up today    
when many people say it  s the  worst movie i  ve ever seen   they tend to say that about virtually any movie they didn  t like . however  of the nearly    movies i can remember ever seeing this one is one of two that i walked away from feeling personally insulted and angry . this is my first movie review  by the way  and i registered with imdb just to rave at this movie  s badness . i went to see it when it was in the theaters  myself and my two buddies were  of  people there   and after   years i can  t remember very many specifics  but my attitude upon leaving the theater is still crystal clear .  br    br      spoiler alert     br    br   oh my  where to begin . fat loser left at altar  goes on ski weekend  meets blonde bombshell who takes an interest in him  takes him home to meet the family  they  re all cannibals and he  s the main course  pathetic attempt at a dramatic escape  kicks all their butts and runs off with the brother  s girlfriend  they live happily ever after . puke . firstly  the gags are so bad that it took me a while to understand that they were trying to be funny  and that this was a comedy . the special effects  what few there are  look like they were done   years earlier . the big dramatic ending was so hokey and poorly acted that it was nearly unbearable to watch  he knocks out the entire cannibal family with rakes laying in the lawn  that stand up tom and jerry style when they step on them  . i  m sure that there  s much  much more  but i have no intention on seeing it again for a refresher .  
the obvious parallels between walt disney  s charming fantasy bedknobs and broomsticks and c . s . lewis chronicles of narnia are pretty apparent . there are more coincidences here than comparing bedknobs and broomsticks than with mary poppins even though a lot of the same creative talent went into the two disney films .  br    br   like the chronicles of narnia it involves some english children leaving london during the blitz and coming to live in the country . and those kids have to deal with a world of magic . but unlike c . s . lewis the rawlins kids have the magic invade their world and help defeat the people making a mess of it in the here and now . no retreating to a fantasy kingdom like the pevensie kids .  br    br   no heavy duty philosophy here from walt disney except maybe it  s not a good thing to mess with witches even apprentice ones like angela lansbury who learn their magic from a charlatan like david tomlinson . ms . lansbury didn  t get to be one of the most bankable of performers for nothing . she carries her own brand of magic that even the special effects boys at disney couldn  t top . and they won an oscar for the magic kingdom in that department for this film .  br    br   two performers made their farewell to films in bedknobs and broomsticks . tessie o  shea played her last role in this film  she graced many a film in the united kingdom as one of their best loved music hall performers . and that grand character actor reginald owen as the retired general who leads the old home guard in war and in song bids adieu to film audiences around the world .  br    br   the team of robert b . sherman and richard m . sherman who wrote the score for mary poppins wrote a good and serviceable one here . the age of not believing was nominated for an oscar  but lost to the theme from shaft . personally though i do like david tomlinson  s tribute to that most colorful of london streets  portabello road .  br    br   bedknobs and broomsticks is a fine fantasy film that still holds up well after almost   years . imagine what it would be like with computer generated graphics .  
so let me start off by saying that i saw this movie as part of a bargain . i was really bored one fine     day and so i biked over to the movie rental store . i asked the clerk what the worst movie he had in stock was . without hesitation he walked me over to  lucky stiff .  he told me that he  d waive the   rental fee  he said it would be wrong to charge more  if i promised to watch the whole movie . so watch it i did  for free . . .  br    br   this movie is terrible . god  awful even . i don  t need to go into plot details  read the other reviews . the jokes make no sense . the acting was terrible . i know it was supposed to be a comedy  but the stupidity of the main character was exhausting . you might try to watch it as something to laugh at  but it  s so bad that it isn  t even funny in that way . avoid   
i was lucky enough to catch this film finally on turner classic films tonight  as it is one of the films that won an oscar  for special effects  in their yearly month of oscar winning films .  br    br   bedknobs and broomsticks is easily a sequel film for the earlier success of mary poppins . that film too was a big success  and an oscar winner  best actress for julie andrews  . like mary poppins bedknobs has david tomlinson in it  in a role wherein he learns about parenting . it is a fine mixture of live action and animation . it is set in a past period of british history  if not the edwardian  georgian world of     london  it is england  s coastline during the  dunkirk  summer of      . it even has old reginald owen in it  here as a general in the home guard  whereas formerly he was admiral boom in mary poppins . ironically it was owen  s final role .  br    br   the home guard sequences  not too many in the film  reminds one of the british series dad  s army  dealing with the problems of the local home guard in the early years of the war . the period is also well suggested by the appearance of the three rawlins children as war orphans from the bombings in the blitz in london . and  in typical disney fashion  in the musical number  portobello road  different members of the british army  including soldiers from india and the caribbean  complete with metal drums yet    appear with scottish and local female auxiliaries in costume .  br    br   all of which  surprisingly  is a plus . but the biggest plus is that for angela lansbury  her performance as eglantine price is finally it her sole real musical film lead . in a noteworthy acting career  lansbury never got the real career musical role she deserved as auntie mame in the musical mame that came out shortly after bedknobs did . she had been in singing parts  in gaslight with her brief up in a balloon boys  and in the picture of dorian gray with little yellow bird  and  best of all  in support and in conclusion of the harvey girls with the final reprise of on the atchison  topeka  and the santa fe  . but only here does she play the female lead . so when you hear her singing with david tomlinson you may be able to understand what we lost when she did not play mame dennis burnside .  br    br   the rest of the cast is pretty good  tomlinson here learning that he can rise to the occasion after a lifetime of relative failure . the three children  cindy o  callaghan  roy snart  and ian weighill  actually showing more interesting sides in their characters than their edwardian predecessors in poppins  weighill in particular  as something of a budding opportunist thinking of blackmailing lansbury after finding out she is a witch  . the only surprising waste  possibly due to cutting of scenes  is roddy mcdowall as the local vicar who is only in two sequences of the film . with his possible role as a disapproving foe of witchcraft he should have had a bigger part . also of note is john ericson  as the german officer who leads a raid at the conclusion of the film  only to find that he is facing something more powerful than he ever imagined in the british countryside  and sam jaffe as a competitor for the magic formula that lansbury and tomlinson are seeking .  br    br   as for the animation  the two sequences under the sea in a lagoon  and at the wildest soccer match ever drawn are well worth the view  with tomlinson pulled into the latter as the referee  and getting pretty badly banged up in various charges and scrimmages . as i said it is a pretty fine sample of the disney studio  s best work .  
portly nice guy falls for a luscious blonde she likes him too  but not for the reasons you might think . little  seen black comedy from writer pat proft features very good performances by joe alaskey and donna dixon  yet it makes no lasting impact . it  s just a quickie throwaway effort  helmed by norman bates himself  anthony perkins . even on the level of b  comedies  the somewhat  similar  eating raoul  is a better bet . there  s definitely an amusing set  up here unfortunately  the picture has nowhere to go in its second act . an interesting try  but it misfires .  br    br    from   
  bedknobs and broomsticks  is a magical adventure film with a certain charm  despite not being one of the best disney works . it has a generally good story  nice songs  great characters  good actors  magical and delightful special effects  good settings and lovely landscapes of england .  br    br   it also combines very well live  action and animation . the animation itself is  of course  pretty good . the animation resembles very much that of the     animated film  robin hood  and the same can be said about the animated characters there are plenty of wild animals such as bears  elephants  hippos  lions  crocodiles and others like in  robin hood  . besides  the king  a lion  seems to be a mix of prince john and king richard  not to mention that the bear does look like little john .  br    br   this movie is often compared to  mary poppins  with a reason . both combine live  action and animation with a similar artwork . both have similar settings in london . both have their own magic and a magical woman . the kids  carrie  charlie and cute little paul  are a bit like the banks children . both movies were directed by robert stevenson and both cast david tomlinson . however  instead of a very serious man like george banks  david tomlinson plays a merrier and magical man  professor emelius browne . with its magic  this movie has also some slight but significant similarities to harry potter  s stories .  br    br   the majority of the songs are good .  the age of not believing  and  the beautiful briny sea  are the very best .  portobello road  is nice too .  br    br   david tomlinson is great in this film once again . angela lansbury is great as miss price and the  kid actors are all fine too cindy o  callaghan as carrie  ian weighill as charlie  a boy in the age of not believing  and roy snart as the youngest brother paul .  br    br   i like the black cat . it  s pretty cool . it looks a bit like salem  the black cat from the tv series  sabrina  the teenage witch  . i find cute whenever one of the movie  s characters is transformed into a white rabbit . rabbits are really cute  fluffy and adorable animals . i just love them  even funnier is whenever professor emelius browne is transformed into a white rabbit because  when he  s transformed in human again  he shakes his nose like a rabbit . it  s really hilarious  combined with his comical figure and that mustache .  br    br   overall  this is an okay movie  but its ending is quite bad . the first minutes of the movie are nothing special  but then it improves a lot . the ending  however  is weak . that  s my major criticism about it  in great part because the animated knights thing is a little too much for me and also due to the war feeling .  
a strange mix of traditional    s  smartassy  chevy chase  type   every  ten  lines  you  get  a  funny  one  farce and sickie black comedy . mildly amusing in spots  but utterly tasteless . there is a skiing sequence that includes the fakest  looking back  projections since  on her majesty  s secret service  .     
this movie has always been my favorit disney movie . then on         i saw the   th aniversy of this movie dvd . wow i remembered why i loved this movie . the dvd is so great  it has an extra   min that the original did not have . i did not know this when i first started watching . the movie made ever so much more since . the music they cut out should have been left in . you have not seen this movie until you have seen the full    min version . a lot of people say that the music is forgettable . i remember every song in this movie by heart  every song has it  s own charm by it  s self  and comes together as a hole . i remember when i was younger i had the  eglantine  song stuck in my head for days at a time . as well as  briny sea   that song was meant for marry poppens but was cut out of the film  please watch the new uncut   th aniversy movie and re  vote for this movie . the   that it really is .  
this is a bad  bad movie . i  m an actual fencer trust me when i say that this film  s pretension of accuracy is just that . this is especially true during that vile little scene when the fencers are combining footwork with    s pop . the ending is predictable  and the movie is a bore from start to finish . horrible .  
this is a movie i had never even thought of seeing until my  year old spotted it at the video store and grabbed it after liking the cover picture of the animals on nabooboo island . we got it and have watched it repeatedly since in fact we  ve rented it several times since . there are very few non  animated movies that my son will watch and pay attention to what a nice change from dumbo and the little mermaid . the acting is outstanding  the songs are compelling  they get deep into your head and you can  t help but singing along . the storyline  while specifically about ww  is timeless in it  s own way and there is something new to see every time you watch . i  ve heard it compared to mary poppins  but i think they are two very different movies  both excellent  but somehow my son has no interest at all in mary poppins . this is one of those movies that kids will want to watch over and over again and one that parents won  t mind complying with . there are days we watch it before nap time and bed time and i don  t feel that groan coming that comes when he wants to repeat any other movie .  
yikes  it was definitely one of those sleepless nights where i surfed the channels and bumped into this stinker of a movie . for some of the names in the cast  i  d expect a much better movie . i  m almost embarrassed to see oscar winner f . murray abraham being reduced to such a horrible part . i hope the money was worth it . and the students  they talked about fencing like they were talking about survival in a war or through a horrible disaster . i mean  i  ve fenced  it  s a fun sport  but i  ve never been that intense . the only reason i even watched this entire movie was because the remote fell under the sofa and i was too lazy to get it back .  
what can i say about a tale such as this  this magical tale has followed me from my early childhood  evoking warm memories in my heart . the characters take you to to so many whimsical places making you want more of each scene . for example in the market there were so many different flavors of lore . i loved the exotic dancers that accompanied the steel drums .  br    br   the story line was wonderful . i wanted so badly for landsbury to decide to keep the precocious children and for her to also stay with mr . brown  and find the other half of the spell so that the men less armor could win the war .  br    br   i am still a child inside  and this movie appeals to my inner child like no other . this movie is my definite favorite of all times . i hope that all children will be able to watch this classic and be swept away  and transported into another time .  
once upon a time in the mid     s i used to write for doctor who fanzines and the whole of fandom was holding its breathe about the new american produced doctor who tvm . as soon as it was announced that the doctors arch enemy the master was going to be played by eric roberts everyone scratched their heads and exclaimed  who is eric roberts   . i should point out this was before the imdb came online when all you had to do was type in a name into this website to their resume  but one helpful soul wrote into a publication i wrote for to explain that eric roberts was best known for a role where he starred opposite f murray abraham  the film was called by the sword and was about a fencing school . actually looking back now roberts is best known for the pope of greenwich village and runaway train but that didnt stop the person putting the boot into both roberts and by the sword and his mind was made up that this american master with his southern drawl was going to a debacle . strangely most fans were furious about roberts playing the master but after they saw the doctor who tvm a great many fans  myself among them  thought roberts performance was the best thing about the disappointing american production  br    br   yeah im digressing but by the sword was a film that i wanted to see simply because it was the first time id heard the name of eric roberts but i didnt get the chance to see it untill this weekend and i was fairly disappointed with it . i know nothing about fencing  everyone else on this page seems duty bound to mention if they fence or not . i dont fence  so i dont know how accurate it all is  but as mentioned the film feels somewhat anachronistic even if you saw it on its release in      the hairstyles seem a few years out of date along with its mixed teenage cast doing a little dance routine that makes you wonder if it wouldnt have worked a lot better if itd had been produced by jerry bruckheimer in the mid     s . you could argue this would have meant the relationship between max suba and alexander villard being off centre for most of the film but i wasnt convinced about their love  hate relationship and abraham and roberts have given much better performances before and since by the sword  
this place in england during     . three orphans  carrie  charles and paul  are sent to live with miss price  angela lansbury  . she doesn  t want them but reluctantly takes them in . it seems she is studying to be a witch through a correspondence course with the college of witchcraft .  ok   i realize this is a family film but   college of witchcraft    come on    before she can finish the course though the college is closed because of the war      and she seeks down the head professor browne  david tomlinson  . and her and the kids travel around on a bed with the help of a magical bedknob .  br    br   i first saw this when i was  and vaguely remember loving it . it sure doesn  t hold up as an adult  the story is silly  even for a fantasy   the kids are terrible actors and one of them  charles  is incredibly obnoxious . also roddy mcdowall is third billed and only appears in two short scenes  there  s also a trip to the isle of naboombu which is run by animated animals . i thought that might be fun but the animation is poor  for disney  and it has a very violent and far too long soccer game between the animals . there are a few saving graces here lansbury and tomlinson are just great the songs  while forgettable  are pleasant the long dance sequence on portobello road is very colorful and full of energy and the oscar  winning special effects are still pretty impressive at the end . but the weak story line  poor animation and unlikable kids really pull this one down . i heard the extended version is even worse  i can only give this a  .  
why is it that everyone who has seen this movie feels it is their responsibility to tell us whether or not they are fencers  that point is completely immaterial to any argument to be made against this total dog of a movie .  br    br   i think sports movies fall into two categories well made movies about the human spirit and competitions  and by the sword  .  br    br   honestly this movie never could decide what it wanted to be  a touching drama for trying to be your best in life  an indictment of competitive motivation or a martial arts flick . in the end it didn  t do any of those convincingly or completely enough to make me give one ounce of care of any of it .  br    br   for the record i also am a fencing instructor  and now i am officially as bad as the rest  . but putting bad fencing in a movie doesn  t make it bad automatically . i mean look at star wars  episodes     good movies  bad fencing  . i liked those movies . but when you put bad sports into a bad movie for some reason people think that it is only the purists that think it a lame effort .  br    br   don  t be fooled by any comments on the smaller issue of fencing . this is just a bad movie . in the end  this movie has nothing for the fencing enthusiast or the movie buff or simply anyone with a pulse and three brain cells .  br    br   when i see a movie and am forced to think  man  i wish i was watching the mighty ducks .  i know that it is time to bypass the argument with the theater manager to get my money back and see if there is anyone in the lobby that will somehow give me two hours of my life back .  
this is the epitome of fairytale  the villains are completely wicked and the heroes are refreshingly pure . danes  deniro  and pfieffer are wonderful as well as the new actor who plays the role of tristan . outstanding performances  delightful magic  funny and dramatic  and a perfect fairytale ending make this film absolutely fabulous  i  m not so sure all content is appropriate for younger children but for an older audience  there are plenty of hilarious subtleties  the previews do not do this movie justice  my fianc and i were quite skeptical but were so thrilled we had taken a chance on this movie that i can only hope to assure anyone on the fence about this movie to give it a try   
i  ve gotta say  i usually like horror movies that i  ve never seen . . . however  this one was just to pathetic for my gory taste . i  m used to the gory  gut wrenching types . . . but this particular movie was lame . the acting was horrible  yet the corny  no pun intended  one  liners were cute  . and the sequel to it  scarecrow slayer was even worse  yes  probably  when it first came out  there was a huge rave about it and people liked it . but when movies like the ring and the exorcist of emily rose come out  movies like these make movies like scarecrow seem childish . if you want a movie to just pass the time  pick this one  the special effects are cheesy as heck . but seeing that it was a low budget movie  i can kind of see where that would come in . this will kind of remind you of the movie  children of the corn .  independent movies rock . . . . most of the time . so if you want to see a scarecrow killing people with corncobs  or in the sequel   scarecrows going at it  then these movies would be for you .  
spoiler alert      br    br   i had just watched the extended version of bedknobs and broomsticks . though i did like the extended version  i wish they would have left the original version on the dvd .  br    br   the portabello road could have been cut down to the orginal length . it was too long and dragged the movie along . though the dancing is great  would have been much better left on the dvd as a deleted scene .  br    br   all in all this is a great movie . my  year old liked it . and it is wonderful that movies that i enjoyed as a child are being passed on to a new generation . this and mary poppins are added to my collection .  br    br   just as i had remembered   br    br    out of   br    br    
i wouldn  t say this is a bad movie . unfortunately for me  i get the feeling that the more you know about fencing  the worse it gets simply due to the fact that it becomes totally unrealistic . i  ve been fencing since i was   years old  and this movie portrays it very poorly . f . murray abraham is good  and appears to have some fencing background   but most of the other actors   especially the students   just seem to be lost .  
set during wwii  bedknobs and broomsticks is a fun  filled fantasy adventure for kids  starring angela lansbury as an apprentice witch who  with the help of three evacuee children and a  professor of witchcraft   thwarts a nazi invasion .  br    br   brilliantly inventive  with loads of laughs  this movie will delight kids of all ages with its great characters  exciting story and catchy tunes . lansbury is perfect as eglantine  the not  quite  perfect witch who takes the three children on the adventure of a lifetime  and her three young co  stars  cindy o  callaghan  roy snart and ian weighill  are equally impressive as the cockney rascals who aid in battling the nasty hun .  br    br   the special effects are somewhat dated  but let  s face it  kids don  t care too much about these things  so long as they are entertained . and entertained  they will be . with some impressive scenes which brilliantly mix live action and animation to great effect  and more genuine movie magic than a hundred harry potters  it would be hard not to enjoy this wonderful slice of cinematic escapism . in fact  only a rather drawn  out musical number set in portobello road mars the film  s perfection  but with so much else to enjoy  that can easily be forgiven .  br    br   and besides  any film featuring uk television legend bruce forsyth as a  flash  harry style spiv is guaranteed a good rating from me .  
this is possibly the worst fencing  sword  fighting  movie ever made . that is not just because the so called sports fencing is poor but because the plot  characters are so weak that they  ve got to throw in a semi nude sex scene and  later  supposed group dancing around a fencing scene in the fencing club trying  i suppose to maintain audience interest . what a waste of f . murray abraham  s talents . you  re better served with overblown swashbuckling movies like zorro  scaramouche  anything that has basil rathbone as the villain . as a fencer myself i recognize the near impossibility of capturing fencing as a sport on film  but if it ever happens it  s got to have fresher  better drawn characters and a plot with more depth .  
i loved this masterpiece and quite frankly i  too found mary poppins  although i love julie andrews and dick vandyke  to be silly and sacrine  sweet . angela lansbury plays her character to perfection and i don  t know why people think of this film as distorted . it was magical and it was lots of fun to watch . every scene held a certain charm as you got to know the characters better . you truly see how this little thrown together family learn to bond with each other  despite their age and differences . i thought the characters were well developed  especially charles who was at  the age of not believing  . mary poppins may be more popular and cherished by others but this little gem will be the one that i will always love and cherish .  
  smokey and the bandit  wasn  t exactly shakespeare  but then nobody wanted it to be . it was lowdown slapstick  but it did have brains . it had a very smart script with definable characters and a fun wrap  up . people came out of the theater smiling .  hooper  provides none of this . there is no reason to smile . if it  s supposed to be a tribute to the hollywood stuntman  it makes them look awfully lazy by providing nothing but badly  choreographed fight scenes and one of the most unconvincing car  jumps i  ve ever seen . it all looks phony  badly  filmed almost on purpose . poor sally field  as the girlfriend who wrings her hands on the sidelines  is given her weakest role  with not a single funny or smart line   if you do that jump  i won  t be here when you get back   . burt reynolds keeps looking at the camera and winking  but the joke is on any audience who sits through  hooper  .  from   
this is one of the few films where i consider the film rendition to be an improvement on the original book . the story is clear  accessible  amusing and interesting and the musical numbers are without a doubt exceptional . i adored the cyclical rendition of  the old home guard  and the charming  portobello road   a great combination of early animation  real actors techniques which  though dated do not detract from the charm of the piece . the background of the second world war worked well and was not omitted as the film got under way  which so often happens in  evacuee  stories .  br    br   an often far too underrated film  it produces no end to enjoyment for people of all ages . the performances from the actors are exceptionally well done and the entire text is neatly tied together and well designed . guaranteed to put a smile on your face   
hooper is not funny  not fasted paced  not romantic and non informative . there is no real drama . you would think that a movie about the world  s greatest stuntman would have some drama  there was an attempt but it didn  t seem real . no character study  no lessons learned  it did not even look like the actors were having any real fun  they were just trying to act like they were having fun . there is no reason to watch unless you like to look at burt and want get an occasional glimpse of sally . prancer the horse was beautiful and did what he was supposed to do . in fact prancer was the best actor in this movie . smoky and the bandit was such a fun movie that i was ready to like hooper . this movie turned out to be a real disappointment and waste of time  
are we really making  video nasties  again  in the guise of a digital wide screen big budget remake of  mm  this is quite a ride . unfortunately there is a bit too much story and at times this becomes like a travelogue as our heroine searches the sleaze spots of paris  hamburg and amsterdam . i am however being rather churlish for the  depraved  scenes  including everything from  hot wax  harsh whipping and rough sex to drowning  beheading and some . these scenes are immaculate and it  s a pity bruno and his budget couldn  t stretch to make all the many characterful creatures introduced become more than simply caricatures .  
the greatest sin in life is being dull  and this movie is crashingly boring . its funny  its left out of his  a life in film  documentary . he goes from a long piece on  stardust memories  and then fast forwards to  zelig  . this little piece of cubic zirconia just isn  t worth the effort .  
yes  some plots are a bit hard to follow  and the bill does have a tendency to get violent  but it is actually an engrossing show  that i try not to miss . a vast majority of the episodes are very exciting and quite tense  and the acting is fairly good  though i do miss roberta taylor as inspector gina gold and todd carty as gabriel kent . i will admit  i prefer the older episodes to the newer episodes  and it is a bit of a shame that the programme is now after the watershed  as i found it easier to watch when it was at  .   . still  why i like the bill is because not only it is engrossing  but the cliffhangers at the end do make the next episode unmissable . it is true though  that it is more melodramatic than it was  but i really like this programme as a programme that doesn  t try to take itself too seriously .     bethany cox  
allen goes to the country  somewhere he hates going in real life  and has a weekend with his friends  which are the usual successful white middle  class bellyaching types that feature in many of his films .  br    br   i usually find something to amuse in woody allen comedies  but here he really falls totally flat on his face . even the one  liners seem to have deserted him . the really is no plot  bar bits and pieces of cod shakespeare   but allen seems to use the location to allow a semi  mystical air  which just makes the thing even more witless and half  baked .  br    br   it just doesn  t work at any level and is just a giant bore . the best thing about this film  apart from the end credits coming up  is that the bad reviews seem to get him to wake up and realise that simply throwing together a slapdash script and casting your mates in it doesn  t make for entertainment .  
the bill was essentially a cultural fountain from which a beautiful rainbow  haze of socio  introspection emerged  inspiring such famed derivatives as cop land  the departed  the godfather   and most recently of course  the wire .  br    br   with multi  faceted characters and story lines that have been described as    dimensional shakespeare   the bill grabbed you by the collars from episode one and just would not let you go .  br    br   the show covered  anticipated  and even occasionally caused all the major global events between     and     . the most famously prescient moment being episode   of series   which aired on the eve of the second gulf war . detective jim carver  s misguided  and ultimately career ending  drugs raid on craig  fun boy  richardson  s flat in the jasmine allen estate in early      was widely viewed as a predictive allegory for the coalition  s failure to find weapons of mass destruction following the invasion of iraq several months later .  br    br   however  it was the work the bill did to try and highlight some of the lesser  known problems experienced by police officers that won it the most praise . this was sympathetic drama covering such sensitive areas as helmet  phobia  under  uniform cross  dressing  in  van homosexuality  lost truncheons  casual drunken bestiality  regretted   siren aversion syndrome  sas   groin chaffing caused by chasing suspects while wearing an overly starched uniform and many  many more issues that still trouble  disturb  haunt and excite officers to this day .  br    br   the last word should go to one of the bill  s most famous fans  nelson mandela  it is no exaggeration to say that i would not have made it through the dark void of loneliness that summed up my last years of incarceration on robben island if it wasn  t for the heart  warming  casual buffoonery of reg hollis .   
i do not recommend this movie  because it  s inaccurate and misleading  this story was supposed to be in algerian berber territory  this one was shot in the southern tunisian desert   completetly different culture  i know i am from both tunisia and algeria   the other shocking element was the character of her companion aunt  speaks in the movie with a very eloquent french  university level academic french while the character she plays was supposed to be of a disturbed never left her mountain kind of personage  so living as a bedouin with that kind of education i that context is impossible  the most disgraceful scene and disrespectful especially for the people of the region is the  femme repudiee  segment which is s pure invention from the writer  director  things like that will never happen in a algerian society ever     
  such a long journey  is a well crafted film  a good shoot  and a showcase for some good performances . however  the story is such a jumble of subplots and peculiar characters that it becomes a sort of jack of all plots and master of none . also  western audiences will likely find the esoterics of the rather obscure parsee culture a little much to get their arms around in  .  hours . recommended for those with an interest in india .  
like most people  i was drawn to buy this film because of the pictures of the mighty bolo yeung plastered all over the box  and the assumption  from the aforementioned pictures and the title of the film  that this film is all about the beast from the east kickin  ass for   minutes .  br    br   however  to my disappointment  chinese hercules is to bolo yeung what no retreat no surrender was to jean claude van damme and fearless tiger was to . . . erm  bolo yeung  maximum exposure on video box  minimum actual screen  time  oh well   br    br   the storyline is pretty basic stuff  but it was well done  peaceful kung fu fighter  played by chen hui min  accidentally kills a man and promises never to fight again . he then runs away to work as a labourer on a pier where he impresses his co  workers with his heavy sack lifting prowess  causing them to suspect him to be a formidable fighter  dont quite know how that works but never mind  . meanwhile  the corrupt boss of the pier does a deal with gangsters  giving them exclusive use of the pier . as a result  the workers are thrown out on their ear and forced to live on the beach  where they unite against their boss  the gangster boss  and his hulking henchman bolo yeung .  br    br   while the film was quite watchable  mainly through waiting for the next glimpse of bolo   i had a few problems with it  firstly  the bad dubbing  but of course thats a given in old kung fu films . but also  the film tended to drag between the various fight  scenes . and as for the fight scenes themselves  i found them to be over  long  badly choreographed  apparently by jackie chan    badly shot and at times performed by people who didn  t seem to have any martial arts ability . . . . in fact  most of the fights in this film weren  t  fights  at all  just people getting beaten up without offering any resistance   br    br   finally  the hero  played by chen hui min . i  ve never seen any other films with this guy in  but at no point was i rooting for him . not only did he look wimpy and on the verge of tears at all times  but i found his insistence on not fighting infuriating  i understood his reasoning  but he could have saved a lot of people a lot of pain if he had done earlier what we all knew he was gonna do eventually  and fight  a bigger mystery was why this entire community of people were pinning their hopes on a guy they  ve never even seen fight   br    br   really  the big saving grace in this film was the presence of bolo yeung . not only is he as huge and brutal as ever  he has some great  funny lines and gives the rest of the cast a master  class on how to fight on film . the guy oozes screen presence and you can easily see how he became a star . the guy scares the life out of me  but i  m sure i wasn  t the only person to have watched this film who was rooting for bolo all through the end fight   br    br   all in all then  a below  average kung  fu film lifted several huge notches due to you  know  who . i  ve never met a person who didn  t think bolo yeung was great . the man  s a legend    
aileen gonsalves  my girlfriend  is in this film playing a secretary at the main character  s bank . she has a lovely scene with roshan seth in a restaurant . there  s more information on her website at  having stated my personal interest in the film  i have to say that i think it is a beautiful movie  moving  funny and beautifully filmed .  
hmm  imdb rating of  .   good comments  bla  bla . . . okay  two of my friends and me  we orderd pizza  sat down and wanted to see something as cool as ichi or at least something brainless but funny like versus . but naked blood sucked . it  s a complete waste . okay  the scene with the woman who likes to eat is quite outstanding . but that  s it . nothing more  nothing less . i won  t summerize the plot  other people did already  i just wanted to stop the hype . but watch it and rate for yourself . maybe we can push the rating where it sould be . one more thing that comes to my mind the soundtrack is even worse than carpenter ever was  okay  john  s cool . . .        
rohinton mistry  s multi  layered novel seemed impossible to adapt for the screen but the resulting movie is filled with passion  emotion  humour and pathos . the story is somewhat slow  moving but there is always something on the screen to captivate the audience . the movie perfectly catches a particular time and place with pinpoint accuracy . all of the actors are indian  few if any known to  western  audiences  but they are a joy to behold  especially the little girl who acts very convincingly . don  t be put off by the title and plot summary  this is a movie to be seen on the big screen . we have much to learn from it .  
as a huge fan of horror films  especially j  horror and also gore i thought nekeddo burddo sounded pretty good . i researched the plot  read reviews  and even looked at some photos to make sure it seemed like a good gory and scary movie to watch before downloading it . so excited it had finished and ready to be scared and recoiling in horror at the amazing gore i was expecting i was terribly disappointed . the plot was ridiculous and didn  t even make sense and left too much unexplained  the gore was hilarious rather then horrifying  and what was with the cartoon style sound effects  the acting was probably the only thing mildly scary about it . i did not understand the cactus idea and the way the mothers husband disappeared in the middle of the sea after following a flashing light  they left both pretty unexplained  or perhaps i missed it as my mind couldn  t understand what i was actually seeing . i appreciate the way it was supposed to be shocking and a few scenes  the strange cannibalism and own mother kissing   certainly were  i just think they went a little bit far and not even in a horrifying way  they made it to unconvincing which made it more believable to be a comedy rather than a horror in my opinion . however it is a very entertaining film and got a lot of laughs out of me and a couple of friends  but sadly we were expecting horror not comedy so its worth a watch for the entertainment value  but don  t be expecting a dark  deeply scary and horrifying film you  ll just be disappointed . if this was a horror comedy  spoof i  d probably rate it about a nine  the climax being the weird scene when the husband climbed inside his wife  s stomach and closed up her wounds  but as a horror sadly i gave it a one .  
if any style of film could be called my  guilty pleasure   it  d be this generic fantasy type . guilty is the wrong word for it  though  as i  m pretty pleased to be an escapist from time to time .  stardust  is good stock fantasy  the likes of which one should expect from neil gaiman  or gaiman adaptation  as it were  . it isn  t the visual dream  scape of mirrormask  it isn  t the adult pretension of pan  s labyrinth  and it isn  t the fun  loving classic the princess bride  but it contains just what the fantasy  lover is familiarized enough with to be completely comfortable during the entire viewing . fantasy lovers should rejoice   special effects work has finally become good enough and cheap enough that this stuff is in regular production now .  br    br   the story of stardust involves a young man named tristan who  in order to gain the love and approval of the most beautiful girl in their small town of wall  goes on an adventure to retrieve a fallen star . to make things difficult  however  tristan  s fallen star is actually a woman named yvaine  and he  s not the only one looking for her . . . some witches have their greedy eyes on the immortality the star  s heart can give  and a brother  s feud over the magic kingdom leads murderous princes in her direction .  br    br   from there it  s all pretty predictable  but it involves some attractive fantasy elements  some warm  hearted commentary on the nature of love  and the best part  robert deniro as a gay pirate . on that note  deniro  s performance is spot  on . . . it  s not the excessive lisp that most actors use to portray gay people  but a surprisingly effective one from someone used to being seen as a rough  and  gruff typecast character  thus the ongoing joke surrounding his character matching deniro  s own opening up into alternate forms of acting  . deniro hasn  t been so unique to his own image since brazil  and that  s saying something .  br    br   stardust is the type of movie  perhaps  that will subsist on children  s and fantasy  lover  s shelves for a long time . i can  t say it offers anything new  but it  s not really there to . it  s actually those most familiar with it  s tropes that will enjoy it the most .  br    br     polarisdib  
let  s face it some lame kid who dies and has his soul transfered into a scarecrow . das no gonna happen neva  omfg this stupid loser kid who can  t stand up for himself gets his ass handed to him by some drunk bastard screwing his mom . right as he dies  he looks up at the scarecrow and he let  s his spirit go into the scarecrow . the drunk guy covered up his death by making it seem suicidal and thought he had gotten away with it . we later see he is tossed out of the trailer and later earns another encounter with the scarecrow . they had a brief encounter which includes the drunk calling him a loser and the scarecrow rebounding with  takes one to know one  loser   the scarecrow flips off the building  calls him  daddy  o   and then beheads the poor man . we can see how this awesome movie unfolds from that . he goes on to kill many people  afterward . he mainly kills the people who gave him a hard time in rl and goes off to kill some random ass people  just for some laughs . no laughing here . he adds a punchline to every kill  too . every time he killed someone  he would do some karate flips and finish it all off with one of his signature punchlines . in the case of someone who was hard of hearing  he would say  here  have an ear of corn   then shove it up their ass . or we can actually take an example from the movie  he just got done killing a cop and was on his way to killing the only person who ever stood up for him . her father  the sheriff  yelled to the madman to stop  and he said  hey  stay awhile   and threw a dagger threw his chest and stuck him onto some tree . in the end of the movie  he killed two guys and threw in the punchline  gotta split   and killed two guys by shoving a scythe into their heads . wowzors  this movie made me want to cream my pants so bad . maybe next time this guy makes a movie  it won  t be gay .  
i saw this film at the taos film festival last year  and was just overwhelmed by it . it  s a rich  warm novel brought to the screen  beautifully acted  and well directed . more than anything  it reminded me of the films of david lean  both in its ability to handle a complex story  and its knack for creating powerful scenes that affect you on several different levels . the best movie i  ve seen in years .  
this movie starts out very very slow  but when the action finally gets started  it  s a little had to follow . i couldn  t understand why some of the events were taking place  and a lot of events happened before they were explained  making them sort of confusing . the only thing it really has going for it is the massive amount of blood  gore it has  although most times the special effects are lacking . blood looks like red kool  aid . skin tearing sounds like somebody is stepping on a pile of sticks . again  the story has a sort of amateur feel to it  like the writer didn  t take a long time to perfect it . i feel like it could be a much better movie if the effects were done better and more time was taken on the script . i honestly wish i hadn  t watched it  not because of the gore  but because i feel that i wasted   minutes of my life . if you like extremely gory movies  this is for you  if not  stay away .  
for those of you who have read rohinton mistry  s highly respected novel  this film will definitely impress you  because of how honorable an adaptation it is . with the exception of one minor subplot  sturla gunnarson  s feature film debut is an almost dead  on recreation of the book  down to the last line  .  br    br   for those of you who have not read the novel  this movie might be a little tricky . it is certainly not a large cinematic drama story . instead it has a strong element of realism to it  but i would not have it any other way . the best way to describe such a long journey to movie fans would be to say that it is a small scale  hindu version of  fiddler on the roof  . instead of a jewish  russian milkman  the protagonist gustad noble is a banker in      s bombay during the time of the muslim  hindi war with pakistan . he is forced to deal with a number of unexpected problems in his life  including his sick daughter  his individualist eldest son  a distant friend who gets him involved with some dirty money  and an unhealthy neighborhood . the ending is not a happy one  nor is it a sad one  but that is essentially what realism involves .  br    br   such a long journey is a fine little movie  but if you want to see it  then good luck finding it . unlike the novel  it has received very little release .  
well . this was not a surprise . many people will tell you this is gory . but they are all talking  shiztz  this film is very slow .  br    br   it starts off with some guy who makes a concoction to feel no pain he calls it  my son  there is some gory scenes but i found them kind of weak . you might as well skip   minutes of the movie and get to the eyeball scene which was surprisingly impressive and sickening . there is some really stupid scenes in this . and they dub over the hits and slaps with stupid fake slapping sound which makes me laugh  i would not recommend it . keep looking gore hounds .  br    br   check this out if you want the like      minute ending scene which still is not that amazing and has a random scene of the guy trying to like rape his mum . . yeah its weird .  
it is wonderful to watch roshan seth  the strict father in      mississippi masala    who once again takes on the role of a father and head of the family  and more  in such a long journey  set in     bombay  india . besides the closely knit family settings  subject matters include the lost and found of a friendship the unexpected death of a friend  somehow the calm smiling face of a friend in death in the presence of prayers felt peaceful  so gustad noble  roshan  s character  similarly noted   a sidewalk artist  s chain of events   the wall as a latrine turned into a shrineshrine into rumbles and ashes  was at once prophetic and philosophical . it  s packed full of life lessons in different aspects of varying relationships between father and son mother and son father and little daughter little daughter and father and mother longtime colleagues long lost dear friends even that of a man to man  one whose an innocent slow  witted  fool  .  br    br   in spite of the tone of the film  s era  it  s a colorful film rich in substance  and the strength of the story in textural layers with humor and suspense . for a director who is not indian  sturla gunnarsson being icelandic   he  s made a political indian  pakistani film . he gets into the bone marrow of the life of this parsi portrayed by roshan seth  whose performance has such nuances  subtlety  and joy .  there is singing  too .  the rest of the cast is equally strong from om puri the mysterious friend of a friend soni razdan the enduring wife vrajesh hirjee the argumentative eldest son sam dastor the longtime office mate ranjit chowdhry the pavement artist to a superstitious  witch  woman of a neighbor an unbeguiling  fool  of a man and a long lost bosom friend  it  s a world of many faces and perspectives . director gunnarsson has demonstrated sensitivity in the treatment of that time period and subject was well researched with attention to details . he has the good fortune to have sooni taraporevala       mississippi masala        salaam bombay    wrote the script . this is truly a worthwhile journey of a film to partake .  br    br   along the lines of cultural exploration  road movie style   fridrik thor fridriksson      cold fever  is an icelandic sojourn about a japanese young man who went across the globe in search of the specific spot to pay his last respects to his parents  dutifully following memorial rituals for the dead . such demonstrated reverence and cross  cultural attention to family ties are heart  warming in this day and cyber age .  
i  ll get to the movie in a minute . first  someone wanted  proof  about clinton  s comments at georgetown  where he claimed that the usa  deserved  the     attacks . well  here  s what clinton said  br    br    in the first crusade  when the christian soldiers took jerusalem  they first burned a synagogue with    jews in it and proceeded to kill every woman and child who was a muslim on the temple mount . i can tell you that story is still being told today in the middle east and we are still paying for it .   br    br   we  re still paying for it  whaddya mean  we   paleface  the marines didn  t storm the temple mount .  br    br   but in truth  clinton never really came out and flatly said that we  deserved      . like all his statements during his presidency  he implied that we deserved     . just point out  fact  a  b  c  and maybe d  and let the listener deduce that they must add up to conclusion x . when in truth  most of clinton  s  facts  added up to guacamole .  br    br   but that  s beside the point . we  re here to talk movies  not politics . unfortunately  when oliver  captain conspiracy  stone does a movie  you can  t escape his warped politics . it was only a matter of time before he focused his paranoia and bitterness on the reagan era  and what better time than when stone  s dreams almost came true  on the day reagan nearly bought the farm . unable to find any nefarious plots or schemes in hinckley  s assassination attempt  he invents one with al haig . from a simple misunderstanding of the chain of constitutional authority  haig is transformed from a public servant who really should have brushed up on his remedial civics into a raving megalomaniac . you almost expect haig to rub his hands together like montgomery burns and tell cap weinberger to  release the hounds .  stone even recruits the smarmiest person in hollywood to play our former secretary of state  richard dreyfuss . a guy you love to hate on sight .  br    br   overall  the movie is ok . average  hovering on below average . don  t bother renting or buying . try to catch it on cable .  out of   .  
a great film . the acting  from the doctor to the pavement artist to the head prostitute  with very few exceptions  was wonderful i thought soni razdan  mrs . noble  and vrajesh hirjee  saurabh  were the best of the lesser known actors . even kurush deboo  tehmul   who might be accused of overacting  presented quite a believable and familiar character .  br    br   another great thing was the camera work  and the way it captured the energy of bombay streets  the tranquility of gustad saying his prayers and life within the tiny apartments .  br    br   i liked the story of the wall that becomes a shrine and then gets broken down  and the artists philosophical take on it .  br    br   it  s great to see good movies on indian themes .  
this movie is a blatant attempt by the left in hollywood to portray reagan  s administration as incompetent and bungling . some mistakes may have been made at the time of the crisis  but i  m sure not to the extent portrayed in this lame movie . my first reaction was that this movie had to have been directed by oliver stone  but i was wrong this time . there are apparently many others .  
it  s really unfortunate that most people outside of canada think that the only things that canada produces are snow  mounties and hockey players . this film is the second superlative canadian film i have seen within the past few weeks  the first was  the red violin    far better than all but the best hollywood efforts .  br    br   gustad noble is anything but that he is a middle  aged parsi bank employee in bombay in the     s . this film sensitively explores various things that happen to him concerning his family  his friends and his work  and their effect on him . at the same time  it is a fascinating  and  i would assume  accurate  portrayal of middle  class  urban life in india at the time .  br    br   however  i was somewhat prepared for this  having read rohinton mistry  s book a few years ago . the film  as might be expected  cannot capture all the complexities of the book  but  if you want to read a really good book  and see a really good film  read and see  such a long journey  .  
i saw this film on the history channel today  in      . first of all  i realize that this is not a documentary   that it is a drama . but  one might hope that at least the critical  facts  that the story turns on might be based on actual events . reagan was shot and the other characters were real people . the movie got that right . from there on  reliance on facts rapidly decays . i had never heard of this movie before seeing it . having been a tv reporter at the time of these events  i was stunned that i had never heard anything about the bizarre behavior of secretary haig as portrayed by richard dreyfuss . the whole nation had heard the  i am in control . . .   etc .  but dreufuss  haig is bullying a cowered cabinet and totally out of control personally . having watched the film  i began researching the subject on the internet and quickly found actual audio tapes and transcripts of most of the situation room conversations that this film pretends to reenact . incredibly  many the the principal  facts  of the film meant to show a white house  secret service etc . in total chaos   and the nation  s leadership behaving irrationally and driving the world near the brink of nuclear war   are demonstrably incorrect . they didn  t happen  there is internal conflict  to be sure . haig makes missteps  his press room performance is historically regrettable and he is  difficult  . but there is nothing approaching the scenes depicted in the film . there are too many gross errors to list  but any fair comparison of the recorded and written record and the fantasy of this film begs the question as to what the producers were really trying to accomplish . enlighten  inform  entertain  i believe they failed on all three fronts . it is difficult to ascribe motives to others  but one must seriously question what was behind such shameless invention . and  as for my beloved history channel  s  reel to real  follow  on documentary  there was almost no mention of the issues that were the central focus of the film   namely the events within the administration on the day of the shooting . so  the viewer was left to research those without much   if any   help from the network .  
i saw this pilot when it was first shown  and i  m sure countless  spirit  fans hate it  because  like batman  the green hornet etc .  it took the character in the direction of  camp  . but i evidently never got enough of batman  because i thought it was entertaining  in some of the same ways as that show . there are two parts that stay with me . first  when denny  s partner has been fatally wounded  and he makes a dramatic speech about how he always stood for the law  and obeying the exact letter of it . then  he says something like   boy  was i stupid   which is his way of telling denny to become a vigilante instead  which he does  though the tv batman kind  . then  there  s the scene where he tries to seduce the villainess into letting him go by kissing her  but she isn  t fooled  because he  s too honest to kiss her convincingly  this was a great example of  camp   that was also  underplayed   by both the actor and actress .  
was it a thriller  as i thought when i saw the cover at the video library  no . was it a  food fr thought  as the author was maybe trying to make it  not really . so what was it  it was a very average movie  that had great potential  and was nicely directed but let down by a confusing story without strong points  beginning middle and end  with poor acting expect from the serial killer guy  who although he seemed overzealous at some points delivered the best performance of the cast overall . it was nice cinematography  with good colours  cool hi  tec stuff  beautiful scenics but leaves you lost about where it  s going and where it has just been . and with a feeling of let  s just quickly wrap it up in the end . ok to watch if there  s nothing else on tv .  
the     tv movie of the spirit was a pilot for a possible series . however  spirit creator will eisner did not like the film and thus no series was produced . i thought it was a very entertaining film and captured the spirit  sorry  of the comic with a modern twist . i  m sorry it didn  t materialize into a series . sam  flash gordon  jones was a perfect spirit . nana visitor was a nice ellen dolan and of course would later go on to star trekdeep space nine years later . maybe with the release of frank miller  s big  screen version of the spirit  more people will be able to see this rare gem of spirit history . it seems that when hollywood makes a film from an already established character or idea  someone will inevitably seek out previous versions of the property and release it to video in order to make a few dollars . when antonio banderas donned the mask of zorro  we were able to get earlier versions of the masked hero on dvd  such as the great alain delon version of the     s  although all copies i ever saw were badly edited  . heres hoping someone will release the tv adventure of the spirit to dvd soon .  
i  m not a big fan of the stooges  slapstick  but i find their history interesting . i  ve recently tried to check out stuff from each stooge era  but the opportunity to see joe shorts doesn  t seem to come easy this is the only one i  ve seen so far .  br    br   some say the quality problems with joe  era shorts are really not joe  s fault  and i suspect that  s the case . joe as a performer is far from the worst thing about this . the thing that bothers me the most about it has been pointed out in another comment the pitting of the other guys against the third violates the whole comedy  team  stooges ethos . perhaps joe  s style was perceived  by those in charge  as not really fitting in   though there were no real off  camera conflicts between him  the others   and this was their way of working around that .  br    br   and what  s with the titles of this and some of the other late stooges shorts  definitely a lack of creativity going on there was that sort of thing the cause or the effect of the shorts market drying up   
the adaptation of will eisner  s spirit to the tv screen followed many other offerings developed from comic strip pages or comic books .  remember  the two aren  t exactly the same medium  it is indeed ironic that this is the one and only adaptation  as of the time of this writing  of eisner  s smart alec  wise cracking  tongue  in  cheek super hero .  br    br   story has it that republic pictures was interested in doing a film version and was in negotiation with the copyright owner in the mid     s  but they were never able to close the deal . the left over screen play became the serial  the masked marvel  one of republic  s best . perhaps that it was just as well  for that studio had a penchant for tinkering with material adapted from the comic strips  pulp mags  radio and the comic books .  br    br   as for this     made for tv movie  it  s pretty obvious that it was a failed pilot for a proposed television series . whereas an old  long time comic reader  like myself  can be a little harsh in criticism of an adaptation  a viewer unfamiliar with the character may be able to give some fresh observations  clear of any preconceived notions of what this screen version should look like .  br    br   well  while sitting and watching the story unfold  with the characters interacting amid some crime wave  the little lady  my wife  mrs . ryan  nailed it with one statement .  this can  t make up its mind if it  s serious or not   that pretty well describes both the spirit and his creator  mr . will eisner  the true creative genius in the comics .  br    br   the film is a sincere attempt to put eisner  s world on the screen . the casting of denny colt  the spirit  commissioner dolan and ellen was really quite well done . though in a contemporary setting  it was still in the tradition of  the good old days  as far as the costuming goes  you know  when men and women still wore hats  that brings up this one final  and meandering  point  and that is that the director and the production made a conscious effort and succeeded in giving the characters a will eisner look as far as facial expressions and body language . we say  kudos to them for their efforts .  br    br   it  s just too bad that no series followed  oh  well in today  s motion picture world  comic adaptations seem to be a hot item . maybe some big timer producer and director could do a really  st class spirit production for the big screen . we can only hope .  br    br   update dateline  chicago  illinois .         . by now  everyone who goes to the movies at the shopping centre multiplexes has seen the poster advertising the new film of the spirit   subtitled  my city screams   which is to be released christmas day      . well  we  ll see then just what we  ve been talking about . just keep your fingers crossed  to be continued . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   update ii we saw the new film  writer  director frank miller  s rendition of the spirit a couple of days ago . well  we got our wish but is this a good thing or another case of  be careful what you ask for because you may get it   please read our write  up elsewhere in imdb . com . thanx   
the real irony is this joe besser was a top notch comedian  in other situations away from the stooges . he had a definite track record for being very funny and clever . moe and larry and shemp had actually known him or at least of him for many years and liked his work . so what on earth was going on when he joined the troop as the  third stooge   obviously  nothing . in most of these  late stooge  era shorts  more often than not  the boys are pitted against each other or joe against the other two and this is not accurate stooge etiquette .  one for all  all for one  every man for himself   to quote curly from  restless knights  . one thing about a good comedy team  laurel  hardy  abbott  costello  the marx brothers  no matter how much they all try to take advantage of each other or slap each other around  when the chips are actually down  they stick together and come to each other  s aid . in this particular one  none of that happens . it  s almost like watching a dog fight as one tries to cheat the others or be mean and nasty  and not for comedic effect either . one might assume that there was something behind the scenes going on here  art imitates life . maybe there really was hence why besser did not stay very long with moe and larry . just look at the history of the other teams and tell me i  m wrong .  
mitchell leisen  s fifth feature as director  and he shows his versatility by directing a musical  after his previous movies were heavy dramas . he also plays a cameo as the conductor .  br    br   you can tell it is a pre code movie  and nothing like it was made in the us for quite a while afterwards  like    years  . leisen shot the musical numbers so they were like what the audience would see  no widescreen shots or from above ala busby berkeley . what i do find funny or interesting is that you never actually see the audience .  br    br   as others have mentioned the leads are fairly characterless  and jack oakie and victor mclaghlan play their normal movie personas . gertrude michael however provides a bit of spark .  br    br   the musical numbers are interesting and some good  the rape of the rhapsody in particular is amusing  but the drama unconvincing and faked  three murders is too many and have minimal emotional impact on the characters . this is where this movie could have been a lot better .  
frank tashlin  s  the home front  is one of the more lifeless private snafu shorts  a series of cartoons made as instructional films for the military . rather than have snafu take some inadvisable actions leading to disaster   the home front  instead focuses on his loved ones back home and how much they have to offer to the war effort too . snafu realises he was wrong when he thought they had it easy . it  s a concept with few possibilities for good gags and instead tashlin plays the risqu card more heavily  extended jokes involving strippers and scantily clad dancing girls in place of much effective comic relief . the result is a well  meaning short which has little relevance or entertainment value today other than as an historical artefact .  
it  s good to see that vintage film buff have correctly categorized their excellent dvd release as a  musical   for that  s what this film is  pure and simple . like its unofficial remake  murder at the windmill        the murder plot is just an excuse for an elaborate girlie show with kitty carlisle and gertrude michael leading a cast of super  decorative girls including ann sheridan  lucy ball  beryl wallace  gwenllian gill  gladys young  barbara fritchie  wanda perry and dorothy white . carl brisson is also on hand to lend his strong voice to  cocktails for two  . undoubtedly the movie  s most popular song  it is heard no less than four times . however  it  s gertrude michael who steals the show  not only with her rendition of  sweet marijauna  but her strong performance as the hero  s rejected girlfriend . as for the rest of the cast  we could have done without jack oakie and victor mclaglen altogether . the only good thing about oakie  s role is his weak running gag with cult icon  toby wing . in fact  to give you an idea as to how far the rest of the comedy is over  indulged and over  strained  super  dumb inspector mclaglen simply cannot put his hands on the killer even though  would you believe  in this instance it happens to be the person you most suspect . director mitch leisen actually goes to great pains to point the killer out to even the dumbest member of the cinema audience by giving the player concerned close  up after close  up .  
this movie is the second worst film that i have ever seen  the first being ghost rider  . there is absolutely no plot  climax  conflict  or any other major detail required in portraying a story . this  film  is basically just another excuse for toby keith to show off his manly side and  the  tough guy he really is  . i completely wasted my time watching this film . the best part would have to be the ending credits . if i were ebert or roper  i would have cut my thumbs off and thrown them at the producers . whoever in their right mind gave toby keith the chance to act in a feature film  is obviously on the same mental level as him . in conclusion  do not waste your time watching this movie  it could quite possibly be the only thing you regret .  
greetings again from the darkness . this one will be compared to  the princess bride  and although it doesn  t measure up to that classic  it is extremely entertaining and well made in its own right . the story line is a bit odd and the whole wall thing is never really explained  but the execution is fine  even building up strong suspense .  br    br   charlie cox plays tristan  who falls for the wrong girl  sienna miller   and agrees to fetch her a fallen star . . . who happens to be played by the stunning claire danes . not much suspense on what happens with these two  but the suspenseful part comes in with the wicked witch played by michelle pfeiffer and the prince son of king peter o  toole looking to reclaim the ruby necklace our  star  is wearing . lots of bad chasing the good .  br    br   along the way  an encounter with the strangest pirate you will see  including any from the carribbean  . robert deniro plays captain shakespeare  tough on the inside  and shall we say in touch with his feminine side . another encounter involves the brilliant ricky gervais as a fast talking trader and that is good for a couple of laughs .  br    br   not your typical chase  coming of age  or fantasy film  but director matthew vaughn  s   layer cake   effort deserves an audience . sadly the poor marketing campaign will probably prevent it from making any money . my guess it will find big success on video .  
first off  let me start with a quote a friend of mine said while watching this movie  this entire movie had to have been a dare . you know  like   dude  i bet you couldn  t make the worst movie ever   . with this movie  they  ve made a good effort at achieving that title . the effects are  of course  poor . the plot  dialogue is like a collage of of bits stolen from every b horror movie ever made . the actors  i  m assuming  are supposed to be in college . yet parts of it  especially at the beginning  make it seem like they  re supposed to be in high or middle school . it makes no sense . the scarecrow going around killing people isn  t the least bit enjoyable .  spoiler at the end  when they chant lester  s name and he reappears  the black guy and scarecrow are both laughing  probably out of relief they were on their last scene  and at the cheesy dialogue .   
during the opening night of the vanties a woman is found dead on the catwalk above the stage . as the show continues the police attempt to piece together who killed who and why before the final curtain .  br    br   i had always heard that this was a great classic comedy mystery so i was excited to find myself a copy . unfortunately no one told me about the musical numbers which go on and on and on . while the numbers certainly are the type that hollywood did in their glory days  they become intrusive because they pretty much stop the movie dead despite attempts to weave action around them . this wouldn  t be so bad if the music was half way decent  but its not . there is only one good song . worse its as if the studio knew they had one song  cocktails for two  and we  re forced to endure four versions of it a duet  a big production number  as the vanities finale and in the background as incidental music . i don  t think spike jones and his city slickers ever played it that much . the rest of the movie is pretty good with victor mclaglen sparring nicely with jack oakie . charles middleton is very funny is his scenes as an actor in love with the wardrobe mistress .  br    br   by no mean essential i can recommend this if you think you can get through the musical numbers  or are willing to scan through them . its a fun movie of the sort they don  t make any more .  
i attended one of the premieres last night and have the following observations  br    br    . just because you  ve directed a ton of music videos does not make you qualified to make movies . the movie had an overabundance of lingering shots that made no sense  horrible angles  and terrible lighting . the editing didn  t help this mess at all . when  dixie  shows up late for the memorial service her mother remarks about her hand but it  s never clear what the heck she  s talking about .  br    br    . the plot had promise  but the script was thin and full of ford truck sized holes . we never get to understand what drives the characters  what  s really behind the conflicts they all have with each other or exactly how they resolve them . sixteen years of distance is wiped out in  days seemingly by magic . the deep conversations were marred by stupid clichs .  in fact  the whole town was one big clich of southern life .  half the audience groaned when toby drawled  ya got my blood runnin through your veins gurl  . . . and we were treated to that insipid line not once  but twice  the revelations were yawn inducing  and the dramatic confessions boiled down to  i was stupid and stubborn  .  br    br    . the acting was okay considering the wreck of a script they had to work with . toby was dark and brooding most of the film  but when he smiled and lightened up he was charming . it  s a shame he didn  t have more screen time like that . kelly preston  s acting chops are pretty rusty and it shows . lindsay haun is talented and it  s certainly not her fault the writers made her character so unlikeable in the beginning that you don  t blame her father for not coming to look for her . burt reynolds and tess harper were able to make more of this movie but still looked more or less lost .  and indeed  their characters get lost in this film    br    br    . if you  re a toby fan you  ll love the songs . but often the movie felt like a scene was forced in just so they could feature one of his songs   or the artists on his record label . for instance  the movie  s official love song is  crash here tonight  . you  d think that would play around a tender love scene  but nope . . . we hear about   seconds of it as he  s heading to a memorial service . it was as if they said  well  we gotta use this song somewhere  . the song  broken  is haunting and the best thing to come out of this movie .  br    br   in summary . . . a promising plot never fully develops and the movie is horribly uneven as it forceably tries to be a vehicle for toby keith  s music and product placement for ford trucks . it goes from being about people rebuilding broken bridges to trying to be about the power of music but the story is told so poorly that both points get lost in this overgrown music video . i like toby and really wanted to like  broken bridges  but the people he counted on to make this movie let him down and deserve one of his famous boots you know where .  
a very enjoyable film  providing you know how to watch old musicals  mysteries . it may not come close to agatha christie or even thin man mysteries as a film noir  but it  s much more interesting than your typical  boy meets girl  or  let  s put on a show  backstage musical . as a musical  it  s no busby berkley or freed unit  but it can boost the classic  coctails for two  and the weird  sweet marijuana  . the film runs in real time during a stage show  opening night of the  vanities   where a murder  and soon another  is discovered backstage . is the murderer found out before the curtain falls  sure  but the search is fun  even though somewhat predictable and marred by outbursts of comic relief  luckily in the shape of the shapely goddess of the chorus girls  toby wing  . the stupid cop is just a bit too stupid  the leading hero is just a bit too likable  the leading lady a bit too gracious  the bitchy prima donna bit too bitchy  and the enamoured waif a bit too self  sacrificing  but as stereotypes go  they are pretty stylish . there  s a bevy of really gorgeous chorus girls  who are chosen even better than the girls for a busby berkley musical of the same period  who sometimes tend to be a bit on the plump side . yes  this film could have been much better than it is  and the duke ellington number is an embarrassment  but if you enjoy diving into old movies  this will prove to be a tremendously tantalizing trip .  
if you  re a fan of mystery science theater  k  attack of the giant leeches  or pinata survival island  this movie might be for you .  br    br   i live in nashville and i didn  t even know of this movie  s existence until the day prior to its release  when the advertising company panicked and blanketed music row with dozens of fliers and billboards . it barely lasted two weeks in theaters anyway .  br    br   bad acting  bad writing  and poor production only begin to describe this embarrassment of a film . for starters  the names are a bit much bo price  angel  and dixie  eesh .  br    br   toby  s awkwardly slow delivery of lines makes one wonder what production assistant got stuck holding the cue cards off camera . angel  s character rapidly transitions from her city  slicker ways to a cowgirl  slipping into southern slang after two days on the ranch . her wardrobe goes from chic to a female version of toby  s   in fact  in the final scene  their outfits are identical  making one wonder if the wardrobe assistant called in sick .  br    br   the audio is inconsistent  perhaps the most noticeable example is when toby decides to go for a swim and his voice suddenly sounds like he  s shouting in a gymnasium .  br    br   there  s never quite enough explanation or character development to suffice what happens on  screen . overacting  exasperation  grimaces  and moodiness best describes the actors  interpretation and direction of the terrible script .  br    br   this movie is best enjoyed after consuming a couple of alcoholic beverages and in the company of your wittiest friends . but that  s not saying much .  
this murder mystery with musical numbers is long on atmosphere and character but rather short on suspense and plausibility . based on a stage play by broadway showman earl carroll and others  it combines a whodunit plot with a backstage ambiance  a homicide investigation takes place on opening night at the theatre where a musical revue is being staged  .  br    br   the cast is impressive and varied tough  goofy victor mclaglen as the police officer who leads the investigation and never fails to leer idiotically at whatever showgirl happens to be in sight jack oakie  the prewar jack lemmon  or was jack lemmon the postwar jack oakie   as the harassed director who must coordinate the staged performance as well as the chaos behind the scenes the ever  homely jessie ralph as a wardrobe mistress with deep  dark secrets dorothy stickney  who has a stunning close  up monologue near the end  as the tremulous maid madly in love with the male lead carl brisson  the danish star  as that very male lead  warbling the classic  cocktails for two  not once but twice kitty carlisle  operatically delivering  where do they come from and where do they go  and other johnston  coslow songs the glorious gertrude michael  who parted from us too soon  as a mean  spirited showgirl whose love for brisson is spurned the usually ridiculous toby wing who here at least is the center of a laugh  getting running joke .  br    br   when the plot complications get out of hand there is always an interesting performer or fun and tuneful musical number to distract the viewer . the film  s most celebrated sequence is the  marahuana  number  led by michaels  but aside from its controversial history  it  s really one of the lesser musical offerings . all of the songs here are staged as if they could actually have fit into a standard proscenium theatre space  as opposed to the cinematic fantasy setup of the busby berkeley style .  
this movie makes peter an elf in robin hood costume instead of a human boy in probably  not  robin  hood  costume and ignores all the persona features in him that really matter . this movie makes wendy a babbling idiot . and poor captain hook a total clown . and of course as every disney cartoon must have a character which has had too many hits in the head  they made one of the lost boys that one . the only character that has not been disgraced in this film is tink . the only star is for her .  br    br   the story itself then  the darling parents don  t even get the time to notice their kids are gone    probably one of the most significant point in the original story and they ruined it  also the famous nursery scene between peter pan and wendy is a stunning piece of  there are no thimbles and no acorns  one of the little things that makes the original story such a unique one . it  s a wonder he even had lost his shadow and she helped him stick it .  even though to his shoes and it makes no sense to me .   br    br   ruining a great story like this just to amuse children should be illegal . so know now if you haven  t known it before  this disney version does not have anything significant in common with the original story  which is not really a children  s story but just a great  great story .  br    br   this just annoys me to no end .  
financially strapped paramount pulled out all the stops for this    stage adaptation entry big budget  large cast  extravagant production and mitch leisen tagged as the director . what happened  two things busby berkeley didn  t work for the out  of focus rock and a murder mystery script that didn  t deserve to be in the same trash can as the worst charlie chan first draft down the street . i have to believe that the cutting was out of leisen  s hands since the great duke ellington  s number is savagely chopped  but that doesn  t mean that it ain  t worth a look the  sweet marihuana  number featuring topless chorus girls is a mind blower  considering the looming production code and it also has the ravishing toby wing  whose unfortunately fed horrible lines and playing the prototype dumb blonde  as a chorion hot for an otherwise preoccupied jack oakie . carl brisson  s acting is bland as melba toast but he  s a competent singer . maclaglen reaches for new plateaus as a stereotypical dumb detective . and try to spot lucy in the chorus . this rates a  .  as a curiosity . feb     re  think i recently gave the film another look and now feel i was wrong to berate the lack of busby berkeley production numbers . i can understand leisen  s argument for more realistic production numbers within the context of the plot . i still have enormous issues with the editing however . paramount  the raciest major studio in town  faced huge issues with the production code at the worst possible time in it  s history  financially speaking  and pulled out all the stops on this one  also check out      s search for beauty  . a must see for pre  code buffs .  
in      george w . bush started with his second period as a president of the united states north korea announced its possession of nuclear weapons pope john paul ii died after a long illness and a movie called into the blue appeared . the existence of this movie is not as bad as the other things that happened on that year  but the film itself was pathetic and maybe  the worst one from that year . now  in      the united states have another president  there is another pope  new korean nuclear weapons . . . and the film into the blue   the reef  which is better than the original one . . . but that  s the same as saying   getting your fingers cut is better than getting your head cut  . this sequel is a really bad film which kept me tremendously bored and uninterested . the cast of into the blue   the reef is composed by tv  series actors who completely lack of any credibility and dramatic weight  but who are perfect for showing their bodies . chris carmack  the o . c .   david anders  heroes and alias   laura vandervoort  smallville   marsha tomason  lost  and audrina patridge  the hills  bring hollow and boring performances . i have liked some previous movies from director stephen herek  critters and bill and ted  s excellent adventure specially  but on this movie  he cannot generate even the minimum level of tension  emotion or entertainment . the characters from this movie are not only badly performed  but they are also repulsive . honestly  i wanted all of them to die . the cinematography from this movie is also lame and it seems to have been made by a technical team who makes promotional videos for hawaiian hotels . into the blue   the reef is a horrible movie which is better than the original film  but that  s the same as nothing  as i previously said . avoid this crappy film at all costs .  
since this is black history month and i  m reviewing the achievements of many african  americans on film in chronological order  i got this movie on vhs from the library because duke ellington and his orchestra were in it . their jazz version of franz liszt  s  rhapsody  was the highlight of this mostly overlong murder mystery  musical comedy mixture . many other numbers i liked were kitty carlisle  s especially  sweet marijuana   carl brisson  s  cocktails for two  as well as his duet with carlisle on that earlier  and the ones by gertrude michael who  s great as the woman you love to hate . jack oakie and victor mclaglen probably go a little too long with their love  hate banter as the producer and detective but they grow on you . and toby wing is a sexy dumb tease as nancy who keeps trying to say something to oakie but gets a  not now  from him every time . while many of the characters have a motive for the murders that happen  i wasn  t surprised by the revelation of who done it . and get a load of how naked the women here are  though of course their breasts are covered  either by their hands or some flimsy top  . this was very obviously pre  code . worth a look for any film buff interested in this sort of thing . p . s . as a long  time louisiana resident  i like noting when someone was born here as carlisle was a new orleans native .  
brainless film about a good looking but brainless couple who decide to live their dream and take people on diving tours . the pair almost instantly make the wrong choice of customers and get mixed up with some people seeking to recover the items that we see falling to the ocean floor during the opening credits sequence . great looking direct to video movie could have been so much better if it wasn  t so interested in primarily looking good . performances are serviceable and the plot is actually not bad  or would have been had the director and producers not redirected the plot into making sure we see lots of shapely people in bathing suits  or in what i  m guessing the reason for the  unrated  moniker a few fleeting bare breasts  . the film never generates any tension nor rises above the level of a forgettable tv movie . if you get roped in to seeing this you won  t pluck your eyes out since the eye candy is pleasant but we really need to stop producers from making films that are excuses to have a paid vacation .  
i just viewed murder at the vanities in the newly  released universal pre  code set  and i was amazed at how much i enjoyed the vehicle end to end . most of the other commentators have covered the story  a murder mystery within a musical  but i wanted to add a few additional notes . brisson and carlisle are relatively bland  compared to even most of the minor players  and neither one really seems to have the proper voice for what they  re singing  carlisle being a trained opera singer  brisson a bit wobbly on some of his high and low notes  . the great victor mclaglen and jack oakie play well off each other  with an excellent sense of timing that keeps the ball rolling between musical numbers . yes  lucille ball and ann sheridan are vanities girls  but let  s not forget the splendid jazz singer ernestine anderson in the  ebony rhapsody  number . gail patrick makes one of her early appearances  sounding a bit like eve arden patrick would go on to become the executive producer of the perry mason tv series . then there  s jessie ralph as the wardrobe mistress   you  ll spot her also in david copperfield  as aunt peggoty  and the bank dick . the music is very good   brisson introducing the standard  cocktails for two  in two different scenes  sweet marihuana  with barely clad peyote button girls in the background  blood dripping on one chorine  s white skin was wonderfully chilling   the  ebony rhapsody   with duke ellington  s orchestra and a bevy of beautiful dancers  both black and white  mixing it up . and i believe this is one of the only early musicals to feature such a mix   and the costumes leave nothing to the imagination .  
my first review of     is  into the blue   the reef  . the story is about two divers played by chris carmack and laura vandervoort who love to explore hidden treasures at a bottom of a local reef . one day after a day of exploring they are approached by a couple played by david anders and marsha thomason . they tell the young divers that they want to hire them to explore the reef and find a rare artifact about columbus  hidden treasure that is reported at the bottom of the reef .  br    br   next day the four dive to the bottom of the reef and of coarse after a whole day of diving they find nothing . a few more days past and the two hired divers found out that they a part of a major deadly plot in which they can  t escape otherwise they will be killed . they were hired to find two big containers . one contains a nuclear reactor and the other contains a core .  br    br   the movie also has a back story about another person  brother of the lead character  trying to patch things up with his girlfriend  i reckon this part of the story was a waste of time  this also includes a very steamy sex scene between the couple which to me is a complete waste and wasn  t needed to be shown .  br    br   however apart from that  this movie does have some good underwater photography and the colors blend in well which is why it receives  stars . into the blue  is a sequel only by name . none of the original actors or characters return  it has a dumb plot  stupid characters and a boring climax .  
released just before the production code crackdown in july       mitch leisen  s all  star paramount musical is leeringly suggestive  some even claim misogynistic  and highly entertaining . two murders occur on the opening night of  earl carroll  s vanities   one on  stage    but that doesn  t stop the manager  jack oakie  from putting on a show as a lascivious police detective  victor mclaglen  investigates . everyone is hiding something and gypsy rose lee must have seen this backstage murder mystery before she penned  the g  string murders  as the denouement is similar  although more satisfying here  . gertrude michael  as a vicious diva  stops the show  in more ways than one  with her exotic  sweet marijuana  number and duke ellington finishes with the truncated  rape of the rhapsody  . the hit song   cocktails for two   came from this film . a bizarre and bawdy camp classic highly recommended  here  s louella o . parsons in the  los angeles examiner  on may         br    br   earl carroll  s hand  picked beauties  pirouette about on the grauman united artists screen in a fig leaf and not much else . but september morn herself never had a better figure than these charmers  who are made up to please the eye  especially the eye of the tired businessman . but don  t for a moment think mr . carroll  s girls  au naturelle  are the only attraction . believe it or not  murder at the vanities is a musical comedy thriller  if you know what i mean  a murder mystery incorporated in a musical show . it all happens on the opening night at the time the play is in progress and a search is on for a murderer . just by way of suspense  a cop threatens to stop the show every few minutes . victor mclaglen is something new in cops . all the time he is trying to track down the murderer  he keeps his eye fastened on the chorus beauties . the murder mystery is good with the exception of the denouement  which is pretty flat . probably faulty direction . dorothy stickney  who plays the maid  is about as melodramatic as the heroine in a ten  twenty  and thirty show . for no good reason  she rates a never  ending closeup in the big dramatic scene . the girl ensembles are good  and it  s a positive relief to get away from the inevitable overhead shots . the costumes are beautiful in fact  this is a musical that paramount can feel is really to their credit . as for carl brisson  well  he would be an addition to any show . good  looking with a delightful singing voice and an easy  assured manner  he is all his press agents claim for him . i also like kitty carlisle  who plays the leading lady in the show . gertrude michael  as the deep  eyed villianess  gives an interesting if rather fictional portrayal . jack oakie  as the stage manager  is the same old wisecracking jack  but we wouldn  t change him . jessie ralph is excellent as the seamstress . others in the cast are charles middleton  gail patrick  donald meek  barbara fritchie  toby wing and lona andre . the screen play is by carey wilson and rufus king  and the direction by mitchell leisen . the music is by arthur johnstone and the lyrics by sam coslow . in addition to murder at the vanities  there is a mickey mouse cartoon  a paramount newsreel  and a two  reeler  the wrong direction .  br    br   i disagree with lolly on the denouement  it  s satisfying if over  the  top . why would she blame the director  was she displeased with the story  s ending  or the way it was staged  and what  s a  ten  twenty  or thirty show   note the swipe taken at busby berkeley and his  overhead shots  . as hard as it may be to believe today  the public was tiring of buzz  schtick by may      . mitch leisen said   if you are showing a stage show that  s supposed to be in a theater  you should stay within the bounds of the proscenium arch  and not do a buzz berkeley routine with a stage set that  s acres big .   br    br   q don  t you think berkeley  s spectacular effects justified taking this liberty  ml apparently they did because they  re reviving all of his pictures and none of mine  but personally i don  t like it .  
miscasting happens . susannah yorke is a luminous young jane eyre  and her performance is impeccable . however  edward rochester is supposed to be   . white  haired george c . scott looks and behaves like an arthritic   . jane  s deceased uncle is in better shape  he creaks and snarls  obnoxious and grim . he looks like an ax  murderer who has sent his ax out to be sharpened we  re not surprised he keeps a wife caged in the attic  the great love story looks like a sado  masochistic nightmare . there is enough darkness in the novel  but bronte  s rochester is relatively young  athletic  powerful  and charming when he chooses to be . he has a fine speaking and singing voice  a good mind  and a conscience that he unsuccessfully attempts to stifle .  
there are moments in the film that are so dreadful  your teeth ache . but knowing that there were only weeks left before the code made movies innocuous and bland  paramount rushed this into production before innuendo and leering went out of style . vanities is so horrifically anti  female that it  s delicious . as kitty carlisle sings  women are displayed with price tags that would insult a bronx hooker . they emerge from clams  nudge  nudgewink  wink  in postures of absolute submission . minions of the law  so stupid they cannot find the door  get to look up their skirts and snicker . bare  breasted chorus girls sit uncomfortably in giant cacti  could they be a source of hallucinogens  perhaps   while we listen to  sweet marijuana  and watch as blood falls on a chorines  s breast .  br    br   sure  carl brisson learned his lines phonetically and doesn  t seem to have a clue what he is saying . but it  s all worth it as norma steals the show while no one is looking .  br    br   taking one moment of this fragile fluff seriously is missing the point of the whole exercise . watch this with a charter member of now and prepare to justify the whole hollywood machismo sch tick between body blows .  br    br   toby wing  by the way  is the icing on the cake . and duke ellington doesn  t hurt either .  br    br   a must stroll down memory lane .  
this was in short a terrible disappointment . by far the worst adaptation of one of my favourite novels . the dialogue was horribly clumsy i could sense no feeling behind the words expressed by the characters . the lines were delivered too hastily and felt rather out of place . they could just as well have been cited by statues . the chemistry between george c . scott and susannah york was non  existent and watching an american rochester felt strange . he could have at least tried to do a british accent . i like george c . scott as an actor  but this simply did not work . i felt like i was watching highlights from jane eyre  where the main pieces of the story had been randomly put together with no regard to the flow of the story . the scenery and music were all very nice  but i could feel none of the passion and love that is supposed to be between jane and rochester and the movie left me totally unmoved .  br    br   if you want to see a good version of jane eyre i suggest you watch the     bbc version with timothy dalton and zelah clarke or the     version with ciarn hinds and samantha morton . now these two are brilliant adaptations .  
a murder investigation goes on back stage while the vanities  on its opening night  plays on to an unknowing audience . odd combination of musical and murder mystery is worth a look for its cast  its production numbers  and the sheer novelty of the film .  br    br   gertrude michael has the showy role of a bitchy actress intent on stopping the marriage between the show  s stars  kitty carlisle and carl brisson  as well as starring in the infamous  sweet marijuana  number  which was also on a   s bette midler album  . so while the chorus girls shuffle around backstage  bumbling detective victor mclaglen ogles the girls while he tries to solve the backstage murder of an unknown woman .  br    br   we quickly learn that the maid  dorothy stickney  loves brisson from afar  that the wardrobe lady  jessie ralph  is brisson  s mother  and that the stage manager  jack oakie  butts into everything . lots of plots twists among the musical numbers . the show  s best  known song is  cocktails for two .  kitty carlisle also sings the haunting  where do they come from   and there  s a weird rhapsody that erupts into a harlem specialty number featuring duke ellington  quite the cast .  br    br   some terrific acting here  especially gertrude michael and dorothy stickney . kitty carlisle is quite good as well . brisson is a total zero though .  br    br   charles middleton plays homer  toby wing plays nancy  donald meek plays the doctor  and also see if you can spot ann sheridan and lucille ball among the show girls .  
this is by far the worst adaptation of jane eyre i have seen . it is uncertain whether or not the writer of the screenplay ever read the book by bronte . george c scott is ridiculous and bumbling as rochester   when not just plain old acting angry . susannah york has the most dated      s hairstyle i have ever seen in a victorian movie . the characters hardly speak to each other  so the rich banter enjoyed in the book that is the basis for their deep intellectual and abiding love  is gone . the ending is ludicrous .  br    br   please  rent the timothy dalton version instead . it is so true to the book  it  s like having the novel read aloud to you . dalton is superb as rochester . g . c . scott is laughable .  
who would  ve imagined   hal hartley creates a filmic corollary to syriana while retaining his signature idiosyncratic style . the fusion is highly entertaining .  br    br   having not seen a hal hartley film for about a decade  i approached this one with some caution . his brilliant productions of the nineties had impressed critics and audiences with their unique style and dialog . the director  s earlier films featured colorful characters and offered close observations of life   often in the region of long island  new york or in new york city itself   that were offbeat and insightful .  br    br   my initial caution stemmed from the description of this movie as a  spy thriller  . to my pleasant surprise  hartley manages to mesh his well established style and focus to produce a highly original drama of international intrigue . it works in more ways than one might imagine . hartley  s film retains the dialog and character focus that are his trademarks  along with a singular cinematographic style .  br    br   moreover it is highly appropriate given the current situation in the world and the state of war that has been fostered by dark elements on all sides . hartley has brought all his skills to something new   a political film worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as syriana . truly he is coming into his own . the cast does a fine job of interpreting hartley  s vision and style . fans of parker posey will see her in full bloom here  still with us and more ripe and gorgeous than before .  
i bought the dvd version of this movie on the recommendation of my wife who loved the version she saw aired in television . but the version put to dvd was a disaster . the lighting was poor to non  existent and entire scenes were simply excised . in one instance adele is being put to bed  and we immediately cut to another scene  coming in in mid  sentence  where it  s the next night . characters such as grace poole and mason are never even introduced  leaving one to wonder if they  d dozed off for a few minutes during the movie .  br    br   the dvd we saw was produced by platinum disc corp and even at   .   it was a gyp .  br    br   be careful which version of this movie you buy  we  re sending this one back .  
this movie is wonderful .  br    br   i was  enchanted   i should say  and surprised because of how uniquely it was done . the cast  the sequencing  the effects . . . everything  magnificent  i mean  it was a love story  yes  but what made it outstanding from the rest was that it was told in an entertaining  wholesome manner .  br    br   for me  it is the representation of modern fairy tale . it  s like the modern peter pan . . . simply amazing  br    br   i surely would buy a copy of this the moment it hit the market .  br    br   this movie is really a double must see one . . .       stars for that   
perhaps one of the worst teenage slasher films i ever did see . i  ll start with the bad points of t he movie  which pretty much covers the entire film . first of all  something no one can avoid terrible acting . i swear they picked up some random kids off the street based on how they looked . secondly  bad  unconvincing character work  development . you hardly even know half the kids who are killed in here . all you figure is that they deserved it one way or another . the scarecrow  s character was overdone  and a cheap rip  off of the other great fantasy killers such as freddy or pinhead . next bad dialog the scarecrow was full of horrid one  liners that would make you laugh  only because it was so terrible . lines like  let  s go find some small animals to torture   really just leaves you with an eyebrow raised . last but not least next off bad casting . how old was the guy who played lester  like    the back of his head was balding for god  s sake . there is much more i could say about this film  like it  s cheap special effects  it  s  high school film class  effort  but the point is understood . it  s just bad film making at it  s worst . as for what i found to be  good  in the movie  entertaining for those with low  low  low standards  would help put insomniacs to sleep .  a very cheap laugh  or even a giggle .  
fay grim is the continuation of a story begun ten years earlier with hartley  s henry fool . i haven  t seen the earlier film  and i don  t know if that  s a good thing or not . i can only regard the current film on its own merits .  br    br   for most people  hal hartley  s style of film  making is something that you either like or you don  t . his combination of action  drama  absurdity and dry  ironic humour really resonates with me  and fay grim is no exception . it has an air of sharply  written intelligent parody that had myself and many in the melbourne international film festival audience laughing out loud . for the first half of the film it was relentless and delivered with deadpan straightness . it  s a style of humour sadly lacking in cinemas and a welcome relief to the mindless teen comedies that hollywood pumps out like pancakes .  br    br   during the second half of the film  the humour starts to thin as the film morphs into an international espionage  conspiracy thriller . whether this was hartley  s intention or whether he ran out of ideas is not clear  but i think a bit of editing or re  writing to cut fifteen minutes off the film would have maintained the film  s original momentum .  br    br   the performances were generally good  particularly parker posey and jeff goldblum  who had the most screen time . saffron burrows  james urbaniak  carl montgomery and elina lwensohn all played good support roles . the film  s visuals were nice  set in new york  paris  berlin and istanbul  and the music  also by hartley  was good without being intrusive . the film is well  written and i enjoyed this it immensely . if you like hartley  s earlier work  you  ll probably like this .  
this tv production of     starring susannah york and george c . scott is another proof of how difficult it is to adopt  jane eyre  to the screen  and how much can go wrong in doing so . it is true that the movie suffered in the transfer to dvd  some scenes which were complete in the original were shortened and so badly edited that there are striking continuity gaps and that even one crucial scene between jane and rochester starts in the middle of a sentence  but even if the editing were better  the film would not be . the script is bad  the portrayal of the characters is untrue to the novel and nearly all actors are miscast . as a consequence one does not have the feeling of watching an adaptation of charlotte bront  s novel at all . the problem is not only that a number of scenes are shortened or left out  this is the case with all the short adaptations  but that the remaining scenes do no at all capture the tone  the spirit  the atmosphere and the concept of the novel .  br    br   this jane eyre for example completely leaves out gateshead and begins with jane  s arrival at lowood . while this is perfectly all right  since some scenes must by necessity be left out  it is not understandable that  instead of using the time gained  so to speak  and thoroughly portraying jane  s friendship with helen  the influence helen has for jane  s development  the lecture in christian stoicism that she teaches her  the film nearly exclusively concentrates on the physical ill  treatment of helen  which is driven to absurd extremes in this adaptation . what helen has to suffer is bad enough as described in the novel  but here miss scatchard is portrayed as a kind of sadistic prison ward  who deliberately wants to drive helen to a premature death . and this is about all which happens at lowood . if you compare that to the deep impact the years spent in lowood have on jane in the novel  one can only state with regret that the movie does not even touch the surface of that particular episode in jane  s life . and this is the problem throughout this adaptation it rushes from scene to scene  very often without transition  and nowhere comes even near the essence of the novel . the dialogues are an odd mixture of made  up lines and lines from the novel  very clumsily patched together  and the scenes between jane and rochester are so shortened that both share only  minutes together on screen before they fall in love  and the little conversation they have contains nothing of the brilliance  the intensity and also the humour of the conversations between rochester and jane in the novel . but the scriptwriter not only did bront  s language injustice but in addition managed to ruin her moral set  up with just one sentence . when rochester and jane go to see rochester  s wife after the would  be wedding  rochester says  yet i once loved her  his wife  as i love you now .  the whole moral concept of the novel depends on the fact that rochester is indeed an innocent victim of an amoral scheme and was trapped into marrying a mad woman whom he never loved  and that his effort to seek a true life partner is  if not sanctified by god  s and man  s law  yet understandable and forgivable  but this one sentence completely undermines bront  s whole carefully constructed moral concept and turns rochester into a dirty old man who wants a new young wife because his old one is of no use to him any longer .  br    br   from the errors regarding the script to the errors regarding the casting now i am by no means one of those who insist on physical resemblance between an actor and the literary figure he portrays  but by no stretch of imagination is it possible to picture lovely  blonde  blue  eyed and full  mouthed susannah york as the novel  s plain heroine . in addition  ms york was in her thirties when the film was shot and looks it . played by her  the novel  s shy  reserved and inexperienced young jane becomes a perfectly poised  graceful and mature woman  completely sure of herself and her deserts . i do not say that susannah york does not play well and convincingly but the woman she portrays is not bront  s jane eyre . to cast george c . scott as rochester must have been motivated by the desire to have a rochester who looked old enough to make the   years difference in age between jane and rochester plausible . scott looks as if he were around   but acts in various scenes as if he were   .  br    br   to compliment the  maturity  of the leading actors all passion  desire and despair seems to have been deliberately wrung out of the script . the scene between jane and rochester after the wedding  the emotional climax of the novel  has become a calm  rational conversation between two middle  aged persons  at the end of which rochester falls asleep . when jane returns to him in the last scene  he is just as mildly pleased as a grandfather who has just been paid a visit in his old people  s home by his favourite granddaughter . the only character who displays an appropriate amount of emotion is st . john  of all people . ian bannen plays him so passionately and his eager plea for jane  s love is so touching that one gets the impression that bannen was modelling his st . john on the rochester of the novel . but good though bannen is  his st . john is just as far from the novel as york  s jane and scott  s rochester . the only redeeming features of this very disappointing  jane eyre  are the locations and the score  and i would only recommend this production to those who want to watch and compare every single adaptation of  jane eyre  .  
it seems hal hartley  s films are kind of hit or miss with most audiences . this film will be no exception to that rule . fay grim acts as a sequel to hartley  s  henry foole  from     . the focus this time is on henry  s ex wife  played to perfection by the always welcome parker posey   who is being pestered by cia goons about henry  s unpublished book about all of his shady dealings . in the interim of all of this  fay ends up on an odyssey  dealing with international spies  etc . the film does get a bit bogged down in the second half . if you  ve been a fan of hal hartley in the past  this is one not to be missed . for the novice hartley first timer who has only heard of his film making technique  you might want to check out his earlier films before taking on this one  especially if you haven  t seen  henry  yet  . i admired the camera work  which at times reminded me of certain early man ray photography .  
i watched this film  along with every other adaptation i could get my hands on  including seeing plays  in preparation for some academic research . the cinematography is very moving  as is the music . unfortunately all of the life was taken out of the story . i have never seen such an awful portrayal of mr . rochester . all of his most fundamental traits are gone . where is his wit  where is his passion  scott  s rochester more closely resembles rochester  s foil  st . john  than the character from the novel . in fact  the actor playing st . john in this adaptation played a passionate st . john while scott is content to smash things or just stare at the ceiling  which he does all the time  . i have no idea what they were thinking . i would like to give this film a slightly higher vote based on the wonderful music and cinematography but i honestly can  t bear to see this film for too long because of george c . scott  s performance .  
i  ve read a lot of comments about the film and how it  s so hard for people to believe that it is a sequel to henry fool  and even though it technically is  i think that fay grim needs to be looked at as an entirely different film . just because it is the sequel doesn  t mean that it has to be a direct continuation of the first  and i enjoyed that so much about it . the whole point of the film was to change direction from the first  which makes sense because the movie isn  t called henry fool   it  s fay grim . all that aside  the film  i thought  was so well made and thought out that it actually surprised me . i was expecting to rent another nearly  released  straight  to  video film and have to endure  hours of bad editing and an almost hard to follow story  line  aka parker  s last direct to video feature the oh in ohio  but this was so surprisingly well focused that it almost doesn  t seem so  which i absolutely loved . there are so many nuances in the film making and writing that i crave to see in films  but never do . the cinematography was brilliant due to it  s simplicity and truly making the film seem  grim  throughout  in terms of setting . the writing was so well put together as well  whoever said this movie isn  t as witty as henry fool needs to watch again and actually listen i almost can  t even begin to explain how actually hilarious it was  and pertinent . and well  parker posey  who could complain  the scene in which fool and jalal were talking in the dark was so captivating and emotional . and i thought the spy  ness throughout the film was just so hilarious and spot on  in hindsight because i do agree that at times during you kind of felt lost  . the main thing that struck me so powerfully about the film  and i believe the point of the film  was parker  s love and naivety about fool  which was so endearing and turned  yes very quickly  from denial to outright passion . the last five minutes of the film were perfect . obviously there were things that weren  t excellent  but nothing is perfect some of the acting was poor  and at times i did think that some of the new back story and dialogue about terrorism got a little hard to follow and out of hand  but in the end you got it and didn  t even mind that at the time it may have slipped from your comprehension .  this may also have to do with goldblum  s tendency to talk extremely fast  on the whole i would say that it was probably one of the best films i  ve seen this year stylistically pleasing  clever and witty writing  performances that were so impressive i now have gained new respect for some of the actors  and a truly touching film  and don  t forget  a complete departure from fool . which was the point .  
the great ecstasy of robert carmichael is bad film in every way . the script  the dreary pace  the lack of depth in any character  the pointless sub  plots  the dreadful acting  the needless climax all make this possibly the worst film i  ve ever seen . i found nothing likable  enjoyable or intellectually stimulating in any way .  br    br   i imagine the film makers thought they were making something clever and dark  with its moody lighting  long protracted silences and vaguely haunting classical soundtrack . if so  they failed utterly . it just bored me  and i wish i had never watched it .  br    br   avoid at all costs .  
generically speaking  fay grim is a highly entertaining thriller featuring two of the most inexorably enjoyable names in american movies  unshakably beautiful and gracefully spunky parker posey and endlessly charismatic and unavoidably hilarious jeff goldblum . they have many scenes in the first half of the film in which we see these two insatiable presences volleying off of each other  even radiating with charm when goldblum rolls off hartley  s shamelessly epic info  dumps . nevertheless  if one were to deconstruct fay grim  one would see many instances in which countless scenes could  ve been squeezed for much more benefit than they have resulted in being .  br    br   this sort of filmed in  joke is the sequel to hal hartley  s henry fool  which was made ten years earlier . it has title character posey forced by cia agent goldblum to track down the notebooks that were the precious possessions of her missing fugitive husband  the predecessor  s titular anti  hero . available within them is information that could concede the safety of the united states . fay first makes for paris to get a hold of them but becomes engulfed in a bona fide celebration of espionage clichs featuring everything from car bombs to ambiguous helpers to following the girl to double  crosses to triple  crosses .  br    br   the primary appeal of it all for me is that it  s such a novel approach to the sequel of a movie about a garbageman and a struggling novelist in a small town . in the original henry fool  posey played a simple woman leading a very simple life . hartley  s talents do not reach the heights of many of the other independent newbies from the     s  but i do admire his wild creativity in making an inadvertent nearne sister out of her  giving her a terrific predicament  as he did to her character  s brother  played by james urbaniak  in henry fool  as she is trapped between whether or not she may still love her overwhelming refugee husband and the problematic but forceful plans of goldblum .  br    br   hartley  however  is simply riding on that fragmentary idea . his plot  though complex and labyrinthine  true to the form of the spy film  it seems as if to be entirely capricious . the reason i was not bored was mostly due to the pace at which the story unfolds  not to mention the presence of posey and goldblum . the problem with the remainder of hartley  s cast is that i cannot seem to become fond of the rest of them . it has nothing to do with how obscure they are compared to the relative star power of the two said charm masters  but with how they don  t seem to hold their own alongside them  though saffron burrows certainly comes close . most of the scenes not involving posey or goldblum are far too light on their feet  stringing us along with info  dumps we have no choice but to listen to or else be totally lost in the ensuing sequence of scenes . they are shot almost entirely in tiled angles  as if hartley is compensating for that implacable feeling of a lack of material .  br    br   liam aiken  however  playing the now teenage son of fay and henry  has a certain allure about him  seeming wise beyond his years  certainly much wiser than any of the adult characters . perhaps hartley intended that  or maybe it  s simply aiken  s presence . the problem with a hartley film is that you never quite know what was intended and what just happens to be there . as scorsese said   cinema is a matter of what  s in the frame and what  s out .  one has to be able to trust that what we see is a conscious decision by the filmmaker to remain in the finished film .  
i can  t believe i  ve just spent one and a half hours watching such a weak film . if there is only one film you have to miss  this is the one .  br    br   robert is a teenager whose father  s died recently so he starts hanging out with some local anti  social teenagers and using drugs . all these make him subconsciously more violent and at last such subconsciousness explodes . . .  br    br   the first thing is that i don  t think i can find any sense or trace of great ecstasy in this film  not in any single character . if the director considers what i saw in the last couple of minutes as great ecstasy  i have to say that that  s not even close .  br    br   the use of cinematography is also not mature . most of the time i couldn  t see any facial expressions from the actors and i didn  t feel the body language was sufficient enough to make an impact . maybe the crew was just so tired that they fixed the camera there to include everything in the settings . everybody happy except the audience .  br    br   the plot is particularly weak . there are a lot of unrelated scenes and talking which might be supposed to be related but they are really so random that you can never pull them all together  perhaps unless you  re the one who wrote them .  br    br   in the one and a half hour you may find less than  minutes of real acting and all other time there are just people walking  talking and moving . so i really can  t comment on acting here .  br    br   nice choice of music in the last couple of minutes though . maybe this is the only good thing .  br    br   i have never given a film a  but this film certainly deserves it  at least you laugh when you watch scary movies  . this is a film about when a failed attempt to portray troubled teenagers meets extremely disturbed audience . hope you fall into neither group .  
henry fool surprised me . i didn  t expect it to entertain and amuse as well  or as strongly  as it did . fay grim continues to surprise in that it provides solid continuation to a story that seems not to need it . once the viewer watches the first   minutes of the movie  however  it becomes blindingly aware that this is one of the best sequels to brilliant indie film . at least as good as ginger snaps back  if not better .  br    br   i am a little disappointed that jeff goldblum  s part is so small  but i  m happy he is a part of this short run . he is convincing and delightful as agent fulbright . also a delight is liam aiken who quite aptly portrays ned grim  the son of fay and henry .  br    br   this movie is a pleasure for so many reasons . i am pleased  for example  to discover that henry isn  t really the loser he seems  by the end of fool   and to further discover that he is  in fact  a genius . . . well  that really is a lovely stroke of the pen .  br    br   i am hoping they do a third . . . like the end of the trilogy . it seems to be missing . they should entitle it ned fool grim and it should be liam looking for his father  to validate the awesome change in his mother  and the sense of near  genius he himself feels welling inside him . assuming  of course  that fay continues withholding many of the most important facts from her son  concerning his father . it feels like it needs to be done . i  d buy it .  br    br   even with more action  this is still not an action flick . it is more drama and intrigue . . . a mystery  of sorts . i  ll watch it often .  br    br   it rates an  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
with a title  borrowed  from werner herzog and liberal helpings of kubrick  haneke and noe it is painfully obvious that thomas clay considers himself a cut above the usual sort of rubbish our british cinema churns out .  robert carmichael   for short  sets itself up as a realistic study of youthful alienation and at the same time seemingly a critique of the iraq war . the problem with the realism is that the characters are so patently unrealistic and atypical  contrary to the fetid imaginings of  extreme  filmmakers most teenagers are not drug addled rapists . as a critique of the iraq war  a film about youth violence  by a talented classical musician  subtext society has damaged this sensitive individual  is so infantile as to hardly bear thinking about . there are signs of technical ability but some reviewers have overstated this . like kubrick and noe he does show that the desire to shock linked with supposed serious intent may be the worst cinematic con trick of recent film . people liked  clockwork orange  and  irreversible  because they liked the rapes and the violence  but most of all they liked feeling culturally superior for liking things that most hated . so too much kubrick and not enough haneke  a serious and moral filmmaker  here labels this as one of the most moronic films in years .  i am not against violence in film . to do it seriously is a hard trick though  people in cinemas cheered alex in  clockwork orange  showing how kubrick  s supposed intent was missed by miles . gratuitous violence is much easier to achieve and is less offensive than the pretensions of many art  film directors .   
after seeing this film months ago  it keeps jumping back into my consciousness and i feel i must buy it or at least see it again  even though i watched it at least  times when i rented it at that point .  br    br   i fell in love with hal hartley  s directing many years ago  i found that these films could make me laugh in an place that is rarely entertained . it is a strange feeling  granted  and i assume most people out there really just don  t get it  or it makes them feel confused and somewhat uncomfortable  i guess i just really get it  its as if these films were made for me .  br    br   although i don  t remember if i actually laughed out loud during this film  it remains one of the funniest films i  ve seen in many years . if you don  t see the humor of the grocery bag fay carries from the street to a church  to her brother  s publisher  s office  to her son  s principal  s office you may lack the intelligence to be highly impressed by this film . the bag is a silent character in itself  being dragged around as an icon of motherhood the usually brash  bitchy parker posey must carry before the international intrigue of the remainder of the film besets her .  br    br   i consider  henry fool  my least favorite of hartley  s films . i honestly don  t remember it very well  i think the character himself was so despicable i found it tedious . hartley  s forte seems to be feminine character development .  br    br   aside from posey  s brilliance  it was wonderful to see elina lowensohn  one of my favorite actresses  again . her extravagant naivet is perfect for hartley  s direction . his ability to make the outrageous seem banal helps define his style as a delicious chronic irony throughout .  br    br   this film erupts into a highly relevant international intrigue story  explaining political situations in afganistan . this is never suspected at the beginning . the complexity of this film  s development is unparalleled .  br    br   this is the epitome of a  stand alone  sequel . the less you know about henry fool the more mystery is spun around him  the less you expect his appearance toward the end of the film  as an alcoholic chain  smoking complaint machine  hurling insults at his islamic terrorist caretaker who somehow seems to respect him . its like finding out santa claus is actually a    year  old schoolyard bully .  br    br   although i was impressed and satisfied with hartley  s other recent films  the girl from monday  and  no such thing    fay grim  goes far beyond what i expected  with a sense of humor and originality no oscar winner would ever dare .  
badly made . dreadful acting and an ending that the director appeared to contrive out of nowhere as the film had frankly been nothing short of dull . shocking that this film is considered for an award at the gijn film festival .  br    br   everyone that came out of the theatre was of the same opinion as i  what was the point of even making the film  the references to iraq were either bizarre or just not thought through properly . i am astonished that this film has been given a release  very  very disappointing and a waste of my time . sorry  terribly negative review but hopefully will deter some people from making the same mistake . what a pity we did not have a q and a at the end of the film  now that could have been interesting .  
fay  the sister of the notorious nobel prize  winning smut poet simon grim  still loves henry fool . their son receives an ingenious orgy  in  a  box from an undisclosed sender and a chase across three continents ensues  involving a supremely sad  sack collection of government agents  terrorists  flight attendants  and bellhops .  br    br   parker posey delivers a perfectly timed comic performance  including some brilliant physical work . with strong contributions by jasmin tabatabai and saffron burrows  fay grim proves in the best billy wilder tradition that nothing is funnier than a beautiful woman in trouble .  br    br   another good score by hartley  and thanks in the credits to the american academy in berlin  where hartley served as a fellow in fall      .  
i saw this movie on the film festival of rotterdam  jan     and followed the discussion between director and public afterwards . many people reacted shocked and protesting . he will get a lot of negative critics . but the world is cruel like this  and it  s not funny . people don  t like it . that itself doesn  t mean that the movie is bad . i can see that difference . don  t shoot the messenger that shows us the world outside our  hubble   nevertheless i think this a bad movie . film  technically it  s a good one . nice shots and script  most good fitting music  great actors . the director pretends to make a psychological movie   the psychology however is of poor quality . describing such a powerful violence itself is not the art . the art would be a powerful description of the psychological process behind that violence . how does a shy boy come to such a cruelty  the director pretends to describe that   but is not good in that .  br    br   the director used several times the word the  selfishness  of people  mentioning for instance the teacher . only this teacher wasn  t selfish   just someone in several roles  caring for his pupils  nd worried about his script . i think it  s a simplification to call him selfish . the atmosphere in the village is creepy  and the mother made awful mistakes   you terribly let me down   but it doesn  t become believable for me  that there is caused sch a lot of pain  that the shyest boy comes to such terrible things . in fact  reality is far more complex than the way  this film describes  and it needs far better descriptions . the interesting thing would be how does it work  describe that process for me please  so that we understand .  br    br   with the written phrase on the end  the director said to point to an alternative way of life . it was the other extreme  and confirmed for me that director and scriptwriter are bad psychologists  promoting black  white  thinking . the connection between violence in films and in society has been proved . use such a violence gives the responsibility to use it right . there are enough black  white  thinkers in the world  causing lots of war and misery . i hope  this movie won  t be successful .  
fay grim is a true example of what i call a completed puzzle film . it has all the pieces of acting  direction  storyline  and entertainment value . they all fit together and when done so create a masterpiece  fay grim .  br    br   this film follows a single mother fay grim trying to raise her son to not grow up to be her father who ran away from the law and went missing . soon the cia contacts fay in desperate pursuit to find  journals of her husband henry  s . these journals were filled with confessions of his long past in the cia and his involvement with countries and their government doings . fay is sent to find these journals  in return to release her brother from prison  and is sent on a cat  and  mouse chase all over europe to recover these journals and learn of the hidden secrets of her husbands past she never knew about .  br    br   parker posey had already been an actress i liked after i watched her in the oh in ohio and best in show . she brought liveliness to these two comedic roles of hers  but fay grim was a far different role than the other two movies . posey made me believe what was happening on screen  i felt for her  i rooted for her  and i wanted to know more . she grabs you while she is on screen and when she is off you can  t stop thinking about what is happening to her .  br    br   i haven  t seen any other previous works by writer  director hal hartley but i believe i will look into viewing some of his earlier films if they are half as good as fay grim was .  br    br   if you decide to make a smart movie choice next time you decide to rent a movie or purchase a dvd i  d highly urge you to choose fay grim . if you have any common sense on how a film should be you will enjoy this movie immensely .  
at the end of the film i just asked myself   is it the worse movie i have ever seen or is it the worse movie i have ever seen   . and the answer is . . . actually  after having seen this movie and thought a bit about the meaning of it  you just can  t find any meaning and you can only remember the two rape scenes  which are unbelievably brutal and useless . it seems to me as if the director tried to push this question into the crowd  s head   what are such crimes compared to horror of war and extermination   because i noticed that the two awful scenes where directly connected to war and it  s horrors  during the first scene you can here the girl that is being raped screaming and in the same time you hear one of president bush  s speeches about the necessity of starting a war with iraq and in the second scene  the pictures of the three criminals sticking a sword in a woman  s vagina  are directly followed by archive pictures of world war ii . but as a matter of facts  i really could not think about the relative gravity of theses two different kinds of human horror  s expression  being done i was too shocked by what i had just seen and felt .  sorry for bad english   
i  m one of those people who  d crawl a mile through broken glass to see a hal hartley film . from trust and iris to henry fool and  my hartley favorite  no such thing  hal  s unique brand of movies are an acquired taste . infusing equal parts mystery  espionage with wispy comedy seems to be his forte . the comedy isn  t in your face necessarily  and often runs throughout an entire scene before coming to fruition . and that  s the case with fay grim  the sequel to henry fool .  br    br   parker posey stars as fay grim  abandoned wife of henry fool and mother to henry  s only son ned . fay lives a quiet life until she comes home one day to find a cia agent in her kitchen . his name is fulbright  jeff goldblum  man of the year  and he wants henry  s notebooks . there are many henry fool notebooks and they were all previously believed to contain nothing but mad wanderings . apparently there  s much more to them . secrets weapons research or paths to terrorists  who knows but henry . agent fulbright tells fay that her husband is dead but this is quickly surmised as a ruse to get fay out of her home and searching for henry  and it works . . . but not the way they think  .  br    br   fay battles multiple spy rings to gather henry  s notebooks and to seek him out . she also makes a deal with the cia to get her brother simon  james urbaniak  out of prison  he  d helped henry escape the country in the original henry fool film .  multiple overlapping events occur in rapid succession spy rings shoot each other to death  henry is discovered being held in  safety  by a jihadist  fay frees her brother but unknowingly risks her son  s life  and the cia gets its comeuppance for putting fay in danger .  br    br   hal hartley obviously loves to play with themes . and he does so to the extreme here . even character names  grim  fool  fulbright  fogg  have implicit meanings of their own that are quite funny . the over  the  top espionage films of ol  are given plenty of screen time  too  as guns blaze in stop  motion sequences  never striking our heroine even though she  s right in the line of fire .  br    br   now that i  ve heaped praise on this creation  i will say that parker posey  s excessive portrayal of fay grim isn  t the best part of the film  which is a shame considering how much time she  s on  screen . i realize this was probably what mr . hartley wanted an uncurbed woman with hand gestures to the italian extreme . but it was still painful to watch at times .  br    br   even so  fans will probably devour fay grim and beg for more . though this wasn  t my favorite hal hartley film  i know i  m ready .  
this cowardly and offensive film had me intrigued to begin with . the characters are the familiar dispossessed young males frequently to be seen hanging around bored in a sea side town . robert is an outsider but he has his music which could have been his soul . instead clay makes robert into a freak who embarks on a journey into cannabis and ecstasy and getting in with the wrong crowd . clay seems to believe in  reefer madness  and robert ends the film as a homicidal rapist . one wonders how much experience of real life this young director has . no one can save poor robert . clay leaves us with the message that young british men are out of control . a very unsubtle link is made to the iraqi insurgents during the needlessly graphic rape we are subjected to explosions and images of war . the film shows male peer group extremism pushed to it  s limits . the young bombers in london draw a parallel with clay  s hateful depiction of modern male . clay implies that men simply cannot help themselves from inflicting terrible acts of violence . it is a wonder the british film industry allows money to be invested in films which advocate such divisive propaganda  when in london we are still reeling from the recent attacks . this is clay  s first film  i would be delighted if it is his last .  
as someone who has seen and followed hartley  s public work for several years i think much of what used to be fiction told through true stories has been elevated into obscure philosophical mind games .  br    br   while entertaining  fay grim is another step in the henry fool line of thinking  where the movie reflects the quality of an object within the movie itself . in henry fool  the object is the memoirs . . . in fay grim  the object is encrypted memoirs  which are themselves stolen  forged and trans  mutated into something so obscure it can  t really make any sense  i . e . the process of script writing and film  making in the modern era  where most blockbuster films are little more than a mash  up of the past . that is  in a philosophical sense  what fay grim is all about . the object  perhaps  is the tragedy that shock is now clich and dull  as hinted in the opening scenes at the publishers office  .  br    br   that being said  many of the movie best points are lost if you do not understand henry  s character and the significance of the memoirs being looked for . henry is a thinly veiled devil  first visiting simon as a modern faust  etc . without understanding how tragic henry  s character is  much of the quality of fay grim  s plot and story is lost .  br    br   and there is not enough  detail  expressed through verbal flashbacks  knowing the plot of henry fool cannot compare to  feeling  the quality of the characters as one did in henry fool  and so i think for someone who walks into this movie cold there is about   minutes of  so what  responses to highly constructed dialog and then that  s it .  br    br   however  henry fool was also my least favorite hartley film until i realized that it was bad  putrid and infested  precisely because henry fool  s confessions were bad . . . not just raunchy or dirty  but inescapably broken . henry can not even be a proper villain  and this is perhaps the tragic flaw that makes him most endearing . . . like gollum in tolkien  s works  henry is pitiable .  br    br   that doesn  t come across in fay grim  although henry  s dialog is excellent . what does come across is that the entire movie is constructed as an encryption  a sort of molding of another plot around what ends up being yet another bad story to add to henry  s confessions . it is an interesting twist  but one that can  t really be digested without viewing the first film . perhaps showing more of henry earlier on would have been better than having the publisher describe the basic storyline of the first movie  although this plot is also not really what the first movie was about  unless perhaps one is a casual observer .  br    br   part of the encryption  hard to say . . . a little disappointed at the sex gimmicks though . cheesy .  
first a technical review . the script is so slow  it is really a   minute story blown up to  hour   min . the dialogue is so flat and truly one  dimensional . the  acting  is pathetic  they seem to really have lifted schoolchildren out of class to read a few lines from an idiot board . as for the whole  point  of the story  namely  war is bad   oh  there  s a shock   is really non  existent . without out the  lets shock  em and get great publicity  scene nobody would be talking about this film . it is so bad it actually bothers me to think what better things the money used this could have gone on . believe me i  ve seen some bad  emperor  s new clothes  films but the one thing i can say for them is at least they were well shot and well made while the camera wobbled during two scenes in this  read all the other reviews  avoid at all costs and don  t talk about it .  
i anticipated this movie to be decent and possibly clich  but i was completely wrong  charlie cox  i had never heard of him until now  played an incredibly good leading man he was so earnest and romantic  me and my friend that saw the movie with me totally fell in love with him .  br    br   claire danes  who i did like before  loved her in romeo and juliet   made me enjoy her even more . her acting was fantastic  i couldn  t even tell that she was american . the chemistry between her and charlie cox was extremely good  the casting was quite perfect .  br    br   robert deniro and michelle pfeiffer were equally well  casted deniro as that gay pirate . . . priceless  priceless . i laughed so hard at that one scene where septimus comes on the ship . . . oh my god  wow . pfeiffer played a decent villain  i liked her as the snippy mother in hairspray . but she had the right amount of melodrama and snide comments throughout the movie .  br    br   overall  it was funny  but not slap  stick at all    romantic  the special effects weren  t totally frequent but when they were  they were great the cameos from ricky gervais and peter o  toole were also well  placed .  br    br   i totally recommend this movie to anyone who likes fantasy movies like the princess bride or even lord of the rings . it kept my interest the entire time and i will be buying the dvd when it comes out   
wow is all i can say if your reading this is either watched it or are thinking about it . trust me watch it   br    br   i laughed so hard at so many parts of this movie the worst acting ever made is very funny  i cant believe they superimposed the school sign  i must have played that scene over and over again just to laugh more and more every time . if a movie like this can be made it gives us all hope in making our own movies . even the costume was bad . it looked like my  year old cousin could have done a better job on making it . heck i bet he could have written and acted better as well . all i know is that i have to watch the second part just so i can see if it was as bad as the first . its a cool idea about a killer scarecrow but a much better job could have been done . hopefully another killer scarecrow movie comes out  just not like this one .  
alright  this film is the representation of several things . for starters  this film is about a disgruntled student who brings a gun to school and shoots roughly  students . one student survives and is in the hospital with extensive head injuries . the lead character is what several people who consider a  loner  goth   despite the movie  s stating of her not being so . she seems quite mysterious  but was also the only unharmed student in the victimized classroom . she  s questioned  due to having a history of knowing the shooter and having a record of being on the phone with him the night before . anyhow  she  s a very brief and distant person who seems to despise society . yet  due to some  at first unexplained events  she spent roughly a year out of school  failing the grade . she has the desire to graduate  and the principle practically cons her into the only possible way she can pass is to spend time with the survivor  the girl in the hospital .  br    br   these two leads are nearly entirely opposite  and they are quite that on a social level . while alisha is a quiet  inwardly disturbed  anti  social  goth  girl who spends her time entirely alone  even though she seems to read quite often  somewhat of a closet  out of the closet bookworm   the other girl is a rich  popular  bubbly  girl who seems always incredibly optimistic and trapped in her own fantasy world  ignoring the outside world and its realism to survive . i feel both of these roles to a marvelous job of representing most  cliques  in the modern highschool  but more importantly shows how two entirely opposite girls who know nothing of each other eventually open to each other . while the injured girl learns a deep  meaningful truth on her once sheltered life and the outside world  alisha learns that complete abandonment of society and locking everything inside is not always the best thing .  br    br   many people will look to the connection between these two girls and see one of two things . either  a snobby  hateful girl who wants he rest of the world to suffer as she does  taking it out on an innocent girl  or the story of a seemingly trapped  fantasized girl who meets an outcast to society and learns not only not to judge  but that she is actually  perhaps  one of the most intelligent people she  s known . in other words  people may see this film as a focus on alisha teaching the other girl a lesson about life  but it isn  t about that .  br    br   this film is about several things . while it is about all i have stated  it is also representative of how people deal from a large  life  changing catastrophe . truly  this movie is not very symbolic  but instead incredibly straight forward with its message  as long as you aren  t afraid to open your mind  and your heart  to some emotions you may not be familiar with being portrayed so miraculously .  br    br   overall  this film is one of the best i  ve ever seen . the acting is brilliant  the storyline and representation is deep and meaningful  and the emotion flowing through  out this film will have anyone not only relating  but possibly crying . this film is by far heart  wrenching  and very impactful  and if i ever believed any film could alter a person  s life . . . this would be the first that could have changed mine .  br    br   i adored this movie  if you ever want a movie that  s moving and impactful  while incredibly entertaining and real  watch this .  
there  s not a drop of sunshine in  the sunshine boys   which makes the title of this alleged comedy neil simon  s sole ironic moment . simon  who adapted the script from his play  which goes uncredited   equates old age with irrational behavior   and  worse  clumsy  galumphing  mean  spirited irrational behavior . walter matthau is merciless on us playing an aged vaudeville performer talked into reuniting with former comedy partner george burns for a television special  it  s said they were a team for   years  which begs the question  how long did vaudeville last  anyway    . burns  who won a supporting oscar  has the misfortune of coming to the film some thirty minutes in  after which time matthau has already blasted the material to hell and back . the noisier the movie gets  the less tolerable and watchable it is . director herbert ross only did solid work when he wasn  t coupled with one of neil simon  s screenplays here  ross sets up gags like a thudding amateur  hammering away at belligerent routines which fail to pay off  such as semi  incoherent matthau showing up at a mechanic  s garage to audition for a tv commercial  . at this point  matthau was still too young for this role  and he over  compensates by slouching and hollering . it was up to ross and simon to tone down the character  to nuance his temperament to give  the sunshine boys  some sunniness  yet walter continues to project as if we  d all gone deaf . the picture looks terribly drab and crawls along at a spiritless pace one loses hope for it early on .     from   
henry fool is a better film . but this is the perfect way to follow  up a film like  henry fool .  to take henry very seriously  his  lies  and his mysterious aura . even the opening shot of  henry fool  when simon puts his ear to the ground as henry comes walking over the hill is more fully manifest through  fay grim .  the over  the  top jokes  that are more or less meta  jokes  about the writing of the film and the jokes themselves   are good but the opening of the film is a little saturated in them . also hartley  s use of dutch angles throughout the film is jarring  yes  it  s intention  but it feels forced and over  used  it goes beyond jarring to  what i  d like to call  annoying . it  s a flawed film  but a must see for any hartley or  henry fool  fan .  br    br   and don  t listen to stupid reviews  don  t watch this unless you  ve seen the first film . the intrigue  satire and wit of this movie is totally lost if you haven  t seen henry fool . it  s a sequel . that  s just dumb .  
this is the most disturbing film i have ever seen . it makes  requiem for a dream  look like a disney film . although  technically  it is reasonably well made  acting  cinematography  music  directing  etc .  are good . however  the concluding gang rape scene is the most appalling and violent thing i have ever seen and i really wish i had not seen it . i am afraid that it will haunt me for the rest of my life . although i think anyone would find the film extremely disturbing  my wife and some of her friends were victimized in a very similar manner and i really didn  t need an explicit reminder of the horror that they experienced . i saw the film at the sxsw film festival in austin  tx and none of the cast or crew were in attendance . i would have liked for them to have had the opportunity to defend the violence in their film  which i felt was excessive  gratuitous and unnecessary . an earlier scene successfully conveyed the mood they were apparently striving for  but without rubbing your face in the extreme and explicit sexual violence . this film should have a big warning label on it . for these reasons i would not recommend anyone seeing it . you  ve been warned .  
hal hartley  s henry fool was an independent film masterpiece and certainly his best work . it has immense character depth  subtle  complicated dialogue  and an excellent  emotional ending which captivates . i remember pausing it several times during my first viewing to absorb what i was seeing and feeling . henry fool was a complete movie from start to finish  and needed no sequel .  br    br   thus i was surprised when i heard about fay grim . fay was not one of the main characters of the first film and seemed to exist more as the troubling imposition of real  world vanity and ignorance for her brother simon to be forced to deal with as he matures . in her own movie  fay matures herself  though her maturity takes a very different road . simon went from near autistic isolation to a merely somewhat  introverted genius . fay starts her adult journey as an immature  utterly normal  spoiled child and responds to the onslaught of ridiculous circumstances by becoming a mature  utterly normal  experienced adult who holds no advantages . she deals with problems the way any human does  with determination  a little thought  and weary disdain . while simon learned to control his mind  fay learns to control her emotion .  br    br   the movie contains several fondly remembered elements of its prequel  but differs vastly in tone for most of the film . henry fool showed you a harsh  boring  ignorant world which contrasted with simon  s inner passion and creativity . in fay grim  the world is a lively  crazy  emotional place which shows the silliness of her young life  and through contrast unearths the inner wise woman which had not been previously developed or nurtured by her similarly weak mother .  br    br   the movie is in two parts  the first dealing with the beginning of fay  s struggle and subsequent hardening due to authoritarian hostility  and the second dealing with her battle to soften only just enough to regain henry . at first  fans of henry fool may find themselves wondering how the movie can even be considered a sequel  and thinking it is profane to follow such an intense film with spy game antics and physical comedy . but this is where the subtlety of fay grim lies . the sequel is about fay  s journey  and as i said before  hers is one of finding the life  giving sanity in chaos  not the creative chaos in staid order . parker posey is an excellent actress who captures hal hartley  s tongue in cheek humor perfectly . elina lwensohn perhaps eclipses her in emotional commitment to the role  allowing parker to play both straight man and comic against the lively  stage  like comedy happening around her .  br    br   with the entrance of henry into the picture  the movie begins to take a sobering turn . hal hartley  s movies are all plays  and every play must come full circle . by the end  you are shown fay  s newly developed character and integrity are the offspring of her time with the fatally intense henry  whose piercing honesty and unique passion lights a spark in anyone he meets .  br    br   fay grim is an excellent movie which does not surpass henry fool  but shows through hal  s range that the nuances of his art are the proof of his genius .  br    br   honestly  i think anyone who bashes this movie not only missed the point by a mile  and especially the subtlety in parker posey  s acting   but could not have been much interested the movie henry fool .  
i have seen it . it  s not  good  but interesting in an understated way . the boys in it are quite naturalistic but . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the graphic  gratuitous final gang rape scene is repugnant and  oh yes  the arbitrary insertion of second world war footage is offensive in the way it attempts to compare real horror with this misogynistic contrivance . real atrocity is real  this film is just atrocious . however  the film has a look which can draw you in . but it seems to me that is the  emperor  s new clothes   but in fact in reverse . the film looks good  but the direction  story  content and final feeling you take away from this film is vacuous . if a feeling can be vacuous  this is it .  
when i started watching  fay grim   i had no idea that it was a sequel to  henry fool  . now  the latter was not a movie that i envisioned as having a sequel . but one has arrived  and it  s quite good . i assume that you  ve seen the original  so i won  t explain it . this one starts with fay  parker posey  living with her son whom she had with deadbeat henry  thomas jay ryan  . simon  james urbaniak  is still in jail . one day  the son gets expelled for bringing a pornographic toy to school . but this is no ordinary toy . it holds a secret that explains much of what happened in the first movie . and this secret delves deeper into geopolitics than  syriana  .  br    br   i must say that i  m quite impressed with what hal hartley has accomplished here . maybe this one doesn  t quite reach the original  s quality  but it certainly takes a good look at what  s going on in the world . and the end leaves open the possibility for another sequel .  br    br   also starring jeff goldblum .  
i did watch all of the film through to the disgraceful ending even though i felt so angry at what i saw . i felt that the director was screaming for attention and the only way he could achieve this was to be as repulsive as possible . since i have lived in the uk i have come to love this country but this film depicts british young people in the worst way imaginable . there is nothing to be said but avoid it  it will make you angry and sick . the people involved should be ashamed .  
a wonderfully quirky film with enough twists for a sack of pretzels . parker posey plays fay grim as a sexy  vulnerable  loving mother who may or may not be what she seems . the story is very tongue in cheek  and the dialog skillfully understated . hints of humor and intrigue  neither of which overpower the characterization posey pulls off so well . the supporting cast is stellar . the downside  this film needs your full attention  almost to the point of stopping the film and taking notes . posey has more sex appeal in her lifting of an eyebrow than most actresses have in their entire body . she  s worth your time  even if you don  t understand the denouement .  
i saw this at the edinburgh film festival . it was awful  every clichd  violent  rich boy fantasy was on display  you just knew how it was going to end especially with all the shots of the chef  s wife and the rape of the first girl .  br    br   the worst part was the qa with the director  writer and writer  producer they tried to come across as intellectuals but you could tell they  re the types that get off on violence . i bet anything they frequent brothels and do drugs .  br    br   don  t waste your time . i had to keep my boyfriend from walking out of it .  
perhaps i would have liked this film more if i wasn  t so attached to the characters in henry fool . to those who  ve never seen henry fool  i wouldn  t worry . as hartley jokingly said in his introduction to the film at tiff  the film has lots of exposition and explanations .  br    br   this film is very heavy in plot  which keeps the film moving . there are many humorous moments and the film certainly has hartley  s trademark humour and rhythm of dialogue . over all  a technically well made film and sure to satisfy new fans of hartley who are just beginning explore his work . as for the older fans who loved his earlier works like trust and amateur  this film could go either way . i have mixed feelings about the film and hartley  s later films in general . what hartley does best is setting his stories in small situations  focusing on the intimate and idiosyncratic ways in which his characters interact with each other . since his late   s and onward  his films have widened in scope in terms of subject matter . mass media in no such thing  religion in the book of life and now terrorism in fay grim . i don  t know if hartley  s talents are suited to such big subject matter or if he  s able to do it justice .  br    br   strangely enough  the film can still be reduced to intimate relationships  a simple love story about a woman who goes to seek out the husband she loves . the only problem is  i  ve seen henry fool and everyone seems incredibly out of character in this film . you can tell this film was written long after henry fool was finished without any intention of a sequel . somehow  the terrorist plot feels conveniently tacked on through the use of henry  s books of confessions as a macguffin  in the hitchcockian sense  . fay  s motivations for finding henry seemed motivated purely by the needs of the plot rather than what being faithful to who fay was as person in henry fool .  br    br   i guess i  m slightly disappointed in the film because it  s not true to the characters in the henry fool and it doesn  t exactly work as a straight ahead thriller . there  s too much irony and wryness in hartley  s approach to such as big topic as terrorism . it somehow works and doesn  t work at the same time . all i could say  you would either love or hate the film depending on your take on hartley  s work and how well you know hartley  s work . fans of henry fool  be severely warned for a disappointment . for the rest  welcome to the world of hal hartley and enjoy the ride .  
violence whether real or not always has an impact . in this film the violence is about as crass as you could ask for . in the great ecstacy the director has successfully demonstrated what extremes of violence people are capable of . but what was the point  the violence looks like a mix of no  s  irreversible  and  kubrick  s  clockwork orange  . . . both of which are remarkable films . don  t get me wrong  i  m not opposed to screen violence at all and i  ve seen some nasty stuff in my film  going years  but this film as a whole is totally juvenile . the story is never developed enough to offer any reason for the extreme violence  the rizla paper thin reason we are give for robert  s demise is his introduction to drugs . danny dyer plays the character who is partly responsible for robert  s drug fuelled demise  however he is on screen for less than  minutes . lesley manville is robert  s unable to cope mum  i am not sure what either of these actors is doing in a film of this low caliber . the acting is wooden  the scene in the kitchen with the tv  cook and his wife for instance is as painful to watch if not more so than the shocking finale  who wrote those dialogues   some of the comments the boys make . . .  looks like she  s enjoying it  are so trite as to tempt one to laugh if it were not for clay  s ardent desire to bombard us with harrowing images of mutilated female genitals . why we need to be shown such detail possibly down to the director  s adolescent obsession with sadistic pornographic imagery . . . one can only wonder at this young man  s psychology .  br    br   the  political meaning  of the film was repeatedly brought to our attention due to the amount of scenes in the bar  outside the tv  cook  s house  war in iraq reports  was perhaps too obvious in my opinion . yes  war is violent  social determinism causes frustration  we  re all prone to horrifingly violent acts whether you  re in politics or on the street popping e . juxtaposing all these things as part of the same underlying issue is evading the actual issue which is the meaning of violence in man . this issue is one that we still haven  t managed to grasp and certainly not in this film .  br    br   my opinion derivative  badly  made and pointless .  
convoluted  infuriating and implausible  fay grim is hard to sit through but parker posey is really the only actress who could take this story and run with it . she  s at once touching  funny  cunning . the supporting actors commit to it as well .  br    br   i wont even try to tell you the plot . . it involves characters from hartley  s henry fool and attempts a tale of international espionage .  br    br   the film works well if you continue along with it  understanding it is . in a sense  completely ridiculous . it becomes more and more ridiculous as you plod along .  i resisted the temptation to turn off the dvd twice  .  br    br   fay grim requires an adventurous film  goer willing to tackle something that isn  t cookie  cutter . in the end  it offers something that defies description .  
so they hyped the violence and it  s been branded as sick . well  the violence is the best bit i  m afraid  but unfortunately the characters are not developed enough to allow us to understand why they go on their  entirely predictable  rampage . this film has a truly dreadful script . we never get a chance to get to know robert and his actions at the end are just plain pathetic . the acting isn  t much better  either  the worst of them being the tv chef and the school teacher . the direction is clumsy  the pace enough to send you to sleep . and what on earth is the school film project all about  a comment on the film itself perhaps  the use of newsreel during the climactic murder is laughable . these guys obviously think they  re intellectuals but are hopelessly out of their depth . how on earth they got the great yorgos arvanitis to light it i  ll never know . and how they got the money to make it in the first place is an even greater mystery . absolutely awful beyond comprehension .  
i  m an admirer of hal hartley  s films  especially      s  henry fool .   fay grim  is a sequel to that film  and has a similar style and sense of humor . the plot  however  is completely different . fay grim  played brilliantly by the iconic parker posey  tries to track down her missing husband  s notebooks  and finds herself amid conspiracies and espionage . the supporting cast  most of the folks from the first film as well as jeff goldblum  saffron burrows  and a much  welcomed return from   s indie  darling elina lowensohn  is excellent and the film has lots of surprises . the director claims this is part of a  star wars   like trilogy  serving as the  empire strikes back  of the series if this is true  i can  t wait to see the third installment  i just hope i don  t have to wait   more years for it .  
thomas clay has been mixing with the wrong types . that  s the trouble with young people these days  they have no respect .  br    br   seriously this film should be avoided at all costs . the action in the main body of the film is slow and rather stodgy and ambles to the drug crazed ending as if  like it  s director  it has no where better to go . we are introduced to the main title character who is a bit of an outsider  we see him at school and at home not quite fitting in  feeling awkward in himself as so many adolescents do . robert falls in with bad lads and starts missing school and taking drugs and before you know it he is a psycho rapist .  br    br   the film is really about clay  s total failure to understand the links between violence imagery and violent acts . clay seems to think a generation of crazed youth are made evil by scenes of war on our tvs . yet he has filmed the most disgusting piece of simulated violence . is this guy for real   br    br   if clay has not seen youtube perhaps he is naive and unaware of will be done with the brutal climax scene from his film  all anyone will want to see is the most hideous scene from the end of the film and i am sure that will be what sticks with people .  br    br   the rest of the film is pointless for in committing such an act of violence to film clay not only damns young people who are actively engaged in preventing war  he also damns himself as perpetrator of extreme  tasteless violence for no better reason than his own personal celebrity status .  br    br   shame on all involved .  
i just saw this film  tiff  toronto international film festival  . fans of hal hartley will not be disappointed   and if you are not familiar with this director  s oeuvre . . . doesn  t matter . this film can definitely stand all on its own . i have to go the second screening . . . it was amazing i need to see it again   and fast    br    br   this film is very funny . it  s dialogue is very smart  and the performance of parker posey is outstanding as she stars in the title role of fay grim . fay grim is the latest feature revisiting the world and characters introduced in the film henry fool       . visually  the most salient stylistic feature employs the habitual use of the canted  or dutch  angle  which can be often seen in past hartley works appearing in various shorts  available in the possible films short works by hal hartley          collection  and in the girl from monday       .  br    br   i viewed this film most aptly on sept   th . textually  fay grim  s adventure in this story is backdropped against the changed world after september        . without going into major spoilers  i view this work  and story  world as a bravely political and original portrait of geo  politics that is rarely  if ever  foregrounded in mainstream fictional cinema post     heretofore  cf . syrianna of side note  mark cuban exec . prod in both these films . . . most interesting  to say the least  .  br    br   lastly  for those closely attached to the characters of henry fool  simone  fay and henry this film is hilariously self  conscious and self  referential . that being said  the character of fay grimm starts off in the film  exactly where she was when henry fool ended  but by the end of the film . . . fay  s knowledge and experience has total changed and expanded over the course of the narrative . what can be in store for the future of fay and the fool family . . .   i can  t wait for the third part in this story   
this movie commits what i would call an emotional rape on the viewer . the movie supposedly caused quite a stir among the critics in cannes  but for me the final scene was just a pathetic attempt for a newbie director to get himself noticed . hardly a voice in the discussion on the issue of violence  drug abuse or juvenile delinquency  or any other issue  for that matter  .  br    br   the main character  s metamorphosis from good  but troubled boy to the vicious rapist is virtually nonexistent  whereas the rape scene  being an over  dragged  exaggerated version of the rape scene from  a clockwork orange   is unbearable and i refuse to comment on its aesthetic values . there are some things an artist should not do to try and achieve his  her goal . at least in my opinion .  br    br   to wrap it up shockingly brutal  revolting and not worth your time . see  a clockwork orange  or  le pianiste  instead .  
the     low  key indie dramedy henry fool would seemingly have been a secure choice of movies no one would bother to revisit for a sequel . a rumpled  dissipated drifter  thomas jay ryan  strolls into town . his anarchistic rantings and delusions inspire a nerdy garbage collector  james urbaniak  to write poems  while henry half  heartedly tries to boink the guy  s sister  parker posey  . as the poet prospers  henry declines . nothing special about any of the characters or the story . a pitch for harold and maude  s ghost would have been quoted higher odds of ever making it to a screen .  br    br   but parker posey ain  t the semi  official queen of the indies for nothing  . so when writer  director hal hartley came up with a new incarnation for his cast  a film was born . though we catch up with the same characters many years  they  re in a completely different sort of dark comedy this one  s laced with espionage  henry may have been an international spy  and possible double  or even triple  agent  for years before meeting the others . he  s either dead or in hiding from agents and authorities of many countries . everyone wants his rambling  incoherent journal which just may contain coded secrets that could destabilize nations and economies . posey  s fay is either the wife he left to go on the lam  or his widow  depending on who  s telling the truth . fay  s efforts to find henry and  or the hotly  contested journals include a globe  trotting gauntlet of multinational hit  persons and henchmen at every turn . she never knows who to believe or trust . nor do we .  br    br   while herding these unlikely characters into jason bourne  jack ryan territory  hartley  s script retains the ironic deadpan humor of their first appearance  steering clear of slapstick in exposing them to physical menaces . his sly lampoon of the paranoia  duplicity and musical  chairs alliances of today  s geopolitics starts to crumble towards the end . even so  fans of the first movie will be pleasantly surprised by the novelty of hartley  s recycling methods .           
there is just one word for this film . appalling . the director clearly has talent but like his character robert carmichael he throws it all away .  br    br   carmichael has potential  but like cray he can  t be bothered to use it . being drawn into petty crime and then descending into depravity is cray  s vision of british youth . like the british tabloids this film portrays young people with no aspirations or respect . cray cries out for attention  but deserves none .  br    br   i was appalled by the act of violence that cray chose to shove in the faces of the audience . he assumes the audience are ignorant of world atrocities . like a piece of obscene graffiti on a toilet wall he shows us male depravity with adolescent glee .  br    br   some actors of quality have small parts in this film . danny dyer and leslie manville both make short appearances . the acting is otherwise amateur  the young men joe and ben are cringe making . carmichael played by daniel spencer is creepy . miranda wilson plays monica  the attractive wife of celeb chef jonathon  michael howe   how she was able to subject herself to such an ordeal is beyond belief . the film is never subtle and monica is treated to the most gratuitous violence which is cut with war action . war imagery is used to convey the idea that young men cannot help themselves  that acts of violence will occur within even  civilised  countries . this is most certainly true and is symptomatic of our altered society where males have an increasingly less important position  but cray descends to the level of the barbaric males he seeks to expose through his use of such brutal and violent images . the female characters in the film offer no relief . they are either victims or in manville  s case a washed out mother . the community is represented as dysfunctional .  br    br   this is cray  s first film . i listened to what he had to say during a q and a session at edinburugh and he is not unintelligent  he simply lacks experience and his film exposes his naivety . the film is due to be released later this year  but i hope the company goes bust cos the public really don  t need this kind of messed up material .  
when i first heard that hal hartley was doing a sequel to henry fool  i was excited  it  s been a personal favorite for years now   and then wary when i heard it had something to do with terrorism . having just seen it though  i was surprised to find that it worked  while still being an entirely different sort of movie than henry fool . the writing and direction were both dead on and the acting was superb . . . especial kudos go to hartley for reassembling virtually the whole cast  right down to henry  s son  who was only four in the original . like i said though  this movie is quite different from the first  but it works i reconciled myself with the change in tone and subject matter to the fact that   years have passed and the characters would have found themselves in very different situations since the first film ended . in this case  an unexpected adventure ensues . . . and that  s about all i  ll give away . . . not to mention the fact that i  ll need to see it again to really understand what  s going on and who  s double crossing who . while it was certainly one of the better movies i  ve seen in some time  it suffers like many sequels with its ending  as it appears that hartley is planning a third now and the film leaves you hanging . i  ll be sure to buy my tickets for part    henry grim    in     .  
i am always wary of taking too instant a dislike to a film . look at it a month later and you might see it differently  or dig it up after   years in a different continent and some cult followers find something stylistically remarkable that went unnoticed at first . after sitting through the great ecstasy of robert carmichael at its uk premiere  it came as no surprise to me that i found the question and answer session afterwards more interesting than the film itself . shane danielsen  artistic director of the edinburgh international film festival   aided by the film  s director and producer  gave a spirited defence of a movie than received an overall negative response from the audience . edinburgh festival audiences are not easily shocked . only one person walked out in disgust . the criticisms of the film included very articulate and constructive ones from the lay public as well as an actor and a woman who teaches m . a . film directors . this was not an overly  shocking  film . there was a degree of uninterrupted sexual violence  but far less extreme than many movies  most actual weapon contact was obscured  as were aroused genitals  . the audience disliked it because they had sat through two hours that were quite boring  where the acting standards were not high  where the plot was poor  predictable and drawn out  and where they had been subjected to clumsy and pretentious film  making on the promise of a controversial movie . metaphors to the war in iraq are contrived  over  emphasised and sloppy  apart from a general allusion to violence  any deeper meaning is unclear   and the  fig  leaf  reference marquis de sade  as one audience member put it  seems a mere tokenistic excuse for lack of plot development towards the finale .  br    br   we have the story of an adolescent who has a certain amount going for him  he stands out at school for his musical ability  but takes drugs and hangs out with youths who have little or nothing going for them and whose criminal activities extend to rape and violence . when pushed  robert seems to have a lot of violence locked inside him .  br    br   the film is not entirely without merit . the audience is left to decide how robert got that way was it the influence of his peers  why did all the good influences and concern from parents and teachers not manage to include him in a better approach to life  cinematically  there is a carefully  montaged scene where he hangs back  whether through too much drugs  shyness  a latent sense of morality or just waiting his turn   . several of his friends are raping a woman in a back room  partly glimpsed and framed in the centre of the screen . in the foreground of the bare bones flat  a dj is more concerned that the girl  s screams interrupt his happy house music than with any thought for the woman . ultimately he is a bit annoyed if their activities attract police attention . the stark juxtaposition of serious headphones enjoyment of his music even when he knows a rape is going on points up his utter disdain in a deeply unsettling way . robert slumps with his back to us in the foreground .  br    br   but the rest of the film  including its supposedly controversial climax involving considerable  if not overly realistic  sexual violence  is not up to this standard . some people have had a strong reaction to it  the filmmakers  stated intention  if they vomit  we have succeeded in producing a reaction   but mostly  and as far as i can tell the edinburgh reaction seems to mirror reports from cannes  they feel   why have programmers subjected us to such inferior quality film  making   director clay hugh can talk the talk but has not developed artistic vision . his replies about holding up a mirror to life to tell the truth about things that are swept under the carpet  even his defence that there is little plot development because he didn  t want to do a standard hollywood movie  all are good answers to criticisms  but unfortunately they do not apply to his film  any more than they do to holding up a mirror while someone defecates  or wastes film while playing ineptly with symbols . wanting to try and give him the benefit of any lingering doubt  i spoke to him for a few minutes after the screening  but i found him as distasteful as his movie and soon moved to the bar to wash my mouth out with something more substantial . there are many truths . one aspect of art is to educate  another to entertain  another to inspire . i had asked him if he had any social or political agenda and he mentions ken loach  one of the many great names he takes in vain  without going so far as to admit any agenda himself . he then falls back on his mantra about his job being to tell the truth . i am left with the feeling that this was an overambitious project for a new director  or else a disingenuous attempt to put himself on the map by courting publicity for second rate work  br    br   andy warhol could paint a tin of soup and it was art . clay hugh would like to emulate the great directors that have made controversial cinema and pushed boundaries . sadly  his ability at the moment only extends to making high  sounding excuses for a publicity  seeking film .  
the beautiful story of stardust is written by by neil gaiman  writer of mirrormask  and it  s really a good story . i think it would appeal to any labyrinth  princess bride or   th kingdom fan and yet it  s totally unique and stands up on it  s own . and i feel the film adaptation of this story has a far better ending than what was presented in the original novel by neil gaiman . i won  t spoil it for you .  br    br   the main character  tristan  tristran in the novel   is the son of a mortal and a faerie slave kept by a witch in the realm of faerie . the story begins in a town near a wall that separates the magical world from the human world . when there is a falling star tristan promises to retrieve it for a girl he is infatuated with . he is unaware that the star has taken the form of a girl in the fairy world and that there are others after her too . three elderly witches who want to use her heart to become young again  and some bickering princes .  br    br   it  s a really good story . it has humor and magic and beautiful  surreal scenes and visuals . it  s charming and i feel it can be watched by children and adults of all ages . it  s simply magical . it  s a true classic fairy tale  the likes of which i haven  t seen in cinema since the     s .  
i saw this not too long ago  and i must say this movie is terrible . i watch crappy movies for fun . scarecreow is not fun . scarecrow is stupid . you have an incredibly corny villain that enjoys screaming awful puns as he kills his victims  actually worse than the one contained in this sentence  . he has his hard luck story that he uses to justify his killings .  everyone picks on me . the only girl that thinks i  m not trailer  trash likes one of the guys that pick on me . i want to kill everybody . wah .  ok  i  m exaggerating . but the premise to this movie alone is enough to put it near the bottom of the list of crappy movies .  br    br   adding to what i just said  the kid  s mom is promiscuous  he walks in on his mother and her current boyfriend getting it on  mom  s boyfriend tells him to leave  kid refuses  insisting that he isn  t going to leave his own house . boyfriend chases kid into corn field . he kills kid right in front of mom  mom screams in terror  boyfriend is like   omg  i didn  t mean to   then he tells mom not to say anything to the police about it . kid was killed under a scarecrow  though . so  like any kid who gets murdered under a scarecrow  he comes back as a killer scarecrow with a vengeance . his victims  haven  t been stalked like this before . . .   scarecrow  s official tag line   br    br   to make matters worse  this movie was filmed in a whopping  days . that  s right   days . i was going to give this movie a   because in spite of itself  it has one or two redeeming moments .  they  re spoilers  so i won  t spoil it for you  if you actually want to see this crap .  i could have somewhat forgiven the bad acting  the horrible special effects  the abysmal script  and the bad camera work  but i simply have no respect for lack of effort on that level .  br    br   this movie isn  t nearly as good as i  m making it out to be . if you want to see an example of how not to make a movie  or if you enjoy watching bad movies  like i do  then watch this at your own risk . everyone else should stay a safe distance away from this movie at all times .  
fay grim is  on its face  a tale of espionage and intrigue told with a nod and a wink . as the sequel to his extraordinary henry fool  hal hartley creates a surprising blend of film noir and hardboiled spy thriller that starts with a knowing smile and large dose of laughter and turns as poignant and warm as any film i  ve seen this year .  br    br   parkey posey is fay grim  an unwitting mata hari caught between the love of her exiled husband henry fool and the questionable intentions of a charming cia operative . as agent fulbright  jeff goldblum is a master of wit and sarcasm  in a role that seems tailored to his talents . he has never been better . james urbaniak is fay  s brother simon  jailed but renowned for his wildly popular books of poetry . his love of his work and his sister brings a jolt of passion to contrast the dour nature of the spies which eventually populate fay  s world . and liam aiken is fay  s oversexed   year  old son . although that may be redundant . aiken  s understated style is remarkably  old soul  for someone his age .  br    br   the entire film is shot dutch angle  the off  kilter style made famous by orson welles and used primarily in horror films and psychological thrillers to impart a sense of foreboding . in fay grim  using that style from opening credits to closing is intriguing at first  deceptively clever the next . for just as the viewer begins to fall for the perfectly timed comedic elements and wit of hartley  s brilliant script  something happens . the film takes a dark yet strangely comforting turn as these characters magically become sympathetic before our eyes . what began as dark comedy morphs into romantic drama  and the transition is masterful . slow pacing gives way to breathtaking action  and we are sucked right into the vortex .  br    br   in the end  hartley  s sharp dialog combined with the amazing performances of a perfectly matched ensemble cast makes for a delicious cinematic cocktail . told with the luxury of one able to write  produce  direct  edit  and even compose the music  hal hartley has crafted a smart  sexy tale of espionage with tongue just barely planted in cheek . fay grim is one part dashiell hammett  one part raymond chandler  and one part ian fleming  shaken and maybe stirred as well .  
this is the worst movie i have seen since  i know who killed me  with lindsey lohan .  br    br   after watching this movie i can assure you that nothing but frustration and disappointment await you should you choose to go see this . hey  tim burton  i used to be a big fan of yours . . . did you even screen this movie  i mean seriously  what the fk   br    br   without giving anything away  here is the story in a vague nutshell . . . nine wakes up  he does stuff  his actions and decisions are irrelevant . . . and the movie ends . oh wait . . . here comes a spoiler . . .  br    br   spoiler alert  spoiler alert  at the end of the movie . . . . it rains . i think a part of my soul died while watching this movie .  
fleet was released in     during the middle of the depression when people were having a tough time worldwide finding jobs or even finding food to put on the table . in europe hitler was on the rise  along with other nationalist  socialist whackjobs . in the united states seeds of the cartel sown with the federal reserve act and the income tax amendment     were beginning to bear fruit for connected finance capitalists and their dominating secret societies .  br    br   for the average guy and girl  times were tough . enter hollywood with at least some hopeful imagesi don  t think we can properly call them propaganda at this point  even though this particular movie revolves around war  preparatory naval exercises . the real issue for boys and girls then  as now  was how to hook up with the right one  lead a decent life  have wonderful children  with a modicum of grace and elegance .  br    br   the odds were long .  br    br   . . .  br    br   for my complete review of this movie and for other movie and book reviews  please visit my site thecoffeecoaster . com .  br    br   brian wright copyright      
i  m not sure what dragged me into the cinema to watch this movie  but few minutes after it started  i wanted to leave the theater . for a while i hoped at least the story will surprise me  but then realized it  s a waste of time  there was just nothing there . i stayed only because i had another show after it .  br    br   design some designs where quite beautiful  mostly of the environment  but the characters were terrible both in terms of animation and design . they look great while still  on posters and screenshots  but not when they have to come to life  they just didn  t work  mostly because the very same mistake most  d companies make technically it is very hard to create really natural materials in  d  that would make you feel that the character is alive . you need a lot of effort and knowledge  hence money  to create something that really feels like hair  skin  fabric  etc . those characters in the movie were made out of  cloth   and that just didn  t work  so they had this ugly cold feeling of the computer artificiality  where the cloth stretches or squeezes like a piece of plastic . it just didn  t have the feel of a material  that dolls are made of  that  s what those characters meant to be  . i think it was a big mistake choosing this style for the characters . it just had a feeling of a  d shoot  n  run computer game . i don  t want to go to cinema to have a computer game on my screen  don  t know about you . . .  br    br   animation was also a disgrace . i am a professional animator and was terribly disappointed at the low level of animation in    . it was stiff  boring  almost lacked any imagination or mood . it was just a little bit above most average  d animations i saw  and that doesn  t add to it any good . . .  br    br   and all that  the bad character design and bad animation could be solved with a good story  right   that was not the case here . actually the story was the worst thing in that movie . it was below any level . it starts straight forward  it goes straight forward and it ends the same . there is no twist  no surprise  no good dialogs  even no development . we  ve heard and saw stories of machines overtaking the humankind thousands of times and    is just one of them  and we know how it ends at the very first minute of that movie . the characters don  t even have time to get into the story  they are just there  showing themselves almost immediately  and immediately some of them take action without even getting to know what  s going on . it just didn  t work . there are also many repetitive action sequences  that looked as if they were made to fill in the time for the lack of a story . . .  br    br   acting  sound and script  oh my gosh  what can i tell  it was pathetic . bad story has a bad script  and except dialogs like  no  don  t do it    i will do it    but . . . you cannot do it alone    we can do it together    but there are rules    but we have to save him   etc etc and so on  and repeating itself all the time  so besides those terribly pathetic dialogs  there were those non stop  ahh  and  ohhh  and  ehh   and  oooh   and  whatchout   and  run   and  ohohh   that were following almost every jump  run  or fall of the characters and it even sounded as if they were out of sync or even unrehearsed .  br    br   conclusion bad acting  bad animation  bad sound  bad story  bad script  bad characters  everything expected  no surprises  no twist  nothing . only some good designs are not worth the time . big no   
i have a deep liking for this film despite it appearing deliberately less  polished  than the other fred and ginger films  not to mention the slightly problematic casting of harriet hillard in the lead romantic role .  br    br   once again with these films  the plot is of a minor consequence  astaire plays a rather unlikely sailor  who happens to be a brilliant former hoofer  of course    and rogers an aspiring performer in a seedy dime  a  dance music hall . although their relationship is bright and fun to watch  they are bogged down by an un  involving main story of hilliard and randolph scott not succeeding in finding any chemistry between them .  br    br   although it was a last minute decision  hilliard was rather miscast in this as she doesn  t have the screen presence to give this film what it needs despite being sweet and likable throughout . the film may have benefited in promoting lucille ball  s wise  cracking worldy brassy character to a larger role as she simply shined in every small scene  and would have made a great helen broderick  type side  kick to rogers in this kind of bright film  see  stage door   made the following year  for an example of wonderful scenes between these two fantastic actresses  . that scott  s one  dimensional neanderthal character eventually falls in love with hilliard  s is even harder to believe than astaire being in the navy   br    br   now onto the important part  the singing and dancing nothing more can be said about  let  s face the music and dance  other than it is brilliant and moving and perfectly executed and i often finish watching that scene with tears in my eyes . however other songs in the film deserve some recognition as well  i  m putting all my eggs in one basket  is a lovely example of the comedic instincts of astaire and rogers  and almost pokes fun at their reputation of bursting into spontaneous  perfectly synchronized dancing . other highlights are  i  d rather lead the band  and  let yourself go  which show how these two talents could perform as brilliantly alone as together . i nearly forgot to mention that this is one of the few  if not the only  time we see astaire brilliantly play on the piano it seems this man  s talents were endless   br    br   overall  i actually prefer this to  top hat  and  swing time   although only just   as it is more earthy and performed so enthusiastically by all involved  it is hard to dislike the fun factor .  
it used to be my thinking that movies required plots  or some other means of making you care at all about the story line or anything that is going on . this movie has showed me that you don  t actually have to have anything like that .  br    br   i could sum it up simply as that . but  imdb wants me to have more lines . it was kind of pretty . not compelling in the slightest . the way the characters talk in the movie makes you think it should have taken place over a matter of days  but there is no passage of time and i  m pretty sure it all happens in an hour .  br    br   if you are looking to entertain yourself  then buy a gallon of milk and see how fast you can drink it before throwing up . it would be a far better use of your time . time that you will never get back . jurassic park  was pulled off better than this movie .  
of course  the story line for this movie isn  t the best  but the dances are wonderful . this story line is different from other astaire  rogers movies in that neither one is  chasing  the other . the dancing of fred and ginger is what makes this movie .  
this movie made it into one of my top   most awful movies . horrible .  br    br   there wasn  t a continuous minute where there wasn  t a fight with one monster or another . there was no chance for any character development  they were too busy running from one sword fight to another . i had no emotional attachment  except to the big bad machine that wanted to destroy them   br    br   scenes were blatantly stolen from other movies  lotr  star wars and matrix .  br    br   examples  br    br    the ghost scene at the end was stolen from the final scene of the old star wars with yoda  obee one and vader .  br    br    the spider machine in the beginning was exactly like frodo being attacked by the spider in return of the kings .  elijah wood is the victim in both films  and wait . . . . . . it hypnotizes  stings  its victim and wraps them up . . . . . uh hello      br    br    and the whole machine vs . humans theme was the matrix . . or terminator . . . . .  br    br   there are more examples but why waste the time  and will someone tell me what was with the nazi  s     nazi  s      br    br   there was a juvenile story line rushed to a juvenile conclusion . the movie could not decide if it was a children  s movie or an adult movie and wasn  t much of either .  br    br   just awful . a real disappointment to say the least . save your money .  
plot is never the strong point of a fred astaire and ginger rogers movie  but  follow the fleet   s screenplay is exceptionally mediocre . fred and ginger still come off all right   they play  bake  baker and sherry martin  dancers whose personal and professional partnership ended when bake joined the navy . when they meet again  their love  hate relationship generates some entertaining comic moments . but for much of the movie  they take a backseat to a tedious subplot about sherry  s sister connie  harriet hilliard   her love for sailor bilge smith  randolph scott   bilge  s dalliance with another woman  and an old schooner that connie inherited from her father . though hilliard is rather charming  this plot is uninteresting .  br    br   but at the same time   follow the fleet  is blessed with an exceptional irving berlin score that gives the stars plenty of chances to show off their talents . astaire gets two good solos with  we saw the sea  and  i  d rather lead a band .  he sings expressively and  of course  dances electrifyingly   and the sailor suit makes him look a little more boyish and athletic than usual . rogers sings the catchy  let yourself go  and later does a solo tap  dance to the same tune .  br    br   the three duets really save the film  even though they  re all shoehorned into the plot with silly excuses . fred and ginger win a dance contest by doing an energetic routine to another reprise of  let yourself go  . later  they sing and dance  i  m putting all my eggs in one basket  as if it were an early rehearsal of the number  flubbing the choreography to comic effect . at the end  the movie finally figures out how to get fred and ginger in evening clothes for a romantic duet   it makes it part of a show  within  the  show . the situation is contrived  but the song   let  s face the music and dance   is one of the most sinuously beautiful things berlin ever wrote  it  s reminiscent of cole porter   and the dancing matches it in elegance . quintessential astaire and rogers .  br    br   it would be a chore to sit through most of the dialogue sections of  follow the fleet  again  and  in fact  it  s not necessary  because the plot rarely propels the musical numbers . but i could watch the songs over and over .  
what     why are people saying this is  mind blowing   just face it the ending is on of the worst endings in the history of cinematography   left and the whole world has ended  not to mention the character  was a idiot the whole time he got everyone killed .  was right the whole time  if he sacrificed  then non of this would have happened . people giving there lives for a stupid cause and for what  . . . to make it rain  i admit the movie had it  s parts  and the whole concept was fascinating . but a lot of it was clichs one after another . and did anybody else get this feeling that this is a lot like  lord of the rings   characters died for stupid reasons  there was almost no character development  and honestly ask yourself is it good to have only four guys left in the world its pointless and stupid . it was one of the shortest movies i  ve ever seen  and thank god  how is robots turning against humans creative in any way  it  s been done like a hundred times  this movie is really stupid  go see a movie that  s worth watching like star trek  the hangover  or inglorious basterds  those were good movies   
while i am not a big fan of musicals  i have loved the films of fred astaire and ginger rogers because they are just so much fun . sure  they can be a bit formulaic  but even though you know what is going to happen  they still are very pleasing to watch . however  despite this  i was a bit disappointed in this outing . part of it was because this film doesn  t have the wonderful supporting cast like you saw in top hat or shall we dance . without edward everett horton or eric blore  the film seems to be a bit lacking   especially in the  fun  department . the silly antics of these supporting actors gave the other films charm that you just don  t get with follow the fleet . in addition  unlike the usual character played by astaire  this one is more of a jerk   as his fat head gets rogers into trouble again and again . and  as a result  it  s a lot harder to like him or want to see them get together in the end of the film . plus  although the music is by irving berlin  the songs just don  t seem as memorable . in fact  none of the songs were all that special and i can  t recall any of them even though i just saw the movie . while this is still a cute and worthwhile film  it just lacks the sparkle and magic of some of their other films . good but far from great .  
this really was a waste of time . . . the movie has a weak plot  the story is fragmented and ends very abruptly with many loopholes . . . . though the animation is top notch .  br    br   once the movie started  i tried to give it the benefit of the doubt by telling myself that it might get interesting in the later stage  but it was never unique . this same plot has been played over and over again  but what made it worse was that the major plot hole was the whole story on how to kill the baddies . . . the writer could have done so much more with the entire concept  but seemed that he or she did not have their heart in it and wanted to close the movie as soon as it started .  br    br   overall  too much hype but not able to deliver .  
if hollywood is to be believed  being in the the navy is nothing but a bludge . though the sailors may complain in chorus about the monotony of the ocean  it seems that their oceanic duties are completely non  existent  and somehow fred astaire finds enough free time during the day to offer dancing classes to a fleet of would  be romantics . such is the world of astaire and rogers . mark sandrich  s previous film   top hat         completely ignored the great depression that was then bringing america to its knees  and presented audiences with a glittering world of the rich and famous it was the film  s optimistic outlook on life that perhaps contributed to its success . likewise  here sandrich deliberately forgets that the life of a naval officer is difficult and draining  and instead substitutes the duties of a sailor with an assortment of catchy lightweight musical numbers .  br    br    bake  baker  astaire  and sherry martin  rogers  are two former dance partners whose romantic relationship fell apart after the latter rejected a marriage proposal . after bake returns from several years of duty in the navy  he finds sherry as dance hostess in an unsophisticated san francisco ballroom . while the two former lovers alternately attempt to woo and rebuff each other  sherry  s plain  music  teacher sister  harriet hilliard  looking really quite pretty  receives a complete makeover and tries to charm superficial sailor bilge  bilgey  smith  randolph scott  . there are plenty of the usual screwball comedy shenanigans  a few moments of mistaken identity  and even a hilarious trained monkey that steals every scene it  s in . particularly amusing is the scene in which bake sabotages a performer  s audition in order to create a window for his estranged girl unluckily for both of them  it is an unfortunate sherry who drinks the bicarbonate of soda and loses her ability to sing .  br    br    follow the fleet        was the fifth winning collaboration between fred astaire and ginger rogers  and the third  of five  in which sandrich directed the pair . irving berlin provided the film  s music and lyrics  and each musical number is enjoyably lighthearted and entertaining  even if they aren  t quite as memorable as those in  top hat          swing time        or  shall we dance       .  astaire attempts to break free from his typical rich  man  about  town persona  without much success  but it  s hard to imagine the performer without the boyish carefree charm that could only accompany being considerably wealthy . the side  plot of the romance between connie and bilge works well with the antics of the two main stars  and harriet hilliard  wearing a brunette wig to avoid clashing with ginger  s blonde hair  has a couple of emotional solo numbers  including  get thee behind me satan   which was originally written for  top hat .   
   the film i  ve been looking forward to for months . . . . was little more then a disappointment .  br    br   i was deeply surprised by   s lack of story and strange character development . all the awesome action sequences in the world don  t make up for a single unsympathetic character .  br    br   the strange  almost thrown in occult sequences were not only out of place  they were infuriating . the story is about robots and scientists . . . why does it suddenly turn into a necronomicon horror wannabe with mystical symbols and green magic ghost lines instead of giving answers to what could have been excellently scary story devices    br    br   how  what  when  why . . . . questions that bode asking only if you care and it becomes less and less likely that you will as you get away from the theater .  br    br   a film like this is frustrating because of its lack of depth . . . . i would watch this film drawn in crayon if the story was good . but the filmmakers have relied on cgi wizardry and tim burtons name to draw in the crowd . which . . . is what drew me in but failed to gain my respect .  br    br    could have been awesome . . . with a few more rewrites and a little more respect from its own creators .  
follow the fleet  an rko production in      stars fred astaire and ginger rogers in a complex romantic comedy . although fred astaire and ginger rogers have had many similar romantic movies together  rko helped them to once again create a worth  while storyline that incorporates relevant situations to society at the time it was made . the narrative of follow the fleet relies heavily on the use of layered story lines between the two sets of main characters to create a satisfying romantic comedy .  br    br   the general plot of the movie revolves around bake baker  a sailor in the u . s . navy played by fred astaire  and sherry martin  bake  s former love and dance partner who is now a singer and dancer played by ginger rogers . their story begins when bake is on the ship and his shipmate bilge smith finds a photo of the two of them together  and bake reveals that the last time he saw her he had asked her to marry him  so bilge suggests that they try and meet up with her when they are on land  in hopes that she might have a friend .  br    br   the next major scene begins the second plot of the movie when connie martin  sherry  s sister  is refused entry into paradise where her sister works unless she is escorted by a gentleman . she turns around to find bilge behind her with a bag full of beverages  so she plays it off like she was waiting on him and buys his entrance into paradise as well . connie then finds sherry and tells her that she is depressed because she cannot have the luck sherry does with men  so sherry suggests she get a makeover from her friends while she is performing on stage . connie gets made over  and enters the ballroom once again  and approaches bilge again  who is awestruck by the sight of her . this commences the second romantic storyline between bilge and connie .  br    br   throughout the remainder of the movie the story and rising actions are transitioned between altering comedic reliefs of the two couples  troubles that create several mini rising and falling actions within the overall plot . bake and sherry hit it off their first moments together as they compete in a dance competition and end up winning it  reminding them of the success and pleasure the two have when they are together . similarly  bilge is able to swoon connie through his romantic attempts of pleasing her  and they retire to her house .  br    br   this series of happy events is soon followed by unsettling measures that brings the rising action back down . bake left sherry the previous night to retire to the ship before midnight  and told her that he would come for her in the morning . unfortunately the ship sets course after the shipmates have returned  upsetting sherry and leaving her to think bake was still being a typical sailor looking for a good time when he  s on land .  br    br   the mood is again changed as another subplot is entered into the film when a  party of big shots  is taking a tour of the ship . this alternate storyline is used to create a buffer between the stories of the two main relationships of the film  as well as help build confidence and fondness of bake  s overall good intentions . the party is interrupted by the oblivious music playing coming from bake and his companions when they missed the sounding to report on deck for the company . the ladies are intrigued and ask to hear them play  and bake gladly begins to entertain them with some dancing  which ultimately helps brighten the mood of the film  as well as bring happiness to the sailors .  br    br   after returning to the couple  s intertwined stories  sherry is trying to prove to bake that she does not need his help with landing a job . unfortunately bake is unaware that she is auditioning  and goes to put in a good word for sherry when he overhears his friend at the studio talking about the remarkable lady auditioning . bake takes it upon himself to help sherry out by tampering with her water  making her unable to sing correctly and destroying her audition . in addition to bake  s mistake  connie spent all of her money to repair a ship that she was hoping bilge would take over as captain . she had also planned a remarkable dinner date for him when he was supposed to come over  but bilge was aware of her intentions and hopes of soon marrying and was no longer interested  so he stood her up .  br    br   the remainder of the movie continues in the same format of mini rising and falling actions until the climactic point is reached between the two couples  ending the movie with the happiness of both couples . the use of the altering stories helps to build interest and emotion within each couple as they deal with both happiness and pain through each of their struggles . the intertwining stories are also able to relate with one another  as well as incorporate other unrelated subplots to help carry the narrative through to the concluding scenes .  br    br   although fred astaire and ginger rogers have countless films together that incorporate romance  comedy  song  and dance  follow the fleet is a unique film for the two actors that successfully use the technique of subplots to aid the narrative between the two main characters .  
i seriously can  t believe tim burton and timur bekmambetov  two people i love  signed on to produce this crap . tim burton is a brilliant director  but to be honest i  ve been losing interest in him for a while since his last few movies were either remakes or adaptations . he did produce the brilliant  nightmare before christmas   which is one i  ve watched multiple times  and directed movies like  beetlejuice  and  sleepy hollow   which are awesome films . bekmambetov directed  films that i love night watch  day watch  and wanted . i  ve only seen those three of his  but they prove he  s an awesome director .  br    br   those two people producing one of the many reasons i was excited to see  . so today i went to go see it at the theatre . i was so excited to finally have seen it . i had waited  months for the movie to come out .  br    br   this movie is the first time i  ve walked out of a tim burton  related movie and said  i enjoyed almost none of that  . i felt heartbroken to even have felt that way . i mean  with him and bekmambetov at the production helm you  d have expected this movie to be a good watch . right now i still can  t get over how let down i was by this movie . i hadn  t even heard of the original short film before seeing it but now  i can successfully say that this movie should have remained a short movie . hell  neil blomkamp made an awesome full length remake of alive in joburg entitled district   what was so hard to get right about     i really wanted to think this movie was awesome . i really did . but no  it failed on so many levels .  br    br   the plot was extremely confusing and disjointed . i had no idea what was going on  let alone what it was about . basically it  s about a bunch of rag doll robots trying to save the earth . well  ok  that  s what i got from it . but the writing here is extremely poor . the whole film jumps around like a  year old with a . d . d . telling a story . there  s this big  giant clanky monster robot that  awakens  causing destruction and stuff . that  s the main villain . however  what else is wrong with this movie is that everything comes out of nowhere . there were too many monster robots  most of which have no logical explanation behind them . they have  development whatsoever . i mean  that flying pterodactyl like monster just rips out of nowhere  we have no idea where it comes out of and acker just expects us to know what it is . what was even more retarded was that snake  like creature with the strobing eyes that hypnotize . i dare you to give that description to someone else out loud and expect them not to laugh . all of the  people i told about it burst out laughing . oh and it wraps victims up and sews them inside it . i  m . not . kidding .  br    br   the twist in act iii is the most retarded aspect of the whole movie . so basically  goes back to the room he woke up in  finds this box with a hologram from the scientist in it for   and he tells him that the big scary machine robot was designed to bring robot life to earth  but then evil humans use it for war  and it was supposed to help protect the earth  but then the scientist gave his life to  so that it could help protect the world with it . and he only mentions giving his life to  . but what about the other robots  who gave their lives to them         this is the perfect example of poor  rushed writing . there  s only one of the life taking device thingy that exists so how did the other  get life given to them        the characters are not likable at all either . they risk their lives for no reason at all . the only good character is  .  annoyed me with his  go back to the source        ramblings   is an overpowering idiot   we don  t know anything about   kept annoying me with his  are you sure . . .  or  can i stay here instead . . .   questions . and that ending  ugh . i  m glad i  m not the only one who thinks that the ending was a huge wtf moment .  br    br   there  s nothing redeeming about this turd except for its beautiful animation . everything looks realistic and beautiful  i love the gloomy and depressing look of everything . however  beauty can  t save a good movie .  br    br   while it  s true that this movie is very pretty looking  pretty is as pretty does  and  does squat . i  m sure burton fans will be flocking to the theatre to see this movie without a doubt  in fact with his and bekmambetov  s names being thrown around the promos  people will be flocking to the theatre to see this movie . i know i may be making a big deal out of nothing  but watching this movie made me realize how much i hate movies with unlikeable characters  nonexistent plot and just pure style over content . and this movie is one of those movies .  
       . fred astaire and ginger rogers never made anything but great films together . although this is not one of their best  it is an excellent musical . there are a few outstanding musical numbers  good support from randolph scott . two notable appearances  betty grable and lucille ball make memorable early screen performances . ball is particularly good  and a blonde as well . the  let  s face the music and dance  is one of the musical duo  s best numbers ever . harriet hilliard  better know as harriet nelson of  ozzie and harriet  plays ginger roger  s sister . the basic plot is pretty familiar  but with a cast this exceptional  it works . excellent art direction and score .  
my thoughts on the movie    br    br   it was not good  not good at all . visually  it was great . i was pleased with the pacing  the camera angles  etc . however  the characters  eh  kinda bland . plot  it sucked .  br    br   this movie seemed more new age crap than anything else . organized religion is presented as cowardly and fearful . science isn  t portrayed any better . it creates a monster weapon that kills everything . . . but  souls  have the power to destroy monsters and bring life  really   br    br   that  s something that bites my ass a bit too . here we have a cgi movie . . . created with science . . . and they  re using it to give us the message that science will destroy the world while promoting the idea that spirituality will save us  at least they had the decency to have one of the characters ask   br    br    okay  so now what    or something similar  . i couldn  t hear it too well because of the crowd immediately getting up and making a break for the exit . it was a  okay . . . it was just barely entertaining enough to sit here for the entire movie but now let  s get out of here as fast as possible   type of exit .  br    br   this is one of those movies where you can  t think if you want to enjoy it . just look at the visuals and nod your head prettily . any thought as to   what  s the point of that   will suck you out of disbelief and make you eye the exit sign with longing .  br    br   okay . . . spoilers follow .  br    br   so  basically  a scientist creates  the machine  that is capable of creating other  intelligent  robotic life . evil humans use it as a weapon . however  the scientist realizes that he is also at fault . he gave the machine his intellect  but didn  t give it his heart .  br    br   the machine goes skynet on humanity  s collective ass and wipes out all life on earth  finally slowly powering down . however  the scientist manages to survive and create walking sock  puppets . each one  containing a piece of the scientist  s soul .  br    br   the last one    wakes up not knowing anything about the world . he sees a strange device nearby and picks it up . he meets up with another like himself    .  br    br   well    gets captured by a last surviving robot of the machine .   finds more like himself ands sets off to rescue   .  br    br   they succeed .  br    br     notices that there is a matching hole that fits the device perfectly . he inserts it and the machine comes back to life . . . pulling out    s soul in the process .  br    br   the movie then continues with action scenes with   trying to rescue his soul  yanked compatriots .  br    br   they eventually succeed and destroy the machine . they release the souls of their fallen friends  who go up into the clouds . it then rains and we see life returning back to the planet .  br    br   hunh     br    br   that makes no sense . none at all . why the heck did the scientist want to split his soul into  homunculi  what did it accomplish  were they created to stop the machine  everything is dead  the machine was dead  why bother     br    br   why did he expect nine little critters to succeed when nothing else had  why not create a second intellectual machine  but with a  soul  to fight the first . . at least that would have seemed like it would have had a reasonable chance at success .  br    br   why did they have to have their souls sucked into the device by the machine and then destroy the machine and then release the souls in order to bring life back to earth  why not just wait for the machine to power down and bring life back without all the rest of the insane steps   
what an entertaining movie . astaire and randolph scott are in the navy . astaire has to woo back ginger in san francisco  while scott must be persuaded that harriet hilliard is worthy of being his wife . everything works out fine .  br    br   it  s sometimes argued  and i can see why  that scott  s romance with hilliard is unnecessary and slows the plot down . especially painful are hilliard  s singing of sappy love songs . i could have done without her singing  right enough  but i found the romance rather touching . hilliard enters the movie as a music teacher  wearing a pair of spectacles  no makeup  and the ugliest clothes known to man or beast . no wonder scott avoids her until she grooms herself sexily under the tutelage of her sister ginger and a slinky lucille ball . the problem is that after her makeover she looks like the same irretrievably plain woman as before  only with a glossier outfit . it  s tough enough for a homely guy . but at least a man can become wealthy and powerful and popular  then he can collect women anyway  even if he looks like jojo the dog  faced boy . but what does a plain  looking woman do  the same avenues to romance aren  t open to her . henry kissinger had groupies . did margaret thatcher  it must be terrible to be an ordinary woman in a culture as cruel as ours . as a kind of a footnote  i must mention that randolph scott was rumored to be bisexual by hollywood gossips who needed some nonsense to chew on  and it  s kind of amusing that he has the following line in this film when he  s putting homely hilliard off    women don  t interest me  sister .  the movie probably gives more quality time to ginger rogers than any of her other films with astaire . and she  s marvelous . she  s beautiful  sexy  a talented actress and dancer  and the script gives her good comic lines too .  let  s kiss and make up   suggests astaire .  let  s just make up   she says   that will give you something to work on .  it  s also the only film she made with astaire that gives her a solo number during an audition .  choreographed by hermes pan .  her performance is accidentally sabotaged by astaire who slips some alka seltzer or something into her water  and she hiccups through her number  burping being too indelicate for the time .  br    br   as a dancer  i  d make a terrific circus elephant so my opinion must be taken as that of an amateur  but i think their dances together are the equal of any they put on film . their first  during a dancing contest   let yourself go   is the most wildly exuberant of any i can remember . and the only dramatic duet   let  s face the music and dance   must be among their finest . the last step as they exit is startling .  br    br   i like the film for reasons with personal resonance . i remember seeing it for the first time in a theater in downtown san diego  next to a shop called  the seven seas  that catered to sailors . i was in uniform at the time and was impressed with the treatment of the naval careers of astaire and scott . what i mean is  here we have this frothy musical comedy which owed absolutely nothing to historical reality  and yet  unlike most of their other teamings  pays its dues anyway . jumping ship  astaire calls out for a  water taxi .  i had just taken a water taxi ashore myself . the uniforms are correct to the period  unlike  say  those in  on the town   . and they  re worn properly  hats down to two finger  widths above the eyebrow and not cocked back . and there are two incidents in which astaire runs into a problem with naval authorities and they  re both handled with perfect seriousness and are thoroughly believable . an officer stops astaire from leading a jazz band during inspection and reports to the captain   they were playing when the call was sounded  sir . i  m certain no breach of discipline was intended .  it  s what an officer   a good officer   would say  and nobody laughs .  br    br   the series was getting a little repetitious by the time  follow the fleet  was made so instead of putting fred into high society and a tuxedo  they turned him into a gum  chewing swabbie instead . it was a good idea . and the dance numbers are up to the concept .  
when the magic of lassie opened at radio city music hall  i was foolish enough to believe it would be as heart  warming as some of the first lassie films were . not .  br    br   the story was abysmal  the songs by the sherman brothers were way below their usual level  the characters were uninspired and james stewart and mickey rooney had both seen much better days .  br    br   then too  i was interested in seeing what alice faye  s contribution would be like  since she  d been absent from the screen for so many years and was always so fetching in her earlier roles at fox . alice too  was letdown by the foolish script and the unflattering photography . another disappointment .  br    br   nothing original here  nothing even remotely interesting for an adult to enjoy   and clearly  no magic present for anyone . you can skip this one without missing a thing .  
as a massive fan of fantasy in general  and of the works of neil gaiman in particular  i  ve been looking forward to this film so avidly  so hungrily and with such a bittersweet mixture of anticipation and fear of disappointment that i can scarcely believe it  s finally here . and you know what  i needn  t have feared  the film version is bldy awesome . different from the book  but in a good way  less whimsical  more comical  still deeply sweet and enchanting .  br    br   the special effects are absolutely spot  on  and make magic feel a natural and proper part of the world of wall without being overtly spectacular and intrusive .  br    br   proper attention has been paid to storytelling and pacing  and the casting in the main is a triumph  with the ghostly princes  whose roll  call read almost as a  who  s who  of currently cool british comedy  rupert everett  david walliams of little britain fame  two of the blokes from green wing etc  stealing most of the best lines and pretty much all of the films  funniest moments  which exist in abundance .  br    br   in fact  the one minor criticism i have at all of the film is that sometimes the comedy elements become a little ott  subtlety goes out of the window to the detraction of the main story . . . . ricky gervais  cameo  for example  was far too much just  ricky gervais doing his usual david brent from the office comedy persona  for my liking  and in my opinion  created an unwelcome and jolting break from the magical spell of the progressing story  though in fairness  from memory i believe the ferdy character in the original book was pretty  ricky gervais   esquire when i think back on it  . . . .  br    br   but this is a minor quibble in an otherwise immaculately cast and scripted fairytale with a good mixture of action and romance . charlie cox  as the protagonist tristan  captures the correct mixture of naivety  subtle comedy and self  realisation required for a story like this where a  humble young boy embarks on life  changing quest   claire danes as yvaine is beautiful  feisty and just ever so slightly alien or ethereal  a perfect interpretation of her stellar role robert de niro  in the cameo every reviewer is talking about  is indeed deserving of praise  rollicking good fun  looks like he  s having a ball  too  . . . and michelle pfeiffer is triumphantly cool and nasty as wicked witch lamia  my favourite performance of the film overall . if you enjoyed her deliciously b  tchy performance in the recent  hairspray  then you will thoroughly enjoy her in this  too .  br    br   so to round off this review you will laugh  for sure  you will smile  and you may even cry  stardust is a beautiful  heart  warming fairytale for all the family  with a heart of gold and more sass  n smarts than is immediately apparent . one of my all  time favourite films is the absolutely fantastic princess bride  and stardust is being readily likened to this with good reason as it is a very similar type of film exploring similar themes and territory . . . . and just as the princess bride remains fresh  smart and funny twenty years after its initial release  i believe that the delicious tongue  in  cheek sweetness of stardust will be showing up as a family favourite on our televisions  or equivalent future device   for many years to come .  
holy  this movie was still warm and juicy from the pile it was made with . i tried to watch this pile of festering waste but found it easier to slash my wrists and slug back a shooter of lysol floor cleaner than endure more than half of the crap that was on my screen . i rank this well below anything i have ever watched on film or tv  and thats saying something . i once witnessed a cow crap in a field . i watched the steaming pile for a hour and a half  who knows . . . it might have moved or something . well that was time better spent than watching this tripe . the acting was non  existent  the plot was somewhere other than on this film . i think i saw a cut seen early on where the plot managed to escape and was riding off in the background on the back of a old pickup truck heading to portland in hopes of becoming a steven king shi   er . please tell me director is getting medication he so desperately needs . it  s pretty clear he needs heavy medication and i  d willing to front the money needed for his lobotomy reversal . bah . . . i can  t give this review the full punch it needs because nothing this painful can ever be done justice in typed word alone . let me just say that if your looking for a flick to pass some time and you see this chilton on the rack  walk to your car  start the engine  then shove both of your fists straight into the fan until it you can  t feel your bones vibrate anymore . be sure to have your wallet in hand also because you were going to waste the cash anyway . you might as well have the privilege of wasting it yourself .  br    br   by the way  i watched this after a  buddy  of mine sent his girlfriend over so i could see it . he dint come over  she had too . whats worse is that she had to watch this  thing twice  i heard their married now and he gets to visit his balls once a month . i hope it was because of this film .  
throughly enjoy all the musical numbers each time i see this movie . never seem to tire of it . fred and ginger are always a pleasure to watch . seeing  lucy  and betty grable before they hit the big time  is fun to watch .  
this movie was a real disappointment to me . i have been a fan of gram parsons for a long time  and when i found out they were making a film about him i was very exited  i got the movie on vhs when it came out  and was sickened by what i saw  this film wasn  t about his life  it was about the aftermath of his death . i thought it would be a descent film about grams life and music  but they had to make a film about his death . i am tired of hearing about his deaths in books and movies  i wanted a film about his life  not his infamous death . i was very disappointed . i wish people would look at his life  more then his death . the only thing good about this film was its soundtrack . this film is a disappointment to any gram parsons fan .  
had this film been put together a tad better  it would be up there with the best of astaire and rogers . as it is  it  s a fine movie but overly long with a tedious subplot  i . e .  randolph scott romancing rogers  sister  played by harriet hilliard  that  s ozzie nelson  s wife to you baby boomers  .  br    br   astaire and scott are two navy men . scott meets hilliard the first time when she looks like a stereotypical librarian  and later on after ginger rogers has asked her friend  a blond but unmistakable lucille ball  to glamor her up . meanwhile  astaire tries to pick up where he and his old dancing partner left off . the result is some wonderful dance numbers  with astaire and rogers as a team as well as separately  i  m putting all my eggs in one basket    let yourself go   and  i  d rather lead the band .  hilliard is sweet but a little lethargic as a plain jane turned glamor girl  although she sings her two songs well   but where are you   and  get thee behind me  satan   one poster didn  t care for that song  but i love the title . rogers is vivacious  and a youthful astaire is a dynamo .  br    br   the highlight of the movie comes at the end with  let  s face the music and dance   one of the most achingly beautiful songs ever written and certainly one of the most brilliantly executed by rogers and astaire . in it  they epitomize    s glamor and fantasy . it is truly to be treasured and watched again and again .  
first of all  this movie isn  t a complete disaster . if you had never heard of the real story of gram parsons then it might seem a reasonably entertaining diversion . johnny knoxville can  t really be criticised for his performance as phil kaufman  he  s pretty good at looking laid  back and down to earth and you can sort of root for his long  suffering everyman . michael shannon is due credit for pretty much the same reasons  except he  s a hippy stoner . there are some good individual comedic scenes  the hippy  hearse crashing into the airport hanger door stands out . but that  s where the good things end  and we begin to see the aspects that make this movie so truly disappointing . the character of robert forster as gram  s actual father is an invention so disgraceful as to cast a taint over the entire film . we all know his real father committed suicide when he was young  something that could surely be compared to gram  s life on the edge by a better film  maker . having forster as his supposed real father  and not his step  father would be bad enough  if not for the well known difficulties gram had with the man who actually flew to collect his body . it has been suggested that his step father had admitted to providing gram  s mother with alcohol as she lay dying and that this enraged gram when he later found out about it . also the controversy over where gram  s body was buried would surely be reason enough not to invent a benevolent made  up father who actually catches up to the duo and their hearse  but then allows them to go ahead with the burning . whatever the truth about the man who gram got the name parsons from  he certainly bore no resemblance to forster  s character here  and it is hard to see why this role was written . then there  s the addition of christina applegate as a greedy chick  yet very pretty of course  who wants gram  s body back so that she can begin to cash in on his estate . her character  and her acting are non  existent and one wonders why the director didn  t just go the whole hog and include a lesbo scene between her and the chick who plays kaufman  s girlfriend  it wouldn  t have lowered the tone a whole lot more  . when you think of the ingredients that could have been used in a good movie about parsons  the shortcomings of this film are easily apparent . country music being changed by a young  polite  southern gentleman  who was also long haired  drug loving  popular with the ladies and ultimately self destructive . real events like the hanger door crash and the painted hearse and friends like keith richards . instead of these things we have to concentrate wholly on kaufman  s input into gram  s life . kaufman is obviously still lapping up the cult status he received for what he did  he certainly is a little cult  . from interviews it is obvious that he  s delighted with the attention . remember this is the man who made a remark about the genitalia of the naked corpse of gram parsons as he was preparing to set it alight . what he did was not an act of great loyalty  but a doped up alcoholic escapade . looking at knoxville and the director in interviews  a few things become clear also . it  s obvious that they have no real grasp of the story of gram  s life  nor do they wish to have . they want a hit movie about an event that is infamous and crazy . it was an amazing life with a strange end . that the end is the only thing covered by this movie shows how limited an understanding of gram parsons the makers had .  
this really is a great movie . some of the songs have become immortal classics and the dancing by fred and ginger is among their best ever . but basically  all of fred and ginger  s movies are the same . after the singing and dancing is over  it  s the other characters in the movie who make the movie work . what really bothers me is why all the negative comments about randolph scott  his romance with harriet hilliard and the sub plot of the movie is the reason why i watch this over and over again . he adds to this movie  he doesn  t detract from it . he has a winning personality and a great smile . randy is in my top ten all time favorites list . it  s great to see him as something other than a cowboy . ok  so he isn  t really a great actor  but like so many other stars errol flynn  alan ladd  victor mature  etc . he was very likable and could rise to the top on certain occasions . all of fred and ginger  s movies had sub plots that depended on other actors to fill in the space between the musical numbers  otherwise the movie would have to be shortened by about a half hour . i just wish more people would appreciate randy and i felt a need to stand up for him .  
i  m not sure if users ought to be allowed to review films after only sitting through half  but i  m afraid i just couldn  t stand another minute .  br    br   if this abject excuse for a film doesn  t have the late  great gp spinning like a wheel in his grave  then i doubt anything will .  br    br   the excellent review above  not a film for parsons fans  sums up most of my feelings . how dare a  second rate  director and writer attempt something to which they  re so clearly incapable of delivering . what were they thinking  where to start   br    br   the script i thought i  d be getting a slice of bittersweet americana . what i got was poorly executed slapstick with no clich left unturned . stupid hippy  check . stupid fat cop  check . awful plot contrivances  check . embarrassingly written female characters  double check . total disregard for the story which you  re trying to portray  check .  br    br   after a while  you realize that what you  re watching is a soap and not a very well written one at that . scene with knoxville . scene with ex girlfriend . scene with knoxville which hasn  t moved on much . scene with ex girlfriend which was a bit like the last one . and so on . . .  br    br   the direction my friends and i decided  after some consideration  that watching this was like watching a bad episode of quincy  or maybe a particularly poor dukes of hazzard . that  s how bad the direction was . terrible jump cuts  awful camera work  clunky ins and outs to scenes . god  it was cringeworthy . and then i discovered the director was an irishman who  s most noteworthy recent work is a really lousy bbc sunday night drama called monarch of the glen  trust me  it  s lowest common denominator tv  . and then it all made sense . . .  br    br   the acting are we now so critical that when some random guy from the tv decides to give acting a go  if he  s not so bad  he stinks  we applaud his efforts  knoxville just about manages to get through every scene . poor christina a . has no such luck . her performance is a car crash  though what you do with those lines  i don  t know  . the  hippy  in the hearse oh dear  oh dear  oh dear . have we not moved on since cheech and chong   br    br   i could go on  but i think you get my drift . what i would say is that  as other reviews have mentioned  no one on this film clearly gives a flying damn for the byrds  the flying burrito brothers or gram  s solo work . they knew nothing about the american road movie and they certainly give a damn about trying to do anything with an admittedly decent story from rock mythology . this film was shallow  failed to explore anything and was jaw droppingly unfunny from beginning to . . . oh wait  i didn  t quite make the end . and i suggest you stay away too .  
from a modern sensibility  it  s sometimes hard to watch older films . it  s annoying to have to watch the stereotypical wallflower librarian have to take off her glasses and become pretty and stupid to win a man . especially such a shallow and inconstant man . he  s obviously a player  i wouldn  t trust him to stay true to her  who doesn  t want to settle down  who only looks at dumb attractive women and always calls them  baby   ick   . even after she totally changes her appearance and her life for him  he only goes to her after he  s  supposedly  rejected by another woman and learns that connie spent all her money renovating a boat for him . i wanted her to stand up to him  not pathetically chase after him  his sudden conversion within a few minutes was totally unrealistic and did not work for me .  br    br   apart from that subplot  i did like the movie . how can you not like sailors dancing with each other    you can tell they were from san francisco . . . . d  the  rehearsal  dance was great  watching ginger rogers purposefully fall in and out of the  correct steps  was great . the last dance scene  face the music  with the beautiful costumes and the art deco set was beautiful . and i really enjoyed  we saw the sea   though they did use it a few too many times  as if they realized it was their best song  .  br    br   anyway  the plot was a bit weak  like most musicals  imo   and the songs were ok  but the dancing was worth watching the film for . i wish they could have showed some shots of san francisco since that was were the film was supposedly set .  br    br   it  s also weird to see such a lighthearted naval film with the knowledge of what hitler was already doing at that time . i have to try to suspend all knowledge to submerge myself into a made up fantasy land .  
if you  re a fan of the late gram parsons then this movie is definitely going to divide you  part comedy  part road movie  but mostly a bad fictionalization of one of rock history  s oddest tales .  br    br   spoilers    br    br   basically the story concerns a well  known roadie named phil kaufman  played by johnny knoxville  who  supposedly  made a pact with cult rock  country  folk music hero gram parsons that stated when one of them died first  it didn  t matter which one it was  that the other living one was to take the deceased out to the desert  joshua tree national park in california to be exact  and set the body ablaze . . . so as to free the spirit and become one with the earth  and so on  sure to keep his word the barely sober kaufman  with the assistance of a self  hating  pot  headed buddy  jacks the body of the late parsons  whom had fatally overdosed from a drug and booze bender a day prior  from the airport . and shortly after that what ensues is a cringe  worthy combination of fiction and truth where the late parsons girlfriend  kaufman  s girlfriend  parsons stone  faced father  and a gaggle of police officers and other pointless idiotic characters all try to beat the clock  so to speak  in trying to catch kaufman and his pal before they get the chance to torch parsons body   br    br   the film  s incompetent direction  bad acting  and lame offbeat tone in general all sink this movie faster than the titanic . and not to mention the huge fact that this movie is not even halfway telling the truth of the actual events that took place . the accuracies that should have replaced the inaccuracies  as far as i  ve heard them  include number  .  parsons was married at the time of his death and even had a child  so what the hell was that all about with the girlfriend  s and the chasing and whatnot   number  .  kaufman  s drugged  out buddy was a known willing participant  unlike what the movie attempts to portray  in the disposing of parson  s body  and finally number  .  gram parsons real  life father died when he was just a boy  and so it was parson  s step  father  who could have honestly cared less about gram parsons when he was still alive  in real  life that took care of the body after it was torched  altogether though  what probably disturbs me the most about this movie is that the real phil kaufman was actually on set to help assist with the facts of the story . and yet still  the movie ended up becoming so untrue and so bad that it really boggles my mind  frankly   br    br   also as the mediocre aforementioned acting in the film is concerned it  s lead character  played by the ultra  grating johnny knoxville  phil kaufman   is not only a bad actor but it actually seems as if he were asleep throughout most of the movie  and the rest of the pathetic cast are for the most part either hysterical  brain  dead  or seem utterly clueless as to what they  re actually doing there in the first place  overall  if you like johnny knoxville and or really dig the so  bad  they  re  not  even  good buddy flicks then i suppose you just might get a kick out of this movie  but  if you  re like me and are a fan of the late gram parsons  enjoy films that attempt to tell the truth as much as they can especially if they  re based on an actual real  life story  and or you just like good films  be  them road movies  or fictional slice  of  life stuff  you will truly loathe this film and advise others to do likewise . i obviously hated this movie and wished it had never been made in the first place  but since it was made i would have preferred it to have turned out differently than what it did  unfortunately  maybe some day the real facts of the story will come through and be made into a really great biopic on all of gram parsons life . . . not just what happened to his body after his spirit left it . but  until that time comes all we as an audience  and or fans of the late performer get is this sad waste of film and an all  around terrible memorial  of sorts  to the musical legacy that gram parsons was known to have left behind . it should also be noted that they did actually use parsons music  and a few others as well in the flick  but not surprisingly though  you never get to hear enough of it to really enjoy it even in the slightest bit .  turkey  zero stars   
fred astaire and ginger rogers  hollywood  s premiere dance team  were usually dressed to the nines and gliding through elaborately exaggerated art deco sets in the      s . however  they go a bit more downscale for this     outing  the fifth of their ten musicals together . this time  astaire foregoes his top hat  white tie and tails to become a bubblegum  chewing sailor named  bake  baker and rogers plays dance hall entertainer sherry martin  who was bake  s partner  dancing and otherwise  before he enlisted . consequently  unlike the mistaken identity ploys and romantic hesitancies prevalent in most of their previous pairings  they are already a couple from the film  s outset .  br    br   directed by mark sandrich  who guided five of their pairings   the film bears a narrative similarity to      s  roberta  in which they are but one of two couples featured in the storyline . in fact  randolph scott plays the other male lead in both films  this time as bake  s womanizing crewmate   bilge  smith . he is partnered with not irene dunne  who understandably turned down this follow  up  but harriet hilliard . just married to ozzie nelson in real life and decades before ozzie  harriet  hilliard plays sherry  s spinsterish sister connie who falls hard for bilge . in the silly plot  she is given a makeover by a young  bleached blonde lucille ball  and there is s classic three  way shot of hilliard  ball and a kewpie  doll adorable betty grable in front of a mirror .  br    br   speaking of the story  what there is of one is credited to allan scott and dwight taylor and goes something like this . . . bake and bilge are on shore leave in san francisco where they end up in a dance hall with their rowdy shipmates . bake finds sherry working there  while bilge runs into connie first when she comes in as a dowdy spinster and then showing up as a glamour girl . romance blooms for both couples . connie and sherry inherit a steamer from their father  but they need money to keep it afloat . multiple misunderstandings occur in both relationships  but it all works out when they turn the steamer into a theater and put on a fundraising musical revue . it  s about as silly as it sounds  but it does provide a good excuse for some memorable irving berlin tunes and a trio of astaire  rogers dances .  br    br   the first two are casual in tone  a dance contest set to the percolating  let yourself go  where they show off mercilessly to win and a physical shipboard comedy routine set to the toe  tapping  i  m putting all my eggs in one basket  . however  their last dance is a classic return to formality with a melodramatic piece beautifully set to a stunning arrangement of  let  s face the music and dance  . intriguingly  this movie contains not only an astaire dance solo but the only time rogers ever had a dance solo to herself in one of their movies  an energetic tap routine again set to  let yourself go  . dressed in a creamy satin sailor outfit  she also sings the same song most winningly near the beginning of the film .  br    br   acting  wise  astaire and rogers are in typically zesty comic form here . while scott plays his role with his trademark cock  eyed virility  hilliard is an extremely dull presence  and as a former band singer  she performs two berlin love songs in a frustratingly diffident manner . regardless  the magic generated by astaire and rogers in their prime make this essential viewing . the     dvd has several good extras beginning with a thirteen  minute featurette   follow the fleet the origins of those dancing feet   about how astaire and rogers started to work together . there is also a live  action  soundie  called  melody master jimmie lunceford and his dance orchestra   a poultry  themed cartoon called  let it be me   and the original theatrical trailer .  
from the q  a before and after  this is what i could gather some irish guy wants to make a movie . nothing in particular  just any movie . so  one night at a party  he hears some ex  roadie tell him a classic bit of rock n  roll lore the one about how gram parsons  corpse was stolen from lax by his loyal roadie so he could honor parsons  wishes that he be cremated out in joshuatree . wow   br    br   what a great idea for a movie  rock n  roll  well  country   grave robbing  escapes  friendship  the    s  i guess we could get johnny knoxville from  jackass   cause it  s kind of a prank  right  and knoxville wants to do  a movie  too . why he must have thought he had the next  snatch  on his hand   br    br   but this story  s not really that exciting . . . we need something for knoxville to struggle against . like a psychotic girlfirend after his money  but parsons  was married at the time . that  s o . k .  no one knows that . besides we could get christina applegate . but what if the audience doesn  t like the idea of stealing a corpse . well  we  ll get his dad to join the chase  but give permission in the end . but parsons  dad killed himself when he was    in fact his orphan status  and tragic childhood  are key parts of the parsons mythology . mythology  we  re making  a movie   this is creative problem solving .  br    br   it  s an uncomfortable experience for anybody even vaguely knowledgeable on or interested in the subject . applegate  s presence is doubling jarring . first her invented character is a beverly hills bitch before her time  she might as well have walked around the whole movie a cell phone in her hand  and secondly  what kind of man would parsons be if he ever associated himself with that kind of harpy  facts aren  t just distorted or left out  but reversed . they could have easily found the villain they wanted in parsons stepfather  who was attempting to whisk the body back to his home state where law would favor him in dividing up the considerable inheritance .  br    br   and the music  oh  the music i love . the music is hacked up  the bridge of a song here  the chorus there   forced to the background  and in the end  horribly covered by the hippest new indie band  starsailor . my girlfriend asked the unnecessary  but irresistable question after the movie   was anyone up there  the writer  the producers  the director  actually a gram parson  s fan  well  no . he  d never actually heard of gram parsons  but of course  blah blah blah  i learned to love it  and here  s some factoids i read in a bio online . another guy vouched for parsons  coolness by saying he and keith richards tripped on acid together and wrote  wild horses  together  a mixed up bunch of facts as off  base as the movie . another person asked  wasn  t it morally questionable to rewrite history when most people would only know about it from this film  well  he had the real roadie  s permission  he was even set  and the parsons estate gave permission  and all these other people who got paychecks said it was great .  br    br   but what i really wondered was  and asked in the embarassingly trembling voice of a truly impassioned parsons geek  was  if the movie  s so cheaply made  a million   had they not considered the original gram parsons fanbase as an audience  the director and writer seemed to think he was a nothing figure with no fanbase  though i doubt any mojo magazine reading  country  rock    s music fan would agree . but a bunch of brits made it i guess  and they just didn  t care about cosmic american music  or even knew it existed . this isn  t just not a truthful parsons flick  it  s not even in the right spirit  it doesn  t even fit the legend . at the very least it should have had the sentimentality of one of his songs . and plenty of people would love to be told .  br    br   i should mention the movie was received well from the bunch of stoned college kids  just off the slopes  and into johnny knoxville . but if you  re a parsons fan ignore the title  it  s just a movie for jackass fans .  
this was the second of three films that irving berlin wrote for the astaire  rogers franchise and it has by far the largest score and is somewhat unusual in that two of the numbers are performed by harriet hilliard leaving the rest to be divvied and  or shared between the principals . as usual the storyline needn  t detain us though for the record it was based on a play  shore leave  that also served as the basis for a broadway musical  hit the deck . anyone who actually saw shore leave in the theatre may have been momentarily bemused inasmuch as the roles played by fred and ginger were created for the movie but what matters  as always  is the music  lyrics and hoofing and this is all out of the right bottle . it  s a departure from the other titles in the franchise in that   we get to see astaire play the piano  in real life he was an accomplished pianist and composed several songs  one of which  i  m building up to an awful let  down  had a lyric by johnny mercer and spent a couple of weeks in the charts  and it is the only one of the series in which he played a serviceman  albeit an ex  hoofer who enlisted in the navy after being dumped by dancing partner ginger before the story starts . he gets to perform a little  known but excellent berlin number  i  d rather lead a band as well as duetting on i  m putting all my eggs in one basket but the ultimate number is the prophetic  in     rumbles of world war ii were already being felt  let  s face the music and dance  one of the most potent ballads ever performed by the team . so what if randolph scott is a little wooden and fish  out  of  water without either a horse or a six  gun within easy reach and harriet hilliard doesn  t exactly set the screen on fire we came to see fred and ginger and the only question is  do they deliver . answer in spades .  
i doubt this will ever even be a cult film . i loved gram parsons to be sure and i did not expect much out of this film and got even less . what could have been clever and moving was campy . it was devoid of the music that made gram and had more filler than cheap dog food . there was no background on gram or the colorful people of that era . the characters shown were not familiar to me even as a fan of gram  s and all the versions of his  afterlife adventures  i have heard . rock and roll is full of tales  good ones too but they should taken with a grain of salt . they can be great stories even though exaggerated . however  this movie took a good story and turned into tripe . stealing any dead body and the ensuing implications should never be a dull tale but they made it dull  somehow . i am tempted to steal every copy of grand theft parsons  head out to the desert and burn them all .  
astaire and rogers at the height of their popularity . in     americans thought of the navy as a place for song and dance . wwii was still a few years away . fred and ginger dance up the town .  br    br   the plot is decent  but who cares . . . by the way  notice the cameo roles for betty grable and a glamorous lucile ball .  br    br   a load of irving berlin songs  including the famous  let  s face the music and dance  . in that scene  ginger  s heavy swooping dress smacks fred in the face during one of her spins and almost knocks him unconscious . fred insisted on keeping the take as the dancing was superb nonetheless .  br    br   ginger once commented that she was a better dancer than fred  since she had to do all the same moves  in step  and backwards . . .  br    br   come to think of it  fred  s voice was nice too . the man was effortless in motion .  br    br   here  s a movie to cozy up on the couch with a loved  one  kick off the shoes  and enjoy the entertainment .  
i cringed all the way through this movie . first of all  the idiotic plot has little to do with parson  s own story . hollywood has attempted to create a kind of comedy car chase movie . imagine  englebert sings hendrix  .  br    br   do not take anything about this movie to be accurate . the name parsons in the title and stealing of his body is just used as springboard for a low budget chase movie  a blatant attempt to grab a few bucks from the parsons legacy and his fan base . gram  s father had long since been dead in      the other global characters are fictional  none of this has anything to do with grams life or death .  br    br   if you are a gram fan  i advise you to not see this movie . i wish i hadn  t . it  s saddening to see something special be treated as such disgracing fodder . i  d swear i could hear gram turning in his grave while the movie was playing . if you are not familiar with gram  s life and legacy  do not take anything in this movie as being representative of gram .  br    br   i cannot say enough bad things about this movie . if gram were alive and saw this movie  he would kill himself . then again  maybe he  d be afraid to if he knew this movie were to result .  
definitely one of the lesser of the astaire  rogers musicals . it  s just very poorly plotted and paced . it only runs a few minutes longer than swing time  for example  but it feels a heck of a lot longer . this is partly due to the secondary romance between randolph scott and harriet hilliard . scott is rarely ever interesting . i like hilliard . she  s sweet  and i love at least one of her songs   but where are you     get thee behind me satan   her other number  is a weak leftover from top hat  thankfully cut from that masterpiece  . follow the fleet would actually be a bad film if not for at least three brilliant dance sequences between astaire and rogers . the dancing contest vies for the top spot of any of their numbers . the dance is just fantastic .  i  m putting all my eggs in one basket  presents the two rehearsing a dance that they don  t quite have perfected yet . its imperfections make it all the more perfect . and  let  s face the music and dance  is easily one of irving berlin  s best songs . so the film is well worth watching for its great moments .  
good performances can  t save this terrible script  larded with every cliche in the chick  flick book . both main characters are deeply unsympathetic  and the scene where laura linney  s character reminisces about sex with her dead husband in front of her teenage son   which i think is supposed to be poignant   is just horrifying .  
another fun  witty  frothy rko musical with astaire and rogers  follow the fleet is a charming film . while it lacks the stand  out great tunes of swng time  although the final number  face the music and dance  is one of the team  s best and rightfully so   it is hugely enjoyable  as these two could virtually do no wrong together in the      s . once again  the plot is lightweight and forgettable  but watching fred and ginger dance together is sheer heaven . these two conveyed more romance and magic in dance than many couples in films do in a huge love scene . while there are better fred and ginger musicals  this is certainly a must  see .  
this movie is incomprehendably bad . it begins with several random explosions and then cuts to a sock puppet of a t  rex that talks    to the audience . it goes back and forth between sock puppetry and animation throughout  probably because the film makers couldn  t afford live actors . i  ll spare you the long  tiresome  relentless plot that drags this pitiful film on for a brutal   minutes .  br    br   one of my friends found this very rare video at a hobby shop somewhere that sells out of print b  movies  and he bought it for the sole purpose of making fun of it  but  as it turns out  our intervention was not neecessary . this film makes fun of itself better than we could .  br    br   i thought that ed wood  s  plan  from outer space  was the cheesiest movie in existence  but leave it to japanamation  lego cars  sock puppets to outdo him . if you see this movie anywhere  buy it without hesitation . it is very rare and worth many  many good laughs .  
one of several musicals about sailors on leave  it is the usual sailor meets girl  complications ensue  sorted out happily kind of plot . it proceeds along smoothly enough but it does drag in places too . the dialogue is not as zippy as  top hat  for example and randolph scott seems out of place .  br    br   there are compensations . it has some of irving berlin  s choicest songs including  let yourself go    i  m putting all my eggs in one basket  and  let  s face the music and dance  . it has fred and ginger who when they are dancing take any film into heavenly heights and they don  t disappoint here . they do a snappy tap dance  a knockabout comic dance and a swirling graceful dance  all in the same film  great versatility and artistry .  br    br   it also has harriet hilliard who is rather good in her role . she had a varied career  becoming the more famous harriet nelson with ozzie . here she is touching without being sentimental . her two songs are simply and effectively delivered . she makes a good contrast with ginger but you can believe they are sisters in the film .  br    br   more tightening up have made the film even better . pretty good though .  
first of all  let  s get a few things straight here a  i am an anime fan  always has been as a matter of fact  i used to watch speed racer all the time in preschool  . b  i do like several b  movies because they  re hilarious . c  i like the godzilla movies  a lot .  br    br   moving on  when the movie first comes on  it seems like it  s going to be your usual b  movie  down to the crappy fx  but all a sudden  boom  the anime comes on  this is when the movie goes wwwaaaaayyyyy downhill .  br    br   the animation is very bad  cheap  even worse than what i remember from speed racer  for crissakes  in fact  it  s so cheap  one of the few scenes from the movie i  vividly  remember is when a bunch of kids run out of a school . . .  it  s the same kids over  over again  the fx are terrible  too the dinosaurs look worse than godzilla . in addition  the transition to live action to animation is unorganized  the dialogue  voices  especially the english dub that i viewed  was horrid  i was begging my dad to take the tape out of the dvd  vhs player the only thing that kept me surviving was cracking out jokes  comments like the robots  joel  mike on mst  k  you pick the season  . honestly  this is the only way to barely enjoy this movie  survive it at the same time .  br    br   heck  i  m planning to show this to another fellow otaku pal of mine on halloween for a b  movie night . because it  s stupid  pretty painful to watch  unintentionally hilarious at the same time  i  m giving this movie a      an improvement from the  .     i was originally going to give it .  br    br    according to my grading scale     means pretty much both boring  bad . as fun as counting to three unless you find a way to make fun of it  then it will become as fun as counting to   .   
while i don  t consider myself a big fan of fairy tale movies  stardust intrigued me based on seeing michelle pfeiffer in the trailers as a villain  especially since i was about to see her as the bossy velma von tussle in hairspray  . boy  is she so convincingly evil here as a witch  especially with her age  ugly makeup in the beginning and end  robert de niro is also great as the pirate captain who  s forced to hide  in the closet  to protect his  reputation   just about all the actors like claire danes  rupert everett  ricky gervais  peter o  toole and many others do fine work here . while danes and pfeiffer are classic beauties  there  s also stunning faces of sienna miller  olivia grant  as girl bernard   and kate magowan especially when we first meet her . newcomer charlie cox is fine as the lead tristan and he looked so much like his father dunstan as a young man that i thought that was him in early scenes with magowan  actually ben barnes  . many comments have compared this to the princess bride and while i can see some resemblances  the main difference was that with pb  you always knew it was just an imaginary tale as told by an old man to his grandson . stardust makes you believe  for the most part  that what you  re seeing and hearing could have actually happened even with all the hilarity that happens throughout . so on that note  i highly recommended stardust .  
this movie is so aggrivating . the main character looks like he  s   and i  ve seen scrawny beanpoles with more balls than this guy . the plot twists are so predictable its not even worth watching for the humor factor .  br    br   also some of the worst dialogue i  ve heard in  years   lets go find a small animal to torture  .  br    br   ugh . . . . . i can  t even continue  don  t watch this pile of garbage  it was made in  days .  br    br   the one highlight is the drunk dude calling the main character a faggot for drawing pictures .  br    br    out of    unwatchable  
     was the most prolific year for astaire and rogers . their second film for rko that year is the third film in this collection  mark sandrich  s  follow the fleet .  this time out astaire is painfully uncomfortable as bake baker  a seaman on leave who just happens to stumble into the seedy waterfront caf where sherry martin  rogers  is warbling romantic sweet nothings in everyone  s ear . yep  you guessed it  they  re hot for each other once again . only this time sherry  s spinster sister  connie  harriet hillard  threatens the whole fine romance by falling for bake  s robust seafaring buddy  bilge smith  randolph scott   a sort of use  em up and toss  em out kind of guy  thus forcing sherry to reconsider her opinion of all sailors in general . irving berlin lends immeasurable class to the proceedings with his classic  classy score  including standards  let yourself go    i  m putting all my eggs in one basket  and  let  s face the music and dance  the latter a divinely inspired skit about suicide that turns into another immediately recognizable and thoroughly sublime pas deux for fred and ginger .  br    br   the transfer on  follow the fleet  is a tad weaker . the gray scale remains nicely balanced but now it  s a tad thick looking with not nearly as much tonal variation as the previous titles . grain is still present . so are age related artifacts . once you  ve settled into to the slightly dense and sometimes more softly focused image quality  the overall impression is more than acceptable for a film of this vintage . the audio is mono but very nicely balanced . extras include a featurette  theatrical trailer and short subject  but oddly  no audio commentary . considering the importance of this film in the overall canon of astaire  rogers this is an uncharacteristic oversight from warner home video .  
i was kinda interested in this movie as a trashy cannibal flick . i was thoroughly disappointed . it was the same kind of disappointment i felt watching  friday the   th jason takes manhattan  . so much potential wasted   br    br   the opening scene is a decent attention grabber . then it grinds to a halt . copious breasts and egregious   s fashion cannot help this movie . the only things eating near this island of cannibal monks are the piranha  i  m not asking for  cannibal holocaust  level of gore  but i was looking for cheap over  the  top exploitative gore . i got none of that .  br    br   i found a couple parts of the fight scenes somewhat intriguing  hence the  stars . i don  t think its really worth the time it takes to watch it  though . i could see showing it at a party where nobody cares about what is going on and you just want something on in the background . but i would not tell anyone   oh  dude  you gotta see this movie .  it is neither good enough nor bad enough to warrant much attention .  
this is just a great  fun  lovely film . it captures the true essence of the decade and of the people  and tells a beautiful love story of two sisters with two sailors . though this film may only be in black and white  it definitely doesn  t count against it now in modern days . the main basic purpose of the movie is timeless . this movie features great acting  beautiful song and dance numbers  and great design work and film shots . follow the fleet is also comical  there are funny moments  moments that will make you laugh  but other moments where the acting just gets you so involved into the storyline . its amazing how though this movie may be set in a certain decade  how it can affect those today . if you want to see something great  check this out .  
all the ingredients of low  brow b  movie cult cinema . topless  and bottomless  girls  kung  fu kicking chefs  slave traders  evil germans with mustaches  cameron mitchell and sword  wielding zombies .  br    br   and  of course the breasts of camille keaton  who  s best known display occurs in the feminist exploitation classic i spit on your grave . we also must mention the hooters of jewel shepard  who play a hooker in the recent film the cooler .  br    br   lots of blood and action with knives and swords and martial arts among topless dancers in a bar  in a whorehouse  and on a boat load of martial artists heading to some zombie island where bad martial artists go to die or something like that .  br    br   tops and bottoms come off easily and frequently as travelers are well lubricated thanks to the boat owner .  br    br   then disaster strikes as their boat is destroyed and they land on the zombie island where mas monks sacrifice young girls to the dead martial artists to bring them back to life .  br    br   just when you thought it had everything  there are piranhas in the water . yum yum a big fat german for dinner .  br    br   just the thing for your next zombie fest .  
one of the best of the fred astaire and giner rogers films . great music by irving berlin . solid support from randolph scott  harriet nelson  lucille ball  betty grable  frank jenks  and astrid allwyn .  br    br   terrific songs include  let yourself go    let  s face the music   and  putting all my eggs in one basket .  the last song is introduced by astaire playing a jazzy piano and then a cute dance with rogers . rogers also sings  let yourself go  with grable among the backup singers .  br    br   harriet nelson  then hilliard  sings two nice songs and plays rogers  mousy sister .  get thee behind me  is a song that sticks with you for days . she also sings  but where are you   snappy and fast paced  this entry in the astaire  rogers series is one of the better ones . the classic and amazing beautiful finale   let  s face the music and dance  is among the best  known of their numbers . rogers wears one of the great dresses in movie history . . . . a shimmering sequined number that swirls around her legs as she dances  weighted hem  and is also slightly see through . just gorgeous . this is the number that steve martin and bernadette peters re  created in pennies from heaven .  br    br   randolph scott seems an odd choice as astaire  s pal but he also appeared in their roberta with irene dunne . luckily he does not attempt to sing or dance . it seems that grable and ball would have had bigger parts in     but they have a few scenes and make little impact . allwyn has the bigger role but is only ok .  br    br   rogers has one of her best solo numbers in the series with  let yourself go  . . . . jazzy and thumping  it  s a great song .  br    br   fun all the way  although i got tired of  we joined the navy  after the third time . . . .  
  raw force  is like an ultra  sleazy and perverted version of love boat  with additional kung fu fights  demented cannibalistic monks  white slaves trade  energetic zombies and a whole lot of lousy acting performances . no wonder this movie was included in the recently released  grindhouse experience   movie box  set  . it  s got everything exploitation fanatics are looking for  blend in a totally incoherent and seemingly improvised script  the production values are extremely poor and the technical aspects are pathetic  but the amounts of gratuitous violence  sex can hardly be described . the film opens at a tropically sunny location called warriors island  where a troop of sneering monks raise the dead for no apparent reason other than to turn them into kung fu fighters . the monks also buy sexy slaves from a sleazy hitler look  alike businessman  supposedly because the women  s flesh supplies them with the required powers to increase their zombie army . tourists on a passing cruise ship  among them three martial arts fighters  a female la cop and a whole bunch of ravishing but dim  witted ladies  are attacked by the hitler guy  s goons because they were planning an excursion to warriors island . their lifeboat washes ashore the island anyway  and the monks challenge the survivors to a fighting test with their zombies . okay  how does that sound for a crazy midnight horror movie mess  it  s not over yet  because  raw force  also has piranhas  wild boat orgies  cameron mitchell in yet another embarrassing lead role and    s exploitation duchess camille keaton   i spit on your grave   in an utterly insignificant cameo appearance . there  s loads of badly realized gore  including axe massacres and decapitations  hammy jokes and bad taste romance . the trash  value of this movie will literally leave you speechless . the evil monks  background remains  naturally  unexplained and they don  t even become punished for their questionable hobbies . maybe that  s why the movie stops with  to be continued   instead of with  the end  . the sequel never came  unless it  s so obscure imdb doesn  t even list it .  
musically speaking irving berlin gave fred astaire and ginger rogers another pluperfect musical after top hat if that was possible . although in this case like that jerome kern confection roberta that they were in  follow the fleet retained randolph scott with another singer  this time harriet hilliard .  br    br   randolph scott is a career navy cpo and fred astaire is an ex  vaudevillian who enlisted in the navy to forget ginger rogers his former partner . but now the two are on shore leave . fred and ginger take up right where they left off  and randy accidentally meets ginger  s dowdy sister harriet who blossoms into a real beauty . but randy  s a typical love  em and leave  em sailor .  br    br   again irving berlin wrote a hit filled score with him tightly supervising the production . ginger gets to do some really outstanding vocalizing with let yourself go which she and fred later dance to . but the real hit of the show is let  s face the music and dance which is a number done at a navy show . sung first by astaire and later danced to by the pair  let  s face the music and dance is one of the great romantic numbers ever written for the screen . their dancing on this one is absolute magic .  br    br   i  m sure that when i mention harriet hilliard a few younger people might ask who that was . but they will know immediately when i mention her in conjunction with her famous husband ozzie nelson . that  s right ozzie and harriet . it  s something of a mystery to me why harriet stopped singing when she just became david and ricky  s mom on television . then again she didn  t even keep her own name .  br    br   neither ozzie or harriet sang on television . ozzie was a pale imitation of rudy vallee as a singer  but harriet could really carry a tune . she sings get thee behind me satan and the moon and i are here  but where are you  both with real feeling and class . i recommend you see follow the fleet if for no other reason than to hear a dimension of harriet hilliard incredibly forgotten today .  
outrageously trashy karate  horror thriller with loads of graphically gory violence and gratuitous nudity  and a thoroughly preposterous and bizarre  plot  . this is lowbrow and low  grade entertainment that will appeal only to viewers with particularly kinky tastes  but it  s kind of cheerfully bad and i must admit that i wasn  t actually bored while watching it . . . .        
this is my all  time favorite fred astaire and ginger rogers film . the dialogue between the two is so cute and funny and very clever . not to mention this film contains some of the best songs recorded by the two like i  m putting all my eggs in one basket and let  s face the music and dance . if i remember correctly  this was the film that introduced me to fred astaire so i suppose because of that it will always hold a special place in my heart  sorry for the sentimental crp but i  m woman so get over it  all in all this film gets an     from me . the choreography was superb and also the fact that lucille ball is in it makes it even more awesome .  
not even goebbels could have pulled off a propaganda stunt like what gore has done with this complete piece of fiction . this is a study in how numbers and statistics can be spun to say whatever you have predetermined them to say . the  scientists  gore says have signed onto the validity of global warming include social workers  psychologists and psychiatrists . would you say a meteorologist is an expert in neuro  surgery  the field research and data analysis geologists are involved in do not support gores alarmist claims of global warming . as one of those geologists working in the field for the last   years i have not seen any evidence to support global warming . my analysis of this movie and gores actions over the last couple years brings me to the conclusion that global warming is his way of staying important and relevant . no more  no less . ask any global warming alarmist or  journalist  one simple question  you say global warming is a major problem . tell me . what temperature is the earth supposed to be   
this is one of the best fred astaire  ginger rogers films  or at least one of my favorites . most of the a  r movies feature great dancing but sappy romance stories . this still has the courtship corniness but not as pronounced as the other films .  br    br   this movie features not just great dancing but likable characters and a bunch of good songs . the music is the central theme here and what  s nice is the addition of a tap solo by rogers . she not only was a super dancer but a very pretty woman and one with tremendous figure . she dances also with fred  of course  and they  re always a fun pair to watch on the dance floor .  br    br   growing up in the     s watching  ozzie  harriet  on television  it was a real kick the first time i saw this to see such a young harriet hilliard . no surprise than ozzie fell for this beauty . although she had that short early    s hairstyle  i recognized her voice right away . also in this movie are quick appearances by betty grable and lucille ball  but i have to admit that i have yet to out ball . i can  t find her  but i know she  s in here .  br    br   astaire  except for some obnoxious gum  chewing in the first third of the film  was fun to watch and randolph scott  although better in westerns  is likable  too .  br    br   this is simply a nice  feel  good film and good one if you want to to enjoy the great talents of astaire and rogers .  
well done al gore  you have become the first person to have made  billion dollars of the global warming lie  just like all the other man made fable  s in the world this one is up there with the best lies to have sucked in so many people . sure polution is not a good thing  and i would love for all the tree  s to keep on growing  but global warming is a business  it employes thousands of people that are all very mislead .  br    br   google it  there are just to many things that just don  t add up  but well done al  you failed as a politician  but went on to make lots of money sucking in the world .  br    br   whats next  santa is real   
the plot intellect is about as light as feather down . but the advantage here is the boy and girl classic refusal we have become accustomed to in  the gay divorcee  and  top hat  is now absent . instead of the typical accidental acquaintance  the dancing duo are the former lovers bake baker and sherry martin  who are still in love since their dancing days .  br    br   of course  being a   s musical  there  s the problems of misunderstood romance  classy courtship and the slight irritation of a sabotaged audition with bicarbonate soda has costing ginger something rather special . and then in the grand tradition of dwindling finances  there  s nothing better for hollywood  s best entertainers than put on a show .  br    br   delightful numbers from irving berlin are sprinkled throughout the show . top hats and evening dresses are saved right until the end  which remains a refreshing change . fred and ginger are out again to charm the world . . . and charm the navy . everyone and everything is once again just so enjoyable .  br    br   pure classic silliness at its best . but with astaire and rogers  we just know it  s got to work .  br    br   rating  .       
this movie was the most out of line and liberally fed movie i have ever seen in my life .  besides farenheit      . all of the information was only supported on the opinion of five scientists while    of the asssociated press highly criticize the science promoted be gore . global warming is a mass media hysteria and nothing more . most of the information in the movie was either misquoted or it was wrong all together . this movie has been investigated over and over again and has been shown evidence against that prove its lies were nothing but lies .  br    br   liberal blindness  an to think that they show this in school proves that the media has brainwashed us into believing this garbage   
oh my  from the box description i thought it would be la  crazy like  days in the valley or hugo pool . ulrich seidl must be a very strong man . most  after directing this  would have driven off a cliff or at least committed a mass murder . i confess to only watching the first half hour  for now  . reading all the comments here  i have a lot to look forward to . professional reviews often mention the swedish film songs from the second floor as a parallel but that  s graced with humor and fantasy and this is unrelenting in its dour realism . what hath the marshall plan and the eu wrought  seeing this in a theater with anyone i know would have only resulted in an enforced departure after many fewer minutes than i got through on dvd . there  s a more annoying creature in the universe than jar jar binks  the hitchhiker from hell . whatever happens to her  it isn  t enough  soulless suburbia that i thought only existed in arizona and florida thrives in lower austria . oh no  i thought sex clubs had ceased to exist even in new york and san francisco  and here they are in suburban shopping malls  was it mahatma gandhi or jawaharlal nehru who said when asked about western civilization   why that might be a nice idea   if the world were truly like this film  bring on that black hole  we  re ready .  
the statistics in this movie were well researched . there is no doubt about it  al gore certainly presents his case very well and it is no wonder that this movie got the praise that it got . al gore is certainly quite an actor . he sounds so concerned . but actions speak louder than words  throughout this movie  there are political tidbits and references to his political career sprinkled throughout the movie .  br    br   jimmy carter  unlike al gore  is a man of integrity who not only talks the talk  but walks the walk as well . when carter thought we needed to conserve energy  he turned down the thermostat in the white house and got warm by wearing a sweater .  br    br   al gore tells us that we have to conserve energy and claims that we are creating global warming while he travels around in his own private jet . how much energy does his jet use and how much more pollution does his jet create  how much energy does it take to heat gore  s swimming pool behind his mansion  it would be nice if we could conserve electricity by using smaller appliances and making it a point to turn off anything that is not being used . but if we did  the power company would react to a    reduction of energy by calling it a     loss in revenue  and recouping their losses by raising the rates by    . so  just turning it off  would not be a very good idea .  br    br   this movie is a veiled appeal to allow big goivernment to take control of everything  in the name of saving planet earth  that is .  
uncompromising look at a suburb in   st century vienna mixing the stories of six groups of characters by former documentary maker u . seidl is a provocative  minimalistic and intense piece of observation cinema .  br    br   after the world  wide spread of big brother reality shows  hundstage takes modern voyeurism to an unsettling  profound level . hard to like but unignorable piece of european art  cinema might seem cruel and seedy  yet manages to convey the nihilistic alienated feeling of modern society in a praiseworthy manner .  br    br   a must for lovers of world cinema .  
oh man  it is amazing how somebody can claim global warming to be a science  well  i guess this elitist nonsense is now replacing the science of eugenics  al gore tries to make this issue sound complicated  even though it just needs common sense to see this whole thing is a big hoax by a man with his own moneymaking agenda   br    br   how have scientists estimated historical temperatures of this planet  by estimating the sun spot activity . has nobody ever questioned if this method has been accurate  no  not even gore himself  so how the heck would it not be accurate to forecast future temperature with sun spot activity if it has been that accurate in the past  according to sun spot activity the temperature today is totally in line with what it should be . how come the temperature in the entire universe has risen  relatively  equal much as on earth  does our suvs cause temperature on jupiter to rise   br    br   use some common sense  you do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this can be nothing else than a hoax . please research it yourself . what does al gore and his elitist friends like rothschild  banking family that arranged live earth event  to gain from this  well  the new world bank will be founded on carbon credits  that is tax on everything that gives co  omissions  and it is easier to get away with these taxes if the people are lured to think it is to save the world when it is only about money  centralized control and more power to the elitist bankers . al gore has even a company that sells carbon credits  is it not noble to pay voluntarily carbon credits to save the world  especially if it goes into his own company   br    br   i do not want you to blindly believe me  please do your own research and use your own common sense and i am sure you will come to the right conclusion   
a movie  documentary about different people in austria on the hottest weekend of the year . it follows what they are doing and maybe more what they are not doing . the tempo is very quiet . . . . . . so you have to relax . . . . . . . breathe in . . . breathe out before you see it . . . . . .  br    br   first you think . . . . but nothing is happening and you get a little angry over that . . and thats the problem  because its the mood of the film and the really nice social realistic pictures which are nice in this film . . . . . . . . . . . a lot of people will say its disgusting . . . . . . but its not that bad . . . i think its more used for the marketing . . . . and theres some really funny moments . . . a   old woman stripping . . . . . i guarantee its the most unsexy striptease in film history . . . . . . its movie which is real . . i think thats the word . . . . . . right up in your face . . . . . . . and that makes it a bit scary . no computer manipulation here . . . . . its real life . . . and as we all know movies can win over reality when it comes to doing sick things . . . . . . . . . . so its much worse in the real world . . . . . . .  br    br   if you survive the movie you can start to look at your neighbors and think . . . maybe they are like the persons in the movie . . . i bet theres a lot of them out there . . . . . . sick . . . crazy people living with a nice facade . . . . . . . . after seing the movie i feel its more interesting to look at my neighbors . . . . . . . .  br    br   but maybe you shouldnt see this movie on your first date . . . . . . . . .  
where was his critique of democratic administrations as well as republican ones  after all he did serve for    years in a body of government where his influence was unwaivering . oh i forgot about the  years he was the  nd in command of the most powerful nation on earth . the film is happy to show shots of a young senator gore asking why a nasa scientist was forced to change a conclusion in his scientific paper  but fails to ask about the complicity of clinton  gore in global warming . probably too close to an election year  or maybe it would hurt the chances for hillary in    . either way he  s a political coward and party man to the bitter end . he offers no criticism of consumerism  no criticism of capitalism  no way to is the history of the industrial development which has led us to this point in time  br    br   in the end this film was much more about mr . gore himself than about any real problems our environment faces . mr . gore if you really wanted to make a campaign film  shorten it  call it what it really is .  
there are not many movies around that have given me a feeling like stardust did all throughout the course of the film . as magically fairy  tale  like as the princess bride  stardust is most definitely the most wonderful fantasy spectacle of the      s as well as the      s . exciting  hilarious and equipped with wonderful imagery as well as unforgettable characters  michelle pfeiffer and robert deniro  s especially  i challenge anyone to watch this movie without a smile . from the first ten minutes of the film you know perfectly well how it will end  but it is the journey and not the destination that enthralls the viewer from start to finish .  br    br   ten stars  and not a decimal less .  
scarecrow is set in the small american town of emerald grove where high school student lester dwervick  tim young  is considered the local nerdy geek by teachers  fellow students alike . the poor kid suffers daily humiliation  bullying  teasing  general esteem destroying abuse at the hands of his peers . unfortunately he doesn  t find much support at home since his mom is a slut  after lester annoys one of her blokes he chases him into a corn field  strangles the poor kid . however something magical happens  no  the film doesn  t suddenly become good   lester  s spirit gets transfered into the corn fields scarecrow which he then uses as a body to gain revenge on those who tormented him  made his life hell . . .  br    br   co  written  co  produced  directed by emmanuel itier who according to the imdb credit list also has a role in the film as someone called mr . duforq although i don  t remember any character of this name  i suppose anyone who ends up looking at the imdb pages for scarecrow will probably already be aware of it  s terrible reputation  i have to say it pretty much well deserved since it  s terrible . the script by itier  bill cunningham  jason white uses the often told story of one of life  s losers who gets picked upon  tormented for no good reason getting their revenge by supernatural means in a relatively straight forward teen slasher flick . we  ve seen it all before  we  ve seen killer scarecrows before  we  ve seen faceless teens being killed off one  by  one before  we  ve seen one of life  s losers get his revenge before  we  ve seen wise cracking villains who make jokes as they kill before  we  ve seen incompetent small town sheriff  s make matters even worse before . the only real question to answer about scarecrow is whether it  s any fun to watch on a dumb teen slasher type level  the answer is a resounding no to be honest . the film has terrible character  s  awful dialogue  an inconsistent  predictable story  it has some cheesy one  liners like when the scarecrow kills someone with a shovel he ask  s  can you dig it    the so  called twist ending which is geared towards leaving things open for a sequel is just lame . the film moves along at a reasonable pace but it isn  t that exciting  the kills are forgettable . you know i  m still trying to work out how someone can be stabbed  killed with a stick of corn . . .  br    br   director itier doesn  t do a particularly good job here  the kill scenes are poorly handled with no build up whatsoever which means there  s never any tension as within two seconds of a character being introduced they are killed off . also i  m not happy with the killer scarecrow dude doing all these back  flips  somersaults through the air in scenes which feel like they belong in the matrix       or some japanese kung  fu flick  to give it some credit the actual scarecrow mask looks really good  he looks pretty cool but he is given little to do except spout bad one  liners  twirl around a bit . don  t you think that being tied to a wooden stake in the middle of a corn filed all day would have been boring  i know he  s a killer scarecrow but i still say he would have been bored just hanging around on a wooden stick all day  there  s no nudity  the gore isn  t anything to write home about  there  s a decapitation  someones face is burnt  someone is killed with a stick of corn  someone gets a shovel stuck in their throat  some sickles are stuck in people  s heads  someone has their heart ripped out  someone has a metal thing stuck through the back of their head which comes out of their mouth .  br    br   with a supposed budget of about         this was apparently shot in  days  well at least they didn  t waste any time on unimportant things like story  character development . technically this is pretty much point  shoot  hope for the best stuff . if you look at the guy on the floor who has just had his heart ripped out you can clearly see him still breathing . . . the acting sucks  the guy who played lester  s mum  s bloke is wearing the most stupid looking wig  fake moustache ever because he played two roles in the film  the makers needed to disguise him but they just ended up making him look ridiculous  don  t get me started on his accent . . .  br    br   scarecrow has a few fun moments  the actual scarecrow himself is a nice creation with good special make  up effects but as a whole the film is poorly made  badly acted  silly  too predictable  very cheesy . if you want to see a great killer scarecrow flick then check out scarecrows       . not to be confused with the gene hackman  al pacino film scarecrow       or the upcoming horror flick scarecrow       which is currently in production . scarecrow proved popular enough on home video to spawn two more straight to video sequels  scarecrow slayer        scarecrow gone wild       .  
dog days is one of most accurate films i  ve ever seen describing life in modern cities . it  s very harsh and cruel at some points and sadly it  s very close to reality . isolation  desperation  deep emotional dead ends  problematic affairs  perversion  complexes  madness . all the things that are present in the big advanced cities of today . it makes you realize once again the pityful state in which people have lead society .  br    br   the negative side of life in the city was never pictured on screen so properly . i only wish it was a lie . unfortunately  it isn  t . therefore . . .      .  
a hint i think may be gathered by the various comments on this thread .  br    br   i was quite amazed at the number of people who liked this film who want to make it  mandatory  or  compulsory  .  br    br   i think this gives us a little bit of insight into the reason this film and the issue underlying it is so polarizing .  br    br   the global warming issue appeals a lot to people who want to force others to  do right  . it appeals particularly to more  liberal  leaning people because it doesn  t have to do with bedroom morality which is what usually gets conservatives who want to force you to  be good  going .  br    br   and that  s the problem with the film . al gore is a politician . and a very successful one at that . he just can  t help himself from appealing to those people who want to force others to do as they would . the political appeal is just too great .  br    br   and there we are left with a scientific issue that may be of huge importance  reduced to a political issue appealing to those in the body politic with a predilection to force other to  do right  .  br    br   another interesting question is how did the environmental movement get hijacked by such people   
at first i had the reaction a lot of people left with after seeing this that shots of fat people sunbathing  etc were cheap shots in a way . ok so he  s doing diane arbus meets . . . whatever . . . but it wasn  t long before i realized that this wasn  t being done in a dehumanizing way  as the images unfold i felt that the problem was entirely the audience  s we are conditioned by hollywood and also movies from just about everywhere actually to feel that to watch people above a certain age behave in a sexual way is something unseemly  something that ought not to be shown . if this were all the film offered it would be a great deal . however  the story of the woman with the abusive boyfriend and his drunk friend really hits like a ton of bricks very eloquent storytelling  incredible performances  and to think the scene was improvised . that blonde guy is a genius actor . finally i want to contradict those who say this film is all about how pathetic all these people are . the old man who is on the make with the woman who finally dances for him is completely an a ok character that breaks that mold  so don  t oversimplify the film by overlooking him . yes his dog gets killed . this ain  t a rosy picture of the world but it  s not . . . completely hopeless . anyway i felt really grateful to the filmmaker for making such a beautiful film all in all . i wouldn  t say each of the threads were as strong as the strongest  but i say this movie basically kicks ass and would highly recommend it . . .  
something that really does not go down right with al gore  and his supporters   s theory is the whole thing about  concensus  .  br    br   if there were such a consensus  why is it that the  believers  in the almighty global warming feel the irrepressible need to try and bully anyone who questions them .  br    br   why is it that anyone who does not toe the line on global warming is met with smug accusations of being either stupid or on the payroll of the oil companies  apparently being a professional global warming researcher does not mean you  re on anyone  s payroll in that wondrous world . . .  why is there such a need to tell everyone how the whole question is settled  when it is the very nature of science to honestly question assumptions  for some ideas on the answer to those questions  read prey by the well  know oil  stooge michael crichton . . . oh wait  he is rich and not on the payroll of the oil companies . he just took a huge career risk in not toeing the line of the greens and other kyoto worshippers and told the truth as he researched it . by the way did you know that abiding to the kyoto protocol would result in almost no lowering of temperatures  according to its own backers  just a few questions that al gore made sure to stay away from lest he not get every penny of the environmental lobby in case he decides to run again .  br    br   so who  s a stooge . .   
i agree with the previous comment in naming the film  s content  everyday madness  but would like to specify that  dog days  is about how women are treated in  a male  society . the episodes we get to see here show some variation in everyday discrimination of women  mostly categorized by age group . there is a senior man who makes his new partner look and act the way his late wife had  treating her like a doll that shall act  worthy of wearing  the former  s dress . there is a middle  aged couple in whose relationship she is nearly a slave and he a  violent  master . further we find a somewhat younger man who does not communicate with his friend  wife and instead of being really jealous about her affairs even makes friendship with his competitor  s  . a young adult man makes clear to his friend  a girl who is really troubled by being pretty enough for him  that she has to be the jewelry at his side and to follow his narrow viewed rules of etiquette . finally there is a man in his late fifties who calculating his own advantage delivers a simple  minded hitchhiking woman to a furious client who  taking her for guilty in having scratched his car  natural beats her up . to complete the examples we find the pal of the man in the  master  slave   couple  after collectively abusing her  threatening and humiliating the former  in her sake  for she shall get rid of her partner and take himself as her new  master  . during all this the inhabitants of the lately built neighborhood in which the action takes place rests under the burning summer  sun  absolutely motionless  sic   . unfortunately i have not seen the last minutes of this shocking and authentic portray of the archaic structures that still reign in the relationship between women and men  but what i have seen convincingly analyzed the repertoire of discrimination . probably a helpful tool in teaching even the less sensitive spectator what goes wrong  due to good visualization .  
let  s be honest shall we  al gore no more truly cares about the environment than most folks care about contacting foot fungus . it  s a hook  make no mistake  al gore is a politician  three years ago he was busted  ticketed in his home state doing   mph in a   mph zone driving not a hybrid  a yugo  or even a gm metro but a lincoln  go google it if you like   or how about the fact that mr . gore  his hollywood buddies continue to use a private fuel  guzzling jets to attend the premiers of  an inconvenient truth .  so much for conservation huh  al  anyway  it takes a mere minute to subjectively look at  an inconvenient truth   discover the main fundamental flaw . while the film parades out many seemingly impressive scientists to tell the audience the effects of supposed  global warming  there is not one scientist to tell us the supposed cause of it . for example i can take a hundred folks out to a parking lot  they can point out an automobile which is not running right . but can they tell you with any degree of certainty why  generally not  a second flaw  just how accurate were the weather instruments    years ago  the toilet wasn  t even invented yet   what did they have  a june bug in a match box  hell  even      years ago  therefore  how do we know with any degree of certainty that the planet is  getting warmer  when the records of yesteryear are highly questionable at best  or that man is the sole cause of it  the answer is we don  t  science is never a consensus . thirty years ago  time magazine did a cover proclaiming a  new ice age  . the truth is that any  th grade science teacher well versed in earth science will tell you that volcanic erruptions  solar activity  el ninos have more to do with our eradicate changes in climate conditions than supposed  global warming .  finally  what al gore fails to adequately address is even if america decides to follow the global gospel according to al  implement everything he recommends  how are we going to get the rest of the world to follow suit when we can  t even get them to agree on something so obvious as terrorism  answer it  s wishful thinking  mr . gore  you being a former vp of the usa know it  if the folks who produced  an inconvenient truth  were really honest  they would have titled their film  al gore wants attention .  but what i  d really like is for someone to ask the former vp this why were two of the planet  s biggest polluters  aka china  india  exempt from abiding by the kyoto accords  anyway  i hear the producers of a . i . t are working on their next film entitled  gnomes  fairies  elves our endangered friends .   
a movie about the cruelty of this world . i found it liberating  as only truth can be . it also contains some quite funny bits . some of the acting is extraordinary  see maria hofsttter for instance . the director has tried to depict life as realistically as possible  succeeding . coherently  the sex scenes are explicit and no more fake than those of a hard  core movie . although i hardly understood a sentence  i found the vision of the movie in the original language with subtitles much more rewarding  because with the dubbing half the great work of the actors gets lost . the voice of the character played by maria hofsttter is particularly hard to duplicate by a dubber .  br    br   my favorite movie  
don  t drink the cool  aid .  br    br   this is an opinion piece disguised as a documentary . and to title it as a  truth  is just plain crap . the debate over global warming is far from over  and will only be over when the eco  zombies start acknowledging the mountain of evidence contrary to their beloved theory . just google  global warming  and  hoax  or  junk science  and you will find a river of information refuting nearly every link in the chain of logic that gore sites . the reason it is so important for people to educate themselves is the disastrous economic impact that global warming prevention measures would have . wake up people . anyone with a computer  a little time  and some common sense can find many many reasons why this theory is not even close to credible . don  t just read articles that support your present opinions  read everything you can find . there is no in  depth analysis to make  really . there is simply too many alternate possibilities and counter  evidence for the theory to have even the most basic level of scientific credibility . it is so uncredible  in fact  that it may be the single biggest hoax in the course of human existence . it  s time for people to start speaking out against this kind of propaganda  and it  s time for people to admit to themselves and others that you can be a both a conservationist and recognize the glaring conclusion that global warming hysteria is a big lie .  
every country which has a working film industry has some sane  and maybe some insane  artist which make movies that you can only completely understand when you  re a part of this country . i guess hundstage is such a movie .  br    br   you see the lowest level of austria  s society  dirty  disturbed  weird  hateful . but they still have enough money so they can afford tuned cars and big houses . and they are definitely doing a lot of strange things here which maybe seems for them  normal  because they  re doing it through their whole life . from a normal human viewpoint you can now easily follow the movie and be disgusted or fascinated and watch a fine piece of austria  s art movies .  br    br   but if you live here and you know the people you see the characters in hundstage as the tumor of the society . a society that is going more insane from day to day  creating their own rules that nobody else can understand  cave the social system from within . and you see the people . sitting in the park  standing at the opposite street corner  queuing in the same line . maybe you meet  em in a bar or a disco you may visit . maybe you even work with them in your job or they are living next to your house . you start to hate them without exactly knowing why . you  ll try to get away  but you cannot . maybe you  ll end up like them . but it seems  normal  for you because you  re doing it through your whole life now . . .  br    br   life isn  t so bright though austria is one of the richest countries in the world . it has beautiful people . . . but some are also ugly . there are a lot of hard working persons trying their best . . . but there are also some riding on the back of others and destroying everything that the folk of austria has built up so far .  br    br   a very pessimistic movie .  
mario lewis of the competitive enterprise institute has written a definitive     page point  by  point  line  by  line refutation of this mendacious film  which should be titled a convenient lie . the website address where his debunking report  which is titled  a skeptic  s guide to an inconvenient truth  can be found at is www . cei . org . a shorter    page version can be found at www . cei . org  pdf      . pdf once you read those demolitions  you  ll realize that alleged  global warming  is no more real or dangerous than the y  k scare of      which gore also endorsed  as he did the pseudo  scientific film the day after tomorrow  which was based on a book written by alleged ufo abductee whitley strieber . as james  the amazing  randi does to psychics  and philip klass does to ufos  and gerald posner does to jfk conspir  idiocy theories  so does mario lewis does to al gore  s movie and the whole  global warming  scam .  
  hundstage  is seidl  s first fiction film  before this he directed great documentaries as  animal love  or  models   . seidl worked on this project for more than  years but it only cost around  million dollars . the actors are very good especially the non  professional actors who nearly played themselves . the cinematography is good too . the whole film is shocking disturbing and some scenes may be too much for  ordinary  viewers . the film shows a lot of sex and violence but also that people are lonely and not able to communicate with each other . finally i  ve to say that this is one of the best and most rewarding austrian films in the past years . please excuse my bad english .  br    br    
the only thing that  an inconvenient truth  proves is that al gore is still an idiot . these  unchallenged  experts are unchallenged because a response to their inane hypotheses is generally beneath real science . this is mostly false science folks . the greatest source of greenhouse gases  co   is people  we exhale it and unless you  re willing to start sacrificing your brethren to save the world  there  s not a darn thing to be done . we  ve heard how the world was going to end as the result of man for more than   years . fools publish a time line for their doomsday and when the time passes  nothing has happened .  an inconvenient truth  is just another vehicle with which a disingenuous faction of american society can peddle their poop .  br    br   and as to al leaving the tobacco business because of his sister  s death from cancer  that is a load too . al couldn  t run his farm any better than he could run the country . he was losing money on the operation because he didn  t care to farm when he could make more  on speaking tours . the only global warming that is unchallenged is the hot air produced by this gasbag   
it  s not a brilliant idea to watch hundstage if you  re not     sure of your mental stability  because it will be severely tested with this film no matter how sane you are . i have to say hundstage is an art film rather than an entertainment film  so the majority of the viewers wouldn  t have the level of  maturity  to reach in to its delightful side . kind of like tarkovsky films  but different in a way . i  myself  can  t say i had a lot of fun watching it . but it  s an outstanding and very interesting experience for those who are only tormented by the clich that hollywood offers . hundstage sticks a finger right into your brain and scratches your mind all over . you can  t simply sit back and watch it  you  ll be using exclamations or looking with eyes wide open throughout the film . a film that  s similar to this in style is nachtgestalten  but it was considerably better  and way less violent . this one for instance  is not for children or those who are mentally tender or bad  tempered . most viewers would most likely give either a   or a  to this film . i give it a  because i  ve seen the multiple  stories  in  one  film phenomenon in another film and it was better . but this one  s an outstanding piece on its own . worth watching  but get ready to see something disturbing .  
it does touch a few interesting points . . but   it fails to show evidence of all the  exclusive  studies shown . who are the  friends  and  small groups of scientists  that gathered this data   what  s up with all the al gore biography going on there  like how he liked playing with the cows on the ranch or that his kid got hit by a car . . too bad but . . what does that have to do with the ozone layer   br    br   i  ve seen much better stuff  in much less time  on discovery channel . . i really don  t understand why this has such a high score on imdb . unless you  ve been living under a rock  this  documentary  shouldn  t be any news to you . . . all this is old news . . . and all al gore is trying to do is get some popularity points . p . s . i  m not american so don  t even try saying that i  m a bush fan p  
trailers of this movie may show scenes of violence or non mainstream sexuality  but these scenes are just rare fragments  picked out to attract audience . they are  of course showing the main message of the movie  br    br   people who are constantly kicked on their heads in their jobs and lives  using power  which they may have somewhere else  to notoriously oppress others . and at the low end of the oppression chain  mostly women .  br    br   a movie showing this as brutally as hundstage is surely tough to face  but having to endure such lives  is even tougher .  br    br   technically the film is much like short cuts  but consisting of documentary style episodes  featuring people like your neighbour  playing just the way they are . without any glitter  and most disturbingly  without any hope . its documentary style makes the movie even more disturbing  because you realize  such people are out there  and there are many of them  although our society focuses on the nice exterior looks . somewhere the porn industry has to do its business  somewhere unreported domestic violence has to take place  somewhere hopes have to shatter . i sure do know such people .  br    br   if you want to see a movie without any funny scenes  some may think the handicapped woman repeating the top ten supermarkets is funny  but this happens for real  and without any melodramatic  go watch this movie . however it will lose when you are focusing on subtitles i fear  as subtitles cant transport accentuation .  
an inconvenient truth is as entirely simplistic and demagogic as the turgid slop created by the rabid and idiotic republicans  it meanders along intangible lines until it attempts to gorge something into your face  namely that we  ll all be dead in a few hundred years  which is already indisputable  but who cares  humans are selfish  destructive creatures  i frankly do not waste my time caring about human extinction . i  ll just call it a  natural progression  . let the apocalypse begin  but meanwhile  we have to listen to the same brazen  slanted politicians who propose another  new society   well  don  t be fooled  we  ll all still be controlled by the wealthy  by those in power and by those idiots who created the catastrophes in the first place . nothing will ever change .  br    br   al gore  whose hypocrisy is quite evident in the film  as he is being driven in a gas guzzling car all alone using a consumerist computer  he also lives on huge acres of land in a rather large mansion  the land itself was used for destructive erosive purposes including cattle  tobacco  pig farming  which accounts for methane gas traces  and who knows what else  his wealth is predicated on exploitation  greed and his investments include numerous large companies in the world with disputable records . i hardly think this man is qualified to lecture the less fortunate  but his prestige is based on his opposition to another ludicrous political party  that is all  meanwhile he emits those very same rancid characteristics that make politics and politicians so appalling . this bozo happens to be living the comfortable life and yet he  s lecturing poor people in africa about crop farming and cut and burn techniques  he travels across the world in first class seats in fuel wasting jets  uses product placed computers in the documentary  and yet he thinks everything is a  moral issue  . he  s entirely absorbed in his own deluded nightmares  he says he came to these conclusions because of the death of his sister  from tobacco induced cancer and the near death of his son by an automobile of all things  . did he fight against the tobacco companies or propose that automobiles be banned because they are dangerous hulking machines  no . everything must serve the  economy   so why is he any different  the answer is he is not .  br    br   his forlorn and exhausted attempts at humanistic philosophy are disastrous  all this while he  s being filmed in the forest or along a little river eschewing stale life affirming quotes . well mr gore  why don  t you try living like the common people then  he is a politician  plain and simple  he has a career invested in the power structure . my question is  why doesn  t he concentrate on the powerful industrial nations of the earth who are to blame for most of the complications  he doesn  t do that because it would be unwise for  investments  stocks and corporations  .  br    br   al gore gives monotonous lectures about the subject in the documentary  namely to wealthy white people in the audience  who clap on cue  while showing them graph charts  numbers and percentages  and speaking in a dreary tone  no one without a harvard  which the elites control  education can make sense out of it  but he tells us everything is going to hell . no kidding  but i think he fails to account for this problem precisely in the approach that capitalism has taken for the planet  namely that it is expendable and a waste dump . he never once mentions how industrialization has created these problems  he just wants to put mild bandages on them but not eradicate the whole oppressive system . its obvious he was spoiled  sent to the schools for elites and has the same basic temperament for politics as any other back stabbing  inconsistent dullard in washington . whoever made this propaganda  as it is in no way different than what the republicans have conceived  had only goals in mind that were directed by capitalistic impulse . that is to say  someone is going to benefit  and it seems the  new green  politicians who support venture capitalist companies who are buying up hordes of land in an attempt to develop the  new utopian future  with  new technologies  . it  s the same old story  al gore is a believer in the elitist structure  he actually believes there is a  democracy  in the us which i find very naive . if we aren  t paying wages to the oil companies  then we  ll be paying them to the wind and solar companies .  br    br   i find the speech at the end quite rancid  along the lines of something gw bush would have oozed over to the dumb downed masses  gore speaks about  people uniting together to defeat communism  in the      s  what it had to do with global warming  absolutely nothing but he attempts to get base emotions ruminating in people . with that said  he didn  t understand that communism never existed in the world  the systems in europe and ussr were merely a tyrannical form of authoritarianism and capitalism  no less different than what controls the us interests . social ecology was not even mentioned here  which is really a travesty . if you want to change the world  then one must dispose of those antiquated systems that are based on greed  exploitation and violence .  
being an austrian myself this has been a straight knock in my face . fortunately i don  t live nowhere near the place where this movie takes place but unfortunately it portrays everything that the rest of austria hates about viennese people  or people close to that region  . and it is very easy to read that this is exactly the directors intention to let your head sink into your hands and say  oh my god  how can that be possible   . no  not with me  the  in my opinion  totally exaggerated uncensored swinger club scene is not necessary  i watch porn  sure  but in this context i was rather disgusted than put in the right context .  br    br   this movie tells a story about how misled people who suffer from lack of education or bad company try to survive and live in a world of redundancy and boring horizons . a girl who is treated like a whore by her super  jealous boyfriend  and still keeps coming back   a female teacher who discovers her masochism by putting the life of her super  cruel  lover  on the line  an old couple who has an almost mathematical daily cycle  she is the  official replacement  of his ex wife   a couple that has just divorced and has the ex husband suffer under the acts of his former wife obviously having a relationship with her masseuse and finally a crazy hitchhiker who asks her drivers the most unusual questions and stretches their nerves by just being super  annoying .  br    br   after having seen it you feel almost nothing . you  re not even shocked  sad  depressed or feel like doing anything . . . maybe that  s why i gave it  points  it made me react in a way i never reacted before . if that  s good or bad is up to you   
something very strange happens when you talk about global warming science goes out the window and  belief  and  consensus  becomes the topic of discussion .  br    br   it  s because of that fact that i give a failing mark to al gore  s documentary .  br    br   instead of promoting intelligent discussion  he kept the debate at the level of  belief  and  consensus  .  br    br   of course  when you  re trying to sell the world into spending trillions of dollars to  stop global warming  you may thing it  s a problem to tell the scientific truth we don  t know how much of the current warming was caused by humans . maybe none of it  maybe some of it  or maybe it has over  ceded the next ice age and we got really lucky not to have boiled the planet .  br    br   but the fact remains that we don  t know .  br    br   so we  re asked to  believe  in the  consensus  . never mind that any scientist that strays from the  consensus  is ostracized . never mind that scientific inquiry is about straying from the consensus . einstein didn  t  believe  in the consensus  neither did copernicus or galileo .  br    br   so why so much scorn placed on those very researchers who would advance the field by asking the tough questions  if global warming is so incontrovertible  surely a few people testing that theory can  t be so threatening .  br    br   what is going on here  that  s the movie i was hoping al gore would have made . istead  he chose to shore up his support with the true  believers  of the  consensus  .  br    br   sad  really .  
hundstage is an intentionally ugly and unnerving study of life in a particularly dreary suburb of vienna . it comes from former documentary director ulrich seidl who adopts a very documentary  like approach to the material . however  the film veers away from normal types and presents us with characters that are best described as  extremes   some are extremely lonely some extremely violent some extremely weird some extremely devious some extremely frustrated and misunderstood and so on . the film combines several near plot less episodes which intertwine from time to time  each following the characters over a couple of days during a sweltering viennese summer . very few viewers will come away from the film feeling entertained  the intention is to point up the many things that are wrong with people  the many ills that plague our society in general . it is a thought  provoking film and its conclusions are pretty damning on the whole .  br    br   a fussy old widower fantasises about his elderly cleaning lady and wants her to perform a striptease for him while wearing his deceased wife  s clothes . a nightclub dancer contends with the perpetually jealous and violent behaviour of her boy  racer boyfriend . a couple grieving over their dead daughter can no longer communicate with each other and seek solace by having sex with other people . an abusive man mistreats his woman but she forgives him time and again . a security salesman desperately tries to find the culprit behind some vandalism on a work site but ends up picking on an innocent scapegoat . and a mentally ill woman keeps hitching rides with strangers and insulting them until they throw her out of the car  the lives of these disparate characters converge over several days during an intense summer heat wave .  br    br   the despair in the film is palpable . many scenes are characterised by long  awkward silences that are twice as effective as a whole passage of dialogue might be . then there are other scenes during which the dialogue and on  screen events leave you reeling . in particular  a scene during which the security salesman leaves the female hitch  hiker to the mercy of a vengeful guy  to be beaten  raped and humiliated  thankfully all off  screen  for some vandalism she didn  t even do  arouses a sour  almost angry taste . in another scene a man has a lit candle wedged in his rear  end and is forced to sing the national anthem at gunpoint  all as part of his punishment for being nasty to his wife . while we might want to cheer that this thug is receiving his come  uppance  we are simultaneously left appalled and unnerved by the nature of his punishment . indeed  such stark contrasts could act as a summary of the whole film  every moment of light  heartedness is counter  balanced with a moment of coldness . every shred of hope is countered with a sense of despair . for every character you could like or feel sympathy for  there is another that encourages nothing but anger and hate . we might want to turn away from hundstage  to dismiss it as an exercise in misery  but it also points up some uncomfortable truths and for that it should be applauded .  
  r     br    br   there is one good thing about this poor man  s pokmon  make of that what you will   the opening theme . it has to be the coolest theme music of any sloppily dubbed japanese made  for  the  consumers  oops  i  mean  the  young  fans anime tv show . unfortunately there was need to add some sort of show after the opening theme . and they just couldn  t come up with something more interesting than people arguing loudly about whose cards are better than the others  cards . freud would have a field day  unfortunately i can  t imagine why any kids would want to sit through a show where dialogue written by a thousand monkeys in five minutes takes up    of the running time .  br    br    my uber  fantastical doomsday creature of ultimate doom will take your measly pyramid diamond animal in a single strike  can  t you see that you have no chance of winning this battle  you fool   hahahahhahhaha    br    br    oh yeah  well watch this  i am about to use my destruction force delta times pie card which eradicates every single one of your power munchers and renders your uber  fantastical doomsday creature of ultimate doom  s destroy beyond all significance attack useless  i bet you didn  t see that one coming    br    br   seriously  that  s all they ever do in this show  talk . whereas in another crappy kids  show i used to watch  namely the commercial phenomenon pokmon  every soccer mum  s pet peeve   at least the monsters had the courtesy to duke it out every once in a while   yu  gi  oh  is just  in the quiet words of roger ebert  s a clockwork orange review   plain talky and boring  . not to mention long  winded  i realize i  m being hypocritical here considering the sentence i just wrote  .  br    br   this show goes on forever . i don  t know if there  s any plot  and the static monsters have none of the character of pokmon . even when not compared to my fave cartoon as a kid  this show sucks . it  s unintentionally funny  but not funny enough to be worth seeing . bye bye  sleep tight  dream wet dreams .  
the summer has been so full of blockbusters and comebacks of films  and not to mention some of the disappointments of those comebacks  that i was woe to find a film i could just sit down and enjoy .  br    br   in case you don  t want to read further down the page  there aren  t any spoilers   i  ll sum it up here it  s more mature than ella enchanted  there are some questionably violent parts  plenty of death  and a handful of scenes with a little blood  not for small children   but doesn  t try to be overly corny or overstep its bounds . think of it as a bit more serious  bit more magical princess bride  and you  ll be close .  br    br                                                                 br    br   i am  perhaps  not as prodigious a movie goer as others . . . maybe once or twice a month  if i feel active . i  m also a huge sci  fi  fantasy fan . i get bored of remade repetitive story lines and films with more flash than filling faster than you can count to    and this film is the diamond in the rough .  br    br   by the end here  august   i was tired enough of fractured expectations from the big hits that i averted seeing bourne ultimatum in favor of stardust . having had my hopes thoroughly muddied by transformers for my fiction addiction  the previews of stardust seemed appealing  but i was certainly wary .  br    br   as many others here  i was utterly surprised . i had gone in thinking to see another generic fantasy movie clichd from here to breakfast . don  t be fooled  it is most definitely a fairy  tale  and it does indeed have witches  magic  and utterly requires suspension of disbelief . . . but the most refreshing thing i found  is that it  s not based on anything i  ve seen or read in the past   years  and it  s actually a really good movie .  br    br     unlike    of the other movies which seem to persistently re  appear like thorns in a side  perhaps a sign that hollywood is running out of ideas  i could read a book this year  and in two years the movie would be out as another  epic fantasy tale  the likes of lotr and the rest  so says the nyt and such and such no doubt .    br    br   stardust didn  t have me bolted to my seat because of jam  packed action at every turn  nor was i sweating bullets because of plot  hook after plot  hook threatening to tear the dramatic tension apart and echo throughout the theater in a loud boom . it didn  t even use enormous blasts of sound to grab my attention to what  s happening on screen  transformers  i  m looking at you  . it  s not trying to show off the latest cgi techniques  nor did it offend my intelligence with dimwitted dialogs and story lines that are simple enough i could  ve figured them out in  rd grade  boy i hate those  .  br    br   i just . . . watched . watched  and enjoyed a refreshingly creative storyline unfold before my eyes . sure  i may have known what was going to happen throughout most of the film  but it makes you forget that . it even made my heart twinge at some parts  but the most important aspect i noticed is that i left the theater feeling better than when i  d gone in .  br    br   it truly is a gem . after so much slush this summer with so many remakes and films that fell short of my expectations  this was like a cold sweet cup of tea to cap off all the hard work i  d done sitting through the others trying to come out of them with my money  s worth .  br    br   it  s probably not for everyone  but do yourself a favor if you enjoy fantasy films that stand the test of time alone  princess bride  black cauldron  the dark crystal  etc .  then you should really see this movie . this little diamond is finding its way into my dvd collection the moment it hits stores  you can trust me on this .  br    br   simply wonderful .  
the director states in the behind  the  scenes feature that he loves horror movies . he loves them so much that he dedicated the movie to dario argento  as well as other notable directors such as george a . romero and tobe hooper . basically dedicating this movie to those great directors is like giving your mother a piece of sht for mother  s day . the first thing they did wrong was the casting . cast people that can act . also  don  t cast a person that is   years old for the role of a misunderstood    year old recluse . that  s right  he  s been in high school for   years . the reactions made by people as they watch their boyfriends get their hearts ripped out is amusing . or like one part when a guy gets stabbed in the ear with an ear of corn  haha get it   and his girlfriend just goes   oh . . my . . god   the scarecrow himself is quite a character . doing flips off cars and calling people losers .  br    br   the movie does have one redeeming factor . . . oh wait  no it doesn  t .  br    br   if you absolutely must see this movie  than just watch the rock and roll trailer on the dvd . it covers about everything and has a really gnarly song dude .  
there is something special about the austrian movies not only by seidl  but by spielmann and other directors as well . this is the piercing sense of reality that never leaves the viewer throughout the movie . hundstage is no exception . this effect is achieved not only by the depicted stories but also by actors playing . in hundstage i have never had the feeling that these are actors playing  but real people instead . so real is the visceral feeling of the viewer . . . almost as if the grumpy pensioner or lonely lady in the movie are living below you in your block .  br    br   any person living in vienna can without any doubt painfully recognize the people in the movie with their meckern  sudern  complaining   their hidden sexual urges and the prolo macho guys . this is further reinforced by the viennese dialect which is  according to many  especially made for complaining as a way of life . a special parochialism and arrogance typical for vienna are also very well portrayed .  br    br   the viennese suburbs have a vivid presence in the movie with their stupor and drowsiness where nothing happens . moreover  they have been turned into a celebration of materialism with shopping malls and huge department stores . inbetween are the houses of the people where they indulge into what they reckon is pleasure  giving activities  trying to stay in touch with their human selves  yet in vain . the examples are the sexual game of the old lady with the men which bordered on rape  the prolo guy losing his nerves and hitting his girlfriend and the young woman who hitchhikes and irritates her drivers .  br    br   the film has no soundtrack as it concentrates on the normality  abnormality of its images only . another typical feature of seidl  and other austrian directors  is his showing of disturbingly sexual images . these include the stripping of the old woman for her husband  the sexual scenes in the bath  the sexual game of the lady with the two men in her apartment  etc .  br    br   in hundstage seild has portrayed the lives of people who eventually may be as much viennese as they could be citizens of paris  new york or madrid . the viewers should not despise or feel pity for the viennese in the movie as they themselves could become victims of the same human estrangement and alienation  albeit in different circumstances . in the end  i believe seidl  s film is a warning to us about the terrible state of human relationships so brutally revealed in hundstage . and if the viewer does not succumb to the reasons for this evil transformation  seidl has achieved his goal .  
i really did like this show  once upon a time . that is  until i realized all the faults in it . it  s so unrealistic . i know it  s fiction  but it isn  t even the slightest bit believable . here  s why . spoilers ahead folks . . .  are we really supposed to believe that a kid like yugi would be descended from a pharaoh of ancient egypt  c  mon  he  s the biggest nerd on the face of the earth . and what  s up with the pharaoh  a . k . a . atem and  or yami  s  hair  last i checked  pharaohs were shaved  except for a small bit of hair atop the head  and wore fancy hats .  br    br   and  are we supposed to be convinced that an evil wealthy boy genius  named seto kaiba  can legally run a successful business while still having time to go to a shoddy little school like  domino high   puh  leeze  first off  he  d have to legally be an adult to run a company . and that would make him not really all too much of a boy genius  since he  d be the only adult in his class . and second off  why would he attend a school like  domino high   when his business is clearly successful enough for him to attend a fancy snobbish academy  plus  the side plots with his little brother are so sappy and lame . every time you turn around  that kid  s been kidnapped by goons for the baddie . yawn nothing new  nothing new .  br    br   joey is the poor kid  who lives with a good  for  nothing father . it says that joey earns all the money to attend his school  because his father  s an alcoholic  but you never once see joey do anything that resembles work . he doesn  t even mention work . and his sister serenity is a complete moron . why would she choose a snob like duke  who dressed her brother in a dog costume and publicly humiliated him on television  over a nice guy like tristan  is she really that clueless  various characters throughout the show  get possessed by demonic forces  get their souls stolen by demonic forces  and fall prey to mental illness .  oh  that  s child  safe  not .  tea is the typical girl  next  door type  whose only purpose is to be yugi  yami  s girlfriend . and while she has some cool points to her  she just doesn  t have enough time to shine as a main character .  br    br   the animation is simply awful . all the characters look sickly and anorexic . the perspectives are terrible  especially when they do close  ups of somebody  s hand  and the colors look good  but not stellar .  br    br   but the worst plot hole to the series was the fact that yami says that his millennium puzzle can send souls back to their bodies . if this was so  how come he didn  t save yugi  s grandpa in the first place  when pegasus stole his soul  and save himself the trouble of getting it back   br    br   all it really is  is a commercial for itself . the only plus side to it is  yu  gi  oh the abridged series  by littlekuriboh .  br    br   please . do something more worthwhile . like  watch the abridged version .  br    br        
it  s nothing brilliant  groundbreaking or innovative  but  dog days  is for some reason an extremely fascinating character study . it  s like crash tripping on a bad dose of heroin  but not really . it  s an austrian film following the lives of several depressed  deranged and annoying people and their abusive relationships with each other . it  s disturbing  yet very well  acted and it  s interesting to watch the crazy little things these characters do . certainly not for the weak  hearted  this highly pessimistic film offers no conclusion or revelation at the end  we just see the lives of these sordid individuals over the course of two days . grade b  
i was able to hang in for only the first twenty minutes of this low  budget movie . the most glaring absurdity was that while the american inmates in a north korean pow camp are all supposedly suffering from severe deprivation of food and medicine  going without bathing  shivering in flimsy and filthy parkas  and sleeping on bare floors  and  let  s not forget enduring torture  they always manage to sport impeccably coiffed hair . with the exception of a suitably austere  looking harry morgan as an army major  the casting and acting are simply awful . ronald regan cannot seem to stick to portraying a single character and instead creates a rather schizophrenic amalgam of past roles . a mostly caucasian cast portraying the north korean camp officers might have been forgivable  but when supposedly russian officers acting as advisors to the koreans strut around wearing re  badged nazi uniforms complete with jodhpurs and jackboots  obvious costume  department recycles from wwii flicks  and speaking with accents like general burkhalter from hogan  s heroes  well  that  s just six kinds of silly . don  t waste your time on this one .  
this film has got to be ranked as one of the most disturbing and arresting films in years . it is one of the few films  perhaps the only one  that actually gave me shivers not even pasolinis slo  to which this film bears comparison  affected me like that . i saw echoes in the film from filmmakers like pasolini  fassbinder and others . i had to ask myself  what was it about the film that made me feel like i did  i think the answer would be that i was watching a horror film  but one that defies or even reverses the conventions of said genre . typically  in a horror film  horrible and frightening things will happen  but on the margins of civilized society abandoned houses  deserted hotels  castles  churchyards  morgues etc . this handling of the subject in horror is  i think  a sort of defence mechanism  a principle of darkness and opacity functioning as a sort of projective space for the desires and fears of the viewer . so  from this perspective  hundstage is not a horror film it takes place in a perfectly normal society  and so doesnt dabble in the histrionics of the horror film . but what you see is the displacement of certain key thematics from the horror genre  especially concerning the body and its violation  the stages of fright and torture it can be put through . what seidl does is to use the settings of an everyday  middle class society as a stage on which is relayed a repetitious play of sexual aggression  loneliness  lack and violation of intimacy and integrity precisely the themes you would find in horror  but subjected to a principle of light and transparency from which there is no escape . it is precisely within this displacement that the power of seidls film resides . hundstage deals with these matters as a function of the everyday  displays them in quotidian repetition  rather than as sites of extremity and catharsis  a move you would encounter in said horror genre . one important point of reference here is rainer werner fassbinder . fassbinder also had a way of blending the political with the personal in his films  a tactics of the melodrama that allowed him to deal in a serious and even moral way with political issues like racism  domination  desire  questions concerning ownership  sexual property and control  fascism and capitalism etc . seidls tactic of making the mechanisms of everyday society the subject of his film puts him in close proximity with fassbinder like this german ally  he has a sort of political vision of society that he feels it is his responsibility to put forward in his films . during a seminar at the gothenburg film festival this year  at which seidl was a guest  he was asked why he would have so many instances of violated  subjugated women in hundstage  but no instances of a woman fighting back  liberating herself . seidl replied that some may view it as immoral to show violence against women  but that he himself felt it would be immoral not to show it . an artistic statement as good as any  i think . thank you .  
ronald reagan and a bunch of us soldiers in a north korean pow camp . they are tortured . . . we learn north korean communists are bad people . . . we learn americans  beards grow very slowly during days of torture . . .  br    br   i tried to suppress it  but i finally burst out laughing at this movie . it was the scene when mr . reagan comes out from telling the communists he wants to be on their side . then  he asks for a bottle of brandy . next  acting stone  cold sober  he takes a drunken companion  dewey martin  to get sulfur to cure mr . martin  s hangover . of course  the north korean communist guard is as dumb as they come . so  the drunk distracts the guard while reagan goes over to get something from a drawer  which is next to a bunch of empty boxes . i  m sure he boxes were supposed to contain something but  of course  reagan causes them to shake enough to reveal they are empty . ya gotta laugh  i think  prisoner of war  will appeal mainly to family and friends of those who worked on it  otherwise  it  s wasteful .  br    br    prisoner of war       andrew marton  ronald reagan  steve forrest  dewey martin  
this film is great . as often heard  it is indeed very realistic and sometimes brutal  but unlike some other people i am clearly not of the opinion that it is depressing  negativistic or dismantling austria as a proto  fascist society . quite the contrary while there are indeed some very heavy scenes in hundstage and some characters are to be called very bad persons  at the same time you watch love  beauty and humor in ulrich seidls film . and that  s exactly what distinguishes hundstage for me from other films that try to show the lives of the  ordinary people  in an intense  realistic way their hustle  their wishes  their dark sides seidl clearly never tries to prove  that the lives of the working  class people are trash  in my opinion  viewers who come to this conclusion seem to be very afraid of admitting  that nearly nobody  s live is as  clean  and  normal  as we would like other people to believe . and that every live has its dark and often depressing sides . the most beautiful scene the old viennese man  watching his old girl dancing  the oriental way   as he is calling it . i think everybody who finds this scene ugly lacks a sense of beauty and should ask themselves what it is  that  s proto  fascist the characters in hundstage or viewers  who are turned off by the body of a    year old woman  dancing with all her charms for her lover .  
not a very good movie but according to the info it  s pretty accurate in depicting torture techniques . the purpose of the film was to show the brutality of the nk pow camps and that  s done effectively enough  with surprising frankness for the time . whatever technical flaws exist  and there are plenty  by watching this you  ll see a forgotten corner of a forgotten war and some pretty nasty stuff  again  nasty because it  s being done north of the dmz and not in guantanamo bay .  br    br   i don  t think any of the korean veterans brought up his torture when running for office  and if you watch the movies like this one and pork chop hill in comparison to the vietnam films . i don  t know if it was the people in    being trapped in the wwii concepts  the boys tend to wisecrack a lot  or the war or what  but it  s interesting to see this from the same system that   years later would be making movies like  go tell the spartans  .  
i just saw this film at the     toronto international film festival . the working title there was  dog days  . the audience reaction was mixed . some people found the graphic sex and realistic violence to be too much for them . others seemed to genuinely appreciate how good this film was .  br    br   this film isn  t for the faint of heart . it  s like  happiness  with explicit sex and a less optimistic view of humanity . there  s animal poisoning  a strip  tease from a senior citizen  an orgy  esque  bathouse in a shopping centre  anal candle penetration  and the molestation of the mentally incompetent .  br    br   if any of this sounds like too much to handle then this film isn  t for you . this film shows humanity at its most desperate and pathetic . the banality of our existence is shoved in our face with utmost glee .  br    br   seidl has no interest in redeeming humanity here . and why should he  this film features excellent performances from all involved  is always interesting  and is probably the most intelligent social statement to be made on film in awhile .  
a friend of mine was in the cast as a feds agent  a non  speaking part  as i recall  . he brought it over on dvd so i could see it . it was  interesting   but very much felt like an amateur film . a well made amateur film  though . really boring and poorly written . it was probably fun to make and be involved in  but it definitely didn  t deserve any kind of wide release . maybe in omaha they  d enjoy it  but this california girl was bored and honestly kind of embarrassed for my friend  s involvement .  br    br   if this film maker has made or makes any more films  he really should try to have a really interesting story line  and good actors . i  m sure this was a great learning tool for them . i wish them luck in the future  and hope they can improve their film making .  
this film show peoples in the middle of the hottest  days in austria . it shows people humiliating other peoples and being cruel to other peoples . it show the inability of people to communicate or talk with others .  br    br   in the screening i have attended people were leaving in the middle because they could no longer watch the film . and rightly so . because the film is not and easy one to watch . it has a very depressing message and there isn  t any moment of mercy in the film . it is a very cruel movie  not for everyone  s taste . you can not speak of terms of enjoyment from this film . it grips you in your throat and never let go and in the end you simply feels breathless because of its intensity .  br    br   i can not  recommend  or  not recommend  this film . you should make your own mind based on what i have said earlier . just be aware that this is not a regular film and it is not for everyone  s taste .  
this is the only movie that my wife and i have ever walked out on . totally sucked . we saw it in omaha even . not funny at all  looks like a   year old kid wrote the humor . i can  t believe these real politicians were actually in the movie . awful .  
i may be getting ahead of myself here  but although the film itself was a technical masterpiece for its time  i watched it piece  by  piece on tcm last night  the question arises to me why did they do that  putting their lives in jeopardy  many of them died on the trek  why would they undertake such a life  endangering journey  just to find food for their animals    once they reached the  land of milk and honey   why didn  t they just stay there  would you endanger your life  and that of your entire community  just to find food for a herd of cattle  as dangerous as it was  to do it for that purpose alone  shows the inbred simplicity of these types of people . risk death for a cow   better them than i   
hmm i agree with the reviewer who said that  strange people with generous tastes have been reviewing this film  . i thought the film was intriguing enough to watch it . i think that was primarily because of marsden and speedman  not the plot .  br    br   the bottom line is that this film is mildly psychologically tantalizing on the one hand and profoundly homophobic on the other . thumbs up on the former and triple thumbs down on the latter . i  m not sure if the film is intended to promote dialogue or to spread fear and propaganda .  br    br   i thought the acting was mediocre . a lot of conversation that was about   degrees askew of reality . i kept wanting to derive some meaning from the plot  but it  s ultimately just a conversation with a mad man  speedman  . i feel mildly sorry for him  speedman  because of his loss  but not really . his loss is no greater and certainly is less than losses suffered every day around the world by more significant causes .  br    br   does the film expose naivet about hiv  aids  yes that of the intended audience . is hiv a dark  mysterious  evil killer  what about it  s victims  the answer to both questions is no . neither hiv nor its victims have any more or less malevolent intent than lupus  multiple sclerosis  tb  hepatitis  cancer  or their victims  for god  s sake . just because a disease is communicable does not make it either deliberate or negligent  or evil  it just is .  br    br   does this excuse ignorance or fool  hardy risk taking   no . should all people practice safe sex   yes . will safe sex save the world   no . is safe sex realistic in all instances of love and lust between passionate and emotional human beings   of course not . what kind of a world would we live in if everyone followed the rules  no one ever took risks  and sex was never spontaneous and passionate    am i ignoring that the film deals specifically with gay sex   yes . hiv is spread by sharing blood or bodily fluids between infected and non  infected individuals . sex is not necessary for transmission  gay or otherwise .  br    br   i  m always disturbed by willful violence of one person upon another . i actually thought the film did do a good job of portraying the absurdity of tom  s violent abduction  captivity  and intent towards dan  and this kind of insane violence does occur every day .  br    br   stream of consciousness notes from the film tom is crazy .  br    br   why doesn  t dan ask  why  do you feel this way  rather than  what are you doing   implication men who have sex with men get  aids  implication hiv  aids where was tom  s responsibility in the sex act  why was it dan  s responsibility to use the condom   maybe you slipped it off before you stuck it in  what are we talking about here  was one of the parties unconscious   maybe she didn  t want to hear the truth  are you kidding me  she  s up in heaven and so unbelievably hurt about what she now knows about me  right is dan  s life over if he has hiv  certainly not  is this why the whole world is so homophobic     they think gay men are the cause of hiv  that they will give it to the rest of the world  and we will all die are you kidding me    are people really stupid enough to think that homosexuality is the cause . . . is the problem    do we feel that way about the victims of tuberculosis  of malaria  i can see that tom is hurt because of his wife  s death  and he blames it on aids  but seriously who  s at fault here  the victim or the virus  are illnesses really the responsibility of the ill   presuming they did not seek and did not seek to spread the disease  .  br    br   sure  safe sex is essential to a safe life  but so is not  driving  not  flying  not  leaving the house  not  living . do we really want to blame the disease on the victims  would safe sex between tom and dan have prevented tom  s wife  s ultimate demise  perhaps  but not dan  s sole responsibility .  br    br   tom is crazy . did i mention that .  br    br   tom to dan  maybe you get what you deserve   come on    days violent  nave  and homophobic .  br    br   am i overreacting  perhaps . but i think this film points a judging finger at gay men for their reckless and malevolent intent towards a  straight world  by practicing unsafe sex  when the rate of homosexuals practicing safe sex is proportionately equivalent or better than that of heterosexuals . we all need to wake up and get serious about hiv  aids . hiv is killing hundreds of thousands of straight africans every year .  
this documentary by marian cooper is absolutely amazing . i saw it tonight on turner classic movie channel . i think i will see if i can order a copy of it on dvd . the film footage doesn  t look all blurry and choppy like you might think from     b  w silent film . set in iran in      the nomadic tribe people in the documentary leave their desert home and cross a raging river  men  women  children  animals . . . then up and over a snowy mountain pass all barefoot . it is sink or swim and climb or die . in search of grass for their animals . they have cows  goats  dogs  horses  mules . in one scene a man is carrying a mule who is too sick to climb the mountain . the children in the documentary all look happy and healthy . they had such a hard life . i wonder if the nomadic tribes of iran still live like this . makes you appreciate modern life in usa .  
spoilers . strange people with generous tastes have been reviewing this film . allow me to add balance by pointing out the following  br    br   script dreadful . as tom and dan are  getting to know each other   bantering about films  the talk is clearly that of one person  and i suspect it was the director  who carefully worked his words to sound intelligent . at one point  dan asks   have you heard of the hiv virus   and it sounds about as natural as asking   have you communicated with the nine alien races    br    br   acting white teeth do and a chiseled face do not a sensitive performer make . speedman did well enough with what he was given  i suppose  but marsden was terrible   unsympathetic  unbelievable  and downright smug and smarmy throughout his captivity . there is an emptiness to his performances  also see interstate    .  br    br   plot spare me  the moments of half  escape were not thrilling but irritating and weak . recall marsden pretending to try keys in the door and then throwing them down  they don  t work  man   tee  hee . and beware the semi black  and  white flashbacks  which are initiated with some schlocky sound taken from csi and other crime dramas .  br    br   most important of all  most dangerous  evil  and offensive  is the homophobia  external or internal  you decide  in a film in which hiv is considered a weapon . tom says that dan may have taken off the condom or not used it at all   excuse me  where was tom while they were having sex  there is some villainizing of the inserting partner which comes off as a villainizing of the gay man in general .  br    br   in sum beware   
they probably could have skipped some of the beginning  i  m not sure why this starts out in the asian part of turkey . if it was because starting in the mediterranean  they could have gotten closer starting in modern day lebanon .  br    br   one the cameras and crews get to the bakhtyari tribe  it  s the beginning of an amazing   day journey .       people with about        goats  camels  cattle  and horses make this amazing trek across what seems to be a very fast moving karun river . they use rafts that are kept afloat by inflating goat skins  you can see where the head and legs were removed . the other  bank  of the river was very steep  i  m guessing about a   degree rise .  br    br   just watching that was incredible  but there was much more to come . to get to the pastures  they also had to cross a major mountain that had about  feet of snow  if not more . being able to climb this mountain was pretty amazing in and of itself  but they  and all of the animals  climbed this mountain barefoot  yes  barefoot .  br    br   the one drawback to this documentary were some of the inter  titles with poor attempts at humor .  br    br   if you want to see a documentary from the silent era  or the incredible challenges that this tribe not only face  but conquer . this is just an incredible document of a little known group of people facing all kinds of challenges .  
writer  director tony piccirillo adapted his own play about a straight man  recently widowed  learning in the last three weeks he is hiv  positive he tracks down the one homosexual partner he ever had  brings him to an apartment and ties him up  forcing a blood test on the guy and promising bloody revenge if the results come back positive . intriguing idea sounds better on paper than it plays out . james marsden  s captive is realistically cynical and snotty  but the actor  s own artificial mannerisms are disconcerting   it  s like watching a roadshow version of tom cruise . scott speedman has to work harder with the more challenging role  but his personality  turn from shy guy to kidnapper  on  the  edge isn  t convincing  and neither are the conversations the two men have . marsden  s gay party boy isn  t apathetic  of course   he  s momentarily sympathetic to speedman  s plight   but he doesn  t react or behave the way any homosexual man would in this circumstance . the movie isn  t a cop  out  exactly  but it is a fraud  handicapped further by the bad editing  the poorly  conceived flashbacks  the low  budget production  and the big finale which smacks of silly pretension and soapy melodrama .     from   
i am actually outraged at the comment i read stating that this movie was  boring  and the beautiful scenery was marred by the black and white footage . it was made in         i think it absolutely incredible for it  s time   br    br   the journey that these people had to go through is utterly remarkable . it took them a week just to cross a river . the women carried their children in heavy wooden cradles on their backs climbing up a solid sheet of rock  sometimes barefoot in the snow . i would like to see anybody do that now   br    br   i thought it was a wonderful film with some truly amazing shots and an incredible story .  
well  maybe the pc version of this game was impressive . maybe . i just finished playing the ps  version and it  s pretty much a complete mess .  br    br   there are a couple elements that are okay or promising . i  ll mention those first because it will be over quickly . first  the idea of a historical gta  like game is a great one . the game gun was a historical gta  like game and unlike mafia  gun was excellent . i  d love to see a game set during mafia  s era done right . next  the storyline is well written . the story makes sense  it has dramatic arcs  it uses an unusual device  with much of the game being a backstory  and it  s interesting . finally  some of the graphics   especially those used during cutscenes   are impressive . mafia  s designers seemed to focus on getting the graphics right in the places where gta skimped on that effort  especially the characters . unfortunately in many other areas  the graphics kinda stink  and i  d much rather have excellent gameplay than impressive  looking characters .  br    br   the gameplay is what sinks this title so low . first off  the controls and camera absolutely suck . that has to be the first focus of any game developers . you can  t release a game where the controls and  or camera suck . number one  there  s no reason that the player  s character  tom  can  t have his full range of motion controlled by the left analog stick . unless it  s absolutely necessary  and it hardly ever is  i hate the set  up where the left stick moves the character in a  strafing  way and the character can only turn using the right analog stick . here  it  s not only unnecessary  it makes most of the simplest actions a challenge . for example  tom has to climb on a couple missions . but the game is designed so poorly that you have to frustratingly keep manipulating both the right analog stick and the camera  and then press l  every time you need to climb  or tom will descend instead .  br    br   next  i  ve never seen a worse fighting system . the first problem is that you can  t auto  aim or lock on to any targets . at one early point  the game seems to tell you that you can use l  or r  to lock on to targets  but that never worked . so to focus on any enemy  you have to struggle with the stupid right analog stick and try to keep adjusting both the character  s orientation and the camera  which tends to drift to the wrong angle or make tom disappear all the time . by that time  you  re probably getting pummeled or shot to death .  br    br   next  if you  re touching or almost touching an enemy   and that  s certainly going to be the case for hand to hand combat or when using melee weapons  the fighting system   which primarily consists of tapping or holding r   is completely useless . enemies can pummel you almost in a bear hug  but you just can  t move unless you back off . so close fighting tends to consist of you yanking on the left analog stick  yelling at the character to move away  which it won  t do    of the time  then tapping r  as much as you can before the enemy gets too close again and makes r  useless . and if the enemy changes their angle to you in the meantime  you  re also going to struggle with the right analog stick to get your character oriented in the right way and to get the camera in position so you can see anything . by that time  you  re probably getting pummeled or shot again  and your only option will be to try to move the character away again . my fights often consisted of making tom run circles around an area like a comedy film  hoping that i could gain enough time to struggle with the analog stick and get a couple shots in before being at the ai  s mercy again . so much for realistic fighting .  br    br   and the same problems and more exist when trying to fight with guns . if you  re touching someone  half the time the controller just won  t allow you to fire off a shot  yet they can still riddle you full of holes . additionally  there  s no auto  aim  and the aiming system is ridiculously sensitive  even with the sensitivity set to zero under options . gunfights tend to consist of you hopelessly trying to aim or move away while the enemy puts shot after shot into you . luckily or not  damage seems to be recorded almost randomly . it can take one to ten shots or more to incapacitate any character  and there  s no rhyme or reason to it . you can put five shots into an enemy  s head and near point blank range and they  ll still return fire and hurt you . yet  the game designers seemed to care enough about realism than they built a recoil into your aiming system  so after shots with powerful enough guns  your aim will float off target  and you  ll have to fight with it again .  br    br   as for the celebrated graphics  except for the characters and textures that you  re close to  they  re actually pretty disappointing . the distance always seems mostly empty  and there are often expanses of flat colors and textures nearby when you  re driving . the city wasn  t very well designed . it  s not varied enough  and there aren  t many interesting things to see or do . the cars seem slow and they  re difficult to control . they also all drive about the same . some have mentioned the music  but that was also pretty nondescript . a much better job could have been done on that end . also  as many others have mentioned  the load times are ridiculous and constant . they tend to be over a minute long  and they occur between and in the middle of everything   even races .  br    br   overall  the mafia port to ps   at least  seems to have been very rushed . the game feels and plays like an incomplete hack job .  
this afternoon we took the kids to the movies and saw neil gaimans stardust and all i can say is wow .  br    br   it is rare that i am completely taken aback by anything but this is quite possibly the greatest fantasy movie i have ever seen  maybe even the best movie of any kind and it is all neil gaiman  s fault .  br    br   sure  i could have been sucked in by the wonderful dialog which was smart  flowed smoothly  and made the characters completely believable .  br    br   i could go on for days about the spectacular acting  charlie cox is perfect as tristan  claire daines is brilliant as yvaine  and robert di nero almost steals the movie as the deeply in the closet pirate captian shakespeare .  br    br   the pure joy brought about by the humor which managed to be laugh our loud funny  intelligent enough to make the first shrek look like an    s sitcom  and blend in perfectly with the rest of the movie alone would have made this a great movie .  br    br   special effects were near perfect  true this was no lotr or star wars sf extravaganza but where they were use they were exactly what was called for  not too much to distract you from the movie itself and blended into the story perfectly .  br    br   then there is the story  what can i say . how often do you come across a story containing all of the classic fairytale formula components that doesn  t just come off as another cheap princess bride knockoff . it manages to be familiar and comfortable and yet completely new and refreshing at the same time .  br    br   any one of those things would have made this a good movie  all of them combined make it a great movie but they pale in comparison to the rich enchanting world that those elements combine to bring to life well . once again neil gaiman has done it  he has driven another dagger into my heart by creating a world of fantasy that is so beautiful and enchanting that i would do almost anything to live in it and only given me a short glimpse into it . i didn  t want it to end  i wanted to be sucked through a vortex to the land of stormhold and get to meet tristan and yvaine in person  to travel it  s fields and valleys  stroll through it  s marketplaces and meet it  s residents both dangerous and friendly and stay there forever . it is a feeling that i have noticed whenever i have read anything by gaiman  the sandman  american gods  coraline all left me with a deep sense of sadness when i finished reading them because it was over  i could not see anything more into the worlds he had created which seemed to be so much more vibrant and alive than the one i am forced to live in and watching stardust was no different .  br    br   in the end i  m sure that neil  s writing and this movie won  t have the same effect on everyone but trust me when i say you will not regret the time or money spent watching this movie  it is easily one of the top  movies i have ever seen and i can guarantee that anyone at all with a soul will at least like it .  
with all the excessive violence in this film  it could  ve been nc    . but the gore could  ve been pg    and there were quite a lot of swears when the mum had the original jackass bad  hairdewed boy friend . there was a lot of character development which made the film better to watch  then after the kid came back to life as the scarecrow  there was a mindless hour and ten minutes of him killing people . the violence was overly excessive and i think the bodycount was higher than twelve which is a large number for movies like this . almost every character in the film is stabbed or gets their head chopped off  but the teacher who called him  white trash  and  hoodlum   though the character lester is anything but a hoodlum  not even close  i know hoods and am part hood  they don  t draw in class  they sit there and throw stuff at the teacher  . the teacher deserved a more gruesome death than anyone of the characters  but was just stabbed in the back . there were two suspenseful scenes in the film  but didn  t last long enough to be scary at all . as i said  the killings were excessive and sometimes people who have nothing to do with the story line get their heads chopped off . if the gore was actually fun to see  then it would  ve been nc    . two kids describe a body they find in the cornfields  they describe it as a lot gorier than it actually was  they explained to the cop that there were maggots crawling around in the guys intestines . his stomach had not even been cut open so there was no way maggots were in his stomach  though i would  ve liked to see that . the acting was pathetic  characters were losers  and the scarecrow could do a lot of gymnastix stunts . i suggest renting this movie for the death scenes  i wont see it again anytime soon  but i enjoyed the excessive violence . also  don  t bother with the sequel  i watched five minutes of it and was bored to death  it sounds good but isn  t . the original scarecrow actually kept me interested .  
this was soul  provoking  i am an iranian  and living in th   st century  i didn  t know that such big tribes have been living in such conditions at the time of my grandfather   br    br   you see that today  or even in      on one side of the world a lady or a baby could have everything served for him or her clean and on  demand  but here   years ago  people ventured their life to go to somewhere with more grass . it  s really interesting that these persians bear those difficulties to find pasture for their sheep  but they lose many the sheep on their way .  br    br   i praise the americans who accompanied this tribe  they were as tough as bakhtiari people .  
bathebo  you big dope .  br    br   this is the worst piece of crap i  ve seen in a long time . i have just stumbled onto it on late night tv and it is painful to watch . really painful . how does something like this get made   horrible  horrible  horrible  oooooo . . . . . the toilet is flushing by itself again  scary toilet  scary toilet  scary toilet      doesn  t seem like that long ago to me  but watching this makes it seem like     . i mean its horrible . please don  t waste your time on the drivel   br    br   scary old black man telling them not to build the pool in the yard . scary  scary  how does this stuff get made     
fantastic documentary of     . this early   th century geography of today  s iraq was powerful . watch this and tell me if cecil b . demille didn  t take notes before making his the ten commandments . merian c . cooper  the photographer  later created cinerama  an idea that probably hatched while filming the remarkable landscapes in this film . fans of werner herzog will find this film to be a treasure  with heartbreaking tales of struggle  complimented by the land around them  never has the human capacity to endure been so evident . the fact that this was made when it was shows not only the will of the subjects  but of the filmmakers themselves .  
a couple move into their dream home  unaware that it and its neighbours have been built over land formerly used as a cemetery . the film is said to have been based on a true story  although how much of it is supposed to be true is not disclosed . the plot is hardly unique  see spielberg  s  poltergeist        . within a short time  they experience various supernatural phenomena these range from the disturbing  mysterious shadows  the serious illness of the daughter  to the frankly ridiculous  toilets continually flushing and garage doors going out of control . there is little depth to the story once it has become established that the land had been used as a cemetery  we do not learn anything more . the plot does not seem to develop . the characters are not particularly well drawn or in any way memorable  nor is the atmosphere particularly special . the film could be disturbing to some viewers . there is no sense of catharsis or any kind of positive message from it .  
this was incredible  meaning that it was hard to believe  that the  forgotten tribe  would make this astounding migration twice a year  and that the filmmakers  cooper and schoedsack  didn  t stage some of the scenes and shots . but what shots they are  the cinematography  under mostly extreme conditions  is brilliant  and the score of iranian music added to the video release give this memorable documentary an added richness .  br    br   i had the pleasure of seeing this and  kon tiki  on the same weekend  which was a thrill and certainly made me see how tough and hardy and brave people can be  whether for primitive survival or the need for adventure or in the name of science .  
i agree with those reviews i have read here  and i have no words to define such a turkey like this  but despite everything  i still can find a reason for movies like this to exist . do you remenber those happy days in which video was a prosperous business  and a lot of movies were made with the only reason of filling the shelves of the video stores  this movie comes from that period and i can imagine that was the only reason for which it was produced and the same happened with many  many  many other stinkers . do you remember  rambo  imitations  and so many slashers of z grade   i still feel nostalgia for that period . about this movie i can say i didnt waste my time watching it because i pressed the fast forward button after the first fifteen minutes  just to find a very funny scene in which a guy was pushing an axe against heads which exploded because  as you perfectly notice  they were made of plastic . and about the end  well  it was so badly filmed i could not understand what happened . thats the same  i had not followed the non  existing plot at all . but boy  video  age was a great age despite movies like this .  
the first collaboration between schoedsack  cooper is a compelling documentary on the migration of the bakhtiari tribe of persia . twice a year  more than       people and half a million animals cross rivers and mountains to get to pasture . you  ll feel like a pampered weakling after watching these people herd their animals through ice cold water and walk barefoot through the snow to cross the mountains while trying to get their animals to walk along steep and narrow mountain paths .  
henry sala  s  nightmare weekend  is a rotten piece of sludge from troma . this is a juvenile  sloppy and stupid low  budget horror film about some teenage girls spending the weekend at a mansion . the professor  s evil assistant lures the girls into a bizarre scheme to perform hideous experiments . using a brain implant she transforms her victims and their dates into zombies .  nightmare weekend  is a completely braindead piece of garbage that features lots of nudity and some cheesy gore  not to mention a laughable musical score . the acting is horrendous and the script is utterly incoherent . why such piece of crap is widely distributed is beyond me . avoid it like the plague .  out of   .  
the team of merian cooper and ernest schoedsack produced a documentary of       bakhtiari people and their animals on the summer migration to winter grazing . the basic worth of this film today is as a time capsule of a  forgotten people  and how they lived during what we in the west knew as the  roaring twenties .  a more drastic contrast could not be imagined . raging river and barefoot mountain crossings are brutally realistic and the animals that disappear under the water do in fact die . to make sure that the audience of the time believed that the story took place  a signed certificate of authenticity is offered up at the end . the version that i saw had fascinating iranian music that can stand alone and be appreciated without the film . having said all this  the film is probably of more value to the anthropologist than the casual viewer in search of a good evening  s entertainment . the crew had just barely sufficient stock to take the shots that they recorded and there is no fancy camera work resulting from multiple re  takes . the western inter  titles detract from the experience but are in fact a part of the record since they demonstrate how hollywood tried to put their spin on the lives of an indigenous peoples lives so that they would be appreciated by the audience of the day . off  duty entertainment by desert police becomes a  policeman  s ball .  the producers went on to make the docu  drama chang       and the totally commercial king kong       . the migration theme is used again in people of the wind       and in himalaya       . recommended for those who know in advance what they are getting into   and then highly recommended for them .  
nightmare weekend is proof positive that some people are so desperate to be  in the movies  they are prepared to do almost anything .  br    br   i  m not referring to the countless women who seem quite happy to appear completely starkers in this dreadful piece of trash  after all  the naked female form is a beautiful thing and nothing to be ashamed of  . no . . . i  m talking about those who are more than willing to co  star with a badly made hand  puppet called george . now that is embarrassing     br    br   a bio  electronic being created by brilliant scientist edward brake  wellington meffert   george  who looks like a demented felt clown with green wool for hair  is the artificially intelligent interface for an advanced computer system that operates a revolutionary device  a silver sphere about the size of a golf ball  that  when ingested  can reverse character disorders .  br    br   edward  s personality altering experiments have been successful on lab animals  but the cautious scientist is reluctant to carry out tests on human subjects  fearing that there may still be side effects . his evil assistant julie  debbie laster   however  has no such qualms  and proceeds to use three beautiful young women as guinea pigs . inevitably  they all turn into hideous killer mutants .  br    br   with bargain basement special effects  a cast totally devoid of talent  and a plot that is almost impossible to follow  i took notes as i watched the film  and even then i am not entirely convinced that my synopsis is accurate   nightmare weekend is a complete and utter disaster that not even several soft  core sex scenes and a touch of gore can rescue .  br    br   this film also features one of the most irritating characters i have ever seen in a horror movie tony  bruce morton   a walkman wearing idiot who bops away to crap   s music in a manner that makes me look like justin timberlake in comparison .  
nick and kelly are ready to be married but travis  kelly  s dog  leads nick to a strange blue wall that will change the honeymoon for kelly . richard burgi and susan walters play nick and kelly and make a good couple . nick loves to drink  smoke  and play pool with the fellas for fun but nick suddenly abstains from this type of fun . sex is the one thing that he loves because he wants a child . we find out that an alien race is dying and needs to interbreed with women from earth to save their population . it becomes a battle of survival between humans and aliens with the dog population also being involved . a fine film .  
i happen to be the director  s nephew . it  s taken me years to get my hands on a copy of this film and i can confirm that it is indeed one of the worst movies of all time . my uncle doesn  t even have a copy of it anymore  i asked  . i  m looking forward to bringing him a copy .  br    br   currently the film  s average rating is  .     . as far as i can tell  that should put it somewhere in the mid    s in the imdb  bottom      however with only    votes  it hasn  t yet placed .  br    br   it  s sad that the film doesn  t even get the respect of a bottom    title .  br    br   anyhow  i  m giving copies of the movie to family members this year for holiday gifts . best  worst gift ever   
this picture for me scores very highly as it is a hugely enjoyable and amusing spoof of alien invaders taking over a town and many of its  men folk .  br    br   the town and the players are all decked out in sort of      s style and the whole movie has a deliberate tacky and kitschy feel to it . some of the scenes are hilarious like with the birth of an alien creature .  br    br   all the actors give full blooded and serious performances which makes the film even funnier and the special effects and aliens are at least it seems to me intentionally  rd rate to add to the amusement .  br    br   these type of films often deserve a cult following  br    br       .  
it seems like anybody can make a movie nowadays . it  s like all you need is a camera  a group of people to be your cast and crew  a script  and a little money and walla you have a movie . problem is that talent isn  t always part of this equation and often times these kind of low budget films turn out to be duds . the video store shelves are filled with these so called films . these aren  t even guilty pleasures  they  re just a waste of celluloid that are better off forgotten . troma entertainment is known for making trash cinema  but most of their films are b movie gold . however  some of the films they  ve put out they had nothing to do with making and some  like  nightmare weekend   didn  t deserve any form of release at all .  br    br   pros the cast members do the best they can with the lousy material . some unintentional hilarity . moves at a good pace  should at   minutes  .  br    br   cons awful writing  which includes putrid dialogue and countless plot holes . poorly lit  especially the night scenes and the ending  which you can  t make out at all . doesn  t make a lick of sense . badly scored . cheap and very dated effects . total lack of character development and you won  t care about anybody . this is supposed to be a horror film  but it  s lacking in that area and isn  t the least bit scary . nothing interesting or exciting happens . loaded with unnecessary padding .  br    br   final thoughts i never expected this to be some forgotten gem  but i never imagined it would be this bad . i don  t know if it  s the worst film ever made  but it  s a definite contender . troma should have let this film rot instead of giving it a release . don  t make the same mistake i did and let your curiosity get the best of you .  br    br   my rating     
i thought the original of this film was quaint and charming as well as having me sitting on the edge of my seat trying to figure it out .  br    br   since i had already seen the original  when i saw this on sci fi channel  i don  t know if this remake was deliberately made for sci fi  i knew what it was within the first few minutes . since i like richard burgi as a character actor  i wanted to see how he would pull it off .  br    br   the writers  producers etc  modernized the film a bit by trying to explain the plight of the  aliens   they could no longer reproduce their own kind and needed help  using the same pseudo science that has been crammed in our ears in the    s . maybe it added a bit of polish to the film  or not .  br    br   this film . film  this production takes on a more sinister edge than the original did  the original ended with a confrontation between the young woman and the alien and an understanding of sorts took place  although no resolution of the alien  s problem .  br    br   i sort of remember that in this remake  the woman became rather hostile towards the burgi  alien  i think it could have ended better . but the ending is just the ending  and the yarn is a swell yarn  being of the basic     science fiction pulp stock . many great science fiction stories were written in the    s and some of them even made it to film .  br    br   this is a swell thing to watch on like a rainy day or something . i rate it highly cos of all the remakes of old    s sci fi  this one came off well . i actually enjoyed this quite a bit .  br    br   but if anyone really wants to see this story told well  i suggest the original     version with tom tyron and gloria talbott  directed by gene fowler jr .  
the acting in this movie stinks . the plot makes very little sense  but from what i gathered it  s supposed to be about this scientist who develops the ability to turn people  s personal items into tiny steel balls that then fly into their mouths and turn them into zombies  or blow their heads up  whichever  . and the effects are lousy  too . most of the movie consists of bad music  with the actors dancing equally as badly to the bad music  interspersed with multiple boring sex scenes . this should be one of the worst things ever made  but for one thing . one element of shear brilliance that makes  nightmare weekend  stand above all others . and that special quality is the presence of george .  br    br   george is the lovable interface device between the scientist  s daughter  jessica  and the home computer security system . with his green hair and nose  balding scalp  and heart  shaped mouth  george is the guardian angel  confidant to jessica  who asks him for advice on how to meet guys in one of the most dramatic pieces of dialogue ever captured on celluloid . with his monotone synthesized voice  george tells jessica what percentages of males prefer women in white dresses  and also that hitch  hiking is the third best way to meet guys after discos and bars . of course  little jessica just can  t seem to stay out of trouble  causing george to execute  emergency program code protection jessica   which results in the violent death of jessica  s would  be assailant via one of the aforementioned steel balls .  br    br   kubrick was an utter fool for thinking he could give a computer personality using closeups of a red light . hal should have been represented by our friend george in order to better translate compassion for his eventual demise . the light and sound show at the end of  close encounters   not bad  but how much better would that movie had been if the means of first communication with the aliens had been george the hand puppet . bishop  data  r   kitchen appliances next to the almighty george  he might only be in the movie for  minutes out of    but don  t be fooled . this show is all about george . with even that limited amount of screentime  george joins the ranks of such luminous film characters as hollywood montrose  majai  and pappy from  new moon rising  as icons of american cinema .  george to apache   you are my hero .  
carter wong plays a noble hero on a quest for a book of healing which leads him seeking ultimate vengeance  the pacing is good in this film and there are a lot of fight scenes to keep the movie going . the flying guillotines look wicked and the main villain has no problems using them . although the story isn  t strong  the action is fun and draws you to the very end  which i felt could  ve had a sequel  .  br    br   campy and dark  this is great ol skool kung fu    
nightmare weekend stars a cast of ridiculous actors with even less of an idea of what is going on than the director had  if you can imagine that . there is no decipherable plot or story  the special effects are a joke  and even the sound is terrible . this film was directed by henry sala . it was the only film that he ever directed  and the reason is obvious .  
a pleasant surprise  i expected a further downgrade along the line the rock       con air       armaggeddon    . especially for such an overhyped film . perhaps that  s the reason so few approved of this new type of bruckheimer fare . clever dialogue instead of snappy one  liners  decent background  motivation instead of shake  n  bake stereotypes and when the chase came you really thirsted for it . fanboys expecting an armageddon rollercoaster stay away . this is one for the more intelligent action fans . it didn  t even bother me jolie appeared so little .  
sniffing girl  s panties kills a guy . . . and a stupid freaky puppet says a lot of stupid freaky things . . . . . . my eyes could not leave the screen  my finger could not leave the fast forward button . . . . i had to rewatch this spectacle to see if i had really experienced what i thought . . . i did . . . . . god help us all   
the power to dream is a wonderful thing . there  s a saying   not all dreamers achieve  but all achievers dream .  by exploring our imagination we shape our own futures . or build empires . perhaps overcome our fears  limitations and obstacles . gain wisdom and benefit mankind . or  put simply  just find our way to true love and happiness . freud might express such things in symbols . the language of fantasy .  br    br   tristan ventures out of a rather twee english village called wall . he goes through a break in the wall . a portal . in search of something that will prove his love to victoria  sienna miller  . victoria doesn  t take him very seriously . so he pledges to bring back a falling star .  br    br   stormhold is the world outside the wall . he discovers the fallen star has taken the form of a beautiful girl  yvaine  claire danes  . to complicate matters  three evil witches want to get hold of yvaine . if they can eat her heart  it will replenish their youth .  one of the witches is played by michelle pfeiffer  who does fabulous young  old transformations of looks and manner .  the  good guy  they meet on their way is captain shakespeare  robert de niro  . he has a fierce  swashbuckling pirate exterior but is a sweetie closet queen underneath . heirs of stormhold meanwhile are engaged in a pitched battle over inheriting the kingdom . ricky gervais is an added extras . a buffoon trader throwing in standard gervais  type gags well . tristan  s purity of spirit arouses the love of yvaine  so there is a nice little triangle going . till he achieves the maturity to discern pedestal divas from real women .  br    br   stardust is a full  on  large scale fantasy that does credit to its myriad stars . wholly positive  and written with a clarity that makes it more worthy of psychoanalysis that a coven full of harry potter romps . production values rival hollywood  and the storyline is free of the racial stereotyping  misogyny  religious or class agendas than shape and pervert so many large scale fantasies .  br    br   that is not to say that stardust is without its faults . plot and dialogue have many predictable elements  and the fairytale quality may be too saccharine for some audiences . but if you want an excuse to let your heart fly  this film may well provide it .  br    br   as a boy  i remember listening in wonder to albums by the moody blues  who practiced in a house not far from where i lived  . they made records with names like  in search of the lost chord   and wrote lyrics like   thinking is the best way to travel .  i would fill my head with books on magic and mystery  from timothy leary to aleister crowley . shaping dreams . learning to make them real . nowadays people might talk of nlp or positive thinking . adults that remember how to dream with the force of youth but with the vision and application of maturity . do you still enjoy that feeling   br    br   you are advised not to wait for stardust on dvd . see it on the biggest cinema screen you can find . and dolby digital surround sound if you can get it . the actors look like they had a ball . maybe you will too .  
spirit of a murdered high school geek animates a scarecrow which then takes revenge on everyone .  br    br   this movie really annoyed me . it has a great looking monster  has some good low budget effects  some atmosphere but manages to short circuit the good stuff with bad . half way in i started to fast forward and then step through the chapters on the dvd .  br    br   the problems with this movie are many . first off the cast looks about thirty and yet they are suppose to be in high school . you don  t believe anything from the get go as a result . the scarecrow  while looking great isn  t much beyond that . he says stupid one liners and moves in a manner more designed to be funny then scary . is this a comedy or a horror movie  its a problem that goes beyond the one liners to much of the dialog and set up . it seems more send up of every clich than heartfelt horror film . i some how expect that the film was made for a very narrow audience in mind  horror fans who want to mock the genre rather than embrace it .  br    br   despite the good looking monster this is a film to avoid . even if you pick it up in the bargain bin for under five bucks  you  re paying too much .  br    br   avoid .  
the movie was a big car commercial .     br    br   but who cares  i went to the theater to view the shelby cobra  angelina  cage .  br    br   so i guess it was a good movie . bg  br    br    
somehow a woman working with a scientist puts round metal balls into people  s mouths that supposedly changes their personality but in reality turns them into crazed  zombie  like killers . the  guinea pigs  for the experiment are scantily  clad  nubile young women in desperate need of acting lessons . this movie is awful  atrocious  and amazingly bad . it has little to no logic in the script . you really will have trouble following what is going on . it has no special effects . the computer screen that is supposedly representing a huge scientific advancement looks nothing more than an old atari screen . and what is even worse is that there is also a puppet with strands of felt hair  looks like a lonely kid at summer camp made it  named george that is like a personal servant  confidant to jessica  the leading  actress   . throughout the movie you will be subjected to the idiotic  sophmoric utterings of this puppet . but wait . . . you also get loads of softcore  unerotic  barely nude scenes with the girls with some bar guys . all the while a most annoying soundtrack plays in the background like some kind of spiritual discovery has taken place . none of the actors are good . there are just varying degrees of bad . the gore and  horror  aspects are especially ineptly filmed . the film really looks like an adolescent put it together . no coincidence henry sala  the director by name but not by trade  has not made another film . i was bored almost into a coma watching this stupid  silly  dreck  and how bout the ending  what happened  if you know let me in on the secret because for the life of me i cannot figure it out . all i know is that i lost the time spent watching this garbage that made the beginning of my weekend a real nightmare of a bore   
i liked this movie . it was pretty cool . it has it all cars  gun shooting  fighting  and even a token girl . it does not excel in any of this things  with the exception of the cars . a bit of shooting  a bit of fighting  a bit of smooching around  and lots of car  with a great chase near the end . the jump  you may say  is impractical  but according to our good friends here at the imdb it is possible  so the movie aint as bad as people are painting it . it has some quality  and i liked to watch it . in fact  i loved the film . and i didnt need to turn off my brains to watch it . i wasnt always thinking  is this possible   or tramp like that .  in   .  
there are no words to explain how bad nightmare weekend is . it simply defies description . something about a computer that can change personal objects into silver balls that enter the victims  mouth  which kills them or turns them into zombies . the whole thing is so wonky that it  s stunning . there  s also a girl with personal computer in her room and the computer talks via a hand puppet         i  m not making this stuff up . the computer also controls things like cars  even though there  s nothing linking the computer with the vehicle .  br    br   the  film  is total trash . surreal bad trash . spectacularly  one  of  a  kind bad trash . there  s a lot of sex scenes thrown here and there  which aren  t very hot or erotic . there  s even one scene where a woman seemingly makes love or wants to french kiss a tarantula  which had me rolling on the floor .  br    br   definitely one of the worst movies ever made . up there with the equally wretched direct  to  home video boardinghouse  or boogeyman ii  both nightmare weekend and boogeyman ii have scenes with a killer toothbrush   . at least it  s fun to watch it and try to make sense of whatever is going on .  
  br    br   i saw once no man  s land        imdb link http   us . imdb . com  title          and found it ok . the film is about a guy who steals only porsches . gone in sixty seconds comes   years after and adds nothing to it . in fact  it has a lot of scenes that are worthless . and the ending is very  very bad .  br    br   the sphinx has a magnetic screen presence that should have been better used . . .  
that  s a snippet of choice dialogue delivered by the evil  ballbusting lady assistant of a famous scientist to her prim maid just before she lures three incredibly dumb college girls to a mansion for behavior modification experiments . meanwhile  at the local bar  people drink and dance to lame   s rock songs . a biker punk has sex with a cycle slut on a pinball table in front of a crowd of people  then tries to rape the scientist  s virginal daughter jessica  debra hunter   who is in love with another biker  dale midkiff  from pet sematary   who  in turn  is in cohorts with the assistant  back at the house  the sorority bimbos swim  shower  change clothes and have sex with men from the bar . a small silver ball  part of the experiment  flies into victims mouths and turns them into drooling  killer zombies   br    br   if that isn  t enough to entertain you  there  s a hilarious theme song   nightmare fantasy    roller skating  some serious daisy dukes and a psychic hand puppet     that warns  danger  danger   just like the lost in space robot and recommends hitchhiking as one of the best ways to pick up men   br    br   this filmed  in  florida mess is so mind  numbingly awful that multiple viewings are recommended to soak it all in . and  hey isn  t that nypd blue  s detective jill kirkendall turned cnn newscaster andrea thompson as one of oft  nude bimbos  sure is  supposedly this was started in     and new footage was added later for the video release in     .  br    br   score  out of    and i mean that in a good way    
i really loved this film  yes  i know it was fairly far fetched  there is no way that shelby car could have managed to stay on the road as well as the    i with all it  s traction control and other gizmos but other than that the whole film was well put together . cage was excellent as usual and the rest of the cast were also pretty good with the exception of the brit bad guy  he was a little  too  much don  t you think  anyway  great film  great cars and great acting . i for one made sure my car was locked and alarmed in my remotely controlled garage that night .    
this was a cute movie until the ending . the ending was merely one more despicable effort to emasculate men and empower women at their expense . the girl refused to listen to reason and logic and used her passive  aggressive nature to control and impose her will on the guy who ultimately yielded his power and control over the relationship to her . it is not by chance that she was sitting behind the driver  s wheel in the car as they drove away at the end after he had to beg her and plead with her to take him back . this movie is a victory for all women who think they should be in charge of all men and in control of their relationships with them . it was a despicable movie for that reason .  
i went to see this movie with a bunch of friends one night . i didn  t really hear much about it . so i wasn  t expecting anything . but after i saw it  i really liked it . nicolas cage and the rest of the cast were very good . but i do have to say giovanni ribisi  s acting performace did need a little perking up . but such a small flaw  it could be overrided .  br    br   gone in   seconds is about a retired car thief who must boost   rare and exotic cars in one night to save his brother  s life . the movie is in no way predictable . so the ending should be a suprise . think it  s just another  fast car driving movie  well you are partially right . there is much more to it . everyone should take a look at this movie .  
i  m being generous giving this movie  stars . the line about  have you even seen the wizard of oz  was the best part for me  with terrible writing and acting like displayed in this movie it  s no wonder so many are taken in by worthless tv reality shows . do yourself a favor and get out of the house and hit a royals baseball game  your gonna be glad ya did   
the story is quite original  but the movie is kinda slow building up to the point where they steal the cars . its kinda nice though to watch them prepare the stealing too  but the actual stealing should  ve been more in picture . . . however the stunt work on this movie was excellent and it is definetly a movie you have to see        
very unnecessary movie with characters that are acting so unsympathetically that i really didn  t care who would fare the best  or was that the purpose of the film  to portray some smooth talking cold  hearted new york city folks   no romance here  no comedy either . acting is very flat and a very predictable plot . what annoyed me the most was this constant joking with quotes from classic movies . man  can  t you see that the more you quote  the less significant your own movie becomes  try to be original yourself  a small budget is no excuse at all  first  time director neither . crappy  crappy  crappy . no wonder it only cost me one buck . . .  
weak  fast and multicolor  this is the valvoline  s movie in fact you can see always this brand of oil in a lot of scene . the real protagonist are the cars  weak performances of cage and duvall . a intresting angelina jolie is a unlikely mechanic . for the lovers of dream car  lamborghini and ferrari over all  .  
the broken is part of the after dark horrorfest iii . not a slasher or filled with gore . plenty of broken glass and mirrors in this edgy thriller from france and writer  director sean ellis . a successful radiologist gina mcvay  lena headly  inters a strange world as her life seems to spiral out of control . while attending her father  s  richard jenkins  birthday party  the guests are stunned when a mirror crashes to the floor for no obvious reason . things get really strange when she witnesses a woman that is the spitting image of herself driving down a london street in a car identical to her own . gina sneaks to her doppelganger  s apartment and finds a photo of herself with her father . she drives away and is involved in a head on collision . then mysteriously her boyfriend is not the same to be exact family and friends are not easy for her to trust . is gina beside herself  is she in a parallel world  her nightmares become more horrific . . . is she broken   br    br   kudos if you can figure this one out . . . it won  t be easy . editing couldn  t be any tighter . lighting is questionable . other players melvil poupard  william armstrong  michelle duncan and ulrich thomsen .  
good action and interesting plot . having seen the original i must say it was an interesting improvement and showed more of the movie . good cast . . meaningful acting . . although it would nice to see some more expansion in the action scenes rather than the background story . fun movie to watch and keeps you alert all the time     is a right vote i think   
this film really tries to hard . if your going to make a horror film  at least give it a reason to believe in to hook the viewer .  br    br   you wait and wait through the film expecting for some grand explanation but it doesn  t . instead it tries to be too clever ending and not revealing anything .  br    br   what was the point of the movie  where it  s actually going  and more importantly what the hell was going on . . .  br    br   why were they there and how does it tie into anything  just another weak sci  fi horror . i love the fake reviews on imdb saying how great it is by related press releases to bump the movie  either that or people have low horizons  . it  s not worth your  hrs at all .  br    br   i  m not saying the film is better than the fragile  but at least that gave you reasoning and why things happened and has an end result . this doesn  t and it just waffle  s on with tons of padding to make everything feel scary . this film is about as low as when a stranger calls . god that was lame too .  br    br   big tip  if your gonna make a horror  make it believable with reasoning and explain to the viewer what  s going on  so they have a hook into your story . because if there  s no reasoning or believability then there  s no firm hold on anything and it can  t be scary . no disrespect to the cast or crew cause they did a good job . it  s just the poor writing .  
i saw this on a flight over to the u . s and was a little sceptical at first as a few people had said there were so many characters in it that you didnt get to know any of them . however i didnt find this at all . the film is fast  but this is due to the nature of the director and the star . the chase scenes are excellent and yes it may be predictable but isnt that true of most films . the main villain is a bit of a let down  christopher eccelston is not as convincing as he could have been  but that said its still a good film .  
you gotta wonder how some flics ever get made . . . this one decided to skip with the why among many other things and just wanders off beyond the moot .  br    br   and yet you have a number of decent actors doing their best to pump some life into the story . the blue tint throughout the movie overshoots into  yet again   which on its own would be depressing but here it  s overkill . the idea that it  s not a medical condition  not some house or gypsy or trinket curse but just something that for no apparent reason starts to happen to our protagonist and then to everyone else around her  just winds up being much like taking a big swig out of an empty mug . some doppelgangers have super powers but others don  t or don  t know they do  it seems they  re just as clueless as we are .  br    br   it  s a poor man  s rip  off of  invasion of the body  snatchers  with keifer sutherland  s  mirror  and  the sixth sense   were you to seriously botch those three together .  
it is a great movie if you have ever named your cars or are really into old  fast  or exotic cars . it has a plot and a lot of action . the car scenes are great except for the totally fake car jump scene . all of the other scenes are great . i really enjoyed it and i hope everyone else does as well .  
no   br    br   basically your watching something that doesn  t make sense . to not spoil the film for people who actually want to this take a look at the flick i will explain the story .  br    br   a normal everyday to day women  is walking down a street then find  s herself driving by in her own car . she follows her and many events take place during that time that include her and her family .  br    br   i specifically made an account to comment on this film  of how horribly written this was . the acting was great  the events were great  but the story just brought it nowhere  it could of been added to tremendously and be made into a worldwide epidemic . i  m not sure what the writer was trying to accomplish by making this  usually at the end of films most of your questions get answers but this film has you asking  what just happened and  hour   minutes just passed for nothing .  br    br   spoiler starts    br    br   they had this area between  dimensions  ours and behind the glass  that would come into our world and kill us . it was not elaborated on all during the film  and you never know how it was happening or why it was or when it happened . nothing gets explained during the film . the main character shouldn  t of even been the main character . at the end of the film the guy who finally figures it all out and runs away  her sisters boyfriend  should of been the main character but sadly the movie ends   seconds after .  br    br   i bought this movie for     threw it out right after . . don  t waste your time . i really hope nothing like this is made again .  
except for an awkward scene  this refreshing fairy tale fantasy has a fun and delightful undercurrent of adult cynical wit that charms its way into the audience as well as a soundtrack that powerfully moves this fairy epic along . except for one of the robert deniro scenes that doesn  t come across smooth and appears out of sync with the tone of the rest of the movie  this luscious romantic fairy tail has a great storytelling feel and the strong magic and the fine balance between serious adventure scenes and the lighter spiritual humor is well done . in the updated tradition of the princess bride this contemporary presentation of magic and love is captivating . eight out of ten stars .  
oh dear lord . this movie . . . it was horrible . i am a huge fan of horror movies . and most of the time  horror movies other people say are bad  i like . the actor who played  scarecrow  was amazing  i will say that . but this plot was awful . it made no sense  it had way too much gore  and an unnecessary  and revolting  sex scene at the beginning . i do believe the director was trying to be  shocking  or whatnot  but it just came out awful . to add to the pile of festering crap they called a plot  the actors  besides  scarecrow   we  re awful  and i cared so little about them that i soon forgot who was who . in conclusion  this movie made me sick . if you can avoid watching this movie in anyway  please do .  
if you like cars you will love this film   br    br   there are some superb actors in the film  especially vinnie jones  with his typical no nonsense attitude and hardcase appearance . the others are not bad either . . . .  br    br   there are only two slight flaws to this film . firstly  the poor plot  however people don  t watch this film for the plot . secondly  the glorification of grand theft auto  car crime  . however if people really believe they can steal a ferrari and get away with it then good look to them  hope you have a good time in jail   br    br   when i first read that nicolas cage was to act the main role  i first thought  . . . sweeet .   but then i thought  . . . naaaa you suck   but then finally after watching the film i realised  . . . yep he suck  s   . only joking he plays the role very well .  br    br   i  ll end this unusual review by saying  if the premature demise of a criminal has in some way enlightened the general cinema going audience as to the grim finish below the glossy veneer of criminal life  and inspired them to change their ways  then this death carries with it an inherent nobility . and a supreme glory . we should all be so fortunate . you can say  poor criminal .  i say  poor us .   br    br   p . s .  angelina jolie voight looks quite nice   
have you ever had a cool image in your mind that you thought it would be nice to be in a movie like seeing a detective peeking through the cracks of a broken fence of some abandoned house  or seeing a woman walking down a street looking cold and intense and awfully alert  yeah . imagine stretching that image to a whole movie  you pretty much got the idea of broken  though there  s no detectives in this movie  i  m just using it as a visual example . but  the intense looking woman is here and she filled pretty much    of the screen time . i got nothing to complain about that woman  she  s a perfect choice for this role .  br    br   i consider myself a very open minded individual who can find enjoyment out of all kinds of artistic expressions and i can truly enjoy some really moody stuff . it would be really cool if i can frame one of the scene from this movie and hang it on the wall . let  s be honest here  the acting is superb . some of the expressions on the actors face are what keep me watching .  br    br   now onto the problem of this movie . beyond the mood  there  s not much anything else here . the director basically took an obsession of an idea and ran it far beyond what it was worth . i don  t consider it to be a spoiler if i say the obsession is  mirror  . let  s face it  this singular idea is all over the bloody place and that  s all the director got to work with . granted  there are a few twist and turn here and there . if you paid any attention  nothing is going to surprise you in the end  obvious plot holes aside .  br    br   now  i  m not picking bones with this style of art since i enjoyed them most of the time . i still believe that we should judge an art base on the medium it uses to express whatever the artists want to express . movie is not a piece of music  or a picture  or a painting  or even a poem  and certainly not just a cool image in your mind . it  s all that plus a good story and character development . i consider the lynch style of movie making cheating . it is irresponsible and cheap and a waste of the medium . we gave movies  hours running film time for a good reason . therefore  we should judge it differently than judging a single frame of imagery such as a photograph or a painting .  br    br   this movie is not completely lynch style  thank goodness . it has a linear development and eventually came to a conclusion . it does not have much story or character development . it presented itself rather seriously with characters composed of common folks  thus distance itself from other fantasy stuff at least from the surface . it does not offer any explanation of the fantasy element nor did it ever attempt to build a coherent world around it . the oddity came from nowhere and seems rather isolated and accidental . maybe the coherency remains in director  s head but from what i can see he did not put much effort into realizing it on the screen .  br    br   where did he put his effort in then  it seems that he spent a lot of effort in building the mood and enhancing it with the music . the music often built up tension which eventually turn into a tease . only in the later part of the movie the scare and tension materialized .  br    br   in the end  i felt like ok  i know what you are trying to say here but is that the point you are trying to make by spending two hours building up all these tension  it is rather irrelevant with who the characters are and what kind of life they have . and we are given very little about who the characters are . all we have is this circumstance that just took placed . disappointing but i guess the director did not have much material to work with and it shows .  
i have had the chance to watch several movies in bluray and hd dvd . this movie stays to it  s wonderful action and great story . although if you are looking for a movie with an excellent picture this one is not it . not having this movie on dvd helped make the purchase easier . i have always enjoyed the intense action and the excellent acting which don  t always go together . overall that is what makes this an excellent fun film to watch . now on the blu ray scale . in many blu ray movies you either get two things . a picture that is almost crystal clear with no distortion or a movie with grainy hd picture . i was disappointed when i made this my first blu ray movie . i almost began to think that this was a blu ray standard . although after watching other movies i know better . i don  t believe they spent as much time as they should have transferring this movie over to hd . that is generally the problem with some movies . and for the price of blu ray players and the blue ray discs you should only have the best picture . so i only consider this a worthwhile investment for people who have either never seen the movie or have not bought the dvd version .  
i give this movie  out of   because i have watched zillions of movies and i can tell clearly what an intellectual movie with a mind  teasing message should look like . definitely  the broken is not one of those movies . i have to admit that the movie made me think a lot trying to understand what the whole thing was trying to lead to and despite the explanations i  ve read in prior comments  they seemed only an exaggeration just to have one self in the intellectual league of people . the photo on the cover clearly shows that the broken is the broken upper piece of the face which normally contains the brain . it  s a clear message that once this part of the body is broken the rest will be deformed and lifeless . so  you start waiting on the movie characters to show their defected sides and this is not obvious in any of the scenes because the movie starts right away without any introduction to the characters and their lives before . though we see the father holding a rifle when his children try to surprise him as if he is aware he has enemies but still this is not a very strong clue . had the clues been planted more in the movie  one would have said about that it is a masterpiece indeed . but though the movie was so slow in pace  it was at the same time so empty with no metaphorical scenes at all . and the reuniting of the evil dad with the evil gena at the end is a strong refuting evidence of the existential messages that some people spoke about in other comments . furthermore  if gena truly lives in the apartment as her brother tells her at the end  then how come she is the evil one  i bet i can defy any theory about this movie with so many questions that can only lead to one conclusion this movie is a pretentious one and a waste of time . obviously it shows someone trying to make out of a meaningless mystery something which is of no value at all . i am a huge fan of horror movies and specially slasher ones that some people call popcorn movies . horror movies are not supposed to convey deep messages  they  re supposed to uncover the beautiful mask of life and show you the other dark side of it which is the truest  i guess . horror movies should have blood  screams  intensity  skeletons  body organs and parts . because that is the real horror and it  s never away from reality . i have watched almost all horror movies and i can prove that each one of them can be as real as the sunrising . nothing is unreal as long as the mind had thought of . for instance  the horror movie  train  with all the slashing and tensity of it and its similarity almost in everything with  hostel   it speaks about a very real thing which is selling body organs illegally by abducting people in foreign places where no one would ask or search for them .  br    br   and even if we considered the broken a movie that has an existential message  it is still very poorly presented and the least scary . i prefer the addiction message presented in requiem for a dream which went beyond drug addiction to highlight the fact that any kind of addiction whether for sex  tv  safety  being pampered  etc . . . can be so destructive and it scared the hell out of me . and those who always criticize horror movies for being meaningless and very commercial  are usually just bunch of people who get scared easily and simply don  t like this genre but this doesn  t mean that there are fans of such movies and that they have a lot to offer to the viewer from adrenaline turmoils  ecstasy  leadership lessons  believe it or not    entertainment to most importantly the face to face interview with the essence of life  as ugly and scary as it may seems  death   
nick cage is randall raines  a retired car thief who is forced out of retirement when he  s forced to save his the life of his brother kip  giovanni ribisi  when he screws up on a job  by completing his brothers job of stealing   cars in one night . he has to get together his old crew that he can trust to help him pull it off and get his bro out of dutch . but the cops are onto him  so can he pull it off  this was one of the great candidates of a film to re  make as the original was far from a classic . and if you don  t go into it expecting much  and turn the thinking portion of your brain off so you can ignore the plot hole ans just take the movie for what it is . you  ll end up enjoying the ride . watch it on a double  bill with  the fast and the furious  for a night of high  speed hijinks  just don  t take the car out for a spin right afterwards .  br    br   my grade b   br    br   dvd extras  minute jerry bruckheimer interview bruckheimer bio  filmography action overload highlight reel the big chase   to    featurette  wild rides  featurette stars on the move the cult  painted on the heart  music video theatrical trailer  and trailers for  shanghai noon    mission to mars  and  coyote ugly   
if the myth regarding broken mirrors would be accurate  everybody involved in this production would now face approximately    years of bad luck  because there are a lot of mirrors falling to little pieces here . if only the script was as shattering as the glass  then  the broken  would have been a brilliant film . now it  s sadly just an overlong  derivative and dull movie with only just a handful of remarkable ideas and memorable sequences . sean ellis made a very stylish and elegantly photographed movie  but the story is lackluster and the total absence of logic and explanation is really frustrating . i got into a discussion with a friend regarding the basic concept and  meaning  of the film . he thinks ellis found inspiration in an old legend claiming that spotting your doppelganger is a foreboding of how you  re going to die . interesting theory  but i  m not familiar with this legend and couldn  t find anything on the internet about this  neither . personally  i just think  the broken  is yet another umpteenth variation on the theme of  invasion of the body snatchers  but without the alien interference .  the broken  centers on the american mcvey family living in london  and particularly gina . when a mirror spontaneously breaks during a birthday celebration  this triggers a whole series of mysterious and seemingly supernatural events . gina spots herself driving by in a car and follows her mirror image to an apartment building . whilst driving home in a state of mental confusion  she causes a terrible car accident and ends up in the hospital . when dismissed  gina feels like her whole surrounding is changing . she doesn  t recognize her own boyfriend anymore and uncanny fragments of the accident keep flashing before her eyes . does she suffer from mental traumas invoked by the accident or is there really a supernatural conspiracy happening all around her  writer  director sean ellis definitely invokes feelings of curiosity and suspense in his script  but unfortunately he fails to properly elaborate them .  the broken  is a truly atmospheric and stylish effort  but only after just half an hour of film  you come to the painful conclusion it shall just remain a beautiful but empty package . there  s a frustratingly high amount of  fake  suspense in this film . this means building up tension  through ominous music and eerie camera angels  when absolutely nothing has even happened so far . by the time the actually mysteriousness kicks in  these tricks don  t have any scary effect on you anymore . some of my fellow reviewers around here compare the film and particularly sean ellis  style with the repertoires of david lynch  stanley kubrick and even alfred hitchcock  but that is way  way  way too much honor . ps what is up with that alternate spelling the one with the scandinavian     
as much as i like big epic pictures  i  ll spare you the namedropping  it  s great to kick back with a few beers and a simple action flick sometimes . films where the plot takes a backseat to the set  pieces . films where the dialogue isn  t so cleverly written that it ties itself in endless knots of purple prose . there are hundreds of films that fit the bill . . . but in my opinion gone in sixty seconds is one of the better ones .  br    br   it  s an update of the movie that shares its name . it also shares that picture  s ethos  but not quite it  s execution . whatever was great about the original has been streamlined . whatever was streamlined was also amped up thanks to a bigger budget . often these kinds of endeavours are recipes for complete disaster  see the pug  ugly remake of the italian job for one that blew it  but here  thanks to a cast of mostly excellent actors  sixty succeeds .  br    br   the plot and much of the dialogue isn  t much to write imdb about . often you  ll have scenes where the same line of dialogue goes back and forth between the actors  each of whom will voice it with different inflections . a lot of people found this annoying i find it raises a smile . each actor gets a chance to show off his or her definition of style here  with cage  jolie and duvall leading the pack of course  and it should be noted that it  s also amusing to see mrs pitt not given first billing here  . the chemistry between good ol  saint nick the stalwart  see date of review  and angelina leads to a couple of nice moments .  br    br   the villain is not even a little scary  i  ve seen chris eccleston play tough  guy roles before so i know he can handle them  but i think he was deliberately directed to make his role inconsequential as not to distract from the action . we know the heroes are going to succeed  somehow we  re just sitting in the car with them  enjoying the ride . i think a lot of these scenes were played with tongue so far in  cheek that it went over the heads of a lot of people giving this a poor rating . in fact  i wouldn  t have minded some fourth  wall breaking winks at the camera it  s just that kind of movie .  br    br   all this style and not so much substance  something that often exhausts my patience if not executed just so  would be worthless if the action wasn  t there . and for the most part  it is . wonderfully so . i  ve noticed that it seems to be a common trend to be using fast  cut extreme close  up shots to direct action these days . i personally find this kind of thing exhausting . i prefer movies like this where the stunts are impressive enough to not need artificial tension ramping by raping tight shots all the time . i  ve been told that cage actually did as many of the car stunts as he could get away with without losing his insurance  in real life i mean  his character clearly doesn  t care  and it shows . the man can really move a vehicle and this is put to good use in the slow  burning climatic finale where he drives a mustang into the ground in the most outlandish  and fun  way possible .  br    br   so yes  this movie isn  t an  epic  life  affirming post      picture with obligatory social commentary  effort . the pacing is uneven  some of the scenes could have been cut and not all the actors tow the line . but car movies rarely come better than this . so if you hate cars . . . why are you even reading these comments    br    br   i  d take it over the numerous iterations of  the flaccid and the tedious   guess the franchise  any day .      
what an incredible fall for sean ellis .  br    br   you gather a bunch of your friends at home  all hyped about the follow up work of sean ellis . you have an vague idea of the plot  no spoilers that could kill the fun  very high expectations .  br    br   it is late at night  perfect atmosphere for a movie of this type .  br    br     minutes passes and you start telling yourself it is bound to pick up  at   mins you start wondering if you should just go to sleep and save this for another time when you can fully appreciate the expected not existent subtle touches . over the half hour mark you realize half of your your hyped up audience is already asleep and call it a day .  br    br   a few days later when you exhaust all other material to watch you go back to this  in the middle of the day this time  hoping your mood will keep you awake this time .   minutes later you find yourself fastforwarding the unbelievably and needlessly long intermediate transitions and images . any other stuff i would have given up already but there is cashback and its legacy . but that legacy can only carry you so long  this is a new level of boring movie  making  imagine a short story extended to a novel with just descriptions  this is what it is .  br    br   decent cast is wasted  there is no cinematography that leaves you in awe like cashback either . there are films that annoy you  there are films that lack certain aspects  or just cheesy  unfortunately this is just a waste of time .  br    br   final words  stay away .  
to make it short and not to spoil everything this film is about kip  giovanni ribsi   a car thief  who messes up a big delivery of stolen cars    in total  . he is then threatened to be killed by the man who gave him the order  . the objective now is to get   cars stolen in  days  with the help of randall  nicolas cage   a retired  booster and also kip  s brother and a couple of old friends of randall  s . as you can see this is the same old  big bro  needs to get lil  bro  out of trouble routine and of course randall is the best thief there ever was . of course as in all other movies there are also a few setbacks and surprises you never would have thought of  but at times it is predictable too  so there is nothing fancy about the story .  br    br   you are by now probably wondering why this is about   times the hot stuff  since there are only   beautiful  fast  cool and expensive cars to be stolen . well the other hot item in this film is sway  angelina jolie  who will be a big star  trust me    . she is not only very convincing in the role as a car theft  but she is pretty hot too . ok not hot as in pretty  but hot as in damn cool and sexy . she was very believable in this role  probably because she is some kind of a wild woman in real life too  don  t believe me  read her biography  and for the sexy part well just see for yourself man . i only know  that she plays the kind of girl i like in this film  because she is not too mainstream  a bit alternative look and she even comes with a tattoo .  br    br   ok the only downsides i felt while watching this movie was  that there is not very much action  there is one totally unrealistic scene  the story is only ok and that there are not much jokes . hey but after seeing the whole film i must say who cares . why must i say that  well because it was still entertaining had a couple of cool car chases good music some bruckheimer scenes  where the combination of music and the lines of actors make your eyes go wet   good actors who all did their jobs pretty cars one cool  wild  sexy lady  yes  i mean mrs . jolie  and last but not least very nice and cool tools to boost the cars with . so some downsides here but still a pretty good and entertaining movie . all in all the best way to describe this film is that it is an overall ok movie with a cool  feelgood ending .  br    br   as for nicolas cage  well he is actually one of my most favourite actors in the action genre nowadays after such good films as the rock  con air  face  off  snake eyes and finally this one . plus what actor has had so many good action  thriller  s in the last years and such successful ones  well no one    maybe jackie chan  but he is one of my favourites too . one thing that is true though about mr . cages bruckheimer films is that they keep getting worse . the rock  was a clear   con air was a nice  and this well this clearly is a  . not that that mark is bad . does it not show that his films under bruckheimer keep getting worse and that maybe cage has to think longer before he accepts a role in a movie and probably he should make a few less movies  no it doesn  t show us that  because almost all of cage  s films were successful in the last few years  except for  mm and bringing out the dead .  mm was not great  i admit that  but that was never cage  s fault and the story seemed good to me . about the latter film i can not say anything  cause i have not seen it yet . one thing though i know for sure  if bruckheimer would have asked me for those three films  i would have said yes to all of them . i would have said yes to the rock  because the story was great and because you would get to play with sean connery and ed harris . i would have said yes to con air  because there would be a lot of action in it  because the story was good and because you got to act with john malkovich and ving rhames . in this one i would have starred because i would have gotten a big paycheque  i would have been able to ride some cool and fast cars and because i would have been able to kiss angelina jolie  can  t wait to see her in that lara croft outfit  . this one was a good choice of mr . cage and it certainly was worth a look at in the theatre .  br    br    out of    
i liked the initial premise to this film which is what led me to hunt it out but the problem i quickly found is that one pretty much knows what  s going to happen within the first      minutes  the doubles will come from behind the mirror and take over everybody  .  br    br   there is no real twist  which is fine   but the final reveal doesn  t make a great deal of sense either  how can she be racked with uncertainty and fear for the whole film  if she  s an evil id from beyond the mirror   .  br    br   admittedly the scenes  beyond the mirror  were chilling when they first appeared and the blonde  s murder is also effectively creepy  but ultimately alas this seems to be a film in search of a story or a more engaging script  piling atmosphere upon atmosphere and over the top scary sound design for      minutes does not really cut it  in fact it gets quite dull .  
what  s in a name  if the name is jerry bruckheimer expect it to be filled with action .  br    br   in producer bruckheimer  s latest film  gone in   seconds  its all about the nomenclature . with character monikers like kip  sway and the sphinx and cars idealized with names like diane  sue and the elusive eleanor  it  s only the non  stop action that keeps you from wanting to just play the name game .  br    br   not a deep script by any means  but it is a great vehicle for action as nicolas cage as memphis raines  along with angelina jolie and robert duvall  comes out of car  thievery retirement to save his brother  s life by stealing a list of   exotic cars in one night . a remake of the     cult hit  this film may not be destined for the same cult status but it is entertaining .  br    br   surprisingly  it  s the action that keeps you watching not the acting . although loaded with stars  none of them have standout performances  including a very weak performance by one of my favorite up and comers  giovanni ribisi . even jolie  coming off her recent oscar win  is just a token love interest with hardly any screen time .  br    br   can a series of beautiful cars and the car chases they become involved in make a great film  i think so . the film is a pleasure to look at and although one particular scene takes you into the realm of unbelieveablity  the action is non  stop and the suspense is compelling . just be wary of other drivers fighting for a pole position as you leave the theatre .  br    br       out of   
horror movie   really     i cant believe how bad this movie was  what the point of this movie    the movie almost  h and   min and the first   minutes of it  is just lena walking around with this stupid look on her face after she had an accident . . . . not much talking at all  not even much actions at all . . i have to say tho  the last   minuets it got little tiny action . . and was still stupid . . . . . . . and the end oh my god  i don  t know where to begin  it also end up with this stupid look on lena face lol . . don  t get me wrong i love lena headey  i think she is great actress  but i don  t know what got into her to do this movie . . don  t waste your time and watching it  because this movie has no story  has no acting . . and has no point . . . not to mention how slow this movie goes and it feels like you been watching it forever .  
gone in   sec . where do i began  it keeps you in the movie with some good action and some cool cars . people say its not a good movie i disagree sure it has some cheesy parts but what action movie doesn  t . i gave it an  out of   cause of the action and the comic relief if you like the rock or face off than this movie is right up your alley cage dose a good job along with one of the most under rated actors in my mind del  roy lindo . i think sometimes people look to far into movies some times you need to sit back enjoy the movie and after words ask yourself did they achieve what they where showing . meaning if they where going for action was it action pact . if they where trying to make a movie to change how movies are made and trying to win every award out their well did they  i think they made the action movie they set out to make  give it a chance and you wont be sorry .  
this film is pure  distilled  unadulterated boredom . i knew nothing of it before i entered the dark room  took my seat . i was seduced by the  mysterious and suspenseful  blurb on the poster i suppose . also  lena headey is nice and unconventionally sexy  and richard jenkins is always a reliable guy to have around  so the cast seemed reasonable . it may have been his name above the title that convinced me to go with this instead of whatever else was on . i should  ve gone to see valkyrie for the second time instead .  br    br   the thin plot revolves around headley  s gina mcvey  her boyfriend  her father  her sister and her sister  s husband who for some reason are being stalked  in a very louche and unenthusiastic manner  by their evil doppelgangers who emerge from mirrors that mysteriously smash . there could be a great film behind this idea  not exactly an original idea  mind you  but still . . .  and in fact  if the filmmakers had shorn away all the supporting cast and simply stuck to headey  s character  s story  the broken could  ve made a reasonable    minute short . as it is  it is desperately unmotivated and boring  and terribly inconsistent .  br    br   for instance  in one scene  a mirror smashes on its own in a room housing all the main characters they look puzzled but quickly forget about it . in another scene  a mirror smashes in an empty room  and a doppelganger is visible as she  steps out  of the shards left hanging on the wall . so why did the first mirror smash if no creepy crawly was to come crawling out  just for a little thrill  there are far too many scenes of the characters in the dimly  lit london flats  peering around corners cos they thought they heard something  but seeing nothing there and moving on . we begin to wonder  why doesn  t this malevolent doppelgang actually ever want to try to scare them  scare the characters and you have a chance of scaring the audience . but we  the audience  will need to start threatening each other  in the darkness of the theater  if we want to have any thrills during the broken . by the way  once we  ve spent time with these evil doubles  we are totally bemused as to why anyone should be expected to be frightened of them  they just stand around  blank looks on their faces  perhaps totally harmless after killing their others .  br    br   there are some nice moods and touches throughout  and i dare say director sean ellis could fashion a genuinely stylish and suspenseful mystery movie if he was to hire an imaginative screenwriter next time .  
gone in   seconds is a very good action comedy film that made over     million but got blasted by most critics . i personally thought this was a great film . the story was believable and has probobly the greatest cast ever for this type of movie including  academy award winners nicolas cage  robert duvall and the very hot anjolina jolie . other than the lame stunt at the end this is a perfect blend of action comedy and drama . my score is   out of    
i read about this movie in a magazine and i was intrigued . a woman  who one day sees herself drive past in her own car . well  i thought  this could be interesting . . .  br    br   . . . but it isn  t . first  the title . the broken  the broken . . . what  what is broken  the . . . oh  wait . . . i get it  the title itself is  broken   wow  clever  unfortunately  this is virtually the only thing going for it .  br    br   the premise is not that bad  but i think kiefer suderland did much better in  mirrors  . a cross between invasion of the body snatchers and mirrors  and a rather mediocre one at that . a more suited title would be  the boring   since it draws out every single scene for bloody ages . or maybe  the confusing  since it doesn  t explain anything at all  not in the narrative nor in the story itself  only some vague idea about evil copies and somesuch  dotted with cheap scares and scenes used to death  but nothing tangible . it  s just messed up .  br    br   on the other hand  the acting and the special effects are quite good  but then again  it  s not a difficult role to act .  br    br   after watching the movie twice  i still feel unsatisfied  a little confused maybe  and not in the e . a . poe or stephen king kind of way . do yourself a favor  and don  t watch this one . simply put  there are better thrillers out there .  
gone in   seconds          out of four   br    br     gone in   seconds  is an energetic  slick  stylish action picture with high octane star power and lots of awesome looking automobiles . if you are a viewer interested in cars this production  by producer jerry bruckheimer   con air    the rock    is worth seeing just to feast your eyes on the glossy vehicles . although the film secretes a stench of weakness in many areas  its precise sense of action and excitement make it a moderately successful summer thrill ride .  br    br   the film stars giovanni ribisi   the mod squad   as a young crook named kip raines  who  as the movie opens  fails to deliver a long list of expensive cars to the powerful criminal raymond calitri  christopher eccleston  . when kip  s life is threatened because of such  his older brother  randall  memphis  raines  nicolas cage   a retired but skillful car thief  is called upon to complete a task in exchange for his brother  s survival steel fifty cars  specified by model  color  year  and make  in only four days .  br    br   memphis disburses the first three days recruiting a team of bandits to help him pull off the heist . the crew includes sara  sway  wayland  angelina jolie   a sexy yet gruff retired car swindler knowing memphis through previous business  a fellow named mirror man  t . j . cross   the aging and wise otto halliwell  robert duvall   as well as tumbler  scott caan   atley jackson  will patton   toby  william lee scott   and donny astricky  chi mcbrde  .  br    br   contributing to the film  s drive and tension is a subplot involving two police detectives  roland castlebeck  delroy lindo  and drycoff  timothy olyphant   who suspect from previous experience that memphis and his crew are up to no good and keep an extra close eye on them .  br    br   there is not much time for character development here the audience gets to know these people though their rugged lifestyles and assume tough personalities through the films hard core  stylish atmosphere . to make matters even worse for the film  the dialogue fails to define the characters with a gritty cultural tone . i am not stating i think profanity and vulgarism is necessary for thrillers to flourish i actually honor the director  s decision to sustain from extreme foul language in a movie that could have very effortlessly earned an r  rating . however  i do believe in a movie such as  gone in   seconds   to strongly develop the character  s enlightenment  dialogue needs to be believable and authentic .  br    br   in spite of problems  the characters are effective due to the top notch  perfectly cast performers responsible . nicolas cage  s melodramatic performance is intense and convincing . angelina jolie  s sleazy appearance is completely appropriate here . delroy lindo is deliciously sturdy and believable . giovanni ribisi  scott caan  robert duvall  will patton  and christopher eccleston provide persuasive supporting roles .  br    br   the film contains standard structure  with a satisfactory first act that elaborates on the story  s style and the character  s motives  sets up a fast  paced theme of action  but lacks depth and strong character introduction . in the second act we run into a few more problems the story wastes time during much of this segment  never really building up for the third act . while the middle of the movie occupies much time  and a sex scene provides a solid mid  plot  not a whole lot happens . the third act is pretty much a sheer adrenaline rush containing furious wall  to  wall excitement and one of the most intense car chase sequences ever filmed .  br    br   the soundtrack to  gone in   seconds  contributes a great deal to the inspirational action scenes . it is scenes like the car chases that makes this movie work in spite of several destructive faults . dominic sena  whose career has mostly consisted of directing commercials  has an appealing style and a decisive attitude in  gone in   seconds  which will grant audiences with two hours of commotion  thrills  and excitementbut not much more .  br    br    br    br    
having read many of the comments here  i  m surprised that no one has recognized this as basically an overlong remake of a twilight zone episode from     called  mirror image   starring vera miles . rod serling did a much better job of creating an effective spooky tale in   minutes than sean ellis did in   minutes with this tedious snooze . a short piece can be effective with a mysterious and unexplained ending  but in a feature film  there should be a bit more substance and the story should make sense . sadly  substance and sense are two things missing from  the broken .  yes  it has some moments  but they are not enough to justify your time . some further observations although this is clearly a contemporary story  not one character in the movie has a cellphone  and even though a car accident is the event that gets the story going  there is never any reference to an insurance company  to the person who was driving the other car  or to the police who would have been required to do a report . my advice skip this bore and watch the original instead   
this movie has taken a lot of stick . it was slated by critics when it came out and was blamed for wrecking nicolas cage  s career . the thing i don  t think people get is that it  s not meant to be an epic  oscar contender of a movie  it  s just some brilliant  bruck  buster  action at its best . fast cars  quick editing and a great soundtrack  it does exactly what it says on the tin . also  for anyone who likes cars its a pure treat . it has everything ferraris  mercs  a hummer and lets not forget eleanor  i think you  d be hard pushed to find a better action movie  and personally  a better movie at all   then again maybe that  s just me   
this is the most cliche ridden and worst romantic comedy i have ever seen . every scene is cringe worthy and the two lead actors  corey and danny are soo annoying . corey is very dumb and naive and should have never listened to danny  s false promises .  br    br   neve campbell and the killer from urban legend are the only redeeming qualities in this poor attempt of a film . danny  dean paras  looks in his late thirties and the girl he  s trying to bed  corey looks as if she  s still in college .  br    br   here in australia  this film is called too smooth there is nothing smooth about this film at all .     avoid  
this movie is a lot of fun . the actors really make the movie go the distance though . without giving away the plot  i would describe it as a new princess bride cult favorite that should stand the test of time . you get to see a whole different side to robert deniro in this movie   worth the price of admission just for that   all the elements are there from adventure to romance  and well placed comedy .  br    br   people of all ages will enjoy it .  my parents even did   good special effects  may be scary for the little ones . good date movie . great for some escapism .  br    br   deserves an a .  hope it does well at the box office   
this movie had the potential to be a decent horror movie . the main character was decently done and i felt sorry for him and there was a decent amount of backstory . however  everything else sucks . the director  emmanuel  is quite incompetent at film  making . he uses some of the most idiotic shots ever .  br    br    a couple of random sequences of random images dispersed throughout the film . i don  t know if he tried to be deep and intelligent and poetic but he wasn  t . it was stupid . random shots of the trailer the main character lived in  random buildings  random pan shots of buildings  random cat which walks away . wtf  and clouds . lots of gloomy dark clouds .  br    br    he really liked this technique of having a scene cut up into different shots rather than being just one continuous shot . ex guy is trying to light his weed and the camera circles around him . instead of just one shot  he edits it into like   different shots so its really edgy  and hip  and smart  stupid .  br    br   the acting is horrible but it  s what makes the movie so funny . and the scarecrow is a gymnast cause he flips and spins and twirls all the time . and some of the deaths could have been better . you expect the main bully to have a long well built up death but nope . a simple corncob in the ear . the love interest was hot . voluptuous . which is why this movie gets a  .  
using buster keaton in the twilight of his career was an interesting choice . he may have been the most talented comedian of the silent age . this gives him a chance to display those talents in a little time travel story . he get hooked up with a guy living in modern times  and it becomes obvious that we are best left in our own times keaton is able to do his sight gags very well . i  ve heard his voice before . i believe he did some of those beach party films  playing some vacuous characters just to earn a few bucks . serling seemed to have respect for him and portrayed him that way . it  s not a bad story . it shows how one reacts when we wish for something we don  t have and get that wish .  
recap ron is about to marry mel . they are deeply and love and certain they are perfect for each other even though they met just a few months ago . todd  ron  s brother in law to be is not so happy . he is afraid the marriage is a threat to his cushy job in the family business and decides to arrange ron  s bachelor party . but his real plan is to put ron in a compromising situation  get evidence and break ron and mel up .  br    br   comments supposed to be a sequel to a comedy classic but it isn  t funny at all . it is mostly a pubertal show and a juvenile excuse to show scantily clad women . actually  in a way  it is almost impressive have many you can put in there  because they are everywhere . unfortunately that is also one of the signs of a movie that can  t support itself . it simply isn  t good enough .  br    br   it has three redeeming points though  or actually three actors that is worth a better script than this . it is lead actor josh cooke who actually manages to give an impression of some common sense . sara foster i know has more talent than to do movies like this  and emanuelle vaugier seem to have a lot more talent than this movie .  br    br   what is suspiciously absent are good jokes . actually  bad jokes are rather scarce too . it just isn  t funny .  br    br        
well now  this was certainly a surprise episode . in this anthology science fiction series  with all of this alien beings  extraordinary occurrences and many brushes with the hereafter  this episode would certainly rate as unusual . its seemingly insignificant settings apparently not imparting any morale at story  s end . or does it  kicking off with the silent movie form  no recorded dialog  but having musical accompaniment . in this case it  s on the sound track  not utilizing the playing of organ or piano by an on sight musician . this part of the episode  along with the ending section  also made liberal use o title cards  just like  the old time movies .  while these titles are a bit exaggerated and overdone  they are made so intentionally and with an affection for rather than any contempt for the silent film .  br    br   veteran comedy film director  norman z . mcleod  was the man in the chair for this half  hour installment . he had been the director of many of the greatest comedies of all time  featuring people like the marx brothers  w . c . fields  harold lloyd and danny kaye . he was no stranger to to tv  as he had done a lot of work on television series .  br    br   it doesn  t appear that he and mr . keaton had ever worked together before  as i cannot find any evidence of this   but judging by the outcome of the film  they succeeded in doing so with flying colors  anyone who directed keaton was aware that buster was also a fine comedy director as well as a comedy player . he was just as comfortable behind the camera as he was in front of it . their short partnership must have been a harmonious one  with  give and take  about how to do things . it is apparent that many of the gags were keaton  s  resurrected from his own silent picture days . for example  the gag of putting the pair of pants on with rollo  s  stanley adams assistance was done by keaton and roscoe  fatty  arbuckle in one of the arbuckle  reelers  the garage       . that was a clear example of his craft in a nutshell .  br    br   buster knew that we film our world with a camera  rendering it a two dimensional image . this one fact is at the bottom of so many of gags . it is a cardinal rule for his film making .  br    br   the cast was small and once again just chock full  of veteran talent . stanley adams was rollo and served as mr . keaton  s straight man . jesse white  the old  maytag repair man   ran the fix it shop that fixed the  time hjelmet  . gil lamb  serene veteran of rko short comedy series  was the      s cop . james flavin  george e . stone  harry fleer  warren parker  and milton parsons all rounded out this largely silent cast .  br    br   without spilling the beans  let  s just say that yes  there is probably a lesson to be learned here . if not the one already mentioned   the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence    then how about   be careful in what you ask for  because you just may get it    
now i recently had the viewing pleasure to watch the hilarious comedy bachelor party  one of my new favorite comedies  laughed until it just hurt type of movies . so i naturally wanted to see the sequel  hoping it would have the same laughs  but instead bachelor party   the last temptation is made by the american pie generation where it  s tasteless and defeats the hole purpose of the first film . yeah  the first film has nudity  but it doesn  t show in every single scene . also the plot is exactly the same from the first  it  s not always a complaint with me  but this could have been a little more original . the only thing is that i  m glad that at least no old actors from the original appear in this movie  because it would have been cheesy or really silly looking .  br    br   ron and melinda are engaged  after only  months of dating  everyone is against it . melinda has a rich family  but they  re pretty happy with ron  and melinda  s brother  todd is scared that ron will take his job . so they go out on a weekend to miami for a bachelor party and todd is going to make sure that he  ll trap ron into a picture that will make melinda change her mind about the marriage .  br    br   bachelor party   the last temptation has a couple laughs here and there  but over all fails to deliver what the first film accomplished . these guys  ron  s friends  were more obnoxious than likable  except for seth  he was kinda funny . the only likable characters other than seth is ron and melinda  everyone else just more or less gets on your nerves . you wanna watch this film  just watch girls gone wild  it  s the same thing only it doesn  t try to pretend that it  s a film . stick to the original bachelor party  that  s the movie that  s going to get you in tears of laughter .  br    br        
this is a clever episode of twilight zone that was comic rather than strange or tragic . buster keaton is woodrow mulligan  a janitor from     america  works in a laboratory . he is constantly griping about the life problems around him meat is too expensive  it  s like   .    lb . unheard of   . he is always yelling after crazy speeders  on bicycles  autos haven  t appeared yet  . griping to the end  he sees a helmet like device by a scientist  and puts it on and tries it . suddenly he is in modern america . the beginning was a seven minute silent film . now it is all noise  all talking  all beeping  all blowing . keaton is here only a few minutes when he realizes that the world has changed and not for the better . he runs into stanley adams  a professor rollo  who realizes that mulligan is from c .      he mentions president cleveland  . rollo has always wanted to live in that charming  quiet age . he helps mulligan get the helmet repaired  and they go back in time . rollo gets bored after awhile  due to the lack of scientific equipment that he can use . mulligan puts the helmet on him and sends him into the future . but now woodrow is fully content with the quiet  simple age he lives in . he has found contentment .  br    br   in his last fifteen years buster keaton was frequently on television  many times for allan funt on candid camera  where he could help set up sight gag tricks on the public  . he did make a few films as well  most notably a funny thing happened on the way to the forum and the railrodder  . but he occasionally popped up in television plays and episodes . he is in his element here  presumably advising the director  old comedy film director norman mcleod  he directed the marx brothers in horse feathers  on the tricks he could do . watch how stanley adams and he time adams picking him up when he is snatching a pair of trousers he needs . in terms of timing it reminds one of gags he did in the   s in films like sherlock jr . the episode does show keaton in fine fettle for a man in his sixties .  br    br   the appearances of jesse white  here as a repairman  of all things  is always welcome . but look a bit at  professor rollo  . stanley adams was a well known figure in movies and television from the     s onward to his tragic suicide in     . plump  with unkempt appearance  and heavy  booming voice  his best known dramatic role was as the wrestling promoter in the film version of requiem for a heavyweight  he wants anthony quinn to be a wrestler wearing a costume as an indian  . his best known television appearance was as the space trader who introduces the crew of the starship enterprise in star trek to those furry  fertile little creatures  tribbles   as in  the trouble with   . adams was always worth watching  like jesse white  and certainly like keaton   enhancing most of the productions he appeared in . i have never understood his suicide  but it was a sad end to a first rate character performer .  
i wonder how much this movie actually has got to do with the     movie  bachelor party   starring tom hanks . is this movie even an official sequel  this movie is lacking in every department and you  re obviously better off not watching it .  br    br   for a comedy this movie simply isn  t good or funny enough . it relies mostly on the character  s their stereotypical assessments  rather then the movie actually features some good  original and funny moments .  br    br   of course there also is very little story present and the movie nude breast than script pages . you just keep waiting for things to finally start off . there is a main plot line in it somewhere but that one is so terribly unoriginal and gets executed so poorly in the movie that it feels more as if it  s something non  existent . i guess there even is a message and moral story in it somewhere but this again is so terribly unoriginal and poorly done in the movie that it simply does not work out .  br    br   it  s basically a typical teenage comedy  with lots of sex jokes and nudity  only without the teenage main characters  which makes the story all the more sad and tasteless . the movie makes some really wrong jokes  that are misplaced for any type of movie .  br    br   i regret ever watching this .  br    br        
buster absolutely shines in this episode  which is the only vehicle i  ve seen towards the end of the career that allowed him to do the physical  and silent   comedy that made him famous . it  s still a shock to hear his gravelly voice in the talkie sequences  his voice is about the only thing i don  t care for  as far as buster is concerned  but his ability to take a pratfall is still unparalleled . he even repeats some of the gags used in his early two  reelers with roscoe arbuckle .  br    br   my deepest gratitude to rod serling for presenting us with this episode  and for giving buster  s genius full scope . he didn  t have much time  one episode  to do it in  but this is a touching tribute to hollywood  s greatest genius .  
i had the pleasure of viewing this movie early and i have to say i thought that it was going to be boring and wondered how could they ever improve upon the     version of bachelor party starring tom hanks  which i thought was pretty good . . . i was right . . . in all honesty i thought it could have been better . . . sure there were some funny moments but it just didn  t seem to hit the mark with me . . . the acting was ok and the storyline pretty well follows the original but i think it could have been so much better . . . this movie i  d say is for teens and the young of heart full of female bodies  alcohol and sex . . . it  s just another typical run of the mill party movie that has been done over and over again .     is my vote for this one .  
this episode of twilight zone combines a silent section       with melodramatic acting and sight gags  an homage to the early buster keaton films . lots of slapstick buster falling on a bulkhead door  falling in a puddle  running around pants  less . silly scientist  s invention of a time helmet  reminiscent of a flash gordon idea of what the future would be . cheap prices  like   .   for ladies hats  or   cents a pound for beef seem outrageously high to buster . even the world of     is too much for buster  mulligan . how shocking when he is mistakenly transported to the  modern  world of      buster was trying to go backwards  the  scientist  of that time wants to return to a calmer world  the     that he has studied and admired . they go back together  and buster  mulligan is now happy and the  scientist  regrets not having electronic equipment  modern beds or an electric blanket . so buster sends him back with the crazy helmet .  br    br   this twilight zone doesn  t have a heavy message . since buster keaton died in      it is one of his last efforts . that  s enough .  br    br   one other cute thing   longtime underutilized maytag man jesse white is a repairman who fixes the time helmet   foreshadowing his washing machine career .  
a couple of days after writing about how garbage like mad cows and this filthy earth receive money while ange  duncan and theo are totally ignored i had to sit through yet another british movie  that had me scratching my head as to why it received a single penny . some people may claim that because dead babies is based upon a highly regarded novel it has an in built market but both this filthy earth and mad cows were also adapted from novels and they were an ordeal to sit through as well  br    br   i had read the synopsis of the plot where a bunch of high class wasters go to a remote mansion where they  re stalked by an internet cult but to be honest this isn  t really how the story unravels and anyone expecting friday the   th meets the shining is going to be bitterly disappointed since       of the running time is taken up with said characters taking drugs and discussing sex . and what hateful characters they are too . not one of them is likable in any way and within minutes you  ll be getting nostalgic for stalin  mao and pol pot hoping that next time someone embarks on communist democide they  ll be successful in creating an egalitarian utopia . anything that will signal the end of such decadent bourgeois meaningless that the hateful characters in this movie embark upon can only be welcomed  br    br   not content with giving us a movie where the plot is meandering and where the audience fail to connect with the characters the director continues to spoil things further by getting all clever and arty . no doubt that is to impress us so we will fall upon our knees and cry  oh my god  what a wonderful director the way he bamboozles us with his highly artistic technique and only a worthless pleb will fail to appreciate what a god given talent this man is  . i  m sure the vast majority of people either screamed  how come my projects got turned down while crap like this didn  t   or  wtf was the last half hour of this piece of crap all about   you might defend the movie by saying the original source novel was unfilmable and this makes the film unwatchable . i will agree that this movie is unwatchable  br    br    i know the imdb classes this as an american movie but the style and faults with dead babies is uniquely british . americans might think they  ve got things tough with bush but we  ve got tony blair  not to mention dead babies  mad cows and this filthy earth . no wonder everyone is ashamed to be british in the   st century  
i did enjoy this film  i thought it ended up being an old fashioned love story with a few twists . i expected him to get the girl  i won  t tell you if he does or not you will need to watch the movie to find out . overall if you are looking to watch a love story this one will suffice .  
suffice to say that  despite the odd ludicrous panegyric to his soi disant  abilities  posted here  the director of this inept  odious tosh hasn  t made a film since . well that is excellent news as far as i  m concerned .  br    br   dead babies has all of the bile of its creator  but lacks the wit and technical proficiency that make martin amis the novelist readable .  br    br   when will the british film industry wake up and realise that if it wants to regain the status it once had it should stop producing rubbish like this and make something real people will actually want to watch   br    br   avoid like the plague .  
parker  johnathan schaech  is an aspiring writer who is still looking for his big break . in the meantime  he works as a telephone adviser for a manhattan psychic hotline . one day  most unfortunately  his apartment building burns down . parker and his cat make it out alive but are now stuck with the arduous task of finding affordable housing in the big apple . word comes to parker that a lady  samantha  alison eastwood  is searching for a roommate but will only accept a gay male . since parker is straight but the price is right  he decides to pretend that he is gay . samantha likes him from the start and welcomes him as her new cohabitant . but  poor parker . sam is lovely  intelligent and very desirable . how will he be able to keep his true nature under control  besides  doesn  t sam have a successful businessman  boyfriend anyway  this is a sweet  likable  and humorous film with two very attractive stars in eastwood and schaech . naturally  the plot is a string of  how can i keep up this ruse  scenes  with sam asking parker for shampoo while she is showering or pleading with him to hold her in bed when she receives bad news . also  it is necessary for parker to produce his own  fake  gay mate  boris  when sam insists upon fixing him up with a man she knows . hopefully  the gay community will not find this too offensive  as this viewer thought most issues were treated with sensitivity and subtlety . for a small scale movie  the costumes  sets  and camera work were quite nice  also . therefore  if you love those funny tales of love  get this one soon . you will like what you see  i know it .  
this film looked interesting i  d read the book a number of years ago and it informed me that the feature followed the plot outline pretty tightly .  br    br   started watching it and almost from the outset it failed to live up to expectations . in fact  i didn  t bother watching the whole thing . . . utter drivel  bad performances  bad acting and instantly dislikeable characters  that was the point of the film  i guess .  br    br   watching this film left a bad taste in the mouth and put me on a downer for the remainder of my weekend .  br    br   do not bother with this feature .  
my friends and i were just discussing how frustrated we are with the way movies and especially romantic comedy  s are being made . we feel offended by the schlock that hollywood is serving up these days as they act like all is well .  br    br   well all is not well . . . with the exception of a few bright spots  like this movie . it doesn  t have the big name actors  the big budget  i don  t think it had a big release  i rented from hollywood video  it didn  t really have anything that most big budget romantic comedy  s have .  br    br   but it did have what most of those lack . it had great chemistry between the love interests   parker   jonathan schaech  and  sam   alison eastwood  . their love story wasn  t forced on us like so many . the director took his time to allow these characters to truly get to know each other . their story reminded me of one of my favorites   tootsie  .  br    br   the supporting cast added not only really funny comic moments  but depth to the story as well . james legros  character was absolutely priceless . sam  s gay friend was hysterical . parker  s interaction with his fellow employees in a psychic hotline was a lot of fun .  br    br   i laughed  i cried  i remembered how great it feels to fall in love .  
i am a great fan of martin amis  on whose book this film is based . unfortunately the director has been unable to translate the book to the screen . the novel is thoroughly post modern and highly artificial in its wildly overblown characters and the disintegration of traditional plot line and character development . it is an hilarious examination of human greed  excess and emptiness by one of the most moral of contemporary british writers . the director of the film has completely missed the point of the novel . in his hands  the film screams along at breakneck speed  indulging in every known trick shot and  odd  camera angle possible . it is like ken russel on acid  and suffers from that older director  s self indulgence cranked up to a hundred . not even the  brief  glimpse of gorgeous actor christian solimeno  s penis was enough to save this wretched film for me . abysmal   
great fun . i went with  friends to a sneak preview viewing of this film . we came to see different one but after   minutes wondering what the heck we got ourselves into this time the jokes became funny and they stayed funny throughout the movie . in the first part you just keep asking yourself about this  malinski  and  bellini  stuff  there are many more examples of this lingo  and because they keep repeating the same jokes  with different twists  they get funnier and funnier . in search for this malinski all the main characters are introduced the first one even wackier than the next . until half of the film was over we didn  t even know the name of this movie because there were no opening credits and we went to this sneak viewing  but we sure had a good time . the house was loaded  appr .    people  and i think about half of them didn  t like it and the other half loved the film . if you like weird comical movies with great dialogue you will love it . apart from clooney this movie deserves a lot better than the  .  imdb rating it has at the time i write this  but when more ppl have seen it i am sure it will go up .  .  is reasonable i guess  i would give it an  out of   .    out of   after a few beers   br    br    
a terrible storyline  amis at his worst   pointless and self  conscious  decadence   obvious shock tactics and patchy acting make this film  rather like  rancid aluminium   embody everything that went wrong with the much  vaunted british film revival . the humour is  at best  limp  and the pretentiousness of the whole set  up  including some kind of  internet terrorist group   ooh  how contemporary  really begins to grate .  br    br   final summary  a half  baked attempt to be  edgy  that does no  one any favours . still  it  s always a pleasure to see katy carmichael on screen . . .  br    br    
there are good ways to make a movie and bad ways and this very much the former . this short caper exacts nothing more than what it gives to the audience . it presents a simple story  told very plainly with enough wisecracks to keep you going  then just gets better and better . clooney  s cameo is funny and very welcome but the leads including sam rockwell and luiz guzman can easily make it on their own . likeable and funny  hilariously so towards the end  welcome to collinwood is a welcome addition to the heist genre .  
this inept adaptation of arguably one of martin amis  s weaker novels fails to even draw comparisons with other druggy oeuvres such as requiem for a dream or anything penned by irvine walsh as it struggles to decide whether it is a slap  stick cartoon or a hyper  realistic hallucination .  br    br   boringly directed by william marsh in over  saturated hues  a group of public school drop  outs converge in a mansion awaiting the appearance of three american friends for a weekend of decadent drug  taking . and that  s it . except for the ludicrous sub  plot soon  to  be  the  main  plot nonsense about an extremist cult group who express themselves with the violent killings of the world  s elite figures  be it political or pampered . within the first reel you know exactly where this is going .  br    br   what is a talented actor like paul bettany doing in this tiresome  badly written bore  made prior to his rise to fame and jennifer connelly one can be assured that had he been offered this garbage now he  d have immediately changed agents  avoid .  
the   year  old in me is immensely happy that they  re now able to make really good looking fantasy movies  and that they  re all the rage  what with lord of the rings  harry potter and the chronicles of narnia making loads of cash at the box office . this year will see  and already has seen  several more  most notably the golden compass  which has the most exciting trailer i  ve seen this year . stardust  based on a novel by neil gaiman  showed up in theaters this week with little more than a peep . i saw no previews for it  only a couple of commercials . the critical reaction is kind of blah . i wouldn  t even have seen it if not for the fact that i have to wait on a friend to see the bourne ultimatum  and that nothing else interesting opened this weekend . well  if you  ll forgive the horrible pun  the stars must have been rightly aligned  because i went to see stardust  and i loved it . it  s not a huge movie like lord of the rings . the plot line is your very basic fantasy quest  the hero sets out to look for a fallen star  filled with obstacles . but within that basic outline  the story is lively and imaginative . it  s simply aiming to be a lot of fun  and a charming little romance . and it succeeds wonderfully . there were a lot of big films this summer  but none of them were nearly as fun as this one . there  s a lot going on  but the story is told well and is almost entirely coherent . it isn  t a masterpiece  but it definitely can occupy the same kind of ground that something like the princess bride has  though i don  t like it quite as much as the earlier film  . a lot of fun to be had here if you  re a fan of the genre .  
i desperately want to give this movie a   . . . i really do . some movies  especially horror movies are so budget that they are good . a wise  cracking ninja scarecrow who can implement corn cobs as lethal weaponry . . . definitely fits this  budget to brilliance  system . the depth of the movie is definitely its strong point and the twists and turns it implements  keeping the audience at the edge of their seats really drives the creepy . . . ninja . . . puberty  stricken . . . pre  thirty year old student . . . non  cowboy drawing . . . wise  cracking . . . son  of  a  bitch scarecrow into the limelight as the creepiest horror icon of the year . all i can really say is   can you dig it  and recommend watching movies such as frankenfish if you enjoy this sort of hilarious horror .  br    br    what the hell were they smoking     
i absolutely loved this movie . i bought it as soon as i could find a copy of it . this movie had so much emotion  and felt so real  i could really sympathize with the characters . every time i watch it  the ending makes me cry . i can really identify with busy phillip  s character  and how i would feel if the same thing had happened to me .  br    br   i think that all high schools should show this movie  maybe it will keep people from wanting to do the same thing . i recommend this movie to everybody and anybody . especially those who have been affected by any school shooting .  br    br   it truly is one of the greatest movies of all time .  
swing  is an important film because it  s one of the remaining black  produced and acted films from the     s . many of these films have simply deteriorated so badly that they are unwatchable  but this one is in fairly good shape . it  s also a nice chance to see many of the talented black performers of the period just after the heyday of the old cotton club   a time all but forgotten today .  br    br   unfortunately  while the film is historically important and has some lovely performances  it  s also a mess . the main plot is very similar to the hollywood musicals of the era   including a prima donna who is going to ruin the show and the surprise unknown who appears from no where to save the day . however  the writing is just god  awful and a bit trashy at times   and projects images of black america that some might find a bit demeaning . this is because before the plot really gets going  you are treated to a no  account bum who lives off his hard working wife  a popular stereotype of the time  and when he is caught with a hussy  who  by the way  totally overplays this role   they have a fight which looks like a scene from wwe smackdown  and  the one lady wants to cut the other lady with a straight razor   a trashy scene indeed  later in the film  when the prima donna is behaving abominably  her husband punches her in the face and everyone applauds him  it seems like the film  at times  wants to appeal to the lowest common denominator in the audience plus they can  t even do this well   with some of the worst acting i  ve seen in a very long time .  br    br   still  if you can look past a lousy production in just about every way  with trashy characters  bad acting and direction and poor writing   this one might be worth a peek so you can see excellent singing and tap dancing   as well as to catch a glimpse of forgotten black culture . just don  t say i didn  t warn you about the acting   it  s really  really bad   
i loved this film . i thought it would be easy to watch  and easy to forget . i ran out after watching this to buy the dvd  obv not easily forgotten   br    br   the script is brilliant  and the casting couldn  t be more perfect . each character has their moment  and i laughed hard throughout this film  comedic timing was spot  on .  br    br    
this seemed an odd combination of withnail and i with a room with a view . . sometimes it worked  other times it did not . tragedy that they changed the name for the us release though . . keep the apidistra flying is much better than the nothing title a merry war . acting was okay  script was okay . . overall it was a mediocre film . .  
i participate in a filmmaker  s symposium  and this film was shown after we had already seen a not so great film and participated in a   minute discussion . even though it was incredibly late and we were weary  the entire audience really enjoyed it .  br    br   personally i thought the film was hilarious in all the right spots  and i loved the quirky cast of characters . they really grow on you in the film .  
in spite of sterling work by the supporting actors  and an intelligent script by alan plater  this film suffers from a fatal flaw  the lack of charm of the central character  actor . one of the characters describes richard e grant  s character as  a whining little turd  and unfortunately this sums him up perfectly . there is nothing about him or his performance to make it credible that his girlfriend and upper  class publisher  friend would spend so much time and emotional effort on him . he is rude  arrogant  selfish  self  destructive and thoroughly annoying . the part called for an actor who can make you love him even when he is being a prate  a ewan mcgregor  for example .  br    br   all of the witty satire on the class system etc was wasted  thanks to this irritating and thoroughly unlikeable performance . all i wanted to do was shake him and tell him to get over himself .  
went to see this as me and my lady had little else to do on a sunday afternoon i like films that deal with sleazy  loser characters and this is full of em . after a slow start we get some good turns from the cast but it is the actual  bellini  that both makes and lets the film down . the  bellini  is one of the funniest scenes i have seen in a film for a long while but is too short and could have made this a masterpiece overall     out of    
the british  heritage film  industry is out of control . there  s nothing wrong with filming classic novels  but why must they all be filmed by talentless nobodies  this film rips the guts out of orwell  s tough novel  turning it into a harmless  fluffy romantic comedy .  aspidistra  may not be orwell  s best work  but no  one who reads it can forget its superb depiction of poverty . orwell emphasises not only the cold and the hunger  but the humiliation of being poor . in the novel  london is a bleak  grey  cold  heartless city  and comstock prays for it to be blasted away by a squadron of bombers . but this film irons out anything that might be in any way disturbing  and creates instead a jolly nostalgic trip to charming     s london  in which everything is lit with shafts of golden sunlight  and even the slums of lambeth are picturesque and filled with freshly scrubbed urchins and happy prostitutes . comstock  s poems about the sharp wind sweeping across the rubbish  strewn streets seem completely out of place in this chocolate  box world . worst of all is the script  s relentless bonhomie  ancient jokes  and clunking dialogue . it  s so frustrating because richard e . grant is the perfect person to play gordon comstock  and the film is packed with great actors . but it  s all for nothing . this film made me so angry  britain  s literary history is something to be proud of for its richness  complexity and power . and what do we do with it  we employ bland nobodies to turn it into soft  centred  anodyne pap for people who want to feel that they are  getting some culture  while they drink their horlicks and quietly doze off .  
having heard quite positive reviews and having seen the trailer i had to see this movie . with william h . macy  luis guzman  michael jeter and sam rockwell present it had to be good . and it delivered . overall  the movie is not crack  you  up funny  but there is one scene that really stands out and is  in a my eyes  a classic . spoiler at the end  where they break through the wall to get to the safe and we see rockwell and washington stare at jeter is just fantastic . this is just as good as the scene in the big lebowski where the dude is using a chair to barricade his door  but forgets the door turns outward  end spoiler just go see this movie  you won  t be disappointed .  
i had high hopes for this film . i thought the premise interesting . i stuck through it  even though i found the acting  save helena bonham carter  unremarkable . i kept hoping my time spent would pay off  but in the end i was left me wondering why they even bothered to make this thing . maybe in george orwell  s version there is a message worth conveying . if this film accomplished anything  it has inspired me to read orwell  s classic . i find it hard to believe his tale could be as disappointing as this adaption . if the film maker  s message is  the mundane life is worth living   well then  they  ve succeeded . i would recommend this film to no one    minutes of my life wasted .  
  br    br   this is without a doubt the funniest comedy of the year . everybody is brilliant . the acting is superb . you can see that the actors enjoyed making this film . its a shame to spoil the film with give aways  so rent it and laugh your ass off .  br    br       .  
as a wwii naval history buff  and someone who is not proud of this country  s history of race relations  i was looking forward to seeing this movie . what a disappointing piece of schlock . i made it about    of the way through  but i should have turned it off at the sub attack scene . the idea that a u  boat would fire a torpedo at a dde  as if there was a hope of hitting it  and then be able to  run away  from the dde while submerged  is preposterous . and that  s just a small detail . the whole movie was poorly written  poorly directed  and poorly acted . i agree with others on this board that this could have been a good movie . it  s as if they decided that  since all those crappy wwii propaganda films were made with all  white casts  they needed to make one with black people . and as bad as those old movies were  this is actually worse . and it almost smacks of false advertising to headline ossie davis and stephen rea . it turns out they had very minor roles . i have to believe those two fine actors were embarrassed to be associated with this film . i  m done . i  ve given way too much of my life this crap movie .  
welcome to collinwood is one of the most delightful films i have ever seen . a superb ensemble cast  tight editing and wonderful direction . a caper movie that doesn  t get bogged down in the standard tricks .  br    br   not much can be said about this film without spoiling it . the tag line says it all   guys .  safe . no brains .  br    br   william h macy and sam rockwell lead an amazing cast . george clooney should be congratulated for producing this gem .  br    br    
this is a great story and was just the beginning of equality in the united states .  we are still working on it too .  however despite the fact this is true  it  s still a movie and this is a movie site . i realize independent films have a hard time getting good actors  but wow . the only one even mediocre is the excellent ossie davis . but even he couldn  t make up for all the actors  including the one playing him as a young man  absolutely atrocious acting . granted the script was terribly clich  but even then you have got to get some decent actors  i wouldn  t recommend this to anybody because it is so poorly done in every category . read some books about the true story of the u . s . s mason  because they give these men the respect they deserve .  
idiotic hack crooks  a babe  a safe  a plan and a baby . add them all up and you get the best comedy you  ve never heard of .  br    br   even with some a  list star power  at least a  minus . . . okay  b  plus   this movie got very little publicity .  br    br   but that does not diminish its genius .  br    br   terrific writing  solid delivery and a believable group of characters . some truly classic lines  and a fun twist at the end .  br    br   this is not some watered  down  nutty professor  comedy . these are low  life bad guys . they speak low  life bad guy language and they do low  life bad guy things . but they do it for your amusement and entertainment  and they do that well .  br    br   one of the best comedies i  ve ever seen .  
working at a video store i get to see quite a few movies and on occasion i try to watch some of the not so big movies . proud happened to be one of them . the initial idea of telling of the story of a primarily black crewed ship during wwii had some merit . however in less than   minutes of watching the movie you find out that the primary point of the movie was to tell about racial tension in wwii . the underlying story is about the ship  the crew and their exploits in the war . this primary point is hammered at you to the point of excessiveness all throughout the movie . i commend the men that served on the uss mason for their triumph in the face of adversity and for the hardships that they endured . a movie should have been made focusing on the accomplishments these men did for themselves  the navy and for their country and not making a movie whose focus is racism during wwii .  
i had never heard of this flick despite the connection to george clooney  whose company produced and he appears in a very funny supporting bit  and his ocean  s   director steven soderbergh . worse  we picked this up in a discount bin for   .    canadian dollars at that   what a grand and pleasant surprise . but then i  m of the opinion that if william h . macy is in it you can  t be disappointed . this was very reminiscent of those ealing comedies from england in the     s . ok  with more profanity . this is an oddball and at times gut  splittingly funny film . the actual heist made me laugh so hard i was crying . perhaps the funniest use of underpants in movie history . maybe it was the low expectations i had going in but i watched with a group of people and we had a blast . best   i  ve spent in ages .  
i will give it a  just because it showed history that we need to know about  to prevent it from happening again . i agree with the comments from the gentleman from uk . the movie was pretty terrible . all clich  no real plot . historical and technical inaccuracies abound . look up the technical specs on de     or any everts class destroyer escort  and you will see what i mean . i now its black history month in the us  and im going to be called a racist just for saying this  but the history of this ship is not that great . they did some escort work  chased a  submarine  that turned out to be a hulk that they rammed . sorry  but black people did a lot more in wwii then this silly movie gives them credit for . this movie makes them look like whiners . let the name calling commence  i can handle it .  
silly  hilarious  tragic  sad  inevitable .  br    br   a group of down  and  outs team up with a  seasoned  crook to elevate themselves out of their poverty . great idea . . . if you ignore the screwup factor .  br    br   nice to see george clooney doing something genuinely funny for a change . the casting is perfect and the acting standards very high . although it could be said that the motley crew subject isn  t new  i think this movie handles it in an interesting and unique way . sufficiently so that it stands out from what has gone before .  br    br   very well done guys .  
full marks for the content of this film  as a brit i was not aware that there was segregation in the us navy during wwii . a very brave attempt to bring this fact to the world . however  the movie is pathetic  direction is non existent  the acting is wooden and the script is just one clich after another . i can honestly say that this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen . i sat and cringed from the start until the end at the very poor way that this had been put together . this could have been a great movie  the story for many of us outside of the us was new  unique and also interesting . the sad fact of the matter is the way that it was put together . it is unfortunate that a true story like this  which could have changed people  s attitudes  has been squandered on a low budget  badly directed movie . i only hope that some time in the future  one of the major studios will take this theme and do it justice .  
i saw this gem of a film at cannes where it was part of the directors fortnight .  br    br   welcome to collinwood is nothing short of superb . great fun throughout  with all members of a strong cast acting their socks off . it  s a sometimes laugh out loud comedy about a petty crook  cosimo  played by luis guzman  who gets caught trying to steal a car and sent to prison . while in prison he meets a lifer  who tells him of the ultimate bellini   which to you and me  is a sure  fire get rich quick scheme . it turns out that there is a way through from a deserted building into the towns jewellers shop  which could net millions . sounds simple   well throw in all kinds of wacky characters and incidents along the way and you have got the ingredients for a one wild ride    word passes from one low life loser to the next and soon a team of them are assembled to try and cash in on cosimos bellini  lead by failed boxer pero  superbly played by sam rockwell  surely a star in the making  and reluctant crook riley  william h . macy  who is forced to bring his baby along with him as his wife was locked up for fraud   .  br    br   based on the italian film i soliti ignoti  big deal on madonna street  which also inspired a similar film to collinwood   palookaville  . this knocks spots of the latter effort and although its written and directed by the russo brothers it definitely has shades of the coen brothers about it . produced by steven soderbergh and george clooney  who has a small yet hilarious part as a crippled safe breaker .  
this movie had good intentions and a good story to work with . the director and screenwriter of this movie failed miserably and created a dull  boring filmstrip that made me feel like i was back in mr . hartford  s  th grade social studies class   way back in   .  br    br   what a waste  will somebody please take this story and make a real movie out of it  the story deserves it .  br    br   every time a scene had potential  all we were left with were a few clichs  combined with black and white footage that they probably got from the history channel to show the action . shameful .  br    br   ossie davis was the only bright light in this dull fest . the other acting was incredibly dull  it fit in with the movie well and whomever played the captain set a new low standard for line delivery .  br    br   however  if you are willing to accept all the numerous flaws in this movie and aren  t concerned with being awed or entertained  but want to learn about the uss mason  it is worth a watch .  
i was not expecting much from this movie . i was given a ticket for an advanced screening . i had just gotten off of work . it was hot and i was tired . i had to wait in the movie line for   minutes and there seemed not to be any cool air flowing through the hallways of the theater complex .  br    br   once seated in the theater  tired and frustrated  the movie started  i did not recognize any of the actors in the beginning  but the flow of the movie was perfect . right from the beginning i became consumed with the movie  getting more and more excited with each minute passing . i think this movie is destined to be a fantasy  fairytale classic . the actors were fabulous  the pace was perfect  and the ending was magical .  
this movie could be used in film classes in a  how not to script a b  movie  course . there are inherent constrictions in a b  movie budgets are tight  time is precious  scarecrow was apparently shot in  days  and the actors are often green and inexperienced . the one aspect you have complete control over is writing the best script you can within the limitations set before you . scarecrow  s script seems to have been written in a drunken haze . i could go through about fifteen examples of the nonsensical scripting of this movie  but i  ll just mention one the gravedigger . the character of the gravedigger is introduced about an hour into the movie . he seemingly has no connection to any of the other characters already in the movie . he is shown with his daughter  who also has no connection to anybody else in the movie . the gravedigger is given a couple scenes to act surly in and then is killed to pad out the body count . why give the gravedigger a daughter  why give the daughter a boyfriend  why introduce them so late in the movie  why not try to make them part of the ongoing storyline  scarecrow doesn  t seem to care .  br    br   the  story  of scarecrow goes something like this lester is a high school kid  played by and actor who  d i  d peg to be in his early    s  who is picked on by the other kids . he is an artist who draws birds and has a crush on a classmate named judy . his mom is a lush and the town whore . one of her reprobate boyfriends makes fun of his drawings  by calling him a  faggot  for drawing birds instead of  monsters and cowboys .  if you have a high school student still drawing cowboys i  d think him to more likely be gay than a high school student who draws crows  and later  kills lester  in a cornfield  under the titular scarecrow . magically  lester  s soul goes into the scarecrow . somehow  this transference changes lester  s soul from that of an artist into that of a wisecracking gymnast  i know some reviews have called the scarecrow a kung  fu scarecrow . i disagree . the scarecrow practically does a whole floor routine before jumping onto the truck during the climax of the movie  . the scarecrow then goes on to kill those who tormented him  those who smoke pot in the corn field  those who dig graves  boyfriends of daughters of gravediggers  pretty much anyone who showed up on the movie set .  br    br   the bonus feature on the dvd should be mentioned . the director  a frenchman  does an impromptu version of rap music  admits he enjoys not having executives around on set so he can screw his wife while working and gives a quote to live by  and i  m paraphrasing    life ez a bitch  but et has a great ass   br    br   number of beers i drank while watching this movie  did it help no number of beers needed to enjoy this movie whatever it takes to get to blackout drunk level .  
having the opportunity to watch some of the filming in the slavic village  broadway area i couldn  t wait to see it  s final copy .  br    br   viewing this film at the cleveland premier last friday  i haven  t laughed out loud at a comedy in a long time  it is great slapstick . the russo brothers did a fine job directing . the entire cast performs their best comedic acting . . . no slow or dry segments . . . george clooney is one of my favorite actors and he  s great as the crippled safe breaker in this flick . i was most imprest by william h . macy as crook  riley  and michael jeter  s as  toto  they keep you in  stitches  . i believe they have the funniest roles in the entire movie .  
i watched this movie last night and was a bit disappointed . a lot of the  time facts  were off . at the beginning of the movie  the grandfather made a comment to this grandson and his friends about how they felt when     hit . this movie was supposed to be taking place in     . also  one of the grandsons friends was wearing an eagles donovan mcnabb jersey . he hadn  t even been drafted as of yet . the story line was good but the facts and actuality of the time frame was so far off base that it made the movie seem cheesy . my boyfriend is an avid reader of wwii books and memorabilia . i rented this movie hoping that it would be good . the acting was so  so . the dog was cute . but the way that this movie was carried out made me glad that i only paid  dollars to rent it as opposed to the   it would have taken me to watch it in a theater . i hope that who ever reads this understands that i mean no discontent to those who fought the war but the facts and time frame should have been a little more closely monitored .  
this movie is very hilarious  and it has a great compilation of actors like william h . macy which always have perform this kind of roles  maybe his most representative  fargo and george clooney which is a very good actor showing his comedian work in brothers cohen film  oh brother  where art thou   which results to be one of my favorite movies ever  but it  s been hard to find  welcome to collinwood   here in mexico . my city lacks of good places where to buy some good films . i tried to buy it at blockbuster but they don  t know it by the original name  so maybe it will be a little easier to find if i have the name they gave to it in mexico  do someone knows it   because i can  t remember  cheers . a .  
it  s a bad  very bad movie .  br    br   well  for people a real realistic movie is a good thing . for me it is not . life is also predictable  bad  nasty  trivial  senseless  sometimes . maybe that  s the reason for people say that this film is real .  br    br   too many common places you  re black  you  re a criminal  you  re doomed and cursed  whatever you do you  ll end up by shooting or being shot by someone don  t let the kids play with the weapons  it could be dangerous and then there are those who go to the church  and then they are good  very good . . .  br    br   before this one  i hadn  t seen such a bad movie . that  s perhaps the reason for i never noticed how important the photography itself is important in a movie . in this one  every scene shot in daytime  outdoor  is clearly and annoyingly blue . they didn  t even care to correct the colour balance . oh  i  ve  rated  more than    movies in this database so far  and this       is my lowest ever .  
before george clooney directed sam rockwell in his directorial debut  confessions of a dangerous mind   they starred together in this movie . george clooney also was involved with this movie as a producer  along with steven soderbergh  which shows that they really believed in this project . in potential this also seems like a fine and entertaining project  that is in the same line with movie  remakes such as  ocean  s eleven  and  the italian job  but somehow this movie is only halve successful  or at least it isn  t as good as it could had been .  br    br   the movie its characters are all being played by some fine well known actors but a shame is that the characters are not really given enough room to develop . even though in their potential they could had turned into fun and enjoyable characters  they are now only characters that mildly entertain because mostly of some of the more quirky sequences that are in the movie . the fact that they are being played doesn  t change much to this  even though they prevent their characters from ever becoming a total bore or perhaps even annoying  or anything like that at all .  br    br   it  s of course due to the writing that the characters aren  t used to their full potential . i can only assume that the original italian movie  i soliti ignoti  works out much better than this movie does . the movie relies too much on its simple story and predictable way of storytelling .  br    br   nevertheless the movie is simply still a very fun one to watch maybe because of that very same simplicity . it  s an harmless little caper movie  in which you simply shouldn  t to worry much about the story . in that regard  welcome to collinwood  is still a movie that works out and simply serves its purpose well .  br    br   it  s a movie that you won  t regret watching once you  ve finished it but it also is a movie you can really easily do without ever seeing .  br    br        
over the last   years the majority of british films are about how horribly poverty stricken the uk is and how our youth doesn  t stand a chance of a good life whilst they live on the mean streets of british cities . the british film industry is obsessed with the idea of  broken britain  . trainspotting  this is england  kidulthood  football factory  kes and from london to brighton .  br    br   bullet boy is just another british movie added to that list . the main character expresses a desire to go straight yet he still insists on hanging around with dead beats who carry guns and fight with gang members over nothing . i was never convinced that he did want to go straight as there was nothing stopping him pursuing an education or a trade . in fact it would have been a breath of fresh air if he had of gone straight and we had a character who turned his life around . instead he spends his time helping his friend trying to commit murder . i felt no sympathy when he is predictably shot by another teen at the end of the film  which is sad because at the beginning of the film i really liked the entire family and their desire for success . i believe the makers missed a great chance to show the world that success belongs to those who are willing to really strive for it  like the pursuit of happiness  .  br    br   i know the purpose of this film was to try and paint a realistic picture of what life is like for black teens living in working class areas of britain but don  t we already have enough films in the uk with that very same plot  isn  t it time these talented producers and writers give britains youth something to aspire to and show them a better life is just around the corner   br    br   i applaud the makers of bullet boy for not loading the film full of mindless violence in order to try and get success through shock factors  like kidulthood  football factory  but at the same time this movie offers nothing new to a long list of british films that are effectively dull and depressing to watch . there is no happy ending to this movie or any of the others i have mentioned .  
cosimo  luis guzmn  is told in prison about a perfect heist . since he  s behind bars and can  t do it himself he has to leave it to his girl rosalind  patricia clarkson  . soon there are five guys organizing the crime  five guys with very little brain capacity . brothers anthony and joe russo are the directors of welcome to collinwood       . it  s a crime comedy that  s often very funny . you can  t help but laughing when everything goes wrong with these guys . there are some great actors playing these characters . william h . macy plays riley . isaiah washington is leon . sam rockwell is pero . michael jeter is toto . andy davoli is basil . gabrielle union plays his love interest michelle . jennifer esposito plays pero  s love interest carmela . george clooney  also producer  plays jerzy  the tattooed guy in a wheelchair . this is a highly entertaining flick . i certainly recommend it .  
well it  s not often that we in the uk have a film made about inner city life from the perspective of the afro caribbean community  the last example that i can remember was the underrated babylon way back in     . so i had high expectations when i heard about bullet boy  a film that has been touted as the british version of la haine  well la haine it is not  i agree that the use of dialogue and environment gives this film an authenticity that has been missed in other british films of late  but my concern is that this film predictably ends sadly .  br    br   the film intelligently deals with the escalating problem of black on black violence that is sadly all to common in london  but i  m concerned that film makers now use type  casting in plot as opposed to characters which is equally as damaging . saul dibb had a great opportunity to make a film that could be both entertaining and inspirational to us all  but sadly missed and created a film that only reinforces the idea that to be a young black male in london the only future is violence  tragedy  
i went to the cinema with two of my friends  and picked this movie out of hat  totally not knowing what to expect . and it turn out into a very enjoyable  die  laughing experience  it  s an excellent movie with very unexpected story  very good dialogs and crazy humor . all characters are obviously made in  alan ford   italian satiric comic  style  but that haven  t bothered me for a second . in fact this kind of loser  bums line  up made a movie quite unique and interesting . sam rockwell gave very good and convincing role  willian macy too  clooney is hardly recognizable and brilliant . but real star is actually guzman . he made a role of his life in this movie  the scene when his character cosimo dies in the movie  is so hilarious that it made me choke and almost die with him  highly recommended for all  alan ford  fans   
i love seth green . his appearances on that   s  show is always worth watching but last night  i felt the show needed to overhauled . four single young guys inherit a new york city apartment that most of us would die for . the grandmother must have been an heiress to have such space in the first place . so i felt the need for realism should have been brought out . anyway the plot about four best friends getting this apartment was not believable . i would have been thrilled if they had to move in with one of their parents which would have provided great humor and dysfunctional about the show  s set up . there did not seem to be much humor in it . i am only watching it because it falls before my name is earl on a winning thursday night . i think they should go back  scrap this series  and start over . we need more family involved series . how about seth and his friends move in with his wacky parents in the suburbs after a fire burns their place down . they could have dabney coleman play the father and christine estabrook  play the mother and dysfunctional siblings . the list of possibilities with somebody like seth green are endless and the network is blowing it .  
welcome to collinwood is a lot of things  but it is none of the following  br    br   a george clooney star vehicle unfunny un  original  br    br   and yes i know  the basis for the movie is another movie . but as far as hollywood goes  this may rank with their most authentic outputs this decade  and for me  it does .  br    br   the movie is from start to finish  an absolute gas . here  s why .  br    br   there isn  t a bad performance in the film . the funny parts are funny . the edgy parts are edgy . the script contains  not a dull moment of dialogue the cinematography is fresh and yes beautiful . and it doesn  t conform to the hollywood norm  you  ll see what i mean  when you see the film   br    br   when i was a kid  i remember seeing advertisements for the film . this film went under the radar after not grossing much at the box office  and isn  t even a cult classic . the reason why transformers   is seen as acceptable by average movie goers  is because they are used to seeing transformers  . if film  s as original and funny as this were pumped out as often as multi  million pieces of st  the cinematic experience would be a much fresher place   br    br   when  they  say they don  t make em like they used to   they  didn  t see welcome to collinwood .  br    br   a fun  mini  masterpiece of caper comedy  that refuses to compromise . one of my favourites .  
this sleek  sexy movie is a must  see . only upon multiple viewings can one truly understand the uniqueness of this film . personally i enjoy the narrator for his intelligent  no subject left untouched  style of narration . the introduction grips you right away  and holds you at the edge of your seat throughout the film . he provides wonderful insight into the world of the trainables and allows the audience to really  connect  with internal horror this film exhibits . the script itself holds the movie together wonderfully . not only for kids  but the elderly alike will gain a higher understanding of the trainables and the modern grasp that they have on the sexual experience . ahead of its time and groundbreaking in cinematography  it surely defines the word  masterpiece  .  
this is not a  loose   but a precise  faithful remake of     monicelli  s classic  i soliti ignoti  with toto   mastroianni  gassman  cardinale etc . and that  s the reason is good  it copies all the funny characters and the plot  even in details  like the scene where the photographer steals the camera from the local market  .  br    br   i have watched the superb old version many times and i knew by heart all the gangs and the ending but i still enjoyed  welcome to collinwood   which has its own freshness and atmosphere . it is interesting to see how the life and ways of the little thieves in      s italy are adapted to      s usa . things haven  t changed much .     .  
a film like amazing grace and chuck is a perfect example of how the left in this country just doesn  t get it . they never did . and liberalism continues to slip further and further into political oblivion .  br    br   this film deals with a little league baseball star who decides to stop playing ball as a protest to the existence of nuclear weapons . the boy is understandably ridiculed until a bevy of professional athletes  led by former nba star alex english  join his cause . not just a few of them join the cause . by the time his movement reaches its zenith  entire leagues of professional and college sports have to cancel their seasons since nobody will play any more . just to move this review along  i  m prepared to grant them this premise . even though it would never happen in a million years  i  ll just imagine it could  then go from there .  br    br   i don  t quite remember how  but some type of agreement is reached  and the boy decides to go back to the game he loves in an incredibly sappy and ridiculous scene .  br    br   before criticizing the message of this film  let me just say that this film is poorly written  acted and directed . even if one does agree with the boy  s stance  it would be impossible to overcome how badly the film was constructed . and that  s a shame since there are plenty of good actors that go to waste .  peck  curtis  petersen  . alex english does as well as he could have with his character however  and i wish he would try to act in more films . alas  it  s likely much easier to find work in the coaching world of the nba . one wishes mr . english would teach more of these thuggish nba types of today how to shoot the rock a little better . alex certainly knew how to put the ball through the hoop .  br    br   as far as the film  s message in concerned  it  s just wrong  headed . plain and simple . all of those nuclear warheads tucked away in those missile silos out west prevented war      it would be one thing for this boy and his flock to protest an actual war or the use of nuclear weapons . these weapons were in fact never used  and that was the genius behind their existence . neither side during the cold war was crazy enough to fire a single missile . without these weapons  who knows what might have happened between the usa and ussr .  br    br   the makers of this film obviously intended for kids in america to take up their cause and follow in chuck  s footsteps . kids in america however are more intelligent than the left wing kooks who created this dreck .  br    br   the film is worth only  of   stars .  br    br   if you want to see a great film about the dangers of nuclear war  stick with dr . strangelove  instead .  br    br   mr . newell  you are no frank capra   
although it has been remade several times  this movie is a classic if you are seeing it for the first time . creative dialog  unique genius in the final scene  it deserves more credit than critics have given it . highly recommended  one of the best comedies of recent years  
i  ve no idea what dimwit from san francisco came up with this stupid plot  but apparently they need to get off whatever drugs they are taking and put their analyst on danger money   now .  br    br   yeah  this is a plausible story  if you regard the alien abduction sequence in  life of brian  as plausible .  br    br   this film is little more than a leftist pipedream . had the us and ussr give up nuclear weapons  the result would  ve been to eliminate the only real obstacle that kept the two from engaging in a war . bad as korea  vietnam and other wars of the era were  they were  proxy wars  fought to keep the superpowers from a direct engagement .  br    br   this film makes me think about how realistic it was when some group of high school kids would go on a hunger strike against nuclear proliferation . as if someone would say  mr . president  some kids at drastic high are not eating   and ronald reagan would reply  my god  i  d better revise my defense policy   right .  br    br   like this film  wouldn  t it be better if the soviet union would  ve collapsed because they could not support their massive arms build . . . wait  that happened   
i had tried to rent this on many occasions  but was always with the girlfriend  who  as a general rule  usually rejects heist flicks and ensemble comedies with the comment  uhm . . . looks good  but i  m not in the mood for that movie .  thus entereth the  almighty solo movie night    br    br   anyway  i found welcome to collinwood a rather enjoyable movie . while ultimately fairly forgettable  it does have moments of fun and a few laugh out loud moments . i was unfamiliar with the fact that it was a remake  and as a general rule watch movies trying to ignore that fact and watch them on their own merits anyway . george clooney puts in a humorous and brief cameo as a wheeled safe cracker that  for the most part left me wondering two things . . .  . wouldn  t every comedy be better if mr . clooney put in a strange  minute cameo  and  . how do they make fake tattoos that look old and faded  and how easily do they wash off  the cast  all fine actors in their own right  put in a great job  and you get the impression that they had a good time working together which is fairly important in a movie like this . needless to say all does not go as planned in this movie  both plot  wise and humor  wise  but it made me check out the special features and consider watching the original  so i consider it a success  rent this one for a good time  maybe grab a few friends and a pizza . you  ll have a good time .  br    br          br    br   on a side note  the soundtrack is spectacular . it  s great to hear the far under appreciated paolo conte used  and it left me humming snippets of the score long after the credits rolled .  
i saw this in the summer of     . i  m still annoyed by how bad this movie is in     .  br    br   implausible plot . you  d have to be a child to think this could happen .  br    br   i  m just really annoyed by it . don  t see this .  
having the opportunity to watch some of the filming in the slavic village  broadway area i couldn  t wait to see it  s final copy .  br    br   viewing this film at the cleveland premier last friday  i haven  t laughed out loud at a comedy in a long time  it is great slapstick . the russo brothers did a fine job directing . the entire cast performs their best comedic acting . . . no slow or dry segments . . . george clooney is one of my favorite actors and he  s great as the crippled safe breaker in this flick . i was most imprest by william h . macy as crook  riley  and michael jeter  s as  toto  they keep you in  stitches  . i believe they have the funniest roles in the entire movie .  
this film reminds me of how college students used to protest against the vietnam war . as if  upon hearing some kids were doing without cheeseburgers in cow dung collehe  the president was going to immediately change all us foreign policy .  br    br   the worst thing is that  while dangerous  the concept of a policy based on if the ussr and us went to war it could mean the end of the world  worked . the us and ussr never went to war .  br    br   had we only conventional weapons  the notion of yet another war  a  win  able  war  in europe and asia was not unthinkable .  br    br   not that i think they should get rid of this movie . it should be seen by film students as a splendid example of  how not to make a film .   br    br   it should be  stars or maybe black holes . . .  
this movie has everything a fantasy movie should have  romance  clever witticisms  great acting and a fair dose of magic .  br    br   i thoroughly enjoyed this movie and was drawn to its original plot  based on the neil gaiman novel which i am now looking to read  and colorful characters .  br    br   one of the most striking things to me actually was how self contained the story is . unlike so many sci  fi fantasy movies out there right now which leave open  endings and such this was a pure fairy  tale  satisfying in and of itself with no need for a sequel .  br    br   original . fun . feel  good fantasy .  
amazing . that  s what you  d say if you sat through this film . simply  incredibly  amazing . it  s actually so amazing that anyone was stupid enough to dump money into making this monstrosity that you simply can  t believe what you  re seeing . that  my friends  is what is truly scary about this film . somebody thought it was a good idea to make it .  br    br   well  here  s another amazingly original story high school student  occasionally seemed like collegego figure  has whore for a mom  lives in a trailer park  and is an  artist  who is ridiculed for his  being all different .  well  of course  this poor ridiculed boy is eventually killed and  here  s the original part  his soul inhabits a scarecrow  beneath which  he is killed by his slutty mama  s latest john  . then he goes around with the standard killing off of all the people that done hurt him . awww .  br    br   here  s the breakdown  br    br   the good  br    br     amazingly funny movieeven if that  s not what the clearly drunk filmmakers wanted .  br    br     this and the sequel on one disk in the wal  mart   .   binso it  s only a little overpriced .  br    br   didn  t hurt it  didn  t help  br    br     the violence and gore are kind of sub  standard . one person is stabbed with a corncob .  br    br     sounds like they put some effort into the musicbut it doesn  t really fit the movieand isn  t all that good .  br    br   the bad  br    br     terrible  terrible acting .  br    br     another slasher let  down with sexy womennone of them removing clothing . when did that cease being a staple of low  brow slashers    br    br     ridiculous story .  br    br     the scarecrow vomits up one  liners that would make freddy krueger and arnold swartzenegger blush .  br    br     standard underlying love story goes nowhere  and is poorly done .  br    br     some of the people killed seem like they were chosen at randomyou never really know who anybody is and then they  re killed . and you only assume that they must  ve had it coming .  br    br   the ugly  br    br     extremely average slasher fare  just with a murdering scarecrow instead of well  all that other crap .  br    br     nowhere near as interesting as freddy krueger  jason voorhees  pinhead  chucky  or even angela from the  sleepaway camp  seriesall of which are better than this atrocity .  br    br     the absolute worst dialogue i have ever heard in my life . the script is laden with a level of retardedness that i never imagined could exist . i  m serious hereit  s a full step beyond terrible . don  t get me wrong  though  it  s funny as hellbut i  ve never heard more asinine bantereven in  slumber party massacre iii .  this film makes  jason x  look like shakespeare .  br    br     the man who kills the boy that becomes the scarecrow worst wig ever . dialogue to match .  br    br   memorable scene  br    br     the one where elementary  school youths spew out their own witty dialogue  hey  let  s go find small animals to torture . huh huh .   br    br   acting     story     atmosphere     cinematography     character development     special effects  make  up     nudity  sexuality      no nudity  mom  s a whore  girls wear no bras  violence  gore      low quality  mediocre amount  dialogue      extremely ridiculous  blatant  over  the  top and painfully funnyso bad it  s good . my first rating for dialogue in any film   music     direction      br    br   cheesiness      crappiness      br    br   overall      br    br   another one for just people like me who enjoy watching pure crap . or slasher  film completists . this is not a good movie  at all . laughable dialogue and characters keep it from being truly boring .  br    br   www . residenthazard . com  
the main reason i wanted to see this movie was because of the wonderful cast . a ton of my favorite actors in one movie equals amazing with out actually seeing it . but this movie caught me off guard . it wasn  t what i was expecting at all . it  s been a while since i  ve seen it but i do remember i could not stop laughing    and it wasn  t just the cast that did it for me . the script was amazingly written . every time you were expecting something to happen it didn  t happen . there were so many twists and turns but it fit with the whole tone of the movie instead of coming off as pretentious . the cinematography  along with the set  was absolutely beautiful as well . i really can  t say anything bad about this movie  expcept  i would have andrew davoli a little more screen time   
i saw this in the summer of     . i  m still annoyed by how bad this movie is in     .  br    br   implausible plot . you  d have to be a child to think this could happen .  br    br   i  m just really annoyed by it . don  t see this .  
cosimo  luis guzman  ends up in prison for car burglary and there he  s given the plan for the perfect heist from a lifer in prison so he has to get out of jail  fast . he tells his girlfriend rosalind  patricia clarkson  to find a man who will do his time in prison for some money . but no one wants to do the time for cosimo  s crime and yet everybody seems to know a guy who will do that . soon bad boxer pero mahalovic  sam rockwell  founds out the details of this so called  perfect job  .  br    br   first of all  i think this movie was very funny and from my point of view i would recommend it to everyone . this movie is remake of italian comedy  i soliti ignoti  . i didn  t watch the italian original so i cannot judge or compare those two movies . but  welcome to collinwood  is great comedy for itself  about four people trying to rob the money from the vault in one house . everyone gave their part of brilliance from this movie cast . really excellent movie for these actors sam rockwell  william h . macy  great   isaiah washington  michael jeter  great   luis guzmn  patricia clarkson  jennifer esposito and finally george clooney gave their share in this project .  br    br   maybe to say that this movie is only comedy  isn  t fair . this is more then that . because of one difference . all of thieves in this movie have very small wishes when they are asked what will they do with their money  it is mostly securing their future in very humble way . this fact goes beyond comedy into the soul of that criminals . and not only them but also cop babitch  who is presented like corrupted one so here directors russo presents us fact that criminals and cop are the same . actually all in collinwood are and not only in collinwood  cause all people chase money  on legal or illegal way . i don  t like all movies were audience eventually likes and cheers for thieves . but  this one is exception . you have to love them all . riley with his little baby and wife in jail . toto with his pants . cosimo with his line  your mother  s a whore   and all others . they are just like characters in my favorite comic  alan ford . they all trying to make some money  but simply they are out of luck . but they all did one good deed they gave money to riley  so he can get his wife out of prison . they are all heroes in my eyes  cause lots of  honest  people wouldn  t do that .  
i can  t imagine anyone would ever  in a million years  want to watch this movie . not because it was one of the worst ever made  it wasn  t   but largely because it  s about   years old and oh  so  out of the mainstream . i was trying to find out where i saw an actor before and this popped up . so  yeah  a kid stops playing little league because he doesn  t like nukes  this prompts major media attention and a quick resolution to the cold war . the end . a fantasy  to be sure  but one so cockeyed it would make john lennon blush . since terrorism has replaced communism as the  ism that scares the hell out of us  this movie really has no relevance  except as an  innaccurate  look back at those times . the writing  acting  and film craft are similarly undeveloped . the reason i rated it as highly as i did was because i watched this movie around   times while i was    years old and still have a little place in my heart for it  but i now realize that it doesn  t quite cut mustard . so  if the law of large numbers holds true and someone eventually does decide to check out this movie  realize that there are much better ways to spend your time  but also much worse ones .  i will refrain from a john q . tirade for now .   
this movie was recommended to me by a friend . i never saw an ad or a trailer  so i didn  t know clooney was in it and was not bothered by the fact that his role was so small . i thought the whole cast was suitable  and found the film pretty enjoyable  all in all . the opening scene  with the small crew of bandits standing at the side of the road  looking whipped and haggard  caught my attention immediately . it had a way of telling you   don  t go away this won  t be boring   and it really wasn  t . it turned out to be an interesting  light  hearted comedy with enough twists and turns to keep you in your seat to the very end  but when the ending did arrive  i felt a little bit cheated . . . . just a little bit . the events kept building up so that you expect them to continue building  but at a point that i can  t define  it sort of levels out  making the ending a slight disappointment . i reckon i expected a bigger bang of a climax  but it turned out sort of low  key . if you watch the movie with that in mind and you can live without high dosages of george clooney  you should find this flick very entertaining and well worth watching . now i  d like to see the original  big deal on madonna street   but it  s probably a rare find in the united states .  
this was among the stupidest and preachiest of the anti  nuke films out of the     s .  br    br   the idea that a kid and a basketball star could  change the world  is pretty far  fetched  given how many  children  s peace marches  and  celebrity protests  there were and are .  br    br   but the idea that the soviet union would agree to a total nuclear disarmament  because some apparatchik kids learned of a  silent protest  in the west  is ludicrous .  br    br   what ended the cold war  america  s tough  dare i say  reaganesque  stance and the internal failures of socialism . it was not the peace marches  the  die  ins  or films like  amazing grace  chuck    miracle mile   or  testament  .  
  welcome to collingwood  offers some of the most hilarious dialog in recent memory . watching this comedy directed by the brothers anthony and joe russo reminded us of maybe another film we had seen in the past  but since we missed the opening credits  we had to wait until the end to discover that what we were reminded of  was the     italian film  big deal on madonna street   directed by mario monicelli .  br    br   the russo brothers put together a magnificent cast to portray all the characters in the film . anything with william h . macy  luis guzman  sam rockwell  patricia clarkson  the late michael jeter  in it  can  t be bad . since this is an ensemble piece all characters get an opportunity in which to shine .  br    br   the film presents us a group of inane would  be safe crackers from hell . no one could think these men could carry on a job like the one they undertake . whatever could go wrong  and more  is what they succeed in doing . george clooney makes a small appearance as the master safe cracker who is also seen impersonating a rabbi  only to be confused with a priest by the gang members coming out of cossimo  s funeral .  br    br   the best way to enjoy the movie is to sit back and relax  and let all these small time crooks do their thing . let their funny lines make you laugh  as anyone can see this gang is doomed from beginning to end   
this movie is a bad memory from my childhood . this is one of those movies that they show kids on a rainy day at school when you can  t go out for recess  and you  d rather be watching anything  anything else . at least that  s what it was like when i was in elementary school . i just remember hating this movie . granted  i haven  t seen it in   years or so  and they probably don  t use it on rainy days anymore but i just want to warn everyone you  d be better off using this to put your kids to sleep than entertaining them . trust me  pick anything else . even though the topic is kind of controversial  the plot is so tame and slow that i can  t remember anything about it except that i disliked it so strongly that here    years later  i felt the need to warn all of you against it .  
these guys are anything but the usual suspects  they are a total bunch of likeable oddballs who you want to see get away with it  but they are so hapless that there is very little chance of that . no one is better than william h macy at portraying the man with a big heart but down on his luck . this is probably his best performance since fargo . sam rockwell played the meathead boxer to perfection  and the rest of the gang were uniformly good also . luis guzman brought some great comic relief as cosimo  and george clooney stole every scene in his cameo role . the heist scene at the end was absolutely hilarious .  br    br   the direction was also spot on by the russo brothers . there was certainly a coen brothers feel to the film throughout and it will be interesting to see how they will develop their careers . they have a long way to go to match the coen  s but this is an excellent start and i look forward to their next celluloid outing . . . . . . . .  yo mutha  s a whore    
i spent eight years running movie theatres in the    s and    s . this was  by far  the worst film i ever showed to the public . one thing that made it so bad was that it put on airs of trying to be a great  inspiring film . even the great gregory peck could not save this horrid piece of drivel from being far less than mediocre . jamie lee curtis  in an early non  horror film role  demonstrated clearly that she had not yet learned to act  she  s still trying  but it isn  t getting much better  .  br    br   i  m sorry  and here  s the spoiler  international nuclear disarmament is never going to happen just because it makes children afraid to play little league baseball  even the shows on nick and the disney channel are not stupid enough to try to make us believe that dreck .  br    br   this is not worth the time you would waste watching it on cable tv . it is not worth the price of a movie rental your dollar would be better spent on an extra package of microwave popcorn to go with the other movie you picked  because it can only be better than this  .  
not only is this film entertaining  with excellent comedic acting  but also interesting politically . it was made at the end of the soviet union  but makes fun of the soviet mentality through and through . the story is set during the early days of the soviet union  and it questions the rationale behind the revolution both in cultural and practical terms . of course  by the late   s and early   s  the bizarre strictures of soviet society are already relaxed  but the ideology and mentality is still alive and well and ready for some well  deserved deconstruction . happily  all this deep philosophical commentary is wrapped in a funny and entertaining package   br    br   jur  
one of the five worst movies i have ever watched . and i  m not exaggerating . in fact  i recommend watching it so you can get the same feeling of incredulity as you might by watching showgirls .  br    br   out of    votes  the movie gets a user rating of  .     . but there is a disproportionate number of voters who gave it a       probably due to the message of the movie  nuclear weapons are the bane of mankind . chuck murdock is an all  star little league pitcher who gives up baseball because there are nuclear weapons . soon  amazing grace  smith is an all  star boston celtic who is inspired by chuck  s story and gives up basketball . soon all sports leagues from the professional level to college to high school to little league dismantle in a world  wide protest . later all the children of the world go on a silence strike . this inspires the president of the united states to meet with the soviet premier  who in time agree to eliminate all nuclear weapons in time for the start of the next little league season . the movie ends with chuck about to throw out the first pitch  with the president telling his new best friend chuck not to worry about striking out every batter  as he hasn  t thrown a baseball in a year .  br    br   somewhere along the line a nefarious underworld boss kills amazing grace . when the president finds out he is told that the fbi can verify the killer but will never be able to prove it . so the president calls the underworld boss   but it  s one a . m .   i don  t care  get him on the line   and tell him that he is to resign from all company boards that he sits on and sell all stocks that he has . and to not get out of line again .  br    br   honestly  this movie was so crappy that i couldn  t turn it off . it was on television from     am to     am  and i watched it all . i wasn  t turned off by the anti  nuclear weapons propaganda . i was turned off by the implausible break down of all organized sports . i don  t even understand why  amazing grace  smith was killed . and with all these famous athletes becoming chuck  s friends  why the father was constantly upset with his son taking a principled stand . and there was the clich moment near the end when dad tells chuck   i never told you this  but i  m proud of you .  cue hug .  
having first watched the movie at    i remember being struck by hearing the word  govno   sht  for the first time ever on the then  still  soviet tv  i bet it really was the first time in history  anyone wants to add this to trivia section    . . . what an open boldness and freedom  i thought  as years passed  i was more and more impressed with the movie and the incredible acting  but my feelings turned to a kind of mixture of enjoyment from a genuine piece of cinematographic art and a bitter realization of a concept diametrically opposite to my    y . o . impression helplessness . there  s an air of inevitable catastrophe looming throughout the movie  of primitive degenerate tide  embodied by sharikov  sweeping the lives of the finest minds advancing humanity in their areas . . . it  s a great metaphor of russian revolution in general  inspired by intellectuals ashamed of their superiority and hoping to  upgrade  the lower classes  only to unleash the power of mediocrity and get swallowed by it . . . an extremely fine and talented piece  wrapping a truly sad idea in a brilliantly satiric and elegant form . symbolically enough  the movie itself marked the end of the soviet movie traditions era before the hollywood tsunami had knocked them over  for good  it seems  judging by most current russian movies  most of them labeled  blockbusters  in prerelease    trailers and posters  .  br    br   funnily  that  govno  episode is in no contradiction to efenstor  s comment above re rude language of current generation . . . from what i  ve already said it could seem that this might be the movie that showed the way for this  but it was not . a mild word by current standards  it was way too rude back then  and just rude enough to show the true nature of all sharikovs . . . btw  re efenstor  s lament  it is sooo naive to juxtapose being intellectual and using rude lexicon  especially for russian speakers  where a single cussword could have meanings that take sentences in translation  but i join in regret that all the meaning in today  s teenager  s talk may be expressed by cusswords . i feel that this is the bigger problem than their choice of the medium that  s most efficient for the task  well  this movie and the book are great food for thought that might change them  or anyone who might have a luxury of watching it .  
if you  re in the mood for some dopey light entertainment  this will pass the time . if you expect one jot of plausibility  don  t bother . to me  the dance scene looked like it was exaggerated for comic effect it didn  t look especially hot or skilled .  
one of the most excellent movies ever produced in russia and certainly the best one made during the decline of the ussr . incredibly clever  hilarious and dramatic at the same time . superb acting . overall a masterpiece . score it      .  br    br    
i thought this film would be a lot better then it was . it sounded like a spoof off of the spy gener  and the start of it reminded me of pleasantvil  but this film came up short .  br    br   the plot is just to ridiculous . the kgb and soviet union in russia have started up a spy school to teach their spies  how to act like americans  but the town they set up in it for training is a bit dated  so they grab two yanks from the us to spice things up . i don  t know  but this seems just to out there . it gets really odd when next to no one in this all russian town speaks in a russian accent . someone screwed up in the casting job .  br    br   also  for a comedy this is painfully dry . there is one  two funny spots tops  and they are nothing to sing and dance about . the film in the end will likely put you to sleep .  br    br   and  as a twisted punch in the face  this film is so pro the us it makes me sick . the movie keeps on saying again and again  the us is god and russia is the devil . this is the kind of smear campaign that was done against the japanese in world war  . it  s films like these that makes everyone think that the us is full of itself .  br    br   this gets a  out of    and i  m being kind . it should really get a one  but the dance scene was funny  but then again it dragged far to long to be really funny .  
it is so gratifying to see one great piece of art converted into another without distortion or contrivance . i had no guess as to how such an extraordinary piece of literature could be recreated as a film worth seeing . if you loved bulgakov  s book you would be  understandably  afraid of seeing some misguided interpretation done more for the sake of an art  film project than for actually bringing the story  s deeper meaning to the screen . there are a couple examples of this with the master and margarita . as complex and far  fetched as the story is  the movie leaves out nothing . it is as if the filmmaker read bulgakov  s work the same way an orchestral conductor reads a score   with not a note missed . why can  t we find such talent here in the u . s .  so now my favorite book and movie have the same title .  
why does this movie fall well below standards  ultimately  the answer lies in the poor  humourless script . a slim  average looking travolta  looking rather dapper in black i must say  even with a huge mullet  and gross both act very well as two young  ish  slick  dressed  but nevertheless dimwitted new yorkers eager to open their own nightclub . other than that  the rest of the film is just boring to watch . it is so dull that it  s really not worth knowing what happens in the film  s climax on any level . kelly preston obviously exudes sex appeal and the sexually charged dance with her husband  to  be travolta is one of the film  s few pleasures . charles martin smith is quite fun to watch as struggling kgb honcho  bob smith  . personally  i think the movie would have been better if the plot was altered a little so that the settings did not change from ny to  indian springs  nebraska   which is in the former soviet union     you  ll understand if you see the movie . . . apparently  this movie was filmed in     ready for a     release . i guess paramount stalled on releasing the movie until january     because of the unbelievable plot . it was reported they deemed it  unreleasable  . nevertheless  this           film garnered a little over an embarrassing         in revenue as it was released only briefly in places like texas and colorado before heading straight  to  video . this is testament to the overall bad quality of this movie .  
the cult movie for every true russian intellectual . everything is brilliant  especially acting it  s beyond any praise . the movie  as the book  is full of symbols my favorite one is the brightest symbol of razrukha  colloquial russian word for  devastation   often signifies the period of lifestyle chaos after the        civil war    the wide  opened dirty door in the bricky wall squeaking in the snowy wind and the pitch  black hole of the doorway behind it .  br    br   now the film is released on dvd with fully restored image and the  .  sound  there are well  translated english subtitles too  though some obscene words of sharikov were replaced by the more mild versions in the translation . i don  t know is that dvd available abroad but if you  ll find it grab it immediately  it  s really worthy of watching .  br    br   and  in conclusion  a fact about the    of russians today  mostly youth  can be identified as sharikovs in a considerable degree . it  s the post  soviet effect soviet people appeared to be wholly unprepared for the informational attack of the western civilization  tv  producers and movie makers have made the entertainment industry and the mass media amazingly aggressive  soulless and thoughtless so that it abetted the darkest instincts of every russian . even among the internet users every third one uses the obscene language in forums and chats because it  s amazingly common in colloquial speech .  
i saw this cinematic wretchedness in a dollar theater with a friend in      back when the tickets actually sold for    . this is the only film i have ever walked out on  with my friend  while the idiocy that is the  laser bra      sketch was on screen  . evidently  my and my friend  s reaction to the film was a common one . it is not that i found the film offensive  either as an    year  old or now   but rather that it is mind  numbingly stupid and patently unfunny  devoid even of the unintended humor that makes a ed wood film watchable . this is the real reason why nbc refused to air it  rather than a failure to comprehend mr . mike  s  vision   unless  of course  his vision was to drive the film  s backers into bankruptcy  .  br    br   i remained surprised to this day that this film does not seem to have made any published    worst films of all time  list . it certainly makes mine . you have been warned .  
ok here is how i do this . i grade movies on   components . each component will inherently start with  points . it can then lose or gain  points for a possible   or  .  br    br   mood action  romance  comedy  drama  suspense  i give this component   points . it had a perfect balance of all five aspects . the action was fun and exiting . the romance was not overdone  but still very emotional and moving . i laughed hard and long throughout the movie and still i was captivated by the fantastic drama  and riveting suspense .  br    br   plot  i give this component   points . i thought all the good fairy tales had already been told . i found my self  sitting in the theatre  returned to my childhood  and in that instant i again believed in unicorns  wicked witches  and falling stars that make dreams come true .  br    br   cinema photography  i give this component  points . while the movie captured the story very well in the majority of the angles  i found my self more than once trying to figure out what happened just off camera .  br    br   fx  i give this component   points . i love that they used c . g . i . sparingly . the epic scenes were believable . the magical powers were frighteningly realistic . all in all less is more  and this had it all  cast  i give this component   points . no names and seasoned actors alike  the cast was amazing  michelle pfeiffer was wonderfully wicked  charlie cox made tristan come to life  claire danes gave emotion to the stars  and i will never look and robert de niro the same again .  br    br   acting  i give this component   points . even the newbie actors played their rolls to perfection . once again  i will never look and robert de niro the same again .  br    br   character development  i give this component  points . this felt a little rushed and i think if the movie had been a bit longer they could have done the characters a little better justice .  br    br   dialogue  i give this component   points . the dialogue was smart  witty  fun even the mush had good dialogue .  br    br   score  i give this component  points . i can honestly remember only one small piece of music from the entire movie . i am not complaining beyond the fact that the music could be more memorable .  br    br   ending  i give this component  points . almost perfect ending  i feel that certain aspects of the ending should have been more pronounced  while others could have been more subdued  but no threads were left untied .  br    br   total    buy the dvd  hel yes  see it in the theatre  most definitely  bottom line excellent movie for everyone  epic  i strongly recommend seeing it in the theatre  i know i  ll be going back for seconds   
well  what was fun . . . except for the fun part .  br    br   it  s my second least favorite so far  i even thought it was worse than  lazarus  and  ghost in the machine  .  br    br   let  s start with the good . the teaser  it was incredibly well done and also emotional . being the great animal lover that i am  it was fun seeing so many beautiful animals in this episode .  br    br   but then there  s all the bad  and believe me there is a lot of it . little made sense  so those animals were being abducted by aliens and impregnated  whaaa    the dialog was also pretty awful . there were about one or two quotable lines .  br    br   and worst of all  having pretty much all those animals die was very unpleasant for me . in the end . . . what  s the point  they all pretty much died . we didn  t learn anything  we weren  t entertained  and i couldn  t even find sophia  s death sad . . . just very frustrating .  br    br    star . shame because season  was doing so well .  
this movie  and yes  it  s a movie  it was shot as a two  parter  but the two parts together come down to slightly more than  hours  is one of the unsung masterpieces of world cinema . a very well  mannered  and yet at the same time absolutely savage denunciation of the soviet regime and the type of person who flourished under it  the film is a faithful adaptation of the long  banned eponymous book by mikhail bulgakov . the sets are flawless  and the director made the brilliant decision to film in monochrome sepia  adding a feel of authenticity where a late    s washed  out color incarnation would have all but ruined the film . i won  t say much about the plot  which deserves to be discovered by the viewer himself  but the performances are true oscar material special mentions go out to e . evstigneev  who plays the old professor with such presence  gravitas and kind wisdom that with barely a word or a gesture  he ends up stealing every scene he  s in . the second  of course  is creature  sharikov  who  played to horrifying perfection by v . tolokonnikov  is by far more frightening a character than hannibal lecter  because not only does he exist in real life  entire countries have been ran by men like him throughout history  with all that ensues .  br    br   while it  s a socio political allegory  it is worth mentioning that the movie is also brimming with humor  albeit dark  there are many outright comedies which haven  t made me laugh as much as this film . what  s more  when laughing at this movie  the feeling is not only one of hilarity but of understanding and agreement  which is always a plus .  br    br   there is hardly a complaint i have with this movie  the only slight flaw is the tone of intellectual  bourgeois snobbery i caught at times from the  enlightened  characters . but that  s a minor quibble .  br    br   sadly  this film appears to have been bypassed by western licensing companies . it  s a crying shame that one of the all  round best movies out there is languishing unrestored and untranslated  which shouldn  t be incredibly hard  though all the cultural references and the revolutionary terminology will necessarily fade in translation  the film  s main themes should be accessible to all  . while we  re waiting with our fingers crossed for the criterion edition  i  m considering creating english subtitles myself . will see how that works out .  
if you enjoy the original snl cast and shows then avoid this movie at all costs . when this first came out my friends and i waited in line for over an hour to get in to a sold out movie house . half way through the movie the theatre was    empty . we refused to leave thinking it would get better . when the movie ended we were the only ones left in the theatre . the movie lasted only one day in all theaters then vanished from sight . in interviews with  mr . mike  he refused to comment on this film . the film was an inside joke on the episodes of snl that came out right after the films release and closing in one day . we all tried to contact  mr . mike  by phone and mail to get a refund but were totally ignored .  
night of the twisters is a very good film that has a good cast which includes devon sawa  amos crawley  john schneider  lori hallier  laura bertram  david ferry  helen hughes  jhene erwin  alex lastewka  thomas lastewka  megan kitchen  and graham mcpherson . the acting by all of these actors is very good . the special effects and thrills is really good and some of it is surprising . the movie is filmed very good . the music is good . the film is quite interesting and the movie really keeps you going until the end . this is a very good and thrilling film . if you like devon sawa  amos crawley  john schneider  lori hallier  laura bertram  david ferry  helen hughes  jhene erwin  the rest of the cast in the film  action  mystery  thrillers  dramas  and interesting films then i strongly recommend you to see this film today   
mr . mike was probably the most misanthropic comedian of all time  so i was interested to see what he  d do with total creative control over a movie . sadly  it is unwatchable  though not because the jokes aren  t funny   some  i won  t say most  of them are  and in fact mr . mike did a good job translating his mentally unbalanced screeds into visual gags . the trouble is that the technical quality  sets  lighting  sound  editing  you name it  is so god  awful  the movie is intolerable . some outfit called  pko productions  gets the producing credit  but it doesn  t look produced at all it looks more like mike stole one of the cameras from the snl set and made the whole thing in an afternoon . i realize mike  s goal was to torture the audience  but even that deserves some basic standards  such as the ability to actually see  hear or comprehend whatever it is that  s supposed to be shocking . still  the dvd isn  t a total waste it includes a eulogy for o  donoghue by bill murray and three  mr . mike  s least loved bedtime stories  from snl . plus  the  cat swimming  section of the movie is a great scene to be caught watching if you want to freak someone out .      
this movie is good for tv . i like it because i  m a huge fan of disaster films even though this is a family film . accuracy on the film from the book is half  and  half they got the characters names right but in the book there was no storm chaser  the the car scene involving the hatch family running away from the tornado wasn  t in the book instead it involved dan hatch and his friend riding with a police officer on their way to the police station for safety . and in the book dan and his friend are both    years old . thats all i can think of . overall this was a good movie even though it could of have been a little more accurate to the book . did you know the book was based on a true story of a series of tornadoes devastating a small nebraska town in       
i looked forward to seeing this movie when it came out  since i was a huge snl fan . when my boyfriend and i went to see it  the people coming out of the early show were yelling   don  t waste your money   but of course we had to find out for ourselves .  br    br   while there were a few funny bits  laser bra      root boy slim   most of it felt like it could have been severely edited down to an amusing  hour show . it was pretty bad .  br    br   when the opera singer came on  many people got up and walked out . this made me laugh  because i realized that o  donoghue was just pressing people  s buttons on purpose with this movie . or else he was just insane . whatever  you don  t need to waste your time watching it  it  s that bad .  
i just got this video used and i was watching it last night . the acting started out extremely bad  hey       hey       twister  but got very good soon after wards . the tornadoes looked extremely fake  and many of the cgi effects were very dodgy  but the scene with the house cracking apart and the contents inside being blown around and sucked out were extremely well done  and just about on par with movies like twister . the scenes of devastation were also extremely well done too . the story was very well written  and it  s refreshing to see a movie like this stray away from the same old  disaster formulas  movies of this genre seems to have been stuck in for   years .  br    br   while this movie had a very weird mix of fx and acting quality  this merits an a in my book .  
i actually saw this movie at a theater . as soon as i handed the cashier my money  she said two words i had never heard at a theater  before or since  no refunds   as soon as i heard those words  i should have just waved bye  bye to my cash and gone home . but no  foolishly  i went in and watched the movie . this movie didn  t make anyone in the theater laugh . not even once . not even inadvertantly  mostly  we sat there in stunned silence . every ten minutes or so  someone would yell  this movie sucks   the audience would applaud enthusiastically  then sit there in stunned  bored silence for another ten minutes .  
this movie has some things that are pretty amazing . first  it is supposed to be based on a true story . that  in itself  is amazing that multiple tornadoes would hit the same town at night in the fall  in nebraska . i wonder if the real town  s name was close to  blainsworth   which is the town  s name in the movie  . there is an ainsworth  nebraska  but there is also a town that starts with blains  something .  br    br   it does show the slowest moving tornadoes on record in the the seen where the boys are in the house . on the other hand  the scene where the tv goes fuzzy is based in fact . before doppler radar and weather radio  we were taught that if you turned your tv to a particular channel  not on cable  and tuned the brightness just right  you could tell if there was a tornado coming . the problem was that by then you would be able to hear it .  br    br   since i know something about midwest tornadoes  it made this movie fun for me . i enjoy it more than twister . i mean  give me a break  there is no way you could make it through and f  by chaining yourself to a pipe in a well house .  
i saw this movie in      i was   or    when it was released . the theater was perhaps    full when the movie started . ten minutes into the movie me and the friend who went with me to see the film were the only two people in the theater . the movie was really weird and had no plot or reason to its script and people demanded their money back . we decided to stay for the entire movie . . . . why endure such torture   . . . here  s why . we wanted to be true movie critics . . . to have a standard to base all other movies on it is hard to justify saying you have seen the best movie  a    they always come up with something better . but  it is easy to be able to base all other movies off of the worst movie ever made  and this is it . . . a  at best  . there may be other movies out there that truly qualify as a   but i have yet to see them . i now base all movies i see on a scale based on this worst . . . . i am a true movie critic . . . he he .  
well  i come from bulgaria where it  s almost impossible to have a tornado but my imagination tells me to be  very  very afraid     this guy  devon sawa  has done a great job with this movie  i don  t know exactly how old he was but he didn  t act like a child  well done   now about the tornado  it wasn  t very realistic but frightens you  if you want to have a nice time in front of the telly  this is the movie   
it is a real shame that nearly no one under   knows the  over the top  writing of michael o  donoghugh  magazine articles and snl skits that were genius for the time . . . and so it is a true shame that anyone who may take the opportunity to research his work will no doubt take the easy way out and watch videos  thus leading them to mr mikes mondo video .  br    br   this movie has clever elements that never fully connect to the funny bone . the viewer experiences such things as cat diving  swimming with the man who thinks he  s found feline happiness by hurling these kittens into a pool which the camera follows in slow motion and montage sequence . then we are taken to an island to where all past fads are retired  hula hops  pet rocks  rainbow dread wigs etc .  then we enter the music world  punk was a new variety of music at the time of this film  where  d  rate bar performer rootboy slim performs  boogie till you puke  in his own lazy style of dirt and eclectic sleaze . now the real beauty of all this is the back ground music . in many different styles with many different instruments the sound of telstar plays and replays  for those who don  t understand telstar was the first american satellite launched into space and the theme was created to celebrate mans genius and triumph . mr mikes seems to have been meant as a signal of societal decay ridiculous wastes . now one thing the theater offered that the video release does not was a live performance of sid vicious  ex sex pistol not the wrestler  singing my way . his version is very different than sinatras as one might imagine but frankly i feel it is very much worth the listen . . . it  s good  that is the sad part  in the vhs release paul anka refuses the rights of his song and the viewer is forced to experience     minutes of silence with an explanation rolling across the image of the singing dead sex pistol .  br    br   i would give the theater release a  or  the video is closer to a  and now that so much is pass i can see where many people would give it a  or  .  . if you want to see a good o  donoghugh script watch scrooged . . . it is a better tribute to the mans insight and talent .  
ok  so the fx are not high budget . but this story is based on actual events . not something thrown together to make a couple of rich actors  even richer   as most movies that are based on books  there are somethings that just don  t fit . only a couple of people have stated that this movie was based on real events  not a knock  off as most people believe it is   this movie is in no way related too twister  other than both movies are about tornadoes .  br    br   for those of you who have problems with the science of the tornadoes and storms in the movie  there are a couple of things you need to remember . . . the actual  night of the twisters  was june       . so this movie was released   years after the actual events . try think how far storm research has advanced in that time . it happened in a larger town grand island  nebraska is the third largest city in the state . even though the movie calls the town something else  and says it  s a small town . for the real story check out http   www . gitwisters . com   
updating of the bliss theme is merely the latest in a lengthening queue of bad  to  average local comedies which appeal to the conservative cinema  going set .  for the record  this list  all of the films on which appear to be attempting a castle  esque miracle  includes  strange bedfellows  thunderstruck  bad eggs  the honourable wally norman  horseplay  the wannabes and the nugget . the only one to have worked has been crackerjack .   br    br   here  the performances never mesh  as john howard doesn  t even look like he  s in the right film  though perhaps that was the intention  as franklin plays sleepy  conservative suburbia against its more interesting inhabitants .    year  old virgins who live with their parents are becoming rarer on  screen  but this is hardly a reason to watch the film . in fact  the only reasons may well be    howard  s bizarre  but quite fun  performance  and    the  suburban nightmare  theme  which has run through somersault  strange bedfellows  tom white  alexandra  s project  danny deckchair  the rage in placid lake  traveling light  teesh  trude  swimming upstream and lantana  many of which are very good  excellent . enter at own risk  may be one for people who titter at the word  penis  .     .  
i  ve had a morbid fascination with tornadoes for more than   years  since my  th grade teacher  a native texan  told stories of ones he saw in his youth . fortunately  i  ve lived my whole life in the middle atlantic states  where tornadoes are rare and usually not as violent as the ones in the midwest  but i have had two close encounters  one in pa and the other in nj  in the past decade .  br    br   i enjoyed the family scenes  particularly the conflicts between jack and dan hatch . when the tornado was close  dan knew most of what he had to do  and he probably learned this in school  since i know that tornado safety is an important subject in parts of the u . s . where these storms are more frequent . however  characters in the movie did two things that some people think are supposed to be done or are safe to do in tornadoes but are actually not supposed to be done or are unsafe .  br    br   when the siren first sounded  dan and arthur went through the house and opened the windows . for years  this is what people were told to do  but tornado safety web sites now advise against doing this . also  people were shown hiding in a highway underpass . this method was made popular by an early     s video made by a t . v . crew during a relatively weak twister in kansas . however  in the most serious tornadoes  people can be sucked out from these underpasses . this happened during a may     outbreak in oklahoma .  br    br   the tornadoes in this movie hit in the fall  which is not a common time for them to happen .  then again  one of my close encounters took place in late september .  also  they traveled from northwest to southeast  while most such storms in the northern hemisphere go from southwest to northeast . however  this is not all that unusual . a famous tornado that struck joliet  il  in the early     s traveled in that direction  as did the one involved in my other close encounter  .  br    br   i think that the movie should have been set in the spring . this movie was based on a book that in turn was based on an actual event that happened on june       . but it was still a compelling story .  
this one features all the  bad  effect of prior  s cheap  o movies  but is so overtly racist  nasty and unpleasant that it is difficult to give this piece of dreck any redeeming feature . unless you plan to enlist in the marines  skip this one . oh  and even if you do  avoid it at all costs .  
i really liked this movie i saw the original classic a few times but could hardly remember any details . i think this movie is much better than the cartoon its not so black and white as it . i specially liked how they made the grinch such a complete character and gave a cause of why he was the way he was  the villain in this movie was not the actual grinch but the major  much different than the original cartoon . jim carrey was perfect for the part all in all a great movie made for both kids and adults alike .  
imagine the worst a  team episode add even more bad taste remove humor and you might get an idea of how despicable this movie is  looks like a teenager stole daddy  s camcorder and filmed the explosion of his little sister barbie model house . pathetic .  
the part of the grinch was made for jim carrey and i was extremely impressed with his performance . not being a great fan of his i was apprehensive but pleasantly surprised with the outcome . taylor momsen as cindy lou who was the cutest little girl i have seen on the screen for a long time and she showed a maturity beyond her years in her acting skills . i was even drawn to tears at one point  i  ve never read the dr seuss book of the tale so i didnt know what to expect  the humour was quite dark . overall  i enjoyed the film  apart from the songs   and would recommend it  for family viewing especially .  
all of david prior  s movies are terrible on all counts bad writing  bad acting  bad cinematography  no budget  the director  s brother is usually cast as the male lead  . but they all have incredible entertainment value because of their unintentional hilarity . the plot of almost every david prior  film   as i like to refer to them  is basically the same . manly all  american commandos team up to blow up communist baddies . but unlike other cold war  era garbage such as red dawn  prior  s movies are actually funny because of their over  the  top premises and acting . the best part of jungle assault is the scene in which becker  or was is the other dude   is being summoned by general mitchell for a top  secret mission in south america . the funniest line in the movie is then delivered  something to the effect of  this is my roommate  i trained him well  . what . you trained your roommate  and apparently this is going to be their solution to avoiding eviction .  br    br   if you can find these gems on video used anywhere  buy them . they are all funny and even funnier after a few beers . watch them with a group of your friends for a true mst  k  style experience . so far my friends and i have managed to get a hold of night wars and aerobicide aka  killer workout  . but the one i recommend the most over them all is final sanction  with the freakish  looking robert z  dar .  
stardust another guarded review  originally written june          br    br   the marketing machine has only just begun for this one  no site yet  wth    so i doubt most of you have heard about it . in truth  i hadn  t either  sort of  . when i got the posting  i thought it was another code name and was actually worried it was transformers  one of the movies i want to see when not working so i an enjoy it     as a mere mortal movie  goer . turns out  it wasn  t transformers and i had been aware of it way back when as  that neil gaiman movie  . what is it about  well  in short  it  s a gaiman fairy tale about a boy and a fallen star . any more than that and i  d be giving away plot info which is  a  a breach of contract  and  b  spoiling your fun . if you really want to know what it  s about  go buy the book . rumour has it  gaiman might be something of a writer .  br    br   not knowing what to expect in a movie can be so pleasant if the surprise is worthwhile . and for this one  it certainly was . this screening was  special  in that it included not just film critics  but also exhibitors  they rarely have a mixed screening  and local sci  fi  fantasy folks . so  you know the expected audience  right  i mean  with this crowd and the title of stardust  i knew what to expect .  br    br   oh how sweetly wrong i was .  br    br   yes  it is a fairy tale written by an author famed in comic bookdom . but it was not lord of rings . it was not even another lord of the rings wannabe  ahem  eragon  . it was much more intimate than all that .  br    br   but  like lord of the rings  it was the  well  humanism of the film which sells the fantastical qualities . it  s surely a romantic tale  but with generous splashes of humour . and that humour is of the sort which is not slapstick shrekism . it  s more along the lines of dramedy than comedy . before i go on  let  s do this movie review thing .  br    br   acting is  in the very least  good . it  s always hard to say more than that for fantasy films but i do believe there were significant superbly acted roles . michelle pfieffer is not  sadly  one of those . she plays a villain  and she does the job . nothing special . rupert everett  though  he was a real jerk . that is  a great villain . peter o  toole is  well  peter frickin  o  toole   which is marvelous . ricky gervais is perfectly cast and shows why . robert de niro seemed to be having too much fun for the most part . when he wanted to deliver the goods  though  he did . and charlie cox  who   as the lead character was fine surprise from a guy i ain  t never heard of .  br    br   claire danes . claire danes . claire danes . i  ve always been of mixed opinion with her . she can be great  and then she can seem to miss the mark . in this  she  s the former . and she is  quite literally  the star of this film . sure  her accent stumbles here and there . and  yes  she  s not as good as she can be when cox isn  t in the scene . however . . . well  see for yourself .  br    br   special effects are muted yet accomplished  and only significant where they should be . best flying ship yet   sorry potter . direction is light  hearted and flows nicely . cinematography could have been better but not everyone films in new zealand . all else is top bracket .  br    br   and now that that  s done . . .  br    br   . . . the writing . oh  the writing  neil  you devil . it  s hard in today  s climate to do anything original and  at first  you begin to wonder . a kingdom  a dying king  a boy out to prove his own worth  witches  ghosts  a quest  or three    what  s new  but gaiman  s story draws you in with its surface familiarity only to subvert it all into a sweetly original tale of a boy and his heart . and  though you suspect how it  s all going to turn out  you begin to wonder in the third act and   if you  re me   find yourself pulled into the rousing climactic confrontation and hoping for the best . in the end  you  ll find this story  this movie  is what all fairy tales should be but all too often are not . fantastical and real .  br    br    i wish i could talk about septimus vs tristan but i won  t ruin it for you . for those who read the book  rest assured  it  s done properly .   br    br   those i spoke to afterward had the same impression i did . a great film for all ages to enjoy  and the new withheld for this generation . the blank gets filled  in only after the movie is in wide release because  well  you might be expecting it . you  ll know when you walk out  anyway . i sincerely hope stardust doesn  t get lost among the tentpoles . even if it does  it  ll be my pleasure to push into the hands of everyone i know .  br    br       br    br   forgot to add the withheld reveal . i  m a few years late  but . . .  a great film for all ages to enjoy  and the new the princess bride for this generation .   br    br   perhaps a bit lofty an assessment but i  m still confident that years form now  there will be the same  oh  i love that movie   response to this as there is now for the princess bride .  
the good earth follows the life a slave girl and a poor farmer in china . the movie is based on the novel by pearl s . buck . the story is great  but i hated that they decided to cast anglos in the lead roles . walter connolly is laughable as the farmer  s father . he has such a heavy american accent  as do most of the lead actors  that i could not bear listening to him speak .  br    br   it is a shame that hollywood could not get past their racist beliefs to cast asians in the lead roles . to take anglos and make them look like chinese is akin to anglos putting shoe polish on their faces to play african  americans .  
first an explanation on what makes a great movie for me . excitement about not knowing what is coming next will make me enjoy a movie the first time i watch it  case en point twister  . there are also other things that go into a great first viewing such as good humor  john candy in uncle buck and the great outdoors   good plot with good resolution  madeline and matilda   imaginative storytelling  all star wars episodes  george lucas is the man   and good music  again all star wars episodes  wizard of oz  sound of music  . what makes me watch a movie at least six times in the theatre and buy a dvd or vhs tape  characters . with that said  i present cindy lou who and the grinch . excellent performance taylor momsen and jim carrey . the rest of the cast was very good  particularly jeffery tambor  bill irwin  molly shannon  christine baranski  and josh ryan evans . but  every single scene with cindy and the grinch  together is excellent and very funny and  or heartwarming . cindy lou is my favorite character in this movie and the most compelling reason why the movie is better than the cartoon . the grinch has a strong plot  good conflicts  and a very good theme  i can  t get started because i don  t want to spoil it  . jim carrey was very funny as the grinch  particularly when he interacted with cindy . and the music  wow  excellent music by james horner . i loved his selection of instruments and the compositions . very good job jim carrey  i didn  t know you could sing . taylor momsen  whoa  your voice is reason enough to see the movie at least once . on your solo  where are you christmas  is your voice really as high as it sounds  sounds like an f  that is an obscene range for a   year old  obscene meant in the best possible way  . great job . this is the best performance by a child i have ever heard in a movie  taylor beat out the von trapp children  no small feat   . and now to the actors . jim carrey was great  funny  and  surprisingly very sensitive  this really showed through in his scenes with taylor momsen  . taylor momsen  s unspoken expressions  one of the secrets to a good acting performance  are very strong  she really becomes cindy lou who . and when she does dialogue she is even stronger .  br    br   dangerspoiler alert   br    br   examples expression when she first sees the grinch . this is a classic quote   you  re the the the  and then filled in with the grinch line  da da da the grinch  after which she topples into the sorter and then is rescued by the grinch  . the  thanks for saving me  quote and subsequent response by the grinch was also very good .  br    br   my favorite part of the movie is when cindy invites the grinch to be holiday cheermeister . this scene is two excellent actors at their best interacting and expressing with each other . little taylor momsen completely holds her own with jim carrey in this spot . i sincerely hope we see taylor momsen in many more films to come . all in all everything was great about this movie  except maybe the feet and noses  .  
this is the kind of movie i fear the most . arrogant and irresponsible  it presents a sketch of the colombian conflict so cliched and dumb it represents an insult to all colombian people . the performances are godawul  from grisales  her naked scene is absolutely pitiful   to bejarano  to fanny mickey  who looks right out of a tim burton nightmare   to daz  who makes a notable effort to bring life to a character so one  dimensional  so cliched and so badly written all hes left to work with is a mustache . not to mention the gratuitous ending  a gore fest so cheesy that it would make ed wood cringe . it fails in all ways  cinematography  art direction  costumes  makeup  editing  and most of all directing  jorge al triana has always been a lousy filmmaker but at least his previous movies had some dignity . i can  t say anything good about this waste of money  except that i hope colombian filmmakers learn a lesson about honesty  integrity and responsability from this mean  intended fiasco .  
although i really enjoyed jim carrey  s latest  serious  performances   the truman show    man on the moon    i  ve always thought his real genious lies in physical comedy . this is not to say he is a fantastic  talented actor those bozos at the academy awards seem to dislike him so much  he has never had a  truly deserved  nomination or award . well  any  institution  that nominates for   oscars a bore such as  titanic  shouldn  t be taken seriously .  br    br   on with the review .  the grinch  is the sweetest  best looking  best acted  more enjoyable seasons film since  the nightmare before christmas  . both movies seem very similar  too  with their highly stylized sets and the premise of someone stealing christmas . both make their principal actors seem like the villains  one in a higher degree than the other   both pack a strong moral lesson  and both are truly enjoyable .  br    br   that is  until you realize that jack skellington is a doll  and the grinch is a human being . but a human being that is so incredibly expressive  so fluid in his movements  so cartoon  like  so unreal  that never gets in the way of the movie . he can be hilarious  he can be a sad soul  he can be angry . he lives in a   dimensional world  where   dimensional people live . he jokes  he laughs  he cries  and ultimately he saves the christmas . i loved this film to bits  and cannot wait for it to come out on dvd . this is one of those films you will really enjoy      years from now . as timeless as they come .  
east palace  west palace reminded me somewhat of the detective  with frank sinatra in the role of the cop  and william windom is the boy . it  s a progressive film for china  i guess  but it also perpetuates myths about the femininity of gay men much is made of chinese myths in which men take on female roles . the movie focuses on an effeminate man who wants desperately to be dominated and hurt by a macho guy . he cruises the park without fear   he hopes to be taken into the stationhouse by the officer . and that in fact happens . then he tells the officer his entire life story while being subjected to mild torture made to squat for a period of time  handcuffed  slapped . this is what the gay man wants  and  implicitly  the gay man is challenging the cop  s self  image as a manly man . the story  s about the gay man  s life  which include flashbacks  are tolerable  but when he starts describing old chinese myths and dramatic works  the movie becomes unbearable . it becomes a cry of pity for china  s gays  who only want to fulfill a traditional role in chinese society . sorry  i can  t relate .  
in a word  excellent . this is the movie . go and see it . the director ron howard . . . i mean  the director ron howard did a fantastic job  as he usually does . an incredible attention to detail  vivid colors and decorations  breathtaking whoville atmosphere  astonishing variety of costumes . wait  there  s more to it than that  the story is very good  too . there  s clearly a message to be extracted from it by the thoughtful viewers . jim carrey is top  notch . he is probably the best grinch possible . the girl  taylor momsen  is real good . i  m sure she has some great future . the dog is cool . all in all  it  s a very high quality christmas fairy  tale . if you like fairy  tales  it  s for you . if you like christmas  it  s for you .  br    br   reading some other reviews here . . . get a life . it hurts me every time to see people out there who . . . well . . . got their hearts two sizes too small .  
i picked this up at the video store because of tarantino  s recommendation   if you don  t like  this   go f yourself    on the box . . . seemed like a ringing endorsement . . . . i was expecting something a bit more like  death proof  . . . not much actual violence in this one tho  or plot  of character  or dialogue .  br    br   look at the poster . it  s all there . stunts  and rock . it goes back and forth . a week or so in the life of an la band that does a crappy magic show  at a level that you  d maybe see in one of the lesser casinos off the strip  and an aussie stuntman new in town finding his feet . . . they work  they meet girls  they party . end of story .  br    br   the band obviously needed all that stuff because they are frankly second  tier  and playing a style that was already dated in     . it has to be said that the stunt bits in the film are genuinely spinetingling  that aussie fellow really is something  and the film seems largely motivated by love and respect for the  art  . i hung it there to see what crazy thing he  d do next . just wish he could have found a better vehicle .  
let me set the scene . it is the school holidays and there is absolutely nothing at the movies . i am with my friend deciding what to see . we look for a movie that is starting soon and  the grinch  comes up . we buy tickets not knowing what to expect . what we got was a roller coaster of fun .  br    br   jim carrey  who may i add is my no .  actor in the whole world  was absolutely magnificent as the grinch in this ron howard  s best movie  next to apollo    . the way that this movie was made  the scenery  the actors  the props and the music was just amazing . it really brought this childhood movie to life .  br    br   the story is based upon the story of the grinch . as we all know the grinch is a horrible person who just can  t stand christmas . he lives high above whoville and has never mingled well with the townfolk . but one little girl is going to change the grinch  s look on life and on others in a drastic way .  br    br   cindy lou who  played by adorable new actress taylor momsem  meets the grinch as finds the kind part of him straight away . she attempts to break the barrier and to help the grinch move in and mingle with the towns people .  br    br   all up this movie is a barrel of laughs for the whole family both kids and parents . a solid      . well done jim .  br    br    
perhaps i  m not a sophisticate . this and closer are two of the more supposedly cerebral films i  ve seen recently  and both suffer from exactly the same problem to an excruciating extent . the dialogue is false false false . nothing that comes out of anyone  s mouth seems remotely believable . perhaps the way this film is set up that  s the way it  s supposed to feel  but it was unwatchable . and boring . i walked out after   minutes of tedium .  br    br   i  ll stick with sleeper and bananas for my woody allen fix . if i ever come across this on the teevee  i  ll turn over and try to find an episode of quincy instead .  
i  m overwhelmed by the work of jim carrey . i keep on getting this movie stuck in my head . the grinch liking martha may  cindy lou  who  s very annoying her sweet innocence  who tries to get the grinch in the christmas spirit  the childhood of the grinch  very funny    and moreover the weak obvious ending with  christmas isn  t all about presents . i have to say  i felt stupid walking out of the theater with a bunch of babies and toddlers laughing and so forth  but this movie was a good full  lengthed adaption of dr . seuss  s short film and is for all ages .  
well i  m blowed  a woody allen film that i walked out of after half an hour  i  m aware of the moral fragility of commenting on a film of which i  ve seen less than half  but i hope you  ll understand why  . basically  it became apparent very early on that we were going to be patronised from the screen with a script that set out its conceit as if with bullet points a cast that were all trying to be characters from hannah and her sisters  with the exception of chloe sevigny   and were badly directed into doing so and a camera that sat around portentously  only for there to be nothing to film but chat and the actor delivering it . drama  none it  s partially pre  narrated  but the action does nothing to develop a dramatic situation .  br    br   maybe i did leave too early in this case  but by then i  d decided against another hour and a half of one  liner  allen clones . the script has its funny moments  i went almost entirely on the back of will ferrell  s excerpts in the trailer  trailer  hooked again  doh    but there  s little pace to let them fly off nonchalantly  as is best . worse than this there  s no fluidity . saying this film  s wooden makes a forest look like a jelly the opening caf  bound discussion being the most abject case  in  point . the only thing that should be done by numbers is potted reviewing      .  
the costumes and make  up were grand  there were some exceptionally funny lines  and the role was made for jim carrey . carrey did as good a job as could be done given the rather disappointing script writing . sure this was mostly a movie for kids  but if you are going to spend this much money making a movie you really ought to at least give the story enough body to go beyond that of dr seuss . i expected more from ron howard . it  s worth a see  but it lacks the necessary qualities to become a major classic  by any measure .  
this movie is just an excuse for the writer to make a film out of  failed scripts .  br    br   its characters are just an assembly of characters with clich tragic or comic attributes the sum total of which is neurotic dialog like only woody allen could write . woman love this because its like looking in the mirror so they will enjoy this film probably  br    br   this movies was not enjoyed by me however because there was no car chase and also the film didn  t have any fights . there was also no drug lords or gang bangers . not to mention a lack of snakes . this film had no snakes . not my cup of tea and maybe not yours ether so think about what i have said before you find yourself watching this film .  br    br   unless of course you resemble a female have weight issues man issues enjoy sex and the city and ally mcbeal then this is meaningful for you .  
i grew up watching  and loving this cartoon every year . i didn  t think they would be able to take a half hour    min   cartoon and make it a movie . they did it . with flying colours  fabulous  funny  heart warming  effective movie   
this movie stinks  you will want back the two  plus hours it takes to get through it . sliding doors  w  gwyenth paltrow and directed by peter howit  did what melinda  melinda tries to do much much much better . that movie was clever  witty  and well  acted . i cared about what happened to both gwyenths   or rather the characters she played   and the performances by supporting cast were fantastic .  br    br   where as melinda  melinda is tiresome  the dialogue is contrived and i could have cared less about any of these people   least of all melinda . one melinda is so dysfunctional   her first glass of wine is at   a . m .   and so melodramatic she is laughable  and not in the comedic sense . the  nd melinda is fine  but forgettable .  br    br   woody allen  s previous ensemble movies worked because  i  m guessing  he spent time on the screenplay and the actors were talented . one piece of trivia for this movie is that he wrote this screenplay in two months you can tell . and while chloe sevigny is talented   those around her are not  not enough to be a whole presence . the movie ends up being chloe sevigny and a bunch of other people you know you  ve seen in other movies but can  t quite remember which ones .  br    br   sad  very sad .  
how the grinch stole christmas instantly stole my heart and became my favorite movie almost from my very first viewing . now  eight viewings later  it still has the same impact on me as it did the first time i saw it .  br    br   screenwriters jeffery price  peter s . seaman of who framed roger rabbit fame do a fantastic job of adapting the story of the grinch to the screen . ron howard  s direction brought the story to full life  and jim carrey  s typically energetic performance as the grinch steals the show .  br    br   some detractors of the film have claimed that it is not true to the spirit or principles of the original story . having read the original story  i must say i cannot agree . the movie makes the very same point about christmas and its true meaning as the original story . indeed  it enhances the impact of the story by making it more personal by showing us how and why the grinch became what he was .  br    br   mild spoilers  they probably wouldn  t ruin the movie for you . . . but if you haven  t seen it yet and you  re one of those who wants to know nothing about a story until you  ve seen it  you should skip the next two paragraphs .   br    br   i think just about everyone can relate to the grinch  s terrible experiences in school . i think all of us  at one time or another  were the unpopular one in school who was always picked on . i know i was . . . and that  s why i personally had so much sympathy for the grinch and what he went through .  br    br   and cindy lou who  s naive idealism  believing that nobody can be all bad  was heart rending . when everyone else had turned their backs on the grinch out of fear and ignorance  cindy lou was determined to be his friend . if only everyone could have such an attitude .  br    br   in fact  i think the only thing that might  ve made the film a little better would have been to further tone down the adult humor and content . it was already pretty restrained  but any of this adult humor  like when the grinch slammed nose first into martha may whovier  s cleavage  just doesn  t fit in a story like this .  br    br   this one  s well on its way to being a christmas classic  taking a richly deserved place alongside the book and the chuck jones cartoon as a must  see of every christmas season .  
i will probably always go to see a woody alleb movie  as one never knows when he just might make a real return to his past greatness . just one or two great moments or lines could make it worthwhile . sadly however this film just does  nt make it on any score . saying thar actually makes me sad and even a little guilty . i  m sure my reaction is much like a lot of other fans of woody  but what can one say  it  s probably time for him to concentrate on his clarinett  which in my opinion  he is rather quite good . saying all of this  i  ll still probably go to any new film woody may come out with in the future . there  s always hope and i  ll continue to love and respect the woody    
jim carrey is good as usual  and even though there are quite a few  jim carrey moments   it  s definitely not a  jim carrey movie  .  br    br   it  s targeted mostly at children  and i managed to enjoy it as such movie . it was promoted in israel as another jim carrey movie  so those who expected a weird over the top comedy were disappointed .  br    br   the movie has nice moments and works well as a movie for kids . i can  t say i loved this movie  but then again i  m not its target audience   
utterly pretentious nonsense . the material is dull  dull  dull  and most of the cast wouldn  t even have made understudies in allen  s earlier films . and to have to listen to the unfunny will ferrell do his woody allen imitation makes me loathe the second  rate  though mysteriously popular  ferrell even more . it appears that the morose    year old allen should have knocked off work when the clock rang in a new century .  br    br   i truly tried to get involved in the film  but it was just impossible my snyapses couldn  t fire that slowly . so  rather than doze off and kill the afternoon sleeping in an upright position i got up  left my wife and daughter in the theater  and went out to the car where i had a really good book to re  read  george bailey  s great tome of   years ago   germans .   the day turned out pretty well after all  no thanks to woody .  
jim carrey rocks  if he  s in a movie its bound to be good  he did not disappoint me with this one  the rest of the cast was cute  especially little cindy lou who and martha may  i was laughing through the whole thing and cannot wait to see it again   
woody allen has made some of the greatest comedies ever and i would seriously consider saying that annie hall is the greatest movie ever but if i really think about it i will probably think of one or two that are better  but it would be hard . he has had of course some films that aren  t quite good but not that bad either like manhattan murder mystery and sweet and lowdown but he has never before had a film quite as bad as melinda and melinda . not quite so tired and so unfunny  his films are usually witty and hilarious but how did this happen  is it still our good old woody  the plot runs around four friends who are having dinner together . two are play writers and one of the others mentions a funny story that happened to a friend of hers . it is about a young woman who bursts in on a dinner party unexpected . we never hear the rest because the two play writes start to debate whether it would make a better comedy or tragedy . than we begin to see the two points of view . both center on this woman named melinda who is having trouble both with drugs and with her ex  husband . in the tragedy she is an old family friend who after attempting suicide decided to show up at her old best friends front door for no apparent reason . the comedy is about melida who stumbles in on the dinner party after popping   sleeping pills . both go on a wild whirl wind of events that never really make sense or fit together  or make you laugh more than once or twice . there are some nice performances by radha mitchell and will ferrell but they can  t fit it together on there own . they cam  t stop it from sinking farther down than most of the other films this year .  
i was one of about    people that was lucky enough to see an early sneak of this film .  br    br   stardust follows tristan a young man on a quest to find a fallen star and bring it back to the woman he loves in order to prove his love for her . the only catch is that the star has fallen on the other side of the wall  a doorway between england and a magical kingdom known as stormhold .  br    br   this film was just a joy to watch  it has something in it for everyone  all of the action scenes are played out beautifully and the comedy is spread out through the film making it funny without being corny . if i had to compare the likes to another film it would probably have to be the princess bride  a classic .  br    br   all the performances are outstanding  the beautiful claire danes makes you love her in her portrayal of yvaine the trusting naive star and under rated michelle pfeiffer delivers a stellar over the top performance as larnia . . . but the performance to talk about is robert de niro . . . in every scene that he is in hands down he steals the show . . .  br    br   if you are in the mood for a funny fantasy love story this is the film . guys don  t get turned off by the description there is enough action comedy and not to mention lots of eye candy with claire danes and michelle pfeiffer to keep you entertained throughout . the cinematography is dead on and keeps with the feel of the film . . . nothing about the film seems forced .  
well i  m probably about to be lambasted by everyone on this site  but the good earth is one of the worst structured films i  ve seen in a long time . we have a  and a half hour film that feels like its three and a half because it has two films in one . the first film tells the story of a family that has to move form their home because of drought and famine . they have to travel south to the cities to find food or work of some kind . conveniently they happen to find a bag of jewels and at the same time they find out that the drought has ended . yeah ok . with this knowledge they return home with their riches and everything is fine and wonderful again .  br    br   well that takes about an hour and a half of film and while its incredibly lifeless at this point it does have a nice arc to it . you would think this would be a fantastic place to end the film . however  the film then continues on for a whole other hour . and in this remaining time  its takes a simple story about a family dealing with the hardships of the world and turns it into a sappy melodrama about betrayal and jealousy between lovers . oh yea and the age old  money is the root of all evil blah blah blah . just because you know your making an epic film doesn  t mean that your story can go on needlessly for more than it has to . also the main idea i would gather about this film is that the earth is good to this family and holds them together . then why do we spend an hour telling a story about a rich man falling in love with another woman  and why is the final moment of the film dedicated to a wife that our main character hasn  t even cared about through most of the film .  br    br   oh wait and the film isn  t the only thing thats poorly written  the main characters wife makes absolutely no sense . she complains a lot about how she was a slave and she never wants to have a slave and yadda yadda yadda . then why at the drop of a hat is she willing to sell her only daughter into slavery . even if they are starving at the time of this idea  it still doesn  t make sense when   minutes later in the film she is complaining about not wanting a slave again .  br    br   there are other films from the thirties that should be paid attention to . the only thing this one has going for it is the cinematography . the land is shot beautifully  oh and the sequence with the locusts is quite impressive . too bad that were in a film that had nothing to say .  br    br   one last thing . i know that at this point in time hollywood was focused mostly on stars and they figured that a good actor can portray anything . for most of the film paul muni does portray an asian man to the best of his ability  but once it hits the half point where the film goes on for no reason he loses it and just becomes regular old italian paul  they even cut his hair so he looks like tony from scarface  also a better film than this  . of all the main characters in the film i think maybe three are actually asian  the rest are just americans being silly . oh and please ms . rainer that was a really nice one note performance  not  if i could i rip the oscar out of your hands  oh i would .  br    br   the good earth is one epic waste of time . if you want something along this vain to watch on nice evening get the grapes of wrath  a film that truly deserves all the praise it gets . mainly because it wasn  t written by a monkey .  
i waited and waited for this film to come out  the trailers seemed to be on for years  it was worth it . i  m not a big fan of watching films over and over again but i cant wait for this to come out for all to buy  not a big fan of jim but this suited him perfectly  there was so much to see and the  feel good factor  is off the scale  perfect for christmas . i think ron did a fab job turning this into a film  if you haven  t seen it then do so  if you have  watch it again  i know you want to   
i  ve seen my share of woody allen  s movies  and while they  re not always great  you can usually be sure you  re going to be entertained . probably the last really good ones were bullets over broadway      and mighty aphrodite       since then the ones i  ve seen have been patchy but watchable . and so when i was invited to see the new woody allen movie melinda and melinda  which i wasn  t even aware had been released yet  i went along happily . i hadn  t really heard much about it so i hoped i would be pleasantly surprised .  br    br   what i got was definitely the worst woody allen movie i  ve seen . the premise is over  explained  the cast is terrible  the script is slow and lifeless . too many scenes said nothing and yet were stretched out  i assume to fill out what would have otherwise become a   minute short film .  br    br   i don  t mind the concept behind this film  two directors discuss how a simple situation could be interpreted as a comedy or a tragedy  and obviously the film proceeds to show us that  by playing out both scenarios . the problem is neither of these  two films  are any good at all . the comedy isn  t funny and the tragedy isn  t very tragic . it seems like allen came up with a good idea but then ran out of steam  or time  to actually complete the film .  br    br   the general level of acting is notably bad also  will ferrell is the only one who brings anything to the table  and it  s basically a woody allen impression . previously good actors like chloe sevigny just come off as annoying  and the worst of the bunch is radha mitchell as melinda  which is a shame  because her character is in nearly every scene   .  br    br   to be fair to the actors  the script they are working with is lacking if not non  existent . definitely a long way from the allen we know and love from classics like manhattan or annie hall .  
when the grinch came out i was excited though i thought it was going to be a happy go lucky film and it was . though it did have a little nightmare before christmas touch to it . you know kind of dark and spooky . i loved this film because it helped fill people with the christmas spirit . so mostly the grinch saved christmas . and what happened then well in whoville they say that the grinch  s small heart grew three sizes that day . merry grinchmas   
possible spoilers .  br    br   although there was some good acting  particularly chloe sevigny  and radha mitchell in the comedy half  this simply was not an engaging film . the segues between the comedy part and the tragedy part were awkward or sometimes not obvious . this viewer was initially confused by the fact that the supporting cast differs in the two halves i thought with the way things were laid out in the opening scene that the people surrounding melinda would be the same people  just reacting differently  more of a  he said  she said  premise  . however  what we have is two totally different stories and two totally different women  both of whom happen to be played by radha mitchell .  br    br   the two playwrights in the opening scene  the comedian and the tragedian  supposedly take the same premise and go from there  but the two stories are only tenuously related . they do little to support the topic of discussion  which is that almost anything can be looked at as either comedy or tragedy . nice cast  but a disappointing film .  
jim carrey shines in this beautiful movie . this is now one of my favorite movies . i read all about the making and i thought it was incredible how the did it . i can  t wait till this comes out on dvd . i saw this in theaters so many times  i can  t even count how times i  ve seen it .  
i  ve always been a great fan of woody allen and always will be for most of what he did in the past  but only a blind lover could ignore how dull  meaningless  pretentious and most of all horrendously acted this movie is . a vacuous mental masturbation based on inconsistent grounds . and what a disastrous idea to artificially recreate a presumed  actor allen  clone   that is putting into will farrell  s mouth and gestures what allen would have done in farrell  s place had he been   years younger . the outcome was obviously ludicrous . and not to speak of the dialogues . . . what was intended to be philosophical reflections turned into an involuntary mockery of intellectual pondering  unaware of its comic effect . how sad . . .  
what can i say . oh yeah those freaking fingers are so weird . they scare the heck out of me . but it is such a funny film  jim carrey works the grinch . if you havent already seen it then what you waiting for an invitation . go  go and get watch it . you dont know what your missing .  
for a comedic writer  woody allen really lets the paying viewer down with this meager attempt at character development . there are a few entertaining moments  but no more than one would have listening to their dryer tumbling tennis balls .  br    br   will ferrell wastes his time in this movie which fails to showcase his usually funny delivery . amanda peet did well  but again  didn  t have the room to move in this otherwise corpse like movie . the movie is so heavy and dull that it cannot be carried but if it were carried  radha mitchell did it .  br    br   if you enjoy movies that go on and on in one scene and don  t really accomplish anything but to show that their writer can write a few lines of snappy dialogue on occasion  then you  ll love this movie .  
jim carrey can do anything . i thought this was going to be some dumb childish movie  and it totally was not . it was so incredibly funny for everyone  adults  kids . i saw it once cause it was almost out of theatres  and now it  s finally coming out on dvd this tuesday and i  m way to excited  as you can see . you should definitely see it if you haven  t already  it was so great   br    br   liz  
woody allen has lost his ability to write dialogue or characters that are clearly distinguishable from each other . this is the case with  melinda and melinda   where all the characters speak with allen  s generic pseudo  sophistication and have problems and points of view that are not relatable to anyone outside of a four block radius of where allen lives . they also share the same curious condition of being able to afford multi  million dollar manhattan apartments that appear to have been designed by professional decorators regardless of their financial situation or what they do for a living .  br    br   the only character who exists outside of this dull mindset is will ferrel as the obligatory woody allen surrogate . although he does not simply come off as merely doing a woody allen impression  like kenneth branagh in the god  awful  celebrity    ferrel lacks the charm or charisma that the real woody had when he was playing the part himself in his best movies .  br    br   the end result is another in a string of self indulgent bores from a once  great filmmaker who has been trading in on his former reputation for years .  
i already loved  how the grinch stole christmas  when it was released and i  m still loving it now   years later . still lots of people seem to disagree with my opinion and this movie never really had received much love at the time it came out .  br    br   sure  the movie is over  the  top and campy but that at the very same is also the reason why this movie is so charming and fun to watch . all of the sets  costumes and characters are done perfectly over  the  top in a fun way  without ever becoming truly ridicules . it  s a visually spectacular movie to watch . it  s a campy movie making at its very best  director ron howard really surprises with this fun little christmas movie .  br    br   main reason why the movie works and why it  s so much fun to watch is jim carrey as the grinch . he truly carries the movie with his good and fun role . he is of course helped by the convincing make  up  which also received an academy award . of course if you  re a jim carrey hater you shouldn  t even think about watching this movie . this movie is really his movie and he makes it all work and so much fun to watch . other fun and memorable roles are being played by jeffrey tambor  clint howard and josh ryan evans as the young grinch .  br    br   the movie has a good morale but it is all a bit sappy to me . perhaps it  s because i  m dutch and we don  t really celebrate christmas that enthusiastic and big here  as in the united states or england . for me the movie was simply fun and entertaining and the morale just left me quite cold to be honest .  br    br   the musical score by james horner is good and fun  even though it  s your average every day horner stuff  it still all works perfectly for the movie and helps to make some of the scene  s work .  br    br   perfect christmas entertainment .  br    br        
i couldn  t wait to see this movie . about half way through the movie  i couldn  t wait for it to end . all of the  white  actors were delivering their lines like woody allen had just said   say it like this . . .  then they said their lines on screen like they were trying to imitate woody allen . it was so annoying . we all know how will ferrell really talks  and he doesn  t stumble over his words like mr . allen . the comedy portion of this film was just as boring as the tragedy and definitely never funny or even entertaining . i must admit that i have never been a major woody allen fan  and this movie definitely has not converted me . i think that his writing was just as bad as his direction . this movie will go down as one of the worst   movies i have ever seen .  
i thought how the grinch stole christmas was a pretty good movie . it wasn  t horrible  nor was it great  but it was enjoyable to watch . i felt as if jim carrey got a little annoying at times . they made the grinch seem like a special education person  when all he needed to be was evil and devious  but yet he turned out kind of retarded . i did think the scenery  when not inside the grinch  s cave  was beautiful  and there was a few parts where i laughed  but most of the time i thought it was just annoying . this movie could  ve been  so  much better if they had changed the grinch  s personality  and they had included some more laugh scenes  because most of the humor wasn  t funny . i liked how the grinch stole christmas anyway  but it  s not anything to get excited about seeing .  
if i accidentally stumbled across this script in textual form i would read it and maybe laugh . i would not  however laugh at the points in the film where the director would seem to want me to laugh . although i am still not altogether sure where these are . i don  t care if this is woody allen  this writer cannot write dialogue  or at least he cannot knowingly write dialogue then draw performances from actors capable of drawing laughter from even the most ticklish of clowns . for example  br    br    paraphrase   i  m an art historian  i  m looking to get a job in an art gallery .   br    br   ok  so it states the fact but honestly  do you know of any art historians who would say that  how would you answer   br    br    really  an art gallery  who would  ve thought it    br    br   the entire script is littered with the kind of tawdry quasi  intellectualism that i would not have expected from such a respected character writer . i admit that i have no knowledge of allen  s other work and  judging by this one i don  t want to start learning . the characters are loathsome without exception  an attempt to illustrate that we all suffer from the human condition  or really really poor character writing  you be the judge .  
i found this a very entertaining small kids movie that actually is geared more for adults with a lot of jokes and humor only they would understand . a few things are inappropriate for the kiddies  but just a few . othewise   the grinch   jim carrey  cracks so many jokes you can  t keep up with them all  ranging from sexual to cultural to insider  hollywood to racial .  br    br   the film is very colorful and looks great on dvd . the little girl in here   cindy lou who   taylor momsen  is really cute and the costumes and hairdos of the little people in here are fun to view . anthony hopkins  voice is pleasing  too  so having his narrate this elevates the movie further . his rhymes are fun to hear .  br    br   i saw this in the theater  though it was  fair   but on dvd  it was far better . i  ve seen in three times and it got better each time .  
i am so disappointed . this movie left me feeling jipped out of my time and mental energy . here was the quintessential woody allen film all over again the neurotic upper  class manhattanites debating whether or not they will cheat on their spouses . woody  i  ve seen these characters already  i  ve seen the storyline from you ten times already . where did your creativity go    you need to open your eyes and look around you . the world has changed dramatically since annie hall  and you need to change along with it .  br    br   there are far more interesting and funny scenarios to which you can apply your brand of angst and neuroticism  why not try them out instead of rehashing the same old slop over and over and over again .  br    br   when i hear that woody allen has a new project coming out  it does nothing for me  because now i  ve come to expect his old standby the couple who are growing tired of each other and end up cheating . depressing and same old  same old .  br    br   if woody wants to win his fans back  then he has to understand that our sense of humor and intelligence has to be stimulated  not insulted .  
i love this movie  but can  t get what is in this movie tht is not to like . people who don  t like this movie must be richard roeper and roger ebert . but i can  t believe that is mr . carrey behind all that makeup . and i am sure that most of the actors and actresses in the movie has made film before this . and there is a new face in the movie . taylor momsen who plays cindy lou who . as the opens  the grinch  jim carrey  comes out of hiding . and causes some mean fun to the whos in whoville . sicne we know that the whos love christmas . while the grinch does not like christmas . and even makes fun of little cindy lou who  taylor momsen  who is the daughter of the town  s postmaster  bill irwin  . the movie was directed by ron howard . and the narrtor  s voice is done by anthony hopkins . and jeffrey tambor  muppets from space  is cast as the mayor of whoville . who doesn  t like talking about the grinch close to christmas time .  
and how many actors can he get to stand in for his own neurotic  compulsive uber  new yorker persona  in this film woody is played by will ferrell in what is mercifully less a direct impersonation than the one kenneth branagh did in  celebrity .  it  s an annoyingly repetitive story now nebbishy  neurotic man with a wife or girlfriend falls madly in love with a shiksa queen upon which he projects all manner of perfection . everyone lives in perfect gigantic apartments in great manhattan neighborhoods  everyone constantly patronizes expensive  exclusive restaurants during which all the characters relate fascinating anecdotes and discuss arcane philosophy  there is always a trip to the hamptons during which the nebbishy main character spazzes out about sand and physical exertion and possible exposure to diseases  and then of course  said main character feels guilty about his lust for the shiksa queen but pursues her anyway  sometimes succeeding  sometimes failing  etc .  br    br   this a tired formula  and proof that allen isn  t really a great film artist at all . he just seems like a dirty old man with the libido and emotions of a    year  old who is intent upon telling the same boring old stories again and again .  
if you went to this movie to see some huge academy award presentation . . . oh well . . but if you wanted to see a funny delightful adaptation of an old classic  you will love it . . jim carey was incredible as usual . the story line was great  a few parts added like the history of the grinch made it even better . ron howard never misses a beat . . but although there were a few adult comments and cleavage added  this is supped to be a kids or family show . try not to lose sight of that . . if you do you really wont enjoy the movie . . . and as for the comments about ron howard  try to direct a major motion picture and see how you do . . its not easy as it looks . . .  
woody allen  when at his best  has one of the sharpest pens around . he can make an acute observation and wrap it around a punch line like nobody else . however  when he  s at his worst his movies can stench of pretentiousness . unfortunately   melinda and melinda  has this stench from opening to closing . the set up is one of his more intriguing ideas in a while . four friends sit in a restaurant discussing whether the essence of life is comedy or drama . to help settle the argument  one man relates the beginning of a story and asks the two other men arguing  one a comic playwright  the other a dramatic playwright  whether the story is a comedy or a tragedy . the two men then continue the story and the movie plays out the stories that they weave . now  when i first heard about this film  my understanding was that they tell the exact same story  the genre  comedy or drama  only changes by how you look at it . now that would have been interesting . however  the stories only share one main element and a few side elements . they are entirely different stories with major plot differences . the drama is so stiffly scripted and pretentious that it can only really work as self  parody . if this was the point  then it failed because these elements prevent the audience from feeling any emotional investment in any of the characters . the comedy is the story that has moments of success  but they are still short and fleeting . will farrell is obviously meant to be the stand  in for woody  but he could have played this character so much more believably without adding woody  s stutters and hand  ticks . woody is the best at being woody . when someone else tries  they  re not playing a character  they are modeling a recognizable actor . this type of thing only pulls the audience out of the story .  br    br   my favorite woody allen movies make me leave the theater a little bit lighter in spirit than i walked in . this one made me wish i could get my money back .  
i went to a small advance screening of this movie on july   th  knowing no more than the names of a few of the actors and that it was a fantasy  adventure quest of some sort .  br    br   the plot line really is nothing like i have seen  and a unique story is certainly appreciated with everything else that is currently in or coming soon to theaters . in spite of what first impressions may give  it isn  t cheesy  corny  tacky  or ridiculous  and is actually highly entertaining and funny . the flow is quite well done  nothing seems rushed or dragged out . the soundtrack  for lack of better words  is magical and adds much to the film  as opposed to simply filling the silence as often happens in movies or tv . and even though i might have known what was coming at points  i still couldn  t bear to stop watching the screen to my knowledge  not a single person left the theater during the entire movie .  br    br   my one gripe is that there seems to be almost no marketing for this film  and as brilliant as it is i can  t figure out why .  
luise rainer received an oscar for her performance in the good earth . unfortunately  her role required no . she did not say much and looked pale throughout the film . luise  s character was a slave then given away to marriage to paul muni  s character  he did a fantastic job for his performance  . set in ancient asia  both actors were not asian  but were very convincing in their roles . i hope that paul muni received an oscar for his performance  because that is what luise must have gotten her oscar for . she must have been a breakthrough actress  one of the first to method act . this seems like something that hollywood does often . al pacino has played an italian and cuban . i felt luise  s performance to be lackluster throughout  and when she died  she did not change in expression from any previous scenes . she stayed the same throughout the film she only changed her expression or emotion maybe twice . if her brilliant acting was so subtle  i suppose i did not see it .  
i have just read the lead comment for this film that is on the front page with the voting results and cast run down .  br    br   why is it that some people can not take a film for what it is supposed to be .  br    br   this film is supposed to be a light hearted  tonge in cheek  family comedy  things to make the kids laugh and things for the adults  and that is exactly what this film does .  br    br   i laughed my nuts off at this film  i thought carey put in a great performance and the whole film  if watched at christmas  really give you a bit of festive cheer  br    br   so to all of you film reviewers stop trying to sound like film students and knock every film because it is not  taxi driver  or  the godfather  and take films for what they are supposed to be  entertainment    
may i please have my    .   back  i would have rather watched  hydro  electric power comes to north america  . again . this is a movie with one voice . the same voice  which comes out of every characters mouth regardless of age or gender . to listen to that voice again i would have to charge at least     an hour . and i don  t take insurance . it was eerie watching will ferrell morph into woody . but i don  t think imaginative casting is enough . one should wait until they have a story before they bother making a movie . unless he  s just doing it for the money . and if that  s the case why not just reissue an all  rap version of  what  s up tiger lily    
i have been eagerly anticipating the opening of this film for several months . being a huge jim carrey fan  i easily saw how he could morph himself into seuss  grinch and make the character his own . i was not disappointed .  br    br   this movie was pure magic . carrey is a master at his trade and no one could have played this role to perfection as he did . there was plenty to enjoy for both adults and children alike and this movie is sure to become a timeless classic for all to enjoy in the years to come . i already have visions of my young daughter sitting down year after year to watch this remake on video  and i undoubtedly will watch with her and laugh as i did the first time i saw it .  br    br   clearly  this movie has jim carrey written all over it  and i do not believe that it would have come together without him . however  the supporting cast was charming and entertaining in their own right  most notably the adorable taylor momsen who was the perfect foil for carrey  s antics . the set design  musical score and costumes all lent their hands to a magical  fabulous finished product and i believe all involved can be proud .  br    br   it is not an easy feat to turn a   minute cartoon classic into a full length live action film  but howard has succeeded with flying colours . for those critics who disagree  perhaps it is your hearts that are  sizes too small .  
wow this movie sucked big time . i heard this movie expresses the meaning of friendship very well . and with all the internet hype on this movie i figured what could go wrong  however the movie was just plain bad . it was boring and the character development was never there . space travelers was also a horrible movie  if you didn  t like that movie there is no way you will like this .  
granted i had seen some  speed racer   but i never really watched it and i had also seen other shows some featuring these characters dressed as birds who flew a ship called the phoenix and another revolving around a space ship that looked like a giant ocean vessel and it flew backwards at times for some reason and was really dark and hard to understand for someone who was maybe five . this one though i watched nearly every episode and the amazing to me at the time was that this show had some resolution to it . it actually ended  the bad guys done in unlike nearly every american cartoon where nothing really concludes such as the last episode of the generation one transformers that ended with galvatron and this new bad guy vowing to get the autobots  dungeons and dragons with the kids never making it home  with gi joe with cobra still out there ready to try again and so on and so forth . this one did end and did feature a rather cool robot that got new weapons as the show progressed  it was a bit bland to begin with as it could not fly and had only a few really cool weapons . as it went on he got a cool shooting fist like the one android   used against cell in dragonball z  then that weapon evolved to include razors that shot out . then the big robot even got wings so he could fly and even more weapons were incorporated into the wings . he would also get a couple of allies in a female robot and a rather funny one called bobo in america . the villains not only consisted of dr . hell  but a really weird person that was half man half woman and a dude with a flying head . interesting show and it was kind of nice seeing a conclusion .  
i  m a big fan of italian films from the seventies  and i wouldn  t hesitate to list the beautiful barbara bouchet among my favourite actresses of all time  so i did go into this film with some hopes . however  it soon becomes apparent that this is a largely pointless film that isn  t going to go anywhere . clearly nobody would go into this expecting much more  but the fact that this is pointless gets more annoying when you consider that it  s also rather dull and none of the characters are interesting . as the title suggests  the film focuses on a  rogue   in this case one that steals  womanises and smuggles stuff . that  s basically all the plot that this movie has . the film does have a real  seventies style  to it and the idea of it all being very carefree gets across well . it sometimes seems like directors boro draskovic and gregory simpson were trying to put across some sort of point  although whatever that point is doesn  t come across very well . seeing barbara bouchet on screen is always a pleasure  and that is the case here too she  s definitely the best thing about the film and the sequence in which she hangs out of a car naked is the best part of the film . overall  the rogue will probably have some appeal for people who love the seventies style  but unfortunately it doesn  t have much else to offer .  
i was quite a fan of the series as a child and after that it has always remained in my mind as one of those memorable cartoons that made a difference in the early   s compared to previous animated series  heidi  barbapapa  il etait une fois l  homme . . .  most of which i love  . i find that other similar japanese cartoons of this kind released later can  t match mazinger z  as they started to boringly repeat the same pattern .  br    br   that very thing  the novelty  may be one of the best features of mazinger z . another good point is its inventiveness  with so many extravagant monsters  strange devices and bizarre characters actually  we were eager to see each new installment to find out what kind of new fiend or evil machine was awaiting us   
i have not yet seen anyone slate this film and i think i may be the first .  br    br   it was awful . i actually didn  t watch the end of it . it was like watching a boring soap or a really good one  all soaps are crap  . the actors were poor and storyline was bad . the person who rated it      has no idea what he is on about . the script was awful .  people was in an angry conversation together involving threats and you expect the good guy to say some thing really good and beat the crap out of him but no . he says  if you do that . . . i will hurt you  hahahahaha . if comedy is your thing  watch away . please do not watch this film because . . . it  s crap     br    br   summary poor acting  bad fights  bad script .  br    br   don  t watch  of course this is in my opinion .  
  atlantis the lost empire  was everything the previews indicated it would be . it is not often you find that . most of the time  the previews show only the best parts and then the rest of the movie is terrible . not so with this one . i was pleased with the original plot  even though the sub  plots were not . the animation was not break through like  shrek  but it was good  none the less . the plot and the story line were well presented and there were only a few slow spots in them . this keeps you interested . i found myself enjoying this one .  atlantis  gets and keeps your attention . you also have to think a little bit  but not too much . once you think about it a little  you can figure out what needs to happen but you really don  t know for sure how it is going to happen .  br    br   the casting was also good . michael j . fox  as milo was an excellent choice . his personality fits nicely . the gruff natured commander rourke was also well chosen with james garner . his character reminded me of his performance in  maverick  which i also liked . i really liked the casting of claudia christian as helga sinclair . her ability to play a no nonsense personality makes the film more interesting . it  s just too bad she is a villain .  br    br   over all  definitely worth you while   out of    .  
absolute garbage  worse fight scenes than a   year old van damme movie or american ninja etc .  br    br   truly dire acting  not a skill in sight in the entire movie its like a cast of wooden sculptures .  br    br   watch it just for how truly bad this film is  it may have been acceptable in the   s but this is a     movie  i don  t have much love for this movie as it wasn  t born in the   s .  br    br   if you like real fight movies then check out tony jaa in ong bak and the protector  those are proper martial arts films .  br    br   have a laugh and watch this today you may see the unintenional humour at how grim it is .  
this highly derivative film will be entertaining for the many who have not seen some of the more obscure anime films . i enjoyed most of it  especially after the rather flat opening minutes in the museum  although the pre  title sequence is very entertaining and includes some of the better bits of animation  . james garner as the commander and leonard nimoy as the king give impressive performances .  
wow  i knew this film was going to be bad but not this bad . spoilerific comments ensue .  br    br   roddy roddy piper is sickly sweet retired cop  cliche    helping out everyone  smiling like a post  op lobotomy patient through  out and lamenting over his dead son . his adopted son returns from armed forces  special ops  and because he  s  seen things   portrayed by clenching his teeth if anyone mentions anything about the past . time to clean up the streets from another guy who once knew piper and his dead son  who the bad lad killed  and his adopted son .  br    br   oh  the love interest is a pretty young lady who decides for no reason that she wants to jump the bones of the ex  army bloke . this happens in about  minutes of  scene .  br    br   the action could have saved this film  but it  s even worse than the storyline and acting . it  s all been done before  it  s all been done much much better  ong  bak is a prime example  . this is the worst film i  ve ever seen  and i  ve seen waterworld  twice .  br    br   erm  the film is called honor  spelt wrong for the americans  and the tag line has  from the makers of bloodsport and kickboxer   check out director david worths other films and you  ll soon realise why they put these  films on there  even though they are over   years old . such classics as  shark attack   megalodon   says it all really .  br    br   i  ll give you    if you don  t go to see this film .  br    br   ps  apologise for not know character names  tells you something though .  
that kid a is such a babe this movie was no titan a . e .  of which it is in many ways modeled after  but still came off as entertaining  the fact this lost to a piece of monkey crap like tomb raider makes wanna cry includes some of the most entertaining characters i  ve seen in disney film  
there was not one single redeeming factor in this movie . the girlfriend and i both love action films . especially fight scenes  bloodsport and kickboxer was awesome   but this movie was not entertaining . five minutes of action followed twenty minutes of talking and  angry  facial expressions . the main hero is a troubled character who has seen battle and thus is forced to look seriously constipated at all times . the army has disrupted his bowel movements on top of perfecting his fighting technique . the music isn  t good either . they fight to the rap and hip  hop style of the streets   cause these guys are thugs . the rest of the soundtrack is the usual background noise to low  budget dramas .  br    br   everything about this movie is classic b  style . the actors deliver their lines as if reading them from cue cards and the lines themselves should be set on fire and left burning in some rotten hollywood alleyway . the film is called  honor   but there was no honor in making this film . it was simply a waste of money  and spending wisely is something i consider to be honorable .  br    br   go see felon instead . the fight scenes and situations are more real .  
while there aren  t any talking animals  big lavish song production numbers  or villians with half white  half black hair . . . it does have  thing . . . realistic people acting normally in a strange circumstance  and walt  roy did in their eras with the studio . if you thought think  the castaways  or  the island at the top of the world  weren  t identical  or you hold them to a higher authority than atlantis  then your idealism is just as whacked as keeping your kids up till midnight to watch a friggin  cartoon .  
this film has the look and feel of a student film project . yeah  there are some interesting  albeit gimmicky  edits and shots  but the end result was juvenile .  br    br   the director didn  t seem to be saying  look at this film .  it seemed as if he were saying   look at me  i  m a director    br    br   thumbs down .  
while there aren  t any talking animals  big lavish song production numbers  or villians with half white  half black hair . . . it does have  thing . . . realistic people acting normally in a strange circumstance  and walt  roy did in their eras with the studio . if you thought think  the castaways  or  the island at the top of the world  weren  t identical  or you hold them to a higher authority than atlantis  then your idealism is just as whacked as keeping your kids up till midnight to watch a friggin  cartoon .  
this is the last time i rent a video without checking in at the imdb reviews . the limey is directed by steven soderbergh who also wrote wrote the truly awful nightwatch with ewan macgregor and directed such trash as out of sight with the anti  talented jennifer lopez . terence stamp is a fine actor and it is a shame he involved himself in such a bad film . there is frequent confusing editing that seems like it was a last minute decision in order to make up for the lack or story  filming and just plain common sense . this film does everything wrong . what were they thinking   
i loved this movie  i am biased seeing as i am a huge disney fan  but i really enjoyed myself . the action takes off running in the beginning of the film and just keeps going  this is a bit of a departure for disney  they don  t spend quite as much time on character development  my husband pointed this out  and there are no musical numbers . it is strictly action adventure . i thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who loves disney  be they young or old .  
the only reason i rented this was because of the article in fangoria magazine . the article made this film look interesting . well  it isn  t . this was a very boring  amateurishly written and directed movie . all the actors in this movie are awful  except faye dunaway  who is always a joy to watch . but too much time was focused on gina phillips and her ridiculous encounters with ravens and duilio marzio . marzio has such a thick argentinean accent  you can only understand every couple of words he says . also on hand is nicholas pauls  who plays the ultra  bland love interest to gina phillips . the bottom line this movie is not scary . there is only one good scene and that is the last five to ten minutes of the movie . i would have given this one star  but i gave it three just because i like faye dunaway so much . but even she wasn  t that great in this .  
why are the previews so blah for a movie that is so awesome   everyone should know what an excellent movie this is . it is engaging and funny from moment one  original  and well  acted . i wish the movie was doing itself as good press as it deserves   br    br   for anyone that loved the princess bride  labyrinth  and other truly funny and original fantasy adventure  this is one of the great ones . robert deniro is hysterical . relative newcomer charlie cox is an incredible leading man . claire danes is fantastic as always . michelle pfiefer is making quite a splash with her recent returns to the screen . there are also a lot of wonderful moments from minor characters . . . even down to facial expressions .  
a couple of farmers struggle in life in a small village in china . wang lung  paul muni  buys o  lan  his future wife  who becomes his slave  luis rainer  . american stars appear in the leading roles  talking with fake accents and emphasizing old stereotypes and patriarchal ideology . a good wife  many children and land are the best things for men to have . they are seen as property and investment . because it is a big budget movie  in which many extras cooperate  big sets are built and special effects take place  the movie makers could not take the risk of hiring less popular actors . luise rainer won an academy award for this performance  which is definitely the worst in the movie . her immutable face builds a barrier between her and the audience . o  lan is supposed to be the heart of the family and the best character to sympathize with . on the other hand paul muni gives a better performance  showing his talent ones again . another problem with the movie is the ending . it seems like franklin did not know when to end the picture . this film could be dangerous if it is taken as a truly example of chinese culture and traditions .  
to my surprise  i really enjoyed disney  s latest animation installment . the film had its lows  but overall i felt the story was strong and the characters were easy to relate to . it was also pleasant to see an animated disney film that was not a musical . i was about pushed to the limits with tarzan . thankfully they gave the music thing a rest . another nice feature about the film is that the comedy was not completely dumbed down  a la hercules   rather subtle so it still made the kids laugh while not make the adults feel giddy or just plain stupid .  br    br   one disappointment was the animation . with all the great animated films happening outside disney studios  you would think they would move along and catch up a little . there is something to say about tradition  but imagine the possibilities with the story of atlantis  overall the film was entertaining  and definitely worth a trip to the multiplex .  br    br    
for some reason  tv guide gave this two and a half stars  plus faye dunaway is in it  so it definitely looked like something to see . my  oh  my  this may be the worst film i  ve ever seen . ever . from its horrid acting  every time the girl asks the boy what  s wrong with him  i shouted to the tv  i can  t act   when she asks what he needs  i yell  i need acting lessons   to the unbelievably bad dialog   give me back my organs    .  br    br   and the brian depalma wannabe ending  too  it was all just beyond awful . i wanted to like it . dunaway is one of the best actors ever . and the production values were pretty good .  br    br   but wowzers  this had me laughing  laughing   most of the time .  br    br   don  t even bother out of curiosity  that was my first mistake . staying with it was definitely my second  and third and fourth .  
ok  after reading a couple of reviews on atlantis the lost empire  i just want to clear up some misunderstanding as to it being a direct rip off from nadia secret of the blue water . the only part that was a ripoff from nadia is that the pendant from nadia and the pendant from atlantis bear so much resemblence in terms of how it  s used  origins and how it  s created from the source of life that there  s no doubt about it being copied . if you want to consider how kida and nadia is dressed alike then you could put that against disney too  it was kind of wierd for nadia and kida to wear that bikini style clothing in an adventure sci  fi  not to mention they both move in a similar style too  . as an anime fan i have to agree there  s some degree of copying but it  s only on the minor details and even though not many of the ideas are original  like the encryption design on the wall in laputa  the ancient mask from princess mononoke  the resemblence of the vehicles to the garfish submarine in nadia  etc  . . . the plot itself i believe it  s highly original and it  s quite amazing that disney can pull it off without the use of captain nemo  the main character in jules verne  s   k leagues under the sea which is also the main character in nadia  . as for mylo and jean wearing similar style glasses . . . as shown in the novel  lord of the flies   glasses is a symbol of wisdom and intelligence . i think mylo  jean  the main character from stargate and a dozen of other  intelligent  characters would look kind of unfit for the role if they went in without glasses . as for the submarines  and how the submarines fight  with those wide blast torpedos which really resembles what nautilius does   i want to state that it  s a required element for either one if atlantis is involved in the plot  after all it  s a sunken city beneath the waters  . as for the crew having some charactistical resemblence with the crew from nautilius in nadia  it might be the artwork but i don  t sense any copyright infringement there as the character  s personalities were perfectly original to me . as an anime fan that rated nadia as the   best anime i ever watched even now today . i do have my doubts about atlantis when i first saw the preview . but now that i watched the movie  i once again regained my confidence with disney and have high hopes for their future movies after atlantis . overall  the best disney movie yet without me shivering at the sound of their songs at the middle of the movie and it  s a plus that they revised their cheesy scripts to make it even better . also  it  s amazing that they actually portray the bad guys look normal with out making them overly evil in the beginning  i was wondering who the bad guys are and only the blonde girl kind of resemble the looks of a bad character in terms of how disney draws it aka make the bad guys look really menacing   
 . . . cause they  re both pretty lousy . i think the best part of the movie is the horrendously imperial picture of faye dunaway at the top of the stairs . she looks like she could very easily step out of that picture  rip someone to bloody pieces  and calmly re  enter the portrait looking as if nothing had happened . now  you know a movie  s in trouble when part of the set furnishings manages to attract your attention .  br    br   i admit  i paid    for the dvd just so i could see faye dunaway in a contemporary horror movie . i know what you  re thinking     bucks right down into a gaping black hole . and you would be absolutely correct . this movie sucks . there  it  s right out in the open . i was expecting some actual scares  and i waited and waited and waited . none came . the raven  probably a crow in makeup  didn  t scare me  seeing small pieces of internal organs didn  t scare me  and even faye didn  t scare me . i  m not that brave  i know  so it must be the movie itself that is the trouble . what  s more  jennifer wasn  t scared either . her internal organs were literally falling apart and she seemed more peeved than anything . her life was rapidly coming to a close and she  s worried about attaining more money . honey  you can  t take money where you  re going     i need money   she continually says  completely ignoring the fact that her lungs have collapsed and ceased to function .  br    br   meanwhile  i spent the whole blasted movie wondering what was up with the grandmother  faye  . i was suspicious at first  faye playing a grandmother and all  and i was still suspicious at the end . there is another relative living in the house that jennifer and mary ellen the grandmother  from  hell are forced to share temporarily  and i  m guessing she is of the same generation as said grandmother . here  s the weird part   the relative looks like she  s just endured her eight hundredth birthday party . mary ellen looks like she  s just gotten a face  lift from a renowned surgeon . face  lifts can  t work miracles  but i think faye  s appearance is important to the rice  paper plot . spoiler    it seems that the family is plagued by an illness that affects bad acting . . . sorry  my little joke . seriously though  there  s all illness that causes their organs to fail and ultimately disintegrate . yuck  huh  interestingly enough  mary ellen is still alive and all her organs are intact . how did she avoid the family curse  something  s up with her  obviously .  br    br   another reason for mourning the loss of my thirty dollars   this movie features one of my all  time movie pet peeves . i refer to the double ending . this movie ends twice . i absolutely hate it when that happens  and in this movie it feels like the director shot the ending  didn  t like it  and forget to remove it during editing . i guess it  s supposed to be scary  but it is only if you  re a film editor .  br    br   there is one perk to this debacle  though  and it  s one of the reasons i bought the dvd . the  filmmaker  commentary features faye dunaway  and i wanted to see how she acted when she didn  t have lines to recite . guess what   the movie sucked so bad i wasn  t able to sit through it again . drat .  
beautiful to watch  but what would be the first thing you would do the moment you discovered atlantis  explore it  here was a golden opportunity to take viewers someplace special . instead  disney reverted to the same old formula story telling .  
don  t bother . a little prosciutto could go a long way  but all we get is pure ham  particularly from dunaway . the plot is one of those bumper car episodes . . . the vehicle bounces into another and everything changes direction again  until we are merely scratching our heads wondering if there were ever a plot . gina phillips is actually good  but it  s hard playing across from a mystified dunaway playing lady macbeth lost in the marx  s brother  s duck soup . ah  the raven . . . now there  s an actor . and there is the relative who just lies and bed and looks ghostly . or dr . dread who  s filled with lots of gloom and no working remedies . i  m one of those suckers who just has to see a movie to the end . quoth the raven   nevermore .   
atlantis was much better than i had anticipated . in some ways it had a better story than come of the other films aimed at a higher age . although this film did demand a soid attention span at times . it was a great film for all ages . i noticed some of the younger audience expected a comedy but got an adventure . i think everyone is tired of an endless parade of extreme parodies . a lot of these kids have seen nothing but parodies . after a short time everyone seemed very intensely watching atlantis .  
oh this was a really bad movie . the girl who plays jennifer is ok  but i think she acts bitchy through the movie  not because she is having her organs ripped out by a raven at night  but because she is thinking of firing her agent for putting her in this piece of crap . faye dunaway acts like she is remaking mommy dearest and the ending is completely silly . i really can  t recommend this movie at all even though as a fan of edgar allen poe  i was intrigued a bit by the references to his work  ravens  house of usher  like family curse  and being buried alive   still he would probably turn over in his grave if he knew about this film .  
atlantis was much better than i had anticipated . in some ways it had a better story than come of the other films aimed at a higher age . although this film did demand a solid attention span at times . it was a great film for all ages . i noticed some of the younger audience expected a comedy but got an adventure . i think everyone is tired of an endless parade of extreme parodies . a lot of these kids have seen nothing but parodies . after a short time everyone seemed very intensely watching atlantis .  
this movie was a littttle confusing at first . i usually like gina phillips  but this one i have to say was a bad choice just like her doing the movie ring around the rosie  that one also not one her good movies . jeepers creepers was way better . anyway  faye dunaway was good . she totally creeped me out and at the end  that was crazy . it was about jennifer cassi  phillips  who comes to her twin sisters funeral . she stays at a house that her sister owns and her grandmother  dunaway  lives at with an aunt named emma . mary ellen  dunaway  is kinda sacrificing her relations to stay alive and as long as she wants to live  she can  t die . even if jennifer tries to kill her  which she tries . ravens have a weird part in it . when the relations go to sleep  the ravens eat there organs  so they can  t go to sleep . but they do . basically it all crazy and mary ellen will never die and her relations will be buried  but not dead  b  c they have to suffer forever so mary ellen can stay alive . yeah  i hope this helps . if it doesn  t  sorry . love ya .  
while i have a great respect for disney  s animated films  as of late they haven  t really been what i would call  must  see  . atlantis looked intriguing from the first movie poster and trailer  and thankfully lived up to my expectations .  br    br   atlantis is a more  mature  disney film in the sense that it lacks songs  a very unusual trait for a disney film indeed   and is focused more on action and discovery than any other recent disney offering . the world of atlantis  hidden beneath the earth  s core  is fantastic  presented as desolate caverns with ruins  and then slowly developing into actual ecosystems  which  while usually containing some reminder of harshness  become more and more intriguing until the tropical paradise itself is reached . the presentation of simply atlantis  landscape and setting  without some expendable cheery song  gave the kingdom a much more beautiful and intriguing appearance . the inclusion of an atlantean language  as well as attempts to connect it into the mythology of real  life ancient civilizations adds to this  and works fairly well .  br    br   also  with the exception of some scenes involving mole  s practical jokes  there didn  t seem to be much of a  childish  element that i usually associate with disney films . instead  the main elements were the struggle to get to atlantis  and the constant discovery that occurred at atlantis  as milo the outsider was able to learn all he ever needed to know about the place by helping the atlanteans discover parts of their own history that they didn  t know about . part of this involves the atlantean  weaponry   which is used in a very action  packed climax which is  for lack of a better word  quite exciting .  br    br   granted  not all of the story makes full sense  and the film doesn  t feature any amazing new computer  generated visual effects  but  aside from the toy story movies  this is the most entertaining disney film i  ve seen in years .  
jennifer  s shadow is set in argentina  starts as jennifer cassi  gina philips  arrives there after her sister johanna dies . jennifer is left johanna  s large house in her will  jennifer decides to sell the house  head back to los angeles even though her grandmother mary ellen  faye dunaway  is opposed to the sale . however strange things begin to happen  jennifer starts having nightmares about ravens pecking at her  she starts to feel very ill . after a check up in hospital it seems that one of her kidney  s have mysteriously disappeared  what is happening to jennifer  is it an ancient family curse  will jennifer be the next to succumb to it . . .  br    br   this argentinian american co  production was co  written  co  directed by daniel de la vega  pablo pars  is a really dull waste of ninety odd minutes  a tedious  predictable modern ghost story that i would imagine will put more people to sleep sooner than scare them . the script by vega  pars  p . j . pettiette is pretty slow going  tedious which is not what anyone wants  i mean i  m sure most people don  t want to sit down  be bored out of their skulls . the character  s are all uninteresting  fairly faceless with little or no motivation for anything they do . for instance who is that graveyard caretaker guy  how did he know about the demons  what is his interest  motivation for getting involved  i couldn  t see it . jennifer herself is a pretty unlikable  bland leading lady  her grandmother mary allen is as clichd as they come  it  s surprising that she is so obviously the villain . i mean for this sort of mystery based horror  ghost story it  s surprisingly predictable  routine . there are gaps in both logic  the story which together with the terrible twist ending which isn  t much of a twist i didn  t like jennifer  s shadow one iota .  br    br   directors vega  pars goes down the much used route of bleaching almost all of the colour from the picture which often renders it not too far from black and white  i suspect that they wanted to give it a period gothic feel but it  s been done so many times before  often so much better that it didn  t do much for me at all  just makes the whole film look dull  lifeless . there  s a definite    s period look as well  from the costumes to the interior of the large house but again it  s rather half hearted  cheap looking . jennifer  s shadow is well made but it  s rather forgettable  it  s not scary or creepy  it  s rather predictable . if that wasn  t enough there  s no gore either  there  s a few scenes of ravens pecking away at people  a beating heart but nothing else .  br    br   with a supposed budget of about            retitled to the chronicles of the raven for it  s us  international dvd release this is reasonably well made but a million won  t buy you too much these days  jennifer  s shadow pretty much proves that theory . there are too many scenes of actor  s speaking in thick argentinian accents as well  even though it might be realistic i actually like to be able to understand what people are saying . the acting is alright although dunaway overacts badly  is obviously there for the money .  br    br   jennifer  s shadow is a rubbishy ghost film that i thought was a total bore from start to finish  i would rather watch the incredibly strange creatures who stopped living and became mixed  up zombies          again instead . a total waste of time .  
if you have sons or daughters who love action  adventure  intrigue  and imagination  without the need to break into song every twelve minutes  then this is the disney movie for you  my sons loved every minute of this film  and i have to admit that i laughed out loud many times throughout the movie . there are no sappy songs to get in the way of a wonderfully told story  and the characters are all lovable and identifiable in their own right . this should go down as one of the disney  classics  because of its beautifully illustrated scenery and its non  stop excitement   
jennifer cassi  gina philips from  dead and breakfast   returns back to the house she grew up in which she recently inherited from her deceased sister  unbeknownst to her grandmother  fay dunaway  who  s still living in it . jennifer decides to sell it as she  s in dire need of the money much to granny  s chagrin . she also begins to have troublesome recurring nightmares of a mysterious raven . there was really no one to relate to in this film . jennifer seemed cold  distant  unsentimental  and narcissistic  whereas the grandmother seemed spiteful  sad  and also narcissistic . the film is good and well  made  but with no one to empathize with i found it hard to care about what happened to them .  br    br   my grade c   
atlantis is probally the best disney movie that i have seen in years . it has great action scene  magic  an intelligent and weel written script . atlantis  brings back the magic of the disney classics such as  the lion king  or  alladin  . after seeing this one i  m sure that this year summer blockbusters season will be great .  br    br   i recommend to you all   alantis  the lost empire is like a breath of inspiration .  br    br    out of    
this is easily the most disappointing  least gratifying movie of the entire so  called blacksploitation genre  which  by the way  are films we generally enjoy a great deal in our home . rather than being  exploitation  or demeaning  these films actually provide a priceless insight into an era . well  not bucktown .  br    br   in this story  duke returns to bucktown to operate the night club left to him by his recently deceased brother . he quickly learns that the city is entirely controlled by a corrupt police force  bleeding protection money out of all the local businesses . duke resists  and determines that he will rescue the city from the corrupt police . unfortunately  he does so by calling in a posse of his friends  these people are vaguely explained as some former black  militants who have worked with duke on  jobs  in the past  and they simply murder the entire police department in cold blood . and literally in the presence of hundreds of witnesses who do nothing to stop it . ignorance is not a justification for murder  and it would have been much more entertaining to see the cracker police suffer for their actions as opposed to merely getting whacked in the street . while revenge is a ubiquitous and generally satisfying theme in films of this genre  it is a far cry from seeing pam grier track down the thugs who off  ed her family  cuss them out  give them a jujitsu ass  kickin  and set their  fro on fire . that has art  and a reason for existing  and merits a level of respect that is quite undeserved by simply shooting someone in the back . of course  in this bizarre tale  she is playing a woman completely under the man  s thumb  afraid of the crackers who run her town and oppress her people . indeed  her advice to duke is   run  man  they gonna kill you    br    br   following the sickening and gratuitous violence  we are expected to believe that the town  s mayor wholeheartedly condones the actions of duke and his friends  congratulating them and offering to throw a parade in their honor  as opposed to  say  calling the district attorney to press capital murder charges against them and have them taken into custody . duke  s posse declines the parade and instead opts to fill the numerous vacancies on the police force created by their recent killing spree . they immediately prove to be even more corrupt than their cracker police predecessors  to quote the mayor   they are ten times worse than what we had before    . now duke finds he must again rescue the citizens of bucktown from corrupt  protection  racket law enforcement officials and again make it safe for decent folk to operate a prostitution business in the streets . unfortunately  duke has already lost all moral high ground and sympathy due a hero  as he was a willing participant in the murder of the original police force . i wouldn  t have cared one way or the other if he had rescued bucktown or gotten plugged himself at this point . i suppose we are to be entertained by the clever way duke has to outsmart the new police goons  but in reality the film has now just become an opera of gratuitous violence  duke murders all of his former friends and allies in cold blood with the same absence of compassion he had when gunning down the cracker police . duke is a pig .  br    br   finally  when everyone in town but duke  aretha  and the employees of the local brothel are dead and bleedin  in the street  our hero and heroine walk off into the night as though they had some admirable qualities or redeeming values they don  t . duke is merely a murderous thug and aretha his enabling misogynist accomplice . if you are interested in this genre of film  by all means  i highly recommend them  see coffy  foxy brown  truck turner  blacula  sheba babybut if in the process you should run across this dvd  throw it as far away as you possibly can  drop it like it  s hot  it should be treated as one would treat a glowing puddle of nuclear waste  there is no single film in the entire blacksploitation era that is not dramatically more entertaining  satisfying and populated with more sympathetic and admirable characters than this piece of slime  obviously written by and targeted at some hormonally imbalanced high school sophomores .  
atlantis the lost empire has some of the best  smoothest animation and cleverly written dialogue of any disney movie i  ve seen . and i was convinced of that in the first   minutes . i especially love don novello  s voice work on vincenzo santorini and phil morris as joshua strongbear sweet . too bad the whole film seems to move at about double the pace that would be appropriate  at least in the first act . one important aspect of any disney movie is a satisfying antagonist  which atlantis doesn  t provide . he  s average at best . halfway through the movie there  s a mediocre twist . that  s all . it  s a great movie nevertheless . everyone should check it out .  
this movie was amusing at times  hell sometimes it was even downright funny .  br    br   the underlying message i got from the film though  was that women are responsible for all of the troubles of man . every time a woman is depicted in the film  she is being lazy  being slutty or lambasting some poor guy for no apparent reason . i don  t think the message involved is good for women or gay men .  br    br   but  it is a comedy  and a piece of art  so it is simply someones point of view . even if i don  t agree with it  they are still entitled to it .  br    br   an amusing film  but some of the comments others have made are just plain stupid . best film ever my foot .  
the movie  atlantis the lost empire  is a shining gem in the rubble of films produced by the disney studios recently . parents who have had to sit through  the jungle book   or even a pokemon movie will surely appreciate this one .  br    br   the film is one of few to attempt at an original story previous feature films were merely re tellings of existing stories . films such as  toy story    finding nemo   and  monsters inc .  all do the same  but it must be noted that all were made by pixar and only distributed by disney . recent films from the disney studios are mostly released direct to video  and are sequels to an existing successful film . the quality of those films is given way to the profitability . a new era started with  atlantis  following it were  mulan    lilo  stitch   and most recently  open range  . the writers have created all original story lines instead of the fairy tales of the past .  br    br   a good portion of the movie is devoted to the quest to find atlantis  a task that has captured the imagination of many for hundreds of years . including that of young milo thatch  voiced by michael j . fox . milo is employed by a museum in washington d . c . . his grandfather was a renowned archaeologist  who had devoted his life to discovering atlantis . this was seen as a waste by his peers  and they wish milo to not follow in his footsteps . after failing to convince the museum board of directors to sponsor his expedition  milo comes home to find a woman in his darkened apartment . she takes him to her employer  a mr . whitmore . whitmore was a close friend of milo  s grandfather  and wishes to send milo with a team to locate atlantis . mr . whitmore is very wealth and has paid for the best of everything . the crew that is to accompany him is the same as his grandfathers . the journey is filled with many great obstacles to overcome and is great fun to watch . the viewer finds themselves caught up in if they will reach atlantis . the plot takes an unexpected turn after the discovery atlantis  not just the discovery of people . it is enough to keep the interest of the older audience .  br    br   the animators have done a wonderful job in then depth of the animation . the movie is very successful in blending traditional animation with computer generated images . a feat not easily achieved  most audiences are quick to notice the difference in the two . the characters are believably human . there are some nice chase type scenes  with lots of action going on . a few lulls are filled with jokes that the children just may not get .  br    br   the creativity of the writers really shines through . the culture of atlantis is richly developed  including an entire language . the film uses references to atlantis from historical sources  such as plato . the disappearance of atlantis from the world is explained . believable  if by a younger audience  that magic really does exist . the powers of the people of atlantis are not exactly presented as magic  but can best be described in this way .  br    br   although set in     the level of technology used is unrealistic . the voyage is in a submarine very reminiscent of captain nemo  s nautilus  complete with sub pods that fire torpedoes . the giant diggers are driven by steam boilers so they did try for some era technology . the female characters are empowered in a way that women of the age would not have been  even holding roles in leadership . this is not a bad thing . it gives a good role model for my daughter to look to  rather than an all male cast .  br    br   one reason this film is a favorite of mine over other disney films is that there is not one single song  ever . a tradition that began with the first feature film   snow white   and carried on through to  the lion king   almost every disney film is full of upbeat songs . this is great and all  what would the seven dwarfs be without  hi ho    after the millionth time through it  d almost be better without  but this one spares the parent . not once does every single person on the screen suddenly know the words to a song that no one has ever heard before and break out in song . i for one am grateful .  br    br   the storyline and depth of animation is sure to keep the attention of both parent and child alike . it is a film i am willing to watch again and again with my children .  
with a movie called  gayniggers from outer space  how could you go wrong  just throw in some over the top stereotypes for the characters  use the village people as the main suppliers for the soundtrack  and throw in tons of gay  gags . plot is unimportant . too bad  this film doesn  t contain any of this and every joke misses the spot . the characters all look alike apart from the german gaynigger  one or two jokes work  the rest fails .  br    br   the title made me laugh and i was prepared to laugh even more about the film . my expectation were to high apparently .  
okay  this show is nothing but awesome  it has a great story line and plot and great actors and actresses . jeremy sumpter is so hott and he is perfect for the role  he is gunna be big in hollywood . he has a bright future ahead  this show better last a long time because i really love this show  and i hope that it has a lot of success  it is so interesting . i have been waiting for it to come out for about  or  months and it  s finally here  and it  s great  i tape it  too . i can watch it whenever i want now  too bad its only on once a week though . i wish it was on at least twice a week because now i wish that it was tuesday every day  hope you all like this show   br    br   ashley  
the good earth is not a great film by any means  it is way to ordinary . maybe it was different in the      s but who would want to see the life of a farmer . it is not very interesting to me . yes  luis rainer and paul muni do an excellent job acting but the film dragged on way too long . i could have told you the ending of this movie by the first act . in short wang lung  muni  a small time farmer who does not want to be like his own father turns out exactly like him . both falling in love with their wives just as they are on their death beds . the film does a complete    going from one generation to the next . also this film did not have any good character actors or funny moments  it just was depressing stuff about lasting as a farmer during a time of crisis .  
atlantis the lost empire is a better movie than i thought . i never thought this movie would lead to my expectations . true  this movie started slow  but as the movie wore on it became more to my liking . the story takes place in     and is about a guy named milo . milo believes in the fabled atlantis . along with friends of his grandfather  he embarks on an amazing adventure of his own . along the way  he must endear friendship  betrayal  trust  and more . the voice cast is great . they surely know how to carry movies with only their voice talent . the music is nothing special but likable anyway . the animation is not the best  but it is still good enough . overall  this is a good family movie for all ages . i rate this movie     .  
well  what can i say about this movie . i  m speechless . i could go on about how stupid this movie is forever though the one thing that really pised me off was the music . and to top it all off someone commented on how much they liked it . to them all i have to say is that it was ripped off from one of the best martial arts movies of all time fistsof fury starring bruce lee . if he was still alive and ever came across this movie he  d be horrified . the rest of the movie is absolutely ridiculous and a waste of tape . i say tape because a movie like that couldn  t possibly have been shot on film . i now feel more stupid for wasting   minutes of my life watching it . the only reason why i even saw it was because my roommate downloaded it out of morbid curiosity . what is this world coming to .  
  atlantis  is a new and right step for a disney feature . it  s a good choice to make a film by such a mysterious legend like  atlantis  . i didn  t have any expectations for this film  but after watching it  i don  t quite understand why this film got so bad reviews . even in my country the reviewers weren  t positive .  br    br    atlantis  is not a perfect movie  but still one of disney  s greatest  even i doubt that this film ever will get  disney classic  reputation . well  that  s another case . it  s funny to think that this sci  fi movie was directed by the same directors as  beauty and the beast  and  hunchback   so kirk wise and gary trousdale are trying to get away from their monster movies reputation  he he  i  m just kidding  .  br    br   well  enough nonsense .  atlantis  is a watchable  exiting and very enjoyable film . even this film it  s a pg  rated action  feature  it  s also suitable for kids  in my opinion  parents who mean the opposite  don  t kill me for writing this  he he  .  br    br   the story is a little predictable  but it doesn  t ruin the movie . the comic book  inspired animation it  s suitable for the film and set  s a departure from the usual disney  style . it  s colorful  dark and detailed . the deep canvas sequences are pretty impressive . the film is also funny sometimes  even i more giggled than laugh through the movie .  spoilers  the characters of this film are also very likable  but unfortunately there isn  t enough screen time to get to know everybody  so some characters are left behind  spoilers  .  br    br   the score of james newton howard is absolutely great . it  s daring and exotic .  spoiler  the most impressive about this film is how they  re making the atlantean language sound very natural  ethnic and authentic . it  s really awesome  spoilers over   br    br   the script is tight and well  written  but still the there are some questions left unanswered in the story . but luckily there are not so much of them .  br    br   so do you  re self a favor  don  t listen to the reviewers and watch  atlantis   cause it  s waiting for you . . .  
this film is about a group of extra terrestrial gay black men exterminating females on earth  in order to create a gay universe .  br    br   i watched it with the intent of seeing how bad it was . still  i was shocked at how bad it was . it looked more like a film made   years ago . the acting  if any  is ultra bad . the sets and props are so ridiculously fake  making any college film look mega budget . and the special effects are laughably simple  indeed jaw dropping as others have commented  but jaw droppingly embarrassing .  br    br   one has to be severely intoxicated  or in an altered state of consciousness in order to appreciate this film . if i was from denmark  i would be severely embarrassed and humiliated that my countrymen produced such a horrifyingly bad film .  
definitely a very good idea  screenplay was just ok . could have been better  the positives are that it doesn  t bore you if you  re an adventure lover  a new idea about the lost world of atlantis . negatives are that i personally feel that this idea had so much more potential than this . they should  ve ended up with a better adventure than this . it wasn  t bad at all but it would have been much better with some more runtime . enjoyed it a lot though  cant say that it was boring or wasn  t good . . a good one for the people who like adventure animations like sindbad  like the road to el dorado . this movie is also recommended for people looking for a nice little adventure with a very nice happy ending .  
it  s hard to know what was going through per kristensen and morten lindberg  s heads when they wrote  gayniggers from outer space   the movie is billed as a comedy  yet there are no real jokes beside the crude character names  capt . b . dick  sgt . shaved balls  . the rest of the movie is a  presumably  unintentionally funny affair with ridiculously unsynchronised voice  overs  with the  actors  basically reading their lines with no hint of feeling    futuristic  computer displays filled with spelling mistakes  and a plot that makes almost no sense .  br    br   even though    of viewers have given this movie a perfect   out of    this is the complete opposite of what a good film is . it may be entertaining to watch with some friends  but this film only deserves about a    out of ten . . . slightly higher than the lower possible rating only because of the sheer fact that the writers somehow managed to get some black guys to star in this movie .  
i thought that this film was very enjoyable . i watched this film with my wife before i had my first child . therefore  i was not watching it as simply family entertainment and i still thoroughly enjoyed it . it seems as though many of the reviews are pointing out that this movie is not earth shattering  there were no unexpected plot changes and that the movie was predictable and boring . if these people were watching this movie expecting to have a religious experience doing so  then they were obviously going to be disappointed . this is simply an animated movie nothing more . if you want to see this movie simply to sit back and let yourself be entertained  you will not be disappointed . in closing  this is definitely not the best movie disney has made  but it is entertaining and i do not understand the bad reputation it has received .  
gayniggers from outer space is a short foreign film about black  gay aliens who explore the galaxy until they stumble upon earth . being gay  their goal is to have a male  only universe in which all people are gay . hence  when they discover women or  female creatures  live on earth  they are at first terrified eventually they decide to eliminate all women on the planet and liberate the male population .  br    br   an offensive title with a racist  homophobic and sexist storyline  albeit probably intended as a satire  give this film some shock value . however  there  s little substance underneath . as another reviewer pointed out  there are few jokes besides the characters  names  eg . arminass   i think i laughed once at one small gay joke . i think i got the point of the film quickly  a satire of bad science fiction  but after that i had had enough i kept wanting the film to end already  and it is a short film   . not brilliant or particularly well  written .  
it is written in stone that disney animations simply must be musicals . right  where  show me . because i found this attempt to be much more enjoyable for not containing the hokey made  for  five  year  old standard disney musical fare .  br    br   while the story was not as enthralling as it could have been  it was still quite good  enjoyable  and adventurous . i had hoped for a bit more  yes  considering the subject matter  but this movie is not the bitter disappointment or utter failure it has been billed to be .  br    br   the animation quality is average  but the dialog is quite compelling  as is the story line  plot  sub  plot  and amazing creativity i found within this production . i will refrain from outlining the plot  as it has been done and done  but this movie is well worth a view if you are a fan of fantasy .  br    br   this is  in my opinion  the best disney animated feature length film .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
i was recently online looking at a site that featured public domain movies . in their long list of films was this film and i thought i must be hallucinating at such an offensive title and premise . but  no  that  s really what it was . and since the film was only about   minutes long  i decided to give it a try . if it had turned out to be some porno movie  i would have stopped watching . instead  it turned out to be the most bizarre film i have ever seen . the danish production crew tried  with a budget of about     to make a star trek  style film about a crew of very gay men traveling about the galaxy wiping out female oppression by killing all the women   like they proceeded to do on the earth  and in every case  they were met with cheers and thanks from the now gay men of the planet .  br    br   subtle  this ain  t . with some of the most obscene and juvenile names of characters i  ve ever heard  i don  t even think i can write them on imdb without having my review removed  however  despite the utter crappiness of it all  it was strangely watchable and worth a peek . but  as i mentioned already  due to the crude names and odd subject matter  though no nudity   it  s a film for adults only .  br    br   by the way  this movie left me with     questions as to who would make this  why make it and who was the intended audience   it may not be the absolute worst thing i have ever seen  but it probably is the weirdest and possibly the most offensive   
this movie was great  it was an excellent rendition of an ancient myth . the animation was somewhat odd  but nothing new from disney . it was definitely better than expected for a disney movie with no singing .  br    br   the background animation was magical . it was a different level of work for the disney people . some of the characters were a little boxy  but it was more than made up for with the beauty and lushness of the scenery . the music was largely instrumental but that was perfect for the movie . this was definitely not a film that needed the characters to bust into song .  br    br   perfect .   out of   .  
gayniggers from outer space is pretty much summed up by its name . running only   minutes long  it describes a spaceship of gay blacks that come to earth to free the men from women . while i see a little significance to the plot  it also is really illogical . granted  its meant to be a comedy  spoof on society and science fiction . i found myself laughing several times  so it succeeds there .  br    br   the special effects are horrible . when the spaceship is floating above the earth  you can see stars zoom by for no apparent reason . the asteroids shown in the beginning look fake  the equipment on the ship is illogical  there are several misspellings in the text  the actors are unconvincing  the characters are messed up in general  the whole thing doesn  t take itself seriously . if you get past all the aspects that make it a bad movie  its very accessible and easy to see through to the end . some parts are hilarious . but overall  the only thing that you are left remembering is that it was one of the most ridiculous concepts ever .  br    br   seeing that its a short film and has some funny aspects  its not the worst thing to see . but its illogical and holds little long  term value . i can  t really recommend it if you do watch it  do so for the unique concept  not the quality .  
disney  the film name that once stood for all things innocent and suitable for all ages  has finally started to realise that to survive it needs to become more diverse . such diversity has been very apparent in the last couple of years . films like  tarzan  and  the emperor  s new groove  have made an attempt to move away from the traditional song  driven routine of disney  s past and into new  uncharted territory .  atlantis  is the boldest step yet  but we have to remember this is still disney . the first ever serious film to come out of disney  s animation studio is a major achievement for them  in fact it  s so serious it makes it into pg territory . perhaps why a lot of families were scared off from seeing it this past summer .  br    br   but despite the more mature subject matter  this is still a film that disney wanted to draw in the families with  not just mature audiences  so the plot had to be kept simple enough for children to understand  but interesting enough to take it away from the realms of  the little mermaid  et al .  br    br   so what we get is actually a potentially detailed plot  unfortunately suffering the blow of being condensed into a    minute movie . ultimately  this is an action film about atlantis  not about the exposition preceding it  so we are whisked through the first half hour with as many sequences bombarding the screen as is possible without losing coherency . suspend your disbelief of how the characters get from point a to point b so quickly  you  re unlikely to find an animated film that detailed coming out of hollywood  if you want epic levels of detail in the plot  turn to james cameron  s  titanic  . both films feature a boat in some manner .  br    br   and let  s talk about love  shall we  yes  as with a lot of films  the lead male  one milo thatch  a bumbling archaeologist  and lead female  kida  the clichd atlantian princess  are set to fall in love with each other . but what i found was not as clichd as i was expecting . by film  s end  for once  the characters touching  feeling  kissing sequence was far more subdued . there  s various points in the film where the attraction grows  but it  s just not in the ballpark of  say   the little mermaid   a good thing  .  br    br   you may have grasped that this is a rather clichd film . correct . you have your leading hero and heroine  backed up by more than half a dozen crew members who go on the expedition  all being given their moments during the film . numerous other characters appear  take up the few minutes of screentime  then disappear . it doesn  t take a genius to do the maths  a    minute film with a focus on action and visuals  and with a considerable cast  has very little time to expand the characters to any major extent . so what does it rely on  clichs  and lots of them . every character emulates something that has been done a thousand times before . you have the bumbling scientist  the attractive princess  the square  jawed colonel  the rich eccentric  the maniacal sleazebag  the russian femme fatale  need i go on   br    br   i don  t know why this got to anyone  i found the tongue  in  cheek nature of this film quite amusing . alright  this is meant to be a serious flick  but do you really expect disney to give up every single trait of their history  at least the writers have tried to come up with consistently witty dialogue  and sometimes it even is a little inspired .  br    br   but in the end it  s those big stunning visuals that put the icing on this cake . the cgi animation is truly amazing in places  and doesn  t dwarf the characters  which was a flaw that let the recent  titan a . e .  down . speaking of characters  disney hired an outside comics industry artist to create the designs  bringing an anime style to the film . infact the visual presentation of the film as a whole owes a lot to anime  much more so than any previous disney outing . this resulted in a conflict with fans of the japanese anime   nadia   for the film  s overall similarities with said cartoon series . having not seen this anime  i can  t comment .  br    br   with picture  there is sound . gary rydstrom heads up the sound team  and what a soundtrack  from the opening shot the sound stage is alive and is a treat . james newton howard treats us to a dynamic musical score  which compliments the film in every way  never sounding out of place and always helping to build the tension or subdue it .  br    br   perhaps i missed the point of what the creators intended . to me  the film conveys that it  s an adventure thrill ride  albeit with a more serious tone than any disney film before it . if you don  t like the clichd tongue  in  cheek attitude  then perhaps the effort that has been poured into the visuals will delight . heck  at least the mythology is far more correct than can be said about other disney efforts  coughherculescough  .  br    br   this is a positive    out of   review  from someone who was blown away by this film . i always suspend my disbelief with any animated film  after all  the laws of the real world are more than frequently broken in the cartoon medium . so sit back  enjoy the ride  and perhaps everyone can find something to enjoy about this film .  
i really wanted to like this movie  but it was just imposable . the acting was ultra hammy  the plot was annoying  and the pace was slow  sooo slowwwwww . the whole time sitting in the theater i wanted the movie to end . twenty minuets into a films and i  m praying for an ending . sure some of the visuals were nice  but c  mon guys  i mean really  and for a movie about a guy tuning magical instruments there really wasn  t much music to speak of . the music there was was annoying  and boring . there were sound loud shrill sounds at times too  those were also annoying . mainly this film managed to bore me  and creep me out at the same time .  br    br   i  m glad its over . i need to go see  tideland  and wash this bad taste out of my mouth .  
i thought this movie was very well put together . the voice  overs were also great . i liked how they all overcame their conflicts and reached their goals . i would recommend this movie to anyone . it was definitely worth the time and money to watch it . atlantis has some comic scenes that made me laugh . other scenes made me sad . and others made me glad . it is a movie any age can enjoy . from the moment milo is the crazy  profesor  or until he gathers the crew up for the fantastic voyage under the sea . after i watched the movie  i read the book . it was good as well  but the movie puts better pictures in your mind . it is just like the book . but go ahead and watch this movie   
when i first picked this film up i was intrigued at the basic idea and eager to see what would happen . i  m a fan of animation and love it when it  s successfully merged with live action footage . however  the animation in this film was about all i enjoyed . although it must be said that the actors  performances were excellent . the visual look  including the animation  gave a wonderfully unnerving air to the piece . however this was quality of unease was lost amongst the overblown imagery  both visual and in the script  that you were practically hammered over the head with . most annoying about this was the relative lack of importance to the plot . it seemed that the plot was shoe horned in at irregular intervals giving a stuttering effect that detracted massively from the flow of the piece . the voice overs from felisberto  especially the one at the end  very much felt like a desperate attempt to fill in gaping holes in the plot which had been ignored in favour of side issues such as the whole ant thing  and even that wasn  t properly addressed  . i  m afraid the whole piece came across as  at best  a  reasonable first attempt   by a teenager who has spent far too much time reading dh lawrence . not what you expect from seasoned film makers at all .  
here  s what i knew about  atlantis  before watching it  br    br     it  s officially disney  s first animated sci  fi adventure . i  m not sure how accurate that is  i like to nitpick  but it made me curious first time i heard it described .  br    br     the preview looked  for the most part  damn cool . evidently  it was also  too cryptic  according to some critics after the fact .  br    br     it apparently did so badly that disney said   screw it  let  s re  release  spy kids   .  br    br   so  with all that said  how is the movie   br    br   hella  cool .  br    br   i  m a sucker for animated fantasy that involves stirring music and rampant special effects anyway  but  atlantis  goes all out . it  s a throwback to all the cgi eye  candy shots in  beauty and the beast  and  aladdin   so much so that it  s almost an effects animator  s best  of show . the characters maybe aren  t that memorable  except  perhaps  for the ship  s medical officer   and the plot  s a little dull  but this isn  t a movie you watch for the plot .  br    br   here  s a controversy that bothers me . the  failure   as in  it  only  took in  like  five  hundred  million or something i know animators who  d kill to see fifteen bucks of that  of this movie compared to the popularity of  shrek  and  monsters inc .  has been seen as evidence of the death of traditional animation . i don  t think that  s true . how do you account for the  south park  movie  what about  final fantasy   really  the story and the artistry is everything  not the method . i don  t know what disney  s comeback movie will be like  but i don  t think they  re out of the picture yet .  
the brothers quay are directors  judging by conventional thought  should have stuck to making short films . i myself actually really liked their first feature  institute benjamenta  but judging by their sophomore effort  the piano tuner of earthquakes  i  m willing to agree they don  t come close to equaling their past genius at feature length . piano tuner is  without a doubt  a gorgeous film to look at  and often to listen to . unfortunately  it  s borderline painful to sit through with its convoluted narrative and glacial pace . reading the plot synopsis  it sounds like a pretty good story . but the brothers fail miserably to bring it to life . one thing they should consider avoiding completely in the future dialogue . my god  it  s awful here . a huge bust .  
passing stones definitely one of the best comedy independent films ever . you must have a sense of humor to fully enjoy this one . this film for some reason hasn  t received its credit due . first  lets start with the story line everyone loves a good treasure hunt . when a dead father leaves letters behind advising of a hidden treasure it not only brings two families together but starts a whirlwind adventure . mix in a polish translator  a comatose mother  a crack  head with turrets syndrome  a twisted homosexual hypnotist  and one drag queen  money not only makes the world go round but can turn family into enemies . my favorite character in this film would have to be the sister  crack addict with turret  s syndrome  her sudden out burst will have you crying and mimicking for weeks .  
i waited almost   years to see this movie  thinking it might be an underrated work  from a period animation was no longer of the quality it had once been . it starred one of the best film villains of all time  was based on a beloved series of children  s books  and was a disney studios production . what could possibly be wrong with it  as it turns outs  almost everything .  br    br   well  not everything . vincent price as rattigan and henry mancini  s swanky score are the movie  s two saving graces . price is wickedly enjoyable  and mancini more professional than the material deserves . they bring class to a project that otherwise belongs in obscurity .  br    br   meanwhile the rest of the movie  while filled with inappropriately adult situations  still suffers from a completely dull script  blandly generic voice work  terrible songs  and lazy animation that wouldn  t have been out of place on any of disney  s mid      s saturday morning tv shows .  br    br   this was a complete disappointment to me . it  s amazing that this movie was nearly contemporary with the secret of nimh . costing a fraction of this  an independent studio produced something with more creativity in its trailer than gmd has in its endless running time .  br    br   the extra star that keeps this from being  awful  goes to price and mancini .  
to anyone who might think this show isn  t for them  please give it a try . network television has degenerated into shows that are clones of clones or are reality based shows featuring some often unreal people . this show is a return to family oriented tv where the emphasis is on learning some life lessons  learning what real friends and family are about  and maybe even learning a little bit about our national pastime . jeremy sumpter is one of the most appealing young actors in show business today  and he is perfectly cast as the young  slightly naive new batboy for the fictional new york empires  great name   . dean cain  christopher lloyd  mare winningham  and kirsten storms round out the main cast  and they are all exceptional . this show deserves a chance to catch on and be seen . hopefully it will stick around for a few seasons and we can watch pete young  sumpter  s character  learn and grow .  
the good earth is perhaps the most boring film i  ve seen in my life . the plot is slow and lacking . the acting is borderline comical . while i love paul muni  i can now say i have seen a film that does not do his true ability justice . the only saving grace i found with this film is it  s production value . the use of hundreds of extras throughout the film creates a very believable and interesting environment . also  the beautiful effects used to create the illusion of millions of wasps sells easily and was revolutionary at the time . other than the production value i can say little else that is good or entertaining about this film .  
surprisingly well made little movie . short in length at about   minutes . for a low budget movie  very well made . plot is slow to unravel . cast is excellent especially elizabeth van meter as the girlfriend with tourette  s syndrome .  
i have seen about a thousand horror films .  my favorite type  this film is among the worst . for me  an idea drives a movie . so  even a poorly acted  cheaply made movie can be good . something weird is definitely cheaply made . however  it has little to say . i still don  t understand what the karate scene in the beginning has to do with the film . something weird has little to offer . save yourself the pain   
caught this film at the arizona international film festival . i wasn  t expecting a lot  though the festival  s director told me it was one of the best films submitted  . five minutes into it i was sold . shot in b  w on a shoestring budget  this film is hilarious . the acting is solid  the writing is solid and the look of the film is solid . the acting is probably the biggest revelation  since most films shot on low budgets tend to have amateur or stagey acting . not this one . it features one of the most convincing  endearing and funny portrayals of a character with tourette  s syndrome i  ve ever seen . the plot is convoluted without being confusing and raunchy without being gratuitous . if you get the chance  see this movie . filmmakers like majkowski  hope i got that right  deserve the chance to strut their stuff to a wider audience .  
hg is normally exploitive  and it  s never really bothered me before   i loved  bloodfeast    but i really don  t like pseudo sciences or playing on heuristics . the whole movie is based on a man with esp caused by an electrical accident and a witch . i  m not opposed to witches  and i liked  carrie   the novel and the movie  but this one bothered me . i think it  s because of the main character developing esp from an electric line . also the university professor wasting his time studying esp cases . i wasn  t alive in the   s to know first hand whether or not esp was a common fallacy then  but i assume that any theory of such nature would simply be discredited . what really bothered me was the way the police were describing schizophrenics as ruthless  unpredictable villains who can seem like normal people    of the time and then just snap . nothing could be further from the truth . i detest such concepts because they add to public idiocy . many people still think that schizophrenia is dissociative identity disorder . whoever wrote this script didn  t know much about psychology .  br    br   there were some decent concepts to the movie . i liked the way the witch used men it was a nice change . i liked how she could make herself attractive  but didn  t when she was around her forced lovers . i found it interesting how her second lover also burned his face . had the script been touched up for a few weeks before production and not focused solely on making its audience dumber  this may have been a decent movie .  
this independent  bw  dv feature consistently shocks  amazes and amuses with it  s ability to create the most insane situations and then find humor and interest in them . it  s all hilarious and ridiculous stuff  yet as absurd as much of the film should be  there is a heart and a reality here that keeps the film grounded  keeps the entire piece from drifting into complete craziness and therein lies the real message here . this film is about how we all survive in a world gone mad . that seems to be the heart of the film . for as insane and off the wall as things get  leon  the   yr . old paperboy  protagonist  always tries to keep it together . he  s like a child forever trying to catch the balloon that is floating away so that everything will work out for the best  so that everyone can have what they want .  br    br   the acting in the film could have went far over the top but the exceptional cast really keeps the piece cohesive . van meter is perhaps the best of the bunch here with a performance that shines through her absurd diseased tics . just as the characters in the film do  we overlook her sudden outbursts to see the real person underneath .  br    br   majkowski is a true genius here . he takes the utmost ridiculous plot twists and keeps them real . it is his script and his cast that help keep the whole thing afloat . it  s a true testament to the skill of majkowski and all involved that this film  with it  s grating plot and characters  never once works our nerves . majkowski has taken a film that could have been abrasive and repugnant  and somehow given it heart and humor . this is a unique film . not to be missed .  br    br    
fans of goremeister herschell gordon lewis should look elsewhere if they are picking up this film for his usual buckets of blood being sloshed about  for there is precious little in the way of bloodletting in this film . instead  lewis decides to try and tell the bizarre story  relying on bargain  basement special effects on a budget which could have probably been doubled if the cast had turned out their pockets for change one day . oddly enough  while cheap and very poorly acted  especially by mccabe as mitchell   the total outlandishness of the plot keeps attention throughout . imagine what this film could have been like with a decent budget  overall  it strains for champagne tastes on a beer budget .  
this is a must see for independant movie fans  but it also holds up well against mainstream movies . i think we have the makings of the next woody allen or  br    br   trentin tarrentino here .  br    br   the budget is painfully low . no special effects whatsoever  and they seemingly used ambient lighting  shot in digital video .   and yet this movie grabs hold of you and never lets go . the screenplay is somewhat bizarre  yet the actors and director pull it off with complete realism . it has humor  it has intrigue  and it has pathos  and it all works together .  br    br   no point in describing the details . if you want to see an independant  br    br   masterpiece  a virtual lesson in how to make a low budget flick that really works  see this one .  br    br    oh yeah  it  s also really entertaining .  br    br    
i will admit that i did not give this movie much of a chance . i decided pretty early on that this just wasn  t my kind of movie .  br    br   for the most part  it has an excellent look in terms of its cinematography . the scenes of early    s manhattan look very good  as does the lead actress . it is a very crisp black and white  which could almost make the movie feel undated and fresh . however  some of the other techniques the filmmakers employ shoot that prospect all to hell . the disjointed editing is very late     s  somewhere between surrealism and new wave . the story also feels like it came from a very specific time  somewhere between free love idealism and artsy experimentation .  br    br   the film follows a young girl around the city as she looks for a man who she had anonymous phone sex with . as she meets other odd characters  she reveals her quirks and they reveal theirs . the movie seems to be meant as an off  the  wall  irreverent comedy  but adds an avant  garde feel . i would expect that if you like andy warhol movies  you would be very excited to discover the telephone book .  br    br   some problems i had near the end of the movie  one character tells a rambling anecdote that lasts over twelve minutes  brutal to sit through . also  there is a very explicit animation sequence that i found gross and juvenile that serves as the film  s climax . i did laugh out loud four or five times  and i liked the ending  minus the flat  out disgusting animation  . and when the film switched to color for the final phone  booth  at  night sequence  i actually liked the way it looked even better . it ended up being one of those experiences where i felt like i could have really liked it if it been a little different . but this is what the filmmakers gave us . it is obscure  artsy  and way left of the dial  but none of those are reasons to recommend it on their own . i didn  t find it to be unique or creative so much as forced and pretentious .  
carl brashear  cuba gooding  jr .  was born to sharecroppers in the deep south . he joins the navy  whereupon he tells his father he will be back . the father gives him an old radio  and brashear leaves on the navy bus . the most valuable thing his unemotional father taught him was   never quit  . after a recommendation from a white commander powers boothe   who admires his drive and guts  he gets sent to navy diving school at bayonne  nj . he endures harassment from his pals in uniform and from his trainer  chief navy master diver  billy sunday  robert de niro   and from the commanding officer  called pappy   hal holbrook  who  has almost as many loose screws as an old car  . they all want to make him drop out  and the prejudice is quite fierce . the dangers of diving prove a further setback when he loses a leg due to an accident on board ship . despite this setback  he tells his wife that he will train and achieve his objective  and with the help of billy sunday   now both joined in commiseration in their sufferings   they train and he is able to become the first black navy diver with his artificial limb despite the skepticism of a highly mocking and doubtful captain at the navy department hearing in washington  dc to determine if he meets the criteria . an inspirational movie  showing that determination can overcome all odds .  
this movie was bad . this movie was horrible . the acting was bad . the setting was unrealistic . the story was absurd a comet that appears once in eons is set to appear one night . most of the world  s population decided to watch this comet . then  the next morning everyone but a select few of people has been turned to dust from the comet  s radiation . people  s clothes are still intact  there are plants which are still alive  but the people were turned to dust . no bones  nothing . thats ridiculous . how can radiation incinerate people but leave their clothes and other biological substances intact   br    br   even better  the comet mutated some people into zombie flesh eating monsters . their makeup would not have even looked frightening to a newborn child . the insane clown posse scare me more . . . and they  re supposed to look stupid .  br    br   then there were the survivors . people who had been surrounded by steel when the comet passed were spared from zombie  dom and death . how can steel block a comet  s radiation that supposedly incinerates people in their tracks   br    br   equally insulting is the    s horror music playing in the background through parts of the movie  or the    s hair rock which serves no purpose in the film and makes you want to shoot your television .  br    br   the stupidest part of the movie  however  are the characters it focuses on two valley girls and chakotay from star trek voyager . these three characters were totally unrealistic . who would go looting the day after an apocalypse with flesh eating mutants running everywhere  there were four  minute horror scenes in the entire movie  and most of them were dreams . in between these scenes is unsophisticated dialog which makes south park seem intelligent . the silence in between the elementary dialog was painful . i could have made a better movie with four monkeys and a bag of cheetos . don  t see this movie  ever .  
for me  this is one of the best movies i ever saw . overcoming racism  struggling through life and proving himself he isn  t just an ordinary  cookie   carl brashear is an amazing character to play  who puts cuba in his best light  best performance in his life . de niro  who is a living legend gives that something to the movie . hated his character in movie  but he gives so much good acting to this film  great performance . and appearance of beautiful charlize was and as always is a big plus for every movie . so if you haven  t seen this movie i highly recommended for those who love bravery  greatness who seek inspiration . you must look this great drama . my vote     .  
night of the comet starts as the world prepares for a once in a lifetime event  the passing of a   million plus year old comet . instead of watching the light show regina belmont  catherine mary stewart  decides to spend the night with cinema projectionist larry dupree  michael bowen  in his booth . . . they awake the next morning  as larry attempts to leave the cinema he is attacked  killed by a zombie  the same zombie attacks regina but she manages to escape where upon she discovers that almost everyone on the entire planet has been turned into red dust . almost everyone because by some amazing coincidence the only other person to survive happens to be her sister samantha  kelli maroney   they desperately search for more survivors  meet up with a long distance trucker named hector gomez  robert beltran  . meanwhile an evil bunch of scientists need human blood to develop a serum to save themselves from turning into dust  they  re on the look out for unwilling donors . . .  br    br   written  directed by thom eberhardt i found night of the comet a pretty rubbish viewing experience  i  m surprised at the amount of positive comments on imdb about it because i just thought it was boring crap that never lived up to it  s potential . the script starts off    miles an hour with the obliteration of the entire population of earth  a zombie attack but then it goes absolutely nowhere  then eventually introduces the sinister blood stealing scientists towards the end of the film because by that time the slim story has run it  s course . there are plot holes too  if these scientists want blood why shoot the three or four gang members  save the two sisters when the guys would have provided more blood for their experiments  killing them just seemed a totally bizarre  an almost suicidal thing to do considering they need blood to develop a cure  it just doesn  t make sense i mean if your going to die  you need to experiment on human blood would rather have five or six donors providing blood or just two  i  m not having the fact that the two sisters survived independently of each other  i mean what are the odds on that  when hector confronts the female scientist for the first time she never mentions samantha or where she was or where the underground facility was where they took regina before she committed suicide so how did hector know these things  i also thought after the first twenty odd minutes the film slows down to a snails pace  became incredibly boring  dull to watch  after hearing so many good things about it night of the comet comes across to me as nothing more than an overrated boring piece of crap .  br    br   director eberhardt does a really good job  i liked the look of the film with it  s red tinted sky  he manages to create a really cool atmosphere of isolation . unfortunately there are far too many shots of empty streets  there are constant montage  s of empty streets  deserted roads  abandoned buildings  it gets extremely repetitive  dull . ok we get it there  s no one else about so there  s no need to keep ramming it down our throats by constantly showing roads without cars on them . the zombies are totally wasted  there are two zombie attacks in the entire film  that  s two individual zombies as well although there are a couple of effective nightmare scenes . night of the comet pays homage  or rips  off whichever you prefer  several other much better films including the obligatory end of the world shopping spree in a mall lifted from dawn of the dead       . forget about any blood or gore as there isn  t any .  br    br   technically night of the comet is pretty good  the special effects are decent enough  the production crew were obviously very good at closing streets off . the acting was alright expect for maroney as samantha the air  head blonde who became highly irritating .  br    br   night of the comet was a big disappointment for me  i had hoped for so much more . persoanlly i found this film dull  boring  uneventful  the puke inducing sequence where the sisters go shopping to the tune of  girls just wanna have fun  is probably the worst moment in the film . really bad  i just don  t get why so many people like this  i  m sure i  ll get slaughtered for saying it so let the abuse begin i can take it . . .  
you think you  ve had it tough  you should check out this film . carl brashear is the epitome of courage and determination . what this man had to go through to become a navy diver  should be an inspiration to us all . and significantly  after seeing this film  i learned that what is shown is not even the half of it  cuba gooding  jr . does some of his best work to date as brashear . de niro  as usual is good as the southern redneck who trains him . george tillman in only his second major feature  after  soul food    has made a quantum leap as a filmmaker . if you want to be moved and inspired  you definitely need to check out this one .  
this was the only time i ever walked out on a movie . years later  i saw it in the cable listings and thought   maybe i should give it another try .  suffice to say that i was right the first time . this ranks second only to godzilla     as the worst movie i  ve ever seen .  
i gave it an  star rating . the story may have fallen short about    of the way into the picture but the performances remained strong throughout .  men of honor  was changed from  navy diver  understandably so . anyone who has served in any branch of the armed forces will probably feel that  honor  is an appropriate word to use in the title .  
that  s a problem i have with movies that come on television  when there is nothing else to watch . i somehow get sucked into really bad movies .  br    br   but this one was fairly watchable . the concept of being the only ones left on earth after a comet  then finding out zombies are around makes me laugh . and that  s why i gave this movie a   instead of  . the story was stupid . . . but in that way that makes you laugh  too stupid  funny  .  br    br   i think i only watched it because the guy from star trek was the lead . i was surprised to see him as a younger guy . . . and he was the only funny character anyway .  
  inspirational  tales about  triumph of the human spirit  are usually big turn  offs for me . the most surprising thing about men of honor is how much i enjoyed it in spite of myself . the movie is as predictable and cliched as it gets  but it works . much credit goes to the exhilarating performances by both leads . it  s a perfect role for cuba gooding  jr .  who  s wonderfully restrained here . we have come to expect a lot from de niro  and he doesn  t disappoint . he creates a darkly funny portrait . director george tillman  jr . set out to make an old  style flick and comes up with a winner .  
richard pryor  s early   s running down the street on fire incident must have affected him somehow . in his stand up  he jokes about it getting great laughs . it seemed to have done something involving the projects he chose . the toy is about the lamest he ever chose  aside from i guess another you .  br    br   a movie where a white man buys his son a black man  nice little bit of underlying political incorrectness before thee was such a thing . it  s seeing richard getting all sentimental that made me finally walk out before the end . i wanted to see pryor get even with this brat  instead it becomes the misunderstood kid nauseum  at least gleason had his moments . ignore this and watch pryor with gene wilder or any of his    s stuff . this is a waste of any movie watcher  s time   
while it certainly wasn  t the best movie i  ve ever seen  it was certainly worth the    which can  t be said for many movies these days .   br    br   this was a pleasant account of a true story  although many of the details of the real story were twisted for the movie   ie  billy sunday  s character was three or four people in the real story combined together .  robert deniro was of course good  and cuba gooding  jr .  was also impressive .  
one richard pryor and jackie gleason  two great comics turned into saps for a bratty kid . they  ve both sold themselves out in this one  worse than pryor  s character . two horrible  overly sentimental script that could have been used in a harold lloyd movie its so cliched . three choice of a black actor as the toy the racial subtext of this is unbearable  as its never addressed . there  s no message here  pryor  s part could have been played by any comedic actor . four that kid . . . i wish i could go back in time and prevent him from ever acting . . . that would mean movies like this one and kid co . might not have been made . . . and my childhood would have been free of their mind  warping power . so if you want to watch a couple of great comics defile themselves in a sickly sweet kiddie flick  go ahead . if you want to see them in something good  see pryor  s old standup act and gleason in something better  like the honeymooners .  
this is a good family show with a great cast of actors . it  s a nice break from the reality show blitz of late . there is nothing else quite like it on television right now either  unless you count joan of arcadia as being similar because it has a teen lead character too . anyway  clubhouse is worth a look because jeremy sumpter gives the main character  pete young  a kind of likability and naivet that is appealing without being overly sweet and cuddly . dean cain  christopher lloyd  mare winningham and kirsten storms round out the rest of the main cast members  and each is terrific in their role . i really like kirsten storms as pete  s sister betsy she is quite a pill  but she still cares about her mom and brother  even though she hates to show it . it may take a few episodes to really find it  s legs  but clubhouse is easily one of the best shows to come along in a good long while  so check it out people   you  ll be glad you did   
the clich of the shell  shocked soldier home from the war is here given dull treatment . pity a splendid cast  acting to the limits of their high talents  can  t redeem  the return of the soldier  from its stiff  collared inability to move the viewer to emotional involvement . best moments  as another reviewer noted  come when glenda jackson is on screen but even jackson  s crackling good cinematic power can  t pull this film  s chestnuts from its cold  never warmed hearth . ann  margret  she of sex  kitten repute and too often accused of lacking acting ability  finds her actual and rather profound abilities wasted here  despite her speaking with a nigh  flawless middlesex accent . the hackneyed score  redolent of many lackluster tv miniseries  slathered  on saccharine emotionalism  is at irritating odds with the emotional remoteness of the script  blocking  and overbaked formalism of the direction except for its score and corseted script and direction   the return of the soldier  has all the right bits but it fails to make them work together .  
this movie is so misunderstood it is not even funny . if you think of seeing this one for the shootings . . stay clear . this one deals with the effects and trauma that the survivors must endure . even the detectives are seeking the answer we all do . . . why  fantastic acting from the two leading ladies as we see how those we ignore are affected by the very same things we are affected with . yes the language is harsh at times  but it suits the characters well . there are some loose ends left or unanswered  but all movies have these . the major issues are dealt with and this movie makes a major statement about how all of us adults feel after such major incidents . highly recommended for teens and adults .  
holy crap . this was the worst film i have seen in a long time . all the performances are fine  but there is no plot . really  no plot  a bunch of clowns talk about this and that and that  s your film . ug . . . robert duvall  s character is senile and keeps asking the same people the same qestions over and over . this earns him the same responses over and over . i am pretty sure this film got upto a six because people think they should like it . good performances with famous and well regarded actors  but the actual complete work is a steamy turd . well  maybe that  s a bit deceptive since steam rising from a fresh pile sounds a little like something happening and in this film nothing happens  sack  
this film is a great example of fine storytelling . the acting is superb . the story is inspiring without being overly manipulative or fake . there were a couple points where they probably made people a tad more good or bad than they really were  but considering it is a hollywood movie  they showed amazing restraint . there wasn  t a single explosion shown in the movie  even though they had one opportunity to . the film  while having suspenseful parts  was not made into an action movie . the story is thus made to focus on an extraordinary man in unfortunately ordinary times . well done   
the comedic might of pryor and gleason couldn  t save this dog from the tissue  thin plot  weak script  dismal acting  and laughable continuity in editing this mess together . it has a very few memorable moments  but the well dries up quickly . as a kid i remember this as a luke  warm vehicle for the two actor  comedians  but there was always something strange about the flow and feeling of what was being conveyed in each scene and how this ties to the plot overall . watching it again after many years  it screams schlock  a  mania . i  m not so concerned with the racial controversy  as i wouldn  t mind seeing a movie take that issue on with a little levity . the most obvious fault to me is that the scenes are laid out like a jumbled  non  related series of  minute situation comedy bits  any not very good ones at that   that were stapled together by the editor after an all  nighter at the local watering hole . characters change feelings and motivations on a dime  without rhyme nor reason  between scenes and within scenes  making this feel as though no one had any idea of what to get out of the screenplay . not that it was any gem to start with . i feel bad for the two actors whose legacy is marred by this disaster that should never have been made . maybe my sense of humor has become too refined . . .  
men of honor has many great aspects to it . good action sequences  plenty of  feel good  scenes  a good musical score  but the part that really makes the movie is the great acting . mostly by robert deniro . the story of men of honor is focused about carl brashear played by cuba gooding jr . who wants to be the first african american deep sea diver in the navy . it chronicles his rough struggle from being a poor farmer to getting into diving school and even further . it is a good story  but it seems like it has been done many times before . a person  against all of the odds  won  t give up until they accomplish their goals that they set for some sentimental reason many years ago . it could happen  but a lot of the struggles the brashear faces in the movie are questionable including the c . o . of the diving school tampering with his final test . however  all of that is made up for the scene when robert deniro finally enters the movie . deniro plays mater chief sunday who is the teacher at the diving school brashear is attending . as soon as deniro come in he omits this vibe of extreme arrogance that you can  t hate unless you have incredible wilpower . before the movie ends  deniro gives off multiple speeches that would have you laughing at how cool he is but you are too stunned at the way he punches them out . in the end you must doubt some of the aspects of the film  but admit it  if it was all the truth  it would have you snoozing it your seat by the first twenty minutes .  
can i do it  till i need glasses  at the very least proves the point that anyone can make a movie . talent is not a consideration . the folks who unleashed this wretched pile of spewing vomit upon the world  lack any semblance of talent  taste or intelligence . the target audience must consist of the recently labotimized  and infants who play with their own feces . anyone else would be far too world wise to get even a snicker out of this film . it consists of a series of sophmoric skits in which the punchline does not even extend to the obvious . it ends at the ludicrous . the jokes told are the types of jokes that elementary school children tell  usually potty or sexually related  where they don  t know the meaning of all of the terms they use . you know  like the one about daddy  s car and mommy  s garage . to apply any sterner method of criticism would be pointless  since the usual standards of acting  writing  direction and such have never even been heard of by the creative  minds .  behind this mess . not to be judgemental  but anyone who enjoyed this film should seriously reflect upon their purpose on this earth .  br    br    
i thought this move was very good . there were a few things that were less than perfect  but overall  i was quite surprised . the courtroom scene in the end seemed a little unrealistic  but was real enough to be entertaining . i found that the movie communicated the hardships of going though military training and the sacrifices that go along with it . being a military pilot i could relate to many of these parts .  
when i saw this movie  circa      it became the first movie that i ever walked out of in the middle . there is nothing worse than comedy that just misses being funny  and this misses every time  although i can  t speak for the last   minutes of the movie  . there was nothing original about any of the skits . while i enjoy racy humor where appropriate  these skits were needlessly vulgar . what was even more irritating was that this movie was advertised as  robin william  s first movie   capitalizing on his new found fame in the  mork and mindy  television series . yet his role turned out to be so minor that you cannot even notice him on  screen .  
men of honor features cuba gooding jr .  in what is probably his best performance to date . he plays carl brashear  a man of towering courage and heroism . he  s a poor dirt farmer from the south  who wants to become a navy diver  but has problems because of his race . the head of the diving school  played by robert deniro  is a racist redneck that nonetheless grows to respect brashear . the film is about how brashear has to concur the nearly insurmountable odds  not once but twice . the performances are what make this film special . gooding is great  and deniro  the best actor in movie history  gives a towering performance  his best dramatic work in years . charlize theron gives another solid performance as deniro  s much younger wife . the film lays on the patriotism a little too strong  though no where near the level it was in the patriot   and a few of the characters are just one dimensionally bad  hal holbrook  s mr . pappy is just so evil   but the film is a rarity among films today . it  s uplifting and uncynical . a wonderful film .  
 . . . . as to the level of wit on which this comedy operates . barely even reaching feature length   can i do it . . . .  till i need glasses  is a collection of  mostly  dirty jokes . many of them are so short that you can  t believe it when you realize that that was supposed to be the punchline  example the santa claus gag   others are so long that you can  t believe it when you realize that they needed so much time to set up that punchline  example the students  awards gag  . and nearly all are directed without any artistry . don  t get me wrong about  every   jokes actually manages to be funny  the iron  phone one is probably my favorite  . there is also some wonderful full  frontal nudity that proves  yet again  that the female body  especially in its natural form  is the best thing on this planet  there is some comedic male nudity as well  . and i agree with others that the intentionally stupid title song is actually pretty damn catchy  but none of those reasons are enough to give this film anything more than  out of  .  
as i watched this movie  and i began to see its  characters develop i could feel this would be an excellent picture . when you get that feeling  and the movie indeed fills those expectations the experience is rare . i had that very feeling throughout this movie . robert deniro and cuba gooding junior played riveting and amazingly strong parts which were both oscar worthy . the supporting cast was equally as strong creating a winning foundation for the picture to grow on . i can say without any hesitation at all  see this movie it will not disappoint .  
spoilers . . . if such a thing is possible . . . . . . . . . . as a rabid robin williams fan  i felt it necessary to buy this film as first on  screen appearance . wow . . . i could not imagine a more mind  numbing movie . essentially  the movie takes one bad joke after another that your uncle artie would tell you after dinner and dramatizes them . robin williams plays a lawyer in a   sec skit .  br    br   i  m all for bawdy humor  but this humor wasn  t pleasantly vulgar  or ribald . . . it was just mind  numbing . there are no redeeming qualities to this film  other than robin williams fanatics  like me  who simply have to own every piece of film .  
i thought the racism and prejudice against carl brashear was grossly overdramatized for hollywood effect . i do not believe the u . s . navy was ever that overtly racist . i cannot imagine a full captain  the commanding officer  ever telling his chief to intentionally flunk anyone . certainly not at the risk of his life . and there has never been a chief petty officer as unabashedly prejudice against everybody but wasps as deniro  s character . no chief as slovenly and drunken as he was played would have ever risen to master chief in the first place . cuba gooding saved an otherwise badly done movie .  
no real plot to this one  just a series of short skits acting out some very old jokes . i chuckled once or twice in the beginning  much to my chagrin . but even at only   minutes this film wears out it  s welcome before too long and becomes stale and tedious  with some nudity sprinkled in here and there to keep you awake  . still as bad as this movie is  and that  s pretty putrid   it  s a comedic gem compared to pretty much anything by aaron seltzer  jason friedberg  date movie  epic movie  meet the spartans  also the song is sadly kind of catchy in a sad way .  br    br   eye candy   pair of tits   bushes   asses  br    br   my grade d  br    br   code red dvd extras original trailer for this film and trailers for  beyond the door    dead pit    the farmer    obsessed ones    power play    sole survivor     wacky taxi   
although i gave a rating of     my expectations were higher than what the film delivered . i would have been happier had there been more deep diving since i am a diver myself  but it was supposed to portray the life of carl brashear and that  s what it was about . this film made me angry in the beginning  but happy in the end .  
an update of the skits and jokes you would have seen on a burlesque stage in the first half of the   th century . it  s a string of several jokes acted out . some of them you could tell your grandmother  some of them not  but it  s a fairly safe bet she  s heard them all before . for what it tries to be  it  s not too bad . before you rent it  remember that it  s an older style of entertainment and has more value as history than as comedy or titillation . robin williams has a couple of bits  but he  s interchangeable with the other players .  
i went to this movie at a cast and crew show cause my friend  whom is a producer on the movie invited me . forget what you have seen in the commercials  forget what you have heard  go see this film for yourself . i was more than surprised by it . in a world of the grinch  charlies angels  the  th day  unbreakable  here comes a film that is worth your hard earned bucks  glorious scenes  wonderful cinemtrophy and a cast you want to eat with your heart . i found this to be one of this years most orchestrated powerhouse films and with reason . robert deniro deserves an oscar nod . if you could give an oscar to everyone involved as a package  this would be the film .  
i watched this film for   minutes and counted  mullets . that  s a mullet every  minutes . seriously though  this film is living proof that formula works . if it ain  t broke  it don  t need fixin . a streetwise  yet  vulnerable heroine  a hardened ex  cop martial arts master with a heart of gold and a serial killer with  issues  . pure magic .  
a classic hollywood biopic is the best sense of the genre . gooding and deniro both give spectacularly heartfelt performances in the two leads roles  and the supporting cast is uniformly excellent  with standout performances by carl lumbly and michael rapoport .  br    br   the only  nit  i might pick is that theron  s role was unnecessary  distracting  not her performance which was fine  it  s just that the film seemed to add two unnecessary scenes to accommodate her role .   br    br   aside from that  the characterizations  dynamics  and action of the real  life story are riveting and unforgettable . the evolutions of the main characters and how what they experience evolves their beings are uniquely characterized by the performing artists . despite the movie  s extreme length  the pacing stays intact throughout . the score is also terrific .  br    br   us this a predictable hollywood film  you bet . so  mike leigh addicts should subtract a star  but everyone else should enjoy mightily .  
the films of upa are surprisingly well rated on imdb despite the fact that the animation quality is light  years behind that of looney toons  disney and mgm at their prime . sadly  due to rising costs in making pretty cartoons with high frame  rates and lovely backgrounds  the upa style  which debuted about      began to dominate in the late   s and   s . after all  the films were dirt cheap to make and they  d received several oscars to  prove  that the cartoons were now mainstream . so as a result  lousy animation was becoming the norm and this trend wasn  t reversed until the     s .  br    br   this upa film is one of the early ones . the characters are very simply drawn  any simpler and they would have used stick figures  and the backgrounds were ugly   simple line drawings with colors added in a very slap  dash manner  often with a sponge and rarely completely filling the items  .  br    br   as for the story  it  s a jive story with a strong jazz style attitude . some will love this  others will just find it very  very loud . it  s the traditional  frankie and johnny  story and because of the shootings and all  it  s probably not a great film for the kids . heck  because of the animation and jazz  it  s not a particularly good film for me  either  some will read my review and no doubt think i am a crank  which i am  to a degree  . however  i love animated films and a little of this minimalistic upa style goes a very  very long way and you can  t seriously consider them great works of art   just very  very quickly made cartoons . ignore the oscars and try watching some classic cartoons or something   anything else   
i hadn  t heard about brashear before i watched this . this is the story of him and the man who trained him  helping him to become the first african  american us navy diver . a tale of will  power . the plot is well  written  and develops nicely throughout . this is what it seems  the typical underdog thing  and it doesn  t hold too many surprises . it  s also quite hollywood  but hey  i don  t know the actual man  maybe it  s close to how it actually happened . nevertheless  it gets the job done  with dramatic scenes and adversity along the way  and this is inspirational for anyone who  s ever heard the words  no  you can  t  be spoken about their life  long dream . the acting performances are all excellent . deniro and gooding jr . both shine whenever they  re on  screen . rapaport is marvelous  as well . the characters are well  written  credible and consistent . this is well  edited  and features good cinematography . the production values are high  and this does a fairly convincing job of transporting us back to the    s . this is the only film i  ve seen by this director and the writer  though i may now consider looking into more they  re responsible for . there is a moderate amount of strong language  otherwise no offensive material . i recommend this to anyone who finds the subject interesting  and  or fans of those who made it .      
i just saw this movie yesterday . . . i cannot believe the reviews on this site . the ones that give it over one  star must be buffy fanatics . well  i am a buffy fan of the first order  but i know crap when i see it . on every level  this film is terrible . technically  much of the time you don  t know where you are in this movie  even within one scene  it jumps pov like crazy for no reason . no logic whatsoever in cinematic terms . emotionally is bleak for bleak  s sake and attempts to be a psychological thriller when it is just confusing . throwing nasty  looking red  necks in your movie is a cheap way to convey  atmosphere  . i ran out of patience with it a long time before the last act  but i was having too much fun with my friends doing mst  k riffs to turn it off . since leaving buffy  smg has had  successful movies  if even listing  scooby doo  on your resume could count . gellar is a fine actress  but she  or her agent  sure can  t find a vehicle for her . and mr . shepard  if you are having trouble paying your mortgage  i  ll send you a few bucks if you promise to not appear in a movie like this again   also  the estate of patsy cline should sue for defamation    
me and my sister saw the premiere last night . . . it was so good we were glued for the whole thing . . hahaha . . i think i  m hooked for the season   . . . . they have some really good actors in this thing . . the head coach guy and the player that likes pete were very good and the plot has already got me but i don  t really understand how they  ll keep it stretched for a whole season . . there will probably be some big twist tho . . i cant wait till tuesday . . finally jeremy sumpter who is he  i can tell hes going to be big   he was soo good we fell in love with his character right away . . cant wait for the next episode . . go jeremy   br    br    aimee  
chilly  alienating adaptation of rebecca west  s book about an army captain returning from duty in wwii with his memory impaired  now there  s an original idea   . it seems he remembers old flame glenda jackson but not current wife julie christie  which should be enough to set off some emotional sparks . this extremely well  cast soaper brings together leading man alan bates with director alan bridges and co  stars jackson  christie  ann  margret  and ian holm  but the burners are all on low . there are a handful of good scenes  particularly whenever jackson is on  screen   but bridges  pacing is unrelievedly sluggish and the film  s dulled  out color is enervating . long on the shelf  this  soldier  is best left forgotten .     from   
guys  you got to watch this awesome movie . at the end of this movie you will have a strong passion and profundity imbued into yourselves . the acting of the two characters  billy sunday and carl brashear deeply touches the heart from inside . this movie is about principles  dignity  patriotism and honor . you will hear chief carl brashear say  the navy has greatest tradition of all  honor  practiced thoroughly by these two characters . mere glances of these characters during the movie fills you with enthusiasm . dialogue delivery of this movie is perfect . you can  t find any flaws in the dialogues . what the master chief billy says roams in and out of your mind for a long time after watching the movie . please watch this movie .  
i think a round of applause is in order for whoever pieced together the trailer for rogue pictures  latest release   the return  . i myself  along with everyone else have been duped into believing it is in fact a horror film . on the contrary though  its actually a supernatural thriller . too bad it is not the least bit thrilling .  br    br    the return  stars sarah michelle gellar as joanna mills  a young woman who has had personal problems since the age of eleven . it was at that age that she began having haunting visions depicting the murder of a woman whom she has never met . while in texas on a business trip  she is led by these visions to the murdered woman  s hometown  la salle . there she comes face to face with another person who has frequently appeared in her visions . a man by the name of terry stahl  who is played by peter o  brien . joanna is now on a desperate search for answers . a search that could in the end result in her very own murder .  br    br   i really don  t know where to begin here folks . which should i mention first  the atrocious acting  hideous directing  or the terribly bland story  no matter which one i choose my point behind each is the same they simply suck . adam sussman  s screenplay is downright moronic . its not interesting . its not compelling . its just plain unpleasant . i kept waiting for something to jumpstart the  film   i  ve placed quotations around film because i don  t believe  the return  deserves to be called an actual film due to it  s foulness .  and at least give it some slight chance of hope  but nothing ever happened . i was left out in an unbearable cold to freeze . not even stellar performances from the actors themselves could have saved this disaster . of course they probably knew this having read the script then agreeing to do the  film  . i assume this is why the acting was so awful . at least that  s what i  m choosing to believe . i really hope the cast doesn  t pride themselves on their performances . they need immediate medical attention if they do .  br    br   now the directing was unmistakably bad  but i can  t quite crucify asif kapadia entirely .  well i could  but i won  t since i  m such a nice guy .  i look at  the return  as a test for kapadia because for all of you that don  t know  this is his first full  length feature  film  . he  s just getting his foot in the door and still learning . next time around  well if there is a next time  hopefully he will have improved vastly . the only thing he was able to accomplish here was almost completely duplicating the visual style of marcus nispel  s     re  make of  the texas chainsaw massacre  . now that  s nice the  film  was given that  but unfortunately he still won  t be receiving any kudos from me for that . copying someone else  s work isn  t something i consider to be praise worthy .  even if it is from a film i very much enjoyed .   br    br   i think jim sonzero  s american re  make of  pulse  will now have to fork over the title of worst film of the year to  the return  . it beyond question is deserving of the title in almost every imaginable way . now i don  t doubt this will make a small  and i mean very small  profit . no matter what though  it won  t surpass or even parallel the fluke success of gellar  s previous acting effort   the grudge  . on that note  there  s one last thing i  d like to add . i can honestly say i had never been embarrassed to have been seen leaving a theater auditorium until seeing  the return  . that is something i never wish to experience again  along with the  film  itself .  
this is one of the best military films ever made . and it is great because of its focus on values . it  s a great human interest story that turns on a commitment to honor  loyalty  love  and determination .  br    br   gooding and deniro are superb in the lead roles . it  s wonderful to see the master chief  s racism evolve toward respect and love through carl brashear  s determination  drive  and yes  sense of honor . the title indicates the source of their bond . i never noticed until this last time watching it how brilliant carl lumbly  s portrayal of carl  s father  mac brashear  was . in a way  it  s a cornerstone of the film in that it  s carl  s memory of his father that helps carry him through hard times .  br    br   i am selective about what films i purchase . this is one of those rare ones that i want on my shelf . it will be seen many times in the future  i  m sure .  
the return is one of those movies for that niche group of people who like movies that bore and confuse them at the same time . sarah michelle gellar plays a lame buisnesswoman who does not kill vampires or get naked at all throughout the movie . i was willing to put up with this  however i was not willing to put up with the worst editing ever combined with pointless flashbacks . at the end it turns out she crashes her car into herself when she was young . or maybe i  m wrong and that was just a flashback . with this movie it  s impossible to tell . can you believe the same dude who made army of darkness produced this crap  a much better idea is to stay at home and watch army of darkness on sci fi channel . that movie had it all sluts  zombies and a dude with a chainsaw for an arm . the forgotten didn  t even have one of these things .  
i  m certainly glad that a film was made about carl brashear  s amazing life story . coming as it did during the civil rights era  brashear became an inspiration for people of all minority groups not willing to settle for a status expected .  br    br   brashear as played by cuba gooding  jr . leads by example in the conduct of the life he has chosen . very similar to jackie robinson who integrated baseball and made it stick by his character and conduct . as brashear  gooding knows that he does not want the sharecropper life that his father carl lumbly has and lumbly makes it real clear to get more out of life than he  s gotten .  br    br   but while harry truman integrated the armed services after world war ii  the navy still has its restrictions . a black man can only be a cook or an officer  s valet  the real fighting parts are denied him . that  s not good enough for gooding who applies to become a navy deep sea diver .  br    br   once at the diving school at bayonne  new jersey  gooding gets it all thrown at him  mostly by the master chief petty officer in charge  robert deniro . deniro may have some leftover prejudices  but he  s nevertheless a hero and one who can inspire if one can get passed racial divide .  br    br   the best thing about men of honor is the chemistry between deniro and gooding . they certainly come from different places  but as they get to know each other  both turn out to be men of honor .  br    br   other good performances to note are charlize theron as deniro  s wife and hal holbrook as the head of the diving school  a guy the navy just wish would retire for reasons you  ll see .  br    br   men of honor is an inspiring story about people with courage to spare and the ability to change .  
i just got back from the film and i  m completely appalled . this movie is an absolute mockery to all of mankind . the theatre i was in maybe had  other people . this movie was recommended to me and i couldn  t believe that this person liked it . i can  t believe that any sane human would like it . there was no plot no plot at all . it was a joke . how can you make a movie about nothing . this movie only goes to show why hollywood is in such a shambles . i can only just look at the spiral of the  horror movie  industry and giggle . what a travesty to all filmaking  this is true of all the new  teen horror flicks  grudge  boogeyman  ring  saw series . it is all such trash . don  t support this kind of hogwash   
robert de niro  cuba gooding jr .  hal holbrook  and all the rest of the actors and actresses in  men of honour  have combined to make this a fine movie . mark isham wrote the filmscore  so you know the music is truly fine  too .  br    br   but after noticing a slew of goofs  loopholes  and over  dramatic heart  string pluckings right from the start  i had to make a vow to ignore them and sit back to enjoy the film . if you can do that  it  really  is  good .  br    br   the story of carl brashear  a true  to  life hero  is inspirational enough to last a lifetime . look him up on the internet . . . the entire story is more amazing than the film  as the director admitted in his comments . there were only three african  american u . s . navy divers in world war ii . however  none reached the status of u . s . navy master diver . carl brashear was the first african  american u . s . navy master diver . and he was the first amputee diver to ever be certified or recertified as a u . s . navy diver .  resounding applause  .  br    br   on the negative side of the movie  s ledger should i tell you of only one of the many  loopholes   yeah  i  ll mark this comment as containing  spoilers  and do so . . . the early  pivotal scene where the helicopter hits the radio mast and sinks into the sea they  d never have had the time to suit up a full mark v diver  even if he were the legendary master chief billy sunday  in time to be only  . . . a couple of minutes late  saving the pilot .  br    br   so  for loopholes  goofs  and over  dramatization  i derated  men of honor  from a perfect   down to a  .  br    br   will hollywood ever realize that the unalloyed truth is so much better that their over  dramatic approach to story  telling  i doubt it . too bad   
my friends and i went into this movie not knowing what to expect  but hoping for the best . when we came out  we were only slightly more informed on what the plot of the movie actually was . though not the worst movie i  ve ever seen  i definitely do not recommend spending your money to see it in theaters . maybe have a friend rent it for you  it  s not even worth the rental cost  either  if you really want to see it .  br    br   when a movie is so convoluted that you have no idea what  s going on until the last five minutes  there  s really not much that can be said in its defense . the acting was decent  more than you  d expect to get from this movie  and some of the shots were good  but it was all bogged down by a lame plot and poor script .  br    br   this movie was actually so bad that as soon as it got out  i went and purchased a ticket to see a good movie just to cleanse my mind . i recommend that all of you just skip the first step and go see a good movie instead .  
i was curious to know how critics responded to this rousing  inspiring film  so i went to rotten tomatoes and was dismayed to discover that the pompous peanut gallery that is our nation  s film critics had given the film an average     or  rotten   rating .  br    br   all i can say is  if this movie doesn  t move you  you have no heart .  it  s interesting to note that the same film on the same website got a    rating from viewers  .  br    br   not that the opinion of critics is all that important to me . after all  i can  t think of a more useless  overpaid profession . some schmo gets paid to go to the movies  what a tough life  and does the same thing everyone else on the planet does forms an opinion . but these chumps have a way of coming across like their opinion somehow matters more than yours  and even worse  they love to hate .  br    br   i  ll grant you that this movie is old fashioned  well  except for the f  bombs   syrupy  and a little predictable . . . after all  you know right from the beginning that cuba gooding jr .  portraying real  life navy hero carl brashear  is going to triumph  eventually  at every turn simply by the way he comes across determined and plucky strong  willed and optimistic .  br    br   but his performance and that of de niro  as billy sunday  a composite character of several real  life people  are so strong  so inspiring  that you  ll be on your feet cheering many of the film  s scenes  especially the courtroom climax . you  d have to be a real stick in the mud not to be moved by these scenes . like our nation  s film critics . michael rappaport is excellent as well as a sweet  natured  stuttering diving student that befriends gooding  s brashear . if anyone has seen  higher learning   this character totally redeems that character .  br    br   anyway  this confirms what i  ve always felt don  t listen to critics . see this movie and get inspired .  
this is by the far worst piece of cr  p i  ve ever seen in my life . it barely made sense . it wasn  t scary at all  unless you class scary as loud noises and screaming   sarah  michelle gellar needs to stop with these sh  tty horror films . i think everyone else in the cinema agreed with me when i shouted  shite  when the credits rolled up .  br    br   on my list of the worst movies ever made this is how it would go  br    br    . the return  . cabin fever  . silent hill  br    br   the reason i made silent hill  rd is because it showed some frightening scenes  but the rest was absolute cr  p . same with cabin fever  made no sense  but the return topped that list . its worse than silent hill and cabin fever put together  
tillman jr .  s drama about the first african american navy master diver  gooding jr .   who defies all odds and achieves his goals despite a strict embittered trainer . the screenplay is not bad  a bit extreme at times  but the direction and acting is first  rate  and this film is inspiring and achieves what its supposed to do . i liked deniro in the lead  although its not on par with his masterful works  taxi driver  godfather and all the others  it is as good as his other good performances such as in king of comedy or angel heart . deniro is always convincing and believable here  very good performance  gooding jr . is not bad  definitely one of his better performances .    imdb rating  .   my rating      
this was far and away the worst movie i  ve ever seen in my entire life . it was slow  boring  not scary  not funny  not dramatic  not entertaining .  br    br   sarah michelle gellar was up to her old playbook of empty expressions of fright and shock . she couldn  t sell her character nor could anyone else in the picture .  br    br   for those who thought the grudge was  kind of alright  then don  t go see this unless you get enjoyment out of wasting your time and your life .  br    br   i saw this movie for free by the way so i don  t want this to come across as a rant from a guy that lost  bucks on a terrible movie . it was free  it still sucked  i hated it .  br    br   avoid .  
men of honor stars cuba gooding jr .  as real life navy diver carl brashear who defied a man  s navy to become the first african american navy diver . sometimes by his side and sometimes his adversary there was one man who carl brashear really admired . his name was master chief billy sunday  robert deniro  . sunday in a lot of ways pushed  aggravated and helped carl become the man he wanted to be .  br    br   i loved cuba in this film . his portrayal here is as liberating and as powerful as denzel washington was in the hurricane . through every scene we can see his passion  motivation and stubbornness to achieve his dream . we can see the struggle within in him as he embarks to make his father proud . i also loved how the director created and brought forth a lot of tension in some of the key diving scenes . brashear  s encounter with a submarine during a salvage mission is heart  stopping and brilliant .  br    br   the only fault i could see would have to lie in the supporting cast . cuba and deniro  s characters are very intricate and exciting to watch . which does make you a little sad when they have to butt heads with such two  dimensional supporting characters . the evil lt . cmdr . hanks  sunday  s wife  charlize theron   the eccentric diving school colonel  hal holbrook  and cuba  s love interest are the characters i found to not have very much depth . what could have made these characters more substantial and more effective was a little more time to develop them . why was that colonel always in his tower  how come sunday  s wife was so bitter and always drunk   br    br   another curious question has to be this . what happened to carl brashear  s wedding  i mean if this film is chronicling this man  s life wouldn  t his wedding be an important event  maybe it  s just me . men of honor  however  is a perfect example of the triumph and faith that the human spirit envelops . this film will inspire and make you feel for this man  s struggle . which i do believe was the reason this powerful story was told . my hat goes off to you carl brashear . i really admire your strength .  br    br    
some not  so  spoily spoilers ahead  br    br   why do people  when they are disoriented or sick or scared at a club  cut through the middle of the crowded dance floor on their way to the bathroom   br    br   who in their right mind would hide under a bed when someone breaks into their room   br    br   how often do you knock on a stranger  s door and when they don  t immediately answer  you open the door  walk in  shout a few hello  s and then start going through their stuff   br    br   if you were being pursued by someone you just discovered was a murderer  what would you do  quietly sneak off and hide under a wooden platform or among metal implements  run  quietly of course  to a ratty old barn or other decrepit structure   br    br   i could be talking about almost any thriller that  s come out in the last few years  but since this is the  the return  page  obviously i  m talking about  the return .  i saw it free because i work at a movie theater and make a point of screening all the  scary  movies . i thought this one was tolerable . . . aside from the well  worn clichs . sarah michelle gellar is really drab and looks kind of  huh   through most of the film . the details of the plot are slowly given out as the movie progresses and it  s almost enough to make it interesting except there wasn  t enough explanation as it moved on and so i was almost lost until the last    of it .  br    br   if you  re a die  hard thriller fan  it  s worth seeing at least once . if there  s nothing better at the theater and you really want to watch a movie  eh  i guess it  s worth a matine ticket . if you thought the trailer made it look like an interesting movie and you can  t wait . . . wait .  
the inspiring story of carl brashear  cuba gooding  jr .   a black man who grew up in poverty in kentucky and then joined the us navy  aspiring to be the first black master diver in navy history . we are shown the series of struggles from boyhood on that brashear has to overcome to make his dream come true  and then to keep it alive .  not the least of the challenges was master diver bill sunday  robert deniro   the head trainer at the diving school the navy sends brashear to  who is not especially sympathetic to brashear  s goals  but who ultimately becomes an unlikely friend and supporter .  br    br   this is a good movie fast paced and with a lot of action  although not an  action  pic in the normal sense of the word . there  s a very human story here as well  and an interesting study of racism and the struggle to overcome it there  s also a sense of the struggle that took place in the      s between older and younger naval officers  the  old navy  vs the  new navy .   the performances are quite good  particularly goodings  . i thought deniro was perhaps a bit over the top in his portrayal of sunday  although  who knows  sunday might well have been this extreme kind of loose cannon  and the portrayal of sunday  s wife gwen  by charlize theron  also made me question whether these parts were  jazzed up  to provide entertainment value .  br    br   a good movie  though . i never once wondered if it was worth tuning into .  br    br        
how do comments like the one that was the headline by high school girls even make it on this site  this was the stupidest movie i have ever seen  it was ridiculous  how can any moron sit there and say that just because a movie makes you jump it is a good movie  that might be the most idiotic thing i have ever heard  i could sneak up behind you and go  boo  and it would make you jump  but that does not mean i am qualified to write or direct a movie  not to mention  they tied everything together at the end  is not a good reason for a movie to be well received . what kind of movie would it be if they didn  t tie everything together  i guess that would make it half a movie  not a whole movie . so basically this idiot girl is complimenting them for finishing the movie  well i love how the youth of today hold the media and production companies to such a high standard . no wonder the political system of this country can get away with whatever they want  we have idiots like that coming up in our country  what would happen if this girl actually ends up leading something someday  that is a scary thought . get a life and go watch a real movie sometime  try shawshank redemption or on the waterfront  or something like that  and don  t comment that it was  boring  after you see it  just use what little brain god gave you to analyze it a little .  
i loved this movie . it is a definite inspirational movie . it fills you with pride . this movie is worth the rental or worth buying . it should be in everyones home . best movie i have seen in a long time . it will make you mad because everyone is so mean to carl brashear  but in the end it gets better . it is a story of romance  drama  action  and plenty of funny lines to keep you tuned in . i love a lot of the quotes . i use them all the time . they help keep me on task of what i want to do . it shows that anyone can achieve their dreams  all they have to do is work for it . it is a long movie  but every time i watch it  i never notice that it is as long as it is . i get so engrossed in it  that it goes so quick . i love this movie . i watch it whenever i can .  
let me start off by saying i am not a fan of horror movies . i never watch them .  br    br   let me tell you about my experience . . .  br    br   the only reason i watched this movie was because my girlfriend and her friends wanted to see it over happy feet .  br    br   . . . i never saw happy feet  but i am sure it is better than this . . . movie  anyway  we didn  t actually expect it to be good . . . we actually went in just to laugh at it . cool with me . . . i have a problem with ruining the movie for other people in the theater but since it was just other couples talking and making out  it did not matter .  br    br   after   minutes the  other people left to go sneak into borat  a movie i would have gladly seen again over this . the movie was not scary  and not stupid so it would be funny . . . it was just boring . it wasn  t terrible like  baby genuises  terrible  it was terrible like . . . not entertaining at all . avoid .  br    br   now i am no expert  but it seems the problem with the horror industry these days is that you can have a pg    horror that is boring and not scary  or you can have an r gruesome horror movie that either is too bloody or too disgusting for people .  br    br   you want a pg    horror that sucks but is funny  see  the grudge .  avoid this movie like the plague . . . because it may literally bore you to death .  br    br        
this film is an excellent military movie . it may not be an excellent hollywood movie  but that does not matter . hollywood has a reputation of sacrificing accuracy for good entertainment  but that is not the case with this movie . other reviewers have found this movie to be too slow for their taste  but  as a retired soldier  i appreciate the pace the movie crew deliberately took to tell their story as completely as possible given the two hours and nine minutes allotted . the story itself has been told and retold several times over  but it remains for a professional soldier  and an african american at that  to report on the story as presented by the movie crew  and as it presents the us navy to the world . the story of brashear  s work to become a navy diver  and his life as a navy diver beyond his graduation  is not the only story that is presented . there i also the story of how master chief petty officer sunday defied the illegal order of his commanding officer that petty officer  nd class brashear not be passed in his test dive no matter how well he did  and paid the price of a loss of one stripe and a change of assignment . it also told the true story how brashear found the third hydrogen bombs lost in the atlantic ocean off the coast of spain in the      s  and how he saved the life of another seaman who was in the line of the snapped running line that would have snapped him in two if brashear had not shoved him out of the way and took the shot himself . this was a complex story that was worth telling  and i will admit that two hours and nine minutes was not enough to tell the full story  and i can tell from the deleted scenes on the dvd that the crew tried their best to tell a story as full as possible . as a professional soldier  i was proud to see such a great story told in such a comprehensive manner  and to see the traditions and honor of the navy preserved in such a natural and full manner .  
think of the ending of the grudge  with the following   br    br    a man who repeatedly says the word sunshine  a cowboy  a love story  sarah michelle gellar cutting herself  and a creepy mirror  br    br   oh and underwater sea animals . . . yay . . .  br    br   not a good movie . . . i seriously did not enjoy it whatsoever . the poster for the movie is extremely misleading as well and i found that it was just to suck people into watching it . . . i can  t believe i went .  br    br   save your time and money . . . go watch saw iii . . . a film where the writing makes you feel like there was effort put into it . . .  br    br   im mike and im out  
this show has a few clichs and a few over the top  dawson  s creek  like moments  a    year  old talking about way back when life made sense    but overall it seems like a decent show . most of the characters seem very real  and the story seemed to move along well in the pilot  ending with a good lesson in the end . i just hope every episode doesn  t turn out to be life  altering like the first  that would just be too much drama for this vehicle . jeremy sumpter does an excellent job as a teenager with a passion for baseball  i believe a lot of us could relate to his awe and sometimes tunnel vision for the team that he always wanted to a part of .  
in my knowledge  largo winch was a famous belgium comics  never read  telling the adventures of a playboy  a sort of james bond without the spy life  so  when i had to choose a movie for a  years  old kid  i picked it up because the kid was already a great fan of james bond   br    br   but  just after the opening credits  i got heavy doubts when american movies offer amazing start  here  no action and a torrid sex scene  then  the story get very complicated with financial moves i thought i lost the kid .  br    br   but  strangely  he had been caught by largo  and more than james bond   br    br   was it the excellent interpretation of tomer sisley  the difficult relationship largo has with his father  the multiple box story in which the friends are the bad guys  the bad guys are the friends  the exotic locations of honk  kong  yougoslavia   br    br   dunno  but he really cares about largo   will he get up   and we enjoyed our moment .  
this one is a great one  robert de niro and cuba gooding have teamed up to make a powerful and very influential film . this is the true story of the first black us navy diver and the obstacles he faced in attaining his certification at the hands of a racist master diver . along the way  he must also face plain old bigotry from all of his classmates  none of whom want him in their class . they move out of the barracks when he arrives . ultimately  he becomes certified and goes on to have a great career as a us navy diver . watch this one  it  s a great tale of courage and honor . as the story unfolds  we get to watch racism slowly dissipate and everyone begins to respect men one at a time .  
ok i will admit  it started out very pleasing and good  but then it just dropped downhill  i cannot believe sarah michelle gellar could have even finished reading the script after about  minutes into the movie  the only reason i actually sat through the whole movie  was i wanted to see the twist at the ned  and to my surprise  well  folks i cannot even tell you if there ven was one  because the end just leaves you confused  and then the credit role  i was like what the hell  this did not deserve a theater run  i am sorry  but it didn  t i mean it was horrible  the only reaso i gave it a  is because it had a few jumpy parts . . . thats it  you can watch it  im not telling you not to  hey you might even like it or even love it  but if you hate it  don  t say i didn  t warn you   
  men of honor   true story about a proud and persistent black navy diver  fabulous cuba gooding jr .  is definitely a great movie that both touches and entertains and it  s part of the absolute cream of the new millennium cinema . wonderful acting is the main reason to make this movie something truly special and pretty enjoyable  splendid experience . charismatic robert de niro is marvelous as rough  fierce and pitiless chief billy sunday  role is practically written for him . this film alongside with fantastic    minutes        are two of the latest proofs that he  s still one of the very finest actors of our time . on the other hand  men of honor  includes a fine performance from cuba gooding jr . who has been one of the most promising young black actors since  boyz n the hood  .  men of honor  goes straight into the company of  jerry maguire    as good as it gets  and  instinct  . cuba gooding jr . is a skillful and fantastic actor and i  m prepared to get lots of more terrific movies from him .  men of honor  has also quite an excellent story  line and probably the most exciting diving sequences of the movie history . this is a great  fascinating movie and i can only recommend it .  
i am amazed with some of the reviews of this film . the only place that seems to tell the truth is rottentomatoes . com . this film is awful . the plot is extremely lazy . it is not scary either . people out there who think that because it stars sarah michelle geller it is somehow like the grudge should forget about it . this film is more like dark water  except it is even more predictable and slow moving than it . i was extremely disappointed with this film . it didn  t scare me nor interest me either . let  s face it  this type of plot has been flogged to death at this stage e . g . the dead trying to contact the living  dragonfly  what lies beneath  ghost story  dark water  darkness  the changeling etc . etc . it seems to me that the only ones writing original horror films nowadays are the japanese and the koreans . the films that are coming out of hollywood  like this  are cynical exercises in money making without a shred of respect for the viewer . they  re just being churned out  
military training films are becoming so common that they are becoming a genre unto themselves . among the more prominent we have  officer and a gentleman   top gun   gi jane   and now men of honor  . the fact that this one happened to be true doesn  t change the fact that the formula is the same . this film is probably most like gi jane  since it focuses on the desegregation angle .  br    br   the story is actually quite inspirational and is probably the best human  interest story among those mentioned above . carl brashear  cuba gooding  jr .  is unquestionably a man of great courage and principle  and his strength of character shines through brightly in this film . unfortunately  director george tillman has tunnel vision in presenting the characters and eschews character development of various characters other than brashear in favor of showing brashear in a constant state of adversity . billy sunday  robert de niro  is a central figure  and except for the initial scene  the fistfight and a couple of scenes with his wife  we don  t know much about him . for instance  brashear sees the scars on sunday  s palms and we are to assume that he worked a plow  but there is no follow  up on that point . mr . pappy  hal holbrook  gets only one short scene by which we can judge him . the rest of his screen time shows him pacing around and ranting . if a director is going to make a human  interest story  he needs to humanize the characters .  br    br   cuba gooding jr . gives an outstanding performance as brashear . this is probably the best i  ve seen him . this is a role and a character that is far more complete than any part he has played before  and he rises to the occasion . in jerry maguire   rod tidwell was a fascinating  but one  dimensional character with the depth of a rain puddle . brashear is much more complex and grounded  and the issues he faces are life crises  making the part far more challenging . this is an excellent recovery from gooding  s last role in chill factor   a film so dreadful that it was almost an act of professional suicide to take the part .  br    br   after a stint trying his hand as a comedian  analyze this   the adventures of rocky  bullwinkle   meet the parents    robert deniro is back to his dramatic roots with an outstanding performance . deniro isn  t a bad comedian  he is just such a great dramatic actor that it seems like he shouldn  t waste his time doing comedy . deniro endows billy sunday with a rock hard personality belying a tortured soul . it is a pleasure watching him work .  br    br   it seems every film i watch lately has charlize theron in it . i saw the legend of bagger vance   men of honor  and the yards  right in a row and i was beginning to wonder if she had a part in every film in      actually  she only did five  . this was a minor role for theron  but she carried it off well and managed to stay with deniro step for step . david keith  who co  starred with richard gere in officer and a gentleman   has a cameo here  br    br   the dvd has some interesting special features  including reflections by the real carl brashear and some deleted scenes .  br    br   i enjoyed this film despite the hackneyed plot and the one  dimensional presentation . i rated it a     . i  m a sucker for underdog stories and i have a fondness for stories where strength of character is the central theme . this film is particularly strong in both areas and brings us two memorable acting performances that compensate for some of the director  s shortcomings .  
  i just viewed this movie last night and i don  t think i will ever think the same about any of the actors involved  because this movie will stick in the back of my mind .   br    br   the above statement can be thought of as a good or a bad thing . i mean every time i see tom cruise or demi moore in a movie  i think of  a few good men  which is a good thing . now  every time i see ron perlman or kristy swanson  i will think of  tinseltown  which is a very bad thing .  br    br   i picked this up thinking that it might be something intelligent or at least make me chuckle and with arye gross and the aforementioned swanson and perlman  i thought that it at least wouldn  t be bad . you could tell the movie was made on a budget the size of wheeling  indiana  where  exactly .   but maybe they used every dollar to make a good movie . wrong .  br    br   this movie is not funny or entertaining in any sense of either word . it is just there and lasts for   excruciating slow minutes .  br    br   the characters are paper  thin . you almost care about none of the characters  and since the leads are two struggling hollywood writers with a dream that is all the two struggling writers with a dream who wrote this need you to know about them . okay  the two real writers know all about there onscreen versions of themselves  so they figure so does the audience . they don  t even think about character development  except for trying to tie there story back to  gilligan  s island  .  br    br   the plot is unoriginal . two guys live in a storage center  where one of them stores a bed  and there are about twenty other people living there  too . the rest of the story is contrived and stupid . have you seen  national lampoon  s favorite deadly sins   the second story with joe mantegna is about a television writer who can  t find a good story to make a tv movie about  so he creates one . now substitute the television writer for a screenwriter  morph mantegna into to annoying actors half his age  and take away the comedy and you have this movie .  br    br   the actors try . kristy swanson is in the movie for maybe   minutes and still gives the best performance in the movie . she is still hot  but it would help if she would actually star in a movie instead of constantly making cameos . as for everyone else  i don  t think it was the actors fault because they have bad material  br    br   go watch the national lampoon  s movie  but stay away from this movie .  
this movie is an awesome non  stop laugh riot incorporating all the usual ingredients of a dawid dhawan comedy  bumbling heroes  buffoonish supporting characters  made  up dolls for heroines  nasty villains  wisecracks  rocking soundtrack  choreography and a little dose of action .  br    br   amitabh bachchan and govinda both are in double roles of policemen and conmen . the heroine of amitabh the cop is ramya krishnan and raveena is opposite govinda the cop . heroines are mere rouge  smothered props as usual . the conmen have no heroines . paresh rawal carries his villainous act in daud forward  he played a similar don in khoobsurat too  . asrani shines in a brief role . he does a retake on his famous  angrezon ke zamaane ke jailer  act in sholay .  br    br   govinda is impeccable as usual  as a wisecracking  good  humoured policeman pyaare mohan and as a conman chhote miyaan . he imitates bihari style of hindi speaking with hilarious results . amitabh bachchan  believe it or not  pales in comparison with him . but still ab is fine . madhuri dixit does a cameo as herself in the song  makhna  . she dances like wind .  br    br   viju shah  s music is awesome . check out  kisi disco mein jaayen    makhna  and the title track .  br    br   do not go looking for any logic since it is a comedy and the screenplay is of convenience completely . just enjoy yourself .  
the first   minutes of tinseltown had my finger teetering on the remote  poised to flick around to watch something else . the premise of two writers  down on their luck  living in a self  storage  space  bin  was mildly amusing  but  painfully bland .  br    br   the introduction of the character  played by joe pantoliano  the big deal movie guy  that lives in the park and sleeps in a lavatory  offered hope and i decided to give it a few more minutes . and then a few more until kristy swansons introduction as a budding film director  borderline nymphomaniac  added a bit of spice . her solid acting performance raised her presence above and beyond just a very welcome eye  candy inclusion .  br    br   ultimately  the obvious low  budget impacts on the film with poorly shot scenes  stuttured pace and slapstick handling of certain moments . some of my favourite movies of all time have been low budget  whithnail  i being one that also deals with  guys with a dream  but down on their luck .  br    br   however  for my money  the actors save tinseltown from the  terrible movie  archives and just about nudges it into the  could have been a cult movie  archives . i laughed out loud at some of the scenes involving joe pantoliano  s character . in particular  the penultimate scenes in the terribly clichd  but still funny  rich  but  screwed  up characters house  where the story unravels towards it  s final moments .  br    br   i can see how tinseltown was a great stage play and while the film  makers did their best to translate this to celluloid  it simply didn  t work and while i laughed out loud at some of scenes and one liners  i think the first   minutes dulled my senses and expectations to such a degree i would have laughed at anything .  br    br   unless you  re stuck for a novelty coffee coaster  don  t pick this up if you see it in a bargain bucket .  
as a kid i remember being nine or ten and loving this movie . it was the all round bollywood action  comedy movie . it is a imitation of bad boys obviously  the whole swapping identities but the arrival of two other twins throws everything out of the window and then the arrival of colourful villains who dance and sing  the action scenes in the film aren  t revolutionary but still amazing scenes . the film is genuinely very funny and was the great comeback amitabh bachan needed . govinda is a gem like always and this is probably his best work to date  he shines as the side kick nd delivers the best comedy scenes available in indian cinema .  br    br   the songs . . . . the songs are both funny and catchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . proving laughs when you least expect it . . . amitabh bachan surprisingly is very funny and will make you laugh as  bade miah  . . . . his accent . . . body language . . . . . brilliant . . .  br    br    assi chutki naab re daal  is the best song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hilarious .  
a broke would be screenwriter and his would be agent  tom wood and arye gross  are forced to live in a self storage facility run by an eccentric and intimidating manager  ron perlman  whom they come to believe is the serial murderer that is terrorizing the city  the  costume killer   so named because  after injecting his victims with windex  he dresses them in silly costumes  . they convince him his life story would make a great film and gather together a group of misfit wannabe film makers  john considine  joe pantoliano  kristy swanson  and discover that the art of movie making can be murder .  br    br   there is more to this movie but it was unfortunately left on the editing room floor and it shows  rumor is the studio wanted a  lighter  dark comedy  . our loss  and the actors  who all do fine jobs and deserve better  as this has the makings of an exceptional black comedy but only rises to mediocre cute .  br    br   if you  re a ron perlman fan this is absolutely worth getting just for his performance . his comedic timing is excellent and he has the chance to do some really great impressions  he wasn  t kidding when he said on the hellboy movie commentary that he needed an intervention when he gets into jerry lewis mode  . he  s just simply fun to watch in this one .  br    br   david dukes also shines in a two  scener  but pivotal  role .  
this movie is very funny . amitabh bachan and govinda are absolutely hilarious . acting is good . comedy is great . they are up to their usual thing . it would be good to see a sequel to this    br    br   watch it . good time  pass movie  
sorry  i just didn  t find the subject matter as compelling as the filmmaker did . the robot guy and the mole rat guy were pretty interesting  although morris didn  t really tell us much about them . the other two subjects were a bore . and the supposed  connections  between them didn  t hold up .  
one of the best  amitabh comeback  movies i liked . this was the phase when govinda was going strong with dhawan . the songs were awesome and totally as we call it  masti  type . an evergreen entertainer with the likes of the multifaceted anupam kher chipping in . the story line has a lot of hilarious twists and turns as is known for david dhawan  s potboilers . with a timely appearance by mrs . madhuri  nene  dixit  it was a total riot towards the end . it was great to see amit perform with such force and humor after a long exile . although some may consider it a typical  bollywood masala  movie  i would watch it any day . i am giving it an easy  out of   just for being pure bollywood .  
i found the documentary entitled fast  cheap  and out of control to be a fairly interesting documentary . the documentary contained four  mini  documentaries about four interesting men . each one of these men was extremely involved with his job  showing sheer love and enjoyment for one  s job .  br    br   the sad part  i must say  would have to be the subjects in which these individuals worked  studied . they were interesting for about five minutes  afterwards becoming boring and lasting entirely too long .  br    br   the video was filmed in a very creative way though . i very much enjoyed the film of one thing with a voice dub over another . it played out excellent and also coincided nicely with the music .  
if you r in mood for fun . . . and want to just relax and enjoy . . . bade miyan chote miyan is one of the movies to watch . amitabh started off pretty good . . . but it is govinda who steals the show from his hands . . . awesome timing for and good dialog delivery . . . . . its inspired from bad boys . . . but it has indian masala to it . . . people think it might be confusing and stupid . . . but the fact that david dhavan is directing and govinda is acting . . . should not raise any questions . . . . other recommended movies in the same genre  david dhavan  govinda combo  . . . are shola aur shabnam  aankhen  raja babu  saajan chale sasural  deewana mastana  collie no .   jodi no .   hero no .   haseena manjayegi  ek aur ek gyarah .  
so altogether i found this documentary to be strange and really pointless . i know it got awards and things  but i personally did not enjoy it too much . there was no humor or drama in it to keep you interested  just a bunch of wierdos and their jobs . some of the people in are rather different which isn  t a bad thing  it just didn  t leave a good impression on me . i was thoroughly bored by this movie  no offense to my creative writing teacher . the circus theme throughout the whole movie was kinda cool but i didn  t get it  and robotics and lion taming is definitely not my thing . the green animals thing was neat  i really liked the garden lots of colorful flowers  but how did these four jobs connect  it just didn  t make much sense to me why someone would make a movie about that . but if you are into stuff like this you might enjoy it . who am i to stand in your way . i am just forewarning you about possible suffering .  
it  s this sort of movie that you try and imitate . by attempting to realise something . . . then flying through the air almost immediately . i  d like to do that and i know you would too   br    br   great stuff   
this makes the third errol morris movie i  ve seen  and i  m increasingly not liking his style . he seems to find very interesting and varied characters  great personalities to create documentaries for  and then with tongue  in  cheek editing make fun of everything they are about . it  s never really a direct caricaturation of them and morris seems most of the time to be saying   but no  no  these people are really fascinating  really    but there  s always these subtle little canted angles and not  so  subtle editing techniques that show that morris seems to be mocking them behind their back .  br    br   this movie tracks four people who break the traditional boundaries of organic separation . . . a man who studies african hairless molerats to find that they are amazingly ant  like  a lion tamer  a man who keeps a garden full of animal  shaped shrubbery  and a robot designer . the general theme of the film seems to revolve around the question of what designates animal  human  and life features  so the title of fast  cheap   out of control doesn  t really seem to mean anything in terms of the movie . . . right  except of course morris seems just a little disturbed by these individuals  passions  he might call them  obsessions   making synthetic designs on life . i share not that fear and honestly don  t appreciate some of the connections morris makes in the film .  br    br   but i stress his subtlety . with no voice  over narration and leaving the words entirely to the interviewees  it  s not as if morris ever pounds that anxiety onto the spectators  collective head . instead he mixes circus footage and ant footage together often at times when they  re taken out of the context of the circus and the ants  showing a sort of collective absurdity behind what all of these people are talking about . i don  t find them absurd  i find them all very neat and interesting individuals .  br    br   unless  of course  he didn  t intend such juxtapositions  which means he  s just a bad craftsman instead of a silent subverter . considering none of this films i  ve seen so far have particularly impressed me  i don  t really care to find out what he  s trying to do .  br    br     polarisdib  
if the movies are to be believed  chinese ghosts are much prettier and more mischievous than their western counterparts . the storylines of the three  chinese ghost  films are largely identical  but the direction is excellent and the detail and colour is such that it  s not a huge problem . as always  humour is an integral part of the film  accompanied  of course  by a great deal of mugging . for those who haven  t encountered the  chinese ghoststory  trilogy yet  this film offers an interesting departure from the western horror  ghost genre for those who have  another enjoyable romp in the chinese ghost world .  
personally i would advise people to stay clear of this movie . it  s on the whole a bore to watch and the fighting is poorly choreographed . slow and not very convincing . if you buy the hong kong legends dvd release of this movie  then the only thing worth listening to is the bey logan audio commentary .  br    br   but in any case  since when has there ever been a ninja film worth watching . i cannot think of one and frankly do not wish to .  br    br   overall  when it comes to movies  i have one golden rule avoid any films that contains the word  ninja  .  
i was dragged to this movie about four years ago by a french actress friend of mine .  br    br   for the first half hour i was sitting in my uncomfortable seat at the new beverly theater in hollywood  hating this film  hating myself and even hating the french actress . and then . . .  br    br   i don  t know what happened but i was pulled into the film in a way that i hadn  t been in years . and this was despite the fact that one of the projectors broke and they had to do each changeover by hand . i was in the theater for close to four hours  but it was worth it .  br    br   i believe that great movies pull you inside a world  make you a part of it and then drop you off to talk about with your friends over coffee or a drink . this film did that . it was one of the best filmgoing experiences i have ever had .  br    br    br    br    
first of all  if you  r a fan of the comic  well  you  ll be very disappointed i  m sure  low budget movie    largo is supposed to be serbian in the comic  now suddenly he becomes croatian  pfff  chicken producers  it gave some spice and guts to the comic  by the way  in the film  his father speaks serbian and he speaks croatian . . . lol  . the striking n . y . winch building becomes a common average  small yacht in h . k . the good looking largo becomes some unshaved tzigan  turkish looking guy . freddy the cool  scarface  pilot becomes some fat  out of shape  sad  average guy . simon  largo  s good buddy  does not exist at all   he gave some pepper  largo doesn  t throw knifes at all  but just some snake stares . . . the whole story is confused and looks like a pretentious tv  film . french directors and producers  if you don  t have the money  the ability or the technology to adapt correctly the comic  please stick to some romance shooted in paris . very very bad film  good thing i just rented it  don  t count on me to watch the sequel  if there is any   .  
while essentially a remake of the original chinese ghost story  this third installment has higher production values and greater subtlety in both the acting and the story . tony leung is particularly good . cgs iii is a gorgeous  moving film .  
i only watched this film from beginning to end because i promised a friend i would . it lacks even unintentional entertainment value that many bad films have . it may be the worst film i have ever seen . i  m surprised a distributor put their name on it .  
the visuals and effects are up to par with the the original film and provide a lot of entertainment even if the storyline is essentially the same as the first two films . it also seems a lot more erotically charged than i remember the other films being . if you  re a big fan of flying prehensile hair and tongues that can reach all the way down into your stomach  you  ll like this film .  
this movie is a horrible distortion of lies and exaggerations that were put together by the most shameless lunatics to ever work on a tv movie . the story is wrong and a complete lie . there is nothing in this movie that accurately portrays senator mccarthy . it  s just a horrible scam and it amazes me that anyone associated with this production ever got another job in the industry . the marxist  leninists who wrote this trash did so in order to attack a man who has been vindicated by history and their fear that anyone would dare to destroy communism . unfortunately for these communist nut jobs  ronald reagan took over where mccarthy left off and they couldn  t stop him  thus the end of the soviet union and its  cohorts .  br    br   never  ever watch this film if you  re looking for truth regarding sen . mccarthy . read ann coulter  s book   treason  for a better look at the truth about sen . mccarthy .  br    br   it will also help if you read about what really happened to senator mccarthy by reading http   www . thenewamerican . com  tna       vo   no    vo   no    mccarthy . htm  
thanks to a smart script and a steady hand from writer  director kevin meyer   perfect alibi  is an entertaining and very likable mystery thriller . the movie starts methodically and builds up steam as the clues begin to reveal that nothing is what it seems to be . teri garr and hector elizondo are terrific as they team up to unravel the mystery  reminding me of nick and nora charles  from the  thin man  movies . kathleen quinlan is excellent as alex mcarthur  s tormented wife and the character roles  played by veteran actors charles martin smith  bruce mcgill  anne ramsey and estelle harris are well done and provide plenty of light moments at just the right time . there  s even a cameo by rex linn . in all  i felt like i was reading a good book by the fire .  
the title says it all .  tail gunner joe  was a tag given to the senator which relied upon the ignorance of the public about world war ii aircraft . the rear facing moving guns relied upon a latch that would prevent the rear gunner from shooting off the tail of the airplane by preventing the gun from firing when it pointed at the tail . when the senator was practicing on the ground one day  he succeeded in shooting off the tail of the airplane . he couldn  t have done that if the gun had been properly aligned . the gunnery officer responsible for that admitted  in public  before a camera  that he was responsible   he had made the error  not the senator . the fact that the film did not report that fact  shows how one  sided it is . this film was designed to do one thing  destroy the reputation of a complex person .  br    br   a much better program was the pbs special done on him . he was a hard working  intelligent  ambitious politician who overcame extraordinary disadvantages to rise to extraordinary heights . he made some mistakes  some serious mistakes  but shooting the tail off an airplane was not one of them .  br    br   the popularity of this film is due to the fact that the public likes simple stories  onesided stories  so that they don  t have to think .  
several posters have quoted renoir voicing his desire to make a film showing ingrid bergman smiling to camera . the short answer is wouldn  t we all whilst the harsh reality is that only a select few got to do so . at this stage of her career bergman couldn  t get arrested in     she left hollywood to make a picture in europe  fell for director roberto rossellini and never looked forward . after five turkeys in italy she was probably ready to open a vein but within the year  after making this for renoir  she was back where she belonged and with an oscar to boot for anastasia . this is one of three movies that renoir made in color around this time and on balance it  s better than the golden coach  which isn  t hard  and about even with french can can . renoir probably figured that with so much going for her bergman could get away with a couple of wooden leading men and renoir picked two doozys in jean marais and mel ferrer  solid mahogany in both cases . the plot is actually based on a real incident in french history but renoir is content to give it a once  over  lightly and concentrate on replicating the paintings of his father in set up after set up . in its pastel colors it resembles another film of the period les grandes manouvres which is no bad thing . all in all it remains a pleasant trifle showcasing a beautiful and charismatic actress .  
a hard to find film which coasts on the still pervasive mythology of senator joe mccarthy as a political demon king . boyle  as joe  gives a compelling but historically inaccurate portrayal of the wisconsin senator  the caricature mccarthy many take as the real one . meredith  as wily army lawyer joseph welch  who outsmarted mccarthy at the army hearings in      is very good  as always .  br    br   in fact  mccarthy and cohn were quite right in worrying about the appalling security situation in the army  and the     army hearings became enmeshed in the smokescreen used by the army to deflect the investigation away from their security failings  which the committee were investigating  by counter  charging that mccarthy and cohn were trying to get favours for their staffer  david schine  whilst in the service .  br    br   the film is self satisfied agenda driven polemic  based in the pervasive myths which have passed for the truth with many people for decades  that the  red scare  was essentially phony and mccarthy  huac etc were always blasting away at the wrong targets  being no more than lying  career ruining publicity hounds  who were trampling over the constitutional rights of startled innocent liberals  who were accused of being security risks  communists .  br    br   people who know little about the matter still feel confident in repeating misinformation on mccarthy and the  red scare  to this day  clooney  s murrow hagiography is an example . the misinformation is pervasive  no wonder people have swallowed it . a recent obit of budd schulberg in the serious left wing uk newspaper  the guardian  headlined that the hollywood writer  named names   to mccarthy   perpetuating the lie that mccarthy  investigated  hollywood as head of huac  the truth being that mccarthy was never even a member of huac and he had little interest in the politics of hollywood types  his investigations were confined almost exclusively to arms of the us government .  br    br   the mythology about the  red scare  being baseless is now completely exploded by recently opened soviet and us government documents  if anything mccarthy and co underestimated the sheer scale of soviet and fellow traveller infiltration in the us  but decades of public misinformation about this period will be hard to correct .  br    br   one day maybe some really brave hollywood soul will make a movie telling the truth about how many american men and women clandestinely aided the mass murderer stalin  and worked to impose his vicious system of government on the western world  giving an accurate account maybe of joe mccarthy  s career  but i won  t hold my breath . till then  we have this mythical  drunken lying scoundrel of popular imagination so familiar in the media . . . .  tail gunner joe  .  
after watching two of his silent shorts   elena and her men        is my first feature  length film from french director jean renoir  and i quite enjoyed it . however  i didn  t watch the film for renoir  but for star ingrid bergman  who  at age    still radiated unsurpassed beauty  elegance and charm . throughout the early     s  following her scandalous marriage to italian roberto rossellini  bergman temporarily fell out of public favour . her next five films  directed by her husband  were unsuccessful in the united states  and i suspect that renoir  s latest release did little to enhance bergman  s popularity with english  speaking audiences however  she did regain her former success with an oscar in the same year  s  anastasia         . she stars as elena sokorowska  a polish princess who sees herself as a guardian angel of sorts  bringing success and recognition to promising men everywhere  before promptly abandoning them . while working her lucky charms to aid the political aspirations of the distinguished general francois rollan  jean marais   she finds herself falling into a love that she won  t be able to walk away from . this vaguely  political film works well as either a satire or a romantic comedy  as long as you don  t take it too seriously it  s purely lighthearted romantic fluff .  br    br   filmed in vibrant technicolor   elena and her men  looks terrific as well  a flurry of bright colours  characters and costumes . bergman  s polish princess is dreamy and somewhat self  absorbed  not in an unlikable way  but hardly a woman of high principles and convictions . she is persuaded by a team of bumbling government conspirators to convince general rollan to stage a coup d  tat  knowingly exploiting his love for her in order to satisfy her own delusions as a  guardian angel .  perhaps the film  s only legitimately virtuous character is henri de chevincourt  mel ferrer  then audrey hepburn  s husband   who ignores everybody else  s selfish secondary motives and pursues elena for love  and love alone . this  renoir proudly suggests  is what the true french do best .  elena and her men  also attempts  with moderate success  to expose the superficiality of upper  class french liaisons  through the clumsy philandering of eugne  jacques jouanneau   who can  t make love to his servant mistress without his fianc walking in on them . for these sequences  renoir was obviously trying for the madcap sort of humour that you might find in a marx brothers film  but the film itself is so relaxed and laid  back that the energy just isn  t there .  
i  m always suprised on how different all people are and how for almost every movie you get both extremes . people who think it  s the best movie and people who think it  s the worst .  br    br   stigmata wouldn  t be the worst movie i  ve ever seen  but it  s up there . first of all the sound . the producers spent more time on the soundtrack than the editing . it was so loud when the soundtrack was playing and no one was talking and then when patrica was talking in her monotone voice  she could hardly be heard .  br    br   i usually like patrica and gaberial  but they were both flat in this movie . patrica had basically  emotions . quiet  in great pain  or really angry she has stigmata . the first was the predominate one  the second involved screaming pain  the third involving raising her voice . it was loudness that distiguished the three and not emotion .  br    br   maybe i missed a lot of the deep meaning and subplots everyone was talking about  or maybe i was distracted by the terrible filming and mtv like style . when you watch a  minute video you need fast cuts and slow motion to convey a quick story  in a  hour feature film  it  s nauseating . i fail to see the meaning of her seeing that women across the steet and dropping a child . and no pittsburg does not rain that often    br    br   i think maybe a real story  with something to say could have been intended  but all the budget was spent on buying music and the equipment to do slow rain drop shots and renting that gorgous apartment that ms . arquett lived in that they ended up firing the guy with the story .  
i think that most of the folks who have posted comments on this movie don  t understand how to watch a movie and  or have little sense of elegance . first  to assess a movie you need to understand the extent to which everything in the film works together . modern sensibilities demand great drama . no  i don  t mean great setting of characters and plots  but they seem to demand emotional trajectories that are greatly tragic or greatly comedic . this is a subtle movie . its beauty lies in its subtlety  not to be confused with simplicity  . neither the story nor the characters are simple in this movie . it is a beautifully filmed movie that makes the most of combining sensuousness  politics  human weakness  venality . . . you name it . the world it  s set in would be alien and not understood today . . . a world where if you have it you have to flaunt it now and loudly  even if you only think you have it .  br    br   many people today don  t understand that victorian society wasn  t really victorian as people understand that term today .  br    br   this movie helps set the record straight .  
i find it hard to believe that anyone would put this movie in the same context as the exorcist . where the exorcist was subtle and creepy  stigmata was blunt  clumsy  and way too formulaic .  br    br   this is one of the most visually beautiful films i  ve seen in a while  but the imagery does not make up for the downward spiral of patronizing exposition that makes it unbearable .  br    br   my interest in this movie was peaked when it was compared to the exorcist  and my visit to the official web site increased that interest . the web site had many tales of  actual  stigmata throughout history . however  scene by scene  the movie is so obsessed by its quest for  genuineness  that it becomes comical at first  then outright hard to watch toward the end . i began getting suspicious when the priest charged with investigating potential miracles walks into the beauty parlor where our would  be heroine cuts hair and  evidently  flirts with priests .  br    br   the plot a woman without faith in god begins receiving the wounds of christ  the stigmata  and is baffled and upset about the ordeal . a priest is sent straight from the vatican to investigate the case . is frankie possessed by satan  or a vessel for jesus christ   br    br   the only miracle in this film is that it finally ends .  
ingrid bergman is a temporarily impoverished polish countess in     s paris who finds herself pursued by france  s most popular general and a glamorous count   and that  s on top of being engaged to a shoe magnate . such is the failproof premise that entrains one of the most delirious plots in movie history . there are backroom political machinations by the general  s handlers  a downed balloonist and ecstatic bastille day throngs  but the heart of this gorgeously photographed film is the frantic upstairs  downstairs intrigues involving randy servants and only slightly more restrained aristocrats . yes  it  s rules of the game redux . before it  s all over even gaston modot  the jealous gamekeeper in rules  puts in an appearance   as a gypsy capo  no less  things happen a little too thick and fast toward the end  resulting in some confusion for this non  french speaker  but what the heck   elena and her men is another deeply humane renoir masterpiece .  
i am a kind person  so i gave this movie a  instead of a  . it was without a doubt the worst movie that i  ve seen in a long time . there was very little plot and the deeper interesting areas that were touched upon i . e . what jesus may really have wanted us to know  were glossed over and instead we were given heavy visual doses of sadistic punishment inflicted upon our heroine  arquette  . total crucifixion in the first   minutes would have been more humane to both her character and the audience . the acting was barely there and the direction was uninspired . and  if i saw one more drip of water or dove flying toward the camera  i may have started screaming louder than patricia .  
a famous conductor decides after a heart attack to go back to the village where he was born to live a quiet life . there  he comes in dutch with the local church choir  that will change his life .  br    br   i had no expectations when i saw this movie for the first time yesterday i like watching foreign movies that are not english  and i  ve already seen a couple of swedish movies in my life  but this one was the best so far .  br    br   where to start  in my opinion  this film is a jewel  thanks to many things  of which one is the outstanding acting . michael nyqvist is perfect as the thoughtful  almost shy and devoted conductor daniel darus . beautiful frida hallgren is enchanting with her pretty smile and her subtle acting . the choir members are all well  developed  interesting characters with their own story each .  br    br   this movie tells a story  a beautiful story  about music  love  pain  memories  death  about a man who devoted his life to music  and who tries to create a calm existence in the village where he was born  while trying to make peace with the past and with the way his life has been till then . kay pollack shows us that the swedish are outstanding movie creators . go see s som i himmelen  it  s a movie that makes you think about life and love  and that  s also comforting  in some way .  
spoilers .  br    br   first off  nothing really happened in this movie  other than a woman bleeding inexplicably . second  it wasn  t scary . third  it had the worst soundtrack of any movie ever . let me elaborate . the sound was edited by either beavis or butthead  i  m not sure which  so let  s just go with beavis . the movie gradually gets more and more quiet and the people mumble and mutter  forcing you to turn up the volume  i watched this at home  . then beavis blasts some really loud sounds with supposedly scary  shocking images  forcing you to quickly lower the volume again . this occurs many times until  mercifully  the movie ends . i can picture beavis laughing vulgarly from behind the two  way mirror while watching the test group franticly reaching for the remote each time . if you have children and prefer to watch scary movies after they fall asleep  this one is a big mistake . but then it  s a big mistake anyway . here  s a thought  if you  re going to make a horror movie  at least add a gratuitous beheading  a    year  old blond girl who screams at the top of her lungs just before she can take off her sweater  the shadow on the wall of someone being eaten alive just out of the camera range  a cat being thrown at the camera to scare the audience  some drifty weirdo with a maniacal laugh  or a monster who looks like a stage hand covered in aluminum foil  a la tv  s lost in space  . these people didn  t even try to scare me . they just wanted to hurt my ears .  
  s som i himmelen  . . as above so below . . that very special point where divine and human meet . i adore this film  a gem . yes amazing grace   br    br   i was so deeply moved by its very human quality . i laughed and cried through a whole register  indeed several octaves of emotions .  br    br   mikael nyqvist s brilliant as daniel  a first rate passionate performance  charismatic and powerful . his inner light and exceptional talent shines through in every scene  every interaction  in every meeting . i was totally mesmerised  enchanted and caught up the story  which is our collective story  the story of life itself .  br    br   the film was also so inclusive of many archetypes  messiah  wounded child  magical child  artist  teacher  priest  abuser  abused  victim  bully  divine fool  all the characters so real and true to life  all awakened great fondness and compassion in me .  br    br   it is a real treat to see such a thought provoking yet thoroughly enjoyable  entertaining film . oh . . mustn  t forget the heavenly choir of angels and breathtakingly beautiful sound .  br    br   thank you all  this swedish film will surely captivate people world  wide . brilliant   
i didn  t really know what this movie was about when i went to the theater to see it  hype about the satanism etc etc etc  as the trailers in the last movie i saw looked pretty interesting .  br    br   oh dear  roman catholic mythology  not my idea of a good scare and honestly  i just felt like watching a really good  scary movie  not some loosely plotted religious farce that tries to score cheap thrills by having some chick getting bloody every few minutes   br    br   i  ll try to keep away from the spoilers    but i found it very odd that an atheist  who gets a string of rosary beads from a deceased priest  could suddenly end up with christ  s wounds  aren  t stigmata supposed to be deeply religious    i mean  she hangs out with losers  does loser stuff  behaves like a typical rebel et al  and here she is displaying the wounds of jesus christ   come on   br    br   scenes of her crucified  head thrown back  screaming  blood everywhere  became rather tedious after seeing it a dozen times . it was neither frightening or scary  just repulsive . it did  however  become quite painful to watch  those flicking scenes were highly annoying . . .  br    br   conclusion if your a catholic  defintly don  t see this . if you  re not  still don  t see it .  
i went to see this movie twice within a week and can only sum it up in one word  which i normally don  t use lightly   wonderful  in my view  the best movie ever made . who deserves oscars and other awards if not this swedish crew who have created cinematic perfection in the last scenes of the film  when everything that is said  and left unsaid  throughout the story is drawn together  just as the character of daniel dareus evokes so many sentiments and long repressed feelings within the people around him  the movie does the same to its viewers you walk out with your head abuzz and your heart feeling full . great stuff  next time you ask yourself  what is the meaning of life   perhaps think about how you feel after a sumptuous experience like as it is in heaven happy  content  fulfilled . to say it with virginia woolf  s mrs dalloway  such moments are enough  .  
honestly  this is easily in the top  of the worst movies i have ever seen . partly  because it takes itself so seriously  as opposed to regular light hearted trash  this movies wants you to be emotionally involved  to feel for the characters  and to care about the alleged conspiracy . none of this ever even comes close to happening .  br    br   mild spoilers  br    br   there are  main reasons why this movie is so terrible  .  incoherent and totally non  sensical plot .  .  annoying style  over  substance  mtv  camerawork .  .  moronic characters and plot holes .  br    br   allow me to elaborate .  br    br    .  apparently  when this movies was being made  they couldn  t decide whether to make a movie about church conspiracies  the stigmata  or possession . so  guess what  they combined them  an aetheist gets possessed by a dead person  who then makes her exhibit the stigmata so as to expose a church conspiracy . how a regular person is able to transcend death and possess another human being through his rosary is never explained  nor even talked about . now  instead of just saying what he wants to say  he gives her the stigmata . why  why not just spit it out  instead  we get treated to scenes of screaming things in harsh voices  carving cryptic messages on cars  and writing messages on walls . apparently this priest was also a violent guy  because the possessed young lady also wigs out on one o f the characters  while talking in that cliched  harsh   possessed  voice that we all have heard countless times . this also starts to tie into my second complaint  because whenever the young lady gets the stigmata  she also defies the laws of gravity by floating into the air  and tossing everything and everybody around her as if they were in an earthquake  why does this happen  who knows    my guess is that the director thought it looked  cool  .  br    br    .  this movies contains dozens of shots  in slow motion  of course  of birds showing up out of nowhere and flying off  and most annoyingly  of water dripping . this woman  s apartment is constantly dripping water  constantly  logically  the place would probably fall apart with this many holes . to sum up this complaint  towards the end  and for absolutely no reason  the camera cuts to shots of water dripping  in slow motion  in reverse   why    i have no idea  it has no relevance to anything  and once again  i  m betting it  s because the director thought it looked  cool  .  br    br    .  one of the main characters says he became a priest to explain away holes in science . this doesn  t make sense to me . i would think that going to church would be enough  but no  he has to go through the entire rigamarole of becoming a priest . i just don  t buy it . secondly  there are lots of plot holes  a few of which i will elaborate on below . for starters  when she first gets the stigmata  the scene ends with her laying unconscious  bleeding . next  she  s in the hospital . who called the ambulance  another one is towards the end  when the previously mentioned  scientific priest  character is talking to the spirit who is possessing the girl . he says   take me as your messenger   not a word for word quote  but you get the idea . his response   you have no faith  only doubt   so  because of this  he possesses an aetheist  an aetheist has no faith  far less then any scientific priest  and then  there  s the fact that the object of this movie  s conspiracy  this lost gospel  of st . thomas  i believe  is available at local bookstores . the characters are willing to kill to supress this document  but you could walk down to a bookstore and buy it . maybe this is supposed to take place in an alternate history  where it isn  t wide known  but the movie never tries to tell us this  or to even hint that this is an alternate happening of that document  s uncovering .  br    br   in closing  this movie is terrible to a spectacular degree . it is my arch  nemesis  which i feel the need to insult every chance i get . i loathe it . final grade f  
since my third or fourth viewing some time ago  i  ve abstained from la maman et la putain while i wait for the dvd . in the meantime  i  ve read the french screenplay as well as alain philippon  s monograph on jean eustache . the latter ends with a frustrating filmography  eleven films  fiction  doc  and in  between  impossible to see or  in the cases of mes petites amoureuses and le pre nol . . .  re  see .  br    br   a few questions that hit me this moment polish vronika  s french is plenty colloquial  un maximum d   un maximum d    . even so  does she have an accent  i think i can tell she does . what does the absence of color add  especially at the single spot the fringe of the city is glimpsed  how does this fringe differ from the sleep and journey that separates worlds of the tempest and the winter  s tale  ditto alphaville . we may imagine the elapsed years since have done it  but does eustache deliberately circumscribe the film  s milieu  is this an enchanted isle  is alexandre  s a fairy tale  alexandre  s always choreographing himself  worrying about how or where to stand or walk  what to say when  announcing these decisions to who have to care less than he does what he does . or is this his way of trying to choreograph others by doing it to himself  how different is he from vertigo  s scottie   i say  i think  very .  what  s the difference  and is there one  between eustache  s laud  and truffaut  s  and godard  s  how different is the present laud  isn  t he still doing it  whatever it is  in recent roles  irma vep  le pornographe  whatever  approaching old age  once i arrived early for one in a series of mostly antoine doinel  laud  s character  truffaut films . for a long while  every three or five minutes  down the aisle would come a twenty  something male in scarf  tweedy coat  laud hair  with a direction  seeking nose . i have no idea whether this was conscious or unconscious mimicry . i was that age  but have no idea what i myself looked like then . no scarf  at least . i do have a brother  though  who seems to have learned his carriage from bresson .  
i  m a big fan of the tv series largo winch . this movie was pain for me . i had to use fast forward not to fell to sleep . it was boring  how can somebody ruin this title so much  the story was the only good thing . actors were sh . t . they can  t live the role . the main actor  tom . . .  is a null . watch the other roles of this actor . the fighting scenes were unbelievable boring and not to followable  somehow they were not to follow the situation . like other reviewer said low budget film with bad actors . maybe next time somebody else can do better thing out of this title . french can  t do right thing with big films  like alien  . that was bit brrr  after alien      .  
i never seem to write a review on imdb unless i am extremely surprised at how good  or how bad  a movie is . this film falls into the first category . every year  i try to see all the nominees for best foreign film at the oscars  even those that i know i won  t like .  as it is in heaven  seems to fit the bill . the plot sounds sugary and sentimental and slow . . . . for my tastes  which run more towards original  dark and  or daring foreign cinema  michael haneke  francois ozon  a lot of modern japanese  korean cinema   as it is in heaven  does not sound particularly interesting . . . . it didn  t get released in the usa  so i sat down to watch a vcd i found in singapore  preparing to  cross it off the list  . after a dull beginning   as it is in heaven  becomes that rare film where you really become inspired by what is happening on screen . weak points the characters in the film are pure  stock  characters  the wounded dreamer  the town bully  the battered wife  the loose woman yearning for love  the repressed minister . . . . thankfully  they  re largely a likable bunch  as well as being well  written and well  acted . ingela olsson  as the minister  s wife inger  would have been nominated for an oscar had her performance been in english . strong points the music is beautiful  and the main song  sung by gabriella  is truly dramatic and memorable . and keep an eye out for the feisty    year old actress playing olga  who is keeping up with the dancing steps as well as the younger ladies  i won  t discuss the ending  but i will say that it makes sense . they  re are a lot of emotional things happening in the last hour of the film  and you  re not quite sure why they  re happening . although nothing is explained in words  it all makes sense as the movies comes to a fitting crescendo .  out of  . probably the strongest swedish movie i  ve ever seen .  
this was one of the worst wrestlemania  s i  ve seen . it just didn  t stand out at all  really . card wise  i thought it was going to be pretty good  but every match just seemed to fall short .  br    br   chris benoit vs . mvp one of the better matches . benoit carried it . i just didn  t think mvp was that great  but benoit saved this match .  br    br   kane vs . khali wow  these two guys don  t mix . or maybe it  s khali and any other person alive don  t mix . awful match .  br    br   melina vs . ashley i  m not a fan of female wrestling .  br    br   ecw originals vs . new breed i was excited about this match  until i saw it . really  really disappointing .  br    br   edge vs . cm punk vs . king booker vs . jeff hardy vs . matt hardy vs . mr . kennedy vs . finlay vs . randy orton absolutely the worst mitb match so far . just a major let down  to many people in the ring at the same time . it just didn  t live up .  br    br   bobby lashley vs . umaga o . k . not extremely impressive  but not the worst of the night .  br    br   batista vs . undertaker this was maybe the best match of the night . very  very  very nice to see something good for a change .  br    br   john cena vs . shawn michaels i really feel like this match deserved to be last . people make a case for batista vs . undertaker  but this match was just as good . i am starting to get sick of seeing cena win every match though . it  s getting a little old . now  i have to say  i feel this match is the best of the night  but i  m a huge shawn michaels fan  so i  m a little biased . batista vs .  taker may have been better  but i  m biased  so . . . sorry . the last two were undoubtedly the best matches of the night and most everything else really came up short .  
as it is in heaven spoiler warning   br    br   this was a great human drama that stimulated my emotions and my imagination .  br    br   this is a parable revisiting the life and death of christ . daniel is a superior gifted musician  who is physically and mentally exhausted by his career  and has to give it up . when he joins a church choir as its cantor  he brings about a transformation in the lives of the choristers  just as jesus did to the society in first century palestine . they laugh  they begin to speak openly and truthfully to each other  their faults are exposed  they accept each other  come to love each other  become a vital community . they include the mentally disabled young man   tore   such is their inclusiveness .  br    br   the pastor  stig enjoyed authority through imposing a stifling morality on the congregation  and that is gradually rejected by the choristers . when stig dismisses daniel  there is a revolt  and stig is crushed . stig represents the jewish authorities of jesus  day  whose insistence on obedience to the jewish law  provided a stark contrast to the new life by  the golden rule  brought by jesus .  br    br   in one dramatic scene  someone declares  the church invented sin  . all through the film  there is this contrast between moral  ism and vital living  being  .  br    br   true to the christ story  daniel is killed by conny  when he beats him up  leaves him to drown in the river . next scene  we can hardly believe it when daniel  s  resurrected   body is dragged into his room  the tomb  draped in a white linen sheet  the shroud    by three women  three women kept vigil at the foot of the cross in the gospel  .  br    br   daniel is drawn closely to lena  a warm beautiful young woman who has been betrayed by a man she loved  and who is now promiscuous  jesus developed a close relationship with mary magdalene  lena  who was probably a high class courtesan  prostitute  . through lena  daniel learns to love  something he has longed for  and now finds fulfillment .  br    br   the solo sung by gabriella  composed by daniel  is all about living a full life  in contrast to moral correctness that leads to concern about sin  and what  s right and wrong .  br    br   the final scene shows the choir all singing  humming in harmony  like a mantra  drawing in the large audience  exemplifying the harmony and inter  connectedness that is our true human destiny .  
when i looked at this years wrestlemania  s match card  i was so stoked and unable to control myself because i was full of excitement .  br    br   it starts . . . and it ends .  br    br   i  m sitting there  angry to hell because of how much i wanted my money back . i mean  you watch wrestlemania    one of my favorites  which will go down as a classic and then you expect the same and get the average garbage they have every now and then . the one moment in the entire show that ruined it for me was when hbk tapped out     that very moment of hbk losing to john cena           john cena is such a loser  poser . it almost ruined wrestlemania   for me when he beat triple h  i couldn  t watch wwe after seeing wrestlemania   . i  m starting to watch it again  luckily  . i again have faith in wwe after wrestlemania    the greatest i have ever seen  which was a pure classic wrestlemania . it definitely made up for  mania   and gave us lots of memorable moments as well .  br    br   if you have watched any of the wrestlemanias before this one  like the ones that turn you into fans  wrestlemania   turned me into a fan   please don  t watch this and make the same mistake i made and leave wwe behind . and if you do watch it and are angry  start watching it again and watch wrestlemania    it is absolutely classic .  
it is a superb swedish film . . it was the first swedish film i  ve seen . . it is simple  deep . . what a great combination  .  br    br   michael nyqvist did a great performance as a famous conductor who seeks peace in his hometown .  br    br   frida hallgren was great as his inspirational girlfriend to help him to carry on  never give up .  br    br   the fight between the conductor and the hypocrite priest who loses his battle with michael when his wife confronts him and defends michael  s noble cause to help his hometown people finding their own peace in music .  br    br   the only thing that i didn  t like was the ending . . it wasn  t that good but it has some deep meaning .  
not only does the film  s author  steven greenstreet  obviously idolize michael moore  but he also follows in his footsteps by using several of moore  s propaganda film  making tactics . moore has expertise in distracting the viewer from this focus though  while greenstreet is obviously less skilled here .  br    br   having been privy to all of the issues surrounding moore  s speech at uvsc  i was disappointed to see that the major complaints of the community   that moore was being paid        of the state of utah  s educational funds to basically promote john kerry  s campaign and to advertise his own liberal movie   were pushed to the background by greenstreet while lesser issues were sensationalized .  br    br   the marketing methods for this video have been equally biased and objectionable . . . promoting the film by claiming that  mormon  s tried to kill moore  . not only is this preposterous  but it defames a major religion that greenstreet obviously has some personal issues with . i followed moore  s visit very closely  and all of the major news agencies noted that moore  s visit came and went without any credible security problems or incidents in utah .  br    br   greenstreet has banked on this film to jump  start his film  making career to the point that he has even dropped out of film school to help accelerate this . this seems to have been a severe miscalculation though  since moore  s visits to roughly   other colleges and universities across the country in     diluted interest for this rather common event . greenstreet  s assumption that american audiences would be interested in this film due to the promoted religious and conservative angles doesn  t seem to be well founded .  br    br   even the name of the film  this divided state  is somewhat of a misnomer since utah voted overwhelmingly for bush  s re  election and thus appears to be more politically unified than any other state . the division in the movie title seems more indicative of the gulf that exists in greenstreet  s ideological differences with his religion and state . if anything  i find a humorous correlation between the religious angle of this supposed documentary and woody allen  s hilarious contention in sleeper       that   i was beaten up by quakers  .  
yesterday i watched this movie for the third time . it was recommended to me by a fried several weeks ago . i never watched or even noticed it before  because it falls  so typically  in the category  swedish movie  and those who rose up  like me  with hollywood productions tend to be sceptical of any foreign movies . hell what a paradigm shift  the film touches me  because it just keeps up my hope  that mankind can change to a better way . the swedish village is just a pattern for all areas on earth where people live together  controlled by religion  misunderstandings  lack of courage  predictions  disguised brutality  but also the ability to have fun  to meet  to sing . . . it takes a trigger from outside to rip off the masks of everyone  who keeps one  and to let them feel that we all are just human beings with the desire to live our own lives . i can never stop to see stories like this  because  that keeps up my hope as described above . the five minutes containing the story of gabriella  s song including her performance is one of my movie  highlights ever  thank you kay pollak just for these  minutes  which made me happy   
i was one of the few non  liberals who showed up to see steve  s video . it was quite an experience . . . in propaganda film  making and boredom .  br    br   i was hoping the film might be an actual documentary of michael moore  s visit to my local school  uvsc  but it turned out to be another liberal  slash  and  burn effort to slam conservatives and the local religious community . it sure seems self  serving for a filmmaker to make a documentary that only reflects his preconceptions on issues .  br    br   what  s more surprising is to see all the     votes his homeys have posted here . did they even see the video  golly gee batman  this must rank with all the president  s men  their ratings are as obvious as the bias in this film .  br    br   yeah  like stacking the votes at imdb will help a lame movie . maybe my vote will help balance this out .  
the line  of course  is from the lord  s prayer   thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven  . sweden  especially its far north  is not my idea of heaven    degree c winter temperatures are a little on the low side for me  but the good folk who live there no doubt think they are in god  s own country .  br    br   the storyline here is a familiar one . acclaimed international musician daniel suffers health breakdown in mid  career  goes back to the little village in northern sweden where he was born . persuaded by the local pastor to help out with the church choir  he turns some unlikely talent into a class act  and they enter a contest held in innsbruck austria . there are echoes  sorry  of the band players of  brassed off  the models of  calendar girls  and the dancers of  the full monty  . but of course he causes plenty of emotional upheaval as some of the more downtrodden villagers realise their worth and revolt against their oppressors . he faces hostile husbands and an increasingly dubious pastor  but nothing except death is going to stop him .  br    br   despite the somewhat corny story  we get to know and like many of the characters  who come across as people rather than caricatures despite many of them being recognisable  types  . i did wonder about the wife  beater being unpunished for so long  sweden is one country in the world where such violence is pretty strongly discouraged  he was also a bit young to be one of the bullies of daniel  s youth  and the puritanical pastor with a secret passion for girlie magazines was a bit of a stereotype  but marvellously realised by niklas falk .  br    br   michael nyqvist is simply wonderful as daniel  the frail but driven musician  and there  s some nice music as well . i was rapt for the whole two hours . the ending is what you make of it  i guess  but it  s not spoiling it to say daniel achieves what he set out to do .  
most college students find themselves lost in the bubble of academia  cut off from the communities in which they study and live . their conversations are held with their fellow students and the college faculty . steven greenstreet  s documentary is a prime example of a disillusioned college student who judges the entire community based on limited contact with a small number of its members .  br    br   the documentary focused on a small group of individuals who were portrayed as representing large groups of the population . as is usual  the people who scream the most get the most media attention . other than its misrepresentation of the community in which the film was set  the documentary was well made . my only dispute is that the feelings and uproar depicted in the film were attributed to the entire community rather than the few individuals who expressed them .  br    br   naturally it is important to examine a controversy like this and make people aware of the differences that exist between political viewpoints  but it is ridiculous to implicate an entire community of people in the actions of a few radicals .  
beyond the excellent direction  production  acting  the predictable drama lies an essential message in the script  br    br    listening leads all the way  in order for the voice to flourish  listen . to harmonise with other in voice  listen . in order to approach yourself  listen . to discover the needs of any situation or others  listen . it appears that the script writers are conveying a  life  s secret  . listening leads to an awareness of one  s self . it awakens the other senses  especially vision  expands the horizon . one  s soul too can be discovered . the artistry of this movie  as it is in heaven  magnificently displayed the unfolding of life  not only its joy  sadness  but ultimately the hope of life . all this by the leading character  s first instruction to the choir  br    br    just listen  it leads all the way   
when evaluating documentaries that focus a relatively small group of ugly ultra right wing and conservative groups like this in the usa you must consider the following . the united states of america with its population of    million and its complex history as an aspiring democracy and its hopes and desires to uphold human rights that it has its failings and downside . it is of course expected that extreme right wing groups and ultra conservative groups exist in sizable numbers however relative to the size of its population they are very small and isolated . on a per capita basis europe  britain and even australia have similar right wing groups in fact on a per  capta basis the actual size of neo  nazi groups in australia is actually higher than in the united states of america . it is for the above reasons that it is unjustifiable to demean and vilify the american people and their level of debate in educated american society by very fraudulently and deceptively presenting this ultra  right wing bunch of psychopaths as being representative of american society . by doing so greenstreet  deliberately chose small and isolated groups at opposite ends of the spectrum to construct an image of america that is an outrageous and deliberate sensationalist lie . this film is clearly designed to inflame and pander to the views of people who harbor this subconscious and morbid hate the american people and way of life under the guise of spurist fashionable and clich idealist left wing ideology . this film was made for profit not for furthering the truth about american society and the human condition . greenstreet can make documentaries that focus on ultra right wing conspiracies  the military industrial complex but fail miserably to present an intelligent and balanced factual debate let alone alternative solutions to the failings of a vibrant democracy . movie show is exposed as anti american by its support for this trash . sensationalism at its worst anti  usa garbage shameful .  
  s som in himmelen  was probably one of the  most beautiful films i have seen in my life . that it did not win the oscar  i will not shed a tear . this movie is in a kind of class of its own  that an oscar win would possibly have detracted from it    my dearest friend anders  nyberg   you have done true magnificence with your pen here  kay pollak  with your creation  and everyone contributing  you all have given a gift of love to our world . between the points of entering this world of ours  then exiting it  you really can say that you made it better  a special personal thank you from my soul to all of you  that you brought back some precious memories from the second decade of my life . i grew up in sweden  and my young mind and present beingness was formed and shaped by many beautiful swedish influences  individuals  traditions  music and nature . my blessings with gratitude to you all . with love and light  george  gabriel berkovits soulhealer  johannesburg  south africa  
the western society has been fed ideas about india being a poor country . movies like these only make those beliefs stronger . such illustrations make it all the more difficult for indians to be accepted abroad . agreed there are poor and homeless in india  but why is there no representation of educated people if not the successful ones .  br    br   i totally hated the idea of the movie portraying patrick swayze as another mother teressa . in my opinion this movie has shown india in a very bad light giving wrong notions . it is unjust to discuss only one aspect of the society . exactly the reason why people ask me   when we go to india  can we hire an elephant right outside the airport so we do not have to walk on the roads so full of filth and snakes    br    br   those who want a second opinion on contemporary indian society should watch  monsoon wedding  .  
a famous orchestra conductor  daniel dareus  suffers what appears a heart attack as he finished conducting a concert . suddenly  we watch him as he arrives in the small town that he has left years before . since he left so young  and having his name changed contributes to give him a new persona . he has bought the old school building where he plans to stay . the building needs a lot of work . one would expect a man in his position to have all the comforts of the world he left behind to be installed in his new abode  but no  daniel puts up with the harsh winter in his own way .  br    br   the local pastor  stig  whose church has a small choir  comes calling to see if he can interest daniel in helping  but the conductor has no desire to go back to music . daniel begins to explore his new universe . the town  s people leave him alone . he makes an impression on lena  who works in the local store where he goes to get his food supplies . little by little  he comes around and decides to involve himself with the choir . lena will ultimately fall in love with daniel .  br    br   at first  the relationship between daniel and the choir members is not exactly what he expected . as they get to know him better  they come around to accept him and make him one of them . his new position doesn  t endear him to the woman who used to be in charge . the members of the choir are a motley crew  but they realize the change daniel has made in the way they interpret different songs . the new piece composed for gabriella  a battered wife  makes a great impact in her life and that of her fellow singers .  br    br   daniel  s ideas for the repertoire clash with stig  s own . the vicar suddenly begins seeing daniel in a new light he is a tormented man who likes to read pornographic magazines before making love to his wife  siv . his ideas clash with the dogma  as siv points to him . stig decides to try to put a stop to what he considers an unhealthy influence of daniel by firing him as the head of the choir .  br    br   the choir  which has been invited to participate in a competition travels to austria . daniel  who by now has fallen totally for lena  has a chance to show for the first time in his life his feelings for her when she starts to gets doubts about their relationship . daniel who is late for his own concert  gets to hear them making extraordinary music even though he is not in among them .  br    br   kay pollak  the director of this enormously appealing film  shows he was the man to direct it . the story involves the viewer from the start . great part of the success of the movie goes to the ensemble cast that was put together . william nykvist  who plays the leading role is the best excuse for watching the film . frida hallgren  niklas falk  ylva loof  do excellent work for mr . pollak .  br    br   stefan nilsson is the composer for most of the beautiful music one hears . harald gunnar paalgard  s cinematography makes the film look better capturing different seasons for the viewer in their beauty .  
i purchased this film for   in a bargain bin at my local video store for one reason only  chase masterson  but i should have crumbled up the five  thrown it in a toilet and flushed . the film is about a bunch of twenty somethings that peaked in high school and reunite on the anniversary of their idiot friends death  who got drunk and wandered into the woods and died . there problem is a reptilian monster is hunting them down one by one . the acting is abysmal  these worthless people were apparently cast offs on shows like      and dawsons creek . the directing was on par with a twelve year old and the script was probably done by a thirteen year old . the entire set looks like someone  s backyard in malibu . the people on here that have praised this film are obviously friends of the director and  or actors . avoid this pile of garbage at all costs .  
kay pollack  the man behind this movie  is a real great man who tries to share his life philosophy in different ways . he has written a bunch of good and well written books about how to control your senses and keep your soul happy . the message in most of his books and this movie  is about that your thoughts in fact is what causes your problems and that the reason of your anger hardly ever is caused of what you think of . the main message is that you can choose to be happy  but hardly ever do that .  br    br   to watch this movie and learn something very important on life  you have to keep your mind very open and l i s t e n to all the  hidden messages   or guidelines to get through life  which most of the parts in this movie contains if you listen and watch . watch it with your ears .  br    br   you won  t learn the meaning of life  but you  ll learn how to live and get the most out of it . . .  br    br   so  while watching  please keep in mind  br    br    the mind is like a parachute  it doesn  t work unless it  s open    
creature unknown is the right word for this movie . or maybe it should be called unknown movie . this movie is a piece of crap right from the beginning . it has a really stupid  plot   really pathetic  acting   and so  so  special effects .   br    br   some thirty  something year old  post  teens  are trapped in the woods with a mad  reptilian  rubber  suit creature lurking around endlessly . what you get with this movie is a bunch of talk and precious little action . you have girls walking through the woods talking  and then you have guys  with heavy mascara on  walking through the woods talking . the whole thing is so boring   br    br   the creature itself is rarely seen throughout most of the movie . when it is shown the picture is distorted to mask the fact that it is a man in a rubber suit  and the movement shows that it is a suit  hence the reason for the blurring and distortion of the image .  br    br   this is not a good movie in any since of the word and the ones here who have praised it are most likely the people that were picked up off the street to  act  in this truly stupefying movie  skip this one for certain   
i was taken to this film by a friend and was sceptical about a swedish film with subtitles . however  i thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this beautiful film . the unnecessary cruelty that man is capable of was portrayed confidently without overwhelming images  although animal lovers may have to shield their eyes for a brief couple of seconds somewhere during the first   minutes . a traditional story of humility versus brutality and hope versus tragedy was illustrated from a satisfyingly fresh angle using a spectrum of characters with very natural flaws and features . i particularly liked how the film managed to address multiple aspects of hypocritical human behaviour that concern bias  discrimination and sanctimonious pretence . an absolute gem of a film that i will promote to all who will listen .  
imagine the big chill with a cast of twenty  somethings whose characters are all unlikable  and an iguana  like man  lizard chasing them around and you have an idea of the foolishness herein . on the positive side  the movie does not skimp on showing the monster . there  s no peek  a  boo shots  or nighttime scenes where you have to imagine what he looks like he  s right out there folks . unfortunately  the design and construction aren  t that inspired . a little bit of mystery might have helped . mind you  i  ve seen far worse  but if you  re going to have him out on full display for a lot of the flick  your monster better look damn good .  br    br   spoiler ahead     br    br   oh  and there  s a twist ending involving the supposedly dead brother that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever . this came as no surprise given the shoddy writing of the script . as for the acting well let  s just say it wasn  t painfully bad  but i don  t expect we  ll be seeing many of these kids in future cinematic outings .  br    br   gore quotient  out of   nudity quotient  out of   intelligence quotient negligible  
a have a female friend who is currently being drawn into a relationship with an sob who has a long term girlfriend . of course the sob is very good  looking  charming  etc and my friend is a very intelligent woman . watching jean pierre leaud  s character at work is exactly like watching what goes on in real life when guys like that destroy the lives of our female friends . it  s tragic  and you know she  s going to end up very hurt  but there  s nothing you can do . leaud is brilliant . totally empty . a blank throughout  he pulls the faces and tells the stories he thinks will get the reaction he wants .  br    br   the scene two hours in when leaud and lebrun have made love  and the next morning he puts on a record and  very sweetly and charmingly  sings along to amuse her is brilliant . the  what the hell am i doing here with this idiot  expression that flickers back and forth across her face will be in my memory for a long time to come .  br    br   it  s a long film  but see it in one go  preferably in a cinema . takes a while to get into  but then the time just disappears .  
we have all been asking ourselves  why don  t they remake the slasher films that were only ok instead of remaking the ones that were great already  that way they can only make it better   well with prom night they have remade the average but trashy fun   s jamie lee curtis film and made it even worse . its a paint by numbers slasher film which is clearly trying to attract the young teens  hence no violence etc   the knife in this slasher flick is blunt . the director spends so much time focusing on trying to make the rather attractive killer look somewhat creepy that anything else goes out of the window . the cast who include britney snow  who was superb in hairspray  try their hardest but the material gives them nothing to do but pout and look scared . more annoying is how the death scenes are handled  we will hear the attack but wont see it  . it also looks like the only place the knife in this film worked was in the editing suite since the film looks like it has been butchered  im guessing anything remotely scary ended up on the cutting room floor so as not to scare the kids  yet in pours the money from americans sending this film to number  at the box office    slasher movies are a lot of fun but in prom nights case it made me want to download the original . i  ve seen scarier oc and dawsons creek episodes  
this is absolutely one of the best movies i  ve ever seen . it takes me on a a roller  coaster of emotions . i laugh and cry and get disgusted and happy and in love  all this in a little over two hours of time   br    br   the actors are all brilliant  i have to mention the leading actor of course  michael nyquist . he does a remarkable job   i also admire the actor who plays tore  who plays this mentally  challenged young man in such a convincing way  he sort of reminded me of leonardo di caprios roll in gilbert grape  and then there is the most beautiful song in the world gabriella  s sng .  br    br   i recommend this for everyone to see and enjoy   
well this movie is amazingly awful . i felt sorry for the actors involved in this project because i  m sure they did not write their lines . which were sometimes delivered with slight sarcasm  which lead me to believe they were not taking this movie seriously  nor could anybody who watches this obnoxious off beat monster slasher . while watching this  creature unknown  i could not help but think that there was not much of a budget or a competent writer on the crew . but  if you go into watching this for a laugh you  ll be happy  the movie is shameless to mocking itself because i cant see how anybody could look at this and be proud of pumping this straight to dvd clichd wanna be action thriller  horror movie fightfest to light .  
firstly  i really enjoyed this movie and its message  which is about daring to live life to the fullest . very poetic  with heartwarming and funny and sad scenes  very lively  it was a pleasure to watch . here are my  exceptions  though the movie was way too long and at some point  it kept adding more and more additional conflicts so that it started to lose the main story line . i disagree though with another comment that its unrealistic to have so many people with  strange  problems in such a small village . i think this was absolutely realistic  there are incredible dramas going on everywhere  we just don  t know this about people we meet only superficially . i disliked the ending  which was so loaded with symbolism and extremely forced . it left a bad taste as it was just too much . i did not like it that so many big issues were dramatically mentioned in the group  when some accused others in front of everyone else of major things  people would just be more  ashamed  to voice everything so personal in front of everybody  even if those people are a group one is closely working with  . and defending oneself is a human  beings strongest instinct . so why on earth would daniel let himself be beaten and never fight back  not even to defend himself  i mean he was not weak  he could at least try to defend himself when attacked but it just drove me mad to see him do nothing . it was as if the storyteller tried to forcefully bring across a message like  violence is not needed   but the way he chose to do this was not good . i am also against violence but the character loses credibility when he stays unmoved despite all the attacks . and gabriella . . . why on earth would a woman  who has spent years with a man beating her up  go to that man when he gets arrested and say  i do not wish you any harm . you have just done your best  like all of us  . oh really  this spoiled so much  was she going to be a saint or what  it would be normal for her to be bitter but not so almost  holy  and therefore not human . was her work with daniel and the music so great that it made her forget all of the st that happened to her  oh  please . so  these were the spoiling moments . nevertheless  i still think this is a delightful movie all in all  which is amazing enough  given my discomfort with quite a few things . watch it        
  steve   chris hoffman  gathers a group from high school for a reunion at the cabin location where his twin brother wes went missing . while they are there  a reptilian creature in the shape of a man  reminded me a lot of the gillman from creature from the black lagoon  awaits in the wilderness choosing the right time to pick them apart one by one . a biker  ellen ripley  type time female bad  ass  kat  chase masterson  has an underground military bunker she practices experiments in  while it also serves as a place of safety from the thing on the bloody rampage . kat knows more than she  s telling  she also suffered the loss of a child   but there  s another novelty twist most of the group have no idea of . this creature might just be more human than they realize . . and it  s former identity might shed some light on a deception only one other person has been hiding since wes  death . kat holds the key to many of the mysteries that unlock as the group remains near the cabin .  br    br   thankfully  a large portion of the film stays away from the creature which leaps in the air while we also see a hazy screen when we look through it  s eyes . the film has dawson  s creek  type melodramatics which often hinder any real tension that needs to build in a little monster movie . the direction is very bland leading to a relatively dull experience instead of eliciting scares . the cast is rather life  less and uninteresting . pretty maggie grace  the fog remake  might be the only draw for this film .  
the famous international conductor daniel darus  michael nyqvist  has a heart attack with his stressed busy professional life and interrupts his successful career with an early retirement . he decides to return to his hometown in the north of sweden  from where his mother left when he was a seven year  old sensitive boy bullied by conny and other school mates  to live a low  paced life . he buys an old school and is invited to participate in the church choir by the local shepherd stig  niklas falk   but the reluctant and shy daniel refuses in the principle . however  he gets involved with the community and feels attracted by lena  frida hallgren   a local woman with a past with the local doctor . his music opens the hearts of the members of the choir  affecting their daily life the slow tore  andr sjberg  has the chance to participate in the choir inger  ingela olsson   the wife of stig  releases her repressed sexuality gabriella  helen sjholm  takes an attitude against her abusive and violent husband the gossiper and frustrated siv  ilva lf  opens her heart against lena the fat holmfrid  mikael rahm  cries enough against the jokes of the businessman arne  lennart jhkel   even daniel starts loving people and lena as the love of his life . when they are invited to participate in an important contest in vienna  daniel finds his music opening the heart of people making his dream come true .  br    br    s som i himmelen  is a touching and sensitive movie  with a very beautiful story . it is impressive how director kay pollak and the screenplay writers have been able to develop a great number of characters in    minutes running time . the performances are top  notch  supported by magnificent music score and at least two awesome moments when gabrielle sings her song in the concert  and certainly the last concert in vienna with the audience  jury and everybody participating in the melody  and daniel making his dream come true . like in  teorema   the stranger changes the lives  not of only a family  but of a conservative community . further  like many european movies  the open conclusion indicates that daniel actually died  at least in my interpretation  reaching peace with the success of his music . my eyes became wet in these two scenes . my vote is nine .  br    br   title  brazil    a vida no paraso    the life in the paradise    
you know the story . . pretty kids alone in the woods  when bam  something starts cutting them up .  br    br   well this crap is no different . a bunch of kids return to a cabin where the male leads twin brother disappeared for years before . suddenly an  unkown creature  stars cutting them up  and their only help is a doctor  biker .  br    br   to say this film was bad is an understatement  it  s smut  the acting was horrible .  br    br   the creature looked very cheesy . and as all films do these days they try to get you with a twist ending  which they do not   br    br   there is one bright spot to this film  lost star maggie grace as the female lead .  
the arrival of an world famous conductor sets of unexpected events and feelings in the small village . some people are threatened by the way he handles the church choir  and how people in it gradually change . this movie is heartwarming and makes you leave the cinema with both a smile on your lips and tears in your eyes . it  a about bringing out the best in people and kay pollak has written an excellent script based on the ideas he has become so famous for . the actors are outstanding  michael nyqvist we know before but frida hallgren was an new  and charming acquaintances to me . she has a most vivid face that leaves no one untouched . per moberg does his part as gabriella  s husband almost too well  he is awful too see . one only wish the at he would be casted to play a nice guy one day so we can see if he masters that character as well .  br    br   this is a movie that will not leave you untouched . if you haven  t already seen it  do it today   
there  s hardly anything at all to recommend this movie . chase masterson is always nice to look at and actually can act  though her role in this clunker is a waste . unfortunately the rest of the cast ranges from bad to mediocre . in a lot of films like this someone will shine through the material and you make a note of them for future reference . no such luck here . creature unknown  a clichd monster  on  the  loose flick with the kids getting knocked off one after the other . the monster is a man in a rubber suit which hearkens back to the days of paul blaisdell . so bad it  s good  the rest of the show is just so bad it  s bad . a little humor might have made this more palatable  but everyone plays the deadly dull material straight up . there is a twist or two at the end  but by then you won  t care anymore .  
i saw this film back at the     palm springs international film festival and of the   films i saw there i would rank this as my   film . i had an initial interest in seeing this being of swedish descent myself with many of my ancestors coming from the norrland region of sweden where this was filmed . also i grew up in an area of rural north woods america where many small towns were much like the setting of this film . it  s nice to see more films using rural locations as their settings like s som i himmelen . this was a very good film and i  m sure a very hard film to pull together with it  s large ensemble cast but director kay pollock really pulled this off after a nearly two decade absence from directing . helen sjoholm in her motion picture debut as an actress was fantastic and i would look forward to more of her on the big screen . i enjoyed michael nyqvist in the lead of this well  rounded cast . i would highly recommend this film and rate it a  .  on a scale of   .  
the monster from enemy mine somehow made his way into a small mountain community  where he has taken up residence . he  s being hunted by a female doctor  turned  vigilante who is out to exterminate him . this female assassin  who looks like a refugee from a motley crue video  rides around on a motorcycle and tries to save a bunch of kids who have chosen to have a big chill weekend right smack dab in the middle of the monster  s turf . decapitations and lots of blood are primarily in place to draw attention away from the story which limps along like a bad version of the island of dr . moreau  and yes  it  s worse than the one with val kilmer  .  
i was drawn to this movie the moment i saw a preview of it on oscar night . when i read about kay pollak  i was hooked . we americans are suckers for a comeback kid .  br    br   i understand this movie was a huge draw in sweden . as a very provincial american i can only speculate on the reason . perhaps it is because of the provocative joke that the lena character makes at the beginning of the movie and other social comment but perhaps it is because of the central message which i believe has the same appeal everywhere in affluent societies .  br    br   the message of this movie for me is the same as the movie titanic . life is short people and as far as anyone really knows it  s all we  ve got . it can be taken away at any time . so isn  t it a pity that we spend so much time hiding behind walls separating us from other people because we  re so afraid of being hurt  tearing down the walls is painful but feeling alive lies on the other side of those wretched walls . feeling alive is worth taking the risk . give and you will receive . so start living now .  br    br   many people are criticizing this movie for it  s lack of characterization and other flaws . i say you are all pseudo  sophisticated . get a grip folks  it  s a parable  a fable for we affluent westerners who are materially rich but whose souls are in abject poverty .  br    br   so join a choir or a band or help build housing or distribute food for those less fortunate than you . spread some joy and make the world a better place as long as you get out and commune with your fellow man . writing a check is not enough . we are a social species by the way . even the humblest of your fellow human beings can affect you in ways you never thought possible .  br    br   rugged individualism has its place but it is over  rated .  
really a terrible movie . it  s to be expected  though . clearly a low budget nothing all that innovative  an actress  if you can call what she does  acting   who always has roles with nudity in a shower scene  a man in a reptile suit almost modeled after predator  a cabin in the woods  etc . but there are some redeeming points . although the story is not new  for the most part  there  s a few parts that aren  t so regurgitated . for one  the black guy doesn  t die when he  s attacked  the first time  and he isn  t even one of the first couple to die . but that  s minor . more importantly  there  s a very interesting twist regarding kat  s experiments and wes  steve that i didn  t see coming . when steve told kat he knew what she did  i believed what he said and what kat replied with . but when the creature revealed who he really was  i was pleasantly surprised at the novelty of the revelation . it could be because of my lack of experience with the genre  or that it  s a genuinely clever twist .  br    br   either way  the movie  s pretty bad and don  t watch it if there  s anything better on . . . unless you  re in the mood for a cheap scifi flick .  
my expectations were quite high for this film . everyone i know who saw this film at the cinema told me that everyone there stayed through the credits because they were so touched . my expectations could not have been any higher  anything short of wonderful would have disappointed me .  br    br   i was anything but disappointed by this movie . i loved how it dealt with difficult subjects without going through the usual steps a hollywood film tends to include . in this film characters worked through problems they had had for decades  they worked through prejudicm  they learned to open up . but it did not come easily  and not just by singing a song or two . it was painful  it took arguments  it took confrontations . it felt like real life .  br    br   one scene that really stuck out to me was the scene in which gabriella sings her song . helen sjholm is one of my favorite singers  her voice is lovely  and you could tell that she was not just lip  syncing to a previous recording during filming  which i often find in other movies   she really sang with her whole body and soul . you could feel what gabriella was feeling in that scene . had this movie been made in hollywood her song would most likely have been sung toward the end  and it would have made her husband open his eyes and see the error of his ways  as well as making the other people in the village realise a thing or two . instead it came halfway through  and it did not bring any solutions . her husband did not become overwhelmed and realise what he  s putting her through  and it didn  t seem to make anyone else in the village more open minded . it was beautiful  it was pure and it was touching but it did not magically solve all her problems . that felt real to me  that  s probably what would have happened in real life . the whole movie felt like real life to me  nothing neatly wrapped up but everything with a sense of joy and happiness . you rarely find a movie which feels so realistic .  br    br   there were a few things that bothered me  but hey  no movie is perfect . if you haven  t already you should go see  as it is in heaven  and be filled with a joy for life  a sense of hope and the feeling that you  ve been touched on a level movies rarely reach . you will be sad  pained  happy and a dozen other emotions .  br    br   someone once said that if every person in the world sang in a choir there would be no more wars . having seen this film i might have to agree .  
well  what can it be said about this disaster  i watched it because it aired on cable . i regret for wasting my time but at least i didn  t waste money .  br    br   the creature is the cheesiest you can get  please  you need to be very generous not to get angered by the cheap halloween costume . oh well  there are also displays of horrible acting  f  x  and dialogues . the confrontation with the creature is unbelievable  you can  t get a more pathetic scene .  br    br   this is the worst you can get from direct to video flicks .  creature unknown  makes full moon pictures movies look like  halloween  .  br    br   avoid this one at all costs  please . the only  positive  thing about this trash are the sexy women .  
kay pollak  s     heart  warmer s som i himmelen  as it is in heaven contains every stereotype of swedish humanity and inhumanity yet manages to be a crowd  pleaser . it contains plenty of ammunition for cynical critics  continuity error  spotters and for saccharine  debunkers  yet manages to depict the colours of life in a small community evocatively . the film also runs the gamut of proverbial messages about  finding one  s own voice  and  just doing it despite one  s fear   without completely removing the lump from the throats of the cynics .  br    br   its success as a crowd pleaser comes from two facts . firstly  small films about strangers bringing new life to rural christian communities provide plenty of scope for the exposure of hypocrisy while at the same time allowing repressed characters to break out of their hairshirts . the same year and with a similarly swedish breeze  the queen of sheba  s pearls did it  and babette  s feast also comes to mind . secondly  any film about small communities taking on the whole wide world will strike a human chord in our increasingly individual  self  focused and impersonalized world . this film  s structural similarity with the likes of the full monty  brassed off  calendar girls and on a clear day shows its indebtedness to the formula . but it is a formula with life left in it yet  and this seems to be because people need positive  message films that evoke a sense of community almost in spite of themselves .  br    br   the stranger is burned  out maestro daniel darus on a quest for self  rediscovery . the town he visits  or rather revisits  is  unbeknownst to the townsfolk  the place of his childhood . he was bullied mercilessly by classmates here  supposedly because he was a sensitive musician without aspiration to drive a truck . here  he takes the job of cantor  choirmaster  despite the usual suspicions of artists and outsiders . the place is  of course  populated by a wide range of recognizable types whose character arcs can be predicted the broken  hearted  fair  haired girl so beautiful she nearly glows the cellphone  ringing local businessman the woman whose beauty is lost amidst domestic abuse the steely pastor and his less austere wife  who at first seem right out of ingmar bergman . also present jealous  uptight spinster  siv   check   geriatric whose soul still sings  check   elderly couple who may have repressed desires for each other since kindergarten  check   obese person whose function is to point out we should not laugh and say  fatty   check   intellectually handicapped boy who proves able to sing a good  a   check  .  br    br   pollak  s film is not all warm fuzzies  however . it diverts from the  let  s put on a show despite setbacks and moral opposition  sub  genre . it contains violence and an ending that might well be a metaphor for dying after achieving creative nirvana . the violence of the film is mostly a function of male anger and repression  but in never delves deeply into why the school bully who grows up into a wife beater is like this . similarly  the small town pastor so closely adheres to the moralistic  black  wearing super  protestant stereotype  that his secret indulgence in girlie magazines is hardly surprising . his repressions and hypocrisies are just there  dangling unrelated to psychological reality . perhaps the unexplained photograph of a young boy  a lost son perhaps  glimpsed once over his shoulder  holds the secret .  br    br   perhaps these holes are functions of the editing  like several inconsistencies and continuity glitches that can be spotted  such as siv  s unexplained reappearance in the choir  twice  after moralistic outbursts . in fact none of the hitches in the film last very long and all seem resolved within a scene . apart from in some awkward love scenes  the film  s    minutes seldom drag  but there is a feeling that things may have been left on the cutting room floor .  br    br   the film remains solid three  star  fare despite the holes that can be picked in it . this is simply because in a world of technology  focused flicks and materialistic self  seeking  any glimpse of human community is  deep down  welcome for anyone  even the cynical .  
i guess i  ve seen worse films  but that may be becuz i  m so jaded by how standard these bad horror movies are . the killer monster thing is really really bad  basically its a guy in some kind of green body suit . there is much worse acting as far as b movie go  but don  t think for a second this was anything stellar  hell no . it actually did have a plot with substance  but was still pretty stupid . basically its just a bad low budget horror movie . but at least its not as bad as titanic  that movie sucks balls  this one just sucks . the blood looks really fake in this movie . thats one complaint i have about all the horror of the new millinium  low grade gore  looks stupid . a good gruesome death scene with really fake blood is so stupid . at least there was a nice shower scene  
a beautiful film  touching profoundly up the simple  yet divine aspects of humanity .  br    br   this movie was almost perfect  and seeing as nothing in this world can be truly perfect  that is pretty good . the only minor thing i subjectively object to  is the pacing at some points in the middle of the story . the acting is also very good  and all the actors easily top actors in high  profile films . the actual directing seems to have been well thought through  and the script must have been amazing . there are some truly breathtaking moments of foreshadowing  and a quite gorgeous continuing circular composition of the story .  br    br   the moment in the movie  when the main character achieves that feeling of being in heaven is the perfect ending to a truly brilliant yarn .  
in all my years of film  going  only once have i walked out on a film  and that was the dreadful  stay tuned .  fortunately  the cinema refunded the ticket and i went to see  buffy the vampire slayer  instead  a minor improvement  . that film is  gone with the wind  compared to  dick   a comedy so unfunny that it nearly became the second film i ever walked out of .  dick  was so unfunny it was even impossible to laugh at it  let alone laugh with it .  br    br   granted  paying to see a movie with a title like  dick  suggests that it will be filled with inane  dick  jokes and wind up a huge letdown  and yet i had high hopes because of the notable cast  daniel hedaya  bruce mccullough  dave foley  kristen dunst  etc .  etc .  and a premise that at least promised something fresh . what the film delivered was  as portended  four woefully predictable  dick  jokes  comic timing suffering from jetlag  and a premise that wore thin after the first five minutes . in short  it was the watergate scene from  forrest gump  stretched   nay  laid on a rack and mangled   over    excruciating minutes .  br    br   as soon as you understand that the two main characters   airless  insipid squealers who gasp and roll eyeballs incessantly   will participate in every major watergate event  you begin to mentally check off the plot as it progresses   and a half minutes erased from the nixon tapes  check the deep throat meetings with woodward and bernstein  check john dean getting a change of heart and testifying  check . the process drags out more languidly and about as engaging as the real watergate affair with about as much laugh  getting to boot . and though it posits to be an amusing re  deconstruction of the events leading to president nixon  s resignation  it turns into a paint  by  the  numbers  choose  your  own  adventure  fill  in  the  blanks comedy that says very little and entertains even less .  br    br   even the film  s strong point   the aforementioned cast   is bewilderingly unproductive here . the most disappointing of all is harry shearer as g . gordon liddy . trapped as he is behind the thick liddy moustache and strait  jacketed in this numbingly morose screenplay  shearer mumbles a few lines  tries desperately to leer from behind the prosthetic nose and eyebrows  then disappears . dave foley  one of the comic masterminds from kids in the hall  two others  bruce mccullough and mark mckinney also appear in this film   ah  the blessings of nepotism  fares badly as well . his h . r . haldeman occasionally lends a much  need lightening of the funeral plot  but the funniest thing about him is the buzz  cut he sports   perhaps the films funniest bit of all . and then there  s daniel hedaya as richard nixon   oops  i mean  dick .   ha ha how amusingly funny .  he manages to play a solid nixon  avoiding the pitfalls  such as overdone make up  rubbery nose and false teeth a la anthony hopkins  while preserving the essence  the vacillations between human tenderness and coarseness  . i seem to be forgetting someone . . . oh yes  the two stars of the film  those over  bubbly teenagers . can  t remember their names  perhaps because i have repressed their performances . nothing could be farther from funny nothing could be more painful than having to endure their deliverly that ran the gamut of  hyperactive  and  super  hyperactive  with an occasional  pouty  tossed in .  br    br   this film seemed to be a bad excuse to string together a   s soundtrack and parade outrageous period clothing  both of which seem to be the norm these days for films and tv shows set in the  me decade .  but the clothes and the music wind up being an ersatz substitute for true characterization and plot  a kind of extra  plot shorthand that the producers hope will compensate for anemic writing .  br    br   the only possible use for this film is years down the road when any one of its talented cast appears on david letterman or conan o  brien . this dreadful cinematic excretion will be dragged out to embarrass and hopefully humble the stunned guest star . the sad thing is that the real bad guys in all this   the writers and producers   will be far from the cameras gaze  possibly cooking up another disaster such as this .  br    br    
back to the roots with  like it is in heaven   what are the real values of life  these swedes carve out a message that appeals to every heart . we  ve seen it twice now in a cinema packed to the last seat love pure and joy within the music of a choir that  s simple  yet full of power once everyone finds his or her inner tone .  br    br   from the glitter of fame to the school of of his youth  now empty and ready to be adapted as his new home after collapsing on stage  daniel wants to start listening and is drawn into the lives of the simple  warm and rough people of the north .  br    br   he wins the hearts with music and gains the capacity to love and be loved unconditionally .  br    br   don  t go see it if you  ve been normed to hollywood . this stuff contains no extras  just your laughter  your compassion  your tears   
such great actors such a disappointment . marlon brando plays and awful character  the movie is not funny at all  a subconscious message can be seen  it is a damn crap       it suucks so badly      throw your tv through window   and so on . it is simply disgusting and irksome . in addition to foolish plot  sense of humor  there is something else . the way the rooms are decorated  the colors . it makes me sick  everything is so colourful that it might cause epilepsy . usually i do not care about the decoration in movie but this from  free money  made me angry . avoid at all costs   free money   probably for charlie sheen  sutherland and brando  but a viewer gets nothing  one watches it at cost of sanity .  
i hate over  long over  talky french movies  but my favorite movie of all time is the longest and talkiest french movie of them all . i saw it twice in the mid     s  and then it disappeared . but i finally got to see it again in      and fell in love all over again . what is most remarkable is that it feels every bit as fresh today as it did   years ago . if you haven  t seen it  don  t miss your chance   
when i first saw the preview for this movie  i really couldn  t wait to see it . the plot seemed good and the setting was great . i mean  a slasher movie that takes place on prom night  great idea   and the plot a high school teacher that becomes sexually obsessed with one of his students  goes crazy  gets arrested  and escapes three years later on prom night  prom night  a night that is supposed to be happy and memorable  turns into hell   however  i saw it and was extremely disappointed . it was not only the worst  horror movie  i have ever seen  but it was one of the worst movie in general that i have ever seen   first of all  it wasn  t even scary . there was not one moment in that movie when i jumped out of my seat . also  the murder scenes were so cheesy and dull . all the slasher did was either stab his victims in the stomach multiple times or cut their throats . also there was absolutely no gore  its rated pg     . the scene with the most blood was probably the one where the killer murders the black girl . he slits her throat and blood splatters on the sheets hanging around them  they don  t actually show him cutting her throat  .  br    br   next  you see the killers face the first time he is introduced in the movie . he isn  t mysterious  creepy  or scary . he  s just this guy who kills people .  br    br   also  everything in the movie was so clich . an example is when  at the end  the killer is about to kill the main character and at the last moment  the detective shoots and kills him . also  every single thing in this movie was so predictable . the victim  after seeing the guy with a knife  runs for her life  hides  thinks she gets away  and then the killer just pops out and kills her .  br    br   finally  the sequence of the movie was extremely bad . the guy goes into the hotel  kills a few people  the bodies are discovered  someone pulls the fire alarm  and everyone evacuates . the main character forgets something in her room  has an encounter with the killer  runs and escapes . thats it  she and her boyfriend go home  the slasher kills the guards patrolling the house  finds the girl  then gets killed by the detective . the movie sequence was so stupid and clich .  br    br   if your thinking of seeing this movie all because the preview looked good  trust me  don  t waste your time or money . no wonder this movie was being shown in the smallest theater in the movie theater . my friend and i  along with these two girls sitting in the back  were the only ones in the theater . that should have told me something about the movie beforehand .  
if the screenwriter and director intended to open hearts with the movie as the musician wanted to do with his music  they succeeded with me . commonplace human situations became original  personal and immediate so that i personally felt touched by each situation . i believe i would credit the power of music combined with the point of view of the person writing the movie . without spoiling  i can say that i was very moved by the movie  s approach to living . haven  t actually cried out of  what  joy  empathy  just deep emotion  in a very long time . i would love to find a way to show it to others . saw it at seattle international film festival .  
can anybody tell me where is the comedy      br    br     charlie sheen  is a very weak comedian   thomas haden church  is looking so feeble  with him    and the whole thing is so thickheaded   br    br   they tried to make a live comic book which turned out to be super bloody comic nightmare and it wasn  t even funny  like the plan  s scene in the bathroom it was so good with its cinematic imagination but there is nothing more . . except pain   br    br   donald sutherland    his relationship with his daughter     br    br   this is actually a kind of work which they made it just to made it and earn some money from it  but it became such a crime when this money would be robbed from the very us whom got deceived by so low art work and an entertainment had absolutely no entertainment at all   br    br   well  it would  ve been uglier if it was big production and starring brando in his golden years with a real star .  br    br   the sheen  s family in here . just be aware of that   br    br   anyone who found themselves admiring this movie or  god forbid  loving it  then you must go directly to therapy before you become more dangerous and hurt anybody else   br    br     brando  undoubtedly is a genius but the movie isn  t  and he wasn  t intending to be one in here after reading this for sure   but the main big problem is that no one else ever worked in this thing trying  or wanting  to be a small time smart or even good     sorry i  m crying now  the movie  s torturing is unbelievable   .  br    br   there is a scene where  brando  hitting  mira sorvino  by her shoes  that was so realistic   maybe he was seeing himself in her so he was punishing himself for being in such a crap   br    br   for the milliard time  this one could  ve been better  or less worse   . the script  till the train  s heist  was nice and i just imagined that they  d escape to have some chase like it  s another  smokey and the bandit  but with  brando  as the sheriff . in fact any of those chimeras was much merciful than what i  ve watched   br    br   why this masterpiece didn  t receive any razzie award   you want to make me believe that there was lower movie than this  i do not think so  it  s a situation where the razzie  s supervisor must himself win one for his negligence    br    br   martin sheen is here also as a guest star maybe for supporting his failure son but ironically the father was as failure as his son  and why is that   well  because i hate martin sheen maybe more than i hate comic movies weren  t as good as its ambition   br    br   it  s not a comedy movie  no . . it  s a horror one   and i just hate horror movies especially those which have been propagandized as comic ones   br    br   name good thing about it  hmmm  well  this one compared to another marlon brando  s monster movie  the island of dr . moreau       would be close to  casablanca     br    br   p . s  if you still want to know what are or who are precisely the bad  the ugly and the very ugly in this movie . . just pray your last prayers and go watch it . . may god help you   
first i was caught totally off guard by the film  s initial lyricism and then i became totally enchanted with the unfolding story and engrossed with the brilliant directing . the characters were all fully developed  not bigger  than  life but just like the people we live among anywhere we are in the world  in sweden  in turkey or in america  all completely believable human beings with foibles and nobility . hollywood could learn so much from this beautiful film . it shows that there is no need to go into every little detail behind every action to bring out the whole theme clear and bright  and that shows the brilliance of the director  hearfelt thanks to kay pollak and the wonderful cast for this superb treat    
i think it  s a great movie   it  s fun  maybe a little unrealistic  but fun and dramatic   i would like to see it again  if they were showing it in tv   just  question are we still talking about the same movie     
i am not going to spoil the contents to anyone  who has not yet watched this humble masterpiece by kay pollak .  br    br   a world famous conductor brilliantly played by michael nyqvist seeks peace from stress by moving back to his childhood village . the villagers  who has followed the genius in silence  are slowly tempting him to share of his greatness .  br    br   each role in this movie  has a very specific purpose and shows a remarkable potential in each of the actors playing their own chord in short but precise words  a symphony of love .  br    br   not love in the sense of relationship  but in the tone of the spirit deeply buried within each of the characters  each revealing their own present story  their needs  their skeletons  desires and much more .  br    br   i shall not forget to mention  the two main parts played by frida hallgren and michael nyqvist  whose dramas are played in unforgettable harmonies of emotional feedback . they touch each other with a pain connected in their own disability to love themselves .  br    br   michael nyqvist is really put to the test here in a very difficult setup  in one of those movies that either end up as catastrophic or fantastic . and fantastic it became from start to end  not one second less or more than enough  you are left with a feeling of change and a taste for more .  br    br   to this day  definitely one of the best movies i have had the pleasure of watching .  
this wretched movie shows that not even some of gollywood  s best can salvage a true landfill deposit . .  br    br   i could spend much time describing everything that was bad about this effort  but that would require more time and i  ve already wasted   minutes watching . . . it .  br    br   looking at it now  after brando  s death  shows how tragic the life of one of our greatest actors had become .  br    br   donald sutherland  why   br    br   i have to fill more lines to get this accepted . i have to fill more lines to get this accepted . i have to fill more lines to get this accepted .  br    br   don  t waste your time with this movie . i  m overdue to do something interesting . bye .  
this is one of those movies that you keep thinking about when you wake up the next morning . it will give you that warm  fuzzy feeling and leave you with a smile on your face .  br    br   sure  we get fed the typical stereotype characters and stories  but it does do the trick entertain .  br    br   being from sweden and living in the us for quite sometime  it is funny how we react .  the deadbeat husband is going to kill him    she  gabriella  is going to die and then there will be a heartbreaking larger  than  life ending  . we know how these things work  everything comes together at the end . and it did . the characters were somewhat simple  they were so elaborate that you didn  t really think twice about it  nothing was really left for your own imagination . the closest would probably be siv  she makes you ask yourself if she indeed was in love with daniel  but that  s about it .  br    br   but the movie is beautiful  set in rural norrland  the music is absolutely amazing and the characters are lovable . michael nyqvist is truly genius  with his crazy unique look and frida hallberg is charming and approachable . maybe a little too nice .  br    br   but most of all this movie makes you feel  and that is the most important thing . you cry  you laugh  you hate and you identify . i don  t know about you guys  but that does not happen that often .  
i watched free money last night  it was the longest    minutes of my life . with such an intriguing cast  i really thought that i was in for a treat  especially since i  m a brando fan . wrong  what a waste of talent . it  s almost embarrassing to watch at times  like the cattle prod scene    there were so many missed opportunities for humorous setups  why didn  t they show charlie sheen  s character going back to tow brando  s truck   ugh . it tries to be a slapstick comedy  but i just wasn  t buying into it . skip this one . only for die  hard brando fans .  br    br   i  m giving it  out of   because i still think the worse movie ever made was skidoo .  
wow i loved this movie  it is about normal life in a small village . about hypocrisy and honesty  love and surrender . great  it is about things everybody encounters in life . you have to do things with passion . but some people will not appreciate your passion and will try to stop you . there are people who find the opinion of others and  what will the neighbors think  more important than to follow their heart . don  t let anybody  s opinion stop you from fulfilling your dreams and passion . i loved the fact that the actors were all really normal people  it could have been my family . no big beauties  but all people you fall in love with during the movie .  
watching marlen brando on screen is like watching a master carpenter chiseling intricate details into a piece of mahogany . brando  s acting is the only thing that makes this movie watchable . the plot is inane and laughable  not comic  . the other big name actors seem to be making desperate attempts to give the characters they portray some modicum of humanity . . . these characters have the humanity of wet cardboard . everything about the technical side of this film is either mediocre or just plain awful . the director throws freeze  frame and slow  motion shots about with impunity . the incidental music is cartoonish and destroys any hint of dramatic effect . it  s not something i really look for in a movie  but even the wardrobe was way off . the venerable brando couldn  t take focus away from the awful rags they had him decked out in . i  ve heard this movie called  david lynch  esquire  and  irreverently funny  . . . it is neither . david lynch films are borne of wicked creativity  this film was in no way creative . and don  t confuse irreverence with stupidity .  
this film  recently voted as an audience favorite at the     palm springs international film festival  is inspiring and moving . a famous conductor  forced to retire by illness  returns to the small village of his birth to become the leader of the church choir  and finally find fulfillment in his music . drawing on sweedish traits of keeping things within oneself and of the insular character of a small swedish village  this film develops each of its characters well . superbly directed  acted and sung  it brought tears to many eyes  and smiles to all . hopefully it will find distribution in the united states .  br    br   if you can  see it   
this charles outing is decent but this is a pretty low  key performance . marlon brando stands out . there  s a subplot with mira sorvino and donald sutherland that forgets to develop and it hurts the film a little . i  m still trying to figure out why charlie want to change his name . every movie with  charles  has been pretty bad .  
i really loved this movie and so did the audience that i saw it with in los angeles . after the film  lots of people were crying and saying how much the film had affected them . i can see why it was such a huge hit in its homeland  sweden . the film is masterfully directed and each character brilliantly drawn so that by the end you really know these people and care about them . the music is very natural and the main song in the film quite heartbreaking but inspiring . would definitely recommend this film for everyone to see  even people who don  t normally go to subtitled films . definitely deserved the oscar nomination because of the profound themes of the film reflected without pretension in a small  town community with everyday people . it is a film that unites us in this divided world and shows us the potential of the human spirit . a must see   
marlon brando had long since lost interest in acting when he made this film . his performance as  the swede  is the worst of his career  and that is precisely what he intended it to be . he doesn  t overact . instead  he simply acts in a bizarre fashion and pokes fun at his embarrassingly gargantuan girth . the scene where brando climbs over the toilet stall is probably the worst  funniest moment in the history of cinema . as we witness him fall head  first into a toilet  it is hard to believe that we are watching the same actor who starred in a streetcar named desire  on the waterfront  and the godfather .  br    br   i guess the real question is why marlon behaved like this in his later years . was he sick of the movie business  did he just like making a complete and utter fool out of himself  i guess we  ll never know . but this film serves as a fascinating study as to what bad acting is all about .  br    br   on that note  watch fellow acting veteran donald sutherland as he struggles to deliver his lines  embarrassed at himself for agreeing to participate in this travesty .  
two movies back to back which dealt with indian pows veer zaara and deewaar . although veer zara was a love story of a guy who gives everything up for someone  deewaar focuses on the main subject itself . it is not hidden that many indian pows are rotting in pakistani jails for years  for whom neither indian govt . has time or sympathy nor the other side . i  m sure some of pakistani pows are in india as well  but let  s focus on the movie . full of actors . some were stage actors like raghubir yadav  rajendra gupta  etc . amitabh bachchan who plays the role of a major  acted well . akshaye khanna did his part well . there was nothing for amrita rao to do than a few giggles and couple songs . i think sanjay dutt  s role was most solid even though it wasn  t too long . he acted really well here and his dialog delivery was also impressive . if you compare it to loc  which was nothing but a day long movie with story going in all directions  if it had a story   deewaar is a well directed movie that keeps a good pace and does justice to all actors .  .      
i still can  t believe this movie . they got so much unbelievable things in it  that it  s hard to believe anyone wanted to make it .  br    br   the story is a joke  but in the sense of being funny  but more like no story at all . how can you mix a slapstick comedy with a train robbery  a prison movie  town conspiracies  sex  jokes and a fbi  agent  you can  t .  br    br   beside the terrifying directing the most noticeable thing are the actors . i watched this film and thought  is this really marlon brando  no  it can  t be .   minutes later  is this charlie sheen  wow  maybe brando is true .   minutes later  this can  t be donald sutherland .   minutes later  no  not mira sorvino . this movie is too bad for all of them .  at the end  . no  no  no  this can  t absolutely not be martin sheen    not for   seconds of such a movie .  then it was over and i down with my nerves . so many good  oscar  winning  usually convincing actors in such a stupid  dumb  awful movie . i rarely wanted to know so much how they came to act in this one . they couldn  t got so much money .  br    br   only just an unbelievable silly idiotic movie .  br    br                     
this is a pretty ok film . . . yes some parts are lame and exceptionally convenient  and the movie doesn  t really justify the large star cast  ab  sd  tanuja  . however  the actor that really impressed me here was kay kay menon  not to be confused with the singer kk  . in the scene where he first meets amitabh  s character  i thought that a man who can just look at ab  keep staring and not say a word  and still look strong  is definitely a good actor . in fact  he has proved himself worthy again in sarkar  alongside ab for a second time . this guy should get more roles  he  s brilliant .  br    br   if you  ve read any of the other reviews here on imdb  you already know the plot  and i do agree that akshaye khanna  s entry into pakistan was a little too easy . and the little love angle he shared with  what  s  her  face  was completely unnecessary . but he is a fairly good actor  as seen in dch   sunjay dutt is cool to watch  always . and ab . . . what can i say . i don  t know if i  m his biggest fan in the world  but i know i can definitely compete for the spot .  br    br   an interesting watch  considering it  s bollywood  although a bit inspired by hollywood oldies like  the great escape  and  bridge on the river kwai  .  
it  s a good thing the score came along for marlon brando as a farewell performance because i  d hate to think of him going out on free money . not what his fans ought to remember him by .  br    br   brando in his last years is looking more like orson welles and free money is the kind of film welles would have done looking for financing of his own work . brando is the warden of a local prison which in america  when it  s located in a small rural setting is usually the largest employer in the area . that gives one who is in charge a lot of clout .  br    br   unfortunately he has one weakness he indulges  his two twin bimbos otherwise known as daughters . even when they get simultaneously pregnant by a pair of losers  charlie sheen and thomas haden church  their hearts still belong to daddy .  br    br   not to fear because brando  s willing to give them jobs in the prison where they work under conditions not much better than the convicts have . what to do  but commit a robbery of a train which goes through the locality every so often carrying used money to be burned by the treasury .  br    br   although free money has some moments of humor  for most of the time it  s quite beneath the talents of all those involved . some of them would include donald sutherland as an equally corrupt judge and mira sorvino as his stepdaughter  but also straight arrow fbi agent .  br    br   of course these people and the rest of the cast got to work with someone who many rate as the greatest american actor of the last century . were it not for brando  s presence and were it some   years earlier  free money would be playing the drive  in circuit in red state america where the populace could see how they  re being satirized .  br    br   or a feeble attempt is made to satirize them .  
this is a really great short from hal roach . this is because of two main reasons the littlest kids in the short are among the cutest to have ever been on film and the plot has so many funny and well  written elements .  br    br   as for the littlest of the little rascals  i honestly can  t think of a cuter kid than spanky at about age four . despite being a rather chubby and unattractive kid in later years  he was just precious here . and  placing the little tiny boy in charge of babysitting the even younger kids was not only funny  but once again high on the cute factor .  br    br   after the older kids blackmail spanky into doing this awful babysitting job  all kinds of funny mayhem breaks loose . the gags are pretty effective and well  done for the time   with an accidental crank call involving a murder and a final scene where spanky finally gets control of the little ones being the most memorable . i haven  t seen these shorts in many decades and i am glad i gave this one a chance .  
when i was younger  i thought the first film was really good in childhood  so i decided to see the sequel . this is an example of why some films shouldn  t have sequels  because the first film is usually best  and it is . basically now that ariel and eric are married they have a daughter who isn  t allowed outside the house because they are worried about the sister of ursula  the octopus legged villain from film one   morgana getting to her . when the kid gets out she asks ursula  s sister to turn her into a mermaid  like her mum was . this makes ariel go back to the sea to find her . the same good voice artists  it  s just the story that could have had a bit more thought . adequate   
a have a female friend who is currently being drawn into a relationship with an sob who has a long term girlfriend . of course the sob is very good  looking  charming  etc and my friend is a very intelligent woman . watching jean pierre leaud  s character at work is exactly like watching what goes on in real life when guys like that destroy the lives of our female friends . it  s tragic  and you know she  s going to end up very hurt  but there  s nothing you can do . leaud is brilliant . totally empty . a blank throughout  he pulls the faces and tells the stories he thinks will get the reaction he wants .  br    br   the scene two hours in when leaud and lebrun have made love  and the next morning he puts on a record and  very sweetly and charmingly  sings along to amuse her is brilliant . the  what the hell am i doing here with this idiot  expression that flickers back and forth across her face will be in my memory for a long time to come .  br    br   it  s a long film  but see it in one go  preferably in a cinema . takes a while to get into  but then the time just disappears .  
i saw this film by accident and this movie was an accident . . . well it must of been . blonde women being stalked  the villain appearing then disappearing getting from one place to another in minute  s then disappearing and reappearing  hiding . he was  nt even a super hero so i don  t know how he did it . he could  nt frighten a cat and that  s not hard to do .  br    br   the old  mirror in the bathroom  is just not scary anymore in fact it stopped being scary years ago . you had the cop on the trail of the villain  another clich  played by idris elba with a very convincing american accent  he  s from london  the director did  nt have a clue and has made a film full of clich  s and make  s  scary move  which was a comedy look scary . pathetic   
this is one of the all  time great  our gang  shorts . spanky is at his very cutest and funniest  and the babies that he get  s left to babysit are also hilarious . tiny spanky is coerced by the gang into watching all their little siblings . the opening shot of them all in baby carriages  being entertained by various things hung by the gang from fishing poles is a beautiful gag .  br    br   spanky  s appearance wearing his huge toy knife when asked to babysit by the older fellows is priceless  as is his response    hey  where do you get that stuff   i don  t take care of no babies   the tiny fellow saying  remarkable  throughout the film  all the beautiful sight gags  and spanky telling the babies  all about tarzan  add up to make this one of the best  our gang   s you  ll ever see .  
disney goes to the well one too many times as anybody who has seen the original little mermaid will feel blatantly ripped off . celebrating the birth of their daughter melody  ariel and eric plan on introducing her to king triton . the celebration is quickly crashed by ursula  s sister  morgana who plans to use melody as a defense tool to get the king  s trident . stopping the attack  ariel and eric build a wall around the ocean while melody grows up wondering why she cannot go in there .  br    br   awful and terrible is what describes this direct to video sequel . little mermaid  gives you that feeling everything you watch seemed to have come straight other disney movies . i guess disney can only plagiarize itself  do not tell me that the penguin and walrus does not remind you of another duo from the lion king   br    br   other disappointing moments include the rematch between sebastien and louie  the royal chef . they terribly under played it  the climax between morgana and everyone seemed to be another disappointment .  br    br   i will not give anything away  but in   minutes  everything seemed incredibly cramped and too much to handle . an embarrassment to disney  little mermaid  is better left to rent and laugh at . then you can prepare for the rest of the other sequels disney is going to drown you in later on .  
an our gang comedy short .  br    br   the gang coerces spanky into watching their younger siblings . caring for these forgotten babies turns out to be quite a chore  leaving the little nipper with no choice but to come up with some ingenious solutions to the baby  sitting problem . . .  br    br   spanky is in his glory in this hilarious little film  arguably his best . highlight spanky  s retelling the plot of the tarzan movie he  s recently seen to the audience of infants . movie mavens will recognize billy gilbert  s voice in the radio drama .  
this is a movie that is bad in every imaginable way . sure we like to know what happened   years from the last movie  and it works on some level . but the new characters are just not interesting . baby melody is hideously horrible  alas  while the logic that humans can  t stay underwater forever is maintained  other basic physical logic are ignored . it  s chilly if you don  t have cold weather garments if you  re in the arctic . i don  t know why most comments here return of jafar rates worse  i thought this one is more horrible .  
one of the finest pieces of television drama of the last decade . throughout the five hours  ones perceptions and sympathies are constantly challenged as it explores many facets of modern day british society . david morrisey is  as usual  brilliant . at first coming across as a heavy handed copper in conflict with the heroine  but then proving to be intelligent and caring  as he works with her in uncovering the truth . i have never seen surrane jones before . i believe she comes from the world of television soaps . her performance was magnificent  as she maintains her humour and composure whilst trying to balance the demands of the case and the stress of caring for her mother . i could go on and talk about every member of the cast who contributes to this magnificent drama  but their efforts would mean little without such an absorbing script that constantly challenges your assumptions about any of the characters . it is programmes like this that restore one  s faith in television drama  whilst at the same time making it almost impossible to settle for most of the garbage that is increasingly filling the airwaves .  
the little mermaid is one of my absolute favorite disney movies . i  m sorry to say  however  that disney completely messed up when they made this sequel . i  ll admit it has some good points to it . the songs aren  t bad  and the animation is clean and clear . there is some humor  i  m sure   i don  t remember  because after watching it i immediately banned it from appearing before my eyes again . the worst point of this movie is the plot . in this movie  ariel becomes her father . she forbids her daughter to go near the sea  yes  out of fear   just as she was forbidden to go near the land . i personally think that  given her past  ariel would maintain some of her headstrong ways and not treat her daughter like she herself was treated .  br    br   besides this fact  ursula was replaced by a non  scary  pathetic sort of sea witch  the underfed  forgotten sister  who is more comical than scary . she  too  has some little underling to do her bidding   but she  s not scarier or worse than ursula . ursula spoiled us with her believability for badness . this sea witch is a joke .  br    br   to make matters worse  flounder is a fat  deep  voiced father  no longer the cute guppy we all know and love  and eric  s voice is not even done by the same actor  something that always annoys me in a remake  sequel  .  his voice difference was very obvious to me  by the way   i felt that the only reason this movie was made was so that disney could catch a few fast dollars  something i hate to think about a corporation i actually really do enjoy . i felt that this plot lacked imagination . i know that this act  child following in the footsteps of a parent  happens  but ariel was different . that was what we loved so much about her . she had a dream  she fell in love  and she made that dream come true . until she appeared in this movie  that is . then she became just like the other adults . this isn  t the ariel i know . and i don  t like her .  br    br   i know of some children who have enjoyed this film  and i know some adults who didn  t mind it  either . but for me  and for all of you out there who have the utmost love for ariel  please don  t see this movie . the ariel we know dies within  resurrected only for a song or two and one final scene that actually isn  t bad  where she accepts the water back again    although she takes very little part in the ending  regardless .  
this is a very engrossing bbc  tv mini  series which is loosely based upon a mysterious disappearance of a young mother  but the series is really more of a study of the assorted characters in the story  which lasts for five hours . it is thus very much an ensemble piece  where the wide variety of brilliant british actors and actresses can show off their talents . the actual characters portrayed are really  the kind of people one does not normally meet   people so boring and nondescript that it is difficult to admire them . for instance  the lead character is a young husband  the one whose wife disappears  who has no job and no apparent interest in finding any . he lives off handouts from his parents  in  law . he was once in the army but does not appear to have the slightest flicker of any ambition or any interests in life apart from doting on his small family . he is played by david oyelowo  who is brilliant at the part  coming across as a totally sympathetic person  although his only activities for five hours are loving and grieving  which he does superbly  so that one wants to comfort him  as he is so obviously a nice guy . the standout performance of the whole series is unquestionably penelope wilton  who acts circles round everyone else in the story . she is simply incredible . she portrays a very unsympathetic woman  indeed the only character in the story who is all too familiar to everyone  namely an irrational  hysterical  self  centred  dense  querulous  blindly loving and blindly hating  elderly idiot  woman . alas  alas  we know them too well . wilton is one of britain  s finest actresses  see my review of her in  half broken things   . she takes a character who could have been two  dimensional and makes her four  dimensional . she is wonderfully supported by old pro patrick malahide  who plays her exasperated husband  and the pair of them set a high standard indeed for all the younger players . janet mcteer  a spectacular actress when younger  has become a much less sympathetic type of person now that she is older  has coarsened in some way  and puts one off  but she redeems herself in the latter stages of the story by showing how brilliant an actress she can be when she has a chance by pulling off one of the most convincing and original drunk scenes i have ever seen on film . the big surprise is the enigmatic character sarah  played with great depth and originality by actress sarah smart . she takes a character who could have been insufferably tedious and by sheer acting magic turns her into a deeply mysterious and intriguing person  about whom we wonder tirelessly for the entire five hours . she is so good at it that we end up wondering about sarah smart  frankly . i guess that  s what happens when you really do your job properly  that people wonder where the character ends and the actress begins  if she knows herself  that is  and many do not . she has some deeply unnerving tricks with her eyes  which wobble and let us know she is unhinged  but we are not sure how or why  though we eventually learn that she had an extremely violent and traumatic childhood . her mastery of ambiguous facial expressions is extraordinary . rory kinnear is amazingly convincing as an apparently hopeless fellow who lives with his mum and isn  t up to much  but who turns out to have hidden depths .  i suppose most people have hidden depths  but do we want to plumb them  that is the question .  his mum is played very well indeed by margot leicester . a superb performance is given by lucinda dryzek  who plays a snotty  revolting teenage girl of the sort we all dread to meet  but who at crucial moments collapses in helpless tears and turns out to be pathetic  with all her arrogance just a pose . three other children are also very good  lucinda  s friend  and her younger half  brother and half  sister . the younger siblings may be very dim indeed as characters in the story  they seem unable to say anything particularly articulate  being hopeless witnesses to the disappearance   with little to recommend them but their sweet natures  but that is conveyed to wonderful effect by lee massey as the boy and tyler anthony as the girl . harriet walter has a small role  but we do not get to see much of her  which is a shame  as she is such a fine actress that she was wasted here . one could go on  but one must draw a line somewhere . the series manages to be strangely fascinating because of the depth of portrayal of all these essentially uninteresting people caught up in a web of intense anxiety and suspense .  
as a child the first installment   the little mermaid   was my favorite movie . it was filled with great characters  songs  and a fun family film . a week or so again i watched this movie for the first time . i believe that this movie was like most sequels and didn  t surpass their original . i think that i feel this way possibly because i had high expectations and i have grown up . however  it is not a bad film .  br    br   it starts when ariel has just given birth to a beautiful child  melody . eric and ariel feel threatened by morgana  eurselas  sister   so they build a large wall around their house which lies on the sea . as melody grows up she begins to wonder outside of the walls where she is forbidden to go . trouble stirs up as morgana tries to take control of the seven seas .  br    br   i don  t want to give away any of the movie so you have to see it to find out . i did like that the voices are the same and again wonderful singing . i think this is a good family film though overall   
i totally got drawn into this and couldn  t wait for each episode . the acting brought to life how emotional a missing person in the family must be  together with the effects it would have on those closest . the only problem we as a family had was how quickly it was all  explained  at the end . we couldn  t hear clearly what was said and have no idea what gary  s part in the whole thing was  why did kyle phone him and why did he go along with it  having invested in a series for five hours we felt cheated that only five minutes was kept back for the conclusion . i have asked around and none of my friends who watched it were any the wiser either . very strange but maybe we missed something crucial      
this was the first sequel i  d seen  apart from return of jafar  and i honestly thought before watching it that it would be close to the original . i was horribly disappointed .  br    br   the storyline was  basically  the first script with a few extra characters and the situation turned around . ariel and eric have a daughter  melody who isn  t satisfied with life on land . she wants to become a mermaid . however  ariel has kept her past from her daughter because she wants to protect her  and when melody finds out she  s upset and angry . and she then decides to run away  and she becomes a mermaid . so she  s happy swimming around  and ariel sets out to find her  as a mermaid .  br    br   the story doesn  t sound too bad written down  but the clichs and repeats of situations from the first movie are just too obvious . and adding the fact that melody is  overall  extremely annoying  and the movie becomes almost unbearable .  br    br   there  s also a whole load of other new characters  tip and dash being two of them . they aren  t too bad as characters in themselves  just try not to think of timon or pumbaa  the songs leave a lot to be desired too  they just don  t have the same magical energy as the songs from the original did . the animation obviously didn  t have a whole load of work put into it either  in parts it  s jumpy  and not much imagination is used for the characters movements .  br    br   another piece of advice  try to forget about ariel  s original character while watching this movie . the beautiful  rebellious  curious teenager has  all grown up  into a bland  boring wife and mother  and her trademark red hair is all tied up . this is much better viewed if you  ve never seen the original  you  ll have nothing to compare it to .  br    br   however  all in all  it could have been worse  it  s not as bad as certain other sequels  such as cinderella ii . but it  s not in the same league as the original . but it for your collection if nothing else but if disney go on like this they  ll lose all their older fans .  
it  s only  episodes into a  part drama  but i can already state that this is one of the best things i  ve ever seen . that  s on tv  silver screen or even in real life .  br    br   as a writer  it  s so good it  s almost demoralising  as a viewer it  s so entertaining that i  m annoyed the episodes are over a fortnight instead of monday to friday . it  s clear that all these negatives are actually positives .  br    br   i  m a modern guy who previously turned over from tv dramas . in comparison to movies  tv dramas always seemed to be dated  quite tame  and well  generally boring   five days  has really brought tv drama into the   st century  so for me at least  it  s mind changing . go watch it .  
though i  ve yet to review the movie in about two years  i remember exactly what made my opinion go as low as it did . having loved the original little mermaid  and having been obsessed with mermaids as a child could be  i decided i  d take the time to sit down and watch the sequel .  br    br   disney  i  ve got a little message for you . if you don  t have the original director and actors handy . . . you  re just looking to get your butt whooped .  br    br   in the sequel  our story begins with a slightly older ariel and her daughter  melody . my first big issue was that eric and the rest of the crew sang . yes  i understand that disney is big on sing  and  dance numbers  but really  that  s what made eric my favorite prince . he was calm  collected  and a genuine gentleman that knew how to have fun . and he did . not . sing .  br    br   and then there  s the villain . oh  how could we forget the shivers that coursed down our spines whenever ursula slunk onto the screen  terrifying both ariel and audiences around the world  unfortunately  that gene was not passed on to her seemingly useless sister  morgana . nothing was ever  ever said about morgana in the first movie she just pops out of nowhere  trying to steal the baby . oh  how cute . the younger sister is ticked off and instead of going after the trident  decides to kidnap a month  old baby . gag me .  br    br   other than being a flat character with no sense of originality in her  morgana was just very unorthodox . the same plan as her sister  the same minions  who  by the way  did not scare anyone . i had a three year old on my lap when i watched this movie  and she laughed hysterically .  she had no purpose being in there i  d like to have seen mom be the villain . i  m sure she would have done a better job than little miss tish over there .  br    br   king triton held none of the respect he  d earned from me in the first movie  and don  t even get me started on scuttle  sebastian and flounder . triton was a stern but loving father in the first movie  and in the second  it  s almost like he  s lost his will to knock fear into the hearts of his subjects . scuttle  once a comic relief that made everyone laugh with his  dingle  hopper   yes  i  ll admit it i did call my fork a dingle  hopper from time to time after that  . in this film  scuttle  s all but forgotten . a supporting character even in the first  he at least added something to the movie . he was rich with a flavor the others didn  t have  and in the sequel  they all but stripped it from him entirely . sebastian was still the same  but twice as worrisome as before . disney  don  t do that . don  t even try to mess with our favorite crab . or our favorite little fat fish  who becomes a dad and has a multitude of very annoying children . he  s fat  and he  s bland  and he looks like he  s going to flat line any second .  br    br   the walrus and penguin were unneeded  and after a while  you just start to resent everyone . especially melody  who has no depth to her whatsoever .  br    br   and one of these days  disney  i  m kicking out of my life .  br    br   if i didn  t love your originals so much .  
a number of posters have commented on the unsatisfactory conclusion . this is always a problem with long  complex dramas . crime is essentially banal  so the pay off is always anti  climactic  whilst detailed exposition detracts from the human drama . the writer has used a number of clever devices to try and get round this  but has not been entirely successful . answers to precisely what happened and why may have been supplied  but if so they are well buried . the viewer inevitably feels a little cheated .  br    br   but in a sense this is unimportant . the drama was never about the crime  or even the investigation  it was about the impact of events on the lives of those involved the family  the investigators  the witnesses  the press . and as such it was gripping . the writing was a significant cut above the run of the mill for prime  time drama  and the performances uniformly good . in an ensemble piece it is invidious to focus on individuals  but penelope wilton deserves special mention for an extraordinary tour de force as the mother  wife  daughter  and janet mcteer was in cracking form as a hard  bitten old cop .  br    br   one of the most interesting aspects of the drama is the handling of race  as the elephant in the room that no  one is prepared to mention . subtle  powerful stuff .  
i had such high hopes for this film because i loved the original so much . it seems that disney  however  is trying to perfect the art of crappy straight  to  dvd sequels . they deserve a razzie . several  in fact . i thought the idea had merit  but the music was absolutely awful and the story wasn  t much better . what happened to the great music disney used to have in their films . mary poppins  aladdin  beauty and the beast  the lion king . . . even hercules and the hunchback of notre dame . they  ve made so many great movies over the years that it  s really sad that they  ve sunk to point of making sequels that aren  t even good enough to put in theatres .  br    br   i hope this movie is not an indication of things to come for the walt disney corporation .  
  five days  is billed as something special  a crime drama that consists of a series of episodes  each set on one particular day of a police enquiry . but in fact  this element of the story turns out to be rather less significant than might at first be thought  as the fact that the action in each episode is confined to   hours is hardly noticeable  and very little distinguishes the program from countless other crime stories . in fact one almost can  t help drawing comparisons to the last  prime suspect   as one of the sub  plots focuses on a single  cynical female cop approaching retirement and it  s not just the absence of helen mirren that makes the comparisons unfavourable . there  s a lot of earnest over  emoting  manipulative music and a set of characters seemingly contrived so that each one is in some sense sympathetic  in another suspicious . and it  s possible to guess the guilty party well before the end  not because of the internal dynamic of the story  but rather because of the construction of the drama as a whole certain things must be true  to justify the way that the series focuses on certain characters at certain times . in spite of these failings  the series grew on me by the end  i was quite gripped . but it  s a sad sign that the bbc  which once made the likes of  the singing detective   boasted of this of  possibly the best drama of the year   for there  s little true originality on offer here  and the claim reveals a lack of ambition that is dreadfully disappointing .  five days  is in fact not rubbish but it is formulaic  and one would hope that the very best the bbc had to offer would be something a little more innovative and fresh .  
i loved the first little mermaid . i know the songs  i love the characters and i love the story . i can  t say anything like that about the little mermaid ii return to the sea . it was terrible . let  s start with the story . the plot was a reversed copy of the first movie . same situations  except in reverse  ariel wanted to live on land  her daughter melody  creative name  wants to live in the sea . ariel was tricked by ursula  melody is tricked by ursula  s sister  morgana . ursula had a sister   not sure where that came from . besides being a strange copy of the first movie  this movies plot seemed tired and was uninteresting compared to the first movie . now the characters  . ariel  what happened to her     no longer the spunky  headstrong teenager we all knew and loved from the first movie  she has now  grown up  and her personality went down the drain . her singing voice wasn  t as strong either  due to either jodi benson being a lot older  or the songs being so terrible that her talent was wasted .  . prince eric  while he didn  t have a lot of personality in the first movie  like all disney princes  somehow his new voice and his very few lines made him even more robotic . to top it off  he just can  t seem to defend himself  and ariel becomes the tough one of the two .  . sebastian  say goodbye to the lovable crustacean from the first movie  because a whiny  aggravating little crab just took his place . he also had no good songs in this movie . you can almost forget the glory he earned from singing the incredible  under the sea  and  kiss the girl  from the first movie  and it is very sad .  . flounder  they destroyed him   he is not cute anymore  his voice is terrible  and he has kids now   who  s the mother     . morgana  she appears to be ursula  s sister out for revenge against her mother  who always picked ursula over her . so she plans to get king triton  s trident to become the new ruler of the sea . sound familiar  anyway  she  s a very clich villain and falls short of ursula  s greatness as a villain . she epically fails at witchcraft  she  s not very tough  and not threatening at all .  . melody  ariel and eric  s daughter . ironic name because she  unlike ariel  can  t sing . her voice is annoying  her friends  a walrus and a penguin   really    are not funny or likable  and she  s exactly the same as ariel  in reverse and not as likable . skip this one . don  t watch any disney sequel except for lion king  . this movie butchered the classic that lives in all our pleasant memories . i will look back at this movie and just laugh .  
despite being told from a british perspective this is the best ww ii documentary ever produced . presented in digestible  as digestible as war can be  episodes as the grave voice of laurence olivier connects the multitudes of eye witnesses who were forced to live the events of that horrific time . eagerly awaiting its appearance on dvd in the u . s . the europeans had their opportunity with a release in dvd earlier this year .  
i  ll say it again this movie was totally lame . kids will like it  sure  but adults . . . doubtful . the whole thing was basically a rehash of the original  which is to be expected  since they pretty much explored the whole concept in the first movie  but still  did they have to completely rehash the entire movie  i mean  everything is re  done from the little mermaid . the worst part of it is morgana  ursula  s crazy sister  who appears out of nowhere and threatens melody  which is ridiculous since triton is there with his magic trident . why didn  t triton do anything about it  because the plot required him to do nothing . i could go on  but i won  t . the whole thing is a shameless attempt to rake in more money from the little mermaid  and was obviously thrown together without any thought  because they knew it would sell . overall it is a terrible waste of time .  
this is a fantastic series first and foremost . it is very well done and very interesting . as a huge wwii buff  i had learned a lot before seeing this series . one of the best things this has going for it is all the interviews with past individuals back when the war was relatively fresh in their minds  comparatively speaking that is . it is nothing against the men that you see getting interviewed in the programs of today  it is just that most of these men weren  t really involved in the upper echelons of what was happening then . one of the best parts is the narrating by sir laurence oliver . i would recommend this to anyone that wants to learn about wwii  but really think only the die  hards  such as myself  will want to buy this or watch it more than once . my only real complaint about this entire series is that some of the facts aren  t quite as accurate as we now know . especially with the information about soviet union is exaggerated or just plain inaccurate in places . that information is now different we now know because of the fall of the ussr . overall a fascinating look at wwii and a must see for any serious wwii historian professional or personal alike .  
okay  as a long time disney fan  i really  hate  direct  to  video disney sequels . walt himself didn  t believe in them . he believed in  and they lived happily ever after  being the end of it . but this one . . . really ticked the taco . there were so many ripoffs of other disney films in this  it wasn  t funny . quick summary  if you don  t already know . . .  melody  the daughter of ariel and prince eric  is born . ursula  s sister  morganna  who basically looks like ursula  if she were to dye herself green and go on the ally macbeal starvation diet  shows up and  after trying to do the newborn tyke in  and failing  prophesizes doom for the characters . after that ordeal  ariel goes into a lapse of being like her father  and refuses to tell melody about her mermaid heritage  and later on  forbids her to go near the sea . well surprise surprise . melody finds out  being the stubborn brat she is  and runs away  then makes a deal with morgana to become a mermaid  in exchange for something .  gee does that sound familiar   she becomes one  but in her half of the bargain  has to retrieve her granddaddy  s trident and bring it back to the sea witch . while doing this  she runs into a couple of outcast animals  a penguin and a walrus named timon and pumb   huh  wait . . . no  that  s not timon and pumbaa  or is it  could of fooled me . anyway  i  d like to reveal more  but pretty much anything that could be guessed to happen does . ok so . . . long story short . this movie  borrows  too much from other  better  disney films . . . and does it horribly . come on . . . tip and dash  why not just make dash obscenely flatulent and make it an even more obvious ripoff  ugh . not to mention  the total character butchery of ariel  s persona . she  s gone from being a freespirited  headstrong woman  to a clone of her father . not good at all . . . they  re basically telling us the sweet  firey little mermaid we  ve known to grow and love is dead . plus melody herself isn  t such a great character either . . . she  s damned annoying  and bratty  not to mention what they  ve done to flounder . ugh . . . anyway if you decide to see this piece of created  mainly  for  profit  reasons  no  imagination  eisner  sponsored ct  i suggest maybe waiting  till its on the disney channel or some other tv station . because  it  s not even worth the price of a rental .  br    br    out of  stars .  
well  of course not  women are overly sensitive and needy on average  which is interestingly portrayed from mother to whore  though not pseudo  artistically  extravagantly  or blatantly dwelt on . unlike many of you i have only seen la maman et la putain twice . as many good films  i noticed my opinion of it improved after a second viewing . all that i know is what i have seen and have yet to delve into further exploits until i myself have acquired the dvd . i have yet to figure out precisely why i enjoy this movie so much  but really  what do i care why  though i  m sure i could and will form some wonderful explanation . all right  so you may disagree  perhaps it is a bit boring at times  i  m not an expert . the blonde reminds me of a lovely grushenka .  
the acting was horrendous as well as the screenplay . it was poorly put together and made you almost want to laugh at the several terribly acted out murder scenes . the ending was even worse . everyone kept dying  but somehow the ending made it look like everything was perfectly ok  they did not give enough history about the obsession the teacher had  etc . the movie needed more time to perhaps develop a better storyline . the only reason i give this     is that i kind of feel bad for the young actors . they needed better coaching . they could have really made this an ok film  but the screenplay and acting failed miserably .  
this was by far the best war documentary ever made . from the very beginning of the first episode when sir laurence olivier described the horrific events in oradour  sur  glane  the day the soldiers came  . to the final days of the war when the mushroom clouds appeared over japan  i never missed a second of this classic series and i remember it well even though it was screened way back in     . each and every aspect of this tragedy was covered in detail . this whole series should be compulsory viewing for as many of the world  s children as possible so that the tragedy of world war two is not repeated and that bigotry  hatred  greed and intolerance are not confused with patriotism or religious zeal .  
it was nice to see all the familiar characters again  but the story bothered me . we loved ariel in the first movie  so why is the second one centered around her daughter  the new characters were annoying and i didn  t like the plot of this . worst of all  christopher daniel barnes didn  t come back as the voice of eric  disney  please stop remaking classic movies with these shoddy imitations .  
i saw this series when i was a kid and loved the detail it went into and never forgot it . i finally purchased the dvd collection and its just how i remembered . this is just how a doco should be  unbiased and factual . the film footage is unbelievable and the interviews are fantastic . the only other series that i have found equal to this is  die deutschen panzer  .  br    br   i only wish hollywood would sit down and watch this series  then they might make some great war movies .  br    br   note . band of brothers  saving private ryan  letters from iwo jima  flags of our fathers and when trumpets fade are some i  d recommend  
since the little mermaid was one of my favorite disney movies when i was little  i was curious about its sequel .  br    br   the little mermaid  one  is a classic animated feature with top quality everything  a grand music score  and targets a general audience . in contrast  the little mermaid  is targeted primarily at young children  because it is spontaneous  reflects a child  s self perspective  the music is bouncier and less dramatic  and the ending feels like recess .  br    br   the little mermaid  starts out when baby melody is presented to ariel  s side of the family . abruptly without any visual cues to aid the drama  a giant tentacle grabs the baby . i laughed  wait a minute it  s not funny  the baby  s being attacked  okay  i  ll stop laughing . morgana  s crime in broad daylight and her spontaneity  takes away potential drama since it happened so quickly .  br    br   throughout the feature  melody seems superhuman  which i defend is how most children envision themselves . this quality in melody  s character is clearly brought out toward the end when she fights morgana without an inch of fear on her face .  br    br   like the first movie  melody has a lot of ariel  s problems  except the reverse . queen ariel turns out to be like her father by restricting her from the ocean  whereas king triton restricted ariel from the surface . ariel and melody both rebel against their parent .  br    br   the music is more emotionally moving in the first . this sequel has a bunch of songs  but not as much orchestral work went into it . it  s great for little ones  because it doesn  t take an orchestra to impress them .  br    br   the ending in the first movie was strong and uplifting . the sequel ends with a bouncy song and everyone playing in the water . it  s definitely more targeted at kids  because instead of the ending being solemn and leaving you blown away  this ending leaves you thinking   it  s time for recess   ultimately  this movie is fun for kids  so we should let them have fun .  
i had just reached thirteen when i first saw this series and i am watching it again  on dvd  over thirty years later . the pictures over the opening credits have never left me . it has affected my view of the world and the peoples in it . my parents were with me long enough to have seen the series with me  and we always discussed the programme afterwards . it gave me a love for studying history and the highest marks i got in our school  s public exams   br    br   sir laurence olivier  s voice and delivery is timeless and perfect . i get the feeling that the people who lived through it would feel that this is their version of the history of the second world war . i cannot imagine ever getting bored looking at it . maybe an similar cold war series could now be contemplated  although who could replace sir laurence is difficult to imagine .  br    br   buy it   
disney has yet to meet a movie it couldn  t make at least two sequels about . and this one was no exception to the people at disney to give a weak story to receive a quick reward . somehow  although i did not pay to view it  i feel cheapened by watching it .  br    br   ariel is grown up now and had a daughter . yet doesn  t allow the daughter to go into the sea because of some idle threat made by the sister of the deceased sea  witch . so here we go again .  br    br   the daughter is tricked  of course  and helps the sea  witch . after a not  so  glorious battle  she is defeated and the mermaids and humans live in harmony . yawn .  br    br   there is nothing to view here . go back to your lives .  d    
this excellent series  narrated by laurence olivier  brilliantly  it should be said  charts the beginning to the end of world war  . the origins are not entirely examined fully from germany  s fall at the hands of the versailles treaty which helped propel hitler  s demonic rise  but as one reviewer says  that must be hard to do  in a    part series with so much to cram in .  br    br   apart from the expected combat photography  action  there are plenty of personal  emotional and human tragedies that are told giving the viewer an amazing insight  especially if you  re not necessarily a world war  buff  fan . episodes showing  testimonies  and what life was like on the home front of the main allies  adversary  britain  germany  japan  russia and the u . s . a . were quite eye  opening . showing the extreme savagery of the war on the frontline and of course the sufferings of civilians  the death camps etc .  were very well handled and exposed . i  d fully recommend this in any history class for the younger generation  of which it could be said i am one at     .  br    br   certain things are quite strangely left out  like the advent of the new jet era beginning  with frank whittle  s experimental gloster jet and the gloster meteor  s combat debut as well as that of the german messerschmitt me     especially as the v   was seen making its debut and there was surprisingly smaller mention of the v  . this is probably a small oversight  not referring to the more sensational secret and fantastic weapons which ww  brought forward from a more barren old science . but a great series that made its mark and has done so ever since when thankfully repeated .  br    br   a series to own as a box set in history terms  on dvd for anyone especially who happens to be a military fan . jeremy isaacs and thames tv should be well proud .  
it wasn  t good . the characters were underdeveloped and the only personality were from the memories i had of the previous movie which contrasted with the  new  personalities  or lack thereof  . i seriously thought the opening scene was a nightmare by ariel because of how absurd it was . it was serious . it just reminded me of all the annoying characters on the disney channel  everyone is hyperactive and the story jumps from action to embarrassing scenes without any really connection .  br    br   the most disappointing part was the horrible songs  not catchy  not amazing . in the original ariel had an amazing and powerful voice and all the song are catchy and fun . you remember them and want to sing them . but the songs in this movie weren  t creative in the least it  s as if they  re talking in a annoying sing  song voice  quite weakly  disappointing . i don  t have that want  to  sing  them feeling you normally get from a disney movie .  br    br   it  s as if not one wanted to do this movie  so they barely made an effort . . . this movie would needs a new story line  new catchy songs and more warmth and enthusiasm without the annoying  look at me  look at me  i  m so annoying   mentality of this generation of disney .     
i remember watching this in the     s  then i have just recently borrowed a couple of episodes from our public library .  br    br   with a nearly   year hiatus  i have come to another conclusion . most of the principals interviewed in this series  some at the center of power like traudl junge  hitler  s secretary   karl doenitz  head of germany  s navy  anthony eden  uk   are long gone but their first hand accounts will live on . from generals and admirals to sergeants  russian civilians  concentration camp survivors  all are on record here .  br    br   i can remember the lord mountbatten interview  killed in the     s   br    br   this is truly a gem and i believe the producer of this series was knighted by queen elizabeth for this work  well deserved .  br    br   seeing these few episodes from the library makes me want to buy the set .  br    br   this is the only     i have given any review but i have discovered like a fine bottle of wine  it is more appreciated with a little time . . .  
i suppose it was for temple matthews who written basically a remake even though there are few changes which just make it worse . spoilers it is much similar to the original . melody  ariel  s new daughter is threatened by ursula  s sister  morgana . morgana escapes  but keeps her promise to take melody away from them . did ursula have a sister   and she is not that great a villain as ursula was . this is where there is similarity . medoly is kept from the sea until morgana is captured  but she doesn  t know a thing about it  because it all happened when she was a baby . a wall surrounds the palace to keep her in and morgana out . she goes under the wall day to day to have a swim and talk with sebastian  who is not as funny or fun as in the original . she finds a seashell with her name on it and runs away from home and to look for answers and finds morgana . here is a similarity morgana tricks melody  making her happy by turning here into a mermaid . meanwhile  eric  melody and king triton look for her . to stay a mermaid she needs to steal the trident from triton . so melody does  because she does not know king triton is her father . she makes friends with a penguin and a walrus and here is where it is awful . the penguins who live with them in an icy ocean  hate them because they are cowards . so they try to prove they are heroes and fail . that does not suit the little mermaid . and the dialogue during those conversations between the penguins and those two characters is ear  bleeding . you know why  because the first had a great story . this one is not and is not magical . it is just an example of how bad many sequels are .  br    br   melody finds them and they help to take her to atlantica to prove themselves . when they take the trident  ariel finds melody with morgana . melody is angry at her mother for keeping her from the sea so she gives the trident to morgana  then she shows her true colours once she grabs it . poor ariel and melody are in her custody . the penguin and the walrus begin to prove themselves when they fight morgana  s shark friend . sorry i did not mention him earlier . they finally prove themselves . eric  king triton and his soldiers arrive but are forced to bow down before morgana by the power of the trident . melody takes it  throws it to triton and he ices morgana  literally  . then ariel apologises to melody and thinks it is all her fault . it was not  ariel did the right thing to protect melody  but they never say so . triton offers melody to live in sea or land . she in fact has a  better idea  . she uses the trident to vaporize the wall so humans and mer  folk can be together . then everyone sings an awful song . the end .  br    br   whoever has seen it and likes this obviously has not seen the original . i do not dislike this because i am a teenager . i liked it when i was very very little . then as i grew older i began to see what is bad about this film . young  young kids will enjoy it  but it is likely that when they are in primary school  they will forget about it . normally i would think i over  judged a film and it was better than i remember when i watched it again  but not this one . it is even worse . story is no exception . if you thought  by reading this that the story is good  read more of this comment and you will know the other bad points well  you know the story now . i am sorry for spoiling it for you  but i had to point out some bad parts of it . one of the worst things is the animation . colour is awful . the original had beautiful colour . watching this almost made me want to go blind . even the illustrations and landscape design were not good . the original had beautiful  magical colouring and beautiful underwater landscape design and for land as well  making it a joy to watch .  br    br   the music is unbearable . compared to the first  the music here is crap . songs are not that well composed and tara strong  i think that is her name  who did melody can not sing . she at times either sang too high or did not keep track for the melody in the song . so much for having  melody  as a name . and the music is not at all beautiful or moving . little mermaid  won an oscar for it and it truly deserved it . this one deserved a razzie award for worst musical score in a sequel if it would exist .  br    br   i did not like the voices . several people who played characters from the first  did the same ones in this . jodi benson is a great singer  but now that she is older  no offence to her  her voice is too deep and not so beautiful anymore . and i am really disappointed in her and others who were in the first for being a part of this . if i was chosen for this film  just by reading the script  i can tell it would be a bad film . the characters are different now . ariel is more wiser now  but annoying . they overdid her character  making her too mature . in sequels you are not meant to change the characters unless it is for a special reason . she was sixteen in the first . there is little chance she changes . that is the stage when you become the person you are going to be for the rest of your life . screenwriters should think of that . they should think of the character .  br    br   well  i suppose that is it for me . i hope you find my comment useful  because i am sure a lot of you will agree with my point of view .  
the world at war is one of the best documentaries about world war  .  br    br   the   episodes cover the war and what it was like in the countries involved in it . the first episode tells us how the hitler came to power  and how he was able to build up one of the strongest armies in the world . they also fucus on the military actions taken during the war  and the holocaust . one of the strongest and best documentaries ever made . all of you must watch this . perfection        br    br    
this movie makes me want to throw up every time i see it . if you take the first movie  and reverse the plot  ariel wants to leave the sea  her daughter wants to go to the sea   take the same characters and give them new animals and new names  and then throw in crappy animation and the biggest suck factor  possible  you get the little mermaid  . its basically a copy of the first movie with a reversed plot . i  ll take you through the horror of it step by step . these are the people from the  st movie first of all  prince eric is still prince eric  with about  lines in the whole movie . ariel is uptight  annoying  and is not the carefree  headstrong spirit we saw in the  st . in fact  she is the exact opposite . sebastian is still sebastian only less cute  less convincing as being stressed out  and the jokes just aren  t funny anymore . flounder has about  lines . he now has kids and he talks with a dumb nasal voice . scuttle is still dumb scuttle only not funny . king triton  s character is probably the best  he still retains the intimidation and love for his daughter  melody . ariel and prince eric appear not to give a hoot about their daughter .  br    br   like i said  all they did was use the characters from the first movie and copy them . this is what they did ursula  the new evil villain is morgana  ursula  s sister who feels like she always lived in ursula  s shadow . i wouldn  t be scared of her if she showed up at my doorway with a knife . she can  t do anything right and she  s a failure as a villain . she has the same voice ursula did . sebastian  flounder  have been replaced by probably the most stupid sidekicks  tip  dash  a walrus and a penguin . they try to be hero  s but always fail when trying . the plot is so predictable . they become heroes at the end . yawn . flatson jetsom  now replaced by a shark who was turned about   x smaller by triton . hes really bad too . morgana and the shark  sharkbait  i think was his name  have no chemistry  good or bad . ariel  ah  ariel . our lovely mermaid was replaced by her un  lovely daughter  melody . melody cannot sing  her voice is about  octaves higher than it should be  and you want to punch her in the face because shes so fake sugary sweet . she wants to go to the sea  she is clumsy and the kids make fun of her  she has to go find herself . yawn .  br    br   not only is the movie boring and unoriginal its so simplistic when you watch this movie you will gasp at how bad it is . certain parts of the movie make you want to call disney up and demand why such a horrible movie was made as a sequel to such a wonderful original .  br    br   basically  comparing the little mermaid  to the little mermaid is like comparing and ed wood movie to casablanca . don  t ever watch this  not even when your bored .  
as so many others have written  this is a wonderful documentary . here is a list of the  chapters  for anyone interested   a new germany            distant war  september      may       france falls  may  june       alone  may      may       barbarossa  june  december       banzai  japan             on our way  usa             desert north africa             stalingrad  june      february        wolfpack    red star the soviet union              whirlwind bombing germany  september        tough old gut    its a lovely day  tomorrow burma     home fires britain             inside the reich germany              morning june  august        occupation holland              pincers august      march        genocide             nemesis  germany february  may        japan             pacific february      july        the bomb february  september        reckoning  
if there  s one thing you can count on disney to do  it  s their uncanny ability to take a story and tell it again and again and again . even watching the commercial for lady and the tramp ii was a horrible experience . disney  s going to ruin one of their most awesome classics ever . it even had that spaghetti meatball scene . it  s been done before  and that  s what i say to this sorry direct to video  the entire concept should be banned  . everything is just a rehash of the original movie and even several of bluth  s really bad movies . the penguin and walrus duo  i  ve even forgotten their names  are just a really poor carbon copy of timon and pumbaa . morgana is another ursula . she even repeats practically all her old lines . the songs are pathetic  really abysmal . i  ve never heard songs so bad from them before until now . and the dialogue is atrocious . it  s pathetic and simplistic . on the plus side  at least they took the time to make the animation somewhat decent . all of the usual characters aren  t as annoying as they used to be  or maybe that  s a minus for little mermaid fans  . back on the negative  melody is just so sickeningly cute you just might vomit . i almost did . do yourself and your little mermaid fan a favor . don  t waste your money on this . true  it  s not as horrific as return of jafar or pocahontas ii  but that  s little consolation .  
this is what we can do to each other . this is the sort that everbody should see at least once .  br    br   it does not glorify world . it shows that it is the everyday person who is killed  mained and debased by war . the person on the  other side  eats sleeps  laughs and cry just as we do .  
well then  thank you so much disney for destroying the fond memories i used to have of my former favorite movie . i was about  when the original movie came out  and it was one of the first movies i remember seeing . so  now that i  m    and feeling masochistic enough  i decided to rent this movie . thus  i managed to poison all my memories of the original movie with this sorry excuse for a movie . this movie takes everything that made the original endearing and wrecks it  right down to the last detail .  br    br   in this movie  ariel and eric celebrate the birth of their daughter  melody  and go to show her to everyone in the ocean . . . broadway style  after the musical number ends  within minutes  the sea witch morgana shows up and threatens to kill melody if triton doesn  t give up the trident . thus  he gives it up without even a fight . eric stands there gaping  though ariel figures out how to use a sword and save melody . morgana escapes  so ariel and eric decide that melody should never go near the sea until morgana is caught .  br    br   well . . . uh  nothing of note really happens . eric is a total wuss . he never really manages to do anything . ariel sort of does something . melody manages to screw things up . plus  the animation is a new low  point for disney . the computer graphics wind up clashing with the backgrounds . ever single opportunity for character development is wasted . the songs bite .  br    br   look  don  t waste your time . i  m pretty sure even the little kids are going to be bored out of their skulls with this  since nothing even remotely exciting ever happens . they won  t want to sing the songs . if you manage to grab a copy of this  throw it out into the ocean and hope that nobody ever finds it . ever .  
war is hell . but this documentary of wwii is heaven .  br    br   not only is this series a breath  taking  almost  exhaustive look at the second world war  it  s a poetic masterpiece told clearly and superbly by laurence olivier .  br    br   this documentary series defines the genre . it  s sweepingly long  no doubt  but you will enjoy all of them and want to come back for more and more .  i have the series on dvd and i probably watch the series three times a year  .  br    br   truly  this is an impeccable bit of film  making . other than olivier  the best part of the series is listening to the veterans tell their stories whether it be about an actual battle or about finding a hog to butcher so they could have something delicious for supper .  br    br   i  m going to go watch it right now  again  my . . .   th time  .  
yep  the topic is a straight quote from the movie and i think it  s pretty accurate . i was so bored to dead with this pointless effort . all the flashes etc . making no sense after first   minutes is just bad film making  if you are epileptic  you would have died at least five times already . of course all the david lynch fans would raise a flag for this kind of turkey to be  the best film ever made  because it doesn  t make any sense and when it doesn  t make any sense it  s got to be art  and art movie is always good . right  i say wrong . this kind of artificial art grab is just a pathetic way to try to show that you  re a good film maker . anthony hopkins as a excellent actor should just stay acting .  
i watched this series when it first came out in the   s . i was   years old and i watched it at my best friends house as my dad didn  t want to watch it . it became a weekly ritual every sunday  and as anyone will tell you for two fourteen year olds to watch a documentary in almost reverential silence must mean that this was something special .  br    br   the broad sweep of the events of world war  makes for a difficult subject to document . so the makers broke it down into what they considered to be the most significant key happenings and devoted one episode to each . some episodes covered long periods such as  wolf pack  which covered nearly all six years of the battle of the atlantic . while the battle of stalingrad had one episode to itself .  br    br   this documentary could not be made today quite simply because most of those interviewed are dead . the list of significant players appearing gives an amazing insight into the thinking at the time . anthony eden the foreign secretary  carl donnitz  head of the u  boats  albert speer  pet architect confident and later armament minister for hitler . in one of the later episodes we see traudl junge  hitler  s secretary  who was with him in the bunker and it was to her that he dictated his last will and testament  she left the bunker after hitler  s suicide and escaped through the russian lines . these and many others play a major role in the realism of the events portrayed .  br    br   if i have any criticism of the series it is that the code  breakers of bletchly park are not included but the revelations of their part in the war only emerged after the series had been made so i cannot blame the programme makers .  br    br   the opening titles and music are magnificent  and lawrence olivier  s narration lends a natural gravity to the script .  br    br   the best documentary series ever made  without doubt . unmissable  
what seemed as a good premise for a movie . . . unfortunately it fails to deliver on nearly every level . very hard to follow at the start of the movie i actually found myself fighting the urge to turn it off the biggest problem from a visual aspect is the fact that the camera work is simply over the top with so many  arty  splicings and semi  subliminal cuts throughout the movie that actually distracts you from the from the overall story . it really tries too hard to immerse you in the moment and build to a suspenseful ending but the movie just has so many half conceived characters and non relevant script it just leaves you feeling disappointed and confused as to why they tried to go so deep with it .  
i decided to watch this because of the recommendations from this site . i would have to say it was worth the effort . however  you should take heed that this film will go on for    minutes . if you don  t have the staying power  get it on tape and watch it over a couple of nights .  br    br   now to the film  what i say will contain  spoilers  and if you don  t mind  here goes  br    br   alexandre is a promiscuous bum  a womanizer and a gigolo . he lives with an older woman called marie . marie owns a retail shop and she provides for alex . alex spends his days at cafs and restaurants . the story reveals that alex had previously impregnated gilberte whom he used to live with . gilberte dumped him for a less attractive man that she did not love because alex had abused and battered her . at this point  alex was willing to get a job and and help raise their child before he found out gilberte had aborted it and planned to marry someone else .  br    br   by chance  alexandre meets a nurse nymph called veronika and they striked up a relationship . veronika fell in love with alex for the first time after all the sordid sex she had with men in the past . marie and veronika struggles for alex  s affection and had a mnage  trois to boot . finally at the end  it  s revealed veronika is pregnant with alex  s child and alex asked her to marry him . we assume  as aforesaid with gilberte  s situation  alexandre will even get a job and be the provider for his new found love and family . there is hope   br    br   with the title of  la maman et la putain   i deduce jean eustache was relating to franoise lebrun  s character of veronika . she was a whore and then she became the mother . hence  the mother and whore is the same person  anyway  what do i know  french films are mostly  not all  very chatty  aimlessly political  preaching  theatrical  insipid  lamenting and full of quotes . lebrun and laud played their obdurate characters well and held the film together as some part of the script became a little lost and disjointed .  br    br   not a bad effort .     .  
the night of the prom the most important night to any shallow girl composed almost entirely of plastic . and so the characters kept reminding us every ten minutes when some head  peckingly miniscule event occurred in their miniscule lives .  br    br   there really is no excuse for prom night . there is less than nothing original about it and i truly would have given it zero or less stars were it possible on imdb . the only part of my viewing that i enjoyed was when a group of teenagers sitting in front of us decided to play a game of  ghosts  . it was a lot more exciting than whatever was going on on the screen in front of them .  br    br   the plot was basically some guy going on a rampage . and the thing was  it wasn  t even a slightly exciting rampage . maybe if the guy had been remotely frightening rather than a tame robbie williams lookalike with a baseball cap  i might have sat there feeling slightly anxious . the fact that i cared less about the characters than i did about the colour of the cinema carpet didn  t really add to the effect  either . and to make matters worse  the rest of the characters were equally one  dimensional and oblivious . the hotel staff didn  t seem to notice or care that one of their maids had vanished and are further proof that a murderer is unrecognisable after he has had a shave . i was incredibly surprised that the bitchy  stereotypical girl in the blue dress was the only person to notice who he was . she realises this and then proceeds to fall down the stairs  entangle herself in a plastic sheet and then knock over a pile of paint buckets . nice one .  br    br   the worst thing was  i hold the belief that that the director was trying his absolute hardest . he really pushed all boundaries by not showing any killing actually happening . shocking  and the music  don  t even get me started . it was almost as appropriate as stripping at a funeral .  br    br   i really wish that prom night was a joke . it was terrible and stupidly predictable . no one  in their right mind or otherwise  has any reason to see this film . mainstream cinema seems to be going downhill and films like this worsen the situation . if you get the urge to see this absolutely awful film  hear my plea . don  t do it . there are better things to spend six pounds on . like a sheet to play ghosts with .  
still the definitive program about the second world war  the world at war isn  t just long  but also very informative . the series contains   episodes  each episode lasts for about   min .   and includes the events leading up to and following in the wake of the war . most episodes are about the war in europe  and there are several episodes about the war in the pacific . other episodes include information about the wars in africa  burma  the atlantic and the home fronts of germany  great britain  united states and soviet union . there is one episode that  s dedicated to the holocaust . the series starts off with the episode a new germany             and tells about the rise of the nazis in germany and german territorial gains prior to the outbreak of war . the series ends with the episode remember the war  s influence in a post  war world . remember is a fitting episode to end this great program . every episode begins with a short introduction and then with opening credits . the credits are accompanied by a powerful music theme . there are many fitting music pieces throughout the series . each episode is like a mini  film . the footage is fantastic  and so is the way it was put together . in addition  some of the footage is in color . the information included also makes the episodes memorable and entertaining .  br    br   the series was produced by jeremy isaacs for thames television  uk  . commissioned in      it took four years to produce  such was the depth of its research . the series was narrated by laurence olivier  one of the most famous and revered actors of the   th century  . the series interviewed leading members of the allied and axis campaigns  including eyewitness accounts by civilians  enlisted men  officers and politicians  amongst them albert speer  karl donitz  jimmy stewart  bill mauldin  curtis lemay  lord mountbatten  alger hiss  toshikazu kase  arthur harris  charles sweeney  paul tibbets  traudl junge and historian stephen ambrose . jeremy isaacs says in  the making of the world at war  that he sought to interview  not necessarily the surviving big names  but their aides and assistants . the most difficult subject to locate and persuade to be interviewed  according to isaacs  was heinrich himmler  s adjutant  karl wolff . the latter admitted to witnessing a large  scale execution in himmler  s presence .  br    br   the world at war is often considered to be the definitive television history of the second world war . some consider it the finest example of the documentary form . in a list of the    greatest british television programmes drawn up by the british film institute in      voted for by industry professionals  the world at war ranked   th . the program has everything that the viewer needs to know about the war . after watching a few episodes i liked the series so much that i tried to watch the remaining episodes one after the other . i  ve seen some of them several times . there are two other great documentary series that i know of that may be of interest to the viewer . one is called the great war       that  s about world war i . the other is called cold war       that  s about the cold war obviously .  
okay . . . so i  ve seen a lot of really odd  unusual movies in my day . fear and loathing in las vegas comes to mind when i think of that . well not anymore . . . from here on out  whenever someone asks me   hey  what  s the most unusual movie you  ve ever seen   slipstream is what i  ll say  and i do not mean  unusual  in a good way .  br    br   from the very beginning of the movie  it was obvious that this was going to be one of those  trippy camera effect  movies . by that i mean  little things like flashing images on the screen  rewinding and fast  forwarding people  s words and scenes  messing with the color on the screen  flash forwards and flash backs constantly . . . then you have the actual acting itself . people randomly get violent  shoot things  people  say the weirdest things that just don  t make much  if any sense .  br    br   the movie is about a writer who starts to intermingle real life with the book he  s writing and for a lack of a better way to explain it  you basically see this  trip  he goes on throughout the movie . the thing is  johnny depp went on a similar trip in fear and loathing in las vegas but the only difference is that his trip was entertaining to watch  not painful  honestly  i had a real hard time even finishing slipstream . it kind of hurt my brain a bit .  br    br   i can see some film buff making a claim as to this movie having certain cinematic nuances that make it not only unique but add to the feeling of dementia . . . blah  blah  blah . point is  this movie hurts your brain when you watch it . . . . it makes very little sense  it takes all of your concentration to even remotely try and understand what is going on and even at the end  the only thing you can be happy about is that it  s over . . . and you can say you actually sat through it  so in closing  if you want to see a movie that will have you saying  what the heck  over and over again both out loud and in your head  go ahead and waste an hour and   minutes and check this out .  br    br   mr hopkins  while i applaud you as an actor and commend your choice to take a stab at directing . . . . please  do not ever make a movie like this again . next time  try something that relies a little more on great storytelling than camera techniques that tend to leave the viewer with a headache .  
world at war is perhaps the greatest documentary series of all time . the historical research is virtually flawless . even after a quarter century  it is the most accurate and definitive documentary about ww  . an invaluable historical work that includes interviews with some of the most important and fascinating figures from the war . i highly recommend it as a learning experience .  
this movie was a complete waste of time .  br    br   i viewed this movie with a group of cinematic enthusiasts  who have varied taste in movies yet always a keen eye for a work of  genius   as one of my fellow commenters on this site had the gall to label this steaming pile   not one of them found a single redeeming quality . we ended the movie with a rousing chorus of expletives i will not reprint here .  br    br   i can only guess that the positive reviews provided here were written by sir anthony hopkins  himself . afterall  as one of those reviewers will tell you  he financed the film himself  because no one else in hollywood or anywhere else in the world  for that matter  would risk a single penny or their good name in association with this film . don  t let the semi  famous actors who appear in the film lure you into its clutches  as christian slater admits in the special features  making of  he signed on to the film without reading the script or knowing any details  a folly i am sure he will never repeat  .  br    br   i pity the hapless individual who stumbles into this quagmire of self  indulgence written  directed  produced  and financed by a man who is too famous to admit to himself that not everything he creates is a masterpiece  and if you don  t believe me please google  anthony hopkins  and art  .  
i am not a very good writer  so i  ll keep this short . world at war is the best wwii documentary that i  ve seen . i  ve seen different wwii documentaries  not only english  north american  and this documentary seems to be the most complete wwii documentary that i  ve seen . i think it could talk a bit more about the great depression and why  how hitler got to power  but it does a very good job at covering the war . it seems to be complete and objective  fair to everyone . it does not exaggerate or diminish roles of different nations . it has a lot of original footage  including color footage and many eye witnesses  it was made in    s when a lot more were alive  . it has great music and narrator . all  in  all i gave this one       because it  s that good .  i haven  t seen specials in dvd version so i cannot comment on those   
i wasn  t entirely sure what to expect from a comedy  drama  fantasy  sci  fi genre  but  given the actors involved i thought i  d give it a spin . the tone of the film felt awkward  going through patches of each of the genres but never quite felt balanced  so eventually i gave up trying  and concentrated on the cinematography and individual performances  which i thought were good on the whole  considering each character had little depth because of the nature of the story  won  t give anything away here  . i have to say it felt a lot longer than its   minute runtime  and not in a good way . in the end i was looking for closure  some measure of satisfaction but it didn  t turn out to be the clever or ingenious piece i had hoped it would be . i think tony mistakenly thought what he did do at the end of the film gave us that . . . but it was a tragic mistake to try and validate the previous   minutes with the ill  conceived conclusion . ultimately i feel cheated . imo it would have been better to let it stand without the  ending  as a piece of art . . . just . or . . . i may have missed the point completely    
i remember watching this as a child in the uk  mesmerized by the story and laurence olivier  s narration . we would talk about nothing else at school the next day . i imagine the ratings for the first showing were huge . this is quite simply the best most comprehensive documentary series despite the fact they had to cut the story down to the bone they managed to capture so much . what is interesting is that the battles of britain and north africa were pivotal yet are widely unrecognized as such by americans . the series captures the rivalry between mountbatten and the american generals  the suffering of german troops on the eastern front  the maltreatment of japanese prisoners of war by american troops . the images of the holocaust made me  a non  jewish european  feel forever guilty about the treatment of the jewish people . i don  t know why this is not number one in the imdb rankings . perhaps they are showing their bias against documentaries . spoiler  we win .  
oh dear . . . as an englishman  and a small part welsh  a fan of anthony hopkins  work in the industry . . . . . to date  i am truly disappointed .  br    br   you see i am a nobody  who hoped for better . so my comments are as  straw in the wind  . but  that  s the point isn  t it   i have no axe to grind on the commercial value of a work . i  a full member of the great unwashed  go to see a movie to be transported to another place . to yes  suspend belief for a brief period . but not to enter a state of total disbelief .  br    br   had this been by an unknown author and director  i would guess that this  production  would have been castigated into oblivion . unfortunately  its not  and i was left wide eyed and confused . having seen some of the rave reviews given this work i am faintly worried . . . .  br    br   perhaps its that i try  without prejudice  to view each movie on its own merits . regardless of author  director  studio or even the notoriety of the content .  br    br   my advice  as many before me don  t write and direct the same production . it is fraught with danger . movies need to be moderated to retain a semblance of credibility .  br    br   as they say in school reports  could and can do better . . .   
this is without doubt the best documentary ever produced giving an accurate and epic depiction of world war  from the invasion of poland in     to the end of the war in     .  br    br   honest and to the point  this documentary presents views from both sides of the conflict giving a very human face to the war . at the same time tactics and the importance of battles are not overlooked  much work has been put into the giving a detailed picture of the war and in particularly the high  low and turning points in the allies fortunes . being a british produced documentary this   part series focus is mainly on britain  but russia and america  s contribution are not skimmed over this is but one such advantage of a series of such length .  br    br   another worthy mention is the score  the music and the whole feel of the documentary is one of turmoil  struggle and perseverance . like a film this series leaves the viewer in no doubt of the hardship faced by the allies and the germans during the war  its build to a climax at the end of every episode  which serves to layer the coarse of the second world war . after watching all   the viewer is left with an extensive knowledge about the war and astonished at just how much we owe to the members of the previous generation .  
i love anthony hopkins as an actor so i was very interested to see how he would do as a writer  director . i could not have been more disappointed by this move . the movie was so disjointed and the cinematography was so over done to the point i wanted to pull the plug out of the wall . the actors were very good but it was such a waste of talent . not all actors are cut out to be writers or directors and clearly mr . hopkins falls into this category . of all the movies i have ever seen in my   years  this is absolutely the worst movie ever . please do us all a favor mr . hopkins and stick to acting  which you are excellent at  and leave the writing and directing to those who are talented in those areas . if i could give this movie a rating less than one i certainly would .  
   out of    this brilliant  super documentary is a must see  with film clips from the war which people did not seen for years  untill this was screened in     . the film clips in this documentary from the war doesn  t miss out anything  some of the clips left me dumbstuck . the whole series is over   episodes long  and sir lawrence olivier is the narrator and tells a stunning story of war . simply this is still probably the best documentary of war still  and now over   years old still is able to pack a tremendous punch . you must watch this at some time  even if it  s a few episodes  even at that you will still be blown away at the impact this documentary means to those who have been there suffered and died in the name of war  in a world at war . .  
i rented this movie on the merits of what the trailer showed  and of course sir anthony hopkins .  br    br   if jackson pollack teamed up with david lynch  and timothy leary to make a movie  this would be the end result . i don  t think i  ve seen a movie like it that made an lsd trip look like an episode of sesame street .  br    br   it  s a bunch of set pieces where the characters flash in and out of reality  or various realities  and the film doesn  t culminate into anything until the last  minutes  where all of a sudden it makes sense . i wrote a scathing review on my movie review blog that essentially gives everything away  and i won  t do that here . it  s a well acted piece of cinema  and the soundtrack was written by sir anthony hopkins  and let me say this  if there  s one redeeming feature to this film  it  s the music . it fits perfectly . some of the dialogue is unbelievably good  and unbelievably bad all at the same time .  br    br   i enjoyed parts of this movie  i truly did  and once you get to the end of it  you  ll actually figure out what  s truly going on . it  s unfortunate that you have to wade through  hours of crazy to get to a salient point  which minimizes the effect of the entire movie .  br    br   i give it a  out of   for the simple fact that the real problem with this film isn  t the acting  it  s everything .  
example of how a world war  documentary should be made  using first hand accounts from actual troops and civilians whom participated in this awful conflict  and archived footage gathered from around the time . i caught this on a re  run on the history channel about a year and a half back  with no knowledge really of the second world war at the time  but it enveloped me  and now i consider myself a world war  buff  watching and reading any and all that i can find about it  but nothing comes close to this landmark documentary  definitely worth buying the boxed set of . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   this is quite simply documentary making of the very highest standard .  
this movie was a disappointment . i was looking forward to seeing a good movie . i am the type of person who starts a movie and doesn  t turn it off until the end  but i was forcing myself not to turn it off .  br    br   theonly reason why i didn  t turn it off was because i am a huge christian slater fan and i wanted to see him act in it . i was really speechless after i finished watching the movie .  br    br   this movie was one of the worst movies that i have seen in my life . thank you christian slater for putting some humor into it . if you hadn  t been in this movie i would of been bored out of my mind .  br    br   i also agree that anthony hopkins needs to stick to acting . by the time the movie was over i didn  t even get the plot . i was both confused and annoyed .  
i must have seen this a dozen times over the years . i was about fifteen when i first saw it in b  w on the local pbs station .  br    br   i bought a dvd set for the children to see  and am making them watch it . they don  t teach history in school  and this explains the most critical event of the   th century . it expands their critical thinking .  br    br   impartially  with the participants on all sides explaining in their own words what they did and why  it details what lead up to the war and the actual war .  br    br   buy it for your children  along with alistair cooke  s america . watch it with them  and make them understand . you  ll be so glad you did .  
i actually had quite high hopes going into this movie  so i took what was given with a grain of salt and hoped for the best . about    of the way through the film i simply had to give up  quite simply the movie is a mish  mash of stuff happening for no apparent reason and it  s all disconnected . i love movies that make you think  but this movie was just a bunch of ideas thrown together and never really connected .  br    br   don  t think it  s david lynch  esquire as some would have you believe  it is nowhere near that realm other than some trippy visuals . saying it  s artsy to disguise the fact there  s no apparent plot or story is just a manner or justifying why you wasted the  .  hours in the film . the acting was good  but that cannot save lack of story . i do agree with the one comment posted previously . . .  it  s like being in some other person  s head . . . while they  re on drugs   in other words nothing makes sense .  
this should be required viewing for all young people . this is documentary at its best  from the haunting music and terrific narration by olivier to its unflinching and penetrating analyses  the world at war is unforgettable and irreplaceable for anyone who wants to know about humanity  s sorry experience at the nadir of the   th century .  
i have seen bad movies before  but this one takes the  worst movie of a lifetime  award by far   anthony hopkins has to be completely mentally ill to have his name attached to this one  anywhere  i will never see another movie with him in it  directing it  etc .  etc .  i can  t believe the other actors  actresses that i liked   in this picture   that stooped so low to be a part of this disaster  there must be some great drugs out there  for anyone to not be embarrassed to be a part of such a film  is beyond me  save your money on this one  huge flop from beginning to end  shame on you mr . hopkins  also  shame on christian slater  i can  t believe you put your reputations on the line for this one   
after all these years i still consider this series the finest example of world war ii documentary film making . the interviews with the many participants from all countries set this apart from any other project . it would be great to see a contemporary documentarian  ken burns   take on this topic and try to gather information from veterans before they are all gone . with modern technology to improve old archival footage and lots of information that has been unearthed since     when the world at war was produced  an updated version of this series would be welcome . the history channel has made some fine shows dealing with many aspects of wwii but an expansive series such as the world at war has not been successfully attempted since the original . if you are interested in this era don  t miss this series . it is required viewing .  
what a muddled mess . i saw this with a friend a while ago and we both consider ourselves open  minded to the many wonders of cinema  but this sure isn  t one of them .  br    br   while there very well could be some good ideas  concepts and there are certainly some good performances  under the circumstances   it is all buried under random nonsense . sir anthony draws way too heavily from the same gene pool as natural born killers  u turn and similar films as far as the editing is concerned  or maybe he watched himself in nixon for inspiration . say what you want about david lynch  but at least he more often than not has a method to the madness .  br    br   his quote of stating that he made the film as a joke says it all . it  s not worth your money  bandwidth or time .  
we don  t have to lose this movie  this is one of the greatest i have ever seen . jean pierre leaud is amazing  more than usual  and the movie is one of the most unforgettable of the nouvelle vogue . jean eustache is no more on this earth  we just have this black and white images to remember one of the greatest and most subvalued french directors . you just have to love this masterpiece . i  ll never forget it .  br    br   p . s .  sorry for the english . . .  
ok this movie was made for one reason and one reason only to make money   the producers obviously didn  t care about killing a classic horror movie . i knew this movie would suck as soon as it was going to be a pg    how many pg    slashers movies have turned out to be good  thats like asking how many women have been on the moon  the answer is none   prom night     was of cource no masterpiece but it certainly deserves to be recognised as a movie that stays true to its genre and deosnt try to be anything more than that .  br    br   my problem with prom night     is the way that it handles the killer and i have  major problems with him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br     the way he escapes  he was locked up in a mental institute and he escapes through a air conditioning vent   what the hell  why would they have an air conditioning vent in the patients room  do they want him to be comfortable during his stay or something    his intentions are somewhat uncertain the killer want all of the main victims family and friends dead so he can have her all to his self  he says he loves her but the next minute he trys to kill her  so does he want to kill her  love her or just plain rape her     the killer is too good  how did he develop all of his skills  he used to be a teacher  so in this one scene where he kills the main victims boyfriend while hes basically on top of her asleep and she doesn  t notice  it all silly  stars out of   terrible  silly  stupid attempt at a horror movie  
this is paul f . ryan  s first and only full  length feature . he hasn  t done anything since . however  he managed to get an amazing ensemble cast to portray the characters of his story . i don  t know when or why the idea emerged in his head  but ryan wrote a screenplay which later became his own directed movie   home room  .  br    br   busy philipps carries the movie on her shoulders as alicia  a troubled girl the ones we always see in television series . with dark hair and black clothes a package of cigarettes in the pocket  weird look and disturbing eyes  with makeup  of course  . an event has occurred at her school a shooting . some students have died  and she saw everything . now detective martin van zandt  victor garber  is investigating the case  and  as expected  alicia is a suspect . but the shooting is just the genesis the movie is not about the shooting .  br    br   lying in bed in a hospital room is deanna cartwright  erika christensen  . she is one of the survivors of the hospital . the script establishes a bond between them  by the school principal  james pickens jr  . he is helping all the students to recover from the event  but alicia doesn  t seem to care . she  s isolated . so the principal punishes her she needs to visit deanna every day until five o  clock . then the movie starts .  br    br   i can  t even describe how wonderfully written i think the movie is . i can identify with the characters and the situations they live i like reality . these things could happen to anyone . and the things they say are totally understandable . they  re growing up and trying to deal with things they haven  t experienced they  re doing their best . without knowing it  alicia  when she visits deanna for the first time  and deanna  when she sees alicia standing in front of her  are commencing a journey of that will define their personalities and ideas for the next step in life after high school .  br    br   the director leads christensen and philipps through their roles very well . look the contrast between them . deanna seems naive and with plain thoughts no complexity inside of her mind . when alicia enters her room and sees tons of flowers she asks  who has brought them   .  many people   deanna answers although some days later we learn they  re from her parents  who come every week . the parental figures are all well represented  but are not as important as their sons  characters . deanna is lonely . alicia seems mature and violent smoking cigarettes and talking roughly . but after two days of visiting  she finds herself coming back to the hospital every day even sleeping in deanna  s room all night . when they both have a fight afterwards  i believe deanna says  why do you keep coming back   . alicia is lonely too .  br    br   the ending of the movie  without ruining it  comes a bit disappointing it  s something i wasn  t waiting for . it eliminates some of the strength the movie has . the revelation comes totally unnecessary ruining the logical climax the movie could have had . it was an excellent script anyway and an excellent direction . a damn fine movie .  br    br   when it comes to erika christensen  this was the role she needed to fly higher . her role in  traffic  was impressing  but this was the big step the main role . maybe not many had the chance to see her in this film  and that  s a pity . she hasn  t made one false move since then . she has even come out with good performances in awful movies . on the other hand  busy philipps  who proved to be very promising in this movie  what a transformation   hasn  t got many opportunities for other roles .  br    br   the same i say about paul f . ryan  in directing  of curse   and i expect he is sitting now in his computer finishing his new script i  m waiting for his next movie . i  m hoping the best for all of them .  
this movie was awful . the ending was absolutely horrible . there was no plot to the movie whatsoever . the only thing that was decent about the movie was the acting done by robert duvall and james earl jones . their performances were excellent  the only problem was that the movie did not do their acting performances any justice . if the script would have come close to capturing a halfway decent story  it would be worth watching . instead  robert duvall  s and james earl jones  performances are completely wasted on a god awful storyline . . . or lack thereof . not only was i left waiting throughout the movie for something to happen to make the movie . . . . well an actual movie . . . not just utterless dialog between characters for what ended up being absolutely no reason . it was nothing more than common dialog that would have taken place back in that period of time . there was nothing special about any of the characters . the only thing special was how robert duvall portrayed a rambling  senile  drunk  old man . nothing worthy happens during the entire movie including the end . when the movie ended  i sat amazed . . . amazed that i sat through the entire movie waiting for something of interest to happen to make watching the movie worth while . it never happened  the cast of characters suddenly started rolling making it apparent that the movie really was over and i realized that i had just wasted  hours of my life watching a movie with absolutely no plot and no meaning . it wasn  t even a story . the entire movie takes place in a day  s worth of time . that  s it . it was one day in the life  and death  of some southerners on a plantation . how much of a story can take place in a single day  other than the movie training day   the acting performances by the entire cast were excellent  but they were grossly wasted on such a disappointment of a movie . . . if you can even call it a movie .  
certainly any others i have seen pale in comparison . the series gives balanced coverage to all theatres of operation . no one country is given undue credit for the allied victory . laurence olivier brings great weight and dignity to his role as narrator .  
look  i  m sorry if half the world takes offense at this  but life is confusing enough . i don  t need to watch it that way . i dig anthony hopkins  big time . i even watched fracture  and i knew that would be a steaming pile of quentin . but this thing is not well shot  and it  s not daring   even if it is artsy . well  produced films have reasons for cuts and fast edits  not this  oh  but it  s a realistic interpretation  excuse . this thing  ll make your head hurt . it  s the fastest moving picture ever to take you nowhere at all . i still love ah  and i  ll always give him another chance  but if you aren  t made of time to watch bad ideas on screen  skip this .  
if you want just about everything you want to know about wwii from multiple perspectives  this dvd delivers  you will learn new things guaranteed  so much so that you won  t need any other documentary  s on the subject . get this  watch it  learn from it . good for school use as well . as a bonus  watch this with tora tora tora  saving private ryan  patton  band of brothers  a bridge too far  the longest day and other wwii epics along with this to make your knowledge of wwii even more complete . sir laurence oliver  s voice adds to the overall atmosphere of each episode in this   part series . seriously you won  t find a better wwii documentary set on the subject . perfect       
this movie is once again  one of those movies that someone thinks or tries to make others think that they understood it . anyone who tries to make any sense of this is a moron  my advise would be to take two not one but two hits of very strong acid and at least you  ll get a visual thrill out of it   although at the end you may kill yourself for wasting your acid     being that this comment requires   lines of info  let me write something for those of you that will try to defend the movie . unintelligble . garbage . schitzoid . waste of talent . movie is ice  with paper on destination with ringing clouds  on a sunny dive in the pudding . . . . sounds like lion in a red light with seeing hair . now explain that to me      
although too young to remember the first showing of the series  being just a baby  i later caught repeats of it on television in the late    s  just when i was getting interested in the war and all of its aspects . it was my grandfather who first showed me the series and also gave me my first interests  relating tales of his time in the royal navy at malta and later in the pacific . since then i have devoured many books and seen many television series about the world war two era  with mixed opinions . the british television stations are generally very good at producing these  as the world at war can easily attest  with many gems made by both the bbc and independent companies . i strongly recommend such titles as  the nazis  a warning from history    blitz  and the bbc series about dunkirk .  britain at war in colour   with its companion series  japan    germany  and  america  are of a very high standard . the world at war is by far the best and  despite its age  never fails to deliver . there will always be new revelations about the war that will keep cropping up that obviously aren  t included in the series and of course world war two took place over such a large canvas that to produce a series with every detail would take more time and money then any other  even if such an undertaking was even possible . what i feel i must say to those who decry that it does not include everything is that the world at war can  t physically do that as a series but it sure as heck can prompt you to do further research  and make it enjoyable . that certainly worked for me i now have a very comprehensive library of books  videos  dvds and tapes and cds . recommend to anyone with even a passing interest . the series was so well made that they  d find it hard not to agree that it is quality programming and highly informative .  
given the chance to write  direct and star in my own movie  i would probably choose something about robot women with guns . anthony hopkins  however  decided to make possibly the strangest movie anyone has ever seen .  slipstream  is a movie that is so strange that even david lynch would probably look at the person next to him and say  what  s going on   .  br    br   this is a movie where  in one scene  a man crosses the road towards a yellow car facing to the right which suddenly changes into a pink car facing to the left . this is a movie where two characters have a conversation interspersed with shots of random people laughing and insects climbing up walls . this is a movie where a man starts talking about  invasion of the bodysnatchers  only for the actor of that particular movie to suddenly show up as himself  and then disappear into thin air  .  br    br   this is a movie that decides to throw the need for a coherent plot straight out of the window and use fifteen different edits whilst doing so  as well as changing from black and white to colour for seemingly no reason at all .  br    br   i must  however  commend mr hopkins for his choice of actors in this movie  some of whom portray multiple characters  . all of those involved throw themselves into their roles  even if they probably have no idea what they  re actually doing . my favourite here was christian slater  s thug in a hat who was impressively menacing whilst babbling nonsense and singing the american national anthem .  br    br   anthony hopkins has been quoted saying that he did this movie as a joke and that  s possibly the best way to sum up  slipstream  . it  s a joke on the audience . you  ll watch it from beginning to end  trying to understand what is going on and hoping that the answer will come  only to discover that the answer never actually does . what the punchline to this particular joke is  only anthony hopkins will ever know .  br    br   i mentioned david lynch earlier and i  m a big fan of that particular director . i would guess that anthony hopkins shares my love for the likes of  twin peaks    blue velvet  and  lost highway  . however   slipstream  isn  t as satisfying as any of the movies of lynch despite imitating many of his techniques  although i was surprised to discover that nobody talks backwards in  slipstream   . it  s far too chaotic and random  as another reviewer here pointed out  it  s the movie version of alzheimer  s disease . no doubt there are a small number out there who are able to watch this and draw something from it . unfortunately for the rest of us   slipstream  quickly becomes an annoying and confusing experience that was only made due to hopkins  involvement .  br    br   watch at your own risk .  
the music and laurence olivier  s sombre delivery set the tone perfectly for this outstanding documentary . this is still a must see for ww ii buffs  descendants of the participants of that conflict  politicians who think things always go their way when they extend their foreign policy via the deck of an aircraft carrier  did you hear that george bush   and anyone else curious or needing to know the whys whos and hows of some aspect of that conflict . the   episodes are roughly in chronological order but can be seen out of sequence since they are more or less self contained . there is bound to be new insight for the new viewer because of the sheer volume presented . actual footage of the battles is interspersed with interviews of those involved in the stories . many of the interviews are with second line authorities  that is  support personnel to the main characters  privates  captains  secretaries  eyewitnesses and the like . you get a real upfront taste of what war is all about .  br    br   i am presently watching the dvd version of the original television documentary . i strongly recommend this over the worn out  gaptoothed  overpriced vhs offerings available on ebay . i paid     cdn for five   sided dvd discs . this new release includes bonus material and is in full screen mode . the menus are easy to follow  there is first a choice of which episode you want to view and then after selecting that you are given the option of various chapters in the episode or to play the whole episode . it is understandable with such a comprehensive presentation there is a tiny amount more of navigation in the menu but the impact of what you will see is not diminished after   years  nay  after   years since the war finished .  br    br   i remember watching the first broadcast on the buffalo pbs station just before moving from london in     and wishing right from that time that i could have a copy . now my wish has finally come true .  br    br   see this documentary . tell your friends . buy a copy for your library . remember and honour the sacrifices and challenges overcome by those from america  russia  britain  canada and all the other nations and peoples involved in the final victory . what an eye opener .  
what hopkins does succeed at with this effort as writer and director is giving us a sense that we know absolutely no one in the film . however  perhaps therein lies the problem . his movie has a lot of ambition and his intentions were obviously complex and drawn from very deep within  but it  s so impersonal . there are no characters . we never know who anyone is  thus there is no investment on our part .  br    br   it could be about a screenwriter intermingle with his own characters . is it  maybe . by that i don  t mean that slipstream is ambiguous i mean that there is no telling . hopkins  s film is an experiment . on the face of it  one could make the case that it is about a would  be screenwriter  who at the very moment of his meeting with fate  realizes that life is hit and miss  and  or success is blind chance  as he is hurled into a  slipstream  of collisions between points in time  dreams  thoughts  and reality . nevertheless  it is so unremittingly cerebral that it leaves no room for any hint of emotion  even to the tiny  quite rudimentary extent of allowing us a connection with its characters .  br    br   i didn  t think the nippy and flamboyant school of shaky  machine  gun  speed camera  work and editing disengaged me  but reflecting upon the film i am beginning to realize that it had a lot to do with it . there are so many movies of the past decade in which the cuts or camera movement have sound effects as well as other atmosphere  deteriorating technical doodads . i suppose in this case it was justified in that its purpose was to compose the impressionistic responsiveness of dreams . however  i knew barely anything about slipstream when watching it  and i came out the same way . and i just do not care  because hopkins made no effort to make us care . there are interactive movies  and there are movies that sit in a rocking chair and knit  unaware of your presence . slipstream is the latter .  
my wife and i have watched this whole series at least three times . i can  t imagine how it could be better . this isn  t the  complete  history of wwiino library could hold such a historybut it is the best summary of that history . lots of detail  lots of personal stories  and still keeps the overall picture in view .  br    br   olivier  s narration is excellently written and  of course  superbly given . the interviews are from all sides  except the russian  because the producers were not allowed to talk to many russians . it is very much worth owning this complete program on dvd . we treasure our copy .  br    br   the producer  s do an excellent job of providing pictures and action where there was almost none extant in any archive there are almost no films of convoys and submarine battles  for instance  but still  the episode on this subject is very well done .  
why did i waste  .  hours of my life watching this  why was this film even made  why am i even commenting on this film   br    br   one reviewer said this film took patience to watch and it was n  t for everybody . i cannot figure out who this movie is for . maybe after dropping a hit of acid  somebody  somewhere could watch this and make some sense out of it . it is incoherent  it isn  t experimental  it  s plain and simple garbage . the film follows no plot line whatsoever  just when you think you have something  well . . . . . you don  t .  br    br   i think the ending brought some finality to the film  no pun intended   the viewer gets a glimpse of what might have been going on . i don  t think i put a spoiler in here  not that it would matter . this film is another must miss in the world of filmdom .  
theo robertson has commented that waw didn  t adequately cover the conditions after wwi which lead to hitler  s rise and wwii .  br    br   perhaps he missed the first one and a quarter hours of volume   covers this period  and together with the earlier volumes in the series  shows clearly the existing conditions  i feel . a friend of mine grew up in germany during this period  joined the hitler youth even  and his experiences were very similar to that mentioned in waw .  br    br   this documentary is so far above the history channel  s documentaries i also own  that there is no comparison .  br    br   the only fault  and it is a small one  that i have with waw is this the numbers are not included  many times . for instance  if you  re talking about lend  lease  then how much war material was lent  leased  how much to russia  how much to britian  how many merchant ships did the u  boats sink  and when  how many ships did the german or japanese navy have  total  in      what type were they  how many troops  how many troops did the allies have  in total  and by country  lots of numbers could have made a lot of viewers nod off  but i would have preferred more  and naturally  i always want to see more military analysis . like why didn  t patton  clark trap the german army that was at cassini  after they had it surrounded  instead of racing monty to rome  and letting it escape  i don  t think you can begin to understand war until you  ve seen some of these video segments on  total war   like the fire bombing of dresden . it  s like trying to understand auschwitz  etc .  before you see the clips of the death camps you just can  t wrap your head around it  it  s too unbelievable .  br    br   unknown at that time  and of course  unfilmed  were the most egregious cruelties and inhumanities of the japanese  including cannibalism   read  flyboys    and some live vivisection of medical  experimentation  prisoners  w  o any anesthetic   br    br   dave  
a confused mess from start to finish . like they used to say about the beatles  songs  there was a secret message if you played the lp backward . if one had the patience to watch this films scenes from finish to start  you  d come away with the same degree of disappointment .  br    br   apart from all of this psychedelic hodge podge of flashbacks and false starts  the clearest characters were the movie backers  out for revenge if the movie didn  t get sorted . there was nothing to like about these two either . overacting  shouting and threats were delivered in comic book fashion . i think one dimensional was an overstatement .  br    br   okay  so maybe the artsy types are rolling their eyes reveling in the fact that unlike them  we plebeians just didn  t get it . well i  m afraid there was nothing to get . and the two cardinal sins of any bad movie carried from start to finish . a non  existent and pathetic story line if you want to call it that  and by far the worst  not a single character you cared about in the least .  
utterly brilliant . powerful and evocative . the most compelling documentary series ever made concerning war . it  s tone offers a stark contrast to the often gung  ho attitude towards world war  that the media exhibits . rather than opting for screaming about the horror of war  it allows sir laurence olivier  s quiet voice to take a back seat to the true images of war corpses everywhere  explosions  terrified citizens and soldiers  broken men  indifferent politicians  mistakes that cost thousands of lives  the suffering of the innocents . most of all it truly brings home that mankind is capable of when all normal rules of  civility  are removed . there is something distinctly hobbesian about man in a true state of nature  he will return to a more beastly form capable of crimes that will still shock and fascinate   years on . perhaps there could be a follow up series called  the century at war  for the twentieth century was truly the century of horrors . i feel it is an irony of immense magnitude that it took an event which caused the death of   million people to produce such a compelling and excellent series such as this .  
unless you are geeky film student who has to see everything  this film will not only be a waste of your time and money and a huge disappointment  but it will also make you angry beyond belief .  br    br   there might be a story worth telling somewhere inside  but hopkins decided to hide it and encode under so many incessant chaotic layers of apparently random audio video microcuts  making the viewer  s patience run thin after a very short while .  br    br   why would someone like hopkins choose such a heavy  most difficult and highly unstable project as his first script  first score and third film can by anyones guess . maybe he played with it in his mind for such a long time until it became unrecognizable as what it became  not even for himself . the result proves that he has by far not enough experience or skill to achieve the desired result .  br    br   even the weirdest carpenter and lynch films  to name just two uncoventional filmmakers  had    more coherence     less characters and    more story flow .  br    br   sir anthony you aimed for the stars  but unfortunately missed by a couple of light years . please stick to acting  in that department you are a unequaled giant and nobody should ask more from you  not even yourself   
this series  produced at probably the most propitious time following the events of the second world war  is on a scale of value that stands far above any individual  s presumption to criticize .  br    br   the timing of world at war  s production in      amounting to some three decades after the events of the war  permits an accurate relating of events in a manner uncoloured by residual propaganda and slant . the passage of thirty years allows the telling to be backed up by an impressive and fascinating panoply of the very individuals involved  ranging from some of the highest military and political figures down to the field soldiers  civilians  and such survivors of the death camps as have remained to bear witness to the unimaginable inhumanities of which civilized humans are capable . most approaching or well into their senior years  the interviewed subjects have had enough time to reflect on their experiences and in most instances have had enough time for whatever propaganda and fervor may have affected them in the past to have receded away  leaving only the memories of what they saw and what they did .  br    br   the information that these survivors give  strikingly reinforced by the postures and expressions they display while telling their part  give their stories all the more impact . such names as ira eaker  adolph galland  louis mountbatten  albert speer  gertrude junge  hitler  s personal secretary  . . . the list is far too long to relate .  br    br   today  within the lifetime of the survivors of this enormous lesson in the hideous price of political ambition  are young people who chant the same sort of militaristic and nationalistic war promotion as led to ww  . the dvd series we discuss here ought to comprise the core of a mandatory history subject in schools  that the lessons bought at such a horrible cost in those days should not have been wasted but should be taken to heart by those who did not see firsthand the terrible price .  br    br   i am almost done watching the   disk set  having seen most of the series when a local tv channel aired it more than   years ago . it has lost none of its poignancy to me  indeed has become even more of a magnificent chronicle of some of the very darkest days of human times .  br    br   the highest possible rating seems unworthy of being applied to this presentation . i think the value of this series is beyond counting .  
you know this is gonna be a cheesy movie when  br    br    . it was made it the    s  . it  s in black and white .  . it has no name actors   . screaming makes up for the lack of special effects   br    br   well not to be outdone  this movie brilliantly incorporated all four of the above elements to turn this into a true cinematic blunder .  br    br   okay  shhhhh but i am gonna discuss special effects here  or lack of them   br    br   did you catch the underwater scenes  it looks like it was poorly filmed through an aquarium  note the cape flapping in the breeze .  br    br   and the repeated re  use of stock footage   exterior house shots  the bridges scenes   great enhanced the k  r  a  f  tiness of this film  not since  plan    have i seen such creative usage of stock footage .  br    br   and hey where there was a lack of special effects  not to worry  screaming does take the place of special effects in this movie as well . yes this movie even cleverly used that old hack trick .  br    br   grab the popcorn  set your brain on stun  several fermented beverages definitely helps   sit back  and wonder why the heck did they put this on film again   br    br   wayno  br    br    
i grew up watching scooby and have been a fan forever . this cartoon moves away from the same old routine that can get boring to viewers . the crooks in mask routine gets old and this cartoon is a change from that . it  s not meant to replace the scooby gang it  s just a break from the same old crime scene for both viewers and writers i  m sure . the cartoon  s focus is on scooby and shaggy who inherits a large sum of money and use that money to thwart world conquest plans from a mad scientist and his goons . small homages of the gang and the gang themselves are featured from time to time . if you are a fan of scooby  doo you can still appreciate the bond between a boy and his talking dog  along with the jokes that come with it . just enjoythe cartoon and support the creators  writers and producers so that this won  t be the last scooby cartoon .  
this is a rip off of the old frankenstein premise . an acclaimed scientist is killed in a freakish accident and his father  a noted brain surgeon saves the brain . it is then put into a robotic body of his own design . his brother  an electrical genius  gives the  colossus  impetus to transfer thoughts into motion . the whole project goes bad  when the creation goes berserk .  br    br   special effects are undeveloped . the script is lacking . and it is humorous that this is not scary a bit . well  very small kids will think this is good . if you are wide awake at three in the morning and this comes on . . . . night  night .  br    br   the lead characters are played by otto kruger  john baragrey and ross martin . ed wolff played the  colossus  .  
i just can  t believe some of the comments on this show  the show is just genius  sure it doesn  t follow the tried and true  but do we as consumers always want the same things thrust at us over and over again . shouldn  t we have the option to sit back and enjoy something new once in a while . the style is not as realistic as previous  scooby doo  shows  but it  s not supposed to be . the show it titled  shaggy and scooby doo get a clue  what part of that title states that the entire beloved cast of other renditions would constantly join in the action . and nowhere does it say that they  d be solving mysteries  and they can  t even stand monsters  so why would they  i  m actually glad that they put some long standing plot points that work into a scooby  doo show . they still have running jokes  clumsy hi  jinks  quick  change outfits in chase scenes  the standard hallway gag and even scooby snacks . in fact i  m glad that this show is out there  because i just love it . i  m even glad they got rid of the rest of the team for a while and concentrated on just two main characters and a villain .  br    br   sure it  s ridiculous  it  s supposed to be  sure it  s different  it  s supposed to be . it  s supposed to make you laugh at the villain  and cheer for the idiotic robotic butler to triumph over all intruding vermin  no matter what the size . you  re supposed to get the running  roobi  roo  joke . the whole thing is just put together so well  there isn  t a single thing i can think that is wrong with it . the writing  the acting  the animation  all top notch . the title music is awesome  my computer plays  get a clue   when it boots up   and the background music is just gripping .  
sean bean is great  as are the photography  locations and costumes . however  the plot is somewhat muddled  and the conclusion flat . the plot has been substantially altered from cornwell  s novel  and not to the better . unfortunately  this adventure is much better read than watched . sharpe was too narrowly drawn here  in contrast with his literary alter ego  who seems more intelligent and determined despite his apprehension in his new role as an officer promoted from the ranks . i really enjoyed the brief scene in which sharpe is tripped by a  real  officer  and after a quick pause and piercing stare  pushes the surprised and cowed officer right back . it sets the tone for his later trials as a commanding officer .  br    br   rating    of    .   
a great movie  rather challenging than really entertaining . sadly  no memorable quotes here  but this one  s my favorite alexandre if you  re leaving someone that you have loved  you have to say what i  m telling you now  farewell  i  m going .  but to disappear  to hide like a criminal  is ignoble .  didn  t watch it with english subtitles   br    br   in my opinion  this expresses it all . there is so much tactics involved in the relationships between alexandre and the others  and yet everyone longs for a little bit more truth . however  knowing the truth can hurt even more  as alexandre experiences . common interpretation is that the movie criticises the mere possibility of  liberated love  by depicting the unwanted implications on the people involved . it does  indeed  show this in a convincing manner  but i would appreciate it if the reasons had been treated a bit more in depth it  s not that liberated love is in itself doomed to failure  but people  especially men  i think  should work on themselves and try to overcome the ruling morals before and not through practicing liberated love .  br    br   that said  the movie  s realistic though and really worthwhile watching .  
why hollywood feels the need to remake movies that were so brilliant their prime  the texas chainsaw massacre  the hills have eyes  but is it considerably worse why hollywood feels the need to remake those horror films that weren  t brilliant to start with  prom night  the amityville horror  much like their originals these remakes fail in creating atmosphere  character or any genuine scares at all . prom night is so flat and uninteresting its hard to watch  but for all the wrong reasons .  br    br   it  s a poorly acted  massively uninteresting and ultimately dull excursion that fails at everything its designed to do . it  s clear hollywood horror is dead . even the likes of the hills have eyes and the texas chainsaw massacre managed to ruin their franchises in style with buckets of blood and a decent plot . prom night is virtually bloodless and i  m not even going to mention how bad the plot is . its inability to seal the killers identify makes this the least suspenseful horror movie since erm . . . the original .  br    br   one of the most notorious slasher films of the     s returns to terrorize filmgoers with this remake that proves just how horrifying high school dances can truly be . donna keppel  brittany snow  has survived a terrible tragedy  but now the time has come to leave the past behind and celebrate her senior prom in style .  br    br   when the big night finally arrives  donna and her best friends prepare to enjoy their last big high  school blowout by living it up and partying till dawn . but while donna is willing to look past her nightmares and into a brighter future  the man she thought she had escaped forever has returned for one last dance . an obsessed killer is on the loose  and he  ll slay anyone who attempts to prevent him from reaching his one and only donna .  br    br   who will survive to see graduation day  and what will donna do when she  s forced to confront her greatest fear  scott porter  jessica stroup  and dana davis co  star in the slasher remake that will have tuxedo  clad teens everywhere nervously looking over their shoulders as they file out onto the dance floor . a plot that will probably put you off going to see this . witch if you ask me is a good thing .  br    br   without much to work with  mccormick gamely tries to milk tension out of the most banal of situations . at one point  a girl backs into a floor lamp  a lamp   and mccormick tries to pump it up into a jump  scare moment . desperate times really do call for desperate measures . there haven  t been this many shots of closets since the last ikea catalogue .  br    br   in the era of the hills  my super sweet   and to catch a predator  there probably is a freaky  scary movie to be mined from the commoditisation of glamour and society  s creepy obsession with youthful beauty . this is not that movie .  br    br   my final verdict  avoid at all cost . nobody will like prom night  it  s even a disappointment to thoses who usually enjoy hack  job remakes . considering its absolute lack of blood or frights . a night you  ll be in a hurry to forget .  
i actually really like what i  ve seen of this cartoon so far . sure  the animation isn  t the best  but frankly  i  d rather see this type of more cartoony style done quickly and cheaply than the old type of style done quickly and cheaply  which was starting to happen more and more often   it  s only a style that looks good when a lot of time and effort is put into it  . there  s nothing wrong with the angular lines and the little black  dot eyes   in fact  i think it  s really cute . as a kid i never thought scooby  doo  s design was particularly adorable  but i think i might like it better know .  br    br   anyway  shaggy has always been my favorite character  and believe it or not  but i think he has the most potential for some depth . sure  the show doesn  t center around the original  mystery  solving  theme  but that was just a tired old formula anyway . don  t get me wrong   i  m sure there are writers out there who would be able to bring a lot more interest to mystery inc .  s traditional pursuits  which has been lacking as late   but in the mean time this show is a fun deviation from the standard . shaggy and scooby are still funny  but no longer only comic relief . they  re still cowardly  but finally have the opportunity to use what seems to be  shock   intelligence . they  re the same old over  eating slackers as ever  but now actually seem to be getting on with their lives with the help of uncle albert  s inheritance .  br    br   i used to find most original scooby  doo jokes to be pure cheese and unintentionally hilarious at best  but this show actually exercises a capacity for real humor . also  i never really like casey kasem as shaggy anyway  so the new actor doesn  t annoy me as much as he does other people .  i still think billy west was the best  though   br    br   overall  while not a great cartoon in the scope of all of cartoon history  still an achievement among other scooby incarnations .  
  br    br   however  the ladies of all ages will lap it up  no doubt at least the opposite sex understand what it is to be a mother  and most of us men try to fathom out what it is to be a father . whether changing nappies is not at all my favourite occupation and trying to get those bottled baby  foodstuffs into errant toothless mouths must rank very high on household duties preferably left to its mother  has absolutely nothing to do with the matter .  br    br   some good interpretations here  and a good story idea the handling of the matter  limited to rather scanty tv  production concepts  gives the film a rather over  mellowy taste with not much new to offer . an insipid way of delivering the goods  and in the end the outcome is so forseeable during the last   minutes or so  even my wife dozed off  and i was jumping up to the computer to get the on  line scoring in the barcelona  deportivo match  hoping the away team would do something rather good . they did . this film did not .  br    br   better by far is mike leigh  s magnificent  secrets and lies   qv  which touches on the same subject matter  but with brenda blethyn playing a far superior part .  
like many here i grew up with scooby  doo . unlike many here who did  i love this show  i think that it has been very well done and thought through . everything about it marks it as a spin  off which isn  t meant to be taken seriously . the formula is simple  it is a parody of other cartoons with a single bad guy trying to get the better of the good guy . by using the well known shaggy and scooby  doo characters it is much easier to engage the viewer with the parody humour from the outset of each   minute episode .  br    br   there have always been scooby  doo spin  offs which have annoyed fans . the classic being the scooby  shaggy  scrappy shorts from the    s . these spin  offs had their place they allowed new content to be sold  created new fans  and kept scooby  doo merchandise on the shelves . i would agree that  shaggy  scooby  doo get a clue   doesn  t fit in with this traditional role but it is probably what i had always wanted the scooby  shaggy  scrappy shorts to be an action packed show which focuses on the best  funniest scooby  doo characters  good features of the show the animation  the voices  the attention to detail  the bad  guys  the  best friend  relationship between shaggy and scooby  doo  the constant humour  bad features none  although the revamped mystery machine is pretty close at times .  br    br   well done warner bros . animation  one of the cleverest cartoons in a long time   
no likeable characters  the lead is a combination of the worst of woody allen  paul provensa  reiser  and the contrived scenes  did anyone really think thiat kid on the rollerblades was not going to knock the guy down   were just sickeningly bad .  br    br    
my baby sitter was a fan so i saw many of the older episodes while growing up . i  m not a fan of scooby doo so i  m not sure why i left the tv on when this show premiered . to my surprise i found it enjoyable . to me shaggy and scooby were the only interesting characters dodges tomatoes from fans of the others so i like that they only focus on those two . however  this may cause fans of the original shows to hate it . i like the voice acting  especially dr . phinius phibes . i liked listening to him even before i knew he was jeff bennett . and jim meskimen as robi sounds to me like he  s really enjoying his job as an actor . i also get a kick out of the techies with their slightly autistic personalities and their desires to play dungeons and dragons or act out scenes from star wars  not called by those names in the show  of course  .  
with no affinity towards any type of filmmaking  and a healthy appreciation of documentaries  i can honestly say i was angry at myself for bothering to sit through the entire length of    dates  . i won  t waste your time with the plot  you may read other reviews . i will say though that berkowitz  s hyper  woody allen  style narration was extremely annoying . you either wished he  d lay off the coffee or ingest some tranquilizers . and it  s potentially apparent to berkowitz himself that this film was a bad idea  as parts of it details his trials to finance the documentary . forgive me for disguising insults as compliments  but i  ll give credit to berkowitz for having the skills to convince some idiot to finance this horrid piece of  . i appreciate the boundaries  intentions of the film here  but even when regarding the standards berkowitz sets for himself  he fires off and misses on all levels . in closing  i  m sure many of these female companions were not at ease going on a date with a twitchy wanna  be filmmaker  and therefore i question the film  s sense of authenticity . hey myles  i loved your film the first time i saw it . . . when it appeared as an episode of seinfeld or was a film directed by woody allen or kevin smith .  
to be honost with you i think everything was so good in this movie there should be no reason why it didn  t go into theaters  the deaths in the movie are awesome the fx are awesome when used  there are a few dull moments when the story  s following the little girl but all in all this was a very good movie that i hope someday get  s the props it should . the very first part of the movie is prob why it came straight to video with them killing a little boy but after that the story is based on a little girl and her mother who came to visit the moms boyfriend who moved out to try to become a writer  the property he buy  s turns out to be where the witch  tooth fairy  lives and anyone who live in her house or goes on her property will be in great danger don  t wanna give anything really away just a little info if you  ve wanted to see this movie then do so it  s worth the price of the rental  
i would rather have   root canals than go through this film again . the prince of annoying  myles berkowitz  has wasted nearly two hours of my life with this piece of cynical pseudo  cool . the only amusing thing in this whole mess is mr . samaha  s obnoxious off camera patter about tits and ass . berkowitz takes a great concept and grinds it into the dust . it is choppy and badly done  in an apparent effort to make it seem edgy or funny . it is neither . i seldom feel that a movie was a waste of film  or tape   but this one qualifies for that distinction . if a date suggests seeing this film  run .  
i thought the children in the show did a very good job . i especially enjoyed the performance of the emma character . well done  the stunts were pretty good for a low budget show . i was able to follow the movie and enjoy it without having to look at my watch every  minutes . i enjoyed the scenes with the tooth fairy and the burning of her . the ghostly apparitions of the children  s souls being released was also good . another good point of the movie is that it kept moving along . there wasn  t a lot of slow scenes . the adult leads were also believable and therefore helped to keep the show entertaining . all in all an enjoyable night of movie watching .  
the film attempts to be a mockumentary   shot in the documentary form but with many obviously scripted parts   but fails in not providing the audience with any characters with which to create the illusion of the mockumentary . also  the film purports to be about finding real love in los angeles  but is nothing more than an uninteresting look at an amateur filmmaker trying to make his first  big movie .   
i almost didn  t rent this because of all the bad comments but did anyways . i thought it was similar to darkness falls which i also liked . the only part i hated about the tooth ferry was the  red neck brothers at the gas station . they were funny and the dialog made me laugh but this was not a comedy . it ruined the movie a bit for me because it was unnecessary . the rest of the movie was the way a horror or suspense film should be . the make  up was good and i have seen way worse movies then this one . it was a simple story with believable acting . it  s not the scariest or goriest movie  but i wasn  t ticked off or wanting a refund after watching it . on the dvd there was previews of other movies that all look good and i  m gonna check them out .  
this is not a boring movie  the audience might stay on its chair fascinated by this selfish character  miles berkowitz  both film  maker and actor here . the storyline is simple  after a divorce and ten years of a hollywoodian non  career  the author plays is quest for love in front of the camera . the first question is about how true is all that  what is written  what came by chance  both answers   yes  or  no  portrays m . berkowitz as a low average human beeing . if you look for a self  fiction about love like this one  i recommand you to read some independant comic books  chester brown  joe matt . . .  br    br   beside of this  i felt quite disappointed to hear so much against my country  france . i know american people usually say that the french are arrogant  that might be true then   etc .  and for sure the french  and the whole world  have lots of griefs against america  but why so much hate  don  t think i couldn  t like this movie only because of that anyhow .  
hello . i just watched this movie earlier today for the   th time in  days . i am a history teacher that has wayyyyy too much time on my hands . i need a life . i found the movie containing a striking resemblance to broke back mountain . i also found that i look a lot like jean lafitte if he were white . also  my favorite line in the entire movie was from mr . petey    this baby can shoot a chipmunk  s eye from    yards    oh  and my favorite scene in the movie was when the british were coming in  and the one drummer who was so devoted to his work  and he drummed till the death  as if that drum would end the war altogether . . . . but it wouldn  t . well  thats all i would like to say about this movie . oh  one more thing . . bonnie brown is an insane physco bipolar mood swinging beeyotch . that is all .  
 . . . . ripoff of a dozen better films . particularly steven martin  s  la story   which at least had the grace to be obviously fictional even though it starred his then  girlfriend playing his girlfriend in the film .  br    br   yes  naive boys and girls     dates  is a mockumentary  although i am not absolutely certain that was myles berkowitz  s intent when he started . my impression is that he started the project semi  seriously  then quickly realized that it would be pathetic and not funny unless he made the situations more and more ridiculous . as a result  the whole thing has an uneasy  cheap and insincere feeling about it .  br    br   as someone smartly pointed out  the film has two of the  dates  suing and putting restraining orders on myles and yet they appear in the film  which would be impossible as it would require a consent form . it also appears to me that the majority of women who appear as  the dates  are professional actresses  albiet not famous ones  excepting tina carrere    they are simply too obviously pretty  polished  thin and comfortable in front of the camera to be average civilians .  br    br   mr . berkowitz makes a classic error in only casting this kind of very pretty thin actress  instead of utilizing a variety of believable women  which might have made the premise  even in a mockumentary  more believable and funnier . he also skates over what is probably his real  world problem  and which is that both the movie character and the real world myles berkowitz appear to be functionally unemployed  his real life imdb credits are practically non  existent  excepting this film  . even in the world of the movie  his ex  wife divorced him for never being employed . i think the viewer  let alone mr . berkowitz  s real life dates  are deserving of an explanation of he manages to live in one of the most expensive urban environments in the us  in a luxury apartment  driving a fancy car and eating out at pricey restaurants when he doesn  t seen to have any source of income whatsoever .  is he drug dealer  living off his rich parents  no clue    br    br   you can get away with most anything in a film  if the jokes are really funny .    dates  is painfully  embarrassingly un  funny . mr . berkowitz  s idea of a joke is to have his character  while on restaurant dates  announce to his companions how the food served is likely to give him either diarrhea or constipation   the worst kind of childish potty humor .  br    br   it is not very surprising to discover that mr . berkowitz never made a film before    dates  and in the last  years  has not made a single film  appeared as an actor in anyone else  s film or had a writing or producing credit of any kind . my gut instinct tells me that this film was not financed by  elie   the gangster money man who appears off  camera  but more likely by mr . berkowitz  s affluent parents  or perhaps represents a shocking abuse of credit cards . whichever it was  we can all rest easy that we are unlikely to have to see myles berkowitz or any of his creative efforts ever again . hallelujah     
i am afraid it was a movie that you have to actually watch to get anything out of it . i t is not a mindless movie like . . . . .  leathal weapon part    you know the one where riggs is really crazy  it is not a movie that is pretty much the same at the end as it is a the beginning . you can run everywhere talk on the phone do what ever and enjoy it in any way . i have noticed in the past that most people that do not like this type of movie are the type that will do most anything but watch a movie and then slam it because . . . . . duh they don  t get it or understand it or what happened .  br    br   don  t let your doggy take a shower     
i went to a screening of this movie and while it had a couple moments that made me laugh  it had some very major flaws . it first of all presents itself to be the humorous exploits of a real  life divorcee trying to find love in la . what it morphs into is a depressing  narcissistic  and unfunny romp through the history of the film director  s love life and professional life . jokes wear thin quickly and you find yourself suddenly not caring how this man  s dates progress . the ridiculousness is that the director simultaneously presents himself as an extremely annoying and heavily flawed character and then expects us to be concerned .  
of the films of the young republic few in number as they are the buccaneer       stands out as a finely crafted film . charleton heston excels in his portrayal of old hickory  s defence of new orleans with a thrown together force of militia  regulars and pirates promised a reprieve .  br    br   after christmas     peninsula veterans led by sir edward packenham  the duke of wellington  s brother in law bore down on the city of new orleans . andy jackson had a day to draw together a scratch force to defend the city behind bales of hay .  br    br   charlton heston projects jackson  s terrifying presence and awe inspiring power of command . yet there are a few colorful comic relief . with the might of the english lioness about to pounce  a young blond haired voluteer from new orleans asks i guess the ruckus is about to start .  br    br   the battle was about to rage but not for long . true to form the british marched straight into withering american fire . in less than a few minutes an attempt to reconquer lost north american territories had been foiled .  br    br   the battle scene in this movies lasts slightly longer than the actual battle itself .  br    br   there are colorful side stories in this film of the young volunteer at his first dance to celebrate the victory .  
the movie is pretty funny and involving for about four dates  then it becomes a blatant commercial for some guy you  and even his  friends   really can  t stand . it is a pretty interesting concept film dates on a quest to find true love in modern la . the problem is that it feels incredibly  and badly  scripted at times and blatantly self  promoting . it is difficult to care about and be drawn into any of the characters because the writer  actor is so egotistical  uncool  untrue  and simply unlikeable . you end up feeling sorry for his dates .  
this movie has great stars in their earlier years ingor stevens never looked prettier yul brynner was a very convincing jean lafitte  conflicted about his piracy and desiring to keep neutrality with the united states . charlton heston did a pretty good job as andrew jackson  but some moments were a bit stilted . it  s really a good flick for students to learn that part of our history  and it shows that all happy endings do not include the lovers getting together with each other   sometimes the happier ending is that they sail away and find partners of similar background who will understand them better in the long run . i have viewed it every year at least twice for   years now and though it is not the best movie i  ve ever seen  i love it every time   
filmed in a documentary style  but you can pretty well tell participants had been coached . a recently divorced wannabe film maker  myles berkowitz  sees a chance to liven up his love life and step into the movie biz at the same time . he intends to make a documentary piece about finding love by filming twenty dates including ramifications . the comedy is spotty at best the rest is mishap after mishap . also taking part are richard arlook  robert mckee and the enticing elisabeth wagner . trying for credibility the fetching tia carrere is talked into a cameo . this will suffice as a handbook on how not to get a satisfactory date .  
 possible spoilers   br    br   i like this film and have no problem staying awake for it . it reminds me of me at    except this is even better . like veronica says  two chicks at one time . it brings out the horniness in me  the casual conversation  these two real life chicks  rather than hookers  teasing us every step of the way . i get into the conversations too . even if they are utterly b . s . at times  so what  every chick  just about  that i  ve ever talked to and is high on herself is usually full of the same unreasoned rambling gratuitous self  centered b . s . philosophy . it  s just a bunch of nonsense  and about as sensible as that other b . s . philosophy chicks are often into astrological charts . the only deal with this movie is the guy is almost as feminine as the women  he  s into the same b . s . and moodiness . the brunette chick is actually the most masculine person there .  br    br   i think it  s kind of funny that the brunette chick gets so obviously turned on by veronica . she  d love to pull the little blonde away from alexander  but veronica plays her all the way . she  s brilliant . she gets the brunette thinking there  s something up between them  and then she steals the boy  child  man  which is only appropriate since they appear to be from the same age group . the brunette knows she  s been had by the end  when she  s dropping her face into the palms of her hands while marlene deitrich sings in the background that  paraphrasing  there are a million couples in paris tonight  but i only have this refrain .  br    br   but do they get married in the end  alex and veronica  mmmm  i can only imagine a super  tumultuous relationship ending in a pre  marriage breakup . they are too selfish to be anything to each other than stepping stones .  br    br   i like the film though . it kept me entertained  it  s got a nice look  and it  s sexy .  
i saw this movie a few days ago and gamely jumped during the scary parts . i must admit  i found it pretty decent . . . until i started to think about what the characters were saying . logical problems  br    br    . her boyfriend  who seems to be a pretty fit dude  makes no sound while being killed . don  t you think that he might have at least tried to take the killer   br    br    . when the remark is made that the gym teacher is  soooo in love with lisa   i almost screamed at the screen . when your best friend  s family has been killed by a teacher who was in love with her  you don  t make comments like that if you have half of a heart .  br    br    . as soon as nash asks the uncle how many exits they have in the house and the uncle catches on that there may be danger ahead  wouldn  t the smart thing to do be to get donna  boyfriend  aunt  and uncle into a car and drive far  far away  then bait the house with the hrt and police force so that the killer has no way to get out   br    br   i could go on . and on . and on . basically  the plot was decent  the characters weren  t profiled enough for you to actually feel any empathy when they were slaughtered and there were way too many errors .  br    br   however .  br    br   this movie might be good for teenagers  or young couples just looking for a fun night out . if you don  t consider all the goofs  it  s a mediocre film .  
the original demille movie was made in     with frederic march . a very good film indeed . hollywood  s love of remakes brings us a fairly interesting movie starring yul brynner . he of course was brilliant as he almost always seemed to be in all of his movies . charlton heston as andrew jackson was a stroke of genius . however  the movie did tend to get a little long in places . it does not move at the pace of the     version . still  it is a fun movie that should be seen at least once .  
while bondarchuk was by no means a young man when he was commissioned to work on this project  he was still a novice director with only a single pictures  a successful adaptation of a short wwii story  to his name . bondarchuk of course had already been an established acting star for a decade but thespian skills mean little behind the camera  and as a director he was woefully unprepared to undertake a production of such scale . and it shows through muddled shot compositions especially apparent in group scenes  often unfortunate camera positions  performances of wildly varying quality for the director was apparently so overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the task actors were apparently left to their own devices  awkward voiceovers that sound like radio broadcast announcements .  br    br   vidor  s  war and peace  was probably the main reason that prompted the soviet government to spare no expense on this production . the ussr release of the vidor  s picture made quite a splash . certainly  bondarchuk wanted to emulate the greatest strength of the hollywood film and find his own audrey . his final choice  lyudmila savelyeva  a big  eyed sprightly dark  haired thing indeed somewhat resembles hepburn . unfortunately she was a kirov ballet dancer without neither acting experience nor talent  so unsurprisingly the most kind word that i can find to describe her performance is  awful  .  br    br   though it might be expected that soviet actors  speaking the same language as tolstoy  s characters  would have better understanding of them than foreigners but this war and peace often proves that not to be the case . the revolutionary upheaval swept away the thin upper layer of russian cultural soil  that the world of war and peace grown out of  so a good share of these big name soviet actors involved in this production often look as clueless as americans performing shakespeare  i don  t mean of course that american actors can  t possibly play shakespeare credibly  but you  ll know what i mean if you witnessed american members of the cast in branagh  s adaptations  . of the three main characters only bondarchuk  s pierre is commendable  but even he was too old for the part and feels out of place in the early going .  
taken in the context of the time it was made  i found this a worthwhile movie . while the details may be  dramatized   the overall history was a nice primer . in addition  i found spotting actors i knew a real pleasure . who would imagine ben cartwright as a dastardly cad  i  ll leave the rest of the star spotting to you . as to the secondary casting  this movie  as one would expect from a movie made in the late thirties  has many an enjoyable character actor  but top kudos  to andrew jackson  s right hand man peavey . the perfect touch of comedy . well shot  with beautiful ships  and competent acting throughout out  i recommend this for anyone with a taste for the slightly camp  or an eye for a double  period piece  set at the dawn of america  and made in a period when great names  and top notch character actors  were a real pleasure to enjoy .  
i  m probably not giving this movie a fair shake  as i was unable to watch all of it . perhaps if i  d seen it in a theater  in its original presentation  i might have appreciated it  but it  s far too slow  moving for me .  br    br   i read the book some   years ago and the details of the plot have faded from memory . this did not help the film  as it  s something less than vivid and clear in its presentation of events .  br    br   this is really four linked films  or a film in four parts  and was  i believe  intended to be seen over four nights in a theatrical presentation . i found part i to be enjoyable enough  but it was all i could do to sit through part ii  which drags interminably . reading tolstoy  s philosophizing is one thing . if you get a good translation or can read it in the original  his brilliant writing far outweighs any issues one might have with the pace of the story . on film  however  it  s hard to reproduce without being ponderous .  br    br   i have other issues with the parts of the film that i saw . it  s very splashy  with a lot of hey  ma  look  at  this camera work that calls attention to itself  instead of serving to advance the story .  br    br   clearly  i  m missing something  but i just couldn  t summon the enthusiasm to crank up parts iii and iv .  
during the whole pirates of the caribbean trilogy craze paramount pictures really dropped the ball in restoring this anthony quinn directed cecil b . demille supervised movie and getting it on dvd and blu ray with all the extras included . it is obvious to me that paramount pictures execs are blind as bats and ignorant of the fact that they have a really good pirate movie in their vault about a real pirate who actually lived in new orleans  louisiana which would have helped make the crescent city once again famous for it  s pirate connections . when the execs at paramount finally get with the program and release this movie in digital format then i will be a happy camper . paramount pictures it is up to you to get off your duff and get this film restored now   
this is not a commentary on the actual movie  but on the ruscico dvd release for north america . i don  t know if there have been different releases and updates  but the disks we rented had a     copyright on them  if that means anything . anyway  the sound mixing on these dvd  s was absolutely horrible . the levels often yo  yo  ed up and down when the scene cut to a battlefield panorama  the orchestral track would thunder so loudly that i didn  t know which would blow out first   my eardrums or my speakers . when it was time for dialog  the volume would usually drop to something barely audible . occasionally  the orchestra and foley  work would stay loud while the dialog was superimposed at a much lesser level . my wife and i found that the only way we could watch this movie at all from these dvd  s was if one of us kept a hand on the remote to continuously modulate the volume . and  like another user has already commented  when we selected english audio the dialog kept switching back and forth between russian and english and occasionally when the characters spoke in french on the native track the dubbing was in russian  so you  re sol if you understand neither . ultimately  we gave up watching after the first disk . before you fork out     for this movie on dvd for your own library  i  d heartily recommend getting your hands on a rental copy to see whether you can really enjoy this epic flick when burdened by such bad sound  particularly if you  ve never read the book and really want to understand the storyline .  
sure  the history in this movie was  hollywoodized    but it  s far from being the only bit of history rewritten for the masses . lafitte sided with the americans because he considered himself a frenchman and therefore hated the british  not because of any sense of patriotism for a nation that had taken over new orleans only a short time ago he broke his agreement and returned to smuggling  which caused his sailing to galveston he was more of a petty criminal and scoundrel than a hero or a swashbuckler . but who cares  this is one movie that  s sheer entertainment   and face it  we all wanted jean to go for the feisty wench rather than the prudish daughter of the governor . brynner once again rises over mediocre writing to give a fascinating performance .  
please take a minute to read my entire review . i am not knocking the film itself  only the dvd versions currently available .  br    br     br    br   i really wanted to give this film even two stars . i mean how could it possibly rank a mere  out of       br    br   here  s how an epic film adaptation of tolstoy  s novel  war and peace  with historically accurate battle scenes  courtesy of the red army  and an extremely faithful  scene  for  scene adaptation of the novel would be difficult but worth sitting through for seven hours  if that  s what you were seeing .  br    br   the trouble is you can  t see that film  anywhere as far as i know .  br    br   i am attempting to watch the ruscico dvd version  widely considered the best version available since it  s letter boxed and restores the scenes that were cut from other dvd releases .  br    br   but  it is one of the worst film prints i  ve ever seen transfered to dvd . the picture is muddy and inconsistent  often strobing . it  s almost tolerable if you crank your brightness  color and picture levels up to maximum . . . . but the problem doesn  t end there .  br    br   the sound is also way inconsistent  blaringly loud in parts  virtually inaudible in others .  br    br   and as for languages  it  s a huge problem for english speakers  the dubbed option has some good actors  and some really terrible ones whose performance grates  and parts of the film just aren  t dubbed at all  slipping back into russian and even french randomly .  br    br   the subtitled option isn  t much better . the subtitles don  t appear below the image  but right over it  obscuring some of the beauty  or what  s left of it  in the scenery . furthermore  the subtitles are often a poor translation  a shame given that the script took pains to hew so close to tolstoy  s actual words   and the subtitles too seem to just drop out in parts .  br    br   so  even if you max out the color  brightness and picture settings  and turn the volume way up  and choose subtitled and english dubbed  you  re still going to get a film that  s annoying to watch and listen to .  br    br   can it  s content overcome that  it might have been able to  but at seven hours  who can stand it for that long   br    br   maybe someday  someone will come along and restore this  and maybe then i will see a masterpiece  but for now  i just can  t give more than one star to something i  ve only been able to stand watching about the first    of .  
  br    br   if you  re at all interested in pirates  pirate movies  new orleans  early   th century american history  or yul brynner  see this film for yourself and make up your own mind about it . don  t be put off by various lacklustre reviews . my reaction to it was that it is entertaining  well acted  for the most part   has some very witty dialogue  and that it does an excellent job of portraying the charm  appeal and legendary fascination of the privateer jean lafitte . while not all the events in the film are historically accurate  can you show me any historical film that succeeds in this    i feel the film is accurate in its treatment of the role lafitte played in new orleans  history  and the love  hate relationship between the  respectable  citizens of new orleans and this outlaw who was one of the city  s favorite sons . don  t worry about what the film doesn  t do  but watch it for what it does do  i . e .  for its study of one of new orleans   and america  s  most intriguing historical figures .  
the angry red planet  quickie review   br    br   like  the man from planet x   this is a bizarre science fiction tale culled from an era where fantasy and science fiction were still damn near the same thing . meaning  we have some highly laughable special effects and rampant pseudo  science masquerading as science fiction . and yes  it  s another  classic  released in a high quality transfer with a crisp picture and sharp sound   by midnite movies .  br    br   so  the main reason to watch this film  oh  it  s definitely the whole time our space crew is on mars .  what  you thought  angry red planet  referred to neptune   prior to that is some rather poor quality space crew boarding a space ship  inside of which they smoke and toss around sexist chauvinistic banter aimed at the  puny female  member of the crew . it  d be somewhat offensive by today  s standards if it weren  t so damn funny . but mars is the real reason we  re watching this thing . the film is generally black and white  but mars  well mars is screaming bloody red . it  s filmed in this bizarre red plasticy sheen giving the angry red planet quite an interesting look of overexposed redness . it  s really quite a sightas are the  ha ha  aliens viewers are to witness . the best being the  ratbatspidercrab .  you think that  s a joke  that  s what they call it in the movie  it  s a gigantic chimera  small puppet  of a thing combining traits of rats  bats  spiders  and crabs . it bounds along all puppety and scares the sht out of our  heroic crew .  there are other weird  and poorly imagined  aliens to be seen  but that one takes the cake . eventually  after their harrowing experience on mars  the sexist crew boards their  ship  and returns to whatever planet it was they came from .  br    br   this ain  t for everyone . science fiction film buffs  curiosity seekers  and some general film buffs . fans of mystery science theater     will have a field day with this one  if they never got to it on the show  .  br    br       modern score      nostalgia score      overall .  br    br    www . residenthazard . com   
this interesting feature has a very fine story  line  rather colorful characters and a very steady pace . it also incorporates a plot device from  reap the wild wind   and since cecil b . deille directed that and his son  in  law anbthony quinn directed this film from his preparations  that can hardly be a coincidence . it works in both cases  i must report . the unusual set  up tells the viewer that barataria  an island ruled by jean lafitte is built upon piracy  but during the war of      and before  he has always refrained from bothering united states  vessels . now general andrew jackson has been charged with defending nearby new orleans with only       men against       british imperial redcoats and   ships . lafitte  s men want him to side with the stronger force he wants freedom and pardons for his men before ceding such a strategic landing spot to the u . s . forces . there are other factors at work in the story  line pirate bonnie brown and her father want to attack u . s . ships and do so in defiance of lafitte  s orders  leaving a boy alive without knowing they have missed an eyewitness . when his testimony finally comes out  jackson cannot grant what lafitte asks but lafitte supports him anyway and in the fog  the pirates and jackson rout the british and he sails away to whatever destiny awaits a man who had genius and statesmanship but not fortune . the cast of this colorful and physically  lovely film are skilled indeed . yul brynner has one of his best roles as the pirate king  inger stevens is beautiful as the girl he loves  charles boyer has many good lines as his adviser  powerful lorne greene is a rival  e . g . marshall the governor  and claire bloom is charismatic as bonnie brown . others in the cast include ted de corsia  douglass dumbrille  george mathews  henry hull as jackson  s adviser  bruce gordon  onslow stevens  robert f . simon  henry brandon  fran jeffries  and leslie bradley  among others . the music by elmer bernstein is very memorable  and the     script remade here had only to be freshened a bit . the shiny cinematography was the work of veteran loyal griggs  the set decoration was supplied by albert nozaki  hal pereira and walter tyler  with set decoration by sam comer and roy moyer and costumes by edith head  john jensen and ralph jester . nellie manley did the elaborate hairstyles and wally westmore the difficult makeup . the film contains quite a bit of good adventure  level dialogue and a very strong climactic battle scene . charlton heston  as as andrew jackson  prepared to play the part of an elder general and then discovered the man was young at the time of the battle but he is often effective  grey  haired or not  especially in his exchanges with henry hull as mr . peavey . this is an exciting and well  mounted entertainment  which looks exactly as if c . b . demille had completed his production it is a beautiful and nearly a very  fine motion picture .  
i gave this movie a   and though i consider myself a science fiction fan  i found this movie very difficult to take seriously . it was on amc one late night  and i  m glad i saw it for free . this movie is probably good for a few laughs  but not much more .  br    br   the special effects are about average for the time period  not awful  but not great  either . of course we know more about mars now than we did back then  but we really can  t hold that against this film . the main reason i did not like this movie is because of the story .  br    br   there were several parts of this movie that i wish would have been explored in a little more detail  the astronaut  s injury  condition  the city on mars  the creature in the lake  etc . overall  the movie is much like a lengthy episode of the     s version of the outer limits  complete with a cheesy ending .  
i always enjoyed watching this when it came on television during prime  time every year in the    s . it  s a typical hollywood history epic  dramatized  stylized and full of inaccuracies but so what  it  s an entertaining movie and a good looking film . cecil b . demille at the end of his life is the executive producer of this remake of his     film . his son  in  law actor anthony quinn who had the supporting role of beluche in the    film is the director in his directorial debut and swan song as he had never directed a film before and never would again . demille assembled a crew who had recently worked on his   commandments to help quinn pull it off including longtime demille associate producer  actor henry wilcoxon overseeing the project . also from the   commandments are screenwriter jesse lasky  cinematographer loyalk griggs  assistant director francisco day   nd unit director arthur rosson  art directors walter tyler and hal pereira  set directors sam comer and ray moyer  costume designers edith head  john jensen and ralph lester who as a costume design team received the buccaneer  s only oscar nomination . a great cast here from team demille headed up by yul brynner as pirate jean lafitte and charleton heston as future president general andrew jackson . also in the cast are charles boyer  e . g . marshall  lorne greene  claire bloom and inger stevens . at just over two hours it drags in some spots but makes up for it with some excellent battle scenes . i would give it a  .  out of   .  
hopelessly inept and dull movie in which the characters stand around in rooms or a rocket ship and talk endlessly . you might think things would perk up when they explore mars but these scenes are filmed through a heavy red  orange filter which makes everything very murky . the martian landscape  vegetation consists mainly of drawings and the monsters are entirely unconvincing . there are echoes of  bride of the monster  when the heroine carefully winds the octopus like tentacle of a flesh eating plant around her before weakly thrashing about  the difference being that the ed wood film is a hundred times more entertaining . better wear earplugs when watching otherwise the  sci  fi  music score  repeated endlessly  will drive you insane . if you find yourself unable to sleep one night just slip this one into the vcr and your insomnia will be cured in no time .  
the documentary begins with setting the perspective to several light years . the voyager is traveling our milky  way with the sounds of our earthly lives  as a space monument for  possible   extraterrestrials .  br    br   the documentary contains footage of willy dixen  robert johnson  skip james and j . b . lenoir . the footage of j . b . has never been published before . the narrative is from  blind willie  dixon . however  it  s done by an actor . the film shows the work of all these early blues men followed by covers and interpretations by musicians  such as nick cave and the bad seeds among others .  br    br   the death of j . b . lenoir  john mayall  s song  is a striking event in the story . lenoir got political engaged and is considered to be of the league of martin luther king and peers . his political interests can be found in the themes of his lyrics .  br    br   blues is found to be  the  native music of america . blues is the roots and the rest is the fruits .  br    br   the title  soul of a man  is after a willie dixon song .  
surely no saturday morning tv kids  show was ever done this poorly . after all  those producers had to count on the audience coming back . well  in this awful offering  they could at least count the money they saved on sets . the script could have been a reject from some long  forgotten space opera serial  with a few smarmy lines added for cool  dude gerald mohr to murmur to naura hayden . no director could have done anything decent with such a loony storyline  so the action just plods boringly along . the spaceship props are absurd   a bulova wall clock and portable typewriter  for example   but the planet sets have got to be some of the worst in cinematic history . most are crude drawings  and it  s all bathed in an often misfocused red light . even mohr  s bare hairy chest is used as a prop . and it  s a bad one   as rib  thin as the plot . any viewer who can make it to the end of this movie will hear a message from the martians   and will probably agree completely   
i saw this documentary at the cannes film festival  in a small     seat cinema at the top of the main building at the cannes film festival .  br    br   i absolutely was into it . i love the mix of awesomely made fictional scenes . it is amazing set  design . the scenes look really like they were filmed in     ies or     ies .  br    br   and the music is so nice .  br    br   i rate this experience     .  br    br    spoilers ahead   br    br   the documentary tells about awesome blues  men  with black  and  white old  looking scenes of the black man playing the guitar and singing . it is really amazing . but this also mixes in new bands and that is maybe one thing i might dislike in this documentary . it is the too abundant use of links to modern rock  bands playing those blues songs in a modern way . i didn  t really appreciate their trashed way of playing such awesome blues songs . this is the same kind of un  perfect musical taste i found when watching wim wenders buena vista social club .  br    br   the documentary was such a standing  ovation at this first screening in the little cinema  that the next day this documentary was shown for everyone and normal tourists on the beach of the croisette at the open  air cinema . though the sand  the quality of the projection and the bad quality of the sound probably made it a difficult experience to enjoy for the thousands of people who were sitting in the sand that night .  
very bad but watchable science fiction film that suffers from abominable special effects  poor acting  and a ridiculous story . the film opens with a spaceship returning from exploration on mars with a woman and a man with green slime on his arm . she  through some hokey plot contrivances  begins to tell what happened on this fateful trip as almost all the tapes seemed to be magnetically wiped off . four astronauts take on this journey a military type played by gerald mohr  a poor man  s humphrey bogart who enjoys saying the word  irish  and has the acting savvy of a codfish  then there is naura hayden  a beautiful redhead and only female crew member on flight with three men wearing the most formfitting suits possible to accentuate all her curves  next  les tremaine  a wonderful character actor from cheap sci  fi films like this as the egghead  and last  jack kruschen as sammy  the guy from brooklyn with jokes and doesn  t seem too bright although chosen for his expertise in electronics . none of these performers are really any good  and all of them say their dialog with little conviction . watch tremaine as he utters that scientific nonsense  really  the best out of the four is kruschen  and that really says a lot about this film . but bad acting aside  the movie just falls apart when they land on mars via flashback . the angry red planet had a real cheap budget because mars is really the american southwest with a heavy red tint over it . when the story calls for something that might look martian  there are drawings placed with a heavy red tint over them . you can tell they are drawings the monsters are perhaps even worse as we get a bat  rat  spider with a size upwards of   feet that looks like some kids got together piecing dead animals together . the other significant creature is a giant amoeba with an oscillating eye . whew  these are bad . there is a nice drawing of a martian city  but there just was not enough of this in the film . despite all these big problems  the angry red planet is a fun bad film . it is really fascinating to see how far we have come as a civilization . most of the stuff they used in the movie is so outdated . one guy is using an electric razor with a cord and i thought they can get to mars but they are still using cords . director ib melchior gives an interesting look to much of the film even with the budgetary constraints  but the story by him and sid pink doesn  t fly . and how bout that ending with the music and the psychedelic colors  groovy man   
i was forced to see this because a  i have an   year  old girl and b  we had shown her the bonita granville nacy drew movies from the     s  which she thoroughly enjoyed . personally  i didn  t think it was as humorous as the     s flicks  but on the other hand  it wasn  t the nauseating piece of intelligence  insulting fluff i feared it would be . it was an inoffensive  mildly entertaining movie . although i  m pleased that they didn  t try to  upgrade  nancy to   st century  hipness   veronica mars holds the title as the modern nancy drew   i do think that they made her a little too bland  that they didn  t do enough to develop nancy drew  the movie could have been titled  jane doe  girl detective  . i have to blame the script i think each actor did a good job with what they had to work with . i liked emma roberts in this role  but they gave her a made  for  tv  not theatrical release  script . . .  
this movie is funny and painful at the same time . the  cinemagic  almost gave me a seizure . despite what they imply   cinemagic  is not some innovative technical procedure . it was  developed  as the result of an accident  and they used it because it disguised the fact that their  monsters  were so stupid  looking . i also don  t think it  s a coincidence that the writer is sid  pink  .  br    br   this movie is good for a laugh  if you are really looking for a movie made in  days on        dollars . it is entertaining at least i can say that about it . the bat  rat  spider is the highlight .  
this movie is so complex that it can be given any description and still roll with it . you have a insecure  troubled and fascinating main character  played by jean  pierre laud  who is trapped between two  no  three  women . we listen to his social  philosophical and moral idiosyncrasies in interminable monologues  we see him working his magic around the three women that he loves . this could be the premise for a fowl movie  full of rigid  cold  uninteresting commentaries . yet director jean eustache manages to keep it fresh  ironic and witty . being such a long movie  one cannot but burst into laughing when  after  hours of speaking politely  jean  pierre laud all of a sudden screams on the phone while he remembers a cheesy line from a movie . this kind of situations are purely cinematographic and cannot be fully restored in a commentary . nor can someone restore the tragic and painfully beautiful monologue of franoise lebrun towards the end of the movie .  and    hours and worthing every minute .  
i think it was an overrated pg    crap  at least brittany snow  s performance was good and some others like idris elba were good too  but some others teens in the prom like the leads friends were not that convincing . the killer was so dumb and looked so stupid too . the deaths were stupid  boring and completely unoriginals . the movie was very boring too and very overrated . it wasn  t suspenseful at all  i almost fall asleep . its another bad pg    remake  its really a dreadful movie imo . the ending was so stupid and the climax was very rushed and boring . the movie is pretty slow too . overall the only good thing about this crap fest is maybe brittany snow i think she gave a good performance and idris elba too  but besides that it was a completely dreadful movie and horrible remake . well thats just my opinion . i gave it a     .  
i last read a nancy drew book about   years ago  so much of my memory of the fictional character is probably faulty . from what i gathered  the books were introduced to me at an era when teenage sleuths were popular to children growing up at the time  for my case  the   s and early   s   with hardy boys  famous five  and of course   carolyn keene   s nancy drew amongst the more famous ones . i still remember those hardcover books with very dated cover illustrations  usually quite heavy  for a kid  to lug around  and the thickness of the book perhaps attributed to the fact that the words are printed in large fonts .  br    br   well  the character has been given some updates along the way  as i recall my sister  s subsequent nancy drew books becoming less thick  of softcover  with updated and a more chic nancy illustrated on the cover . i can  t remember if those stories were the same as the old hardcover ones  but i guess these books  being ghostwritten  have their fair share of updating itself for the times .  br    br   in this warner brothers release of nancy drew  the character no doubt gets its update to suit the times  but somehow the writers andrew fleming and tiffany paulsen maintained her   s  ish small town sensibilities  thereby retaining some charm and flavour that erm  folks like me  would appreciate . her fashion sense  her prim and properness  even some quirky little behaviour traits that makes her  well  nancy drew .  br    br   her family background remains more or less the same  living with her single parent father carson drew  tate donovan   who is moving his daughter and himself to the big city for a better job opportunity  and to wean his daughter off sleuthing in the town of river heights . mom is but a distant memory  and the housemaid makes a cameo . but what made nancy drew work  is the casting of emma roberts in the lead role . niece of her famous aunt julia  she too possess that sprightly demeanour  that unmistakable red hair and that megawatt smile . her nancy drew  while in the beginning does seem to rub you the wrong way  actually will grow on you . and in almost what i thought could be a discarded scene from pretty woman  it had the characters walk into a classy shop with almost opposite reactions .  br    br   while dad carson drew tries hard to bring nancy out of her sleuthing environment and to assimilate into normal teenage life  trust nancy to find themselves living in a house whose owner  a hollywood type has been  was found murdered under suspicious circumstances . mystery solving is her comfort food when she finds herself an outcast of the local fraternity  and not before long we  re whisked off along with her on her big screen adventure .  br    br   there  s nothing too black dahlia about the crime and mystery  and instead it  s a pretty straightforward piece for nancy to solve  in between befriending corky  josh flitter  a chubby friend from school  and pacifying jealous boyfriend ned  max thieriot   while hiding the truth of her extra curriculum activities from her dad . the story  s laced with cheesy fun and an oldie sentimentality which charms  and together  it becomes somewhat scooby  doo like . with minimal violence and no big bag gunfights or explosions  this is seriously a genre which is labelled clearly with  chick flick  alert .  br    br   i guess the movie will generate a new generation of fans  rekindle the memories of old ones  and probably  just probably  might spark a new fashion trend of sporting penny loafers .  
possible spoilers ahead  br    br   gerald mohr  a busy b  movie actor during the forties and fifties  leads an expedition to mars . before we get to the red planet we  re entertained by romantic patter between mohr and scientist nora hayden resident doofus jack kruschen and the sight of les tremayne as another scientist sporting a billy  goat beard . the martian exteriors feature fake backdrops and tints ranging from red to pink  the  cinemagic  process touted in the ads . real cool monsters include a giant amoeba  a three  eyed insect creature  an oversized venus fly  trap  and the unforgettable rat  bat  spider . the whole bizarre adventure is recalled by survivor hayden under the influence of hypnotic drugs . the angry red planet reportedly has quite a cult following  and it probably picked up most of its adherents during the psychedelic sixties .  
i really liked this movie . . . it was cute . i enjoyed it  but if you didn  t  that is your fault . emma roberts played a good nancy drew  even though she isn  t quite like the books . the old fashion outfits are weird when you see them in modern times  but she looks good on them . to me  the rich girls didn  t have outfits that made them look rich . i mean  it looks like they got all the clothes  blindfolded  at a garage sale and just decided to put it on all together . all of the outfits were tacky  especially when they wore the penny loafers with their regular outfits . i do not want to make the movie look bad  because it definitely wasn  t  just go to the theater and watch it    you will enjoy it   
first off  i  d like to say that the user comments alone left me with tears in my eyes from laughing . one comment that bad sf movies become good comedies is right on the mark . mst     made it  s living off that .  br    br   if you look at the angry red planet as the fever dream of a   year old comic book reader from      you  ll have the handle on this sucker . all the elements are there the pseudoscience  occasionally logical  more often hilariously infantile . the adolescent boy attitude toward sex  with the  gigolo  captain  good call on that one  guys   making eyes at the buxom  scientist  with hair so red it  s a wonder it doesn  t set off the fire alarms . the ridiculous conception of mars as a planet so alien that everything glows red  yet one alien monster has a mouse face  and the blob alien has an eye that rotates like a kid  s toy . the comic relief  an overweight astronaut    who sounds like he never finished the  th grade in brooklyn and has a psychotic fixation on his ray gun . and of course  the mere fact that alien  dangerously evil . if these people had met e . t .  they would have roasted him in two seconds flat   ow  indeed   br    br   don  t get me wrong . i rated this movie low . still  it  s never boring  except when the scientist tries to explain everything  only to make it all sound more and more ridiculous   and you have to admit  in your little kid core  it makes you jump a few times .  br    br   okay  then don  t admit it . i guess you were never   .  
i think part of the reason this movie was made . . . and is aimed at us gamers who actually play all the nancy drew pc games . there  s been a lot of movies lately based on video games  and i think this in one of them .  br    br   so this movie does not follow any book . but it does follow parts of the games . i buy and play every nancy drew games as soon as it comes out . and the games are from herinteractive and are for  girls who aren  t afraid of a mouse   and some of these games actually won parents  choice gold awards . they are not only fun but you can actually learn a thing or two while playing .  br    br   i took two of my step children with me to go see it and they loved it  the   yr . old had started playing her first nancy drew game a day before i took her to see the movie  and she was having so much fun playing the game i thought she would enjoy the movie as well . and i was right . . . she not only loved this movie but couldn  t wait to get home to finish her first game and start another one .  br    br   my other step daughter is only  and she also loved the movie but she is still a little to young too play the games yet  but she enjoys watching her sister play at times just to see what  s going on .  br    br   the games are based for children   yrs and older . all the games usually get pretty descent reviews and are classified as adventure games . for more information on the games just check out herinterative nancy drew games . so personally i thought the movie was pretty good and i will buy it when it comes out on dvd .  
the film begins with people on earth discovering that their rocket to mars had not been lost but was just drifting out in space near out planet . when it  s retrieved  one of the crew members is ill  one is alive and the other two are missing . what happened to them is told through a flashback by the surviving member .  br    br   while on mars  the crew was apparently attacked by a whole host of very silly bug  eyed monsters . oddly  while the sets were pretty good  the monsters were among the silliest i have seen on film . plus  in an odd attempt at realism  the production used a process called  cinemagic  . unfortunately  this wonderful innovation just made the film look pretty cheap when they were on the surface of mars and the intensity of the redness practically made my eyes bleed   it was that bad   despite all the cheese  the film did have a somewhat interesting plot as well as a good message about space travel . for lovers of the genre  it  s well worth seeing . for others  you may just find the whole thing rather silly   see for yourself and decide .  br    br   while by today  s standards this isn  t an especially good sci  fi film  compared with the films being made at the time  it stacks up pretty well .  br    br   ps   when you watch the film  pay careful attention to dr . tremayne . he looks like the spitting image of dr . quest from the  jonny quest  cartoon  plus  he sounds and acts a lot like him  too .  
i have to say that this was not very exciting but talk about fashion and weird ways to solve a mystery . a little too simple  nancy drew  emma roberts  uses imdb . . . that  s fantastic  i really liked about that part of the movie . . .  br    br   corky  josh flitter  is however extremely hilarious . . . and ned nickerson  max thieriot  seemed really hopeless . . . he should have been more angry with her for how she has treated him . . .  br    br   alright  this movie is tour and fashion in disguise . anyhow  i recommend this movie  just for summer fun . encore nancy  just for fun . more teen spy movies by emma roberts . . spymate . . . remember  she  s becoming good at this tricky detective work .  
it  s telling that as of the entry of this comment  no females have submitted a vote of any kind for this movie . not surprisingly  cheesy science fiction doesn  t appeal to them quite as much . . . if you like a good  b  movie  and especially if you like to satirize them as you watch  you will like this . if you don  t have fun watching bad movies  this one  s not for you .  
i had heard this movie was good from a lot of my friends that saw it  and they all said it was amazing  so i had very high expectations  and nancy drew exceeded those high expectations  it had funny parts  it kept me entertained with the action and all the dudes trying to kill her  and emma roberts was amazing as nancy drew . the rest of the cast was very good  also . i would definitely recommend this movie    br    br   nancy  i wonder why those guys were trying to kill us    corky  yeah  i was wondering that too . actually  it  s kinda creeping me out    br    br   nancy  i hate when people try to kill me . it  s so rude    br    br   nancy drew  
this sci  fi adventure is not the best and by no means the worst . i agree with the statement that bad sci  fi is comical . bizarre pink tinting and unusual special effects make this a favorite for the late  late  late show viewers . space explorers on the planet mars fight off strange giant amoeba  like monsters and other strange creatures . pretty cool .  br    br   the cast includes les tremayne  naura hayden  gerald mohr and jack kruschen . get comfy and enjoy . don  t feel bad if you nod off for a moment . i agree with adding this to the list of cult classics to not miss .  
this was a great movie  even though there was only about   people including myself there it was great  my friend and i laughed a lot . my mom even enjoyed it . there was two middle aged women there and a mid   year old there and they seemed to enjoy it . i love the part where corky and ned are like both liking nancy and stuff its cute lol . and when she gets her roadster and ned is there . yeah this was a great movie even thought people underestimated it lol . go see it i bet you  ll enjoy it   i really enjoyed it and so did my friend .  br    br   people were so tough on this movie and they hadn  t even seen it . i bet next time they will give the movie and actresses a chance . they all did a great job in my opinion . but if you have young kids its still appropriate . i will probably take my  year old niece to watch it too .  
a spaceship returns from mars about a couple of months earlier  a   person expedition had been sent to the red planet . most of the picture is a flashback to what transpired over there . the picture is saddled by inane  melodramatic dialog  typical of many sci  fi efforts of the fifties  sixties . note  for example  how the ship  s commander  mohr  tells another crew member to  stay there  for no reason as if moving to another spot inside the ship will cause a problem . later  the commander orders two of the crew to remain in the ship while he and another go outside . the two he ordered to stay say  no way  and follow out i didn  t have high hopes for the expedition  s success by this point . there  s much talk of  ears twitching  and hugging a freeze  ray gun named  cleo   short for cleopatra  of course  . it would at least be pretty funny  unintentionally  if the story didn  t drag .  br    br   there  s a very slow pace to the whole thing the astronauts spend as much time looking out the ship  s window portals  which change color from red to blue   commenting on what they see  as they do outside actually exploring . the martian landscape  advertised as filmed in  cinemagic   usually resembles animation cut  outs  or drawings  shot through an orange  red filter to give the illusion of interacting with the actors  who do take on an odd surrealistic appearance due to the process . but i don  t think it fools anyone over   years old . the one clever mention i did notice was that the memories of the surviving astronaut would be tinged with unreality  so that would explain the unreal nature of the martian vista . oh  okay . . .  br    br   i was amused by some of the astronauts  actions as they begin to explore right off the bat  they test their freeze gun on a plant  killing it  just for the hell of it . then the female member hacks with a machete at what she thinks is a tree but turns out to be the leg of the spider  rat monster . nice going  lady . look up next time . no wonder the  intelligence  on mars gets upset and doesn  t mind that one of the lower lifeforms  a giant amoeba  attacks the explorers . the acting isn  t too impressive . mohr especially  had a very annoying technique  saying a line and then abruptly erupting into a huge grin which always creeped me out  reminded me of it  the terror from beyond space . the ending is fairly anti  climactic don  t expect any huge revelations beyond the  no more expeditions  with freeze guns named cleo .  
let  s face it nancy drew was never great literature . it is in the same category as babysitter club  magic tree house  goosebumps  abc mysteries . in fact  it was one of the original formula stories . nancy is perfect  pretty  thoughtful   nice   has no internal conflicts ever  and never changes . ned is pretty much the same . the movie was true to that style and i have to say  i liked it . it will never be a great movie  but it had a that same nostalgic flavor that the books held . it had just the right amount of suspense for my children   and   .  there was almost no offensive language . i liked the push for more conservative dress .  br    br   corky was a bit of an annoyance . he was a little out of place on a high school campus . i never quite got why he was there in the first place .  
this dvd appears to be targetted at someone who will just put it on and play it in an endless loop in the background . it  s organized as a series of music videos of the grand canyon set to various pieces of tangerine dream music .  br    br   unfortunately  the td music is dull  and the transfer to dvd looks rather blurry and dim . too expensive a dvd for what it is .  
the kids i took to this movie loved it  four children  ages  to   years they would have given it   stars  . emma roberts was adorable in the title role .  expect to see more of this next  generation roberts in the future .  after being over exposed to the likes of britney spears  lindsay lohan  and paris hilton  it was refreshing to see a girl who didn  t look like she worked the streets . also enjoyed seeing a supporting cast that included tate donovan  rachel leigh cook  barry bostwick  and monica parker  with a cameo by bruce willis  . final takeaway cute film .  br    br    note i did not read the book series  so my comments are based on the merits of the film alone .   
first be warned that i saw this movie on tv and with dubbed english  which may have entirely spoiled the atmosphere . however  i  ll rate what i saw and hope that will steer people away from that version . i found this movie excruciatingly dull . all the movie  s atmosphere is lost with dubbing leaving the slow frustration of a stalker movie . i  m sorry  but the worst movie sin in my book is to be slow except when the movie about philosophy . i didn  t see any deep philosophical meaning in this movie . maybe i missed something  but i have to tell it like i see it . i rated it a    . what can i say  u . s . oriented tastes  maybe .  
i really enjoyed this movie . it succeeded in doing something that few movies do now it provided family values while entertaining me . nancy drew is a heroine for all generations and a role model for young girls to look up to . the little girls i was with throughly enjoyed the movie and kept talking about nancy as we walked out of the theater . the movie has relatively few problems for families and i don  t think parents will get bored sitting in the theater . no  it won  t win an oscar and it did not showcase magnificent special effects or even provide a horribly spooky mystery  but it entertained me and it stood true to the the spirit of the books . i would definitely recommend this movie to anybody with a young girl  she will love it   or any fan of the books . you will not be disappointed .  
reading my review of the house that screamed  many may assume that i  m some   year old who thinks scream is considered  classic  horror . this is not the case  as i  m   years old and have been watching horror films for most of my life . but admittedly  i  m a child of the    s that grew up on slasher  zombie  ghost  cannibal  etc . . . types of horror films  so i do typically prefer horror films that are more graphic and faster  paced . just like someone who can appreciate different music  painting  or in this case  film  but not necessarily like them  i can appreciate why some people may enjoy this sort of film . . . i just don  t . . .  br    br   the house that screamed is an exceedingly dull and tedious film about a school for wayward girls . the heavy  handed mistress of the school rules with an iron hand  or whip in some cases . . .  to keep the girls in line . she has a young son who creeps around and peeps on the girls while they shower  in their nightgowns no less      . . .   and meanwhile  girls are disappearing from the school as they are the victim of a murderer who  s lurking about the campus . . .  br    br   i can see why the house that screamed is often compared to suspiria  which is a masterpiece of a film in my opinion . . .   in terms of the atmosphere of the school itself and the interaction between the girls and their guardians  but this film is so dull and uneventful that i could barely stay awake . i  m all for  tension  and  suspense  in horror films  but this film held neither for me . luckily  i wasn  t expecting a whole lot going into this one  so i can  t say i was really disappointed  the house that screamed just reinforced the fact that i personally don  t typically enjoy most horror films much older than from the    s . this isn  t a hard and fast rule  but those that i have enjoyed definitely seem to be more of the exception . probably a  must  see  for horror fans who enjoy more understated and suggestive horror films  but as i don  t really know too many fans of that sort of material  i can  t really recommend this one . . .      
if my expectations weren  t exceeded  they were certainly met .  nancy drew  works both as a mystery and a comedy . it pays homage to the books it was based on and spoofs them at the same time . the movie starts with a close  up on a book shelf and an animated credit sequence resembling illustrations from the books . it then begins lampooning the books immediately . writer  director andrew fleming seems to realize the idea of a teenage girl regularly breaking up crime rings in a small town is ridiculous  so he doesn  t treat the idea religiously . he pokes fun at nancy drew  s ability to do anything  such as ace every class in school  know which baked treat is perfect for converting any enemy to her side  make a bird house with twelve flying buttresses  and even perform an emergency tracheotomy at a party . nancy  d always be in perfect style  if she were living in the wholesome      s instead of present day l . a . and she carries around a  sleuth kit  complete with fingerprinting dust  flashlight  compass  and magnifying glass . preposterous  of course  but i seem to remember the hardy boys  access at any given moment to csi equipment being a little too convenient as well . and if the perky pipsqueak private eye is a little younger than her literary counterpart  it  s just more comedic exaggeration on the movie  s part .  br    br   the mystery of the movie is handled more seriously . nancy and her lawyer father move from their small town to los angeles  where nancy digs into a cold case involving the murder of a hollywood movie star who lived in her new house decades ago . nancy searches for clues in some pretty practical ways  such as surfing websites like google and this one and watching old videotapes of the victim  s movies . when she does something more out of the ordinary  you have to admire the girl  s resourcefulness . emma roberts  an undeniably cute kid  plays the pint  sized amateur sleuth beautifully . she makes the too  perfect girl completely lovable  if not completely realistic . tate donovan is also great as the too  perfect girl  s father  carson drew . he  s an ideal father figure without being unrealistically perfect  and he shows reasonable concern for his daughter as she gets into danger . less likable is max thierot  s take on ned nickerson  nancy  s boyfriend . i much preferred george o  hanlon jr .  s portrayal in the      s tv series starring pamela sue martin as nancy drew  in which ned was a gawky  awkward kid with a little crush on nancy . the character of corky  josh flitty   a twelve  year old with a crush on nancy  is much less annoying than max thierot  s ned . amy bruckner and kay panabaker seem appropriately cast as nancy  s gal pals bess and george  but they only make brief cameos at the beginning of the film .  br    br   speaking of cameos  chris kattan  snl   eddie jemison   ocean  s      and bruce willis all make surprise guest appearances  which just proves you never can guess which movie bruce willis will pop up in next .  br    br   the movie does fail to live up to some potential . it  s mentioned early on that the drews  new house is heavily booby  trapped  but nancy and her father are done with tripping over booby traps a few minutes after that . also  nancy describes the cold case she  s about to investigate as a murder taking place at an extravagant party  which should yield plenty of potential murderers  but she only encounter a handful of suspects . and while there  s some moments of real suspense during nancy  s adventures  the solution to the case comes out of nowhere  and in the end all possible plot threads are tied up too conveniently and who  cares  who  done  it . ralph sall  s score adds to the movie  s suspense  but the contemporary teenybopper songs woven into the soundtrack are lame . still  i really enjoyed this film  and while the movie is aimed primarily at tween girls  people of any age and gender can enjoy it .  
if this could be rated a   it would be . from the atrocious wooden acting to the dull  plodding pace  the puerile exploitation angle and the sophomoric pseudolesbian titillation added purely for the sake of the sad viewers  this is a disaster of a film .  br    br   the plot is predictable  as from the beginning one is absolutely certain of what will happen to all of the characters and how the plot will commence . from a boring  unexceptional beginning to a pathetic and bleak ending  every single presence in this film is wasted  and every meagre scrap of talent dug up for this turkey is squandered .  br    br   if you want to watch something as relentlessly bleak with plenty of the same childish titillation  watch one of the ilsa films . at least they  re unapologetic and up  front about what they  re trying to do . how something this horrendously bad ever managed to be rated above a  is a miracle of how people with no taste or discerning standards can sometimes come together for the most dubious of purposes .  br    br   it  s not scary  it  s not interesting  and above all it  s not arousing in any sense of the word . it is  in my opinion  a crime it is a crime that such a horribly offensive and incompetent piece of trash was ever conceived of and given the resources to come into existence  and even more a tragedy that it is still defended by some woefully misguided viewers .  br    br   not even elvira  s cheerful personality and joking ways could soften the blow that this horrifying travesty of film is . avoid it at all costs .  
  la maman et la putain  is the beautifulest film of all time . and what  s most moving about it may be the relation between reality and art the movie deals with  which is directly inspired by proust  s  a la recherche du temps perdu  .  br    br   indeed   la maman et la putain  and  in search of lost time  apparently tell the same story  the one of the failure of love  which repeats itself endlessly . the first woman  s name is always gilberte  and the second woman appears like a twisted and deformed double of gilberte  veronika is like a  whore gilberte   beautiful like the night  whereas gilberte was pure  and  beautiful like the day  . after the failure of the first love  a second love begins  but this one is like already doomed by the first one . veronika takes the place of gilberte  in alexandre  s life and in the movie . she progressively eclipses her  first by time to time  gilberte  s still coming when alexandre waits for veronika  then totally . that shows it  s the same sad story repeating itself  the same  unfaithful woman   like alexandre says  who appears endlessly  and unfaithful is for proust the higher point in love  which makes it exist  but which also underlines its illusions .  br    br   art is what causes the passage between what  s outside  the illusion of love  to what  s inside  which is the truth  and is a learning of this truth . for instance  when veronika notices the strange way alexandre makes is bed  he answers that he saw it in a movie  and then  that a movie   it  s made for that  to learn how to live  how to make a bed  . alexander wants to live like he was in a film  he wants his life to be art .  br    br   this conception of art comes from proust  with whom eustache shares the same rejection of  political art  and realism in art .  la maman et la putain  fights against a conception of art  principaly political   see for example the ironical review of a political movie by alexandre . like proust says   art doesn  t care for all this proclamations  and only exists in silence .  first of all  art is introspection . and that also why realism or naturalism is rejected  art needs to transform reality to exist . proust writes   i discover the illusion of realism  which is a lie  . that  s why  la maman et la putain  doesn  t hide its artificiality  underlines by the way the actors  say  their text   the more you seem artificial  the higher you go   said eustache .  br    br   eustache and proust both share this idea that the artist is a  translater  of a inner truth . but  alexandre failed where eustache succeed .  la maman et la putain  tells us the failure of a character to be what he truly is . you can sens the tragedy arise when you go further in the movie  which becomes saddest . you can see it in the face of alexandre  who looks more and more like a living  dead . you can see it by the fact that the scenes become longer  and that after a while  nothing happens outside . at the end of the movie  when you see alexandre writing  and veronika asking if he  s writing his life  you can guess that he  s not  that even literature failed . the end of the movie shows the symbolic death of alexander  who is smashes by the heaviness of reality . and in this tiny nurse  s room  alexandre looks more like albertine than marcel .  br    br   to explain this failure  we can say that alexandre is a balzac  s reader . in  forme et signification   jean rousset explains that  in proust  s  the readers of balzac  who are swann and charlus  are unable of any artistic creation  because they  re stuck in reality  which they mistake with art . they see reality in art and  are not aware of the transformations that necessarily exist between the life of an artist and his work  between reality and art  . and that  s exactly alexandre . he claims for instance that he  loves a woman for parallel reasons  because she played in a bresson  s for example  . he  s like swann  who falls in love with odette because she looks like a botticelli  s woman .  br    br    life is perhaps not my vocation  . this thought is indeed by eustache  who committed suicide  even if it  s said by alexandre . nevertheless  there is a difference between alexandre and eustache  if eustache is absolutely alexandre  alexandre is like a double without art  a horrible vision of the artist  which crystallizes his fears .  br    br   by fallowing veronika at the end of the movie  alexandre is condemned to illusions . it  s death that remind me the last frames of the movie  in the face of jean  pierre laud as well as in the endless pucking of veronika . or maybe it is already hell that describes the end  like in sarte  s  huit  clot   and absolutely not like in the final liberation of  le temps retrouv  . if eustache had read proust  alexandre could never have finish the book  always perturbed by life and veronika when he tries to read it at his apartment or in the cafs .  la maman et la putain  is like a inverse double of  in search of lost times   which tells how alexander doesn  t become an artist  whereas  a la recherche du temps perdu  tells how marcel becomes a writer  genette  .  br    br   if  like baudelaire says  an artiste tells  reality at the light of his dream   it is his nightmare that eustache tells us in  la maman et la putain  .  
if i could give this film a real rating  it would likely be in the minus numbers . while i respect the fact that somebody has to keep making these terrible  horror  films  seriously  people  buying a ticket for this film is a waste of money you could be spending on something far more worth your time .  br    br   despite it being a horror film  there is nothing scary about it  unless the idea of seeing how many horror clich  s you can fit in one movie scares you . if the rating had been higher  it probably would have made for a better film in the long run .  br    br   whoever made this version of  prom night   you screwed up . the actors could probably have done a decent job if it weren  t for the questionable scripting . this was a terrible waste of a cinema trip . i  d sooner go and see  one missed call  again  at least that had some plot .  
to be honest  i had to go see this movie backwards  didn  t expect that much  but hey  i was not deceived  i had a good time .  br    br   i would say this movie is way a fresh breeze  despite some facts that they tried to modernize nancy drew  but this made me remember these youth movies of the      s from europe and quebec  where they manage to have children getting interacting with adults . in this case  a   year  old teenager tries to do justice by trying to solve a mystery concerning the death of an actress who died   years ago . anyway  as her dad had business in hollywood  why not rent a home with a mystery behind doors  well  at least emma roberts does a great job here . kinda like the chubby kid  who at first is naively brought to support his sister  s pranks to nancy  but at the end  found nancy quite cool enough to stick with her  even with her matters . . .  br    br   rest of the supporting cast is great  and was happy to see rachael leigh cook in a different role this time a single mother  she did it in family rescue  but this time  she plays a mature woman . . .  anyway  don  t dump this  it is fun   
i can  t believe that so many are comparing this movie to argento  s . his work is far more imaginative and vicious   and a lot more fun .  br    br   the director simply lacks the ability to build real tension . the murder scenes   and let  s face it  that  s what this genre is all about   aren  t interesting . it was not hard to guess who the murderer was  and i really didn  t care when it was revealed . the cinematography isn  t memorable  and the much  praised   th century gothic atmosphere just didn  t draw me in . several of the actors are quite good  especially the headmistress and the sadistic girl who lords it over the younger students   but they  re given very little to do .  br    br   yes  there are undertones of incest  sadomasochism  and lesbianism  but amazingly  they add very little spice or suspense .  br    br   if you  re looking for a good horror movie  look elsewhere .  
as a grownup in my mid    s  i am not even close to any of  nancy drew   s key demographics  but i was pleasantly surprised by the film this afternoon so  i could tell  were the pair of sixtyish silver  haired ladies down the row from me . the older man who left the theater just ahead of me specifically praised the film to the    ish female usher  who said she  d seen the film the previous evening and quite liked it  .  br    br   more to the point  however in the row just ahead of me  there were nine   count them  nine   ten  year  old girls lined up next to each other  passing popcorn and hot dogs and candy back and forth and giggling through the previews .  br    br   once the film began  they promptly settled down to watch . . . .  br    br   . . . . and didn  t so much as peep till the closing credits began to roll .  br    br   this is not a perfect film it doesn  t quite pay off its high school subplots  it  s not quite confident enough of its own tone  and its thugs are just a hair too far over toward critically inept at times . but the adaptation of the source material is essentially respectful  the plot hangs together fairly well  and it treads deftly between the sins of excessive cheesiness and excessive modernization . last but not least  emma roberts carries the movie with startling grace   josh flitter  s superb timing notwithstanding  this is roberts  movie  and she pulls it off beautifully . her nancy drew is very much the direct ancestor of kristen bell  s veronica mars  and the film is also a lineal descendant of jodie foster  s early and underrated  candleshoe  .  br    br   in today  s marketplace  it  s a rarity a family movie that respects its viewers  intelligence . as such  it won  t be to everyone  s taste   but for what it is  it is the best movie of its kind in decades .  
   minutes in the beautiful christina galbo tries to escape the isolated boarding school she  s brought to at the beginning of the movie . is she running from some kind of fate too horrible to contemplate  a monster  black  gloved killer  or supernatural evil  no  she  s running from a bunch of bullies . for the other   minutes that follow  various figures walk around the school in the dark holding candelabras and looking alarmed or distraught  which doesn  t say much in itself perhaps because great movies have been made about just that but if you  re going to have characters walking around corridors and staircases you better be alain resnais or you better know how to light that staircase in bright apple reds and purples like mario bava . we know a killer stalks the perimeters of the school but his body count is pitiful and sparse and in the absence of the visceral horrors one expects to find in the giallo  we get no sense of sinister mysteries  unspeakable secrets festering behind a facade of order and piety and rightness which is the kind of movie la residencia wants to be but doesn  t quite know how to do it . we know something is off because girls are reported missing but we never get the foreboding mysterious atmosphere that says  something is seriously f  cking wrong here  man  . when serrador tries to comment on the sexual repression of the female students  he does so with quick  cutting hysterics and detail closeups of eyes and parted lips while high pitched  this  is  shocking  music blares in the background . none of the aetherial beauty and longing of picnic at hanging rock to be found here . it  s all a bit clumsy and aimless  with no real sense of urgency or direction . a number of people are presented as suspects but there  s little reason to care for the identity of a killer that goes unnoticed by the characters inside the movie . i like the first kill  the image of a knife hitting target superimposed over the anguished face of the victim as a lullaby chimes in the background  but the rest is too inconsequential for my taste . i have to say serrador did much better with the killing children and paranoia du soleil of who can kill a child   
although well past the target audience  i  ve always had a soft spot for ya fiction  so  i was naturally intrigued by the return of nancy drew to the screen .  br    br   this is not a bad film . the central mystery involving a long dead actress is presented in straightforward simplistic terms with dashes of jeopardy for the young sleuth . nancy and her friends never take the threats seriously  so young audience members will not be upset .  br    br   what i really appreciated from the story was the final results were rather serious and meaningful and nancy seemed to understand and grow from the experience .  br    br   emma roberts is great as nancy drew and hopefully we  ll see her again in another mystery .  
the person who wrote the glowing review of this misguided project must be related to the writer  director  star   or is  in fact  the same person as it defies rational thinking that this movie would be appealing to anyone not connected to a very tightly woven inner circle . how about this  you want to make a movie   tell a story entertain draw me in with vivid characters . sure  you can do it artfully without bowing to the commercial elements designed for mass appeal . however  do not address elements of artistic expression in a vacuum in which the audience is in a continual struggle to grasp at skimpy narrative threads . if i  m to be moved by a dreamy psychological thread then make the concrete fabric easier to buy .  
i read all of nancy drew as a preteen and collect the books as a grown  up . i loved the effect used at the end  and a little bit at the beginning  of the movie where line drawings in the style of the books morphed into scenes from the movie . it was a neat way of pointing out connections between situations in the movie and the books . for example  the scenes with the oriental antiques dealer were very reminiscent of many scenarios i remember from the books . i thought ned was perfectly cast  and emma roberts was a wonderful   st century interpretation of nancy drew .  just like the picture of betty crocker  she keeps up with the times    
the      s begun to have day time talk shows sprout up left and right . every network had one  and they all lacked one thing originality . ricky lake was just another show to entertain the obese trailer park mother with a marlboro cigarette hanging out of her mouth while breast feeding one of her dozens of toothless  illiterate children . the english language and other cornerstones of mankind where ruined by this shows existence . titltes ranging from girl you a pigeon head and so on . how could anyone want to watch this pure and utter garbage  has our society really became nothing more than a bunch of hill billy  s and dead beat fathers  the people who appear on this show were trash . the people who watched this show were trash . anyone that wishes to see this show re aired or put onto dvd is trash . people wonder why americans are becoming huge piles of lard and too fat to even get jobs  its having shows like this tell them its ok to be    lbs overweight  and have   year old girls act like prostitutes . having such trash on tv has ruined morals .  
i really liked this movie  even though it wasn  t anything like any of the books it still the that classic nancy drew style . i had been seeing a lot of advertisements for this movie and since i was really into the nancy drew books i had really high expectations for this movie and they most definitely met those expectations . pretty much all of the characters were exactly how i pictured them from reading the books . i am really happy that i saw this movie . all of the actors and actresses really acted like they acted like in the book series . ever since i saw this movie i have wanted to read every single nancy drew book there is out there . all of the actors and actresses really got into their characters and it definitely showed when the aired this movie on the big screen . it definitely seemed like all of the actors and actresses were really in the positions that the characters were in i most definitely give this movie a   out of   .  
i paid one dollar for this dvd and at first i was feeling ripped off  but then i started thinking about it and i should be grateful . i have found a holy grail  a real touchstone of bad cinema . if you think the opening dramatic shots of an empty stadium successfully fizzle with evel  s awkward camera address monologue  then wait until the opening credits roll on the chauffeur  s butt . the script seems to be pasted together from press clippings  and esl textbooks . but . . . . . i just can  t believe how bad george hamilton is . he seems to have absolutely no connection to anything he says  the only internal monologue i can detect is  gosh i bet they think i am cute . really cute   . this is an epiphany  i now know how bad it can get .  
i really enjoyed this movie . most of the reviews have been bad  but most critics think a movie should be like an idea drama . this movie has a little bit of drama  but the rest is just clean fun and very entertaining . forget about julia roberts being a pretty woman  emma roberts is a beautiful young lady and there is more to her than just that . emma was so much fun to watch in the role of nancy drew . it is good to see a new face . i believe she will go far .  br    br   nancy drew may not be based upon the books  but the story is still good . there is also a good blend of other character actors and supporting actors like pat carroll  barry bostwick  rachel leigh cook and chris kattan  not credited . i  m surprised disney did not release this movie . some people may not like this movie because it does not contain sex  violence  and cursing . this is a good family film which is rare in this day in time . so take your family  see this movie and judge for your self how good it is . i can  t wait for the sequel .  
practically the only other actor who would be less likely to play evel knieval than hamilton is anthony perkins  yet somehow hamilton manages to turn in a reasonably effective portrayal  and as producer of the film  he wasn  t likely to be fired or told he wasn  t right for the part   the early life of the daredevil motorcyclist is recounted here in multiple flashbacks . the film opens with a rather silly prologue with hamilton in his white  leather  star  spangled gear spouting the world according to knieval as if to say   don  t worry . this film is about my youth  but i  ll be back in my familiar costume by the end of the picture .  hamilton is preparing for a huge jump  yet is still licking his wounds from the previous one as devoted wife lyon both supports and derides him . he recalls various vignettes of his childhood and delinquent teenage years along with his early days as a stunt rider and blossoming celebrity . this flip  flop approach is pretty abrupt and sometimes disjointed  but it does prevent the movie from sticking to one of its inexpensive sets for too long a time or from getting into a rut with the fairly pedestrian characters . hamilton  usually a suave and debonair persona  does a very fine job of enacting the tiny details of his subject  s mannerisms and demeanor including his walk . his hair is a shade lighter and longer and he works hard to give the right inflections in his speaking .  he even pays minor tribute to knieval  s many injuries by appearing in a skimpy towel while his shoulders are covered in  scars  from the multitudinous accidents .  facially  he looks nothing like the real cyclist  but he does suggest him in his physical performance . lyon is excellent at playing the young girl he loves and then the more worldly wife  though her   pack a day voice does threaten to give her away at any given moment . she and hamilton strike up an easy chemistry which goes a long way in putting the film over . other nice supporting turns are given by freed as his jaded doctor  cameron as an early influence and taylor as a flea  bitten sideshow barker . the film was made on a low budget  but the story is a rather low rent one anyway  so that doesn  t affect it too badly . the makers wisely used actual butte  montana locations to give the film a proper small town ambiance . several of hamilton  s antics are amusing  though the character is certainly reckless and inconsiderate of other people  s property  some of the real knieval  s completed and failed stunts are included in some blurry footage  one of which features a mind  boggling  splatter  in which the man is rolled up and snapped around like a rag doll . hamilton  s then  wife  stewart  appears briefly as a nurse .  
i  m probably one of the biggest nancy drew fans out there . i  ve read every book three times over and i  ve played a lot of the nancy drew games . i loved this movie . it kept you entertained the whole time you watched it . i went with about   of my friends and everyone loved it . there were three woman sitting behind us who appeared to be in their late    s to early    s and i asked them how they liked it  they said they loved it  so you see it will be an entertainment to all ages . you just have to give it a chance . and it teaches a lesson too  just be yourself even if everyone around you is exactly alike . so overall  this move was great . i  m going to see it a second time now  so stop bashing it please . its a really good movie   
the old axiom that bored people are boring people is well demonstrated in  women in love .  the script  taken from d . h . lawrence  s novel  contains an endless flow of concepts that are  at best  sophomoric .  br    br   what a pity so much effort went into so vacuous an exercise what an empty array of characters given such attention . in spite of high production values  this film comes across as tedious as its personnel .  br    br   a revisit in     merely confirms a     impression of juvenille minds in adult bodies  dawdling nowhere  and fumbling every step of the way .  
i took my    year  old daughter to see nancy drew over the weekend and found myself thoroughly entertained . first off  it was clean  and i mean by my standards . the majority of kids  movies today are full of crude toilet humor and gross  out jokes to elicit cheap laughter from the pre  teen crowd . nancy drew is smarter than that  however  and the humor is subtle and clever .  br    br   the title role is played with a refreshing vivaciousness by emma roberts  who is perky and polite without ever becoming annoying . unlike the brady bunch movie  where the anachronistic characters are jeered and ridiculed  nancy  s style is treated with respect and dignity . it  s a great moment when the la  style  conscious  girls with their paris hilton streetwalker attire are dismissed by the boutique owner  while nancy  in her penny loafers and homemade butterick pattern dress  is embraced . this movie shuns the we  need  to  enlighten  this  wholesome  girl tack so many hollywood movies take . nancy remains true to herself and her values throughout .  br    br   the mystery is just tense enough at times to be engaging . there were several suspenseful moments where my daughter nervously grabbed my arm  but there were no gratuitous shock scenes . it  s all based on tension and mood and is a lot of fun . the supporting cast is good  particularly marshall bell as the creepy caretaker . there are some great cameos by eddie jemison  chris kattan and bruce willis and many moments that will make adults smile .  br    br   this film deserves better ratings than some have given it . not only was i glad not to be dragged to yet another computer animated film where talking animals burp and pass gas all over the place  but i was also very entertained . had i been there without a child  i still would  ve enjoyed the movie . this is one dvd that will have my daughter  s name on it under the christmas tree .  
well  you might not actually see any women in love in this movie  but you  ll certainly hear women talking about love  and men talking about love  and women talking about men  and men talking about women  and men talking about men  and everyone talking about death  and talking  and talking  until you yourself will want to scream and do something that requires no talking at all  like paint your bedroom or water your plants .  br    br   welcome to the world of d . h . lawrence  where psycho  babble reigns supreme  and where no one can get down to living a productive life because everyone is too busy talking about how unproductive their lives are . spending time with the characters in a d . h . lawrence novel is like being locked in a closet with a group of your most self  absorbed acquaintances who you would run away from if you met them at a party . when i read  women in love   i so desperately wanted to strangle every single character in it  but since i couldn  t  i was hoping they would at least strangle each other . alas  only one of them dies  not by strangulation  and i won  t spoil it for you by telling which one  in case you actually give a damn about this story or any of these people .  br    br   to give director ken russell his due  he makes this filmed version about as entertaining as it  s possible to make this essentially unfilmable novel . he throws out much of the psychological mumbo  jumbo that lawrence adored  and focuses instead on all of the naughty parts  so we get lots of histrionic lovemaking in beds and fields  two buck naked men wrestling by firelight  and one embarrassing scene featuring alan bates  yup  buck naked again  roaming around in a meadow making love to bushes and grass  i  m not kidding  . glenda jackson won an oscar for her performance as gudrun  the more dominant of the two sisters at the story  s focus  and she certainly tries her hardest to do something with this material anyone would deserve an oscar simply for having to bear russell  s decision to give her a scene where she has to dance wildly in front of a herd of mystified  looking cattle . oliver reed has one expression  an intense glower . the whole thing is over  written and over  directed  and it  s deliriously campy . indeed  this vies with  mommie dearest  as perhaps the most unintentionally hysterical movie i  ve ever seen .  br    br   grade d  
this is one great movie  i have played all the nancy drew games and have read the books  and i never expected the movie to be so exciting and funny  if you never heard of nancy drew  read the first book  secret of the old clock  so you can kinda  get used to nancy  then you can watch the movie  because in the movie  they don  t really introduce the characters  names fast .   my whole family enjoyed it and the plot was extremely interesting . this is an ultimate come  back from the previous nancy drew movies  which the nancy drew actor didn  t seem to match . this movie is much like alex rider stormbreaker . it  s so cool  nancy drew lovers  you must watch this   
if you  re watching this without an inkling of an idea what the story is about  then you  re in for quite the surprise . even then the synopsis has painted a picture of a rather sane storyline  but the actual film is anything but .  br    br   as the synopsis went  it tells of an obsessed mountain climber  which you  ll see as the prologue before the opening credits and text crawl  which tells you of the presence of chronopolis  an imaginary city that exists in dreamy manuscripts of the mind  note to self  this spells trouble with flashing lights   where its inhabitants are immortals yearning for a change in their omnipresence . they can see our world  and notice of all persons this mountain climber  and the synopsis explained that they decided to contact him through alchemy  creating an intelligent sphere to meet the man .  br    br   what that translated to  is a repetitive piece of animation that a  year old kid could produce . have shapes created  though credit goes to the stop motion style  and put it through a mind  numbing loop . and repeat until your eyes start to close  then move on to the next scene . if anything  the chonopolisians  if this term exists  really love their sticks and balls  constantly playing at conjuring up that magical sphere  and having a field day playing with it before releasing it to the  other  world . it gets no better as well  when the man interacts with the sphere in yet another hypnotically boring and sleep inducing sequence .  br    br   thank goodness of course that the run time is shorter than what  s advertised  which is   minutes  or less  against the   stated . while firmly dated  its dull colours  non  existent story  scratchy soundtrack and repetitive pictures will win over no fans . don  t waste time .  
taking old collection of stories poses a challenge for the production team  how can this classic character be brought up to date and make it interesting enough to capture a new audience while stirring memories from her former audience . in my opinion  their mission was accomplished . a must see for young children  pre  teens  teens  and their parents . ok there are a couple scary moments that are resolved in short order  but parents with young children should sit tight  the movie moves on to better things . i am going to go with those astute user reviewers who point out that emma roberts provides us with a positive role model for young women  not syrupy about it either . nancy balances her femininity with career minded sleuthing skills . a lot to like in here  laughs  doesn  t take itself too seriously  a real mystery to solve  one you can figure out yourself as an added bonus  and likable characters . nancy drew even makes a good date movie in my opinion .  
not that i want to be mean but this movie really surprised me a lot . during the whole film  i was like . . . erm . . . what is this movie all about  i don  t get the animations at all . probably this movie will only be suitable for those who belongs to the     s . during the film  there is a group of people walked out . after the movie  many people said   that  s it   frankly speaking  i cannot believe that this movie was awarded the best children film award . if you are thinking of watching this film  i strongly recommend you not to . you will regret it . i  m not joking . you will find that you are just wasting both your time and money of you go and watch it .  
in what could have been seen as a coup towards the sexual  revolution   purposefully i use quotations for that word   jean eustache wrote and directed the mother and the whore as a poetic  damning critique of those who can  t seem to get enough love . if there is a message to this film  and i  d hope that the message would come only after the fact of what else this ben  hur length feature has to offer  it  s that in order to love  honestly  there has to be some level of happiness  of real truth . is it possible to have two lovers  some can try  but what is the outcome if no one can really have what they really want  or feel they can even express to say what they want   br    br   what is the truth in the relationships that alexandre  jean  pierre leaud  has with the women around him  he  s a twenty  something pseudo  intellectual  not with any seeming job and he lives off of a woman  marie  bernadette lafont  slightly older than him and is usually  if not always  his lover  his last possible love  of  his  life left him  and then right away he picks up a woman he sees on the street  veronika  franoise lebrun   who perhaps reminds him of her . soon what unfolds is the most subtly torrid love triangle ever put on film  where the psychological strings are pulled with the cruelest words and the slightest of gestures . at first we think it might be all about what will happen to alexandre  but we  re mistaken . the women are so essential to this question of love and sex that they have to be around  talking on and on  for something to sink in .  br    br   we  re told that part of the sexual revolution  in theory if not entirely in practice  perhaps it was  i can  t say having not been alive in the period to see it first  hand   was that freedom led to a lack of inhibitions . but eustache  s point  if not entirely message  is that it  s practically impossible to have it both ways you can  t have people love you and expect to get the satisfaction of ultimate companionship that arrives with  fing   as the characters refer over and over again .  br    br   the mother and the whore  s strengths as far as having the theme is expressing this dread beneath the promiscuity  the lack of monogamy  while also stimulating the intellect in the talkiest talk you  ve ever seen in a movie . at the same time we see a character like alexandre  who probably loves to hear himself talk whether it  s about some movie he saw or something bad from his past  eustache makes it so that the film itself isn  t pretentious  though it could appear to be  but that it  s about pretentiousness  what lies beneath those who are covering up for their internal flaws  what they need to use when they  re ultimately alone in the morning .  br    br   if you thought films like before sunrise  sunset were talky relationship flicks  you haven  t met this . but as eustache revels in the dialogs these characters have  sometimes trivial  or  deep   or sexual  or frank  or occasionally extremely  or in a subdued manner  emotional  it  s never  ever uninteresting or boring . on the contrary  for those who can  t get enough of a good talky film  it  s exceptional . while his style doesn  t call out to the audaciousness that came with his forerunners in the nouvelle vague a dozen years beforehand  eustache  s new  wave touch is with the characters  and then reverberating on them .  br    br   this is realism with a spike of attitude  with things at time scathing and sarcastic  crude and without shame in expression . all three of the actors are so glued to their characters that we can  t ever perceive them as  faking  an emotion or going at all into melodrama . it  s almost too good in naturalistic  realism terms  but for eustache  s material there is no other way around it . luckily leaud delivers the crowning chip of his career of the period  and both ladies  particularly labrun as the  whore  veronika  a claim she staggeringly refutes in the film  s climax of sorts in one unbroken shot  . and  as another touch  every so often  the director will dip into a quiet moment of thought  of a character sitting by themselves  listening to a record  and in contemplation or quiet agony . this is probably the biggest influence on jim jarmusch  who dedicated his film broken flowers to eustache and has one scene in particular that is lifted completely  and lovingly  in approach from the late parisian .  br    br   sad to say  before i saw broken flowers  i never heard of eustache or this film  and procuring it has become quite a challenge  not available on us dvd  and on vhs so rare it took many months of tracking at various libraries  . not a minute of that time was wasted the mother and the whore is truly beautiful work  one of the best of french relationship dramas  maybe even just one of the most staggeringly lucid i  ve seen from the country in general . it  s complex  it  s sweet  it  s cold  it  s absorbing  and it  s very long  perhaps too long . it  s also satisfying on the kind of level that i  d compare to scenes from a marriage true revelations about the human condition continue to arise   years after each film  s release .  
  prom night  is a title  only remake of the     slasher flick that starred jamie lee curtis and leslie nielsen . this movie takes place in an oregon town  where donna  brittany snow  is about to go to her senior prom and let herself have some fun after going through some extremely traumatic events in the past few years . she and her friends arrive at the prom  which is taking place in a grand hotel  and try and enjoy what is supposed to be the most fun night of their lives . little does anyone know  a man from donna  s past  who has haunted her for years  is also at the prom . . . and is willing to kill anyone in way of his pursuit of her .  br    br   i  m a fan of the original  prom night   so i tried to maintain a little hope in this movie  but i have to admit i was quite disappointed .  prom night  suffers from the worst affliction a horror movie could have  and that is predictability . there are absolutely no surprises here  and i felt i had seen everything in this movie done dozens of times  often better  before . what does this equate to for the audience  boredom . unless of course you have never seen any horror movies  or are part of the pre  teen crowd  but the majority of the audience will most likely be able to guess nearly everything that is going to happen . the plot is simplistic  but the entire script is void of any type of surprise  twist  atmosphere  or anything  and this really  really hurts the movie because it never really gives the audience anything to sink their teeth into . it all just seemed very bland .  br    br   a lot of people seem to complain with the fact that this is a pg    slasher movie as well  and i understand what they are saying  but i don  t think it  s impossible to make a good slasher movie with minimal gore . take carpenter  s  halloween  for example  little to no on screen violence  but still an extremely frightening and effective movie . you don  t need gore to make a film scary  but even had  prom night  been gratuitously violent  which it is not  it is very tame   it still would have added little to the movie because there is not much in the script to build on to begin with . the tension and suspense here is mild at best  and i spent most of the movie predicting the outcome of situations  and was correct about    of the time . our characters aren  t well written enough either for the audience to make any connection to them  and their by  the  numbers demises are routine and careless .  br    br   i will point out a few things i did like about this movie  though  because it wasn  t completely useless  the cinematography is really nice  and everything was very well  filmed and fairly stylish . among the  jump  scares  that are for the most part very predictable   there were a few that were kind of clever . the sets for the movie are nice too and the hotel is a neat place for the plot to unfold  however predictable the unfolding may be . as for the acting  it  s mediocre at best . brittany snow plays the lead decently  but really the rest of the cast doesn  t show off much talent . johnathan schaech plays the villain  and is probably the most experienced performer here  but even he isn  t that impressive . however  i did like the character he played  which was a nice change from the typical  masked  stalker  type killer we see a lot . as far as the ending goes  the last fifteen minutes of the film had me bored to my wit  s end and it was very anti  climactic .  br    br   overall   prom night  was a disappointment . everything was very by  the  numbers  routine  and predictable  which is somewhat upsetting considering this had the potential to be a decent slasher movie . there were a few neat moments  but the movie lacked any suspense or atmosphere  and had little plot development  nor believable characters . i  d advise seasoned horror fans to save their money and wait till it  s out on video  or rent the original instead  because there are absolutely no surprises here . some may find a little entertainment in it  but it was far too predictable for my tastes . i expected better  and left the theater very disappointed .     .  
look  if i were interested in a nancy drew book  what i would do is pick up a book and read it . i  m not . ever since i can remember i read people trashing movies because it wasn  t like the book . i  m sorry  in the digital age we can no longer watch movies on flip books  however i  m sure you can still find a few short silent films in book form . when lord of the rings came out  people complained . when the third one won an oscar   the book was better .  when i watched to kill a mockingbird   the book was better .  now a bunch of people are upset  yet again  because nancy drew wasn  t like the book . i  m not saying nancy drew is going to win any oscars  if anything it  ll be one of those nickelodeon blimps or kids choice awards . i  m saying give film a break . it  s film  not paper . as a movie  i found nancy drew quite enjoyable  featuring cameos from bruce willis and adam goldberg  the hebrew hammer  and supporting roles featuring tate donovan  jimmy cooper on the o . c .  and rachel leigh cook  she  s all that  . this is the first time i  ve seen emma roberts in a movie and  frankly  i enjoy her work more than most of julia and of eric  s her character stays consistent throughout the film and reacts well with conflict . a lighthearted movie in the spirit of harriet the spy is nice now and again .  br    br   i give it ten stars because i thoroughly enjoyed the movie  would love to see it again  and will probably buy it upon dvd release .  
i almost made a fool of myself when i was going to start this review by saying  this movie reminded me of billy elliot  but then i looked up the resume of screenwriter lee hall only to find out that he was the guy who wrote billy elliot so it  s mr hall who  s making a fool of himself not me  br    br   am i being a bit cruel on him  no because lee has something most other aspiring screenwriters from britain don  t have  he has his foot in the door  he has previously written a successful british movie that won awards and made money at the box office and what does he do next  he gives the audience more of the same  br    br   young jimmy spud lives on some kitchen sink estate . he is bullied at school and no one loves him . the only thing keeping him going is that he has aspirations to be a ballet dancer . no actually he has aspirations to be an angel but considering his household he may as well be a ballet dancer . he has a macho waster of a father who thinks  ballet dancers are a bunch of poofs while his granddad says  ballet dancers are as tough as any man you could meet . i remember seeing the bolshoi ballet . . .  yup ballet is a main talking point on a run down british council estate those days  not . come to think of it neither is left wing politics which seems to be the sole preserve of middle class do gooders who live in nice big houses  so right away everything about this set up feels ridiculously false  br    br   another major criticism is that this is a film that has no clue who it  s trying to appeal to . i have often criticised channel  for broadcasting movies at totally inappropriate times  the land that time forgot at  am for example  but they showed this at  am and for once they  ve got it spot on . considering the story involves politics  ballet dancing  gawd i hate it  lung cancer and poverty there  s no way this can be deemed suitable for a family audience but since the main protagonist is an   year old child and features angels and ballet dancers  don  t blame me if i seem obsessed with the subject  there was no need to refer to them  there  s not much here for an intelligent adult audience either .  br    br   of course if lee hall had been told at the script development stage by the producers that he should write a story featuring a schoolboy and an angel and had flatly refused saying that he wanted to write about other themes and stories then i will apologise but throughout the movie you do get the feeling that once the film was completed it was going to be marketed to the exact same audience who enjoyed billy elliot  
i came to nancy drew expecting the worst . . . because of everyone else  s bad reviews . i thought even though i don  t read the books  that doesn  t look anything like the nancy drew i  ve heard of . but i was wrong . sure  it wasn  t a carbon copy of the books  but when you make a movie out of something  you have to modify it to become big  screen entertainment . the plot was enjoyable and thrilling with a lot of actual scares and i thought that emma roberts was really believable in her own way of portraying this classic character . there were several funny moments and on the contrary of many statements  at no point in this film does nancy come off as a ditz . she was intelligent  conservative  polite and genuine . one thing this movie also did well was balance the whole thing out with a mix of comedy  romance  suspense and heartfelt moments . i loved this movie . what a flick  what a flick  and if you are wise and decide to trust me and go see this  be prepared for some scary as heck moments because i was  like  freaking out  go see it or be a bum  bum and just let other people decide what you think of this movie for you . . . a mistake i almost made . i love it  i wanna own this movie  i love emma roberts now  too . she  s like a mini  bree van de kamp from dh . love it  love it .  
a study in bad . bad acting  bad music  bad screenplay  bad editing  bad direction and a bad idea . pieces of schlock don  t come any cheesier or unintentionally funnier than this . . . thing . by the end of the  movie   you are left wondering why did they bother in the first place . poor malcolm mcdowell  was he short of cash or something  still thinking of seeing this  spoilers ahoy if you haven  t died of laughter in the first thirty minutes  by the time you  ll see the cyborg  populated town named  cytown   you will . avoid this  my movie  loving friends . avoid .  
usually i don  t really like emma roberts so much  but after watching nancy drew it kind of changed my mind . the actors in the movies made the whole thing exciting and funny . most of the time when you watch a mystery movie you can solve it before the middle of the show  but in this movie it  s like you are actually there . the clues have to all fit together until you can finally understand the whole crime . i am still amazed how she found it out . the whole movie was really clever and the people who watched it with me loved the movie too . the clothes were my favorite part of the movie  it was so cute . i don  t think there will be another movie like this until the sequel comes out . i give it a nine because the popular girls didn  t really seem to have the part just right  but they still make me laugh . it was a really great movie and a great mystery . i definitely recommend watching it .  
cash  now played by khrystyne haje in for angelina jolie  has wandered to a post apocalypse wasteland  after her protector has died from old age  said protector was played by elias koteas  an actual decent actor  and now she finds that people wander through the rubble looking for cyborgs to trade for scrap metal and cash . she leads a group of burned out cyborgs  that includes william katt  evan lurie and a human scientist played by zach galligan  against bounty hunter richard lynch . malcolm mcdowell has two minutes of screen time as lynch  s employer . cyborg  does manage to be better than the other two entries but it still is a largely dull feature . the problem this time is that the ideas with potential are never used well  the action sequences are routine and the name cast such as mcdowell  katt and galligan are given little to do . haje is indeed a whiny heroine and lynch is too over the top  as usual  and the film lacks the inspiration or ambition to be as fun  bad as it  s hilarious predecessor .  the one with van damme  the second one is just dull .  also disappointing is the science fiction angle which almost aggressively resists any good idea it has . as an action flick this is routine and by the numbers b  movie stuff and it is competently made  that  s the only thing positive i can say about it .  br    br       out of    poor   
it  s a refreshing breath of air when a movie actually gives you a story line with a beginning  a middle  and a end  a nice  clever mystery  with an appealing heroine for all ages  who wins us over with her wit and charm . andrew fleming  s film is indeed a modern marvel  a comeback to the good old reliable storytelling that was the norm in hollywood . he puts away the over  reliance on special effects that now passes for entertainment and gives us a terrific film  with a very capable young actress  and a talented supporting cast .  br    br   the film is based on the old books  but it has been given updated enough to put in this century however  the props might be different  the heart still is a good mystery  and there is clever one here  one that ties the traditions of the old and the nuances of contemporary youth . emma roberts is an old fashioned girl  who believes in good behavior and respect for others details that are sorely missing from today  s films . she is still good enough to get boys  attentions but she also knows how present poise and self respect . she earns her medals by working hard and is not afraid to show a little guile when it is needed to achieve her goals .  br    br   while taking a vacation to california  our heroine is drawn into the mystery of a hollywood actress who was the victim of foul play suddenly she is  visited  by her ghost and this sets off a series of events that might solve the mystery or result in something dreadful for herself . what makes the movie quite entertaining is the little details  as she discovers that her customary world is nothing compared to the california scene  and this is well presented  without resorting to unnecessary vulgar language or anything graphic or overtly sexual . eventually  the director has enough control to make it all very palatable to all types of audiences  from the young ones to the adults in the audience . it is a movie that deserves to be seen  appreciated  and enjoyed  a film that is rare and delicate  and it  s not afraid to be classified as fun  five stars  
years after the fall of the last of the great corporations  the world has fallen into a new dark age where cyborgs are harvested for their parts . cash  a female cyborg  travels to a wasteland doctor to receive news that she is pregnant . on the run from recyclers  bounty hunters who hunt cyborgs   cash tries to find her way to cytown  the mythical refuge for cyborgs .  br    br    cyborg   the recycler  is the third   last so far  entry in the cyborg trilogy . the first film was originally planned to be a sequel to masters of the universe  but was quickly rewritten into a standard post  apocalyptic martial  arts fest that became something of a cult classic due to its cheesy action scenes . cyborg   glass shadow was a sequel that actually improved upon its predecessor but was not widely seen   was dismissed by those few who saw it as cheap fodder  .  br    br   this film  for one thing  tries to be a meld of the first two films  the first was a cheesy action film while the second was a smart cyberpunk story  but unfortunately falls short on both counts . the budget was obviously lower than cyborg   with the film being set in the desert wastelands  like so many post  apocalyptic action films of the   s were   shot around old industrial buildings to conserve costs .  br    br   the film  s story centres on a plot device  that of a pregnant cyborg  that is as interesting as it is absurd  this film is not the first to try that idea the anime ova series armitage iii uses it to a greater extent  . but the film falls into the same trap that so many low  budget sci  fi action films fall victim to  in the fact that the snags  synthetic organisms  featured are nothing more than androids . the visual effects amount to nothing more than prosthetic arms  makeup effects .  br    br   the acting is pretty standard for this kind of film  with the lead actress  khrystyne haje  being the single worst performer on display . instead of being joyed at the news she is pregnant  she acts all whiny  sullen . her co  stars are much better  malcolm mcdowell being the usual gangster type who enlivens the scenes he appears in  richard lynch has a lot of fun as the chief villain . of particular note is andrew byniarski  playing lynch  s right hand man  who would later appear in the texas chainsaw massacre remake  its prequel .  
ok heres what i say  br    br   the movie was excellent . i am a huge nancy fan and i have read all     original books and i went on to read more . i am now on   . beware of villains giving this movie a lower grade than it should have . all clues point to a wonderful movie  i loved the whole thing . so what nancy is in current time . she is still old fashioned like she is in the books  people who haven  t read more than  books are complaining about the view of nancy . i have read all of them and i think emma is perfect and that nancy was perfect . i found parts of the movie spooky . i loved the exciting car chases and get aways . i loved the clues . i solved the mystery myself  it was really wonderful . i suggest you go see it since people who have been complaining know nothing of a what a good movie is and b about nancy drew . go see it . it may not be oscar worthy but its really a good movie .  
i wouldn  t give this movie a rating  it  s not worthy . i watched it only because i  m a pfieffer fan . i love her and would watch anything she made . even in this dud  she didn  t disappoint . every scene with her in it  kept the viewer watching . . . waiting . . . for something to happen but nothing ever did . it had some good story lines but they ended abruptly as soon as it started . some of the other characters had potential but nothing became of it .  br    br   pfieffer was   when she made this film and at her most lovely . the wardrobe and set was surprisingly good .  br    br   i can watch mostly anything and rarely come across a movie i can  t find something to like about it  but this was a dud . i don  t understand .  br    br   the worst thing about it all  it had a big cliff hanger at the end . it had an ending scene that woke you up and say wow  this film is finally going some place  then the credits roll . good grief .  br    br   i agree with the review that said .   would have bought  cans of cat food and watching my cat eat would have been more exciting . well said . actually  that comment was more entertaining than the film because it sums it up so well . i too wasted .   cents on this dud . dud . dud .  
i have read over    of the nancy drew books  and if you are not bright enough to catch on yet  nancy drew the movie was of a younger nancy drew  not the    year  old that doesn  t go to school that all of the books are about . this was when she was sixteen . so naturally  she would of not as been as smart as the one in the book considering she is only in the   th grade . other than that  i thought the movie was very cute . it was clean and appropriate for everyone . it was funny at times . i thought emma roberts did a great job . she was articulate  in character  and cute . i liked the awkwardness that nancy and ned had around each other because they obviously were not old enough to be in a serious relationship like they have in the books . it was a cute  pg movie that i throughly enjoyed because i  unlike most people my age  enjoy movies without sex  drugs  or profanity .  
so the other night i decided to watch tales from the hollywood hills natica jackson . or power  passion  murder as it is called in holland . when i bought the film i noticed that michelle pfeiffer was starring in it and i thought that had to say something about the quality . unfortunately  it didn  t .  br    br     the plot of the film is really confusing . there are two story lines running simultaneously during the film . only they have nothing in common . throughout the entire movie i was waiting for the moment these two story lines would come together so the plot would be clear to me . but it still hasn  t .  br    br     the title of the film says the film will be about natica jackson . well it is  sometimes . like said the film covers two different stories and the part about natica jackson is the shortest . so another title for this movie would not be a wrong choice .  br    br   to conclude my story  i really recommend that you leave this movie where it belongs  on the shelf in the store on a place nobody can see it . by doing this you won  t waste   minutes of your life  as i did .  
i really enjoyed this movie . i am a single dad with a   year old daughter who is smart  athletic and talented . i wish my girl applied herself so well to solving crimes and helping others  so for me  perhaps this is pg level fantasyland . i read many nancy drew books in my teen years  long  long ago . sure this character was ably played by emma roberts but did not resemble the nancy drew i recall from the books . that is due to script  not the acting .  br    br   emma is an adorable teen  playing a self  confident  industrious and proud character with good manners and good taste . she is not caught up in the trendy competitiveness around her . there are some weaknesses in the plot  aside from not resembling the nancy drew of the books  and trying to figure out what decade we  re in .  like  what is that car  anyway    br    br   i read the imdb overview before seeing the film  as i was researching rachael leigh cook from other movies . this is not one of her best roles  but i will continue looking for more of her films . rachael was too old to play this lead  but does a fine job as the grown  up orphan central to the mystery .  br    br   i am very disappointed in other reviews written here . some expect perfect connection with the books  some expect more credible situations or adult action film . i got what i expected  good entertainment well targeted to young teen girls  and their fathers who want good kids with high standards of conduct and achievement . this is a teen pg movie  not james bond  which would you want for a role model for your teenaged daughter   
i bought this on dvd for my brother who is a big michelle pfeiffer fan . i decided to watch it myself earlier this week .  br    br   it is a reasonably entertaining piece containing two completely separate story lines . the section with michelle pfeiffer was by far the more interesting of the two . she plays a rising hollywood actress who has had many short unfulfilling relationships . she literally bumps into brian kerwin  a regular married guy with kids  after driving her car into the back of his . after being initially hostile to one another he offers to drive her home as she no longer feels comfortable to drive . romance develops eventually leading to tragedy when his wife finds out . what happens at the end i was not prepared for but the slow pacing and routine tv direction takes any drama out of the plot .  br    br   the other section involves an old studio boss played by darren mcgavin . this section actually has the better cast with kenneth mcmillan  lois chiles  steven bauer  stella stevens . they all want something from the studio boss but in the end when he is asked to resign  they all realize their careers will now be going nowhere .  br    br   it passes the time but is not all that interesting and i am glad this was not bought for me . i am not a michelle pffeifer fan but she was admittedly the only actor worth watching in this film and even in     she was a decent actress . overall though unless you are a fan of hers avoid this as it is very routine .  
i  m a   year  old college professor . i went with my wife and   year old daughter . we all enjoyed the movie . the film is original  witty  fast  paced and totally charming . the plot was easy enough for a   year old to follow  but twisty enough to keep an adult interested . i thought emma roberts did a superb job and the rest of the cast was just fine . my only criticism is that the los angeles sets were not as interesting as they should have been . they were functional  but nothing stood out . on the other hand  make  up  costume  lighting  cinematography  editing and directing were excellent . altogether  i thought it was a totally enjoyable experience . i am disappointed that the professional critics  almost all adult males  savagely attacked the film . apparently  they have something against films that portray strong  intelligent and independent young women . their writings reveal more about their own sexist natures than anything about this wonderful family film . i recommend it strongly to every child and every parent .  
really  they spelled it brain in the credits  not brian .  br    br   ok  they didn  t have the budget for a spell checker . all the production money went for great old cars . there are at least two packards visible here . one is a darin convertible . a nice yellow packard convertible .  br    br   the scenes of the movie studio show that there was some money spent for costumes and set decorations . old cameras  an exterior of ciro  s  street signs and whatever was needed to make a visually pleasing picture was there . poorly written and directed .  br    br   my dvd says it runs for    minutes  approximately . it was more like   minutes . it came to an end without reaching a conclusion . there was a collision but no conclusion . the movie just smashed up against the credits .   cents for this . i paid   cents for this . i could have bought  cans of cat food and watched my cat  s face as he emoted more excitement .  br    br   for a few seconds in the ciro  s scene after darren mcgavin gets a phone call  it looked like  maybe . . . this movie would have a surprise twist that would make for an interesting film . then it just sat there .  br    br   the young latin actor played by steven bauer  tony montoya  could have had a much bigger part in all that was going on here . this cast could have made a good film .  br    br   i think if they cut brian  s part and use steven bauer in his place and change the script and keep the packards and lose the band and add a johnny otis sound alike band  then they got something .  br    br   here kitty  kitty . . .  br    br   tom willett  
i disagree with previous comment about this movie . i think it was cute and fun and it carried a good message for young girls like my daughter . you don  t have to dress like a cheap hooker to be cool . you can be smart and pretty and classy all at once .  br    br   i think the cast was good and the story was fine for the target audience . all  in  all my wife  daughter     and i each thought it was a good movie . i certainly recommend it . it also has encouraged my daughter to start reading the original nancy drew mysteries which i am sure she will love much as i loved the hardy boys .  br    br   it was a struggle to get her to sleep tonight because she wanted to start reading right away . i can  t think of a better outcome for that movie than rekindling interest in that classic series .  
we rented five movies for new year  s eve weekend and watched this one first . all i can say is that there was no place to go but up after watching this one . it was pointless and vulgar . harvey keitel  s script must have been easy to write   just make two out every three words a curse word . andie mcdowell is surprisingly good in a character roll  but the movie has nothing else to recommend it .  
the gang of roses .  every rose has its thorns .   br    br   a mix of old western and hip hop  blended perfectly together . the clothing styles  the scenery  and the plot are all suited to what the director wanted .  br    br   plot  in five years  they robbed twenty  seven banks and then vanished without a trace . now  a small western town is under siege  and one of the first victims is rachel  s sister . the rose gang is ready to ride again . and this time it  s personal .  br    br   rachel  michael calhoun   chastity  lil  kim   maria  lisaraye   zang li  marie matiko  and kim  stacey dash   five gunslinging women who split up after five years of riding together . when rachel  s sister is killed  she ends up rounding up her friends once again and riding on a trail of vengeance .  br    br   a good  muck around version of western .  if you  ve seen bad girls  well this is a little bit better in the ways of the female characters  .  br    br   i gave it      because the characters  plot and scenery made it for me .  
my girlfriend picked this one as a southern born and raised african american i found this movie  s plot and premise totally without credibility . to believe that class and racial biases would be so easily and comfortably suspended would only come from someone totally unfamiliar with the ante  bellum south . totally absurd    i wonder how they got a good actor like harvey keitel and a good actress like andie mcdowell  who being southern knows better  to participate in this crap  
unfortunately  jean eustache            belongs like so many once leading french film makers nowadays to the great unknown ones whose movies are hard to find and are not released on international dvds . since we have a good old  fashioned video  store in tucson  i had the chance to watch this      hour marathon masterwork that is not boring for ten seconds .  br    br   since we speak here about one of the most discussed  and most controversially discussed  movies of all times  let me tell you my impression that the endless dialogs  originally typical for the early  nouvelle vague  of a jacques rivette or alain resnais appear almost ridiculous in this movie . the dialogs are basically monologues  mainly the longest ones spoken by jean  pierre laud . the most characteristic feature is that the intersections of the speeches of two people is almost zero . laud  or his character  alexandre  pleases to tell more about himself than about the topics he is seemingly to speak . therefore  one can hardly speak about communication in this movie . it is well possible that the director had a gargantuan satire in mind against the idle running of the once so hotly discussed political and sociological ideas  but the type of man alexandre exists to all times  we find him already in petron  s  satiricon   which work has actually great resemblance with  the mother and the whore  .  br    br   alexandre does not only nothing  but he has developed an own kind of metaphysics about the absence of acting  at least acting in the sense of responsibility toward the society whose part he is . he mocks at the people who run to work at  c  clock in the morning  when he is just busy having his last drink before he goes to bed in the apartment of one of his girlfriends from whose money he lives . he is unable to speak one sentence without quoting one of the leading thinkers between nietzsche and bernanos . especially sartre who is shown quickly in the french intellectual caf  aux deux magots   where alexandre  too  is sitting all day  must serve as excuse for the life  style of alexandre and his colleagues  because they suffer existential crisis from bourgeois nausea . however  the intellectual speeches of alexandre seem to be rather pseudo  intellectual  and the sentences and quips he cites seem to come rather from a dictionary of quotations than from his actual reading of the respective books .  br    br   it is true this movie demands an extremely broad european knowledge  especially the connoisseurship of french existentialist philosophy and there consequences to the   student revolution movement  but if you have this knowledge  than you will enjoy    minutes of your life by staring amazed into the tv and crying out with laughing like you have probably not done it since a long time .  
i went into this with my hopes up  by twenty minutes into the movie i couldn  t have been more let down . despite thinking that this would be another horribly bad remake  i kept my hopes high that maybe . . . just maybe someone would get it right this time around . sadly  prom night is about on the same quality level as the recent april fools day remake  bad script  bad direction  cheesy overdone acting and generally bad horror .  br    br   from beginning to end it  s boring  repetitive and worthy of about a dozen eye rolls . we  ve seen it all before and we  ve seen it done a million times better then this . if you go to see prom night in the theater  i  d say wait for the dvd or ppv   get ready for the audience to laugh  because laugh they will . the laughs aren  t at points in the movie that are supposed to be funny  they are in response to key  thrilling  moments in the film that are so poorly done you feel as if your watching the newest installment of scary movie . seriously  was this supposed to be a remake or a spoof  the film makers missed the mark so badly here  that a large number of the audience in the theater i attended walked out about halfway through the movie . which in retrospect  i wish i had done . not me though  i had to torture myself and stick with it hoping it would get better . needless to say it didn  t . the  horror  scenes are a joke  not even so much because of the acting but because of the direction  the script  the  special effects  and the camera work . the movie manages to look as if they spent a fortune to produce it  but still came out of it with a micro budget movie . i halfway expected to see dollar store tags on some of the props and kept thinking i would spot a porn star in the cast somewhere .  br    br   this movies scary alright  if this is the future of big budget horror then the horror genre is doomed .  
i think a great many viewers missed entirely the fact that this is obviously a parody of western films .  br    br   this is not a bad movie  it is a clever tongue in cheek take on westerns . i don  t believe this film was taking itself seriously for a moment .  br    br   what makes this film even more unique is the fact it is centered around  strong  beautiful women  two of which are black  one asian  and a mexican  hispanic character .  br    br   these aren  t your usual western women   they  re tough   they can draw fast and shoot straight .  br    br   they  re so tough even the bartender is shaking when he pours their whiskey .  br    br   the plot which moves this story along is typical of westerns   in the vein of  you shot my brother   so i  m gonna get you   only in this western  a woman  s sister has been shot and she  s out for vengeance on the gang who did it .  br    br   so she goes and rounds up her old cronies from her bank robbing days .  br    br   one of them  maria  is not really all that interested in avenging rachel  s sister  but she is motived by the fact there  s gold and jewelry hidden in the town where they  re headed .  br    br   there are a couple of scenes that don  t quite make sense  not that they interfere that much  they can be ignored  but i wondered why they were there . so the film could use a little tightening  but over all  this is a well made film that has failed to find an audience that recognized what it is .  br    br   my only disappointment was that the only lesbian in the film is a villain   of the  heroines   one is obviously straight  the others sexual orientations are never disclosed .  br    br    stars  
  shadrach  was not my favorite type of movie . i found it overly sentimental and the acting was below par . harvey keitel and andie macdowell were good but some of the other actors weren  t at all believable . i also did not believe that paul  s parents would go away and leave him with the dabney family  especially when they had a housekeeper living in the home . their social classes were too far apart to consider this believable . it seemed the dabney  s lifestyle was too exaggerated . there was a scene in the beginning of the movie that showed andie macdowell getting out of a car after having sex with someone . who was it  her son  what was the scene supposed to show us  why was the scene even included  it had nothing to do with the rest of the movie and was in fact never alluded to again . it seemed gratuitous and not fitting into the story at all . there were too many inconsistencies in the movie for me . the story concerning shadrach was nice but i wasn  t convinced that the dabneys would have been as kind and generous as they were portrayed .  
honestly  this is the best reality show anyone has ever come up with . in order to win the money you have to actually be intelligent . not only that you  ve got to be brave  athletic  cunning  etc . it actually requires skill . not like some lame  ass shows that are on these days . and yet  they only have two seasons of it  bull . . they need to bring this show back    br    br   although  they  ll have a hard time pulling anderson cooper away from cnn . he was great .  br    br   but seriously  it was an amazing show . you never knew who would be going when . and it was so much fun trying to figure out the mole yourself  it was a show you could actually play yourself if you wanted to   br    br   bring back the mole     bring back the mole      
the opening sequence is supposed to show the legion arriving in paris on   nov     . the troops pile off the train   wearing the uniform in which the french army  including the legion  marched off to war in      this a sure sign that the war flick you are about to see will be a turkey .  the french army realized by     that going to war in red trousers and dark blue overcoats was not working . metropolitan french troops were put into  horizon blue  and colonial troops were put into khaki .  the claude van  damme  sp   remake at least got the uniforms more or less right . really is too bad when directors make these sorts of mistakes when they then go to all the effort to get other things right .  
quite simply the best reality show ever made . the first two seasons  the only ones that matter  are on hulu . i challenge anyone to watch the first three episodes of season  and not like it . i guarantee you will finish watching the season . then i guarantee that you will watch season  .  br    br   other quick reasons to watch it  . anderson cooper is hilarious  . the locations in europe are awesome  . the games are mentally challenging  . it  s very interactive  . in one episode a player responds to another player  s desperate   i  m trying as hard as i can   with an equally desperate   not necessarily .   br    br   can you figure out . . . who is the mole   
you can tell a lew grade production a mile off  distinctly british in style epic in conception peopled by international all  star casts usually set in exotic climes . it  s a formula that grade and his company itc employed throughout the   s into the early   s  resulting in titles like the eagle has landed  firepower  and raise the titanic  in     grade produced march or die  a remarkably old  fashioned foreign legion adventure that models all the characteristics mentioned above . directed by the usually dependable dick richards  who helmed the acclaimed farewell my lovely just a couple years earlier  march or die is an unfortunate disappointment .  br    br   a company of foreign legionnaires led by the harsh disciplinarian general foster  gene hackman  is sent to morocco shortly after world war  . their mission is to protect an archaeological party fronted by the dedicated francois marneau  max von sydow  . the archaeologists are carrying out an excavation at the ancient city of erfoud  but fear an attack from arab tribesmen following the decimation of an earlier archaeological group . foster is not happy with the assignment  he does not consider historical artifacts worthy of his men risking their lives . this creates ongoing tension between himself and marneau  who believes that the legionnaires should sacrifice their lives to make the excavation possible . the problems heighten when a beautiful woman named simone picard  catherine deneuve  tags along with the legionnaires . she is hoping to find out what happened to her father  a historian abducted by the arabs when they wiped out the first archaeological team . her presence arouses desires amongst the legionnaires  none more so than gypsy thief marco segrain  terence hill   a charming and courageous rogue who initially shows indifference towards his legionnaire colleagues but gradually grows in stature . things climax with a huge battle at erfoud  with swarms of united arab tribes charging against the handful of legionnaires as they desperately try to defend their lives .  br    br   on paper the star duo of gene hackman and terence hill seem a mismatch  hackman is the heavyweight oscar  winning character actor  hill the handsome but limited italian heart  throb from numerous low budget spaghetti westerns . one expects hackman to act his counterpart off the screen . yet  bizarrely  it is hackman who gives the weak and uninvolving performance  while hill raises his game to surprisingly high levels . the film is attractively shot on desert locations  but the pacing is awfully slow and few of the characters are worth caring for . maurice jarre  s music is uncommonly flat too  very disappointing from the guy who gave us the lawrence of arabia score . it is remarkable that anyone had the nerve to try an old  fashioned adventure of this type in the   s  it was a genre that peaked in the   s  and had been all but forgotten during the intervening decades  . sadly  the gamble doesn  t really pay off  this homage to the legionnaire flicks of old becomes more of a plod than a march .  
jake speed is a film that lacks one thing  a charismatic lead . unfortunately that  s something that really taints the entire movie and it  s a shame because at heart it is an enjoyable action movie with a witty enough script and an interesting  if derivative  premise . although it  s genesis probably can be traced back to the success of the indiana jones trilogy  the film actually plays a little more like  romancing the stone  albeit in reverse . it  s not an author of romantic adventure fiction being led on an adventure by a character very much like one of her creations it is an adventure fiction character  who happens to chronicle his own adventures  leading an ordinary woman on one of his adventures .  br    br   when a young woman goes missing in paris  her sister margaret  played by the appealing karin kopins  gets embroiled with pulp hero jake speed  wayne crawford  and his sidekick dennis  dennis christopher  who both turn out to be real and very flawed individuals in an adventure that takes them into the heart of a civil war torn african state and ultimately into the clutches of two brothers the deliciously evil sid  john hurt  and his ridiculously camp sibling maurice  roy london  . that  s the plot  it  s not labyrinthine and it  s not complicated but the story that it tells doesn  t require great depth .  br    br   the action sequences are appealing to begin with and it  s certainly true that the heroic trio are put through their paces  whether caught in battles between government and rebel forces or being dropped into a pit full of lions  and there are certainly some quite funny lines . however the film does seem to struggle to find an ending and unfortunately the action sequences that are quite appealing to begin with go nowhere and ultimately become a bit bland and irksome . this  however  may not have been such an issue if it was possible to like jake speed but due to wayne crawford  s performance it becomes harder to really care what happens . now i don  t know if he was stretching himself a little thin as he was also the producer and writer of the movie or whether he  s simply not a good actor  as i haven  t seen him in much else  but he never really convinces as a roguish mixture of doc savage  indiana jones and jack colton .  br    br   this is a shame because most of the other characters play their roles well  karen kopins is funny and convincing and her character shares some nice banter with jake  unfortunately it never convinces  . dennis christopher is perfect as the archetypal sidekick and john hurt plays the part with camp relish  almost as if he were in a sixties episode of batman . he strides about his few scenes growling in a ridiculous cockney accent putting in a performance that almost belongs in another film . sid is no moriarty  he is presented as jake  s nemesis from a number of his previous adventures  books  but he is always fun to watch .  br    br   jake speed tries to channel the same fun b movie spirit as  night of the comet   a film produced by crawford a few years beforehand  and almost succeeds but misses  which is a shame because jake would have been good to watch in a few more adventures and may have been served better by a television series .  br    br   i would recommend this out of curiosity appeal but ultimately it leaves a bitter taste because most of the elements were there to make something genuinely good .  
bugs bunny accidentally ends up at the south pole while trying to vacation in florida . where he meets a little penquin  which he tries to save from an eskimo . this short tries and the penquin is adorable  but in the end it  s a bit too light in the laughs department . the eskimo isn  t really that great of a foil for bugs and i just seen a lot better bugs bunny cartoons frankly  even other shorts when he  s paired with other unknown antagonists . so i can  t in good conscience recommend this one . however it is nice to see it in it  s uncut form . this cartoon is on disk  of the  looney tunes golden collection volume    br    br   my grade c  
jake speed       was an amusing parody of indiana jones and other adventurer films that were popular during the eighties . wayne crawford stars as jake speed  an adventurer who  s always battling evil doers wherever he goes . with his assistant desmond floyd  dennis christopher  they globe trot looking for some action  and some decent story lines  . the duo meet a young woman named margaret  karen kopins  who  s sister has been kidnapped by an evil white slaver trader  john hurt  . can she find and convince jake and desmond to help her rescue her sibling   br    br   a sappy and cheesy film that doesn  t pretend to be something that it  s not . i have to give this one a recommendation . that  s if you enjoy movies that like to have fun and for those who don  t take everything at face value .  br    br   recommended .  
this is one of the worst movies i have seen to date  the best part was christian j . meoli  leonard  attempting to act jumping up and down outside the bar  kind  of like i wanted to do on the dvd  to spare the rest of humanity the agony of watching this shitty film . it has a great cast so you keep watching waiting for it to get good  i mean with sean astin  andrew   played his part perfectly  did a great job  too bad it was in this film   kyra sedgwick  bevan   ron livingston  chad   rene zellweger  poet   they put her name on the cover she has a total of  line and less then  seconds in the whole movie . . .  br    br   if the cast had any dignity  they would go out and buy all the copies of this film and burn them along with writer  director george hickenlooper and writer john enbom  
i know the film snobs are snorting . but if you  re looking for a surprisingly fun ride through the b  movie jungle  try  jake speed  .  br    br   a little thin at times  but its one  liners and the location more then make up for this . john hurt  god love him   seems to be having fun doing his role as the ultra evil white slaver . the nemesis of crawfords  jake speed . he adds a dimension to the film that only a pro like hurt could provide . crawford and dennis christopher  jakes sidekick  are a good team  although you do wonder why they both put up with each other . however  together both crawford and christopher portray a team that is just so much fun that  if you can get over yourself for a moment  you may find yourself acting like a kid again at the situations and the inherent suspense they provide . the delicious karen kopins does a great job as the damsel in distress that is more concerned about the motives of her rescuer then her tormentor .  br    br   i have yet to find a movie that is as much fun without getting preachy  or bogging down the movie by trying too hard . not every movie has to be the latest  citizen kane  . and trust me  wells was an original . so lets remember that sometimes  movies are for fun . not social commentary or attempting to sway an audience politically . but just for the sheer fun of being alive and living in a time when our hero  s live in a celluloid dimension .  
this movie is chilling reminder of bollywood being just a parasite of hollywood . bollywood also tends to feed on past blockbusters for furthering its industry .  br    br   vidhu vinod chopra made this movie with the reasoning that a cocktail mix of  deewar  and  on the waterfront  will bring home an oscar . it turned out to be rookie mistake .  br    br   even the idea of the title is inspired from the elia kazan classic . in the original  brando is shown as raising doves as symbolism of peace .  br    br   bollywood must move out of hollywood  s shadow if it needs to be taken seriously .  
ever wonder where the ideas for romance novels and other paper back released come from  according to  jake speed  they are based on real people  living out the adventures they write about and publish . this movie is quality family entertainment  moderate amounts of violence  and skimpy clothes at the worst . the language is is also not a problem  and the jokes are funny at all levels . this is a  austin powers  look at  indian jones   without the over  the  top antics of michael myers . i highly recommend this film for kids in the   to   range .  
i watched this movie after having so much of trouble in downloading it through rapidshare . and i have to say  it did not deserve it .  br    br   parinda was so hyped  that i was really looking forward to watch it .  br    br   parinda is one of those movies which fail to satisfy the standards set by other good indian film  makers  despite having a great story . it was even more pathetic to know  that the story itself was not original  it was loosely based on the classic  on the waterfront  .  br    br   anil kapoor was irritating  especially when he comes from america . the direction lacked quality many a times  except a few in  between scenes .  br    br   give this script to any of them  ram gopal verma  deepa mehta  mahesh bhatt  sudhir mishra  and i  m     sure  they  ll make a mind  blowing movie out of it .  br    br   i  m not saying parinda was bad . it was just not good enough .  
most people     gave this movie a   and those who don  t are being too critical or maybe expected something else . this is one of my favorite movies from the    s  it grows on you  and has it all . i just got it on dvd and   years later it still does not disappoint  having plenty of action  drama  romance  and even comedy . add to that the great car chases  automatic weapon shootouts and lots of stuff blowing up and you have a fun  edge of your seat experience  you will even be humming or whistling the main theme song for days after seeing this .  br    br   you can watch this movie with your wife  gf and you will both enjoy it lots . the premise is that of a paperback book hero  like doc . savage  really existing and helping people fight evil so he can write the story is almost true to life here . the actor jake speed is also a director  producer and writer of many films . in this film jake speed  the character  is an indiana jones adventurer type  he usually uses his head to get out of sticky situations but will sometimes resorts to brute firepower  yay   and sheer dumb luck too   . keep an eye out for his one  james bond  hi  tech equipment  the ultimate road warrior suv dropping out of the sky .  br    br   the heroine is the very beautiful young love interest from the early jim carey vampire movie  once bitten  and here she is a little older and still a knockout even compared to her teenage blonde little sister .  br    br   the bad guys are  real bad  men and are the worst lowlife villainous scum you love to hate . the ending is just perfect and can stand alone or invite a sequel  sadly never made  but you can just imagine what would happen next   br    br   you have to see this movie just because it will entertain and amuse you and that  s worth the price of a ticket .  
i went into this movie hoping for the best . i like wartime musicals in general . dick powell and lucille ball did good jobs with their roles however  the writers gave them boring dialog . the love  interest between the two of them was not given any real growth just suddenly it was there . i did not think much of the music the best number was the snippet we heard of spike jones with  der fuhrer  s face .  the one complete number that spike jones did had little of his great musical comedy pretty tame stuff  even with the monkey . bert lahr  s comedy skits were interminable .  br    br   there were parts to enjoy lucille ball was quite a looker  and there was a good selection of bit players who really deserved more time on screen .  
i enjoyed this movie as a kid when it came out  and to this day still do . a simple story involving the search for a kidnapped girl and an adventurer literally straight out of paperback lore . it has actors that were more recognizable back in the day . this shouldn  t keep the viewer from giving it a whirl . wayne crawford stars as the main character jake speed . sure  it might bite from certain elements of romancing the stone  and indiana jones . but this movie is done well enough to keep it out of the cellar . i am surprised not too many people know about it . it must have been overshadowed by other movies in the theaters back in    . i watched it back then on cable tv . it might be hard to find since it  s out of print on both vhs and dvd . i managed to get a dvd from ebay at less than  bucks  cool flick .  
it  s curious that the two stars of meet the people were a pair of movie stars who went into the new medium of television and became even bigger successes and who both went into the production end of things and enjoyed tycoon status on the small screen . lucille ball however was not a major star  that would come with television . as for dick powell he desperately wanted to get out of doing films like meet the people and his career salvation would be coming in his next film .  br    br   i think the only reason that dick powell did the film was because a young player from mgm was cast in a specialty number and he was seeing her at the time . his private time with june allyson was far better than what we see on the screen . powell looks crashingly bored and can  t summon up any kind of emotion at all .  br    br   he was probably tired of doing these musicals with silly plots  the kind he ran from warner brothers from . the original show meet the people was not a book show  it was a revue and it ran in the        season on broadway for    performances . when mgm bought it  they scrapped everything but the title and the title song . the rest of the score was patched together from various and sundry songwriters  none of the songs is memorable . odd when you consider some of the source material is from burton lane  e . y . harburg  harold arlen  and rodgershart . these guys just must have emptied the trunk for material .  br    br   the plot is sillier than even most of the musical propaganda pieces of the time . powell is the writer of a revue called meet the people and he  s a shipyard worker who wins a lottery date with movie star lucille ball . she  s interested  he  s interested  they  re both interested in the revue  but creative differences keep them apart of course until the finale . that  s the film in a nutshell .  br    br   mgm did give powell and ball some good musical acts which are the main reason for watching meet the people . the big bands of vaughn monroe and spike jones are here and the highlight of the film for me is bert lahr dressed in a commodore  s suit like lou costello had in the dream sequence in in the navy . the song heave ho is written by arlen and harburg who wrote for lahr  the courage number from the wizard of oz . and as just about everyone in the world has seen that film  you have an idea of heave ho is like .  br    br   dick powell  s next film was murder my sweet in which he finally bid a not so fond adieu to musicals . and lucy would have to wait for television before the world got to see what she really could do .  
  jake speed  is a fine movie with a wonderful message . it has its flaws of course . at times it  s a little slow . it introduces its villain too far into the story . it  s action is paced at the rate of a snail  s heartbeat . it has a z  grade cast  although i  ve always admired the work of karen kopins  who has the straight  laced good looks of sandra bullock  .  br    br   but with all this going against it   jake speed  really is inspiring  thanks to a charming script by wayne crawford  who plays the title role  and andrew lane .  br    br   why do i find it so inspiring  because it says to me  hey  why not try to be a good person .   br    br   the story is essentially a  stranger in a strange land  premise  that is good  and  heroic jake speed is placed in the real world where bad things happen to good people . jake is more than a boy scout . he  s more than a knight in shining armor . jake speed is the patron saint of optimism in a dirty  mean and evil world .  br    br   it  s because of this that  jake speed  really needed to be a hit . it has a great message that should have gotten out to hollywood and then to the rest of the world .  br    br   imagine a movie industry that really pushed itself to portray good and decent people . i  m not saying that we should be watching the waltons in every theater at the cineplex  but that it would be nice if more movies such as  jake speed  would get a chance .   due south   a tv show about a canadian mountie  is a good comparison of what can be done to brighten up american entertainment .   br    br   sure   jake speed  has violence  blood and guns  but the overall message is that if you try hard enough to be a good person  you  ll beat the forces of evil every time .          
max had the v    trace  wheels of fires last and only hero  has a jet engine on the back of his car allowing him to make unintentionally humorous faces as he rockets around the halfway desolate wasteland . be amazed as mad max   aka the road warrior  is dissected and spliced back together as a new movie albeit filmed in a lackluster manner with bad actors and lousy stunt work .  br    br   why is wof set in a post  apocalyptic wasteland  simple  the road warrior was  actually any questions can be answered by it was that way in the road warrior  except for the out of work mutant actors from the original    s the time machine film that make a cameo appearance for sake of giving the audience some non  vehicular action to chew on for a few minutes .  br    br   in typical    s fashion  all cars driven by bad guys that are bumped or slightly jostled explode in a huge billowing explosion . inevitably all car chases will happen near convenient cliff sides and cars will unavoidably fall off of them . along with this    s cinematic wild ride is the general rampant misogyny in this style of cheapie film . generally i waited for trace  s rocket powered car to accelerate and shoot flames so there would be another shot of him scrunching up his face like he is supposed to be tough  which comes off more as him looking constipated . badly choreographed action coupled with bad acting makes this film a true sinker . the unintentional humor value even manages to wear thin .  br    br   rats nights of terror by bruno mattei is superior . and that in and of itself is saying a lot  by this count     texas gladiators is a cinematic masterpiece compared to wheels of fire . a poor road warrior knock off that doesn  t have near enough cheese factor to make the film watchable .  br    br    
of all the reviews i  ve read  most people have been exceedingly hard on alexandre . neither marie or veronika ever seemed that they would particularly desperate to keep alexandre  he being only slightly intelligent though not at all intellectual  as most of us are  however hard it may be for anyone to admit . alexandre is getting away with life perfectly  being totally taken care of  getting and giving what he wants . the girls are allowing this  veronika loves sex  marie is his patron . is there anything wrong with any of this  is anyone in love  really  i don  t think so . though french new wave cinema is prone to pretension and so on  it is marvelous simply because of its lack of a need for a plot in order to create emotion . ease is perfectly lovely and all anyone in alexandre  s position  in an urban area can ask for . i  m looking for a patron  anyone interested   
note i couldn  t force myself to actually write up a constructive review of prom night . it just can  t be done . instead  i went through what i thought about while watching the movie .  br    br   things that i thought about while watching prom night  br    br    i  m so tired of those dreams where these elaborate deaths will take place  only for the main character to wake up right before she bites it . of course  when i say  elaborate deaths   i mean off screen throat slashes or stabs in the stomach . didn  t the whole  it  s just a dream  thing get ruined by dallas  speaking of which  i wonder if a couple stabs in the gut will cause immediate death .  br    br    the film is only ten minutes into and i can already count the horror clichs on two hands . not a good sign .  br    br    even after just meeting the protagonist  s boyfriend  i  m convinced he will die . anybody want to place bets   br    br    the killer in this movie is a teacher that is obsessed with the main character  donna .  by the way  does anybody think that  donna  is a horrible name for a main character in a horror film   he spends three years in a maximum security prison before breaking out and finds donna celebrating her high school prom . while there is no accounting for taste  i seriously wonder who would take all that time to stalk somebody as dull as donna .  br    br    high schools allow proms to take place at hotels and doesn  t keep track of the students . apparently students are perfectly able to buy a hotel room and go in and out as they please . i suppose if this plot point wasn  t in place  the movie would be   minutes of people being bored out of their mind and randomly biting the dust whenever they go to the bathroom . i suppose the trade  off for their excitement is my utter boredom with everything . i  ve already played  count the pieces of chewed bubble gum under the seat  and  guess how much money i have in my wallet  and i  m only in the   minute mark . how else will i entertain myself   br    br    note to self don  t forget milk and bread on the way home .  br    br    dear screenwriter you  ve used up enough false scares to get through this movie and every other horror remake this year .  br    br    the     version of this film wasn  t that good but compared to this remake it was like citizen kane  or at least the godfather . it had jamie lee curtis in one of her many post  halloween horror flicks and it did have a little  twist  at the end . i miss jamie lee . i wish she  d act more .  br    br    apparently at prom there isn  t much dancing going on . instead the girls get in fights with their boyfriends over where they plan to attend college . i hear all these colleges being brought up by name  and i can  t help but wonder who these girls have to cheat off of on the entrance exam to get in .  br    br    the killer must carry a bag of really effective cleaning supplies and wipes up his mess between scenes . that  s the only logical explanation for why he could stab somebody to death on the carpet or in the bathroom and by the time somebody goes up to the hotel room  there is no trace of a struggle .  on another side note this is a very lazy killer . michael myers went hunting after his victims . just saying .   br    br    it  s official the entire audience in the theater is rooting on the killer . what triggered it  was it whenever donna went back up to her hotel room while sirens were going off ordering everybody to exit the building  was it her constant dreams  and how even after going through something dramatic in said dream she insisted on reenacting her steps to a tee  or was it brittany snow  s unconvincing performance  i  ll have to say it was all of the above .  br    br    okay  who had  he dies off screen in the third act   you win the pot .  br    br    finally  the movie is over . my friend turns to me and says  donna wasn  t too smart .  that  s the understatement of the week . kind of like saying that a tornado is a small gust of wind  or a week long power outage is a slight inconvenience .  br    br    i can  t wait to get on rotten tomatoes and see if anybody gave this move a favoring review .  br    br    i can  t recommend this . i refuse to recommend this . this is as lazy of a horror film as any  and the only way to enjoy its cheese smelling plot is if you are under the influence of at least ten beers . and unfortunately for theater patrons  alcohol isn  t served .  br    br   rating  out of   
this film is harmless escapist fun . something the recent tomb raider film lacked . i can  t wait to get the dvd . how can people give this a low score and still go and see titanic without a guilty conscience i do not know . anything with karen kopins in her underwear has got to rate an extra point or two   
i  ve never found charley chase very funny  even though his on  screen character sometimes reminds me of john cleese  whom i find very funny .  charley chase also reminds me of gowky hen broon from scotland  s  sunday post  comics page .  in chase  s best films  i tend to admire his professionalism rather than laughing at him . i  ll give chase credit that his very best films   such as  mighty like a moose  and  his wooden wedding    have inspired a fandom who are fiercely loyal to him . . . but i  m positive that even the most die  hard chase fan will agree that the very early and very crude  married to order  just isn  t funny at all .  br    br   chase   eager  awkward  gormless  naff   is a young swain hoping to court the fair rose . oliver hardy gives the best performance in this film as her blowhard father  who disdains chase as a  mollycoddle  . leo white  who did more notable work as a foil for chaplin at essanay  is on hand here as a rival .  br    br   there  s some action involving an ingersoll watch . i was intrigued that the brand name is mentioned in the dialogue titles is this an early example of product  placement   br    br   sadly  a major flaw in  married to order  is the casting of rosemary theby as rose she  s meant to be a standard  issue ingenue  but theby   flat  chested  hawk  faced   is physically wrong for the role . theby  the wife of harry myers  had a successful career as a screen actress  but was never a believable ingenue . film historian william k everson dealt with her very dismissively in one of his film books .  br    br   i  ll rate  married to order  just  out of    and i  m being charitable . . . because i keep suspecting that charley chase has got something that everyone else gets but i keep missing .  
  br    br   the first thing i have to say is that i own jake speed . i  ve seen it at least   times . this movie is one of the most fun movies ever made . the film begins with margaret  karen kopins  trying to find her sister . her sister was kidnapped in paris and the family has heard nothing . along comes jake speed  wayne crawford   telling her exactly where her sister is and making an offer to find her . jake speed is a hero . he doesn  t work for money because he just wants to help and have a good adventure . his partner  dennis christopher  follows him around and writes their adventures into novels . this film is a great adventure . it  s hilarious  it  s action  packed  it  s just great . i guess it  s a cult film with a very small cult following . crawford is perfect as jake speed and throws out some one  liners that you  ll never forget . kopins and christopher are also good as the girl and the sidekick  respectively . john hurt  the guy who  s stomach blew up in alien  plays the devilish  pervertish villian which just adds to the fun . in many ways  this film is similar to indiana jones  in some ways it  s similar to james bond films . maybe it should have been called indiana bond but whatever it  s title is  it  s a very enjoyable film .  
while i totally disagree with one reviewer who described charley chase as unfunny  in this film he certainly is . it  s a shame  as i suspect the other reviewer must have only seen a few charley chase duds and assumed the guy wasn  t funny . films like mighty like a moose and what price goofy  are very good chase films  so he could be really funny given good material . unfortunately  in this film he  s given absolutely nothing . even the inclusion of the usually good oliver hardy as a foil isn  t any help because the basic premise  boy wants to marry girl but girl  s father thinks the boy is a wuss  and the gags are so poor . it  s a shame  as i really wanted to love this film but couldn  t .  br    br   by the way  for those used to the look for charley from the mid      s on  you  ll be pretty surprised as chase sports no glasses or mustache   and looks very little like you  d expect .  
one of my favorite films for a number of years was  last action hero   unfortunately  arnold schwarznegger decided to spoil my fun by becoming a corrupt scumbag politician so now i can  t bear any film he may had a hand in .  br    br   the adventures of jake speed actually toys with some themes similar to those in last . . . hero so i was pleased to find it on dvd  so i could watch these themes played out so well .  br    br   despite the  plot  within  the  plot  involving white slavery during an african nation  s civil war  this is not an action movie . the plot that the  plot  within  a  plot  is within  is actually about a question that the film has no intention to resolve is jake speed a real person that is helping the heroine save her sister from the white  slave trader or is he actually a fictional character  which means that the heroine has somehow entered the universe that really only exists in a series of pulp novels   i suggest that this is not all that clearly defined in the film  and that wayne crawford and andrew lane are perfectly aware of this . the film thus becomes a presentation of what audiences may want from such a fictional  adventure  story  universe . that  s actually a rich theme  the potential heaviness of which is lightened by the film  s amiable and campy sense of humor .  br    br   there are weaknesses to the film  primarily it  s cinematography  which makes the film look like a tv show . and the pacing does sag on occasion .  br    br   but i really like these characters  and i enjoy the adventure they live  however silly . and i just find fascinating the idea that this adventure is actually taking place in a novel .  br    br   holds up under multiple viewings  m good show   
in my opinion  this movie  s title should be changed from  only the brave  to  all about lane  . i went to a screening of this film a few months ago and was quite disappointed with the outcome . although  i appreciate that the director made a movie about the men of    nd  a subject matter that long deserved addressing in the film industry  the acting in some parts of film was quite stale . the performances of marc dacascos  tamlyn tomita  and jason scott lee were all great . however  the director should have never put himself as the main character in the movie . sorry lane  you are just not a film actor . stick to what you  re good at  theater acting . gina hiraizumi  s performance in this film was also horrible . she should never have been given a speaking role and her looks were unfit to play the part of a miss nisei queen . there were other young actresses in the film who were naturally beautiful and whose performances were wonderful . . . why weren  t they cast for that role  another major problem with this film were its action sequences . the japanese  american soldiers don  t look like they were fighting german soldiers . . . let alone anyone . granted this was a low budget feature  but since this was a war  based film  isn  t it important to show some actually fighting  this film was a worthy attempt  but definitely not worth a major distribution .  
the movie has very much the feel of a play right from the start  i think it would make a better play than a movie because the set and dramatization make a movie version seem a bit too artificial . but  still  it  s carried out fairly well  and the story  especially the dialogue are interesting . they  ve taken the dialogue pretty much exactly as is from the actual play . perhaps it  s a good introduction to shaw  s plays .  br    br   the main character raina has her head in the clouds  and a flair for the dramatic  and helena bonham carter  s acting does a good job here . her fianc  serges  is a bit too cartoonish when he is really supposed to be an extremely handsome dashing figure . her parents are entertaining enough .  
i read the reviews for this and while not expecting a saving private ryan i was expecting a film of some substance .  br    br   the film starts off very lob  sided with the usual intro of history and how the unit came into being . but immediately it  s     and you are not sure where everyone is . the accents etc are very poor as this unit is supposed to be hawaiian  asian american but everyone speaks in a very poor take on harvard english imitation of a japanese person .  br    br   i gave this film  out of   as after   minutes i couldn  t watch any more of it . the characters were  dimensional and even though they were most likely based on real people i had no feeling for them and this left me not caring about them . very poor direction of a very average tv movie which will be shown at midnight on some cable channel . i  d avoid and look out for better efforts .  br    br   this is a good story but it was deserving of a better telling . you got a sense the director had seen band of brothers and thought that that was enough to sell his movie . my advice  avoid and watch band of brothers  tuskegee airmen  glory or any other movie like when trumpets fade . . .  
this could be difficult to for some people to get into  being used to hollywood production styles . the directing is uninspired  apparently simply a filming of the stage set  up  and the audio quality is bad here and there  the rustling of people  s clothes occasionally competes with their voices  etc .  .  br    br   my friends and i started watching without knowing what to expect  and the first scene almost put us off . it seemed very stagy and cheesy . then we picked up on the tone of the content  and really started to enjoy ourselves .  br    br   it is very funny  despite some corniness . definitely give it a chance if you appreciate great dialog . also  helena bonham carter is adorable  of course .  
  avast  slight spoilers ahead  i got this tape from my local library  which keeps a copy for obvious reasons .  br    br   i once went to the town of matewan  west virginia  and in a little museum there i saw the schedule for the town theatre citra may     . movies would change at the theatre each day . as there would be no tv for another decade or so in those parts  this was much of the available entertainment in the town .  the raid  seems to have been made for towns like matewan in the      s . although it wasn  t listed for that month  i am sure showed there some monday or tuesday night for an audience which probably wasn  t too demanding . the historical raid  daring and remarkably successful  didn  t seem to have been very well researched  so the movie is full of hollywood embellishments  including a loose cannon played by lee marvin . marvin uses the opportunity to practice being liberty valance . and st . albans seems to have had more yankee soldiers coming and going through the town than washington d . c . had .  br    br   what really made me snicker was when the raiders change into their confederate uniforms . only in tacky civil war paintings do rebel uniforms look so pristine . when anne bancroft  s son catches van heflin in his uniform just before the raid  i expected the boy to think it was halloween .  br    br   and then there  s anne bancroft herself . while watching the movie i actually looked on the imdb to see if there was a second anne bancroft . the then  studio contract actress looks nothing like in her later films  and has none of the presence she would later have in  the miracle worker    agnes of god   and of course  the graduate .   br    br   worth seeing if only   . you live in st . albans and   . you have a couple hours to kill on a hollywood fictionalization of your home town  s biggest news story .  
  arms and the man  is one of shaw  s funniest plays if handled correctly  and this production does a good enough job . helena bonham  carter  pre  film stardom  is raina  the daughter of a military family  who has a peacock of a fianc  patrick ryecart   and who shelters a soldier from the enemy  pip torrens  during a raid on the town .  br    br   full of colour and energy  this production rips along at a good pace  and if bonham  carter and patsy kensit as the maid are outshone a bit by the rest of the cast  they still hold their ground . kika markham and dinsdale landen as the parents are delightful  and the whole play is generally a happy one .  br    br   highly recommended .  
interesting film about an actual event that took place during the civil war in vermont . it kept my attention to the end and i don  t regret viewing it . i haven  t ever read any on this raid incident so i was curious to see if the rebels pulled it off . i enjoy historical films from that era .  br    br   my major complaint is with the confederate uniforms . they look too good    the acting was a little stiff at times . i like the old man eating the mashed potatoes because he didn  t have any teeth . the wounded soldier playing fetch with a hound was a little strange . overall  it was a descent film .  
comedies often have the unfortunate reputation of having little real depth . arms and the man  proves that notion to be false . shaw  s play is full of comedic drama  combining an entertaining plot with true philosophical depth .  br    br   on one level  arms and the man is a successful  and somewhat unique  romantic comedy . the young  melodramatic  and superficial raina comes from a military family deeply involved in a war her fianc and her father are both military officers . she is shocked  one night by the arrival of an enemy soldier . she rescues him  knowing that she  ll have to keep the incident a secret from her family forever  and the soldier eventually leaves . of course  once the war is over  that soldier comes back  forcing each of the primary characters to reevaluate their values and their relationships .  br    br   it is quite interesting how shaw layers meaning within the rather standard comedic plot . shaw manages to comment on class constructs  on the absurdity of war  and even on the nature of love . and  of course  he does this with the shavian wit and within a satisfying plot . there is so much here to think about that i think a lot can be missed in a single viewing . arms and the man is excellent comedic theater and is definitely one of shaw  s best works .  br    br    arms and the man  is both an amusing and thought  provoking movie that retains its relevance even today  more than a century after it was first conceived . shaw mocks at the popular theories on war and love and combines a military satire with a taunt on love and family structure . the play has flashing wit  buoyant humor and bitter sarcasms . a good example of shaw  s dialog is the statement by captain bluntschli to serguis  i  m a professional soldier i fight when i have to  and am very glad to get out of it when i haven  t to . you  re only an amateur you think fighting is an amusement  . indeed as a swiss hotel  keeper  s son  bluntschli had no reason to be involved in war and it is in this absurdity that shaw questions patriotic sentiments . shaw explores the whole concept of war and the military from both sides of the struggle and in the end shows that the feelings in both camps are not that different .  br    br   the dialog and sarcasm used towards the common notions of life are entangled with a gentle assurance of the movement of the story towards a fairytale ending . the end where all characters are rendered happy and lovers change and love shifts is what underlines the essence of this drama as a comedy . this is a movie that sustains its image of possessing a universal appeal and is still appropriate today when the concepts of war and patriotism and love and marriage have changed dramatically . shaw  s  arms and the man  should maintain its relevance as long as there is love and war .  
i totally disagreed with those comments which said this is a good movie . this is a totally sucked movie . i mean sucked  s . u . c . k . e . d . the story development is strange . mia kirshner changed from an innocent girl to a party  fun seeking chick for no convincing reasons at all . in addition  all the actresses looked way too old for being college students  college students looked like about   years old  you figure out the rest . i watched only about first ten minutes and started fast forwarding to look for sex scenes . all the sex scenes are lame  hasty and  most importantly  no frontal at all . all the sex scenes are laughable  considering how many clothes they had on . do yourself a favor  put it down and save yourself a few bucks . conclusion story    sex    acting    score   out   .  
with few exceptions  most of george bernard shaw  s plays have virtually disappeared from the theater these days . too arch  too talky appears to be the general verdict . this bbc version of one of shaw  s funniest plays doesn  t refute that verdict . it is certainly arch and talky  but it is also wonderful . and because of the quality of british theater  it is perfectly cast with actors whom   with the exception of helena bonham carter   most of us have probably never heard of . carter is splendid as the bulgarian girl who shelters the professional  chocolate soldier   pip torrens  and later falls in love with him . one might quarrel with the especially ridiculous interpretation of sergius  patrick ryecart   the bulgarian cavalry officer who led the charge into the enemy  s lines and succeeded only because the enemy had the wrong ammunition for its machine guns . however  the role invites over  acting and ryecart was obviously told to over  act . the other players are letter perfect . carter as the self  dramatizing bulgarian  aristocrat  and torrens as the swiss soldier  of  fortune are at the play  s center  of course  and they are wonderful . yes   arms and the man  comes across as a filmed play . but you  re unlikely ever to see a shaw film that doesn  t betray its origin . the plots are generally clever . however  shaw is all about the dialog . the action is minimal  even in st . joan  and the sets are immaterial . enjoy this for what it is .  
small college town coed od  s   why do we care   acting sheriff investigates the incident .  why do we care   the interviews show us the comatose subject  kirshner  as different as the opinions of the subjects being interviewed .  why do we care   result  a mess of flashbacks in this mess of a movie featuring a handful of one  hit wonders and b  flick divas which begs the question . . . why do we care   
ironically for a play unavailable on film or video for so long  arms and the man has remained fairly constantly available on stage over the years since its debut in      in no small part because it has aged so well as a solid satire on the nature of heroism and the business of war . whenever the world sinks into strife  arms and the man seems to soar as ever more timely and relevant .  br    br   this is the play which oscar strauss converted  leaving out most of shaw  s best ideas  into the successful operetta  the chocolate soldier  when hollywood got to that   they left out the last vestiges of shaw rather than pay him for the rights  he was  by then  an oscar winner in his own right  . while the best of shaw has always been his ideas and his dialogue rather than his bare plots  in arms and the man  the plot sparkles as well and the master manages happy endings for all concerned .  br    br   young raina  helena bonham carter   daughter of an officer and the wealthiest man in her town  is betrothed to a dashing officer in the bulgarian cavalry and all seems well until a bedraggled swiss mercenary  pip torrens  from the other side climbs up her drainpipe fleeing from the battle where his army has been routed . as usual in a shaw satire  nothing is as it first appears and societal conventions are stood on their head in the light of simple  and not so simple reason . there are no  good guys  or  bad guys   just people of a variety of classes getting by on the best of their wits  just like life only better  and naturally with shaw  the wit is finely honed from all concerned .  br    br   the early       motion picture version  from shaw  s own screenplay  of this most traditional and traditionally funny of shaw  s stage satires  and one of his first to make a real hit on this side of the atlantic  has long been among the missing . shaw didn  t sell the screen  rights to his plays  only licensed them for  year periods  and it appeared that with rapidly evolving sound technology making     films look primitive only a few years later  shaw did not renew the license to show it . consequently  we  re immensely in the bbc  s debt for finally putting out their     broadcast version in a dvd box with nine other sparkling plays .  somewhat sadly  pygmalion  that many view as shaw  s best  comes off least well on this set in a production with lynn redgrave and james villiers .   br    br   even paired  as it is on its dvd  with the less impressive one act  a man of destiny  arms and the man makes for a real treasure .  br    br   helena bonham carter went on  after cutting her teeth on televised roles like this  to a major film career that will bring many viewers to this early role . they should not be disappointed  for ms . carter gives a performance in line with the layered innocence audiences have come to expect from her  but under james cellan jones  somewhat pedestrian direction  and despite the bbc  s uniformly beautiful and well observed physical production   the role  s mischievous fire  and her outrage at being underestimated in the last act  is banked at only about    of it  s potential .  br    br   much the same can be said of the real star of the piece  pip torrens  as bluntschli the  switzer .  it  s a fine  appealing performance  but doesn  t go for the physical comedy implicit in the early scene where the young soldier can barely stay awake despite his mortal peril .  br    br   these reservations notwithstanding  this is a solid production of a wonderful play transferred to the small screen with aplomb . it deserves to be seen widely and  ideally  prompt an even livelier big screen remake with the style and zest of the recent remake of wilde  s an ideal husband . virtually any arms and the man is to be cherished  and with a lot of luck perhaps we  ll even eventually get to see the original     version .  till one or the other surfaces  this production will please anyone who loves good shaw .  
unentertaining  uninvolving hybrid of  cruel intentions  and  wild things   but it isn  t nearly as good as either of those trash min  classics . it  s about the acting sheriff  artie  taye diggs  being called in to investigate a near  fatal drug overdose at a posh upper  class univesity  but to keep it on the down low . as he digs deeper he thinks it  s much more than it at first glance seems to be . we follow alicia  the girl who overdosed in flashbacks as well . at about   minutes  if this film was welcomed to begin with  it would have worn it out . this film brings absolutely nothing new to the table . but it is the only movie thus far that has miss swain topless so the grade is higher just for that .  br    br   my grade d  br    br   eye candy dominique swain gets topless  fixing a mistake of  happy campers    another girl is topless  br    br   anti  eye candy more men ass than girl tit  
methinks the best screen version of quo vadis  ever made . well  yeah  the plot is not so strong and evident as in the book  sometimes meandering and loosing its suspense among aesthetic subtleties . but the film is really and beautifully  strange   has an enigma and style  that other versions  with r . taylor and the new one from poland  definitely lack . it has the air of roman decadence  the beauty of declining paganism and infant christianity . at least i believe it has  . brandauer  forrest and syudov did excellent job in portraying their characters . forrest  s petronius seems to be the biggest success of the cast  let alone brandauer who is the one of the greatest actors ever  and accumulates the very essence of this dying world  imho  . that  s it . that is the way it happened  guys . . .    imho  
  new best friend  is another entry in the  steal another woman  s life  sub  genre the best of which are  single white female  and  the hand that rocks the cradle   the worse of which you can catch almost any afternoon on the lifetime channel . for some reason this type of identity theft happens exclusively to women .  br    br   there are just two basic ways to play this type of story . you can make the woman evil at the beginning and let the audience watch knowingly as she hatches and implements her evil scheme . or you use misdirection to make her appear a good person  as a seemingly unplanned series of events break in her favor until she is revealed to be evil in the climatic scene . unfortunately the makers of  new best friend  could not decide how they wanted to play it and things crash and burn early . we first meet alicia  mia kirshner  scamming the college  s financial aid office for scholarship money . we now know that she is a bad person and will view all her subsequent activity with suspicion . but the director and editor apparently forgot that this revelation had been made and spend the next   minutes laying misdirection to make us think that alicia is a good person . this introduces the only element of suspense  not about whether she is evil but about when the director and editor will wise up and stop wasting our time with transparent misdirection .  br    br    new best friend  suffers more than most from the teen movie curse of a cast too old to be portraying undergraduate students . there are really only two big parts  hadley  meredith monroe  and alicia  kirshner  . they were   and   respectively at the time of the production . it almost works for the   year  old kirshner when she plays the mousy version of alicia but it becomes glaring when she is transformed into the glamed  up version of alicia . monroe  s casting is simply a joke  about like having nicholette sheridan try to pass as a classmate on  lizzie mcgwire  . she looks much closer to a mid  life crisis than to a term paper .  br    br   the producers must have owed a lot of favors because this age issue extends to most of the supporting characters . taye diggs who plays the town sheriff is younger than most of the students .  br    br   the basic setup is that hadley and two other rich party girls  played by dominque swain  age   and rachel true  age    are undergrad roommates at college . they share  as their student residence  a mansion that is nicer and better furnished than the mansion on real world  new orleans  a premise more believable than soccer moms playing students  . alicia moves into the mansion and begins to take over hadley  s life . at least that way swain finally gets a roommate from her own generation so the two can have a lesbian scene . swain  s supporting performance is the only good thing about  new best friend  and her love scene with kirshner is fantastic  so cool and artsy that it doesn  t fit with any of the other segments  maybe it was subcontracted out to a good director and cinematographer .  br    br   the unintentionally hilarious story is presented in a series of dreary flashbacks of rampant sex and nonstop parties  each proceeded by a shot of a comatose alicia in a hospital bed . about half of kirshner  s screen time is spent lying motionless with a tube in her mouth . not a good career move mia .  br    br   then again  what do i know  i  m only a child .  
la maman et la putain has to be watched as a movie that is both related to the time it was released  post     and eternal in many respects . true  the actors don  t  act  . . . true  they talk a lot . . . but what they talk about is just what makes life worth living . . . or dying . the very long monologue spoken by franoise lebrun is perhaps the most accurate and moving text that was ever written about womanhood  manhood and love . not easy to translate accurately  though . this movie is a statement about the difficulty of being a man and a woman  or two women in this case  . and imho  jean pierre laud is one of the greatest french actors .  
prom night        br    br   directed by nelson mccormick  br    br   starring brittany snow  scott porter  jessica stroup  and dana davis  br    br   plot three years ago  donna  brittany snow  witnessed the death of her entire family at the hands of her teacher  jonathan schaech  who has a bit of a crush on her . now  she is preparing for her senior prom with her stupid annoying friends . once there  they start dying one by one because the killer escaped from prison and no one bothered to warn donna because apparently her prom is too important to interrupt .  br    br   pros i got a few good laughs out of the film due to the terrible dialog and the dumb character moves .  br    br   an example  br    br   everyone decides not to tell donna that the man who is oddly obsessed with her  she doesn  t seem that great  has escaped from prison . their reason they don  t want to embarrass her in front of all her friends . lol  br    br   cons let me start off by saying i  m a huge slasher fan . usually i can have fun with even the bad ones . i even like some pg    horror films . tourist trap        one of my favorites  was originally rated pg . i also enjoy poltergeist       and the grudge       . so the fact that this is a dumb slasher film that is rated pg    does not have anything to do with me not enjoying the movie .  br    br   first of all  i had a big problem with the story . i like slasher films that don  t even have stories . at least they can be entertaining . this is about a teacher who falls in love with his student  so he kills her entire family . a few years later  he tries to make it up to her by ruining her prom and killing all of her friends . . .  then there were subplots that i doubt anyone cared about . claire  jessica stroup  is fighting with her boyfriend  she has cramps  and i couldn  t care less . this should have been a lifetime feature  not a remake of prom night .  br    br   and then . . . this is a slasher film with terrible death scenes . i don  t even care that it  s not that gory  some of my favorite slashers  halloween  curtains  the original prom night  were not that gory but they still had effective murders . here  we have half the characters dying in the same hotel room off screen  a woman being stabbed several times with no stab wounds  and a closeup on a bad actor  s face as he screams in agony . i  m sure that   year  old girls were terrified  but not me .  br    br   i also hated the characters . there was donna  s unrealistically sensitive boyfriend bobby  scott porter  and i can almost guarantee you will never meet a boyfriend that sensitive in your life  unless you are a gay male . then we had donna  s annoying friends claire  stroup  and lisa  dana davis   and the token mean girl chrissy  brianne davis  . if you thought the characters in death proof were annoying  try watching this movie . and don  t get me started on ronnie  collins pennie  and the dj  jay phillips  who gave me flashbacks to usher  s performance in she  s all that .  br    br   add to all that predictable plot turns  a terrible soundtrack and a big lack of respect to the original material  and you have quite a stinker .  
do not judge this production by the   hour version that was released on vhs in the us  which is a choppy and incomprehensible mess . i had the pleasure of watching the full  length   hour version available on dvd from the uk  and was spellbound . the deliberate pace and growing sense of menace are mesmerizing  as is the amazing visual and aural landscape this is an ancient rome we have never seen before  and far more authentic than most .  br    br   director franco rossi was justly celebrated for his     mini  series of the odyssey  and this mini  series is equally powerful . just as bekim fehmiu became the screen  s best ulysses  so klaus maria brandauer may be the screen  s best nero . now  i am hoping someday to see rossi  s version of the aeneid  eneide  that was broadcast on italian tv in     .  br    br   i am undecided which version of quo vadis is more powerful  this one or the polish mini  series from      each has different virtues  and in many ways they complement one another . certainly  either one towers over that hollywood camp  riot starring peter ustinov .  
not very interesting teen whodunit saved from being a turkey from some decent performances . the main cast consisting of taye diggs  mia kirshner  dominique swain and surprisingly meredith monroe are all good but the story is not very original .  
looking for quo vadis at my local video store  i found this     version that looked interesting . wow  it was amazing  very much a ken russell kind of film  quirky  stylized  very artistic  and of course  different .  nero was presented not so much as evil incarnate  but as a wacky  unfulfilled emperor who would rather have had a circus career . he probably wondered why on earth he was put in the position of  leading  an empire  it wasn  t much fun  and fun is what he longed for . klause maria bandaur had a tremendous time with this role and played it for all it was worth . yes  nero persecuted the christians with a vengeance one of many who did so . at one point one of his henchmen murmurs  no one will ever understand we were simply protecting ourselves .  he got that right .  
i rented  new best friend  hoping for a movie similar to enjoyable teen thrillers such as  gossip  and  the curve  . instead   new best friend  is much more like  the in crowd   in which there are no thrills and the acting is incredibly phony .  new best friend  is boring  and the events during the movie are the same . skip this movie . . . it  s a waste of time .  
okay  so there is a front view of a checker taxi  probably late     s model . it has the great triangular shaped headlights . there also is a desoto cab in this black and white  character driven  almost a musical love gone wrong story .  br    br   the real pleasure here is the look at     s room interiors and fashions and hotel elevators . the hair styles  male and female are gorgeous . if dolly parton had victor mature  s hair she could have made it big . there is an artist loft that would be the envy of every andy warhol wannabe .  br    br   if you watch this expecting a great casablanca storyline or sound of music oom  pah  pah  you will be disappointed . there is a nice little story beneath the runway model approach in this film .  br    br   my copy on dvd with another movie for   was very viewable . the title sequence was cute but not up there with mad  mad  mad  mad world or the pink panther . this was an rko movie but it did not have the nice airplane logo that rko used to use .  br    br   i liked victor mature in one million  b . c .  and sampson and delilah and especially in violent saturday . see if you can find that one . he was wonderful in the comedy with peter sellers called caccia alla volpe or after the fox .  br    br   richard carlson went on to do i led three lives on tv in the early     s .  br    br   vic mature was offered the part of sampson  s father in the remake of sampson and delilah . he supposedly was asked if he would have any problems playing the part of the father since he was so well known as sampson . victor replied   if the money is right  i  ll play sampson  s mother .   br    br   tom willett  
geez  another lifetime movie  but once again isn  t exactly the worst movie in the world  but far from the best . i think the main problem is that it  s pretty obvious who is responsible for what  and it  s generally fairly predictable . worse yet  some of the flashbacks ended up being confusing  and the viewer is left wondering  okay  how much am i supposed to care   one thing i did like is that the movie goes to show you that it  s never that simple as  the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad   and sometimes it is evil vs evil rather than good vs evil . hadley didn  t do what she did out of a sense of justice  she did it because she considered herself entitled to a job for being family  and to eliminate the competition . as for alicia  it simply proves that a victim isn  t always a good person . some of them really do  have it coming   even if  it  was a painful  horrible death .  the burning bed  is a great example of this  but the difference is that the vile man in  the burning bed  got exactly what he deserved . but  did alicia  have it coming   some will say that she did  but others don  t agree  and the law generally doesn  t either .  br    br   as for acting  it  s a mixed bag . some do a good job  like mia  but others just came across as indifferent to their roles . they were mostly wooden or simply not convincing . the music was pretty cool though and some of the scenes are nice and steamy  especially if you like girl  girl action . the movie isn  t badly shot at all  but given its glaring weaknesses  the strengths are in background  unfortunately .  br    br   i  ve heard rumors of a sequel  but given the years  i doubt it  ll happen . but  i wouldn  t be surprised if a sequel suddenly appeared . if alicia is as evil  conniving and horrible as people say  then i don  t think she  ll be thinking   yay  i woke up from a coma  oh  hadley was responsible  oh  that  s okay  i totally forgive her and want the charges dropped   no way hadley would be in jail for long anyway  if she even does any time since no murder actually happened .  br    br   anyway  worth checking out at least once   
this long episode packs amount of astounding of surprises  thriller  mystery and concerns about a battle of wits of sherlock against charles augustus milverton  a master blackmailer . this is an excellent overlong runtime of jeremy brett  holmes series . in the film appear usual holmes  s cannon as inspector lestrade and mrs hudson  though no moriarty  however is a greatest villain  charles augustus .  br    br   it  s a genuine ripping yarn with intrigue  thrills  and suspense  including an exciting final twist . this is a particular sherlock movie but we find to holmes falling in love with a servant  kissing  crying and even robbing . this time along with the episode scandal in boheme with irene adler  result to be the only one which holmes is enamored . top  notch brett performance  he alongside peter cushing are the best sherlock tv  while in the cinema is forever basil rathbone . brett performs as a resolutive  headstrong  impetuous sleuth . here doctor watson isn  t a comic  botcher  and clumsy pal personified by nigel bruce  but is an astute and cunning partner well incarnated by edward hardwicke  a perfect counterpoint of brett . casting is frankly magnificent  special mention to robert hardy as astute nasty . hardy  today famous by role as cornelius fudge in harry potter  is a veteran actor with forty years of career and with several success such as  the   th kingdom and winston churchill . furthermore appear secondaries actors with terrific performances  nickolas grace  sophie gordon  serena gordon  among others . the movie gets a colorful atmosphere  the london streets and    baker street  s house are well designed . the motion picture is well directed by peter hammond  director of various episodes . it  s a must see for the arthur conan doyle fans .  
interesting idea and storyline which didn  t quite work .  br    br   when you see the film  maybe you will feel as dissatisfied with the ending as i did . i didn  t really know who to root for in the movie  taye diggs looked bored as the detective  the rest of the characters seem so one  dimensional and unpleasant .  br    br   if the victim alicia  mia kirschner  had been more of a nice girl  we might actually have enjoyed seeing the plot unfold and the perpetrator brought to justice . the problem was that she was as bitchy as the other girls  turning from sweet girl to conniving opportunistic cokehead . i can  t understand the moral message of this film  and as a detective story and thriller it doesn  t work .  
doyle had never wanted to resurrect holmes from his joint death with professor moriarty in the adventure of the final problem . however  financial considerations made him willing  in      to write the hound of the baskervilles  which is still considered his best holmes  novel and possibly his best novel . but it was a  memoir  of the great detective  written before his death . only a greater outcry from his public led doyle to fully resurrect holmes in the adventure of the empty house  published in     .  br    br   it is not that the new short stories  and the last novel  are really bad . maybe three of the stories are really terrible  but even the terrible ones are very readable . several of the later ones  like the adventure of the solitary cyclist  are really very good . but the unevenness of production  in particularly after the stories in his last bow        become increasingly apparent . he repeats past story lines  and he shows really negative aspects of holmes . in the story the adventure of the three gables holmes shows a sneering sarcasm at a character who is of african ancestry .  br    br   spoiler coming up  br    br   the adventure of charles augustus milverton deals with holmes trying to recover compromising letters from milverton  a hugely successful blackmailer . it is an interesting example of how doyle could make a highly readable story with a minimum of plot for there is little real detective work in the tale . holmes is hired to try to negotiate with milverton regarding the purchase of the letters  but to get them back no matter what  milverton proves not only unwilling to consider a smaller amount for the papers but prepared to protect himself from holmes attempting a search of his person . later we learn holmes has gotten into the household of milverton by romancing a maid while disguised . at the end holmes goes with watson to burglarize milverton  s home . he and watson are in the house when they find that milverton is awaiting some new business deal in his study  someone with information that milverton can use  . carefully hiding  holmes and watson watch as a woman comes in  who turns out to be a victim of collateral damage from milverton  s past activities  and who shoots the blackmailer to death . holmes and watson are able to set fire to milverton  s collection of compromising documents before fleeing the house  and subsequently discover  for themselves  the identity of the woman . the police  under lestrade  don  t discover who the two mysterious men seen running from milverton  s home are  and they are so disgusted by milverton  s activities  they never were able to bring anything home against him  that it is obvious the murder will never be solved .  br    br   the tale is not one of the fascinating ones with real detective work involved like the adventure of the speckled band or silver blaze . it is a tale of mood and late action  the issue being will holmes and watson get the papers or will they be caught by milverton  it is not one of the best stories  but it is in the bulk of the tales as being really well told and interesting .  br    br   at the time he wrote charles augustus milverton  conan doyle had an experience with the police regarding his sometimes activities as a highly respected amateur detective  crusader . an artist was found murdered in his studio in london  and conan doyle began writing his opinions about how the killing was committed . then he stopped  apparently warned by his friends at scotland yard that the murder did not bare looking into . the victim had been a homosexual  and the police were certain that it was a lover  s spat gone horribly wrong . for the sake of the family of the victim  this was in      doyle dropped his interest in the case . so he was aware that sometimes the british police behaved with restraint on matters that did not seem to justify their full probing  as lestrade  s restraint towards whoever did kill the villainous milverton in the story .  br    br   given the description of the story it could have been told in the normal hour long version of the series . but the teleplay for the master blackmailer spent some time showing the horrible dilemma milverton  s victims  in victorian  edwardian england  faced . we see a promising young aristocratic army officer kill himself when faced with a homosexual exposure because of milverton  s extravagant demands  all at the start of the teleplay . and it is not only homosexuals . men and women of good reputation in heterosexual marriages could be smeared by uncovering illegitimate children or past indiscreet relationships . indeed  in the story  the woman who kills milverton is avenging the destruction of her husband  a prominent nobleman  destroyed by the blackmailer .  br    br   milverton is well played at his most poisonous blandness by that fine actor robert hardy  who even when confronted by the unexpected furies he has unleashed is totally unperturbed  he looks like he will just have the angry woman showed out of his home in a moment  . brett and hardwicke do quite well in their holmes and watson roles  as to be expected .  br    br   how serious was the loss of character by rumor or innuendo in      in     one of the heroes of the various imperial wars  and the leader of the last victorious charge at the battle of omdurman that destroyed the mahdist army  see four feathers  was sir hector macdonald . he was governor of ceylon in     when he suddenly  unexpectedly resigned . sir hector returned to london  and shot himself in a hotel while awaiting some sort of hearing . it later came out that  fighting mac   frequently considered the most popular army commander in britain  had been caught having sleeping arrangements with native boys . milverton would have eaten him up very quickly . . . or his real life counterparts would have .  
being the only movie i was able to see at this year  s  nordische filmtage  at lbeck  this year  s festival will be remembered as a all  time low for me .  br    br   this movie  which was announced as an erotic thriller  is nothing more than a sick piece of crap  excuse the language  but there aren  t any decent words to describe it .  br    br   first of all  the actors are not the best . but even better actors would not have rescued the movie . e . g . the plot after the first   minutes it was quite clear that john was sick  the neighbour girls were not real and that he killed his first girlfriend . the so called  sex  scene  was nothing else but disgusting  hitting each other until blood flows for me hasn  t anything to do with sexuality   but unfortunately that were not the only disgusting images to be shown . everything else was copied by other directors like e . g . lynch  but of course without their geniality .  br    br   so  to summarize the whole film and to save other viewers time and money guy loses girlfriend  girlfriend turns back home  guy kills girlfriend and becomes mad afterwards  guy imagines hot  but crazy neighbour girls  guy has very disgusting sex with one of them  or so he thinks   in the end he realizes  he is crazy and his girlfriend and her new lover lay in his apartment all the time . . . bad story  bad actors  pictures  that make you want to vomit . . .  br    br    out of     point for the fact  that you realize how good you can understand norwegian if you learned swedish  at least one benefit of the evening  and you can  t choose  points here  .  
after seeing jeremy brett as sherlock holmes  no actor should ever display such conceit as to imagine that he could ever come close to mr . brett  s portrayal of  one of the most interesting characters in literature  . jeremy brett is sherlock holmes and in my opinion there can be no other . the great actor basil rathbone is  i must admit  a close second but  is still second . one might make the argument that mr . rathbone  s screenplays were inferior to the absolutely top notch productions afforded mr . brett and to this i would agree . however when all is said and done jeremy brett will always and forever be the only actor to truly  become  sherlock holmes . the book should be closed on this subject and we  the public  left to enjoy mr . brett  s unique performances .  br    br   bill rogers  br    br    sonarman   yahoo . com   
in reviewing this film i can only go by my experiences as a weekend warrior doing my basic training in july  august  and september of     in that garden spot of the earth  fort polk  louisiana . take the high ground was not anything like i remember basic training .  br    br   but one has to remember at the time this was post korea which ended in a stalemate  but it was a conventional war as we knew them . it was not vietnam  a jungle guerrilla war where we kept pouring draftees into an endless pit . the draft at that time was an unwelcome  but accepted as still necessary for the country  s defense .  br    br   richard widmark is a veteran of korea now assigned state side to train the troops to go overseas . the film is about one of his training cycles and the men of the platoon he has to train . they  re the usual kind you would find in just about any war film from the previous decade .  br    br   one thing i will praise take the high ground for is the fact that mgm recognized our army was now an integrated one with the presence of william hazard as a black recruit in the platoon . it was in keeping with the spirit of the times which were a changing .  br    br   but i will say that a recruit like russ tamblyn would have been cured of his smart mouth from day one . richard widmark would have not risked death or becoming a eunuch in order to give jerome courtland confidence with a weapon . and no way would have he worried so much about robert arthur deserting . he  s have just let the mps deal with him .  br    br   of course being shot in and around fort bliss and el paso  texas did give take the high ground good authenticity . but view it as an army recruiting film and you can certainly understand why the government so eagerly gave cooperation back in the day .  br    br   i do remember the drill sergeants having their little conflicts which you could pick up on when you weren  t worried about them getting on your case for something which was    of the time . but there ain  t no way that karl malden would have slugged widmark out in the open during training in front of several witnesses among the recruits . both would have realized that would have undermined authority  something the military just doesn  t let happen .  br    br   i wish i could have said something better about take the high ground because i certainly like its talented cast  it  s talented director richard brooks  even the silly theme by dimitri tiomkin and ned washington  fresh from their oscar a year before for high noon . the film actually got an oscar nomination for best screenplay and story by millard kaufman . it must have been for kaufman  s vivid imagination .  
jeremy brett is simply the best holmes ever  narrowly edging out the great basil rathbone of course  and this is probably the best adaptation of a conon  doyle short story .  br    br   a length adaptation includes some new plot strands that fit in well to the surrounding drama and heightens the hatred one feels for milverton .  br    br   excellent performances all round  especially from robert hardy  and both brett and hardwick fully rounded and comfortable in their roles makes this a superb piece of drama .  
if you appreciate the renaissance in asian horror  don  t bother with gawi . the film scarcely deserves mention alongside a  list work such as ringu  a tale of two sisters  cure  and ju  on  or even such good material as the eye or inner senses  . those films brim with subtleties  unexpected imagery  rich characters  and a decidedly non  western take on what  s frightening . gawi is strung together with the leftover limbs and organs of everything that has made american horror lousy for the past twenty  five years .  br    br   the film tries to blend asian ghost story and hollywood slasher flick  but it  s a bad fit . one aesthetic is bound to smother the other guess which  having no story of their own to tell the filmmakers loot ringu for an evil  child subplot  but the situation is hopeless . clichs  crap characters  witless plotting  a dull ghost  ho hum .  
the master blackmailer  based off of sir arthur conan doyle  s short story   the adventure of charles augustus milverton   is the first feature length sherlock holmes story with jeremy brett that i have seen . the story is interesting and dark . the film has a somewhat dreary  sad feel to it  but it is quite entertaining  with some especially funny scenes  .  br    br   spoilers sherlock holmes and dr . watson attempt to uncover the identity of an illusive blackmailer who has been ruining some of the most prominent families of england by publishing private letters that will  in one way or another  destroy their lives . they eventually find out that he is charles augustus milverton  an  art dealer   after the few tragic consequences for victims that could not pay up . our heroes must next help lady eva blackwell  who must pay a sum that is beyond her means or else her upcoming marriage will most definitely be called off . the scene in which holmes and watson burglarize milverton  s house are intense . although the film has an essentially happy ending  the tone is sad and regretful .  br    br   outstanding performances by jeremy brett and edward hardwicke  as usual   and robert hardy as the notorious villain  most audiences probably recognize him today as cornelius fudge in harry potter   serena gordon as lady eva blackwell  norma west as lady swinstead and sophie thomson as agatha  the scenes involving her and holmes are a riot  . i give it a     out  . my only complaint is that there wasn  t enough inspector lestrade .  i wish they would have added in the scene at the end of the short story where he gives the description of the two burglars  one of which matches watson .   
we see a body of dead girl in a morgue with the coroner trying to close the eyes of the girl  but whatever he tries they won  t stay open . after this we move into the future and we follow a group of former school friends who hide a terrible secret  but suddenly they start getting picked off one by one in many grisly ways . through flashbacks we learn of this awful suicide of a shy girl who was trying to be one of the group  but she was shut out by them because they dug up her past and found out some weird occurrences . so  is she back from the grave seeking revenge   br    br   oh what a great and always spooky story  well  that  s what i hoping i could say . and  hoping  was as good as it got . this is an forgettable  so  so supernatural horror flick that i actually watched before  but i went in thinking it was my first viewing . so to my surprise it hit me when i started picking up on certain things  but like i said it  s quite a forgettable mix that it felt like a first viewing again .  nightmare  is just another type of it  s field that adds a  few  changes to the gruel . oh  please give me something that  s a bit more fresh . it doesn  t have to be entirely original  but this is one formulaic and at times quite tired j  horror flick . even though it strings along the usual ghost story involving you guessed right an evil looking  vengeful chick spirit .  br    br   but in spite of my negativity of it being the same old  same old story and jolts . this one kind of entertains when its being grisly and popping in some creepy visuals . the deaths are vividly displayed with bite and some originality . while  the gloomy atmosphere alienates the audience with it  s murky lighting . the first scene involving the spirit terrorising one of the girls is one blood  curdling experience  but really when it  s not trying to shock you . i found it rather coma inducing and i thought about getting some shut  eye . that might be harsh  but it just didn  t go anywhere of any interest between those shock moments . you could say that because the supposed mystery is really not much of one  the unsure story is just simply flat and the characters are a self  centred bunch that you don  t really care what happens to them . the disjointed story should have focused more on the spirit than that of these bland characters who have one unconvincing group relationship . it just overplayed its cards by becoming overly muddled and taking too long to get going that when it comes to the climax it  s just plain ludicrous . the film  s haunting ending is a high point  though .  br    br   the film looks fine  although it could have done without the snazzy  quick fire editing and the music score was a bit overbearing in playing up the mood . the performances tread a fine line  but gyu  ri kim is strong in the lead role .  br    br   it  s nothing new and it shamelessly steals ideas  but if you can look past that it delivers some nasty thrills . although  i found the handling of it rather lethargic  despite the odd effective chills . a standard effort all round i guess  but still it  s equally missable .  
after viewing several episodes of this series  i have come to the conclusion that television producers are completely devoid of any form of originality . here is an old science fiction standby  ingeniously wrapped in the form of a truly original concept  and still they can only  almost  make it work .  br    br   the dialog is good  the male actors are reasonably proficient at their professions . most of the characters are well drawn  with special kudos to the hero and his more than likeable side  kick . and most of the episode plots come across as palatable . so what could be wrong  how about the  the female characters and the cosmeticly perfect actresses who are chosen to portray them .  br    br   the producers insist on portraying the female characters in this  almost good  series  in a manner that makes the end product appear to be a misplaced cheerleader . why  i ask  why   br    br   the episodes all fall flat whenever the female guest star or recurring character comes on screen . these actresses are all totally unbelievable in their roles  and you don  t actually have to see them to know they are incapable of their acting assignments . a blind person could tell . just listen to them talk . they deliver their dialog with all the drama and effect of a   year old at the high school prom . who would believe these women are phd scientist  senators  corporate executives and medical doctors   br    br   in a nut shell  if the producers have their choice of a stockard channing or a morgan fairchild  guess who they  ll choose  every time  and of course  the series suffers for it . too bad   
the following are some of the most blaring problems with this movie   clichs abound . seriously  awful  twists  are everywhere .  br    br     the narrative jumps around in time  which would be fine if done well  but it  s not .  br    br     lame characters that don  t develop so much as either remain utterly static  or drastically change for no good reason .  br    br     big one horrible acting . over the top from nearly every person .  br    br   the following are some of the best points from the movie   the lead is damn good looking .  br    br   as i see it  there are only two kinds of people who would be into this movie a  people who can sit through   minutes of tripe simply because the lead is attractive .  br    br   b  people who often think to themselves   i like hollywood dreck rife with clichs and overacting  but if only i could watch it in korean . . .  there  s a lot of good korean cinema out there  so why waste your time with garbage   
i loved this show from it  s first airing  and i always looked forward to watching each episode every week . the plot  characters  writing  special affects were outstanding  then the sci  fi channel screwed up yet again and canceled a very entertaining  well written show . i say bring it back  i know all of the actors would come back . i would suggest buying the dvd  s  i am . i hope the sci  fi channels executives get word of these comments  and realize that they need to be more involved with their viewers . i only watch one show on that channel now   ghost hunters   but i am fairly sure that shortly they will cancel that too .  
i  m afraid that i didn  t like this movie very much . apart from a few saving graces  it  s nothing to write home about .  br    br   j  horror has boomed for the last five  six years but the films themselves have on more than one account been repetitive and carbon copies of a previous success . this is one of them .  br    br   basically this is a supernatural slasher movie . the beginning is promising with chilling scenes from a morgue where a dead girl has her eyes graphically sewn together  but soon after opens them . however  after that  it  s quickly downhill for this flick .  br    br   to be kind i will start with the things i like about  gawi  . on the plus side  the visuals are gaudy and the movie looks great for it  s type . for those who like their horror movies gory there are a few nicely executed  no pun intended  murder scenes . we also get a few good suspense sequences  set  pieces .  br    br   however  there are quite a few drawbacks also . . .  br    br   first of all  and my major complaint about this movie  is that the plot skips and jumps forwards and backwards in time with an alarming intensity . usually that  s not a problem for me  but here  where the students look exactly the same no matter what age they are  i was confused on more than one occasion .  br    br   the performances are okay i guess  a little hard to tell when you don  t know the language   but seem a little stiff . and for a horror movie  i don  t think it was scary enough . for a while i was quite bored actually .  br    br   being a fan of giallo movies  i was expecting quite a lot from  nightmare   but unfortunately i was quite disappointed .  
it is not an easy film to watch  it is over three and a half hours long and it is composed entirely of conversations . yet it is so incredibly compelling and ruthlessly observational of the human character  that it is  in my humble opinion  one of the very greatest films of all time .  br    br   the film is depressing  cynical and cruel .  if you want something uplifting  see jacques rivette  s fantastic cline and julie go boating  which was made around the same time  . it shows the idealism of the late     s to be nothing different from the society that it was trying to change .  br    br   it involves a supposedly liberated mnage    trois between alexandre  played by jean  pierre leaud   marie  bernadette lafont  and veronika  francoise lebrun  . yet alexandre is shown to be as chauvinistic and jealous as any other man . the women are exposed as being willingly subservient and defining their femininity through the male gaze .  br    br   the film is an extremely icy end to the highly revolutionary french new wave . this movement was one of the most significant movements in film history and had a profound effect on cinema as we know it . jean  pierre leaud was one of the key actors of the new wave  having starred  among other films  in the influential les quatres cent coups       by francois truffaut as a rebellious teenager . director jean eustache is not as well known as other directors from the new wave  but he should be .  br    br   there is no improvisation  unlike in john cassavetes  s similar films made in the us  and the dialogue comes from real  life conversations . the film is resonant with eustache  s personal experiences . for example  francoise lebrun was a former lover of eustache . eustache himself committed suicide in     and the real  life person that the character marie was based on  did too . the anger and bitterness all culminate in a harrowing monologue by veronika delivered directly to the audience  breaking down the coldly objective nature of the rest of the film . this mesmerising  personal  and honest filmic statement remains one of the most revealing films of human nature around .  
i wish i could give this movie a zero out of ten . before going to this movie the day after it came out  i came on imdb to check out the comments . a comment called the movie predictable and cheesy with terrible dialog . i never go by other people  s opinions  so i wasted seven dollars for this crap movie . it had to be one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen .  br    br   the person who wrote the script should be pushed off a cliff . since when do scary movies have sappy scenes  i swear  i  m amazed there weren  t any group hug    moments .  br    br   i think i jumped . once . and that  s because i zoned out  thinking about my research paper for english . the clichd  birds  cat popping out of nowhere thing when you thought something was gonna happen .  br    br   and the characters were stupid . my friend and i almost died laughing when the alarm went off and the main character said   i have to get my mom  s shawl     you . idiot . screw the shawl  safety is just a few steps away  but no  my mom  s shawl  that didn  t match the dress by the way  is wayyyy more important than my health and safety . and to top it all off  they take her back to her house  knowing that the killer knew where she lived . god .  br    br   my friend and i also predicted the entire movie . and not just the  i bet he  s hiding under the bed  moments . it was the   he stole the bellhop  s clothes and sneaked out of the hotel  and  it  s the detective coming down the hallway  not the killer   moments . movies should never be this predictable . disney movies aren  t even this predictable .  br    br   i  m gonna complete my rant now by saying  this was a terrible movie . i  m glad i went to see it in theaters so i wouldn  t buy it for    .   and then hate it . it was just bad . it would  ve been better if only one thing would  ve happened . if  after being shot by the detective  the killer would have fallen down in the same position he got shot in . knife in hand  falling and stabbing the girl on his way down . oh  how lovely that would  ve been .  br    br   don  t waste your time or money . go see a good movie .  
intelligent  wry  and thrilling   the invisible man  stood out in     among sci  fi  s usual lineup  balancing out  farscape   s fantastical art direction and sometimes melodramatic script with gritty  cynical plots and modern noir dialogue . the show sat between  law and order  and  doctor who  on the believability meter  but there was no denying the fact that  i  man   s characters went beyond caricature . even characters that verged on predictability like the keeper  the official  and eberts were given reprieves from the formulaic . paul ben  victor and vincent ventresca had a chemistry that evolved and shifted elegantly  made even more remarkable by the revolving door team of writers and directors . the effects are never allowed to overwhelm the plot  and the science only sometimes verged on the totally unbelievable . the show  s low points are still entertaining  and i  ve never seen such taut pilot episodes . matt greenberg and sci  fi should be commended  and fans have the right to demand a comprehensive dvd edition of the show . every time i come across a marathon of  hercules the legendary journeys  on sci  fi  i roll my eyes and sigh  mourning the excitement and possibility of science fiction television that  invisible man  and its ilk represented .  
the reviews i read for this movie were pretty decent so i decided to check it out . bad idea  this is another movie about a ghost out for revenge against a group friends . the story is stupid  mix two parts ringu with one part prom night  a sprinkle of i know what you did last summer  and add a tiny dash of single white female  now blend until completely nonsensical . there is nothing new to this plot  and revisiting the clichs i  ve grown so fond of wasn  t even entertaining this time . this movie jumps to and from the past too much  and once i made sense of it all i realized it still didn  t make much sense . characters go from sane to psycho killer in the blink of an eye . speaking of characters  they are all your stereotypical favorites  the greedy selfish lawyer  the egocentric actress  the has  been baseball star  the video voyeur  the bitter girl  the spooky quiet chick  the  nicer  than  nice  nice girl  a freakin  black cat . . . and i didn  t care about any of them . perhaps a better writer could have made the movie work  there were some decent scenes in it  but overall this movie was a mess . i should also mention a certain  video tape  that would have been impossible to shoot .  br    br   this movie isn  t the worst asian horror has to offer by far  but it is still pretty bad . if you just want to see some creepy images in the dark  or just want to laugh out loud at some over the top acting  or just want to yell  you  re stupid   at a movie screen  or just want to have another asian horror flick up your sleeve when someone asks you how many you  ve seen  this movie is for you .  br    br   those seeking a decent plot look elsewhere .  
the invisible man is a show everybody s gotta love  it reminds me of the old school    s series  a  team  airwolf  knightrider  the special effects are small but very effective   but what is most important is the fun they had shooting this series . it really shows  the entire cast fit perfect in there roles and it looks like they can do whatever they want   especially paul ben victor and vincent ventresca . ventresca really shines in this one  for me its unbelievable that an actor with so much sarcasm is his acting style doesn  t get a shot in a big movie  mr tarantino this was the show you should have directed  instead of that major boring grave danger  c . s . i   get this show if you can . well worth it     
that  s the sound of stan and ollie spinning in their graves .  br    br   i won  t bother listing the fundamental flaws of this movie as they  re so obvious they go without saying . small things  like this being  the all new adventures of laurel and hardy  despite the stars being dead for over thirty years when it was made . little things like that .  br    br   a bad idea would be to have actors playing buffoons whom just happen to be called laurel and hardy . as bad as that is  it might have worked . for a really bad idea  try casting two actors to impersonate the duo . okay  they might claim to be nephews  but the end result is the same .  br    br   bronson pinchot can be funny . okay  forget his wacky foreigner  cousin larry  schtick in perfect strangers  and look at him in true romance . here though  he stinks . it  s probably not all his fault  and  like the director and the support cast  all of who are better than the material  he was probably just desperate for money . there are those who claim americans find it difficult to master an effective english accent . this cause is not helped here by pinchot . what is stan  welsh  iranian  pakistani  only in stan  s trademark yelp does he come close  though as the yelp is overdone to the point of tedium that  s nothing to write home about . gailard sartain does slightly better as ollie  though it  s like saying what  s worse  stepping in dog dirt or a kick in the knackers   br    br   remember the originals with their split  second timing  intuitive teamwork and innate loveability  well that  s absent altogether  replaced with two stupid old men and jokes so mistimed you could park a bus through the gaps . whereas the originals had plots that could be summed up in a couple of panels  this one has some long  winded mummy hokum  and what a lousy title   that  s mixed in with the boys  fraternity scenario . i can  t claim to have seen every single one of laurel and hardy  s    movies  but i think it  s a safe bet that even their nadir was leagues ahead of this .  br    br   maybe the major problem is that the originals were sort  of playing themselves  or at least using their own accents . it at least felt natural and unforced  as opposed to the contrived caricatures pinchot and sartain are given . and since when did stan do malapropisms  and so many at that   i was gonna give you a standing cremation    i would like to marinate my friend .  stop it   br    br   only notable moment is a reference to bozo the clown  the cartoon character who shared larry harmon  s l  h comic . harmon of course bought the name copyright  how disconcerting to see a  after laurel and hardy  and was co  director and producer of this travesty .  br    br   questions abound . would stan and ollie do fart gags if they were alive today  would they glass mummies with broken bottles  have stan being smacked in the genitals with a spear and end on a big cgi  finale  let  s hope not .  br    br   i did laugh once  but i think that was just in disbelief at how terrible it all is . why was this film made in the first place  who did the makers think would like it  possibly the worst movie i  ve ever seen  an absolute abhorrence i grew sick of watching after just the first five minutes . about as much fun as having your head trapped in a vice while a red  hot poker and stinging nettles are forcibly inserted up your back passage .  
i have not seen this movie  but i must . having read all three of thor heyerdahl  s books  kon tiki  ra and aku aku  i am actively looking for a copy of this movie .  br    br   the thesis that peruvians migrated to polynesia is alive and well . considering that this crew had no gps  and only an old fashioned valve  tube  radio with a   watt output  their voyage was heroic to say the least .  br    br   please reply to this message if you can tell me the location of a copy of this video .  br    br   i would be interested in buying it .  
brief summary this movie demeans everyone it touches . that means you .  br    br   first off  let me say i  m not a purist  and this might have been funny for a few minutes . the impersonations are not bad . but overall it  s just dull and excruciatingly not funny . a few simple jokes are repeated over and over again .  br    br   it  s clear that this movies only exists to squeeze the last few dollars out of the now  trademarked laurel and hardy . the producers cannot have any real regard for their place in film history  or their talents . this is what offended me the most .  br    br   of course  my daughter liked it  so i  m also a failure as a parent    
i have watched this film twice now and think its quite good for the limited equipment used to create this film .  filmed in      dr . heyerdahl explains his theory about the migration of south american pre  colubian indians to the polynesia  s islands by way raft fell of large balsa trees . this documentary follows dr . heyerdahl and crew as they select balsa trees in equidor and float with them down river to the pacific for assembly in peru . they launch off on a    day sea adventure testing the strength of their primitive raft surviving only by means available to natives of that era . see for yourself  a real adventure   
even if it were remotely funny  this mouldy waxwork of a film would still be soberingly disrespectful . stopping just short of digging up the boys  corpses and re  enacting  weekend at bernie  s   but only just  producer larry harmon and the director of the frickin   ernest  films use holding the copyright as an excuse to crap all over stan and ollie  s legacy . gailard sartain does a fair ollie impersonation but bronson pinchot wouldn  t reach tenth place in a stan lookalike contest even if they were both spot on the film would be no less detestable . the less said about the surrounding catastrophe the better . makes  utopia  look like a dignified swan song .  
the tweedy professor  types thought they had it all figured out . today  s peoples who inhabit polynesia descended from migratory asians  intrepidly moving from the far east  island to island  eastward into tahiti and all the other exotic tropic isles of the south pacific over thousands of years . but the established thinking just didn  t sit well with young norwegian ethnographer thor heyerdahl . if that explanation were true  how come some folks born and bred in those islands have traditions  artwork  and physical features resembling not those from asia  but south america  how can the vegetation of ecuador  peru and chile look so much like what you  d find on the island several thousand miles away  is it just a coincidence that the islanders point out to sea in the direction of south america and say that is where their ancestors came from  led by tiki  their equivalent of adam  meanwhile  how is it norwegians speak of scandanavian forerunners who were chased from the south american continent they had colonized  and  together with some of the native peoples they befriended  set off over the sea   heading west  it  s all too much to be a coincidence to heyerdahl . with an amazing amount of moxie  a handful of crewmen  and the local know  how for traditional raft  building  an expedition begins . it  s as much a trip into the human imagination as it is a pseudo  scientific demonstration that such a journey is possible with only the very basics of tools and seamanship . the oscar  winning documentary may be dated in its tone and anglo  ethnocentric approach  but it soars with a spirit of adventure besting even the space program that launched a decade later  as men are willing to risk it all to test a theory they think is true . wonderful . do yourself a favor and read the book first . it is an amazing page  turner and the perfect setup for the newsreel  style movie .  
i have seen most  if not all of the laurel  hardy classic films . i have always enjoyed there comical stupidly  even after watching it over and over again . this new film attempts to bring back the classic with two new actors who resemble both laurel  hardy  however fails miserably for various reasons . one of which is how out of place their cloths are  still early   th century  however are both portrayed in the    s setting . some of the former dialogue was brought back  however it also fails miserably to come close to the classic series . this film could very well be the worst film i have ever seen and should be pulled off the shelf and locked away forever . the real laurel  hardy are surly spinning in their graves at such a bad imitation .  
i happened to borrow this movie from a friend knowing nothing about it  and it turned out to be an outstanding documentary about a journey on an ancient vessel across vast expanses of the ocean . thor heyerdahl had developed a theory that the ancient incas in peru managed to travel thousands of miles across the ocean to polynesia  based on certain relics that are found in both places  certain types of ancient sea  going vessels that we know they had available  analysis of ocean and wind currents  and the knowledge that the incas did  in fact  travel in some undetermined amount at sea .  br    br   in order to test his hypothesis  heyerdahl and his crew construct a vessel as closely as possible to what the ancient incas had available  using only balsa wood and other materials available at the time  and set out from lima  peru  s capital  to try to reach the islands of polynesia  some      miles away .  br    br   his theory  like so much about ancient history  is impossible to prove with     certainty  but the coverage of their journey provides for strong support that he is right . the film is really little more than narration of footage taken during the     day expedition  but it is a very detailed description of what it was like and the trials and tribulations that they faced . i often wish that academy award winning documentaries were easier to find  and this one from more than   years ago is still as interesting and informative as i am sure it was when it was first released .  
i put this movie on in the hotel room to entertain my children the morning we were leaving to go home  because i had packed away all their toys .  toddlers don  t like to watch  regis and kathie lee  or  the view .   my four year old found one scene funny  but told me the rest of it was  too silly .  this is a four year old  folks . anyone over the age of  say  nine will want to kill their television rather than let this one play itself out .  br    br   to say this movie is bad is like saying the holocaust was a little mistake . there are no words for how ridiculous and utterly terrible this  film  truly is . the acting is bad  the plot is stupid  and the script is pathetically unfunny . since this is supposed to be a comedy  the fact that you cannot even laugh at the badness of the movie makes it even worse . bronson  balki  pinchot is the worst with some weird fake accent  irish  pakistani  bronx  cockney  cajun as far as i could tell   but all the characters are awful . i haven  t watched a real laurel and hardy film in ages  but i know that they had to be way better than this . what is the point of ruining a classic comic duo with . . . this   br    br   bottom line derivative garbage . avoid at all costs unless you have some freaky bronson pinchot fetish .      
brazilian films often get more positive appraisals than they actually deserve . rather incredibly  contra todos  against everybody   original title  which the producers discarded god against everybody  got very low gpa  grade point average  in this website . it seems to be bluntly rejected by female spectators at large . actually  it is not so brutal . i mean as far as graphical violence is concerned . its brutality is intrinsic as it portrays would  be lumpens  i mean underdog citizens who in fact possess high  tech equipment  who coldly perform murder orders in exchange of  grana grada  . is this post  modern man  is his  her only worry a quick  almost impersonal  ultra permissive lay  amidst over satiating meals  the picture is probably the best brazilian film of      so far . its shining editing style   la godard  its curious soundtrack counterpoints  its more than efficient overall cast and  above all  its original narration  with subtle non  chronological hidden points that only come to light in the epilogue  deserve at least an  mark .  
this is the kind of film one watches in gape  jawed  horrified silence  and yet continues to watch  mesmerized  as if watching a train wreck in slow motion . and yet  in the back of your mind  thoughts are churning  who on earth green  lighted this garbage    br    br   some of the preceding user comments say things like   a good way to introduce children to laurel and hardy    an insult to children everywhere . that children would need some sort of training plan to learn to love slapstick comedy shows a profound misunderstanding of the nature of children the world over . others have commented on the faithfulness of the two stars  characterizations of laurel and hardy to which i would respond so what  one would think that the rash of movie bombs based on beloved series  rocky and bullwinkle  avengers  flipper  mod squad  ad nauseam  would have taught hollywood that there are some things that simply can  t be recreated . the films of laurel and hardy are readily available on video why bother with this   br    br   as for f . murray abraham  a fine actor of stage and screen . . . well  all i can say is  he must have been in trouble with the irs .  br    br   run  don  t walk  away from the television if this trash comes on   
we always watch american movies with their particular accents from each region  south  west  etc  . we have the same here . all foreign people must to watch this movie and need to have a open mind to accept another culture  besides american and european almost dominate the cinematographic industry .  br    br   this movie tell us about a parallel world which it isn  t figured even for those who live in a big city like so paulo . all actors are improvising and they are very realistic . the camera give us an idea of their confuse world  the loneliness of each character and invite us to share their world .  br    br   it  s a real great movie and worst a rent even have it at home .  
this is far worse than those awful laurel and hardy cartoons of the   s . they were terrible  but at least they were simple ripoffs of a then stan and ollie resurgence . new audiences had rediscovered the pair  s comedic genius and the cartoons were mind  numbing garbage geared to cash in on children  s interest . it was to be expected . but  how does one even attempt to rationalize this work of . . . i can  t even think of a word . i  m sure the makers hoped it would somehow inspire another laurel and hardy revival  but you can  t inspire interest in the past with a shallow and unfunny caricature of what made the original so appealing . the impressionists  i hesitate to call them actors  do a vegas act and that  s where it belongs . the plot is even flimsier than those used in the old days  trying to stretch out two  reel ideas for a feature . if this film was someone  s first exposure to the real laurel and hardy  i  m sure that viewer would dismiss the original duo  s reputation as senility gone amok . the only movie i hate worse than this is i spit on your grave . and  you know  these filmmmakers basically did the same thing to stan and ollie .  
i  ve seen this movie  when i was traveling in brazil . i found it difficult to really understand brazilian culture and society  because it has so many regional and class differences . to see this movie in sao paulo itself was a revelation . it shows something of the everyday life of many brazilians . on the other side  it is sometimes a little bit over  dramatized . and that  s the only negative comment i have on this film . it  s sometimes too much  too much sex  too many murders and too much cynicism for one film . the director could film some things a bit more subtle  it would make the film more effective .  br    br   despite this i liked the movie and the way the story unravels itself . the characters are complex  and very much like real  life people . not pretty american actors and actresses with a lot of cosmetics  but people who could be ugly and beautiful at the same time . that makes the film realistic  even when the story is not that convincing .  
this  film  is a travesty . no  wait   an abomination . no  wait   this is without a doubt the absolute worst film ever made featuring beloved characters created and established by other actors .  br    br   i thought  inspector clouseau  with alan arkin    instead of peter sellers was ludicrous and sacrilegious  but even daring to  remake  stan laurel and oliver hardy is asinine and money grubbing .  br    br   mr . laurel and mr . hardy have been dead  respectively  since     and     . why anyone would even begin to imagine that suitable updates for l  h would be in the persona of bronson pinchot and gailard sartain is beyond me . i tuned in fully expecting to be horrified and embarrassed and i certainly wasn  t disappointed . everyone involved in this pathetic  moronic  disgrace should be blackballed from anything and everything associated with hollywood and film  making . avoid this movie at all costs   you have been duly warned .  
in the periphery of so paulo  the very low middle  class dysfunctional and hypocrite family of teodoro  giulio lopes   cludia  leona cavalli  and the teenager soninha  slvia loureno  have deep secrets . the religious teodoro is indeed a hit  man  hired to kill people in the neighborhood with his friend waldomiro  ailton graa  . he has a lover  the very devout woman terezinha  martha meola   and he wants to regenerate  going to the country with her . cludia has a young lover  jlio  ismael de arajo   who delivers meats for his father  s butcher shop . soninha is a common sixteen years old teenager of the periphery  having active sexual life  smoking grass and loving heavy metal . when jlio is killed and castrated in their neighborhood  the lives of the members of the family change .  br    br    contra todos  is a great low budget brazilian movie that pictures the life in the periphery of a big brazilian city . the story is very real  uses the usual elements of the poor area of the big brazilian cities  drug dealers  hit men  fanatic religious evangelic people  hopeless teenagers etc .   has many plot points and a surprising end  and the characters have excellent performances  acting very natural and making the story totally believable . the camera follows the characters  giving a great dynamics to the film . in the extras of the dvd  the director roberto moreira explains that his screenplay had no lines  only the description of the situations  and was partially disclosed only one week before the beginning of the shootings . the actors have trainings in workshops and they used lots of improvisation  being the reason for such natural acting . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    contra todos    against everybody    
who was george c . scott  george c . scott was a renowned actor . practically any movie that he  s been in is the better off for it . now ol  george had absolutely nothing to do with this movie . . .  but he once said something that describes said movie to a t .  br    br   i don  t recall his exact words  but he basically said that great writing can save bad acting  but great acting cannot save bad writing . never has this little observation been truer than in  the all new adventures of laurel  hardy for love or mummy  .  br    br   the casting of the two leads was absolutely perfect . bronson pinchot  laurel  and gailard sartain  hardy  not only look the parts  but they do an exceptionally good job at mimicking the real deal  mannerisms and all  . this movie should stand as a lasting testament to their talents . that said  this movie falls flat on its face when it comes to  you guessed it  writing .  br    br   aside from the opening dialogue between pinchot and sartain  which was very  in character   and a brief gag involving a taxi  this movie is an absolute chore to sit through .  br    br   problem    too much time and effort went into the plot .  br    br   i don  t want to know why the mummy wants to kidnap the pretty british lady . what i want is to see stan and ollie  or at least  their stand  ins  . way too much screen time was devoted to explaining the plot or to the not  very  funny secondary characters that said plot revolved around .  br    br   however  even if this movie had been all jokes  that would still leave us with . . .  br    br   . . . problem    most of the jokes are what i would call  watered  down  slapstick .  br    br   what do i mean by  watered down    br    br   in slapstick  a character gets hurt in an exaggerated way for comedic effect  ala looney tunes   stooges . . .  or how about laurel  hardy   .  br    br   in  watered  down  slapstick  as i define it   a character gets mildly hurt or inconvenienced  and the filmmakers play that up for comedic effect .  br    br   maybe an illustration would help  br    br   in looney tunes  daffy duck gets shot by elmer fudd . his bill falls off and he puts it back on . that is classic slapstick .  br    br   in this  gem   ollie accidentally bumps into some people . they turn around  tell him to be careful  and continue on their merry way . that  s not slapstick . that  s not even funny . that  s just . . . boring . . . and this movie is full of these kinds of jokes . it  s as though they  re this movie  s bread and butter . the writers and directors just take these dull moments and act like they  re supposed to be funny . granted  the example i just gave is the most extreme case  but i can only cut it so much slack .  br    br   long story short the film just doesn  t work because the script fails to capitalize on pinchot  s and sartain  s abilities to impersonate stan and ollie . instead  the script capitalizes on plot exposition and lame jokes . watching this movie is basically watching two excellent impersonators who were given no real material to work with .  br    br   not a good movie  but an incredible sleeping aid .  br    br   i say give this one a miss and stick with the real deal  just so long as you steer clear of  atoll k  and  be big   .  
one of the last classics of the french new wave . for direction  cineaste jean eustache drew from the simplicity of early  century cinema for story  eustache drew on the torments of his own complicated love life . so many things can be said of this film  observationally brilliant self indulgently overlong occasionally hilarious emotionally draining . . . etc . etc . in my mind  whatever complaints that can be leveled against this film are easily overshadowed by its numerous strengths . every film student  writer  or simply anyone willing to handle a  hour film with no abrupt cuts  no music video overstyling  no soap opera  like plot twists  and no banal dialogue should make it a point to see this movie . everything is to be admired the writing  concise  clever  surprisingly funny   acting  everyone  quite simply  is perfect in their respective roles   and  simple direction  the viewer feels like a casual observer within the film  make this film unforgettable . this is undoubtedly a film that stays with you .  
this movie is a good example of the extreme lack of good writers and directors in hollywood . the fact that people were paid to make this piece of junk shows that there is a lack of original ideas and talent in the entertainment business . the idea that audiences paid to see this movie  and like an idiot i rented the film  is discouraging also .  br    br   obsessed teacher   years prior  kills teenager  s family because he wants her . for no reason he kills the mother  father and brother . from the first five minutes you see the bad acting and direction . years later  obsessed teacher breaks out of prison . hmm   usual bad writing   no one in the town he terrorized knows until the last minute . obsessed teacher somehow becomes like a navy seal and can sneak around  sniff out people and with a knife is super killer . sure    now obsessed teacher kills hotel maid for no reason  knifes bellhop for the fun of it  and starts to hunt down the teenager  s friends . now there is the perfect way to get the girl to love you . obsessed teacher sneaks out of hotel    again it is stupid  ever cop would know his face   but he walks right by them . now he kills two cops outside teenager  s house and somehow sneaks into her bedroom and kills her boyfriend .  br    br   there is not one single positive thing about this piece of garbage . if any other profession put out work of this low quality  they would be fired . yet these idiots are making hundreds of thousands of dollars for writing and directing this trash .  
this film isn  t just about a school shooting  in fact its never even seen . but that just adds to the power this film has . its about people and how they deal with tragedy . i know it was shown to the students who survived the columbine shooting and it provided a sense of closure for a lot of them . the acting is superb . all three main actors  busy phillips  erika christensen and victor garber  are excellent in their roles . . . i highly recommend this film to anyone . its one of those films that makes you talk about it after you see it . it provokes discussion of not only school shootings but of human emotions and reactions to all forms of tragedy . it is a tear  jerker but it is well worth it and one i will watch time and time again  
i don  t quite get the rating for the amati girls and i think i was really kind giving it a  out of   . what could otherwise have been a wonderful story with actually a set of more or less decent actors became a total farce in my eyes . there are so many clichs in that flick  the women  s hair is just awful and most of the scenes are more than unrealistic or seem fake . there  s no real passion in this movie but a bunch of actors over  acting over any limits that it hurts . it  s not funny enough to be a comedy  it  s too fake  sad to really touch  so in my eyes it  s just not good . watching it i couldn  t believe how something like that made it to my tv set in my living room in switzerland . but . . maybe it still was ok and it just got lost in translation  who knows . definitely one of the oddest movies i  ve ever seen and this certainly not in a good way  sorry .  
i  m going to keep this review short and sweet . . . .  br    br   i saw the trailer for this and thought i  d give it a whirl  minutes in and my initial thoughts were  what the hell is this   but after   minutes i was hooked and after   i was picking my jaw up from off the floor . this film is a great example of how different a movie can be  and furthermore it  s french . this film is high art eye candy wrapped up in a tidy futuristic film noir package  the motion capture is very clever and the black and white animation style which has no grey although at first didn  t do it for me totally captivated me and by the end of the film and i found myself wishing every film was made like this . i think my opinion was helped by the great dubbing it would have been very easy to ruin it had they not landed so many respected actors as many voice actors give no feeling to the characters  just watch any hong kong legends film in english to see a perfect example  i gave it  although i gave it an extra  because of how fresh and new the whole thing feels . . . .  
yowza  if anyone who loves laurel and hardy can watch this movie and feel good about it  you  re a better person than me  this movie  while a great attempt at  imitating  laurel and hardy through appearance  sound and routine  falls very short of honoring them  or even being a movie of any substance . i blame larry harmon . dialogue is torn from old lh movies and planted in unrealistically  the plot is muddled with useless characterization of the other needless co  stars  pinchot  s accent was bizarre for stan  and while sartain did an excellent job with ollie  s accent  he tried too hard to create the wonderful mix that was mr . hardy . where was a  good  musical number  editing is choppy  acting is stiff  lines are horrid  physics are  implausable   although perhaps they were trying to give it that feel of cheap sets    and overall it  s a terrible thing to witness . it  s even more painful to watch than atoll k  where the legendary duo did their last film in awful      s era writing and photography . do yourself a favor and watch as much of the original laurel and hardy films as you can  and learn how things were . you know what a magnate is  don  t you  stan laurel did not perpetually reply with semi  moronic quips at every sentence .  br    br   i pity anyone who thinks that this was a decent update  honor of the boys . where was the classic theme song    why ruin  here  s another fine mess   why skip  any the wiser   why was there a pointless gaggle of co  stars   why miss gulch from the wizard of oz     why must larry harmon be in it  why bozo   and did the learning channel help fund the thing   br    br   i mean  really . fart jokes  for god  s sake .  br    br   fart jokes .  
this film is absolutely stunning . a new blade runner  future noir at it  s most gritty . the vision of paris is superb  both recognisable and visionary  with sweeping vistas  grungy set pieces and futuristic virtual reality .  br    br   the story line is quite simple  with few surprises  but that  s not what i like most about the film . it is a visual treat .  br    br   done in  d and rendered in black and white  no greys   with only one short spot of colour  it is less hard on the eyes than it sounds . there are many  arty  camera shots  closeups and odd viewpoints  but that just adds to the temperament of the film . overall you get the impression of a graphic novel in footage form .  br    br   i was initially under the impression that the film had been rotoscoped  such was the level of animation and high detail in the character  s facial expressions . but unlike  a scanner darkly   which suffers from  or indeed is enhanced by  inconsistent character definition  just watch the way some of the hair changes shape    renaissance is consistent and precise throughout . when the character is in close  up  added details and texture can bee seen  but when in mid  shot or further away details are omitted  but not to the detriment of character definition .  br    br   for me  the only down side of the film is that in one commentary we are told that this is a one  off project . such a shame  as i would like to see more of this futuristic film  noir storyline and especially in this cutting  edge graphic style .  br    br   oh  and the english dub is great too .  br    br   all in all a great film and highly recommended .  
i can see why laurel and hardy purists might be offended by this rather gentle  re  enactment   but this film would be an excellent way to introduce children to the pleasures of classic l  h . bronson pinchot and gailard sartain acquit themselves reasonably as the comedy duo and there  s a reasonably good supporting cast . i enjoyed it .  
much in the same way frank miller and his sin city comics used black and white to express itself  and its film noir influences   so does christian volckman with renaissance .  br    br   it is the year      in paris . in the tradition of science fiction  the future is a bright  sparkling multi  teared jewel . this is a jewel in a setting of misery  inequity and darkness bright and beautiful on top with a dark underbelly beneath . one of these  bright  people at the top  a research scientist from a very large and influential global company  avalon   is kidnapped . the well known and efficient  captain karas  voiced by the new james bond himself  daniel craig   is assigned the task to find her .  br    br   the plot and layout is not overly original . it is heavily influenced by film noir  gibson  s neuromancer and other detective stories  along with movies like blade runner  sin city  fritz lang  s metropolis and minority report . there is the main plot  surrounded by other possible sub  plots that all connect at the end . it is not hard to figure it all out .  br    br   the movie  s strength and originality is in its intense visual presentation . paris is an intricate array of levels and sub  levels . at its base is the more primitive industrial infrastructure . as the city rises  so does its architectural complexity and luminescence . yet in this structure  the top does not equate with elevation of human ideals and behavior . paris has been intricately animated and laid out in brilliant black and white . the movie is closer in spirit with sin city  the comics  then sin city the movie was with its source material . this is done all the more easy  because it is still remaining in relatively the same medium animation . much in the same way as a scanner darkly pushed the visual aspects of story telling  so does this . the light and dark  black and white creates an atmosphere of contrasts  as well as visual ambiguity . right and wrong  black and white can lose all meaning at the same time it is right in front of us . the movie proves how black and white can be both ambiguous and obvious at the same time .  br    br   in keeping with the spirit of the movie  i can be both critic and fan . i can love and loath in the same light . it is definitely an experience i recommend for lovers of the visual arts . so pour another black and tan  enter the void and enjoy the ride .  
for the life of me i can  t figure out why anyone would make a movie like this . the plot is tired  the acting is strained  the language is consistently foul and at times the over use of the  f  word seemed like a lack of dialog was prevalent so  let  s throw in another couple of  f  s  for good measure  that  s what the american public wants to hear  . gossett was particularly foul and seemed to enjoy his part . forget this c   p  rent  shrek  and have a good laugh .  
i have to mention two failures for you to understand that this movie brilliantly succeeded where they failed  a scanner darkly  and  immortel ad vitam  . if you were excited by the concepts of these two movies and felt woefully disappointed  like me   you will probably enjoy renaissance . it immerses you into the world of a future paris . it is not quite dystopian . they did the animation so well that i thought it was rotoscoped  but from what i can tell  it was not  it was merely motion capture . the facial expressions are amazing  not since tron have i seen a fantasy world so well displayed in an animation  live hybrid . the black and white medium is used to slowly direct your attention to the subject of the scene my favorite effect was what they did with headlight beams  watch for it . the director plays with your attention and confusion but you are satisfied eventually by finding the thread that he wants you to find . the overall effect is a harsh and gritty urban world filled with small surprises .  br    br   the plot is secondary  but it isn  t terrible . it is noir  ish . there is a backstory for most of the major characters giving them some depth . there is weather . there are  sets  so you can feel like you are in different places in paris . there is some action  and even a car chase . i am going to have to see this one again to get everything . i also recommend a very large screen to view it as the  sets  are detailed and the credits are small .  
  jason priestly stars as  breakfast   a psychotic jewelry store thief whose grip on reality is frighteningly precarious  according to the dvd sleeve   with his accomplice  panda   bernie coulson   the duo make off with a carload of cash  a result of a tip  off from beautiful cashier  ziggy   laura harris  . her reward to hitch a ride with the out  of  control duo so that she can meet her long  lost father francis  stephen mchattie  . but he  s on a suicidal quest to even a score with his former boss  louis gossett  jr .  and has the cops hot on his trail . rage  murder and revenge are about to collide   stay out of their way   br    br    the highwayman          keoni waxman  jason priestly  laura harris  stephen mchattie  
  renaissance        was created over a period of six years  co  funded by france  luxembourg and the united kingdom at a cost of around    million . the final result is a staggering accomplishment of comic  book style animation  aesthetically similar to what robert rodriguez and frank miller achieved with  sin city         but this film employed motion capture with live  actors to translate their faces and movements into an entirely animated format . presented in stark black  and  white  the film looks as though it has been hoisted from the very pages of the graphic novel on which it was based  and the futuristic city of paris looms ominously above us . directed by french filmmaker christian volckman  in his feature  length debut   renaissance  draws significantly from other films in the science  fiction genre  and the tech  noir storyline isn  t something we haven  t seen before  but  from a technical standpoint  it is faultless .  br    br   the year is     . the city of paris is a crumbling metropolis filled with dark alleys and deserted footpaths  the recent installation of modern technology merely offering a thin mask to the pitiable degradation of the darkened buildings . the city  s largest corporation  avalon  achieved wealth through offering citizens the promise of beauty and youth  and the company  s research department is continually striving to invent greater means of eliminating the aging process . ilona tasuiev  voiced by romola garai in the english  language version  which i watched   a brilliant young scientist  is mysteriously kidnapped on her return from work  and so it falls to legendary detective barthlmy karas  daniel craig  to uncover her current whereabouts . possibly holding the key to the woman  s disappearance is bislane  catherine mccormack   ilona  s hardened elder sister  whose trustworthiness is in question  and jonas muller  ian holm   the dedicated medical doctor who adored ilona as his own daughter .  br    br   the eerie  dimly  lit city of paris is reminiscent of ridley scott  s  blade runner         and some of the technology looks as though it might have been borrowed from tom cruise in  minority report        which was  coincidentally  also set in the year      . however  despite this familiarity  volckman has created an exciting world for his characters to inhabit . blending classic film  noir and science  fiction  the result is an eye  catching collage of harsh lighting and dark shadows  which  i should warn  occasionally becomes difficult on the viewer  s eyes . the dialogue is a little banal at times  and the story  though engaging  doesn  t offer anything strikingly original except for the ending  which i thought was a bold twist on the usual formula  but  renaissance  is intended to work best as a visual treat  and that it succeeds in this regard cannot be denied .  
the first one was the best . the second one sucked because the dialog was terrible . although  the storyline wasn  t so bad  in fact  all story lines are good and bad  . throughout the movie  i dosed off a few times . i know that jackie chan is a great martial arts expertise  but not a good actor in rush hour  . chris tucker  too  wasn  t good . and zhang ziyi  what can i say  a few lines  terrible acting  but that  s based on her script  . all the characters there were not that good . but  some of the things i like in rush hour  is always the action and less sex scenes . i know that jackie chan doesn  t do those things which is good for him .  
     . paris is an escher drawing with people and vehicles scurrying along at multiple levels in an obvious homage to fritz lang  s metropolis . paris is both ultramodern and crumbling into decay . and in the blink between surveillance sweeps  a pretty young medical researcher is kidnapped just after leaving her sister in a seedy nightclub . a tough police captain investigates . shown in stark black and white  with the gloomy corridors  shadowy alleys and single source lighting characteristic of the most hard  boiled of film noir  comparisons to sin city are inevitable . but the story owes more to masamune shirow and william gibson than to frank miller  as high tech surveillance  near  invisible stealth suits and ruthless super  corporations are as much a part of the landscape as guns and cars . the film never quite generates the doom  laden atmosphere of gibson  s cyberpunk vision  with its tech  heavy marginal characters clashing with industrial types from corporations that all seem to have their own ministry of fear  but the viewer definitely gets the sense that future paris is no utopia and future science is less than benevolent . and as the police procedural plot line unfolds we are taken into the darker recesses of individual ambition beneath the shiny veneer of avalon corporation  s cultivated pr image . the motion capture process used here produces a look somewhere between bw comic books and next generation rotoscoping  and is either captivating or intrusive depending on your tastes . nevertheless  a great visual sense is on display here  and future paris is filled in down to the tiny details giving the picture a unique look which is in turns both spartan and baroque . worth a look .  
designed only to annoy  or amuse  any self  respecting intelligent person . if the director  s intention had been for the viewer to dislike the title character  then it would have been okay  but i know that there is no such thing as a hollywood director who  d make a critique of america  s pro  marxist   s movement  especially not a filmmaker from the   s . there is so much idiotic dialog going on here  that sometimes i wondered if i wasn  t actually watching a comedy . you wouldn  t be at fault for thinking that this is a satire  that  s how nave the movie appears . spacek has been in her share of leftist movies which brings me to the obvious  inescapable conclusion that the redhead hick is one of those hollywood liberal morons . but  i mean  aren  t they all  nice boobs  but st for brains .  
time for hollywood to sit up and take notice  if the actors are acting snooty  all you need to do is get the animators who worked on this little marvel . renaissance is probably the first animation flick which makes you forget that you are not seeing human beings . although the voice overs by the cast  craig  mccormack  pryce etc .  are some of the best i have ever heard but even then the emotions portrayed by the  cartoons  are unnerving .  br    br   this style of animation is not very new but the use of light and shadows makes the movie a living painting . ironically  such technical wizardry makes you forget that this is actually a very very nice movie . the pacing and plot development are marvelous and the dialogs crisp .  br    br   plot disappearance of a mega corporation  s top employee unravels a tale of deceit and corruption with a cold hearted hero at the helm . can  t say much without giving it all away . . . except that while the movie keeps you at the edge of your seat  the climax leaves you speechless .  br    br   a must watch . . even for the  grown  ups  who smirk at  cartoons   
please don  t hate me but i have to be honest  watching this movie  i had a lot of fun    br    br   it  s a movie with a stupid cast and stupid songs     br    br   unnecessary songs    mehbooba . . . a total insult to the original one holi . . . . well . . it was ok  due to the tradition every movie got to have one   chad raha hai nasha whatever . . . very unneeded stupid song jee le . . . sounded like a playboy song stupid song . . .  br    br   other than songs . the movie was ok this was ram gopal verma  s own adaptation . . . if you think like that you will like this movie  br    br   well this movie only depends on the viewer and on his judgement whether he  she thinks this movie is total copy he  she would want to hit her head on the cinema seat or if he  she thinks of the directors own look he  she would be relaxed and take a look at this movie  br    br   anyways i looked at both ways i would congratulate and abuse ram gopal for this disaster that he made . . .  br    br   well some other things that bothered that the cast was incredibly bad  br    br   amitabh bachchan as babban  gabbar  amitabh in his own movie remake funny what was the director thinking  ajay devgan as heero  veeru  bobby deol could have been better  prashant raj as raj  jai  abhishek was meant for this role despite doing a special appearance in the mehbooba song  sushmita sen as radha  durga  jaya bachchan was right tabu was right for this role  nisha kothari as ghungroo  basanti  i think esha deol would have been great  mohanlal as narishma  thakur  mohanlal is so cute . . . . oops sorry hehehehe  he was ok i could not think of anyone   br    br   the movie would have even faired a little if the cast was ok  br    br   i movie wasn  t even exciting  the movie was just ok  just for watching  br    br   the overall rating  br    br   direction . . .     i got to him some credit cinematography . . .     script . . .     bad scripting songs . . .     unnecessary in the movie  could have been better  easy on the ears on to be played in pc  s and ipod  s and stuff cast . . .      br    br   total . . .      br    br   syed shabbir aly naqvi from pakistan  
i would almost give it   out of   . however  there are some confusing parts as well as sections that are miss  leading which hurt the flow  continuity of the film . the story line is great and well composed you will definitely want to watch this quietly to fully understand it . the characters are complicated and so is the story line  expect to be given only enough information to stop scratching your head  it  s a film where all is explained in the end . the animation is great and the combination of femme fatal and film noir result in a great film that is unlike anything else i  ve seen in animation . it is a black and white film and its quiet dark in a few scenes so it  s worth watching it on a good t . v  or plasma . the character voices do save this film in its english version  but it would have been more convincing if there were some french accents to emphasize that its happening paris  i enjoyed it more in french with english subtitles . one the whole its well worth buying on dvd or blueray if they have it  and personally if you enjoyed this film you might also like waking life  ghost in a shell  innocence  this is just a personal suggestion .  
not as bad as some are making it out to be  though obviously pathetic compared to the original . in my opinion amitabh was great as the villain babban singh  try not to compare to gabbar in the original as they were clearly not going for the same effect . other than some mediocre action scenes however  the rest of the film is flawed . character development was poor and the development of the story was hopeless  with many loopholes  and missing pieces of information which i wouldn  t have known if i hadn  t read the back of the dvd case . the worst part of the movie was the support roles from nisha kothari and especially this new dude called prashant raj . nisha is just plain annoying from the time her lips first open . as for prashant raj  seriously who is this guy  where is he from and why on earth was he present in the film studio for anything other than to serve drinks  . his acting ability is zero and he has the same tone  dialog delivery and staunch expression in every scene  whether it be action  comedy  or even a scene when someone has just died . ajay devgan was average  at least his expressions changed which is more than i can say for his mistake of a companion . overall  rgv  s aag is worth watching for amitabh  s solid performance  and also a very sexy urmilla matondkar in a special appearance .  
there  s about   years worth of inspiration packed into it . beginning with existential themes of blade runner  as well as the vision of the future  with corporate billboards advertising their products  to the technology of the later matrix films and spielberg  s a . i .  and finally the black and white graphic novel look similar in style of sin city . the creators have put in a lot of effort in the visual department and the outcome is a well crafted future neo  noir . add a detective story and you  ve got an interesting film . i know what it wanted to be  but regardless of the stunning visuals  it wasn  t enough to get it to the final destination .  
its a gem movie if anyone who hasn  t seen movie sholey he cant understand what is going on there . a thakur call men for catching a big terrorist who is like god and even police don  t know abut him but these ppl do .  br    br   biggest advantage of film is its speed u never know what is going on and the part is completed . actors are at there best of worst acting and actress is here for time  pass of songs . and what u cant forget is the cool dialouge which seems to come in very long time but u cant understand them so easily try hard for that and last word i haven  t seen movie complete due to a brain roast so plz tell me ditz end if it have  
punctuating the opening credits sequence is a swarthy man having a strange  all  too  real nightmare . closing in on its dystopic     paris  the film begins to follow a woman into a grungy club  where she and a slavic bartender convene outside on the deck . they toss exclamations at each other to the effect that she owes him more money although she believes she  s paid it all . another woman obstructs the budding violence  only to have a bitter fight with the woman herself . the initial woman storms out  and she is kidnapped . christian volckman  s renaissance appears to be another one in an assembly line of recent motion  capture  animated sci  fi noir pictures  but in spite of whether or not that is essentially true  it tells a neatly arranged  classically unraveling detective story that keeps us in the dark in its opening minutes  even whilst introducing karas  the hard  boiled cop we recognize from the beginning as the man awakening from a terrible dream .  br    br   the rudiments of classic film noir are all hit upon without any anachronistic changes  for all intents and purposes . it is in the harshness of its monochrome that volckman  s french thriller has followed no example . for the film  s animators  unfettered by the challenges of physical lighting that would normally be faced  have been able to begin with a totally black frame  and to affix utter pitch  white according to the action on screen . as they scrupulously imitate the effects of real light sources throughout the frame  the distinction of black and white here is full  blown without even any of the slightest shades of gray to tone with the characters  less starkly definite moral codes  and the outcome is a harsh and judgmental vision of the direction in which commercial civilization is going  sporadically caused to undergo the most blaring and ruthless of illumination . it is the artistic study of film noir taken to their visual boundary of its philosophy  and nothing before has ever shared quite the same execution of this visual concept .  br    br   all the characters in this decent cyberpunk film seem as if to have been walk off with purely from a gothic comic book in black ink  but all together their physical responses  their motions and the nuances of their facial expressions look ashore within a clear humanity . normally  films that try out new developments in animation allow their technical advances upstage all other facets of production . sin city  for example  left substance and overall good screen adaptation from its source material to be desired .  br    br   it may not be mind  blowing  it may have its narrative conventions and its voice  over cast may simply be adequate  but renaissance  made for    million over six years  not only feels like actual noir instead of a rashly penned appropriation  but also is not secondary to all the visual innovation  which is played as if to be incidental . one leaves thinking not so much about how cool it is when karas is evading bullets shot through a crowded glass parisian street  but more about its ponderance of life and death  how life  s tragedies  such as death  make life meaningful .  
i cannot say that aag is the worst bollywood film ever made  because i haven  t seen every bollywood film  but my imagination tells me that it could well be .  br    br   this film seems like an attempt at artistic suicide on behalf of the director  and i for one be believe he has been successful in his mission . no a  list actor outside of this film would risk sharing the same billing as him for all the humiliation this film is bound to carry with it .  br    br   but lets not just blame the director here  there is the cinematographer  who looks like he  s rehearsing for the amateur home movie maker of the year award . there is the over dramatic score  that hopes to carry you to the next scene . the lighting man  who must have been holding a cigarette in one hand and light bulb on pole in the other  and hoping that the flame burning off the cigarette would add to that much needed light in every scene . and  of course the actors  some of them are by no means newcomers  else all could be forgiven here . the ensemble of actors in aag were put together to promote a new beginning and dimension to the re  make of india  s most loved movie of all time   sholay  . one must not forget that these actors were not forced in to this film  they are a  list and willing participants to something that  let  s face it would surely have had high and eager public expectation    so it begs the question  amitabh aside  for now   did the other actors really believe their performances even attempted to better the original  did amitabh bachchan read the script and believe that people would remember his dialogue in this farcical abomination of a film  don  t be stupid  of course he didn  t  this was a demonstration to the public of how much money talks hence can make actors walk .  br    br   i truly hope everyone involved is satisfied with what is truly a vulgar attempt to remake a classic film  which only succeeds in polluting everyone  s mind when they watch the original .  
        minutes of pure holiday terror . okay  so it  s not that scary . but it sure is fun .  br    br   the crypt keeper  john kassir  tales a tale of holiday fear  giving us all christmas goose . . . gossebumps that is . bwahahahahha . you should really be careful what you axe santa for . have a scary christmas and a happy new fear . okay i  ll stop .  br    br   okay  so in the story  a greedy wife  best screamer in the world  mary ellen trainor  kills her husband  marshall bell  the coach who gets towel whipped to death in anoes   for the money . but  her plan is ruined when a crazy killer dressed in a santa suit  larry  dr . giggles  drake  comes her way .  br    br   if you look it up on youtube  you can watch it for free  but most of you have already seen this  my third viewing  . but if you haven  t seen it  i suggest you do .  
good grief i can  t even begin to describe how poor this film is . don  t get me wrong  i wasn  t expecting much to begin with . let  s face it  a pg    slasher flick is pre  destined to be missing the ummm . . . slashing  so no one should be surprised by the lack of gore . but it was the level of incompetence and clich on display in all the other aspects of this movie is what really blew me away .  br    br   we have a protagonist who is quite simply so completely useless that you find yourself rooting for the bad guy . and here  s a turnup for the books . . . she never changes  hence breaking the cardinal rule of basic screen writing  character development . if you think by the end of this film the poor little girl is going to turn around and finally kick some arse then think again .  br    br   on top of this  we  re handed possibly the least intriguing  and definitely the least scary  killer ever to grace the genre . i  m not joking when i say that dora the explorer has scarier villains than this movie .  br    br   finally  because all the potential for tension or gratuity is removed by the inept  and apparently thirteen  year  old  director  what could possibly be left to fill up  hours of screen time   br    br   closets  that  s what .  br    br   lots and lots of closets big closets  small closets  mirrored closets  closets to narnia  so many damned closets you  ll not want to dress yourself for another year . in fact this movie should have just been called  closet   and had a picture of a big scary coathanger on the dvd case . on the back it could have had a photograph of the audience falling asleep and a quote by roger and ebert  something to the extent of  what the f  did we just waste our time watching    
in     paris  avalon  a computer generated system  controls the city and when a young woman is kidnapped  detective karas  craig  must go against avalon to find her .  br    br   renaissance is a splendid blend of film making mixed with a conceptual futuristic narrative that lights up the screen in a shocking manor with a noir themed ideology and conceptual montages that should delight many .  br    br   pixar are the animation masters . their numerous oscar winning films are endless from the charming toy story to the mystifying wall  e and so any company or director has a real challenge to knock them of their perch . renaissance isn  t a film aimed for the young audience though  and like      s persepolis  brings a strong and mature approach to the genre of animation to make an older and more challenging film to its targeted older generation .  br    br   in     robert rodriguez released a shockingly brilliant noir sin city that shook up the whole usage of green screen with a splendid balance of filming in black and white with the odd spurts of colour and a year later  christian volckman took up a similar approach with this equally visually masterful stroke of film making .  br    br   volckman  s picture however is a full on animation but it doesn  t half look realistic for the majority of it  s strong  hour and   minutes of running time . the faces of the character  s are well portrayed and in particular  this film has got to be the finest ever for the usage of shadow . the fact we never know if its night or day is irrelevant when simply gazing into the stony faces as the shadows blend across their expressions . it is almost a clever use of pathetic fallacy  and is finely directed also .  br    br   for anyone who has seen persepolis you will have come to the conclusion it is one of the finest directed animations ever screened for the simple but highly conceptual artistic style by marjane satrapi  br    br   renaissance is equally on terms with that picture and in many instances rivals it with stronger graphics and a darker tone to reflect the mood . one scene in particular when karas appears out of darkness is beautifully shot .  br    br   the narrative revolves around a stubborn and nosey political government who keeps tabs on every citizen . the running of paris is down to the mysterious avalon which we don  t see nearly enough to get an essence of its true dominance . renaissance is controlling the narrative around a tired cop  s attempts to rescue the mysterious woman  and then we see craig  s tired and boring cop attempt a rescue whilst battling with other elements . there are many things wrong with the scripting  not to mention the tired exasperated cop routine is now old  but there is plenty of dashing adrenaline and springy banter between characters to keep it alive right till a wonderfully shot shocking last couple of stages .  
this movie should not be watched as it was meant to be a flop . ram gopal verma first wanted to make this a remake of classic bollywood movie  sholay   but after having problems with the original makers decided to go ahead with the project and . . . i guess leave all the good parts of the movie  acting  script  songs  music  comedy  action etc  out and shoot the movie just because he already happen to hire the crew . waste of money  waste of time . after making movies like rangeela  satya  and company he pulled a coppola  godfather  on us what were you thinking rgv  anyways  the story is  though hard to follow  is almost like the old sholay . ajay devgan playing heero  beeru  sholay  and ajay  new kid on the block playing ajay  jay  sholay  . both  bad yet funny  friends help a cop capture a bad guy first . later in the movie  now retired cop hires them as personal security and safeguarding from the hands of a very most wanted bubban played by amitabh bachan . in case you haven  t been watching bollywood movies  the good guys win in the end . there i just saved you  precious hours of your life   
every second of the film is gorgeous . and that  s why it earns a   because the plot is not especially devious  and thinking back over the last   minutes i never really felt any excitement or investment in the characters . if anything  the luxurious graphics and framing have made certain scenes  the car chase  for instance  more pedestrian than they ought to be  not that they don  t look lovely and have some very original design and occasionally novel camera angles  but they are missing the kinetic movement and close  up shots that are part of the language for any normal action  thriller . the first hour plods along  and the dialogue feels very edited and a bit stagey  people wait for each other to finish and don  t always react in a natural cadence  which would be a problem of recording each individual  s dialogue separately . on rare occasions the emotions in the voices don  t quite match those on screen something that should really have been avoided . the futuristic architecture is very attractive  lots of glass walls  ceilings  screens  lovely smoke  mirage  special effects  and nice  looking cars  but again  it  s more an exercise in graphic design  having no real impact on the story . i  d argue that the whole point of using drawn animation  instead of actors  cgi  is to really push the limits of imagination and design to do that which is too difficult  impractical in other mediums . although the animation in renaissance is certainly stunning and incredibly well  accomplished  i never felt like i was seeing something that hasn  t been done before .  br    br   immortel  another french cgi film  also suffers from an imbalance of beauty over story  pace . to be fair  some marvellous and engaging french movies also have a languid pace  and lingering shots of the look in someone  s eyes or the rain on paris cobbles can evoke great emotion  but animators need to understand that while animation brings unique strengths  it also has weaknesses when compared to real  life technique . perhaps it would break from the  noir  rules that the film wants to stick to  but i think the film  makers also missed a glaring opportunity to explore their future society a bit more  the social strata  the fascistic grip of the corporations etc .  br    br   i have no problem recommending renaissance to anybody who enjoys stylistic design and  or animation   manga  fans in particular   but i wouldn  t make my other film  loving friends sit through it . take away the sumptuous visuals and it  s a barely average film .  
in a variant of sholay  ram gopal verma ventures into what can be called an unknown territory where the blockbuster takes a new shape . the thakur goes south . mohanlal as narsimha the police inspector whose family has been killed seeks vengeance madrasi style . the accent is totally south indian in contrast to thakur from the north . the severing of the hands of thakur by gabbar is also cut down to the fingers in aag . so make up costs are cut down because there is no effort to hide the hands instead only a long shouldered kurta covers up for the cut fingers . moreso in the climax where the thakur uses his legs and says  tere liye to mere paer hi kaafi hai  here narsimha uses his finger stubs to fire a gun and kill the villain . babban  the new avtar of gabbar is also different . he is not from bihar or up . he is bambaiya . gabbar  s infamous laugh is also in two instalments this time and is more subdued . babban asks for diwali instead of holi and romances urmila the replacement of helen in mehbooba . he also dances and enjoys dancing with abhisheh who plays jalal agha in mehbooba . babban is more intelligent this time . he tosses the apple and asks the question that made isaac newton discover laws of gravitation . basanti is more verbose than the auto driver ghungroo . nisha kothari cannot play the auto driver and looks too artificial using words like  entertain  and  too much  with gay abandon . viru was fun whereas ajay devgun is a misfit for the role . the god speaks to basanti incident and the shooting lessons and the koi haseena song and the water tank sequences are painful . the water tank turns into a well and the drunk devgun is so bad in the sequence that the audience would have wanted him to commit suicide . jai was composed and serious . prashant raj is better than the others because we do not expect anything from him . but he also bungles on the mausi sequence . he is not as romantic as jai with the mouth organ . jaya  s role played by sushmita changes careers . a pure housewife turns into a doctor this time plunging into full time social service after her husband is killed . she too lacks the pain that jaya displayed . her flirtations with jai are more open this time . samba gets a bigger role this time as tambe . he does not have to point guns and answer questions of gabbar this time . he follows babban wherever he goes and is a bodyguard with more visibility outside the den . horses give way to jeeps and auto . the gabbar  s hideout here keeps changing and ramgarh becomes kaliganj . all in all it is more of a spoof than anything else . rgv comes up with his own interpretation of the classic . but we remember the original so well even after three decades that our minds refuse to accept stylized versions and changed dialogues . so we call it a spoof . so mr . rgv  sholay  and farhan akhtar  don  and jpdutta  umrao jaan  stop making remixes and start making originals .  
just like final fantasy brought cg to a whole new level  this is a rebirth for motion capture . neither movie nor cartoon  this motion picture looks like a homage to the film noir  akira  sin city  blade runner and the new generation of european cartoonists . you see paris the way it almost could be  the characters seem as real as you and i . they blink  trip  shiver like real actors in a way never achieved before .  br    br   don  t go watch it hoping to find a mind twister . you will most likely figure it out before you  re half way from the movie . the scenario is certainly too simplistic compared to famous thrillers  but this definitely is bliss for the eyes .  
i downloaded this movie yesterday through an internet site the quality was kinda good  i was watching the movie with high expectations  though i knew it was a flop   especially as the film has superstar amitabh bachchan playing the role of a villain . i though at least actors like him would have done some worth to their roles . but unfortunately mr bachchan failed to impress as villain this proved that nobody can compete amjad khan  s magic rgv  s trial to re  kindle the past backfired royally  sholay  the old one is a milestone in indian cinema with an all  star cast  cult dialogue  stylish cinematography and a brilliant soundtrack which is still a hit with present generations too . a good actor like ajay devgan  s talents are wasted and his performance was average . prashant raj  a newcomer doesn  t know what acting is . nisha kothari proved she is one of the worst actresses we have i don  t know how she is still in rgv  s crew urmila  abhishek seen in a song with no excitement and passion mohanlal tried his best and susmitha sen  s work was good i somehow liked her work in this movie it was a total carnage of the original sholay  
a very unique sci  fi animated film  and frankly i love uniqueness no matter which way it tends to be  better or worse . this french film is quite interesting to watch  the technique part is innovatory  like  waking life  i recently watched .  br    br   it took me quite a long time to get used to the black  white style  but eventually i love it  the sketchlike images are really fancy  the contracted future world is a symbol of human race  s final destination which i adore it very much .  br    br   the whole plot is fine for a sci  fi  not so intriguing but it  s ok  like some hollywood  s products  a giant conspiracy about human  s eternity  a little bit clich and the twisted ending is not so convincing  some development is just too plain and insipid  and the whole movie is too long .  br    br   so i think i  m just in love with the style this film shows  others are not so good .  br    br   about the eternity of life  i think most people have come to a unanimousness that we don  t want eternity because it demolishes the meaning of life  we treasure our lives because they are limited and meaningful  if everyone can live forever  thus the world world will become a disaster and chaos . leaving someone you love is hard and heartbreaking  but that  s also a way to show our lives are genuine and all the emotion fulfills one  s life and make the world colorful and lively .  
iam a big fan of mr ram gopal varma but i could not believe that he made this movie . i was really disappointed .  br    br   ram gopal varma ki aag doesn  t come anywhere close to the real sholay . it does not leave a lasting impression on a viewer . ram gopal varma fails to create chemistry between the characters . there is no camaraderie between heero  ajay devgan  and raj  prashant raj  . there are hardly any scenes with more than two people in the frame together . the sequence outside the courtroom with amitabh bachchan and mohanlal face off is remarkable . amitabh bachchan should not have done this movie . ajay and sushmita sen was trying their best but no use . rajpal yadav  s voice modulation  ineffective and rather pointless . mohanlal did full justice and proved it again that acting is all about facial expression and body language . rest of the cast was below expectation . the comedy situation which was adapted from the original sholay fall flat in this movie .  br    br   ram gopal varma could have worked upon the script but because of the controversies surrounded against the movie he messed up and just for the sake of making he made this aag . but there is no fire .  
i read that this did not well  that the story is not solid  that volckman feels he has failed in some way .  br    br   i disagree . first  it is well executed . volckman is doing well to not only to try a new technique  but to have a focus that is worth thinking about would immortality reduce the value of life  big question . . .  br    br   i can see he trying hard to build a feeling  and he is not compromising . this is to be applauded . i am sure it was an interesting exercise to build characters in such a form . i have seen artists reduce a form to bare minimum to build the intensity of a moment . i identify this film with this .  br    br   further  it is much more interesting than richard linklater  s roto  scoping  and volckman  s story has more meaning than linklater  s later stories of a wasted life on drugs . old news . everyone knows it  but no one does anything about it . renaissance has more to offer  something new to think about . and there are many more stories out there with loads of holes in them that do far better .  br    br   well done  volckman . really nice work .  
sholay considered to be one of the greatest films . i always wondered if they would ever remake being the classic it is . that was the time rgv announced this movie and i was somewhat excited to see it . i always thought that maybe this will be a good movie  but every week we would here rgv change something . and the movie is a very b  grade movie  something that i had not hoped .  br    br   i really tried looking for positives  but i promised to keep sholay out of my mind . the cinematography is awesome . the movie tries to be its own . but that is the up side . the action sequences are weak . the screenplay had potential . the biggest flaw is editing . none of the scenes excite you . for example  the comedy sequences felt very out of place and forced . ironic because comedy was just as entertaining in the original . and none of the characters are developed . and no scenes will linger until the end . and the ending was very disappointing .  br    br   the biggest question is acting . amitabh bachchan was good as gabbar singh  nothing great . it seemed as if they concentrated too much on his look  that the character only looks menacing  but you don  t get creeped out . mohanlal is barely in the movie  but he impresses in his few scenes . ajay devgan was decent . it wasn  t so much the performance  he gave it his all  it was the weak script . prashant raj is very confident  and has potential to make it far with better movies .  br    br   i had most expectations for sushmita sen  who was probably the best of the lot . she was expressive  but this still was not enough . nisha kothari surprised me . she seemed disinterested for the most part  but her emotional scene after her friend  s death was quite good . seems as if she needs to find a director who will help her talent  not her cute looks . but what disappointed me most was chemistry . ajay devgan and prashant raj didn  t look like friends . ajay  nisha were not a strong couple . no passion was to be found between sushmita and prashant . and amitabh and mohanlal did not the hateful passion they needed .  br    br   as for songs  they pretty much suck . urmila  s mehbooba was too overblown and i pretty much slept through it . it was however nicely danced . the holi number was enjoyable  but not memorable . same went for the other songs . for someone who looked forward to this movie  i was heavily disappointed . i had high hopes for rgv because of his jungle  but seems as if he lost his talent during the shooting of this movie . but hopefully he regains his talent for sarkar raj . but this movie is best forgotten . all the positives still do not make up for the boring movie it is .  
i am glad being able to say almost only positive things about the movie with karas and the tasuiev sisters  renaissance .  br    br   and firstly  that it looks as it ought to look a boys  adventure  renaissance is the tale of a cop  s investigation in search of a missing young scientistilona tasuiev  the geneticist and researcher for the avalon company .  br    br   the tale of karas  ilona and bislane is  though much less known than sin city  the better movie  and the one more appreciated by the connoisseurs . to the french comics aficionados it will be even more meaningful  i have enriched my french comics collection last week  though i  m not so uptodate  . the atmosphere  the music  the characters  their lines  the plot are all nice and endearing . a parisian top cop  karas  is displayed to find a young woman who was a rising star of medicalgenetic research  ilona tasuieva mildly hot blonde  whose rebel sister bislane was erotically preferable  i guess .  br    br   for me  an oldie aficionado of comics and tv series  renaissance  a marvelously beautiful cartoon  was like a replay of a wild wild west episodehere  a mythological past replaced with an equally mythological futuremore jaded and blas but  in a sense  as thrilling . renaissance is not suspenseful nor does it look especially wellpaced but it  s seducing and hypnotic . moreover  it achieves sketching  albeit briefly  a world  a true worldand we will think about the avalon  nakata  jonas mueller  the tasuiev sisters  and goran  farfella  and karas telling of his distant childhood in kasbah  . i liked renaissance  s feel  of a certain gentleness and affability and adventurousness  and also the professional  assured look among these new cartoons  this one and linklater  s dick adaptation    the only and first dick adaptation ever    stood out for me as works of beauty and genuine excitement .  br    br   i thought the futuristic devices were appropriate and  when not conventional  vividly eerie  like the invisibility costumes  .  br    br   as advisable  the characters have exotic names  like bislane and farfella  mostly gathered from the arts and entertainment  s world  goran and ilona and naghib   .  br    br   none seems to have noticed that renaissance  s poster features a rourke look  alikethat guy is marv which doesn  t make it a sin city rip   off  but not a paragon of originality either  and in fact there  s more resemblance to the miller talenamely  the bleak futuristic look of a decayed society  the brio of the hero  in fact a cross of willis  character and rourke  s persona in the previous movie   on the other hand  this cartoon breathes a more public air  a brim of straight adventurousness  and  in a word  it  s like sin city for kidswell  naughtier kids i mean   cause there  s a bit of nudity on display . to what i have said one might retort that the traits mentioned are characteristic  even as clichs and common places of the futuristic more adult comics  look true enough  and it was oldie miller to have brought that things on screen and renaissance bears some resemblances here and there . now it  s also fair that every ring ought to have its eragorn  so to each sin city  its renaissance . i admit being quite partial to these bleak futuristic tales  a rather undemanding specialty .  
once in a while in indian cinema there comes along a movie like sholay that changes the way the audience perceives a good movie . and den just once in a while  hopefully  we have a rgv ki aag that breaks all the standards and creates one of its own . a standard so low  it can never be broken . ram gopal varma manages to take a melting pot of talent and create a dish so stale u can smell it from a distance . to take a classic like sholay and assassinate it is totally unforgivable and i can  t believe he almost called the movie rgv ki sholay . although sholay had a lot of folklore elements in it  the movie managed to build on its plot by merely defining the characters so distinctively that they lived on forever . what aag does is take these characters and mess them up so badly u  ll need a contest to pick the worst . the realism element is totally missing and what the movie ends up providing is a bunch of  actors  parading along in a plot less and seemingly unrelated set of events . one star for this film is a ridiculous waste of a vote . its time for rgv to wake up to the reality of his failure and conjure up another  different  plot that can be categorized under cinema .  
this is a film i decided to go and see because i  m a huge fan of adult animation . i quite often find that when a film doesn  t evolve around a famous actor or actress but rather a story or style  it allows the film to be viewed as a piece of art rather than a showcase of the actors ability to differ his styles .  br    br   this film is certainly more about style than story . while i found the story interesting  a thriller that borrows story and atmosphere from films such as blade runner and many anime films   it was a bit hard to follow at times  and didn  t feel like it all came together as well as it could have . it definitely had a mixed sense of french animation and japanese anime coming together . whether thats a good thing or not is up to the viewer . visually this film is a treat for the eyes  and in that sense a work of art .  br    br   if you like adult animation  or would like to see a film that is different from most films out at the moment . i would recommend it . all i can say is that i enjoyed the experience of the film but did come away slightly disappointed because it could have been better  
i must tell you right up front  i am certainly not an authority on bollywood films and have only seen a handful . however  if you  ve never seen one  don  t start with this one  i have greatly enjoyed the ones i  ve seen up until this one  but i just couldn  t stand this one . i also must tell you up front that i could not finish this film   it was that annoying . so why was it so annoying   br    br    . there is a character named  rambha  in the film . he is even more annoying than jar  jar binks   which i never would have believed would have been possible . he is so    annoying   he spoke in a falsetto voice and i think was meant to be comic relief . instead  he just grated on my nerves and wanted him to die . . . slowly  his voice  his mannerisms and his obnoxiousness   he just didn  t seem to shut up and dominated every scene he was in   and he needed to die   br    br    . the heroes had the amazing ability to dodge ak    bullets with ease . i kid you not   there was a scene where several unarmed guys took on a small army of guys with these assault rifles   and  again and again  they avoided taking a single bullet and beat up the ruffians    this made stallone  s actions in  rambo ii  look mundane    br    br    . the film was so gosh  darn loud  in your face and intense   it practically made my brain bleed   it was as if the film were made by people under the influence of meth   crazy camera angles  intense music and action  action  action . . . this movie is clearly designed for someone who can  t take a movie with plot and wants nearly     action .  br    br    . the two main characters and their actions and motivations made zero sense . . . none whatsoever   br    br   perhaps if you are the most ardent action and bollywood fan you can stand this film  but as for me i can see why it  s on imdb  s infamous bottom    list . wow . . . this film is bad and intensely bad    
animation always seems to be fringe . in japan  this might not be the case  but in europe and much more so in the usa animation has a big fat  kids  tag on it . france is probably one of the more comic  liberal countries  home of classics as tin  tin  asterix  lucky luke  valereon and so on  if you  ve never read these  it  s not too late . there  s no upper  age limit on them and they don  t carry the nerd  stigma of dc or marvel  it seems natural a movie like this one pops up in france . it suits my prejudiced image of the french as art  loving  anti  usa  oriented and talented movie  makers . luckily there  s also  a scanner darkly  out there to suppress that view  seems art is pretty much international .  br    br   anyway  as you might have gathered renaissance is artsy and french . if you  re a normal person you will get scared by this . there  s no need for that however  beneath it  s cool  sleek cel  shaded appearance there  s a good thriller and a good movie overall .  br    br   that was one of my fears for this movie . it  s so easy turning the spectacular animation to a gimmick  much like sony  co are doing with their pixar rip  offs . i was expecting a confusing  sometimes boring and not very engaging movie  but luckily i was wrong .  br    br   i would have enjoyed it anyway for the neo  noir stuff  but it was good that it was worthwhile on that level as well . note i  ve seen the french dub which was ok as far as i could see . english might be more interesting what with craig and everything .  br    br   a final word of praise to the animation . it was awesome . futuristic  well  crafted  nice camera  work  smart solutions  eyes for example looked very good  which is hard to do  and so visually stunning i felt like bursting out  this is so damn impressive   . then again  i really like animation and i appreciate the effort the studio put down  so my verdict is a bit biased .  br    br   good movie anyway  definitely lives beyond it  s  gimmick  .  
truly shows that hype is not everything . shows by and by what a crappy actor abhishek is and is only getting movies because of his dad and his wife . amitabh as always is solid . ajay devgan as always is shitty and useless and the new guy is a joke . the leading lady is such a waste of an actor . such pathetic movie from such a revered director and from such a big industry . with movies as such i have decreased the amount of bollywood movies i watch .  br    br   rgv has been making very crappy movies for a while now . time to get different actors . hrithek anyone  bollywood needs madhuri and kajol back . every other leading lady is a half  naked wanna be . pffffft .  
picture the classic noir story lines infused with hyper  stylized black and white visuals of frank miller  s sin city . then picture a dystopian  science fiction thriller  such as steven spielberg  s minority report or richard linklater  s a scanner darkly . an amalgamation of the above would be a suitable way of describing visionary french director christian volckman  s bleak and atmospheric take on the future in his feature film debut . but although volckman  s work does unquestionably take reference from the aforementioned films and those similar to them  such a simplistic hybrid does not do renaissance  volckman  s end result  justice  the film itself is a far more complex piece of work than that .  br    br   genre hybridity is usually a hit and miss affair  especially in a contemporary context  with the well of individuality appearing to be increasingly exhausted . as such  renaissance is laudable as a cinematic experiment at the very least  with its unique interspersing of the gritty nihilism of the neo  noir detective thriller and the fantastic allegorical terror of the dystopian sci  fi drama  which serve to compliment each other  s storytelling conventions in a strangely fitting fashion . the screenplay is a clever and intriguing one  although one gets the sense that many of the lines in the script would have been much more effective in their original french than the english translation  the film  s title also becomes far more poignant  managing to stay one step ahead of its audience all the way through . though many elements of the plot will seem quite familiar to those who frequent such science fiction thrillers  the script throws unexpected twists and turns in at exactly the right moment to keep the viewer on their toes  making for a truly compelling work .  br    br   volckman  s film truly excels in its visual component  and the stunning black and white animation is easily the film  s highlight  superbly moody and stylish  it goes to show what tremendous aesthetic effect the simple use of two shades can have . with tremendous detail paid to the composition and look of each shot  and superb use of very noir shadows and intriguing angles to accentuate the emotional tension of the scene  the film appears straight out of a frank miller comic  but with a twist  the end result being consistently visually sumptuous .  br    br   the film  s english rendition is also given added credence by its very fitting array of voice casting . the gruff voice of daniel craig is an absolutely perfect piece of casting for grim  stoic policeman karas  and catherine mccormack is a strong presence as the mysterious woman whose sister  s disappearance he is investigating . despite a wavering english accent  romola garai does great work as the frantic sister in question  and jonathan pryce is suitably menacing as the shady head of ominous mega  corporation avalon . ian holm  s reedy voice is also a strong choice as a mysterious scientist  and holm makes a powerful impression in his brief scenes .  br    br   all together  renaissance boasts a visually stunning  unique and compelling futuristic thriller  just as intelligent as it is entertaining . though the plot may seem familiar to those who frequent such fare and the occasional weak line may inhibit the film from being the moody masterpiece it set out to be  the superb animation in itself easily carries the film through its occasional qualms . for fans of either of the film  s intertwined genres or the gritty graphic novels of frank miller  or those willing to appreciate a capably crafted  slightly less conventional take on the futuristic thriller  the film is without question worth a watch .  br    br         
overall performance   at last the long waiting aag hits the screens . unfortunately  it couldn  t set progressive fire in the audience . the first best thing to talk about the movie is the idea of remaking the mighty sholay . and varma made a nice choice of changing the total backdrop of the movie . if he repeated the same ramghad backdrop  people will again say there is nothing new in this . different background is appreciative but the way he presented it is not worthy . right from the start of his career with siva in telugu  he had been using the same lighting and kind of background . i seriously dunno this guy varma considers about lighting or not or may be he has no other lighting technique other than like gordon willis godfather . it  s all dutch dutch dutch dutch . why would some body use so many dutch angles and extreme closeup shots        the shot division is lame . characters couldn  t carry an emotion  performances are not to their mark  storytelling is worse  background is really really terrible .  br    br   babban  amitabhz been over prioritized to his job . varma produced great villains like bikumatre  bhavtakur das  mallik bhai but this time he failed in carving the all time best characters of hindi cinema . there  s no comparison of gabbar with babban . babban is a more psycho rather than a villain  still he has a soft corner for his brother  it  s a gift in this movie  . amitabhz performance is not to his mark . his appearance itself is pathetic . the scar on his nose  symbolizes forgotten villains of black and white cinema . what ever they worked on babban is not successful . babban is no comparison with gabbar .  br    br   narsimha  the first best thing about this character is not to put audience in suspense about his hands . if varma did that  it would be like teaching abcd to a bachelor degree holder . itz good he opened the secret early . but the flashback is pathetic . varma couldn  t use a great actor like mohanlal to his mark .  br    br   durga  the only character with betterment . this character has been improved with satisfactory changes and was used according to the story .  br    br   heroo  raj  ghunguroo  no body bothers or at least considers these character . the utter failure of movie starts when director could not work on the close friendship between our heroz . these characters carry nothing to this movie .  br    br   ramgopalvarma  his quality is degrading  diminishing . aag totally can be treated as a c grade movie . sholay is a fire of revenge  problem of a town  meaning for true friendship and highly appreciated nuisance and fun by dharmendra . aag never carried an emotion with its characters . storytelling is too weak that it could not make audience feel sympathy for the characters . don  t compare aag with sholay  still u will not like it .  br    br   if you dare watch this movie . you will be burnt alive in ramgopal varma ki aag  
blade runner  deckard is a replicant     br    br   city of lost children  augmented senses or whatever used and abused and mostly  well  just giving us far less than what we might dream of   and  br    br   dark city  br    br   these really ought to be added .  br    br   for a while now  i  ve been waiting for an animated film that might affect me as much as miyazaki  s stuff has . this one is the  st .  br    br   hmm  scratch the  animated  part of that .  br    br   i have an intense love  hate relationship with film noir and  hey  if you don  t leave  it must be mostly love  right  but  there are so many sci  fi and noir themes totally submerged in this film that it  s just a wonder to watch .  br    br   these people did an incredible job   
this is by far the worst movie i have ever seen in the cinema   could not wait for it to end . to make matters worse it is given a   a certificate so you do not see anyone getting shot  just bodies slumping to the ground  even babban getting killed was cut out    too many scenes were cut to bring in the younger viewers as i think the makers knew it would flop disastrously   amitabhs acting was great but that  basanti  wannabe and the other idiot who plays devgans mate can  t even act . devgan was wasted    br    br   i would not watch this for free again and i advise all others who read this to do just the same you have been warned    
ho  ho  homicidal maniac  this spirited tour  de  force adaptation of a great ec comics horror tale is undoubtedly one of the best episodes of the cable tv series ever made . director robert   back to the future   zemeckis makes the most out of a witty script by fred   night of the creeps    the monster squad   dekker which centers on a ruthless two  timing housewife  well played by mary ellen trainor  who was married to zemeckis when she starred in this episode  who kills her jilted jerk of a husband  a nice cameo by marshall bell  on christmas eve by whacking him upside the head with a fire  poker . complications ensue when a deranged murderous madman dressed up as jolly kris kringle escapes from a nearby asylum and decides to pay trainor a decidedly unfriendly visit . alan silvestri  s spooky  stirring score and dean cundey  s typically polished cinematography further enhance the macabre fun . and larry drake  the sweet gentle giant benny on  l . a . law     with his creepy hiccuping guffaw  a demented twinkle in his bright green eyes  and a leering  truly wicked grin  makes for a sensational sanguinary saint nick .  
okay . so i just got back . before i start my review  let me tell you one thing i wanted to like this movie . i know i  ve been negative in the past  but i was hoping to be surprised and actually come out liking the film . i didn  t .  br    br   it  s not just the fact that every horror clich imaginable is in this . and it  s not just the fact that they make every little thing into a jump scare  walking into a baseball bat left on the floor  are you kidding me   . it just wasn  t scary . one thing i was surprised about there was more blood than i thought there was going to be . . which isn  t saying much .  br    br   the film starts off with donna being dropped off by lisa  s mom at her house . she comes in . . goes upstairs . camera pans to her father dead on the couch . spooky . she goes upstairs  where the aforementioned baseball bat scene happens . finds her brother on his bed  apparently dead  how could she tell  he didn  t have a spot of blood on him  . killer comes in  donna hides under bed  mom dies . she runs outside screaming for help . killer behind her  i did it for us .  cut to therapy session . this confused a lot of people  everyone was asking whether or not her family actually died or if she imagined it  and she mentions how the nightmares have started coming back . filler dialogue ensues .  br    br   they cut to the chase pretty quick . few scenes at the salon  they go to the hotel . of course the killer is already there  for some reason  he escaped  days ago but the police  family weren  t informed until he  s already there  . more filler ensues .  br    br   i  m not going to go on about what happens in the film  because i don  t want to spoil it too much . if you want to know who dies  horror  fan made a post about it already . but on the subjects of deaths they weren  t that exciting . people in the theatre actually laughed out loud  an experience i  ve never had before in a horror movie  not even in when a stranger calls  during several of them . one in particular the bus boy guy who gives the most hilarious  scared  face i  ve ever seen . the only death involving any blood was lisa  s  and that was pretty scarce . her throat is slashed  blood  if you can even call it that  it was practically black  splatters on the curtain  thing . the only other blood was on claire when we see her body . apparently  fenton decided to stab her a few times after he choked her to death . um  okay  the movie was one of the most clichd i  ve ever seen . let  s see here . . obligatory close  mirror  curtain  boom  scene . check . twice  actually  you could tell they were struggling  . mandatory backing  up  into  killer . check . there  s also the backing  up  into  lamp scene  but you  ve all seen that . oh  you say you want a birds  flying  away scare  well  you got it   yes  they managed to incorporate one of those in here  . and  of course  the we  have  security  on  all  exits  but  he  still  escaped scene . shall i go on  i could .  br    br   for anyone saying the characters weren  t stupid  are you kidding me   oh  even though the massive alarm is ringing  literally saying please vacate the building  and  of my friends are missing  i  m going to go upstairs to get my wrap .  these characters were some of the most flawed and stupid characters ever . the only likable character  lisa  made one of the most stupid moves in the movie .  oh  i just realized the psycho  teacher is here  i must leave my strong boyfriend behind to run off by myself to warn her  oh  shoot  the elevator is being to slow  guess i  ll take the stairs and run off into the construction site   ugh . by the end of the film  they all deserved to die . the only death anyone felt any remorse for was donna  s boyfriend  i can  t even remember his name  is that bad    and by that time  the audience was completely drained out of this scareless  clichd film .  br    br   there were some positives  the acting was decent for the most part  and it was well  shot . but that  s about it .  br    br   i  d give it a     and that  s being generous . just for the laughs  and believe me  the audience had a few   and brittany snow .  br    br   oh  and the reaction was bad . very bad . people were boo  ing after the movie ended and buzz afterwards was very negative . expect bad legs for this one .  
if the answer to this question is yes  then you should enjoy this excellent movie . i  ve just seen it a couple of hours ago here in paris  where the action of the movie takes place  and i can still feel the huge trauma i received in the back of my eyes . . . what a visual shock  i  ve never seen such a beautiful blackwhite photo and such a drastic change in the way of doing animated movies . i strongly believe there will a before and after  renaissance   similarly to what we saw with pixar movies or the akira and ghostintheshell experiences . this is a real breakthrough in the small world of animated movies and i hope this french initiative  a small unknown french studio with a few young folks who had a dream named  renaissance  . . .  will receive the success and recognition it deserves . vive la france   
i can  t come up with appropriate enough words to describe the horror i felt sitting in that cinema watching ramgopal varma ki aag  the director  s half  hearted attempt to pay tribute to that classic bollywood western  sholay . the biggest problem with varma  s remake is that he doesn  t even try to make a credible film . it  s evident in every single frame of this movie that varma  s heart is just not in it . what you see on screen is a bad joke at best  a gimmick on the part of the filmmaker  and it pains you to see what little regard he actually shows for a film he claims he  s been a fan of all his life . i  ve seen several bad films over the years  but i can  t remember one that  s been as much of a torture to sit through as this one . consider yourself very brave if you  re able to survive the entire film  because it tests your patience like few films have before . varma may borrow his plot and characters from the original film  but his version is trite and hollow and doesn  t have any of the spirit and energy of sholay . ramgopal varma ki aag is actually a mockery of that timeless gem because it turns out to be everything that the original film was not  way  over  the  top  too  long  too  boring  and entirely mindless . much  loved moments from sholay are parodied by varma and for that you want to wring his neck . one of the most memorable scenes in sholay in which dharmendra as veeru climbs up the watertank and threatens to jump down to his death is turned around in this film with ajay devgan playing hero  pulling a pistol to his head threatening to shoot himself . how you wish he  d pulled the trigger and spared us all the agony . not only does ramgopal varma ki aag fail as a remake of sholay  it  s a pretty bad effort even as a stand  alone film . the eardrum  damaging background score sounds more like someone clanging vessels in the kitchen  and the camera  work alternates between dramatic and head  spinning . partners in this terrible crime of bringing this ridiculous film to screen are the film  s mostly dead  as  wood actors . sushmita sen as devi the widow takes both her role and the film too seriously  punctuating her lines with pauses  staring into camera for effect  and generally performing like her life depends upon it . mohanlal as narsimha  struggles with his hindi dialogue and looks embarrassed to be delivering some of the stupidest lines in his illustrious career . newcomer prashant raj playing jai  equivalent raj has no acting chops to speak of and can  t strum up any of the brooding intensity amitabh bachchan brought to the part in the original film . as hero  the new  age veeru  ajay devgan is entirely hopeless  failing miserably in his attempts at comedy . but the film  s weakest link  easily the most shocking casting decision is nisha kothari as ghunghroo  who steps into the shoes of hema malini as basanti  the endearing airhead from sholay . nisha kothari is not only the worst actress in this country  but possibly the worst actress in this whole wide world  she gives the word annoying a whole new meaning  and she makes you want to slit your wrists every time she  s on screen . and then  there is amitabh bachchan playing babban singh  ramgopal varma  s version of hindi cinema  s most popular villain gabbar singh . the only actor in this ensemble who recognises the film  s over  the  top tone and plays along accordingly  bachchan constructs a menacing character who is a treat to watch . he  s meant to be a comic book villain who snarls and sneers and hisses and hams  and he does all of that to good effect . but because he  s trapped in such a doomed enterprise  his performance doesn  t really help elevate the film in any way . no surprises here  i  m going with zero out of ten and two thumbs down for ramgopal varma ki aag  it one  s of those painful movie  watching experiences you wouldn  t subject even an enemy to . it  s not like varma hasn  t handled a remake before . with sarkar he gave us a smart  gripping take on the godfather  and it  s a pity he  s made this sholay bhature out of such a much  loved classic . ramgopal varma ki aag is his worst career decision ever  it  s also a dark spot on his resume he  ll be embarrassed of forever . i suspect this film will go down in movie history as ramgopal varma ka daag .  
i just came back from a pre  release viewing of this excellent sci  fi film noire . it  s style is definitively unique and very well made . it is filmed with actual actors  but transformed into a black and white comic  strip style you have never seen before . it goes one step further than sin city  and it does it well . it  s a successful combination of french comic and movie cultures . the story and mood remind of blade runner  and if you liked that one you will surely like this one  too . the storyline is intelligent  never boring and has some nice little twists . this film is a must  see for any cinephile except perhaps those who absolutely don  t like sci  fi or bw .  
something somewhere must have terribly gone wrong right at the time when the director was perceiving this plot . the movie  that was supposed to be the remake of one of the most loved movies in cinema  fails to deliver in every aspect of movie making . the best of the artists could also not pick up the tuning  that simply goes on to show that the movie in itself was a grave mistake .  br    br   the editing is poor . direction is crap . acting is out of this world  omg   the characters who are supposed to look scary force people to laugh on the stupidity of their dialogues and costumes .  br    br   i wouldn  t watch the movie even if someone paid me the cost of the tickets or even gave me a free burger with it .  
i just went to a screening of the film during expresion en corto  a short film festival in guanajuato  mexico . one of the producers was there and gave a brief introduction . the film rolled and from the first shot i was amazed one long continuous shot of a futuristic paris in glorious black and white .  br    br   i shouldn  t go on with the details  cause i think it is a film worth seeing . the sci  fi story might be found average for many . . . to me was really good . the action is great  the camera is free to fly everywhere and i mean everywhere . things you would not be able to do or see is accomplished beautifully . the cast performance is good  in my opinion no one hits the wrong note .  br    br   now  the thing that i found awesome is the animation .  d grafics look  d . a bw comic book brought to life . the details on the backgrounds gives more texture as if it had been done by hand  i  m sure it was but when the angles change you see the depth  .  br    br   the producer at the screening talked about the hard work behind the film  years  the director  she said  is brilliant  but perhaps he was quite unexperienced since he only had one short film in his cv . so  many people had true faith in them . they started their own studio from scratch and ever since they faced the challenge they brought upon them .  br    br   don  t miss it . i think you won  t regret it . . . maybe richard linklater for the final look of this film is superior to his i think .  
i  like many other bachchan fans  having been eagerly awaiting the remake of sholay . this movie was not it . thank god they didn  t let them use the name  sholay  in the movie title . ram gopal  s remake is not worthy of the title . the camera work  the locations  the costumes  the totally out  of  place dancing  the dialogue all combined to make the worst movie i have ever seen . you wonder if the cast of actors agreed to make this movie because they needed money and ram gopal was paying a lot of money for the cast . the only non  paid actor  the ant  was the only resemblance to the first movie . abishek  s role was totally ridiculous  did he need money to pay for the wedding to ash  save your money  your mind and your time  don  t bother with this movie or the dvd when that comes out .  
first things first  this movie is achingly beautiful . a someone who works on  d cg films as a lighter  compositor  the visuals blew me away . every second i was stunned by what was on screen as for the story  well  it  s okay . it  s not going to set the world on fire  but if you like your futuristic blade runner  esquire tales  and who doesn  t   then you will be fine .  br    br   i do have to say that i felt the voice acting was particularly bland and detracted from the movie as a whole . i saw it at the cinema in english  but i am hoping that there is a french version floating around somewhere .  br    br   definitely worth seeing .  
first of all sorry for giving even a rating of  to this movie  nothing less than this available  . the film fails in every department be it screenplay  direction  characterization or acting .  br    br     to start with  the name of the movie is really c class  though the movie itself match up to the name  .   amitabh bachchan tries his best to live up to the character but the weak script coupled with pathetic direction ends up making him a humorous character .   in sholay gabbar singh has reward of       on him  which was convincing  . here in aag the figure was    crores for babban  amitabh bachchan but poor man was beaten by our so called hero  s and had only few men bikes to commute  with all automatic guns  . making a sholay like movie in mumbai type setup in modern time doesn  t look convincing .   as for nisha kothari  somebody needs to tell her that she doesn  t know acting . why is ram gopal verma casting her again and again    mohanlal was good but there is hardly anything for him to do .   sushant singh and rajpal yadav who are great actors are wasted in the movie .   legendry role played by lila misra  mausi of basanti  in sholay is replaced cheaply in this movie by some gangu mummy . ramu please grow up and understand that there needs to be some intellect in your movie . enough of stupid characters in your movie like shiva and aag .   should not say anything about modern jai and veeru . . pathetic to the greatest extent .  br    br   to summarize  i was shocked to see this movie because it looks like a cheap and comic translation of original classic . please don  t waste money and time on this movie . i think watching aap ka surror  which i thought was the worst movie possible  would be a better idea than to see this horrible package of stupid characters  bad songs and miserable direction .  br    br   thanks  saurabh  
i highly recommend this film . set in the bladerunner  esquire future of     paris  it is in most respect a classic film noir script lady in peril  sister trying to find her  honest cop fighting everyone . luckily  it avoids being stereotypical  and combines a pretty good storyline with interesting  innovative visuals . the film might remind you of sin city in look  but it has an even sharper  even more graphic novel look that i found really compelling . each frame  each sequence seems like it could have been pulled from the desk of a skilled graphic designer . in terms of story and artwork  you can find nods going back to the nineteen forties  or even earlier with the classic views of the eiffel tower and sacre couer  and movies like casablanca  as well as looking toward a grim future where our destines are ruled by corporations . make any excuse you need to see this film .  
this film was absolutely . . . ugh i can  t find the word oh wait . . . crap  i mean when it started i was like yeah this looks good and then after it was so boring . i nearly fell asleep and it had nothing to do with the fact that i caught a late showing because it was utter filth . ram gopal varma has tried his best but the cast could never live up to the cast of the original sholay i mean what was he thinking doing a remake . what was he trying to do  be like sanjay leeli bhansani and win all the awards next year like he did for black  ajay and that other guy were good especially the other guy who played raj because out of all of them he was the one to look at . what was amitabh doing  he  s destroying his own dignity by doing all these stupid films . first nishabd then cheeni kum then jhoom barabar jhoom and now this i mean hes got to gather a bit of his money and move as far away from bollywood as possible before he loses all his respect and i  m telling you he  s already past half his way . i mean all this is really good for the other actors like shah rukh khan who  s getting a really good name now because of the recent downfall of amitabh . i never really liked him because he thinks he  s god and i just knew abhishek was going to be in that movie .  br    br   if you want to save your    .   and spend it on something good go watch heyy babyy because that  s just the funniest movie ever and it  s number one in the charts   
if you  ve ever seen the trailer for the film  the recruit  with colin farrell and al pacino  you  ll never have to see that film . sadly  renaissance has had similarly revelatory trailer makers .  br    br   the story of renaissance is about a detective investigating the kidnapping of a young woman and medical researcher . the setting is a futuristic paris  and science fiction elements feature throughout . the special thing about renaissance  though  is its visual style  and not its story . renaissance is  d computer animation  like final fantasy  but highly stylised into black and white with ultra sharp contrasts . the result looks stunning  although the problems of  d animation of human beings are still noticeable from time to tome slightly robotic movements  slightly wooden facial acting  etc  as a highly stylised  beautiful film noir  renaissance succeeds at stunning the audience  especially visually . the story and writing  though  are not quite at the same level of quality as the visuals . it  s not a bad story  and presumably  if you haven  t seen the trailer  it  s a lot more exciting than it was for me  . but it is a story that isn  t highly original  and verges on the corny . a few lines of dialogue were painfully corny  making the writing sound like a beginner  s first efforts .  br    br   i will definitely recommend renaissance to friends . it  s unlike anything i  ve seen before  visually  and i believe its originality alone makes it a worthwhile experience . it is also a watchable story  even if it isn  t perfect .  
this is the first time i  m writing a comment on a movie on imdb . but i had to write it for this one . its  hrs of unadulterated torture . from the starting u get the idea that the movie is gonna be bad . the acting is pathetic . i  m a big fan of ajay devgan  loved him in bhagat singh  but he is at his worst in this movie . amitabh seems to have worked hard for this one  but somehow the fear is missing . prashant raj is a non actor . and the most irritating part of the movie is nisha kothari . i have no clue why the director took her in this movie . the background score is repetitive . somehow i felt that ramu tried to repeat a sarkar  the color theme  the background score  the camera angles  but it didn  t work . please don  t watch it  
one reason pixar has endured so well  and been so successful  is that while their films remain technical marvels and visual mosaics  they have a story to match their style . and often very moving style at that affecting  charming and cross  generational . that a lot anime  speaking in broad terms  and a great many other animations fail to match their technical virtuosity with real substance is  i think  and i might be wrong  partly because either the makers aren  t bothered with character and plot and focus far too much on sound and image  or the sheer effort that goes into making some animations is so enormous  so enervating that they don  t have the energy to create a really engaging story .  br    br   that same cannot be said of renaissance . there are flaws in its plot  but i  ll get to that later . those same flaws  however  are not reflected in the visuals  renaissance is nowt short of stunning . the ultra  high contrast images  sometimes so high  contrast that is nothing but one face or one beam of light visible  and incredible detail are always impressive  always a joy to behold . the futuristic paris on display is the grim offspring of blade runner and brave new world dark  murky  quite affluent and even clean  but shrouded in intrigue  corporate malfeasance  obsessed with beauty  capital of the catwalk  after all  and disguising the squalor and neglect of its labyrinthine passages with a veneer of monumental  sophisticated architecture .  br    br   it  s a compelling environment  not entirely original  but great all the same . the film  s much  touted  motion  capture  technology and incredible attention to human and design minutiae result in images a black  and  white photographer would die for . not that the detail prevents entertainment  because christian volckman crafts some superb action sequences a hell  for  leather care chase  a couple of gruesome  ly imaginative  murders  several tussles in the dark and a nasty dust  up in a gloomy apartment . the locations are great  too  i want to visit the nightclub  . while the central character of karas is your regular off  the  shelf maverick cop  the other two female characters  who are sisters  are the real motors of the movie . coming from war  torn eastern europe  products of a war  diaspora and a family spat  they  re a compelling metaphor for europe as a whole .  br    br   the film is tremendously atmospheric  its dizzying  swooping faux  camera moves and adult tone making for a very engaging experience . however  the plot . . . it never becomes more interesting than the initial hook  in which indefatigable plod karas must find ilona tasuiev  a drop  dead gorgeous and pioneering scientist  after she  s snatched from the street . the sinister corporation avalon  is any corporation ever not sinister    which she was working for on  classified   projects are hell  bent on her retrieval  and soon karas is up to his neck in official reprimands  dead bodies  cigarette  smoke and narrowly  missed bullets  and falling in love with ilona  s sister bislane  very sympathetically voiced by catherine mccormack   as he plumbs the depths of the city  s sordid underbelly  and his own past  .  br    br   text  book noir  in other words  but while i enjoyed the film a lot more than sin city  to which it bears a passing visual resemblance   the plot and resolution are dull  the theme of immortality being raised but never examined  and the shenanigans of high  rolling avalon ceo paul dellenbach are also dull  undercutting a lot of the dramatic tension . the basic ideas are familiar sci  fi genre materials  and there  s a nagging sense that the visuals and atmosphere are disguising the mundane material .  br    br   however  the film as a whole is lucid and perfectly coherent  even if some of the scenarios the characters get into occasionally feel like excuses for displays of technical wizardry . but it  s the projection of life in paris circa      the vision of community and creation of another city from the ground up that makes this film something to behold . i may be taking it too seriously  and if that  s the case i can at least say that it  s superbly made  extremely entertaining  and pretty mature  too   and with an ambiance like no other .  
i saw the film and i got screwed  because the film was foolish and boring . i thought ram gopal varma will justify his work but unfortunately he failed and the whole film got spoiled and they spoiled  sholay  . the cast and crew was bad . the whole theater slept while watching the movie some people ran away in the middle . amithab bachan  s acting is poor  i thought this movie will be greatest hit of the year but this film will be the greatest flop of the year  sure . nobody did justice to their work  including ajay devagan . this film don  t deserve any audiences . i bet that this film will flop .  br    br    finally this movie sucks   
a scanner darkly  minority report  blade runner  sin city and sky captain and the world of tomorrow  if you are a fan of any of these then this will be well worth checking out .  br    br   french animation project  renaissance  took seven years to make on a shoestring budget and tonight i finally got to see it at a private screening for the international film festival in stockholm . my spontaneous reaction is awe my further reflection is  huh  neat  and closer analysis regrettably gets a resounding  meh  . it is a gorgeous science fiction triumph on the surface  but scratch it or even poke it a little and its unnecessarily complex plot becomes glaringly apparent  as do the flat characters .  br    br   nevertheless it is clear that the people at onyx films have done something spectacular with the aforementioned surface . the visuals are staggering . they have used live action motion capture fitted into key  frame animation  with stark jet black and bright white contrasts and a heavily shadowed rotoscoped background . for those of you who are not down with the  technical lingo   the film looks like a fully  animated sin city . its fluid  transparent  dark and stylized template is complemented by great lurid lightning . it  s a vision . yet much credit is also due to the crisp sound effects that take the form of humming futuristic weapons  suspenseful music  heavy raindrops and glass shards breaking . it  s every tech  nerd  s wet dream . . .  br    br   the film zooms in on an eerily  lit  bleak  futurescape paris in which a major corporation called  avalon  has begun to interweave in the lives of the citizens with surveillance  think the fluid transparent screens from minority report  and genetic engineering . the latter leads to a mysterious kidnapping of young researcher ilona  voiced by the lovely romola garai  . cut to our hard  boiled cop  on  suspension and protagonist karas  daniel craig   a man who takes the law into his own hands  who is assigned the case of finding and retrieving ilona . during this case  he is being aided by illona  s sister with whom he also begins a love affair . a very half  assed love affair  if i may say so .  br    br   the world of renaissance is remarkable . director christian volckman takes a fair jab at melting the noir themes and the result is an urban jungle filled with cads  rats  femme fatales and lonely detectives that hide in the shadows of the seedy slum . the problem is that the creators undoubtedly felt the need to have extremely clear and spelled  out archetypes in the story  or the film would have been  too surreal  for mainstream audiences  owing to its lurid animation format . it follows then that we have a multitude of clichd characters such as evil  laughing villains  sleazy crime bosses and butch tough  chicks who blow smoke every chance they get . it shoves noir in our faces  and it isn  t necessary .  br    br   what is worse is that the dialogue is a little contrived . it seems as though every line exists for the sole reason of propelling the plot . this is nothing fatal because the plot is so complex once it gets going that it needs some clear direction . daniel craig helps here too by bringing a no  nonsense attitude to his hard  edged cop character . at one point in renaissance  he is seen in a vivid car  chase that surely is one of the most adrenaline  pumping and top notch sequences of the film . unfortunately  the novelty of the sci  fi visuals have worn off post this car chase and  renassaince  could benefit from being slightly shorter . in summary  a very interesting but flawed futuristic comic book experience .  br    br    out of    
what  s happening to rgv  he seems to repeat himself in every movie . has he run out of creative ideas  if he has  time to take a back seat . went to see the movie with great anticipation  of course not once did i imagine it would be anywhere near the original . i knew it wouldn  t  the promos said it all . but even then i thought it would be a great rgv treat  after all isn  t he the same guy who directed sathya and company  or is he  i have my doubts after watching aag . i am not going to talk about the plot or the story  as most of it is taken from the original  if you are really dying to go and see this one  you could play a fun game with friends identify the scenes from the original one and give ratings of your own  so veeru becomes heero  how corny is that    guess heeru wouldn  t sound that great . ajay devgan is quite a disaster as heero  the comedy is strained and the slurred talk that really was effective in company sounds fake . the chemistry between heero and gunghroo  nisha kothari  doesn  t exists at all . in fact the more charming nisha tries to be the more irritating she becomes . this reaches a peak by the end . raj is in fact not bad as compared to the others  he is a guy to watch in the future . i was really disappointed with amitabh bachchan as babban  he looks like a caricature of gabbar singh . there is a scene where he is drinking something from a bowl all covered in a shawl  instead of inspiring fear he looks like a beggar with his bowl . the only performance that really stood out was mohan lal as inspector narasimha . i am afraid i don  t have the patience to write more .  
i  ve seen this film in avant  premiere at imagina festival in monaco .  br    br   i saw the first trailer four years ago  and from this moment  i was waiting to see the final result . i haven  t been disappointed .  br    br   it is a full  d movie with a high contrasted black and white render . clearly inspired by some comic books  such as the ones from f . miller . in this optic  it goes one step further than the excellent  sin city  adaptation from r . rodriguez . this time   almost  no grey or any middle color  but a graphic style never seen before in a realistic animated film .  can  t wait for scanner darkly   br    br   the massive use of motion capture gives a lot of life and credibility to the characters and we forget really soon the technical aspect to concentrate on more classic elements  such as direction or plot . the direction stays sober and controlled despite the infinite possibilities of the medium  and that is a really good surprise .  br    br   the futuristic story  paris      makes it a classic sci  fiction movie and maintain the viewer interested till the end . despite a classic base plot  an investigation that goes far beyond initial expectations  the atmosphere and some interesting recurring themes  genetics  absolute power of certain firms . . .  gives this movie a great interest .  br    br   despite it is an animated film  this one is obviously not made for children . you won  t find here any funny pet or any stupid family moral  only the cold reality . it is far closer to a good film noir .  br    br   i found that the setting is one of the best aspect of the film we still feel the well known paris  but it is morphed by a fine touch of futurism .  br    br   nevertheless  i regret a few mistakes . the montage is sometimes a bit flat  one or two very clich slow motion effects and some poor dialogs . even though the technical is excellent  it shows its limits in some romantic sequences  a bit like  final fantasy  did  . those little things makes it a     .  br    br   altogether  it is a successful artistic challenge that you have to watch if you can . the director  christian volckman  knows how not to fall into potential traps  luckyly  they didn  t ask john woo to do the job   .  br    br   to conclude  it is a film with blasting visuals  an intelligent story and a wonderful art direction . watch it if you can   br    br   please excuse me for the spelling mistakes .  
if the scale went negative i would be happier . seeing sushmita sen was nice  and nisha kothari has a bright future but the producer and the director ruined any and all enjoyment in this story . the choice of angles  choice of lighting and well everything distracted from trying to remember what is the story . oh  if the songs and dances haven  t caused you to rip your ears off your head  first . the film could have been made twice at  .   hours  and been pretty good  kinda like  seven samurai  but the director and writer didn  t go that direction  even if the  townsfolk  finally find their backbone and want to help . this movie fails on so many levels editing  writing  photography angles  style  lighting  script  name any aspect of this film  it was bad  probably the food from the caterer was bad too . i have never in  years of watching indian  bollywood  movies seen something this badly made .  
the best treasure island ever made . they just don  t make films  br    br   like this anymore  or ever . no one makes films like this . more  br    br   than a novelty  this film is funny  frank and fascinating  yet moody   br    br   mysterious and morose . this is one of my favorite pictures . the  br    br   director must have had some idea what it is all about  but he  br    br   certainly leaves room for your own impressions and interpretations  while leaving little left to the imagination . why he  br    br   has not made more films like this  i have no idea . while  br    br   reminding me of some of the best noir  it is one of a kind . but this  br    br   is not for the lazy or simple .  
if you have seen the sholay of      don  t watch this movie . if you have not seen the sholay of      go watch it . but do not watch this movie . this movie has all the ingredients that could possibly have gone wrong with making a remake of sholay .  br    br   amitabh  babban  bachchan plays the role of a psycho villain to the best  probably the only   mins of the reel that shouldn  t be burnt  . if you remove the rest of the movie and just watch amitabh play around with his character  it would still be worth a watch . but as insp . narsimha  mohanlal doesn  t do justice to his talent . ajay devgan  heero  is extremely mundane and the only reason i think  they cast prashant raj in the role of raj is because he has a striking resemblance to amitabh of his young days . sushmita sen carries herself well  with grace and make  up . but the award for the  worst performance and any role till date  must go to nisha kothari . she manages to degrade her acting to such levels that even high  school drama would would outshine her performance .  br    br   if you have a mortal enemy  take him to this movie .    
an axellent second installment that manages to be just as good as the first .  br    br   once again  the casting is just wonderful . i like how the first and second episode have nothing in common except for the wit and cleverness .  br    br   the second episode is just very funny  very silly and very enjoyable . it is the very first christmas episode  about a woman who is tormented by a serial killer dressed as santa after having killed her own husband . just like the first episode karma .  br    br   the most humorous scene is a tie between the murder of her husband and her phone call  first faking her fear until it becomes real .  
and rent a good horror movie . it  s like the writer had never seen a horror movie before and didn  t realize every single thing he wrote was clichd and hackneyed and has been parodied to perfection in movies like  scream  and  scary movie  .  br    br   in between the scary bits is the most banal and boring dialog ever written . stupid  we  re going to the prom  junk . i wanted to claw my ears off . honestly   the hills  has better dialog .  br    br   there really was no need to make this movie . leading lady is uninteresting and i kept thinking  her  really  guy is obsessed with her  really    br    br   all the characters act in stupid ways  including the police .  cover the place in teams of   front and back  not one sleepy cop sitting in his car with the window rolled down just waiting for his throat to be slashed .   br    br   the serial killer just swans about murdering everyone he wants without the least bit of problem . no resistance from victims  or doors  . nobody has any protection or the least idea of fighting back  or flipping the security lock on the hotel room door  . the people are like mentally disabled sheep .  br    br   by the by  if you  re a gore fan  you  ll be disappointed too . all the killing is kept offscreen and is   ahem   tastefully done .  so boo hoo for you    br    br   none of the killings is the least bit interesting . most of the time they  ve already happened by the time we find out .  br    br   the only clich missing was the cat that always pops out in this kind of movies .  oh kitty  you scared me  i thought you were the killer   aiieeee    br    br   and then at the end when it  s time for the killer to die   well  let  s just say it  s the easiest and most obvious choice . snore .  br    br   the audience was jeering and talking back to the screen throughout . it was too dumb to believe and not really scary enough . don  t encourage this kind of lazy film  making .  br    br    oh  and by the way   no crowning of a prom king or queen . no tiara . no bucket of blood .   br    br   so save your money and rent  carrie  or  friday the   th  or  halloween  or  scream  or  scary movie   any of them  to get a good scare with some original twists .  
this is an important film . it challenges the viewer and encourages you to pay attention . there  s a lot to like here . the director seems interested in taking apart some of the more tired cinematic conventions . unlike a lot of recent american cinema  this film takes an interest in what it means to make a movie in the first place . the dvd includes a lot of bonus features  and there are two commentaries that explain the movie for the viewers still befuddled after an initial viewing . when the film screened at sundance  it made more than a few audience members uncomfortable and angry . this is a sunday morning coffee movie  not a friday night party movie . for the dedicated viewer  it  s a treasure trove .  
this so called remake is terrible . i went to see this tonight . . on the first day as the anticipation and hype was too much for me to handle . but within the first half an hour  we knew that this is a disaster . it not only does not match the hype created but also insults the original blockbuster . the script had loopholes  the editing was untidy quite a few times . mohanlal who is an excellent actor did an okay job . amitabh was alright . . the director wanted to portray how evil his character is but he went a bit overboard which resulted in it being forceful . ajay who is especially smooth in these kind of roles was also a disappointment . lets not even get started about the new guy prashant . . one wouldn  t be proud to start off a career with something like this . rajpal yadav who was thrown in for a few laughs couldn  t even get a smile out of anyone because of his forceful humor and the shrill voice . nisha kothari proved that she is one of the worst actresses we have today . all in all  rgv who i thought was one of the most talented and gifted directors india has had . . failed miserably . he took up such a huge challenge and responsibility to remake what is known as the best hindi movie ever and made a mess out of it .  
i have no idea how to describe this movie  and also would love to provide others the same opportunity i had  seeing it with no prior knowledge of what to expect . i enjoyed it immensely but can also say i barely understood what was going on  if in fact there was anything to understand in the first place . fans of david lynch  tangentially  or especially guy maddin films should particularly enjoy this  and any fans of the comic book eightball will probably be beside themselves with joy and wonder  it came as close as any film i  ve seen to the tone and mood dan clowes creates so effectively  .  br    br   one slight note just to warn anyone easily offended  this movie  if rated  would be nc    for sure . fans of male full  frontal nudity  however . . . hmm  well . . . yes . this is weird wild stuff .  
ram gopal verma has proved himself as a very innovative and competent director . he had done a remake  reworking of godfather with sarkar  and succeeded tremendously . ditto for lolita which he made as nishaabd .  br    br   sholay is been the movie he repeatedly says has inspired him the most . unfortunately  he has managed to make a disappointing and ultimately boring remake .  br    br   the acting ranged from decent to very good  with amitabh bachchan being suitably menacing as the villain babban .  br    br   the songs were awful and forgettable . the mehbooba mehbooba song came off as a second rate music video .  br    br   the worst part was the pacing  and the dialogues  which were forgettable .  br    br   watching the movie in a theatre  i found myself waiting for the intermission  and then for the ending . some viewers were wise not to wait  and were seen leaving throughout the duration of the film . ultimately  one of the worst movies made by ram gopal verma .  
of course  he did have to invent everything about cinematography  film directing  etc . before he could make classics like  the gardner   so i suppose he may be forgiven this initial excursion into mere sociological documentary . today we call them  home movies   and they are just as boring now as this one is  
what on earth has become of our dear ramu  is this the same man who made sarkar  satya  and comapny  i refuse to believe so . if aag was ramu  s most ambitious project  he has clearly jumped off the high cliff he has ascended by giving the industry some of the greatest works of all times . this movie is made to fall like a brick . i was cringing to leave the theater  but i was forced to sit because i wouldn  t have been able to take my car out of the parking lot before others also left . else  nothing would have made me sit beyond interval .  br    br   this movie is nowhere close to sholay . it doesn  t even come near it within a mile . i believe ramu surely loves the godfather more than sholay  since sarkar was a classic piece of work . i read ramu  s interview a couple of days back  in which the interviewer said that ramu doesn  t sleep for more than  hours a day  that too not at a stretch . i completely agree with this now  as his lack of sleep has probably taken its toll on the movie .  br    br   there is no power in the performance . amitabh bachchan doesn  t even look scary . he looked more terrifying in the few posters and wallpapers i saw earlier . ramu  s favorite nisha kothari did a fantastic job in sarkar because she didn  t have many dialogs  in fact none if i remember clearly  . she opened her mouth in this movie  and has found a place in history . the new guy playing jai  s role seems to have that brash look  but didn  t manage jai  s role at all . i cant go on . . . im sorry . . . my pain is too big for me to manage right now .  br    br   i promised myself throughout the movie that i will watch the original sholay once more just to see that it is still there .  br    br   bottom line horrible movie . the media and critics are going to cook ramu  s goose . and just to remind all readers once more  i am one of the biggest ramu fans  and even i cant spare him for this act .  
the first film ever made . workers streaming from a factory  some cycling  most walking  moving right or left . along with melies  the lumieres are both the starting point and the point of departure for cinema  with melies begins narrative fiction  cinema  fantasy  artifice  spectacle with the lumieres pure  unadorned  observation . the truth . there are many intellectuals who regret the ossification of cinema from the latter into the tired formulae of the former .  br    br   but consider this short again . there is nothing  objective  about it . the film is full of action  a static  inhuman scene burst into life  activity  and the quiet harmony of the frame is ruptured  decentred from the back to right or left  but never  of course  the front  where the camera is  . and yet the camera stands stock still  contains the energy  the possible subversion  subordinates it to its will . the cinematograph may be a revolutionary invention  but it will be used for conservative purposes  to map out the world  edit it  restrict it  limit it .  br    br   worse is the historical reality of the film . these factory workers are lumiere employees . the bosses are spying on their workers  the unseen eye regarding his faceless minions . the film therefore describes two types of imprisonment . behind the gates  the workers are confined in their workplace . the opening of the gate seems to be an image of freedom  escape  but they face another wall  the fourth wall  further confining them . the first film is also the first example of cctv surveillance  an image of unseen  all  seeing authority entrapping its servants . a frightening  all too prophetic movie .  
where to begin  how best to describe just how awful this movie is     br    br   let  s start with the campy hick humor . it isn  t very funny . add a bunch of musicians impersonating actors  meat loaf is horrible and deborah harry is even worse . pity poor art carney  who should have known better than to do this movie .  br    br   and then there is the plot . a roadie whose life goal is to work an alice cooper show meets a girl whose life goal is to be a groupie for alice cooper . at least they get what they want . . .  br    br   and then  just when the movie should end  they can  t come up with a more plausible last scene than a  well  i won  t ruin it for you if you really want to see the movie .  br    br   there are certain actors that let you know that this is going to be a  b  movie or perhaps worse . gailard sartain is one of them for me  and he has a more prominent role . that  s a sure sign that the movie probably won  t be very good . if nothing else  the movie lives up to the low expectations  even exceeds them by being worse than poor .  br    br   let  s just say this . this is the movie against which all bad movies are compared . and none are worse than roadie .  
how can  t you rate this movie with       i admit to say that this movie is not very entertaining but the goal is not to tell you a story but history  this is the first real  movie of cinema history  le prince de galles  was first but it was not technically perfect enough  and it has an undoubtedly huge international value . these people that you can see finishing their working day in the movie had the chance to participate to a historic moment  becoming the first persons to be able to see themselves moving  and above all the shot is a beautiful shot  and it  s very moving when you think about the first persons to have seen that  what a moment  historic for science first  because the lumiere brothers first invented the cinematographe for scientific reasons  and for art later . a movie to venerate   
the first look on the cover of this picture  it looks like a good rock n roll movie . but don  t let the cover fool you  or the fact that alice cooper and blondie is in it . the storyline is just horrible  and so is the acting . plain and simple bad  br    br   it  s not a movie about a roadie  its just a thin love story  so awful that you see right through it . the only good thing about this movie  is the soundtrack . some good songs  and that is why i give  out of   . if it wasn  t for the music  it would of been  out of   . meat loaf is a horrible actor  at least he was in       and the girl who plays the groupie isn  t even good looking  this movie was a huge disappointment for me  because it makes a lot of good promises .  
what can i say about the first film ever   br    br   you can  t rate this  because it  s not supposed to be entertaining . but if you have to rate it  you should give it a   . it is stunning to see moving images from the year     . this was one of the most important movies in history . i wonder how it was to be one of the people who saw the first movie ever   br    br    
four years after making his directorial debut with the art  house snoozer  welcome to l . a .   alan rudolph shows us what he really wanted from hollywood was to be one of the guys .  roadie  is a frat  boy fracas complete with barroom brawls  horny harpies  art carney in a souped  up wheelchair . . . and meat loaf at the wheel . meat loaf  playing travis w . redfish   is actually a rather charming presence on the screen  and perhaps in a smaller role  in a better movie  he might indeed be ingratiating  but zalman king  s script is full of stereotypical redneck humor and helpless meat loaf is kept wide  eyed and moronic . alice cooper  roy orbison  hank williams  jr .  and blondie all make appearances   and all look embarrassed . they certainly should   roadie  is one bad trip . no stars from   
it  s utterly pointless to rate this film . it  s as if you would condemn  or praise  the newly born for his future life . instead look at it as a powerful meditation at what could have been and what has been in the past    years . one hundred and eight years of the cinematograpy what has become of the babe  i like to contemplate on what would have  creatively  happen if europe wasn  t interrupted  devastated  twice by the great wars of the xxth century . on her ruins the bogus neon castle of the non  creative and reactionary circus named hollywood erected itself . before     french  italian and scandinavian cinemas were leading the way both financially and of course creatively . french film in particular was already threading some very original and creative pathways that could have  if not interrupted  possibly altered the medium history in some unimaginable ways . one wonders what the film history would look like today if it wasn  t stultified and choked by the mercantile and cheap political agenda of the hollywood  s    years of  what chekhov might define as the reek of greed and harlotry . . . be it as it might  please at least become aware of la sortie as the key  or at least one of them  to the  kingdom  . thus the birthplace of cinema  lumiere brothers factory  lyon  france the date march   th      there  s also a replica reel shoot in the summer of     so if you notice summer lights and the workers  lighter clothing that was the version shown to the very first people who ever saw the moving images . louis lumiere creative ideas  cinematography  direction it was all louis  own domain because auguste took care of the rest  money  . first film reels were all fifty seconds long the camera  le cinematograph   the cameramen  le cinematographer  having only paltry fifty seconds to make things happen  apparently le institute lumiere has managed to preserve around     of these first films executed mostly by an industrious brigade of loumiere travelling cinematographers criss  crossing the globe . so  all the stars in starry heavens and a minute of silence for perhaps the most magical invention in human history  so far  .  
some of the worst  least natural acting performances i  ve ever seen . which is perhaps not surprising given the clunky  lame dialog given to the one note characters . add to that the cheap production values and you  ve got a movie that doesn  t look like it even belongs on television . one doesn  t expect much from a lifetime movie  especially one this old  but this is nearly unwatchably bad .  br    br   plot  wise  it  s a dreadful  clichd romance of a type even harlequin would consider beneath them . it  s possible to guess how the remainder of the movie will go by simply watching the opening couple of scenes . surprise  the only female character who gets any focus and the mysterious stranger end up falling in love .  
story says that on that on december         a small group of thirty  three people was gathered at paris  s salon indien du grand caf to witness the cinmatographe  a supposedly new invention that resulted from the work done by a couple of photographers named august and louis lumire . the small audience reunited that day  some by invitation  most due to curiosity  didn  t really know what to expect from the show  and when a stationary photograph appeared projected on a screen  most thought that the cinmatographe was just another fancy devise to present slide  show projections . until the photograph started to move . what those thirty  three people experienced in awe that cold day of december was the very first public screening of a moving picture being projected on a screen history was being written and cinema as we know it was born that day .  br    br   of the   short movies that were shown during that historic day   la sortie des usines lumire   literally  exiting the lumire factory   was the very first to be screened . the film shows the many workers of the lumire factory as they walk through the gates of the factory  leaving the building at the end of a hard day of work . while a very basic  actuality film   movie depicting a real event   the movie took everyone in the audience by surprise  as their concept of moving pictures was limited to edison  s  peep show  machines  the kinetoscope   the brothers  invention was like nothing they had seen before and so the audience stood in awe  as the people and the horses moved across the screen . the idea wasn  t entirely new  le prince shot the first movie as early as       but the way of showing the movie was simply revolutionary .  br    br    la sortie des usines lumire  would become the first in the long series of  actuality films  that the lumire would produce over the years . this primitive form of documentary was the brothers  favorite kind of film because they were more interested in the technological aspects of their invention than in the uses the cinmatographe could have . despite the initial lack of enthusiasm  after the first showing the cinmatographe became a great success and  la sortie des usines lumire  quickly became an iconic image of that first screening . it definitely wasn  t the first movie the brothers shot that year  and it probably wasn  t the best of the   movies shown that day  personally i think that  l  arroseur arros  was the best of the     however  it is really meaningful that the very first movie was the opening of a pair of gates  as literally  this movie opened the gates to cinema as we know it .      
they should have named this movie . . . blonde women that needed to get their roots colored . also the main character  geeze  the too tight sweaters . the giggling . thought the guy did a good job though . i keep hoping we  ll find a good  star christmas movie to watch this week . the dart throwing . had to laugh at that too . we  ve still got  more on the dvr to watch  maybe we  ll get lucky . oh yeah  i figured the guy out pretty quickly and nailed it when he picked up the flowers and then drove out with his cousin . i told my daughter they were on their way to the cemetery . and how stupid was it that the two gals followed them there spying on them  creepy .  
the appeal of ancient films like this one is that you get to see an actual moving image of life over    years ago . here are a lot of people leaving a factory  all of them dead by now and none of them even remotely aware of the magnitude of the invention that they are walking before . i was shocked to read one reviewer call this film as boring as home videos today  and at least one other mistakenly identified it as the first film ever made  it was the first film made at the rate of   frames per second  rather than the then  normal   frames per second  .  br    br   sure  all you see is a lot of people filing out of a building and passing before the cinematograph on their way home from work  but this is a curiosity piece for dozens of reasons  not the least of which is that it was the first film made by the lumire brothers  who probably had a stronger impact on the development of the cinema than any other individual or group of individuals in history .  
a note to all of you budding film writers study this film . if your dialog reads like the dialog in this film  please shred your script and try again .  br    br   i didn  t have high expectations  but was intrigued by the description indicating there was a mystery at the christmas ornament factory . the mystery is resolved very early and the film becomes a straight romance . i almost stopped watching it at  minutes    minutes  and at the first break . my spouse  who is the hallmark  lifetime fan  gave up at the first break .  br    br   forest river is a company town  the main business is aikens ornaments  who make all manner of holiday decorations . the patriarch of the company has recently passed away  so the companies future might be in question . we soon meet noelle  who would rather be on wall street than main street  and the mysterious justin  who gets a date with noelle after a large snowman she is inflating crashes into justins car . once we meet alison aikens  doing due diligence for the board  we have our story setup .  br    br   if you can  t nail all the story arcs by the first commercial break  you haven  t seen enough of this kind of holiday film . maybe that  s a good thing .  
you  re using the imdb .  br    br   you  ve given some hefty votes to some of your favourite films .  br    br   it  s something you enjoy doing .  br    br   and it  s all because of this . fifty seconds . one world ends  another begins .  br    br   how can it not be given a ten  i wonder at those who give this a seven or an eight . . . exactly how could the first film ever made be better  for the record  the long  still opening shot is great showmanship  a superb innovation  perfectly suited to the situation . and the dog on the bike is a lovely touch . all this within fifty seconds .  br    br   the word genius is often overused .  br    br   this is genius .  
it  s very sad that lucian pintilie does not stop making movies . they get worse every time . niki and flo       is a depressing stab at the camera . it  s unfortunate that from the many movies that are made yearly in romania  the worst of them get to be sent abroad  e . g . chicago international film festival  . this movie without a plot  acting or script is a waste of time and money . score  .   out of   .  
i have watched this episode more often than any other tftc episode  it is that enjoyable . and it is quite scary  but all in good  ghoulish fun . a woman kills her  nd husband but runs into a problem when an escaped maniac in a ragged santa claus outfit decides to pay her and her little girl a visit at that very moment . mary traynor  who i seem to remember from snl or some other tv comedy skit show  is the evil wife  and larry drake plays the lunatic in the dingy santa outfit . i had forgotten santa was played by drake over the years . his santa is an unstoppable force and quite frightening at times . you can probably guess how santa finally gets into the house . the episode is played for laughs  but it also can be pretty intense at times .  
imagine the scenario  you are at the movie theater only because you are in washington for the weekend and it  s raining and you  re finished with the museums . you think you might go see the sarah marshall movie as the trailer look so so and you don  t have to engage your brain . it  s sold out . options   the bank job  in bruges  the leatherheads or prom night . you  ve seen the bank job  suprisingly decent heist movie that  and in bruges  again  pretty good  so you  re down to two . you don  t fancy watching clooney or the nice one from the office run around in     football uniforms  so you go see prom night right  wrong . you take the   .    walk up to a stranger in the street and ask him to punch you in the face for   .   . it would be money better spent .  br    br   it actually plays like more of a comedy than a horror  thriller or whatever it is supposed to be . if i was financing that movie and they showed me that as a final cut i wouldn  t know whether to laugh or cry . probably both . an insult to anyone  s intelligence . . . my roommate was laughing out loud most of the movie  as for the acting  they might as well have cast robots  or maybe dogs  in the roles  they would have been more realistic . the detective has to be possibly the worst actor i have ever seen  ben affleck and hayden christansan  i hate his acting so much i don  t care how you spell his name  you are relieved on your title  s    br    br   so in summary  not good   
this one  minute film is arguably the first movie ever made . other inventors had previously filmed actions  like edison  s motion photography of a sneeze  but the lumiere brothers developed equipment that tremendously advanced the medium . at the time  of course  their cinematograph  must have bewildered their peers  including their subjects . in this first instance  the brothers record employees leaving their factory  some of whom understandably struggle to hide their awareness of the camera . the lumieres attempt to make the film more entertaining by introducing animals and a bicycle  but la sortie des usines lumiere  doesn  t nearly match the ingenuity of their later films . the most interesting aspect of this short film is the brothers  selection of a familiar working class ritual as their subject . their choice is the initial evidence of their curiosity about all of the world  s people  a quality that makes viewing their experiments immensely rewarding and fascinating today .  br    br   rating   
i find it rather useless to comment on this  movie  for the simplest reason that it has nothing to comment upon . it  s similar to a rotten egg which has nothing good to show to the world excerpt for the fact that it is rotten as other endless number of eggs have been before it . but since a comment is mandatory for such a grandiose insignificance . . .  br    br   filth is definitely the proper word to describe this movie created in the same manner as any other romanian  movie  directed by lucian pintilie who insists to depict the so called  romanian reality  following the communist era      to present days  .  br    br   under no circumstances recommended for people outside romania as for the others  who lately find amateurish camera  lack of plot  lack of directorial  actors  s quality etc  noise etc . as being trendy and even art  like   watch  enjoy this  movie   as i know you will  but do the other well intentioned imdb members a favor  don  t write an online review for it will misguide  irritate and in the end waste their time .  br    br   on the other hand this movie  among others  has some value whatsoever  an educational one for it sets the example for   how not to make a movie .   
on the   th of december       in the grand caf in paris  film history was writing itself while louis lumire showed his short films  all single shots  to a paying audience .  la sortie des usines lumire  was the first film to be played and i wish i was there  not only to see the film  but also the reactions of the audience .  br    br   we start with closed doors of the lumire factory . apparently  since the image seems a photograph  people thought they were just going to see a slide show  not something they were hoping for . but then the doors open and people are streaming out  heading home . first a lot of women  then some men  and one man on a bike with a big dog . when they are all out the doors close again .  br    br   whether this is the first film or not  some say  l  arrive d  un train  la ciotat  was the first film lumire recorded   it is an impressive piece of early cinema . being bored by this is close to impossible for multiple reasons . one simple reason it is only fifty seconds long . but also for people who normally only like the special effect films there must be something interesting here you don  t get to see historical things like this every day .  
i saw this movie twice . i can  t believe pintilie made such a fantasy movie . i  m also a movie  theatre director and i know what i speak . this is not romania anymore  but i see the events are happening in the same period with the incident from   september . no story  no plot  nothing . no conclusion  no message  nothing profound  nothing hidden . just empty images .  br    br   what most of romanians don  t know  this movie is for the french viewers  not for us . they really believe that is the reality in romania . also for teenagers . pintilie should stop making movies . i don  t really know if we can call this a movie  maybe a horror   and we wonder why we  ve got such an image in europe . this was a reality  but isn  t anymore . a good friend of mine from the brithish embassy said  you have no idea what a long way romanian people walked from ceausescu  .  
all films made before     really need to be viewed with a sense of time and place .  br    br   in      the lumiere  family men father antoine             sons auguste and louis owned and managed a factory that manufactured photographic plates and paper . not a small enterprise the factory had more than    employees who received pension and social security benefits  innovative for that time . it was located at montplaisir in the suburbs of lyon  france . what caused louis lumiere to become interested in building a cinematagraph  in      remains open for speculation . my suggestion is that the appearance of the edison organization  s kinetoscope  peep  show machine   in paris during the fall of      provided the catalyst .  br    br   w . k . l . dickson  of edison  s staff  invented a motion  picture camera about the size of an upright piano that was patented in february     . it was electrically operated  using power from from heavy storage batteries . this massive machine pumped celluloid film strip  newly developed by the eastman company  past a lens at about   frames  per  second  fps  . it was ensconced  as an almost immovable object  in the  black maria   essentially the first movie studio .  the kinetescope machines showed staged presentations  less than one  minute long  that were filmed in this studio .  br    br   during      louis lumiere applied himself to the task of inventing a moving  picture camera . he had determined that  even at   fps on celluloid film  the persistence  of  vision of the human eye  brain would allow for normal motion to be perceived . his camera  dubbed the cinematograph  was about the size of a large shoe box and was provided with a detachable film magazine that provided storage for enough film to make a shoot last about one minute when it was had cranked past the lens at   fps .  br    br   the size and light weight  of the camera  it could be converted into a printer or a projector by the addition of a light source  made it portable enough that it could be taken to any location to record an event  provided there was enough sunlight available .  in the spring of      louis filmed trick  riding by some cavalry men a house on fire with firemen arriving and dousing the engulfed building with water and a number of other scenes in and around lyon . using a molteni bulb  he turned the camera into a projector and presented his films to scientists assembled in the reception room of the revue generales des science . the images were projected on a screen five  meters distant from the lens . the screen was stretched in a doorway between two rooms . at a meeting of professional photographers  that same year  louis photographed the arriving delegates and the same evening showed them motion pictures of their arrival .  br    br   with accolades from both the scientific and photographic communities  louis decided to have a public exhibition of his invention by the end of the year . since each of his films would be about one  minute long  he would need at least a dozen films to make a good presentation . for one of these films he set up his camera at the entrance to his factory  photographing the egress of employees at quitting  time .  br    br   the public venue chosen by antoine  who offered himself as the  fairground barker  for the cinematograph  was the salon indien of the grand cafe on the boulevard des capucines in paris . it was a wintry saturday night on   december      . as the first audience sat  they were presented with a projected view of the exterior of the lumiere factory  with closed gates .  some were chagrined that they were just going to see a routine slide show of lumiere photographs . but then the crank on the camera  projector was turned and movement began . louis had an innate sense for motion picture taking . this film has a beginning  a middle and an end . in the beginning  the doors are opened and people begin to leave their workplace during the middle  the people stream out  with many trying to ignore the camera  and the cameraman  as they seem to be happy to leave a day of labor behind them . at the end  the gates to the factory are being closed .  br    br   and this was the first film projected for the entertainment of the general public .  
this movie begins with an ordinary funeral . . . and it insists so hard on this ordinary funeral feel that i lost interest within  minutes of watching  and started skipping scenes . it seems to me whomever made this movie is afflicted to the extent of becoming trapped in a permanent morbid trance  unable to contemplate anything else but death and destruction . well  i ain  t one of the dark kids from southpark  i want a movie that within   minutes gets me well into an interesting story  i won  t sit and watch   minutes of nothing but preparations for a funeral . . my grandma on her last years was fascinated by funerals  perhaps she might have enjoyed this  movie  .  
when i heard that this movie was coming out the night before halloween  i was very excited . when i found out that it was a book  written in      i had to read it before seeing the movie . i  m sure the movie would have been much different to me if i had not read the book . the writers actually did a good job of staying true to the main plot of the book  with minor differences  naturally . i think the thing that disappointed me the most about the movie was boyle playing the role of col . i  m not a big fan of boyle  and it seems that no matter what the mood during the movie  she  s always trying to use her over  plumped lips  and darkly makeup  ed eyes to make herself seem super sexy . indeed  i think that the movie held true to the genuine creepiness of the house . my favorite subplot was the sheehan family  which is so weird b  c the son was killed in iraq and in current events there is casey sheehan whose mother went on a huge anti  iraq tirade  . in the book  obviously the war was not iraq  but rather  vietnam  and when the house turns on that video of the son in the helicopter  i was truly creeped out . overall  i was impressed with the movie  in that it followed the book very well .  
terminus paradis was exceptional  but  niki ardelean  comes too late . we already have enough of this and we want something new .  br    br   big directors should have no problems seeing beyond their time  not behind . why people see romania only as a postrevolutionary country   br    br   we are just born not reincarnated  and nobody gives a st anymore about old times . most people dont remember or dont want to remember  and the new generation of movie consumers dont understand a bit . this should be the first day of romanian movie not the final song  priveghi  maybe younger directors should make the move .  
after too many years of waiting  anne rivers siddons  noted     book  the house next door  has finally been filmed . the result veers a bit from the novel which  especially in the first story of the trilogy is understandable if unsatisfying as it  s a tv film  the whole of which is absorbing and actually very good  just not as great as the book  one of stephen king  s favorites and one of mine as well .  br    br   with more running time and fewer constraints as a theatrical release  all the richness inherent in the original three  part story of the ominous ultramodern house could have been explored and nurtured  especially the climactic revelation near the very end .  br    br   still  the whole cast does well in this thoughtful tale of mindless malevolence . there are a few unnecessary cheap shocks but the growing atmosphere of dread is well developed . actually  one of the most disturbing scenes involves an abstract painting of the house by its next  door amateur  artist neighbor who is trying to visualize its corruption on canvas .  br    br   be sure to read the great novel .  
yes  he is  . . . no  not because of pintilie likes to undress his actors and show publicly their privies . pintilie is the naked  emperor   so to speak . . .  br    br   it  s big time for someone to state the truth . this impostor is a voyeur  a brat locked in an old man  s body . his abundance of nude scenes have no artistic legitimacy whatsoever . it is     visual perversion he gets his kicks by making the actors strip in the buff and look at their willies . and if he does this in front of the audience  he might eve get a hard  on  did you know that  on the set of  niki ardelean   he used to embarrass poor coca bloss  by telling her  oh  coca  how i wanna f you    she is a great lady  very decent and sensitive  and she became unspeakably ashamed  to his petty satisfaction  and  as a worrying alarm signal about the degree of vulgarity and lack of education in romanian audiences  so many people are still so foolish to declare these visual obscenities  works of art   will anyone have ever the decency to expose the truth of it all   
an ultra  modern house in an affluent neighborhood appears to be the cause of each of its inhabitants bizarre  and deadly  behavior . or at least that is what lara flynn boyle  s character  col kennedy  argues . after a series of deadly occurrences in a gargantuan house next door  col knows something has got to give . mark  paul gosselaar also stars as the mysterious architect .  br    br   my opinion the house next door works because of lara flynn boyle and the locations  beautiful house  and stylish sets . boyle is a talented and dynamic actress  not to mention absolutely stunning . she brings credibility to her character and makes the film intriguing . without her  it would have failed .  it  s so alive  declares a prospective buyer in reference to the house . yes  it is alive . but the story itself is not so much .  br    br   barring boyle  s presence  not much is happening here  as an enormous amount of the movie is spent watching or waiting to see how the house will affect its current owners . the results are predictable . but i liked it anyway . the cinematography lends the film a polished look .     on account of boyle  the premise of an evil ultra  modern house  the locations and cinematography  and set decoration and wardrobe .  
this guy has no idea of cinema . okay  it seems he made a few interestig theater shows in his youth  and about two acceptable movies that had success more of political reasons cause they tricked the communist censorship . this all is very good  but look carefully he does not know his job  the scenes are unbalanced  without proper start and and  with a disordered content and full of emptiness . he has nothing to say about the subject  so he over  licitates with violence  nakedness and gutter language . how is it possible to keep alive such a rotten corpse who never understood anything of cinematographic profession and art  why don  t they let him succumb in piece   
mahatma gandhi  the father of the nation in his quest for india  s freedom struggle ignored his own family and son  this movie is about his son hiralal who feels neglected because of mahatma gandhi  s service to the society . the movie starts off in south africa where mahatma gandhi works as a barrister and fighting the cause of india  s freedom against the british . hirarala arrives in south africa to help his dad who is a barrister  since gandhi was involved in the freedom struggle  he wanted his wife and children to join in too as a service to the society and as a result hirarlal does not get a chance to complete his education and fails his exams  he gets married to his love gulab  bhoomika chawla  against his father  s wishes . hiralal has ambitions to travel to england and become a barrister just like his dad but his own dad refuses to grant him a scholarship offered to his family by a businessman and instead gives it away to another person saying that the scholarship should not be limited to his family and should be open to the most deserving student living in colony . this angers hiralal and the rift between father and son increases  hirarlal hates his father for neglecting him and blames him for being uneducated and unemployed . hiralal struggles to make ends meet and lands up on the streets through failed business attempts and in huge debt  he loses his wife and children . akshaye khanna has give a stellar performance as hiralal gandhi . . all kudos to him  the direction and the script is fantastic  the picturization is excellent . overall an excellent movie and a must see . i give it a       
it  s so sad that romanian audiences are still populated with vulgar and uneducated individuals who relish this kind of cheap and demonstrative shows  as superficial and brutal as the  garcea  series or the  vacanta mare  child  plays . . . the difference is that mugur mihescu  doru octavian dumitru and other such sub  artisans never presume to claim their shows as  art  . pintilie  who   years ago made a very good movie   duminic la ora sase   followed by another one  nice enough   reconstituirea    tries to declare his film  lenghts  art works   but  unfortunately  he masters at a way too limited level the specifically cinematographic means of expression . as such   niki ardelean  offers again a sample of  how not   this being about its only merit .  
gandhi my father is like viewing a book  chapter by chapter you read it  with your eyes  and you learn more about harilal gandhi and for that matter kasturba gandhi . so little is known about both of them and this movie describes them uniquely . the title misleads though  its as much a movie about mohandas karamchand gandhi and his son  as its about harilal and his mother . and akshaye khanna and shefali chayya do full justice to their respective roles .  br    br   such movies are like leap years . they come after only so much time .  br    br   gandhi my father  is also about an internal struggle  which is sometimes more difficult than any freedom struggle ever undertaken .  br    br   watch it  if you like quality cinema .  
a drama at its very core   anna  displays that genuine truth that all actors age  and sometimes  fade away . anna is a character that believes america is her safety net  her home  and it can do her no wrong  but she refuses to belittle herself to do work she doesn  t believe in . she is hard  nosed  optimistic  stubborn  and arrogant when it comes to her life  yet not afraid to let others in  yet drop them at a moments notice . anna flip  flops between personalities  which makes this film ideal of an aging star  but not idea of the viewing audience .  anna  has been praised for its star sally kirkland  and her ability to get  grungy  for the role  but a month into       anna  does not remain a staple of film culture . it is dated  dull  and formulaically chaotic .  br    br   director yurek bogayevicz has a message hidden within  anna  about the falsehoods of czechoslovakia  both politically and socially  but kirkland refuses to let them upstage her . bogayevicz is not afraid to play with the camera  to use wooden frames to allow kirkland to stand out  and he is not afraid to lessen the surrounding characters so that when you walk away from the film  it is kirkland you remember . if it isn  t obvious  this film didn  t sit well with me . from the opening of the first act and deep within the second   anna  felt like a high school theater production . the characters were non  existent  there was no enlightening pre  story  and there was no definition of time or place . there was sally kirkland  stubbornly saying that she is better than the other actresses vying for the same lifestyle that she wants . randomly she encounters a friend  a young girl that has also traveled a long distance to get to america for the glitz and glamour  and two of them  within the span of   minutes  build a friendship that could break all walls . it is emotionally boring and unbelievable . again  randomly  we meet anna  s boyfriend daniel  played by the weak robert fields   who brings nothing to the table in terms of definition or character  only to boost the attention onto kirkland  s anna . through the course of nearly two hours  we watch as more random acts coupled with unnamed characters intertwine together to feebly create a story that is held together by loose threads  and sally kirkland . arg  it pains me to continue to say this but  anna  could have been a fantastic film had bogayevicz presented equal time between anna  daniel  and krystina  but instead we are forced into a one  sided game where emotional scenes speak louder than plot .  br    br   is this where charlize theron found inspiration for her beauty  less role in  monster   or halle berry in  monster  s ball   was sally kirkland one of the early actresses discover that by letting themselves go for a character oscar will shine in their direction  throughout this film i was disgusted by kirkland  s portrayal of anna  and bogayevicz  s lack of excitement for anything else fluent . bogayevicz gives us an anna that doesn  t work hard for her parts  doesn  t care for others  and is generally mean spirited  yet we are to feel sympathy for her  near the beginning of the film  she forces what she wants to do onto others  and gets upset when she doesn  t get her way . sure  aging actresses my have that appeal to them  but kirkland creates a more childish character instead of a mature one . that is where  anna  could have improved . if this was a mature kirkland  i would have gobbled it up  but this stammering childish anna was impossible to believe . while my favorite scene was near the end where anna goes to watch one of her older films playing  included is absurd make  out characters  and the film burns  this scene is also one of my least favorite . anna has made a phenomenal life for herself  creating films and building the dream  yet when anyone else wants to enter that spotlight  she gets jealous and outraged . this didn  t make for a character i wanted to stand behind nor win oscars . coupled with the classic   s background synthesizer  the outrageous over  the top wardrobe  and the displaced ending  where did that come from and what happened      anna  slipped far in the scope of amazing cinema . it was a show  piece  an opportunity for an aging star to yell at the world one more time . in this one it worked  but i don  t think i will be fooled again .  br    br   overall  i cannot say that i was impressed with this film .  anna  is not a film about an aging film star it is about sally kirkland  and only sally kirkland . bogayevicz tries to do more with the story  but fails either because kirkland will not allow him or he just realizes that there isn  t enough to support a full story . there are one or two decent scenes in this film  but nothing that promotes this film as innovative or influential . bogayevicz did not create a character that audiences would believe  tear up for  or dedicate a sunday afternoon with  he created an annoyance . kirkland wasn  t anna  she was an actress playing her a bit overdone and crusty on the sides . perhaps i missed the scope of this film  but what makes films like this work is the cooperation of everyone involved . that wasn  t the case here . in  anna   kirkland orders daniel to act like a dog  apparently as a symbolic act  and yet during the entire emotional scene  i couldn  t help but think that was what kirkland was like to those on the set . she didn  t make this into a film  she transformed it into her own production  and because of it  anna  failed . i cannot suggest this to anyone  from one czech to another  skip it   br    br   grade   out of   for that pesky theater scene that creeped me out   
i just came back from the late  night cinema and it was indeed a silent way out as most of the audience pondered though the real  life black  white images of the partition  the freedom movement  etc which was very much reminiscent of the lives  our forefathers faced  amidst this backdrop  mind you  there was no tel  fax  internet in those times but for the very voice of truth  non  violence  the cinematography infused some spirit of stark reality of adversity amidst the strict raj .  br    br   gandhi shown as a hardworking attorney in south africa  who stood for his basic ideologies and gave every degree of conviction to spread awareness of the same with humility and sainthood which to the uttered speech of general smut was shown as a nice farewell on screen . it had the best drafted speech with a subtle humour  a veiled threat to the british raj in india  there was a nice remark when he said we pray in silence to the british in india now that gandhi  the politician is set for india  towards sainthood  .  br    br   the very backdrop of a big family with many kids needs the mention of an obvious divided attention and love which had to cast it  s spell on the unfortunate kid  s psyche who was left alone to aspire for unrealistic ambitions . little did harilal knew about his aptitude and he gets emotionally carried away with small pleasures in life and fails in front of the huge idol of his father . he tries to do away from mentor  ship which is the basis of any success which had to be seen by those fortunate neighbours in the streets of gandhi  s residence when harilal vents out his frustration in open . this means he becomes mentally weak and gets psychologically deranged to an extent that he is forced into religious conversions and alcoholism  with debt and dis  obedience fuelling his negative thoughts . he still had shown the sincere love for his mother through touchy scenes and even gandhi  s humble expressions form harilal to forgive him didn  t meet any conclusions in his mind as he always feared the father  gandhi .  br    br   he couldn  t digest the fact that gandhi couldn  t share his love with him as he expected  was driven to rebellion when he couldn  t understand the equal  merit based delivery of scholarship money by his father to his cousin where he saw a failed opportunity to study for barrister in england .  br    br   this had to take it  s toll in him thrown to the streets as a beggar when the whole of india was celebrating the indepedence  the life of a destitute never changes come what may but the manner in which the sad death of kasturba  gandhi himself is shown brings in an emotional silence . finally the last turbulent thoughts of the dying harilal is shown as a flashback to keep the audience gripping and wondering where did the father of the nation go wrong  was he clever enough to be mentally strong to lead an  one man army  use his brave soldier  son as a weapon to show to the british  rival forces that when it comes to the interest of the nation  nothing comes in between . sadly though that to read a mahatma  s heart one has to live outside his family and see which the emotionally naive harilal couldn  t see living inside . . . .  br    br   a pity that such naive harilal  s are still ruining the efforts of many mahatma  like fathers in many families in todays  life and have taken to drugs  alcoholism and god knows what thoughts   here  s a message to all those brave sainik  soldier   sons please respect the father of the nation  please obey and happiness shall be bestowed or else it  s a disaster in waiting  isn  t it   
this is one of the weakest soft porn film around . i can  t believe somebody wrote this stupid story before making some changes . the guy mike is a major wimp and moron i can  t believe he didn  t want to take a shower with his bride  to  be toni and be in a threesome with the french photographer jan . he does do a threesome with toni and kristi but that was short i hate that every time in soft core porn films threesomes between a woman  a man  and a woman is short but a girl  girl thing is about an hour . to the makers of these films have the threesomes alot longer this film should  ve have two threesome scenes not one but two .  
it was easy for sir richard attenborough to make gandhi       he was merely narrating a story of a great individual who walked on this planet not so long ago . comparatively  it must have been a lot tougher for director feroz abbas khan making his debut as a filmmaker to make gandhi my father  pitting a shriveled anti  hero against an international hero  both of whom were historically real individuals  and ironically father and son . the events in the film are mostly real . mahatma gandhi lived as shown in the film  setting high moral standards for the world to follow . yet these very standards overshadowed the aspirations of his eldest son harilal to be a lawyer of repute like his father  to complete his education and get a job in india and thus provide income for his nuclear family .  br    br   the film does not debunk gandhi and his ideals . for gandhi  his mission was larger than his family  s aspirations . he loved his family and cared for them  though his thoughts for their appeasement were blinkered by his ideal of caring for the masses . he stood for equality and dignity among all persons and in his view to give special undue advantages to his own son overlooking other deserving persons went against the basis of what he preached . the film looks at an unusual case of parentingwhere an idealist parent places receding goalposts for a less  than  brilliant offspring .  br    br   the film presents an unusual scenario that happened . a son marries his childhood sweetheart  upsetting his father . the father upsets his son  s educational aspirations at several key junctures . the fragile link between a devoted son and a father breaks  as the son wants to stand on his own feet and care for his nuclear family . while the father gradually becomes the father of a nation  the son stumbles in valiant quest for identity and survival . his marriage breaks and seeks solace in religion  buffeting between islam and hinduism . through all his tribulations his link to his mother remains  until she chides him for being drunk .  br    br   feroz khan is essentially a director of plays making his foray into cinema . he wrote and directed the play mahatma vs . gandhi that had considerable impact on the indian theater community . the play and the consequent film were based on two biographies  one by chandulal dalal and another by nilamben parekh  the success of the staged play was an evident reason for the commercial bollywood actor anil kapoor to produce this noteworthy film . every time a good director of plays attempts to direct cinema there is an evidence of a lack of confidence with the medium . peter brook is a great director of plays  but less competent as a film director . the opening shots of khan  s film promises great cinemaa derelict harilal gandhi is brought to sion hospital  bombay  mumbai  barely mumbling that his father is bapu  the popular name of mahatma gandhi   father to an entire nation . the hospital authorities do not recognize him to be mahatma gandhi  s eldest son  dying in poverty and loneliness . apart from the dramatic opening  the film unfortunately merely presents a great story and some superb exterior shots of father and son meditating in silhouette . for an indian film it does present some high production qualities that go hand in hand with a lack of interest for details  the clothes of most indians in the film seem dust  free and freshly laundered  modern hairstyles of actors  and even shefali shetty playing mohandas gandhi  s wife a century ago with plucked eyebrows   the bane of indian cinema . since feroz khan is a theater personality  he has invested much more effort in working with the actors in developing the characters rather than on cinematic details  somewhat like sir attenborough another person who is also a product of theater  royal academy of dramatic arts  .  br    br   knowing quite well that to criticize gandhi in any manner was asking for trouble  even when there was no direct criticism in the film  producer anil kapoor took a remarkable decision of not putting up posters of the film at accessible heights in india  fearing that some one could tear the poster or disrespect it intentionally or unintentionally .  br    br   with all its mix of greatness and faults  gandhi  my father throws several questions at the viewer . is a mother  son bonding stronger than a father  son bonding in parenting  is one  s immediate family less important than humanity at large  does one seek refuge in religion and alcohol only when worldly troubles are encountered  in this film  harilal buffeted by adversities runs from one religion to another  while his father quotes scriptures  forgive them for they know not what they do  when beaten and thrown on the ground by a south african policeman  convinced of the value of religion and convincing others as well .  br    br   the film won the best actress award at the tokyo international film festival for shefali shetty  shah  and an indian award from critics . feroze khan and anil kapoor have handled a sensitive subject very well and elicited above  average performances from the ensemble of actors . i do hope the international success of the film paves the way for some able director to film another brilliant indian play girish karnad  s tughlaq some day meeting international quality standards .  
ok  anyone who could honestly say that this movie was great or even good is either delusional or knows the director  writer and producers and is trying to boost the buzz on this film . i watched the movie because a friend of mine worked on it and it was horrible . i  m an actress and have worked in the industry for a while now on big films and even independents and this movie bored me to tears . the reason i  m being so harsh is because this film was clearly a different take on  of mice and men  and they should sue because it is such a horrible rip  off of the story . in an industry where hollywood seems to be creatively bankrupt . . . for someone to take a classic book and film  of mice and men  and destroy it with a new spin bugs me so much . the actors  the accents  the dialog and the direction were amateurish and the writing was dismal . i mean if your going to take a new spin on an existing story make sure its just as good or better than the original to make the new spin justified . did not like this movie at all .  
tales from the crypt and all through the house starts on christmas eve as elizabeth  mary ellen trainor  kills her husband joseph  marshall bell   she drags his body outside ready to throw it down a well but while doing so misses an important news bulletin on the radio that says a homicidal maniac  larry drake  dressed as santa clause has escaped from a local mental asylum  has already killed several women with elizabeth next on his list but she has other ideas  tries to turn the seemingly dangerous situation to her advantage . . .  br    br   this tales from the crypt story was episode  from season   directed by the one of the show  s regular executive producers robert zemeckis and all through the house is a decent enough watch . the script by fred dekker was actually based on a story appearing in the comic  the vault of horror   was originally adapted to film as one episode from the britsih horror anthology film tales from the crypt       which starred joan collins as the murderous wife character here played by ellen trainor . this particular version is good enough but doesn  t do anything different or special  is a bit too linear  predictable to be considered a classic . at only   minutes in length it certainly moves along at a good pace  the story is just about macabre enough  it generally provides decent entertainment  i quite liked the downbeat ending . this time there are christmas themed opening  closing crypt keeper  john kassir  segments complete with the usual puns .  br    br   director zemeckis does a good job  there  s a nice winterly atmosphere with a hint of christmas influence as well . there  s not much gore here  someone has a poker stuck in their head  someone  s face is cut with an icicle  someone  s arm is cut with an axe  there  s some blood splatter but generally speaking it  s not that graphic . the acting by a small cast is pretty good .  br    br   and all through the house isn  t the best tale from the crypt but it  s a decent one all the same  worth a watch but after the comic book story  original     film version did we really need or even want this   
i  m not particularly fond of remakes  or to steal the modern jargon  retellings   but this film truly peeved me off . the original prom night  while not in my humble estimation a masterpiece  still realized what it was . . . horror . there are some simple things to remember when making a horror film . suspense is crucial to maintaining the interest of the audience . sorry folks  but a white knuckle film this was not  the scares were cheap  and foreshadowed terribly .  a good example of scare which has been done to clichd excess now  is the cat jumping out of the closet  followed soon there after but a now unexpected appearance by the villain of the film  this film couldn  t successfully pull that off  so how could i expect it to fulfill any of the other conventions of horror film . there needs to be a likable hero or heroine . this film doesn  t have one . the person i most identified with was the head detective . his calm demeanor  but level headed approach to the escape of a killer was what more films of this ilk should have . common sense approach to events that occur .  if you  re running from an axe wielding psycho  you turn and sprint in the opposite direction . not jog  whilst looking back ever three seconds  gaging the killer  s progress  only to trip over every branch and inanimate object in your path .  if you friend disappears  you don  t go looking for them alone . and if you suspect foul play you tell someone  not investigate yourself . these clichs are tired and well overplayed . in the horror genre in general  and in this film in particular .  
i would not like to comment on how good the movie was or what were the flaws as i am not a professional film critic and i do not have enough knowledge of making movies . what i do know is that making this kind of a movie in your very first shot is a big achievement and i would like to congratulate the director for that . however  in some reviews  that i have read  critics have complained that hiralal  s relationship with his brothers was not highlighted  and his siblings were completely erased from the story . now i would really like to raise a point here that as the name of the movie suggests  it is not a movie about hiralal  s brothers  it is a movie on the relationship of mahatma gandhi and his son hiralal gandhi  nothing more nothing less . if we start complaining about some characters being kept out of action in the movie  it would be a bit unfair because these characters don  t fit in the picture  no matter how relevant they were in real life . so i think it would be better if we stick to the main idea and stop satisfy a critic in ourselves .  br    br   enjoy      
i think this would have been a much better film if the cajuns had been portrayed in a more believable light . my family is from the southeast region of louisiana and i live in southeast texas  about   miles from lake charles  . i have never heard the people i grew up around talk like these folks did . the cajuns were portrayed as backwards rednecks . most of the cajuns i know are well educated  proud people and don  t sound uneducated at all when they talk the way these people did . all in all it was an ok movie  with great scenery and music . i understand that the writers were from lake charles  and have knowledge of the area  but for the love of all things cajun  please have the actors study the language  live amongst the people you are portraying and get an all around understanding of how they are before you go trying to act like them . in my opinion  when the actors make you believe they are that person  it  s a much more enjoyable movie   
gandhi  the great   br    br   greatness in the world is associated with people like alexanader the great  ashoka the great for their greatness lied in being glorified as more than humans . gandhi is called great for actually not being a great but being more human  for i always believe bringing out the humanity in us is where the greatness of being human lies . gandhi was a human with humanity and one who strived for humanity ready to sacrifice himself in the battle for humanity but not his enemies . let me move to the movie review now .  br    br   about gandhi my father   br    br   gandhi my father is a film not about gandhi but about his son harilal gandhi . on telling the story of a son whose father was one of the greatest humans to walk this earth  the director succeeds in portraying the tale . the film succeeds in telling the story of a mislead son of a father who lead a nation to greatness . the movie is termed as a criticism of gandhi  s failure as a father to his son  i would rather say it is of a sacrifice gandhi had made as a father of a son to do justice as a father of a nation .  br    br   i wish the essence of this movie prevails not just in india  the gandhian land  but through the hearts of all the people of this world .  br    br   gandhi the true human . jaihind .  
this is absolutely the worst movie i  ve seen all year .  br    br   first  i will say that the acting was very good  and by all of the cast .  br    br   this was apparently meant to be very offbeat  and in that regard it succeeded . by the same token  the story revolves around a self  centered wannabe  who is a clueless  talentless chronic liar  whose source of self confidence comes from a pair of leather slippers .  br    br   this was worse than watching a car wreck .  
i saw the movie and really could not stop my tears . its tragedy that india has no such leaders after freedom  who dare to do justice with their own children  when they don  t behave properly . . in current generation  politicians bring their children  s into politics without measuring their caliber and skills . . i remember the dialogue from gandhi  what kind of society we want to create  make with such people  about harilal    no wonder that it will be a dream that india will hardly have such leader in this or next generation . . einstein was right when he said about gandhi that  after   years one would hardly believe that such person with body  soul and mind  mahatma gandhi  had ever lived on this earth .  i sincerely want to thanks a lot to anil kapoor  feroze khan and all film actors  actresses for this wonderful movie about great person and relationship with his son . all father and son should watch this movie once and take some lessons for both roles .  
this was a strange kind of film about a low  lifes in new york city and centering around a main character  the title name  played by brad pitt  who thinks he   s a ricky nelson  type musician  except he has no real talent .  br    br   it  s kind of fun to watch until a profane tough new york city  type woman with horrible accent enters the picture and takes over . that ruined the film for me . it must have been catherine keener  who usually plays tough and garbage  mouthed women .  br    br   the hairdo on pitt  an exaggerated pompadour  was fun to look at . i can picture johnny depp playing this role better . one last note it odd to hear a film made in      other than woody allen  s  with just mono sound .  
keeping all political views aside  feroz khan and anil kapoor  s  gandhi  my father  is a good movie that cleverly explores the confused  towards  family side of mohandas karamchand gandhi  and the fight of his eldest son harilal gandhi with the society  his larger  than  life father  and most importantly demons in his head . one draws parallels to gandhi the father of the nation and struggles any son could have with their father  br    br   the acting is good . shefali shetty  darshan zariwala and akshaye khanna  strictly in that order  add color and pathos to this heart wrenching tale of harilal who weeps to be hugged just once and also runs away at the faintest touch of the finger .  br    br   feroz khan  s direction and the production canvas is lavish and attractive  however  the screenplay could  ve been tighter . i had seen the play some years ago on a pirated video type dvd  it was called mahatama vs gandhi  i think  and it was certainly more gripping . though  the movie  s background score and the father  son and mother  son moments are just a brilliant treat .  br    br   this movie could have been great . it  s borderline to that . it has the potential so huge to have been just a story differences between a father and son or just gandhi or even both . somewhere  the plot is lost and when you expect absolute epitome of emotions  nothing comes to you .  br    br   it compares decently to other gandhi  s . certainly not an overview film like kingsley  s gandhi  or abstract as kamal hassan  s hey ram . the film just about manages to find its footing however  one is left wondering  what if . . .  worth a watch .  .      
i just saw this movie  and i have to say that it was a big waste of time . the girl who played eva  ellen fjaestad  can  t act at all . she read her lines very un  naturally  and she had a very un  natural facial expression through the entire movie . rosanna munter who played petra on the other hand  is a natural . she played her part with great perfection .  br    br   spoilers  the story was simple  we  ve seen it many  many times before . she breaks up  he finds another  she get jealous  he breaks up with the other girl and they end up back together in the end . there were no surprises at all  one knew that eva would break up  and that adam would  hook up  with petra . the only thing that nobody saw coming was that petra told adam to go after eva at the party . she became all serious  which is a side of petra the viewers hadn  t seen earlier in the movie  and told him to win eva  s heart back  which was really cute .  br    br   besides rosanna munter  there isn  t a single actor who gives a memorable performance .  br    br   this is a mediocre movie with mediocre actors  so i don  t recommend it   
the movie took a new angle to gandhi  s life  which is nice to see and it shows how human he was . his relationship with harilal is something that gandhi was troubled by and mentioned it several times as his failure as a father in his autobiography .  br    br   my big gripe is that i thought gandhi was surprisingly uncharismatic in the movie . it could have been better acted by the person who played gandhi . some of gandhi  s statements seemed too smug and it seemed as if he was intentionally portrayed in a negative light in some parts of the movie .  br    br   the movie is not really all  rounded  but focused only narrowly on the relationship of the father and son . the rest is blurred out and only used to show the time frame and the general setting of the movie .  br    br   overall nice movie if you keep in mind that it is not a complete picture .  
usually  i don  t think hollywood productions are fit to be called film  so i call them  movies  instead . but this piece of elephant manure  is not even fit to be called a movie  hence the quotes in the title .  br    br   where shall i start   . if this isn  t the start of geriatric casting  it sure is the epitome of it . stefanie powers is supposed to play someone even less than half her age  she  s supposed to play an   year old  and she is forty effing two      br    br    . a horrible and stupid mindless portrayal of paris and france  where we see clich characters such as the sympathetic grumpy shop owner  the bitchy queen of models  the fairy god mother ex  queen of models  etc . this film is surpassed only in this respect by the da vinci code   which reviewers correctly determined was a comedy  .  br    br    . it  s highly and utterly ridiculous to have no nudity in a film about a time and a place where nudity was so common place  especially if the whole focus is about that  br    br    . the horrible accents     br    br    . the nana mouskouri elevator  music     br    br   i could go on  but i think this is enough . and i was able to make these observations after watching this crap for just half an hour  while surfing the internet and talking to my friends about math equations . . . i mean . . .       br    br   i invite everyone to add to my list .   p d  
it is one of the better indian movies i have seen lately  instead of crappy song and dance or slum dog movies . all the actors have showed the right emotions at the right intensity with right timing . it is the hallmark of a good movie  that it make the viewer go back and research the subject  which exactly what i did checking on harilal . i always enjoy akshay khanna  s subtle style of acting and interestingly he had rather a complicated relationship with his own father vinod khanna  albeit not as dramatic as gandhis and wonder how it helped him essay this character . i was impressed by the direction and  thumbs up for anil kapoor for producing such a classy movie .  
the only redeeming quality of this overlong miscast melodrama is the scenery of southern france and the voice of nana mascouri singing the theme song . stephanie powers is miscast and betrayed by a phony accent . as has been pointed out  she is too old to play an   year old and looks far too young as a grandmother with a college age granddaughter  lee remick is good although she also is ageless in her later years . the talented joanna lumley is under utilized and also manages to look forever young when her middle aged son  robert urich  finally marries grandma stephanie powers . stacey keach  s ceaseless arrogance makes you wonder what these women saw in him . don  t know how any viewer could relate to his excessive portrayal  the most credible performance is given by ian richardson  who makes the rest of the cast look like rank amateurs . it strains credulity that the handsome male suitors in this epic would remain ever single while they patiently await the subject of their affections to finally consent to accept them . can anybody believe that handsome robert urich would remain single for decades waiting for stephanie powers to finally accept his endless marriage proposals  the ww  engagement between the wehrmacht and the marquis is laughable . to begin with  the germans did not occupy the provence section of france until late in the war  it was controlled by the vichy french puppet government . we see the french resistance staging a daylight raid on mistral  s villa to steal sheets after which they all lounge under a bridge waiting for a lumbering truckload of nazi troops to surprise and annihilate them  if you want to see a well acted mini  series set in a foreign country  don  t watch mistral  s daughter . a far better alternative would be the thorn birds .  
this movie is simply awesome . it was a very sensitive issue and movie was superb . this movie did not create any controversy in india  as far as i know  and its publicity was also kept low . initially i thought that this movie would simply be a waste of time since most of the indian directors and producers used to change the theme even though its very sensitive and adds a love story in original story and spoils the whole thing . . . most of the indian viewers would agree on this topic if they remember ashoka  mangal pandey  loc etc . .  br    br   there have been so many movies in india which would have become milestone or mega hits if the love story part would not be unnecessarily added .  br    br   but its treatment is pretty similar to pinjar movie  also a must watch  .  br    br   if it counts then i would like to thank anil kapoor  producer  and firoz abbas khan  the director  for making such a great movie . .  
this gets a two because i liked it as a kid  but it became so redundant that i just started to hate it . . . i can  t give this a descriptive review because it would be restating one thing after the other  i probably wouldn  t say anything that everyone else didn  t say already .  br    br   the only other thing about this show is that it  s pretty nasty  with the kid with the boil to that twisted babysitter to the stupidity that runs around and about in it . i have a cousin that loves this show and he  s the strangest and dumbest person i have met . this show should be pulled from the air . it  s always the same thing over and over . . . they need to put better shows on nick . i  m getting really really tired of stuff like this .  
feroz abbas khan  s gandhi my father  a film that sheds light on the fractured relationship between the mahatma and his son harilal gandhi . for a story that  s as dramatic as the one this film attempts to tell  it  s a pity the director fails to tell it dramatically . gandhi my father is narrated to you like that boring history lesson that put you to sleep at school . now the film aims to convey one very interesting point  the fact that gandhi in his attempt to be a fair person  ended up being an unfair father . this point is made in the film many times over  and one of the examples given to make this point is that scholarship to england  which gandhi twice denies his son . instead of showing us how exactly harilal dealt with this betrayal and what went on in his head  the director just moves along with the story  thus never letting us be witness to the growing resentment harilal feels towards his father . which is why when we finally see an outburst from harilal  it comes off looking like he  s over  reacting .  br    br   the point i  m trying to make here is that we never really get to understand exactly why harilal became the rebel that he did . we never really understand why he turned to islam  and then back again to hinduism . the thing is  we never really understand harilal at all . and that  s because the director of this film is too busy focusing on mohandas karamchand gandhi and his role in the freedom struggle  a story most of us are already familiar with . to put it simply  gandhi my father promises to examine the strained father  son relationship  but it doesn  t so much as show us where the cracks in this relationship first set in . we understand harilal had to live with the burden of being gandhi  s son  but show us why that was a burden to begin with . show us incidents of their early conflict . for example  it  s not enough that gandhi merely says he  s opposed to harilal  s early marriage  tell us why this opposition  it  s not enough that kasturba blames her husband for the way her son turned out  for constantly shuttling him between schools in gujarat and south africa  for making him relocate every time gandhi needed to relocate . words are not enough  show us how these incidents shaped the character of harilal gandhi . what  s more  instead of sticking with the prickly theme of this tenuous gandhi versus gandhi relationship  the film goes off on too many tangents  thus diluting the impact of the central theme . this was never meant to be a film about the struggle for independence  and yet on many occasions that  s exactly what it seems like  because the director feels almost obligated to take us through all the main events leading upto that historic moment  even though much of it has no relevance to the film  s basic premise  the stormy father  son relationship . so you see the problem with this film is not that it  s a bad film  but it  s certainly a very confused film . what happens to harilal  s children after his wife  s death  does he ever have relationship with them  where do they suddenly vanish after that one scene in which we see them with the mahatma and kasturba  none of these questions are answered in a film that  s basically meant to be about relationships in the gandhi family . the film version of an immensely popular play directed by feroz abbas khan himself  gandhi my father is a disappointment  no questions asked . cinematically  it struggles to translate the filmmaker  s ambitious intention to the screen . practically every single scene in the film opens and closes with fade  ins and fade  outs  never quite seamlessly leading into each other . on the positive side  there is inherent nobility in the film  which you recognise . the filmmaker makes every effort to deliver a balanced narrative  trying hard not to take sides  never once judging either father or son  painting neither as the villain . what the film does do  however  is make clear the fact that gandhi was a difficult patriarch whose ideals may have shaped the nation  but evidently alienated his family . of all the actors in the film it  s only akshaye khanna who really shines in the role of the luck  deprived harilal gandhi . it  s a wonderful performance  and it  s not easy since the role covers virtually the entire lifespan of the character . but akshaye brings a rare concoction of innocence and despondency to that part and succeeds in making harilal a pitiable figure . just watch him in that scene in which he discovers his wife  s dead  and you  ll realise how much he conveys through body language alone . darshan jariwala  meanwhile  who plays gandhi senior  adopts a caricaturish approach to playing the mahatma in his later years  but it  s the way he humanises the man in his early years as a barrister in south africa that is the actor  s best contribution to that role . the abundantly gifted shefali shah plays kasturba  the woman who  s meant to be torn in this father  son conflict  but if she  s unable to bring across that feeling of helplessness then it  s really not so much her fault as it is the fault of a rickety script . much effort  s gone into the making of this film and that  s evident throughout  but the film suffers from that inevitable flaw that is eventually what you  ll remember about it when you leave the cinema  it  s just so boring . director feroz abbas khan  s gandhi my father is a sincere effort yes  but also a film that could have done with a much tighter screenplay . what we learn from the film is that gandhi and harilal made each other very unhappy . and with this film  the director makes us too .  
i really hate this retarded show  it sucks  big time  and personally i think it is insulting to fairy kind  if you believe in fairies that is   i mean the people who had come up with such crap  ought to have their heads examine huh  and also there is a lot of craziness  the evil school teacher  which i think is getting really old  and also stupidity  the boy  s parents and fairy godfather  in this show  two of the things that i dispised and loathe in the whole world  especially stupidity  .  br    br   overall  i say that this show is so f  annoying and should not be seen by prying eyes at all  it would make  em bleed to death    
mahatma has been depicted as a man who neglected his own son in this movie . don  t get me wrong i am not condemning the movie it is such a wonderful movie and walked out of the cinema with a lump in my throat . we need to understand mahatma  s spiritual standing  he is a true spiritual leader . only a fully enlightened man could possibly detach himself from his loved ones . a man with such caliber leads his family and followers by example . according to the movie  he spoke to his son and try to make him understand where he is coming from  but poor harilall with so little intellect could not understand his father . when things went wrong with harilall  mahatma could remain calm and accepted that his son is a big tragedy .  br    br   had it been any other parents  they would have compromised their values to assist the son to get on his feet . mahatma didn  t do that  he is true leader who leads by example .  
there are some redeeming qualities to this show . one is that the theme tune does have a decent melody . the show does have a nice premise . also  i am probably in the minority  but i like wanda . i like the fact she is caring  and is more a mother figure to timmy . however  despite all this  i do not like this show  it isn  t excrement but i do find it very annoying .  br    br   i wouldn  t say that it is the best animated show on planet earth . when i use that term for an animated tv show  i think of peter pan and the pirates  i think of darkwing duck  i think of scooby doo and i think of talespin . and i hope i am not the only one who really likes the wild thornberrys and resent the fact it gets poked fun at . nor do i think fairly odd parents is the worst animated show on planet earth . i accept it  s annoying  and in some ways overrated  but it isn  t the worst show on nickolodean . that is chalk zone  god that show is unwatchable . but the worst animated show i  ve ever seen is shaggy and scooby dooget a clue  which is crudely animated  unfunny and frankly a disgrace .  br    br   one thing i don  t like about this show is the animation . the characters  forgive me if i offend  have very weird facial features  and a lot of the backgrounds are dull and lack the colour that make spongebob squarepants and wild thornberrys so nice to look at . the characters with the exception of wanda i find very annoying . i can  t believe such a talented voice actress like tara strong  aka . charendoff  voiced timmy . timmy i don  t find very likable as a lead character at all  he is annoying and sometimes patronising  and he is a poor decision maker as well . and his voice gets on my nerves . i actually like strong but not in this show . another annoying character is cosmo  the supposedly funny character . instead  his jokes are as unfunny as they could become . they are either a  contrived  or b  over familiar . timmy  s parents are awful characters  who don  t give a toss about their son  and their personalities wear well thin .  br    br   the story lines are very unoriginal on the most part  and i keep thinking  where have i seen this before . the episodes after the arrival of the baby i thought were unwatchable . even worse is the scripts  very unfunny  childish  witless and suffer from a complete lack of energy .  br    br   all in all  not the worst show ever  but pretty poor for an animation fan  and fairly uncomfortable to sit through .      there are redeeming qualities  and i completely understand if people like it . bethany cox  
it takes guts to make a movie on gandhi in india  in which he is not shown as a man who could do no wrong . this movie shows how a mahatma failed to be a decent father  at least in the eyes of his son  .  br    br   the performances are terrific  the cinematography fantastic  the direction fabulous  but the film drags . if the intention was to make this movie without any box  office expectations  which i assume is the case here  then its a brilliant attempt  but if the makers were expecting this to be a commercial success  then the film  s fate was doomed the day they chose this subject . .  br    br     yrs from now  this movie will be remembered for the brilliant portrayal of harilal by akshaye khanna . he deserves an oscar nomination for this one . . and honestly  his is not the only performance worth applauding  shefali chhaya is terrific too . .  br    br   watch the scene where harilal hears about his father  s death . no dialogues  no screaming  but a speechless shot by khanna . its one of the finest scenes ever shot in the history of cinema  br    br   gandhi  my father is not at all exciting cinema but yes  its excellent cinema and a must watch . brilliant attempt . .  
during the first  seasons fairly odd parents was as tasty as hard candy  bright and sweet and addictive . now it  s as tasty as pepto  bismol . and unfortunately pepto  bismol is what you  ll need after viewing the more recent episodes  where all the sweetness has been replaced by insults and violence resulting in no laughs . cosmo  once one of the more endearing nick characters  has devolved into an abusive unfunny cretin that the cast of family guy wouldn  t even want to know . timmy has become a selfish arrogant jerkwad that bart simpson would happily beat the snot out of  and given timmy  s snottiness  that would take a lot of beating  . and poor wanda . . . a real charmer who  s become the victim of her husband and godchild  she  s now labeled a  nag  for caring about the well  being of others . plus cosmo  s stupidity causes pain to everyone else but he  s never punished for it  nor does he learn any lessons . which pretty much sums up butch hartman  s attitude towards kids they  re crude  vulgar and not too bright . thank god this crummy toon has been cancelled  along with butch hartman  s darling  danny phantom . at least butch got what he deserved  unlike cosmo .  
  and all through the house  is a special crypt episode not only because it  s from the first season  but this episode was the first one i saw  i remember as a young man being on vacation with my parents that summer in     in our hotel room in south carolina on hbo i saw this episode and i was buried to the crypt right then and forever  i had always been a fan of horror  suspense series and liked monster movies  and with this series started by hbo i again had fearful pleasure . this episode being the first one i saw is memorable for me and one of my favorites  it  s just so enjoyable with a nice twist .  and all through the house  has a nice cozy setting on a snowy christmas eve  which is a perfect way to get you relaxed for holiday chopping  well anyway you have mary ellen trainor  who by the way plays in several warner brothers works  usually small parts  as a greedy philandering wife who takes care of her hubby while waiting on some money and a new romance . only like most horror series things take a turn for the worst and bad people get what they deserve . the odds are greatly stacked when a maniac dressed as santa escapes from a local nut house  making for a late holiday chopping on christmas eve  as from the old e . c . comic lessons  you learn bad people get what they axe for  well this tale ends with a perfect holiday scream  also this tale was in the     movie and featured joan collins  this is without a doubt one of my favorites and probably one of the classic crypt episodes of all  time   
in bridgeport  the deranged high school teacher richard fenton  johnathon schaech  is obsessed by the teenager student donna keppel  brittany snow   she witnesses him murder her family to stay with her  but richard is arrested and sent to prison for life . three years later  the traumatized donna is feeling better but is still under psychological treatment and taking pills . on her prom night  she goes with her boyfriend bobby  scott porter  and two couples of friends to the pacific grad hotel for the party . but the psychopath richard has escaped from prison and is lodged in the same floor in the hotel chasing donna  stabbing her friends and staff of the hotel that cross his path .  br    br   the forgettable slash  prom night  is a collection of clichs with a total lack of originality . the stupid story is shallow and silly  with a bad acting of johnathon schaech in the role of an insane killer . the predictable screenplay is amazing since it is possible to foresee what is going to happen in the next scenes . my vote is three .  br    br   title  brazil    a morte convida para danar    the death invites to dance    
  gandhi as a husband and father   has always been discussed by people in india .  gandhi . . . my father  is a story that only a few would have known to such details . surely an insight into gandhi  s personal life .  br    br   overall  i liked the movie for story and cinematography . jariwala  akshay khanna  and shefali shah have all done a good job . most scenes of the movie would be nice desktop wallpapers . . . commendable job . traditional indian folk music as background score during certain parts of the movie gives a good feel of the happenings .  br    br   however  what i didn  t quite like was the narration style . at several points  i found the tone over  dramatized .  br    br   overall  good work by anil kapoor productions . i would recommend it as  must  watch  once  .      
seriously  the fact that this show is so popular just boggles the mind . this show isn  t funny  it isn  t clever  it isn  t original  it  s just a steaming pile of bull crap . let me start with the characters . the characters are all one  dimensional morons with loud  exaggerated voices that just sound like fingernails on a blackboard . the voice acting could  ve been better . then there  s the animation . my god  it hurts my eyes just looking at it . everything is too flat  too pointy  too bright  and too candy coated . then there  s the humor  or lack thereof . it  s completely idiotic  they just take these b  grade jokes that aren  t even that funny in the first place and then repeat them to death . they also throw in some pointless potty humor which sickens me . and finally  last and least  the music . it  s just plain annoying . it sounds like it was composed on a child  s computer and generates no emotion whatsoever . i wish there was a score lower than   i really do . this show seriously needs to be canceled . it  s a show i try to avoid like the plague . whenever i hear the theme song i immediately turn the tv off . if you  ve never watched this show then don  t . watch quality programming like the simpsons or futurama .  
from very long  we are seeing movies on gandhi . and mostly  the light is always on portrayal of gandhi as freedom fighter or man with principles . but when i heard that a movie is being made which will highlight gandhi as father and stress on his relationship with his son  it instantly hit my attention as this is one territory which is least being explored as it has his own dark side and less people shown courage to dwell into it . fortunetly  anil kapoor  producer  and feroz abbad khan  director  did .  br    br   the story start with gandhi working in south africa and his relationship with white people and his wife . latter akshay  harilal  joined his father for becoming a barrister but his dream took overturn when his father  gandhi  pushed  or motivate  him to become freedom fighter . it showcase that gandhi believes more on practical study rather then formal education . harilal too try to walk on his father footstep but soon failed as its infatuation towards his wife  children and his own dream of becoming big success altered his path and then start the repulsion between son and father . he finally defeated his father in terms of pursuing his dream and to left him on his own terms . he written back to india but then start his unsuccessful stories which become bigger and bigger with time . i am leaving reader to see movie to catch further story . . .  br    br   performance . first akshay . he has given best performance of his tenure so far and is absolutely convincing in his portrayal as harilal gandhi . the scene in which he reach the room where his wife dead body is placed is one where you can see a fine actor which is hidden  developing in akshay . darshan jariwala is also good as mk gandhi and able to live up such a larger then life character . he performed well and with quite an ease . shefali chaya  now shah  as kasturba is brilliant actress and already proved her metal in tv serials . bhumika chawla too performed well but actress of her candidature is waste in these kinds of role . other actor have also justifies their performances .  br    br   technique and make up is also good and cinematography especially that duo tone color picturisation was too good . costume looks and match with context .  br    br   overall  a worth seeing movie which is defiantly slow in progress and impatient people may find it boring but give you an insight of area which is not brought to silver screen till date . also  the way story progress and connection of scene may look worn to some people and to critics especially but for an average movie watcher like me  it still enough to make me occupied on my seat till end .  
i first started watching this show probably around the year of     or     with my friends . of course  at the time i was younger and enjoyed some of the jokes on this show . i was   in      and i am   now       . though my age probably plays a major role in how i judge this show  after reading other  s reviews  i have come to see that after the third season  this show went down the tubes . i agree . this show is obnoxious  repetitive and usually focuses on the same plot .  br    br   the show revolves around timmy turner  who was granted two fairy godparents because basically his life was horrible  his parents were never around  and he had a nasty baby  sitter . the plot of the entire show is that this kid  timmy  and his godparents always wish up some destruction that cannot be prevented by making another wish  because something in  da rules  says they can  t . the show has a lot of lines that keep being repeated  like  magic cannot break true love  super toilet  or even just some scummy jokes lines that nickelodeon probably thought was funny and decided to put in the episode various times .  br    br   the show is aimed at kids younger than    because it involves gross situations and  kid humor  that most kids of my age wouldn  t care for . the character voice selection could  ve been better too . timmy has an extremely loud  shrill  feminine voice as does cosmo . wanda sounds like an old lady . timmy  s dad sounds like some announcer or game show host  timmy  s mom  s voice is too exaggerated to sound feminine . attitudes in this show are in some episodes  timmy talks back and acts spoiled and snobbish . wanda apparently is smart and wise . cosmo is stupid  dumb and incapable of thinking as is timmy  s dad . timmy  s mom seems to end up doing whatever timmy  s dad does .  br    br   the show is too far flung from reality to get my likings anymore . maybe as a younger kid  i could see more of the humor in this show  but as i grow up  it really grows old . and not to sound conceded or  trashing  but the show does have that mentality that makes you want to commit homicidal activity towards the characters . a show like this just has to be your attitude  if you know what i mean . if not  it basically disgusts you .  
gandhi my father is a well made movie . it nicely portrays the life of gandhiji  s eldest son harilal . his character  his differences with his father  his love for his family  his desire to stand on his own  his failure  his ego . . akshaye khanna completely justifies the role of harilal . just not him  everyone did well in the roles they played . darshan jariwala is the best on  screen gandhiji i  ve ever seen . but i will cut three points as there were few shortcomings .  br    br   first  movie was fifteen  twenty minutes longer than it should have . second  the movie needed more research into harilal  s character . somewhere  the character looked incomplete . also  his relation with his brothers was not shown . there was no mention of any other child of gandhiji in the whole movie . i believe the character like harilal should be having at least some differences his brothers as well  considering the egoist nature of harilal .  br    br   anyways  despite some shortcomings  i liked the movie . recommended . . .  
spoilers and extreme bashing lay ahead  br    br   when this show first started  i found it tolerable and fun . fairly oddparents was the kind of cartoon that kids and adults liked . it also had high ratings along with spongebob . but it started to fall because of the following crap that butch hartman and his team shoved into the show .  br    br   first off  toilet humor isn  t all that funny . you can easily pull off a fast laugh from a little kiddie with a burp  but that  s pretty much the only audience that would laugh at such a clich joke . next there are the kiddie jokes . lol we can see people in their underwear and we can see people cross  dressing . lololol    i just can  t stop laughing at such gay bliss  somebody help me  but of course  this show wouldn  t suck that bad if it weren  t for stereotypes . did you see how the team portrayed australians  they saw them as nothing but kangaroo  loving  boomerang  throwing simpletons who live in a hot desert . but now . . . is the coup de grace of why this show truly sucks the loudest of them all . . . over  used jokes    the show constantly pulls up the same jokes  the majority of them being unfunny  thinking it is like the greatest thing ever  cosmo is mostly the one to blame . i hated how they kept on mentioning  super toilet   which also has a blend of kiddish humor in it just as well  and cosmo would freak out . and who could forget that dumb battery ram joke that every goddamn parent in dimmsdale would use in that one e  mail episode  you know  the one in which every single parent  oblivious to other parents saying it  would utter the exact same sentence before breaking into their kid  s room  yes  it may be first class humor to some people  but it is pure s to others .  br    br   if i  m not mistaken  i do believe butch hartman said something about ending the show . thank god  everyone around my area says it  s  like  the funniest nickelodeon show ever . i just can  t agree with it i think it  s just another pile of horse dung that we get on our cartoon stations everyday  only worse .  
this movie is about a dysfunctinal family but not just any dysfunctional family . it is about the family of the father of our nation  india  although  the film focuses mainly on the estranged relationship between mahatma gandhi and his eldest son harilal gandhi . it shows how the mahatma had to kill m . k . gandhi  how he had to sacrifice his family life in order to achieve our freedom . every time mohandas karamchand gandhi and his son would try to get close the mahatma would come between them . this is a beautifully done film . akshaye khanna has proved himself to be a top actor . he expressed emotions very naturally . darshan jariwala who mainly stars in plays  gurukant desai  s lawyer in guru has portrayed gandhi wonderfully .  as a real human being  unlike ben kingsley who made him look like a god  shefali shah the girl from monsoon wedding has also done a really good job of showing how kasturba gandhi was torn between father and son . this movie is touching and so is its soundtrack  raghupati raghava  sung in a very unique manner . i saw this movie just  hours ago  it released in dubai a day earlier  on the  nd  and when the movie was over there was  pin drop silence  and while exiting out of the theatre not one person pushed another  can you imagine us indians not pushing   not one  there was a sacred silence . . .  
i cannot stand this show  has there ever been even one redeeming quality  one funny punchline  or one plot line that  didn  t  make the average viewer want to drown himself in a bowl of soggy cornflakes   br    br   the voices . oh  those horrible  wretched voices . akin to repeatedly dragging a set of fine cutlery across a dusty blackboard  each character is uniquely annoying in his or her aptitude for shrill  nasal vocals . cosmo sounds like a whining mongrel  vicky sounds like a stereotypical shrew  and timmy  s dad makes every line sound like a bad impersonation of a game show host  guy smiley from  sesame street  comes to mind  .  br    br   the animation is awful even the producers of  yu  gi  oh   laugh at the overwhelmingly bad artwork on this show . every character has buck teeth  or a square head  or a head three sizes too big for his or her body . and what  s with having the characters speak every single line wide  eyed and grinning  as though posing for a photo op with the president  then  there is the fact that every character on the show is completely moronic . not since the subtle grace of amelia bedelia  homer simpson  and buddy lembeck of  charles in charge  fame have characters been portrayed as so unrealistically dumb . usually  unrealistic  is synonymous with  unfunny   and that is most definitely the case here . there hasn  t been this much slapstick based on cluelessness since  the naked gun       . . . and at least leslie nielson was good at it .  br    br   finally  the premise of the show  and it  s the same every single episode  so big time spoiler alert here   timmy wishes for something with his two  fairly oddparents   something goes wrong  there  s always some contrived reason why he can  t immediately reverse course and wish away the damage  and then everything turns out just fine in the end . oh  and on a side note  timmy  s parents never believe him when he complains about vicky  and they continue to employ her at every opportunity . maybe it  s just me  but it seems that a kids  show containing the subtle message that it pretty much does no good whatsoever to tell on an abusive babysitter probably isn  t a great idea .  br    br   if you  re writing a paper and want to cite an example of just how far the quality of cartoons has fallen   the fairly odd parents  has to be a great place to start . a prime example of television producers throwing together a worthless product aimed at kids with little or no effort simply because they know that someone somewhere will watch it .  
i just don  t understand why this movie is getting beat  up in here . jeez . it is mindless  it isn  t polished and it is  as i am reading  wasted on some . the cast of this movie plays their characters to the  t   if you watched permanent midnight and became a ben stiller fan then yes you will be disappointed  . these are misunderstood  well  intentioned misfits trying to save the city  world with nothing but grit and determination . the problem is they don  t realize their limits until the big showdown and that  s the point  this is  times the movie that the spy who shagged me was yet gets panned by the same demographic group  likely the same people who feel the first ap movie pales in comparison to the sequel . i just don  t get it . the jokes work on more then one level if you didn  t get it i know what level you  re at .  
what starts out as a gentle country yarn  inoffensive and mildly enjoyable romantic tale changes pace as edward norton  s initially charming harlan gradually reveals more about himself and things take a turn for the sinister  as the film gradually changes from a southern romance to a modern wild western .  br    br   an amiable rancher  norton  wanders into town and charms a young girl  evan rachel wood   seemingly rescuing her from a dead  end existence with her bad  tempered father with a whirlwind romance  but it gradually becomes apparent that there is more to this cowboy than meets the eye .  br    br   edward norton  a real chameleon actor  with changing facial hair to match  playing a country hick  accent slightly dodgy but maybe because he  s merely trying to act the part without worrying about the accent . he certainly makes it appear effortless to make all the nuanced little adjustments as we learn more about harlan . however  with too many small changes it means we are never sure exactly where harlan is coming from  and what seemed like a good performance from norton gradually becomes confused . evan rachel wood is likable without ever really having a great deal to do other than bat her eyelids at norton .  br    br   down in the valley strikes as a slightly uneven tale due to its change of pace  and by never really making the protagonist  s motives clear the audience  s sympathies for the characters remain uncertain . should we like this drifter or not  even after a dramatic turn of events it remains unclear . this ambiguity is to the film  s detriment  as if the writer could not make up their mind what kind of story they wanted to tell and settled for somewhat of a hotch  potch . had the film remained one or the other it might have been a solid film  but as it is what we are left with is something of a mess . fans of old  fashioned romance will enjoy a portion of the film but will be put off by the darkening tone . completist fans of norton aside  or fans of the lush scenery of the san fernando valley   give this a miss .  
this is an very good movie . this is one that i would rent over and over again . it is not like your normal superhero movie . this movie blends comedy  action and great special effects . it even has a person in it that does a lot of voices on the simpsons . william h . macy is the bomb .  
ok  the story  a simpleminded loony enters a life of bored to death young chick and her kid brother and wreaks havoc in their lives  is mildly interesting one . anyway  ideas are nothing  everyone has some . . .   the execution is everything .  br    br   this is what bothered me with this flick . and it did bother me immensely . the rhythm  directing  editing  was slow  the pace was uneven and the climax expected . we have seen those frigging highways five  six  seven times  why  norton character  s troubles were seen as a childish game  not enough deep to understand his problems  soul  blah and to root for or against him . is he a coward  a manipulator or just a loony  references to the  taxi driver  were ridiculous and unnecessary and for certain not in favor for this flick  or to e . n . for that matter  .  br    br   and imho  it is cowardly executed at the end . cheap emotional tricks for teenage lovers somewhere in mid america . this guy should have killed the kid  blamed the father  create a real havoc . or the kid should have killed the father at the end etc .  but no  we have gotten cheesy ending where kids miss the loony  the father is puzzled over his own life and relationship with them and the loony  of course  dies . the happy dysfunctional family stays unharmed  safe and happily bored again so we could enjoy our pop  corns  undisturbed .  br    br   and that scene where the loony enters the movie  oh my god  i would have to think long and hard to find something stupider than that  you do not shoot such a scene with a hidden camera and hidden crew . creators of that movie probably thought that was a good idea but it was more than annoying . again  if you  re a   years old girl somewhere in kansas nowhere or whatever  where and dream about having sex with a crazy man twice your age  ok  then you might enjoy this movie and its  message  .  
i can  t say that this film deserves anywhere near the amount of vitriol being heaped on it by some reviewers . yes  it  s bogged down by an overly  padded running time  hamfisted editing  and an overreliance on cheeseball special effects . and it lacks much of the energy a comedy needs to get your average audience member to sit through it without checking his or her watch .  br    br   on the other hand  it  s also got some laugh  out  loud funny lines  a talented and earnest cast  and the classic underdog premise . macy  stiller  and azaria are brilliant as the  core  team  and garofalo and studi do superb work adding conflict and variety to the team . i can  t say reubens or mitchell added much to the film overall  though each had a few chances to shine .  br    br   the plot  as i said above  is your classic  underdog  makes  good  stuff . no surprises there  since you know they  re going to triumph . what makes it worthwhile is not the absurd  gaudy heroes and villains  but the dialogue and interplay between the characters . underneath it all  these people are children at heart  who just want to do right . the best scenes in the film give this film its emotional grounding . look at azaria  s relationship with his long  suffering mother macy  s endearing innocence in his unwillingness to accept cap . amazing  s secret identity stiller  s rage  not unlike that one weird  spazzy kid you once knew who  d always go into quivering  impotent rages on the playground   garofalo  s desire to avenge her father . this childlike belief that a sense of justice and goodness will always make the world a better place  is the true appeal of super  hero comics and underneath its parodic exterior   mystery men  shows us why these hackneyed comic  book tropes matter to so many .  br    br   it never really gels into a satisfying whole  due to the huge number of half  baked subplots  romance  family life  conflicts within the team  etc .   but the main plot is such loopy fun that it makes up for that . the fact that it  s supposed to be good  nonsensical fun seems to be lost on some of the reviewers here  so i  ll issue a caveat if you  re the type of viewer who finds his enjoyment of an itchy and scratchy cartoon ruined by the unexplained and illogical   am i to believe this is some sort of . . snort . . .  magic  xylophone     then you are far too literal  minded and humorless for this film . go rent a sandler film instead .  br    br          
i really wanted to like this film  but the story is ridicules . i don  t want to spoil this film   don  t worry right from the begin you know something bad is going to happen  but here  s an example of how sloppy this film was put together . the cowboy and  twig  ride up the ridge . the cowboy has a handle bar mustache . the cowboy and  twig  get into a shoot out and race half way down the ridge . the cowboy is clean shaven through out the rest of the film . sometime between the gun fight and the ride down the mountain the cowboy has had time to shave  in dark  on the back of a horse .  br    br   to be fair  the acting by the four main characters is solid .  
ok . there are people who should not see this movie .  br    br     don  t see it if you don  t like satire or black humour .   don  t like it if you got offended by  the watchmen  .   don  t see it if you want a serious superhero movie .  br    br   the rest of you  run  don  t walk  to see  mystery men  . it  s funny  it  s quirky  it  s a delightful sendup of every bad superhero cliche known to man . occasional forays into junior  high humour don  t ruin the tongue  in  cheek low  key fun of jeanane garafalo  ben stiller  and hank azaria  as well as a couple of amusing smaller parts by geoffrey rush and greg kinnear .  good to see louise lasser getting work  too .  i laughed all the way through . utterly unserious  somewhat weird  but  good  .  
was sort of enjoying this movie until the issues of ed norton  s facial hair . without revealing any plot details   on one afternoon he was sporting a light beard but by the same evening the beard was gone and a very luxuriant moustache was in place . it was much fuller than the moustache that went with the beard . later on  in the course of a dark night in the open the moustache was gone and he appeared cleans haven . this was on an occasion where stopping to shave wouldn  t be an option . these continuity discrepancies totally distracted me from the rest of the movie and ruined any credibility it had previously had . also  i found the lengthy scene of the cowboy alone in his bedroom was way too reminiscent of de niro in taxi driver . even if it was meant to be an homage it was laid on too thickly for this viewer .  
i  ve been waiting for a superhero movie like this for a long time .  mystery men  takes its place among the classic comic  strip spoofs on tv like  batman  and  captain nice  and cartoons like  underdog  and  super chicken .  the same spirit lives in all of them the comic tongue  in  cheek tone the courage to aim for the heroic in life at the risk of looking ridiculous the not  so  sure  footed way that these characters manage to prevail over their adversaries . it  s the misfired spark of nobility igniting in the weak and the ordinary  and it  s wonderful to see it glow so high and bright here .  br    br    mystery men  opens on a party at a nursing home . i wish kinka usher had had the sense to give more energy and life to the old people in the scene . as it is  it looks like something george romero might have devised . we need to get the feeling that these old people are as sharp as everyone else  or it feels patronizing . by the time the red eyes crash the festivities  you half expect tom waits who plays a weapons inventor with a penchant for ladies in their eighties to stand up and shout  just what this party needs   a little excitement   if writer neil cuthbert had any sense  he would have had waits mixing it up with the intruders and egging on the partiers to do the same . it would have made for a rousing beginning  and a better introduction of the troublesome trio the shoveler  william macy   the blue raja  hank azaria   and mr . furious  ben stiller   who seem to come out of nowhere to save the day .  br    br   there are many other problems to  mystery men  than i care to go into among them that the villain casanova frankenstein needs to have as cultivated a sense of the absurd as the rest of the people in this movie  and he doesn  t . geoffrey rush is the wrong actor for the part he needs to be way over the top to make the conflict between good and evil a galvanic one . and rush has never exhibited a talent for the outre . you hope for the ripe theatrics of a john lithgow in  the adventures of buckaroo banzai  or the dry  debonair diffidence of a paul freeman in  raiders of the lost ark .  instead what we get is pastiche something half  baked and not fully realized .  br    br   there are too many ideas running through  mystery men  for anyone to tie them neatly together  and that may be its deepest problem . but whatever kind of a mess it is is the kind of mess i love . ben stiller has always seemed to be slumming in the roles he takes . this one is no exception  but he goes at it with such conviction that you come away feeling that he  d learned something about comedy growing up in a household run by jerry stiller and anne meara . his roy is related to all the put  upon  overly sensitive  chronically defensive types that woody allen made popular . and whether it  s wheedling his way into the affections of the waitress at his favorite hangout  the sleek claire forslani   or questioning the wisdom of a fellow superhero  wes studi as the sphinx   or giving a new member of their  elite  group  jeaneane garofalo in what are possibly her funniest moments on screen  a hard time  he makes it always fun to watch . i couldn  t exactly say that about him in  there  s something about mary .   br    br   jeaneane garofalo proves with this performance that she should have been the star of  one true thing   not renee zellweger . i don  t think i have ever seen funnier exchanges between a daughter and father  okay  so he  s dead and his skull is in a bowling ball  so sue me  in the movies . and the funny part about this role is that it feels like a screwball reprise of emily watson  s spellbinding talks with god in  breaking the waves .  and in this version  the girl doesn  t die  and bells don  t ring in your head .  br    br   william h . macy does something very difficult he makes stolid magnetic . you understand right away what  s attracted jenifer lewis  lucille to eddie . you can also understand her exasperation . the barbecue alone would be enough to drive me over the edge  but when eddie  s adorable  half  breed son looks up at his father and says  i believe in you  daddy .  to which lucille sighs and exclaims   roland  don  t encourage your father   you feel like standing and hailing neil cuthbert as a first  rate wit .  br    br   with hank azaria  whose only moment of note in film up to this point was his bare behind in  the birdcage   and louise lasser  has it been more than two decades since we first took note of her in  bananas  and  mary hartman  mary hartman    as son and mother who share a fondness for silverware greg kinnear as captain amazing and ricky jay as his publicist kel mitchell as  invisible boy   paul reubens as  the spleen  and lena olin who  if she didn  t have the few lines in this movie that she has  would seem to be visiting the set .  
the longer this film went on  and it seemed to tediously go on for ever  the more annoyed i became  as quite frankly  what a waste of time sitting through this total nonsense . how on earth do people get to make films like this  or indeed receive finance for such rubbish  don  t be fooled by the relatively high ratings on imdb as it just proves you can fool some of the people all the time . and in this picture the main players have an obsession with guns  so it is not difficult to work out the way this movie will ultimately unfold . america can never understand that the rest of the world finds it bizarre how society in the usa has such an obscene and fatal  gun culture  .  br    br   anyhow  br    br   the lead actor portrays a loser who escapes into a fantasy world of being a cowboy in an urban sprawl . he comes across a family with two spoiled brat children  a teenage girl and boy taken care of by a strict single parent father who can barely cope . the cowboy is seduced by the teenage girl or vice  versa  and the impressionable boy is seemingly taken in by the lunacy of the loser .  br    br   the cowboy spends the whole time in a state of unreality and depression . a total loser who prefers to go to the beach then work for living  and then commits a burglary on his family as he is too lazy to make money legally .  br    br   ask yourself  br    br   who wants to watch either a sad failed loser in a fantasy world holding a death wish  or indeed view a poor family who are in effect not much better than white trash    br    br   this film is pointless drivel .  br    br   it only saves itself from getting the lowest mark possible by some half listen able music  br    br       .  
i saw this movie the day it came out last year . hilarious i thought . well  now it  s on video and i saw it again . i love this movie  the things they do are sometimes dumb but that  s what makes it my third favorite movie of all time . the special effects are okay  but the witty dialog will have you rolling . i  m the kind of person that  ll say i  m inspired by this movie  so if you like dramas and other stuff  avoid . but for all others  enjoy  the acting is superb . hank azaria is hands down the best  he  s neither a commie  nor a fruit  followed by ben stiller  uh  don  t correct me . it sickens me  and then william h . macy delivering his best performance  outshining fargo  everybody has praised everyone from macy to garafalo  but i think kel mitchell was pretty good as invisible boy . two problems the most boring part of the film is the subplot of the romance between stiller and claire forlani  and the casanova parole hearing . some scenes absolutely advance the story in no way  but they  re a blast . kinka and especially the writers tend to drag on a scene untill all it  s hilarity is gone  but bam they switch and you  re ready for more . i swear after seeing this  you will be tired from the explosive climax  which i think was pretty cool  the camera is pretty cool also  moving at a furious pace with the actors . also  tom waits delivers an outstanding performance  he has this kinda cool bad hero coolness to him  and like someone else said  the best parts are when the characters show some humanness to them . captain amazing is pretty funny   especially his speech to casanova about his perfect plan  i was rolling  and rush is pretty cool as casanova . one beef the funniest comedian ever  eddie izzard  is almost wasted  but his heart is in the right place . so all in all  a wonderful movie . i give it twenty stars and hope that someday  everyone will see the brilliance in the film  s best parody  the six million dollar man one . laughing right now as i think about it .       
i saw this film in my cinema class . i am glad that i did not pay to see it . i came into it with an open mind  and was even a little excited . i really enjoy ed norton and evan rachel wood  and the rest of the cast was interesting . i just never connected with this movie . the acting was great  the cinematography was interesting  but the storyline  or rather  lack thereof  was a problem . there was no central  connecting theme to the movie . was it a romance between norton and wood  well  no  not really . was it a western  kind of  but no . i  m all for twists in movies  i recently saw  brick  and loved it  but the place that this movie went was just too out there . it was so weird  and if i weren  t required to have sat through the whole film  i would have walked out . the writing wasn  t terrible  but it was just all over the place . by the time this movie ended  i was just left terribly confused and wishing that it had ended sooner . there was just something about this film that didn  t resonate  i understand more offbeat films like  fight club   but i just did not care about the characters at all .  
episode two of season one is a delightful holiday tale of love  betrayal  . . . and a homicidal  escaped lunatic dressed as father christmas .  br    br   a woman  mary ellen  trainor  has just murdered her hubby on christmas eve for his life insurance . what begins as a perfect crime begins a struggle to survive as a deranged  santa clause suit wearing psychopath  larry drake  perfectly over the top  threatens her life . . . as well as her precious young daughters .  br    br   this episode is warmly remembered by even those casually acquainted with the program . by the way  this particular reviewer watches it every christmas on routine . most notable for it  s escalating suspense and narrative twists  and all through the houst is among tales from the crypt  s best .  
i saw this trailer and thought to myself my god is this movie for real  who would want to see this movie and at the same time i thought that  my girl friend turned to me and said  we have to go see this movie  . . . enough said so i saw this about  minutes go and i tried to put on a brave face and enjoy the cheap scares but there weren  t even any of those . it has to be one of the worst movies i have ever seen the director has no influence no perspective the same shots were used again and again he did not build up suspense the cast probably were simply told scream cry run fall . i would love to see the script as the first   mins was mostly annoying girly giggles and bad music  there was absolutely no character development .  br    br   the plot is just . . . well there was no plot it was basically i know we will terrorize a high school group on their prom night with a stalker serial killer  that  s brilliant  hmmm the acting was what you expect in a australian soap opera hopeless  that main character the blondie god dam she annoyed me . her longest line must have been half a sentence  and every time she was on camera she was just pulling another rude facial expression .  br    br   please listen to me if you have any taste in movies don  t go see this  and if your like me and don  t have a choice well then i wish you good luck  maybe smuggle in an ipod or magazine . can  t believe this film got made   
there are many problems with mystery men . first of all there are too many different characters for all of them to be given complex or even interesting personalities . the special effects detract from the story and are not really that special . paul reubens is wasted in a pathetic  juvenile role as a character who merely farts and speaks in an inaudible accent .  br    br   now onto the decent parts . william h macy  three heavenly words  and his performance as the shoveler is pitch perfect . the sphinx is an exceptionally funny character who is only mysterious and merely spouts out the traditional mystical proverbs . ben stiller is very amusing as well  showing a weak character trying to make it into the big leagues of superheroes . all of the characters do  and that is an area which i found particuarly ironic . that is because all of the actors are indie film actors trying to make it into the big leagues of hollywood .  br    br   to be honest  the reason i thought it failed at the box  office is that america doesn  t get irony .  br    br   all in all i loved the film  but i feel it would have worked better if more effort was put into tweaking the script rather than having unneccesary cgi landscapes and effects .  
this film really got off to a great start . it had the potential to turn into a really heartrending  romantic love story with cinematography that recorded the love between  harlan  and tobe in long  poetic and idyllic scenes . it really didn  t need to be anything more than that  and for a moment there i became excited that someone was finally making a beautiful film for its own sake  another timeless classic  a modern myth perhaps . why  oh why  then mess it up halfway through by making the lead character  norton  another psycho  maybe i  m missing the point  but do we really need another film about psychos  or is this need in hollywood to portray the sick side of human nature indicative of a more general malaise in the movie industry  for a moment there  i was going to make a mental note of the director  s name now i  m left feeling indifferent . at least it should be added in the film  s defense that all the actors seemed to invest in their roles . also  evan rachel wood is really lovely to look at and a good actress with lots of potential .  
mystery men has got to be the stupidest film i  ve ever seen  but what a film  i thought it was fabulous  excellent and impressive . it was funny  well  done and nice to see ridiculous super heroes for a change  and being able to pull it off  this was great  i  ll definitely watch it again   
i felt this movie started out well . the acting was spot on and i felt for all the characters situation  even though the true family unit was not completely revealed . we never got enough info on the father to truly feel his pain for his whole involvement or the build up for his animosity with tobe . i mean in one scene you see him admiring her for tensity and in another scene he just about takes her head off . another problem with the movie was it just unraveled and lost all focus by the end  and i was begging for it to just be over with . any movie with such a long drawn out  and painful ending should never get an automatic rating of  or above just for the acting . we are looking at the over all quality of the movie experience . in the case of this movie the end is so bad i seriously contemplated just walking out of the theater . this movie pulled me in then just spit me out .  
i  ve seen mystery men cop a bit of stick in the press and with the general public  take the imdb vote for instance   but my overall feeling is that mystery men is more fun than most films  definitely wittier than most so  called comedy films and very nearly  clever  .  br    br   the cast is superb greg kinnear is excellent  as are geoffrey rush and tom waits . kinnear  s limo scene with ricky jay is perfect  spoiled movie star  and he imbues his character with the right balance of comic book quality and realism to make him work .  br    br   i will admit the pacing is a little off in places  and visuals are certainly very flash bang  possibly to the detriment of further characterisation  but at the end of the day  this is high concept film making  it  s about the little moments  what  s up tiger lily    and there are so many great ones in this film to make it worth repeated viewing .  
i  m   years old and i  ve spent as much of my life as i can remember  a fan of horror and sci  fi films . be they silent  black and white  no budget or big budget  there are very few of them that i can  t find something to like about . that said  i  ll give this movie credit for good gore and creature effects but that  s all . this is a case of effects over story . truth is we live in a time where there is very little left that hasn  t been seen in a horror film . therefor for a film of any kind to really entertain it must have a good  original story . a good story can overcome poor effects and bad acting but a bad story with good acting and good effects is still a bad movie . this movie doesn  t even have good acting  only good effects . so unless you can only about the gore  pass this one up .  
a lot of the user comments i have seen on the imdb for this movie don  t really do it justice . first of all  let me just say that this movie is not to be taken seriously . it  s supposed to be a fun  yet stupid movie  that doesn  t require one to think  only to enjoy it . if you watch this movie with the intent to see a masterpiece in either filmmaking or in humour  then you will be sorely disappointed . yet  if you want to just watch a goofy movie with some talented actors  actresses  and some good catch  phrases  then you will enjoy it .  
my first clue about how bad this was going to be was when the video case said it was from the people who brought us blair witch project which was a masterpiece in comparison to this piece of garbage . the acting was on the caliber of a  th grade production of oklahoma and the plot  such as there was  is predictable  boring and inane .    of the script is four letter words and innumerable variations on them . mother f seems to be the  writer  s  favorite because it is used constantly . it must have taken all of   minutes to write this script in some dive at last call . thank god i rented it and could jump through most of it on fast forward . don  t waste your time or money with this .  
the first thing i thought after watching  mystery men  was how could this movie be so unpopular  i found this movie so adorable and funny that it  s status as a bomb defies logic . well  i hope that in the future it becomes a cult hit  and you can count me amoung it  s fans .  br    br   simply put  and without giving too much away  this movie does for comic books what  the princess bride  did for fairy tales and  who framed roger rabbit   did for classic cartoons . that should give you a more accurate idea of the tone of the movie then the marketing commitee it was unfortunately signed to  this is one of those cases like  the iron giant  where the studio had no clue what it had on it  s hands  . rent it the next time you  re in the mood for something a little offbeat . you won  t listen to the beegees in the same light ever again .  
i  d have to admit that the draw of this movie is director eduardo sanchez  who helmed the wildly popular and successful blair witch project . besides  this is an alien movie of sorts  and sounded something like stephen king  s dreamcatchers  one of those movies that the critics hated  but i enjoyed .  br    br   but nope  unfortunately i felt that for the most parts  altered is a waste of time  so i shall keep this review short . premises are always promising  and altered  s no different . it tells the story of a group of men who experienced strange encounters when they were younger  and as usual  others will take you as a nutcase imagining stuff . stories about alien abduction always have to deal with probes into the orifices  so i shall not go into details  but you get the drift it  s damn uncomfortable  and something you  d like to forget .  br    br   what if you  re given a chance for revenge  that is  you manage to successfully hunt down  and capture one alive . what will you do  for this group  it  s a gleeful payback time  or so they thought . and this is where the movie begins to develop into a snoozefest  with bad  uninspiring dialogue  and even worse acting . even if it  s low budgeted  there aren  t many redeeming factors  be it strength of storyline  or any help from the cast in making their characters just a tad interesting . it  s the standard cardboard fare from a vanilla plain script  coupled with some cheap scare tactics employed .  br    br   what  s good though is the makeup . much effort has been put into making some of the stuff which i shan  t mention  because that  ll spoil just the few elements of what makes this movie tolerable . other than that  there are the usual cheap special effects  blood and gory moments which is nothing you  ve never seen before .  br    br   watch this only as a last resort . compared to the other monster movie in town  feast  this one is less fun  and takes itself too seriously . bogged down by an uninspiring direction  you  ve been warned .  
the directing behind this film was fantastic for a comedy . many of the scenes appear to be out of a comic book and much darker  visually   not story wise  than what i expected . granted  this may not be the funniest movie ever made  especially if you are into very crude sexist jokes as this has very little of that  compared to others like something about mary or american pie  . as you rewatch it  several jokes stand out and get funnier . if you have ever read a comic book or watched a comic book  type movie  batman  x  men  etc .  and liked them  you will probably enjoy the subtle humor that continues throughout the movie . if you didn  t like them  you may like the respectful ridicule that this film has for those . if you did like this movie  the dvd has some cool extras .        
this weekend just passed i watched    weeks later  which was very good . after that i watched this film .  br    br   i have tell you it is one of the most boring so called horror you could ever watch . the scenes were unrealistic  there was no script and no plot . the alien creature was unreal . and the fight scenes mild compared to a school yard fight . and to make it worse the guy named cody had an uncontrollable loose filthy tongue which distracts attention from the main film .  br    br   forget about this movie rather go and watch   weeks later .  br    br   cheers  mesake c .  
warning may contain spoilers  br    br   so who are these  mystery men   simply put  the mystery men are a group of sub  heroes desperately trying to live out their adolescent fantasy lives while botching both their real identities and their super identities . the shoveller  bill macy  works construction during the day  and at night  leaves his wife and kids at home while he cruises the street looking for crimes to tackle with his extraordinary and unique shovel  fighting style . the blue raja  hank azaria  sells silverware to newlyweds by day and flings tableware at crackpot villians by night  if his mom isn  t keeping him busy with the latest snooping . mr . furious works in a junk yard to earn his pay  then takes out his frustration on his friends at night  tossing ill  conceived one  liners at friend and foe alike and threatening to get really angry  leaving everyone to wonder  so what   . ben stiller breathes such life into this character  you can  t help but love him .  br    br   these three spend their nights trying to capture that  moment of glory  they  ve dreamed about . . . becoming real super heroes . obviously  it could happen . champion city has captain amazing  after all . . . a flying  fighting super  cop with enough corporate logos on his costume to stop an extra bullet or two . greg kinnear turns in a stellar performance as a middle  aged sellout trying to recapture his fans attention in the twilight of his career .  br    br   to bring back that  extra magic  that might win the endorsements again  c . a . frees casanova frankenstein  a waaaaay over  the  top menace played to chilling perfection by goeffrey rush . this lunatic genius has created a  psychofrakulator  to warp champion city into a reflection of his own insanities . . . and ends up capturing c . a . within hours of his release from prison . this leaves only the mystery men to stop frankenstein  s evil plan  but with such henchmen as the disco boys protecting frankenstein  the trio are going to need a little help .  br    br   recruiting commences  and after a painful recruitment party  the team settles in with the bowler  janeane garofolo   who initially has the only real talent in the team  with her mystic bowling ball seemingly animated by the vengeful spirit of her dead father the invisible boy  kel mitchell   who claims to turn invisible when absolutely no one is looking at him the spleen  paul reubens   granted mystically powerful flatulence by an angry gypsy and the much underused sphinx  wes studi   who is shown to be able to cut guns in half with his mind  then spends much of the rest of the movie spouting inane riddles and acting over  wise .  br    br   this film really is a cross  genre romp . anyone wanting to pigeon  hole films into neat little categories is fighting a losing battle . this is a spoof  parody of the superhero genre  from the pseudo  burton sets recycled endlessly  and occasionally decorated with more spoof material  to the ridiculous costumes  the comic  book genre gets a pretty good send  up . but at the same time  it is a serious superhero flick  as well . both at once . while not a necessarily unique idea in itself  for example  this movie is in some ways reflective of d . c . comic  s short  lived inferior five work   it is fairly innovative for the big screen . it offers the comic  book world that requires a suspension of disbelief to accept anyway  then throws in the inevitable wanna  bes  and we all know  if superheroes were real  so would these guys be real . if the big guy with the s were flying around new york city  you  d see a half  dozen news reports about idiots in underwear getting their butts kicked on a regular basis . sure  the shoveller fights pretty well  and the blue raja hurls forks with great accuracy  all parts of the super  hero world . but does that make them genuine super  heroes  only in their minds .  br    br   this movie is also a comedy  albeit a dark one . inevitable  when trying to point out the patent ridiculous nature of super  heroics . one  liners fly as the comic geniuses on stage throw out numerous bits to play off of . particularly marvelous is the dialogue by janeane garofalo with her bowling ball  father . yet  it isn  t a comedy in the sense of side  splitting laughter or eternally memorable jokes . it mixes in a dose of drama  of discovery and of romance  but never really ventures fully into any of it .  br    br   what really makes mystery men a good film  in the end  is that it is very engaging . the weak  lame good guys are eventually justified and  for one shining moment  really become super  heroes justice is served and the movie ends with a scene that reeks of realism  as much realism as is possible in a world where bowling balls fly and glasses make the perfect disguise  . if the viewer stops trying to label the film  then the film can be a great romp .  br    br   of course  no movie is perfect . claire forlani comes off as bored and directionless as mr . furious  love interest  in spite of having a pivotal role as his conscience . tom waits seems somehow confused by his own lines as the mad inventor dr . heller  although his opening scenes picking up retired ladies in the nursing home is worth watching alone . and the villians are never more than gun  toting lackeys  a point of which is made in the film  . the cinematography is choppy and disjointed  such as happens in the average comic book  so it is excusable   the music sometimes overpowers the scenery  and the special effects are never quite integrated into the rest very well .  br    br   yet  overall  this film is incredible . you probably have to be a fan of comics and the superhero genre to really appreciate this movie  but it  s a fun romp and a good way to kill a couple of hours and let your brain rest .  br    br       in my opinion .  
i might not have been the biggest blair witch fan but nonetheless appreciated that effort  so i was looking forward to altered  especially after reading the superlatives thrown around in various imdb comments .  unique    intelligent    a future cult classic  and so on . . . you gotta wonder where people come up with that stuff to describe such a poor effort .  br    br   because alas  altered is a poor  weak movie that fails to engage in any and every respect . the silliness is not funny . the horror and gore is not scary . and whatever  thinking  aspect some poor fellows saw in this movie were due to severe delusions because there  s certainly nothing profound or smart about this mess .  br    br   ok  so we know nothing stands out . is it at least bearable  is the experience worthwhile in any way  unfortunately  no . for starters  get very poor acting . it  s not a stretch to say most b  movies these days feature better acting . the plot  boring and messy . dialogs  many amateurs actually do better .  br    br   it  s really the direction that puzzles . i did not expect major improvements over blair witch but at least small steps forward . instead  our director seems to have worsen over time  completely oblivious to previous experiences .  br    br   if there is a major flaw in altered  it  s the main set . a major part of the plot takes place in a single location  where the main characters are confined but snchez has failed to give the place any personality whatsoever . considering that in blair witch  the forest plays a major part and is as much a character  an antagonist  if you will  as the three students  you would think the director would realize the same thing was needed here . but no . . . this place has no personality whatsoever thanks to sloppy direction and no attention to details .  br    br   there  s nothing salvageable here . die hard fans of  blair witch  are better off following daniel myrick . although his output is far from being golden  it shows better structure than snchez and some lessons from blair witch are applied  unfortunately  in weak stories but still  .  
a film about wannabee  s  never  were  s and less  than  heroes making it against all odds . where have we heard that before . but when the unfortunates are the shoveller  the blue raja and mr . furious you know this is not your conventional rags to riches story .  br    br   a classic performance by eddie izzard as tony p . one of the disco boys leaders and geoffrey rush as arch villain shows actual thought went into the casting .  br    br   even greg kinnear  at first glance an odd choice for the role of captain amazing turns out spot on .  br    br   watch this film if you  re sick of comic  gone  film stereotypes . why couldn  t anger be a super power   
after reading the first  reviews on imdb i was very enthusiastic about this movie . but it  s really an awful movie  the total time you see the alien is about  minutes  the rest of the movie is cheap suspense   the acting is over the top en the story  oh boy  which story   br    br   the story doesn  t seem to go in a direction  first they capture the alien  after  years  they finally succeed   then they don  t know what to do with it  after  years   and even want to release it  why the hell did they capture it   . then the girlfriend  who  s acting is the most over the top  wants to walk away from this madness  then suddenly she doesn  t  then again  she does and then she doesn  t . then they come to the conclusion that killing the alien will kill the whole human race  and remember  in all those years no other human have seen these permanently settled aliens  and what do they do  they torture it and blow a bunch of aliens to peaces .  br    br   this is my first review on imdb  i  m a very lazy person who doesn  t write very soon  so listen to my warning this move is not worth your time  don  t watch this movie .  
i really didn  t expect much from this movie  but it wasn  t bad actually it was quite good . this movie contained a couple of the funniest bits of writing i have ever seen from a motion picture . now am not saying this is one of the funniest movies of all time  but i laughed pretty hard at some parts .  the police ruled my father  s death a suicide . they said he fell down an elevator shaft . onto some bullets  . now this movie is not for everybody  its mostly stupid humor like zoolander or dodgeball so if you hated these movies i would probably recommend you to steer clear . overall it was an enjoyable movie  about a group of superhero wannabes  who end up becoming real heroes in the end . it  s a vastly overrated comedy that many people probably haven  t seen yet  because like me before viewing it expected it to be utter garbage . after viewing this film  i finally understand why this movie was able to assemble such a superstar cast which includes ben stiller  william h . macy  hank azaria  and even that kid from good burger . it  s because mystery man is full of excellent comedic writing period  out of   . a very big surprise .  
this is a copy of the     doris day classic  romance on the high seas .  br    br   the story line is more or less same but is contemporary . govinda plays a sharp witted fellow who replaces the husband on the trip . while rani plays the college friend of the wife who does her the same favour . they ostensibly try to catch each other out while the actual husband and wife tries to trip each other in bombay .  br    br   on the trip  govinda mistakes another girl for sanjiv  s wife and spies on her while falling in love with the ravishing rani .  br    br   lever plays a dual role of father and son both lawyers specialising in divorce proceedings . they are pitted against each other for the warring couple .  br    br   it is a poor attempt at copying the original classics and the songs are quite appalling . the comedy is slap  stick and will not make one laugh too much .  
i make just one apology for this film there are far  far  too many wide angle close  ups  and if they irritate you beyond endurance  fair enough . they drove me barmy for the first ten minutes or so . but after that i made a kind of a truce with the terrible cinematography and long before the end of the film  i had ceased to care . this is too rich a comedy to be destroyed so easily . it  s hilarious  it  s witty  the comic delivery of all of the cast is flawless  and however much usher peers at his characters through a cold  fish  eye lens  he may not care for them much  he manages to present them with warmth . mystery men  is  in fact  not only funnier  not only more clever  but also deeper  than anyone seems to have given it credit for being . the jokes in the austin powers movies  for instance  as well as being less funny than the jokes here  are also much more toothless . the satire of mystery men  bites when there  s something worth biting and gnaws gently when there isn  t . it doesn  t mock just any old thing . which is why  contrary to what some  i must regard them as unobservant  critics have said  it never runs out of ideas .  br    br   the super  heroes are an attractive bunch . sure  they  re second  rate  but they  re not merely second rate . the blue rajah  for instance  does nothing but throw cutlery at people  and he isn  t that good at it . on the other hand  neither is he comically bad . he  s better in his limited field than most people  and he does practise diligently . he  s not a buffoon  which makes him a much funnier character than if he was . if superman is christ in a cape  the mystery men are all the minor demigods from the foothills of mount olympus  in capes . much funnier also much more endearing .  
manoj agrawal after the failure of pardesi babu       returned with this film  br    br   the film has govinda in    roles  as his father  mother  grandfather  sister and later  on he also has disguises  br    br   he in short is a useless detective send on a case by his friend to get proofs against his wife  whose photos he looses at the airport while flirting with rani  br    br   he disguises as a sardarji in the plane and again as a girl the funny part is how easily and in short time he does that   br    br   then he disguises as a french singer and enters a tv to get proofs lol and then as a maharashtrian  yes inside the tv itself   br    br   the rest of the film has the same mistaken identities and ends on a predictable note there are some funny scenes like govinda being bashed by an african and also many other portions  br    br   direction by manoj agrawal is okay music is okay  br    br   amongst actors govinda again proves he is one of the most watchable actors he as usual is fantastic though he has done such roles before he fits in all the get ups and roles too well here again though the much hyped    roles don  t actually fit in the film rani looks fat  teams up well with govinda thatz it she is nothing great and kept doing such type of roles amongst rest nirmal pandey is as usual johny lever is too loud at times and funny in places in  role and irritates as the older tinnu anand is okay satish kaushik is hilarious  paresh is okay tanaaz is okay  
although i  ve long been a fan of peter weir  i hadn  t watched any of his australian movies until i watched the last wave . and it was a pleasant  unpredictable surprise .  br    br   richard chamberlain plays david  a lawyer invited to defend five aborigines charged with murdering another aborigine . for david  s peers it  s a clear case of drunken disorder and they think they should plead guilty and serve a quick sentence . but david believes there  s a mystery underneath the murder  linked to tribal rituals . as his investigation proceeds he learns not only things about his clients but about himself too .  br    br   to reveal more would be to spoil one of the strangest movies i  ve ever seen . i can only say that this movie goes in directions that no one will be expecting .  br    br   there are many elements that make this a fascinating movie chamberlain  s acting  for instance but also the performances by david gulpilil  who plays a young aborigine who introduces david into tribal mysteries and nandjiwarra amagula  who plays an old aborigine who  s a spiritual guide . the relationships between these three characters make the heart of the movie .  br    br   but there  s also the way weir suggests the supernatural in the movie . david has dreams that warn him of the future . australia is undergoing awful weather  with storms  hail falling and even a mysterious black rain that may be nothing more than pollution . but it  s also related to the case david is defending . how it  s related is one of the great revelations of the movie . out of little events weir manages to create an atmosphere of dread and oppression  suggesting future horrors without really showing anything .  br    br   charles wain  s score is fantastic  especially the use of the didgeridoo . the photography is also quite good . russell boyd  weir  s longtime dp who won an oscar in     for master and commander  depicts a dark  creepy world full of mystery .  br    br   i also find it remarkable that for a movie centered on aborigines  it doesn  t turn into an indictment against white culture or into a sappy celebration of the their traditions  like dances with wolves or the last samurai . this movie is too clever to be that simplistic .  br    br   sometimes it can be frustrating  and it may upset viewers who expect to finish a movie with everything making sense but for those who don  t mind some strangeness or ambiguity  the last wave is a great movie to watch .  
when i first saw the trailer for prom night  i have to admit  the trailer looked good and like this would be a fun horror movie . so my friend and i saw prom night last night and i have to say i must be growing up because this was such a ridicules film  not to mention i am so sick and tired of the typical horror slasher movies with the loud noises as an excuse to scare people . there was no tension  the characters  how was i supposed to care about them  they had no development what  so  ever  the killer   oh  my god  this was very possibly the most stupid serial killer that has ever existed  i know it  s a film  but why would a man who never  or at least we know of  killed any one before  kill a girl  s family and friends that he  s just obsessed over  i mean  was he going to kidnap her or was he going to kill her  i have no idea  because this film made no sense and is too predictable and insulting to true fans of horror .  br    br   donna  s family was just brutally murdered by her teacher  who has become very obsessed over her  he was captured and put in jail . it  s been  years and she  s just now getting some peace in her life  she  s even going to her senior prom . but the killer has escaped and still has donna on his mind  he follows her to her prom which means bad news for her friends  and the hotel maid  and the bell boy  because it is such a good idea to kill the maid and bell boy so no one become suspicious enough to check to see where these employee  s are . donna is in big trouble because also this killer who is clearly human can apparently get into houses un  noticed and can kill people so silently  just  wow .  br    br   i  m sorry  i really did want to love this movie  we haven  t had a good slasher flick in a long time  but this was just a stupid movie that i was not impressed with . just the situations were unbelievable and the actors were obnoxious . i know that this was a pg    movie  but i just love how someone was brutally stabbed to death and they only have just a little blood on their clothes  not to mention no stab holes  i wouldn  t recommend this movie for anyone unless you  re a teen  this movie was made for the teenagers  not adults  and not for those who know a real horror movie  no offense to those who did enjoy this film  but i don  t understand how anyone could .  br    br        
this was different  that  s for sure . just look at the cast  talk about oddballs .  br    br   william h . macy and ben stiller were the stars  although a bunch of actors almost share the spotlight  in this farce about superhero  wannabees . the most outrageous was played by paul reubens of  pee wee herman  fame .  br    br   there is lots of humor  garish colors and no lulls . it  s a pretty entertaining  lightweight comedy with nothing but goofy characters  all of whom want to be heroes a la superman  batman  spiderman  you name . they have talents in strange areas  however  that the real heroes don  t  and don  t want to   . it  s silly  but you know that going on .  br    br   it  s also a film you can watch in installments and not really miss any continuity . it  s a long movie for one so hectic  so taking a break here and there is okay . the language was tame so kids could enjoy this  too . in fact  i don  t recall any swearing in here  except the guy in the theater next to me who kept uttering   what a dumb  f    ing movie .  i thought it was fun two hours but i  d rather watch it on dvd and take a few breaks .  
wow  what a snoozer . definately one of bacon  s worst films . the bad acting coupled with a formulatic  if not incredulous  script make me yearn for time i wasted on viewing this on cable television back . not really much i can say about it  a basketball scout gets too attached to the person he  s recruiting  who happens to belong to a tribe that happens to be on the verge of war which happens to be decided by  spoiler  a basketball game . grade f  
this movie deserved better it  s great fun  has some wonderful jokes and sight gags  some in  stuff for the  geeks  amongst us  and we know who we are   and the effects are indeed effectual . watching paul reubens fart in the face of an academy award winner is worth the price of admission alone . i never read the comics series before i saw the movie  but have since . as good as they are  i still recommend mm the film .  although having the flaming carrot as a character would have been cool  too  greg kinnear is  well  . . . amazing as captain amazing  and no one else could be the shoveller except william h . macy my favorite line in the film   we  ve got a blind date with destiny . and it looks like she  s ordered the lobster .  see this film . buy this film  it  s only  bucks and some change at your local wal  mart . you  ll thank me . really you will . oh  and ms . garafolo is in it . that alone makes it watch  worthy  
i don  t know why  but when i am asked about bad movies i have seen  i often think of  the air up there  . i know that technically  lots of movies are horrible compared to it  and i have seen worse acting . it  s just that it  s so bland  so predictable . in a word mediocre .  
i saw this in theaters and absolutely adored it . geoffery rush gave the best performance as a super villain that i have ever seen since gene hackman as lex luther . kel mitchel and paul rubens were a match maid in heaven . this film also introduced me to william h . macy  who is now one of my favorite actors . hank was great as the blue raja  and i especially loved that the character wasn  t really british . the scene with him and telling his mom that he was a superhero almost brought tears to my eyes . i loved the fact that the bowler talked to the ball . some of the funniest stuff involved stiller and his character mr . furious  s false rage  and the fact that his threats and one  liners were all gibberish  and that they never made any sense . i could barely stop myself from applauding when he said  fraculater  freinken  puss   was said . but one of the things i most enjoyed was that captain amazing actually dies in the movie . i highly recommend this film for any occasion  and i give it my own personal two  thumbs  up .  
this comedy is really not funny . it  a romance that plays so much on stereotypes it makes no impact . it  s a caper film so derivative   yes  even back then   it has no snap .  br    br   the cast is adequate . more than that it  s hard to say . however  what  s nice is that the players are unfamiliar . at mgm  this would have starred robert montgomery . the wife of a businessman with no time for anything but work could have been any number of actresses .  br    br   we can be grateful that this little known film is peopled by performers mostly unknown today . and the production values aren  t awful . yet it makes no real impression .  br    br   it  s a generic knockoff . and who wants that   
forget depth of meaning  leave your logic at the door  and have a great time with this maniacally funny  totally absurdist  ultra  campy live  action  cartoon  . mystery men is a send  up of every superhero flick you  ve ever seen  but its unlikely super  wannabes are so interesting  varied  and well  cast that they are memorable characters in their own right . dark humor  downright silliness  bona fide action  and even a touching moment or two  combine to make this comic fantasy about lovable losers a true winner . the comedic talents of the actors playing the mystery men   including one mystery woman   are a perfect foil for wes studi as what can only be described as a bargain  basement yoda  and geoffrey rush as one of the most off  the  wall  and bizarrely charming  villains ever to walk off the pages of a dark horse comic book and onto the big screen . get ready to laugh  cheer  and say  huh   more than once . . . . enjoy   
i  m glad the folks at imdb were able to decipher what genre this film falls into . i had a suspicion it was trying to be a comedy  but since it also seems to want to be a dark and solemn melodrama i wasn  t sure . for a comedy it is amazingly bereft of even the slightest venture into the realms of humour  right up until the ridiculous  twist  ending  which confirms what an utter waste of time the whole movie actually is . it is hard to describe just how amateurish the hazing really is . did anyone involved in this film have any idea at all what they were supposed to be doing  actually worth watching so that you can stare at the screen in slack  jawed disbelief at how terrible it is .  
this is a great movie . i love it more each time i watch . most comedies can get pretty lame because you know all the gags  but mystery men has so much integrity in the writing and characterization that watching once again   as ben stiller tears at the hood ornament of the limo  or hank azaria says good  bye to louise lasser  or geoffrey rush flashes his fuhrer choreography  or tom waits mumbles while he watches the news report  or janeane garofalo refuses a kiss from paul reubens   is a pleasure . this is pitch perfect ensemble acting . the story develops directly and consistently  the action sequences are creative and not too dominant  all the set  ups payoff by the end . seriously  if you  ve seen it and it  s been a while  watch it again  and if you haven  t then get started . you can  t watch it again until you  ve seen it the first time .  wes studi  william h . macy  the tryouts scene . too much good stuff    
this should be re  titled  the curious case of the unscrupulous filmmakers who misrepresented a non  horror snorer as a shock film .  it  s one long  boring tale of a fraternity hazing  a gag so transparent that even flounder from delta house could see through it . jeff east  an actor in the dues  paying stage  can be forgiven for taking any work he could get . the same can  t be said for charles martin smith  who formerly acted for such cinematic heavyweights as george lucas and sam peckinpah . once available on tape but  thankfully  not out on dvd . misrepresented garbage like this belongs in a landfill and nowhere else .  
director kinka usher stays true to his own credo   play it straight and they will laugh   and with the help of a superb cast has crafted what should become the   cult film of all time  mystery men .  when an evil villain  casanova frankenstein  geoffrey rush  is released from a mental institution  captures the local superhero  captain amazing  greg kinnear   and threatens to take over champion city  three wanna  be superheroes  mr . furious  ben stiller   the shoveler  william h . macy  and the blue raja  hank azaria  come to the rescue . frankenstein has been joined by a myriad assortment of underworld scum  however  and has become a formidable opponent . the trio realize that help is needed  and decide to recruit what they end up with is nothing less than the most unforgettable team of superheroes  ever assembled in the history of the cinema . mr . furious has his rage the shoveler  his shovel the blue raja flings silverware  mainly forks  and the occasional spoon  but never a knife   the invisible boy  kel mitchell  can turn invisible as long as no one is watching the sphinx  wes studi   a heavy hitter from down south  is very mysterious and can break guns in half with his mind . maybe the bowler  janeane garofalo  can fling a ball with deadly accuracy and the spleen  paul reubens  wields flatulence that can incapacitate an entire room . this is a brilliant ensemble piece that delivers the laughs without ever becoming condescending or patronizing the audience  while playing it straight at all times . the dialogue is witty  and the performances given by stiller  macy  azaria and garofalo are exemplary . there is a number of memorable  hilarious scenes  especially the one in which they throw a pool party and barbecue to recruit  and conduct interviews with a stupefying assemblage of applicants and another  in a bar  when the bowler has a conversation with her long  dead father  whose skull has been implanted in her bowling ball . the funniest of all  however  has to be when the team actually attempts to rescue captain amazing . but these are only examples  for the entire movie is composed of one hilarious scene after another  laced with subtle humor that will keep you laughing and thinking about it for a long time . the real secret of it  s success  though  is that usher keeps it all real the relationships between the characters are true  and the whole concept of being a superhero  is played as being entirely reasonable  which somehow gives a sense of credibility to the entire proceedings . in this world  the aspirations of mr . furious and the rest are tenable  and usher keeps the laughs coming without ever resorting to slapstick or mere sight gags . the solid supporting cast includes lena olin  dr . annabel leek   eddie izzard  tony p .   tom waits  doc heller   claire forlani  monica   louise lasser  the blue raja  s mother   jenifer lewis  lucille  and pras  tony c .  . mystery men  is a truly inspired movie that can be seen over and over again  with a new chuckle to be had with every viewing  guaranteed . in the immortal words of the sphinx  we are number one  all others are number two  or lower .  is it an oscar  worthy movie  hardly but for a good time and a lot of laughs  treat yourself to this masterwork of comedy it  s the real deal  and you won  t regret it . i rate this one      .  
although the movie takes place at an  ivy league  college  it was in fact shot entirely in northern arizona  mostly at northern arizona university in flagstaff in the fall of     . i was involved in the theater department there  and most of the extras in the film are then  members of the theater department .  br    br   there is an absolutely ludicrous scene in this film  if you know your arizona geography  that shows several cast members riding bikes from the college to a creek . we nau  ers know that the campus and said creek  actually oak creek canyon  are about   miles apart  and while the trip there is all downhill  it would be literally impossible to ride a bike back up that same road   
this movie was a brilliant concept . it was original  cleverly written and of high appeal to those of us who aren  t really  conformist  movie pickers . don  t get me wrong  there are some great movies that have wide appeal  but when you move into watching a movie based on  everyone else is watching it   you know you  re either a tween or don  t really have an opinion . this had a lovely subtle humor  despite most people probably looking only at the obvious . the actors portrayed their characters with aplomb and i thought there was a lot more  personal  personality in this film . has appeal for kids  as well as adults . esp . nice to find a good movie that  s not filled with sexual references and drug innuendos  a great film  not to be overlooked based on public consumption . this one is a must buy .  
there is not a speck of entertainment in this entire film . there  s not one scary  funny  or even interesting scene in this film . it advertises itself as a horror  then goes on to call itself a comedy . it doesn  t even attempt humor . neither does it attempt to be scary .  br    br   in order to not be bored by this film  you would have to be one of the most easily entertained people on earth . if you like this movie even a little bit than you have no standard for what you watch at all . i  m having a very difficult time trying to understand what the filmmakers were trying to accomplish with this . its not funny  scary  shocking  or intriguing . so was it supposed to be a drama  because it really wasn  t dramatic either .  br    br   please just do yourself a favor and don  t watch this film . life is too precious to be wasting   minutes of it watching this .  
though i can  t claim to be a comic book fanatic  i have read my share  so i guess i  m part of the audience of this film  and i wasn  t disappointed . it does run out of steam near the end  it  s almost overflowing with ideas  and it seems like lena olin  one of my favorite actresses  was left on the cutting room floor . also  a little of hank azaria  s blue raja can go a long way . still  it  s easy to forgive all of these faults when you have a film which is this much fun . all the actors seem to be having a blast with their roles  especially william h . macy as the straight  arrow shoveler  and janeane garofalo as the bowler . and unlike some  i found the design of the city to make the joke even funnier . i also liked how disco was the music of choice of the bad guys somehow  it seemed appropriate .  
  the hazing  is one of them films i always wanted to see solely based on the illustrated cover image here on imdb . yes  that  s how shallow i am  i don  t care if ten million people call it a crap movie  the poster looks awesome so i guess i  ll just have to see it  now   the hazing  can somewhat be described like its alternate title curious  the poster and title make it sound like a genuine horror movie set on campus and dealing with sinister initiation rites  but this movie is actually more of a crossbreed between comedy and thriller . first of all  there  s something very wrong with the tagline on the old vhs box i watched . it says he had good grades  a good girl and good buddies  until they put him through the hazing  . that  s not the case  actually . protagonist gilbert lewis is finally accepted by an acclaimed campus through an athletics scholarship . it takes over half the movie before we even hear about his girlfriend back home and the only  buddy  he has is a very nerdy charles martin smith  still with hair in this film  . both of them are approached to become members of the prestigious  delts  fraternity  but during their hazing exam  in which they have to descend a mountain dressed in their tidy white undies  barney falls off a cliff and breaks his leg . when lewis returns with the other frat boys  barney froze to death already . together they intended to keep the body frozen for five days and then claim he never returned from a weekend ski  trip . with barney  s body hidden in the cafeteria freezer  lewis has to cover for him so that barney  s absence doesn  t look suspicious . the set  up of  the hazing  is quite original and potentially innovative  but the problem here is that the execution could easily have been a lot better . the tone is too steady and too serious for a comedy movie  even a black one  but on the other hand there aren  t any proper attempts to build up suspense or thrills  neither . the soundtrack is cheerful and full of light  headed tunes  but that  s nearly not enough to make this film a comedy . around an hour into the film  the plot also runs out of steam and idea  and the makers have no better alternative to fill up the emptiness with romantic compilations of lewis and his outer town girlfriend biking through the countryside . i didn  t like the final twist  because it  s quite implausible and because it has been done numerous times before and after  though admittedly after  .  the hazing  is not a complete waste of time  but still i  m glad i found an ex  rental tape at a friend  s house instead of having to spend any money on the recently released dvd .  
in the history of movies based on comic books   mystery men  is one of the most underrated ones . this is no regular comic superhero movie  it follows the exploits of a motley crew of well  meaning wannabes  which include mr . furious  played by ben stiller   the bowler  janeane garofalo   the shoveller  william h . macy   the blue rajah  hank azariah  and the spleen  paul reubens  .  mystery men  spoofs several aspects of superhero movies like  superman  or  batman   such as the pithy sayings  and the questions about secret identities . most of the superheroes aren  t billionaires like bruce wayne  but blue  collar types with menial jobs and neurotic home lives . so it looks as if director kinka usher is making the heroes into something the average viewer can relate to . i found  mystery men  to be visually stimulating and very funny . even if it doesn  t turn into a franchise  it  s still a joy to watch   
this movie is pretty awful but i have some interesting information about it  br    br   it was filmed in     at northern arizona university in flagstaff  az  as well as at oak creek canyon near sedona  az . a good bulk of the extras in the film are then  drama students from nau . i was a freshman there that year  minoring in theatre  but for some reason i didn  t get involved with the production . i did however know several people who did and can supply this rather odd fact  br    br   there is a scene in this movie where two of the principals  as part of their hazing ritual  have to run naked into the woods . they are seen from behind in the movie  doing just that . the thing is  those aren  t the actors at all but two guys i knew from the theatre department . the identity of these  stunt posteriors  will remain anonymous  at least to this website  unless they decide to  um   reveal  themselves   
as a comic book reader  who still sees myself as a total kid at heart  i admit i might have been a bit biased towards this movie . i mean  there hasn  t been a good superhero movie out for quite some time  note batman forever was not a good superhero movie  . i really wanted this film to be good  and unlike most of my recent trips to the cinema  read blair witch project  i wasn  t disappointed .  br    br   mystery men was definitely not a high  effects  tension  filled action flick  it was a comedy . and on that basis  it was a success . it had everyone in the small theater laughing  and got applause and laughs right through the final scene . stiller and garofolo are hilarious together  as always  and azaria adds just the right touch of craziness . william h . macy plays a great straight man  while kel mitchell and the fart  powered paul rubens are added just to keep the kiddies happy .  br    br   though the sets are bizarre  and at times seem like ripoffs from both batman and blade runner   and some of the jokes are obvious  it is still just plain funny . there are some lines that will catch even the most jaded viewer off  guard  and bring tears from the belly  laughers among us .  br    br   i definitely recommend this movie . although not an all  time classic  it is twice as funny as the latest austin powers retread . the writing is good  and the cast is great . if you  re worried  plan on the matinee and pay less  but either way you  ll be pleasantly surprised . i mean  who among us doesn  t root for the losers once in a while   
i can only assume that the other reviewers of this  film  are stockholders in the production company  as this was quite possibly the worst movie i  ve seen in the last five years . from the opening shot of a rabbi laughing uncontrollably for no apparent reason  it was clear that the actors in this film would kill to be considered  b  level .  both my wife and i were in a great mood before starting this film  and we were genuinely looking forward to a funny popcorn movie . we knew we hadn  t rented citizen kane  and we weren  t expecting to see the most amazing movie ever . however  after   minutes of enduring the most painfully unfunny bit of garbage i  ve ever seen  we shut it off instead of wasting another minutes of our lives .  br    br   if a  comedy  with no laughs  terrible acting  thin plot and annoying characters are your thing  then this film is for you . honestly  troll  is better   at least i laughed at the popcorn sex scene .  br    br   i cannot justify writing a longer review of this picture because i  ve already wasted almost an hour trying to find one joke .  
i just watched  the last wave  in my school  s fine arts library . it  s intriguing  like all peter weir  s stuff  but it  s not always as attention  holding as i would have liked . i found myself fascinated by the ideas being thrown at me  because they are very well handled by the film  s director weir  but at the same time i was not stimulated enough by them . aka i got a little bored in spots .  br    br   the plot surrounds an aussie lawyer who becomes obsessed with certain dreams he has which link him to an aborigone group he is defending .  br    br   it starts out with an intense weather sequence and has some very awesome mood effects throughout  most notably the bizarre   belching  sound design  and strong direction but it just didn  t entertain me like weir  s later films do . i might just need to watch it again though .  br    br   good film about obsession and mystery . because  in the end  the mystery that exists between the whites and the aboriginies offers some very severe consequences .  br    br   god bless peter weir  though . for him alone this film is worth watching . . . very organic director . like an aussie response malick  i  d give it a  because it  s got enough great ideas to overcome its boring moments .  
so  prom night was supposed to be a horror and thriller movie . i  m a big wuss and was scared to see this movie at the beginning  but upon seeing it  it is neither horror or thriller .  br    br   i was basically making fun of the movie in my seat because it was so predictable . you could predict what was going to happen next . the young actors were alright at playing their characters  but i  d have to say the killer was definitely at the top of the game  acting wise .  br    br   yes  i  ll give props for the plot because it was good  but it  s not thrilling or scary . there were almost zero  jump  in  your  seat  scenes . so  don  t waste ten dollars seeing it in theatres  wait  til it comes to dvd .  
mystery men is one of those movies that gets funnier over time . there is a naive innocence and  niceness  to the characters . it has become part of our family  culture   and we quote the characters often . it is my favorite film of the last two years . my kids are   and   and we all three love this film . great acting and comedy . we love galaxy quest and monty python flicks too . okay  we  re not talking intellectual here  just family bonding   
i sat down to watch this movie with my friends with very low expectations . my expectations were no where near low enough . i honestly could not tell what genre this movie was from watching it  and if it was a comedy  the humor was completely missed . the plot was nonexistent and the acting was horrendous . my friends and i managed to watch approximately   to   minutes of this film before we turned it off and promptly begged the video store to take it back . i do not recommend this movie to anyone unless you are purposely trying to watch the worst movies of all time . i honestly don  t know how this film lasted more than a day in theatres and moreover i can not understand why anyone would willing watch it  considering not only it  s very uninteresting title but also the lack of any famous actors  actresses in it  s cast . this review is not a joke and i honestly think this could possibly be the worst movie ever made . it  s certainly the worst movie i  ve ever had to sit through .  
this movie is a lot of fun . what makes it great especially are two things one is the straightforward way the characters embrace the stereotypes  with discussions of their costumes and superpowers . there  s an endearing earnestness to the parody that  s very appealing the second is basic sweetness of the characters and the quality of the chemistry . claire forlani deserves particular note as the object of mr . furious  s desires . there  s a boatload of talent here . i realize some with high expectations may have been disappointed  but this movie is a lot of fun  and kind of sweet .  
my eyes  in the name of god and all that is holy make me unsee this movie  what drugs are you people on  this could very well be the worst movie ever  i felt like i was on a bad acid trip the whole time  i need to call a therapist to help me deal with the trauma of this epic disaster . from start to finish glow ropes is an unholy masterpiece of satanic cinema . when i thought to watch this movie with my jewish best friend and his family we thought  oh hey  this may be funny  it will probably be bad but still a little funny  how wrong we were  we were not prepared for how awful this movie could be . all of my friends lined up for lobotomies as soon as the film was over  and during the course of the movie  one of my friends attempted to hang himself with his belt while another tried to slit his wrists with a wooden spoon . i wish i had watched the video from the ring instead  that way the pain and suffering would be over in only seven short days . for all who wish to see this movie  you are not prepared  you may think you are some sort of  tough guy  by renting this but this movie will break you  push you to the ground and urinate on you .  
i saw  mystery men  on my birthday in     while i was away on vacation . when i came back home  i went to see it again . keep in mind  i was twelve  but at that time it was the coolest movie ever . i even collected the ultra  rare action figures  i have them all except for the bowler  which is the hardest to find . they made mr . furious  the shoveler  the blue raja  the spleen and captain amazing  in case your wondering . there is a william h . macy action figure in existence   . i  ve watched it many times over the years and it still remains a favorite of mine  due mostly to fond childhood memories . it  s not a perfect movie  but it definitely deserves another look and perhaps a cult following .  br    br   the story a bunch of low  level superheroes save the day . this was executed again in the mediocre  direct  to  video  the specials  as well . but this is the other end of the spectrum big budget  huge budget  almost     million i think  studio comedy . yes  the effects are overblown and the huge sets and wonderful production design are a bit much considering the plot . but don  t think this as a stupid  special effects  y superhero movie   it  s a parody . they fight a villain named cassanova frankenstein  people . he has a psychofrakulator  whatever that is  it  s a doomsday device  he  ll take over the world  yada yada .  and resident superhero captain amazing  a zapp brannigan  esque greg kinnear  with commercial  product  logos on his costume  nice touch  is kidnapped . time for the mystery men mr . furious  ben stiller  gets mad   the shoveller  william h . macy  beats people with shovels   the blue raja  hank azaria  british  throws forks   the bowler  janeane garafolo  bowls   invisible boy  kel mitchell  guess what he does   the spleen  the great paul reubens  farts   and the sphinx  wes studi  cuts guns in half with his mind  i am not kidding  . the rest of the fantastic cast of character actors includes geoffrey rush as cassanova  lena olin heavily edited out as cassanova  s bride  and the one and only tom waits as a crazy weapons dealer . so . . . with macy  kinnear  olin  and rush there are four oscar  nominees  and one winner  and tom freakin  waits  it  s not perfect though . it  s overlong and there are some gushes of corniness here and there  the shoveller  s full of them  .  br    br   the dialogue definitely outweighs the physical comedy  which is sometimes lacking  there  s a guy who farts for his power  case closed  . the dialogue is definitely a highlight  the cyclical ramblings of the sphinx  the mixed metaphors of mr . furious  etc . it  s downright a funny movie   it will almost make you forget that this was the film that let  all star  by smashmouth out into the world .   br    br   unfortunately  the film did not do as well with critics and audiences as it should have . a sequel was originally planned  the film is in fact based on a comic book and characters from  the flaming carrot  comics . the flaming carrot was planned for the sequel i believe  but this did not do well at the box office . it could have been a hard sell  a superhero comedy with the guy from  there  s something about mary .  it also could have been the fact that it was released on the same day as  the sixth sense    which ended up being the biggest hit for the month of august   as well as  the thomas crown affair .  two other misunderstood classics were released on the same crowded weekend  oddly enough    dick  and  the iron giant .  critics gave mm passable reviews  but it was quickly forgotten . sadly enough  on comedy central  s roast of jerry stiller  comedian jeffrey ross commented to ben stiller that   i saw  mystery men  and i fired my agent .  ben is then seen to mouth the words   i should have to .  don  t listen to him . give  mystery men  a chance .  
during a sleepless night  i was switching through the channels  found this embarrassment of a movie . what were they thinking   br    br   if this is life after  remote control  for kari  wuhrer  salin  no wonder she  s gone nowhere .  br    br   and why did david keith take this role  it  s pathetic   br    br   anyway  i turned on the movie near the end  so i didn  t get much of the plot . but this must  ve been the best part . this nerdy college kid brings home this dominatrix  ish girl . . . this scene is straight out of the comic books   or the cheap porn movies . she calls the mother anal retentive and kisses the father  oh  i didn  t expect tongue   great lines   br    br   after this  i had to see how it ended . .  br    br   well  of course  this bitch from hell has a helluva past  so the swat team is upstairs . and yes . . . they surround her  and yes yes  the kid blows her brains out     ahahhahahaha    br    br   this is must  see tv .  br    br    
melissa joan hart shines  this show is amazing   there is no match . except for maybe melissa in clarissa explains it all . she was marvelous in that  too . this is so much better than buffy  the vampire slayer . this show is wonderful   
run away from this movie . even by b  movie standards this movie is dreadful . it is also insidious in it  s theme . the main theme is that people who reject society and have no respect for anything are cool and worth admiring . people who treat others with respect are losers . guncrazy is a movie that speaks for the disenfranchised a lot better than this movie  see it instead .  br    br   no normal kid would do what trent does . state troopers do not work as they do in this film etc . seeing this movie makes you realize why writers use the hooker  with  a  heart  of  gold cliche . mija is a completely unsympathetic hooker  who yes  has had a terrible life . however  she is such a terrible person the audience cannot identify with her .  br    br   usually there is one thing a movie can be recommended for  in this case there is none . it is such a ridiculous movie it insults the person who tries to identify with the main characters . the acting is adequate by b  movie standards and the direction presents nothing new or interesting .  
it is finally coming out . the first season will be available march     . it is currently airing on abc family from    pm eastern time monday through friday . the last episode will air on december   th at     . i missed it the first    times around . i wish i could buy the whole series right now . who does she pick  i have to write   lines in order to reply to the first comment . what am i going to say . la da da de de . la da da de de nope only up to  how do i get to  almost almost awww  now i need                  i missed counted this is only number  . punky brewster is pretty awesome too . almost to   almost awwwwww .  
i actually had hopes for this movie since i  ve seen kari in a few other things and think she has some talent . alas  this dud is a case study in what not to do in a screenplay . completely undefined characters without a shred of likeability  and no plot whatsoever . is it a road  buddy  comedy  thriller  romance  drama  the filmmakers don  t have a clue  and neither do we .  
oh my gosh i live in kentucky and when mellisa joan hart came to louisville she went right through my neighborhood and waved at me i am filthy rich so she wanted to look at my neighborhood oh and i love being rich any ways she came for the derby back to my interest in the show . . . . . . that show makes you want to point your finger at something and make it disappear i mean it is just so creative and i love it i would love to be on that show . . . . . . . that show is just amazing i mean who ever came up with that show i want to just give them a big kiss i mean it makes me feel better when i  m sick and makes me happy when i  m mad i mean if someone tells me they don  t like it i will talk some sense in to you ok ok  
i  ve had a thing for this kari chick for a while  and as far as how she looked in this movie  no complaints . but after catching it last night in high definition  i am certain that  s the only thing in the movie that isn  t substandard . the script is horrible  the acting is horrible  the direction is horrible . i saw in another comment someone commenting on how great the sex scenes were . . . what  not at all . when a movie is this bad you might as well just turn it into softcore porn  but instead i get to see some pasty white dude blocking me from seeing wuhrer  s body and scenes that offer me nothing except a tease . they should have just gone cinemax so that the movie wasn  t a complete waste of time  but no . with a script this awful they should  ve capitalized on wuhrer  s looks  since that  s the lone pro of the movie .      only because she looked so hot .  
when i first started watching these it became one of my favourite shows . melissa joan hart is very funny and talented so were the aunts and the other characters and the star of of the show salem the cat  he was immensely funny . the first few season in my opinion were the best where sabrina was a teenager in high school adapting to witch life . they were most funniest  most entertaining and most um . . . good . i  m not a fan of when they started introducing brad and dreamer cause i quite liked valerie  but they were okay the problem was they were only in it for one season . if you  re gonna have new people at least keep them . i didn  t like josh he was a twt  i preferred harvey but then he disappeared . and they got rid of libby  it would have been awesome if thy had been bickering in theses seven years . and mr . craft as well  if him and zelda got married that would have been gold  then sabrina moves out of her aunts house and into roxie  miles  morgan  s house . i didn  t like theses people either  it didn  t really seem they liked sabrina . sabrina seemed to lose her charm and stuff and the aunts seem to be shunned out of her life and into they  re own stupid story lines . i kind of stopped watching it for a while and the old re  runs were back and i was like whoo  hoo  lol . i must say the last few seasons were absolutely terrible . they got rid of the aunts which sucked cause they were a big part of the show . then suddenly she lets those two freeloaders move in to the nice house when they treated he like dirt . and now she  s working at some magazine shop so they  re putting loads celebrity guest stars into the show  if they  re in every episode it kind of ruins it . the programme just really went downhill and lost its luster . i saw the last episode . it had the aunts in it  zelda was reduced to a candle  and she  s about to get married but she runs off with harvey the end . i would have liked to know what happened after . well thats my review and the only thing i can say is the only thing that stayed it  s appealing self through the seven years was salem the cat .  
  there are spoilers  homicidal nymphomaniac hooker miya  kari wuhrer  takes over the life and car of   virgin  even though he  s too embarrassed to admit it  collage freshmen trent colbert  kristoffer ryan . by the end of the movie myia not only deflowers but give poor innocent and naive trent a lesson in how to spot a dangerous nut job and keep as far away for him  or her  in order to keep from ending up turning into one .  br    br   hanging around a trucker rest  stop miya is picked up by roy  burt young  for some hot and heavy action  in the back seat of his buggy . roy is either too drunk or stupid to realize that miya is non other then his estranged daughter  outraged that miya is reluctant to get it on with him roy almost strangles her to death only to be interrupted by first year collage student trent colbert who plows into the rest  area side swiping one of the truckers .  br    br   seeing her chance miya jumps into trent  s car and the two are off in what turns out to be the weirdest car chase ever put into a movie . going all across the north eastern usa the two end up involved in a truck car smash  up a murder and a shootout with the state troopers that then leads to trent  s parents home  with them being held hostage . it  s there that there  s another wild shootout between the crazed miya with an entire swat team reinforced by the local police and state troopers .  br    br   you would expect a movie like  hit and run  to be intentionally or unintentionally funny but it  s not . in fact the film is very disturbing in how miya treats everyone in the film that she comes in contact with even her perverted and child  molesting father roy . getting trent to drive her all over the north  east miya gets the poor slob drunk having it on with him in a motel room  together with whips handcuffs and a lighted candle . miya also gets it on with the motel owner the horny mr . foster by tricking him into giving her his gun  as being part of some weird sex game . after holding foster up she takes off with trent  s  who out cold in his motel room  wallet with some     .   in it yet doesn  t bother to drive away with his car .  br    br   needing the money to pay for gas to get home to his parents for thanksgiving trent gets a call on his cellphone from miya to pick her up at a local diner to get his money back . like the jerk that he is trent picks up miya  who  s now a fugitive from he law  and later gets involved with her father roy on the open highway as he tries to run both trent  miya off the road .  br    br   the chase ends up in this deserted wear  house that roy chases miya  out running him on a muddy road in high  heels  into with him getting it in the you know where with a blast from his own shotgun . roy was so busy trying to take his pants off that he forgot he left the gun unattended .  br    br   with both a holdup and murder  as well as a hit and run  charge against them the two desperadoes stop off at a sm  tattoo boutique where trent gets his ear and nose pierced and is dressed up in leather and chains  by myri  together with a matching his and hers dog collar . this in order to meet his straight  laced and conservative parents for thanksgiving dinner .  br    br   having a running shootout with the state troopers  with one of them ending up badly injured  the two fugitives from the law end up at trent  s parents mr  mrs colbet  david keith  elaine martyn home with the entire local police force  with a swat team  waiting for them there .  br    br   obnoxious movie with a truly disturbing final ending that made you wonder what exactly the movie was trying  if at all  to tell it  s audience . you felt a lot of sympathy for miya at first but as the movie rolled along to it  s downbeat ending that evaporated as fast as a tray of ice cubs in death valley . even though roy was the most unlikable person in the movie at first by the time the film ended miya totally eclipsed him .  
i remember first watching sabrina when it came to tv in the uk on itv  when i was      . i  m now   and still love it now as much as i did when i first watched it . i get a little stick from some of my friends for still watching a  kids show  but i don  t care  lol caroline rhea as  hilda  is my personal favourite character and later on morgan also became another of my favourite characters . i remember spending so much time watching various special events honouring sabrina on the tv station nickeleoden uk . i love mellissa joan  hart  she was great in  clarrissa explains all  but so much better in this . i was gutted when they decided to finish it  i hope it will soon be released on dvd here in the uk  i  ll be first in line  lol x  
crazed shotgun toting  incest driven  revenge seeking truck drivers  obsessive control disorder  daddy raped me when i was    handcuff carrying  all latex wearing prostitutes is just a few of the character you will be introduced to in this complete disgrace of a movie that can easily be viewed on any cable tv station  ie skinemax  at  am on sunday nights .  and yes i know that was an entire sentence  but bare with me people this is a long  winded review for a short pointless film  .  br    br   filmed in  somewhere  canada  with almost no budget  the plot to this freak show is trite  the police in it obviously never heard of  state jurisdiction  because they end up chasing both miya  hookers  and trent  idiotic  anal retentive  generic  insecure college student  all across the u . s .  and i thought only the fbi could do that  . the camera is shaky  the sex scenes are mediocre and the acting is so bad it might actually cause unintentional acid flashbacks to movies like  ishtar  and  leonard part   .  br    br   as far as the skin scenes go  which is the only reason to even rent this movie  don  t even think of buying it  there are two of them . the first one is the only one worth watching though which is the dominatrix sex scene with kari salin and      insert unknown actor here  he  s obviously done nothing else worth noting  in a seedy  disgusting motel room  the kind with the busted sink that drips  and the soda machine outside that only has blue tonic water left in it  . it  s all sm  riding crops  handcuffs  hot wax  and underwear licking  folks and in the end  he gets left in a motel room  with no money and cops waiting at his door  that  s goes to show you guys  don  t let a hooker tie you up in a  middle  of  nowhere  motel room  . sadly though  kari shows no skin worth remembering  and that alone can cause deep  seeded traumatic experiences for some gentlemen  so that is definitely a downer towards this flick .  br    br   as for the ending  snickersnicker i know you probably wouldn  t mind if i revealed it to you but i won  t  you should spend your hard earned money for that one . all in all i give it a    for action  a    for skin  see last paragraph  and a    for acting  character development or intricate plot twists .  br    br    laughing man  
i used to love sabrina the teenage witch and have seen every single episode . i remember when i used to sit at  pm every night and wait for it to come on nickelodeon  however when sabrina left high school the show began to go downhill . the best series has to be when she was friends with valerie  i  m not sure which one that is  . from there the next series  friends with dreama  was still really good  but when she left high school it just didn  t seem right . all the main characters seemed to have left  which meant that it didn  t have as much of the old  sparkle   however the first series where sabrina is in college is still relatively good and watchable  however when her aunt  s leave and sabrina moves into their house it just isn  t right . she is no longer a teenager  so therefore the name of the show isn  t right and without hilda and zelda and josh the show just doesn  t seem right  especially when sabrina nearly marries someone that isn  t harvey . thank goodness he came through in the last five minutes of the last episode to take her away . all in all i still love to watch the old episodes of sabrina the teenage witch  but i think the writers took it too far and should have left it with sabrina leaving high school . because after that the show definitely lost some of it  s magic  
to say funky forest the first contact is a bad movie is an understatement of incredible proportions . i can really get into a good art house film  even a surreal and twisted romp like el topo  naked lunch  and survive style    because those movies actually have something worth discussing when the credits roll .  br    br   fffc attempts at every avenue to be this deep and intellectual  essentially there is no substance in this movie . this movie is badly done  the visuals in this movie are not inspiring  the dialog is worse  the musical numbers destroy this movie . . i chuckled for guitar brothers  but that was immediately wiped out by something completely unnecessary  and irrelevant . it attempted to be deep and meaningful i think  but its just pretentious disoriented nonsense . freshman film students without a camera could craft something more interesting .  br    br   guitar brothers and the stand up routines in between skits get  point each  everything else is just badly paced  pseudo  creative  heavy handed attempts at being as good as films by other real directors like  sogo ishii  david lynch  and jodoworsky . give me a break . i am convinced that people that rave about fffc are doing so because they have no idea of what they saw  because it was nothing but mild pertinent statements here and there mixed with stupidity and blended until you puke on your own shoes .  br    br   this movie was an extreme disappointment  coming off the high that was survive style    a film that actually has meaning  combined with excellent use of scenery  cinematography  catchy dialog  funny moments  good soundtrack  excellent performances  fantastic pacing and flow . fffc features the exact opposite in every way  boring scenery    minutes staring at a bland beach at night  a completely white stage  alien balls floating in white space  a dinky school hallway and then a . . . school hallway    terrible cinematography  forgettable dialog  nothing funny or humorous  save the fact you just wasted your life for two hours  soundtrack   amateurish performances  uneven  disjointed  and often flat out dragging pacing  zero flow whatsoever .  br    br   there are those that claim this is what makes fffc a great movie  that it is so unconventional at every turn that its pure genius . this is simply a way to stroke your own ego it seems  because  unpredictable  could be a good quality for a film if it wasn  t coupled with  boring    innane   and  terrible  . personally i have spoken with two people who admitted to me that fffc was terrible when they left the theater  but overwhelming rave by art  house elitist made them watch the movie again and then come back to me with a . . .  hey it was pretty good i liked it  .  br    br   i  m going to put my foot down  this movie is slop  i don  t care if roger ebert says this film is the best thing he  s ever watched since he lost his own virginity .  the emperor  s new cloak  i say . . . this movie is no way indicative of the other psychedelic  trippy films to come from japan in the last   years . taste of tea  party   and kamikaze girls are much better movies  even with a low budget   and none can honestly compare with survive style   . watch fffc only if your interested in making a pretentious pile of nothing on a shoestring budget .  
when sabrina first came onto our screens i was about    and therefore spent my teenage years watching the teenage witch get into all kinds of weird predicaments .  br    br   it was always one of my favourite programmes  the witchy feeling of sixties sitcom  bewitched  but this time the character was cooler . i always liked sabrina because she was smart . she was also friendly and easy going which made her enjoyable to watch . the characters at the beginning were great harvey  jenny  libby  the quizmaster  salem and mr . poole  my personal fave  shame he left so early on  hilda and zelda her aunts started off ok  but then became irritating .  br    br   i liked mr . kraft too as he was always that little bit closer to discovering sabrina  s secret . what i loved about the first three series was the original ideas  the discovering of the family secret and learning new spells but as it went on it became more predictable . too many characters came and left  such as valerie  dreama and brad and then they decided to do sabrina at college which ruined it for me .  br    br   sabrina became self  absorbed at college  there was less magic  no spell book  no aunts living with her and roxie  miles and morgan were annoying .  br    br   the last series was boring  and i only watched to see what happened in the end . not having hilda and zelda seemed wrong somehow and miles was gone just like that . the last episode made me feel a lot better though  spoiler  having sabrina end up with harvey on her wedding day to dullard aaron was great  overall a great programme if you forget the poor last two or three series which reminded me of so many teen shows . magical .  
  algie  the miner  is one bad and unfunny silent comedy . the timing of the slapstick is completely off . this is the kind of humor with certain sequences that make you wonder if they  re supposed to be funny or not . however  the actual quality of the film is irrelevant . this is mandatory viewing for film buffs mainly because its one of the earliest examples of gay cinema . the main character of algie is an effeminate guy  acting much like the stereotypical  pansy  common in many early films . the film has the homophobic attitude common of the time .  algie  the miner  is pretty awful  but fascinating from a historical viewpoint .        
you know the people in the movie are in for it when king  sized hailstones fall from a clear blue sky . in fact  the weather stays pretty bad throughout this atmospheric thriller  and only lawyer chamberlain has the answer . but he  s too much the european rationalist  i gather  to get in touch with that inner being that only reveals itself through dreams .  br    br   darkly original mystery heavy on the metaphysics from director  writer peter weir . already he had proved his skill at flirting with other dimensions in picnic at hanging rock       . here it  s the arcane world of the australian aborigines that confronts that the tightly ordered world of the predominant whites . something strange is going on inside the aborigine community when they kill one of their number for no apparent reason . yuppie lawyer chamberlain is supposed to defend them in a white man  s court . but the more he looks into things  the more mysterious things get  and the more interested a strange old aboriginal man gets in him . and then there  re those scary dreams that come and go at odd times .  br    br   well structured screenplay deepens interest throughout . one reason the movie works is the background normalcy of chamberlain  s wife and little daughters . audiences can readily identify with them . and when their little world runs into forces beyond the usual framework  the normalcy begins to buckle  and we get the feeling of worlds beginning to collide . chamberlain underplays throughout  especially during the underground discovery tour where i think he should have shown more growing awareness than he does . after all  it  s the picking up of the mask that holds the key  i believe  to the riddle  yet his reaction doesn  t really register the revelation .  br    br   of course  the notion of nature striking back has a certain resonance now  thirty years later . in the film  the notion is wrapped in a lot of entertaining hocus  pocus  but the subject itself remains a telling one . one way of bringing out a central irony in the movie is the symbolism of the opening scene . a big white suv barrels past an aboriginal family  leaving them in the historical dust . the terrain looks like an interior tribal reservation of no particular importance to the coastal fleshpots where industry dwells . yet  it  s also a region most likely to survive anything like a destructive last wave . perhaps there  s something about past and future to think about here .  br    br   anyway  this is a really good movie that will probably stay with you .  
i am the guy who usually keeps opinions to himself  but i just got back from this movie  and felt i had to express my opinions . let me start by saying that i am a huge horror fan . but what makes a horror movie  i sure like to see even a tiny bit of a good script and character development . i know they often lack in horror movies  but prom night looked like it didn  t even put forth any effort in that department . next  we all love suspense . that on the edge of your seat suspense with unpredictable surprises . yeah  prom night had none of that  of course  we like a terrifying killer . prom night have that  nope  it has a pretty boy with a cute lil  knife . and when all else fails . . . at least horror has its guilty pleasure to make it enjoyable like gore gore gore  and the occasional nude scene  yeah  well when you have a horror movie rated pg    like prom night  they leave that stuff out too . so with all of these elements missing  i ask . . . . does this still count as a horror movie  nope . i  d call it more of a comedy . people in my theater were laughing more at this then they were when i saw  semi  pro  that was supposed to actually be a comedy  which also sucked  but thats another story   . i think i am just going to have to give up on new horror . all the good horror movies of the good ol  days have been remade into garbage so movie studios can make money . the people i went to see it with didn  t even know this was a remake  which made me mad  i wonder what will happen when there  s no more movies to remake    where will horror go next     
  home room  came as a total surprise . not having a clue as to what it was all about  it paid off big time because it doesn  t hold any punches and what we see is how lives are changed by the act of a disgruntled young man who decided to victimize his class mates  who are the innocent victims of his rash actions .  br    br   paul ryan  the director  who is working and editing his own material  is a talented man who is rewarded by some amazing acting all around by his cast .  br    br   alicia browning is an older girl who is trying to graduate high school . she has been away a couple of years and doesn  t seem to be in the same wave length of the other students . for one  she is a rebel with a punk look  lots of makeup and a mouth that will cut anyone who dares to come near her orbit . alicia was among the students in the home room where nine students have died  supposedly killed by her boyfriend . alicia  we realize  is a wounded girl who has gone through a terrible ordeal in her life  but we are not given any clues to that effect .  br    br   what follows is the aftermath of the tragedy  as it concentrates on a young woman who has survived it . deanna cartwright is a wealthy teen ager who shouldn  t have been at the school  at all . when a ricochet bullet hit her  she is hospitalized with more than a wound . she is trying to get over this dark period in her mind but the nightmares don  t let her forget .  br    br   alicia is made to go to the hospital by the school principal . since she doesn  t cooperate with the police  the head of the school wants her to see deanna in her terrible state and perhaps she will soften up and will tell the authorities what she knows . alicia dislikes deanna  but in a matter of days  both girls will make peace . we don  t realize until the last sequence what really happened that horrible day in school .  br    br   busy phillips makes an excellent alicia and erika christiansen is equally good as deanna . victor garber  james pinkins  taylor holland  and the rest of the cast play as an ensemble .  br    br   the film has an intensity because it  s not explicit in showing how the shootings occurred  which helps the tone that mr . ryan wanted to give this movie .  
i guess i was attracted to this film both because of the sound of the story and the leading actor  so i gave it a chance  from director gregor jordan  buffalo soldiers  . basically ned kelly  heath ledger  is set up by the police  especially superintendent francis hare  geoffrey rush   he is forced to go on the run forming a gang and go against them to clear his own and his family  s names . that  s really all i can say about the story  as i wasn  t paying the fullest attention to be honest . also starring orlando bloom as joseph byrne  naomi watts as julia cook  laurence kinlan as dan kelly  philip barantini as steve hart  joel edgerton as aaron sherritt  kiri paramore as constable fitzpatrick  kerry condon as kate kelly  emily browning as grace kelly and rachel griffiths as susan scott . ledger makes a pretty good performance  for what it  s worth  and the film does have it  s eye  catching moments  particularly with a gun battle towards the end  but i can  t say i enjoyed it as i didn  t look at it all . okay   
the sitcom revolved around a girl who must learn to be responsible for her own actions . as she had the power of magic  she often used it to try to help her loved ones or herself  frequently resulting in literal puns that are often disastrous and always humorous .  br    br   the program began with sabrina  s adventures in high school in the fictional town of westbridge  located near boston  massachusetts  as opposed to greendale in the comics  . in the series  later seasons  sabrina graduated from high school and enrolled in college  then moved on to her attempts to live on her own and keep a job at the local newspaper . breaking further from its comic roots  the show ended with sabrina  s wedding  although  in the end  she abandoned the wedding and ran off with harvey .  br    br   many episodes involve sabrina getting to meet  through natural or supernatural means  popular real  life musical artists of the time  including coolio  the violent femmes  the backstreet boys  phantom planet  davy jones of the monkees  britney spears  avril lavigne  daniel bedingfield  hanson  eden  s crush  savage garden   n sync  and ashanti . course of nature  the band of melissa joan hart  s then  boyfriend  now husband  mark wilkerson  appeared in an episode in     .  
is there a movement more intolerant and more judgmental than the environmentalist movement  to a budding young socialist joining the circus must seem as intimidating as joining a real circus . even though such people normally outsource their brain to hollywood for these important issues  the teachings of hollywood can often seem fragmented and confusing . fortunately ed is here to teach neo  hippies in the art of envirojudgementalism .  br    br   here you  ll learn the art of wagging your finger in the face of anyone without losing your trademark smirk . you  ll learn how to shrug off logic and science with powerful arguments of fear . you  ll learn how to stop any human activity that does not interest you by labeling it as the gateway to planetary armageddon .  br    br   in addition to learning how to lie with a straight face you  ll also learn how to shrug off accusations that are deflected your way no matter how much of a hypocrite you are . you  ll be able to use as much energy as al gore yet while having people treat you as if you were amish .  br    br   in the second season was even more useful as we were able to visit other hollywood gods  holy be thy names  and audit  i . e . judge  their lifestyles . note this is the only time it  s appropriate for an envirofascist to judge another because it allows the victim the chance to buy up all sorts of expensive and trendy eco  toys so that they can wag their finger in other people  s faces .  br    br   what does ed have in store for us in season three  maybe he  ll teach us how to be judgmental while sleeping   
i really liked the first  seasons . because a lot of good characters disappeared later on . like most shows are kinda slow at first then get better in later seasons  but this is the absolute reverse . jenny from the  st season and valarie from the  nd season were sabrina  s friends  i really didn  t care for the others  jenny and valarie were her coolest friends . i think for some reason  the producers wanted us to not like her college friends for some reason  they were so cruel to sabrina . but my favorite episode from season  is cat showdown and my favorite episode from season  is witch trash  that is the funniest episode . i also thought it was funny how libby was popular but she was always jealous of sabrina  and never seemed to have a real boyfriend but was always wanting to be with harvey . i just wished they could have made more better ones . i also liked how the first  seasons  during the opening credits sabrina would say a few words while wearing a costume  like in the pilot episode where she  s in the witch costume  i liked how she said  this is so not me  and later on she kept trying to change herself to something else is what i think  but this is a really cool show . it is kinda like the andy griffith show in a way because it good at first but once it turned color and barney fife left  it was longer good . but i still like to watch it  but the only reason i watch later seasons is because of sabrina . what i meant about the opening sequence is the opening titles of seasons    shows sabrina in front of a mirror posing with several different costumes and outfits as the cast members  names quickly flash on the bottom of the screen . at the end  sabrina would say some sort of pun that related to the outfit she is wearing  then disappear . the opening sequence of season four includes the characters in bubbles . the opening credits of seasons    features sabrina at various locations around boston  
i have been an environmentalist for years and was really looking forward to this show . i had it set to record all episodes because i thought i could really learn some great new things . i probably could if i could get past rachelle .  br    br   i  m sure a lot of this is staged to seem like a reality show and appeal to that class of viewer . it doesn  t work for someone who  s really interested in improving the planet .  br    br   this show should be called nagging with rachelle .  br    br   since ed is such a great font of information  maybe a second show that  s really serious about the environment would be a good idea . dumbing things down is not necessary for some of us .  br    br   i no longer record episodes or watch the show  but do let me know if a real green show may be in the works .  
even though there are no new episodes  and it is rarely showed . i used to love the magic of sabrina and the teenage witch . i never got to see the last episodes  but i do want to know what happened to miles  or josh  and why did the aunts have to disappear out of the show for good  i  m sure the ending went to be perfect . but there are a lot of questions unanswered . and i want to see the last episode of s . t . t . w  because i heard she decides between erin and harvey on her wedding day  i really hope that she picks harvey  and may i say nate richart is hott   too bad hes too old for me though . melissa joan hart has her own sense of cuteness that she adds to the show  but there are many little  stupid  things for the show such as how famous bands come out of nowhere and play songs and all the cast is listening  its kind of stupid . plus the cat starts to really get lame  as the show continued  the jokes began just to get stupid  and the things that the audio controlled  audience  would laugh at  i would think it was so lame . don  t get me wrong  at some parts it was funny  but i think the show just kind of lost its  magic  so to speak as the show went on . i give kudos to all the cast though for trying  although that soleil moon frye girl had no taste  and she was a horrid actress . i wonder what melissa or any of the cast is doing now for that matter  now that the show has ended .  
i can  t figure out who greenlighted this thing  it has no redeeming qualities  none  nada  zip  zilch .  br    br   the acting was bad . the directing was bad . the writing was bad . the plot was bad . the music was bad . the editing was bad . . . . . well  at least the filmmakers were consistent .  
my kids recently started watching the reruns of this show  both the early episodes on the n  and the later ones on abc family  and they love it .  i wasn  t aware the show had even lasted past the first or second season  i  m curious as to what prompted all of the cast changes  i  ve seen them described as  highly publicized   and yet a half hours searching efforts on the web have revealed nothing but endless comments on how the early episodes were so much better than the later episodes .  personally  i don  t see a whole lot of difference  the scripts and themes remain largely the same throughout  but they do lose some great people along the way  my daughter has put the dvds on her wish list  so perhaps the land of special features and commentary will shed some light on all of this . i also wish they  d done some self  referential humor about the changes  like on  boy meets world  where they drop the little sister for an entire season or so  and when a different actor later shows up playing her  they ask her where she  s been and she says  upstairs   or when early series token geek  minkus  shows up for the high school graduation  they ask him where he  s been and he says  over there   pointing to the part of the classroom never shown by the camera  before saying  hey  mr . turner  wait up   and running off screen  mr . turner being another character who left  oh well  maybe there will be an e true hollywood story on this or something  i was just glad to see aunt hilda show up for the finale  she was always one of my favorites  it  s too bad it couldn  t have been a more encompassing cast reunion .  the zelda candle just didn  t cut it for me   
i noticed that this film has taken the brunt of a lot of insults . it probably earned some of them  but it wasn  t that bad . well  i  ll be honest i never want to see this film again . it was a bad film . but i don  t hate this film  it tried to tell a story . as a drama  this film could work very well actually . i just think the filmmakers misgauged which road to take when they made this  they should have added more funny bits if they wanted it to be a comedy  . with a rewrite  it could have been a great film . but as a satire  it didn  t work in its current form   many scenes did not fit within the context of the plot for example  the robbery scene makes little sense in the story . still  it wasn  t the worst independent film ever made   is it in the top   worst  that  s debatable .  
for the first three seasons  sabrina was a gem hidden away on tgif  and later  early school  day afternoon reruns  . each episode had a maniac  zany energy and rapid  fire pacing that overcame the occasional awkward joke . melissa joan hart exuded a keen talent for physical comedy  particularly in her facial expressions . her two aunts  playing the  straight men   or as straight as two witches could be  had great comic timing and general chemistry with hart . salem  as a talking cat  was free to dabble in whatever mad scheme he was interested in  and one could laugh and take it all in stride because he was  after all  a talking cat . sabrina  s friends rounded out the social experience at school  in which also housed the typical  evil cheerleader  and  totalitarian principal .  perhaps the most interesting and unique aspect of the show was the ability to merge pop culture  e . g .  bands of the era  jerry springer   archetypal human condition  morality  e . g .  the importance of friendship  the spirit of christmas   and the literal representation of such related metaphors in the magical realm . unfortunately  like so many other shows throughout the age of television  the show hit its peak during the first three years  which coincided with sabrina attending high school . starting in season four  the move to college marked what would become a precipitous decline in the general quality of the show  particularly when the writers chose to introduce josh as harvey  s rival  and concocting thin excuses for aunts hilda and zelda to remain on  screen as key players . the final season  where sabrina works at a pop culture magazine  was unequivocally disappointing . still  in the end  sabrina  particularly the high school years  remains a unique entry as a hybrid situational comedy with magical elements that elevates it above the tiresome fare that is produced in this genre every year .  
this is just a terrible  comedy    it really is a bad film . there are no funny elements . no jokes that are funny . i don  t know how some people can claim this dismal short film could be  smartest  or  quality .  perhaps if its the only film that a person has seen you can make that claim of the brothers . but  i have seen thousands of better films namely leonard part six  now  that  s funny   i don  t know how the brothers is even considered eligible to be listed on the internet movie database its more like a home video than an actual film .  br    br   jokes aside  just skip this film . a root canal is more enjoyable that this cliche  ridden unfunny material .  
and it  s not because since her days on  clarissa explains it all  that i  ve had a bit of a crush on melissa joan hart  who at the time this show was popular was already well into her   s  but was still able to get teenage roles .  sabrina  the teenage witch  was hart  s next big leap after her  clarissa  days . based on the comic strip  sabrina spellman is  you guessed it   a teenage witch who attempts to balance her witchcraft antics with the demands of everyday teenage life . she is aided in her endeavors by her two aunts and a wise  cracking black cat as she goes from high school  to college  and finally to her career in journalism .  br    br   as usual  hart is the show  s heart  soul .  sabrina  the teenage witch  is quite moving and very funny  and it  s a shame that it took me so long to realize how great it was . i only wish there were some newer episodes that we could all enjoy .  br    br         
this film is just a shame . orlando  florida seems to becoming a more recognized filmmaking area  like vancouver  s rise to prominance  . the brothers was shot in central florida and this short film is a bit of a setback for the area  which made great strides with the indie film walking across africa and the great hbo miniseries from earth to the moon  .  br    br   i will try to be as honest as possible . i think orlando was the perfect place to film the brothers . it had the potential to give a new spin on the  boy band  craze . after all  both n  sync and the backstreet boys come from this area . but  the brothers falls short probably because of a weak script . both lead characters are flat with almost no development  part of this could be the amatuer actors  but some of it is certainly the way the script was written  .  br    br   also a problem is the choice of jokes . many of the jokes are too repetitive  they do come off funny the first time  but it does grow to be a bit boring  . some of the  concert  scenes are staged poorly  and many of these scenes also don  t seem to move the story along in any way  .  br    br   i had high hopes for this one  but alas its a disappointing effort . i also hope the best for the upcoming feature based on this short . but i think the best thing for filmmaker john figg is to move to different genres  quickly  . comedy isn  t his strong suit . but  its indisputable that he definitely is one of the more prominant filmmakers in the orlando area  its just a shame that right now he  s infamous  not famous  .  br    br    
i remember this show as it became a regular viewing on a saturday evening .  br    br   sabrina is a young girl who moves in with her aunts who as it turns out are witches and she is one to . so sabrina must learn how to control hr powers and use them effectively . she also must deal with school a vicious rival named libby  her ditsy best friend and boyfriend harvey kinkle . . .  br    br   the show was funny and entertaining . it kept saturday evenings entertaining for a   year old boy . . and made him laugh out loud . . . and flirt with  libby  . . . .  
i saw this move several years ago at the central florida film festival if i recall . i liked it  it showed great potential . i guess most people here are blasting this film because the film did seem hobbled together  by the filmmaker  s own admission on the official site   the short was exhibited as a  rough  cut   .  br    br   but nonetheless  it was an easy  going comedy . i think many people try to read far too much into a comedy . all they are supposed to do is make you laugh   that  s all . i did just that at its showing  so it succeeded on that level . just my  cents anyway .  
i know sometimes its really really corny . . . but the acting is amazing and melissa joan hart is as cute as a button . i love this show a lot  and i  m almost embarrassed that i do b  c the show has a rep . for being really corny  but it makes me feel good . my only problem is that sometimes it can be pretty low budget  sometimes actors change and you just have to deal with it . . . like sabrina  s father is  different guys throughout the course of the movie . . . i mean  couldn  t they just say he was an uncle or something  still  i can  t help but loving this show . harvey and sabrina make a really cute couple and salem is absolutely hilarious . i definitely recommend it if your looking for some light and funny entertainment . . . my favorite episode is  pancake madness  . . . a hilarious episode . the best season is probably  . . . i  m not really a fan of some of the seventh season twists . . . once you get to college  morgan joins the group and her dialog is painful and very poorly acted . . . plus she is ugly  so the jokes about how she is only surviving off her good looks were lost on me . . . but i think it was set up to have a really good eighth season and i was really sad to see one of my favorite shows canceled   
please make me forget . please . please . this is the worst film i have ever had the misfortune to watch . i consider the film an insult to my brain as well as my backside who both have suffered from me sitting and watching this film . i have yet to see what damage it has caused my sight and my ability to complete sentences . what a load of garbage   and don  t get me started about the acting . . . someone please help me forget    weird science    come back   everything is forgiven . . .  br    br   i am  proud  to give this film the first  here at imdb . . . and i  ve voted for hundreds of films . . . many of them cp but this is so bad i can  t even believe it . someone actually came up with the idea and thought it was worthy of becoming a film  someone actually read the script and decided to produce the film  someone read the script and auditioned for it  someone saw the film and decided not to put it on a shelf to collect dust for eternity  these are the questions i want answers to . not the philosophical question about that tree in the woods and well  you know . . .  
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turn your backs away or you  re gonna get in big trouble out of my boyfriend  s back  only a happy ending can bloom your innocence that is full of gloom and doom at the very moment you  re watching this . it  s safe to say that the entire movie falls apart  with a sarcastic approach and tribute to zombie shows that defy nonsense to the max . we get a name like  johnny  every so often  and this  johnny  has nowhere to go . there isn  t a specific reason to why our  dead corpse  crawls out of his grave just to survive until prom night  so that renders the movie totally useless . without a feeling of sorrow  his mother is convinced to tell the doctor that he  s dead . johnny takes a bite out of eddie  s arm afterwards . the viewer is asked a tough question why does the movie have to be this cornball  there is an answer . any resemblance to all persons living or dead is purely coincidental .  living  is a coincidence .  dead  has nothing in common with the movie . show this one to your girlfriend and she  ll skip the senior prom  turning your life into a deserted ruin . blah     
what i love about this show is that it follows the lives of modern witches and it  s a blast to experience their everyday love  humor and adventure . the literature of magic is so diverse  portraying the ideas of classical  medieval and modern wizardry  like harry potter and sabrina . with sabrina the teenage witch  this show is so fun and unique because it lets us experience a lot of that modern wizardry  seven seasons worth  this show has so many great qualities and it  s a joy to watch sabrina live her daily life in the mortal and  other  realm . i would recommend this to any family because the television series is clean  funny and adventurous . classic   
i  m easily entertained . i enjoyed  hot shots  and  the naked gun  and their many sequels  even when most people found them unbearable . i  ve even managed to enjoy most pauly shore movies . there is only one movie that i  ve seen that i can honestly say was bad . . . and this was it . it  s been a while since i  ve seen it  but i do remember sitting in the theater thinking   this is a dumb movie . why did i see this   it  s honestly the only movie that i cannot recommend .  
the last wave is never going to win over the mainstream audience . it is a slow  moving but fascinating film for those who are willing to go along with it . an australian properties lawyer is asked to take on the case of five aborigines accused in the murder of one of their own . all sorts of portents and omens soon pop up  as the man  s death involves a tribal issue that was not meant for white man  s court  and pretty soon the lawyer is having trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy . it looks like the end of the world may be at hand  and he and the aborigines may know this but no one else does . richard chamberlain as the lawyer is at his peak here . david guptil  a familiar face from several other australian flicks and a decent actor  is one of the five aborigines on trial . the last wave is simply not for everyone  anymore than is magnolia  both happen to have strange things falling from the sky  . check it out on a slow saturday night .  
prom night is about a girl named donna  brittany snow  who is being chased by a psycho killer trying to kill her at her prom night . and by doing so killing her family  friends  and her enemies .  br    br   now before i begin let me say have you been tired of pg    horror movies that haven  t been scary lately . are you tired of stupid girl dialog  oh my god  and talking about girlish things . and are you really tired of girls in relationships and then crying . and the last thing are you tired of the us remaking asian  japanese  and chinese films . that pretty much sums up prom night but i  m still not done with the review .  br    br   the only reason to see  prom night  is to crack a laugh at the kills . if not  don  t see prom night . you never see the kills an only hear screaming and you see some blood on the wall . and by the way the deaths are repeating like     . so not only aren  t they scary but it  s obnoxious . by the time i met the cast i think i was ready to hurl . too much girl talk  too much guy talk  and lots of  oh my gosh . it  s our prom  . i understand it  s fun but seriously is it too much to ask not to concentrate .  br    br   if i were to put prom night on the list of worst films of     without seeing the other films i  d be the first one too . i  m not going to be surprised if it gets released on dvd for cheap and quick . seriously don  t spend your money or the time for dull acting  cheap scares  and a  night to die for  when watching the film .  br    br    star out of   .  p . s . if i could give the film zero stars i would  .  
sabrina the teenage witch was one of my favorite t . v shows of life d i used to watch back to back episodes everyday when i got home from school . so far i think i  ve watched every episode at least once and the whole series  or  times . melissa joan hart plays the perfect teenage girl  witch with normal teenager troubles that we can all relate to . she  s funny  smart  outgoing  witty  and a lot more . caroline rhea and beth broderick both fit the part very well as sabrina  s aunts . zelda  the intelligent scientist  and hilda the crazy  wacky one make a perfect balance in sabrina  s life . though i must agree that the college years aren  t as good as her high school years  but that doesn  t mean they weren  t still good . i think the ending was awesome although it was not what i hoped  it made sense and i loved it anyways .    
i have seen over     movies and this one stands out as one of the worst movies that i have ever seen . it is a shame that they had to associate this garbage to the angels     song  my boyfriend  s back .  if you have to make a choice between watching this movie and painful dental work  i would suggest the dental work .  
spoilers i loved the later episodes from college and on  but i wish i could get the last season on dvd . unfortunately  the latest i could get is the first college season . still the teenage years were sweet although they focused a lot on magic  they also made her into a character that teens could relate to  deeling with the stuggles of teens  and children in divorced families . this show was very innocent they did not get into the morbid teenage problems such as sex and drugs  but they did deel with pressure to fit in . i loved watching her grow up and cope with her magic on her own and trying to convince her aunts to let go as she left the nest . the older episodes were cute  but it was just so much better to see her as  well not really a teenage witch anymore  but an adult witch . i loved roxy and mortgan they were so talented  in the earlier episodes the aunts were great actresses  but they were so strict  kind and loving  but they treated her like a young child in some ways  but not in every way . i mean they grounded her for every little mistake she made with her magic  i mean let her learn from her own mistakes for once  that was what i liked about the college episodes she was able to learn from her own mistakes without be grounded over everything that was annoying . not to put down hilda and zelda . melissa joan hard is beautiful and was perfect for the sabrina with her perky personality . i liked the last episode where she ran off the marry harvey  but as somebody else said  it would have been nice to see what happened after . i mean i believe it was obvious they were getting married where else would they be running off to in her wedding dress  but i would have liked to have seen it . i supposed they wanted to leave it up to the viewer to choose the ending though rather than spoon feeding it to us as most comedies do . somebody said they could have shown them marry and go to school in the house  but they already graduated college . sabrina had great job for a magazine and i think harvey had a good job  because he lived in a nice apartment that we only see at the end  but they never say what he does . as a child they always talk about how he does not want to be an exterminator like his dad . when sabrian moved into the house that season  they never really explain how it happened . actually  there is a lot the show does not explain  but i supposed it is supposed to be to leave it up to us and give it some mystery . prior to sabrina and her friends moving into the house  they show hilda getting married and this whole spell that ends up with zelda turning into a child . hilda comes back in the last episode  and zelda is there in some other form  but beth is not on the episode  but they do not show zelda  s husband or what happened  like did they have children  maybe they didn  t want too much going on in one episode . i also liked hart  s sister who played her spoiled cousin  she was pretty and a great actress and it was interesting to see her grown up  i cannon believe it has been six years since the show went off the air  i still love the reruns  also  i don  t know if anybody noticed this  but in the earlier episodes  the town was called westbridbe  a made up town i believe  which was supposed to be close to salem  but in the later episodes  they don  t mention the name of the town being caled westbridge and i think they call it boston  unless that is just where she worked . also  i wanted to add  i found the episode   wild wild sabrina  where she is taught about the importance of rules  to be insulting . she was   and too old to be grounded i would have been insulted if my parents grounded me at   . and i think while an   year old might mess up how she did  they need to learn the consequences on their own . i think at   they know rules are important .  
     was the year . this was long before phillip seymour thomas had won an oscar . who knew i would be an extra in a movie with him  i was actually a paid extra in  my boyfriend  s back   which was shot in a suburb of austin called georgetown  tx . the original title was  johnny zombie   thank god the producers had a change of heart   i was in the theater scene . i rushed out to watch the movie the day it was released in theaters . it is more of a comedy than a horror movie . but . . . for a good laugh  you might want to check it out . nothing that is even close to  dawn of the dead  or even  shaun of the dead  quality  but the cheese factor is good enough . ciao  
i love sabrina  its one of my fave shows   my favourite episodes are the one where she turns libby into a geek  the first episode  the true love episode and most of the rest from the first series . i do think the college episodes were not as good as the high school ones but they were better than the last series which was awful . valerie was a good character as she was more rounded than jenny  but jenny was in some brilliant episodes . hilda and zelda were amazing  and there seemed to be no explanation for where they went  libby was a good character too . i never liked morgan or roxy  they just weren  t as good as her other friends .  
i guess you have to give some points for the sheer courage of writing a musical around a history lesson but how about some decent music   br    br   is the cartoonish acting of howard desilva meant to pique the interest of otherwise jaded children   br    br   is william daniels  campy contemporary  for the time  acting style meant to appeal to a     s    s demographic   br    br   do we need all the  in  jokes  about ny  nj   i can hear the blue  haired broadway audience guffawing on cue .   br    br   sorry  i find the whole piece dated  boring  the acting far too strident for the screen  
i liked this tv show because it was it  s own thing a girl who is on her sixteenth birthday finds out that she is a witch and her she lives with her aunties in the house and they are both witches as well . well this took her about a few weeks of getting used to . when she used her powers for the first time it was so funny because she turned her enemy into a pineapple . she had to turn back time and repeat a day . this series is really cool and it is a typical teenage series but it wore thin when she moved out of her house and to an apartment with her fellow college friends and then it got boring and i stopped watching . i loved her aunties they were so funny and the other one was really ditzy . i loved valerie and i hated sabrina  s enemy libby she was ugly .  
but this movie was a bore . the history part was fine but the musical part was not . not one song i cared about and no soundtrack to be heard .  br    br   if sweet jesus  was suppose to be comic relief it never work . if john adams was suppose to be the obnoxious annoying one  the rest of them were trying to overthrow him in every scene .  br    br   hancock and jefferson were the only bearable characters in the whole movie .  br    br   the historical quotes and the debate about slavery in their historical context were interesting enough but not enough to overcome the lack of music in a musical .  br    br   shouldn  t you be humming the songs after a musical  except for a few chirps  nothing else was worth the breath .  
why did i enjoy the show to the last episode  because of the true talent melissa joan hart and her supporting cast had of demonstrating that whit  comedy  light  hearted humor  and deep thought could actually coexist . what i enjoyed most was the fact that i could come home from a hard day  s work  and bust a smile . . . i was inspired . . . and why  it was an inspiration to watch as this magical person was so happy while helping others .  br    br   sabrina was a hero in my opinion . . . even though she was vulnerable in ways that were not so different from our own . . . to very different she had powers at her fingertip  wishes  and command that could be used for good or bad which may only exist in many of our imaginations . most everything we see  have  know about  own  or even desire . . . can be used for good or bad  and how we choose to define that  defines the person we are .  br    br   she traveled the globe and other realms with these constant and unwaivering ideas in mind . . . to learn  to live  to laugh  and to love . she was always learning how to improve her skills to the benefit of all around her she made mistakes as she was living life  going through different journey  s of growth  as she  her aunts  and salem  the underrated  yet imperfect hero  did well to demonstrate that even through mistakes  you can still be noble  gifted  and wonderful .  br    br   she also demonstrated many selfless  learning  and loving acts as she went along her way . if this isn  t reason enough for   stars in this war torn world where people are so hostile toward each other  not realizing how differences are the spice of life rather than a reason to kill . . . then i don  t know what is . this show was most certainly a trip to a better world as well as an inspiration to be better ourselves and a gift intended to bust a smile on our chops . . . i  ve heard from a doctor before that everything that i  ve mentioned above leads to a healthy  hart  . . . and isn  t that what we all need     
oh  well  this movie starts off well . it  s kinda funny and seems like it could be a fun movie . then it becomes a bit serious and goes off the rails . it sort of wants to be  boogie nights  but it can  t achieve it . if only it stayed with the tone of the first quarter of the film . . .  
i used to love watching  sabrina  the teenage witch  friday nights on abc  s tgif . i think this was one of the best shows on tgif . my friends and i used to get together every friday just to watch this show and we never missed an episode .  br    br   my favorite character was salem . he was adorable and sooo funny . i liked sabrina  s boyfriend harvey  too . he was hot . i think melissa joan hart played a good teenage witch  too . my favorite episodes were  sabrina through the looking glass  and  hilda and zelda the teenage years  . those episodes were great .  br    br   overall i really miss this show . i hope one day abc brings it back with new episodes . i give this show      stars .  
i entered the theatre intending to pass a pleasant   minutes being entertained if not enlightened . i left neither entertained nor enlightened . this movie can  t make up its mind what it wants to be and ends up being not much of anything . there are a few funny lines and a few incredibly pretentious movie references  the    blows   for this character  come off it   . while none of the characters gets treated with much respect  the over thirty gay men get the worst of it all predatory  fat  sad  slobs . if you  re in the mood for a movie dealing with gay relationships check out parting glances  longtime companion  trick  all over the guy  red dirt  maurice  philadelphia instead . you  ll thank me .  br    br    
late  great grade z drive  in exploitation filmmaker par excellence al adamson really outdoes himself with this gloriously ghastly sci  fi soft  core musical comedy atrocity which plumbs deliciously dismal and dopey depths in sheer celluloid silliness and jaw  dropping stupidity . in the grim totalitarian future of     sex has been deemed an illegal act by the big brother  like impotent bumbling idiot the controller  an amusingly goofy erwin fuller  . however  sweet  n  sexy cinderella  radiant blonde cutie pie catherine erhardt  remains determined to change things for the better . with the help of her effeminate fairy godfather  a flamboyantly campy jay b . larson   cinderella attends a grand gala ball with the specific plan of seducing handsome stud tom prince  the dorky vaughn armstrong  and teaching everyone that making love is a positive  pleasurable and wholly acceptable activity .  br    br   adamson directs this ridiculous yarn with his customary all  thumbs incompetence  staging the incredibly awful  n  inept song and dance sequences with a totally sidesplitting lack of skill and flair . the uproariously abysmal  we all need love  number with people in absurd animal costumes awkwardly prancing about the forest is a hilariously horrendous marvel ditto the equally abominable  mechnical man  routine featuring a bunch of clumsily cavorting robots . louis horvarth  s crude  static cinematography  the tacky plastic miniatures  sparky sugerman  s groovy throbbing disco score  the copious gratuitous nudity  ravishing brunette hottie sherri coyle warrants special praise in this particular department   the brain  numbingly puerile attempts at leering lowbrow humor  roscoe the robot law enforcer is especially irritating   and the uniformly terrible performances  renee harmon  s outrageously hammy portrayal of cinderella  s wicked overbearing stepmother cops the big booby prize here  further enhance the strikingly abundant cheesiness to be savored in this delectably dreadful doozy .  
the fluffer may have strong elements of porn industry truth to it  but that doesn  t make up for the fact that it  s pretty shabbily directed and acted  and with a very mediocre script .  br    br   b grade from start to the exceedingly drawn out finish .  br    br   it would be embarassing to think of the general public being offered this piece as an example of state of the art gay film making .  br    br   hopefully it has a limited life in the gay film festival circuit and is allowed to die a natural death on video .  br    br   this film will open the queer film weekend in brisbane on april        . i think its success there will be strongly influenced by the amount of alcohol consumed in the preceding cocktail party  they  re gonna need it .  
this documentary was very thorough and exposing  and at the same time entertaining  which i thought was rather impressive . i felt as if they did a very good job covering the sport from its  origin until present day  but nonetheless  there is a reason why i do not give such a high score to this film . . .  br    br   i felt as if at times the story focused too much on the  proper nouns  of the sport  so to speak too much on individual locations at which to surf  and especially too much on individual surfers . i felt as if the documentary had more to do with the nature of the sport  the ideology of the sport  etc . it would have been better  although this of course was covered  i do not think it got as much time as it warranted  .  br    br   and for many people who are not absolutely nuts about surfing  at times hearing them go on and on about specific locations and specific surfers could become boring . although the video clips and the in  depth research is well  respected  it could have been presented in a way that would be better for those who are not avid surfers .  br    br   furthermore  my biggest disappointment was at times they spoke of how utterly amazing and miraculous certain events in surfing history were yet they did not have the actual footage of these events unfolding  and the whole time you are waiting to see on the silver screen this amazing  breath  taking event that these men are talking about as life  changing moments  and in the end all you get is a lot of men talking about it  and not the actual footage . it was far too tantalizing to myself to hear these stories  and then be unable to see them . i understand the difficulty of obtaining footage of everything  but please do not brag an event up so much  and then not show it .  br    br   overall  a very fresh documentary that i enjoyed watching not the best documentary due to the above reasons  but being very fresh and having some extremely exciting footage and a good soundtrack  it is a documentary that i would advise everybody to check out .  
this was god awful . the story was all over the place and more often than not i was confused because of horrible editing . i felt no sympathy for anyone because their characters were not developed enough . they were extremely superficial people with no dimension . cheesy  cheesy stereotypes with subplots that went nowhere . the stripper chick was just a distraction  even if she was decent looking . i don  t know what this was attempting to be  but how shocked was i when they showed this trash on sundance  i almost cancelled my subscription . you  d think a channel like that would show more quality films . there are much  much better gay and lesbian themed films out there .  the celluloid closet  is an excellent documentary . i thoroughly enjoyed  wigstock the movie  . i  m sure there are others that have slipped my mind at the moment  but what i  m trying to say is that this just wasn  t worth it . if you catch it on tv  ok  but otherwise don  t bother .  br    br   there were maybe three or four shots that looked really nice  sad i can count them on one hand   otherwise the cinematography was pretty crappy as well . the lighting was way off in a lot of places . i think some of the effects were used to try and add to something that just had practically nothing going for it .  br    br   i can  t deny johnny rebel is pretty hot  without the blond hair of course  . too bad his acting did nothing for me . stick with real porn  buddy .  br    br       .  
i have this movie on dvd and must have watched it thirty times by now . i must really love it  right  well  not really .  br    br   i was a surfer earlier in my life  and i loved the sport . to this day  i am fascinated by good surfing . riding giants has plenty of that  and thus i am a sucker for the thing . but i definitely have some bones to pick with it .  peralta  you listening   .  br    br   first  the movie has too little faith in its subject matter . the cutting and editing of the waves is such that the majority of them are sort of ruined . very  very few waves are actually shown ridden from start to finish . peralta seems addicted to a hyper kinetic  cut  and  pace method . it gets especially bad in the middle section on the spot mavericks in northern california . not a single wave is ridden start to finish . almost the entire section on mavericks  one third of the movie  is a jarring montage of clips with an equally jarring soundtrack . i can understand the effect peralta was trying to achieve with mavericks  as the place is a truly frightening mix of bone crushing waves in frigid open ocean chop  but he goes way too far . mavericks is not just a bad acid trip . waves are actually ridden there  even with great performances . it would have been good to see some of them . if peralta thinks this is a grand sport  and i am sure he does   then why does he insist on messing with the subject matter so much  at times  the editing reduces the movie to the inscrutable . there is one fast clip in the section on peahi in hawaii  which i still cannot understand . even if i run it on slow motion on dvd  the image is too fast to be decipherable . it must be a couple of frames in length at the max .  br    br   second  have the guys who made this thing ever learned about understatement  it is particularly galling to watch the narrated directors  version on dvd . these guys sound like two over  the  top valley girls . the same sentiment shows up in the main production . every thing is always so goddamn  amazing  etc . one character in particular is just plain obnoxious   sam george  the editor of surfer magazine  who is practically peeing in his pants every time he has anything to say . he is a super drag on the movie .  br    br   there is a tremendous amount of effort that went into this movie . i mean  just to get the old movie shots they have  and also  all of the interviews . the movie is a great story  and i think it is generally captivating entertainment . thematically it is well laid out  with the three parts centering around greg noll  jeff clark  and laird hamilton respectively . there are some uses of still photography that are phenomenal . in the directors  narration  they say it is a new type of  d technology  and it really works . the three principle characters shine  both in their interviews and in the water . as an athlete  laird hamilton is a revelation . he rises to the pinnacle of his sport in a way that i have only seen michael jordan do in basketball . and too  the story of his meeting his father is a gem . it really touched me .  br    br   it is just that the movie could have been so much more . the very last part of the movie  when the credits roll  gives a hint of what it could have been . there are some beautiful panoramic shots of waves with a magnificent soundtrack .  the soundtrack in the rest of the movie is rubbish  though you may like it if you are fan of the modern  frenetic school of rock .  anyway there  s my two cents . . .  
i wanted to see the movie because of an article in a film magazine . it wasn  t a highly recommended one by the critic . the storyline is different and i am sure that it could have been a good movie if it was in right hands . directing and acting were awful   i had the feeling of watching a movie which was made a bunch of amateurs . although the movie started promisingly  it got worse and worse . i think this is an unoriginal movie with awkward characters . . i still think that it is worth watching as i haven  t seen films subjecting gay porn . don  t keep your expectations high though  then you will be very disappointed .  out of   
i like this movie because it is a fine work of cinema  made by people who care enough to make it art and not just home movies . it is filled with super  surfer greg noll  s home movies  and a boatload of amateur video from others who align themselves with his    year passion . nevertheless  it has been expanded to the degree that it approaches aesthetic glory . it is filled with artistic talent  and athletic talent  however trivial you might think surfing to be athletic . surfers are not astronauts nor test  pilots . nor are they surgeons  perhaps  or ph . d  s  again  perhaps  . it believes in the quest of the surfer . it believes in the beauty of human goofiness . it believes in the great gift of peace  which comes from the cessation of war . surfers celebrate the cessation of war on the north beach of an hawaiian island attacked by japanese zeroes fifteen years before . it celebrates the down  time of a country which fought a cold war  instead of a hot  war  with the russian socialists . surfing is the ultimate narcissism . it is dangerous  but only slightly historical . i suspect alexander the great would not be celebrated for his surfing technique . he had to go out and conquer a few dozen countries to get the favorable press he has received . this movie has no military heroes . it has no guns . the only beach  head surfers conquer has a beer  stand and and a surfboard shop . this is not a problem . peace is not desperate . it is the joy of exhalation .  
this is a great idea for a film but it  unfortunately  doesn  t turn out to be a great movie . what starts out as a sweet and almost goofy romantic comedy about a fluffer in love with his fluffee spirals out of control into a bizarre combination of genres and a veritable stew of plots  with liberal borrowings from boogie nights  thelma and louise  showgirls  frisk  and even a curious  dash  of    blows thrown in towards the end .  at least the director did his research   the result is not necessarily boring but  in the end  this slick  well  produced flick doesn  t quite add up to anything . however  the actors all do a game job with the material and there are a few good laughs at the behind  the  scenes world of gay porn .  br    br    
i remember seeing this when it was released  in a theater in palo alto  and not expecting much . i mean   an australian movie  but it finally got to me . here  s a scene . richard chamberlain is sitting cross legged on the floor of a shabby apartment in sidney  facing an australian aborigine elder named charlie .  br    br   chamberlain  you were outside my house last night . you frightened my wife . who are you   and charlie at a deliberate pace replies   who are you  who are you  who are you  who are you  who are you  . . . . are you a fish  are you a snake  are you a man  . . . . who are you  who are you  who are you   it  s a stunning scene  shot all in close ups  with chamberlain  s blandly handsome face filling the screen in opposition to charlie  s black  broad  nosed  bearded visage .  br    br   the two guys couldn  t be more different and this film is the story of how chamberlain accidentally stumbles from his humdrum lawyerly existence into the inexplicable  almost unspeakable  mysteries of charlie  s world .  br    br   i don  t think i  ll go on much about the plot . it  s kind of an apocalyptic tale . but i must say  whoever did the research on australian aboriginal belief systems should get an a plus . they  ve got everything in here  from pointing the bone to the dream time  a kind of parallel universe in which dreams are real . it  s an extremely spooky movie without any musical stings or splendiferous special effects . charly  s world simply begins to intrude into chamberlain  s dreams  for reasons never made entirely clear .  br    br   if there  s a problem with the script  that  s it . nothing is ever made entirely clear . does chamberlain  who seems to have some extraordinary rapport with the aborigines  die in the last wave  do the aborigines  does the entirety of sidney  the basic premise is a little hard to accept too  though granted that this is a fantasy . the aborigines are invested with the kind of spiritual power that americans bestow on american indians  whereas the fact is that mythology is mythology and while one may be more complex or satisfying   more elegant and beautiful  if you like   mythology is still an attempt to transcend an ordinary  demanding  and sometimes disappointing physical existence . the mysticism of charlie is more convincing that the miracles of moses in cecil b . demille  s  the ten commandments   but they  re brothers under the skin .  br    br   but i don  t care about that . taken as a film  this one is pretty good  and it  s especially important for marking the celebrity of the director  peter weir  and the australian film industry . this was the first of a great wave of films from the antipodes  some of them raucous  like  mad max   and some subtle and dramatic  like  lantana .  i like weir  s stuff  which resembles nicholas roeg  s in being pregnant with subliminal dread . try  picnic at hanging rock  for an example of how to make a truly chilling movie with not a drop of blood .  
poor acting  no script  no plot  no convincing killer  no suspense  no original setups  it uses the same closet  under the bed  person  behind  you  in  the  mirror tactics over and over again making it repetitive and boring  and not in a foreshadowing way either  and the fact that nobody ever  really  gets killed  at least not on screen   which in turn zaps any suspense it may invoke right out of it and makes everyone feel eve more cheated for spending money on their admission ticket . . . . its a horror film w  o any horror lmao . the most you see is what looks like someone having taken a ketchup bottle and spraying it across a plastic sheet .  br    br   you have to be a teen who was sitting there screaming in the theater and scaring yourself to have enjoyed this  or you were high  drunk at the time .  br    br   honestly  i have a life and don  t bother writing reviews that often unless i really really hated something  or enjoyed it tremendously .  br    br   but this film is awful and i feel i have a duty of sorts to warn you not to give your money to hollywood and encourage this kind of filmaking ever again   br    br   it is one thing to rent a  bad  movie at blockbuster from the weinsteins  its another when you have to sit through it in a theater .  br    br   also  in case you want some remake nostalgia  forget it  this is not a remake  nor is it a re  imagining . it is not scary  nor engaging  nor is it satisfying enough to be  funny  like others on imdb have claimed . . . it is just stale and booooring .  br    br   here is what you will take away from this film remembering the scar on brittany snow  s head that stands out more than the plot  the fact that jonathan schaech must be having some sexual affair with j . s . cardone of  the forsaken  to have gotten another role as a killer  because he is as frightening as my poodle  and too cute to kill just about anyone  and that for some reason  duh  everyone who goes back to the hotel suite never comes back . what kind of person would not get worried at the prom when they decide to announce the candidates for prom king and queen and the fiercely competitive girl just somehow doesn  t show up  this is my warning to you . do not waste you  re money like i did . the  original  sucks too but is more of a guilty pleasure for jamie lee curtis fans  though no way near as bad as this piece of crap  sorry to sound vulgar or rude  but once you see this  you will understand why i say what i say  .  
riding giants  br    br   this documentary traces the history of surfing and follows three other well  made and acclaimed surfer films  dana brown  s endless summer  its follow  up endless summer ii by bruce brown  dana  s son  and step into liquid  imax  . i saw the first  not the others .  br    br   while the surfing footage is spectacular  i valued most the film  maker  s historic perspective . he takes us back to the sport  s origins almost a hundred years ago  and shows how it evolved to its present form . this includes extensive interviews with leading personalities and performers  how surfboard designs changed over time  which beaches in hawaii and california were most frequented by the world  class surfers  and what an incredible adrenalin rush the sport provided them . the athletes lived for months at a time on beaches  surfed from dawn to dusk  camped on rudimentary bunks  fished for food  and went back out on their boards the next day . what a euphoric way to spend your youthful days .  br    br   we see how the media discovered and promoted the sport after a slow start . what was the biggest boost to the sport  believe it or not  it was the movie gidget  although i suspect copyright issues may prevent crediting the beachboys  surfing songs like surfer girl and surfing usa . the surfing magazine and encyclopedia of surfing  who knew there was such a tome  are mentioned for their contributions . we also see commentaries from the pioneers of the sport  their families  and how the current generation benefited from the originators in the     s . one such story is how    year old laird hamilton  considered today  s greatest surfer  bonded with an earlier leading surfer  introduced him to his single mom  who he married before becoming his step  dad .  br    br   a rousing musical background of contemporary music from all eras accompanies the story . have i whetted your appetite  wonderful . have a great ride .  
now here is a film that if made in australia would have easily been a comedy . sadly and annoyingly  here it is  flaccid and cheesy and overbaked from lala land . how did the di  erector get it so wrong  well  mainly by being serious about a job so hilariously startling that nobody in their right mind could take seriously . unless of course they were a nerdy lonely gay clich  but somehow cute  . . . or is that clich piled upon clich . no value in the story that almost seems like a prequel to gus van sant  s gerry . . . . . and with a title like the fluffer how is it all such a lead weight  well this auteur must have soooooo mad that he didn  t get to burt and boogie first that he had to make his own . convoluted and undeveloped apart from the  unrequited love  s a bore  theme left over from a faded streisand lyric  we have only moody beefcake and tv serial level storyline left . the un necessary fourth act of this overlong turgid drama is truly terrible as the film wanders off like the gerries into to desert and gets stuck there . in oz in the late   s some   somethings made a similar but actually hilarious film called moneyshot . originally filmed as the venus factory it too suffered from an auteur more awful than orson so they re  filmed half of it  got a ruthless tv editor to chop it up and down down to   minutes and hey  presto . . comedy  tonight  a lesson there in when bad films turn good by lightening up . i guess the fluffer stiffed on release and after seeing it not perform  i can understand why .  
if it were possible to distill the heart and soul of the sport   no  the pure lifestyle   of surfing to its perfect form  this documentary has done it . this documentary shows the life isn  t just about the waves  but it  s more about the people  the pioneers  and the modern day vanguard that are pushing the envelope of big wave further than it  s ever been .  br    br   stacy peralta   a virtual legend from my early    s skateboarding days as a socal teen   has edited reams of amazing stock and interview footage down to their essence and created what is not just a documentary  but a masterpiece of the genre . when his heart and soul is in the subject matter   and clearly it is here   his genius is fraught with a pure vision that doesn  t glamorize  hype  or sentimentalize his subject . he reveres surfers and the surfing  beach lifestyle  but doesn  t whitewash it either . there is a gritty reality to the sport as well .  br    br   there is so much that could be said about this documentary  about the surfers  the early history of the sport  and the wild big wave surfers it profiles . greg noll  the first big wave personality who arguably pioneered the sport jeff carter  an amazing guy who rode virtually alone for   years on northern california  s extremely dangerous maverick  s big surf and  the centerpiece of the documentary  laird hamliton  big wave surfing  s present day messiah .  br    br   there is tremendous heart and warmth among all these guys   and a few girls who show up on camera   and a deep and powerful love for surfing and the ocean that comes through in every word . i found the story of how hamilton  s adopted father met him and how hamilton as a small   or   year old boy practically forced him to be his dad especially heartwarming  and  again  stripped of syrupy sentimentality  .  br    br   if you like surfing   or even if you don  t   this is a wonderful documentary that must be watched  if only because you  re a student of the form or someone who simply appreciates incredibly well  done works of art .  
a pointless movie with nothing but gratuitous violence . the only fun i had was playing  spot the location   as much of it was filmed in my home town of regina  saskatchewan . i like to support locally produced films but this one was a major disappointment .  
everyone has already commented on the cinematography  good to great   the personalities  larger than life   the structure  chronological  with many references to surf culture through time  . what is missed is a bigger question of sociological importance chucking mainstream american culture for something more fulfilling and rewarding .  br    br   i was a surfer in the     s . we used to watch   mm films at the local high schools in socal . i remember the great feeling of surfing all day until my skin radiated heat  putting on a hawaiian shirt and shorts and going to watch the latest surf film at night . often  the narrator was the filmmaker himself  reading a script off sheets of paper . sometimes  a surf band or proto  punk band would add music . i was never happier . except for the hooting and hollering  seeing  riding giants  took me back in time .  br    br   it also reinforced a feeling that living life on the edge  not worrying about the money and the climbing the social and corporate ladder  not keeping up with the joneses  pushing yourself physically and mentally for a fleeting moment of joy and jubilation  may be the answer to the question   what is the purpose of life   at least for those like greg noll  laird hamilton and the like  they seem to have found something that few of us are bold enough or honest with ourselves enough to pursue to live life solely on our own terms . maybe society would fall apart if we all did exactly what we wanted in life  but it is wonderful to see people who actually are living out their dreams .  br    br   it was this message that really impressed me .  
you ever sit through a movie and after it  s all over it  s like one big  wtf    .  br    br   welcome to decoy .  br    br   another straight to video action fodder flick you can immediately forget about having watched or better yet don  t watch it at all . peter weller and robert patrick star and are quickly wasted in this going nowheres fast mercenaries  for  hire action dud where the story is pretty darn bad and the action sucks and what  s the point of watching an action flick if the action blows  robert patrick in particular hits a new low in an action sequence that has him firing a machine gun while standing on the hood of a moving school bus . co  stars the ambient charlotte lewis and canada  s own scott hylands  of tv  s night heat fame  .  
riding giants is an amazing movie . it really shows how these people lived back then just to surf . their lives were basically surfing  living  breathing  and having fun . they didn  t care about money  jobs  girls or any thing . to them the waves were their girls . i have never been on a surf board  and it looks so hard  i don  t understand how they can stay on them  it makes no sense at all . this is an awesome movie and if you love surfing then you should really see this movie . if you  re a surfer and you want to find out who started surfing  how it came into life  who is really famous at it or what ever  then you should really see it . it might be a documentary  but it is really good .  tara f .   
charlotte  s deadly beauty and lethal kicks make the movie cooler than it  d be otherwise . the story is so poor and charlotte  s character dies in such a foolish way  that you wonder if this  s the ending they had thought of for this movie . i wish somebody could tell that an alternative ending exists  but i fear it doesn  t . as for the rest of the cst  well i  d say they simply didn  t act very well although the blame should be put on the poor script . this movie reminds me of rush hour  where zhang ziyi dies in absurd way  since she had been the only one who had stolen the show during the whole movie . i could give this movie     
as a popular sport  surfing was liked by many people . just after watched the documentary  i realized how dangerous it could be . in fact the surfers also scared of big waves . even somebody got killed by it . but they still kept on surfing and enjoyed themselves . only brave people can do it .  br    br   according to what the surfers said  we can clearly knew what they felt when the big wave came at them . you have to adjust to your best and avoid direct strike from the big wave . when you win it  that will obviously bring you huge satisfaction .  br    br   the amazing cinematography cannot be overlooked . that is absolutely visual enjoyment .  br    br   an excellent sports documentary .      
when you pick a movie i hope one factor you will consider  are the actors in the movie using their fame to influence the moral fabric of our society in a positive or negative way  this is not a political statement this is a moral issue that effects are society . when a comedian  actor makes curl sexual and racist remarks about a teenager and her father we should ask ourselves  do i want to support that behavior   in this case mr . foxx behavior tears at the social fabric that teaches our youth right from wrong  good behavior from bad that loving  kindness is better than hatefulness . mr . foxx should remember he is only entertainment and there is a lot of that out there for us to choose from . saying sorry does not get him off the hook . it will not undue the hurt or remove the bad behavior he spreads to our youth . one way to stop this behavior is to stop being a fan of it . no longer see anything they are part of . we cannot change them but we can stop the fame we give them .  
noll  s comfortable way of rolling out blunt comments  often with expletives  to describe things that he is more knowledgeable about than most is quite refreshing . there is one other character in the film that constantly tries to verbalize complicated issues  using more language than necessary . this guy should never have been given a thesaurus . cut to noll and you know you  re in for a treat   br    br   the way the pioneers of big wave surfing are portrayed is very evocative of a  lost era  . nevermind the fact that no one knows how these guys made a living  much less took care of issues like medical care . the use of old film clips throughout was masterfully done .  
what could have been an engaging  and emotionally charged character study is totally undermined by the predictable factor . fox is ok as nathaniel ayers  the julliard trained musician who dreams of playing with the walt disney orchestra until his bouts with schizophrenia drive him into the street and ultimately skid row . looking for a good story to boost his flagging career  reporter steve lopez robert  rehab  downey  gets to know him and tells his story . taking every element of the classic  how we hit the skids  movies  borrowing very liberally from  a beautiful mind   taking the bogus  feel good  attitude of films like  rocky   you pick the sequel number  and whipping up too much     s style melodrama all that is left on the screen is a burnt out shell of a movie . it is corny  trite  utterly predictable and plays way too often on our sentiments . i hate to say it  but this is the kind of movie that  if you say you hated it  people will give you bad looks . i really wish i could say something positive about this film  but i really can  t . the acting redeems it somewhat  but not enough for me to give it more than one star . strictly made for tv movie stuff . not worth your time .  
again stacy peralta is true first to the people who lived the story . by letting those involved in the genesis of big wave surfing tell us their stories  how it felt and what they thought  you get the feeling of having been there . the film carries you from the fifties to the near present by focusing on three primary architects contributing to the evolution and development of the sport . candid  home movie  like videos of themselves and their contemporaries take you further into their world . the layers of music  culture  technical information  a pure view of the participant  s athleticism  and fabulous big wave images you get a full scope perspective of this aspect of surfing .  br    br   thoroughly worth watching .  
anyone who has seen  shine   scott hicks film of the heartbreaking yet ultimately joyful life of the pianist david helfgotts will i am sure realise that  the soloist  is very poor in comparison . it is as slow as a lullaby  i took five breaks answering emails just to wake up  . the depiction of the homeless area way over the top and extremely self indulgent  on a par i fear with the awful beach battle depiction in joe wrights other disaster attonment . . j fox performance was an extremely poor example of acting and lacked credibility from the offset . downey on the other hand although struggling with a badly paced film  still manages to charm   is it me or is he turning into george clooney in more ways than one   . comparing both these well known so called  star  actors though is unnecessary as the light that shines brightest as far as acting is concerned must be that of  shine  s  geoeffry rush who  s brilliant performance definitely shone far brighter in my sky . with both  attonment  and  the soloist  the written word wins far more prizes for empathy of subject . read the book and articles or wait for the dvd its bound to be in the bargain basement soon .  
i realized a couple of days ago that the makers of this film put a play on words into its title . this movie is not primarily about the act of  riding giants   but mostly about the people who are the giants of the sport  riding giants  to change the emphasis .  br    br   in my teens i lived a block from the wedge  one of the hardest  breaking and best bodysurfing spots in the world . i  ve been out in    to    foot surf  and have ridden and been hammered by   and    foot waves on many occasions . that experience is why i am in complete awe of the surfers in this film . the idea that jeff clark  to all appearances a normal mortal  could get away with riding maverick  s by himself for over a decade is beyond my grasp . the first safety rule of any water sport is  never surf  dive  swim by yourself .  he went where sane people would not  and lived to tell about it . i wouldn  t go out there if the water were   degrees and the sharks all left .  br    br   in the world of warm water the first shot of the waves at jaws always makes the skin tingle over my entire body . these are not just scary waves  these are uncontrolled  bowel  evacuation waves . when we see laird hamilton not only surviving    to    foot waves  i can hardly type those numbers   but actually working the faces like a fun day at rincon  i  m blown away . there is a dedication and focus in big  wave riders which is comparable to that of anyone in the world .  br    br   this a great film . i gave it a  instead of a   only because it neglects to mention that there are great big  wave riders in the world outside the hamilton  kalama crew  and i think they deserved mention . splice in ken bradshaw at outside log cabins and a   it is   
the soloist has all ingredients to impress the academy . its director  joe wright  has already authored a best picture candidate . the leading actor  robert downey jr .  starred in a widely praised superhero film . finally  the movie itself is a drama . when it was mysteriously pulled from release in late      filmgoers and critics were baffled . now that i  ve seen it  i assure you universal didn  t just delay this film to promote iron man  oscar buzz . the soloist is a weak drama with no external conflict that is vastly inferior to any     best picture candidates .  br    br   downey and co  star jamie fox aren  t to be blamed for this mishap . joe wright is largely at fault but even he can  t save a lifetime story . many movies are too complex and alienate viewers . this one is unusually simple . it  s a movie about a newspaper reporter  steve lopez  downey   who befriends a homeless musician  nathaniel ayers  jamie fox  . that  s it . ayers is schizophrenic and doesn  t resonate with lopez  s traditional approach to friendship . the two become friends . they begin this movie as acquaintances and are bffs by its end . tension consists of moments like this will ayers let lopez take him to the homeless shelter  this material would have been better suited as a made  for  tv production rather than a feature film .  br    br   wright includes many scenes of cheap humor to obscure the lack of content . lopez battles yard  defiling raccoons in what i consider a sub  plot . do you remember when this happened in atonement or pride and prejudice  those films were structured enough to permit an occasional joke but nothing so prolonged . ayers  back story is fleshed out when it doesn  t need to be . worst of all  these scenes are not connected and appear at random intervals . it  s a way of admitting that the main story carries little appeal . nathaniel was a violin prodigy with a tough upbringing  i was too  . this is a fabricated attempt to create sympathy with ayers when most of us already have it . he  s a homeless schizophrenic for crying out loud  the movie somewhat conveys humanity  s love for music  like amadeus and beethoven lives upstairs . it isn  t as effective as either of those pictures  however . the entire film is hinged on ayers  schizophrenia . it ultimately is how he interacts with everyone else . his being a musician is a nice touch but hardly worth including . the film doesn  t incorporate this characteristic fully into his persona . take music out of amadeus or beethoven lives upstairs  and no film remains . the soloist is more about friendship in general than music . nathaniel could be a writer or film critic and few lines of dialog would need to be seriously altered .  br    br   this is only joe wright  s third film  and his first that isn  t a romance staring keira knightley . let  s hope this film isn  t an indication of how limited his abilities are . there are stylistic nods to his earlier works but the soloist is much weaker than either of them . in his defense  universal should not have agreed to widely release this picture . this film seems tailored for imagine entertainment  distributors of changeling  . i wouldn  t be so disappointed with it if had a limited release . its poor box office performance may inhibit better dramas from being distributed nationally .  
i stumbled upon this movie on cable and was totally hooked . the story of a group of surfers who ride the big waves  waves that are monstrously huge  waves that would make any rational person run away in terror is a one that manages to be spectacular and make you understand why people spend their lives chasing waves . there is nothing special about the film  other than it brings together some very interesting people who are are in love with what they do and lets them talk . sure there are scenes of them surfing  but what makes this movie so special is the people . here are a bunch of guys who are so enthusiastic about what they do that it crosses over to the people watching . half way into this movie you  ll want to go off and learn to surf as well . few documentaries have ever managed to covey the passion that these people have and its the films ability to make us feel it that makes this a great film . see it .  
this film is hardly good  not great at all . a few memorable scenes and the unlucky choice of pairing norma jean with an actual actress . jane russell has it all working for her  marilyn  s lesser woman and  or actress . one can only wonder why this is considered being one of the highlights of her lame career .      
if you have seen dogtown and z  boys or have any interest in seeing the real  non  caricature   real american  side of america then riding giants will hit deeper than anything you  ve seen before .  br    br   this film is  unreal   a facile term if ever there was one  but hugely appropriate if you can derive any form of literal meaning out of it  it is a     factual documentary  but with all the drama of an opera  and the completely apparent sense of love  expert and knowing instilled by stacy peralta  s direction and narration  this film expertly leads you from swell to big wave while keeping you completely enthralled in everything you are being given the privilege of seeing .  br    br   this film is a symphony  crafted as well as beethovens  th  beginning beautifully with its prelude in hawaii  tugging deeply on human emotion in santa cruz and finishing with uproar  triumph and crescendo in laird hamiltons feats  again in hawaii .  br    br   like classical music like beethoven  s  th  ride of the valkyries or barbers adagio for strings  this may be the only piece you like  but it  s worth it . trust me .  
evidently lots of people really like this  but i found it infantilising and reasonably offensive codswallop  saved from oblivion by jane russell and a couple of memorable musical numbers  especially the opener  but there  s a marked dip in invention later on  . i don  t get on with monroe  she  s supposed to be playing a dumb blonde who ain  t that dumb  but she just comes over as dumb . russell can  t quite convince when she claims never to have been in a gymnasium  but is otherwise rather wonderful . the men are staggeringly uninteresting  as is the plot . by no means atrocious  but so patchy that  if this is a classic  god help us all .  
this motion picture has a steady  haunting pace backed up with great acting  one of chamberlain  s best performances  and a story that is revealed to us over time .  br    br   beyond that  the music fully establishes the mood and assists in maintaining an uneasy  cautious and somber tone .  br    br   weir  s story is enhanced by using aboriginals  their stories and their tensions with the dominant white population to deliver a fantasy tale that is ominous .  br    br   although they are unrelated in story as well as genre  this maintained the same feeling within me as ursula le guin  s  lathe of heaven        .  br    br    the last wave  is a dramatic thriller with some shocking moments . remember   hacking and slicing  doesn  t make a film a horror movie  it  s the psychological element of fear and trepidation that rests within us all .  
prom night is shot with the artistic eye someone gives while finely crafting a lifetime original film . you know the one . this october  lifetime takes a break from the courageous tale of a woman surviving  insert disease name here  to tell the somewhat creepy tale of a woman pursued by a stalker ex  boyfriend . it  s dramatic  it  s sappy  it  s immensely dull . it does nothing to further a genre  tell an original story  or strive for any sort of newness . prom night shares this plight . watching the killer poke holes in his victims  we sit silently as they slump to the floor with not a drop of blood spilled . it occurred to me that this was the cleanest killer in movie history .  br    br   our director is working with a fairly good  looking killer so he is forced to pour on the camera angles to make him appear creepier . think about matthew mcconaughey coming at you with a knife . you  d probably go   oh  good lookin guy is going to kill me  naaaa .  not scary even for a second  so the director throws schaech into shadows and over the shoulder in the mirror . this mirror shot is repeated to the point of sickness as it practically becomes a fetish of the creator . you  ll get   jump scares in this film   of which made my date jump  i might mention she is afraid of everything  . i  d also mention she decided to take a nap halfway through the film and at one point threatened to leave me .  br    br   as if this film were not disjointed enough  it appears to be cut to shreds . i  m not saying it looks like key points were left on the cutting room floor as the crew scrambled to salvage some semblance of a horror film i  m saying as the film moves from scene to scene  you often get a jarring jump . this is the kind of thing you  d expect when a film catches fire and a projectionist is forced to splice ends together  cross his fingers  and hope for the best . the editor should be shot .  br    br   with a plot you can pack into two sentences  one stray spray of blood  an emo killer  and the tension of a very special episode of  silver spoons   we  re left with no reason to support horror this weekend  at least on the big screen . in fact  this is the sort of film that should be punished . is it really that hard to make a scary movie  was this crew even aware they were making a horror film     a complete waste of my time and yours . i bit the bullet to get you this review . don  t let my sacrifice be in vain . don  t go into the movie     
i used to write comments at imdb  but i don  t do so anymore . it happens that imdb has become massive  and consequently subjectiveness has ruined scores . what do i mean  that anyone that is not particularly fond of movies and doesn  t have any expertise on the subject  watches some crap  or the opposite   and in case he likes it  delivers a    and if he doesn  t he goes for a  . this of course  cannot measure anything correctly . now for the film . i truly regret ever having delivered any   s to some very few films  because then i must score this one with   or    which is not possible . this documentary has something that i don  t expect to watch ever again in my whole life in any other film . it is simply mesmerizing  and it  s not just a way of saying it really is . the last   minutes have a load of energy  visual rejoice and wisdom  the words spoken by the starring guys   that really . . . there  s no possible match . i don  t keep movies  rarely would i find any sense in doing so  but this one is the kind of film you should buy and keep  and watch from time to time  maybe   or   times as years go by . i got nothing more to say . this is a genuine  objective   for me .  
this is a movie about how men think women think about love . no woman describes a one  night sexual encounter and declares it a love story .  br    br   of the ten monologues i felt only three really had any kind of truth ring through them . i kept waiting for the film to get better  and it did a bit  but never better enough .  br    br   this is an interesting concept  and i kept wanting it to be good  but it never succeeded . maybe if they actually were love stories it would have worked .  
i rate this   out of   . why   br    br    it offers insight into something i barely understand  the surfers surf because it  s all they want to do nothing else seems to matter as much to them as surfing nor is it a temporary thing  it  s a lifetime for these guys  buried in the movie is a great history of surfing i have never surfed  but i love surfing movies  and have seen many . none taught me what this movie did  the movie was very well edited . it flowed well . the interviews were outstanding  it  s interesting from start to finish  br    br   in summary  it  s about as good as a documentary as i have seen  so i have to rate in terms of that . so       
contrary to another reviewer  i think that this is well  written  especially the more fictional it is  because greater imagination would be required and well acted  because there were no other characters with whom to share the focus of these dozen  minutes  plus  well  done monologues . but i  m just not entertained by such solemn  pious rememberances . everybody has a story to tell and some are more interesting than others . everybody has problems and some are more intense than others . these are just ten  not  very  atypical stories and problems  exemplifying how anybody  s life  or part of it  is fodder for film . then again  i think poorly of tv  s reality shows  too . so  if that  s your bag  you may like this . it  s the kind of stuff that would make for good  phone and  or internet gossip but absolutely without other  than  verbal action . and  although each of the speakers is female  i  m gonna leave gender outta this .  
this was the best documentary i  ve ever seen   i just saw lords of dogtown and wanted to know more about stacy peralta  and was surprised and happy to find out this was one of his films as well . great job stacy  i was kicking back at work last week  bored oless and this movie came on . growing up in orange county in the    s i surfed up and down the local beaches and so did my dad when he was a teenager . i grew up at the beach  my parents took me every weekend  i body surfed  boogeyboarded then moved up from there . this movie just captivated me . it was way before my time but it was awesome to see what these guys went through . . true pioneers  this movie is a collectors item .  
i discovered this movie on ifc  and i thought it would be interesting . for  tiny  love stories  some of the stories really dragged on in this movie . the fact that none of these women had names almost makes you suspect that the actresses were talking about their own real sex lives  including kathy baker and alicia witt . i have to admit  i want to start seeing some more romantic views of first sexual encounters again  like in  strike          when odette sinclair  s acquaintances started asking about her presumed first time  and tweety asked  was it beautiful    br    br   some might think re  enactments and flashbacks would improve this movie . i think it would make things even worse . it doesn  t necessarily have to be hardcore porn to get my attention  but somehow i just expected more .  
there  s been a spate of recent surfing movies that i seem to haphazardly run across without advance warning . i caught this treasure on digital cable this week and what a pleasant surprise it was  the focus is on the pioneers of big wave surfing from the    s greg noll to our current laird hamilton  from waimea bay to mavericks to jaws . hell  i could watch a movie just about laird hamilton  one of this generation  s great athletes  so the rest is just gravy . there  s loads of good surfing mixed in with interviews of past and present surfing stars  in pleasant  relaxed and unpretentious fashion . of all the surfing movies i  ve seen this tells the big  wave story the best  and i think it  s my favorite . enjoy   
the exclamation point in the title is appropriate  albeit an understatement . this movie doesn  t just cry   it shrieks loud enough to shatter glass .  br    br   filmmakers andrew and virginia stone made shrill  humorless suspense thrillers that strove for a semi  documentary feel . here  they shot on actual new york locations with tinny  real  life  acoustics to jack up the verisimilitude . but the naturalism of the sound recording only serves to amplify the stones  maladroit dialog and the mouth  frothing histrionics of tortured butterfly inger stevens .  br    br   in a performance completely devoid of modulation  stevens plays the wife of electronics whiz james mason  looking haggard and bored   both are held captive by extortionist rod steiger  looking bloated and bored  and his slimy cohorts in a scheme to blackmail an airline with a deadly bomb that mason has unwittingly helped construct .  br    br   here is another credibility  straining instance of a criminal mastermind so brilliantly attentive to every detail  yet knuckleheaded enough to hire a drug  addicted degenerate as an underling . the stones  idea of nail  biting tension is to trap the hysterical stevens alone with benzedrine  popping rapist neville brand  filling the frame with his sweaty  drooling kisser . but the camera work is so leaden and brand so  uncharacteristically  demure that the effect is hardly lurid  much less suspenseful . the stones  a square pair at heart  don  t even have the courage of their own lack of convictions .  br    br   the film  which ends with the portly steiger chasing the fleet  footed stevens on a subway train track  is as clumsy as its ungainly heavy . with angie dickinson as steiger  s amoral girlfriend  jack klugman  kenneth tobey  and barney philips .  
riding giants is an incredible documentary detailing the history and stories of three influential big  wave surfers  gregg noll  jeff clark  and laird hamilton . stacy peralta did an amazing job taking on the role of director and should be congratulated for doing such a brilliant job . the structure of the film is edited brilliantly and works perfectly with the narration  interviews  animation and surfing footage . the music soundtrack just adds to the overall satisfaction of watching this film  making riding giants brilliant viewing . personal highlights include any of greg noll  s comments  what with his straight  to  the  point frankness  laird hamilton  s footage at teahupoo  and the out  takes at the end of the movie . but really this entire film is one big  recommended highlight that comes highly recommended if you have the opportunity to see . it  s a shame it isn  t more well known  but it is a gem deserving of attention .       
i found this movie to be a great idea  that didn  t deliver . it seems they found a way to build suspense  but couldn  t stage their payoffs very well . in one case the police  are on the clock to find the hideout of the kidnappers . they painstakingly go from dentist to dentist to match a dental record . at the same time  the kidnapped man  mason  escapes through the elevator shaft . after all the build up  the police arrive at the same time he gets free  which is very anti  climatic to say the least . there are also large narration scenes that take us  inside the thinking  of the terrorized husband and wife  which detracts from the suspense rather than adds to it . we are fully aware of their tension  and the voice  over is an insult and robs the viewer of any chance of a personal experience with the fear  as hitchcock proved time and again  is far more effective . the greatest disappointment  is to sit through the whole movie  and the get the quick  rather bland ending . i mean it just . . .  ends  in a snore .  
wow  stacy peralta has followed up dogtown and z  boys with an equally stunning documentary about the history of the big  wave surfing culture in america . piecing together insider archival footage along with interviews from surfing legends  we are transported into the daring and free  spirited life of the early pioneers whose sheer passion for the sport spawned an industry that today touches the lives of millions .  br    br   it  s getting to know these icons and their stories that gives the film its warmth . you can feel the respect peralta has for this group as we hear accounts of greg noll striding from a pack of awestruck fellow surfers on the beach to singularly challenge    foot swells off hawaii  s north coast . or jeff clark  surfing the outrageously dangerous maverick off the northern california coast all alone for   years before it was discovered and became the surfing destination in california . and the storybook history of laird hamilton  today  s surfing icon . hearing greg noll reverently refer to hamilton as the best surfer ever sent chills up my spine .  br    br    as an aside  noll  clark and others were at the sundance screenings . noll humbly described himself as an old  over  the  hill surfer . he was deeply moved by the audience reception of him and film . both he and clark were as likable in person as they were in the film .   br    br   riding giants pays homage to these extraordinary athletes while at the same time rewarding us with an insight into the magnitude and terrifying power of the waves they seek to conquer  the gut  wrenching vertical drops required to get into them  and the almost unfathomable combination of adrenaline and fear that the surfers experience each time they take on a monster swell .  br    br   all this  and the movie has more . for those of us that didn  t live in california in the    s  we get an insight into the impact of surfing on american pop culture .  and  to my surprise  the impact of the movie gidget on surfing   peralta also weaves in a primer on some of the technical aspects of the sport and the history of innovation in equipment . i  m not a surfer  but like the rest of the sundance audience  i was absolutely captivated by this film . peralta is staking his claim as the big kahuna of american documentaries .  
the best thing i can say about this film is that it is well  paced . it did not fall flat . the next best things are the supporting performances by the actor playing foppish groom  to  be edward  the always marvelous holland taylor  and the actor playing taylor  s husband . the actor helping to critique messing  s potential outfits in an early scene brings a delightful absurd  yet  winning quality to the proceedings . okay  that  s about it on the positive side .  br    br   dermot mulroney  whom i adore  is far more believable expressing contempt for messing than in any scene where he  s attempting to be either businesslike or supporting . as others noted  he appears to have no emotional investment in this enterprise other than wrapping it up as quickly as possible . messing  on the other hand  sincerely tries to carry the film and to create the illusion of chemistry with mulroney . she is adequate doing so  but is simply not strong enough an actress to pull all of this off without help . give her an  e  for effort and a  c  for achievement . given mulroney  s indifference  the one thing that could  ve helped messing would have been a brilliantly cavalier irons  esquire performance from the actor playing her ex  fianc  jeffrey . instead  his performance is weak  kneed  mewling  and feckless .  br    br   if i tried to analyze this one any further  i  d obviously be paying more attention than most of the people involved . it  s harmless enough to pass time if you have nothing else to do  and less obnoxious  and less creative  than the wedding singer  but you  re much better off watching  my best friend  s wedding  again .  
riding giants is a brilliant documentary that dives deep into the world of one of the most under  appreciated sports and brings to the surface a very human and raw emotion that only director stacy peralta could capture . everything from the structure  to the players  to the amazing stock footage  to even the style in which this was filmed only reinforced the beauty and power behind the sport of surfing . of all the surfing films that i have seen  endless summer  billabong odyssey  and step into liquid  this was the most consistent and relevant . beginning with the early ages of surfing  a brief history lesson  lasting all the way till laird  s infamous ride  riding giants goes further into the mind  heart  and soul of the sport than any of these other documentaries . how does it do this  by giving us the whole story  from start to finish  without fictionalizing or jig jagging from wave to wave .  br    br   to begin this film was structurally sound . in the other films that i have seen about surfing  you sometimes find yourself jumping from new person to new person  wave to wave  event to event  without any knowledge of why or who  in riding giants  we have a very small cast of veterans and newbies . this allows you to really go deeper into the mind of each one . also  instead of just riding waves  we are handed more history and more personal insight to the world than before . this is what really attracted me to this film . i was impressed that instead of showing all these big waves  because it is a big wave movie   we listen to stories and see first hand what these surfers had to overcome to get to those waves . i loved the information about the  beach bums  or father  s of surfing . i am still floored by the amazing tales of greg noll and his early adventures into the harsh deep blue . then  to see him in person  talking about what was going on in his mind  only added more fuel to the fire . the straightforward structure that peralta followed allowed me to follow and walk away with more knowledge of the sport than with any of the earlier films . peralta shows so much emotion and passion that you cannot help but be amazed by what these brave people have done  and where the sport is going .  br    br   add to a immaculate structure some intense and creative cinematography  and you have darn near perfect film . using techniques that i last saw in the kid stays in the picture  riding giants creates some scenes that almost feel as if they are jumping out of the screen . while it isn  t  d  it is that flat dimensional feeling that you get when you put two pictures on top of each other . in this film  it worked . it created more depth to the scenes  and really added to not just the shock value  man these waves were huge   but also the danger that these guys constantly faced . if it broke differently or they maneuvered wrong  these waves would kill them . some did die  but it didn  t stop the sport . it only created more excitement and more passion to do better . it is this love of the ocean and sport that leads me to my final point .  br    br   the human element . so many of my earlier adventures in the world of surfing documentaries left me with beautiful waves  but very little about the people . the films knew that people were watching for the waves  so it would basically go from wave to wave to wave and the maybe a short second about the person . this film was the direct opposite . peralta created this masterpiece by still giving us the waves  but devoting so much more attention onto the surfers and the immortal question of why they do this everyday . what rushes through their minds  what pushes them to go further  and the bonds that are formed while out there on the wild blue yonder . i felt like after watching this film that i not only knew more about big wave surfing  but also about the emotional side to the sport . this was an element not as developed in the other films and pushed riding giants to a whole new personal level .  br    br   overall  this film was brilliant . never have i witnessed so much passion  devotion  and love wrapped in a structurally sound film . from beginning to end  i was impressed . i would be very happy if this film won the oscar this year for best documentary  and to see a new rebirth in the surfing world and open more doors for films of this nature .  br    br   grade  out of   
no cinematic achievements here  however that  s not even the important question . how does it fare in its endeavour to be a competent date movie   and star vehicle   br    br   the formula requires the cute female lead a la ryan or aniston   check there  s a built  in tv audience   br    br   add thick  headed  compliant men  usually including the problem ex  boyfriend  fiance   check .  br    br   assemble a plot that maximizes the bankability of the stars . so far  so good .  br    br   what is the male lead to consist of  he has to make all the women in the movie and in the audience  and the gay flight stewards  instantly swoon . but . . . he cannot be so hunky as to threaten to the male audience  and he can  t outshine the star . roll cameras . . .  br    br   the problem is messing thinks she  s still in a sitcom . . . she has only one presentation as the wide  eyed doormat that she  s made a career out of . a capable actress might have pulled it off after the love scene  where things promptly nosedive into the soap suds .  br    br   you can  t help feeling good for mulroney . . . you can read it in his face that he sees through all of this . he  s gotten all the respect of a lifetime .    hitter . this time  he smacks one out to the warning track  and no one can figure out what to do  as he amusedly takes home plate .  
the director and two stars of laura       were reteamed for this solid policier dana andrews is the son of a criminal who becomes a cop to cut all ties with the past but cannot keep his inherited violent ways in check while interrogating suspects and  one night  he goes too far gene tierney is the estranged wife of his victim  a decorated war hero who has become involved with the town  s leading racketeer and andrews  no .  nemesis  gary merrill  who had himself been the protg of andrews snr .   as usual with preminger  this is a well  crafted movie with a notable opening credits sequence and enlivened by a good cast that also includes karl malden  as andrews  incumbent superior   tom tully  as tierney  s motor  mouth taxi driver dad  and neville brand  as merrill  s chief thug   with notable support also coming from craig stevens  as the slimy  wife  beating victim   bert freed  as andrews  sympathetic partner  and robert f . nolan  as andrews  stern outgoing superior  . having already been warned by the latter to mend his ways or else  andrews panics and impersonates stevens for a couple of hours following his murder to put the police on the  in this case  wrong tracks of merrill however  after tully becomes the prime suspect  by which time andrews and tierney are romantically involved   the cop goes by himself in merrill  s lair fully intending to get bumped off and  frame  the racketeer for his own murder  clearly  the protagonist is a complex character and andrews rises to the challenge with a first  rate characterization that is typically complemented by the in  house fox noir style .  
if deborah messing were not already cast as  grace   this might be a tolerable film . however  it is simply another story of a frustrated spinster with issues  who hires a paid escort  dermot mulroney  she reads about in a time magazine article to travel to london for her sister  s london wedding . how new is this plot   br    br   neither funny  nor remotely romantic  the wedding date slides over the storyline of deceptive sex by bride and best man  and paid for escorts to pass off the film as four weddings without hugh  and definitely  a dead end deal for the naive groom who is ignorant to the sexual history of his bride  amy adams  . while messing has perfected the repressed princess     something woman with a failed relationship history  her neurotic and drunken moves on yet another faux beau is simply the restating of her tv series . if this woman is an actress  get a role that does not rehash what is already on prime time .  br    br   lots of drunken female bonding  cricket visual jokes  and mulroney in a towel  nice    but the film is a bore with the obvious happy ending . expected messing sequel divorce date .  
where the sidewalk ends is quite a good film  noir crime drama and is shot well in black and white and on location as well .  br    br   a copper accidentally kills a bloke who is suspected of murder and to protect himself  he covers this up and blames it on another person he doesn  t like who has committed a lot of crimes in the past . but towards the end  he owns up but not before falling in love with a woman he meets who is the lover of the person he killed . . .  br    br   the cast includes dana andrews  while the city sleeps  curse of the demon   gene tierney  laura  the ghost and mrs muir   gary merrill  mysterious island   karl malden  the streets of san francisco  beyond the posidon adventure  and craig stevens  the deadly mantis  . good parts from all .  br    br   where the sidewalk ends is worth checking out if you get the chance . excellent .  br    br   rating  stars out of  .  
there have been so many many films based on the same theme . single cute girl needs handsome boy to impress ex  pays him and then  guess what   she falls in love with him  there  s a bit of fumbling followed by a row before everyone makes up before the happy ending . . . . . . this has been done many times .  br    br   the thing is i knew this before starting to watch . but  despite this  i was still looking forward to it . in the right hands  with a good cast and a bright script it can still be a pleasant way to pass a couple of hours .  br    br   this was none of these .  br    br   this was dire .  br    br   a female lead lacking in charm or wit who totally failed to light even the slightest spark in me . i truly did not care if she  got her man  or remained single and unhappy .  br    br   a male lead who  after a few of his endless words of wisdom  i wanted to kill . just to remove that smug look . i had no idea that leading a life of a male whore was the path to all  seeing all  knowing enlightenment .  br    br   a totally unrealistic film filled with unrealistic characters . none of them seemed to have jobs  all of them had more money than sense  a bridegroom who still goes ahead with his wedding after learning that his bride slept with his best friend . . . . plus  i would miss you even if we had never met       i could go on but i have just realised that i am wasting even more time on this dross . . . . . i could rant about introducing a character just to have a very cheap laugh at the name  woody  but in truth that was the only remotely humorous thing that happened in the film .  
  film noir  is an overused expression when it comes to describing films . every crime drama seems to be a  noir  . but  where the sidewalk ends  really is a good example of what the genre is all about .  br    br   very briefly  an overzealous detective  andrews  accidentally kills a no  goodnik who works for the mobsters . the killing is blamed on the father  tom tully  of a woman andrews meets and falls for  tierney  . to save dad from old sparky  andrews captures the rest of the mob and turns himself in .  br    br   the morally guilty cop is driven by impulses from the past . his father was a thief who was killed trying to shoot his way out of jail . but that doesn  t excuse his actions after he accidentally offs the no  goodnik in self defense . he immediately goes to the phone to report the incident but he hesitates . he  s already in hot water with the department and this could finish his career . then  at just the wrong moment  the phone rings . it  s andrews  partner and andrews tells him the suspect they  re trailing isn  t at home . he hides the body and later disposes of it by slugging a watchman and dumping the body in the river .  br    br   what motivates a guy to do something so dumb  okay . his job was at risk . but now he  s committed multiple felonies . at least i think they must be multiple . i counted obstruction of justice  assault  disposing of a body without a permit  littering  first  degree mopery  and bearing false witness against his neighbor .  br    br   in the end  we don  t know whether to root for andrews or not . the suspect didn  t deserve to die  true  but it was after all an accident because andrews didn  t know he was a war hero and  had a silver plate in his head .  maybe it  s that kind of ambiguity that made noir what it was  among other things such as characteristic lighting . if noir involved nothing more than black  and  white photography  murder  criminals  mystery  and suspicious women  then we  d have to include all the charlie chan movies under that rubric .  br    br   andrews is pretty good . he  s a kind of mark macpherson  from  laura   gone bitter . he never laughs  and rarely smiles  even when seated across a restaurant table from gene tierney  a situation likely to prompt smiles in many men . he has no sense of humor at all . his few wisecracks are put  downs . when he shoves a stoolie into a cab and the stoolie says   careful . i almost hit my head   andrews  riposte is   that  s okay . the cab  s insured .  andrews could seem kind of wooden at times but this is a role that calls for stubborn and humorless determination and he handles it well . his underplaying is perfect for the part . little twitches or blinks project his thoughts and emotional states . and i guess the director  otto preminger  stopped him from pronouncing bullet as  boo  let  and police as  poe  lice .  never could make up my mind about gene tierney . she does alright in the role of tom tully  s daughter  a model  but she  s like marilyn monroe in that you can  t separate the adopted mannerisms from the real personality traits . did tierney actually have such an innocent  almost saintly persona  when she answered the phone at home  did her voice have the same sing  along quality that it has on screen  poor tierney went through some bad psychiatric stuff  before there were any effective meds for bipolar disorder . and andrews too  nice guy though he appears to have been  slipped into alcoholism before finally recovering and making public service announcements .  br    br   the dvd commentary by peter muller is unpretentious  informed  and sometimes amusing .  br    br   anyway  this is a good film as well as a good example of film noir . the good guys aren  t all good  although the bad guys are all bad . maybe that ambiguity is what makes it an adult picture instead of a popcorn movie . for the kiddies  only one shot is fired on screen and nobody  s head explodes . sorry .  
one wonders why anyone would try to rehash successful movie plots that have already been seen  like it  s the case with this movie .  the wedding date  is one of the best examples of why not to even try to remake  under the guise of a new story  something that should have been let alone . if a project like this goes ahead with the studio big honchos  approval  then go all out with big stars and glossy production values  that way  people will come for the stars .  br    br   alas  that  s not what happens in this misguided attempt at comedy . the problem seems to be the way the screen writers have transplanted the story to london  when basically  this seems to be a typical american situation that not even the setting will be able to fix . then there is the problem with the stars . debra messing and dermot mulrooney  they have as much chemistry as oil and vinegar   br    br   since the kat and nick have no conflict from the start  the viewer is not pulled into the film the way the creators thought they would be . it  s clear that kat will fall for nick  and vice  versa in this predictable story . amy adams  who was the best asset in  junebug   comes across as a shallow girl who is willing to keep her lie going on and not come clean to the man that loves her and is going to marry her .  br    br   for anyone interested  the credits at the end of the film run for almost seven minutes   
across the great divide which we call understanding  there is still much we do not know about that which was explained by the early tribal elders . in every instance  there is much concerning the dangers of knowing too much . conversely  there are those who warn us of not preparing for what they warn is the  end time .  in this movie called  the last wave  an aboriginal native is murdered for no apparent reason . when those responsible are arrested  they remain silent less they disturb the order of things . david burton  richard chamberlain  plays the defense attorney assigned to defend the accused . although haunted by prophetic images from his own childhood and warned by modern signs given to him by an sympathetic aboriginal named chris lee  david gulpilil   burton proceeds to defend the infraction as tribal law and therefore not subject to standard justice . the movie is fraught with puzzling  dark foreboding images of apocalyptic end world disasters and warns of a future island tsunami and doom . black drama and deep rituals are what gives this film it  s frightening allure and therefore is not for the faint  hearted  in fact the simplest haunting apparitions can last for years in the nightmares of innocent movie goers . good silent drama .   
 . . . let me count the ways .  br    br    . a title  only  remake  that pulls out every clich in the slasher handbook .  br    br    . a plot so predictable that it becomes quite pathetic .  br    br    . a completely weak execution of all attempts at suspense or thrills .  br    br    . a pg    rating that insures no gore  violence  or sex .  br    br    . a villain that is not frightening or even mysterious .  br    br    . a cast of characters that are so thinly written and stereotyped that we couldn  t possibly care about them .  br    br    . a lack of any effectively creepy atmosphere  much unlike the original prom night  .  br    br    . a script of dialog that  s beyond poor  it  s mind numbing .  br    br    . a series of cardboard performances  not sure whether to blame the actors or the lousy aforementioned script for that  .  br    br     . a completely inept teen  targeted slasher remake that  s not brave enough to attempt to have an imagination  or even to show a puddle of blood .  br    br   it  s a no  brainer horror fans  save your money .  br    br   bomb out of   
the fully rounded character of the principal role of this movie  that of the cop torn up by his past and on a path of self  destruction so clear to the viewer  is unique for its time      .  br    br   along with the haunting music and the well written plot  the film is a prime example of film noir at its best . close  ups of dana  s eyes reveal the anguish within  karl malden excels as his boss  who brooks no nonsense but also has compassion for those under his command in the precinct .  br    br   otto preminger made this type of movie just about his own . if there is any fault it would be with the breath taking beauty of gene tierney who seems oddly out of place with the hardened cop . their scenes in the cafe  however  are wonderful and ring true .  br    br   tom tully  in the bit part of her father is perfect as is gary merrill as the hood . great lighting and mood setting . the building where the deadly deeds take place highly atmospheric  i love the old woman in the basement .  br    br    out of   .  
too much of something borrowed grade b   br    br   super bowl sunday is one of the slowest days at movie theaters every year . because of this  movie studios tend to avoid releasing bigger budgeted films that weekend . every few years a studio releases a counter  programming female skewing movie       s  the wedding planner   to compete with the big game . this super bowl weekend similarly titled  the wedding date  will try to find success and attract viewers not watching the game .  br    br   sick of people feeling sorry for her  single  woman  kat ellis  debra messing  tv  s  will and grace   hires male escort nick  dermot mulrony   about schmidt   to pose as her boyfriend for her sister  s wedding in london . her family has been giving her a hard time about her not being married  and her ex  fianc of seven years  who dumped her without a reason  is the best man . to make him jealous kat parades nick around her ex to make him see what he is missing . but ultimately nick helps kat realize that she can open up  and let someone love her .  br    br   the film borrows too much from similar wedding movies . it is almost a carbon copy of      s  picture perfect  and mixes in scenes similar to  the wedding planner  and  my best friends wedding  . the movie also has a reverse  pretty women  theme going for it  and knowing her audience  the director makes clever references to that and other films .  br    br    the wedding date  has all the clichd elements of a typical wedding movie  there is the stereotypical overbearing mother  holland taylor   legally blonde    and practically plagiarized wedding speeches by the family and friends at the wedding and rehearsal dinner . the twist at the ending has been done before  but it was something that wasn  t completely expected . the real reason why kat was dumped comes as a surprise and changes the direction of the film for the last half hour .  br    br   even though  the wedding date  is predictable  it is able to stand on its own . debra messing  in her first lead role  proves she can be charming and funny . dermot mulrony has great chemistry with debra messing  but most of his dialogue was too corny and unrealistic . he is able to make best of what he is given  and be able to salvage the character .  br    br   by the use of many clever puns  often sexual   the film is actually funny . although primarily a chick  flick the film has components everyone can enjoy . the feel good story  and humor make it the best date movie released in a long time .  
the title sequence shows the credits written on a rain  soaked sidewalk as people trod on it music is provided by someone whistling alfred newman  s  street scene .  then we meet det . sgt . mark dixon  dana andrews   who always wanted to be something his old man wasn  t a guy on the right side of the law . but he  s pretty vicious for a good guy . after several complaints over his roughing people up  his boss  insp . nicholas foley  robert f . simon   demotes him . foley tells him he  s a good man  but needs to get his head on straight and be more like det . lt . thomas  karl malden   who has just gotten a promotion .  br    br   meanwhile  tommy scalise  gary merrill  in a splendidly slimy performance  has an illegal dice game going and is looking to make a sucker out of the rich ted morrison  harry von zell   who was brought in by ken paine  craig stevens  and his beautiful wife morgan  gene tierney  . she figures out too late her husband is using her as a decoy  and paine strikes her when she refuses to play along . the chivalrous morrison intervenes but paine knocks him out cold . that seems to be the worst of it  but later it turns out the guy is dead and paine looks guilty .  br    br   but this won  t be paine  s story . soon dixon has fallen in love with morganbut not before losing his temper again and committing a terrible deed that he tries to cover up . morgan  s father  a tale  spinning taxi driver  tom tully   may take the rap for it . it  s up to dixon to try to pin the blame on scalise .  br    br   otto preminger directs a script credited to ben hecht and three others from the novel  night cry  by william l . stuart . this is a solid film noir with excellent performances and all the shadowy photography and murky morality we expect from this genre . it holds up until the brightly lit ending  which looks like something the studio had filmed to appease the censors . of course  the classic noir directed by preminger and starring andrews and tierney is  laura .  you  ll enjoy this  but you can  t miss that .  
seriously  i  m all for gooey romantic comedies and will get sucked into miss congeniality as easily as goodfellas . . . but this movie  it doesn  t make any sense     and i  m not even talking about the willing suspension of disbelief kind of not making sense . why does her family live in england  or  at the very least  why doesn  t she have a british accent  she  s sure cozy with her dad and he  s surprisingly forgiving of her not being around for the last two years .  on that subject  no one ever makes much of a deal about her being away for so long  . and what was with the goofy outfits at the bachelorette party  i  m not even going to get into the fact that the escort she paid for falls in love with her   that could  ve been overcome by better movie  making . i  m just saying that the characters  the setting  and the plot aren  t fleshed out enough to make an even somewhat cohesive story . oh  and the worst part  in my opinion  is the filmmaker  s consistent use of the most unflattering angles on deborah messing  s nose   i  d have sued the filmmakers if i were her  i mean  honestly  i  m all for women being who they are  but why  in seven loyal years of will and grace viewing  have i not ever noticed how incredibly odd her nose is  oh  because those producers are kind to her  this movie  like my other least favorite movie ever  armageddon  is the fault of the filmmakers  not the actors . i can see both messing and mcdermott in these roles with a better writer  director  and producer .  br    br   this easily gets my vote as one of the worst movies i  ve ever wasted time on . i  m just glad a friend loaned me her dvd  so all i wasted was time . if there were a way to make this review zero stars  i  d do it .  
gene tierney and dana andrews  who were both so memorable in      s  laura  re  teamed for this excellent     film  noir .  br    br   an embittered policeman  andrews as mark  can  t get over the fact that his father was a hoodlum who died in a police shootout while trying to break out of jail . as a result of his bitterness  mark doesn  t know when to stop using his hands . it  s this inability that leads to the accidental death of a small  time hood .  craig stevens   br    br   in trying to frame gangster gary merrill  mark unintentionally puts the heat on innocent cab  drive  tom tully  who is the father of gene tierney  who was separated by stevens .  br    br   this is a well  thought out film dealing with the conscience of a basically decent human being .  br    br   the ending is not exactly upbeat as mark will have to face the music . at least  he finally admits to what he has done .  
for romantic comedies  i often judge the quality of the film based upon the mistiness of my eyes by the end of the experience . unfortunately for  the wedding date   i can only rate the film with  out of   possible tears .  br    br   my apologies to fans of debra messing and dermot mulroney  but i did not see much chemistry between their two characters . the premise of the film is a reverse  pretty woman   with dermot playing the role of nick  a high  priced male escort hired by debra  s character kat to accompany her to england for her sister  s wedding . a romantic relationship presumably develops between patron and client . but the dialogue seemed forced and artificial . and there weren  t enough romantic sparks flying in the relationship of nick and kat .  br    br   in a supporting role  amy adams was a standout as kat  s sister . whenever amy came on screen  she served as a spark plug and catalyst for the film  s energy . perhaps if amy adams had been cast in the role of kat  the film might have had more dynamism . but as it turned out  instead of reaching for kleenex  i was looking for the visine in attempt to at least pretend that this film had some genuine sentiment and romance .  
dana andrews is one of those actors that i  ve probably seen in a dozen films  but who has never really registered for me . often stolid  taciturn  playing the same kinds of roles and looking somewhat like the similarly underrated glenn ford  he  s an actor that takes some effort to really appreciate but once you hit the right film . . . .  br    br   and this is it . preminger  s moody look at new york  s underbelly is as dirty and seedy as just about any   s noir  and andrews is in his element as too  tough cop mark dixon who just doesn  t know how to play the game to get ahead he hates criminals too much to always play by the rules . early on in the film  he accidentally kills the witness to a murder involving an illegal crap game set up by a mobster who dixon hates for personal reasons  and he spends the rest of the film trying to cover up his involvement and bring the mobster to his kind of  justice  . along the way he gets involved with the estranged wife of the man he killed  gene tierney  and also has to try to get her father off the hook for the murder .  br    br   stunningly photographed by joseph lashelle  with hard and sparkling dialogue by ben hecht and a truly powerful ending with elements of tragedy and found grace in just a minute or two of time  this is another noir for the ages and might be my favorite preminger film thus far   it  s every bit as good as the more  heralded laura .  
how many times do we have to see bad horror movies with a killer in a scream  ripoff mask  the plot of bleed is kinda original but the movie itself is a complete failure . for one thing the dialogue is poorly developed  it  s boring and wastes too much time on trivial details  the acting is bad  et cetera . i want my money back  this rental stinks worse than a skunk .  
a hot  headed cop accidentally kills a murder suspect and then covers up the crime  but must deal with a guilty conscience while he tries to solve a murder case . andrews and tierney are reunited with director preminger in a film noir that is as effective as  laura   their earlier collaboration . andrews is perfectly cast as the earnest cop  a good guy caught up in unfortunate circumstances . the acting is fine all around  including malden as a tough police captain and tully as tierney  s protective father . the screenplay by hecht  a great and prolific screenwriter  is taut and suspenseful  and preminger creates a great atmosphere .  
as you all may know  jigsaw did not make its way to blackbuster because of a member of full moon  s own staff  devin hamilton . devin is the one who sells to all of the video chains . he recently released a movie  bleed  which he was selling to blackbuster at the same time as jigsaw . he convinced the blackbuster buyer not to take any jigsaw  and double the number of bleed . the result is that jigsaw looks like a flop  and bleed looks like a hit . the major problem with that is that bleed is one of the worst movies ever  and as we all know  jigsaw is  well  gold . i urge all of you to go on to the bleed page on the internet and vote for the movie that wronged jigsaw  and all of your talents . likewise  you should go to the jigsaw page and cast high votes for it  if you already haven  t  . we need to get jigsaw up to at least an  or  .   and bleed down to around a   thus putting it on the internet  s    worst movie listing  . also  try to convince friends and family to do the same .  br    br   hope you all are doing well   matt  
a turkish bath sequence in a film noir located in new york in the    s  that must be a hint at something  something that curiously  in all the previous comments  no one has pointed out  but seems to me essential to the understanding of this movie  br    br   the turkish baths sequence a back street at night  the entrance of a sleazy sauna  and scalise wrapped in a sheet  getting his thighs massaged . steve  the masseur is of the young rough boxer  beefcake   type  and another guy  a bodyguard  finishes dressing up . dixon obviously hates what he sees there and gets rough right away . we know he has a reputation for roughing up suspects . good cop but getting out of control easy . why is it that he hates them so much   br    br   could it be that he hates himself . this part of himself he inherited from his father  that dark side that could lead him right at the end of the sidewalk  into the gutter  what if that dark side lurked within a  closet   remember  whenever dixon meets scalise   times   the guy is lying on a bed  and he only has men around him for company  the irony of the  girls  poster pinned up on the wall near his bed   .  br    br   scalise acts funny affected manners  cranking his neck arrogantly  defiant  shoving his inhalator  poppers   into his nostrils each time he talks to dixon . dixon  with a vengeance  is bent on pinning down scalise who seems not to understand   i never saw a man so full of hate as you . i consider it almost humorous the way you came after me alone .  four years jumping at me as if i was somebody special  why    br    br   because scalise is someone special indeed  he is the direct inheritor of dixon  s father   your father liked me    your father set me up in business  . he stands as dixon  s criminal brother  his dark side incarnate . and to top it all  he prefers the company of men . dixon knows it well   who killed him  paine   you or one of your playmates   playmates  notice how each time they meet  dixon manhandles scalise he picks the address  book out of his jacket  slaps his face  punches him . scalise   i warn you not to touch me   . dixon  s homophobia is obvious . or put it different  his unexpressed homosexuality . dixon  aka dixon  s kid  is the son of a thief . in reaction to this  he decided to become a cop  a good one  but there is something of the criminal in him  a dark side he is a violent copper  a murderer  a liar . besides  he is not married  brings  a dizzy blonde  to his familiar eat  out place every now and then  but nothing else . the waitress scoffing says that he doesn  t know how to make love to a woman . dixon has a deep feeling of guilt and hates himself for those reasons .  a hood and a mobster like his old man . blood will tell  . finally  in order to achieve redemption  dixon decides to sacrifice himself  if he gets his alter ego scalise to kill him  he will free himself from the guilt and free the girl and her father too .  br    br   the end of the movie brings us back to the opening sequence  scalise is pushed in the gutter and dixon deserves the right to walk the sidewalk and wins the love of the dame . he is straight at last .  br    br   the unspoken theme of the movie could very well be that of a man who in order to cover his repressed feelings  wants to experience a woman  s love  jean douchet   br    br    these notes owe a lot to the film commentary by jean douchet in the french dvd edited by carlottai  
this is a low  budget  scream  style movie .  maddy  is a new worker at a conspicuously  unnamed office  where she meets and starts a relationship with her co  worker  chris  . during a hot tub  party  chris and his friends convince maddy they belong to a  murder club  where everyone has killed someone for kicks . when maddy loses it and kills someone for real  hijinks ensue .  br    br   the film looks good  and there are the requisites for this genre and budget level  nudity  gore  maybe a few cameos from slightly bigger stars than the cast   but  after the credits roll  you  ll ask yourself why you spent   minutes of your life watching it .  
this is a great example of a rather simple film noir story that is handled exceptionally well   thanks to excellent direction by otto preminger as well as some lovely acting performances . dana andrews stars as a hot  headed detective who all too often uses his fists instead of his brains . soon after the film begins  andrews is being reprimanded for this and is warned that if this continues he  ll be off the force . a bit later  while investigating a crime he  s attacked by a suspect and andrews is forced to fight to protect himself . this time he does not use excessive force but the assailant is killed . andrews panics and assumes they won  t believe him so he tries to cover up the death   though instead an innocent man is ultimately blamed for the crime .  br    br   there  s a lot more to the film than this   including a plot involving a slimy villain  gary merrill  and a love interest for andrews  gene tierney  . all in all  this is one of the better examples of the genre   with great gritty dialog  superb lighting and a simple yet very effective story . this is the way noir was meant to be .  
spoilers included  br    br   with a title like  bleed   you know the creative juices weren  t running on high when this puppy was conceived . the movie is your basic run  of  the  mill low  budget slasher movie . oh sure  it tries to be creative with the premise of the  murder club   but we learn that was just a joke anyways . okay  for those who really care about these things  the basic plot is that new girl in town starts dating her co  worker . he invites her into his circle of friends  and at a party  they tell her how they have a  murder club  and they murder people  blah blah blah . well  we learn that it was all a joke  but not before our heroine kills a lady in a parking garage . now  the  members  of the murder club are being killed one by one . oh  and the bad guys wins and the movie ends on a downer . by that time  you won  t really care though .  br    br   in retrospect  the first   or so minutes of this movie make no sense . the motivation for the killings in the beginning of the movie is never explained . i would say that it was a way for the director to pad out the film  but on the dvd there are deleted scenes  i  m not sure why anyone would want to see more than the feature length version of  bleed   but apparently the people behind the dvd thought the viewers would be clamoring for more . on the box  it says there are easter eggs  but why the hell i would want to waste my time looking for extras on this movie is beyond me .  br    br   i was expecting a bad movie  and  bleed  delivered on that front . it wasn  t a fun bad movie though . everyone looks good in the movie  and there  s plenty of nudity  but the acting is just awful . my least favorite character is the guy who ends up being the killer . . . i think he  s supposed to be funny and amusing  but he just ends up coming off as a tool . i think the funniest moment of the movie is when our heroine kills the lady in the parking garage  in a hilariously unconvincing death . heroine shoves the women into the parking garage cement pole  and the woman looks like she barely hits the thing  and she spits out a mouthful of blood  and  dies  .  br    br   for those who think that movie making is an intricate  creative process done by professionals  check out  bleed  . it will change your mind  and you  ll realize any hack get can a movie made .  br    br   otherwise  don  t waste your time or money on this .  
  where the sidewalk ends        opens  appropriately  with dana andrews  and gene tierneys  names inscribed on the sidewalk  as dirty water streams down between the bars of a sewer grate . the sidewalk represents respectability  integrity and morality  only crooks and delinquents walk in the gutter . but even the most honourable of men have a tendency to misstep on occasion  and  when the sidewalk abruptly comes to an end  sometimes it proves impossible to avoid getting one  s shoes wet . mark dixon  dana andrews  was born in the gutter  his father a professional criminal  and has spent his entire life clawing his way back onto the sidewalk  perpetually balanced on the edge of the kerb . as a police detective  dixon wants nothing more than to display the decency and integrity that his father lacked  but he possesses a mean  streak that he can  t escape . when his quick temper leaves a murder suspect dead  dixon finds himself becoming the very father whom he despised  a cheap criminal who  ll cheat and lie to cover up his offence .  br    br    where the sidewalk ends  was the only film to reunite dana andrews  gene tierney and director otto preminger after the superb  laura         though the two films  as far as noir goes  couldn  t be further apart . whereas the earlier picture had the strong intimacy of a country  house murder tale  this film is more conventional as a gritty urban police drama . given her ravishingly memorable performance as laura hunt  it  s unfortunate that here tierney is grossly underused  occupying the typical niche of the pretty  helpless romantic interest much as she did that same year in jules dassin  s  the night and the city         . andrews  on the other hand  has rarely been better  exhibiting a toughness and unhinged anger that i hadn  t expected of him . gary merrill is suitably smug as the crime boss scalise  but he doesn  t seem mean enough for the role  and i think that an actor like richard conte  who played mr . brown in  the big combo         would have better suited the character i hadn  t realised this  but conte appeared just one year earlier in preminger  s  whirlpool       .   br    br   the tension  as dixon attempts to cover up his accidental crime  is absolutely riveting  certainly among the most suspenseful sequences of its era  though i feel that the situation still wasn  t exploited to its full potential . the taxi driver is the only person who could have decisively identified dixon as the perpetrator  but preminger hurriedly skims over the moment when he passes dixon on the stairs . had the witness been brought in as dixon was re  enacting his own movements outside the apartment entrance  we could have had some genuine fireworks . and why  for that matter  couldn  t the taxi driver  s testimony have immediately absolved jiggs taylor  tom tully  from suspicion of murder  niggling inconsistencies such as these tarnish an otherwise excellent screenplay from ben hecht  who infuses his gritty criminal underworld with hard  hitting cops and wise  cracking felons . andrews  seething and implosive law  enforcer  tormented by rage and remorse  has rarely been done better  at least the equal of robert ryan in nicholas ray  s  on dangerous ground       .   
wow . . . speechless as to the making of this film  i can  t say much . the coverbox at the local videostore should  ve said it all . . . nothing but  actors  actresses who get lost on the set of scream and decide to shoot a movie   br    br   the acting was apparently not in the budget  but they were able to afford nudity and good  looking actors  style over substance almost makes its mark here  except most of these acting  class failures keep forgetting that there is a plot that needs to go somewhere when they were reading this script . after only  or  kills by the so  called masked murderer and a confusing tie  in plot about a murder club which the dumb lead actress thinks is a real club that she can join  only if she can get over a girl bumping into her car   you want to stab your hands with the nearest sharp object to remind yourself never to get overly excited by a possibly good movie such as this .  br    br   i feel bad for the people who bought this film and can  t find anyone to take it off their hands . another example of what  s wrong with the growing number of straight to video horror releases with no thought put into the essentials . throw it away if you did buy this .  
new york police detective mark dixon  dana andrews  is a guy who has to deal with his own demons on a daily basis at the same time as coping with the normal ups and downs of everyday life . the strain produced by his internal struggle and his intense hatred of criminals  leads him to make serious errors of judgement and to fail to recognise the need for any code of conduct to be adhered to in his dealings with people on the wrong side of the law . he has a track record of treating suspects and known criminals with gross brutality and this has brought him into conflict with his superior officers who have censured him for the amount of violence he has regularly used . dixon cannot reconcile these calls for restraint with his own extreme and irrational hatred of all criminals . he is tormented by the fact that his father was a criminal and has been left with a powerful need to live down his father  s reputation and to avoid fulfilling the low expectations that many people have of him as a consequence .  br    br   when a rich texan is murdered following an evening  s gambling run by gangster tommy scalise  gary merrill   dixon is assigned to the case . scalise tells dixon  s superior officer detective lieutenant thomas  karl malden  that the victim had been accompanied by ken paine  craig stevens  and his wife morgan  gene tierney  and that paine had committed the murder . dixon goes to paine  s apartment and questions the suspect who is both inebriated and uncooperative and when paine punches him  dixon retaliates and paine collapses and dies . dixon goes on to dispose of the body in a nearby river . paine  s wife is questioned and after describing what had happened at scalise  s place  adds that her father had gone to paine  s apartment later that night to take issue with him about the fact that she  d returned home with facial bruising . paine had previously attacked her on a number of occasions and her father  jiggs taylor  tom tully   had threatened that if it happened again he would beat paine up . this information leads to taylor being arrested and charged with murder . nobody accepts dixon  s explanation that scalise had killed the texan and then had paine killed to eliminate him as a witness .  br    br   dixon continues to make various attempts to get scalise convicted but eventually realises that the only way to successfully achieve his goal is to write a confession about his own role in paine  s death and the cover up . he does this and also records that he is going alone to confront scalise so that the police can arrest the gangster for dixon  s murder . the confrontation with scalise and the eventual means by which dixon achieves his own redemption  provide a tense and fitting conclusion to this gritty thriller .  br    br   dana andrews  strained and preoccupied expressions convey his character  s perpetually troubled nature and his anxieties as he deals with a series of misfortunes which include and follow paine  s accidental death . dixon  however  isn  t the only one to experience misfortune as morgan  a successful model loses her job because of all the trouble surrounding her . her father  who  d some years earlier been awarded a diploma for assisting the police  unjustly finds himself charged with a crime he did not commit . ken paine who  d been a war hero had experienced unemployment and a loss of self esteem which led to alcoholism and wife beating and scalise who  d been set up in business by dixon  s father also suffers his own misfortunes .  br    br    where the sidewalk ends  is a thoroughly engaging tale involving a group of interesting and diverse characters and a main protagonist who is the absolute personification of moral ambiguity .  
let me being by saying the i followed watching this video by watching saw and after bleed  saw looked like the all time greatest horror flick ever even though i thought it was only fairly good . bleed is pretty bad . the best part is seeing the female cast nude . the gore is very fake looking and over  done . it has its funny parts but its extremely predictable and i didn  t want to stay to see the horrible ending . if i could  i would ban these actors and actresses  the only reason being is that debbie rochon  maddy  has been in over a hundred other videos and i  ve also seen two other members of the cast in equally or worse motion pictures . they should not allowed to continue this madness .  
the charm of otto preminger  s grandiose  visionary film noir is that it has ambiguous intentions  betraying the gloomy essence of the central character  who is still vexed by living in the shadow of his criminal father . dana andrews  driven  vindictive cop is shown as an outsider  irrational and destructive  who maybe can change because he might  ve found a good woman to look after him . the troubled man reclaims himself with his own tangled impression of rectitude . the distressing mood permanently circuited into the latter half of the story by screenwriter ben hecht reverberates in andrews  tense performance as preminger saturates the film in a relevantly prosaic substance of style . we don  t just see and hear the city at night we feel it because preminger lets us see and hear even the most peripheral and distant factors of it .  br    br   dana andrews furnishes a complex character unfolded through his streaks of violence and the hatred that always infests him . as the plot develops  he is secretly entangled in situational snares  yet he is renewed by the outward acts that can be seen in the vintage noir protagonist  s visceral facial expressions before he executes them .  br    br   this reflection of a specific phase in the development of the genre is an engrossing  feral and shady film noir that is set in the double  dealing climate of the underworld  where the hero is so estranged that he is always swelling with rage  and even though he loses his rational resistance  occupational principle  and ethical limits  he  s still a good cop . preminger just winks at telling a social  conscience drama about a corrupted community within the sprawling cityscape  rather keeping the thriller riding on andrews  shoulders as an existential journey of personal ramifications about a man with an oedipal fixation who is becoming disconnected though with the ever  shrinking influences of the law on his side and an undying perception of right and wrong .  br    br   the production companies in the early     s pussed out on the social  problem picture  and rather made  low  budget  low  risk thrillers  such as this  apparently in an attempt to evade the conniptions of conservative critics and social busybodies . but there is an expressionistic matter  of  factness to preminger  s inimitable approach . he injects each scene with a sense of everyday drama as a backdrop for the plot . each supporting character must pull their own weight by doing something interesting  but none of them are cartoons or depressing comic reliefs . to him  every character thinks they  re the star  as per the straight  from  the  shoulder self  assertion of karl malden as a missionary police inspector and a veteran waitress at a lunch counter . it is those who are the stars    andrews and gene tierney  both anguished by their futile attempts to subdue their emotional intensity    who don  t want to be .  
this mess is so bad it doesn  t even qualify as horror .  br    br   debbie rochon  s talent is completely wasted in this film . she is not even the villain . the rest of the actors look like porno wannabes and the plot is so lame i won  t even mention it .  br    br   do yourself a favor and skip to the end credits to hear upcoming band twomarlowe perform  better than sex  it  s total    s disco candy song . nice up tempo song about gambleing  sex . way more entertaining than  bleed  . put it this way  when one has the equipment to copy videos  but decides only to record the song at the end of movie  you have a really  bad  movie .  
while to most people watching the movie  this will be of little interest  but out of the many hundreds of movies dealing with magic and the occult in one form or another  this one is probably the best in many ways .  br    br   from the golem to the craft the subject seems to be of endless interest to the movie industry . the majority of movies which touch on it in any way do so childishly  for example  witchboard   a true piece of utter garbage in every way  either taking the transcendental elements as cheap excuses for cheesy special effects or cardboard cutout villians  cf  warlock   . more frequently the subject comes up in an hysterical religious context  in the various revelations  oriented movies  the antichrist is inevitably an advocate of some kind of new  age style practice  . rarely  a movie seems to show at least some passing experience with magic as it is practiced in real life  but the presentation of the occult in such movies can at best be described as allegorical and not literal  or symbolic  or . . . just not quite right .  br    br   i watched this movie again after many years tonight . i had seen it before on vhs it is a dark  moody piece  and after watching it on dvd  i would say if you have any intention to watch this movie  watch it on dvd  don  t watch it on vhs .  br    br   the darkness and moodiness are overpowering in vhs but in dvd the movie takes on a very different tone . i think weir pushed the dark aspects intentionally for style  but when the movie is converted to the lower color medium of vhs this goes over the edge . dvd brings the movie to life again and i saw it differently .  br    br   anyway  seeing it as if for the first time  i realized that the treatment of magic is extremely good in this movie . it  s difficult to go into all the reasons why  i don  t care to take the time to do so .  br    br   for anybody who  s curious  anyway  if you want to see what it is like in real life  this movie is just very right on countless levels .  br    br   and for anybody who isn  t  you really wasted a lot of time reading to this point .  
i have been known to fall asleep during films  but this is usually due to a combination of things including  really tired  being warm and comfortable on the sette and having just eaten a lot . however on this occasion i fell asleep because the film was rubbish . the plot development was constant . constantly slow and boring . things seemed to happen  but with no explanation of what was causing them or why . i admit  i may have missed part of the film  but i watched the majority of it and everything just seemed to happen of its own accord without any real concern for anything else . i cant recommend this film at all .  
this is a very well  made film  meticulously directed and with some excellent character acting that at times is deeply moving  for example the scene with the loyal but unsophisticated sidekick cop and his wife . the plot is convincingly worked out and exciting . the gangster character is particularly interesting and plays an almost metaphysical role in the life of the hero . it  s made clear that the cops are just as rough and ready as the underworld characters .  br    br   a couple of slight reservations i found the ending slightly one  sided as it celebrates the hero  s successful integration into the structure of the police and justice system  which collapses the ambiguity of the police characters which has been maintained up to that point . also i found the lead female character somewhat weak little more than a catalyst for the salvation of the hero  all she seems to do is weep and swoon as the tough guys battle it out .  
when you put this dvd into your player and hit  play   you will experience a brief moment of silence and see a black screen as the laser is guided to the correct starting point in the center of the disc . cherish this moment . make sure you have some tylenol or something  preferably pm  s so you can fall asleep   because you  re going to have a massive headache once this movie starts .  br    br   starring a bunch of big  breasted girls and with an opening that actually made me chuckle a bit  i thought i  d be in for a good time . sure  the opening sequence was a wee bit awkward and most of the jokes fell flat and it seemed like this was going to be a scream ripoff  by the way  my sole chuckle was from julie strain  s final comment in this scene  . but then i knew there was trouble . . . the opening sequence had a terrible rock song . during this terrible rock song  i looked over the dvd chapter titles and saw things that said  topless in the backyard   and  better than sex   . i knew what the selling point of this movie was going to be .  br    br   and that  s the sad truth the only good thing about this movie is the attractive cast . other than that  it  s a sadly routine slasher film that throws in an  innovative  concept about murder clubs  which ends up being fake anyway . so  the whole movie then points in another direction to try to be confusing and this huge mystery  but it all just adds up to not being interesting at all and leaves you feeling like you don  t care for any of the characters . i mean  when the main character of the movie is revealed to have murdered an innocent woman  can you really feel any sympathy towards her when she  s in fear for her life  the scream influence is prevalent throughout  with a ghost face killer and some really terrible jokes . we  re also treated to scenes of the main character talking to her mom and dad  lloyd kaufman  the only other cool part of the movie   about an abortion or something . uh . yeah . . . this isn  t a  so  bad  it  s  good  movie  it  s just bad .  br    br   someone compared this to a troma film  but . . . you know  most any film that comes from full moon  or its offshoot  as this film proves  is horrible . not horrible in a troma sense   i  ve seen many troma films  and i can honestly say they all offer something  anything that you can walk away with and tell your friends about later . however  this film has pretty much nothing at all enjoyable about it . beware .  
pretty good film from preminger labyrinthine at times  as it explores sets and locales from various angles and perspectives as if it were a nature film on the denizens of the modern city and how they live . in this sense it is visually and spatially satisfying  as its hero  a good cop with a bad temper  gets into very hot water when he accidentally kills a guy with a plate in his head .  br    br   dana andrews plays the lead as if it were hamlet  and has never been better . the story may be pure melodrama but andrews gives it weight  and almost raises it to the level of tragedy . as his girl  gene tierney is attractive but unremarkable . gary merrill makes for a very interesting villain  with his natural warmth providing a nice contrast to andrews  coolness his smiling  amiable  seeming bad guy seems to be continually challenging his nemesis by the mere fact of his being emotionally open  as opposed to the tightly wound and moralistic cop who is pursuing him .  br    br   there are no major surprises in this film  which seems transitional for all concerned . for director preminger it is a reunion of sorts with his laura stars  andrews and tierney  who were passing their career peaks at around the time the movie was made . the supporting cast    merrill  karl malden  neville brand   are  understandably  more optimistic  as they were all on their way up . preminger  as serene an observer as ever  lets the events unfold without expressing a strong point of view  as the morally ambiguous ending is somewhat disappointing  for the cat and mouse game between the two antagonists seems larger and more archetypal than any mere movie could contain  much less resolve .  br    br    
my boyfriend and i rented this because we thought it might be a good  halloween  take  off . a killer terrorizing young people  a white mask . . . you get my drift . we were dead wrong  no pun intended . we not only discovered one of the worst movies out there  but also that it is a cult classic  it is filled w  plot holes and makes no sense . the actress who plays maddy is pretty  but that  s about it . i do give credit for it being shot on a very low budget   i always support movies like that . just not this particular one .  br    br   this movie may be good to see if you  re drunk or high otherwise don  t bother . unless you want to lose your movie privileges like i did   
a detective  dana andrews  with a reputation for violence accidentally kills a suspect in a murder  craig stevens  and then tries to cover it up . the otto preminger directed film has plenty of atmosphere but the story gets watered down when the dead man  s wife  gene tierney  falls for andrews . he was doing fairly well digging himself into and out of a big hole  but she was just too much light at the end of the tunnel for a noir film . gary merrill is great as scalese  a crime boss that andrews is obsessed with bringing down  and the tension between them gives the film its energy and drive  especially a scene in a bath house with merrill  andrews  and neville brand  and the night time rendezvous outside of bellevue hospital  that sets up what ought to have been the film  s conclusion . high marks for atmosphere  andrews  merrill  etc . . . and the general portrayal of the underworld  though the love angle and the simplistic good cop bad cop elements don  t help its cause .  
sadly  more downs than ups . the plot was pretty decent . i mean  nothing out of the ordinary  but it had a story  unlike the other modern horror flicks . the other good thing was the cast . i  m not saying that the acting was good  because it wasn  t  but every actor  actress was hot and attractive .  br    br   one of the downs are that the movie only become exciting after the first   minutes or so . the rest was quite boring . another down  or you could consider it an up if you want  is the excessive nudity . all  girls were topless for a few minutes  and all the guys showed their butts for a long time . it  s not that i  m against nudity  but this was a horror movie  not  the dreamers  .  br    br   unless you  re very desperate to watch some guy take off his swimsuit and run around naked for a few minutes  or watch a girl get naked for no reason  or you  re a die  hard fan of debbie rochon  than this is the movie for you . but if you  re looking for a good horror movie  stay away .  
otto preminger  s noir classic works almost as a flip  side of laura . . . while that film was glitzy and features the high fa  luting clifton webb  this film is a whole lot seamier . dana andrews is a less than good cop who accidentally kills a man only to have it potentially pinned on the father of the girl he loves . preminger keeps things moving at a brisk clip so that lapses in logic are easily overlooked . andrews is quite fine  a lot less wooden than he  s been in the past  and the stunningly beautiful gene tierney is stunningly beautiful  creepy craig stevens plays the unlucky victim . where the sidewalk ends is a must see and a terrific companion  piece to preminger  s equally lurid whirlpool  also starring tierney  .  
a killer  wearing a plastic white mask and black overcoat  is killing the friends of hollywood producer shawn banning  danny wolske  who inherited his position when someone sliced open his former employer from crotch to chest . perhaps the psychopath is newly hired maddy  dabbie rochon   an attractive  raven haired beauty with a troubled family past  plagued with nightmares . shawn and his friends play a practical joke on maddy  concerning a supposed murder club they started where each member randomly selected a victim to kill . when maddy accidentally murders a woman in a parking garage because of a dent put into her car by this person  she finds that shawn  s pals were jerking her chain . but  shawn and his comrades are concerned about maddy  s admittance towards committing the murder and contemplate turning her into the proper authorities . deciding to wait on a definite decision  each member fall prey to the white  masked psycho with maddy a suspect considering the fact that she already has killed before . or  is someone else behind these murders  low budget slasher  executive produced by charles band  with gore murders that fail to convince . plenty of tits on display and allen nabors goofy character chris might entertain those with low expectations . the murders include a stomach being opened with intestines showing  a neck sliced  an electrical cord thrown into a pool frying a female victim who had all day to escape  an ax buried into the back of a male victim  and  to top it all  a couple are strangled by a rope during their sexual climax  . . for added effect  the killer uses the breaker bar of a socket wrench as extra leverage to twist the rope as tight as possible snapping their necks  . there are enough plot holes to drive a truck through  such as why maddy has nightmares of murders she didn  t commit  how she could murder someone so violently  . . with blood all over her  winding up waking in her bed without leaving something at the scene of the crime that would easily implicate her  and how shawn could go so long  allowing her to continue working at the company despite what she told regarding the murder she committed  and a continual desire to join the supposed club that doesn  t exist .  br    br   what bothered me the most was the film  s desire for having us somehow sympathizing with this female protagonist who wanted to join a club after killing someone  later proclaiming it to be an accident . the film builds maddy as the potential psycho throughout because of her past . her family disowned her for an abortion . she has black  outs and always appropriately winds up at the scenes of crimes after the fact . in a lot of slashers  the one who seems the most likely killer is often the red herring  but this film goes out of it  s way to point the finger at maddy . when the twist occurs  we  re left rooting for maddy  yet we know she  s not right in the head . it  s a tough sell caring for this chick . she does look great in a man  s army shirt  though . and  rochon isn  t afraid to let her puppies breathe  either . low budget horror fans will get a kick out of seeing cult favorite brinke stevens as a religious fanatical mother who preaches against what maddy did  calling her a murderer as beloved troma producer lloyd kaufman is the aloof father who can not get in a word edge  wise to protect the daughter he truly cares about . cult siren julie strain has a minor cameo  showing her tits  of course  as the opening murdered male  s girlfriend getting her head crushed by a hammer . oh  and check out the office for which shawn works  you  ll see a lot of full moon posters and art  work spread throughout the walls .  
director otto preminger reunites with his laura stars dana andrews and gene tierney in this rough and ready to rumble film noir where the sidewalk ends . this film is complete with a well  written crime story with interesting characters  unexpected turns  and clever dialogue and an eye  pleasing look with great camera movements and dark and gritty film noir lighting . dana andrews stars as detective mark dixon  part mobster and part cop  who has a reputation of being too physically tough with criminals . after one case sees dixon in search of suspects and answers  he gets far more involved than he wanted .  br    br   dana andrews is terrific in his role  tough and edgy  andrews  dixon is ready to knock any and all off their heels if they get on his bad side . he  s the perfect film noir anti  hero  he  s not very nice all the time  but we still root for him . gene tierney does a solid job in her role  as much as it is  being a sweet shoulder for dixon . there might not be too much to tierney  s role  but she certainly goes above and beyond what others could do with the role  knocking every member of the audience out with her kind smile  gentle manner  and twinkle in her eye . the supporting cast isn  t too bad either  karl malden being the most memorable  stepping in and giving a good supporting performance as lieutenant thomas . where the sidewalk ends is no laura  but it is a great film noir filled with great characters  story  and picture .  
the only reason i am bothering to comment on this movie is to save you all   minutes of your life and maybe your money .  br    br   i bought it ex  rental for   .    it looked interesting  so i took a chance .  br    br   within minutes of turning it on i realised i  d made a mistake . the entire cast should be stored away until winter and then thrown on the nearest log fire  where they could meet more of their kind .  br    br   as for the devin hamilton  writer and director   he should just be shot  sadly this should have been done before he made this rubbish .  br    br   avoid this film  if you see it in the shops run away .  br    br        
ah  noir . my favourite genre . otto preminger  s follow  up to  laura  is a film noir set in a postwar new york  where corruption and violence run rampant . it stars dana andrews as sergeant mark dixon  a detective whose brutal tactics have landed him in hot water with his superiors .  br    br   when he accidentally kills a murder suspect  dixon tries to pin the blame on crime boss tommy scalese . dixon is close to achieving his goal when he becomes involved with the dead man  s wife  the beautiful morgan taylor . of course  in typical noir fashion  things quickly go down hill .  br    br   while the film does nothing interesting camera or narrative wise  it does have a constant tone of dread and gloom . like most great noirs  it is also wonderfully paced  sucking the viewer in right from the start .  br    br   still  like most of preminger  s workmanlike films  it  s not something i  d watch again . it lacks the verbal wit of wilder  the visual flamboyance of hitchcock or the spatial experimentation of welles . like lang  s later work   sidewalk  feels very much a  clone  of what a noir should be  instead of something really artistically genuine .  br    br   thematically the film is nothing special . it  s about a cop who finds himself slowly becoming a criminal . in one scene dixon explains that his father himself was a small time crook  the film flirting with the notion of predestination  but this one scene is as far as otto goes  or dares to take his ideas .  br    br   the camera work is likewise disappointing . there  s no intelligence in otto  s camera . no effort is made to assign the camera to anything . it doesn  t play with space or architecture or empahsise the step  by  step police procedural . it  s just tripod set ups with the occasional dolly in and out . meaningless  though most people don  t care about these things .  br    br   there is  however  one good shot where our hero is trapped in a car full of gangsters  noir cage  which itself enters a vehicle  lift  another cage  and is taken up into the chief gangster  s lair . like lynch  s  blue velvet   otto retopologizes the film  constantly likens  upstairs  to hell . this works well  but the set design fails to reinforce it .  br    br        otto seems content to follow the hawksian mould of what a noir is  rather than toy with the possibilities of where noir can go . like  detour    night in the city    scarlet street    in a lonely place    act of violence    bomberang  and  johnny eager    where the sidewalk ends  is one of those well made second tier film noirs . it  s competent and engaging  but lacks that extra special magic .  
maddy  debbie rochon  is a mentally unstable young woman with a troubled past who gets more than she bargained for when she goes to a pool party with a handsome coworker . when her date and his friends jokingly say they belong to a murder club   maddy takes it seriously and moves straight up to level   by bashing in the brains of a woman in a parking garage  for denting her car   . but is maddy also the one donning a plastic mask and killing off other members of the group or has someone else lost it   br    br   the plot of this film  originally titled make  em bleed  is very poorly conceived  full of holes and spirals completely out of control before a ludicrous  out  of  left  field twist ending . some of the dialogue is downright laughable . i didn  t have a problem with rochon  s performance  but the supporting cast was atrocious . however  i managed to sit through this full moon release thoroughly entertained . there  s plenty of skin and blood and it  s the perfect type of flick to sit around with a group of your buddies and pick apart . horror fans may also enjoy the cameos from brinke stevens and lloyd kaufman  as debbie  s parents  and julie strain  an early victim  .  br    br   score  out of    
otto preminger  completing a noir cycle at twentieth century fox  reunited his  laura  leads for this stark  gritty detective drama . dana andrews again portrays a cop  but this time he  s hardened  cynical and has been accused of police brutality by his superior   you don  t hate hoods  you liked to beat them up   . mark dixon  andrews  despises criminals  as his own father was a crook . he doesn  t want to be  sandy dixon  s kid  so he became a policeman  but his methods are harsh and hated .  br    br   one night  investigating a murder  he unknowingly punches a suspect  ken paine  craig stevens  so hard that it kills him . a shaken dixon does his best to cover it up  intending to frame a hated thug  scalise  gary merrill  for the crime . however  the blame falls on paine  s father  in  law  jiggs taylor  tom tully   whose daughter  department store model morgan taylor  tierney  is estranged from her husband but keeps getting drawn into his gambling schemes . paine had slapped his wife  enraging her father  who did show up at his son  in  law  s apartment  but not until dixon had departed with the body . with no better suspects  jiggs is arrested and charged .  br    br   riddled with guilt  mark falls for morgan and offers money for an attorney . he decides to take on scalise anyway but leaves a letter to be given to the department in the event of his death  confessing everything . in the end  he cannot live with the knowledge with what he has done  and he permits the letter to be read by his superior and by morgan . despite all the tragic circumstances  morgan professes her love for mark and will wait for him .  br    br   it was great to find this film on dvd  after so many years of televised obscurity . eddie mueller  a film noir historian  provides the commentary and does a good job  but i find his assertion that audiences wouldn  t have caught the significance of the casting of the two leads  since  laura  had been made six years earlier . in that respect  he is mistaken because they had appeared in  the iron curtain  two years prior to wtse and the film was a box  office success .  br    br   andrews and tierney were fabulous together  and ruth donnelly is tremendous comic relief as restaurant owner martha  fanning the flames between the detective and the dame .  br    br   the night cityscapes give the film an air of menace . gary merrill is great as the low  life scalise  who had a criminal past with dixon  s dad   your father liked me   he taunts mark  . karl malden and a young neville brand are terrific also . and tom tully is just touching and funny as morgan  s unjustly accused pop .  br    br   a watchable film noir with a fantastic cast .  
devin hamilton is probably better known as the new name in legendary full moon entertainment . sadly  his arrival to this independent studio happened in a time when budget and production values are at its lowest in years . however  in his short career hamilton has established himself as a creative director that manages to make inventive and original stories . now  this doesn  t mean that his movies are good  but at least they are different to the usual in the horror genre .  br    br   in his debut   bleed   hamilton presents us a creative twist on the slasher sub genre . maddy  debbie rochon  is a young woman that finally gets the job of her dreams . not only that  but it seems that she has also found a boyfriend in shaun  danny wolske   it seems that life finally smiles for maddy after many sad events . until on a party with shaun  s friends  they tell her that they created a  club  where members have to kill somebody to enter .  br    br   obviously they are joking  but maddy wants desperately to fit in  that she actually murders someone . after that event  someone starts to kill the rest of the members of the  club  one by one . it is up to maddy to figure out what is going on as anybody could be the killer  including her .  br    br   maddy is a very interesting character wonderfully played by the beautiful debbie rochon . it is a very interesting twist on the genre to have the lead actress as part of the suspects . the concept is so original and rochon  s performance is so good that it is a real shame that hamilton didn  t develop the whole story a little bit better . the movie feels quite slow at times and overall the feeling is the one of a good idea wasted on a bad movie .  br    br   the rest of the cast is weird in the sense that all the female cast is very good  while the male cast is painfully bad . danny wolske is terribly wooden and his performance as a yuppie is quite stereotypical . julie strain  brinke stevens  lloyd kaufman appear in small cameos and are wonderful in their small roles . also  there is lots of nudity  both male  female  and the cast is very good looking  so it is really a plus .  br    br   the low  budget hurts the film in the effects department  as there are very few gory scenes and are not really graphic  probably because they would look bad   nevertheless  considering the budget  the film at least looks good .  br    br   hamilton  s more recent effort  the sexploitational venture  delta delta die    is a better crafted and overall funnier film . while this one is not as bad as other better known films  it still has a lot of flaws and may be interesting only for fans of debbie rochon or fans of independent no  budget films .      
dana andrews stands  where the sidewalk ends  in this     film that also stars gene tierney  gary merrill  karl malden and neville brand . andrews plays new york city detective sgt . mark dixon  a cop with a bad temper who has gotten into trouble in the past for beating suspects . when a man is murdered at a gambling club owned by a mobster  scalise  merrill   dixon and his partner go to investigate . scalise blames the murder on ken paine  stevens   who has now left the club after fighting not only with his wife  morgan  tierney  but the victim . dixon thinks the victim won a lot of money and was killed as a result by the mobster  s men . he goes to see paine and  not realizing he has a plate in his head from the war  knocks him to the floor and inadvertently kills him . now he must cover up the murder . as a further complication  he falls for morgan her father  ken tully   who went to paine  s apartment after he saw that paine had hit his daughter  is arrested for the crime .  br    br   this is a really terrific  gritty noir with some good performances . the ruggedly handsome and weathered andrews is convincing as a tough yet nervous detective who has to stay one step ahead of his colleagues . the movie reunites him with his fabulous  laura  costar  gene tierney  and she looks lovely as a model with bad taste in men who apparently is used to being roughed up . little does she know  she  s got another one on her hands . ken tully does a terrific job as her father  who protests his innocence despite some damning evidence . karl malden is very tough as dixon  s boss .  br    br   my only problem with this well  directed  fast  moving and absorbing film is the ending . pure hollywood and  putting myself in tierney  s place  i doubt i would react the same way . a minor criticism for a film written by ben hecht and directed by otto preminger . i didn  t find it as awe  inspiring as  laura   but few things in this world are . if you like film noir  this is a must  see .  
odd slasher movie from producer charles band . in the days of full moon  s greatest success band said that he would never make  real killer films  because he felt that little puppets and big monsters added a fantasy element that made the films better  people killing each other is thus real and less fun . a nice philosophy and a true shame that band  having destroyed the full moon studio through possible shoddy business dealings became so desperate for home cinema profits that he started making exactly what the likes of blockbuster wanted and therefore sacrificed creativity and originality . the team behind this one also worked on  delta delta die   and  birth rite   both equally bland by full moon standards . debbie rochon is on usual top form here as a newbie to a gang of dudes and dudettes who decide to make up a story about a  murder club  . she  as one would obviously  does all she can to join and then panic sets in because it was not a true story and silly ms rochon believed it and now everybody will have to run around getting covered in blood and maybe killing each other or maybe not . the choice is there  s and with regard to this movie its yours . . . not recommended but not entirely bad either .  
where the sidewalk ends        br    br   where one ends  another begins  br    br   this is a prototypical film noir  and as such  pretty flawless  from both style and content points of view . the photography and night settings are first rate  cinematographer joseph lashelle lets the drama ooze in scene after scene   and the close  ups on faces pure expressionism . i can watch this kind of film for the visuals alone  even when the actors struggle and the plot stinks .  br    br   but the acting is first rate here  and the plot features what i consider the core of most noir films  the alienated male lead  representing the many men returning home to a changed united states after the war and feeling lost themselves  . in fact  not only is dana andrews really convincing as the troubled  loner detective  he has a small but important counterpart in the film  the lead female  s  first  husband  an decorated ex  gi fallen onto hard times and booze . the fact the one man kills the other might be of monumental significance  overall   the regular guy struggling through his inner problems to success while the medal  wearing soldier slips into an accidental death with a silver plate in his head . the woman transitions from one to the other   we assume they marry and have children as suggested earlier in the movie . even if this is pushing an interpretation onto it after the fact  we can still see the path of one man with some psychological baggage careening through a crisis to the highest kind of moral order   turning himself in for a small crime just at the point he has actually gotten away with it .  br    br   this movie belongs to andrews . he plays a far more restrained and moving type than kirk douglas plays in a similar role in william wyler  s detective story made just one year later  and andrews certainly is less theatrical . you could easily see both movies side by side for a textbook compare and contrast session . the fact that andrews as detective dixon is morally struggling through it all  and douglas as detective mcleod is not  might explain why one man gets his girl and the other doesn  t . gene tierney pulls off a hugely sympathetic  demurring  and ultimately conventional and  pretty  type of woman   not just a cardboard desirable  but someone you want dixon to actually marry .  br    br   the criminal plot is really secondary to the main drama  but is effective enough in its play with types and clichs . the bit parts are kept snappy  the small details  like the portable craps table  nice touches  far from the character actors or the glamour of gambling in casablanca . but then  curtiz  s great movie is iconic even in the details   it makes no effort to be subtle and real and penetrating  but instead is sweeping and memorable and inspiring . they come at opposite ends of the war  and represent opposite possibilities for their leading men . bogart is beginning his active duty  dixon  and the man dixon has killed  are all through . through  thoroughly  but not washed up .  br    br   it  s no accident that many  possibly most  film noirs have what you would call  happy  endings . the man overcomes his adversaries and transforms his inner self  and the moviegoer  then and now  understands just how beautiful that must feel .  
quite possibly the nicest woman in show business  and the sexiest  debbie gives another fine performance here . although her work in american nightmare was far superior  she is still worth watching in this film .  br    br   the cast is filled with your typical melrose place types  chiseled features and seductive curves  that i had never seen before . other than debbie  laura nativo was the only actress i had seen before  in the similar delta delta die .  br    br   the plot centers around a group of california arrogants who initiate poor naive debbie rochon into their clique . they tell her that they have a murder club  and that she must kill someone to be accepted . debbie wants nothing more but to be accepted by these cool people  so she quickly kills a person  and now the group must decide what to do with her  after she fell for their joke .  br    br   violence   plentiful  debbie rochon occasionally has blood splattered all over her and all of the murder scenes are done in your face . gore hounds will surely enjoy    br    br   nudity   plentiful as well  debbie rochon has several nude scenes as do many of the no  name actresses and actors . the pool party seems as just an excuse to get everyone naked man and woman alike . julie strain also has a topless cameo but her character is gone after the first five minutes  .  br    br   story   could have received a higher vote because the plot was very interesting and unique but the plot serves as filler between nude scenes . i understand that b  rate films use nudity often  but this is borderline excessive  .  br    br   acting   the acting is sub standard to say the least . rochon is always a treat  easily the best b  rate actress in the business today  but her character in american nightmare was superior . danny wolske does a fine job as debbie  s object of lust but the other actors were nothing to write about  .  
where the sidewalk ends deserves to be a better known film directed by otto preminger  the man who gave the world laura . and this time  he  s got the same co  stars dana andrews and gene tierney . it must be said that tierney here is under  used in what amounts to more of a supporting role while the spotlight goes to andrews .  br    br   he plays a tough  hardened cop used to dealing with a bunch of thugs in too vigorous a way until one night he accidentally kills a man in the process of arresting him . when suspicion falls on a cab driver  tom tully   he goes along with the investigation into the murder but starts to feel guilt because he  s in love with the cabbie  s daughter  gene tierney  . tierney  by the way  looks a little too elegant for the girl she  s playing here and doesn  t seem to fit into the squalid background elements of the story .  br    br   the story takes a grim turn as the investigation goes deeper and it  s discovered that the murdered man had a silver plate in his head from his service as a war hero . by the end  it turns into a morality tale with andrews developing a conscience over his crime .  br    br   it  s fascinating as film noir with capable performances from a strong supporting cast . a good entry in the field of noir  forcefully directed by preminger and nicely played by andrews and tierney  despite the slight miscasting of her character .  
another case of a decent dvd case betraying the shot  on  video quality of the film .  br    br   it wasn  t that bad . rochon does a serviceable job and damn  the cast is good looking . i  ve never seen that many musclebound guys hang out together on a regular basis . this movie really wanted to make you think rochon was the killer  but it was not to be . my biggest problem with the film was that by the end  i didn  t much care who was the killer  and the real killer made little sense  since it was out of the blue and the filmmakers were thinking  ha  betcha didn  t see that one coming  sucker   . yeah  there were continuity errors about  mainly with ms . rochon  s ever  changing wardrobe   but for an indie slasher it  s not that bad . i was pretty sure at the beginning it was just a thinly veiled excuse for girls to go topless  but that was just a gimmick . the dialog was overly think and painful at times .  br    br   just don  t have high expectations going into this  and it won  t be that bad . and lloyd kaufman  s cameo is wonderfully understated .  
david burton  richard chamberlain  quite good  is a lawyer  more adept at handling corporate taxation  . . and suffers from unusual dreams which bother him seeing this aboriginal man shrouded in darkness   who is called on to take a case concerning a group of aboriginals charged with the murder of one of their own named billy . . we see that he tries to steal stones with ritual painting on them and is killed when a leader of an aboriginal tribe named charlie  nandjiwarra amagula  uses a  death bone  to stop his heart . meanwhile  revolving around david  bizarre weather patterns effect sydney such as rain beating down polluted dirt and rock  sized hail during bright blue skies  with no sights of clouds  such as the one that hits a school in central australia   not to mention  a  deformed  rainbow which is split    into groups . as david pursues the case he finds that he is far closer to the weird events taking place than he could ever realize . one aboriginal named chris  david gulpilil  appears to him in a dream holding a stone with blood and he finds that this man is one of those he is to represent at trial  he finds that it  s quite possible  after some strange meetings with charlie and conversations with chris  that he very well might be linked to a spirit named mulkurul and that his dreams are actual premonitions of possible horrors yet to come .  br    br   absorbing apocalyptic drama builds it  s story methodically and is completely original and unpredictable . with peter weir in charge  the film is visually arresting as we see these very overwhelming images of possible doom towards civilization  but the film  s most compelling angle is certainly david  s journey to find that monumental truth that plagues him as he questions charlie and chris countlessly  at first to help his men get off from a crime they didn  t commit  and ultimately to find out what he has to do with anything catastrophic that is occurring or might occur later .  
city girl meg tilly receives a horrifying phone call from her mother and  understandably shaken  returns home to her family  s rural digs  only to be faced with a mystery why are all the homespun residents acting out in bizarre and unsettling ways  radiation thriller  with barely a nod to ecology  has small town residents going berserk  which  laughably  includes two women gazing at each other with desire in a public place and tim matheson receiving oral attention from a girl on an office bench . the picture is too silly for words  wasting tilly  s wistfulness and quiet intensity on trash while forcing itself into a corner it can  t possibly hope to get out of . some of the cinematography by thomas del ruth is good  particularly a fire sequence set inside a garage   though he is let down by the scrappy editing   and a fairly bathetic finale . simplistic screenplay has nary a surprise nor a shred of originality up its sleeve .     from   
i  m a big fan of fan of film noir  and this film by otto preminger easily stands as one of the best that i  ve seen  preminger has reunited two of his stars from the hit  laura   gene tierney and dana andrews  for an entirely different sort of crime film . laura was based around love  and this film is based around hate as we watch police detective mark dixon  a copper already suffering scrutiny from his superiors for his heavy handed tactics  accidentally kill a suspect and try to pin the murder on a known criminal a man by the name of tommy scalisi . the plot is brilliantly worked  and preminger excellently balances several plot points but it all comes back down to the main moral implication surrounding our main character . the fact that the film is set in the criminal underground means that the plot is given an excellent base to work from  and director otto preminger expertly captures the sleazier side of life by showing the main characters gambling  beating one another  and their women   shooting and more  and this also helps to offset the film from the earlier  laura   which was very much set in upper class society .  br    br   the role of mark dixon gives dana andrews one of the most interesting parts of his career . here  we have a character that is difficult to like as he  s so cold  but the fact that we can understand his motives ensures that he  s easy to sympathise with  and that allows the audience the ability to plug into his plight . the character development is well timed  and as we  ve follows this character and his motivations throughout the film everything makes sense by the end . his co  star is the beautiful gene tierney  who isn  t given as much to do in this film as she was in laura a film that made tierney its linchpin . she does well with what she  s got  however  and the lead duo  s chemistry is excellent and tierney helps to complete every scene she  s in . i can  t say that this is a better film than the earlier laura that  s a hard act to follow  but this film certainly fits into the film noir formula better than preminger  s earlier film . the film also makes a good comparison piece for laura as just about everything in this film is opposite to the     movie  yet it  s all strangely familiar . highly recommended to all   
renown writer mark redfield  as edgar allen poe  tries to conquer old addictions and start a new life for himself  as a baltimore  maryland magazine publisher . however  blackouts  delirium  and rejection threaten to thwart his efforts . he would also like to rekindle romance with an old sweetheart  a significantly flawed prospect  as things turns out . mr . redfield also directed this dramatization of the mysterious last days of edgar allen poe . redfield employs a lot of black and white  color  and trick photography to create mood . kevin g . shinnick  as dr . john moran  performs well  relatively speaking . it  s not enough .  
otto preminger  s dana andrews cycle of films noirs are among the  largely  unsung jewels of the genre . because they lack paranoia  misogyny or hysteria  they may have seemed out of place at the time  but the clear  eyed imagery  the complex play with identity  masculinity and representation  the subversion of traditional psychological tenets  the austere  geometrical style all seem startlingly modern today  and very similar to melville . the lucid ironies of this film are so loaded  brutal and ironic that the  happy  ending is one of the cruellest in hollywood history . brilliant on the level of entertaining thriller as well  tense  and packed with double  edged dialogue .  
let  s be honest . as a film school project  made without budget and  real  actors  this is a passably interesting film . as something to be released on dvd for an innocent viewer  it  s a very poorly produced product . if i would be idly changing channels and happened to catch this film accidentally  it would probably arrest my eye and attention for a while . as a person who bought this dvd under the impression that i would be getting a proper cinematic product  i . e . a film  i feel deeply disappointed . it  s a videotaped tv play  something along the line of old sixties serials  but without that certain charm . aside from the leading man mr redfield  who also is the director   the other actors seem to be either chaps from the campus  a bit too old for that actually   or members of the director  s household  who appear before the camera without any help from not only the acting couches  but also the make  up artist or hairdresser  a bonnet over outgrown permanent bangs or a top hat over mullet is a very long way from creating     s  . it  s all shot using a motionless mounted camera in a small  bare studio  sometimes using blue screen for outdoors backgrounds . synthesizer generated uninspired score of lame  period  inspired romantic karaoke insults the viewers ears on more than one occasion . the film attempts to be  dreamlike   whereas in fact it  s merely conceptionless collage of those shots that made it to the editing  and believe me  the standards weren  t too high to start with  . there are interesting dialogs every now and then  but overall it  s pretty lame and two  dimensional production in more than one way with no flashes of genius from either the director or any members of the crew . that  s how  artsy  films attempted to look in the   s . mr redfield does a much better job as an actor than the director .  
at first glance  it would seem natural to compare where the sidewalk ends with laura . both have noirish qualities  both were directed by otto preminger  and both star dana andrews and gene tierney . but that  s where most of the comparisons end . laura dealt with posh  sophisticated people with means who just happen to find themselves mixed  up in a murder . where the sidewalk ends is set in a completely different strata . these are people with barely two nickels to rub together who are more accustomed to seeing the underbelly of society than going to fancy dress parties . where the sidewalk ends is a gritty film filled with desperate people who solve their problems with their fists or some other weapon . small  time hoods are a dime  a  dozen and cops routinely beat confessions out of the crooks . getting caught  up in a murder investigation seems as natural as breathing .  br    br   while i haven  t seen his entire body of work  based on what i have seen  dana andrews gives one of his best performances as the beat  down cop  det . sgt . mark dixon . he  s the kind of cop who is used to roughing up the local hoods if it gets him information or a confession . one night  he goes too far and accidentally kills a man . he does his best to cover it up . but things get complicated when he falls for the dead man  s wife  morgan taylor  tierney   whose father becomes suspect number one in the murder case . as morgan  s father means the world to her  dixon  s got to do what he can to clear the old man without implicating himself .  br    br   technically  where the sidewalk ends is outstanding . besides the terrific performance from andrews  the movie features the always delightful tierney . she has a quality that can make even the bleakest of moments seem brighter . the rest of the cast is just as solid with tom tully as the wrongly accused father being a real standout . beyond the acting  the direction  sets  lighting  and cinematography are all top  notch . overall  it  s an amazingly well made film .  br    br   if i have one complaint  and admittedly it  s a very  very minor quibble  it  s that tierney is almost too perfect for the role and her surroundings . it  s a little difficult to believe that a woman like that could find herself mixed  up with some of these unsavory characters . it  s not really her fault  it  s just the way tierney comes across . she seems a little too beautiful  polished  and delicate for the part . but  her gentle  kind  trusting nature add a sense of needed realism to her portrayal .  
this is the kind of film that everyone involved with should be embarrassed over . poor directing  over the top acting and a plot that rambles on with no point other than to show violence . i thought when i first saw it that it would be perhaps a satire of the media and how it shows violence but it  s not . i  m not sure what makes the film worse . oliver stone does his worst directing ever . from scenes where woody harrelson  s face morphs for no reason or robert downey jr  s dreadful performance as wayne gale who is a reporter who seems totally bonkers  this movie is simply a mess .  
elegance and class are not always the first words that come to mind when folks  at least folks who might do such a thing  sit around and talk about film noir .  br    br   yet some of the best films of the genre   out of the past    the killers    in a lonely place    night and the city   manage a level of sleek sophistication that elevates them beyond a moody catch phrase and its connotations of foreboding shadows  fedoras  and femme  fatales .  br    br    where the sidewalk ends   a fairly difficult to find film   the only copy in perhaps the best stocked video store in manhattan was a rough bootleg from the amc cable channel   belongs in a category with these classics .  br    br   from the moment the black cloud of opening credits pass  a curtain is drawing around rogue loner detective marc dixon  s crumbling world  and as the moments pass  it inches ever closer  threatening suffocation .  br    br   sure  he  s that familiar  cop with a dark past   but dana andrews gives dixon a bleak stare and troubled intensity that makes you as uncomfortable as he seems . and yeah  he  s been smacking around suspects for too long  and the newly promoted chief  karl malden  in a typically robust and commanding outing  is warning him  for the last time .   br    br   yet dixon hates these thugs too much to stop now . and boy didn  t they had have it coming   br    br    hoods  dusters  mugs  gutter nickel  rats  he spits when that tough nut of a boss demotes him and rolls out all of the complaints the bureau has been receiving about dixon  s right hook . the advice is for him to cool off for his own good . but instead he takes matters into his own hands .  br    br   and what a world of trouble he finds when he relies on his instincts  and falls back on a nature that may or may not have been passed down from a generation before .  br    br   right away he  s in deep with the cops  the syndicate  his own partner . dixon  s questionable involvement in a murder  investigation  threatens his job  makes him wonder whether he is simply as base as those he has sworn to bring in . like bogart in  lonely place   can he  escape what he is    br    br   when he has nowhere else to turn  he discovers that he has virtually doomed his unexpected relationship with a seraphic beauty  the marvelous gene tierney  who seems as if she can turn his barren bachelor  s existence into something worth coming home to .  br    br   the pacing of this superb film is taut and gripping . the group of writers that contributed to the production polished the script to a high gloss   the dialogue is snappy without disintegrating into dated parody fodder  passionate without becoming melodramatic or sappy .  br    br   and all of this top  notch direction and acting isn  t too slick or buffed to loosen the film  s emotional hold . gene tierney  s angelic  soft  focus beauty is used to great effect . she shows herself to be an actress of considerable range  and her gentle  kind nature is as boundless here as is her psychosis in  leave her to heaven .  the scenes between tierney and andrews  s dixon grow more intense and touching the closer he seems to self  destruction .  br    br   near the end of his rope  cut  bruised  and exhausted dixon summarizes his lot  innocent people can get into terrible jams  too  . .  he says .  one false move and you  re in over your head .   br    br   perhaps what makes this film so totally compelling is the sense that things could go wildly wrong for almost anyone   especially for someone who is trying so hard to do right   with one slight shift in the wind  one wrong decision or punch  or  most frighteningly  due to factors you have no control over . noir has always reflected the darkest fears  brought them to the surface .  where the sidewalk ends  does so in a realistic fashion .  br    br    one nit  pick of an aside this otherwise sterling film has a glaringly poor dub of a blonde model that wouldn  t seem out of place on mystery science theater . how very odd .   br    br   but noir fans   heck  any movie fans   who haven  t seen this one are in for a terrific treat .  
god  what an awful thing  oliver stone probably wanted to experiment or something  see the terrible use of music and pictures here  but what for really  the whole thing behind  natural born killers  seems to be a  clever  look at how medias can turn into complete trash but unfortunately the movie turns into trash itself . please mr . stone  next time you want to criticize the fascism of tv shows using violence to get high rates  avoid doing the same with your movie  michael haneke said quite cleverly about this film that it was denouncing media fascism with fascist cinematographic ways . how true . . . only he forgot to tell us about the massive headache you get after sitting through this overlong load of crap   
in where the sidewalk ends  otto preminger reunites dana andrews and gene tierney  surely in hopes of recapturing the magic of his laura . but they  re wildly dissimilar films  set in different strata of new york  not to mention at opposite poles of the noir universe  . a fine mist of the gothic hovers over the upscale manhattan of laura  with its erotic obsession and faint whiff of necrophilia where the sidewalk ends is pure urban soot and grit befouling a town of basement apartments  steam rooms and parking garages .  br    br   but it  s every bit as fine a movie as its revered forerunner  and dyed  in  the  wool noir  laura  by contrast  one of the clutch of films from     which the french first dubbed noir   was still very much a sophisticated murder mystery  . daylight enters only on very temporary sufferance  and director of photography joseph lashelle makes the most of the alleys and brownstones  the docks and the el . this is quintessential big  city  specifically big apple  noir  like several others from the bumper crop of      like side street and sleeping city and the tattooed stranger and edge of doom .  br    br   as the movie opens  police detective dana andrews is on the carpet for his brutal ways  particularly his vendetta towards crime boss gary merrill  whom we learn was set up in business by andrews  ne  er  do  well father  . when an out  of  towner is stabbed to death at a floating crap game operated by merrill  the hair  trigger andrews roughs up a witness  causing him a fatal crack to the skull  exacerbated by a steel plate installed in the veteran  s head  . realizing that his job  s already on the line  andrews dumps the body in the river after making it look like the suspect had taken a powder .  br    br   of course  that  s far from an end to it . the corpse is discovered  his estranged wife turns out to be tierney  and all the evidence starts to turn toward her father  tom tully   a hack driver who happened not only to have been cruising the same mean streets the night of the murder but to have ample reason to want his abusive son  in  law dead . but the embittered loner andrews finds in tierney a summons to his better nature he tries to exonerate her father while still keeping his own involvement in the whole sordid business a secret . . . .  br    br   not so epigrammatic as laura  the script for where the sidewalk ends  by ben hecht  shows a pungency of its own  in a second dressing  down  his superior tells andrews  look at you  all bunged up like a barrelhouse fag   .  br    br   but while laura spread its attention over half a dozen characters  here andrews is all but the sole focus  even tierney  s role is far less central than her half  spectral laura  . and andrews may never have excelled his performance here . it  s tight  lipped and taciturn  but never more eloquent than when his face is silently registering the anguish to which his own obstinacy has brought him . he  s a pent  up sufferer who can find release only through the safety  valve of violence  he even lashes out against his loyal partner  bert freed  . to be sure  he finds too swift a road to redemption though the agency of his beautiful co  star . but that was the style of the times  and a sweetened  up ending does little to undermine this new york story of violence  corruption and urban entanglements .  
natural born killers        br    br   cinema cut r  br    br   director  s cut nc     br    br   it  s an unusual oliver stone picture  but when i read he was on drugs during the filming  i needed no further explanation .  natural born killers  is a risky  mad  all out film  making that we do not get very often strange  psychotic  artistic pictures .  br    br    natural born killers  is basically the story of how two mass killers were popularised and glorified by the media there is a great scene where an interviewer questions some teenagers about mickey and mallory  and the teenager says  murder is wrong . . . . but if i was a mass murderer i  d be mickey and mallory  . mickey describes this with a situation of  frankenstein  the monster  and dr . frankenstein   dr . frankenstein is the media who has turned them into these monstrous killers  br    br   most oliver stone films examine the flaws of the america  the country that the director loves and admires . i guess  natural born killers  is about the effect of mass media  technology and how obsessive as a nation  americans are  and most of the world  over things such as mass killers and bizarre situations .  br    br   the killers played by woody harrelson  mickey  and juliette lewis  mallory  are executed astonishingly by two excellent actors who step into the lives of two interestingly brutal killers . mickey and mallory believe that some people are worthy of killing  perhaps in the cruel theory of social darwinism  survival of the fittest   mickey says in his interview in prison  that other species commit murder  we as humans ravage other species and exploit the environment the script is interesting  but it is questionable how much this film amounts to  in the sense of making us think about society and human behaviour  rather than the intensity of a  hour bloodbath that we have seen .  br    br   the last hour of the film takes place in a maximum security prison we see the harsh realities of prison life the attitudes of the warden etcoverfilling of prisons  maybe stone is questioning the future  the path that society is leading to .  br    br   two other interesting characters first  a reporter who runs a show about  america  s maniacs  and is obsessed with boosting ratings  that he goes to any length to capture the story of mickey and mallory . the other is police officer scagnetti  an insane  perhaps sadistic officer that is in love with mallory  he also has some weird obsession with mass killers  since his mother was killed during the massacre at waco  texas by charles whitman .  br    br   the cinematography is superb different colours  shadows  styles create a feeling of disorientation the green colour most evident of all is green  to resemble the sickness of the killers  in the drugstore when they are looking for rattlesnake antidote  .  br    br   the camera work is insane shaky  buzzy  it takes some determination to get use to it and accept it . highly unorthodox  psychedelic and unusual .  br    br    natural born killers  does not glamourise the existence of insane murderers  it questions it and how we as the public may fuel this attribute . . .  br    br   although the above review sound quite positive  i did dislike the film . quentin tarantino  who originally wrote the script for the film  was not pleased with the altered screenplay and he asked for his name to be removed . i can see why . while mildly interesting at times  natural born killers is a mess of a picture .  br    br        
we  re a long way from laura . once again otto preminger directs  dana andrews stars as a police detective named mark  and gene tierney is the beautiful woman who haunts him  but nothing else about where the sidewalk ends resembles everyone  s favorite sophisticated murder mystery . instead of deliciously quotable dialogue we get gritty  harrowing realism . while the earlier film took place in the ritzy upper echelons of new york society  here we  re in the low  rent district of dark streets  hoodlums  cheap restaurants and crummy flats . tierney  gorgeous as ever  now works as a department  store mannequin and lives in washington heights  the neighborhood of the  doll  who once got a fox fur out of laura  s mark mcpherson  . this time andrews is mark dixon  an older  sadder  more troubled version of the cool cop in a trench coat .  br    br   where the sidewalk ends belongs to a sub  genre of noir  movies about police brutality focusing on cops who can  t control their violent impulses . like kirk douglas  s character in detective story  dixon owes his seething contempt for crooks to his father  s criminal past . where douglas is self  righteous and blind to his own faults  andrews is burdened by repressed guilt and self  loathing . he accidentally kills a suspect and covers up his actions with an attempt to throw suspicion on a slimy gangster  gary merrill  whom he has been vainly pursuing for years . instead  a kindly cab driver is suspected because he  s the father of the dead man  s estranged and mistreated wife morgan  gene tierney  . dixon  falling in love with the wife of the man he killed  tries desperately to save her father without giving himself away .  br    br   among noir protagonists  dana andrews had this distinction he was incapable of appearing unintelligent . even when playing an average joe  as he usually did  he always comes across as unusually sensitive and perceptive more than that  his air of being too thoughtful for his own comfort gives him that haunted   and haunting   quality that was his essence as an actor . he played ordinary guys  cops and soldiers  but always with a tragic undercurrent of seeing and knowing too much . his conscientious heroes are marked by exhaustion  guilt  the inability ever to  lighten up .  no other actor could have expressed so well the bottled  up anger  the slow  burning pain  the agonized intelligence of mark dixon . he also has a muted tenderness  a muffled warmth and even wry humor that make him heartbreaking . this comes out when he takes morgan to a restaurant where he  s a regular  and for the first time we see this cold  brutal man trading mock insults with the waitress  whose sarcasm can  t hide her affection and concern for him . when dixon asks his partner for money to get a lawyer for morgan  s father  he supplies it even though they recently argued and dixon threw a punch at him . there are no words about loyalty or knowing he  s a good guy deep down  but we see it all in the man  s anguished silence and his wife  s resignation as she hands over some jewelry to pawn . dixon  s goodness comes across through other people  s reactions to him as much as through andrews  s deeply moving performance .  br    br   though dana andrews was a minor star  he may be the quintessential forties man . he goes through some movies hardly ever taking off his overcoat with that boxy  mid  century silhouette  further fortified by the fedora  the glass of bourbon  the cigarette he doesn  t take out of his mouth when he talks  he looks imprisoned in the masculine ideal of toughness and impassivity . while many noirs romanticize the two  fisted tough guy  where the sidewalk ends offers an unflinching portrait of the reality behind the faade  a gripping and melancholy exploration of the roots and consequences of violence .  br    br   andrews was sadly underrated in his own time  he was the only one of the three protagonists in the best years of our lives not nominated for an academy award  though his low  key performance is far more compelling than frederic march  s hammy  oscar  winning drunk  . fortunately  andrews appeared in some films that ensured his immortality  and now at last this little  known film  which contains his best performance  can be seen as part of the marvelous fox film noir set . this series  including a number of never before released titles  such as nightmare alley and thieves  highway   suggests that twentieth  century  fox may have had the finest record of all the major studios when it came to film noir .  
spoilers some people claim that natural born killers is brilliant criticism of the media obsession with violence . but this contention ignores the actual content of the film . oliver stone could have shown his serial killers as vicious  inhuman murderers of innocent people and contrasted this with a morbid media fascination . instead he lends them justification . the movie portrays just about every victim as someone who deserved to be hurt . engaging in vicious stereotyping  stone presents the victims as unpleasant caricatures  dumb rednecks  broken  english speaking immigrants  lazy fat people . the one person that the homicidal lovebirds is also a stereotype . of course they befriend the old  hallucinogen  using american  indian  because they  re trendy  dude  let  s make him an admirable character . fat  chinese clerks and  hicks  are uncool  so let  s make it seem like the deserve to die . instead of twisted  hateful that are corrupted by their misdeeds  their rampage makes them happier and more in love . mickey and mallory are made sexy and cool and surreal visuals are bound to entice more impressionable people . justice is mocked . the police and prison officials are portrayed as brutal  ugly and scowling compared to the gq murderers . again  this is not in the media reports within the film but in the  reality  in the film . there is no nuance or subtlety in the film  just overblown performances and visuals . the film says nothing new or specific about the obsession with violence . the proof that the film fails in its message lies in actual real world reactions to it . some impressionable young people who saw this movie cited it as inspiration for murders that they committed . the film  s  message  is a failure because it inspires people in the opposite direction with horrendous real  life results . the clever message is nowhere to be seen .  
perhaps the most gripping and intelligent of crooked cop movies is otto preminger  s  where the sidewalks ends   from a really excellent script by ben hecht based on the novel  night cry  by frank rosenberg . . .  br    br   dana andrews is the honest  tough new york policeman  always in trouble with his superiors because he likes his own strong  arm methods as much as he detests crooks . . . when he hit someone  his knuckles hurt . . . and the man he wants to hit is a smooth villain  gary merrill  who points up the title .  why are you always trying to push me in the gutter   he asks andrews .  i have as much right on the sidewalk as you .   br    br   dana andrew  s obsession and neurosis are implanted in his hidden  painful discovery that he is the son of a thief . . . his deep hatred of criminals led him to use their own illegal methods to destroy them  and the pursuit of justice became spoiled in private vendetta . . .  br    br   by a twist of irony unique to the film itself  dana andrews and gene tierney of  laura  are united once more  and andrews now seems to be playing the same detective a few years later  but no longer the romantic  beaten down by his job  by the cheap crooks . . . this time  he goes too far  and accidentally kills a suspect . . . the killing is accidental  the victim worthless  yet it is a crime that he knows can break him or send him to jail . . .  br    br   using his knowledge of police procedure  he covers up his part in the crime  plants false clues  and tries to implicate a gang leader  but cannot avoid investigating the case himself . . . the double tension of following the larger case through to its conclusion without implicating himself in the murder  is beautifully maintained and the final solution is both logical  satisfying  and in no way a compromise . . .  br    br   the film is one of the best detective films of the    s  with curious moral values  also one of preminger  s best . . .  br    br   preminger uses a powerful storytelling technique  projecting pretentious camera angles and peculiar touches of the bizarre in order to externalize his suspense in realism . . .  
you probably heard this phrase when it come to this movie   herbie fully loaded with crap  and yes it is true . this movie is really dreadful and totally lame .  br    br   this got to be the second worst movie lindsey is ever in since confession of the teenage drama queen . the only good thing about this movie seem to be the over talent cast which by far is better than the movie million times and is the only selling point of the movie . i don  t see how such a respected actor like matt dillon could be a part of this movie  isn  t he read that horrible screenplay before he sign on to be in it   br    br   what i didn  t like about this movie is also base on how herbie is surreal and fantasy like extraordinary ability and climb on wall and go faster than a racer car after all it just a beatle . i know it is a kids movie but they have gone overboard with it and it just turn out more silly than entertaining . little realism is needed plus the story is way too predictable .  br    br   final words unless the kids are actually     years i highly doubt that any one could enjoy this senseless movie . what wastage of my money . i feel like cheated .  br    br   rating      grade f   
as a young teenager at the time  airwolf was compulsory viewing for a generation who wanted their  cowboys and indians  to have amazing gadgets and whizz  bang explosions .  br    br   in many ways  the show was essentially knight rider in the skies similar comic  book technology  a central character who was essentially a loner  and echoing the concept of one man making a difference .  br    br   but in other  important ways  it was thematically very different from knight rider  street hawk  the a  team and other action shows of the time . for one thing  the premise of the series is built not on a desire to help those in need  but by stringfellow hawke  s possession of airwolf for essentially selfish reasons  as leverage to try to find his mia brother  st john  . and then there is the dark edge provided by basing the series firmly in an   s cold war context  complete with soviet espionage and central american dictators  not to mention the enemy within . sure  the a  team constantly referred back to vietnam and the team  s status as fugitives  but it was generally done with a light touch and was rarely central to the plot itself . with airwolf  the intrigue was key to the tone and direction of the show  although this was  ill  advisedly  diluted as the series went on .  br    br   with hindsight  the cold war setting clearly dates the series  many of the stories are creaky and contrived  and much of what airwolf does is clearly implausible even with today  s technology . but that  s really not the point . airwolf was rip  roaring fun  it tried to tell interesting stories without relying solely on the big action sequences  and it didn  t sugar  coat everything by miraculously ensuring nobody died . sometimes it failed  but often it succeeded admirably  and on a tv budget to boot .  br    br   for uk readers  dmax  sky channel     have just started  jan      daily re  runs of airwolf . set your sky box for this blast from the past  we may even get the re  tooled  re  cast  and sadly vastly inferior  fourth season  which to my knowledge has never previously been shown in the uk .  
i can sit through this movie once  but i doubt i could make it through a second time . mildly entertaining mainly for the physical presence of lindsay lohan . the fun of matt dillon  think something about mary   and the re  emergence of a more serious acting micheal keaton . this is not the fun romp the love bug was but it is watchable . one of my main detractions from the movie was the fact that herbie had evolved into r  d  antics for the most part . i was bored with the headlight eyes effects about the second time of the   or so times they were used and the bending front fender caused the same reaction from me . go see this with your little ones  i . e . the  single digit bracket  kids and don  t expect a lot from this film .  br    br    x  
one of my favorite shows in the    s . after the first season  it started going downhill when they decided to add jean bruce scott to the cast . deborah pratt was wonderful and it was fun watching her and ernest borgnine  s character go at it with each other . the last episode she appeared in was one of my favorites for in the second season . unfortunately during those days  blacks did not last long on television shows . some of the episodes in the second season where okay but the third season it was more about the human characters than airwolf and it was not shown until almost at the end of the show . when it went to usa  it was disgusting     
herbie  the volkswagen that thinks like a man  is back  now being driven by maggie peyton  lindsay lohan   a young woman who hopes to become a nascar champion . the only thing standing in her way is the current champion  trip murphy  matt dillon   who will do anything to stop them .  br    br   the original love bug wasn  t that good . even as a kid  i remember not liking it very much . i had some hope for the sequel though . i mean the cast is pretty good and the trailer makes it seem like a pretty fun movie . unfortunately  herbie is no better now than he was before . the film is defiantly weak for people over the age of   . it will probably entertain the kids but that  s all .  br    br   i realize it  s a kids film and all but they could have made the film a little more interesting . there were very few laughs and it got boring near the end . most of the actors seemed dead in their roles too . lindsay lohan was alright as maggie peyton . she usually gives better performances like in freaky friday and mean girls . matt dillon gave the best performance out of everyone . he was very good as the bad guy even though he didn  t have a lot to work with . justin long  breckin meyer and michael keaton are really just there and they don  t do anything special .  br    br   angela robinson directs and she does an okay job . she tries to keep the film interesting but she  s working with a weak script . thomas lennon and ben garant wrote the screenplay and would it be any surprise to you that they were also responsible for taxi and the pacifier  these two make light films yet they fail to really make the stories interesting or enjoyable . it  s not completely their fault but hopefully next time they will try harder . in the end  herbie is a safe  predictable family film that  s worth watching if you  re a kid . everyone else is better off skipping it . rating      
i used to watch this show when i was a little girl . although i don  t remember much about it  i must say that it was a pretty good show . also  i don  t think i  ve seen every episode . however  if you ask me  it was still a good show . i vaguely remember the theme song . everyone was ideally cast  the costume design was great . the performances were top  grade  too . i just hope some network brings this series back one day so that i  ll be able to see every episode . before i wrap this up  i  d like to say that i  ll always remember this show in my memory forever  even though i don  t think i  ve seen every episode . now  in conclusion  when and if this show is ever brought back on the air  i hope that you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good .  
a failure . the movie was just not good . it has humor that  year olds that will not even giggle at . i mean  sure  some parts were amusing  but most of it is not . lindsey lohan is a great actress  and a bad singer   and she should be working on better movies . the movie should have been aired as a disney channel original movie  that is free .  br    br   the only thing that was well done about this movie was the music . nothing like a remade rock soundtrack to brighten up your day . these songs are so good . especially alyson and amanda  s walking on sunshine and caleigh peter  s  beach boy song  fun fun fun .  br    br    out of   . if i gave it a ten   of that would be the music and  will be the movie . not worth your money  but the soundtrack is .  
  the last wave  is far more than the sum of its parts . it  s not merely a disaster film  not simply an exploration into australian aboriginal spirituality  and certainly more than a simple court drama . writer  director peter weir manages to take these elements to the next level to produce a truly effective and thought  provoking film with the same eerie atmosphere he gave to  picnic at hanging rock  two years earlier  that you will continue to remember years later .  br    br   when lawyer david burton  chamberlain  is called to defend chris lee  gulpilil  over the death of an aboriginal for which he may or may not be directly responsible  he finds himself not merely struggling to get the truth from lee  but making sense of what he hears when it does come . as with the aboriginal belief that there are two worlds  the everyday and the dreamtime  the truth exists on two completely different levels  with ramifications more disastrous than burton could ever have imagined .  br    br   no doubt the reason why  picnic at hanging rock  is better remembered is because of its enduring mystery . we are led along the same path but forced to find answers for ourselves . in  the last wave   we can piece everything together by the end of the film . however  even with all the information  we have to choose how much of it we want to believe  because the film takes us beyond the borders of our normal realities .  br    br   on the production side  weir uses his budget to great effect  progressively building a sense of doom in everything from soft lighting  to heavy rain  to good use of sound . the incidental music is unobtrusive  never trying to be grandiose . richard chamberlain manages to convey the bafflement the audience would doubtless feel as he tries to unravel the mystery . david gulpilil excellently portrays a man trapped between two worlds  wanting to do the right thing  but afraid because he already knows the ending .  br    br   put all these things together  and you have a perfect example of why david weir is a familiar name in cinema thirty years on . strongly recommended .  
i wanted to see it because of two reasons . one  it was the remake of high sierra with bogart  two  the bogart part was played by jack palance  whom can play dramatic roles with some subtility  as in the big knife .  br    br   but now i wonder why they decided to shoot this remake . the film follows the same plot as hig sierra only here  the actors don  t care  the director is lost in his thoughts  and who knows what the producer was thinking . jack palance is getting bored looking at shelley winters and shelley winters is asking herself what she  s doing in this film . i don  t even want to compare her to ida lupino in the same role . and of course  they had to use the dog story again  they surely could have come up with some different ideas . perhaps the color makes it nice to see the same location where they shot high sierra  but that definitely doesn  t add any quality to the film .  br    br   it  s a waste of time if you  ve seen high sierra before . otherwise  why not see a pseudo  film noir . as for me  i  d rather die than see it one more time . . .  
airwolf the movie  a variation on the original  part pilot  yet the movie although shorter  does contain extra footage unseen in the  hour pilot the pilot is much more of a pilot than the movie where as a pilot movie is normally the same   parter combined  but the movie is actually a different edit with extras here and cuts there .  br    br   worth a look  even if you have the season  dvd set  i  d still pick up a copy of the  movie  it  s still in some shops like virgin  woolworths and the likes of mixed media stores  although it generally needs ordering  but it saves needing to buy online  as many of us still don  t do or trust online shopping  but if you look around airwolfs in stores  br    br   airwolf was truly  of the    s most under rated shows .  br    br   a full size airwolf is currently being re  built for a helicopter museum   info and work in progress pictures are over at http   airwolf . org also with airwolf mods for flashpoint and flight sim games it seams she  s finally here to stay    
i went to see this movie with my   y . o . daughter . i insisted we go the matine showing  not because i  m a tightwad  but just feeling i had . in the nascar spirit  this is a sponser  s dream . so much blatant advertising  it almost qualifies as an info  mercial  if it weren  t for the so  called acting . keeping with tradition  the herbie franchise continues with its cheesy story lines  the car is only a  vehicle   no pun intended  for this cornball of a motion picture . earlier herbie installments  although cheesy as well  were produced during more serious times  making them a little easier to digest . ms . lohan  disney  s reigning drama queen  has little acting ability . i was surprised that mr . keaton and mr . dillon would get involved in such a project . only the snack bar  was a bigger ripoff   
so yes it is quite nostalgic watching the  st episode because this is the one episode i definitely remembered . i enjoy watching the first season and yes compared to the action packed shows we have now this show seems lame . but frankly i like the  less violent  part of the show and the story line has more substance than the new ones now . i thought it interesting that belisario  s airwolf and jag have similar theme  the lead actor  hawke and harm  both are looking for an mia relative  brother  father  . wonder if robert belisario  s personal life mimics these  shows  theme .  br    br   question  does anyone have pictures of hawke  s cabin . i love that cabin  kinda like a dream cabin of mine  and that is one of the scenes i remember about airwolf .  
there are few uplifting things to say about this  but i can mention matt dillon doing his best to make something out of nothing and the many split screens and graphics that are worthwhile . as most race movies suffer from the premise that car lovers are not that intelligent  we end up with movies like this .  br    br   lindsay lohan who surprised so much in mean girls has to make better decisions which roles to take . here she can only fail .  br    br   children will only be mildly entertained because it tries to appeal more to adults than children  although still pretty dumb  . the ones in the theater i saw it with showed no real interest after a couple of minutes . and as a family sports movie this is horrible . the better moments are in the beginning at the scrapyard creating some sentiment and later in the car  bash fest creating some tension . if you develop a car as a central character you have to develop it better than here . after a few obligatory race scenes you are in for the best part being able to leave the multiplex in your own car .  
unlike another user who said this movie sucked  and that olivia hussey was terrible   i disagree .  br    br   this movie was amazing       olivia hussey is awesome in everything she  s in  yeah she may be older now  because many remember her from romeo and juliet  but she  s wonderful   br    br   this story line may be used quite often  but it  s a unique movie and i  ll fight back on anyone who disagrees  i enjoyed this movie just as much as i have any other olivia hussey movie . olivia  s  my girl  and i love her work .  br    br   i saw this for the first time on saturday          and fell in love with it . not only because  s it  s an olivia movie  but because of it  s unique story line and wonderful direction .  
so  back when herbie made his first appearance  i was perfectly happy watching dean jones mug away . i only wanted to be entertained for a few hours and eat overly buttered popcorn . now  unfortunately  i have expectations of a riveting  delightful story whenever i watch a movie  if i  m not on some sort of medication . and this is another good movie for the medicated . there are no major laughs  no complex plot lines  no difficult twists . herbie fully loaded is great for the fully loaded .  br    br   this was the first time i had seen la lohan on the screen since she swapped places with jamie lee curtis  i thought she was excellent in that   and i can  t say i was terribly impressed this time around . aside from her constantly changing and distractingly unnatural hair color  she just didn  t ring true as the kid next door who had spent a lifetime hanging around road racers . her  need for speed  wasn  t portrayed consistently in the film  perhaps it was elsewhere  she looked older than her part  and seemed to always be looking for something  a party  designer togs  new place to spend money   off set . i couldn  t see any chemistry with justin long that romance seemed obligatory at best . the only time lindsay appeared engaged was when she was interacting with matt dillon  who i thought was appropriately over the top as evil bad guy trip murphy .  br    br   it was great to see herbie again  and i loved the movie intro with material from the old movies . if disney had popped out with some car   jewelry  i might have worn some just to be loyal . his new feature    was a little inconsistent  does he channel the thoughts of his driver  does he now skateboard   but whatever . we all knew how it was going to end  but i do wish he had ended up with someone a little less dopey than maggie . and my head still hurts from that lesson maggie and we viewers had hammered home .  br    br   what would have made the movie worthwhile  have the old herbie in a real story with a real plot  at the very least  herbie  s as good as lassie  but clearly that  s asking too much . why is it that disney always goes back to the same well as  herbie goes bananas  and  the computer that wore tennis shoes  when it comes to innovation   br    br   i  m sure this was a great movie for kids and those with no expectations . for the rest of us . . . . it  s for when you have the  flu and just can  t take the suspense of rear window .  
i caught this movie on t . v . last night and you know danny masterson was a pretty good actor in the film  and its great to see him in something other than that   s show . the film isnt rated but in my opinion i would rate it  r  just because of the nudity and plenty of adult content . but all in all i loved it  i thought that dirt  s wisecracks were pretty funny . its just basically about a guy who has no job  girlfriend  or money and eventually gets a job as a private investigator  more of a messenger really .  he gets framed for the murder of a rock star and the rock stars girlfriend is one of the people that really need to help him out . i give it . . . .   stars .  
one of the most common entries in the  goofs  category is anachronism . though i  m beginning to believe that anachronism and other goofs are more acceptable  even ignored  in very good films  but are found front and center in rotten films . kiss them for me is a rotten film and reeks of anachronism  yet when watching it closely  i found almost nothing specifically anachronistic .  br    br   the shots of aircraft which bookend the film are certainly out of place . the big  engine transport seen after the title  honolulu      appears to be the post war c    stratofreighter  in mats colors  . the combat planes seen taking off from the carrier at the end are douglas skyraiders which entered service after ww  and were made famous by their service in vietnam .  br    br   but excepting these two pieces of film and  of course  the hairstyles  everything else is very possibly period authentic . it just  feels  so wrong . i  m an admirer of stanley donen  we share the same birthday . in his co directed on the town       there is a car chase at the end with the police driving        ford  s yet there isn  t the slightest feeling that this is out of place in a ww  period film . in fact  as i reflected later  there isn  t anything which says that this is supposed to be a ww  period film . it just feels that way . based on a wartime broadway musical which was based on a ballet  fancy free  which may have been based on the work of artist paul cadmus  the fleet  s in       its a great film about sailors on a   hour pass in new york and  so heavy with wartime associations  its merely assumed it takes place during the war and yet these contemporary cars do nothing to break the spell .  br    br   the first problem is old cary grant . though far too old to represent a navy sbd dive bomber pilot  it is a hollywood tradition for stars like grant  gary cooper  lou gehrig   jimmy stewart  charles lindbergh  to play younger . it was the role which he is miscast in  not his age . he plays an operator  as they used to call them . a guy who gets things done and breaks all the rules while doing it yet remains admired and loved for it . a hustler . a wheeler dealer . a de rigueur character in a service comedy . grant is the comic center of what is after all supposed to be a service comedy which is contra to his comedy style .  br    br   thinking back on the great grant comic performances like bringing up baby       or arsenic and old lace       and he is the great reactor whose comedy is to be reduced by his context from dignity to a befuddled puddle of inert jelly . in kiss them he is expected to be the comic spark plug which just isn  t him . people had already been exposed to the type  most recently to comic phil silvers as sgt . bilko on television . the role would be perfected later by james garner but here grant just isn  t funny and appears to be a bully getting his way by aggressively pushing his cary grantness rather than cajoling and finessing .  br    br   but the thing which really stinks the place up with anachronism is the lead women . there can be no more echt   s women than suzy parker and jayne mansfield . they are unique to the decade . marilyn monroe can be placed in a continuum with carole lombard and marie wilson and any number of dumb blonds  and grace kelly was another high class dame  think of mary astor   but there never could have been an anatomically exaggerated woman in films like mansfield . sure there were the  sweater girls   e . g . lana turner  of ww   but mansfield was stretching the point . suzy parker was the model who revolutionized the model business  who changed the mannequin like poses to become the first natural girl who moved and whose personality was captured by the camera  see funny face       also by stanley donen  .  br    br   of course in high   s style  there seems to be a lot of gender mixing at  wild  parties but never even a hint of sex  think of the   s tv shows bachelor father or the bob cummings show where dinner jacketed men returned from  dates  alone  . the original book  which i haven  t read  was published during the war and appeared as a play on broadway at the end of the war and the nuances of the situation must have been inescapable for contemporary readers and audiences  but broken down  bowdlerized and reconstituted a dozen years later and fatally miscast  it remains a once forgotten stain on otherwise exemplary careers until the invention of the vcr and cable television resurrected this petrified turkey .  br    br   so the lesson here is whatever the  goof  it will be ignored in a great film like citizen kane  who actually hears charles foster kane say  rosebud     and tolerated in fun dreck like westworld  why were the robots given live ammunition in the first place   but absolutely despised in a rotten film  even if the goofs are really non existent .  
excellent writing and wild cast . the tech is poor but it  s obviously very low budget . looks like they didn  t cut the negative but had to release on a video output . in any case one of the most inventive comedies i  ve seen lately . the screenwriter in particular is fine .  
as an avid fan of cary grant  i expected to watch this movie and howl with laughter  as amc billed it as a comedy . i have never been more disappointed with a film  cary  s usual charm and effortless comedy are awol from this entire movie he comes across as strained  bored  and just not himself . mississip  s character ranks among one of the worst stereotypes i have ever witnessed  his accent is terribly exaggerated  and incorrect  according to which part of mississippi he claims to hail from   and whenever he does deliver a line  it  s several decibels higher than any other cast member . mississip tried to make himself stand out in the film as a lovable  country  bumpkin goofball  but in the end  he manages only to detract from the already weak plot . mansfield looks more like an obscene blow  up doll than a hollywood sex kitten  and while she was never known in hollywood for her acting ability  this film screams that she never had that ability to begin with . ray walston  s character was sugary and ultimately contrived . for four men on shore leave  it was the tamest leave i  ve ever seen . i watched this nightmare until its very end  and while i won  t spoil that for anyone  i will tell you that it  s the most absurd you  ll ever see . the film tries to spark patriotism and a sense of debt to the fighting men  but the film misses that point totally because of its weak plot line and weak cast . sorry  cary   
this was a very well scripted movie . great fun if you just want a stupid film . not great production value  ok  the sound really sucked  but the performance of danny masterson more than makes up for it .  br    br   watch this movie and laugh out loud   
i was quite pleased to find this movie in the local video library  cary grant in a comedy set in the services  director stanley donen  so far what  s not to like  it  s the sort of film that has me wondering two things  when did all involved  including some well  known names  realize they had a turkey on their hands  and what  s the worst thing about it among a number of contending aspects  still pondering the first  but my vote for the latter goes to the meandering storyline  ahead of the wordy sometimes pretentious script  the uncertain tone  the lack of consistent and well  developed characterization  and the lack of rapport between the characters . you have to add very uneven acting to the criticism but it  s understandable that the actors were struggling with this stuff and in addition seem under  rehearsed . quite often they can hardly get their lines out quick enough . cary grant tries to portray his usual charming and urbane persona but at times seems uneasy and staccato in his delivery . i have to say however that i was relieved when the initial suggestions his character will be paired with the unspeakably vulgar jayne mansfield go away with the appearance of suzy parker . what  s to like about the film   for me chiefly the beauty of parker who also acts with restraint and a grace kelly  like dignity . generally speaking the film is nice to look at . the naval characters are very smart in their uniforms  however you have to truly wonder at the ghastly black fu manchu tunics they don in their luxury hotel suite . even grant can  t look elegant in his . back to the credit side  ray walston does a commendable job with his character and for me there was an interest in hearing a pre  hogan  s heroes werner klemperer speak without an assumed german accent   
ronald colman gives a terrific performance as a stage actor who really gets into his work . when he plays othello on the stage he takes on the persona with dire results . good film with a great supporting cast . well worth watching .  
i wanted to love this movie . how could i not love it  cary grant  jayne mansfield  stanley donen all icons in their own way . however  the train wreck that was suzy parker ruined the entire experience for me . her acting was so appalling that i sat there with my jaw hanging open  not believing my eyes or ears . i could barely make it through one viewing  that  s how hideous she is in this .  br    br   cary  gorgeous and in fine dramatic form . jayne  adorable  endearing  and obviously having a ball . the supporting cast does alright  and the city of san francisco is captured in all its stunning  retro elegance .  br    br   then you see suzy parker attempting to speak her lines with a woodenness  a deadness  a cluelessness that simply defies belief . who told this creature she could act   oy vey  people .  
george cukor directs this high quality story of suspense in the theatrical world with his usual sensitive but firm touch . ronald colman  s performance  which earned him an oscar  still stands up despite a few overwrought moments  it  s hard to forget his haunted countenance as he struts aimlessly around social functions and tries to find meaning in his life . there are a number of interesting subtexts and cukor does an excellent job of making them clear without forcing anything too much . the script by garson kanin and ruth gordon is brilliant  mixing the rarified theater world with the seedy world of the streets and comprehensively utilizing elements from shakespeare  s  king lear  as a reference to both the film  s main theme of jealousy and colman  s character  s obsession with identity .  br    br   several interesting things about this movie  superficially it could be dismissed as too flippant a treatment of the everyday problems of actors . in other words if the art of acting required such complete sublimation of individuality we would soon have a rash of psycho method actors stalking the streets . but i don  t really think this story  s primary concern is acting or the job  art of acting per se . i think anthony  s struggles represents a broader existential question  a deeply buried uncertainty about identity . there  s a key  i feel  in his relationship with his ex  wife britta  signe hasso  . he says that he never would have or could have become a good actor without her inspiration . and at another point he explicitly states that his extreme identification with his roles began when he married her . i  m not sure what to make of this but it seems important to me  especially because it  s his obsession with her and jealousy of her that ultimately pushes him over the top . perhaps the implication is that anthony put himself in danger in the first place by entering into a serious relationship . marriage implies a  union of the soul  in the traditional conception . it  s unusual that the male and female protagonists are divorced at the beginning of the film . it  s not completely unprecedented  hawks  comedy  his girl friday  springs to mind  among others   but it is unusual and probably significant  especially in light of the fact that they do not end up resolving their romantic separation . in a way  the film could be implying that jealousy is another form of self  love .  
while i recently gave operation petticoat a positive review  i really didn  t like this film even though it had so many similarities . both were made just a few years apart  both starred cary grant and both were wwii comedies . however  the overall tone and style of the films were quite different . kiss her for me  overall  just seemed like a cheaper film   with poor writing  little energy and some very broad performances   even when compared to operation petticoat . i think that at least much of the blame for this lies in casting jayne mansfield . the combination of her ample talents and limited acting ability really made this a  budget film look like it came from a  rd rate studio . plus  there wasn  t much chemistry or energy in pairing her with cary grant   an actor generally loved for his grace and class . it  s sort of like pairing sir lawrence olivier with marjorie main .  
a fondly  remembered melodrama  thanks chiefly to ronald colman  s fine oscar  winning central performance  about an oft  treated theme the nature of acting and how it can overtake one  s perception of reality . in this case  we have a well  known thespian tackling shakespeare  s  othello   so that the film  s last third delves effectively into the thriller genre  with press agent edmond o  brien  who happens to really be besotted with colman  s co  star and ex  wife signe hasso   investigating  the actor  s possible involvement in the desdemona  like strangling of a celebrity  seeking waitress  a very slim shelley winters  . the theatrical  new york atmosphere of the immediate post  war era is vividly captured by the husband  and  wife screen writing team of garson kanin and ruth gordon and legendary  actor  s director  george cukor  all of whom were recognized by the academy with nominations   incidentally  the film nabbed a second oscar for miklos rozsa  s eclectic score . colman  forever the suave leading man blessed besides with a velvety voice  does well enough by shakespeare  gaining conviction the farther his character slips into obsessive jealousy  a murderous rage and  eventually  paranoia however  he is not let down by a supporting cast which also includes director ray collins  reporter millard mitchell  detective joe sawyer and coroner whit bissell . though the mid  section is a bit strained  the film makes up for any deficiencies with a remarkably  handled expressionist denouement .  
oh dear  oh dear . . .  br    br   for jm fans  this was the nail in the coffin as far as her a  list hollywood career was concerned . after solid turns in girl can  t help it  wayward bus  the burglar and rock hunter it seemed jayne was well on the way to becoming one of tinsel town  s hottest stars . however  an obsession with racy publicity and an appearance in this clunker relegated mansfield to the sidelines  namely cheap euro loan  outs until fox could drop her contract at the earliest opportunity .  br    br   this movie really is a diabolical waste of everyone  s time with the exception of suzy parker who is the only thing in this movie bad enough for the material . many people blame poor jayne and her grating performance for this film  s poor returns at the box office and while she is a pain in this film  she can only do her best with the material . after all  cary hardly sets the screen on fire does he  after a handful of very good dramatic and comedy turns jayne takes   steps back in her pursuit as a serious actress by agreeing  simply for the sake of appearing with grant  to portray this squealing  idiotic menace . her character of alice is a complete cartoon bimbo and although she looks good enough to eat in a boiler suit  her every appearance in the film jangles your nerves . we all know jayne could do so much better than this dross and yet here she is parading around like a prize pudding . a real shame .  br    br   steer clear of this so  called comedy . it  s more depressing than funny .  
george cukor directs a brooding and cynical classic . the distinctive ronald coleman is at his best in this piece of noir about an actor who loses himself in his roles . the acclaimed anthony john  colman  has driven his wife brita  signe hasso  away with his highly fueled temper and erratic behavior . but the two manage to continue working together to please their audiences . things begin to change as john is becoming bored with his career he reluctantly agrees to play othello . he gets deep into character as a jealous and murderous man . he begins walking a thin line between illusion and reality and ends up confusing his role with his own life and eventually kills his mistress  shelley winters   but has no memory of the dastardly deed .  br    br   colman seems faultless in this role . winters is very impressive as the young woman determined to get away from her squalid life . also in the cast edmond o  brien  ray collins  joe sawyer and whit bissell .  
there is a level of high expectation when you sit down to watch a comedy with a cast headed by cary grant  jayne mansfield  ray walston and werner klemperer . those expectations are buoyed further when the film is directed by stanley donen  whose comic touch was so evident in  among others  damn yankees   bedazzled and charade . for the first five minutes  or so  it seems that those expectations might be met and then . nothing . what is supposed to be a light comedy  plunges into leaden  heavy handed melodrama  with nary a chuckle to be had .  br    br   relative newcomer suzy parker has often been criticized for her performance  or lack of one  in this film  but in a movie in which even the great cary grant frequently appears flat and wooden  attacking parker seems unfair . not even as bright a light as an audrey hepburn or doris day could have changed the fortunes of this meandering  dreary and wholly pointless script  which drags itself lamely along and drags the viewer  s interest and patience down with it .  br    br   the rest of the cast  especially ray walston  keep trying to breath some life into the proceedings  but the horrible script is beyond resuscitation . the desperate  inane effort to drag a half hearted laugh from the numbed audience in the film  s final moments only serves to add insult to injury .  br    br   this film is nothing but a major disappointment on all levels .  
spoiler alert all throughout australia the summer turned into a deluge of rain and hail stones the size of baseballs that was causing havoc in coastal cities like sydney . it  s under these hectic conditions that tax lawyer david burton  richard chamberlain  got involved in a case  as a defense attorney  involving the death of a local aborigine who was found dead outside a sydney bar .  br    br   having five fellow aborigines arrested for billy cormans  athol compton  death it  s determined by the police coroner that billy died of drowning not by violence even though he had bruises on his neck and shoulders . yet the court decided to prosecute the five for his death charging them with manslaughter instead of murder .  br    br   david defending the five gets no help from them in their defense with the accused assailants opting to remain quite and keep what happened to billy to themselves and take what  s coming to them from the court . one of the defendants chris  david gulpili  begin to somehow invades david  s dreams as if he want  s to tell him what was really behind billy  s death .  br    br   david at first not taking his dreams of chris seriously begins to sense that their real when he meet him at the courthouse . chris confirms david  s dreams by showing him a strange looking black rock that david saw chris have in his dreams . later meeting chris and  what turns out to be an aborigine shaman  charlie  nandjiwarna amagula  who came to his house that evening david is told that he  like charlie  has spiritual powers that he inherited from his mother  s grandfather . those powers will reveal to him the future that has to do with the strange weather conditions that are flooding the australian continent . the earth  chris tells david  is going through a gigantic cleansing cycle with the old world about to be washed away and the new world ready to take it  s place .  br    br   david is confused about what both chris and charlie are telling him but as the rains continue to increase and the ocean waves start to rise he feels that something terrible is going to happen . david want  s to know if it  s all aborigine folklore or there  s some scientific facts  or logic  behind their end of world  like revelations .  br    br   by now it  s obvious that both chris and charlie are members of an aborigine tribe right in the heart of modern sydney . that alone can get chris off  as well as his four friends  for the murder of billy . since the australian government will not prosecute tribal aborigines  leaving any justice to be done by the tribes themselves . still chris refuses to admit he  s a member of a native tribe and he and his four friends are convicted of manslaughter in billy  s death with the sentences to be handed down by the judge within days .  br    br   david now determined to find out what was the reason for chris  silence  and why billy had to die  is taken by chris to the scene of the crime . it  s there that david finds out that billy betrayed chris  tribe members by going there with billy not being a member of chris  s aborigine tribe . it  s also revealed to david that he himself has some kind of spiritual connection with the austrailan aborigines as both charlie and his step  father rev . burton  david parslow  told him .  br    br   the stage is now set for the great and final cleansing cycle that david  s been seeing in both his night  time dreams and day  time visions . it comes in the form of a massive tidal wave rolling out of the pacific ocean into the australian coast city of sydney and then submerges the entire continent .  
i shudder to think what people must have thought of environmentalists after viewing this piece of overbearing  preachy cinematic trash . larded with enough indian  wannabe nuttery and space brother buffoonery to stock a new  age shop  starlight makes anyone who gives a damn about the planet look like a feather  wearing crystal  fondling idiot .  br    br   the plot  alien rae dawn chong arrives to guide a flute playing underwear model in a mystical quest to avert earth  s impending environmental collapse . but first they must defeat an evil alien who looks nothing so much like a refugee from a castro street bar . fortunately  they  ve got mystical grandpa willie nelson along to help  who looks faintly embarrassed by the proceedings  as well he ought to be  along with buckets of cheap f  x and reams of pointlessly swelling music .  br    br   sure  the clunky script helps to obscure the film  s trite plot and staggering pace  but that  s just the tip of this melting movie iceberg . everyone concerned with this film should have their union cards revoked until they complete a real course in environmental science .  
colman  s performance is aided by the brilliantly written script . the gargantuan hollywood studios in the    s and    s were able to copy some of the german expressionistic film elements and incorporate them into hollywood films . very good use of shadows and light and silhouette . i really liked the scene where colman turns off the light in his dressing room near the beginning of the film  and he starts reciting othello while his face becomes instantly dark and evil . already the viewer sees the text and the drama of shakespeare getting a hold of  tony  and off he goes on his journey of doom . i also enjoyed the dramatic death scene within the play  when he becomes overwrought with emotion and accidentally strangles his costar a little too hard for her to bear . her pleadings  tony stop you  re hurting me  are chilling and suspenseful . you just don  t know if he is going to go over the top and kill her at any moment . the cat and mouse chase to reveal the killer was nicely added    rds of the way through the film to add some faster pacing and to also add to the narrative element of the film . masterful work from george cukor . he  s such as skillful director . excellent film . too bad they don  t make  em like they used to . . .  
this film was a critical and box  office fiasco back in     . it was based on a novel which was later turned into a play   which flopped on broadway . the story is about some navy officers on leave in san francisco during wwii . they have  day  s leave which they spend at the mark hopkins hotel . the film meanders a lot and none of the characters seem very real . cary grant is generally brilliant in comedy and drama   but here he plays a sort of wheeler dealer and he doesn  t really pull it off . tony curtis or james garner would have been better choices . audrey hepburn was initially set to play opposite grant  but had other commitments   so suzy parker stepped in . she had never acted before  but was america  s top photographic model at the time . i think that she did a good job  considering all the pressure that she was under . grant  s pairing with jayne mansfield in a few brief scenes   did not really work . the studio was trying to give her some class by acting with grant   but the character had no substance at all .  
when an actor has to play the role of an actor  fictional or factual  the task becomes much more difficult than playing a role . in a double life  ronald coleman surpassed himself as anthony john  the tortured double personality . he put into that character all his talent and sincerity . the facial expressions  mannerisms  gait and stance spoke eloquently of what anthony john was going through while playing othello on stage . coleman also did extremely well as a shakespearean actor in those short scenes as othello that were part of this gem of a movie . closups of coleman  s face as othello tortured by doubts about the fidelity of desdemona were in themselves scenes worth watching . add to that  his character  s off stage desperation and only someone with coleman  s depth of acting perception can achieve . it was like watching spenser tracy as dr . jekyll and mr . hyde  except this double role was much more profound and poignant . shelly winters looked so sweet  vulnerable and gorgeous at the same time and added her talent to the movie . it is believed that ronald coleman liked his role in this film above all others he played and went on to win the oscar for best actor in     . i would see this movie repeatedly and never feel bored .  
a good cast  with one major exception  pushes its way through epstein  s smart light satire . mansfield was never better  or funnier  than she is here paired with walston  who  s a veteran who  s determined to become a congressman to get out of the war . he and his buddies   including suave con  artist grant   head to san francisco on leave and start the city  s swinginest party while conniving to escape the service altogether through industrial speaking tours . the only thing about this movie that  s not delightful is suzy parker  s one  note performance as grant  s love interest  which takes up too much of the film  s time and slows down the pace in the second half . walston and mansfield have good chemistry the gimmick is that she  s set on making love to every serviceman  to do her duty for the war effort  of course  but he  s a married man who  nonetheless  loves his wife . they steal the movie with little trouble from grant  who  s amusing here in the first part of the film  when not paired with his non  actor co  star .  
ronald colman plays a famous broadway actor who has begun to lose his mind and sense of identity . after years of playing a wide range of parts  he can  t remember who he exactly is   who are his roles and who is the self . and  much more serious  he begins to see and hear his play even in regular everyday life . so  since he  s currently playing in  othello   he begins to act jealous and suspicious   just like the title character . ultimately  it leads him to the depths of insanity and murder .  br    br   i saw this film years ago and liked it . i just saw it again and loved it . now perhaps some of my enthusiasm is because i have always liked ronald colman and this is a great triumph for him   and for which he earned the best actor oscar . and  looking at the competition that year  gregory peck for gentleman  s agreement  john garfield for body and soul  william powell for life with father and michael redgrave for mourning becomes electra   i think colman was a very good choice  as he stretched from his usual comfort zone and did a much more demanding role .  br    br   now i noticed that one reviewer hated this film because they hated shakespeare   and this took up about half their review talking about their dislike for him . however  this film isn  t really about shakespeare  and it doesn  t matter at all if you dislike shakespeare . i am no huge fan of shakespeare  but marveled at the small portions of the play that colman re  enacted   though  as i said  this is not a really movie about shakespeare . instead  it  s a wonderful portrait of an actor losing his mind and mixing his stage role with reality . it could have been any play  though  othello  was an excellent choice because of the murder scene   which gets acted out for real later in the film .  br    br   overall  a very clever film due to a lovely script   with some overtones of film noir . fortunately  the acting was terrific also  as colman had excellent support from signe hasso  shelly winters and edmond o  brien  who was particularly good   he played his part just right  . and  considering the great george cukor was directing  it  s no wonder it  s a wonderful film from start to finish .  
not one of keaton  s best efforts  this was perhaps a veiled attempt to revenge himself on the family he married into  the talmadges . a polish  english language barrier and a series of coincidences leads buster into a marriage with a large irish woman  who  along with her father and brothers  treat him shabbily until they think he may be an heir to a fortune . mistaken identities abound here  gags are set up and but for the main fail to pay off .  br    br   this metro short does have at least two real laughs  buster  s cleverly turning around his lack of dinner by using the calendar on the wall and the basic ignorance of his adopted family to literally bring the meat to his plate . the other is a family photo  with the entire group slowly collapsing to the floor as the tripod of the camera loses its stability .  br    br   the yeast beer overflow could have been the catalyst for a massive series of gags built upon gags  but stops short  for all the buildup  of development .  br    br   kino  s print is crisp and clear and the score is one for player piano  drums and sound effects . not one of buster  s best efforts  but worth a few laughs .  
if you like  othello   you  ll love this flick since half the movie revolves around the stage production of the play .  br    br   the film has a great cast with signe hasso and shelley winters as the women in colman  s life while edmond o  brien plays the enterprising press agent .  br    br   a couple of the supporting players i particularly liked were millard mitchell as the grizzled reporter who finds an angle and joe sawyer  the      s answer to drew carey  who plays the cop on the case .  br    br   great raw moments in this one with noir realism throughout .  
there seems to be a surprisingly high number of     star reviews here from people who have never written an imdb review before or since . given the very low average rating given to the film by other people  i think you may draw your own conclusions .  br    br   this is a very bad film . i  ll admit it  i thought the concept was kind of cute  and i was pleased to see the actresses who played eve and harmony on angel getting work  but it didn  t take long for the sheer awfulness of this film to make itself known .  br    br   acting the leads seemed competent enough  but everyone else  terrible .  br    br   plot chock full of holes big enough to drive a truck through .  br    br   direction non  existent .  br    br   humour did they really think people were going to laugh  oh boy .  br    br   eye candy ok . there were some really beautiful women in this film . not just the three main female characters  but right across the board . it was as if the producers hoped the scenery would keep male viewers so distracted they wouldn  t notice how terrible everything else was . if so  they failed miserably .  br    br   in the right hands this could have been cute but darkly funny camp classic . it wasn  t even close .  
i like my ronald colman dashing and debonair  the fellow you see in such films as if i were king and kismet . i like him as the epitome of civilization as in the lost horrizon and random harvest . a brooding colman isn  t a favorite of mine .  br    br   but in a double life precisely because his part as actor anthony john is so offbeat for him  colman was recognized with a best actor oscar for     . it became his best known part .  br    br   colman is an actor who really does take the method quite seriously . he  s just finished a successful run in a comedy of manners and he  s quite the jovial fellow . for a change of pace now that that play has concluded its broadway run  colman is bringing a revival of othello to new york . about as opposite a part as you can get .  br    br   his leading lady in both is his former wife signe hasso who loves him dearly  but can  t take his change of moods when he  s at work . colman loves her dearly as well and wants her back . but he  s heading for a mental breakdown when he starts confusing himself with the jealous moor othello and hasso with her role as desdemona .  br    br   unfortunately shelley winters as a poor waitress who a depressed colman picks up gets in the way of his madness and she winds up like poor desdemona in the play . killed in the same manner and now it  s a matter for homicide cop joe sawyer .  br    br   colman  s performance is so good that one does kind of wonder is this an occupational hazard with actors  i  d shudder to think so  were there any unsolved homicides in or around laurence olivier and orson welles then they essayed othello .  br    br   i could never quite buy the story for that reason  but i certainly do applaud ronald colman and what he did with the part . i  m sure there was a tinge of regret in him winning the oscar though because one of the other nominees was his good friend william powell for life with father . others in the running that year were gregory peck for gentlemen  s agreement  john garfield for body and soul  and michael redgrave for mourning becomes electra .  br    br   colman gets able support from the rest of the cast including edmond o  brien who finds himself in the unwanted part of cassio in colman  s jealous fantasy . still you will find no iago equivalent in a double life  no one prodding the jealousy  it  s all in his own mind .  br    br   and that from one of the most cultivated and civilized minds of the last century .  
i attempted watching this movie twice and even then fast forwarding the irritating parts but still could not make it to the end .  br    br   i don  t understand how this movie genuinely got any good reviews . i think these people giving such good reviews are just trying to hype the movie for marketing purposes . their reviews seem very unrealistic and it looks like an inside job  which makes things more pitiful . movies should get true positive comments on their own steam and not contrived ones    br    br   the acting was reminiscent of a cheesy porno movie  and not in a funny way . i don  t mind low budget movies with bad acting if they know how to work with it .  br    br   i found the lead character to be irritating . his facial expressions and humor was unbearably childish . i thought this was intentional to make the womens conspiracy seem more enjoyable and founded  but they were even worse .  br    br   the script was also very awkward  his bosses overdone business speech  and the unfunny sarcastic remarks .  br    br   i did not find anything redeeming about this movie other than some of the attractive women .  br    br   never have i felt that a rating was this misleading . i was interested by its premise but scared off by everything else . of course see it if you want  but i just didn  t want anyone else to get their hopes up  waste their time .  br    br   maybe it is just me . . . probably not .  
a double life has developed a mystique among film fans for two reasons the plot idea of an actor getting so wrapped up into a role  here othello  as to pick up the great flaw of that character and put it into his life and that this is the film that won ronald colman the academy award  as well as the golden globe  as best actor . let  s take the second point first .  br    br   is anthony john colman  s greatest role  or even his signature role  i have my doubts on either level  but it is among his best known roles . most of his career  ronald colman played decent gentlemen  frequently in dangerous or atypical situations . he is bulldog drummond  cleaned up in the goldwyn production not to be an arrogant racist  fighting crime . he is raffles  the great cricket player and even greater burglar  trying to pull off his best burglary to save a friend  s honor . he is robert conway  the great imperial political figure  who is kidnapped and brought to that paradise on earth  shangri  la . he is dick heldar  manfully going to his death after he learns his masterpiece has been destroyed and knowing he is now blind and useless as an artist . i can add sidney carton and rudolf rassendyll to this list . but here he is not heroic . in fact he is unconsciously villainous  he murders one person and nearly kills two others . it does not matter that he is obviously mentally ill  his behavior here is anti  social .  br    br   to me colman should have gotten the oscar for heldar  or carton  or conway  all more typical of his acting roles . but the academy has a long tradition of picking atypical roles for awarding it  s treasure to it  s leading members . colman  s anthony john is a very good performance  and at one point truly scary . when alone with signe hasso in her home  she at the top of a staircase and him at the base  they have an argument . she demands that  tony  leave  saying she won  t see him . he stares at her  his face oddly hardening in a way he never used before  and he says   oh  no you won  t   he starts moving upstairs  frightening hasso  and she runs into her room . he stops himself and leaves . it actually is the real highpoint of his performance  even more than his assaulting of hasso on stage  or of edmond o  brien  or his killing of shelley winters . it showed his blind fury . for that moment it was  to me  an oscar  worthy performance . but it is only that moment . i  m glad he was recognized for the role  but he should have gotten the award for a more consistent performance .  br    br   his actual performance in the shakespearian role of othello is not great  but bearable . too frequently he lets the dialog roll off his tongue in a kind of forced singing style  one wonders if that was due to the coaching of walter hampden  who probably knew how to handle the role properly  or a reaction to it  . nowadays  othello  is played by an african american actor more frequently than a white one . paul robeson  s brilliant performance in the role set that new tradition firmly into place . but the three best known movie performances of the part are those of colman  orson welles in his movie of othello  and laurence olivier in his movie of his play production of othello . all three white actors did the role in black face . my personal favorite of the three is welles  who seems the most subtle . but even watching welles  fine film version makes me angry that robeson never got to put his performance  with jose ferrer as iago  on film .  br    br   now the first question  can an actor get that wrapped up in a role  i heard different things about this . some actors have admitted taking a role home with them from the theater or movie set . others have found a role they have to be stimulating  influencing them on a new cause of action regarding their lives or some aspect of life . but actually i have never heard of anyone who turned homicidal as the result of a role . it seems a melodramatic  hackneyed idea .  br    br   as a matter of fact it was not a new idea in     with cukor  kanin  and gordon . in     a  b  feature  the brighton strangler  starring john loder  had used a similar plot about an actor who is playing an infamous  jack the ripper  type  and who starts committing those type of killings after an accident affects his mind . there was an earlier movie in the     s  in which an actor playing othello gets jealous of his wife  i think the title was men are not gods  but i  m not sure  . but due to colman  s name and career  and cukor  s directing  it is a double life that people think of when they recall this plot idea . it even reached comedy  finally  on an episode of cheers  where diane chambers is helping an ex  convict who may have acting talent  and they put on othello at the bar  just after he sees her with sam malone kissing . only diane is aware of the personality problem of the ex  convict  and can  t delay the production long enough  she tries to start a discussion into the history and symbolism of the play  .  br    br   the cast of a double life was first rate  and cukor  s direction was as sure as ever . so the film is definitely worth watching . but despite giving colman an interestingly different role  it was not his best work on the screen .  
  you are warned this is a spoiler   this movie is so bad that i doubt i can write enough lines . great direction the shots were well thought out . the actors were very good particularly richard pryor tho i would have liked to have seen more of him . madeline kahn and john houseman were classic . dudley more god bless him could have done better . john ritter again i would have liked to see more of him . in my opinion this failure is due totally to writer failure . maybe the producer could have pulled the plug once he saw what he was creating . its just too bad that so much money went into this boiler  when with a little change here and there would in my opinion fixed it . they must have paid the writers standard rates . to produce one chuckle .  
ronald colman gives an electrifying performance as tony john  a broadway actor who can  t separate his offstage life from shakespeare  s othello  the character he plays on stage . . . . two important scenes illustrate tony  s dilemma . the first one takes place in producer max lasker  s office . acting is a matter of talent for the practical  minded lasker . but donlan  tony  s friend  disagrees  no  no . when you do it like tony does it  it  s much more . the way he has of becoming someone else every night . . . so completely . no  don  t tell me his whole system isn  t affected by it .  . . . . the other scene occurs in waitress pat kroll  s apartment . tony tells her his name is martin . she thanks him . then he says  or paul . hamlet . joe . and maybe othello .  . . . . when tony begins rehearsing othello  we learn that though he  s trying to keep his real life separated from his stage life   the part begins to seep into your life  and the battle begins . reality against imagination .  he can  t keep the two separated in his mind pat is desdemona and he  s othello  and he wrongly believes she has been unfaithful to him . he murders her . . . . colman  s bravura performance  in a complex and difficult role  earned him      s academy award for best actor . oscar nominations went to ruth gordon and garson kanin for best original screenplay . not to be overlooked is milton krasner  s atomspheric cinematography .  
in the questionable comedy vein of mel brooks   wholly moses   tries to take the bible story of moses and make fun of it  resulting in the unfunniest biblical spoof ever filmed .  br    br   there is no real plot here  just excuses to trot out stalwart comedy talent in underwritten roles . dudley moore and laraine newman are on a bus tour of the holy land  when they stumble across an ancient scroll in a cave . there they read the story of herschel and zerelda  also played by moore and newman . herschel  s life parallels moses  . he was sent down the river to be found by the pharaoh  s family at the same time moses was . herschel  s birth father  the late james coco  becomes herschel  s slave after herschel is rescued by idol makers and works as a sculptor . eventually herschel comes to work for the pharaoh as an astronomer  is banished  and ends up tending moses  flock of sheep . herschel and moses are brothers in law  marrying sisters  and herschel thinks god has chosen him to free his people in egypt . of course  moses was receiving the divine word  but herschel misunderstood . i  ll pause here to laugh hysterically . . . pause . . . anyway  the rest of the film is a series of badly written scenes involving moore and actors who are making  special appearances .  these scenes do not propel the plot forward  they bring what little story there is to a grinding halt .  br    br   jack gilford plays a tailor . dom deluise has maybe three lines when he meets herschel in the desert . john houseman is an archangel  just giving the same line readings he gave in  the paper chase .  david l . lander is a fake blind man  healed  by herschel . andrea martin is one of zerelda  s sisters . i was not sure who madeline kahn was supposed to be  she gives a ride to herschel  and has about a minute and a half of screen time . john ritter plays a very unfunny devil . richard pryor has one scene as the pharaoh  but it was obviously shot at a different time than moore  s scene because the two do not appear onscreen together  in the end  zerelda turns into a pillar of salt after looking back on new sodom  s destruction  ha ha . herschel writes the ten commandments  and gives them to moses  who is basking in all the glory . in the final scenes  the screenwriter decide to try and salvage this shallow film by having herschel bait god into an argument . god comes off as an all powerful bully who was leading herschel around for his own amusement  speaking through him only to give him the ten commandments . we even have zerelda quip  god works in mysterious ways   thereby excusing everyone  s very unchristian behavior during the film .  br    br   this film is not funny . there is nary a laugh to be found anywhere . at least monty python made fun of many established religious mainstays in  life of brian  in addition to their questionable take on jesus  life  but here the humor consists of poo poo jokes and characters constantly bumping their heads . this makes mel brooks look like merchant  ivory . churchgoers will be offended  not by the film  s attitude toward religion  but by the smugness the movie exhibits  impressed with their own hoitytoityness  i know  not a word  on a subject they obviously know nothing about .  wholly moses   is wholly bad  and an embarassment to all involved . i suggest you read the book instead .  br    br   this is rated  pg  for some physical violence  profanity  sexual references  and adult situations .  
i stumbled on this late last night n tcm .  br    br   hadn  t seen it since it came out originally  but had never forgotten it .  br    br   i had completely forgotten how gorgeous and talented signe hasso was when she was still young  ditto for shelly winters before she balooned out .  br    br   ronald coleman  though  was the quintessential state actor of his time  i had read othello in high school english  and hated it . after seeing  a double life  i read it again and finally understood what the play was about .  br    br   the gordon  kanin writing team was at its peak when this script was done   br    br   a movie well worth remembering and rewatching   
i  m sorry to report that i have seen this film several times . when it bombed at the box office  it was repeated nightly for about a month on hbo . and i watched it over and over because television in general is so bad   or was at that time . i no longer watch  so it might be wonderful now   like samuel l jackson says about swine   it might taste like sweet potato pie  but i  ll never know because i wouldn  t eat the filthy mfer .  let  s see . dudley plays arthur wandering in the desert  always a few steps behind moses . it came out right after life of bryan  so you can guess where the inspiration for this came from . the few mildly funny bits go on way too long until you just close your eyes and grit your teeth . there  s one scene where arthur and dom deluise meet in the desert  both of them dragged out and dessicated  dying of thirst . then they meet like old acquaintances who didn  t really know each other very well  promise to do lunch . it could have been funny .  br    br   but the scene that i remember most clearly is a meeting with pharaoh in which pharaoh is a black street kid done up in full king tut regalia . he must have read the lines straight because at some point before the release  they overdubbed his scene with the hollywood equivalent of black street lingo voiced by a jimmy walker wannabe  kid dyno  wannabe  . or it might have been jimmy walker   who knows  who cares . they managed to turn an essentially boring scene into a very racist  very unfunny  very long piece of excrement  one of those legendary things that just won  t flush  no matter how many times you try  so you leave it there for someone else to deal with .  br    br   well that  s my review . if you rent this movie  don  t buy it  whatever you do   prepare yourself with a bottle of tequila and a six pack of corona .  br    br   now that they  ve remade the poseiden adventure  this one is probably high on the list for remakes . maybe they  ll hire a comedy writer this time .  
the story and the characters were some of the best i  ve ever seen . the graphics were good for the ps and the cut scenes and voice overs were amazing . i beat the game at least  times and loved every second of it . i felt the problems the protagonist faced were believable and realistic and i believe it deserves a sequel . or at least a remake . if they remade it for the ps  i would buy the system for just that game and maybe mgs  its amazing also the idea and execution of the dragoon system is enough to warrant a rental and on top of that ad the inventive although sometimes cheating  stupid buster wand  combat addition system and the plot makes this game a definite buy .  
the idea of in the name of the people is good  a murderer doesn  t want his only daughter to end up in an institution and asks the parents of the girl he killed to take care of his daughter . and you could expect of the actors  especially scott bakula to do some good acting  unfortunately they don  t  in the name of the people turns out to be the regular friday night tearjerker . the flashbacks with the girl that was killed are pretty pathetic and at a certain stage you can just predict what the actors will say . . . if you want to watch a good film about this subject then watch dean man walking   
legend of dragoon is one of those little  known games that people either love or hate . some people claim it  s far too similar to other games  namely the final fantasy series   which is understandable  since it was originally intended to be sony  s equivalent of final fantasy . honestly i can  t comment on the similarities beyond that  as i  m not very familiar with the ff games .  br    br   i think my favorite aspect of the game is the battle system . not only do you have the ability to change into a more powerful dragoon form  but every time you attack  you have to pay attention in order to complete the attack by pressing buttons at the correct time . not only that  sometimes enemies will attack you back right in the middle of a sequence  which means you have to press different buttons in order to avoid taking damage . even the use of certain attack items requires a bit of button  mashing . if you don  t want to attack  you can always guard  which not only cuts any damage taken in half  but raises your hit points without the use of healing potions .  br    br   the fmvs are quite well  done  about the same quality as final fantasy   s . however  the graphics during game play aren  t quite up to that standard . they  re nice  but they could have been   and honestly  should have been   better . the translation as well leaves something to be desired . not only does it raise interesting character relationship questions  but there are also some grammatical mistakes that simply shouldn  t have been allowed to pass .  br    br   another thing i found interesting was that you lose main party characters   one dies  and the other basically becomes useless to the party and leaves . while the death of the one character is often said to have no point  it makes you realize early on that the characters  while heroes  are still just as mortal as the next person . the people who replace the lost characters simply gain all their stats  so the transition game play  wise is fairly smooth . perhaps my one complaint about the characters is the main character  s love interest  shana . she is the epitome of the helpless female in need of rescuing  pathetic to the point of driving a player to screaming with frustration . while you can use her in your party  she is insanely weak   i don  t even know what her dragoon powers are like  as i disliked her so much i never used her . the character rose  by contrast  is probably my favorite female character in any game ever . she  s no wimp  and some of her dragoon magic is extremely useful . meru is quite strong as well  while sometimes being an annoying talkative brat .  br    br   the character designers were  as most are  inclined to make the female characters appear pretty or whatever  and didn  t give much thought to the actual usefulness of the outfits . seriously  no armor and having most of your skin exposed is not helpful when fighting monsters . but i will give them props  as they do have females serving as knights in the various countries .  br    br   i can  t comment much on the plot  as honestly i didn  t pay much attention to it beyond where i needed to go to next . i  m not sure if this says something about the plot itself  or my gaming style .  br    br   all in all  it  s a very enjoyable game . it has its flaws  but for me it struck just the right balance of having to think and just pressing buttons and killing monsters .  
the plot of this movie hangs on one important point that this murderer was also a responsible  loving  caring father . not that being a father and a murderer is impossible . but this man is shown murdering a teenage girl without provocation or reason and without emotion . this girl was someone  s daughter . i don  t think a father who cared so much about his own daughter could have been so cold  blooded to someone else  s daughter . or  alternately  could have been so cold blooded and yet worry about and care for his own daughter . and the idea that a convicted murderer would actually ask his victim  s parents to take in and care for his daughter is beyond belief .  br    br   that said  the characters were acted with conviction by the actors . i thought changing scott bakula  s eye color did make him seem more cold and menacing than he usually is . you couldn  t see into his eyes at all .  
peter weir  s first international success  the last wave is a mainly effective chiller with a fascinating back story based on aboriginal myth . richard chamberlain gives a good performance as a defense lawyer whose life becomes increasingly unmoored from reality as he delves deeper into a murder case involving aboriginal tribal rivalries . david gulpilil plays one of the suspects  who does his best to guide chamberlin thru the realm of  dreamtime   an alternate reality  timeline central to native australian history and tribal custom . heavy on atmosphere  deliberately ambiguous in plotting  the film builds to an unsettling finale which is somewhat diminished by poor effects  probably due to budgetary limitations . nevertheless an intriguing film whose overall impression of mystery and dread lurking just below the surface of what we perceive as  reality  will stay with you .  
all i can really say is that i  m glad that i was knitting socks while watching the movie  or i would be very angry for having wasted  hours of my life . the acting was terrible  the plot was even worse . there were some scenes that were meant to be serious that had my husband and i laughing out loud . i highly recommend this movie to people who like to do their own version of mst  k .  
this game is one of the best rpg . fist  it is actually more amusing than any other because of the battle system  you harm the enemy depending on how you aim the attack  you can transform into dragoon  the special attack  the magic . . .  . the script is very good . characters are all lovely and you have no long dialogs to support  as happened in several games of final fintasy series . i got bored of that dialogs about past  when you just want to go on with the game  s story . ambientation is a jewel on this game  it combines middle  age fantasy with futuristic science fiction . it  s remarkable that animation effects are just incredible  i like them more than other in other modern games  we can  t remember that legend of the dragoon is  years now  . then  map is huge  there are all kinds of places an enemies . finally  music is not the best game muse i have heard  but it  s perfect for a game like this .  
ohhh the brutality  ohhhhh the dying breed  ohhhh the sense of loss  ohhhh the prejudice  jeez  when are all you whiney revisionists going to stop analyzing westerns for crying out loud  st happens . if it offends your socially engineered sensibilities then go back to the comfort of your meryl steep collection .  br    br   boring  tedious  and very tiresome waste of celluloid  particularly in light of coburn  hackman  bergen  s presence . nothing interesting or intriguing here  unless you are obsessed with   th century desert dentisty . may have been a little better without the constant diversion of the out  of  place mexican guy with the bad tooth . a monument to the stupid ultra  left creeping sensitivity of the       s . virtually impossible to sit through the entire film . i think i  d rather have my eyes stapled open for the entire lucky luke  trinity series .  horses     all deader  n hell .  
i second the motion to make this into a movie  it would be great   i was also amazed at the storyline and character build in this game . i have played it again and again  over   times  just to try something different and it gets more interesting every time . final fantasy eat your heart out   this should be made into a movie      if anyone out there wants some help to start a petition to have this made into a movie  please contact me . i would love to help with that project any day . the graphics are great for ps  and even make you forget it is ps  most of the time . the multitude of side quests makes it different every time you play .  
this is a movie about animal cruelty . under the guise of a marathon race  we see depictions of extreme animal abuse  including literally running a horse to death in slow motion . the guy who did this then has his conscience spiritually cleansed by the flames from the burial  burning of the horse  which of course is still dead  having been tortured to death . this is one of the sickest  slimiest movies i  ve ever had the displeasure of viewing . as gene hackman and james coburn near the finish line on their dying animals  we  re supposed to admire their spirit for finishing the race . i  d like to put the producers and director in a marathon race i  ll decide when they  re finished  probably about   minutes after they stop breathing .  
i remember this game . it was always sitting on the shelves alone  until one day i decided to try something new for a change  and got this game . i stared in awe at it  since it was the first ever game for the ps  that i owned that had  discs . when i played it  i couldn  t put the controller down  seriously .  br    br   the storyline of this game is so good and twisted  it  s almost as good as the final fantasy vii storyline  and that is hard to accomplish . when you play the game  you get so involved with the characters it  s unbelievable that it  s only a ps  game  as it feels like a movie . and i believe it should be made into a movie .  br    br   too bad this game is a very unheard of game and barely no one has played or liked it  as it is one of those games that is sitting on the ends of the shelves  with a    off sign sitting on it  trying to sell . well i am one of those people who always look at those on the ends  and try them out and most of them turn out to be really good . heck  that is how i got into final fantasy vii  looking in a catalog  and finding it . but this is different than final fantasy .  br    br   legend of dragoon  is the only game or rpg that is better than most square enix games  surprisingly . i wouldn  t be surprised if it was made by square enix but it  s not . hardly any games i play are better than the final fantasy series  or the dragon quest series  but this one is . but what really bugs me is why it is very little known and is not praised  which it should be .  br    br   graphics are pretty good for a ps  game  but what can you expect from it  it  s ps  man  made in     . story i have already mentioned is amazing  almost beats vii . characters are a amazing  you get involved so much with them  and their actions .  br    br   a definite   out of   . definitely deserved more praise  and a very well done rpg by a company other than square enix .  
here  s a movie with a good cast and nice looking location work but it just don  t have it . director richard brooks must have been a little bit tired at this stage of the game how much better his the professionals was  the horses and the rest of the action seemed to be in slow motion even during the non  slow motion scenes . this film needed to be sped  up  if anything . that horse lather sure looked awful phony to me and the obvious tire tracks in those desert tracking moments  just lazy . sloppy work . too bad . the actors did ok  but i  ve certainly seen all of them do better . ben johnson  s always a joy  though . i first saw this flick almost   years ago was disappointed then and remained so upon second viewing   years later .  
i absolutely love this game to death . ever since i was  years old  i am now    . it has great graphics  characters  magic  weapons  additions  and don  t forget the ultimately awesome dragoon forms  i am still waiting for a remake  prequel  or a sequel to this spectacular video game .  br    br   you play as dart  a young swordsman who has the potential to be quite the hero . on this adventure you encounter wondrous creatures and boss fights . you also encounter some friends on the way who have their own special element . such as fire  darkness  water  ice  thunder  lightning  earth  light  and wind . there are also items known as dragoon spirits  which allow you to transform into magical creatures of legend . dragons  wizards  creatures called winglies and evil creatures you  ll have to face on this adventure of action  packed thrills and excitement . one of my all time favorite games  the legend of dragoon   
gritty  dusty western from director richard brooks  who seems thoroughly engrossed in the genre while keeping all the usual clichs intact . early     s horse race attracts a low  keyed cowboy  gene hackman   a suave gambler  james coburn   a cocky kid  jan michael vincent   and even a female  a surprisingly game candice bergen  . once the preliminaries are out of the way  with the predictable arguments over whether or not a woman should take part   this becomes a fairly engrossing entry  though one which breaks no new ground  it instead resembles something from gary cooper  s era  . good  looking  if overlong piece has macho verve and a fine cast  yet the mechanisms of the plot get tiresome rather quickly .  from   
i read thru most of the comments posted here  all i can say it that most of these posters have major problems in life . this show  unlike most game show  was fun . mr . shatner  whose brill in all that he does  was again the hit of the show . he  s genuinely bubbly personality shines like a beacon where ever he goes . he  s fun  makes you smile  that  s exactly what the show does also . the dancers  questions  the round  about fashion they  re presented only add to the shows appeal . and even though there  s a great deal of money at stake it  s fun . the pressure  stress  that exists in most game shows does not exist here . several people who posted messages complained how much time is waisted with the dancers  choosing questions  c  like millionaire doesn  t have similar time wasters . all i can say is most of you have missed the whole concept . the idea here is to have fun  enjoy yourself . there  s something for everyone . qustions to test your knowledge  eye candy  the dancers   suspense  mr . shatner  s wonderful fun  filled personality . . . well if that doesn  t perk  up guys up then i feel bad for you and if that  s not enough  you can get rich  i really miss the show . out of all the games shows that have ever been on   to be quite frank  i hate game shows  this is the one i really liked  truly miss . the only other game show i ever liked was match game .  
friday the   th step over  there is officially a worse movie than your hateful series out there . i won this movie in a contest at college  and it was a waste of money even if it was free . jack jones stars as a truly awful singer whose trying to find some murderers or something . at least friday the thirteenth never bored me . i  d rather have my fingernails pulled than see this again .  
one of the more intelligent serial killer movies in recent history . zodiac killer offers an imaginative take on the background and history of one of the most notorious serial killers . the filmmakers create an unexpectedly good insight into the pathology of this mysterious killer  and anyone who remembers zodiac will be intrigued . others will want to discover more about this enigmatic criminal . unlike many serial killers  zodiac was not insane at all but very methodical and a self  promoter . the director here plays viewer expectations and pulls it off . the film is constructed as a murder mystery  or a  cold case   style thriller . it is an intelligent investigative  procedural  style horror film that will put  off gore  hounds in search of cheap thrills .  br    br   some people dislike any movie that is shot on video . this attitude is very old  style and provincial . it is an attitude and view of movies that puts technical issues above entertainment value or artistic value . these attitudes are on the way out . zodiac killer is a low  budget film  no doubt  but discerning viewers will look beyond that and find a carefully  crafted gem .  
the comeback starts off looking promising  with a brutal death scene by a mask wearing killer . the mask itself is pretty cool too  and looks almost identical to the one used in the      s slasher film  granny  . from then on the film is mostly boring . we get a few more deaths  which again are good  but there  s not enough of them . the reason the deaths are so good is because they are frenzied and bloody . the story behind the film is actually rather interesting and would have worked very well had it not been so boring for the most part .  br    br   i would avoid this unless you  re a die  hard collector  there  s not enough here to even make it an average slasher flick .  
zodiac killer       was an interesting film from german born director ulli lommel . he directs  produced and co  stars in this latest production . not only does he manage to make an interesting film on the cheap . but he reaches a new low when herr lommel works in footage from nearly his entire film catalog . i have seen film clips from boogeyman i and ii  war birds  tenderness of the wolf  brain waves and cocaine cowboys  even andy warhol makes a cameo from beyond the grave courtesy of this film  . even though he uses plenty of old footage  he works them in well  and very creatively might i add  .  br    br   the film follows a young man who copies the original zodiac killer . he also corresponds with a writer  ulli lommel  who originally wrote about the serial killer during the late sixties and early seventies . the writer  s friend  david hess  helps him to try and find this wannabe zodiac . can this killer be stopped  will the writer put two and two together and reclaim some of his old glory  is david hess still the man  you  ll have to find out for yourself and watch the zodiac killer .  br    br   this film is not about the original zodiac killer . i have also heard people whine about this film being shot on video . so what . the director  s old school artistic style outshines the fact that it  s shot on video . my only complaint was the over use of stock footage from herr lommel  s earlier films  but i understand why  wink   wink  .  don  t believe the hype . this is a gritty and street level horror film . like the disclaimer in the beginning states  this film does nor glorify murder . you got to like that statement .  br    br   highly recommend for ulli lommel fans .  
linda lovelace was the victim of a sadistic woman hater  chuck traynor . i don  t understand how having sex with a dog  which is animal abuse  as well  can be found to be entertaining or funny . linda lovelace was a virtual prisoner who was coerced into making these films . i know some people will criticize this comment but i feel strongly that these types of films fuel the fire of hatred and further misogynistic feelings towards women . this society continues to portray women as sexual objects as opposed to human beings . we call ourselves  civilized  however i feel we have a long way to go before we can ever scratch the surface of being civilized .  
some bad reviews here for this and i understand why but treat it as a low budget serial killer film and you might get more from it than most .  br    br   i thought that this worked in a way because afterwards i felt dirty and wanted to take a long shower so that is some degree of success isn  t it   br    br   i would say there is just the right level of sleaze here to get under your skin although the acting is maybe a bit too uneven . david hess is only in this brielfy so don not get your hopes up to much if you like last house .  br    br   other than that  worth a look .  
what can you say about a grainy  poorly filmed   mm stag film  where the best and most attractive performer is a german shepherd  nothing that would be positive . avoid this travesty at all costs . in any case  it would be difficult to find  since bestiality remains a taboo and illegal subject in the usa . i strongly suggest imdb to re  visit their weighting formula for establishing ratings  since an  .  rating for this piece of fecal matter is absurd  i am  by no means  a prude and have spent many hours enjoying the classic porn movies of the    s     s but this is inferior product even by the looser standards of the  then illegal  stag loop .  
  no spoilers  just plot details  i can  t understand such hatred for this episode . you want to watch a bad episode of smallville  watch subterranean  now there  s a sack of crap . tom welling gives a good performance  i don  t say that very often   and michael rosenbaum is great  but he is most of the time . the alternate universe scenario seems eerily realistic . the martian manhunter  who previously appeared in  static   returns and tells clark that the doctor that is the head of the insane asylum where they are being held at is actually a phantom from the phantom zone  and if clark wants to return to his universe  he must kill him . an overall great episode  with good acting and a decent pace .  
this is the worst movie i have ever seen . everyone involved should be embarrassed . everyone . ice  t is pitiful  the dialogue is absolutely awful  and hokie does not begin to describe the performances by every single actor in this movie . the plot steals heavily from executive decision  but compared to air rage  executive decision is academy award material . i have never been so disappointed when watching a movie . air rage should be burned with its ashes locked in a vault never to see the light of day again . anyone who has seen it should take a shower and wash the stink of horrible movie off of them . the best part of this movie probably comes from the ending  when the credits rolled . this was easily the worst movie i have ever seen .  br    br   ice  t should stick to law and order  and the other people in this film should retire early or commit suicide . either way  they should never attempt to be in a movie again .  
this episode is a bit confusing . some people say that you have to start from the very beginning but i have to say i was a bit confused from the beginning   br    br   clark gets a blow to the head and wakes up on the floor of fairview mental institution and is made fun of for believing that he  s a superhero . clark is told that the life that he knew was all in his head . delusional . he also find some things that are unusual martha  s married to lionel lex is bound to a wheelchair with his limbs cut off after his accident on the bridge and lana is devoted to clark . but he finds one familiarity someone else who  s devoted to clark chloe . he also finds that a mental patient is also from the known world of smallville . and the doctor is an escapee from the phantom zone .  br    br   this episode reminds me right back to a buffy episode called  normal again  where buffy begins to have vivid  daydreams about a mental asylum . the doctor tried to convince her that all that she knew was a figment of her imagination and that she was  in fact  crazy . her parents were still married  they still lived in la  her friends didn  t exist  angel was never her boyfriend and she didn  t have a sister called dawn . demons and vampires also didn  t exist . both episodes are a bit sad because doctors aren  t just telling the characters that it  s all a figment of her imagination but it tells us what it really is fiction  and it brings us back to reality . it  s nice  though  to have a sense of reality every once in a while  but we watch these shows to escape from reality . it  s again nice because the characters have to overcome new challenges .  
don  t expect much from this film . in many ways this film resembles a film that doris day starred in in      title  julie . in this film doris  who was a flight attendant  stewardess  in those days  landed the air craft after her derange husband  played by louis jordan shot the captain . she did a far better job  more convincing  than kim ojah  who took control of a    and manage to land it without much help from the control tower . i know a little about    aircraft  i use to be a flight attendant myself . like i said  do not expect much from this film  it was done on a cheap budget . the producers were to cheap to use a plane with the name of a airline on it . oceanic is one name that several movies have used . the only writing on this plane was the name of the company that made the aircraft .  
this supernatural peter weir thriller is truly one of the most haunting and fascinating movies ever seen . richard chamberlain does his best performance here as the australian lawyer who defends a group of young aborigins accused of murder . as he gets closer on the case  he discovers more about the main defendant  chris  and not least about himself . chris tells him that he is a mulkurul  which appear to be a race of supernatural beings that lived in australia thousands of years ago . at the same time  extraordinary high rainfall seems to confirm the aboriginal prophecy of the coming of the last wave  the one that will drown the world .  br    br   the dream sequences and the supernatural effects enhance this movie and make it a spectacular experience . olivia hamnett and david gulpilil are solid in the supporting roles  as well as the chap with the difficult name who plays charlie  the old aborigin who can turn into an owl . the climax and the ending don  t disappoint  in contrast to many other supernatural thrillers who fall flat after a promising hour or so . however  this can not be called a pure thriller . it is a drama as well and talks about spirituality and spiritual identity in the modern world . a masterful work by peter weir  the master of visually stunning dramas .  
this has an interesting  albeit somewhat fanciful sci  fi plot  but it  s wasted with poor direction and shlocky special effects . rae dawn chong is appealing  despite the lack of a believable story and direction consistent with her talent .  
the industry dropped the ball on this . the trailer does not do the movie justice and when this opened it was on a hand full of screens . had people had an opportunity to see this  work of mouth would have made it very successful . the  lead actresses each give great emotional performances that really draw you in to the story and especially the characters . i checked this out based on the rave recommendation richard roeper or  ebert and roeper  in his book . an example of a great film that never got fully released except on a few screens . which gave it no chance to be seen . some movies go to video quickly because they aren  t that good . this is oscar worthy and it  s a tragedy on many levels that most will never even hear of it . maybe via word of mouth it will gain a following on dvd or cable . if you haven  t see this movie you should . great performances of the  lead actresses make this movie . it could have just been another formulaic teen movie after school special but instead it stands up well to other note worthy films . girl interrupted comes to mind . if you like that you will like this .  br    br   both girls are in one amazing emotional scene after another without coming off as melodramatic . even though alicia is angry and deanna is crying through most of the movie it is done is such a real way that they do not come off as stereotypical characters or as melodramatic . the movie will move you in many scenes and if you are an aspiring actor use these real performances as your school . erica is even better in this than in traffic . i hope both of these actors get more roles that utilize their talents as well and let them shine . see this movie and if you like  recommend to friends so it doesn  t get lost among all the blockbuster crap that comes out every year . this movie was buried while spiderman  tops records . what kind of word are we living in  aghhh . so to make the world right again see this and recommend it .  
from the very beginning  the political theme of this film is so obvious and heavy handed  that the outcome is entirely predictable . any good textbook on writing screenplays will advise layering of characters  incorporating character arcs  and three act structure . in this film you will find none of that . the police are the baddies  and consequently are shown as shallow  incompetent and cowards . it never seems to occur to the makers of this film that police might be honourable citizens who see joining the police as a good way to contribute to the wellbeing of society .  br    br   the viewer gets no opportunity to make up his or her mind on whether ned kelly is a good guy or a ruthless villain . the film opens with him being arrested for stealing a horse  but we get no clue as to his guilt or innocence . we see him walk through the door of a gaol  but only know that he has been inside for three years when we hear this much later in some dialogue .  br    br   this film contains many shots of ned looking at the camera with a serious expression . i found the film a real chore to watch . it is the direction for modern films  and this one put me off watching any more .  
though derivative   labyrinth  still stands as the highlight of the mid  half of the six  year  old show . finally a story allows welling to show how he has grown as an actor . it  s not easy playing a character that is the embodiment of  truth  justice  and the american way  on a weekly basis with very little variation . his performance  permitting him to show how one might react if he  she discovers that all that he knew may be a lie  was quite believable .  br    br   welling rose to the occasion marvelously .  br    br   as always  michael rosenbaum  as the  handicapped  lex  delivered  as did kristen kreuk as a too  sweet  to  be  believed lana . allison mack  the ever  present chloe  also scored as a slightly  off  her  rocker  version .  br    br   the use of an annoying hum in the background added to the tone of the installment and made for an engaging drama .  
i signed in just to comment on how awfully stupid this movie is . besides being a rip  off of executive decision or air force one or any other kind of terrorist story  this is the kind of movie that makes you appreciate seeing a movie that can take the same basic ideas and do it well . it  s hard to blame the actors when they are given such a stupid  clich  ridden script to work with . it  s bad enough if you groan once in a movie when you encounter an insult to your intelligence  but when you find yourself groaning over and over again  you have to conclude that the director also isn  t the brightest bulb in the movie business  nor are the producers for deciding to bring this story to the screen in the first place . the mostly low  rent actors you can excuse for taking on this assignment  because they most likely showed up to get the money and exposure  not that being a part of this joke  of  a  movie is going to earn them any awards or recognition . it may end up embarrassing them for having such poor judgment as to get involved in such a loser . i see no point in summarizing the plot or even in giving any examples to prove my case  for  to do so  would be cruel and unusual punishment that no one involved in this debacle could withstand . just as studying well  made movies can inspire you how to make a good  skillfully put  together work of art and beauty  the only thing that you can learn from watching this monstrosity is what not to do and what does not work  be warned .  
while in the barn of kent farm with shelby waiting for chloe  clark is attacked and awakes in a mental institution in the middle of a session with dr . hudson . the psychologist tells him that for five years he has been delusional  believing that he has come from krypton and had superpowers . clark succeeds to escape  and meets lana  martha and lex that confirm the words of dr . hudson . only chloe believe on his words  but she is also considered insane . clark fights to find the truth about his own personality and origin .  br    br    labyrinth  is undoubtedly the most intriguing episode of  smallville  . the writer was very luck and original denying the whole existence of the powerful boy from krypton . the annoying hum gives the sensation of disturbance and the identity mysterious saver need to be clarified . my vote is nine .  br    br   title  brazil    labirinto    labyrinth    
firstly  i won  t tell you why i rented this movie  as i  m still confused myself . . .  br    br   air rage is much like any movie i  ve seen where a plane is hijacked . there is of course that one important person on the plane  and the hijacker looking for revenge . the sad thing is  some of the methods to stop the hijackers have already been used in other movies . are we really becoming so unoriginal so quickly   br    br   although it  s ice  t  who for some incomprehensible reason makes painful attempts at acting while he  s not busy putting the  c  back in front of rap  who is glorified on the cover  the movie actually stars the less than amazing kim oja as a stewardess who is  surprisingly  overlooked by the five hijackers  which naturally comes back to haunt them . as for the rest of the cast  the only person i managed to recognize was steve hytner  more commonly known as kenny bania from  seinfeld  .  br    br   i can  t forget to leave out my favorite part of the movie  when a hijacker used about a pound of plastique to blow a lock off a door . . . brilliant .  br    br   the plot was unnaturally predictable .  br    br   the script  atrocious . it got to the point where i could say something  which i felt would make a stupid comment  and it would be the next line in the movie .  br    br   as for special effects . . . the only thing special about this movie is that i wasted the cost of electricity to run my tv and vcr for    minutes .  br    br   and the title  the movie did take place in the air . but due to the less than stellar performances  the only rage in the movie was that of the viewer .  br    br   so  if you  re in the mood to even pick apart a movie  just because it  s bad . please save yourself  don  t choose this .  
you better see this episode from the beginning  because if you start to watch it any later  you will be confused as to what is happening to clark  s life .  br    br   yet  that is the twist clark is stuck in an alternate reality . lana is devoted to him . lex lost most of his legs and is in a wheelchair due to the bridge accident when he swerved to miss clark in the pilot of the series . martha is married to lionel . about the only constant is his most loyal friend chloe  who still believes in who he is . and  oh yeah  he doesn  t have any superpowers . he is in a mental institution for putting himself in a fantasy world where he does have powers  and is ridiculed for believing so . aside from chloe  there is one mysterious figure who believes in clark a black man who in the alternate reality is also a resident of the institution  who believes he is from mars .  br    br   clark must stay true to everything he believes is actual reality  and not get brainwashed by the institution  s psychiatrist  who is in fact the fourth phantom zone escapee .  br    br   this episode is utterly mind  blowing and shocking . plus  it provides a fresh twist from the usual type of  smallville  episode .  
words can  t describe how bad this movie is . i can  t explain it by writing only . you have too see it for yourself to get at grip of how horrible a movie really can be . not that i recommend you to do that . there are so many clichs  mistakes  and all other negative things you can imagine  here that will just make you cry . to start with the technical first  there are a lot of mistakes regarding the airplane . i won  t list them here  but just mention the coloring of the plane . they didn  t even manage to show an airliner in the colors of a fictional airline  but instead used a    painted in the original boeing livery . very bad . the plot is stupid and has been done many times before  only much  much better . there are so many ridiculous moments here that i lost count of it really early . also  i was on the bad guys  side all the time in the movie  because the good guys were so stupid .  executive decision  should without a doubt be you  re choice over this one  even the  turbulence   movies are better . in fact  every other movie in the world is better than this one .  
in one of her first movies  romy schneider shines as young queen victoria of britain  as she is suddenly put into the throne at the age of    learns to govern despite the machinations of the politicians  and eventually romances and marries prince albert of saxony . kitschy and campy  though surprisingly faithful to the real events   this romantic piece is irresistible . seeing this movie about british royals spoken in german adds to its quaint charm . on that front  one wonders why an austrian movie was made about an english queen but then one remembers that in      austria was still under occupation by allied troops  including british ones . maybe this was one of the reasons for the existence of this film .  
when i come on imdb boards  i  m always fed up when i see a  the worst movie ever  post . after watching this movie  i think that i am soon going to create my own post    br    br   the opening titlesgreat  some kind of lame zoom on a gas oven  yeah  focus on the fireexplosionsgreat action packed movie     br    br   the actorsi think that ice t is a cool rapper  even a nice actor  sometimes  i insist   sometimes   but the steven seagal like policeman he plays is . . . beyond the words . the rest of the cast is . . . well i don  t know where those actors were hired but jeez   i bet my dog would have been a much better actor than them    br    br   the plothijacking . original isn  t it    br    br   the action sequencesthe first shot of the movie is an explosion . i told myself  well  cool   at least there will be some nice pyrotechnics . . . i was dead wrong . the rest of the movie is mostly filled with low rent stock shots taken from the air force . . .  br    br   the dialogs are hilarious  the music is pure crap  the end is happy  i mean i was happy at the end because the movie was over      br    br   my cousin who was watching the movie was delighted  i  m    she  s   . . . well  . i was on the verge of taking the movie and burn it . maybe next time i  m gonna watch it . . .  who said never      
don  t let my constructive criticism stop you from buying and watching this romy schneider classic . this movie was shot in a lower budget  probably against the will of ernest marishka  so he had to make due . for example england is portrayed as bordering on germany . by a will of the wisp victoria and her mom are taking a vacation to germany by buggy ride alone . they arrived their too quick . this probably could not be helped but the castle they rented  for the movie  was austrian . when she  s told that she  s queen she goes to the royal room where the members of the court bow to her  where are the british citizens out side from the castle cheering for their new queen  why isbn  t she showing her self up to the balcony to greet her subjects  low budget  where the audience back then aware of these imperfection  i wonder how the critics felt  durring the inn scene she meets prince albert but isbn  t excited about it . durring the meeting in the eating side of the inn your hear music from famous old american civil war songs like  my old kentucky home   and  old black joe  . what  civil war songs in the      s  is romy schneider being portrayed as scarlet  where  s mammy  is magna shnieder playing her too  is adrian hoven rhett or ashley  what was in marishka mind  well this add to the camp . it  s unintentionally satirizing queen victoria  a story . this is the only reason you should collect it or see it       correction germany and england are connected  
this has to be one of the  worst movies ever made . the plot looked intriguing like that of passenger   . but with the latter movie it somehow worked a lot better . the plot has been worked out in the worst possible way . just a few of the awful moments in the movie  a flight attendant is standing in the opened doorway of a flying    and trying to close the door without being sucked out by the    mile per hour winds    thereafter the lands the aircraft from a few miles out starting at     feet  thats impossible even for    pilots with thousands of hour experience . when on the runway  perfectly straight of course  she is instructed to pull on the flaps  huh   come on flaps are there to ensure lift at low speeds  when on the runway you use thrust reverse on the engines and give maximum power  i can go on and on about little and mostly big mistakes in the movie  but then my reply would become the size of the english dictionary . this is a movie you want to miss  take my word for it   
i loved this movie . it was so well done  great acting and drama and historically accurate . i love romy schneider movies . this one rocks  not as great as sissi but still rocks   br    br   and scorpiolina  she commented and said french dubbing . well this is originally a german movie not french . so yea . second of all there was a plot  maybe your not familiar with history . oh and her mother played the part of her governess  not her teacher . and the storyline was actually not cinderella but queen victoria  maybe u missed that detail .  br    br   but anyway . . . . yea the history in this movie is great  i love historical movies and queen victoria is very fascinating  i love all the historical stuff . like that guy that was trying to manipulate her mom . and when she ran away and met her future husband and he showed her the  new type of dance  waltzing . when waltzing was new it was considered kinda scandalous because the couples dance so close . yea her governess was like oh my god   br    br   and also the clothes  i love the clothes . the styles are great  hoop skirts are awesome . and of course romy always looks very pretty .  
i ve finished seeing the movie   minutes ago . . wow i still cant believe what i  ve watched .  br    br   this is absolutely the worst movie ever . if i would list all the flaws in the movie  this review would take me a lot of sentences .  very funny flaws  because of being that bad though   br    br   you got to be amazed with the skill of the commandos assigned to rescue the plane . they didn  t even know how to move .  br    br   ice  t is so bad actor . . . and the thing i don  t understand  is how the production wanted him to be like a hero  but he  s a zero . .  br    br   of course the major flaws will be the landing of an     needing only  or  tips from a guy in transmission to land the plane . . . amazing . . as well as the dead bodys that had almost no blood at all . .  br    br   but i strongly recommend of watching this movie  as its very interesting to see how bad can something get  
ernst marischka  one of the most respected austrian directors of that time  made films full of beautiful scenes  delicate love and with respect to all that is precious in life .  br    br   nowadays  if people should hear about him  they associate the name of marischka with sissi trilogy                 . however  he made other excellent films like das dreimaderlhaus        embezzled heaven       and definitely this one  madchenjahre einer konigin showing the young years of queen victoria . although it deals with a slightly different theme than sissi films  i do not see many differences between this movie and sissi . they are strikingly similar .  br    br   the movie is almost identical . the style  the music  the photography . in fact  the crew are almost the same . anton profes  bruno mondi   br    br   the cast . . . romy schneider  s one of the first main roles . it was a lovely introduction to her role of sissi since this film was made one year before the first part of the trilogy about the austrian empress . it is also a film where romy plays with her mother  magda schneider . but ernst marischka was not the first director who cast romy to play with her mum . romy  s debut  wenn der weisse flieder wieder bluhn       was her performance with her mother  too . therefore  there were some voices that romy began her austrian career on the bases of her mother  s fame . indeed  there is some truth in it .  br    br   again  like in sissi  this film shows love very gently . victoria meets prince albert in a little inn in dover . their sympathy is based on pure exaltation in dance and gentle smiles . and now . . .  what would it be showed like  only sex . . . but is it the only thing love is based on   br    br   i am grateful to ernst marischka for these movies . they had a soul and a message . some people may call them kitschy  but i will never give up admiring these films . they are impressive    unfortunately  highly underrated   
besides all of the technical mistakes . . . .  br    br   how about a female flight attendant who  s able to kill  all by herself   out of the  terrorists  including ex marines    of whom without even using a gun . then  she lands the plane perfectly . we  re not talking about sigourney weaver or linda hamilton we  re talking about a regular  frightened  yet very well composed flight attendant . d how about the leader in charge of the assault  rescue squad  having a full  proof  according to the logic of the script  plan of sleep  gassing everyone and having someone from his team fly the plane . only he decides at the spur of the moment to change plans and instead lead an attack on the terrorists  guns blazing  not knowing where the terrorists are  or how many  and not securing a position of advantage  so that his whole team gets easily wiped out . yeah  that  s using the old noggin . only later to decide to use the sleep gas anyway . and it turns out useless for all intensive purposes .  br    br   bad as this movie was  though  i couldn  t stop myself from watching and wondering  what next  d i can  t help but imagine all the excellent  unemployed script writers thinking to themselves  it  s not fair . lol  d  
i have copies of both these movies the classic where robert blake is a mighty fine actor where most of the     movie blake is more shown standing by a window in jail telling his childhood life where it makes since why he killed the clutter family doesn  t show much in the classic of what really went on an doesn  t tell us which one really done the killing but it  s a great eye catcher really if you watch the     movie in cold blood the classic makes a lot more sence .  
spoilers  maybe a few details  but nothing too plot related . not like it would matter with this movie .  br    br   air rage blatantly rips off the mid  air infiltration premise of executive decision . ice  t leads a team of four  elite  commandos who wear baggy black shirts that we can only imagine must conceal invisible body armor as their idiotic tactics  similar to what  rd graders use when playing star wars on the playground  lead them to absorb a hail of gunfire .  br    br   what entertained me the most about this flick was the use of look  alike has  been actors . you  ll immediately recognize cyril o  reily as someone who once acted in a movie that you really liked  though it was so long ago that you probably won  t be able to place it  it was porky  s  . here cyril plays a decent knock  off of a bill paxton character . most hilarious is porker gil gerard  who  s so fat that you will never recognize him as tv  s buck rogers . instead of evoking his mildly heroic character past  gerard gives us a passable performance of the crusty fat tough guy persona  which was clearly imagineered for john goodman . finally  alex cord gives us a nice hybrid look  alike performance as a chuck connors  kirk douglas type . in the   years since new jack city  ice  t  s acting has deteriorated remarkably . it  s not acting so much as regurgitation of lines that he might have actually memorized .  br    br   one of the items that plays into this movie is a cd  rom of classified information . it  s being hand carried  and it  s apparently and unbelievably not encrypted  despite the security  savvy aura of gerard  s nsa character . what a joke . i  m severely doubting that the information purported to be on the cd would ever even all be assembled into a portable format .  br    br   despite being in a closed aircraft without silencers  the gunfire is about as loud as canned air  and causes nary a person to flinch  so apparently no foley budget . the assortment of weapons chosen is pretty funny . the flight attendant  s use of a coffee pot is about the most realistic depiction of violence in the film . when she takes intuitively to the mini  uzi pistol  which has got to be one of the worst pistol designs ever  that  s just too stupid . a true elite team would carry mp   s for this type thing or maybe socomm .   s  or even customized hi  powers if they were really old school  or maybe something fn  .  if new school . . . the lame  o standard issue   fs are totally unbelievable  having lost most of their cool after lethal weapon i . the bad guys  supposedly experienced soldier of fortune types  have an assorted mixture of absurdity  like the aforementioned mini  uzi pistol and a tec   with the infamous non  functional barrel extender that isn  t a silencer .  br    br   there was one touch of realism on which i would like to correct the other reviewers the flight attendant and ice  t did lower the craft to       feet for  breathable air  before they opened the door . and i also got the impression that the flight attendant was not able to get the door closed  that she basically just gave up on that point . as far as the landing  there was no mention of flaps until about  seconds before touchdown . sigh .  br    br   only the dukes of hazard eluding roscoe p . coltrane at the  pass  could shame this movie for use of stock footage . they obviously chose the incredible  and retired  sr    because they couldn  t get stock of an f     . aside from the fact that they were mothballed already in      let  s also forget for a moment that the sr    is not a pure stealth aircraft in the sense of the b    and that at point blank range . . . well  i  m no expert  but i  m having doubts as to whether it would be invisible on radar .  br    br   as others have pointed out  the repeated references to  f    s  when they were showing f    s was laughable . details of the    were pretty stupid . no airline would put that few passengers on a    to begin with  not to mention everything else that was idiotic about it . pay attention to the use of exposed electrical wiring .  br    br   wow . what a show . catch it on stars or something . don  t pay to rent it  but do watch it for laughs . in contention for worst movie ever  right up there with no holds barred  which at least had some originality .  
the     in cold blood was perhaps more like  the real thing   think about it would we really want to see the real thing    but it was black and white in a color world  and a lot of people didn  t even know what it was  and there was an opportunity to remake it for television . plus  if you remake it  you can show some stuff not shown in the original . the book in cold blood by truman capote was the first  nonfiction novel  . truman  s book was in fact not     true to the real story . i thought the canadian location sufficed for kansas pretty much for a tv movie . look for the elements of sex  drugs and rock  n  roll dick  s womanizing  perry being an aspirin junkie  perry playing blues guitar .  
what a complete piece of trash . plot notwithstanding  when a movie  s action revolves around airplanes  you  d think the writers  producers  director  or anyone   would do a little bit of homework as to at least a few of the details . the mistakes were so glaring that i was fuming by the end of the movie . here are just a few i  m glad i missed the sr    sequence  certain to have been worse than the  air force one  f     spectacle . commercial airlines usually have their logos painted on the aircraft rather than boeing     likely the  cheap  use of some boeing advertising  publicity footage by the director . exposed wiring connected by wire nuts is mediocre at best for house wiring  much less multi  million dollar aircraft avionics wiring . airplanes like the    rely on pressure alone rather than ship  s supply oxygen to maintain breathable air  and if they did rely on an on  board supply  the canister would be far bigger than fist sized . medical tape is not a suitable substitute for a threaded hose connection . those were f    s  not f    s . mach    speed of sound  would be difficult to attain on a static engine run up for takeoff  watch the airspeed indicator  .  standard formation  is simply keeping the formation inside one nautical mile   route  formation is what they were flying  not the most useful formation for an intercept .  acquiring missile lock  is not likely to get an airline pilot  s attention  they have no radar detection or countermeasures .  wait for my signal  is not inter  flight communication for preparing to fire anything . depressurization from a door opening in flight is not grounds for an immediate steep left bank . yelling into a headset does not make it transmit . magnetic headings are given as  headings  not  bearings   and headings are between    and    degrees  compasses in the air are just like compasses on the ground    so turning left  not  port   that  s a boat thing  from a  bearing  of    to    is just stupid . it is in most cases impossible to just  turn the yoke left until the correct heading is reached   that sort of thing will result in    degree rolls until the yoke is centered again . the likelihood of a flight attendant immediately finding and successfully engaging the autopilot is only slightly greater than the likelihood of her actually landing the jet safely . airplanes don  t stall immediately upon pulling the throttle back  and    s have more than one little lever to control the multi  engine thrust . flaps are lowered in increments usually just prior to and immediately following landing gear extension  not seconds before landing  good way to crash  . wheel brakes are required to stop an airplane  simply pulling the throttle  s   this time a different lever in the movie  to idle will just allow you to go off the end of the runway at a slower speed . did i mention that those fighter aircraft were f    s and not f    s  guess i did and that  s just what i remember from recently watching this horrific movie .  
this was a pretty good film . i  m not sure if this is considered a spoiler comment  but i didn  t want to take a chance . anyway  near the end of the film  the prosecutor reads a scripture verse and then quotes another from memory . i can  t remember the first passage he reads  but the second one is genesis    . he says it  s genesis      but he actually quotes verse  . this is a common passage that many use to defend capital punishment . it  s too bad that prosecutors dare not quote the bible today . did anybody ever hear of john jay  the first supreme court justice in the history of this country  he said that the bible is the best of all books . too bad we  ve lost that view in america .  
one stinko of a movie featuring a shopworn plot and  to be kind  acting of less than oscar caliber . but to me the single worst flaw was the total misrepresentation of a jet aircraft  and especially a    . some of the major blunders  br    br    . no flight engineer  or even a flight engineer station .  . mis  identifying the f    interceptors as f     s  no resmblance whatsoever  .  . loading passengers into an  aft baggage compartment  supposedly accesible from the cabin  even if such a compartment existed  placing that much weight that far aft would make the aircraft unflyable .  . hollow point bullets that  won  t damage the aircraft  .  . the entire landing procedure was so bad i wanted to puke .  . an sr     of all planes  with a pressure seal hatch  . opening a cabin door outward  into the wind  in flight    br    br   ah nuts  it was just a truly lousy movie . gotta make the list of bottom   of the year .  
  the last wave  is one of those movies that relies heavily on the mind . the title refers to the aboriginal doomsday theory there will be one last wave that wipes out everything .  br    br   david burton  richard chamberlain  is a sydney lawyer hired to defend some aborigines accused of murder . around this time  there has been unusually heavy rainfall in australia . while defending the aborigines  david learns the last wave theory  and begins to wonder whether it  s just mythology .  br    br   the movie  s last sequence is a metaphor for descending into the depths of one  s mind . peter weir created a perplexing  but thought  provoking  movie . aboriginal actor david gulpilil  whom you may have seen in  walkabout    crocodile dundee  and  rabbit  proof fence   provides an interesting supporting role as one of the defendants .  br    br   if you get a chance  watch the  making of  feature on the dvd . peter weir explains some of the film  s undertones  some of which relate to richard chamberlain  s background .  
i finally caught up to  starlight  last night on television and all i can say is . . . wow  it  s hard to know where to begin   the incredibly hokey special effects  check out the laser beams shooting out of willie  s eyes    the atrocious acting  the ponderous dialogue  the mismatched use of stock footage  or the air of earnest pretentiousness that infuses the entire production . this truly is a one  of  a  kind experience  and we should all be thankful for that . i nominate jonathon kay as the true heir to ed wood   
after reading the book  i happened across this dvd at wal  mart for  bucks and thought  sure  what the hell . . . i got the dvd and watched it last night . when i started watching it  i checked the run time and it was about   minutes . i thought  ok cool . . . it seemed to run rather slowly  knowing the story and how much of it there was . by the time i got to the actual killings  i was like   how much time does this have left   checked .  one minute   what the hell    i felt incredibly cheated  thinking that the movie only progressed through a third of the overall story .  br    br   but then  i happily noticed that the dvd  s scene selection menu included a part  and a part  . i still had another hour and a half to go  i then sat very happily and enjoyed the second half of the movie  even more so than the first .  br    br   i admit that i have not seen the     original film  despite my sincerest desire to   i have however read the novel and felt that this was a fairly descent film  for a two  part tv miniseries  that is . i think the casting of the role of perry was completely wrong and a few minor inconsistencies jumped out at me  but still very well done . the first half drags on a bit  while the second half is much more gripping . i think they should have proportioned the movie more like capote did his book    before the murders     after  and    after the killers are arrested . instead  the film makes it more    before the murders     after  and    after the killers are arrested . again  this makes the second half more exciting  but at the same time  less compelling while making the first half drag on and on . . .  br    br   now i look back and realize i have just made the same mistake about making things drag on and on  so i will shut the hell up . go watch the movie and make up your own damn mind   br    br   nick houston  
to be honest  i didn  t like  executive decision   which was obvious the template  very much  but compared to this piece of crap  it looks like a masterpiece of art .  br    br   not only that the people moving in the film  the term actors would be an insult for all other actors  should attend more acting classes  the guy who build the setting hasn  t even seen an aircraft from afar . it is so ridiculous  that on a    only  flight attendance are aboard  but this is only the tip of the iceberg . the film is full of illogicalness  e . g .  use sleeping  gas  then don  t use it  then use it anyway   which dropped my rating finally to the bottom .  br    br   you can have more fun in rearranging you sock drawer or in drilling a hole in your knee and fill it with milk .  
although i generally do not like remakes believing that remakes are waste of time this film is an exception . i didn  t actually know so far until reading the previous comment that this was a remake  so my opinion is purely about the actual film and not a comparison .  br    br   the story and the way it is written is no question it is capote . there is no need for more words .  br    br   the play of anthony edwards and eric roberts is superb . i have seen some movies with them  each in one or the other . i was certain that they are good actors and in case of eric i always wondered why his sister is the number  famous star and not her brother . this time this certainty is raised to fact  no question . his play  just as well as the play of mr . edwards is clearly the top of all their profession .  br    br   i recommend this film to be on your top   films to see and keep on your dvd shelves .  
when i first saw this film in cinema   years ago  i loved it . i still think the directing and cinematography are excellent  as is the music . but it  s really the script that has over the time started to bother me more and more . i find emma thompson  s writing self  absorbed and unfaithful to the original book she has reduced marianne to a side  character  a second fiddle to her much too old  much too severe elinor  she in the movie is given many sort of  focus moments   and often they appear to be there just to show off thompson herself .  br    br   i do understand her cutting off several characters from the book  but leaving out the one scene where willoughby in the book is redeemed  for someone who red and cherished the book long before the movie  those are the things always difficult to digest .  br    br   as for the actors  i love kate winslet as marianne . she is not given the best script in the world to work with but she still pulls it up gracefully  without too much sentimentality . alan rickman is great  a bit old perhaps  but he plays the role beautifully . and elizabeth spriggs  she is absolutely fantastic as always .  
this two  part tv mini  series isn  t as good as the original from     but it  s solid . the original benefited from a huge number of things    it was all in black and white  it had a great jazz score and it was filmed at the real locations  including the home of the doomed clutter family . that was important because in the book and in the original movie the home is very much a character itself .  br    br   this remake was filmed in canada which i guess doubles okay for kansas . the story tries to be as sympathetic to perry as it dares to and eric roberts plays him as a somewhat fey person  his homosexuality barely hidden . the gentler take by roberts doesn  t quite work in the end though because it  s hard to believe that his version of perry smith would just finally explode in a spasm of murder . whereas robert blake  s take on smith left you no doubt that his perry smith was an extremely dangerous character .  br    br   anthony edwards was excellent as the bombastic  big  mouthed and ultimately cowardly dick hickcock  the brains of the outfit . his performance compares very well to scott wilson  s role in the original movie .  br    br   since this is a longer movie it allows more time to develop the clutter family and in this regard i think the     movie has an advantage . the clutters are just an outstanding  decent family . they  ve never harmed another soul and it is just inexplicable that such a decent family is ultimately massacred in such a horrifying way . it still boggles my mind that  after the clutters were locked in the bathroom  that herb clutter didn  t force out the window so at least his children would have a chance to escape . this movie has the thought occur to him  but too late . from what i read about the real home  which is still standing  the way the bathroom is configured they could  ve opened the counter drawers and effectively barricaded the door which would  ve forced the killers to blast their way in . but it might  ve bought time for some of the clutters to escape . why the clutters didn  t try this  i have no idea .  br    br   fans of the book will recognize that this movie takes a lot of liberties with how the crime is committed but not too serious . still  it  s distracting to viewers like me who have read tons about the case . the actors playing the cops  led by sam neill and leo rossi  are uniformly excellent  much better  i think  as a group  than the actors in the original movie . they know that to secure the noose around the necks of both of them they have to get them to confess . and the officers come to the interview impeccably prepared . they had already discovered the likely alibi the phony story of going to fort scott  and had debunked every jot of it . the officers then let smith  hickcock just walk into their trap . hickcock is a b . s . artist who figures he can convince anyone of anything and the officers respectfully let him tell his cover story . but when they lower the boom on him  he shatters very quickly . it  s very well filmed and acted and very gratifying to watch because the viewer naturally should loath hickcock in particular by this point  a cowardly con  man who needs the easily manipulated smith to do his killing for him . supposedly hickcock later stated that the real reason for the crime wasn  t to steal money from the clutters but to rape nancy clutter . at least she was spared that degradation .  br    br   the actors playing the clutters are very good  kevin tighe as herb clutter in particular . the story sensitively deals with mrs . clutter  s emotional problems  most likely clinical depression  and mrs . clutter displays remarkable inner strength when she firmly and strongly demands that the killers leave her daughter alone . from what i  ve read the clutters  surviving family was particularly bothered by how bonnie clutter was portrayed in the book  claiming it was entirely untrue . but as an aside  both of the killers related to the police how mr . clutter asked them to not bother his wife because of her long illness . capote might make up that fiction to make the character of bonnie more interesting but certainly the killers had no reason to falsely portray mrs . clutter and no doubt much of the conversation in the book  duplicated in the movies  is right off the taped confessions of the killers . so it would  ve been nonsensical for herb to have said that and not have it be true .  
from the start of this movie you soon become aware that the name of the film has nothing to do with the movie itself from watching a naked woman being chased by people in very silly masks to servants running round in the worst clothing i  ve ever seen and all this in subtitles makes this the kind of movie you should think twice about seeing and as the film slowly moves along you soon realise that the vampire is not a vampire you got to wonder where the title came from some parts of the film made a bit of sense with pierre and is father but as the film gets to its really silly ending you have got to think why end a film this way and surly they had a better ending if only in there heads this is not a film to watch basically  
like others  i have seen and studied most of the books and films concerning the clutter killings  including a few dramatic works thematically based on the actions and psycho  mythology of the participants to the crime   including capote himself . as to capote  i cannot forgive him for willfully withholding perry smith  s confessions  intimacies and writings from even the defense counsels . i believe truths and facts capote  reserved  for his  book   which required for capote two guilty verdicts and capital punishment  would almost certainly have sustained a successful insanity defense for perry smith even under the old mcnaughton rule . capote himself could never write another major literary work after  in cold blood .  shame and guilt . in my opinion  he willingly encouraged and planned the brutal capital punishment to provide the spectacular ending he required for his book  drama . to him  both men had to die for his book to succeed . the book had to justify itself by pretending it was about the horror of capital punishment . his actions and silence assured that ice  cold conclusion .  br    br   capote  s book is not truth . it is not factual or journalistic . it is drama and melodrama spiced with his own creatively psychotic imagination . what most people consider the virtues of the contemporaneous first movie are stark images of capote  s mind  which may have been the most cold  blooded aspect of all . no wonder viewers ironically but necessarily prefer blake  s performance . that actor is the nightmare from capote  s dishonest imaginings .  br    br   so who is to say how the two killers should be played  who is to judge what could make an essentially poetic psychotic snap from excessive courtesy and kindness to  do it now  killing  i agree with the few who see in eric roberts  work a magnificent performance  shakespearean in its range  yet played with heartbreaking sincerity . anthony edwards takes a much safer  attitude mode  to create a smarmy hickok but he is one  dimensional and boring  with only a few notes in his television range . roberts is almost four  dimensional  adding physical weakness and agony to a powerful animal body  a frankenstein creature who thinks in poetry and knows exactly what not to do . like leopold apropos loeb  robert  s perry smith is hopelessly in love with an evil man . without hickok or a man of his particularities  perry smith would not have brought his psychotic mind into a world of horrors . he fears himself more than he fears anything else in life .  br    br   given the freedom from capote  s death grip on the consciousness of the clutter killings  roberts and edwards are free to create original personalities and psychoses to craft a different and new production of the drama . same facts  some of the same lines from the case record  but deeper  more complex  with clearly titanic psychotic stresses   indeed roberts is so good at this fluidic madness that he physically and facially demonstrates in every moment how little awareness he has of where or who he is .  br    br   what many of our reviewers dislike about this film  roberts in particular  is that cold  blooded killing isn  t shown the way they expect and have been manipulated to demand . that is because here we are seeing a far more profoundly realistic  interpretation of life and death  than capote could ever create   a real tragedy .  br    br   the actual cold  blooded killer  mr . capote  and his hypocritically artistic  non  fiction novel  do not control these interpretations and performances .  br    br   if  in cold blood  and capote  s effect on life  literature and truth matters as much as scholars say  then it takes guts as well as talent to portray the truth  or a version of the truth  that is not the rank  cowardly lie drawn up from the fathoms of capote  s own abyss .  
jean rollin artistic nonsense about vampires  aliens and the quest for immortality .  br    br   the women are beautiful and the photography stunning . the dialog is inane . its a laughable mess . great to look at but as any semblance of a horror film or thriller purely awful . i  m trying to figure out if we  re suppose to be scared or not . at the same time is it a put on or not  its an odd mix of art film and horror that never quite meshes and while its nice to look at it never seems to  mean  anything  and its by no means scary even if the occasional shot or sequence creates a moment of frisson its well made pretentious twaddle . something to leave on in the background as a living wall paper for those who like naked women .  
i am from sweden and i have just seen this movie and the thing is that i thought it was okay . i have seen many bad comments about it but you must remember that a lot of people that watch this two parts miniseries are located all over the world and not just in usa . also remember that not everyone has ever heard of the film made in the   s and maybe not in the events  murders  . and even more . . . that it can be hard to find the original movie and if so there always be people around that doesn  t like black  white films . this one feels fresh and in color and will find its public . its   years old now but i just saw it for the first time . i will try to find the first one if i can to compare them but i haven  t seen it anywhere in sweden . ofcorse there is internet but not for anyone in the world . the thing here is that this is mostly part of an american crime  history and was big in the      s in just usa but in rest of the world it just past by i guess . well it was told about for some time but   years later it will fade away in for example europa cause time goes by . we had our own problems and crimes so if someone will do a remake of the film and put it back in some light again its not a bad idea at all . a new generation can take part of this horrible story and even the film about capote that was released just a few years ago witch was a pretty good film too i think . it will boost interest to the events that took place some   years ago and maybe stop it to fall in sleep . it started me up and now i am looking for the robert blake  version so it wasn  t that bad . . . huh  this are my opinions . some people will of course disagree but hey . . . its okay . sometimes there will be okay with remakes on old films . its not every time the old ones are that good . the film  making techniques has developed a lot and scenes can be made more realistic if they want today . its always a question of money of course . there has been so many movies that were made in the  good old days  but there were also money missing  bad directors etc  and they remakes them today    years later  and suddenly they are okay to watch . my friend got this box of old classic horror  movies and s  f and i cant say i was impressed of the so called good old days . most of them you cold put in the trashcan directly . they were so bad that we just sat there like zombies . . . could not move . . . like brain  dead . i cant recommend them to anyone . some of them i have seen remakes of and i remember liking them . . . but not the originals . they were just painful awful . this is like the old story of who was the best bond . . . moore or connery . . . i think if you see roger moore first you maybe find him the one to trust or like . . . thanks for me and i am sorry for my english  thats not so good .  lars from sweden  
french director jean rollin isn  t exactly known for great films  and this confusing mess is one of the reasons why . one of the most confusing things about this production is the title . for a director who is well known for directing erotic films about lesbian vampires you would expect a film with the word  nude  in the title to be a particularly bare  breasted one but in fact  there  s not a lot of nudity here at all . instead of erotic lesbian vampires with no clothes on we  ve got a cumbersome plot about a man who wants to unlock the secret to immortality  a young woman whose affliction might hold the key and a suicide cult  who don  t get to do much . the film starts off promisingly with a sequence that sees a young girl carried off by a mysterious bunch of people in masks under the watchful eye of a young french man  who also happens to be the son of a man of importance . through his investigation  he soon discovers that this woman is not just a normal lady  and as he delves deeper into the cult he discovers that cannot be killed by bullets  drinks blood and can  t go out in daylight . . . sounds like a clear cut case of vampirism to me .  br    br   jean rollin keeps the fantasy atmosphere going throughout the film  but it fails to be interesting because the plot is so badly executed . it is possible to keep up with what  s going on  but only because there  s so many other films that follow similar plots to this one . the director seems to know that he  s messed up the plotting too  as the climax is basically an excuse to explain the film to the audience . there is a twist thrown in at the end also but the film would have been better without it . i guess this was jean rollin  s attempt to be a little original  but it comes off as a ham  fisted attempt at such  rather than a logical continuation of the story . the cinematography is fairly neat  with lots of the plot taking place in suitably gothic locations . the girls on board complete what is a pretty picture  and what rollin  s film lacks in logic and consistency  it somewhat makes up for in style . in the film  s defence  it was made in      which somewhat explains the lack of shocks but i can  t recommend this movie as it doesn  t have much about it that is worth taking note of .  
elisha cuthbert plays sue a fourteen year old girl who has lost her mother and finds it hard to communicate with her father  until one day in the basement of her apartment she finds a secret magic elevator which takes her to back to the late   th century were she meets two other children who have lost their father and face poverty . . .  br    br   i was clicking through the channels and found this . . i read the synopsis and suddenly saw elisha cuthbert . . . i thought okay . . . . and watched the movie . . i didn  t realise elisha had done films before . . . .  the girl next door and    elisha provides a satisfactory performance  the plot is a little cheesy but the film works . . . its amazing how this young girl went on to become the hottest babe in hollywood   
the eight jean rollin film i have watched is also possibly the weirdest the intriguing plot  such as it is  seems initially to be too flimsy to sustain even its trim   minutes but it somehow contrives to get inordinately muddled as it goes along  a would  be female vampire  scantily  clad  as promised by the title  is held in captivity inside a remote chteau and emerges only to  feast  on the blood of willing victims  who are apparently members of a suicide club  as if unsure where all of this would lead him  the writer  director ultimately has the human villain  actually the blank  faced hero  s kinky father  ludicrously revealed as a mutant     from the future  the languorous pace and dream  like atmosphere  the cultists wear hoods and animal masks to hide their features from the sheltered girl  are  of course  typical of both the film  maker  ditto the seashore setting at the anticlimax  and the  euro  cult  style  as are the bevy of nubile beauties on display . personally  the most enjoyable thing about the whole visually attractive but intellectually vacuous affair was watching familiar character actor bernard musson  who appeared in six latter  day luis bunuel films  crop up bemusedly through it from time to time   
i found this family film to be pleasant and enjoyable even though i am not a child . it is based on the concept of a high school girl  susan  elisha cuthbert  discovering that the elevator in her upper class apartment building becomes a time machine when a key on a key chain she got from a blind scientist is turned in the elevator lock . she learns how to control the machine  with some uncertainty about time of day  .  br    br   the film is not a work of serious science fiction . you have to ignore the usual instability paradox associated with altering the past through time travel  i . e  the past is changed to prevent the     walker family from becoming poor  but the change means the family never got into financial trouble  so victoria wouldn  t have told susan about the financial problems her mother had  which means that susan shouldn  t have had a reason to change the past in the first place  but other than that  there are some nice touches in the story  such as the old elevator panel  found in the apartment of the woman who secretly invented and installed the time machine  not having a space for the lock that activates the time machine feature . as in many stories for children  we need to also suppose that a child will not share startling information about a time travel device with a parent or other adult but instead hide the time traveler .  br    br   it also requires disregarding some poorly staged scenes and uninspired performances by some of the adult actors .  the child actors  elisha cuthbert  gabrielle boni  and matthew harbour  all were very convincing in their parts .  in one scene in the     s native americans notice susan observing and photographing them . but they don  t register surprise in the sudden appearance of this blond  white skinned girl in peculiar dress . their response is to simply stop what they are doing and to walk calmly towards susan . in the same scene an indian mother is carrying what is supposed to be a baby but is so obviously a doll  its white skinned and its head flops around  .  br    br   timothy busfield  the award winning actor who originally came to fame in tv  s old  thirty something   gives a somewhat uninteresting  sometimes listless  performance . in the other extreme michel perron hams it up as the italian building superintendent  janitor   as does richard jutras in his role as a nosy neighbor .  the neighbor  s name is edward ormondroyd  which is the name of the author of the novel the film is based on .  i suspect that these problems may be the fault either of the director or possible of a low budget .  br    br   despite these flaws  i recommend the movie for kids . in addition to the interesting story  it also has some educational value  in that it points out how much both technology and social norms have changed in little more that    years .  
i have to say that there is nothing wrong with low budget films  so that was not my problem with it . my problem with it is that i felt like i was watching my next door neighbor  s home movie . imo everything about it just seemed like a guy wrote out a quick story  grabbed a camera  and started shooting . i understand how hard this must be to do effectively  but when i pay to rent a film  i expect to feel like i am watching some type of professionally made movie .  br    br   john schneider has a huge resume  is a great actor  and was fine in this film . the other people in it were not . i understand how it must be fun  and cheaper to use friends  and relatives as the cast  but it doesn  t make for convincing acting . it seemed like the way it was shot  he was trying to give many of the scenes a more interesting look  but when the writing  plot  and acting are there to begin with  that type of style isn  t necessary  and it is a distraction .  br    br   also on a technical level  it had digital artifacts all over the place . in the first scene of all of those fine cars  when they did a slow scan of them  they appeared to jerk back and forth just a little bit . the problem isn  t in my viewing equipment   benq pe         diagonal  but somewhere in the production . i  ve never seen that kind of artifact in a professionally made film before . then there was the sound . it sounded like they didn  t do any voice  overs  which may be o . k . unless it sounded like the track in this film . it sounded like the built in microphone on the camera .  
i love the movie  it was a very interesting fantasy movie b  c of the real meaning of family in it  the history of our country  the fun  filled action displayed in the movie . i watch time  the top about  x  s a week and i just love it  i wish that a sequel had of been made to see more of susan  s dad in the past and watching how susan delt with her new baby sister and having no telephone  computers  gameboys or anything of the   st century . i hope everyone else enjoyed the movie as much as i did i guess you could say i  m a time at the top fanatic and i don  t mind . the lil boy in the movie robert lincoln walker was simply adorible i wonder who he is and how old he is today . does anyone know if he  s played in over movies or tv shows   
profanity  stupidity  self  indulgence  and bad acting all join forces for a true tour de force in terrible movie  making . pesci  s attempt to prove my cousin vinny was no fluke  shows the opposite instead . he is generally too lightweight and foulmouthed to handle the lead . a true must  miss   
a fascinating look at the relationship of a single father in     and a single mother in      tied together by a time  traveling teenager . reminded me of  somewhere in time   richard matheson  s  bid time return   as rendered by christopher reeves and jane seymour .  
in this movie  joe pesci slams dunks a basketball . joe pesci . . .  br    br   and being consistent  the rest of the script is equally not believable .  br    br   pesci is a funny guy  which saves this film from sinking int the absolute back of the cellar  but the other roles were pretty bad . the father was a greedy businessman who valued money more than people  which wasn  t even well  played . instead of the man being an archetypal villain  he seemed more like an amoral android programmed to make money at all costs . then there  s the token piece that is assigned to pesci as a girlfriend or something . . . i don  t even remember . . . she was that forgettable .  br    br   anyone who rates this movie above a  or  is a paid member of some sort of film studio trying to up the reputation of this sunken film  or at least one of those millions of media minions who can  t critique efficiently  you know  the people who feel bad if they give anything a mark below   .  br    br   stay away . . . far away . and shame on comedy central  where i saw this film . they usually pick better .  
i found  time at the top  an entertaining and stimulating experience . the acting  while not generally brilliant  was perfectly acceptable and sometimes very good . as a film obviously aimed at the younger demographic  it is certainly one of the better works in the genre  children  s sci  fi  . normally  i would say that canada  the united kingdom and australia produce the best movies and tv shows for children  and  time at the top  does nothing to discount this theory  i don  t think that continuity and great acting are important to younger people . a good plot and an imaginative screenplay are far more important to them . both are in abundance in this film . the special effects are good  without detracting from the story  or closing the viewers off from their own imaginations . it would have been very easy to inject an over  load of sfx in this film  but it would have totally destroyed its entire  raison d  etre  .  br    br   the settings and camera work are of a very high standard in this movie  and complement the fine wardrobe and historical accuracy . overall  this film is highly satisfactory  and i recommend it to all viewers who can see the world through children  s eyes  or those that try to  like myself  now  i really must read the original book  as soon as possible .  
in this movie  joe pesci slams dunks a basketball . joe pesci . . .  br    br   and being consistent  the rest of the script is equally not believable .  br    br   pesci is a funny guy  which saves this film from sinking int the absolute back of the cellar  but the other roles were pretty bad . the father was a greedy businessman who valued money more than people  which wasn  t even well  played . instead of the man being an archetypal villain  he seemed more like an amoral android programmed to make money at all costs . then there  s the token piece that is assigned to pesci as a girlfriend or something . . . i don  t even remember . . . she was that forgettable .  br    br   anyone who rates this movie above a  or  is a paid member of some sort of film studio trying to up the reputation of this sunken film  or at least one of those millions of media minions who can  t critique efficiently  you know  the people who feel bad if they give anything a mark below   .  br    br   stay away . . . far away . and shame on comedy central  where i saw this film . they usually pick better .  
richard chamberlain is david burton  a tax lawyer living in sydney  australia who is drawn into a murder trial defending five aboriginal men accused of murdering a fellow native in peter weir  s apocalyptic     thriller the last wave . taking up where picnic at hanging rock left off  the film goes deeper into exploring the unknown and  in the process  shows the gulf between two cultures who live side by side but lack understanding of each others culture and traditions . weir shows how white society considers the native beliefs to be primitive superstitions and believes that since they are living in the cities and have been  domesticated   their tribal laws and culture no longer apply .  br    br   from the start  burton is drawn deeper and deeper into a strange web of visions and symbols where the line between real time and  dream time  evaporates . water plays an important symbolic role in the film from the opening sequence in which a sudden thunder and hailstorm interrupts a peaceful school recess to burton  s discovery that his bathtub is overflowing and water is pouring down his steps . as violent and unusual weather continue with episodes of black rain and mud falling from the sky  the contrast between the facile scientific explanations of the phenomenon and the intuitive understanding of the natives is made clear . burton and his wife annie  olivia hamnet  study books about the aborigines and learn about the role of dreams in the tribal traditions . when he invites one of his clients chris lee  david gulpilil  to his home for dinner  he is disturbed to find that he is the subject of an inquiry by chris and his friend charlie  nadjiwarra amagula   an enigmatic aborigine sorcerer involved with the defendants . as burton  s investigation continues  his clients make his work difficult by refusing to disclose the true events surrounding the murder .  br    br   after chris starts to appear in his dreams  burton is convinced that the aborigine was killed in a tribal ritual because  he saw too much   though chris refuses to acknowledge this in court . burton  becoming more and more troubled by a mystery he cannot unravel  says to his stepfather priest   why didn  t you tell me there were mysteries   this is a legitimate question but  according to the reverend  the church answers all mysteries . burton knows now that he must discover the truth for himself and enters the tribal underground caves . though we do not know for certain what is real and what is a dream  he comes face to face with his deepest fears in a haunting climax that will leave you pondering its meaning into the wee hours of the morning .  br    br   in this period of history in which native hopi and mayan prophecies predict the  end of history  and the purification of man leading to the fifth world  the last wave  though   years old  is still timely . the aborigines are portrayed as a vibrant culture  not one completely subjugated by the white man  yet i am troubled by the gnawing feeling that we are looking in but not quite seeing . weir has opened our eyes to the mystery that lies beyond our consensual view of reality  but he perpetuates the doom  orientation that sees possibility only in terms of fear  showing nature as a dark and uncontrollable power without a hint of the spiritual beauty that lives on both sides of time .  
this review may contain some spoilers .  br    br   just when you thought they didn  t make them so extremely bad anymore  along comes rae dawn chong as a space vixen and willie nelson as a native american witchdoctor  it  s even worse when you factor in that these two are the better aspects of starlight   a film that should only be viewed for laughs .  br    br   chong is an alien sent to earth to seek out the only remaining half  breed  part man and part alien . apparently  the earth is in dire straits . something is wrong with the genetics of mankind  and in a few decades the world will be turned into a polluted wasteland . only by duplicating the dna of the half  breed can the kindly alien race save the planet . don  t ask me how that is  since the movie gives the impression that the world will be destroyed by pollution  which is caused by humans . you would think earth could only be saved by getting rid of the polluting creatures  not saving them  anyway  the half  breed turns out to be billy wirth  a man living in a small southwestern town and is part native american from his mother  s line  despite the fact that his mother is a red  headed caucasian and his grandfather is willie nelson . wasn  t this the sort of malarkey that made the bombastic carmen electra bomb the chosen one  such a howler  chong arrives in her ship just as wirth nearly drowns after driving his motorcycle into a lake in a fit of recklessness being the result of just breaking up with his girlfriend . before you can say utter the word hogwash   chong is revealing her secret to wirth  who isn  t surprised for a moment  and spreading the word to wirth  s family . chong also makes pals with wirth  s mother  who seems to have lost a few of her marbles over the years . well  this is because wirth  s father was an alien that abandoned her . of course  he is the standard rogue alien that has conveniently picked this moment to come to earth for wirth so he can use wirth  s dna to make the people of earth his slaves .  huh   his laughable attempts to use his telepathic powers and capture wirth suck up most of the screen time and are the worst scenes in the movie . not only are they boring  but they are the scenes where you will be spotting the flubs the most .  br    br   the ideas might be nice on paper  but they are handled here with the utmost of stupidity  particularly in the aforementioned scenes with the rogue alien . but the effects are the bane of the movie . the opening scene involves chong on her spaceship  communicating with her superior  someone who we do not see but that chong communicates with through a vat that emits pink light . they use no spoken words  but telepathy  so we are treated to subtitles . trouble is  both chong and her superior  s subtitles both look alike  and the director gives you no indication as to which of the two are actually speaking  at any given moment  which makes the whole conversation nothing but gibberish . the spaceship is the worst effect to come out of hollywood this side of an ed wood film . now  i am usually lenient on effects when dealing with a low budgeted film such as this  but these effects really got to me . the most offensive was the most simple one a fake night sky . the stars in the sky are so phony they almost sound off a dial tone . most notably are the moments where chong tells someone she comes from pleiades  and we get a shot of the seven stars . thing is  the seven stars take up about half the night sky in the movie  but any stargazer knows that pleiades is a star cluster between the constellations perseus and taurus  and the cluster doesn  t take up much room in the sky at all . these effects just get so lousy that your jaw will hang lower and lower with every passing moment . be careful  for it will go right through the floor during the finale when the effects have willie nelson turn into a human spotlight and . . . oh  it has to be seen to be believed   br    br   starlight  star bright last star i see tonight i wish i might  i wish i may not have to watch any more of this trash today .  br    br   zantara  s score  out of   .  
the movie was much better than the other reviewer stated . it  s a nice family movie . it has a fun fantasy aspect of some time travel . the story revolves around a   year old girl who accidentally finds a way to travel back in time in the old elevator of her apartment building . of course  no one believes her when she tries to explain her disappearances . she finds and makes friends with a girl about her age and is able to help the girl  s family in many ways . she is also able to help her own relationship with her father in the long run . it reminds me of a hallmark movie so give it a chance and decide for yourself . it seemed to be aimed more towards children about     years  maybe a bit older  and it  s pretty much pg or g rated . i  m an adult who can appreciate a nice  family  movie  i guess the other reviewer isn  t .  
this foolish  implausible tale is redeemed only by the opening scene in which a hard  boiled police detective delivers some nearly  audible lines confirming our greatest fears he is dead . perhaps the film would have been saved had the director forgone the dazzling star power of a . martinez in favor of this sadly  anonymous actor who filled the screen for a brief moment . that a no  name hack  tor off the street could salvage such a dishwater film is no less likely than a villain committing murder by dropping stones into a quarry for an unsuspecting diver . his moment is brief his promise is immense . perhaps we will be treated to more screen time by this obscure thespian if there is ever a sequel to this ill  advised film .  
john cassavetes      film opening night is  what critics usually call the work of such a significant artist   overlooked  . it is an excellent film  in its own right  and one of the best portraits of a midlife crisis ever put to film . it  s not a perfect film  in that  at two hours and twenty four minutes it  s about a half hour too long  and there  s a bit too much emphasis on the drunkenness of the lead character myrtle gordon  played by gena rowlands  the wife of cassavetes  long after we  ve gotten the point . but only woody allen  s masterpiece  another woman  which also starred rowlands  eleven years later  is a better portrait of the internal conflicts of an aging woman . yet  rowlands did win the best actress award at the berlin film festival for this portrayal  and it was well deserved . often this film  written by cassavetes  is easily compared to his earlier  and inferior  film  a woman under the influence  but it  s a spurious comparison . rowlands  character in that film is severely mentally disturbed from the start  as well as coming from a blue collar background  while her characters in this film and in allen  s film are both artists who are haunted by apparitions . in this film it  s the ghost of a dead young woman who can be seen as myrtle  s younger doppelganger  while in allen  s film it  s her character  s own past . many critics have taken this film to be a portrait of an alcoholic  seeing myrtle surround herself with enablers  such as a stage manager who tells her  during opening night   i  ve seen a lot of drunks in my time  but i  ve never seen anyone as drunk as you who could stand up . you  re great    but this is wrong  for alcohol isn  t her problem  nor is her chain smoking . they are merely diversions from whatever thing is really compelling her to her own destruction  and much to cassavetes  credit  as a storyteller  he never lets us find out exactly what  s wrong with myrtle  and despite her coming through in the end  there  s no reason to expect that she has really resolved anything of consequence . this sort of end without resolution links cassavetes directly with the more daring european directors of the recent past  who were comfortable in not revealing everything to an audience  and forcing their viewers to cogitate  even if it hurts .  br    br   yet  the film recapitulates perfectly the effect of a drunk or fever lifting out of the fog  and as such the viewer again is subliminally involved in its drama . whether or not myrtle gordon does recover  after the film  s universe irises about her is left for each and every viewer to decide  and as we have seen before that lid closes  one  s choices do matter .  
it was a good story  but not very well told . i liked the themes and the main story line  which wasn  t as clear as it could have been . maybe there was too much going on and a lack of ability to reign it all in . the acting was okay to cheesy  some were stronger than others and even the stronger actors had their moments of lesser quality acting . it took me a couple of months to get through the entire movie because it didn  t keep my attention and the flow was just bad . i only just finished watching it and i  m glad i did as the movie finally gets moving and has some continuity toward the end . again  a good story  but the delivery was sub par . would recommend it for the story line and maybe a little eye candy  and i do mean  a little .  
  opening night  released in      tries to be an ambitious production . it succeeds only in the truly stunning performance of gena rowlands . her character of theatre actress myrtle is not necessarily someone we would love in real life . she is self  absorbed  often obnoxious  and makes life miserable for those around her  in other words  not unlike some actresses  myrtle is also a woman on the edge of collapse  we are not quite sure if the demons she is fighting are real or imagined  although we are let in on the secret early . rowlands is obviously well directed with love by her gifted husband  actor  director john cassavettes  who has a role in the film as well . this film is not without flaws  it is overly long  and the last part of the film where myrtle goes on stage while very drunk seems almost cruel . the  improvising  in some of the dialogue  at least while on stage  goes on way too long . some of the supporting characters give good performances  especially from ben gazarra  playing myrtle  s sleazy producer . joan blondell  s character is never fully developed  and i never could figure out why she was in the film  except to placate myrtle . see this film for rowlands alone  she is fascinating throughout  and it is tough to take your eyes off her  although you will want to at times .  
drones  ethnic drumming  bad synthesizer piping  children singing . the most patronizing  world music  imaginable . this is a tourist film  and a lousy one . what really kills it is the incoherent sequences . india  egypt  south america  africa  etc  etc . no transitions  no visual explanation of why we  re suddenly ten thousand miles away  no ideas expressed in images . just a bunch of footage of third  worlders with  baskets on their heads  as another reviewer said . walking along endlessly as if that had some deep meaning . if these guys wanted to make a  rd world music video  all they had to do was head a few hundred miles south of where the best parts of koya were shot  and film in mexico . that would have been a much better setting for  life in transformation .   br    br   but no . what they decided on was a scrambled tourist itinerary covering half the globe and mind  deadeningly overcranked filter shots . the only thing to recommend this film is that it doesn  t suck quite as much as naqoyqatsi .  br    br   rstj  
i have spent the last week watching john cassavetes films  starting with  a woman under the influence  and ending on  opening night  . i am completely and utterly blown away  in particular by these two films . from the first minute to the last in  opening night  i was completely and utterly absorbed . i  ve only experienced it on a few occasions  but the feeling that this film was perfect lasted from about two thirds in  right through till the credits came up . everything about this film  from the way it was shot  the incredible performance of gena rowlands  the credits  the opening  the music  the plot  the sense of depth  the pace  the tenderness  the originality  the characters  the deft little moments . . . . for me  is truly sublime . i couldn  t agree more with the previous comment about taking it to a desert island because the sheer depth of this film is something to behold . if your unlucky enough to have a house fire  i guarantee that instead of making a last ditch attempt to rescue that stash of money under your bed  you  ll be rescuing your copy of this film instead .  
i should have trusted my instincts better no expectations  no disappointments . instead  however  i expected to experience a similar masterpiece like koyaanisqatsi       and was brutally disappointed . powaqqatsi is in my humble opinion nothing but a cheap attempt to cash in on the cult success of its predecessor  and  artistically  it fails miserably . it appears some producer gathered up leftover material from koyaanisqatsi  hurriedly threw it together  placed everything in slow motion and got some pop entertainer under the pseudonym of philip glass to hurriedly throw together some banal background music  which is incessantly repeated . where koyaanisqatsi entertains the viewer with clever fast and slow motion changes  powaqqatsi is one long sequence of mundane images in slow  motion  if you view them on your vcr in fast preview mode  you  ll see what i mean  . what disappointed me the most  however  was philip glass  s soundtrack . i couldn  t  and still can  t  believe that these commercial  sounding new age type drones  which could easily have been composed in one afternoon by any    year  old on a casio calculator  were from the same composer who so brilliantly composed the emotional and perfectly  synchronized music for koyaanisqatsi . all in all  a big waste of time  my advice forget commercialism  watch koyaanisqatsi again instead   
watching john cassavetes film  opening night  i was reminded of something that quentin tarantino said once in an interview about personal experience in being a creator of art or acting . he referred to an example of  say  if he ran over a dog while on his way to act in a play that it wouldn  t be the end of his life but that it would affect him  and that  without a doubt  he would have to bring that experience with him on stage even if it was a light comedy .  otherwise   as he said   what am i doing   i couldn  t help but think of his words when watching gena rowland  s character  myrtle gordon  who for almost a whole week or so goes through a very similar scenario . there is more to this in cassavetes  film  of course  since it  s about how the theater works around a star actress  what emotion and human nature mean when looking at playing a character  and how one lives when all one has  like myrtle gordon  is the theater .  br    br   near the beginning of the film  after exiting a performance  myrtle is signing autographs and one such fan named nancy comes up to her favorite star and pours her heart out to myrtle . it  s a touching little moment  but it doesn  t last as she has to get in the car  pouring rain and all  . she then watches in horror as the girl  who stood right next to the car as it drove off  gets hit by another car in an auto accident . she  s not sure really what happened  but then finds out the next day that in fact the girl did die from the hit . from then on she  s sort of stunned by this even after she thinks it  s out of her system . at first this shows in small ways  like when she rehearses a scene with her fellow actor  played by cassavetes  and can  t seem to stand being hit  she blames it on the lack of depth in the character  the writer  what do you think the play lacks    hope   says myrtle   but then nancy starts to show up to her  an apparition that to myrtle is all to real  until she  s suddenly gone .  br    br   cassavetes  as in the past films  is after a search for what it means to have emotion  to really feel about something and feel it  or the lack thereof  and how it affects others around the person . this isn  t exactly new ground for rowlands  who previously played a woman on the edge of herself in woman under the influence  in that case because of alcohol   nor would it be alien territory for costar ben gazzara  who just came off starring in killing of a chinese bookie . but the actors express everything essential to their characters in every scene cassavetes doesn  t tell them how to get from a to b in a scene  and he doesn  t need to . there  s a mood in a cassavetes film that trumps the sometimes grungy camera  work . you know myrtle  for example  should be content somehow  even if it isn  t with the plot . but she  s haunted  and is unsatisfied with her character  s lack of depth and the tone of the play   aging  who goes to see that   she asks the playwright   and it starts to affect those around her too .  br    br   the question soon becomes though not what is the usual . a conventional dramatist would make the conflict  will she be able to go on stage  will the show go on   this isn  t important for cassavetes  even if it  s there  as is the question  will she be alright   perhaps going through such a grueling play as  the second woman  could help her work out her personal demons and her losing her grip on reality  seeing sara and attacking her in front of total strangers  who wonder what the hell is going on   or will the play  s lack of hope strain everything else wrong with her  the depths rowlands makes with her character are intense and harrowing  and that it  s expected doesn  t mean it  s any duller than woman under the influence  if anything  it  s just as good as that film at being honest about a person in this profession  and consequently the other performances are just as true  from gazarra to nancy played by a subtle laura johnson . cassavetes answers to his own posed questions aren  t easy .  br    br   one of the real thrills of opening night  along with seeing great actors performing an amazing script  is to see cassavetes take on the theater the way he does . we see the play performed  and it  s apparently a real play  and we only know slightly what it  s about . when we see the actors on the stage performing it  we wax and wane between being involved in what melodrama is going on  relationship scuffling and affairs and the occasional slap and domestic violence  and the improvisation of the actors . i wondered watching how much really was improvised  how much cassavetes allowed for the other actors to do in the scenes where myrtle starts to go loopy or  in the climax  is completely smashed . he  s on the stage  too  so it must have been something for them to work it out beforehand and let what would happen happen .  br    br   it  s funny  startling  chilling  and edge  of  your  seat stuff  some of the best theater  on  film scenes ever put in a movie  and we see the lines between actor on stage  actor on film  actor with actor  blur together wonderfully . opening night is a potent drama that is full of frank talk about death and madness  reality and fiction  where the love is between people  and really  finally  what does  acting  mean   
after having watched koyaanisqatsi two or three dozen times and loving every second of it  i finally had a chance to see it  s sequel life in transformation . i was truly dissappointed as it did not nearly stand up to the high standards of the first .   minutes of people with baskets on their head is not my idea of a good movie . the philip glass score for this one had neither the beauty nor the correlating strength of the first . compared with koyaanisqatsi this movie seemed slow and pointless . a watered down version of baraka  which is the same idea but done better . i truly hope the third movie in this series will not follow the example of this waste .  
i was absolutely blown away by john cassavetes  s opening night . it  s the first movie of his that i  ve seen that seems to be on a bigger scale  thus it feels more mainstream  but it still doesn  t feel as if he grounded himself any more than he has in his previous films . that is perhaps what makes it so intense . there is also something undoubtedly cathartic about watching this movie .  br    br   it  s about what in fact cassavetes has made a staple of his career  an ideal that he has expressed behind the camera throughout his career as a director and is here expressing it in front . rowlands  s character  middle  aged stage actress myrtle gordon  cannot bring herself to play her role in the upcoming production as written so she uncalculatedly follows impulse after impulse  resulting in what appears to be chaos on stage  until she finds the right one . it  s a daringly abstract premise .  br    br   this is a movie that does not fail to capture the innate steering that one goes through during an emotional cleansing . no one understands why myrtle does many of the things she does  and it is seen and even portrayed as something destructive  yet it just might be the best thing for her . it may be a cleansing rather than a breakdown . a withdrawal  a cocoon  a rebellion  it all culminates into a meltdown . cassavetes gives her character a brutally real touch  which is that early on  she is ardently arguing that she has nothing in common with her character  yet she is in quiet but emotionally corroding fear that the opposite is true .  br    br   the last scene  the climactic performance that myrtle shares with a character painfully estranged from her who is acting with her  is one of the most interesting  hilarious  hard  hitting  enlightening  and enjoyable moments i  ve ever seen in a movie .  
once big action star who fell off the face of the earth ends up in a small town with a problem with drug dealers and a dead body of a federal agent . reuniting with some former co  stars to clean up the town .  br    br   low key  often to the point of blandness   action  comedy mostly just doesn  t work . part of the problem is the casting chris klien as a former action hero . he  s not bad  but he  s really not believable as some one who was taken to be a tough guy . as i said he  s not bad  he  s just just miscast for what his back story is . the real problem here is the combination of the script  which really isn  t funny and seems artificial at times  and the direction which is pedestrian to the port of dullness . there is no life in the way things are set up . its as if the director had a list of shots and went by that list . it makes for an un  engaging film . and yet the film occasionally springs to life  such as the in the final show down that ends the film . that sequence works  but because the earlier parts of the film floundered its drained of much of its power .  br    br   i can  t really recommend the film . its worth a shot if you  re a fan of the actors or are a huge fan of independent cinema in all its forms  but otherwise this is just a disappointment .  
john cassavetes   opening night  is fantastic and fascinating fantastic because it plays with the deepest fears we have inside our imagination  fascinating because it never ceases surprising us . with its very long duration of two hours and twenty minutes  anyone who appreciates characters won  t be able to take their eyes off the screen .  br    br   the story of an unstable actress  myrtle gordon   gena rowlands  trying to put herself together for a play  fighting her demons  opening night  is not only about a woman on the verge of a breakdown but also about the complexities of the lives of theater actors and the theatrical world . all of cassavetes  characters here are experienced people that know about the world of theater so half of the film takes place on a stage  either where the performers do their job or at backstage  where producers and writers and directors do their job .  br    br   cassavetes is so harsh with his characters that this unkindness turns towards the audience  but the audience in the cinema . because there is another audience  in the theater of the film  that doesn  t know what is really happening and laugh because they think everything is performance . and that  s essentially what it is it  s just that the audience in the theater doesn  t get to see  backstage  the way we do . they don  t experience gena rowlands  exuberance before she goes out to that stage  but most importantly they don  t know the reasons why she acts the way she does .  br    br   i always thought that it would be difficult to be friends with an actor . myrtle  rowland  says she  s an actress and that  s the only thing she knows how to do and i imagine that if i had a friend who was a professional performer  it would be really difficult to tell when he  s saying the truth because i would know he  s an actor and he can fake anything at any time . a lot of the things that myrtle does during the awful experiences the film puts her throughwe suspect if she  s being real the rest of the characters suspect too .  br    br   there is the writer  sarah  joan blondell   who can  t understand why myrtle doesn  t understand the character she  s written for her . there  s the director  manny  ben gazzara   who can  t accept the fact that his best actress might be losing it the producer david  paul stewart  who doesn  t know where to stand and myrtle  s co  star maurice  cassavetes himself   who can  t deal with the love they have for each other .  br    br   when she witnesses the death of a teenager  a fan all of this comes together and affects myrtle  but no one knows if her delusions are for real . they don  t say anything because they don  t want to upset her  but the movie enters in a state of subconsciousness that only myrtle accepts . at times  we can tell that everyone has had it . during these moments  cassavetes  brilliant script depicts a scary brutal honesty in the words the characters say in a discussion backstage and not only what everyone tells myrtle but also what she says to them .  br    br   here are people who are not afraid to speak their mind and constantly change what they are thinking  just like cassavetes  way of making cinema . and in this aspect  the performances are more important here than in  shadows   because the characters are involved in a bigger picture a bigger story that steps out of the trivial .  br    br   but in another aspect  the actual way of making cinema  this movie is no different from  shadows  . there  s a beautiful thing in the way al ruban  s camera shoots the characters . when someone  s talking  the camera doesn  t focus on him  it shoots the person who is listening so we can see how he or she reacts to the things the other one  s saying . sometimes they don  t care  sometimes they are happy  sometimes devastated .  br    br   improvisation might still be there  though  among all these wonderful performances . near the end  there  s an unexpected scene where cassavetes and rowlands start talking  non  stop . whether this was improvised or not is not something we have to wonder . we have just got to watch and watching both of them exchanging life experiences and seeing words come truly alive in a conversation that means a lot more than what it showsit doesn  t get more natural than that .  
it  s been a long time since i last saw a movie this bad . . the acting is very average  the story is horribly boring  and i  m at a loss for words as to the execution . it was completely unoriginal . o  and this is as much a comedy as clint eastwood  s a pregnant schwarzenegger   br    br   one of the first scenes  the one with the television show  where the hell are you   got it right  the cast was    of let  s face it  forgotten actors . if they were hoping for a career relaunch  then i think it might never happen with this on their cv  the script had the potential  but neither    of the actors nor the director  who  s an actor and clearly should stick to being an actor  pulled it off . fred durst was the only one who seemed better than any of the rest .  br    br   i  m sorry  but if you ever consider watching this  i highly recommend you turn to something less traumatic  because not only it  s a total loss of time  but also a weak example of what bad cinema looks like .  
i spent  hours drenched in this film . nothing i have ever seen comes close to the delicious funk this film left me in . never mind females advanced aging dilemma  s  human fear vaults off the screen for your viewing . personally engaging to the ninth degree  the film invests one with an undeniable shared feeling for our lives  . i enjoyed this dalliance with raw wounded gall deep from within . it empowers a mutually shared vestment in the history of human encounters reaching far deeper into the pain  isolation and skewed views of self and others . the result forgives our tepid forming of a bridge away from the muddy sludge of dead we must encounter . the birth in finding real people is a happy pursuit . the effort for realism intersects with the dark ground of our bankrupt culture .  
dumb is as dumb does  in this thoroughly uninteresting  supposed black comedy . essentially what starts out as chris klein trying to maintain a low profile  eventually morphs into an uninspired version of  the three amigos   only without any laughs . in order for black comedy to work  it must be outrageous  which  play dead  is not . in order for black comedy to work  it cannot be mean spirited  which  play dead  is . what  play dead  really is  is a town full of nut jobs . fred dunst does however do a pretty fair imitation of billy bob thornton  s character from  a simple plan   while jake busey does a pretty fair imitation of  well  jake busey .  merk  
broadway and film actor  turned  director john cassavetes  from rosemary  s baby  creates a masterpiece with this     film . it stars gena rowlands  john cassavetes himself  ben gazzara  joan blondell  paul stewart  zohra lampert  laura johnson and there is a cameo by peter falk . the premise of the film an aging stage and film actress  gena rowlands  re  evaluates her life after an obscessed fan dies in a car accident trying to get her autograph . the movie has a slow pace and a dark  moody  frightening quality . it has a    s cinematic look and it even reminded me of polanski  s rosemary  s baby without the supernatural horror . the fears here are the ones every successful actress has  she is getting old and she will become useless in her career . furthermore  she feels she has lived a life that lacks any true spirituality  humanity and merit . she has lived only for her career  she has no children  doesn  t do charitable deeds  etc . the gradual disintegration of her personality is the meat of this film . she is falling apart . she  s in a crisis . gena rowlands really gets into the character  s tormented psyche and acts the part quite well . she is a terrific actress and this    s film is a refreshing contrast to the often violent films of the period and or the disaster movies or adventure thrillers . it  s a movie with lots of deep  seated emotion but has a cold  cynical feeling  as if cassavetes is criticizing the mainstream movies and actors of the    s generation . either that or this movie is a product of the    s which was itself cynical in many aspects  nixon  s deception  watergate  vietnam  etc . although the production values are not great  and this film is not well  known  it  s a very haunting film with haunting moods . kudos to the underrated and late director cassavetes who died in the late    s .  
in a movie that follows a struggling actor  played  evidently  by a struggling actor  this does no favours for chris klein . he struggles to bring anything memorable to the role and meanders on through the shallow script managing to display  what could only be described as  a bland leading man . the story exists  but that is all  and fails to show any basic start  middle and end and the viewer is left shrugging his shoulders feeling as though nothing in the past hour and three quarters has really happened .  br    br   one bright light in the midst of this is fred durst  who manages to stand out above his seemingly averagely talented co  stars and does a semi  decent job of bringing the backward character of legde to life . whether fred can re  create this when working with a higher calibre of cast remains to be seen but i  l be watching out for him in future .  
gena rowlands plays an actress who loses her grip on reality when she witnesses the death of a fan of hers . she becomes increasingly deluded from reality  and as a result her emotional turmoil intrudes with her work as an actress . in the sense that she breaks all the rules of acting and improvises everything  yet still manages to engage her audience makes the film interesting  if a bit self  important  as a parallel of cassavettes  own struggles as a filmmaker . there  s so many ideas thrown around  and as result it becomes a bit muddled  i  m still pondering the relation between the dead fan and rowlands  among many other things   but the way they  re presented in their rawest form makes it a consistently interesting and thought  provoking film . would be great on a double bill with mulholland drive .  br    br    
i  ve written at least a half dozen scathing reviews of this abysmal little flick and none get published  so i must opine that someone at imdb . com really likes this awful movie . the idea that a bunch of oilmen can resurrect a military tank that has set in the desert for over a decade  and make a fighting machine of it again is ludicrous . so is the acting and direction . pass on it .  
this is one of my all  time favorite films  and while it may move too slowly for some  it  s well worth seeing . a corporate lawyer  richard chamberlain  is dragged into a case involving  city  aborigines  and this is no ordinary case . ok  a man has died but it wasn  t exactly a normal killing . there has also been a greater than average amount of rain lately  and the atmosphere of most of the film is somewhat claustrophobic  oppressive . the aborigines are harboring a secret and refuse to spill the beans . this has a lot to do with white men making assumptions about  city  vs .  tribal  aborigines  and of course no abo in the big city would practice tribal ways . uh huh . chamberlain is having strange dreams and he is somehow the key to what  s happening  although no matter how many times i  ve seen this i can  t quite grasp the exact connection . this is a very eerie and creepy film  and is a fine example of peter weir  s ability to create tension out of nothing . the ending is a little ambiguous but i take it literally  it  s the easiest way out and the scariest .   out of   and highly recommended .  
please note i see from the various posts that there was an original silent version and also a sound version of this same film . i saw the sound version and it was esthetically yicky . considering some indicate that the original version was longer and without crappy dubbing  my review must be read with this in mind .  br    br   although i know that rene clair has a lovely reputation as a film maker and louise brooks has a bit of a cult following as well  this is in many ways a technically poorly made film . while hollywood had already pretty much switched to sound mode around      up through the early to almost the mid    s  a lot of famous french films were essentially silent films   with some dialog and sound effects very poorly slapped over top the film . the lip movements in many  and in particular this film  don  t even come close to matching what is being said and this would explain why an american like ms . brooks could do a french film . this is just sloppy and i would have preferred they had just made a silent film   and as a silent film this is would have been an average film   with excellent camera work  at times  and some decent silent  style acting .  br    br   the problem i also found with the film was the overly simplistic plot . for a silent morality play circa      it would have been fine  but by     standards the plot is a bit hoary  that means  old    not  slutty   . a lady wins a beauty contest and her macho fianc can  t handle it . she gives it all up  temporarily  but is lured back to the fancy life and this spells her end  a tad melodramatic  huh  and also a bit simplistic and underdeveloped .  br    br   finally  the character of the fianc  s friend    i found very disturbing and unreal . he looked like harold lloyd and spent much of the movie being abused and picked on by the friend and everyone else . as he just took it throughout the movie and no resolution came about  his character seemed superfluous and the treatment he received mean  spirited . were audiences supposed to laugh as he was abused  this seems to me that  s what is implied and i don  t like it at all .  br    br   there are far better french films of the era  le million  la femme du boulanger  fanny  regain  and others  as well as better silent films . i just can  t understand this film  s high rating .  
many reviews here explain the story and characters of  opening night  in some detail so i won  t do that . i just want to add my comment that i believe the film is a wonderful affirmation of life .  br    br   at the beginning myrtle gordon is remembering how  easy  it was to act when she was    when she had youth and energy and felt she knew the truth . experience has left her emotionally fragile  wondering what her life has been for and  indeed  if she can even continue living . a tragic accident triggers a personal crisis that almost overwhelms her .  br    br   almost  but not quite . at the eleventh hour she rediscovers the power of her art and reasserts herself   i  m going to bury that bastard   she says of fellow actor maurice as she goes on stage  . it seems almost sadistic when myrtle  s director prevents people from helping her when she arrives hopelessly drunk for her first performance . he knows  however  that she has to have the guts to make it herself if she is to make it at all .  br    br   some critics wonder if this triumph is just a temporary pause on myrtle  s downward path . i believe this is truly her  opening night   she opens like a flower to new possibilities of life and action  she sees a way forward . it is tremendously moving .  br    br   gena rowlands is superb . the film is superb . thank you  mr cassavetes  wherever you are .  
well  it was funny in spots . this film is a  or maybe a  . its a film that sits on the video shelf and gathers dust . rent this one after you seen everything else . beats boredom  but not by that much . my wife like like this film better then i do  maybe its not that bad .  
i only know of one other movie that could possibly compete with opening night and that  s bergman  s persona . both movies are simply amazing  they have a richness of ideas hard to grasp at first sight . we have a profound meditation on the relation of art and life as one actress  myrtle gordon  gena rowlands   finds herself more in touch with the character she is playing on stage than she would want to . the accidental death of one of her fans  a young girl that declares her love for myrtle and she is then hit by a car  leaves a deep mark in the actress . she starts asking herself question related to her aging that starts to affect her until the only solution becomes alcohol . but that doesn  t help to much and myrtle is one step away from complete madness . the scene where she kill the imaginary  or not  spirit of the dead girl is one of the most thrilling scenes i found in a cassavets film . the movie ends with a display of genius on behalf of the director as he films a theater scene where he himself and gena rowlands improvise a scene  since myrtle comes too drunk to the opening night to perform her part accurately . this scene was filmed spontaneously  with a live audience  the laughter is genuine  the chemistry between casavates and rowlands absolutely amazing . if you liked persona or are interested in a movie that offers substantial ideas alongside great entertainment this movie will suit you just fine .  
i suppose if you like pure action . . . you  ll find it here . i suppose if you find a gorgeous blonde designed to be screwed . . . find it here . i suppose if you want to find a couple of extra baddies  headed by    extra  extra baddy bosses who meat a nasty end . . . you  ll find it here .  br    br   overall  routine stuff  and the good guys come out on top big time under extra  ordinary circumstances .  br    br   what i marvel most at . . . how the good guys armed only with pistols  can kill dozens of bad guys with machine guns who are shooting at them at point blank range . . . and missing . the goodies even get time to reload their pistols amid the hail of machine guns bullets .  br    br   ho  hum     
beautiful film  pure cassavetes style . gena rowland gives a stunning performance of a declining actress  dealing with success  aging  loneliness . . . and alcoholism . she tries to escape her own subconscious ghosts  embodied by the death spectre of a young girl . acceptance of oneself  of human condition  though its overall difficulties  is the real purpose of the film . the parallel between the theatrical sequences and the film itself are puzzling it  s like if the stage became a way out for the heroin . if all american movies could only be that top  quality  dealing with human relations on an adult level  not trying to infantilize and standardize feelings . . . one of the best dramas ever .      .  
i would of enjoyed this film but van damme just does the same old same old rubbish time after time . poo knickers fight scenes as per usually . the only thing this loser left out was the russians normally end up being killed in the end . this film is utter doggy do do of the highest nature  please please please van damme get some acting lessons  you need them . anyone who likes van damme has issues  it seems sad that the only way van damme ever gets any acting work is when he co writes the film  co produces the film and does the screen play for the film . avoid van damme and his slicked back nasty wig . i give this film a two out of ten  because the one with the the sandman was better . to add insult to injury i wasted a quid on this manure  
beautiful film  pure cassavetes style . gena rowland gives a stunning performance of a declining actress  dealing with success  aging  loneliness . . . and alcoholism . she tries to escape her own subconscious ghosts  embodied by the death spectre of a young girl . acceptance of oneself  of human condition  though its overall difficulties  is the real purpose of the film . the parallel between the theatrical sequences and the film itself are puzzling it  s like if the stage became a way out for the heroin . if all american movies could only be that top  quality  dealing with human relations on an adult level  not trying to infantilize and standardize feelings . . . one of the best dramas ever .      .  
jean  claude van damme plays twin brothers alex and chad  both whom are martial arts expert who team up to take down the mobsters responsible for the murder of the parents in this empty headed martial arts actioner which doesn  t have a plot that would make better use of the gimmick of having two jean  claude van dammes . some okay actionscenes  but this is not one of van damme  s best .  
let  s go straight to the point this is the movie i would take with me on a desert island  with dvd player  . it  s just perfect . if a reason for you to see a movie is that you love the actors  you like to see them free to involve in the space and feelings  this movie is for you . see the scene when myrtle  rowlands  come on stage drunk and maurice  cassavetes  has to improvise because she doesn  t follow the script anymore . if you  re sensitive to the camera  s movements  you  ll be fascinated by the way the camera moves on stage  the particular flow  that give you the impression camera follow the actors as if it was lead by the theatrical principle of  private space  . . . amazing . and the story is just a brilliant mix of tale and realistic drama . cassavetes is again arguing with hollywood and the majors  politics  but this time  he do it through broadway  making one of the most exciting movie about theater . well  this movie is a bliss .  
gee  what a heck of a movie  . . . i said i wanted to become a specialist in bad movies from all decades  so i decided to start by this one . it was a pretty adequate choice . i entered this adventure to find some lost gems and uncomprehended masterpieces  but i didn  t see anything of the sort in this pastel  coloured mess . i haven  t really watched many bad films before  but i  ve got the feeling this is what  s called  so bad that  s good   probably because it is so unintentionally damn funny  first of all  there are the inaccuracies . there are plot  related inaccuracies  physical inaccuracies  and also psychological inaccuracies . the latter in particular are as insane as van damme  s ass cheeks inside that blue spandex . extremely tacky lines exist too and i won  t even start to talk about some of the hilarious action moves . there isn  t exactly bad acting from everyone involved in that hot mess of a movie  except in one particular case . geoffrey lewis looks completely pathetic as frank  which is an utterly stupid character . and  to tell the truth  i was actually very surprised to see that van damme did a decent job playing the twins . he succeeded in achieving a different tone and mood in the two roles that was convincing to me . but the movie was mostly very bad and the sad part is that it was produced by a major motion picture studio . . . which is now bankrupt .  
it was once suggested by pauline kael  never a fan  that cassavetes thought not like a director  but like an actor . what kael meant was his supposed lack of sophistication as a filmmaker to take that comparison further  to me  it never feels like cassavetes is directing himself in a film  it feels like cassavetes implanting himself inside his own creation  like orson welles . cassavetes is just as much of a genius as welles  but far more important as a true artist  as opposed to a technician or rhetorician  . this is like a cross between italian passion  though cassavetes was actually greek  and scandinavian introversion . never before have inner demons been so exposed physically .  br    br   it  s about the mystery of becoming  performing  and acting . like a haunted skip james record  it  s got the echoes of ghosts all around . rowlands  breakdowns  which are stupefying and almost operatic  surprising coming from cassavetes  are accompanied by a jumpy  unsettling piano . who is this dead girl  the metaphysical possibilities are endless  and it  s amazing to find this kind of thing in a cassavetes film  just the overt display of intelligence  there is also a brief bit of voice  over at the beginning  . but then  he always was intelligent  he just never flapped it around for easy praise . this is not  adaptation   here  the blending of reality and fiction and drama is not to show cleverness but to show the inner turmoil and confusion it creates .  br    br   there  s so much going on . the pure  joyous love when rowlands greets her doorman the horror when she beats herself up . . . the scene where the girl talks about how she devoted her life to art and to music is one of the most effective demonstrations of understanding what it means to be a fan of someone . you can see some roots of this in  a star is born   and almodovar borrowed from it for  all about my mother .  i think the ending is a little bit of a disappointment because of the laughing fits  but the preparation leading up to it is almost sickening .  you can shoot me  but i think the alcoholism  despite its urgency in many of the scenes  is a relatively small point about the film .   br    br   it  s a living  breathing thing  and it feels like a process it could go any direction at any time . like  taste of cherry   we are reminded that  you must never forget this is only a play .  yet it is dangerous when rowlands says that line  is it great drama  how will the audience take it  is she being reflexive or does she just not care  her  character  s  breakdowns are incorporated into the performances  and ultimately the film  in such a way that it  s like witnessing a female james dean .       
i don  t see how anyone who even likes van damne could like this movie .  br    br   the movie actually starts out with some promise . i would say the action scenes at the beginning of the movie is excellent . the actions scenes with the family ward trying to save the twins is a great start and is good lead in to the main story . however  the film is all down hill from there .  br    br   it would have been nice if the director could have stayed with the original premise . that is the brothers are born in different parts of the world and thus learn different skills . one brother is supposed to be skilled in martial arts  but the other brother is supposed to be skilled in firearms . how convenient when the time arises that the brother who has never picked up a gun before all of the sudden is a great marksman  and the brother who has not been taught any martial arts is all of the sudden doing the splits and high kicks .  br    br   the plot  action  etc . are just plain ridiculous . my favorite scenes  how about when van damne is confronting an armed soldier with an ak    . the soldier is about    yards away . instead of aiming and shooting at van damne he is doing a war cry like he is wielding a battle axe and running at him . van damne proceeds to pick up a pistol from a fallen soldier and shoots him  . . . while he is still about   to   yards away .  br    br   this movie has one of the most disappointing endings . bolo yeung is a skilled martial artist . however  instead of choreographing a decent fight . bolo is throwing barrels at van damne like donkey kong . absolutely aggravating movie that had so much promise . if your a van damne fan  save your time and see hard target or one of his earlier films .  
yesterday  i went to the monthly antique flea market that comes to town . i really have no interest in such things  but i went for the fellowship of friends who do have such an interest . looking over the hundreds of vendor  passing many of them quickly  i spotted someone selling vhs tapes and dvds . most of the films he had on dvd were rather recent the oldest one i noticed was the     cary grant  irene dunne co  starrer my favorite wife . but the vhs tapes  by their nature  were mostly older films . i couldn  t resist buying something since they were being sold at  tapes for    .   . what a bargain  as eddie murphy used to say . i came across one film that i had heard about for years but had never seen john cassavettes  s opening night       . well  i certainly wanted that being a fan of gena rowlands  and i had heard that this film contained one of her finest performances . he also had faces       . i had seen this about   years ago  a time when i probably had not had enough life experience to appreciate it thoroughly . and i wanted to take advantage of the bargain  so i grabbed that one too . my other choice was claire  s knee       .  br    br   when i got home  i decided to put aside the work i had planned to do so that i could watch opening night . i was totally enthralled by this film . it focuses on myrtle gordon  gena rowlands   a famous actress of stage and screen  who  during out  of  town previews  is having personal and professional problems coming to terms with both her character and the play  s theme of facing aging . after one rehearsal  an avid fan and autograph hound accosts her with cries  and tears  of  i love you  i love you   a few minutes later  this fan is hit by a car and killed . this begins myrtle  s descent into herself where she must face her own fears of aging  the future of her career as a mature actress  and the inadequacies she finds in the play itself  written by a much older female dramatist  played by joan blondell  . throughout the film  she sees the dead girl  an obvious symbol of her past drinks almost constantly and receives insincere support from her director  ben gazzara   the producer  paul stewart   her costar  john cassavettes himself   and the dramatist . actually  they  re more concerned about how her behavior will affect them and their careers flubbing lines on stage  improvising new lines  generally cracking up on stage  and arriving for the broadway opening totally drunk .  br    br   this story functions not only to address the issues of aging but also to promote cassavettes  s displeasure with mainstream movie  making . as i watched the film  i was at times surprised  confused  amused  disparaging  but ultimately involved  entertained  and satisfied . cassavettes really had a great sense of humor  cared very much that his audience understood what he was implying  and wanted them to be emotionally involved in the story . he makes allusions to all about eve with the use of the avid theater fan  even dressing the young girl in a slicker and hat similar to the one worn by anne baxter at the beginning of that film . this allusion functions most obviously to support his aging theme  the contrast of the older and younger woman . he also obviously uses the contrast as a symbol for myrtle  s confronting her own lost youth . at first  i felt the symbolism was too obvious  but then i realized that that was cassavettes  s intention . he doesn  t want his audience misunderstanding what he  s getting at if they did  it would interfere with their emotional involvement . this spectre of youth haunts myrtle  attacks her  and wants to destroy her . myrtle eventually  kills  her  but before she can really come to terms with herself and the play  she must reach bottom  another figurative death   . so cassavettes has her get so drunk that she can  t walk and must crawl to her dressing room the night the play opens on broadway . she resurrects herself  helping yourself out of such situations is also important to the film  s theme  and makes the play a success by giving a great performance and changing the direction of play for the better by improvising so that it contains some ray of hope for the aging character she  s playing . these scenes are funny and interesting . cassavettes and rowlands actually did the play in front of live audiences  who did and did not know they were going to be part of a movie . the play they  re doing also acts as contrast it  s mainstream and self  serious about the issues it addresses  that is  until myrtle changes its denouement . in doing so  she also improves the work of her co  stars . the natural evolution of interaction  achieved through improvisation  between and among human beings  subjective realism  and universal truth  these were cassavettes  s concerns in making films .  br    br   gena rowlands is amazing throughout . of course  she has that great face  and cassavettes  notoriously in love with her throughout their marriage  treats us to numerous closeups of it so that we too can feel her emotions and that we know what  s going on inside of her . she makes you care so much about this character that you want to see her work her way out of this crisis of the soul . and this is what holds your attention for the  hours and   minutes running time . the film is deliberately paced at times and requires constant attention  but anyone with interest in good film  making and great acting will be rewarded . someone else said that this is a movie for people who love movies . all others be forewarned .  br    br   seek out opening night if you  ve never seen it . everyone in it is excellent  and it  s one of cassavettes  s best films .  
please  even if you are in the worst of the moods  refrain from watching this flick .  br    br   i don  t think whether anything was right with this movie at all . on a friend  s recommendation i watched this and i literally flushed  h and   min of my life down the closet . poor acting  stupid direction  weak storyline and pathetic action sequences  and when you blend this together you get  double impact  . even least of the expectations were not met .  br    br   i guess i did learn one thing  never watch van damme action flicks . they are pure wastage of time   
typical de palma movie made with lot  s of style and some scene  s that will bring you to the edge of your seat .  br    br   most certainly the thing that makes this movie better as the average thriller  is the style . it has some brilliantly edited scene  s and some scene  s that are truly nerve wrecking that will bring you to the edge of your seat . the best scene  s from the movie the museum scene and the elevator murder . there are some mild erotic scene  s and the movies pace might not be fast enough for the casual viewer to fully appreciate this movie . so this movie might not be suitable for everybody .  br    br   the story itself is also quite good but it really is the style that makes the movie work  it might be for the fans only but also casual viewers should appreciate the well build up tension in the movie .  br    br   there are some nice character portrayed by a good cast . michael caine is an interesting casting choice and angie dickinson acts just as well as she is good looking  not bad for a    year old   .  br    br   the musical score by pino donaggio is also typically de palma like and suits the movie very well  just like his score for the other de palma movie   body double  .  br    br   brilliant nerve wrecking thriller . i love de palma   br    br         
normally  i don  t like revenge films . . . . period . but double impact has a little more than your typical revenge plot premise . you see  di has action  accuracy  exotic locales  i . e . hong kong   awesome gun battles  and enough martial arts to satisfy your cravings for impressive unarmed combat . like all revenge flicks  it has villains you  d love to throw out of a plate  glass window on the top floor of a    story building  however  double impact has none of the sensationalist crap that suffocates the plot and the elitist  racist  and venomous social stereotypes that invaded  eye for an eye  and  death wish   .  br    br   but in the plot department double impact is as transparent as saran wrap . chad and alex  s parents were killed by a mob hit squad connected to a family friend with money problems or at least that  s what i remembered . the explanation of why the boys were talking in french accents is a lousy one . it wasn  t the watery plot that made this movie bad  but the use of clichd lines and moves from other movies  from lethal weapon to the princess bride  really made it worse . but nonetheless double impact is still watchable . but why is that shitty movies like this have villains  for example  that greedy british guy that killed chad and alex  s parents and that lethal lesbian redhead chick  you would love to hate with fiber of your being   
 out of   br    br   yep  dressed to kill is that kind of a movie . it  s like kalifornia  but it  s different . remember  that movie from     which stars brad pitt as a serial killer who is  welcomed  by a couple of travelers in a trip to california as a buddy who might be a good company along the way . when i watch a movie  i always like not to know anything at all about the plot  before watching it  because the surprises may get even cooler . that  s how it was with kalifornia . when i watched it last year for the first time  i never realized it was a suspense movie  so when i found out  i was shocked  and when the movie went on and on  it got even better and i was at the edge of my seat  almost kissing my monitor  so close i was to it  so  we  re discussing about dressed to kill  right  before i watched this movie  today    i  ve only watched  others movies from brian de palma  so i can say i don  t really know that well his works  but can tell from afar that these  movies for me were as great as they could be . carrie       and missionimpossible       . when i watched carrie on the tv  i was really that desperate to get a dvd copy and i can tell this movie is great  missionimpossible also . and today  i watched a third movie from depalma .  br    br   well  dressed to kill is a movie like kalifornia . when the movie goes on  it goes completely different than what you  d expect . i was watching  very curious  the scene of the museum  where dickinson follows the mysterious man to his cab and they end together in an apartment room . you may guess what may have happened there . but when the movie reached the scene of the elevator  the movie went completely on a different path . i was watching the rest of the movie  and i really liked it . however  there are some low points . . . some characters in the movie are completely silent  take  for example  the mysterious man from the museum scene . i was always hoping that he could say something but he never did  this was totally ridiculous and was with no doubt something that made me change my mind by not accepting this movie as at least almost something as a masterpiece . even in the cab scene  where dickinson tries to apologize because of what happened in the museum  the completely silent man grabs her  pulls her inside the cab  and they start kissing each other . you know  it reminded me of the mexican tv series of the    s  el chavo del    where some characters are completely silent . getting past these low points of the movie  it is actually a great movie  considering the suspense  the characters and the plot . dennis franz is cool as detective marino  reminded me of him as capt . carmine lorenzo in die hard        where he plays almost the same kind of character .  br    br   well  concluding this review  the ending of dressed to kill is the same ending as it is in carrie  i don  t know if i really liked that  because i hate imitations  i understand that carrie is a movie from depalma  so it  s not actually an imitation  because after all it was his idea  but it turned to be a repetitive idea in dressed to kill  so depalma could have done something different instead of showing nancy allen waking up from a bad dream the same way it happens to amy irving at the ending scene of carrie . this was  of course  with no doubt  another low point . but if you get past this  you will find that dressed to kill is a really good movie  and i assure you that it  s not  by any means  a waste of time watching it .  
plot synopsis hong kong      . paul wagner  the man who built the victoria tunnel  is murdered along with his wife by his associates . his twin sons  chad  alex  are split apart .   years later  chad  a karate instructor in los angeles   alex  a smuggler living in hong kong  join forces to avenge their parents  murder  rightfully claim the tunnel .  br    br   this is the second time that jean  claude van damme  sheldon lettich have worked together  having previously done  lionheart  . this is also the first of three films to feature van damme playing dual roles   maximum risk    replicant  are the others  . the plot is a very simplistic take on the revenge story  the film  s sole redeeming feature being van damme  s performance as two very different people  the prissy rich kid  the rough    tumble  cigar chomping tough guy . as it goes  van damme doesn  t do a very good job in either role  although his take on alex is mildly amusing . it is puzzling as to have the brothers mistaken for each other  with them wearing different clothes  having different hairstyles . bolo yeung makes a very worthy henchman for the baddies .  
in what must be one of the most blood  freezing movies ever  a transvestite is murdering people in new york  and the answer to everything may not be what people suspect . one can see how brian depalma takes some influence from hitchcock with camera angles and stuff . michael caine plays a most thought  provoking character  while angie dickinson is basically a bored rich woman with a bad hairdo . keith gordon  who later starred in  christine   is probably the most interesting character in the movie . but you can  t really understand this movie without seeing it . and after seeing it  you may never know just whom you can trust . also starring nancy allen and dennis franz .  
twin brothers separated at birth  due to the deaths of their parents  reunite twenty five years later to avenge their parents and take back their million dollar tunnel . double impact runs at two hours long and basically adds no real approach to the corsican brothers plot and jean  claude van damme while adequate as the evil twin brother is just embarrassing as the good twin brother . also the action sequences aren  t as exciting this time and jean  claude relies more on gunfire then on his martial arts . also the supporting cast is wasted and at two hours the movie is just plain dull .  br    br    out of   bad   
i like ghost stories . good ghost stories of bumps in the night  voices that cannot be explained . now i  ve see many of them . as special efx have a ever more grip on todays films  some times to find a real gem  you gotta turn the clock back to the time when the writers and directors really had to use their heads to create really good ghost stories . now this one  very rare  pilot episode for the tv series ghost story called  the new house  was one of the most scariest films i ever saw . it was on once in      . . . i was only   . . but nothing since then even compared to it . with all the remake going on in hollywood  some one should do this one  as is  with no more special efx than the original . this episode was down right creepy as hell . i  m lucky to find it finally on dvd today and very rare and hard to find . the only other  ghost stories to even come close was the original  the haunting  and george c . scott in  the changling  . wish someone would do more ghost stories like these .  
lulu  louise brooks  works as a typist and is missing something in her life . she enters a miss france contest against the wishes of her boyfriend andre  georges charlia  and she wins . she sets off for the miss europe title leaving her boyfriend behind . she wins again but returns home to andre because he has asked her to . once back together  her life becomes mundane again so one night she writes a note to him and leaves to experience the fame that is waiting for her as miss europe . andre follows her . . . . .  br    br   this film is a silent film with a piano music  track all the way through . it is also sped  up so everything seems fast . limited dialogue has been added on afterwards and it is very phony . the cast are alright bearing in mind that it is a silent film . the best part of the film comes at the end but the story goes on a little too long . after watching this  i  m not really sure what the big deal was over the looks of louise brooks  she has a terrible haircut that makes her face look fat . i don  t need to watch it again .  
the fact that the movie is predictable is not a problem . this movie is like a beautiful painting to be enjoyed . the museum scene is like a nice music video . the apres sex scene is an all too familiar scene in all of our adult lives . but the movie would not hold any interest for me without keith gordon . keith gordon is maybe one of the most underrated actors of our time . almost everything i know about acting came from studying mostly his eyes . he had the most compelling face . his character possesses the qualities i look in a guy  sensitivity and dedication . keith gordon is gorgeous . btw  i kinda wish he  d shave his beard now as his lips  jawline and adam  s apple were his prettiest set next to his eyes .  
while this outing certainly doesn  t live up to its predecessor  it does have more than its share of memorable moments . my personal favorite  just after laying waste to a city block with his  videodisc cannon   we see a close up of nimoy  s face . as a single tear sheds from his left eye  we know at that point that nimoy is more than just a killing machine . the viewer can  t help but be pulled into his emotional turmoil and we understand that his previously flat affect was only a facade . absolute brilliance    the sex scenes display a nice balance  carnal  but not pornographic . afterwards  i felt i had a pretty good understanding of how to work the magnavision videodisc player . too bad they haven  t produced them in over   years .  
this is probably one of brian de palma  s best known movies but it isn  t his best . body double  the fury and carrie are better movies but this movie is better than blow out and obsession . de palma is very influenced by hitchcock and this movie is a take off on psycho . angie dickinson is a bored housewife who is thinking of having an affair and after her psychiatrist  played by michael caine  turns down an offer  dickinson meets a man in a art gallery and she winds up sleeping with him . after this point it  s best you don  t know what happens but there is a murder and nancy allen is a call girl who gets a look at the killer . dennis franz is the detective on the case who really doesn  t trust allen and she has to find the killer herself . it  s a pretty good movie but isn  t one of de palma  s best .  
i  m hearing rumors of an upcoming  leonard nimoy demonstrates the blu  ray disc  . with advances over the past   years ranging from steady  cam to cgi  it  ll be interesting to see if the franchise can be reinvigorated . i just hope it helps to remove the bad taste left in my mouth by that whole magnavision demonstration fiasco .  br    br   and yes . . .  leonard nimoy demonstrates the betamax vcr  was a brilliant milestone in entertainment history . after the tentative  leonard nimoy demonstrates the compact cassette  and the downright tacky  leonard nimoy demonstrates the   track tape   who would have expected such a glorious piece of cinema  i  m weeping right now just thinking about it .  
brian de palma  s undeniable virtuosity can  t really camouflage the fact that his plot here is a thinly disguised  psycho  carbon copy  but he does provide a genuinely terrifying climax . his  blow out   made the next year  was an improvement .  
  paula  i may be a bitch  but i  ll never be a butch    br    br   a hilarious line in an otherwise rather tiresome skin flick which features a pretty honey in stacey walker  but that  s about all . this gal  s a real tease who lures her boyfriends  co  workers and even her lesbian roommate paula into her bedroom  but then turns into a whack job who cries  rape  and calls for the police   br    br   the schizophrenic personality of this certified ct is interesting for maybe a little while  but this story ultimately turns into a real repetitive one  note affair . at least the ending is worth the wait  for those who will still care by that time .  
writer  director brian de palma is best known for his string of films that have been called  somewhat unfairly   hitchcock imitations .  contrary to popular belief  de palma doesn  t rip  off hitchcock he borrows story or character elements that may have been seen in a hitchcock film and then expands on them in a more violent  modern way . like hitchcock  de palma is known for mixing blood  soaked death with macabre humor .  br    br    dressed to kill   made way back in      is  perhaps  de palma  s most well  known hitchcockian film  and it  s probably his best as well . the story involves a cross  dressing serial killer stalking both a burnt  out housewife  played by angie dickinson  and a street  wise hooker  played by nancy allen  .  br    br   yes  it will remind you distinctly of  psycho   but de palma  s flick is just as technically ingenious and darkly creative . the museum sequence is particularly well  scored and edited the elevator stab scene is also one of the most uniquely shot murders ever put on film .  dressed to kill  may not be a complete original  but i  d say it  s definitely worth your time . rated r .    minutes .  out of   .  
fairly interesting exploitation flick in black and white written by david f . friedman . the lead actress stacey walker is well  cast and strangely attractive . she resembles a deranged renee zellweger with a bad hair  do . this chick only made two of these films and then moved back to texas . the music is terrible . one of her boyfriends is played by sam melville  from the tv show the rookies  using a different name .  br    br   best line in the film from tony   are you putting me on  doll  none of my chicks put me on  . good b  w cinematography from laslo kovacs  easy rider  targets  many others  . good locales  cool swimming pool  also used in the defilers  . strange ending but fitting . a  out of   . best performance stacey walker .  
  dressed to kill  is brian depalma  s best film  an absolute thrill ride of suspense  humor and style that remains unrivaled today . depalma has a bum rap in hollywood  as most people claim that he rips off alfred hitchcock . he does not . hitchcock could only dream of what depalma shows in his thrillers .  br    br   sadly  the original uncut version of  dressed to kill  is no longer available on video . the current copy released by goodtimes is the jack valenti approved r rated cut . but some copies of depalma  s original cut still exist . it is the one distributed by warner home video  in both a green cardboard box with angie dickinson on the cover  or in a black clamshell case with the theatrical poster on silver lining . these are the ones to get  if you can find a copy . i have the green one and it is among my treasured possessions .  br    br   anyway  back to the story . dickinson plays kate miller  a sexually frustrated wife who is being treated by dr . robert elliott  michael caine  for her obsessive fantasies . while on a trip to the museum  a real tour  de  force for depalma in terms of camera work and suspense    br    br   miller is picked up by a stranger . you can pretty much guess what happens to her  since the ads and box art give away the story . but there are a few complications . a hooker  nancy allen  is the sole witness to the murder . kate miller  s son peter  keith gordon  is a teenage genius determined to solve the crime . and dr . elliott  s answering machine has a certain message on it . . . about a missing razor . . .  br    br   i  m not spoiling the film at all for you since what i have described above takes place within the opening half hour and depalma  s biggest surprises are reserved for the last hour . this film is explicit  however  enough for valenti  head of the mpaa  to demand cuts in the film . what surprises me is what cuts he wanted . several cuts in the opening shower scene and one or two slashing scenes and some of nancy allen  s dialogue  valenti wanted  cock  changed to  bulge   . this is a film that is very violent and bloody  yet the objections are to sexual content . i  d love to hear valenti  s explaination at how seeing two women in a tender love scene in  lost and delirious  is somehow more damaging to a young mind than arnold schwarzenegger blowing away people with a chain gun . it just isn  t fair .  br    br   what makes  dressed to kill  so good is that not only are the technical credits first rate  but the performances are very good as well . michael caine  who was in a lot of crap in this time period  gives one of his best performances as the doctor . angie dickinson is better than usual  possibly because she actually has a strong role here . nancy allen adds this to her range of performances that has her pegged as one of the most underrated and overlooked actresses in the world . keith gordon is wonderful as the genius and i loved all those inventions of his .  br    br   depalma is one of our best directors who has never received the recognition he deserved . the recent joke of the afi    best thrillers list showed that very few people actually know what a thriller is . if they were to actually open their eyes for once  they would see that depalma has staked his career in thrillers and is actually the best craftsman . this is even better than  psycho  . it  s a shame that very few actually know that .  br    br    out of  stars  
i have copy of this on vhs  i think they  the television networks  should play this every year for the next twenty years . so that we don  t forget what was and that we remember not to do the same mistakes again . like putting some people in the director  s chair  where they don  t belong . this movie rappin  is like a vaudevillian musical  for those who can  t sing  or act . this movie is as much fun as trying to teach the  blind  to drive a city bus .  br    br   john hood   peebles  has just got out of prison and he  s headed back to the old neighborhood . in serving time for an all  to  nice crime of necessity  of course . john heads back onto the old street and is greeted by kids dogs old ladies and his peer homeys as they dance and sing all along the way .  br    br   i would recommend this if i was sentimental  or if in truth someone was smoking medicinal pot prescribed by a doctor for glaucoma . either way this is a poorly directed  scripted  acted and even produced  i never thought i  d sat that  satire of ghetto life with the  hood  . although  i think the redeeming part of the story  through the wannabe gang fight sequences and the dance numbers  his friends care about their neighbors and want to save the ghetto from being torn down and cleaned up .  br    br   forget sonny spoon  mario could have won an oscar for that in comparison to this rap . oh well if you find yourself wanting to laugh yourself silly and three  quarters embarrassed  be sure to drink first .  br    br   and please  watch responsibly .  no stars  better luck next time    
  dressed to kill  is surely one of the best horror  thriller movies ever made . it  s taut  stylish and extremely suspenseful mixture of sex and violence . the acting is pretty good  the orchestral score by pino donaggio is unforgettable and there  s plenty of surprises to keep thriller fans intrigued .  dressed to kill  is a murder mystery that involves a sexually frustrated housewife  angie dickinson   her teenage son  keith gordon   her psychoanalyst  michael caine   and a high price call girl  nancy allen  . the murderer in the film is a transsexual named bobbi who is also one of caine  s patients . the film is full of breathtaking momentsthe infamous elevator murder scene is extremely stylish and pretty gory as well . highly recommended .  
  i went to the movies  to see  beat street   it wasn  t bad  it was kinda  neat   krush groove  was a flick  that i didn  t mind  but when it came to  rappin   i drew the line .  word to your mother .  br    br   want me to stop   br    br   that  s just a small sample of the stupa  fly style of rhymin  on display in this waste of film and location permits . this movie is seriously wack  thats   s  speak for just fcking awful  . as an emcee  mario van peebles is one hell of an actor . and as an actor  mario van peebles is one hell of a bodybuilder .  br    br   any film calling itself  rappin   had better deliver at that genre  s highest standard of the time . so why were  year olds rolling in the aisles  even back in the day when standards were so knee  high  to   webster   low  because this rap is weak . so weak that not even b . e . t . or comedy central will touch it with a    foot gold  rope chain .  br    br   blondie  s  rapture  is def poetry next to this bit of dr . suess in the hood . so don  t be a boobie  avoid this movie   br    br    
the film gets my stamp of approval . the scene in the museum demands acting without dialogue . this is one of the most interesting and unique scenes in the history of film . dickinson  s character kate is very well developed and her performance is felt throughout the entire film . the best work angie dickinson did since point blank   
i am a big fan of karishma kapoor and govinda . i watched this film after i had seen fiza  which was absolutley brilliant .  br    br   there are films that are bad  and there are films that are crp . but this film just takes the biscuit .  br    br   we were so annoyed that we were conned out of paying our money expecting a decent film .  br    br   avoid at all cost  dont even rent it .  br    br        
i just finished watching dressed to kill  which is written and directed by brian de palma . the dvd had both the  r  rated version and the unrated version . i chose the unrated version . since i have yet to view the  r  rated version  i can  t be completely sure of the difference . there is however a very graphic graphic female nudity including a scene of explicit expression of self gratification in this version . i guess you could call this scene soft core porn . if this sort of thing may offend you  i would suggest you view the  r  rated version . but i digress . any comment from here on refers to the unrated version . this is a murder mystery  psychological horror  suspense movie . there is very little violence and blood . there is however one death sequence of note . the act of the killing itself is fairly graphic . however the blood it self does not look real . it is reminiscent of how a    s slasher film would look . i believe this is done deliberately to offset the violence of the act itself  to give the scene a low budget feel . most of the violence  or rather possibility of such  is implied . the film is very well paced . as far as i can tell every scene had a purpose  which i find very rare when compared to many of today  s films . anyway  i also thought the acting was good  especially angie dickinson . and micheal cane turns in a quietly understated performance in his role  which works brilliantly in this case . the movie also has one great twist in it  in my mind  although some people might find it predictable . the only complaint  and it  s really more of an observation  i have is that i thought the character played by nancy allen could have been fleshed out more  especially considering she has a fair amount of screen time . but i think she does a good job with what she is given . and this doesn  t really take away from the quality of the film . the film also has a strong moral to it  which is even more relevant today . but the movie doesn  t hit you over the head with it . i also really liked the musical score  composed by pino dinaggioi felt it was very similar to the music in the original psycho . to me  this music really elevated the movie . i thought this movie was brilliant . for me  dressed to kill       is       
this was one film i wanted to watch always when it released the promos were eye catching and govinda in a negative role was a surprise  br    br   but the film isn  t that good  br    br   it has lot of flaws  br    br   the start is good and till the murder everything goes well but the film falls flat when the romance track starts between govinda and karisma and the songs that follow  br    br   then the twist about govinda and tabu being in love leaves more doubts and flaws and then how come govinda turns into a rich criminal from a poor villager   br    br   the last flashback too is prolonged and also the entire clash between govinda  karisma and tabu  br    br   n chandra disappoints music is okay  bahot khoobsurat stands out  br    br   govinda tries a negative role and does very well in it though he overdoes it too much at times karisma is good but irritates at times with her cries tabu is okay nirmal pandey still doesn  t know the difference between loud screaming and acting rest are okay  
a very silly movie  this starts with a soft porn sequence  ventures into farcelike comedy in the art gallery  adds a shocker of a discovery in the hotel room then introduces a random murder for no obvious reason .  br    br   what follows is bizarre and surreal  the stopwatch scene in particular is exquisitely unnecessary   culminating in a revelatory  twist  ending which is as obvious as it is unfair on the viewer  see the trivia section for precisely why it  s deliberately unfair  .  br    br   the movie goes out of its way to be offensive to as many groups as possible  transsexuals  the insane  and the wonderful  huggie bear   style racial stereotyping on the subway  and condescendingly treats the viewer like an idiot in the closing scenes  as characters endlessly explain to one another in great detail and over and over again what just happened in the film . though the background female characters in the restaurant scene at the end are a joy to watch .  br    br   in fact  the whole movie is a joy to watch despite its many  many flaws  the whole package just  well  works .  
i must say that i am fairly disappointed by this  horror  movie . i did not get scared even once while watching it . it also is not very suspenseful either . . . . i was able to guess the ending half way through the movie . . . so . . what  s left   br    br    the ring  is a trully scary movie . . . i wish other movies would stop copying from it  e . g . the trade  mark long hair  . please give me some originality .  br    br   will not recommend this movie .  
may contain minor spoilers .  br    br   dressed to kill  having just seen it for the first time the other day  is a movie with some terrific sequences  some decent performances  and a nice  though obvious hitchcock ripoff  plot twist at the end . it  s just too bad certain things  quite obvious  prevent it from being a classic .  br    br   dressed to kill deals with a mystery of a killer who has slain at least two women  could have been more but the movie never tells us   and the search for the killer by three people a brainy kid whose mom was a victim  a lively hooker whose the only one who can identify the killer  and a psychiatrist whose patient was the slained brainy kid  s mother . there are a host of well done performances including nancy allen as the hooker liz  angie dickenson as the sexually frustrated victim kate miller  and micheal caine as doctor rober elliot whose has more hidden than meets the eye though by no standard is anyone really outstanding . on the other hand denis franz  later to be a great character along the same lines on the hit show nypd blue  is embarrassing as an over  exaggerated  ruthless  hateful detective  though he takes little screen time so it doesn  t hurt the movie that much . keith gordon  the brain child  is decent  but is almost too smart to really be believable .  br    br   what sticks with me the most in the film are the tense sequences . the scene with the sexually frustrated mother at the museum is gripping and well done  as is the later sequence leading to her untimely death . i also love the sequence at the doctor  s office  that reveals the identity of the killer  which really makes the whole film come together at once . and there  s a split screen scene that i thought was almost classic . still there  s another situation when liz is on a train  running from what may be the killer  that gets taken in directions it should never had with almost embarrassing racial stereotypes . as a thriller it  s tense and quite often believable . as a crime drama it often falters  especially with the incomplete  ridiculous explanation of everything that happened in the end . there  s also a needless  and way too long  dream sequence at the end  in which they had the audacity to shoot someone  s foot for what seemed minutes at a time . this was an up and down experience one scene would catch me by the heart and mind with enticement  and the next would make me squirm and ask why . at more than    minutes this could have been under   and been a better film .  br    br   scary movie fans should like this . it still stands as a better film than most of today  s slasher flicks . maybe it was a better film in it  s time  but having just seen it recently i can say i enjoy it  and it is worth watching for my three favorite scenes alone .  
this quasi j  horror film followed a young woman as she returns to her childhood village on the island of shikoku to sell the family house and meet up with old friends . she finds that one  the daughter of the village priestess  drowned several years earlier . she and fumiko  another childhood friend  then learn that sayori  s mother is trying to bring her back to life with black magic . already the bonds between the dead and living are getting weak and the friends and villagers are seeing ghosts . nothing was exceptional or even very good about this movie . unlike stellar j  horror films  the suspense doesn  t really build  the result doesn  t seem overly threatening and the ending borders on the absurd .  br    br   this movie is like plain white rice cooked a little too long so that it is bordering on mushy . sometimes you get this at poor asian restaurants or cook your own white rice a little too long . you end up eating it  because you need it with the meal  because what is chinese or japanese food without rice  but it almost ruins the meal because of the gluey  gooey tastelessness of it all .     http   blog . myspace . com  locoformovies  
i grew up watching this series . i was about seven  eight years old when it was on . i still remember the  st episode which was called  the new house .  it scared the hll out of me  i can almost still hear that statue  laughing madly . and the ending  oh my god  the hooror spirit comes in the room for the child yikes  this was classic tv and it was a one of a kind series . i have found a dvd collection for sale on the internet  actually . my question to any readers has anyone purchased this set  its a bootleg . both sellers claim to have very good copy . i have a sketchy and poor dvd of  the new house  episode  and a couple of other episodes that are a bit better  however  if anyone knows if these are much clearer it would be worth it to me to buy and share with my kids . a great series  clever  scary and daringly supernatural . thanks in advance to any fans who have the low down on any of this  in fact  i  d love to discuss it . chris walker  
couldn  t believe it  clipped sentences  good grief  know what  all true  real people ever talk like this  don  t think so . good girl  stout fellow  stiffen upper lip  only reason given movie  instead of  gary cooper such a dish . movie as a whole ridiculous unless you like watching endless biplane dogfights . seemed endless  anyway . think all franchot tone  s dialogue dubbed . when crawford and young make a special effort to sound british they come over as irish . handy tip  we brits clip words  not sentences . and somehow we manage to draaaaaaaawl at the same time . but that  s only if we  ve been to a really good public  that  s private to you  school .  
dressed to kill starts off with kate miller  angie dickinson  having a sexually explicit nightmare  later on that day she visits her psychiatrist dr . robert elliott  michael caine  for a session in which she admits to be sexually frustrated  unfulfilled in her current marriage . kate then visits a museum  picks up a stranger  they go back to his apartment for casual sex  when done kate is set to leave but is attacked  killed in the buildings elevator by a razor blade wielding blonde woman . prostitute liz blake  nancy allen  discovers the gruesome scene  sees the killer but manages to escape . detective marino  dennis franz  says he suspects liz as being the killer as there are no other witnesses so liz teams up with kate  s son peter  keith gordon  to track down the real killer  clear liz  s name  see that justice is done . . .  br    br   written  directed by brian de palma i thought dressed to kill was a good solid psychological murder mystery . the script is measured  slow at times but it likes to focus on the character  s so you really know them  the entire first twenty minutes is just developing kate as a character before she is suddenly killed off  then the film switches it  s attentions to liz  no one else gets a look in . this way dressed to kill is quite absorbing  engaging  unfortunately the character  s themselves aren  t exactly likable . i found some of the dialogue quite funny at times  especially the dirty talk that liz spouts occasionally . the killers motives are somewhat plausible but i guess you  d have to be pretty messed up to do anything suggested in dressed to kill . it  s a good film but it didn  t excite me that much  i didn  t really find any character to root for or like . the film tacks on a needless  unnecessary twist ending that i didn  t really see the point of .  br    br   director de palma directs with style  visual flair  from the art museum sequence to a car chase  as a whole it  s impeccably filmed throughout . i  d imagine that every shot in dressed to kill had a great deal of thought put into it . i felt the film was a bit flat  uninspired at times though  nothing about it really excited me that much . there is a fair bit of nudity  some sex  rape along with a few bits of gore  violence  kate  s murder by razor blade in the elevator being the highlight  if that  s the right word . however  it  s by no means as shocking or controversial when viewed today as many would have you believe .  br    br   with a supposed budget of about           dressed to kill has that glossy high production value feel of a hollywood film . the new york locations are nice  the cinematography is good  as a whole it  s extremely well made . i thought the music was inappropriate  was far to loud  intrusive . the acting is ok but despite his top billing i didn  t think caine had that much screen time . allen was married to director de palma at the time dressed to kill was made  interestingly out of the four films she appeared in made by de palma in two of them  this  blow out        he cast her as a prostitute . . . a body double was used for dickinson as she pleasures herself in a shower at the start .  br    br   dressed to kill is a good thriller that is well worth watching but i didn  t think it quite lived up to it  s lofty reputation . good but not brilliant .  
as a girl  hinako moved away from her small village to tokyo  leaving behind her two best friends  fumiya and sayori . she returns as a young woman  surprised to find that sayori died when she was a teenager . she reunites with fumiya and they are horrified to learn that sayori is mysteriously being resurrected via the island of shikoku . oh boy . i rented this because i like asian horror and i think chiaki kuriyama a nifty actress . unfortunately  if i had to describe shikoku in one word  it would be  fruity .  this movie is silly  boring  poorly filmed  unimaginative  and most of all  unscary . kuriyama has minimal screen time as the resurrected sayori  and her character is given little to work with .  
de palma  s technique had hit its high maturity by the time of this film  which is a wonderful showcase of his classic techniques  though unfortunately  as with many of the films written by de palma himself  the story serves the meta more than the interests of putting forth an emotionally compelling tale .  br    br   the story opens with a crazy scene in which angie dickinson masturbates in a shower while she looks at her husband . she is then grabbed and raped while he husband stands obliviously near  and the whole thing is revealed to be angie  s fantasy as he husband is pumping mindlessly away at her in bed . she has a short scene with her son  a dead ringer for harry potter  which concludes with a joke that  she  ll tell grandma that he is playing with his peter .  she then goes to her therapy session  where she complains about her dead marriage  before attempting to seduce her therapist  michael caine . he refuses  and she is hurt and feeling unattractive and unfulfilled .  br    br   then begins a bravura    minute nearly wordless sequence that is perhaps the highlight of the film . among the many things de palma gleaned from hitchcock is the understanding of film as a purely visual medium of telling stories and in typical de palma fashion  he turns this into a way to show off his formidable skill . the problem  for me  is that in this instance one begins to feel that scenes are being needlessly protracted simply to further show off the director  s skill .  br    br   the sequence begins with angie at an art museum . she watches strangers  all involved in sexual or family activities  then begins to get turned on to a man sitting next to her . de palma very skillfully tells an extremely complicated narrative without a single word about angie  s attraction  embarrassment  retreating  and finally finding and submitting to the stranger in the back of a taxi cab  all set to a wonderfully lush score by pino donaggio  who also scored carrie .  br    br   in the second part of the sequence angie has slept with the guy  and gets up to return to her husband . again de palma crams a ton of narrative in without a word of dialogue uttered  as angie realizes that she doesn  t have her panties  that her husband is already home and no doubt wondering where she is  that she has probably contracted a venereal disease  and that she has lost her engagement ring somewhere in the shuffle . it  s all very admirable  but one begins to feel a little strung along as we are forced to do things like take a long elevator ride down from the seventh floor  then up again  almost in real time .  br    br   . . . spoilers from here on out  when angie reaches the seventh floor again  she is killed by a big woman with blond hair . the woman hacks away at her until she reaches the ground floor  when the door opens and nancy allen sees her there . there is a wonderful slow  motion sequence as nancy reaches into the elevator  angie reaches up toward her  and the killer  s blade is held poised to slash nancy  s hands . then follow some electrifying shots as nancy looks up and sees the killer in the elevators convex mirror . it  s all good  and by the time we have some dialogue again  you think  woah  that was just   straight minutes of purely visual narrative   or maybe you don  t  but i do .  br    br   a younger dennis franz has a great part as a sleazy and tough new york detective who would rather that everyone else do his work for him . he interviews michael caine  making the outrageous implication  though it passes as commonplace  that angie wanted to be killed . angie  s son is there as well  and he hooks up with nancy  and they set about to spy on caine  s therapist and find out who the killer is .  br    br   once again there is a strong tie to a hitchcock film  in this case psycho  just as obsession is a re  working of vertigo  . you have a woman who we are supposed to understand is secretly a slut  who gets killed in the first   minutes in an enclosed space  in this case an elevator rather than a shower . then the relatives of the deceased conduct an investigation  which reveals that the killer is a man who dresses as a woman to kill . de palma even throws in a doctor at the end who explains the psychology of the whole thing .  br    br   it is very interesting  but at the same time a viewer can begin to feel a bit jerked around  and that is my primary reservation about this film . it is definitely essential viewing and showcases some of de palma  s greatest setpieces  but that feeling that the story is running a solid third behind the need for de palma to show off and his somewhat unseemly sexual fantasies makes it hard to look back on this one with whole  hearted affection .  br    br      check out other reviews on my website of bad and cheesy movies  cinema de merde  cinemademerde . com  
feh . this movie started out in an interesting manner  but quickly ran the gamut from confusing to dull . the confusing parts happened mostly at the beginning  where the cut scenes are so numerous that its hard to tell just what is going on for the first twenty minutes or so . the dull comes later  with a tepid romance between the two living people  pusses both  . the vengeful spirit of the dead girl is actually the most lively person in the film  which is sad . if the rest of the cast had been up to her caliber  the movie might have been better .  br    br   maybe . because the storyline gets really interesting for awhile  as it appears that the insane priestess mother of the dead sixteen year old girl is trying to resurrect her daughter from the dead  with the decidedly unfortunate side effect that all of the other dead people would come back as well  take on solid human form  and most likely start killing off everybody . a sort of japanese mystical night of the living dead type thing . but this doesn  t come to pass . even though this hairy unwashed priest with a tiny basket strapped to his head tells the uninteresting young people that this will come to pass if the priestess finishes her ritual  she does just that and the only dead person who manifests is her daughter . no mass rising of the dead  no walking army of corpses  nothing . the priest merely makes the girl  s spirit go back to the land of the dead  taking the washed out wuss of a boyfriend with her  as she  d crushed his spine like peanut brittle  at which point i was tempted to cheer loudly  as this idiot went over to kiss and fondle the dead girl   ewwww     . the robitussen sucking  spineless best friend has a long introspective shot at the end as she leaves the village for the last time  and that  s it . no real horror  no real creepiness  which the japanese tend to do far better than american film makers with their emphasis on over  the  top cheesy face make  up  no screaming mimis . i was very disappointed .  
dressed to kill understandably made a bit of a ruckus when first released in      you had  police girl  in a role that was mega  erotic  as angie dicknson played a sexually frustrated housewife looking for good times in all the wrong museums  and there into apartment elevators   plus nancy allen as a call  girl  michael caine as norman bates  s sophisticated new york cousin  and enough lurid imagery to last two movies of the period . today it  s slightly less incriminating by standards and such  though the unrated version has some of the most  hot  content of any of de palma  s films  at least in his quasi  auteur period of the   s and early   s  where he seemed to repeat themes over and over  ideas taken right off the film  reels of hitchcock classics and given a tawdry uplift . it  s a simple tale that one partly already saw in sisters  and then again to an extent in body double  and also in blow out . cutie allen plays call  girl liz blake  who has to clear her name of suspicion of killing kate  dickinson  in full blown  milf  mode   after being found with a razor  the murder weapon from dr . elliott  s office  michael caine  stone  cold performance most of the way  .  br    br   from the start  which de palma seems to do as a way of setting up a dangerous sexual fantasy scene as a way of topping the opening scene of carrie  which  perhaps  he does just in editing terms   we get a series of technical knock  out turns through the point of view of style itself the tracking shots in the museum  meant to stir up more of a fascination with the process itself  of following and wanting to be followed  than any kind of tension the chase through the subway  a precursor to carlito  s way  is done with a precise level of suspense  meanwhile  with a slightly exploitation bit thrown in with the black gang the character of peter  kate  s son  keith gordon   who plays what is essentially a younger version of the real life de palma as a kid  science geek  obsessed with hitchcock and voyeurism  . and it  s all entertaining and entrancing as hell as something that comes close to a real synthesis of what makes de palma  s thrillers so unique while being so self  consciously untainted by a fearless attitude of film  making .  br    br   on the other hand  that same self  consciousness ended up coming back to bite the director in the butt a few times in recent years  and somehow in dressed to kill it starts to become very erratic and disappointing as the story has to wrap itself up . as the psycho themes come together even more apparently  man who wants a sex  change  doesn  t even think he  s killing as it is she who is doing it   there is an expository scene in the police station that makes the aforementioned hitch film look like an astonishing psychological revelation . and the final scenes at peter  s house  also calling painfully into recollection a much more accomplished sequence in carrie  are meant for a manipulation that even for de palma is asking for it the final shot especially  albeit a master  s class in how to copy yourself . yet there is a very deranged and  within itself  perfect scene at the mental hospital amid this confused denouement  where the doctor does some work on a nurse  to which all the other inmates act like animals in a zoo  and an over  head shot going up and up over the scene is one of the best shots of sexual  general perversion ever captured on film .  br    br   a shame then that the film ends on such a strange and unsettling manner  where up until then it is a remarkable piece of pulp cinema  where class is all around in the technical aspects  soft lighting  intricate camera movements seemingly so simple  amid subject matter that should be found in the mix of paperbacks for   cents . it  s no masterpiece  but i  d certainly take it over most of the director  s recent thrillers any day .  
this film is really unbelievable . i  ve seen so much cheap trash  movies  especially a lot  full moon   pictures  but  dollman  is really hard . so much comes together the laughable story  the actors always at the edge of parody and the special effects  how long i could talk about them  it is a really bad movie  but also one of the funniest ones . if you  re a fan of bad movies to laugh about  you have to see it . and don  t miss  dollman vs . demonic toys  . it really funnier and worse .  
dressed to kill       is a mystery horror film from brian de palma and it really works . the atmosphere is right there . the atmosphere that makes you scared . and isn  t that what a horror film is supposed to do . all the actors are in the right places . michael caine is perfect as dr . robert elliott  the shrink with a little secret . angie dickinson as kate miller  the sexually frustrated mature woman is terrific . keith gordon as her son peter is brilliant . nancy allen as liz blake the call girl is fantastic . dennis franz does his typical detective role . his detective marino is one of the most colorful in this movie . there are plenty of creepy scenes in this movie . the elevator scene is one of them . there have been made comparisons between this and alfred hitchcock  s psycho       . there are some similarities between these two movies . both of these movies may cause some sleepless nights .  
another trashy grade z quickie from the prolific albert pyun . tim thomersons   inch clint eastwood  like cop from outer space chases an ugly flying head    to earth and gets involved in a gang war in south bronx  mercifully short  but deadeningly dull  with the cheesiest effects since attack of the   ft woman . they should have fired the continuity guy  too note how thomersons sunglasses disappears and reappears in every second shot . laughably bad  but thats why we watch these movies  aint it  sequel dollman vs . demonic toys is reportedly even worse  if thats possible .  br    br     of    br    br    
intelligent  stylish  and compelling thriller from the great brian de palma is a modern classic that firmly ranks among his best films   br    br   when troubled housewife is brutally murdered by a bizarre stranger  the victim  s son joins with a prostitute to uncover the killer .  br    br   dressed to kill left a strong impression upon the audiences of its day and for good reason . de palma creates a wonderfully dramatic story that begins with an intriguing setup and builds into a harrowing mystery full of strong suspense . the finale and conclusion are especially  nightmarish  . it  s a truly edge of your seat shocker . even more impressive though is de palma  s elegant direction that gives this film not only tight suspense but a unique and dark atmosphere of its own . dressed to kill is also a very erotic film  but mainly in a strangely beautiful way . pino donaggio also lends a lovely musical score to the film .  br    br   the cast is another strong feature of this film . michael cain does a terrific turn as a psychiatrist . angie dickenson is wonderful as the ill  fated housewife . nancy allen  s performance as an involved street  walker is solid . a young keith gordon also proves to be a worthy supporter as the investigating son .  br    br   many criticize de palma  s films for having hitchcockian elements and this film was no exception . but any similarities between hitchcocks works and de palmas can only be seen as a good quality  as calling this film a  rip  off  would be degrading to a fine thriller . dressed to kill is a must see for all cinema fans .  br    br    out of   
dreadful acting . a thinly veiled attempt to slam those on the left side of the aisle .  br    br   women are subjugated and revolve around men . tom selleck shows his acting range from a to b .  
  dressed to kill  has been more or less forgotten in critical circles in the past   years  but it is a true american classic  a film which is much more than just a glossy thriller .  br    br   i sincerely hope the dvd release will give more people the chance to hear about it and see it .  
why is it that a woman cannot be a strong character in a movie without sleeping with the leading man  the campaign manager in this movie dreams of leading tom sellick to the white house . it  s all she can think about . so  why on earth must she have had an affair with him  it added nothing to the plot and served only to demean successful women . the only value of that tidbit was the cute  we  ve all slept with your husband  scene .  br    br   also  couldn  t the people who made this movie have watched the national conventions they were spoofing  airing between the two major political conventions only served to highlight their total ignorance of the nomination and selection process .  
this is a taut suspenseful masterpiece from brian de palmawith amazing performances all around  . it  s extremely suspenseful  and often scary  and the score is fantastic  plus all the characters were awesome . yes it rips off psycho a lot  however it  s still a brilliantly made horror  thriller  with a fantastic opening and a shocking and unpredictable finale  . this is unquestionably one of the best horror  thrillers i have ever seen  and the elevator scene is one of the most memorable scenes ever  plus michael caine is simply amazing in this  . the ending is excellent  and the hospital scene near the end is absolutely terrifying  plus the end twist shocked the hell out of me  . it never failed to creep me out  and the stalk sequences are absolutely brilliant  plus nancy allen and keith gordon had fantastic chemistry together  . this is a taut suspenseful masterpiece from brian de palma  with amazing performances all around  . the direction is incredible  . brian de palma does an incredible job here  with amazing camera work  incredible angles  fantastic use of colors  awesome zoom in  s and zoom out  s great pov shots and keeping the film at a very very fast pace  . there is a bit of blood . we get bloody stabbings  knifing  s  bloody gunshot wounds  and  bloody slit throats . the acting is amazing  . michael caine is amazing here  he is amazing in the acting department  creepy  is very likable  was mysterious  and really just did an amazing job overall i loved him   caine rules   . angie dickinson gives a memorable performance here  and was quite beautiful  and had good chemistry with caine . nancy allen is stunningly gorgeous   and is fantastic here  she is extremely likable as the hooker  had excellent chemistry with keith gordon  and put on a tremendous show  . keith gordon is very good as the kid  he had excellent chemistry with nancy allen  and was very likable  . dennis franz is good as the detective . overall this is unquestionably one of the best horror films ever made  and i say drop what your doing immediately and go see it  .  out of   
this movie starts out promisingly  with an early scene in which frank morgan advises against gary cooper  s marriage to his daughter  anita louise . frank morgan  playing an unabashed gold  digger  loudly complains to cooper about his perceived penury at the hands of his family  including his daughter  anita louise . i am a fan of all  actors . frank morgan is  to my mind  a hollywood treasure  cooper a legend  and louise a very lovely  versatile and under  appreciated actress seldom seen in the leading role . i also have nothing against teresa wright  and while not blessed with great range  she usually delivers heart  warming performances .  br    br   from a promising opening  the story slides downhill all the way to the end . i found nothing humorous about burning down the home of cooper  s would  be in  laws . the butler in such a fastidious  non  smoking household would never just blithely walk away  allowing cooper to continue smoking  or alternatively he would certainly supply him with some means of disposing of his ill  timed cigarette . moreover  nobody with any common sense would permit himself to be left holding a lit cigarette without asking for some means of disposing of it . and finally  nobody in his right mind crushes out a cigarette in a handkerchief and sticks it in his pocket  this whole sequence just made cooper seem foolish and gauche . it is a poor contrivance  ill conceived and filmed in a way that induces ridicule not laughter .  br    br   the forced medical examination of cooper is equally contrived . nobody lets himself undergo a complete medical examination without his being advised of its purpose or giving his consent  that cooper did so is too removed from reality to be funny  it  s absurd  stealing babies from hospitals is a serious legal offense  and that  too  is nothing to laugh about . finally  the scenes of cooper  s overly fastidious  neurotic attention to his baby  s feeding and weight may have struck a nerve with a few people who have experienced anxiety over their own newborn babies . but to me they just seem tedious and slow . the wardrobe and prop departments went over the top in those scenes  while paradoxically  the script writer went to sleep .  br    br   the lines are just not in the script to generate humor . they just miss on all cylinders . the laughs come not a mile  a  minute  but more like a light year  a  minute . the only time the movie has any energy or humor is when frank morgan is on camera .  br    br   the scene that is totally wasted is when both of cooper  s love interests and their respective fathers are cooped up in the same hotel room together . there is probably a rich vein of humor somewhere in that mine  but none of it was extracted .  br    br   in the end  one of the two very likable girls is going to get hurt . predictably  it is the anita louise character  who gets jilted on her would  be  wedding night  while it is not on camera  that is her fate  and it is not particularly funny  even as a loose end . she hadn  t done anything in this film to make me unsympathetic  unlike gail patrick  say  in my favorite wife  . consequently  i was expecting  perhaps  hoping  is a better word in the context of the film   for anita louise to enjoy a happy ending  too . the fact that such a nice character is essentially wiped out at the movie  s end really undermines the effect of the  happy ending  for cooper and wright .  br    br   i kept waiting for something to happen  for the witty dialog so characteristic of movies of the era . . . and it never delivered . a good performance by frank morgan in a slightly different role is totally wasted here .  
  dressed to kill   is one of the best thrillers ever made . its dealings with sex and violence make this a film for adults . brian de palma  once again  proves why no other director can match his use of the camera to tell a story . he directs many scenes without dialog  and he tells much of his story  strictly through the use of his visuals  and pino donnagio  s brilliant score . filmed in panavision  the film must be seen in widescreen  as de palma uses the entire width of the film to tell his story . cropped  on video   dressed to kill   is barely the same movie . solid performances from its cast  superb direction  and  perhaps  the finest film score ever written  make  dressed to kill  a must see .  
this  screwy comedy  seems very forced . indeed  the actors try very hard to make a go of an essentially unfunny script . and  as a result it doesn  t really go anywhere . the idea of a woman finding out she was pregnant after getting a quickie divorce just isn  t all that funny . and then  when cooper sneaks off with the baby because he doesn  t want it put up for adoption just seems terribly unfunny and it  s really pushing hard to turn this into a comedy . it  s really a shame  too  as the actors were more capable than the script and i found myself just bored by the whole mess . considering that cooper made so many good comedies  i recommend you see them instead .  
in france  it  s considered polite from french critics to genuflect to the apparently cohesive chain of films brian de palma left behind him . however  a good proportion of his films are marred by bombastic effects  carrie          the fury         scarface        without mentioning his borrowings from hitchcock . here  in  dressed to kill   it  s impossible not to think of  vertigo        for the long sequence in the museum while the key moment in the lift makes inevitably think of the shower anthology sequence in  psycho        . about our involved film  i don  t want to revive the old debate does de palma rip off hitchcock  instead  i would tend to be generous and to classify  dressed to kill  in the category of de palma  s winners alongside  sisters        and  obssession        . with however some reservations and they  re the ones i previously enumerated which fuel the bickering between de palma  s rabid fans and his detractors .  br    br   if there  s one sure thing in  dressed to kill  which can generate general agreement among film  lovers  it  s de palma  s virtuosity in directing . he wields his camera just like a filmmaker expert is supposed to do . his sophisticated camera work brilliantly fuels the suspense which entails a rise of the tension and a discomforting aura . the audience is easily glued in front of the screen . this is helped by the use of several long silent sequences during which everything depends on looks and gestures . by the way  in  psycho   there were also long silent  suspenseful parts . . .  br    br   but the main drawback in de palma  s     vintage is that the quality of the plot can  t be found wanting and appears to be a rehash of many formulaic  corny ingredients pertaining to an incalculable number of murder stories . the prostitute is the sole witness of the crime . then  she  s suspected by the police and has to act on her own  with a little help from the victim  s son from the scene in the subway onwards   to track down the murderer and to prove her innocence . apart from the fact that de palma uses a type of character who for once isn  t demeaned at all  it  s a menu which smells the reheated . and the filmmaker ends his film on a sequence that echoes to the opening one . yes  it  s superbly filmed but when one discovers its real function  one figures  it  s almost gratuitous filler  . perhaps de palma wanted to stretch his film beyond one hour and a half when at this time the viewer knows  and even before  who the killer is .  br    br   the two central mainsprings in de palma  s set of themes articulate hinges on manipulation and voyeurism . the latter theme is well present in  dressed to kill  from the first scene onwards which makes the film almost look like a soft porn movie . and the filmmaker isn  t afraid to film his main actress and wife nancy allen in her underwear . i find his approach about this theme rather doubtful . but maybe the first sequence was conceived to be a mirror of the viewer and de palma wanted to stir his peeping tom side .  br    br   i don  t want to demean at all de palma  s work . his prestigious work in directing which entails a communicative treat to film redeems the global weakness of the story and its doubtful aspects . twenty six years after  the controversy he aroused amid movie  goers isn  t ready to subside .  
john huston  s wise blood was a more horrifying misrepresentation of flannery o  connor  s book than i could have imagined . from the utterly terrible acting performances  and don  t you   oh that was done on purpose  you just don  t get it  me   to the musical score that was more suited to an episode of rockford files  this film was revolting . i viewed it with no ill  will at the outset  and  in fact  expected a pleasant experience . but the misrepresentation of the southern characters  from the ridiculously fraudulent southern drawl to the lilting  comedic way their faith was portrayed  was inexcusable . right down to it  s end  which was completely devoid of any character sentiment  it failed in every place that o  connor  s book shined and resonated . the actors portraying the  southern  policemen may as well have been eating smothered hot  dogs from nyc street stands and quoting godfather . the one redeeming acting performance was ned beatty  s lively and dead  on representation of hoover shoates  a religious con  artist who hears moates preaching the church of christ without christ and sees dollar signs and business opportunities . o  connor  s powerful book is most well  known for it  s creepy  religious undercurrent that jibes the seemingly lifeless cadaver of  faith  . mr . huston  s film is a shameful mockery of the author  s intentions  as they are understood by me and most of her fans  if i may be so bold as to say so . while i acknowledge that i can  t know exactly what the author wished to convey  i have enough affection for her and her works to desire to remain a fan . if i viewed wise blood the way mr . huston apparently did  i would have thrown it in the trash . for flannery  s sake  and mine  i forgive you  john huston . the forgetting . . . . that will take some time .  
kate miller  angie dickinson  is having problems in her marriage and otherwise   enough to see a psychologist . when her promiscuity gets her into trouble  it also involves a bystander  liz blake  nancy allen   who becomes wrapped up in an investigation to discover the identity of a psycho killer .  br    br   dressed to kill is somewhat important historically . it is one of the earlier examples of a contemporary style of thriller that as of this writing has extensions all the way through hide and seek       . it  s odd then that director brian de palma was basically trying to crib hitchcock . for example  de palma literally lifts parts of vertigo       for dressed to kill  s infamous museum scene . dressed to kill  s shower scenes  as well as its villain and method of death have similarities to psycho       . de palma also employs a prominent score with recurrent motifs in the style of hitchcock  s favorite composer bernard herrmann . the similarities do not end there .  br    br   but de palma  whether by accident or skill  manages to make an oblique turn from  or perhaps transcend  his influence  with dressed to kill having an attitude  structure and flow that has been influential . maybe partially because of this influence  dressed to kill is also deeply flawed when viewed at this point in time . countless subsequent directors have taken their hitchcock  like de palma and honed it  improving nearly every element  so that watched now  after   years  worth of influenced thrillers  much of dressed to kill seems agonizingly paced  structurally clunky and plot  wise inept .  br    br   one aspect of the film that unfortunately hasn  t been improved is dressed to kill  s sex and nudity scenes . both dickinson and allen treat us to full frontal nudity  allen  s being from a very skewed angle   and de palma has lingering shots of dickinson  s breasts  strongly implicit masturbation  and more visceral sex scenes than are usually found in contemporary films . quite a few scenes approach soft  core porn . i  m no fan of prudishness   quite the opposite . our culture  s puritanical  monogamistic  sheltered attitude towards sex and nudity is disturbing to me . so from my perspective  it  s lamentable that dressed to kill  s emphasis on flesh and its pleasures is one of the few aspects in which others have not strongly followed suit or trumped the film . perhaps it has been desired  but they have not been allowed to follow suit because of cultural controls from conservative stuffed shirts .  br    br   de palma  s direction of cinematography and the staging of some scenes are also good enough that it is difficult to do something in the same style better than de palma does it . he has an odd  characteristic approach to close  ups  and he  s fond of shots from interesting angles  such as overhead views and james whale  like tracking across distant cutaways in the sets . of course later directors have been flashier  but it  s difficult to say that they  ve been better . viewed for film  making prowess  at least  the museum scene is remarkable in its ability to build very subtle tension over a dropped glove and a glance or two while following kate through the intricately nested cubes of the metropolitan museum of art .  br    br   on the other hand  from a point of view caring about the story  and especially if one is expecting to watch a thriller  everything through the museum scene and slightly beyond might seem too slow and silly . because of its removal from the main genre of the film and its primary concern with directorial panache  as well as cultural facts external to the film   the opening seems like a not very well integrated attempt to titillate and be risqu . once the first murder occurs  things improve  but because of the film  s eventual influence  much of the improvement now seems a bit clichd and occasionally hokey .  br    br   the performances are mostly good  although michael caine is underused  and dickinson has to exit sooner than we  d like  but the exit is necessary and very effective  . dressed to kill is at least likely to hold your interest until the end  but because of facts not contained in the picture itself  hasn  t exactly aged well . at this point it is perhaps best to watch the film primarily as a historical relic and as an example   but not the best  even for that era   of some of de palma  s directorial flair .  
i realize that bringing a novel to the big screen is always problematic . that is the only positive thing i can say about this truly horrid adaptation .  br    br   have you read  wise blood   it  s an amazing book . flannery o  connor wrote about the south as no one else has . she was a southerner herself  a devout catholic  and a remarkably gifted writer . in her first novel she wove together a dark and deeply disturbing tale of faith  doubt  and redemption with a macabre sense of humor and surprising evenhandedness . the characters in the book may seem outrageous to those who have not lived in the rural south  but i can assure you that such people do exist . not only do they exist  they are human beings with families  feelings  and concerns like anyone else . flannery  s intentions were so often misunderstood  she was not lampooning these backwoods zealots  she saw in them the beautiful operation of what she would have called  grace  . . . even in the most violent  distressing  and maddening of circumstances . to read  wise blood  is to be washed over with a sense of dread and impending doom . finally  it is to think long and hard about our judgments and preconceptions  our entire world view .  br    br   none of this comes through in john huston  s  gilligan  s island   like adaptation . none . it is a farce . a bad farce . the entire film is saturated with a hauteur that turns the stomach . the acting is poor  the southern accents are fake and insulting . the filmmakers show no insight into the thinking of religious southerners . ms . o  connor  s intense prose are reduced to sight gags and cheap  amateur theatre . the soundtrack is a mixture of hayseed silliness and  clockwork orange   style cheeseball electronics that doesn  t fit the story or even the movie . i was granted free admission to this movie and almost walked out . truly  truly terrible .  br    br   as an aside  i do not agree with ms . o  connor  s religious views  and while i was raised in the deep south  years ago i made my way north and have not looked back . but the south is a beautiful place full of fascinating individuals  like every other place on earth   and the cartoonish mockery with which southerners and their attitudes are dealt in this movie borders on offensive . if you  re into being offended  which i am not   then this movie most definitely crosses the line .  br    br   i don  t like to talk crap about an artist  s work  john huston was a man that i did not know  and i  m sure he was a sincere and gifted filmmaker  to which his respected place in film history attests . my views are clearly skewed by having read  and loved  flannery o  connor  s work . so i don  t claim to be coming from any other perspective . maybe as a stand  alone film it works for cinephiles . but for flannery o  connor fans  and  i might add  for self  respecting southerners and openminded individuals of all stripes  this movie is a waste of time .  
ghost story   the new house  is a terrific horror story . this is from the circle of fear and the ghost story series of the early seventies . the beginning and ending of each story is narrated by sebastian cabot . remember him from the early family series  family affair in the     s  this particular story has barbara parkins and david birney as the lead actors  and as the main characters in the story . i saw this recently  and i was so scared  if you are alone  i would not recommend that you watch this . this story is terrific  no gore or curse words  but very scary . barbara parkins played the young bride . david birney played her husband . both actors were very good in their parts . if you like scary  fun  terrifying ghost stories  then you will like this little gem . i gave this a high rating . i highly recommend this story .  
my wife and i thought that with this cast and director  the movie would have to be at least worth watching . we were wrong . in fact  we gave up on it after   minutes . the idea that crawford  young and tone are british but speak with american accents was  for me  impossible to get past   hard to believe this is england when no one talks with a british accent . there is zero chemistry between crawford and anyone  and to echo a previous comment  the idea that cooper and crawford suddenly declare their love for one another without any reason is ludicrous . there is no reason to care about any of the characters  which is why we threw in the towel halfway through . i found it hard to believe that hawks directed this  as none of the actors spoke with the trademark hawksian rat  a  tat delivery . so save your time  and skip this one .  
psychotic transsexual bobbi murders the patient  angie dickinson  of a prominent doctor  michael caine  and then pursues the high  priced prostitute  nancy allen  who caught a glimpse of bobbi in the elevator . liz  allen  comes under suspicion of the crime and teams up with the patient  s son  keith gordon  to catch the killer .  br    br   it can be summed up in a couple of words it  s very sexy  dickinson and allen look great   it  s very bloody  with the kind of gore usually reserved for splatter movies  and boy is it well crafted . writer  director de palma  s script is ok but it really takes a backseat to the man  s film  making abilities . it is highly successful on a visceral level and i actually get involved  interested with these characters . i can notice the standard de palma homages to  ripoffs of hitchcock  at least from one of the master  s pictures .  br    br   and to top it all off  it has a professional and believable cast .  br    br   this was de palma  s third movie with ex  wife nancy allen  after  carrie  and  home movies  .   br    br   by the way  dancer  turned  actress rachel ticotin was one of the production assistants . there  s a bit of trivia for you .  br    br   i wouldn  t think a thriller could be classy and bloody at the same time but this picture pulls it off .  br    br   one of the best things about it is a typically striking pino donaggio music score .  br    br        
beyond the fact crazy people exist and there are religious nuts out there .  br    br   the characters basically make no sense most of the time .  br    br   the film has no real beginning  middle or ending  nor is anything ever explained much .  br    br   the film opens with a young man  with the unlikely name of hazel motes  apparently returning from a stint in the army .  br    br   he hitches a ride to a two story house that is in extreme disrepair  windows boarded over . he goes in the house  walks around and finally writes a note that he leaves there . this scene comes to nothing  and we learn nothing further about the house or its history .  br    br   it is never explained exactly whose house this is  or where the people have gone  but we are given the impression hazel has probably lived there at one time .  br    br   hazel decides to go to a city . why  we don  t know . once he arrives in this city he writes down a name  address that he sees on a bathroom wall  and goes to visit this woman  who is a surprisingly fat hooker . he sees her for awhile and then he apparently isn  t seeing her anymore . like everything else in this movie  it comes to nothing and serves no purpose .  br    br   a young man named enoch  tries to befriend him  but hazel really isn  t interested  although they keep crossing paths .  br    br   enoch is about as crazy as you can get . one of his habits is to go to the zoo and stand in front of the cage where the chimps are and talk at them insultingly .  br    br   we never really know why enoch behaves as he does  or why hazel behaves as he does  beyond the fact hazel had an overdose of old time scary  fundamentalist religion via his grandfather .  br    br   enoch later becomes enthralled with a man who dresses in a gorilla suit  and manages to get the gorilla suit from him and then runs around in it .  br    br   hazel  who is wound rather tight and seems to be in a constant borderline rage does a bit of street preaching . i got the impression he was trying to free himself from the untruths of the religion that had been drilled into him .  br    br   he has several encounters with a preacher and his daughter  although their interactions never really make any particular point  and there is no plot line .  br    br   eventually hazel succumbs to complete religious fervor and begins self  harming .  br    br   it is a very odd film . interesting in it  s oddness but other than that it has absolutely nothing going for it .  br    br   the cast does an outstanding job  but this film completely fails to deliver either a point of view or a storyline .  br    br   the film also has the characters tossing around the n word from time to time with no connection to the rest of the dialog .  br    br    stars  
when you compare what brian de palma was doing in the    s to what passes for entertainment today  his films keep looking better and better .  dressed to kill   blow out    body double    scarface  and  carlito  s way  are all superb works of a cinematic craftsman at the peak of his powers . the guy had a long run of better than average films . this is pure hitchcock with an    s dash of lurid perversion  an affectionately told tale of lust and murder with plenty of twists  huge helpings of style  a stunning pino donaggio score  and a trashy  giallo  inspired plot . de palma  s love of complex camera  work and luscious  blood  smudged visuals helps overcome the logical holes while the terrific performances of dennis franz  keith gordon  a good director in his own right   nancy allen  de palma  s wife at the time  and michael caine make every scene special . let the virtuoso take you on a surreal  scary  erotically charged odyssey and you  ll enjoy every frame of  dressed to kill  .  
my first exposure to the templarios  not a good one . i was excited to find this title among the offerings from anchor bay video  which has brought us other cult classics such as  spider baby  . the print quality is excellent  but this alone can  t hide the fact that the film is deadly dull . there  s a thrilling opening sequence in which the villagers exact a terrible revenge on the templars   set the whole thing in motion   but everything else in the movie is slow  ponderous   ultimately  unfulfilling . adding insult to injury the movie was dubbed  not subtitled  as promised on the video jacket .  
when people ask me why do i like movies so much  i usually respond   have you seen the art  gallery sequence in de palma  s dressed to kill   that scene alone  pretty much represents everything i want to see in a film . if i was a film director  that would be the kind of thing i  d like to do .  pure cinema  is one way of describing that sequence  and it is truly amazing to see how director de palma  s entire movie works at the same high artistic frequency of that scene . it is a dream  like movie  clever as hell  and with more zest and intelligence than a dozen films put together . i think the movie raises an important point that will always be a topic of heated discussion could a movie rely solely on technique and still be considered an artistic success  the film has no message to speak of  acting is great but it is at the service of the style  and the script is short on logic . de palma  s movie makes a really good case that style  when handled properly  can sustain a feature length film . sure  michael caine  angie dickinson  nancy allen and keith gordon give superlative performances  but this is a director  s movie all the way to the fadeout . it is a sensational demonstration of the possibilities of the film medium . i won  t tell you what hitchcock movie the film pays homage to  i don  t want to spoil any surprises   but i think de palma transcends the story  s arc  and he manages to create a film that pretty much summarizes his entire career . not for the faint of heart   
this superior inferiority to the original dumb  blind dead  movie is another trash bin waste . so many people have hyped up these films that i can  t believe what they say about it . since i was a kid i have heard about how scary and great these films are and i saw them all and was throughly disappointed  was everyone on drugs  from the      s or do they just not know how boring this crude is   
a great suspense movie with terrific slow camera  work adding to the dramatics makes this a treat to watch and enjoy . director  writer brian de palma does a super hitchcock  imitation  many called it a  ripoff   with this film and the  .     widescreen dvd is a must to fully appreciate the camera  work  and several scenes with people hiding on each side which are lost on formatted  for  tv tapes  .  br    br   the downside of the movie  at least to anyone that has some kind of moral standard  is the general sleaziness of all the characters  including the policeman played by a pre  nypd dennis franz  who has hair here   .  br    br   the opening scene is still shocking with a fairly long shower scene of angie dickinson that is quite explicit  even   years after its release . the film has several erotic scenes in it as dickinson  if that is really her on the closeups  and nancy allen are not shy about showing their bodies .  br    br   there is not much dialog in the first   minutes and no bad language until franz enters the picture after the murder . the first   minutes are riveting and even though it  s apparent who the killer is  it  s still very good suspense and fun to watch all the way through  particularly for males ogling the naked women .  
oh my god  i give this film three stars out of ten for the following reasons . the final sequence is once again quite effectively handled and it was absolutely hilarious . that is what it gets those three points for . other than that  it was atrocious . it wasnt meant to be this funny  that much is obvious  but the dubbing  the acting of the dubbed voices  the dialogue they said  where often hilarious . the actions performed  and  or not performed also lead to much hilarity and  or throwing things at the screen . such as when the whole town is being slaughtered and one small group of people stand on a balcony looking on as if they were watching a cooking glass  or the  attempted  escapes from the church in which they hole up .  br    br   evil mayor i think something is going on outside so you should go upstairs and look out the window .  br    br   hero ok .  br    br   evil mayor now is my chance to make some idiot go outside and flail around with fire being totally ineffective and getting hacked up .  br    br   insert sequence in which this occurs .  br    br   evil mayor damn  wait  i will get this small child and she will walk outside and cry pappa seemingly obvlious to the fact that those rotten corpses are not just spooky strangers but are actually zombies with no flesh or skin or anything and she will lead them away and i will flee  insert sequence in which this occurs .  br    br   hero  upstairs   he is trying to escape again  fool  and he has left the door open  he is silly  this is a nice view .  br    br   woman where is my daughter   br    br   hero  downstairs now   i dont know  i cannot see her anyway and she was not outside because i could not see her despite her being out there and me having a view of the entire neighbourhood and she is standing right outside  where on earth could she be   br    br   needless to say  anybody would be throwing things at the screen after   minutes of this . so  watch the first film with a couple of friends  having a few drinks  and make sure by the time you get to watching this one  you are absolutely blindly drunk and can just giggle at the stupidity of it all . and there wasnt even any decent gore  such a shame .  
saw this movie the first time while drunk at a motel in canada . while flipping through channels came across the easy lube part . my friend kept flipping but i told him to go back . something about the name easy lube just didn  t sound right . watched the rest of the movie it was pretty damn funny . jotted down a couple of names from the credits and got home to look it up . turned out to be chevy chase  s first movie . i didn  t remember him in it . didn  t remember much about it  so i rented it and gave it a second veiw . it  s pretty funny and quite graphic . it  s just like kentucky fried movie except not as funny . love the fingers  easy lube  and i  m da fkin  president parts . dealers skit is pretty cool too . i give it a  .  or  out of ten  
there is a bit of a spoiler below  which could ruin the surprise of the one unexpected and truly funny scene in this film . there is also information about the first film in this series .  br    br   i caught this film on dvd  which someone gave as a gift to my roommate . it came as a set together with the first film in the  blind dead  series .  br    br   this movie was certainly much worse than the first   la noche del terror ciego  . in addition  many of the features of the first movie were changed significantly . to boot  the movie was dubbed in english  the first was subtitled   which i tend to find distracting .  br    br   the concept behind the series is that in the distant past a local branch of the knights templar was involved in heinous and secret rituals . upon discovery of these crimes  the local peasantry put the templars to death in such a manner that their eyes can no longer be used  thus preventing them from returning from hell to exact their revenge . we then jump to modern times where because of some event  the templars arise from the dead to exact their revenge upon the villagers whose ancestors messed them up in the first place . of course  since the undead knights have no eyes  they can only find their victims when they make some sort of noise .  br    br   the templars were a secretive order  from about the   th century  coming out of the crusades . they were only around for about    years  before they were suppressed in the early     s by the pope and others . because they were secretive  there were always rumors about their ceremonies  particularly for initiation . also  because of the way the society was organized  you didn  t necessarily have church officials overseeing things  which meant they didn  t have an inside man when things heated up . and  because of the nature of their trials  they were tortured into confessions . the order was strongest in france  but did exist in portugal and spain  where the movies take place .  br    br   where the first movie had a virgin sacrifice and knights drinking the blood directly from the body of the virgin  breast shots here  of course  this is a horror film after all   and then  once the knights come back to life  they attack their victims by eating them alive and sucking their blood in this sequel  this all disappears . you still have the same scene  redone  not the same footage  of them sacrificing the virgin  but they drain the blood into a bowl and drink it from that . thus  when they come back  they just hack people up with their swords or claw people to death  which i have to say is a much less effective means of disturbing your audience . there  s also a time problem in the first film the dating is much closer to the templars  where here they are now saying it is the    anniversary of the peasants burning these guys at the stake  which would date it around     . and the way that the templars lose their eyes is much less interesting as well . in the first  they have them pecked out by crows . now they are simply burned out  and in quite a ridiculous manner .  br    br   oh yeah  and maybe it was just me  but there seemed to be a lot of people from the first movie reappearing in this film  despite having died  . not really a problem  since the movie is completely different and not a sequel in the sense of a continuation  but odd none  the  less .  br    br   the highlight of this movie is the rich fellow who uses a child to distract the undead while he makes a break for the jeep . the child  s father had already been suckered by this rich man into making an attempt to get the jeep  so he walks out and tells her to find her father . it comes somewhat out of the blue  and is easily the funniest scene in the film . of course  why the child doesn  t die at this point is beyond me  and disappointed for horror fans .  br    br   i couldn  t possibly recommend this film to anyone . it isn  t so bad that it becomes funny  so it just ends up being a mediocre horror film . the bulk of the film has several people holed up in a church  each making various attempts to go it alone in order to escape the blind dead who have them surrounded . when the film ends  you are not surprised at the outcome at all in fact  quite disappointed . if you are into the novelty of seeing a spanish horror film  see the first movie  which at least has some innovative ideas and not so expected outcomes .  
with the current trend of gross out humor  this film is the granddaddy of them all . while some of the humor is dated  every skit will either shock  repulse  or make you laugh out loud . most memorable is the sex games commentary and  of course  the vd commercial . it doesn  t always work  but pays off when it does . i give this a  .  
this movie was so bad it was laughable . i couldn  t resist watching it though . the plot is standard  the acting quite horrible  supporting cast such as the nutty neighbor and the lawyer friend were better actors  . kind of amusing if you have some time to waste and like seeing the conclusion to a dramatic plot .  br    br   the headliner who plays  kathy  was just fascinating because i couldn  t decide if her deadpan  flat affect was the result of bad surgery or simply bad acting  i decided it was both  . this leaves the script to comment on  which was pretty awful . pat remarks  idiotic decisions  and reckless stupidity on the part of every character in the movie . maybe this is what was so riveting i don  t know . i just watched it to see how bad it could be .  actually the dialog doesn  t even qualify to be called  cliche    but it  s almost completely inane .   br    br   all in all  very bad  cheaply made movie . the sets  the same scenes  a house  a building  were shown over and over with no artistry or actual tie  in to the action more like props that were randomly dropped into the action in a bad play . a chase scene could have been shot by any juvenile in a warehouse or an old school poorly shot  cheap props  minimal action . . . . and i still wanted to see the ending . go figure .  
possible spoilers there is only one reason why i saw this movie and that was because i have a massive crush on richard belzer .  i don  t know that much about humor  there were some part that were funny like the barbie and ken spoof and the dealers and the president skit . mind you this is sometimes raunchy  dare  i say crude   it was at times funny  but it could have been better . probably if they spent more time in the humor and less time getting women undress  the movie would had been funnier . some skits just make you want to gag  and cringe  others skits make you laugh and oddly enough think . sadly this movie is dated . if you have a mad crush on richard belzer  so worth it  it  s worth checking it out and seeing chevy chase .  
this film has so little class in comparison to strangers on a train or even  accidental meeting for that matter  that despite plot similarities i wouldn  t feel right in actually comparing this to either of them . the yancy butler character came across as such a dopey dimwit i was too embarrassed for the writer and director to continue watching .  br    br   i don  t enjoy many lifetime movies but feel compelled to watch one every now and then in the interest of promoting harmony at home . i often groan silently but this film caused me to protest out loud  stand up leave the room and walk around the house mumbling to myself  before i returned to my normally favorite chair to subject myself to more torture .  br    br   dean morgan  rochester  ny  
i was born in     . most of my childhood memories are in the extreme late    s and    s . i watched the groove tube for the first time in      when i was   .  br    br   and i found it hilarious .  br    br   so for anybody who thinks that something  dated  can  t be quite funny   years later . . . . think again  it  s funny even if you have no idea what the    s were like  and the thought of bell  bottom pants make you cringe . who can argue with a bozo the clown type who reads adult literature  there is plenty to laugh at . the scrotal puppet show at the end is the best .  
we can start with the wooden acting but this film is a disaster . having grown up in ny i can tell you that this film is an insult to anyone who is familiar with the community or the people . i  m not even a defender of the culture in any way and found this to be a hollywoodized piece of trash to fit its own fictional  ridiculous culture presentation and language that anyone who watches seinfeld knows is inaccurate . this is a colossal waste of time and  even worse  is not exactly interesting since the outcome is obvious and the scenes of confrontation are laughably bad . who acts this way  nobody .  br    br   the writer  s name sounds israeli or something of that nature but it is clear he doesn  t have a clue about the subject he is writing about . looking at his bio  it is shocking he lived in new york and wonder how much real connection he had with the community . even mediocre films like  a stranger among us  are better and more closer to the truth than this dreck . reading this guy  s credits it  s no wonder he has written scripts on all c grade films that somehow feature stars . shocking . perhaps he knows someone because this script is even below par for a bad dolph lundgren film .  
i saw this in detroit in what must have been its original run . i literally rolled into the aisle of the theater . it was that funny . i haven  t seen it since  but would love to . where do you get a copy  anybody saying anything about it being dated or overdone are  for my money  just a bunch of poseurs . each skit is either wickedly  erotically or perversely hilarious . each one  there is not a weak one included . the opening sequence  for instance  which parodies      features gorilla go  go  dancers with pendulous breasts . felinni would have filmed it had he the wicked wit . . . if you come to this film with an open mind and a blithely sneering heart  you  ll pencil it right into your very best list .  
ok  admittedly as an orthodox woman who lives in boro park  i  m going to be a little biased against this film . however  it seemed that boaz yakin  s sole purpose in making this film was orthodox  bashing . with our wigs  modest attire  and separate seating  we  re a pretty easy target already . yakin never made it past the surface . the result is a film with more holes than swiss cheese  . yosi tells sonia off for loving him more than g  d or their parents . then he deliberately defies his father  s order that he not go swimming because of his poor health .  . sonia flips out at her son  s bris . why would a hasidic woman from monsey have such a strong reaction  it  s hard to believe that she never attended one before . let  s face it  even reform jews hold bris milah ceremonies nowadays .  . was mendel sleeping during his chosson classes  he  s supposed to satisfy his wife  s passions in bed and refrain from kissing her in the street . especially in the middle of the busiest street in boro park   . sonia and mendel had to have been married for over a year  and he just now noticed that they were not meant for each other  a little clue   arranged marriage does not mean that the girl has to take the first guy her parents set her up with . nor will she be shunned by the community if the marriage doesn  t work out .  . if sonia really wanted to get into the jewelry business that badly  she did not have to go through her lecherous brother  in  law . there are orthodox female doctors  lawyers  teachers  etc . sonia came off as more whiny than sympathetic . instead of taking control of her life  she sat back and waited for things to happen  and then complained that she didn  t like the outcome . that  s not standing up to one  s environment that  s pandering to stereotype . frankly  i think she got what she deserved .  
this film may seem dated today  but remember that it was made in       before saturday night live  before howard stern  back when george carlin was just getting beyond the hippie dippie weatherman and into heavy satiric humor . this film is the granddaddy of them all . enjoy it for its historical significance  as well as for its strong entertainment value .  
the movie is steeped in religion  so it is impossible to separate it from religion in commenting upon it . in my opinion  this movie pretends to explore deep issues  but thrives on stereotypes and prejudices with little true insight . what the people in the movie  and therefore  the writer  failed to see was grace . they failed to understand that god is the author of beauty and he is the creator of passion and sexual gratification in the proper context of marriage bonds . to imply that the people of the society in which the story is based believe that nudity is sinful  and both the man  the woman enjoying the act of marriage is dirty  is just an oversimplification . such stereotypes really don  t exist  for even jewish holy writings speak clearly of the caring husband who will seek his wife  s pleasure before his own . scripture says that a man ought to love his wife as his own flesh  and that no man ever hated his own flesh  but he nourishes and cherishes it . even if you want to ignore the new testament  the writers  characters completely ignore that there are passages such as the song of solomon in the old testament  and the even the book of proverbs which says   rejoice in the wife of thy youth  let her breasts satisfy you always   how can that be read in any way other way than that god knows  and approves of  and smiles on  the marital union and the enjoyment thereof  real men don  t ignore the value and needs of their wives . those that do deny a very basic teaching of the judeo  christian religion . god never said those things . it  s absurd . sonia rebelled because of the misapplication of the teachings of the true god of abraham . it didn  t need to be so . how sad . what sonia desperately needed was truth  not tradition . in knowing  loving and obeying god  we love others more before ourselves . that is the faith of the god of abraham  isaac  jacob  joseph once for all delivered to the saints bought  paid for by jesus christ  the righteous . but alright  ignore all this and abandon ancient  holy scripture and turn to the wisdom of homeless people  ghosts . that  s a good plan . i would never recommend this movie partly because the sexual content is unnecessarily graphic  but also because it really doesn  t offer any valuable insight . check out  yentl  if you want to see a much more useful treatment of jewish tradition at odds with society .  
ghost story  the tv movie        was the pilot for the nbc series . the movie was well  written and well  acted and  i thought  when the        tv season started  if the tv series is half as good as the movie  then nbc has a winner .  i wish this film was available on video    the series was a colossal disappointment   even with william castle as exec . producer . if  however  you have a chance to see the original tv movie  ghost story  check it out . you won  t be disappointed .  
in what would be his first screenplay  based on his own short story  turn about   william faulkner delivers a bizarre story of loyalty  sacrifice  and really strange relationships . the story originally was about only the tone  young  and cooper characters  but mgm needed to put joan crawford in another picture to fulfill her contract  and faulkner obliged by creating a female role . crawford insisted that her lines be written in the same clipped style as her co  stars  young and tone  leading to much unintentional hilarity as these three communicate in a telegraph  like shorthand that sounds like a monty python sketch   wuthering heights  performed in semaphore  . seriously  the almost entirely pronoun  less sentences make ernest hemingway read like henry james .  br    br   the film also reflects some familiar faulkner themes  with an almost unnaturally close relationship between brother and sister  as may be found in his  sanctuary   and elsewhere  . when young proposes to crawford  in tone  s presence  in lieu of an engagement ring all three exchange their childhood engraved rings with one another . the closeness of tone and young is also noticeable  especially as they go off to their thelma  louise fate . frankly  it  s creepy .  br    br   not as creepy to this new yorker  however  as the recurring theme of the massive cockroach  wellington  which crawford cheerfully catches  and which is shown gamboling over her hands   i had to turn away   and young turns into a gladiator . blech .  br    br   that being said  there are some nice performances . young is particularly engaging in a scene where he  s taken up in cooper  s fighter plane  and roscoe karns is delightful as cooper  s flying buddy . tone  despite his inability to express himself through realistic dialogue  has a nice moment  dashing away his own furtive tears over his buddy young  s fate . crawford  stripped of meaningful dialogue as well  mostly comes across as either wooden or melodramatic  which is quite a balancing act for one role .  br    br   the battle scenes   not surprisingly  for a howard hawks film   are the most exciting part of the entire picture . but not enough . as far as i  m concerned  this is   minutes of my life i  m never going to get back .  
from start to finish  i laughed real hard throughout the whole movie . it  s amazing that  the groove tube  is possibly the granddaddy  yet raunchiest  of all comedic skit movies . this is the way i enjoy watching tv without being bored at flipping channels only to suffer from insomnia  for   minutes  the weird  strange humor never stops  just think of how all this nonsense laughing can help you enjoy life easier  it  s way  way better than comedy central or any prime time show  do yourself a favor and trash all those soft  lame romantic comedy movies into the wastebasket  better yet  tell your box office manager you want  the groove tube  back on the big screen   
a well  intentioned movie about sonja horowitz  rene zellweger   the wife of devout talmudic scholar mendel  glenn fitzgerald  . who is deeply unhappy . mendel  s brother sender  christopher eccleston  sees this and hires her to work in the field in which she  s already an expertjewelry . he also starts an affair with her  and then when she spends time with a puerto rican artist  he dumps her and betrays her to the family  which shuts her out . there  s a subplot in which sonja  s dead brother talks to her  and apparently takes the form of a magical beggar woman  but why is not clear . much is not clear  unfortunately  including what is going on with sonja  why she tells the rebbe there  s a fire inside her and maybe it  s not from god  and what this means  and what the magical beggar woman tells her means . to an extent the story touches on the plight of women in the ultra  orthodox community  and yet sonja is not exactly liberated . nor is the notion of being redeemed by the love of a man of another race very well  thought  out . the title comes from the biblical definition of the worth of a good womanand yet it  s the bastard sender who quotes it to sonja . zellweger struggles with the part she  s supposed to be a jew from the mid  west and sometimes her accent is flat  and at other times it  s taken on the characteristic sounds of brooklyn . she  s at her best when she  s being tough and taking charge  but ultimately the movie  s a mess .  
we showed this movie at the local film society  and the art  house crowd had the time of their cinematic lives . it  s tasteless  groovy and very funny in a sixties kind of way . the kraft kitchen recipe sketch had them laughing like maniacs . the rest is a mixed bag  but the highs definitely beat the lows . by the way  whatever happened to ken shapiro    
a great concept gone wrong . poor acting  even worse writing . . . . after watching the first two episodes i was wondering why it ever made it to season two . the characters are forgettable  the writing is poor  the sets are just ok . the special effects are simply sad  so much better has been made in the same time  frame  where is the money going on this one  the first episode starts out interesting then goes downhill fast  the precept of the whole show is just silly . now don  t get me wrong  i am a huge sci  fi fan and  geek   but this show simply doesn  t cut it . as i said in the beginning  i am truly surprised it made it to season two  so much better has been canceled after only one season  jake  .  for example  . this show was just bad .  
a series of shorts spoofing dumb tv shows  groove tube hits and misses a lot . overall  i do really like this movie . unfortunately  a couple of the segments are totally boring . a few really great clips make up for this . a predecessor to such classics like kentucky fried movie .  
this show had pretty good stories  but bad dialog . the main character was especially annoying . it  s quite obvious why this show was canceled  although  like most upn shows  i never knew it even existed until it was in syndicated re  runs .  br    br   most of it  s plots seemed to be copied from other shows and movies  leading me to think the producers didn  t have an original idea in their heads .  br    br   i haven  t commented enough . you  ve got to have at least ten lines of text . the special effect were not bad for a     show .  br    br   the gnome was a nice character .  
best movie ever      this movie broke my ribs just by the force of laughter  but it was well worth it . i don  t intend to do a summary of this excellent movie  just go see it if you have the chance . i think you will either love it  or hate it . that  s the qualities of a real cult movie .  
the tv productions at the      s start were between weak and bad . before marks like  alias  lost  prison break  desperate housewives  or monk  the tv didn  t have the right hit yet  which could capture the attention and the interests of the     s  viewer . titles like  relic hunter    mutant x    the lost world    sheena   or even  baywatch hawaii  weren  t encouraging for you to watch and follow  or at least weren  t that captivating and interesting all the time as what preceded them .  special unit   was no exception . in fact it  s men in black meets the x files  spoof   as if these were the special unit   . but even according to this brilliant formula it didn  t work well . it was promising at the time there was some saturation out of the  supernatural  cases after a decade of many x files already  so the natural spirit to lampoon it naughtily too  imagine mulder as womanizer   . however  special unit   wasn  t the strongest in this  or a strong when it comes to make a comic sci  fi show . it was highly ridiculous  where for instance every sexy situation must turn into ugly disgusting one . it enjoyed that bad taste sickeningly .  michael landes  was non  charismatic and mostly unbearable as a comedian . his chemistry with  alexondra lee   as well as any supposed sexual attention  was all languid . sure the show got a funny look but overall it was unfunny work . it  s clear that there was nothing more interesting than its main idea . among  evan katz   s other works as a co  writer and a co  producer like  seven days  before or     later this must be a low point  . despite the distinctive personality  it managed to be a silly jest for most of the time . therefore if that was there goal  so they made one of the silliest indeed  and truly  it would be one of the rarest times to be thankful for the cancellation of a show after   episodes of it only   
a series of vignettes  most of them spoofing television of the      s  but also with some digs at the government and corporate america . one of the longest segments   the dealers  is not that funny to me and i don  t know what it is parodying . some of the others  though  are absolutely side  splitting . i particularly enjoy the cooking show segment . most of the foul words i know are used in the movie  and  if you object to full frontal nudity  stay away .  
jean  marc barr  being light  the big blue  dogville  has directed and interpreted this strange movie which is the second installment of some kind of trilogy . i might be wrong but i don  t think this movie  s part of the dogma    manifesto  though it really looks like it . i  m not really sure of what i think about this film . all actors are good . they deliver pretty good performances  especially rosanna arquette and jean  marc barr . the story is somehow interesting . but i don  t know  there  s something about the movie that i don  t like . the sex scenes are way too long . it goes from an interesting work of art to an erotic piece of crap i don  t know exactly where it stands . sure it  s not a bad movie  but i won  t suggest people to see it neither i  ll tell them not to watch . just do as you want . if you feel curious and you  re open  minded  give it a try  you might like it .  
when i was chairman of our college  s coffeehouse  one of our jobs was to review groups and films for student activities . one of the best things to come along in     was groove tube . the original premise was that it was being shown off  off broadway in theaters where television monitors were being placed throughout the audience  so everyone had a great seat . the premise was that the skits would change on a regular basis  ala saturday night live  keeping the thing fresh . they decided on making it into a film for general distribution .  br    br   i believe the developers said it was the first time chevy chase was on film . watching him run naked though the woods was a howl . like many of the reviews before mine  it was saturday night live before such a thing existed . i highly recommend this vid . i  ve told my   year old son about koko the clown  he can  t wait to get a copy   
kind of drawn in by the erotic scenes  only to realize this was one of the most amateurish and unbelievable bits of film i  ve ever seen . sort of like a high school film project . what was rosanna arquette thinking   and what was with all those stock characters in that bizarre supposed midwest town  pretty hard to get involved with this one . no lessons to be learned from it  no brilliant insights  just stilted and quite ridiculous  but lots of skin  if that intrigues you  videotaped nonsense . . . . what was with the bisexual relationship  out of nowhere  after all the heterosexual encounters . and what was with that absurd dance  with everybody playing their stereotyped roles  give this one a pass  it  s like a million other miles of bad  wasted film  money that could have been spent on starving children or aids in africa . . . . .  
  the groove tube  was initially shown on video  in the first  video theaters  here in boston . in one room  there were tv monitors on high stands  with old movie theater seats  in small groups facing the monitors . there were old refrigerators stocked with pepsi  and baskets of york peppermint patties . in a second  smaller room  there were no seats  just large pillows . that was the  smoking  room  i . e .  people got high in there . that act only added to the hilarity of the video .  br    br   i was a  frequent viewer   the scenes i liked most and remember to this day are koko the clown  the kramp family kitchen  kramp easy  lube shortening   safety sam  vd psa  the chevy chase hitchhiker w  nude runs through the woods  the finger ballet on what was eventually revealed to be the nude body of a woman . the last item was very reminiscent of the late  incredible ernie kovacs . now  i  ve lost a lot of readers that are under     who is ernie kovacs     but trust me  it  s funny stuff .  br    br   one reason i was a  frequent viewer  was that i  and my friends  would bring other  groove tube  virgins to see it . we would sit and slyly watch the faces of the  virgins  as the  safety sam  psa would play . as the camera slowly zooms in on  sam   we would wait for that  oh   of recognition on the  virgin  s  face . each time was more hilarious than the last . and then that  virgin  would then bring a friend to see the show  repeating what we had done . to get this joke  you must watch the video .  br    br   yes  some of it is dated  but most plays  film  television  and now videos are . just look at any video made in the      s .  br    br   i did see  the groove tube  in a theater as a film  a grainy transfer from the original video . it had been cut  and was missing some of the original high  point scenes .  br    br   the first  saturday night live  show  featuring chevy chase  elicited instant remarks of   that  s the guy from  the groove tube    so it was a precursor for chevy .  br    br   i can  t look at a can of shortening without hearing the voice  over   coat your hands with a generous amount of kramp easy  lube shortening . . .  and thinking of the  kramp holiday loaf  recipe . always gets me laughing in the baking needs aisle in the grocery store .  br    br   the early    s were parlous times  the groove tube  was fresh  new  and really  got  the humor of the times . it offered a  hip generation   humor that wasn  t available in any other format  medium . mjh  
yes  this was pure unbelievable condescending babble . we know that the french often have a skewed idea of the usa  it  s puritanism and views towards sex . as an american  hoosier  who lives in france  i have ample opportunity to observe these attitudes . and while some of these preconceived notions may be true  not one element of the midwestern town portrayed in this film rang real . a man who has never had sex because he was told in high school   years prior that his penis is too big  where in the world would you find that  a juke box in a bar that plays only vintage bluegrass  a town with maybe   people less than two hours away from chicago  but with no major gas station  no tvs in the home  no mcdonalds  no kids . . . a population that knows each other  s intimate details yet relentlessly gets together like one big family that hates each other . the adult males plant whoopee cushions at the local cafe  have farms but don  t harvest  kill the guy they don  t like in front of everyone and seem to get away with it  and all with equal emotion  the liberated french girl who will screw the   year old virgin boy because of her sexual generosity  the too much flesh guy who goes from getting off in cornfields by the mere breath of an illinois breeze to helping deflower this same   year old farm boy  help  i am so baffled and astounded by the absurdity of this film that i am not expressing clearly how ridiculous it is . go see it for the a  to  z primer on what to avoid . gosh  i hope i didn  t ruin it for you   
just finished watching the groove tube which i first saw about   years ago when i was a teenager staying up way past my bedtime watching hbo with my brother and his best friend . we had also watched animal house just before that so we saw two movies that starred an snl alumna and had some naked breasts . good thing our parents were asleep the whole time  anyway  there were lots of weird and funny things in this movie that were eye  openers like the brown   sequence of the uranus industries commercial   with the taste of beef stew  says the announcer as what is apparently human excrement comes out of a white tube . ewww   or the face of the puppet talking about vd  a scrotum with a small penis with eyes glued on  . chevy chase and richard belzer made their feature film debuts here . chase is hilarious whether doing a geritan spot with a woman stripping  having his hands have sex in a  let fingers do it  commercial  or singing  four leaf clover  with co  writer  director ken shapiro drumming his hands on his head . belzer teams with shapiro in  the dealers  movie  and on  channel one evening news  with one wild bit having belzer as a black prostitute trying tricks on reporter ken who plays lionel here .  lionel  that sounds like a train that i  m going to ride like a choo  choo   other outrageous bits include  the koko show  with shipiro as a kid clown show host who  after ordering the  people over ten  to leave the room  reads requests of his viewers like passages of  fanny hill   or how about the olympics segment with a german couple making love being announced by two men  one of them spanish  as they get explicit while  please stand by  keeps interrupting on the screen  or the animated segment on  the dealers  which depicts dancing toilets after shapiro ingested some marijuana  not everything  s so dirty . besides the  four leaf clover  skit  at the end there  s a highly amusing music segment with ken lip  syncing his own recording of  just you  just me  while dancing with suit and briefcase around the city with occasionally a cop  co  writer lane sarasohn  joining in . so  in summation this is one weirdly  funny movie that seemed to influence other like films  tunnelvision  kentucky fried movie  and possibly saturday night live  which made chevy that show  s first star  and  despite some dated elements  can still amuse today . p . s . while i liked hearing curtis mayfield  s  move on up  during the gorillas dancing  hitchhiking beginning sequence  i did wonder what the point was with the sequence of the hitchhiker and the woman who picked him up  having them running from the car  stripping on the run  and then having the naked man get caught by the cop who stopped on the road . guess it  s one of those    s streaking things . . .  
i sat down to watch a documentary about puerto rico  and i ended up watching one about nuyoricans . when i go to puerto rico  i fail to see the    that live in poverty . when i do see struggling people  they are usually haitians  dominicans  or cubans that have recently arrived to the island . there is no such thing as spanglish . . . either you speak spanish  or you don  t . . . . and from what i heard . . . you don  t . pedro albizo campos is not mlk to me . mlk was a great man . campos is a great man to those that want independence which is   . to the rest he as loco as osama bin laden . puertoricans that want independence are a bunch of fools . if you want any proof to all of you dreamers of an independent puerto rico see cuba  haiti  dominican republic  bahamas  all of south and central america  and mexico . its worked wonders for them . this documentary is not about puerto rico  this documentary was about the nuyoricans and their struggles .  br    br   to the person that complaint that not enough of africa was on the show . . . it was suppose to be about puerto rico . . . not africa . denzel will make one shortly just for you .  br    br   in conclusion . . . to all those ignorant white people that think we need green cards to come to the us  and want to learn how the prime minister runs things  this is not a good documentary about puertorican culture . tell your kids to pay attention in geography  and history class .  br    br   update  br    br   bocabonita . . .  doc .  was about nuyoricans . she promoted it as if its how we all feel . should have been titled . . .  yo soy nuyorican . . . lunche . . . can  t speak spanish .  please stop using puerto rico  rican  boricua  or anything else associated with pr with this nuyorican historical lesson . god forbid they play this on the island .  
tho   years old  groove tube looks a lot like actual tv today  specialty niche networks  nude sports   a tv show about stoner drug dealers called the dealers  ala weeds  and even predating      s cheech  chong up in smoke   weird beer commercials  butz beer  no less bizarre than bud bowls   dirty  minded kid  s clown koko  shades of pee wee herman   even chevy chase doing slapstick humor  a violent barbershop vocal duo  a year before his     debut on saturday night live . and thanks to the infamous opening sequence that earned groove tube an initial x  rating  i still can  t hear curtis mayfield  s  move on up  without thinking of naked dancing hitchhiking hippies     for similar sketch  style movies  see tunnelvision  kentucky fried movie  amazon women on the mood  monty python  s beyond the fringe  dynamite chicken  and the firesign theatre  s everything you know is wrong .  
i am puerto rican and this is one of the worst documentary of i  ve ever seen of any type . you can see that the people on it are clueless . they don  t know much about puerto rico and its culture . they claim to be puerto rican because they are from puerto rican descendants  but they probably know less than others who are not from there . you can see while they are talking that they are contradicting themselves . if you would like to see a real  and i mean a real  genuine documentary from puerto rico  then you must see  mi puerto rico  . that  s a serious  real documentary . not like this piece of junk . rosie perez based this documentary on herself . i thought it was suppose to be about puerto ricans . they keep repeating i didn  t know . well  that  s about the only thing they got right on this so called documentary . i hate to see such a piece of garbage being done using the name of the island . it brings down the standards .  
  the groove tube  was one of only two ken shapiro movies  the other one being the equally zany  modern problems  . this one is just a full  scale parody of tv . aside from shapiro  who apparently didn  t do anything after  modern problems   the movie also stars chevy chase and henry winkler  s cousin richard belzer . the three cast members  plus some other people in smaller roles  appear in various skits . one of the funniest ones features chase in a geritol  spoofing commercial  in which he  s describing the medicine as his wife strips  and it ends with her humping him . there  s also a pornographic news program  an irritating cooking show  and the epic tale of some drug dealers .  br    br   anyway  the whole thing  s just a real hoot . in my opinion  the three best tv  spoofing movies are this one  plus  tunnelvision  and  kentucky fried movie   although i might also include  the truman show   . really funny .  br    br   i wonder what ever did become of ken shapiro .  
rosie wasted a lot of tv time talking about the tainos as if they were super influential in the dynamics of the modern day puerto rican . they were not . the truth is that the africans and the spanish were and she knows it . what kills me is that she is standing on the screen looking like some average light skin black chick  with an obvious black daddy  cousins and auntie  pretending to truly acknowledge the real essence of what makes them the modern day puerto ricans  but barely mentioned how africans influenced the way their spanish is spoken  the food and music . she is so typical and i lost a lot of respect for her and will not support anything else she does . also  since she wants to dance around her african  ness then she need not take more roles associated with blackness  i . e . lackawanna blues  . we can find a prideful black latina next time  thank you zoe saldana  gina torres  gina ravera and melissa desousa  .  br    br   to the puerto rican on here that said they are african and not  black  . . . . thank you . we  blacks  certainly do not have anything in common with  you  so there is no love lost . but  since you are probably in the states and have benefited from the civil rights movement we would like for you refuse any decent human treatment you received courtesy of the blood  sweat and tears from the backs of the  blacks  you share nothing with .  br    br   if i am correct puerto ricans have a terrible image in the media  but we blacks do not spend our time trying to disrespect you because we know that the media loves to exploits the low points and behaviors of all minorities to maintain mindless generalizations . however  you evidently have fed into the hype that one you are somehow white or superior . . . you are not . also  you somehow feel compelled to believe that black culture is bet . . . again you are incorrect and need to take a vacation out of the hood . try visiting atlanta  ga .  houston  texas  charlotte  n . c . trust me none of those blacks want to claim your  culture  either .  
this is a very entertaining flick  considering the budget and its length . the storyline is hardly ever touched on in the movie world so it also brought a sense of novelty . the acting was great  p  z to dom  and the cinematography was also very well done . i recommend this movie for anyone who  s into thrillers  it will not disappoint you   
i am a big fan of fred macmurray and carole lombard . and  in addition to them  charles butterworth  a very enjoyable supporting actor  was in this film  . . . so why didn  t i particularly enjoy it   well  despite a good cast  this is one of the poorest written and most clichd  a pictures  i have ever seen . given the talent and money spent to make this film  it is shocking how slip  shod the writing was . i knew the film would be tedious when time after time early in the film i found myself predicting exactly what would happen next   and i was always right  and this isn  t because i am some sort of  movie savant   but was because almost no imagination or effort went into it . in fact  it seemed almost as if the film was just a long string of clichs all strung together  also  i found it a bit irritating that fred mistreated carole so bad throughout the film and yet  true to convention  she came running to him in the end . uggh  there is more suspense in a lassie film   will he bring people to rescue timmy or will the rope he is dangling from break    .  br    br   despite the very  very tired and clichd script  there were a few positives about the film . it was pretty cool seeing fred look like a broken lush at the end of the film   it was pretty believable and he looked like he hadn  t eaten  shaved or slept in days . also  charles butterworth  s  prattle  did provide a few mildly humorous moments . but all this just wasn  t enough to make this film look any different than a  b movie  . it  s a shame  . . . it could have been so much better .  
you know what they say about the    s . . if you can remember them you weren  t there . one of the few things i do remember about the    s was the very first hippie and hip social satire as seen from a totally  underground  or counter  culture perspective . . the groove tube . if the humor seems faded or witless now to some viewers it can only be because a lot has happened in the last   years and the comedy isn  t  fresh  anymore . . but hey  when this movie came out it was a first . . and some of these skits were being done for the very first time . . . at a time when nixon was in office  the vietnam war was raging  the sexual revolution was in full swing . . and j . edgar hoover was still in charge of the fbi . this is a film made before watergate broke and as such it was one of the first to take a big swipe at the establishment . . to make fun of it and the hippies at the same time . and frankly  some skits are still dead funny . if you liked cheech and chong  s  up in smoke  . . you will love this film .  br    br   if you want to know what the    s were really like . . check out the groove tube . . if you liked the oscar winning  network  from about the same year and thought it was right on the mark in its savage look at tv  you will dig the groove tube . . which picks up on the theme but plays from the angle of the viewers . . . the young viewers who were turning off the tv in favor of other entertainments . . . . we had been raised on ozzie  harriet  leave it to beaver   father knows best  my three sons . . happy days . . . so imagine our glee when those of us who were experimenting with the new life  styles got to see a send up of the box as seen from our perspective  the commercials by the uranus corporation alone are priceless . .  good things come from uranus  . . . . and the sudden break from straight film into fritz the cat  style animation when the hippies eat the weed is still one of the best segues in and out of sanity i have ever seen on film .  br    br   if you liked the kentucky fried movie  you will love this film . and if you ever wondered why your weird uncle harold still gets a wicked gleam in his eye when thinking back to his college days . . this would be the perfect film to watch .  br    br   take it for what it is . . a memento of the times . . . and a sassy little film that will help all of us who did forget the    s to remember them anew .  
i was excited to hear that someone had made a documentary on what it was like to be puerto rican . when i heard it was rosie perez  i wondered . . could she possibly know what it is really like to be puerto rican . as far as i knew . . . . she was a nuyorican . well anyway  i anxiously sat with my popcorn to watch . i realized   min into it that my initial apprehension was right . rosie perez has little knowledge about what it is like to be puerto rican . this  documentary  is more a  st hand  very very personal account on what it is like to be a nuyorican . . and all of what that entails . she  like most of the nuyoricans i know  have a watered down  partial and sometimes twisted sense of history .  how could they not . . they live here .  yes  all of them are proud . as they should be  but a lot don  t know the ins and outs of the real culture  history and political background or language for the most part . it all became very very apparent with her participation in the vieques issue . regardless of my personal take is on this issue . . at least i know what the hell the fight is for . there is she is getting arrested for something she knew little about . . and only participated in because it was a  puerto rican cause  i really don  t understand how she is not embarrassed to admit to it . for those of you that are not puerto rican  please view this as a partial account of a woman  s journey of self discovery and acceptance . do not take this as gospel . . . a lot of it isn  t even true . please consider the source . rosie is an actress not a historian . this movie is not and should never be  for other nuyoricans  the base for their information . instead  just a step towards finding more info  learning and debating what the reality is . not just the one coming from this woman  s eyes .  
how can a movie that features the singing of curtis mayfield be bad  it can  t  the groove tube is a series of scatological black  out sketches that makes fun of anything from     to the olympics . the highs   koko the clown  the easy lube recipe  outnumber the lows  an all too long  the dealers    but even the lows are funny . best of all is ken shapiro  s manic dance down a busy manhattan sidewalk .  that is shapiro  not nat king cole singing just you  just me  . definitely dated now  but at the time the groove tube was irreverent  bold  shameless and hysterically funny . ken shapiro made this minor cult hit  then  years later made the christmas day opening bomb  modern problems  though i enjoyed it and since then  unfortunately  nothing .  he could possibly be playing drums in a jazz group  the groove tube remains to me an unending burst of positive energy  a movie that   years after my initial viewing  still brings me real joy   
i am so appalled by this documentary . i am deeply embarrassed and ashamed by the way puertoricans were portrayed . this documentary was not about the culture of puertoricans . it was about the culture of nuyoricans . puertoricans and nuyoricans are two different cultures . very different cultures and should not be generalized to the puerto rican population . rosie  before you make a documentary  you need to do the research . you also need to check and make sure your sources are credible . puerto ricans are not all loud and they do have class  which is one thing the documentary lacked to show . when i saw rosie and jimmie on the view and rosie on martha stewart i was very excited about watching . i even made sure to let my parents know since they love puerto rico so much . after the first five minutes i could not believe how the documentary bashed the us and made puerto ricans look like a bunch of guinea pigs . you need to go and visit puerto rico and you will see that puerto rico is not a  rd world country where more than    of the population is in poverty . puerto rico has colleges and well known universities  roads  cars  shopping centers  malls  the largest kmart and jcpenney  s i  ve ever seen   restaurants  theaters  beaches  hotels  ritz  hilton  etc .   casinos  churches  agriculture  auto expresso  and restaurants just to name a few . poverty  not    of the population is . puerto rican culture is about family  music  food  celebrating  and trying to move forward not backward . oh  and new cousins don  t just pop up out of no where . no that is not a puerto rican thing  that is a ghetto thing . we are not bastards . parents of puertorican descent who would like to teach their children about puerto rico should invest in a trip with the family so they can see first hand what puerto rico is all about . they will see its beauty  people and culture . please don  t show them this documentary because it will only cloud their minds with negativity . oh  and please don  t tell your american friends to watch this documentary because it will only make the puertorican people look ignorant .  br    br   yes  i am born and raised puerto rican from the island . just so you know   
i haven  t watched the movie yet  but can  t wait to see it  it seems very interesting and inspirational . it was one of the most interesting trailers i  ve ever seen the questions it posed really stopped me and made me think  the unique approach to the sport of boxing as a metaphor for the  battle within  . . . thank god somebody is hitting another angle with the boxing thing . this film looks so fresh and smart . and the actor is really hot . i especially enjoyed the short clip with the actor from the rocky movies  really clever . i thought that the topic selected  overcoming adversities and childhood traumas  is timeless  and god knows a lot of people need it . bring it on .  
i hated the way ms . perez portrayed puerto ricans  we are not all ghetto  and we do speak spanish  not puerto rican  i can not speak for the uneducated persons you have run into . but our language is intact  our island is our pride . puerto rico is better off economically than any other caribbean island  i  m glad we are not like cuba  dominican republic or haiti  free from american influence  free in true poverty  not the u . s . standard of poverty . we are not victims we are resilient  humble  honest and intelligent people . our ancestry does include strong african roots  but not  black  roots  i have nothing in common with black americans  do the research  .  br    br   the analogy between pedro albizu  che guevarra and martin l . king could not be more off the mark .  br    br   mlk was a great hero a true revolutionary  an honest man who saw a day when we would all be free .  br    br   che guevarra helped castro create the cuba that is today  is that why boat fulls of cubans risk their lives to come to america  because che made such a better place for them  you had a great  awesome  bright idea but you politicized it too much . we have so many things to be proud of as a people  don  t bring shame to our people by victimizing us . i am not a nuyorican and perhaps that is why i can  t share your views . i am puerto rican  i speak spanish  i am not a victim and i have been able to accomplish many of my goals in america . if there is a part  in the future  less politics more history more stories of triumph  there are many .  br    br   damaris maldonado  
on rare occasions a film comes along that has the power to expand the mind  warm the heart and touch the very soul .  lou  is such a film . i got  lou  from my wife who got it from a neighbor who is in the film business . she watched it for a second time with me . we were both enthralled . her as if for the first time again .  br    br    lou  is a magical piece designed to send you back to the moment at which all of your dramas started taking place . it does this while being relentlessly entertaining . bret carr  s acting and pacing as a director do not let you look away from the screen . he crafts a character which disarms with a bugs bunny like  stuttering innocence  but warmly carried with such underplayed sincerity that you forget you  re watching a movie . when the epiphany hits during the brilliant climax  i saw my wife in tears for the second time .  br    br   as a life coach  i facilitate individual growth and transformation  and this film is a  must see  for life coaches and anyone seeking their own personal growth and transformation . it is a brilliant  creative masterpiece with the power to change lives   
i being of puertorican descent  had mixed fillings about this  documentary  . first i was offended that ms . perez compared senor campos to che guevarra . also just a point of fact  mr . john leguzaimo is not of puertorican descent . his parents came from columbia . whomever did research on this was not very accurate . i feel that the future of our race rests on education . this message should have been resounding throughout this film  education is our road to freedom and power i think any future endeavors of this production team should make this their focus . in my opinion  this film swayed toward an anti  american sentiment .  
this miracle of a movie is one of those films that has a lasting  long term effect on you . i  ve read a review or two from angry people who i guess are either republicans or child beaters  and their extremist remarks speak of the films power to confront people with their own darkest secrets . no such piece of art has ever combined laughter and tears in me before and that is the miracle of the movie . the realism of the movie and it  s performance by bret carr is not to be missed . the very nature of it  s almost interactive effect  will cause people to leave the theater either liberated or questioning their very identity . bravo on the next level of cinema .  
you have to respect this movie . it may be  just a dumb kid  s movie  but it  s the   most frequently requested film title in online movie forums  requested by people who remember the story but can  t remember the title . therefore what follows is a much  needed  detailed plot description  since i haven  t been able to find such a description anywhere else on the internet .  br    br   a typical   story house is shown in suburbia .   year  old bridget narrates about suspecting something is going on since she and her    year  old brother andrew are getting presents from their parents for no apparent reason . bridget  s present is a stuffed penguin that she immediately names sweet william . bridget describes her relatives aunt ruth  a bossy nurse taking care of grandmother  grams the hugging grandmother who makes dolls out of socks  and her brother andrew  who  s into electronics and is grumpy . grams accidentally hangs up on the lieutenant  governor  which indicates she  s getting in the way while living with the family . the two children eat breakfast while the adults discuss moving grams to a retirement home . bridget makes an awful  looking pancake sandwich containing cereal  eggs  bacon  strawberries  and syrup  as andrew looks on incredulously . the two kids then discuss grams  and andrew says bluntly that grams is being  put out to pasture .  bridget talks with grams in the attic  has a play tea party with sweet william in her bedroom  then a living doll unexpectedly pops out of her bedroom closet mirror .  br    br   bridget and the living doll become acquainted . the curly  haired living female doll is named huggins and lives in huggaland . bridget gives huggins a baseball cap from andrew  s room . huggins hides under some laundry when bridget  s mother comes by  then the mother throws the laundry into the washing machine with huggins in it . bridget rescues huggins and dries her off with a hair drier . they discuss the problem with grams getting old and having to move away  huggins says bridget could talk to the bookworm in huggaland about it  since he knows everything . they step through the mirror to visit huggaland  but one of bridget  s tennis shoes becomes lodged in the mirror .  br    br   rather than walk around with one shoe  bridget goes without shoes in huggaland . they immediately meet hugsy  a curly  haired living boy doll in huggaland . huggins gives hugsy the baseball cap . they also meet tickles  bubbles  impkins  and tweaker  and all the dolls sing a song while sitting on a bridge . hugsy takes bridget and huggins in his hugwagon to see the bookworm  who lives atop a stack of giant books . the bookworm consults  the old encyclopedia  and finds that old age can be cured by eating the fruit of the  youngberry tree .  however  only one such tree exists  and it  s in the country of shrugs  ruled by the mad queen of quartz . the only way to travel to shrugs is to jump down a deep hole that is located inside a nearby giant book .  br    br   bridget and the two dolls gulp three times  jump down the hole  and tumble out . soon they walk down a sideways sidewalk  hear the sea of glass breaking  and fall off the sidewalk when the sideways gravity ends . they encounter  the hairy behemoth   which looks like a mastodon  has four tusks  and breathes fire out its trunk . but hugsy boldly goes over and hugs the behemoth  who thereby turns into a baby elephant whose name is hodgepodge . hodgepodge had been under a spell by the queen  and owes hugsy a favor  so they all ride on hodgepodge  s back to the castle . they enter the castle  are surrounded by troll  like beings  the queen  queen admira  comes  and bridget asks for a few youngberries . the queen refuses  then eats one for herself  and brags about her own youthful good looks while looking in a hand mirror . hodgepodge faints when the queen says he should be  digested .  the queen is upset when bridget mentions that wicked witches should have warts  so the queen freezes bridget and orders the three others to be taken to the dungeon . but the queen carelessly leaves the key to the youngberry tree  s dome by the lock to the dome  lifting apparatus .  br    br   hodgepodge wakes up in the dungeon and uses his  noodle   trunk  to pull the jail  s door down  thereby freeing himself and the two dolls with him . they find bridget standing petrified  the dolls hug her  which causes bridget to be revived . before they flee  bridget finds the left  behind key to the youngberry tree dome  lifts the dome off  and they pick some glowing youngberries and put them in a jar . the queen catches them  but the queen  s arm is trapped under the descending dome while reaching for the key that bridget left on the ground . the queen suddenly turns very old since she is deprived of the youth  giving berries  and appears to die . soon bridget steps back through the mirror into her bedroom but trips on the bottom of the mirror  spilling the berries onto her floor  and the berries quickly vanish into smoke  one by one . her mother calls for her and andrew to say goodbye to grams  who is leaving for a retirement home . andrew drops his usual grumpy  standoffish facade and hugs grams  telling her he loves her and that he doesn  t want her to go away . their father is moved  and decides to keep grams there after all  and everybody hugs and cries  including aunt ruthie  who had been the main person pressuring grams to move out .  br    br   andrew asks bridget for his st . louis cardinals cap  bridget starts to explain how she gave it to huggins of huggaland  but andrew doesn  t want to listen to what he believes are her fantasy stories  so he turns around to look for it in her bedroom . one of the dolls secretly hands the cap back through the mirror to bridget  bridget puts the cap on andrew  s head  andrew is mystified  and leaves her bedroom without saying anything . bridget cheerfully waves at the mirror .  
it came by surprise . . . the impact  resoloution this film had on my automatic way of being reactive to people  situations . most vividly was the stirring of the emotion anger . much like the way a spoiled child would be when reacting to not getting their way . . . a temper tantrum if you will . thinking i was hiding this anger from others was the most ridiculous farce of all . what was this costing me  soooo much love . . . sooo many blessings . now i  m present to how incredible humbling myself feels  and having an ongoing attitude of gratitude for life . . . for what is happening in the moment  without my wild expectations for life to be a particular way  the way i think life or people  should  be . this film has contributed to the freedom i now feel to connect with others  without limits  expectations . . . and to connect with genuine love . . . without fear of loss . . . just to love first  and accept what love is given .  
 . . . in an otherwise ghastly  misbegotten  would  be oedipal comedy .  br    br   i was the lone victim at a     screening tonight   days after the movie opened   so there is some satisfaction in knowing that moviegoers heeded warnings .  br    br   the bloom is off jon heder  s rose . the emerging double chin isn  t his fault but rehashing his geeky kid shtick in another bad wig simply isn  t working . it would be another crime if this were to be eli wallach  s last screen appearance . diane keaton will probably survive having taken this paycheck  basically because so few will have seen her in this  the very worst vehicle she  s chosen in the last few weeks .  br    br   sitting alone in the theater tonight i came alive  laughed  even  whenever daniels was given the latitude in which to deliver the film  s sole three dimensional character . he really is among our very best actors .  br    br   in summary  even jeff daniels  s work can  t redeem this picture .  
this is unlike any other movie  the closest thing i can compare it to is a woody allen film . . . but where as woody allen is constantly fathoming human foibles bret carr appears to be trying to figure out a way to get to grips with that one crippling insecurity that tends to define us for better or worse . in the case of lou  it is the root cause of his stuttering  which can be traced back to a singular child hood trauma that is revealed through flash backs .  br    br   there are so many strangely neurotic people in the world and i believe they all deserve a chance for redemption  although diversity of human character is after all what makes the world such an intriguing place  so maybe we shouldn  t fix our neurosis anymore than we should fix our noses or breasts .  br    br   this is an indie film shot on a long shoestring  but the production values are tremendous as is the scope of the film . i feel like its a quirky gem for the self  help market . i really look forward to seeing what this filmmaker does next  i could imagine a career along the lines of woody allen or albert brooks  although usually when a guy like this breaks through  he goes off and makes  x men  and his humble quirky origins are soon forgotten or are they . . . . x men is aout a bunch of freaks if i remember correctly    
john heder was absolutely horrendous in this movie . i felt like i was watching a bad college kid act for the first time in a student film . anna farris was par for the course  not good  but not horrible  plus she  s cute  . dianne keaton should have known better . jeff daniels was the only saving grace in this movie  even though it was poor judgement on his part as well  .  br    br   all in all  i would avoid this at all costs . i  m just glad i didn  t pay to see it   br    br   john heder will forever be stuck in the typecast role of  the dorky kid   unless he does some serious work on his acting chops .  
this is a unique and bold film . it  s energetic  with highly developed characters . very good performances .  br    br   i love directors who are not afraid to ask the audience to think . . .  br    br   bret carr dares to look inward  ask questions  and dig underneath the surface . by the nature of the film  it practically demands that the viewer look inward as well . it can take some courage to do this . i can see how some close  minded people might find this quite disturbing . however  i found it thought  provoking  much more than just entertainment .  br    br   bret carr is truly an original filmmaker  with vision . i am curious to see what he will do next .  br    br   watch him .  
yet another  son who won  t grow up  flick  and just the other recent like entries . heder in another bad wig  channeling napoleon for  what  the third time  anna faris is forgettable  as always jeff daniels phoned this one in from another state  at least and diane keaton . . . how does one become typecast this late in a career  do not bother . nothing is said here that hasn  t been covered many times over . i will say this it  s about a hundred times better than  failure to launch  . there are very few amusing bits in the movie  unless you think eli wallach cursing is funny . ha  ha  he  s old and he dropped the f  bomb  tee  hee  hee . pitiful   
i watch movies for a living  picking out which ones are good enough to distribute . . . tossing aside those that don  t make the cut . i  m not saying that i know more than anyone else based on this  i  m just leading you to how i came to watch  the gospel of lou  . . . anyways . . . so many bad movies land on my desk and i actually sit through all of them . i don  t actually  watch  everything  usually i just look over at the tv occasionally while i  m working the scan for production value  performance  and how well the story is being presented . if something catches my eye i  ll take the time to watch it .  lou  drew me in during the first few minutes where i closed my laptop and wheeled my chair over to the tv so i could completely tune in . needless to say i was enthralled throughout the whole movie . the story is told well  the characters are either endearing or repulsive  depending of course on the actor and directors intention for the character  and all very well played . at times i caught occasional amateur mistakes in the camera work and editing  but the emotional nature of the story make these faults easy to dismiss . i  ve heard other people  s comments say that at times the film brought tears to their eyes  other time extreme elation . . . i was laughing one minute and crying the next and was incredibly touched by this movie . sadly i was unable to acquire it because i was  as the saying goes  a week late and a dollar short . that  s the way it goes sometimes . . . but at least i had the pleasure of seeing this one and i can  t wait to see what kind of response it gets . good luck and great fortune to you bret carr  if you read this   you are without a doubt a talent to watch for .  
this movie is poorly conceived  poorly acted  and poorly written .  br    br   jon heder is terribly annoying  and cannot escape the same napolean dynamite routine . self  obsessed and ignorant .  br    br   furthermore  diane keaton plays the same manish  overly obsessed mother  who cares too much and yet not nearly enough about the lives of her children  see because i said so  .  br    br   anna faris  though i generally like her  plays a vapid idiot in this film as well .  br    br   jeff daniels is passable but nothing special .  br    br   please  skip this film if you want to keep your soul .  
anyone who doesn  t like this film is one who is afraid to explore his or her own demons . this film does make the viewer a little uncomfortable at times  but that is its intention . it asks you to look at your own life and confront the obstacles head on like lou eventually does . it asks you to overcome the fear of perception and become who you are meant to be . bret carr holds up a mirror unlike any filmmaker has . the intention and the message is clear and profound . people  s apprehension about this film stems only from their own insecurities . an open  minded viewer takes this inspirational message and runs with it . sometimes a life  changing realization does come in a flash   a light bulb going on . this story is real and changes the lives if its viewers in a real way .  
the wife and i saw a preview of this movie while watching another dvd and thought  jon heder  diane keaton  jeff daniels and eli wallach  it  s gotta be better than summer reruns  so i ordered it from local library . well  any episode of  lawrence welk  would bring more laughs than  mama  s boy  . i actually felt sorry for the actors for having to read the script in the privacy of their own homes and i couldn  t imagine what it must have been like for them to have to actually say their lines in front of a camera . perhaps  at least  maybe next time they  re offered a movie of this sort  they  ll  just say no   a one anna two . . . .  
i had the pleasure of seeing this film at the rhode island international film festival and was very impressed . tess nanavati is clearly a great screenwriter and i would love to see more of her films . if she could do what she did with the budget of this film  i  m very anxious to see what she can do with a major picture . kudos to the cast for their terrific performances  that little girl was gold   and to whoever composed the music . the warped  row your boat  blew me away . very creative film all around . . . . i really hope to see it come out on video or dvd because i  d buy it in a second . if you get the chance  you should definitely see this film .  
i  ve always liked fred macmurray  andalthough her career was tragically cut shorti think carole lombard is fun to watch . pair these two major and attractive stars together  add top supporting players like jean dixon  anthony quinn  dorothy lamour and charles butterworth  give them a romantic script  team them with noted director mitchell leisen and you geta mediocre movie experience .  br    br   skid johnson  fred  and maggie  carole   meet cute  during her visit to the panama canal  and spend the next few weeks falling in love . skid  s a great trumpeter  so he embarks on a musical career  which is predictably meteoric in both its rise and fall . during his climb to musical stardom  he neglects maggie  who later inspires him to start over after he  s hit rock bottom . ah  yesit  s the true hollywood happy ending  which comes none too soon .  br    br   stars and a director of this caliber should guarantee success  but this movie is so predictable and slow  paced that it  s difficult to watch at times . the early scenes set in panama are so draggy that they seem to go on forever  and later an alcoholic skid just wanders endlessly in new york . fred and carole try their best  but the tired script and s  l  o  w direction just don  t give them a chance . even the final scene  in which maggie encourages skid to rise from the ashes of alcohol and disappointment  just doesn  t ring true .  br    br   this movie should be seen once to watch some early performances from stars macmurray and lombard . however  i guarantee that watching it will seem to take about   hours .  
this was one of the highlights of sttng  s semi  forgettable second season  before they  grew up  or grew into their own in the third season and beyond . this was not only a showcase for up  and  comers like bill campbell and teri hatcher  but was also the continuation of data  s search for his  humanity   this time through the concept of comedy . still one of my favorite episodes .  br    br   on a side  note  i  m still disappointed that there is no credit for the actress with whose character okona was about to have a tryst  after teri hatcher  s character  before being rudely interrupted by lt worf . i remember watching this episode  first  run  at my friends comic shop back in the day and we all thought she would  ve been a perfect jean grey  marvel girl .  br    br   it would be nice to know who this pretty lady actually is . . .  
 . . . except for jon heder . this guy tanked the entire movie .  br    br   the plot sounded entertaining . a   year old slacker son  heder  still lives with widowed mom  keaton  who happens to meet a new love  daniels  . slacker son is jealous and anxious to lose his comfortable life and tries to sabotage the relationship . he also meets a girl  faris  .  br    br   i really liked the performance of daniels and especially faris but whoever casted hader would be better of selling hot dogs at the beach . heders performance is annoying  which would be a good thing since he plays an annoying guy  problem is he is to bad an actor to loose this act making this guy likable in the finale . at the end you still wish you can personally punch the guy in the face and you  re upset about the end . in the future every movie with this guy will be a no go for me   
  once upon a time there was a charming land called france . . . . people lived happily then . the women were easy and the men indulged in their favorite pastime war  the only recreation of kings which the people could enjoy .  the war in question was the seven year  s war  and when it was noticed that there were more corpses of soldiers than soldiers  recruiters were sent out to replenish the ranks .  br    br   and so it was that fanfan  gerard philipe   caught tumbling a farmer  s daughter in a pile of hay  escapes marriage by enlisting in the regiment d  aquitane . . . but only by first believing his future as foretold by a gypsy  that he will win fame and fortune in his majesty  s uniform and will marry the king  s daughter . alas  adeline  gina lollobrigida  is not a gypsy but the daughter of the regiment  s recruiting sergeant .  br    br   when fanfan charges away from the recruits  saber in hand to rescue a carriage under attack  who should be inside but the marquise du pompadour and . . . the king  s daughter . he now is convinced he will marry high  despite the extremely low  cut blouses adeline wears . she  in turn  will soon discover her own love for fanfan . we  re in the middle of an irreverent movie of fanfan  s destiny  the ribald adventures of a sword  fighting scamp and rogue . there are escapes from hangings  swordfights on tile roofs  blundering battles  romantic escapes and more joyous derring do than you can imagine . what fanfan lacks in polish he makes up for in irreverence and enthusiasm . he  s a quick stepping swordsman and a fast  talking lover  but with such nave belief in his destiny and such an optimistic nature  how can we not like him   br    br   gerard philipe was an iconic stage and screen actor  who francois truffaut disparaged constantly in the pages of cahiers du cinema  . he did most of his own stunts . he was handsome  athletic  graceful and charismatic . men admired him and women dreamed about him . he was dead at    seven years after fanfan  of liver cancer . all of france mourned . gina lollobrigida as adeline holds her own . it  s not those low  cut blouses that do her acting . she  s sharp  passionate  not quite innocent and no one  s fool .  br    br   fanfan la tulipe just sings along with endless satiric action  pointed situations and good nature . not to mention amusing  acerbic dialogue . after adeline has taken steps to save fanfan from hanging  she meets the king in his private quarters .  give me your pretty little hand   he says .  but my heart belongs to fanfan   says adeline .  who asks for your heart   says the king   all i ask for is a little pleasure .   i  m a proper girl   says adeline . says the king   you owe my esteem to your merits . you love fanfan  then thank me . my whims enable you to show the greatest proof of your love  by betraying for his sake the loyalty you have sworn him .  now this is clever  funny stuff .  br    br   jean  luc godard  francois truffaut and the rest of the new wave gang tended to detest popular movies as mere entertainment  and they personalized their attacks  . fanfan la tulipe and its director  christian  jacques  were among their prime targets . they probably missed the point of fanfan  which is a very funny satire on the pointlessness of armies and war . how much better it must have seemed to make movies of angst which only fellow cineastes could appreciate . thank goodness some of them  truffaut and chabrol  for example  outgrew this childish condescension and came to recognize that a good movie is a good movie  whether the masses like it or just the cognoscenti . a smart person who enjoys movies can appreciate any  if the movies are well made . those who condescend to a movie based on its degree of popularity are as self  demeaning as those who brag they  ve never read harry potter .  br    br   jean  luc godard  eat your heart out . viva fanfan   
starts really well  nice intro and build up for the main characters but after about  minutes  the charm is lost .  br    br   the character is in the same mould as the main protagonist from american pie and loser without the supporting cast or innovative storyline that made the pie movies more of a commercial success .  br    br   let  s be honest  heder  s acting was pretty poor . keaton  daniels and faris did their best but had no substantial plot or script to get their teeth into the movie just plods on without any pace or clear logical storyline justifying its length .  br    br   the ending is about as predictable as they come  so predictable i  ve ticked the spoilers box for this one line .  br    br   my advice avoid at all costs unless you really really have nothing else to do  listen to or watch and even then you  ll feel the producers just cheated you out of an hour and a half of your life .  
the nearest i ever came to seeing this was a clip shown at a gerard philippe exposition in paris about two years ago . i had no interest in the remake and having just caught up with the original just over half a century after it was made i can only conclude that the inept fencing was intentional  aimed at a long obsolete target . hollywood had been doing realistic sword fights since the   s when the greatest of them all  basil rathbone  crossed foils with errol flynn and others so the technique was available and so that leaves only satire . after a while you don  t notice and revel in the henri jeanson dialogue reminiscent of the prisoner of zenda  both versions . gerard philippe certainly had the presence to bring off a role like this and gina lollabrigida was probably a tad better than martine carol  the other obvious candidate at the time . the print i saw was particularly bad and at one point broke down completely so maybe a dvd version would enhance it .  
oh my goodness . this was a real big mess that just couldn  t help itself . jeffrey  jon heder  is a   year old man still living with his mum  diane keaton  and not planning on going anywhere . until his mother meets a rich businessman named mert  jeff daniels  who she may be getting married to .  br    br   it would have been an ok movie if heder didn  t play his jeffrey so annoying  from the very start there is no chance of liking him and it only gets worse and worse . in the end  we are supposed to like him  but there was no reason to as he hadn  t changed from the selfish brute that he was at the beginning of the movie .  br    br   keaton doesn  t look to even be trying and is in horrible form after      s because i said so . not to mention the shocking chemistry between heder and keaton  and where supposed to believe that their mother and son  the only saving grace is jeff daniels and anna faris although they don  t look very interested either . apart from a few little smiles  this film really doesn  t deserve to be called a comedy simply because there is barely anything to laugh at  if your in the mood for a recent diane keaton flick watch mad money or smother which are a lot better than this abysmal effort .  
gerard phillipe is absolutely perfect in this movie  funny  tender  brave and lover . he gives a superior dimension to a movie which is even a masterpiece  as much by the other actors  gina lollobrigidamiaoooou    as by the story or the rhythm . never boring  always creating new emotions for me  the best french movie of all time .  
i had high hopes for this movie . the theater monologue is great and nic balthazar is a very interesting man  with a lot of experience and knowledge when it comes to movies .  br    br   i am a fan of a lot of belgian movies  but this movie is bad . it  s completely unbelievable that actors who are   are suddenly playing the roles of teenagers . the  linguistic games  were hideous and over the top . nothing about the film seemed real to me . the ending was way too deus ex machina for me .  br    br   i am very disappointed and think i wasted an hour and a half of my life .  
the men can slaver over lollo  if they like  or her lollos   she gave her name to a slang terms for breasts in french   but the ladies have an even tastier morsel in the divine gerard philipe  who is not only beautiful but can act . don  t be deterred if your version has no subtitles because in this simple  dashing story of love and war  in which all is fair  they are not needed . all you need know is that  at the beginning of the film  lollobrigida reads philipe  s palm and tells him he will marry the daughter of the king . thereafter the story is quite plain from the gallic gestures and the running  jumping  and swordplay .  br    br   on the minus side  the obviousness of the story and the heavy  handed facetiousness of the tone become somewhat wearying  and it is annoying that the french apparently consider themselves too superior to hollywood to bother even attempting the plausibility of its exciting stunts . and of course the non  french  speaker misses the occasional bit of ooh  la  la  such as virtuous girl i must tell you that my heart belongs to fanfan . seducer my dear  what made you think i was interested in that bagatelle   
it  s sad when you can see what a movie was attempting to do  and it is quite obvious that it fell far far short of the mark . film students should take this as a lesson and a warning . would be graduate has an idea . he wants total control . so he writes  directs  produces  his cinematic masterpiece all by himself . usually  his concept is far beyond his budget . usually he writes an overblown script full of every tag line he can come up with . usually  he is more interested in the grand sweep of the story rather than on the nitty gritty of working with actors on individual scenes . usually  he ends up with a movie that is feeble in it  s attempt to create miracles on a tiny budget . usually  he ends up with a series of encounters  we cannot do justice by calling them scenes  that feel like they were written by a   year old . and usually he ends up with badly acted scenes that fail to grab the viewer . when you look at judges from this perspective you can immediately tell it  s just the usual fare .  
i remember this movie from the   s when i was in college . it is one of the funniest satires of american westerns that i have ever seen . i  m only sorry that i have not been able to see it recently and that it is is not out on tape or dvd . it is a real treat .  
the plot is rocky . the acting is somewhere south of a jr . high school play . the cinematography is not bad but it looks like it was cut with a machete . i couldn  t decide of this was an intentionally hokey flick or if the people behind it actually thought they were making a good film . think death valley days meets mayberry rfd . people running around in a  lawless  modern town wearing quick  draw  gun rigs . it has more than its fair share of  cutsey  stuff . picture the good guys pulling up to an old farm house  and parking the ford mustang right in front of a hitching rail . picture the clerk in a hotel watching an obviously western  hemisphere  movie sporting a japanese sound track but with english sub  titles . it  s all really strange but might be improved if watching it while partaking in a little peyote . it  s a real curiosity with modern parallels to every western movie clich you can think of . there  s even a modern version of the good hearted dance  hall girl  and a twanging jew  s  harp in the soundtrack . really  if someone brings this to your home for a saturday night movie session  tell  em your dvd player died .  
this is the last of four swashbucklers from france i  ve scheduled for viewing during this christmas season the others  in order of viewing  were the uninspired the black tulip       from the same director as this one but not nearly as good   the surprisingly effective lady oscar       which had originated as a japanese manga   and the splendid cartouche       . actually  i had watched this one not too long ago on late  night italian tv and recall not being especially bowled over by it  so that i was genuinely surprised by how much i enjoyed it this time around  also bearing in mind the baffling lack of enthusiasm shown towards the film here and elsewhere when it was first announced as an upcoming dvd release from criterion  .  br    br   incidentally  fanfan la tulipe has quite a bit in common with the afore  mentioned cartouche not just cast and crew members  producers georges dancigers and alexandre mnouchkine  cinematographer christian matras  actor noel roquevert  but plot  wise as well  in fact  the hero is a womanizing soldier  jean  paul belmondo  s cartouche had also had a brief military spell  who  s loved by a fiery girl  in this case  gypsy gina lollobrigida  while he  s himself obsessed by an impossible love  here  it  s none other than the king  s daughter   as in the later film  too  fanfan  an ideally cast gerard philipe who  ironically  is so full of life here that one finds it hard to believe that he would be stricken down by cancer within  years  time  is flanked by two fun  loving yet cowardly men  one of them is actually his superior officer and the heroine  s own father  and opposed by an unscrupulous figure within his own ranks  the ageing roquevert  with whom the hero eventually engages in a rooftop duel since he too has amorous designs on the gypsy girl    for the record  lollobrigida will rejoin philippe in her next film  rene clair  s delightful romantic fantasy les belles de nuit       .  br    br   fanfan proved to be a big box  office hit on its home  ground and even copped a surprising  but well  deserved  best direction award at cannes over more renowned films like an american in paris        detective story        othello  umberto d . and viva zapata  in fact  its popularity ensured its re  release in a computer  colored version  presumably for the benefit of viewers who wouldn  t touch a black  and  white product with a ten  foot pole  and the criterion dvd itself contains a sample from this variant being obviously a foreign  language title  there  s also the dubious choice of an english  dubbed soundtrack but  even if these proved not especially painful to sit through considering  when all is said and done  there  s simply no substitute for the original   br    br   fanfan la tulipe  a nickname given the hero by a young genevieve page as the celebrated madame de pompadour  contains about as much comedy as  the expected  action and romance while some may find this overwhelming  i don  t agree myself as i enjoyed the sharply satirical narration and  on the whole  this combination is comparable with jerzy skolimowski  s equally droll the adventures of gerard       . that said  the swordfights here are remarkably forceful for an essentially lighthearted enterprise  particularly a scuffle in the woods and the ambush at a convent  and the film itself rather adult at times  with numerous allusions to sexuality as well as coarse language adopted throughout  when viewed back  to  back with vintage hollywood fare as i did now the climax  then is quite ingenious the enemy forces  who  amusingly  are made to speak in speeded  up gibberish   are depleted by our heroic trio alone  much to the king  s amazement who  as portrayed by marcel herrand  best  known for his role of leader of the parisian underworld in marcel carne   s children of paradise        is himself something of a lecher .  br    br   p . s . an italian tv channel has been threatening to screen christian  jaque  s promising champagne for savages       for months now but  despite programming it three times already  with a tentative fourth one slated for next week   they have yet to show it even so  i do have three more films of his in my unwatched vhs pile  equally culled from late  night italian tv screenings   the three  hour epic la chartreuse de parme       also starring gerard philippe   the second twin       and the legend of frenchie king       with brigitte bardot and claudia cardinale  .  
sadly imdb does not allow me to rate judges lower than  . what a shame . this ghastly movie is so bad that i actually turned the damned thing off well before the ending . the script had a few bright moments  but the directing  editing  acting  audio quality  and especially timing on line delivery was so abhorrent as make judges utterly unbearable .  br    br   judges was advertised as being like a modern day comic book style western  but in reality was nothing of the sort . what it is most like is dog poop on the bottom of your shoe . you can try to pretend it is okay  but it just keeps on stinking .  br    br   why video stores think it is okay to carry this kind of crap with constant gaps in the audio and worse than high school drama class acting is beyond me . we rent movies in order to see something better that what is on television . but judges is worse than the most pathetic scifi channel original . i intend to demand my money back from hollywood video .  
it was released in france on dvd several years ago   i wish it would be re  released with english subtitles . do not confuse this with a remake with penelope cruz which gets poor reviews . gerard phillippe is a peasant who is told by a fortune teller that he will marry the daughter of the king . he sets off to join the army and goes to war . his love  however  is gina lollabrigida in an early movie for her . i won  t spoil the end . gerard phillippe died a few years later at a young age  a great loss to moviedom .  
i can see where the film makers were going with this . but they never really reach their destination . it  s supposed to be a homage to spaghetti westerns albeit set in a sort of mythical modern time frame .  but unfortunately it fall short in its attempt . it doesn  t have that gritty realism that spaghetti westerns are known for . the characters are not vile and desperate enough like their italian western counterparts . and  failing these two points  it lacks the humor of a successful parody . in fact it looks like they intended to make a serious film  but upon completion realized they had missed the mark so far that it couldn  t possibly be taken seriously . unfortunately  they also missed the humor mark by a mile . a whole lotta bad movie   
this is a tongue in cheek movie from the very outset with a voice  over that pokes fun at everything french and then produces a rather naif but very brave hero in fanfan la tulipe . portrayed by the splendid gerard philippe  the dashing young man believes utterly in the fate curvaceous lollobrigida foretells  notably that he will marry king louis xv  s daughter  problem is  la lollo soon find outs she too is in love with fanfan . . .  br    br   propelled by good sword fights  cavalcades  and other spirited action sequences the film moves at a brisk pace and with many comic moments . the direction is perhaps the weakest aspect but the film is so light and takes itself so un  seriously that i could not give those shortcomings a second thought . look out for noel roquevert  a traditional heavy in french films  trying to steal la lollo  making himself a nuisance  and feeding the script to the fortune teller that reads la lollo  s hand  and what a gem marcel herrand is as the megalomanous and lust  driven king louis xv  that is not all so many beautiful women in one film makes me wish i were in france and on the set back in      the film may have come out that year but its verve  cheek  superb narration  immaculate photography and the memorable gerard philippe ensure that it remains modern and a pleasure to watch . i would not hesitate to recommend it to my grandchildren let alone to anyone who loves movies in general and swashbucklers in particular  do see it   
avoid this crap at all costs . bad script  bad directing  bad acting  bad editing  bad sound  and bad music . get the idea  this movie tries to be western flavored  it  s not . it tries to be hard core violent  it  s not . it tries to present a fresh look at an old genre  it doesn  t . the actors try there best  and my heart goes out to them . but with such inane material to work with it  s hard to make something shine . to me this has all of the looks of a  fresh outta film school gonna set the world on fire  first attempt . freshmen film makers often bite off more that they  or their budget  can chew . the best thing they can do is to take a few steps back  reassess what is possible  and work within their limited budget the next time out .  
the superb star quality of gerard philipe  who died way too young  leaps from the screen in this witty  funny  sly swashbuckling comedy with plenty of sword fencing and knockabout antics . charmingly loopy in its  storytelling  impossible to resist . a sweet romantic comedy with a very young gina lollobrigida as the love interest . a movie one will remember with great affection .  
ever wonder why pacific islanders seem to automatically assume the sense of humour of black americans  regardless of their ethnic origins  well this film will not provide any answers to this often pondered question  but it will provide an excellent case study .  br    br   from its onset this film acts as a sort of  old school  for pacific island new zealanders  which immediately raises the question what exactly is the point of such a task . is it meant to perpetuate ingrained stereotypes of pacific island new zealanders  or is it intended to exploit this potential market  the story is weak  jokes humorless  and the ending is expected . this film has done nothing for new zealand cinema  as it is merely an appropriated romantic comedy that is devoid of any merit .  
maybe i identify with this film cause i live in nyc and suffer from bad insomnia but whatever it is  i must praise the filmmaker on a most amazing job . to do what she did with no budget . . . wow  thats all i can say . really  really good . like no money was spent on this film and it still blew me away . i definitley suggest checking it out if you can . great directing  fantastic score and of course a script that will knock you on your arse . see it .  
what the . . . . . . . . . . . is this  this must  without a doubt  be the biggest waste of film  settings and camera ever . i know you can  t set your expectations for an    s slasher high  but this is too stupid to be true . i baught this film for  .    and i still feel the urge to go claim my money back . can you imagine who hard it stinks   br    br   who is the violent killer in this film and what are his motivations    well actually  you couldn  t possible care less . and why should you  the makers of this piece of garbage sure didn  t care . they didn  t try to create a tiny bit of tension . the director  stephen carpenter   i guess it  s much easier to find money with a name like that  also made the kindred       wich was rather enjoyable and recently he did soul survivors . complete crap as well  but at least that one had eliza dushku . this junk has the debut of daphne zuniga     who    yeah that  s right  the melrose place chick . her very memorable character dies about   min . after the opening credits . she  s the second person to die . the first victim dies directly in the first minute  but nobody seems to mention or miss him afterwards so who cares  the rest of the actors . . . they don  t deserve the term actors actually  are completely uninteresting . you  re hoping they die a quick and painful death . . . and not only their characters  br    br   my humble opinion       
why a stupid  boring  crappy overrated film series like  star wars  gets all the hype  and a truly amazing film like this one goes completely un  noticed . . is beyond me . . . this movie will really open your eyes to the dark  disturbing  sad  and scary world we live in . . .  br    br   unlike the boring  elephant   this movie isn  t one of those  just a typical day until someome pulls the trigger  movies . . this movie focuses more on what happens after the event . . .  br    br   deana  played by the very hot and very talented erika christensen  is a happy and healthy straight  a student with great friends and a great life . . . until . . . she is injured on the day of the shooting  by being shot in the head . . luckily she is not killed  but is severely injured and has to be in the hospital for a while  causing her to be in a lot of emotional pain  in addition to the physical . . .  br    br   meanwhile  alicia  played by the also very gorgeous and talented busy phillips  is a nasty  cold  hearted  rebellious  anti  social goth girl who doesn  t have a single positive trait on her . . . and she is unharmed when the shooting happens . . because it turns out  she was friends with the shooter and knew he was going to do what he did . . . which causes her to be brought into the police station and be asked some questions . . when she refuses to tell the cops if she knew the shooting was going to happen  they constantly come by her house to try to convince her to say something . . . and she still doesn  t  so the principal of the school makes her attend a funeral of one of the dead students  and after she walks out on that . . . the principal decides enough is enough  and forces her to go visit deana in the hospital . . of course she refuses this too  but the principal says that if alicia doesn  t do this  the cops are going to continue to try to get her to say something . . and so she actually goes to see her . . .  br    br   the lonely  traumatized  and both physically and emotionally wounded deana is more than happy to have someone visit her  but of course  alicia is anything but happy to be seeing her . . deana attempts to give her a friendly welcome  but of course  alicia responds with nothing but harsh and hurtful comments and a harsh statement on how she is only here because she is being forced  and has no intention of being friendly with her at all . but sooner or later  that intention will change . . .  and that  s all i  ll say   this is truly one of the most moving movies ever  as well as one of the most dark and disturbing . . actually  i think i would tie this with  american history x  as equally disturbing and moving at the same time . . .  br    br   warning watch this movie at your own risk   it contains very graphic scenes and images  excellent and criminally under  appreciated movie  i feel so ashamed that i  m pretty much the only one that knows about it   
ned akelly is such an important story to australians but this movie is awful . it  s an australian story yet it seems like it was set in america . also ned was an australian yet he has an irish accent . . . it is the worst film i have seen in a long time  
  fanfan la tulipe  is still gerard philippe  s most popular part and it began the swashbuckler craze which throve in the french cinema in the          years . it made gina lollobrigida a star  lollobrigida and philippe would team up again in ren clair  s  belles de nuit  the same year .  br    br    fanfan la tulipe  is completely mad  sometimes verging on absurd . henri jeanson  s witty lines  full of dark irony  were probably influenced by voltaire and  candide  . antimilitarism often comes to the fore  these draftees radiate joie de vivre  and joie de mourir when necessary  joy of life and joy of death    it becomes necessary to recruit men when the casualties outnumber the survivors   you won the battle without the thousands of deaths you had promised me  king louis xv complains  but no matter  let  s wait for the next time .   br    br   a voice over comments the story at the beginning and at the end and history is given a rough rideheight of irony  it  s a genuine historian who speaks   br    br   christian  jaque directs the movie with gusto and he knows only one tempo accelerated .  br    br   remake in     with vincent perez and penelope cruz . i have not seen it but i do not think it had to be made in the first place .  
i just sat in the theater bored as hell  i wanted to leave halfway through the movie . the plot is simple  samoan guys wreck weddings . so they have to bring a dates in order to get into the wedding . yawn .  br    br   the thing that peeved me off the most was the so  called crude jokes . . . they were highly unfunny  clichd and thrown in your face  to make you get into the already dull movie . the acting was below  average and i felt this movie just went on and on about nothing but a bunch of unfunny jokes and a predictable plot .  br    br   all in all  one of the worse movies i  ve seen of      unfunny  bad acting  just ugly .  br    br   well thank god a friend shouted me .  br    br   avoid .  
this is one fine movie  i can watch it any time . rauol julia gave an outstanding performance  we lost him too soon . richard dryfus is a great talent . only thing it needed more of was dana delany  what a babe   
the most positive thing i can say for this dull witted local  comedy  production is that it  s inoffensive . in fact it  s so astonishingly bland that one wonders how many dozens of re  writes by committee it went through to have such a complete removal of personality . it  s not witty  it  s not entertaining  it  s not insightful  and it  s not charming . it  s just a staid  laughless  progression of four losers who must change their ways  and their attitudes towards women  to be allowed to attend their best friend  s wedding .  br    br   with acting that would be sub par for the local amateur dramatics society  a plot line so tired it  d make a forty third season of  allo  allo look fresh  and jokes about as humorous as watching decaying vegetables  sione  s wedding nonetheless scored ten  yes    nominations in the nz film awards recently .  br    br   fortunately  somebody saw sense and it didn  t win any .  
this is a modest  character driven comedy  filmed in brazil on a low budget . the premise is familiar  the same as in the      s danny kaye movie on the double someone who  as a joke  does an impression of a famous person then is dragooned to impersonate the person for real .  br    br   the contrast between the two leads is highly effective . raul julia as the german  paradorian secret policeman  is tall  cool  menacing and latin . he sports a deliberately obvious blond dye job . richard dreyfus  animated  short  new york jewish  is funny and sympathetic . there are many references and inside jokes about show business .  br    br   the setting is clearly modeled on paraguay . paraguay was indeed ruled from the early fifties to the late eighties by gen . alfredo stroessner  an unelected military dictator whose father had emigrated from germany . but writer  director mazurszky reveals his ignorance of local conditions when he paints parador  paraguay as a typical latin american tyranny  with huge disparities in wealth and an active guerrilla insurgency . further in this vein  mazursky casts comic jonathan winters as an american retiree who in truth is c . i . a . station chief in parador and a figure so powerful that he can give the president of the country a profanity  laced chewing out .  br    br   in fact the u . s . has little influence in paraguay  which is largely without the social and racial tensions seen elsewhere in the region . this is due to the country  s having fought long and costly wars against much larger neighbors in the   th and   th centuries . the male population was nearly wiped out both times but the society that emerged was patriotic  racially homogeneous and strongly united .  br    br   on yet another level  there is a bow to feminism in the form of the character madonna . played by brazilian actress sonia braga  madonna is a former nightclub dancer who is the body  stockinged presidential pleasure girl at the film  s start but is seen on television as president herself at the end   now politically and cosmetically correct  no makeup  hair demurely pulled back  swept to office by a velvet revolution .  br    br   the one time that such an event actually happened in latin america  the administration of argentina  s isabel peron  not the beloved evita  who never held office  lasted two years after the death of her husband  legendary supremo juan peron .  
despite the rave reviews this flick has garnered in new zealand  any hype surrounding the production is sadly undeserved . apart from a clichs  only plot  the movie is let down by some weak acting  accents  and overall lack of tension .  br    br   whilst having the overall look of a big budget  for nz   the feel is decidedly small  town kiwi . . .  br    br   has anyone not seen the brothers    http   imdb . com  title  tt          those who have will pick the similarities straightaway . . . . i  ve heard comments that scenes like the boys playing basketball etc were shot to poke fun at the clichd  boys talking crap   but it comes across as forced . . .  br    br   i believe oscar keightley sees himself as deeply ironic  but again his delivery always seems merely vaguely self conscious .  br    br   those who have any doubts left at all that samoans  living  in  nz culture has been deeply  hopefully not permanently  affected by american speech  culture  and everything inbetween will certainly have their minds made up at the end of this movie .  br    br   robbie magasiva always looks good on screen  but is let down by the script . .  br    br   it always rubs me up the wrong way when a  comedy  has scenes that are set up in such an obvious way  you are left feeling like having a good groan at the clichd punchline  see the wanna be white boy . . .  br    br   i know someone who found this movie hilarious  however  that person has the brains of a tadpole  and would struggle to spell her name if offered a million dollars . . . .  br    br   that kinda sums up the mentality of this flick  ok but not great  fun but not funny . . . . . wake up nz  this is not a  star movie despite all the glowing  middle class white guilt       reviews . . . .  br    br   my advice  if you watch it  get drunk first     
this little  appreciated movie is one of my favorites . i can watch it over and over . dreyfus and braga are masterful  but raul julia steals the show  a tongue  in  cheek  menacingly humorous gomez addams  with just the right tone for this irreverent spoof of this oft  told story .  br    br   generally untrumpeted and unappreciated  moon over parador allows you to check out of reality and join the fun going on up on the screen . two thumbs up   
probably new zealands worst movie ever made  br    br   the jokes they are not funny . used from other movies  just plain corny the acting is bad even though there is a great cast  br    br   the story is uninteresting  boring has more cheese then pizza huts cheese lovers pizza kind of like the acting has been do      times before  br    br   i watched this when it came on tv but was so boring could only stand   minutes of it .  br    br   this movie sucks  br    br   do not watch it   br    br   watch paint dry instead  
this is one the few movies i can watch over and over . if you  ve never seen it  give it a shot . richard dreyfus and raoul julia are wonderful together and although the movie amuses me greatly  it reminds me of julia  s untimely demise . it is a good opportunity to sit back and laugh at the international intrigue that is too much with us in these time of terror and fear .  
it seems to me  as a recent film school graduate  that in these times of new zealand film reaching new heights  the general public seems to think every new zealand film made is great . sione  s wedding proves this is dead wrong .  br    br   it  s completely overrated and not funny  and far from the  hilarious  film other users of imdb have commented . the only really funny thing i found in this film was derek the wannabe black guy  but other than that the jokes were recycled crap that we  d all heard before .  br    br   being of half  samoan decent  i wanted to see how the film was going to deal with polynesian representation . it was a complete balls  up  i know it  s a supposed comedy  but i didn  t feel like the characters had anything new to say about polynesian identity  even if it was in a tongue  in  cheek manner . i was most disappointed with the ending of the film and the resolution of the character  s relationships  mikaele was the player who only messed around with white women  comes to slightly turn his ways when the  dusky maiden  comes to town  has an epiphany that maybe he should start looking for a stable relationship  then at the very last minute rejects it and accepts his position as a polynesian playboy for palagi women . i didn  t understand why they did this .  br    br   all in all  it was very disappointing . my whole family went to see it expecting to have a good laugh  but ended up being really bitter about paying to see it at the cinema . the jokes are lame at best  the acting  particularly of sefa  s girlfriend  appalling  and honestly i would  ve been happy if i had got my hands on one of those pirated copies of the film to save myself the    ticket price .  br    br   i think the only good thing to come from the movie is that it  s the second step  behind no .   of course  a far superior film to this one  in the birth of polynesian cinema . i hope pacific filmmakers in the future can learn from sione  s wedding in how to not reflect polynesia and have something more meaningful and sensible to say . even if it is done in a comedic fashion .  
i thought that mr . dreyfuss was perfect for his role as the actor and the dictator . his co  star  mr . julia  played his role equally as perfect . it was interesting to see how reluctant richard dreyfuss was in replacing the dictator against his will . but he became more confident and comfortable with the role as time passed . since everything happens for a reason in life  i believe he was forced to replace the dictator because he was meant to stay there for over the year that he did . i  m guessing that he stayed because he was supposed to see how good his life was compared to the poverty he witnessed in parador . i think he took too many things for granted in life and he needed to get a serious reality check by remaining in that country for as long as he did .  br    br   but . . . . . . . . . . . anyways . . . . . . . . . . . this is why i gave this film a  out of   .  
the clichd polynesian males drink  fight and make a stream of sexist  stupid and unfunny remarks . real life polynesians are much funnier than these stereotyped  cardboard characters . the supposedly samoan girl didn  t look or act samoan at all  seemed more like the stock white female who has sex with anyone on a whim . with weak as water story lines you can  t say anything about the acting  even the most brilliant actors could do nothing with this script . it  s sad to see polynesian actors willing to play such sad stereotypes in a film with not one good scene  and only two or three  jokes  . what a waste of kiwi taxpayers  money  what a lost opportunity to make a great film about a vibrant community . it  s better not to make movies if they  re as bad and mindless as this .  
i enjoyed this film . it was funny  cute  silly  and entertaining . had a fine cast and really got hammered by some critics for reasons that i truly don  t understand . no  it wasn  t  the grapes of wrath  or  casablanca  or even  moonstruck   but it was an enjoyable film .  br    br   julia was excellent playing the psychotic  man behind the man  . the story is a little silly to be sure  but it this isn  t high drama  folks . i happened to see a review of the film  probably the only good one it got and then ran into it one night when looking for a movie . i never heard it was supposed to stink until after i saw it  and i  m glad i saw it . eventually bought the vhs tape on the bargain pile  and i watch it a couple times a year .  
not only does this movie have a poor plot  bad direction  and terrible acting  its opens up a whole new meaning to racism .  br    br   in this film  white  chicks are the sluts   white  boys are the wana  be gangsters  and successful  yes again   white  businessmen are revolting toilet shitters .  br    br   i just wonder what would happen if i made the exact same movie with the exact same story line and script  only i made it about caucasians .  he dude  its good to finally see your  ve stopped dating those black chicks  .  br    br   nobody seems to notice it  but watch this film again and you  ll vomit at how they have portrayed the new zealand  white boys  . all of a sudden its white folks who are the main cause of gang aggression  and whores out for a quick bang . only samoans girls have a heart  there  s no such thing as a non  slutty white girl .  br    br   it disgusts me that they couldn  t make this film without giving the caucasian community in new zealand a repulsive profile . if you think i  m overgeneralizing  go watch this film  and see what you make of the  white boys  . just because samoans choose to call us  white boys  in actual life  doesn  t mean its funny . if i said hey black boy i  ll loose my teeth .  br    br   don  t see this movie . don  t waste your money . don  t be racist .  
this movie is fun to watch . if you liked  dave  with kevin klein  you will get a kick out of this . think  dave  gone south american as dreyfus plays jack noah  an actor between jobs  who is hand selected by the head of the island nation of parador  s secret police  to replace the drunken sot of a dictator  alfonse simms  after he has had a heart attack and died . noah bumbles along  aided in his role by the ex  dictator  s mistress  as they attempt to thwart the plans of raul julia . jonathan winters also makes an appearance as a hearty american migr who turns out to be cia . also starring polly holiday and fernando rey .  br    br   there are a few absurd moments such as the body of the old dictator be kept frozen for a year  and the final scene  where sonia braga  who has bee cradling the bloody  bullet riddled body of dreyfus is seen moments later all in pristine white  with nary a smudge on her . but all in all it is a great romp .  
no artful writeup here because it doesn  t deserve one . not an art film . not even one of those  hidden  gems . you know  like those movies you hear about through a friend who saw this amazing movie downtown where they show all the good independents and art films .  br    br   just pack it into the christmas boxes  and dispose of quickly .  
richard dreyfuss stars in  moon over parador   a     paul mazursky film also starring raul julia  sonia braga  jonathan winters and charo . dreyfuss plays a new york actor  jonathan nolan  in the caribbean country of parador to make a film . when the dictator dies suddenly  the secret police chief  julia  who is the one actually controlling the dictator and the country  drafts jonathan to play the dictator  having noticed the resemblance between them . soon jonathan is ensconced in the palace as alphonse simms  and simms  prostitute girlfriend madonna  braga  who realizes the switch promises to help him in any way she can .  br    br   mazursky  who appears in drag as simms  mother  gives us a look at how the cia operates in third world countries . the winters character  supposedly a salesman  is actually a cia operative . the film  however  flirts with but doesn  t really tread on very serious ground and is more of a send  up  and a funny one at that .  br    br   richard dreyfuss does a fabulous job as jonathan the actor and alphonse the dictator  creating two separate characters and nailing both . the gorgeous sonia braga is great as madonna  and raul julia hands in a wickedly funny performance as strausmann  the man behind the dictator . it  s one of those performances where you never quite know what the character is thinking  he can be pleasant or turn psycho at any moment . charo is on hand as a maid and manages to be funny and unobtrusive at the same time .  br    br   a very good film  not a big blockbuster  but very entertaining .  
this series had potential  but i suppose the budget wouldn  t allow it to see that potential . an interesting setup  not dissimilar to  lost  it falls flat after the  st episode . the whole series   episodes  could have made a compelling   minute film  but the makers chose to drag it on and on . many of the scenes were unbearably slow and long without moving the action forward . the music was very annoying and did not work overall . there were few characters we cared about as their characters did not grow during the time frame    well  one grew a bit . the ending was as terrible as the rest of series . the only kudos here is to the art dept and set dressers  they created an interesting look  too bad the writer and director lacked the foresight to do something interesting with that element  
 . . . and if you  re very  very good it will resemble moon over parador .  br    br   this film had a slightly silly story  but it was a fantasy after all  and the casting and the acting was spot  on  dreyfuss was perfect as the actor  impostor  full of all the little neuroses and vanities you imagine actors to have . you get a glimpse of what actors are like behind the scenes .  br    br   this was one of dreyfuss  s best roles  just like his character has his best role impersonating the dead dictator  and the parting scene like something out of casablanca  indeed   br    br   raul julia was superb as the paradorian chief of secret police . he gets some really funny lines  some of which are homages to other films  like  round up the usual suspects    br    br   and sonia braga was excellent as the girl friend   in addition to being a really hot number  you should get an oscar for tonight    br    br   let us not forget johnny winters as the cia agent and the several guest stars playing themselves sammy davis jr .  ike pappas  dick cavett   all perfectly done .  br    br   all in all  a memorable romp under the paradorian moon .  br    br    r .  
this pile of sh  t is tied in my book as the worst thing ever made . i can  t believe that someone actually relased this crap  let alone acually made it . horrible  horrible  horrible . not even worth mentioning the damn story or any details about it . that  s how bad it actually is . avoid it like sars   
i had no idea what this film was about or even knew that it existed until about  month ago when i stumbled upon when i was searching for other films that stared dominic monaghan . i thought this film was a strange insight into the mind of a none sleeper and what his  her mind may be going through in the hours that they spend awake when the rest of the world around them is asleep  it was an interesting film and a good part was played by dom . . . . . . . i believe that even though this film you cannot buy anywhere  well i  ve never seen it anywhere  you must see it if you ever get the chance because it will really make you think about those people around us that cannot sleep and have to suffer night after night of not been able to sleep or only get about  hour of sleep every night so overall it was an interesting film of good substance .  
if you  ve ever seen an eighties slasher  there isn  t much reason to see this one . originality often isn  t one of slasher cinema  s strongpoints  and it  s something that this film is seriously lacking in . there really isn  t much that can said about pranks  so i  ll make this quick . the film was one of the   films included on the dpp video nasty list  and that was my only reason for seeing it . the plot follows a bunch of kids that stay behind in a dorm at christmas time . as they  re in a slasher  someone decides to start picking them off and this leads to one of the dullest mysteries ever seen in a slasher movie . the fact that this movie was on the video nasty list is bizarre because  despite a few gory scenes  this film is hardly going to corrupt or deprave anyone  and gorier slashers than this  friday the   th  for example  didn  t end up banned . but then again  there  s banned films that are much less gory than this one  the witch who came from the sea  for example  . anyway  the conclusion of the movie is the best thing about it  as although the audience really couldn  t care less who the assailant is by this point it is rather well done . on the whole  this is a dreary and dismal slasher that even slasher fans will do well to miss .  
paul was totally ripped off by someone at paramount who made dave . it  s the same story  not as funny though .  br    br   paul related to me this morning about the scene were sammy davis sings the new national anthem of parador . he arrived in brazil after a long flight from vegas  three planes  car ride to the set  etc . he was beat . he could hardly stand  had to use a cane . he was staying in a trailer about the size of my bathroom .  br    br   he didn  t know he could do it . then he saw the crowd of     extras  paid  bucks . he came to life and they shot that scene for two hours . he was magnificent  then nearly collapsed .  br    br   paul is a great guy  though very liberal . a real talent .  
i  ve never actually seen this film but can tell you one thing about its production . while a comedy  oldies radio dj in      i got a call from the production company . they asked if i  d write and record a bit they  d drop into the soundtrack as sounds eminating from a tv  the television screen itself would never be shown  . i said sure  wrote a parody of    s sci  fi monster clichs  rounded up some sound effects and called in another dj  pam landry  to play the female part . as she happened to be on the air at the time  she put on a long song  joined me at the mike in the production room and we cut the voicetrack in a single take . giggling  she then went back to her show while i mixed in the goofy sound effects . we  d have never done it if we  d known that  woodchipper massacre  was going to be such a turkey   but  then again  we never got paid for our efforts  either    gary theroux  
while  the kiss of the spider woman  cast raul julia as a political prisoner in an unidentified latin american country  this time he works for a dictator in a fictional latin american country . specifically  the dictator suddenly drops dead  so julia replaces el presidente with a broadway actor  richard dreyfuss  shooting a movie in the country . from there  dreyfuss has to figure out how to be a dictator  all the while balancing it with his own life .  br    br   is it appropriate to turn the tense situation in latin america into comedy  well   moon over parador  does a good job with it . no matter what they do in this movie  they pull it off . it just goes to show why richard dreyfuss is one of the greatest actors of our era  and what we lost when raul julia died . definitely worth seeing . also starring sonia braga  who co  starred with raul julia in  tkotsw    jonathan winters and sammy davis jr .  br    br   i agree the first lady is hot .  
what a huge pile of dung . shot  on  video  really crappy camcorder  not digital  pile of garbage . it is without a doubt  the stupidest thing ever made . the fact that this crap was actually released is completely asanine . everyone who sees it will become stupider for having watched it . seriously . i felt like it killed several brain cells after i watched this garbage . the positive reviews of this acrap were obviously made by the  filmmaker   and i use the term very loosely  himself and  or his family and friends because no normal person with the intelligence of a squirrel would honestly like this waste of life . trust me  stay the hell away from this video . you  ll thank me for it . avoid it like herpes .  
superb comic farce from paul mazursky  richard dreyfuss  plays jack noah a fairly successful actor  who is on location shooting a film in a fictitious latin american banana republic parador  ruled by the fascist  alfonse sims who unfortunately has succumbed of a heart attack after indulging in too many local cocktails  raul julia plays the oily chief of police who forces the reluctant noah to impersonate the just deceased dictator who noah bears a remarkable resemblance  sonia braga plays the dictator  s glamorously lusty mistress  who gives noah a few lessons in how to  act  like a dictator  jonathan winter  s literally rounds off the cast as a cia man in parador posing as a hammock salesman . can noah win over the people of parador  and hold off the rebels  and give the performance of a lifetime without losing his in the process  sammy davis jnr  has a cameo as himself who amusingly croons the national anthem of parador as well as begin the beguine  frog number one  fernando rey pops up as a kindly servant  charo is also on hand as a busty maid  the score by maurice jarre  is excellent .  
the only reason i even gave it a  out of   is because the option to give it zero out of   was not allowed . this was the biggest waste of time i  ve ever endured . for roughly   minutes  you are subjected to the worst acting  and i don  t mean that in a good way either  like as in killer nerd which had great horrible acting  and a plot that is not only ridiculous but also has absolutely nothing to do with a massacre . the reason i even rented this piece of crap was because it has massacre in the title . that said  there was only one killing in the entire movie and it was pretty lame at that . you spend more time watching the kids bickering and doing yard work than anything . speaking of the kids  the little boy actor is probably the most irritating child actor since bob from house by the cemetery . did i mention it was shot on video as well  if you want to throw away money and over an hour of your life  then by all means watch it . but if you savor your hard earned dollars and time  then stray as far away as possible .  
as a community theater actor who works hard at it but doesn  t take acting too seriously  i  m always amused by those who treat it as great art . this movie skewers the  actor  s craft  mercilessly while dishing up a lot of good laughs .  br    br   a ham actor on location for a movie bears a resemblance to the dictator . when the dictator dies of a heart attack from too much drink and food  the actor is kidnapped and forced to play  the part of a lifetime  by the neo  nazi head of the secret service . he plays it to the hilt  gets the dictator  s girlfriend to fall in love with him and vice versa  and turns the tables on his captors beautifully .  br    br   lots of great shtick by the leads  lots of good work by some unknown supporting actors  particularly the household staff and two members of the palace guard  and fun little cameos abound . sammy davis jr . makes light of himself  jonathan winters plays a semi  retired american businessman with something else going on  and raul julia  sonia braga  and above all richard dreyfuss are exceptional .  br    br   this is a dumb movie  but it has lots of beautiful locations  in brazil   a humorous script  and good actors doing their thing and looking like they  re actually having fun and not going through the usual existential angst about what is only play  acting   
believe it or not   the woodchipper massacre  gave me full  blown gonorrhea  that  s right  i  ve got a rainbow of discharge spewing from me just because a group of kids went playing around with a camcorder and somehow made a deal with the devil and got distribution . it  s beyond my comprehension how anyone with moderate intelligence could tolerate this pant  load of a film . the only reason i managed to sit through the whole thing  not without several suicide attempts along the way  was because  well first off  i was delirious with boredom  and second  i guess i wanted to further explore this newly discovered type of hate i was experiencing . . . this movie is a  shot  on  video   horror  comedy  about three siblings who are left for the weekend in the care of their bitchy elderly aunt . the youngest kid ends up stabbing the old lady accidentally with his rambo  replica hunting knife . they then get to dismembering auntie with various tools  apparently she didn  t have a single drop of blood in her body   and heave her into their dad  s rented wood chipper . . . her convict son then stops by looking for his mom and the kids end up grinding that jackass too . . . i don  t recall ever seeing a cast of annoying actors that actually caused me nausea . seriously  that one blond chick  s voice had me wincing in pain constantly . all of the actors were downright atrocious  literally just screaming their phony sounding dialog and cracking jokes that must  ve been written by a chimp that just didn  t care  now  i can usually appreciate independent efforts  but only from those who can realize that people other than their relatives might be watching this  i don  t need to see a  minute shot of a car pulling out of a drive  way and a torturous  painfully long lawn grooming montage with some ridiculous  fluttery music playing over it . plus  why the hell does the box of this movie have a bloody piano on it   there was a piano in one scene and no one is killed near it  i  m through with reminiscing about this movie . unless you like insufferable crap  i would advise anyone with half a brain to avoid this trash .  
this movie contains one of richard dreyfuss  s greatest performances  as an actor who plays a dictator and does it so convincingly that his own mother does not detect the impostor . also  this movie is funny  yet has a serious side as well . what is especially intriguing about this movie is the character madonna  who is the dictator  s mistress  but eventually becomes the leader of the country . madonna  s evolution from mistress to political leader added greatly to the quality of the story and to the movie  s entertainment value . and the main character  who at the start of the movie is a struggling actor and somewhat of a buffoon  evolves too and by the end of the movie commands respect . i liked this movie .  
i saw this film awhile back  while working on a trailer for the film  s production company  and it was terrible . hewitt is mediocre at best  hopkins phones his performance in  but still blows away hewitt in their scenes together  and alec looks bored . trust me on this you should avoid this film like the plague if it ever gets released . it seems to go on forever as the tired plot unfolds at a snail  s pace . it is relentlessly unfunny  the cinematography is crappy and the direction is pedestrian . alec baldwin should go to film school if he plans to direct again . in terms of his acting  his character is totally unlikable  which makes it impossible to root for him . dan ackroyd is pretty funny and the surprising makeup of the jury near the film  s end is cute  but this film is just plain awful .  
textbook example of an underestimated movie .  br    br   although one can watch this movie over and over again and laugh every single time and still see something new in it  it  s still regarded as just another funny picture . and although the movie has inspired many and added it  s quotes and images to the pyche of all it  s viewers  moon over parador still hasn  t received the acclaim it should . even the brilliant cast with academy award winner richard dreyfuss and raul julia  to mention one  is not able to change this perception .  br    br   but after watching raul julia as roberto strausmann make richard dreyfus an offer he can  t refuse in a meatlocker by reading him a good review of a part that he once played one can only come to one conclusion this stuff is timeless  in fifty years we will have the proof .  
this is one of those films that i remember being in the can for years before anything happening w  it . i don  t think it  s terrible  but it  s not really good either . alec baldwin was pretty good  but the plot is it kind of flimsy at best . the cast is pretty good in what they  re given  but again you are only as good as the script . baldwin directing this although i could have sworn he didn  t direct all of it  i thought i read somewhere or lots of re  shoots wasn  t bad but he definitely has some potential in there . although his work on    rock  is nothing short of genius  should keep him busy for a little while longer . i just hope the show bows out gracefully a la seinfeld  but maybe not even that long .  years it went . so if you want to see a film that you won  t get much from  but won  t really hate either well this is for you . i can  t remember the last time a film had been wrapped so long before finally being released  only on dvd at that . it was nice to see alec baldwin  anthony hopkins again together since their excellent yet not much people have seen  the edge .  now pick up that excellent film for some real entertainment .  
winchester    was the film that moved mann from the b  movies to the big league  rescuing james stewart  s floundering post  war career in the process by casting him as a conflicted hero  although since he inherited the project from fritz lang  maybe lang deserves the credit for that  . both men would go to much darker places  mann with the remarkably bleak devil  s doorway  which remained shelved by mgm until the success of broken arrow convinced them to release it  but a movie about a man hunting down his own brother as the rifle of the title is handed from person to person along the trail before it ends up in one of the director  s beloved mountainside shootouts is still stronger meat than you  d expect from the studio system . great dialogue  an impressive supporting cast  dan duryea  will geer  millard mitchell  stephen mcnally  shelley winters  charles drake  tim mcintire  jay c . flippen  tony curtis  rock hudson among them  and mann  s outstanding visual sense raise the bar with this one .  
i had high hopes for it when i heard that it was being made back in     because i read  the devil and daniel webster  when i was a kid and i found it very interesting . they made some changes to the story that don  t make much sense to me . daniel webster in the story was a famous lawyer from new hampshire in the story . in the movie he is an editor . a lawyer makes more sense since he ends up representing jabez stone against the devil him  herself  he was a man in the story  but was a woman in the movie  in a trial where both of their souls are on the line . as an editor  it doesn  t seem likely that daniel webster would have the skill to do this .  br    br   the acting was decent by all except for alec baldwin and dan aykroyd . these are two actors that i like  they just did an awful job in this movie . it was as though they thought they were acting in a comedy  but the movie was more a serious one than a comedy . this might be partly due to the fact that the movie was filmed with a particular vision in mind  and was then re  edited by somebody else . given this fact  it  s surprising that it was at all coherent . i was surprised to see a fair amount of snl cast members in the movie  which further leads me to believe it may have originally been filmed with the intention of it being more of a comedy .  br    br   all in all i would have to say it wasn  t completely awful  but it wasn  t much good . if i could get the hour and a half back and do something else with it  i would . the ending was especially disappointing . as in the original story  daniel webster defeats the devil in the trial . jabez then starts out again at the beginning of the movie . . . literally  we are just brought back to the first scene with jabez  and then the movie abruptly ends . it actually looked as though they just replayed jabez  first scene over and called it the end . there is no indication that jabez has the benefit of any of the knowledge or experience he gained  so who is to say he didn  t just repeat his mistakes over again  and perhaps over and over in an endless loop  it was an extremely disappointing end and did not make a lot of sense . the decent cast  and the acting of everyone except for baldwin and aykroyd are the only things that keep this from being a complete and total crap sandwich .  
this is a story of the winchester rifle model      the gun that won the west  to cowman  outlaw  peace officer or soldier  the winchester   was a treasured possession . an indian would sell his soul to own one . . .  br    br   winchester   is the first collaboration between director anthony mann and actor james stewart  a duo that would go on to create a run of superior westerns that added a new  psychological depth to the genre . the story sees stewart as lin mcadam pursuing the man who killed his father . riding into dodge city with his trusty friend  johnny williams millard mitchell  lin runs into dutch henry brown stephen mcnally  the man he wants . but with wyatt earp will geer having taken all the guns from those entering the town  both men are unable to have the shoot  out that they are ready for . the men instead square up in a competition to win a winchester   rifle  a competition that lin eventually wins . but before he can leave town with the magnificent prize  dutch ambushes him  steals the rifle and skips town fast . as lin sets off in hate filled pursuit of both man and rifle  the rifle will changed hands a number of times  with each time adding another dimension as the day of reckoning for all approaches .  br    br   very much a benchmark for what became known as the so  called  psychological western   winchester   is basically a story of a decent man driven to borderline insanity by an event in his past . tho shot in black and white the only one of the duos westerns that was the landscapes are still breathtaking feasts for the eyes . the tone is set with the opening scene as lin and johnny on horseback  and in silhouette  amble over a hillside as they make their way to dodge city . it  s just the starting point that would see mann use his vistas as a way of running concurrent with his characters emotional states .  br    br   stewart gives one of his finest and most intense performances as mcadam  proving once and for all that he was one of americas finest and most versatile actors . the support cast isn  t too bad either . shelley winters is excellent as the sole female in amongst the machismo  while mitchell  mcnally  geer and the always great dan duryea add further class to proceedings . there  s even bit parts for tony curtis and rock hudson in here  tho the latter playing an indian brave is a stretch too far .  br    br   originally the film was a project for fritz lang  who even had the script ready to run . but lang walked away from it  something that proved to be a blessing for western fans . for as great as a director that lang was  with mann directing and with a new script from borden chase  robert richards in hands it set the wheels in motion to alter the course of the genre . not only with the further efforts that mann  stewart produced  but also in who they influenced . the likes of budd boetticher  nicholas ray and sam fuller were all taking notes  and gleefully for the western purists  they followed suit and carried the psychological torch still further .  br    br   a big hit at the box office back on release  winchester   is a magnificent film that still packs a punch in the modern age .  .      
once again the same familiar story about a man  writer here  who sell his soul to the devil in order to have his most desired ambition in life success . unfunny script  we should  go home and write better    ridiculous lines in order to understand the  strong   christmanish  message  our only aspiration in life is to find love  respect and a good friendship  and a very long trial scene at the end where the agent hopkins beat the devil  jennifer love hewitt is no sexy or evil at all  for all the bad things she made to this unlikable character . not bad efforts from the actors  baldwin also as a director  cattrall in a  sex and the city  role again  aykroyd with some funny lines in his limited role  . p . s . try also a not so popular film from greece called  alloimono stous neous   a brilliant adaptation of this myth  an old man give his soul to the devil to get back his youth   
a very enjoyable film that features characters who do bad things and who let emotions like anger and a desire for vengeance bubble over . the cast is very good  there  s plenty of action  and stewart gets the girl and his revenge  with a twist  in the end . i  ve seen this film several times  and always watch when it  s on amc or cable . highly recommended . . .  
i went for this movie believing it had good ratings . firstly  it is ridiculous that they  re releasing a movie originally made in      seven years later in     here in india . everything in the movie looks dated . even for     the movie looks like its been made on a shoe string budget . there is a scene where a taxi hits a man to elaborate how low budget you can get . anthony hopkins doesn  t seem to know what he is doing in the film . he ends up giving a long monologue towards the end . if the film had bright sparks during that scene  i missed it as i was sleeping on my seat . nothing about jennifer love hewitt resembles a devil . she wears ill  fitting trite clothes and scowls at random kids . as for alec baldwin a scene where he goes to meet webster for the first time is not to be missed . what a waste of money  as anthony hopkins rightly put it   go back home and write better    
  winchester     marked the first of a series of westerns involving james stewart and director anthony mann . as in most of them stewart  s hero has an violent edge that threatens to explode at any time .  br    br   the title refers to a  one in a thousand  rifle that is up for competition at a rifle shoot held in dodge city on july       . into town comes lin mcadam  stewart  and his sidekick high spade  millard mitchell  who are on the trail of dutch henry brown  stephen mcnally  for a past dastardly deed . they arrive just in time to see marshal wyatt earp  will geer  running saloon girl lola  shelley winters  out of town . it turns out that dutch henry is also in town for the rifle shoot . lin and dutch henry shoot it out for the coveted prize with lin winning but dutch henry robs lin of the gun and escapes .  br    br   lin and high spade trail dutch henry across country where they encounter lola with her cowardly beau steve miller  charles drake  hold up in a u . s . cavalry camp awaiting attack by the indians led by young bull  rock hudson  who has acquired the prized rifle by murdering wily gun runner john mcintyre . he had got the weapon by cheating dutch henry at poker . young bull is killed during the attack and the gun passes to steve .  br    br   meanwhile  back at the ranch  lola and steve meet up with notorious gunman waco johnny dean  dan duryea  who kills steve and takes the valued rifle and lola for himself . when dean meets up with dutch henry  he allows him to take back  his gun  planning to murder him later . in the town of tuscosa  lin kills dean as dutch henry  s plans of holding up the bank go bad and he escapes into the hills with lin in pursuit . in one of the best final shoot outs ever  the two meet in the final showdown .  br    br   i believe that this movie was the only one of the stewart  mann collaborations that was shot in bw . it is beautifully photographed  especially the scenes in the  wide open spaces  and in particular  the final showdown . stewart playing against type  plays the hero with a violent revenge motive edge  an emotion that he would carry into future films with mann .  br    br   as in most universal westerns  this one boasts a cast of seasoned veterans and contract players of the day . in addition to those mentioned above  j . c . flippen appears as the cavalry sergeant  steve brodie  james millican  john doucette and chuck roberson as various henchmen  ray teal as the sheriff pursuing duryea  tony curtis and james best as rookie soldiers and edmund cobb  chief yowlachie and john war eagle in various roles in the dodge city sequence .  br    br   a classic western in every sense of the word . it was responsible for re  generating stewart  s career as an action star .  
my roommates  i nearly shorted out our tv from the numerous spit  takes we did while watching this hilarious piece of     s self important pseudo  zen dreck . i  d read about this campfest for ages and scanned my local late night tv listings for years in search of this elusive turd . several years ago our local abc affiliate was known for showing cool flicks for its late night weekend flick  ie  frogs    night of the lepus   etc  . then one day it happened at     am on a saturday night  over  years ago  there it was  we had over   folks over and the flick did not disappoint   br    br   see  andy griffith as the silliest  most unthreatening bad guy since jaye davidson in  stargate    br    br   see  william shatner sport a variety of things atop his head that only faintly resemble human hair  or anything organic for that matter  .  br    br   hear  jaw droppingly inane     s psychobabble that makes  chicken soup for the soul  sound like bf skinner  br    br   feel  content that any decade was better than the   s .  br    br   for those still reading . . . the plot surrounds a bunch of middle class mid level a   holes who decide to suck up to their s    head boss  griffith  by joining him on a cross dessert race that spans california  mexico . they all wear leather jackets  looking more christopher street than anything else . along the way they stop at a cantina  get drunk  smoke joints  the sight robert  mike brady  reed smoke a joint is an image you won  t soon forget   start a fight  attempt rape  and just act like a bunch of suburban middle class jack offs . although i have an excellent copy that i taped off tv i wish this one would be released on video so the whole world could enjoy its half baked goofiness .  
i  ll come clean . the only reason i even found out about this dvd was because dominic monaghan is a favorite actor of mine . when i heard the title of the film  i thought it was going to be . . . different  perhaps in not such a good way .  br    br   but i was wrong . after reading what few reviews were out there about this short  i was actually excited about seeing it . i sent off for my copy as soon as able and received it a few weeks later . needless to say  i was not disappointed .  br    br   the film follows jack  a insomniac who is often plagued by conditions which causes him to doubt what is reality  and what is all in his head . i won  t give away what happens  but i will tell you that the film can sometimes be frightening in it  s realism .  br    br   the directing is fantastic  focusing on what is essential to the story without allowing it to lose any entertainment or thought  provoking moments .  br    br   all in all  i give this great film  out of    for going far beyond what i thought any short could achieve .  
this one probably does not fit in the bottom of the barrel of mediocre slasher movies but it  s surely a damn bad movie .  br    br   the holiday premise made it kind of interesting but after the first scenes the movie demonstrates it  s poor production values and stupid plot . i mean  the sub  genre was at the moment all about an unseen maniac slashing teens for no apparent reasons but this one took it too far . there is absolutely no coherence in the events or nothing else to add .  br    br   the clichs are more than boring  the gore is minimal  and so does the mystery .  br    br   this is a fairly mediocre slasher entry that shouldn  t be hyped even if it has a video nastie label .  br    br   i am truly disappointed by this overrated piece of trash .  
a fine western  following the fate of those who possess the prize winning gun  a winchester    . it has a great cast who give superb cliche characterisations with help from the usual effective story telling direction from mann .  
body slam       is a flat out terrible movie . the low budget reeks  the direction is pedestrian  at best  and the writing and acting is lame . but if you  re into old school wrestling  circa      s through the mid      then you  ll be more entertained than the average viewer . i have to warn you  this movie stinks on ice . i gave it a two because i felt like being generous . this turkey was  directed  by stunt master hal needham . the stars are roddy piper  the tonga kid and a bunch of scrub wrestlers and c  list actors  dirk benedict  .  br    br   the synopsis of this  movie  is about a promoter who wants to combine  hair rock  and wrestling . but their are others that don  t want him to succeed . there  s more but i don  t want to spoil it for you . if you can stomach the bad acting and inane storyline  there  s a few surprises near the end for die  hard wrestling fans .  br    br   i wouldn  t recommend this to my worse enemy  and i mean it  .  
keep in mind i  m a fan of the genre but have only recently seen this film for the first time . how i  ve overlooked it all this time is a wonder to me . to me this is a better film then the much lauded  high noon  . it  s a great western with excellent acting and a great story . the dvd is in beautifull black and white with outstanding cinematography . if you like westerns or james stewart this film is not to be missed .  
i went to a prescreening of this film and was shocked how cheesy it was . it was a combination of every horror  thriller clich  trying to comment on many things including pedophilia  satan worship  undercover cops  affairs  religion . . . and it was a mess . the acting was pretty washboard the kid and the jesus dude were alright  but apart from them . . . . anyways . i admire the effort  though slightly failed  on the attempt at showing the christian people in a different way . . . even though they did that  the way it presented the gospel was a bit stock and kiddish . but then again  it may have to be since he was talking to a little kid . . . no . actually  i  ve decided it  s just all around bad . music . . . oh my gosh . . . horrible . . . toooo over  dramatic . okay . i felt bad for the people who made this movie at the premier it seemed like a poor student project . i  m going to stop ranting about this now and say bottom line  go see this movie if you want to waste an hour and fifty minutes of your life on crap . there you go .  
the picture is developed in     and talks as lin mcadam  james stewart  and high spade  millard michell  arrive to dodge city looking for an enemy called dutch henry  stephen mcnally  . the sheriff wyatt hearp  will ger  obligates to leave their guns . both participate in an shot contest and stewart earns a winchester    the rifle greatest of the west but is robbed and starting the possession hand to hand  john mcintire  charles drake  dan duryea  . meanwhile the starring is going on the vengeance .  br    br   first western interpreted by james stewart directed by anthony mann that achieved revive the genre during   decade . the film has an extraordinary casting including brief apparition of rock hudson and tony curtis  both newcomers . the picture is well narrated and directed by the magnificent director anthony mann who has made abundant classics westernbend the river  far country  man of laramie  naked spur  tin star . of course  all the essential elements western are in this film  thus  red indians attack  raid by outlaws  final showdown . the breathtaking cinematography by greta garbo  s favourite photographer willian daniels . james stewart inaugurated a new type of wage  the percentage on the box office that will imitate posteriorly others great hollywood stars . although the argument is an adaptation of big gun novel of stuart l . lake and screenwriter is borden chase  is also based about real events because  july     in dodge city had a shot competition and the winner was rewarded with a winchester   model     with ability shoot   cartridges caliber      in few seconds .  
the one sheets and newspaper campaign suggested  as often they did  a far more lurid and violent piece than showed up on the drive  in screens . claude brook is actually an americanization of claudio brook  who worked in films for years . this one  s quite hard to find anymore i  d love to see it again to compare it to other international horrors of the day  but don  t remember particularly impressed way back when . chances are it was a chopped up version that made it to u . s . theatres and video . but oh  that one sheet . . . still a gem of my later horror collection .  
contains spoiler with the possible exception of john wayne  no other actor sat taller in the saddle in westerns than james stewart  and this movie proves it . this superb tale of revenge centered around a winchester rifle  has only one weak spot i can think of the casting of will geer as a very unearp  like wyatt earp . the casting of the villains was goodstephen mcnally  as surly dutch henry  dan duryea as waco johnny dean  and john mcintire  versatile at playing both good guys and bad guys  as a slick gun runner . the showdown between stewart and mcnally on the cliffs is great  i  d stack this western against the whole crop of westerns made today . they wouldn  t stand a chance   
absolutely dreadful mexican film supposedly based on a short story by edgar allan poe about a newsman wanting to go into the confines of an asylum hidden in the woods to write a story about how it works  etc . . . when our hero  gaston  is given the grand show by dr . maillard  head of the asylum  we see all kinds of things which are suppose to be horrific  such as men hanging around long in a dungeon  and comedic  such as our hero being joked upon by soldiers as he climbs down a ladder hanging over the side of a building . then there is one sight which might have been meant to be both a human man dressed as a chicken  yes  that  s right a chicken  that pecks around the ground for chicken feed . the scene was to be a comedic highlight of the film  but  at least for me  it was the film  s low point and really most revolting when you considered that grown men and women thought this might even be remotely entertaining . ah  that is indeed the real horror that is dr . tarr and his legion of name changes . and that brings me to this salient fact about the film which is most films that undergo multiple title changes usually have some kind of serious problem . yes  this is obvious  but some have distribution problems and others  of which this is one  have numerous title changes so that someone might unsuspectingly buy the same garbage more than once . this is definitely garbage . it has very little going for it . the only performer worth having a look at is claudio brook as the head of the asylum . he is one huge slab of ham as he laughs maniacally  bellows orders  sashays with sword in hand  and praises the chicken . i got so tired of hearing him talk about the  soothing system  as his means to cure the mentally sick . what a bunch of ludicrosity  hey  a film like this with a script like this deserves this kind of word  . it won  t take you long to figure out what is going on in the asylum nor will it be any more interesting . cinematic chicken scratch   
this complicated western was a milestone in the career of james stewart after his return from war service  wanting to change his image by doing a western  which is largely regarded as the reason for the influx of westerns in the    s since it  s very impressive . too bad it wasn  t photographed in technicolor .  br    br   stewart wins first prize for  the gun that won the west   but then has to spend the rest of the film trying to recover it when it  s stolen . shelley winters is a shady gal with an unsavory reputation and stephen mcnally is the local bad boy gunman in dodge city . will geer is wyatt earp and dan duryea is shelley  s bad boyfriend . and wouldn  t you know that  it being a universal  international film  tony curtis and rock hudson  both quite unknown at the time  have bit roles .  br    br   an interesting sequence features the first indian attack  whereby charles drake reveals himself to be a coward who rides off  leaving shelley alone in the horse  drawn wagon . he later redeems himself  but it  s just one of the twists and turns that has the gun passing from one unsavory hand to another   but finally ending up with the rightful owner .  br    br   stephen mcnally and james stewart have quite a final shootout that is almost as melodramatic  but not quite  as duel in the sun  s blazing guns finale . mcnally makes the perfect villain and dan duryea is equally treacherous in the kind of villainous role he played throughout the    s as a low  life gunslinger .  br    br   tightly constructed story is extremely well directed by anthony mann  and it  s fun to see rock hudson  credited as young bull  wearing indian war paint and tony curtis as a young soldier who casts longing glances at the then slim and attractive shelley winters .  br    br   well worth viewing and definitely an above average story .  
if this movie were any worse  it would have been directed by uwe boll . this nonsensical mess makes ed wood look like hitchcock . it has been a while since i have seen this steaming pile  but i do remember that i wanted to do grievous bodily harm to all those involved . how anyone can give this movie any more than  star amazes me to the graciousness of all those that viewed this tripe . i give it one star because there is not a rating lower . all copies of this movie should be burned the ground sowed with salt and reserved as a landfill for the most toxic of waste . no  one copy should be kept under ultra hi security and shown only to film makers as an example of how not to do it .  
lin mcadam  james stewart  wins a rifle  a winchester in a shooting contest . dutch henry brown  stephen mcnally  is a bad loser and steals the gun . lin takes his horse and goes after dutch and his men and the rifle with his buddy high spade  millard mitchell  . the rifle gets in different hands on the way . will it get back to the right owner  anthony mann and james stewart worked together for the first time and came up with this masterpiece  winchester          . stewart is the right man to play the lead . he was always the right man to do anything . the terrific shelley winters plays the part of lola manners and she  s great as always . dan duryea is terrific at the part of waco johnnie dean . charles drake is brilliant as lola  s cowardly boyfriend steve miller . also wyatt earp and bat masterson are seen in the movie  and they  re played by will geer and steve darrell . the young rock hudson plays young bull and the young anthony  tony  curtis plays doan . there are many classic moments in this movie . in one point the group is surrounded by indians  since this is a western . it  s great to watch this survival game where the fastest drawer and the sharpest shooter is the winner . all the true western fans will love this movie .  
i feel much less generous with this film than others of its ilk . the portrayal of madmen in this century is always done with them being so totally bizarre as to be a different species . their antics are so outrageous as to be totally fictionalized . everyone is napoleon or some other historical figure or they have a fascination with chickens . they are on the make or beating each other up . it  s as if the scriptwriter said  what can i make up for them to do  without an sense of what insanity or even mental illness is . watch the wonderful human portrayal in  one flew over the cuckoo  s nest  where the illnesses are believable and real . i once worked in a state mental hospital . i didn  t see any of these guys . these are too smart and calculating to make them come to life .  
the narrative affirms the classic image of good versus evil in the form of a struggle of brother against brother . the main character  lin macadam  played by james stewart  represents justice and righteousness . his brother  who operates under the persona of dutch henry brown  played by stephen mcnally  stands for the classic stage  coach robbing western outlaw  chased by his brother for having killed their father . the world the story takes place is the classic dystopian west where the only way to prevent its inhabitants from killing each other is to take away their sidearms as soon as they enter town  and the man responsible for keeping this law and order is the classic western lawman wyat earp .  br    br   present as well are such flat characters typical of the western  such as the murderous indian warrior  the besieged cavalryman  and the bonnet  clad damsel in distress .  br    br   another important archetype in this film  that which gives the film it  s name  is a custom made winchester rifle . the weapon can be viewed as an allegory for the rewards given to those who do things honorably . once it is stolen from its rightful owner  it brings tragedy to everyone that comes in contact with it . in this sense it resembles other such icons like the holy grail in raiders of the lost ark  and the blood stained letter in saving private ryan . this gives the film an element of surrealism which is usually absent from westerns  a genre not known for esoteric themes and symbols .  br    br   being essentially a revenge film  it shares this element with many other examples of the genre  such as jack arnold  s no name on the bullet  and clint eastwood  s unforgiven .  br    br   there is also a tacit theme of rape in winchester    . waco johnny dean  one of the film  s villains played very effectively by dan duryea  abducts a woman after killing her husband . the volatile cowboy toys with the tenderfoot husband  and dispatches him like a caricature of a cat toying with an insect before biting its head off . waco johnny dean eventually gets what is coming to him after coming in contact with the ominous winchester rifle .  br    br   the main story of winchester    is reminiscent of the mythological tale of jason and his quest for the golden fleece  as told in apollonius  argonautica . both stories deal with the acquisition of a sacred object that possesses some sort of intangible quality . like jason  stewart  s character hops from one adventure to the next in search of a one  of  a  kind prize . another theme in winchester    that is similar to a mythic tale is the struggle between brothers . several stories of antiquity deal with this issue  such as the hebrew bible  s tale of cain and abel  and the vulgate tale of romulus and remus .  br    br   as for the theme of abduction and rape present in anthony mann  s film  it is present in many mythological works  such as the rape of europa as told by ovid in his metamorphoses .  br    br   winchester    is a fine example of the western genre  and acts as the objective correlative for many classic american western and ancient mythological themes .  
i got this in the dvd   pack curse of the dead . you gotta love those bargain packs . for even if they don  t feature true remastering  restoration and all that hoo  ha  and the films are generally in full  frame pan and scan format  there  s no denying that there are always a few gems included . and by  gems   i mean there  s always some good crap to be seen  especially if the films are from the    s as the mansion of madness is .  br    br   my copy is called mansion of madness  but when the title screens roll it  s poe  s dr . tarr  s torture dungeon . doesn  t matter  really  as crap is crap is crap  no  yes  but saying this film is completely worthless is not true at all . there are some funky elements here and there  and obviously the flick did have a decent budget .  br    br   the opening title sequence is cool with its colored negative run through a cheap tv look . the dialogue is always hilarious . near the beginning of the film  the horse and buggy driver gets out to move a dead tree stump in the middle of the road .  what strength   says our hero . funny  then  that this dude should later not be able to fight off the wacky woodsmen when they come to make freaky fun . you  ll completely forget that this guy was even in the movie until he crops up again later near the end . that  s how memorable these characters are .  br    br   the best part about mansion of madness  however  has to be the wacky music and screwball hijinks that the good guys have to endure . it  s like bad cartoon music that a three year old would find enjoyable . and why all the weirdo slapstick  anyway  i  d say my fave moment had to be when the horse and buggy is ambushed by the forest freaks when they pull a stupid looking homemade ghost up by a stick in the middle of the road and make the buggy stop . what the hell  oh yeah  there  s plenty of boobies to be seen  too  for those of you that dig such things . boobies  bad dialogue  and wacky music . that best sums of mansion of madness for me . it  s well worth at least one viewing  and may be a lot better if you  ve had a few to drink or whatnot . i can  t say i was ever bored watching it  but i can  t deny that it  s also a barrel of poop . kinda like magical mystery tour but with a plot  but not . hmm .  br    br   and mr . chicken pwnz .  
one of the greatest westerns of all time  but this one  unlike many others  does not deal with the nature  horses  shootouts  etc .  but instead deals with one rifle  the winchester     and how this one rifle effects others and how they effect it . a rifle is not a living  breathing  human being  right  you may be inclined to believe that it is not . but it seems to have a mind of its own  for two very similar reasons it gets back to its rightful owner in the end  even though that throughout the rest of the picture  its unthoughtful  owners  do their best to make sure it does not  and it never seems to be content until it gets back to its original owner  so  coincidentally  the unthoughtful  owners  always seem to lose it somehow or get killed trying to protect and keep it  until it gets back to james stewart  then it is  content  . but  not every one of the owners deserves to have it . stewart does  of course  since he won it . mcnally does not  since he had to be a dirty thief and steal it . drake definitely does not  because he would probably lose it in some poker game  and besides  drake is too cowardly to fight  so why should he have a one  of  a  kind rifle if he will not even use it  duryea does not  because he is just a chuckling maniac  and we all know that chuckling maniacs do not deserve guns . this film has a sort of noir edge that only westerns can have  such as the ox  bow incident . westerns have their own type of noir  much different than the    s and    s bogart films . it is  hands  down  the best one out of all five stewart  mann westerns  even though my personal favorite is  bend of the river  . the other four became much different than this one . i do not think it a coincidence to see that the other four were color  and this is black and white . this is because of the noir edge . all five films had the revenge and the dark past on stewart  s part play into the film  to the point where this is not just stewart  s dark side  but also actually a sort of character  not one to be listed in the credits  but one that you can only recognize and know that it is there  always present . however  this one  not just on revenge and the dark past  but also in terms of supreme danger  and characters that were very different than stewart make it surpass the other four in all aspects . but stewart never crosses the line . he does  however  walk the line between light and dark . this is why black and white played such an integral part in the film . they could have all been black and white  or they could have all been color . but this one is in black and white  and the other four are in color  and there is a very good reason for that .  
although i rated this movie a  for showing a complete lack of effort in trying to create a quality horror film it was a   on the unintentional funny scale . i couldn  t figure out what was going on in the movie or who the people were but i didn  t care because i knew every scene was going to have something to make me cry with laughter . dialogue is a minimum throughout the movie but i believe this is because they started filming without a script . the fact that there is no plot line makes the movie extremely versatile . it doesn  t matter if you sit down and watch the movie from beginning to end or if you watch it in rewind you will be confused with enjoyment . i particularly like the scene in which the inmates are taking turns running around outside beating each other with sticks . i believe the doctor refers to this as treatment . genius   
the larger  than  life figures of wyatt earp and bat masterson  and the specters of george armstrong custer and sitting bull  loom over director anthony mann  s hugely entertaining first western with james stewart . although stewart  s quest to avenge his father  s murder is the primary story  winchester    is really an ensemble piece  with the eponymous  one  in  a  thousand firearm passing through the hands of many colorful owners  including a wry trader  john mcintire  especially great  and outlaw dan duryea  who  s even more despicable than usual . the film  s conflation of fiction and history produces a breezy pace and an ambivalent tone brilliantly in step with mann  s pared  down  compositionally rigorous film  making . his themes of psychological unrest and past dictating present faintly underlie this tall tale of good and bad men chasing after a fabled gun  but they starkly emerge in a vignette about a husband  s cowardice and failed attempt at atonement  and are defined in stewart  s conversations with sidekick millard mitchell . mann  s use of environment is what sets him apart from other filmmakers of westerns . instead of gazing at vistas from afar  he incorporates them into the drama as characters that redirect  complicate  or evoke the human characters  goals . just as mountains  caves  and rapids had to be accounted for in the naked spur  here a gunfight occurs amidst the loose rocks and boulders of a small mountain  a physical obstruction that fatalistically determines the roles of victor and victim between two equally skilled sharpshooters .  i would be remiss in not recognizing cinematographer william h . daniels  s contribution  particularly his superlative day  for  night  open  range photography .  not merely an adept outdoorsman  mann presents an equally vivid picture of wyatt earp  patrolled dodge city  primarily through scaled  multiple  plane staging . the shooting contest does not depend on brisk camera shifts or twitchy cuts for effect because mann instinctively knows where to place the camera and how to move it to display the greatest density of information in a given shot . nor does he care to spell out the plot in dialogue  relying on the actors  eyes or a well  chosen image to convey the stakes . one scene in particular serves to explain his attitude mitchell  s telling of stewart  s motivation to shelley winters  which is interrupted by the climactic gunfight that soon enough reveals all . light without feeling insubstantial  intense without being overbearing  winchester    seems more modern than its contemporaries and is a joy to behold .  
all the other comments already said what i was going to say  here goes anyway . i thought this was italian at first  sorry about that  italy . i wasn  t bored because i kept waiting for something to happen . who did that song about dr . tarr and professor feather way back when  was it alan parsons  saw this on a brentwood   pack and the quality was as expected  terrible . full of streaks and stuff . the movie was an incoherent mess . goofy music and clueless characters . the main guy should have known in the first minute that the doctor was nuttier than the patients . i thought the  doctor  directing the  battle  scene was never going to end . had some good looking babes though . it seems these dumb ass movies always throw in a naked chick or two and that gets you hooked . i gave it a  for the nekkid women . that bird people dance made me want to pull out my own eyeballs . poe probably did about      rpms in his grave when this thing came out because it was loosely based on a story of his .  
saw this flick on encw last nite for the third or fourth time . enjoyed it so much i ordered the dvd . this really is a standout and of course the first of the mann  stewart pairings . more here than the usual oater  although not quite as powerful as the searchers . lots of obvious symbolism about achieving manhood but mainly it  s the acting by stewart  his partner millard mitchell  shelly winters and the waco johnny dean  dan duryea . steve miller  not the joker  is interesting as a handsome would be hero who  s interested in lola but too yellow . like stewart in the man who killed liberty valance  he  s practically reduced to putting on an apron and serving his enemies coffee . decaf no doubt . tony curtis from the bronx cavalry and rock hudson behaving like no indian i  ve seen on screen have interesting cameos .  br    br   special performances by john mcintire as a too lucky card dealing  gun trader who hangs out at a very low grade western version of rick  s american cafe . nobody wants to spend the night there . jay c . flippens out over a kiss from lola  winters  and has some nice scenes with stewart before he gets to bend of the river and far country . will geer as wyatt earp and the indian chief who takes walter brennan  s teeth from him in red river are pleasant sightings . this is the kind of western that only stewart  not wayne nor scott could have pulled off . worth the shot  i repeat .     
i read reviews on this movie and decided to give it a shot . i  m an open minded guy after all and i  ve given good reviews to some pretty bad flicks . as the end credits rolled on this one i searched for meaning and something nice to say . here goes  this film was mercifully short .  that  s all i got .  br    br   okay  okay . the sets and visuals were well done and the music helped lend to the mood of asylum life but the film was painful to watch and the endless dialogue took away from the good bits . i did find myself laughing at this film but the way you laugh at your best friend who just embarrassed himself in front of a large crowd .  br    br   by the time of the  chicken dance  at the finale i had just decided to tuck and roll with the film and let the bodies fall where they fall . i don  t know what could have salvaged this film . the acting was not bad and it looked like it had a budget but there just wasn  t any way to make it watchable not even the presence of beautiful bare breasts . maybe i should have sparked a doobie or drank a lot of beer to get the full experience of the film . either way  i  m not watching this film again unless i  m really depressed . then i can tell myself at least i wasn  t in dr . tarr  s torture dungeon .  i  m better than those guys .   
i first saw this movie at a festival . there were many good movies  but few kept me thinking about it long after  and an insomniac  s nightmare was definitely one of them . tess is definitely a gifted filmmaker . the shots were great . casting was perfect . dominic shined in his role that she perfectly crafted . there wasn  t a lot to know about his character  but she wrote the story in such a way that we cared about him . and ellen   i can  t wait to see where she ends up  she  s showing a lot of talent and i hope she does a few more films . with all the million dollar budgets trying to get a cheap thrill  tess shows that it  s all not needing as long as there is a good story and actors . kudos to everyone involved with this film . and thanks to tess and co . for distributing it on dvd   
one of a multitude of slashers that appeared in the early eighties  pranks is notable only for an early performance by daphne zuniga  the sure thing  the fly    her character dies fairly early on  and the rest of the film is totally forgettable .  br    br   during their christmas break  a group of students volunteer to clear a condemned college building of its furniture . a crazy killer  however  throws a spanner in the works by methodically bumping off the youngsters one by one in a variety of gruesome ways .  br    br   exploiting every stalk  n  slash clich in the book  director jeffrey obrow delivers a tedious and unexciting horror that had me praying for the characters to be killed  so that i could get on with watching something more worthwhile . the majority of the deaths  which  let  s face it  is why we generally watch this kind of film  are brief and not that gory the only truly grisly imagery comes right at the end when the bodies of the victims are discovered by the remaining survivor  there is one notably bloody dismembered corpsethe film could  ve done with more  .  br    br   at the last minute  the film saves itself from the disgrace of receiving the lowest possible score from me by having a nice unexpectedly downbeat ending  but this really is one for slasher completists only .  
this is quite an unusual and unique little western  that is made mostly original due to its story that revolves around an unique and superior winchester     rifle and all of those who get to poses it at one point or another in the movie .  br    br   it  s mostly a very entertaining movie to watch but not without still being a real western as well . the movie got done in a typical     s      s style of western genre film  making  so the lovers of the genre should not be turned off by its somewhat unusual main premise .  br    br   because the rifle is actually being the main plot device of the movie  it allows the story to follow multiple characters throughout the movie  who are all connected of course and the story makes full circle in the end . without that this movie would had been a pretty messy one to watch  since the story often jumps from the one hazardous occasion into the other  with constantly different characters involved . quite amazing how they even managed to put wyatt earp in this all . but it  s no criticism really . i liked that the movie and its story were being original and how the movie seemed to move from the one event to the other . it gave the movie a bit of a sense of adventure and entertainment .  br    br   it  s also a really great looking movie . i liked the settings the movie used and it seems quite amazing that this was actually the director anthony mann  s first western . luckily he would go on to direct more westerns later on  which also often would star james stewart in the main lead .  br    br   it was a pretty daring casting choice to pick james stewart as the main lead . he is one of the softest and most polite looking and acting actors  so casting him as a tough gunslinger seems like a bit of an odd pick . but stewart is surprisingly convincing as a tough guy and it shows how versatile and really capable as an actor he actually was .  br    br   it also has some other surprising actors in the movie  that are not often get connected with this genre . shelley winters plays the female lead and also later well known actors rock hudson and tony curtis appear in some small roles .  br    br   a real western with also plenty of action and entertainment to it .  br    br        
dr tarr  s torture dungeon is about a journalist who travels to an insane asylum to write about a new technique they use with their patients . however  the journalist soon finds out that things are not what they seem to be  and the asylum is being run by the patients  and the doctors are in cages . first of all  some parts of the film are just plain boring and just makes you want to fall asleep  and the interesting parts are interesting for all the wrong reasons  a guy who thinks he  s a chicken  for instance  . i have to admit that the story is actually pretty good  but the film itself bombs . the music of the film is really odd and like something you would hear in some insane comedy  and yes  there is a scene involving dancing chicken men  which pretty much made me want to shut off the screen . watch this film at your own risk   br    br   rated r for violence and nudity .  
by      five years after this one was released james stewart and anthony mann had completed another six films together  four of them westerns . their rapport was obvious from the outset and what was intended as little more than a universal progrmmer became both a cult and a classic . buffs of the period will revel in the fact that the first ten names on the credits were all more than well known  and that  s not counting ray teal or  anthony  curtis  later to become tony . perhaps ten years later the  psychological  western was well entrenched but in     it was rare to throw ahab into the mix with cain and abel  to say nothing of addressing several other issues along the way  and still furnish a conventional western on the surface and full credit to all concerned . one to add to the dvd collection .  
a stupid rich guy circa about     wants to visit a nearby mental asylum to see how a famous doctor cares for his patients . despite an initially hostile response  he is soon cordially invited in and given a tour by the good doctor . and  as the doctor shows him about  he talks and talks and talks    and as he talks  loonies run amok here and there doing nothing especially productive . while there is some action here and there  and some of it quite disturbing   it  s amazing how dull and cerebral the whole thing is   lacking life and energy  which is odd for a horror flick . even a guy who thinks he  s a chicken and dresses like one becomes rather tiresome . the further this tour takes the guest  the more disturbing it becomes until ultimately you realize that the inmates have taken over the hospital and are torturing their keepers . yet again  despite this twist  the film is amazingly lifeless in many places   particularly when it moves very slowly as a bizarre ceremony is taking place or people are just wandering about the set . only when the workers from the asylum found in a prison cell  starving  does the film have any real impact . considering this plot  it sure is hard to imagine making it boring  but the people who made this cheap exploitational film have  now with the same plot and competent writing  acting and direction  this could have been an interesting and worthwhile film .  br    br   you know  now that i think about it  this was the plot of one of the episodes of the original  star trek  tv show  you know  the one with  lord garth   master of the universe  and kirk and spock are held prisoner by this madman and his crazed followers .  br    br   a final note the film has quite a bit of nudity here and there and includes a rape scene  so be forewarned   it  s not for kids . in fact  considering how worthless the film is  it isn  t for anyone  however  with the version included in the    movie pack   chilling classics   the print is so incredibly bad that it  s hard to see all this flesh due to the print being so very dark .  
winchester   is the story of a man  jimmy stewart  obsessed with getting back his prized possession  a repeating rifle made by winchester . the rifle keeps changing hands  and stewart doggedly keeps after it . this     bw effort by anthony mann is more a crime film than a traditional western  and the cowboys often seem more like modern  day gangsters than old  fashioned cowboys . shelley winters plays a woman of questionable virtue who is headed for a ranch with a man  charles drake  she may marry . she ends up falling for stewart  but not before she is passed around a bit . winters is the most complex character in a film filled with unusual characters . watch for a young dan dureyea as a nutty killer and tony curtis in a very small role . a woefully miscast will geer plays wyatt earp .  
i  ve waited a long time to see dr tarr  s torture dungeon and after i watched it  i was really disappointed by it . it  s not the baroque film i expected it to be . the trailer  which i saw on a something weird dvd  is much better than the entire film  which is remarkably forgettable . there are almost no stand out scenes in it and the look and feel is interesting but it doesn  t even come close to other baroque styled movies out there  from fellini or jodorowsky . the characters are dull and there  s almost nothing dramatic going on  even though we see rape  crucifixion  insanity  etc .  br    br   the main problem with dr tarr  s torture dungeon was the fact that it was a talk  a  thon more than anything else . it was almost like watching a book . i just wanted the film to have moments of silence or mood or something  instead we see  listen to the main characters chit  chat endlessly about dull stuff .  br    br   a missed opportunity .  
a new creative team emerged in     when brilliant actor james stewart teamed with the equally  brilliant director anthony mann to make a series of westerns that helped define that genre for the future . until that time stewart was mainly noted for an aw . . aw . . aw approach to family oriented comedies  dramas  and romances . not that he wasn  t already a multi  talented hollywood star . one of his best screen performances ever and one of the best for anyone on celluloid was as macaulay  mike  connor  a sarcastic writer for a scandal rag in  the philadelphia story .  he had even done westerns before . his portrayal of gun shy yet expert shot thomas jefferson destry jr . in the comedy western  destry rides again  helped make that film a classic . but to most movie goers he was the all  american boyscout type mr . smith or george bailey . seldom was there a dark side to any of the characters he played .  br    br   anthony mann was associated with b flicks in the film noir mode .  raw deal    side street   and  t  men  caught the eye of james stewart . so the two gifted men combined their resources to produce some of the greatest hollywood westerns ever made .  winchester     and  the man from laramie  were the best but the others were almost as effective . mann became a successful director of a films as a result going on to direct what some critics believe to be the greatest western of them all gary cooper  s  man of the west .  stewart became fabulously wealthy as a result of the partnership because he signed for part of the royalties in return for a fraction of the salary he was usually paid  a wise move indeed followed by many other actors from then on .  br    br   winchester    was also one of the first films  maybe the first  to tell a story from the standpoint of a traveling gun . each owner is part of the tale being told and it all comes together in the exciting showdown at the end of the movie  which also holds a surprise for the viewer . based on a story by stuart lake  the tale centers on revenge and the ownership of the winchester    . the year is     . custer and his  th cavalry have been annihilated by the sioux and cheyenne at little big horn . the whites want revenge . the native americans want their land and their way of life back . this conflict leads to a confrontation between native americas led by young bull  young rock hudson showing his potential as an actor  and a small cavalry group pinned down in a canyon and joined by civilians lin mcadam  stewart   his partner and life  long pal high spade  the underrated actor millard mitchell   and a couple trying to find themselves  steve miller  charles drake  and lola manners  shelley winters   a soiled dove with a kind heart . among the horse soldiers are newcomers tony curtis and james best  late of the  dukes of hazzard    whose part is cut short by a bullet .  br    br   wyatt earp was in dodge city in     . the movie has him as head marshal . the fine actor will geer  later of the waltons  looks like an older earp . in reality wyatt was assistant marshal in dodge at the time just cutting his teeth on being a lawman . lin mcadam wins the winchester in a shooting contest  but has it taken from him not long afterward by outlaw dutch henry brown  stephen mcnally  and his henchmen . mcadam and high spade are after both dutch henry and the winchester for the remainder of the movie . an even more sinister character emerges along the way  waco johnnie dean  played as evil personified by dan duryea who threatens to steal the show from the other members of a stellar cast .  br    br   the winchester passes through several hands during the course of the film  each time the transfer is intense . one involves a gunrunner played to perfection by john mcintire . other swaps are intermingled with the scenario above . all this plus the action keeps the viewer glued to the seat throughout the entire show .  br    br   as noted above  the cast is first rate down to the smallest role . look for other familiar faces in uncredited parts  including the future sheriff of  bonanza  ray teal and b western reliable panhandle perkins  guy wilkerson  .  
relative to other columbo movies  this can only be rated a   awful  . i seriously do not understand what the other reviewers have seen in this appalling train  crash of a film . it was only through morbid fascination that i continued to watch it  to see what bizarre or inept decision the director would make next .  br    br   another reviewer suggested that it was falk  s only directorial outing because it interfered with his acting role . in fact  i think the real reason lies with the studio bosses  who must have been horrified when they saw what he had done with their money . it  s a wonder they didn  t murder him .  
winchester    is a great story  and that  s what i like about it . it  s not your everyday western   it uses a rifle  which passes hands from various characters   as a mechanism for telling the story about these people . rock hudson plays an indian chief  jimmy stewart plays a great leading man with heart and strength  and shelly winters plays a gal who has to cope with the realities of her husband and the wild west . it  s important to note for those politically correct types   they kill a lot of indians in this movie without remorse . by today  s standards  it  s still pretty violent . but it  s a great story and worth watching . enjoy   
ok  so obviously ppl thought this was a good movie in     .  br    br   i pity the fools who still think so . . . its absolute rubbish .  br    br   the story is just . . . ridiculous . the characters are absurd caricatures  but this film is not meant to satirise  im sure its meant to be a serious drama isn  t it   br    br   dean and others  are too old for their parts . people say dean is great in this film  and well  maybe he did play his part as well as he possibly could  ve . his character is meant to be   or   or so . but dean was a   year old man when he made this film . seeing him agonise and throw little tantrums like a  year old boy . . . its pathetic .  br    br   natalie wood is gorgeous  but the early scenes at the police station where she is crying and whining are very unconvincing . it sets a bad precedent for the film . . . and for the rest of it  you feel like cringing every time one of these badly acted emotional scenes comes along .  br    br   it may  ve been good for its time  but  really  its drivel .  br    br   it must  ve just been hype about dean  s death that has over  inflated the reputation of this film .  
james stewart stars in a classic western tale of revenge which ties in with the fate of the films other star the winchester rifle . stewart is it goes without saying excellent adding some cold hard obsession to his usual laid back cowboy . the story follows the fate of a winchester rifle and its owners after being won in a competition by our hero and stolen by the man he is hunting .  br    br   we meet a selection of gamblers  gun fighters  indian traders and bank robers as we follow the rifles path through indian battles  bank heists etc . the supporting cast are all solid with dan durya standing out as waco johnny dean the live  wire gunfighter with an itchy trigger finger . also as a trivia note a very early appearance from rock hudson as an indian chief .  br    br   the end showdown is a classic a tense rifle battle fought at long range in and around a rocky outcrop . throw in some good old western action  fist fights  shootouts and horseback chases it makes for a rollicking western adventure .      
was this a comedy or was it a drama  i begin this review by asking this question because the film that i just witnessed  hollywood shuffle  was neither funny or rather dramatic . while it tried so hard to make a point  because of this lack of definition  comedy or drama   the clever themes and pointed remarks were lost . while i am a strong believer that there is too much racial profiling happening in hollywood  even today  i do not believe that townsend  s directorial debut did much to stop it . instead  i feel it only added more fuel to the fire . townsend  s comic timing in this film was disastrous due to the fact that the elements he was supposed to be making fun of  he was instead promoting and vice versa . the parts that were supposed to be serious were somehow destroyed by the poor lack of funny comedy . townsend had a decent concept with this film  but sadly the execution is what ultimately hurt this film . if you watch the preview before the film  which i constantly do   you will immediately get the wrong impression of what you are going to see . the preview gives the impression of a very intelligent  comic film that prides itself on the intelligence of the viewers  but the actually film could not be further from the truth .  br    br   the main problem with hollywood shuffle is not story itself  because it is lacking in elaboration   it is townsend  s direction . he had a wonderful concept with this film . exploit the hollywood that exploits our race . decent idea  but why couldn  t he execute it very well  the first reason is that his ideas are too random and sporadic . the structure of this film was like watching a heart attack on a monitor at the hospital  we are literally everywhere without any warning or map . it was obvious that townsend had quite a bit to say  but only a short amount of time to do it in . so  instead of defining his characters  developing his themes  and actually creating a smart film  he just throws it all together and prays that it works . sadly  it doesn  t . instead of a smart comedy  we have a hodgepodge of so many ideas  comedic skits  and underused actors that this film goes from decent to nearly unwatchable . what hurts townsend the most are his brief  attempt to be funny  interruptions throughout the film . from battling a villain known as jerry curl to parodying siskel  ebert  townsend  s attempt to poke fun while speak a message about the film industry falters . this is because these small intermittent skits actually distract from the central focus of the film and actually destroy internally . while townsend seems to be trying to make a joke about life in hollywood  he actually is simply connecting to every stereotype and clich in the book . what could have been beautiful satire transforms into simply generic humor that never quite stands apart from the rest .  br    br   so  if you find yourself not laughing at the humor of this story  perhaps there is some comfort in knowing that some of the wayans brothers are around to help spice up this dull story . wrong  the wayans are in this film  but townsend demonstrates that he has the ability to even bring the worst out even in this entertaining family . definitely in their pre  in living color moments  we see that comedy was something that all needed to constantly improve upon . perhaps it was townsend  s direction  or just maybe this atrocious story  but these typically funny comedians were obviously underused and ignored when it came to critics of this film . i just thought that with the talent pool that townsend had to pull from that hollywood shuffle would have been funny  bright  and a true stab at this obvious hollywood dilemma . sadly  it was none of the above .  br    br   finally  i would like to say that this was a workable film . there were some moments  while they were few and way far between  that had a smile on my face  the final product just didn  t settle well with me . townsend can be funny  but in this film it just felt like he was playing against himself  instead of through his personal experiences and troubles . i realize that he was probably speaking the truth  but it never came through as that . instead  we are threaded through a weak story  which supports itself with idiotic flash clips that may have worked for a sitcom  but surely didn  t work for this film . even for those that comment that this was his directorial debut and that he was learning from this film  i would have to disagree . if you are starting fresh  either have a tight script or defined themes . townsend had neither of these  and combined with the inability to control his actors  he just failed in a ball of flames .  br    br   overall  this was rather disappointing to watch . it reminded me of a grade school spelling bee where it is finally your child  s time to spell . the word is tough  but as the first two to three letters come out  you think that it is going to work perfectly  but then there is that random  p  and silent  r  that forces your excitement to come tumbling down . that is how i felt with hollywood shuffle . at first  i saw the potential  i saw the theme and the motive behind the picture  but through fuzzy and inexperienced technique and after the first couple of scenes  i experienced that deep fall feeling . townsend sank his own ship on this one  and i don  t think hollywood shuffle will ever re  submerge as a pivotal moment of hollywood cinema .  br    br   grade  out of   
winchester   gets credit from many critics for bringing back the western after wwii . director anthony mann must get a lot of credit for his excellent direction . jimmy stewart does an excellent job  but i think stephen mcnalley and john mcintire steal the movie with their portrayal of two bad guys involved in a high stakes poker game with the treasured winchester   going to the winner . this is a good script with several stories going on at the same time . look for the first appearance of rock hudson as young bull . thank god  with in a few years  we would begin to let indians play themselves in western films . the film is in black and white and was shot in tucson arizona . i would not put winchester   in the category of stagecoach  high noon or shane  but it gets an above average recommendation from me .  br    br   .  
well i don  t know what people saw in this movie i don  t know .  br    br   i saw this movie yesterday and i got a severe headache . other than few good dialog there is nothing in this movie .  br    br   the big b rt now is preaching to fall in love with girls of half of you age .  br    br   i didn  t like the movie at all . i wanted to give  rating but giving  as  br    br   i like the role of the small girl who is called  sexy  by ab . my word  dont watch   br    br   save your self donot watch this movie .  br    br   save time and money .  
this stirring western spins the tale of the famous rifle of the early west that was coveted by one and all . james stewart is the cowboy who wins the prized winchester in a shootout  only to lose it in a robbery . the story details stewart  s pursuit of the rifle and a certain man through the film . the rifle changes hands time after time  as though the owner is fated to lose it through violence . the picture has plenty of action and suspense as stewart closes in on his quarry . a great cast supports stewart here  namely stephen mcnally  dan duryea  millard mitchell  john mcintire and jay c . flippen . shelley winters seems miscast here and the purpose of her role is rather obscure . tony curtis and rock hudson  teen heartthrobs in later years  have brief but good roles .  
the subject this latest adman  turned  movieman tries to tackle in his debut  ad  venture is quite an age  old topic of discussion by almost any cultural standard   timeless romance  pun intended  .  br    br   however  the exploration  and exploitation for desi auds  falls woefully short as the usual inclinations to  pepper  spice and sugar  up the usual masala mix of b  g score  dialog  dance  drama  etc creates a nice  looking package with not much inside .  br    br   in the first   minutes of the movie  the kitchen scene has been repeated at least    times . further repeats follow thru  out the movie  after all the lead character  s a cook  . but therein lies les problemos   no story  hah  no wonder . someone forgot to write a script .  br    br   amitabh puts in a cheeni jyada  more  amount of over  acting . really when is this guy ever gonna stop   how many    somethings prance around like that even when teased by a nubile    something    timeless mind yes  but surely what about the not  so  ageless bod  and sole  sorry  soul   reasonably good acting by paresh rawal who has the only sensible role in the film . the director lacks any sense of realism getting all caught up in his new  fangled discovery of a hot new idea . nowhere are we presented with any real  life problems or issues such a pair might face  other than actually getting married which is only the initial obstacle . the sub  plot of a little kid with cancer  the bachelor boy  s first love  goes nowhere and whatever little bit of poignancy this otherwise insipid presentation would have evoked is quickly killed off along with the girl  s character .  br    br   anyway  nice try but not quite there yet .  
for the viewer who comes upon it long after its making   winchester     has something in common with  casablanca .  while you watch it  you get this feeling that you  re looking at a string of clichs encountered so often in the genre then you realise that the clichs became clichs only after being copied from this particular film  and that they were so widely copied because this film was so great . in other words  it  s a seminal work .  br    br    winchester     is a joy to watch . the broad lines of the plot are somewhat predictable  but mostly because you  ve seen them copied so many times in later movies  and nevertheless it still contains a number of twists which surprise you . the dialogue  the pacing and mann  s direction are excellent . stewart shines in particular  and if you  re a fan this is a  must  see   but he is not alone in delivering a good performance . remarkably  many of the most thoughtful and  or witty lines go to minor characters . because this makes these characters  much  more than cardboard cutouts  it lent additional realism to the film .  br    br   this is a remarkably underrated film  and well worth keeping an eye out for . the dvd also contains an interview with stewart which provides some background on the film .  
in this movie  the old amitabh bachchan falls in love with a much younger woman  again . he meets her in his restaurant . the younger woman  tabu  flirts with him . he does not know what to do and asks her out . her reaction on his invitation is rather weird . is was supposed to be funny .  br    br   and that annoys me about this whole movie . it wasn  t that funny . the jokes and script was terrible  the only jokes i liked was about the teeth of a waiter  but after a several times  even that began to bore .  br    br   amitabh has a little girlfriend called sexy . this was a weird relationship  a little girl with the mind of an old woman  it was frightening  i know someone can be attached to a kid  but this man has adult conversations with this child . it did not make any sense .  br    br   tabu  s father is paresh rawal . he has to give amitabh a hard time  but we all know paresh  he can  t do that . so even the conversation at the end  when they sit all around the table  even that was supposed to be funny .  br    br   i only like movies who really are funny . i suppose i will never watch this movie again .  
i was very impressed with this film . i would have to rate it as one of the better classic  era westerns . i say that for the whole thing the acting  mature dialog  no  nonsense story and excellent cinematography .  br    br   director anthony mann  who did several well  photographed film noirs around this same era  also made some westerns such as this one . it has that same film  noir look . mann and jimmy stewart collaborated on several westerns during this period . . if you like this movie  i recommend the mann  stewart film  bend of the river .   br    br   in a nutshell  the story is about a man   lin mcadam    stewart  who owns this prestigious winchester   rifle  a weapon he won fair  and  square in a contest . it is then stolen and passed on from villain to villain . all of those villains are interesting characters .  br    br   aiding stewart act out this interesting tale are shelley winters  dan duryea  stephen mcnally  millard mitchell  charles drake  will greer and j . c . flippen . all of them are fun to watch . it was a bit of a stretch  however  to see rock hudson playing an indian   young bull    but you can  t have everything .  
r balki tries to tell you a story that had been earlier told by ram gopal verma in nishabd in a sensuous way . this time it is mixed with mature humors .  br    br   amitabh bachchan is a chef and owns an indian cuisine in london . he is very dominating and arrogant and respects his job just like any other job . according to him  cooking is an art . still cannot make hyderabadi biryani properly .  br    br   enter tabu who sends her the proper hyderabadi biryani made by her and they soon starts meeting up and finally falls in love with each other amitabh is   and tabu is    . no probs  but one hitch  tabu  s father paresh rawal   the couples decide to meet the father for the approval of their marriage . but amitabh realizes that tabu  s father is much younger to him . and the complications begin performance wise all three actors are brilliant . the script of the film is very tight and interesting . the dialogues of the film are catchy . but somewhere you feel that your stomach is not properly filled . the comedy is sometimes not properly understood . the film also tries to go lengthy at some parts .  br    br   musically nothing much to sing about except the title track . the camera  work is good . director r balki could have given much better from this script . but in the second half he himself looks confused . the  satyagrah  scene of the father looked irritating . but the lines spoken by amitabh bachchan during that scene are clap worthy .  br    br   on the whole  cheeni kum needed to have more sugar   
this is an almost action  less film following jack  an insomniac  as he goes through hallucinations  is visited by dead friends  throws himself off a building  and  for a lot of the time  can  t tell reality from hallucination .  br    br   dominic monaghan  as jack  is truly believable . confused  and scared but lethargic and  at times blankly accepting of what he sees  we follow him trying to sort out what he  s seeing and find a way to sleep .  br    br   introduce a talking dog  another hallucination  and children that suddenly appear in jack  s bathroom and bedroom without any explanation as to how they got there  more hallucination  and you have an interesting  mind boggling    minutes and the shower scene is enough to get any dom fan coming back for more .  
   nb spoiler warning  such as it is     br    br   first off  this is a teen slasher flick   the spam  in  a  cabin genre  as joe bob briggs piquantly put it . if you  re looking for roshambo  this isn  t it and wasn  t going to be it . i  m desperately unimpressed by stabs at its cinematography  directing or acting performances .  br    br   secondly  this wasn  t zuniga  s first horror flick  it was her first screen appearance period  cinema  tv  whatever . for what it is worth neither is daphne zuniga susan sarandon or katherine hepburn .  br    br   thirdly  you have to give even a lame slasher flick props . sure  it follows the deeply insulting formulaic message of its genre any young woman having or showing interest in sex is beef on the hoof  and the harvest time is now .  br    br   except this one gives the chop to the sweet  virginal protagonist as well  now there is a mediocre teen death film that has the courage of its convictions  interesting that this was said ingenue  s only film role . another one hit wonder  except that term gives the lass too much credit .  br    br    then again  this film probably has one of the highest percentage of one  movie actors in history . of the nineteen credited actors  a whopping thirteen never appeared in any other film . three appeared in one other movie by the same producers . only one other besides zuniga has as many as six screen credits . what was this  the has been and never were mutual aid society    br    br   granted  i saw this a long time ago on late night cable when i was bored and never anticipate being that bored in my life again  but i see no reason to hunt down everyone involved and toss them in the incinerator with joanne .  br    br       .  
in     a film tales of manhattan told a set of stories that were basically unrelated  but tied together with a suit of men  s evening wear . each story began when the  tails  were passed from one owner  charles boyer  for instance  to another  ceasar romero  . winchester     a superior film  and a great western  has a similar plot twist . initially it is about how jimmy stewart is seeking stephen  horace  macmahon for some deadly grudge . but in the course of the film the two men get into a shooting contest  the prize  given by marshall wyatt earp  will geer  being one of the new winchester rifles . stewart barely beats out macmahon  but the gun is stolen from stewart  and the chase is on .  br    br   the gun passes from hand to hand  including john mcintyre  as an arrogant trader who fatally does not know when to stop being arrogant   to rock hudson  in a surprising role  and a brief one at that   to charles drake  to dan duryea  as the delightfully deadly and psychotic waco johnny dean   to macmahon . eventually it does return to stewart .  br    br   the film is expertly directed by anthony mann . every character has a wide variety of experiences . duryea gets the rifle literally over drake  s dead body  duryea forces the issue  . but he loses it to macmahon  who is faster on the draw  not that duryea is stupid enough to fight for the rifle . as he and shelley winter look at macmahon in the distance  winter  who watched duryea kill her former boy friend drake  drops her distaste for the gunman momentarily to ask why he put up with macmahon  s bullying for the gun . philosophically  duryea explains he can wait . some opportunity will come up later on  i . e .  when he can safely kill macmahon and get back the rifle  .  br    br   the characters are remarkably human . winters first appears as the future bride of drake  but she sees a really big negative side to him  an unforgivable side . drake is aware of this lapse  and it helps lead to his destruction . other characters have realistic touches  such as j . c . flippen as an army sergeant who fights an indian attack with steward and steward  s friend millard mitchell . oh yes  and with flippen  s fellow soldier  tony curtis . flippen makes one believe this soldier has been on a hundred battlefields before  since     probably . steward had showed emotions in other films . in it  s a wonderful life he showed a degree of anger at times  and also a near nervous breakdown when he thinks everything is wrong with his life . but here he showed a demonic anger  at the expense of a surprised duryea  who normally would show such anger himself  .  br    br   the parts of this film fit very neatly together  under mann  s competent hands . this is one western that never wears out  as the audience watches the travels of a winchester rifle .  
when you have two tower house of performers pitched against each other  the least you can expect is the superb camaraderie and that is the case in this film where we have a   yrs old amitabh bachchan romances a    yr old tabu . wait  in fact that is all there in the name of plot therefore instead of  cheeni  it is the content that is  kum  in this adman turned writer  director r . balki  s maiden effort . .  br    br   trust the two senior actors to bring the house down with their wise  cracks and bitter  sweet moments when love happened in this unconventional pair  and that is all you find in slow but refreshing first half . the locales of london as captured in rainy season are captivating . by the end of first half  romance completed and mission accomplished . there is not much left to be said . therefore in the second half a strange opposition comes in the form of girl  s father to the extent that he goes for a satyagrah is really a test of patience . there is an equally strange climax about how he gives in . the result  second half is dry  flat with no energy . there is a subplot with a girl child dying of cancer  not making much impact . nonetheless  the film is recommended for its fresh approach and the performances .  
buffs of the adult western that flourished in the     s try and trace its origins to the film that kicked off the syndrome . of course  we can go back to howard hawks  s red river       or further still to john ford  s my darling clementine        but if we want to stick with this single decade  then it has to be one of a couple of films made in that era  s initial year . one is  the gunfighter   an exquisitely grim tale of a famed gunslinger  ringo  facing his last shootout . another from that same year is  winchester      and it  s worth noting that millard mitchell appears in both as grim  mustached  highly realistic range riders . in the gunfighter  he  s the town marshal expected to arrest ringo but once rode with him in an outlaw gang . in winchester  he  s the sidekick to jimmy stewart  a kind of horatio to stewart  s hamlet in this epic  tragic tale . the plot is simple enough stewart  s lonesome cowpoke wins a remarkable winchester in a shooting match  beating the meanest man in the west  stephen mcnally   who is actually his own brother and caused the death of their father . when the brother steals the gun  stewart and mitchell go after him in a cowboy odyssey that takes them all across the frontier  meeting up with both outlaws and indians .  in one wonderful bit  two future stars  rock hudson and tony curtis  play an indian chief and a u . s . cavalry soldier  during a well staged pitched  battle . dan duryea steals the whole show as a giggling outlaw leader  while shelly winters  just before she began to gain weight  is fine as the shady lady who ties all the plots together . today  filmmakers would go on for about four hours to bring such an ambitious idea to the screen  but anthony mann does so in an extremely economical amount of time  with not a minute wasted . such western legends as bat masterson and wyatt earp  terrifically played by will geer  make brief appearances  adding to the historicity as well as the epic nature . the final battle between good and bad brothers  high atop a series of jutting rock canyons  is now legendary among western buffs . it  s also worth noting that stewart  however much associated he became with western films  does what is actually his first western leading man role here  yes  he was in destry rides again eleven years earlier  but was cast in that comedy spoof because he seemed so wrong for westerns   
this movie is not only boring  it is also really badly done . the graphics are so bad  they are not even second rate  they are dreadful . the characters do not show any facial expresssions  the voice acting is empty and without any soul  and the plot absolutely lacks . . . . well . . . anything and everything . my  year old likes it  but thinks it  s a bit boring . i agree with him .  
in the fifties the age restrictions for films in brazil were the following no restriction    years old    years old and   years old . usually the westerns were allowed for ten years old  when they had a bit more of violence they would go to    but it was rare to see a western restricted for younger than   . winchester   was one of those  and i think this explains very well how this film was considered different from average . the hero  james stewart was fighting against his own brother who had killed their father . he was looking for revenge and seemed quite traumatized  far from the average good guy . anthony mann tried variations on this type of character in the next films he did with stewart . shelley winters  the leading lady was far from virtuous  she kept following the man who stayed with the rifle . dan duryea as waco johnnie dean is one of those great villains that will always be remembered . the story of the film  which always follows the man who stays with the rifle  is one of the best suited for a western . it was to be made into a fritz lang film  which did not come through . when it was offered to mann he made a point of starting from zero again and not taking anything that was prepared for lang . with winchester  mann created a different conception of western  but still maintaining all its traditions . winchester still is a great film to see again and again  but nothing will be comparable to the impression it made in those who saw it when it was originally released .  
this thing is really awfull . theres no charachter with weight  theyre all floating around in the bgs . the motion capture is a fine toy  but this movie demostrates that you really need people who knows animation to do an animated film . the machine cant do anything well by itself . if you see it as a bizarre film  youll have fun finding mistakes of continuity . . . in a  d movie    its funny to watch the princess dress move around like a thing with diferent phisics . you need animators and  d animators  not data  entries whom know  d programs . note the junctions  like the elbows  how they lost volume and get deformed . the person who made the charachter design  a very good one  sufered for sure when he  she watched them move  cos you cant say they come to life .  
the traditional western is synonymous with wide open spaces  clearcut morality  inevitable storylines  the optimistic faith in a hero  s ability to shape his own destiny  to escape his past . these qualities reflect directly the american sense of self  the self  shaping dream  the pushing of boundaries and frontiers  which is why the genre is still alluded to by opportunistic politicians . with some noble exceptions  eg wellman  hawks   the western was healthily free of neuroses or real anxiety . anthony mann changed all that forever  and this first foray into the genre is one of the most violent  vivid  complex  not to say exciting westerns ever made .  br    br   the traditional western depends on a hero who exemplifies rugged wholesomeness  whatever misfortunes he may have had in the past  a supporter of order and right  who dominates the film  removes its obstacles  restores harmony in effect and an obvious villain  who often  ironically  drives the plot  forces the hero into certain actions . the difference between the two is often delineated as mythically simple as the wearing of white or black hats .  br    br   mann  s background was in film noir  a genre antithetical to wide open spaces and optimism . noir was neurotically charged  focusing on the dissolution of an unstable protagonist  where morality is blurred  the hero is as often the villain  trapped in an interior  labyrinth of his own making  a passive victim to destiny . noir is about regress not progress  the interrogating and denying of modes and signs of representation  not the creation and confirmation of them .  br    br   winchester   is fraught with noir anxiety . noir is often considered a psychological genre  visualising the traumas of its protagonist  s head .   does this too  and is all the more disturbing in that that protagonist is lovely  homespun jimmy stewart  initiating here his great run of difficult films with mann and hitchcock . in many ways  good  natured and sweet  representing right and trying to restore disruptions to the natural order  he is also a near  lunatic who will stop at nothing to achieve murderous revenge  whose relentless quest mirrors ethan edwards in the searchers in its inhuman persistance  whose human instincts are frayed by this quest  and whose bursts of violence are genuinely terrifying to witness .  br    br   as in noir  his anxiety has a psychological base  unlike most  healthy  heroes who have outgrown  symbolically killed  their fathers  mcadam  s father was killed before he could complete the process his chasing his brother is less moral revenge than an anguished protest against stunted growth . the climactic shoot  out is not cathartic mcadam staggers back into  normal  society  like he  s just witnessed some of the world  s most ghastly horrors .  br    br   what is most unsettling about the film is that it  s not really about a hero or a villain at all  but an inanimate piece of weoponry that drives the action .   opens with the gun of the title privileged  on display behind a glass window  while its admirers are trapped  squashed  undifferentiated  framed  admiring it outside . throughout the film  human power is reduced to the most arbitrary of signifiers  names change lin and dutch mime shooting each other because they  ve no guns quests lose their moral vitality and their practitioners veer close to madness armies have to ask for help from confederate strangers to fight battles a man becomes worthy of respect only when he mentions his name another man is revealed as a coward when he abandons his fiancee to the indians the gun retains its prestige  power  wholeness .  br    br   it  s not the revenge plot which drives the film  but the story of the gun this wrenches the film out of conventional expectations  and creates an eerie  alienating  modern feel . we become so caught up in the revenge plot that when we follow  with the gun  another plot entirely  we feel slightly bewildered .  br    br   this emphasis on the gun  symbol of potent masculinity  actually allows for a critique of that masculinity  revealing pointless elaborate rituals at the expense of society and order brute capitalist greed murderous indian  traders who defraud both seller and enemy cowards psychotic killers before returning to its  true  owner  a broken hero thoroughly compromised  who has become as murderous as the murderer he seeks . the gun is never imprinted with the name of its owner  not only because there is no fixed owner  but because there is no fixed masculinity  an insight anathema to the traditional western .  br    br     brilliantly invokes western myths  wyatt earp  dodge city  the cavalry  the civil war  the wide open west  only to undermine them . earp has an inflated reputation that is all name but never proven  dodge city is no safer against outlaws than anywhere else the cavalry is inept  custer has just lost little big horn  and the bitter feud of the war is shown to be irrelevant . the myth of the open west is a site for a very closed  inescapable  circular plot which traps its characters  refuses to allow them shape their destiny  but allowing it to shape them .  br    br   the old john ford silhouette of riders on a vast mountain is reprised  but signals here not progress but repetition and circularity . but for all its deconstruction  the film is also tangibly vivid in a way few westerns ever achieve . mann  s incisive technique intrudes his camera in crucial positions  alternating revealing distance with intense examination  making the saloon doors and stagecoaches seem thrillingly alive and lived in .  
this movie is deeply idiotic . a man wants revenge for a crime  but when he enacts his revenge  there is a video camera pointed right at him the entire time . what man with a brain cell in his head would sit there and do this for so long in front of a video camera   br    br   just the fact that this script could never even happen except with someone unable to dress themselves destroyed it for me  but it got dumber     br    br   i am thinking the script writers have some serious habits that are cooking their brain cells and making them miss plot holes you can drive an battalion of armored tanks through .  br    br   plot a man seeks revenge for the death of loved ones  but in the middle of the plot something goes totally wrong  and then the unexpected unfolds .  br    br   if only these people writing this story hadn  t been so dumb as to write totally unrealistic plot turns that could never happen this way . to the writers i say  seek help for your serious mental problem .  
for anthony mann the western was  legend   and  legend  makes the very best cinema  mann  s work was full of intensities and passions  visually dramatic  and the action always excitingly photographed . . .  br    br   stewart  a docile actor with the ability of displaying anger  neurosis and cruelty  made with anthony mann  five remarkable westerns  winchester       bend of the river   the naked spur   the far country  and  the man from laramie .   br    br   in  winchester      stewart reveals his darker side . . . he offers all the reserves of anger  inner ambivalence  and emotional complexity in his nature that his audiences had  up till this time  failed to catch . . .  br    br   a carefully chosen cast increases the proceedings in fine style shelley winters is at her saucy best dan duryea perfect as the vicious  sneering psychopathic villain john mcintire great as the unscrupulous character charles drake so good as the man who attempts to face his tormentor and a very young rock hudson  attempts the role of an indian chief . . .  br    br    winchester     is the story of a perfectly crafted and highly prized  rifle in the dodge city kansas of     . . . stewart and his estranged brother  who bears another name  stephen mcnally   compete fiercely for possession of it  and though stewart wins  mcnally steals it and sets off cross  country with stewart in pursuit . . . what gives the pursuit an element of the demonic  is stewart  s determination to revenge his father  s death at the hands of that same renegade brothera revenge fed by long  standing fratricidal hatred . . .  br    br   photographed in gorgeous black  white  the film comes on as powerful and arresting  acted with deep feeling and intense concentration  not only by stewart but by all the supporting characters . . .  br    br   look fast for a promising newcomer  tony curtis  the soldier who finds the rifle after the indian attack . . .  
the premise of the film is that thomas archer  s son was murdered and his wife was brutalized   and he is given a chance at revenge when  after post traumatic stress disorder therapy   he is put in a room with a man strapped to a chair and told this was the culprit . he is given a large table of implements with which to offer retribution drills  bats  nails  sledgehammers  torches  whatever you can think of that someone could possibly want to use to physically hurt another human being .  br    br   we go way too many scenes of torture before we figure out that the man archer is torturing is not the man who committed the crime . the two then create an uncomfortable alliance who put them in this situation and why .  br    br   well  when all is said and done  we don  t really care . . .  
my favorite movie genre is the western  it  s really the only movie genre that is of american origin . and despite sergio leone  no one does them quite like americans .  br    br   right at the top of my list of ten favorites westerns is winchester   . it was the first pairing and only black and white film of the partnership of director anthony mann and actor james stewart . it was also a landmark film in which stewart opted for a percentage of the profits instead of a straight salary from universal . many such deals followed for players  making them as rich as the moguls who employed them .  br    br   anthony mann up to this point had done mostly b pictures  noir type stuff with no real budgets . just before winchester   mann had done a fine western with robert taylor  devil  s doorway  that never gets enough praise . i  m sure james stewart must have seen it and decided mann was the person he decided to partner with .  br    br   in this film mann also developed a mini stock company the way john ford was legendary for . besides stewart others in the cast like millard mitchell  steve brodie  dan duryea  john mcintire  jay c . flippen and rock hudson would appear in future mann films .  br    br   it  s a simple plot  james stewart is obsessed with finding a man named dutch henry brown and killing him . why i won  t say  but up to this point we had never seen such cold fury out of james stewart on screen . anthony mann reached into jimmy stewart  s soul and dragged out some demons all of us are afraid we have .  br    br   the hate is aptly demonstrated in a great moment towards the beginning of the film . after stewart and sidekick millard mitchell are disarmed by wyatt earp played by will geer because guns aren  t carried in earp  s dodge city . there  s a shooting contest for a winchester rifle in dodge city and the betting favorite is dutch henry brown  played with menace by stephen mcnally . stewart  mitchell and geer go into the saloon and stewart and mcnally spot each other at the same instant and reach to draw for weapons that aren  t there . look at the closeups of stewart and mcnally  they say more than   pages of dialog .  br    br   another character stewart runs into in the film is waco johnny dean played by dan duryea who almost steals the film . this may have been duryea  s finest moment on screen . he  s a psychopathic outlaw killer who  s deadly as a left handed draw even though he sports two six guns .  br    br   another person stewart meets is shelley winters who  s fianc is goaded into a showdown by duryea and killed . her best scenes are with duryea who  s taken a fancy to her . she plays for time until she can safely get away from him . guess who she ultimately winds up with   br    br   there are some wonderful performances in some small roles  there ain  t a sour note in the cast . john mcintire as a shifty indian trader  jay c . flippen as the grizzled army sergeant and rock hudson got his first real notice as a young indian chief . even john alexander  best known as  theodore roosevelt  in arsenic and old lace has a brief  but impressive role as the owner of a trading post where both mcnally and stewart stop at different times .  br    br   mann and stewart did eight films together  five of them westerns  and were ready to do a sixth western  night passage when they quarreled and mann walked off the set . the end of a beautiful partnership that produced some quality films .  
thomas archer  ron eldard  has his child killed and his wife viciously attacked in a home invasion . dr . heller  christopher plummer  tries to help him through the post traumatic stress . then archer finds himself confronted with a man  til schweiger  bound and gagged to a chair . he is told this is the man who killed his child and attacked his wife and he can do whatever he likes to him . and there  s a large assortment of instruments there to help him . . .  br    br   film is interesting at first  and shows real restraint in terms of blood and gore  but gets stupider by the minute and has some highly unlikely plot twists and turns . it all ends in a final twist that was so old and stupid that i was shocked anyone would actually think of using it anymore . how such talented actors like eldard  schweiger and plummer got involved in crap like this is beyond me . this gets three stars for the acting but the stupid plot and truly unbelievable twists make this a chore to sit through .  
   has got to be the best spy  adventure series tv had ever aired . the whole idea of telling a story in a   hour real time period is dazzling . the style of filming and pacing is what hooks us to watch it . and jack bauer is one of the greatest protagonists in a tv series in a long time . i rate this  along with the simpsons and the x  files  my three most favorite tv series .  br    br   this first episode begins with the conspiracy to assassinate us senator david palmer who is also running for president . bauer is called to his office in order to discover who is behind all this and  at the same time  figure his daughter  s path to the unkwown after fleeing from her bedroom . thus  begins an adventure on the best political style and  what  s best of it  is that it always takes place in real time  which makes this tv series a real work of originality in a time where almost every program on tv seems to be showing us the same things over and over and over .  
i watched this film a long time ago  aprox   years or so  and liked it then . i remembered it the other day and decided to watch it again . the second time around was not pleasant . the acting is  so  so   the plot is illogical  unreasonable and predictable .  br    br   the acting . . . i  m sure it wasn  t a stretch for those actresses to play those characters . the plot . . . there  s no way in hell those women would have gotten away with the first robbery much less the  nd .  side note why did tt not realise that even if she came up with a load of money for her court date they would ask where she got it and she would have no logical answer  ding  ding . . . we have a crook   . it horribly stereotyped black women in saying basically that the only way black women can  beat the system  or obtain a large amount of money was to steal it and not use their intelligence or other resources . it plays too much on sympathy b  c all of them die in the end  bar jada  but it  s not sad  you  re thinking  they were so stupid they deserve to die  . you just don  t really care about the characters unless you  re a shallow person .  br    br   i can  t believe this film rates over a  .  
   is the best television show      it  s an incredible tv series with an incredible suspense  excellent plots and unforgettable characters . and the first episode of all is my best evidence . because it  s only the first episode  only the introduction  and you are hooked because of the plot and the continuous twists and turns .  br    br   jack bauer is a federal agent who is assigned the protection of the senator david palmer . he can  t trust in anybody because people of the ctu may be involved . and  when this events occurred his daughter kimberly escapes from house to a party . but . . .  br    br   at the end of the episode  you want to watch more  and more  and more .  br    br   it  s only the first of the lot  and it  s excellent .  
without a doubt one of the worst movies i  ve seen in recent years . the story focuses on four women driven to robbing banks who we are somehow supposed to sympathize with . it  s tough to sympathize with characters who keep making such stupid decisions . oh no  the cops are on to us  they know who we are  what do we do  . . . let  s rob one more bank then we  re outta here  what    every character is a stereotype and it  s easy to tell who  s gonna end up dead .  
the first time i saw this episode was like a shock to me  it was actually the first time i saw     . the speed things are happening is amazing  and it  s so surprising  thrilling  and even interesting  it  s almost as if you are reading a book once you start it  it  s very hard to stop . from the minute richard walsh was talking privately to jack about the possibility that they have a mole inside ctu  i was sitting     hours  which means   episodes     sounds funny and crazy  but i  m the kind of guy which when he is interested he just can  t stop  this series is one of the best of it  s kind . and it  s build in a way of having a few different stories that are being connected together . recommended in every way   
an interesting idea  four african american women crushed under society  s boot heel take their revenge by robbing banks  is ruined by f . gary gray  s horribly slow direction and an excruciating script  by takashi bufford and kate lanier  full of unintentionally funny moments . instead of delivering a pointed commentary about the role of urban women struggling to stay afloat in a world where men cruelly abuse and humiliate them  gray  bufford and lanier prefers to pummel their unsuspecting audience with highbrow notions of operatic tragedy . it  s melodrama at its worst . gray has his actors linger over every tired line and john carter  s lazy editing refuses to pick up the slack  choosing instead to keep his camera trained on the performers  bemused faces . and bemused they are although actors such as jada pinkett  kimberly elise and vivica a . fox have some raw talent  queen latifah is the fourth and as an actress she  s an excellent rapper   they need a surer hand than gray  s to guide them and as a result they come off as shrill and uncomfortable in front of the camera . steer clear .  
  addictive  is an adjective i  ve heard many times when talking of certain tv shows . most recently  dramas like lost  heroes and prison break have earned that description . however  as compelling as they may be  and they really are  i can wait a few days before i see the next episode of either series  even prison break which some have lazily classified as  the new    . with all due respect  there can be no such thing  and for a good reason no other silver  screen thriller is based on a real  time structure . that  s what sets   apart from any other show  and that  s why i practically have to watch an entire season  on dvd  in seven days or less once the frickin  clock starts ticking  it  s impossible to tune out .  br    br   an episode whose events unfolded over the course of a single day was a trademark of nypd blue  and  more recently  deadwood   having an entire season of a new series last   hours  one per ep  the actual running time is   minutes the remaining   are occupied by commercials when the show airs on telly   was the most groundbreaking idea in mainstream television since hill street blues introduced non  linear storytelling  a mandatory element nowadays  . and it truly paid off .  br    br   ironically enough  the original plan for the series was to make it revolve around a wedding  fortunately  creators joel surnow and robert cochran realized the format was more suitable for a conspiracy thriller   which is probably the reason the first glimpse we get of the hero suggests a cheerful atmosphere looking extremely relaxed  jack bauer  kiefer sutherland  is enjoying a game of chess with his daughter kimberly  elisha cuthbert  and  minutes later  being tender with teri  leslie hope   the wife with whom he has just reconciled . as in the sopranos  though  something unexpected and shocking is just behind the corner not only has kim snuck out of her room  jack also receives a phone call urging him to get to work immediately . at midnight  i  m afraid so bauer is a ctu  counter terrorist unit  agent  and his boss has acquired reliable intel about a possible hit on the life of david palmer  dennis haysbert   an african  american presidential candidate who will be in los angeles for the whole day  oh  right  i almost forgot events occur on the day of the california presidential primary  . no time for napping  then jack has to spend the next   hours working on the case . unfortunately  he has a tendency to ignore protocol  and that doesn  t sit well with george mason  xander berkeley   a slimy man from division who has been asked to interfere with the operation .  br    br   the plot is very dense  making the show hard to recommend for those with a short attention span  but anyone willing to take a look will be rewarded instantly the writing is sharp and precise  the attention to detail unsurpassed  and the suspense is consistently sky  high  mainly thanks to the real  time trickery which considerably enhances the adrenaline level .  br    br   another great quality of this pilot is the characterization most genre shows  sci  fi and thriller  tend to simply introduce the key players and then define them later on  a textbook example is csi  where character development is minimal  but then again that matches the show  s unique style   whereas the series debut of   offers a rich array of fully rounded people  among whom jack  sutherland  s best role  ever   and palmer  the real revelation of the show  stand out for being perfectly described after one episode only  the former divided between job and family  reckless but humane  the latter honorable and endowed with great integrity  . a couple of supporting parts border on stereotype  mason and tony almeida especially   but two factors ought to be taken into account a  this is the first episode b  there  s so much going on most viewers won  t even complain about a  flaw  or two . after all  how many network programs manage to begin with a conspiracy  a missing teenager and a huge explosion  and still have equally satisfying material for the rest of the season   br    br   tick  tock  tick  tock . . .  
after a lively if predictable opening bank  heist scene   set it off  plummets straight into the gutter and continues to sink . this is a movie that deals in nasty  threadbare stereotypes instead of characters  preposterous manipulation instead of coherent plotting  and a hideous cocktail of cloying sentimentality and gratuitous violence instead of thought  wit or feeling . in short  it  s no different from    of hollywood product . but it  s the racial angle that makes  set it off  a particularly saddening example of contemporary film  making . posing as a celebration of  sistahood   the film is actually a celebration of the most virulent forms of denigrating afican  american  gangsta  stereotype . the gimmick this time is that the gangstas are wearing drag . not only does the film suggest that gangsterism is a default identity for all african americans strapped for cash or feeling a bit hassled by the man  it presents its sistas as shallow materialists who prize money and bling above all else . worse   set it off  exploits the theme of racial discrimination and disadvantage simply as a device to prop up its feeble plot structure . serious race  related social issues are wheeled on in contrived and opportunistic fashion in order to justify armed robbery  then they  re ditched as soon as the film has to produce the inevitably conventional ending in which crime is punished  the lapd turns out to be a bunch of caring  guilt  ridden liberals  tell that to rodney king   and aspirational  good  sista  jada pinkett smith  follows the path of upward mobility out of the  hood and into a world of middle  class self  indulgence opened up for her by her buppie bank  manager boyfriend .  set it off  illustrates the abysmal state of the contemporary blaxploitation film  pandering to mindless gangsta stereotypes and pretending to celebrate life in the  hood while all the time despising it . while the likes of  shaft  and  superfly  in the     s might have peddled stereotypes and rehashed well  worn plots  they had a freshness  an energy and an innocence that struck a chord with audiences of all races and still makes them fun to watch .  set it off  wouldn  t be worth getting angry over if wasn  t a symptom of the tragic decline and ghettoisation of african  american film  making since the promising breakthrough days of the early     s .  
an insomniac  s nightmare is the story of a man  s plunge into insanity . having chronic insomnia  jack is plagued by hallucinations causing him to try and determine what is real and what isn  t .  br    br   we find out interesting things about jack near the end  and think that by the time the movie is over we will have a  happily ever after  hollywood ending . wrong . this is new york city  the place where nobody sleeps .  br    br   tess nanavati  writer and director  has herself a good film in  an insomniac  s nightmare  . a talented filmmaker and writer  she made this film right after her high school graduation   she has real potential and will be one to watch in the upcoming future .  br    br   as i watched this short film i was constantly uncomfortable between the music  bleak scenery  and realistic portrayal of an insomniac by dominic monaghan  as jack   i desperately wanted to turn this off at times just to escape from it .  
it  s the early   s . there  s a group of suspiciously old  looking teens . and there  s a maniac stalking around . yes  this is slasherville .  br    br   this movie is called pranks . why is it called pranks  i haven  t the faintest idea . unless your idea of a great prank is to repeatedly hit someone  s dinner with a baseball bat  on balance  not a great prank in fact quite a rubbish prank if truth be told . but there you go .  br    br   the film itself concerns a group of teenagers who are tasked with cleaning out a decommissioned dormitory . they become aware that a psychopath is on the loose . to combat this development  they split up and wander about in the dark . it ends in tears for most of them .  br    br   pranks is a badly made slasher movie . the dvd release i viewed was the vipco one . it appears to be cut of a fair bit of violence . this makes the dvd even more pointless because  let  s face it  a slasher movie shorn of violence is a waste of time . for slasher  film and video nasty completists only .  
on the day of the california presidential primary  between midnight and     am  the spy victor rovner sends a message from kuala lumpur to usa . meanwhile  in los angeles  the federal agent jack bauer has returned to his family and is having trouble at home with his teenage daughter kimberly  who blames her mother teri for putting jack out of the house . teri and jack decide to have a serious conversation with kim  and they discover that the girl has run away home . while trying to solve his domestic problem  jack is called to his counter terrorist unit by his colleague nina myers for a meeting with their chief richard walsh  who discloses a menace against the life of senator david palmer  who is running for president  and they need to find the shooter . later  walsh has a private conversation with jack and tells that there is a conspiracy in the agency against david palmer  and assigns jack to find the conspirators . when an airplane explodes over the mojave desert  jack has one additional issue to worry about .  br    br   the first episode of     is a promising beginning of a successful series  introducing jack bauer . this is the first time that i have watched this show and i confess that i liked what i have seen a complex and dramatic story  with multiple and realistic characters . kiefer sutherland is perfect in the role of a family man and a reliable agent in charge of three difficult missions at the same time find a killer to protect an important politician find a traitor in his agency and find his teenage daughter  who is getting in trouble  while trying to save his marriage . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil           
we all knew even before it aired  the ron moore mini  series is no battlestar galactica . that  s fine . it just means it must stand on its own . it can  t lean on battlestar galactica . if it  s any good  it  s good on it  s own merits  and ron moore has something to be proud of . if reports are true  this is what moore wanted . however  if his mini  series rots  he has shamed all the excellent actors that performed on  screen  not to mention the myriad off  screen personnel . and this is what he  s done .  br    br   yes  this mini  series is no remake . i wouldn  t even call it a re  imagining . it  s a new production  inspired by battlestar galactica . it does not take place in the galactica universe  with the same places and jargon and technology . it doesn  t tell of the galactica  s search for the thirteenth tribe . nor does it rely on the legends and mysteries that underpinned galactica . ron moore  s mini  series is a space  opera  action flick with a ceremonial nod to battlestar galactica .  br    br   maybe i should say   just another  space  opera  action flick . because as plots go  his has little that  s original  or even interesting . i could relay the whole thing to you without a spoiler warning . but i won  t inflict that on you . i  ll just hit the most important point . ready now  here it is just watch the trailer . it will tell you everything there is in the story .  br    br   yes  creations of man turn on man and seek to destroy man .  i guess they forgot azimov  s rules  again .  they look like humans  so there  s the whole aliens  among  us thing . at least there  s no time  travel . oh  and lots of fighting scenes and random acts of sex and violence . the end result was that when moore did draw from galactica  that ceremonial nod  it came off more corny than respectful . i mean  couldn  t he even think up anything of his own   br    br   from the first few minutes  i wanted to watch something else . i didn  t care about any of moore  s characters  since i couldn  t identify with any of them . this fact hit me in the face when the cylons began their attack . armageddon on a planetary scale  and i didn  t give a damn . how depressing .  br    br   moore  s heroes when faced with an insurmountable obstacle  instead of overcoming it  rather tucked tail and saved their own butts . after all  it was the only way to save humanity  yadda yadda yadda . they took the safe way out  rather than risking their own lives to defend others . at least disgust is not apathy .  br    br   but in the end  the ron moore mini  series was just activity without purpose  a movie on a treadmill  forever running yet going nowhere . and i just wanted it to be over . and by the time it was over  my life  force had been sucked from me . against my own will  i was turning into a mindless  soulless zombie  probably of the type to which this mini  series would appeal . i needed to replenish myself . i needed to  and i swear this is true  i needed to watch an episode of babylon  . two episodes  in fact  and i felt much better . and happier .  
i was never a big fan of television until i watched   for the first time . i got into the series very late . season  ended before i even saw my very first episode . it was an episode of series  that was on my parents dvr  digital video recorder  box while i was house sitting for the weekend . it took that one episode for me to be hook line and sinker into the world of jack bauer . and boy was i hooked   i watched the next six episodes without blinking an eye . the next day i went to blockbuster and signed up for an unlimited month pass for twenty something dollars and needless to say it has been the greatest blockbuster money i  ve ever spent . i watched the first three seasons in three weeks . that  s   forty minute episodes    i will say that finding out what happens next is easier on dvd than waiting an entire week . i can only imagine the anticipation of watching season  week to week   i find it mildly torturous and cruel but i  m going to give it a try and watch it just like the rest of america   the dvr is set and you can bet i  ll be chomping at the bit    
don  t you just hate it when you order steak but the restaurant gives you chicken   br    br   such is how i felt watching this so  called  battlestar galactica  . arguments can be made over its quality but the fact remains  it  s not what the fans ordered .  br    br   imagine if you were sitting down at that proverbial restaurant i mentioned . you have waited years for them to bring back their famous new york strip steak which you loved . when your meal arrives  you find they  ve applied the name  new york strip  to a chicken dish . you complain but the waiter merely states  but ze cheeken  ees really good zir   do you really care if the chicken is good  you wanted new york strip  a steak  the waiter then explains   you zee zir  ze chef wanted to to do  as you zay  zomezing new . we felt ze cheeken would be more popular zo we gave it the name of our previous delicious deesh  . you ask if you will ever find the original new york strip on the menu in the future but are informed that because the restaurant has a dish called  new york strip  now on the menu  you  ll never see the original new york strip  ever again .  br    br   such is the case with creating something new and slapping the  battlestar galactica  namesake on it .  br    br    this mini series is an affront to all fans of the original show    br    br   it  s a shame the production team put in charge of this new version obviously held contempt for the original . the team put in charge of resurrecting bg should have loved the original series  seeking to improve what the fans loved  not try to shamelessly sell this new series by exploiting the battlestar galactica name .  br    br   if scifi channel wanted to give us a new show  then do so  give it a new name  don  t use the name we fondly remember in an attempt to lure in viewers . that effectively robs us of the chance to see any semblance of the original in the future .  br    br   we have been waiting for   years to see what we knew as bg because we liked something about the original  we didn  t simply want the name and remnants of the basic concept . there are things we loved about the original series   br    br   sadly  probably the best elements of the original were those which were omitted . sure  the original bg was imperfect and could have used some updating . this mini series  however  was not an improvement in any regards but the special effects  which were good but not anything unusual by today  s standards  .  br    br   many viewers will debate back and forth about the quality of this new show but we will not forgive scifi and ron moore for destroying our dream .  br    br   that being said . . . i shall offer some comments about the merits of this new mini by itself  not in comparison to the original    br    br   the battle sequences were the best part . effort was obviously put into making the effects more  real  in appearance and less  wow  look at that effect  . i would not say these sequences were exceptional by today  s standards yet they were in keeping with made  for  cable original movies . what was the deal with this  pseudo  live  cam   some views tried to fake the effect of a  real  camera with lagging tracking and jerky zooms . however  it was over  used considering there was no apparent source of these cameras . the infinitely more intelligent series  babylon   is the only instance i  ve seen such  live cams  used effectively  when we were supposedly witnessing action from security cams .  br    br   the script  you ask  the script felt like it was written by a teenager  for other teenagers . the characters felt cardboard and stereotypical . indeed  the whole story felt pieced together from other well  known stereotypes . the only good features of the entire story were those few elements which were preserved from the original series . it was obviously  dumbed down  for digestion of your average tv audience .  br    br   the human interaction was pitiful . rather than drama based on subtle looks  expressions and fine timing  every moment of human tension was exaggerated to the point of being so obvious they lost all ability to move any refined viewer . such was obvious in any interaction between adama and son . the director must have been trying to make sure the most dense and unfeeling viewer wouldn  t miss it even if not paying attention . sorry  but real humans don  t behave like the continually .  br    br   i wouldn  t have considered this a bad show had it stood on its own . nothing great it will never be revered by true scifi fans or artisans  but it would be watchable by the masses . i personally could have lived without it  though . i only watched it to see how it really did capture the spirit of the original .  br    br   how this mini series will always be remembered is as a symbol of how quality in storytelling has been cast aside to appeal to greater numbers . how even scifi channel has  dumbed down  its productions to cater to the masses as opposed to its true niche market  the science fiction fans . it will be the time we asked for steak and they insisted on giving us chicken  despite our complaints .  br    br   i leave you with only one thought   br    br   no  moore  .  br    br    
in new york  when the shy and lonely project manager of a design firm matt saunders  luke wilson  meets jenny johnson  uma thurman  in the subway  he invites her to date and have dinner with him . jenny immediately falls in love for him  they have sex and she discloses her true identity to him  telling that she is the powerful superhero g  girl . after meeting his co  worker and friend hannah lewis  anna faris   the needy jenny becomes jealous  controlling and manipulative  and matt follows the advice of his best friend vaughn haige  rainn wilson  and dumps her  breaking her heart . jenny turns matt  s life into hell  while he has a romance with hannah . however  the archenemy of g  girl and former high school sweetheart of jenny  professor bedlam  eddie izzard   proposes matt to lure jenny to strip her superpowers .  br    br    my super ex  girlfriend  is delightfully silly and funny . this romantic comedy  adventure has many hilarious moments and is very entertaining . luke wilson is great in the role of an idiot  anna farris is extremely sexy as usual  and uma thurman is great in the role of a deranged neurotic superhero that recalls glenn close in  fatal attraction  or evelyn draper in  play misty for me  . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    minha super ex  namorada    my super ex  girlfriend    
the most horrible retelling of a great series . it should not have been named battlestar galactica  because it  s only the same in name alone . too many changes to just have changes . you have characters turned from male to female  black to asian to cylon all in a way to  attract female audiences   when there was already strong female characters that could have just been made stronger . gone are the egyptian feeling . gone are the quest for earth . the lack of cylons to go to terminator rejects takes away from the film  especially when one is made a fembot . granted the original show had a lot of cheese to it  but it had a large following . they tried to hold onto this following but give the fans nothing to work with and basically spit in their face as they make it  their own story .  changes are good  when they make something better  not to just make them .  
this is one of those movies that make better trailers than full  length feature films . the concept was really cool and different  the humor was unique  i just felt there were missed opportunities to put the  punch  into this movie . so many lines and gags were left hanging too long  with no definite ending and really didn  t leave me laughing . wilson  wilson  farris  thurman were great . wanda sykes was under  used in this film and needed more exposure  and more opportunities to spin her character into more screen time .  out of   for me  more of a dvd rental . also  i was looking for some sort of a feel  good music video during the end credits  something that has become sort of a trade  mark to these romantic comedy films  a la something about mary  meet the parents but again  i was left feeling a little cheated by fact that this could have been a much better film with a little more music and punchier punch lines . it felt like it was rushed into theaters .  
rating  out of    br    br   as this mini  series approached  and we were well aware of it for the last six months as sci  fi channel continued to pepper their shows with bg ads  i confess that i felt a growing unease as i learned more .  br    br   as with any work of cinematic art which has stood up to some test of time  different people go to it to see different things . in this regard  when people think of battlestar galactica  they remember different things . for some it is the chromium warriors with the oscillating red light in their visor . for others  it is the fondness that they held for special effects that were quite evolutionary for their time . many forget the state of special effects during the late   s  especially those on television . for some the memories resolve around the story arc . others still remember the relationships how how the relationships themselves helped overcome the challenges that they faced .  br    br   frankly  i come from the latter group . the core of battlestar galactica was the people that pulled together to save one another from an evil empire . yes  evil . the cylons had nothing to gain but the extermination of the human race yet they did it . while base stars were swirling around  men and women came together to face an enemy with virtually unlimited resources  and somehow they managed to survive until the next show . they didn  t survive because they had better technology  or more fire power . they survived because they cared for and trusted each other to get through to the next show .  br    br   the show had its flaws  and at times was sappy  but they were people you could care about .  br    br   the writers of this current rendition seemed to never understand this . in some ways he took the least significant part of the original show  the character  s names and a take on the story arc and crafted what they called nothing less than a reinvention of television science fiction . since that was their goal  they can be judged on how well they accomplished it failure . it was far from a reinvention . in fact it was in many ways one of the most derivitive of science fiction endeavors in a long time . it borrows liberally from sttng  stds   babylon   and even battlefield earth . i find that unfortunate .  br    br   ronald d . moore has been a contributor to popular science fiction for more than a decade  and has made contribution to some of the most popular television science fiction that you could hope to see . one of the difficulties that he appears to have had was that there could be no conflict in the bridge crew of the enterprise d  e . that was the inviolable rule of roddenberry  s sttng . like many who have lived under that rules of others who then take every opportunity to break the rules when they are no longer under that authority  ron moore seems to have forgotten some of the lessons he learned under the acknowledged science fiction master gene roddenberry . here  instead of writing the best story possible  he has created a dysfuntional cast as i have ever seen with the intent of creating as much cast conflict as he could . besides being dysfunctional  some of it was not the least bit believable . anyone who has ever been in the military knows that someone unprovokedly striking a superior officer would not get just a couple of days  in hack   they could have gotten execution  and they never would have gotten out the next day . it wouldn  t have happened  period  especially in time of war .  br    br   the thing that i remembered most of ron moore  s earlier work was that he was the one who penned the death of capt . james kirk . he killed capt . kirk  and  alas for me  he has killed battlestar galactica .  
this movie was one of the funniest movie i  ve seen in years and the laughs from the audience members support me . not since my big fat greek wedding       has the laughter been as spontaneous and intense . easily has intricate as last year  s mr . and mrs . smith       in its use of parody  espionage in mr . and mrs . smith and sex in my super ex  girlfriend  . director  s ivan reitman balance between comedy and drama  between crazy and downright ludicrous is great . never does the shock and dramatic serious crack the rule of comedy . at the same time  this predictable romantic comedy never loses its touching emotional elements even if the ending is broadcast in advance . in some ways  it  s so evident that it  s great to see how it plays out . just like in real life  sometimes the truth is so evident that one can  t really see it . easily eight out of ten stars ranking up there with tootsie       . possibly a nine  depends on how it appears on a second viewing  .  
i have yesterday seen the second part . and i must say  it was actually better then the first one . at the begin  i realized  it is actually a sequel  not a remake but not a good one . i do not like the old movies and series of galactica  because the cylons saw like toasters  just as it was mentioned in this new movie  and were completely harmless for the old galactica . this movie turns the sides  the humans were harmless but the whole movie was for me completely chaotic and stupid . many scenes were unnecessary  for instance the story of the  computer expert   completely a crap . if i were a scriptwriter i would leave him die in his house  killed by the cylon woman . and the evacuation from the planet  oh  please if it would be bombed by   megatons  why exactly   mt    nukes  they would be dead killed by the radiation . and how is it actually possible that the big fleet of cylon was completely hidden before the attack  aha  it was possibly this computer virus  created by the cylon  the script was probably written by ten  years  old school boy . the good side of the movie is  that the humans are at last defeated   really defeated  the population is near the extinction  children are dieing  two times explicit in the movie  . a baby    maybe one month old and a girl in age of max ten  what a violence . . .  . and the bad  asses won and i think it is the first time in such sci  fi galaxy fight movie . i also appreciate the design of the cylons  not only of the humanoid cylon   a good job with these ships  i like the design of the ships by both of them  human an cylons . the human ships are a good never version of the old ones . and galactica  really pretty with these docks  i liked that . but this is all  only the design is not enough . the acting was really bad  the whole plot was expectable  only two things not  the human  cylon on the ragnardocks and the human  cylon at the end  . the dialogs were trivial  and in the slovak dabbing just stupid  but that is not fault of the movie  . the whole movie looked like a pilot film for a series  but who would shoot such series  what it would be about  one star for the design the second one for the near extinction of humanity .  
my super x  girlfriend is one hell of a roller coaster ride . the special effects were excellent and the costumes uma thurman wore were hubba buba . uma thurman is an underrated comedic actress but she proved everyone wrong and nailed her role as the lunatic girlfriend . she was just simply fabulous    luke wilson was also good as the average joe but he was a brave man to work with one of the greatest actresses of all time . the supporting cast was also superb especially anna faris who was extremely good  a lot better than in the scary movie franchise  .  br    br   ivan rietman did very well in directing this film because if it wasn  t for him and uma thurman this film wouldn  t have done so well . this film is clearly a      for it  s cast  uma thurman   it  s director  it  s screenplay and from it  s original plot line . this film is very highly recommended .  
i fail to see the appeal of this series  which is supposed to be sci  fi  . it  s really just  let  s see what soap operatically happens this week  and oh  the cylons are involved through flashbacks .  br    br   the cylon  babe  that keeps nailing the other guy is pretty lame  it  s pretty obvious that ta was added to the show . every time she pops up i  m bewildered as to wtf is supposed to be going on . and don  t even try to bullsht me about  story arcs  .  br    br   it  s a soap opera with some cgi thrown  in . this is not science fiction aside from the original premise .  br    br   this series is not everything it  s worked  up to be . if you like trendy  edgy  dodgy  jumpy  vague editor  on  crack camera work  this show might be for you . since nerds seem to be raving about this show  it  s a clear indication that vocal nerds  opinions have been changed from picard  s tng .  
i got to say that uma thurman is the sexiest woman on the planet . this movie was uber cute and i mean uber cute . it had all the  sex  content that most ivan reitman comedies have but with something a lil extra  chemistry . uma and luke both have this awkrawrd but believable chemistry that seem to transcend in each scene . both seem to create this odd  twisted and interesting relationship with powerful  sexual  tension that you laugh until you can  t feel your face anymore . anna farris and the rest of the supporting cast seem to play off each other  s roles perfectly and even wanda sykes  rather small role will keep you laughing . though these kind of comedies aren  t for everybody  but i have to say i went with a person that doesn  t usually enjoy these films and he was laughing like crazy . this movie is certainly not for everyone . especially younger children since some moments are little too . . . well lets say adult for younger viewers . all in all i was pleasantly surprised by this movie  tough the ending i found was a little weak compared to the rest of the film .       out of     
sorry  but every time i see a film wherein a woman sucker  punches a man and the man does nothing but cower  the film looses all credibility . so the new  female  starbuck immediately tainted the plot before it even got off the ground  no pun intended  . dirk benedict was so much more plausible as the sensitive hero  type than the new  age kattee sackhoff   whose overacting will probably be henceforth lauded as  a compelling  exciting  must  see  ground  breaking performance   by the politically correct new  speak of today  s review copy editors but in essence  it is just a tired  old image of a woman with a chip on her shoulder as big as a townhouse the biggest clich on screens today . i may give this series one more shot  but human caricatures alone will not keep me tuned in . as james hilton once bemoaned   a story  please just give me a story .   
my super ex  girlfriend is an entertaining movie no more no less .  br    br   the story is quiet simple . matt saunders  luke wilson  meets jenny  uma thurman  on the subway and hooks up with her . in the beginning of their relationship everything seems to be ok  but then matt finds out that she  s g  girl . at first that seems really cool to matt but it turns out that g  girl is very jealous and needy . so he decides to break up with her and hook up with his colleague hannah  anna faris  . this makes g  girl very mad and she starts to avenge herself on her former boyfriend .  br    br   what i liked most in the movie are the scenes where g  girl avenges herself on matt . it was also nice to see anna faris in another role then her character from the scary movie saga .  br    br   i give this movie a  out of   and recommend it to anybody who likes a nice comedy .  
avoid this one  unless you want to watch an expensive but badly made movie . example  the sound is good but the dialogue is not clear  a cardinal sin in a french film .  br    br   this film attempts to combine western  drug intrigue and ancien regime costume epic . what  well  consider this . the cowboy music is hilarious during sword fights . or how about the woman in her underwear  holding a knife and jumping up and down on the bed   br    br   someone should do a  what  s up tiger lily  on this bomb . rewrite the script and then either dub or subtitle it . heck  it  s almost that now .  btw  gerard depardieu and carole bouquet  both known to american audiences  have roles .   
of those comments here before mine  i mostly agree with edyarb  s . the story and the script apparently had potential to be funny  but though managing at some points  in other places it failed . you could see them wanting to make a joke  but no one in the audience laughed .  also agree with edyarb  s view on the end credits leave it normal or make it cool  but not what they  ve done now .   br    br   ok  that gives a more negative feeling than what i actually had watching the movie . i enjoyed it it was pleasant entertainment for a night and definitely didn  t feel like a waste of money to get the ticket . the best jokes are the ones that go a little bit outside of the expected and are fairly mature  like luke wilson  s character matt asking the super chick  pnis or bed   when she told him she  d  get him a new one  after a wild night in bed  ending up breaking the bed and leaving matt sore .  br    br   i cannot  however  agree with bgs      who says that the film could earn an  r  rating  there was absolutely nothing in the film to justify that . some sexual acts yes  but nothing explicit  only humorous  and no nudity whatsoever .  maybe he was at a prescreening that showed more . . .   i  d like to compare this to two recent films i went to see with no expectations whatsoever superman returns and click . i didn  t really expect anything from either one  i was a big fan of the original superman films and the trailer for click only showed it as a potentially chauvinistic  which i wouldn  t oppose  film . superman surprised me with actually having me feel good  goosebumps   about seeing his first heroic deed  like seeing a long lost friend and feeling happy about it . but for the rest of the story i  d rather watch my super ex  girlfriend  at least it offers some surprises . click again was a total surprise  much better and deeper than the trailer and about five minutes away from being a really excellent movie . the jokes also work much better than in ex  girlfriend  both the naughty ones and the more advanced ones .  br    br   anyway  the only reason i compared these three films is that they are the three last ones i  ve seen  within a very short period  and also because i went to all of these with basically no expectations at all . i  d rank them click  girlfriend  superman .  
this is one of the worst movies i saw  i dunno what are the reasons for shoting suck a crap . don  t waste your time watching this . good actors  but extremely bad screenplay and dialogues . hope there  ll be no blanche     avoid this movie by all means   
well  this is an ivan reitman film . with the rare exception  ivan likes to entertain . his films generally aren  t  deep   but they are often entertaining enough . my super ex  girlfriend surprised me in that i laughed more than i thought i would . uma thurman is just so grand  and i love her portrayals . i like luke wilson too  and rainn wilson was a straight hoot . never taking itself seriously  the film is over the top and yet isn  t very unique  nor does it go where no one has gone before . . . . it  s a nice rent though and probably an ok date movie  especially if you have a headache and don  t want to strain your brain . it  s escapist fun and there  s nothing wrong with that . when you strip away the  super  girl  stuff  you  re left with a story about relationships  and relationships gone bad . it  s a boy meets girl  boy leaves girl thing . and in the end  the characters are looking for love . not all of them take being  dumped  as well as they could . . . . a slice of life with a twist .  
i went to see this a few days ago  and it  s hard to forget that film . . . for the wrong reasons . this film is supposed to be funny  it  s not  not a single laugh in the theatre  perhaps for jos garcia and grard depardieu   and it  s boring  boring  boring . it was even hard sometimes to understand what they were saying . they just talk to fast and don  t open their enough for us to understand . i was with a friend and more than  or  times i caught myself saying after a line that was supposed to be funny  what  what did he say   and i  m french . i hate to say that  given the fact that i think good films are made here  but i apologise in advance for all foreigners who will go see the film  if ever shown outside of france  .  br    br   we  re deeply sorry for that crp .      
this movie draws you in and gets you hooked on keeping your eyes on the screen . the writer  director is brilliant with the narrative parts and the use of creative and interesting camera angles and perspectives which all add to the gripping hold it will have on you . insomniac  s nightmare is original and refreshingly different from any other movie you have seen . is it a dream or reality  this indie will have you discussing the twists and turns it takes through the conscious and subconscious . it has an eery feel with it  s dark interpretations of illusions . dominic monaghan really became the insomniac . he is a great actor who is not hard on the eyes either  he really poured his whole being into this role . from the storyline to the way it is shot makes this indie one of my favorites . i recommend it highly and eagerly await to see more from this innovative  creative writer  director  cinematographer     
i heard so much about this movie how it was a great slasher and one of those early    s movies that die hard fans of most slasher movies just had to see . well  i rented it and i have to say that although it kept my attention as far as the suspense goes for most slasher films such as  april fools day    friday   th  and  prom night   this film could have been right up there with the above mentioned only it lacked true enthusiasm and potential from the characters as well as the on going story . characters that i found were unfortunate to be in this movie was the weirdo guy with the frizzy hair that kept creeping around the dorm and of course leading up to his true climatic role during the end with he faces the killer . another would be the dirty scruffy looking guy with the jean jacket  he could have played more roles in this movie that might have made the movie more interesting  instead  the movie played this guy as just another loser out there making unknown calls while he sleeps with his girlfriend and then drops his part and cuts him off until the end which was a waste  i was disappointed in his part in the end . as far as the true identity of the killer goes  when the identity was released as to who he was  i just laughed  but it was all to obvious and he really made a true jerk out of himself as well as an annoying character after his true intentions were revealed . this movie should be one to at least watch once for all slasher fans but don  t spend your hard earned money on it in some rare hard to find collectors inventory .  
a guy desperate for action attempts to hit on a gorgeous girl in a bus . she refuses him  but when he runs after someone who tries to steal her purse they get together anyway . and there it starts  a relation that is slightly tainted by the fact that she is a jealous and neurotic superhero . it can  t be a secret that things between them are going to be problematic .  br    br   in short  a story that could promise to grow out into a cool film . and imo  it succeeds at being a nice film . it  s no masterpiece  but it had me in tears from laughing on more than one occasion  the two lead characters twirl around each other in a crazy love fest that is  even with the superhero thing going  believable .  br    br   so . thin story  but worked out really funny and thus worthy of cinema time .  br    br    out of   broken hearts  
after watching the first   mn of blanche  sorry i couldn  t take more of it   i have now confirmed she does not .  br    br   basically  this  movie  is an insult to the real french actors participating in this farcical piece of junk . it starts from a concept successfully used in french comedies   deux heures moins le quart avant jesus christ    la folie des grandeurs   . . .   a historical movie with anachronic tone  dialogues . this can give brilliant results if supported by brilliant actors and a  finesse  of direction avoiding the dreaded  heavy comedy  stigma .  br    br   unfortunately  the horsey  faced lou doillon ruins everything and blanche  instead of a comedy  just turns into an horror movie . horror to cinephiles who want to be puzzled and shocked watching fine actors such as decaune  zem or rochefort struggling in the middle of this gaudy burlesque kitchy  prissy farce .  
the title got my attention and then i wondered what will come out in the plot  as we have seen so many  super  people  movies these years . . . and in fact  i really liked it  as there were a number of unusual funny scenes that i didn  t expect . uma thurman performed as average in g  girl  s role . surprisingly  i was again able to watch her toes in wide screen  like in the beginning of kill bill  . luke wilson however played very well the idiot everyday guy who meets the big woman  i could really get into his situation . if you want a light touch of fun  you should definitely watch g  girl  s and average matt  s adventures  especially to cheer up your partner .     in my collection .  
i completely agree with the other comment someone should do a what  s up tiger lily with this film .  br    br   it has to be one of the worst french films i  ve seen in a long time  actually along with brotherwood of the wolves   horrendous films in a much too short period of time  .  br    br   it  s really sad because the cast is really interesting and the original idea kind of fun . antoine decaunes in particular and jean rochefort being among my darlings  i was bitterly disappointed to see them compromised in such a poor film .  br    br   lou doyon is quite bad  as usual which goes to prove that a pretty face and famous parents can get you into the movies but they don  t necessarily give you talent .  br    br   avoid this film  if you want to laugh watch an alain chabat instead or some nice period piece full of fun like la fille de d  artagnan .  
my super ex girlfriend turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me  i was really expecting a horrible movie that would probably be stupid and predictable  and you know what  it was  but this movie did have so many wonderful laughs and a fun plot that anyone could get a kick out of . i know that this was a very cheesy movie  but uma and anna were just so cool and steve was such a great addition along with a great cast that looked like they had so much fun and that  s what made the movie really work .  br    br   jenny johnson  scary  that  s my best friend  s actual name  is not your typical average librarian looking woman  when matt  your average male  asks her out  he  s in for more than he expected  he  s asked g  girl out on a date  the super hero of the world  but when he finds out what a jealous and crazy girl she really is and decides that it may be a good idea that they spend some time apart  but jenny won  t have it since he  s fallen for another girl  hannah  and she will make his life a living hell  i mean  let  s face it  he couldn  t have chosen a better girl to break up with .  br    br   the effect were corny  but you seriously move past them quickly  the story and cast made the story really work and i loved uma in this movie  it was such a step up from prime . my super ex girlfriend is a fun movie that you shouldn  t really take seriously  it  s just a cute romantic comedy that i think if i could get a laugh out of it  anyone could .  br    br        
how can such good actors like jean rochefort and carole bouquet could have been involved in such a . . . a . . . well  such a thing  i can  t get it . it was awful  very baldy played  but some of the few leading roles   the jokes are dumb and absolutely not funny . . . i won  t talk more about this movie  except for one little piece of advice  do not go see it  it will be a waste of time and money .  
a big surprise  probably because i was expecting it to suck . the reviews were pretty dismissive of it  even though they all seemed to agree that the concept was golden a man finds out his new girlfriend is a super hero  and finds  when he wants to break up with her  that she  s kind of a psycho . i kept expecting it to fall apart  but it never really did . sure  it doesn  t make as much of its awesome premise as it could  and chooses to be short when it might have been better to expand the film  s universe . but i can  t blame it for that . uma thurman is great as the bipolar superhero  g  girl . and i  ve discovered  after several years of disliking him  that luke wilson can be absolutely perfect when cast as a schlub . he  s given two of the best comic performances of      the other in the pretty much unreleased idiocracy  . i absolutely cracked up at the expressions on his face when he and thurman first have sex . it  s one of the funniest sex scenes ever . my only real complaint is that they make g  girl a bit too much of a psycho  like almost unbelievably so . maybe with some background i could have accepted it better . i can forgive its flaws  though  because i had a really good time watching it . underrated  for sure .  
the japanese have always had incredible ambitions in their fantasy movies . they have always been ready to destroy cities by huge plastic monsters coming from outer space and elsewhere . the problem is they have never had the money to succeed in making convincing special effects . this film  released in france under the title les envahisseurs de l  espace  is no exception . its ambition is to show three creatures from the giant octopus to the giant lobster trying to have the upper hand on the humans . it  s extremely awkward and laughable  but well quite enjoyable too . after all  we do like these creatures and these films after all  don  t we   
on paper this looked like a great concept average guy on the rebound dates up tight bookish museum curator  who is really a hot superhero who saves the world on a regular basis . however  director ivan reitman and writer don payne  of the  simpson  s   almost fatally miscalculate in having their hero g  girl  played by striking uma thurman  come off as a total nut job as both superhero and secret identity persona jenny johnson . the movie even cops to this in a conversation between jenny and matt saunders  luke wilson  following his rescue by g  girl from the statue of liberty . jenny curiously asks matt what was g  girl like . matt replies   she  s kind of nutty  i think the intent was to have jenny  thurman  be this lonely young woman  who has no one in her life  isolated by her great physical powers . thurman does the best she can  but her jenny is a terrifying mood swing in dire need of prozac . luke wilson is way too breezy in the role reversal of boyfriend and superhero girl friend .  br    br    my super ex  girlfriend  is also a victim of bad timing  coming on the tail end of  superman returns  which plays superhero straight up  so to speak . with all its quirks and inconsistent writing i still thought  my super ex  girlfriend  was funny and enjoyed the movie . given that this is an ivan reitman movie  this could have been a lot better . reitman starts with a great premise  and really squanders it . first off  we all love the hero . here neither jenny nor g  girl is really all that likable . this is surprising for uma thurman  who is normally a charismatic and powerful presence . in the beginning her jenny  g  girl is just plain weird . shocking . because if there is a woman who can play a superhero  she is thurmanshe looks great . only toward the end does her jenny become more sympathetic  instead of caricature . although  my super ex  is not a straight superhero story  rather a romantic comedy of sorts  it does not provide what every superhero mythology requiresa great super villain . here we have professor bedlam aka barry  eddie izzard  who really is evil lite . he is no lex luthor . no plans for global domination . bedlam rather barry does hold a grudge against g  girl  and expectedly it has to do with their shared past . what is bizarre you don  t know who you would rather spend time withbedlam or g  girl  luke wilson  s matt is just  some dude  who happens to hook up with the psycho superhero . one of the annoying things he does is that he confides in his repugnant loser friend vaughn  rainn wilson doing a bad whacked out impersonation  . wilson sometimes plays it a little too dense  and this dilutes his likable charm . this does however work  in the comic sex scene with jenny . matt while dating jenny  g  girl realizes that he is in love with his co  worker hannah  perky anna faris  . so how does matt break up with g  girl  well  it  s not pretty and for the most part hilarious .  br    br   dramatic superhero movies work . romantic comedies with chemistry work . what may be inherently difficult are superhero satires disguised as romantic comedies . everyone loves the hero . however  hero nut job  maybe not . with all uma thurman  s talent she is unable to accomplish this convincingly . and she does not get sufficient support from reitman and payne . thurman and wilson have enough charm and presence to survive their narrative failings .  my super ex  girlfriend  is fun and funny . though given all involved  the movie could have been super .  
i usually check out the mtv movie awards to watch a witty  entertaining show that delivers a unique award show  chewbacca winning a life  time achievement award as example  . so this year was no different . while i  m not a fan of justin timberlake  seann william scott has always been funny  albiet stupid  to me . i  ve laughed at stiffler in both american pie movies  and even enjoyed him in dude where  s my car  . but the mtv movie awards were simply horrible . nothing was coherrent  humorous  or entertaining . justin timberlake should stick to singing and dancing he sure as hell can  t act .  br    br   i  m curious as to who the writers were for this show . last year  s performance by jack black and sarah michelle gellar was extremly funny  the lord of the rings parody alone was worth watching the entire show   but this year was completly different . did anyone understand timberlake  s comments regarding luke wilson and kate hudson   they  re staring in a movie together  but have never met  here they are . . .   where was the joke  kate and luke just went into their lame dialogue  never making a reference to the  joke  by timberlake . and seann was completly wasted as a talent  not even causing me to smile  yet alone laugh . and what was the point of harrison ford  s one  liners  did they make any sense to anyone  perhaps the mtv writers figured the young viewers would only know the aging ford as han solo  indiania jones  or the president from air force one . i  m baffled . and would someone tell me the deal with adrian brody  how old is this guy and how old does he think he is  the guy looks    trying to act   again . . . . give it up  show some class  like in your best actor academy award speech  and act your age   br    br   i give this show  star out of   simply because of the speech by gollam for best visual performance . this was very creative  extremely well done  and caused the only genuine laugh of the entire evening .  
this movie answers the question  how does a relationship survive when your girlfriend is codependent  clinging  needy  jealous . . and has powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal women   br    br   without spoiling the movie  i can safely assure you it does not  but there  s great fun to be had along the way . uma thurman is perfect as the mercurial super  heroine  an uber  babe  mysteriously named g  girl  who unlike most in her sisterhood  is not always dedicated to truth  justice  and the american way .  br    br   thurman is also believable as the thoroughly daft  yet somehow still fetching  curator jenny . when she is dumped for a less endowed but more emotionally secure and well adjusted rival  g  girl goes ballistic  and what follows is not pretty . it  s funny  but it  s not pretty . .  br    br   it  s a delightful premise  hell hath no fury like a super  heroine scorned  and those involved don  t altogether carry it off  but it has its moments  and i think i  ll get the dvd .  br    br   i liked this movie . .  
this was the worst mtv movie awards ever    i barely laughed  none of the presenters were funny  the hosts really sucked  and the parodies weren  t so great either . why can  t we go back to the good olden days when the show was a riot   
overall i was rather impressed with the pilot . the initial first fifteen minutes were worrying  as it did feel the creators were trying to create a science fiction version of the o . c but this fear is rectified when a terrorist incident occurs and from here the show steps into themes and situations that i very rarely see television tackle .  br    br   bsg dealt with themes such as monotheism  existentialism  reality  death and terrorism but they were primarily subtext  there for the viewer to contemplate on or ignore if they so choose . here on the other hand these subjects are the focus of the show and i personally found myself evoking such works as ghost in the shell and the matrix as reference points while watching and being surprised by how well the themes were being discussed . i think if you are a fan of the two i just mentioned or other films  television shows  which deal with the subjects i referenced  i think you will find at least something here .  br    br   in terms of a starting point to explain how the situation we know in bsg came about i believe they handled it in a very interesting way  i especially liked how they explained where the cylon  s belief in one god came from and the creation of caprica had just enough advanced and contemporary technology thrown in to make it appear in the future but not completely alien to us as viewers .  br    br   the only real weak points i noticed were the relationship between the greystone parents and the actress who plays  lacy rand  . while i like eric stoltz and paula malcomson individually  together their scenes seemed to lack chemistry  at this point it could simply be down to developing their characters  but this is something i think needs work . i also found magda apanowicz to be unconvincing in her role . this again could be down to experience and time needed to develop  but throughout the episode her acting appeared forced and not completely confident .  br    br   based on the pilot i greatly look forward to seeing where  caprica  goes in the future and hopefully it will touch the greatness that bsg once did .  
this movie is a mess  but at least it  s not pretentious . the box art for the video markets it as a  fun throwback  to     s giant bug movies . in reality  it  s a transparent bargain basement ripoff of  aliens  .  br    br   the producers clearly wanted to make an  alien  picture  but they mustn  t have had much money . in fact  it doesn  t look like they had any money  really . i hope everyone got paid who worked on this thing .  br    br   the basic plot is retained   group of people isolated with murderous insectoid creature   and an earthbound location is inserted for budgetary reasons  i presume . instead of setting the film in space  where no one can hear you scream  they set the film in a hospital  where everyone can see your budget laid bare . the amusing thing about  blue monkey   and there is only one thing amusing about it  is  the filmmakers didn  t abandon the  alien  aesthetics . even though we  re in a hospital  we still have an improbably cavernous annex where science fiction experiments are being conducted  in this case the venerable  growth hormone  plot device . the annex also doubles as a boiler room  or something   so we can have an explanation for the monster seeking out the warmth . the boiler room is so large that it is laced with multi  leveled steel catwalks  perfect for allowing slime to drip down between the slats .  br    br   the idea is that a man working in a greenhouse is attacked by a drooping flower from a rare imported plant that grows in an exotic location . he touches it and says  ow   so we know he  s been hurt . the cut on his finger causes him to lapse into unconsciousness in a matter of minutes  and at the hospital he gives birth to a white worm through his mouth  i guess in an  alien  picture this would be called the  mouthburster    . the worm is isolated  but some naughty little kids  leukemia patients  sneak up on it and  accidentally  give it some experimental growth hormone . you know everyone  s in trouble when some fornicating hospital staff workers are attacked by a camera on a crane  and pretty soon a maintenance man finds some obligatory cocoons  right before he  s grabbed by a pair of semi  convincing insectoid arms . the rest of the movie is dominated by the semi  offscreen monster  semi  obscured by the semi  darkness .  br    br   which brings us back to  alien  . how  you ask  can a movie set in a hospital incorporate all those flashing strobe lights that are always in the  alien  movies  no problem . . . a power outage  or something  causes the electrical system to go awry  which apparently causes strobe lights to blossom in every room of the hospital and flicker constantly throughout the movie . this doubles as a convenient cloak for the less  than  special effects  although the bugs are pretty neat looking  they don  t move too well  and the baby bug looks charmingly like a cootie toy  .  br    br   ok  so what  alien  bases haven  t we covered . . . oh  water dripping down the walls  check . . . we  ll divide the massive hospital into two parts  then send some of the characters through the damp  drippy basement to get to the other side . problem solved  we now have the opportunity for numerous  foreboding tunnel  shots . and don  t forget the fog . . . well  you never really need an excuse for this in horror movies  do you  ok  maybe inside of a hospital you do  so we  ll create smoke by having lots of things spark  burn .  br    br   i haven  t said anything about the negligible acting  not that the actors are given any kind of script to follow . i take it  blue monkey  was supposed to be lighthearted and fun  and if so then it is a nice try  but the pieces don  t come together and the movie ends up being a real drag . see a film called  return of the aliens the deadly spawn  if you want to see a film of this type that gets it right  with even less money and even more marginal acting talent . this one falls flat on its alien .  
a prequel to the re  imagined battlestar galactica series  from the same creative team ronald d . moore and david eick as well as new series co  creator remi aubuchon . caprica is set in the twelve colonies some   years prior to the events of battlestar galactica . the new series in addition to its human drama also chronicles the key steps in the development of what would become the cylon race .  br    br   the pilot and the series are set to follow two families the graystone  s which include daniel  eric stoltz  a computer genius and corporate tycoon and his equally brilliant but rebellious daughter zoe  alessandra toreson   while the adama  s include joseph  esai morales  a lawyer and his son william the future admiral of battlestar galactica .  br    br   like battlestar galactica the series includes some great experienced actors in eric stoltz  esai morales and polly walker as well as some very talented relatively new actors including alessandra toreson and magda apanowicz .  br    br   for fans of battlestar gallactica there are similarities and continuities with that series but it is also very different . in the pilot at least the science fiction elements are definitely present but are smaller part of this series . the scenes on caprica while reflecting a more technologically advanced society also have retro feel  this is achieved through some of the architecture  the costumes and the way it is shot .  br    br   while the look and feel of the two series have some substantial differences some of the themes will seem very familiar  religion is again very important here  while the racial theme rarely touched on in bg is far more important . we also touch on terrorism the existence of a soul and whether or not a machine can have one  as well as issues related to crime and government .  br    br   the pilot has been released direct to dvd in an extended and unrated version prior to airing on tv  the series is set to start in     .  br    br   like battlestar galactica this series is filmed in vancouver  
oh god  what an idiotic movie  incredibly cheap with fake special effects  the creature is played by one guy in lame costume  and stupid plot . all dialogues are unbelievably bad and these actors  ha  ha  ha   . . . they  re simply ludicrous . for example i have never seen so annoying characters like in this junk  these dumb kids or pregnant woman with his husband and many more  . all in all  this is a great entertainment if you  re drunk . avoid it like the plague . am i drunk  i don  t think so . . .  
just as the new bsg wasn  t what fans of the original series were expecting  caprica may not deliver what fans of the new bsg were expecting  for the most part  . it is a very interesting  if not somewhat self  involved show  or at least the pilot is .  br    br   if you  re looking for the big cgi thrills of the  new  bsg  you  ll be sorely disappointed . if you liked the drama  you  ll probably find something you like and maybe even identify with .  br    br   the storyline does examine on how the cylons were developed  why adama hates them and the origins of a monotheistic society . the writers also manage to tackle humans  playing god  s   and the creation or re  creation of  human  life . it will be interesting to see how this plays out .  br    br   i found it to plod along in some parts and too preachy in others  but all in all it was promising . a small part of me wishes  or hopes  there might be some minor inklings of bsg in there  aside from the back story i mentioned   but that would probably convolute the storyline too much . like bsg  i  ll have to wait and see if caprica grows on me  but it  s way too early to tell .  br    br   it would really easy to chalk this up as a failure if you compare it to the previous series  but i  m willing to give it a chance . overall  i thought it was interesting enough to make me see how the actual series is before  throwing in the  proverbial  towel  .  
an older man touches a flower in his wife  s greenhouse that seems to be wilting . he gets pricked by it  or bitten by something on it . he quickly becomes ill  and at the hospital spits out a large writhing white larva of some kind . a later attempt to resuscitate him with paddles results in a splatter of blood .  br    br   a cop is at the hospital because his partner got badly hurt in a shoot  out . somehow the cop gets paired up with one of the female doctors  as well as an entomologist who is brought in . there are several young kids wandering around the hospital  who i suppose we  re supposed to find adorable  but who are extremely annoying little brats . they happen to wander into the room where the specimen is being kept  and happen to dump a growth hormone on it . horror movie logic would say they deserve to die for this  but they  re never even in any danger .  br    br   the critter grows and starts breeding . people run away from it  and sometimes towards it for some reason . the hospital gets surrounded by military who are prepared to destroy everything if need be .  br    br   there are no really compelling characters in the movie  and most of the time it seems like people are searching around for the monster . it was fairly boring . clearly it owes something to the alien movies  with the monster being born inside a human and having several stages of its growth . there  s also a character named bishop  and the lead actress has sigourney weaver  s hair .  
first off  this is an excellent series  though we have sort of a james bond effect . what i mean is that while the new casino royale takes place in      it is chronologically the first adventure of     dr . no       being the second  while in golden eye  the first film with pierce brosnan  judi dench is referred to as the new replacement for the male  m  so how could she have been in place in the beginning before bond became a double    aside from the fact that she is obviously   years older  this is more or less a  poetic  license to thrill . we need to turn our heads aside a bit if we wish to be entertained . no  the new star trek movie does not have any of the primitive electronics of the original series from nearly half a century ago . in the      s communicators were fantasy .  now we call them cell phones  and there were sliding levers instead of buttons . omg  do you think    years from now  they would have perfected rogaine for jean  luc picard  so  please  let  s give the producers some leeway .  br    br   but to try and make things a bit consistent  let us just ponder about the cylons creation just   years prior to the end of battlestar galactica . if that is the case  where did all the cylons that populated the original earth come from  we know that the technology exists for spontaneous jumps through space . well  what happened if one of the cyclon ships at war with the caprica fleet was fired upon or there was a sunspot or whatever and one ship  loaded with human  looking cylons  wound up not only jumping through space  but through time  back a thousand or ten thousand years with a crippled ship near earth one . they colonized it  found out they could repopulate it and eventually destroyed themselves  but not before they themselves sent out a  ragtag  fleet to search for the legendary caprica  only to find a habitable but unpopulated planet  which they colonized to become the humans  who eventually invented the cylons . time paradox  of course . which came first  the chicken or the road  who cares  it  s fraking entertaining   
blue monkey       or  invasion of the bodysuckers  as it  s known here in the uk was a pretty boring horror movie about an old man who gets bitten in a greenhouse by some mysterious toxic plant     the man gets rushed to hospital  where this worm like creature comes out of his mouth  of course this transforms into this insect monster and proceeds to go on the rampage   despite steve railsback and john vernon being in the movie  i found it to be boring  with a flat predictable storyline  un  interesting characters  cheap special effects and lack of action     horror fans don  t really need to track this rare movie down  you wont be missing much trust me    i give this movie     .  
surprisingly well done for an independent film  an insomniac  s nightmare paints a startling picture of what it would be like to suffer from insomnia . wonderfully well written  and directed  it creates the atmosphere of a dream as the viewer is taken through one night in the life of an insomniac .  br    br   starring dominic monaghan as jack  we get to see everything he sees as the long hours of a lonely night drag on . the narration is almost hypnotizing  and from the opening lines  it is impossible to turn away . fascinating and slightly disturbing  it shows how someone copes with a lack of sleep  balancing on the brink between sanity and madness .  br    br   with twists and turns around every corner  an insomniac  s nightmare is provocative and engaging . it comes very highly recommended .  
eh  not a particular good slasher flick . so  so acting  effects  decent yet familiar and uninventive soundtrack .  br    br   there are three deaths in close succession near the beginning of the movie that make for a fairly good scene in which it would seem anything goes . apart from that  there  s a lot of characters wandering around  not realizing what  s going on  or chasing after red herrings more killing of time  than of people . there are other deaths  and the killer is an equal opportunity murderer  not partial to any one implement . the killer also likes to set other people up to kill innocent people as well . the identity isn  t revealed towards the end  and motive is pretty thin  and we really don  t care .  br    br   supposedly the movie takes place around christmas  but this isn  t a major factor . one scene gets lit by christmas lights  that  s about it .  br    br   the movie is rather dark with a muddy picture most of the time  at least on the videotape i watched . some of the dialog got a little lost in some of the opening scenes . the ending should have been stronger than it was . we think we realize what happened  although there  s a chance something else did .  
this is one of those film  s  pilot that if you knew battlestar galactica it helps  but isn  t necessary . what makes this even more believable of a story than bsg is that this isn  t something so far away in the future . this has such a depth to it that it is quite astonishing it was not released theatrically . the leads could not have been chosen better in such experienced  quite talented actors . eric stoltz is superb as the father who will do anything to be re  united w  his daughter however real or not she is  he  ll do it no matter the cost . paula malcomson of  deadwood  fame is terrific as his wife as well . you are not sure completely of his motives whether it  s love or money or both  but that is what makes this pilot even more intriguing . i see a star in the making of zoe played by the relative unknown alessandra torresani  her performance . esai morales is terrific in his desire to see his loved one again  just how wrong to be even considering what he wants more than his moral objections . i didn  t think this would be a good idea when it was announced but from the pilot alone i am thrilled to see how we got to the bsg stage story . it  s great to see adama as a child already being affected  influenced by the different sorts of robots starting to permeate life at this stage . i just hope that they can keep up the stories so we can figure out even more how they got the the humanoid typed robots . this is an almost perfect pilot  i hope they can keep up the fantastic storytelling . even the visual effects are better than most of the garbage you see on the big screen . if you haven  t gotten into bsg   least try this  i  ll bet you become a fan  will want to see how the bsg story came to be .  
now  it would be some sort of clich if i began with the bit about the title  so i  ll wait on that . first  this movie made me wonder why kids do stupid things like wander around in labs and break bottles . then i realized it  this is a movie with a message  that message is beat kids and things like this won  t happen . things like what you ask  things like a giant insectish monster growing up and causing a bit of mayhem before dying in the typical  kill the monster indirectly  fashion . now  as promised . . . blue monkey . . . has nothing blue in it nor any simian of any kind . now it snot like i was cheated or anything . the picture on the cover had a giant bug  crab  idiot  thing on the front chasing some screaming nurses . that kinda happened but i wanted apes  having just enjoyed most extreme primate a few nights before  half drunk on cask and creame  s brandy mind you  i was in the mood for more monkey hijacks    s style . not so much . if you like snow boarding apes or blue things this movie is not for you . if you like bugs and good reasons to hit kids  rent this .  
of course the average  sci  fi  battle star gallactica fan will hate this . that kind of makes me happy . i don  t like those cheesy sci  fi shows especially battle  star gallactica and that is why i like this show .  br    br   the creators of the show got a lot of heat for making this  the unconventional sci  fi way  and it was worth it . i read on wiki that they wanted to appeal to everybody including women and not just sci  fi nerds .  br    br   this is probably the most promising show since lost . it has the most interesting  clever  and deepest script of any show in some time and it is truly unique .  br    br   what i love most about the show is that it kind of plays out like a great anime  from young teens running around shooting guns  to and extremely well balanced and complex script  to robots it reminds me of something that came from japan except a little bit better  most anime is too confusing  .  
all this dismaying waste of film stock needs is count floyd popping up every sixty seconds . somehow they got steve railsback  susan anspach  john vernon  and joe flaherty together on a set and couldn  t get within five miles  about eight kilometers  of an actual movie . boy does this thing suck . there isn  t one original line  thought  shot  or effect from brainless opening sequence to brainless close . the magical  ethereal susan anspach of five easy pieces  boring . steve railsback  boring . john vernon  boring . the big bug  boring . if this is a scary movie  buttercream gang is a thuglife documentary .  br    br   seriously  every bad movie contains its own explanation of its badness . usually it  s in the opening credits   written  directed  and produced by  one guy . or at the very center of the action is some bimbo so talentless that you know there  s one and only one reason this turkey got made . here  you don  t find out till the very last of the credits  where the cooperation of about a dozen subfunctions of the canadian government is gratefully acknowledged .  br    br   right now i  m watching mst  s take on beast of yucca flats to get the taste out of my mouth . ghod  what an improvement .  
the caprica episode  s   e    is well done as a pilot . really  this episode is the exact same content as the dvd pilot release . that having been said  episode   gives a very substantive background of the very popular  battlestar galactica  series  both the original and the     remake  . it significantly applies most to the     series . as is the trending plots of sci  fi of late  this series explores  virtual  life or environment . on top of this  we are given much background on the adama family line as well as their relationship with the unrevealed  in the battlestar galactica series  creator of the cylons . to the most part  this first episode revolves around the popular topic of  virtual  life and  as is expected  early life of the colonies  and the birth of the cylons .  br    br   over all  i rather enjoyed this episode . although  it was not new material for myself or anyone that has already seen the dvd release of the caprica pilot  the series seems very promising . as is the case with many pilots  episode   leaves us with a cliff  hanger so to ensure a follow by an audience  sci  fi community  . i  m definitely going to keep watching for resolve as well as development .  br    br   i give this series  stars .  
when i first saw the cover of this movie  a giant bug chasing a few nurses  and the name  blue monkey   i knew i wasn  t in for any big hollywood movie . i was pleasantly surprised to see steve railsback in this cheese  ball flick  who always does a good job in whatever role he tackles . . . . the fx are pretty corny  there isn  t too much of a plot  and i  m still not sure why this movie is called blue monkey  because there is nothing in this movie to do with monkey . but come on people  what did you expect   it  s not really as bad as it seems . . . . if you enjoy the old    s style black and white bug attack movies  this one is basically an updated version  without the updates special fx  
bsg is one of my all time favourite tv series . i was lucky enough to start watching it as the series came to it  s final season . it was a marathon from start to finish for me and what an incredible ride it was   br    br   as soon as i noticed the pilot on hulu i knew exactly what i was in for just by the title  caprica  although  some things don  t add up when you compare both series it is still beautifully executed . there were no mention about the holobands in battlestar galactica or the mention of virtual worlds but maybe i haven  t got far enough into the series for them to explain why .  br    br   i recommend this show to anyone who loves the universe  technology  and alternate fantasies of our world . this show is very interesting and will have you wanting to watch more   
never even knew this movie existed until i found an old vhs copy of it  hidden deep in my dusty horror closet . the title on the box said  insect  and the illustrations on the back made clear that it is just another insignificant and poorly produced    s horror movie . they can surely be fun  of course  as long as don  t expect an intelligent scenario and as long as you  re not irritated by seeing a giant amount of cheesy make  up effects . just about every important aspect that makes a horror movie worthy viewing is substandard here in  blue monkey   the plot is ridiculous and highly unoriginal  the acting performances are painful to observe and there  s a total lack of suspense . following the always  popular trend of  big  bug  movies   blue monkey  handles about a new and unknown insect species that wipes out the doctors and patients of a remote hospital . the makers couldn  t be more evasive about the actual origin of this gigantically over  sized critter  all we know is that it  s not from outer space and it initially crawled out of a tropical plant . other than this  there  s absolutely no explanation for where this new type of insect all of a sudden comes from  like i said  don  t get your hopes up for an intelligent screenplay . the first half of the film is entertaining enough  with some nice gore and the introduction of a couple deranged characters  an    year  old blind and alcoholic lady   but the second half  when the entire hospital is put to quarantine  is dreadfully boring . it is also near the end that  blue monkey  begins to exaggeratedly rip  off older  and better  films . approaching the climax  they apparently ran out of budget as well  since the lighting becomes very poor and the guy in the monster suit isn  t very well camouflaged anymore .  blue monkey  is worth a peek in case you  re really bored or if you really want to see every    s horror movie ever made . fans of b  cinema may recognize john vernon   killer klowns from outer space    curtains   in the small and meaningless role of roger  who  s in charge of the clinic .  
i recently watched caprica again and thought i might as well come and write up a review  i first saw this right after i saw the series finale of battlestar galactica  being a big drooling fan boy of the show left me clinging onto anything i could of the shows universe  so i didn  t know what to expect . . . but i did come out with a smile though i must admit . . .  br    br   the story starts off dramatically on planet of caprica and we are introduced with a variety of interesting characters . . . i won  t give too much away but there is a dramatic event that dictates the course of the story but i suggest you watch this .  br    br   must say . . . esai morales is one hell of an actor he pulled off a young joseph adama . . .  father of the admiral in battlestar galactica  i found his acting spot on and i could believe that he is the father of william adama from bsg . . .  br    br   also eric stoltz fits his role precisely . . .  special note it was good to see polly walker outside of rome  don  t sit down and watch caprica with the expectation of it being like battlestar galactica because the story line is pretty straight forward and anyone can watch it . . without having to have see bsg  .  br    br   this show is a well written drama for those who like there drama with a bit of a sci  fi kick   
blue monkey is actually mentioned in the film but not in any way that makes any possible sense . at one point  some kids are wandering thru the deeper levels  exploring .  br    br   they begin to discuss what they  ll find down there and one of them  a girl  says she bets they  ll find a blue monkey .  br    br   yes  thats it . totally inconsequential to the story  the only sad connection to the title  and no idea why she would suppose she  d find a blue monkey in a hospital  s basement .  br    br   i  m embarrassed for having remembered it but somebody had to remember i suppose   
if i had just seen the pilot of this show i would have rated it a   . i was immediately hooked on this gorgeous new world . subsequent episodes have not completely lived up to the promise  but i will keep watching and hope that it keeps getting better . the production values are incredible and the acting is first  rate . i don  t mind that it doesn  t seem to align perfectly with bsg because i am so intrigued by the premise and let  s face it  they are two different shows . i  m thrilled that both esai morales and one of my all  time faves  eric stoltz  are back in my life  if only weekly  as i  ve missed them both . this is a show that requires a bit of thought from its audience and that is always a good thing . you kind of have to wrap your head around certain aspects of the show things are not always as they seem and certainly there are shades of gray  both literally and figuratively  in plot lines  characters and  of course  the various virtual worlds . we all know how it ends  but the journey is looking to be quite a ride .  
oh god  what an idiotic movie  incredibly cheap with fake special effects  the creature is played by one guy in lame costume  and stupid plot . all dialogues are unbelievably bad and these actors  ha  ha  ha   . . . they  re simply ludicrous . for example i have never seen so annoying characters like in this junk  these dumb kids or pregnant woman with his husband and many more  . all in all  this is a great entertainment if you  re drunk . avoid it like the plague . am i drunk  i don  t think so . . .  
i haven  t seen bsg  i tried to watch it once in the middle of the show but couldn  t get into it . however  i saw caprica rebirth yesterday i felt a little lost  so i decided to watch the pilot today and i must say i was pleasantly surprised . i think this is a promising show and the only side effect it had on me is that now i want to watch bsg as well .  br    br   but what i really liked is that i didn  t have to be a hardcore bsg fan to understand what  s going on in caprica . from what i have read in the net  they were trying to reach the female population since bsg reached way more men  and at least in my case it worked .  br    br   however  i suggest that if you are trying to watch the show do it from the beginning starting with the pilot .  
robert altman  s downbeat  new  fangled western from edmund naughton  s book  mccabe  was overlooked at the time of its release but in the past years has garnered a sterling critical following . aside from a completely convincing boom  town scenario  the characters here don  t merit much interest  and the picture looks  intentionally  brackish and unappealing . bearded warren beatty plays a turn  of  the  century entrepreneur who settles in struggling community on the outskirts of nowhere and helps organize the first brothel once the profits start coming in  beatty is naturally menaced by city toughs who want part of the action . altman creates a solemn  wintry atmosphere for the movie which gives the audience a certain sense of time and place  but the action in this sorry little town is limited   most of the story being made up of vignettes   and altman  s pacing is deliberately slow . there  s hardly a statement being made  just the opposite  in fact  and the languid actors stare at each other without much on their minds . it  s a self  defeating picture  and yet  in an altman  quirky way  it wears defeat proudly .  from   
im really addicted to caprica  because it  s a really good prequel series to battlestar galactica . it really has a slow pace start  but surely to pick up soon after new episodes continue to air .  br    br   i have heard great things about future episodes and guest stars for the first season .  br    br   this sci fi drama is sure to please us fans who love a mix of both genres .  br    br   eric stoltz does an amazing job  as well as polly walker as clarice willow    br    br   totally worth checking out    br    br   catch caprica on fridays at  pm   pm central on syfy  
i  ve read all the rave reviews here and am impressed with the imagination of those who loved this film . i can  t say that i found much to recommend it . the leonard cohen sound track is not only excessively heavy  handed but dreary beyond measure . the film looks authentic enough  but something  s got to happen for it to work  and nothing much does a cursory plot  not a real problem for me   not much character development  nothing thematically . it just slogs along . flawed as it is  cimino  s  heaven  s gate  has some moments of genuine wonder and is a film i  d sooner watch again . for a brilliant reconception of the west  hbo  s  deadwood  is much superior to  mccabe .   
well i have to say that i have waited for it to come .  br    br   i won  t try to spoil it and quite a few people have really brilliantly spoken of the pilot . on the other hand i  m not quite sure to understand the detractors who claim themselves to be bsg fans and not like the pilot .  br    br   what the frack did they expect    the background is setting   years before bsg we are there o assist at the birth of the cylons  see the life of the adama family  has we already knew some of it from bsg   get a deeper explanation of the caprican population and its perception of the other colonies  and potentially the origins of the gods belief of the human and the unique god belief of the cylons .  br    br   i do not expect the same profusion of special effect or space opera as the in the previous series  i make the difference between the two although i know that caprica will reinforce bsg .  br    br   this is  h   of promising start  i believe as well that this will put pressure for the scenarios to be as good as bsg . i expect a lot from the following but i have no reasons to doubts that we will learn a lot more .  br    br   watching the dvd  s deleted scene also gives more material for your brain to chew on .  br    br   looking forward to january      
mccabe and mrs . miller takes place in the turn  of  the  century pacific northwest . into a soggy  muddy mining camp john mccabe  a hirsute warren beatty  comes barging  full of cigar smoke and big ideas about building a proper saloon  whorehouse for the town  replete with a trio of the sorriest whores in movie history . he also comes with an unearned reputation as a gunslinger too shameful about this to blatantly advertise it  but not exactly afraid to use it in order to assert alpha  male credentials amongst the locals . and thus he wrangles the boys into building his saloon at the rate of   cents an hour .  br    br   it looks to be a rather sorry operation until mrs . miller  julie christie  shows up on a startling contraption that  s half  railroad car  half  automobile  where did altman find that thing   . mrs . miller immediately takes on mccabe as a business partner  with the aim of classing up the new joint with proper whores and an insistence that all visitors take a bath before entering . noting that mccabe doesn  t know how to add  she also insists on handling the accounts . it  s not clear what mccabe  s function will be .  br    br   the plot thickens when a pair of oily representatives from the mining company show up in town and offer mccabe to buy him out for five grand . mccabe tells them to buzz off   he  s holding out for fifteen thousand . the company finds negotiation distasteful  so they hire a trio of assassins to simply kill mccabe . . . though how they think they can get away with murdering a man in broad daylight in the center of town is as unclear as mccabe  s function in the whorehouse partnership .  excusing this whopping plot hole on the grounds that the locals would be too cowed to talk doesn  t cut the mustard when one considers that any reward  money offered by the local marshal would be pretty tempting .   br    br   mccabe and mrs . miller  purportedly  classic seventies cinema   should be a lot better than it is . the movie tells a pretty good story the main characters have the potential to be interesting . there are some striking scenes  especially one involving what looks to be a    year  old stone  cold killer . but it  s really  really hard to enjoy a movie when you can hardly hear what anyone is saying and when you can hardly see what anyone is doing . once again  this director hijacks his own movie with sheer barnyard laziness and sloppiness . according to the trivia  sheet here on imdb  the movie  s editor griped to altman that the sound was muddy altman disagreed and when everyone said the sound was muddy after the movie  s release  altman blamed the editor .  nice .  along with the bad sound  the movie has an atrocious look . only robert altman can hire a world  class dp like vilmos zsigmond and make a movie that looks as if they sprayed the camera lenses with dirty dishwater . reviewers here who praise the  dark brown glow  of this picture have got to be kidding me . the interiors are shot through what appears to be a dark scum . the exterior photography is even worse it  s as if altman placed    fog machines behind the copious trees . during the climactic stretch  when beatty is dodging the assassins while the local church is on fire  altman insists on pretty much wholly obscuring the view with an animated snow  fall that reminds one of a rankin  bass christmas special .  br    br   look   i can  t watch a movie under these conditions . get back to me when you learn how to place boom mikes  when you remove all that annoying  altman  esque  overlapping dialog  and when you wipe the lenses with some windex  or something .  stars out of   .  
this is real character and story driven drama at a level that shames most of what we see on tv at the mo .  br    br   i was impressed right from the start . don  t be put off if your not a sci fi nut  like me . . .  this could be happening on earth  the fact that its in another galaxy just makes the show more interesting . there are no space ships or laser guns  none yet anyway  so far i  ve seen up to s   e   and i  m gripped and wondering whats going to happen next as there are so many possibilities .  br    br   the cast play there roles with pasion . eric stoltz is especially strong .  br    br   this show really stands alone well  it doesn  t matter if you watched bsg or not  in fact they are quite different . i  ve read some negative reviews from sci fi geeks who expected less drama and more aliens and ray guns etc but i would say ignore them .  br    br   this is a really positive start to a show . lets hope they don  t cann it after  or  seasons like they normally do with good shows these days .  
i watched this movie also  and altho it is very well done  i found it a heartbreaker and would not recommend this to women who have small children . . the terror on this mother  s face when she sees her child about to be run over by a train is truly heartbreaking . and the sad thing is   internally she dies . eventually she goes back to the applacian mountains . all the money in the world which she makes from making dolls does not conceal the grief she has . i remember her desperate face as she pulls money out of her clothes to try to have her child healed . i  m surprised this movie takes place in detroit  because when i watched it i thought for sure the people had come to cincinnati  ohio . this also was a route for the poor from the mountains .  
this is one of the first independent movies i  ve ever seen . for such a very low budget  it was done well as an insomniac myself  i can sympathize with the main character  although my sleeping problems have never been as intense or as disturbing .  br    br   well directed  well acted  of a subject that i haven  t seen much in theaters  lighting and set both perfect for the movie setting . there are few noticeable goofs  but they may be intended you  ll see after you watch the movie . the movie is very personal  and worth watching twice . no movie is flawless  but a hollywood version couldn  t do the story better . all in all      .  
the two things are are good about this film are it  s two unknown celebrities .  br    br   first  daphne zuniga  in her first appearance in a film  young and supple  with looks that still encompass her body today  steals the very beginning  which is all she is in  and that is that . she is obviously just starting out because her acting improved with her next projects .  br    br   second  the score by then known composer christopher  chris  young is what keeps this stinker from getting a one star . . . yeah  i know one star more is not much  but in this movie  s case  it is a lot .  br    br   the rest is just stupid senseless horror of a couple a college students who try to clean out a dorm that is due for being torn down  getting offed one by one by an unsuspecting killer  blah  blah  blah . . . we all know where this is going .  br    br   watch the first eighteen minutes with daphne zuniga  then turn it off .  
i must admit  i was one of the skeptics who prematurely judged this show before relatively any information was disseminated about it . i determined that it was going to be a cheap spin  off guided by ronald d . moore wielding the retcon  wand .  br    br   i was wrong   br    br   the pilot leaves an excellent impression upon the viewers . the accessibility is marvelous  of course  seasoned bsg veterans will find themselves immersed in the plot  which is focused on the development of the cylons before the first war .    years before the events of the bsg pilot  . the pilot also allows for newcomers  clearly presenting its plot and ideas in the first part of the episode .  br    br   don  t be mistaken  caprica  is not bsg . we are presented with an immersive  cerebral drama dotted by provocative  daring  and controversial ideas .  br    br   the casting maintains bsg  s standards stoltz and morales are simply astounding . morales  portrayal of joseph adama  inspired by olmos  portrayal of william  gives a wonderful glimpse of william  s heroic father . stoltz  s portrayal of dr . graystone provokes a lot of thinking and questions .  br    br   if the quality of the pilot is any indication of what  s yet to come  rdm and the creative team are set to continue bsg  s legacy of first  rate television programming with another masterfully created television masterpiece .  
historically accurate  hmm . . . perhaps . . . if you squint  and light falls upon the subject just  so . but core accuracy is no compensation for a dismal  patchy and inconsistent plot  reams of cardboard dialogue and an unsatisfying conclusion . the principal characters are merely characterizations embarrassing stereotypes that range from the  enigmatic and noble  american indians through to the  stuffy but sadistic  british officers . a wretched and unworthy rendition of a fascinating period in american history . i want my money back .  
to all the haters out there condemning a tv series with one episode is like judging an entire book after reading the first few pages . that being said  i was a huge fan of bsg  thought it was some of the best tv drama  not just sci  fi  on the air . but it was time for it to end and the story to move on . i liked the bsg epilogue  the plan   but it raised as many new questions as it answered  so i eagerly anticipated  caprica  and i was not disappointed .  br    br   i was hoping it would not try to be another bsg  and i was pleased that  caprica  is something different  and i personally found the story exciting  in a different way than blazing space battles  explosions and sci  fi special effects  don  t get me wrong  i like that stuff too  . eric stolz and esai morales give solid performances  and alessandra was just wonderful . i can  t wait until next week .  
how they got al pacino to play in this movie is beyond me . this movie is absolutely terrible . i discovered  after reading some of the other reviews  that a couple of people actually enjoyed this film  which deeply puzzles me  because i do not see how anyone in their right mind could possibly enjoy a movie as awful as revolution . it  s not just that it  s a bad movie  with a lame plot and overall strangeness that is extremely unpleasant  but it seems as if the filmmakers were either mentally retarded  which is a very possible explanation as to why this movie sucks like it does  though it probably still sucks even compared to other films made by retards  or deliberately made every illogical decision to make this movie suck as much as possible . for example  we see donald sutherland running around with a huge  fat ugly mole on his face . he does not normally have a mole . the mole does not add to his character . it is extremely ugly and distracting . it  s not like robert de niro  s mole it  s much worse . why the hell has he got that mole  it  s as if the filmmakers just said   let  s see  how could we make this movie even worse than it already is  i know  let  s give mr . sutherland a giant  ugly  ass mole right on his face .   br    br   another example of the filmmakers  stupidity is the character ned . we see  for the first three  quarters of the movie  young ned . at one point   six months later  appears on the screen . we see ned again  and it is  of course  the same actor playing the boy . five minutes later   three weeks later  appears on the screen  and all of a sudden we  ve got a different actor playing as the now older ned . what  do they think we  re idiots  good god  again  it  s like the filmmakers are saying   how can we possibly make it any worse  i don  t think we can . . . oh wait  i just had a terrible idea   i know a kid doesn  t grow much in half a year  which is fine  but he at least grows more than he does in three weeks . just don  t get another actor to play ned  or at least get him to play the five minutes when he  s three weeks younger . furthermore  the kid who plays the  older  ned does not look any older than  young  ned . as a matter of fact  he just looks completely different  much skinnier  and no taller or older than the original actor  which is very confusing  as i  like any rational human being  thought at first that it was a new and different character .  br    br   what  did the first kid die while they were filming the movie  because he was in it for the first hour and a half  and then all of a sudden  three weeks later  the guy from lock stock and two smoking barrels is playing ned for the last five minutes of the movie . and even if the original actor did die  the filmmakers should have at least gotten an actor who looks like him to play the remainder of his role  and re  shoot the measly five minutes of  six months later  scenes . better yet  just scrap the movie completely  never finish it and never release  never even tell anybody about it  because by that point they should have realized that their movie sucks and in finishing it they would only waste more money and time and succeed in making one of the worst movies of all time .  br    br   i  m not saying that this movie is so bad you shouldn  t watch it it  s so bad that you should watch it  just to see how badly it sucks . it  s terrible  terrible .  
good show .  br    br   the basic background is that humanity is at a crossroads . there is a set of moral dilemmas that are being faced . mankind has made a number of technological breakthroughs  but is mankind mature enough to deal with the its new toys  there is moral decadence in a virtual world . there are religious fanatics who are willing to kill to get attention . i predict  based on the bsg background  that there will be an issue with cylons and slavery . in addition to this  there are all the other problems that we humans bring upon ourselves .  br    br   this show is not bsg   at least not as far as mankind being on the run from a ruthless problem that was ultimately of their own making . there are not a lot of shoot  em  up or space  based special effects either  at least not in the first few episodes i have seen so far .  br    br   what it does have are very good stories  characters  and themes . it also has good performances from the actors . they can make a culture which is similar to modern  day society  but alien at the same time be completely believable . like bsg  this show is about humanity  our strengths  weaknesses  potential  and flaws . it may seem a little odd that a human society on a different set of worlds has neckties  antique cars  and chicken . but those things are really more to create a semi  familiar background than anything else . anyone who gets stuck on those details is really missing the point . whether you are from a mafia  style culture or an affluent and high  tech culture  humans and human nature aren  t that different        years ago in a high  tech past than what we see in the world today . wonder if the writers are trying to tell us something .  
damp telling of the american revolution .  br    br   when farmer  tom dobb   al pacino  and his son arrive in new york harbor  they are immediately conscripted by street urchin annie lennox . . . annie lennox  . . . to contribute to the war effort .  br    br   after getting chopped down by bits of chain  link fired from british cannons  tom and his son are promptly chastised by continental army sympathizer  daisy   nastassja kinski  for  not standing their ground  . following this kodak moment  a series of digressive chapters take place including tom  s participation in a  foxhunt  in which he must carry a model of  poor old georgie washington  stuffed in effigy while running from a lace handkerchief  wielding english captain  manning redwood   and having a barbecue with a group of iroquois indians as they plan on the best way to sneak back into the fighting so al and his ingrate kid can kick the crap out of british officer donald sutherland  s butt .  br    br   director hugh hudson presents a unique style of film  making and the atmosphere is as thick as the proverbial london fog  but the scriptwriter  s painting of the redcoats as evil monsters once again reveals hollywood  s patented hatred of the british .  br    br   steven berkoff appears as an enlisted american soldier .  
i loved it  having been a fan of the original series  i have always wondered what the back story would be  it didn  t fail to delight me . i also love the fact that apart from eric stoltz i didn  t recognise one person  this is refreshing  much like bsg . it has introduced me to a whole wealth of new talent  can  t wait for the series to start airing . well done to ronald d . moore and team  excellent job . the special effects  dialogue and acting were all spot on  and i felt emotionally tied up in the storyline . i know there are purists out there that will probably disagree with my assessment  but i felt that caprica was far superior to most of the sci  fi stuff produced in the last decade .  
revolution is a terrible movie  i don  t care if you  re a history teacher  news writer  al pacino fan  there  s no way this movie can possibly earn a legitimate     .  br    br   the key point to the plot is tom dobb  al  trying to get money from a note he got for radical patriots taking his boat . everything revolves around that note . tom  s son joins the army to make up for the note  making tom join the army as well  they go on an adventure trying to get out of the army  years later the war is over and they can finally turn in the note for their boat . the end .  br    br   it had a few battle scenes  and they were pretty mediocre at best . transistions between scenes used  five months later  and magically put the characters in some famous historical battle . the love story is a joke  and the movie as a whole is just hard to follow . so save your  notes  and watch the patriot instead .  
i was blown away by the re  imagined battlestar galactica  a show that always kept me guessing and brought me to tears on more than one occasion . a hardened sci  fi fan  i like to think i can pick out the good stuff from the bs  and this was good stuff .  br    br   as such  when i first heard about the prospect of a prequel series some months ago i got a sick feeling in my gut . i was afraid that the formula that made battlestar so successful would be reused in caprica  which wouldn  t work at all . bsg  s story  of a mournful ragged band of survivors  trapped aboard decaying star ships and guided by prophetic vision and a sequence of pseudo  miracles  was perfectly complimented by extraordinary music and a better cast of actors .  br    br   caprica feels different . where bsg takes place after the fall of a great civilization  caprica portrays that civilization in it  s cold and decadent heyday . the overall vibe i got from caprica was similar to that of minority report  minus excessive and counterproductive theatricality . in true bsg form  caprica has in it  s first few hours of programming already tackled the issues of religious freedom  racism  the morality of playing god and the nature of the human soul .  br    br   the casting for caprica is also excellent . each character is unique and deep  from the obsessive and distant scientist  turned  entrepreneur  to his troubled and willful daughter  each actor and actress throws themselves into their respective roles .  br    br   music  which was used so powerfully in bsg  also plays a significant role in caprica . battlestar  s powerful rolling drums and mournful duduks served it  s themes very well . caprica uses a more orchestral sound  which gives the show it  s own feeling quite distinct from either of it  s predecessors .  br    br   the new caprica is definitely it  s own show  pulling from the battlestar franchise only as much as it needs . i look forward to the full series .  
this movie was promising my favorite actor in a historical drama during the independence war . it had memories from  dances with wolves  for the big prairies  indians  military fights  from  barry lyndon  for the british  candles lights atmospheres . . .  br    br   unfortunately  the script is awful the continuity of the story is lacking  cuts with   months later     years later    the romance is so ridiculous that it  s hard to believe in it america is a big country but the characters kept bumping at each other above all  wait for the ending  you understand how to kill a story  imagine the same in  titanic   .  br    br   sometimes  a bad script is saved by a brilliant filmmaker . unfortunately bis  hudson is a poor one . he has already committed  greystoke  and i find again the same flaws no dynamic in scenes  in editing  in scoring it is long  dull  flat . . . .  br    br   i knew that this movie was a disaster for pacino  s career now i understand . finally  this last movie for     is in the vein of this year for me a painful one . . .  
i have to say  as a bsg fan i wasn  t exactly sure what i  d think of this show . i saw it on the big screen at the arclight cinema tonight  as part of the paley center screenings   and the cast and film makers spoke after  wards . ron moore said they  wanted to make a clean break from battlestar  and do something different  and that yes they would lose some fans but hopefully they  d gain others  .  br    br   even without their talk  i am now a fan of the new show . but here  s what i thought of the film .  br    br   i loved it . it was really very good . i guess i  m a true sci  fi  or  syfy   do i really have to type that   geek  because i  d totally watch this as a series . it has a strong and rich story  and kept my interest .  br    br   it starts with a small group of teenagers plotting something  which to me was the weakest part and a bit confusing . the actor playing  ben  should have given us more of a glimpse into his intense beliefs . the actress playing  zoe  seemed a little posy  but she was playing a teenager  and i  m sure i won  t be the only one who thought  zoe  was a cylon at first  perils of being a bsg geek  . if they  re hoping these will be the new bamber  helfer  park  they may want to rethink it . surprisingly  it was the adults that captured the audiences attention .  br    br   eric stoltz gives a stellar performance as daniel greystone  a man so haunted by his family tragedy that he jumps at the first chance of getting out of his grief and doesn  t let go . he does a chilling and enthralling job of conveying his character  s sly knowledge of the inner world of computers and people  especially in a scene in which he spins a web for the young teenage friend of his daughters  traps her  then dismisses and releases her . no sign at all of the  serial killer  he played on gray  s anatomy  really impressive acting .  br    br   equally as strong though not in it nearly as much is paula malcomson as his wife amanda greystone . she is just as smart and well written and beautifully played as stoltz  s part  and i completely believed that they are a couple  and a couple that have been together forever and have a strong relationship  something rarely seen these days . i look forward to seeing what happens with this family  and hope they give her as much to do as roslin in bsg  she is strong and smart and when she lashes out at her kid  you cringe  it  s really great . not to mention her eyes  which could hold magical powers  that  s how intense they are . the scene where she takes on the government agent  very short scene  but beautifully played  really gives you an idea of her power .  br    br   the other part of the show that did not work     for me were the scenes with esai morales  and the mafia type clan of his . he does a good job overall  but i did not believe in this mobs power  nor intimidated by their threats . i found myself wishing that this whole story line was a bit more mysterious and hard to figure out the way it is presented is almost an homage to the godfather  they kind of hit you over the head with it a bit . but given time  i can see how this will develop into an interesting  upstairs  downstairs  kind of thing  with the poor minorities  morales et al  versus the rich folk who rule the planet  stolz et al  . and to be honest  i did enjoy it when he spoke to his son about the origin of their name  that was a very well played scene .  br    br   note to bsg fans  the boy playing  willy adama  doesn  t really look much like olmos  but he  s just a kid . whether or not he  ll be featured any more than he was in this film  who knows  i sure couldn  t tell . but it didn  t bother me  because he wasn  t as interesting as everything else going on around him .  br    br   polly walker plays  sister clarice   and she  s chilling and odd in every scene she  s in . i  m not sure where she  ll go or who she  ll end up with  but i was very impressed with her acting . in this film she was sort of on the side  but obviously being set up to play a very important part later on . she was nothing like her character in  rome   something i always find impressive in actors .  br    br   one nice surprise  the music is actually better and less obvious than bsg  even though it  s the same guy doing it  bear mccreary . it has a haunting and unusual approach that took me by surprise  i  d buy this score if i had the chance .  br    br   as to the  panel discussion  after the show  it was hosted by seth green . ron moore was very smart and articulate  david eick was cracking wise  much like his video diaries   esai morales told a long story about how he was cast  and eric stoltz was very funny and didn  t really answer the questions  but i  ve always had a thing for him  . paula malcomson was tough  she took seth green to task for mistakenly saying she was on       and the girls who played zooey and lacey were both darling . grace park and tricia helfer were there as well  answering questions about how they did the scenes acting with themselves on bsg . overall a very interesting and wonderful evening .  br    br   i  m giving the show a  out of    and very much looking forward to watching it all unfold .  br    br   note i just watched this a second time and really hope they explore what the holoband was originally made for . i have no idea what that may be  but it holds a great deal of fascination to me .  
brilliant actor as he is  al pacino completely derails revolution  his method acting approach is totally ill  suited to the role of an illiterate trapper caught up in the american war of independence . much of the blame should be attributed to director hugh hudson  yes  the man who made chariots of fire just a couple of years earlier  talk about a come  down    . one of the many jobs of a director is to marshal the actors  coaxing believable performances from them  but in this case hudson has allowed pacino to run amok without asking for restraint of any kind . it  s not just al  s career  low performance that hinders the film though there are numerous other flaws with revolution  more of which will be said later .  br    br   illiterate trapper tom dobb  al pacino  lives in the north  eastern region of america with his son ned  sid owen  dexter fletcher  . he leads a simple life  living off the land  raising his son  surviving against the elements . the country is lorded over by the english colonialists  but during an eight year period          a revolution takes place which ends with the british being defeated and the independent american nation being born . dobb gets caught up in the events when his boat and his son are conscripted by the continental army  swept away by events they can barely understand  the dobbs finds themselves fighting for their lives and freedom in one bloody engagement after another . tom also falls in love with daisy mcconnahay  natassja kinski   a beautiful and fiery woman of british aristocratic ancestry . their forbidden love is played out against the larger historical context of the fighting .  br    br   where to start with the film  s flaws  most key actors are miscast  pacino has been criticised enough already  but kinski fares little better as the renegade aristocrat while donald sutherland is hopelessly lost as a ruthless english soldier with a wobbly yorkshire accent . robert dillon  s script is muddled in its attempts to bring massive historical events down to a personal level . at no point does anyone seem to have decided whether this is meant to be an intimate character study with the american revolution as a backdrop  or an epic war film with a handful of sharply drawn characters used to carry the story along . as a result  the narrative falls into no man  s land  flitting from  grand spectacle  to  small story  indiscriminately and meaninglessly . john corigliano  s score is quite ghastly  and is poured over the proceedings with neither thought nor subtlety . hugh hudson  s direction is clumsy throughout  both in his mismanagement of pacino and the other key actors  and in the decision to use irritatingly shaky camera work during the action sequences . the idea of the hand  held camera is to create immediacy  that feeling of  being there  in the confusion of battle and musket fire . like so many other things in the film  it doesn  t work . the one department where the film regains a modicum of respectability is the period detail  with costumes  sets and weaponry that look consistently accurate . but if it  s period detail you  re interested in a trip to the museum would be a better way to spend your time  because as a rousing cinematic experience revolution doesn  t even begin to make the grade . nothing more than a            mega  bomb that the ailing british film industry could ill afford in the mid      s .  
if you  re researching ufo facts  then this video is very important . the  meat  of the video is the comments made by buzz aldrin . he is without a doubt from the best of america . trained to be objective  honest and factual in his reports . many astronauts from america of all eras have reported some kind of contact  or ufo observance and there are videos from some of those missions . at the very least something has happened that requires further objective ongoing investigating . i think this testimony from buzz aldrin shows that it is possible that other worlds may be interested in our progress . like all supposed documentary video  this one may be slanted  but it does contain further information and opinions from an accomplished american hero . those don  t come along every day . so the fact that some people aren  t interested in details should not detour your from viewing this video . if nothing else  it is interesting and i recommend you watch with an open mind .  
i can  t figure al pacino out . i watch him in the godfather  scarface  carlito  s way  and i think i am watching one of the greatest actors of the last thirty years . then i see him in two for the money  any given sunday and revolution  and i wonder what the guy is thinking .  br    br   i stumbled on revolution a few nights ago  and thought i would invest the next two hours on this . here is a news flash want to get prisoners to talk  force them to watch this over and over . . . they  ll confess to anything .  br    br   i won  t rehash the plot since there is no coherent plot  but it does take place during the american revolution and pacino plays an uneducated peasant who does not want to get involved  but ultimately does . while he has no money  no education and dresses like a caveman  a very hot natasha kinski falls in love with him for no apparent reason  since they have only two minutes of dialogue together .  br    br   quite frankly  if  al smith  starred in this movie  instead of  al pacino   it would have ruined their career . the script was horrible  but pacino  s demotivated performance and obvious fake accent made it even worse . donald sutherland  s role was laughable . i really can  t describe it . natasha kinski is a main character  but has like  lines in the movie . in fact  nobody speaks much in this movie .  br    br   one of the most laughable premise in the movie is how al pacino and kinski have this uncanny knack to continually run into each other on the battlefield . its like the entire northeast is a starbucks .  hey  funny to see you here again  on another battlefield    miles away . . . see you in a few months  .  br    br   i am required to give this one star by imdb  since there is nothing here for a negative score .  
putting the ufo  thing  aside . this was the best documentary i  ve seen . factual reporting by neil and buzz . . . a must see . the interviews and reporting are a revelation since most of the information was stamped confidential in     and only released in     . no documentary to date has the detail or accuracy for such a brief   minutes . . . the facts will blow you away  and you will be left in awe of the risks taken to be the first on the moon . . . neil and buzz are probably the biggest hero  s of our time . ever see a man save his own life  bet not . neil saves his life when only mili  seconds separated him from death . amazing to watch . it is a travesty people have not known all the details assosiated with landing on the moon and the courage those men had when facing certain death  from a failing computer . . .   stars   
i  m all for the idea of a grand epic of the american revolutionary war . this ain  t it .  and for that matter  neither was the emmerich  devlin  gibson the patriot . but i digress .   br    br   i saw this film at a publicity screening at the old mgm studios  now sony  just before it came out . the audience had high expectations for this expensive period piece  written by veteran robert dillon  directed by the esteemed hugh hudson  of chariots of fire fame   and starring al pacino .  br    br   but it didn  t take long for people to start squirming in their seats  whispering derisive comments about pacino  s horribly misconceived accent   he was supposed to be an american frontiersman of scottish ancestry      and that of nastassja kinski  who was supposed to be recently emigrated from england     . then the story started and it all went downhill fast .  br    br   motivations were muddled  dialogue was atrocious  events had no historical or political context . what there was of a plot lurched forward on absurd coincidence by the second or third time that alleged lovers pacino and kinski stumbled into each other it had become a bad joke . donald sutherland gave an unhinged performance as a british officer  pederast . his accent was all over the map too . i guess there weren  t any english actors available .  br    br   lots of people left . those who stayed tried to stifle giggles  then openly guffawed . i stuck it out   i figured that at least the battle scenes might be good . i was wrong . inexplicably  hudson chose to film them with hand  held cameras  not even steadicam  the jerkiness giving a misplaced newsreel  authenticity  which ruined the sense of scale .  br    br   there was a semi  famous tv reviewer in the audience a few rows ahead of me  the late  gary franklin of channel  eyewitness news . i could tell he was peeved by the behavior of the rest of us . and sure enough  on his tv segment the next day he gave the film a     on his notorious  franklin scale of  to     while remarking churlishly about the louts who  d disrupted the screening the night before  who clearly didn  t know art when they saw it . what a buffoon .  br    br   after this disaster  pacino didn  t star in another film for almost  years . hugh hudson  s career never recovered . you can  t say i didn  t warn you .  
this is one movie that will take time to get out of your head once you have seen it . the dialogs are close to perfect  which was to be expected as it has been adapted from a play . the actors are simply giving their best  the story is simple and attractive .   minutes of pure bliss   br    br   yvan attal is totally credible in his role  sandrine kiberlain is still the beautiful blonde  but not so dumb  providing as much pleasure to the eyes as to the ears  jean  paul rouve is providing an excellent approximation of the total jerk  and proud to be such   and marina fois is the dumb friend who is always blundering when you expect it least .  br    br   thumbs up to bernard rapp and associates for adapting this excellent play  and all the best for future productions   br    br   i wish there were more of these in nowadays production . if you liked it  you will also probably enjoy  un air de famille   and  cuisine et dependances  . both were written and played by the couple bacri  jaoui .  
i was so eager to see this one of my favorite tv shows . i saw universal trademark followed with a newly acquainted title and theme song which still impress me . computer animation on some scenery like a solid title name  the jetsons  or a dimension view of a spaceship approaching an amusement park and more made this version splendid and fantastic . shortly after that till the end . . . i couldn  t believe my eyes     how lucky i was that i could forget all i had seen . just songs by tiffany and its theme song in new arrangement were in my head . anyway  i wish to see this space  aged family  also the flintstones and yogi bear  in all graphic computer design as toy story or bug  s life . the best style for hanna  barbera  s in my opinion .  
this movie was featured on a very early episode of mystery science theater      but when i see this film  i don  t think about that wonderful tv series . i believe this was a surprisingly good early    s horror flick  with very surprisingly good sound and picture for a   year old public domain horror movie . i actually enjoyed watching bela lugosi and his bizarre staff  including his wife who requires fluid from the glands of young would  be brides  an old hag  and her two bizarre sons  one a giant idiot  the other a comical dwarf  angelo rossitto from      s freaks  . i also enjoyed the plucky young female reporter  who is kind of a stereotype  but still fun to watch . my only problem with this otherwise decent film is it  s plot  even ridiculous and unbelievable for a movie . i don  t want to spoil any of this film  so go out and rent it  or  better yet  buy it for a couple of bucks .  
  br    br   worst . movie . ever .  br    br   what was the purpose of filming this remake  aside from turning it into a    minute informercial for the movie  s soundtrack   zombies that run    i guess the director never watched the original  dead  films  which show stiff  limbed  from rigor mortis  creatures shuffling  shambling toward their living prey .  br    br   and how  exactly  did the survivors know which boat in the marina belonged to the recently departed steve   br    br        
i have seen this movie a while back  after ordering it for my friend  who is a big dominic monaghan fan . the movie itself was very interesting  though it had its positive points  which for me was the donnie darko kind of  wtf   factor after the movie had ended .  br    br   of course  with positive also come negative points . to me  the young girl in the film was incredibly good  and dominic monaghan did a good job as well . unfortunately i don  t have this opinion about daniel burke  who played lonnie . this might just be me  and i  m not claiming to be a serious critic  in the way that i don  t find myself skilled enough  but he just didn  t seem convincing as an actor . but perhaps it  s even more striking then  for although i am not a critic  this does get my attention .  br    br   to conclude  over all i think it  s definitely a film worth watching . it  s interesting  confusing  and you just should have seen it .  
an uninteresting addition to the stalk  n slash cycle which dominated the horror genre in the      s . this was filmed as pranks but released as the dorm that dripped blood which is an obvious steal from the     horror anthology the house that dripped blood . daphne zuniga is the only recognisable face in the cast and this was her first horror movie  she has also appeared in the initiation and the fly ii  .  
bela lugosi appeared in several of these low budget chillers for monogram studios in the      s and the corpse vanishes is one of the better ones .  br    br   bela plays a mad scientist who kidnaps young brides and kills them and then extracts fluid from their bodies so he can keep his ageing wife looking young . after a reporter and a doctor stay the night at his home and discover he is responsible for the brides  deaths  the following morning they report these murders to the police and the mad scientist is shot and drops dead shortly afterwards .  br    br   you have got almost everything in this movie the scientist  s assistants consist of an old hag  a hunchback and dwarf  her sons   a thunderstorm and spooky passages in bela  s house . bela and his wife find they sleep better in coffins rather than beds in the movie .  br    br   the corpse vanishes is worth a look  especially for bela lugosi fans . great fun .  br    br   rating  stars out of  .  
what the hell is this  its one of the dumbest movies i  ve seen . i don  t understand why people on this site love it so much . its senseless nudity for no reason . its worst then resident evil . i strongly don  t recomend it unless you want to watch chessy  bad acting crap . watch real horor movies such as stephen king  s it  the shining  jurassic park  kinda horor   jaws  etc . leave this crap for a rental when there is nothing else to rent . it is bad as crudy vs gayson . attack of the killer tomatoes is better then this crap .  br    br   oh wow flesh eating zombies . how many damn zobie movies do we need . skip this one .  br    br    outta   
this is an excellent movie . the cast is a great mix of characters and the story is decent . the movie is basically about a well  accomplished doctor stealing the bodies of dead brides and taking them to his home . once the bodies are at his home  he removes stuff  i hate to use such a general term  but i forget what it was he removed  and puts it into his wife to retain her youth . then a reporter  patricia hunter  investigates the situation and begins to find answers on why the brides were dying . she takes a trip to the doctors house and the interesting things begin to take place . definitely watch this oldie  but goodie if you can .  
just don  t bother . i thought i would see a movie with great supspense and action .  br    br   but it grows boring and terribly predictable after the interesting start . in the middle of the film you have a little social drama and all tension is lost because it slows down the speed . towards the end the it gets better but not really great . i think the director took this movie just too serious . in such a kind of a movie even if u don  t care about the plot at least you want some nice action . i nearly dozed off in the middle  main part of it . rating     .  br    br   derboiler .  
i wouldn  t say this is a bad movie in fact it  s pretty typical of the type of film that the  poverty row  studios were releasing at the time . filmed for monogram  bela lugosi is very effective in his role as the somewhat demented doctor  scientist  masquerading as a respected member of the community . in this movie  bela and his henchmen have the nasty habit of stealing young brides  and  after their demise  injecting bela  s wife with a serum taken from their bodies in order to keep her young . lugosi is more than up to the task in making this an enjoyable film  however  the movie suffers from the ultra  wooden acting of co stars luana walters and tristram coffin . coffin  nice name for a guy in a horror flick  is especially bad in this case . i  ve seen him in numerous movies and tv shows and he is always the same stiff  wooden and utterly unconvincing . miss walters is only slightly better  but she too lacks the acting talent to make her role believable . still  the viewer can enjoy the great lugosi act out yet another dastardly scheme only to be foiled in the end  despite the poor acting by some   the corpse vanishes  is an enjoyable movie for all to see .  
the plot is about a female nurse  named anna  is caught in the middle of a world  wide chaos as flesh  eating zombies begin rising up and taking over the world and attacking the living . she escapes into the streets and is rescued by a black police officer . so far  so good  i usually enjoy horror movies  but this piece of film doesn  t deserve to be called horror . it  s not even thrilling  just ridiculous . even  the flintstones  or  kukla  fran and ollie  will give you more excitement . it  s like watching a bunch of bloodthirsty drunkards not being able to get into a shopping mall to by more liquor . the heroes who has locked themselves in  inside the shopping  mall to avoid being eaten by the hoodlums outside  are not better either . even though they doesn  t seem to be drunk  they give the impression of being mentally disabled . save your money instead of spending it on this   
this is not bela lagosi  s best movie  but it  s got a good old style approach for some    s horror entertainment .  br    br   brides are dropping dead at the altar like flies . i think i  d postpone the wedding until after the fiend is caught  but it  s a horror movie  so i guess people ignore the danger for some reason . anyway  lagosi is a mad doctor  who needs young female blood to keep his aging  sickly wife healthy and happy . he always eludes the keystone cops by hiding the bodies in a hearse  who would think of looking for a corpse in a hearse    and the brides just keep on getting zapped .  br    br   no movie like this would be complete without a lois lane type female reporter who wants to catch the criminal on her own . good at solving crime  bad at keeping her mouth shut at all the wrong times  guess who lagosi picks for his next intended victim . i love the  haunted house  bit where lois lane gets stranded by a thunderstorm as a guest at lagosi  s sinister mansion . hidden passageways  a vampire  like wife  an evil dwarf igor assistant  and so on . good stuff .  br    br   fairly well done pacing keeps the film moving  and the story resolves itself in a typical but satisfying manner . if you like old horror movies  this one is worth a watch .  
what a horrible movie . i cannot believe i wasted   mins of my life watching this re  make . please tell me why ving rhames and mehki pfifer starred in this film  mehki pfifer is great in e . r and ving rhames probably didn  t know what he was doing . i feel terrible for them . the music background i must say did not fit at alllll with the story and it  s amazing how you can find these directors who have absolutely no lives in creating a well and balanced film . i hope that in the future no director as horrible as this one was  could ever distroy such a great classic film . this film should not have been made in the first place . an advice to everyone who has seen it  please tell me that i  m right because i couldn  t possibly be the only viewer who did not enjoy it .  br    br   boooooo            out of   .  
bela made  pics for monogram  but it was only at this one  the  th  that things started to come together . all the rest in the series would use this one as the essential template for production  writing and character development . from here on  better or worse  the series would also deal with one essential theme a scientist  usually bela  makes experiments in the basement or the old house  sometimes in the basement in the old house  that causes things to go blooey . this was also the first time that art director dave milton got a chance to spread his wings . he came on board for black dragons  the flick before  but this one is where he gets to make his craft start to click . lewis made great atmosphere for next to nothing  and was around for all the rest of the monograms . casting is key in these  and it  s a pretty good one b movie wise  here . you get barclay and harlen  also from black dragons   along with russell  who would star in lewtons  cat people movies . . and rosetto  from spooks run wild . . . a nice slice of poverty row talent . if you have limited time and budget  start with this one . . . it sums up everything they had learned up to this point  and gives you something to compare the rest to . the plot  bela steals gland juice to keep his nasty wife young . they both like to sleep in coffins . if you can read that and smile  the rest will be easy .  
when i went and saw this movie  i had great expectations . but i had so wrong . this movie was exactly as every other horror movies . it  s a virus  zombies etc . exactly as resident evil and many  many other movies . but the difference with this  and other movies  is that the story is very week . it  s bad actors and boring music . the photo is ok but the rest is total crap . don  t see this  horror  movie  go and see the ring  or any other movie who  s much more of a story . i hope they will stop making horror movies who has a virus and the virus spread and make people to zombies . we have seen enough of that . the only good thing in the movie is when they are standing at a roof and shoot famous  infected celebrities .  
rather nasty piece of business featuring bela lugosi as a mad scientist  with yes  a renfield  like assistant and his mother  a dwarf and yes  the scientist  s wife  sounds like a greenaway movie actually lol  . lugosi gives his wife injections from dead brides  why them  who knows   so that his wife can keep looking beautiful . he gets the brides after doing a pretty clever trick with some orchids that makes the brides collapse at the altar . after another bride bites the dust  a newspaper reporter just happens to be around for the scoop  and decides to snoop around for a story . she gets all sorts of clues about the orchids and lugosi . heaven knows where the police were . soon she  s off to bela  s lair  when she meets a sort of strange looking doctor who may or may not be eeeevil . it all cumulates in a totally far  fetched plan to have a fake wedding to capture the mad scientist  but it seems that the scientist has x  ray vision  as he foils her plans  oh no  what will happen  i actually liked this movie as a bit of a guilty pleasure . lugosi is great here  his hangers  on are all very very strange  the story is actually quite nasty in some places which makes it all most watchable . a fun little view .  
funny how many of the people who say this is far superior to romero  s version tend to be very young  judging by their other posts  . what we have here is a slick  action packed  gory and  whoopee  filled  hour mtv video . frantic editing  pop  video camera work   cool  music blah blah blah  br    br   actually it ain  t bad compared to other recent remakes  chainsaw massacre was a total disaster  . . . pretty good acting all round  totally predictable in the  who will die next  stakes and a total cash in on the dawn of the dead name that will generate plenty of revenue alone by fans of the original who will go and see it out of curiosity . . .  br    br   don  t remakes of classics get on your nerves  can they really not come up with something original  why remake dawn of the dead  the things that made the original special  the middle segment kids think is so boring is supposed to be slow to show how when you get everything you ever wanted you still ain  t happy  are totally missing . this is an action flick  plain and simple . the faster the better . if you are into action flicks  and as this  the     version is well done  fair enough  but for anyone who likes a little substance to their films . . . get ready to sigh  again  . . .  br    br   watch the cinemas over the next few years as we get the godfather series remade by whoever the most fashionable pop director is at the moment  and star wars remade  with all the kids saying how the new version is miles better cos the old version is slow and boring and holds a camera shot for more than  seconds . . .  br    br   not bad  but in   years they will still be discussing the romero version  not this pap  
this movie was a really great flick about something that affects us all . i know i  ve personally run into this many times . thank goodness will smith has jumped onto the societal issue of text messaging while driving . people  don  t do it . an hour and forty five minutes is not enough time for this cause . personally  i wanted to throw away my cell phone after the movie . i was glad to see other people in the theater saw the message and dumped their phones with the empty bags of popcorn . i decided to disable all text messaging on my phone and would encourage others to do the same . if you care about your family  make them watch this vital public service announcement on text messaging while driving or they could kill seven people . thanks for showing us the way .  
what a great word  re  imagining  is . isn  t that what they call dawn of the dead mmiv        a clever word indeed  it disguises the term that everyone has grown to hate   remake  that is  and makes it almost sound as if the process of making one was creative and involved the imagination . well  damn  was i misled . at least i was seduced more by the thought of countless gore and unbridled violence than by the idea of  re  imagining   though it played a role .  br    br   still  why make a remake  directors do it for only a few reasons really to update a movie for a modern audience  or because they personally love the original and want to make a tribute to it . an homage  if you will . nonetheless  it all generally  i do admit exceptions  boils down to one thing stealing someone  s idea and reshaping it  or  re  imagining  it  so that those who would never see it or understand it would pay money to see it . it  s like coles   cliffs  notes dump everything in a blender  purify all that is more puzzling and curious and throw in a few artificial flavors . in other words  a great marketing scheme .  br    br   so what  s wrong with this one  well  i  ll start with what i liked . i liked the opening scenes . thanks to cgi and a bigger budget we could actually get a grasp of the chaos of the zombie holocaust romero tried to communicate in the original through minimalist means . we see the city in ruins  thousands of zombies chaos and death . two words that look beautiful on screen . then it all falls apart .  br    br   this set  up leads nowhere . the movie does what almost every remake does . it adds more of everything except character  atmosphere  and story . it  s noisier   in some sense  bloodier  and more full of main characters who appear only to die in nonsensical subplots . the setting  the mall which played a crucial role in the original film  s story and theme  is purely coincidental . the idea communicated in romero  s film  the pure ecstatic joy of having  a mall all to yourself as a fortress   is gone here . further  this  re  imagining  has no moxie  no spirit  no balls . it assumes  probably quite rightly  that the audience has no attention span and doesn  t bother to get us interested in the characters or the story . the film is rushed and misses the quieter interactions of the four characters of the original . you actually grew to care about those people in romero  s version because there was a certain realism to their existence despite the insanity outside the mall . here  you don  t care when or who goes what matters is how they go .  br    br   what else is their to say  the film is not scary . it has one or two  jump  scenes and it tries to make up for the rest with gore and loud special effects . as a story it  s really too choppy to be followed and the conflicts between the characters are too underdeveloped to save it . the humor is also reduced to a few one  liners  and one really good character andy  . after that  what remains  an ending that is plainly ridiculous and far inferior to the subdued  inevitable ambiguity of the original film . but  despite it being a pretty bad film  though not quite as bad as some other remakes   it should be remembered for one thing it kicked the passion of christ from it  s number one spot in the box office . well done zombies .  
one thing is for sure . . . you should not watch this film if you are having a bad day . the story is based around a sad event and follows a character who has to live with a sin that he cant handle . the story is drip fed to you rather than the usual dumbed down explanation so it keeps you wondering what is going on . eventually the dots are joined up and the performances make sense . all the characters were ok and wil smith did another good day at the office .  br    br   there are no doubt a lot of moral questions to be asked but if you just accept and buy into his agony then it is easier to accept what he has chosen to do . whether you agree or disagree is irrelevant . the journey it takes you on is interesting enough  if not overwhelming .  br    br   a good enough film that unfortunately leaves you a little sad at the end . i would recommend this film if you like the sort where you have to think and not just watch explosions and fights .  
i watched this with a growing sense of unease . why would god  in the shape of ian hunter  help these particular people in their attempted escape from devils island  and what was he doing there in the first place  i mean  i know god works in mysterious ways  but helping thieves and murderers and prostitutes find redemption  forgiveness and changes  of  heart in such a godforsaken location . . . . in any event it is hardly a likeable movie . whatever gable had by way of charm is missing in this portrait of a thoroughly selfish man  crawford is as endearing as ever she was i . e . to me  not at all  and the whole look of the film makes it seem as if it was made   years before . compared to contemperaneous films like  stagecoach  and  mr . deeds goes to town   this looks prehistoric .  
going into see seven pounds i wasn  t clearly sure what to think because the previews left to much open to grasp what the movie was really about . so within the first   min or so you are completely lost in the plot  have no idea what is going on and you think tim  who claims to be ben  is just a big asshole . all of this comes to an end when the  twist   so to speak  is unraveled at the very last minute of the movie . basically tim  will smith  was troubled and haunted by a big accident he made causing the end of seven peoples lives . by this he decides to scope out seven new people who are in need of help badly who he in turns gives his life to .  br    br   the acting of this film is great  as i feel will smith no matter what part he seems to impress . rosario dawson  to me  this is one of her better movies  aside from eagle eye which i think is up there to . she has been in some bad some good but she does deliver in this film . other actors  such as woody harrelson  have very small roles and not a big enough role to grasp the character . although the casting of the film was still good .  br    br   this movie was definitely not what i expected and certainly a lot slower pace in which i hoped . the movie  however  was still pretty good . nothing is revealed until the last  min of the movie and everything falls into place . up until then it just seems like a pointless love story . final thought seven poundsseven stars .  
hollywood always had trouble coming to terms with a  religious picture .  strange cargo proves to be no exception . although utilizing the talents of a superb cast  and produced on a top budget  with suitably moody photography by robert planck  the movie fails dismally on the credibility score . perhaps the reason is that the film seems so realistic that the sudden intrusion of fantasy elements upsets the viewer  s involvement in the action and with the fate of the characters . i found it difficult to sit still through all the contrived metaphors  parallels and biblical references  and impossible to accept bathed  in  light ian hunter  s smug know  it  all as a christ figure . and the censors in boston  detroit and providence at least agreed with me . the movie was banned . few boston  detroit  providence moviegoers  if any  complained or journeyed to other cities because it was obvious from the trailer that gable and crawford had somehow become involved in a  message picture .  it flopped everywhere .  br    br   oddly enough  the movie has enjoyed something of a revival on tv . a home atmosphere appears to make the movie  s allegory more receptive to viewers . however  despite its growing reputation as a strange or unusual film  the plot of this strange cargo flows along predictable  heavily moralistic lines that will have no  one guessing how the principal characters will eventually come to terms with destiny .  
seven pounds stars will smith as ben thomas  an irs collection agent who has an ulterior motive for meeting those who have gotten behind on their tax payments . thomas caused the deaths of seven people whilst driving talking on his phone and the movie follows his attempt to try and atone for his  quite frankly  unforgivable crime .  br    br   the story line is as subtle as a brick through a green house window . what you see is exactly what is happening  even the ending of titanic was more surprising when compared to seven pounds . there is absolutely no twist whatsoever  there is never any confusion or doubt as to what is happening .  br    br   normally i only like will smith when is in full bad boys mode . the guy is at his best when sporting a gun  driving a ford gt and saying  aw hell nah  as whenever he tries to act serious it only comes across as a pathetic attempt at trying to gain an oscar which he is so obviously is desperate for . this is probably the main reason why i wasn  t looking forward to the movie  although here he is very understated . there are flashes of comedy but they are subtle  in fact it was the most understated will smith performance i have ever seen and for that reason alone he was fantastic and ironically should be nominated for a major award .  br    br   the supporting cast were all grand too  rosario dawson looked pretty much at deaths door the whole film and woody harrelson and barry pepper were fine as where all the other bit players .  br    br   overall it is a weepy  but it isn  t throwing all the usual clichs and sentimental violins to give you no other choice but to cry . there were a few times that even my hardened heart nearly broke . you will be hard pressed not to find one of the situations that does not relate to your own life which makes it seem all the more real .  br    br   i would give it     . the will smith show moves onto drama without all the desperation of the pursuit of happiness and comes of all the better for it .  
this film is pure  hollywood hokum  . it is based upon a novel called  not too narrow  not too deep  by richard sale  which may or may not have been interesting it would take research to find out  the story in the film takes for granted many incidents and much background which obviously existed in the novel but are nowhere to be seen in the film  so either the film was savagely cut or the screenplay was a mess from the start . there is not one millisecond in this film which is remotely realistic  either in terms of events or characters . it is pure hollywood fantasy in every respect . two well  known actors  paul lukas and peter lorre  are so under  used and wasted that there was no point in their being in the film at all . they must have been thrown into the mix in the manner in which one adds a sprinkling of chopped chives to an omelette  hoping that the flavour will be enhanced . the film is a ponderous attempt at producing a  morality tale   and is so corny that it is laughable . the story concerns some hardened criminals imprisoned in french guiana who want to escape from their french colonial prison through a jungle  very much a hollywood set jungle  with a rubber snake  . naturally there has to be a woman in the story  so joan crawford hams it up as a down  on  her  luck tramp who for some reason becomes irresistible to clark gable  one of the escaped criminals . crawford in escaping through the jungle wears high  heeled shoes and keeps her makeup fresh . gable flirts and grimaces and makes mawkish expressions  crinkling his brow as was his wont  smirking and looking suggestively at everybody  which was his manner of acting . it is hard to treat such a character as a hardened criminal when he is always trying so hard to be clark gable that surely he hasn  t any time left to be a thief .  attention  seekers are by definition too busy to steal and unsuited to a task which requires that people not see them .  the whole escapade is so ridiculous that it can only be regarded as light entertainment . an attempt at religiosity and  depth  is made by injecting into the story a mysterious  angel of mercy  who voluntarily walks into the prison and pretends to be an inmate . he helps in the escape and accompanies all the criminals and ministers to their various deaths  helping them to find  peace  in their last gasps . this character is played very well by ian hunter  who retains throughout a convincing air of secret knowledge  smiles enigmatically  makes cryptic prophetic remarks  and has a small spot trained on his face to give him a heavenly glow . the theme is meant to be redemption . you might call it the donald duck version of  hollywood goes moral and gets heavy  . for real depth  hitchcock  s  i confess  of     shows how it should really be done . by contrast  this piece of trivial nonsense shows just how bare the cupboards of meaning were in tinsel town  and that when they went rummaging for something that might mean something  all they could come up with was  you guessed it  more tinsel .  
i saw insomniac  s nightmare not to long ago for the first time and i have to say  i really found it to be quite good . if you are a fan of dominic monaghan you will love it . the hole movie takes place inside his mind  or does it  the acting from everyone else is a little rushed and shaky and some of the scenes could be cut down but it works out in the end . the extras on the dvd are just as great as the film  if not greater for those dom fans . it has tons of candid moments from the set  outtakes and a great interview with the director . anyone who has gone through making an independent film will love to watch tess  the director   dom and everyone else on the very small close personal set try to bang out this little trippy creepy film . it was pretty enjoyable and i  m glad to have it in my collection .  
probably one of the most boriest slasher movies ever  badly acted and badly written .  br    br   the plot five students staying behind during the holidays closing down a dorm  but somebody has designs on them and starts killing them off one by one  the main suspect is the creepy groundskeeper john hemmitt played by woody roll  or could it be one of the five characters .  br    br   acting not that bad not that great either apart from daphne zungia who dies way too quickly and should have been the main heroine  and the rest well quite dull although laura lapinski the main heroine sometimes has her charm and you do feel sorry for her in the end .  br    br   the kills can  t really see why they banned this  the kills look fake mostly  one guy has his hand sliced in half in the beginning which looks really fake  but the others are quite nasty like one girl gets her head run over by a car  one girl gets boiled alive and another gets burned alive .  br    br   overall not really a great slasher could have been a lot better  
i was up late flipping cable channels one night and ran into this movie from about   minutes into the start  every time i even thought going to bed  something kept on telling me to keep on watching it even though it was way way way past my bedtime .  br    br   this movie could have been another easy slam dunk anti  gun film  but instead they chose to examine the aftereffects of the shootings . and even better  the movie kept on with the real life  just when you think they are going to take the easy and obviously contrived way out  a twist comes along and changes the whole outlook of the movie . this film not only doesn  t follow the formula  it shows how other events often lead up to and  or affect what happens afterwards .  br    br   i only wish the filmmakers had explored the issues around anti  depressant drugs more  the kids from columnbine who did the shootings were on them for years and it was frightening to watch the way deanna popped them every time the nightmares started . up until recently they were dispensing the stuff like candy and only now do they even begin to understand what long term effects the drugs have . it was very refreshing to see that the mental illness aspect of the story was given quite a bit of film  having a relative who suffers from a mental illness  i can say that the movie was dead nuts on in every aspect of mental illnesses . bravo to the director and writer who obviously did their homework on those issues . and for those who think certain things couldn  t happen in a hospital  i don  t want to tell any particulars   you  re dead wrong on that too  i  ve been there . the script was so real it was amazing .  br    br   go buy this film and show it to your teenage kids before it  s too late . someday they  ll thank you for it .  
i thought this was a very clunky  uninvolving version of a famous australian story . heath ledger and orlando bloom were very good in their roles  and gave their characters some personality but the whole thing felt forced and mechanical .  br    br   the beginning could have been a lot more involving perhaps starting with a shootout  and then flashing back for a recap of how they got there or that sort of thing . and i felt like every scene was routinely predictable and signposted  like a very bad tv soap .  br    br   i was really looking forward to this movie  and hoping for something a lot better . the only thing i can say in its favour is that it beats the mick jagger version  but not by much .  
fair drama  love story movie that focuses on the lives of blue collar people finding new life thru new love . the acting here is good but the film fails in cinematography  screenplay  directing and editing . the story  script is only average at best . this film will be enjoyed by fonda and de niro fans and by people who love middle age love stories where in the coartship is on a more wiser and cautious level . it would also be interesting for people who are interested on the subject matter regarding illiteracy . . . . . . .  
from the beginning of the movie  it gives the feeling the director is trying to portray something  what i mean to say that instead of the story dictating the style in which the movie should be made  he has gone in the opposite way  he had a type of move that he wanted to make  and wrote a story to suite it . and he has failed in it very badly . i guess he was trying to make a stylish movie . any way i think this movie is a total waste of time and effort . in the credit of the director  he knows the media that he is working with  what i am trying to say is i have seen worst movies than this . here at least the director knows to maintain the continuity in the movie . and the actors also have given a decent performance .  
when i first saw the title i was already deducing the theme of the film  it clearly wasn  t a reference to british currency  so it had to be shakespearian and about pounds of flesh  taking them  or giving them . will smith  s a feelgood actor  so serial killers were out . it could only be about a man giving them  so must be about guilt somehow . i spoilt the whole thing for myself by looking it up and knowing the story before i watched  as the beauty of the build  up is the way parts of the main character  s background are drip fed to slowly illuminate the audience as to who he is and why he is doing what he is doing .  br    br   guilt is a very hard subject to do simply because it  s deeply uncomfortable and sad  which is not an encouraging premise when you are hoping for a roller  coaster ride  you know its going to be unpleasant . i wouldn  t say the movie glorifies suicide it delves into the most extreme form of self  sacrifice  martyrdom .  br    br   it  s also brimming with symbolism everywhere  which is a surefire tell  tale sign that the writing is cleverly thought out in great detail and driving at multiple meanings and a deep reflective nature . the most prominent theme that struck me was that he was not only giving his heart to the girl he loves emotionally and metaphorically  but was giving it to her physically as the greatest gift he could . determined to die  but his plan is thwarted by falling in love  what a  nd act complication . absolutely masterful .  br    br   yes it is very slow  paced  but i  m undecided as to whether it would have been better slotted into a smaller timeframe . i didn  t feel the strain and his terrible inner turmoil as much as i could have  but maybe that  s just me having ruined it for myself beforehand . saying all that though  it is a deeply moving and original film that is an incredibly powerful and thought  provoking tragedy that deserves the awards it will inevitably get .  
hollywood  the home of hype  glamor and the search for profits  is scarcely ruled by spiritual values  and so it comes as no surprise that its attempts at investigations of the spiritual life are thin and often silly  better to go farther afield   to the films of bresson  dreyer  rossellini and bergman  for probing depictions of the spirituality  .  strange cargo  is no exception . this odd hybrid of adventure film  love story and religious parable trivializes the very insights it tries to communicate . that a figure of providence and salvation would work to match verne  clark gable at his most cockily mannered and self  regarding  and julie  joan crawford  snarling and spitting out every other word in an attempt to be the queen of tough dames  seems ludicrous at best . is this the patron saint of the star system at work  matching warring egos before sending them off to further penal servitude on the m  g  m lot  but . . . there are good supporting performances here  and visually arresting moments the shadowy prison barracks the escaping boat by moonlight  or against a painterly cloudscape julie walking along the seafront as the wind whips up julie and monsieur pig  peter lorre  bargaining for verne  s freedom as the storm builds an unusually ennobling gay prison romance between two convicts . . . above all  there is paul lukas  s dignified and detached performance as hessler  a murderer who can appreciate cambreau  s virtues  yet turns his back on him . in the film  s most arresting moment  hessler  having left cambreau  stands outside the cabin . we hear the wind through the jungle  see the shadows on his face  which conveys a moment of fear and self  doubt . then he exits into the night . in this moment  hessler achieves an ambiguity  depth and existential strength that none of the other characters manage to achieve . is the film  s secret that its deepest sympathies are allied with hessler   
i have never commented on a film before . i watched this movie with my girlfriend last night . i  ve read comments saying this movie stays with you . it does . it  s been almost   hours and i am still completely affected . this movie left me questioning my own self . how can i possibly compare myself to a character such as ben who is totally selfless . i loved this movie . i love movies that keep me guessing and wondering until the end . i feel two emotions predominantly  happiness and sadness . an amazing feel good movie and a very sad one too . i so wanted ben and emily to be together  but in the end  they were  forever . if you haven  t seen this movie  get it and watch it . just make sure you have no distractions . you  ll want to see every nuance in this picture . one for my library .  
  br    br   i didn  t see they call me trinity  but this sequel is really unfunny at all . it has many gags that are supposed to make people laugh . i guess the filmmaker just don  t have the talent to do it right . wonder why it was so popular in the   s .  
will smith delivers yet again in a film about a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders and his crusade to right his wrongs in a way that will touch even the most hardened of hearts    writer grant nieporte and italian director gabriele muccino come together and created a masterpiece that i highly recommend to purchase and keep in your movie collection as you will never grow tired of watching  feeling this film    i have the highest respects for will smith as he is not only a brilliant actor but one can tell he has a genuine love for people and life which no doubt made him perfect for the character  irs agent ben thomas  he played in this film . you will find yourself feeling his pain and anger  the frustrations over his love for emily  played by rosario dawson  who by the way was fantastic as usual . i found myself falling in love with the fact their characters were falling in love . woody harrelson also stars in this top notch film . i find it very difficult to write this review without giving away key plot points . . . all i can say is  watch it and when you do make sure you have nothing to interrupt you  take the phone off the hook  sit back and get ready to start trying to unravel the mysterious life and past of irs agent ben thomas . . . i thank you will smith for another great film     
i have seen this movie and the other one . trinity is my name and i find that this one is worse then the first one . i have no idea why they even made another movie it was stupid and pointless sorry to say that i have all of them . i have sat through them number of times and it still drives me to turn it off  minutes into the movie . i like terence hill movies and i like bud spencer but this movie just drove me up the wall . if it had a different story line or at least more of a plot and more comedy it might have been funner and worth the  dollars i spent buying all the movies . but you make mistakes so i would say save your money and don  t bye this movie or any of the ones that go with it trust me on this one .  
the emotional impact of this movie defies words . it is elegant  subtle  beautiful  and tragic all rolled into two hours . this is will smith as he matures into his acting ability  the full range of it . who knew  i saw the pursuit of happiness and thought  this must be a fluke for the blockbuster  over  the  top actor  smith . his performances in both movies portray a whole other dimension to smith  a refinement of talent  the selectivity of scripts  i  m not sure  but i view him differently now . seven pounds is one of those movies that in order to fully enjoy its essence you have to suspend your belief . don  t watch it for the plot  watch it for the fragile condition of the human heart  both literally and metaphorically . it is a story of human guilt  atonement  love  and sacrifice .  
  aka trinity is still my name  this sequel looks like it was done to capitalize on the outstanding european box  office success of they call me trinity  only this time joseph e . levine and avco  embassy pictures wanted to capitalize on it in america as well . too bad they didn  t get very far since the hill  spencer pictures have had only had marginal success here in the u . s .  and this largely boring  drawn  out film doesn  t help it out any .  br    br   trinity and bambino swear to their dying father  harry carey jr .  that they will become successful outlaws and take care of each other . they later get involved with arms  traffickers who smuggle guns out of a monastery  and who mistakenly think they  re a pair of federal agents . it all winds up falling flat in spite of a couple of funny scenes  especially the one where trinity and bambino are in a fancy french restaurant and don  t know how to carry themselves . and the scenes with the card sharks was mildly humorous as well .  br    br   the opening title music sung by gene roman sounds like a fair bobby goldsboro  like early   s pop song while the music cues sprinkled throughout the movie are pretty good . not sure if i  d want to buy the cd soundtrack of it but some others might .  br    br   the film could have had a half hour whacked off of it and it wouldn  t have dragged on for so long . it looks like a lot of scenery is being chewed up here . in fact  i lost interest in it about    rds of the way through . the dvd is also terrible  with a constant hum in the soundtrack and a poor print that looks like it should have been sent to that great scrap heap in the sky .  br    br   a big step down from the previous film .  br    br    out of    
will smith is one of the best actors of all time . i don  t know how he does it . i read books constantly but if there is a movie with will smith i will watch it . he has a rare gift of pulling you into the movie and holding you there . this movie is one of the best movies i have seen yet . i watched it on saturday and i still cannot get it out of my head . amazing and sad all at the same time . thanks again will . you must watch this movie from beginning to end to understand every part of the movie . you cannot miss a thing . make sure you have plenty of kleenex and your man  woman sitting next to you so you can cuddle . well worth the money that you will pay to watch it . . don  t wait for it to come on tv .  
the author of numerous novels  plays  and short stories  w . somerset maugham            was considered among the world  s great authors during his lifetime  and although his reputation has faded over the years his work continues to command critical respect and a large reading public . published in      the razor  s edge is the tale of a world war i veteran whose search for spiritual enlightenment flies in the face of shallow western values . it was maugham  s last major novel   and it was immensely popular . given that the novel  s conflicts are internalized spiritual and philosophical issues  it was also an extremely odd choice for a film version   but darryl f . zannuck of   th century fox fell in love with the book and snapped up the screen rights shortly after publication .  br    br   according to film lore  the razor  s edge was to be directed by the legendary george cukor from a screenplay by maugham himself   and it does seem that maugham wrote an adaptation . when the film went into production  however  cukor was replaced by edmund goulding  a director less known for artistic touch than a workman  like manner  and the maugham script was replaced with one by lamar trotti  the author of such memorable screenplays as the oxbow incident . tyrone power  recently returned from military service during world war ii  was cast as the spiritually conflicted larry darrell gene tierney  one of the great beauties of her era  was cast as socialite isabell bradley . the supporting cast was particularly notable  including herbert marshall  anne baxter  clifton webb  lucille watson  and elsa lanchester . both budget and shooting schedule were lavish  and when the film debuted in     it was greatly admired by public and critics alike .  br    br   but time has a way of putting things into perspective . seen today  the razor  s edge is indeed a beautifully produced film   but that aside the absolute best one can say for it is that it achieves a fairly consistent mediocrity . as in most cases  the major problem is the script . although it is reasonably close to maugham  s novel in terms of plot  it is noticeably off the mark in terms of character and it completely fails to capture the fundamental issues that drive the story . we are told that larry is in search of enlightenment we are told that he receives it we are told he acts on it   but in spite of the occasional and largely superficial comment we are never really told anything about the spiritual  artistic  philosophical  and intellectual processes behind any of it . we are most particularly never told anything significant about the nature of the enlightenment itself . it has the effect of cutting off the story at its knees .  br    br   we are left with the shell of maugham  s plot  which centers on the relationship between larry and isabell  a woman larry loves but leaves due to the growing ideological riff that opens up between them . tyrone power and gene tierney were more noted for physical beauty than talent  but both could turn in good performances when they received solid directorial and script support . unfortunately  that does not happen here they are extremely one  note and power is greatly miscast to boot . fortunately  the supporting cast is quite good  with herbert marshall  clifton webb  and lucille watson particularly so the then  famous performance by anne baxter  however  has not worn as well as one would hope .  br    br   with a running time of just under two and a half hours  the film also feels unnecessarily long . there is seemingly endless cocktail party  type banter  and indeed the entire india sequence  which reads as faintly hilarious  would have been better cut entirely   an odd situation  for this is the very sequence intended as the crux of the entire film . regardless of the specific scene  it all just seems to go on and on to no actual point .  br    br   as for the dvd itself  the film has not been remastered  but the print is extremely good  and while the bonus package isn  t particularly memorable neither is noticeably poor . when all is said and done  i give the razor  s edge four stars for production values and everyone  s willingness to take on the material   but frankly  this a film best left power and tierney fans  who will enjoy it for the sake of the stars  and those whose ideas about spiritual enlightenment are as vague as the film itself .  br    br   gft  amazon reviewer  
when its dvd was released i came to market and bought it . and i think my money was on right way as i expected before buying it . awesome movie what else i can say for will smith  he  s been an awesome actor like always whether in actions movies or serious . always he gives a record braking performance . i think this is the movie after august rush which makes a person cry while watching it . the way the director described the story was really awesome . his previous life and his new life in movie was correctly elaborated to the audience . even i could not find any fault in the story or the way they shoot it . i think its dvd should be a household because this will be really a nice thing for your collection . it is not the movie which needs pop  corns for enjoyment  this is the movie which let the audience learn a lesson . now what is the lesson you can see that while watching . and i advise those people who are movie critics please watch this if you could find any criticism about this movie then please talk to me .  
what if somerset maugham had written a novel about a coal miner who decided to search for transcendental enlightenment by trying to join a country club  if he had  he could have called it the razor  s edge  since the katha  upanishad tells us   the sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over thus the wise say the path to salvation is hard .  but maugham decided to stick with the well  bred class  and so we have darryl f . zanuck  s version of larry darrell  recently returned from wwi  carefully groomed  well connected in society and determined to find himself by becoming a coal miner .  br    br   or  as maugham tells us   this is the young man of whom i write . he is not famous . it may be that when at last his life comes to an end he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on this earth than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water . yet it may be that the way of life he has chosen for himself may have an ever growing influence over his fellow men  so that  long after his death  perhaps  it will be realized that lived in this age a very remarkable creature .   br    br   the razor  s edge has all of zanuck  s cultural taste that money could buy . it  s so earnest  so sincere . . . so self  important . as larry goes about his search for wisdom  working in mines  on merchant ships  climbing a himalayan mountain to learn from an ancient wise man  we have his selfish girl friend  isabel  played by gene tierney  his tragic childhood chum played by anne baxter  the girlfriend  s snobbish and impeccably clad uncle played by clifton webb  and willie maugham himself  played by herbert marshall  taking notes . the movie is so insufferably smug about goodness that the only thing that perks it up a bit is clifton webb as elliot templeton .  if i live to be a hundred i shall never understand how any young man can come to paris without evening clothes .  webb has some good lines  but we wind up appreciating clifton webb  not elliot templeton .  br    br   zanuck wanted a prestige hit for twentieth century when he bought the rights to maugham  s novel . he waited a year until tyrone power was released from military service . he made sure there were well  dressed extras by the dozens  a score that sounds as if it were meant for a cathedral and he even wrote some of the scenes himself . the effort is as self  conscious as a fat man wearing a rented tux . despite hollywood  s view of things in the razor  s edge  i can tell you that for most people hard work doesn  t bring enlightenment  just weariness and low pay .  br    br   after nearly two  and  a  half hours  we last see larry carrying his duffle bag on board a tramp steamer in a gale . he  s going to work his way back to america from europe with a contented smile on his face .  my dear   somerset maugham says to isabel at the same time in an elaborately decorated parlor   larry has found what we all want and what very few of us ever get . i don  t think anyone can fail to be better  and nobler  kinder for knowing him . you see  my dear  goodness is after all the greatest force in the world . . . and he  s got it   larry and the audience both need a healthy dose of dramamine .  br    br   maugham  lest we forget  was a fine writer of plays  novels  essays and short stories . to see how the movies could do him justice  watch the way some of his short stories were brought to the screen in encore  trio and quartet . and instead of wasting time with larry darrell  spend some time with lawrence durrell . the alexandria quartet is a good read .  
haunted by a secret  ben thomas  will smith  looks for redemption by radically transforming the lives of seven people he doesn  t know . once his plan is set  nothing will be able to stop him . at least that  s what he thinks . but ben hadn  t planned on falling in love with one of these people and she  s the one who will end up transforming him . will smith is back again with director gabriele muccino  after the life inspiring movie  the pursuit of happiness  .  seven pounds  is yet another life changing movie experience  which not only does reminds you of their previous collaboration  tearful  but inspires you joyfully in the end . will smith  also is the producer again with some of the others . these movies are very realistic  which depicts a common man  s life  his struggles through life . seven pounds might have took some time to gain it  s actual momentum  but just after half an hour of the movie  the movie is all set to rule your heart . also  this movie has some twists revolving around  which lets the viewers keep guessing . director gabriele muccino once again is the winner all the way  with his emotional yet inspiring message . he makes all the characters of the movie very real  that the people would actually find themselves in somewhere of the movie . along with the director  will smith is yet another winner  with his superb acting skills . once again  the duo of the director  the actor works as a charm . also  there are other talented actors in the movie who did their part pretty well . rosario dawson  beauty with brains  that  s what she can be called . she looks beautiful  does her part extremely well . barry pepper  gives a great support to the movie  woody harrelson does the same  although woody did not had much screen timing  would have been good if he had more  . you won  t forget this movie easily . watch this movie  change your life . top class cinema   
mark hamill should have felt mighty embarrassed with corvette summer  this time  he uses a new kind of  force  to regain the possession of his dream machine  a bright red  vette . it looks like another sour teen  age flick the first half  hour and does a u  turn in heading for the wrong direction . the writing and directing jobs are dreadfully done  with a few scenes you can  t hardly take . you  re expecting this to happen anyway  and you  re also sniffing the smell of late    s hodgepodge . only a former newcomer like annie potts would easily steal the show and save this poor movie from the repo creeps  her impractical but delightful personality holds on to your interest for good  and this is the finest chance to see her in a swimsuit . hooray for annie  sorry  mark  i guess the force wasn  t with you this time around .  
from the first scene you are given clues as to what may be going on here . it becomes more and more obvious as the story rolls on . the acting is excellent throughout and these actors touch your soul . even though i knew what was going to happen i was extremely puzzled by the motive . i  m still puzzled as to why ben did what he did . we could see in his face  second thoughts   but the ultimate sacrifice seemed to go against his emotion and feelings . it was a very interesting and touching story but it left me confused . maybe that was the point of the film . i did like the film and wil smith can wrack up another good film choice . this guy knows how to entertain an audience   
this is a pretty bad movie . the plot is sentimental mush . i suppose the production values are ok  decent photography  unobtrusive direction and all that . mark hamill was terrible . i  ve never cared much for him  and this movie validates that perception . it  s no wonder that he never really had any sort of career aside from his  star wars  films . i  ll just say  buh  bye  mark  as he sinks into well  deserved obscurity . on the other hand  a very young annie potts utterly stole the show . she showed charm  beauty  and acting chops all in one performance . i remember seeing her in  texasville  recently and taking note of her beauty . it  s interesting seeing her from ten years earlier . anyway  unless you are interested in miss potts  run away from this film screaming for the hills .  
wow  what  a  movie            i  m not at all a fan of contemporary italian directors . usually i don  t like dramas . i am not a will smith super fan even thinking that he is a very good actor . . . . . . but this movie  it is such a great movie with a such original script and so good direction and so well acting . . . wow . . . it is stunning . this movie captured my attention minute by minute and i even did not like  the pursuit of happiness   maybe also because i did not like the acting of will  s son who is a very bad actor while children usually seems all natural born actors  i saw him also last night in  the day the earth stood still  and i confirmed my sensation that jaden can  t act  . i don  t want to write spoilers and so i don  t talk about the story but what i can say is that this movie talks about love  death and other feelings which i don  t like to watch in movies . . . . but this movie is such a super great movie . if you have a minimum of heart you  ll don  t regret watching it  
annie potts is the only highlight in this truly dull film . mark hamill plays a teenager who is really really really upset that someone stole the corvette he and his classmates turned into a hotrod  quite possibly the ugliest looking car to be featured in a movie   and heads off to las vegas with annie to track down the evil genius who has stolen his pride and joy .  br    br   i would have plucked out my eyes after watching this if it wasn  t for the fun of watching annie potts in a very early role  and it  s too bad for hamill that he didn  t take a few acting lessons from her . danny bonaduce also makes a goofy cameo .  
i thought this was a wonderful movie . it touches every fiber of a human being . the love in the film is very intense . i thought it was will  s best performance to date . great directing . liked the editing . music was great . good use of flashback . this is the kind of movie everyone should go see . i hope people will get something wonderful from this . overall  excellent movie . i think hollywood should make more movies with substance . even action films can have a caring story . i like the fact that will was very subtle in his acting . he had a purpose and a dedication that is rare to see . i would suggest watching this alone or with someone that you really care about . for me  i found that the world stopped and my only focus was on the film . the outside world was suspended for a moment . it was a nice feeling with all this chaos going on in this world . and with this me generation it was great to see something  someone  that cared about other people more than himself .  
the summer of      when this flick was a staple on that new movie medium called hbo  was gas line summer  iranian hostage crisis summer . a change of mood was about to end low  budget  loner  on  a  mission car films  although  smokey  the bandit  kept need  for  speed flicks going as live  action roadrunner cartoons for a few more years .  corvette summer  is as quirky as any earlier movie like  vanishing point  or  dirty mary  crazy larry   if lighter  sexier than most . just  graduated  high  school automotive genius kenneth  hamill  hitchhikes to vegas in pursuit of the car theft ring that ripped off his shop class masterpiece  a super  custom  right  hand  drive vette . in the spiritual limbo of the i    desert  see  fear  loathing in las vegas   he gets into a custom van  yes  this was the tail end of the van craze  too  tricked out as a mobile bordello  driven by sassy  aspiring hooker vanessa  potts   on her way to sin city to make her  well  whatever it is ambitious hookers make . vanessa  get it  shy  innocent kenneth is in way over his head in vegas  with only his all  american resolve  his new friend to help him  although the hard  edged young call girl is predictably less world  wise than she first seems . why  in the  i am woman  age  vanessa invested her talents  money  future in the world  s oldest but least dignified profession over  say  college or even hairdressing  can be explained by young men who  d like to think that all women at least consider the joys of that career path . remember the target audience  right  hamill is a good choice for the whitebread kenneth  the car doesn  t even belong to him personally  but to his school   who won  t be deterred from his goal by violence  money or even love   until he finds out why the car was really stolen . potts acts with style  energy but vanessa is too incredible for any but the most credulous testosterone machine to buy into . the bad guys are made surprisingly human  especially by the always  fine brion james . but there  s not much action  this isn  t the kind of movie that can be carried by dialog  plot twists or heavy themes . you could always reach up  turn the tv dial  plug in your  pong  console . the similar but meaner chris mitchum vehicle  stingray   which appeared at about the same time  featured lamer acting but more skin  speed  mayhem . the best features of each film might have produced a vette movie worth remembering . thus the trans am was left to rule the box  office muscle car showroom . another forgotten car movie brought back from the dead by  speed channel  s  fine weekend series  lost drive  in .  
an insomniac  s nightmare was an incredibly interesting  well  made film . i loved the way it just throws you into the main character  s subconscious without coddling the viewer . . . the acting was top notch  honestly  i would watch dominic monaghan read the phone book   but everyone else  especially the young girl  was great as well . i was very impressed by the look of the film  too . usually   independent films  have a grainy  i  shot  this  on  my  camcorder look to them  but this director knows what she  s doing . the lighting  the cinematography . . . quality work . i  m looking forward to a feature  length work from tess nanavati   
i  m not looking for quality i  m just trying to get through the   famous video nasties that were banned in britain . this one was initially banned and re  released in     with a whole   seconds cut .  br    br   some college kids spend their christmas vacation preparing a dorm for renovation . there are some creepy characters lurking about along with the four kids . which of them is the slasher  the actual killings are not very gory  so this video nastie is not really nasty . there is the requisite flashing of the boobies  but it has nothing to do with the college kids .  br    br   i had a suspect very quickly and i turned out to be right . maybe i  ve seen too many of these . the end twist was clever i have to give the writers credit for that bit of originality .  
before i see on this film  i see a lot of comments  which everyone has a great view of the film good or bad . . .  br    br   what i really want to point out is the acting on woody harrelson behalf  he may not be in many parts of the film  but when he appears or even the intro  i was astonished by will smith  s and woody harrelson  message  they tried to create and maybe slip the entire plot until the end to really understand what is going on .  br    br   i am not a very sentimental person  i believe that a good deed should not have remorse or pity behind it . but a act to show redemption  there is not many films that in my point of view can show this . this is one of them that can .  br    br   i agree with one person that commented about this film showing acts of  suicide  is a downfall  however i do not believe that is the  message  the film is trying to send  but  sacrifice  . a bit to the extreme  but that is the message in my opinion .  br    br   this film has potential . the acting it is worth every penny  the script is unbelievable . from a person that doesn  t really like watching drama films . . . if you like drama this is a must go watch .  
i know no one cares  but i do . this film is historic for one reason . it is the unity of two heroes from two great seventies sci  fi films . well  one is great  and one is quite bad . the great one is truly great  in fact it  s the best . the bad one is truly bad  in fact it  s the worst . of course of the great i refer to  star wars  and it  s star mark hamill  aka  luke skywalker   who is the hero of this film about a kid who gets his vette swiped and then goes to vegas  on a lead  and after a whole lot of adventures  eventually recovers it .  since he  s into fixing cars i guess you can call him  lube skywalker   . along the way he meets a hooker with a heart of gold  and ends up facing off with a character played by kim milford  the hero from the seventies sci  fi cult film  laserblast   which is  as i  ve hinted at earlier  the worst sci  fi film ever made . milford plays the lead baddie whom hamill must steal his car back from . i realize that no one cares about this meeting of two great sci  fi heroes  but i do . and i also must say that this is one of the best  worst movies of all time . mark hamill  s acting needs the force  the plot needs extensive jedi training  and the character of the hooker played by annie potts just might be the most annoying character of all time  ever  in any film i  ve ever seen . but it  s a fun movie to watch on a weekend day  or a weekday night  late at night  very late . it  s one of those films that meanders  looking for something but without quite finding it and yet  at the same time  it  s entire purpose is  like free  form jazz  to simply exist as is . and it does . and what is  isn  t that great  but you can  t say it isn  t entertaining  because for an hour and a half you might feel ripped off  but you won  t feel cheated . so turn off your mind  relax  and enjoy this muddled gem without any expectations  and may the force be with you  always .  
first  i did like this film . it was well acted by all .  br    br   however  i don  t understand comments i hear from people about a surprise ending . i knew nothing about this movie going in except a few  gotta  see  recommendations  but i knew where the plot was going in under ten minutes .  i won  t mention what clued me in so as not to spoil a good film for others .  still  despite it seeming obvious  i kept watching . it was nice to see how everything played out  filling in the details and the character motivations in later scenes .  br    br   i don  t hate it when i guess the ending early in a film . i only hate it when the road to resolution is lined with boring scenery .  br    br   will smith  s screen persona is just likable  even when he  s playing such a troubled character . he  s energetic and believable in everything that i  ve seen him do . seven pounds is another fine performance .  br    br   rosario dawson is a solid performer  portraying a quirky  rather upbeat character despite a terminal heart condition . beauty is in the eye of the beholder  and with rosario  if you don  t find her gorgeous  you should think about replacing your eyes .  br    br   it was nice to see woody harrelson back on the screen . i haven  t seen him much lately  but that could just be me . woody didn  t have a tremendous amount of screen time  but he sold his jolly  piano  playing  blind man character for all it was worth . excellent .  br    br   a cursory bit of research on the box jellyfish tells me that its venom is cardiotoxic  neurotoxic and dermatonecrotic . i would think this makes it a questionable choice for both pet and plot .  br    br   overall  i have to recommend this film not for the plotting  but for some very good performances  and for the fact that it tends to evoke some of the tragic emotions that we generally try to avoid .  
unless you understand wretched excess this movie won  t really mean much to you . an attempt was made to interject a bit of humanity into a cold and bleak period consumed by alcohol and drugs   it doesn  t work .  br    br   when salma hayak does her big disco number her voice is so obviously dubbed it is pathetic   the producers could at least have gotten someone that sounded remotely like her .  br    br   the documentary that has been playing on television lately is far superior and gives a much truer view of that period of our history .  br    br   no one  with the exception of mikey myers  could be accused of acting however  he does an incredible job .  
although a tear jerker it is definitely a  feel good  movie . all the actors were excellent and will smith as always  does the job and does it well . i could go on but pick any ten of the     ratings and they  ve said it as well and likely better than i could .  br    br   but  since i must include at least   lines to post a comment i will say that rosario dawson was largely unknown to me as a viewer . her performance was most enjoyable and i look forward to seeing her perform in many films to come .  br    br   and  this film demonstrates that will smith has nothing further to prove in terms of his ability as an actor .  
me and my girlfriend went to see this movie as a  premiere surprise  that is we bought at ticket to the preview to a movie before it opened here in denmark . we sat through the  st hour or so and then we left  the point of the movie seemed to be simply to portray the era  and club     but it did so at the expence of character development  of which there was none  and plot of which there was little .  br    br   seldom have i been so indifferent to the characters in a movie   br    br   the music was good though . so if you like to hear some good music and get a fix of that   ies mood i guess it is ok . but don  t expect to get a plot of believable characters .  br    br    
featuring a fascinating performance by will smith and a story that tugs at your heartstrings harder than a rock guitarist mid  solo   seven pounds  races past the director  s previous collaboration with the actor  the pursuit of happiness   a flick which i also loved . remember gabriele muccino  s name because some of his movies may skip by unnoticed if the actor attached to the project isn  t quite so high  profile .  br    br   too bad i figured out will smith  s scheme early on  i put two and two together when he calls in his own suicide in the first scene and the scene when rosario dawson  s character is introduced as having an incurable heart  disease .  br    br   however  i still think the writer  director made the right choice putting the bookends  bookends are the first and the last scene  in that way  it  s the source of urgency and tension in the movie  finding out gradually how exactly a man can be driven to that ultimate sacrifice  and it was heartbreaking to see the relationship between smith  s and dawson  s character flourish and develop  knowing in the back of the mind always what was in store for these unlucky two .  br    br   one of my friends with whom i saw the movie thought smith  s character could have a divine gift  and i understand why his performance is almost angelic when in the presence of his seven elected ones  yet at other times he could be harsh and scary  and when he  s alone the full weight of his situation got too much for him and he breaks down completely . it  s quite a versatile performance .  br    br   lastly i can  t forget to mention the crash scene re  enactment  which was really quite stunningly done in terms of cinematography paired with music . put this on your list .  
unfortunately this film    was a pathetic attempt of the true story of  studio   .  the only thing that was good about the picture was  mike myers  who was a joy to watch .  neve cambpell   although her role was little was unfortunately bad . the bottom line is that this film lacked a good performance from the actors  except one and that the conversion of the true story was a desperate attempt for a good screenplay .  
wow . . . i don  t know what to say . i just watched seven pounds . no one can make me cry like will smith . the man is very in  tune with the vast range of human emotion . this movie was skillfully and beautifully done . rare to find such intense humanity in hollywood today . i would compare it to  pay it forward  and  crash  as far as the show of both light and dark in such a raw way . definitely sticks with you for a long time and gives you a lot to think about . i have a deep love for and passion about movies like this one . not usually one for a  bad ending  but rather a truth seeker that embraces emotion  raw life and something more than the shallowness that exists in abundance all around . therefore i do not mind a little pain at the end . it is true to life that there aren  t always happy endings . sometimes its just not the happy ending you think it should be . many people were able to live happy lives though love and life of one was lost . if you are someone who looks a little deeper than the rest you  ll love this movie   
what a waste  this movie could have really been something decent  but the writing  in particular  is crap  and the main characters are rather shallow and uninteresting . mike meyers was good  and the historical recreation of late   s decadence was well crafted  but overall  this movie was a big waste of time . instead  the movie to watch  that deals with similar themes and the same basic time frame  is the great boogie nights .  
ben thomas  smith  plays an irs agent who practically gives the store away to everyone  s surprise . what kind of irs agent is this   br    br   most of us have all heard the line by an irs agent   hello  i  m from the irs . i  m here to help .  our smile then spreads into a chuckle that says   yeah  right .   br    br   as you get further and further into this story  you cannot figure this guy out . he goes easy on those who are being audited . what is his motive  is he from another planet  an angel  a rich guy who wants to do good  he helps so much we want him to be our auditor should we get audited  of course . hey  irs  are you listening   kidding  just kidding   br    br   the pace of the movie is perfect and so much so that clues were ignored that would have told me what was really going on . intense  repeat intense  focus was on ben and stays there . the whole movie only works because of ben as we try to figure him out and i didn  t see any clues  what clues you talking about  willis   . not reading the box before watching the dvd movie was the better way to go here . by the end of the movie i finally put it all together . well  it was obvious by then . and  yes  it  s over the top  but still a great story  mostly because of will smith .  br    br   will smith should have been nominated for a best actor award . the rest of the cast were very good as well .  br    br   yes  it  s over the top and despite the great acting and when you finally get all the answers you must realize that the message of the movie is all wrong . what  s the message  believe me  you will won  t need too many clues to figure it out . i didn  t .  br    br   violence no . sex yes  but nothing to get excited about . bland . nudity no . language no .  
     is a film based on the infamous  studio    of the     s  the hangout for the social elite and party clubbers . in the film  ryan phillippe is the main character  based on an actual employee of studio from          .  br    br   the film  s problem is that it  s all glitter and style and no substance . it tries to be a really grimy and probing satire like  boogie nights  but ultimately comes across as an inferior wannabe . mike myers is given the thankless task of playing cocaine  snorting club owner steve rubell . it  s only a slightly comedic role and if this was myers  best attempts at sliding into drama like lemmon and other comedic actors did in their time  it  s a total failure .  br    br       could have been insightful and interesting but instead it  s just another dumb teen flick that isn  t entertaining or even remotely engaging . view at your own peril .  
although i can understand the bad things someone has to say about this movie  i still found it to be absolutely amazing . it will touch you  and unless your a critic searching deep into the flaws and mishaps of every movie  or you just simply aren  t touched by anything  it is worth seeing . don  t come into the movie expecting anything  just have a box of tissues and an open mind . it is beautiful and the acting is brilliant . i think will smith  despite that he  s yet again playing another lonely depressed individual  is amazing . i believe a good actor is someone who can truly portray feelings and emotions we all have at our worst  best experiences in such a way that it reaches out to you and makes you feel something . and that  s exactly what this movie does . give it a chance .  
   is a film about a club with that very title in the setting of the   s era . it features the classic good  looking bartender . the sexy females . the high powered owner . the partying . when all entwined together chaos ensues  and the bartender  played by phillipe  seems to be at the brunt of it all .  br    br   i  m going to be as blunt and honest as possible  whilst avoiding any outright unfair or untrue comments  like  it  s an  ok  film  . i really do find it a completely dire film complimented by it  s dire cast . every time i sit down to watch a film casting salma hayek  i am always awaiting to see her beauty  radiantly expressed simultaneously with a great performance  but  reality invariably reminds me quite abruptly how utterly talentless she is . i mean  really  what has she ever bequeathed the masses with  other than her immense table dance in  from dusk till dawn  . . .  the same goes for ryan phillippe  another poor actor who gives nothing to the screen but his good looks and insanely dull facade otherwise known as  acting  . mike myers  isn  t quite as bad as these   he does at least give the film something worthy . playing the seedy  extroverted co  founder of the   club . the type that the majority watching would hate  i . e . job well done   he puts in a somewhat convincing performance that gave me rare enjoyment from the flick . but alas  it is not enough to rescue the film from it  s baseless and flat nothingness . most  bad  bad films i find something to take from the film  but this has nothing to it  really . neve campbell isn  t too bad  but she is just  there  . the storyline is dull  it appears the writer was more bent on making a film of this style and embellishment and forgot to add anything else . any meaning . any class . anything at all . because like most ornaments  they are just hollow pointless objects  that are merely pretty to look at  much akin to the basis of this disastrous film .  br    br   genuinely an hour and a half of time i could have spent better doing something much more exciting  like talking to   year old relatives on the phone about the weather .  
you spend most of this two  hour film wondering  what  s the story regarding the lead character    br    br   will smith  as a low  key  ben thomas  will keep you guessing . the last      minutes is when you find out  and it  s a shocker . . . . but you knew something dramatic was going to be revealed . until then  smith  plays it mysterious  almost stalking people . you know he has a good reason for doing it  but it  s never really explained  once again  to keep us guessing until the end .  br    br   all of it  including a on again  off again but touching romance with rosario dawkins   emily posa   might make some viewers frustrated or wanting to quit this film . . . . . but don  t because the final long segment puts all the pieces of this puzzle together .  br    br   this is a two  hour film and not the typical action  packed macho will smith film . in fact  the most shocking aspect might be seeing the drawn  sad face of smith throughout this story . it almost doesn  t even look like him in a number of shots . he looks like he  s lost weight and is sick . smith does a great job portraying a man carrying around a lot of sadness .  br    br   like a good movie will often do  this film will leave you thinking long after the ending credits .  
if you hit your teens in the   s  as i did  you probably remember the stories about studio   whether or not you liked disco . an exclusive club  it was the perfect symbol of   s cultural overindulgence and self  absorption there  s even an excellent vh  documentary about the club that could tell you everything you wanted to know about its heyday  and the stories are easily interesting enough to spawn a very captivating film .  br    br   sadly  this isn  t it .   follows the lives of a few of its employees  a bartender named shane  ryan phillippe   a busboy named greg  breckin meyer   his wife  a coat  check girl  anita  selma hayek   and of course the master of ceremonies himself  steve rubell  mike meyers  . while the goings  on at the club are well represented  this film concerns itself more with the personal lives of the workers  following shane  s story the closest .  br    br   the movie works in spurts . sometimes it captures perfectly the shallowness of the nightlife culture  such as when shane is taken to a dinner party and doesn  t know who  errol flynt  is   and other times it waxes into hokey melodrama . some of that is inherent in the premise  following the underlings as they mingle in the world of the rich and fabulous  but a lot of it is due to the kid  gloved treatment with which both the club and rubell are given throughout the movie . while rubell certainly electrified the scene in new york with his penchant for over  the  top spectacle and his exclusive hand  picking of the crowds each night  the rampant drugs and sexuality are only briefly touched on and rubell himself  while his excesses are mentioned  come off oddly positive for a guy who was in life a liar  a cheat  a drug abuser  and promiscuous as all hell . not that i was looking for the man to be pilloried here  but his ego directly contributed to the fall of his club and the diminishing of the nightlife culture he helped to elevate . a final scene where he gazes down at the regulars paternally is so emotionally false as to be patently absurd .  br    br   meyers does his best to capture rubell  but he  s given so little to work with here it  s surprising his performance is effective but he  s good  and he helps to anchor the film . philippe  whom i find generally to be a good actor  is hamstrung here by the shallowness and stupidity of his character he  s limited to a deer  in  the  headlights smile or a sullen uncomprehending frown  and even he can  t translate that into a strong performance . hayek and meyer are both okay  again  undercut by the writing  and neve campbell  prominently featured on the dvd cover  appears so briefly she really has an extended cameo .  br    br   for some reason i still find myself interested  even fascinated  by the popular culture of the second half of the seventies . but even given that  this is not a film that particularly engaged me  despite a predisposition to like it . i  d say if that era  or that club  has any interest for you  track down the vh  special rather than this middle  of  the  road melodrama .  
it all starts with a suicide . or is it a car crash  i guess it all depends on whether you choose to start at the beginning or the end . director gabriele muccino gives you the ability to enter his new film seven pounds whichever way you prefer as he starts at the end and works his way back to the beginning  showing us the course of events that led us to that heartbreaking    call . this is one powerful movie maybe that is because i  m a softy when it comes to dramas of this ilk  dripping with weighty moments and chock full of devastating performances  but either way  a film works best when it truly touches me  when it lingers in the back of my head hours after leaving the theatre . and this is from the team that brought us the overrated  sappy  and not all that redeeming pursuit of happiness  so i  ll just say my anticipation was closely guarded for a big letdown . with all that  though  i was with seven pounds from the opening frame all the way until the credits rolled . even though you figure out what will smith  s character is doing  that secret mission he is trying to complete  it is the way in which he fulfills his penance that shines bright and leaves you with a tear  filled smile at the end .  br    br   our entry point is a bit jarring  leaving us off  kilter trying to comprehend what is going on . smith  s thomas has lists of names  one of people we don  t know and one of people it appears he is attempting to follow and audit . working with the irs allows him access to these strangers for a glimpse into their lives in order to see whether they are worthy of a gift he has the power to give thema gift that could completely alter their circumstances . he calls an old childhood friend  barry pepper  and reminds him to do what it is he promised  to not second guess his decision because there is no changing his mind . even in a role as small as pepper  s  you can  t help but feel the utter grief held aloft in the background  hanging above everyone  s head . it is his character  seen maybe three times  that really encompasses the primal level of emotion being dealt with . his breakdowns  whether tear  streaked and composed or head in hands convulsions  show the bond these two men have is one that stands the test of time and any circumstance to come its way .  br    br   after that phone call  begins the journey to meet new people . thomas is on some sort of mission to help alleviate the monetary troubles of mortally ill folk  trying to stay afloat despite the heavy burden of medical bills and survival . this progression takes many turns  from a  blind  vegan  meat salesman  that he berates to see whether he can get him to explode to a phase two donor  necessity heart patient  unable to print her line of stationary  or even run with her great dane duke to an abused and scared latino mother of two  too afraid to leave her boyfriend to a dying hockey coach that instills faith in a downtrodden youth community to a little boy in need of a bone marrow transplant . there are people who live with the pain and inevitable future with a disposition of hope and wanting to cherish each day  and there are those attempting to beat it by cutting corners and spending all their money at the expense of those who need it to go out in style . why it is up to thomas to weed through the mix and find those that deserve his  gift  is unknown at first  as is why this man  seen in flashbacks as an aeronautical engineer with a beautiful wife and huge beachfront home  is now living in a motel  driving a beat  up car  going door to door in order to audit for the irs . as he says  though   he kind of stumbled into the job  .  br    br   smith  s quest as thomas is a long and painful one  tempered with moments of clarity and honest compassion . as a man with the means to help  he takes his job seriously  crossing off people undeserving and testing those he believes are worthy to the nth degree . if that means he must yell and make fun of them  he must do it . at every step  though  you see the suffering in his eyes  the pain eating away at his soul  taking each step towards his fate  one as a saint of redemption  not only for those he wants to help  but for himself as well . it is an award  worthy performance and i only wish smith would do more dramas like this instead of his blockbuster action summer tentpoles  because  while they are fun  this guy is too good for them . the man better win an oscar before he is done or it will be a travestyat least in my mind .  br    br   the rest of the cast is stellar across the board . woody harrelson as the blind salesman is pitch  perfect handicap with a joy of life . his shy smile and belief in humanity comes across throughout  whether on the phone being yelled at  sitting in a diner eating his pie  or at the piano in the park  playing for all who will listen . elpidia carrillo  as the abused mother  is fantastic  showing the hard evolution from prideful to scared to completely overwhelmed by the kindness of a stranger  allowing her family to finally be safe . and rosario dawson shines as the  once hot  young woman  beaten and broken by lengthy hospital stays  all but given up on living life to find love and happiness . it is the introduction of smith  s thomas that opens her eyes again to be a woman  a free  spirited sexual creature that can just live without fear of wondering what day will be her last .  
totally forgettable . specially because of the weak acting . this is the first movie i  ve seen with dax shepard . to my surprise  he  s been around since the late    s . i thought he was a newcomer  since his acting was so bland . i could say the same about liv tyler . although i  ve seen her do well in other movies  she gave clare cooper a strange personality . liv is not the kind of actress that will give the character a fiery  emotional personality like diane keaton would be able to  but it was pretty strange to see her say her lines in whisper mode . it seemed that altogether there simply wasn  t a very good chemistry going on between the actors  and i think diane keaton sensed that as well . she  s a fantastic actress  but seemed just a bit over the top in this movie . it felt like she just wanted to get this movie over as soon as possible . i wouldn  t blame her .  
seven pounds  this was the movie where i was just convinced will smith is really going for the  i  m going to make you cry  films . one thing i can give him a ton of credit for  the man can cry . my only thing is  as moving as the story is  will smith has proved time and time again that he can act  so why is he taking this extremely depressing story  but nevertheless it  s still a good movie . i do have to admit it made me cry  but i felt that the stand out performance was rosario dawson  i absolutely love this girl  ever since i saw her in   th hour with ed norton  i knew this girl was going to go far . she  s beautiful  charming  funny and talented  can  t wait to see how much further her career is going to go . but her and will smith  not so sure if they had the great chemistry that the film needed that would  ve made this into a great film .  br    br   two years ago tim thomas was in a car crash  which was caused by him using his mobile phone seven people died six strangers and his fiance . a year after the crash  and having quit his job as an aeronautical engineer  tim donates a lung lobe to his brother  ben  an irs employee . six months later he donates part of his liver to a child services worker named holly . after that he begins searching for more candidates to receive donations . he finds george  a junior hockey coach  and donates a kidney to him  and then donates bone marrow to a young boy named nicholas . two weeks before he dies he contacts holly and asks if she knows anyone who deserves help . she suggests connie tepos  who lives with an abusive boyfriend . tim moves out of his house and into a local motel taking with him his pet box jellyfish . one night  after being beaten  connie contacts tim and he gives her the keys and deed to his beach house . she takes her two children and moves in to their new home . having stolen his brother  s credentials  and making himself known by his brother  s name ben  he checks out candidates for his two final donations . the first is ezra turner  a blind vegetarian meat salesman who plays the piano . tim calls ezra turner and harasses him at work to check if he is quick to anger . ezra remains calm and tim decides he is worthy . he then contacts emily posa  a self  employed greeting card printer who has a heart condition and a rare blood type . he spends time with her  weeding her garden and fixing her rare heidelberg printer . he begins to fall in love with her and decides that as her condition has worsened he needs to make his donation .  br    br   seven pounds is a good film and no doubt worth a look  i would just recommend going for the rental vs . the theater . will smith pulls in a good performance  but not his best  just most of the film required him crying in every scene  but the last one with him is a doozy . but i loved the ending  it was beautiful and really made you appreciate life and to not take it for granted . there is still good people in this world and ben  s character reminds you to value life and to give to those who are in desperate need . although he went a little far  but it was still a beautiful story .  br    br        
after seeing the poster from the film smother  i knew i was about to live one of those intolerable film experiences which make me want to take my eyes out . however  i felt a slight optimism because the movie had a solid cast which i thought it was going to rescue the movie . unfortunately that did not happen . smother is a horrible movie  but it is not execrable . that is the best i can say about it .  br    br   the screenplay from smother  written by the same guys from license to wed  something which explains they have anything but talent for writing movies  is full of cheap and predictable humor . seriously  i did not laugh even once watching this film . besides  the solid cast i previously mentioned is absolutely wasted . after the big number of garbage she has been involved in  like the monumentally atrocious and execrable because i said so   some people may think the career from diane keaton is extinguishing . however  it is impossible for me to forget the excellent performances she has brought in previous decades  on films like annie hall or baby boom . on smother  she makes her best effort with her performance  but her character is so horribly written she cannot do anything with it . dax shepard has left on me a good impression with his solid performances on the films baby mama and idiocracy . however  he does what he can with his character . mike white also makes a good effort  but he does not reach too far away . he is a very talented screenwriter  like he has shown on films like the good girl and school of rock   so i would have liked to see he was one of the screenwriters from this movie  instead of only acting on it . liv tyler suffers from the same situation of all the previously mentioned actors  being wasted .  br    br   the worst fail from smother is being absolutely boring and unfunny . its screenplay is nothing more than a collection of forced scenes and situations we have seen on sit  coms . stay far away from this crappy comedy .  
i didn  t know what to except so i think it was a lot better not having excepted much . don  t get my wrong its not a bad short film . tess nanavati is a relatively new directer and writer so i think she deserves a lot of kudos for making this film . you can tell that it has been an act of love for her . the acting  outside of dominic  is a little cheesy and the quality of film is not great either but for a really low budget film its good . there was times when the story line gets convoluted and there are parts that drag on  though i don  t feel it greatly detracts for one  s ability to understand the film . if you love dominic monaghan as much as i do  i say go for it . the gag reel was fun  i won  t spoil it but there is a particular scene that makes buying the dvd worth it just so you can watch it over and over . if you like the film then check out the pink mirror  a film also done by jagged edge . i know fans of dominic will enjoy this little piece of heaven .  
over christmas break  a group of college friends stay behind to help prepare the dorms to be torn down and replaced by apartment buildings . to make the work a bit more difficult  a murderous  chucks  wearing psycho is wandering the halls of the dorm  preying on the group in various violent ways .  br    br   registered as one of the    video nasties  listed by the u . k . in the     s  the dorm that dripped blood had a good reputation built up for it prior to first viewing . the term  video nasty  strikes into mind some images of some great explicit gore  violence  sex  etc .  all the things a horror fan dreams of . so  after hearing all of that info  i settled into pranks  alt . title  expecting a sleazy slasher experience . . . and that  s what it tried to be  but failed pretty much completely . visually  the film  s not great . the cinematography  gore  except for a couple scenes   and overall direction all fail . it  s simply not enjoyable to watch . the unoriginal script is lacking and often throws in random things without any real reason  like the opening kill  . there are some cool death scenes  including a pretty nice face melt  which can be seen on the poster   but that  s about it for the positive . the acting is pretty bad  the story seems unimportant  the killer isn  t cool or scary  and it suffers the one major error that any slasher flick should always avoid it  s a bit boring . overall  for a film done by a few ucla film students for         which would be over double that today   the dorm that dripped blood isn  t a total mess . it has a couple good things  and is fairly watchable . . . but  as a slasher flick looking to be on the level of films like the house on sorority row and pieces . . . it just cannot compare . don  t expect much  and you may at least be entertained . i hate to say it  but this is one of the few films i  ve seen that would actually be better with a remake . . . and yet  they go after great works like black christmas . oh well . . .  br    br   obligatory horror elements  br    br    subgenre slasher  br    br    violence  gore there are some brutally cool kills  and the gore is okay for the most part . . . but nothing special . also  they off  screened some of the best murders .  br    br    sex  nudity there  s a little unappealing  to me  nudity  but not very much .  br    br    cool killer  s   nah . the ending monologue  s  of the killer made him  her pretty uncool .  br    br    scares  suspense a jump scare or two  but nothing too effective .  br    br    mystery i suppose  yeah  but i simply didn  t care enough  and it  s as obvious as the nose on the killer  s face .  br    br       br    br   final verdict  .      . bah  humbug   br    br    ap    
i mark where there are spoilers  overall comments if you can take a serious movie  go see this . have an open mind and you will enjoy it . don  t leave the theater because you get confused as to what is going on  the movie fits together nicely in the second half . i will be taking my mom to see it again when the movie officially opens .  br    br   i was lucky to see this at a screening a couple of weeks ago  when will was going around promoting the movie . he was great   spent a lot of time with the fans . thank you for the picture will  about will  s performance a lot of times when you see a movie with an actor really famous for some other movie  show  you always think of them in their current performance much like you think of them for their past performance . this is not the case with will smith in this movie . i didn  t picture the fresh prince  lol  when i was watching this movie . he was completely and utterly convincing in this very  very serious role . he has grown immensely as an actor . i think he will at least get an oscar nod for this performance .  br    br   about his character ben is very conflicted and tormented . he  s sad . . . guilt  ridden . . . very determined  but very scared . very true to himself . his character has a lot of depth . . . and somehow  will managed to bring that to life .  br    br   about emily  rosario   rosario did a nice job portraying emily  a woman very much behind on her taxes . maybe she  s not the shining star will is in this movie  but she was very convincing . i think her character just did not have as much to work with as will  s did .  br    br   about the plot  no spoilers   i admit that i did not like the movie until the second half of it . i knew absolutely nothing about the movie going into it  and nothing made sense until the second part of it or so . but when things eventually fit together  wow . surprisingly well written and well thought out . it  s an extremely intense movie that really sticks with you .  br    br   it actually takes a lot out of you to watch . in the theater i was in  most people were crying towards the end   even grown men . when you realize what ben is doing  and why  it  s a very powerful moment . . .  br    br    minor spoilers which is why it  s really hard to talk about the plot without giving major things away . i feel like knowing too much about this movie really ruins it . there was a lot of symbolism in the movie that i enjoyed  though . i will mention some of it here  without trying to give a lot away  .  br    br    the fish that ben was keeping in his hotel room . at first  it makes no sense whatsoever . there was a lot of chatter in the movie theater when people realized the reality of the fish .  br    br    i hated ben at the beginning of the movie . by the end of it  i loved him and hated him . that  s how convincing will was . i thought ben was being a huge jerk to ezra  a blind man just trying to make his way in the world . why he was treating ezra like that also became abundantly clear later in the movie . wait it out though . everything in this movie wait it out .  br    br    ben is a fundamentally good person who made a big mistake that he won  t forgive himself for . it  s still unclear to me if he was doing what he was doing because he was trying to rid himself of his own guilt  or if he genuinely wanted to help people . i think it  s a little bit of both . . . i think he wanted to help people but also rid himself of his past . i love his character . you love him and hate him because you realize that what he is doing is nothing short of amazing . you hate him because of what he is doing to himself  as a very good person   both physically and emotionally . nice job will .  
watching smother was perhaps the longest not  quite     minutes of my life . there wasn  t a laugh to be had in fact  i don  t remember ever cracking a smile . diane keaton was horridly unfunny as a middle  aged chain  smoking dog hoarder  the textbook overbearing mother character  a relentlessly irritating woman who clearly suffers from some kind of personality disorder . she is manipulative  conniving  melodramatic  childish  narcissistic  and worst of all  boring .  br    br   i suppose i should briefly mention the other characters  but why bother  it was just a long string of movie clichs   the dippy  socially inept distant relative who  s just trying to break into  the industry   the gruff and long  suffering but somehow still lovable father  the mild  mannered wife who just can  t take it anymore  but eventually moves beyond the discord and resignedly comes home   the herd of unhousebroken dogs who like to chew throw pillows while everyone is away  etc .  br    br   god  what a snore . i  ve never been a diane keaton fan and smother only reminded me why . overacting is overacting  no matter how many pictures you did in your prime . her attempts at physical comedy were especially humiliating . what was the director thinking   br    br   while i like dax shepard and can even sometimes tolerate liv tyler  their performances were so lackluster and dull that it was clear that neither actor gave a damn about this movie . that was okay  because neither did i . keaton  s endless self  absorbed prattling was intolerable and at times shepard  s dislike for her seemed genuine . by the end of the movie i wanted to slap her myself .  br    br   awful .  
i had the pleasure of attending a screening of the pacific and eddy last weekend at the santa barbara international film festival . this film had caught my attention a little while back when i stumbled across an article about it in jalouse magazine . seemed interesting at the time  but nothing too exciting . anyhow  i saw it on the festival program and decided to check it out . all i can say is that i was speechless when the ending credits began to roll . this is one of the most beautiful and refreshing films that i have seen in some time . the photography  art direction  acting  and especially directing  were seamless and impeccable . nothing is  spelled out  for you in this film and actually makes you think . something that a vast majority of films today do the exact opposite . the dialogue is carefully crafted and  although this script is not wall to wall chatter  the characters words are very deliberate and meaningful .  br    br   it  s definitely one of those films that deserves a second viewing and the more you see it  the more things you notice . it  s a very layered and intelligent film . not sure when or where it  s playing again  but a definite must see for film enthusiasts .  
whatever happened to keaton is what i want to know .  br    br   actually i don  t  i crawled away  heaving  thinking she must owe half the bookies in vegas  or maybe not  maybe she was just brainwashed  blackmailed and bored to death . rich enough to adopt a third  world country  she somehow had to star in yet another cookie  cut  clich  ridden drool  athon  based on the same character  franchise she  s been rehashing since  father of the bride       . you  d think she  s going head to head with mr . bean .  br    br    spoilers   br    br   so hubby  dax  get  s fired by obnoxious son of boss  his mom  keaton  leaves his dad after classic row  and crashes over with her own dog  show in tow  oh those little rascals . hubby  s got cold  feet for diaper  duty  wifey  s clock a  ticking and hey  let  s toss in a space  cadet as second house  guest for good measure  all in one day because that  s so funny and original . wife gets fed up and walks away  mom leaves dad for space  cadet and the couple makes up in time for closing credits    very long minutes later .  br    br   now if you have to have a space  cadet  he can  t be devious as well  he can  t scheme some excuse for his stayover  and if mom leaves dad  she can  t hop into a cab dressed as a pumpkin just because some scriptwriter agonized over how to cheer thing up .  br    br   plus that gag whereby they invite her in only to then discover she  s got her canine entourage in the cab has got to be outlawed by now . and you only get one obnoxious   dimensional boss to denigrate . another movie  killer would be the movie  script the space cadet is toiling away at  supposedly more lame than the actual one  again  dejas  ad  nausea .  br    br   liv tyler doesn  t seem happy here  her voice was weird at times  it had me wondering if they later had her redub some of it  and she  s a smart one  she  s handled great roles and we  ll forgive her for jersey girl  it was disaster  prone  could happen to anyone . dax shepard was watchable and that  s being generous considering the material .  br    br   personally  it  s the director  the screenwriters and especially the producers that i would love to see tar  n  feathered before shipped to guantanamo as playthings for the prisoners  and that  s me keeping this  lite  .  
finally            i  ve been waiting for this film to come out for almost a year  and finally saw it at the premiere in sb . i met a few of the actors  who were really nice and who were great in the movie . i watched the trailer so many times that i didn  t know what to expect but got totally sucked in . the film was really beautiful to look at it and the music was good too . i recommend it to anyone who  s a ryan donowho fan  and dominique swain was good in it too . the other actors were good also great . i hope it comes out on dvd soon       br    br   i first got into ryan from watching the oc and then saw him in a bunch of good indies like imaginary heroes . he is great in this film  and everything that he does that  s indie . i also like dominique but haven  t seen her in as much . hope to see them both in more soon     
in over   years of watching movies  this has to be one of the very worst comedies ever made . mel brooks  mike meyers  a few other have made some very bad comedies  this however is the absolute bottom of the barrel .  br    br   it is unfunny from the very opening  to the tacked on scene during the credits .  br    br   diane keaton who i normally like must have needed her paycheck badly . she desperately needs to re  learn her craft .  br    br   dax shepard  i do not know who he is   needs a better director  to show him how to act .  br    br   liv tyler is also not up to her role .  br    br   mike white needs to find another character  he has done this same type person a few times too many .  br    br   ken howard who started out years back as a first rate actor  also not as good as he used to be .  br    br   there is nothing decent i can say on this attempt at movie comedy .  br    br   ratings   out of   points    out of     imdb   out of     
i loved that this film recognizes the intelligence of the viewer  allowing the layers to peel from the characters through their interactions with each other about the unspoken loss that has so affected each of them .  br    br   the cinematography is a beautiful  and is an inspired reflection of the vision of someone i believe is an extremely talented new filmmaker with the maturity and artistic insight to tell a story that others with much more experience have failed to accomplish . i see a bright future for this writer  producer  director who had the ability to focus on a goal and accomplish it with integrity .  br    br   kudos for this achievement .  
ok  my girlfriend and i rented the dvd and about   minutes into the movie  we  d exchanged a lot of  ehhh  what is this movie about and more importantly  do i care to find out what it ends with  glances and decided we either needed drugs to keep us interested in the  plot  or just end the pain right there and then and watch something else . we opted for the latter .  br    br   i liked  but i  m a cheerleader  a lot  but mango kiss is too silly and surreal for my taste  sorry  i definitely prefer  d . e . b . s    better than chocolate    fucking ml    goldfish memory  and  fire  .  br    br    sorcia  
i just saw this film in santa barbara . my friend knew someone who worked on it  so i thought i  d check it out . i thought it was a really beautiful film and cant wait to go look at it again . the actors were really good and i loved all the music  there was not a lot of talking in the film  which at first felt a little strange  but once i got into it  i thought that the story and the acting was really emotional and meaningful and thought that it left a lot to the imagination . i want to see the movie again because there was so much going on in it that i forgot a lot of small things  but know that i left the theater thinking about the film . it was shot beautifully and the whole thing was really unique .  
i borrowed this movie because not only because its gay theme but the thought of role playing really intrigued me . i was pleasantly surprised that it was shot in san francisco since i live near sf . and of course it was nice to see shots of the castro district  although the castro to me really caters more to gay male than female  . but other than that i can  t really recommend this movie . the characters aren  t really developed for me to care and when they finally started to get to the  role playing  i was already bored out of my mind . and the role playing scenes that i did see were a bit embarrassing to watch . the acting leaves something to be desired . needless to say i didn  t finish the movie . i  d skip this one .  
i found this to be a charming adaptation  very lively and full of fun . with the exception of a couple of major errors  the cast is wonderful . i have to echo some of the earlier comments   chynna phillips is horribly miscast as a teenager . at    she  s just too old  and  yes  it does show   and lacks the singing  chops  for broadway  style music . vanessa williams is a decent  enough singer and  for a non  dancer  she  s adequate . however  she is not latina  and her character definitely is . she  s also very strident throughout  which gets tiresome .  br    br   the girls of sweet apple  s conrad birdie fan club really sparkle   with special kudos to brigitta dau and chiara zanni . i also enjoyed tyne daly  s performance  though i  m not generally a fan of her work . finally  the dancing shriners are a riot  especially the dorky three in the bar .  br    br   the movie is suitable for the whole family  and i highly recommend it .  
i wish i could give this movie a zero  or even lower  because sadly that  s what it deserves . i honestly never walk out of a movie  but this one was so dreadfully awful that i couldn  t stand another minute of it . please  please  please  for the sake of mankind  skip this movie . if you want a hot lesbian movie that you can really delve into  this isn  t it .  br    br   it has unattractive  unappealing leads  choppy structure  ridiculous dialog  and it is absolutely unconvincing in every imaginable way . on an absolutely basic level  it fails to entertain . everything about  mango kiss  is so stagey  it is worse than any student film i have seen .  br    br   as if that weren  t enough  the entire movie relies on constant  and i mean constant  voice over narration . the script writer may as well have written a novel  because they insisted on telling everything  instead of showing it . we are just supposed to assume that lou and sassafras are the best of friends and have a special connection  even though there is no character development to illustrate this . also  this film continues to introduce to new characters after the first five minutes  and not in a natural way  but in a freeze  frame of the characters with their name written over the screen . there is no introduction  no development of any of the characters . we don  t really get to know any of them .  br    br   this is the most amateur movie i have ever seen .  br    br   i am a gay woman  who watched this film with my roommate  another gay woman  and we both found this movie to be a depressing representation of queer cinema . i am beginning to think that lesbian and gay movies are a lot like christian rock  it doesn  t matter how atrocious it is  people will still flock to it  and champion it  no matter how poor the quality is . please don  t rent this   instead  let  s encourage the production of quality gay and lesbian movies by renting  but i  m a cheerleader  or  fire  or  heavenly creatures   instead of swallowing whatever mindless tripe they aim at the gay community  i . e . queer as folk  .  
when i was   my high school staged bye bye birdie  which is no great surprise  since it is perfect high school material and reputed to be the most  staged musical in the world .  br    br   i was a music student and retained strong memories of the production and its songs  as well as a lingering disregard for the dick van dyke movie version which had  deliberately  obscured the elvis references and camped it up for a swinging   s audience .  br    br   so  when the     version starring jason alexander hit my cable tv screen  i was delighted with what i saw . alexander turns in an exceptional performance as albert  a performance in strong contrast to his better  known persona from a certain tv series . the remainder of the cast are entertaining and convincing in their roles  chynna phillips is perhaps the only one who does not look her part  supposedly a naive and innocent schoolgirl  .  br    br   but best of all  the musical numbers familiar from the stage show are all preserved in this movie and performed as stage musical songs should be  allowing for the absence of a stage  .  br    br   so  if you know the musical  and few do not   then check out this telemovie . it does the stage show justice in a way which can probably not be bettered  which is good enough for me . what is better than rendering a writer  s work faithfully and with colour and style   
on his birthday a small boys tells his mother he is not her son  and that he wants to go home to his real mother .  br    br   in some ways comedy de l  innocence feels like it comes from a different time of movie  making  perhaps the    s or    s . certainly it reminded me of losey  s secret ceremony        and richard loncraine  s full circle        both of which deal with loss  grief and relationships between parents and  lost  children  curiously both films star mia farrow  .  br    br   all three films are populated with unsympathetic characters who behave in strange and unexplained ways . all three films have a chilly feel  both emotionally and literally . all three films focus on mother  child relationships  and ultimately all three films pose the question   what is real  what is imagined    br    br   beautiful but flawed  it offers no easy answers and leaves much hanging  unexplained and strange .  
  bye bye birdie  isn  t one of the best musicals of all time  but it  s great fun  and accessible to many audiences . the original film could have been wonderful  with dick van dyke reprising his signature broadway role  but instead they tinkered with the plot  so the film is very unsatisfying . this re  make  which aired on abc in      is far more faithful to the original script  and includes some original songs as well that were used in a national tour which this film took off from which starred tommy tune and ann reinking  who choreographed this film .   br    br   jason alexander is a very different type from dick van dyke  but he is well cast as albert   before his  seinfeld  days  he started in musical theater .  vanessa williams is a perfect fit for rose . their is also great work from tyne daly as mae and mark kudisch as conrad birdie  a role he played on the national tour  .  br    br   this film is not without it  s problems though . a major liability is chynna phillips  who  however appealing  simply looks and seems too old to be teenage kim . and george wendt is somewhat bland as her father  somewhat throwing the number  kids  away  a number original cast member paul lynde stole the show with .   br    br   but all in all  this is a delightful  well  done film which the material deserved .  
on the face of it  ruiz has set out to make a psychological thriller . although it  s not as satisfying as a classic piece in that genre  there are compensations . the tensions generated between huppert and balibar as women calmly but calculatingly at war over a boy they both claim are compelling however  in a true european art  house style  ruiz doesn  t give us release of this tension as the women alternately also try to behave compassionately towards each other . the only raised voice is that of huppert  s waking from a nightmare  an uncontested irrational event in the film  .  br    br   in fact  if we follow the title  the film is as little about its thriller skeleton as jane campion  s in the cut . instead it is an intergender psychological study focusing on men . the boy  camille  nils hugon   decides on a practical joke  playing his mother off against an emotionally vulnerable other woman . both women seem to pander to him rather than scold and this compounds the problem . in the background is an intemperate psychologist  charles berling   swift to confront the women in his life  his sister huppert  the nanny or his pa  and so acting as a symbolic adult counterbalance to the  calm and  we learn  manipulative camille . it is particularly interesting that  like the father in henry james  the turn of the screw  denis podalydes  law  enforcer father is absent for the duration of the film . ruiz fashions an oedipal moment out of huppert  s reaction to his return at the film  s close .  br    br   read either as a thriller or as a psychiatric essay  this film is ultimately rather disappointing . i  m officially rather fed up with mme huppert  s screen method  which is too buried and so i  ll be looking to see her on stage before i come back to her  european  enjoyed heaven  s gate  films again . the support is good . ruiz does the cast no favours though . quite apart from some poor lighting and some wilfully odd shots  its as if his direction has left characterisation quite out of reach  i  m thinking particularly of edith scob  s shamanic neighbour to isabelle  who acts knowing but communicates bafflement . the set pieces do not link up to a forward driving plot  the tension i have already referred to is not only weakly dissipated but wasted in its directional potential .  br    br   want to see a good contemporary french thriller  go and see l  appartement instead .      
saw this as previous viewer by accident  i have watched it twice now . i thoroughly enjoyed it  no silly thought provoking messages just plain good fun entertainment  good songs  good characters and a just a feel good film highly recommended to those of us that just like to enjoy films and not dissect them great fun for all the family here . i didn  t realise rosie alvarez is played by vanessa williams  she is excellent and very sultry . the songs like one boy and one last kiss are really enjoyable to listen to and to tap your feet to jason alexander is the complete contrast to his character in pretty woman ans is very good . tyne daley still sticks in my mind from cagney and lacey and her voice and accent still had that remembrance in it . overall i just loved it and will be looking to purchase it if it is available  
somewhere between the food court and zip  s  the mall in this film  br    br   has an explosives store . this is the only place the title character  br    br   can purchase the bomb he plants in the mall in the dull finale .  br    br   a fictional town has a new mall  built on some land that was  br    br   condemned . cute girl  i didn  t catch her name  gets a job as a  br    br   waitress there . she lost her boyfriend in a fire at the site where the  br    br   mall stands . the villainous mall owner hires the arsonist  br    br   responsible for the fire as a security guard after his first security  br    br   guard ends up dead . rob estes  eons before  silk stalkings   is a  br    br   photog  reporter trying to find a story . he hooks up with cute girl   br    br   and their mutual  funny  friend pauly shore  and try to find out if eric  br    br   is still alive . he is  living in the mall basement    and traveling  br    br   through the air ducts and offing different people who upset his  br    br   former girlfriend  including the arsonist . eventually  he kidnaps her  br    br   and the finale involves the bomb and everyone running from the  br    br   scene before the big kablooey . morgan fairchild is along for the  br    br   ride as the mayor . . . yes  she  s the mayor .  br    br   of course  you probably did not need a plot sketch since the entire  br    br   story is in the title . someone named eric is taking revenge against  br    br   people as a phantom of a mall . this also means there is no  br    br   suspense . we know eric is behind this  but we still have to see  br    br   estes and cute girl go through the motions of a silly investigation .  br    br   watch as fairchild  who we know has been in cahoots with the  br    br   mall owner all along  pull a gun on our heroic duo in the middle of  br    br   a crowded party  yet no one says a word as she leads them to her  br    br   office  and her eventual death . the fictional town is huge  yet nary a  br    br   policeman is ever called  everyone relies on mall security for order .  br    br   eric has been hiding since the mall was built  but i am not sure  br    br   where . he seems to live in a basement area  but you would think  br    br   some construction worker would have found him . he also has  br    br   furnished his love pad quite well  and found a few outlets  since he  br    br   has electricity . it might be nicer than your own apartment   br    br   pauly shore fans  both of you  take note . he tricks a security guard  br    br   out of his booth by mooning the camera . yes  stop scanning  br    br   celebrity skin and playgirl  this is where you get to see a grainy  br    br   black and white shot of pauly  s south shore  although no weezil .  br    br   this is just junk  and proof positive that i am down to renting just  br    br   about anything at the video store to stay in the horror section . this  br    br   film is not eric  s revenge  it is the film maker  s revenge for me  br    br   being dumb enough to watch it . here is my revenge i do not  br    br   recommend it . that  ll show  em   br    br   this is rated  r  for physical violence  some gun violence  gore   br    br   some profanity  some female nudity  brief male nudity  and some  br    br   sexual content .  
i would strongly recommend this film for any musical fan whose been dying to see a musical make a faithful transition from stage to screen . sure it  s long  but it  s length is a testimony to how true to the original musical script the film is being . the sets and cast really make sweet apple  ohio the place to be . fosse protege anne reinking also does a splendid job with choreography giving the dances a nice small town  period feel .  br    br   the casting at a glance may look strange to some but they really are qute marvelous  reading  annonymous   s comments on jason alexander  s performance made me sick  . in fact  his perforamnce literally steals the show . as albert  he mixes his own unique blend of manic nervousness with dick van dyke  esque charm to create a new and improved albert . the fact that he can dance and sing like nobody  s business doeesn  t hurt either . george wendt is another stand out  who improves upon paul lynde  s take on harry mcaffe by making him less manic and more down to earth and strict . his whole character and body language scream  over my dead body  . marc kudisch takes the elvis aspect of conrad birdie to new heights with his subtle insertion of a  thank you very much  in  honestly sincere  . his physicality though harkens back more to young elvis then the bloated  stubly conrad of the original film . the fact is that this movie differs so greatly from the original film  which added drawn in happpy faces  turtles on speed and the russian ballet     what did any of taht have to do with bye  bye birdie  i wonder  the only possible advantage the original version has over this one is ann margret . otherwise the update is better in every possible way . where the old version cut many songs and increased dance breaks nwhere there was no need for them  and for all intents and purposes ended the movie in the middle of the play   the new version has restored the original music score and has added some great new stuff as well   a giant step  being the standout in that category  . we know live in trying times but if you want to get your mind off your troubles and put on a happy face then this is one worth checking out .  
phantom of the mall is a film that fits best in the  easily forgotten  category . it  s a pretty lousy variant on the famous story by gaston leroux  the phantom of the opera . not a bad idea to itself  but the plot and production of this movie are way to weak to bring a decent homage to that story . on the bright side  gaston leroux doesn  t has to turn over in his grave just yet . it could have been a lot worse .  br    br   phantom of the mall has too many useless flashbacks in it and way too many boring sequences to make it memorable . also  the scriptwriters wanted to give too much draught to the story than necessary . and even though there  s a lot of mystery getting build up about the character of eric . . . the basic plot is ordinary and dj  vu . spoilers it  s about a young couple that brutally gets torn apart because the boy gets killed in a fire . that fire was set to his house because he and his parents refused to sell their home in order to make room for a huge mall to be build . the boy survived the fire and he has hidden himself in the mall to avenge himself . meanwhile he guards his girl who now works in the mall and tries to forget her loss end spoilers this pretty simple  but rather effective  plot gets thickened by lots of pointless elements and annoying conspiracy theories . while it should just be an entertaining horror movie  it desperately tries to be an intelligent thriller . . . and that  s not what the fans look for . there are a few innovative killings but they  re not satisfying enough for people who want to see a relaxing horror movie . and besides  phantom of the mall could have used at least a bit of humor   this entire production  the cast included  takes itself way too serious .  br    br   i  ll try to finish with a few positive aspects . . . like for example  it stars ken foree   die  hard horror fans will certainly recognize him as peter for dawn of the dead  that  s like the horror milestone that yet has to find an equal . even though his role in this movie is limited and even completely unnecessary . . . it was good to see him again . tv  movie fans will also recognize morgan fairchild as the mayor  she  s a fine actress and an elegant lady . pauly shore is also in this but i can  t stand him . . . so my opinion about him may be a bit biased . and finally  a bit of praise for the leading actress named kari whitman . she  s an extremely beautiful girl and she does have a bit of talent . . . too bad she never made it to the top . actually  this movie is her biggest achievement and that says enough about her career . . .  
this film is one of the best shorts i  ve ever seen  and as i make it a point to be at all the major film festivals  i  ve seen a lot  especially of what the industry considers  the best .  i  m not a fan of monaghan . his acting generally tends to be overdone and uninteresting to me  his only decent performance being in lost  so i generally try to avoid his films . i did  however  happen to see this at a film festival a few years back and was completely awed . this director really knows what she  s doing . of course  you are going to get the trolls  or just ignorant people  who don  t understand what constitutes a good film and rip on low budget work because they have no idea what went into it . but luckily  from what i  ve seen  they are in the minority when it comes to this gem .  br    br   let  s not deny that the film was working on no budget  and that a couple of the supporting actors could still use work  because that  s certainly true . the production value is very low  but what can you expect for a first real film from someone still in high school  pretend for a moment that the budget doesn  t matter . if you take away a bit of the acting  the sound quality  which actually wasn  t the fault of the filmmaker i saw this at a festival and the sound was fine . . . i guarantee whoever made the dvd itself screwed up   and the fact it was shot on mini  dv  then what are you left with  the story  the visual composition and the soul of the film  which are indisputably flawless .  br    br   nanavati can tell a story . that much is clear . she can write substance  heavy  engaging scripts better than most people in hollywood  create a shot list that perfectly compliments that story  and bring it to life in a fascinating  creative way that  were this higher budget  might have won awards . give it more experienced actors  better sound post  production  and   mm instead of mini  dv and even the trolls couldn  t complain . this girl is incredible  and keeping in mind that insomniac was made a good few years ago  she  s done some amazing work since . the trailer for dreams of an angel shows that  and i can  t wait to see the higher budget stuff she  s done .     stars  this is one hell of a movie from one hell of a filmmaker .  
daphne zuniga is the only light that shines in this sleepy slasher  and the light fades quickly . if not her  than what other reason to watch this . five college kids are signed up to prepare an old dorm for its due date of demolition . problems are automatically occurring when a weird homeless man is soliciting  and the group are short a few people . then  a killer is on the loose . i honestly wanted to say i was going to enjoy this one . it had a fair set up  or maybe that was just daphne zuniga in it . the film is too slow  and almost as silent as a library . most of the acting is below average  and the  point  of  view  moments are so old news . acclaimed composer christopher young of such films as  hellraiser  and  entrapment  scored this  in a repetitive cue line that was better made for a tv movie . still  it seems higher than the movie deserves . so  other than young and zuniga  this one scrapes the bottom of the barrel .  
we taped this when it aired on tv back in     and have waited all these years for its release  for it quickly became one of our family favorites . the kids are now teens and must have seen it a ba  zillion times  yet they still watch it religiously with friends . it  s timeless appeal reaches across all ages groups   similar to  grease .   br    br   vanessa williams is spectacular . jason alexander delightful and wonderfully light on his feet . i  ve noticed other commentators on this site are pretty rough on him  but our family gives him top ratings .  we loved his  giant step  number .  marc kudisch  as conrad  supplies us with comedic relief and wonderful musical numbers . and brigitta dau  as ursula  just flat steals the show . probably our favorite character in the entire movie .  br    br   the one disappointment was chynna philip  s performance of kim . part of that has to do with the writing . kim  s role is completely one  dimensional . complicating that  philip  s delivery is flat  unimaginative  unbelievable and just plain awful . the director should have seen that and corrected it . or never cast her to begin with .  br    br   overall  though  the picture is delightful and i highly recommend it for families of all ages .  
one of the cornerstones of low  budget cinema is taking a well  known  classic storyline and making a complete bastardization out of it . phantom of the mall is no exception to this rule . the screenwriter takes the enduring phantom of the opera storyline and moves it into a late    s shopping mall . however  the  phantom  s  goal now is simply to get revenge upon those responsible for disfiguring his face and murdering his family . the special effects do provide a good chuckle  especially when body parts begin appearing in dishes from the yogurt stand . pauly shore has a small role which does not allow him to be as fully obnoxious as one would expect  mostly due to the fact that his fifteen minutes of mtv fame had not yet arrived . if you  re looking for a few good laughs at the expense of the actors and special effects crew  check this flick out . otherwise  keep on looking for something else .  
this is a great movie  i did the play a while ago . it had an extra zing   to it . i loved vanessa williams as rosey  and also jason alexander has a good voice . it was great . the setting were also very good . except the fact that it is  hours and   minutes  makes it pretty long . overall i give it  .  stars . they also added a few parts  but it was still cool .  
what made me track this movie down was the viewing vampyres  i thought i have to get the other movies this guy  larroz  has made  i was sorry i tracked this down  it is a weak attempt at an occult  satanic type movie laden with sex and only sex  with ugly actors and actresses  this is an excuse for sleaze . the only redeeming factor was the setting and atmosphere  avoid this one  too much hype surrounds it  not worth the effort of finding it  this refers to the welcome to the grind house edition . i hope he has some other movies which lives up to vampyres  oh and the goat scene was very boring  i understand that this is what carries the hype .  
my school  s drama club will be putting this show in the spring of      and i can only hope we  re as good as this  i watched this film recently as sort of  research  for my role  rosie alvarez   and i  d just like to say  vanessa williams is the coolest   br    br   wow  the casting for this movie was right  on  with one exception  . jason alexander  oh my gawd  is there anything he can  t do  he was the most wonderful albert peterson ever  i especially loved all of his funny facial expressions and dancing during  put on a happy face   he is so great  vanessa williams  as i said before  is the coolest . she was a beautiful rosie  and her transition from secretary to seductress was totally believable . tyne daly was hilarious as albert  s obnoxious mother and george wendt was superb as the annoyed mr . mcafee  however i loved paul lynde  s performance in the     version   . brigitta dau cracked me up as ursula merkle she really hammed it up  and marc kudisch was an awesome conrad birdie . . .  suffer    br    br   there was only one casting that i didn  t understand  and  as you  ll see from previous comments  many other people didn  t understand . chynna phillips as kim mcafee  what was that  i mean she  s really pretty and very talented  but . . . she looks a bit too old for the role . eh  maybe i  m delusional .  br    br   okay well anyways  i highly recommend this movie . it  ll leave you smiling   br    br    
when carol  vanessa hidalgo  starts looking into her brother  s death  she begins to suspect something more sinister than  natural causes  . the closer she gets to the truth  the more of a threat she becomes to her sister  in  law  fiona  helga line   and the rest of the local satanists . they  ll do whatever is necessary to put a stop her nosy ways .  br    br   if you  re into sleazy  satanic  themed movies  black candles has a lot to offer . the movie is filled with plenty of nudity and ritualistic soft  core sex . one scene in particular involving a young woman and a goat must be seen to be believed . unfortunately  all the sleaze in the world can  t save black candles . most of the movie is a total bore . other than the one scene i  ve already mentioned  the numerous sex scenes aren  t shocking and certainly aren  t sexy . the acting is spotty at best . even genre favorite helga line gives a disappointing performance . the plot really doesn  t matter . its main function seems to be to hold the string of dull sex scenes together . i  m only familiar with one other movie directed by jose ramon larraz . compared with his daughters of darkness that masterfully mixes eroticism and horror  black candles comes off as amateurish .     is about the best i can do .  
first of all  do not call this a remake of the    film . even though this version is truer to the stage play  it is extremely long . the casting was good with some exceptions . chyna phillips was not a good casting choice . she was almost   when she did this film  and it was hard to believe she was a teenager . jason alexander was good choice  but after a while he gave me a headache . tyne daly overdoes her part as mae peterson . george wendt was funny as harry mcaffee  and showed he could even hold a tune . like the    film  they casted an unknown to play conrad birdie . marc kudisch had fun with his role as birdie and it showed . i even have the soundtrack and i love listening to his singing . so what made this a tv ratings flop  it was lengthy for one . they put in new songs and scenes . even though some of the new songs were good  like  let  s settle down    was it really necessary  now don  t get me wrong  i liked it  but i rather watch the    film  see my review  . this was just a case of some actors overdoing roles  making some changes  and once again  length . one more thing i forgot to mention is vanessa williams . she does a good job with the role and the music . give her any lyrics and she could sing them . so here is my advice coming from someone who  s done a couple productions of bye bye birdie if you want to watch an entertaining take on the play  watch the    film . if you want to watch a version that is truer to the play  watch the    version . just take it in moderation though . don  t be a hero and try watch it all in one sitting .  
black candles is rather a muddled mess from the same director that brought us  vampyres  and much later   rest in pieces   among others . . i  m only noting the ones i  ve seen . at any rate  we have a couple making love and then somewhere near by a pin is poised over a voodoo doll and then pierces it  and the man keels over . not sure if it was good for either of them  at that point . fast forward to where the man  s sister has come to the house to investigate and hear the reading of the will  or something to that effect  and of course everybody else except her is in on something  which happens to be devil worship . it  s really hard to say who is who at moments during the movie and it does get a bit confusing at times . to spice things up though  there  s a simulated bestiality scene  i hope it  s simulated  with a black goat  sure to be a crowd pleaser . ugh . at times this echoes  rosemary  s baby   minus the baby  because the hostess is always giving one woman herbal tea and the place reeks of whatever nasty satanic herbs these are too  because that keeps getting remarked upon . however  the herbs aren  t the only thing that reeks about this film . the end seems to be back to the beginning again  and many viewers might find themselves wondering where they  ve been during the middle part . it  s not unwatchable  it  s just not very good  and i guess it all depends on what you like to see in films  and there wasn  t much here that did anything much for me .  out of   .  
when you add up all the aspects from the movie    the dancing  singing  acting    the only one who stands out as the best in the cast is vanessa williams . . . her dedication  energy and timeless beauty make rosie the perfect role for her . never have i ever seen someone portray rose with such vibrancy  vanessa  s singing talent shows beautifully with all the songs she performs as rose and her acting skills never cease to amaze me  her dancing is so incredible  even if as some people say the choreography was bad    her dancing skills were displayed better than ever before  i  d recommend this version over the    just because i find that although lengthy the acting by vanessa is superb      not to mention the fact that jason alexander and the rest of the cast are very impressive as well  with the exception of chynna philips . . . what in hell were they thinking when they cast her    br    br   all in all i  d say this version is wonderful and i recommend that everyone see this version   
i absolutely despise this movie . no wonder jose larraz  disowned  it at one point and refuses to discuss it . i admire larraz  s work  especially his more obscure slasher  sex maniac thrillers like savage lust or scream and die . his work has a kind of inescapable artiness about it that he can  t seem to switch off  owing in part to his secondary career as a painter  cartoonist . it  s too bad he never made a western  his vision would have been perfect .  br    br   black candles is easily his most notorious film and probably his best known after the masterpiece vampyres . and it  s notoriety revolves around one scene where a satanic coven enacts a bizarre rite involving extracting the reproductive fluid of a goat   symbolizing the beast   as some kind of nauseating balm to be used in preparing the waif like sister of a murdered man for her role as the bride of satan . the scene in question is staged in a way that looks rather convincing even without the display of any plumbing apparatus the goat may have been endowed with  relying upon the histrionics of the actress recruited to play the supplicant in the ritual and lots of guttural chanting on the film  s recycled musical score heard in a half  dozen films attributed to jacinto molina . the perverse nature of the scene is more implied than shown in graphic detail  heightened somewhat by the knowledge that said supplicant is actually the teen  aged daughter of the satanic priest . my but they had fun concocting this movie .  br    br   the problem with it is that there isn  t much to deconstruct or contemplate aside from the paper thin rosemary  s baby derived story of a woman being weaned into her role as satan  s bride by a sophisticated coven of satanists living in the hedgrowed outlands of a very sinister britain . led by eurohorror sensation helga line these satanists are comprised of doctors  lawyers  land owning magnates and other upper crust dignitaries who actually owe their professional success to their worship of the devil . all you have to do is sell your soul and the world can be yours  only watch out whom you may sell out to pay back petty personal conflict or you may end up being felched with a sword .  br    br   the film attempts to combine this heady satanic trip with oodles or borderline graphic sex  and should correctly be regarded as a kind of apex or culmination of the sex and horror spanish thriller traditions popularized in part by mr . molina  ms . line  and which had amazingly flourished under the disapproving eye of one generalissimo franco  the dictator who controlled spain up until     . while he lived his decree was that spanish cinema was to be free of graphic depictions of on  screen sex . spanish directors often made two versions of their films  one with the sex concealed for their own screens and one with the fornication on display for export . as difficult as it was for the filmmakers to express themselves the result was a sort of interesting tension that usually results when artists flirt with the forbidden spanish horror from the     s has a very special flavor to it that is somewhat of an acquired taste . it  s not for everyone .  br    br   but in a bizarre turn of events  without franco  s influence on their culture spanish horror sort of dried up in the late     s  when their gothic castles and demonic orgies suddenly found themselves pass when compared to new sensations like jaws and the star wars phenomenon . and without franco  s constraints their were suddenly a flood of overtly graphic thrillers that came tumbling out of the pipes in the very late   s  early   s  of which black candles is perhaps the best known due to it  s emphasis on sexual deviancy with a barnyard animal . larraz  major horror films have always revolved around sexual taboos  the lesbianism of vampyres  the incest of scream and die  deviation  but here the effect of the depravity is to overshadow the rest of the production . nobody cares about anything else but the traditionally censored trip to the goat barn  and watching a cut version without the scene in the barn is almost an exercise in pointlessness . the sex isn  t graphic enough to rate as porn and the chills aren  t chilling enough to rate as horror .  br    br   so  black candles is essentially a behavior study   here is how high society british satanists might behave in their secluded mansions out in the west midlands or whatever . between sex scenes the actors  actresses sit around and have lots of discussions . the best thing the film has going for it is an undeniably oppressive atmosphere of claustrophobia  with most of it  s action taking place in the tightly confined interiors of ms . line  s character  s mansion . nearly every avenue of fornication is hinted at so fans of soft  core sex romps with a hinting of supernatural horror will be amused  and of course the vicarious sex criminals amongst us will enjoy choking their chickens to the goat barn scene . but the ultimate conclusion of the film is silly  pretentious  intelligence insulting  and probably perfect for such an otherwise forgettable exercise in applied sleaze .  br    br        without the goat barn this movie just isn  t the same  and with the scene it  s probably a bit too much for most viewers . larraz was correct to disown it .  
cusack does his best david niven in this one  although i don  t know if anyone besides me noticed it .  br    br   when seen with this in mind  its a deliciously over saturated  wants to be taken more seriously than austin powers but still be pretty dmn funny  reworking of an under  appreciated comedy classic .  br    br   hillary duff does an over sexualized britney spears lap dance version of mata bond . the writers built a little reverse oedipus twist into the plot  interesting choice .  br    br   i never knew how soothing montel  s voice was until this movie . . . i think he has found a new calling doing nav system voice overs   
extremely thin  plot  of satanic rituals or some such mumbo  jumbo provides the hokey excuse to thread copious amounts of sex scenes together . straight vanilla sex  masturbation  lesbianism  sm  bestiality  incest  and a few other sexual proliferation  s all get their time in the spotlight here . the problem is the storyline is so dull that the rampant sexuality gets pretty tedious after awhile . who knew that a film with an intimate goat  girl encounter could be so damn boring  well now i do .  br    br   eye candy venessa hidalgo shows all helga line provides ta  both on display quite frequently   women viewers get the occasional penis .  br    br   my grade d  br    br   region  dvd extras trailers for  pick up    legend of eight samurai    don  t answer the phone    prime evil     sister street fighter   also the same dvd holds a second feature movie  evil eye    
got to be one of the best political satires i have seen to date  with an excellent performance for cusak  tomei  and all the supporting actors .  br    br   excellent plot  very well  placed and a very good unexpected twist at the end . the action scenes were well filmed  choreographed . very funny .  br    br   all in all i give this film a big thumbs up . it  s extremely critical of us military intervention in the middle  east  and as such  it may receive bad reviews from people who don  t share the same political view  or those who are simply too politically ignorant to appreciate the dark and drk humour . indeed  at places  the comedy was so close to the truth that it was borderline between funny and tragic .  
i  m not ruining anything when i inform you that you get to see a woman have sex with a goat in this movie . if that is your thing  then your movie has arrived .  br    br   a woman and her husband go to see her estranged sister in the family mansion in the woods . her sister is a creepy lady to say the least  and she seems to have interests that go beyond family love . on the side a group of unsavory characters show up and begin enacting all kinds of pagan rituals .  br    br   the plotting is pretty weak and the characters are pretty dumb . the woman sticks around even after her husband starts turning into a jerk and hanging out with the pagans  even continues the have sex with him . on the exploitative side of things  there is much bared flesh and a couple of kinky couplings  but nothing that hasn  t been better somewhere else . oh  and the aforementioned goat  sex scene .  br    br   most viewers won  t make it to the end . exploitation fans will ride it out  but will be left wanting more .  br    br        
this is a brilliant political satire . no wonder why it was largely ignored in the u . s .  it exposes our murderous foreign policy for what it really is .  br    br   another good film from this era  rendition  was also totally dismissed simply because it showed  accurately  that the u . s . is a war machine bent on torturing  murdering  and maiming civilians in its quest for total world domination .  br    br   a clever plot  good acting  some big stars  john cusack  ben kingsley  marisa tomei anyone   and some scenes of hilarity should have made this movie a hit . unfortunately  americans don  t like to hear the truth about themselves  especially when they are complicit in mass murder .  
this is truly an awful movie and a waste of  hours of your life . it is simultaneously bland and offensive  with nudity and lots and lots of violence . however  the nudity is not that exciting  and the violence is repetitive and boring . also  the plot is flimsy at best  the characters are unrealistic and undeveloped  and the acting is some of the worst i have ever seen .  br    br   i have heard that this movie is supposed to be funny  but it  s not . i did not laugh once while watching it  nor did i even crack a smile . the makers of this film tried to combine a comedy movie with an action movie  and they failed on both counts .  br    br   some poorly made movies are funny because they are so bad  but this is not one of them .  
  the first war to be     outsourced .  dan ackroyd  s line says it all . this is a hard to describe film comedy  satire  action  screwball . it reminded once or twice of dr . strangelove  especially so in the scenes featuring ben kingsley  who did a remarkable job i think  . i had no particular expectations of this film  though i am a big john cusack fan  so i just let the movie wash over me . and as a result i was quite entertained . the political satire is painfully accurate and quite damning of the us military  business complex . the sub  plots were somewhat predictable but the final interweaving of story lines made them all worthwhile . i can understand why this film was not terribly popular in the us  but for the rest of the world  it is a timely tale .  
ah yes the     s  a time of reaganomics and sly  chuck and a host of other action stars hiding in a remote jungle blowing away commies . at the time i couldnt believe how movies like rambo  missing in action and uncommon valor  and who can forget the ridiculous red dawn   made money at the box office  theyre turgid action crap fests with a rather off putting right wing agenda and they have dated very badly . tromas war is a tongue in cheek take on these type of movies but youve got to ask yourself did they need spoofing in the first place  of course not . tromas war lacks any sort of sophistication  though it does make the point that theres no real difference between right wing tyrants and left wing ones  and sometimes feels more like a grade z movie than a send up . maybe it is   
war inc . is a funny but strange film . the actors are likable  the film is likable also  but i don  t know how to describe the plot . i will go into the plot later on . this is a movie with some weird casting choices . besides john cusack as a hit  man  which we saw years ago in grosse point blank which i liked .  br    br   here we have hilary duff playing a russian pop star named yonica babyya or something like that . her character is odd . there is a scene where she sticks a scorpion down her pants . and hits on hauser  cusack  . there is a twist in the end involving the two characters . it makes sense .  br    br   that is the only casting choice i am going into . cause it just plain strange . the whole movie is strange . but at times incredibly funny and i was never bored . here we have some of the best actors out there . excluding miss duff . she ain  t great . but here we have john cusack  marisa tomeii  joan cusack  ben kingsley . see what i mean   br    br   this is the story of a hit  man named hauser  cusack  . he is sent down to some middle eastern city to put a hit on an oil man named omar sheriif  not the actor  . while trying to deal with his own personal problems  he has to help out the wedding of a popstar  played by hilary duff  . and he falls in love with a news reporter  played by marisa tomeii  . there is a thing about the popstar though . hauser is disgusted by her . there is a scene where she is singing a song to him and afterwards he throws up .  br    br   the twist in the end of the film reveals kind of why . the thing about the twist is that i did kind of see it coming . but that doesn  t matter . this is a strange  funny  and entertaining comedy . i love most of the actors . so really  how could i not recommend it   br    br   war  inc .   .     
this video is     retarded . besides the brain cell killing acting and plot  it  s way too long . don  t waste your money at the video store . i actually was mad that i sat through this garbage and spent money on it . just absolutely awful .  
i rated this a ten just because i find it so impressive what a single eighteen year old can do with a video camera . it  s no epic but it  s plenty engaging and i was never bored . if tens of millions of dollars can go into the countless bad films that are poured out en masse  then give this director the same amount of money and see what happens . i know i  ll be lining up at the local cinema for her first major release . damn good job  and well worth the money . what a script  it might be low budget but it beats the hell out of half the major pictures i  ve seen lately . nanavati knows how to tell a story  both in writing and on screen . serious kudos to her  can  t wait to see more .  
college students  who are clearing out a condemned dormitory  are stalked by an elusive killer .  br    br   the dorm that dripped blood  aka pranks  is a bit of a mixed bag for slasher fans . the movies production values are pretty low and the story for the most part is pretty routine  there  s even a creepy bum hanging around for a red herring . in fact much of the story  s build  up is pretty forgettable  save for one or two brutal murders . but the movie is really made better by its surprisingly intense climax  in an atmospheric setting  and one fairly bold  unconventional conclusion .  br    br   the cast is lackluster for the most part . stephen sachs is the best of the lot as he does a pretty nice turn in character . also look for a young daphne zuniga as an ill  fated student .  br    br   over all this is a pretty standard b slasher effort  but the finale is well worth savoring and for this viewer saved the movie from being a complete ho  hum .  br    br    out of   
this movie was excellent for the following reasons   it contained great backdrops and sets .   it showed the disparity of a war  torn environment alongside a technological one .   john cusack  s acting was terrific . he portrayed angst very well .   it showed the vulnerabilities of everyone in a war  torn situation .   it gave us a picture of what might happen in the future in many respects . i was also impressed with the acting for the most part . hilary  s acting was  i found  the most stilted . the morals and values of everyone in a war  torn situation are up for grabs . the liberal journalist and the conservative business man are capable of doing anything in any situation and are equally unpredictable . great stuff . psp  
just bought the vhs on this film for two bucks  did i waste my money  hey  i dig adam  batman  west and tina  giligan  s island  louise  but hello  this third rate production is a rehash of a dozen other biker films crazed bunch of bikers psychos ride into a hick town  beat up everybody and everything  and then are defeated in the man by a dashing hero . adam west looks the part as a hero  but he  s missing cape  and his batman uniform . sorry  just isn  t the same . tina l . looks really nervous and frightened the whole show  but at least we know what happened to  ginger  once she was rescued from the island . . . lol  the bikers are a motley group  and known of them ever acted again or at least shouldn  t have . hell riders is hell to watch   
war  inc .           john cusack  marisa tomei  hilary duff  joan cusack  ben kingsley  dan aykroyd  sergej trifunovic  lyubomir neikov  ned bellamy   voice of montel williams   br    br   a hit  and  miss    st century  strangelove   br    br   john cusack  who co  wrote the script with mark leyner and jeremy pikser  stars as a jaded hit  man named brand hauser who is burnt out but decides to follow thru on one final assignment by icing a middle  eastern oil minister named omar sharif  yes  not that omar sharif but you get the tone here from this misfire for a laugh  commandeered by the ex  vice president of the usa  aykroyd  cusack  s old  grosse pointe blank  co  hort  doing a mean dick cheney manqu turn here   enlisting brand to do the deed under the guise of a trade show producer in mythical turaqistan  read iraq  afghanistan  for the american private corporation tamerlane  read halliburton  .  br    br   while being briefed brand is faced with a moment of clarity when he comes across intrepid journalist natalie hegalhuzen  tomei  and eventually falls in love with her .  br    br   meanwhile tamerlane is sponsoring the unlikely union of eastern european teen sensation yonica babyyeah  a surprisingly decent duff aping her own celebrity with tongue  through  cheek  and the idiot son of the country  s leader .  br    br   what follows is a bold attempt for a   st century black comedy a la  dr . strangelove  but for all intense and purposes there are sadly more misses than hits in this broad try for laughs amidst political message  an unjust war being outsourced by american capitalism  check    br    br   while cusack riffs on his martin blank from the aforementioned  pointe  he does add some nice touches of his man in black  he does shots of tabasco sauce to take the edge off   the rest of the cast plays catch up  except sister joan who is a riot as the high  strung aide  de  camp for hauser and has one of the film  s funniest laugh  out lines  my mass communications skills are finally paying off   for the most part .  br    br   cusack visited the iraq war earlier this year in the    degree different  grace is gone  and here he allows his political views wear on his sleeve  while admirable overall the film  s pace and rhythms are off largely no  thanks to first time filmmaker joshua seftel making his directorial debut here  and it is noticeable  except for maybe the well  choreographed fight hauser is involved with babyyeah  s idiotic fianc  s entourage .  br    br   a nice attempt yet a misguided failure  maybe next time cusack won  t try so hard and let the idiocy of war speak for itself instead of doing the heavy lifting by himself .  
what else can you say about this movie  except that it  s plain awful . tina louise and adam west are the reasons why to see this  but  that  s it  but their talents are wasted in this junk . i think that they used a double in some of adam  s scenes  like when he  s running because you can  t see his face . if adam was embarrassed in being in zombie nightmare  just think what he must  ve felt about appearing in this    if it was before or after  i  m not sure  but  still  zombie nightmare is a classic  check out the mystery science theater     version first and last  compared to this . the gang is very annoying and over  acting by some of the actors . a rip  off of the wild one starring marlon brando  of course . tina looks stunning though . i hope her and adam got a good paycheck   pass   
first  someone mentioned here that because this was released in  limited  quantity it means that it should be bad . . . that is exactly what the  big five  hollywood studios would like everyone to think so they can  pass  or  ignore  features that are not desirable  without loosing face or imagine by censoring them directly . to the point  this production has been released  limited  because is considered  unpatriotic  by certain individuals .  br    br   now i absolutely loved this feature i find it way better then  charlie wilson  s war  even if it is a  fictional  account of something that  never  happens but is always so obvious . this goes to anyone and everyone interested or affected by present american foreign policies   home  or  aboard  . the  turakistan  country and  the emerald city  are definitely trying to resemble iraq and baghdad just as much as the corporation  tamerlane  goes for  haliburton   with the vice  president dan aykroyd playing dick cheney  lol  . there are quiet a moments actually where the movie is dead serious  not even sarcastic anymore  main example would be as how john cusack character deals with his depression  but not only  .  br    br   i found that all the characters can be related to something  someone or specific stereotypes . now word of advise if you are not politically active  especially towards the aspects of  globalization   you will likely not enjoy this feature much since most of its content and inside  jokes  are targeting certain  personalities  that are not  visibile  to the general public on daily bases . . .  main exception would be hilary duff that plays the well known materialistic pop star  need i say name  s    . at its core the feature is an anti  globalization gig  period . the message is unmistakeably delivered with comic vengeance . joan has a line at one point that goes like this  and here we have a book written by you know who  about how i conquered the world and resolved the issues with my dad  . priceless     br    br   the sister and brother cusacks play good together as always  same as in  grosse pointeblank  i would say a bit more  mature  . marisa tomeihere does not show her butt and breasts to  impress  us  like she did recently in  before the devil knows you  re dead    but instead she has a very serious role  and manages to pull it off quiet well .  br    br   many critics don  t get it  can not do so  or do not want to  . this is not a  regular  movie but more of a comic documentary . this feature stands to deliver a message and not to get oscars  or have  visuals  sort of getting the viewer into buying the latest  hdtv experience  tv sets . . . i have noticed even in my local papers that this movie gets bad re  views because is not  artistic   while pro iraq war movies get good thumbs up for being  balanced  apparently and  engaging  . makes one wonders how much all the world mainstream media is concentrated in the hands of a bunch of guys . . .  br    br   i bet this feature will prove a hit overseas as much more then it will in north america . as i mentioned before  it is all a satire about american foreign policy and how it has been hijacked by  special interests  groups . . . having the  regular  american soldier wearing the  tamerlane  corporate logo on its combat dress is pretty insulting but effective in showing reality as it is  or will be soon the way things go so far .  br    br   some priceless shots upon  liberation   the country gets invaded commercial advertisements a hilarious scene about how future journalists will likely gather  news    anything is got to be better then this x  box bullocks      soldiers dealing with their  frustration    br    br   overall  i do not recommend this to  conservatives  or  hard core  patriots of some kind or another . this feature is not made to reach to the  minds of souls  of the people  as mainstream propaganda and commercial interests always try to do so  . instead it contains a message well defined for realists  and towards some ideological goals apparently  always  short of realizing .  
this has got to be one of the worst movies ever made . even for a biker movie  it  s rock bottom . the minimal plot involves a gang of bikers taking over a small town  how original   and the townspeople  s attempts to fight them off . why don  t they call for outside help  who knows  the fight scenes are obviously fake . adam west and tina louise are in it but both have little to do and both look ashamed to be there  understandably  this movie belongs in the trash heap   
brand hauser  john cusack  is an assassin for the cia . he is ordered to go to the country of turaquistan  a nation that the united states has  liberated   and kill a businessman named omar shariff . this is because the american conglomerate  tamerlane  that is putting the country  back together  will not stand for shariff  an oil man from a neighboring state  laying down his own pipeline through war  torn turquistan . but  once there  brand runs into difficulties . one  he meets a determined journalist  natalie  marisa tomei  who wants to tell the american public the  true  story of the region  s conflict . . . and of tamerlane . but  brand is aghast to realize that natalie  s pretty face and sharp mind instantly and unconsciously compels him to lose focus on his mission . also  his cover as a trade show host forces him to meet the country  s pop  singing princess  yonica  hillary duff   who will be getting married at the convention center . she is a young diva whose wedding arrangements also turn brand  s attention away from the coming assassination . with other inept underlings and complications  will brand be able to carry out his mission  for the satisfaction of tamerlane  s big boss  the former vice  president  dan ackroyd   good for you  john cusack  to make this film  even though it doesn  t quite hold together . shot in serbia  it is a worthy look at what present  day iraq must be like  a country turned upside  down . in a stroke a brilliance  the green zone here is called  the emerald city  and aptly so  for this oz  like neighborhood attempts to keep out the ravages of war going on elsewhere in the metropolis . the cast is very fine  with cusack doing a nice job and tomei  joan cusack  ben kingsley  ackroyd and others backing him up in style . duff  especially  does a great turn as the heavily  accented  heavily made  up  potty  mouthed singer . the recreation of war  riddled baghdad is so real that it hurts while the costumes and other production values are top  notch . as for the script  it isn  t always cohesive but it certainly has some tremendous dialogue and scenes . for example  a young turaqui boy offers to show brand an enemy hideout  in exchange for money and candy . brand produces the cash but  because he has no candy  the boy burns his vehicle anyway . brilliant  then  also  the direction is not a total success but doesn  t lag very often . no  if you have conservative leanings  you probably won  t like this film one bit . but  if you have an open mind and want to see a satirical view of the  war on terrorism   this is quite a good show . therefore  do make an effort to view it  as you will be supporting those filmmakers who choose to make movies far away from those old studio  formulas  .  
i was prepared to laugh throughout this movie like a mystery science theater experiment  but it was just boring . it appears that the producers had many biker enthusiast friends  and from there casually decided to make a movie .  br    br   it is frequently unwatchable . lots of footage of the bikers riding on a dirt road  with the same music played repeatedly . unfortunately  renee harmon is barely in the movie . harmon probably would have livened things up . perhaps she had other commitments the day this was filmed .  br    br   of course  the bikers terrorize a small town . fights  murder  a cowardly cop  a goofy mechanic  etc . one of the bikers always wears a football helmet  a weak attempt to distinguish him from all the other outlaws .  br    br   the script has nothing to offer . one scene features a biker assaulting a woman  yelling in the lady  s face  you  re all the same  you  re all the same   . we come back to the scene a minute later and he again declares  you  re all the same   . couldn  t the writer think of something more creative to say    br    br   at the end the good guys have killed the bad guys . we also learn that the wedding between middle  aged mechanic joe and young susie has been canceled . susie is going away to college  and we abruptly learn that joe  s wedding is still on  but with a different bride  . end .  
on this  th of july weekend it  s heartening to see the spirit of the declaration of independence alive and well in the film  war  inc .  just as our founding fathers gave the back of their collective hand to king george iii  this film exposes in hilarious fashion the craven war  profiteering by the current crop of capitalistic creeps who are intent on indecently privatizing the government  to include privatizing war itself .  br    br   the cast in this satire absolutely shines . john cusack is wonderful as a droll  conflicted corporate assassin  and the beautiful marisa tomei is superb as his love interest .  my gosh   george costanza  was right . marisa tomei is so attractive   but it is john  s sister joan cusack who really steals the film . her portrayal of a bossy  yet simultaneously sycophantic  personal assistant is priceless  and more than once i just couldn  t stop laughing at the brilliance of her performance . she not only possesses fantastic comic timing  her face is as expressive as one could ever wish for in an actor . dan ackroyd  too  has a short  but very effective  cameo in the film as the head of the company which is running the war  the tamerlane corporation . sitting on a  throne  with his pants down around his ankles  ackroyd even looks like the arse clown who currently occupies one of our real thrones of power . you won  t have to think too hard to recognize that person . much of this movie was filmed in bulgaria  which is why we are able to see so much real military equipment .  you just know that the us military would never have cooperated in making this satiric expose of war  profiteering .  i especially enjoyed the character of  omar sharif  as played by the bulgarian actor lyubomir neikov . in one scene in which he is on the dance floor with marisa tomei he has a couple of lines that could summarize our entire foreign policy attitude toward the foreign leaders we install  and uninstall  in power .  br    br   naturally  this film won  t appeal to everyone . if you believe that the on  going privatization of our foreign policy  the military  intelligence collection and analysis  prisons and the corrections system  public health  and a myriad of other government services is a good thing you may not find much to like in this film . if you believe  however  that destroying people and countries in order to add to some corporation  s bottom line is an abomination i think you  ll find much to appreciate in this film . nothing could be more in keeping with the spirit of independence that heaping well  deserved ridicule on corrupt powers that be .  
how sad to see the beautiful and talented tina louise reduced to making this horrible excuse for a film . tina still looked fit and attractive  but for some reason seems truly frightened . i can understand her fear fearing that this  rd rate stinker would somehow be released to the general public . also  i  m a fan of the likable adam west . again  as with tina  adam looks good and in great shape for a man his age . his acting here is passable  but the script is so bad  that it  s difficult to even listen to the dialog .  br    br   the movie is a rip  off of the classic brando biker flick  the wild ones out  law biker gang is out  of  control in a small hick  town . the bikers here look like a motley group and i sure wouldn  t want them to date my sister . the acting is stiff and wooden  and the story  plot is as old as sand . hellriders is hell to watch   
this film definitely gets a thumbs up from me . it  s witty jokes and even it  s occasional stereotypical and derogatory views on eastern european people had me in stitches throughout most of the film . it  s plot is clever and     original and will have you guessing throughout the entire film . the one person i was most impressed with in this film was hilary duff . it  s plain and simple to see that she has taken a leap of faith stepped outside of the  chick  flick  genre she  s used to . her accent is excellent and her acting performance was surprisingly crisp and well  executed . it is the best performance i have ever seen from hilary  and i have seen most of her films . her character  yonica babyyeah is described as  the britney spears of eastern europe  and this is seen in some of her mannerisms and the song   i want to blow you . . . . . . . . . up  . you also feel sorry for her  as her performance really grasps you  yonica is a very complex and confused character . joan cusack had me laughing throughout the whole film with her sometimes slapstick humour  but also her facial expressions and so on . john cusack  s witty dialogue will probably make you chuckle throughout . i strongly recommend this film .  
this has to be the worst  and i mean worst biker movie ever made  and that  s saying a lot because the line of stinkers is long and smelly   br    br   now at least we know what happened to ginger after she was rescued from gilligan  s island  a frightened looking tina louise  she was probably afraid someone would see this mess   is a stranded motorist who is tormented by the most repulsive motorcycle gang in film history . but  don  t worry fans  batman  i mean adam west as a hick  town doctor comes to the rescue  pow  crush  boom  holy toledo batman   br    br   the only good points of this  bomb  are some cute women  some laughable fight scenes  and the still  sexy  tina louise   
in war  inc we find the logical extension of the current outsourcing of all war  related activities we are currently doing in afghanistan and iraq . if you are familiar with the antics of halliburton  kellogg  brown  root and blackwater overseas you are already halfway home to fully appreciating the satire of cusack  s latest piece . cusack plays a corporate hit  man named brand hauser who finds himself in turiquistan organizing a trade show in the newly liberated country as his cover while waiting to get access to his latest target . while there he finds himself intrigued by the anti  establishment reporter played by marisa tomei and pursued by the over  sexualized pop star played by hilary duff . we are introduced to hauser  s past  which includes a tragedy that has haunted him ever since and the corporate assistant named marsha dillon who actually is running the entire operation for him  and played hilariously by joan cusack  . while some moments are played suitably over the top  they aren  t always the moments you expect and the little touches often catch you by surprise . all the principals turn in solid performances . duff  s accent comes and goes but otherwise she does a very nice job and goes a long way to dispel her disney image . tomei is funny but understated while the cusack  s own nearly every scene they are in . to be fair  they are given good material . the writers turn in a good script with enough twists and turns and visual gags to keep you giggling throughout all the way to the predictable conclusion . in fact  the predictability of the end is the only thing that keeps me from rating it higher as the story twists and turns it  s way to the expected conclusion .  br    br   if you like your comedy broad and physical  there is probably not enough here to keep you interested the entire movie . on the other hand  if you like sly comedy and broad satire  this is for you .  
i saw this dull waste of time on hbo  s comedy channel  so i quite innocently and obviously assumed that this was a comedy . but there is absolutely nothing funny here . a good cast is basically wasted on a script that i could have written with my left butt  cheek  after it had been beaten senseless by   th  century inquisition torturers . the first half is particularly bad  as it has some of the most dull  pointless dialogue i  ve come across in a while  and zero comma zero plot to speak of . just the fact that stars such as ewan mcgregor and zeta  jones are in this little movie and yet this film has less than     votes on this site  should tell you everything . a couple of nice shots of waves hitting the cold british coast  but that  s about it .  br    br   this is the sort of movie that gets made just because the people who wrote it have good connections  family connections  preferably  and  or plenty of cash lying around .  
this film needs to be seen . the truest picture of what is going on in the world that i  ve seen since darwin  s nightmare . go see it  and if you  re lucky enough to have it open in your city  be sure to see it on the big screen instead of dvd . the writing is sharp and the direction is good enough for the ideas to come through  though hardly perfect . joan cusack is amazing  and the rest of the cast is good too . it  s inspiring that john cusack got this movie made  and  i believe  he had to use some of his own money to do it . it  s a wild  absurd ride  obviously made without the resources it needed  but still succeeds . jon stewart  steven colbert  snl  even bill maher haven  t shown the guts to say what this film says .  
be warned neither zeta  jones nor mcgregor plays the main part as the poster would have you believe . their roles are in fact minor .  br    br   the film stumbles badly between exaggerated comedy and realistic drama  with neither being really engaging . especially i find it impossible to muster much sympathy for the main protagonist  not to mention his screwball friends and sex obsessed fianc . the plot drags terribly  and i turned this one off after about     unusual for me  as i like to finish what i start . the good acting and beautiful setting takes it from  to  stars .  br    br        
the plot of this film might not be extraordinary  but what makes the film really special  are its characters  and the actors who play them  of course   . i won  t go into the details of the plot of the movie  but i would certainly like to say this  this film is not just for everyone  the film is really witty and you need to be equally clever to get all the satire . if you  re not alert even for a second  you  ll probably end up missing one of the subtle points . the movie is full of such seemingly trivial but witty stuff  like the announcements going on in the background at turaqistan  the advertisements on the tankers  which i almost missed  and it are these that make the movie hilarious throughout .  br    br   coming to the actors  john cusack has played his multi  faceted role very efficiently  what with him being the co  writer and the producer too  and he plays his character  hauser  the killer with a heart  exquisitely . cusack  s done a similar kind of role before in grosse pointe blank  but his comic disposition in the movie is simply superb .  br    br   however the actress who steals all the show is hilary duff  i have always been a huge fan of ms . duff . but to be honest i was a bit disappointed when i heard about the kind of role she  s playing in the movie . but after watching the movie the disappointment gave way to great respect for her as an actor . let  s face it  the kid  s growing  but yes  so is her talent  all those critics  who shouted hoarse that hilary cannot act  will be silent for a while . hilary had to play a really complex character  tough on the outside  yet a sweet child on the inside  and she  s done complete justice to it . she makes you laugh  and she makes you cry  to cut the long story short   cause i could go on raving about her for ever  she  s brilliant  marisa tomei and joan cusack have done a good job too . especially  joan  s hysterics are uproarious  however  i was rather disappointed with ben kingsley being wasted in such a small role and his performance seemed lackluster .  br    br   in general war  inc . keeps you on your toes throughout with its intelligent humor  and ends with just the right amount of twists in the plot . i would highly recommend this movie to all  and more so to hilary duff fans     p . s .  i am really glad to hear the movie is going to break free of its limited release and release at other places soon     
i chose this movie by the cover which was a bad move . it wasn  t funny at all and the main characters were obnoxious . the girl was beautiful but the story and the acting were terrible . it had absolutely nothing to do with surfing . terrible movie with a surf  theme  that had nothing to do with surfing and no real surfers . catherine zeta jones was beautiful and the movie will probably see a resurgence just becuase she is in the limelight now  being married with gordon gekko and all  but if you haven  t seen it don  t waste your time . a bad movie with great surfing  real surfers and amazing  beautiful cinematography was in god  s hands .  
in this satire of the commercialization and  lightheartedness  of war  john cusack plays brand hauser  an assassin sent to to  turaqistan  to take out omar sharif  who is doing some oil business that will spell trouble for the former vice president of the us  s own company . in addition to this  hauser must juggle his fake position as a trade show producer  a wedding for pop princess yonica  hillary duff   and a nosy liberal journalist  natalie  marisa tomei  .  br    br   assessing the technical aspects  br    br    the acting  by the main characters  at least  was good  as was to be expected . some of john cusack  s dialogue was quite obviously not written for him as he often seemed uncomfortable saying it . . . maybe unrealistic is more accurate . joan put forth a great  and often hilarious  performance . marisa tomei  while i  ve never been a big fan of hers  was more than suitable for the role and worked well . hillary duff  however  was pretty terrible . they needed an attractive middle eastern  or russian  or whatever that accent was supposed to be  pop  star . unfortunately  they went  for  with her .  br    br    like i said above  the writing seemed a little stiff and mismatched at points  especially john cusack  s dialogue . not much of it  mind  but some . the story also got a bit ludicrous at points  which is fine for a satire to a point  but it took it to a whole new level here . luckily  the cusacks and tomei keep a relatively cool  calm demeanor throughout  and that makes a nice even mix of the craziness of the film and the levelheadedness of the actors .  br    br    joshua seftel  who previously had a drought of real credits to his name  did a fine job with a rather wide  spectrum film . he handled the small     million  budget very well  stretching it to make it appear to be much more . seftel also managed to nicely blend the humour of the story . . . with the painful and hard  to  watch parts of the real war  including slaughter of civilians  etc .  .  br    br    as far as the general satire goes  its exaggerated look on the commercializing of war is very well done  especially the  golden palace poker  ads on the u . s . tanks . at points  it becomes a little too much  but  in the end  it still accurate portrays what it  s going for an a young  mel brooks   type of style .  br    br   overall  the film is very well made for the meager budget and it  s definitely worthy of a look . it won  t go down as one of the great satires of cinema  but it  s certainly not the worst .  br    br       .  
the only thing worse than surfers without any waves is a film about surfers without any waves . for viewers who love surfing this film will be a gigantic disappointment since the total number of minutes of surfing footage struggles to reach three .  br    br   the story is a slice of life about beached surfers who are waiting not for the perfect wave  but for any wave at all . j . c .  sean pertwee  is an aging super surfer who is flirting with a commitment with his girlfriend chloe  catherine zeta jones  . just as he is about to find grown up bliss with the woman he loves  three old surfing friends turn up and convince him to hit the beach looking for monster waves at the bone yard . the trouble is  there are no waves until the very end of the film  so most of the story dissipates itself on a meandering succession of disconnected beach happenings .  br    br   the acting is mostly mediocre . sean pertwee has a few comical moments  but mostly his acting was mundane . ewan mcgregor was decent as the drug dealing wild man  by far the most interesting and peculiar character of the bunch . probably the funniest performance was turned in by peter gunn as terry who turned his corpulent body into a continual sight gag . catherine zeta  jones was sexy as usual  but her character didn  t really have enough meat for her to show much acting ability .  br    br   there is really not much here on which to comment . i rated it a     . it  s a real beach bummer .  
this film  as low budget as it may be  is one of the best psychological thrillers i  ve ever seen . if you accept that it  s low budget from the start  you can appreciate just how good of a story it is  how very well written the script is  and how great the filmmaker was to produce something so wonderful with so little money .  br    br   all the elements of a great film are here . the visuals  though shot on digital  were gorgeous in places . the bizarre  dreamy feel of the film is captured particularly well in the scene with the talking dog  that scene was just amazing . it  s such a trippy piece of work  but not done in a pretentious way  and because of that i have a whole lot of respect for this film . it comes highly recommended to anyone looking for something unique and captivating  and different from much of the repetitive films that are out there .  
a slick romanticizing of the sexual exploitation of neworleans black women by white men of power and privilege . ooh . does that whet your appetite  well  then  belly up to a vhs or dvd and gorge on this gratuitous trolling through a seamy segment of history . for good measure  it  s adapted from the book by celebrated hack anne rice . the directing is as cloying and melodramatic as the cheesy dialog . most of acting is amateurish . the production  s sole worthwhile note is that it employed practically a dozen black actors  all of whom have scarcely been in employed in today  s market  jasmine guy  ben vereen  pam grier  eartha kitt   including some faces that have barely been seen at all  bianca lawson  rachel cuttrell  . it also is  despite itself  a sterling showcase for nicole lyn . the pompous and ponderous james earl jones is on  hand as well . so  is the late ossie davis  a minimal talent who owes his success to having been affiliated with the legendary negro ensemble company . this film should be rated  t  for tripe .  
i don  t want to spend to long here rambling about the plot  you  ve seen the trailer  and if you haven  t its online . i don  t recommend seeing it though  it was poorly crafted and didn  t pack any of the laughs or magic from the film . so those avoiding this film due to its lousy trailer should give this one a chance . it  s really funny . i was blown away by the cleverness and originality in this film . the first   minutes had me on the floor in hysterics  my only problem was that it unnecessarily evolved into a bad austin powers film in the final   . this however  is one of the few films where the campy ending didn  t make me dislike the rest of the film  which is normally the case  . everyone gives a great performance  especially joan cusack  and there are some really great moments throughout . i personally plan on seeing it again when it comes out  only to catch all the details which i was laughing over during the first viewing   
note to self  just because a film is foreign  obscure  and stars catherine zeta  jones doesn  t mean it  s any good . such is the case with  blue juice   a     brit flick about an unlikely group of surfing enthusiasts in what would seem  to a dumb american  anyway  an even more unlikely place to find surfers cornwall  england . you might be thinking this has the makings for an amusing  quirky little comedy . if only . the film is just a bit over ninety minutes but it seems interminable . the easiest way to describe it is as a sort of     s british version of  grease  without the dancing  but even that makes it sound better than it is . no  the best way to take it is as a little slice  of  life set in a small town . catherine zeta  jones plays chloe  a young woman living with a surfing instructor  jc  sean pertwee you remember him  . pertwee is actually the film  s star  and his character is something of a surfing legend to a small group of surfing devotees  the requisite oddball group of free spirits that inevitably inhabit films like this . in this case  it consists of a drug dealer who wants to be a journalist  a former nightclub dj who wants to be a record producer  and a fat nerdy guy who  in a needlessly extended scene  gets stoned and loses all his inhibitions which of course turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to him . i can  t honestly say everything that goes on in  blue juice  is predictable  since it  s set in a place and reflects customs and manners i  m not very familiar with  but there  s certainly nothing surprising or even interesting that takes place there or with the characters . the comedy  though  is very predictable and tired . one can sense the set  ups a mile away and almost recite the dialogue  in american form  of course  before the actors do . the relationship between jc and chloe is every bit as hackneyed . she wants him to grow up he wants them to stay the impetuous teenagers they started out being . he  s afraid of losing face with his gang she thinks he prefers them to her . you get the idea . as i struggled to stay focused on  blue juice   toward the end i felt  as the saying goes  that this was an hour and half of my life i  d never get back .  
let me start by saying that  war  inc  is not everyone  s cup of tea . it is  however  very enjoyable  and gets you thinking   oh  crap   . the comedy involved the film isn  t obvious at all  it  s quite subtle  tamerlane tanks  dry  cleaning service etc   and it changes with the twists  turns in the plot .  br    br   i may be the only one  but i won  t compare this with  grosse point blank   because  it  s different . john cusack  i wouldn  t say he was  amazing  or  brilliant   but he was good . on the other hand  his sister  joan cusack  was incredible in her delivery of lines  comedic timing  even though she was hardly in the film  i  d say the same about ben kingsley  .  br    br   marisa tomei plays a convincing reporter  and manages to pull it off . hilary duff is very commendable for her role as central asian pop star yonica babyyeah . duff  s development as an actress is very noticeable in the film  and she does a very good job  even though her accent is a tad unreal  .  br    br   overall  the film is what i would call  entertaining  . it doesn  t have a particular storyline  and it  s quite silly at times  but it does have a subtle message . i  d say it  s worth a watch .  
a movie about dealing with the problems with growing up and being true to yourself  blue juice is mind candy for those who like surfing and cornwall . sean pertwee is the real star of this film  while the more famous catherine zeta jones plays his girlfriend and ewan mcgregor plays his drug addicted pal .  br    br   for those who don  t like surfing or cornwall in the slightest  you  ll find that it takes a long time before the movie even hints at being interesting . the beginning is slow and spends too much time on long shots of only slightly interesting landscapes . plus too many main characters leads to most of them being one dimensional . the plot is an interesting idea but because of the shallow characters you have no idea why they act in the situations they  re put in .  br    br   only ewan  sean and catherine  s characters make this a film worth being on videotape  which is why it was only released on videotape in the us after ewan and catherine reached mainstream fame .  
joshua seftel  s first film  a satire of memorable proportions  is about just as the title suggests the corporations effect on war .  br    br   the film is about a mercenary  john cusack  traveling to turaqistan  not a real country  fyi  to help the american government  get their message across  to turaqistan  s leaders . he meets a reporter  marisa tomei  and we all know what will ensue with a lonely man  a hot reporter . somewhere in the mix  a pop star named yonica babyyeah gets thrown in . as yonica is marrying one of turaquistan  s most important people  a son of the president   a subplot is created where the mercenary must watch over this star  well  somewhat . the film starts off with a lonely cusack in a bar no more than fifteen seconds later  the film hooks you . with it  s amusing and intriguing insight on terrorism and politics  the film  s running time blows by you . the film has a lot more action than i expected  with the occasional scene of war  well choreographed fights and just sporadic scenes of murder . though the story isn  t much deep  the simplicity of it all makes the film perfect for both the common man and movie critics alike .  br    br   in the final act of the film  the simplicity of it all turns very hostile and jumbled . i thought it was executed very well  but other may disagree  and i could understand why . twist after twist is what the ending is all about  and like most films  it is a true hit  miss situation . regardless  the three writers on the film  mark leyner  jeremy pikser  john cusack  did a fantastic job creating a realistic and entertaining satire on today  s situation overseas .  br    br   joshua seftel does an excellent job insuring the film  s integrity not reducing the material to the most redundant of films  which i was afraid would happen  . seftel crafted the film as perfectly as one could he created a vibrant atmosphere  one that is both examines harsh reality and cartoonish falsities  contrasting them perfectly  as well as making the film feel as if you were watching it all . seftel really gets you involved in all of the action and it pays off completely . no missteps here . hopefully  he takes on more directorial jobs  for he is one director to look out for .  
god this film was just so boring apart from the music which i really loved  i mean what was the point in actually making this movie please anyone who reads this review do not watch this film  it is a waste of time .  br    br   emraan can act but was really pathetic in this film  i am actually ashamed to be one of his fans especially in this movie  it was just really bad .  br    br   celina is just another pretty face with no lack of talent what so ever  she can  t act at all  and there was no point of her being in this film  as for the other girl radha she was okay i guess but could have done better .  br    br   what a waste of time . please buy the great music and don  t watch this movie .  
don  t mistake  war inc .  for a sharply chiseled satire or a brainy comedy full of inside jokes for news buffs . it isn  t .  br    br   this is an old  fashioned screwball comedy  with ridiculously coincidental plot twists  stock characters  given some depth in fun performances by john cusack  joan cusack  marisa tomei and hillary duff  and a straightforward approach to the political content .  br    br   you see  the filmmakers  political points are things nearly all of the country already knows are true . yeah  we understand that the corporations profiting off the war are corrupt  inept pigs  the political leaders in charge of it are even more inept buffoons  and american imperialism has never looked crasser and more out of touch than it does right now   but none of that is the point .  br    br   here  all of that noise is the setting that they lampoon   sometimes in genius ways   as the backdrop for a silly romp  as john cusack  s character  the hit  man with a heart  tries to change his life with the help of the do  gooder journalist who doesn  t trust him  tomei  and the young middle eastern starlet who wants to call off her marriage  duff  . cusack  s sister  joan  plays his assistant with an almost cartoonishly enthusiastic quality . ben kingsley seemed to me wasted in his smaller part as a ruthless cia boss .  br    br   that  s all  and it works . it  s simple fun  but if somehow you can  t see reality and you think the war is going well and everyone involved with it is doing a good job and there  s no corruption and people in the middle east wish our western culture would supplant theirs  then you might not find it as funny .  br    br   for all the rest of us  it was a light comedy with a political edge .  
okay the promos promised a comedy and people  few  went to watch it being the first release of     is not a bad thing  or for that matter of any year  because the first and last films mostly flop except ghajini and some more  br    br   okay coming to jawani diwani  br    br   review in short the film is about emraan hashmi doing his usual stuff sadly it  s annoying this time after repetitions it has an irritating hrishita bhatt and a flop celina jaitley  br    br   cringeworthy dialogues  comedy scenes and badly handled drama and lots of loopholes  br    br   direction is bad emraan hashmi is annoying here  luckily now he is coming of age but post footpath and murder and some decent work in some more films the actor in him took a backseat and directors focused on his kisses and womaniser image which sadly lost it  s touch after repetitions hrishita and celina are bad mahesh is horrible  
i thought this movie was a lot better than most movie critics are giving it credit for . though it has its confusing parts of the plot  it doesn  t greatly interfere with your understanding of the movie . that being said  if you  re not open to more liberal political ideas  then this probably isn  t the movie for you . i thought all the actors in the movie were outstanding . each character has their funny moments and the audience at the tribeca film festival was laughing throughout the whole thing . i thought the satire was a tad over the top in one particular area  but that  s intentionally done . john cusack is right in that although it  s set in the future  it really makes you see the present .  
this movie was absolutely pathetic . a pitiful screenplay and lack of any story just left me watching three losers drool over bikini babes . at times i felt like i was watching an episode of beavis and butthead . i couldn  t even sit through the whole movie . emran hashmi disappoints  and hrshitta bhatt is not impressive at all . celina jaitley was not bad . the only worthwhile part of the film is the spoof on anu malik and his obsession of shayaris . it was pretty hilarious . the songs  sini ne  and its remix version were really good . you can always count on emran lip  locking and lip  synching a chartbuster . all in all  it seems emran doesn  t have a good script from the bhatts to back him up this time .  
although cinderella isn  t the obvious choice for a sequel i love jaq and gus so i didn  t hesitate . the format of the mice writing a book for cinderella was an inspired one . i enjoy writing stories myself and hope children will be encouraged by this . the three stories are cute  amusing  although the songs were forgettable . jaq and gus were my favourite characters but i also enjoyed seeing lucifer  bruno  the mice chorus and all the rest . pom pom proved the perfect companion for lucifer and i liked the governess . a sequel done right for a change . my rating     .  
lets start off by saying that  jawani diwani  is just a pathetic movie . i agree with the last person who said  i missed the joyride  . lol .  br    br   the jokes were just terrible . performances were average . something went terribly wrong with the film . emraan totally deserved something better . all celina jaitley did was expose . hrishitta bhatt was ok . emraan hashmi was ok too .  br    br   mann  emraan hashmi  is a desperate guy who wants to become famous . therefore  he uses radha and pretends he loves her  only because her father is a music director and could help him become famous  since  the father obeys everything his daughter says  . one day  mann and his friends go to goa to have some fun . there he meets roma  celina jaitley  and totally falls for her looks and tries to flirt with her bla bla bla .  br    br   then  that night roma cannot open the door to her room  and mann decides to help her . seeing that he cannot as well  roma goes to ask for help . while she is gone  mann is able to open the door and decides to come inside and sits on her bed bla bla bla . roma comes in and they have a one night stand . however  in that one night  stand roma falls in love with him . that morning  they spot the underworld don  mahesh  who sees it all . the don loves roma and couldn  t stand what he saw . he orders them to get married  and being frightened  mann obeys the order and merry  s roma . then  their marriage news ends up in the newspaper . mann is later finds out that he loves roma after they do a music video together . he is now trapped between love and fame . bla bla bla .  br    br   the movie is horrible . the songs  sini ne sini ne  is fantastic the remix version is even better .  dil diwana  is also great . the title track is also awesome . guys  avoid watching this movie .  
the sequel to the ever popular cinderella story reminded me somewhat of what they did with one of the beauty  the beast movies . it  s basically three short stories rolled into  .  br    br   ok  the mice are adorable  i love gus  he  s sooo cute    and lucifer  s awesome  as usual  . i liked some of the newer characters as well   pom pom was adorable and i did like prudence .  . still  the storyline was somewhat limited  but still very cute . so  i vote     .  
this movie is a great example of how even some very funny jokes can go terribly wrong . i really expected at least something from this movie after seeing the add which was funny as hell but the movie wasn  t half as good .  br    br   the weird part is that the jokes are actually funny  the spoofs of the smoking ban  jo bole . . . etc . are genuinely good jokes but i don  t know whom to blame this movie flop on .  br    br   the prime candidates may be    the hammers  actors  and hammeresses  actresses  and not even the funny kind   the director   the guy who cast the actors and  or the director anyway if you are really really bored and i mean really see this movie  or else get a copy of each and every ad or teaser of this movie and laugh your butt of because those will be far funnier than the film .  br    br   p . s the only saving grace of this film is mahesh manjrekar and the funny chappu bhai  
as an adult i really did enjoy this one . i watched it with my  granddaughters and the     year old was fascinated and the   month old giggled at the mice .  br    br   the music is fun and the animation is wonderful . this sequel does what return to neverland didn  t accomplish . a good follow  up to the cinderella story but what becomes of drusilla  another sequel  i hope so   
this is one of the most irritating  nonsensical movies i  ve ever had the misfortune to sit through . every time it started to look like it might be getting good  out come more sepia tone flashbacks  followed by paranoid idiocy masquerading as social commentary . the main character  maddox  is a manipulative  would  be rebel who lives in a mansion seemingly without any parents or responsibility . the supporting cast are all far more likeable and interesting  but are unfortunately never developed . nor do we ever really understand the john stanton character supposedly influencing maddox to commit the acts of rebellion . at one point  i thought  aha  maddox is just nuts and is secretly making up all those communications from escaped mental patient stanton  now we  re getting somewhere   but of course  that ends up to not be the case and the whole movie turns out to be pointless  both from maddox  s perspective and the viewer  s . where  s ferris bueller when we need him   
just after i saw the movie  the true magic feeling of the walt disney movies came up in me and i realized me that it was a long time ago that i saw the  real  magic in a movie .  br    br   the combination of the right music  speeches and magical effects brings the disney feeling again into your body . very special things i saw where the not  knowing effects in the movie  started with the disney logo transforming into the cinderella castle and ended as an old  story telling fairytale with your grandparents .  br    br   the magic has returned in me . i rate this movie  out of   .  
i came to new port south expecting a surrogate movie about the columbine school massacre similar to gus van sant  s elephant and certainly the synopsis in the tv guide stating that a student sociopath rebels against the system did give me that impression but this is a very boring movie where little happens so consider yourself warned  br    br   the story is about maddox  a chicago high school student who decides to strike back at what he perceives to be an authoritarian regime . the major problem is that the character is underwritten and the actor who plays him blake shields is unable to embellish any script deficiencies . you have the gut feeling that maddox should have the evil charisma of hitler  saddam or bin laden but he never comes across as anything more than a petulant truculent teenager and it  s impossible to believe he could rally any disciples . the subtext of you overthrow one manipulative authoritarian regime only to replace it with another manipulative regime is too obvious which means new port south is an entirely unconvincing drama that  s not worth going out of your way to see  
i was shocked and surprised by the negative reviews i saw on the web  i thought cinderella   as well as   is a very cute and funny sequel for everyone  kids and adults . . . like me  i am   years old .  br    br   i also find it and very informative film  it shows lessons on being true to yourself and following your heart . i thought it has great animation  and the voice casting was very good the songs performed by brooke allison too . since this film has been divided into three flashbacks  stories  my favorite out of the three  is the story of when jaq the mouse  became a human for a day  thanks to fairy godmother and her magic .  
about five minutes in  and i saw where this was heading . bunch of high school kids get annoyed by the school  s administration and thoughts of rebellion start fomenting . i said to my girlfriend if it gets below a  on imdb  i  ll go and read a book . it got  .   so she persuaded me to go on watching . what are the good things  well  it is a good thing this film does not have a story  because you would surely be distracted from it by the editing . it  s like the student  s drawing that was torn up by one of the teachers  all the footage for this film was cut up in a freak accident involving a meat  grinder  and left half the stock destroyed  with the other half spliced into two  second bits . even in a ten  second scene of the local tv news  there are about six cuts and three different angles . and then there are the montages . these are all set to electronic music  which forewarns you of yet another montage  so that like pavlov  s dog you start cringing every time you hear it  which is about every three minutes . oh  i was supposed to say what  s good about this film . well  the film was shot very well  with a nice color palette  that nicely matched the emotional content  such as there was  of the scenes . okay  now with the film  s major flaw  and it wasn  t the story  or lack thereof . the director made that fatal mistake of leading you astray about people and situations  not by clever storytelling  but by being highly selective about what to show about the main characters . that  s just cheating . i guess he did it in order to make the central character more likable . but it just became plain annoying . if the story is full of holes  it  s no good trying to patch it up by misdirecting the viewer . and often there wasn  t even any point to it . and then the ending . basically  the main villain of the peace turns out be an okay guy  if a coward . plus it turns what seemed to be the whole point of the movie  that you should stand up for a just cause on its head  by the already mentioned misdirection  and makes it into a point about the nature of revolutions  that was already made  and much better  by animal farm . it also committed what i call the bill cosby sin no matter how things may seem at first  in the end adults are always right  and children always wrong . and let  s face it unless you  re me  that  s just not true .  
i came across an insomniac  s nightmare while looking for offbeat independent films  and glad to say it did not disappoint . this crazy half hour ride had me wondering all the way through  and the ending was excellent  one of those nooooo moments that really stays with you . i  ve shown it to a number of people and everyone seems to agree hands down . the little ghostie girl was very talented and i think her performance stole the show . she creeped the heck out of me  i can say that much . nanavati did a great job putting this short together . all the pieces just fell into place and you can tell that she  s a great writer from what she did with this script . so well written . it  s undoubtedly the strongest part of the film . the directing was great and the acting was enjoyable  but the most important factor here is the strength of the screenplay . good job to this girl  i can  t wait to see more   
there  s so little here of the fantastic anne rice book that what is here makes no sense . some of the characters   intense and surprising characters   don  t make it to the screen at all  and those who do are watered down to the point that there  s no reason for their existence .  br    br   where  s the relationship between christophe and marcel  where  s the continued affair between marcel and juliet  why does dolly rose appear at all  since her story  s never explained  where  s the rape and redemption of marie  whose greatest attribute  and downfall  is that she can pass for white   and her marriage to richard  why does the film end with marcel  s beating at the hands of his father  we learn nothing of aglae beyond that she  s a bitch who hates her husband why no backstory explaining this hatred   br    br   as for the performances  there  s not a one that  s better than mediocre  though that  s likely due to the lousy script . best of the lot is that of the actor playing richard   but richard  s not on screen enough to salvage the film . worst is jasmine guy as dolly rose  though again  it comes down to the actress having nothing to do with what little she  s given to work with .  br    br   all in all  this is just terrible . i thought it  d be impossible for any anne rice book  turned film to be worse than exit to eden  but feast of all saints makes that mess look like a critical hit . how is it that rice is such a slut she  ll allow her best works to become such junk on the screen   
many people have commented that this movie was nowhere near as good as the first . well  maybe it isn  t  to you . however  how does your child react to it  well  mine loved it more than the first .  br    br   disney movies of the past can sometimes be a little harsh for little kids .  for example  bambi  s mother getting shot .  this movie was really great for my sensitive little girl who likes humor and happy endings .  br    br   if you want to be snobby about what should be disney  s standards based on the past  skip this movie .  br    br   if you have a sweet little girl or soft  hearted little boy you really want to please  buy this movie and treat your small children . this film is great as a bedtime movie for happy dreams instead of nightmares . i  m happy with a movie that pleases my kid  doesn  t need to impress the parents all the time .  
this film is terrible . the characters are completely unbelievable  and wildly inconsistent . the plot is awful and some of the classroom scenes are cringe  worthy and make for uncomfortable viewing .  br    br   in fact the quality of the script and characterisation would suggest that this film was written by high school students  only the utter lack of credibility to the school environment would suggest that  in fact  the writers probably never went to high school . the acting in most cases was weak too  although a lot of this was down to a poor script and plot  i am not sure that any actors could have made this film watchable .  br    br   having said that the sound track was ok  and the cinematography was nice in places  although the editing was poor  .  
of course  the original is better  but this isn  t as bad as everyone says  yes  it is made up into  stories  but hey  so what   i thought it was quite good to be honest . i actually liked how anastasia changed a little when she fell in love  it shows what love can do . the stories were not so bad either .  br    br   i liked cinderella  s voice better in this too . i have nothing against her voice in the original  but i just think it sounds better here  more nicer . i liked her personality in this too  she had more of a backbone  yet she was still kind .  br    br   so  i  ll give cinderella iidreams come true a     .  
i  m still trying to figure out if there was a point to this film .  br    br   for content that  s supposed to be so  rebellious  and  controversial  the things that maddox distributes to the students are awfully lame . students seem to be easily swayed by vague anti  authoritarian sentiments and snippets of words illegibly scrawled onto leaflets . rebel  everybody .  br    br   i suppose it would have been too much to ask to have a teenage rebellion film where a school fire alarm doesn  t get set off .  br    br   apparently a  huge fight up on the football fields  is a fight that consists of two people .  br    br   characters personalities seem to wildly vary at random . a football jock who maddox was fighting  and who subsequently got a staple on the face  is all smiles and apologies the next day .  br    br   the fact that it doesn  t come to any real conclusion of the plot makes me feel that the whole thing could have been fitted into a half hour after school special . if they had cut most of the attempted pseudo  glitch soundtrack .  
deanna durbin  nan grey and barbara read are  three smart girls  in this universal film from      which introduces deanna durbin to film audiences . it also stars ray milland  mischa auer  charles winninger  john king  binnie barnes and alice brady . it  s a sweet story about three young women  now living in switzerland with their divorced mother  who hear their father  winninger  is marrying again . not having seen him in   years and knowing their mother still loves him  they board a ship to america  with the help of the housekeeper  nanny  determined to stop the wedding . realizing that the intended  called  precious   barnes  is nothing but a gold  digger aided and abetted by her mother  brady   they arrange for her to be introduced to a wealthy count . this is arranged by their father  s accountant  king  . the man he chooses is a full  time drunk  auer   but the girls mistake him for an actual wealthy count  milland  . what a mess .  br    br   this is a delightful film  not cloying or overly sugary at all  with some nice performances  particularly by auer  milland  barnes and brady . the young women are pretty and all do good work . the emphasis  of course  is on young durbin  who is a natural actress and a beautifully  trained singer . in fact  her voice as a youngster is much more even than it would be as an adult  she has no trouble with the high notes  as she did later on because she put too much weight in the middle voice . she sings a delightful  il bacio  in a police station .  br    br   one of the nicest things about the film is to see the father  played by charles winninger  not want his children around  until he sees them and gets to know them . barnes as the gold  digger isn  t all that young  but the girls  mother looks way up there  so the inference probably was the older man seeking his youth with a younger  more glamorous woman . in fact  he finds the youth he was seeking in his daughters .  br    br   universal gives durbin the big star buildup here  she has the final shot in the movie . ray milland at this point was still paying his dues  and it will probably be a surprise even to film fans how young and attractive he is .  br    br   very entertaining and of course  this led to a sequel and big stardom for deanna .  
ok  not possibly  honestly the worst movie i  ve ever seen .  br    br   this made absolutely no sense  there was no plot  no characterization  no acting  just nothing .  br    br   here  s what i thought when i first saw it may   th      caution  this is a spoiler alert . it  s also alot of me complaining about how bad the movie is  br    br   ok so the movie begins and the characters are introduced  but there is no character explanation . as far as i knew the main character was new to this school  but apparently not . also it appeared that he lived by himself . . . then that he was a foster kid . . . then that his mother was a raging alcoholic who lived with him still . also all his friends apparently had no parents and lived by themselves .  br    br   now we come to a main plot point  this insane guy has broken out of the insane asylum and is running rampant . now our main character is obsessed with this guy and focus  intently on him for the contingency of the movie . i think i must have missed a main plot element here  there was no reason for the main character to get hooked . even if that  s the point  having no reason  why do all his friends  who are skeptical like  minutes before  suddenly follow him and do what he wants .  br    br   so the movie continues on  and it gets all right . they  re running havoc on the school  blah blah blah . but wait a minute . . . suddenly everyone knows that the main character is running the  show  here . wait a second  didn  t the insane guy specifically tell the main character not to do that  it was supposed to be anynomous .  br    br   ah another important plot element has been skipped over . . . the insane guy was supposed to not be insane . . . everyone said he wasn  t insane . but as the story goes on  he is very clearly out of his mind . but i thought the news people said he wasn  t . . . hm . . .  br    br   now the movie comes to a close . that was the close  what the hell was that  not only did the ending not answer any questions about the main character  it didn  t answer any questions about the insane guy . are these people in the same situation  if yes  then there are some very basic story lines that do not tend to this . if no then what is the point in saying  that  s you in two weeks .     br    br   end of the thing . . .   br    br   that  s what i thought then . that is pretty much what i still think now . it  s  months down the line  and if i can get it for free  i might give it another chance  but i doubt it . i highly doubt it .  
deanna durbin  then   and just under contract to mgm  made a short feature in     which paired her with judy garland  a year younger  in the first film for both of them . louis b . mayer then decided he didn  t need two competing young singers  placed his bet on garland and let durbin go . universal immediately signed durbin  rushed her into three smart girls and rewrote the screenplay to pump up her part . she  s billed last  but with the typographic equivalent of neon lights around her name . universal was convinced durbin would be a smash  and they were right . three smart girls is less a musical and more a screwball comedy  and durbin    when the movie was released  carries it with aplomb . she  s penny craig  and she and her older sisters  joan and kay  are determined to save their father  who had divorced their mother  from the clutches of an elegant gold digger with a fierce mother . they talk their way from switzerland  where they live  to new york city  where their father lives . they plan not just to break up their father  s wedding but to reunite their father with their mother  who after ten years apart still loves the guy . is there any doubt that durbin will sing a song or two in her warm  luscious soprano  nope . is there any doubt the girls will succeed . . . with kay and joan finding love and matrimonial material along the way  nope  again . years later durbin was quoted as saying that she couldn  t keep playing little miss fixit forever . she was right  of course  but in three smart girls  her first feature movie  she has little miss fixit down pat . durbin is funny  determined  resourceful  energetic and  of all things  natural . her personality is so genuine that it makes this comedy   a mix of farce  confusion  good intentions and cheerful avarice   downright endearing .  br    br   durbin carries the movie with ease . it  s a lot of fun watching her hold her own against the likes of binnie barnes as donna lyon  the woman with her hooks in penny  s rich father  played by charles winninger  who was no slouch at stealing scenes  either . alice brady  who played the dithering matron in my man godfrey  plays donna lyons  mother  who is even more of a gold digger than her daughter . the last of the accomplished farceurs is ray milland as lord michael stuart  who through a contrived and amusing mix  up is mistaken for mischa auer .  br    br   three smart girls holds up well as a light  weight and amusing comedy of manners and mix  ups . so does deanna durbin as a brand  new star  who with her huge success saved universal  s bacon .  
the guy did a lot of title design for a bunch of movies and i guess one day he said i should pick a cheap scenario  try to put as much title in it as a can  cause after all i  m a title designer  and try to persuade people that this is in fact a movie . one of the worst i  ve even seen that  s for sure . if you fell the urge to see nice titles  go check out some posters don  t waste your time watching this .  br    br   it kinda ironic don  t you think  did you saw the poster  the only part of his project that should had title work done have almost none   
deanna durbin really did save universal from bankruptcy and enabled it to remain a big studio . by the mid   s most of the big directors that had been at universal eg milestone  browning and wyler had gone . only james whale remained but his prestigious horror films were behind him . deanna and judy garland appeared in a short  every sunday  and initially garland was suggested for the role of penny in  three smart girls  . when garland was unavailable universal switched to durbin . initially she had been definitely a supporting player but her potential was so vivid that the script was rewritten to make her the star . directed by henry koster the film had a european touch .  br    br   the film starts with a beautiful panorama of a lake in  switzerland  . the  three smart girls  of the title  three sisters  joan  nan grey   kay  barbara read  and penny  deanna durbin  are sailing with penny giving her glorious voice to  my heart is singing  . all is not too well on the home front  their father is planning to remarry a younger woman  binnie barnes  so the three girls with the help of their trusty nurse  lucille watson  decide to go to new york and reunite him with their mother . lucille watson is best remembered for her role as robert taylor  s stern mother in  waterloo bridge        .  br    br   donna is a gold  digger who  along with her scatty mother  alice brady   is determined to marry judson craig  charles winninger  . for someone with no film experience deanna is wonderful as penny  a typical pesky  over enthusiastic kid sister and she is as pretty as a picture . when she sings  someone to care for me  to her father you will just melt  what a glorious voice she had . she also has one of the funniest lines in the film . when her father consoles her with  i  ll take you to the zoo tomorrow   she replies  oh i can see enough monkeys around here      br    br   with the help of bill evans  john king  they decide to hire a  count   mischa auer  to romance donna . they arrange to meet at a nightclub but due to a mix  up lord michael stuart  ray milland  is mistaken for the count and donna falls for him  she thinks he owns half of australia     the plan backfires as he falls for kay and donna wants to hasten her marriage to judson .  br    br   penny decides to take matters into her own hands and runs away . she is taken to the local police station where she charms the cops with her rendition of  il bacio   she is trying to convince them she is a young opera singer .  everything ends happily with their mother  nella walker  sailing over to patch things up with their dad and in the meantime donna makes the acquaintance of the phoney count  mischa auer  and sails off to australia with him .  br    br   highly recommended .  
  john hughes  son wrote a high school drama  wow   i thought as i checked the flick  s info here on imdb  late on a saturday night  having found myself watching the opening credits on bbc  .  br    br   i  ve just finished watching it  and sadly it was downhill from there on . arguably you can  t spoil a film this poor  but i  ll leave the spoilers out of this review . . .  br    br   there  s an awful lot of style over very little substance unfortunately the style hasn  t dated too well in the eight years since its release . as for the substance  the film tries to pose an interesting look at the nature of control in society through the microcosm of school  life but beneath the shiny veneer  a remotely meaningful or relevant argument fails to materialise . characters are painted in childishly broad strokes  falling into the kind of generic stereotypes the writer  s father sought to question in breakfast club .  br    br   director kyle cooper does a decent job keeping the pace up  perhaps relying a little too much on montages of information  which soon becomes a tiresome device  but at least pushes the story along   but his efforts don  t sufficiently detract from the poor script and bizarre casting  how anyone is supposed to side with  maddox   when blake shields gurns and glowers his way through the part  i just can  t understand   not to mention the numerous gaping plot holes  i  m all for creative license  but when the  bad guys  know the identities of the  good guys  making their lives a misery  but fail to act in any way to stop them  you really have to wonder why this script didn  t undergo another few re  drafts before production  did daddy even read it   .  br    br   i  m sure a younger audience might get some enjoyment from this film  and all power to them   but they  re really better off sticking with hughes sr .  s high school output  and if the idea of school  time rebellion is what really appeals  the     classic  if . . .  is a much more satisfying examination of the subject .  
cute film about three lively sisters from switzerland  often seen running about in matching outfits  who want to get their parents back together  seems mom is still carrying the torch for dad   so they sail off to new york to stop the dad from marrying a blonde gold  digger he calls  precious  . dad hasn  t seen his daughters in ten years  they  oddly enough  don  t seem to mind and think he  s wonderful  and meanwhile precious seems to lead a life mainly run by her overbearing mother  alice brady   a woman who just wants to see to it her daughter marries a rich man . the sisters get the idea of pushing precious into the path of a drunken hungarian count  tricking the two gold  digging women into thinking he is one of the richest men in europe . but a case of mistaken identity makes the girls think the count is good  looking ray milland  who goes along with the scheme  cause he has a crush on sister kay .  br    br   this film is enjoyable  light fare . barbara read as kay comes across as sweet and pretty  ray milland looks oh so young and handsome here  though  unfortunately  is given little to do   alice brady is quite good as the scheming mother  but it is deanna durbin  a real charmer and cute as a button playing youngest sister penny  who pretty much steals the show . with absolutely beautiful vocals  she sings several songs throughout the film  though i actually would have liked to have seen them feature her even more in this . the plot in this film is a bit silly  but nevertheless  i found the film to be entertaining and fun .  
ok well i found this movie in my dads old pile of movies and it looked pretty good from the cover but the movie actually sucked   ok the first story with the swimmer was pretty good but it took a while to get into  then the one with the boy was completely retarded  it wasn  t even scary  his dream sounds like a little kid  s bedtime story . then the news girls one was completely retarded too . i  m sure someones going to call up the news guy and ask him to go out with you . but that one ended cool where she stabbed him and she was in the hospital and she saw him on t . v and he said all that junk to her . next was that pretty gay story about the guy who brought back the dead people . . omg its so stupid i  m not even going to say any more about it . the last one was the best . it wasn  t that scary but the idea of the story was pretty cool . . uh yeah the girl gets possessed and she kills all her classmates or something . then when they  re all done telling their dreams to each other the losers get on the bus  to hell ahahahah  and they see all the people from their dreams on the bus  ha  . the end .  
this film is so old i never realized how young looking ray milland looked in      i remember him playing in a great film   lost weekend  . ray plays the role of michael stuart  who is a very rich banker . there are three girls in this picture who are not very happy about their father and mother separating and they find out their father is going to get married to a young blonde who is a gold digger only looking for a rich sugar daddy . they hire a man to pose as a very rich count  his name is count ariszted   misha auer  who is drunk all the time and is penniless and gives plenty of comic laughs throughout the picture . deanna durbin   penny craig  surprised everyone when she was booked in a police station and told the chief of police that she was an opera star and then penny starts singing with the most fantastic soprano voice i have every heard  the entire police department and convicts started applauding  which was a very entertaining and enjoyable scene from this film . this is deanna durbin  s first film debut and she became an instant success over night and went on to become a great movie star with universal studios after leaving mgm .  
going into this i was expecting anything really good  but after the damage this inflexed on me  i  m just happy to think strait . it  s hard to think what the film  makers  ha   this was a good movie . the stories  and i use the world loosely  are incoherent and do make any sense at all . there just stupid things that happen at random . the acting  if can be called acting is horrible i  ve seen batter acting in toy ads  i know it  s a low  budget video  bin garbages  but still even it  s not like they tried . will after stetting thought it  i feel very sleepy and still yawws do  i  m going to go lie down .  br    br   warnning do not atemp to drive  walk  read or do any after watching chillers . other side affectts may enguled lose of any or all metal funkions .  
although she is little known today  deanna durbin was one of the most popular stars of the     s  a pretty teenager with a perky personality and a much  admired operatic singing voice . this     was her first major film  and it proved a box  office bonanza for beleaguered universal studios .  br    br   three smart girls concerns three daughters of a divorced couple who rush to their long  unseen father when their still  faithful mother reveals he may soon remarry   with the firm intention of undermining his gold  digger girlfriend and returning him to their mother . although the story is slight  the script is witty and the expert cast plays it with a neat screwball touch . durbin has a pleasing voice and appealing personality  and such enjoyable character actors as charles winninger  alice brady  lucile watson  and mischa auer round out the cast . a an ultra  light amusement for fans of     s film .  br    br   gary f . taylor  aka gft  amazon reviewer  
five passengers at a bus depot tell each other their scary dreams while waiting to be picked up . but is there more to these nightmares than meets the eye   br    br   lucky me  five bad movies for the price of one  each segment features the very worst in acting  special effects  make up and music . and these were supposed to be scary  hmm . . i think i  ve been more freaked out during an episode of teletubbies . i swear  you  ll sit there like i was  bored to tears waiting in vain for something interesting to happen . don  t bother . it never does . in fact  i even stopped fast forwarding the commercials  as they were a good deal more entertaining than the main feature . and the ending is the ultimate cop  out . yep  none of this actually ever happened . if only the same could be said for the day i set my vcr to record this cobblers . .      
i  m surprised at the comments from posters stating that jane powell made the same type of films deanna durbin did . although they were both young sopranos whose film images were crafted by joe pasternak  if this film is any indication  they were almost polar opposites .  br    br   while  in three smart girls  durbin plays an impulsive  little miss fixit   who  after some setbacks  manages to reunite her divorced parents  in its  semi  remake  three daring daughters  jane powell almost destroys the marriage between her screen mom jeanette macdonald and new stepfather jose iturbi when she refuses to accept him and strong arms her younger siblings into rejecting him  too . from the durbin and powell films i  ve seen  i  d say these disparate qualities permeate the early films of both of these talented young performers .  br    br   as for durbin  s performance in three smart girls  i find it completely winning  and most impressive . although it  s clear from her occasionally shrill and over  emphatic line readings in some of the more energetic scenes that this is an early film for deanna  watching the self  confident  knowing and naturally effervescent manner in which she delivers her lines and performs overall  and the subdued and tender manner she projects the more serious scenes  you  d never guess that this was the first film role of a   year  old girl whose prior professional experience consisted almost exclusively of two years of vocal instruction .  br    br   given that this film  and durbin herself  were much publicized at the time as  universal  s last chance   the production must have been an impossibly stressful situation for a film novice of any age  but you  d never know it from the ease and assurance durbin displays on screen . although she  s clearly still developing her acting style and demeanor before the camera  this was equally true of the early performances of much more experienced contemporaries like garland  rooney  o  connor and jane powell   durbin projects an extraordinary presence and warmth on camera that is absolutely unique to her  and  even here  in her first film  she manages to remain immensely likable despite the often quick  tempered impulsiveness of her character  and though she  s occasionally shrill  she never for a second projects the coy and arch qualities that afflicted many child stars  including jane powell and some of the other young sopranos who followed in the wake of her success .  br    br   in short  like all great singing stars  durbin was much more than just a  beautiful voice .  on the other hand  while durbin  s pure lyric soprano is a truly remarkable and glorious instrument  the most remarkable thing about it  to me  was the way she is able to project her songs  without the slightest bit of affectation or  grandnes  that afflict the singing of adult opera singers like lily pons  grace moore and jeanette macdonald in films of the period  br    br   the film is also delightful  heavily influenced by screwball comedy  it backs durbin up with a creme  de  la  creme of first  class screwball pros such as charles winninger  binnie barnes  alice brady  ray milland and mischa auer . the story is light and entertaining . true  it  s hardly  realistic   but why would anyone expect it to be  if you want   realistic  rent the grapes of wrath or triumph of the will . on the other hand  if you  re looking for a genuine  sweet  funny and entertaining family comedy with a wonderfully  charismatic and gifted adolescent  lead   and terrific supporting players  this film won  t let you down .  
chillers starts on a cold  dark stormy night as a bus drops off three passenger  s outside a bus station  a young boy named mason  jesse emery   a college professor dr . howard conrow  david wohl   a woman named sharon phillips  laurie pennington  . inside they discover that they have missed their connecting bus  are stranded for the night . in the waiting area they find two other people  ronnie  jim wolf   a sleeping woman named lindsay  marjorie fitzsimmons  who is currently having a terrifying nightmare . . .  br    br   while swimming in an indoor pool lindsay encounters  befriends guy named billy waters  jesse johnson   the next time lindsay sees billy he dives into the pool  then seemingly disappears into thin air before he surfaces . shortly after lindsay discovers that billy water died in a diving accident  years ago . . .  br    br   lindsay wakes up  tells the others about her nightmare  everyone else responds by saying that they too have suffered disturbing dreams recently  decide to share them to pass the time . . .  br    br   next up is mason who tells a story of how he  two friends  scott  david r . hamm   jimmy  will tuckwiller   are terrorised during a camping trip . . .  br    br   then it  s sharon whose story revolves around a newsman named tom williams  thom delventhal  who she phones up  in no time at all tom is at her front door but he actually turns out to be a vampire . . .  br    br   it  s ronnie  s turn next  he describes how he discovers that he can bring the dead back to life  unfortunately he brings executed mass murderer nelson caulder  bradford boll  back to homicidal life . . .  br    br   finally dr . conrow tells a tale of how two of his students brought an ancient aztec war  god named ixpe  kimberly harbour  back to life . . .  br    br   then it  s back to the bus station for one last  predictable  twist . . .  br    br   written  produced  directed by daniel boyd chillers is one of the worst horror anthologies i  ve ever seen  i usually really like this sub  genre . the script by boyd lacks what is needed for films such as chillers to work  you can see the final twist coming a mile off  each story is really lame . the first one is totally pointless  didn  t seem to have an ending  the best thing about these anthologies are the short snappy stories that are rounded off with a neat twist . the second story is predictable   again  just ends without any payoff . so it continues throughout chillers that each story is deeply unsatisfying to watch  have no reward for doing so . the character  s  dialogue are poorly written  the stories seem to have no original ideas of their own  as a whole the film totally sucks . at least each story doesn  t last long  i liked the idea behind the linking segments .  br    br   director boyd was obviously working with a very low budget  it shows . all i can say is if you want to watch a   odd minute short story set entirely within a swimming pool then chillers is for you . the stories are neither clever  scary or have any sort of tension or build up to anything . having said that it does have a few nice scenes  some surprising competence shines through on occasion . violence  gore wise there isn  t much happening in chillers  a ripped out heart  a decapitated head  a bitten off hand is as gory as it gets .  br    br   technically chillers is poor stuff that won  t impress anyone . basic cinematography  bad music  cheap special effects  below average production values . chillers also features one of the worst closing theme songs ever  period . the acting is also of a very low standard .  br    br   i am sure a lot of effort was put into chillers as a low budget film  at least the filmmakers tried so i will give credit for that at least  but that still doesn  t stop me from thinking it  s crap . similar anthology films like tales from the crypt        asylum        the vault of horror        dr . terror  s house of horrors        creepshow        tales from the darkside the movie       are far superior to chillers so watch one of those instead .  
it has been said that deanna durbin invented teenagery . this first film was one of the best . the humorous story presented a delightful   year old deanna  a little beauty with a gorgeous voice  as the  miss fixit  in a family split by divorce . for plot summary  see other imdb entries  but quickly deanna and her two older sisters plan to go to america from switzerland to prevent their father from remarrying . with an excellent supporting cast especially barbara read and nan grey as the sisters  good direction and editing  the film succeeds in captivating one even on subsequent viewings . of deanna  s three songs  only  il bacio  is from the classical repertoire  but when she sings it in that police station scene  the film  s place in history is assured . at least it was for this viewer who at the age of   was smitten for life with both deanna and classical music . one of the many nice touches that occur throughout three smart girls is the brief glimpse of the drunk stretching his neck for a final glimpse of deanna as the cops hustle him by  one unfortunate result of the success of this film was that subsequent writers for durbin vehicles became locked into the  miss fixit  theme  which quickly became stale . deanna herself never did . her stature as an actress is more questionable than her charisma  which she certainly had . it seems to me that  like many another film personality  she substituted  naturalness  for the histrionic ability that she lacked . the ploy worked well for   feature films .  
when the movie was released it was the biggest hit and it soon became the blockbuster . but honestly the movie is a ridiculous watch with a plot which glorifies a loser . the movie has a tag  line   preeti madhura  tyaga amara  which means love  s sweet but sacrifice is immortal . in the movie the hero of the movie  ganesh  sacrifices his love for the leading lady  pooja gandhi  even though the two loved each other  his justification is the meaning of the tag  line . this movie influenced so many young broken hearts that they found this  loser  like sacrificial  attitude very thoughtful and hence became the cult movie it is  when they could have moved on with their lives . ganesh  s acting in the movie is amateurish  crass and childishly stupid . he actually looks funny in a song   onde ondu sari . . .  when he  s supposed to look all stylish and cool . his looks don  t help the leading role either . his hair style is badly done in most part of the movie . pooja gandhi cant act . her costumes are horrendous in the movie and very inconsistent .  br    br   the good part about the movie is the excellent cinematography and brilliant music by mano murthy which are actually the true saving graces of the movie . also the lyrics by jayant kaikini are very well penned . the director yograj bhat has to be lauded picturization the songs in a tasteful manner .  br    br   anyway all  in  all except for the songs  the movie is a very ordinary one        
i must say that i had wanted to see this film for a long time  and i was not disappointed . the acting of dominic monaghan is simply fantastic . as a part insomniac myself  i can relate with how the story develops . i have never experienced anything of the sort but some awake moments overlap the sleeping and it can be scary . it was a great film  worth every penny . i hope that one day i can work with tess myself  it would be an honor and beyond . i can recommend it for everybody . maybe not small children as they may get scared . but if you are an insomniac like me  you  ll understand the world  the mysteries and the fear . you  ll love it .  br    br   f .  
the story and the show were good  but it was really depressing and i hate depressing movies . ri  chard is great . he really put on a top notch performance  and the girl who played his sister was really awesome and gorgeous . seriously  i thought she was carmen electra until i saw the imdb profile . i can  t say anything bad about peter galleghar . he  s one of my favorite actors . i love anne rice . i  m currently reading the vampire chronicles  but i  m glad i saw the movie before reading the book . this is a little too  real  for me . i prefer lestat and louis  s witty little tiffs to the struggles of slaves . eartha kitt was so creepy and after her character did what she did the movie was ruined for me i could barely stand to watch the rest of the show .  sorry for the ambiguity  but i don  t want to give anything away  sorry  but it  s just not my type of show .  
one of the most appealing elements of a gilliam film is that the well  concocted visuals  the unsettling backdrops  and the manically frustrated characters are evidence of the creator  s involvement . instead of most movies  where the filmmaker is some director  for  hire that is paid to feature a star or two   you can feel terry gilliam  s presence through the experience .    monkeys  is evidence of gilliam  s own vision and style  as opposed to making offbeat movies for their own sake .    monkeys  is a variation on similar themes of gilliam  s repertoireoppressive  recessive societies  the solitude of the protagonist  the frustration associated with disbelief  and parallel realms . in this film gilliam does a fine job of blurring lines between the two realms  using ambiguities to force the audience to believe rather than know . this tendency for gilliam to neglect to fill in certain gaps leads to criticisms of art  house pretentiousness . the difference between gilliam and artsy posers is that gilliam  s choices clearly have a purpose and all of his images have meaning . the two nearly identical bathing scenes of cole in the beginning are meant to draw comparisons which leave the audience unsettled . his bald head is a mark of uniformity in the disease  ridden future world  yet makes him recognizable in the     world . the title itself is a mark of gilliam  s creativity  as it requires the majority of the story to flesh out for its meaning to be fully understood . all in all  gilliam  s dedication to making creative films that are interesting to watch yet also require thought and interpretation from the audience . the film has immense re  watch value  since there are subtle details and hints that can be missed upon the first viewing . definitely one of my favorites .  
boy oh boy oh golly gee   br    br   the most interesting thing in the movie was the hilarity of the bluescreen effects used to create mom  s  invisibility .  they looked like they were shot on cheap video  and it looks totally unreal  and not even in a good way where its so funny that you end up loving the movie . . .  br    br   i did not end up loving this movie . the attempted  steadicam  shots were really pathetic as well . i mean  hey  if they had a low budget flick  that  s fine . you can still make a great movie with a low budget . but  a bad movie and a low budget and effects . that makes for a bad combination . in this case  such a doomed combo created the craptastic film   invisible mom .  if you have kids  and your kids have no taste  perhaps they will stay awake through all of this one .  
time paradoxes are the devil  s snare for underemployed minds . they  re fun to consider in a  what if   sort of way . film makers and authors have dealt with this time and again in a host of films and television including  star trek first contact   the  back to the future  trilogy   bill and ted  s excellent adventure    groundhog day  and the stargate sg  homage   window of opportunity  . heinlein  s  all you zombies  was written decades ago and yet it will still spin out people reading that short story for the first time .  br    br   in the case of terry gilliam  s excellent film     monkeys   it  s hard to establish what may be continuity problems versus plot elements intended to make us re  think our conception of the film . repeated viewings will drive us to different conclusions if we retain an open mind .  br    br   some  seeing the film for the first time  will regard cole  played by bruce willis  as a schizophrenic . most will see cole as a man disturbed by what adams describes as  the continual wrenching of experience  visited upon him by time travel .  br    br   unlike other time travel stories     monkeys  is unclear as to whether future history can be changed by manipulating events in the past . cole tells his psychiatrist  railly  madeleine stowe   that time cannot be changed  but a phone call he makes from the airport is intercepted by scientists after he has been sent back to      in his own personal time  line .  br    br   even this could be construed as an event that had to happen in a single time  line universe  in order to ensure that the time  line is not altered . . . cole has to die before the eyes of his younger self for fate to be realised . if that  s the case  time is like a fluid  it always finds its own level or path  irrespective of the external forces working on it . it boggles the mind to dwell on this sort of thing too much .  br    br   if you can change future events that then guide the actions of those with the power to send people back in time  as we see on board the plane at the end of the film  then that means the future can be changed by manipulating past events . . . or does it  the film has probably led to plenty of drunken brawls at bars frequented by physicists and mathematicians .  br    br   bonus material on the dvd makes for very interesting viewing . gilliam was under more than normal pressure to bring the film in under budget  which is no particular surprise after the  munchausen  debacle and in light of his later attempt to film  don quixote  . i would rate the  making of  documentary as one of the more interesting i  ve seen . it certainly is no whitewash and accurately observes the difficulties and occasional conflict arising between the creative people involved . gilliam  s description of the film as his   th  release  on account of the film being written by writers other than himself  and therefore  not really  his  film   doesn  t do the film itself justice .  br    br   brad pitt  s portrayal of goines is curiously engaging  although his character is not especially sympathetic . watch for his slightly wall  eyed look in one of the scenes from the asylum . it  s disturbing and distracting .  br    br   probably a coincidence  the louis armstrong song  what a wonderful world  was used at the end of both    monkeys  and the final episode of the tv series of  the hitchhiker  s guide to the galaxy  . both the film and the tv series also featured british actor simon jones .  br    br      monkeys  is a science fiction story that will entertain in the same way that the mental stimulation of a game of chess may entertain . it  s not a mindless recreation  that  s for sure .  
when this film was released in     the  special effects   such as they are  were poor . they would have been dated even for the     s  and even some films made in the     s and     s have had the same or better sfx work . certainly no  one involved in the production of this film was looking for an oscar . it  s a wild departure from director fred olen ray  s usual stuff  most of which has the word  bikini  in the title  bikini pirates  bikini chain gang  bikini girls from the lost planet  etc  and are little more than ta flicks  but here we are with a film rated  u  and aimed squarely at the kiddies . you  ve got to give him credit for diversifying   this was a minor direct  to  video cult hit which later resulted in a couple of sequels  invisible mom  and invisible dad . dee wallace  stone  whose career went downhill fast after     s  e . t .  plays the  invisible mom  of the films title and would return for the sequel . russ tamblyn  whose career had been in free  fall even longer since     s  west side story   plays the villainous dr . woorter . it  s probably fair to say that most of the cast were at the point in their careers where they would be prepared to work on almost anything just to pay the bills that month  except maybe young trenton knight as josh . it  s rather telling though that although he worked prior to this movie  this child actor didn  t work again after the sequel   invisible mom   . maybe the film was cursed . after all  he wasn  t that bad in this film . for a child actor  he  s pretty good  no better or worse than any of his more experienced co  stars .  br    br   as mentioned above  the  invisibility  effects are naff to say the least  the direction is poor  the writing obvious and the acting nothing to write home about . there are plenty of worse films out there though  and for anyone under the age of about ten  this film will no doubt be quite watchable . most adults will probably want to do a disappearing act of their own while it is on though  and i wouldn  t blame them one bit   
twelve monkeys is an insane time  travelling  action packed movie that stars bruce willis who plays james cole  a man who is sent back in time to collect information about the devastating plague that ensues in november of     . unfortunately  he is sent back too far to the year     where everyone believes that he is insane .  br    br   this movie is thrilling and has great acting performances from bruce willis  brad pitt and madeleine stowe . twelve monkeys is one of the greatest time travelling movies that i believe anybody can enjoy . terry gilliam has created a true masterpiece  br    br         
my title just about sums this heap of crap up i should have taken a hint when i saw it was a fred olen ray movie  but i thought  hey  it might be better than his usual rubbish  boy  was i wrong  this has to be the worst movie ever targeted at children . the acting was awful  the humour was non  existent  the direction was the worst i have ever seen  the special effects wouldn  t seem out of place on a      s disney movie .  br    br   what has happened to dee  wallace stone  who once had such a promising career in the    s . movie veteran  former child actor russ tamblyn was a awful bad  guy  the budget was so low it was a totally unbelievable even as a kiddie movie .  br    br   i haven  t seen the sequel made in     and nor do i intend to  br    br   if you want a good kid movie watch  honey i shrunk  blew up the kids  kid  or any disney movie  br    br   my rating as a   yo        br    br   rating as a kid movie       at the best   
one of the greatest film i have seen this year . last maybe before sun rise  which is also seen late at night alone in the lab . i like the idea of the film  which suggest free will of man and our weakness against fate . with time past by james and kathryn are destined to fail and an indescribable sorrow comes . i do like the end . but a big question also comes . the virus shall not be released again  should it   br    br   in the last scene in the airport . jose is sent back to meet james again by future scientists . when he tell him that scientists had already got his message and know someone else would spread the virus . and they two together meet kathryn when kathryn tell james the true man is dr . goines assistant . so it is clearly jose also get the true information about the virus   james keep an eye on him at the time remember   and he has teeth . so why everything is still happen   why future scientists don  t do anything after the truth is revealed   my biggest question after the film . . .  
we have an average family . dad  s a famous rapper  we have the  rebelious teenage daughter   the adopted white kid  and the cute little kid . and we have careless housemaid  what show has had a housemaid like that  do we have a messed  up brady bunch  yay  when it first came out i thought it was really cool  mostly because i was young . the music was bad . the raps were so bad and they were too g  rated . all of his raps were about his family and friends and problems . the dad was kind of the  danny from full house  type of dad . always gave the advice out . but he wasn  t a clean freak . they had a house  keeper for that . remember  the plots were basically lil  romeo was in trouble of some sort  or . . . not that  s it . oh and maybe some preteen drama . yeah that stuff is good . not really . but its still a good show for kids . but nikelodean could do better .  
terry gilliam traveled again to the future  he had already done it in  brazil   to tell this story about a virus that  s destroying the human race .  br    br   the script is totally crazy with some easy tricks on it but it  s quite entertaining and gilliam proves that he  s got imagination  the futuristic scenes are just great  . as for the cast  bruce willis and the beautiful madeleine stowe  whatever happened to her    are just ok  but brad pitt is so annoying  whenever he plays roles that are out of his hand he results so forced and he  s not credible at all . he should just play good  looking successful young men .  br    br   my rate      
my god this movie is awfully boring . i am a big fan of gina gershon  when i rented this movie i expected a romantic drama  and some great performance from gershon . gershon is great as always  but she is not right actress for this role  she is too good for rade serbedzija . the romance between gershon and serbedzija  s characters is too unconvincing . and i absolutely hated serbedzija  s character  a wonman organizer   he is not charming in anyway in the movie . how did dr . lauren graham  gershon  is beyond my comprehension . maybe sean connery  robert deniro or harrison ford would have done a better job on this role  but they don  t have the european  ish looking i guess . any way  i was so bored druing the movie . if you are looking for a good gina gershon movie  check out bound  her best film so far . if you are looking for a romantic film about a younger woman and an older man  try some harrison ford or sean connery movies . gina gershon is so underrated  and she deserves better chance than this  i wish her to make better choice in the future .  
time paradoxes are the devil  s snare for underemployed minds . they  re fun to consider in a  what if   sort of way . film makers and authors have dealt with this time and again in a host of films and television including  star trek first contact   the  back to the future  trilogy   bill and ted  s excellent adventure    groundhog day  and the stargate sg  homage   window of opportunity  . heinlein  s  all you zombies  was written decades ago and yet it will still spin out people reading that short story for the first time .  br    br   in the case of terry gilliam  s excellent film     monkeys   it  s hard to establish what may be continuity problems versus plot elements intended to make us re  think our conception of the film . repeated viewings will drive us to different conclusions if we retain an open mind .  br    br   some  seeing the film for the first time  will regard cole  played by bruce willis  as a schizophrenic . most will see cole as a man disturbed by what adams describes as  the continual wrenching of experience  visited upon him by time travel .  br    br   unlike other time travel stories     monkeys  is unclear as to whether future history can be changed by manipulating events in the past . cole tells his psychiatrist  railly  madeleine stowe   that time cannot be changed  but a phone call he makes from the airport is intercepted by scientists after he has been sent back to      in his own personal time  line .  br    br   even this could be construed as an event that had to happen in a single time  line universe  in order to ensure that the time  line is not altered . . . cole has to die before the eyes of his younger self for fate to be realized . if that  s the case  time is like a fluid  it always finds its own level or path  irrespective of the external forces working on it . it boggles the mind to dwell on this sort of thing too much .  br    br   if you can change future events that then guide the actions of those with the power to send people back in time  as we see on board the plane at the end of the film  then that means the future can be changed by manipulating past events . . . or does it  the film has probably led to plenty of drunken brawls at bars frequented by physicists and mathematicians  
this is at least the third remake of this movie so if while watching it  there is a sense of deja vu  don  t be surprised . all they did was change the setting of the story and tell it differently but the differences are not significant . and it doesn  t get any better because the plot is flawed to begin with . it never works . and like its predecessors  the acting is mediocre .  br    br   the plot has a unique ending which will surprise any one who has never seen the movie before but the ending doesn  t fit the story . had this movie ended ten minutes earlier  it would have worked and have been very satisfying and i would have thought it more worthwhile . but here is the spoiler and that in the end crime does pay because the criminal is not caught . i never like this message resulting from a movie .  
a very strong movie . bruce is good and brad also .  br    br   as i think there are two cities missed in the receptionist list from the list bruce remembered .  br    br   that means the woman was a real insurance and she did her job .  br    br   well  novikov property seems to me work in this movie . however  i do believe in back to the future theory of worlds  multiplicity .  br    br   so bruce could save the world  but not his world .  br    br   in the theory of parallel worlds the man can meet himself .  br    br   and i do believe there is no problem in that . here i disagree with dr . brown from back . . .  br    br   but the story pf   monkeys has its own beauty . inspite of all these theories of one world or many or continuum one can believe that he is really insane and the doctor  his girlfriend was just lost .  br    br   a sequence of events which may lead her to believe that he is from the future . the bullet  well it might be some mistake  some falsification .  br    br   well i like this movie  has to buy a dvd .  br    br   best .  
race car drivers say that    mph seems fast till you  ve driven     and    mph seems fast till you  ve driven    .  br    br   ok .  br    br   andalusian dog seems breathtakingly bizarre till you  ve seen eraserhead  and eraserhead seems breathtakingly bizarre till you  ve seen begotten .  br    br   and begotten seems breathtakingly bizarre till you  ve seen the works of c . frederic hobbs . race fans  there is nothing in all the world of film like the works of c . frederic hobbs .  br    br   alabama  s ghost comes as close as any of his films to having a coherent plot  and it only involves hippies  rock concerts  voodoo  ghosts  vampires  robots  magicians  corrupt multinational corporations  elephants and mystery gas . and the fabulous woodmobile  cruising the sunset district in san francisco  of course .  br    br   what  s really startling is that somebody gave him a lot of money to make alabama  s ghost . there  s sets  lighting  hundreds of extras  costumes  lots and lots of effects . somehow that makes alabama  s ghost so wrong . you watch some awful cheeseball like night of horror or plutonium baby  and at least some part of the weirdness is excusable on the basis that they were obviously making the film off the headroom on their discover cards . but alabama  s ghost was made with an actual budget  and that  s evil . i mean  i  ve got a script about a tribe of cannibals living in thunder bay  ontario  building a secret temple in the woods out of twizzlers  and nobody  s beating down my door waving a checkbook  how did this guy get the funds for four of the flakiest movies ever made   
one of the all  time great science fiction works  as visionary and thought  provoking as blade runner or even gilliam  s own brazil . willis gives his best performance here  but he  s outdone by pitt  s incredibly frenetic turn that  s unlike anything he  s done before or since . even stowe isn  t out of her league here  though . the story is very layered and offers quite a lot to think about . the climactic scene is beautifully magnificent  and the last lines fit perfectly . the scenes in the mental hospital are creepy and yet so funny in their own way . lots of dark humour on display here . fantastic production design and suitably bizarre cinematography . in my top ten .  
sammy horn  michael des barres  is the head chef and owner of a famous restaurant in california . he has a lovely wife  grace horn  rosanna arquette   who is pregnant  and a beautiful son of about five years old . sammy indeed loves his family  but like dr . jeckyll and mr . hyde  he has a double life  having sex with many different women . dr . jane bordeaux  nastassja kinski  is trying to help him . ok  it is my fault i read the summary of the other imdb user comments  i saw the imdb user rating  but i really did not believe that rosanna arquette and nastassja kinski could participate in such a bad movie . i decided to check it  and actually some comments are very complacent . the storyline  the screenplay and the dialogs are so silly and laughable that even in some x  rated movies we can find more intelligent stories . the photography is so amateurish and naive that in some parts it seems to be taken through a vhs camcorder . michael des barres does not have sense of ridiculous being an old man  bald  would be acceptable in an advertisement of viagra or grandfather of the small boy . but as an attractive man who gets and has sex with any woman  it is scary . in wood allen  s comedy  maybe he got a chance  but in a serious  movie  it is funny . i am trying to figure out why or how rosanna arquette and nastassja kinski accepted to participate in such awful  amateurish and trash movie . do they need money  lack of chances in better movies due to their ages  are they friends of the director   sorry for using this word  and decided to help and promote him  i do not know whether the intention of rosanna arquette was to show her breasts full of silicone  but it is unacceptable that such a great actress accepts such a script . the same is applicable to the gorgeous nastassja kinki . she is presented fat  without make  up  without any glamour . a total lack of respect with one of the most beautiful actress in the cinema history . a fact is really intriguing me how can a reader  without any personal interest  promote this trash  giving higher ratings or writing favorable comments about this movie  are they friends of the director   again  i am using this word . . .  or the cast  it sounds very strange to me that a normal imdb reader can like such a film . my vote is two .  br    br   title  brazil   viciado em sexo   addicted in sex    
  twelve monkeys  is odd and disturbing  yet being so clever and intelligent at the same time . it cleverly jumps between future and the past  and the story it tells is about a man named james cole  a convict  who is sent back to the past to gather information about a man  made virus that wiped out  billion of the human population on the planet back in     . at first cole is sent back to the year     by accident and by misfortune he is taken to a mental institution where he tries to explain his purpose and where he meets a psychiatrist dr . kathryn railly who tries to help him and a patient named jeffrey goines  the insane son of a famous scientist . being provocative and somehow so sensible  dealing with and between reason and madness  the movie is a definite masterpiece in the history of science  fiction films .  br    br   the story is just fantastic . it  s so original and so entertaining . the screenplay itself written by david and janet peoples is inspired by a movie named  la jete        which i haven  t seen  but i must thank the director and writer of the movie  chris marker  for giving such an inspiration for the writers of  twelve monkeys  . i read a little about  la jete   it  s not the same story but it has the same idea  so this is not just a copy of it . david and janet peoples have transformed this great deal of inspiration to a modernized story  which tells about this urgent need for people to find a solution for maintaining human existence and it does it in a so beautiful and a realistic way that it  s a guaranteed thrill ride from the beginning till the end . the music used in the film is odd and somehow so funny and amusing it doesn  t really fit until you really get it and when you do you realise that it  s so compelling  composed by paul buckmaster .  br    br   terry gilliam  who we remember from monty python  as the director of the movie was a real surprise for me  as i really never thought him as a director type of a person . i know he has directed movies before  but i really couldn  t believe that he could make something this magnificent . it shouldn  t be a surprise though  as he does an amazing job . you can still sense that same weirdness as in the python  s  but for me the directing is pretty much flawless though in its odd way of describing things it also makes some scenes strangely disturbing . yes  it is indeed odd  weird  bizarre and disturbing  so it also makes the movie a bit heavy too  so the weak minded viewers will probably find it hard to watch the movie all the way through . it  s not as heavy as you could imagine  but it just has these certain things which in their own purpose are sometimes pretty severe to watch . despite that  the movie holds this pure intelligence inside it and through flashbacks  dreams  jumps between the past and the future it mixes up the whole story in a very clever way and it doesn  t even make the plot messy in any part  though it does need concentration from the viewer after all .  br    br   what comes to acting  well the movie doesn  t even go wrong there . the role of james cole is played by the mighty bruce willis  who probably does his best role performance yet to date . now people may disagree with me  as he did some fine job in for example  the sixth sense  as well  but for me the role of james cole was so ideal for willis and he performs it incredibly well . the character is very well written too  yet performed even better . cole starts to question his own existence and he deals with himself  starting to question his actual time of living  trying to survive and find the crucial missing piece of the puzzle . by hardship he starts to loose his faith  questioning if he can even trust or believe himself . other role performances worth mentioning are the performances of madeleine stow and brad pitt . stow plays the role of kathryn railly  the psychiatrist of james cole  who sees something strangely familiar in cole and decides to help him to deal with his madness . she somehow starts to believe cole  s story but as a believer of science she tries to find solutions through it and tries to deal with reason when it comes to unbelievable things . brad pitt is so good in the role of jeffrey goines and he also does one of his best role performances yet to date . the insane yet hilarious personality of the character brought pitt even an oscar nomination for it  so i guess i  m not praising the honestly fabulous performance for nothing .  br    br   all in all   twelve monkeys  is a great science  fiction experience and it will surely be a recommendation for everyone  especially for the sci  fi fans . it includes brilliant characters and superb role performances  especially from willis and pitt  and an original and an entertaining story which forms a plot that  s so intelligent and clever . yet being that already mentioned weird and disturbing it definitely captures the viewer  s attention by making it interesting and witty . it  s also an explosive thriller and it has romance in it too  so it  s all that in same package and that makes it one of the best sci  fi motion pictures i  ve ever seen . through the odd yet terrific vision of terry gilliam it manages to keep itself in balance despite the somewhat bumpy yet somehow stable ride . hard to explain really  but that  s how it is  it  s mind blowing .  
this movie could have been a decent b  movie if    of the the movie wasn  t so much focusing on the sex scenes . i mean  he  s a sex addict  and i  m sure that there  s a lot more that goes on with sex addicts outside of having sex on a constant basis . michael des barres did a good job considering what all he had to do  which wasn  t much . at one point or another  one would have to laugh at him  because his character was so pitiful . nastassja kinski was alright in her role as the concerned sex therapist  she could  ve of done more though and i  m not suggesting her having sex . the person that stood out the most to me in this movie was rosanna arquette in her convincing role as the loving and concerned wife . there  s something about beautiful inside and out that strongly appeals to me . she played that role and as you watched the movie  you start to feel bad for her .  br    br    diary of a sex addict  while not oscar material or a modern classic to anyone  s standards  is quite informative and does a fair job in showing you how one  s personal demons can take over and ruin the very things in life you think highly of .  
i really enjoyed this   i  m a big fan of movies that mess with your mind and leave you with a lot of questions and ideas to debate  and this was a stellar example . but then  terry gilliam is always good at that  well  almost always . let  s just forget about jabberwocky and the brothers grimm  shall we   .  br    br   i particularly liked the way it handled the time travel theme and the avoidance of paradoxes   the way events in the past and future intertwined and fed into each other .  br    br   it was also really well done aesthetically   the art direction was really great  and i wish i  d been able to see it on the big screen . the future scenes had a similar feel to brazil in a lot of ways  and even the present scenes were often really visually compelling .  br    br   but perhaps the most striking thing about it was that it featured two actors i normally don  t much like  bruce willis and brad pitt  and they both delivered amazing performances here . pitt especially   i  d seen one or two films before that made me realize he could in fact actually act  contrary to what i  d originally thought   but this one really outdid them . i actually found myself asking my friends at one point  are you sure that  s brad pitt   this is probably the most memorable performance of his career  though admittedly that may not be saying too much  .  
no reason to bother renting this flick . from the opening credits on  i knew i was in trouble .  br    br   it was filmed as though it was a soft porn movie  but there really isn  t anything erotic about it . the look into the world of sex addiction is intriguing  but only to a point .  br    br   boring sex scenes  bad plot  and cameos by ed begley jr . and rosanna arquette aren  t enough to save this film .  
have to be honest and say that i haven  t seen many independent films  but i thought this one was very well done . the direction and cinematography were engaging without becoming a distraction . the angles  settings  and lighting used successfully created the nightmarish world in which the main character was trapped . many haunting and memorable images from the film stick in your mind long after it  s over  always a sign of a good director  .  
  feast of all saints   where . . .  when . . .   br    br   was the feast of all saints storyline and theme edited out   br    br   what a waste of a wonderful title  there is never anything in the story that has the remotest connection to the  feast of all saints .  nor is there anything in the story about  all souls day  which the term is referencing . why bother to use this title if you never intend to including any kind of storyline or theme about  all souls day  or the  feast of all saints    br    br   embarrassly bad script  amateur writing  br    br   how did they attract such great talent to this clunker  the writing is so amateur   characters that have known each other all their life go into big long speeches about their life history for the sake of the audience . not at all the way people talk to each other .  br    br   what was the director thinking   br    br   the directing is equally bad  the forced and overly deliberate style feels amateurish . in one scene  a character is yelling  take your hands off of me  and no one is touching him  the most badly directed scene however  is the incredibly over  the  top battle scene at the beginning of the film .  br    br   excessive gore in a very fake  silly battle scene  br    br   there are so many dead people in the most fake battle scene . it looks like a saturday night live skit   you can see extras waiting for their cues to walk across camera . everyone plays their death scene like  th grade boys   exaggerating every little gasp and twitch . the blood on battle victims is so excessive and carelessly applied it looks like someone used a ketchup dispenser and just squirted straight lines of red on the costumes .  br    br   this whole battle scene comes off as the spoof of a really cheesy war movie . you almost expect someone like will ferrell and mike myers to ride up on a horse and deliver the punchline .  br    br   who in real life would ever behave this way    br    br   the most ridiculous bit of writing  directing and casting is actually the focus of the scene  br    br   a little girl is standing under the dead body of her hanging father   who is terribly mutilated  and literally dripping blood form his gaping wounds . even a totally idiot would know he is dead  yet she is   very monotonously   repeating over and over  daddy  daddy . . .  while looking at someone off  screen . she delivered it with about as much believability and passion as you could expect from an non  actor kid that had been repeating the line for the cameras all day .  br    br   even if the poor kid had any acting skills  the scene is completely unbelievable . the little girl wouldn  t even be in the middle of the battlefield after hours of carnage   surrounded by hundreds of dead bodies  while she calmly stands there   natural instincts would had the kid screaming and terrified  running away from the bloody carnage   br    br   are we suppose to be horrified or laugh . . .    br    br   one particularly goofy detail  that gives the scene an snl satire tone  is the father hanging  with a huge hook through his mouth and cheek . he looks like a fish on a hook  the unintentionally funny details  make the whole scene come across as fake and silly .  br    br   in fantasy la  la  land  mothers and daughters are the same age   br    br   another funny detail  is that you see a central character   the little girl  s mother   at the end of the scene and in the next scene  that occurs    years later  she looks exactly the same  she is still young and beautiful  and now the same age as her daughter   br    br   i almost turned the movie off right there because the direction and writing were obviously awful   but i tried to stick it out because i wanted to see the louisiana settings and i like all the actors . i don  t know what these fine actors were thinking when they accepted these roles   br    br   who was the targeted audience   br    br   the excessive amount of blood and badly acted violence in the opening scene are weirdly out of place with the soap opera storytelling tone that follows . it is also a strange way to start a movie that  for the rest of the time  seems targeted to romance novel reading females . weird inconsistency in tone   
terry gilliam gives a stunning movie  which i thoroughly enjoyed . bruce willis  madeline stowe  brad pitt and even the small appearance of christover plummer makes the movie absolutely brilliant  this is the only terry gilliam film i  ve seen  and twelve monkeys is definitely in my top   . i think this is one of the four best bruce willis movies and brad pitt  s best . brad pitt delivers a perfect performance . possibly one of the ten best actor  s performance that i  ve ever seen . he played his role  geoffrey  very convincingly . bruce willis  role  james cole  was also quite convincing . both bruce willis and brad pitt acted extraordinarily well . with the brilliant story to back the great performances and to back that up  terry gilliam  s superb directing .  
this movie could had been an interesting character study and could had given some insight on its subject but real problem with this movie is that it doesn  t have any of this in it . it doesn  t give any insight   or solutions to the problem . it  s just the portrayal of  old  male sex addict and the problems this is creating for his every day normal life and family . why would you want to watch this  it  s all so totally pointless and meaningless .  br    br   it also really doesn  t help that the main character is some wrinkly    year old male . you  ll have a hard time identifying yourself  and sympathize for him . he just seems like a dirty old playboy  who is an a constant hunt for woman and sex . he has all kinds of sexual intercourse  s about  times a day with different woman and not just only with prostitutes .  br    br   it also doesn  t have a bad visual style  though it all feels a bit forced . but nevertheless it  s all better looking than most other direct  to  video productions . who knows  if the film  makers had been given better material to work with  the movie would had deserved a better faith .  br    br   the story really gets ridicules at times . there are really some pointless plot  lines that are often more laughable than they were obviously supposed to be . i  m talking about for instance the whole ordell plot  line . things get worse once they movie starts heading toward the ending . also the whole way the story is being told  cutting back and forth between the events that happened and the main character  s sessions with his psychiatrist feels a bit cheap and simple .  br    br   but as far as bad movies are concerned  this just isn  t one of them . it  s not really any better or worse than any other random straight  to  video flick  with similar concepts .  br    br   still seems weird and quite amazing that they managed to cast nastassja kinski and ed begley jr . in such a simple small insignificant production as this one is . guess they were really desperate for work and money .  br    br        
the story of this film is truly remarkable . a virus cut loose and only   of the human race survived . the only thing we know now is that animals rule the land above and there are posters everywhere that say   the twelve monkeys did it .  thats right  the human race had to hide underground from the sickness that had killed over    billion people . apparently animals do not contract this disease . day by day the present scientist try to discover what type of sickness had caused this how it was created if nature did it or a mere human being had created it . all they know is that there is are a bunch of animals running around a city above them  the deaths began during           and twelve monkeys have something to do with it .  or at least thats what the poster says .  so a current convict named james cole  bruce willis  is sent as a  volunteer  to get some samples from above . after he does his  volunteer  work  he is asked to be sent back in time to the year     to figure out what happened to the world . cole accepts and the story of the twelve monkeys begin .  br    br   throughout the story the time machine gets the dates wrong quite a few times  from      to some time during the      s .  in a middle of a war .  throughout the time traveling back and forth  it starts to mess james up in the head and that twist the story up . the whole story is very well done and i would of gave it a higher grade if it wasn  t for the ending . i personally didn  t like the ending of the movie and i was very disappointed . i just was expecting a more explaining ending then what had happen  but it isn  t everyone who thinks this way . so i gave it a   but if everyone had the same opinion as me i would give it a  or  .  br    br   for the whole acting of the film  i give it a a . bruce willis is great for this role and he acts good  but brad pitt is completely     excellent . his acting is so great  he gets into the character so well . i never really cared for brad pitt in till i saw him in this and fight club . there characters or similar in this film  he is just a little more . . . insane in this film . so overall i think this film is completely worth checking out . for most people it  s a great science fiction film  i just don  t think it is a masterpiece .  
don  t let the title trick you into watching this movie . i read the title  saw that it came on in the middle of the night  and figured it was one of those soft porn movies . this movie is bad . if you like soft porn movies  then i  m sorry to say this isn  t one . there are a lot of sex but nothing shown and they only last for  seconds or so .  
first of all  we know that bruce willis is a good actor but if you take the majority of his movies you  ll see that the characters have these moments where they are the same . his character in this movie is far beyond every single one so far . . . and counting . the story begins in the  not so far  future where a man is sent to the past to find the source of a virus that has swept most of humanity from the face of the earth . the story seems to go towards sf but i think its closer to a drama because of the slow rhythm of the story . about that . movies tend to be faster and slower at some points and develop more towards the end than the beginning but as you see this movie you  ll be aware of this constant rhythm of story and revealing facts that does not speed up nor slow down . its the one and the same speed that flows gently and pretty good . but that doesn  t mean that the ending wont pull your nerves  cause its pretty good . as far as the direction goes  it is prefect . movies as such are easily destroyed by bad directing but this one has become far better . so  if you are getting ready to see a sci  fi movie or some action  you  ll miss it . b there should be more movies like this .  
ok  i wrote a scathing review b  c the movie is awful . as i was waiting another review  for derrida  of mine to pop up  i decided to check out old reviews of this awful movie . look at all the positive reviews . they all  i say all  come from contributors have have not rated any other movie other than this one . crimminy  and wait till you to the  rosebud  sic review .  br    br   checkout the other movies rosebud reviewed and had glowing recommendations for . oh  shoot   they happen to be for the only other movies by the two writers and director . holy window  wipers batman .  br    br   joe  tony  you suck as writers  and tony  you couldn  t direct out of a bad script . no jobs for you   br    br   always check positive reviews for a low rated movie   
a great addition to anyone  s collection .  br    br     monkeys is a movie you don  t see every day . it has excellent actors to go with a excellent story . this is not a normal role for bruce willis but he holds the role like he holds john mcclane .  br    br   the virus  kills everyone on earth and leaves a few hundred survivors story is not a new one but the story takes a fresh new direction on it .  br    br   a man  bruce  is sent back in time to get information on a virus which has wiped out most of man kind .  br    br   the actors in this were awesome . i must give a mention to brad pitt who was hilarious as the mental patient james cole  bruce  meets in a mental hospital .  br    br   the director did an amazing job on bringing us a disturbing picture of a future devastated by a man  made virus .  br    br   the animals seen in the virus world made it feel like they run the world when humans are driven into underground facilities .  br    br   this movie was excellent and must see and also its a must own .  br    br   i very much highly recommend it .  br    br         
my husband rented this from a video store thinking it was suspense .  he never reads the synopsis  .  br    br   well  it would be funny if the thing was watchable . it simply isn  t . the same thing over and over  no intrigue  and where did they find the leading man  . the leading man  michael des barres  is not even feasibly good  looking  especially for this role he is given . also  sexual harassment at work is something  if you want to see  rent michael crichton  s  disclosure  . at least michael douglas looked good in the early    s .  br    br   alexandra paul  who is usually watchable  plays an embarrassing scene here . there are also lighting effects cheaper than your at home web cam . don  t even waste time renting this .     .  
i can  t decide whether this is one of my favourite movies . it is a good thriller and has an emotional core but still i can  t decide . i definitely liked it . this is the first movie of terry gilliam that i have seen . my first impression  i was engaged till the very end and it is not all that complex  to be confusing  .  br    br   the movie is set in the future . a man james cole  bruce willis  is sent from the future in order to get some information from the past      to be specific  . a virus killed  billion people . he is sent from the future to get some information about it . also involved here are a psychiatrist called kathryn railly . the love story is portrayed beautifully and you can really feel the longing in this love and longing for a regular life . the loose ends are tied up in a very interesting manner at the end .  br    br   one thing i liked about this movie is that unlike other post  apocalyptic movies  the movie didn  t prefer to give any boring social commentary and instead focused on this one guy and his longing for a regular life .  you want to see the ocean  be with her  is especially a poignant line in this movie . it chooses to focus on the tension and confusion in the person  s mind . therefore this is not exactly post apocalyptic movie but instead it could be described as a romantic sci fi movie with themes that range from time travel to blurred realities and so on . this is what makes this movie a special movie of the      s . the complex plot flows smoothly without adding too many characters .  br    br   the performances are quite good . bruce willis surprised me here as he didn  t act the regular tough guy here but he gave a good performance of a confused man who is in love . his desperation in certain sequences is portrayed beautifully . i have to check out his other movies . the gorgeous madeleine stowe is quite a treat to watch . ever since i saw this movie  i have become so obsessed with her . she has given a great performance of a woman who sympathises with her patient and finally falls in love with him . brad pitt is the real surprise though with his portrayal of a crazy man named jeffrey goines . his oscar nominated performance is quite surprising considering that he doesn  t have many critics who have kind words for him .  br    br   the end is quite chilling and that is also another reason to watch the movie . the length or complexity is not as big a problem because this film is quite fast moving and there are enough incidents to keep people interested . and every incident in this movie has a meaning and nothing is there that is unnecessary .  br    br   good thriller       
as many others have stated  this is a terrible movie  from every aspect of movie making . how they ever got some known name actors to take on this project is amazing .  br    br   many people have complained that it was shot on  cheap  video cameras . yes  it was shot on video  but not  cheap  video . what made it bad was the lighting  white balancing  shooting technique and editing .  br    br   there were so many different shooting and editing techniques used that it was a production mess . harsh  inconsistent lighting  over use of hand held shooting  ala woody allen   choppy editing  another allen technique   but poorly done  without real purpose .  br    br   the lack of white balance in the restaurant kitchen scenes is embarrassing very amateurish .  br    br   the simulated sex scenes had no acting value at any level .  br    br   how this video ever made it to print is beyond me . it is worth watching if only to be amazed at how bad it is .  
i just bought the dvd and i must say   after seeing brazil and fear an loathing in las vegas  terry does it again . as well of being a fan of the monty python movies  terry gilliam  s genius follows through in this sci fi thriller  whom bruce willis plays a wonderful role as james cole  and as well  perhaps my favorite character  brad pitt who played the insanity of jefferey goines . a must have for sci fi fans  or movie fan of any type really  because it includes suspense  drama  action  etc .  br    br   any way the plot  in the future    of the world  s population survives a disease intended to wipe out the human race  which is unleashed in the past by  the army of twelve monkeys  . james cole  bruce willis  is sent back to      which is when the virus was unleashed  to find out about the disease  so scientists in his time can find a cure . before i go further  james cole lives in an underground society  and the animals rule the world on the surface due to the disease that will kill the humans . anyway when he is sent back in time he is actually sent back to     where he is sent to a mental institution because of his tellings to people of the virus . during his stay he meets jefferey goins  brad pitt  who is later mostly responsible for wiping out the human race . he also meets his psychiatrist   madelein stowe  who eventually teams up with bruce to save the world  as she sees that he is correct in his tellings   he is sent back and forth from his time to the past and eventually sent to     where he then questions his own sanity but later pulls through to reveal a suspenseful end quarter of the movie and later builds up to the somewhat shocking climax  where he tries to stop the man carrying the virus  not actually brad pitt  and is instead shot by the police as the killer gets away .  
i really tried to like this movie . it deals with an important problem in any society sex addiction .  br    br   in this story we learn that you can lose everything when you  re addicted to sex . in this case  our main character and hero  for having non  stop sex with all kinds of women  crazy  kinky  neurotic  puts in jeopardy his marriage  job  and even his life .  br    br   the production values are terrible mainly the acting . oh  you won  t enjoy any of the sex scenes  most of them are done in very poor taste and you might think you  re watching a home made flick .  br    br   second  the plot is just non sense . how could such a smart and beautiful wife stand all the nasty stuff from the husband  how could she believe him   the threesome situation is priceless and will make you chuckle for a while .  br    br   also  the scene with the black movie theater attendant is just pointless and will leave you thinking  wtf   .  br    br   scenes like those you will find plenty .  br    br   avoid this movie . please  avoid it it  s not soft core  it  s not a documental  it  s not a dramatic feature . it  s a pretentious effort form a so called documentary director or whatever .  br    br   only mrs . kinski  s legs on display are worth the watch . i caught it on hbo and i  m glad i didn  t spend my money on it . but those   minutes of my life won  t come back .  
nb spoilers within . this great movie is  about  so many things  all of them successfully sci  fi time travel  unstable psychologies  dystopian society  the what  is  real syndrome  gradual undermining of belief systems  worldwide bioterrorism  and a nascent love story .  br    br   the ramifications of the story  s twisted time line stir up loads of heated debate  witness the discussions within this site or  as an extreme  check out the dissertation at www . mjyoung . net  time  monkeys . html . whew  such temporal emphasis speaks mostly to the brilliant plot  coming from the magnificent work of writers david and janet peoples  not to mention the inspiration of chris marker  s  la jetee .  without a doubt  this is one of the most successful  fascinating time  travel movies ever conceived . but there are many other levels speaking here .  br    br   the movie  s real genius is to focus on the nasty side effects of time  travel in the mind of james cole  bruce willis  doing the best work of his career here  . his journey progresses from gung  ho vaccine  hunting warrior to gradually unhinged victim  and back again . the other broad sweep of the story increasingly emphasizes the personal tale between james and dr . kathryn railly  the wonderful madeleine stowe  . i love the simultaneous shifting  opposing viewpoints of these two characters . for me it all comes to a head in the fleabag hotel room scene . by this point  james  once gripped by an unshakable determination  now slumps in utter doubt about his own reality while dr . railly  the cool and rational scientist  has finally become wildly convinced  after absorbing james  s proofs  of his horrific predictions . her desperation to get through to james and hang on to the mission shows how far she  s come .  br    br   gilliam makes us care about these characters  especially through the crescendo of tension threading their lives . the balance held between emotional roller  coaster and mounting sci  fi puzzle  thriller is exquisite . and the denouement at the airport is heart  poundingly intense because we see it coming so clearly through james  s dreams . it is here  just after james has decided to quit the whole mess  and is fighting his insanity more than ever  that he steps back up to the plate and does what is necessary for mankind . see jose and the gun  just before this  the references to hitchcock  s  vertigo  and identity switching  confusion are brilliant .  this is a movie to be hashed out between thinking people it not only holds up under repeated viewings  it demands them .  twelve monkeys  is intelligent  provocative  bizarre  funny  and suspenseful stuff .  br    br   the supporting cast is excellent  especially brad pitt stealing all of his scenes and showing great flexibility as jeffery goines  crazed and spoiled  but ever the survivor . and there is david morse as dr . peters  interesting how the movie simply leaves to the viewer his wicked motivation  and christopher plummer as dr . goines . but the biggest accolades belong to terry gilliam  surpassing here  just barely  his outstanding  brazil .   lots of parallels  of course  especially the lonely combatant trying to escape his crumbling surroundings lunacy within  lunacy without .  every frame of this movie has his unique stamp and tone . the soundtrack is terrific  too .  br    br   this is one of the great achievements of the   s  a true favorite of mine  and sure to hold up for a long time to come .  
this film was so amateurish i could hardly believe what i was seeing . it is shot on video  not film  i have not seen the likes of this since the early    s  when late night networks showed movie of the week  horror flicks  shot in . . . . . . video . it looks like a bad soap opera  and that is paying it a compliment . some of the actors give it their best shot . michael des barres does okay with what he is given to do  which is to act like a sex addict out of control . i can  t say that it is pleasant to watch .  br    br   nastassja kinski as the therapist sits in a chair for practically the entire film  with very little variation in camera angles . i can  t fault her for someone else  s poor blocking  but she is totally unbelievable in her role . her little girl voice works against her here . and i consider myself a nastassja kinski fan . she is certainly ageless and exotic  but she  s outside her range with this .  br    br   alexandra paul is pathetically overwrought . every line she delivers is with three exclamation points . someone must have directed her to scream at all costs . why would michael des barres want to have sex with such a raging shrew   br    br   finally  rosanna arquette as the sweet  maligned wife comes off okay  and probably the most believable of the bunch . but that is not saying much .  br    br   this has to be the worst film i have seen in years .  
normally i try to avoid sci  fi movies as much as i can  because this just isn  t a genre that really appeals to me . light sabers  ufo  s  aliens  time traveling . . . most of the time it  s nothing for me . however  there is one movie in the genre that i  ll always give a place in my list of top movies and that  s this  twelve monkeys  i remember to be completely blown away by it the first time  but even now  after having it seen several times already  i  m still one of its biggest fans . every time i see it  this movie seems to get better and better .  br    br   somewhere in the distant future all people live underground because an unknown and lethal virus wiped out five billion people in      leaving only  percent of the population alive . james cole is one of them . he  s a prisoner who lives in a small cage and who is chosen as a  volunteer  to be sent back to in time to gather information about the origin of the epidemic . they believe it was spread by a mysterious group called  the twelve monkeys  and need the virus before it mutated  so that scientists can study it . but their time traveling machine doesn  t work perfectly yet and he is accidentally sent to      where he meets dr . kathryn railly  a psychiatrist  and jeffrey goines  the insane son of a famous scientist and virus expert . . .  br    br   what i like so much about this movie is the fact that it is never clear whether all what you are seeing is real or not . is this just an illusion  created in the mind of a mentally ill man or is it real  does he really come from the future and can he really travel through time  was the population really wiped out by a virus  released by the army of the twelve monkeys  those are all questions that will leave you wondering from the beginning until the end . if the makers of this movie had chosen to make it all more obvious  i  m sure that i would never have liked it as much as i did now . it  s just that mysteriousness that keeps me interested time after time . but that  s not the only good thing about this movie of course . the acting is amazing too . normally i  m not too much a fan of bruce willis  but what he did in this movie was just astonishing . together with madeleine stowe and brad pitt he should have won several awards for it  because together with the amazing story  they made this movie work so incredibly well .  br    br   even after several viewings  i  m still a huge fan of this movie . except for this movie  i have only seen one other terry gilliam movie and that  s  fear and loathing in las vegas   which wasn  t bad  but didn  t really convince me either . however  it  s this movie that really makes me look forward to his other work . i give it a      maybe even a  .     .  
i wouldn  t normally write a comment on  line  but this is the worst movie i  ve ever seen . not only that it  s filmed just like a soap series   the young and the restless  is really filmed by professionals compared to this   but it also has awful cuts . it has no action . it is full of useless garbage .  br    br   here  s an example a guy wants to kill the main character as he got fired because of him . so  after loads of crap  here they are the guy puts a knife at his throat and says something like  you  re dead now  . then the main character says  if you kill me you  re dead . i  ve told the police you  re threatening me  . so the  killer  guy goes like  just about to cry    oh no . . . the cops are following me     oh . . . my god  .  br    br   remember this is just an example . i really cannot believe this movie actually exists . so if you want to see the worst movie ever . . . go ahead  i recommend it    
terry gilliam  s and david peoples  teamed up to create one of the most intelligent and creative science fiction movies of the     s . people  s proved a screenplay with bizarre twists and fantastic ideas about the nature of time  i especially love the idea one can  t change the past it  s a nice counterpoint to so many time  travelling movies which say otherwise  biological holocausts and the thin line between sanity and madness . gilliam visualized his ideas with unique quirkiness  perfection and originality .  br    br   the story itself is engaging one man  james cole  played by bruce willis in a heart  warming performance  travels several decades to the past to retrieve information about a virus that  s wiped out mankind and left only a few survivors alive living underground with the information he  ll collect  scientists hope to find a cure so everyone in the future can return to the surface . but because their time  travelling technology isn  t perfect  he ends up being sent towards different other pasts and complicating things . and from that a brilliant science fiction thriller with shades of film noir ensues as the multiple pieces of a huge jigsaw start fitting together to form a bizarre narrative involving animal right activists  end of the millennium paranoia  biological weapons  the perception of reality  and the definition of sanity . with such a complex movie  it was easy for gilliam and peoples to create a mess  but instead twelve monkeys is a thought  provoking narrative which will please those who like to be challenged and have patience to appreciate some crazy ideas .  br    br   i watched this movie once around   years ago . it marked me a lot i remember still thinking about many days after  wards for my young mind this seemed quite mind  blowing and it was one of the first movies to make me appreciate cinema as something serious and important . i  ve re  watched this movie a few days ago on dvd and it  s better than i remembered it . brad pitt still steals all the scenes he  s in  playing jeffrey goines  almost a prelude to his tyler durden character in fight club  a rich kid with some anarchist  non  conformist ideas who  s also crazy and  according to cole  perhaps responsible for the virus . the scenes between jeffrey and cole in the madhouse are the best in the movie  pitt  s eyes  voice and quirky mannerisms convince you he  s really a crazy guy locked in a warped logic only he understands . pitt  s oscar nomination was well deserved  surprising was also bruce willis  performance his i didn  t remember very well  but it  s beautiful and full of sensibility he plays a man who spent almost all his life underground  and when he comes to the past you  ll share his childish fascination with something as simple as breathing the fresh air of the morning or watching the sun go up . cole is a rather ambiguous character  peoples  tried to imbue some darkness in him  and he does other disturbing things to other people and to himself the scene where he removes his own teeth reveals how far his dementia has gone unchecked . ironically cole didn  t start as a crazy character  but when he starts warning everyone about the end of the world  he  s considered mad and convinced it  s all in his mind  until he arrives at a point when he can  t distinguish past from future  reality from fiction . willis spends a lot of time looking confused and insecure  and it works perfectly . one of the fun twists in the narrative is when cole  s shrink  dr . kathryn railly  finds undeniable proof he  s really from the future and now has to convince him again of his mission to save the world . the screenplay is full with weird twists like this and it keeps the movie in a fast pace . their relationship is also well  handed  although perhaps a bit compressed for time  s sake . but i enjoyed watching cole and railly falling in love and trying to escape the authority of the future to live a peaceful life in the past . but then things end in a tragic  bittersweet climax at an airport  wrapping all the pieces together  which will blow many minds away .  br    br   there are two great endings in this movie  a twist in the sense of se  en or fight club  and a more intimate ending where railly is crouching next to cole who  s just been shot and looking around for a younger james cole who  s witnessing his future self die the two share a brief look  and she smiles at him . the twist is brilliant  but i prefer this ending for emotional impact . madeleine stowe is very good playing dr . railly  she drew many different emotions from me in her performance . the movie is filled with a sense of fatalism with the idea the past can  t be changed this movie shows that in a terrifying way . it reminds me of chinatown in that sense  the way jake gittes messes everything up the more he tries to help . railly  s character shares that fatalism  the more she tries to help cole  first dealing with his  madness  then helping him in his mission  the more they  re sucked into tragedy .  br    br   the twist ends with a hopeful note  though  with the feeling cole  s mission hasn  t been in vain . twelve monkeys is a great movie to watch if one wants to be entertained it  s not supposed to be art  although it  s more artists than many artistic movies . it  s an unpretentious movie where all elements  from music to editing to costume design  etc .  came together beautifully to produce a modern cinema masterpiece .  
i was subjected to this atrocity by my wife  tried to turn it off after   minutes  but was forced through the whole thing . this must be  hands down  the most gruesome pretense of a movie ever . . .  br    br   there were great script moments  such as  br    br   sammy   if she gets over here right away  she gets a bonus  madam   a boner   sammy   no  a bonus   br    br   to summarize horrible script  terrible acting and incredibly illogical .  
without a doubt    monkeys is one of the best films of the sci  fi genre and director terry gilliam is no stranger at pulling off such cinematic originality . an apocalyptic film that holds you completely spellbound    monkeys never lets up and has you guessing all the way throughout . excellent use of philadelphia locales and netherworld sets create a gothic sense of tragedy and two people caught in time at the wrong place .  br    br   bruce willis escapes his macho image and portrays a true loony who happens to be right about all that will happen . he is actually sane  but the people of the future  or present if you will  distort this guy  s head so bad through time travel  no wonder he unravels . he gets sent to world war i just after beng sent to the wrong year to find out how the army of the twelve monkeys pulls off the annihilation of civilization as we know it . they finally get it right and in what is truly a remarkable screenplay to match the performance  we get to see willis  madeleine stowe and an ominous brad pitt cross  referenced over the course of  years .  br    br   stowe is sensual and solid as the risk  taking shrink who slowly starts to realize that willis may not be as cracked up as he seems . a captivating element of the relationship between her and willis is their sense of  seeing  each other before  in another place or time .   monkeys is essentially about time and the madness the futuristic people immerse into it and the times of the present  when killers and a psychotic genius can alter the world .  br    br   the brooding city of philadelphia is a dark and gothic backdrop for willis  plight to complete his mission which is  against all usual hollywood stereotype  not to save the world . he is gathering information . the film plays tricks on the viewer as well  placing willis in a new setting at the drop of a pin . this must have been an extremely difficult picture to make but gilliam seems to be the master of hard  boiled movie making . he even drops in some humor reminiscent of other great works like time bandits  and brazil . the screen is this man  s canvas and he knows how to paint a sometimes terrifying picture of the world and its possible future within the mainstream atmosphere of big  budget films . if you want sincere madness and ironic tragedy  see   monkeys .  br    br   rating  of    
a sexually obsessed chef leads a duplicitous life one as a  happily  married man with a ten year oldish child  the other as a sex fiend . the bulk of the documentary  like film follows him for five consecutive days and is told in flashback with nastassja kinski as a clinical sex therapist  listening to his story and intelligently probing him . nastassja  s role is very restrictive and she is the only principal adult character who does not take off her clothes . if she had  i would have rated this movie a big fat  f .  as it is  it rates an f  implying that it is still a failure unless one likes to be bored . it is probably a lot more interesting to spend ninety minutes cleaning out the garage .  diary of a sex addict  falls into the category of films that once one has seen it  one wishes that one hadn  t .  
an ok movie about downs syndrome . a mother has twins one is very sick the other is good but he has downs . the mother does not think she can raise him so she gives him to some people who have   kids   have downs  the mom does not like this  she thinks he should be with his family  i agree too  so they take it to court  the family gets broken up  the grandparents lose  it never really says if the mom  daughter makeup  i think this movie  s good but the plot is familiar  it  s still good  has a few unintentional laughs   
the story and the show were good  but it was really depressing and i hate depressing movies . ri  chard is great . he really put on a top notch performance  and the girl who played his sister was really awesome and gorgeous . seriously  i thought she was carmen electra until i saw the imdb profile . i can  t say anything bad about peter galleghar . he  s one of my favorite actors . i love anne rice . i  m currently reading the vampire chronicles  but i  m glad i saw the movie before reading the book . this is a little too  real  for me . i prefer lestat and louis  s witty little tiffs to the struggles of slaves . eartha kitt was so creepy and after her character did what she did the movie was ruined for me i could barely stand to watch the rest of the show .  sorry for the ambiguity  but i don  t want to give anything away  sorry  but it  s just not my type of show .  
a linear travel within a non  linear structure . it  s a fact that time  in   monkeys  flows in this come  and  go between present  future and past . however  the movie  s linearity can  t be avoided it  s the very work of the projector  the unfolding of the narrative .  br    br   what we can see underlying the temporal theme is a reflection on the inevitability of our actions . the world of this terry gilliam film is a world with little space for free  will .  br    br   right from the beginning we are informed about a schizophrenic  s prophecy  according to which a plague would rule the earth in      forcing the few survivors to live underground  the only place not affected by the virus .  br    br   cole  s  willis  mission is clear return to the mid    s to investigate whatever and whoever is related to the release of the virus . there  s no way to change the past all that can be done is gather information that can help the scientists of the present  that  for us viewers  is the future  find the cure . not to change what happened  the past is inevitable   but make the present better .  br    br   in his  returns  in time  cole gradually comes near a striking dilemma his life in the past is better than his life in the present .  br    br   the latter is dark and dehumanizing  controlled by totalitarian scientists that elect  volunteers   this word is incisively ironic  to embark on the journeys to the past .  br    br   the scientists have not yet reached the highest level of achievements in time travel  and cole ends up on wrong dates  this will  later in the plot  work as a proof of his sanity for the psychiatrist kathryn  stowe  .  br    br   we can see  through the evolution of the story  that linearity and non  linearity interlace in a circular temporality .  br    br   there is more than one moment in which the scene that is the first and ends up being almost the last  and certainly the climactic  appears . it modifies itself  according to the evocation of cole  s memories  that come up in his dreams .  br    br   in an airport  a man is shot dead while running  armed  toward someone else . a blonde woman runs after the murdered one .  br    br   this is the scene that connects the past  in which cole is a kid that visits the airport with his parents   the present  the time of the narrative  and the future  adult cole  throughout the narrative  cole has the feeling of having already lived the reality he is experiencing now . his prophetic dreams are the proof that it is impossible to escape or avoid what happened . the agents that shoot him stop him from killing the mad scientist  doctor peters  morse   that is the responsible for the dissemination of the disease .  br    br   what was can  t be changed . and  in cole  s case  what was is what will be . eternally .  br    br   a film not quite well understood for many . to me  nothing less than a masterpiece .  br    br   other good movies with similar theme the back to the future trilogy  that has another angle regarding the  mad scientist  character  and although it shares the atmosphere of decay  particularly in the second film   it is way more optimistic than gilliam  s work  that is an odd hollywood picture  .  br    br   in another register  there is  wild strawberries   one of bergman  s masterpieces  that involves a striking and enlightening travel to the past through dreams and reminiscences .  br    br   i  ve never watched  la jete   but only because i can  t find it .  
i fell asleep on my couch at     pm last night watching larry sanders  i usually directivo it  but not last night  . woke up at  am  invesment banker on the west coast   and was fascinated to see this on hbo  . i was shocked on how poor this  movie  was . seriously . shocked . so shocked that i had to write a commentary on imdb . this is really really bad . the writing is boring  but the directing and editing are simply below those of a freshman at a film school .  br    br   yes it is shot video . mind you  that is shot on video  not digital video . it does look like a soap opera . the clips from skateboard videos have a more  film  feel to them then this horror .  br    br   i wanted to describe the poor directing but i honestly cant remember anything . the shots and blocking are stupid . yes  i chose the word  stupid  . not unconventional  not daring  not bold  not boring  just stupid . i know people reviewing this review will say  well give me an example  . i cant . it was  am . but trust me  i know you will watch it anyway  you will be drawn by the horrible reviews .  br    br    
the big problem is where to begin as this movie needs your attention the forthcoming two hours and you better not miss some minutes for getting a coke as there is a danger you can  t follow . but good there is also a pause  button . bruce willis must travel into a timemachine to find out some antivirus for a virus that made animals rule over the world in     . thanks to some mistakes he first ends up in      then in the first world war and how messed up it all might look like  terry gilliam comes up with what must be one of the most intelligent scripts ever . this ex  monty phyton man knows exactly how genius sf  stories has to be told like and his choice of cast couldn  t have been any better  there is the lunatic brad pitt  his performance in the asylum is memorable  and a superb bruce willis who proves he is more than some schwarzenegger  wanna be . it  s a movie you can watch over and over again as the script is so weird and complicated  and yet you can follow  that every view gives you other surprises . one of my big favourites .  
this film was so amateurish i could hardly believe what i was seeing . it is shot on video  not film  i have not seen the likes of this since the early    s  when late night networks showed movie of the week  horror flicks  shot in . . . . . . video . it looks like a bad soap opera  and that is paying it a compliment . some of the actors give it their best shot . michael des barres does okay with what he is given to do  which is to act like a sex addict out of control . i can  t say that it is pleasant to watch .  br    br   nastassja kinski as the therapist sits in a chair for practically the entire film  with very little variation in camera angles . i can  t fault her for someone else  s poor blocking  but she is totally unbelievable in her role . her little girl voice works against her here . and i consider myself a nastassja kinski fan . she is certainly ageless and exotic  but she  s outside her range with this .  br    br   alexandra paul is pathetically overwrought . every line she delivers is with three exclamation points . someone must have directed her to scream at all costs . why would michael des barres want to have sex with such a raging shrew   br    br   finally  rosanna arquette as the sweet  maligned wife comes off okay  and probably the most believable of the bunch . but that is not saying much .  br    br   this has to be the worst film i have seen in years .  
there is a story  possibly apocryphal  about an exchange between bruce willis and terry gilliam at the start of twelve monkeys . gilliam  allegedly  produced a long list  think about the aircraft one from the fifth element  and handed it to butch bruce . it was entitled  things bruce willis does when he acts  . it ended with a simple message saying  please don  t do any of the above in my movie  .  br    br   there is a fact about this movie  definitely true  . gilliam didn  t have a hand in the writing .  br    br   i would contend that these two factors played a huge role in creating the extraordinary  if not commercial  success that is the twelve monkeys .  br    br   visually  the twelve monkeys is all that we have rightly come to expect from a gilliam film . it is also full of gilliamesque surrealism and general  but magnificent  strangeness . gilliam delights in wrong  footing his audience . although the ending of the twelve monkeys will surprise no one who has sat through the first real  gilliam borrows heavily from kafka in the clockwork  bureaucratic relentless movement of the characters towards their fate . it is this journey  and the character developments they undergo  which unsettles .  br    br   i love gilliam films  brazil  in particular  . but they do all tend to suffer from the same weakness . he seems to have so many ideas  and so much enthusiasm  that his films almost invariably end up as a tangled mess  brazil  in particular  . i still maintain that brazil is gilliam  s tour de force  but there  s no denying that the twelve monkey  s is a breath of fresh air in the tight  plotting department . style  substance and form seem to merge in a way not usually seen from the ex  python .  br    br   whatever the truth of the rumour above  gilliam also manages to get a first rate  and very atypical  performance out of the bald one . bruce is excellent in this film  as are all the cast  particularly a suitably bonkers  and very scary  brad pitt .  br    br   it  s been over a decade since this film was released . when i watched it again  i realised that it hadn  t really aged . i had changed  of course . and this made me look at the film with fresh eyes . this seems to me to be a fitting tribute to a film that  partly at least  is about reflections in mirrors  altered perspectives and the absurd one  way journey through time that we all make . a first rate film .     .  
  br    br   this movie  not a film   clearly recorded on a cheap cam  corder  may be one of the greatest cinematic stink  bombs in history . beware the packaging advertises the flick as an erotic exploration of sex  addiction . the film is not an exploration of anything  and it is no more erotic than staring at one  s own warts . the script is pointless and meandering  with all plot elements serving as segways between supposed sex scenes . however  even the sex scenes are lame lame lame . except for the first  they are around three seconds long  then again  maybe my version was cut  and comically overwrought .  br    br   if you are looking for a decent film  you don  t want this . if you are looking for a titillating sex  flick  you don  t want this . whatever your life  s goals  desires  or perspectives  you do not want to watch this movie . how they got rosanna arquette  natashia kinski  and ed begly to act in this stink bomb is puzzling in the extreme .  
with  twelve monkeys  you need to pay attention  but if you do that you probably find a lot to appreciate . i know i did . the story is interesting and deals with time traveling . a virus killed a lot of people back in     and a guy named cole  bruce willis  is send back to     and     to find a cure for the virus . in     he is arrested and put in a mental hospital . there he meets jeffrey goines  brad pitt   who probably has something to do with the virus . he also meets psychiatrist dr . kathryn railly  madeleine stowe  who doesn  t believe him in     . when cole disappears from the mental hospital while he is chained and locked in a room and re  appears in     kathryn starts believing cole  s stories .  br    br   the movie constantly plays with time . cole makes a phone call and leaves a message in      it is picked up in the future and  they  send someone . for cole that someone appears only seconds after the phone call . things like this happen throughout the movie and therefore you must keep attention . you could ask some questions but since you can  t have an answer yourself it is better to agree with the movie .  br    br    twelve monkeys  works as sci  fi  with some great images and a dark atmosphere  and it works as a thriller . you are never certain of what will happen next and that helps the movie . may be it has some flaws in the story  but since it is about a fictional thing like time traveling  you should accept what the movie tells us and just try to enjoy . that was the easy part for me .  
let me first say  i watched this movie around midnight  and usually there only is trash around this hour  but this movie broke the record  br    br   first of all the main character is an old non attractive creepy guy  yet he gets to fck all girls that come on his path for example he goes to a shop  talks to a girl and then you see them fck  br    br   secondly there are loads of sex scenes  and in many of them there is no nudity at all  i would not have been surprised if one of the characters in the movie would say fast put your clothes on so we can fck   br    br   thirdly this movie should show what a sexual addiction can do to a man or a family  this movie only shows soft bad acted erotica it makes me wonder why those actors agreed to play in such trash  
stories about the possibility of a post  apocalyptic future have been around for ages  since the very creation of science  fiction as a genre per se . the fact that today  s society is responsible for what may become of the future in the near tomorrow  and that our own abuses and refusals to see what is right before out eyes are at the very center of all of these stories  whether they are good or bad .  br    br   terry gilliam of course is a natural for this kind of film . he gives the movie a decadent feel throughout  showing a society run ragged by its own excesses and bringing forth the a sense of imminent tragedy despite having moments of comedy . his world  the world in which twelve monkeys transpires  is a place where the mad run wild  where cities are collapsing in filth and neglect  where everything reeks of foreboding despite the luminosity of the opening sequence  where madness looms at every corner . this is a very dark movie  but his very best  most linear  despite the plot twists which hold up under examination   and one which gets better with repeated viewings .  br    br   a tragic event in which a deadly virus was unleashed onto humanity in     and thus led to the extermination of life on the planet as we have known it leads to scientists of the future to try and make amends to change humanity  s fate on the earth by employing renegade citizens   the scum of the earth   as guinea pigs to go back in time  among them one james cole  underplayed to great effect by bruce willis  . cole could be any person . we don  t know anything about him  but in a way  that doesn  t matter since he is little more than one of many expendable volunteers and hints of his character sneak in later as he gets closer to fulfilling his mission . what we do know is that he is a man who dreams  and his dreams may have been reality he may have already been at the scene of the event of     .  br    br   it  s this constant sense of deja vu that keeps popping up throughout the movie . when taken to a mental ward by mistake in     he meets jeffrey goines  spastically played by brad pitt  oscar  nominated here  who frantically spews forth talk about doom and destruction  and later cole believes he has seen goines in his recurring dream as a man pushing a boy aside while escaping . . . what  he doesn  t know . later he meets a psychologist  kathryn railly  madeleine stowe   and one of her first reactions to him is that he  s insane  and that she  s seen him before . this becomes a running notion throughout her participation in this story from passive  resistant to active and even slightly crazy believer that something terrible is coming this way  especially when she meets him six years later she has seen cole before . at the same time  cole continues talking about a dream he keeps having in which she also plays a part as a blonde woman running down the aisle  screaming for help  after shots have rung out and a particular red  headed man in a ponytail  jeffrey goines   has apparently escaped  not before pushing the little boy who is an innocent bystander . the questions arise have these events happened  are they going to happen  who is really a part of this  or better yet   is everyone  down to the smallest player  a part of a greater plot  or is this all some trick in the fabric of time in which time in itself is one huge conveyor belt showing repetitions of fragments of events that slide by over and over again   br    br   these questions are formulated in a masterful sequence which includes key scenes of alfred hitchcock  s masterpiece vertigo in which madeleine elster  judy barton mourns her own brief existence   you took no notice   she says  as cole and railly watch from their seats in the movie theatre they are hiding in  . snippets of dialog from vertigo form a foil to the dialog between railly and cole and later  when cole awakens from having apparently dozed off in the theatre and goes looking for railly  he comes face  to  face with her in disguise  looking almost exactly like eva maria saint from north by northwest  as the swelling bernard herrmann score plays the emergence of judy barton  dressed as madeleine elster . it  s a fascinating sequence  more so because of the most improbable occurrence of the names of the actors in both films madeleine stowe plays kathryn railly who dons a blond wig and grey trench  coat and calls herself  judy simmons  while helping an  insane  man named james cole james stewart plays a detective who tries to help  insane  madeleine elster who will later re  appear not once  but twice  first as brunette judy barton  and later  as madeleine . action and re  enaction  play and re  play .  
this trashy b movie attempts to masquerade as a study of sexual addiction  but it is really a poor excuse for a sexploitation flick . the story revolves around sammy horn  subtle name  played by michael des barres . sammy is a restaurant owner with a clueless wife grace  rosanna arquette  and a young child . he has a sexual addiction and must have meaningless sex every five minutes with any woman in his field of vision who will agree  and of course every woman on the planet finds him irresistible despite the fact that he looks old enough to be collecting social security  .  br    br   the story is centered on a conversation with his therapist  nastassja kinski  where he is describing each of his sexual exploits via flashback . this is nothing more than a convenient launching point for a parade of serial sex acts  which consumes at least    of the screen time .  br    br   it is hard to know where to begin criticizing a film this bad . the production values are abysmal . the movie is shot on video with a look somewhere between a tv soap opera  at best  and an amateur porn flick shot in someone  s garage . the direction by joseph brutsman is horrible with bad lighting  uninspired framing and poor actor direction . the script is vapid and the dialogue mindless and vulgar .  br    br   women are generally portrayed as sex obsessed nymphomaniacs just waiting for an addict like sammy to come along and rough them up while feeding their insatiable appetites with some impersonal copulation . as an example  grace  s sister comes over to indignantly inform sammy that she knows he  s been sleeping around and that she is going to tell his wife . his response to that is to throw her up against the wall and begin raping her . about three seconds into it she has an epiphany and is instantly converted to one of his sex disciples begging him to give her more . just as they finish grace walks in and sis says to her  oh  great to see you  gotta run to pick up timmy  and mum  s the word about sammy  s indiscretions . the bond of loyalty has been sealed with a good ravishment . no spoiler here because it is so typical of the obvious nature of the film that anyone who had seen the first fifteen minutes could have predicted it .  br    br   the sex depictions are all overdone  mechanical  and so poorly simulated that they are more comical than erotic . most of them are done with both participants fully clothed . the acting is wretched . michael des barres presents all the depth of a rain puddle . he really seems to get into the thrusting and profanity of the sex parts  but when it comes to actually acting with arquette and kinski  he is adrift . rosanna arquette is the closest thing to an actor in this film  giving a bearable performance and looking genuinely hurt when she finally discovers that her perfect husband is a lecherous animal . nastassja kinski is far too compassionate as the therapist  but at least we have some acting happening here . the rest of the cast is just a collection of elevated body doubles to whom they give thought provoking lines like hit me harder  is that the best you can do   and oh  godyes  .  br    br   this movie is among the worst i have ever seen  a dubious distinction given the thousands of films i have viewed . i have given it the extremely rare dishonor of rating it     . not to be seen within three hours of any meal .  
terry gilliam  s stunning feature  length adaptation of chris marker  s short film la jetee is full of mind  bending surprises  yet still touches your heart thanks to the superb cast . gilliam  s flair for the phantasmagorical works with the script by david and janet peoples to play with your head as much as it does with poor james cole  willis at his most steve mcqueen  like   better than mcqueen  even    a time  traveling convict from the future who literally doesn  t know whether he  s coming or going as a team of scientists keeps sending him back to the wrong eras while trying to prevent a     plague that  s deadly to humans but harmless to animals . willis  the justifiably oscar  nominated brad pitt  and madeline stowe as a well  meaning psychiatrist give some of the best performances of their careers . even paul buckmaster  s tango  style score is haunting . this one  s a don  t  miss   
  diary of sex addict  is a pathetic attempt at a serious drama about sexual compulsiveness . probably a movie marketing scam  this flick is a stylish shoot with a good cast and little else going for it . bottom line   diary . . .  would have us believe that our sex addict character has the dumbest wife in the world  a stable of babes on the side who have nothing better to do than drop their panties for him at his whim  and no job in spite of being a restaurateur . at the best  this flick could have been good drama . at the worst  cheap softcore .  diary . . .  isn  t either and nowhere in between . this one  s for the dumpster .  d    
i had the privilege of seeing this film at a preview screening years ago  and outside the theater i was confronted by a camera crew from a local tv station looking for comments on the film . at the time  the only words that escaped my mouth were  awesome . just awesome .  i like to think i can articulate myself a little better than that  but at the time i was somewhat incapable of doing so .  br    br   the story is intriguing and thought provoking  and the acting is first rate from all the principals . this film was the first one that terry gilliam directed that he didn  t have a hand in the writing credit for . back with universal after his long  arduous battle with them over  brazil   terry had achieved what he wanted most the  final cut  . terry is a master craftsman  and each shot is like a beautifully conceived painting that has been constructed carefully with determination and conviction . it is only justice that such an individual should be unfettered in his attempts to convey a concept . unfortunately  limitations still exist in such arrangements .  br    br   the universal collector  s edition dvd of this film is simply amazing  although most of the bonus features aren  t listed on the box . it contains among other things  a director  producer audio commentary and an informative and extremely interesting   minute documentary on the making of the film called  the hamster factor and other tales of   monkeys  . it tells of some of the creative pitfalls in filmmaking  including a test of mettle when preview screenings tested poorly  striking the team with feelings of self  doubt and despair . fortunately  for all of us  they decided to change very little about the film and released it to an enormous success .  br    br    
it is incredible in that it succeeds in being terrible on so many levels . the script  the acting  the directing and the choice of cast are all appalling . the costumes  sets and pseudo  medieval language are also utterly awful . in an odd way i actually enjoyed this film  once i had accepted that it wasn  t going to be any good . it seems a shame that people would spend so much time and effort producing something so poor  when really they could have made something pretty decent out of the premise  albeit not very believable    but instead we are treated to a rather nauseating and cheesy tale of dragons and knights  that lacks any of the charm to be found in other such fantasy films . let  s just hope that the lord of the rings is a bit better  oh  and david thewlis  haircut makes him look like he  man . it does   
just kidding  i rented   monkeys the other day because i am a huge bruce willis fan and i heard some things about the film . some good and some bad  but it was one of those films you had to pay attention to every second  so i was a bit worried . just because i felt like for a minute if this was going to be one of those films that i had to watch several times to get . but i watched it last night and i was really impressed  this movie had everything in it action  drama  sci  fi  history  dark humor  and even a little romance . the actors all did a terrific job  i give a lot of credit to bruce  during his scene in the car with his psychiatrist  he really got to me . but brad pitt  i  m just amazed with how much of a great job he did . he didn  t over do his character  who was crazy  and just made it work and was extremely believable . the story was just scary  but very good and a wake up call .  br    br   james cole is a man in the future where a virus broke out in the past and killed  billion people and only   of the population survived including him . animals are now ruling the ground above while the humans are down below  but scientists send james to the past of      really meaning to send him to      to find out about information of the virus . james gets put into a mental institution meeting his new psychiatrist  dr . kathryn raily and another mental patient  jeffrey goines . he tells them the future  of course no one believes him  he goes back to the future . but the scientists send him back to the correct year to where the doctor is kidnapped by james  but he tells her more  and believes him . now they are set on trying to prevent the virus from ever happening .  br    br     monkeys was an incredible film . like i said the story was so scary just because it  s not at all hard to believe that we are not far from that happening . but the whole movie was just great  the cast  the sets  just the whole picture was a great one . it had a terminator type of feel to it where we might loose something precious one day  ourselves if we don  t listen to others . what is right and what is wrong  who knows  but i would highly recommend   monkeys  it  s a great movie that if you give it the proper chance  i  m sure you  ll enjoy it .  br    br        
this movie has such inexorable b class cheapness to all its scenes  effects etc as to make you think they spent    of their budget on connery . it  s like watching some wing commander stuff after star wars  quite apart from content  .  br    br   story can be described in one word flat . and oh my god i can  t remember a villain so uninteresting since long long ago . we  re given neither a reason he  s so wicked  an inborn defect  we  re lead to think  nor any real convincedness or flair to his wickedness .  br    br   if you  re out for connery rather go rent hunting forrester  .  
  twelve monkeys   s got all the elements to become terry gilliam  s masterpiece . an outstanding screenplay  a sustained rhythm  clever sometimes ironic dialogs . moreover  he had a good nose about the cast .  twelve monkeys  is also the first movie where bruce willis stands back from the kind of character he used to play in his previous movies . here  a jaded and hopeless character which you could nickname a prisoner took over from a fearless and invincible hero  as it was the case in  die hard   . no matter how he tries  he  s a prisoner of the time . the movie contains a very thrilling end too . it  s got a real dramatic power . but this terrific movie is also a reflection about man  the dangers he dreads  notably  the ones that could cause the end of the world and here  these are virus that can create illnesses  . no matter how long it will take   twelve monkeys  will be estimated at its true value one of the masterpieces made in the nineties .  
an interesting idea for a film  both showing the last dragon on earth and showing the struggle he and someone evil have together . when he was younger  einon got stabbed in the heart  so bowen  dennis quaid  took him to the dark lord who gave him half his heart . now grown up einon  david thewlis  is now the selfish and evil king . meanwhile  bowen is using a new friend draco the dragon  voiced by sir sean connery  to get rewards for  killing  dragons . but because einon has half of draco  s hear  they both feel the pain in one of them is hurt  or killed . also starring pete postlethwaite as gilbert of glockenspur  jason isaacs as lord felton  julie christie as queen aislinn and john gielgud as king arthur . it was nominated for the oscar for best visual effects . worth watching   
terry gilliam  s fantastic  twisted story of a virus destroying all but a handful of people across the earth and forcing them to move underground and the man sent back in time to gather information about it is a fantastic  dizzying  and highly stylized film that boasts bruce willis  best performance ever .  br    br   what sets   monkeys apart from most time  travel sci  fi movies is that bruce willis character actually deals with what the psychological effects of time  travel  that is  not knowing what reality is actual reality the place that the time  traveler comes from or goes to . also  the film recognizes that things that have past cannot be altered and that the prevention of a cataclysmic event  in this case the release of said virus  cannot be stopped or changed . as willis asserts  it  s already happened   while he  s in a mental hospital  the major dilemma the film trudges into is not a trite  overdone plot to save the world instead it  s willis  inner struggle to simply survive himself . it  s a fresh  innovative concept  and it works beautifully thanks to a tautly written script by peoples and gilliam  s unique brand of dementia .  br    br   besides this    monkey  s storytelling is totally non  linear and instead opts to distort and bend the way the story is told skillfully incorporating a bevy of different time sequences flashbacks  dreams  memories  the present  the past  the future  and even a scene that is lifted out of hitchcock  s vertigo . all serve to envelop the viewer into its disturbing cacophony of madness and futility .  br    br   visually  gilliam is a master of desolate umbrage and shadow rivalling tim burton in his strikingly despondent scenery and imagery . with cold  wide  and immersing cinematography  gilliam plunges into the colorless surroundings and darkness of his characters . the scenes are often bathed in a strangely antiseptic  dead white and help serve as a contrast to the often veering  on  madness characters .  br    br   performance  wise  brad pitt steals most scenes  filling them with a patented loony  off  the  wall performance that deservedly garnered him an oscar nomination . as mentioned  bruce willis gives the best performance of his career  not reverting to his heroic cliches and cardboard hero and instead portraying cole as a simple  poignant  tragic everyman . equally good is madeline stowe as willis  psychologist . she holds her own  injecting her character with both wild energy and strength as she collapses under the weight of what she comes to believe is a false  religion .   br    br   gilliam  s expert  overwhelming  and complex handling of what could have been a routine action  sci  fi film makes   monkeys a compelling vision of a nightmarish  futuristic landscape . its rich  well  thought out  intricate storyline along with bravura performances from the entire cast and its brooding  bleak cinematography make it a masterpiece of madness . ranking in my top   of all time    monkeys is a darkly lavish spectacle of a film brimming with brilliance .  br    br     out of    
i had high expectations for this movie and was excited about renting it but was very disappointed when i saw it . it was very poorly written and sort of just fell apart . there wasn  t a lot of good anything in this movie except maybe special effects .  
hello everyone  this is my first time posting and i just love the movie no child of mine and i could watch it over and over   well i taped it a long time ago like a few years ago and i dropped it and broke it and i haven  t seen it in a few years   could any one please tell me when it will come on again   i would really appreciate it alot   you can email me if you want to cause that is my favorite movie of all including empty cradle to and if anyone knows when that comes on to please let me know  i would really appreciate it alot     br    br    
this movie was so badly written  directed and acted that it beggars belief . it should be remade with a better script  director and casting service . the worst problem is the acting . you have jennifer beals on the one hand who is polished  professional and totally believable  and on the other hand  ri  chard  who is woefully miscast and just jarring in this particular piece . peter gallagher and jenny levine are just awful as the slave owning  and keeping  couple  although both normally do fine work . the actors  and director  should not have attempted to do accents at all   they are inconsistent and unbelievable . much better to have concentrated on doing a good job in actual english . the casting is ludicrous . why have children of an  african  merchant  thus less socially desirable to the gens de couleur society  been cast with very pale skinned actors  while the supposedly socially desirable marcel  has pronounced african features  including an obviously dyed blond  fro   it  s as if the casting directors cannot be bothered to read the script they are casting and to chose appropriate actors from a large pool of extremely talented and physically diverse actors of color . it  s just so weird  this could be a great movie and should be re  made  but with people who respect the material and can choose appropriate and skilled actors . there are plenty of good actors out there  and it would be fun to see how jennifer beals  daniel sunjata and gloria reuben would do with an appropriate cast  good script and decent direction .  
what a surprise two outstanding performances by the lead actresses in this film . this is the best work busy phillips has ever done and the best from erika christensen since traffic . this film certainly should be in oscar contention . see this movie   
this movie never made it to theaters in our area  so when it became available on dvd i was one of the first to rent it . for once  i should listened to the critics and passed on this one .  br    br   despite the excellent line up of actors the movie was very disappointing . i can see now why it went straight to video .  br    br   i had thought that with bloom  ledger  and rush it could have some value . all have done wonderful work in the past .  br    br   the movie was slow moving and never pulled me in . i failed to develop much empathy for the characters and had to fight the urge to fast  forward just to get to the end .  br    br   i do not recommend this film even if you are thinking of renting it for only for  eye candy  purposes . it won  t satisfy even that .  
i saw his movie in dallas  texas when it came out in     . i remember them giving out prizes for showing up to see the movie . after seeing the movie i can see why . the movie was not bad  nor was it great . the problem with this movie was that it tried to tell a side story . they created a new story  new characters and tried to wrap it around the masters saga . my biggest complaint is that the plot is about a second wave of robotech masters attacking the earth . they even used the same scenes from the master saga but with different dialogue . as a kid  i loved the movie . but unfortunately i haven  t seen it as an adult and can  t give a better review . looking back i was disappointed but now i would love to see the movie and re  evaluate my stance on it . that being said  will someone please release this movie for the whole world to judge  i love robotech and can  t wait for the shadows chronicles .  
this movie makes a promising start and then gets very confused and muddled . kamal hasan has made a lot of effort in getting the period look right  pity he did not spend more time on the plot . most of the small characters in the movie show up for no particular reason .  br    br   overall very disappointing  i would recommend avoiding this movie .  
contrary to popular belief  this title  to me at least  is not so very bad . in fact . i regard it as a favoured film of all time . the welding of stories wasn  t structured too well when you consider the differences between the series  however despite all this  you can watch it quite happily . for a feature film of its day  the scenes are well proportioned and the characters remain consistently believable .  br    br   the sound  audio track is a personal favourite of mine . nearly everything has a correct sound effect and many of the voices suit the characters much better than their  now badly cast us dub  counterparts . the sync is perfect in every shot . i had a few issues with the casting for the  alien  voices  please forgive the crude naming  it has been a while since i  ve seen it  . otherwise however  the cast seemed perfectly balanced . i feel and believe in the characters of this movie . dubs are often a subject i rarely agree with from so long ago . i loved the osd  s from back then but the castings often let series down .  br    br   at this point i would like to add that this was one of the first anime i saw in my life . it has historical value to me  but even after seeing the original megazone   it remained stronger and more watched in my collection .  br    br   to my knowledge the title only ever made it to the us in texas . personally i think its a big shame . had the correct audience been subject to it  i think robotech the movie would have been accepted and not tarnished over the years . i am involved with anime each day of my life and everyone i have shown this movie thought it was a nicely put together title .  br    br   watching the film after its separate components will allow the viewer to notice the evident plot holes between shows . however  without seeing the originals  a viewer wouldn  t really notice . since the animation is identical in style  there was no reason to question it back in its day . the uk had very limited access to anime . laser discs were the most productive media . personally i like the way carl had the balls to at least push the genre . i mean harmony wasn  t going to put up the cash for the series to get publicised .  br    br   despite the few picky faults people have had with this film  the eighties feel of it keeps me in love . if you watch megazone   now  to its original japanese audio  or the new dub  i believe you will be greatly disappointed with the osd . cast your minds back to the original bubblegum crisis dub soundtrack and imagine new eighties audio to e . v . e .  br    br   saying all this . this film  s popularity nowadays is most likely down to its rarity on the open market . personally  it spawned a collection for me . i  m now scouring the world for merchandise from the three components that made it up and if i ever get to meet carl macek  ill shake his hand for the effort  and buy him a pint or a crate for getting me into anime .  
i would of given this film a zero out of ten  but i will give it a two . reason one is that shah rukh khan appears in the film  which is not really a reason . last point is that rani appears in this film and does a smooch with kamal . i love rani very much and have a respect that she is a great actress . which is why i didn  t enjoy her in this movie kissing kamal  but its no big deal . anyway enough of the bedroom scenes that made this film noticeable  lets actually talk about this film . is it good or bad  i think its a completely rubbish movie that made me yawn . me being a fantastic critic  you can see my other     review  s by clicking on my name  i have great taste . the movie is not entertaining is one thing and if this is suppose to be hard hitting cinema  why is there no morale in this movie . its a biased movie thats not a true story and it stinks . watching kamal kissing these actresses makes me sick  man cant kiss properly anyway .  
other reviewers here seem to think this is an awful film . that  s simply not true and a little unfair .  br    br   the acting is of a good quality and the direction moves on with a decent fluidity . i don  t think there  s anything wrong with the tarantino  esquire way of interlocking stories together . perhaps its just a new tool for directors to try . i thought it made the film much more interesting . perhaps a few elements of the script need tightening  but that  s about the only fault i can find . nestor cantillana gives a great performance as sylvio  also antonella rios is stunning and worth the price of admission alone .  
ok  i admit i watched this movie on mystery science theater      which i am a huge fan of   but i am not one of those people who automatically gives an mst  k movie a     rating . although i hate many of the movies they play  and some are among of the worst movies i  ve ever seen  i have actually been able to enjoy some mst  k movies . that being said  this is one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen .  it is no wonder  in fact  that the mst  k writers themselves commented that this one was one of the worst . don  t believe me  check out their site .   br    br   to me  this movie is a good example of what not to do in filmmaking . the dialogue is very bad  the acting is worse  the cinematography is pathetic the direction  while perhaps being the best thing in this movie  is bad .  br    br   the pacing is the worst part in this movie . a few times in this movie  the viewer had to wait literally minutes for something to happen . while minutes may not sound like a very long amount of time  it can be in a movie  particularly in this one . i  m sure it was meant to create a mood  but i was just very bored . it truly felt like ten minutes .  br    br   if  suspension of disbelief  means  almost falling asleep during a movie   then this has plenty of that . but the screaming skull is just so horrible  there is no way i could have possibly even gotten interested in anything that was actually going on in the film  and thus the  suspension of disbelief  was indeed non  existant .  br    br   one of the worst  and probably the most boring movie i  ve ever seen .  br    br        
i was pretty surprised with this flick . even though their budjet was obviously lacking still you have to be impressed that this movie took  years to make and still turned out good . the acting was pretty impressive and the story really captivated me . my only complaint would be that the ending really was a little too abrupt for my taste . but hey if your audience is left wanting more then this movie has succeeded .  br    br   i would really recommend anyone in hollywood to look up antonella ros who is an excellent spanish talent  something hard to find now days with all the bad novela over acting  . antonella ros truly is a star on the rise .  
that is the best way i can describe this movie which centers on a newly married couple who move into a house that is haunted by the husband  s first wife who died under mysterious circumstances . that sounds well and good  but what plays out is an hour of pure boredom . in fact one of the funny things about this flick is that there is a warning at the beginning of the film that promises anyone who dies of fright a free coffin . well trust me  no one ever took them up on that offer unless someone out there is terrified of plastic skulls  peacocks  weird gardeners  and doors being knocked on . and the music is the worst  it consists of constant tuba music which sounds like it is being played by some sixth grader . and you will figure out the terrible secret that is so obvious that you really have to wonder what the people in this movie were thinking . someone dies while running and hitting their head and the police are never called to investigate . yes in the end this is a slow paced  which is really bad considering the movie is only just over an hour   boring little tale  that is easily figured out by the average person . apparently none of the characters in this flick were the average person .  
los debutantes is the story of two orphaned brothers who have moved to santiago from the south after their mother dies . the confident and streetwise silvio  the elder brother  gets a job working for a sleazy strip club  s owner after taking the naive victor there for his   th birthday .  br    br   as silvio blossoms under his boss  s tutelage  both brothers get involved with the owner  s sexy and manipulative mistress  gracia . as the film unfolds  characters are redefined as we begin to see the subtle and overt ways that each one manipulates the next .  br    br   the film is well made  with good cinematography and fast pacing . it  s also pretty sexy  with a lot of nudity and some fairly explicit sex scenes . it uses the now  popular technique of layering different scenes from different points of view  out of chronological sequence . many people hate movies like this because they don  t understand what  s going on  memento  pulp fiction  reservoir dogs  and many other good films use this device . the plot itself is really nothing new  there are elements of body heat  pulp fiction  and many other good film noir .  br    br   as the different layers are revealed  our understandings of the characters and their motivations evolve . while the plot may be somewhat clich  it is also clever and entertaining .  br    br   i would call it an enjoyable movie  worth watching  but nothing memorable . i haven  t seen many films from chile  and it  s always interesting to see film noir from other countries . other than that  rent it if it  s available but don  t lose any sleep if it isn  t .  
the producers of this film offer to pay funeral expenses for anyone who dies of fright while watching this movie . they should have offered intensive psychotherapy for anyone who really enjoyed this stinker . a young couple moves into a house  where a woman who looks like the woman from the couple lived . extremely boring  and very predictable . in the end i ended up not caring about anyone in this movie .  br    br   avoid this one at all costs .  
an intriguingly bold film weaves the seemingly effortless camerawork with some superb casting and an explosive soundtrack to plot the damaging effects of the crime and corruption of the santiago underworld on  naive young brothers from the southern city of temuco .  br    br   film debutant daniella rios is the seductive erotic dancer gracia  working in the nightclub owned by the face of the new mini  wave in chilean film production  alejandro trejo . the elder brother  played maturely by nestor cantillana  is easily convinced to become trejo  s lead henchman  after a night at the stripclub to celebrate younger brother victor  s  juan pablo miranda  seventeenth birthday . from the establishing shot of this opening scene  the film explodes into neo  noir exploration of everything the outside world doesn  t usually expect to see in this country so stereotypically conservative and catholic .  br    br   gracia  s charms of seduction attract the three men like bees to honey  although the circular narrative of the three  way fantasy romance revolves around the linear portrayal of major international drug deals between trejo  s men and the  gringo   eduardo barril . power relations become a vital theme  as society  s outsiders merge in a mini  family . the prostitute holds an exotic spell over all the chilean men in the film  emerging from her ambiguous position in the periphery of society  and is seen as holding the key to all three men  s futures . the relationships between trejo and cantillana become important  as the boys  parents are conspicious by their absence  one assumes they still live in temuco  . therefore it is trejo  el padrino  who  adopts  cantillana  and effectively  makes him  as a man in the city . miranda rapidly becomes the desperate outsider  as his dependency on his  father figure   cantillana  becomes increasingly strained by jealousy over the beautiful gracia . however  miranda remains trapped by the constraint of still being in school  he is dependent on cantillana  who is dependent on trejo  for the money to survive . trejo  in turn  is under the thumb of the  gringo   and his wealth has been accumulated through drug deals and well as his strip clubs . the figure of gracia acts as a time bomb viewed as a beautiful firework  she wraps a web of beauty inside the patriarchy but the strain can only lead to one climax .  br    br   as the tensions of these power relations come to head  gracia remains ambiguously elusive . the viewer is never sure which male figure she will commit to . the film concludes tragically and explosively in a shoot out which realigns power relations and erases half the major male protanganists . the final shot of miranda  s beaten face speeding down the panamericano highway is despairingly powerful . the boy has been sucked in by the lure of the city  s underworld  yet has lost his only visible family  and his woman  who is his only friend in the film . he has nothing . the overriding metaphors are bold and brave . this is a gangster film in chile . the notions of family  no sex before marriage etc  are abolished  and instead the harsh realities of the other side of santiago  s coin are displayed in all their savage glory . trejo beats rios brutally  rios and miranda make love in a cinema reel room  a whore having sex with a minor she barely knows . the  gringos  are seen to have a financial hold over this small latin american nation  but not through the copper mines  through the illegal path of drugs .  br    br   waissbluth  s triumph is in his presentation of this dark underworld  which raises so many social questions  more perhaps than the record  breakingly successful sexo con amor  within a slick  smooth firecracker of a film  which place this film firmly alongside sexo con amor  taxi para tres  and el chacotero sentimental  as cinematic evidence that chile is well and truly artistically alive and kicking in the post  transition period   years after the censorship of the military regime .  
i saw this movie on mystery science theater    . it sucked so much . if i hadn  t been watching it on mst  k  i probably would  ve thrown it out the window . the characters were incredibly lame and it didn  t provide much of a plot in my opinion .  
director  writer andrs waissbluth worked seven years to complete this two hour film about the crime underground in santiago  chile  and perhaps that is one of the reasons the resultant film seems episodic and in need of editing . or  maybe this is the technique of a director who shows a fine sense of film noir storytelling .  br    br   two brothers  silvio the elder  nstor cantillana  and victor the younger  juan pablo miranda   have moved to santiago from their home in temuco after their parents  death and silvio works to support victor  s education . on victor  s seventeenth birthday silvio takes the virgin out to the clubs where he encourages victor to lose his virginity with one of the club  s stripper  prostitutes . in a tender scene victor must face his nascent impotency while silvio is out on the club floor impressing the  owners  with his potential for hire .  br    br   silvio goes to work for the  gang  as a bodyguard  henchman and makes good money to support victor  s schooling . but victor has eyes for one of the dancers at the club named gracia  antonella ros  and begins to woo her  dropping out of school incurring silvio  s angry disappointment . gracia just happens to be the squeeze of the club gang  s leader don pascual  alejandro trejo  who is silvio  s boss  gracia is the glue that holds this tale together as she is the paramour of victor  silvio  and don pascual and the consequences of this bizarre mnage a trois has deadly results . through a means of re  telling the story through the eyes of victor  silvio  and gracia we grow to understand the vulnerabilities and the cracks in each character that allow for the downfall that results .  br    br   sound like a chilean pulp fiction  well  it is and it is filmed in a brutally colorful  dark manner that includes a lot of frontal nudity  both female and male  and provocative sexual encounters . but in the end the sensual aspect of the director  s vision is what drives this film  playing on the debutante virginal psyche against the hardcore professional sex worker with success . the cast is fairly strong  especially antonella ros in the demanding role of gracia . there are enough twists and turns and replays of incidents you think you understood the first viewing but that change dramatically in impact when told through the eyes of a different character . bordering on two hours  some judicious editing would have helped the impact of the film . in spanish with english subtitles . recommended for those who like the edgy film noir style and the art of south american cinema . grady harp  
i am not a big fan of horror films  and have only seen a handful of them  and none of the  halloween  s or  friday the thirteenth  s   but i can appreciate a frightening horror film not because of gore . and i  m pretty sure this isn  t scary .  br    br   what  s so spooky about a little plastic skull that pops up everywhere  in all of its appearances there are faraway establishing shots  so there  s no real surprise in any of this film .  not that a skull in of itself is that scary anyway  but . . .   br    br   the plot concerns claus von bulow  s third cousin  john hudson   who marries a donna  reed look  a  like  peggey webber  giving one of the worst performances ever  who begins seeing skulls and hearing the mysterious screams of a group of peacocks on her husband  s mansion . did i mention that her husband lost her first wife in a mysterious drowning incident  ooooh     wonder who did it      br    br   this is the same old plot about a rich boy trying to kill and  or drive their wife insane . if you want to see a well  done version of this stuff  try  reversal of fortune  . and btw  jeremy irons is one hundred times more talented than john hudson .  br    br   the msting was okay but nothing special paired with the  gumby  short  however  it makes for good viewing .  br    br   two stars for  the screaming skull   eight stars for the mst  k version .  br    br   and now  to paraphrase mr . von bulow himself  how bad is this film    you have no idea    
you can call it a mystery  perhaps a small thriller  or an intelligent film .  br    br   the story takes you through the life of one person who has lost his life and is looking to regain it .  br    br   i have to say i was quite surprised that i truly did enjoy this film . it is not usually the genre i care for however the characters quickly became people to me and i wanted to know what they were about and what was going to happen to them .  br    br   just like many french films over english made  we are able to learn much more about the character and the affect of their surroundings on their person . this film is character driven and will not disappoint   
i am sure there is some sort of imdb cult that likes movies that mst  k made fun of . after seeing both this and  werewolf  and reading dozens of comments about how underated they are  i became convinced that there is some conpiricy going on here . alot of people are saying that people who hate it  are only scared by gore    don  t know good horror  or stuff like that . well  i don  t really care for gore  but i do want something to happen in a movie  most of it is just the wife sitting and looking around  or walking around the house  garden  a movie requires something to give it atmosphoere  you don  t get it by just have pointless scenes were someone walks around and stares . oh  and  makes you think   yeah  i was thinking  move  you       one of the worst horror movie i have ever scene   br    br   p . s . for the record  i am a big fan of the old style of horror  dracula  frankenstein  that kind of stuff .  
you like to solve mysteries  you like complex narrations  this is for you . brilliant  clever movie by francis leclerc  son of a legendary french canadian signer felix leclerc  . flashy photo and clever editing is the word of leclerc  strongly helped by roy dupuis who  s dythirambic in the lead role .  br    br   the plot is about alexandre tourneur  veterinary in his    s who just woke up from a coma after being unplugged by somebody unknown . tourneur is struggling to remember who hit him as he was ending a deer  s sufferings on the road . throughout the struggling  he has weird behavior and it seems like something took over him .  br    br   not spooky  but very mysterious and well played movie . i have my hypothesis on the ending  i think the indian caused the accident  but this ending was open to any explanations .  br    br   i strongly recommend it  .      
after seeing the credits with only one name that i recognize and that was the preacher in this film  russ conway   i did not expect much from this film and i was not disappointed . a man is planning on killing his new wife by convincing other people that she is insane and will take her own life . unbeknown to the husband is that the plastic looking skull that he uses  in contrast  a ghost of a woman apparently his first dead wife has revenge on her mind and uses a real skull . a simple plot with a twist of irony at the end . if you are tired late one night and in need of sleep  this will help you to sleep that sleep .  
first off  let  s start with the negative points   there are huge  gaping wholes in the story line and questions that are raised that will get no where near being answered   the movie is not for all people  so impolite viewers will get restless and start yapping during the movie .  br    br   point two above is important because the movie is very quiet . in an older type theater  like the one i went to   you can hear the reel going through the projector at times . i loved that . the movie does not keep you busy with music  nor effects it lets you reflect upon what is happening .  br    br   there is a lack of rhythm that generates an atmosphere that is fascinating an utterly enjoyable . the same kind of atmosphere generated by stanley kubrick in eyes wide shut . not for all people .  br    br   i would highly recommend it to fans of cinema  as the cinematographic work is amazing . those that base their appreciation of a movie solely on the story will be utterly disappointed . it  s the kind of story that you have to make up the links in your mind afterwards .  my version of it is pretty darn cool  but probably quite off  track   if you do go catch the movie  there is one very cool part when the two cops are talking to each other on their cell phones . an ultra  cool sound effect that really puts you in the moment . hats off to the person that thought of doing this .  
now i get it . the title refers to each audience member  s immediate post  reaction after   minutes of mental torture . trying too hard to be terrifying  lacking good dialogue even any fear for that matter really makes the screaming skull more like a snoring dull . albeit  the mansion and property set in black and white does set a dark tone for the movie  but that  s about it . the only scary thing about this flop is that people actually made money on this  remember the coffin guarantee in the beginning  that may be the funniest thing i have ever witnessed on screen . sad thing is that viewers probably hoped director alex nichol was forcibly placed in a coffin  nailed shut  and buried alive for his lame effort . jenny placed in this unfortunate horrific situation never really draws any sympathy you would feel for a woman whose anxiety is blamed on a haunted  cranial receptacle . also  her husband john comes off as a condescending wannabe smooth talker  but this doesn  t work and he ends up proving how tough he is by slapping a helpless cripple around  ah  mickeythe days before you could get a restraining order against estate caretakers like him . this guy  s approach is not very good or maybe too much airplane glue . still  despite his strange persona  mickey probably is the only good thing going for this movie providing a slight sense of entertainment and i can  t get enough of a guy saying  it was mary   and rummaging through pots in a greenhouse .  
while i don  t agree with bob  s and tammy  s decision to give up baby jesse  and it  s something i  d never do  they were trying to do what was best for the baby . the way this movie is written  you see yourself becoming wrapped up in the story and asking yourself what you really believe  from all different aspects . patty duke  antagonist  almost unheard of  as far as i  m concerned . but during the movie  she really convinces you that she  s psychotic  or at least  that there  s something seriously wrong with her . her character is the meaning of  emotionally disturbed .  the movie seems to end quickly  leaving things somewhat unresolved . but other than that  this movie is really great . it really makes you think . it  s not a movie to watch when you just want to kick back and relax and watch something cute that  ll make you laugh . but it is a good movie to see when you want to challenge your own beliefs  see things from others  perspectives  and discover a little something about yourself . caution you may even grow while watching this movie  and it  s all worth it  in the end .  
i read rice  s novel with interest  and became quite enchanted with its characters and heartbreaking tale based on historical truths .  br    br   however  i was simply appalled at this disastrous adaptation . the casting was based merely on physical appearance  and not acting talent  with the obvious exception of peter gallagher  who was neither blond  haired  or able to act his way out of a wet paper bag  . the cast  s embarrassingly clumsy and inconsistent attempts at affecting a french accent was hilarious  but not in an entertaining way . i found myself wincing through this muddled and melodramatic tripe  and was surprised i made it to the end .  br    br   a warning to fans of the novel  stay away from this one .  
john garfield plays a marine who is blinded by a grenade while fighting on guadalcanal and who has to learn to live with his disability . he has all the stereotypical notions about blindness  and is sure he  ll be a burden to everyone . the hospital staff and his fellow wounded marines can  t get through to him . neither can his girl back home played by eleanor parker . he  s stubborn and blinded by his own fears  self pity  and prejudices . it  s a complex role that garfield carries off memorably in a great performance that keeps one watching in spite of the ever present syrupy melodrama . the best scenes are on guadalcanal  where he  s in a machine gun nest trying to fend off the advancing japanese soldiers in a hellish looking night time battle  and later a dream sequence in the hospital where he sees himself walking down a train platform with a white cane  dark glasses  and holding out a tin cup  all the while his girlfriend walks backward away from the camera .  
well  one has to give the director credit for how gutsy he was . gutsy would be the right term . not only did he use a total cast of five people  no extras at all   but he also decided to use sub  par special effects with a confusing and boring plot  he also  and i am not kidding  put a warning at the beginning of the movie that you might die of fright    however  they do promise a freeeeee coooofffffffiiiiinnnnn . to have a creepy limping gardener is always a good move . yaaa  unique  aaawwwwnnn . . . .  br    br   if you watch mystery science theater      you might  ve seen this . they like to showcase horrible movies  just to let you know .  br    br   a good gift for someone you hate .  
spoilers on of the first wwii movies coming out of hollywood that shows how the war effected those gi  s  or in this case us marines  who fought in it .  br    br     year old al schmid  john garfield  was just starting to live with a well paying job  earning some    .   a week  at the local steel mill and girl ruth hartley  elenore parker  whom he was about to marry when the japs spoiled everything for him  and millions of likewise young americans  by attacking the us pacific fleet at pearl harbor . doing his duty as an american citizen al immediately joined the us marine corps hoping to get back at the japs knowing  correctly as it was to turn out  that the marines would be the first american combat units to get a crack at them .  br    br   al finally got his chance when his unit  the  st marine division  landed on august       at guadalcanal in the far flung solomon islands to engage the japanese who were were in control of it . it was during the battle of the ilu river that al almost single handed stopped a massive japanese banzai attack holding off  with his machine gun  wave after wave of suicide attacks by the determined japs until help  or reinforcements  finally arrived . it was during the bloody fighting al was hit in the face by a jap grenade that ended up blinding him .  br    br   now back in the states convalescing at a naval hospital al is faced with something far more harder to overcome then battling a battalion size attack of japanese or german soldiers . he  s faced with a future where he  ll never see again and having to depend on others to look after  or for  him   br    br   we get to see in the film  pride of the marines  al battle himself far harder then he did the japanese troops on guadalcanal in just coming to terms with his disability . not wanting anyone  especially his girlfriend ruth  to feel sorry for him al in fact is the one who feels sorry for himself more then anyone else in the movie . it  s with the help of navy nurse virginia pfeiffer  rosemary decamp  and ruth together with his us marine buddy lee diamond  dane clark  that in the end gives al the courage to face his blindness with the same strength that he faced wave after wave of japanese troops on gudalcanal . a courage al thought he lost back in that god  forsaken island hell in the south pacific .  br    br   based on the true story of us marine sergeant albert schmid  pride of the marines  showed what we were to expect from the tens of thousands of wounded us servicemen coming back from the war . we get to see how it in many ways was far more difficult for those fighting the war to adjust to a peacetime america when they left something  like in the case of al schmid  behind on the battlefield . al  s battle with his personal demons was a lot harder then the japanese that he fought in that they were part of him and thus had to fight himself in order to overcome and eventually defeat them . despite the help that he got from both nurse virginia and his girlfriend ruth as well as his navy doctor  who has a striking resemblance to actor gregory peck  it still was up to al to overcome the fears that he faced . fears which he and only he had to both battle and overcome  like he was told by everyone in the movie  all by himself .  
  a newlywed couple move into the home of the husband  s dead former wife . it  s not long before the new wife begins to have the feeling that someone doesn  t want her in the house . she sees skulls all around the house . but when the husband investigates  he can  t find anything . is someone trying to drive her back to the asylum that she was recently discharged from  or  is the ghost of the dead wife trying to get the new wife out of her house   br    br    this is the first time that i  ve watched the screaming skull without the assistance of the mst  k crew . and  it will in all likelihood be the last time i watch it this way . can you say dull  i  m not talking ordinary dull  i  m talking watching grass grow dull . there are great stretches of the movie where nothing happens . the screen could have gone blank and i would have gotten as much entertainment out of it . the characters drone on and on with the most monotonous conversations imaginable . the screaming skull could probably be marketed as a sleep aide .  br    br    the actors don  t help matters much . most of them deliver lines with the conviction normally reserved for a grade school play . i haven  t looked it up  but i would be shocked to find that anyone associated with this movie ever appeared in anything of cinematic value . i won  t even go into the script the actors are given to work with . let  s just say that the characters are given some of the most idiotic lines ever uttered on film .  br    br    you  ve been warned  either avoid this one at all costs or  at least  seek out the mst  k version .  
a very good wartime movie showing the effects of war on a hometown boy who looses his eyesight on guadalcanal and must come home and re  adjust himself with the help of family and friends . an excellent cast of actor  s helps make this movie very entertaining . eleanor parker  s role as the girlfriend was worthy of an oscar nomination . she has such an innocence to her in this movie . ann doran role was equally satisfying as was all of her small supporting roles . i especially like the hometown aura of pre  war phildelphia . the hunting scene is very good . of course the war scene on guadalcanal truly showed the horror faced by our soldiers during this epic battle . a well deserving film and one that should not be forgotten  
well i have to admit this was one of my favorites as a kid  when i used to watch it on a home projector as a super   reel . now there isn  t much to recommend it  other than the inherent camp value of actors being  terrified  by replicas of human skulls . the special effects are pretty silly  mostly consisting of skulls on wires and superimposed  ghost  images .  br    br   but there  s something to be said for the sets . the large mansion in which it takes place is pretty creepy  especially since it  s mostly unfurnished  probably due to budgetary reasons   .  br    br   it definitely inspires more laughs than screams  however . just try not to get the giggles when the wife  who does more than her share of screaming  goes into the greenhouse and is confronted with the ghost of her husband  s ex .  
being from the philadelphia suburbs and extremely interested in local history  this film provides an excellent vintage view of philadelphia in the     s . there are scenes of downtown  a train station that no longer exists    th street station   which still does exist  as well as scenes from the northeast part of the city . good shots of the old row  homes as they appeared then . the movie gets a bit  chatty  at times  causing the viewer to briefly lose interest . . . but the overall storyline is solid and very moving . anyone who enjoyed this movie should also try to see the film  bright victory   also with local footage of the valley forge army hospital in phoenixville  pa  and scenes from downtown phoenixville . the army hospital has since become a college campus . neither of these films are out on any format and i can  t imagine why . i have them both on vhs from home recording  as shown on tcm in recent years . i highly recommend them to any other history buffs out there from my area   
the screaming skull   outta  stars  this movie boasts some pretty cool opening credits  an offscreen narrator warning that movie patrons will be offered a free burial if they die of fright watching this movie  a scary shot of a skull emerging from a placid pool and the ubiquitous scary music  but  sadly  the movie is all downhill from there . a widowed man takes his new bride to his secluded mansion . . . admonishing his servants and friends that the new mrs . has a very fragile disposition due to a tragedy in her past . well  in no time at all she begins to see and hear mysterious things that no one else can . her husband assures her that it  s all merely in her mind and . . . well  you can probably see where this all is going . you will have figured out what  s going on long before our hapless heroine . . . because you have probably seen the exact same plot in hundreds of other movies and tv shows  and done better  too  . to add to the movie  s myriad transgressions  most cuts of this movie  on numerous cheap dvd compilations  seem to be missing a few key scenes . you see the heroine slowly walking towards the window . . . she goes to open it . . . you know she is going to see something scary . . . and then . . . suddenly the scene cuts to her sobbing in her husband  s arms . so what did she see    i guess we  ll never know .  
definitely at the top five of best john garfield movies has to be pride of the marines . it  s the true story of marine private al schmid who at the cost of his own sight  while wounded held off a horde of storming japanese on guadalcanal .  br    br   the story nicely segments in three parts  al schmid  s home life where he  s a simple working stiff who  s just getting serious with a woman and who likes nothing better than his bowling night . pearl harbor is bombed and he  s off to war as millions of others were .  br    br   the second part is at guadalcanal and we see part of the action where he  s in an isolated machine gun nest  holding off japanese troops . his action prevented marine positions from being overrun  but a grenade does in his eyesight .  br    br   and of course the third part is his painful adjustment to civilian life and to reassure himself that people aren  t just caring for him out of pity  most of all that girl he was seeing eleanor parker .  br    br   this film was broadcast on tcm on john garfield  s   th birthday and there was a documentary on garfield hosted by his daughter . one of the people interviewed said that garfield was the actor most believable in working class roles in having and holding a union card .  br    br   in that respect he was lucky in that he did land with warner brothers in hollywood . though he kept getting typecast in gangster roles in the tradition of that studio  garfield was terrific in these parts because of his background  because he came from the kind of life al schmid had  with the exception of garfield  s jewish background .  br    br   in that respect he was perfect to play the part of a working class hero like al schmid who accepted the responsibility of defending his country . no super heroics here  just a guy who  d rather have been back in philadelphia  but doing a job that had to be done .  br    br   it  s a great part for garfield . it  s a film one shouldn  t miss . i do wonder though whatever happened to the real al schmid .  
as far as cinematography goes  this film was pretty good for the mid    s . there were a few times that the lighting was way too hot but the shots were generally in frame and stayed in focus . the acting was above average for a low budget stinker but the direction was horrible . several scenes were dragged out way too long in an attempt at suspense and the effects were non  existent . the attack by the skull in the pond should have been completely removed from the final cut and every attempt to bring life to the skull was obvious with stick pokes and strings . i also couldn  t help but think the budget didn  t allow them to furnish the house so they kept making references to the movers and that all the things in storage should be coming soon . honestly . . . it would have been more entertaining if it were a worse movie . it wasn  t bad enough to be a  good  bad  movie but wasn  t good enough to be  good  either . get the mst  k version . . . it  s more fun .  
a wonderful and gritty war film that focuses on the inner torment of blinded marine al schmid . although it is tough and unpleasant it is in the end heroic  schmid  s triumph over disability and depression . the battle scene was superb . but one bone to pick . no matter how many .   bullets they fired i never saw any water or dirt being kicked up by the impacts  it hurt the realism  but i can live with it . fine performance by eleanor parker  again  as his girl friend .  
okay  so the introduction  with its hokey offer of a free coffin to anyone who dies of fright during the film  is so lame it  s funny . and so the first  skull scene  is so drawn out and un  suspenseful it  s funny . the actual plot of the movie is somewhat decent  there  s at least a little bit of genuine food for thought in the behavior of the characters  and the plot twist is decent as horror flicks go . the acting is average  not truly bad .  br    br   altogether  this movie doesn  t quite fall flat in the way a     movie would . it  s not terrible enough to get the lowest rating or even second lowest . if i just read the screenplay  i  d say there was potential for this to be a decent movie . it  s just that the horrid direction and production that ruin the movie . so it  s a bad movie  but there are much worse ones out there .  
no one would argue that this     war film was a masterpiece .  how could any     war film be a masterpiece   and yet this is an extremely effective telling of a true story  that of al schmidt  blinded on guadalcanal  as played by john garfield  who spent days wearing a blindfold to capture the nuances of a blind person  s actions . robert leckie  in  helmet for my pillow   denigrates schmidt  s popularity in favor of his foxhole mate  who was killed  writing that  the country must have needed live heroes .   br    br   well  i suppose the country did . and they had one here . there is a single combat scene in the movie  bound to the studio lot  lasting only ten minutes or so  and occurring less than halfway through the film instead of being saved for the climax  but it is the scariest and most realistic depiction of men under fire that i can remember having seen on screen  including those in  saving private ryan  . men yell with fear  scream at each other and at the enemy  and bleed and die  without the aid of color  stereophonic sound  squibs  or gore .  br    br   simply from a technological point of view  the film is outstanding . it isn  t just that we learn how complicated a mechanism a .   caliber  water  cooled browning machine gun is  or that it must be fired in bursts of only a few rounds  or that it isn  t waved around like a fire hose  as in so many other war movies . the technical precision adds to the scene  s riveting quality . the need to stick to short bursts is horrifying when dozens of shrieking enemies are pouring across a creek fifty feet away with the sole aim of exterminating you and your two isolated comrades confined to a small gun emplacement .  br    br   the performances are solid  if not bravura  including those of the ubiquitous     s support  john ridgeley  and a radiant  youthful eleanor parker . the framing love story is spare  but it works  and ultimately is quite moving . a striking dream sequence is included . it  s not bunuel  but for a routine     film  it stands out as original and effective .  br    br   albert maltz may have overwritten the script  or it may have been altered by someone else . it could have used the kind of pruning that might have introduced some much needed ambiguity . still  there are odd verbal punctuations that have a surprising impact on the viewer    why don  t god strike me dead   and   in the eyes  lee . get  em in the eyes   depths of anguish in a few corny words . and a surprising amount of bitterness expressed by wounded veterans in a     war film .  br    br   notes that might seem false to a contemporary viewer but perhaps shouldn  t the dated vernacular which it  s difficult to believe many of today  s kids could think was actually ever spoken    private gab    dope    drip    gee    you dumb coot    dame    a swell guy   and  feeling sorry for yourself .  let us consider the historical context and be kind in our judgments . at the time  some of this goofy lingo was at the cutting edge .  br    br   real weak points  the wounded veterans get together and argue with each other about how much of a collective future they have and the argument is oversimply resolved with a conclusion along the lines of   just because you have a silver plate in your head doesn  t mean people will think you  re a bad person .  there are sometimes voice overs and silent prayers that are both unnecessary and downright unimaginative .  please  god  let him return to me   and that sort of thing .  br    br   well  the film makers were operating within the constraints of their times . maybe that  s why the final fade is on a shot of independence hall and the inspiring strains of  america the beautiful  swell in the back .  br    br   none of this can undo the film  s virtues  which are considerable  particularly the impact of that horrifying combat scene . it  s not on television that often . if you have a chance  by all means catch it .  
warning possible spoilers below  br    br   the film is more boring then anything else . there seems to be some attempt to build tension through badly lit shots of empty rooms and empty lawns  but none of it works .  br    br   mst  k did a fairly good job with it  but on its own the movie is mostly tedious .  br    br   funny moments  br    br   when the fake skull rolls out of a pile of ashes  the wife becomes hysterical and woozy while the husband  who is trying to drive the wife crazy  says in a deadpan voice  there is no skull there  there  s no skull .   br    br   when the real ghost  skulls have the husband caught in a pickle  as if trapped between first and second base .  
this movie is a fantastic movie . everything about it in my opinion was top notch from the acting to the directing . i know mr . garfield was blacklisted in the      s but the majority of his other films are on video if not dvd . that being the case  why isn  t this one  a friend recorded it off of tcm for me but to have it on dvd would be great . for special features they could have say a marine historian talk about the battle and if mr . schmid  s wife or son are still alive they could be interviewed as well . anyway this is a great movie and i highly recommend it . if it ever is put out hopefully it won  t be colorized . colorizing it would in my opinion just ruin the whole effect of the film . the battle scene was quite realistic as far as a      film would go . mr . garfield did a superb job of portraying mr . schmid . some actors might have been tempted to overact the part of mr . schmid  s disability but i feel he got it just right . i sincerely hope they come out with this movie on dvd someday as a tribute to the courage of al schmid and all the other marines who sacrificed so much for us in world war two .  
as the film begins a narrator warns us the screaming skull is so terrifying you might die of fright   and if such happens a free burial is guaranteed . well  i don  t think any one has died of fright from seeing this film  but a few may have died of boredom . the screaming skull is the sort of movie that makes ed wood look good .  br    br   very loosely based on the famous francis marion crawford story  skull is about a wealthy but nervous woman who marries a sinister man whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances . once installed in his home  she is tormented by a half  wit gardener  a badly executed portrait  peacocks  and ultimately a skull that rolls around the room and causes her to scream a lot . and to her credit  actress peggy webber screams rather well .  br    br   unfortunately  her ability to do so is the high point of the film . the plot is pretty transparent  to say the least  and while the cast is actually okay  the script is dreadful and the movie so uninspired you  ll be ready to run screaming yourself . true  the thing only runs about sixty  eight minutes  but it all feels a lot longer . add to this a truly terrible print quality and there you are .  br    br   there are films that are so bad they are fun to watch . it is true that the screaming skull has a few howlers   but the film drags so much i couldn  t work up more than an occasional giggle  and by the time the whole thing is over your head will roll from ennui . if it weren  t for peggy webber  s way with a scream  this would be the surefire cure for insomnia . give it a miss .  br    br   gft  amazon reviewer  
this is a great film classic from the    s and well produced . there are very dramatic scenes in this film with john garfield   al schmid    force of evil      and dane clark   lee diamond    last rites       fighting the japs during wwii being completely surrounded and with only one machine  gun . when al schmid was able to go home after being wounded with a horrible injury  his problems just started to begin with his family and engaged girl friend . dane clark gave an outstanding supporting role as lee diamond  who did everything to help his buddy al get his life together again . there is never a complete victory to war and lets not forget all the brave wounded military personnel in veterans hospitals from all the wars and our present iraq vets   
i couldn  t tell if  the screaming skull  was trying to be a hitchcock rip off or a modernized edgar allen poe tribute . these days  someone would have chopped it up a bit and presented it as one of those tv anthology episodes from the old  tales from the dark side  . . . but only after an extensive rewrite .  br    br   the sad thing is  there seems to be a nice  nasty little story trying to get out from under the rubble of this movie  and the actors are obviously doing the best they can with both their talent and the material they have to work with . but the director just didn  t know how to stage or pace a dramatic scene the special effects simply didn  t work the screenplay telegraphed its threadbare plot points so plainly that a bivalve could have seen them coming and the soundtrack kept playing german  oompah band  music when it was supposed to be trying to scare the audience .  br    br   they tried they tried really hard . but this is of interest only as a period piece . i suppose someone very young who hadn  t seen a lot of suspense or horror might get a charge out  the screaming skull   but someone that young probably wouldn  t get most of the subtext or plot motivation .   mommy  why is that nice man trying to scare the twisty faced scaredy  cat lady      
my father  dr . gordon warner  ret . major  us marine corps   was in guadalcanal and lost his leg to the japanese  and also received the navy cross . i was pleasantly surprised to learn that my father was the technical adviser of this film and i am hoping that he had an impact on the film in making it resemble how it really was back then  as i read in various comments written by the viewers of this film that it seemed like real  life . my father is a fanatic of facts and figures  and always wanted things to be seen as they were so i would like to believe he had something to do with that .  br    br   he currently lives in okinawa  japan  married to my mother for over   years  ironically  she  s japanese   and a few years ago was awarded one of the highest commendations from the emperor of japan for his contribution and activities of bringing back kendo and iaido to japan since mcarthur banned them after wwii .  br    br   my father was once a marine but i know that once you are a marine  you  re always a marine . and that is exactly what he is and i love and respect him very much .  br    br   i would love to be able to watch this film if anyone will have a copy of it . and i  d love to give it to my father for his   th birthday this year   
spoilers  br    br   i  m sure back when this was released in     it was much appropriate for its time . back then films were slower paced to allow audiences to follow and analyze the story . here a man moves into a house owned by his last wife that died mysteriously with his new wife . the gardener mickey  played by alex nicol  who also directed he film  really is an underappreciated character . he gets a skull to indirectly warn jenni that she is in trouble  since he knew that there was foul play in the first wife  s death . he can  t tell jenni directly what happened  so he tries to scare her off with the skull . jenni  we also find out  saw her parents die  thus causing a lifetime of mental anguish that lead to institutionalization . like many audiences today  i found the pacing to be a little too slow for my tastes . but if you like slow  paced horror without a lot of gore  this film is for you .  br    br    
  rock  n  roll high school  will probably have to go down in history as the ultimate rebellious party flick . portraying a bunch of high school students using the ramones  music as inspiration to rise up against their despotic principal  mary woronov  of  eating raoul  fame   the whole movie is a mile a minute . it  s basically a big excuse to have fun  and i  m sure that you will . bullied freshmen  check . a dorky music teacher  paul bartel  also from  eating raoul     check . exploding mice  checkmate .  br    br   anyway  this is the sort of stuff that makes life worth living . even for someone like me who doesn  t know the ramones  music  it  s pure pleasure . with roger corman executive producing and joe dante co  directing  how could we expect anything less  too bad that director allan arkush later degenerated into fare such as  caddyshack ii  .  br    br   also starring p . j . soles  vincent van patten  clint howard  dey young  dick miller  who has appeared in every one of joe dante  s movies  and many of roger corman  s   don steele  and of course the ramones . a real treat .  br    br   it seems like bartel and woronov always co  starred . they also co  starred in joe dante  s  hollywood boulevard  and the slasher flick  chopping mall   also starring dick miller  . . . in which they reprised their roles from  eating raoul  .  
i  m not sure this is a spoiler perhaps it is a public service . if you are one of those people focused on instant gratification who skip end credits  you will miss the final line of the end credits news announcer  s voice  over  which states the u . s . has just surrendered to nazi germany on may       to end wwii . here are just a few of the problems with this close  br    br     the older viewer must conjure up the equivalent of two or three more unholy movies in their mind  s eye to fill in the yawning chasm between movie events and this startling conclusion .  br    br     the average person will really kick themselves that they did not  watch  one of these unholy fill  in  the  blanks flicks created in their own head for free  instead of shelling out time and money to see this unholy from the video store  or on cable  .  br    br     this end credits sequence of imagined news bulletins may be the first information some younger viewers are exposed to about wwii  leading them to the conclusion that george w . bush is the latest heir to the nazi throne .  
most war films made in the us during wwii were great fun to watch but suffered from severe gaps in realism because they were being produced more for propaganda value to raise the spirits at home than anything else . i am not knocking these films as many of them are still very watchable . however  because they so often lack realism they are prevented from being truly great films . a perfect example was the john garfield film air force   in which a b    nearly single  handedly takes out half the japanese air force  however  pride of the marines is a welcome departure   scoring high marks for portraying a true story in a reasonably accurate manner . when i first saw this film  i thought it was not a true story as it seemed way too improbable to be true . however  after researching further i found that it was in fact rather true to the amazing story of two men who did so much to earn the medal of honor . this is one case where real life seemed too incredible to be true   
i first saw this movie on mst  k . and although i laughed my posterior off at the jokes  i don  t particularly think this movie was all that bad . sure it was a little hard to understand it is quite obviously low budget  but it had a very hitchcock  like plot and i can honestly say that when i viewed the non  mst  k version  i was genuinely entertained . this movie is crying out for a hollywood remake .  
i hadn  t seen this film in probably   years  so when i recently noticed that it was going to be on television  cable  again for the first time in a very long time  it is not available on video   i made sure i didn  t miss it . and unlike so many other films that seem to lose their luster when finally viewed again  i found the visual images from the  pride of the marines  were as vivid and effective as i first remembered . what makes this movie so special  anyway   br    br   everything . based on the true story of al schmid and his fellow marine machine gun crew  s ordeal at the battle of the tenaru river on guadalcanal in november       the screenplay stays    true to the book upon which it was based   al schmid  marine  by roger butterfield  varying only enough to meet the time constrains of a motion picture . this is not a typical  war movie  where the action is central  and indeed the war scene is a brief   minutes or so in the middle of the film . but it is a memorable   minutes  filmed in the lowest light possible to depict a night battle  and is devoid of the mock heroics or falseness that usually plagues the genre . in a way probably ahead of its time  the natural drama of what happened there was more than sufficient to convey to the audience the stark  ugly  brutal nature of battle  and probably shocked audiences when it was seen right after the war . this film isn  t about  glorifying  war i can  t imagine anyone seeing that battle scene and wanting to enlist in the service . not right away  anyway .  br    br   what this film really concerns is the aftermath of battle  and how damaged men can learn to re  claim their lives . there  s an excellent hospital scene where a dozen men discuss this  and i feel that  s another reason why the film was so so well received   it was exceptionally well  written . there  s a  dream  sequence done in inverse  negative film  that seems almost experimental  and the acting is strong  too  led by john garfield . garfield was perfect for the role because his natural temperament and schmid  s were nearly the same  and garfield met schmid and even lived with him for a while to learn as much as he could about the man and his role . actors don  t do that much anymore  but added to the equation  it  s just another reason why this movie succeeds in telling such a difficult  unattractive story .  
when you have a disembodied skull  an empty mansion  a schizophrenic wife  a scheming cad and a nutzo gardener  throw in a minister and his wife  what have you got   br    br   aip  s answer to insomnia .  br    br    the screaming skull  gets points for audacity  offering free caskets for anyone who dies of fright from watching the film . pretty safe bet  when you  re lulled into a stupor by people who think they  re in a production of  suspense for dummies  .  br    br   but peggy webber was a cutie  anyway . she had a few good moments of acting here and there  especially when trying to communicate with the gardener  and no one else fills a nightgown like she . but that scared face she makes  scary in itself . whoa .  br    br   as a whole  though  there is little suspense here and everything is telegraphed like a punch thrown by a mime . you can  t be scared by this film  it  s impossible . it has its moments  but not enough of them .  br    br   however  thanks to a certain mike nelson and his two robot pals  there are several moments of pure joy  especially in the copy they got hold of   the film jumped  and it was really scary    .  br    br   one star for  the screaming skull   eight and a half for the mst  k version .  br    br   talk about a  screaming  bore . . . .  
in the immediate aftermath following world war ii  sound minds in hollywood tried to distance themselves from the mindless flag  waving that is a natural ingredient in a war effort .  best years of our lives  and even  gentleman  s agreement  investigated the way americans looked at themselves in the wake of the war  but delmer daves   pride of the marines  beat them to it .  br    br   the film is about philadelphia smart alec john garfield who goes to war as a marine and after a nightmarish evening in a foxhole  with japanese soldiers eerily crying out at him and his buddies  mariiines  tonight you die    he is blinded by a hand  grenade  and dumps his girlfriend back home rather than have to depend on her after coming home .  br    br   delmer daves is uncompromising in his depiction on these men who are brave  as it were  almost by coincidence . they are there  in the foxhole  and when shot at  they react . so much for heroism  but they get the job done . and then comes the self  pity  the dark  gloomy sense of humor . garfield is in angry denial of his blindness and the film makes no excuses   there  s no free candy for anyone in this world   as his buddy tells him . the same guy  a jew  played by dane clark  reminds him   in a war somebody gets it  and you  re it . everybody  s got problems  when i get back  some guys won  t hire me  because my name is diamond  .  br    br   great movies are made with guts like these  and if the first half hour of  pride of the marines  fails to rise to the occasion completely  from then on it evolves into a true work of art . you weep  and you ponder  you ache and you hope against hope . well  simply art .  br    br    
  the screaming skull  opens with a warning and an offer for free burial services if you should die watching it  now there  s a hook  the story itself has a fairly interesting premise for a horror flick scheming husband marries a wealthy woman with a history of mental illness  then attempts to convince her that she  s going insane with shrill noises  mysterious knocking and skulls that turn up at inopportune times . add to the formula a sufficiently creepy gardener who still cherishes the memory of the man  s first wife who he was devoted to . maybe it  s just that the      s didn  t have the technology to pull off some of the scare scenes needed to juice up this movie  the techniques used here seem contrived and mundane . but then again  when i first saw  house on haunted hill  as a nine year old  it gave me the heebie jeebies in the same way i  m sure this film did for young viewers of the same era .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  the film is not terrible  it just seems to get tedious at times . but there  s some great atmospheric tension in the generally huge but unfurnished whitlock home  and the gardens and pool are a nice touch . for me the best played out scene involves eric whitlock  john hudson  going maniacal in the pond attempting to retrieve the hidden skull  he just wades right in clothes and all  in neat contrast to the mentally challenged gardener  director alex nicol in a dual role  . it makes you wonder who the real dimwit was .  br    br   in it  s own good way  perhaps the most shocking thing about the film how about that neat roadster the whitlock  s make their first appearance in  gull wing doors in      that at least made me jump out of my seat   
sometimes i watch a movie and am really impressed by it  and still it is not easy to explain why i liked it that much . this is mostly true for the uncommon movies  the ones one can hardly compare with the rest out there . goodnight mister tom is one of these special movies . there is a lot of emotion in that movie  and the acting was so good that while watching the movie  i was crying and laughing as the story went on . the young nick robinson  is a young boy  william  evacuated from london because of the air strikes there during the second world war . mr . tom played by john thaw is an old man leaving in the village the evacuated children were send to .  br    br   at first tom refuses to take any responsibilities  such as taking care for a troubled young lad  but accepts since he is left without a choice . during the stay mr . tom discovers how horrible the life has been for the william  alongside his luggage his mom sent a belt and written instructions to the host of her son  not to hesitate to use it . this belt is berried in the field  never to be used in such a brutal manner . mr . tom provides a real home for william  and the boy is happy with his new life  he goes to school  makes new friends and discovers hidden talents . all of the sudden a letter william is called home in london with a letter mentioning that she is not feeling welland it starts all over again  only this time it gets much worse there are many feelings you can sense in this movie  love  fear  sadness  happiness  pain  hope  and much more . goodnight mr . tom is another masterpiece of the british cinema comparable only with others such as dear frankie and billy elliot  if one is to compare . i have truly enjoyed watching it and highly recommend it . before finishing this review i would also like to mention the great performance of thomas orange in the role of zac  reminded me of a friend of mine from my own childhood    
welcome to a bad ghost story and someone  s nightmare . this horror tale finds a newly married husband  john hudson  and wife  peggy weber  haunted by the memory of his previous wife and screaming skulls found throughout their empty mansion and lily pond . is the husband really trying to drive his already anxious bride insane  or is it the learning challenged gardener mickey  alex nicol  who has taken care of the mansion  s grounds since the death of the original mistress of the house  this low budget horror flick has a story line that keeps you involved all the way the finale . special effects are pretty bad even at     standards . i swear at times the screaming skull sounds much like it should be in a godzilla movie . also in the cast as reverend snow is character actor russ conway . by the way . . . the lurking gardener  nicol  is the film  s director . you can catch this as part of amc  s monsterfest .  
quite a heartwarming little film and not just for the kids . john thaw is brilliant as always  without any hint of inspector morse about him  . the boy playing william did a good job as well though i didn  t find him convincing in every scene . i loved the whole feel of the small village and the slower pace of life in those times . i also felt the scenes in london where historically accurate  as far as i could tell .  br    br   it strongly reminded me of a scandinavian film i saw a couple of years ago called mother of mine . that film featured a boy being evacuated from finland to sweden during ww ii . the wife of the family taking him in asked for a girl because  as it turns out  she lost her daughter . getting a boy instead she completely ignores him . the fact that the boy speaks finnish complicates matters even further . i highly recommend that film to anyone who enjoyed goodnight mr . tom  it has the same feel to it .  
a man brings his new wife to his home where his former wife died of an  accident  . his new wife has just been released from an institution and is also very rich  all of the sudden she starts hearing noises and seeing skulls all over the place . is she going crazy again or is the first wife coming back from the dead   br    br   you  ve probably guessed the ending so i won  t spell it out . i saw this many times on saturday afternoon tv as a kid . back then  i liked it but i was young . seeing it now i realize how bad it is . it  s horribly acted  badly written  very dull  even at an hour  and has a huge cast of five people  one being the director   still it does have some good things about it .  br    br   the music is kinda creepy and the setting itself with the huge empty house and pond nearby is nicely atmospheric . there also are a few scary moments  i jumped a little when she saw the first skull  and a somewhat effective ending . all in all it  s definitely not a good movie . . . but not a total disaster either . it does have a small cult following . i give it a  .  br    br   also try to avoid the elite dvd drive  in edition of it  it  s paired with  attack of the giant leeches   . it  s in terrible shape with jumps and scratches all over . it didn  t even look this bad on tv   
goodnight mister tom is so beautifully filmed and beautifully realised . it isn  t completely faithful to the book  but does it have to be  no  not at all . john thaw is mesmerising as tom oakley . his transformation from gruff to caring was so well realised  making it more believable than scrooge in christmas carol . after inspector morse  this is thaw  s finest hour . he was matched earnestly by a young nick robinson  who gave a thoroughly convincing portrayal of an evacuee traumatised by the abusive relationship with his mother . the script and music made it worth the buy  and you also see thaw playing the organ . amazing  the most moving scene  was willie finding out about zak  s death  and then tom telling him about his deceased family who died of scarlatina . buy this  you  ll love it       bethany cox  
villa rides       turns out to be something of a big disappointment  and even though sam peckinpah had a hand in the screenplay  along with robert towne  it still emerges as a leadenly written movie dryly directed by the undistinguished buzz kulik . firstly  top billed yul brynner as pancho villa is wrong for the part  he  s not charismatic enough to play the great mexican revolutionary  his one note performance lacks the fire and gusto anthony quinn or gilbert roland could have brought to the role . brynner simply looks like a russian aristocrat dressed up like a mexican bandit who is in the middle of the mexican revolution instead of the russian one . also  second billed robert mitchum is totally wasted in the picture  his part as a biplane flying ace lobbing home  made bombs from the air in the cause of the revolution is a poorly written meager role that could have been played by any minor star . mitch hasn  t a decent line in the entire movie and brings to one  s mind his other mexican revolution picture the far superior  bandido        which unfortunately nobody seems to have any interest in releasing on dvd . besides lacking any kind of style  villa rides  also suffers badly without the presence of a female star  there is starlet grazia buccella as a young mexican girl who gives mitchum the glad eye but her casting is merely perfunctory . someone like claudia cardinale or jean peters could have perhaps added a couple of badly needed notches to the faltering story line .  br    br   there are a couple of good action scenes in the movie but a couple of good action scenes do not a movie make and the less than perfect panavision picture quality plus the over repetitive maurice jarre theme tune doesn  t help matters .  br    br   as is paramount  s wont there are no extras  not even a trailer  yup  a disappointing movie and dvd presentation that could have been and should have been a whole lot better .  
this movie resonated with me on two levels . as a kid i was evacuated from london and planted on unwilling hosts in a country village . while i escaped the bombing and had experiences which produced treasured memories  for example hearing a nightingale sing one dark night for the very first time  and enjoying a life i never could have had in london  i missed my family and worried about them . tom is an old man whose wife and child have both died and who lives alone in a small country village . as an old man who is now without a wife whose kids have gotten married and live far away in another province  i am again sometime lonely . the boy  s mother is a religious fanatic with very odd ideas of raising a child . since a deep affection has grown between old tom oakley and this young lad  tom goes in search of him and finally rescues him from very odd and dangerous circumstances . at the end of the story there is great tension since due to some bureaucratic ruling it seems that the child is going to lose someone who has developed a loving relationship with him .  
i mean  i thought i heard this dialog in the movie  but it was so bad and out of place that i can  t really believe it . i was laughing so hard at what must have been the worst writing and acting in human history  i was seriously worried that i might have a heart attack and die right there in the theater .  br    br   so this is the scene i am talking about  the  hero  just watched his brother crash and his brothers car exploded right there just feet away from him  the hero  . the  hero  was throwing the expected  fit  at seeing something so tragic and people were trying to hold him back from running into the burning car .  br    br   in the middle of his fit and his uncontrollable rage  emotional break down he says  i am so sad   he said that right  am i crazy   
marvelous film again dealing with the trials and tribulations of world war   england . what makes this film so good is the touching of the human element . this film is definitely in the tradition of such british line classics such as  mrs . miniver  and  hope and glory .  as is the case with this film  we see the desperation of people in the time of war .  br    br   the performances are outstanding here especially by the embittered john thaw  who is assigned a child who has been evacuated from the london bombing .  br    br   we soon see why this child wets his bed . he comes from a lunatic mother who has abused him terribly .  br    br   the old man takes to the child and brings happiness into his sad life . when the child is returned to his mother  the old man goes to london and seeks him out only to find tragedy . he literally kidnaps the boy and is able to convince a higher up that the child is better off with him than being in a boy  s home .  br    br   the picture is so good because it deals and builds on endearing relationships .  
this movie was bad to say the least    the plethora of superb cars are disgraced to have have been showcased in this lame movie . it starts off with a race from l . a . to las vegas to be completed in  hr   min . . . in a ferrari f    . i did that in  hr   min in a tiny  cylinder    hp     honda accord . seriously . . . this movie does not do justice to these cars . obviously these writers are just that and probably drive under the speed limit with their hands      o  clock . i remember seeing on the news how eddie griffin crashed a  .  million dollar ferrari enzo going      mph    youtube . com  watch  vcnvrmzx  kms  br    br   and . . . the director andy cheng is the biggest sellout    he brings shame to his own race . i wonder just how many people he orally pleased just to break into hollywood . he partook in a movie that portrays asian americans in such a negative and false way . asian women   cheap money grubbing whores . asian men   losing compulsive gamblers  thugs that get beat all the time . what the heck is all the fear about asians   why the need to always portray them in such a negative connotation   i am so sick of the way hollywood always portrays asians in such a negative and false pretext .  
this is arguably john thaw  s finest performance where he successfully shakes off any traits of his inspector morse character and brings a perfect adaptation of tom from the pages of the book to the tv screen . this is a well made production which maintains its family viewing vibe despite some very mature themes like the outbreak of the second world war and the physical abuse suffered by the child .  br    br   however it is the relationship between tom and young willie that is the heart and soul of this story . it is touching and beautiful to see this bond between the young boy evacuated from london and the grumpy old man he is left with develop  a real grandfather  grandson connection .  br    br   it is a pity that this story wasn  t made with a bigger budget with a more established director as it belongs on the big screen  not shown once or twice every ten years on a sunday afternoon . given the right guidance  john thaw would be celebrated the world over and bestowed with many awards for his brilliant performance in this movie . a great actor and a great role that should have been honored more than it was at the time .  
i am a dumber person for renting the dvd redline . chicago pictures who made this stupid movie never paid palisades media group to buy web ads on various automotive sites including mine which has an alexa rating of   k . they ripped me off on the deal and now i am out        and they wasted much of my personal time  peter rapport of palisades media  you know who you are   br    br   please don  t rent or buy this movie    it sucks and the people behind it are ripoff artists .  br    br   redline has a cast of losers and poor actors   br    br   this movie is a joke  
this film has been on my wish list for ten years and i only recently found it on dvd when my partner  s grandson was given it . he watched it at and was thrilled to learn that it was about my generation  born in     and evacuated in     and he wanted to know more about it  and me . luckily i borrowed it from him and watched it on my own and i cried all through it . not only did it capture the emotions  the class distinction  the hardship and the warmth of human relationships of those years  as well as the cruelties  spoken and unspoken   but it was accurate  i am also a bit of an anorak when it comes to arp uniforms  ambulances  lcc  in the right colour  white  and all the impedimenta of the management of bomb sites and the work of the heavy rescue brigades . i couldn  t fault any of this from my memories  and the sandbagged anderson shelter and the wvs canteens brought it all back . the difference between the relatively unspoiled life in the village and war  torn london was also sharply presented i re  lived        and my own evacuation from london with this production  i know jack gold  s work  of course  and one would expect no more from him than this meticulous detail but it went far beyond the accurate representation of the facts and touched deep chords about human responses and the only half  uttered value judgements of those years . it was certainly one of the great high spots in john thaw  s acting career and of gold  s direction and deserves to be better known . it is a magnificent film and i have already ordered a couple of copies to send to friends .  
this will be best known for the ferrari that was crashed when eddie griffin was doing promotion .  br    br   tale of racing and betting is a poorly made by the numbers that appears to have a director who couldn  t see the numbers . largely a point and shoot affair with a group of actors in it for a paycheck . this is not a good movie  but its not bad enough to be watchable and end up as a some what nothing film isn  t worth bothering with no matter how you look at it .  br    br   misogynistic  despite the fact one of the leads is a woman  this is a film that was clearly made just to get the producer and director close to pretty girls . want evidence  there are long lingering shots of women in next to nothing that serve no purpose other than perhaps to get a rise out of people too afraid to rent a porno or the sports illustrated swimsuit dvd .  br    br   avoid this movie at all costs  
i simply love this movie . i also love the ramones  so i am sorta biased to begin with in the first place . there isn  t a lot of critical praise to give this film  either you like it or you don  t . i think it  s a great cult movie .  
when i started watching this movie i saw the dude from buffy  xander  and figured ah how nice that he  s still making a living acting in movies . now a weird movie i can stand  given that it  s a good dose of weird like for example david lynch movies  twin peaks  lost highway etc . and you sort of have to be in the mood for one . this one however made me mockingly remember the crazy websites about there about conspiracy theory  s that make absolutely no sense . i mean come on people nazi  s who conspire with america to make an unholy trinity of evil powers  i was surprised they didn  t mention the hollow earth in this movie with hitler flying saucers and lizard people . maybe if you had like   grams of heroine with this movie it would make some sort of sense  but seriously i don  t condone drugs like i don  t condone this movie . it should be burned  shredded and forgotten just so good ol  xander might get another acting job . it wasn  t his acting though  that was alright  but the script just didn  t make any sense . sorry .  
well  when before i saw this film i really wasn  t sure whether it would be my cup of tea . . . how wrong i was  i thought that this was one of the best films i  ve watched for a very long time  a real family classic . the story of a young evacuee and his new  foster  dad  this film ticks all the boxes . i  ve not read the book  maybe that  s a good thing  meant i enjoyed the film more  but with regards to the story  i really can  t think of any bad points  hence scoring it   out of    and i hardly ever think anything warrants top marks   . by the time william proclaimed  i can ride my bike  dad   i was sobbing my heart out  anyone who  s seen it will understand  i  m sure  . really heartwarming  and definitely recommended .  
this movie should have been named need for speed the movie . for those who have not played the games need for speed is mostly about hot cars and beautiful women and almost no plot . this applies perfectly to redline . the only thing about this movie that was a  level were the cars . the acting seemed forced and scripted  the premise was flimsy at best  and the plot was almost nonexistent . i only really watched this movie to see how bad it was and  while it was pretty bad  it could have been worse . and at least it was entertaining . i just wish they had showed eddie griffin crashing the enzo somewhere in the movie . all in all  don  t pay for it  don  t go out of your way to see it  but if it  s on showtime or hbo and there isn  t anything else on  it  s a decent distraction .  
this made  for  tv film is a brilliant one . this is probably the best and favourite role by bafta winning john thaw  kavanagh q . c . and inspector morse  . tom oakley  thaw  widowed man has lived in a village alone for a while since his wife and son died  and now he has been landed with an evacuee called willaim beech  nick robinson  . as he gets to know this child he starts to develop a friendship . until willaim  s mum  annabelle apsion  wants him back . after tom gets worried about william not contacting him he goes to london to find him . in the end willaim gets his home with a loving family  or dad  . set during the second world war this is an excellent film . it was nominated the bafta lew grade award  and it won the national television award for most popular drama . john thaw was number  on tv  s   greatest stars . very good   
i like bad movies . i like to rent bad movies with my friends and rip on them for their duration . then there are abhorrent movies like this . redline is not just a bad movie  but a telling sign that maybe the american movie industry should please  for the sake of the viewer  at least proofread scripts before funding a movie .  br    br   if a stereotype took a crap  this movie would spawn from that . the storyline is unbearable  and the acting all around is laughable . nadia bjorlin and eddie griffin have  perhaps  the worst screen chemistry i  ve seen in a good while  and even individually they should be isolated from humanity and beaten with a bag of oranges until they change their profession to street merchants  about the only thing they can legitimately qualify for  . furthermore  how angus macfadyen got convinced to do this movie is so far beyond me that i can  t even think of an analogy . i am a loyal fan of his  but this has made me question him .  br    br   to sum it up . several people want revenge for different reasons  and if you care enough to know what they are  you  re a bigger person than me   so much so that it turns to violence  i guess  . the movie is like ouroboros  the snake that swallows its own tail  in that it  s an endless cycle of confusion and dialogue not fit for human ears . this movie is essentially one big car commercial for the first half  and an indecipherable action movie for the rest  it should be avoided at any and all costs .  br    br   i wish i could find one positive aspect to this movie  and i think it lies in the fact that eventually the credits do roll .  br    br   p . s . nadia bjorlin  if that was you singing those two songs in this movie  then you are a hack  and i hope old age ravages you .  br    br   p . s . s . if you do rent this movie looking for a laughable experience  listen for the lyrics to nadia bjorlin  s awesome songs .  
a heartwarming film . the usual superb acting by john thaw  who passed over recently . a man who was always so unassuming . he was one of englands top   actors certainly of my time .  br    br   he can be remembered for his famous role of inspector morse . as jack regan in the      s hit tv series  the sweeney and as a barrister in kavanah qc . a must see for all the family and a great dvd for my collection . the filming will bring back a few memories for people who remember wartime britain and certainly those who were evacuated out of london to escape the german bombings . the interaction between the two main characters . tom and the boy william was really well acted and true to the book by michelle magorian .  
you cannot deny that we have an affinity for speed . that  s why movies like fast and the furious  dhoom  rempit get made to play to the satisfaction of audiences  especially local ones . we live on a tiny island  and i cannot fathom why  for the relative efficiency of the public transportation system  most of us want to get into debt by owning a set of wheels which come with     tax when they reach our shores  and the myriad of taxes and bills to pay when operating one . not only that  the high end sports cars were once quipped by a prominent politician up north that they will never reach fourth gear  lest they reach the sea .  br    br   and these movies are relatively easy to make . hot wheels and hot chicks always go down well together in targeting the required demographic . for once  those plunging necklines exposing uncanny buxom and short skirts accentuating legs two meters long  can  t compete with the attention given to those beautiful curves that exotic cars possess in movies such as these . of course there are amongst us  ahem  those that go for the sexists portrayal of women as mere sexual objects  otherwise explain why motor shows come with truckloads of models  and movies such as these cannot do without a leggy model in a frame   however  they don  t warrant the kind of collective orgasmic sighs whenever the four wheelers come on screen  even when they do exactly nothing and have their gears into park . the guy sitting beside me  i swear he wet his pants every time his dream car  s  appear  and creamed his pants even more when he hears those growling engine moans .  br    br   so there we have it  the fan boys who turned up in droves just to watch which of the latest cool cars get featured in the movie . with the fast and the furious franchise  the japanese models like the evos and the skylines take centerstage  as does the gt . here  the ford gt takes on an incredibly drool  worthy facade modification  that even i  m impressed  alongside the latest models like the ferrari enzos  porshe carerra gts  koenigsegg ccxs  and every car out there that has wings for doors . but seriously  my heart goes out to the cars each time they  re mercilessly wrecked just for entertainment . i mean  this are perfectly fine  high performance models that are at the apex of motoring  but yet because whoever financed the movie had millions to blow  they do so because they can   br    br   there  s no story in redline  just excuses to put together a movie full of beauties  the cars that is  that can rip down the tarmac in probably the most boring fashion possible  and with the usual shots of pedals  always the accelerator  mind you  tapping the brake pedal is tantamount to blasphemy  and earn you no respect   steering wheels  gear shifts  always shifting up and not down   all these while having the actors make pretend that they  re the baddest asses with an engine  snarling and giving each other dirty looks . not a very tall order for an actor  and that  s why we get the most woeful performances ever  with lines that seem to be written by elementary schoolkids .  br    br   the heroine  yes  it made a statement that girls can drive  natasha  a very plasticky looking nadia bjorlin  is one of those million dollar finds  a girl with model looks who don  t mind getting down on fours and immersed in oil  who has racing pedigree within her  and performs with a rock band singing songs with lyrics that are just plain laughable  every line had to do with cars  and when singing about love  just had to string those innuendos like shifting gear shafts  lubricants and going for rides  . introduced against her wishes to illegal racing by a gangsta called infamous  eddie griffin   she gets drawn into family squabbles involving a leo dicaprio lookalike iraq war veteran  and some sleazy lecherous looking rich uncle . everything else  well like i said  just serves as an excuse for the movie to go from race to race .  br    br   and it  s almost always the same  as there  s very limited to what you can do to heighten tension between race cars  especially when you know the race is rigged  for narrative reasons  and can see the race outcome a mile away from the finishing line . while fast and furious had quite charismatic actors  and i will put my head on the chopping block by naming paul walker  sun kang  and of course  the star it created  vin diesel  redline had none  just pretty faces with lots of air unfortunately . it looks like a tv movie in its treatment from the get go  with a very insipid opening sequence where it  s one man  one car  and a    minutes race against time to get to vegas .  br    br   if not for the cars  then this movie seriously is a piece of junk  with bad acting  bad lines and bad action . strictly for the car fans  or those who like their movies with countless of bevy beauties who pimp their bodies without any speaking lines .  
absolute masterpiece of a film  goodnight mr . tom has swiftly become one of my favourite films of all time . nobody should miss out on seeing this film  it  s just too good  mr . tom is perfectly portrayed by john thaw as the harsh old man who becomes a soft father  figure when william beech  nick robinson  is sent to him for evacuation  almost like  the town mouse and the country mouse  . a truly heart wrenching film . the director knew exactly how to turn book into film and he has done so extremely well . the film was so excellently shot that the emotions of the characters and what was happening made the audience feel a range of emotions from love to fear  and these emotions could turn on a six  pence . set in a time of turmoil during world war two  this film also shows the difference between the cities and the countryside  they are almost like different countries . an absolute must see  those who don  t are missing out on a truly amazing and brilliant film .  
i felt like i was watching the fast and the furious again  but with different actors and a little bit different plot . i will say the cars in the film are very cool . so  if you like fast cars  then you will probably find this movie mildly entertaining . i also liked nadia bjorlin because i  ve seen her from days of our lives . she is a really good singer  but too bad they gave her such lousy songs to sing in this movie . i mean songs about cars not exactly what you would here on the radio . since it is a hollywood film  you have to give this story a little lee way  but in real life i don  t think any average joe would come across such a hot girl as nadia bjorlin who can drive a race car  fix a car engine  and be a lead singer . it  s just all very silly .  br    br   another side note  any one willing to wager   million on a car race is a nut . but it was kinda of cool at the end when natasha stops right before the finish line and screws michael over . priceless .  br    br   final verdict this movie is for car freaks . so  if you like fast cars  then i  d recommend this .  
john thaw is a an excellent actor . i have to admit that i was impressed by his range in the role of a crusty old curmudgeon who reluctantly agrees to take in an evacuee from the streets of london  wwii time era  .  br    br   that being said  the film is also excellent . a very moving story with a satisfying ending . some of the characters are a little underdeveloped  the school teacher in particular   but none of them are essential to the plot . basically  the story is about the old man and the boy  and the film needs little else .  
so it has come to this . fast  expensive cars that only the upper   will ever drive . the girls that pose next to them in gearhead magazines . second  tier and no  name actors . cheap promotional appearances by people from niche culture .  br    br   this is the garbage that hollywood has to offer . don  t get me wrong i love the mindless action flick with hot chicks as much as the next guy . but please  will the collective braintrust that greenlights this stuff please stop  count to ten  breathe  have a hearty  woooooosaaaaaah   then rewind twentyfive years and recall what made movies enjoyable once upon a time  then actually make some movies like that again   br    br   i have nothing against poker  but the entire pop  culture explosion it has enjoyed over the past five years is ridiculous . everyone and their mother thinks their maverick now  not that half of them even will get that reference  . some executive said   hey  what demographic do you want to leach   .   out of    i know  sir . the      market .   ok  let  s give them poker  girls  and fast cars .   brilliant idea  sir .  the result  a film that i  ve seen a hundred times late at night on spike tv  and more often than not  starring dolph lundgren .  br    br   now don  t misunderstand mei am not a film snob . over  the  top artsy flicks like the english patient don  t float my boat  but generic films that should not have even been made straight to dvd bother the hell out of me too . only adolescent gearheads will have their engines revved by this  and i imagine the ones in the higher end of their iq range will see this for what it is a junkyard .  
this has to be one of the most beautiful  moving  thought provoking films around . it  s good family entertainment and at the same time makes you think very hard about the issues involved . every time i see the  ghost of zac riding the bike through the puddle at the end i can  t help but cry my eyes out . john thaw  s performance is so touching and it is a shame he is no longer with us . gone but not forgotten . a outstanding film . full marks .  
i  m sorry to say that there isn  t really any way  in my opinion  that an enzo would really be able to keep up with a saleen s  twin turbo . the power to weight advantage possessed by the s  would just be too great . the s  has a powerweight ratio of  .   lbs  hp while the enzo has  .   lbs  hp . the s  s low end is much better too . sorry ferrari fans but the saleen just gets it done so much better .  br    br   as for other parts of this film  i just have to say it  s so substandard as to be pathetic . the story is way too weak . the acting in this lemon is worse than daytime soaps .  br    br   i can say that as far as it being a treatise on negative psychology its kind of a gem . this film is nothing if not a glaring definition as to what narcissism and sociopathy are all about . its all about these rich punks getting their rocks off while showing only traces of feigned remorse for all the innocent road users they cause injury or death too .  br    br   i can  t give the film a   star  rating because it didn  t compel me to actually walk out of the theater . i also think that having an amazingly beautiful brunette with killer blue eyes as the leading female saves it from being completely abysmal . . . . although there is no way her singing would put her on the cover of  variety  .  br    br   ps the guy who plays jason is sooooo the skid row version of james vanderbeek .  
i saw the movie before i read the michelle magorian book and i enjoyed both . the movie  more than the book  made me come close to tears on several occasions . this film touches the deepest points of the human soul and never lets go . i encourage as many people to watch this masterpiece as much and as soon as possible . i give it ten stars .  
  a total waste of time  just throw in a few explosions  non stop fighting  exotic cars a deranged millionaire  slow motion computer generated car crashes and last but not least a hugh hefner like character with wall to wall hot babes  and mix in a blender and you will have this sorry excuse for a movie . i really got a laugh out of the  dr . evil  like heavily fortified compound . the plot was somewhere between preposterous and non existent . how many millionaires are willing to make a   million dollar bet on a car race  answer  but  didn  t they become millionaires through fiscal responsibility  this was written for pubescent males  it plays like a video game . i did enjoy the gulfstream ii landing in the desert though .  
the plot of goodnight mr tom on paper makes it seem we are in for a large dose of maudlin  sickly sentiment . but  talented director jack gold is an expert on touching the emotions in the right manner  and it emerges instead as a compelling  deeply moving wartime drama with excellent production and lead performances . one of the best  if not the best tv movies of the      s which possibly would  ve had even greater success if it had been released in the cinemas .  br    br   the evacuation of children to countryside towns and villages in world war ii was of course a common practice  but in the case of the young boy here was doubly important because of a wretched home life in the uk  s capital . the horrors of war on the home front are not drifted over though  and the construction of the film until it  s throat  lumping  misty  eyed ending leaves us with a sense of optimism despite what has happened before . it is almost  but not quite  worthy of comparison with the finale to it  s a wonderful life       . all in all  a modern classic .  
the cars in this movie are awesome . the acting in this movie is awful . the plot and driving scenes don  t make much sense and are equally bad . if you get really bothered by movies where someone shifts and suddenly goes ridiculously faster  save yourself the trouble and money . good movie for racing fans  well  there is a part where they make the mistake of referring to a nascar driver as a rally car driver . if you can  t tell the difference  go watch it  you  ll have a blast . it really comes down to this  there are really really really nice cars in this movie  they are driven horribly and are completely unrealistic . the acting is horrible mainly because of the extremely bad plot . if you want to see hot girls  turn on mtv or vh  instead . i am disappointed that such nice cars would be represented in such a bad movie . if the class of the cars were to match that of the movie  they should be racing with rusted bicycles .  
if john thaw had never played  morse    kavanagh   or starred in  the sweeney  and other productions  he  d be remembered for this wonderfully unforgettable performance in  goodnight mr tom  .  br    br   superbly supported by an equally tremendous performance by his co  star  young nick robinson in his first role   and an unobtrusive cast  this adaptation of michelle magorian  s charming novel is a fitting memorial to his art .  br    br   when i read this story of an old widowed norfolk countryman having to accommodate a young boy from london before and during the blitz  i found a rather obvious time  line error in it  and credit must go to the makers of this film for rectifying this error . they also must be applauded for not over  sentimentalising the tale  and preventing what could have been turned  quite easily  into a mushy mess .  br    br   if you keep a cd or video library then this feel  good made for tv movie is an absolute must inclusion .  
acting is horrible . this film makes fast and furious look like an academy award winning film . they throw a few boobs and butts in there to try and keep you interested despite the extremely weak and far fetched story . there is a reason why people on the internet aren  t even downloading this movie . this movie sunk like an iron turd . do not waste your time renting or even downloading it . this film is and always will be a perma  turd . i am now dumber for having watched it . in fact this title should be referred to as a  perma  turd  from now on . calling it a film is a travesty and insult . abhorrent  abominable  appalling  awful  beastly  cruel  detestable  disagreeable  disgusting  dreadful  eerie  execrable  fairy  fearful  frightful  ghastly  grim  grisly  gruesome  heinous  hideous  horrendous  horrid  loathsome  lousy  lurid  mean  nasty  obnoxious  offensive  repellent  repulsive  revolting  scandalous  scary  shameful  shocking  sickie  terrible  terrifying  ungodly  unholy  unkind  
john thaw  of inspector morse fame  plays old tom oakley in this movie . tom lives in a tiny english village during     and the start of the second world war . a bit of a recluse  tom has not yet recovered from the death of his wife and son while he was serving during the first world war . if you can imagine inspector morse old and retired  twice as crochety as when he was a policeman  then you  ve got tom oakley  s character .  br    br   yet this heart of flint is about to melt . london children are evacuated in advance of the blitz . young william  willie  beech is billeted with the protesting tom . willie is played to good effect by nick robinson .  br    br   this boy is in need of care with a capital c . behind in school  still wetting the bed  and unable to read are the smallest of his problems . he comes from a horrific background in london  with a mother who cannot cope  to put it mildly .  br    br   slowly  yet steadily  man and boy warm to each other . tom discovers again his ability to love and care . and the boy learns to accept this love and caring . see tom and willie building a bomb shelter at the end of their garden . see willie  s joy at what is probably his first ever birthday party thrown by tom .  br    br   not to give away the ending  but willie is adopted by tom after much struggle  and the pair begin a new life much richer for their mutual love .  br    br   in this movie  thaw and robinson are following in a long line of movies where man meets boy and develop a mutual love . see the late dirk bogarde and jon whiteley in  spanish gardener  . or clark gable and carlo angeletti in  it started in naples  . or robert ulrich and kenny vadas in  captains courageous  . or mel gibson and nick stahl in  man without a face  .  br    br   two points of interest . this is the only appearance of thaw that i know of where he sings . only a verse of a hymn  new jerusalem  but he does sing .  br    br   second  young robinson also starred in a second movie featuring  tom  in the title   tom  s midnight garden   which is based on a classic children  s novel .  
redline is a knockoff of fast  furious  without any of the redeeming qualities . it doesn  t need to have a convoluted plot with multiple twists and surprises  but it needs something  this is the equivalent of a porn film  where the storyline and dialogue consist of   seconds at the beginning and the same at the end . except that this is worse  because you don  t get your money  s worth . mind  numbingly boring  impossible race sequences  and a terrible waste of expensive beautiful cars  which almost acquire negative points for having appeared in this movie . sure  she  s hot  but who  s that desperate for an on screen female  i feel like the director sat there with a hat full of dialogue and plot snippets  and shook an  ball every time they switched scenes . no serious person who races or knows anything about it would watch this movie and enjoy the race scenes .  
this movie is awesome . sort of . it dosent really say much  or do much  but it is an awesome movie to watch because of how stupid it is . the high school is taken over by evil ms . togar that hates the one thing that all the students love  rock roll . riff randle get everyone tickets for the ramones show  and this movie peaks with a take over of the school led my riff randle  the ramones . this movie has everything  a bad script  questionable directing  bad actors  ie clint howard  p . j . soles   an awesome soundtrack  extreme campyness  these elements  much more come together to make this what it is  a classic .  br    br   note  during the live ramones set  notice that darby crash of the germs is in the front of the crowd . neat  o .  
can i please say first of all  that i felt so strongly about this movie that i signed up to imdb specifically to review it . and my review  this is easily the worst movie i have ever seen .  br    br   the synopsis of the movie sounded interesting  nazis  occult  time travel  etc .  but the movies plot failed to properly bring all these elements together . remember the episode of south park that featured manatees writing family guy using  idea balls   did these manatees also write unholy  its like the writer wanted to include all these different ideas  but had no idea how to link them all together  and then to make things make even less sense  included a donnie darko  esquire time travel theme to the ending  messing up the chronology .  br    br   i could tell from early on that this was a bad movie . special effects were too low budget for anything better than straight to dvd . the acting wasn  t great  but in fairness i  ve seen worse . i will praise the nazi paintings  they were creepy  but the evil nazi butcher guy was just comic .  br    br   i don  t have a vendetta against this movie or anything  but to be honest  i  m not even into the horror genre . but this movie cannot be described as a thriller or a drama . if this story had been well told  this would have been a good movie . but it has been over hyped . waaaaay over hyped .  
   out of   this is a truly wonderful story about a wartime evacuee and a curmudgeonly carpenter tom oakley . the boy  william beech  is billeted with tom and it is immediately apparent that he has serious issues when he wets his bed on the first night . william is illiterate and frightened but somehow the two find solace in each others loneliness . it transpires that william has a talent as an artist and we see tom  s talent as a choirmaster in an amusing rendition of jerusalem . william is befriended by zacharias wrench  a young jewish lad also from london and along with both tom and zacharias  he finally learns to read and write and to feel a part of this small close knit community . just as he is settling down  william is recalled back to london by his mother  and it is here we see why he is so screwed up . his mother is clearly mentally sick and when tom doesn  t hear from william  he travels to london to look for him . he finally finds him holding his dead baby sister where he has been tied up in a cellar . after a period in hospital  tom realises he must kidnap him and take him home with him . the climax is a bitter  sweet ending when william is told he is to be adopted by tom  while at the same time  learning his best friend zacharias has been killed in an air raid in london . for me  one of the most moving scenes was when tom was talking to a official from the home office .  br    br   i love  im  an  for what it  s worth  i think he loves me too  .  br    br   it just doesn  t get better that that does it   
you already know how painful to watch this movie is . but i wonder why one of the worst movies ever should include one the most beautiful cars . why the cars should be not only the victim of violation  but also the only true actors and performers in it . so how on earth you porsche  lamborghini or whatever could allow those people to get in touch with your cars and ruin you reputation for which you give millions . stop the getting an advantage of the cars and earn money on their chests . it is painful for those who love cars . it is painful for those who love movies .  br    br   i want my money back     
since siskel  s death and ebert  s absence the show has been left in the incapable hands of richard roeper . roeper is not a film critic he just criticizes anything he doesn  t like personally i . e . films with country music get panned because  i don  t like country music   and children  s movies get a standard  don  t see it now  wait until it comes out on dvd and rent it for your kids   roeper may well be an idiot savant  but in some other field . the weekly guests  sitting  in  for ebert fare better  but who wants to pick a daisy in the midst of a cow pat  all that said  it is the only show in town and that alone makes it worth watching . as for roger ebert  if stephen hawking can talk  so can you  it  s your mind and thoughts we long for . do whatever is necessary to get that usurper off his self  declared throne .  
okay so i went into this movie not really expecting much i figured an action flick similar to the fast and the furious . some nice cars some nice girls somewhat of a decent plot . unfortunately i would have to say that this was probably the worst movie i have seen this year . don  t get me wrong the cars were nice and the girls were ok but the way they put the movie together was just plain crappy to put it nicely . the story just never made you care about the cast and the movie seemed just pieced together . so overall this movie was not the worst thing ever by far but if your looking for a movie to go to this weekend i would pass on this one for now .  
holes  originally a novel by louis sachar  was successfully transformed into an entertaining and well  made film . starring sigourney weaver as the warden  shia labeouf as stanley  and khleo thomas as zero  the roles were very well casted  and the actors portrayed their roles well .  br    br   the film had inter  weaving storylines that all led up to the end . the main storyline is about stanley yelnats and his punishment of spending a year and a half at camp greenlake . the second storyline is about sam and kate barlow . this plot deals with racism and it is the more deep storyline to the movie . the third is about elya yelnats and madame zeroni  which explains the     year curse on the yelnats family . in my opinion  these storylines were weaved together very well .  br    br   contrary to many people  s beliefs  i think that you do not have to have read the book to understand the movie . the film is reasonably easy to understand .  br    br   the acting in the film was well done  especially shia labeouf  stanley   khleo thomas  zero   sigourney weaver  the warden   and jon voight  mr . sir  . the other members of d  tent  jake smith  squid   max kasch  zig  zag   miguel castro  magnet   byron cotton  armpit   and brenden jefferson  x  ray   enhanced the comic relief of the movie . however  the best parts were with zero and stanley  who made a great team together .  br    br   although holes is a disney movie  it deals with some serious issues such as racism  shootings  and violence . the film  s dramatization at some points is very well done .  br    br   i would suggest this movie to people of all ages  whether they have read the book or not . you shouldn  t miss it .  
this is by far the worst movie i have ever seen . i was going in expecting a cheesy movie but at least with some cool car scenes  races . what i got was nothing . the racing scene are so low budget they sped them up to make it look like the cars are  going fast  in one scene a mercedes slr goes from over    to  in like  seconds by just spinning around in circles . its just ridiculous .  br    br   if you wanna see a real movie about cars  see the fast and the furious series . they may be a little cheesy  but    x better than this movie could ever hope to be . better yet just watch mischief      the best car movie ever made i think .  
  holes  is my all  time favorite movie  so far i have seen this movie three times in theaters and am looking forward to purchasing it on dvd this upcoming september . i read the book after seeing the movie and was amazed at how alike the book and movie were . the director of this film did an excellent job of re  creating the book into movie form . also  all of the actors selected to play the roles did wonderful playing their characters  especially max kasch as zigzag . props to all those involved in making this movie  it was a real success    out of   stars  i definitely recommend it for everyone to see   
this movie has some of the most awesome cars i  ve ever seen in a movie  and definitely the hottest women  but i would have to say it is still one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen .  br    br   here is the plot  and if you read it with a little inflection  you have the acting as well .  br    br   beginning  bring in characters  hot woman singing  obvious lip sync  . music agent or producer comes in  thinks that she is awesome asks her to race . she turns down  too many bad memories . flash to war hero  back from war  has several fights  and becomes movie hero with attitude that he is better than everyone . drive off in fast exotic car . brother races  then dies . hero to avenge death  cut away to getting weapons from friend .  you have never seen this friend before or after  but seems to really care about him  are you sure you want to do this yes i mean are you really sure yes  give me weapons are you really sure yes ok  i guess i can  t talk you out of it  be careful man  i love you .  br    br   now he goes to blow up his uncles house who owned the car his brother drove . finds woman  decides to rescue her  she drives off  and he doesn  t finish killing his uncle . now there will be a race to finish the movie . oh yeah  need to throw in one more scene with bad people coming in to beat up people that don  t really matter  but maybe it adds a little plot . race is not even that exciting  of course it ends with two cars racing  and one that should win throws in a surprise ending .  br    br   ok  i just saved you   .   . you can send all of your money to me  because i should have given you the same amount of enjoyment as this movie does . don  t get me wrong  the cars are awesome  and nadija is beautiful  but it is truly an awful movie .  
i have seen the movie holes and say that it has to be the best movie all year long . it brings out the child in everyone . i mean who would come up with the idea of having troublesome boys dig holes as their punishment  louis sachar thats who . although the movie was different from the book it was still very good . for example caveman  stanley was supposed to be the biggest one there . weight wise and height wise but zigzag  ricky was taller and armpit  theodore was bigger . also x  ray  rex was supposed to be one of the smallest boys but wasn  t . the only thing that i didn  t like about the movie was that the flashbacks were rather persuasive and long . i would have rather seen more of the present than past but thats just my opinion . i especially like the work of the boys though . like squid  alan who was played by jake m . smith was supposed to be a moody and tough kid . jake m . smith performed just that and did a great job at it as did almost all of the actors in holes . so i would say if you havent seen holes yet then you should definatly see it when it comes out again or you  ll be missing out on a whole lotta fun .  
it was almost worth sitting through this entire god  awful  film  just to know that i can never experience anything as bad as this again . acting    script    fight scenes    male lead    cheddar bob from eight mile as a suave war hero who gets the girl   nadia bjorlin     she is gorgeous and not a terrible actress  . this is the criteria i used to average it out to a two . i lost count but i believe ever movie clich  ever  is in this movie . when the driver that supposedly killed her father miraculously shows up at the end to race against her  from out of nowhere it cemented the previous statement . plus he just shows up for no reason . he was never even mentioned before . i don  t know what else to say here . just watch it when it comes out on tv in a couple years . at least that way some of it will be edited out for commercials .  
this movie had a great ensemble of adult actors along with a cast of youthful actors that are going to be in movies for a long while if there is any justice . the directing and editing was great . i may look up the book that this was adapted from  it must have been great .  i liked it .  sigourney weaver  jon voight  and tim blake nelson were a blast to watch  henry winkler and nathan davis were not seen enough  but were fun when they were onscreen . the kids at the camp couldn  t have been better .  as i said  i liked it    
apparently hollywood is just handing out money to anyone with a camera and the ability to speak . this movie was mind numbingly bad . the casting was terrible  the acting unspeakable  and the story filled with holes . script  who needs script  i was surprised that the movie wasn  t as verbally vulgar as i thought it would be  however i got enough shots of ta to last me a lifetime . the movie was like listening to a   year old street racer with add  who decided to buy a car instead of go to college  tell a story . being so poorly scripted  i thought the two brothers in the film were lovers at first . the scenes at the racetrack  along with the main female actor in the film kept making me think of herbie fully loaded . this is the kind of film is what grindhouse modeled itself after . . . only the writers thought they were being serious .  
you got to go and dig those holes . holes only leaves troble  which makes a movie so good . disney has done it again . shia labeouf should be nominated for best actor for his performance as stanley yelnats . he has alredy won the daytime emmy for best actor in a comedy series  even stevens  . holes is one of the best movies in     .  
i registered just to make this comment  which pretty much echos some of the ones here already  the acting is worse than subpar  it expounds on commonly held stereotypes  has some of the worst displays of tasteless female objectification  all bod no brain   and has some of the cheesiest lines known to man .  br    br   including but not limited to  allright lets see what these guys can do  i should also mention that when they show the crashes involving innocent civilians  you end up feeling bad for the innocent people and start to hate the characters themselves . eddie griffin  s character is also one of the most stereotypical black guy personas that just rubs people the wrong way . he may or may not be a good actor but this movie doesn  t allow for that kind of character exploration . you want a movie that leaves the audience on the side of the bad guys  oceans   . this movie just makes you hate the bad guys instead of capturing the audience .  br    br   even the cars can  t make up for this fluke of a movie . that enzo that griffin wrecked sums up this movie perfectly . it just sucks .  
i found the storyline in this movie to be very interesting . best of all it left out the usual sex and violence  they  re getting old  inserted in many movies . the movie was well done in its flashbacks to days gone by in that area of the southwest . the acting was also superb .  
my favorite part was when the credits started to roll . i wish i could give it a .              out of   . i really wish i had that hour and thirty minutes back . don  t waste your money or time on it . i really could have watched grass grow and felt better after wards .  br    br   nadia was really pretty and i hope the movie didn  t destroy her career . but she chose to be in it .  br    br   all in all it sucked more than any other movie has sucked . more than kazaam and glitter combined . that  s saying something .  br    br   don  t  br    br   do  br    br   it      
this movie is one i strongly recommend . it  s about a boy  stanley yelnats  shia lebeouf  who is wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to camp green lake  a boys  detention center . there  he is forced to dig holes  feet deep and  feet in diamiter . while there  he meets the other boys of the camp  zero  magnet  armpit  squid  x  ray  and zigzag  . all of them are digging  not to  build charactor   but to find outlaw kate barlow  s treasure . throughout the movie  and book  stanley learns more about the past  more about himself  and more about digging holes . i give this movie a  .   because  i am very picky when it comes to books to movies   i want the movie to follow the book exactly  . but  still it did real well .  
before watching this film i had very low expectations and went to just see the cars . eventually i even regretted going for that reason . plot is almost non  existent . character development is non  existent . so many clichs and so much jaw  dropping cheesiness existed in the movie that i could only stare and wonder how it was even released . if not for the exotics  i wouldn  t have even rated this movie a  . an attempt at a coherent story line is destroyed by the sheer absurdity of this elite racing cult and the laughable characters that make up its members . in fact  the movie  s plot is so predictable and simple  minded that an average child could foretell the majority of the storyline . bad acting  bad plot  bad jokes  bad movie .  br    br   don  t see it . play gran turismo hd instead and it  ll satiate your thirst for fast sexy cars without leaving a bad aftertaste .  
holes is a wonderful film to see . it has good messages in in  such as be a good friend  never give up  etc . i highly recommend it to anyone . i still say the book is better than the movie  but the movie gives the book a run for its money . also  khleo thomas plays zero . that really adds to it     lol     
whoever wrote up  redline  as a great car movie must be getting paid off by daniel sadek to promote this ultra crappy flaming  steaming pile of amateur crap . easily the worst automotive movie or any movie ever made . this makes showgirls look like citizen kane .  br    br   take every cheesy clich out of an   s action tv series  put in some really crappy special effects and lame characters with no relevance and you have living proof that daniel sadek should not write screenplays and produce movies but should remain in the real estate business .  br    br   this is such a lame movie with such a lame plot and the most contrived action sequences ever . what offends me is not that the makers of this film are idiots but that they consider the movie going public to be idiots enough to fall for this crap .  
even if you  re not a big ramones fan  rock  n  roll high school is still the greatest rock  n  roll movie ever made . why  because under all the campiness  it treats with respect the contempt and loathing teens often feel  and justifiably so  for the boring  stupid  fascist  establishment world of adults . that final scene is one of the most glorious and uplifting final scenes to a movie i have ever seen .  mine eyes have seen the glory of the . . .  rock  n  roll   br    br    
this is a movie of tired  yet weirdly childish  clichs . there  s a nazi witch master performing sf  related experiments in the basement  oh please   br    br   aiming for a creeping sense of horror and fear  the general impression of the film is that of a very immature conception of fright . not having any expectations beforehand  i am left with an aged xander from buffy and a heroine with ape  like face who doesn  t seem to know how to act . said adrienne barbeau have i only only encountered before in the much more enjoyable  cannibal women in the avocado jungle of death  .  br    br   camera and editing adds to the general impression of lame .  
what a great movie  this is so reminiscent of the wonderful disney classic family movies of the    s and the    s . i was so pleasantly surprised  after the past   years of absolute detritus disney  s live productions crews have churned out .  br    br   this movie is an absolute joy . the child stars were just that professional  quality actors . i am most impressed with the quality of this movie .  br    br   sigourney weaver was a total sycophantic insert hyperbole here running a prison camp for wayward boys . siobhan fallon was wonderful as the star  s mother .  br    br   i won  t recant the story here as there is little point in doing that yet again  but the story is wonderful  the direction was extraordinary and the acting quality was superb  this work reminds you what it  s like to be a child  without going all sugary or being too grim . the deleted scenes featured on the dvd version were truly best left deleted . they were too harsh for this movie and would have taken so much from it . while the abuse was hinted in the finished product  it was not outright shown beyond a certain extent . it was best that way .  br    br   this was an absolutely delightful movie to watch .  br    br   it gets a     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
after seeing the previews i felt that this movie was going to be a nice improvement over that fast  furious series . so  i already expected it to have a lacking storyline  but at least this time it won  t be loaded with a bunch of powerless civics with fart cans . unfortunately  i was wrong . if you could only imagine a fast  furious movie with a worse story line than by all means this movie is for you .  br    br   this is the absolute worst movie i had ever seen  i  m being nice  no i would not take baseball bat to my nuts like what others have said  . not only was the storyline non  existent  but the action was crap too . i guess the director thought that they could just throw bunch of females and exotic cars and then call it a movie . for an example  there is a point in the movie where the guy pushes the nos button and his lamborghini takes off in the air and flies over a slr mclaren to win . and after the bit where eddy griffin got in a fight with one of his  girls   an imus comment would work in this case  the girl asks to pull over and get out of the plane and of course they do in the middle of the desert . after this wonderful scene i couldn  t take it anymore . so  i only got to see half of this monstrosity . this is the first movie i had ever walked out on . afterwards  i had to stop for some drinks to kill all of my corrupted brain cells .  br    br   i gave it a  because  is not an option . you  re better off going to the local car show and stopping at a strip joint on the way home . i will keep all viewers in my prayers .  
i read holes in  th grade so when i heard they were doing a movie i was ecstatic  of course  being my busy self  i didn  t get chance to see the movie in theaters . holes was at the drive  in just out of town but  alas  we were just too busy . i was surprised to hear that all my friends had seen it and not one of them had invited me  they all said it was good but i  ve read great books that have made crappy movies so i was definately worried .  br    br   suddenly the perfect opportunity to see it came . it was out that week and my parents were going on a cruise and i was left to babysit . my sister  who is   and i watched it and absolutely loved it  i then took it to the other people i was babysitting  s house and their kids   and   liked it too . even my parents loved it and they  re deffinately movie critics . overall  i recommend this movie is for anyone who understands family morale and and loves a hilarious cast  this movie should be on your top   to see  list      
im proud to say i  ve seen all three fast and furious films . sure  the plots are kinda silly  and they might be a little cheesy  but i love them car chases  and all the beautiful cars  and the clandestine midnight races . and ill gladly see a fourth one .  br    br   wanna know what the difference is between those three and redline  decent acting  somewhat thought out plot  even if they are potboilers  and last but not least  directors who have a clue . all three were made by very competent directors  all of them took the films in a different direction  equally exciting . redline looks like the producer picked out a dozen women he slept with on the casting couch  and made them the extras  then picked up his leads from hollywood  s unemployment line . and the script . yikes . its mystery science theatre     bad . this is    s made for tv movie bad .  br    br   yeah  the movie had a few cool cars  but you don  t really get to see that many in action  and the action is directed so poorly you cant get excited by the chases  and if the cars aren  t thrilling you  why go to a movie like this   br    br   im in the audience with a bunch of teenagers  and i cant stop laughing out loud . im getting dirty looks  but this was just a debacle .  br    br   rent the ff movies . go to nascar race . go to a karting track and race yourself . whatever you do  avoid redline like bad cheese .  
  holes  was a great movie . disney made the right choice . every person who i have talked to about it said they loved it . everyone casted was fit for the part they had  and shia labeouf really has a future with acting . sigourney weaver was perfect for the warden  she was exactly how i imagined her . everyone who hasn  t seen it i recommend it and i guarantee you will  dig it  .  
based on a self  serving novel by one  time girl friend and groupie of f . scott fitzgerald  gossip columnist sheila graham wrote this trashy story . gregory peck carries on in shameless excess as a forceful be  drunk  or  be  damned alcoholic in contradiction to the gentle and soft spoken real scott fitzgerald . focusing on fitzgerald  s hollywood writing era  late in his life  the much  honored author was  in fact  living a quiet life and effectively fighting his alcoholism at a time when aa was not yet well known . fitzgerald was none  too  proud to be recycling his flapper stories in order to support both his wife  in a mental hospital  and his daughter  in college  . living in a small apartment and driving a second hand chevrolet his life was    degrees different than as portrayed in this movie .  br    br   virtually every   th century  fox movie made during daryll f . zanuck  s leadership  as well as virtually every film directed by henry king  was a work of excellence . beloved infidel was the exception .  
my wife is a teacher and she is very familiar with the story  having read it to several of her classes . it never sounded all that interesting to me  though  and i bought the dvd figuring this would be a movie that wouldn  t really be up my alley .  br    br   the first half of the movie has a lot of set  up and i found myself thinking that i was right . it starts off a bit slow and i have to admit that i was a little bit bored  but curious enough to stay with it . boy  am i glad i did because this ended up being a very satisfying and rewarding movie . i would most certainly watch this again   br    br   the casting was very good . since i haven  t read the book  i can  t vouch for accuracy  but i have to say that jon voight was truly delightful . you liked the characters you were supposed to like  hated the ones you were supposed to hate  and laughed at the ones that were supposed to be funny .  br    br   i can see how some folks might not like this movie . it is tedious at times  especially in the beginning . all the flashbacks can be distracting  though they are essential to the story  . once the story starts to come together at the end  though  i think you  re paid back in spades for your patience . when all is said and done  i think this is a very good movie      .  br    br    
there is a scene in this film at about the   minute mark that is among the worst i have seen in some time . as f . scott fitzgerald  gregory peck  and sheilah graham  deborah kerr  are lounging on the beach  suddenly things become tense and sheilah begins to cry   at which point she tells her lover about her sordid past . this  dramatic scene  becomes so terribly overdone and histrionic i couldn  t help but turn to my wife and exclaim how stupid it all was . . . as dramatic music swelled on the television as it all came to a phony crescendo . no one experiences moments like this   no one . now how much of the rest of the film is true  i cannot say  but this particular moment was laughably bad and as fake as an   rolex   and leads me to assume that some of the other reviewers were correct   the film is a lot of bunk . however  i am not an expert on the life of these two people and the internet didn  t seem to clear this up  either .  br    br   just who were f . scott fitzgerald and sheilah graham and what was their relationship really like  what i do know about fitzgerald  however  does seem different from what i saw in the film . was he the suave and decent man we initially see in the film  well  considering he was married at the same time he was carrying on with graham and drank like a fish  i  d assume he wasn  t . was he as obnoxious and boorish as we later see in the film  perhaps  but if he was this bad and yet ms . graham stayed with him  then this makes her out to be a complete dummy   and not someone you  d like to see featured in a film . and  if he wasn  t  then the film does a poor disservice to his memory . either way  it made for a painful and not particularly pleasant viewing experience .  br    br   the sum total of this film appears to be a tale of two not particularly likable or healthy people . in a dark and salacious way  some might find this all very entertaining  but most are sure to see this as a train wreck with no surprises along the way  unpleasant but with glossy production values  especially the music  which was lovely but way over the top  it begs the question  why did they even choose to make this in the first place   . the bottom line   it  s a pretty bad film all around and probably not worth your time   even if  like me  you are big gregory peck fan .  
i found about the movie  holes  by hearing from people that it wasn  t typical disney  that both kids and adults both got into the story . folks  let me tell you i wasn  t disappointed .  holes  is based on the novel by louis sachar and follows the adventure of stanley yelnats  a boy who gets sent to a strange juvenile detention camp out in the desert . he befriends a boy nicknamed zero and together they set out on adventure that changes their lives . it was a very interesting  unique  different and funny story . i didn  t know quite what to expect when i watched it . it was interesting to see the story come together like pieces of a puzzle . the boys who played the juvenile delinquents were all very funny and jon voight was just hilarious as mr . sir . now that i  ve seen the movie  i have to read the book . most recommended   
this film has all the earmarks of too many cooks spoiling the stew . based on shielah graham  s autobiography  it seems like the powers that be couldn  t leave well enough alone . they couldn  t decide if this was to be graham  s story or fitzgerald  s story  and also how much they should soft  pedal whoever  s story it turned out to be . so a film that could have been a story about two fascinating  fitzgerald  and notorious  ms . graham  personalities becomes a dreary disjointed soap opera about that tells us little about either . added to this there is absolutely no period feel other than for     . clumsy scene follows clumsy scene and we have no idea where we are in the story or how much time is passing . however  and this saved the film for me  kerr has never looked lovelier  and peck is as always a very handsome man . they truly make a beautiful  mature couple  and i only wish they had better material to work with . there is one scene that does work  scott goes after shielah while in a drunken state  and to see these two normally refined stars knock each other around is very disturbing and gives some fleeting idea of what goes on in a relationship such as theirs . other than that  the movie is a wasted opportunity and achieves nowhere near the classic stature of other wald produced soaps of the      peyton place  the best of everything  .  
more than just a  kids  movie    holes  looks at how past incidents still affect us today  whether we know about them or not . when teenager stanley yelnats iii  shia leboeuf  gets sent to a prison camp where he is forced to dig all day long  he discovers a number of things about the camp  and his personal connection to it . through flashbacks  we learn that a number of things are closer than we realize  you  ll understand this better when you see the movie  . leboeuf does a pretty good job  as do the other cast members sigourney weaver  jon voight  tim blake nelson  henry winkler  patricia arquette  and eartha kitt . a very interesting movie .  
i  m sorry but i didn  t like this doc very much . i can think of a million ways it could have been better . the people who made it obviously don  t have much imagination . the interviews aren  t very interesting and no real insight is offered . the footage isn  t assembled in a very informative way  either . it  s too bad because this is a movie that really deserves spellbinding special features . one thing i  ll say is that isabella rosselini gets more beautiful the older she gets . all considered  this only gets a   .   
holes is an awesome movie . i love it a lot and it  s one of my favorite films . it  s one of the few flicks produced by disney that isn  t cheesy . holes is generally a very cool motion picture . i wish disney would make more pictures like it . holes is indeed a rare breed of disney flicker shows that is cool . don  t get the wrong idea  i don  t mean to bad mouth disney but most of it  s stuff is aimed towards kids and that  s okay . children deserve to have their entertainment too . but disney has been guilty of trying to appeal to the teen audience and they usually fail . but not with holes . it  s the type of movie anyone of any age can watch and enjoy and not once think it  s corny . really  it  s the kind of movie that even a lot of young hoods might enjoy since there are characters in it that they can relate to .  br    br   holes does a good job of being a mix of good family entertainment but not being too cheesy and living a little on the edge . i hope disney takes more risks and makes more edgy flicks like this .  
dooohhh  my bwainn hurrrts  well it certainly does after this endurance test of a film . how on earth i managed to keep going without hitting the fast forward button lord only knows .  br    br   maybe it  s me   maybe i don  t get the premise of the film . . . or maybe i don  t appreciate it  s alleged mystical atmosphere . in my humble opinion though the film has about as much mystical atmosphere as a trip to mcdonalds .  br    br   in addition the characters were all dreadful and there is more character development in a tom  jerry cartoon . yaarrrghhh  why do i do it  why do i watch such tripe  it  s enough to make one run away and join a monastery or the foreign legion   yaargh   an absolutley dreadful film in just about every respect . apart from that it  s not to bad .  
this film is an entertaining  fun and quality film . the film very cleverly follows the guidelines if the book  and tries to stick to the exact lines . the actors are all suitable  and you would expect them to be the part . they use some famous actors which give a great effect on the film . the graphics is a bit dodgy in some parts  and there are quite a few mistakes throughout the film . there is no such thing as a yellow spotted lizard  for example . the camp is not as gruesome as explained in the book  and they tend not to show the goings on in the camp as much as the book . all of his group are mentioned a lot in the book  but are not in the film . overall  a great film for a rainy afternoon  
  st watched            out of    dir  michael almereyda   weird story about a druid witch who tries to capture eternity by inheriting her granddaughter  s body . at least i think that was the relationship . a kind of eerie quality is held throughout this film not unlike stephen king  s the shining . the difference is that there was campiness in nicholson  s performance that isn  t at all in this film . this is all taken very seriously until near the end when some lame one  liners and attempts at litening up the mood don  t work at all . the performances are not the problem here  but the story is . everything doesn  t seem to come together very smoothly and the viewer is left with a lot of pieces of information and no real understanding of what happened in the film . there is a very small throwaway performance by christopher walken as the uncle of the granddaughter which  of course  gives him top  billing in an attempt to sell the film . don  t buy into this gimmick and avoid this film .  br    br    
holes       dir andrew davis   br    br   when stanley yelnats iv is wrongfully convicted of stealing  he is sent to  camp green lake  . at this camp  the warden  and her two henchman  mr . sir and dr . pendanski command the campmates to dig holes after hole after hole . but for what reason  stanley plans to find out .  br    br   i never really had any intention in watching  holes   and i must admit  i only really watched the film  because i  m such a fan of shia labeouf  but even if you are not a fan of him  then it doesn  t matter .  holes  is one of those disney film that the whole family can enjoy . the story is lovely written and incorporates a wonderful idea of including flashbacks to the past . these are not distracting and really gives a great back story . all the cast are great . the young stars act well and the addition of jon voight and sigourney weaver are a joy . shia labeouf shows that even at    he can act without any flaws . this is one disney film  you definitely would enjoy as a family .  br    br    i learn from failure .   stanley yelnats iii  henry winkler   
this is some of the worst acting i have ever seen . i love almereyda  s nadja  but this is just absolute dreck . aside from a few moments of interesting cinematography and music this film is just nonstop bad acting and dumb material . jared harris is particularly bad  but no one in this is remotely good . the plot is a joke  but not the haha kind . i don  t even know if you can forgive movies that are this bad . please erase the last hour and a half of my life . how did this director make nadja and another girl another planet   
louis sachar  s compelling children  s classic is about as disney as freddy krueger . it  s got murder  racism  facial disfigurement and killer lizards .  br    br   tightly plotted  it  s a multi  layered  interlinking story that spans history to reveal stanley  s own heritage and the secret behind the holes . it races from latvia  s lush greenness to the pock  marked camp green lake  hint there  s no lake and no green  .  br    br   disney  s first success is re  creating the novel  s environments so convincingly  the set design is superb and without gloss . the other plus is in the casting . rising star shia labeouf  charlie  s angels   project greenlight  might not be the fat boy of the book  but his attitude is right and he  s far from the usual clean  cut hero . the rest of the cast is filled out equally well  from patricia arquette as the frontier school marm  turned  bank robber to henry winkler as stanley  s dad . the downside is the pop soundtrack  pure marketing department  and having the sentiment turned up to full volume at the end .  
i thought that i was never going to find a horror movie as bad as  the return of the texas chainsaw massacre   but this film compete with it .  br    br   im not a person that get asleep when watching a movie  but i did it   minutes after the trance started . i woke up  and started to watching it agian . why did i deserve that  all the movie was a torture  i have to use fast forward to watch it complete .  br    br   i cant stand why one of my favourites actors of all time  mr . walken  could done this thing . i have to think that he made the director a favor  or he was really in the need of money  because film after film he is doing  he is ruining himself and so fast . . .  br    br   what about the movie  its not scary  stupid plot  characters are awful  but i really liked the one played by jared harris   effects are very poor  lack of deaths  blood  etc in three words  it has anything . and i mean it . cant stand how a director can make a film like this .  br    br   anyway  when i got more disappointed was when i saw in the video cover  that the film was presented by  stephen king   i think he could never present this crap  no   i rented it in argentina  . i not recommend it in a million years .  br    br   i rate this movie with a  out of   .  as i say in my  return of the texas chainsaw massacre  review  there will be always a worse movies  thats why it dont deserves a  out of     
all the folks who sit here and say that this movie  s weak link is the ramones would probably say that amadeus was ok if not for that irritating harpsichordist . rock and roll high school was centered around the ramones . how anyone can watch this and not get a kick out of joey ramone eating bean sprouts backstage in an attempt to keep him in performing condition is obviously a wet blanket square daddy  o . ms trogar  exploding white mice  the hall patrols . . . instant classics . nevermind the riff randell character .  br    br   if you don  t like the ramones then you don  t know rock and roll and you don  t deserve to watch a movie called rock and roll high school .  
this sounded like a really interesting movie from the blurb . nazis  occult  government conspiracies . i was expecting a low budget nazi version of the davinci code or the boys from brazil or even shockwaves . instead you get something quite different  more psychological  more something like from david lynch . that was actually a plus . but the way the story is told is just awful .  br    br   part of the trouble is the casting . andrienne barbeau  s character starts off the moving being somewhat timid and afraid . she just doesn  t do that well  even at her age  though she certainly tried . the actor cast as the son apparently thought this was a comedy . most of the other actors also seemed to have thought this was a campy movie  or at least acted like it  rather than simply being quirky . the only one that i thought did really well was the daughter  siri baruc .  br    br   another big part is the pacing . it starts off very slowly . so slowly you might be tempted to turn it off . but then it gets compelling for a while when you get to the daughter  s suicide and the aftermath . but shortly afterward  it all becomes a jumbled mess . some of this was on purpose  but much of it was just needlessly confusing  monotonous  and poorly focused .  br    br   the real problem  is it  s simply not a pleasant movie to watch . it  s slow  dull  none of the characters are likable . overuse of imagery and sets . some movies you see characters get tortured . in this  it  s the viewer that does . it does have a few creepy moments  most notably the creepy nazi paintings and the credits  but the rest of the movie is mostly just tiresome .  
a disney movie that dares to do something different should at least be awarded for effort .  holes  doesn  t make the same mistakes as one would expect from a disney movie about troubled teenagers put in a camp . for the first time events are not explained in details . the flashback scenes really do serve a purpose and present several mature topics that may surprise the viewer . i must admit that at first i was a bit put off by the seriousness of the movie . but soon i realized that we had to endure those moments to see the beauty of the story . besides the story this movie also does a good job of questioning some methods that are used in correctional facilities .  one example where caveman is forbidden to teach zero to read because they have to dig holes in order to build character  like learning to read won  t contribute to that  .  holes  is a movie that is smart and beautiful . a must watch   
well  when the cameo appearance of jason miller  looking even more eroded than he did in exorcist iv  is the high point of a picture  what  ve you got   br    br   it  s a little bit country  a little bit rock n  roll mix two drunks with money who drag their kid all over the place with a bog  dried mummy  have you figured that one out yet  dried in a bog   in the basement  christopher walken with a bad dye job  and a little girl who might have been an interesting character if they  d developed her .  br    br   i understand  sort of  that they  re going back to visit her relatives . after that . . . .  br    br   problem there are several interesting flashbacks to what i must assume is her mother being killed in a car bombing  i think  . this is never connected to anything .  br    br   problem what do we need the grandmother for  now  the grandmother could be interesting . she speaks gaelic  or celtic  or something . maybe you can make something of her . the best they can do is that she  s got a tobacco habit . that  s all .  br    br   problem they cast a real shifty character as the husband . is he type  cast  will he sell his wife to the devil  maybe he can look forward to the trust fund he manages for her  or is he cast against type  after all  he has a good haircut and nice clothes   he drinks  he hesitates . he  s not a bad guy . not a good one . but dislikable . why didn  t they do something with him   br    br   no problem an old boyfriend shows up . the husband knocks him down . he comes back to knock down the husband .  it gets pretty stupid  but at least that character has motivation .   br    br   now  she  s an alcoholic  he  s an alcoholic he might only have married her for her money . the grandmother is locked in the bedroom . the blind uncle takes our heroine to the basement to show her the mummy of a witch  are you following this   who may come to life . in fact  you know she  ll come to life  the music swells . a little girl lives in the house  takes tea to the grandmother  unlocks the door to do so  and provides granny with cigarettes . periodically  granny gets out . but nothing happens .  br    br   husband and wife lose the kid in the house  subsequently lose their bedroom . uncle gets his throat cut in the basement . the leading lady has nose  bleeds . the husband drinks . they both drink . in the face of all of this  the awful truth alluded to in the first over  voice is  omigod  an abortion when the leading lady was twelve years old .  br    br   in spite of all these dangling  thread ingredients  nobody managed to get a story on the screen . no bridge between situations  no graduation from mild disturbance to awful horror  just long slow scenes that go nowhere . nbody  really  to care about  and they had places to go with that aspect  the innocent kid in the charge of drunks  the grandmother who might be locked up because she  s a monster  but no  her worst fault is smoking . she  s got great hair  good makeup .  br    br   in short  no plot . just a little random  predictable  violence in a dark library  with the rain gushing in  and the sound track cuing us in . you need more than a few drunks and christopher walken to make a movie .  br    br   the production values were good . oh . nice scenery  good wardrobe . the cameraman  at least  knew what he was doing .  br    br   i bought it . poor me .  
loved the movie . loved the two families crossing paths in history . only question is if sam gets killed then how does his family  s line continue  he is madame zeroni  s son and zero is supposed to be related but no mention of any other children  hmmmmmmmmm . never mentioned any other children or wife prior to his speaking with and falling in love with the teacher  maybe she had a child prior to becoming the kissing kate bandit  even with the mistakes in the movie . just loved it . the acting was great . not sure where the story was with mr . sir being marion a women at the end but makes his character even funnier . the other  counseler  did seem concerned for the kids but of course maybe not so much . poor warden must have had a really stinky childhood to be so mean when she grew up .  
a young american woman visits her irish roots and fends off a druid witch who is out to possess her . sounds intriguing but after an interesting start  i got lost and spent most of the time wondering where it was going . the movie seems to be dithering in two directions   are we watching the travails of the irish  american woman battling her alcohol problem or are we watching a straight off horror flick about an evil witch that returns from the past  the director can  t seem to decide . the two doesn  t seem to gel and in the end you get nowhere . this could be so much better done and the story seemed to drag towards the end . this was most boring and disappointing .  
this is one of my favorite films of all time . i read the book and liked it  but this movie expands on everything the book made famous . the acting is fantastic  especially from jon voight  who plays mr . sir  a very evil character . this film has a certain way of storytelling that keeps you hooked throughout  until the end where everything is pulled together for a great ending . i also love the way this is directed  by flashing back and forth between the modern day and stanley  s ancestors  stories . the story was written by louis sachar  yes  but it seems that this story is made for film  and andrew davis does a great job directing it . i definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys good movies .  
this film takes what could have been a good idea  a mummified     year old witch and completely destroys it . nora and jim are alcoholics who go to ireland to dry  out . they go to stay with her nan and uncle . the uncle has discovered a     year old witch preserved in the peat . he revives her and she takes the form of nora . she cannot be killed conventionally   more is the pity  . nora  however  works out a way to do so .  br    br   this is a gothic horror movie that has been done on the cheap . it is a sprawling mess . i have to ask why anyone would want to make such a bad film . i am tempted to learn witchcraft in order to make it disappear .  br    br   avoid at all costs  
seriously i loved this film . . i had started to read the book and i loved it . . . the way everything was set up and everything had a purpose . . . i think this film did so well was because louis sachar wrote the screenplay . . and of course andrew davis directed it . . . shia lebouf gives a great performance for his first film . . . the storyline is very cool and interesting . . . there  s humor  heart and intensity . . . it is very similar to the book . . i find this film to be not the least bit boring . . . i absolutely loved it . . . and i encourage anyone to read the book . . all in all this film is very well put together and carefully crafted . . . two thumbs up for me in every single way  
  br    br   upon concluding my viewing of  trance   or  the eternal   or whatever the producers are calling this film  i wondered to myself   out of all of the bad movies i could have seen  couldn  t i have at least seen one that was entertaining   even if a film is not well made in terms of acting  directing  writing  or what have you  it can at least be fun  and therefore worthwhile . but not only is this film bad in artistic value  it  s incredibly boring . for a plot of such thinness  it moves awfully slowly  with little dramatic tension . at the very least  in a low  brow attempt at entertainment  the deaths of the characters could have been cool and  or gory  but the creators of this dreck failed in that department as well .  br    br   what does this movie have going for it  pretty much nothing  unless you get entertainment out of watching christopher walken  who is capable of being brilliant  put so little effort into his acting that he falls into self  parody mode  why did he decide to do this film anyway   .  br    br   i give this film      because  god help us  there actually have been worse movies made before .  
in the area of movies based off of screenplays from some other area  or whatever the title for that oscar is    holes  has credibility . i think it is better to have the author create the screenplay because the author is the creator of the material . if the author can  t write a screenplay to save their life  then have the author and someone fluently talented in the area of screenwriting create it . aside from that  this review is about  holes  .  br    br   the reasons start here and a spoiler maybe found within .    louis sachar is an excellent author and it turns that he can write a screenplay . i watched the movie and then read the book and both didn  t reek incoherence or stupidity . some people just have natural talents that can transcend mediums .    the best performance award goes to shia labeouf for his portrayal as the main character . he  dug  himself into the role . i wanted to see his character vindicated before the conclusion .    to ratchet up the suspense a bit  andrew davis was brought in . this is the man that made harrison ford run hard and run fast . he also can make steven seagal smash some heads . as for this film  he made shia and the rest of the boys dig some holes . in other words  he can make an  action  packed  movie and make it well even if  action  isn  t the main genre isn  t  action  .    my second favorite performance goes to jon voight as mr . sir . sometimes a goofy role brings out the best in a performer . when voight uttered the line  once upon a time . . .   i must have laughed for half a minute because it was so funny . he is capable of comedy and he should investigate a few more roles that let him to exercise that talent .    tim blake nelson is very solid whenever he is given a solid script . this is probably the second best role i have seen him in  second only to  o brother where art thou    .    i love the choice of settings for the movie . i didn  t know california was that dry or that barren . i guess population and land area figures both can be misleading .    the overall look of the movie made me want another bottle of water . one could only imagine digging a hole in that barren area for half a day .    the rest of the cast should deserve a box of kudos bars as well . sigourney weaver  henry winkler  khleo thomas  jake m . smith and the rest of the bill were tapped because of their talents and it gelled very well . great cast even though it was anywhere near ensemble .    i like a movie that doesn  t explain anything right away . when stanley got clocked in the head with those baseball cleats  it made me want to see how weird the events could get and that is a key ingredient in making a good movie .     disney pictures  not touchstone  disney    needs to make a few more of these mature juvenile films . it was palatable for me and i am a college student . the last mature juvenile disney film i saw was  something wicked this way comes  and  holes  possibly exceeds it  like the election in      it  s still to close to call  . disney can make greatness if they decide to expand on this genre and keeps artistry in mind over milking a cash cow when they see it . ten reasons give a score of ten   br    br   all in all   holes  is one of my favorite disney films and probably one of the best this year  granted this movie may not be oscar material but whoever said oscar material is the best material   . in terms of being a movie from a book i have read  this ranks behind  fight club  on my list  which is on top  . for being a film i saw in      this is in the top five  somewhere behind  mystic river   . compared against  harry potter   stanley yelnats easily takes a shovel to harry  s head and brings the final death blow with a smelly sneaker to potter  s nose . everybody should see this movie because it both informs and entertains . here ends my rant   
this movie is more deceiving than ever  using a suspenseful looking actor like walken to play in this piece of junk made it look like he had nothing better to do than play a boring role like this one  and the fact that the movie was supposed to be about some witch and you really don  t see that until almost the end of the movie but meanwhile you have to sit and watch this boring film while it gets  or tries to get to the meaning of the point and you have to go through this whole trail of boring actors and actresses thinking the whole time of how you passed off another movie and decided on this one and how you have just waisted your money just makes the whole point of time useless sitting there . i  d rather watch cartoons for goodness sakes . leave this one alone  please   
i recorded this ages ago but only got round to watching it today . i have been ill so had run out of stuff to watch  i am so glad i saw it  and which i could erase my memory and watch i again for the first time . this movie is so wonderful  it reminded me very much of fried green tomatoes at the whistlestop cafe .  br    br   the story goes back in time and at the end of the movie we see what the connections are . some people have said this is a kids movie . i disagree  it may be made by disney and many characters are children  but i am   and i loved it  there were moments when my spine tingled . the story is unlike any other film these days  full of adventure . i have just ordered the book from amazon  can  t wait   
this is a total waste of money . the production is poor  the special effects are terrible . in my country they had the courage to put this film on video named as  the mummy  because of the success of brendan frasers film . im sure that you can find better horror movies .  
holes  the novel  was forced on me in an education course . i didn  t think i would like a children  s novel plus  the other couple of books i was forced to read for the class were really bad . but  to my surprise  i absolutely loved holes . it really is one of the most perfectly written novels i  ve ever read . i think it has the rare quality that makes it appeal to pre  teens  teenagers  and adults . everyone who reads it  i think  will walk away a better person . while i can  t quite say that for the film  i am happy to say that they got it mostly right . i don  t think viewers of the film will walk away as enriched  but they will certainly be entertained  without the side effect of being stupider when they sat down . it is an intelligent story  and it  s very well told . i think it moves a tad too quickly . the novel takes more time in developing the characters . and the flashbacks come in and out so quickly that they don  t have too much time to register . the interracial romance in the past feels more clich and trite than it does in the novel . and the ending  which ties together all the loose threads  seems very ridiculous . it  s exactly the same in the novel  but there  s a sense of the absurd that doesn  t quite exist in the film . it works a lot better . i also don  t like the multitude of pop songs . i wish disney didn  t feel it such a necessity to sell soundtracks . the cast is across  the  board excellent  from the young kids to the old pros . jon voight is especially great . not quite sure why we need catwoman and the fonze  though .     .  
this movie could have been very good  but comes up way short . cheesy special effects and so  so acting . i could have looked past that if the story wasn  t so lousy . if there was more of a background story  it would have been better . the plot centers around an evil druid witch who is linked to this woman who gets migraines . the movie drags on and on and never clearly explains anything  it just keeps plodding on . christopher walken has a part  but it is completely senseless  as is most of the movie . this movie had potential  but it looks like some really bad made for tv movie . i would avoid this movie .  
i couldn  t keep from commenting after reading the very short  not bad  commentary . this movie is much better than just not bad . the acting is stellar  even from the children in the cast  who don  t play cute or anything else but act just like my son  s friends . the movie is smart and expects it  s audience to be as well . the double back flash story lines are imaginative and contribute to the story rather than act as time filler . i watched this movie with my kids and then i watched it again by myself a few days later . if you have kids and are sick to death of movies that inspire a diabetic coma with their syrupy sweetness  then check out  holes .  my   year  old enjoyed it as much as my    year  old  and my husband and i enjoyed it as much as the two of them . how many movies can you say that about   
saw a trailer for this on another video  and decided to rent when it came out . boy  was i disappointed  the story is extremely boring  the acting  aside from christopher walken  is bad  and i couldn  t care less about the characters  aside from really wanting to see nora  s husband get thrashed . christopher walken  s role is such a throw  away  what a tease   
and i  m serious  truly one of the most fantastic films i have ever had the pleasure of watching . what  s so wonderful is that very rarely does a good book turn into a movie that is not only good  but if possible better than the novel it was based on . perhaps in the case of lord of the rings and trainspotting  but it is a rare occurrence indeed . but i think that the fact that louis sachar was involved from the beginning helped masses  so that the film sticks close to the story but takes it even further . this film has many elements that make it what it is  br    br    . a unique  original story with a good mix of fun and humour  but a mature edge .  . brilliant actors . adults and kids alike  these actors know how to bring the story to life and deliver their lines with enthusiasm and style without going overboard  as sometimes happen with kids movies .  . breathtaking scenery . and it doesn  t matter if it  s real or cgi  the setting in itself is a masterpiece . i especially love the image of the holes from a birds eye view .  . a talented director who breathes life into the book and turns it into technicolour genius . the transitions in time work well and capture the steady climax from the book  leading up to the twists throughout the film .  . louis sachar  the guy who had me reading a book nonstop from start to finish so that i couldn  t put it down . he makes sure that the script sticks to the book  with new bits added in to make it even better .  . and speaking of the script  the one  liners in this are smart  funny and unpatronising . but there are also parts to make you smile  make you cry  and tug at your heartstrings to make you love this story all the more .  . beautiful soundtrack . there  s not a song in this film that i haven  t fallen for  and that  s something considering i  m supposed to be a punk  rocker . the songs link to the story well and add extra jazz to the overall style of the film . if you  re going to buy the film  i recommend you buy the soundtrack too  especially for  if only   which centres around the story and contains the chorus from the book .  br    br   i do not work for the people who made holes  by the way  i  m just a fan  plugging my favourite film and giving it the review it deserves . if you haven  t seen it  do it . now . this very instant . go   
the writer came up with a pretty decent idea for a story  but many flaws in the execution of the plot took so much away from the film as to nearly render it unwatchable . basic elements such as character development were glossed over  at best . inconsistencies also reared their ugly heads . a massive mansion in the middle of the rural irish countryside  characters just  showing up  in the gardens during a stormy night  at very convenient times  i might add   all in all it wasn  t  bad  . i rated it a   based mostly on the story and talent of alison elliott .  
typically   kids  films have some annoying quality to it that makes it way too sappy and unbearable for someone over   . but then again  that  s before holes hit the scene . sure  it has the very same moments that often times give a kids movie its aforementioned quality  but this film does a good job of staying away from such conventions . the acting was decent  and the uneasy dynamics that stanley had with some of the other campers was more realistic than what most movies seek to portray . what i especially liked about this movie was the fact that this film didn  t try to break your heart or make you cry . the emotional power was a little more natural than most would imagine  kind of like the shawshank redemption in many ways  which holes also has a similar  redemptive ending to it  . the only down side  the hokey looking lizards . overall  however  an     .  
this is one of the worst movies i have ever seen . however  the little slave girl  alice and jared harris imitating christopher walken is what makes this movie entertaining . alice  s smoking  drinking and uncanny way of showing up when her name is called is strange and interesting . i have to applaud jared for his christopher walken imitation  and christopher walken for allowing this to be in the movie .  
hello . this movie is . . . . . . . well . . . . . . . okay . just kidding  its awesome  it  s not a block buster smash hit . it  s not meant to be . but its a big hit in my world . and my sisters . we are rockin  rollers . go ramones     this is a great movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . for me   
this movie is one of the worst movies i have ever seen . there is absolutely no storyline  the gags are only for retards and there is absolutely nothing else that would make this movie worth watching . in the whole movie fredi  oh my god what a funny name . ha ha  doesn  t ask himself once how he came from a plane to middle earth . there are plenty of stupid and totally unfunny characters whose names should sound funny . e . g .  gandalf is called almghandi  sam is called pupsi . . . and so on . i didn  t even smile once during the whole movie . the gags seem like they were made by people whose iq is negative . if you laugh when someone  s coat is trapped in the door  this happens about  times  then this movie is perhaps for you . another funny scene they try to guess the code word for a closed door  don  t ask why  don  t ever ask  why  in this movie  and the code word is  ha ha   dung . so if you laughed at this examples you might like this movie . for everybody else go to youtube and watch  lord of the weed   it  s a lot  lot more fun .  
holes is not your average disney stuff  it  s very  very fun  even for adults who usually cringe at the cutesy  focus  group designed  family entertainment  that uncle walt  s studio passes off as live  action . perhaps the secret of this film  s success is in its faithfulness to the original book  which is a little bit darker than your average kid stuff . the action begins when stanley yelnats is sent to a boys  prison camp  where all the inmates are forced to dig holes under the desert sun as a form of rehibilitation . but as the story progresses  stanley  s tale becomes interwoven with that of a legendary treasure  and this adventure becomes ten times more fun than any disney movie about an all  boy prison camp has any right to be . jon voight is especially nasty and colorful  and sigourney weaver is beautiful  as always .  
yikes did this movie blow . the characters were weak  the plot weaker . i figured this couldn  t be too bad because it has christoper walken  oops . he must have done this because he was bored and needed the money . the characters were supposed to be irish but noone had an irish accent . i am desperately trying to find something nice about this  i can  t except walken did a fine job with a wooden character . find something to read  or watch discovery  don  t ever see this movie .  
holes is a fable about the past and the way it affects the present lives of at least three people . one of them i will name  the other two are mysteries and will remain so . holes is a story about stanley yelnats iv . he is unlucky in life . unlucky in fact characterizes the fates of most of the yelnats men and has been since exploits of stanley iv  s no good  dirty  rotten  pig  stealing  great  great  grandfather .  those particular exploits cursed the family  s men to many an ill  fated turn . it is during just such a turn that we meet stanley iv . he has been accused  falsely  of stealing a pair of baseball shoes  freshly donated to a homeless shelter auction  by a famous baseball player . he is given the option of jail  or he can go to a character building camp . i  ve never been to camp before   says stanley . with that the judge enthusiastically sends him off to camp green lake .  br    br   camp green lake is an odd place  with an odd philosophy  if you take a bad boy  make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun  it will turn him into a good boy .  we learn this little pearl of wisdom from mr . sir  john voight  one of the camp  s counselors .  we get the impression right away that he is a dangerous man . he at least wears his attitude honestly he doesn  t think he is nice . the camp  s guidance councilor  mr . pendanski  tim blake nelson  is a different matter entirely . he acts the part of the caring sensitive counselor  but he quick  quicker than anyone else in authority to unleash the most cruel verbal barbs at his charges . the warden has a decided capacity for meanness  but other than that she is a mystery . these three rule camp green lake  a place that has no lake . it is just a dry dusty desert filled with holes  five feet deep and five feet wide . its local fauna  seem only to be the vultures  and dangerous poisonous yellow  spotted lizards . green lake seems is  in many ways  a haunted place .  br    br   holes works in spite of the strange setting  and the strange story  because it understands people . specifically because it is honest in the way it deals with the inmates of camp green lake . the movie captures the way boys interact with one another perfectly . it captures the way boys can bully each other  they way they can win admiration  the way they fight with one another  and the way boys ally themselves along the age line . it is this well nuanced core that makes everything else in the film believable . what is also refreshing about this film the good nature of its main character . he does not believe in a family curse  he is not bitter about the infamous exploits of his no good  dirty  rotten  pig  stealing  great  great  grandfather .  in fact he loves hearing the story . stanley iv is not bitter about the past  and determined not let it affect him in the way it has affected his father and grandfather . there is at times a lot of sadness in the film  but not a lot wallowing angsty silliness . and that is refreshing .  br    br   holes is an intelligent  insightful and witty family movie . it entertains  and not in any cheap way . it is not a comedy  though it has its laughs . it dares to be compelling  where many family movies tend to play it safe and conventional . as such it transcends the family movie genera and simply becomes a good film that everyone can enjoy . i give it a   .  
this film seems to be completely pointless . there is no reason why anything that happens in it happens  as if it was written by a small child who got bored halfway through and thought  how can i wrap this up   . and what were jared harris and christopher walken thinking  did they do it for a bet  i couldn  t tell you the plot  i  m not entirely sure there is one to be quite frank  but if there is it didn  t register . jared and his bird go to ireland after she falls down the stairs while lashed up  as you do . they go to a house with a very annoying small girl in it  meet christopher walken who has dug up some ancient woman preserved in peat . he brings her back to life for no other reason than it continues the story and she shows her gratitude by immediately icing him . from then on it all gets a bit silly . a couple of hours of my life that i  d like back   
gruveyman   comment below  you are a complete idiot . . . blinded by ignorance by the very city you have allegiance to . its that whiny arrogance  that you are ironically claiming the film exudes about sf  that makes you seem like such the typical la ahole  the only reason you felt the film was so self congratulatory about sf is because you are jealous . of course you don  t know it because you are so la jaded . first of all the film was completely factual about a beautiful city what has been filmed there and what has been filmed by some of its more famous locals . it says nothing bad about la and these accomplished directors choose to live in a beautiful city over la . they recognize that they went to film school in la and are obviously proud of that fact . they recognize that sf is close to la which is a benefit . the only negative thing that was said that relates to la  was about the studio executives . the same studio executives that hated these guys movies when they first saw them  but then those same movies went on to be huge world  wide grossing films . so why wouldn  t they have animosity towards the studio executive establishment and studio system  these are the only people they are trying to  disassociate from  and for good reasons  don  t be so sensitive  how can you say that francis ford coppola is the  so called  san francisco director  how is he not to be considered that  and who directed the godfather  coppola did . it was his vision that told the story on the screen that won it a best picture award . so what who gave him the job  he admits it in the documentary that he didn  t even want to do the movie . . . . so what  s your point  and so what if sophia wants to live in la  and that proves your point how  and tell me how they are not truly independent when they are funding a lot of their own movies . movies that are now considered classics . and  when they made movies from studio funding  one  it was la that came to them and said we want you to make these pictures and two  they used the money that they made from doing these pictures to fund their own . they said exactly that in the film .  br    br    your bitchy and self congratulatory whining would take on an air of greater self respect and credence if you never set foot on the ground you so claim to be superior to in this film .   br    br   how the hell can  bitchy  ness  and  self  congratulation  suddenly have an  air  of self respect and credence . . . . if they never go to la again  what a stupid and senseless comment  you inserted some big words in there . . . . and just don  t know how to use them  and  by the way  they never claimed nor implied they were superior to la  so what if they are giving a guy from new york an award in la . . . . again what the hell is your point  so if they go to la or new york they are hypocrites by simply preferring to live in sf  you make no sense .  br    br   san francisco is proud of itself and its heritage and the people who make it what it is today . this film just focused on one aspect . . . film  making . for you to take the time and type up such nasty comments about the city  not the movie  but the city and its people  only proves what it is we northern californians hate about people from la  this is a great documentary . . . very interesting  especially if you are from the bay area . . . but i recommend it to anyone .  
a good cast and they do their best with what they  re given  but the story makes no sense  the characters  actions are inexplicable  and there are too many moments of unintentional humor  as when a man is killed by being pierced with pieces of a phonograph record or when they get the witch drunk to a hip hop beat and then hit her over the head with a bottle and she grabs her hostage and pouts off . the scene when the two witch and her victim  played by the same actress  are in the house together sets up like a  stooges routine  and the plot begs the question if the witch wants to possess this other woman  s soul  why doesn  t she just do it instead of leading these people on this elaborate chase  not to be missed is christopher walkin  s eyeglasses and his automotive explanation of the afterlife  paraphrased    the ancient egyptianas  they wee materialists . they expected the body to last through eternity  like a used car that you souped up . but the druids  they knew you couldn  t drive in the afterlife . you had to get out and walk .  huh  the ending is absolutely indecipherable . seems like they just ran out of film .  
i just watched the documentary  fog city mavericks  on the starz cable tv network . it is without a doubt  one of my most enjoyable viewing experiences ever  it chronicles the san francisco bay area artists and creative talent responsible for the some of the best films ever made . in addition to the well  known artists listed  t also includes segments with irvin kershner  caleb deschanel and a segment about pixar animation studios . i hope it will be released on dvd  this is a must for any collection about cinema history and brilliant film  making . if you are even remotely interested in movies and the people who create them  you will not be disappointed .  
i hate plane crash movies . . . all of them  in fact  i hate them all with a passion  first of all  they are cheap  looking and have no craftsmanship  secondly  they insult the airline industry and say to the audience that all planes do is . . . fall out of the sky and crash   br    br   why i wince at such a film  this could happen to any of us and with worser consequences than those suffered by the characters in said movie . . . which is the only chilling aspect of an airline disaster yarn such as this . i hate this movie because it  s like all the           stupid  ass airplane chaos movies before it  freefall is like all the others nothing more than boredom before the clichd bullshit dramatic scenes take place .  br    br   first  off we have same cast of retards on this flying death trap the cleaver  esquire family of three  the yuppie baastard  and the bitch of a flight attendant complete with a big blond hairdo from     scolding anyone who is the least bit frightened   br    br   my second gripe is this shouldn  t be a full  length movie  but a documentary explaining everything about the air canada  gimbli glider  incident a . k . a  freefall  right down to the safety precautions .  br    br   my third and final gripe is with all airline films of this caliber  with the exception of fearless  why the hell did the male steward instruct the passengers to remove there shoes   i could understand high heels and sharp  loose objects  but c  mon   like that  s gonna  make them any more fking safer than they are now  this plane if they  the passengers  didn  t know any better knew they were going to crash land . why would you force    injured people down a rubber slide that can cause skin to peel and bleed on impact only to walk in their stocking feet on a debris field  does this make any sense to anyone   br    br   fearless and the hit abc series  lost  had more depth and realism to air disaster than just  plane malfunctions  people panic  stewards become assholes  plane lands without wheels in a field  people wander without shoes and jackets  etc . the same old crap from airport      freefall was so typical of a air  crash movie that i almost expect to see either charlton heston or peter graves burst into the damn passenger cabin at any moment . could we at least see how these poorly  acted characters go back to normalcy instead of people rejoicing amidst the impending tragedy that is staring in front of them  typical moronic lifetime movie  cheap and stupid   br    br   the director of  freefall  should stick to cheap made  for  tv movies with white middle  aged women with stupid teenage kids who do drugs and have marital problems . as for suspense . . . leave it to the professionals . . . you hack  why should we the audience sit through over an hour and a half of this airport wannabe rehash . i hope to god they don  t make plane crash movies like this anymore . if this were like the abc series  lost  then it would be something to watch . but this is utter crap and then some . stop turning every plane disaster movie into  airport       this is not  airport  this is cheap pathetic waste of my time . i would not recommend this movie or any made  for  tv air disaster movie to anyone not even my worst enemies .  
i drove from sacramento to san francisco  and back  to see this movie premiere   and really glad i did . as a big movie fan and a life  long northern californian  i was surprised how many oscar  winning films have been made in the bay area . as a fashion designer who really wants to stay in the bay area as opposed to going to la  george lucas  comments about persistence  community and having a vision really resonated with me .  br    br   hey  if he and all the other filmmakers can make it in sf  so can other artists .  br    br   would recommend this film  
i wanted to read the other comments before leaving my review and the majority definately rules this movie is aweful  from the acting to the non  realistic animation to the countless errors . i was actually hoping that the flaps would have been extended by a stretch of the imagination  can  t extend flaps without engines  . the landing gear cannot be lowered unless you have electricity . that tiny little fan that was going was not sufficient by any stretch to lower the landing gear . the one thing i thought was quite peculiar is when they landed  the back wheels touched down and then the nose one broke off  thus suspending the plane with both back tires in the air . how did the captain apply left and right brakes to tires that weren  t touching the ground  did they forget the spoilers  word to the director find out all you can about planes before attempting a  plane  movie . sorry for the technical rant  but i give this movie     .  
this film is brilliant  it touches everyone who sees it in an extraordinary way . it really takes you back to your youth and puts a new perspective on how you view your childhood memories . there are so many layers to this film . it is innovative and absolutely fabulous   
this may have been based on historical events  and we know that the makers of this tv docu  drama took liberties to make it more dramatic  i can live with that  but it was just so badly done  i was amazed in the event of an unfolding mid  air crisis how calm everyone seemed  surely someone would have panicked  and what a smooth flight  no passenger discomfort apparent  come on  not sure about the regulations  nowadays some of the airline security stuff seems ott nonsense  but why take your shoes off before the emergency landing  common sense tells me this is not a good idea  the shots of this massive airliner coming down on this remote airstrip were unconvincing and fake . in reality it would have been an awesome sight viewed from the ground nearby  in this movie it was out of proportion and looked like the model it probably was . escape slides appeared at the front and mid emergency doors  yet nobody appeared to exit from the front  even though the drop was much less . the captain went back into the plane after the landing  why  this was never explained . we know the emergency landing was due to being out of fuel  but even so there must have been some fuel sloshing around at the bottom of the tanks  and the risk of explosion must have been a very real danger  yet the evacuation seemed almost leisurely  and everyone stands around at the foot of the escape slides instead of getting as far away as possible  as i am sure i would have done . there were just too many inconsistencies  errors and faked action in this . i would have preferred to have seen a representation of the drama in real time  and with realistic motion of the plane portrayed . it had the potential to be quite thrilling  but doubtless due to the budget restrictions failed  and made one feel that a plane losing all engines was no big deal really  and you would safely glide down to a bit of a bumpy landing  but no real danger   the reality of course being somewhat different   
ok  you want to test somebody on how comfortable they are with their adolescence and the embarrassing and maniacal changes therin  then get their immediate reaction from watching this uproarious doc about kids making socially relevant horror flicks in the suburban    s . more than any movie i has ever seen  the film deals with burdening sexuality and ego in a way that is completely human  never dull  and flushed in the kind of inherent goodness of youth that is discolored by the fear  frenzied adult world where any quirk in youth is accredited to anything from insanity to perversion . mini  mogul darren stien seems to be reaching for a deeper understanding of his triumphs and misgivings as the patriarch of strict kid  s world . what he finds in himself and others isn  t always pretty  but shows how one can improve and reconcile with age . what does change mean without reflection . i love this movie .  
i have nothing more to say but it was awful . i cannot imagine why helen mirren and others were part of this degrading mess . and if certain actors don  t want people to question their sexuality then perhaps they should refrain from making more of these films . there was at least one seen that left me curious . just my opinion . shudder to think what was going on that was cut from the film . shudder to wonder what went through the minds of the actors who made this film . shudder to think about the thought process and voyeurism that went on in the directors mind . like i stated before its a degrading mess . its not even funny . as ebert said of the film caligula with malcolm mcdowell  its not a good film  not a good story and its not even good porn . yeeshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . . . . . . . . . .  
i was so entertained throughout this insightful documentary  and i waited a good while for this to come through the pipes  my local video chain   and it was worth the wait . i like a good documentary  special interest piece  but this was definitely a heartfelt  honest  and nostalgic  if you will  look back on adolescent life . the imagination of a child is fascinating  and that  s where a great story begins . rent it or buy it if you like a good  humorous  and all around entertaining documentary . mr . stein and company have definitely come a long way from neighborhood video camcorder productions of bank hold  ups  and gay  rings that turn people gay from one glance . they all seem rather successful in they  re respectful fields  and it was good to know that they are all still good friends . the dvd has a few extra trailers for other good documentaries  and it features a number of darren  s most notable productions  including  crazy news .  
being that i loved the original  caligula  even with all its flaws  i have to say this remake trailer was abysmal .  br    br   listening to jovovich say in that lazy american accent  mmm cuhligyooluh . . .  makes me feel sick . the set doesn  t look roman at all . . . it looks like some rich actor  s hollywood mansion backyard  and the roman costumes look like cheap crap you buy at a suburban costume shop .  br    br   that  charming  adriana asti looks like a fifty year old hispanic woman totally terrified out of her mind  as if not knowing it  s a movie trailer .  br    br   the acting has got to be some of the worst i  ve ever seen  with most of the lines i hear being random actors screaming  caligulaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa          as loudly and obnoxiously annoyingly as they can .  br    br   the random sex scenes also filled a good   or    of the trailer  and the scenes with notable actors  actresses like gerard butler  who graces the screen in shadows for all of three and a half seconds  not doing anything but looking uncomfortable or going all  out over the top with their minimal lines  just dragging it down with the ridiculousness of their delivery .  br    br   courtney love  s part consists of her looking like her usual dumpy crack  whore self leaning against a door mumbling about the moon or something . you can  t tell because she  s either drunk or high or just mumbling idiotically .  br    br   karen black is just annoying . . . randomly laughing  and screaming in such a way that irritates you .  br    br   helen mirren . . . she was in the original  and her return to  caligula  consists of . . .  caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaligulaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa                i particularly  love   and by love  i mean hate  ennia  s line   caligola . . . j   no maki me something incoherent . . . . something that sounds like j   nalo  it  s also insanely arrogant to say caligula  s four year reign was greater than jesus  s birth and death .  br    br   honestly  this has got to be the worst  most exploitative  self  indulgently arrogant piece of crap labeled as  art  i  ve ever seen . even if gore vidal hated the original caligula  he shouldn  t have shown up or given his name over for this crap  pile  no matter how much they paid him  unless it was a billion trillion yen  . worst trailer ever .  
put the camera on me is a deceptively cute film . it is actually a complex glimpse at the psychology of children and offers interesting insights into the development of adults and an artist . on the surface this is a nostalgic look at some home movies made in the    s by a group of upper class neighborhood kids . one of the film  s directors  darren stein  had access to a video camera and quickly took over as the artistic leader for all of the movies . sure  these are just some cute kids having fun . but  this is also much more . this is a look into some moments in time as children grapple with a number of confusing issues that all of us face in life    fear  sexual awakening  unrequited love  loneliness and just trying to make sense of the adult world which seems to explode all around us . as we get older we tend to forget how overwhlelming the realities of life were when we were little .  br    br   what makes this film all the more valid is to watch a young darren stein turn into a little general of a filmmaker . it is clear that darren is running this show and these little movies are his vision but they are all informed by his friends  their problems  the interpersonal dynamics and the general confusion regarding the horrors of adult life . a lot of children make home movies  but i  ve never heard of or seen children create  little  movies about the holocaust  homosexuality  nuclear war and the inability to fit in and make friends . these kids are confronting and dealing with some heavy stuff   br    br   the power of this film is the way stein and shell pull various scenes together so tightly with running interviews with the kids    all now adults and all still friends . this adds a new angle to the film . how many of us have stayed in touch with our childhood friends  these guys have . and  many of the issues with which they were dealing are still running between them two decades later .  br    br   among the conflicts   a confession of a crush reveals a heart still broken  a very normal childhood sexual experience continues to be a  sticky  subject between two of the men  some ongoing resentments over the dynamics of relationships and there is still a member of this team who remains very much in charge and in center stage  which makes perfect sense as one watches these home movies progress over the course of a couple of years . darren stein is a director . no doubt about it .  br    br   stein and shell take turns chatting with each other from time to time and one can  t help but imagine the awkwardness of allowing us to peek into the young lives of these people . this is particularly true for stein who has gone on to a great deal of success in the entertainment industry as a film producer  writer and director . from the first moment of put the camera on me we can see the emergence of a gay little boy trying to figure it all out . we also see sides of the artistic mind and personality that are not always  nice  or  caring     and  this is a bold move for any artist to share with an audience .  br    br   there are so many revealing moments  but the most disturbing and complex moments involve a movie in which we see a jewish concentration camp victim being tortured and killed by a nazi . we discover thru interviews and narration that the nazi is played by a jewish child and the part of the victim is played by a gentile child . it is a painfully disturbing moment that glimpses into the darker side of fear and the way children work thru the horrors of the adult world that are beyond adult understanding much less that of a child .  br    br   this is much more than some home movies . this documentary captures the pain  beauty  joy and sadness of growing up . powerful stuff    and well worth seeing   br    br     
overrated and only for those people in their    s whom wear particularly thick rose tinted glasses  who never actually saw it in the first place because they were to young . awful animation  dialogue and a tired narrative . a real product of the    s  the novel gimmick of a puzzle toy  thats right  toy not the absurd  pretentious and child alienating  collectors action figurine    sold on the back of a poor cartoon and other paraphernalia  only matters to those who bought the toy when they were  actual  children in the period of     to     . it has become cult because of those same adults are to immature to let go of their memories . avoid .  
it brings to mind the writings of stephen king and the remembered childhoods filled with terror from stories like it  as the exact opposite . there is no terror in these childhoods that any of the friends  who are still friends   years up the line  remember or seem to suffer from . up the line all is described as friendly jostling  maybe periodically described as  picking on  one or more of them  but all is forgiven . there is no angst embedded as the film and the participants in later life describe the relationships  all we see are young people having grown up to be basically the same persons . more mature  but basically still the same people  and the same power structures .  br    br   totally amazing  not just for the fact that people can in fact grow up relatively unharmed by social conventions  but also that friendships can in fact last . in this respect this movie is a tiny pearl  as one assumes this has been the intent of the film a portrait of unforced emotions binding people together . which  when seen in opposition to films of later years portraying the dark sides of childhood  the violent inhibitions in bowling for combine is what easily springs to mind  but since mid    ies along with the growing adoration of children and childhood  accompanied by     s of commercials  animations and series directed straight at children  several movies and documentaries have had success with portraying the dark sides of growing up  the abuse  the loneliness  the push to excel  resulting in adults with dark and twisted minds .  br    br   and here comes a film  that says it is possible to have a happy childhood  look  a  here   br    br   thank you for that . or the counterweight illusion . . .  br    br        
no matter how well meaning his  message  is  this film is a terribly made trainwreck  awful acting  lame camera work  i do not know why carr agreed to try and pull off a stutter  he is lousy at it . you watch the extras on the dvd and the way he has a camera follow him around  he just soaks it up  he loves being the center of attention . he is a bad actor  he reminds me of another arrogant filmmaker  eric schaffer . some how carr has had this film shown at city youth centers and new age churches  where damaged people looking for reinforcement and attention themselves babble on about how the film touched them and maybe it did  but as a film itself it is choppy  predictable and sappy .  
huge ramones fan . i do like the ramones  and i suppose if you hate them  then  besides being a avid bush supporter  you might not like this classic .  br    br   it  s immensely better than the sappy john hughes teen films and the like that littered the    s . infinitely better than the american pie  s that plague us now .  br    br   there are some other great high school films switchblade sisters  fast times . . .  class of     three o  clock high  and the cheesy yet gripping  doesn  t seem possible  river  s edge . but rnrhs will always be my favorite because it  s the funniest and most fun  plus you can get up and dance with it .  br    br   i love you  riff randell .  br    br         
it was meant to be a parody on the lotr  trilogy . but this was one of the most awful movies i  ve ever seen . bad acting  bad screenplay  bad everything . this is my personal opinion . i don  t doubt any second that there are people who  ll like this sense of  humor   but there have been better parodies on movies from acclaimed directors as mel brooks or the zucker brothers . i  m working in a movie theater and in dvd shop and the success for this movie was similar in both areas at the movies it was a nice  but no big at all  success during the first two weeks but then  when the reviews of those who have seen it were not too good  the movie dropped very fast . in dvd sales it was good for short time but then nobody asked for it anymore . in the last ten years  the two worst movies i  ve seen are the ring thing and torque . i can  t decide which one was worse  but i  m happy that there a so many good movies so i don  t have to think too much on this question .  
twisted  bizarre  enchanting  and hilarious  i couldn  t stop laughing watching this film . darren stein presents the movies he made on the family camcorder growing up in southern california in the      s . it  s an interesting look at a budding filmmaker and his motivations and ability to manipulate for the camera . manipulation is a strong word  however don  t we all watch movies to be manipulated in some way or another   br    br   from the beginning  i was amused at the fact that the boys in the films seemed to appear shirtless whenever possible . later  darren comments about his budding homosexuality  and you can see it from the hints  big hints   of flamboyance at an early age . maybe it was just the warm southern california weather  who knows  as a gay man who also grew up in a nurturing environment  it  s great to see that his parents supported and loved him  and that his friends seemed to be entranced with his nascent talent behind the lens .  br    br    put the camera on me  offers a look back to the    s untouched by commercialism . you  ll remember the hair  the music  and the fashions . i  m the same age as mr . stein  so the trip back to memory lane was welcome . his solo lip  syncing dance number is priceless  enhanced by the frankie goes to hollywood t  shirt .  br    br   the films deal with dark themes at time . child abuse  the holocaust  nuclear war  sexual fantasy  and social dysfunction . no childhood is completely carefree  and the way stein deals with these subjects is interesting to say the least  and hilarious to behold .  br    br   watch at your earliest convenience   
this is a bigger budgeted film than usual for genre director honda  with more evidently elaborate sets   though the special effects still have that distinctive cheesiness to them  witness the giant bats and rodents on display  . it also utilizes a surprising number of american actors joseph cotten playing the visionary scientist looks ill  at  ease and frail  but  then  his character is supposed to be    years old    an innocuous richard jaeckel is the photographer hero while  as chief villains  we get cesar romero and patricia medina  both essentially campy  . as i  ve often said  i grew up watching english  language films dubbed in italianbut hearing hollywood actors in japanese is another thing entirely   br    br   latitude zero feels like a juvenile version of a typical jules verne adventure  and is fairly entertaining on that level indeed  it  s preferable to honda  s low  brow variations on the monsters  on  the  rampage formula because of the inherent quaint charm of the set  up in this case . the plot involves the kidnapping of a famous scientist by romero  he was intended to establish himself in the underwater  technologically advanced city devised by cotten  to which the world  s foremost minds are being recruited  . we  re treated to plenty of silly battles between the rival subs  but the most amusing scenes are certainly the raid on romero  s cave  in fact  cotten doing somersaults and fending off men in rubber suits  via flames and laser emitted from his glove   must surely count as the nadir of his acting career the other elder in the cast  romero  is more in his element  after all  he had been the joker in the batman tv series and movie of the     s  cotten has a scantily  clad blonde physician on his team  and is assisted by a hulking asian romero  on the other hand  is flanked by an oriental femme fatale  who  however  ends up getting a raw deal for her efforts  the girl  s brain is eventually transplanted into a hybrid of lion and condorwhich is among the phoniest  looking creatures you ever saw   . apparently  a   disc set of this one from media blasters streets on this very day    
eyeliner was worn nearly     years ago in egypt . really not that much of a stretch for it to be around in the   th century . i also didn  t realize the series flopped . there is a second season airing now isn  t there  it is amazing to me when commentaries are made by those who are either ill  informed or don  t watch a show at all . it is a waste of space on the boards and of other  s time . the first show of the series was maybe a bit painful as the cast began to fall into place  but that is to be expected from any show . the remainder of the first season is excellent . i can hardly wait for the second season to begin in the united states .  
now don  t get me wrong  i do enjoy christmas movies . i love its a wonderful life and i really enjoy the versions of a christmas carol with george c . scott and alistair sim . but this particular movie is awful . i think the i love life song the ghost of christmas present sings is especially painful . albert finney sings fairly well in annie . i don  t know whats wrong with him in this movie but it sounds as though someone is trying to sing through a mouthful of dead gerbils . the only thing that saved this movie for us was shutting the sound off and watching the dance numbers accompanied by the south park christmas cd .  
i thought that for a first episode of a first series it did really well . it was really fun and i thought the actors was brilliant . i think it is a crime for anyone to say that is was bad because it looked the right time . i find it really annoying when people say that it wasn  t historically correct because it is supposed to be a saturday night entertainment show not a boring history documentary so i think the costumes and settings were just right . a brilliant start and i am going to love what will come next   i have spoken to many people at my school and they love the show  we all think that it is brilliant entertainment and it has great stories to go with it .  
i couldn  t not recommend a christmas movie more than this worthless piece of drivel  trust me  double negatives are required here   it  s that bad  . this film was in trouble from the opening credits when it was revealed that the screenwriter was the same person as the songwriter . the musical numbers are all far too long and none of them any good   thank you very much  has a decent melody  but the lyrics are stupid beyond words  . i would gladly bear the chains worn by scrooge in the film  s bizarre hell sequence than sit through this insult to movie musicals again .  br    br   the only entertaining part of this movie  completely unintentional by the way  involves alec guinness as jacob marley . dressed in a silly powder white costume  guinness foppishly prances through his scenes in what was either an attempt to make it appear as though he was floating like a ghost  or to show his utter disdain with having to be in this dreadful movie . albert finney  meanwhile  blends the best of alistar sim and charles laughton to create his hopelessly loathsome character of quasimodo  scrooge . finney  s scrooge is so hideous a person  it  s impossible to believe his transformation .  br    br   steer clear of this abomination of filmmaking at all costs .  
this is a perfect series for family viewing . we gather around the tv to watch this on bbc america . it is an up  to  date version of robin hood and it appeals to children and adults alike . our teenager and tween  ager both enjoy sitting with mom and dad and watching robin  s next exploits . we can  t wait for the next episode to air each week and are glad for the free  on demand  viewing .  br    br   the wardrobe has a spot of current fashion . there is a moral to each story . it is entertaining . the violence is not over  the  top or needless . the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic with a john william  s feel to it . it is an old world tale that is brought to life again with a new world flair .  br    br   there is so much garbage on television from brain rotting  reality  tv to senseless violence . you should take this for what it is and that is an updated  robin hood  not to be compared with the movie exploits of errol flynn . this is a gem to be enjoyed by all . parents that are concerned about their children watching too much violence will enjoy that robin has lost his taste for war and bloodshed . he is a robin hood that would rather attempt to reason his way out of a disagreement than fight . maid marian is also an appealing role model for young girls . rather than stand by and do nothing  she takes her own role in helping the poor by being the  night watchman .  the sheriff of nottingham is deliciously over the top wicked  just as the sheriff should be and looks like a cross between billy joel and tim curry . guy gisborne is played by an extremely handsome actor  one that makes most women wish he didn  t have portray the role of a bad  guy  .  br    br   the only question we have is  where is friar tuck    
this is the worst adaption of a classic story i have ever seen . they needlessly modernize it and some points are actually just sick .  br    br   the songs rarely move along the story . they seem to be thrown in at random . the flying scene with marley is pointless and ludicrous .  br    br   it  s not only one of the worst movies i  ve seen  but it is definitely the worst musical i  ve ever seen .  br    br   it  s probably only considered a classic because  a christmas carol  is such a classic story . just because the original story was a classic doesn  t mean that some cheap adaption is .  
i absolutely love this show  but i saw the second episode first . after watching the first episode i could see why people were turned off at first . the first episode  s humor is not the best  and they struggle to properly start the series . however  i still like the light and humorous attitude of the show . the characters develop much more after the episode and become truly enjoyable characters . as a first episode  it really doesn  t accurately represent the rest of the show which is really quite good . the episode is not bad by any means  but as the show progresses it becomes better and better  so watch more episodes before passing any judgement on the quality of the show .  
this wasn  t really a very good movie . there were lots of implausible and predictable things that happened during the course of the film . . . but i think that most of the reviewers are missing the point of why this movie should be enjoyed by a wide audience . this movie was produced by magic johnson  isn  t that enough to inspire us all to check out this film  a film produced by a former nba star doesn  t come along every day  you know . beautifully stupid kids in a big house getting slashed by an axe wielding psycho . every clich trotted out for us to groan over . teen sex . and it was all produced by magic johnson  i can  t say enough about this movie  teen drug use  college hijinx  and it was all produced by magic johnson  yippeeee   
sitting on the front porch of his burbank home  ted mapes told me that he and reed hadley wore the exact same size in every item of clothing except hat .  br    br   ted  one of the greatest of the stunt men  said that every time zorro put on his mask  he was the one on the screen .  br    br   that was a little bit of an exaggeration there were times that zorro was obviously reed hadley  but in the stunts we can be satisfied it was ted at work .  br    br   and what stunts   zorro  s fighting legion  is  as witness the comments here  one of the greatest of serials . it is exciting and generally very well made .  br    br   reed hadley was a fine actor  and  as someone else commented  he made a very good fop .  br    br   but  admittedly  it is the action that makes this movie so great .  br    br   and what else could we expect  with direction by that excellent team  witney and english  with great music from the amazingly prolific william lava  the listing here says he was uncredited  but that is incorrect those other composers listed here were indeed uncredited  and i don  t know if they did write any of the music   it sounds like lava   and with villainy from  among others  the great charles king  and with dozens of bit parts   br    br   also noteworthy was a villain played by the radio tarzan  jim pierce  who was edgar rice burroughs  son  in  law .  i urge you to read his mini  bio .   br    br   there is one chapter that slows things down depressingly  but  heck  it  s only a few minutes long  maybe    and when you wade through it  well  you  re back to the excitement .  br    br   turner classic movies deserves a great big thank you for presenting this excellent serial  and we should ask tcm to bring us more .  br    br   and we should thank everyone involved that we get to see it as a chapter  play  or serial  and not as a re  cut feature .  
i was attracted to seeing this movie because of this plot and my desire to watch a horror .  br    br   to my disappointment  this turned into more of a comedy than a horror . the acting  dialog  and flow of the movie was all very poorly done . much of it didn  t make sense . for example  there  s a party of about   people and they  re all terrified of one person despite them being at a secret location and are all healthy looking young adults and the guy threatening them sounds haggard . i kept thinking  maybe this was a parody of another movie like scary movie  but they were trying too hard to make it look gruesome  emphasis on try .  br    br   the blood and gore are also poorly done . i  ve seen halloween costumes look more believable than this . a guy with his head cut clean off . . . looked clean  missing signs bone  flesh  blood  and even the head . a strong downward strike with an ax on a corpse should lodge itself into something . . . seemed like the guy was swinging a bat instead of an ax .  br    br   revealing who the main villain was supposed to be a twist  but contradicted other parts in the story . what was going in the guy  s mind to turn out like that  if there was going to be a twist  you should at least build up to it adding mystery and suspense .  
there have been a lot of zorro films made over the decades  but it  s a shame that one of the best is probably one of the least seen .  br    br   zorro  s fighting legion is a bit different from other zorro films . first off  it  s a republic serial in   chapters . and this time  zorro is not played by a top studio star like douglas fairbanks  tyrone power or antonio banderas but instead by workman  like actor reed hadley . while hadley does not cast as strong a presence over the proceedings as those other  he does an adequate job  helped by the fact that he is not the sole hero here as the title implies  he has a fighting legion to call upon .  br    br   another big difference is that the setting isn  t california . the story here take place in central mexico in     where a man posing as a living god incites the indigenous indian population and a band of outlaws to aid him in his plan to overthrow the newly established mexican republic . something  zorro  and a handful of followers plan to do anything they can to stop .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  there is at least one incredibly cheesy moment per episode  from corny  twang  bow sound effects to ludicrous acting . but overall  this represents one of the best republic serials of all time  and probably the best zorro one .  br    br   the plot is stronger than most serials and never becomes incomprehensible or meandering .  and there  s lots of great action  fans of the indiana jones movies will notice many bits borrowed from this serial .  
i  m sorry to all the fans  but this is a useless movie . the acting is bad  even wooden  it over  hypes the fright  factor early on  and doesn  t exactly work . i think there was supposed to be a twist at the end  but it just ended up being maddeningly confusing . what the hell  the dude who was killing everyone was one of the hunted  try again .  br    br   its hardly original  and it isn  t even particularly good as a straight slasher . and that  s saying something .  br    br   i think whoever did the castings  whoever wrote the script  and whoever thought of the concept should be mercilessly fired and deported .  br    br   don  t watch this movie . if someone puts this on at a party  throw the disc out the window and put on a good horror movie  like silence of the lambs or the shining .  
serials were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film that were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction . known as  chapter plays   they were extended motion pictures broken into a number of segments called  chapters  or  episodes .  each chapter would be screened at the same theater for one week . the serial would end with a cliffhanger  as the hero and heroine would find themselves in the latest perilous situation from which there could be no escape .  br    br   the audience would have to return the next week to find out how the hero and heroine would escape and battle the villain once again . serials were especially popular with children  and for many children in the first half of the   th century  a typical saturday at the movies included a chapter of at least one serial  along with animated cartoons  newsreels  and two feature films .  br    br   the golden age for serials was          . this was one of the best of the era .  br    br   zorro has been seen in many films  but reed hadley   racket squad   the undying brain  was excellent in the role .  br    br   the action is constant  and we are led chapter by chapter to the ultimate end where we find out the identity of the evildoer .  br    br   zorro triumphs  as he always does .  
here we go with other slasher movie  good looking people and acting from everyone was really good   br    br   few kids playing pranks phones calls and there parents are killed by the killer in front of the kids    years after they are still friends  they go to huge house  have fun  drugs and sex  no nudity  for least half a hour of the movie  again they start making pranks phone call all over again  and then killer comes back kills them off one by one and killer is in big black coat with axe just like urban legend movie   br    br   deaths scene really weird  really odd times too .  br    br   nice slasher movie at this part would gave     but the twist at the end of the movie made the whole movie kinda of pointless  br    br   the twist killed the movie for me so i going to give it      
along with  king of the rocket men   this was still being repeated on bbc tv in the early to mid eighties . if i was loading up a time capsule of this period both these series would definitely go in .  br    br   someone watching it for the first time will think it is silly but this is one of the best examples of the  serials  . don del oro will make you laugh  when i was little my nickname for him was mr dustbin head  and it was funny upon being shot at he says  your bullets can  t harm me  then he stumbles back  seemingly less than happy . i also like the way he dispenses with sebastian in the first episode .  br    br   i watched this again because i had good memories of it from years back  there are some good stunts and good music  it has the ingredients you expect including water  rockfalls  runaway carts . . . apart from the first episode  with ralph faulkner  the swordplay wasn  t nearly as good as i remembered it  and yes it features the inevitable  flashback  episode  it gets  out of   because it still suffers from slow pace  padding and the other tricks . if you are interested in these serials i recommend the book by william witney   in a door  into a fight  out a door  into a chase  although there is only a small entry about this series in it .  
when i caught a glimpse of the title i thought are we going to get another try  hard hip slasher  but actually i found   eventy  ive  to be a mildly passable  and almost   s throwback after a tediously slow mid  section it picks up momentum for the final half  hour leading to it  s outrageously tacky climax and downright cop out ending . it won  t win awards for originality  because it  s as systematic as you can get and steals its thunder in the way of thrills  usual cheap jump scares   location  secluded mansion  and motivation from other films . the gleaming direction is by  the  book and the material is quite hackneyed with poorly realised red herrings within its elaborate plotting and flimsy script . sometimes laughable  but nonetheless i was entertained mainly due to its brutal and grisly acts of pulpy violence towards some rather obnoxiously annoying college students by a psychotic killer with a battle axe . the performances weren  t bad in the shape of a spunky young cast  however the characters they were portraying weren  t particularly enticing . an always presentable rutger hauer shows up in a short supportive role as a grizzled detective . a slickly made  but a shallow and forgettable addition to the fold .  
my very favorite character in films  but in nearly all of them the character of zorro has a small bit of cloth as a mask and if the villains cant tell who is under that cloth then they are daft .  br    br   but in reed hadleys  zorros fighting legion   serial      the mask fills his whole face making it a real mystery as to who zorro really is .  br    br   but anyway zorro is one of the best characters in films and to bring it up to date l think anthony hopkins in  the mask of zorro        is a delight .  br    br   my interest in films is vast  but l have a real liking for the serials of the   s    s . . . .  br    br   bond  a  
what an utter disappointment  the score of    here on imdb built up some mild expectations but  oh my  was i disappointed . the first thing that bugs me are those braindead  stereotyped university kids . yes  i know teens can be childish and so on  but why are they in movies always portrayed as complete braindead morons  there was one character that i thought was alright  but he  she  not revealing it here  was killed off way before the end . the other characters was poorly executed and even the supposed hero  heroine just didn  t do it for me . on the plus side the plot is pretty good and the productions values a cut above for these kind of flicks . the acting was generally not very good  rutger hauer stands out in a small role . but it all fails with bland and braindead characters . you just stop caring about them after   minutes .      and thats being generous  .  
rock  n  roll high school was one of the best movies ever made  i think the only reason it was so awesome was because of the ramones  you couldn  t have made the same movie and put something like the sex pistols  or the clash in place of the ramones  it just wouldn  t have been the same . dey young  clint howard  vincent van patten  mary woronov  paul bartel  and the hall monters  just added to the movie . the whole entire movie is about the ramones . . . especially joey  so everybody showed see rock  n  roll high school if your a huge fan of real punk . not the sissy new crap . . . but the loud  and fast kind . the kind only the ramones could do . r . i . p  rest in peace  joey ramone          . dee dee ramone            
the main reason people still care about  carlton  browne of the f . o .  is that it features peter sellers in a second  billed role . but watching this film to see peter sellers is a mistake .  br    br   sellers plays amphibulos  a vaguely reptilian prime minister of the dirt  poor island nation of gaillardia  formerly a british colony  now hosting a lot of russian diggers during the height of the cold war . amphibulos wants to play both u . k . and soviet interests against each other for easy profit   everything very friendly and all our cards under the table  . terry  thomas is the title character  a lazy british diplomat anxious to show gaillardia that great britain hasn  t forgotten them  all appearances to the contrary .  br    br   a positive review here says  the reason this movie is considered average is because the comedy is understated .  i would argue that the reason  carlton  browne  is considered below average is because the comedy is non  existent .  br    br   after a decent opening that establishes the film  s only two strengths  a sympathetically doltish terry  thomas and john addison  s full  on larky score  things quickly slow down into a series of slow burns and lame miscommunication jokes . the low opinion of carlton  browne by his boss and the obscurity of gaillardia  which no one can find on a map  is milked to death . by the time we actually reach the island  after a labored series of airsick jokes   expectations are quite low .  br    br   they  re still too high  though . the island itself  which seems to exist either in latin america or the mediterranean  is so pathetic its honor guard faints at the airport  and the review stand falls apart in the middle of a parade . the army is apparently still horse drawn  allowing for another lame aural gag by a thick  accented announcer  in war  the army uses many horse .   br    br   sellers never quite takes center stage even when we  re on his character  s island . the plot is taken over instead by ian bannen as king loris  who inherits the throne of gaillardia after his father  s assassination . bannen is dull and plays his part as straight as it is written . normally this would make him the likely target for scene  stealing by sellers  but trapped behind a thick accent and greasy moustache  sellers is only a threat to those of us who remember him far more happily in two other films made this same year   the mouse that roared  and  i  m all right  jack .   br    br   strange that this film  like  jack   was a boulting brothers production  with roy boulting here serving as co  director alongside jeffrey dell . usually boulting films combine wicked social satire with anything  goes comedy  but here there are only fey jabs in either direction . amphibulos works his mangled  english vibe for all its worth   this man is like  how do you say  the bull in the chinese ship   while carlton  browne is generally ragged on by his superior far more than he seems to deserve .  br    br   the weakest and most protracted element of the film is young loris  s romance with ilyena . score one point for her being played by ravishing luciana paluzzi  dock one for the fact that they are apparently cousins is never addressed .  br    br   the film winds up with a lamely staged revolution whose surprise resolution will surprise no one  and a final bit of action by carlton  browne that would seem to nail the lid on his coffin literally . apparently he lives to see another day  but the film of the same name is strictly doa .  
best of the zorro serials and one of my favorite serials  period . this is a period serial set right after the birth of mexico . the new nation is counting on the gold produced by this one town to keep the republic solvent . however a gold god  don del oro is stirring up the indians and stealing the gold for himself . its zorro and his band of men to the rescue . reed hadley is a winning zorro and he cuts a dashing figure as he gets into a nice selection of scraps  most all of which were reused by the later zorro serials as well as other serials as well  . the story moves and its nicely not clear who the real bad guy is . there is a reason that i  ve seen this the most of any serial i  ve seen  its simply a great action adventure film . the only thing i can compare it to is the mark of zorro with tyrone power or one of the other swashbucklers of the period . its super and highly recommended .  
the plot of  eventy  ive involves college kids who play a cruel phone game that unexpectedly  to them  if not to fans of horror  gets them in over their heads . the story of  eventy  ive  on the other hand  is that of a horror film that had a wee little bit of promise  sadly outweighed by really bad writing .  br    br   what could have been a fun  if somewhat silly  old  fashioned slasher tale is derailed early on by its filmmakers  misguided belief that the audience would enjoy watching a bunch of loud  whiny rich kids bitching at each other for most of the film  s running time . with the exception of a police detective played by rutger hauer   in a minor role that is designed mainly to add the movie  s only star power  every character on screen is a different breed of young a  hole .  br    br   male and female  black and white  straight and gay  an entire ensemble of shallow and shrill college kids carries the bulk of the film  s narrative . worse  since the tale deals with a party game gone awry  most of the time the scenes are completely filled with these little bds . because of this  there are few breaks for the viewer  who must put up with the angry sniping of the thinly  drawn protagonists . even though at least some of these people are supposedly friends  invariably all characters interact in a very hostile manner  long before any genuine conflict has actually arisen . this leads to the worst possible result in a slasher film the audience  intended to care about the leads  instead not only cheers on the anonymous killer  but wishes that he had arrived to start picking off the vacuous brats far earlier .  br    br   the real shame of this poor characterization is that otherwise  eventy  ive actually did have some potential . visually it  s fine . first  time directors brian hooks and deon taylor know how to build a suspenseful mood . they also manage to deliver on some competent  if sparse  moments of classic   s  style gore . surprisingly  the production  s cast is also fairly able . it isn  t that the actors aren  t capable of expressing realistic human emotion it is simply that the screenplay  co  written by newcomer vashon nutt and director hooks  who fared much better behind the camera than with a keyboard  is short of such moments .  br    br    eventy  ive can hardly be recommended  as its familiar premise and few thrills can  t outweigh the bad taste left behind by a story driven by a gaggle of unpleasant characters . in this tepid whodunnit  the real mystery is why anyone should care about a group of young folk who can  t even manage to like each other .  
reed hadley makes a better foppish don diego than he does a dashing and daring zorro  but that  s almost beside the point because this serial features the bar  none best theme song of any serial  ever   and the best version of yakima canutt  s famous stagecoach stunt . there are other good stunts  and lots of action  and plenty of hair  raising cliff  hanger chapter endings  but if for no other reason  you must see this film to watch the stagecoach stunt  then re  watch it in slow motion . it is incredible  and  despite the lower budget for this chapter play  yak turns in a better take on the stunt here than he did in the far more celebrated film  stagecoach .  indiana jones  eat your heart out this is the real deal   
saw it yesterday night at the midnight slam of the festival des films du monde in montreal . what a disappointment . this movie is clearly over rated by imdb fans . the acting was only but regular . the directing didn  t bring anything new or interesting . the plot lacks considerably  the movie is all about those college grads and the game they play making prank calls   eventy  ive  . and on top of that  you can predict the movie  s end in the first five minutes . if you like prank calls and a slasher with an axe that makes you jump only once or twice during the whole movie  you might like it . if you don  t  this movie is not worth it .  
if you are a fan of zorro  indiana jones  or action in general this is a must  see . directed by republic  s ace team of william witney and john english  and starring reed hadley as don diego  zorro  this serial delivers  i won  t bore you with the plot  who cares  less talking  more fighting   what really matters here is hadley  s superb interpretation of the character  s and the stunt work of dale van sickel and yakima canutt .  br    br   stunt spoilers follow   br    br   you can see the influence this film had on lucas and spielberg   zorro gets caught in the original version of the star wars trash compactor in one chapter  trapped on a rope bridge a  la temple of doom in another  does a raiders horse  to  coach transfer and even flees through a tunnel while the baddies knock over a huge water tank and flood the tunnel behind him  exactly as mola ram does to indy in temple of doom . in addition to all this  the whip action is great as zorro disarms villains  swings to safety  etc . with his trusty lash . most of the sword work is fair to lame  except for chapter one  which features a terrific sword brawl in a cantina choreographed by sword  stunt legend ralph faulkner  who makes a rare screen appearance as the evil rodriguez . this was the first serial i ever saw  on matine at the bijou when i was a kid and i have been hooked on them ever since .  br    br   zorro  s fighting legion delivers  z  goods   
  minutes into this movie i was hyperventilating  shaking  and writhing in pain . and not in the good way . the story is about a troupe of idiotic children making prank phone calls to a psycho which is always a good idea . turns out psychos don  t like prank phone calls because in  minutes time he  s at their door killing poor williams mom and dad . well skip ahead   years and guess what  still prank phone calling people . yep you would of thought that a horrible murder would of deterred them from doing that ever again but no . so after about two hours later and way too many scream ripoffs i realized that this movie gave me nothing but a terrible taste in my mouth and a severe urge to take my own life . this piece of crap isn  t even worth laughing at the shoddy production  the  acting   or rutger haurs dwindling career . i love crappy horror movies but this is the most unsatisfying piece i  ve ever seen . just don  t .  
god  zorro has been the the subject of about as many movies as tarzan  and probably had about as many actors in the title role .  br    br   this serial is one of my own personal favourites  and as previously stated  it is one of the top  sound serials . oddly enough  this is one production that came out in that water shed year of     .  by the time of this production in     zorro was really well known as a  pulp  literary and movie character . the film opens up with a little foot note about the history of the mexico  s struggle for freedom from rule by a european monarchy  namely spain . the story invites comparison with the american revolutionary war .  br    br   the story concentrates its attention to the mythical province of san mendelito and its  council  . it is being addressed by benito juarezon their gold mine  s relation to the new republic of mexico . gold shipments must get thru to mexico city .  br    br   don francisco uncle to diego vega  states that he has organized a group of patriots to act as a protective force for the gold convoys . a thug from the don del oro mob  stages an  insult  to himself and challenges don francisco to a duel with swords  don frasncisco getting run through .  br    br   suddenly the dark clad masked swordsman appears to sword fight and after carving the trademark  z  on the face of the bad guy  he dispatches him to the hereafter . don francisco declares with his dying breath to his ward ramon  william corson  that zorro is his nephew from the city of los angeles . he also attempts to tell of the true identity of don del oro  but expires before completing statement .  br    br   there is a big reception for diego at don francisco  s hacienda  where diego disappoints ramon  sister  also ward of don francisco  with his timid act .  a fop     she declares .  br    br   later  diego and ramon slip away to join up with a meeting of the volunteers . when they ask   who will lead us with don francisco now dead    ramon declares  zorro  we are zorro  s fighting legion   well there is a big battle with the legion  now all clad on gray  with masks and capes  protecting the gold train . then zorro seems trapped at a man  made avalanche intended for the convoy  when  well  you know cliffhanger end of chapter one .  br    br   wow  that was a lot of writing for one chapter  but like most other serials  the opening one is longer and has a lot of ground to be laid to set up the story line . let  s just let it suffice to say that there are   more good  well made  action filled chapters following .  br    br   zorro  s fighting legion has all of the elements that made for top cliffhanger action . we have an unknown evil leader who is fomenting trouble between different groups . there is a number of suspects as to who was really behind of the mask of  don del oro  . we had soldiers  renegade whites  hostile indians and the legion .  br    br   in short  it  s safe to say that there is everything one could want  and then some  in this serial . and  incidentally  they wisely choose to not have the actors affect any mexican accents .  br    br   as to just what is there here that makes zfl stand out from the rest  what makes it different or unique  well . . . . . . . .  br    br   first of all  it has a much more elaborate and exciting musical score playing and underlining the drama and action on the screen . the opening theme even appears in a flamenco guitar rendition at the cantina in chapter one . this is probably the only time that such a highly specialized innovation appears in serial sound track .  br    br   and yet there is one more feature that really sets the fighting legion saga out in front from all others . that is  the film not only has a heroic musical theme  but it also sports lyrics  yes  the legionairres sing  we hear them singing in the opening credits and in several chapters  it really works well and adds to the feelings we get from the viewing .  br    br   when the serial was first shown on our local television  circa       all of the gang immediately recognized the voice of reed hadley as belonging to  captain braddock from racket squad  the tv series . mr . hadley had a very distinctive  deep voice .  he also handled the role very well . his costume and especially the elongated mask looked very good and was probably very functional .  br    br   there is a small slip up . a sort of minor anachronism occurs by having benito juarez  carleton young  addressing the san mendelito council  as juarez was about   years old at this time       and  though he was later perhaps the greatest single figure in mexico  s history  he surely hadn  t achieved such prominence yet . his inclusion in story probably was to cash in on the release of warner brothers  juarez that year  which starred paul muni in the title role .  br    br   this is not only my pick as a top  sound serial  but also my favourite zorro film .  br    br    we are reminded of the great crop of top flight movies that year  what with gone with the wind  mr . smith goes to washington  the citadel  juarez  the wizard of oz  of mice and men  one million b . c .  zenobia  we want our mummy all counted among the output that year .  br    br    once again  juarez did not ascend to any national importance until around      about   years later . also  the political sub  divisions are referred to as  provinces  in the story . in actuality  they are called  states  . just as we are called the united states of america  so too  south of the border they call their repubhlic the united states of mexico .  br    br    reed hadley was prominent in some very  a  pictures in which his richly toned voice is exploited to good effect . watch  listen for his narration in the house on   nd street       and guadalcanal diary       .  
i had absolutely nothing to do the past weekend  and tagged along with my friends to check out a movie . . . any movie . and since the only movie we  d not seen was inspector gadget  we decided to go in for that .  br    br   big mistake . this is a movie that might appeal only to kids . oh  and it  s not like i don  t enjoy movies targeted at the younger audience . but this movie had absolutely nothing to hold my attention . if you have nothing to do at home  go to sleep . better than wasting hard  earned cash on this . go check out the film if you  re a kid or if you  re a parent with a kid    
i rank this the best of the zorro chapterplays . the exciting musical score adds punch to an exciting screen play . there is an excellent supporting cast and mystery villain that will keep you guessing until the final chapter . reed hadley does a fine job as don diego and his alter ego zorro . last  but certainly not least  is the great directing team of whitney and english .  
in keeping with disney  s well  known practice of stealing . . i mean . . buying out known properties and bastardizing them  this live  action version of the venerable cartoon classic has got to be one of the worst re  makes in a year of bad re  makes . i grew up on the original cartoon tv series . any episode of the original cartoon series will give you more laughs than this entire movie . not present is penny  s cool computer book . also not present is the gag with the self  destructing orders that always ends up detonating on the chief . new are a smooth talking gadget convertible  the original cartoon had a cooler vehicle that could turn into a van or a car  and an element of a typical  unrealistic hollywood romance . don  t fill the coffers to pay for disney executives and even their  ex  executives  don  t see this movie .  br    br    
i loved this exiting republic serial  the story was one of the best i have ever seen  even tough  the picture quality was not of the best  but ok . the fencing in this serial is also a bit bad  but not terrible . they only should have practised some more . as i said the story is great  you  re just sitting there and waiting to find out who don del oro is  the theme music is excellent  it  s the same guy who maid the music for walt disney  s version of zorro  who maid the fightin legion music . costumes and buildings are very good . zorro is really cool and so are the legioners  i highly recommend this serial . buy it   br    br   i love that reed hadley plays zorro  he is funny  smart and brave  mark  .  
disney  s done it again . the company that made  mr . magoo  and  george of the jungle  has made another movie that barely resembles the cartoon on which it is based  and keeps none of the spirit of the original .  br    br    inspector gadget  was one of my favorite cartoons when i was a young one  and for a movie of it to exist may have been a dream come true back then . now that that movie does exist  i was severely disappointed  even outraged .  br    br   first we have the characters .  br    br   gadget himself has the gadgets that made him such a fun character in the original cartoon  with well  done special effects accompanying them   and he even has some of the naivete of the original gadget  but he is now more competent and is expected to solve the crime himself while penny and brain just watch .  br    br   penny has little to do while she played a major role in the cartoon  discovering the crime and halting it  and occasionally getting captured by the mad agents  now she is simply introduced and then forgotten  although she does at least sneak into claw  s base .  br    br   claw is the movie  s version of dr . claw  who was a rather sinister  raspy  voiced man who wore metallic gloves and sat in his chair  his face hidden from view  as he stroked his cat and oversaw various crimes . now he is simply a man with a claw for a hand  with no mystery behind the character .  br    br   brain and mad cat exist in the movie  but are rather insignificant to it .  br    br   even small parts of the cartoon aren  t spared in this butchering . the famous expression  wowsers   was mysteriously changed to  wowser   and gadget  s gadgetmobile now looks different and talks .  br    br   there is even product endorsements everywhere . why is  yahoo   advertised on a sign  why does the gadgetmobile have buttons for mm  s or skittles   br    br   fans of the cartoon will hate it  others might will likely find the movie below par  and when all is said and done  this movie is another attempt to make some quick bucks off another old show .  
as serials go  zorro  s fighting legion  is one of the best action serials of the     s . made in a period when the studios could still field a large cast  this one has wall to wall action throughout its   chapters .  br    br   in     the president of the newly formed republic of mexico benito juarez  carleton young  is trying to put his new country on a solid financial footing . to that end  he has arranged to have rich gold shipments forwarded to the capitol from the local san mendolita mine .  br    br   members of the local council plot to steal the shipments on behalf of don  del  oro a gold armored god  who with the aid of the local yaqui tribe  hopes to install himself as the ruler of mexico . opposing him is don francisco  guy d  ennery  who forms a legion of locals to aid juarez . when don franciso is murdered by don  del  oro  s men  a stranger  the fopish don diego  reed hadley  arrives in town . diego aka zorro takes over the legion with the help of his friends ramon  william corson  and juan  budd buster  . the token heroine of the piece is ramon  s sister volita  sheila d  arcy  .  br    br   both diego and ramon hold seats on the local ruling counsil . it soon becomes apparent that some of the other members of the council are in league with don  del  oro . first there is the chairman of the council  leander de cordova   the head of the militia manuel  john merton   chief justice pablo  c . montague shaw  and gonzolez  edmund cobb  . zorro suspects that one of these men is don  del  oro  but which one   br    br   what follows are several hair raising escapes by zorro and his confederates from the followers of don  del  oro . we have the ever present collapsing rope bridge  the deep chasm between two cliffs over which only zorro can jump to safety  and the usual assortment of explosions  fires and coaches and wagons crashing or going over the cliff . hats off here to republic  s fine team of stunt men lead by the legendary yakima canutt and the yrigoyens  bill and joe . canutt performs his signature stunt jumping on a team of runaway horses and then falling beneath the coach which he repeated in other films including john ford  s  stagecoach  the same year .  br    br   anyway  zorro finally unmasks the false god don  del  oro and restores peace to the valley before riding off into the sunset in chapter   .  br    br   others in the cast include jim pierce  curley dresden and charlie king as don  del  oro  s hence men and if you look closely you may spot bits by future serial star and lone ranger clayton moore and stuntman canutt in bits .  big  jim pierce by the way  may be best remembered for playing tarzan in      s  tarzan and the golden liom        and for his marriage to joan burroughs the daughter of tarzan creator edgar rice burroughs .  br    br   thoroughly enjoyable .  
inspector gadget         br    br   starring matthew broderick  rupert everett  joely fisher  andy dick  dabney coleman director david kellogg   minutes rated pg  br    br   by blake french  br    br   disney  s new film   inspector gadget  is about a cop named john who survives a major accident and is saved by a state of the art experimental operation that turns him into a robotic machine  like agent who has tools and contraptions of all sorts built into his body at his use when he says  go go   only to be called inspector gadget   br    br   the actual movie  s structure is much like the body formation of inspector gadget himself . it is noisy  fragmented  energetic and consist of a bunch of half hearted contraptions thrown together to make something that doesn  t have much in common with anything else present . the film is basically a series of zany action sequences that are kind of pasted together with characters and an uneven story that only kids between the ages of    would enjoy .  br    br   the cop who is dramatically reinvented is played by matthew broderick  who  until  inspector gadget   was on a success spree with movies like  election .  his character becomes inspector gadget after an encounter with the film  s heavy handed villain named claw . he is played by rupert everett  who has already experienced catastrophe this year with the dreadful  william shakespeare  s a midsummer nights dream .   br    br   there is a romantic subplot in this movie as well as ample amounts of scenes involving inspector gadget  s wacky body parts and mechanism elements . it has gadget and claw drooling over the attractive character brenda  played by joely fisher  for both her looks and her knowledge of a specific invention made by her late father  who was earlier killed by claw . competition evolves into fight scenes and a reason for many happenings in the film . also a major character is the gadget mobil  a life like automobile that is devised for inspector gadget himself . it is voiced by d . l . hughly from the sitcom comedy  the hughly  s .   br    br    inspector gadget  is a movie that i found quite bad . i know  i am not exactly a target audience of the filmmakers  but even my ten year old relative found the film to his disliking . the movie is full of distinct flaws and obvious problems . i never found myself caring about the characters . there is no mood development beyond some neat opening credits  unlike the much worse     film   mr . magoo   which opened using clips of the original cartoon . is it too much to ask for that same type of thing in this comedy  which is seldom funny and hardly ever convincing . the overall production design is nothing but a mess of incomplete sight gags and consists of one joke inspector gadget  s bumbling goofiness .  br    br   in movies like this the audience lusts for boundaries  something to help make out what can happen and what can not . in  inspector gadget  there are no such boundaries . this is truthfully nothing more than a party time for the actors  who surly had lots of fun . i am reminded of another lacking comedy released a few years ago called  blankman  which again  contained lots of props and energy  and the actors certainly had fun time with all the gizmos and props  but it too lacked something needed for every movie audience participation .  br    br   a character that i found being left out a lot is gadgets daughter  who by the end of the movie  i still has not clue of what her name was . she is used only as a plot device  and i question how she was used to further the plot as well . for her presence brings nothing relevant or productive to the film . we never know her reactions to her father  s operation or accidents . thus  this is someone who could have been completely left out and would have not affected the movie a bit .  br    br   in closing  i  d like to state that  inspector gadget  is an awful  insufficient excuse for a children  s comedy . and believe it or not  i find myself comparing this film to last years violent and very anti  young audience action picture  blade .  i am stating once again that i had much rather have a movie where nothing happens than one in which everything happens .  inspector gadget  had so much going for it at the same time  it made literally made me dizzy .  br    br    
there have been several films about zorro  some even made in europe  e . g . alain delon . this role has also been played by outstanding actors  such as tyrone power and anthony hopkins  but to me the best of all times has always been reed hadley . this serial gives you the opportunity to see an interesting western  where you will only discover the real villain  don del oro  at its end . the serial also has good performance of various actors of movies b like ed cobb  ex  tarzan jim pierce  c . montague shaw  eternal villains like john merton and charles king  and a very good performance of hadley as zorro . he was quick  smart  used well his whip and sword  and his voice was the best for any zorro .  
ok . i think the tv show is kind of cute and it always has some kind of lesson involved . so  when my kids decided they wanted to see this movie  i decided to tag along . i wish i  d stayed home and watched the tv show instead .  br    br   the fact that the humor is silly and unoriginal is the least of the problems with this movie . the plot is next to non  existant  the characters seem to exist in a vacuum  and  worst of all  gadget does not carry any lesson whatsoever . it appears that disney took all of the things that make inspector gadget work on tv and tossed them all . to be fair  my younger child   years old  liked the movie but the older one    years old  came away thinking it silly  he was too old for the youth humor but too young for any of the adult humor  .  br    br   generally  i like disney films but this one misses by a mile . it is ok for a very narrow age band  say  to   but a must miss for everybody else .  
this is a really good film and one that i  ve enjoyed watching several times . michael caine  s awesome as always . michael caine has received kind of a reputation for taking any role in any movie no matter what the quality or lack of same but he does a good turn in playing sidney . from the start it  s so well written . who would have thought that ira levin who wrote such creepy stuff as the boys from brazil and rosemary  s baby could write something this witty . let  s face it  michael caine  chris reeve  dyan cannon  henry jones . . . how are you going to go wrong with a cast this good directed by sidney lumet .  br    br   i  m really reticent to go on because if anyone were to give away anything about this film it would be a crime . just watch it and adore it .  
after disney  s witty live  action george of the jungle  i had high hopes for this flick . major disappointment . thread bare plot  bad acting  bad visual effects . this film relied on lame one  liners  idiotic  and pointless  product placement  and the lamest most annoying side  kick in that gadget car thing . i took two young kids to see it and they where bored out of their mind . the only laugh received from this movie was bad standby of when needing a laugh show a guy getting it in the groin   
playwright sidney bruhl  michael caine  has had a series of flop plays after a huge hit . he receives a play written by a student of his  clifford anderson  christopher reeve  which is fantastic . it  s so good sidney says he would kill for it . will he   br    br   a thinking man  s thriller . it was originally a play . . . and it shows . it  s mostly on one set and all talk but i was never bored . it  s very well  written with plenty of twists and a good cast working full force . caine is just great as bruhl   another one of his great performances . reeve is  surprisingly  very good . i never thought much of him as an actor  but he  s really good in this role . dyan cannon does wonders with an underwritten role as bruhls  wife . irene worth is also good  and quite funny  as helga ten drop  a psychic . however  her accent did get on my nerves . director sidney lumet does very well with his one set . the camera is always moving and keeps your attention going .  br    br   extreme spoiler dead ahead      my only complaint is that two gay characters in this movie turn out to be raging sociopaths and it also contains one of the most unromantic kisses i  ve ever seen   but these are mild complaints .  br    br   a very good thriller . critics hate this movie  for some reason  and it seems to have completely disappeared since it premiered in     . that  s too bad   it deserves better .  
why    this was an insipid  uninspired and embarrassing film . the embarrassment comes from being from the city where they made it . . . pittsburgh pa  why did they let these people do such a baaaaad movie there   br    br   when this movie was originally to be released . . . it was more of a romantic comedy . . . and no robo  anything . that all got changed along with cuteness courtesy of disney . why     they did a terrible interpretation of this classic comic character . seeing matthew broderick make fun of his own movies was not fun either . sheesh    
though this movie is cheesiness at its best  it is pulled off perfectly . this movie  without a doubt  has to be considered a modern classic . there are basically two kinds of movies i like  movies with depth  chick flicks  if you must  i blame my wife for this  and mindless comedies where i can sit back and relax . this movie is a perfect example of the latter .  br    br   a friend of mine turned me on to this movie shortly after its release . considering me to somewhat shallow  he said to me   you  ve got to see this movie . it  s just your type of movie .  foregoing the insult  i started watching . i know they mentioned the ramones a million times  but when you actually see them  i said   hey  it is the ramones .  my friend replied   i don  t know they were a real band .  i had my moment of glory .  br    br   this movie  though now somewhat dated  is a must see for ramones fans  or anyone else for that matter .  
this film  though ostensibly a comedy  is deadly serious . its subject is imperialism  with a capital i   how britain  foolishly  humiliatingly  tries to convince itself that it  s still a great power after world war ii . at home  the empire is run by amiable dolts  benevolent tories who are so in  bred that they can  t distinguish close relatives the offices of government consist of long forgotten archives  a dig at orwellian paranoia    inhabited by indolent rats  and ante  rooms wherein lounge bored synacures  reading popular novels .  br    br   abroad  britain clings to the old pomp but pomp out of context looks threadbare and silly  especially when its embodied in bumbling twits . carlton  browne is an unsentimental picture of decline  with none of the lachrymose rot that marred the supposedly anti  imperialist jewel in the crown .  br    br   the film is also about the cold war  bravely admitting that it  s a dangerous farce  whose participants deserve mockery and contempt  not fear and respect . it  s about how colonialism  characterised more by neglect than tyranny  destroys the colonies it deserts  robbing them of amenities  power  and  most importantly  self  respect  leaving them vulnerable to the machinations of dangerous cowboys .  br    br   it  s the seriousness  of course  that kills it . that  s not to say that weighty subjects can  t be treated in comedy  the miracle of morgan  s creek  dr . strangelove and the life of brian have all proved that . indeed  one might suggest that serious themes should only be treated by comedy  it allows for a clearer  eyed view .  br    br   the problem with carlton  browne is that every situation must have a significance beyond the merely comic  so that it becomes weighed down and unfunny . in the three films mentioned above  much of the comedy arises from character reaction to an extreme situation  not the extreme situation itself . here  the script is too poor to sustain rich comic characterisations  and some of the greatest comedy talent ever assembled  peter sellers  terry  thomas  raymond huntley and john le mesurier  are criminally wasted .  br    br   terry  thomas  sublime so often  shows that he couldn  t handle lead parts  and that he needed to play sneering  arrogant bounders  not brainless toffs . the music is made to carry much of the comedy  but its heavy irony only draws attention to the lack of hilarity on screen .  to be fair  unlike the majority of british comedies of the period  which were stagy and underproduced  the boultings often try to make their points through film itself  by montage and composition  only huntley manages to raise genuine laughs  and that  s by essaying a character he could have played in his sleep .  br    br   none of the boultings  farces have dated well  they  re never thought through enough . although carlton  browne revels in the decline of the empire  it also seems to be anti  democratic and militaristic . i  m sure this wasn  t intended  but these blunders are bound to happen if you allow worthy intentions to take precedence over comic intelligence and film form .  
i couldn  t believe the comments made about the movie .  br    br   as i read the awful opinions about the movie i actually wondered if you had actually viewed the same movie that i did .  br    br   what i viewed was incredible  i think the actresses and director did a fantastic job in the movie .  br    br   i hadn  t had the pleasure to see either actress previously and i couldn  t have been more set back by the incredible job that they did i  d have to say its the most believable movie that i  ve seen in a long time .  br    br   what i don  t see is why everyone has such a problem with deanna  s choice of drug in the attempt of suicide scene  from the comments made you sound like it was the actresses choice and her stupid choice . that i don  t understand  its a movie written by someone else and directed by someone else so how it can be the actresses error i fail to see . i think it was a real believable movie that i would see again and recommend . opinions are what the are and its too bad that so many are so close minded . i hope to see any of the actors soon i think that all played great roles .  br    br   busy philipps will be the highest paid actress someday and i hope she can laugh in the face of everyone that criticized her  you go girl   
this movie was so unrelentingly bad  i could hardly believe i was watching it . the directing  editing  production  and script all seemed as though they had been done by junior high school students who don  t know all that much about movies . there was no narrative flow that made any sort of sense . big emotional moments and climaxes  like one early on between heath ledger and naomi watts  and character relationships  like one hinted at at the very beginning  come completely out of no where and are not set up like they would have been in a more elegantly and effectively made film . the characters are sadly underdeveloped  making it difficult for us to have any sort of connection with them . the acting  surprisingly  is not entirely bad  but the terrible writing cancels out the relatively convincing performances . the film plays like a particularly bad t . v . western  epic  and sadly diminishes the fascinating  true  story that it attempts to tell . i have read a lot of reviews that defend the film as being important to australians because of the subject matter . that  s all very well  but just because ned kelly is an important australian historical icon doesn  t make the movie good . no one is saying that the subject matter isn  t good  just the quality of the movie itself . pearl harbor was about a very important historical event to americans  but that doesn  t mean i  m going to defend the movie and say it was good  because it was still bad . a failure all around  though heath and orlando are lovely to look at .  
deathtrap gives you a twist at every turn  every single turn  in fact its biggest problem is that there are so many twists that you never really get oriented in the film  and it often doesn  t make any sense  although they do usually catch you by surprise . the story is very good  except for the fact that it has so many twists . the screenplay is very good with great dialogue and characters  but you can  t catch all the development because of the twists . the performances particularly by caine are amazing . the direction is very good  sidney lumet can direct . the visual effects are fair  but than again most are actually in a play and are fake . twists way to much  but still works and is worth watching .  
i really wanted to like this movie  the location shots were mostly filmed in pittsburgh and the trailer had some wonderful photography . but  even for a filmed cartoon  it was a really badly  made movie . the continuity and pacing were both simply awful . the best bits in the movie are under the ending credits  so it  s  almost  worth sticking it out to the end  though  oddly  it does pick up a little over the last half hour or so  .  br    br   when the best performance in a movie is by andy dick  you know there  s got to be a problem . . .  
very good dramatic comedy about a playwright trying to figure out how to keep his head above water after running out of ideas . can  t say much about this film without giving away the story . i can say that little was as it seems as you are watching the picture . everybody has his or her own agenda . nice little surprise at the end  after all the other surprises . well written with good performances by all .  
luckily i did not pay to see this movie . also  i cannot even reveal any spoilers because i willingly walked out after forty minutes of the movie . it was that bad . i laughed once  when the yahoo  billboard fell on the guy  and the theme song came on . however  that was only because i thought it was making fun of it  but then i realized it was yet another product placement .  br    br   i loved the cartoon . i used to watch it almost religiously .  although i missed the last episode . i heard that they show dr . claw and it was nothing more than a claw  somebody comment on the show  s page  the cartoon had penny and brain alot more than the movie had  as to that point . i hated the setup of the whole thing  reminiscent of robocop . then broderick screws with the whole feeling of inspector gadget . he is not nearly as clumsy as the cartoon was . another fact is his gadgets actually work to the point i saw  except for the oil slick . he also screwed with the tone of  wowsers  which used to be in an excited tone . i felt so disappointed that they slaughtered the cartoon so badly . everybody else felt that way too . us      year olds remember the cartoon fondly and we loved every minute of it .  br    br   i went into the movie with an open mind  knowing that they would have screwed with the cartoon . i was taken aback at how retarded the movie was . it relied on sight gags  and stupid dialogue for humor . disney relies on pain and physical humor to push a kids movie along . product placement is pointless in this film  and it shows . the wise  cracking car is not that good at cracking wise . the gadgets look nice  but they were almost overly glossy . the cartoon was a better look . the silly scenes were crap . in the      minutes i watched the movie  not one laugh was heard  and they laughed at the dudley  do  right preview . this movie should not be watched by people who want intelligence in their family entertainment . i highly recommend  the iron giant   which was sad  but very very good . this movie is a travesty to the whole family drama .               
long before  brokeback mountain   about   years before    deathtrap  was the first time i ever saw two men passionately kissing on screen  and frankly  i was shocked . i understood it in terms of the plot  and it didn  t really upset my sensibilities  not much   but it was the first time i ever saw it  at least  in a  mainstream  movie . i thought it was a gutsy move for its time  and took courage for them to try it  especially christopher reeve  in the midst of his time as pg  rated superman . male bisexuality on screen may have hit its stride with  brokeback   but it  s interesting to note this much  earlier incarnation .  
since i had loved the inspector gadget cartoon in the    s  i went to see this movie . i wasted my money . the plot was very thin . also  the movie could not keep me interested for long . i was glad it was over .  br    br   if you want to see inspector gadget  watch the cartoon instead . it was much better than the movie .  
this film has very tight and well planned dialogue  acting and choreography .  br    br   recommended film for anyone who wants to see masterful writing and plot .  br    br   question does anyone know where the house is actually located  it is one of the most interesting houses  a   thc windmill .  
i  m not quite sure why  but this movie just doesn  t play the way it should . it should be humerous and fun  but instead is just boring . i think a large part of it is because they way over played the  gadgets .  the old cartoon it is based on is much better .  br    br        
if you are looking for a sonic  boom  special  effects monster  click the back button on your browser .  br    br   deathtrap was written by ira levin  sliver  the stepford wives  rosemary  s baby  . it  s a stage play  adapted for the screen .    of the movie takes place in the gorgeous home of playwright sidney bruhl  michael caine  . he  s the author of a fabulously successful broadway play  but his last  efforts have flopped  horribly .  br    br   an aspiring playwright  clifford anderson  christopher reeve   who attended a play  writing workshop given by sydney  has sent him a copy of the play he has written . sydney tells his wife  myra  dyan cannon  the play is fabulous  a sure  fire hit . but is it good enough to die for  time will tell .  br    br   clever dialog and numerous twists and turns in the plot keep this movie entertaining from beginning to end . the whole cast seems to have a good time . it  s reminiscent of another fun michael caine mystery sleuth . worth watching .  br    br    
this is one of those movies you think that the makers would refuse to release it because it is so terrible . obviously they were thinking that children are stupid and are excellent for absorbing endless ads and would think they are entertainment because it is slapstick funny . what is it with the talking car with buttons that say wendy  s  mcdonalds  mm  s and skittles  there was no talking car in the cartoon .  dr .  claw is supposed to be evil  not handsome and charming . why is rupert everet  claw  anyway  were the writers on drugs when they wrote these scenes  it looks like they were  badly  lampooning robo cop  with the turning a man into a crime fighting android thing . i tried to get my money back but there was a policy where if i watch more than   minutes of a movie  you don  t get a refund . i  m sorry i watched more than   minutes of that pile of crap . after i was told the no  refund policy  i decided to watch the rest of the hideous garbage called inspector gadget .  
deathtrap is not a whodunit . it  s a who gonna do it to who first . it  s so hard to describe this movie without giving anything away so i won  t mention anything more about the plot . as far as acting goes it is cris reeves greatest role as clifford  a young playwrite . you really see the range in his acting abilities in this movie from  exhaling cheeseburgers  to downright frightening . clifford is such a hard role to play and in the stage production of this i have never seen clifford played well on both ends of the spectrum . the actor plays him as a little puppy or a homicidal maniac . reeves is the only person i have seen who has the character right all the way through . as for michael caine he  s . . . . . well he  s michael caine . one of the best actors of the last   years and in this film as good as he has ever been .  
if you enjoy seeing what must have started as a  hour movie in unconnected bursts of unwatchability  you  ll love this film . otherwise  you  ll just wonder how they could have made such a film from something so simple to translate to the big screen as inspector gadget .  br    br   in the previews for the film  many scenes were shown which were not in the film  and within the film  some scenes just don  t make sense . while the movie is slightly less than  hour and a half  i can only think of one truly memorable moment  and that is just before or during the credits   br    br    
excellent plot within a plot within a plot . shame about two of my film heroes having a good snog . must be my upbringing   br    br   very well acted by all . you never quite know who  s going to out  do who . the last little twist at the end allows for all to get their just deserts .  br    br   recommend to all . a harmless  tongue in cheek thriller which if it has any faults is probably michael caine  s over  use of the word  bloody   but that  s his signature  isn  t it .  br    br        
well . where to begin . let  s just say this avoid this movie at all  br    br   costs . it  s based on a cartoon series . the movie makes the cartoon look  br    br   like hamlet . filled with emasculated actors who seem embarrassed to be  br    br   here  lousy camera work  terrible music  and enough product placement to  br    br   make you want to never visit yahoo  again  this movie is really the  br    br   bottom of the barrel . to quote the new yorker  matthew broderick and  br    br   rupert everett mug their way through this picture with the gay abandon  br    br   of men who have spotted a rare species of paycheck in the distance .   br    br   they should pay us some of the millions they earned for watching it .  br    br   awful .  
i went into deathtrap expecting a well orchestrated and intriguing thriller and while that  s something like what this film is i also can  t help but think that it  s just a poor man  s sleuth . the classic     film is obviously an inspiration for this film not particularly in terms of the plot  but certainly it  s the case with the execution . the casting of michael caine in the central role just confirms it . the film is based on a play by ira levin  who previously wrote rosemary  s baby and the stepford wives  and focuses on sidney bruhl a playwright whose best days are behind him . after his latest play bombs  sidney finds himself at a low and this is not helped when a play named deathtrap written by an amateur he taught  arrives on his doorstep . deathtrap is a guaranteed commercial success  and sidney soon begins hatching a plot of his own which involves inviting round the amateur scribe  killing him  and then passing deathtrap off as his own work .  br    br   despite all of its clever twists and turns deathtrap falls down on one primary element  and that  s the characters . the film fails to provide a single likable character  and it  s very hard to care about the story when you  re not rooting for any of the players . this is not helped by the acting . michael caine puts in a good and entertaining performance as you would expect  but nobody else does themselves proud . christopher reeve is awkward in his role  while dyan cannon somehow manages to make the only possibly likable character detestable with a frankly irritating performance . it  s lucky then that the story is good and it is just about good enough to save the film . the plot features plenty of twists and turns some work better than others  but there  s always enough going on to ensure that the film stays interesting . director sidney lumet deserves some credit too as the style of the film is another huge plus . the central location is interesting in its own right  and the cinematography fits the film well . overall  i have to admit that i did enjoy this film but it could have been much  much better .  
i was a huge fan of the original cartoon series  and was looking forward to finally seeing gadget on the big screen   but i never in my wildest dreams expected something so extremely extremely terrible . the pace was way too fast  there was no plot  and  wowser    what the hell is that   it was  wowsers    .  
playwright sidney bruhl  a wonderfully over  the  top michael caine  would kill for a hit play . enter young wonder kid  a solid reeve  who  s just written such a play . weave into this bruhl  s overly hysterical wife  superbly played by cannon  and a german psychic  a very funny irene worth  and you  ve got yourself a wonderfully funny suspense flick .  br    br   while not up to  sleuth  standards   deathtrap  is none the less a very capable  twist filled comical suspense ride based on a terrific play by ira levin . the performers are obviously having a field day with the material  with caine in particular delivering top notch lines with gusto .  br    br   the film loses a bit of steam midway through and the ending is a lot less satisfying than the hilarious one in the original play but overall  deathtrap  is solid  well acted and suspenseful fun .  
i grew up watching the old inspector gadget cartoon as a kid . it was like get smart for kids . bumbling boob can  t solve any case and all the work is done by the walking talking dog brain and his niece penny . i had heard the live action movie was decent so i checked it out at the library . i rented this movie for free and felt i should have been paid to see this .  br    br   broderick comes nowhere near the caliber of acting don adams had as the voice of gadget . his voice was all wrong . the girl who played penny looked nothing like the cartoon penny . she is brunette where the cartoon version was blonde with pigtails . but she does do a decent job given what she had to work with . dabney coleman gives a good performance as cheif quimby . saldy he never hid in any odd place or had exploding messages tossed at him accidently by gadget .  br    br   the gadget mobile was wrong . it never talked in the series and it did fine . why did they do this   br    br   gadget was too intelligent in this film . in the show he was a complete idiot . here he had a halfway decent intellect . it would have worked better if he was a moron .  br    br   also the completely butchered the catchphrase . borderick says  wowser  . it is and should always be  wowsers  . it sounds lame with out the  s  . i got upset when they showed the previews and they didn  t have the correct phrase .  br    br   the only decent gags were during the credits . the lacky for claw is in front of a support group for recovering henchmen  sidekicks . seated in the audience is mr . t  richard keil aka jaws of bond movie fame  a herve villacheze look alike  oddjob  kato and more . this is about the only part i laughed at .  br    br   the other is at the end where penny is checking out here gadget watch and tells brain to say somethin . don adams voices the dog saying that  brain isn  t in right now . please leave your name at the sound of the woof . woof .  of course this isn  t laugh out loud funny  just a nice piece of nostalgia to hear adams in the movie . he should have at least voiced the stupid car .  br    br   kids will like this  anyone over   won  t .  br    br    
i  ve bought certain films on disc even though the second rate presentation wasn  t an option . a certain company i won  t identify here has put out several pan and scan dvds   clean and sober    star     and this one  to name just three   of films i don  t think anyone wants to see in this compromised format . some discs give the viewer a choice of   x  or full screen and others are just in their theatrical release  .     ratio .  br    br   that off my chest  i  ll say  deathtrap  was a spooky and oddly enough  amusing picture . my only complaints are the tinny score  what is that f     g instrument that is usually dragged out for films set in   th century france   and dyan cannon screaming at regular intervals . couldn  t her character have been an asthmatic who grabbed for an inhaler when she was stressed  minor complaints  both . the benefits of discs include being able to fast forward to get beyond those things which you don  t like .  br    br   i never saw a staged version of  deathtrap   so having these folks in the roles sets a great impression of their careers at the time . before broadway tickets cost an arm and a leg  the theatre was more affordable to average people . now  anyone paying less than a king  s ransom to get live entertainment probably isn  t going to a hit show on the great hyped way .  br    br   michael caine and christopher reeve were both large  virile specimens in the early   s and that  s integral to how we  ll react to their profession and overall image here . they  re definitely not bookish men who can  t fight or will back down from an obstacle . the two are equally great as their criminal stubbornness becomes their ultimate  deathtrap  .  
i used to have a fascination with the cartoon back in college when it was being made . it had much the charm of  get smart  . while it admittedly had its faults  it was rather enjoyable .  br    br   naturally i was very interested in seeing the film version . that was before i saw it . afterwords i wished it had never been made .  br    br   besides being miscast all around  who on earth though broderick was even close to the role   it just didn  t make the grade .  br    br   the effects were reasonable and perhaps the only thing i liked about the movie seeing a live  action version of the gadgets in action  what was missing was a story and treatment which made it funny or charming or interesting .  br    br   the original was a wacky cartoon with a very lighthearted attitude . it was fun . the motion picture became murky and took itself far too seriously . if it had seriously had a great plot or went crazy enough to make it seem like a  cartoon on film  it might have been enjoyable .  br    br   as it exists it doesn  t deserve to be considered part of the  gadget legacy  .  
just imagine what school would have been like in a world like this the kids are one big gang who have really good taste in music and unite against bad headmasters and teachers .  rock  n  roll high school  is taking place in that world . it  s like a ramones record coming to life . the characters are all as silly  innocent and charming as the ramones  songs  and the music itself is  of course  fantastic . high school comedies have really changed over the years  if you compare a movie like  american pie  with this late    s classic  where no tasteless sex jokes are made at all . since a remake is apparently in the works  it can probably be expected that the charm of the original will get lost along the way and will get replaced by vulgar  half  funny dick jokes  as bill hicks used to call them . however  the main problem will be that the ramones cannot be replaced . they were the perfect band for this movie and no one else could even come close to taking their place . so  the best thing to do would be to leave the original alone  as quirky and charming as it is . gabba  gabba hey   
you may want to know up front that i am not a mormon  unlike a good number of those who have already reviewed this film . i mention this so you  ll understand that the way i look at the film may differ greatly from those in the faith . for some  being critical of the film might be seen as being critical of the faith   and that is not my intention . so  my review is that of an outsider trying to look inside and learn more about who this man and his people were . well  after seeing the film  i doubt if i have learned much at all . since i have been a history teacher  i have a good basic understanding about young as well as joseph smith as well as the teachings of the church . but anyone wanting to see this film to really learn anything will probably be disappointed because the film seems so gosh  darn nice   too nice and too unrealistic in its portrayal . plus  you learn practically nothing about the church  s beliefs other than they are nice people  work hard and some have many wives  and this latter part is only barely hinted at in the film  . instead  the people are almost cartoon  like in their simplistic portrayals . joseph smith and brigham young and their followers are angelic  the non  mormons were all devils and brian donlevy  playing exactly the same sort of role edward g . robinson later played in the ten commandments  is the trouble  maker who claims to be a mormon but just comes along so the film can have a bad guy . it  s all so very simple . . . . too simple . almost like an indoctrination film or infomercial .  br    br   brigham young especially was a very complex man   with many good points  an excellent organizer and visionary  as well as bad  don  t even get me started on his views about blacks within the church or intermarriage  . to portray him in such vague terms is just plain silly . it  s also a lot like how gandhi was portrayed in the film with ben kingsley   only the facts that led to his being almost super  human were emphasized . heck  now that i think about that  this is the trouble with most religious films   they often come off as one  dimensional  trite and bland . let  s have a full and more complete film of these men   one that will stick to facts and not emotional appeals .  br    br   now if you can ignore the fact that you won  t learn very much about the faith or its second leader  the film is enjoyable enough . it  s obvious someone at   th century  fox really cared about the film  as they had a wonderful cast of both premier actors  tyrone power   up and coming actors  linda darnell  jane darwell and vincent price  and wonderful character actors  dean jagger  john carradine and brian donlevy  . the film also had wonderful location shooting and lots of gloss . it just didn  t have a lot to tell us other than they were all  swell  . plus  there were plenty of factual errors and a few just plain dumb scenes . a few of the mistakes include young taking over the helm immediately after the death of joseph smith  it was three years later   no mention of the various mormon denominations and splinter groups  talk of  gold in california    even though it was     and gold wouldn  t be discovered until      as well as no specific mention of polygamy or smith  s many wives . just plain dumb scenes include carradine pulling out a gun and waving it about in the courtroom scene   and no one seemed to care   even though it was a very hostile audience  don  t you think at least the judge would tell him to put it away and stop threatening people with it    br    br   one final comment . do not  i repeat  do not watch this film when it  s shown on american movie classics  a one great station that has sunk a lot in recent years  . while i am critical of the film because of its simplistic message  i was horrified with the complete disrespect the station had for the church and its traditions . what i mean is this . the film was punctuated with ads for penis enlargement formulas as well as tons of pop  ups  some advertising a show that features the  sexiest cast   . talk about disrespectful and gross and i would be just as offended if they did this for any other religious film . by doing this  they not only insult the faith but marginalize their market   after all  who is into hearing about these things and the life of brigham young   is this a movie  in this form  that you can show to your kids or recommend to others    
new york playwright michael caine  as sidney bruhl  is    years  old and fading fast as the film opens  mr . caine  s latest play flops on broadway . tv reviewers poke fun at caine  and he gets drunk . passing out on the long island railroad lands caine in montauk  instead of his residence in east hampton . finally arriving home  caine is comforted by tightly  attired wife dyan cannon  as myra   an unfortunately high  strung heart patient . there  caine and ms . cannon discuss a new play called  deathtrap   written by hunky young christopher reeve  as clifford  cliff  anderson   one of caine  s former students . the couple believe mr . reeve  s  deathtrap  is the hit needed to revive caine  s career .  br    br    the trap is set for a wickedly funny who  ll  do  it .   br    br   directed by sidney lumet  ira levin  s long  running broadway hit doesn  t stray too far from its stage origin . the cast is enjoyable and the story  s twists are still engrossing . one thing that did not work  for me  was the curtain call ending surely  it played better on stage .  deathtrap  is a fun film to watch again the performances are dead on  but  in hindsight  the greeting reeve gives caine at the east hampton train station should have been simplified to a smiling  hello .  the location isn  t really east hampton  but the windmill and pond look similar . and  the much ballyhooed love scene is shockingly tepid . but  the play was so good   even a gifted director couldn  t ruin it .  and  mr . lumet doesn  t disappoint .  br    br    deathtrap          sidney lumet  michael caine  christopher reeve  dyan cannon  irene worth  
once again  disney manages to make a children  s movie which totally ignores its background . about the only thing common with this and the original gadget cartoons is the names . the most glaring errors are the characters  penny does not have her book  brain has been reduced from a character to a fancy prop  dr claw is more a show  off than an evil villain  etc . but there are more than that . the horrors start from the first minutes of the film  having gadget as a security guard called john brown doesn  t help identifying him as the classic inspector gadget . and right in the beginning we see disney  s blatant attempt to turn every story ever into a love affair between a man and a woman  they introduce brenda  who only serves to make this movie disney  compatible . add to this the fact that the  claw  seen in this film and the classic dr claw are almost diagonally opposite and you  ll see this is going to be nowhere near the original storyline . what would help would be a better storyline to replace it  but as you guessed  disney failed in that too . the whole movie is just gadget acting silly for silliness  s sake and lusting after brenda . as if to add insult to the injury  disney introduced the  new  gadgetmobile  it doesn  t look  function or think like the old gadgetmobile at all  it  s just the canonical  comic relief  figure . disney obviously recognised that the gadget cartoons were a comedy  so they made the film a comedy too  but they took out all the clever running gags  like the assignment paper exploding in the chief  s face  and replaced them with gadget being a moron  the gadgetmobile being a wise  ass  and  claw  showing off . someone should tell disney that  children  s movie  doesn  t imply  total lack of any brain usage  . gadget should be targeted for children of      years . . . not children of      months like this movie . whatever this movie is supposed to be  it is not  repeat not  the real inspector gadget . because i love the old gadget  i hate this .  
this is one of my favorite movies of all time . it  s great and the acting is brilliant . in the scene in which michael caine calls the police in tears and then stops the waterworks the second he finishes the call really displays caine  s brilliance . the twists are a lot of fun . the film is top  notch .  
i grew up watching inspector gadget . it was  and still is  one of my favorite cartoons  if not my absolute favorite . i learned a lot of geography and history from the spin  off inspector gadget  s field trip . i wanted to slip on a banana peel and become the greatest detective ever .  br    br   but the film has ruined the reputation of the wonderful cartoon .  br    br   matthew broderick  an actor with potential  was definitely not the role for inspector gadget . first thing  in the film  inspector gadget is smart . not so in the cartoon . in the film  gadget solves the mystery mostly by himself . in the cartoon  it was almost always penny  brain  and the awesome book  i still want her book   . if gadget solved the mystery  it was by accident . gadget in the film seems to be a competent detective  but in the cartoon was pretty dumb  which was where the humor came from .  br    br   another thing is that it  s too much  good guy v . bad guy  in the film . it  s not just meant to be a silly saturday morning cartoon . also  gadget never should have a love story  but disney corporation is filled with idiots .  br    br   also i miss the true gadgets that gadget had  and especially the gadget car . in the movie it was a chic convertible . in the cartoon it was a sedan police car and could turn into a van . it also barely had any gadgets and was mainly there to get him from place to place .  br    br   but if anything  the one thing that was terrible about the movie was that it was a feature movie . inspector gadget was a silly saturday morning cartoon . the movie was too serious  too overdone  had too much of a plot and wasn  t even remotely as funny .  br    br   tip for those who haven  t seen it never see it . ever . watch the cartoon  it  s a true classic .  
i would not hesitate to put this adaptation of  death trap  in a top  list of the best stage  to  movie adaptations ever . caine and reeves  an underrated actor who never really got a chance to do more than soggy romances and  superman   play off each other extremely well here . even dyan cannon  who i normally don  t care for  is perfectly cast in a role that exploits her annoyance value as an actress .  br    br   i  m not sure that comparisons of  deathtrap  with  sleuth   another brilliant stage  to  screen adaptation featuring michael caine  are valid  or even fair . yes  the two stories have a lot in common . but  sleuth  is as much about class warfare as the battle of wits  and the house in  sleuth  is set is at least as much a character in the movie as the two actors  the house doesn  t really have an equivalent in  deathtrap  . and  deathtrap  isn  t so much a battle of wits as it is a pointed vignette about how people are no damned good  and never as smart as they think they are  and deserve everything they get . i  ll just say that both movies are superb examples of the genre  and well worth your time and money . this is america  after all . you don  t have to choose   br    br   i won  t give away the twists and turns of the plot  but i don  t think it matters anyway . i  ve watched the dvd eight or nine times in a dozen years  and still enjoyed the chemistry and the timing and the mean  scary moments when things go  all pear shaped  . it  s all done so well that the ride becomes more important than the actual destination .  br    br   anyone who likes black  hearted comedy and suspense in the hitchcock style of film  making will probably enjoy  deathtrap  immensely .  
why every horror director wants to imitate  the exorcist  is a complete riddle to me  as william friedkin  s  classic  is a very overrated film and  in my opinion  not all that tense or shocking . and yet here  s another clean rip  off  a spanish one this time  that shamelessly repeats the story of a young girl that gets possessed by pure evil and turns against her own family . paul naschy  who i must admit looks quite hot here  plays the honorable priest who gets approached by john gibson because his sister leila  s behavior changed drastically since she met her new boyfriend . at first the priest doesn  t believe it but when john  s body is discovered with its neck twisted  leila  s demonic behavior becomes more noticeable . . .  exorcism  is not only very unoriginal  it  s also an insufferably boring film  here naschy and director juan bosch had an open opportunity to make a religiously themed exploitation flick full of shocks and gore  and yet the result is a tame and overall bloodless drama that  ll nearly put you to sleep  the last twenty minutes contain some atmospheric moments  albeit very stupid  and there  s quite a lot of stylishly filmed female nudity and sleaze . the absolute lack of budget is no real excuse since paul naschy already proved before that he has enough imagination to make up for a shortage in money . this is just an awful film  end of story . other european  the excorcist  rip  offs are  the antichrist  and  beyond the door  and they suck as well   
the trick to creating a good  solid mystery story is as much a matter of timing as its about plot contrivances  colorful characters or surprising twists . anyone who has ever labored in frustration with an un  finishable sunday new york times crossword knows that any puzzle that takes too long to solve ceases to be any fun . the best murder mysteries  be they on film or in print  are slight affairs that get to the point  spell out their clues  line up their suspects and  hopefully  zap us with a few surprises being complicated without being unduly confusing . and they play fair on second  third and fourth viewings of the clues and red herrings we should be just as pleased to marvel at how well it all comes together as we were at being surprised in the first place . indeed  good thrillers should get better on repeated viewings as we anticipate the double and triple crosses .  br    br   sidney lumet  s comedy  thriller deathtrap  as derived from ira levin  s hit broadway play  is a great example . it moves along at a tidy clip  skillfully juggling its clues  being  almost  totally honest with us  even when it is lying to us  and yet never revealing where it is going  even when it is telling us where it might go  . it is less a murder mystery movie in the traditional vane than it is a movie about murder mysteries  derived from a play about playwriting . rather than going backward   a murder and then an investigation to explain why everything happened   deathtrap leads us through the crime  s  step by step  leaving ample room for the unexpected as the ads advise it is less a  whodunit  than a  who  lldoit .   br    br   deathtrap is often compared  unfavorably  oddly enough  to the play and movie versions of sleuth  though in reality it has much more in common with scream  the self  mocking essay on teeny  bopper horror flicks . like that clever film  deathtrap labels itself  a thriller about thrillers   sets it parameters   a one  set  five character moneymaker   and then proceeds to deconstruct its genre by revealing itself as  the most outlandish and preposterous set of circumstances entertaining enough to persuade an audience to suspend its disbelief .   br    br   deathtrap bravely gives us a mystery with only five major characters  two of which are of minimum importance . henry jones as a cagey lawyer is on hand mostly for exposition  and to supply us with his penchant for folksy charm  and irene worth is all quirks and comic relief as a psychic  cum  sleuth who acts as the nominal detective . that leaves three main characters to be the killer  s  and  or the victim  s   it is a testament to michael caine  s abilities that as sidney bruhl  a down  on  his  luck author of mystery plays  he creates a character who we intrinsically like and trust  even as we recognize immediately that almost everything he says is a lie . as his adoring  if somewhat ditzy wife  myra  dyan canon flirts with being over the top by giving a roller  coaster ride of a performance with a character that by turns seems to be frail or overbearing  crafty or hysterical  timid or bold and uncompromisingly in love with a less than reciprocating sidney . the third angle of this unexpected triangle is a fledgling playwright named clifford anderson played by christopher reeve in such a way that we never quite get a handle on just who his character is enthusiastic preppie wannabe writer  semi  innocent victim or cunningly charming sociopath . as the various character dance around each other  the cleverly dour script adapted by ace scribe jay presson allen manages to be consistently amusing  even as it builds suspense . and even after the final twist  an improvement over the play  s finale   it may not be quite clear just who has manipulated who to do what .  br    br   lumet is by no means a master of comedy  so he lets his able cast have free reign to flesh out the characters and they all give sharp  theatrical  yet subtle work  with reeve being particularly noteworthy . but what lumet does so well is to work skillfully in tight quarters . as he did brilliantly in   angry men  he takes a one  set play  and with a minimum of opening up  manages to make what could have been cramped  stagy and stagnant seem endlessly photogenic and spacious . the setting  a country home converted from an old windmill  is relatively small  but as designed by tony walton it manages to be both cozy and charming  as well as spooky and treacherous . it is so truly difficult to tell where the studio set and the real country house cross boundaries that to a degree the set becomes a sixth character . and as the scene of the crime  it is a most inviting deathtrap indeed .  
while i certainly consider the exorcist to be a horror classic  i have to admit that i don  t hold it in quite as high regard as many other horror fans do . as a consequence of that  i haven  t seen many of the exorcist rip  offs  and if exorcismo is anything to go by  i  ll have to say that  s a good thing as this film is boring as hell and certainly not worth spending ninety minutes on it  in fairness to the other exorcist rip  offs  this is often considered one of the worst  and so maybe it wasn  t the best place for me to start . it  s not hard to guess what the plot will be basically it  s the same as the one in the exorcist and sees a girl get possessed by a demonic spirit  which happens to be the spirit of her dead father  . the village priest is then called in to perform the exorcism . like many spanish horror films  this one stars paul naschy  who is pretty much the best thing about the film . exorcismo was directed by juan bosch  who previously directed the derivative spanish giallo  the killer wore gloves  . i haven  t seen any of his other films  but on the basis of these two i believe that originality wasn  t one of his strong points . there  s not a lot of good things i can say about the film itself it mostly just plods along and the exorcism scene isn  t worth waiting for . i certainly don  t recommend it   
ira levin  s deathtrap is one of those mystery films in the tradition of sleuth that would be very easy to spoil given any real examination of the plot of the film . therefore i will be brief in saying it concerns a play  one man who is a famous mystery playwright  another man who is a promising writer  the playwright  s wife who is much younger and sexier than the role should have been  and one german psychic along for the ride . director sidney lumet  no stranger to film  is quite good for the most part in creating the tension the film needs to motor on . the dialog is quick  fresh  and witty . michael caine excels in roles like these . christopher reeve is serviceable and actually grows on you the more you see him act . irene worth stands out as the funny psychic . how about dyan cannon  love how lumet packaged her posterior in those real tight  fitting pants and had her wear possibly the snuggest tops around  but she is terribly miscast in this role  a role which should have been given to an older actress and one certainly less seductive . but why quibble with an obvious attempt to bribe its male viewers when nothing will change it now  deathtrap is funny  sophisticated  witty  and classy . the mystery has some glaring flaws which do detract somewhat  and i was not wholly satisfied with the ending  but watching caine and reeve under lumet  s direction with levin  s elevated verbiage was enough to ensnare my interest and keep it captive the entire length of the film .  
nahhh  leila  grace mills  is a teenager turned on to satan  and lsd  by her archaeologist fianc richard . there  s a neighborhood hippie demon cult hanging out at the local decrepit ancient castle  where leila and richard drink blood  drop drugs  join in sex orgies  dance to lame psychedelic rock and participate in black mass ceremonies where the guys wear pants  masks and capes and the women don  t wear anything at all . unfortunately  these kind of extracurricular activities have left leila open to demonic possession from the dreaded  spirit of evil .  leila also comes from a screwed up family  which doesn  t help either . her older brother john is a recluse who seems to be in love with her . her mother patricia  maria perschy  is depressed because she thinks she was responsible for the father  s death . to top it off  her sister  maria kosti  is a slutty semi pro golfer named  gasp   debbie gibson . there  s plenty of hired help around also to waste more time . two maids  a young one who takes her clothes off a lot and an old one who spies on everyone   plus udo  luis induni   a bald voyeuristic handyman who spies on leila changing clothes  takes nude pictures of her and sneaks into the pool house to take a sniff of her freshly used bathing suit . oh yeah and borg  the pet german shepherd .  br    br   paul naschy is father adrian dunning  the doubting priest  zzzzz  who starts snooping around after john and richard both have their heads twisted around backwards . leila tells him  they say i am perverse and i  m going to prove it is true   during her birthday party  she tells her guests  you make me sick  i hate you all   and when mom suggests having a doctor come over she she screeches  i don  t want to see that fat ass   debbie suggests they commit leila to a  sanitory   but leila runs off and joins the cult again . she is rescued  again  and brought back home  for the third time  .  br    br   by this point in the movie  there  s only about ten minutes left to go and all we  ve basically seen is some very boring scenes of characters talking and whining about how terrible and f  ed up their lives are and how leila is acting weird . it  s almost as agonizing to sit through as an andy milligan movie  minus the gore and laughs . but finally during the last few minutes we get the movie the title implies  an exorcist  like possession flick . unfortunately  the best part of it are the contact lenses leila gets to wear . some cheap time  lapse slashes appear on her arms  legs and face  she gets scabby lips and her eyes take on the appearance of blue and white marbles . she begins reeking of rotted flesh  spits up some clear gunk  starts speaking in her dead dad  s voice  sneaks into her mom  s bedroom  slaps her around a bit and calls her a  filthy bitch of a whore .  in comes father adrian  who now finally believes she is indeed possessed  fends off her attempts at seduction  hallucinates frogs and eels are in the kitchen and douses leila with holy water . doors open and close  a mirror breaks  there  s sudden thunder and her bed rises up off the floor . after she tackles dunning and the two roll down the stairs  the spirit is out of her and into  guess who  why  borg the family pooch  the demon dog then turns on adrian and chews him up a little before he impales it on a fire poker . then we get one of the most irritating final shots ever committed to film . it  s leila on the floor going from her hideous appearance back to her normal sexy self . but then there  s another time  lapse effect that sort of seems to suggest that the demon has possibly reentered her body . it  s so badly done  you really have no clue what to make of it  which is the final slap in the face to anyone who has just realized they  ve wasted an hour and a half on this worthless pos .  br    br   screw the contacts   out of   it is .  
full of spoilers .  br    br   this is a pretty fast and enjoyable crime thriller based on ira levin  s play about two gay playwrights  caine and reeve  that plot the murder of one  s rich wife  cannon  to get the property and the insurance . the plot succeeds but christopher reeve as the younger and less established of the two writers decides to make a play out of the actual murder   with only slight changes in the details . reeve allows that easthampton  long island  can become southampton  long island  in the script  for instance . the rest of the play  s plot is a dead giveaway and to tell the truth reeve doesn  t mind a little gossip or even an inquiry into cannon  s apparently accidental death . it will boost the revenues and his own warhol quotient .  br    br   michael caine is sidney bruhl  the megabucks  making playwright whose last four productions bombed and who would like nothing more than to quietly get back to working on a new play  perhaps with reeve  s input  that would redeem his reputation . he cannot permit reeve  s scandalous play  a  clef to be produced . so   what else    he tries to murder him . in the end they wind up killing one another  the manuscript is appropriated by their neighbor  the psychic helga tensdoorp  and she makes a million bucks selling it to broadway .  br    br   it  s a lot of fun for a number of reasons . one is the production design . that multi  roomed  multi  storied house with the big windmill atop  situated on nine of what must be the most valuable acres on earth  easthampton   would be a splendid set of digs anywhere . you wouldn  t be able to afford a pup tent in easthamptom . the house is not overly large or baroque in its decor . it  s just magnificently modest  although it  s a little tidy for my tastes  the kind of house that  s so clean you  re afraid to step on the thick carpet for fear of leaving the imprint of a foot .  br    br   next  the acting could hardly be improved upon . caine  cannon  and fred jones are superb . dyan cannon gives a pitch  perfect performance as the anxious wife whose slacks are so tight they look as if they  d been sprayed on  which is okay given her assets . even reeve  whose talent was limited  seems to find a comfortable niche in his role of affable but psychopathic murderer . irene worth  as the psychic neighbor helga  was in some way hard to define  a mistake . granted she   or someone like her   was necessary to the plot  but  my god  what an offensive snoop her character is  going around and claiming   i feel pain in zis woom   i suppose in order to make her a little more interesting  she  s got up in sweats and a goofy looking cap with bicycle reflectors on it . still  she  s a nuisance from beginning to end .  br    br   you have to love ira levin  s bitchy dialog . the distraught caine begs reeve to tell him why he wrote the tell  all play .  because it  s there  sidney   says reeve  and caine shouts   that  s mountains  not plays  plays aren  t there until some hole writes them   great too is caine  s call to the police after his wife drops dead of fright  as planned . he works himself up into a torrent of sobs  barely able to speak  as he reports the incident and implores that an ambulance be sent immediately . when he hangs up  his face assumes its usual placid expression  he blows his nose into his handkerchief  and walks away  all business again .  br    br   the climax  though suitably ironic  is confusing and noisy and full of artifice  lacking in the wicked charm that levin and lumet brought to the earlier scenes . the score is mostly made up of light  hearted riffs on the harpsichord  neatly fitting into the film .  br    br   you  ll probably enjoy it .  
this movie was a stupid piece of crap . bad everything . why is it that we who love western movies get jilted nine out of ten times when renting westerns . it seems that if you don  t see names like robert duval  kevin kostner  or tom selleck attached to the cover  it isn  t worth messing with . for the most part the main action of shiloh falls was taking place in      yet the revolvers used were     s models . even the shooting was bad  in one scene the marshal fanned his six  shooter about nine times and couldn  t hit any of three large men who were only about twenty feet away . i had to turn it off after about   minutes of this inanity . perhaps those who participated in this movie could have taken some lessons at the sunset carson school of acting .  
no one better spoil this piece of work  awesome movie  written expertly by the likes of ira levin and depicted with the best performance of christopher reeve  s career and one of caine  s very best  this is simply excellent . i wish i could catch a staged version somewhere . . . maybe someday i will . i hope this grossly underrated  overlooked film has not become too difficult to locate because it a  must  for any hitchcockian  agatha  phile or lover of great film . one of very few movies i couldn  t instantly solve or predict and worth a second or even third viewing   deathtrap  gets a     and earns every iota of it . we need and deserve more movies like this   
i love westerns . i could watch them all day .  the good  the bad  and the ugly  is my all time favorite . i watched  silverado  for probably the  th time just the other day because it was being featured on cmt . however  this movie  shiloh falls is without a doubt the worst western i have ever watched . the acting was terrible all around . they explain nothing at the end of the mysterious compass looking thing . the only good part i can think of is the good  looking cantina girl . the very noticeable long pauses between the dialog seemed intentional just to make up time to make the movie of acceptable length . this movie wasn  t even worth the new rental fee i paid at our local movie rental store . i felt like i was robbed and deserving of a rental refund if there was such a thing . only reason i finished it was because i hate to not see a movie through to the end . i turned it off half way through because it was so bad . to the director  please do a better job if you decide to make another . this is the kind of movie that has the potential to turn people off to westerns .  
stage adaptations often have a major fault . they often come out looking like a film camera was simply placed on the stage  such as  night mother   . sidney lumet  s direction keeps the film alive  which is especially difficult since the picture offered him no real challenge . still  it  s nice to look at for what it is . the chemistry between michael caine and christopher reeve is quite brilliant . the dynamics of their relationship are surprising . caine is fantastic as always  and reeve gets one of his few chances to really act .  br    br   i confess that i  ve never seen ira levin  s play  but i hear that jay presson allen  s adaptation is faithful . the script is incredibly convoluted  and keeps you guessing .  deathtrap  is an enormously entertaining film  and is recommended for nearly all fans of stage and screen .  br    br    .  out of    
i just got through watching this dvd at home . we love westerns  so my husband rented it . he started apologizing to me half way through . the saddles  costumes  accents   everything was off . the part that made me so mad is where the guy didn  t shoot the  collector  with his bow and arrow as he was taking the fat guy  s soul . his only excuse was  he only had  arrows left .  we watched it all the way through  and  as someone else said . . . too many bad things to single out any one reason why it sucked . i mean  the fact that the boy happened to snatch the evil stone from the collector on the same month and day it was found  what  s the point of that  and why were there a grave yard where everyone died on april   but the people whose souls were taken by the collector were still up walking around  if you want a movie to make fun of after a few beers  this may be your movie . however  if you want a real western  you will hate this movie .  
deathtrap runs like a play within a movie about who did what to whom  as it primarily takes place on one set . the premise is that an accomplished playwright  whose star is falling  receives a magnificent manuscript from a former student and so he plans to off his protege and appropriate his play  to the  loud  protests of his wife . or so you think  for the first half of the movie . past the halfway mark  deathtrap begins to throw in twists and surprises that turn its premise on its head  then right around  and then in a mad spin  all the time keeping its title appropriate . it  s an excellent mystery movie soaked in wit .  br    br   michael caine  as the senior playwright  plays himself in this movie  a slightly loony and very dramatic brit . no surprises here  he does his usual good work . he gets the best line of deathtrap  which he executes perfectly  what is your definition of success  being gang  banged in a state penitentiary    br    br   christopher reeve  on the other hand  juggles comedy and drama in a surprisingly strong performance playing the ambitious  and psychopathic  young playwright . he also gets to show off his very toned body  which he must  ve retained coming off the superman movies .  br    br   caine and reeve have collaborated in another movie that  s one of my favorite comedies  noises off . it similarly revolves around a play as well  although this time caine is the director and reeve is an actor . they are joined by comic veterans carol burnett  john ritter  marilu henner  taxi  and mark linn  baker  perfect strangers  . together  they demonstrate the calamities that befall the bed  hopping cast and crew of a play . on the surface  the movie looks to be mostly slapstick but upon watching you find that they are many subtle jokes that require more than one viewing to catch . wish this underrated movie was available on dvd .  
there is a scene near the beginning after a shootout where horses are running . if something red catches your eye it is because a white van is parked behind a bush by the trail . i thought i had seen bad but this is it . a white van in a western . did they not catch this  oh well  and i paid top dollar at the rental . it will make you want to grab your buddies and have them all put in   grand and make a better movie . the talking was so so slow  the acting was mostly ok but couldn  t be taken seriously due to the poor nature of the filming . there is a door at the sheriffs that looks like a door today with the particular trimming . i say watch this movie  and move cabin boy into   on the worst of all time .  
unlike tinseltown  s version of hello  dolly   jay presson allen  s screen adaptation of ira levin  s hit broadway thriller couldn  t wait for it  s stage incarnation to shutter before putting it up on the silver screen  so producers wisely decided to make the most of it  s lengthy white way run  the film  s opening and closing scenes are shot inside new york  s intimate music box theater where deathtrap played for nearly five years . even the film  s final fadeout on the theatre marquee is a version of the stageplay  s famous logo .  although marketeers decided to go with a more fun rubik  s cube icon for the movie .   br    br   now on a low  priced dvd release  deathtrap seems just as fresh and inventinve as ever . the cast is just right  better than their stage counterparts  and location scouts should be applauded for finding a suitably spooky house for our  one room  two act thriller  to take place in . opened up in surprisingly simple and innovative ways  director sidney lumet wisely tags any  new  material onto the beginning and end of the film and leaves levin  s wickedly twisty center alone .  br    br   the film  s last scene is a major hollywood departure from the boards  and slightly undermines one of levin  s plot points from earlier in the film helga  about a dagger    will be used by another woman because of play .   . like robert altman  s the player  however  our new finale helps the film fold in on itself once again and blurs the lines between stage  screen  and  could it be   real life   
i still find it difficult to comprehend that a movie as bad as this could be made in hollywood . the acting and story is simply pathetic  the direction is awful . i don  t see any logic behind this trash except may be that the director had nothing good to do . i took me ten minutes to realize that i had wasted my precious thirty rupees . it filled me with dismay that i was going to waste some more time of my life on this crap . i bet the movie was made in less than a day . i don  t know what category it falls into . please  avoid this movie at all costs  just do anything  even bang your head against walls but don  t go for this movie .  
rock n roll high school holds a special place in my heart because it introduced me to the ramones . i was too young during the band  s mid    s heyday to be very aware of them  although i had an older cousin who was a big fan at the time . i finally saw rnrhs on television one afternoon in the mid    s when i was about fifteen years old  and laughed all the way through it .  isn  t it every high school kid  s dream to trash his school and blow it up  all set to a rockin  soundtrack   i recorded a subsequent airing of the film a year or two later and kept watching the ramones concert sequences over and over again  thinking  man  these guys kick ass  i have to check out some of their albums   the rest is history . twenty years  umpteen ramones lps  cassettes  cds  and three ramones shows later  they  re still one of my all time favorite bands and rnrhs still cracks me up every time i watch it . now that joey  dee dee and johnny have left us  r . i . p . all  at least we have this movie and tons of great music to remember them by .  
this film has got several key flaws . the first and most significant of which is the clear lack of a good plot  this sadly makes the film not only difficult to watch but also sends the watcher certain feelings of hopelessness  as if he or she is wasting valuable time of their short life . this means that the film cannot captivate it  s audience  instead it encourages the viewing public to grow contempt for the film and everything associated with it  in short  it really is very very very very very very very bad  do yourself a favour and chew on a large rubber shoe  you  ll find it far more interesting and enjoyable than watching terminator woman .  
nothing  s more enjoyable for me than a who  dun  it or suspense tale that keeps you guessing throughout as to how the whole thing will end . and that  s precisely what happens in deathtrap  based on a chilling play by ira levin   rosemary  s baby   .  br    br   and in it  michael caine and christopher reeve get to do the kind of stunt that caine and laurence olivier pulled off in sleuth   with just about as much skill and as many puzzles as ever existed in that extraordinarily clever play .  br    br   but because it  s meant to scare you  surprise you  and keep you guessing as to the outcome  it  s difficult to write a review about the plot . let  s just say that what we know in the beginning is all you have to know about the film for the present . michael caine is an insanely jealous playwright whose latest play has failed miserably . when a young aspiring writer christopher reeve sends him the manuscript of his play  caine realizes that passing it off as his own would solve all his problems and get his reputation back .  br    br   from that point on  it  s a matter of fun and games for the audience as ira levin  s story unwinds  managing to trump agatha christie for the number of twists .  br    br   caine and reeve play off each other brilliantly  each bringing a certain dynamic tension to the tale as well as some humorous touches that come from a script that laces drama with humor .  br    br   summing up well worth seeing   but not everyone is pleased with the ending .  
where do they get the money to make films like this  i mean  there  s nothing redeeming about this film . none of the actors are known  the writing is terrible  the photography is blurry  the story wanders between being a bad version of repo man and a nicklodeon western and the acting is unbelievable . for someone who watches all kinds of film  good and bad  i must admit that this film is about the worst i  ve seen since attack of the eye people back in the    s . i don  t really like to trash the effort of people trying to create some entertainment or  heaven forbid  art but this film would seem to appeal to no one . the story bends on a mystical contamination of a person who  s a bad version of the celtic soul eater  although he functions more like a male succubus without the sexual overtones . the bad guys have to team up with the good guys in a town where they are unable to escape from . take it from there as that  alas  is the best part . my advice is that unless you are into bad mythology  amateurish writing  unconvincing acting and tedious settings  you will best be served by leaving this one on the shelf when you  re out renting videos .  
every time you think you have a handle on deathtrap  another plot twist comes along . best to just sit back and enjoy the ride on this one . most noted for its on screen kiss between michael caine and christopher reeve  which was unfortunately cut from the televised version i saw   this movie has a great deal more to recommend it .  br    br   sidney bruhl  michael caine  is a very unhappy man . once a successful playwright  his last several plays on broadway have flopped . and while his wife myra  dyan cannon  is nothing but supportive  in both the monetary and emotional sense  this does little to make sidney feel any better . to add insult to injury  young playwright  clifford anderson  christopher reeve   has just sent sidney a play to look at . it  s anderson  s first  and sidney can see that the young man is a gifted writer . he jokes to his wife that he should invite anderson over  kill him  and submit the play as his own . she laughs with him at first  but when sidney actually invites anderson over for dinner  she worries that he may really be putting his scheme into action . and her fears just may be justified . . .  br    br   it  s a brilliant script . there are twists and turns all through the plot  and they come faster and more furious as you get closer to the end . it  s the kind of film that has you on the edge of your seat from the beginning  and keeps you there the entire time . an absolute masterpiece of suspense and mystery .  br    br   the acting is excellent . caine gives his usual excellent performance  and he does exhibit a knack for playing cultured  refined  and intellectual men . reeve also gives an excellent rendering of a man who isn  t nearly as wide eyed or innocent as he seems . cannon  s franticness works well for myra . and irene worth gives a nice performance as a nosy neighbor who is also a psychic .  br    br   this is a film with an ending you  d never expect  and repeated watchings help to pick up on things missed in earlier viewings . an unsung classic that is unfortunately only remembered for a scene which ruffled some sensibilities at the time  and that is a real shame .  
 . . . . cause it  s crap  the kind of movie that makes you want to go and smack the movie maker and say  why   . horrible camera work . . . count the times the camera tries to remain steady on one person and can  t . the dialog is ridiculous . the acting is comical . it looks like they took over a ghost town in the west to see if they could make a movie on the least amount of money possible . i  d bet    they used home video cameras to make this . either that  or most of the cameramen were drunk . truly the trailers are more entertaining than the movie . if you ever want to host a  worst movie party   bring this one . want more entertainment . . . stare at a wall .  
definitely one of the most witty and twisted who  dunnit i ever seen . christopher reeve and micheal caine were brilliant and kept me going through the whole affair .  br    br   very classy set pieces and the props really lend a sense of atmosphere to the proceedings . the minimalist feel works for the whole picture .  br    br   my only complain isn  t with the film itself but the lack of a decent widescreen edition of the movie on dvd . i own the fullscreen version  which proves i love the film enough to endure fullscreen presentation  but a awesome deluxe or  special  edition would most surely get my cash .  
knowing enki bilal  s comics for quite some time  i had to see this movie . i have thought this would be a good way for the artist as bilal to spread his art and ideas to wider audience . i have also thought this would be a good movie to recommend  and i thought i will enjoy watching it . . . i was wrong  the movie was a true torture to watch . the idea has potential . . . but  movie leaves way too much to be desired  and basically everyone who sees this movie is left with impression that he could do it better . i will not make suggestion whether you should see this movie or not . chances are if you  re reading these pages that you have already seen it  or that you  re gonna see it  but be prepared for very bad    minutes .  
the comparison to sleuth  the earlier stage  play  turned  film  is obvious and upon my first viewing i too thought sleuth was better  but deathtrap has  at least for me  many more repeat viewings in it than sleuth .  br    br   i purchased deathrap in the bargain bin at wal  mart  figuring that it had caine and the underrated reeve and was worth the  bucks . it was one of the finest dvd purchases i could  ve picked up .  br    br   it  s one of those best  kept  secrets that movie buffs always are always delighted to discover . and it  s totally worth repeat viewings .  br    br   though laurence olivier and michael caine turned in bravado performances in sleuth  i was doubly impressed with christopher reeve as clifford anderson . reeve  rightfully associated with his now legendary portrayal of superman  stole the show in what should  ve been an oscar worthy performance . i  ve always felt reeve was a type  cast actor who didn  t get much of a chance to shine outside of the superman films and a few other flawed but entertaining films like somewhere in time  but this film shows that his potential was truly tapped and put to use  thank goodness .  br    br   i absolutely relished michael caine  s performance . he was glib  deliciously manipulative and sadistic . and watching him work with reeve and dyan cannon was an absolute pleasure . in fact  it was thanks to this movie that i got into a  michael caine phase  and started renting as much of his stuff as humanly possible .  br    br   as for deathtrap  there  s enough juicy dialogue in here to fill up its  memorable quotes  section .  unfortunately  much of the dialogue would inherently spoil the immensely entertaining plot  .  br    br   it  s really  really hard to talk about the movie without spoiling important plot points that are infinitely more fun to discover on your own . needless to say  it  s a must  see . but for me  it was the greatest and most rewarding blind purchase of all time .  br    br   repeat viewings are a must .  br    br   and it deserves to sit alongside sleuth on your dvd shelf .  br    br   i  ll leave you with this beautifully written quote from the film  i wonder if it wouldn  t be . . . well . . . just a trifle starry  eyed of me to enter into such a risky and exciting collaboration . . . where i could count on no sense of moral obligation . . . whatsoever .   
my first attempt at watching this ended in  minutes  roughly after the tv report scene  which i couldn  t handle . it went approximately like this  br    br   reporter   hmm  there  s a pyramid in our skies . reporter   i think it  s aliens . awkward silence reporter   in other news . . .  br    br   a few days later i watched it to the end  and it wasn  t as horrible as i  ve imagined  but there are serious problems with this . about half of the plot can be easily discarded . and the other half should be expanded to explain the background story or something .  br    br   what use are the detective  the eugenics people  and the monsters which are disposed of momentarily by horus  more amusing was the monopoly scene .  we  re all powerful  gods   who have lived for aeons  and of all the games in the multiverse we happen to play monopoly .  monopoly  monopoly   even erich von dainiken looks coherent  compared to that .  br    br   the other half is terribly lacking . what did our protagonist do to get himself cryo  frozen  why was there no big event when he was released at the end  he had those pesky followers  remember  what happened to normal humans  what  s the deal with the masked guy  how did the blue  haired girl appear  what  s with her eyesight  etcetera  etcetera .  br    br   visually it  s ok  more or less  if you disregard the egyptian gods looking like walking turds with rotweiller heads .  
when deathtrap was first released  the poster   reproduced on the cover of this dvd   offered a graphic akin to a rubik  s cube . it is an appropriate image originally written for the stage by ira levin  who authored such memorable works as rosemary  s baby and the stepford wives  the play was one of broadway  s most famous twisters  and under sidney lumet  s direction it translates to the screen extremely well .  br    br   deathtrap is one of those films that it is very difficult to discuss  for to do so in any detail gives away the very plot for which it is famous . but the opening premise is extremely clever sidney bruhl  michael caine  is the famous author of mystery plays  but these days he seems to have lost his touch . after a particularly brutal opening night  an old student named clifford anderson  christopher reeve  sends him a script for a play he has written . it is called  deathtrap   and sidney recognizes it as a surefire hit . just the sort of hit that would revive his career . . . indeed  a hit to die for . and when clifford visits to discuss the play  events suddenly begin to twist in the most unexpected manner possible .  br    br   like anthony shaffer  s equally twisty sleuth  deathtrap is really a story more at home on the stage than the screen   to reach full power it needs the immediacy that a live performance offers . still  under the expert guidance of director sidney lumet  it makes a more  than  respectable showing on the screen . much of this is due to the cast  which is remarkably fine . michael caine gives a truly brilliant performance  dyan cannon is funny and endearing as sidney  s relentlessly anxious wife  and christopher reeve gives what might be the single finest performance in his regrettably short acting career . if you can  t see it in a first  rate theatrical production  this will more than do until one comes along .  br    br   gary f . taylor  aka gft  amazon reviewer  
the movie remains in the gray for far too long . very little gets explained as the movie progresses  with as a result lots of weird sequences that seem to have a deeper meaning but because of the way of storytelling they become only just weird and not understandable to watch . it sort of forces you to watch the movie again but no way i  m going to do that . it is that i watched this movie in the morning  i  m sure of it that if i watched this movie in the evening i would had fallen asleep . to me the movie was like a poor man  s  blade runner  .  br    br   the movie leaves far too many questions and improbabilities . it makes the movie leave a pointless and non  lasting impression .  br    br   also the weird look of the movie doesn  t help much . the movie is halve cgi  halve real life but it  s not done halve as good  impressive  spectacular and imaginative as for instance would be the case in later movies such as  sin city  and      . they even created halve of the characters of the movie by computer  which seemed like a very pointless  and odd choice  also considering that the character animation isn  t too impressive looking . sure the futuristic environment is still good looking and the movie obviously wasn  t cheap to make but its style over substance and in this case that really isn  t a positive thing to say .  br    br   some of the lines are also absolutely horrendous and uninteresting . the main god of the movie constantly says lines such as  i  m going to do this but it  s none of your concern why i want to do it  . than just don  t say anything at all mr . horus  it  s irritating and a really easy thing to put in movie  if you don  t care to explain anything about the plot . also the deeper questions and meanings of the movie gets muddled in the drivel of the movie and its script .  br    br   the actors still did their very best . they seemed like they believed in the project and were sure of it that what they were making would be something special . so i can  t say anything negative about them .  br    br   the story and movie is far from original . it rip  offs from a lot of classic and semi  classic  mostly modern  science  fiction movies . it perhaps is also the reason why the movie made a very redundant impression on me .  br    br   a failed and uninteresting movie experiment .  br    br        
after all these years  of peter o  tool  s brilliant  costly giving of his soul  film after film  at last  hollywood tosses him an oscar recently .  br    br   country dance showed up one night late  and of course  blew me out of my complainant niche in my alleged  life  . how does he do it   br    br   york again also is brilliant in this kind of play . both psychological battleships loaded for bear . . . .  br    br   bravo to author  director  cast  and camera crew . no wonder the nazi  s lost to these irish  scot  english blends . . . . brutal honesty hurts . . . back in the    s  when i personally believed  honesty  was pure and absolutely vital to trust . i have modified my edgy extremes  and will settle for more human  warm flaws within myself and others .  br    br   forgiveness allows humanity to have a reverse gear  and allows us to fix our own bull headed egos and erotic mistakes . . . .  
i sat through this film and i have to say it only just managed to keep my attention . the film would have been a bit more bearable if i did not have to watch the awful cgi  for future reference to the industry if your going to use cgi watch this so you know what to avoid .  br    br   apparently this is supposed to be a graphic novel for the screen but all i saw was a bad movie which bears no resemblance to a graphic novel whatsoever .  br    br   all in all  the story was not as bad as the cgi  i was quite impressed with the acting and thought the casting was good and little more character info would have been nice as it did get a little confusing for me on occasion but that  s not surprising as like i said it only just kept my attention  but in all honestly i wish i had given this one a miss .  
a somewhat typical bit of filmmaking from this era . obviously  it was first conceived into this world for the stage  but nonetheless a very good film from beginning to end . peter o  toole and susannah york get to do their stage performance act for the silver screen and both do it effectively . there is very little in the way of story and anyone not familiar with this type of off beat character study may be a little put off by it . all in all  though  a good film in which peter o  toole and susannah york get to overact .  
i love the comics . although i do have problems fully understanding the stories  the visual style is unique with all its dirt  dust and decay . so i thought i knew what i was up for . surprisingly i understood the main plot  but some extremely poorly decisions where made for its visual style .  br    br   i mean  really bad looking  cg human actors   in close ups  why   it did not work at all   horus  and the other egyption gods  was successfully made in cg and very close to the comic version .  br    br   i think with real actors this movie could have been a cult movie .  br    br   what a shame .  
peter o  toole is a treat to watch in roles where the lines he speaks are good and offer a chance for him to swagger in drunken stupor . the lovely susannah york provides a good foil for o  toole  s dramatic presence .  br    br   the film alludes to incest   without a single explicit scene   but it is able to entertain the viewer in its raucous social commentary . though this is not major film by any reckoning  it will be remembered for its entertaining performances .  br    br   even york  signing the papers at the end  is a treat to watch  exuding tragedy silently . the possible weakness here is thompson  s laid  back direction . but the film floats because of the actors and the script .  br    br   i saw the film twice over a period of   years   on both occasions with the name  brotherly love  .  country dance  is a rather farcical and inappropriate title for this movie  wherever it was released as such .  
while others may contend that by viewing other works by bilal  one will better appreciate this movie  it does fail in one major way . it does not stand on its own . the plot is a mishmash that is confuses symbolism with substance . here  s an idea start with a definite story . then craft symbolism around it . we start with two different narratives  this female that is somehow turning human  a  god  that is for some reason being judged  but getting one last fling on earth  and this mysterious john character who seems to be developing some sort of  resort  just beyond the bounds of the city . why  none of these questions are answered . but do we care  no . there is no development to want us to empathize with any character in the story  the closest we get jill and even then the development is spotty at best . unfortunately the movie gets caught up in the the whole visually impressive  which it is   but at the expense of motivic development . i would love to see this rewritten by someone who could distance themselves from the material a bit and not have to feel that every image has to be in the picture .  
the undoubted highlight of this movie is peter o  toole  s performance . in turn wildly comical and terribly terribly tragic . does anybody do it better than o  toole  i don  t think so . what a great face that man has   br    br   the story is an odd one and quite disturbing and emotionally intense in parts  especially toward the end  but it is also oddly touching and does succeed on many levels . however  i felt the film basically revolved around peter o  toole  s luminous performance and i  m sure i wouldn  t have enjoyed it even half as much if he hadn  t been in it .  
the good  br    br   effective color scheme . good costumes . top notch set production . well detailed cgi buildings and vehicles .  br    br   the bad  br    br   horrible mixture of actors with all cgi actors mixes fifth element with final fantasy . the cgi actors look even worse than video games from a few years ago . flawed logic . a giant pyramid shows up and no one researches it  no one really even questions it  and there is no explanation as to why the god horus was even cast out  nor was there any reason why he must do something as trivial as impregnate jill   br    br   the ugly  br    br   awful script . so many unnecessary subplots with too many ideas that are not fully realized . the dialog was almost laughable at some points . random characters and events that are not needed . dull characters . jill is supposed to be this mystery  but apparently she was just a mystery to the writer . there is nothing to her . she is uninteresting and boring to watch . she has no substance  no texture . her character has no redeeming qualities . in fact  there is not one character in the entire film who has any purpose  any goals  besides the obvious one of horus   any motivation . they are weak and ill  conceived . there are no stakes  the key to screen writing . horus will not become immortal  but  big deal  he is a bad guy . one cannot even decipher whether horus or jill is the main character . that is the problem devoting half the movie to each character means the writer never fully explores one character  never brings one to fruition . they are cardboard cut  outs who walk around and talk and pretty much do nothing but explore the fine set pieces . first time director pacing . slow  slow  slow . i am still watching the movie as i write this . i cannot pay attention because it is boring . everything is flat . even the action is not interesting because it is short  lived and sometimes unnecessary .  br    br   overall  br    br   not worth a watch . threadbare story  sub  par character development  corny cgi does not save the nice set production .  
the cat and mouse are involved in the usual chases when jerry dives into a bottle of invisible ink and discovers that it makes him vanish . instead of seizing the opportunity to go spy on a girl mouse changing room or something  he uses his new  found invisibility to torment tom . and it  s pretty funny and quite inventive despite being a somewhat one  joke cartoon . and the action never leaves the interior of the house  which is usually the trait of below average tj shorts . still worth a     .  br    br   however  i  m not sure how an invisible mouse can cast a shadow on the wall  it defies physics and the very nature of being invisible itself .  
this movie seems to start in the middle  introduces peripheral players as if they were significant and presents main characters without any substance and paper  thin and  or impenetrable back  stories . almost nobody has a credible or discernible motivation for their actions in this film . the plot rambles and ultimately goes nowhere  the dialogue is clunky and trite and the director has little concept of how to get the best from his actors . it almost feels like there  s a first half of this movie but it never got made .  br    br   we  re told that a mysterious pyramid has appeared over new york city and that central park has inexplicably become an arctic wasteland . yet none of this seems to have caused much of a stir amongst the general population and is only of minimal concern to the government .  br    br   we  re presented with the  evil corporation  in eugenics but that  s really just a convenient conceit to populate the universe with a couple power  tripping minions . the whole  eugenics  is  bad  double  entendre is heavy  handed and never really pans out here . we  re supposed to care about the central characters but we never learn enough about them to know why . so much about this world is underdeveloped or completely undeveloped that it comes off as a   hour     minute fatalistic rationalization for rape .  br    br   on the  ground  breaking  digitally animated world created here  all i can say is that at about the same time as this film was made several other directors did the same thing with more seamless and believable results .  br    br   after spending the time to watch this film the most burning question left in my mind was   so what    
one of b  and c  movie producer roger corman  s greatest cult classics was the ramones vehicle  originally designated for cheap trick   rock n  roll high school . it  s just a simple  technically dated story  but would serve up extra doses of nostalgia humor considering these were the kind of things that made napoleon dynamite characters funny   see eaglebauer  s van  about teenagers who love rock n  roll .  br    br   students at vince lombardi high school are met with resistance by the evil principal  miss evelyn togar  played by cult classic favorite  mary woronov  who fears that rock n  roll turns kids into uncontrollable  amoral deviants and vows to make a rock n  roll  free zone . actually  she intends to wipe out rock n  roll for all students  regardless of whether its at school  and she has the cooperation of most of the adults who might make the plan successful .  br    br   but not if riff randell  pj soles  can help it . a ramones fanatic  she has written some songs  including rock n  roll high school  that she wants to give to the ramones  and in trying to do so  is rebuffed by miss togar who does all she can to keep her from going to see the ramones play in town . it culminates into an ultimate revolt between the obsolete fun  hating adults and the teenagers  in an ending that is reminiscent of over the edge  somewhat  . after the years of punk  when the fame of garage rockers  the ramones  and others  would mark another shift in music evolution  it was great to see a movie that celebrated the fun of it all and in such a humorous  exaggerated way .  br    br   it is mostly mild comedy  but a great feel  good comedy nonetheless when you  re in the mood for something more laid back to entertain you . with jerry zucker  of airplane fame  and joe dante  of gremlins fame  both taking part in some of the directing  you can get the idea for what kind of humor you  re in for  and not to mention  expect to see dick miller even if only for a few minutes in the film  s finale  . the story must  ve later inspired  and was consequently updated  by the mid    s comedy  detroit rock city  which some minor character changes in the vehicle for aged glam rockers  kizz .  br    br   i would recommend passing on the corey feldman vehicle  rock n  roll high school forever  released nearly a decade later . the original is still the best .  
one scene demonstrates the mentality of  terminator woman  pretty well karen sheperd and another woman are trying to escape from the villain  s camp . karen runs across an armed guard  who points his gun at her  but after a few seconds throws it away and challenges her to a fight . karen kicks him in the balls  picks up the gun and runs away  then again  when a film is directed by a martial artist and written  produced by another member of his family  you know you shouldn  t expect too much . karen sheperd and jerry trimble do get some amusing banter going early on  and the film might have turned out better if it had focused more on their love  hate relationship . but after about   minutes they get separated  and the film slows to a crawl  and even with the occasional fight scene to liven things up  it lacks excitement . the finale has trimble fighting qissi inside a cave and sheperd going womano  a  womano against the beautiful ashley hayden on a speedboat  but the fights are intercut in a way that breaks their flow and diminishes their value . on the positive side  kudos to the costuming department for giving karen the chance to show spectacular cleavage throughout the film         
  the invisible mouse  is a delightful and different tom  jerry  s cartoon . it features the usual cat  mouse chases and battles  but in a different way this time . jerry accidentally falls in a bottle of invisible ink and is obviously very glad about this because he realizes that he can prepare lots of  surprises  for tom  scare him  torment him and confuse him .  br    br   as much as it is weird  it  s also very cool and funny to see what we can  t see jerry invisible . it  s amusing to see things lifting up in the air without seeing who  s doing it  we know who  right    it  s like those things had a life of their own or even almost like a matter of ghosts . it  s equally amusing to see jerry eating some candies and fruits while he  s invisible . i really like that instrumental music which plays when he  s not visible .  br    br   some of the best jokes on this short are when tom sees jerry  s shadow and slams him and even when tom tries to slam him with a frying pan and jerry writes  missed me  . i also like when jerry drinks tom  s chocolate milk  becoming visible again and with a happy look on his face .  br    br   overall  this short has the basic ingredients needed for a classic cartoon humor  entertainment  fun and some nice artwork too .  
i love science fiction  i am fascinated by egyptian mythology and i appreciate digital animation . i figured a movie that combines these three would be at least enjoyable . i could not have been more wrong the story  or actually the lack there of  was completely uninspired and lacks imagination  while imagination usually is the biggest component of any science fiction story . the dialogue and acting are even worse than in an average porno movie . especially thomas kretschmann gives new meaning to the term  bad performance  . bad acting wouldn  t have been such a huge problem if only  director  bilal didn  t take himself so seriously all the lines sound like they are supposed to be poetic  it looks like bilal really thinks he has made a piece of art here . well  there  s no art or poetry to be found in this piece of junk  only pretentiousness  this man should really stick to making comics  since he fails on all possible accounts as a director . worst of all is the terrible digital animation  which is so ugly that it actually turns watching this movie into a physically painful experience . the graphics look so fake they even make the werewolves in  van helsing  look like live actors  and since half the characters are cgi  animated  it is quite a problem that the cgi  effects look so fake . if the egyptian gods actually exist then bilal  s a dead guy  since they will no doubt take gruesome revenge on him for the ridiculous way in which he portrays them in this disastrously bad movie .  
the usual cat and mouse antics abound until jerry jumps into a bottle of invisible ink . he gets the bright idea of torturing tom without him knowing . the cat gets wise and tries to do stuff to make him  see  jerry even if it  s not fool  proof . of course jerry gets butch aka killer aka spike the dog into the act  even if it  s late in the short  and his contribution is minimal indeed  brilliant animated short which kind of reminded me of the one with the white mouse who scares tom so badly . most of the gags work and all violent as any good tom and jerry short should truly be . this hilarious cartoon can be found on disc one of the spotlight collection dvd of  tom  jerry   br    br   my grade b  
i saw this at an arty cinema that was also showing  last days  and some charlie chaplin films . based on the quality of the other features  i decided to give  immortel  a chance . i nearly walked out of this movie  and i like science  fiction  the story is set in a futuristic new york city  filled with blade runner  style sky advertisements and some similar debates about cloning  synthetic humans . unfortunately  the screenplay was not condensed enough for an hour  and  forty  five  minute movie . three groups exist in this world humans  artificial humans  and egyptian gods . the artificial humans seem to have the upper hand and control the politics of the city . the humans are slaves and are used for eugenics and organ donation . the egyptian gods have a floating pyramid  modeled on the great pyramid of khufu  and complete with a deteriorated exterior  leaving a smooth  cap  on the pyramid . wouldn  t a floating futuristic pyramid be in perfect condition   . the pyramid rests above the city and nobody on the ground understands what it is or why it  s there . i won  t bore you with the so  called plot  but there is lots of unnecessary gore and many gross  out scenes . the film  as i said  looks to have been influenced by blade runner  and perhaps also by the fifth element and the matrix . at the end of the film credits were listed thank  yous to the united kingdom  france  and italy . the film is french  but uses british actors who don  t speak french . hence  it is obvious that their french dialog has been dubbed . this is a distraction  and i also thought that switching back and forth between real humans and animations quite distracting . it doesn  t help that the animations are poor   no better than a video game . skip this one .  
after the usual chase scene  jerry accidentally winds up inside a bottle of invisible ink  which was part of a chemistry set . he quickly discovers he  s invisible . . . so the predictable results occur  meaning he uses his new hidden condition to torment tom . jerry often is just defending himself  but often he has sadistic streak in him that torments the cat whenever possible  even when unprovoked .  br    br   here  he makes tom think his eyes are deceiving him when cheese from a mousetrap disappears before his eyes  or milk from a dish . tom can  t take anymore so he tries to sleep this nightmare off  but jerry sets fire to his paw  man  i hope little kids didn  t ideas watching these cartoons back in the    s and    s  i always found jerry  the little mouse  more evil than cute .  br    br   thankfully  in cartoons  generally  whatever damage a character suffers is gone within seconds and he  s back to normal .  br    br   the best part of this cartoon is about two  thirds of the way through when tom figures out what the story is with jerry  and tries different methods to detect where the mouse is located  such as putting flour on the floor to see his footprints  .  
i thoroughly enjoyed bilal  s graphic novel when it came out  and was amazed when i saw the trailer for this film  and even more so when i found that bilal had directed it himself . the film  however  was a major letdown . the visuals are nowhere near the rich and gritty texture of the original artworks  and the story is poorly told . bilal seems to have chosen to focus on the more esoteric aspects of the graphic novel  and he doesn  t do a very good job at it  either .  br    br   the most enjoyable part of the original graphic novel was the friendship  hate relationship between nikopol and horus . they were both out of their right time and place  forced together by circumstance . most of all  they were funny and likable . not so here . nikopol has no discernible personality whatsoever  and horus is a pompous twit who just wants to get laid . even though the film is french  horus doesn  t have to be   br    br   we have all seen films we enjoyed  but wouldn  t recommend to everyone  for some reason or other . i wouldn  t recommend immortel to anyone  except maybe as a warning not to overreach your talent and resources . bilal  s a master storyteller  but obviously not a master of every visual medium .  
i haven  t read through all the comments  but at least one poster mentioned that the   minute version might possibly be abridged . i  m curious about that myself because the later parts of the film just didn  t make much sense to me even when i rewatched them .   minutes seems really short for a movie in     also .  poor little rich girl  which was tourneur  s next film is   minutes long and  pride of the clan  which was his previous feature was   minutes long . so i  m relieved to see that i wasn  t crazy  there must be part of this film missing and that  s why the resolution didn  t make much sense .  br    br   it  s hard to review or comment on a movie that you  re only able to see half of . . . but i would recommend this film anyway because of the really fascinating view that it provides us of the insides of an east coast movie studio of the time . it  s the earliest film i  ve personally seen that  s based on the movie industry itself . the main character is a movie star played by robert warwick  who was later a mainstay hollywood character actor and appeared in almost all of preston sturges  films . he plays a western actor perhaps vaguely modeled on william s . hart  who warwick does resemble somewhat . after the really fascinating sequences set in the studio we see them on a location shoot where he discovers a country girl  doris kenyon  and convinces her to come to new jersey for a screen test which goes very poorly . after that point the movie seems to be missing major pieces in the form we have now .  br    br   again  i  d recommend it to anyone who  s interested in film history for the documentary value  but in the form we have it doesn  t hold up much as a movie and isn  t a particularly good example of maurice tourneur  s work .  
i kind of feel like a genius i feel like i  m the only one who saw through this fake film . i watched it three times  once with commentary  and i found myself getting annoyed at all the close  ups  all the times the screen just blacks out  and worst of all  i feel the film never really resolves anything . yes  the priest dies  but he didn  t really seem at peace with the town that gave him so much grief  or with himself . that and he was an idiot . if it weren  t for the commentary by peter cowie which explained not only the movie but the book it came from  i wouldn  t have been able to stomach it at all . i enjoy french movies  but this is one that was completely absurd .  br    br   diary of a country priest is filmed in beautiful black and white photography but  that alone cannot save this deadly dull tripe . scene after scene of extreme close  ups where characters don  t say anything until the camera cuts away and goes to a black out do not make an interesting or relevant story . how this film ever became a classic is mind boggling it reminds me more of the emperor  s new clothes .  br    br   yes  claude laydu  s performance is heartfelt and thought provoking  if you are a sadist  but this film left me feeling empty because overall it is a weak impression of the catholic priesthood  which is an ignoble and inglorious institution of corruption . the young priest  s triumph over the countess  s pride is a weak scene but    of the film will drag you down with its dreary introspection and window into the young priest  s melancholy thoughts . this priest doesn  t come across so much as being humble as he does just plain pitiful .  br    br   being that i don  t speak or understand french i was looking forward to doing the english subtitle thing to help understand the film . well  the english subtitle is at times impossible to view  read and the text rolls by so quickly that there was much i could not read  and i am not a particularly slow reader  i just finished dostoyevsky in  days  .  br    br   i really wanted to like this film . i try out everything  chosen  by the criterion collection  and yet can not see why in many ways this one merits some sort of critical nod . however  i sat through this entire two hour film yearning to feel some sort of empathy for the main character  and it never materialized . he just seemed like a victim rather than a fighter . and for that  i say it stunk .  
having previously seen the abridged print presented by david shepard  i finally got a hold of a complete   or nearer complete version  which was about   minutes compared to the    minute version more widely distributed . the shepard print for image entertainment is certainly of superior quality  and the best parts are there  but it  s nonetheless good to see the rest of the film and fill in some loose story ends .  br    br   in the shepard print  the film ends with mary stating   you see  i  ve changed my mind   i  m never going home .  yet  in the complete version  mary and kenneth driscoll end their relationship soon after that scene  mary returns home to the country  and driscoll rekindles his relationship with vivian . this additional footage develops the character vivian  who had little relevance in the shepard version . moreover  in the complete version  the film begins in the new jersey countryside with mary  where she reads and fantasizes about her ideal lover . she  s disappointed by the reality of the advances by farm  chore boy  johnny applebloom  a character completely absent from the shepard version   but after her affair with driscoll  she returns to the country to presumably and eventually become a farmer  s wife .  br    br   regardless of the print   a girl  s folly  is a good little film for      made by one of the top directors of the     s maurice tourneur . in it  tourneur takes plenty of jabs at his own business  including by playing a caricature of himself   the director of the film  within  the  film . the two leads also give quality performances by early screen  acting standards robert warwick  an actor playing a skirt  chasing star  and doris kenyon  as an ingnue aspiring to play an ingnue on the screen .  br    br   self  referential films  which made film  making the focus of the films  were nothing new by now . mack sennett had already parodied this type of film three years prior with  mabel  s dramatic career  . several aspects of this one stand out  though . frances marion  s intertitles are humorous  including illustrations of the actors on a chessboard with a hand directing them   remarkable for     . i especially liked the film  s final title cards where two observers remark on the film  s happy ending  gee but ain  t that romantick   and  the other replies   romance  nuthin   that  s movin  pictures   fellow female screenwriter anita loos made a similar self  referential conclusion to another film from      wild and woolly  . both writers helped change the role of their professions in the business and art .  br    br   some of the photography by tourneur and john van den broek is good  especially concerning the film  making business . the use of mirrors in several scenes is a nice reinforcement of the film  s self  reflexivity . furthermore  the editing is exceptional . the quick crosscutting during the studio scenes is especially salient it serves to punctuate the hectic pace filmmakers work at  especially back then .  
in one word excruciating . i was advised to read some articles about this film  s philosophical meanings afterward  but  having sat through the movie  s interminable    minutes and being slowly crushed beneath its bloated symbolism and lava  flowing oppressiveness  it seemed better to just report my reactions to the movie . after all  who goes to see a movie with a syllabus in hand  and this flick was dismal . lead actor claude laydu  from the film  s opening to its end  wears the same wearying and annoying mask of agony as to be practically indistinguishable from the film  s eternal  dreary voice  over . filming one over the other might have worked better than subjecting an audience to both  as they basically say the same thing the priest of ambricourt is a wretched human being . the story  about a persecuted priest who tries to help out a troubled rich family  does nothing toward making its characters remotely interesting or sympathetic  as the family are a bunch of unpleasant weirdos  and the priest  himself  comes across as a nosy pest . the last   minutes suggests some breath  taking message about grace and one man  s suffering equaling that of others  but due to all the indulgent close  ups of a suffering laydu and the vague subtext in robert bresson  s script  all i felt was  finally  it  s over  let  s have some ice  cream . interesting for fans of bresson fanatic paul schrader  just to see how many elements of character and setting schrader carried into in his own scripts and movies  especially  taxidriver    raging bull  and  light sleeper  .  
  a girl  s folly  is a sort of half  comedy  half  mockumentary look at the motion picture business of the mid       s . we get a glimpse of life at an early movie studio  where we experience assembly of a set  running through a scene  handling of adoring movie fanatics  even lunch at the commissary . we are also privy to little known cinematic facts  for example  did you know that  frequently   movie  actors do not know the plot of the picture in which they are working    br    br   the plot of this film in essence is movie star kenneth driscoll  s discovery and romancing of a budding young starlet whom he discovers while shooting on location in the country . i believe the    minute version i watched was abridged  included on the same tape with cecil b . de mille  s  the cheat .  it is a very credible film  an easy watch with a large cast of extras . as a bonus it includes some of best  illustrated captions i have ever seen accompanying a silent movie .  
not even bob hope  escorted by a raft of fine character actors  can save this poorly written attempt at wartime comedy  as his patented timing has little which which to work . the plot involves a hollywood film star named don bolton  hope   and his attempt to evade military service at the beginning of world war ii  followed by his enlistment by mistake in a confused attempt to court a colonel  s daughter  dorothy lamour  . bolton  s agent  played by lynne overman  and his assistant  portrayed by eddie bracken  enlist with him and the three are involved in various escapades regarding training exercises  filmed in the malibu  california  hills . paramount budgeted handsomely for this effort  employing some of its top specialists  but direction by the usually reliable david butler was flaccid  and this must be attributed to a missing comedic element in the scenario . a shift toward the end of the film to create an opportunity for heroism by bolton is still  born with poor stunt work and camera action in evidence . oddly  lynne overman is given the best lines and this veteran master of the sneer does very well by them . dorothy lamour looks lovely and acts nicely  as well  and it is ever a delight to see and hear clarence kolb  as her father  whose voice is unique on screen or radio  but there is little they can do to save this film  cursed as it is with an error in script assignment .  
this film is available from david shepard and kino on the before hollywood there was fort lee  nj  although that is a shortened version with just the  behind  the  scenes movie sections . i  m not sure if blackhawk films only had a film print of these parts  or they edited out the other scenes . the original blackhawk version was retitled a movie romance . the complete feature does survive  but the preprint for this version had some nitrate decomposition  and a couple of sections looked bad  so that may be why blackhawk  s version was edited .  br    br   directed by maurice tourneur  the film has tourneur playing himself  or more likely a caricature of himself . supposedly  director emile chautard and future director joseph von sternberg also can be spotted .  br    br   country lass mary  doris kenyon  longs for a romantic man to sweep her off her feet . she dreams of a troubadour that will woo her  but is constantly interrupted by the only available local boy  johnny applebloom .  br    br   meanwhile  a film company from new york  actually new jersey  is filming a western in the countryside . mary sees an indian  in full headdress  and raises an alarm   spoiling a scene that the movie company is filming . she is immediately attracted to the dashing film star kenneth driscoll  robert warwick  . he encourages her to leave her home and try to become an actress in the big city .  br    br   when she arrives at the studio  she discovers that everything about the movies is fake . the doors and walls are just flats that are hastily assembled for the set . that lanky walk of the western hero or the happy skip of the heroine are just acting too . the sets are on a big revolving stage  so the angle of the sun can even be manipulated . the black attendant at the studio signs all the movie stars   autographed  photos . the signs on the wall say  positively no smoking   but everybody smokes anyway . even the titles of the film  which are illustrated nicely  emphasize everything fake about the movie  making life .  br    br   movie star driscoll is just as disenchanted with the ho  hum of everyday film  making . he makes a temporary split from girlfriend vivian  june elvidge  to pursue this  exciting  country girl . his plans are dashed when mary  s screen  test is a stinker . we don  t get to see the actual film  but only the audience  s pained reactions to it .  br    br   mary is devastated  but she doesn  t want to admit to everyone back home that she was a failure  so she continues to see driscoll and we she has lunch with him in the studio cafeteria along with other extras dressed as policemen  soldiers  cowboys  etc .  br    br   mary decides to stay with driscoll . at a party with their movie  friends   she agrees to marry him although there is not much love between them . surprisingly  her mother appears  with a cake especially for mary  s birthday . this causes mary to re  evaluate her future .  br    br   this film has all kinds of fascinating scenes of studios  movie sets  dressing rooms  editing rooms  etc . if you  ve always wondered what went on behind the scenes when a silent film was being made  this movie peeks behind the curtain .  
let  s see . . . i  m trying to practice finding the positive in everything  so what kind thing can i say about the pallbearer   br    br   i know  the performances were   no  that won  t work as they succeeded in draining all personality from gwyneth paltrow  usually so vibrant  and ended up creating caricatures out of carol kane and barbara hershey . . .  br    br   oh  how  bout the story   nope . that isn  t gonna fly either  as it was doze  inducing . what was the genre anyway  it wasn  t funny  that rules out comedy . it wasn  t interesting enough to be dramatic . was that a romance between schwimmer and paltrow  i have to ask  as i can  t be sure  let  s just call it  losers in like .  i  m sure those behind this film started with a vision  i mean  they must have had one to pitch to the studio suits  but i need help finding it .  br    br   even if i were a patient person who could forgive the pure stupidity of the story  i couldn  t in good conscience recommend a film that allows a guy to go into a professional job interview in a windbreaker and messy  fluffy  stupid hair . speaking of hair   are we supposed to be amused by the deliberate black roots and platinum locks worn by hershey   br    br   what am i doing  i already lost   irretrievable minutes in the actual watching of the movie   i cannot devote any more time to this loser .  
to die for has it all . this film has a great cast . lots and lots of romance and terror . not too gory but still enough to appeal to horror fans . there are a lot more vampire love stories . if you are a fan of vampire love stories i strongly recommend this film       .  
life is really too short for movies like this . i knew it couldn  t be good when i realized what i  d already suspected  that david schwimmer would be playing the exact same type of person he plays in  friends  .  br    br   let  s face it  either the guy can  t play anything but a nerd or he is never offered any other parts . i have a feeling that it  s a mixture of both .  br    br   and i have to say that it is extremely difficult to like a movie that utterly wastes the considerable talents of gwyneth paltrow  barbara hershey  toni collette and carol kane     
small spoilers alert     br    br   good movie . . . very good movie . and i  m surprised to say that myself  because i  m not a big fan of vampires and the sound of the director  s name deran serafian usually means bad news . most of his films are below average action movies like death warrant and gunmen . this was one of his first films and maybe he should have continued making horror movies instead of action . this movie really fascinated me . good accomplishment  seeing no famous actors or big budget was involved . it really is the story that keeps you focused . especially fans of the original dracula myth will be satisfied . sarafian lights up another aspect of the famous bram stoker story and remains rather loyal and true to the truth . it explains the life of the roemenian count dracula and how he scared the turkish army away by spearing dead corpses in front of his castle . of course  that  s where the reality and the  based on a true story  stops . the blood drinking and stuff all was invented by bram stoker .  br    br   in this movie  the count  vlad teppish  emigrates to the usa and seduces tons of woman . and they  re all pretty girls  i  ll give him that . overall  good acting by unknown faces  enough blood and gore to satisfy the more morbid horror fans and an interesting storyline . this film is really unknown and it was hidden on the darkest shelf at my local videostore . but it certainly is worth cleaning up the dust on the cover and put it in the vcr . heck  it  s a lot better than the famous nicole kidman movie with the same title . these two films have nothing else in common  but i blame that movie for stealing the attention away from this nice little picture . check it out . . . my humble opinion on to die for   .      
the interplay between the characters is a moral disaster . you end up disliking most of the characters and you don  t particularly like any of them .  br    br   even the two main characters played by david and gwen are so badly written that you really don  t care one bit about them . the movie has no plot  no direction and no purpose . the single redeeming quality of the movie was to treat it as a glimpse into the messed up lives of a few losers  and that  s hardly stimulating even as an afternoon waste .  
what a gem of a movie  so good that they made a sequel .  br    br   the film starts off really good with a nasty monster who eats a few people and a party where the  main characters first set eyes on each other .  br    br   bendan hughes plays the eccentric vlad  a bit of an inkling there to who this character is  who has moved into town and uses the services of a particular real estate agent to find him a house .  br    br   hell  we  ve all seen vampire movies  we know the format .  br    br   the movie is watchable  but the actors  performances are very wooden and they seem as they don  t want to be in this film  but may be that  s just all part of the decadent ambiance .  br    br   didn  t like the ending  but there is a sequel  must track it down .  br    br   when i watched the film i thought brendan hughes didn  t really fit the part . later on  i couldn  t stop thinking about him  he sort of exudes an eerie sensuality  so maybe he was right for the part .  br    br   brendan hughes last seen in  hitler  the rise of evil  as lt . guffman .  br    br   where is he now   
this film is advertised as a clever romantic comedy . it is neither clever nor romantic and it is definitely not an effective comedy . the fortunes of the well meaning yet pathetic character   tom   oscillate from one extremely embarrassing disaster to another . the only saving graces are the competent performance by toni collete and the frequency with which we glimpse paltrow  s pleasant face . overall  to be avoided   
riff randell is a wildly  obsessed fan of the rock group the ramones and so are most of the students in the school . but a new tyrant of a principal  ms . togar thinks rock  n  roll is a bad influence on the students  especially the music from the ramones . so  when riff finds out they  re performing in town  she skips class for a couple of days to get tickets for herself and her friends . but when ms . togar discovers why she really took those days off she confiscates the tickets . while  this is happening tom roberts is totally love struck over riff  but riff  s friend kate rambeau feels the same way about tom . but riff has her eyes set only on the lead singer joe ramone and hopefully in getting to that concert to get them to play her song .  br    br   fun  fun  fun  yep  that  s right  rock n roll high school  doesn  t drift away from it main focus a boisterously  daggy romp  it wasn  t what i was expecting  that  s for sure . everyone participating in this dandy project looks like they  re having a great time and the relaxing nature of it shows on screen with the energy providing such a glowing spirit  which makes it a priceless experience . that  s not to say i think its art and the plot is as pointless as can be . but watching this passionately  crazy ride that escalates into some good harmless high jinks  i just couldn  t wipe the grin off my face . it  s tacky  very cheesy  densely chaotic  but damn it  s funky  dory   br    br   this low  budget  b  grade feature from producer roger corman and john dante who was co  writer  and plus he co  directed some scenes when director allan arkush was hospitalised on the last day shoot  . is basically a glorious homage on the rocking     s flicks by sticking with the fruitful clichs and throwing into the stew the teenage rebellion tag because of the generation gap between them and the adults  who always know best  . these features might not be particularly fresh  but they do rack up some appeal because of the dynamically  gusto treatment . the film has just one thing on mind  to go out on a bang  and they manage to do that . courtesy of  the ramones   who play themselves . really  you could say its one big trendy video clip  since it  s all about the ramones well  most of it anyway . i see a lot flack towards the ramones  acting ability . these are musicians not actors  which means it  s not about their acting here  it  s the music we  re suppose to dig . they  re here to perform  which  they deliver in that front with some kick ass tracks that peppered the film to create a totally upbeat vibe . especially  their flamboyant concert performances . the buzzing soundtrack also had some killer tunes from some other artists such as devo  the velvet underground  mc   fleetwood mack  eddie and the hot rods and alice cooper . but these jumping tracks fitted in well with the carefree feel and even the score was worked in rather well . especially in the scenes involving ms . togar with the score grasping the right mood that surrounds her mind set . the playful mood of the film is pretty much like a roller coaster ride with such a racy pace between the electrifying tunes and comical segments ranging from scattered slapstick routines to it  s sometimes clever  tongue  in  cheek dialogue . thrown in for good measure is a variety of light and heavy gags  which i found very pleasurable and it gave it such a wider range to express itself .  br    br   what else gave the film an added boost had to be the divine pj soles  better known for her performance in halloween   who gave such a bang up performance as the peachy riff randell . other exemplary performances were dey young  as the extremely cute kate rambeau  vincent van patten as the gawky tom roberts and the go to man eaglebauer who  s stupendously played by clint howard . also some top drawer corman regulars pop up with great send up performances by mary woronov who  s excellent as the demanding ms . togar who  s pushing her unfair reign on the students  paul bartel as mr . mcgree and a small support role from dick millar towards the end . the enthusiastic acting is pretty campy  but that goes down well with the material and there  s a certain likability stemming from these characters  but we totally despise ms . togar and her hall monitor goons .  br    br   there  s no beating around the bush here when i say  rock  n  roll high school  is an intoxicating hoot  of a rad time   
i just didn  t get this movie . . . was it a musical  no . . but there were choreographed songs and dancing in it . . .  br    br   was it a serious drama . . . . no the acting was not good enough for that .  br    br   is whoopi goldberg a quality serious actor . . definently not .  br    br   i had difficulty staying awake through this disjointed movie . the message on apartheid and the  tribute  to the students who died during a student uprosing is noted . but as entertainment this was very poor and as a documentary style movie it was worse .  br    br   see for yourself  but in fairness i hated it  
when i found this film in my local videostore i expected it to be another cheesy american vampire film in the same vein of  the lost boys        . to my surprise  to die for  is a really good movie . it  s a little bit corny at times  but still there are enough stylish set  pieces and surprises to satisfy vampire enthusiasts . this is a perfect mix of romance and horror and it  s surprisingly gory at times . highly recommended .  
some   year olds behave like teenagers  coping with the death of a high  school mate  trying to find their purpose in live and love . the script is so lame that i had to force myself to even finish this movie . stay away from it .      
paul lukas played a russian intellectual making his living as a waiter in  br    br    grand slam   directed by william dieterle       . it is a surprisingly funny satire of the building up of celebrity . the waiter and the russian restaurant  s hat  check girl played by loretta young become america  s sweethearts as bridge partners who do no squabble . with the aid of publicist and ghost  writer  speed  mccann  the wonderfully deadpan frank mchugh  they become walking advertisements  br    br   for the  stanislavsky system   a  system  of bidding whatever one feels like  br    br    since bids are not rational  there is no basis for recriminations about their stupidity  .  br    br   a duel with displaced bridge guru cedric van dorn  sounds close to goren  no  and i suspect the choice of the character  s name  stanislavsky  was also a slam at another kind of system   a puffed  up charlatan played very well by ferdinand gottschalk  is broadcast on radio stations across america like a prize  fight by roscoe karns  another great fast  talking deadpan comic actor of the     s  .  br    br   the bridge players are even in a roped  off square  though the audience is  br    br   above them  unlike in boxing  rings .   br    br   the wide variety of american types prefigures the comedies of preston sturges  though for manufacturing celebrity   grand slam  most calls to mind two better movies from the same  pre  code  era with lee tracy playing fast  talking  br    br   publicists  the half  naked truth  and  bombshell   but  grand slam  has its  br    br   moments  especially for anyone who has played bridge with serious point  br    br   counters .  br    br   loretta young was already a clothes horse .  to me  her face seems a bit long  br    br   and horsey  too . another era  s notion of beauty  i guess . . .  the movie  br    br   unfortunately all but drops glenda farrell  who plays mchugh  s forgetful  br    br   girlfriend .  
 . . . you can  t exactly shove her out of the way  because she  s old and if you were being charitable you might say that the ponderous gait she ambles along with isn  t really her fault . nevertheless  in these circumstances it  s often difficult not to become irritated when you find yourself dragging your heels in her wake . so it is with  the pallbearer   an attempt to do something  different  with a romantic comedy that in this way is chiefly hamstrung because the venue is all wrong sort of like showing off your  breakdancing  skills at a grandparent  s funeral .  br    br   to further extend the metaphor  perhaps unwisely    like the old lady  one starts to feel with the set  up of the film that its demise cannot be far away . sure enough  this particular  death  is agonizingly protracted  slowly chipping away at our reserves of empathy in tiny little increments  as depressingly we come to the realisation that the proceedings are only headed in one direction downhill . its laboured attempts at  humour  can be seen coming a mile off  again  not unlike the grim inevitability of death   br    br   returning once again to the image of  dragging heels   the main character  tom  is shown to ceaselessly repeat this action throughout his life . if there are indeed degrees of  pathetic   then this sap is possibly a good few notches ahead of schwimmer  s other  more famous  role . to find oneself in the awkward position of having to align audience sympathies with a character even more  clueless  than ross is certainly a tough ask even for as  able  a comic performer as schwimmer  but i guess he can find fault with himself for signing on to some seriously  echoing  situations in the first place .  br    br   how will he ever escape his most famous portrayal if he  s picking scripts where the characters could almost be  interchangeable   even if the situations aren  t  a man with a longstanding high  school crush on someone he hasn  t seen for years . sound familiar . . .  paltrow is nothing else if not bland in her  rachel  role  but all of this going over old ground would perhaps be forgivable if the noticeable differences present weren  t so incongruous as well . unfortunately  the romantic element is so well  worn it  s threadbare  and the  backdrop  is so inappropriate that it seems the best way to describe the resultant film is as something of a  stiff  . . .      .  
     seemed to be a great year for satires   duck soup  for instance  and this one fits in well even though it is about the obsession with contract bridge . the tone is like a humorous piece from the new yorker  appropriate  since the film begins with the  goings on about town  page of that magazine . the only thing odd is the casting . made a few years later william powell and myrna loy would have been perfect . however  after      you wouldn  t have had adultery handled in such a sophisticated fashion  the young and beautiful loretta young in some shear and slinky outfits  or a group of prostitutes listening to a bridge contest on radio . even if you know nothing about bridge  you may still want to check out a rare example of hollywood satire .  
the pallbearer is a disappointment and at times extremely boring with a love story that just doesn  t work partly with the casting of gwyneth paltrow  julie  . gwyneth paltrow walks through the entire film with a confused look on her face and its hard to tell what david schwimmer even sees in her .  br    br   however the pallbearer at times is funny particularly the church scene and the group scenes with his friends are a laugh but that  s basically it . watch the pallbearer for those scenes only and fast forward the rest . trust me you aren  t missing much .  
a brilliant russian migr devises the stanislavsky  system for winning at contract bridge  which makes him and his beautiful wife the grand slam sweethearts of america .  br    br   what could have been just another silly soap opera is elevated by fine production values  excellent acting to the status of a very enjoyable little comedy . a few unexpected touches are thrown in to keep the viewer  s attention engaged  the way in which the principle cast is introduced as faces on a deck of cards the introduction of a zany acrobat into the plot for no other reason than to enjoy a bit of lunacy and the way in which a wide variety of different kinds of americans are shown to be transfixed by listening to the broadcast of the concluding game .  br    br   paul lukas  loretta young do very well as the bridge sweethearts  lukas suave  sophisticated and miss young passionately loving and beautiful  even if the script keeps her puffing on a cigarette a bit too much  . they are fun to watch  even when their behavior is not always the most believable or compelling .  br    br   frank mchugh gives another good performance as a relentlessly cheerful ghost writer who adores miss young . the delightful glenda farrell eschews her customary wisecracking persona in a small role as mchugh  s ditsy gal pal . roscoe karns handles the fast  talking dialogue as a brash radio announcer . diminutive ferdinand gottschalk is wonderful as a snobbish bridge expert .  br    br   movie mavens will recognize dewey robinson as a belligerent nightclub patron emma dunn as a sob sister reporter paul porcasi as the owner of the russian nightclub charles lane as a russian waiter and jimmy conlin as a kibitzer at the final bridge game  all uncredited .  br    br   the film takes advantage of the fad for contract bridge which had swept across the country since its development in the      s . it expects the viewer to have a basic knowledge of the intricacies of the game and makes no attempt to explain anything to the uninformed .  
no comment  stupid movie  acting average or worse . . . screenplay  no sense at all . . . skip it   
this is the only full length feature film about the world of bridge . i found the first   minutes a bit slow  but after that  the movie is absolutely perfect in describing professional bridge players and how they go about earning a living .  br    br   some of the scenes are very funny . i don  t think that a non  bridge player would get the charm of this movie .  br    br   some of the dresses are really beautiful  pity the movie is in black and white  i can only imagine what they would look like in colour . the way the media are portrayed is absolutely hilarious . there is no way on earth bridge will ever be like that .  br    br   watch it as soon as you can  and tell your friends about it .  
i wish i had my rental money back from this piece of trash so i could donate it to the home for aged actors . total rubbish   five people watched this movie at the same time and there wasn  t one single laugh to be heard  lots of yawning though . paltrow  s a beautiful woman and she was the best thing to look at in the entire so  called comedic movie . .  
this is the only full length feature film about the world of bridge . i found the first   minutes a bit slow  but after that  the movie is absolutely perfect in describing professional bridge players and how they go about earning a living .  br    br   some of the scenes are very funny . i don  t think that a non  bridge player would get the charm of this movie .  br    br   some of the dresses are really beautiful  pity the movie is in black and white  i can only imagine what they would look like in color . the way the media are portrayed is absolutely hilarious . there is no way on earth bridge will ever be like that .  br    br   watch it as soon as you can  and tell your friends about it .  
i  m not to keen on the pallbearer  it  s not too bad  but just very slow at the times . as the movie goes on  it gets a little more interesting  but nothing brilliant . i really like david schwimmer and i think he  s good here . i  m not a massive gwyneth paltrow fan  but i don  t mind her sometimes and she  s okay here . the pallbearer is not a highly recommended movie  but if you like the leads then you might enjoy it .  
this movie is completely ridiculous . not only is the plot atrocious  but the acting is horrendous . the special effects are asinine and the entire movie is set in a post  apocalyptic desert . yet  it is by far the most amusing movie ever given permission to be produced . it is    minutes of laughs due to the fact that we all know there will be no fuel in the year      or any el camino  s . there are also other aspects which i will not spoil  just because they are what makes the movies so wonderfully moronic . i highly recommend this movie  just because of its utter idiocy . i have no idea who would watch this expecting it to be a high quality feature  but if a good laugh is what you need  watch exterminators of the year       
gwyneth paltrow is absolutely great in this movie  but the story is  unfortunately  half  baked  and david schwimmer  s energy is sort of like cold mush . when he closes his mouth and gets serious for a moment or two there is a rush of what  might  have  been . who thought    year  old kiddies would be entertaining   
robert jannuci  luca venantini  venantino venantini  alicia moro  two stars are from city of the living dead  i wonder what luca is doing these days  probably a lawyer or something  like bela lugosi jr . or david hennessey there kid from dark shadows who wants to forget dark shadows existed  . anyway  in the thorn emi video there  s no music over the opening credits . . . but the music is great once it comes in . . . with the italian movies the films aren  t as good as the music . . . my favorite scene is with the boy with the robot arm following loner  alien through the desert . alien says why are you following me . tommy answers because i feel like it . . . alien replies which way are you headed tommy says west then alien says well  i  m going east . so after a while of walking  the theme playing in the background alien looks up and sees tommy sitting on a rock petting a pet hamster . . . tommy looks up and says to alien  what took you so long . . . i love this movie . . . it touches my heart . the boy with the robot arm needs a daddy and alien is drafted in to being tommy  s daddy in the desert . . . oh yeah  they need water too . . . not the road warrior  mad max   by any means but a silly western  post nuke movie with a boy with a robot arm and alien and trash and a few other good guys with a mean chick with an iron claw and crazy bull who looks like wez in the road warrior . . . on sunday afternoons on channel    philadelphia  pa  after church i  d come home and find this on . . . often . . . too often . love it .       
in a nutshell this is a cookie cutter romantic comedy that really wants and tries to be something more . it wants to be harold and maude  annie hall  the graduate . it wants to be deep and human . it has interesting camera shots  lighting  music  editing  all of which give it the feel of an important movie . the dialog is smart   at times . there are some  laugh out loud  moments .  br    br   but here  s what keeps it from ultimately being anything more than a formulaic late  night  cable  in  flight  time  killer  br    br    . david schwimmer   how many times can joe sad  sack puppy dog stare blankly into space with his jaw hanging open before it starts to get annoying  maybe some drool would have helped .  br    br    . gwenneth paltrow   she  s really flat here and not just in the chest . her role is supposed to be this lively  nice  caring girl who just keeps getting herself into wrong situations  is very confused as a result  and that is why a sad  sack loser like schwimmer has any chance with her . but gwenneth plays her very dull . combine this with puppy  dog drool  face  above  and you have very little chemistry to care about .  br    br    i kept picturing someone else in this role   kate hudson for example .   br    br    . the script and the plot   the stuff that happens just basically doesn  t ring true all the problems get wrapped up in the end with such a neat and tidy bow on top that it seems like a whistle blew and the script writers just said  oops  time to wrap it up  got a train to catch   so they pulled out the hollywood formula book  checked off all the boxes  and went home .  
when i saw the exterminators of year     at first time  i had no expectations for that movie . although  it wasn  t so bad as i was thought . it  s kind of italian version of roadwarrior  with cast  that is almost famous in italy  including venantino venantini . behind the story is elisa briganti and dardano sacchetti  who are also responsible for story of zombie flesh  eaters . you can also see other links to italian horror movies luca venantini plays the role of tommy  and you can see that kid in paura nella citta dei morti viventi  city of the living dead aka gates of hell  as john robbins and in cannibal apocalypse as the role of mary  s brother . quite entertaining movie  with some dull parts .  
when his in  laws are viciously murdered by a gang of thugs  a young deputy is ordered to escort his mute friend  forced to take the rap by the gang  to tucson for trial and ending up having to face the real killers along the way .  br    br   the decoy is a real  life decoy sent to video stores to lure you away from better films  it  s talky  illogical  slow  and ultimately very boring .  br    br   there  s some good costumes  sets  and photography but nothing else is good about this vanity project from writer  director  producer  star justin kreinbrink  who apparently had too much money on his hands .  br    br   they used to make westerns like this  that were under an hour long . trim this of about half it  s length and you might have something watchable .  
it  s hard for me to assign the  fair  number of stars to this film  but i settled on  because of its high production values and what was  in      an innovative approach to the war film . remember too that i haven  t seen it since     . but it did make a strong impression .  br    br   the long day  s dying must be one of the most vivid antiwar films ever made . it achieves this simply by portraying in extremely realistic terms the actions of a handful of soldiers in northwestern europe in        . no film before this one showed war at the infantry squad level with so much brutal detail  and all in a coldly dispassionate way that lets the actions speak for themselves . there is no preaching  no sentimentality  no comic relief  no complicated scenarios .  br    br   unfortunately  there  s no subtlety either . partly because of their situation  trying to stay alive  the characters come across as flat  familiar clich  s . as  entertainment   the film doesn  t make it  though it was clearly not intended to  entertain .  it was intended to slug you over the head with the misery and horror of world war ii and modern war in general . this was twenty years before platoon and thirty before saving private ryan  both of which are far more  watchable  films . here the flat and generally disagreeable characters  the lack of an actual plot  and the realistically unpleasant images  including what may be the first on  screen vomit in theatrical history  make the film hard to sit through  though it is only   minutes .  br    br   so    stars for production and realism   stars for the feeling you  ll have when it  s over  a bonus star for having its heart in the right place . average  .  br    br   like carl foreman  s underrated  the victors   an equally downbeat but more interesting and thought  provoking film  the long day  s dying seems not to be on dvd . why not  both films have been on cable a number of times .  
this movie rivals  plan   as one of the dumbest movie ever made . always be concerned when the same person is the  br    br    . star  . director  . producer  . writer  . stuntman  and  . editor . unfortunately  justin kreinbrink did all  jobs  imdb shows that he and his father were western  stunt men  . so maybe that was the problem .  br    br   here  s just one example from the film in the film the sheriff has to take a witness to another town for protection . of course  the bad guys find out and are waiting for them . but  what happens  the good guys are riding along and a shot rings out and hits a tree near them . when the camera shows us the bad guys they  re all just sitting on a log  chatting . what  s wrong with this picture   br    br   i could go on . perhaps this film was meant as a comedy . if so  it didn  t do that well either .  
the movie is just plain fun . . . . maybe more fun for those of us who were young and fans of  the ramones  around the time the film was made . i  ve watched the film over and over  by myself and with friends  and it is still fresh and funny . at the risk of being too serious  the concept of being a big fan of a certain band is timeless  and high school students boredom with drudgery of some classes is just as timeless .  br    br   and  the film has some gem lines  scenes . . . . . references to how our  permanent record  in high school will follow us through life .  let me assure you i  ve been out of high school for  uhhh  some years and it  s not following me  . . . . . the famous  static  line   i  m getting some static  . . . . .  not as much as you  re going to get   as principal togar approaches  . . . . . the school board member who is so decrepit he  s attended by nurses . . . . the nazi hall monitors love for a  body search  . . . . . . principal togar announcing   i give you the final solution   and burning the ramones records  note records were what came before cd  s  . . . . and of course joey ramone noting   things sure have changed since we got kicked out of high school   followed by togar asking  do your parents know you  re ramones    br    br   just one piece of advice . . . . . don  t look up where the stars are now . . . . . joey ramone sadly died young . dey young  who was a major hottie in the film  today reminds us we all age . . . . pj soles career never advanced as we might have expected . . . . . . . . . marla rosenfield  as one the other students  apparently appeared only in this film  one of my male friends dies over her every time we watch the film   though i submit her performance was more than adequate and should have brought her more teen film roles . and  does anyone know what happened to dj don steele   br    br   so  watch and enjoy . . . . . don  t think . . . . just have fun   
the concept for sarafina appears to be a sound one  that is aside from the musical perspective . it attempts to combine upbeat african music with a story describing the atrocious conditions and atmosphere that black people were forced to endure at the time the film was set . the contradictions of each of the two elements are too glaring and the film never justifies such rapid shifts between jubilation and terror . had it simply been a drama reflecting these conditions it may have been a good film  however the scenes of school children being shot down by soldiers don  t exactly sit well next to the songs .  br    br   aside from the poor premise the acting isn  t the best either  goldberg gives a mediocre performance as does the remainder of the cast . overall a disappointment .  br    br        
i first read the book  when i was a young teenager  then saw the film late one night . about a year ago i checked it out on imdb and discovered no copies available . i then hit the web and found a site that offers war films  soooo glad that i did  ordered a copy and sat back and was able to confirm why i wanted to see it again .  br    br   in my opinion to really enjoy the film i suggest you read get a copy of the book and then watch the film . the book is no longer in print but i did track a copy down via e  bay  the author alan white was a commando  paratrooper during the  nd world war taking part in disparate clandestine operations and this was his first book . it is written by someone who knows and this fact i believe gives the book and film authenticity . i have not given the film a ten only because of the nature of the ending of the film  not as good as the book . there are a couple of plot lines that differ from the book also  which is strange as the book is not about the large scale nature of war but about the individual in war . the film illustrates this exceptionally well . i have the copy of the book to let my son read and then the film to let him watch  in that order .  br    br   if you can track it down the book and the film then it is definitely worth it and i only wish that it was more readily available for more to read and see  one of my all best war films  ever   
after reading the other reviews for this film i am of the opinion that the high markers are probably paid studio lackeys as the film i saw was absolutely dire  with wooden acting  lacklustre scripting and plodding predictable directing  one of the few plus points has to be the stunning scenery as this film features some stunning backdrops with great sweeping vistas and dramatic skies and wide open prairies  sadly when the most memorable thing in a film is the part featured behind the actors this has to be a warning sign as to the quality of the movie  all in all a thoroughly uninspiring addition to the western genre which even at the very reasonable price it can be obtained on dvd is best to avoid .  
i have seen this film only the one time about   years ago  and to this day i have always told people it is probably the best film i have ever seen . considering there was no verbal dialogue and only thought dialogue i found the film to be enthralling and i even found myself holding my breath so as not to make any sound . i would highly recomend this film  i wish it was available on dvd .  
great western i hear you all say  brilliant first effort  well i  m not sure what film you all watched but it must have been a different one to the one i saw . great westerns or indeed good films of any genre have characters you can believe in and this film had none  the acting was poor to say the least and i couldn  t care less about any of the characters  making the whole film pointless . the story was too big for the makers and perhaps they should try their hand at making straight to tv low budget rubbish like you see on those  fact or fiction  programmes on sci  fi .  br    br   please  if you are looking for a good film  a great western or even just an enjoyable hour and a half  please look elsewhere .  
i saw this film prior to joining the british army . i went through my basic training  at first difficult and then as i progressed much easier . my time was spent during the height of the troubles in ni and the cold war . there was times when i questioned myself on what i had gotten myself into  not for long  as the training would always take over and you would always react instinctively . the voice over used to display what the soldiers are thinking is spot on  though i would have added breathing and heart rate as this seems to pound in your ear drums in given situations . some years later i was in canada for a family get together . an aunty of mine who lives in the usa and is a lecturer at the columbus uni ohio had done a paper on the effects of the british army in ni . she spent some time out there researching . although an ex pat she was very anti  british . she made a bee line for me and condemned me for being a british soldier . my only answer was see the film  a long day  s dying  . it  s the closest a civilian will get to realise why a soldier does what he does . the answer is right at the end .  
the decoy is one of those independent productions  made by obvious newcomers  but it doesn  t have all the usual flaws that sink most such films . it has a definite story  it has adequate acting  the photography is very good  the hero and the bad guy are both formidable men  and the background music isn  t overdone . this is a dvd new release  so people will be looking here to see if it  s worthwhile . i don  t know where all the    s come from  as there  s no way this film is that good    even if you  re the filmmaker  s mother .  br    br   the last film we saw at a theater was warner  s trashing of j k rawlings much  loved and excellent book  order of the phoenix . in comparing the decoy with phoenix  consider that phoenix  as made by warners  had no story  certainly no acting was allowed by the director  the photography was dreadful  and the wall  of  sound overbearing musical score was just a mess . i rated phoenix a    because the scale doesn  t go any lower . the decoy is  times better   in all regards .  br    br   if you have the opportunity  give the decoy a chance . remember  this isn  t  decoy    the shootout  or any such nonsense . it  s original . if your expectations aren  t overblown by the foolish     scores here  you might just enjoy the film on its own terms .  
not sure one can call this an anti  war film  it shows war at an elite level . these are elite troops that know what they are doing and take great pride in it . even when they are pacifist  they still enjoy the skill level and defeating their foes  even if it does go against being a pacifist . the movies is slow and rather uneventful and in many ways is rather tame as war movies go  more so by todays standards  no body parts flying off as in modern movies . it is brutal in other ways though as you see killing at a personal level . this is more of a thinking man  s movie . once you start to watch you don  t want to miss anything . the thoughts of the men in the movie and their interactions  is what the movie is about  not the combat itself or a big exciting storyline . this maybe called a war triller .  br    br   if you are into the skill of war  if you are into reading or seeing programs about the sas and so on  you want to watch this movie       br    br   comparable movies are the hill       with sean connery    th parallel       with an all star cast  the naked and the dead       with cliff robertson . all are unusual in their way and show war at a personal level . enjoy   
we rented the dvd hoping for a good western . the film was pretty and the scenes reasonable  but the ideas were very bad . here are my problems with the film .  br    br   in the first part  why exactly did the bad guy kill the mine owner  not really connected to the movie except to establish how bad he was and to have a hideout .  br    br   the bank employee gone bad just acts too poorly to convincingly decide to hire killers to off his employers . at least keep us guessing . no character developed at all for the bank owners or the bank employee .  br    br   very long delay in much of anything happening .  br    br   absurd premise that martin still needed to see the judge after the gang confessed to killing the in  laws . even more absurd that he confesses to judge and judge will not listen to the sheriff guy . even more ridiculous that martin his hung and rope breaks then the sheriff takes him at gunpoint to finally head back to his town and save his wife from the bad bank employee . wouldn  t he just return after the quick dispatch of the gang to save wife and arrest bad bank guy  just send the judge a note that gang confessed before being killed on trail        overall  very sad acting and no point to movie .  
  br    br   superb film with no actual spoken dialogue which enhances the level of suspense . the whole approach gives a completely different twist to a war film .  br    br   well worth watching again if only it could be found . i saw it perhaps   or so years ago .  fantastic   
who ever wrote the two or three glowing reviews were either involved in the making of this film  term used loosely  or bank rolling it  and should the latter be the case  i would want my seven dollars back  the actors  again term used loosely  are awful  in fact almost none of them did anything ever again which is a relief . the scenery and everything about this screams  we had  dollars to work with and a day to do it in . was this filmed in someones back yard  everything about this project says  low budget . the actors at best were d list . do not waste your time  unless of course you want to take it back and try to get the rental back . the lead bad guy looks like that punk from the   s show that ended up marrying his grandmother dummee moore . my local blockbuster video store lists this as the movie most returned with sad commentary attached . even as a   cent rental this flick gathers dust . someone really must have owed some favors . this is a super stinker and i give it   turds .  
this is not a movie you watch for entertainment  at least most people i know would not .  br    br   it  s portraits the cruelty to both body and mind that happen in a war pretty well  the characters seem plausible  especially because you  read their minds   something more often found in books and rarely in movies  however done very well in this piece . i would place it next to  all quiet on the western front  and  die brcke  in terms of leaving a lasting impression .  br    br   i wish i could screen it at school  along with the other two movies  however finding a copy of it showed to be pretty hard  which is a shame .  
i wasn  t particularly impressed by this movie that has lackluster music and only lasts   minutes . thank god  because i was falling asleep . i makes excellent use of time lapse photography to display the passage of time in the movement of light and shadow  people  water  clouds  etc . unfortunately  that  s all it is .  br    br   my preference is for its predecessor  the excellent koyaanisqatsi made in     at   minutes and to prove that a sequel can be better than the original  powaqqatsi made in     running   minutes .  br    br   try them both .  
i saw the long day  s dying when it first came out at the cinema  i thought the film gave a good soldiers point of view  it gave a realistic account  of men at war . the storyline moves at a nice pace  showing a group of men behind enemy lines  and trying to return back to their own lines with an enemy prisoner . the characters are well developed  and believable .  br    br   david hemmings is a good actor and plays the leading role with conviction  as does alan dobie  as german helmut  i was surprised  that i have been unable to find this film on vhs or dvd  and i feel it has become the forgotten film  which is sad  as it is superior to many other war films i have seen .  
i purchased this movie on blu  ray because it promised great visuals and music . i was also a great fan of a similar movie . . . baraka . the movie is very much styled after baraka  wide angles  very similar shots with cameras set to capture long time passage in each shot . even some of the scenes were identical  the street with traffic  . whereas baraka told a great story  juxtaposing nature  man  made environments  spirituality  and horrors of the world in an engrossing fashion and great music  this movie just jumped from shot to shot with no encompassing story  mediocre musical score  and then . . . . poof  it  s finished  i thought there must be some sort of mistake  history of the world  half the movie is egypt and landscape  looks like arizona  but i didn  t bother to check  . seriously folks  this is horrible  rent it if you must  but do not buy it . the filmmakers should be ashamed of themselves for putting this out .  
the reason why i say this is because i wrote the screenplay and knew very little about it being made until i was asked to see the film . i wrote it for some producers who sold it on without telling me . because alan dobie was a friend of mine  i got to hear about it . i had only written a first draft so i was understandably worried when i heard that it was on the floor . i asked peter collinson  through my agent  whether he might like me to do another draft . i also asked if i could i see my original script because i had lost it . i was told  too late . so i did the only thing i could do under the circumstances and took my name off . i had no idea what they might have done to my screenplay . then i was invited to see the finished film . i was so impressed that i very quickly asked to have my name put back on . it  s a beautifully made piece  from a hurriedly written first draft  i expected to be asked to do much more work on it perhaps if i had it wouldn  t be so good . i would love to see my original script again if anybody knows where it is  i would also love to see the film again  i only saw it once in a little viewing theatre in soho .  
i was expecting a b  movie french musical . after all  dhry  blanche  defuns were superstars of low budget french films of that time . and it is in color  but i have hallucination in this unbelievable one hour   of pure mediocrity . musical numbers are awful  and comedy is absolutely boring and stupid . and the songs  what songs  this is just a succession of bad numbers  one after another . the only one very rare thing about that thing is the nudity of women . it was not familiar at that time . in fact  some numbers are just there to show us topless women . it adds to the mediocrity  and try to find young michel serrault  the future great actor of french cinema  in a bit part as a musician  in his very first movie . good luck   
i was lucky enough to get a dvd copy of this movie recently and have now seen it for the  nd time . the  st time was on late night tv in australia more than   years ago but i could never forget this strange and bleak film . .  br    br   not many people like this film at all because it is so unconventional  the fact that there is hardly any spoken dialogue in this move  we just hear the thoughts of characters  is only one unconventional aspect of it .  br    br   searching for a copy of this film i found out that the producer was dead  the main actor was dead  it was not kept in any british tv or film archives  that it was never released on video or dvd  that television networks around the world trashed it after their copyright ran out in the    s . when it was first shown on tv in australia there were no recordable devices for consumers .  br    br   on the second viewing recently  i could see why it was unforgettable . at times it is very tense and unbearably claustrophobic very like a harold pinter stage play .  br    br   again  if anyone wants a dvd copy of this please email me and i  m sure we can work something out regards adam  whiteflokatihotmail . com   
this grainy film has a cult following and one of those word  of  mouth features you just had to see . maybe hard to believe  but there is a rural community in southwest arkansas  fouke  that knows the legend is true . this tale is told in documentary  style narrated by vern stierman and filmed in actual locations talking to actual folks involved . the legend changes with the telling  but during the late   s and most of the   s the surrounding area of fouke was visited by a bigfoot  like creature that traveled along boggy creek . long limbed with three toes and standing over  foot tall  this hirsute creature periodically caused damage and frightened the  bejeebers  out of most of the community . i personally crossed over the small boggy creek bridge in      and yes the hair on the back of my neck did rise . of course it was about  a . m . in the rain . by the time i arrived in shreveport  i was laughing .  
how can the viewer rating for this movie be just  .    just the lovely young alisan porter should automatically start you at  when you decide your rating . james belushi is good in this too  his first good serious role  i hadn  t liked him in anything but about last night until this . he was pretty good in gang related with tupac also . kelly lynch  you gotta love her . well  i do . i  m only wondering what happened to miss porter   br    br   i gave curly sue a   
this is definitely one of the weirder    s movies out there  and it  s most notable for kicking off a decade of bigfoot hysteria . it is also notable for the little touches of insanity throughout the movie  especially when the dark  moody first half is replaced by a musical interlude of all things  as another user pointed out  one of the songs is dedicated to a character  travis crabtree  who paddles around in a canoe for a while  then . . . leaves  never to be seen again  . although it  s painfully dated now  i  s still a fun scary movie to show to kids  and anyone who enjoys either bigfoot lore or    s hillbilly culture is bound to get a kick out of this . my favorite part a guy gets so scared that he jumps headfirst through a door     and the narrator explains he went unconscious from  shock .  uh  i  d say breaking a door with his head is more likely why he went unconscious  but whatever .  br    br       stars  or     if you like bad americana .  
fascist principal miss togar  mary woronov  who is lensed by expert photographer dean cundy as if she were ten feet tall  has a plan to turn her high completely square . complications ensue which challenge that goal in delightful rock  n  roller riff randell  pj soles who lights up the screen   she  s got a hot bod  too  who is an obsessive fan of the punk band the ramones . pal kate rambeau  dey young  whose big rimmed glasses and nerdy role can not hide her stunning beauty  joins forces with riff to put an end to the supposed crisis of killing rock  n  roll for good which is togar  s desired mission .  br    br   vincent van patten has a hilarious role as tom roberts  a success at everything  but getting laid . kate is crazy about tom . . if only he could pull his head out of the sand and see it . clint howard steals the film almost  honestly  who can steal this film away from soles   as eaglebauer   the supplier  who can get everyone almost anything . his office is located in the boy  s restroom  paul bartel is also hilarious as a music teacher who becomes an ally of riff  s when he enjoys a concert of the ramones .  br    br   a raucous high school romp that defies all rules of normalcy . . and i loved it . it  s like someone just says   let  s make life fun for   hours .  the film really is anarchy . . a plot  less chaos lovingly adoring the ramones with all it  s heart  even if they are horrible actors  they have an opportunity to gain new audiences with this film  .  br    br   the ending pretty much sums up the film as a whole . . riff and her classmates take over the high school and one massive party begins . to be honest  i didn  t want the party to end  not conventional in any way whatsoever  this film just let  s loose a frenzy . accompanied by a great rock soundtrack featuring some of the ramones best songs  this film allows a viewer to accept a time in life when war didn  t dominate headlines and people just had a good time . those  i guess were the days .  
this was an awful movie  not for the subject matter  but for the delivery . i went with my girlfriend at the time  when the movie came out   expecting to see a movie about the triumph of the human spirit over oppression . what we saw was  hours of brutal police oppression  with no uplift at the end . the previews and ads made no mention of this  plus  for all that they played up whoopi goldberg  my recollection is that she is arrested and killed in the first   minutes  again  the previews say nothing about this   not that you would expect that  but it  s just more of the problem  . if i had known how depressing this movie would be  i would  ve never have seen it . or at least  i would  ve been prepared for it . this was a bait and switch ad campaign  and i will never see this movie again   
hi everyone my names larissa i  m   years old when i was about  years old i watch curly sue and it knocked my socks of i have been watching that movie for a long time in fact about   minutes ago i just got done watching it . alisan porter is a really good actor and i love that movie its so funny when she is dealing the cards . every time i watch that movie at the end of it i cry its so said i know i  m only   years old but its such a touching story its really weird thats alisan is   years old now . every time i watch a movie someone is always young and the movie comes out like a year after they make it and when u watch it and find out how old the person in the movie really is u wounder how they can go from one age to the next . like harry potter . that movie was also great but still daniel was about   years old in the first movie and i was about   . so how could he go from   to   in about  years and i  m only   . i  m not sure if he is   right now i think he is almost   but thats kind of weird when u look at one movie and on the next there about  years old then u when they were only  in the last . i  m not sure i have a big imagination and i like to revile it . i am kind of a computer person but i like to do a lot of kids things also . i am very smart like curly sue in the movie but one thing i don  t like in the movie is when that guy calls the foster home and makes curly sue get taken away i would kill that guy if he really had done it in real life . well i  m going to stop writing i know a write a lot sometimes but kids do have a lot in there head that need to get out and if they don  t kids will never get to learn .  br    br   larissa  
  a town called hell   aka  a town called bastard    a british  spanish co  production  was made on the heels of clint eastwood  s success in the italian made  man with no name  trilogy . the template used in most of these films was to hire recognizable american actors  whose careers were largely in decline and dub their voices . this film is no exception except for the fact that they used some british actors as well .  br    br   it  s difficult to summarize the plot  but here goes . the story opens with rebels or whatever  led by robert shaw and marin landau raiding a church and killing everyone inside  including the priest . fast forward to the subject town a few years later where the shaw character is masquerading as a priest . the mayor of the town  telly savalas  is a brutal leader who thinks nothing of meting out justice with his gun .  br    br   throw into the mix a grieving widow alvira  stella stevens  who is searching for her husband  s killer . add to this the fact that she rides around in a hearse lying dead like in a coffin for god knows why . after the mayor is murdered by his henchman la bomba  al lettieri  the town is invaded by a federale colonel  landau  in search of a rebel leader  i  m sorry but the name escapes me  . the colonel takes over the town and begins summarily executing the townsfolk to force them to reveal the identity of the leader .  br    br   even though they opened the film side by side  its difficult to tell from the dialog that the landau and shaw characters know each other . a blind man  fernando rey  claims he can identify the rebel leader by touching his face . he does so and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   i  m sure the principals regretted making this film . it  s just plain awful and well deserving of my dreaded    rating . shaw spends most of the film fixating his trademark stare at whomever is handy . even landau can  t salvage this film . the beautiful ms . stevens is totally wasted here too . having just made peckinpah  s  the ballad of cable hogue  the previous year  i found it odd that she would appear in this mess of a movie . savalas made several of these pictures    pancho villa  and  horror express  come to mind  during he pre  kojak period . michael craig is also in it somewhere as a character called  paco  .  br    br   fernando rey appeared in many of these  westerns  although he would emerge to play the villain in the two  french connection  films . al lettieri would also emerge with a role in  the godfather        and go on to other memorable roles before his untimely death in     .  br    br   in all fairness  the version i watched ran only   minutes rather than the longer running times of   or   minutes listed on imdb  however i can  t see where an extra  or  minutes would make much difference .  br    br   avoid this one .  
i strongly disagree with  ctomvelu  regarding jim belushi  s talent . i happen to like belushi very much . admittedly  i was skeptical when he first appeared on the scene  because i was such a huge fan of his late brother john . but jim has an on  screen charm that has gotten him very far   and he has developed it well over the years .  br    br   curly sue is one of his earlier films   his weight is a giveaway  ain  t that true for most of us     and i like the film . yes  it is touching and heartwarming  so if you  re into car chases  explosions and gratuitous sex  then you might want to pass on this one   it is a warm film of three lost soles who find each other . don  t get me wrong  i am all for the three aforementioned keys to a successful film  but i also like a nice  solid tale like this one .  br    br   and although belushi and kelly lynch deliver excellent performances  the real star of this film is alisan porter   who is absolutely adorable .  br    br   i don  t know what happened to her career  but whoever is responsible for dropping the ball  agent  parents  herself   should be shot . you couldn  t ask for a more perfect introduction to fame than this film  and yet nothing of note has been heard from her since .  br    br   another sad hollywood story . . .  
this british  spanish co  production is one of the countless films shot in spain in the wake of the unexpected phenomenal success enjoyed by the italian  spaghetti  westerns and  as is typical of such genre efforts  features an eclectic assortment of established and emerging international stars robert shaw  telly savalas  stella stevens  martin landau  fernando rey  michael craig  al lettieri  dudley sutton  antonio mayans  etc . ironically  however  this incoherent mess of a movie serves as a shining example as to why that most american of film genres became a dying breed in the     s and is nowadays practically  or is that officially   extinct .  br    br   i really wanted to like this film  not only because the western is one of my favorite types of movies but also because it had all the qualities  including an intriguing premise  to be a good one  not to mention the fact that my father had purchased a paperback edition of a town called bastard  s novelization following its original release  as it is  the film  s sole virtue  if  indeed  it can even be called that  is its sheer eccentricity for instance  stevens  playing a widow out for revenge on the man who betrayed her revolutionary husband  sleeps inside a coffin    driven around in a carriage by her dumb manservant    sutton savalas  as a blood  thirsty renegade  who at first appears to be the film  s main villain  is unceremoniously dispatched by his own henchman lettieri very early on in the picture the villain of the piece  then  turns out to be landau who  in the film  s very first scene  is seen pillaging side  by  side our legendary hero  turned  priest shaw   fernando rey  playing a blind peasant  is the only one who can identify rebel shaw who  in the end turns out to have been merely a front for . . . well  nevermind  as you can see  the plot is very confusing and it gets stranger from there  the production team responsible for this film were also behind other western fare around the same period of time  like custer of the west        bad man  s river        captain apache       and pancho villa       .  
my daughter  her friends and i have watched this movie literally dozens of times . i bought it twice and some little girlfriends absconded with it . subsequently  i rented it so very many times . it just never gets old    blockbuster doesn  t even have it in their listings anymore and i have tried to buy  find  rent it for over  years . without a doubt  this was and is my most favourite movie of my daughter  s childhood . . . it has it all  we laughed  we cried  we discussed real life and how hard some children have it in the world . there was nothing pretend about this movie . we related to every second and every line bill  thanks a million for restoring our faith in human nature . sincerely  shelleen and kailin vandermey . craven  saskatchewan . canada  eh        br    br   august    update  br    br   who are we to judge if a rich woman falls in love with a poor man or a man who has love chooses to raise a child who is not his own . it may not be my or your life . it is not only believable  it happens every day . thank god  keeps my faith in human nature alive    celebrate      
there are some really terrific ideas in this violent movie that  if executed clearly  could have elevated it from spaghetti  western blandness into something special . unfortunately  a town called hell is one of the worst edited movies imaginable  scenes start and end abruptly  characters leave for long stretches  the performances  and accents  of the actors are pretty inconsistent  etc .  br    br   robert shaw is a mexican    revolutionary who  after taking part in wiping out a village  stays on to become a priest    . . . ten years later the village is being run by  mayor  telly salavas . stella stevens arrives looking for revenge on the man who killed her husband . colonel martin landau arrives looking for shaw . they all yell at each other a lot and they all shoot each other a lot . fernando rey is in it too  as a blind man  . the performances aren  t bad  but they are mightily uneven . savalas has an accent sometimes as does landau  who is really grating here  . shaw and rey prove that they are incapable of really embarrassing themselves and stevens looks pretty foxy  if a bit out of place amongst the sweaty filth  .  
very heart warming and uplifting movie . outstanding performance by alisan porter  curly sue  . i saw this movie when it was first released and enjoyed it immensely . i just caught it again on the mplex channel  and curly sue touched my heart again .  
this star  studded british  spanish co  production looks great  what you can see of it . i have three versions  two vhs  one dvd  and all are terribly cropped  so badly that it looks as if buildings are having conversations with each other . few films suffer as badly from pan and scan as this one  as director robert parrish seems to have been so enamored with the widescreen process that he tended to use both sides of the screen at once  neglecting the middle . another user comments that we see the entire inhabitants of a church massacred at the beginning not in any of the copies i have . there are some abrupt cuts of peasants firing their rifles  one mexican officer is shot  shaw and landau celebrating  and that  s it . we never find out why shaw has become a priest  if he really is   we never find out what happens to don carlos  savalas  although i suspect he was called home to star in kojak  as his departure seems arbitrary . and there is a strange flashback sequence where michael craig  mysterious island  is dancing around in a bowler hat and bad suit in the great old english music hall tradition to the     hit battle of new orleans  not sung by johnny horton here but with some lyrics i  ve never heard before . on the plus side  the location is great  a huge old ruined fortress with escher  style stairs leading nowhere  some nice scenery  chewing by robert shaw  and good performances by stevens  landau  lettieri  and telly savalas as telly savalas . i didn  t really like this film  but i haven  t exactly seen it . i will seek the widescreen version and make my decision then .  
i have to agree with cal    it  s a great movie  specially for the family  kelly linch is beautiful  the little girl is really talented and cute  of course jim belushi has earned his strips  but want i really liked was the piano song  if you  re a musician or not watch this movie just for that  you  ll know which it is .  br    br    you  re nobody till somebody loves you  written by russ morgan  larry stock  and james cavanaugh  br    br   so have fun watching  br    br   see ya   br    br   nelson  
just another film that exploits gratuitous frontal male nudity awful acting  plus  the lovemaking scenes are the most un  sexy i  ve ever seen  and this is not about me not linking the idea of two young men making love  since i  m gay  .  br    br   again  as in mil nubes de paz  julian hernandez directed an incredibly pretentious film with a story that makes enough argument for a short film of about five minutes but manages to make a  hour film with it . . . and this time  there isn  t even the issue of racism and commodification in the mexican gay community to talk about  god gracious have mercy on us   
good story . good script . good casting . good acting . good directing . good art direction . good photography . good sound . good editing . good everything . put it all together and you end up with good entertainment .  br    br   the shame of it is that there aren  t nearly enough films of this caliber being made these days . we may count ourselves lucky that writers  directors like john hughes are occasionally able to make their creative voices heard .  br    br   whenever i notice that i  m watching a film for the third or fourth time and still find it thoroughly satisfying i have to conclude that something about that film is right .  
just saw this at the chicago film festival  avoid it at all costs unless you have sleep problems . it is a film filled with pretensions  it opens with a minor quote from  hiroshima mon amour  and it  s all downhill from there . camera work  imagine a child trying to imitate wong kar wai . story line  smokey robinson and the miracles   the love i saw in you was just a mirage  expanded from  minutes to over  hours but filled with repetition . for butt numbing pain this film ranks with the benches at the methodist church my parent dragged me to when i was a kid . i want   hours of my life refunded . julian hernandez  s promoter prefaced the viewing with comment that the film was  controversial   that is true only for the film  s narcotic effect .  
i remember having a pretty low regard for a venture like this when it was first released . james  not jim  belushi  a hammy kid actress  and a cheesy title in a john hughes formula . you couldn  t have paid me to see it   years ago . but  i got caught up watching it while wasting away a sunday afternoon  and it hits me on a couple of levels . the fairy tale  part pretty woman  part reverse pretty woman   the very vulnerable  elizabeth  perkins  in  miracle  on    nd  street  like performance by kelly lynch  the escapism . over all  it gently pulls some very nice strings . it  s pretty hard not to fall into the story  develop a crush on kelly lynch  identify with james belushi  dislike the stiff bad guy boyfriend  and laugh at the curley sue lines . has all the ups and downs  with a happy ending  and the kind of message you want to hear . go ahead  waste your time on this movie  it  s worth it .  
 . . . and yet  we were told  there was another hour and   minutes left to go .  br    br   why  oh  why wasn  t there an editor to tell the writer  director to snip  snip  snip  apparently that writer  director has previously done shorts as a short  this would have been okay . but the lack of dialogue starts to grate after twenty minutes . the lack of much music glares . the background noises  talking  traffic  and especially a ubiquitous helicopter  get old really fast . but the worst failure is in story . there is precious little beyond a short .  br    br   after an hour we saw variations of the same scene over and over again . i nearly screamed at the screen   we get it  we get it       it  s amazing that after that left the theatre  we could drive home  watch the daily show and parts of the colbert report  get ready for bed  and know that the audience was still trapped in the theatre .  br    br   it  s not enough to indulge your vision . you have to give the audience enough to share your vision .  
curly sue is a  year old with an abundance of hair and a life as a drifter . she and her father  bill  jim belushi   try to survive on the streets by being small time con artists . in chicago  bill decides to jump in front of a car in a pricey parking garage while curly will scream about lawsuits and traction to the intended victim . it happens to be a very upscale lawyer named grey  kelly lynch  who is appropriately appalled at what she has done . not only do the scammers make some cash  they get to spend the night at grey  s plush apartment . even then  grey feels she owes them more so the three of them hang together for a spell . grey only knows the lucrative law business and nothing about life . who better to teach her than bill and curly  those savvy experts on life  s realities  but  all good things must come to an end and there is no life for a legal expert and a couple of con men . or is there  this is a sweet and funny movie about the unexpected . curly is certainly as entertaining as shirley temple but much edgier  of course . belushi gives a rare touching performance as the down on his luck con and lynch is luminous as the snooty but soft touch lawyer . john hughes  as writer and director  shows us his magic touch once again  as the script is lively and unpredictable . just watch curly and bill take grey out for a night  with no money  and see the humorous results . do you long for happy endings  long promised and finally delivered  with a few uncertain moments in between  this is your made  to  order movie .  
this movie is simply far too long  far too repetitive  with the male nudity and sexuality being  as this is said as a gay with my own collection of adult titles  far too gratuitous and unnecessary . much of the first third of the movie could have been cut down to ten minutes and been equally as effective without trying the patience  and stamina  of an audience .  br    br   i saw this movie on an early saturday afternoon  with a film festival audience the type of crowd that tends to be more adventuresome  interested in more experimental or atypical films  such as one without much dialog  shorts  foreign films . the near sell out crowd in an approximate    seat theater started to dribble out within the first half of the movie and while the great majority did stay for the  pay off   which never actually arrived   i have never  in about   years of attending any number of film festivals  experimental  gay and otherwise  seen such a large number of people walk away from a film .  br    br   this movie could easily have been cut down by more than half and been as effective as it was . it also could have gone in different directions  still with a shorter running time  and been far more effective .  br    br   as it currently exists  this is not something that one can readily recommend or one i would have any desire to watch again .  
with all thats going on in the world sometimes we need an escape . curly sue is just that . not a complicated plot or deep meaning however it is not devoid of substance . there is more than furious action or heart pounding dramas . there are the charming little shows you can watch with your kids and have enough substance to enjoy with your date . try it you may like it more than you think . the little girl is really smart and cute . the  dad  and the girl go thru some slapstick routines . when a jealous boyfriend steps in  trouble brews for curly and the life shes known may be torn asunder . fred thompson and kelly lynch play good roles as the upper crust and alison porter and james belushi are a interesting fable like duo portraying street wise homeless drifters . their worlds collide and comedy ensues .  
boring  long  pretentious  repetitive  self  involved  this move felt like a bad date . worse  the tedious art  school direction   with a heavy  handed use of the whirling shot that gets so overdone it almost made me throw up   is constantly screaming to be noticed . add the thinnest of plots and virtually no dialogue  and the film begins to feel like a four hour epic about   minutes in . it gets worse instead of dialogue there are poorly written voice  overs and quotes and songs that comment all too obviously on the characters . really loud opera music too . blame it all on the director .  br    br   the actors are all quite good . the lead actor miguel angel hoppe is particularly suited for film stardom . he and the other actors have some tender erotic moments . even these start to get boring after  minutes however  and one wonders if the director is auditioning for a bel ami porn job . the stunning college campus architecture as a location in mexico city is inspiring . how come universities in the us are so bland  sfsu  uc  etc .   but wait for the dvd on this film . you  ll want to use the fast scan button  a lot .  
give this movie a break  its worth at least a     that little girl is a good actor and she  s cute  too . jim belushi is a comic genius . you can  t help but feel good at the end  i wish there were more wholesome shows like this  that you can enjoy with your kids   
how many minutes does it take to paint a poem  in this film much too long .  br    br   it tells the story about the impact of a first love between two schoolboys .  br    br   the boys can  t withhold touching each other and making love . after a while one gets distracted by a brief encounter with a sensual guy in the disco and that raises doubt exploration  fantasy  longing  lust and feelings of loosing grip on your love are themes that are all extensively painted with music  close  ups and silent scenes like telling a poem . but it really takes too long  annoying long  shame  the effort was promising  
vince lombardi high school has a new principal   the evil ms . togar  mary woronov  . she intends to ban rock and roll music all together . she butts head with riff randall  p . j . soles  who loves the ramones . also the head of the school football team  vincent van patten  can  t seem to connect with any girl   not realizing cute kate rambeau  dey young  is in love with him .  br    br   an instant midnight movie . this was put in general release and almost immediately bombed   but as a midnight movie it was a huge hit and kept playing all through the     s . i remember attending more than a few of those when i was in college   it was like a party  people were singing along with the songs  laughing uproariously at every joke and generally just having fun .  br    br   seeing it now as an adult i can  t imagine why i loved this so much . the script is juvenile and full of groaners that i couldn  t believe i was hearing . characters change at random and the movie goes jumping all over the place . what saves this are some truly funny lines and wonderful performances by soles and woronov  who is really enjoying herself  . also everyone is full of energy and playing their roles way over the top  as they should  . as for the ramones . . . i was never a fan . i do like the title tune but the rest of the songs never really caught me . if you  re a ramones fan you might give this a higher rating .  br    br   spoiler warning     this is mostly for kids  it has a pg rating  who will probably find it silly but fun . i especially think they  ll like the end when the high school is blown up  spoiler end      br    br   so  if you  re in the mood for a silly midnight movie from the     s you might like this . otherwise stay away . i give it a  .  
i am amazed at the amount of praise that is heaped on this movie by other commentators . to me it was rather a disappointment  especially the combination of historical facts  fantasy and the main character  s internal turmoil does not work at all  in vonnegut  s book slaughterhouse five and even in george roy hill  s adaptation for the screen it does  . credibility is often overstretched . too many questions are left open . did i miss some central points  or did i fail to spot the lines that supposedly connect the dots   br    br   a boy called campbell  jr .  grows up in upstate new york . at home his father has many technical trade papers and one book . it has photographs of heaps of dead bodies in it . the boy leafs through the book  his dad doesn  t like his doing that . what should this tell me  the family moves away from upstate new york to berlin . bang . it is      the boy is a married man in berlin and a theater playwright . what kind of plays does he write  in what language  is he successful  his wife is an actress and looks glamorous . the parents move back to the usa and invite their son to do the same . he does not . why  because having grown up in germany he feels more german than american  because he is successful  because his wife is  because he likes his life there  because he likes the nazis  because he is just plain lazy and doesn  t like change  don  t ask me .  br    br   possibly  the man just does not care  is not interested in politics  is a kind of an existentialist . he states that he is deeply in love with his wife . he speaks of his republic of two  meaning he and his wife  . there is little to no evidence proving his love for his wife in the movie  it much more seems a republic of one .  br    br   on the request of an american agent campbell  jr .  agrees to broadcast anti semitic nazi hate propaganda to american listeners as a device for transmitting encrypted messages to american authorities who read between the lines . the crucial meeting with the agent on a berlin park bench is short  unexciting and anti climactic  the decision to play along comes pretty easily with no explanation  the rise up to broadcaster seems to be uneventful and apparently fast .  br    br   so now we have campbell  jr .  presenting himself over the air as the last free american . the scheme for transmitting secret messages is fairly realistic and exciting  although one wonders what happened when campbell  jr .  really and honestly had to cough  hiccup etc .  must have scrambled the messages terribly  . anyway  the nazis lose  the wife dies  touring in the crimean for german troops  i never heard such tours really happened on german front lines in ww ii   campbell  jr .  says he goes to the russian front but does not go  is captured by an american soldier who recognizes his mug  how come    is dragged to a sight  seeing tour in auschwitz  is then released and resettled with the help of the crucial agent somewhere in the city of new york .  br    br   and this is where the story really starts  br    br   bang . from now on it is like a short story by paul auster . it is      campbell  jr .  lives in new york tenement as a has  been and mourns the loss of his wife . nobody really cares  or do they  yes  somehow they do  and his neighbors offer some sort of distraction . auschwitz survivors . a painter . some american supremacists discover  him and want him to be their figurehead . they even find his presumed dead wife for him  or is she his wife  anyway  in the end campbell  jr .  calls in at the israeli consulate  and they obligingly give him the big war criminal treatment  placing him in the cell adjacent to adolf eichmann  s . he writes his life story and  once this task finished  hangs himself on the typewriter  s ribbons without getting sooty the least bit .  br    br   while i can see that there must be an issue of guilt and of loss  i just had the impression that the main character is a person who at all times is pretty indifferent to everything and hardly capable of love for anyone . so i found it difficult to sympathize for this looser who mourns his loss . amazingly  many reviewers focus on his status as a potential war hero  having put his reputation at stake for playing the last free american . i assume according to them this took a lot of courage . as a matter of fact  however  the movie suggests that by accepting the assignment campbell created for himself a win  win situation  as he would have been politically on the safe side no matter who had won the war . the danger of his being uncovered never comes up during the first part of the story .  br    br   one might argue  that the whole story is a dreamlike fantasy and that nobody should bother with historical accuracy or a logical development of the story which explains everything . but even then it fails to make a point  primarily  i suspect  because the love affair in the republic of two falls completely flat . this is a pity  especially if you consider that the wife was played by sheryl lee  a talented  versatile and sensuous actress . she has much too little screen time and is forced to use a ridiculous german accent . another somehow neglected aspect are the different texts  confession  broadcast and hidden messages   but i guess this is largely unfilmable . maybe i should give the book a chance .  
this movie made me very happy . it  s impossible not to love the smart and sweet orphan girl who changes the heart of a selfish lawyer only interested in pursuing success in her career . this is a very optimistic movie and i sincerely believe that we need more films like curly sue . it touched my heart .  
i gave this loooooooooooong film a    because of the attractive actors and semi  sexy love scenes . otherwise  if you can  t read like a speed  reader you will never get through the subtitles that try to keep up with the spanish speed talking  and  what the hell is going on in the plot if you can  t read the subtitles . endless stares and goof  eyes and constant rejection . just boring after an hour or so . some good cinematography but also some so dark you think your screen has burned out . how this won anything i will never understand . difficult to talk about  acting  since the lead actors seem to just stare and look lovingly at each other when they are not pushing each other away . the character geraldo is so attractive that it is difficult to believe that anyone would push him away . and what is with his mother  i just plain didn  t get it most of the time except that there were three guys that all seem to have had a history with each other . . . . but never figured out who was whose  ex .   
writer  director john hughes covered all bases  as usual  with this bitter  sweet  sunday afternoon  family movie .  curly sue  is a sweet  precocious orphan  cared for from infancy by  bill  . the pair live off their wits as they travel the great us of a . fate matches them with a  very pretty  yuppie lawyer  and the rest is predictable .  br    br   kids will love this film  as they can relate to the heroine  played by  year old alisan poter  who went on to be the  you go girl   of pepsi commercials  . the character is supposed to be about  or   as she is urged to think about going to school . some of her vocabulary suggests that she is every day of  or older .  br    br   similar to  home alone   there is plenty of slap  stick and little fists punching big fat chins . again  this is  formula  film making  aimed at a young audience . entertaining and heartwarming . don  t look for any surprises  but be prepared to shed a tear or two .  
this could have been the gay counterpart to gone with the wind given its epic lenght  but instead it satisfied itself by being a huge chain of empty episodes in which absolutely nothing occurs . the characters are uni  dimensional and have no other development in the story  there  s actually no story either  than looking for each other and kissing . it  s a shame that an interesting aesthetic proposition like having almost no dialog is completely wasted in a film than makes no effort in examining the psychology of its characters with some dignity  and achieving true emotional resonance . on top of that  it pretends to be an  art  film by using the worst naive clichs of the cinematic snobbery . but anyway  if someone can identify with its heavy banality  i guess that  s fine .  
before i begin  let me tell you how great this stand  up special sounds when you play sonic adventure i dx director  s cut at the same time  red mountain level in particular  . so while watching this stand  up special  i suggest   no  demand you do it .  br    br   carlos mencia takes his stand  up to the extreme in san francisco  california . there  he makes fun of everybody with absolutely no apologies .  br    br   i am pretty much thanking god here that carlos didn  t do his thing in which he uses the same joke over and over and over and over and over again . he does a tremendous job making fun of everyone and at the same time be truthful about it i know a couple of times i said  after carlos said a joke   damn  this guy makes a good point   and then the game over screen came over my tv because i forgot i was playing sonic adventure i dx director  s cut . my bad   so yeah  there  s nothing to complain about this stand  up special . if you have tivo or something like that  please do yourself a favor and record this historic hour .  
the film is a bit tedious . it  s mostly a silent film  with the bulk o the story provided through a series of voice  overs . while making a silent film like this is not such a bad idea  this is one of those films where the lack of dialog and the repetitive early scenes make it simply tedious . you don  t understand the reason for the tedium until well into the picture  and by then it  s too late . the first   minutes of film is something of a slow piece of mexican soft porn  and unimaginative soft porn at that . later in the film the style of the first   minutes starts to makes sense  but it  s too late  because by then the audience is lost . there is some nice location shooting at the national autonomous university of mexico . i  ve often wondered why more films aren  t shot there . the campus is built on the edge of lava fields that lend the campus a very otherworldly feel . my biggest problem with the film is that the director  writer has made the film the way he wanted to see it without regard for how a viewer who doesn  t know the story will view it . you can  t ignore the audience when you tell a story .  
carlos mencia was excellent this is hour special . he was working hard to show everybody he was the real deal . i know people have said he  s stolen material in this special  but that is not true . carlos brings comedy up front the way he wants it  not how anyone else wants it  that is why he is so good . people say he  s not funny because he says dee dee dee too much  and they still haven  t realized thats part of his act  and they don  t want it that way  but he brings it like that anyway  and succeeds in making people laugh . for all the haters out there  here is a message  carlos is here to stay  you have no point in trying to bring him down .  
this early role for barbara shelley  in fact  her first in britain after working in italy   was made when she was   years old  and it  s certainly safe to say that she made a stunning debut in      s  cat girl .  while blondes and brunettes get most of the attention  i  ll always cherish yutte stensgaard   the lovely auburn  haired actress with the deep voice always exuded intelligence as well as vulnerability  one such example being      s  village of the damned   in which her screen time was much less than her character  s husband  george sanders  . she is the sole reason for seeing this drab update of  cat people   and is seen to great advantage throughout  it  s difficult to say if her beauty found an even better showcase  . her character apparently sleeps in the nude  and we are exposed to her luscious bare back when she is awakened  also exposed  years later in      s  rasputin  the mad monk   . the ravishing gown she wears during most of the film is a stunning strapless wonder  i don  t see what held that dress up  but i  d sure like to  . all in all  proof positive that barbara shelley  in a poorly written role that would defeat most actresses  rises above her material and makes the film consistently watchable  a real test of star power  which she would find soon enough at hammer  s studios in bray  for the duration of the      s .  
no strings attached is one of carlos mencia  s best performances to date . mencia is known for poking and making fun of racial issues . however  he does more than that in this stand  up performance  which took place in san francisco . in general  mencia  s material does not only make you laugh but it also makes you think about what is really wrong with society today .  br    br   in this hour long performance  mencia talks about such things as illegal immigration  what women really mean when they ask for equality in the workplace  terrorism  his opinion of mel gibson  s passion of the christ and an argument that he got into with a woman regarding whether or not he is affected by jesus  and how society should treat those that are physically or mentally handicapped . mencia even discusses whether or one should have the right to speak out and tell a joke .  br    br   carlos mencia is not afraid to offend  which at many times gets him trouble with his critics . for example  he does go somewhat far  and he admits it  with a joke regarding pope john paul ii and what he is most likely doing in heaven right now .  br    br   mencia  s main message in all of his performances is that we all have have a voice and that we should use that voice to speak what we feel and not be afraid to offend . he reminds us that we have a right to free speech and that we must use this right as americans .  br    br   if you enjoy this performance  i definitely recommend watching mind of mencia  his show on comedy central .  
  national lampoon goes to the movies        is  simply put  the worst movie ever made  far lamer than even the inept  plan  from outer space .   br    br   the lampoon film is told in three segments  each one supposedly a spoof of a conventional movie genre  but each one landing at our feet with a sickening thud . there is no rhyme or reason for these execrable vignettes  and no discernible story lines .  br    br   another reviewer on this site has written that the only good points about the film are the nude scenes . true  misses ganzel and dusenberry do flash a bit of flesh  and very nice it is too . but the directors seem not to realize that even ta needs a good story to surround it . there  s none of that here .  br    br   probably the worst of the three segments is the last one  featuring robby benson and richard widmark . here  we see benson as a young  eager  beaver policeman being paired with a cynical oldtimer played by widmark . and for just a moment  those of us who are still watching this odious cinematic exercise are heartened by the thought that we are about to see a redemptive tale about how the young  idealistic cop brings about a purifying change in the old  timer  s approach to police work . but no such luck . as we  ve said  this film has no redeeming values . it is sickening all the way to the final fade  out   which  perversely  is stretched out longer than it should last on the screen . apparently the film makers knew they had a bad thing going  and wanted to make the least of it .  
no strings attached features carlos mencia doing stand  up that makes us both laugh and think . not only does he poke fun at racial issues  like many haters claim   but he also talks about the best way to get illegal immigrants out of the country . . . what women mean when they say they want to be treated equally . . . why americans are crazier than arab terrorists . . . why nobody needs to pray for the pope  and what he hopes he  s doing in heaven . . . a theory of how easter  aka big ups to jesus day  traditions got started . . . his viewing of the movie passion of the christ  and his sub  sequential argument with a woman about whether or not he  s affected by jesus . . . how society should treat the physically handicapped . . . and even if you have the right to tell a joke or not .  br    br   also  he never stops reminding us that each of us has a voice . so we should use it to speak the truth  say what we think  and not be afraid if others are offended .  br    br   carlos is the bomb .  
  national lampoon goes to the movies        is absolutely the worst movie ever made  surpassing even the witless  plan  from outer space .  the lampoon film unreels in three separate and unconnected vignettes  each featuring different performers . the only common thread is the total lack of any redeeming qualities .  br    br   well  maybe there is one . another reviewer on this site has said that the fleeting nude shots are nice  and he  s right . misses ganzel and dusenberry flash their assets prettily  in part one and part two  respectively . but their glamorous displays are  alas  wasted . the directors seem to have forgotten that even ta needs a credible story to surround it  and there  s none in sight .  br    br   the third segment  starring robby benson and richard widmark  is the most disgusting of the three  and an unfortunate choice as the windup of this film . benson plays an eager  beaver young policeman  brightly reporting for his first day of duty  ready to rid the streets of evil . he is paired with an old  cynical cop played by widmark  and when these oil  and  water partners set out on their first patrol together  we sense a possible redemption of the film  s earlier failures . maybe  just maybe  the cynical old  timer will be reformed by his new partner  s stalwart sense of duty and loyalty . maybe all will end happily after all . but alas  this movie heads straight for the toilet  with no redemption  no happy ending  no coherent story of any kind .  br    br   before  national lampoon goes to the movies   i thought i had already seen the worst schlock that hollywood could possibly turn out . unfortunately  i hadn  t seen the half of it .  br    br    
when i rented this movie i thought i was going to see a horror  movie . however  there is little horror in this typical seventies mystery  drama directed by strange james t . flocker . nice  looking matt boston carries the picture with his fine performance and the typical strange atmosphere of flocker  s movies is all  present .  
you can call this one a flop  and that  s a very big one too  quality isn  t associated with the words national lampoon  but at least the vacation and animal house entries were fun  but this offering has got to be their most inane feature to date that i  ve watched . ugh  the three piece story crazily attempts to parody the clichs and stereotypes that flooded hollywood genre films  which turns out to be completely unfunny and boorish dross .  br    br    growing yourself .   jason a corporate lawyer decides to quit his job and split up with his wife so they both can grow and do what they always wanted to do . that  s life  as jason sees it and he takes over looking after the children  but his decision to follow this path might not be the right one .  br    br   talk about leaden  boring and stiff . there only real interest is the small performance of the lovely diane lane . the satirical element here seems to be pointing out something than actually just delivering it . the silly humour is strained  flat and particularly senseless . peter riegert  s keeps it very deadpan in the lead role and teresa ganzel bubbles along in her role .  br    br    success wanters   after just finishing collage dominique corsair gets a job as a stripper and is rape with some butter by the dairy company presidents . for payback she becomes interested in the margarine industry and virtually works her way to the  very  top .  br    br   probably the best one of the three  but the competition wasn  t too great . the gags seem to want go more subtle with its sexual and power orientated tone  but still they do feel more tacky and forced . the idea had something promising and inventive to build on  but the languid pacing begins to wear thin by the end and disastrous dialogue don  t do it any favours at all . the humour tries  but more often doesn  t come off  despite the hunger . the seductively ann dusenberry is pretty cold and manipulative throughout  well after the painful ordeal  and likes to gracefully bare it all quite a bit . even the skimpy stripper outfit seems to get full workout for the opening half of the story . popping up in amusing minor cameos ranged from dick millar  mary woronov  olympia dukakis  fred willard  robert culp and a favourite turn by joe spinell .  br    br    municipalians   a serial killer who leaves copies of his driver  s licence behind after each murder  is being tracked down by an enthusiastically naive rookie cop and his old grizzled partner . however the young cop learns that being tough is the only way to go  when the pair encounter one situation after another .  br    br   stupid  oh yeah . sure if you  re going to spoof something extremely over  the  top  make sure laughter will stream off it . obviously they forgot that  even at its   minutes running  boy does it drag  robby benson  s gratingly mock performance got rather overbearing with a wearied richard widmark doing very little as his partner . christopher lloyd underplays the role of serial killer  but his creepily wry and sympathetic performance works well and pretty much shows up the other leads . elisha cook jr .  rhea perlman and harry reems appear . when the jokes come  they truly feel out of sync and get rather stale with its repetitiveness of making fun of these cop clichs .  br    br   in all  the idiotic material laced with its skits comes across as disposable  and the unbearable script is basically inept and witless . only one or two few gags make it out each segment  but really there  s too many cheap stinkers or plain misses which stick in your head . this is because it virtually becomes what it  s trying to poke fun at and this basically shows in each story . it loses sight . the performances range from hot to cold  but who can  t deny the embarrassment that  s felt on most of their faces . director bob giraldi  s first taste is a vapid one for  growing yourself   but  success wanters  showed some minor flourishes of mild effectiveness . henry jaglom does a labouredly jaded job on  municipalians  . rick meyerowitz  s vividly crass drawings that opens the film  are neatly devised and go on to set the style and mood .  br    br   this low  brow comedy flunks it by overplaying it  with the main interested being derived by the familiar cameos . but really  is it worth going through this putridly lame and restless get  up  just to spot them . well  that  s up to you .  
this is a weird movie about an archaeologist studying the culture of the ancient hohokam indians . she takes a  really fake looking  mummy out of a burial cave and brings it home to study it . well  pretty soon she starts acting weird and talking to this mummy . and shortly thereafter her son becomes possessed by the spirit of the mummy . even stranger events take place as the spirit then tries to destroy the woman  s family . this is actually really boring  overall  and it will make you fall asleep the first couple of times you try to watch it . but if you keep at it  you may just make it to the end .  br    br   ahah  what is the secret of the mummy  is the mummy  s spirit angry that it has been removed from the cave  you may not be able to ascertain what the spirit  s motivation is  but if you like spooky shenanigans on a low  budget  and    s hairstyles   this will have a certain comforting appeal .  br    br   the way i have described the story is much clearer than the jumbled  boring way the film lays the story out . can a boring movie really be fascinating  well . . . somehow this one achieves that . maybe this is a good movie at heart but executed in a rather awkward way . i don  t know . what i do know is that i enjoyed it quite a bit  despite its dullness .  br    br   fans of  spider baby  will be interested to know that a couple of music cues from that film are used in this one  including an instrumental version of the theme song  .  br    br   featuring one frightening and fairly well  done sequence showing possessed boulders and rocks rolling around by themselves and eventually attacking some people in a camper . other scenes in the movie are merely spooky or quirky but this one scene is actually pretty scary .  br    br   see this  it  s weird and it  s worth your time . you might even want one on your shelf .  
  national lampoon goes to the movies  is the worst movie ever made  surpassing even the witless  plan  from outer space .  at least that movie was just inept the lampoon film  on the other hand  is both inept and mean . once upon a time  movies used to respect their audiences  intelligence . this one  however  holds a fetid  rotting carcass up to our faces   and then tries to rub our noses in it .  br    br   another reviewer on this site wrote that the only good parts of the movie are the nude scenes and i agree  misses ganzel and dusenberry do flash a bit of flesh  and very nice flesh it is . but the directors seem not to realize that even ta needs a good story to surround it . there  s none of that here .  br    br   perversely  the film makers save the worst for last . the third of the three segments is the ugliest of the trio . in this vignette  robby benson plays an eager  beaver young police officer reporting for duty on his first day on the job . he is paired with a weary  cynical oldtimer played by richard widmark . for just a moment  we are given hope that this film will end triumphantly . surely  we think  the youngster  s spunky attitude will rub off on the cynic and change him for the better .  br    br   forlorn hope  instead  the cynic wins the day   and the youngster  s spark is doused forever .  national lampoon goes to the movies  and heads right for the toilet  asking us to follow it down the drain . nominally  this is a comedy . but where  s the humor   
ghosts that still walk is one of those films that grabs you and doesn  t let go until the end  especially when you see it as a child . seeing the film as an adult  you have to admit it isn  t really all that scary  but the story is very fascinating and contains allot of great mysterious scenes  especially the ones with the creepy mummy   br    br   one of the best scenes in the movie is without a doubt the scene with grandpa and grandma in their new rv the scene with the rocks is very exciting and pretty scary . also the scenes where the main character discovers his mother  s secret is pretty frightening .  br    br   okay  the acting in the film isn  t all that great and the film sometimes seems to get a little bit boring  but overall ghosts that still walk is fun . too bad only a few people saw this film  this film really deserves better . i just wanna say mr . flocker  you  ve done a good job  and for all you hollywood producers out there if you want to remake a movie  remake this one   
this barely watchable film was a bit of an ordeal to sit through . none of the segments are good  but at least the first one was mildly amusing  and the middle one was somewhat imaginative . the final one was just plain brutal  and after sitting through two weak comedic shorts  the third one was truly painful to watch . even by the low standards of a national lampoon movie  this one seemed especially boring and joyless .  
my grandmother bought me this film when i was   i  ve always love scary movies  and even then i enjoyed it . the atmosphere is awesome and the story original and entertaining . i especially love the scenes where the rv is under attack in the desert . the rocks are actually convincing for such a low  budget flick . the acting is above average for these kinds of films and the music is eerie . this is definitely an uder  rated gem . i recommend it to anyone who likes these strange films from the late seventies  early eighties such as  alice  sweet alice    poor pretty eddie    nightmare    hospital massacre   and  return of the aliens  the deadly spawn  . definitely a classic    
i just saw this movie on a local tv station  tv   s  big chuck and little john  in cleveland  ohio  i had never heard of this movie and decided to watch it .  br    br   i know of no thesaurus that can even come close to aiding me in describing how bad this movie really is . the script is awful . the acting  well other than one of two exceptions  is pointless since there is nothing in this material that merits any real effort .  br    br   it looks like a bunch of little ideas  leftover from various writing sessions  that where thrown into a blender . it  s not just funny . the  parody  aspect is strained at best . some references where almost out of date  even for the time of it  s release  . no wonder i had never heard of it  it  s really bad  worse than anything saturday night live  mad tv or even in living color put out in their worst days .  br    br   if you see it on tv  it is a great example of how not to make a movie . whatever you do don  t waste a cent .  br    br   adam  
one of the best if not the best rock  n  roll movies ever . and it  s not just mindless fun . there really were a lot of clever jokes in it . of course i love the ramones . but with all the  anarchy  and the  i hate high school  themes  the film doesn  t at all take itself too seriously  which is what  s great about it .  br    br   i first saw the movie in the spring of      and i saw it again recently . since i went to high school in the late      s  it made me kind of nostalgic .  br    br   like i said  this film doesn  t take itself that seriously and isn  t pretentious like so much other teen fare of the seventies  eighties  and nineties . and to speak of  it  s not really dirty or disgusting either . only pg rated . that  s rare for a movie in this category . a great cult classic and a truly incredible time capsule .  
i am really shocked that a great director like chuck jones started out making some of the most incredibly boring cartoons i  ve ever seen . i did not laugh once throughout this short  and it  s a bugs bunny cartoon  for christ  s sake  bugs bunny cartoons are always funny  not boring  alas  this short turns out to be good night elmer  another incredibly boring jones short  with the addition of bugs bunny .  br    br   the first warning sign of a dull cartoon is always no gag payoff . good night elmer was boring because it dragged on the same two gags forever with predictable payoff . this cartoon  on the other hand  is afflicted with the second warning sign of a dull cartoon there  s too much dialogue . the cartoon at least has more than two gags up its sleeve  but most of them seem longer than they are thanks to the immense padding of the dialogue . at one point  elmer finishes eating dinner  and comments   that was weawwy awfuwwy good weg of wamb   possibly the most redundant dialogue i  ve ever heard in a cartoon  characters reading text out loud in the later  era woody woodpecker cartoons doesn  t count in my book  . even though this cartoon is only  minutes long  it feels like   thanks to redundant dialogue like this .  br    br   elmer  s pet rabbit was not a fun cartoon for me  but if you  ve sold your soul to chuck jones and are unable to acknowledge that he directed a few clunkers during his career  you might enjoy it .  
of watching this as a child . although i  ll probably find it god  awful now  it was kind  of spooky stuff as i was only seven or so . i also recall working on a saturday  afternoon puzzle while watching it  so i wasn  t really paying much attention . however  the scene with the rolling boulders has been burnt into my mind ever since . i  ve asked numerous people if they  ve seen this flick but to no avail .   years ago  one person mentioned that  possibly  he had seen it  but he thought it merely a dream a fanciful piffle like wind . it  s no dream  my friend . no dreaming now . again  i haven  t seen it since then  but i can  t wait to find a copy and stuff it into my vcr . anything that can stay embedded in my mind  s eye for   years deserves a     .  
i  ll keep the review of this program as short as possible . skip it . low budget  not funny  lousy script . acting not quite as bad as the writing  but still bad . that  s all you need to know  but i will continue for the sake of writing more than necessary .  br    br   this is a film with three segments  each one parodying some other type of movie . a much funnier film with this same exact idea is  movie movie   with george c . scott . very obscure  but worth searching out . mm parodied films of the      s  and did it with elegance  precision and dry wit .  br    br   this movie did not . it parodies three types of films  supposedly from the late    s  early    s era  only it is parodying films i  ve  almost  never heard of . the first is  i guess  a parody of  kramer vs . kramer   in a way . peter reigert does his best with a dirt poor script . the second is a parody  of  i don  t know what . . . a danielle steele novel  i mean  you might see a story like this on lifetime tv  but in a movie theater  i mean  i remember the    s  i was there . this is a soap  opera type parody about a fetching young woman who sleeps her way to power . these type of things usually parody themselves  so i don  t see how this was even necessary .  br    br   we are on somewhat easier ground with the third segment   the municipalians   which parodies cop movies . i noted elements of  the new centurians  and some  dirty harry   both of which were almost   years old when the film was created . yeah  nice and current . robby benson plays the idealistic young rookie  over  the  top wimpy  while richard widmark plays the grizzled veteran cop who drinks whiskey while sitting in the police car  oh  stop  my sides  he  s actually drinking booze in the police car  how irreverent   note that this was the first film after  animal house  to have the  national lampoon  name attached . wow . to go in five years from that classic flick to this pile of dung is nothing short of shocking . i could go on for hours about the sad decline that caused one of the most cutting  edge and original voices in american humor  that would be national lampoon  the original magazine for about its first   years or so  to sell out and begin a long  slow slide into a world of crap  where now the magazine is long gone and it only exists as a brand name to slap on low  budget  comedy  films for a fee . yet another reason why capitalism  and cocaine  sucks so bad .  br    br   anyway  this movie is a serious time suck . don  t waste your   minutes . i want mine back . on the positive side  fred willard  s in it   
i first saw this movie on a local station on the sunday afternoon horror show back around     or     . uncut . i was just a little kid at the time  but i loved it and wasn  t really that scared by it . i thought it had such a cool and highly original storyline . thinking back  i  m still surprised that it was shown during the day on t . v . uncut in those years . i  ve sought out this film ever since  seen it over and over again  and always loved it . one would think john waters would have idolized this film . it  s got to be not only a scary film  but one of the sleaziest  trashiest films ever made at that time . and surprisingly  you don  t hear about this one as having the cult following that a movie such as  blood feast  or  the hills have eyes  have acquired over the years . it has a cult following  but it should have really become a cult classic  in my opinion . as far as i know  this came out a little before blood feast came out  making this probably one of the first true  gore  films . in fact  this movie has elements of hershell gordon lewis and a little russ meyer thrown in for good measure .  br    br   anyway  i recommend this for anyone who likes trashy  sleazy  black and white horror films from the early     s  i think the date at the end of it read      .  
i chuckled a few times during this movie . i laughed out loud during the notarizing of the margarine company handover  pun intended  .  br    br   there are three segments in this movie . the first one is supposed to be a spoof of  woman  grows up  and launches career  movies . the tampax box was the funniest thing in this segment . most of the cast members aren  t listed here on imdb . they are the lucky ones . few other people will be able to connect this thing to the ruin of their acting careers .  br    br   the second segment is a spoof of  sharkish woman sleeps her way to the top and seizes control of huge industry  movies . robert culp has several funny moments  all physical humor  including the aforementioned handover . after his character dies the segment sinks lower and lower as dominique corsaire rises higher and higher . by the time she becomes first lady i wanted to rip the cable out of the tv and watch  snow .  i switched to pakistani music videos instead . i don  t understand urdu  or whatever language the videos were in . it was still better than listening to the dialogue in this painfully dull  story .   br    br   then came  municipalians  with the big stars  half of them on screen for less than a minute elisha cook  jr .  christopher lloyd  rhea perlman  henny youngman  julie kavner  richard widmark and . . . robby benson .  it  s supposed to be a spoof of  young cop teams with hardened  substance abusing older cop who needs retirement badly  movies . the horizontal flash bar on the police car is very impressive . it was interesting seeing old rtd buses  and a shell gas station sign  and an american savings sign   none of them are around anymore . nagurski  s  never stop anywhere you might have to get out the car  made me smile momentarily . then they discuss how boring the young cop is . a lot . back and forth about how boring he is . that was as boring as this description of how boring it is . nagurski  s law number four   never go into a music store that  s been cut into with an acetylene torch   made me think that the music store is a real business at the actual location the dispatcher gave . thinking about that was more interesting than the set  up for the gag which followed . young falcone  benson  gets shot . a lot . he becomes a hardened cop like nagurski . the segment keeps going . on and on . and on . it won  t stop . it rolls relentlessly onward no matter how many times you wish he  d just die already so this thing will end . it doesn  t . it goes on and on and on . . . . then a  buffy the vampire slayer  episode which i  ve seen four times already comes on . thank god  this abysmal movie ended while i went to get the mail .  
this was a very good movie and is absolutely unfair to judge it without taking into account the time when it was released . there are some movies which do not get older but this is clearly out of date . however  i saw this film when i was a boy and for more than twenty years both the images as the story were unforgettable for me and most of my friends  until we could appreciate it again on dvd . actually  i do remember this movie as the topic of several chats and meetings where old boys were talking about things we have in common . therefore there was a little feeling of disappoint and even sadness when we finally had the dvd . firstly  there was a theory about how naives our generation was . secondly  i think there is something more . i would asset that this movie has something which should be interesting for all the modern film makers  specifically those who focus on the decaying horror genre . this is the mutilation  the idea which gives coherence to the film the fact of a human being mutilated produces a deeper horror than death and torture . i remember how sick the sensation was  when the monster rip kurt  s arm out . and at the end when the creature bites the doctor  s neck to take a piece of his veins . another remarkable thing is the morbid atmosphere which prevails without decaying in intensity through all the scenes  no matter if the action is on a secret lab  a lonely street where the man in a car is looking for a female body  a striper dressing room  and so on . may be the reasons why it is not longer a good movie are just technical things . for example  in the scene of the accident and the man saving his fiance  s head a more accurate work  made for another and modern second unit director could be interesting . same thing with all action scenes  including the one of kurt  s arm . furthermore  something could be done with the monster  s make up . some remakes have been good i think in this case an attempt would worth while . nevertheless  the black and white tones should be conserved .  
national lampoon was once a funny magazine . whether you liked the stoner hippie days of the late sixties or the smug and sassy coke  head days of the seventies  when the comedy was fortified with plenty of naked babes  depends very much on your date of birth  but everyone agrees that by the early eighties  middle age had killed off whichever remaining sparks of anarchic humour that the drugs hadn  t  and offerings like this film and the increasingly terrible spin  off records shot further holes in the hull . outside of a nicely illustrated title sequence  there  s absolutely nothing to recommend this singularly depressing stinkbug . if you make it through the baffling opening segment   growing myself   hoping things will get better  tough luck  they don  t . whoever thought the idea of a woman being brutally raped with a stick of butter was comedy gold deserved to have his head handed back to him on a platter of dog mess . if there  s ever a global shortage of guitar picks  the negatives of this rambling  incoherent ragbag of crummy ideas and dire performances may well serve some purpose .  
i love buying those cheap  lousy dvd  s from alpha video . one day  i happened to buy this one . it  s the perfect silly science fiction film of the    s  all sexed up . replete with unscientific everything  scantily clad girls and plenty of melodrama  it  s an enjoyable film  to those who appreciate this kind of stuff . and if you can  suspend your disbelief  enough  you can actually get creeped out   not just by the psychotic head or by the beating of the thing in the closet  but toward the end  with the character of  the perfect body  . it  s so . . . . what  s another word for mindfing   
facts about national lampoon goes to the movies  a . k . a . national lampoon  s movie madness  br    br    . the movie is poor  even by lampoon  s typical standards .  . it  s not funny .  . no one goes to see a movie .  br    br   so  after i finished watching it  i began wondering why on earth it  s called  national lampoon goes to the movies   and why it was ever conceived  much less actually made . it would be like calling austin powers  an american guy goes to the movies .  how lame . he isn  t american  and he doesn  t go to movies . none of the characters in lampoon  s so  called  satire  are funny  and none go see movies  which causes a bit of a problem . i had hoped it would be something in the vein of mystery science theater      but it isn  t .  br    br   this was national lampoon  s first film after animal house  although you couldn  t tell it from the quality of film . poorly developed  rough and amateurish by any standard  it induces headaches  not a good sign for an    minute movie that seems double the length .  br    br   i  ve noticed a pattern . really bad movies are typically renamed  and this little disaster falls under that category . it has two separate titles   probably to help try and promote it to people too stupid to remember how bad a panning it received from home video critics in        .  hmm  movie madness  i  ve never heard of this movie before  let  s rent it   and then  the realization  hey  wait a minute  this is just national lampoon goes to the movies    br    br   it was shelved by mgm  ua  never to be released into theaters or dvd it occasionally pops up on television a few times per decade  which is just about the only place you  ll manage to find it .  br    br   it  s split up into three stories  a parody of self  enlargement videos  butter and corporate ruthlessness  and police brutality  cop  buddy films  i guess  . the first segment stars peter riegert  animal house  as a frustrated guy who divorces his wife and does some other stuff . i  m not sure what because it was so boring my mind started to drift . until the sex scene popped up .  br    br   part ii is about an exotic dancer raped by a stick of butter  don  t ask  who decides to become queen of the margarine so she can cut off the supply of dairy products . ouch  this contains the only funny line in the movie  only i can make love with my son   if you think that doesn  t sound very funny  you  re right  it  s not . and just imagine  it  s the highlight of this film   br    br   part iii is about a cop who chases down a serial killer  christopher lloyd  only to lose his nerve and shoot the guy . it does contain one funny scene but it  s extremely over  acted  only lloyd really exhibits any humor  playing his character dry and compassionate  yet strangely surreal . the part where he  s choking his victim and the meek cop stands by watching it all unfold  at least  evoked a chuckle or two .  br    br   it  s a shame to watch such a cast of semi  famous names resort to low standards . the writers of each segment clearly believe that they  re being very ironic and clever by spoofing so  called stereotypes  the fault being that the movie becomes one huge contradiction  favoring the standard t  a instead of plot crude humor instead of witty dialogue desperate performances instead of inspired ones . it  s easy to see that none of the actors were enthralled with the material  muttering their lines  often so embarrassed they can seldom make eye contact with the camera .  br    br   the movie isn  t funny  as i said before . i laughed once  at only one line  and even then it was a halfhearted one . two chuckles  a smile  and a very weak laugh . compared to movie madness  a number of other decent comedies seem like regular laugh tracks .  br    br   i like national lampoon  s vacation series  or  at least three of four installments   and their classic animal house  but their recent slew of direct  to  video bombs such as golf punks  with that great comic genius tom arnold  provide a good example of why their magazine went out of print more than a decade ago . it gets really old  really fast .  br    br   sad to see a new film  called gold diggers  is being released with their  stamp of approval .  it  s like condemning a film before it even hits theaters  maybe they should start not advertising their name all over the place  br    br   distributor  this movie is bad . it gets the national lampoon stamp of approval . that  ll teach you not to make something so awful next time .   br    br   forget the death penalty . just stick a bunch of criminals in a room and make them watch this over and over every day for a month .  br    br   it  s so bad that i can  t even begin to explain its putrid vileness . i give up .  
when i was young i had seen very few movies . my parents in all their wisdom rented this one . i was very wary of what the movie was about  in fact i wasn  t even allowed to watch it . my brother and sister got to of course and this made me very angry . so what did i do  late at night i trashed the vcr  kicked the screen of the tv in and called the police and reported vandals . i was arrested of course  i was unable to get my foot out of the tv set before the police arrived . i was only given a stern talking to and sent home . my parents grounded me of course and made me work to repay the debt for the tv and vcr . this tore me apart  slave labour really sucks believe me  but i had to do it . chores all around the house . what happened in the end  we got a big screen tv  dvd player and a surround sound system for my work . how did i get the money  easy i made movies of my own and sold them to disney  do you remember finding neno  well i wrote that movie and filmed my goldfish in their fish tanks  they rewrote the plot of course and did it in cgi because they couldn  t afford to make it a real life action picture like i had done  in the end i never saw the film the head that didn  t die and the rating i gave it is my life rating  it  s doing pretty good   
wow . i read about this movie and it sounded so awful that i had to see it  and my gosh  i can smell it in st louis . where do i start  national lampoons was trying to follow up  years later on the success of animal house  but they completely missed the mark . i  ll go chronologically with these short flicks .  br    br   short film    br    br   poor peter riegert  boon from animal house  . apparently  he wasn  t working back then  so the boys at national lampoons probably called and said  hey  we  re making a cppy movie  wanna be in it   peter was like  well  i  m not doing much these days  why not   he was a great side character in animal house  but he couldn  t carry this sorry short flop for  minutes .  br    br   possible spoiler the premise is funny enough  with jason cooper  riegert  telling his wife to leave him  she needs to find herself . it  s too weird that they  re actually in a happy marriage . so he chases her off  there she goes  and cooper is in charge of the kids . this  off course  leads to him burning the house down  losing several of the kids  and sleeping with an assortment of new york bimbos  including an ever so young diane lane  . then the wife comes back  wants the kids  and the film ends with a coin flip that  ll decide the fate of the children . the idea was actually somewhat clever  but the director stunk . the characters all seem like they  re falling asleep  they had to be doped up . sorry boon  your legacy was tarnished with this flop .  br    br   short film    br    br   more spoilers  br    br   enter dominique corsaire . pretty girl  recently finished college  not sure what to do with her life . so she becomes a slut  starts sleeping around with some mega rich guys  takes their money when they die  and she doesn  t stop until she beds the most powerful man in the world  fred willard  ooops  i mean the president of the united states  . once again  it could have been funny  and though i was happy that corsaire  ann dusenberry in real life  wasn  t afraid to bare all  her acting was horrible . what a waste of time .  br    br   short film    br    br   i can  t believe i made it this far . here  s the rookie cop brent falcone  robby benson  with veteran stan nagurski  richard widmark  . falcone is young  naive  thinks he can really help people  though he becomes cynical after being shot several thousand times . nagurski  really  has just given up caring . he watches muggings  assaults  you name it  and never intervenes . he figures the world is lawless and he  ll probably get sued if he does anything . even christopher lloyd  at the end of taxi  s run  gets in on the action  getting the police called on him  committing a crime  but having his lawyer there to protect him . god bless america    br    br   once again  could have been funny  the performances were intentionally campy  but goodness  no energy whatsoever . henry jaglom and bob giraldi should be ashamed of having their names on this schlock . i think the writing wasn  t bad  the ideas were there  but the execution was pulled off as well as the rescue attempt in the iranian hostage crisis . if i had been a part of this film  i would want my name removed  it  s horrible . then again  that  s why i watched it .  br    br   the only good thing about this garbage is that dr john did the film score  repeating  going to the movies  over and over again  and the film isn  t much longer than an hour and a half . show this one in film classes with the heading  what you should never do in film  making .  this script should have been left on the shelf because yep  it  s that bad .  
this movie scared heck out of me when i was just a kid . it  s no  citizen kane  but it has its moments . the arm ripping scene is good . the plot is good even if characters aren  t  could have something to do with the acting . put some top name people in the roles and then see what you get . this was one of those shoot  edit  what little there was  and distribute in a couple of months type of movies . this is classic low budget sci  fi and deserves it just due . i rated it a  based other films of this genre and age .  
the sun should set on this movie  forever .  br    br   it goes on forever  which isn  t usually a bad thing  the english patient  schindler  s list  but is so tedious . the aging of the actors is unbelievable and so is the drawn  out never  ending story line which really seems to go nowhere .  br    br   in short  a waste of talent and film .  
i had a heck of a good time viewing this picture  and was splendidly surprised at its more erudite features . first off  the film is undeniably cheaply  made with its cardboard sets  limited settings  and creative scientific props . the acting ranges from very poor  the two strippers   barely professional  herb evers as the leading man   gothic overstatement  leslie daniels as the assistant kurt  to first  rate with virginia leith in the title role as the headless victim alive against her will for the benefit of science and her fiancee  s lustful passions . the scripting though is very good and the dialogue is fantastic for a movie of this ilk . issues abound about what role science and medicine have in our lives and what their boundaries should be . this film is a thinking film in many ways . however  don  t be too fooled by its real intent . it is a sleazy story about a man obsessed with his aptitude in medical science who wishes to fuse together his dead girlfriend  s head with the perfect body  thereby creating the perfect woman for a man with the best of both body and soul . one other very bright aspect of the film is the sax music which resonates strongly every time the doctor scours town for female beauties .  
  br    br   back in his youth  the old man had wanted to marry his first cousin  but his family forbid it . many decades later  the old man has raised three children  two boys and one girl   and allows his son and daughter to marry and have children . soon  the sister is bored with brother    and jumps in the bed of brother   .  br    br   one might think that the three siblings are stuck somewhere on a remote island . but no   they are upper class europeans going to college and busy in the social world .  br    br   never do we see a flirtatious moment between any non  related female and the two brothers . never do we see any flirtatious moment between any non  related male and the one sister . all flirtatious moments are shared between only between the brothers and sister .  br    br   the weakest part of gladiator was the incest thing . the young emperor commodus would have hundreds of slave girls and a city full of marriage  minded girls all over him  but no   he only wanted his sister  if movie incest is your cup of tea  then sunshine will  slowly  thrill you to no end .  
the brain that wouldn  t die was considered so distasteful in     that several cuts and the passage of three years was required before it was released in     . today it is difficult to imagine how anyone could have taken the thing seriously even in      the thing is both lurid and lewd  but it is also incredibly ludicrous in a profoundly bumptious sort of way .  br    br   the story  of course  concerns a doctor who is an eager experimenter in transplanting limbs   and when his girl friend is killed in a car crash he rushes her head to his secret lab . with the aid of a few telephone cords  a couple of clamps  and what looks very like a shallow baking pan  he brings her head back to life . but is she grateful  not hardly . in fact  she seems mightily ticked off about the whole thing  particularly when it transpires that the doctor plans to attach her head to another body .  br    br   as it happens  the doctor is picky about this new body he wants one built for speed  and he takes to cruising disconcerted women on city sidewalks  haunting strip joints  visiting body beautiful contests  and hunting down cheesecake models in search of endowments that will raise his eyebrow . but back at the lab  the head has developed a chemically  induced psychic link with another one of the doctor  s experiments  this one so hideous that it is kept locked out of sight in a handy laboratory closet . can they work together to get rid of the bitter and malicious lab assistance  wreck revenge upon the doctor  and save the woman whose body he hankers for  could be  leading man jason evers plays the roguish doctor as if he  s been given a massive dose of spanish fly virginia leith  the unhappy head  screeches and cackles in spite of the fact that she has no lungs and maybe not even any vocal chords . busty babes gyrate to incredibly tawdry music  actors make irrational character changes from line to line  the dialogue is even more nonsensical than the plot  and you  ll need a calculator to add up the continuity goofs . on the whole the brain that wouldn  t die comes off as even more unintentionally funny than an ed wood movie .  br    br   director joseph green actually manages to keep the whole thing moving at pretty good clip  and looking at the film today it is easy to pick out scenes that influenced later directors  who no doubt saw the thing when they were young and impressionable and never quite got over it . the cuts made before the film went into release are forever lost  but the cuts made for television have been restored in the alpha release  and while the film and sound quality aren  t particularly great it  s just as well to recall that they probably weren  t all that good to begin with .  br    br   now  this is one of those movies that you  ll either find incredibly dull or wildly hilarious  depending on your point of view  so it is very hard to give a recommendation . but i  ll say this if your tastes run to the likes of ed wood or russ meyers  you need to snap this one up and now  four stars for its cheesy  bizarreness alone  gft  amazon reviewer  
  br    br   back in his youth  the old man had wanted to marry his first cousin  but his family forbid it . many decades later  the old man has raised three children  two boys and one girl   and allows his son and daughter to marry and have children . soon  the sister is bored with brother    and jumps in the bed of brother   .  br    br   one might think that the three siblings are stuck somewhere on a remote island . but no   they are upper class europeans going to college and busy in the social world .  br    br   never do we see a flirtatious moment between any non  related female and the two brothers . never do we see any flirtatious moment between any non  related male and the one sister . all flirtatious moments are shared between only between the brothers and sister .  br    br   the weakest part of gladiator was the incest thing . the young emperor commodus would have hundreds of slave girls and a city full of marriage  minded girls all over him  but no   he only wanted his sister  if movie incest is your cup of tea  then sunshine will  slowly  thrill you to no end .  
this film is an absolute classic for camp . that is why it was an elvira and mst     classic . everyone knows the story . scientist keeps his girlfriend  s head alive in a lasagna pan in his basement while he cruises town and tries to find her a body by checking out the local chicks . finally he finds a real hourglass body with a scar  faced chick  s head on top . the severed head makes friends with the failed experiment in the closet and the conehead comes out of the closet and rips off the assistant  s remaining  good  arm  his other is not right from a scientist  s earlier failure   and the whole place burns down .  br    br   the movie scared us so much as kids that my friend wouldn  t go into his basement for a year after seeing it . as kids we ranked the scariest movies of all time and this one was number four . only one of those scary movies was really any good  the original  the haunting  .   br    br   i had to give this movie a seven rating for the tremendous amount of entertainment value it offers . its eerie effect because of the crappy production and the weird sexual angle when the scientist looks for the bodies  complete with porno sound track  scares the hell out of innocent children  while the ridiculous aspects make it prime material for watching talking and laughing . i could watch this film tonight and enjoy it while i  d rather go to the dentist than watch  chicago  again .  br    br   seven is the most i can give it  because its entertainment value is mere luck . the film  as cinema  is a disaster .  
note to all directors long is not necessarily good . this movie is incredibly long . however not good . the scenes were drawn out way  way  way  way  way too long . the sex scenes were unnecessary  and often too long . the movie edited down to  hours and   minutes or so would have been exceptional  but alas it became so boringly long that i can only give it a  of   . it is way below average .  br    br   some other problems also exist in this marathon .  br    br     ralph fiennes plays a whole family tree . the guy who played the great  grandfather looks nothing like him  but the grandfather  father and the son  who gives us constant unneeded voice over  are all ralph fiennes with different facial hair and the same basic bull  headed personality . no one seems to notice that each of these children look like a clone of the last  even though photos of them are being snapped at every turn . this one is minor  but if the movie hadn  t been  weeks long it wouldn  t have been so annoying .  br    br     the fact that no news from germany was even whispered for the longest time about jews being rounded up and sent off is ridiculous . some word would have gotten to them and the thought of trying to run off would probably have been discussed . the uncle in france would surely have sent warning to try and get them to leave .  br    br     the love stories in this movie are totally wrong . you are spending forever telling us this thing and the development of relationships between main characters is extremely short . suddenly . . . people are in love and almost instantly . . . married . then having children . then we draw things out for  centuries and forget about developing relationships . this again would not have stuck out so much in a  hour movie  but with time spent nothing was given to us .  br    br     the ending was just bad . i don  t want to spoil it for anyone  but you won  t like it either . . . unless you are sadistic .  br    br   the director  writer should be tortured with having to watch this bloated garbage on a weekly basis  i mean endless loop  oops they are the same thing .  br    br   i wonder if robert redford did anything for this movie  i mean i think istvan szabo must be modeling his directing career after him . long drawn out movie which totally ruins any substance in the movie . a short description of  the horse whisperer   and sunshine .  br    br   sunshine  perfect title . if you start watching while the sun is shining it will quite possibly be well after dark when you leave .  
this was one of the first creepy movies i ever saw . . . i was about  at the time . it scared me good  but that night i put chewing gum in one eye to be like the monster . . . and my mom got very upset . she had to clean my eye with alcohol and the next day my eye smelled like double mint  now that  s a movie  hey for it  s time it was a great movie . that head sitting on the lab counter top was as real as it got back then . and if your  it is very scary  kids now a days are spoiled by special effects that show too much and leave nothing for your minds imagination . your mind can imagine things more scarier than special effects   imo   
this is a film of immense appeal to a relatively well  defined group  of which i am not a part  . i went to a preview of this movie not knowing what to expect  i ultimately found it disappointing . the history of a dreadfully dysfunctional  oftentimes downright  twisted   hungarian jewish family is not my cup of tea . an epic saga like this should really provide its viewers with something more in the end . ultimately  pictures such as this are about the human condition  this picture cast almost no new light on any of its more meaningful facets .  
the ramones  whom i consider the founders of modern punk rock  lend their then  unique sounds to a terrifically twisted movie about a rowdy rock fan  p . j . soles  who faces off against a merciless  joyless principal  mary woronov  for the right to rock .  br    br   featuring a soundtrack brimming with incredible music  rrhs is fascinating in concept and execution . it  s chock full of riotous sight gags  like the mouse experiment   teenage spirit  probably my all  time favorite film opening   and bizarre  off  the  wall moments  the straitjacket scenes  . if you  re looking for a movie that seems to be made of pure fun on a molecular level  look no further . but if you  re looking for a nice  dignified  dramatic epic  maybe you should look a wee bit further .  br    br    hi everybody  i  m riff randell  and this is rock  roll high school    
i am very disappointed with this movie because i like these french actors and i liked  buffet froid  from this director  bertrand blier  but the script of  les acteurs  is very poor . why these actors they agreed to play this poor scenario .  
after several extremely well ratings to the point of superb  i was extremely pleased with the film . the film was dark  moving  the anger  the pain  the guilt and a very extremely convincing demon .  br    br   i had initially expected to see many special effects  and like a lover  s caress  it blew me away with the subtlety and the rightness of it . brian  i am again blown away with your artistry with the telling of the story and your care of the special effects . you will go a long way  my friend . i will definitely be the president of your fan club .  br    br   eric etebari  the best actor award  was the number one choice . you made jr . lopez look like a child compared to kasadya .    br    br   overall  the acting  story line  the high quality filming and awesome effects  it was fantastic . i just wish it were longer . i am looking forward to the dreamless with extremely high expectations .  
what a long  drawn  out  pointless movie . i  m sure that historically this film is delightful but as entertainment goes it just doesn  t make the grade . ralph fiennes has been in some fantastic movies  the english patient  schindler  s list  but this one was such a let  down . it didn  t seem to be going anywhere  his character at the beginning was so shallow and uptight it amazes me that his  sister  would ever have been interested at all . don  t bother paying to rent this movie  buy yourself a copy of the english patient instead .  
when you typically watch a short film your always afraid that the person creating the film tries to throw too much into it . that  s not the case with this one . a great story about a young girl who  s had enough and other worldly forces trying to help make things right .  br    br   eric etebari does a wonderful job of representing the spirit of twisted justice and helps to convey the complexities of the blurred line of right and wrong .  br    br   both the young girl and the father give great performances in this wonderful short film  but eric  s performance is definitely the show stealer in this story .  br    br   i definitely recommend this film for it  s complexity  performance  and great over all story .  
in order to hold the public  s attention for three hours  we were treated not so much to a family  s romp through four generations and    years of hungarian history  as to sexual liaisons with a sister  a sister  in  law and other adulteries . oh yes  there was also a totally gratuitous rape . having said all this  the first story of the relationship among the children of the patriarch was fresh and sensual  thanks to jennifer ehle .  
i got to see this just this last friday at the los angeles film festival at laemlee  s on beverly . this movie got the most applause of all the films that evening . considering that two music videos opened first  i didn  t know what to expect since they were very fast and attention grabbing  i wasn  t sure i was ready for a short immediately . but to my surprise i really enjoyed this . i thought the main actor demon guy was really good . i was so impressed with his performance that i checked out his name . i was surprised to see that this was the witchblade guy . he  s gotten really good especially since then  either that or he was given lousy roles or had been pushed by the director really hard for this short . the girl did an okay job . i guess its hard since it was her first performance and being so young . the dad did well also . there was a lot of really nice cg work for a short  both for this and the short playing next  mexican hat  which was also nice  but i enjoyed this the most because it had the most depth and emotion and i actually cared about the characters . the other was a very simple story . the story was quite illustrative and dark  it dealt with real topics using a more fantasy like approach to keep add people like me interested . we won  t even talk about the last film in the block which i left . my only complaint is that i only wish i had seen more of the demon character and a little less of getting started  which is why i gave it a  out of   . i also thought the end credits went a little slowly . otherwise it was beautifully told  directed and edited . the timing was very nice with a complete change from the fast mtv editing done on everything nowadays . there will be more coming from this director in the future as well as the actor . i now will think of him as the sorrows lost actor not the witchblade guy .  
sunshine is a european import set in hungary between     and      it  s the epic story of hungarian jews  the sonnenschein family . this name literally translates to sunshine . the family has humble beginnings  then is prosperous  becomes upwardly mobile  changes it  s name  and hopes to assimilate into hungarian society so successive generations can advance professionally . the story is told through the eyes of the eldest son in each of three generations ralph fiennes plays these three roles . for those who missed the ww  ii and the holocaust in europe  the sonnenschein  approach to life doesn  t work out very well .  br    br   sunshine is being acclaimed as an artistic success  but it is an opportunity missed . the story line  dominated by world history  is predictable and transparent this is reinforced with voice cover narration and newsreel footage . the family  plot  lurches from one predictable event ie . the hapsburgs  ww  i  ww  ii  fascism  communism  etc .  to the next with little continuity  depth or detail . the jewish assimilation theme is unfocused  and important sub  themes the  secret  diary and family philosophy that could have given the family character and credibility are l ost until the very end . alternatively  the filmmakers provide generation continuity using common themes of incest  infidelity .  br    br   ralph fiennes exhibits flashes of brilliance but his performance is far from award winning material . the   for   casting format is a viewer distraction and feels more like a cheap cinema gimmick than good theater . sunshine is basically hungarian  history channel  material . it has the look and feel of winds of war morphed with forrest gump morphed with something about sex .  br    br    
what do i say about such an absolutely beautiful film  i saw this at the atlanta  georgia dragoncon considering that this is my main town . i am very much a sci  fi aficionado and enjoy action type films . i happened to be up all night and was about ready to call it a day when i noticed this film playing in the morning . this is not a sci  fi nor action film of any sort . let me just start out by saying that i am not a fan of witchblade nor of eric etebari  having watched a few episodes  his performance in that seemed stale and robotic  . but he managed to really win me over in this performance . i mean really win me over . having seen cellular  i did not think there was much in the way of acting for this guy . but his performance as kasadya was simply amazing . he was exceedingly convincing as the evil demon . but there was so much in depth detail to this character it absolutely amazed me . i later looked it up online and found that eric won the best actor award which is well deserved considering its the best of his career and gained my respect . now i keep reading about the fx of this and production of this project and let me just say that i did not pay attention to them  sorry brian  . they were very nicely done but i was even more impressed with the story  which i think was even more his goal  seeing films like godzilla with huge effects just really turned me off  . i could not sleep after this film thinking it over and over again in my head . the situation of an abusive family is never an easy one . i showed the trailer to my friend online and she almost cried because it affected her so having lived with abuse . this is one film that i think about constantly and would highly recommend .  
aaron spelling produced this made for television western that gets awfully plotty for a seventy three minute film . it plays like a probable failed series pilot .  br    br   handsome clint walker is u . s . marshal dave harmon  who wanders into yuma  arizona territory in time to kill one of the brothers of the local bigwig rancher who is out on a trail drive .  br    br   walker takes the other brother to jail . walker also meets a  cute  homeless mexican kid who sleeps at the jailhouse . one night  andres is snoozing when a villain and another man dressed in army blue take the remaining brother into the street and kill him  pinning the murder on walker . not good for your first twenty four hours on the job . walker visits the local army fort  and rankles the chains of the commander . the bigwig hears of his brothers  deaths  and rides back to town in time to get his chains rankled as well . the local native population  who get short changed by the army on their beef  also get rankled in the chains area . with all these chains getting rankled  walker still has time to woo the local hotel owner . the army guy involved in the murder ends up dead  the local cattle buyer is implicated  the indians do a lot of hesitant speechifying  and the climax brings about an unlikely showdown as walker must prove to the town that the villainous cattle buyer had a boss  someone we have suspected as being too helpful all along .  br    br   there is a semi  subplot involving the death of walker  s family at the hands of army raiders  and i think this would have been the force behind the series  had it been picked up . instead  the film ends abruptly  and i kept waiting for scenes from next week  s exciting episode . because of the fade outs for nonexistent commercial breaks  the pacing is all off on this and its story jumps in fits .  br    br   walker is handsome  rugged  and has a voice deeper than a well . the rest of the cast is full of television actors you have probably seen in other television movies . much of the action is pretty lame  and the violence is tepid . the first brother killed gets a shotgun blast midtorso  and falls without a scratch on him . i did not expect  reservoir dogs   but this is the wrong film to use to teach children about the evil of guns  speaking of children  the mexican kid here goes from  cute  to  aneurysm inducing annoyance  very quickly .  br    br   if you dislike westerns  then you will dislike  yuma .  if you like westerns  then you will still dislike  yuma .  i cannot recommend it .  br    br   this is unrated  but contains physical violence and gun violence .  br    br    
after reading several comments  i felt i had to add in my two cents as well .  sorrow lost  is one of the most memorable shorts i think i have ever seen . i had gotten the chance to see this at the new york independent film festival . i felt that this movie was incredibly beautiful and emotional . the story was beautifully complex  especially for such a short amount of time . the story is focused on a young girl who is victimized by her abusive father . she is soon given the choice to  stop  him by a demon played by  witchblade  s eric etebari .  having watched the show  i was amazingly impressed with how he played such unique and different character . i never knew he could act so well  his character was deeply complex and he was very persuasive . the acting was absolutely superb by him . the girl  s was okay and the father  s was decent . there is also death in this who follows the girl around until she is able to escape from her future . the effects and cinematography were absolutely mind blowing . i wonder if they had at least a hundred thousand budget for this . it is rare you get to see such a high quality short . the opening was absolutely breathtaking comparable with any major feature film . this isn  t to say that it  s not without its flaws  i thought it took a little to get going and the intro was a little long . but this stuck in my head days after watching it . there are very few shorts with this level of quality .  
this is possibly the worst of all the columbo movies . andrew stevens  acting is poor as the villain  and the plot is weak . in fact none of the cast seem able to act other than peter falk  who puts in a creditable performance as the lieutenant .  
i managed to see this at the new york international film festival in november     with my boyfriend . we were both quite impressed with the complexity of the plot and found it to be emotionally moving . it was very well directed with strong imagery . the visual effects were amazing  especially for a short . it had an original fantasy approach to a very real and serious topic this film is about a young girl who is visited by a demon offering to help her situation with her abusive father . there is also a surprise twist at the end which caught me off guard . this leans towards the gothic feel . i would love to see this as a full feature film .   carrie  
first of all  the reason i  m giving this film  stars instead of  is because at least peter falk gave his usual fantastic performance as lieutenant columbo . he alone can get   stars for trying to save this otherwise utterly worthless attempt at making a movie .  br    br   i was initially all fired up at reading one poster  s comment that andrew stevens in this movie gave  the performance of his career .  to me  it was the abysmal performance by stevens that absolutely ruined this movie  and so i was all prepared to hurl all sorts of insults at the person who made the aforementioned comment . then i thought to myself  what else has stevens done  so i checked and  you know  that person was absolutely right . in the   years since this columbo movie was made  apparently every one of the   projects that stevens has been in since then has been utter crap  so it is doubtful that anybody has even seen the rest of his career .  br    br   if you like columbo  see every other of the   titles before watching this one . do yourself a favor and save the worst for last .  
there is no relation at all between fortier and profiler but the fact that both are police series about violent crimes . profiler looks crispy  fortier looks classic . profiler plots are quite simple . fortier  s plot are far more complicated . . . fortier looks more like prime suspect  if we have to spot similarities . . . the main character is weak and weirdo  but have  clairvoyance  . people like to compare  to judge  to evaluate . how about just enjoying  funny thing too  people writing fortier looks american but  on the other hand  arguing they prefer american series      . maybe it  s the language  or the spirit  but i think this series is more english than american . by the way  the actors are really good and funny . the acting is not superficial at all . . .  
columbo movies have been going downhill for years  this year it may have reached the bottom . peter falk gives the same uninspired performance and comes over as creepy in this movie . as is usual in this series  crime scene protocols are unheard of so plausibility is always lacking . brenda vaccaro chews the scenery and pulls pantomime faces and andrew stephens is a pretty unconvincing lady  s man .  his faint  though  was a hoot   the script was by the numbers and its delivery patronising . they should never have brought columbo into the nineties  just left us all with one or two happy memories of clever plots  better scripts and sharp characterisations .  
i truly enjoyed this film . the acting was terrific as was the plot . jeff combs has more talent than he is recognized for . the only part of this flick i would change was the ending . the death of the creature was far too gruesome for the sci fi channel .  br    br   there were some interesting religious messages in this film . jeff combs obviously played a messiah figure and the creature  or shark if you prefer  represented the anti  chirst . there were some particularly frightening scenes that had that  end of the world feel  . i only noticed this after my third viewing of this classic creature feature . i know many people won  t get the references to christianity  but if you watch close you  ll get it .  
from the opening dialog and scenes  i knew i knew i was in for a train wreck . didn  t want to look  but couldn  t turn away . if it weren  t for the meer eye candy of this film  i would have given one star . the fact that the interaction between characters and relationship behavior were so far fetched  added by poor direction and horrible story make this movie nothing more than a low  budget disaster . money is definitely not a necessity to make a good film . but this movie fails so horribly there was no chance to rebound .  br    br   if you were stuck out in the woods  your childhood best friend dying from an unknown disease  other friends dying around you  stranded in a strange place  what would you do   br    br   a .  run away from everyone and try your luck on your own . b .  have sex with your friends girlfriend . c .  take a hot bath to relax your sorrows to include shaving your legs . d .  bash in the head your childhood best friend and life  long crush with a shovel . e .  all of the above .  br    br   according to eli roth  none of these answers are that far fetched . in fact  all are plausible and well represented in cabin fever . the total lack of reality and illogical attempt at explaining what people would do in traumatic situations throws this film in the bonehead bin at your local rental store . stay away . stay far away .  
this is about a mad scientist who creates a half shark  half man type critter on an uncharted island  then calls up all his old business and academic buddies to come and see his creation  evil laugh  but actually he wants his sharkman to kill them  lots of bad gci  goofy plot elements  and babes sweating in tight t  shirts follow .  br    br   these monster movies all follow a similar formula  but this one spices things up with a bit of humor  i guarantee the folks who made this had tongues firmly planted in cheek   not to mention the sexy babes . but let  s mention those sexy babes  several hot babes  in tight t  shirts  sweating profusely . one  s in her undies at the beginning  another at the end . thank you  thank you  makers of bad movies  the plot is full of goofy stuff  a guy drives up in a jeep  slams it right into a tree  then offers to fly everyone off the island in a helicopter . yeah  um  well  how  bout we think about that for a while we  ll get back to you . the sharkman is hilarious  either awful cgi or an equally comedic guy in a rubber suit . the mad scientist gives a pretty good performance he  s evil  that  s his motivation  he makes no apologies .  br    br   overall  if you want a stupid  fun b  movie  this one should do the job .  
no redeeming qualities can possibly be expressed . i wish i could get my time back . nice skull face broad really smiles  bright at the camera when the disease has already wreaked enough havoc on the ill informed script . i was   spoiler   happy to see all the characters dead or severely incapacitated by the end  especially the party poopers that drink the tainted juice on their way to the alleged sunset . eli roth does shine for moments of maybe ten  putting forth the theory on how well weed smokes in the woods when others really fiend on top of beer consumption . overall  i found most of it pointless  though not without gratuitous violence and not enough nudity  happy to witness the demise of cast  in a way though  wishing that journey never happened  probably should  ve been getting laid instead of watching tbs late night  ugh  .  
poorly cast  terrible script full of holes  hot blonde gets eaten alive  the evil scientist has a seriously nasty mustache  one man takes on a platoon of trained gunman and comes out victor  terrible special effects  they fix the problem by blowing the head off the monster . . . awesome . the only thing missing was an unnecessary graphic sex scene during one of the killings . haha . good gored up fun filled with predictable twists and laughable one liners . i highly enjoyed this movie  but before you watch it make sure you  re in for a good laugh . i recommend this movie to people who can watch a movie and not take it so serious . i can not  in my right mind  think that this movie was made for people to take it seriously . however  if you can watch it and sit back and just enjoy  i really think you can enjoy this movie in the way it was meant to be enjoyed . very simply . so get some popcorn and a couple beers and have a fun night with some friends and this movie . it brought some joy into my life .  
sure i  ve seen bad movies in my life  but this one was so bad that i actually became angry in the theater . i wanted my money back . i wrote to the director asking him to refund my movie ticket  of course i didn  t receive a refund  or even a reply  but it  s the point that matters . on a scale of     i give this movie a    . why did the  jeep   chevy blazer    stop running from being hit with a bat  why did they hit the  jeep   chevy blazer       with the bat in the first place instead of cracking the bum  s skull  the plot was thin  the movie filled with obvious clichs  and certain parts of it just didn  t make any sense .  
i seriously love this film so much  i never get sick of watching it . the only line i really can  t stomach in this is when riff calls herself a teenage lobotomy but other than that  everything else is perfect . i  ve never been a fan of pj soles and it didn  t help to hear that she didn  t even know who the ramones were until she filmed this movie  but i can ignore her snarly little face for the most part . most people who watch this over and over are fans of the ramones and really . . that  s the only reason i love it so much . i never get tired of seeing deedee mess up his pizza lines or joey mess up the name of the teacher over and over  haha . one of the best parts of the film is seeing them sing do you want to dance  down the halls of the high school . . i love it . the special edition dvd has a good retrospective  surprisingly pj soles isn  t on it . maybe she was working on another project laugh anyway  great film  even better if you  re a ramones fan .  
before starting to watch the show  i  ve heard it was great and aesthetically very interesting . what a deception  the scripts are so dumb that i am quite sure the authors are son and grandson of scoobidoo writers . and what about the sfx and colors  they are so extreme that it is painful to watch  colors are not saturated they are over saturated  like scripts are overwritten and show is overrated . this show is like a bad pie in which a child would have put only sugar and butter thinking that because these ingredients are the best  they are sufficient . unfortunately for this show  the only two ingredients of this show are finally vacuity and a total lack of credibility .  
i just recently watched this     movie starring vincent price for the first time on turner classic movies . price portrays don gallico  a magician  inventor who is driven to murder when his boss steals several of his magical inventions  and also his wife  portrayed in a brief role by the lovely eva gabor  . even though price is a murderer  i actually found myself rooting for him  he is a sympathetic character who is driven mad by the greedy people around him who keep taking advantage of him .  br    br   although this movie doesn  t have the  horror  factor of some of his more famous roles  such as my favorite   house of wax   it nonetheless has enough going for it to keep the viewers interest .  br    br   this is a must for vincent price fans .  
if the term itself were not geographically and semantically meaningless  one might well refer to  ned kelly  as an  australian western .  for the people down under  ned kelly was  apparently  a folk hero bandit akin to robin hood  jesse james  bonnie and clyde  and butch cassidy and the sundance kid . the descendant of irish immigrants  kelly became a fugitive and an outlaw after he was falsely accused of shooting an australian law officer  a crime for which his equally innocent mother was put into prison . to get back at the government for this mistreatment  kelly  his brother dan  and two other companions  became notorious bank robbers  winning over the hearts of many people in the countryside while striking a blow for justice in a land where irish immigrants were often treated with disrespect and disdain by those who ran the country .  br    br   perhaps because we  ve encountered this  gentleman bandit  scenario so many times in the past   ned kelly  feels awfully familiar and unoriginal as it pays homage to any number of the genre  s stereotypes and clichs on its way to the inevitable showdown . ned is the typical heart  of  gold lawbreaker who kills only when he is forced to and  even then  only with the deepest regret . he also has the pulse of the common folk  as when  in the middle of a bank robbery  he returns a valuable watch to one of the customers  after one of his gang has so inconsiderately pilfered it . what movie on this particular subject hasn  t featured a scene like that  it  s acts of selective generosity like this  of course  that earn him the love and respect of all the little people who come to secretly admire anyone who can get away with sticking it to the powers  that  be and the status quo . geoffrey rush plays the typical bedeviled law enforcer who feels a personal stake in bringing down this upstart troublemaker who keeps getting away with tweaking the establishment . there  s even the inevitable episode in which one of the ladies being held up goes into the next room and has sex with one of the robbers  so turned on is she by the romantic derring  do of the criminal lifestyle . and the film is riddled with one hackneyed scene like this after another .  br    br   heath ledger fails to distinguish himself in the title role  providing little in the way of substance to make his character either interesting or engaging . it doesn  t help that he has been forced to provide a droning voice  over narration that underlines the sanctimoniousness and pretentiousness of both the character and the film .  br    br    ned kelly  might serve a function of sorts as a lesson in australian history  but as an entertainment  it  s just the same old story told with different accents .  
like the gentle giants that make up the latter half of this film  s title  michael oblowitz  s latest production has grace  but it  s also slow and ponderous . the producer  s last outing   mosquitoman   d  had the same problem . it  s hard to imagine a boring shark movie  but they somehow managed it . the only draw for hammerhead shark frenzy was it  s passable animatronix  which is always fun when dealing with wondrous worlds beneath the ocean  s surface . but even that was only passable . poor focus in some scenes made the production seems amateurish . with dolphins and whales  the technology is all but wasted . cloudy scenes and too many close  ups of the film  s giant subjects do nothing to take advantage of imax  s stunning  d capabilities . there are far too few scenes of any depth or variety . close  ups of these awesome creatures just look flat and there is often only one creature in the cameras field  so there is no contrast of depth . michael oblowitz is trying to follow in his father  s footsteps  but when you  ve got shark  week on cable  his introspective and dull treatment of his subjects is a constant disappointment .  
this film is about a group of five friends who rent a cabin in the woods . one of the friends catches a horrifying flesh  eating virus . suddenly  the friends turn on one another in a desperate attempt to keep from contracting the disease themselves .  br    br    cabin fever  is a horrible film . for one  it tries to be many genres at once . is it supposed to be a homage  a slasher  a black comedy  or a scary movie with unintentional comedy  nobody can tell . there  s a serious scene at first and a second alter  it turns funny . when the film tries to be funny  the humor is quite bland  excluding the ending . i liked the ending a lot .  br    br   but apart from the ending  i was pretty disappointed and disgusted . the violence is cringe  worthy  more looking away from the screen than being scared . the tone changes within each scene  sometimes funny  sometimes scary  and sometimes quite random . in fact  you see a girl doing karate in slo  motion . what are we supposed to get from that  this same girl would bite one of the characters . was that supposed to be funny  i don  t know .  br    br   some of the performances were decent  and many were quite amateurish . i didn  t care for most of the characters . i liked the plot but the execution was done horribly . as a horror film  i didn  t know what it was trying to be . i didn  t find it funny  tense  nor scary . by the end  you  re left indifferent  thinking   what have i just been through   unfortunately  you  ll never know the answer to that question .  
when i heard about  hammerhead  being released on dvd and finally found it at my local dvd store  i thought  well  just another cheap monster movie from nu image  . those guys around boaz davidson and avi lerner produced cheap but very entertaining b  pictures in the past few months but also some very disappointing movies . so i didn  t expect much  especially after having watched the rather disappointing  shark zone  just a few days before . but  hammerhead  turned out to be an excellent revival of the     s monster movies . we have a mad scientist  a group of people in a dangerous situation  screaming women and damsels in distress  man  eating plants and of course we have the creature  a huge mutant mix between a man and a hammerhead shark . everything you need for an entertaining monster movie . the only thing missing are graphic sex scenes and nudity which you expect in movies of this kind  but since the movie was made for tv it  s understandable why these scenes are missing . and it doesn  t matter anyway cause  hammerhead  is action and horror entertainment at it  s best . there are two reasons why i gave it seven out of ten points  though first of all  the monster isn  t seen very often and the showdown with the destruction of the creature is too fast and poorly done  and secondly  william forsythe just isn  t the right guy for the  hero  part and for falling in love with gorgeous hunter tylo . other than that  i can highly recommend this movie for any monster movie fan out there . grab yourselves a cool drink and some popcorn  watch this movie and have fun . jasper p . morgan  
there  s a major difference between releasing an original  intense  edge  of  your  seat  scary  gore  fest  and doing like filmmaker eli roth and his team have done with  cabin fever  and simply acted like it . the film follows five college graduates into a cabin in the woods that begins to prove fatal as one after the other succumbs to this mysterious  fast  acting  flesh  eating disease . it  s not long before the friends turn on one another  and can barely stand the sight of one another  much less want to be in the same vicinity as them . as gross as it all sounds  there  s a certain spark behind the basic premise of this film that could have worked  in the hands of a less cocky filmmaker . unfortunately what we end up with is poorly drawn characters whose sole purpose seems to be to look beautiful at the beginning to make the inevitable decomposition more contrasting  a hackneyed script so profanity  laden as to leave the viewer tuning out the dialogue  and several incomprehensible subplots that motivate little more than  in one instance  an on  screen appearance by director roth . this is sloppy film  making in several ways  avoid this time devourer .  
as of this writing john carpenter  s  halloween  is nearing it  s   th anniversary . it has since spawned  sequels  a remake  a whole mess of imitations and every year around halloween when they do those  top   scariest movies  lists it  s always on there . that  s quite amazing for a film that was made on a budget of around         and featured a then almost completely unknown cast of up and coming young talent . i could go on and on  but the big question here is how does the film hold up today  and all i can say to that is  fantastically   br    br   pros a simple  but spooky opening credits sequence that really sets the mood . an unforgettable and goosebump  inducing score by director  co  writer john carpenter and alan howarth . great cinematography . stellar direction by carpenter who keeps the suspense high  gets some great shots  and is careful not to show too much of his villain . good performances from the then mostly unknown cast . a good sense of humor . michael myers is one scary  evil guy . a lot of eerie moments that  ll stay with you . the pace is slow  but steady and never drags . unlike most other slasher films  this one is more about suspense and terror than blood and a big body count .  br    br   cons probably not nearly as scary now as it was then . many of the goofs really stand out .  br    br   final thoughts i want to start out this section by saying this is not my favorite film in the series . i know that  s not a popular opinion  but it  s really how i feel . despite that it truly is an important film that keeps reaching new generations of film buffs . and just because it  s been remade for a new generation doesn  t mean it  ll be forgotten . no way  no how .  br    br   my rating     
the first five minutes of this movie showed potential . after that  it went straight from something possibly decent to some sort of illegitimate comedy . the best part is that i couldn  t stop thinking of supertroopers thanks to joey kern . i would recommend watching this movie for the sheer fact of learning how not to make a movie . there are so many scenes in this movie that makes one just stop and wonder if the entire cast and crew just stopped caring at some point . the thing that amazes me most about this movie is that it grossed    million in the box office and only cost about   .  million to make . congrats to lion  s gate for being able to pull that one off .  
i have only managed to see this classic for the first time a few weeks ago . being made almost   years ago i thought the scary moments would be rather tame . boy was i wrong . there are some great moments that sent shivers down my spine . even the acting was great  jamie lee curtis was fantastic and donald pleasance was superb .  br    br   on the downside it can be rather slow to start but once it gets going there is no stopping it . it makes all the copycats  e . g . nightmare on elm street  scream look very tame . i can  t really say it is carpenter  s best because i have not seen many of his  the only one i can remember of his is starman  i think he made it  . halloween is the crowning achievement of the horror genre .  
cabin fever is the first feature film directed by eli roth . roth and randy pearlstein co wrote the script from a story by roth . this a zombie film  which owes a lot to george romero and his earlier  living dead movies   and to the original texas chainsaw massacrenot to mention sam ramie  s  evil dead  . there is nothing original here  and the story is not compelling . the acting is about par with this genre  it  s just that the story fails . we have pretty much seen this movie before and better made . having said that  after having achieved commercial  if not artistic success from this movie  roth decided he was a director and came out with the abysmally atrocious  mean spirited  pointless  though much more ambitious  crap fest hostel . roth should have quit while he was behind . cabin fever is not a good film  however compared to hostel it is a work of art . i hope somebody  preferably a psychiatrist  convinces this guy that film  making is the wrong career choice . as for cabin fever  a weak     for not being as abysmal as hostel .  
every now and then a movie advertises itself as scary or frightening  though they usually aren  t . most modern horror movies fit into this category .  br    br   then there are those movies that don  t simply cause the tension and adrenaline to pump through your veins harder than usual . they actually frighten you to a level that you  ve never experienced .  br    br    halloween  is such a film . it takes so many risks that would make most movie producers cringe . but nearly all of them work .  halloween  is awe  inspiring in its simplicity  and terrifying as a whole .  br    br   the story is simple . laurie strode  jamie lee curtis  is babysitting some kids on halloween night  while a madman is on the loose after escaping from a mental institution after brutally murdering his older sister   years ago . of course  the madman  later known as michael myers  begins killing the local teenage population  and eventually he comes after laurie .  br    br   sounds familiar  right  just another brainless slasher filled with dumb teenagers and gobs of gore . not a chance .  br    br   i think james berardinelli puts it perfectly in his review of  halloween   because of its title  halloween has frequently been grouped together with all the other splatter films that populated theaters throughout the late      s and early      s . however  while halloween is rightfully considered the father of the modern slasher genre  it is not a member . . .   br    br   he has a point  and for a number of reasons . first and foremost  it  s downright terrifying  whereas most entries into the teen slasher genre are dumb gore  fests  one could argue that many recent ones are tongue  in  cheek  but most of those fail as well  . second  there is almost no violence  very little of which is bloody  . john carpenter knows that violence does not equal scary  and he relies very little on it  actually  the body count is pretty low  . in fact  one can argue that this isn  t really a horror movie  at least not by todays standards of having the most deaths that can be crammed into a single movie  each gorier and more sadistic than the last . he relies on ideas for scares  and also skill . third  while some of the characters may do stupid things  that sometimes seal their fate   they don  t do them because they  re dumb . the characters are real people  so instead of thinking that the characters die because they  re idiots  we  re frightened because they  re making a mistake .  br    br   one of the main reasons why  halloween  is so scary is because it is so easy to believe that it  s real . nothing is hard to swallow in this film . there  s no supernatural  there  s no ridiculously creative plot elements  or  inventive  murders  or whatnot . instead  all the set pieces and camera work  save the opening sequence  are simple . carpenter just sets the camera in place and says action . what we get is the feeling that we  re actually seeing a murder take place right in front of us .  br    br   horror movies are probably the most difficult films to make because in order for something to be scary  everything has to be perfect  and ideas never work twice . it  s a hit or miss game  which is why if i were to tell you all the good ideas that carpenter has  which i  m not   they  d seem primitive  particularly since they have been repeated with lesser effect over and over again through the years  .  br    br   acting here is not a plus point because it doesn  t need to be . this is a movie about scary ideas  not a movie about dramatic  conflicted characters . the actors act like real people  not characters from a story . nothing more . the exception to this is whoever plays the shape  or later known as michael myers . it can be scary to have a person say nothing and simply kill  but it  s hard to pull off  and even harder to keep people from asking why  . but the guy pulls it off  and the result is terrifying .  br    br   this is carpenter  s movie through and through . he directed it  co  wrote it  co  produced it  and wrote the chilling score of it . this is a man of brilliance  and his later movie  the thing  supports this statement  though the thing is not as scary as  halloween .  unfortunately his success has dramatically diminished  as it happens when the lure of big money for less freedom is taken advantage of once big time producers  recognize your potential .  as good as this film is  it  s not without flaws . the famous opening scene is disturbing  but not very scary . and not many of the scares work for the first part of the movie . it  s not that it  s bad  it  s just that there  s no good reason to fear  the shape .  luckily  carpenter mostly uses this time to set up a relationship between the characters and the audience . while there  s no intimacy in this relationship  it fits the purpose . we grow to know the characters  but not so much that it  s disheartening when they die . but once the film gets to halloween night  that  s when carpenter kicks things into high gear and it never stops until you get to the end .  br    br   while  halloween  may be flawed  it is only slightly so . it is an immensely terrifying film  and a must see for anyone who loves scary movies . be warned though  this movie will scare the living hell out of you   
i had heard some bad things about cabin fever almost as much as i heard the cultish hype . as it turns out  the first film from the new impresario eli roth  it  s just a so  so effort with the iq points dropping as the film progresses . there are worse movies out there  and surely more gory ones  while i  m not sure how the hype  meter got so high on the blood  count for hostel  there is a good amount for genre fans here  . the premise isn  t necessarily bad either though kids go to a cabin for a week of partying  only to come across a very sick man  covered in blood  whom in a panic they set on fire . he winds up dead in the water that feeds the reservoir  and soon the characters all succumb to the flesh  eating virus one way or another . the characters  either the lead college kids  including rider strong as the hero and james dibello as the goofy side  bar  or the supporting  village  folks are archetypal to the point of inertia  if not painfully so .  br    br   as they meet their fates  the townspeople get pretty weird  and it just seems to be non  sensibly thrown together without the many laughs  pancakes kid  comes out of nowhere  and maybe might have been funnier in another movie or by itself  but in the context of the rest of the movie  it just doesn  t work . there  s also a young police character who is even dumber and less convincing than the others . and the family that goes after dibello following an incident has some possibilities that aren  t realized . but all the while  roth pumps up his script with common sense out the window and sudden scares and frights with people hacking up blood on one another and a killer dog rambling around . which isn  t all for not either . now  unlike lesser troma horror movies or even lesser ones of the   s or   s  to which i  m sure roth is a die  hard fan  he doesn  t make it unwatchable . it  s also smart to not have any explanation for where the virus comes from .  br    br   but unlike those films too  he also doesn  t really have a fine idea of what makes for great campy  horror times . his film tries for that  of course  and only once or twice does he make it a goofy  bloody time  i did like the random bunny strong sees while on the gurney  . it  s not even very poorly shot a lot of the time  albeit with its own contrived style  choices ala red tint on the lens or that story with the bowling  alley worker  . it simply contains a lot of illogical scenarios and choices made  shave your legs with a deadly virus  uh  huh   and it aims for fairly typical ground . if that  s your cup of tea  more power to you . but at the end i found it to be actually un  exceptional genre territory that doesn  t offend audience sensibilities ala saw  but doesn  t swing for the fence either as a clever b  movie . roth also has the temerity to end the movie on a true note of  what  the  hell  as the santa claus bearded convenience store clerk from earlier in the film serves a bunch of black people . it could work if he followed up on it with something better  or if he dropped it altogether . same could be said for a lot of the movie . c   
in     a phenomenon began . the release of john carpenter  s  halloween  got people queueing around the block to witness the evil that is michael meyers . the critics loved it  the world loved it  it was imitated  and has gone down as one of the greatest movies in cinematic history .  br    br   plot   years after a murder took place  four friends  all females  are babysitting  and having it on with their boyfriends  on halloween night . after escaping from a hospital the night before  michael myers returns to his home town to stalk these people . he murders  of them silently and subtlety . he does not speak . he walks slowly . he hides . . . .  br    br   only one of the friends escapes  after being saved by doctor loomis  michael  s pursuer and doctor   br    br   there is one reason why halloween works so well . simplicity . we don  t know where michael is  we don  t know why he kills  and he frightens us . they  re the only reasons why we are afraid .  br    br   john carpenter wrote the movie  and directed . he builds unbearable tension throughout the story  and scares to such a degree  that sometimes we cannot watch . and the climax is truly startling .  br    br   as horror  this is essential . it is terrifying and well acted . it is also mysterious . michael is a force  not a human . a force that cannot be denied .  br    br   the sequels focused too much around michael and his  history  . this movie focuses on the fear of the unknown . perhaps that  s why this thing is a masterpiece .  
the premise of cabin fever starts like it might have something to offer . a group of college teens after finals  in the fall   goes to a resort cabin in the woods where one by one they are attacked by an unseen flesh eating virus .  br    br   unfortunately  the first paragraph is where any remote elements of film quality stop . cabin fever is little more than college kids looking for sex  booze  talking non  stop about nothing  and seeing how many f  bombs they can get into     minutes or however long this mess is .  br    br   the kids act and react stupidly to everything around them . one of them for instance discovers that the skin virus has infected her legs  so what does she do  she keeps shaving her legs failing to take proper medical attention for her wounds . the scene is little more than a gross out . in another scene  rider strong from  boy meets world  gets bitten on the hand by some kid who only says  pancakes  and likes to do karate kicks on those who sit next to him . if you can figure out the reason for why the  pancakes  kid was included  i  d love to know . anyway  rider pets a wild dog and goes off to wash his bitten hand in a most likely contaminated creek . another kid likes to drop f  bombs in reacting to everything around him and shoot squirrels . why  your guess is as good as mine   br    br   rider strong is the only kid with any recognition in this movie . he tries to calm people down in  between the yelling and screaming and f y  bombs that people are throwing around . when the kids aren  t yelling  they are having or talking about sex or talking nonsense to the other adult characters who are even more  if that is possible  idiotic than the kids  the idiot cop with an iq of   at best may be one of the worst acting jobs i have ever seen in a movie . you talk about people not playing with a full deck  this dork doesn  t even know how to find the cards  lol  i was like   will you please shut up already    he makes the kid actors look like geniuses  the only part that i sort of liked was rider  s scary story  although gory  about the deranged bowling alley guy . in interviews  rider said that he had a great deal of respect for director eli roth . but the problem is that mr . roth appears to be going for little more than shock and gore . there are far too many bad things about this movie for mr . roth to get any credit . i wish i could agree with rider and find something likable about this movie . maybe the fall scenery in the beginning  actually  rider strong just saves this movie from being a   hopefully  he was compensated for this junk   
there are two movie experiences i will always cherish . the first was seeing  star wars  for the first time at the age of   with my little brother . a close second is sneaking into halloween at the tripple plex with my good friend  trevor  in late october     . halloween left me breathless  speechless  and downright scared . everyone knows the story . young michael myers decides to kill his sister on halloween     . he escapes a mental hospital   years later to return to haddofield to wreck havoc once again . he spots laurie  jamie lee curtis   a shy senior who enjoys babysitting  and begins stalking her . her partying friends across the street are killed  one  by  one as michael sets his plot to get her . ironically  the young boy she tends on halloween is afraid of the  boogeman   and can see him outside . during the murder spree  dr . sam loomis  donald pleasance  works hard to find michael before he unleashes his fury . he has no proof  no evidence  just a hunch he has to sell to sheriff bracket  charles cyphers  . as the plot unfolds  you have a suspense  driven movie instead of a cheap thrill scare . alfred hitchcock once said   you can have four men at a table playing cards and they don  t know there is a bomb and it goes off . that is a cheap thrill . however  put four men at a table who discover a bomb and discuss what to do about it   then it doesn  t go off  then you have suspense .  director john carpenter takes that advice to the hilt in halloween . the audience will see glimpses of him outside  watching  stalking his victims . we gasp . will he kill her  when will he kill her  then  michael disappears . carpenter also uses the suspense in lieu of special effects that usually highlight the gore . this movie has little blood  but still provides good scares . one of the best scenes is michael lifting bob off the ground . he rears the knife back as it glints off the moonlight  then he drives it . all you hear is a loud thud  then the audience sees bob  s feet drop lifelessly . carpenter was the first to use a vantage point from the scene of the killer . this also peaks our audience . what will he do  what  s going on inside his mind  finally  carpenter  s hauntingly masterful score adds to the tension . moreover  the tandem screen writing he did with debra hill gives us a story which develops characters we care about . the teens are not  party mad   but merely going through the rebellious angst of teenage wasteland . finally  there is some decent acting in this  b   low  budget thriller . nick castle who plays  the shape   michael  adds something to the mindless killer . it is cold  merciless  and without any pathology . moreover  the personality does everything the same way . he kills only when trapped  or to set up a trap . he splits the victims apart . he also relies on brute strength . and that mask used  a bleached william shatner mask  gives an impression of something that has no soul or emotion . while pleasance is melodramatic in his deadpan monologues  he comes across as someone scared  desperate  and determined . it made me wonder if he represented modernism  s fading attempt to explain evil . the crown jewel  though  is jamie lee curtis  debut . she plays the laurie character as someone scared  but also determined and strong who fights back . the end is one that left me speechless . this was the first concept of an indestructible serial killer who could not be stopped . movies like star wars have the advantage that it can be enjoyed numerous times . halloween  and other scary movies  though  do not have that advantage . so if we could erase our minds of the first time we see a movie to experience it again as fresh and new  halloween would be the movie i would choose .  
truly one of the most dire films i  ve ever sat through . i  ve never actually taken the time to write one of these but felt compelled to after witnessing this affront to film  making and feel somewhat aggrieved to be wasting my time on such a piece of turd to be honest . there were so many parts that infuriated me with their complete randomness and lack of sense  e . g . when would the police force ever shoot people with infectious diseases  when would hospitals ever through out such people for lack of a cure  why was the guy who spotted him spying on his wife wandering around outside in his dressing gown whilst carrying a gun as she rolled around on the bed   . also  the characterisation  as we  ve almost come to expect in such films  was awful  e . g . the way the blonde guy  i don  t remember his frickin name and don  t give a toss anyway  completely turned against his girlfriend and ran off to leave her  and i ended up wanting them all to meet grisly ends  the production was horribly disjointed and the cinematography nothing to write home about .  
it was  the night he came home   warned the posters for john carpenter  s career  making horror classic . set in a small american town  halloween centerers around serial killer michael myers  attempts to track down his sister laurie strode  and in the process eliminates all her friends in rather brutal ways . . . leaving poor laurie to fight against the seemingly indestructible michael . this plot out  line inspired countless horror knock  offs throughout the   s    s and continues to do so today  as well as a poorly received     remake . the difference between them  and this  is  quite simply  that  halloween  is the best .  br    br   made on a very modest  tight budget . . . halloween changed the face of horror in     and spawned the sub  genre of  sexually promiscuous  teens getting stalked by a knife  axe  chainsaw  wielding psycho  .  
this is probably one of the worst films i have ever seen . the events in it are completely random and make little or no sense . the fact that there is a sequel is so sickening i may come down with a case of cabin fever  i  m so sorry  . i describe it as bug being smooshed to a newspaper because it seems to be different parts of things mixed together . e . g kevin the pancake loving karate kid is just freakishly weird on its own  then there  s the cop who is slightly weird and perverted  then the drug addict  then there  s the fact that they attack some random guy who clearly needs help . then all of a sudden the main character is having sex with his friends girlfriend just because she says something stupid about a plane going down . then at the end some good old family racism followed by a rabbit operating on kevin the karate kid . its actually pretty despicable that they can use racism as a joke in this film . there is no reason for anyone to enjoy this film unless you love eli roth  even that did not make me like this film . hate is a strong word but seeing as it is the only word i am permitted to use it will have to do . boycott cabin fever        
with a simplistic story and an engaging heroine  this was the horror movie that started it all . john carpenter brings to life a nail  biting nightmare on halloween night  when laurie strode  jamie lee curtis in her debut  career defining role  and her mischievous friends plan a night of sneaky fun  only to cross paths with a relentless psychopath from hell .  br    br   michael myers has escaped from a nearby insane aslyum . . . having slaughtered his sister fifteen years earlier  he is now back in haddonfield  the sleepy illinois town where his murder took place . once he sets his eyes on laurie after she drops off a package to the abandoned house where he lived  he begins to stalk and terrorize her  turning her night of fun into terror as he picks off anyone in his path to get to her .  br    br   beautiful cinematography and lighting really make this moody horror flick scary . . . with the long gloomy shots it constantly feels as if you  re being stalked by the maniacal serial killer himself . myers is hidden well until fully revealed at the exciting conclusion .  br    br   although  halloween  is certainly outdated  it is by no means less chilling . the idea alone is goose bump inducing  and this little shocker is one of the most famous and memorable horror movies ever made to this day . . . it spawned seven sequels and eventually rob zombie  s equally scary remake  and it set a new standard for horror that still exists today .  
liongate has yet to prove itself . every single movie from lionsgate has been abysmal . i  ve tried and tried to give them more opportunities and they just keep slapping me over and over again . and cabin fever is definitely no exception .  br    br   i couldn  t even pay attention to most of this movie it was so frustrating and bad .  br    br   here  s the plot . guy cuts up dead dog for some reason . gets infected by random virus  transfers it to kids at a camp  kids start to get infected and die  town finds out about it and rather than help them  kills them . then the water is infected and everyone dies . the end .  br    br   seriously  that  s the whole movie .  br    br   all the characters are completely retarded  you don  t care for any of them  and the one kid should have stuck with boy meets world . me and my friend found that talking about how fat and bitchy our one classmate was to be far more enjoyable than paying attention to this movie . we did manage to make it all the way to the end while screaming bullst  because this film will make you do that .  br    br   and i  m still confused by the random slow motion karate moves of the one random kid and how apparently everybody out in the country is completely retarded and hickish . and again  why did this dog attack the girl  why did the kid the hicks were trying to kill sit in a chair waiting for them to kill him  that was part of the two of their  s plan  wow . best plan ever . i cannot believe this movie got a theatrical release . i could barely stomach the dvd  let alone have to sit in a theater not moving for an hour and a half . it wasn  t scary  or funny  or cool  or anything . it  s just a waste of   minutes that you could be using to . . . i don  t know  plant a tree or something . it  s more productive than this piece of garbage . the acting  special effects  and script are a joke . don  t ever pick this up .  br    br   cabin fever gets one nasty leg shaving scene  out of    
as i mentioned previously  john carpenter  s     classic is one of the first two movies i can remember seeing and being heavily influenced by  the other being the classic conan the barbarian  . it so truly scared me that the only monster under my bed was michael meyers  whom i eventually befriended  imaginary friend  to keep him from killing me in my sleep . now that is terror for a   year old .  br    br   it is a horror classic and i am sure my modest review will not do it the justice it deserves . the most surprising thing of all is that the movie still works  perhaps not in the guttural reaction but more of a cognitive possibility or immediate subconscious . this all could happen . it isn  t in the realm of impossibility or located in a foreign country  as most modern horror is  i . e . hostel  touristas  cry wolf  saw  etc  . at times it is graphic while the rest is relegated to our imaginations . i believe it is this element that keeps people terrified or at the very least wary of going outside at night with the signature soundtrack still vivid in their head . it still works because we can substitute implied or tertiary killing with anything more terrifying that our mind can create . so we ourselves are contributing to our own fears and anxiety .  br    br   carpenter weaves a simple story about an everyday  middle class  suburban and relatively benign child who snaps on halloween and kills his sister . he then spends the next   years in an institution  which we thankfully do not experience  only to escape and return to his hometown  the infamous haddonfield . on his way he kills and kills . the child  s name is michael meyers  though he is not a person . john carpenter uses michael meyers as a metaphor against the implied safety of middle class suburbia . in the bastion of american safety and security  chaos can still strike .  br    br   michael ceased to be a person once he killed . he is not a serial killer  human being or psychopath . he is as unstoppable force . the generic overalls  bleached  white shatner mask  and lack of any dialog other then some breathing  helps to dehumanize and complete michael  s generification . this is the source of all his power . he is faceless  speechless and unremarkable in any way other than as a source of unrelenting chaos . this is helped by the cinematography  post card effect   a lack of information  motivation  explanation and the veteran narrative experience of donald pleasence  dr . loomis  . his over the top performance and uneasiness sells  the shape  . this is also the first film performance by jamie lee curtis as laurie strode  the innocent girl who deters chaos in the face of overwhelming odds  at least for a little bit  .  br    br   though this isn  t the first movie of this new niche of horror films  black christmas came out  years earlier   it is the most successful and does not diminish upon reviewing . if you haven  t been scared by horror movies in a long time  like me   this will probably make the hairs on the back of your head tingle at the first chords of the signature soundtrack . i highly recommend this movie as a must see horror movie and as one of the pinnacles of john carpenter  s career .  
i  ve rented and watched this movie for the  st time on dvd without reading any reviews about it . so  after   minutes of watching i  ve noticed that something is wrong with this movie it  s terrible  i mean  in the trailers it looked scary and serious   br    br   i think that eli roth  mr . director  thought that if all the characters in this film were stupid  the movie would be funny . . .  so stupid  it  s funny . . .  wrong   he should watch and learn from better horror  comedies such as  fright night    the lost boys  and  the return of the living dead   those are funny   br    br    cabin fever  is the reason why i registered to www . imdb . com so i can release my thoughts of discontent about it .  br    br   i  ve decided to watch the movie a second time  aaargh   and make notes for my partial  review  to show how foolish the movie is .  resident evil   horror  or  dude  where  s my car    comedy  i can watch over and over again and still enjoy  but this . . .   br    br   how bad can a script and a director be    this bad . here are the awful scenes in chronological order  br    br   in the early scenes we see henry  who doesn  t realize his dog lying on the ground with its tongue hanging out of its mouth and dead  glazed stare is dead   br    br   the movie doesn  t explain anything about the blonde long  haired kid who like to bite people .  br    br   and my answer to marcy  s unanswered question   what  s wrong with the woods    is  nothing  . the script has that bearded guy warn them about the woods just for  suspense  .  br    br   then the  smartest  of the   pack  bert  almost gives us an example of how to start a forest fire . he meets now  infected henry who begs for help and from here on the movie wants to break the record in using the  f  word  . bert starts to freak out because henry looks awfully ill . bert  don  t make me shoot you    he forgets to add  . . . with my bb gun     br    br   bert heads back to the cabin but how about that  he meets marcy and jeff who were having sex  but now suddenly decide to go out for a walk  marcy wisely takes out the unguarded campfire bert had started earlier  a moment of clarity for a change   bert doesn  t mention a word about henry because the fool thinks he has killed him with his bb gun .  br    br   later  as the five estupidos sit around their campfire  another weirdo shows up with his dog .  maybe that  s what the warning about the woods is all about  it  s filled with weirdos . . . and their dogs    they let him sit with them only because he has a huge bag filled with cannabis .  their brains are completely intoxicated  no wonder why they are all so dumb   this is the last time we  ll see this forgettable character . . . alive   br    br   henry shows up at their cabin   note he was lying all the time a few yards from their cabin     looking worse  almost like a zombie  covered in goo  he says he needs a doctor . but the young einsteins refuse to help the poor sucker . he gets into their unlocked truck which of course also has its key in the ignition . henry almost seems smart enough to drive the hell away from there but instead starts puking blood all over the dashboard  seats and windows . the fantastic five come out running  armed with a bb gun  a knife  a baseball bat  huh  ever tried playing baseball in the middle of the woods      a poker  and a  insecticide   spray  can  ready to combat the single  unarmed and terribly sick man .  clever script   bert manages to kill the car with one single shot of his bb gun  which is only possible in the mind of director eli roth .  what else am i supposed to do   bert yells in his defense . jeff and paul try to knock henry down with their bat and poker but miss and crash the truck  s windows instead . henry walks up to the dumb girls who say  he  s coming towards us    thanks for the info  dumb broads  i can see that  but i don  t think he wants to do you any harm   marcy sprays in his eyes  making henry yelp  and our  hero  paul touches henry  s arm with a burning log from the campfire  which they recklessly left burning while they were inside the cabin   where has all that wisdom gone  i guess the cannabis had started to take its toll     henry turns into the human torch and runs away  screaming .  br    br   the following day  bert and jeff head out for a mechanic . and marcy decides to  go for help  all by herself  in the woods  as paul stays behind with karen . . . doesn  t that sound idiotic  marcy could have stayed with karen and paul because jeff and bert were already  going for help    br    br   i skip my comments now to how we suddenly see marcy in a canoe rowing over a huge and winding river  how did she get a canoe  does she even know where she  s going   anyway  she goes to the riverbank and finds a very big and seemingly abandoned cabin and  like in most horror movies  walks inside the cabin saying  hello  is anyone there   bert suddenly pops up from behind a furniture and scares her  and me at first  . and along comes jeff  as well . how did they get here   did they swim across the river    do you see how brainless the script is    br    br   deputy winston meets paul at the cabin . he somehow doesn  t notice the blood on their truck . this happens around   minutes of viewing and i have decided to stop torturing myself anymore and popped the dvd out .  before i take my own eyes out  . . . now  that  s funny    br    br   if you liked this movie  do yourself a favor and watch  fright night    the lost boys   or  the return of the living dead  . then you  ll see they are more entertaining than this . . . thing . even the  toxic avenger part    which is also a lousy film  is way more funnier than  cabin fever  .  
i liked this movie i remember there was one very well done scene in this movie where riff randell  played by p . j . soles  is lying in her bed smoking pot and then she begins to visualize that the ramones are in the room with her sing the song  i want you around  . . . very very cool stuff .  br    br   it was fun  energetic  quirky and cool . yes i  ll admit that the ending is way  way over the top and far fetched . . . but it doesn  t matter because it is fun this is a very fun movie . it  s sex  pot and rock n rocll forever  br    br   i read that cheap trick was the band who was originally to star in this . . but i do not know if this is true or not  
i have not seen the first film and if it anything like this have no great desire to .  br    br   having just watched it a few hours ago i am struggling to remember a thing about it .  br    br   from what i remember it  s main plot seems to be a group of very annoying people stay at a house with that dodgy old woman from friday the   th and are stalked by plank of wood man .  br    br   some people die  the film ends  i am starting a law suit against the person who sold me this film as i want compensation for the missing time in my life .  br    br   i will pay u   to take this film off my hands . . . . . . oh wait i already gave it away to a  friend  .  
there is no doubt that halloween is by far one of the best films ever not only in its genre but also outside . i love the films creepy atmosphere like the whole it could happen here sort of situation makes it scary to think about . also to imagine if you were ever in this situation what would you do . this is a movie that i enjoy watching highly  especially around halloween time . john carpenter is a very professional directer i love a lot of his other films  but there is no doubt that his best known movie is the film halloween . oh and if your thinking about watching the rob zombie remake don  t . it is pure crap and a true halloween fan would like the     john carpenter version better . michael myers is one of the coolest slasher killers in any film  and is a very well known one . so by all means go see this masterpiece you will really like it .  
spoilers below      br    br   cabin fever has my nod for worst film of the year . . . that i  ve seen that is . this movie is straight garbage  there is so much wrong with the film you can  t help but be amazed at how bad it really is . this movie had so much potential to be good  but ultimately made nothing of it . the characters were as dumb as one can be for the entire movie you  re just asking yourself  why would you do that   or  what  s your point in doing this   . . . this is how illogical and stupid the characters are . we get no background into them  so naturally you really don  t give a rats as about their fate . . . you could only laugh at their stupidity .  br    br    the  slut   marcy  for instance . . . was she that horny that she had to sleep with paul  rider strong   there was no point in that . . . . its almost as if the filmmakers needed a excuse to give her the virus so voila  ugh .  br    br    would anyone really go into the woods and drink water from the faucet of a cabin without looking at it first   br    br    why didn  t bert just shoot the sick guy from the start  movie would  ve been over that way . . . . besides  they ended up killing him anyway .  br    br    why did it take them so long to finally decide to leave the cabin  even if they had to walk   no  i  ll just wait until  of my friends are infected  one a blink away from death  to finally opt to walk outta there .  br    br    what was exactly the reasoning behind paul  s attempt to fish out the body of the hermit  only to fall in the contaminated reservoir and get infected with the virus  pure stupidity   br    br   i swear  common sense was not a friend  much less an aquaintance to these idiots . i don  t think there has ever been a worse ending to a movie . in the beginning the kids ask the hick store cashier what the rifle was for  and he replied that  its for the niggers  . in the end of the film   young blacks  dressed in baggy clothes  one of them in a du  rag no less  go into the store . . . . come to find out that the cashier was cleaning it for them to be used for hunting . then  he proceeds to give them all pounds and handshakes and joke around with them as if they  re his homeboys .  br    br   okay  what the hell was the point of that        how tasteless can one be  what were the filmmakers thinking putting that in the movie  i as a black man was of course offended by the initial  nigger  comment . it was a tasteless  pointless remark . my question to the filmmakers what was the point of the ending with the black kids  was that to force me to forget about the initial racist comment made earlier  to smooth things over with black viewers  by making a joke out of it  well  i for one  did not find that pathetic attempt at humor funny in the least bit . the whole movie was a joke . . . . a pathetic attempt at filmmaking that shouldn  t be given the time of day . peter jackson really thought this film was that good  what film was he looking at   br    br   zero  out of  stars . . . . if i could give it a lower rating i would . please  fellow imdb  ers  don  t waste     hours of your precious life watching this abomination of a  movie  . this is one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen .  
halloween is a film i have to get out and watch every time it  s that day of the year . i even watch it sometimes when it  s not the holiday    this film is so great . jamie lee curtis is an actress i can never stop loving . this movie might be old  but the story line still gets me right there every time  and the acting was absolutely fantastic    although i have not seen the remake  i feel already that it was totally unnecessary . i think rob zombie should have never remade such a classic . what kills me though  is to know that there are some people out there who have seen the remake without even hearing of the original . i am getting furious just thinking about it       this movie was great  and it will always be remembered in history as a classic .  
okay i had heard little about this film  so when it came on the movie channels on tv  i wanted to watch it  being a horror aficionado . i think i can do a collective  huh   for everyone who watched it .  br    br   i decided to move on with my life  but at a party with my closest friends  we saw it was coming on and some of us having seen it already decided we could laugh our way through it  both of us proclaiming  this is the dumbest thing i  ve ever seen  . it wasn  t scary ill give it to roth  who i think is a young hack   characters do change throughout the film  ala  cube  .  br    br   however despite your typical  rats in a cage  scenario  who will turn on who  etc .  it was pretty average horror .  br    br   a few points  .  what was with that kid  i  m not even talking about him being weird and biting people . i  m talking about the whole  slow motion karate kicking   what was that   .  okay i know rider  s character liked jordan ladd  s  but as a young woman  i was appalled that he just went ahead and molested her in her sleep . uh  thats illegal .  br    br    .  roth was in the movie just so roth could be in the movie . talk about pointlessly writing yourself in   .  what was with the deputy   .  so she was just instantly pulled apart by the dog  and there was little to no blood left  just a scrap of her jeans  anyway we were laughing our asses off  and i love laughing during horror movies  return of the living dead   evil dead   but i don  t know if we were supposed to be laughing here . . .  
it took me time to really appreciate john carpenter  s halloween . as a kid  i remember i really enjoyed the sequels  especially the return of michael myers  which i still think is the best halloween sequel . but i thought the first one was slow and took way too much time to get to the point . i watched it a couple of times recently and i know now i was wrong . today i truly understand this film  the meaning it has  the whole feeling of this horror masterpiece . it  s not about blood and gore . it  s not about naked chicks and lame jokes . it  s about the worst night in laurie strode  s short life . it  s about the night his demented brother comes back home to finish what he started   years ago . this movie is meant to be scary and i think it succeeds very well . it  s also one of the first slasher movies  a horror sub  genre that i always loved . halloween has a very dark atmosphere  creepy music and talented young actors  such as jamie lee curtis in her first role . need i say more  anyone who  s never seen it  horror fan or not  should do his cinematic homework right now . very highly recommended   
i don  t really know whether cabin fever is supposed to be a joke or a film . . . but as far as i know  it  s much closer to being a joke than anything else . a few years ago  the community of horror film makers decided to take a new step and make fun of the genre  thus giving birth to the scream series . a list was given in scream  of all the stupid things horror film characters will do that are predictable  and the characters in scream ended up doing exactly the same things  which added a lot of humor and irony to this analysis of the genre  and led to hope that horror films from now on would show a bit different  either full of irony towards the genre  self  derision towards the film itself  or at least different in their dramatic process than all the  old  films that responded to the same tired criteria . in seeing  cabin fever   alas  many will see how unoriginal  serious  pretentious  boring and even not scary some supposedly  scary  films are now  even a few years later . first of all  this film lacks originality in a way few others do . it has been said several times  how little imagination horror directors have today  remaking remakes of foreign sequels  but setting the film in a cabin in the woods just doesn  t seem to be an  hommage  to anything  it seems to be  simply  a ripoff . whoever wishes to be surprised by other factors of the film  s story won  t be once again  we are dealing with a film whose characters are all in their early twenties  who won  t think rationally when placed in front of a problem  will rather argue for hours and pick up fights than try to think and do something about it . not much excitement there either . for the umpteenth time in a horror film  they are tempted to kiss  make love and just basically have fun  all sorts of things that don  t really make them any different than any other horror film victims seen previously . secondly  this film is unimaginatively serious . every situation the characters are in  every dialog  every situation in the film is treated with such seriousness that any viewer with a little sense of derision will be relieved when some characters finally end up dying . nothing in the way the film is directed  written or acted shows any sign of humor or sarcasm  which is quite amazing considering the film is about an invisible  never  heard  of  before  flesh  eating  virus  no laughs please  . i won  t even bring up the acting  since there are no actors in this film . the cast was most certainly hired for being friends or neighbors with the director . thirdly  and this will strike whoever has seen a  good  horror film before  the screenplay is absolutely empty . nothing really happens  some actions are repeated several times   let  s try to get help     nothing makes sense  either in the facts  the psychology of the characters  or even the hilariously lame last sequence of the film  which is probably supposed to be funny according to the director and screenwriters . in the end i will only remark that a horror film is supposed to have something scary in it . gallons of fake blood  whether they are being vomited  squirted from severed limbs or simply dripping from wounds  never were enough to scare an audience . such major features as screenplay  ideas  and even cruelty are requested for whoever claims to have shot something scary . if i wasn  t considering it to be a total failure  i would agree to reckon that the film has one talent it is filthy disgusting to watch . yet being grossed  out and being scared are two very different feelings  let it be known .  br    br   i would like to encourage anyone a tad curious or interested in seeing this film to check older major horror films first  why not from the   s  the   s  the   s  films made by wes craven  dario argento  sam raimi  stanley kubrick  david lynch  roger corman  william lustig  john carpenter . . . it might not only give a good definition of what is scary  or self  derisory horror  but also convince viewers that  new  isn  t necessarily  better  . a good example related to the film is the few tracks composer angelo badalamenti provided for this film  even although they are unmistakably close to his previous compositions  they are below anything he has ever done before .  
some spoilers if you are a big horror movie fan  then you will know that halloween paved the way for many slasher films . often imitated  never duplicated  this movie is a true horror classic and is definitely one of the scariest movies ever made  if not the scariest .  br    br   i actually saw this movie after seeing the rest of the series  don  t ask me why  . i honestly saw the other  movies before seeing this one  that  s just how it worked out . but i would have to say this one blows all the others away . it is genuinely frightening  and seeing michael pop out from behind a bush or walk around in the dark sends a chill down your spine . my favorite part of the movie was when michael stabs a guy  and leans his head to one side . it is one of the eeriest images in movie history .  br    br   later slashers  such as the friday the   th films  were more fun and less intense than this movie . i do like the f   series better than the halloween series  but this movie alone is better than all the f   movies . michael myers is such a scary villain because he is realistic  you could imagine a crazed guy like him going around killing people . i admit this movie gave me nightmares after watching it for a few nights .  br    br   what  s great about this movie is that it doesn  t rely on gore or humor to entertain the audience . it is just pure terror . it  s too bad the later films of the series swayed from this one  because this is as good of an example of a spectacular slasher movie as they come .  
i wasted  .   to see this crappy movie so i just want to know a few things  br    br   what was the point of the dog being split in half at the beginning of the movie  the disease had nothing to do with being split in half .  br    br   what was the point of dragging karen into the shed  she already totally infected her room  they could have just locked her in there where she would have been safer .  br    br   why would the hermit be running around the forest asking strangers to help him when he could have just asked his relative  the hog lady  to take him to the hospital   br    br   why didn  t any of the characters bother to walk into town to get help when things started getting bad  are they all really that lazy   br    br   even if paul was threatened by the guy w  the shotgun for peeping on his wife  paul could have just sent jeff or bert back to the house to ask for help . the girl he loves is deteriorating .  br    br   what was the point of the box   br    br   why did jeff go back to the cabin after he left when everyone else was getting infected  if he was that big of a jerk to leave in the first place wouldn  t he have just gone back home   br    br   if the police went to all the trouble of gathering up the kids and burning them on the fire pit  why did they throw paul halfway into the river  it wasn  t even necessary for the plot because the water was already contaminated .  br    br   who makes lemonade out of river water  that crap has dirt leaves and bugs in it . why couldn  t the two kids have just use the tap water  it was contaminated too  so the stupid ending would still work .  
the first time i saw this movie  i fell in love with it . the atmosphere was what caught my attention first and foremost . i expected a gore fest  but instead got to watch a highly intelligent killer mess with my head to a chilling soundtrack  it  s actually my ringer at the moment p  . the fact that i couldn  t predict when he  d kill and when he  d disappear was a major plus in my book . predictable horror movies bore me . now  i know the storyline had some discrepancies  but  if you  re like me  you don  t even notice them until long after the movie  s over and you  re laying in bed mauling over the fact that you just witnessed a masterpiece in motion . finally  as i mentioned  the soundtrack is timeless . it  s one of my all time favorite theatrical scores  so i was very happy to hear that rob zombie is leaving it untouched in his remake . speaking of the remake  i read a very comprehensive article on it and  now that i know that mr . zombie reveres john carpenter  i have high hopes for his take on this classic . this movie is great for any time you have a craving for a spine tingling  but it  s the perfect addition  opener  finale  you name it for an all hallow  s eve movie marathon .    
anyone who has read my review for uwe boll  s  alone in the dark  will remember that i compared the unenviable task of sitting through that piece of human waste to having each and every hair on your arm pulled out . well  take that analogy a step further with this irredeemable gutter trash and try to imagine the pain of getting your teeth extracted without novacaine . do that  and you  ll have a general idea of what eli roth  s  cabin fever  is all about .  br    br   i never believed any one film was capable of topping the sheer agonizing dreck that uwe boll cranks out as the  worst film ever made .  but  in all honesty  i have to say  cabin fever  comes very close . this is yet another sad excuse for a motion picture that had absolutely no valid reason to meet with any form of theatrical release . for somebody who claims to love the horror genre as much as eli roth does  he has created the single most annoying and convoluted patchwork of a movie i think i have ever seen in my entire life . how do you screw up a story like this  think of the potential this plot would have had without the poorly written characters  without the bad writing  and without all that unnecessary and unfunny comedy . a movie dealing with a grotesque flesh  eating virus could and should have been so much better than what roth dished out for us here . this script failed on so many levels with me . and  while i do not doubt the evident talent this director possesses  i do know that he fumbled the ball big time on an idea that could very well have redefined the horror genre .  br    br   to say this was a production of missed opportunities would indeed be a gross play on words . a generous amount of blood and unsettling special effects can  t even save it  and that is one element i normally go for . there really was nothing about  cabin fever  that i could easily recommend to anybody . when three quarters of the crowd walks out of the theater halfway through  you know the movie is sinking fast . my best advice to those reading this would be to simply rent before purchasing . one viewing was more than enough for me to know that i will most likely never bother with it again .  
classic  highly influential low budget thriller that gave birth to a horror icon and launched the careers of both director carpenter and star curtis .  br    br   seemingly unstoppable murderer escapes from mental institution and returns to his hometown where he begins to stalk a local babysitter on halloween .  br    br   halloween is a film that never fails to live up to its reputation as a horror masterpiece  carpenter  s frightening story and clever direction give this film such chillingly good life that it must be seen to really be felt  the direction often consists of such simple elements  shadows  dark streets  creaking doors  that it makes even the everyday setting of a small town neighborhood truly creepy . carpenter well  times his suspense and his jolting shocks to make them the most effectively startling  that in itself is a feat few horror filmmakers ever manage  plus  he is wise enough to give us some truly likable young characters and a very scary villain to keep the tension all the more strong . highest kudos also go to carpenter  s simple  yet frighteningly unnerving music score . in a sense  halloween is a fine example of a perfect horror film   br    br   the cast is excellent . young jamie lee curtis does a very nice turn as lovable babysitter laurie strode  she  s so good that she would go on to be in a number of other horror films before breaking into bigger films . the great donald pleasants does a perfect performance as a myer  s doctor  who  s desperate to capture him again . supporting cast loomis  soles  castle  and others are good too .  br    br   so like its own villain  halloween is an unstoppable force that never fails to thrill and chill . it is a must for all genre fans   br    br    out of   
ok let  s get right to the point . we have five recent college grads  must have majored in the f word  going out on a weekend camping trip . they run into someone who is in need of help  but instead of trying to assist him  they decide to set him on fire instead . nice bunch of people . next some of them start go get sick  must be something in the water at the cabin they are staying at . however the neighbors seem to be ok . oh well  when things start getting really bad  they lock up one their companions instead of getting help  try the neighbor by the way  . some locals don  t take a liking to them . they chase one on a high speed romp through the woods for many miles  until the truck breaks down . somehow ten minutes later he shows up at the cabin  how he could find it and how he could travel at the speed of light to get there is a mystery  . another of the brain surgeon type at the cabin realizes something is amiss so he hides out in a cave to let this blow over . he then decides the next day to return to the cabin believing it must be some type of shrine . he is giddy with relief that he survived  he must have thought it was a   hour bug  . unfortuneatley he is met by some not so friendly police officers . another couple decide to have sex while the flesh eating bug is working its magic  and then the women realizes she needs to shave her legs  taking a lot of the diseased skin with shaving cream  . anyway you get the idea . nothing makes sense here . these are five people i would not want to be friends with . i was rooting for the flesh eating bacteria . other characters were introduced who were also somewhat amusing but utterly unlikeable as well . ninety minutes of good life wasted here .  
this film is one of the best of all time  certainly in the horror genre . the claustrophobic atmosphere is outstanding  the music is just as good as the film and the killer is as creepy as can be  actors are fantastic  rip donald pleasance you were fantastic as dr loomis  he made the film even better . without him the film would be missing a vital ingredient . jamie lee curtis is also superb as our beloved scream queen  her innocence makes her unaware of the real evil that is after her until she finds her friends grossly murdered in the house  which of course is one of the films best scenes . she gives a tremendous performance . i loved this film since it scared me like hell back when i seen it in the very early    s and i still watch it to this day as it is a marvellous movie that just brings you in to this world were you could be gutted like a fish at every turn  the fact that it is a simple format of a mad man in a mask whom has escaped from a mental asylum and ready to kill everyone in sight without them having any idea that he is there  is just shockingly terrifying and indulges you even more into the movie as the events though fiction could easily be come true . we all know that unfortunately evil does exist in this world and a mad man with a knife is certainly not uncommon  a very disturbing an deep fear for all of this . death at any turn . halloween of course shows this in it  s most terrifying way . horror should be believable  and that is what makes the film enjoyable . it  s just a simple story that is made into an excellent and terrifying atmosphere . as well as psycho  s superb storyline  both of which i adore  i believe there formats are the best horror has to offer . to me halloween and psycho are the best films i have ever seen and i will watch them all my life and never grow tired of them . halloween is undoubtedly one of the best movies of all time .  
when i saw the previews for this movie  i didn  t expect much to begin with  around a second rate teen horror movie . but wow  this movie was absolutely awful . and that  s being generous .  br    br   first of all  the casting for the movie was terrible . you feel no sympathy  or for that matter any morbid feeling  for the characters . the acting was so terrible that i was just simply waiting and hoping for the god  awful thing to end .  br    br   secondly  there are points in the movie that had absolutely no relation to the plot whatsoever . can somebody please explain to me why the girlish  looking boy starts screaming  pancakes     at the top of his lungs while going into jackie chan moves i  ve never seen before  and even further biting the guy who has the virus  why does the father of the kid proceed to get angry with the virus  infected guy  and go on a redneck hunting spree to find him  i was left with a feeling of such confusion and utter disbelief that i literally said out loud   where the hell did that come from    br    br   i just simply couldn  t believe what i had seen . i really thought i had seen some bad movies  but i have to say that cabin fever tops them all . this movie made me want to puke and then puke again . then blow my brains out .  br    br   please  save yourself an hour and a half and do something more productive . watching grass grow  perhaps  is a proper alternative .  
this was a movie that i had heard about all my life growing up  but had never seen it until a few years ago . it  s reputation truly proceeded it . i knew of michael myers  had seen the mask  saw commercials for all of the crummy sequels that followed . but i was growing up during the decade where jason and freddy had a deadly grip on the horror game  and never thought much of the halloween franchise . boy  how i was being cheated with cheap knock offs .  br    br   halloween is a genuinely terrifying movie . now  by today  s standards  it isn  t as graphic and visceral  but this film delivers on all the other levels most horror movies fail to achieve today . the atmosphere that john carpenter creates is so creepy  and the fact that it is set in a quaint  mid  west town is a testament to his ability . the lighting effects are down right horrifying  with  the shape  seemingly appearing and disappearing into the shadows at will . the simple yet brutally effective music score only adds to the suspense .  br    br   the performances by all the players are well done  with specific nods to jamie lee curtis and donald pleasance . ms . curtis is such a good laurie strode because she is so likable and vulnerable . it is all the more frightening when she is being stalked by michael myers because the director and viewer have invested so much into her  we want her to survive and get away .  br    br   donald pleasance plays dr . loomis like a man on a mission  and it works well . he adds a sense of urgency to the predicament the town finds itself in because he knows what evil stalks their streets .  br    br   overall  not only is halloween a great horror movie  but also a great film . it works on many levels and draws the audience in and never lets up . this should be standard viewing for anyone wanting to experience a truly scary movie . and for an even more frightful time  try watching it alone with the lights off . don  t be surprised if you think you see  the shape  lurking around in the shadows   
having read the other comments on this film  i would like to share my own view that this is one tough movie to see unless you are a total brooksophile . i am not .  br    br   when looked at by a purely objective observer  the film is an unbalanced narrative that presents us with more undistilled neuroses than are capable of being absorbed in one sitting . it is quite difficult to watch . the brooks character  robert cole  is so unsympathetic and unpleasant that it is hard to relate to him    let alone root for him as he stumbles from one dysfunctional self  absorbed situation to the next . and he should never do a topless scene and expect to be taken seriously in a romantic context . no man could have that much exposed foliage and be supposed to turn on a babe like kathryn harrold     unless  of course  he is albert brooks in an albert brooks  controlled production .  br    br    modern romance  has its amusing moments      but they are fragmentary and infrequent . more often than not  i felt as if i were on a confined journey with a thoroughly dislikable person and wishing that it would end already . it confirms the problems that can develop when too much control of a film is placed in only one person    someone who lacks the self  discipline to be able to step back from it and see what is clearly happening .  br    br   as most people probably know  james l . brooks  who played the director in this film  is in fact what he portrayed . six years later  he cast albert brooks in the very successful  broadcast news .  james showed us how albert can shape a credible and entertaining comic performance . albert allowed us to see james  generally not cast as an actor  do a rare comic turn in a surprisingly effective manner .  br    br   fans of  modern romance  will by now have moved on to the next laudatory comment about it . to you i say      there is enough pain in the world without having to find it in a film intended as an entertainment .  
john carpenter  s halloween  br    br   is it the greatest horror film of all time  no . . maybe not to everyone  but to me it is and always will be . the film is sheer genius and will always hold a very special place in my heart .  br    br   it  s unfortunate i didn  t get to see this film until twenty years after it  s release  but even twenty years later after so many slasher copy cats had come and gone the film still gave the same impact as it must have done then . my father suggested before i go see halloween h   that i whip out and rent halloween  s  and  to get the full story  and after watching halloween it was quite clear that it defined and set the slasher genre .  br    br   the film  s plot is simple  in     michael audrey myers killed his sister judith in cold blood with a large butcher knife . incarcerated for fifteen years where he was treated by dr . sam loomis  he escapes and returns to his hometown of haddonfield where he begins stalking three young girls laurie strode an innocent bookworm  annie brackett a tough talking sarcastic and lynda van der klok a beautiful and sexually vigorous young girl . dr . loomis tracks michael here where he enlists the help of the town sheriff leigh brackett whom remains skeptical of his story about the psychotic killer . michael watches the girls mercilessly and begins killing them off one by one  until only sweet innocent laurie is left who is the prime target on michael  s list .  br    br   the casting of this film was brilliant and all the actors and actresses gave top notch performances  jamie lee curtis was stunning in her first film role as laurie strode and donald pleasance gave a thrilling performance with his small role as loomis . nick castle who portrays michael did an outstanding job as the soulless and evil killer  and his walk and body movements were perfect .  br    br   one of the great highlights of this film is it  s chilling score done by john carpenter himself who created one of the most recognizable horror themes known today . the blue lighting was creepy and effective and one of the great moments in this film is when young laurie is cowering against a wall after seeing her dead friends  and in the shadows behind her michael  s face materializes before he strikes . michael  s mask was one of the thing  s that sent chills down my spine the most  the white emotionless face worked perfectly .  br    br   what makes this film so great is that it is not a gory film unlike the cheesy friday the   th films  in fact there is little blood in this film at all and works instead on suspense and tension .  br    br   it became so clear that halloween spawned movies like friday the   th and characters like jason voorhees  whom he is a mere rip off of michael myers .  br    br   to sum it up  i suggest you see this film at least once in your life as it is a landmark in film making and is without a doubt if not the greatest then one of the greatest horror films of all time .  
this is a depressingly shallow  naive and mostly unfunny look at a wildly improbable relationship between brooks  psychotic film editor and harold  his vapid girlfriend . the two have zero chemistry together  primarily because harold is incapable of doing anything besides looking pretty at this stage of her career but also because brooks  character is neither interesting nor likeable . there are   static  excruciating minutes at the beginning where brooks  having just broke up with harold  stumbles about his apartment in a depressed  drugged out state  unbearable .  br    br   sappily and unimaginatively bookended by joe cocker  s  you are so beautiful   there simply is not enough material here for a feature film . there is hardly anything going on on the periphery of their relationship to give the appearance that these people exist in a real world . i  m sure brooks  intention was to shine a white hot spotlight on the affair and  in a way  deconstruct it but if you  re going to do that the writing and acting needs to be far far better than what it is here .  
halloween is the story of a boy who was misunderstood as a child . he takes out his problems on his older sister  whom he murders at the beginning of the film . this is just the start of things to come from michael myers .  br    br   donald pleasance plays the doctor who  s been studying myers for years . he knows that something is different about him  something mysteriously evil . this evil will not be contained  and it cannot be stopped .  br    br   after an escape from an institution  myers tracks down his younger sister . if he kills her  there may be an end to the troubles of this misunderstood boy . but he seems to have problems in finishing his sister off as other people get in the way . he manages to take them out while still looking for that one girl he needs .  br    br   there have been a lot of those horror movies involving teenagers getting hacked to pieces by a masked or gruesome killer . but this one started it all  sort of . if you think about it  most of those horror movies we all remember are the ones that have freddy kruger or jason chasing around half naked girls . well  if it wasn  t for halloween  those characters wouldn  t have haunted our dreams when we were children .  br    br   halloween  s director  john carpenter  got a lot out of the horror movies of the    s and combined everything he knew into one film that scared the hell out of a lot of people back in the late    s . this films solidified him as a director to watch and also jump started the career of jamie lee curtis  who plays the girl being stalked by the masked killer .  br    br   this film may seem clich today  but back then there wasn  t much out there like this . it  s been copied from and ripped off of  but halloween will always remain the quintessential teenage horror movie . it still gives you chills listening to carpenter  s thrilling music while we see another victim get chased by that shadowy michael myers .  
when you get to the scenes that involve albert brooks without his shirt . . . try not to gag on a fur ball .  br    br   i like albert brooks . i  ve seen most  if not all of his movies but it was the first time seeing this one . modern romance is an interesting take on the subject of love . there are few movies that handle the desperation of love as well or as overtly as modern romance  although      s chilly scenes of winter comes very close . they both essentially deal with obsessed men that are too psychologically attracted  obsessed to their respective women .  br    br   where  as chilly scenes of winter borders on the subject stalking  this movie has a more grounded foundation with the subject of love because both people are already in a relationship . . and out of the relationship . . and back in it again .  br    br   and because it  s a movie that was released in      it is of its time in terms of styles and such . that  s the main reason i like this movie . my basic rule when it comes to movies is  if it sucks at least it may have some historic relevance   you know time capsule stuff .  br    br   which leads me to the horrific scenes of albert brooks sans shirt .  br    br   the man is hair . very hair . like he  s wearing a black curly fur sweater  hairy . and what  s worse is he almost looks burn victim  hairy . it  s not a pleasant sight and the scenes with him without a shirt go on and on . back in the early    s hairy men were seen as normal and nothing shocking . but in     the sight of something like this is just plain revolting . sorry  albert  i wish at some point someone said  hey let  s try this scene but with you wearing a simple t  shirt  i mean you might scare people  . it  s just really bad and i feel sorry for the poor pretty actress that had to deal with albert brooks naked body on top of hers . she was probably pulling out his hairs from her teeth for days after that .  br    br   anyway  it  s an ok movie . it could have been better if i hadn  t see albert brooks without his shirt for what seemed like   long continuous minutes because that will forever taint my viewing of this movie .  
this movie is soooo funny    the acting is wonderful  the ramones are sexy  the jokes are subtle  and the plot is just what every high schooler dreams of doing to his  her school . i absolutely loved the soundtrack as well as the carefully placed cynicism . if you like monty python  you will love this film . this movie is a tad bit  grease  esk  without all the annoying songs  . the songs that are sung are likable you might even find yourself singing these songs once the movie is through . this musical ranks number two in musicals to me  second next to the blues brothers  . but please  do not think of it as a musical per say seeing as how the songs are so likable  it is hard to tell a carefully choreographed scene is taking place . i think of this movie as more of a comedy with undertones of romance . you will be reminded of what it was like to be a rebellious teenager needless to say  you will be reminiscing of your old high school days after seeing this film . highly recommended for both the family  since it is a very youthful but also for adults since there are many jokes that are funnier with age and experience .  
mike hawthorne  gordon currie  is witness to the brutal murder of his mother and suicide of his father morty  jon fedele  . twenty years later  mike gathers a group of his friends to his family  s cabin in the woods for a halloween party . while playing a game where the guests confess and confront their worst fears . . . mike tries to summon the spirit of his late father . it is soon discovered that morty  s spirit inhabits a wooden indian in the cabin . the statue comes to life and the blood bath begins .  br    br   most of the f  x are not very convincing and the movie takes on a cheap teen slasher theme . stale story pitifully acted . cast members of note are kelly benson  phillip rhys  emmanuelle vaugier  byron chief  moon and veteran actress betsy palmer .  
i must admit  this is one of my favorite horror films of all time . the unique way that john carpenter has directed this picture  opening the door to so many mock  genres  it will chill you to the bone whether it is your first time watching it or your fiftieth . the sound  the menacing horror of michael meyers and the infamous scream of jamie lee curtis gives this film instant cult status and a great start for the independent era . i love the music  i love the characters  the familiar yet spooky setting  the simplistic nature of the villain  and the random chaos of it all . there is no really rhyme or reason to the killing in this first film  giving us a taste of michael  s true nature . is he insane  or in some way just a very brilliant beast  that question may never be truly answered  but carpenter gives us his     and more devotion to this amazing masterpiece .  br    br   john carpenter is the master of horror . while lately his films have not been the caliber that they once were  see ghosts of mars   halloween began his powerhouse of a career . this is his ultimate film . while he did release other greats  i will always remember this one as the film that caused me to turn on all the lights  beware when babysitting  and check behind closed doors  because you never knew where the evil would appear next . carpenter has this amazing ability to bring you into the world in which he weaves . with the power of his camera  he places these images of meyers in places you least expected while giving you the perception as if the murderer is right next to you . i loved every scene in which we panned back and there was michael  watching from the distance  without anyone the wiser . that was scary  yet utterly brilliant . i loved the scenes in which carpenter pulled your fright from nearly thin air . there you would be  minding your own business  when suddenly that horrid mask would appear out of nowhere . like the characters  you too thought it was just a trick of the eye  but that is where carpenter gets you  it isn  t . michael isn  t a ghost  he is a human being  or at least we think   yet he has a stronger mental ability than most of the main characters . this leads into some really dark themes and unexplored symbolism  but even without that  this is a spooky film .  br    br   then  if you just didn  t have enough of michael just vaporizing in the windows of your house  carpenter adds that chilling theme music . i still have that tapping of the piano keys in my mind  constantly wondering if meyers is looking at me through the window . carpenter has found the perfect combination of visual frights and chilling sounds to foreshadow what may happen to our unsuspecting victims next . it is lethal  and it is done with refreshing originality and more unique thrills than anything released by today  s horror hollywood could muster . carpenter  s halloween is a breath of fresh air in the midst of what could be a rough horror year  with actual scares being replaced by paris hilton  you know that the quality isn  t quite the same .  br    br   finally  i would like to say that even the simplistic nature of the opening murder in this film is terrifying and chilling . the use of the  clown  mask sent shivers up my spine . the way that it was filmed with that elongated one shot using the child  s mask as if it were our own eyes is still one of the best horror openings ever  it completely sets the tone for the remainder of that film . you have the babysitter theme  you have the childish behavior which carries with michael throughout the film  and you have the art talent of carpenter all rolled into one . i could literally speak for hours upon hours about this film  but instead i would rather go watch it again . it is worth the repeat visit many times   br    br   overall  i think this is one of the most outstanding films in cinematic history . skip all those foreign films that think that they are going to chance the face of movies leave it to a budget tight carpenter and the slasher film genre . this singular movie redefined a whole generation of horror films  and still continues to be an influence on modern  day horror treats . the lethal combination of a genuinely spooky murderer  the powerful cinematography of the events  which normally doesn  t amount to much in horror films   and the beauty of jamie lee curtis is exactly what makes halloween that film above the rest . sure  freddy is cool and you feel sympathetic for jason  but michael is real  he is troubled  and he is on the loose lusting for the blood of babysitters . what can be better   br    br   grade  out of   
a bondage  humiliation  sm show  and not much else . the plot is flat  really just a banal setup for the stylishly depraved set  pieces . the host of the aforementioned show  a silly little man who spouts drivel while prancing around the stage in dresses  was almost as painfully distracting as the attempts at artful editing . the dream  like ending felt tacked on . to the film  s credit though  aya sugimoto was fairly convincing as the tortured lead . flower and snake has been compared with eyes wide shut but aside from some minor surface similarities  kubrick  s is easily the more layered  artistic  and atmospheric picture .  
halloween is one of the best examples of independent film . it  s very well made and has more psychological elements to it than you might realize at first glance . it is a simple movie told very well . the music is perfect and is one of the most haunting scores . . . if you haven  t seen this movie yet  you must check it out . the cast is all terrific . i wish they had never made sequel after sequel . the first one was by far the best and should have ended like it did without having a sequel . it was fun to see jamie lee curtis in the movie . she hasn  t seemed to age  she  s just as gorgeous today  without the hairdo and seventies clothes  . the scenes through the mask are one of the scariest things ever   
perhaps not my genre but plot was horrible as was acting by nancy allen and linda farentino . c . thomas also seemed uncomfortable in role of being seduced here  while on marijuana  why did this need to be included  this weakened plot considerably  . also farentino  s charac . would have been better had she had more respect for a relationship . would does movie try to say  not much .  
halloween is one of those movies that gets you skin deep  it is in my opinion  the scariest movie of all time . michael myers is the best boogeyman ever  he was just so terrifying  what makes halloween so special is that there was no special effects where you can tell how computer animated it is  this was on a low budget and had a one note score  yet managed to scare the hell out of people .   years and this movie still has the same effect as it did in    .  br    br   it  s about a boy michael myers  he kills his sister at the age of  and so many years later escapes the mental institution . dr . sam loomis is after him and will do anything to get him back  since he describes michael as  . . . pure evil . the blackest eyes  the devil  s eyes  . michael is on a mission though  to kill his other sister  laurie  played by a new jamie lee curtis . she has to babysit on halloween  while her friends are out partying and of course  we know the rules  they get it  but laurie may stand a chance since she  s the virgin . d  br    br   halloween pays many homages to psycho  we have another character named sam loomis and jamie lee curis  the daughter of janet leigh . halloween is an absolute terrific movie that breaks boundaries and makes you lock the doors  bolt your windows  and turn off the lights   they  re gonna get you  they  re gonna get you   . halloween  the ultimate horror film   br    br         
i  ll give credit where credit is due  and say that linda fiorentino gives a good performance as a hard  drinking actress who does what she wants . she  s brash  sassy  hard  edged  and very sexy she is much better than this film deserves .  br    br   but that is it . this dull suspense film is a fragmented mess  attempting at once to be a stalker thriller  a murder thriller  a tale of loyalty and betrayal  and a steamy erotic thriller . the film  my friends  isn  t thrilling in the slightest .  br    br   for instance  who thought of casting c . thomas howell as a desirable leading man  he is not ugly  but for crying out loud  it looks as though fiorentino  s tough  cookie goddess is getting it on with a kindergarten teacher . howell has neither the authority or screen presence to fill the leading man role .  br    br   the script is by far the worst aspect of the film . there is no tension as fiorentino  s character gets eerie phone calls  there is no mystery concerning her guilt in the murders that are the focus of the film  there is no sense of liberation as fiorentino gets wimpy howell to lose his inhibitions .  br    br   look for interesting but poorly  done cameos by adam ant and issac hayes  and one really  really good sex scene between howell and fiorentino . besides that  my first impulse would be to put this sorry piece of trash down and go rent something else .  
brutal  emotionless michael myers stabs his sister to death at age six on halloween night in      on october         he escapes from a mental institution and institutes a new reign of terror in his hometown of haddonfield  illinois . he is pursued the whole time by a psychiatrist  donald pleasence  who knows just how evil this young man is .  br    br   it opens with a bang  and sets up a genuinely suspenseful and atmospheric chiller that is actually superior to the many slasher pictures it helped to inspire . it  s subtle compared to the nasty bloodbaths many of those subsequent movies were subtle  and scary . it retains the ability to make me jump even after repeated viewings . how many movies are there  really  that can continue to be frightening even after one has seen them before  not very many .  br    br   pleasence is great in what was probably the definitive role of his career jamie lee curtis  in her motion picture debut  became a bona fide scream queen after acting in  halloween  as well as a few subsequent slasher pictures  and she is an intended victim worth rooting for .  br    br   co  writer  director john carpenter knows what works in this movie  making excellent use of shadows and dark skies notice how most of the movie is set after nightfall . with this picture  he and his former collaborator debra hill created a franchise that has spawned seven sequels  many imitators  and an upcoming  re  imagining  .  br    br   it  s very quotable  who could ever forget dr . loomis   pleasence  speech in which he describes michael myers to the sheriff  charles cyphers  a reliable repertory player in several of carpenter  s earlier works    br    br   it  s fantastic  and worth seeking out . this is my favorite john carpenter movie of all time .  br    br   it  s not totally infallible  there are script holes  after all  but overall it makes a solid impact .  br    br        
well . . . . . . . in contrast to other comments previously written i have to say that the only good thing about this film is the fact that one guy in it looked a bit like jason donavon which reminded me of my youth . i have no idea how it won any awards  and although i  m sure a great deal of effort went into making it it was all fruitless as the final outcome is one which screams of early    s foreign soap operas . the plot was non  existent  the cinematography was hopeless and the acting was on par with an a  level performance . it was unfortunately long and the sub  plots were incredibly unrealistic . . . . for example . . . . if your best friend slept with your ex  boyfriend of  years after only  weeks of being broken up you would not all remain the best of friends . it was all fantasy . that  s all  oh yeah  and the weird    s house  soft core indie was mind numbing   
my personal favorite horror film . from the lengthy first tracking shot to the final story twist  this is carpenter  s masterpiece .  br    br   halloween night      little michael meyers murders his older sister . all  hallows  eve      michael escapes from smith  s grove sanitarium . halloween night  michael has come home to murder again .  br    br   the story is perfectly simple  michael stalks and kills babysitters . no bells or whistles  just the basics . it  s carpenter  s almost over  powering atmosphere of dread that generates the tension . like any great horror film  events are telegraphed long in advance  yet they still seem to occur at random  never allowing the audience to the chance to second guess the film .  br    br   the dark lighting  the long steady  cam shots  and  most importantly  that damn eerie music create the most claustrophobic and uncomfortable scenes i have yet to see in film . there is a body count  but compared to the slew of slashers after this it  s fairly small . that and most of the murders are nearly bloodless . the fear is not in death  but in not knowing .  br    br   the acting is roundelay good . pj soles provides much of the films limited humor  and one of the best deaths   nancy loomis turns in a decent performance and then there is the young  at the time  jamie leigh  curtis . her performance at first seems shy and un  assured  yet you quickly realize that it is perfect for the character  who is herself shy and un  assured and not at all prepared for what she is to face . and of course there is the perfectly cast donald pleasence as the determined  perhaps a little unstable  dr . sam loomis . rest in peace mr . pleasence .  br    br   if the film has a detrimental flaw  it would be the passage of time . since the release of this film so many years ago nearly countless clones  copies  rip  offs  and imitators have come along and stolen  usually badly  the films best bits until nearly everything about it has become familiar . combined with the changes for audience expectations and appetites  one finds much of the films raw power diluted . to truly appreciate it in this day and age  it must be viewed as it once was  as something unique .  br    br   never the less  i have no reservation with highly recommending this film to anyone looking for a good  scary time . highest reguards .  br    br         
being a film studies graduate i would like to think that i have seen a diverse range of films  some good and some bad  but i would have to say that  summer rain  is by far the worse film i have ever seen  i chose the film in the hope that it was going to be a great british classic such as  secrets and lies  or  lockstock  but oh no this was so bad that my flat mates and i ended up laughing and cringing at the ridiculous acting and cheesy script  reminded me of a bad  theatre in education  school production  . the main characters michelle and gary began to annoy us from the start .  michelle  the main character who lives with her two friends has the type of face that you would never get tired of slapping and gary was so wet  he kept breaking down in tears every  minutes  that by the end of the film i really didn  t give a damn about either of them . all i could think was  i paid   for this pile  . i have never written a review before but after watching this film it has spurred me on to warn people of this disastrous production . so please avoid at all costs . thanks for reading .  
john carpenter  s halloween is quite frankly a horror masterpiece . it tells the immortal story of escaped mental patient michael myers  who returns to his hometown on halloween night to stalk and kill a group of babysitters .  br    br   this was the first and without doubt the best in the halloween franchise . carpenter shows great restraint in pacing the story very slowly and building likable characters unusual for a horror picture .  br    br   even more unusual is the non  existence of blood and gore  and yet it remains the scariest halloween to date . get that   br    br   halloween marked the film debut of jamie lee curtis and a defining point in the late great donald pleasance  s career . a true classic .  
it makes the actors in hollyoaks look like the royal shakespeare company . this movie is jaw dropping in how appalling it is . turning the dvd player off was not a sufficient course of action . i want to find the people responsible for this disaster and slap them around the face . i will never get that time back . never . how is it possible to create such a banal  boring and soulless film  i could not think of a course of action that would relieve the tedium . writing the required ten lines is incredibly difficult for such a disgraceful piece of cinema . what more can you say than reiterate how truly awful the acting is . please avoid .  
halloween is not only the godfather of all slasher movies but the greatest horror movie ever  john carpenter and debra hill created the most suspenseful  creepy  and terrifying movie of all time with this classic chiller . michael myers is such a phenomenal monster in this movie that he inspired scores of imitators  such as jason vorhees  friday the   th   the miner  my bloody valentine   and charlie puckett  the night brings charlie  . okay  so i got a little obscure there  but it just goes to show you the impact that this movie had on the entire horror genre . no longer did a monster have to come from king tut  s tomb or from dr . frankenstein  s lab . he could be created in the cozy little neighborhoods of suburbia . and on the night he came home . . . haddonfield  illinois and the viewers would never be the same . there are many aspects of this movie that make it the crowning jewel of horror movies . first is the setting . . . it takes place in what appears to be a normal suburban neighborhood . many of us who grew up in an area such as this can easily identify with the characters . this is the type of neighborhood where you feel safe  but if trouble starts to brew  nobody wants to lift a finger to get involved  especially when a heavy  breathing madman is trying to skewer our young heroine .  along with the setting  the movie takes place on halloween   the scariest night of the year  while most people are carving jack  o  lanterns  michael myers is looking to carve up some teenie  boppers . besides the setting  there is some great acting . jamie lee curtis does a serviceable job as our heroine  laurie strode  a goody  two  shoes high  schooler who can never seem to find a date . however  it is donald pleasance  as dr . sam loomis  who really steals the show . his portrayal of the good doctor  who knows just what type of evil hides behind the black eyes of michael myers and feels compelled to send him to hell once and for all  is the stuff of horror legend . however  it is the synthesizer score that really drives this picture as it seems to almost put the viewer into the film . once you hear it  you will never forget it . i also enjoy the grainy feel to this picture . nowadays  they seem to sharpen up the image of every movie  giving us every possible detail of the monster we are supposed to be afraid of . in halloween  john carpenter never really lets us get a complete look at michael myers . he always seems like he is a part of the shadows  and  i think that is what makes him so terrifying . there are many scenes where michael is partly visible as he spies on the young teens  unbeknownst to them   which adds to his creepiness . if you think about  some wacko could be watching you right now and you wouldn  t even know it . unfortunately for our teenagers  and fortunately for us horror fans   when they find michael  he  s not looking for candy on this halloween night . . he  s looking for blood . finally  michael myers  himself  is a key element to this movie  s effectiveness . his relentless pursuit of laurie strode makes him seem like the killer who will never stop . he is the bogeyman that will haunt you for the rest of your life . so  if you have not seen this movie  if there are still some of you out there who haven  t  or even if you have   grab some popcorn  turn off every light  pop this into the old dvd and watch in fright . trick or treat   
this film has an interesting plot  but the acting is quite bad and the script is poor . i was very disappointed . the moral dilemma faced by the main character is an intriguing one  but due to poor writing and casting this potentially winning premise is plundered .  of the  other people in the theater left after about   minutes and the other  were laughing at how bad the film was . i stuck it out to the end  but i must admit i played blackjack on my cell phone to make the last   minutes bearable .  
i have just recently been through a stage where i wanted to see why it is that horror films of the    s can  t hold a candle to    s and    s horror films . i have been very public in this forum about the vileness of films like the haunting and urban legend and such . i feel that they  and others like them  don  t know what true horror is . and it bothered me to the point where it made me go to my local video store and rent some of the classic horror films . i already own all the friday  s so i rented the texas chainsaw massacre  the original nightmare on elm street  jaws  the exorcist  angel heart  the exorcist and halloween . now the other films are classics in their own right but it is here that i want to tell you about halloween . because what halloween does is perhaps something no other film in the history of horror film can do  and that is it uses subtle techniques  techniques that don  t rely on blood and gore  and it uses these to scare the living daylights out of you . i was in a room by myself with the lights off and as silly as i knew it was  i wanted to look behind me to see if michael myers was there . no movie that i have seen in the last ten years has done that to me . no movie .  br    br   john carpenter took a low budget film and he scared a generation of movie goers . he showed that you don  t need budgets in the  or  figures to evoke fear on an audience . because sometimes the best element of fear is not what actually happens  but what is about to happen . what was that shadow  what was that noise upstairs  he knows that these are the ways to scare someone and he uses every element of textbook horror that i think you can use . i even think he made up some of his own ideas and these should be ideas that people use today . but they don  t . no one uses lighting and detail to provoke scares  they use special effects and rivers of blood . and it is just not the same . you can  t be scared by a giant special effect that makes loud noises and jumps out of a wall . it  s the moments when the killer is lurking  somewhere  you just don  t know where  that scare you . and halloween succeeds like no other film in this endeavor .  br    br   in     a young micael myers kills his sister with a large butcher knife and then spends the next   years of his life  silently locked up in an institute . as loomis  his doctor  says to sheriff brackett   i spent eight years trying to reach him and then another seven making sure that he never gets out  because what i saw behind those eyes was pure e  vil .  that sets up the manic and relentless idea of a killer that will stop at nothing to get what he wants . and all he wants here is to kill laurie . no one know why he wants to kill her  but he does .  halloween ii continues the story quite well   br    br   what carpenter has done here is taken a haunting score  mendacious lighting techniques and wrote and directed a tightly paced masterpiece of horror . there is one scene that has to be described . and that is the scene where annie is on her way to pick up paul . she goes to the car and tries to open it . only then does she realize that she has left her keys in the house . she gets them  comes back out and inadvertently opens the car door without using the keys . the audience picks up on this but she doesn  t . she is too busy thinking about paul . when she sits down  she notices that the windows are fogged up . she is puzzled and starts to wipe away the mist  and then myers strikes  from the back seat . this is such a great scene because it pays attention to detail . we know what is happening and annie doesn  t . but it  s astute observations that carpenter made that scared the hell out of movie goers in     and beyond .  br    br   halloween uses blurry images of a killer standing in the background  it has shadows ominously gliding across a wall  dark rooms  creepy and haunting music  a sinister story told hauntingly by donald pleasance and a menacing  relentless killer . my advice to film makers in our day and age is to study halloween . it should be the blue print for what scary movies are all about . after all  carpenter followed in hitchcock  s steps  maybe director  s should follow in his .  br    br   halloween personifies everything that scares us . if you are tired of all the mindless horror films that don  t know the difference between evil and cuteness  then halloween is a film that should be seen . it won  t let you down . i enjoy being scared  i don  t know why  but i do . but nothing has scared me in the    s  except maybe one film  wes craven  s final nightmare  . if you enjoy beings scared  then halloween is one that you should see . and if you have already seen it a hundred times  go and watch it again  back to back with a film like urban legend . urban legend will have you enticed at all the pretty faces in the movie . halloween will have you frozen with fear  stuck in your seat  not wanting to move . now tell me  what horror film would you rather watch   br    br   and just to follow up after seeing zombie  s version  it makes you appreciate this that much more . this is a classic by definition . zombie bastardized his version  but it doesn  t take away from the brilliance of this one .  
heavy  handed moralism . writers using characters as mouthpieces to speak for themselves . predictable  plodding plot points  say that five times fast  . a child  s imitation of britney spears . this film has all the earmarks of a lifetime special reject .  br    br   i honestly believe that jesus nebot and julia montejo set out to create a thought  provoking  emotional film on a tough subject  exploring the idea that things are not always black and white  that one who is a criminal by definition is not necessarily a bad human being  and that there can be extenuating circumstances  especially when one puts the well  being of a child first . however  their earnestness ends up being channeled into preachy dialogue and trite situations planted to move the plot along . the decent production values and interesting use of documentary  style camera footage are not enough to accomplish their aim when the script and the acting fall flat .  br    br   logic is often compromised for the sake of creating tension soid first tries to blackmail pablo into participating in her documentary in exchange for helping them escape  then in the same breath basically tells him not to trust her because she  s not helping them out of altruism . well  duh . and for a man on the run  pablo is far too swayed by a temper tantrum . cristina  s well  being is so important to him that he  s fleeing capture and jail or deportation for her  but he  s willing to risk all that to appease her when she doesn  t want to go to mexico . right . talk above over  permissive parenting . third  when pablo  s employer charlie gives the phone to detective bright  she is remarkably unprofessional  especially given her seniority  did she really think she was persuasive  oh  yeah  i would have turned myself in . cch pounder  s detective wims could wipe the floor with her .  br    br   to be fair  i  d like to list the things i liked . um  i liked the midget . and i liked the fact that the midget was named sexy . there  s cross  dressing  always a plus juvenile cross  dressing  no less  harry is infinitely cuter than cristina . but my favorite moment in the film has to be when cristina kicks detective not  so  bright . i also find it interesting that  in a heavily minority cast  which i much appreciate  by the way   the black character is the racist one . too bad it  s just thrown out there and not further explored .  br    br   there  s a distinctive  unconventional score  but it  s nonetheless generally context  unspecific  not enhancing mood or tension in any scene  except the pathetic  anguished wailing every time the main character is in anguish  as though they think his acting doesn  t show it enough  just in case you weren  t sure  he  s upset  and we have the musical cues to prove it .   br    br   stilted  clichd dialogue results in a depressing lack of subtext everything has to be spelled out in dialogue  even when the body language had been up  til then conveying it just fine . for example  every impassioned speech pablo makes  and mrs . knight  s lament that her child won  t be crawling into bed with them in the morning .  br    br    papi  tell me about mama again   what shameless  blatant exposition introducing the generic dead wife   she  s always the most beautiful woman the widower had ever seen  the kindest he had ever met . why can  t we see a man cry over a woman like shakespeare  s  she may be fat  ugly  obnoxious  but his love for her is deep as oceans  now  there  s  a story which would move me .   br    br   the police always being literally one step behind them gives many scenes the out  of  place feeling of a french farce . most boring foot chases ever  bright and lightning are so out  of  shape and easily  fooled  he certainly isn  t quick as lightning  and she  well  i don  t feel the need to spell things out  . some guy dragging along a small child outrunning a bicycle cop  complete with macho biker picking a fight but then being felled by a child  to quote margaret cho  that  s so sad . would we ever see this on  cops    br    br   hackneyed and over  the  top deus ex machina as an employer  would you really waive checking his green card just because he can quote the author of the inspirational saying on a poster behind your desk   br    br   plus several scenes  including the above  threaten to devolve into porn  well  i  ll do this favor for you  as long as you do something for me . . .  i can almost hear the bowm  chicka  bowm  bowm .  br    br   when the parents view the footage shot of pablo  s remorse  the grieving mom  s freak  out is the most real the movie feels . unfortunately  this is diminished by the fact that she looks completely swayed by his emotional speech right up until she goes ballistic . a more ambivalent look would be more convincing here .  br    br   i  m in constant awe of the stupidity of the main character doing things for the sake of plot holding up a convenience store without a mask  visiting the dead girl  s grave . and why doesn  t the mother recognize his face from when she saw him before he drove off    you seem awfully familiar . . .   br    br   what is the purpose of that wholly unnecessary  somewhat gratuitous scene with soid and the artificially  enhanced bartender  character development  tch . too little  too late .  br    br   speaking of unnecessary traits that never went anywhere  detective lightning  s saying skeptical detective bright must be a scorpio shows how little he really knows about the occult . and i don  t think that believing in fate quite qualifies as voodoo mumbo jumbo .  br    br   at the end  when bright holds pablo as he dies  wait  why does she care now  her character is as inconsistent as soid  s . what  she has to shoot him just because she said  stop  or i  ll shoot    she  s cared  so  much  about her integrity thus far .  he was unarmed . there was no need for lethal force . what  s wrong with shooting him in the leg to immobilize him   br    br   finally  cristina  s childlike acceptance of her mother  s death giving dr . knight peace over his daughter  s death  so forced . and the contrivance of the family whose child was killed becoming cristina  s new family . . . it angers me that she could be a  replacement  for their little girl . it  s also unrealistic that a white couple would take in the latino daughter of the man who killed their own daughter . i  m not saying there aren  t generous  loving people who would do that . i  m just saying that the characters here are never developed far enough for me to believe that  they  would do that .  br    br   i find it offensive that another imdb reviewer said that of course as a woman she was moved by the sappy scenes . i am a woman who reserves my emotional movements for moments that don  t wax sentimental in a manufactured manner .  br    br   co  writer  co  director  co  star nebot said himself he wore too many hats during this production . too many cooks may spoil the broth  but one cook alone just might end up making an after  school special .  br    br   in conclusion  this film  s title has less to do with the story and more to do with the feeling of regret  helplessness  and loss accompanying the revelation that you will never see your money again .  
i liked this movie a lot . i rented this expecting something not too bad to spend an evening . it turned out a particularly satisfying experience . some scenes were hilarious and managed to be so in a movie not intended to be just a stupid slapstick comedy but with some meaning and moral values . it manages on both counts . the leads are all good but especially the guy who stars  also wrote and produced the movie . i  ve never seen any of these actors before  but they were likable and made me care about what happens to them in the end which is saying a lot . the script is clever and involving and has a refreshing feel to it . i think you wont be disappointed to watch this .  
i see a lot of people liked this movie . to me this was a movie made right of writing    and the person failed the class . from the time lindsey price the videographer shows up until the end the movie was very predictable . i kept on watching to see if it was going anywhere .  br    br   first we have the widowed young father . clich   movies  tv always kill off the the mother parent if the child is a girl  or a brood of boys so the single father can get swoon over his dead wife and seem completely out of his element taking care of the children . starting from from my  sons to     dads . these movies are usually dramas and comedies are tv shows .  br    br   clich   when a pushy woman has a video camera in her hand she will play a big part in the movie . and will always have solutions or even if that person is a airhead  br    br   clich   if the person in peril is a foreigner they have to be of latino origin . and they must be illegal . apparently there are no legal latino  s and illegal europeans  unless if there is a ira element involved .  br    br   clich   the said latino must be highly educated in his native country . in this case he was a profesor who made    per month . and the said highly educated latino must now act like he hasn  t brain in his head now and lets the air head side kick take over .  br    br   clich   the crime the person committed really wasn  t a crime but a accident . but because in this case he has lost all of the sense he had when he crossed the boarder he now acts like a blithering idiot and now has put his own daughter in peril by taking her along on a fruitless quest to the border with the idiot side kick .  br    br   clich   one never runs over a hoodlum running from a crime  but some poor little cute kid . this is because the parents of the child have to play a big part of the movie  and because the the person who accidentally killed the child can have ridiculous interaction with the parents .  br    br   clich   name me one movie in which one cop is not the angry vet and they get paired up with a rookie . even if they are homicide detectives who have to be the most experienced cops on a police force . sev  n and copy cat and law and order come to mind right away . and the vet even though gruff on the outside has a heart of gold .  br    br   clich   let  s go and round up some unemployed soap stars . now i like lindsey price . but susan haskell imo can not act her way out of a paper bag and when she use to be on one life to live as marty he swayed from right to left every time she opened her mouth . it use to get me sea sick . she might be anchored on land better now  but she still cannot act .  br    br   the movie might have been more insightful if it wasn  t filled with clichs . i don  t think a movie has to be expensive or cerebral to be good . but this was just bad .  br    br   spoiler now i am not going to spoil the ending . oh heck i will because i feel it will be a disservice to humanity to let a person waste time they will never get back looking at this movie . it involves clich   and   . unless a person has never seen a movie before you had to see what was coming . the father makes even a dumber mistake runs from the cops at the end and gets shot by the angry veteran  who all of a sudden is very upset . you would think she thought the poor guy was innocent all through the movie and she shot him by mistake . when she didn  t . now for the little girl who the dad brought along with him . guess what happen to her  times up  she ends up living with the family whose child was killed by her father   come on  you all knew that was going to happen  because she is a replacement child   that is why she did not go and live with the lindey price character .  br    br   this movie was a insult as far as i was concerned . because there were so many avenues this movie could of explored and went down but it chose to take the clich ridden one . the  stars are for  of the stars  the little girl  who i thought was very good and lindsey price who character was annoying but she did what she could with it . my advice is take a vice and squeeze your head with it instead of looking at this dreck  
i really enjoyed this movie . the humor was a bit absent at times but i enjoyed how the story moved between dramatic and serious throughout the film . this is the only the second movie where i saw verdone acting  the other was  un sacco bello    and i can see why italians find him tiresome  but he think he played his role well as the loving father .  br    br   my one drawback with this movie was that i knew it took place in italy  somewhere in the center or south  i presume  but i felt like there was no representation of a place . this movie could have taken place in new york  boston  melbourne  new dehli . . . i always think it is important for movies to have a place to give the viewers something to relate to .  maybe i missed something     if you like italian films  then i think that you will enjoy this . it  s not a fellini or a rossellini  it  s not realism or neo  realism . it  s a comical story with serious moments that could really happen to any of us .  
after viewing this film  i felt the compelling need to vent a bit of my frustration . selma blair is a fabulous  currently underrated actress and max beesley was rather charming in  kill me later  . the story  while not exactly original  certainly showed some promise . none of that mattered though . . . at all .  br    br   i don  t know what her deal is  but director dana lustig has virtually no talent whatsoever as a director . she slowed footage down  sped footage up  reversed footage  used awkward camera angles  used annoying color filters  made a zillion quick cuts  jumped back and forth in the timeline and topped it all off with an obnoxious  modern  soundtrack of blaring junk . i can  t remember the last time i saw such an incompetent job of directing a film . her ego must be huge to toss out the acting and story and put her direction front and center for the audience members to take notice of . it is crammed down their throats .  br    br   there are a couple of good scenes in  kill me later  which show what could have and should have been . unfortunately  just when things would start to show promise  ms . lustig would dig into her bag of film school tricks and jumble things up again . it  s a shame because blair and beesley had good chemistry and you could tell that the film really had a good heart .      
well  i have finally caught up with  rock  n  roll high school   almost   years after it first became a midnight movie sensation in     .  latecomer that i am  i will probably first see this summer  s new documentary  patti smith dream of life  sometime around       and no  the film doesn  t feel dated one bit  and yes  it was worth the wait . this is a very high  energy comedy that features loads of great music and some surprising moments . it tells the story of riff randell  adorably played by p . j . soles  and the battle that she and her fellow students at vince lombardi high wage against their new repressive principal  miss togar .  danny peary  in his book  cult movies   quite accurately describes mary woronov  s performance as an  evil eve arden .   a typical teens vs . establishment story line is beefed up here with some absurdist humor  those exploding mice  that giant mouse  the hansel and gretel hall monitors  and some truly rousing tunes . riff is  of course  the   fan of that original punk band the ramones  and that band dishes out a baker  s dozen of its greatest songs during the course of the film  including five at a concert that is a total blast . indeed  the sight of riff furiously dancing to  teenage lobotomy  at this blowout may be the picture  s funniest moment . and the initial appearance of joey  johnny  dee dee and marky in their ramonesmobile  and later slinking down a street singing  i just wanna have something to do   is quite exhilarating . the film ends with an explosive confrontation that is  i would imagine  every high school kid  s wet dream . fun stuff indeed . on a side note  the ramones were one of the loudest bands that i have ever seen in concert  so i was very amused to note that the dvd for this film comes with optional english subtitles for the hearing impaired . how many aging punks out there found these subtitles necessary  i wonder . . . .  
a young boy sees his mother getting killed and his father hanging himself .   years later he gets a bunch of friends together to perform an exorcism on himself so he won  t turn out like his father . all the stock characters are in place the nice couple the  funny  guy the tough  but sensitive  hood the smart girl  she wears glasses   that  s how we know   the nerd and two no  personality blondes . it all involves some stupid wooden statue that comes to life  don  t ask  and kills people . i knew i was in trouble when  after a great opening scene  we jump to   years later   all bad horror movies do that   br    br   the dialogue is atrocious  the acting is bad  except for betsy palmer   why betsy   and the killings are stupid and  or unimaginative . my favorite scene is when two people are supposedly having sex and the statue knocks the guy off the bed to show he  s fully dressed  a real bad  stupid incoherent horror film . avoid at all costs .  
this movie is based on the art of frank frazetta  the mythical fantasy illustrator . some of the characters are straight out of his paintings  the death dealer being the best example  . surprisingly  the animation manages to keep the feeling of the original art . bakshi is well known for his heavy use of rotoscope  the technique of tracing a live action sequence  and this film is no exception . however  since the subject of the movie is quite realistic  all characters are humans   this works pretty well .  br    br   but what i really like here is the plot for once we have a story with interesting characters and nice action sequences  a really hideous villain and a gorgeous babe . this movie has the feeling of the best conan comics  not surprisingly since roy thomas is the writer of the marvel series of our favourite cimmerian  this is a far cry from the crappy live action conan  not to speak of all the b  movie of the genre .  br    br   definitely recommended   
kill me later  has an interesting initial premise a suicidal woman  selma blair  on the verge of jumping off the top of an office building is protects a bank robber  max beesley  who promises to  kill her later .   br    br   the actual execution of this premise  however  falls flat as almost every action serves as a mere device to move the plot toward its predictable conclusion . shoddily written characters who exhibit no motive for their behaviors compromise the quality of acting all around . lack of character depth especially diminishes selma blair  s performance  whose character shawn vacillates from being morose to acting  cool  and ultimately comes across as a confused dolt . this is unfortunate  as under other circumstances ms . blair is an appealing and capable actress .  br    br   compounding matters for the worse is director dana lustig  s insistence on using rapid cuts  incongruous special effects  e . g . look for an unintentionally hilarious infrared motorcycle chase at the end   and a hip soundtrack in the hopes of appealing to the short attention spans of the mtv crowd . certainly ms . lustig proves that she is able to master the technical side of direction  but in no way does her skill help overcome the film  s inherent problems and thus the movie drags on to the end . clearly  lustig has a distinct visual style however it is perhaps better suited to music videos than to feature film .  br    br   the producers  ram bergman  lustig  can be commended for their ability to realize this film they were able to scare up   .  million to finance the film  secure a good cast  and get domestic and foreign distribution . this is no small feat for an independent film . yet given the quality of the product  the result is a mixed bag .  
in a time of magic  barbarians and demons abound a diabolical tyrant named nekhron and his mother queen juliane who lives in the realm of ice and wants to conquer the region of fire ruled by the king jerol but when his beautiful daughter princess teegra has been kidnapped by nekhron  s goons  a warrior named larn must protect her and must defeat nekhron from taking over the world and the kingdom with the help of an avenger named darkwolf .  br    br   a nicely done and excellent underrated animated fantasy epic that combines live actors with animation traced over them  rotoscoping   it  s ralph bakshi  s second best movie only with  american pop  being number one and  heavy traffic  being third and  wizards  being fourth . it  s certainly better than his  cool world  or  lord of the rings   the artwork is designed by famed artist frank farzetta and the animation has good coloring and there  s also a hottie for the guys .  br    br   i highly recommend this movie to fantasy and animation lovers everywhere especially the new   disc limited edition dvd from blue underground .  br    br   also recommended  the black cauldron    the dark crystal    conan the barbarian    the wizard of oz    rock  rule    wizards    heavy metal    starchaser legend of orin    fantastic planet    princess mononoke    nausicca valley of the wind    conan the destroyer    willow    the princess bride    lord of the rings          the sword in the stone    excalibur    army of darkness    krull    dragonheart    king arthur    the hobbit    return of the king          conquest    american pop    jason and the argonauts    clash of the titans    the last unicorn    the secret of nimh    the flight of dragons    hercules  disney     legend    the chronicles of narnia    harry potter and the goblet of fire  .  
this movie was clearly done poorly and in a rush . i realize that the funding for any such movie is hard to come by . however if the plot had any kind of original substance someone would have seen that it got the necessary funding  this was not the case and movies like this are not necessary themselves and have no purpose in existing . the plot for this movie has been done and done better i might add  many times before . there is no reason to make a movie that has no chance in competing with any others . i was informed by my computer that i need a minimum of ten lines to submit my comment so the following lines are just bull to fill in space . in my opinion there is no need for anything else to be said about this film . what i  ve said is plenty and if you wasted enough time reading this review  than for god  s sake don  t waste more time watching this movie . the only exception to this is if you are the kind of person who likes watching crappy movies that get played on the womens entertainment network at     a . m . in that case go ahead see what i care .  
i had watched snippets from this as a kid but  while i purchased blue underground  s set immediately due to its being a limited edition  only now did i fit it in my viewing schedule  and that  s mainly because bakshi  s american pop       just turned up on late  night italian tv  see my review of that film below    br    br   anyway  i found the film to be a quite good sword  and  sorcery animated epic with especially impressive  looking backdrops  the rather awkward rotoscoped characters were  admittedly  less so  with a rousing if derivative score . the plot  again  wasn  t exactly original  but proved undeniably engaging on a juvenile level and the leading characters well enough developed  especially interesting is the villainous ice  lord nekron and the enigmatic warrior darkwolf the hero and heroine  however  are rather bland stereotypes  but one can hardly complain when bakshi and frazetta depict the girl as well  endowed  her bra could be torn off any second  and half  naked to boot  her tiny panties are forever disappearing up her ass   still  it  s clearly an action  oriented piece and it certainly delivers on this front  that involving darkwolf being particularly savage   the final showdown though brief  is also nicely handled and sees our heroes astride pterodactyls assaulting the villains  lair inside a cave .  br    br   in the long run  apart from the afore  mentioned frazetta backdrops  the main appeal of this movie for me now is its nostalgia factor as it transported me back to my childhood days of watching not just films like conan the barbarian       and the beastmaster       but also animated tv series such as blackstar          and he  man and the masters of the universe          .  br    br   as for the accompanying the making of  fire and ice   tv   mark bakshi             br    br   vintage featurette on the sword  and  sorcery animated film which is only available via the washed  out vhs print owned by ralph bakshi himself  it goes into some detail about the rotoscope technique and also shows several instances of live  action  performances   in a studio  of segments from the script  which would then be traced  blended in with the backgrounds and filmed . still  having watched several such behind  the  scenes featurettes on the art of animation  on the disney tins and the looney tunes sets  for instance   it  s doesn  t make for a very compelling piece . . .  
despite being a     movie  the direction is the kind of    s art  house style that was considered  old  and out  of  date a few years ago . the cheesy cuts and effects were painful to watch . the script is decent enough  and a few scenes did kind of captivate me  like when the taxi driver brings her to the bridge at night  . but the story line with the detective who  s sister killed herself and how he was obsessed with suicide was just plain terrible . the performance by the actor who plays selma blair  s married boyfriend seriously bothered me . i did sit through the whole thing  though  which is rare for the kind of random  what  is  this movie you just find on tv and decide to watch .  
thsi is one great movie . probably the best movie i have ever seen . i watch it over and over again . i must give it      stars because like i said this is probably the best movie i have ever seen . this movie popcorncoke best mix you can imagine . if you want to watch some movie then i clearly recommend this one . first i sawed it i liked it so i buy  ed it and now i own it and watch it probably every day . my sons like it and think that this is the best movie ever seen . this movie is about guy in fantasy world . i don  t want to spoil all the movie so you can enjoy it after you read my text . lovely movie lovely characters  lovely story  and just great stuff . a must watch movie . hope you enjoyed my comment cya  br    br   jim make  
i enjoyed the feel of the opening few minutes  but    minutes in i was liberally applying the fast  forward button . far too many shots of stewart  michael zelniker  walking from room to room  down hallways  through doors and down the street  and as many shots of him looking pensive and confused . gave me the impression that the story had originally been meant as a short       minutes   and then stretched into a feature as a labour of love between director grieve and star zelniker  they co  wrote the screenplay  .  br    br   it might have been more entertaining if any of the characters had anything to say that i hadn  t heard said in many other films before  or if the ending wasn  t  disappointingly  the one i had predicted three minutes into the film  atypical for an independent  smaller studio film  . at least its heart was in the right place  it wasn  t your standard formulaic hollywood manipulative nonsense .  
watching fire and ice for the first time reminded me of my experience seeing    last year . it wasn  t at all a bad movie  certainly not average  but its plotting and dialog stuck out as being at best conventional and at worst kind of confusing and one  dimensional  which  perhaps as based on frank miller  s comic book  was the right decision to go with  . but its primary strengths drew from the intense action and bloody battles and having that jolt of a   year old feeling watching beefcake men fighting in bloody sword  led combat  with the occasional freaky creature or super  hot female to go with the painterly surroundings . while i would probably re  watch fire and ice before    again  they both aroused that similar feeling  the exception this time being  naturally  that it  s frank frazetta  the infamous artist and designer of countless paperback books and comics  collaborating with director ralph bakshi  in what isn  t typical hollywood fare but something for the die  hard fans .  br    br   what this means for audiences today going back to check out the film for the first time  it may now be coveted nostalgia for those who were young and watched it along with their masters of the universe vhs tapes back in the day  is the possible cons mentioned before and  maybe  that you will see something somewhat unique . fire and ice isn  t even the only bakshi rotoscoped feature  but it  s possibly the most fluid  if not quite my personal favorite  of the few he made  and he and his team create a whole striking world that  s part pre  historic  part out  of  this  world fantastic  and part medieval  and all touched up with a painters hand with respect to the backgrounds  the skies and grounds . there  s a slight drawback for bakshi fans in this facet of character design bakshi went as far as to say it  s more frazetta than him . this may be true  but it doesn  t make it any more absorbing to the eye or curious in those moments where we don  t see people killed or gutted in quick or slow motion  my favorite was the momentary skeleton  guide  how they rotoscoped that amazes me  .  br    br   i neglect describing the plot as it would defeat the purpose of really recommending it . if you  re already a die  hard into this kind of style and approach of animation the plot will matter depending on what degree two warring factions or a  damsel  or princess is in danger or a hero has to prove himself or yada yada  so suffice to say it  s about  well  fire against ice  with characters named nekron and darkwolf  the coolest male of the lot and most comic  book in appearance  and teegra  the typical hottie who  s almost too perfect for the adolescent male fantasy figure  . what the plot does do  as an asset  is allow a series of cliffhangers and suspense bits around the action  the progression of the danger in the oncoming big battle  like when the ogres are hunting after teegra and have to contend with sudden crazy monsters and creatures popping out of tree trunks and lakes . and per usual for bakshi  he conjures up some craziness  if not quite his usual inspired lunacy  in the midst of all of this straightforward fantasy material . if you  ve seen wizards  you  ll understand what i mean to a lesser extent .  br    br   so  if you  re an animation buff  seek this out right away for some  old  school   i . e .     s  action and incredible design . for everyone else  it  s . . . good  not great  as i would say without fault about its logical   st century extension  with some alterations     .  
i consider stuart bliss the worst movie i have ever seen .  br    br   the acting was terrible and the plot ludicrous . i get the fact that the main character  s wife leaving him triggered a mental breakdown  but it got so silly and boring  after a while i could have cared less about any of the characters .  br    br   the movie kept going over and over the same ideas without anything fresh or surprising to add to the plot . the whole thing with the geiger counter got too much after a while after stuart started opening up his wall to see what was behind it after the counter indicated something was there .  br    br   then there was the repetitive scenes with the flyer  and the confusing ones where he meets himself .  br    br   i should have guessed that this movie was a flop when i didn  t recognize any of the actors . do yourself a favor when this movie comes up  read a book  you  ll be better off .  
with ralph bakshi most of his films appear to be like two  edged swords . you  ll get something awesome out of it but only if you put up with the silly and the unnecessarily cheezy . the lord of the rings was a great adaptation of the story which perhaps didn  t always shine in the animation department .  br    br   fire and ice is a great achievement from bakshi from an animation point of view . the rotoscoping is a lot more detailed and the animation has a vibrant look to it . you still get some of the dull still  cells and slightly blurred background paintings but on the over  all the look has definitely gotten better since bakshi  s last fantasy epic . the animation has almost a realistic  naturalistic style to it  and unlike in lotr where this style was often at odds with the actual content  here it enhances the film  s unique atmosphere .  br    br   unfortunately the film fails to create a meaningful story out of its simple setting and in fact most of the characters  motivations are pretty blurred . lorn and tigra are easy cases but even the main villain necron was difficult to follow not to mention that guy with furry face mask  also known as just  that guy   . even though most of the voice actor  s were appropriate  there are some odd quirks in the audio  department and tigra especially sounds really terrible whenever she  s screaming .  br    br   however  i believe the film  s inherent entertainment value outweighs its unnecessarily silly execution of the plot  line . the scant clad of the characters is something you  ll never get over but it helps you remind yourself that perhaps this film isn  t even intended to be taken too seriously . it  s still a hella cool and really funny .  
this is possibly the worst version of the play i have seen  several times on stage apart from the movie .  br    br   a very nice idea for the set up  the american south can give a credible backdrop for the extreme reaction round hero  s supposed misdemeanour .  br    br   but the execution  widdoes is a very mannered beatrice giving a particularly poor performance . waterston  a fine actor  is not much better as benedict .  br    br   the poorest performance is in the role of don john  it makes keanu reeves look good . perhaps the desire to make it a caricature along the lines of the villain who ties the maiden to the train track fits with the keystone kops capers of dogberry and his men  but the acting makes you want to cringe .  br    br   successful set  ups include the scene where they fool benedict into believing beatrice loves him  were the acting competent it would be superb . but the use of the river and the visual humour of benedict moving closer is well produced .  br    br   overall i had to force myself to keep watching but it certainly didn  t keep my attention .  br    br   very disappointing .  br    br   with respect to latter comments above i am nearly   . i  ve been watching stage and screen productions of shakespeare for over  decades . might i suggest when trying to defend your friends you speak to the piece rather than attack other reviewers when you are so inadequately armed in terms of fact . i can assume though  from your distaste regarding youth  that you are of sufficient age where the mannered acting of bygone days is more to your taste .  br    br   my personal favourite pairing was rylance and mcteer on the london stage . unlike widdoes  mcteer  a skilled and charismatic performer  can act .  
this is another fantasy favorite from ralph bakshi after watching it on youtube that is . set in the distant past after the ice age  it is a prehistoric sword  and  sorcery quest between good and evil . nekron  lord of the realm of ice and his mother queen juliana  has set their sights on conquest of the known world . when their glaciers destroy  s the village of a man named larn  he  larn  vows to avenge his people and kill the ice lord . meanwhile  the sub  human minions of nekron and juliana capture firekeep  s king jarol  s sultry daughter princess teegra but she manages to escape  and eventually meets with larn  who promises to escort her back to firekeep if the sub  humans don  t find them first .  br    br   this movie did very little box office  as did most of ralph bakshi  s films   but has become a cult classic  partly for the quality of the art  a collaboration between ralph bakshi and the famed fantasy artist frank frazetta . also  i have heard that the screenplay was written by gerry conway and roy thomas  the two men who had done conan comic book stories  and the background painters included james gurney  the illustrator of the dinotopia novels though admittedly i had never read conan or dinotopia . and also the painter thomas kinkade  noted for his artwork for figurines  music  boxes for the bradford exchange company besides paintings . and like bakshi  s films the lord of the rings and american pop  this movie was rotoscoped  but the process works better in this film than in the former .  br    br   so overall  i think it  s one of the best animated fantasy movies ever made  and an awesome collaboration between two great minds  ralph bakshi and frank frazetta . with plenty of fantasy  sexual innuendo  and thrilling adventure .  
this is a very bland and inert production of one of shakespeare  s most vibrant plays . i can only guess that the intent was to make the play as accessible and understandable as possible to an audience that has not been exposed to shakespeare before . by doing this  though  by making every line clear and every intent obvious  they have drained the play of life and turned it into a flat caricature . somehow  it is actually boring  a very hard feat given such wonderful material .  br    br   the acting is forgettable at best  sam waterston as benedick and douglas watson as don pedro . others  however  do not fare so well . april shawnham  s hero is a pouty  breathless airhead that frequently provokes winces . jerry mayer  s don john is a nonsensical cartoon character on the level of snidely whiplash  though snidley was much more enjoyable  .  br    br   f . murray abraham  you know  the guy who killed mozart   is not in this version  unless he was in disguise and had his name removed from the credits .  br    br   given that the producer  joseph papp  is basically a theater god  this production is not only disappointing but head  scratching as well .  br    br   don  t bother with this . watch branagh  s much ado instead  his version is overflowing with vitality and humor  to say nothing of wonderful performances .  
good story and excellent animation . the influence of frazetta and bakshi are obvious  and that  s a good thing . anyone that enjoys conan the barbarian or the game dungeons and dragons should enjoy it . the battle between good and evil is clear cut even though it may appear that at times our hero is neutral . most often in fantasy movies elves are usually portrayed as having white skin and blond hair and goblins and orcs have dark skin and hair . anyone familiar with frazetta  s  bakshi  s  or even tolkien  s work know they are not racist . anyone that enjoys fantasy movies should like this movie . it is not for young children due to violence and sexual innuendo . the casting was well done and the scenes and music are first rate . i hope someone puts this gem on dvd soon . i consider myself lucky to have a vhs copy in good condition .  
painful . painful is the only word to describe this awful rendition of such a fun and interesting shakespearean play . i gave it a shot but was terribly disappointed and couldn  t bare to even finish viewing it . to the person who wrote a novel about how wonderful this twist of much ado was  i pity you and your bored brain . may your pretenses about young viewers be lifted without retribution . please do not even bother with this gut wrenching  disgusting excuse for a performance of an acclaimed shakespeare drama . you will be forced to induce vomiting and will require a commode close to the television with which you choose to watch this crap because involuntary defecation will take place .  
fire and ice is an animated film set in a fantasy world . the film is about a village that is destroyed by a giant glacier which is the home of the evil ice lord named nekron . the only survivor of the village is a young man named larn who sets out to avenge those who were killed by the glacier . the ice glacier moves through the land of fire and the princess of the land named teegra is kidnapped by evil creatures . larn sets out to find her and also sets out to find and kill nekron . fire and ice is directed by ralph bakshi who is one of my favourite adult animators . he has brought us such animated masterpieces as the film version of fritz the cat and some films he has written himself  like the great film heavy traffic . i didn  t like fire and ice nearly as much as i have ralph bakshi  s other work  but i still found the film to be enjoyable . it had some very nice animation in parts and the story was entertaining enough . the only basic complaints i have is that i wish that there was more of a story to the film because the story it uses is very thin and there is not a lot to it . i also wish the film was a bit longer because it is under   minutes in running time . still it  s an entertaining action adventure films that unlike fritz the cat or heavy traffic is appropriate for kids  and older . i only wish that there was a more developed story and it went on a bit longer than it did .  
i  ve been watching this movie by hoping to find a pretty and interesting story yet the story line wasn  t good at all . the play of the actors weren  t any better .  br    br   of course shahrukh khan was there yet he wasn  t enough to make this movie  credible  and interesting .  br    br   i  ve read that this movie was based on the novel of flaubert  madame bovary  yet for me i didn  t see it matching with the indian mentality .  br    br   in general we buy movie to dream and have a good time  not to waste our time and change our mood into worse . i just can  t understand how it could get such a  high  vote with an average of  .     .  br    br   so it  s the kind of movie you should run away  ignore because there is nothing to appreciate in it  you will just waste your time unless if you like  dark movie  with  strange and non sense story  .  
ever since i heard of the ralph bakshi version of  the lord of the rings  i wondered what the hell is  rotoscope  animation     well . . . i finally found out . . . i saw this movie about three years ago not having any idea who ralph bakshi is . . . and i liked it . . . a lot . . . very good story line . . . it even has a little character development which is great for a cartoon . . . see it if you get bored with contemporary animation . . . . don  t get me wrong . . . i  m not saying it  s just a nice cartoon . . . it  s a pretty good movie too . . .  
maya is a woman without any interests . she just dreams her life away and wonders  why she does not feel fulfilled . this could be an interesting topic . that would need a good story  a nice setting and good dialogues . it doesn  t have any of these . this movie is totally boring . there are only lengths and no climaxes . the only climax is shahrukh khan . but although i am a huge fan of his  i couldn  t stand this movie . even he can  t make this movie exiting . the movie is not as bad as  king uncle  and if you  re an art  house fan or like it slow  you might maybe like it . it  s not funny  it  s not interesting  it  s not catching . my recommendation don  t watch it .  
how can you go wrong with the amazing ramones  what a crime that two of them are already dead . it reminds me of the dennis leary joke about great musicians dying in kitchen fires while useless ones live forever . i  m paraphrasing here  but you get the idea .  br    br   rock and roll high school tells the story of a group of disenfranchised kids fighting against their oppressive high school  s administration . it  s extremely silly stuff  but there  s an optimism about it that  s refreshing  even if they do resort to blowing up the building  . who knew that this would actually become a concern for students around the world  rock and roll high school is a time capsule of an era when people still believed that music mattered and that it could make a difference to the larger society . it  s full of kids who know authority doesn  t have the correct answers . rather  rock and roll is the only thing they can trust .  br    br   but most important  this is pure exploitation .  br    br   take none of it seriously . just go in and have a good time . if this wasn  t what high school life was like in the seventies  then it should have been .  
those of you who  like me  were disappointed with the original     horror yarn   the fear  will find more to be disappointed with in this silly little sequel . it sort of follows a similar plot  but it is impossible to connect to the original  with the exception of the presence of morty  the mannequin monster made of wood . here is a brief overview .  br    br   twenty years after mike hawthorne  gordon currie  in a decent performance  witnesses his father brutally murder his mother and then take his own life  mike is still suffering from the fear of that day . in hopes of ridding his fear  mike takes his girlfriend and a bunch of friends up to his grandparents  home . his plan is for everyone to dress up in costumes that represent their fears  and then present the fears to the mannequin morty . according to an indian friend  this process is supposed to magically take away one  s fear . what mike doesn  t know is that morty is possessed with his father  s spirit  and begins killing off the friends . . . or is it really mike himself doing the killings  who cares   br    br   a have a few troubles with this film . the first lies with morty . i thought the original made morty look rather convincing . this time  it is painfully obvious morty is a man  actor jon fedele  in a fake looking suit . this can especially be seen in early scenes  where morty is still supposed to be inanimate  but if you watch closely you can see him blinking . another trouble is that most of the characters don  t try hard enough . some of them do  namely betsy palmer  of friday the   th fame  who was excellent in this film . but most of them don  t make the effort or weren  t given the chance . finally  there are the killings . the opening scenes involving ax murders were very convincing . actually  when i saw them i thought i was in for a good movie . when the second half of the movie arrives  and the killings really start  everything falls to pieces . deaths are either uncreative  unseen  or foreseen  glimpses of the next scene as currie has a blackout  . one character dies in the end and no one  including the viewer  even notices . while more characterization was needed in the beginning half  it wasn  t too bad . the second half was . i think new director chris angel got to this point and really didn  t know how to shoot the violent scenes  so they turned out real sloppy and pedestrian . a silly ending doesn  t help either . thus  unless you really loved the original and enjoy plucking splinters out from under your skin  you should probably skip  the fear   halloween night .  zanatos  score  out of   .  
this animation has a very simple and straightforward good vs . evil plot and is all about action . what sets it apart from other animation is how well the human movements are animated . it was really beautiful seeing the fleeing woman running around on the screen from left to right and look around  her movements were done so well . why don  t they use this rotoscopic technique more these days  it  s quite effective .  br    br   fire and ice  in it  s prehistoric setting and scarcely dressed women  was clearly devoted to showing the beautiful damsel in distress in various sexy ways  her voluptuous body serving as pure eyecandy . some may hate this and regard it as yet another moronic male sexual fantasy  others  including plenty of women  will adore it  s esthetic quality . i for sure did not mind  bakshi just loves animating lushious  voluptuous babes  as can also be seen in cool world  and i don  t think he has to apoligize since it  s pretty much animation for adults . but i had also enjoyed this animation as a child and i never forgot it .  br    br   this one was just special  so different from the standard disney or anime fare  and for that reason alone well worth the watch since it  s possibly bakshi  s finest . for those who like animations with lushious women try space adventure cobra as well .  br    br   i give fire and ice  out of   .  
impressed  this is the worst srk movie and one of the worst bollywood movies i ever saw  i didn  t like the novel  but this movie made it worse  very bad music  even worse actors  apart from srk of course  though even he doesn  t manage to save the movie   and not much sense . the director makes it all look very confusing  god knows why . . . maybe it  s because he  s trying to make it all look very surrealistic  and yet credible . well  he manages neither .  br    br   even if you  ve got a few hours to loose  don  t watch this movie  please   saying this for your own welfare   keep searching  you will find something else to watch   
i enjoy ralph bakshi films   wizards    cool world  and the underrated animated  lord of the rings   and am a frank frazetta collector and fan . i am also a sword and sorcery fan who loves the worlds of edgar rice burroughs and robert e . howard .  br    br   i missed  fire and ice  s  theatrical release back in     and have looked forward to seeing it on video or at some revival ever since then . therefore the     release was a dream come true for me . however  i bought it with some trepidation  because i hoped it would not be only worth watching once and then put on the shelf as a  collectible  gathering dust until the day i died . fortunately my fears were groundless and i was pleasantly impressed with this movie .  br    br   as with frazetta art this is a gritty film that has a physicality and sexuality that is hard to find in most fantasy  sword and sorcery films without being cheesy or dirty . the art is good and you see glimpses of frazetta at his best . even my young boys loved watching it with me and ask to watch it again and again . however  my wife has some objections due to the scantily clad princess  very frazetta  esquire  . i don  t mind that because it is believable and there is no sex scene .  br    br   there is roto  scoping used  but personally i enjoy roto  scoping . it gives more fluid and realistic movements to the characters that is hard to find in animation .  br    br   despite some continuity problems  i recommend this film to all bakshi  frazetta  conan  and sword and sorcery fans . enjoy   
ok  i am not a professional movie critic but come on . . . a true story      br    br   they are tunneling under another store to get underneath the bank and stumble across a tomb . at tomb with a passageway which goes directly under the bank .  br    br   ok  i  ll play along .  br    br   but then they get into the bank and decide to go to sleep . yeah    i am sure with all the adrenaline pumping through them they are going to just fall asleep .  br    br   this blows the whole picture     how lame       br    br   glad i didn  t have to pay to watch this one .  
i won  t claim to be a fan of ralph bakshi  because i am not . i have only watched  of his animated films so far coonskin  wizards  fritz the cat and lord of the rings and finally  fire and ice  . what i can claim  is that i found  fire and ice  to be the most enjoyable of the lot . it is a straightforward fantasy tale of swords and sorcery along the lines of conan the barbarian  but the beautiful artwork  realistic animation and lively film score effectively lends a very classic charm to this movie .  br    br   deserving first mention  is the animation itself . i do not care what people say about rotoscoping but in my opinion ralph bakshi used that technique very effectively here . i was amazed at how realistic the movements of the characters were . the style of directing and the photo  realistic character designs made  fire and ice  feel more like a big budget fantasy blockbuster than a cartoon . sadly the level of art detail tends to get a little inconsistent  especially near the end of the movie . some scenes just look really flat with little to no body contour details or fabric folds and shadows on the characters .  br    br   with realistic moving characters  realistic action would naturally follow . not only was the action well choreographed  but it was really brutal . i would be so bold as to compare the brutality of the action to live action movies like zack snyder  s    . i did notice however that though there was blood shed  the blood splatters were kept to a minimum . again  a great choice by the creative team that only heightens the viewing experience by not taking things too  over the top  .  br    br   though i do not recognize any  big names  in the cast  the voice actors manage to deliver a satisfying performance keeping the delivery of every line realistically subdued and only hamming it up in the case of the bad guys .  br    br   did i say bad guys   yes i did . because that is exactly what the story is about  a standard good vs evil tale . nothing really original about the story which seems to merely be a mix of pre  existing fantasy film clichs that involve scantly clad warriors and maidens . anyone looking for  depth  would be sorely disappointed . the characters are not given much development and some of them like nekron and darkwolf are one dimensional at best  i did however hear rumor of some deleted scenes that explains darkwolf  s obsession with killing nekron and his mother . scenes like that deserved full restoration and should have been included in the final cut to add a level of depth to the show  . in fact  i would not be surprised to find out that the whole movie was just a  tech demo  of sorts to showcase the awesome animation and art  with the story cobbled together and thrown in as an afterthought in order to pass it off as a proper  movie  .  br    br   a true classic of a bygone era   fire and ice  really captures the blazing spirit of adventure and mysticism with its beautiful renderings of fantastic creatures and charming characters . it is a unique vision of a world created by ralph bakshi and artist frank frazetta with a good measure of action and suspense .  br    br   would it hold up to animated film standards of today  definitely not . but i urge animation fans in general to  get off your high horse  and give this simple but beautiful film a chance to grow on you . it is truly a gem of the   s worth checking out .  
  the man in the attic  is a movie set in the     s . it is inspired by a true story . unfortunately  it  s a story that really didn  t need to be told .  br    br   looking at the box  the people responsible for packaging the movie tried their best to make this film appear steamy and erotic . they use terms such as  illicit passion    forbidden affair   and  unlimited pleasures  . they even show a picture of neil patrick harris  little doogie howser  m . d .  holding a gun   br    br   the story involves krista  played by anne archer . she is unhappily married to a gentleman who owns his own business . edward  harris  is an employee of her husband  s company . krista and edward end up falling in love with each other .  br    br   the supposedly  shocking  part of the movie is this krista  s husband finds out about the affair and forbids them from ever seeing each other again . so what do they decide to do  krista ends up having edward live up in their attic . wow  krista ends up seeing someone else and edward gets extremely jealous . so on and so on and so on .  br    br    the man in the attic  doesn  t cover any new territory . it  s a showtime original picture  which explains why the stars are a couple of b  list actors and both appear briefly in the buff .  br    br    
why this movie has all but disappeared into obscurity is an absolute crime .  conan  is perhaps the only sword and sorcery movie better . the brutal violence  cool character designs  and good pacing  make this one of the best fantasies around . it is certainly the greatest animated movie aimed at a more adult audience that i have ever seen . this is not similar to bakshi  s usual frenetic style . it  s quite a departure for bakshi  and in my opinion his best work . i hope that this film gets the recognition it deserves .  
ever heard of a taiwanese horror movie  or any taiwanese movie  propably for a reason . this one was a really boring one  even though it has black magic including withered baby bodies and people exploding from the inside with thousands of eels .  br    br   having read other peoples thoughts  i was looking forward for some violence and gore  but there  s not much at all . some blood puking and other lame stuff  if you are waiting for graphic gore or any gruesome effects you will be disappointed . they clearly didn  t use the eel exploding and other things to their maximum potent .  br    br   pretty much nothing good about this movie a single character that wasn  t completely bland and a few ok black magic spells  like the eel one . the plot was confusing and boring . the characters were thin and annoying  including the main character . the horror aspect didn  t work at all  the most horrifying thing was an albino girl  not that scary really  . this is the worst asian horror movie i have ever seen .  
in my opinion  this is a good example of the movie that could have been much better if it had been short   years earlier . i doubt it would benefit from modern technologies  but it would have looked much better if it was at least   minutes instead of   .  br    br   the artists and animated did a great job . in my opinion  this movie can boast the best background art and one of the best character design . animation are extremely smooth and realistic . for the duration of the movie you believe in the world you see  so everyone did a great job . it can also boast one of the sexiest female animated characters  if not the sexiest  that beets typical anime girls with ease .  br    br   unfortunately  there are a couple of bad thins about this movie that will make it not so appealing at the moment . first  the plot and execution is comparable to contemporary adventure movies  and is really old  fashioned by modern standards . second  due to the duration time it would benefit a lot from extra   minutes of dialogs . finally  the setting is not so popular at the moment .  br    br   conclusion a great alternative to another short story about conan the barbarian  but not to a novel .  
this is the story of a young woman seduced and then dumped by her older  married lover after she gets pregnant she avenges herself against him  and his entire family  through black magic which  disappointingly  she doesn  t do herself but has someone else do for her . good production values for a thai horror flick . but the bland script never generates suspense  the director approaches the material entirely conventionally  and the final act loses viewer sympathy for the victims by throwing logic to the winds . at one point  a character has a prime opportunity to simply shoot the villainess dead  and instead she gets up and runs away without picking up the gun . bad writing  you  re soaking in it   br    br   some icky gore effects  including a really tasteless late  term  fetus corpse and one guy dying from having hundreds of live eels burst out of his stomach . only recommended for genre completists who simply have to see every horror film produced in asia in the last   years .  
picked up the movie at the flea market for  bucks  sure did get my moneys worth  . could care  less about the hot babes but the animation just blew me away after a steady diet of simpsons  sorry mr . groening  . the best part  facial expressions . recommend multiple viewings with some cool tunes  good friends and a couple of cold ones   
i absolutely hate this programme  what kind of people sit and watch this garbage   ok my dad and mum love it lol but i make sure i  m well out of the room before it comes on . its so depressing and dreary but the worst thing about it is the acting i cant stand all detective programmes such as this because the detectives are so wooden and heartless . what happened to detective programmes with real mystery    i mean who wants to know what happened to fictional characters we know nothing about that died over   years ago    i wish the bbc would put more comedy on bbc  cos now with the vicar of dibley finished there is more room for crap like this .  
when i saw this animation for first time  i was   maybe  i was really impressed  it has completely different style compared to the japan animation and i kinda like it more . tho whole impression of the movie is more sinister and dark . . . the colors are not that . . . colorous . the characters don  t talk much  there are no long and boring conversations of this and that  like in ghost in the shell  . with its dark pictures  views of strange beasts and sense of magic  it looks like one of those ancient scandinavian stories  full of violence and horrendous creators  enchanted forests and deep caves  dwelled by dragons  throlls  orks . . . and one mysterious hero to stop evil . . .  
i feel like i  ve just watched a snuff film . . . . a beautifully acted  taut  engrossing and horrible thing  a two hour litany of perversion in the most basic and all inclusive sense of the word  sexual violence and torture  rape  decapitation  incest  corruption  live burial  and abuse  abuse  abuse . no redemption whatsoever . and i was entertained . i couldn  t stop watching . what does this say about me  about the people who make and act in this sort of thing  and a world that has become so desensitized that eventually real snuff films will be the norm . and i  m neither puritanical nor humorless  i don  t try to hide from the existence of darkness  and i definitely have not led a sheltered life  but i am ashamed of myself . and i  m sorry to see my british cousins dragging the subject  matter sewers the way my own tribe does . it doesn  t have to be cozy  but does it have to wallow in vicarious sadism   
i own ralph bakshis forgotten masterpiece fire  ice on an old oop rental videotape .  br    br   well for one thing  this is better than any other conan  esque film you  ll ever see . sure  it  s cheesy  but who cares  it stood the test of time  and the only way it started to look cheesy is in comparisons to modern fantasy epics like lotrfotr  though i love that film .   br    br   the plot goes like this after a battle between fire  ice  a kings daughter is kidnapped by jarols  ice  subhuman creatures  while a sole survivor of a victimized village rescues her .  br    br   yeah it doesn  t sound as a original as nurse betty  but that  s not the point . it is really to bring to life an interesting idea of a world of two enemies fire  ice . and it succeeds .  br    br   as for the action scenes superb . they are well handled  have terrific suspence  and have plenty of loud noises . just check out the climatic battle  now that  s an ending   br    br   the acting and dialogue competent . really . they aren  t gonna be nominated for an oscar  but they are ok and don  t get on your nerves .  br    br   the animation is quite good . shot on  d and rotoscoped  i think   it looks pretty good . a lot of the backgrounds look really detailed and well drawn  and although the character designs feel a little   dimentional  they are ok .  br    br   overall  this is a fine neglected little gem and will entertain you more than any of the superfical  entertainment  .       
no spoilers here but i have been a fan since waking the dead started but the last series  of which only  have been on so far is awful . the stories bear no resemblance to the original idea of the series . i found these  in the last series jaw droppingly ludicrous . as a bbc licence payer  after the show i rang bbc complaints to pass on my disappointment . i  m amazed that actors of the calibre of trevor eve and sue johnstone didn  t object to the story lines . these actors have been with these characters for  seasons  surly they can see it  s lost all direction . it  s a good job it is the last series or the next series may start with the team investigating the death of father christmas   br    br   paul bentley  west yorkshire  england .  
camp with a capital c . think of mask and the ace ventura movies   then multiply by    . this laugh  a  minute entertainer takes schlock to the level of high art . david dhawan is a genius and govinda is beyond description . see it over and over again . i insist .  
i was really disappointed with this film . the first waters movie i saw was serial mom and i loved it . then i saw pecker and i loved it . then i watched polyester and really sort of hated it . the only thing i liked about that movie was divine . she  he had a hell of a lot of talent . i was truly surprised . as a whole  i wouldn  t recommend this film . . .  
of course if you are reading my review you have seen this film already .  raja babu  is one of my most favorite characters . i just love the concept of a spoiled brat with a     servant on his motorcycle . watch movies and emulate characters etc etc . i love the scene when a stone cracks in kader khans mouth while eating . also where shakti kapoor narrates a corny story of raja babu  s affairs on a dinner table and govinda wearing  dharam  veer  uniform makes sentimental remarks . thats my favorite scene of the film .  achcha pitaji to main chalta hoon  scene is just chemistry between two great indian actors doing a comical scene with no dialogs . its brilliant . it  s a cat mouse film . just watch these actors helping each other and still taking away the scene from each other . its total entertainment . if you like govinda and kader khan chemistry then its a must . i think rb is  th in my list by david dhawan .  deewana mastana    ankhein    shola or shabnam    swarg   coolie no   precedes this gem of a film .     .  
polyester was the very first john water  s film i saw  and i have to say that it was also the  worst  movie i had seen up to that point .  br    br   water  s group of  talent  included several people who i am sure worked for food  and were willing to say the lines waters wrote . every thing about the movie is terrible  acting  camera  editing  and the story about a woman played by    lb transvestite divine was purely absurd .  br    br   that said  i have to recommend this film because it is very funny  and you won  t believe the crap that happens to poor francine . her son huffs solvents and stomps unsuspecting women  s feet at the grocery store . her daughter is the sluttiest slut in town . her husband is a cackling a  hole of a pornographer who does everything in his power to embarrass and humiliate poor francine .  br    br   francine  s only friend is played by edith massey  possibly the worst actress ever . edith looks and sounds like she is reading the lines off a cue card and has never seen the script prior to filming .  br    br   despite all of francine  s travails  waters cooks up a fabulous hollywood ending and everyone  who survives  lives happily ever after .  
this film is a jolt of punk rock fun  from start to finish . the ramones  reigning princes of late    s punk rock  appear as themselves . pj soles stars as riff randle  the rebellious high school girl who lives and breathes rock  n roll . riff is obsessed with writing songs for the ramones  her favorite rock band . she keeps the school rockin   and encourages her fellow  students to join her in her jubilant antics .  br    br   meanwhile the school that riff attends  has just hired a brand  new principal  named ms . togar . she  s a tall  intimidating amazon of a woman . and she vows to make the students  toe  the  line  . she even has a couple of the students act as monitors  who report back to her with dirt on their classmates . ms . togar is especially determined to nab riff  and put a stop to riff  s anarchic shenanigans . but riff has clever ways to foil togar  at every turn .  br    br   kudos to the superb performance of mary woronov  in her role as principal togar . mary is a legendary b movie actress . and in this film  she plays the fascist ms . togar  with sneering relish . pj soles as riff  turns in an electrifying performance . clint howard as the duplicitous eaglebauer  has lots of fun with his role .  br    br   the ramones perform many of their hit songs in this film . and so the viewer sees why the ramones were so influential  in the   s punk rock scene . certainly  this is a good film for ramones fans . but even if you  re not into the ramones  or punk rock  this movie is a terrific blast  literally  of energetic fun .  
this movie was crap with a capital  c .  the opening scene showed promise . but that  promise  was broken shortly after the viewer learns where the plot is going .  br    br   and the wooden statue  morty  who was rather creepy in the original film  looks plain goofy in this one . it was so obviously just a guy in a cheap plastic costume .  and by the way  who else thinks  morty  is one of the most un  scary names on planet earth  it ranks right up there with  jimmy  or  fred  when it comes to horror value . or why not just name the wooden statute henry  freakin   kissinger .  run  it  s dr . kissinger   that  d be about as scary as  morty .   br    br   and then there  s a scene where the  hero  hits his father  s tombstone with     a sledgehammer   you might guess    a two  by  four   someone might venture . no  he angrily beats his father  s tombstone with a twig    a freakin  twig . but worse than that  once the characters walk away  the tombstone actually  and inexplicably  bleeds . oh brother   br    br   there  s also a native american guy who lives with the main character  s grandparents  but apparently  does nothing except morty  maintenance . he perpetuates creepy morty  legends  warns those who scoff  and even fixes morty  s arm when it becomes damaged during a childish prank . but for all his respect for and tenderness toward morty  does morty give a rat  s hairy behind  no .  br    br   the movie drags on  and eventually several people die in ways that correspond to their worst fears  sort of  . this film is a real yawner . don  t rent it .  
well i was a teenager when i saw the movie . . the songs were a huge hit but the elite class skipped govinda movies back then coz watching govinda and karishma  aka karizma  movies were not the in thing for that  class  but anyways a lot of people liked it as the series of these movies rocked the    s through out and most of them were successful . . today i was watching it again after a long time and i remembered  there was a long que of people and the riot they created when the a aa e uo uo o song came on screen . . . . the dresses of govinda and karishma were complimentary to each other  the worst dressing duo of that time  well karisma in the late    s transformed but govinda has still been very faithful to his designer as his dress sense remains the same . . . but back then it all blended it was all good . . everything worked and slowly the elite class realized what fun it was missing and then . . . . . there was no looking back for this jodi as it went on n on making those indian carry on series . . hated by a few but loved by the masses .  br    br   if you are looking for a good time with nothing to do rent it or watch it on tv i don  t think you will regret it . . . but remember its the worst at its best . .  br    br   still i watch those movies when i get time coz i cant stop laughing . . . so i say go ahead and have a good time as there are times when we all love stupidity and specially when its done by the kings of their times it surely is watchable . . . i recommend it to all movie lovers . . .  
despite pretty bad reviews  i just had to give this film a go  it does  after all  star hk super  babe shu qi plus  other oriental lovelies as a team of all  action cat  burglars . surely that  s worth checking out  well  as babe  fests go  martial angels is hard to beat . the eye candy is top quality . shu qi looks as fantastic as always  and of the rest of the girls  rosemary vandebrouck and amanda strang caught my roving eye in particular .  br    br   unfortunately  if one is to judge this movie by any other possible merits  it is an absolute stinker  the story is weak  the action shoddy and the special effects downright pathetic . director clarence fok and producer wong jing have given us a photogenic cast and little else .  br    br   if shu qi is the only reason you  re contemplating seeing this one  you would be better off watching sex and zen  again   
this is one of my favorite govinda movies of all time and best film of     . david dhawan does a great job in directing this movie  he makes it funny and adds family drama . govinda is excellent as raja babu and gives a great performance . karishma kapoor is an actress i hate  this film she is a little less annoying but still annoys in some scenes . kader khan is a maestro in acting and yet gives a superb performance . aroona irani is terrific as the mother and gives a outstanding performance . shakti kapoor is brilliant as nandu the sidekick . this film has comedy  action  family drama and romance a full on entertainer .  
sometimes you need to see a bad movie just to appreciate the good ones . well  that  s my opinion anyway . this one will always be in the bad movie category  simply because all but shu qi  s performance was terrible .  br    br   martial angel tells of cat  shu qi   a professional thief turned straight after leaving her lover  chi lam  julian cheung   two years before . but her past returns to haunt her as chi lam is kidnapped for the ransom of security software belonging to the company cat works for . in order to rescue him  she calls on her old friends from her orphanage days  six other feisty women  to save the day . . .  br    br   i may have told the synopsis cheesily  but this is a cheesy story . in fact  the whole script and direction lacked any quality at all . much of the dialogue was meaningless and coupled with a plot that was as thin as rice  paper in water . if i could sum it up  take a bad jackie chan movie  remove the comedy  remove the choreography  throw away the budget  and you have martial angels a formulaic piece of work with no imagination at all .  br    br   mind you  i do have to give credit where credit  s due  and shu qi was probably the only person to emerge unscathed from the terrible action  as it was her performance that shone through . okay  you can  t say she was excellent  after all she had absolutely nothing to work with  but she did manage to dig some character out from her role . other than that  only sandra ng and kelly lin made any other impression  although these were mostly glimmers and very brief .  br    br   elsewhere  the film just fell to pieces . scenes and dialogue were completely unnatural and unbelievable  special effects were obviously done on the cheap with no attempt to clean up edges between persons and the mask of the blue screen  poor editing involving numerous discontinuities in fight scenes  camera angles that were elementary and unflattering  and direction i  ve seen better from a lost dog .  br    br   i guess this film was a too many cooks affair . most probably  the budget was blown away on the over  enthusiasm to have seven babes on the same silver screen . that didn  t leave much else .  br    br   frankly  the way this film was made was like a cheap porn movie without the porn . charlie  s angels  it ain  t . in fact  while sisters can do it for themselves  none of that was really that apparent here .  br    br   definitely one to forget .  
this was my first introduction to the world of bollywood and i  m now hooked  okay so it requires adoption of a different mindset to watching us films but once you allow yourself the pleasure of enjoying it for what it is you won  t be disappointed . the songs are superb  melodic and very catchy . the actors are visually compelling especially karisma kapoor who is surely one of the most beautiful actresses anywhere in the film world . locations  colour are spellbinding . if you want something different and are looking to be uplifted  cheered up and stimulated i recommend you catch this movie .  
this wasn  t funny in     . it  s not funny now .  br    br   unlike a lot of other people  i  m not bashing the film because it is incredibly sexist  i quote enjoyed that bit  or rather i enjoyed the reaction it generates in annoying pc people  i  m bashing it because it is poorly written and acted .  br    br   the only really memorable character is blakey  which british people   years old will recognise immediately since he was a favourite with impressionists for a long time .  br    br   avoid .  br    br    
this film could be one of the most underrated film of bollywood history . this     blockbuster had all of it good performances  music and direction . i remember i was in allahabad when this movie was running and it was somewhere in march at holi time  the people there were playing its song  ooe amma  at their loudspeakers in highest volume . if someone who likes to watch some like it hot and drools over marilyn monroe he should see this movie . thumbs up to govinda . how many of you know that this film was shot in south of india and after sholay could be one of the very few blockbuter to hit silver screen . with films like these indian comedy could never be dead .  
watching it now it  s still as skanky and sexist as i remember . comes from a time when girls were  dolly birds  and basically men  s playthings . it  s hard to take in that it is from the hammer studios and the fact it  s available on dvd when good films are not . our nations shame where the working class are portrayed as work shy layabouts or worse  trouble is you can  t help feeling nostalgic for a clippie on a bus . try to hold your stomach contents when you see olive in a fluffy  blue  saucy  nightie or something similar like shirley bassey used to wear for a concert in     . warning this film shows the illegal practice of towing a motorcycle combo by a red double decker bus  which i  ve been informed is not a routemaster but a bristol .  br    br   look just don  t bother watch something decent instead like porridge or dad  s army . . . or a fly crawling up a wall .  
i first saw this film over   years ago on british tv and have only just caught up with it again last week on a dvd copy bought off ebay . i had remembered the musical sequences  the colour and the gorgeous fashion plate poses and clothes but the plot is weaker than the earlier anna neagle  michael wilding film spring in park lane and maytime doesn  t stand up so well to the passage of the years . but michael wilding is a joy in the film  charming  funny  debonair  appears to be having great fun and on top of his form . worth watching for him alone . anna neagle appears a little matronly beside him  and a little too old for the part she plays but by the end of the      s their film partnership was well established with the cinema going public . spring in park lane had been a top hit for     and a big money maker . in his autobiography wilding wrote at length of his great regard for herbert wilcox the director and instigator of this london series of films .  
as a hammer completist i was dreading the time when i would have to raise the courage to watch this film and the one following it  holiday on the buses . i had seen one the buses the film and thought it one of the worst films i have ever seen . it was full of all the awful comedy that plagued british tv screens around the early    s .  br    br   i am ashamed to say that there were actually parts of this film that i laughed at . i don  t know if it was because i was now familiar with the characters and enjoyed some of the situations  knowing how they would react . i found blakey particularly funny  although i could swear at no point in the trilogy does he say his catchphrase   i  ll get you butler  .  br    br   having watched holiday on the buses the jokes were starting to wear thin and these three films could be compared to an early hammer trilogy  dick barton  in that the second film made is the best  although this is probably the only way they could be compared  .  br    br   the only people who would want to watch this film are probably fans of the tv series  who will no doubt enjoy this  and hammer completists like myself . to the completists i would say that this film isn  t that bad and i can certainly think of worse hammer comedies .  
for a low budget project  the film was a success . the story is interesting  and the actors were convincing . eva longoria  who now stars on the tv show  dragnet   is sexier than ever . the locations were ideal for the ganster plot  and the director shows his talent by taking on many roles for his project . of course this low budget film could use better editing transitions and more special effects for the gun scenes  but the music keeps this script moving . although this film has it  s share of problems  such as continuity  i must say that i would rent the director  s next movie . if your a film student  you could learn a few things from the director  s commentary .  
don  t get me wrong  i love david suchet as poirot . i love the series as well as the movies but enough already re death on the nile . everyone has done this one  we know who dies . we know why they die . we know who the killer is . we know how it was done . so i say enough already  mr . suchet could have used that awesome talent in another one of agatha christie  s novels . i will say that the acting by all the actors was superb . the sets were terrific and very realistic . i especially liked david soul but i was surprised at how  awful  he looked . i hope he doesn  t look that way in  real  life  i honestly can  t remember from other movies whether the very end was the same . somehow i don  t think so . i thought that was a rather brilliant touch whether or not ms . christie wrote it that way . i would much rather have that ending then wasting away in prison   
if you haven  t seen eva longoria from the tv show  desperate house wives  then you are missing out . eva is going to be one of the biggest latina stars and you  ll be seeing her in the theaters soon . this was eva  s first film and she does a fantastic job acting . she was   when she shot it  and looked hot then . as for this low budget film  it  s pretty good for the first time director  who has another soon to be released movie  juarez  mexico  currently playing at many film festivals across the united states . in fact  it appears that it may have a limited theatrical release from some news . what would be nice to see is a  snitch    with a higher budget .  
got into this flick  just as it was beginning  on an afternoon where i was home with a touch of flu  otherwise i  d have missed it . that probably would have been best .  br    br   i noticed the presence of lindsay crouse and jay thomas  both very good performers  and thought this might be worth a look . it proved to be to some extent  but only because it is one of those stories so awful it fascinates .  br    br   zoe mclellan has little to recommend her talents  except for her jayne mansfield  or loni anderson  like bosom . unfortunately  her acting prowess  at least here  makes mansfield and anderson seem to be garbo or davis by comparison .  br    br   the young nut case  s white rat  the owner  s cat  the young nut case having the owner evicted and restrained in her own home  and a bunch of doophus  s  including the young nut case  running around a bio hazard facility  and the absurd conclusion . i kept waiting for at least some scene or plot element to contain at least a modicum of realism  believability or being capable of evoking some empathy  sympathy   but this proved to be in vain .  
ok where do i begin  . . . this movie changed my life  the plot was seamless . james cahill has out done himself . initially after a first viewing i was disappointed that i hadn  t seen it on the silver screen . however this was before exploring the dvd  s many features     oh my god jakes cahill  s commentary of the film was almost as flawless as his acting . he told of industry secrets used in the film that you only get with experience .  br    br   i was so impressed by the other actors . the scene where the security guard is talking to the girl in the hallway  reminded me of some of my favorite blue  pornographic  movies . i am certainly with gangsta when he expresses his disappointment with no sequel .  br    br   i am still blown away with each viewing of the martial arts skills involved  matched only by the sign indicating the location of the library at the school . . . and possibly the guy playing a retard  all in all a timeless classic and the best film to come out of europe in years  where my oscars at dawn             
there was a reasonably good looking girl starring the film  zoe mclellan  but even her looks couldn  t stop me from voting it the lowest possible  one .  br    br   the plot is bad and irrational .  br    br   what more can i say . the movie sucks .  
one of the most provocative films ever with excellent cinematography backed up by mc clarens lisp and stunning quote  do you believe in love at first site   .  br    br   a trace of expressionism was evident in this picture  further catapulting the films flawless integrity . gabby  aka joey  played by eva longoria clearly loved the movie and role she played so much that she couldn  t even be bothered giving it mention in her filmography . lol .  br    br   the best part of the movie would have to be without a doubt  the heroic rescue by mc clure as he saved the young  handicapped  kid with the speech impediment . . which i may add was acted to perfection  james cahiil  s use of sound effects is unmatched even to this day . the drug bust he performs early in the film is pain stakingly realistic . when i watched this movie for the first time i was so compelled with the intense lack of respect for the gang inthused brothers from the southside gang and the ctm  cut throat mafia  . this was by far one of the most encapsulating crevice cahill has committed to filming .  br    br   personally this film holds sentimental value to me and i will be downloading it in the near future . thats if i can find it anywhere  lol   
this lifetime style movie takes the middle aged divorcee victim who then finally fights back genre to new depths of cartoon  like absurdity .  br    br   here the   something stay  at  home ex  wife of a successful lawyer protagonist  daughter away at college  is starting a new life after her divorce  helped by a female college friend in opening a new dress shop as a sort of franchise expansion deal . she has even started up a friendship with her attractive  slightly younger perhaps  landscape architect  gardener  who  s black  . but then horror of middle  aged women  s horrors  another   something female she took on as a tenant to let a room to  starts  taking over  her life .  br    br   what this new younger woman threat really does is mildly flirt with the gardener  and offer him a glass of wine that  gasp  really belonged to the divorcee   she runs up the utility bills by not turning down the thermostat   and backed up the toilet  and leaves old food gone bad in the refrigerator  and hangs her pieces of  african  artwork in the living room   and so on . well she may have killed the cat as well . yeah  ok  the extent to which this one does these things is bad enough  but its more than a little ridiculous  especially as it turns into a campaign . the character reality is that any tiny part of this would drive this particular prissy woman insane .  so why did she rent the room   and to horror of horrors  a much younger woman    br    br   supposedly this increasingly arrogant  natch  younger woman has a mania for seizing control . and our brave   something must learn to fight back against this evil  and erotically hot looking  of course    something . but there  s this problem . anytime the   something starts to maybe get into trouble she uses her power   and just flirts or has sex with some guy  and escapes the consequences .  well  there actually is something to that capability of good looking   somethings . it just isn  t  generally  used in quite this sort of way .   br    br   the premise is moved along by the device of the   something conning the divorcee into formalizing their room rental deal with a written lease produced by her . of course the   something doesn  t know about these things  and the   something has had help . the lease actually gives the younger woman equal right to the whole house during the rental period  with utilities thrown in at the fixed price . even though an eviction proceeding is soon pending  the   something soon gets a temporary restraining order against the older woman  supposedly because she has been threatening the   something . you know  the judge is sympathetic to all the woe  is  me of the sexy sweet young thing . finally the   something  s  heroic  battle back for the house then begins . woopie    br    br   the only realistic or perceptive thing in this movie is how horrificly easy tro  s  or orders of protection  are for women to get on nothing more than her unsubstantiated say so   although they are generally only this easy against men . they are sometimes just as unjustified and just as motivated to seize control of a home as it is here . indeed  girlfriends who have moved in with their boyfriends can often get them evicted from their own homes or condos on the basis of no proof whatsoever  but only an unsubstantiated claim of threats  and sometimes without even hearing his side . even when there is a hearing  it is routinely impossible to rebut claims of threats  to prove a negative   when the burden of proof is effectively on the accused  rather than the accuser .  this is one of the only areas of american law where that is true   and it  s a signal outrage of feminist overreaching  and the failure of any organized group to resist the steamroller .  of course that  s not likely to be the subject of any lifetime movie in this lifetime .  br    br   the absurd basic premise of this movie relies upon the explanation that the   something is psychotic  and isn  t taking her medicine . even so it makes no sense . she isn  t after the successful lawyer ex  husband  though she does con his help  to the ex wife  s fury  in her quest . she  s after the house  technically  to drive the divorcee out of it during the period of the lease  . this second younger woman is after all that  s left after the divorce  after affairs with other   somethings stole her husband    the ex  husband seems unattached and basically solicitous after his fling   doesn  t matter  he still strayed      br    br   the protagonist is good enough looking for her age . but her outlook  attitude and focus is so small minded  frumpy and utterly without imagination or life force that it  s impossible to care about her . well  a core group of lifetime fans care  i guess  judging by the average score the small number of raters gave it .  i kept watching it only because it was so extremely bad and cartoonish that it had a camp appeal . i couldn  t resist seeing just how far they  d take it .   br    br    spoiler   if such a thing is possible with this flick  .  br    br   well  here  s a clue . the movie ends with the   something getting bailed out of jail by promising to  listen to  her   something male co  worker and sometimes lover  and  do whatever he says  and  let him take care of her   he means get her to keep taking her medicine    and then tricking him and returning to the house . there she climbs the stairs with a knife  demonicly stalking her nemesis   something  who is taking a bath by candlelight  secure in the thought that the younger woman is out of her life . there  s a struggle   and the   something mom wins   by sticking the   something with a hypodermic needle full of anti  psychotic medicine she had found . she then begins stroking her  mom like  and the two women have a bonding  female solidarity moment    how sweet .  
where would one start a review of the film snitch  d  james cahill  god rest his soul  made one of the most daring insights into the human psyche since encino man . his beautiful story unravels around a drug squad cop mcclure  which is a name synonymous with a character from the simpsons who also happens to be an actor  said cop delves deep into the underworld that is high school drug taking  and discovers a gang war to rival that of police academy   and i mean the one where jones is racially vilified by his new partner  but manages to come out with some of the funniest sounds you will ever hear .  br    br   cahill  s grasp of effects  both visual and aural is electrifying  the slight pause between action on screen and from the speakers adds to the drama that is snitch  d  a real gritty like underground thriller . also  kudos to his brilliant use of makeup  such as the supremely convincing burn marks a gang member suffers in his showdown with an indoor barbecue  yuck  i feel the world of film is much less from james  passing  his memory will linger on and on and on  reborn with every passing mention of his flagship production  snitch  d . his insightful director  s commentary released a coke  hit up the nose of any discerning film goer  truly appropriate with the harsh reality that is life on the streets  captured in all the beauty of a roughneck punk knocking over a rubbish bin in a brawl .  br    br   but i ask you  why did the big bosses swimming pool look so cheap  i  ll tell you why  because thats life in santa ana baby  its not all drive bys and hastily constructed principle  s offices  oh no . there are some folk who must infiltrate the soft  tattooed underbelly of street life in la to kick their way through in moves that would not seem out of place at a school for special children  s production of double dragon the play .  br    br   the only qualm i have with this film  is that there was never a sequel made . come on steven spielberg  come on george lucas  come on guy that made revenge of the nerds  through    how hard could it be to step it up a notch and pay tribute to this great man  james cahill .  br    br   he discovered eva longoria you know . oh yeah  that he did .  br    br   jonah  
anyone who  s watched a few lifetime movie network movies knows that plot credibility is the first thing that gets brushed off the planning table . so  when crazed lara moves into patti  s home and methodically begins to drive her landlady bonkers  i didn  t even blink . when lara eventually ramps up her activities to threatening poor patti  and dares her to do anything about it  i just nodded . you see  on planet lmn  people don  t behave the way they do for any particular reason  they just do it to keep the action going . only on planet lmn could someone almost have the owner of a home thrown out of their own house by means of their seductive powers   poor patti  she just trusted too much  and lara went off her medicine  and then there was this big fight at the top of the stairs involving a syringe full of deadly stuff that ends up injected into someone  s tummy  and a body bag going out the front door . the horror   br    br   but take it from me  this planet lmn product is a classic . you need to watch it once  just for the great laughs you  ll have . on the improbability scale  i give this film a       . make a big batch of popcorn and get some apple slices  too . you  ll understand later .  
marvelous cult film from     in which the students of vince lombardi high school are confronted with a new  dictatorial principal named miss togar  mary woronov  . togar is a music hater and blames the musical tastes of the students for their transgressions . leading the charge against her is fun  loving riff randell  p . j . soles   the   ramones fan who  more than anything  wants the rock group to record her songs .  br    br   now this is an impossible movie to resist . first and foremost  the soundtrack is incredible  with songs by such artists as alice cooper and the velvet underground in addition to the infectious non  stop assortment of ramones songs .  teenage lobotomy    sheena is a punk rocker   and  blitzkrieg bop  are just a few of them . next  the cast truly gives it their all  with soles an ideal choice for the role of riff she is a true delight . vincent van patten and dey young are earnest as tom and kate  woronov is well cast against type as the snooty and disdainful togar  clint howard has one of his best ever parts as washroom  occupying entrepreneur eaglebauer  and new world regulars such as dick miller  paul bartel  particularly fun as music teacher mr . mcgree  and the real don steele are fun as always . and  of course  it  s a treat to see the ramones playing themselves .  br    br   the movie has true spirit . the energy level is high  with co  story author and director allan arkush bringing a great deal of flair to the proceedings . there  s also a great sense of humor . the paper airplane gag is a superb example of this . this extends right to the  wipe  style of scene transitions . there are even hilarious giant mice created by future makeup effects notable rob bottin  in one of his earliest gigs .  br    br   about as good as an authority  defying  defend  one  s  right  to  party film can get .  rock  n  roll high school  is  quite simply  a wonderful cult film .  br    br        
five  year  old michael sees his mother getting axed to death by his serial killer father  the highwayman   who later commits suicide .    years later  grown mike  gordon currie  from puppet master  and   invites seven of his friends to his secluded grandparents home to  master their own fears  at a halloween night costume party . morty  a life  size wooden doll kept in the attic by the indian handyman  becomes possessed by the dead father  s spirit and kills them off using their phobias . characters are thrown out a window  drowned in a toilet  eaten by rats  blown up  etc . morty morphs into the dad and a tree  walks around and makes stupid wisecracks . after finding a girl chopped up and stuffed in a cardboard box  the characters remain in the house  act cheerful  crack jokes and have sex .  br    br   the morty design is good and betsy palmer  mrs . voorhees from the original friday the   th  is surprisingly delightful as the grandmother  but this thing is even more senseless and confusing than the original and is full of false scares  bad acting  brain  dead characters  repeat flashback footage and annoying distorted camera  work . plus the only two minority characters  the indian and a half  black girl  are the first to die . blah   
wow  this is a good movie  the acting wasn  t good at all  but if you look at some moments in the film  rewind  and watch it again  it is genius  the man in the begin of the film walks with his suitcase against a three . wow  i never expected that . then he puts the coke in a suitcase and runs away . i bet that smoking guy against that three was one of his mates who sold the drugs later . and the genius quotes   nice shades  i need a pair     their yours . . if you think you can take them . .   . . just brilliant  and the fighting is the best i  ve seen in a while . look at the second guy he takes down after he hit the head of the first guy against the table . what a hit  and in the middle of the film  one guy in a car shot one time  then  guys fall  he is really good at aiming . it costs a lot of money to hire these guys like him . the end was brilliant  it was so exciting that james cahill walks  minutes up and down the stairs and shoot jason peters after his distraction moves . jason peters falls down  and roll over again while he is dead  i can  t say with more words how great this movie is   
this is one of the worst action films i have ever seen . this is particularly due to much of the factual implausibility  like an obvious agent posing as a bank loan officer while making obvious that he is speaking to someone through a wire or the scene where the scientists assume it is safe to enter a room in which a virus has been released even though  it has not found a viable host  does not mean that it will never find one   the cheap sets  the bank looks like it was poorly constructed to resemble a dungeon   and the bad acting . it is the story of an organized crime group that has successfully stolen a capsule of the lethal virus . however  the head honcho who decides to remove it from a bank security deposit box  does so at the same time a bank heist is going down  at the same fbi agents have been informed of this  and at the same time a terrible earthquake erupts . needless to say  the aftermath of the quake is messy in more ways than one . however  the results do not make for an enticing action film  but instead  one that has been obviously z  grade junk from the beginning of the film .  perhaps this is why some of the screen captures on the packaging look to be created with computer graphics rather than being actual screen captures from various sequences of the film  . what the hell ron perlman was doing in this  i have no idea . i wonder if he was as embarrassed to be in it as i was to have watched it .  
this film would usually classify as the worst movie production ever . ever . but in my opinion it is possibly the funniest . the horrifying direction and screenplay makes this film priceless . i bought the movie whilst sifting through the bargain dvd  s at my local pound shop . me and some friends then watched it  admittedly whilst rather drunk . it soon occurred that this wasn  t any normal film . instead a priceless relic of what will probably be james cahill  s last film . at first we were confused and were screaming for the dvd player to be turned off but thankfully in our abnormal state no  one could be bothered . instead we watched the film right through . at the end we soon realised we had found any wasters dream  something that you can acceptably laugh at for hours  whilst laughing for all the wrong reasons . we soon showed all our other friends and they too agreed  this wasn  t a work of abysmal film . this was a film that you can truly wet yourself laughing at . this was a film that anyone can enjoy . this was genius .  
mr perlman gives a standout performance  as usual  . sadly  he has to struggle with an underwritten script and some nonsensical set pieces .  br    br   larsen is in  die hard  mode complete with singlet and bulging muscles  i  m sure he could do better but seems satisfied to grimace and snarl through his part .  br    br   the lovely erika is very decorative  even though fully clothed   and shows some signs of  getting  acting at last .  br    br   sfx are mainly poor cgi and steals from other movies .  br    br   the shootouts are pitiful  worthy of the a  team  br    br   not even worth seeing for perlman  avoid  
what a fun filled  sexy movie  they certainly don  t make them like this anymore .  sexy au pairs arrive in london and have all sorts of sexual misadventures . the tone is oddly innocent  as the considerable nudity evolves out of stock farcical situations  rather than any overt sexual desire on the part of the characters . it is only when the actresses accidentally lose their clothes that the male characters become rampant . richard o  sullivan literally gets  randi   sic  . the film certainly betrays the origins of the softcore feature as lying in the nudie cuties and naturism films of the old school . my special interest in  au pair girls  is that i am a huge fan of gabrielle drake . if any actress has ever looked better naked  she  s slim but wonderfully curvy   or clothed  come to that  i  ve loved her since the original run of ufo  who else could carry off a purple wig    i  ll eat my hat .  
an average tv movie quality  totally formula story of religious fanatic  ron perlman  who gives good  i  m not just the president of  psychos r us   i  m also a client .   who gets control of a biochemical virus  think the virus from the movie  the rock   . too bad for him that he also gets stuck in a bank building during an earthquake with bank robbers and the government agents trying to stop him  led by the impressively physiqued  mildly entertaining wolf larson  backed by fred dryer  along with the standard  in the wrong place at the wrong time  spunky female  the forever bland erika eleniak  and  lived as a wimp but died as a hero at the last minute  male  brandon karrer  . has the standard background story to give sympathy to the religious fanatic  wife and son killed in a police raid a few years previous  .  br    br   basically a decent rainy day movie .  br    br   favorite line  spoken by ron perlman after he finds the vial of the virus hidden in erika eleniak  s cleavage  a woman and her mystery .   br    br   worth a rent .  
this is not a love song .  br    br   my one word summary of this film would be excellent  .  br    br   it probably won  t appeal to the mass movie watching public  it  s a  br    br   film that forces you to participate . you observe  think  and question .  br    br   comparisons could be made with deliverance  topic  theme  and  br    br   perhaps with the blair witch project for overall filming style .  br    br   however this film stands unique against both .  br    br   the cinematography effects  solarisation  freeze frame  blur etc   br    br   have been seen before but they are used most effectively in this  br    br   film to underpin the natural tension of the story .  br    br   acting is raw  menacing and utterly believable .  br    br   the real theme of the film is about friendship the title really gives  br    br   the game away . it  s probably not the kind of friendship that most of  br    br   us have experienced or indeed would want to .  br    br   it is a love song .  
the only reason i saw  shakedown  was that it has erika eleniak in it . she  s sexy as always  but she plays second fiddle to leading man wolf larson . it  s a pity  because she has more action capabilities than she  s allowed to show here . the film largely consists of endless shootouts that quickly become monotonous  especially when most of the time you are seeing the bad guys armed with machine guns constantly missing larson and him armed only with a revolver  that never runs out of bullets  taking them all out rather easily . the earthquake effects are decent  but there is also a lot of blurry motion and poor cgi explosions . as the psychotic  spiritual leader   ron perlman tries  but the pseudo  religious mumbo  jumbo he has to spout is simply boring . eleniak  perlman or larson  assuming he has any  completists might want to give this one a look  for others it is barely worth a rental .        
it isn  t always easy to explain what a movie is like  but this time i think i  ve found it . it reminded me of two movies trainspotting  small time criminals scoring some drugs and doing some stupid things in schotland  and the blair witch project  because of the style of filming  .  br    br   it  s about the loyalty between two friends  one of them is coming out of jail  the other one hasn  t been caught yet . with a stolen vehicle they drive through the scottish countryside but than run out of petrol . as they try to find some fuel  they find a farm in the middle of nowhere . the farmer thinks they want to rob him and points a gun at one of them . than it all goes wrong . one of the friends accidentally shoots the farmer  s daughter and they have to run . what follows is a man hunt through the fields and woods of schotland . the two friends literally have to run for their lives .  br    br   apparently this movie was shot in only   days time . ok  that  s not exactly unbelievable because the biggest part of it is always in the same place the scottish countryside  but i still find that quite amazing . especially because this isn  t actually a bad movie . it  s perhaps not the greatest movie ever  but they still can be proud of what they achieved . i had a nice time watching it and overall i enjoyed the movie . i give it a     .  
in     salem  a devious child  s lies about a slave  s involvement in witchcraft sends an entire community into an uproar . costume drama starring claudette colbert and fred macmurray isn  t stuffy  though neither is it a vivid depiction of contagious hysteria . worked on by three writers  walter ferris  durward grimstead  and bradley king   the story elements are rather interesting  especially coming out of hollywood in       though to anyone who has since read arthur miller  s  the crucible   the hoked  up melodrama on display here won  t be tolerated for very long . biggest problem with the picture may lie in the casting colbert and macmurray are an ill  matched pair of lovers hindered by the witch  hunt  macmurray being far too contemporary a presence for these surroundings .     from   
i found this very touching as spike and heaton stay together all the way through this film not to say there isn  t a few betrayals along the way . i thought the chase was put aside the relationship between the two was foreground i think . i had already guessed that there were so gay intentions on the part of heaton . my favourite scene had to be the bit where heaton and spike were stuck in the marsh and spike runs off i generally thought spike wasn  t coming back . i have to say that if it wasn  t for our film studies teacher making us watch this i would have probably never seen it . overall i thought this film was pretty good and i would recommend it to any person who is a fan of british made films .  
a not bad but also not so great heist film . kirk douglas is a recently released from prison safe  cracker who  after turning down an offer from the mob  decides to pull the job himself . he recruits circus gymnast giuliano gemma . mayhem ensues . douglas and gemma soon find themselves pursued by mafia goon romano puppo as well as entangled in a really goofy love triangle with douglas  s infinitely patient girlfriend  florinda bolkan  . director michele lupo keeps the pace moving quickly and there  s at least one excellent and creative car chase sequence involving puppo  gemma . though an italian production  most of the filming appears to have been done in germany . douglas is fine  not just slumming it in an giallo quickie . the striking bolkan gives a terrific performance . the music is by ennio morricone and the cinematography is by the great tonino delli colli  who managed to work with everyone in italy  from wertmuller and fellini to pasolini and leone  .  
this is a film that the mainstream market will probably never be able to access as it doesn  t exactly give the viewer easy watching . the story about troubled spike and his friend heaton is not exactly a friday night film yet it has its own unique edge and i found that it was entertaining . there are moments of brilliance given that the film was shot on such a low budget  such as when spike inhales the aerosol . however i did not really understand the relationship between spike and heaton and to be honest it made me spend most of the film trying to work it out . and also i did not like the fact that most of the film is spent with the two friends talking and not really much  action  . it is a small film that is complex to watch and that is what makes it appealing .  
what the f was this i just watched  steven stop   please  this movie is insatiably bad and silly . in a bizarre departure from action and adventure  mr . seagal is now fighting  obviously  wish  they  were  vampire  like  creatures with super human strength .  ok  oh  and their eyes blink sideways in an inhuman way  wow  even still in this movie however  to quell seagals have  to  have  the  last  punch  and  no  one  can  kick  my  a ego  he is somehow stronger than they are . however all of the average humans are getting crushed all around him . come on  i can understand the big mouth neighborhood bully or drug dealer  but these are super human strength people . oh and get this  seagal goes through a brief sting of identity issues  because apparently he and his cohorts in the film think he is wolverine  oh my go . . . and worst than all of that  yes  there is a worse than that . he has a voice over even changing voice in mid sentence while we are looking at his face . they obviously sound nothing like him and i believe it may be one of the other actors in the film . it was pure madness . although i wanted to turn it off i always watch a movie to he end . this is an all time low even for your direct to video movies steven . awful  awful  awful  two thumbs down  redemeption qualities  well i guess so  i will be fair in that aspect . at least some of the special effects were ok  and i like the choice of wardrobe for the actors and actresses . the women all were quite attractive imo . still  and i said still  it does not make up for the blatant x  men  underworld   insert your favorite zombie  vampire movie here  rip off  the director  writer  producer  all should be bansihed  exile from the movie business . i think i feel the way that most people feel about blood rayne  and just about all other uwe boll pictures  about this film . that  s my whole   .   on this film . view if you dare .  
i am currently doing film studies at a . s level and  this is not a love song  is a film we watched and in my opinion it is a film with a very simple storyline but a complex back  story . if you scratch the surface you will find a thriller  chase film of two men running through the countryside from farmers  after committing a murder   sounds quite exiting  .  br    br   however you need to dig deeper to uncover the true feeling of the true genre . as it is suggested  it is a love story between two homosexual lovers  filled with trust  deceit and betrayal . we are not told about this  love  directly through the film but the events that happen through out  for example the way heaton acts towards spike almost screams this untouched love affair in our faces .  br    br   overall this film is a good example of why british films should not be dismissed as  rubbish  just because they are done on a low budget .  br    br   a good film with an intricate story line  however it is definitely an acquired taste and is possibly not suitable for the average fan of hollywood blockbusters .  
i am truly beginning to believe that seagal is on a mission to see how crappy his films could become . this particular movie was a complete and utter waste of time to see . my first complaint was the cover of the dvd where they have doctored his pic and made him look slimmer and younger when in the film he looks like crap . he has his big pot belly and double chin going for him and the most miserable and bored look on his face .  br    br   the whole plot was ridiculous to begin with and drawn out way too long . the whole film was leading up to the finale where seagal and his team had to take on a bunch of people under the influence of a top secret military chemical adrenaline enhancer . there was way too much useless dialogue and not to mention the ridiculous and constant dubbing of seagals voice even in the middle of a statement . the dubbed voice sounded like a man with a frog in his throat and was quite comical .  br    br   the fight scenes in the film were horrible . half the time when seagal fought you could not even see what was going on . there would be tight shots of him flapping his arms at the camera and then the person flying through a wall or something . it was reminiscent of the old kung fu series on television . they used way too much slow motion for the fight scenes .  br    br   i believe this is seagals worst film to date and i am glad i did not purchase this film or i would have been very upset since i am a huge fan of seagal the aikidoist . the action star is quickly fading away and seems to be getting worse with every performance .  
i think the team behind this film did a very good job with the limitations they had . only         and  weeks to write  film and edit the whole thing which i think is an achievement in itself . although this film is not for the masses  as a young innocent teenage girl is killed and there is homo  eroticism involved in the story  i think that this film is a heart wrenching tragedy and the more deeply involved you get in the story  the more sadness you feel . more so towards heaton because of the love he feels but is not returned .  br    br   this is one of my favourite british films that i enjoyed very much and would watch again . i think that it  s a shame that is film is not very well heard of at all .  
i had the misfortune of wasting   quid buying ss new movie on dvd attack force . now i usually can suspend my belief watching films like this . a pinch of salt and some beers on a dark evening on the sofa watching a noisy late evening shoot em up is perfect for a single alpha male like me . i bought this film thinking i  d see cool martial arts and shoot em up .  br    br   did i hell . segal is old and bloated  the plot was ludicrous even by ss standards and to cap it all off segal  s acting  such as it was to start with  is exceptionally dire . so dire in fact that half of his voice was dubbed over by a man who sounded nothing like him . either ss cant act no more  a moot point  of the crew were so dreadful at their jobs they couldn  t record the sound properly . the voice would flick back and forth between mr whisper segal and the man who does voice overs for honda adverts   br    br   plot wise isn  t the issue because most action films work along the same premise as this one  nothing new there . the usual mix of characters who will die horribly as cannon fodder and stereotyped bad guys waiting to get blown away .  br    br   avoid this film like you would avoid walking in front of a speeding train or a dose of h  n  avian flu .  br    br   utter garbage .  br    br        br    br   this has been a public health warning .  
personally i couldn  t get into  this is not a love song   its a brilliant film and there  s a great story line to it  i just found myself checking the time on my phone every two minuets to see how much was left of the film .  br    br   i love the relationship between spike and heaton  there that close they depend on each other to get along in life . at the same time i wish the relationship was more than what it is . heaton is in love with spike  but spike ibsen  t in love with heaton  or he doesn  t know how to love him . the acts of betrayal  on both parts  have a big effect on the two men . they are both devastated by the fact that the other ran away and abandoned them  at a time when they truly needed each other for survival .  
i had a feeling that after  submerged   this one wouldn  t be any better . . . i was right . he must be looking for champagne money  and not care about the final product . . . his voice gets repeatedly dubbed over by a stranger that sounds nothing like him the editing is  well  just a grade above amateurish . it  s nothing more than a b or c  grade movie with just enough money to hire a couple talented cameramen and an  ok  sound designer .  br    br   like the previous poster said  the problems seem to appear in post  production  . . . voice dubbing  etc .  too bad  cause the plot  s actually ok for a sg flick .  br    br   i  ll never rent another sg flick  unless he emails me asking for forgiveness .  br    br   too bad  i miss kelly lebrock . . .  br    br     jimbo  
a must for any punk rocker  this is the movie that made the ramones a household name back in the early      s  when it first appeared on premium cable stations  . this was one of the first and best of the american punk rock movies  with a cult classic status up there with the rocky horror picture show . originally the producers wanted cheap trick as the stars  but the release of the  live at budakon  album had just made them superstars and too hot an item to be in a low budget movie . very good luck for the ramones who were looking to break out of the underground punk rock world and into the mainstream market  which sadly never happened until after the bands demise  . the band  dee dee especially  always disliked the movie through the    s but the fans always loved and could recite most of the movie while waiting to get into ramones shows . this movie  like most classics  is stupid fun with some classic ramones footage in their heyday . don  t expect more  you won  t find it . it  s great fun  so enjoy it . another allan arkush classic movie in a similar vein is get crazy  featuring lee ving from the legendary hardcore punk band fear .  
twenty years ago  the five years old boy michael hawthorne witnessed his father killing his mother with an axe in an empty road and committing suicide later . on the present days  michael  gordon currie  invites his girlfriend peg  stacy grant  and his best friends chris  myc agnew   jennifer  emmanuelle vaugier   lisa ann  kelly benson   ned  brendon beiser   mitch maldive  phillip rhys  and trish  rachel hayward  to spend the halloween in the country with his grandparents in their farm . he asks his friends to wear costumes that would represent their greatest innermost fear  and together with his indian friend crow  byron chief moon   they would perform an ancient indian celebration using the carved wooden dummy morty  jon fedele  that would eliminate their fears forever . the greatest fear of michael is to become a serial killer like his father  but something goes wrong and morty turns into his father  killing his friends .  br    br    the fear resurrection  is a disappointing and pointless slash movie that uses the interesting concept of eliminating the greatest innermost fear of each friend before it grows  but in a messy screenplay full of clichs . there are some exaggerated performances  like for example ms . betsy palmer others very weak  but in general the acting is good . unfortunately there is no explanation why the dummy is brought to live further  in spite of being surrounded by close friends  the group does not feel pain or sorrow when each one of them dies . the low  pace along more than fifty minutes could have been used to built a better dramatic situation . in the very end  michael shows a charm that his father was interested that i have not noticed along the story . i do not know whether the previous reference was edited in the dvd released in brazil with   minutes running time . the special effects are very reasonable for a b  movie . my vote is four .  br    br   title  brazil    fear   uma noite de halloween    fear   one night of halloween    
some have compared this film to deliverance . i believe of mice and men is more appropriate . our leading man  heaton  definitely loves spike . it is irrelevant and immaterial whether that is a sexual love . it is the reason heaton does not leave spike . he needs him . they need each other . as brothers  as family  as their only connection to humanity . the setting  scenario  minimal cast all add up to a fine film . frankly  i did not care what happened to the characters . but  i did care about what the film maker did with them . he did well with them . i spent some time wondering how the ending would resemble of mice and men . the soundtrack and cinematography were compelling and intriguing .  
i  ve seen a lot of seagal movies  and while most aren  t great  or even good  this steamy pile lowered the bar for bad movies .  br    br   the plot not sure really . something about a drug that makes you all crazy and strong or something . who are the good guys and bad guys  hard to tell . most of the movie is cut scenes going back and forth between people in darkly lit rooms complaining about how good seagals character  mashall  is .  br    br   acting blows .  br    br   voice dubbing       what was with the horrible voice overdubbing   could they of found anyone who sounded any less like seagal  may as well had cheech or chong doing the voice overs  might of at least been entertaining then .  br    br   this movie is boring  and completely stupid . avoid it at all costs      
a suspenseful thriller that bears some resemblance to deliverance as for scenery and setting . there are also some very innovatively shot scenes and good music  although the daftness and sometimes seemingly careless attitude of one of the characters is unfitting to the situation  although this is not a mayor problem . it also poses interesting questions about justness of revenge and limits of friendship .  br    br    
steven seagal . . . . how could you be a part of such an awful film  i rented this movie because your movies usually have been pretty clean . i have lost a lot of respect for you being in an awful movie such as this one . very  very poor taste  i am embarrassed that i even rented this movie . steven  if you keep acting in movies like this one  i believe that your career is over . my husband and i have enjoyed watching many of your movies because you always can  get the bad guy  with a few hand maneuvers and make it clean . . . and also the language is pretty clean in your movies . . . but this one is something else . i will think twice before i rent another movie of yours .  
  this is not a love song  is a brilliant example of the chase genre  which many people think has an underlying meaning . the love between the two main characters may be more than fraternal . i believe that heaton is in love with spike  but spike is too naive to see this .  br    br   i really feel this is portrayed with such scenes as the blow back and letter writing sequences . heaton shows great intimacy towards spike . with intense facial expressions and how he takes great care in writing spike  s name on the top of his letters .  br    br   one thing i  ve noticed when looking at external reviews  is that when the film has been slated  the reviewer seems to have not fully understood the film  as they haven  t even mentioned the possibility of heaton having sexual feelings for spike . i also get the feeling that some of the reviewers haven  t recognised it  when they use phrases like  who is heaton  what  s he doing with a retard like spike   this person  however may have hit the nail on the head with their remark . spike shows noticeable signs of having a . d . d  although i don  t think this person has realised this  as he seems to be using the word  retard  as a derogatory term .  br    br   i really enjoyed this film . although it is not for the faint hearted . the film is exceedingly character based  after the shooting until the end there isn  t much but dialogue between the two anti  heroes . unless you are used to watching such deep  gritty films  stay well away .  
i  m so confused . i  ve been a huge seagal fan for   years . i  ve seen all of his films  and many of those dozens of times . i can only describe this film as  bizarre .  steven seagal shares screenplay writing and producing credits on this film  but i have a really tough time believing he would choose to dub over his own voice for so many of his lines  with a thin  whiny imposter  s voice no less . what i also don  t get is  if they had to dub some of his lines  why does his own voice appear on the rest of them  i expect seagal to age like the rest of us . but the seagal in this movie barely exudes a fraction of the same swagger  confidence  bravado  charm  and sex  appeal he so easily showed us in all of his previous movies . what i found myself missing most of all was his cocky  self  assured attitude and his bad  ass sneer that so easily shifts into that adorable grin . where is that in  your  face attitude and charm that made him such a huge star    i hope that this film is not an indication of what seagal has left to offer us  if so  his lifelong fans will have to concede that the seagal we all knew and loved is gone .  
before the regular comments  my main curiosity about this is not a love song is that while there  s a running time listed on imdb of   minutes  the dvd from wellspring media in the united states runs   minutes . any input on this is appreciated   br    br   two friends with very rough lives take on the road for an adventure . what they wind up in is just that  with one accidentally shooting a girl and the two escaping by foot into the countryside . rather than just a big chase  the film is complicated by the the daft and rather childlike spike behaving inappropriately  and clutching his boom box like a teddy bear . some viewers may dislike the story based solely upon the character spike  but without a bit of frustration added to the story  the film would have been too easy . you  ll notice the way the more stable character heaton refers to spike as  big man  in contrast to spike  s  kid out of control  attitude and behavior . frankly  i too was aggravated by spike  s ridiculous actions  especially the spray can sniffing  but in a desperate situation it  s apparent someone of his mentality would choose an temporary escape . but  heaton was there to keep things in check up until things get way over his head as well .  br    br   kenny glenaan as heaton is a marvel  and after a while i quit wondering why in the heck he would want to pick spike up from prison and continue a friendship  due to glenaan  s great performance . after all  there are many many reasons during their run that would be a good idea for heaton to just ditch spike and try to save himself . i suppose heaton felt like a protective older brother to spike  and the loyalty between the two is hard to break   until things get too desperate .  br    br   while some of the cinematography is indeed artsy  it does offer more flavor to story instead of just shots of the men running through the wilderness . the beautiful landscapes  rain  and vast gray skies offer a somber tone that increases the feel of the tragic circumstances . the score is unusual as well  and the use of public image ltd .  s song  this is not a love song  and as the title of the film is quite smart .  br    br   overall  it  s understandable if you don  t care for this is not a love song as it  s focused on two contrasting personalities escaping from another man determined to hunt them down  played by a cool  quiet david bradley  . it  s not big  budget action entertainment . for the rest of us that enjoy seeking out something minimal and dramatic  it  s time worthwhile spent  and it does offer some extremely tense moments that have you holding your breath a bit .  br    br   i  m really enjoying the films coming out of scotland recently  with the likes of this one  dog soldiers  and the devil  s tattoo . i  m also a bit thankful for the subtitles offered on this dvd  as the accents are sometimes lightning fast and difficult for some viewers like me to understand .  br    br   frustrating  dark  and often tense  this is not a love song is very tragic yet engrossing storytelling .  br    br    
i don  t know what the rest of you guys watch steven seagal movies for  but i watch them because  as silly as they are  they  re at least always good for a laugh . why would you rate this movie a  out of   based on the dubbing  when that kind of thing is exactly what makes a movie like this into a cult favorite that you can laugh at the silliness of   br    br   attack force is by no means a great movie  but i felt it was as worthy a steven seagal vehicle as many of his other movies in fact i didn  t think it was one of his worst by a long  shot . it had  most of the time  a half  way coherent plot line  and it was  most of the time  fundamentally exciting . the ending really sucked  but even that had some enjoyably trashy elements . in the end the story itself did not deliver what it promised  but i actually thought that the acting  characterization  if i may use such a big word  and the rest of the production values delivered exactly what a true steven seagal fan would expect . seagal himself in particular was exactly the stone  faced  no  nonsense man  s man that we  ve come to expect  and the rest of the cast backed him up pretty well  without ever up  staging him . this  people  is what a steven seagal movie does . deal with it . or even better laugh at it .  br    br    out of   .  
for his first ever debut this film has some riveting and chilling moments . in the best horror film fashion the pit of your stomach tightens every moment during this film . the ending is superb . the makers of blaire witch obviously watched this film it  s ending wasn  t an end but a beginning of the end . a great movie and only a piece of japan  s great as far as scare factor a perfect score it makes you think and scared out of your mind .  
this is without a shadow of a doubt the absolute worst movie steven seagal has ever made . and that says a lot . don  t get fooled by the rating  it  s way too good . this abomination hadn  t even been worthy of a     rating  if such a thing existed .  br    br    absolutely no plot  br    br    worst action scenes ever  and there aren  t too many of them either  br    br    seagal doesn  t do anything himself  including the fighting  talking  lots of dubbing   and so on . as always .  br    br    seagal is fat  lazy and couldn  t care less about this movie . something which is very obvious all the way through  br    br   take all the other garbage dtv movies seagal has made  multiply them with each other  multiply this with a thousand billions  and all the badness you then get won  t even describe   of this absolute crapfest .  
not on the same level as ring  or ring   but still a good japanese horror flick nonetheless . i wish north american horror producers would take a page out of the japanese horror template and put more  spookiness  and less cheap shocks in their flicks . lots of good examples in this one  scenes where a whited out face is scene staring behind a young actress  photographs on a wall are suddenly glimpsed smiling  just for a second  and more . worth checking out if you like the genre .  
this movie was heavily marred by the presence of steven seagal . or as i should say steven so  dull  like before seagal is either too good or too stupid to re  dub his own lines  leaving someone to impersonate his voice for the shots where the sound needed to be looped . a few films before this was he has done this too  but i don  t think to this extent  to be honest the film looks pretty good  the script could use some work but parts of this film looked like a real movie  of course  all told  this film is pretty bad .  br    br   it would have been much better without seagal who has become a cartoon of himself . don  t bother . anything over a buck for this one is too much  i honestly think this is the last time for me and a seagal film . what  s taken me so long to realize this    
i really enjoyed this debut by ring director  hideo nakata . if you  ve seen ring beforehand then you  ll be familiar with the style and idea of this flick . it  s got a subtle spookiness about it that works better than the constant  and predictable  stingers that infest most mainstream movies of this genre . if you like films that give you the chills  then you will probably like this one . a good  creepy debut by hideo nakata .      
steven what have you done you have hit an all new low . it is weird since steven  s last film shadow man was directed by the same director who did this trash . shadow man was good this was diabolically bad so bad it wasn  t even funny steven is hardly in the movie and feels like he is in a cameo appearance and when he is in the film he is dubbed half the time anyway . as for the action well let  s just say the wizard of oz had more action than this trash there is hardly any action in the film and when it does finally arrive it is boring depressing badly shot so called action scenes . seagal hardly kills anyone unlike his over films where he goes one man army ie under siege  and  and exit wounds . the plot is so confusing with so many plot holes that it doesn  t make scenes sometimes . flight of fury better be good what a shame i wasted  pounds on this garbage  out of ten better luck next time  
this movie is practically impossible to describe . the alternate title  don  t look up  is a lot more descriptive . like most japanese cinema  the story is not as linear as american . the story revolves around a director who is filming a story about a ww  deserter . the set is haunted    by an actress who died    during the filming of a tv show back in the   s . the director is the only one who saw this show . if you have seen ringu  the director hideo nakata is the same  and liked it  you  ll like ghost actress . i loved ghost actress a lot more than ringu . a truly scary and disturbing movie . a     
even though the plot was very well detailed  and the story line was understandable the fact that steven seagals voice was dubbed with some one else  s through out most of the movie was distressing as you were unsure who was talking . there were many parts where he would start to talk in his deep raspy voice and then the next some one else  s voice was doing the talking for him . i don  t know the reason however if he had difficulty with his voice during production of the movie i think they could have re shot the events that did not contain his own voice when he had recovered . i have rated this movie  out of   based on the quality of the film . when one pays for a movie whether or not its at the theater or on dvd this movie was not worth the admission price that was charged . i have been a long time follower of steven seagal and all his movies that he has done over the past years . to date i think this is one of the worst ones we have seen yet  
after watching this film last night on sundance  i realized that much of nakata  s style was first done in this film . here we have many of the same elements of the ringu series  especially the idea of the media being the source of the supernatural . instead of the cursed videotape  we instead having a haunted studio and strange images appearing on film . in fact  the strange images appearing on film brings immediately the cursed videotape in ringu to mind . the only thing missing was the obsession to water that runs through nakata  s later films . the final scenes are quite chilling  with a bit of a nod to murnau  what with the door opening by itself ands the ghost entering the room  reminds me immediatly of  br    br   nosferatu . a chilling movie that will make think twice about going up to a catwalk .  
steven buddy  you remember when you said this  br    br    try to find the path of least resistance and use it without harming others . live with integrity and morality  not only with people but with all beings .   br    br   you have not been doing that  you have mortally wounded your fans and their morality with these  films  i wouldn  t even bother if i didn  t know you are so much better than this  i  ve seen the videos of you teaching  you are so much better than this why why brother why . . .  br    br   steamroller productions has been steamrolled i promise bro i am not afraid of you i will tell you the truth to your face so we can fix it .  br    br   well i like some others fell asleep    in  but to be fair i was tired and had a large meal just an hour before hand sensai  what are you doing .   million  really  do you have any idea what we could have done with            it could have been in the theaters and a blockbuster hit  if you wanted we could have donated money from the huge profit to a homeless shelter or something . these post production people are ripping you off man the choreography was non existent  we can do better man  the eye blinking thing was from the men in black movie  i half expected will smith to appear or tommy lee jones to tell your they were gills not eyelids .  br    br   seagal you are an aikido master  why are you doing this to yourself  to us  when you came on the scene  you had such a fresh direct style  and it was obvious you are a teacher cause the way your moves were so clear and crisp  watching your first three movies i felt like you were teaching me something  now i feel like you are just being ripped off or something i feel like i need to save you buddy  this time you are the one who was killed and i  m gonna go and get revenge for you by helping you make the best movie ever . bro i know who you really are  i know the truth about the nico movie . let  s talk .  br    br   contact me man i got some fresh ideas i am a nit picker  i swear you will not be disappointed with my attention to detail and we  ll do it for the fans man  your fans deserve better  we  re hanging on  but the strand is about to snap . i swear i will not let your movie out the door with a single mistake in it i  m still trying to figure out if that was the worst dubbing ever  or you have laryngitis  but i promise you i can do a better impression of your voice than the lame  who didn  t even try . i sure hope you kicked him in the nuts as his payment . i can come up with a story and a plot that can be matched to your avenging the death of your student  daughter  wife  dog  house plant niche and i promise you we will bring you back  i promise  also i want to go in the direction  that makes people think  if you let me in i promise we will make a movie that people will walk away and have to have a discussion about it  a serious thought provoking  perception altering experience .  br    br   steven seagal this is my official in writing permission for imdb to release my contact info to you for the purpose of resurrecting one of the best martial arts heroes i have ever seen also  for the record hes not italian  hes irish and jew so you call it bad acting i call it terrific acting  because you have believed for   years that seagal is italian   kinda changes your perception doesn  t it .  
here in brazil is very rare to see a good brazilian film  and brants new film is exactly one of these jewel . there are some flaws in the film  of course  but they are very minimal . the directing and acting in this film are very good   br    br   cant wait to see another brants new film   
what was steven seagal thinking  i mean firstly i love seagal . i love all his movies up to the mid     s . his early stuff is some of the best in the genre . this however does not live up to its excellent name . attack force  with protagonist marshall lawson seagal  would be expected to be a mindless action movie with seagal in typical one  liner ass kicking form . however  what we get is a crime mystery  bordering on a political thriller with little or no action . seagal is always in shadows because of his weight . i could not follow this story . there  s people who mutate to superhumans when they take a drug . what happened in this movie . the dubbing of seagal is a disgrace  a shambles and a shame . why dub the man  the story is terrible . this got a     from me because of the scene where seagal asks for backup despite having an army with him  and an hilarious fight scene where seagal swings his hands like a girl facing the camera   revenge is a two way street  seagal says in this movie . . . well forget revenge steven  you need redemption   
it  s amazing that actress p . j . soles didn  t become a big star after playing riff randall    fan of the punk rock group the ramones  in  rock  n  roll high school  . soles is so exuberant  you don  t mind she  s obviously too old to still be in high school  that fact is leveled out by having all the kids look    . the movie is a fast  paced frolic that doesn  t cop  out everything gets blown to smithereens at the end  and that  s just as it should be . mary woronov  an innately kinky and funny presence as the nazi  like principal  gets a great  one  of  a  kind bit at the beginning where frisbees fly dangerously close to her head  how many takes did they use on that  or was it a fluke   and dey young is very appealing as soles  best  kate rambeau . the weakest link  ironically enough  in this  high school  chain  gang is the ramones . they can  t act  they  re not funny  and their concert segment goes on too long . one ramones song   i want you around   is treated as a fantasy and is well captured other incidental songs are good  particularly a rare paul mccartney ballad heard near the beginning   did we meet somewhere before    . great fun   from   
wow   br    br   i just was given this film from a friend of mine  who bought it for  .   at walmart  and he felt that he got taken  it is beyond boring  most of the scenes are filmed in front of a green screen  the acting is somewhat improvised  almost as if they didn  t have a script . the martians are cgi  which look like they were done by a novice  or a fan produced movie . i cannot stress just how bad this dvd really is   br    br   example in one of the scenes  the martians are torturing a local female captive . she goes from a woman in front of a green screen  to a cgi copy of that woman . the change is totally noticeable  and when she is killed  you can see that it is a computer figure  looking like something from a game back in       br    br   if at all possible  avoid this movie like the plague  you can download two trailers from their site  and see how god  awful it really is   
the three main characters are very well portrayed  especially anisio by rock musician turned into first time actor paulo miklos . he is extremely convincing as the lower class trespasser  invader . the film shows very well the snowball effect of getting involved in ever more shady business  the contrast and similarities between the lower and higher classes . how everyone gets carried away by greed and ambition .      out of   .  
i think its time for seagal to go quietly into the night . what i have just seen makes all his direct to video releases in the last few years look like his early    s smash hits in comparison .  br    br   a secret bio lab is making a new kind of drug that jacks up a human  s adrenaline system to the point where they become psychopathic killers or something . somehow seagal is supposed to stop the infection or its the end of the world . . . or something . seagal also went through hit squads like jellybeans  every time i look up he was commanding a new face so it kinda got hard to follow character development as well i know steven  s athsma prevent him from yelling at the top of his lungs but even so why is he constantly being dubbed by people who sound nothing like him  usually the films plot and action sequences can save it from being a total waste of time but this was not even close . like i said  it was more of a horror movie with a lot of blood and shank stabbing rather than straight up fighting . the problem was it wasn  t really scary and seagal looked completely out of place because the infected people were supposed to have speed of light movement yet the   year old    lb seagal killed them all singlehandedly  i guess the lone highlight of the movie was the first   minutes where the new recruits ask seagal to come to the strip club with them .  br    br    out of    
ivan  marco ricca  and gilberto  alexandre borges  are partners in a company together with estevo  george freire   but the first ones contract a professional killer  anisio  to murder estevo  the plot  at least at the beginning  doesn  t explain very well why  . the guy does it and after receiving his money he starts blackmailing the two partners  appearing in their company and saying he wants a job there  as supervisor or something  . at the same time he meets marina  mariana ximenes   daughter of estevo  and starts dating with her   br    br   in a story like this  where crime  corruption  betrayal and blackmail go hand in hand  no one is innocent or can be victimized  exception made to marina  which is the only person who doesn  t know what  s going on and didn  t betray anyone  br    br   this film portrays with sarcasm the sad and cruel reality which exists in big metropolis like so paulo  where crime is every day  s presence . we can feel irony but also veracity in characters like anisio  brilliantly played by paulo miklos   which does blackmail to the guys who paid him without any scruples  and even flirts with the daughter of the guy he killed  he really must be a monster to do something like that  but of course i know there  re people like him out there  in brazil or any other place  br    br   it  s a very good movie  cruel but truthful  about a sad reality the acting is great and the soundtrack too .  
okay  first off  seagal  s voice is dubbed over for like    of the film . . . why  because apparently there were rewriting the script and story as they were shooting and they need to change his dialogue for story continuity as they have multiple versions . from the very beginning  you just scratch your head because the overdubs are not only distracting  but they make no sense .  br    br   that said  the story still sucked and doesn  t make any sense at all . when i got the the end  i was just scratching my head cause the movie was so pointless and the ending didn  t even make sense .  br    br   avoid like the plague . this movie made me stop watching seagal straight to video movies cause they just get worse and worse .  
my short comment for this flick is go pick it up . chances are you are going to be positively surprised by a diversity of elements superbly explored in this criminal thriller . there is no way the character of miklos  claiming and pushing for room in every way possible  wont push your nerves to the edge . . .  thumbs up   
well let me say that i have always been a steven seagal fan and his movies are usually great but this just don  t measure up to the rest . this in my opinion is very stupid i did not like it all . the biggest reason i don  t like it is because it is very flawed and to me does not make much sense . the acting is very bad even steven seagal does not do good acting  the rest of the actors i can see because they just do direct to video movies . it does not follow a straight storyline everything happens at once so that why it doesn  t make much sense . ther is barely any action in it at all and in order to make an action movie good you usually need action in it . the special effects are very bad and you can tell are fake . so all in all this has to seagals worst movie of all so if you want to see a steven seagal movie don  t rent this one just pretend it does not exist . so just avoid this movie .  br    br   overall score  out of   br    br    out of   
extremely tense thriller set in the urban chaos of so paulo  the biggest and ugliest third world nightmare in brazilian urbania . for the sake of making it easy for anyone who is curious about this intriguing and truly well made film  it has the grit of mexican feature  amores perros  with a character not too far off max cady  from both cape fears  although this is not  by any means  a film about a psychopath . two partners  alexandre borges and marco ricca  in a construction company pay hitman anisio  miklos  to off their third partner  and majority share holder  in said construction outfit . the murder is blamed on the city  but things begin to look very grim indeed when witty and charismatic walking nightmare anisio decides he wants to be around the ever so nervous partners in crime  not only trespassing but  more importantly  deconstructing the strict social codes that make up brazilian society . anisio turns poverty into an attitude and he wants in . the look is almost entirely handheld  grainy  the performances outstanding throughout  especially so as first time actor  and member of classic brazilian pop band  tits    paulo miklos  dazzles and baffles the viewer with his pretty funny social terror .  br    br   i saw the film at the braslia film fest in november     . it has since done very well in sundance and berlin . kleber mendona filho  
i feel blessed to own what is known as the worst steven seagal movie ever made . i knew i was on to something special when steven opened his mouth and someone else  s voice came out . by the middle of the film my eyes were beginning to hurt and i was almost falling out of my chair with uncontrollable laughter .  br    br   steven is steven  with an ever changing voice  and totally unbelievable in his role  as always  . who the hell lets people with bad nappy  hair pony tail mullets into the forces anyway  he also always writes himself into totally unbelievable love interests with women at least   years his junior . the supporting actors all look like they  ve been shot in the dark  btw  did they shoot this movie in the dark with just a penlight torch for lighting   br    br   this is truly abominable in every way possible . invite all your friends around and make a social event out of it  this one  s truly special .  
whoopi was the only reason i watched the oscars that year . she is hilarious . of course there was a major serious side to the show . she was great not only because she  s funny  but because she said some things that needed to be said in a public forum . white folks need to be reminded that hollywood awards  ceremonies  employment  and representation are way out of balance racially . there should be no need for  black  awards shows . the white  bread  milquetoast nominators and judges need to bring their heads into the sunshine and see that great material is not limited to  white  directors  producers  actors  etc . allowing woody allen on the air was the depth of poor taste . he had no business being there . the fact of the matter is  this is the first oscar presentation i  ve watched since  the color purple  was up for awards . that miscarriage of voting soured me on watching the shows until     . which is not to denigrate other presenters . billy crystal is a riot .  
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   marshall lawson  steven seagal  is assigned to france on a reconaissance mission along with three new young strike  team recruits after disobeying a direct order from above . however the night before they  re due to strike  they are all found grusomely slaughtered by a killer with seemingly inhuman strength . with the french police dallying around with their own investigation  he goes in search of those responsible himself  only to uncover a corrupt faction of the military dealing in a deadly new drug that alters a person  s dna and gives them terrifying new strength .  br    br   bad cover . bad title . bad post  production tampering . and bad trailer . pretty bad film . but  i  ve got to say  i don  t think attack force is quite his worst . i know this will make me unpopular with most of the other reviewers here  perhaps not steveday   but i think a lot of the criticism has stemmed from all the bad news that went before the film rather than the actual quality of it itself .  br    br   i must say there was nowhere near as much dubbing or ropey editing as i  d been lead to believe . the dubbing there was  which made him sound like martin sheen with a groin problem   was pretty awful and quite frequent but not in use for as large a segment of the film as i  d thought . the plot flowed pretty smoothly as well considering all the messing about with the original finished film called harvester that went on . also as another reviewer noted  the film has a nice gothic look to it  a new touch for a seagal film .  br    br   the absolute killer low point  though  was the complete and total lack of any exciting action  with only a few poorly filmed fight scenes for any fun .  br    br   i have to be honest  though  i would rather watch this again than flight of fury  today you die or out for a kill .   
to all of yall who think  . this was a boring telecast  . halle berry and denzel washington did not deserve their oscars  br    br   shut the fk up   this was one of the best academy awards show because  . it was a moment in history to have a black yes  black actress  win an academy award for best actress so many of our black sisters have been ignored by the academy for many years . to be honest i had stop watching the academy awards because of a lack of diversity in either the winners or nominees . to me it was nothing but a bunch of white people patting each other in the back . the academy had many chances to vote black actresses that were brilliant in movies eg alfre woodard  whoopi goldberg  diana ross  mary jean babtise  but it did not  . halle berry deserved that oscar no competition the academy was under pressure to vote for her so long have deserving actresses been ignored by the academy the majority of which is comprised of white voters yeah yeah nicole kidman sang very prettily in muling rouge  but it was time black people were accommodated in these awards shows . as for mr washington the academy owed him big time after that unfair loss for malcomx . to all of you who think race is not an issue  probably white people  in the movie industry  well it is many of the most talented black actresses around have either been reduced to stereo typical made by white people roles of what they think is a black women or are not existence  angela basset  . i do not expect many of the white people to understand any of this because they never had to deal with any of it . come to think of it they are the one who been inflicting it  
the movie is boring  the characters and scenarios are unrealistic  unbelievable  the action is hilarious . this movie is a big mess . it almost seems like when the action music kicks in  the most impressive stunt is running . either voice is dubbed over with mr . mcgregor or steven sang too much and it changed his voice . there is way too much dialog in this movie  and extremely bad acting on everyones behalf . the movie is great sleep therapy . the fighting is laughable . the eye shape shift effect on the evil designer drug addict females was decent . the main villain was a joke and his character was poorly developed . the main villain was used to explain the story through interrogation  he would just throw random plots in such as  spoiler   ctx  his designer drug  is going to be in the water supply  which is never addressed in the conclusion or even mentioned again in the movie . this movie is highly recommended to pass .  
ok  so the oscars seem to get hyped just a little more each year . and i was rooting for  gosford park  to win  come on  robert altman had deserved an oscar for years   . that said  i guess that it was high time for an african  american to win best actress . contrary to the previous reviewer  halle berry  s role in  monster  s ball  was far more original than nicole kidman  s in  moulin rouge   i never would have thought to nominate the latter for anything  especially in a year that saw  mulholland dr .  .  br    br   among the things that i had predicted was the stuff about the september   attacks i knew that they were going to say something about freedom . yeah  yeah . robert redford should know better . but contrary again to the previous reviewer  whoopi goldberg is not the worst host  among the past hosts was bob hope  for whom i have no respect   i really liked her jab at john ashcroft .  br    br   so  although i wouldn  t have given  a beautiful mind  best picture   the   th annual academy awards  still pleased me  i have to admit  i enjoy the oscars more than my own birthday  . and the day after  as my parents and i were hiking around the dwellings in bandalier  new mexico  it was spring break  i was thinking to myself that when jim broadbent won his oscar  that most people watching were asking  jim who    i wonder whether or not woody allen will ever attend the oscars again .  
i tried restarting the movie twice . i put it in three machines to see what was wrong . did steven seagal  s voice change  did he die during filming and the studio have to dub the sound with someone who doesn  t even resemble him  or was the sound on the dvd destroyed  after about   minutes  you finally hear the actor  s real voice . though throughout most of the film  it sounds like the audio was recorded in a bathroom .  br    br   i would be ashamed to donate a copy of this movie to goodwill  if i owned a copy . i rented it  but i will never do that again . i will check this database before renting any more of his movies  all of which were  more or less  good movies . you usually knew what you were getting when you watched a steven seagal movie . i guess that is no more .  
the events of the   th of september     cast its shadow on this oscar award ceremony with a one minute silence before the in memoriam montage and there was little in the way of the all singing all dancing comedy extravaganza that wed come to expect of this award show but this was by no means a bad thing . entertainment was more or less curtailed to a lotr send up with ben stiller and owen wilson and that was it . the rest of the show was taken up with clips from the nominations and i have to admit this was actually more enjoyable than the overblown song and dance numbers weve seen over the years and whoopi goldberg was by no means a bad presenter unlike the very esoteric david letterman from a few years ago and the one minute silence for the victims of     was haunting and dignified  br    br   as for the awards new zealand was absolutely robbed . fellowship of the ring went home with four minor awards while a beautiful mind undeservingly picked up most of the major prizes except for best actor which should have gone to a tough guy new zealander but went to an an all american nice guy instead . the only oscar awards i agreed with apart from the ones presented to fellowship were the awards for best supporting actress and best supporting actor  both correct calls .  
the dvd was a joke  the audio for the first few minutes was terrible with sound out of sync and segals voice not even his     pathetic  when the audio sync was better in about  minutes the poor plot  lines and actors should get another job because the movie business is not where any of them should be .  br    br   while segal had some good movies in the early days the latest ones are a joke and should be a an embarrassment to him and the company that made it .  br    br   if segal was the one that handled this he better return to having another party run the show  because he has no talent what so ever in this .  br    br   this film is a complete embarrassment to all involved in its production and a disgrace to all who viewed it . i turned it off in about   minutes .  br    br   i will be asking for my money back at block buster  mark from ontario  canada  
the   th oscars was a very good one . whoopi  s work as emcee was very funny  and light . i personally loved her last apperance  which garnered some frigid reviews due to coarse language and salacious jokes  but that  s fine . the audience seemed to like it . halle berry  denzel washington  ron howard  woody allen  and sidney poitier made this an oscar telecast to remember .  br    br    
drss     really took the words right out of my mouth . i loved segal  s early films and feel like the only one who is still faithful to him . i just saw this movie  ok  fell asleep about    through  so i didn  t see the end  . when i woke up and saw i was at the dvd menu  i was thankful i didn  t subject myself to any more of that movie and didn  t dare find out what happened at the end . there was something strange about the voice of segal and others . kinda reminded me of the original mad max where the voice were dubbed  but in the same language  australlian is english  right    anyway  if i had   thumbs  they  d all point down right now for this segal injustice .  
no awards show can please all the people . clearly if your favorite movies didn  t win  you will say the show wasn  t very good . that  s understandable .  br    br   however  the   th annual academy awards will be remembered for one magical moment of hollywood history  br    br   woody allen  s first appearance ever at the academy awards .  br    br   allen has often shunned the awards as being self  aggrandizing and pointless  and has never attended   even though he has won several of the coveted awards .  br    br   when the   th academy awards were held  the nation was still mourning the loss of life in the collapse of the world trade centers in new york . when it came time to pay tribute to the city of new york  they decided to show a video of the great movie moments form the city of cities . then the announcer simply said  br    br    ladies and gentleman  oscar award winning director woody allen .   br    br   the place erupted in an extremely long standing ovation . the entertainment industry finally got to give their applause to the man from new york who usually avoids the hollywood scene . as the applause died down  woody applied some of his legendary wit to the situation .  br    br   some highlights  br    br    thank you very much  that makes up for the strip search .   br    br    i thought they wanted their oscars back   he joked .  i panicked because the pawn shop has been out of business for ages and i had no way of retrieving anything .   br    br    but that wasn  t it . i couldn  t work it out because my movie wasn  t nominated for anything this year . then it hit me  maybe they were calling to apologise .   br    br   allen also disclosed why he had overlooked his lifelong oscar  aversion for this one special night .  br    br    for new york city  i  d do anything . so i got my tux on and came down here   said allen .  br    br    it  s a great  great movie town . it  s been a great  moving and exciting backdrop for movies and it remains a great  great city .   br    br    
i buy or at least watch every seagall movie . he came out with a handful of good movies then descending into poor stories  bad camera work and a walk  thru persona  he nearly lost me . a few movies ago he remembered how to make a decent movie . now he  s forgotten again . this film is seriously dark  on any level you care to name  . there is a lot of slash  gash going on here with no discernible purpose unless it  s meant as a warning against the military .  br    br   seagall may have had a stand  in for many of his scenes as it was often too dark to tell and someone else  s voice was used most of the time . sadly the only interesting character was the bad guy who killed his guard to escape custody  then proceeded to raise havoc all over the place . okay since when do we place an armed guard in the holding room with a prisoner  anyway this bad guy was at least colorful  and very focused . there  s lots of gore if you like that king of thing . it looked to me like the bad guys tore the same gash every time . i  m just glad they didn  t suck the blood from their hapless victims . i harken you back to my summary . basically it is a horror movie disguised as an action film . dec        
and this is a great rock  n  roll movie in itself . no matter how it evolved  at point being a movie about disco   it ended up as one of the ultimate movies in which kids want to rock out  but the principal stands in their way . think back to those rock  n  roll movies of the    s in which the day is saved when alan freed comes to town with chuck berry to prove that rock  roll music is really cool and safe for the kids  and tuesday weld gets a new sweater for the dance . forward to the      repeat the same plot  but throw in da ramones  whom no one then realized would become one of the most influential bands of the next quarter century  and then for the obligatory dj guest shot   the real  don steele  . throw in  too  all the elements of a roger corman  produced comedy  exploitation film  except for the two  day shooting schedule  some of the familiar corman repertory players like clint howard  mary wournow and dick miller  there since  bucket of blood    and you  ve got one of the great stoopid movies of the day . one of the few films that uses deliberate cheesiness and gets away with it . i showed the new dvd to a friend who could only remember seeing parts of it through a stoner  induced haze at the drive  in  and he agreed that this is one of the great movies to be watching drunk  not the least for the lovely leading ladies and the great ramones footage .  
let this serve as a warning to anyone wishing to draw attention to themselves in the media by linking their name to that of a well  loved and well  respected  not to say revered author  in order to draw attention to their home  movies out on dvd .  br    br   hyped to the skies by its obviously talentless makers  in fact lied about only to be revealed  finally  as ludicrously inept in every department  the fans of wells and of his book have been after the blood of its writer  producer  director since it appeared on dvd .  br    br   many good points have been made by the other comments users on this page . particularly the one about using this as a teaching aid for film school students  since this  film  does not even use the basic grammar of scripting  editing  continuity  direction throughout its entire  hours running time . it is possible the director did show up for the shoot . certainly there was no  one present who knew even remotely what they were doing .  br    br   an ongoing thread continues to evolve on this imdb page which should at least furnish the watchers of this witless drivel with a few laughs for their   .   outlay .  br    br   much was promised . absolutely nothing was delivered . except  monty python meets  war of the worlds  with all the humour taken out .  br    br   indefensible trash . just unbelievable .  br    br   there are real independent film  makers out there to be checked out . people who actually try to work to a high standard instead of flapping their gums about how great their movie is going to be .  br    br   people could do worse than keep an eye on brit film  maker jake west  s  evil aliens  for example .  
my favorite part of this film was the old man  s attempt to cure his neighbor  s ills by putting the strong medicine in his bath . there is more than a sense of family  there is a sense of community .  
how do you spell washed up fat italian who can barely pull off a martial arts move without needing some heart medication  in this movie we see steven seagal at his lowest level of accomplishment  since his career started it has been a steady decline into pathetic over indulgent behavior that has scuttled his career . in this movie it looks like most of his training consisted of ordering the fetuccini alfredo at his restaurant every day .  br    br   he is fat  slow and very old looking in this movie  hardly a martial arts action hero  more like a laughing stock clown .  br    br   it  s time for steven seagal to retire  this movie is about  hours of reasons why .  br    br   plot fat italian guy with a big reputation on the force gets wind that a crime group may be playing around with a drug designed by the military to create the ultimate warrior response . this pretense  although pathetic and laughable  gives opportunity for some over the top fight scenes that include blasting through walls like a comic book .  br    br   did i mention this movie totally sucks and steven seagal is a complete joke  yeah . i did .  
this delighted audiences at a number of film festivals  and it is not hard to see why . director yang zhang  with the help of some very nice work by the three principle actors  xu zhu as the father  master liu quanxin pu as the elder son  da ming and especially wu jiang as the irrepressible and lovable younger son  er ming  spins a tale that will warm the coldest heart .  br    br   the film starts with a man taking a shower in an automated booth in the middle of beijing . he puts some money in a slot  opens the door  takes off his clothes and puts some of them on a conveyor belt to be cleaned  steps into the shower and gets cleaned with brushes and squirts of water and soap as though he  s a car at the car wash . this is the future symbolically speaking  and the old bathhouse we will see in the next scene is the past . agrarian china is giving way to industrial china .  br    br   pollution  cultural revolution hang  over  industrialization blues  no way . what we have here is a celebration of people and their kindness and love for one another  a celebration of goodness in the hearts of men . yet i wonder how the chinese government views this film . on the one hand  it clearly presents a pleasant view of china and its people . it is stringently nonpolitical without criticism of the present regime expressed or implied . yet there is the slightest sense that the good old ways are going to be replaced by something that may not be as good . i think yang zhang had the wisdom to just let that be as it may . tell a story about old men at the bathhouse where they get back rubs and massages  where they tell tall tales and reminisce about the good old days  where they can relax and play chinese chess and stage cricket fights  where the master is a spry and wise old guy and his assistant is his son  who may be retarded or autistic  but who does his job with glee and an infectious spirit of fun and good will .  br    br   enter back on the scene the older son  da ming  who is polished  well groomed and taciturn . he is uncomfortable with what he sees as the unsophisticated behavior of his father and brother . he represents modern china with his tie and his briefcase  his cell phone and his education . he has only returned because he thought his father was dying . when he sees that this is not true  he packs his bags and is set to return to his wife and his career . but then a crisis ensues and it is during this crisis that da ming sees the value of the natural  people  centered life that his father and his brother have been living .  br    br   and so yang zhang reconciles the old and the new  and does so in such a charming manner that i will not object  especially since his style is so neat and so carefully expressed . one of the nice things he does that i miss in most movies is the way he dovetails the subplots within the larger story so that they are resolved before the picture ends . the bathhouse regular who sings  o sole mio  in the bathhouse as the water showers down upon him  much to the delight of er ming  finds that he can  t sing in public because of stage fright . near the end of the film he loses his stage fright and sings thanks to some inspired help from er ming . and the bathhouse regular who is losing his wife because . . . well  he tells a tale to master liu before he confesses the real reason . but liu understands and again before the movie is over  husband and wife are reconciled .  br    br   this kind of  happy ending  movie  making is unusual in today artistic and international films  or in almost any film directed at adults . some happy endings are so contrived as to embarrass not only their contrivers but their audiences . and some are so blatantly condescending that the audience is offended . here however the audience is delighted .  br    br   see this especially for the comedic performance by wu jiang whose warm effervescence overcomes any handicap his character may have .  
okay like most steven seagal fans i know i not going expect a masterpiece every time he makes a film but i do expect the film to at least have some sorter budget . the main problem with the copy i watched was the terrible over dubbing i know that in some films this has to be done and i accept that but when they overdub with a totally different actors voice and keep doing this thru out the film it does take the magic of overdubbing away . also the sets seem to be built with no care as in one scene the sliding glass top in a top secret lab has a massive crack going thru it . i was truly disappointed with this film and only hope stevens next project will be more finished off before sending the film out for buying  renting . the story of this film had me wondering if i was watching a sci  fi film or not some parts seemed alien like but they never fully explained what was going on i found it very confusing .  
i like this film a lot . it has a wonderful chemistry between the actors and tells a story that is pretty universal  the story of the prodigal son . the aspect i like the best however was the way that the bath house was more than just a background for the story . as the father told the son the story of his wife  s family in the northern deserts of china  the element of water and bathing becomes an almost sacred ritual . water was so scarce that a simple bath had profound depth and meaning .  br    br   overall the film was very effective . there were moments  however  when it verged on  too  sweet . . . bordering on cloying during the park recital scene . but overall  i highly recommend this film .  
i look around in the video store still in shock how steven seagal with his track record of bad action movies can still have  movies hit the shelves in less than a year . attack force being the  rd no less promised the first  time entrance into the sci fi genre for our ever widening seagal . visions of bad movie entertainment flashed before my gullible eyes . sadly this is not the case one bit with no entertainment and a movie as bad as they come .  br    br   seagal rebounded a tiny bit with the trashy  but enjoyable shadow man last time we saw him . however attack force has to be his absolute worst movie ever  don  t argue for out for a kill  ticker  or even black dawn folks . this is the bottom of the septic tank here .  br    br   anyone who says this is steven seagal  s return to form should be forced to write a    page essay on the word taste .  br    br   seagal is yet another agent  i  m a supreme bad  ass yet again named lawson wants revenge for the killing of his team that leads him to a nefarious plot to distribute a really bad drug to the unsuspecting public . not to mention the dealers are not from around here .  br    br   the whole production from directing to the acting is poor . was this movie shot in the dark  its gotta be the most poorly lighted movie since howling  . the action is terrible and very badly done .  br    br   the producers have also unwisely decided to do what the fans hate the mostthrow in stunt double after stunt double and horribly dubbed steven seagal . who seems to show little enthusiasm here . can ya blame him   br    br   while it has been said that attack force was not the movie stevie signed on for  originally harvester  and surely has to be better than attack force . the post  production tampering has not made it more coherent and made seagal look worse . i feel bad for directer michael keusch and writer joe halpin as they are gonna be judged forever for the ill  advised production re  shoots .  br    br   so now this leaves seagal in the impossible position to come up with something to atone for this mess . but after seeing how bad attack force has turned out do we really want him to make another movie   
this movie was an impressive one . my first experience with a foreign film  it was neither too long  nor too complex . i myself enjoyed the subtitles and the plot was surprisingly fresh . the story of an adult son visiting his elderly father and retarded brother after a long separation appeared cliched at first  but it proved to be very touching and realistic . there was also some subtle humor so as not to depress or bore the audience .  
i  m a huge steven seagal fan . hell  i probably weigh as much as he does although i don  t have the street cred to sport the frizzy  mullet  ponytail . having stated my own bias and affection for america  s favorite corpulent stage and screen hero  it is with a heavy heart that i must declare this to be his worst movie ever . i  m not sure he could make a movie any worse than this .  br    br   in his defense the major problems with this film seem to occur in post  production . it  s painfully obvious that this movie was supposed to have a different storyline . that results in woeful voiceovers in which steve  s voice doesn  t nearly sync up with that of the dubbed voice . the editing is pisspoor and overall this starts bad  gets even worse  and by the end you  ll wish you had rewatched the da vinci code instead . yes  it  s that bad .  br    br   after this i don  t know what to expect from steve . my friends still laugh at me for listening to his cds . is it time i start checking out some of the van damme direct to dvd nutty logs  if you are tempted to watch this movie  rip your eyeballs out and flush them down the toilet . a lifetime of darkness is better than   minutes of this .  
this chinese movie made me feel so many similarities with members of a culture i don  t belong and are far from . in an almost buddhist approach  the film helps one to relate to each character  and to the happiness of doing the simple routine things .  br    br   all actors are brilliant  and xu hzu exudes kindness and wisdom  yet also vulnerable and mean . er min  the retarded brother  shows us that intelligence and wisdom are not equal  and that wisdom comes to and from the most disparate persons in this universe . a different china  this is far from the chinese realism  yet  it has lots of humanity and realism of a different kind .  br    br   get it . you won  t be disappointed .  
attack force has a horrendous title  and can almost certainly be judged by it  s awful cover  because the film is horrible  a mish  mash of plot lines  a choppy mess  and a horribly stagnated pace  make the film hard to watch start to finish . i managed this and i  m proud . as a fan of seagal  s work  mostly of his old days   it  s painful to see him star in such tripe . true seagal  s last half dozen movies or so  have sucked a lot  but some of them at least had some redeeming features . attack force is a mess . from conception to delivery this film has undergone many changes  from an alien plot line  to the current one about a highly addictive super drug  about to be unleashed on the romanian  the film has several settings  none of which are romanian  but all look like romania because they are in romania   populace . the film is tacked together with little regard for whatever state the original shooting script was . plot  holes and loose ends are abound in the film that  s for sure . that  s been a problem in seagal  s last few films as well  but never has the result been so boring . there  s a whole plot line about the water supply being poisoned with ctx  that  s the drugs cool name  that is never resolved   br    br   of course in recent years the plot  s haven  t been the main draw in the seagal canon so there was a big onus on the other departments  especially the action . before i regard the action though  all the other departments are poor . the direction is poor  or perhaps better put  made to look poor . who knows how director michael keusch originally intended this film  between him finishing his job  the re  shoots by stunt man tom delmar  and the editing  a coherent auteur vision is completely lost . the best way to describe the film is that it  s just all over the shop  the cinematography is dull  nearly inducing sleep  while the droning score  sounding like it was produced on the cheapest of cheap synthesizers  does nothing to excite matters . the cast too are poor  unable to salvage anything here . seagal looks bored beyond recognition  and is dubbed through much of the picture  clearly when plot  points are being changed . he looks tired and overweight  and lethargic  unlike he  s looked in previous pictures too  remarkable as the aforementioned have been key complaints in seagal  s recent pictures  . the only redeemable cast member is adam croasdell as one of the villains  doing a slimy brit routine . he seems to be a throwback to the alien plot line  because he  s playing it inhuman . he seems like a cross between a body snatcher and a vampire  ditto to the lead villain played by some hot chick who appears on occasion  seemingly waiting for her husband dracula  .  br    br   finally the action . well it  s poor . poorly conceived  poorly shot . there  s not much either  and there  s even less featuring seagal . stevo doesn  t really bring out the stunt double here  because there  s so little to do . there  s even a lengthy  repetitive and boring  action scene on the hour mark that inter  cuts occasionally with little flashes of seagal  s stand in because clearly seagal wasn  t there while the scene was being shot  and they wanted to have him feature in the action scene . seagal eventually appears in person to shoot two guys in the head . seagal has a producers credit here and a script credit  but from what i understand the film has been altered behind his back to the current state it  s in . seagal will apparently not be working with these people again  or with castel studio  s who continue to deliver horrifically sub  nu  image  that  s saying something   material .  br    br   overall this is one to avoid if you are not a seagal fan . seagal fans can also be safe in the knowledge that the big man probably won  t want to do anything this bad again . unfortunately his next film which has already been shot  with the same people  promises to be even worse than this .   
almost the entire film takes place in a public bathhouse in china . there are no fancy sets  explosion or glamorous people   only fine writing  acting and direction  hollywood  take note   .  br    br   an estranged son returns home when he believes his father is dying . he is surprised to see that dad looks fine and is going about running the family business as usual . in fact  he notices that his father and his retarded brother have really forged a close and caring relationship and it soon becomes obvious that he is out of the loop  dad is very traditional and this visiting son is from the big city and doesn  t really see the value of the old bathhouse . how their relationship changes and where the plot goes from there is exceptional and believable .  br    br   i was happy to see that not every chinese movie is an action picture  such as those starring jet li or crouching tiger  hidden dragon   as i don  t particularly care for these frenetic films . the shower as well as springtime in a small town are two wonderful examples of good chinese films about people   
as far as i can understand  tiw watcher is the first work of a young director . my doubt is if this is the work of a regular guy who happens to love films or if this is the work of a cinema student  since there is a reference to oporto school of arts in the final credits .  br    br   nevertheless  director ricardo pinho demonstrates with this movie a total unawareness of some basic notions about cinema . what is a movie  how to tell a story  it doesn  t matter  for the novice director . one of the first things you learn in school when you  re studying cinema is how to tell a story . you learn that  just like in novels  in movies you should also construct your story in three acts the introduction  the development and the conclusion . you learn that your story should have a protagonist and an antagonist and that there should be a climax . you learn this is valid for a   hour  epic  for the regular movie  for a short film and even  believe it or not  for a    second commercial . you also learn there can be levels of subtleness in your approach to the academic structure and that  ultimately  you can even deconstruct it .  br    br   in rough terms  tim watcher introduces us its main character and then  the movie ends  the whole movie sounds like the introduction of the characters in jeunet  s amlie . there are no second or third acts in tim watcher . this is not a parody or an art film  thus you can  t even try to justify the disrespect for the academic structure . you are expecting to be told a story  and it doesn  t happen . worst than that  tim watcher defines itself as a warning and one with no real purpose . it doesn  t make a point  or at least  not a valid one . its point is childish  with a sense of vengeance . the situations portrayed are utterly simple and its approach is manichaean .  br    br   i was expecting a lot more from this short . the movie opens with a rather good  looking credits sequence and you quickly realize you are watching something with better production values than the regular portuguese short film . i don  t know the budget for this movie  but judging for the thanks  list in the end credits  merit must go to the production team for such good connections in a country where  s difficult to have doors opened to young filmmakers .  br    br   tim watcher seems to be an exercise in style  color and carefully chosen plans  combined with a fine score . that  s all . there  s nothing else . there  s no plot . and that  s a shame because it feels like a waste of production values . hardly  you can see in the regular portuguese short such diversity of locations and so many available extras to enrich a story .  br    br   as absurd as the comparison may sound  i must refer the bmw shorts as a fine example of how you can tell a good story in a very short film severely conditioned to product placement and over  the  top stylish cinematography .  
another outstanding foreign film which thoroughly trounces the never  ending crop of crud emanating from hollywood  this is a story of life and living . no  definitely not the perfect little life so often depicted in the totally artificial hollywood movies but rather  the real life complete with real characters each with strengths and weaknesses just like real people in our lives and ourselves .  br    br   the dynamics of all of these lives  intertwined within the walls of this bathhouse  and particularly its aged owner  are magnificent  heart touching and highly thought provoking .  br    br   sit back  relax  and be carried away into the simple and beautiful life . there is real wisdom to be learned in this movie if you only open yourself up to it .  br    br   you will not be disappointed .  
unfortunately i have to agree with the critic written by halopes .  br    br   for a short film the cinematography  costumes  sets  sound  editing and everything else is very  very good . this might seem surprising at first but i was told that the technical crew working on this consisted of professionals  so the quality is to be expected . the problem  as usual  resides in the story itself .  br    br   thing is  it  s not really a story . to tell a story  or in cinema  s case  show a story  you need plot and conflict . you need things that happen to the protagonist events . these events happen because the protagonist wants something and  for some reason  he can  t get it . tim watcher has no problems or goals . he  s a kind of supernatural entity who observes mankind . that  s it . so what we have here is pure exposition . instead of being shown a story  we  re simply learning things about this tim watcher individual . of course  considering the peculiar nature of tim watcher and the film  s short duration  it  s hard to give enough background about him so the movie resorts to voice  over narration . in this case it  s used in the worst possible sense which is to give information that otherwise we  d never glean . in fact  if it wasn  t for the vo we  d think the character was just a kooky old man going around looking at things . to make it worse the vo also explains what  s happening on the screen  the images we  re shown are just decoration for the text we  re listening to .  br    br   i could say that this short film would make a good video for a band or something  but because the images don  t stand on their own it  s impossible to say that . what  s left obviously has value as a measure of the crew  s technical capabilities  not incredible  but good  but fails to entertain  amuse  thrill or  at the very least  show a story .  
  xizao   is the tale about the clash of modern life and ancient traditions  and its effects on a family in china . da ming  quanxiu pu   is a businessman who returns home when a letter sent by his brother er ming  wu jiang  makes him believe that his father liu  xu zhu   has died . he founds that his father is still alive  as well as his old neighborhood and his father old business  the public bathroom .  br    br   the movie centers around da ming  s family  and how he has to learn the importance of his father  s job  something he always had considered an old tradition that had to die soon . also  the movie explores his relationship with er ming  who is mentally challenged  and the problems of the small community and how the bathroom is a place that purifies not only their bodies  but also their souls .  br    br   the two main themes of the movie  the family and the problems of progress  are incredibly well handled  and the movie never loses the point it is trying to make  both themes are very good developed and we get a glimpse of chinese society and customs .  br    br   the director  yang zhang  tells his tale in a simple way  letting the characters characters do the job . it is a very simple approach  but it fits the movie perfectly  and i highly doubt that another style would fit the movie this good . zhang has enormous potential  as he can tell a story without the aid of visual flare or camera tricks .  br    br   the acting is outstanding in its naturalistic approach  everyone acts in a very natural way and it almost looks as if they were real persons being filmed . the three lead characters give remarkable performances  and wu jiang as er ming surely steals the show .  br    br   even when the movie could had sticked to a patronizing  old days were much better  message  instead it takes an attitude of equilibrium  like saying that progress is good  and we must move on  but we must not forget where we came from  and keep an equilibrium between modern life and the traditions of old .  br    br   an awesome  and touching film .      
i  ve seen this film several times in a variety of short  film festivals and it always causes me the impression that i have seen a movie trailer   br    br   for a school  film is very well produced and directed  but the story . . . well it needed something else to be a bigger and interesting film . the character named tim watcher needed some in  dept approach . this is something that lacks in some portuguese short films  the script is always superficial .  br    br   but still . . . i liked this movie . . .  br    br   parabens   congratulations    
xizao is a rare little movie . it is simple and undemanding  and at the same time so rewarding in emotion and joy . the story is simple  and the theme of old and new clashing is wonderfully introduced in the first scenes . this theme is the essence of the movie  but it would have fallen flat if it wasn  t for the magnificent characters and the actors portraying them .  br    br   the aging patriarch  master liu  is a relic of china  s pre  expansion days . he runs a bath house in an old neighbourhood . every single scene set in the bath house is a source of jelaousy for us stressed out  unhappy people . not even hardened cynics can find any flaws in this wonderful setting .  br    br   master liu  s mentally handicapped son er ming is the second truly powerful character in the movie  coupled with his modern  life brother . the interactions between these three people  and the various visitors to the bath house  are amazingly detailed and heart  felt  with some scenes packing so much emotion it  s beyond almost everything seen in movies .  br    br   with its regime  critical message  this movie was not only censored  but also given unreasonably small coverage . it could be a coincidence  but when a movie of this caliber is virtually impossible to find  even on the internet     you can  t help getting suspicious .  br    br   so help free speech and the movie world  buy  rent  copy this wonderful movie  and if you happen to own the dvd  if there even is one  then share share share   
i rented this because i  m a bit weary of    s nbc programming and apparently i saved myself a lot of money . i have nothing against any of the actors and for their credit they do a good job but this show is flawed from the premise .  br    br   we have a character who is unlikable . he  s full of flaws  not enlightened  and a complete jerk on a good day . yet the reason why anybody should care just isn  t there . while creating an american sitcom centered around a complete bullheaded jackass is revolutionary and full of potential  it just isn  t met here within this show . most of the supporting characters aren  t fully fleshed characters but rather sad punching bags that want empathy from the audience for being punching bags . as in any sitcom  they are the ones who are made the most normal for the audience to relate to  and in doing this they negate the lead character to such an extent that we see bittinger being himself and harming people and they just stay there because . . . . why  there is no reason . any normal people would have simply left the abuse . keeping them there without any real reason   even the really unbelievable one given by joanna cassidy in the very special   part abortion episode that has major problems of its own   is where the show just falls apart . to simply believe that people put up with this guy because we are told he has a heart of gold does not mesh with the reality of the situation . if anything  this isn  t even dramedy . this is a badly plotted  conceived  and executed premise that had a few moments but overall met the fate it deserved . someone had the guts to go out and make a very good idea  but the execution is so haphazard that it just looks like a weirdly scripted version of the jerry springer show where someone is abused by this tyrant that we  re supposed to root for because we are told to . a show like this requires a deft touch that the actors here could have provided easily  but somehow aren  t able to . and that  s a fatal error that really killed the program .  br    br   chalk it up to a show in its infancy . regardless  the show is worth a watch . but it really screwed up when trying to aim for the stars  and made the whole enterprise not what it could have been .  
my choice for greatest movie ever used to be laughton  s  night of the hunter  which remains superb in my canon . but  it may have been supplanted by  shower  which is the most artistically daoist movie i have seen . the way that caring for others is represented by the flowing of water  and the way that water can be made inspiration  and comfort  and cleansing  and etc . is the essence of the dao . it is possible to argue that the the nofth and shower themes are similar  and that lillian gish in the former represents the purest form of christianity as the operators of the bathhouse represent the purest form of daoism . i would not in any way argue against such an interpretation . both movies are visual joys in their integration of idea and image . yet  shower presents such an unstylized view of the sacredness of everyday life that i give it the nod . i revere both .  
going down as the most expensive film in finnish history  to date   dark floors  is a horror film with an extremely lynchian narrative that recounts an ever increasingly decrepit series of  floors   ironically enough  in an abandoned hospital  in which our protagonists are trapped . lead by an autistic daughter and her father  himself disenchanted with the hospitals apparent lack of medical progress with his daughter  make their way into an elevator debating the issue with one of the hospitals nurses . accompanied by a security guard  a businessman and a seemingly intoxicated tramp the collective soon find the complex abandoned  but they are not alone . directed by finnish  born pete riski  more known for his television work   dark floors  is filmed in english  using mainly english actors but has the notable inclusion of finland  s arguably most famous group  lordi       eurovision song contest winners  as themselves  i . e . in their on stage monstrous costumes  as the films antagonists  yet for all this razzmatazz the production fails where it is needed most  in convincing the audience .  br    br   any film that has their lead character use the phrase  it  s too quiet  is already headed down a dubious path  and this lordi influenced horror does not break that convention . for all the good ideas that are thrown into the mix there are a handful of ripe clichs alongside and worst of all  anything that is interestingly original isn  t fleshed out enough for it to resonate . the concept of the degrading floors is initially highly ominous and does provide a sense of inevitable doom as the audience is aware those trapped in the hospital must progress ever further down in the mire . however  there isn  t enough atmosphere created to scare and intimidate the audiences into the unknowing fear  the viewer is aware the journey will become ever more dangerous  as the levels degenerate from shiny white through to hellish black  but i don  t think the characters are aware enough of this fact for it to be threatening . also  the entire film taking place in what is essentially its own time bubble is again a very nice touch  a concept not often used in the horror genre  but the characters don  t confront the situation with enough fear and trepidation when they stumble across this fact  they continue about their business far too readily and without enough genuine concern for the idea to mean anything to the audience . these initially good ideas are just left to go to waste  as if the director and  or mr lordi  who had many of the ideas used within the film  had these thoughts  but couldn  t agree or decide on how to best use them and as such lose their purpose and point .  br    br   yet for all the frustration there are large quantities of comedy  yet not for the reasons the creators would have hoped for . too much is clichd  too much is recycled and too much is just simply ridiculous . while the lead is amicably acted by noah huntley  the characters are mere cardboard cut outs that have been pasted into the story from other films . we have a lead man doing everything possible to protect his daughter alongside a clunkily developed love interest . accompanying the  couple  we have the traditional token black man as a hard  nosed security guard  with the nigh on infinite clip for his sidearm  and a weasely disbelieving businessman only on the look out for himself . worst of all though  unfortunately  is the introduction of the cast of lordi as the creatures of the night that torment our wandering band of misfits  but not for them appearing as themselves . what makes a horror film scary to the viewing audience is contextualising the fear .  the shining  is scary because it  s a member of your own family hounding you  in  dawn of the dead  it  s our fear of each other and the primordial cannibalism and irrational thought patterns the zombies possess  in  alien  the fear is explained  the creature is rationalised and in  dark floors  there is none of that . perhaps it  s unfair to compare this production to these monoliths of the genre but when you do it shows it pales significantly and that it  s aggressors feel like nothing more than demented klingons where you can almost see the zip on the costumes they wear  without a build up of any atmosphere  lordi  just aren  t scary .  br    br   it  s infuriating because we all cheer for the underdog and hope they do well  you want the smaller productions to say that they can create the same quality of film as  hollywood  churns out  much in the similar way that george a romero started out  but it doesn  t always materialise . i enjoyed the film and didn  t feel as if i had wasted the ninety minutes i had just sat through  but i felt enjoyment on a completely hollow level as if nothing that had occurred mattered or affected me subconsciously  emotionally or critically . i felt the almost lynchian narrative was a standout plus point  but it fades out into nothingness . why did it happen  what does it mean  will they go through this all again  without even the slightest insight into what will happen the film is simply puzzling for the sake of trying to be arty . was the entire sequence of events real or was it merely a dream sequence  had the autistic girl watched the eurovision song contest of     and simply had a highly bizarre nightmare given the stress she was under  who knows  and unfortunately i fail to work up the energy to even care .  dark floors  is an infuriating experience that while ultimately shallow hallmarks potential and at the very least shows a plethora of creative energies from mr lordi  who perhaps should look into working solo to fully develop his ideas . it  s one that fans of the group or the genre should perhaps pursue but will leave you feeling left in the lurch for not having enough light shed on the situation .  
i have been a jodie foster fan ever since we were both kids  from her disney years . i loved her tomboy antics in films like candleshoe .  br    br    foxes  was such a huge departure from all of that .  br    br   where other young female actors of that era turned to sexual puerility disguised as comedy   little darlings   anyone    jodie went for a depressing and tragic tale of teens dragged to their demise by the powerful allure of temptation and addiction .  br    br   this was not disney . this was not porky  s . this was not  halloweed  . this was a dark  powerful story of the destruction of young lives . sadly it  s a tale that still plays out on a daily basis all over the country  this film could be replayed  with a current soundtrack  and still be wholly relevant .  br    br   it  s not the best film ever made  it is tired at some parts  not all the performances are particularly outstanding . but jodie foster continued to show her chops as a real adult actor  a trend started when she was very young in taxi driver  .  br    br    out of   barky  
hines and goforth  the perpetrators of this crime  begin on the wrong foot first step  by assuming that wells wrote gothic horror and that all of his lines are meant to be taken seriously . that simply isn  t true . wells was very much an inheritor of the enlightenment  and his main concern was that victorian self  satisfaction might leave the british unprepared for the world the new technology could produce  both the good and the bad .  br    br   two terrible consequences follow  the protagonist is portrayed as a wimpy screamer  i was reminded of fay wray in the original king kong   rather than a man struggling to live out the ironies of an unbelievable catastrophe and the dialog reeks of  victorianisms  uttered seriously that welles clearly meant to be taken tongue in cheek .  br    br   all of this looks suspiciously like ed wood with an enormous budget to waste on cgi effects  which by the way are so poorly accomplished  the warner bros . cartoon factory of the     s could have done a better job .  gobs of spattered blood looked like red balloons  i expected them to float away any minute .  think the yellow submarine as done by the old ec comics .  br    br   worse yet is the loss of theme  which robs the film of any reason to exist . although the makers of this film return the story to its victorian era  they utterly miss the uncanny way wells  story predicted many of the horrors of the first world war  a fact not unnoticed by wells himself  who  after the war  reworked the theme in the shape of things to come .  br    br   without any theme  all we have here are a lot of people running around getting blasted into cartoon balloons  when they  re not trying out for a high school production of a drunken student  s rewrite of macbeth .  br    br   really  this is the worst  most senseless piece of drivel i have suffered through since a friend talked me into seeing the eastern european cartoon  fantastic planet  thirty years ago . that film was so pretentiously dull  my friend and i and two total strangers gave up ridiculing it about half  way through  and sat near the screen playing cards  using the movie as light by which to see the cards  its only usefulness  as far as any of us could tell .  br    br   but i already have electric lighting in my apartment  so i didn  t need this put  down of wells for anything .  br    br   do not avoid this film  steal every copy you can  don  t pay a cent  and burn each and every one of them . god in his wisdom created us just for this purpose .  
this is essentially a variation on house of wax  in both the plot and the type of role played by the star of both movies  vincent price . in both pictures he plays a talented artist who is sent toppling over the edge into insanity when his creations are usurped by other  less talented and less scrupulous people . in this movie he plays a designer of illusions for stage magicians who aspires to set out on a performing career himself only to be frustrated when another illusionist  the great rinaldo  john emery  insists that he honour his contract and give him first choice of any illusions he designs . price is already ill disposed towards rinaldi as his former wife is now a paramour of rinaldi . he deploys his talents as an illusionist and as a brilliant mimic to avenge himself upon rinaldi and others who thwart his plans for recognition as a performer and a designer .  br    br   price is pretty much the whole show here and gives a well judged star turn as a wronged man whose predicament earns audience sympathy . the rest of the cast are competent if colourless and the weight of the whole venture falls on price who carries the burden with ease .  br    br   good solid b movie melodrama  this is a crime movie rather than a horror picture and is enjoyable providing you don  t expect a masterpiece . shot in black and white it is low on gore and is best seen as melodrama and enjoyed for the presence of its star giving an idiosyncratic performance  
this has to be the worst piece of garbage i  ve seen in a while .  br    br   heath ledger is a heartthrob  he looked deformed . i wish i  d known that he and naomi watts are an item in real life because i spent  of the longest hours of my life wondering what she saw in him .  br    br   orlando bloom is a heartthrob  with the scraggly beard and deer  in  the  headlights look about him  i can  t say i agree .  br    br   rachel griffiths was her usual fabulous self  but geoffrey rush looked as if he couldn  t wait to get off the set .  br    br   i  m supposed to feel sorry for bankrobbers and murderers  this is a far cry from butch cassidy  which actually was an entertaining film . this was trite  cliche  ridden and boring . we only stayed because we were convinced it would get better . it didn  t .  br    br   the last      minutes or so were unintentionally hilarious . heath and his gang are holed up in a frontier hotel  and women and children are dying because of their presence . that  s not funny . but it was funny when they walked out of the hotel with the armor on  because all we could think of was the black knight from monty python and the holy grail . i kept waiting for them to say  i  ll bite yer leg off   we were howling with laughter  as were several other warped members of the audience . when we left  pretty much everyone was talking about what a waste of time this film was .  br    br   i may not have paid cash to see this disaster  sneak preview   but it certainly wasn  t free . it cost me  hours of my life that i will never get back .  
this is a great story of family loyalty which  thankfully  doesn  t resort to the usual tricks  or at least the ones i  m used to seeing in american and european films  of supersentimentality or high dramatic tension .  br    br   it  s very watchable and very lovable . it has some beautiful cinematography  but doesn  t rely on that alone to entertain .  
i have seen some pretty bad movies  and this is right up there . no plot to speak of  it  s like one of those bad coma episodes on a soap  opera . i just wanted to smack that little girl because  well lets just say  she  s real suspicious all the way through the movie . the monsters running around wearing some bling was funny . i also saw a bit of  silent hill  in there . and i read that this was done by  and or stared a finnish metal band  lordi . so it  s no wonder that it didn  t make much sense . it seem to be a vehicle for promoting there band and nothing more . the fx are very good  the look of the movie  the monsters  and even the acting also good . but the story and the telling of it  just aren  t there .  
i found it highly interesting that the film actually managed to bridge the gap between my own american culture and that of the originators  i . e . chinese . it becomes a story about values  and causes the watcher to reevaluate their own choices in life  and loyalties toward institutions . amazingly enough  it managed to do this in a gentle  mildly humorous manner  which only in retrospect seens threatening to one  s status quo . i enjoyed the movie  and would watch it again if i could .  
sigh leave it to us finns to take a stupid idea  blow it out of proportion and try to market it as cool . lordi is a mediocre band at best  and a single gimmick will get you only so far .  br    br   to all you marketing idiots out there this is the reason for the inherent minority complex that is often encountered when finland tries to export something .  br    br   lordi isn  t scary . lordi is lame . lordi is over .  br    br   i want to apologize to the rest of the world for this plastic  faced idiocy . sure  they won the eurovision .  br    br   no  wait  they won the eurovision . that  s it . i rest my case .  
for a movie with a plot like this i would normally smell  tearjerker  in the first ten minutes and turn it off  but this was very well made  with emotional subtleties  great acting  and some genuinely funny moments . it was also interesting to see a different culture  a vanishing one at that . my wife and i both dug it   
this is a typical example of technically highly skilled directors of video clips  commercials trying to do their first full feature length movie . on one hand the imagery  camera  lighting  cgi and even the sound are highly polished and have a truly  expensive  look and feel . even the actors show a certain amount of potential  unto the point where even the best acting could not hide a bad plot .  br    br   in this case it is not a bad plot but hardly a plot at all .  br    br   so    of the dialog consists of  what the hell was that     what was that   and  what the hell was that   . in none of the cases any of the characters nor the audience is provided with the slightest hint of an answer though . in most of the other dialogues one gets the feeling that there never was any form of dialogue book and the actors had to freely improvise to a plot that wasn  t ever explained to them .  br    br   the only reason why skye bennet  s performance could be so good is that her character as an autistic girl didn  t allow giving her these tragically horrible dialogue lines the other actors had to deal with . that way she was able to just show her acting talent which the rest of the cast couldn  t even get close to . i mean there  s not one actor in the world that could make up for a dialogue like this  br    br   ben is this real  huh  emily stop it . ben a mass psychosis  huh  jon somebody has to take control of this situation . ben this situation can  t be controlled . not by you  not by anybody . emily not by you either . ben no  br    br   got me goosebumps . but not for horror  more for the horrible attempt . in some moments i felt ashamed for the actors to have added this to their vita .  br    br    stars for the excellent technical work .  
like another reviewer said  this movie is not a heavy melodrama  but it deals with harsh realities . a very very playful movie that does not dwell for a moment . some very good acting and some wonderful smiles as well .  
this was not the worst movie i  ve ever seen  but that  s about as much as can be said about it . it starts off with some good atmosphere the hospital is suitably sterile and alienating  the mood is set to  eerie  . and then . . . nothing . well  somethings . just somethings that clearly don  t fit in . . . and no effort is made to clarify the connection between the bizarre and yet not particularly intimidating critters  and the hospital they  ve taken over . i mean  come on  biker duds  some band watched a bit too much gwar .  br    br   my personal favorite was the head demon  who looks rather a lot like a middle  aged trucker desperately attempting menace  while simultaneously looking like he  d really like prefer to sag down on an afghan  covered couch  undo his belt  pop a can of cheap beer  probably schlitz   and watch the game . honestly  i  ve seen far scarier truckers . at truckstops . drinking coffee . wwwwoooooohhhhhhoooooooo     scary    br    br   the other monsters are even more cartoonish  and even less scary . at least  on the dvd  the videos give some explanation of their presence in the hospital . . . they apparently just randomly pop up in places  play some bippy  metal   and cause people to be dead a bit . barring a few good special effects  and acting that is not entirely terrible given a lack of decent writing  there  s just nothing here . it  s a background  noise movie only .  
have just seen the australian premiere of shower xizhao at the sydney film festival . the program notes said it was  a perfect delight  deftly made  touching  amusing  dramatic and poignantly meaningful . i couldn  t agree more . i just hope the rest of the festival films come up to this standard of entertainment and i look forward to seeing more chinese films planned to be shown in sydney in the coming months .  
i initially gained interest in this film after reading a review saying this movie reminded the reviewer of silent hill .  br    br   being a huge silent hill fan  and disappointed with it  s movie debut  i thought i would give this one a chance . mind  fearnet only lists this movie as  dark floors   not by it  s full name . so when i saw the name  mr . lordi  in the credits i immediately thought of the band  i had a few friends in college that like them  but didn  t think it was important and quickly pushed the thought aside .  br    br   the film starts out strong . despite the fact  creepy little girl  has been done to death  the good use of audio and sense of isolation really started to piece the the story together . the tense atmosphere built rapidly  and every indication pointed to the film being excellent . as monsters are the true stars of horror  i couldn  t wait to see what was lurking in the halls of the hospital the main characters had found themselves trapped in . . .  br    br   and then the first monster showed up  and i found myself greatly underwhelmed . by the time the second appeared  i boggled at the fact it looked like it had just come from a megadeth concert  and the silliness turned me off completely .  br    br   over the course of the movie the atmosphere did remain intact  and the story left you wondering just what was going on  but the scares were pretty much non  existent . however  i held out hope that the end would make it all worthwhile . unfortunately that was not to be the case . by the time the movie had reached it  s climax  i was in utter disbelief  and i immediately recognized the big bad in his final reveal . . . the lead singer of lordi  seriously   br    br   was that what the movie all boiled down to  a bunch of poor souls being chased around a hospital by lordi band members  the silly monster design suddenly made sense . if you  re going to be that corny  may as well through the members of marilyn manson  or even kiss in there too . not to mention the fact that i  m pretty sure i saw the ending in one of lordi  s music videos a few years ago . they had to go and make an entire movie off of it   br    br   worst of all  when i found out what really had been going on  all i could manage was a yawn . i  m not going to  ruin  it for you  but i can safely say it  s probably a plot device you  ve seen before . most likely more then once .  br    br   so  unless you  re a huge lordi fan  stay away from this . it  s not scary  it doesn  t bring anything new to the table  although it does a decent job of borrowing from other horror movies  mainly silent hill  . and  i can  t stress this enough  lordi is the antagonist . lordi . talk about a buzzkill .  br    br   really  you  d be better off trying to scare yourself watching slipknot music videos . in other words  it  s just not possible .  
this movie is simply wonderful  it  s got it all laughter  sorrow  beauty  poetry  truth . all in a simple yet intense story   like life  you won  t get distracted for a second .  br    br         br    br   p . s . somebody tell hollywood you need a good story to make a good movie  and there are so many good stories out there .  
i think they really let the quality of the dvd production get away from them . i rented this dvd from  movie stores and the second time i finally got it to play on the  rd dvd player i tried .  br    br   anyone else have this issue  it  s really hard to give the film an un  biased review after going through such a hassle to play it . for one  i  ve never seen a finnish horror film before so i was sort of bummed that the movie was done in english . also since it  s never made clear what is wrong with sarah  she just came off as retarded and therefore i really just hoped someone would shoot her in the face and make all the horrific happenings go away .  
very different topic treated in this film . a straightforward and simple description of local chinese customs  by looking at the daily operation of a public bath  run by the old owner and his retarded son  when older son returns home  wrongly believing his father has died . how every man in town makes his daily visit to chat  play games  discuss personal matters and get honest advice  besides the usual spa  like therapies . when old man dies  strong and loyal family ties make older son take charge  so public bath operation is not disrupted . and finally  the arrival of modernization to end this way of spending relaxed hours and getting along . the public bath has to be demolished  making place for a commercial complex to be constructed .  
well how was i suppose to know this was  the  dumb ass promotional  lordi motion picture   i mean  i realized this when that  dinosaur  costume showed up and by the time the lead singer made his appearance i was humming  hard rock hallelujah  to myself . . . even though i hate that song .  dark floors  is about a young autistic girl who is in the process of being sneaked out of the hospital by her over protective father when they  and the rest of the people in that particular elevator  become momentarily trapped . . . when they arrive at their floor it comes as quite a surprise to find that there is nobody else around . the hospital is empty . . . except for a variety of monsters that seem to be stalking them for no apparent reason . . . they run through the hallways and stairwells  encountering all of the band members of the heavy metal band in their outlandish  shock  rock costumes . . . nothing really memorable here  except the lousy acting  lack of gore  nudity  and the utterly shameless promotional edge  reminding me very much of  kiss meet the phantom of the park  . yeah  remember that dud  wish i didn  t . . . i would just recommend avoiding all of these ghost house films like a fungus and not listen to lordi since they are a gwar ripoff band   
this movie took me by complete surprise . i watched it  or  times . i really liked this film . there were many truths this movie brought up . i love all the characters in this film as well . this movie makes a lot of sense because as society  becomes more advance  what does the culture loose  not to sound preachy . i can really relate to this movie from my child hood and loosing apart of my life that will never come back or ever been the same . this film is on my top  movies i have ever watched . there is just such a raw truth that i feel when i watch the movie and its not the kind of truth that you have to dig for its right in front of your face . the creators of this film did a great job and i enjoyed this movie very much . this movie may not be for every one but if you have an open mind i think you will love it .  
  st watched            out of    dir  pete riski   weird psychotic movie about a girl with autism who is being tested in a hospital  the power flickers  and then all hell breaks loose . i  m honestly not sure what the intentions were of the filmmakers on this one . what we get for the next  hour and a half  at least it wasn  t longer  was a twisted horror  twilight zone  zombiefest  ghost movie that really ended up making no sense at all even to the very end . initially  after the power goes out  everyone is missing in the hospital except for a small group of misfits including the girl and his father . there is the typical annoying character  a creepy old man  and the typical tough guy similar to many scarefests and  of course  the young girl the main character gets attracted to . random stuff starts happening at various times like ghosts and monsters appearing  a hinting that time has stopped  and dead people as this small group try to escape whatever they  re in . of course  the autistic girl is the center of everything somehow and i really hate how they used this girl  s affliction and insinuated that she was the cause and to place it in a hospital where people are cared for is really lame . we never really find out the answer to what was going onwhich is very strange  so please avoid this dog . unless you want to be creeped out and confused for one hour and a half this is not for you or any moviegoer . what a waste of timereally    
i had the privilege to see this movie at the intenational film festival of rotterdam .  br    br    xizhao  or  shower  is a     .    lowbudget movie about a father and his  sons . the father has a traditional bathhouse somewhere in a traditional chinese village where local  mostly aged men  come to relax and to go bathing . the father has to sons a  retarded  son who lives with him and a son who lives in a big modern city and who comes to visit him . to this son the traditional village  the bathhouse and his  retarded  brother seem strange and annoying  but this changes along the movie .  br    br   though the story may sound cheesy or cliche  it  s not . with really great performances  especially of the father and the  retarded  son  sorry  i don  t know their names  and a great story the movie was touching and funny at the same time .  br    br   if you got a chance to see this movie do it . it  s a great alternative to mainstream hollywood cinema .  br    br    
i  m not sure quite why i clicked  contains spoiler   because quite honestly there is not enough explanation ever given in the movie to know enough of what is supposed to be going on to spoil it .  br    br   visually it mostly delivers . well  apart from some    s throwback rubber  mask monsters . i  ll say now that before watching this i had never seen the band lordi  nor knew anything about them bar that they won eurovision . apparently the monsters in this are members of the band  pretty much in their stage personas . whatever . anyway  i didn  t know this while watching . i just thought the monsters  demons were mostly passable . just about .  br    br   i  m almost sure there is a semi  coherent explanation behind what we see on  screen  but it may actually be better not to know it . it probably would actually have been incredibly lame come to think on it . the action keeps it rolling along pretty much well enough to keep the viewer mostly entertained  even if half the entertainment factor is joking about wtf is supposed to be happening in this movie exactly .  br    br   i gave it a four mainly because i got a good laugh out of it  especially out of how it explains pretty much nothing . must have been the mood i was in  but i found that hella funny for some reason . then i look up the movie on the internet and find out that nobody knows what the hell it  s supposed to be about . that amused me further  and raised my score an extra half point to a     .  br    br   it  s not scary  or particularly coherent  but it  s pretty nice visually and sonically . overall  far from essential  but watchable . don  t expect too much and don  t expect it to make any sense and it might entertain you if you are in the right mood .  
expecting to see a  cute little film  from mainland china  i was ill  prepared . family dynamics  community and the inevitability of change have rarely been explored so expertly on film . every character is solid and i was completely drawn into the story . the organization is much more complex than american audiences will be accustomed to . yet  there is no difficulty following the progression  even while reading subtitles . jiang wu  as the retarded brother  is a constant shining light . leave your cynicism in your locker . it will be there when you check out .  
there are some elements that save this movie from being a total catastrophe  but are overshadowed with bad acting  plot holes  deus ex machina thrown ins  stupid dialogs  weak script  and predictable clichs . . .  br    br   what we have here is a horror movie with a storyline that goes nowhere for most of the time . a group of unlikely heroes including a black guy that gets it first  yeah  that clich seems to be still very much alive even in finland   seem to have trouble trying to exit a mysteriously empty hospital . there are shrieking ghosts  very imaginative   zombies  at one point i thought at least they didn  t use zombies  but they came   and finnish glam  rock band with demonic make  up on  getting in their way . there is also some time  shift doodle present  but it adds up nothing to the storyline . autistic girl and a hobo seem to have some deeper understanding of a situation  but they never spell it out to the viewer  or their confused friends . their lines consist only of profound life lesson thoughts like  what happens will happen . . .  or  light can  t live in the darkness . . .  or the ominous  i need a red crayon . . . red crayon .  so all this characters  including worried father and sweet doctor in distress types  end up doing is running around them dark floors  and from or mistakenly to the demons . occasionally a ghost or a group of zombies show up  and if it seems a demon keyboardist can  t spot a group of six people coming towards it  waving a flashlight and conversing  it was just pretending . and apparently this demon can break through walls without much hassle  but opening elevator door is beyond its capabilities .  br    br   in the end we even get a  it was all a dream  sequence twist . or maybe it wasn  t . oh  boy i wish this movie was  and that kind that makes time seem to move faster so it all plays out in just   minutes or so . . .  
  foxes  is a serious look at the consequences of growing up too fast in the     s . and unlike the teen sex comedies that overshadowed it  porky  s  fast times at ridgement high   the movie holds up well against time .  br    br   its theme of teen angst is as relevant today as it was   years ago and jodie foster and sk  er boi scott baio  remember him   lead a fine young cast that  s well worth watching .  br    br   the film follows four southern california girls as they move through a rootless existence of sex and drugs and devoid of parents . the teens spend their days in and out of school and their nights at parties  concerts  or out on the street . seldom are they home because instant gratification is a pill  party  or boy away .  br    br   but rather than condemning them  the film is sympathetic  blaming absent  uncaring adults for forcing the teens to grow up alone . and the charismatic cast is impossible to dislike .  br    br   the film  s opening  a long and loving pan  sets the tone for what follows . we see the girls asleep at daybreak amid the objects that define teen girlhood  from twinkies to a picture of a young john travola  while donna summer  s  on the radio  is scored beneath .  br    br   from there the movie picks up speed as the girls head off to school and to life . annie  runaway rocker cherie currie  is the wild child who lives for the next party or pill . deirdre  kandice stroh  is the boy crazy drama queen . madge  marlilyn stroh  is the shy girl in over her head . and foster is the one with the plan . it  s her job to keep this crew together long enough to finish high school while also holding her divorced and desperate man hunting mother in line  sally kellerman  .  br    br   it  s an almost impossible job and one that foster ultimately fails at .  br    br   despite its age   foxes  remains a pleasure to watch . dated hair  clothes  and references to olympic skater dorothy hamill haven  t hurt the movie .  br    br   the cinematography is simply stunning  with breathtaking filtered shots of the l . a . basin at dawn  dusk and at night . giorgio moroder adds a   s soundtrack featuring the likes of donna summer and janis ian .  br    br   perhaps the movie  s biggest disappointment is that the young stars around foster never broke out like the casts of  st . elmo  s fire        or  empire records        .  foxes  shows why they should have . but perhaps like bowling for soup  s song        they just hit a wall .  
well  on it  s credit side  if it can be said to have one   timothy hines did manage to capture the original setting of h . g . wells  outstanding novella . but other than that  well  to call a spade a spade  it sucks bigtime . what the master ed wood could have done with the alleged    million dollar budget  timothy hines really does make mr . wood  who was a flawed genius anyway  look like the best filmmaker of all time . the special effects  i guess you  d call them that  are not even up to computer game standards . the acting is  well  perhaps about dinner theater comparable  and the accents are atrocious . at the risk of sounding offensive  a lot of the acting from the principal male characters is  especially poor ogilvy   well  ahem  . . . gay  poor ogilvy minces and flounces about the bogus english countryside  waving his asbestos white handkerchief about as if it were heat resistant armor . hey  the stormtroopers in  star wars  had neat white body armor too  and it didn  t work either  they still got blasted . even when ogilvy and company get fried by the martians   heat ray      they flounce and mince in some weird kind of dance  even when they  re theoretically dead and reduced to skeletons  which persist in unseemly dancing and writhing . maybe timothy hines rented the skeletons from ray harryhausen  being left over from  jason and the argonauts  . or was it  josie and the pussycats   i dunno . the soldiers  presumably because they  re  military   all seem to just rather unconvincingly explode  like the soldier on crutches and his unfortunate comrades carrying the stretcher just beyond him . wow  i loved it  but the  soldiers  all looked like they were either fascist troops from the spanish civil war  or boer commandos  which would be more or less correct for the period . perhaps that was some bit of shrewd subtlety on the part of that wicked genius hines   . oddly enough  the character of the curate looks exactly like he  s drawn in the original illustrations by warwick goble  and he also turns in the most convincing job of acting . oh  yeah . musn  t forget the thunder child . in the book  the warship is described as an ironclad torpedo  ram . it was meant to ram enemy ships . yet  it  s bow was crumpled after ramming the tinker  toy constructed martian war machines  with a tiny jagged hole in the forepeak  and she sank . an ironclad warship like thunderchild could  ve rammed the titanic and survived  but i guess the royal navy was bound by the same lowest  bidder constraints as our own military . the costumes are all wrong  especially the british army and police uniforms  cobbled together mostly from usmc alphas . and timbo  in an obvious homage to western films of yore  has obviously set his movie in wild western england  because all his riders are using western saddles . the accents being used by just about everyone appear to be a mixture of some kind of scottish regional accent used by clan macabre  and magically delicious irish accents from county malarky . on the credit side  and contrary to what one reviewer wrote  the only genuine  authentic feature of this thing is the artillery . the guns are not from the civil war  but appear to my eye and research as bona  fide british nine or   pounder rifled breach loaders  perfectly authentic to the period . so was the ammunition shown being used . but the artilleryman  who is a driver in the horse artillery  was not shown correctly driving his limber . you don  t sit on the frigging limber box and drive a gun team  you ride the nearside wheel horses . the opening  using what i believe is authentic period film footage  is okay  and the score  s not bad . however  to the best of my knowledge weybridge has never had an underground  and it certainly didn  t in     .  br    br   but growing up reading this novel  i am very disappointed . even more disappointed then i was at spielberg  s zillion dollar  special effects laden version . maybe his version would have profited by swapping anthony piana for tom cruise  and vice versa . i have a lot more to say  but i  ll let it go at this for now i wish somebody would make a good version of  war of the worlds  that  s faithful to the original . timmy  s vision is fine for a high school film class  or maybe i should say pretentiously stupid for a college  level film student  and about as bad  which is about the best i can say for this thing  but that  s about it . oh  yeah . just where did the budget go  and what happened to michael caine  i  d like to hear his comments  i have a sneaking suspicion that timbo  orson wood  hines  breathtaking  bound  breaking cinema masterpiece just might be the risk  taking director  s ticket to cult stardom  because  i must confess a guilty pleasure at watching this movie  which i didn  t pay for anyway but was thoughtfully sent to me by a friend who burned a dvd copy for me  with no malicious intent that i  ve been able to determine . i must add here that i thought blackmoon  s dubbed and abridged version was not only a vast improvement  but an absolute  hysterically funny  in a good way  treat to watch . i find it hard to watch master timbo  s version after blackmoon . keep it up  tim  make your own version of  dune   now . it just awaits the hand of a master like you  and all you headupyourass snobs who hated cloverfield  forget it . it cannot beat timbo hines artistry for sheer hilarious awfulness  hey get a life  timbo is worse than the master ed wood  i kid you not   
i happened on  shower  in the foreign film section of my local video store and passed it over several times since from its cover it looked like a farce or comedy . i then lucked into a copy to purchase at economical price and am happy for my luck .  shower  is the story of three    men  a father and two    adult sons  each coming to terms with life changes as the world around them also continues to change in modern china . as with many  foreign  films  the chinese culture itself is one of the most interesting facets of this movie .  br    br   beyond the fascinating characteristics of the local  chinese color giving the setting to this story  is the difficult yet touching relationships between the men and a sole woman involved in the story  all set against the backdrop of a village bathhouse .  br    br   the family  s story moves from estrangement to understanding and made me glad i came to know these people . added to the main story are the numerous small characters  bathhouse customers  and their individual conflicts and friendships .  shower  is a film one walks away from smiling and touched by its warmth and humanity .  
i love horror movies that brings out a real amount of mystery like say  silent hill   which i found to be quite good  but still  was missing something  and movies that keeps you guessing  this i thought was one of those movies . at first the movie starts out with some really good suspense and builds up a good starting point for a good horror scene  but after that it just rolls down the hill and from there it only goes faster and faster down . i mentioned silent hill at first for a reason because i can see a lot of  stolen  themes from that movie in here . . all in all i would say  watch silent hill instead of this one  its better  its more scary  it has a lot more suspense and also the ending is a lot better . . and best of all  you wont feel ripped off as i did with this one . . this just seems to be one of those  i like that movie so i  m gonna re  make it in my own really bad version  kinda movie . . oh and one more thing . . . lordi . . in a horror movie . . . thats like trying to scare a kid with a care bear who has  hug me and i will love you forever  written on the stomach of it . .  
the key to the joy and beauty  the pain and sadness of life is our ability to accept that life basically is what it is so we don  t constantly struggle against that single compelling truth . in so doing  we find peace . elegant in its simplicity but so hard for most of us to grasp .  br    br   in this film  the director shows us this truth but allows us to discover it in our own way . this is a beautiful yet simple story  more of a fable  which is played very well . watching the actors is more like being in a room with real people than it is just watching actors .  br    br   i struggled with how to write a review of this fine film so others would be motivated to see it . i  m at a loss . the story is about men in a bath house . sounds like a real turn off  right  but  nothing could be farther from the truth . the american title for this film is the shower but that is almost an antithesis to a major thematic element in this film  which is the bath . i  m still at a loss . talking about the story or the characters will not do them justice .  br    br   so  i  ll just tell you how much i enjoyed watching this movie and how touching and moving the experience was . i was also quite entertained . i cared deeply for the characters and i cared deeply about what happened to them . for any story  that is the highest form of praise .  br    br   if you were moved by movies like the king of masks or not one less  then make sure you see the shower . netflix has it and the dvd video and sound quality are excellent . i watched it in the original lanquage with well done and well placed english subs .  br    br    
an interesting idea involving an alternative dimension inside a hospital . it recalled  stephen kings  langoliers    kingdom hospital  and old twilight zone episodes . atmospherically strong  the set up was great . there were also some very clever  time loop  moments which always have that head  melt appeal . the story had plenty of vague references which led me to believe that all the ensuing weirdness of  time slips  ghosts  a weird bat winged demon and a rather silly heavy metal attired ghoul  thing would be explained . and that was were dark floors severely let me down . based on my viewing the movie gives no explanation as to what is behind the events . whilst  some ambiguity is always expected  welcome in these kind of films . dark floors took it to new heights of vagueness . i don  t expect things wrapped up in a pretty ribbon  but neither should i be left feeling  huh  . . is that it  . . . did i dose off  maybe  i hit chapter skip by mistake   dark floors left me with a deeply unsatisfying suspicion that  it was all a dream  which is a shame because up until the last reel i was very much on board and enjoying the movie .  
i love this movie  beautifully funny and utterly believable characters . each scene richer and more wonderful than the last . every aspect of this movie is filled with wit and humour and love and depth . a complex and engrossing story  too . this movie is filled with love  humour  and intelligence . totally great   
i love cheesy horror flicks . i don  t care if the acting is sub  par or whether the monsters look corny . i liked this movie except for the bewildered feeling all the way from the beginning of the film to the very end . look  i don  t need a   page dissertation or a sign with big letters explaining a plot to me . but dark floors takes the  what is this movie about   thing to a whole new  annoying  level . what is this movie about   br    br   this isn  t exceptionally scary or thrilling but if you have an hour and a half to kill and  or you want to end up feeling frustrated and confused  rent this winner .  
shower keeps within itself in so many ways . almost all of the movie takes place in an old  time bathhouse  with the denizens supplying the humor  pathos  and emotional touches . the love and friendship between the proprietor and his retarded son is deep and moving . the way the older brother is drawn into this tiny world seems unforced and persuasive . the plot is meandering  full of surprises and ironies  and touched overall by a sense of what i  d have to call neighborliness in the relations and conflicts of the performers . this is a film i pull out when i want to believe in the world again .  
just finished watching  can  t say i was impressed .  br    br   it starts of quite good  the visual and the atmosphere gives a creepy feeling as this type of movie should . but it all ends when the first lordi monster appears . not only do you recognize them from the band lordi  but they are seriously malplaced in the movie . doomsday monsters with leather jackets and piercings are so    s .  br    br   as for the storyline  it starts of as similar horror movies  people trapped inside a hell hole . but there is no clear story on why and what is happening . the viewer is thrown some lines on possible reasons  but the lines never meet and end up to anything but a mess .  br    br   with all the money spent on this film  with an intriguing start and some good effects  i had thought someone would have taken better care of the product . i wonder if lordi made this movie just to prove that their show costumes could be scary  except they aren  t  .  br    br   so the movie gets cred for the visuals  i guess the money had to go somewhere . but the rest is an embarrassing attempt from a rock band to make their on  stage monster aliases scarier .  
this was a very enjoyable film . a humorous  but poignant look at family  and the obligations that come with it . the story of a man who comes home from his life in the city to his fathers bath house in a small chinese village . there he learns to appreciate  even cherish the very things he left home to get away from . the film is as visually beautiful as it is emotionally beautiful .  
lordi was a major hype and revelation in     because they won the eurovision song contest with a  not  so  heavy  metal song called  hard rock hallelujah  and appeared on stage dressed like hideous monsters . but  let  s face it  their victory most likely had very little to do with their great musical talents . the eurovision contest gradually turned into one big political circus over the years and lordi probably just won because their song finally brought a little change and  even more importantly  because their whole act sort of ingeniously spoofed the whole annual event . the absolute last thing lordi  s first  and hopefully last  horror film brings is change and ingenuity .  dark floors   based on an idea of the lead singer and starring the rest of the band in supportive roles  is a truly unimaginative and hopeless accumulation of clichs . the immense budget   dark floors  supposedly is the most expensive finnish film ever  definitely assures greatly macabre set pieces and impressive make  up art  but what  s the point where there  s no story that is worth telling  the film takes is set in a busy hospital where a bunch of people  among them a father and his young daughter with an unidentifiable illness  become trapped in the elevator during a power breakdown . when the doors open again  the floors are empty and it looks as if the hospital lies abandoned since many years already . trying to reach the exit  the group stumbles upon several morbid and inexplicable obstacles  like eyeless corpses  screaming ghosts and heavy metal monsters emerging from the floors . the only three points i  m handing out to  dark floors  are exclusively intended for the scenery and the adequate tension building during the first half of the film . for as long as the sinister events don  t require an explanation  the atmosphere is quite creepy  but as soon as you realize the explanation will a  be very stupid or b  never come  the wholesome just collapses like an unstable house of cards . lordi  s costumes never really were scary to begin with  except maybe to traditional eurovision fans  and  in combination with a story more reminiscent to asian ghost  horror  they just look downright pathetic and misfit . with all the national myths and truly unique exterior filming locations  i personally always presumed finland  the land of a thousand lakes  would be the ideal breeding ground for potentially horrific horror tales  but i guess that  s another disillusion on my account .  
how powerful and captivating simple quality filmmaking can be . this film tells it  s tale with everyday scenes that manage to revel the poignancy hidden within . it  s true as others have stated  how this film really makes it glaringly obvious how lost hollywood is in it  s special effects  overblown emotionalism and over the top climatic endings and have forgotten the essence of a meaningful story told with simple realism . so much of what these characters are going through is implied by the scene rather than spelled out in wordy dialogue . one aspect that i really enjoyed about the film was the contrast of the two brothers  one so very openly expressive in his childlike way and the other completely stoic but both able to evoke deep emotion . the older brother needed to say little  as he usually did  it was all there in that deadpan face of his  beautiful cinematography  wonderful acting  great direction  not to be missed   
what do you call a horror story without horror and story   br    br   this is the most irritating thing about the film i get the feeling the writers never really decided what  s actually going on in the film  it  s a different thing to know it  give hints for the audience and not completely reveal it  but here  you get the feeling the screenwriters don  t know it  characters in the film do not know it and audience sees that no one knows   remember  cube   even that film knew more about itself .   br    br   i  ve consumed a lot of    s horror  gore films and this movie certainly has its roots deep in those films . but a lot of important things are missing . we really know nothing about the characters . they keep repeating empty lines over and over again . the story isn  t really developing  it never goes anywhere . b  acting is ok in this type of horror films  but there  s not much to act in the script . we don  t care about the characters . there  s nothing to remember about them . there  s not even cheesy humor or unnecessary sex . and most importantly  no thrills  no chills .  br    br   you only get some commonly used elements of the horror film genre . they show the lordi monsters one by one but their characters don  t really contribute anything for the story .  br    br   i honestly believe that this amount of story  character development and atmosphere could be achieved with minimal amount of crew and equipment . oh yeah  film makers used to do that  and more  some   years ago  i felt the shared embarrassment of the audience as the film ended . too bad really .  
this film is moving without being sentimental  meaningful without being pretentious . it tells a simple story of a family in danger of falling apart as the encroachments of technology and an advancing society make the family  run business increasingly untenable .  br    br   the acting is wonderful  though none of us in the west are likely to have heard of these actors  we should have long ago  they play their characters with honesty and reverence  these are flawed characters  each with major weaknesses  but with such utter humanity and kindness that it  s impossible not to become engaged in the story .  br    br   we need more films like this  we need more western filmmakers creating films such as this .  
a fashion designer trips over a cat and falls into a pool  hitting her head on something floating on the surface . with rather cheesy effects  this was a tv movie  she floats up out of her body . she floats through a tunnel of rings of swirling orange smoke  and black rigid figures tip into her view  they look like the mannequins in her apartment  . i almost thought i was watching a jess franco movie . . . . as her friends revive her  a black arm grabs her by the wrist  and she has to struggle to get loose . when she is revived  she remembers everything  and has a nasty bruise on her forearm .  br    br   shortly thereafter  she nearly gets hit by an out  of  control car that comes up on the sidewalk behind her . on halloween  she decides with her boyfriend to go to mexico for a vacation . when she gets there  she  s surprised to find it  s the day of the dead . they  re annoyed by another american tourist who keeps following them  and he almost drowns them .  br    br   the designer is encouraged to join a group of people who  ve had near death experiences . they  ve all experienced the tunnel  but not the black figures or the repeated near escapes from death . one of them has  and he  s very anxious . she  s also encouraged to meet with a psychic .  br    br   a doctor tells her about people he calls  walkers   the name of the novel this was based on  . they  re people who supposedly died of one cause that  when examined  prove to have died of another cause . thus it  s like they continued walking around after dying until they died again  but he blames it on poor record  keeping .  br    br   i watched this on the    minute video  and it felt awfully long . i can  t imagine that there  s actually a    minute version  perhaps if it was meant to be watched over two or more nights on tv it would better be watched that way than in one sitting .  br    br   i  ve only read one gary brandner novel  floater  and if it is representative of his work  he  s not the most original of writers . floater had the common plot of picked on kid kills people in revenge . even the variation was pretty common picked on kid dies and kills people years later in revenge from beyond the grave . and in fact it has a point in common with this movie  in that the kid practices astral projection  and when he is drowned he floats up out of his body as here . i don  t know how closely from the dead of night follows his novel walkers . i understand the howling movies don  t bear much resemblance to his novels .  br    br   it  s quite a slow movie  and the special effects and cinematography are really held down by the  presumably  low budget and made  for  tv shortcomings . there are a lot of easily recognizable character actors in it . it also feels very dated  more early to mid     s than     . i found it to be boring . a much better low  budget movie covering similar subject matter that i don  t think has dated as badly is sole survivor        arguably the inspiration for the     s final destination movies  . it blows from the dead of night away .  
this beautiful story of an elder son coming home  and learning to love and be a part of all those things that he left home to get away from  is poignant and moving . it shows a society that is perhaps strange to us in the western world  with a sense of family that we have lost . the story is beautiful  sad  and at times funny and comic . it has a feeling of realism that we don  t seem to see any longer in our western movies .  br    br   the acting is unusual  in that as the movie progresses  it almost gives the impression that it is not acting  but a documentary of ordinary people . this is brilliant directing and movie making .  br    br   would love to see more movies by this director .  
this film is so bad  dialogues  story  actors and actresses  everything   that it  s hard to imagine that we  ll see a worse movie this year or in the following years .  love  s brother   set in australia among italian immigrants  has nothing but shallow clichs about italian culture to offer  and it is quite telling that even the italians from and in italy speak english in the film . the message of the film  ugly people have to marry ugly people  beautiful people have to marry beautiful people  is truly discomforting . giovanni ribisi is quite good in films like  suburbia  or  lost in translation   but here his pseudo  italian accent is hard to bear . see this film at your own risk . trash as trash can   
  shower  is an story about loyalty  about the unstoppable advance of modern world in the detriment of rather traditional and more human ways of life . a man forced to choose between his successful career in business  his big  city life  his wife  and his retarded young brother . the eternal doubt between what we want to do and what we should do . the modern china versus the ancient one . the public baths with its gatherings  its cricket fights versus the shopping centres and the skyscraper . lots of old men and women that are no longer needed . china  one country  two systems  as xiao ping said . . . though one of them is killing the other .  br    br   tender  moving  full of funny moments  and of bitter  sweet ones . the sensitive ones will cry and laugh equally . the actors are enormous  especially the one who performs the role of the retarded boy and yang zhang makes a good job  easy  simple  letting the story just flow by itself .  br    br   my rate      
oh god  what a horrible  horrible film . meant to be a comment on the state of society  it  s just a reflection of the worst of the worst in reality tv . interstitials hosted by jason jones and don mckellar are the most obnoxious part  written in a tone that is perhaps meant to be reflexive and insightful . rather  these moments are mind numbing as they speak to the camera with dialogue written by someone with a love for insulting  condescending speech that shoves the  meaning  of the film down the viewer  s throat .  br    br   also  a point to would  be filmmakers long takes and quiet scenes do not equal art . neither do extreme angles or logic stretched to the point of absurdity .  br    br   if anyone out there is interested in watching this film  please don  t . seriously . please . you have better things to do .  
on the basis of the preview i  d seen  i went to  shower  expecting a sweet little comedy what i found was a profoundly touching drama of family life told in some of the most lush photographic images i  ve ever been privileged to see . in addition  later reflection made me appreciate the abrupt cuts to scenes from the past  in the arid countryside of northern china  and in the high plain of tibet   isn  t this how memory often works  one moment i  m here  the next i  m in a landscape from the past  just like that . . . .  br    br   i would not only strongly recommend this film  i would place it among the two or three finest films i  ve seen in my   years .  br    br   by the way  a couple of years ago another asian  comedy  was released in the united states as  shall we dance    japanese  . just as with  shower   the preview gave not the slightest indication of the depth of that film  which turned out to be a subtle psychological study  albeit chock full of funny moments  . is there a fear  on the part of distributors  of making films appear too  important  or  deep  to appeal to u . s . viewers   
this movie was awful and an insult to the viewer . stupid script  bad casting  endless boredom .  br    br   in the usual tradition of hollywood  the government of the us is shown as always evil . the communist  sympathizer nitwits in hollywood  most of whom are as dumb as a box of rocks  love taking the lone nutcase eugene mccarthy and picturing him as the leader of a vast movement . the truth is that at the time he was considered a fringe character who was exploiting a legitimate concern about the soviet communists for political gain .  br    br   oh yeah  and the us brought over all those evil nazis . like werner vonbraun  without whom we would have no space program . he actually loved being american and became a great asset to the country .  br    br   and yet the irony is that the fools in hollywood  an uneducated lot who live a fantasy existence  still believe that the government should run everything and give us all what we want . and yet  this is the same government that they continually portray as a consummate evil in films like this .  
i was just a bit young for this one  but i had to see it . there  s some excellent music  which many folks have mentioned  but no one seems to notice a very rare appearance by  angel   a now mostly ignored but once quite popular musical outfit . wearing their trademark white outfits  they grind through    th century foxes   and apparently all try to cram into the camera  s field of vision . keyboardist gregg giuffria remains the bands highlight  and has apparently never gotten much of a haircut  ever  cherie currie  ex  runaways singer  begins a brief  but notable  acting career here  and is quite memorable alongside jodie foster  and the rest .  her topless   d scenes in  parasite   and her ufo sighting  in  wavelength  kept us all watching her for a time  .  br    br   it  s not a masterpiece  but it preserves a chunk of its period  for all to gaze upon  and wonder .  
i have just lost three hours of my life to this travesty  and i can honestly say i feel violated . i had read the reviews and heard the warnings  and i thought i was prepared for anything  at best i thought  a faithful  if misguided  attempt at an original adaptation at worst  a so  good  it  s  bad  plan   for the new millennium . so when i managed to pick up a copy in walmart while in florida and brought it back to the uk  i joked to my friends  prepare for the worst movie ever made   oh  cruel karma . there is absolutely nothing to recommend this film . the  special  effects look like the work of a first year design student using a spectrum zx   . the acting is terrible  the accents are worse than terrible  one artillery mans  accent seems to take us on a tour of the british isles  from scotland to wales via northern ireland   the dialogue is stilted  the editing is non  existent  the production values prove that no expense has been gone to . words really cannot describe how bad this movie is from the union flag flying from the horribly cgi  d thunderchild  the royal navy flies the white ensign  not the union flag  to the woodworm ridden acting  this is quite simply a crime against film making . when you consider some of the literally  zero  budget fan films that are available on the  net  the star wars short  troops  for example   the whole  we  re enthusiastic amateurs  argument goes right out of the window . and if you believe an interview with hines on the pendragon website  this film had an  figure budget  i can only assume that dodgy facial hair does not come cheap in the us . maybe the problem is that hines  co tried to make a film of the book  rather than turn the book into a film  if that makes any sense  . characters and extras spout chunks of text verbatim without trying to convey the feelings behind the words . ironically enough  the only person who even came close to giving a decent performance was darlene sellers  the ex  soft porn actress . my advice  pray like crazy that jeff wayne doesn  t screw up  and go watch the spielberg version . it may not be true to the text of the book  but i can say this as a lifelong hg wells fan  and englishman as well  speilbergs film is true to the spirit of the book . maybe customs were wrong to let me carry this monster into the country  but i will say this timothy hines stole three hours of my life  and i want them back .  
although kris kristofferson is good in this role  who wouldn  t want to see elvis pressly instead  with the drug addiction and the fall from supreme fame may have scared away elvis  agent to be apart of the movie  it was a mistake . this would have been a perfect movie for elvis . even though the soundtrack is far from terrific  paul williams and barbra streisand do a decent job in creating an original soundtrack for this  period  piece  musical . somewhat of a love story  this is more of a drama about the fall from grace and the gift of redemption . like is most tragedies  the hero of the story was die . also  gary busey is once again perfect in a not so perfect role .  
a romance without feeling  a drama of issues without point  or drama  . . . . this film is supposed to be all these and fails on each and every account  as if it isn  t trying . or as if the director  editor  scriptwriter team isn  t really trying . the actors are able   they need better support .  br    br   one element that doesn  t fail is the score by george delarue . beautiful and moving . what a shame it  s attached to this film . in a good film actors  words and movements and music synchronize and enhance the impact . this editor plastered on music with no regard for dialogue and movement . the love scene is particularly grating in this respect an insult to the talents of the lead actors .  br    br   there is another element in the film that works location photography . notably one moment in grand central station . i  d guessed in advance what was going to happen but how it was filmed in that setting was breathtaking .  br    br   some commentators on this board have pointed out that us assimilation of criminal nazi scientists actually happened during these years of the maccarthy scare . the moment the film seems to start looking seriously at american society  it switches into conventional romance before any human feelings can move us  it  s away on a  predictable   thriller  escapade .  br    br   just as the film insults the talents of the actors  it insults the issues it  s pretends  and fails  to take up .  br    br   you are warned .  
i saw this movie in the theater when it came out . i grew up in scottsdale and i went to arizona state and really enjoyed seeing locations where i spent so much time . i remember at the time thinking that barbara  s venture into more of a rock sound  actually r and b  to my ears  was a successful one . i was never a fan of kris  s singing until his last effort for new west . as a songwriter and an actor  though  he has serious chops  imho . i think it is a fine romance . i like it better than the judy garland version and never saw selznick  s janet gaynor original .  br    br   i do believe that they made some changes in this long  awaited dvd release . among other things  i recall the helicopter shot which reveals a packed sun devil stadium being longer and more dramatic . i wish they had done a better job writing music for kris or god forbid  put some of his original songs in there .  br    br   along those lines i have some information from a primary source that says that the music was a problem for kris and barbara . while doing interviews for my own new music documentary  rocking the boat a musical conversation and journey  i interviewed stephen bruton  a fine singer  songwriter  guitarist with close professional and personal ties to kris  bonnie raitt  and delbert mcclinton  among many others . stephen was in  speedway   the john norman character  s band . kris was having a real hard time turning what was essentially a pop score into something that could pass for rock . stephen was and is kris  s friend and long time band member . there was tension on the set and at one point the band was barking at kris in barbara  s presence . she remarked to the effect that the band shouldn  t talk to him like that . kris came right back to the effect that they were his friends and they were rock and roll  in the end  barbara came around and decided to use kris  s band  s live performances in the movie and specifically sited stephen  s role in making things work . i gained even greater respect for her as an artist upon hearing this story . much is made of her as a diva . what she is is a pro . and i am not gay . not that there is anything wrong with that .  
watching beautiful women sneaking around  playing cops and robbers is one of the most delightful guilty pleasures the medium film lets me enjoy . so the house on carroll street was not entirely a waste of time  although the story is contrived and the screenplay uninspired and somewhat irritating .  br    br   there are many allusions to different hitchcock pictures  not least the choice of kelly mcgillis in the starring role . she is dressed up as grace kelly  and she is not far off the mark . not at all . but her character is not convincing . the way she is introduced to the audience  she should be someone with political convictions and a purpose in life . after all the movie deals with a clearly defined time period  true events and a specific issue . but the story degenerates within the first minutes into a sorry run  off  the  mill crime story with unbelievable coincidences  high predictability and a set of two dimensional characters . this is all the more regrettable  as the performances of the actors are good  as are the photography and the set design .  br    br   the finale in central station  new york is breath taking . it starts in the subterranean section and then moves up to the roof . the movie can be praised for its good use of architecture .  
as a long  standing barbra fan  any posting like this will be biased . that aside  this film ranks as a classic . it has it  s flaws  emphasized in other postings   but gives a glimpse of a time  late   s  that will never be there again  and is fascinating to watch unfold on screen .  br    br   streisand fought hard to make this movie her own . i don  t think she was ever satisfied . but it gives her fans a new barbra  for the time  with live singing  a young fresh appearance  and some very heavy  duty acting .  br    br   the story is rough  but exciting  and holds your interest throughout . the extended one frame  finale  is hard for most non  barbra fans to sit through  but it speaks volumes to those who admire her talent .  br    br    
well  i could nt get into the plot  but thats just me maybe . listless camera  movements at times  nevertheless this movie has got a charming vintage quality . the acting is genuine at times and entertaining with the occasional chase sequence involving scantily clad ladies  which was nice . the climax is confused and disjointed  but still . . . err riveting  thanx to stella stevens .  br    br   the stunts are interesting  specially because of the    s las vegas backdrop . there are a few jerky hand  held camera  movements at the end  which keep me guessing  for a while . but i don  t think i ll b chasing the dvd  just yet .  
i recently watched the    version of this film with judy  and while i appreciated the story and music  i found that the film failed to hold my attention . i expected the    remake to be the same story  except with a barbra twist . i was pleasantly surprised  it was a much more realistic and modern look at fame  money  love and the price of it all . this version is so much more real than the    one  with arguably better music  better acting  a more gripping plot line  and  of course  a deeper love . i do not understand why the previous film is on the american film institute  s top    list  while this gripping remake fails to make a mark on any critic  s list .  
there  s really not a lot to say about las vegas lady . it  s harmless enough  but it is little more than a dull heist film from the   s . the movie is neither as clever nor as sexy as it strives to be . the plot is a retread of the tired old casino robbery storyline that  s been done to death . except in the case of las vegas lady  i think the robbery plot was designed by a  year  old . the plan involves three women  one to unnecessarily and in plain view scale the outside of the circus cicus building  one to pose as a waitress only to blow her cover at the first opportunity  and one to stand around exposing her cleavage . that  s pretty much it . intricate  huh  other than stella stevens and her aforementioned breasts  the other women involved in the plot aren  t particularly memorable . las vegas lady co  stars stuart whitman . when not pawing stevens  his involvement in the movie is highlighted by one of the most idiotic gun fights ever put on film .  br    br   i really wanted to like this movie . it does have that   s feel to it that i always enjoy and some nice shots of las vegas circa     . but the movie itself is too dull to rate any higher than a      and that  s probably overstating it . in the end  las vegas lady is a waste of some perfectly good cleavage .  
i was   when i first saw the movie  and it has always been a huge favorite of mine . of course  you can  t deny the appeal of kristofferson in the movie  how fine is that man             sheesh . he still is . he  s the bad boy every woman secretly wants . his acting is flawless . he played a drunk  druggie only the way someone who really had gone through it could  and he had  in    he finally got on the wagon  so it was all very real .  br    br   the music is great and even though in later years i thought streisand was somewhat not the right person for him in a physical beauty sense  i think it  s more a problem for male viewers than female . us gals are just looking at kris  and naturally the guys are looking at the female interest  my husband cannot watch the movie b  c of her  he doesn  t like her looks . but i did make him sit through just the red ferrari scene on the road towards the end just so he could see how well done it was  the camera work was so perfect and you were totally in the car with him with the music blasting  you should have seen it on my    plasma  wow     and lastly  the transfer quality was great  anamorphic widescreen and really clear with great color and very low noise except for dark areas which is normal for all film .  br    br   brought back some great memories of my mom and i loving this movie together  i bought a copy for her for christmas . would have loved to watch it together with her last night .  br    br   i have tried to sit through the original with judy garland  but i guess seeing this one first  i just can  t get into the earlier era . watching all the concert footage in the    version was so much like what i was living at the time .  br    br   i am working my way through the commentary by streisand  but she seems to only talk about herself and the songs  so far she has barely even mentioned kris or details about scenes in the movie . her voice sounds exactly the same now as then .  br    br   check it out  if you grew up in the same era as me  born in      you will love it .  br    br   wendy  
very  very humdrum movie fare here with stella stevens taking directions from someone in disguise  it didn  t take me long to guess who it was  in old nevada town outside vegas for a money heist in the circus circus hotel in las vegas . stevens leads her girl gang of three  and they find out that they must act much quicker than had been anticipated . despite some neat looks at las vegas in the    s  very average yet credible acting from most involved  and a plot line with potential  las vegas lady lays one big boring egg . it seems forever for the film to kick into gear  and when it does it just sputters here and there and never really speeds up . i was somewhat disappointed with this film . sure  i wasn  t expecting anything great  but i at least thought this might be one of those neat exploitation films from the    s or something like it . not even close . no one dies . there is a lame gunfight between creaky stuart whitman and officious george dicenzo  one year prior to his grand performance as the prosecuting attorney bugliosa in helter skelter . the gunfight has all the suspense of watching a waterfall . there is one punch and one head hit with a blunt instrument . beyond that nothing in terms of action . and as for the girls  don  t expect much there either . stella and her girls  both very mediocre yet pretty talents  get in a sauna and a bath . what do we see  nothing but a fleeting side profile . stella wears these nice open blouses accentuating her real talents  but i wish she would have been a bit more open with her performance . that way i could write one thing that would recommend the film . alas  it was not to be  and i have little to say in this film  s favor . it isn  t a horrible film in any way  it just has nothing going for it either . yawn .  
barbra streisand is a tour de force in this hollywood story . her performances and the songs are one  of  a  kind and are special in the halls of great movies . the scene where she is introduced to the unexpecting audience by kristopherson  against the crowds  wishes and hers  only to turn them around with her magnificent performance of  woman in the moon  is one of the best examples on film of how well a great performer can win over an audience . it  s real . the scene where she records evergreen ranks with the best in the business . . all live  no lip  sync  very special . streisand is often criticized for being a diva  but she delivers on this one . she is majestic singing  with one more look at you . she deserved the oscar she and paul williams got for evergreen . kristopherson had his moments too  far above most of his movie appearances . this version of the  born  franchise ranks with the first one of      janet gaynor  frederic march  although i will always enjoy judy garland and james mason musical remake of     . i haven  t seen the dvd yet and don  t know about its quality .  
this tiresome  plodding las vegas casino heist movie in almost impossible to watch and get involved in . it  s something you  look at  if you have absolutely nothing else better to do . the only two decent things in this movie are both attached to gorgeous stella stevens and one spends the entire program hoping she  ll fall out of one of those skimpy tops she wears . many great shots of mid    s las vegas  when it was still a cool place to visit  and the fashions of the day are good for a giggle as well . otherwise  one big yawn . the rhino dvd has a very good widescreen transfer but even at under   bucks it still ain  t worth it in my humble opinion .  
considering  a star is born  had been made twice already by the time the     film came into production  the latest remake has a freshness about it that can be attributed to the fantastic chemistry between the entire acting ensemble . a viewer could be forgiven for believing that kris kristofferson  barbara streisand were a couple off screen as well as on  with their incredible displays of pure affection towards one another .  br    br   the film has been described in the past as a  barbara streisand concert on film  set to a soap opera storyline  however for anyone that enjoys watching a film that takes you beyond the living room into a world where the characters seem truly alive  a star is born is well worth the hiring price .  br    br   with its incredible soundtrack  flawless acting and touching reality in regards to human emotions and the true frailty of life a star is born is a film that draws you into the world of esther hoffman  the love of her life john norman howard .  br    br   a film for anyone that sees the beauty in real love  the kind that keeps you devoted to a person even as they break your heart . . .  
i couldn  t believe it . i had to rub my eyes a few times . was it true   br    br   yes  there were billy dee williams  jeff conaway  maxwell caulfield and tracy scoggins  all of them have some manner of talent but here they all were in what basically adds up to a cinemax  style skin flick set on board a spaceship   br    br   sad as it is   alien intruder  tries to be unique  with a computer virus  alien demon  harpy  whatever else you want to call her named ariel  scoggins  infiltrating this sort  of high  tech virtual reality station on board a spaceship where four men are allowed to live out their fantasies as the system is over  seen by their captain  williams  .  br    br   interesting  maybe  but here everything just plays out like a well  padded episode of  red shoe diaries  . williams out  classes everything right and left  and looks like he  d rather be doing anything else  anywhere else . ah  the things people do for money . . . .  br    br   the fx are pretty static  maybe even less than what you  d expect for a straight  to  video cheapie like this . unfortunately  even the female nudity is less than you  d expect . sexual innuendo is the real star here and  of course  it gets all the best scenes .  br    br   if you like a movie that  s all tease and no brains  check out  alien intruder  . of course  you  ll probably have to look no further than cinemax at  or  in the morning .  br    br   no stars  not even for what star power this flick can muster .  br    br   leave this one lost in space .  
i saw the trailer for this movie in the    s when i was barely   while viewing another film . oh     how excited me and my best friend were . we couldn  t wait for the month or so until it would come on . i saw this movie   times that year at the theatre . i love  love  love it . kris is so perfect for the film . he is brash and kinda trashy but also shy and uncertain with babs and it is so endearing to watch it again . when they sing evergreen at the studio and he chimes in with his raspy voice so very different from the perfect notes coming from her but i always thought this was one of the best scenes in the movie . the way he looks at her and he is so proud . i could watch this movie every day . we tried to dress like est  her i even have the long sweater and cap that was so like the one she wore . this came on tv on time and i got my daughters to watch it they were teens and they loved it to . maybe its just that i was so caught up into it at an age when everything was extreme don  t know . the ending always has me in tears even today .  
when a friend gave me a boxed set of    amazing scifi  horror movies   i was understandably a little cautious . but  since the item was a gift  i really didn  t truly pay my common sense much heed . after all . . . . movies for free  so what if they are a little ropey . after much consideration  alien intruder was the first of those movies . ironically  it was first choice because it looked the best of the bunch . all i can say is  if this is the best of them  i shudder to think what the rest are like .  br    br   on the surface  it had some good things going for it . four  count  em   actors that i was familiar with . billy dee williams  tracy scoggins  maxwell caulfield and jeff conaway . i told myself . . .  billy and tracy have been in some good scifi  star wars and babylon   respectively  so they wouldn  t sign up for a turkey . max is a veteran soap actor who never really managed to break into film . . . . but not too shoddy an actor . an jeff . . . . well . . . he  s done the good and the bad as far as films and tv go .  i was soon to discover that jeff had decided to add  the ugly  to his repertoire of movies .  br    br   the first clue was in the opening scenes . jeff mugs his way with gusto through an  i  m mad  scene before finally killing himself . an amusing cameo performance  really . unfortunately this is  without much exaggeration  the highlight of the film . it goes downhill from there .  br    br   next up we have the commander of the mission  williams  who is being sent out to see what happened to jeff and his crew busy picking his new shipmates from among the ranks of the criminal element . but this assortment aren  t so much the dirty dozen  more like the unconvincing foursome . plus  one of the crims  a computer hacker  is shown in his cell working away on a laptop computer . isn  t that a bit like letting a murderer run a gun shop in the slammer  pretty lame prison  if you ask me .  br    br   when they finally take off the effects are truly horrible . it looks like the spaceship model was knocked up in an afternoon by some bored  year old who had parts left over from his airfix kits .  br    br   but the horror doesn  t stop there . whilst on route to the area where jeff  s ship vanished  the criminal crew are rewarded for their good behaviour by being given weekends of virtual reality  in which they indulge their male fantasies . all well and good  and the use of scenes from their fantasies serves as an introduction to the  alien menace  which begins to appear there . but did they have to drag it out for quite sooooo loooooong  alien intruder  alien boring  more like .  br    br   finally they make it to g  sector and the alien presence makes them fight against each other for her affections until only good old max is left . the ending  in truly optimistic rubbish film vein  hints at a sequel  as if  also making an appearance in this movie is a character i  ll nickname the  sweatdroid  . he  s supposed to be an android  but apparently that fact was lost on the make  up crew  who provided him with sweaty features at any opportunity . but don  t worry  he  s just there to make up the body count numbers at the end .  br    br   williams and scoggins  to be truthful  do very little in the film . they only just barely stay awake  let alone act . and  as i mentioned earlier  jeff gets an early trip to the showers  so his manicness isn  t allowed to enlighten much of the film . max tries his best  as do a couple of the other cast members  but the movie is just direly atrocious  to be honest .  br    br   the one  and only  half  way imaginative thing this movie offers is the ship naming convention . they are all named after musicians  holly  presley  joplin . the rest of the film is bland and uninspired .  br    br   made in      i had thought  on initial viewing  it was one of those    s straight  to  video jobs . looks like they still made crap movies well into the    s  it seems .  br    br   it  s best avoided . even as a beer n chips movie this film is a stinker  but at least you can fast forward it  i suppose .  
i swear when i first saw this movie  i cried my eyes out  a star is born is the movie that lets you know what love is really like despite the obstacles john norman  kris kristofferson  and esther  streisand  face . you also experience what it  s like to lose a love like that by the end of the movie . streisand and kristofferson have such great chemistry together and the music is fantastic  when streisand sings with one more look at you  watch closely now  it  s just pure magic  this movie made the song evergreen one of my favorites  and queen bee is such a fun song . also i love the fashion of the    s  except streisand  s afro . besides that  she  s a beauty .  . a star is born is my number one favorite movie . this movie is a pleasure to watch and is a heart  breaker at the end .  
as usual  on imdb  going by the majority vote instead of the  weighted average  is far more indicative of the movie  s entertainment value . in this case  the majority gives it a  one  . how right they are  to start my review  i  ll first admit that i am completely clueless as to why this movie is titled  alien intruder  . it does involve space and even an  alien   i suppose   but there  s no rhyme or reason  at all  for anything in the long run  at least  no actual plot basis or resolution that i can make out anywhere .  br    br   there are quite a few scenes that are so atrocious  with regard to both the lines  the timing  and how they are spoken   that it far exceeds the weird feeling you get when watching similar really bad movies . i have no idea about that part near the beginning where an electronic bugs bunny seems to be ranting about something .  br    br   the  plot  solely involves an area of space known as the g  spot  sorry  make that g  sector . . . and a virtual reality program infected with some sort of alien    virus . i think it is alien since the image of the otherwise normal ariel appears as a photographic negative .  br    br   for most of the movie  we see people getting shot with space weapons  falling out of lofts  and seemingly endless  pointless close shots of  where  s ariel     can  t find ariel   pointless because most of the other shots include interaction with ariel  anyway  whatever  on a computer monitor . commander skyler  billy dee   sits and watches each fantasy of the convict  s vr programs hoping to find this alien virus and become one with it . . .    or maybe i missed something . . .  br    br   billy dee williams took a few courses on  how to act in despair  prior to the filming of this . we know this because he spends a lot of time moving his fingers down over his face and looking mournful .  br    br   the docking scene with the nose of one ship going into the rear of the other was semi  hilarious at least  and provided for a laugh in addition to the early scenes where we see several shots of the ship as it is just spinning in a circle  looking much like a lego experiment gone awry .  br    br   it seems everyone dies in this movie  so why bother  even the vr females get killed  as if that is supposed to mean anything  especially since everyone else dies anyway  . . . outrageous .  br    br   because of the money i save on groceries  i won  t rant about wanting my money back that i paid for the dvd of this . the dollar that i saved on that bag of vanilla wafers paid for this reviewer  s time .  br    br   i  ll just add that the story itself  at least as a novel  and with far more detail added  could probably be quite interesting with the right author .  br    br        
she is such an extraordinary singer  who cares about anything else     that final scene is one of the best moments in all of show biz  bar none   i  m glad she kept the camera on herself for ten minutes  she deserves that iconic status  such is the power of the voice .  br    br   i first saw this film when i was five and it had a huge impact on me . i see it today  and yes  i can see some of the flaws  like esther wanting to leave the grammy  s right as her award is being announced  .  br    br   but some of the other user comments are just plain false  i mean  where is the gratuitous nudity  maybe we saw different films     br    br   streisand  s singing ability is monumental  and if she has a big ego  fine   br    br   she  s earned it .  
who me  no  i  m not kidding . that  s what it really says on the video case .  br    br   plot short version pretty woman stands around smiling . this  for some reason  makes all men kill each other .  br    br    find ariel . . . where  s ariel . . . can  t find ariel . . .  she  s right behind you  you idiot . . .  br    br   most of what can be said about this horrendous little space opera has already been said  looks like .  br    br   a bunch of corny actors playing mostly convicts come in after the first selection of actors is knocked off very quickly . then they get knocked off in the same way . every scene is broadcast nearly fifteen minutes in advance . perhaps it was a drawing of straws to see which actors had the most screen time and bigger pay check . the alien virus  hologram  vr witch  glitch seems physically powerless and doesn  t do a thing . why can  t she just stay in the computer instead of doing her  teleporting vampire  routine   actually  it would  ve been more interesting if she had been a vampire  or doing more than just standing around looking at people  which is all she ever does . this is enough to make all the men kill each other . go figure . . .   br    br   this isn  t really a space flick . there are far more shots of the old western trail       s easy rider trail  film noir  s night club scene  even a jog on the beach in fantasy  land  none of which has any real depth or even makes any sense . the night club scene is in black and white  of course . worked with  the wizard of oz  . doesn  t work so well  here . this is probably a good thing  as those few shots they do show of space are depressingly silly . you will probably cry during those moments  especially upon seeing that swirling  space ship   which looks about three inches long .  br    br   nothing is felt for any of the characters  not because they are convicts or have no personality  but because they are in serious need of acting lessons  except for billy dee williams who really does look depressed and at a loss  probably by being in this work . . .  br    br   this is one of those movies that  when viewed with friends  is going to cause some extremely  loud  silences  especially when the nerd throws out his attempt at comic one  liners  including the line about french  kissing a meteor . . .  did i hear that right  perhaps not . . .   br    br   the original virtual reality girls get  killed   which means nothing  as they are not even real to begin with . well  the other  characters  aren  t  either  but that  s beside the point . haha .  br    br   what  s kind of funny is that the scene that graces the video case is some sort of skull  horror  alien looking thing  green filter added on top of that  to give it more of a . . . uh . . . green look   which is actually the android after he gets killed and ultimately has nothing to do with anything else afoot .  br    br   another odd deal i noticed . whenever there is an explosion  at least on my cheap dvd copy   everything becomes highly pixelated . i don  t mean a little pixelated  i mean huge blocks about     th the size of the screen . wow .  
coming of age movies are quite usual these days . for       foxes  really gives its meaning . jodie foster plays her character straight out . ever since she did  taxi driver  four years earlier  she has a stronger character in this movie . she  s jeanie  a high schooler who has plenty of guts  and seems to get out of any situation she  s in . scott baio plays brad way before chachi on  happy days  . he  s deemed immature by the other girls . cherie currie is annie  hangs with the wrong crowd  chased by her policeman father . jeanie and her three other friends decide to live on the wild side until they move into a rented house where a party get totally out of hand . exploring life on the other side of the tracks can be either fun or dangerous . annie is rescued by jeanie and brad all the time whenever she gets wasted . reality comes back hard where she is killed in a automobile accident . and one gets married to a much older man . growing up isn  t easy  sometimes we got to explore life how it is . in reality  you got to be careful about the people surrounding you . for me  i was my own person  and i tend to stay that way  great music  great plot  this movie  s a gem   out of  stars   
if this film had a budget of   million i  d just like to know where the money went . a monkey could make better cgi effects then what was wasted for  hours on this dreadful piece of garbage  although i must admit the machines and the martians would have looked really  really cool on an original play  station  game  and early pc games from the mid   s if a game had ever been made . what puzzles me is where did the money go  pendragon films could have made a great film with good old fashioned models and computer controlled cameras a la george lucas circa         and actors who actually look like they care about what they are doing  or ruining in this case  for about the same   million . this is quite possibly the worst film ever made  i would rather sit through a   hour repeat screening of ishtar than watch this film again . i hated it completely  i regress . i say this is the worst film ever made because unlike other bad movies like plan  or killer tomatoes  or santa claus conquers the martians  these are films that are so bad you have a special place in your heart for them  you love them . there is no love for this film and no place in my dvd library for it . i sold it to a guy for a dollar . i  m betting the money for the film was spent on booze and other vices for the cast and crew . shame on you pendragon films  i want my money back   
personnaly i really loved this movie  and it particularly moved me . the two main actors are giving us such great performances  that at the end  it is really heart breaking to know what finally happened to their characters .  br    br   the alchemy between barbra streisand and kris kristofferson is marvelous  and the song are just great the way they are .  br    br   that  s why i didn  t feel surprised when i learned it had won  golden globe awards  the most rewarded movie at the golden globes   an oscar and even a grammy . this movie is a classic that deserves to be seen by anyone . a great movie  that has often been criticized  maybe because streisand dared to get involved in it  surely as a  co  director   . her artistry is the biggest  and that will surely please you   
it  s interesting to see what shape pierce brosnan  s career was in before bond arrived on the scene . in this  tense  thriller  pierce brosnan plays the gentle patrick  who works leading ghetto kids on  confidence courses  . he romances a woman  who has a bog  standard mop  top mid    s kid called eric . the woman  s drunken ex  husband soon arrives on the scene and begins to mess with pierce .  br    br   at one stage pierce is innocently making  vegeburgers  . the husband enters . pierce resumes making vegeburgers . the husband then assaults pierce . little chunks of half  eaten vegeburger call fall from pierce  s mouth . the fight abruptly ends without showing the outcome . this is as good as the film gets .  br    br    
i am and was very entertained by the movie . it was my all time favorite movie of     . being raised in the    s  i was so in love with kris kristoffersons look and demeanor  of course i am no movie critic  but for the time era  i think it was very good . i very much like the combo of streisand and kristofferson . i thought they worked very well together . i have seen the movie many times and still love the two of them as esther and john norman . i am a very huge fan of kris and see him in concert when i can . what a talented singer song writer  not to mention  actor . i have seen him in many movies  but still think back to a star is born .  
carry on matron was released in     and it  s becoming clear that the series has reached a natural end with the best entries like cleo  up the kyber and screaming being from the mid to late   s  br    br   in itself matron is by no means bad it  s just that we  ve seen it all before with a thin plot  a bunch of spivs trying to break into a hospital to steal a supply of contraceptive pills which they plan to sell to third world countries  surrounded by gags of a slightly amusing though unsophisticated nature . i think that  s where the problem lies  the gags aren  t all that amusing with the unsophisticated nature starting to show its age . did we need another movie that uses a man dressed up as a woman in order to drive the plot  perhaps the worst criticism i can make is that i saw carry on matron this afternoon  less that twelve hours ago and i have a problem in trying to remember a very funny line . that  s a serious problem for a comedy  
a blockbuster at the time of it  s original release  it was the second  highest grossing film of       the third screen version of a star is born has always divided critics and fans alike . the film open to scathingly negative reviews  however    .  million  budgeted picture went on to gross over     million at the box office and won an academy award and five golden globes . it  s not without some irony that streisand  s most commercially successful film would also remain her most controversial . for every ten fans who state that star is streisand  s best film  there are always ten more who claim it is the weakest film in her filmography . although both sides have some merit to support their claims  it should still be noted that the seventies take on a star is born remains one of the most touching and highly entertaining showbiz dramas that hollywood ever produced . for my money  it  s the best version of the often  told tale .  br    br   the film is solidly enjoyable and throughly absorbing . changing the setting from the old hollywood studio system to the competitive world of the music industry was actually a great idea  and the screenplay forges a realistic contrast between the characters  romance and their careers . this is the main area that the     version of a star is born actually surpasses it  s classic predecessors . for example  the film is especially successful when depicting the clashing personal and professional difficulties during recording sessions and the never  ending phone calls that interrupt kristofferson  s songwriting attempts . this version of the story is also more believable in it  s portrayal of the lead characters . for example  the female leads in the two previous versions were so virtuous and self  sacrificing that they came off as saints . on the other hand  esther  the female lead in this version  is not only portrayed as being strong and passionate  but also flawed and conflicted . this makes her feel more  real  than the janet gaynor or judy garland characters felt in the previous films  and makes the story that much more effective .  br    br   the performances are all on target  even if some of the supporting characters aren  t fleshed out enough . if you  re looking for an actress  singer who can walk the fine line between tough and vulnerable without making herself seem like a script contrivance  streisand is definitely the girl you want . she  s one of the few film stars who can make even the most banal dialogue seem fresh and natural  and  as usual  she manages to make a strong emotional connection with the viewer . simply put  her esther is a fully  realized  three  dimensional human being . kris kristofferson may not get much respect now for his laid  back characterization  however  he  s always interesting watch and displays a magnetic charisma here that he seldom displayed elsewhere in his career . kristofferson actually received rave reviews at the time from newsweek  time  and even the new yorker  s usually vicious pauline kael . gary busey and paul mazursky also give believable performances  but both have a fairly minimal amount of screen time .  br    br   the film  s soundtrack recording was also a massive success  hitting the   on billboard  s hot    and selling over four million copies in the us alone . the streisand  composed  evergreen   with lyrics from paul williams  is unarguably one of the most gorgeous songs in contemporary pop  brought to even  further life by an absolutely incomparable vocal performance from streisand . the rest of the film  s original songs  mostly composed by williams and rupert holmes  are pretty good as well  and streisand sounds fantastic  her live solo numbers remain in the memory long after the rest of the movie has faded . streisand  s vibrant performances bring  woman in the moon  and  with one more look at you  to thrilling life  and make even sillier numbers like  queen bee  work far better than they have the right to . kristofferson  s solo numbers sound somewhat tuneless  however  that may have been intentional since he is playing a singer in decline .  br    br   though naturally dated in some respects  it definitely does reflect the decade in which it was made   the seventies take on a star is born still holds up remarkably well . the film is well  mounted and slickly produced  the chemistry between the leads is extremely powerful and always feels genuine  and streisand has two emotional scenes near the finale that are both aching effective . in conclusion  a star is born is not only entertaining and moving  but it also transcends all criticism .  
one of the weaker carry on adventures sees sid james as the head of a crime gang stealing contraceptive pills . the fourth of the series to be hospital  based  it  s possibly the least of the genre . there  s a curiously flat feel throughout  with all seemingly squandered on below  par material . this is far from the late    s nadir  but williams  james  bresslaw  maynard et al . are all class performers yet not given the backing of a script equal to their ability .  br    br   most of the gags are onrunning  rather than episodic as carry ons usually are . so that instead of the traditional hit and miss ratio  if you don  t find the joke funny in the first place you  re stuck with it for most of the film . these continuous plot strands include williams  for no good reason  worrying that he  s changing sex  and kenneth cope in drag . like the stagy physical pratt falls  the whole thing feels more contrived than in other movies  and lacking in cast interest . continuing this theme  matron lacks the customary pun and innuendo format  largely opting for characterisation and consequence to provide the humour . in fact  the somewhat puerile series of laboured misunderstandings and forced circumstance reminds one more of terry and june . . . so it  s appropriate that terry scott is present  mugging futilely throughout .  br    br   some dialogue exchanges have a bit of the old magic  such as this between scott and cope  what about a little drink    oh  no  no  i never touch it .   oh . cigarette then    no  i never touch them .   that leaves only one thing to offer you .   i never touch that either .  that said  while a funny man in his own right  livening up the duller episodes of randall and hopkirk  deceased  no end   you do feel that cope isn  t quite tapped in to the self  parodying carry on idealology and that bernard bresslaw dressed as a nurse would be far funnier . this does actually happen  in part  though only for the last fifteen minutes .  br    br   williams attempting to seduce hattie jacques while charles hawtrey is hiding in a cupboard is pure drawer room farce  but lacks the irony to carry it off . that said  williams  s description of premarital relations is priceless  you don  t just go into the shop and buy enough for the whole room  you tear yourself off a little strip and try it first    that may be so   counters jacques   but you  re not going to stick me up against a wall .  williams really comes to life in his scenes with hattie  and you can never get bored of hearing a tin whistle whenever someone accidentally flashes their knickers .  br    br   carry on matron is not a bad film by any means  just a crushingly bog  standard one .  
my mom took me to see this movie when it came out around christmas of     . i loved it then and i love it now . i know everyone makes fun of barbra  s hair in this one  but i think she looks and sounds great  . . . and i seem to remember a number of women who copied that permed look at the time  also  the bath tub scene between streisand and kristoferson is just so sexy  the music is great as well . this is the groovy    s babs at her best   
i have to be completely honest in saying first that i fell asleep somewhere in the middle  so i cannot give a full opinion about the film until i see it in full . basically  a group of thieves  including sid carter  sid james  and ernie bragg  bernard bresslaw   plan to make a fortune stealing a shipment of contraceptive pills from finisham maternity hospital . this is where title character matron  hattie jacques  works  along with staff members sir bernard cutting  kenneth williams   dr . francis goode  charles hawtrey   dr . prodd  terry scott  and nurse susan ball  barbara windsor  . patients and their visitors are around too  including pregnant mrs . tidey  joan sims  and her nervous dad  to  be husband mr . tidey  kenneth connor  . also starring bill maynard as freddy and eastenders  wendy richard as miss willing . this plan by the way is not working out by the way  because all the staff are getting in the way . that  s pretty much all can say about the film until i see it again in full . okay   
thirty years after its initial release  the third version of  a star is born  finally comes to dvd in a package that should please the most devoted fans of barbra streisand . that would include me since i just saw her in concert singing among other numbers  the feminist anthem  woman in the moon  from this     film . easy to dismiss  the movie  s career  polarizing story is such a sturdy pile of hollywood  style clichs that variations of it exist in other films including streisand  s own  funny girl  . this time reset to the then  contemporary music scene  the timeworn plot follows self  destructive rock star john norman howard on his deep  dive career descent just as he meets club singer esther hoffman who is awaiting her big break .  br    br   troubles dog their courtship from the outset  as john norman  both names please  responds to grasping fans and bloodless djs with random acts of violence  from which he inexplicably escapes prosecution  . to john norman  esther represents his last shot at happiness  and in turn  she is drawn to the innately decent  creative musician underneath the faade . in the movie  s most pivotal scene  he gives esther her big break at a benefit concert  and her career takes off . inevitably  he can  t handle the failure of his career in light of her meteoric success  and if you are familiar with any version of this story  you know the rest . directed by frank pierson  although streisand  s budding directorial talents are obviously on display   the film still manages to draw me in  even though i know it is shamelessly contrived and manipulative . it still has a certain emotional resonance despite its numerous flaws .  br    br   although streisand in her prime seems like the ideal choice to play a rising singing star  her screen persona is simply too strong and predefined to play esther credibly . the same can be said for her performing style since the script seems to make allowances for her softer adult contemporary  oriented material to be accepted within the otherwise hardened world of arena rock . from the moment she pops her head up as the middle of the oreos  she can  t help but come across as an established star . i can forgive the lapse simply because she is an unparalleled vocal talent  but what becomes less forgiving is how she makes esther more strident than poignant when john norman  s woes become overwhelming . this creates an oddly discomfiting dynamic in the last part of the film when it becomes less about what caused the climactic event than esther  s response to it . this is capped off by an uninterrupted eight  minute close  up of her memorial performance  great except when she regrettably mimics john norman  s style toward the end .  br    br   kristofferson  on the other hand  gives a superb performance throughout  managing a level of honesty that grounds the film and makes palpable his concurrent feelings of love  pride and resentment toward esther . he makes his vodka  soaked onstage growling work within this context . otherwise  what always strikes me as strange about this version is how all the supporting characters are relegated to the background as if they didn  t exist unless they were interacting with the two principals . the only ones who register are paul mazursky as john norman  s level  headed manager brian and gary busey as his cynical band manager bobbie . veteran cameraman robert surtees provides a nice burnish to the cinematography though a level of graininess persists in the print . a big seller in its day  the soundtrack is a hodgepodge of different styles from the      s  some songs still quite good   everything    woman in the moon    watch closely now    some that have moved to kitsch   queen bee   kenny loggins   i believe in love   and of course  the inescapable  evergreen  .  br    br   the print transfer on the     dvd is clean and the sound gratefully crisp thanks to digital remastering . streisand  s participation is the chief lure of the extras beginning with her feature  length commentary . she gives insightful information about the genesis of the film  the casting and the reportedly troubled production . she is also refreshingly candid about the megalomania of jon peters  her hairdresser boyfriend who became the movie  s producer  and her dissatisfaction with pierson as a director . i just wish she could have provided more scene  specific comments that directly relate to what is on screen . she also tends to repeat the same anecdotes when the mood strikes her  e . g .  it gets tiring to hear for the third time how the person playing the chauffeur was a friend of peters . i think having a second commentator could have drawn out other nuggets from her .  br    br   there is a wardrobe test reel that shows some amusing      s clothes  especially kristofferson  s mixed  fabric poncho and orange polyester shirt . there are also twelve deleted scenes included with streisand  s optional commentary . one is a comic bread  baking scene which reminded me how much i like streisand in farcical comedies . another is an extended scene in which she plays  evergreen  on the guitar in front of an awestruck kristofferson who then falls asleep . the most interesting is an alternate take on the musical finale incorporating fast cuts  which i agree with streisand should have been used . fittingly  the theatrical trailers for all three versions of  a star is born  are also included .  
if this is based on the true  life relationship  as purported  between ms . curtin and mr . levinson  i  m thrilled i do not know them personally . this is painfully slow  and both characters take stupid pills liberally throughout the movie while the theme song gets played into the ground . many stupid scenes with people acting stupid does not make for a comedy .  
i first saw this video   years ago . i thought it was excellent then and i still do . i am a former teacher of english  high school and college  and a lover of english romantic poetry  so coleridge rates highly with me . anything which might detract from the beauty of the poem or the power of the story wouldn  t get my vote of excellence . in this case  everything works well to engage the viewer  especially high school students . the story is well illustrated for a generation which grew up on television . in addition  the voice of michael redgrave adds a sense of authenticity and authority to it . okay  so there wasn  t a big budget for the project . so it wasn  t star wars and there  s no cgi in it . but who can dismiss gustave dor illustrations as part of the presentation  the comment above  which in just four lines dismisses the video as a piece of trash  is grossly unfair and unperceptive . i  m a friend of the producer  but that isn  t my reason for this comment . rather  i  m defending a work of artistry which i think has value on all levels . it is well suited to bring coleridge  s poem to students in a way which awakens their appreciation of it and awakens their sympathy for the lesson which the ancient mariner imparts .  
this film  along with rinne  are minor gems amongst the retread homage pics that have passed for horror movies so far at the  ftdf  horrorfest .  and  yes  that  s faint praise indeed .  cause there  s not much worse in filmdom than would  be auteurs who think atmosphere is a substitute for a coherent plot .  br    br   and that  s all you get with the abandoned . this is a film that was made almost entirely in the directors head . sure  it would have been nice if he  d transfered it to film  but this happened instead . it  s a very pretty film with a few genuine scares  but the last reel is strictly for the latte slurping cineaste crowd .  
this filmed presentation of  the rime of the ancient mariner  is a most beautiful and interesting rendition of coleridge  s haunting poem . the striking cinematography  combined with a collection of two centuries of efforts to illustrate the epic poem of     by world famous artists  and michael redgrave  s superb narration  are very well worth the time to view this excellent visual work .  br    br   in the age of television  such work as this is an invaluable tool to induce young students  as well as adults  to explore and to learn the value of great poetry . to the best of my knowledge  this kind of work is indeed rare that is regrettable . as a student of world literature and as a former college professor and academic counselor  i feel that more great epic poems like coleridge  s  rime of the ancient mariner  should be so  translated .  although not a movie critic  but as an avid reader of classic literature  i am glad to recommend this fine production without any reservations whatsoever .  
this movie is a waste of time and money . throughout the entire hour and a half  i continued to wait for it to get better and it never did . it was slow moving  the plot jumped around  it wasn  t scary or interesting  and really never amounted to anything . the credits during the introduction were long and drawn out  which was basically like the rest of the movie  long and drawn out  . numerous parts of the plot made no sense . several times during the movie i had thought that maybe i had  zoned out  because the incongruity of the plot  however  my companion had the same issue and assured me i did not  zone out  from boredom  but it was indeed the movie . i  ve actually never posted on here about a movie before and have been actively looking up movies on imdb for numerous years . so the fact that i  m actually taking the time to write something should speak volumes of how bad this movie is and that you should not waste your time or money on it .  
recently  a friend and i were discussing educational and ethical influences when we were growing up in the      s versus today . she mentioned samuel taylor coleridge  who  in      wrote the rime of the ancient mariner . both of us had been required to recite parts of the epic poem in high school and in english literature courses in college . my friend said   its messages even might be called metaphysical within today  s context .   br    br   we tried reciting it and only remembered bits and pieces .  i have problems remembering dr . seuss .  i said i  d get two copies of the poem so each could read it . that was easy enough  but i was extremely surprised to find it had been made into a film . we looked forward to watching the film to see how it had been interpreted . after all  the rime of the ancient mariner isn  t exactly light reading . after each had read the poem  we watched the film together .  br    br   we considered the film a remarkable achievement  especially considering it was made in the      s  before computers  before the so  called  ken burns effect   and before special effects too often began compensating for a lack of substance . particularly noteworthy are the   th and   th century illustrations culled from  lesser known artists   such as willy pogany  the early hollywood designer .  br    br   the film is narrated by sir michael redgrave  whom had taught the poem when he was a schoolmaster  adding a tone of authority and credibility in remaining true to the poem .  br    br   its mastery is in the layers of subtle messages  conveyed without  instructing   or becoming an oppressive and obvious morality tale . we found it such a refreshing change from today  s  in your face  and  clobber them over the head  mentality . most of today  s morality messages in film are two  dimensional extreme violence  murder and mayhem mark the bad . the bad are really  really  bad  and good are super heroes . it is as if human character lacked any nuance . the rime of the ancient mariner is a celebration of the individual  of character  of an appreciation for celebrating all the richness life has to offer  within the larger context of humanity  i . e .  man  s capacity to give to others .  br    br   proud of ourselves for having found this  unknown  gem  we then learned it had won the top award in its category five out of six times at  name  international film festivals . another surprise was learning the film  s director  raul dasilva  is a recognized authority on early animation  and authored six award winning books about film .  br    br   this film  s message is just as relevant today  if not more so  than when coleridge penned the original epic poem and when raul dasilva translated it to film . if i still was teaching high school  which i did for five years  i  d grab this one and show it to all my students . there  s a level of richness here that naturally leads to discussion about the big and important issues all of us face  whether in           or today   in fact  as long as humanity has a spiritual component .  br    br   highly recommended .  
this movie is simply not worth the time or money spent . full of clichs and a plot that makes absolutely no sense  i cant believe that so many people have given this awful movie a   . my guess is they are stooges of the movie maker .  br    br   if i could give this movie a zero  i would . too bad imdb doesn  t allow that .  br    br   the only reason i watched it because i went with a friend who really wanted to see it . whats sad is that i never had great expectations from this movie to begin with and yet i felt short changed . take my word  don  t waste your   on this piece of trash . the only entertainment i got out of the movie was making fun of the directors name . in all  highly not recommended   
the blend of biography with poetry and live action with animation makes this a true work of art . the narration by sir michael redgrave is moving . the length of the work makes it easily accessible for class room exposure or tv  video time slots .  
this movie is an utter waste of time  the plot is awful  the dialogue is awful .  br    br   the acting is ok  but the actors have absolutely no plot or script to work with . the photography and some of the special effects are ok  too  but again there is nothing interesting in this movie to watch . there is no logical progression to the story  the story line is utter nonsense . it isn  t even scary . for a movie to be scary  there has to be at least a small element of believability . this movie has no believability at all .  br    br   there are only three characters in the movie . each character is shallow and has no personality .  br    br   most of the special effects and make up work are both badly done  or at most mediocre .  br    br   i hope you read this and do not waste time on this movie unless you are curious to see an entirely awful movie .  
the ancient mariner is a truly classic piece of work  as the original poem was  is . the context  setting with the old mariner himself is fine  clear  and without pretense . the artistic work that accompanies the reading of the poem fits perfectly the time  period of the setting and of the work itself  carrying the audience into the period with a still  yet moving accompaniment  using excellent still  movement strategies only well conquered by the pre  mtv era producers and much less apparent in more current works .  mtv brought to television and video a static movement that races through  often irrelevant cuts  from theme to theme without forward movement and without clear relationships to theme or storyline .  the voice  intonation and vitality of redgrave  s reading brings this touching poem to life with all its fear  strife and pain . in addition  the smooth movement of the video emphasizes the cadence and occasional monotone  in this case a positive mood under the theme of the story itself  of the author  s rendition of the ancient mariner  s sad and spooky tale . this is a must for any love of classic poetry  the sea  a tall tale  that almost rings true  and a story that has left a lasting impact on our world and culture . who does not understand the meaning of an  albatross   or the concept of  water  water everywhere and not a drop to drink   a truly fine experience . thank you mr . dasilva for bringing this to life for us  never to be forgotten .  
a different look at horror . the styling differences between american and russian films is interesting . however from my american perspective this movie just wasn  t that good . the protagonist  marie played by anastasia hille wasn  t a pleasant character and i had a hard time identifying with her . she was disagreeable most of the time and confused for much of what little time was left . also too much time was spent in bringing her to the main location of the film . then a long time passed before any real suspense built up . once that happened it seemed volume was used as the main effect which was more annoying than anything else . the concept was more original than most direct  to  video movies and they didn  t use sex to make up for a thin plot . all in all i  d recommend it for renting  but not for theater goers .  
this work is striking in its accurate depiction of teenage life at the time of its execution . though this is a broad generalization  parents of that time were too self  absorbed to be real parents  and those who were home tended to be far too distracted from the real issues  where their children were concerned .  br    br   this film teaches us how to let go  even when it is painful  and does so with a sweet  melancholy  but informed style whereby foster talks philosophically about feeling the pain of life . i loved that scene . it was my favorite scene in the movie  actually .  br    br   the transition from funeral to wedding was meant to show that life does go on  and so must we . baio  s skateboarding through a pack of goons and outrunning them was meant to show us that the troubled times will pass  and we are meant to get through them  to better times .  br    br   the whole metaphor of  moving on   and the procession of life  is present throughout the film  and serves to give us hope  in the end .  br    br   i like this movie  though i do not watch it often  as it tends to make me melancholy .  br    br   it shouldn  t be viewed by young children  and probably only those raised in the      s     s would want to .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
holy freaking god all  freaking  mighty . this movie was so bad  i thought i was on drugs . in a bad way . . . the character acting is the poorest thing i  ve seen in quite some time . this movie was more akin to lord of the g  strings  imho  it  s a real movie  . most of the movie appeared to be done on a horrible green screen . my favorite part was when they are in the carriage  and you can tell there  s no horse . they  re fleeing from alien monsters  and going about the same speed as a swift jog . then it switches to a far  shot with a ridiculous cg horse . and the cg in general seems to be sub  par to      s beyond the mind  s eye . i mean  come on  really . it felt like a horrible episode of hercules  only without kevin sorbo there to save the day . worst . movie . ever .  
just saw the movie  and the scary thing was  the people talking during the movie sounded just like the actors . the movie had its moments  but also lagged and was rather sick . it was all meant to be a farce  but once you see the pathetic lives of the people in the movie  you think to yourself  people like this are all around us  all attempts at getting the audience  s sympathy are dashed as the actors do one stupid thing after another . on the plus side  there are some great  and funny  insults . i think i would wait for video  but it was a good laugh . warning  jerry takes his shirt off during the movie    not a pretty sight    
i  m going to go on the record as the second person who has  after years of using the imdb to look up movies  been motivated by nacho  s film  the abandoned to create an account and post a comment . this was hands down the worst movie i  ve ever seen in my entire life . the plot was on the verge of non  existence  and none of the  puzzle  pieces  added up in any way whatsoever . the acting was laughable and the writing was embarrassing . how this film got backed and came to be is completely beyond me . the only saving grace i could find was anastasia hille  s cunning and repetitive use of the f word .  and brilliant sound design  if i were faced with the option of seeing this film again or being mauled by wild bores i would be up against a difficult decision . i  m disappointed that i am unable to give it  stars .  
personally  i disdain the jerry springer show  however  i found  ringmaster  to be the funniest movie i  ve seen this year . the never  ending satire of jerry springer  guests  starting in the opening scene keeps you laughing throughout the movie . despite a brief scene in which jerry springer makes a feeble attempt at justifying his existence  i definitely recommend this movie for sheer entertainment value .  
to quote the film   it  s better not to know . better still to forget . best of all to be abandoned .  oh  the irony .  br    br   a ghost story with all the technical refinements of a hollywood horror film  but horrifyingly bad dialogue after the first quarter of the film  and you feel like you  re being preached to from the start .  br    br   it  s as if the writers  cumulative character dialogue can be summed up by bad cop tv and a jerry springer show . fitting  maybe  for a film like the hitcher  not a russia  set horror film . the result is that a potentially great setting and some potentially great gore scenes go to waste and become just silly  not scary or meaningful .  
i rented the film  i don  t think it got a theatrical release here  out expecting the worse . the previews made the film look awful . i was in fact very surprised  it was well worth watching it was loosely scripted  almost like an ensemble piece of film . it had some very funny moments in it and although flawed is an effective satire on the show and the people on the show without being too scathing . it is flawed  mainly by the awful soundtrack of bludgeoning  comedy  effects but on the whole it comes across as honest and generally true to form of the show in an altmanesque or larry sanders way .  br    br   at the moment it is the fashion to be critical of jerry springer  he is also an easy target . springer could have made citizen kane and it would be proclaimed  the worst film ever made  . i recommend this film for anybody interested in the show . a flawed but innovative and interesting piece of film .  
sorry this movie did not scare me it just annoyed me . it was just so frustrating when i saw the potential and that  all that  fell by the wayside . the children  the father  the premonition  had so much potential and ziltch  zero  nada  i have heard it all before . scary  no  i can scare myself alone  here where i sit  than they could in the movie . are there men writing that figure that women should be so annoying  huh  this movie was quite atmospheric . or at least it could have been  had the director  writer bothered to work it . we could have had some good music that would have added to the tension too  if someone had made the effort . what i really want to know is why do they get the money  just give it to me and save all that hassle . abandoned  . . . no we where betrayed  
an old saying goes  if you think you have problems  visit a hospital .  that has been updated in recent years to  if you think you have problems  watch a tv talk show . . . especially jerry springer  s   this movie is one of those that is so bad  it  s good  that  s why i gave it a seven  it  s all right  but not great . it  s a great way to waste   minutes  just as the daily talk show is advertised as  an hour of your life you  ll never get back   all the familiar themes are here . . . unfaithful husbands  boyfriends  the wildest audience on television  women flashing jerry  etc . the shocker was watching molly hagan  who normally plays sweet characters   seinfeld  and  herman  s head   playing a trailer  trash mom and jaime pressly   my name is earl   as her equally trashy daughter  performing sexual favors for virtually every man with whom they came in contact . the men  including the staff producer  were presented as quintessential lunkheads who deserved what they got . i don  t want to spoil or reveal everything but the movie plays like the daily show . here in phoenix  it  s shown back  to  back for two hours every morning and  after that  everything else seems to pale . again  i give this movie a seven . . . it  s good but not great . jerry springer is best taken in small one hour doses .  
there were some scary scenes  which i  ve always liked more than straight out gore  but otherwise this movie was rather weak . there were too many questions left unanswered  and when they tried to explain anything in the movie  it was still rather unclear . after watching this movie i still seemed lost in a lot of ways . it sort of reminded me of silent hill a few years back . that movie was also unsatisfying  but still better than this because it did try to work and the story did actually make sense . this one  not so much .  br    br   the acting for the most part in the abandoned was decent  but the movie dragged on an on  and never really gave any type of satisfying conclusion . like i said above  there were some creepy scenes  but otherwise  this movie was a mess . sorry  i can  t recommend it .  
i thought the movie was extremely funny and actually very interesting . it was raw and honest and felt as if i was really watching the  real people  not actors . it  s great entertainment  it also painted the people as human on our level not below us . it is a very good film .  
unless you are petrified of russian people or boars  this movie is a snorefest . actually  i fell asleep about   minutes in  had to fight the urge to just leave the theater . i wish i had . a waste of a perfectly lovely saturday evening .  br    br   even  silent hill  was scarier . heck  even  pan  s labyrinth  was scarier . i  m still unclear on what was supposed to be scary in this flick .  br    br   to begin with  i  m very leery of movies that use  pidgin russian  like this one did in the opening credits . it  s embarrassing to me since i brought a group of my russian friends  we all cringed . oh my god .  br    br   hmm . well  luckily for me   probably you  too  this movie has already escaped my brain  i just stepped out of it an hour ago . so i have no specifics  just murky visuals that go nowhere  some languishing  now  dead hope that anything would happen .  br    br   perhaps i saw a completely mutilated version of this film because i can  t believe it got such great reviews here  which is why i saw it   ended up being so completely devoid of not only horror or suspense but overall entertainment value as well .  br    br   i give it a  because  yes  i fell asleep  wanted to leave after   minutes but i woke up  didn  t leave .  
it  s highly stylized  but this movie shows that real people appear on these shows and what seems like good fun and a chance to appear on television can have serious consequences .  br    br   yes  i  s mostly comedy  but there are some sad moments .  
extremely dull drama starring a very young roddy mcdowall  who trains a wild horse  the flicka of the title  and is the only reason for watching the movie in the first place . coated in blaring  overbearing music and weighed down by schmaltzy dialogue  this is one of those interminable films that bores you to the point of a gnawing headache . the naffly  titled sequel   thunderhead  son of flicka   in which mcdowall trains the next generation of nag  is marginally better than the original but the pace remains slow and the score continues to pummel you into submission  although there are at least one or two scenes that don  t induce a coma .  
i can  t agree with any of the comments . first time i saw the film on a uk tv channel  it was presented as an indie film and if you take the film under this angle i think it  s an all different matter . i couldn  t believe what i was seeing and got hooked instantly . the plot may be as bad as a js  s show  ie there is no plot  but the acting is wicked  it  s hilarious and it  s all in all an incredible trash movie .  br    br   it says as much about america than a bully or a ken park without the drama perspective but it gives a glimpse on the us society  and more precisely on what afternoon tv viewers in america  and i believe there are plenty of them   are interested in . after all it  s the neighbours we  re talking about  don  t we   br    br       fun   
i have  words for you . sean bean . he is the only worthwhile presence in this film . but even so  don  t see this movie . even though he is good as the main villain  you don  t want to waste your time .  br    br   i didn  t care about the characters  except the little boy  and in fact  i didn  t really care if the star crossed lovers ended up together or died . the movie did not make me care or believe that these people cared about each other at all . i have read a lot of  classic  novels after seeing the movies and this movie made me not even want to read the book . the story seems so boring . but i may go ahead and read it to try to redeem the story in my head .  br    br   stay away from lorna doone . the actress who played lorna was also in sense and sensibility and she was much better in that . watch sharpe  horatio hornblower  a  e has great movies of novels like pride and prejudice . or miniseries like the forsyte saga . check them out  don  t bother with lorna doone .  
the film maybe goes a little far  but if you love the show it  s what you expect . it  s not a bad movie it  s actually pretty good . if you don  t like the show  don  t see the movie . it starts off a little slow maybe  but then picks up and turns out to be pretty funny . there are even a few  heart  wrenching  scenes toward the end . after all the protagonists have gone through these scences do get to you . also jerry throws in his opinion why his show upsets people and justifies his show  s existience . he  s got a pretty good point . we care so much about the private details of celebrities lives  so why is it wrong that these people tell their private lives on national tv  too . if they were celebrities we wouldn  t mind at all  we  d eat it up . do we not like his guest doing this just because they  re poor white trash and it reminds us that there really is poverty in this world and not just rich glamous movie stars living in a  leave it to beaver  world   
i first read  lorna doone  about   years ago and absolutely loved it  it is a classic historical romance set in the     s when the west country was several days  journey from london and law and order was much harder to enforce . sadly  this version of the book takes several liberties with the story and was incredibly disappointing in my opinion . the acting and production values are ok but the way the story was messed about with was dreadful . why do television adaptations do this  why would they think that the thousands of fans of a book would want them to change the story    one of life  s great mysteries    the bbc made an excellent version which was televised at christmas in the early     s which i am still trying to track down a copy of  take my advice  read the book and don  t bother with this paltry version   
i haven  t laughed that much in a long time  although the movie has some sad moments too  especially when it changes from hyper  funny to honest and serious . the characters are very realistic most of the times  sappy sometimes  but quite believable . i am not a fan of the jerry springer show  i feel sorry for the participating people . this film instead is a satire  and it is doing great .  br    br   too bad that all expletives were beeped out while this movie aired on public tv  that takes a lot of fun out of it . i will go rent this movie to fully enjoy it .  br    br    
i watched this film version of r . d . blackmore  s classic novel as a substitute until the     ae version was released on video . and what a poor substitution it proved to be      br    br   this version does not have the authentic  i  feel  like  i  m  there aspect of the ae movie . the actors are  for the most part  wooden  with sean bean the exception  and the  romance  seems forced and contrived . in fact  there is no kissing until the end of the movie     the triangle between john ridd  lorna doone  or lady lorna dugal  whichever you prefer  and the evil carver doone isn  t mentioned or expanded upon . we don  t get much insight into carver here  or as to why he has some  if any  romantic feelings for lorna . this movie cuts out many of the key and interesting characters of the novel  such as counsellor doone  and john  s sharp  tongued youngest sister lizzie which were crucial to the plot . the screenplay itself is lacking in conviction . the political intrigue also doesn  t figure in the script . the way lorna came into being with the doones isn  t true to the original story . now  don  t get me wrong  clive owen is a handsome and talented actor  watch gosford park and king arthur for confirmation  but he comes across as bland and stoic throughout  and long hair  it may have been a bad wig  just doesn  t suit him     polly walker is a lovely and accomplished actress  see enchanted april and patriot games  in which she also costarred with sean bean   but she appears colorless and lackluster . she has a cold sore on her lip that make  up can  t hide  and the costumes don  t seem authentic . the late robert stephens does a respectable turn as sir ensor doone  although he only refers to lorna as his favorite rather than his granddaughter  which she was reputed to be in the book . also  it seems to me that owen and walker are too old for their roles  maybe it  s the make  up  and the scenery is brown  cold  gray and barren  without so much of a hint of a sunny sky . i understand that it is set in southwest england  but it is green there and they do get their sunshine    the portrayal of tom faggus  character and his  death   which doesn  t happen in the novel  depresses the film even more . the one positive note is sean bean  s performance as carver . although it doesn  t even come close to matching aidan gillen  s portrayal in the ae movie  bean does make one mean villain . in short  watch this only if you  ve got a few hours to kill  but don  t expect anything exciting or for it to be true to the novel . see any other version  but i highly recommend ae  s film  over this tired adaptation .  
this show is awesome  and i  ve seen it about  times .  br    br   granted it may be lacking in educational content as some people like those sort of movies  but i think it  s great  very funny and excellently written   
very disappointing version of lorna doone . too many missing characters  no romantic scenes  changes in story line  too short  appeared low budget . hardly enough dialogue to understand the story if you  re not familiar with the novel . in some scenes it looks like lorna has a cold sore on her upper lip . i  m sure make  up did it  s best to hide it . i guess they didn  t want to halt filming until it healed up  pity . most likely why this movie lacked kissing scenes . only one disappointing kissing scene at the very end . lorna doone is a great epic tale and should be told true . the     version of lorna doone is twice as long  more romantic  much more enjoyable and more true to the book .  
  foxes  is one movie i remember for it  s portrayal of teenagers in the late      s . as i am exactly jodie foster  s age  i related to this movie . it deals with the frustrations  temptations  relationships  rebellion of youth . the soundtrack is great with inspiring rock eg .  more than a feeling  by boston and sad numbers like  on the radio  by donna summer . the music of my late teens . yep  i  ll always remember this one  even if it wasn  t huge .  
holy freaking god all  freaking  mighty . this movie was so bad  i thought i was on drugs . in a bad way . . . the character acting is the poorest thing i  ve seen in quite some time . this movie was more akin to lord of the g  strings  imho  it  s a real movie  . most of the movie appeared to be done on a horrible green screen . my favorite part was when they are in the carriage  and you can tell there  s no horse . they  re fleeing from alien monsters  and going about the same speed as a swift jog . then it switches to a far  shot with a ridiculous cg horse . and the cg in general seems to be sub  par to      s beyond the mind  s eye . i mean  come on  really . it felt like a horrible episode of hercules  only without kevin sorbo there to save the day . worst . movie . ever .  
this is the best of shelley duvall  s high  quality  faerie tale theatre  series . the ugly stepsisters are broadway  quality comedy relief  and eve arden is the personification of wicked stepmotherhood . jennifer beals does an excellent job as a straight cinderella  especially in the garden scene with matthew broderick  s prince charming . jean stapleton plays the fairy godmother well  although i  m not sure i liked the  southern lady  characterization with some of the lines . steve martin  s comedy relief as the royal orchestra conductor is quintessential martin  but a tiny bit misplaced in the show  s flow .  br    br   as is customary with the series  there are several wry comments thrown in for the older children  ages   and up  . with a couple of small bumps  the show flows well  and they live happily ever after . children up to age  will continue to watch it after the parents finally get tired of it   i found  times in one day to be a little too much .  
i have seen this movie at the cinema many years ago  and one thing surprised me so negatively that i could not see any redeeming virtues in the movies dennis quaid was cast as a policeman that never smiles or grin  while his smile and grin are two of his trademarks . danny glover was cast as the bad guy  but  again  most viewers  imagination could not go far enough as to believe him in that role . also  jared leto was not believable as the former medicine student . the tension was just not there  since the killer was known very early . the finale was  again  neither dramatic nor tense nobody around me cared about what was going to happen next . all we could wait for was the end of the movie . all in all  a disappointing evening spent at the cinema .  
here is one the entire family will enjoy . . . even those who consider themselves too old for fairy tales . shelley duvall outdid herself with this unique  imaginative take on nearly all of the popular fairy tales of childhood . the scripts offer new twists on the age  old fables we grew up on and they feature a handful of stars in each episode .  cinderella  is no exception to duvall  s standard and in my opinion it  s one of the top five of the series  highlighted by jennifer beals  remember her from  flashdance    and she  s still in hollywood today making a movie here and there  in the title role  jean stapleton as the fairy godmother with a southern accent and eve arden as the embodiment of wicked stepmotherhood . edie mcclurg   ferris bueller  s day off   and jane alden make for a hilarious duo as the stepsisters . matthew broderick is an affable prince henry . you  ll all keep coming back for this one   
sorry  not good .  br    br   it starts out interesting  but looses its way a few minutes into the movie .  br    br   it does not help a lot that none of the normally great actors  quaid  glover  ermey  leto etc .  delivers a really good performance .  br    br   it might be owed to the fact that i saw a dubbed version  german   but dennis quaid  s character was especially wooden and annoying  and danny glover does not really make for a believable villain . moreover  jared leto  s character does not really contribute to the story whatsoever  except saving one main character  s life at one point  but that scene is as necessary as a windshield wiper on a submarine in the first place     br    br   speaking of unnecessary scenes  the main complaint is really the tangled and clich  ridden storyline the detective  of course   has to settle a personal matter with the villain and is  of course   suspended from his official duties courtesy of his personal entanglement . the killer  of course   wants to be tracked down and plays a cat  and  mouse game with his opponent for years . . . i don  t know how many movies build on a similar plot  most of them better  however .  br    br   the plot has got holes galore and many completely unbelievable and unnecessary scenes that do not contribute to or work well with the storyline at all  e . g . the truck stop scene or the car at the cliff  s edge etc .   br    br   to top it off  the ending tries to be original and exciting  but fails completely in these regards . we  ve seen much better finales with a similar kind of ultimate  battle  on  a  train  in  a  forlorn  winter  landscape setup . . . in the end there is the supposedly moving reunion of parent and child . . . hokey  at the least .  
i am a big fan a faerie tale theatre and i  ve seen them all and this is one of the best  it  s funny  romantic  and a classic . i recommend this for all ages . it  s great for little kids because it  s well  cinderella and great for adults and teen because it  s funny and not over the top . i watched it when i was little and i still watch it now . it has great lines that my family and i quote all the time . the acting is great and it never gets old . if you like fairy tales and romances you will love this . i  ve watched many a cinderella movie in my time and this is the best of them all .  sorry disney  i highly recommend this movie and all the faerie tale theatre shows . they all appeal to all ages and are all unique and very entertaining .  
for me  this movie just seemed to fall on its face . the main problem for me was the casting of glover as a serial killer . i don  t know whether this grows out of type  casting or simply his demeanor  but i doubt glover could ever portray a convincing villain . he  s a good guy  and that  s always obvious in his performances . other than that the film is your run of the mill serial killer story . nothing very innovative .  
i have always been a huge james bond fanatic  i have seen almost all of the films except for die another day  and the world is not enough . the graphic  s for everything or nothing are breathtaking  the voice talents . . . . . . . . . wow  i love pierce brosnan  he is finally bond in a video game  he is bond  i enjoyed the past bond games goldeneye  the world is not enough  agent under fire  and nightfire . this one is definitely the best  finally  mr . brosnan   may i call him mr . brosnan as a sign of respect  yes i can   he was phenomenally exciting to hear in a video game . . . . . . . at long last  duh  i  ve seen him perform with robin williams  and let me tell you  they make a great team . pierce brosnan is funny  wickedly handsome  i mean to say wickedly in a good way   and just one of those actor  s who you would want to walk up to and wrap your arms around and hug  saying  pierce brosnan  thank you for being james bond    if it wasn  t for you  i wouldn  t know who james bond is .  he  s a great actor  i am a huge fan of willem dafoe even though i  ve seen him in a couple of movies . his role as nikolai diavalo was brilliant .  did i spell the character  s name right   lol     he does a great job with an accent . sometimes i can  t even hear an accent . i have seen willem  i mean mr . dafoe  perform in two movies finding nemo  and spider  man with my favorite actress kirsten dunst  she rocks  anyway  he never ceases to amaze . and richard kiel  wow  he  s definitely got the part of jaw  s nailed . i  ve seen him in the movie  s and he  s awesome  as a matter of fact  my grandparent  s have met mr . kiel  and i was jealous when they told me . but  kirsten dunst is at the top of my list of celebritie  s that i want to meet . john cleese was breathtaking . i have never seen a better person play as the wisecracking  and gadget creating q  mr . cleese was hilarious  i  ve seen him work with pierce brosnan in goldeneye and tommorow never dies . he  s awesome  john cleese  s most recent project is shrek  starring mike myer  s  cameron diaz  julie andrew  s and eddie murphy .  shrek  is now in theatre  s   good luck     oh  yeah  and as q alway  s says  grow up       
wonderful actors .  br    br   lousy script and not too great direction either . my main problem was i simply didn  t care about any of these people . not the killer not the victims . the settings were pretty drab . dennis quaid  s character was so poorly written in  i didn  t even care when the end came . he got his kid back . big deal  i wanted my money back .  
 warning  this post may contain spoilers   br    br   i only got a gamecube in september      and the first two games i bought were james bond games  the decent agent under fire and the dull goldeneye rogue agent . the next game i planned to get was everything or nothing  because my friend told me that it was better than the two games i already had . i have to say  he was right .  br    br   i bought this for a tenner in hmv  and when i got home  i slammed it in to my cube and played it for hours on end . it was much better than my other two games  and there was a much better and more interesting storyline . graphics were some of the best i have seen  but now that the xbox    has come out  farcry instincts predator has some of the best graphics known to man  . the storyline was clever mad man  willem dafoe  named as nikolai diavolo  and beautiful henchwoman  heidi klum  named as katya nadanova   try to destroy the world with tiny nanobots  which at the start of the game  you  james bond  have to destroy on a train . the bad thing is that one of them is hidden in katya  s boobs . you then have to thwart their plans and save the world .  br    br   the great thing about this game is that it actually has actors voicing the characters  such as cleese voicing q . there are   levels  some of them short and some of them pretty long and tricky .  br    br   gameplay       graphics      sound      replay value      multiplayer       br    br   i give this game a grand total of     
i like the cast pretty much however the story sort of unfolds rather slowly . danny glover does a good job making you wonder if he  s the bad guy . meanwhile  the other characters are just part of the story . dennis quaid didn  t have as much room in the story as he could have had . i thought the first scene was a bit over the top grim compared to how the story unfolded . i  d watch it again though . i rated it a   wish i could rate it a  .    
goldeneye will always go down as one of thee most legendary games in vg history . their is no doubt about that . but this game  although quite different  could quite possibly be the modern  day bond champ  of its time .  br    br   this was not a bond game based on material from another medium . this was a completely new scripted game . which even had its own theme song   wouldnt be bond without it  haha   gameplay was excellent  and if you  re a fan of the bond games or films alike  you  ll enjoy it .  br    br   unlike some  most games  these cast members portrayed their characters themselves  as opposed to fictional creations for the game . which gives it that more cinematic feel . with a very  bond   able storyline  you feel like you  re in the game as much as you get lost in a movie .  br    br   enjoyable in all aspects  from start to finish . even after beating the game there  s still plenty more to be done . with the ranking system and unlockables to be achieved  as well as its multi  player missions  this is a stand  out game . despite being quite old now  in video game years . it  s still a good game that you can pick up  play whenever you feel the need to get a little more bond in your life . even now just thinking about it  i  ve got the theme song stuck in my head . such a great cast and well  written storyline .  br    br   the story comes to life on the screen  almost as if the actors were their in front of you  and is every bit as entertaining as the game itself . superbly done  in true bond fashion . which can only be named awesome  completely awesome .  br    br   i  ve gotta go throw this game on now . if you haven  t played it yet  you  re missing out   
i didn  t mind the film that much  but it was incredibly dull and boring . a few laughs here and there but nothing to go crazy for .  br    br   you should give it a go if you like silly  stupid humour because this is the film for you .  
don  t get me wrong .  goldeneye  was revolutionary and is definitely the best fps game to be based on the    franchise . but the series had fallen into a fps rut . enter  everything or nothing   which puts bond in third  person . when i wrote my earlier review for  from russia with love   i had finished frwl and just started eon and judged eon a bit harshly . even though frwl definitely has the edge in nostalgia and capturing the essence of the movie franchise  eon definitely is superior in terms of in  depth controls and gameplay variety . missions range from standard running  and  gunning to driving an suv  driving an aston martin  driving a limousine that is wired to explode  commandeering two different types of tanks a la  goldeneye   riding a motorcycle  flying a helicopter  repelling down a shaft guarded by laser tripwires  and free falling after a plummeting damsel . sure  vehicle controls are a little clumsy  but the issue here is the variety .  br    br   as movie adaptations   goldeneye  and frwl were all that i could have hoped for . but eon  s original storyline adds to the feeling of controlling a james bond adventure . this is helped by the impressive cast list of willem defoe  shannon elizabeth  heidi klum  and misaki ito . judi dench and john cleese reprise their movie roles of m and q  respectively  and pierce brosnan  while no sean connery  adds credibility to the game  s proceedings . all characters resemble the stars  with the disappointing exception of heidi klum  who  s in  game model doesn  t do the real  life model justice . mya  s theme song is on par with at least some of the big screen bond title tunes .  br    br   the game also plays tribute to some of the older bond movies . willem defoe  s character is a former colleague of christopher walken  s baddie from  a view to a kill  . richard kiel appears as jaws  the hulking henchman from  the spy who loved me  and  moonraker  in three fight scenes  the first and best of which proceeds in the same fashion a fight in the movies would have .  br    br   single  player gameplay mainly consists of standard on  foot missions as bond . like bond  you will be able to choose whether to use stealth or go out with guns blazing . the game provides plenty of opportunities to utilize stealth  with plenty of wall and object cover . unfortunately  unlike frwl  only one button in eon controls both crouching and wall clinging  so bond may end up crouching low when he  s supposed to be peeking around a corner  and vice  versa . the game also allows players to go into  bond reflex  mode . while you browse your inventory  everything around you will go into super slo  mo  allowing you to analyze objects around you that can be interacted with . while this takes some getting used to  eventually this mode will allow you to perform many spectacular  bond moments   such as shooting down a chandelier to take out four goons underneath  and greatly add to the bond movie feeling .  br    br   there are  available difficulty levels operative  agent  and double oh . on operative  you can breeze through in a few hours . on agent  a few weeks . on double oh  a few months . the difficulty level can be changed for each individual mission . garnering high scores on missions will unlock gold and platinum awards and effect features such as vehicle upgrades and the skimpy outfits the bond girls wear . some missions can be extremely frustrating due to a scarcity of checkpoints  but when all is said and done  no mission is any longer than a single action scene in a bond movie .  br    br   multi  player  unfortunately  is not as thrilling .  goldeneye  still has the best multi  player mode of any bond game . eon  s main multi  player is a co  op campaign mode that puts players in charge of lesser mi  agents on a less important mission than bond  s . a more standard third  person death match can be unlocked from this mode . but the single  player mode is the most complete bond experience to date . the ending  as with most bond games  is anticlimactic . while the final mission is one of the most aggravating of the game  the final confrontation with the villain is disappointing . also  levels that require bond to be speedy become largely a matter of trial and error . still  for any serious bond fan  not playing this game is tantamount to missing one of the bond films .  
this may not be the worst comedy of all time  but it  s close . the producers of this movie stole an hour and a half of my life  and i want it back   br    br   chris kattan is funny for about   minutes . his high pitched voice and mad flailing start to get old  and then you realize that the rest of the movie is much worse . he falls into a long line of former snl  ers that have attempted movies . some have been brilliant  some have failed miserably . there  s not much middle ground in this category . although chris farley was brilliant  and then okay  and then not so funny  and then dead . . . so i suppose he hits the entire spectrum in one career .  br    br   avoid this movie like the plague .  br    br   c  
this is one of the best bond games i have ever played because  br    br   the missions are very very fun to play they have lots of action in them they can be really hard sometimes that makes it even more fun the weapons that you use are really good . the cars in this game are really good the driving missions are fun to do . this james bond game has a good story to it . the voice over actors in this game are really good and it is cool that pierce brosnan is in this game and the way the characters look is really good because they look like what they look like in real life which is really cool . also the graphics in this game pretty good .  br    br   overall score  out of   
chris kattan is a great sketch actor on saturday night live . . . but he should probably leave the movie industry alone unless he gets some sort of creative control . he plays an annoyingly peppy character who basically comes off as mildly retarded and on speed . wanna know the only funny parts  the stuff they showed in the previews . yes  his rendition of take on me is funny . nothing else is . especially when you can tell he  s trying very hard to be a physical comedian  which he shouldn  t have to try at because he is one . and yet  his  demolishing the vet  s office  bit comes off as cringingly bad . this movie made me develop an eye twitch . avoid it at all costs  and keep watching snl .  
this game is the bomb and this is the    game of the year and should be on greatest hits . when i got agent under fire  i thought that was a good game but then nightfire came around and that was better  but now there is a new type of james bond game . this time it a  rd person shooter and there is more than   missions  the graphics of the game are out of this house . it even has all of the great actors and actresses in this game like pierce bronsan as once again james bond  william dafoe as the villain nikolai diavolo  and judi dench as m  forgive me all if i spell it wrong  . this game would be own as the greatest james bond game around .  br    br   i give this a       
admittedly  i didn  t have high expectations of  corky romano .  but then again  who did  however  i felt it deserved the benefit of the doubt . i had no high hopes of  joe dirt  either   another recent comedy starring an snl cast member   and i ended up being pleasantly surprised . but this film is just as bad as it looks in the previews . chris kattan is actually a talented comic actor   contrary to what you might think after watching this movie   with great energy . he  s been in many hilarious snl skits  and i think he  s one of the most talented cast members on snl as of now . in this case  he  s given a lame  pointless script and he tries to remedy each scene with his incessant mugging . throughout each scene  he attempts a lame jerry lewis act and fails miserably . jerry lewis knew how to pull off this type of physical comedy  not to mention he worked with much better writing . kattan simply looks like some ignorant fool with adhd who had one too many cafe lattes . he doesn  t even wait for the punchline he assumes we  ll all laugh once he starts jumping around like an ape on crack . in one scene  he ends up in a tugging match with a dog who has a package of cocaine in his mouth . the package explodes and the cocaine splashes all over him . he comes back to the job  strung out on coke . now  how are we supposed to laugh at the fact that he  s acting hyper and on  edge  when he  s doing the same thing throughout the whole film   br    br   as for the rest of the cast members . . . vanessa shaw is really hot  peter berg is wasted in a thankless role and so is chris penn . peter falk is also wasted  though he has a few funny lines that i  m pretty sure he improvised . i hope falk gets a decent movie someday soon . that  s too much talent too waste on a clunker like  corky romano .  i didn  t like falk  s last movie  made  all that much either  but at least he had a decent role .  br    br   i chuckled a few times  but i could not get a single laugh . each gag is performed with no sense of timing or delivery . and it  s made worse by kattan  s hammy acting . and there are certain gags that are streneously dragged out . for example  when kattan is about to fart in his two brothers  faces . he stands there for  or  minutes  trying to get out a fart and when he finally he does it  s a little tiny one . it  s bad enough when you have a gag that  s funny and drag it out  but when you have a lame gag and you drag it out it  s a hell of a lot worse . and another example of this is when he tries to translate what those two asian men are saying during a drug bust . i can go on and on about what  s wrong with this so  called comedy  but i  m not gonna waste my time . like i said earlier  if you predicted bad things from the trailers   you predicted right .  br    br   my score   out of     
i am a huge fan of say anything  jerry maguire  and almost famous  i wasn  t that big on singles   so it  s safe to say that i look forward to anything that cameron crowe attaches his name to . i went to see vanilla sky having been told that it was a very weird movie and that i probably wouldn  t like it if i was expecting anything similar to crowe  s other films . well  having just seen it  let me say that the former was correct  and the latter couldn  t have been more wrong . it is a very weird movie  and nothing really comes together until the end . anyone who tells you that they saw it coming halfway into the movie is either lying to you or is unable to detach their hindsight from their memory . anyway  the movie was stellar  and i look forward to owning it as soon as the dvd is released . i was moved by the film  and felt emotionally spent by the end . this is an experience that will draw from the viewer the entire spectrum of human emotion  if the viewer allows him  herself into the plot . in the theatre in which i saw the movie  there were more than a few people who clearly lost track of the movie and were bored by it when they found that they were unable to get back into the plot . i  m sure others just lack the ability to properly follow any movie like this . i don  t mean that to sound pompous  but some people are more cut out for the seagal  chan  van damme genre of movies  and these are the types that probably would not enjoy this movie . it is very cerebral  so make sure you are prepared for a two hour mental bender  as well as much thought afterwards .  br    br   as far as comparing this film to other crowe movies  it is very similar in at least one regard  in all crowe movies  the soundtrack is a character unto itself . this is almost definitely due to crowe  s longstanding ties to music  as anyone who has seen almost famous knows  and to his marriage to heart star nancy wilson . it was also worthy to note that there was a definite chemistry between tom cruise  s acting and crowe  s directing that made the movie seem familiar to anyone who has seen jerry maguire . in my mind  that is not a bad thing .  br    br   anyway  if i had to compare this movie to any one other film  i would say this if you enjoyed david fincher  s the game  you will almost certainly be a fan of vanilla sky .  
please save your money and go see something else . this movie was such piece of crap . i didnt want to go  but i had to so i thought i  d laugh at least once  nope . not a single laugh  it was that horrible  chris kattan will never get a good comedy role after this and  a night at the roxbury .  this movie is completely obvious  has no smart humor at all  and just repeats itself over and over again . listen to me  and stray as far away from this movie as you possibly can   
  foxes  is a great film . the four young actresses jodie foster  cherie currie  marilyn kagan and kandice stroh are wonderful . the song  on the radio  by donna summer is lovely . a great film .   
i  m not really sure how to even begin to describe how bad this movie is . i like bad films  as they are often the most entertaining . i love bad special effects  bad acting  bad music  and inept direction . with the exception of the music  which was better than i had expected   this movie had all of those qualities .  br    br   the special effects were amazingly bad . the worst i  ve seen since my nintendo   . some scenes to watch for include the thunderchild  the woman being crushed by the mechanical foot  the big ben scene  the train wreck . . . wow  there are so many bad effects  on the plus side  though  some scenes of the alien walkers are well done .  br    br   the acting was about as bad as it could possibly have been  having been based directly on h . g . wells  book . for having such good source material  it  s almost as though the actors were trying to be so over  the  top as to make it funny . and then there  s the mustache . . . the single most distracting piece of facial hair i  ve seen in a long time . of course  only half the movie contains acting . the rest is characters walking around aimlessly and poorly rendered effects shots .  br    br   to say that timothy hines is an inept director would be an injustice to inept directors . with the use of different colored filters between shots for no particular reason  the use of poorly rendered backgrounds for even inside scenes  the bad green screening  it  s amazing to me how this man ever got approval to direct a movie . i wouldn  t imagine it would be possible to turn a brilliant book into this bad a movie . bravo  mr . hines . bravo .  br    br   my advice to anyone who plans to see this movie is to do what i did have some friends who enjoy bad movies over  drink  play poker while watching it  keep drinking  and maybe you  ll make it all the way through . it does make for an excellent bad movie  so have fun and laugh yourself silly with this disaster .  
i think a lot of people just wrote this off as another one of tom cruise  s weird movies  magnolia  eyes wide shut  but vanilla sky is definitely its own movie . many people said it was weird it wasn  t . it was different and confusing but not weird . weird is stanley kubrick or pauly shore . different is the truman show . confusing is the matrix or the game . and unlike kubrick  this movie has a conclusion . everything makes sense   maybe not immediately  maybe not even today  but it will make sense . vanilla sky is confusing because david aames  tom cruise  is confused . that  s the point . that  s where the so  called  weirdness  that turned critics away came in . if they had bothered to  open their eyes  as the original     spanish movie  they would have seen that . and if that  s not enough reason to see it  go see it for the music . cameron crowe offers a wonderful soundtrack he uses it to set the  feel    that notorious element that many movies lack . with songs like the beach boys   good vibrations  playing at the dramatic and emotional climax of the movie  he creates an offbeat  yet astoundingly  right  feel . a wonderful film  in its script  music  acting  and images  vanilla sky is sadly  a superficial bandwagon movie that critics chide in order to appear intelligent . excellent a  
corky romano has to be one of the most jaw dropping and horrific  comedy  s  ever made .  br    br   while the sometimes amusing chris kattan who pulled off a very funny performance in the hilarious  undercover brother  his character in corky is so stupid and so unfunny  which is a shame since the premise is a wonderful idea . to bad they ran out of them when they got to page  on the script .  
comparable to fight club  the matrix  a . i .  sixth sense  among others . this film approaches the psyche in a way never done before . the first   minutes builds a interesting love story between diaz  cruise  cruz . the rest of the movie is  well  confusing  you  ll pick more every time you watch it  i  ve gone to the movies to see it  times now   
spoilers spoilers from its very opening credits this fantastic movie sets the record straight it  s an instant classic . it doesn  t take long to realize that this movie is big  bigger than kindergarten cop  or police academy  .  the sheer greatness of it left me speechless as i walked out of the movie theater and proceeded right back to the ticket counter to purchase myself another dozen of tickets .  br    br   this is a movie that simply requires multiple viewings . the first watching will surely leave you with that strange huh   feeling  but don  t feel embarrassed  it happens to the best of us . the story is so diabolically clever that one has to wonder about the mortality of its authors . what seems to be a simple story of an idiot infiltrating the fbi  turns out to be an allegorical story that works on several levels and teaches us all about the really important things in life . the complexity of the plot structure will baffle you on your first viewing  but don  t give up  not until my sixth or seventh viewing did i only begin to unravel some of the hidden mysteries of corky romano .  and watch out for the unexpected twist at the end  otherwise you might be caught completely off guard when it is revealed that fbi agent brick davis is fbi  s most  wanted criminal  corky is not a real fbi agent  pops romano is innocent  peter romano admits he  s illiterate and paulie romano comes out of the closet as a homosexual . surprised the hell out of me  i can tell you that much .  br    br   chris kattan  s comedic talents are unmatched as he leads his character corky romano through a maze of totally unpredictable situations . reminiscent of john reynolds  performance in manos  the hands of fate   kattan takes on innumerable multiple personalities and tackles all scenes with perfect comedic timing . however  kattan is not just about comedy . he is a master of drama as well  as he controls the audience  s feelings with the slightest moves of his face . his facial expressions reflect life itself  in a way . for example  in the scene in which he farts into his brothers  faces  you can see the expression of social injustice and alienation clearly reflected on his anguished face . at a moment like that  it  s hard to find a dry eye in the house .  br    br   screenwriters david garret and jason ward are the real heroes of corky romano .  with a story of such proportions  it  s easy to understand why two experienced writers had to be employed to complete this ambitious project . their skillful storytelling and unorthodox structuring makes pulp fiction  look like a mediocre saturday night live skit . garret and ward  s story is so compelling and alluring that it grips you by your hair  swallows you entirely  shakes you around and spits you right out . at the end of the out  of  this  world experience known as corky romano  you find yourself a different person with different worldviews and different ideas  and with only one question on your mind  br    br   why  god  why     
note these comments are for people who have seen the movie .  br    br   vanilla sky is a brilliant  complex  and thrilling movie that existentially explores exactly what the tag  line says lovehatedreamslifeworkplayfriends . maybe the movie plot can come into focus for confused movie  goers if one looks at it from a different angle .  br    br   considering the following  br    br   now  i have not painstakingly gone through the film scene by scene  so i will have to further examine my assertions   and i welcome your thoughts  but give this a try and see if the movie doesn  t fall into place where exactly does the debatable  splice  occur   br    br   now  i  m not talking about the splice as it is explained by the l . e .  technician   since that sequence itself could be actually interpreted as a rationalization inside of david aames  s mind  dream  coma state  but the true splice between reality and dream .  br    br   it seems to me that the reality of the car crash  the way that it is filmed  no explosion  for example  is a likely  splice  point  and that any particular sequence containing an existential  dream  coma  non  reality feel to it   whether it  s shown onscreen before or after the crash   is actually a part of aames  personal journey toward self  realization inside of his own mind .  br    br   in that respect  then  we are left with two questions at the very end  if you know of more  let me know   is aames actually disfigured  and where does he wake up   br    br   if you don  t get entirely wrapped up in the exact sequence of details in the plot  or at what particular point his dreams are scattered throughout  this movie becomes a fascinating exploration of a human on a journey to find himself and what that means in today  s pop  culture society .  br    br    
direction must be the problem here . i recently heard john cleese speaking of working a skit for fawlty towers . he was supposed to attack his car with a branch . the first branch was too flimsy and not funny . the second branch was too stiff to be funny . the third was just flimsy enough to be funny . this sort of attention to detail is missing from  corky romano  . no matter how embarrassingly unfunny a comic bit was  it wasn  t fixed  and wasn  t left on the cutting room floor . the one value i can find in this movie is as a study of a very flawed movie which somehow escaped into distribution without being repaired .  br    br   i  ve scanned dozens of other reviews here . the number of reviews praising this absolute waste of time bolsters my suspicion that some people are getting paid to promote titles . i can  t fathom how anyone over the age of  could rate this title more than a   max . i mean  come on   is average . i can  t imagine anyone  even those making money off of this  rating it even as much as average .  br    br   this makes my list of the   worst movies of all time . and  hey  i actually like the three stooges and can even tolerate ed wood   
it does seem like this film is polarizing us . you either love it or hate it . i loved it .  br    br   i agree with the comment  s  that said  you just gotta  feel  this one .  br    br   also  early in the film  tom cruise shows his girlfriend a painting done by monet   an impressionist painter . monet  s style is to paint in little dabs so up close the painting looks like a mess  but from a distance  you can tell what the subject is . cruise mentions that the painting has a  vanilla sky  . i believe this is a hint to the moviegoer . this movie is like that impressionist painting . it  s impressionist filmmaking  and it  s no coincidence that the title of the movie refers to that painting .  br    br   this is not your typical linear plot . it requires more thought . there is symbolism and there are scenes that jump around and no  you  re not always going to be sure what  s going on . but at the end  all is explained .  br    br   you will need to concentrate on this movie but i think people are making the mistake of concentrating way too hard on it . after it ends is when you should think about it . if you try to figure it out as it  s unfolding  you will overwhelm yourself . just let it happen . . .  go  with it . . . keep an open mind . remember what you see and save the analysis for later .  br    br   i found all the performances top notch and thought it to be tremendously unique  wildly creative  and spellbinding .  br    br   but i will not critize the intelligence of those of you who didn  t enjoy it . it appeals to a certain taste . if you like existential  psychedelic  philosophical  thought  provoking  challenging  spiritual movies  then see it . if you prefer something a little lighter  then skip it .  br    br   but if you do like what i described  then you will surely enjoy it .  
i vowed a long time ago to never  ever watch a movie that has anyone who ever was a regular cast member of  saturday night live  . i didn  t rent  corky romano  but i was forced by my unfailing good manners to watch it for half an hour . then my good manners failed . stupid  not funny . tedious  not hilarious . bad  not good . that in a nutshell is all i can say for this video .  
made me think about it for days after seeing it . that to me is the mark of a great movie . eyes wide shut had the same effect on me . i am tired of these people requiring these happy hollywood cookie  cutter endings . i am planning on going to see it again tonight to understand the plot a little better  but regardless  the emotional messages of the movie were totally felt .  
i did not watch the entire movie . i could not watch the entire movie . i stopped the dvd after watching for half an hour and i suggest anyone thinking of watching themselves it stop themselves before taking the disc out of the case .  br    br   i like mafia movies both tragic and comic but corky romano can only be described as a tragic attempt at a mafia comedy .  br    br   the problem is corky romano simply tries too hard to get the audience to laugh  the plot seems to be an excuse for moving chris kattan  corky  from one scene to another . corky himself is completely overplayed and lacks subtlety or credulity  all his strange mannerisms come across as contrived  chris kattan is clearly  acting  rather than taking a role  it bounces you right out of the story . each scene is utterly predictable  the  comedic event  that will occur on the set is obvious as soon as each scene is introduced . in comedies such as mr . bean the disasters caused by the title character are funny because you can empathise with the characters motivations and initial event and the situation the character ends up in is not telegraphed . corky however gives the feeling that he is deliberately screwing up in a desperate attempt to draw a laugh from the audience .  br    br   if chris had not played such an alien character  who never really connects with the other characters in the movie  and whose behaviour is entirely inexplicable  except for trying to draw laughs  and the comedy scenes weren  t so predictable and stereotyped  all the jokes seemed far too familiar  this movie could have been watchable . but it isn  t . don  t watch it .  
warning does contain spoilers .  br    br   open your eyes  br    br   if you have not seen this film and plan on doing so  just stop reading here and take my word for it . you have to see this film . i have seen it four times so far and i still haven  t made up my mind as to what exactly happened in the film . that is all i am going to say because if you have not seen this film  then stop reading right now .  br    br   if you are still reading then i am going to pose some questions to you and maybe if anyone has any answers you can email me and let me know what you think .  br    br   i remember my grade   english teacher quite well . his name was mr . krisak . to me  he was wise beyond his years and he always had this circuitous way of teaching you things that perhaps you weren  t all too keen on . if we didn  t like shakespeare  then he turned the story into a modern day romance with modern day language so we could understand it . our class room was never a room  it was a cottage and we were on the lake reading a book at our own leisure time . this was his own indelible way of branding something into our sponge  like minds .  br    br   i begin this review of vanilla sky with a description of this brilliant man because he once gave us an assignment that has been firmly etched in my mind  like the phone number of a long lost best friend  and it finally made some sense to me after watching the matrix . now if i didn  t know better  i would have thought that the wachowski brothers were really just an alias for my teacher mr . krisak . but giving them the benefit of the doubt  we  ll assume it wasn  t him . but that was the first time this assignment was anything more than impalpable .  br    br   he had asked us to prove to him and to ourselves that were real . show me how you can tell that you are real . this got the class spouting off all of the usual ideas that i  m sure you can imagine . everything from pain  to sense of touch to sense of loss to sense of hunger were spouted off to our teacher to prove to him that we were real . after every scenario that we gave him  he would come back with the one answer that would leave us speechless .  br    br    what if you are nothing but someone else  s dream    br    br   what if you were someone else  s dream  what a messed up question that is . this was a question  scenario posed to us about   years ago  before the astronomical use of the internet and rapid advancement of computers . how possible could it seem back then  but if you look at today  s technology  now ask yourself  what it you were a part of someone else  s dream .  br    br   another brilliant but surreal film this year  david lynch  s mulholland drive explored similar areas . but vanilla sky goes deeper than any other film could hope to . in short this is one film that will literally  if you let it  blow your mind from all of the possibilities that surround you .  br    br   open your eyes .  br    br   tom cruise plays david aames  a young  hot shot  righteous  full of himself publisher and owner of several magazines . he inherited this from his father and although he has talent and business savvy  his board of governers  the seven dwarfs  think he is a rich dink born with a silver spoon in his mouth . they feel he has done nothing to deserve the pinnacle of success that each and every one of them believes should go to them .  br    br   early in the film we meet one of david  s gorgeous toys named julie gianni  played with pernicious but bombastic perfection by cameron diaz . david and julie play a good game  both claiming they are just there to use each other and are not the slightest bit interested in a monogamous  committed relationship . this is the type of relationship commensurate with david  s other flings he  s had in the sexual prime of his life . and although both talk a good game  we can tell that only one is really telling the truth .  br    br   next we meet brian shelby  played with a stroke of genius by kevin smith  s good buddy jason lee . brian is writing a book that david is going to publish but they are also very good friends . this is something that david has very little of in his life and you can sense a real caring for one another early on in the film . brian has one famous line that he keeps telling david over and over again . and that is  the sweet ain  t so sweet without the bitter .  he goes on to tell him that one day he will find true love and not just this part time lover status that he seems to perpetrate with all of the floozies who inhabit his bed for a night or two .  br    br   at david  s huge birthday bash   so huge that the likes of steven spielberg wish him a happy birthday  brian enters with his date  sofia sorrano  played of course by penelope cruz with what has to be the best performance of this year by an actress . this is a bash by invite only and at first david and sofia seem intrigued with one another . and in typical david fashion  despite his best friend being there  he begins to flirt with sofia . to complicate things  julie shows up uninvited and begins spying on david . david then spends the night with sofia  but they only talk and draw caricatures of one another . there is no hanky panky . the next day  as david is leaving sofia  s apartment  he is greeted by julie  who offers him a ride and from there . . . . . . . well  i think we have all seen the commercials .  br    br   that is all i will really say about the plot  because from here the film teases us with what is reality and what is blurred perception . we are introduced to a character played by kurt russel and a few other shady characters that all play a part in this labyrinth like haze . there is a subtext of death and possible panacea  like cure  alls that may or not be able to create the possibility of eternal life . this is just one of the intriguing possibilities the movie offers us  but it doesn  t end there .  br    br   like many movies seem to thrive on today  this film has a secret . sixth sense may have began this craze  but look even further back and you can maybe thank angel heart for starting the craze . regardless of how it originated  vanilla sky has one of it  s own surreptitious gut busters . and what makes this one so much fun is that the film gives you many obvious clues along the way but not enough to give you an apodictic solution to the gauntlet of truth and lies you have just put yourself through . i have seen this film four times and every time it has been because i want to see if there is something more i can pick up  something more i can understand . to be able to work your mind in the theater  to enable it to open up to new possibilities is something rare in a film . all of the ersatz so called  best pictures of the year  have been good but nothing spectacular . they lack substance . a beautiful mind was intriguing but flat  the royal tenenbaums was interesting but uneven . vanilla sky is a rarity because it is a film that leaves you yearning for more yet guarantees your satisfaction because the film and those that made it care about it . i know this film has received mixed reviews but i just think that those who don  t like it don  t quite understand it .  br    br   this is what film making is supposed to be like . this is what a film is supposed to do to you . it is supposed to make you feel something . most of the other films this year have been just empty spaces . this one isn  t .  br    br     out of   the best film of the year . i would love to see this get nominated for best picture and i would love to see cruz up for best actress  diaz for best supporting  cruise for best actor and jason mewes should be a shoe in for best supporting actor . cameron crowe should there as well . none of this may come to pass  and that is a shame . this is one film that should not be missed .  br    br   and on a final note  i am quite sure mr . krisak would like this film and maybe this is the one film that may answer his question . can you prove you are real  or are we just a figment of someone  s imagination  are we artificially transplanted for someone else  s bemusement  this is a film that spawns more questions than it does answers . and i  m sure that is just fine with him .  br    br   open your eyes  
i could only get through about   mins of it . not one laugh in the   minutes i gave it  one of the most painful films i  ve ever had to endure . chris kattan is so nervous on screen that it made me nervous to watch him . just a horrible movie .  
this movie is another on the list that i did not want to see . i was talked into it and dragged into the theater  but boy am i glad for that . i thought it was going to be just another love story  but it turns out to be sooo much more than that . definatly an intellectual flick  one of those movies you have to pay attention to .  
wow . some movies just leave me speechless . this was undeniably one of those movies . when i left the theatre  not a single word came to my mouth . all i had was an incredible urge to slam my head against the theatre wall to help me forget about the last hour and a half . unfortunately  it didn  t work . honestly  this movie has nothing to recommend . the humor was at the first grade level  at best  the acting was overly silly  and the plot was astronomically far  fetched . i hearby pledge never to see an other movie starring chris kattan or any other cast  member of snl .  
david aames is a rich good  looking guy who lives in new york city . when his  sleeping partner  julie gianni gets very jealous after david falls for spanish beauty sofia  she gets david into her car and tells him that he  s the only guy she loves and wants to be with  but seeing as he  s in love with sofia  she decides to commit suicide with david in the car with her  by driving off a bridge . david survives the crash  but is left with a disfigured face . he is then charged with the murder of julie . the thing is  david doesn  t know what  s real and what  s not as he keeps having these strange dreams  most of which are actually nightmares .  and flashbacks  some of which just don  t make sense to him . everything will soon come back to him though as he  s begins to find out the truth .  br    br   well  there  s an all star cast here  including tom cruise  penlope cruz  cameron diaz  kurt russell  jason lee and noah taylor who all give good performances in the movie . in the movie they all put off different things about there characters  like happiness  sadness  angry  etc . really well . there  s also a cameo in the movie from the brilliant  steven spielberg .  br    br   vanilla sky is a well made  different  interesting and original movie which will leave you talking about it a lot after it  s finished . it  s not just a thriller  but it  s a real psychological thriller . the trailer for the movie is really good  but the movie is so different from what it might be made out to be . it  s been directed very well and there were a couple of really great scenes here too . all in all  an enjoyable movie which should be really be paid attention too . they are sure making a lot of  are they dead  if not who is dead  movies recently .  
why is this film so bad  well  if being so stupidly annoying and unfunny is a reason  then this film is it . the character of corky romano is unlikable at best and downright infuriating at worst . the gags are predictable but that isn  t what makes it bad . they are the lame sort of predictable jokes that your unfunny friend would say .  br    br   corky romano is about a mild mannered vet that tries to do right but is so clumsy . his quiet life is thrown for a loop when the family that once spurned him now needs him to infiltrate the fbi to destroy any trace of the family  s crime history . however  it isn  t that easy for corky because the fbi believes him to be a super agent and pegs him with the duty of spying on his very own family . mishaps and mayhem ensue but it really doesn  t feel like any comic hijixn are there . corky ends up in love with his beautiful fbi partner and has to set the record straight with both the fbi and his family if he is to settle down to the quiet life again .  br    br   i think what makes this film irritating is both the lead actor and the supposed jokes . chris kattan reveals his alarming limitations as and actor here as his one note slapstick routine falls flat about   minutes into the film . it is okay to have a full movie based solely off of dumb  slap stick humor . will ferrel  kattan  s snl partner  seems to have made a full career out of it . the only difference between kattan and ferrel is that ferrel knows when to tone it down and rely on other ways of telling a joke . there is absolutely no diversity in kattan  s routine . it  s hard to hear the same joke twice  but for a whole movie that is just pure torture .  br    br   the other problem with the movie was the lack of truly original and funny jokes . the gay mafia brother  the awkward guy sch  tick  and plenty of other forgettable jokes appear none as funny as the first time you barely laughed at it . it seems as if the screenwriters had more of a fun time writing this than any one had watching it . even with a cast that has some comedic talent  chris penn  peter falk  the jokes that commence are tired . there is no chemistry too . this film was obviously one for the pocketbooks for the actors . no body seemed to care about it  or even try . sad thing is  no body told chris kattan that .  
as the one  line summary says  two movies have left such a remark on me when i walked out of the theater . the one was  stir of echoes  with kevin bacon  and the second was  vanilla sky  .  br    br   its one of those movies that you sit deep in the theater seat and stop thinking about anyone around you  stop wondering what the end of the movie will be and just leave the movie swift you where it wants . . . walking out of the cinema was a bit weird  like that feeling you get when you are sick and cant think of anything . one of those movies that you become one with the guy  and feel that nothing else moves around you than the things in the movie .  br    br   one thing is certain . the actors are awesome  the sound track is excellent  and everything in the movie is   .  br    br   surely one of the best movies i ever saw  and the movie that made the best and most shocking awaking about my life and my purpose in this world .  
probably the only thing that got the movie up to a four for me is the fact that i love peter falk . one of the world  s great portrayers of bumbling incompetence . . . and yet he is one of the only anchors that prevents this from being a chaotic disaster . as pops romano  he provides a respectable mix of gangster charm and straight man to chris kattan  s manic foolishness . respectable performances are also offered by richard roundtree as the harried boss  vinessa shaw as a talented female fbi agent bouncing her head off a glass ceiling and fred ward as falk  s advisor and benedict arnold .  br    br   the plot concept actually has some wonderful possibilities and  in the hands of a young steve martin or chevy chase  could have proved a great comedic vehicle . kattan  who seems to idolize ernest or pee wee herman  just provides a muddled mess . sadly  peter berg and chris penn  who portray his misfit brothers  both fall far short of their proven capability .  br    br   there are some very funny scenes  but they are far too few and separated by way too many boring ones . what i truly miss here is what always attracted me to the leslie neilsen movies . there is no  second level  of wit riding over the slapstick . no cultural references that only the adults get . . no double entendre . . it is just silly .  br    br   and  by the way  this doesn  t all mean that i am recommending it for your   year  old  because hopefully they have better taste and less fascination with some of their body parts and their functions .  
this film was just absolutly brilliant . it actually made me think . during the whole movie i was confused as hell . i loved everything about it . . . it was just so confusing and so twisted and weird  it was hard not to love it . all of the actors were phenominal  and no one could have done a better job . . . this is one of my favorites of the year . . . it deserves an ocar .  
the script for this tv soap opera is so bad that even a . hopkins at some point had to play like an undergrad drama  student so as to bring some life in his script  dead character . i do not know whether this was the purpose of the director  but hopkins  ciano reeked nothing but vanity  fear and lack of self  esteem . the real ciano possibly was all that but then  why make a movie about him  mussolini was a bit more convincing  and his long way down was as if closer to the truth . edda mussolini was plain ridiculous  not because of sarandon  but because of the impotent script   while she had to be the central character of this alleged familial drama . watch it only if you enjoy venezuelan soap opera .  
as i reach the  backside  of   i find myself shaking my head more and more at the sex crazed  drug influenced teens of today . it was great to be reminded that it was just as crazy for me back in my day as it is for teens today . this film drives that point home to the core . if you are a late    s fan you  ll love the film . from kiss  posters to an angel concert this movie rocks   br    br   watch for a young laura dern . why they didn  t have more songs from the runaways i  ll never know   br    br   i did have a problem with randy quaid  s character deflowering a   year old girl . while he was away she and her friends have a party that destroys dude  s house . the cops come and everything but no mention of all the underage drinking and how these kids got their hands on this stuff .  br    br   foxes belongs right there with over the edge  fast times  dazed  confused  and kids as one of the all time teen angst flicks .  br    br   i say buy it and watch it with your kids and talk about it all .  
save the   .   you  ll spend at walmart to buy this dvd and go see the real film by steven spielberg .  br    br   i  m a filmmaker  and being an avid fan of h . g . wells  i had to buy this hoping to sit down and watch three hours of good entertainment . instead  it took four days to finish watching this because i couldn  t stand watching more than   minutes at a time . it  s horrible .  br    br   there are reports that timothy hines had a    million budget for this production . where the heck did it go  did he use most of it to buy a new house  finance his retirement  or what  let me start with what is actually good about this film . it does stay true to the book and there are a few good performances in it . i can respect the actors who obviously tried to make this a good film . but good performances were quickly overshadowed by horrible . . . and i do mean horrible special effects . any freshman film school student could have done a much better job with the cgi . to me  most of it looked like  stop action  card board cutouts that were used rather than sophisticated cgi software that a    million project should be using .  br    br   there  s no excuse for the amateur post production that was applied to this film . my own partner and i sat down and recreated our version of the ferry scene using software that cost less than      .   and within a day had five minutes of scene that looked better and more realistic than what hines created . i  ve seen films with budgets of less than   million look better . much better .  br    br   in my opinion the special effects used in the original king kong were more sophisticated and better than hines  special effects in this film . in fact  i have a much better appreciation for attack of the killer tomatoes because of this film . there  s no excuse with today  s technology for a film to look like a    s b  movie unless that was the intention  which shouldn  t have been with this particular project .  br    br   a problem i had with the dvd transfer was that the film is jerky  another demonstration of amateur film  making .  br    br   overall  i have to say that i produced a        project in     that have better cinematography and special effects than this film .  br    br   i strongly encourage anyone who appreciates good film  making or who is a fan of wotw to leave this film on the shelf and watch attack of the   foot woman instead . it would be easier on the eyes .  
i went to see vanilla sky with a huge  huge  huge   . . tom cruise fan  my extremely cynical brother and my girlfriend . . . what can i say . . i was totally blown away by the movie and especially tc  s performance  i thought it was a very moving film and it was not at all what i was expecting .  br    br   i had read the reviews and had decided not to go and see it  i am so pleased that i was  coerced  into seeing it . the strange thing is i cannot say why  all i can say is that i found it totally involving and could not stop thinking about it the next day . as to what i felt about the film  all i can say about is  its not the storyline  fantasy  psychodrama  whatever  its about the people and the events that shape their life and how small events  like getting into a car can change everything . . . . . .  br    br   as to what the critics wrote  yes maybe the original was a stunning  nd film for alejandro amenbar  but this was a totally different interpretation of the subject  and by no means a narcissistic remake for the benefit of tom cruise and penelope cruz .  br    br   i cannot even consider writing a couple of trite  glib sentences to describe the film just go and see it      br    br   yes i know this isn  t a balanced thoughtful review but so what . it  s not that kind of film .  
in so paulo  the upper middle class teenagers cristiano  chico and gabriel have just joined the university and on the eve of the opening class  they go to a party with drugs and booze . on the next day  after their classes  the date of cristiano in the previous night comes to his house and the three friends rape the girl . the girl dies  they panic and decide to get rid off the body  but cristiano  s mother arrives  startles with gabriel and rolls the staircase  breaking her neck . the trio decides to dump and burn the corpses in a garbage landfill  but along the night other tragedies happen .  br    br   the polemic and shameful  cama de gato  is an overrated pretentious crap about alienation of the youth  and is certainly the worst brazilian movie that i have seen along many years . the shallow  tragic and dark story is actually a black humor comedy of bad taste . the screenplay is not funny  with stupid lines and dialogs  and boring  manipulative and silly footages with interviews with morons teenagers in the beginning and in the end . the acting is terrible  apparently with many improvisations  but no talent  and i was disappointed with presence of the promising caio blat in this trash . the camera  framing  cinematography and edition are amateurish and of very low quality . the sound is awful and in many parts it is impossible to understand what the actors and actresses are speaking  probably it is a plus  since this flick sucks  . the gang bang is very realistic and used to promote this mediocre movie in a very poor marketing of sex  exploitation . my vote is one  awful  .  br    br   title  brazil    cama de gato    bed of the cat    
despite excellent trailers for vanilla sky  i was expecting to be disappointed by the film because i  d heard that it did not get great reviews . however  i left the cinema completely in awe of how good vanilla sky is .  br    br   there was no bad acting at all in the whole film  every single character is believable . the romantic moments between cruise  s character  david aames and cruz  s character  sophia are tear  jerkingly realistic and intimate  probably due to the fact that they were a soon  to  be real  life couple  .  br    br   the plot of vanilla sky will confuse you in the last third of the film and there  s very little chance of you guessing the ending . however  ends are tied up towards the end  leaving you with a strange mixture of feelings consisting of sadness  shock and empathy for david aames .  br    br   the film is intellectual and you have to pay attention throughout . this isn  t that hard because chances are that you  ll be completely drawn in to the film and won  t take your eyes off the screen for one second .  br    br   i usually leave cinemas forgetting all about the film i just watch . but vanilla sky is still lingering in my mind days after watching it . i recommend it to anyone who wants a change from simple  shallow films .  
though i  d heard that  cama de gato  was the worst brazilian movie of the decade  i watched it giving it a chance after all  first  time director  producer  writer alexandre stockler managed to make his debut feature  shot in video  for just us      and   though it looks even cheaper   i can  t begin to imagine all he went through to finally get it exhibited in theaters with no big sponsors or production companies behind it  then as i watched it i realized why  . but whatever chances you  re ready to give to  cama de gato   they shrink to zero within   minutes it  s an unbelievably preposterous  verbose  ideologically fanatical and technically catastrophic attempt to portray brazilian upper  middle class youth as a bunch of spoiled neo  nazis hooked on bad sex  drugs and violence  and they  re made to look like closeted gays too   made with no visible trace of talent  imagination  expertise or notion of structure . visually and aurally  it recalls the worst amateur stuff you can find on youtube   only here it lasts ninety two  count  em  minutes of unrelenting hysteria and clumsiness  and it  s not even funny  bad .  br    br   we  ve all seen the story before bored young guys want to have fun  go partying  take drugs and everything goes wrong   there  s gang  rape  spanking  murder  the accidental death  falling down the staircase    of the mother of one of the boys  culminating with the boys deciding to burn the corpses of the girl and the mother in a garbage landfill . moral and literal garbage  get it  the film is heavily influenced by larry clark  especially  kids  and  bully    but clark  s films   though also moralist and sexploitative   are high  class masterworks compared to this crap .  br    br   i don  t think there was ever such monomaniacal drive in a filmmaker to stick his ideas down the audience  s throat stockler grabs us by the collar and tries to force his non  stop moralist rant into our brains by repetition and exhaustion   you do get numb  minded with so much babbling  yelling  inept direction  shaky camera and terrible acting going on . stockler doesn  t care a bit about technique  the quality of the images  framing  sound recording  soundtrack songs  dialog  sets  editing  etc is uniformly appalling   but he  s a narcissistic control  freak he anticipates the criticisms he  s bound to get by adding subtitles with smartie  cutie comments  and by making the protagonists comment at one point how far  fetched and phony it all is  i could relate to that  .  br    br   despite his megalomaniac ambitions  stockler seems incapable of giving us a minimum of visual or narrative structure   he can  t even decide if he wants gritty realism  hand  held video camera etc  or stylization  repetition of scenes  use of alternate takes  etc  . damn  he can  t even decide where to put his camera  there  s use of subjective camera for the three leads   the dialog features some of the most stupefyingly banal verbosity ever the plot exists simply to justify the director  s profound hatred for his characters and what they stand for . all you see is a filmmaker being hateful  preachy  condemning  moralizing without the benefit of a minimum of talent  or technique  to go with it .  br    br   it  s very disappointing to find caio blat in this mess . certainly one of the most promising young film actors in brazil  with his sleepy  eyed puppy dog looks and emotional edge that often recall sal mineo  s  blat can be highly effective under good direction  as in  carandiru    lavoura arcaica    proibido proibir   . here  he  s told to go over the top and he has to play with some of the most embarrassingly under  equipped  actors  in recent memory . he also enters the risky realm of graphic sexploitation scenes  so goddawful they look rather like web  cam porn  .  br    br   the film opens and ends with real interviews with  typical     middle  class youth   stockler wants us to take those interviews as  proof  of what he  s trying to preach in fiction . but he blatantly despises and makes fun of his interviewees  selecting a highlight of abject  racist  sexist  stupid statements  which only shows assholes exist everywhere  . stockler wants to prove that brazilian middle  class youths are all present or future fascists because they  re middle  class and enjoy recreational drugs  is he saying all neo  fascists are on drugs   or that drugs potentialize fascist behavior   i couldn  t tell  .  br    br   with its dogmatic self  righteousness  headache  inducing technique and mind  bending boredom   cama de gato  is bad for a      reasons but  above all  it  s harmful in a very insidious manner it gives detractors of brazilian cinema a powerful case of argument .  cama de gato  is best unwatched  unmentioned  buried and forgotten .  
i really liked this movie . i  ve read a few of the other comments  and although i pity those who did not understand it  i do agree with some of the criticisms . which  in a strange way  makes me like this movie all the more . i accept that they have got a pretty cast to remake an intelligent movie for the general public  yet it has so many levels and is still great to watch . i also love the movies  such as this one  which provoke so many debates  theories  possible endings and hidden subtext . congratulations mr . crowe  definitely in my top ten .  br    br   p . s . saw this when it first came out whilst i was backpacking in mexico  it was late at night and i had to get back to my hotel and i had a major paranoia trip  where does the dream end and the real begin   
this show seemed to be kinda good . kyra sedgwick is an ok actress and i like police series  but somewhere in the production this program went awfully wrong .  br    br   first of all  the writers should have more suspects than one  you know who did it every time      that makes it boring . the main character is unbelievably annoying and its not believable in any way . i know they wanted her to be tough  but shes mean  stupid and a bad chief . the crimes are uninteresting and bland  and its just lame all the way . as stated above  i hate it . . . .  br    br   all in all  this was a big disappointment and very bad indeed . . .  
strangely  this version of open your eyes is more mature and more nuanced . aided by hindsight  crowe  s screenplay is a lot tighter and more fleshed out than amenabar  s original . the spanish filmmaker should get credit for thinking of the story first  but there  s no doubt that crowe has improved on it   if just slightly . notice that you have no idea what the lead did in open your eyes  but you know almost everything about the lead in vanilla sky . that  s what i mean by more  fleshed out .   
my husband and i were intrigued by the spectacle  a strong willed southern lady with a messy personal life solves crimes for the lapd . the first season was must  see tv for us . unfortunately  the stories of her personal life in the second season became so tedious and unworthy of the strong character that we stopped watching .  br    br   my husband and i were troubled by the episode where she tries to hide from her mother the fact that she is shacked up . but the deal breaker was the episode where she hides her possible pregnancy from her boyfriend but tells her boss . why would a strong  middle aged woman do those things  the answer is she wouldn  t . additionally  my husband and i pick out the bad guy with almost perfect accuracy . it is almost always a white male or female introduced in cameo at the murder scene or in an idealized family . can  t the script writers do something original from time to time  as i mentioned  we are no longer viewers . we prefer shows that don  t betray the characters and insult our intelligence .  
this is one of those movies that  s difficult to review without giving away the plot . suffice to say there are weird things and unexpected twists going on  beyond the initial superficial  tom cruise screws around with multiple women  plot .  br    br   the quality cast elevate this movie above the norm  and all the cast are well suited to their parts cruise as the irritatingly smug playboy who has it all  and then loses it all  diaz as the attractive but slightly deranged jilted lover  cruz as the exotic new girl on the scene and russell as the fatherly psychologist . the story involves elements of romance  morality  murder  mystery  suspense and sci  fi and is generally an entertaining trip .  br    br   i should add that the photography is also uniformly excellent and the insertion of various visual metaphors is beautiful once you realize what  s going on .  br    br   if you enjoy well  acted movies with twists and suspense  and are prepared to accept a slightly fantastic philip k dick style resolution  then this is a must  see .  br    br        
this program didn  t do it for me  although i  m a fan of the genre . the major factor that disappointed me was that there was not a single scene which was not dominated by the main character . this made it a bit two  dimensional and i gave up before the program was over .  br    br   i was hoping to leave my critique there as i  m no movie critic  however  the guidelines on imdb state that you must put in   lines of commentary . it did remind me of hudson hawk in the way the main character is in every single scene  and i would hope that the writers of this program could employ some more diversity to engage with the viewers . i don  t doubt the talent of any of the cast and crew  it  s just that after watching things like  the wire   i  ve come to expect great things from cop drama .  
after reading some quite negative views for this movie  i was not sure whether i should fork out some money to rent it . however  it was a pleasant surprise . i haven  t seen the original movie  but if its better than this  i  d be in heaven .  br    br   tom cruise gives a strong performance as the seemingly unstable david  convincing me that he is more than a smile on legs  for only the third time in his career  the other examples were magnolia and born on the fourth of july  . penelope cruz is slightly lightweight but fills the demands for her role  as does diaz . the only disappointment is the slightly bland kurt russell . in the movie  however  it is not the acting that really impresses  its the filmmaking .  br    br   cameron crowe excels in the director  s role  providing himself with a welcome change of pace from his usual schtick . the increasing insanity of the movie is perfectly executed by crowe  the brief sequence where cruise walks through an empty time square is incredibly effective  . the soundtrack  a distinguishing feature of a crowe movie  is also sublime .  br    br   you will be shocked and challenged as a viewer . the plot does seem a little contrived but the issues explored behind it are endlessly discussable . the movie isn  t perfect  but its a welcome change of pace for cruise and crowe and for those raised on a diet of hollywood gloss  should be a revelation .  
to be honest i knew what to expect before i watched this film  and i  ve got to say it has the worst acting i  ve ever seen . it does have its moments  and on a comedy level its very entertaining  but i  m afraid its not scary  and stupidity is taken to a new level . there  s a lot of unnecessary gore  and the plot is all over the place . i have no idea why the aliens were evil  and why they even came to this remote part of wales   i mean who  d go there anyway   but i didn  t care at that point  because i was amused by the costumes  and the bad cgi . as far as b  movies go  this deserves the title of  being so bad  its good   and kudos to the film  makers  because they probably knew what they were doing . long may these films continue . . . . .  
i really can say i felt the movie in its right essence where the mind games from dreamy reality enter into the surreal aspect of future faced by tom cruise . i didn  t cared much about tom cruise  s acting prowess but i must say that he seems to impress at every point in the movie . . . not simply due to an engaging storyline but also due to his self being imparted to the lead character . . . . they merge and then speak and its beautiful . however i must say this movie doesn  t come under the  average flick of weekend  which you pick at random and watch gleefully it carries strong sentiments and characters so don  t wash this one down with your beer and pop  corns . it certainly needs more than that .  
evil aliens owes a huge debt to peter jacksons early films bad taste and braindead . i must confess to never enjoying those films particularly and i say the same about this . jake west is a director who clearly lacks inspiration of his own and chooses to steal from those whom he looks up to . i lost count of the amount of times a major hollywood film was quoted most notably james camerons aliens . the amount of blood and gore on show here isn  t funny either  the latter end of the film becomes tired and dragged out . maybe it would have worked better as a short film . the actors a poor  the direction is weak and the plot is non existent . i can see what the director was trying to do  the homage he was trying to pay  but others have done the same thing a lot better than presented here .      
this movie consists of such great emotion especially with its outstanding soundtrack that coincides with the film . tom cruise is one of my favorite actors because of his enthusiasm to make films and to entertain . this movie was not the best the first time i watched it  but after about  more times i decided that this is one of the best films that i have ever seen . it takes place in new york  and progresses on through his lifestyle . he discovers a delimma in his life with his girlfriend  diaz  . he goes through a state of depression and then an outgoing blend of imagination . this film was beyond my expectations  and is one of cruise  s best films ever   
largely dense road movie with some comic relief provided by the excellent john cleese  although he is really sending up his performance in fawlty towers  . seems to flip from over the top slapstick to slushy sentimentality at the drop of a hat  and the worst part of the film is that martin and hawn have to  find themselves   who they are  etc . see it at your peril .  
i  m from romania i  ll try to speak in english . all i want to say about this movie is that it is and will be my all time number one . seen it above   times at least and will see it for many years now . it has all the little things i like in a movie  it  s very touching makes me cry . shows a whole lot of twisted love things and questions about love and reality  and the true things that matter for different people . it so happens that for me this matters the most  the love  the soul of a man  he  s inner being  and this i see in this movie . perhaps for me it  s much more than a motion picture  it  s a proof in my mind that it could really exist and that you most make the best out of every moment you live with your soul mate . it  s a long way from reality to sci  fi  but . . what if . what if all the capitalism disappeared and economy would go down  would fall  we would all be concerned about other issues and my thought is that  on your death bed  the bigger thing you remember  is not the wealth  not the adventure  not the countries you visited and the people that remember you . but the true friends and your true love and the hope that after you die  all will be god damn perfect and people would be good and care more . watch this movie and probably it will guide you through your life like it did to me   hail from romania  
when i saw previews of this movie i thought that it may be dumb  but it will at least be funny . well i was wrong . even though somewhere deep down the producers had an interesting message to convey about parents being left alone and re  evaluating their life  the way they tried to deliver that message was horrible . the first fifty times something silly happened to the couple was relatively funny . but by the end  i could almost predict what stupid mishap is going to happen next .  br    br   throughout the movie i like a total of maybe five lines of dialogue and everything else was at best mediocre  which is still more than i can say for the movie itself .  
  the sweet is never as sweet without the sour .  this quote was essentially the theme for the movie in my opinion . tom cruise plays a young man who was handed everything in his life . he takes things for granted and it comes around full swing in this great movie with a superb twist . this film will keep you engaged in the plot and unable to pause it to take a bathroom break .  br    br   its a movie that really makes you step back and look at your life and how you live it . you cannot really appreciate the better things in life  the sweet   like love  until you have experienced the bad  the sour  . the theme will really get you to  open your eyes  .  br    br   only complaint is that the movie gets very twisted at points and is hard to really understand . i think the end is perfect though . i recommend you watch it and see for yourself .  
it  s terrific when a funny movie doesn  t make smile you . what a pity   this film is very boring and so long . it  s simply painfull . the story is staggering without goal and no fun .  br    br   you feel better when it  s finished .  
although i was born in the year that this movie came out and had never heard of it until my junior year of high school       when i saw it i became totally engrossed laughing and crying and feeling along with the characters because me and my friends were them .  br    br   their hair  clothes and speech were outdated but the emotions and the desperation of each situation were so familiar  i remember thinking how real it was and how i wished that they would make movies like that still .  br    br   in fact i saw this movie the night after i had been at a crazy party  not so unlike the one in jay  s house  which had been crashed by what we considered the loser derelicts who hung out on the fringes of our crowd . a world class bs  er and  responsible  mother figure type i identified immediately with jeanie  i was also the one with a car  although i had a little bit of madge  s insecurities floating around in there too . my best friend was a deidre and her good friend from childhood was our annie .  br    br   watching the scene when jeanie is in school or the one where her and her boyfriend break up and then she is telling madge how much she loved him felt like conversations and situations i had personally had .  br    br   now at the age of   i recently saw the movie again and felt a surge of emotions because it was like watching back a piece of my own youth  though none of my friends died  . i think this is a must see for all girls   and up .  
finally i thought someone is going to do justice to h . g . wells  s classic  not another version set in the wrong locale or era  but one based firmly on the book . well it definitely follows the book pretty closely  and that is the only plus to this mess .  br    br   this is    min  s  yes  hours  long  the book is only around    pages .  br    br   if timothy hines had the nerve to come on here and say  if you can do any better . . .  i would say  yes  i could  and i have never used a video camera or been to any sort or drama school in my life .  br    br   i paid good money to get this crap over to the uk from the usa  do not make the same mistake as me .  
this film is one of tom cruise  s finest films . he captures the audiences imaginations with his role of david aames . his character can relate to us all in some way . the story line is very clever and keeps the audience on edge throughout the whole film . i never really watched cruise movies that much before but after seeing this it shows me his true talent . my favourite part in the movie is the end where it all comes to a big conclusion and he find out the truth . if you have not seen this yet you definitely should give it a try . it  s one of those films that once you  ve started watching it you just got to see it until the end or it will keep you thinking and you will regret it . my opinion is you should just go buy it and take a risk thats what i did and it became one of my favourite films of all time . it  s a      i promise once you watch it  it will stick with you and you will like it forever .  
we all know what  s like when we have a bad day at the office  right  well  this neil simon comedy looks at what it  s like when you have the worst of all days just trying to get to the office . sometimes  it  s just not worth going  know what i mean  and  sometimes  it  s just not worth doing something when it  s already been done before  in      with jack lemmon and sandy dennis . . . and much better also .  br    br   it  s not that steve martin is a lousy comedian or wrong for the role as the harried and stressed advertising exec quite to the contrary  on both counts . and  it  s not that goldie hawn is equally inept either her work has been consistently good  if not great  ever since i first saw her in tv  s rowan and martin  s laugh  in of the     s .  br    br   the problem with this movie is that it  s not about the hapless couple at all it  s really about new york and why everybody should come to new york to live and love their lives away in married bliss  sort of  in the greatest city in the world . that  s if you  re a new yorker . . .  br    br   look  the     movie is still an excellent comedy that realistically explored all the things that can go wrong when you take a trip somewhere  and included most of the situations and sight gags that you can imagine about what can happen to you in a strange environment . this     version unfortunately goes off into gratuitous tangents specifically for an audience these days that expects or wants to see excess . for example  not content with the star appeal of the main players  there is a cameo  relatively long also  from rudy giuliani  then mayor of new york  as we all know . what  giuliani bucking for president even then  worse  a walking talking advertisement for the kinder face of new york .  br    br   and then we have john cleese  reprising his role as basil fawlty  but this time  as a prancing cross  dresser also  once again browbeating hotel staff  sycophantically sucking up to rich customers and generally making himself look like the idiot he is  in this role . and  in the process  doing great damage to the memory of fawlty towers  arguably the best british comedy series  bar none . . .  br    br   why was this     movie made  in the     s  new york was a dying city  in many ways . it was almost literally bankrupt . so  when made in      that was the city you saw grim  dark  moody  unsettling and not the place that the harassed couple finally chose for their new life together in the big smoke  as it was then  polluted and all  . by      things had gotten better glitz was back  new york was thriving  it was the big apple  ready for you to bite into  if you had the moxie . . .  br    br   so  naturally  the couple in this second coming find that moxie within themselves and finally join the fabulous fray to continue the american dream of life  liberty and the pursuit of happiness . hence  this movie is truly comic but not for reasons that the producers perhaps envisaged . as much as i like steve martin and goldie hawn in comedy  this movie is a travesty of the much better one made with the great jack lemmon . if you  ve seen the latter  then definitely don  t bother with this one .  
i could not agree more with the quote  this is one of the best films ever made .  if you think vanilla sky is simply a  re  make   you could not be more wrong . there is tremendous depth in this film visually  musically  and emotionally .  br    br   visually  because the film is soft and delicate at times  early scenes with sofia  and at other times powerful and intense  times square  post  climactic scenes  .  br    br   the music and sounds tie into this movie so perfectly . without the music  the story is only half told . nancy wilson created an emotional  yet eclectic  score for the film which could not be more suitable for such a dream  like theme  although never released  i was able to get my hands on the original score for about    . if you look hard  you may be able to find a copy yourself  . crowe  s other musical selections  such as the beach boys  josh rouse  spiritualized  sigur ros  the monkees  etcetera etcetera  are also perfect fits for the film  crowe has an ear for great music  .  br    br   more importantly  the emotional themes in this film  i . e . love  sadness  regret  are very powerful  and are amplified tenfold by the visual and musical experience  as well as the ingenious dialogue i admit  the elevator scene brings tears to my eyes time and time again .  br    br   the best part of this film however  as if it could get any better  is that it is so intelligently crafted such that each time you see the film  you will catch something new   so watch closely  and be prepared to think  sure  a theme becomes obvious after the first or second watch  but there is always more to the story than you think .  br    br   this is easily cameron crowe  s best work  and altogether a work of brilliance . much of my film  making and musical inspiration comes from this work alone . it has honestly touched my life  as true art has a tendency of doing . it continually surprises me that there are many people that cannot appreciate this film for what it is  i guess to understand true art is an art itself  .  br    br   bottom line vanilla sky is in a league of its own .  
someone should tell goldie hawn that her career as a teen  age gamin ended thirty years ago .  br    br   this is one of the worst films released in years  an unequivocal disaster in which the two leads give themselves over to a frenetic exposition of their trademark tics in an effort to make up for a bad script and bad directing . this thing should have been smothered at birth .  br    br   i hope john cleese got paid a lot for having his name attached to this disaster . he is the only performer who came through this stinking mess more or less unscathed  his only fault being a failure to realize that the rest of the cast would sink the picture .  
  vanilla sky  was a wonderfully thought out movie . or rather   abre los ojos  was well thought out . i watched that movie late one night  excited about what was to come . i wasn  t disappointed . by the end of the movie  i was awstruck . i couldn  t get it off my mind . the whole idea of it just blew me away . the ending  was more of a surprise than shyamalan could ever do . the plot line was also something that kept me interesting through and through . the cast  superb . it was an all around wonderful movie . the kind of movie you can watch again and again and always find something new . i  ve seen it four or five times and i  m always finding something new . it  s a movie to keep you interested forever .  
this film so not funny  such a waste of great stars  who seem to be caught up so in their own stardom that they forget . only shining moments belong to john cleese as the hotel manager who likes to dress up  you almost fall out of your chair with helpless laughter when he dances to donna summer  s  bad girls  while wearing high heels  a mink coat and a dainty hat . the rest forget it   
vanilla sky is a     remake of the     movie abre los ojos  open your eyes  . and in my opinion  a much more human and emotional version . tom cruise plays david aames  a selfish egomaniac who takes other people  s emotions for granted  and thinks only of himself . jason lee plays brian shelby  david  s best  and in many ways  only friend . penelope cruz plays sofia serrano  brian  s girlfriend whom accompanies him to david  s birthday party . cameron diaz plays julie gianni  david  s occasional bed buddy . kurt russell plays dr . curtis mccabe  a psychologist interviewing david . all of their interactions  and the consequences of them  make vanilla sky one of the most emotional  and complex thrillers ever made . i won  t explain anymore of the plot  because it  s far more compelling  the less you know . ignore all people that call this film too confusing to follow . if you pay attention  you won  t be confused . the film is very complex  but not confusing . and in my opinion  one of the best movies ever made .  
one would think  as i did   that with steve martin  goldie hawn  and john cleese  a movie should be  at the very least  decent . these stars  especially martin and cleese  have produced some of the funniest works of comedy of all time .  br    br   well  apparently i was grossly mistaken   this is single  handedly one of the worst movies i have ever seen . it boggles my mind how one joke after the other can be so profoundly unfunny . it pained me to watch these talented actors execute one of the most positively lame scripts i have had the misfortune to come across . based solely on the big names  i remained hopeful for a long time through the duration of the film  but it consistently failed to provide any entertainment whatsoever .  br    br   normally  both with movies and in life  i try to stay away from biased comments and broad generalizations . but with this film  it  s hard not to let loose . i can count on one hand  perhaps even two or three fingers  major hollywood productions that left me more bitter than this . this is easily one of the worst comedies ever made .  br    br   i tried to enjoy this    i really did . but the out  of  towners ultimately fails miserably . if you really want time  efficient entertainment  just take your money and watch it swirl as you flush it down the toilet . just please don  t watch this movie .  
how strange the human mind is this center of activity wherein perceptions of reality are formed and stored  and in which one  s view of the world hinges on the finely tuned functioning of the brain  this most delicate and intricate processor of all things sensory . and how much do we really know of it  s inner  workings  of it  s depth or capacity  what is it in the mind that allows us to discern between reality and a dream  or can we  perhaps our sense of reality is no more than an impression of what we actually see  like looking at a painting by monet  in which the vanilla sky of his vision becomes our reality . it  s a concept visited by filmmaker cameron crowe in his highly imaginative and consciousness  altering film  vanilla sky   starring tom cruise and penelope cruz . at the age of thirty  three  david aames  cruise  inherits a publishing empire left to him by his father . his fifty  one percent controlling interest  however  has made him something of a marked man  as there are seven members of his board of directors  and each deems himself more worthy than the young mr . aames of the lion  s share of the company . and fueling the fires of discontent is their perception that david lacks the focus the job requires .  br    br   admittedly  david likes to play still  he  s in control of the business and does what he sees fit  whether the board  he refers to them as the seven dwarfs   likes it or not  and no one has ever had the courage to challenge him directly . but during a lavish birthday party in his honor  one of the corporate lawyers  thomas tipp  timothy spall  warns david that the seven are up to something behind his back . at the time  however  it  s the last thing on david  s mind he  s been having a casual affair with a friend  julie gianni  cameron diaz   but even that moves to the back burner when he meets a woman at his party that he can  t get out of his mind . her name is sofia  penelope cruz   and after knowing her for only one night  she becomes a pivotal part of his life   which is about to be turned upside down  as on the morning after his party he makes a decision that will change his life forever . and he is about to learn that sometimes  there is simply no going back .  br    br   director cameron crowe has crafted and delivered much more than just another film with this one far more than a movie  vanilla sky  is a vision realized . beginning with the first images that appear on screen  he presents a visually stunning experience that is both viscerally and cerebrally affecting . it  s a mind  twisting mystery that will swallow you up and sweep you away emotionally  it  s a rush   and it may leave you exhausted  because it requires some effort to stay with it . but it  s worth it . think memento  with a driving rock n  roll soundtrack and a vibrant assault of colors proffered by the stroke of an impressionist  s brush . there  s darkness and light  and sounds that pound and drive until you can feel the blood rushing through your veins and throbbing in your brain . and all played out on a landscape of virtual reality swirling beneath that ever expanding vanilla sky . simply put  this one  s a real trip it  s exciting   and it  s a mind bender .  br    br   as to the performances here  those who can  t get past the mind  set of tom cruise as maverick in top gun   or his ethan hunt in mission impossible   or those who perceive him only as a movie star  rather than an actor  are going to have to think again in light of his work here . because as david aames  cruise gives the best performance of his career  one that should check any doubts as to his ability as an actor at the door . he  s made some interesting career choices the past few years  with films like magnolia  and eyes wide shut  merely warm  ups for the very real and complex character he creates here . and give him credit  too  for taking on a role that dispels any sense of vanity this is cruise as you  ve never seen him before . jerry maguire  earned him an oscar nomination  and this one should  also   as well as the admiration and acclaim of his peers . cruise is not just good in this movie  he is remarkable .  br    br   penelope cruz turns in an outstanding  if not exceptional performance  as well  as sofia  the woman of david  s dreams . there  s an alluring innocence she brings to this role that works well for her character and makes her forthcoming and accessible  yet she lacks any hint of mystery that may have added that special something extra  to the part . but crowe knows how to get the best out of his actors  and he certainly did with cruz .  br    br   he also knew what he was doing with cameron diaz  who is absolutely vibrant in the role of julie . she  s never looked better  and fairly sizzles on screen . but make no mistake  this is no window  dressing  part  and diaz delivers a complete package with this character . the quality of her performance can be measured  in fact  in the impact she makes with rather limited screen time . and it  s the persona she integrates so fully with her innate beauty that makes julie so unforgettable . overall  a terrific job by diaz .  br    br   the supporting cast includes kurt russell  dr . mccabe   jason lee  brian   johnny galecki  peter   armand schultz  dr . pomerantz   noah taylor  ed   mel thompson  l . e .  man   jean carol  woman in new york  and john fedevich  silent ed  . about half  way through  this one may have you questioning your own sense of reality but rest assured  by the end of vanilla sky  all will be revealed . it  s a reality  bender  to be sure  and a wild one but this is exciting entertainment that offers a satisfying   and unique   experience  one you have to see to believe . it  s the essential  and absolute  magic of the movies .      .  br    br    
within   minutes  my whole family was rooting for goldie hawn  s character to die  or at least for steve martin  s character to leave her . at   minutes  we turned it off . there are only a couple of movies a year we try that turn out so annoying that we can  t even stomach it long enough for the story to get established .  br    br   normally i like both steve martin and goldie hawn  and i remember enjoying the neil simon original . so i blame marc lawrence and sam weisman . combine the director of  whats the worst that can happen  and the writer of  miss congeniality    and i guess this is what we end up with .  
i had heard some not too good things about this movie and had probably seen the low score here at imdb and that  s why i had avoided it . today they showed vanilla sky on tv and as i had nothing better to do . . . and as it turned out  i would have had a hard time finding anything better to do . vanilla sky is a frightening  sad and touching movie  actually one of the best i  ve seen in a while . i was surprised by how i was affected watching it . it  s hard to explain  but during the movie your feelings towards the characters and your perception of what is going on changes and it  s quite an emotional journey . vanilla sky really touched me in a way that is very rare for a movie  or any media for that matter .  br    br   i really recommend everyone to watch this movie . regardless of what you have heard about it .  
granted  this seems like a good idea . steve martin  goldie hawn  and john cleese in a neil simon comedy . where can you go wrong  watch the movie  and you  ll find out .  br    br   in truth  martin  the lead  is mis  cast . he  s not doing the great slapstick he  s known for  from movies like  the jerk   but instead plays a sort of in  between character that doesn  t work . hawn  with no one to play off of  is terrible . cleese is the only even partially funny member .  br    br   to top it off  the plot is pretty stupid . i can  t say how much of it may have been changed  but the characters seem to lack the slightest bit of common sense . they blunder through new york  not doing anything right  and unfortuneatly  nothing funny . not only is the whole premise completely unbelievable  it seems to give the message that people who don  t live in new york aren  t very bright  a theme repeated throughout the movie .  br    br   in summation  instead of seeing this  go rent the original  odd couple  again .  
i for one really like this movie for some reasons i  ll go into late but i want to touch on why i think people don  t like it . first off  there are people out there who just like to hate tom cruise . i don  t understand it really . second  cameron crowe i think successfully pes off two groups of movie  goers with this film . the casual  relaxed   not looking to think too hard  group of movie  goers are left confused when the plot takes a complete    at the end of the movie . and the deep  philosophical  mystery  fans are devastated when crowe has one of his characters completely explain the mystery .  br    br   this is a good movie . and tom cruise does a very good job in it . i think it  s probably his best performance from what i  ve seen all though i haven  t seen all of his movies  or even a majority of them probably . the supporting cast is good as well . penelope cruz gives a solid performance and jason lee was enjoyable .  br    br   i like the story  and i think that  s what vanilla sky is more than anything . it  s a mystery  an adventure  and a romantic comedy  but it  s mostly just a good story . and it has a lot of philosophical undertones to it  and many similar ideas and stories like this occur in historical philosophy . david aames  cruise  is the man that had everything he wanted  more or less lost it  was given a second chance with a catch to regain it all back  and in the end facing his demons and the full scope of what is happening  chooses reality  simplicity  and normality to see if he can finally find the one thing he could never get a grip on happiness .  br    br   many people were disappointed that crowe laid out the complete mystery at the end . i think it  s necessary . the audience then knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that david is aware of his circumstances and it makes the choice at the end all the more powerful .  br    br   and the music in the movie is great . it  s probably what makes the movie as enjoyable as it is . particularly   njosnavelin  by sigur ros  which is an amazing song .  br    br   all in all  i  d give it  out  stars . it  s a movie with some substance for those who like to think things through  and a great story for those looking to relax . that  moderate  approach is probably why people dislike it so much because it isn  t a full blown mystery  or a full blown love story . it mixes and matches different elements and genres .  
in an apparent attempt to avoid remaking the original movie an excellent cast that should have made this inherently funny  classic neil simon material better than the original failed on every level .  br    br   the chemistry between goldie hawn and steve martin that was magic in housesitter  was nonexistent in this effort .  
i really enjoyed this film because i have a tremendous interest in american history . . . the antebellum years and the civil war in particular . i purchased it recently from a rack of previously  viewed videos on sale at the supermarket and i was very glad to add this one to my history video collection . though not of the caliber of civil war films such as  glory  or  gettysburg   provides a lot of history on the pre  civil war brotherhood among cadets at west point .  br    br   maybe it  s the gray uniforms  the youth  or the military discipline  but i am fascinated by the story of the corps of cadets from around     to the brink of the war . i imagine what it must have been like to sit in a classroom with other young men  learning how to make war  then later putting the lessons to use against your own classmates   br    br   actually  there were two classes graduated in      one class in may  the other in june . the movie makes no real mention of this  except to mention henry a . dupont  first graduate of the may class and george custer  last grad of the june class . the reason for the two classes was not so much about the war  but it was the result of switching back to a four  year course of study  after a few years of experimenting with a five  year course  i think the first class had attended five years  the other for four  . as the movie portrays  cadets were like brothers and often had nicknames for each other . . . george  fanny  or  autie  custer alonzo  lon  cushing james  beauty  stuart  for j . e . b . stuart  class of       etc .  br    br   i say this film is  santa fe trail  as it should have been because that     film  while enjoyable  really fudges history . cadets from several different classes are all graduating together . jeb stuart and george custer are portrayed as the best of friends and are side  by  side in stopping john brown  s     insurrection at harper  s ferry . in fact  stuart and custer were never friends  but enemies during the war . they faced each other  for the first time  i think  at gettysburg in      stuart was at the harper  s ferry raid  but custer was still a cadet at the point when it took place  .  br    br    fanny  custer plays a role in  class of      though his classmate chums  dev o  neill and shelby peyton are fictional . i believe they are respectively based on partick henry o  rorke and john pelham  two people you can look up .  br    br   anyway  i truly enjoy this film or any film which provides a window into mid    th century america .  
unfortunately  this movie is so bad . the original out of towners was manic and very funny  of course they used the script written by neil simon . for some reason neil simons script is not used in this film so it falls flat time and time again . even the audience i was with never laughed . the direction is very slow and tedious and when there is a joke it is given away so the joke dies i . e . the couple having sex in the park . they announce it is a lighting ceremony for new york  well we all know the lights are going to come on and we will be able to see cute and mugging goldie  steve do a bit of slap stick . the whole movie winds up being like this . . . a joke is set up and given away . why isn  t goldies hair ever even messed up in the movie . you will also notice every close up of goldie  they use a very intense soft lens  . i suggest you rent the original with jack lemmon and sandy dennis  that  s if you want to laugh .  
someone  or  something thing . .  is leaving puncture marks on the jugular and draining victims of their blood till dead . police detective karl brettschneider  melvyn douglas  before slipping out of the b  movie horror genre for greater heights  is stumped at who . . or what . . is behind these notorious crimes . the village is overcome by hysteria and karl depends on his trusted medical genius  dr . otto von niemann  lionel atwill  in yet another effective mad scientist role  to provide some feedback as to what might be causing the deaths of innocents . he also fears for the safety of his beloved ruth  the lovely fay wray who stars for the third time with atwill after  doctor x    the mystery of the wax museum   who is niemann  s assistant .  br    br   dwight frye steals the film as a rather loony village idiot who collects bats and carries a demented demeanor wherever he goes . . it  s easy to see why he becomes a suspect as local paranoia is at a fever pitch . maude eburne provides the film  s humor as a very naive  . . and easily influenced  patient of von niemann  s who believes she has ailments she reads about in books near the laboratory where he works . she  s impressionable and often von niemann just humors her and constant fictional illnesses she feels plagued with . lionel belmore returns as yet another frightened  superstitious brgermeister .  br    br   creaky  static  but rather entertaining nonetheless thanks to the cast . the film is obviously as low  budget as they come  but this doesn  t hurt the film too much since it  s put together rather well by director frank r strayer and his crew . i  m certain the film  s print has seen better days  though . this is the kind of b  horror item you  d find packaged in with   other random cheesefests and poverty row programmers . the film  s villain . . and his motives for feeding a synthetically made biological creature . . certainly provides a different take on the frankenstein formula . many might be disappointed with the end results as the film strays away from being an actual supernatural tale about a real vampire killer causing the murders .  
anyone who saw the original     movie knows how an excellent cast  script  and director can put together a comedy masterpiece . by the same token  it  s easy to see how the opposite of that can create another insipid hollywood bore  a  thon  this movie was pathetic  had it not been for john cleese  a comic genius   i would have walked out about   minutes into this dreadful waste of celluloid .  br    br   neil simon wouldn  t write another screenplay for this version  he said that he couldn  t improve on the first   and i  m surprised that after this cinematic fiasco he wouldn  t sue for defamation of humor   br    br   jack lemmon and sandy dennis did such a wonderful job in the original  what were the producers thinking about when they cast this one  how could the director and editor look at these scenes and think any of them were funny  i don  t know  but one thing i do know    it  s no surprise why foreign and independent movies are becoming more and more popular . . . . . . .  
this film has a lot of strong points . it has one of the best horror casts outside of the lugosi  karloff  chaney circle lionel atwill  fay wray  and dwight frye  plus leading man melvyn douglas . it  s got all the right ingredients bats  a castle with lots of stone staircases  a mad scientist  townspeople waving torches and hunting vampires  an  igor   type character  a beautiful girl  even a goofy  haired burgomeister . the soft  focus camera work is moody and imaginative . there  s even some good comic relief nicely spaced throughout the script .  br    br   but it  s not really a monster movie because there is nothing supernatural going on in  kleinschloss    little castle   . the plot revolves around the generic crazy scientist  nicely played by atwill  who values his work more highly than human lives .  br    br   it  s not top  tier material  because of a ho  hum resolution of the plot and some embarrassingly bad dialog for dwight frye . but it  s worth a look if you like early b  w horror pictures .  
american movies about war and nazis simply cannot be good . they can not refrain from becoming idiot and following an agenda . all nazis are bad  crazy  too proud  and americans are so modest yet so capable and sensible and human . come on  stop this bullshit . the main character says something like  by this trial  we have to make aggressive war a crime  . is america a peaceful nation with its world       billion  defense  budget    china with just    b   is it simply spent in this without any . . . roi  why portray america as a peaceful nation when it isn  t  i deeply dislike movies with an agenda  they throw art to hell and try to persuade us into believing something . hollywood should put a label on movies  just as record companies have that  parental advisory  label . we should have a  bullshit advisory    propaganda advisory  or a  politically correct advisory  label on some movies . this is one of them .  
this is     and this way underrated gem has lost nothing of the power it had   years ago . it connects a pretty wide variety of different characters and stories without appearing to be cluttered .  br    br   clothes and music might have changed over time  but in the end this is a story that will never lose its up  to  dateness . and especially this movie does the job pretty well . of course it is cheesy at times  but very touching as well .  br    br   jodie foster  s performance is striking  and it shows that she is really a natural born actress who showed her true potential especially in her earlier movies .  br    br   don  t miss this one .  
i love movies  and i  ll watch any movie all the way through  just to give it a chance . i can finally say that i found a movie i can  t watch all the way through . the acting is terribly stale and monotone  the cgi looks like a computer geek did it in his mother  s basement with minimal software  and . . . . . the long scenes of just . . . walking     and this movie is three hours long    i didn  t even make it   minutes until i fast forwarded the dvd . the scenes with the aliens are very short . ummm  instead of naming this  war of the worlds   lets name this  war of the walking long distances  . this cost  million dollars to make  what they spend the money on  the dramatic opening song   br    br   oh  but on a positive note  one scene you need to watch is when the aliens first begin killing people . that  s hilarious  not because people are dying  but because when they turn to skeletons  they still squirm for   seconds afterward .  br    br   so . . . . like i said  if you are a fan of boring  stale  action  less movies  here is one for you dvd collection . but i didn  t write this for you  i wrote this for the billions upon billions of other people who will hate this movie . it is not worth your time or money  br    br   i know this is by the book  but the book isn  t that long  and i  m a complete book worm  nerd  geek  whatever  but why  just get the steven spielberg version  it  s not all that good  but it  s   times better than this    br    br   i give this a big  fat zero out of   .  
until today i had never seen this film . its was filmed on the sets of the old dark house and frankenstein and concerns a small bavarian village where supposedly giant bats are sucking the blood of the villagers .  br    br   frankly its a damn good movie that has atmosphere to spare and a cast that won  t quit  lionel atwill  dwight frye  faye wray and melvin douglas playing a character named brettschnieder which is of interest to me since that was my great grandmother  s maiden name .  br    br   this is a carefully modulated film that has suspense and witty one liners that slowly builds for its brief running time  only going astray when about ten minutes before the end they realized they had limited time to wrap everything up . from that point to the end its a straight run to the finish with very little of the fun that preceded it .  br    br   leonard maltin and imdb list a running time of   minutes and warn of shorter prints . the trouble is that imdb and maltin can be wrong  and in this case i think they are since a source i trust more says the full running time is   minutes  the overlook film encyclopedia  quibbling about this i know is insane but since most prints that are available tend to run around      minutes the amount of missing material is considerably less if its only   minutes long . personally i think it won  t matter that much since its at most five minutes and i doubt very much it will make or break the film .  br    br   what ever the running time  if you like creaky old films  do  by all means do  watch this movie  its a great dark and stormy night film .  
this movie was disappointing . it was incomplete and dull . while alec baldwin tried to portray himself as the perfect fair and just prosecutor  not to mention executive producer   the movie never showed any of the defense counsels or tried to challenge the audience with an actual meaningful debate on the subject of how a country could be led down such a terrible path .  br    br   sure  nobody wants to defend the nazi  s point of view  but that was the point of the nuremberg trails  four hours of simply bashing on the nazi  s . . . . c  mon  thats been done already   br    br   i really think alec baldwin should just stick to being kim bassinger  s husband .  br    br   right after the movie ended  tnt showed the     movie  trail at nuremberg . that movie is far superior .  
years ago  i found a  bargain bin  copy of this film for a buck or two . in so many ways  this is quite fitting  as when it was made back in      it was truly a cheaply made film by the  poverty row  studio  majestic . however  while the film is rather derivative  it is still well worth watching and provides a few surprises .  br    br   the story is very  very familiar  as in some germanic town  the people are upset because of some recent deaths that appear to be the work of vampires  adding to this familiarity is dwight frye . he played renfield in dracula  and here he is very  very similar   though he plays a much more harmless weirdo . in this case  he  s obsessed with his pet bats and people begin to blame him for the deaths . the film does a good job of providing some  red herrings   i . e .  false leads  and while it doesn  t take a genius to figure out frye may not be responsible  the who and why are intriguing and make it very different from the average horror film . in addition  while the production had little money to speak of  it still had some good actors of the day   lionel atwill and melvin douglas   and it also used universal studios sets at night  when they were done filming for the day  . as a result  the film looks pretty good overall  though i also thought that  as usual  fay wray was terrible   thought it didn  t noticeably detract from the film . i have seen her in more movies than most people on imdb and i have come to notice that her characters have no depth   she always seems to be cast as the  screaming lady  and provides little new in each film .  br    br   overall  for fans of old horror films  this is excellent and worth seeing . for people who are not fans of the genre  it  s probably pretty skip  able .  
an accurate review of nuremburg must consider the door to history inadvertently opened with the movie  valkyrie   tom cruise  .  valkyrie        at long last tells the world there was a german resistance during world war two professionally organised with bureaucrats  military generals  soldiers and civilians who tried to over throw the nazi political regime  install a new chancellor  obtain peace and close the concentration camps . however  these unknown absolute heroes received no help at all from the allies who helped the french resistance just next door . history writers have used an institutionalised agenda ever since to conceal an allied evil which cost many tens of millions of lives with everyone conditioned to believe a deception that the german people completely supported the nazis and consequently deserved the   hour bombing genocide and  unconditional surrender  that was imposed on the germans .  br    br   the german enigma codes were broken by english scientists in     so much of what the germans were doing was known . during     the germans developed new jet fighters and jet bombers by companies including arado  heinkel and messerschmitt . however  even if the nazis were eliminated and the german resistance succeeded the allies wouldn  t allow any democracy in the world to have jet fighters  jet bombers  high speed submarines  ballistic missiles and radio guided missiles without the usa having them first  this is where the institutionalised agenda is relevant . consequently  the german resistance got no help at all from the allies although they always had crucial intelligence to eliminate adolf hitler . the   july     coup is proof there were significant efforts by the germans to obtain peace . instead  the germans got ultimatums of  unconditional surrender  and   hour saturation bombing in an agenda to avoid peace . the allies wanted to steal the world  s greatest technology and scientists from the germans and contain complete ownership through an  unconditional surrender .  it was a premeditated allied agenda to allow the war to perpetuate and keep the nazis in power to justify the   hour bombing but it took one year after d  day before allied armies advanced into germany to steal the world  s greatest technology and scientists at the barrel of a gun . however  tens of millions of people had died since the allies abandoned the german resistance for their own greed .  br    br   the allies imposed  unconditional surrender  on the germans as a pretext to complete ownership and control of german property and government and it was done without using the german resistance to over throw the nazis . the allies wanted to steal the world  s greatest technology and scientists from the germans to achieve world technological supremacy . consequently  everything else took second place to the evil allied agenda which killed millions of german people in the   hour bombing the concentration camps stayed open the war was prolonged and led to the  cold war  with weapons based on german industrial achievements  technology  and scientists taken from the germans in world war two .  br    br   the     nuremburg war crimes trials were a public relations deception and mass murder perpetrated by the allies as retrospective justice to the nazis . it was a smoke screen to hide the evil and greedy allied agenda for world technological supremacy rather than help the german resistance overthrow the nazi political regime .  br    br   tens of millions of people died because the allies abandoned the german resistance to an agenda but they inflicted retribution against the german chiefs of staff anyway whom paid with their lives at nuremburg war crimes or not although the allies had perpetrated genocide to achieve world technological supremacy .  
though not a horror film in the traditional sense  this creepy little film delivers the goods . it seems a vampire is loose in a small german town draining its victims of their blood . police inspector karl brettschneider  melvyn douglas in one of his early roles  is skeptical believing a crazed killer not a vampire is running amok . the only one who believes him is ruth bertin  faye wray  the inspector  s girlfriend and lab assistant to dr . otto von niemann  lionel atwill  who though apparently an eminent scientist goes along with the vampire theory . the townspeople suspect the weirdo herman gleib  played with his usual frenzy by dwight frye who seems to be having a lot of fun with his role . the film contains quite a bit of humor which helps relieve some of the intensity involved with all the murders being committed . one funny part has gussie schnappmann  maude eburne   ruth bertin  s aunt  thinking weird herman has turned not into a bat but into a dog . maude eburne and dwight frye make a good comedy team .  br    br   this budget movie brings in elements from  the cabinet of dr . caligari  with dr . niemann using the power of suggestion to make a somnambulist carry out his orders  from  frankenstein  by using the human blood to help create life in the laboratory  and  dracula  since the murders are believed by everyone except the inspector and his girl to be the work of a bloodsucker . thses elements are mixed well by director frank r . strayer with a little comedy thrown in for good measure . the concoction works . the restored version i viewed used tinting to increase the spooky atmosphere . so try to see the this version if possible .  
apparently most viewer knows nothing about the history of europe  including germany  hungary and the whole central and eastern europe as well as the hitler and stalin era . nuremberg  and a lot of forgotten trials all over europe  was a revenge and injustice of the winners . what do you think  why were not any american  british  french or soviet defendants after the wwii  there were no american  british etc . war crimes  there were no hiroshima  no nagasaki  no tokyo  no dresden  no hamburg  no berlin  no katyn and so on  the germans had war crimes too  but in nuremberg the justice was not a real consideration . the main point was vae victis  germany must perish   that was also a book title in america      .   br    br   this film is an awful  ignoble american brainwashing instrument  full of error  lie  propaganda  prejudice and injustice . and first of all full of hypocrisy . but not surprisingly . . . why wasn  t enough the nuremberg process itself  this film is a nightmare . total darkness after   years  this darkness  and hate and narcissism and lack of self  criticism  is the real cause of the massacres in korea  vietnam  cambodia  serbia  iraq and so forth . and there are no american war criminals . . . bravo  america  very clever . even stalin would become envious of it . . .  
in an attempt to cash in on the success of universal  s horror films majestic pictures hired several popular actors from the current genre and put them in this effort that  realistically speaking  is nowhere near as good . with that  this is still worth everyone  s time and it  s a heck of a lot of fun to view and in my opinion it  s better than most of what is supposed to pass nowadays as horror  story takes place in the small german town of klineschloss where the bodies have been piling up completely drained of blood and with suspicious puncture marks . burgermister gustave schoen  lionel belmore  shouts  it  s vampires  but the local police chief karl brettschneider  melvyn douglas  thinks it  s a madman who  s responsible and he vows to catch him .  br    br   spoiler alert the burgermeister and most of the towns folk think that the local kook herman glieb  dwight frye  who loves bats and frequently talks to them is the one they are looking for and they chase him until he falls to his death in a cave . the one who is responsible for the killings is dr . otto von niemann  lionel atwill  who has created a new form of tissue mass that feeds on blood and he accomplishes this by having some sort of mind control over his servant emil  robert frazer  who goes out at night to collect the blood . dr . otto has a pretty assistant named ruth bertin  fay wray  and an annoying aunt named gussie  maude eburne  but they have no clue what he  s up to but karl eventually become suspicious when one of the murders takes place after herman  s death .  br    br   frank r . strayer was never confused with being james whale but he was a pretty competent director who ended up directing most of the  blondie  films in that series and with this film he uses the same sets from  the old dark house  which was also filmed at universal . i  m the first to admit that this film is downright clumsy at times but it  s practically impossible to resist a film that has a cast like this including frye who is pretty much doing his renfield role only this time he befriends bats and strokes them and keeps them in his pocket for safe keeping  one thing that just doesn  t make sense is the mind control that dr . otto has over emil as the film never explains this and i had a strong sense that this was some sort of nod to  the cabinet of dr . caligari  but on the other hand it  s probably just the weakest part of the script . there are a few other tidbits that i noticed including the chase of frye to the big caves which is obviously an early shot of the infamous bronson canyon where numerous other films have been made and also wray  s brown hair which is her true color . true horror film fans will appreciate this more than others but i think this is a fun film to view for everyone and with a cast as attractive as this it  s well worth a look .  
i couldn  t believe my eyes when i watched nuremberg yesterday on dutch television . it starts very slowly  the backgrounds of the nuremberg trials become clear step by step  the germans have a funny english accent  but then  suddenly  in the last few minutes of the first part of the series  the audience gets to see the most shocking  horrific footage i have ever seen .  br    br   it is important that people get to see such footage  although i absolutely don  t agree with people stating that there is no minimum age at which children can be exposed to this kind of material   but in this film it was completely ridiculous . it was purely meant to improve the impact of an ordinary tv series . it was meant to shock the audience which is very cheap and unbelievably easy . in stead of trying to move us with well  done scenes  inspiring dialogue or interesting viewpoint  s  the audience is being tortured with horrible images of skin  and  bones camp inmates . it doesn  t show any respect for the victims of the holocaust .  br    br   i  m very angry .  
mysterious murders in a european village seem the result of the vampire bat horde plaguing the terrified community .  br    br   this surprisingly effective little thriller was created by majestic pictures  one of hollywood  s poverty row studios . the sparse production values and rough editing actually add to its eerie atmosphere and lend it an almost expressionistic quality . overall  it leaves the viewer the feeling of being caught up in a bad dream  which is appropriate for a thriller of this sort .  br    br   even though the eventual explanation for the hideous crimes is quite ludicrous and is not given proper plot development  the film can boast of a good cast . grave lionel atwill gives another one of his typically fine performances  this time as a doctor doing scientific research in an old castle . beautiful fay wray plays his assistant in a role which requires her to do little more than look lovely  alarmed . dour melvyn douglas appears as the perplexed police inspector who also happens to be  conveniently  miss wray  s boyfriend .  br    br   maude eburne  who could be extremely funny given the right situation  steals most of her scenes as miss wray  s hypochondriac aunt . elderly lionel belmore plays the village  s terrified burgermeister . and little dwight frye  who will always be remembered for his weird roles in the frankenstein and dracula films  here is most effective as a bat  loving lunatic .  
that word  true  in this film  s title got my alarm bells ringing . they rang louder when a title card referred to america  s civil war as the  war between the states   the circumlocution preferred by die  hard southerners  . jesse james   thief  slave  holder and murderer   is described as a quiet  gentle farm boy .  br    br   how dishonest is this movie  there is no mention of slavery  far less of the documented fact that jesse james  s poor widdered mother owned slaves before the war  and that jesse and his brother frank actively fought to preserve slavery . according to this movie  all those civil war soldiers were really fighting to decide whether missouri is a northern state or a southern state . . . that  s all .  missouri it  s a candy mint  it  s a breath mint   black people are entirely absent from this movie  except for two glimpses of a pair of beggars  one of whom wears a  help the poor  sign that  s very implausibly typeset instead of handwritten .  some shots of   th  century newspapers are inaccurate too  with   th  century type fonts .   br    br   this film has a weird flashback structure . there  s some very impressive stunt riding  and some fine work by stunt horses   and one excellent montage . i savoured one line of dialogue  some of those boys will never taste beans again .  the movie gets a few facts straight agnes moorehead  as jesse  s mother  conceals her right arm in the scenes following the raid by the agents of pinkerton  here called  remington   in which jesse james  s real  life mother suffered injuries requiring the amputation of her lower arm . some errors here are pardonable during his bushwhacking days  the real jesse james accidentally shot off part of his left middle finger  but robert wagner  in the title role here  does not have a stumpfinger . i  ve seen a photo of jesse james  s real wife if she had looked half as glamorous as hope lange looks in this movie  jesse james might have stayed home more .  br    br   there  s plenty of revisionism here  and most of the male actors wear     s hairstyles . but many of this movie  s errors were avoidable . jesse james  s mentor william quantrill is mentioned several times  but all the actors mispronounce his name . we see jesse and his wife moving into an elaborate two  storey house  where he will soon die  after paying a rent of    . actually  jesse james  s last residence  at     lafayette street  st joseph  missouri  was a simple one  storey cottage  renting for    . there was no upper storey . . . so  when jesse james is killed  his wife could not come running from upstairs as hope lange does here .  she was actually in the kitchen .   br    br   one continuity error robert wagner  with no stunt double  does an impressive job of taking a slug to the jaw and falling over while his hands are tied behind his back . . . but when he gets up  the rope binding his wrists has vanished .  br    br   the screenplay does some weird and unnecessary juggling of dates . following the northfield robbery attempt  jesse says he expects to get home by his birthday . the actual northfield bank raid by the james gang   september       was two days after jesse james  s birthday .  maybe he meant next year  s birthday .  later  we see jesse and his wife moving into their st joseph home on a fine summer day  while jesse tells her what he plans to do when christmas eve arrives . . . but in real life  mr and mrs jesse james moved into that house on   december      . . . so this scene should be on christmas eve  these errors were entirely avoidable .  br    br   some of the fictionalisations here don  t make sense . according to this movie  the northfield bank raid failed because one  fictional  henchman was late in cutting the telegraph wires . if this had actually happened  it would indeed have hampered the james gang  s getaway . . . but it wouldn  t have affected the robbery itself  which failed for other reasons .  br    br   there are good performances here by jeffrey hunter  as frank james   moorehead  alan hale jnr  as cole younger  and by stage actress marian seldes in a rare screen role . i was disappointed by robert wagner  normally an under  rated actor . elsewhere  wagner has proved his impressive range by convincingly portraying heroes  villains and morally ambiguous characters . here  he can  t seem to decide whether to depict jesse james as a goodie or a baddie . . . so he doesn  t much bother . john carradine phones in his performance in a brief role as a fictional jackleg preacher who baptises jesse and his wife at their wedding . in fact  jesse james was baptised in childhood by his uncle  a methodist minister . . . but perhaps this second baptism is a topping  up .  br    br   jesse james was no robin hood .  i doubt that robin hood was robin hood either  but that  s another story .  there is not one single documented instance of jesse james ever sharing his loot with anyone beyond his own family . after some of his hold  ups  he didn  t even split the swag with the rest of his gang . in this movie  jesse gets gunned down right after he vows to give up his bandit ways forever . in reality  the night before his death  jesse james and the ford brothers stole horses that jesse planned to use the next day in a robbery of the platte city bank . as preparation for most of his robberies  jesse james stole horses from local farmers . . . the same poor folk who  in the inaccurate legends  were supposedly the beneficiaries of his largesse . i cringed at one scene here  in which the fictional jesse james is so gol  durn refined that he disapproves of an oil painting which tastefully depicts nudes .  br    br    the true  not much   story of jesse james  is wilfully dishonest about a thieving murderer  and likewise dishonest about the civil war . for the very impressive stunt work  one good montage and a few fine acting turns  i  ll rate this obscenely dishonest movie  points out of   .  
dwight frye steals the show in this one as a foolish young man  who seems to be mentally handicapped  who gets himself blamed for vampire  like murders especially after he reveals his love for bats which he likes to stroke and give to unsuspecting friends as  gifts   . besides all of that  there  s an entertaining mystery tale involving the above mentioned murders . underrated .  
fox  s  the true story of jesse james        is a remarkably poor widescreen remake of their prestigious     tyrone power  henry fonda classic  jesse james  . i  m not sure where the fault lies but the casting in this version of the two central characters  the uneven direction of nicholas ray and the ham  fisted screenplay must surely have something to do with it .  br    br   in the late thirties and forties tyrone power was fox  s top leading man but in the fifties his star began to wane and studio head darryl zanuck started to groom newcomer robert wagner to take his place . this was a major error on zanuck  s part as wagner proved to be a less than a suitable replacement . with the possible exceptions of  broken lance        and  between heaven  hell        it is hard to think of wagner distinguishing himself in anything  also  jeffrey hunter was nothing more than a fox contract player before being assigned to play frank james to wagner  s jesse in  the true story of jesse james  . borrowed from the studio the previous year this actor  s one distinguishing mark was his excellent and revealing performance in john ford  s classic  the searchers  . but his playing here  along with wagner as the second half of the james brothers  is nothing short of boring . neither player bring any personality or colour to their respective roles . they totally miss the mark  lacking the charisma and appeal so vividly displayed by power and fonda in the original . the movie is also marred by too many flashbacks and with the all over the place screenplay wagner  as the robin hood of the american west  comes across as a charmless introverted twit that you can feel no empathy for whatsoever . the supporting cast are hardly worth mentioning but it is a shame to see such a great actress as agnes moorhead barely getting a look in as ma james .  br    br   the best aspects of this uninvolving so  so western is the wonderful cinemascope  colour cinematography by the great joe mcdonald and the excellent music score by the underrated and little known composer leigh harline   
  br    br   i take issue with the other reviewer  s comments for the simple reason that this is a mystery film  not a supernatural one  it is not the only film to have a seemingly  supernatural  explanation   vampires    but turns out to be a very mundance one .  br    br   other films that come to mind are edgar wallace  s  before dawn  and the  more famous   mark of the vampire  .  br    br   the film does a wonderful job in creating a very  spooky atmosphere   similar dracula  when renfield meets the count on the staircase of his castle  or in mark of the vampire  when the two people look thru the windows of the castle ruins and see a  corpse  playing an organ  while luna descends using wings  very surreal   br    br   if one likes these  often silent  atmospheric touches  this film is a must   br    br   norm vogel  
it  s difficult to put into words the almost seething hatred i have of this film . but i  ll try  br    br   every other word was an expletive  the sex scenes were uncomfortable  drugs were rampant and stereotyping was beyond the norm  if not offensive to italian  americans .  br    br   i  m not saying the acting was terrible  because leguizamo  sorvino  brody  espisito et . al  performed well . but . . . almost every character in the film i despised . not since the bonfire of the vanities have i disliked every character on screen .  
i will never forget when i saw this title in the video store way back when . i was always a big weird al fan and when i saw this video i rented and watched it . i was too young to appreciate all of al  s subtle humor and satire at the time but i remember it much later when i was old enough to understand what i was watching . if you are an  al  fan  especially of his earlier work  you will thoroughly enjoy this film . it is done in the mtv  esque  rockumentary  style and tells a true  but sometimes exaggerated  tale of how al got to be where he was in     . you will love it if you like his brand of humor and  more importantly  his music .  
after seeing the trailer for this movie and finding out spike lee was directing  i was excited to hear about this event . i wasn  t alive at the time  i didn  t live in new york  so i expected more of a history lesson than anything . what i got was some interesting acting  a lot of sex  and about   minutes worth of film that actually had anything to do with the son of sam . i guess the film wasn  t about the son of sam  but it was a peek into the summer of    . label me disappointed .  br    br    
this is a bizzare look at al  s  life   back when he still a hyper    something . the  real  home videos of al as a kid are great  and the commentary from his  real life  parents gives a nice glimpse of just how weird al wound up as screwed up as he is . this video is a must own for any devoted al  coholic .  
spike lee has been in a decline since his early successes and this mess does nothing to help . i looked at my watch frequently hoping the movie would end or get to the point . lee  s first movie with an all  white cast is a major disappointment .  br    br   what  s the point  that italians swear and like funky sex  but not with their wives  if i wanted to see scorsese  i  d go to a scorsese movie . the incredibly lame godfather character only adds to the stereotype .  br    br   i  ve admired several of lee  s films  especially  do the right thing  . this movie is a waste of time .  
but it is kinda hilarious  at least if you grew up on weird al  like i did . it  s a mockumentary about his life and career  beginning with superstardom and going back to trace the origins . it  s uneven in places  but some of the segments are still very funny  particularly when he goes to japan . although it  s not quite as emotionally textured as lost in translation  and he doesn  t find love however fleeting  he does capture in a bottle the absolutely bizarre cultural melange that is tokyo street life .  br    br   perhaps weird al isn  t recognized as the insightful cultural commentator that he is perhaps a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet . still  this is a funny movie .  
john leguizemo  a wonderful comic actor  is a new york latino  able to get inside a myriad of characters  both male and female  to show the bizarre foibles of an ethnic group trying to cope in an alien culture . he is not  however  italian . he doesn  t look  think or behave italian . . . especially sicilian or calabrese  immigrant groups who live in bensonhurst or bayridge brooklyn . every scene in which he interacts with his  gumbas  rings false  as though he  d wandered in from a college production of  west side story  while the other guys were doing a low  rent  mean streets  . that  s only one problem with this ill  conceived  mean  spirited flick . spike blew this one big time . btw  cbgbomfug means  country  bluegrass  blues and other music for uplifting gourmets or possibly gourmands ask hilly crystal who founded the club .  br    br    
this is one of the most underrated masterpieces of all time in my opinion  its thought provoking  funny and sad with amazing performances all around  . all the characters are wonderful  and the story is just brilliant   plus jodie foster and cherie currie are simply amazing in this  . the ending is very powerful  however i won  t spoil it for you  and i thought the character development was top notch   plus you can really relate to all of the characters  especially jeanie and annie  as you will be rooting for them   plus i loved how it moved slowly  and giving you a chance to get to know all the characters and what there about . i can  t believe this only has a  .  rating on here as it should be much higher in my opinion  and it was funny seeing randy quaid in this type of role  plus this is extremely well written and made as well  . one scene that really got to me was when madge  marilyn kagan   is totally embarrassed by her mother for having the party  and the film has many surprising moments as well   plus the dialog is especially excellent . this is one of the most underrated masterpieces of all time  in my opinion   its thought provoking  funny and sad with amazing performances all around  and i say go see it immediately   your bound to love it  . the direction is fantastic  . adrian lyne does a fantastic job here  with awesome camera work  and keeping the film at an extremely engrossing pace  . the acting is amazing  . jodie foster is really cute  and is amazing as always   she was extremely likable  caring  had a lovable character  was intense in some scenes  was focused  and she and cherie currie were the heart of the film as jeanie and annie   foster rules         . cherie currie is way hot  and is amazing here  i really felt sorry for her character  as she had a very likable character that just needed help  she gives a powerful performance  and created a very memorable character she was amazing  . scott baio is great as brad he was really likable  and did his job well i liked him . randy quaid is great in his serious role surprisingly i liked him . sally kellerman is great as the mother i liked her a lot . marilyn kagan and kandice stroh are both very good as madge and deirdre  and did what they had to do well as the other two friends . laura dern has a very early role here  as it was cool to see her  not much of a part though . rest of the cast do fine . overall go see it immediately  it  s an underrated masterpiece  .  out of   
nu image  ufo and others produce films for the sci fi channel that come in with budgets of roughly   million . some feature extensive effects work  others feature recognizable casts and still others feature both   for   million .  br    br   mr . hines initially claimed that this film was budgeted at    million dollars but it  s painfully obvious that this was probably produced for         if not considerably less than that . few sets are utilized  a number of scenes are shot against green screen and most effects seem incomplete and amateurish .  br    br   it  s painful to watch . not so much because it is poorly directed  poorly executed and misguided but because many of us have been following the progress of this production for quite some time and had high hopes for this film despite its relatively modest budget .  br    br   those of us who believed in this movie when it was originally announced have joined the legions of those spoken of by p . t . barnum .  
basically the exact same movie as  house of wax   vincent price  s first genuine horror hit released the previous year  but seriously who cares  because  the mad magician  offers just as many sheer thrills  delightful period set  pieces  joyous   d effects  sublime acting performances and macabre horror gimmicks as its predecessor   never change a winning team  is exactly what writer crane wilbur must have thought when he penned down price  s character don gallico  another tormented soul besieged by fate and out for vengeance against those who wronged him . don gallico is about to perform his very first own illusionist show as gallico the great and plans to exhibit the greatest magic trick in history entitled  the girl and the buzz saw  . gallico  s promising solo career is abruptly ruined before it even begins when his previous employer ross ormond appears on stage and shoves a contract under his nose  stating that all of gallico  s inventions are the rightful property of the company . the sleazy and relentless ormond  who by the way also ransacked gallico  s once beloved wife  takes off with the buzz saw trick and programs it in the show of gallico  s rival the great rinaldi . inevitably gallico snaps and sadistically butchers ormond  but  also being a master of creating disguises  recreates his victim  s image and even starts leading a double life .  the mad magician  is an amusing and thoroughly unpretentious    s horror movie in grand guignol style  with a whole lot of improbably plot twists  the landlady turns out a brilliant crime novelist   and a handful of fantastically grotesque gross  out moments  although they obviously remain suggestive for most part  . the   d delights near the beginning of the film  like a yo  yo player and a goofy trick with water fountains  merely just serve as time  filler and contemporary    s hype  but it  s still fun to watch even now and without the means to properly behold them .  the mad magician  is also interesting from a periodical setting point of view  as the events take place around the time fingerprints were starting to get used as evidence material and the character of alice prentiss is an obvious reference towards famous crime authors of that era . needless to state that vincent price remains the absolute most essential element of triumph in this film  as well as from nearly every other horror movie this legendary man ever starred in . like no other actor could ever accomplish  price depicts the tormented protagonist who gradually descends further and further into mental madness in such an indescribably mesmerizing way . you pity don gallico  yet at the same time you fear him enormously . you support his vile acts of retaliation and yet simultaneously you realize his murderous rampage must end in death . vincent price simply was a genius actor and  in my humble opinion  the embodiment of the horror genre .  
they constructed this one as a kind of fantasy man from snowy river meets butch cassidy and the sundance kid  and just for a romantic touch ned and joe get to play away with high class talent  the bored young wives of wealthy older men . ok  there are lots of myths about ned kelly  but there are also a lot of well documented facts  still leaving space for artistic creativity in producing a good historical dramaticisation . i mean  this is not the robin hood story  not the arthurian legends  not beowulf  not someone whose life is so shrouded in the mists of many many centuries past that any recreation of their life and times is    guesswork . it  s only a couple of lifetimes ago . my own grandparents were already of school age when ned was hanged .  br    br   so it  s silly me for fancifully imagining this movie was a serious attempt to tell the kelly story . having recently read peter carey  s excellent novel  the true history of the kelly gang  i had eagerly anticipated that this would be in similar vein . but no  the fact is that mick jagger  s much derided     kelly was probably far closer to reality  and a better movie overall  which isn  t saying a whole lot for it .  br    br   glad it only cost me two bucks to hire the dvd  i  ll give it      and that  s only because some of the nice shots of the australian bush make me feel generous .  
if you think  weird al  yankovic is hilarious  you won  t be disappointed by the compleat al . not only does this rare mockumentary feature many of yankovic  s more memorable videos   like a surgeon  and  i love rocky road  among them   but they are inter  spliced with funny vignettes supposedly highlighting the parodist  s rise to fame . yankovic is not for all tastes  but his humor is harmless and imaginative enough that even non  fans will at least be lightly amused . die  hard fans will love it not only for its content  but also for its relatively early look into yankovic  s now nearly three decade career . suitable for all ages  kiddies will no doubt love the funny visuals .  
spike lee has to be one of the most over rated directors i have ever seen . he is the critic  s darling because he supposedly makes films with a  message  or he is just so bohemian in his approach that it makes critics that are waterlogged from formula hollywood films eat his stuff up just for being different .  br    br   summer of sam does not even do that well . the cinematography and editing style is oliver stone  and so is the narrative . the plot is a lot like  do the right thing  . the portrayal of  guidos  or for the pc set italian  americans  of which i happen to be one  is straight out of eddie murphy  s raw . only eddie murphy  s impression of a macho italian guy picking a fight with a much taller african  american is much  much more believable than the cartoonish  broad italian caricatures shown here  the john leguizamo character being a possible exception  .  br    br   is there anybody who saw this movie that could not figure out how it was going to end up  as soon as richie came into the film i could already see the fist in his face and the foot in his stomach  i could already see him being accused of being the killer . this character had the most integrity in the whole film so  of course  lee is going to show what happens to people that stand out in a crowd  what a white bearded clique    br    br   someone please  please give spike lee a lifetime pass to all the basketball games he wants . so  maybe he will be enjoying himself too much to pick up a film camera for a long time and we won  t have to be subjected to his self important drivel and furthermore i won  t have to see critics  some of them whom i respect  ohhhh and ahhhh to an emperor with no clothes .  
when i started to watch this movie on vh   i cringed . the mtv movies were all bad so i wasnt expecting much . but this movie was really good . i liked it a lot . and it even had a twist at the end . see this movie because it shows that made for tv movies that are good exist .  
i went to this movie expecting a concise movie relating the effect the son of sam had on the society . i didn  t expect spike lee to force  feed me more garbage on racial tension  mob  justice  or the inability of the common citizen to make a choice under pressure by peers . lee has presented an extreme opinion .  br    br   the entire movie could have been more effective if in a    min format with more focus  less tangential sub  plots .  br    br   don  t even bother renting the video unless you passionately enjoy spike lee in such a case  the theatre is worth it . this is not an escapist movie .  
though i really didn  t feel anything for lance  s character  and felt his wife could have done much better with anyone else . it could have been a much stronger movie if they had spent more time on character development  perhaps with lance  i would have liked it better .  br    br   however  i have to completely agree with doyleluver  when they said  and to quote glenn quinn  s character ben  i  m the star here in it  that  s right i  m the talented one    if you watch the movie  just watch him  even when he  s in the background . . . just his facial expressions  all in the eyes  you know for sure what motivates ben  exactly how he feels about comments  even if it  s a quick look behind a character  s back . great acting in a fair film .  
i have always liked spike lee  s movies  but this one was a total waste of     hours . i expected more about son of sam and instead got a movie that seemed to have very little to do with the     serial killings . the talking dog was laughable  you know you  re in trouble when all the movie patrons burst into laughter inappropriately  . the whole movie seemed very disjointed and not very interesting . the sex scenes were totally irrelevent to the plot . i  m not opposed to sex in movies  but it should have some point  unless it  s a xxx movie  . all in all  we were very disappointed at this spike lee effort    
the film was okay  quite entertaining . the cast was pretty good  and i  ll second what the comment before me mentioned  glenn quinn was outstanding and he alone is reason enough to watch this movie . he played the selfish  evil  friend and manager of the band brilliantly   br    br   there are a lot of songs performed by  beyond gravity  in this film  but this doesn  t really come as a surprise considering the film is a vh  production . however  if the soft rock  pop music isn  t to someone  s liking one might as well flash forward those scenes .  br    br   the plot of a band trying to make it to the top in l . a . but having to overcome many obstacles on the way isn  t too original  but quite entertaining  with some surprising plot turns here and there .  
before i give spike lee  s mess of a film summer of sam a well  deserved thrashing  i would like to make one thing clear . i do not revile this film simply for its abundance of sleazy and unpleasant images . what makes this film so unwatchable is the fact that lee seems to believe that summer of sam should be taken seriously as a socially enlightening drama . the crime caper films of quentin tarantino  for example  are filled with violence  profanity  and other sleaze  but are nonetheless highly watchable because tarantino does not attempt to pass these films off as socially redeeming works of art . he knows that such films are for entertainment value only . on the other hand  serious dramas such as saving private ryan and schindler  s list are often unpleasant to watch  but the unpleasantness serves to develop the film  s plot and characters  with the end goal of getting the audience emotionally involved with the story and characters onscreen . summer of sam  unfortunately  merely wallows in its own sensationalism and sleaze  while believing that it is serving as social commentary  much like other trash epics .  br    br   summer of sam does not serve as a serious drama because its characters are merely cardboard  cutout stereotypes . its plot purports to show the emotional impact of the hysteria over the son of sam murders on the residents of the predominately italian  american north bronx neighborhood where the murders ocurred . however  instead of of presenting the locals as a diverse mix of personalities  lee simply wheels out every negative italian stereotype imaginable . the men are ignorant  lazy  oversexed goombahs . the women are split between weak  complacent  good girls   mira sorvino  s dionna  and promiscuous  bad girls   jennifer esposito  s ruby  . lee seems to vindictively wants to  payback  hollywood for their years of negative african  american stereotyping by wheeling out stereotypes of his own  and few critics seem to care . if martin scorsese  for example  presented residents of an african  american neighborhood as a bunch of amos  n andy and aunt jemima stereotypes  critics would rightfully condemn such blatant stereotyping . more importantly  one  dimensional  stereotypical characters undermine any film that attempts to be a serious social commentary .  br    br   without exception  the cast of summer of sam is excellent . however  the acting  for the most part  is uninspired . the cast is either just going through the motions  or they have little to work with scriptwise . additionally  there is notable miscasting . comedian john leguizamo is very talented  but his vinny character seems to be a stale  comedic impersonation of john travolta  s tony manero from saturday night fever . and michael badalucco  a perennial  nice guy  actor  is badly miscast as serial killer david berkowitz  coming across as funny rather than frightening . the only performance worth paying attention to is adrien brody as the troubled  but sincere  neighborhood misfit ritchie . the brody performance and the typically stylish lee cinematography are this film  s only virtues .  br    br       out of   
hey guys i  m actually in this movie  i didn  t even know it was on this site until i looked a few years ago and i was so surprised  i played pete  the main characters son . it was a great experience and i loved every minute of it . while filming they needed me to be in two places at once  so they used my twin sister as a body double  the finger that pushes the radio button in the car is hers not mine . i still act and do some tv  but not as much . oh and if you want proof my name is the first one at the top of the scroll .  br    br   review i thought the movie was okay but if i wasn  t in it  it wouldn  t be one of my favorites . i thought the acting was really good  but the story line was only so  so .  
i  m afraid that i have to disagree with the majority . i found spike lee  s latest a wee bit boring  although he was trying something different  i . e . not just documenting the rise and fall of the serial killer  i don  t think it worked too well .  br    br   there  s really a bit too much going on  vinny  john leguizamo  and dionna  s  mira sorvino  relationship  ritchie  s  adrien brody  lifestyle and then the local mafia types . the story is good  but at the end thats all you have   or  stories . with such a provocative killer could mr lee not have put more into that side of the film    br    br   there are some good points though . all scenes with the  son of sam  killer david berkowitz look very nice  colour saturation etc . . .  and the acting is pretty good throughout .  br    br   overall i felt that the different stories would of worked well on their own or else without the killings . it just wasn  t strong enough in the end .  br    br    
if there  s one genre that i  ve never been a fan of  it  s the biopic . always misleading  filled with false information  over  dramatized scenes  and trickery all around  biopics are almost never done right . even in the hands of the truly talented directors like martin scorsese  the aviator  and ron howard  a beautiful mind   they often do a great disservice to the people they are trying to capture on screen . skeptiscism takes the place of hype with the majority of biopics that make their way to the big screen and the notorious bettie page was no different . some critics and moviegoers objected to gretchen mol given the role of bettie page  saying she was no longer a celebrity and didn  t have the chops for the part . i never doubted mol could handle the part since  but i never expected to as blown as away by her performance as i was upon just viewing the film hours ago . mol delivers a knockout oscar worthy performance as the iconic      s pin  up girl  who  after an early life of abuse  depicted subtlety and tastefully done  something few directors would probably do  inadvertently becomes one of the most talked about models of all time . the picture covers a lot of ground in its   minute running time yet despite no less than three subplots  there is still a feeling that there may be a small portion missing from the story . director  co  writer marry harron and guinevere turner  s fantastic script is only marred by a too abrupt and not as clear as it should be ending . still  credit must be given to the two ladies for creating a nearly flawless biopic that manages to pay tribute to both its subject and the decade it emulates masterfully . come oscar time  mol  turner  and harron should be receiving nominations . doubt it will happen  though there certainly are no three women more deserving of them .      
this long winded film turns out to be less about berkowitz and his effect on nyc  but more about painting caricatures of a certain group of italian  americans  known locally as  guidos .  the problem is that  guidos  are uninteresting  no matter what kind of story or setting they are immersed in . they are already living caricatures  so lee only amplifies them  rather than simply portraying them .  br    br   when someone has a caricature done of themselves  they don  t go home and say   hey  let  s make the ears and nose even bigger   that  s what lee has done in this film . the most interesting characters in the film are the two  adrian brody and jennifer esposito  who wish to escape the  guido  lifestyle . top it off with an uninteresting storyline for the characters  particularly john leguizamo  s  and you get a nice film to fall asleep by . especially considering it  s lengthy run time .  br    br   one more strike against it for someone proclaiming to be a yankees fan  and has grown up in new york  spike lee should know how to spell phil rizzuto  which is spelled incorrectly in the closing credits .  
i am not going to lie . despite looking interesting  i watched the notorious bettie page because i had heard  and it was fairly obvious just by looking at a synopsis or anything about the film   that gretchen mol got naked in it . i have never been a fan of mol  but i cannot resist seeing an attractive woman taking off her clothes . yes  that may be perverted  but its a theme and ideal central to the very core of the movie  and helps to make the film a lot stronger than it probably should be .  br    br   the film chronicles bettie page  s  mol  life from her physical and sexually abused days as a kid in high school in the south  and onto her new life in new york . she wants to be an actress  but she has to pay bills too . after taking a few seemingly innocent shots on a local beach  page slowly becomes a modeling sensation  and quickly jumps from suggestive photos to sexually provocative pin  up photographs .  br    br   i feel the briefness of the film  just over ninety minutes  is both a curse and blessing for it . on one hand  the film never overstays its welcome . you get to know page within a few short minutes  and then it gets right into her modeling career and does not look back . but it curses the film as well  because we never really get a chance to grasp everything that is going on . she just kind of jumps around between modeling shoots and the controversies that they create before jumping right into the major senate investigation that takes up much of the final act of the film . you just sit there  and attempt to absorb it all  and more just comes right at you . it feels like the filmmakers wanted to summarize too much material in too short a film . it begs for longer sequences  and begs more for even longer explanations . it does not feel rushed it just does not feel all there .  br    br   another bit of a fumble  although a bit more of a curiosity  is the use of colour throughout the film . the majority is in black and white  but frequently  splashes and sequences of colour do emerge . but while this may have been done as a symbolic gesture early on  it becomes a bit of a distraction as it continually pops up later on before cutting back to black and white . it gets confusing  and becomes more of a tedious interference than anything else as the film goes on .  br    br   while it may fumble a bit with the actions  the film stays dead  on with its themes . page  who i know little to nothing about  is played off innocently  and her world is exactly the same . save for a few shady characters during her teenage years  everyone she encounters is an innocent  and everything she does has an innocence to it . i never thought i would look at full frontal nudity as being something that was anything other than vulgar and depraved  but here  it truly is something to marvel at . all at once  it is beautiful and innocent . even the most sexually perverted moments in the film  albeit tame compared to today  s standards  have an innocent and angelic feeling to them . there is just something about the way mol  s nude body is portrayed that it just strikes at such a different chord than nude bodies in other films . it just feels so natural and so wondrous  that if there were any reason to watch the film  it would be to see the spectacular depictions of mol  s body as she plays bettie page .  br    br   the other reason is mol herself . as page  she exemplifies that      s southern belle everyone knows  or can at least imagine  . despite her profession  she is still a normal person  and still looks at herself as being religious . mol plays her exactly to the right amount of squeaky  cleanliness needed to make this character feel authentically from the      s . she plays her with such matter  of  factness that you would be hard  set not to think that mol was actually bettie page herself .  br    br   unfortunately  the supporting cast have very little moments to shine  and are totally overshadowed by mol  s wonderful performance . none of them do anything particularly pleasing  and none of them really have that same strength in their role as mol does . this is not really the fault of the actors  but more of the fact that they do not have much to work with . many of them are totally recognizable  such as oscar  nominee david strathairn  in a role a little too close to one of his better performances   sarah paulson  recent golden globe nominee for studio   on the sunset strip   and character actor lili taylor  but you would be hard set to really place their performance in being anything other than okay . none of these characters are really developed  and they really just stand as character cut  outs who mol runs loops around as she picks up steam in her brilliant performance .  br    br   really  this film is worthwhile for its portrayal of nudity  and for gretchen mol  s excellent performance of bettie page . everything else is a bit too muddled and awkward than it should be . had more work been done to develop supporting characters and not just blast right through the story  this film would have been a much better biographical film . as it stands  it is just a vehicle for mol to really rise into the stratosphere of popularity as an actress .  br    br       .  
good actors and good performances can  t mask a pointless script  bad dialogue  and patterns of behavior spiraling into nothing you  d care about . the most interesting character is david berkowitz . no character development  no growth  no interest  just some suffering for no particular reason  teaching us nothing and not even bothering to entertain .  
greetings again from the darkness . mary heron is amassing quite the list of films which provide a glimpse into their specific era . her previous  i shot andy warhol  and  american psycho  were at their best when commenting on the quirkiness of society during that period . although  the notorious bettie page  is obviously about ms . page  it is every bit as much a peak behind the curtain at the world of kinky photo shoots in the    s .  br    br   the film is fun to watch both from the perspective of the story and the technical aspect of the way it was filmed and put together . the grainy bw film and photos capture the time and the introduction of color in miami beach through the photos of bunny yeager is very well done .  br    br   the supporting cast is strong with david strathairn  fresh off his edward r . murrow role   chris bauer  as irving klaw  and lili taylor . the star of the film is the wonderfully talented and underrated and underworked gretchen mol . ms . mol always brings an edge and spirit to her roles . she was absolutely mesmerizing in the little seen  jason alexander directed  just looking  in     . here she is the notorious bettie page . her smile is captivating and her body is flawless . she really seems to enjoy this role and helps us understand how the girl next door from tennessee could become the underworld pin  up queen .  br    br   as one would expect  the soundtrack from the era is terrific . patsy cline and peggy lee are just two of the featured performers . although the film hints at providing a history into this industry  the final third kinda falls flat preventing pure movie magic . but the magic of gretchen mol and bettie page make this a fun movie to watch and one that will yield endless showings on hbo in the near future . now will someone please turn ms . mol into the star she should be   
this movie is bad news and i  m really surprised at the level of big name talent who would ever agree to appear in such a piece of junk as this . i imagine there were a few strangled agents sprawled across hollywood blvd . as a result of this fiasco . what really gets you is that it could have been good . the directors star appeal and the subject matter was sufficient fodder to spark interest and ticket sales  but this is a flop . the multiple story lines all go from bad to silly by the pictures end  and you end up feeling like a mouse in a maze looking for a piece of cheese that turns out to be rotten . what spike is able to achieve is revenge against any italians who may have beat him up when he was a kid or insulted him  as the movie does quite a number on perpetuating outdated and probably offensive italian stereotypes . as with any spike lee film there is some really thought provoking and magical camerawork . he does have the gift of grabbing your psyche and transporting you into his vision if only for a few memorable scenes . but the question remains . . . can you endure the other  hours of head scratching and clock watching as you wonder and wait for the ending that has to be there somewhere .  
great acting on the part of gretchen mol . this film is one of the best biopics to hit the screen in some time . while it does cover the majority of bettie  s young life  it also manages to stay on a mostly focused path which is something most biographical films seem to lack . there is some lovely and alarmingly funny subtext in the dialogue and acting . this film is an excellent break from the dir . of  american psycho   and i think this will show through as her best work to date . oh  and as a cinematography buff  i give this film     in the cine dept . it was amazing how well they pulled off a   s look with modern film stocks . accolades to the d . o . p . all around very enjoyable . i recommend any interested to see it     .  
i wish spike lee had chosen a different title for his film .  summer of sam  conveys the impression that the film is about the infamous serial killer  david berkowitz . it  s not . it  s a gritty  earthy portrait of nyc street life during the hot summer of    when berkowitz terrorized that city .  br    br   the film follows several young fictional characters in an italian  american neighborhood  and their reactions to the son of sam threat . there  s vinny and his wife dionna there  s richie and ruby  and several other characters .  br    br   the problem is that these characters are not likable . they are routinely annoying  and at times unbearable . lee then belabors their high energy  chaotic lives  which are filled with anger  lust  and general turmoil . there are at least two protracted fight scenes between vinny and his wife  redundant disco dance scenes  countless gabfests . . . over and over i kept wondering where  s the film editor   br    br   meanwhile  with all that bulk  the film passes up the chance to convey any real sense of fear or dread arising from the son of sam menace  which is too much in the background . lee is more successful at showing a different kind of menace  that arising from neighborhood vigilante groups .  br    br   the acting is uniformly good . that  combined with    s disco music  and lavish attention to costumes and production design  make you really feel like you are in an italian  american neighborhood in nyc in     .  br    br   the film  s atmospheric authenticity  however  is not nearly enough to offset a rambling  overblown script about the lives of grossly irritating people .  
the notorious bettie page written by mary harron  guinevere turner directed by mary harron  br    br   how do you define a person who has always been between two worlds  one of presumed sin and one of supposed redemption  especially when that person eventually succumbed to a split personality disorder in her latter years as if to demonstrate her own point . if you  re director mary harron  you don  t shy away from showing the push  pull nature of the notorious bettie page . you allow the character to drift back and forth between the healing forgiveness of the power of god and the church and the seductive illusion of control and dominance afforded to page during her years as a pinup model . by doing so  audiences are offered a complex character that is propelled forward by a desire to leave her difficult past with a naive enjoyment in others  lust for her and a struggle to reconcile her image in the eyes of god . come the right time  it will no longer matter how many eyes are on her because there is only one pair that counts .  br    br   shot mostly in black and white  with some unnecessary bursts of color   the notorious bettie page is at times a light  humorous comedy  making the film an enjoyable experience and also one that pokes fun at how seriously people believe in the corruption of pornography . but the delicate hand of the director is more palpably felt during page  s times of despair . harron is a sensitive  considerate director who does not throw page  s numerous and devastating blows of abuse in the face of her viewer . instead  she allows the surprisingly effective gretchen moll  who plays the title role  the chance to hammer the pain of her character into the viewer with fear in her eyes  exhaustion is her cries and shame on her skin . whereas most directors  perhaps most male directors  would find it essential to show the heroine in painful positions in order to draw a link between the kinds of atrocities that were put upon her and where her life took her  harron has too much compassion for her character  her actress and her audience . from fragility  page learns to trust people again and as more and more photographers fall in love with her image  the more she falls in love with their admiration and the control she has over the gaze . by the time her poses cross over into the realm of soft  core sm  she has found a way to combine her need to be respected with the objectification she has been accustomed to her whole life .  br    br   mary harron  s bettie page is a woman who yearns for control over her life and destiny  yet ultimately is always being told where to stand  how to smile and what to wear . when she finally realizes that none of her choices have been her own  she chooses to embrace god and preach his word to those who will listen . the true sadness behind this most important decision is that she is still letting someone else guide her blindly she just has more faith that this direction will be better for her soul .  
  why    br    br   that simple question had to be on the lips of every single new yorker during the   months of terror that david berkowitz created in        . that same one word will surely become the same perplexing question   summers later as people exit theaters exhibiting the trite and exploitative  summer of sam  .  br    br   director spike lee attempts to weave the story of a pack of misguided thugs searching for the celebrated psychopath   who paralyzed new york city for over a year   with a stark and graphical depiction of the killings  the demons inside berkowitz  s head and the frustration of a futile nypd manhunt . he presents an ensemble of despicable losers who hear their own  barking dogs  as they live lives devoid of love  honor and humanity   no different than berkowitz . lee browbeats the audience in nearly every frame with  not one of us are what we seem to be  . often a critic of the white establishment  lee perpetuates the stereotype by including a scene where mira sorvino  playing a newlywed with a cheating husband  john leguizamo   hopes to have oral sex with a black man  in the back of a big black cadillac  . an italian mafioso tells a black detective that the famous willie mays  over  the  back center field catch was  lucky  . lee even makes sure to deliver the racist musings of one middle aged black woman who declares  i  m happy it  s a white man killing all these white people because if it were a black man killing all these white people  there would be the biggest race riot in nyc history .   br    br   other than an outstanding opening pan shot of an arrival at a disco  reminiscent of shots from martin scorcese  s  goodfellas  or orson welles   the third man    this film has no soul  purpose or passion . he parades characters on the screen bereft of human decency . although we learn nothing about the true victims of this horrible spree  spike lee seems to be saying new york city got what it deserved during that frightening  boiling summer over two decades ago .  br    br    how could anyone wreak such havoc on his beloved city    how could someone show such hatred toward his fellow man    br    br   are these appropriate questions for berkowitz or lee   br    br   you decide .  
jodie foster  cherie currie  the former lead singer of the seminal all  girl rock group the runaways in her remarkably able acting debut   marilyn kagan  and kandice stroh are uniformly believable  splendid and touching as the titular quartet  who are a tight  knit clique of troubled  fiercely loyal adolescent girls with negligent  uncaring  self  absorbed parents who do their best to grow up and fend for themselves in the affluent san fernando valley  california suburbs . the girls are forced to make serious decisions about sex  drugs  alcohol  commitment  and so on at a tender young age when they  re not fully prepared to completely own up to the potentially harmful consequences of said decisions . foster  giving one of her most perceptive  affecting and underrated performances to date  is basically the group  s den mother who presides over the well  being of both herself and the others she  s especially concerned about the good  hearted  but reckless and self  destructive currie  whose carelessly hedonistic lifestyle makes her likely to meet an untimely end .  br    br   this picture offers a poignant  insightful  often devastatingly credible and thoroughly absorbing examination of broken  dysfunctional families which exist directly underneath suburbia  s neatly manicured surface and the tragic net result of such families tough  resilient  but unhappy and vulnerable kids who have to confront the trials and tribulations of growing up on their own because their parents are either too inconsiderate or even nonexistent . adrian   fatal attraction    jacob  s ladder   lyne  s direction is both sturdy and observant while gerald ayres  script is somewhat messy and rambling  but overall still accurate in its frank  gritty  unsentimental depiction of your average latchkey kid  s nerve  wrackingly chaotic  capricious and unpredictable everyday life . leon bijou  s soft  dewy  almost pastoral cinematography properly suggests a delicate and easily breakable sense of tranquility and innocence . giorgio moroder arranged the excellent score  which makes particularly effective use of donna summer  s elegiac  on the radio .  the top  notch cast includes sally kellerman as foster  s neurotic  insecure  peevish mother  scott baio as a sweet skateboarder dude  randy quaid as kagan  s rich older boyfriend  british    s pop singer adam faith as foster  s feckless  absentee rock promoter father  and lois smith as kagan  s smothering  overprotective mother . appearing in brief bits are robert romanus  mike damone  fast times at richmont high   as one of foster  s morose ex  boyfriends and a gawky  braces  wearing laura dern as an obnoxious party crasher . achingly authentic  engrossing and deeply moving  currie  s grim ultimate fate is very heart  breaking    foxes  is quite simply one of the most unsung and under  appreciated teen movies made about early    s adolescence .  
after hearing the word of mouth of just how bad this film is i took the plunge and bought the dvd . that said everything previously mentioned about this film is true . for a film that claimed to have a budget in the millions it just does not show on the screen at all . the list of problems with the film could drag on forever . chief amongst them is the film is simply too long . it dragged on for a few minutes short of  hours . nearly an hour probably could have been cut off the run time had the editor simply removed the overabundance of scenes dealing with nothing more then the main character wandering around aimlessly .  br    br   secondly  as many had pointed out from the  trailers   the special effects are anything but special . the tripods looked ok in a few shots here and there but beyond that everything was grade  z      s or      s quality . probably the worst effects of all were the horses  which stiffly tottered back and forth as they moved . the heat ray effects were laughable  as people were reduced to bones that somehow were still able to flail about without any muscles . also pitiful was the thunderchild sequence  in which the thunderchild  described in the book as an ironclad ram  looked nothing of the sort . instead it resembled a world war  era destroyer  complete with deck guns  which fired but had no visible crew   and torpedo tubes .  br    br   the colors and backgrounds were just as bad as the effects . most laughable of all was a scene early on in which the main character and his wife go for a nighttime stroll and he points out mars to her in the sky . well  the sky is black  but the views of the characters and the landscape around them is broad daylight . there is also a very sharp demarcation between the real landscape  bathed in full sunlight  and the fake black night sky with overly large fuzzy stars . to detract even further  the color of the scenes made no sense . in some they are bathed in orange light . in others green light . in still others it  s blue light . in some instances the outsides are orange lit but the interiors of houses are green or blue . the frame  rate and camera is very shaky  giving everything a stuttering look .  br    br   finally  the acting is overall sub  par . one man portrays two characters who  s sole difference was one lacked a mustache . this led to some confusion at times as to who was who and where they all were . the english accents  even to american ears  are outrageous .  br    br   in summary  this movie could very well make a claim to being the worst film released in recent times . i have not seen gigli or some of the other recent flops but this one  because of it  s poor quality in every respect  must easily be worse then anything that mainstream hollywood has put out . i would not be surprised if the movie makes it to the bottom   or   in the imdb rankings . it  s a pity that mystery science theater is not still around .  
 . . . but the general moviegoer  s mileage may vary in mary  american psycho  harron  s stylized look at the american sexual psyche as seen through the lens of the immortal queen of curves  bettie page .  br    br   i  ll not bore anyone with a recitation of the iconic status of ms . page  a prim and proper valedictorian from nashville  tennessee  who moved to new york in hopes of being an actress and ended up becoming the bondage queen of the universe . nor will i run through the sketchy bio  pic plot of  the notorious bettie page   though i offer high kudos to the technical aspects of the film  a sequence of animated magazine covers springs instantly to mind   improper use of a period camera notwithstanding . finally  i won  t belabor the timely applicability of the film  s themes of innocence and perversion  freedom and control  the sacred and the secular they  re there for the viewer to absorb  if they wish . the more things change  the more they stay the same  as the saying goes .  br    br   what i will ramble on about for a moment is the splendid performance of gretchen mol as bettie page . truth is  mol  s face looks almost nothing like bettie  s  nor is she particularly built like bettie  although only a fool would deny those beautiful breasts  and no fool  i   . she doesn  t even sport the thick  dark bush that concealed ms . page  s most intimate charms  but the fact remains that mol thoroughly embodies the spirit of bettie page in every way  shape  and form . it is a bravura  comeback  from an undeserved semi  obscurity . i  ve never met ms . page  and sadly  never will  most likely   but i  ve devoured the photos and videos  and read all the bios and interviews available  bought the trading cards and other odds and ends  and to be honest  lusted for ms . page ever since i first discovered her in my adolescence between the covers of dusty tease magazines at the barber shop and the five and dime . mol perfectly captures the essence of the woman as i have come to conceive her  no pun intended  in what i consider to be an oscar  worthy performance . liv tyler could never have matched mol  s shining intensity of characterization in a million years  and i  for one  am grateful she left the project . not that i  d mind seeing her totally naked  i hasten to add  but i can  t imagine that her brand of sensuality would have translated into the innocent exhuberance of bettie page .  br    br    the notorious bettie page  is not for everyone  any more than bondage and discipline are . i suspect it will do much better on disc than in the theaters legions of devoted page fans and the curious will see to that . i can only hope that the dvd will be chock full of enough bettie extras to show the uninitiated just how good a job mol has done .  br    br   beyond that  a tip of the hat to a fine supporting cast  especially lili taylor and chris bauer as paula and irving klaw  whose celebrity photo business was bettie  s doorway to immortality .  br    br   a final note to the young scribe who opined that ms . page had no effect on his generation take a good look at madonna  s cone brassiere and get back to us . bettie page is  whether you know it or not  the true godmother of fetishwear . without her  madonna and the rest of her kin could never have existed .  
the film is a collection of cliche  s on just about anything out there . it has no focus whatsoever  no goals  no real message . symbolism is pushed over the top and stereotyping is abundant and outrageous . this movie can  t resist the temptation of making drama where non exists . every small exchange of words turns immediately into a lengthy  unjustified dialog that is so typical of an acting class rehearsal . where there is no substance to this exchange  the actors  regardless of how good they are normally  can  t help but compensate with exaggerated emotion  aka  raising the stakes  . over acting  to put it simply . the directing is of no help here . nothing can save this non  story . it is forced  faked and boring to tears . inaccuracies in portaraying punk rock with the who  piercings and flashy    s outfits . characters wander without a role  detail and motive . locations are arbitrary . this is boogie nights cum the good fellas cum saturday night fever  with meaning and art ripped out .  br    br   good dp . i  ll give it that .  br    br   some films have flaws . this film is lee  s flaw . he sold out  like the rest of them . became irrelevant . he has nothing of interest to say anymore .  br    br   i have no desire to see anything again from this guy  whom i  ll refrain from naming from now on  .  
film can be a looking glass to see the world in a new light . good night and good luck  for instance  offered parallels to modern judgement  without  evidence and encroachments on freedom . it is easier to examine a moral problem when it is not too close to home by putting it in a fictional or historic context removed from our immediate situation . with pornography  we consider ourselves  enlightened  and our forefathers to be hidebound by quaint ideas  usually involving fire and brimstone  but the definition of what is obscene can easily fall prey to ignorance and unscientific interpretation instead of evidence . bettie page was a cult icon of an era which included not just mccarthyism but the banning of comics  such as tales from the crypt  on the basis that they would turn youths into half  mad juvenile delinquents . this film  developed from key questions raised in her life  poses dilemmas that are as relevant today as back in     .  br    br   our film opens with two key scenes . in the first  we see well  dressed  respectable looking men in a seedy bookshop . one of them asks for pictures of women in kinky boots and being restrained  then turns out to be an undercover cop conducting a sting . the second scene shows bettie page  waiting to be called as a witness  looking quite demure  as if she had just come out of church .  br    br   the first   mins are in black  white . old fashioned film effects such as wipes and fades add to the sense that we are watching a film from bygone years  as do the mannerisms of the cast  skilfully recreated     s scenes  contemporaneous slang phrases and the terse dialogue associated with film  making of the period . archive footage is frequently intercut  which will delight many and irritate others . in keeping with its theme  the movie is almost a collection of different types of photography  in  motion  and the older clips of fabulous beaches and landmarks juxtapose well against bettie  s classic poses hearken back to an age of  health  nature  magazines . . . although i admit that if you are not captivated by the story you may find the effect a bit choppy .  br    br   very soon  we go into flashback . bettie escapes a depression years downtrodden life in nashville  enlivened only with church singing and soul  saving  and goes alone to make her own way . after her initial success  her modelling work splits into two strands the mainstream glamour work focussing on her over  the  rainbow smile  and the  specialist interest  photos involving dressing up in high  heeled boots and light bondage gear . in an earlier audition  reminiscent of a scene with naomi watts  character in mulholland drive  who was also called betty   she gives a performance that is full of emotion  contrasting with her normal animated  cheerful  but ultimately bland  day  to  day expression . is part of her still unfulfilled  bettie is frequently rejected in auditions once they realise she is the well  known pin  up girl . but we have never been asked to feel sorry for bettie page her abusive childhood is quickly referenced and skipped over when she is raped by four hometown lads  we see only the threat and then bettie recovering and surviving  picking herself up in deserted woodland  and putting on the brave face of someone who refuses to lie down and die .  br    br   although no nudity is involved  it  s bettie  s special interest photos that eventually arouse trouble . when we go back to the court  the opinions of a clergyman on the corrupting influence of such photos are taken as evidence . a psychologist authoritatively says how the photos lead to  suicide  murder and psychosis  in youngsters who are exposed to them  presumably not in that order  . eventually a star witness explains how his son  s life came to an end as a result of such photos   being  trussed up like that  . it is not made clear how being  trussed up  causes death  . the text accompanying a series of bettie  s photographs in a magazine tell how she was forced to endure  terrible agonies  with the fetish restraints  the audience knows that she actually found them quite hilarious and that the wordings  like the photos themselves  were pure dramatisations  . after a   hr wait  bettie is told her evidence  she is the one person who could state definitively that she was not photographed in agony  will  not be required  . the  horrors  of the photos have been proved .  br    br   if this all sounds like the dark ages which we have left  consider a recent       incident in which an ann summers advert was banned . it said   for fashion and passion whip along to your local store   with a photograph of a woman  s back . she  s wearing a bra and thong and her hands are handcuffed behind her back . the lingerie and sex toys company  that targets female consumers  and also supports charities fighting domestic violence  said its adverts aimed   to give women sexual confidence and always showed women in control of their sexuality .  one might conclude that the prejudice and ignorance of the betty page investigations still holds currency .  br    br   bettie  s religious views are integral to the story  just as the concept of sin is integral to christianity and contributes to the  forbidden  nature of sexual enjoyment frequently prevalent in the uk and us  as opposed to the more factual approach found in continental europe . it could be argued the formulae of sin and redemption  and  being saved   are even reflected in mating patterns that perpetuate traditional male dominance . a policeman making a friendly  but sexually motivated  approach to bettie outside the courtroom offers to  save  her from loneliness . the knight  in  shining  armour might be chivalrous  but it also assumes a woman in need of rescue .  br    br   love it or hate it  the notorious bettie page is an unusual and extraordinary film  and a moral wake  up call for those that heed it . there is excellent ensemble acting  and gretchen mol  as bettie  is remarkable as the whole film succeeds or falls on her powerful performance .  
this was one of the most ridiculous and badly directed movies i  ve seen in a very long time . i  ve never liked spike lee  but thought i  d give this one a try bad mistake . the movie is supposed to show how the son of sam real life murders affected a neighborhood in the summer of      what it really did was center around the most boring characters that i doubt anyone cared for as far as their drug problems  marriage problems  and so on  etc . the scenes that depict the murders are just that  and nothing more a shooting and then it  s back to saturday night fever  what  s even more ridiculous is spike lee  s choice to show up as a reporter in the movie spike  trust me  you  re no hitchcock  stay out of the movies  it makes them even worse off . the most silly scene had to be the dog speaking in a goofy voice  which was depicted in a scene before it where it was supposed to have been shot    spike  what were you thinking when you made this film  not thinking at all is my guess . people who think they  ll see a crime drama  take my advice and do not waste your time or money on this loser . you  re better off watching jerry springer in this case  waste of film  i gave it a  out of    awful dud .  
firstly  i have heard great things about this film  not least among the retro  vintage scene and the stockings lovers who absolutely love bettie page and it did not disappoint . shot in very clean black and white with colour added for key scenes  the film gives a documentary feel to the early life and career of bettie page .  br    br   there are many things i did not know about page . firstly  there was the gang rape  later on  there is her early attempts at developing an acting career and then glamour pictures  firstly with a camera club peopled with men who can  t get enough of her and later with the klaws  paula and irving  who despite their taking of bondage and fetish photos  come across as extremely pleasant and friendly people . if only modern pornography producers were like that  perhaps better porn would be a consequence  for the most part  the film is neither a diatribe against the evils of pornography but an attempt to show the kind of environment that existed in the     s for those producing fetish and nude pictures of women . this environment was extremely repressive  perhaps in a good way because it meant that there was none of the  saturation  effect that we have today  when it comes to pornography . it also appeared to be much less harsh . page comes across as someone who enjoys her work and doesn  t appear to be degraded by it . in many of her photos she is seen tied up and gagged  and trying to hold a conversation   brandishing a whip with a flourish  thus exciting the photographers taking her pictures and seen in  initiation style  girlie bondage movies which look quite tame compared with the hardcore stuff we have now .  br    br   page never became an actress and instead deserted pinup when she was in her thirties for  jesus christ  . her belief in god and jesus never goes away  even when bound and gagged she still insists that she has been given a  gift  by god to do  this thing  . seeing this film  i am more knowledgeable about page and in awe at her modesty  beliefs and demeanour . she is one of a kind  compared with the identi  kit clone blondes we have today and someone who can actually say  there is life after porn  .  
i had to walk out of the theater . after an hour  all i was seeing was people cheating on wives  schtupping like dogs in a rut  and using the f  word like a diabetic using equal .  br    br   no thanks .  br    br   it was especially frustrating because the movie could have done a lot . any one of the characters could have been quite interesting if they were given more to do than fornicate  talk about it  and swear at each other .  br    br   the few times that it looked as if there were about to be some sort of character development  all that happened was another sex scene . plot development in the  st hour can be summarized as   several murders occur    vinnie sees murder scene   vinnie stares moodily across atlantic  east  hudson river   vinnie cheats on wife  and   joey  most sympathetic character in the show  gets kicked out of his parents  house . more than that  i didn  t wait to see .  br    br   the photography and the interplay between the characters were superb  but there was nothing for them to do . the flood of sex and vulgarity was hardly worth waiting another hour for something to happen .  br    br   sorry  spike . take some lessons from notting hill  or shawshank redemption . either one is a better study in community and interpersonal relationships .  
  the notorious bettie page         br    br   directed by mary harron  br    br   starring gretchen mol  chris bauer  lili taylor  sarah paulson   david strathairn  br    br   mpaa rating  r   for nudity  sexual content and some language   br    br   it seems as though every celebrity nowadays is getting a biopic made about his or her life . from ray charles to johnny cash  biopics are very posh right now .  the notorious bettie page  is the latest of these to be released on dvd . it features gretchen mol as the world  s most famous pin  up model  bettie page and was filmed mostly in black and white with certain excerpts in color . unlike  ray    walk the line   and  finding neverland   however  this movie is not going to be one to watch out for at the oscars this year . this movie lacks the emotional resonance displayed in other biopics and most of the more dramatic moments in bettie page  s life are either completely ignored or only merely suggested . this does not mean  however  that it is a bad movie . in fact   the notorious bettie page  is a thoroughly entertaining and fulfilling movie   a solid work of cinema . this film focuses more on page  s exciting career and the thin line between sexuality and pornography . it is filmed with fervor and care and mary harron  s direction captures the look and feel of the time period as most filmmakers only dream about .  br    br   everyone knows bettie page  played by mol  . whether you know her as an iconor a simple porn staryou know her . she is a woman who had a very profound impact on american culture only by revealing more skin than deemed appropriate at that particular time . now  most people know her as one of america  s first sex symbols   a legend to many models  especially those of playboy and other adult  oriented magazines . she lived in a time when showing just an inch of flesh below the waste could have someone arrested and page  s bondage  style photos were just the thing to push the american public into an uproar . in fact  the photos launched a full  fledged senate investigation about common decency and the difference between harmless films and porn .  br    br   the performances in  the notorious bettie page  are absolutely wonderful with gretchen mol standing out . her performance as bettie page is simply brilliant . i understand that  when she was announced for the role  many people were skeptical . her name is not one that immediately leaps to my mind when i think of great performances . now  it will . she completely aced the role and drew me in with her vulnerable and yet deeply engaging performance . david strathairn is fresh off of last year  s  good night  and good luck   in which he gave one of      s best performances . here  he gives yet another fine performanceeven though he is slightly underused . i was shocked at how very limited his screen time wasbut quality over quantity is always the most important aspect of any good movie . the only performance i have seen from lili taylor was that in  the haunting        . while most people ignored the movie  i found it to be an enjoyable  if not completely shallow  horror movie and i also have always thought that taylor was perfectly credible as the emotionally  distraught nell . here  taylor gives yet another credible performance . she gives a very subdued performance and delivers the perfect performance to compliment that of gretchen mol .  br    br   after everything was said and done  i realized that  the notorious bettie page  cannot be compared to other biopics  such as  finding neverland  and  walk the line  . it is incomparable to these because it tells a story of a woman and her career  from the beginning to the end . her personal life is briefly implied  but it is really her impact on the world that becomes the high point . we watch the film knowing that page will eventually bare all and we know the impact that her decisions will havebut we are rarely shown the impact that they will have on her personal life . she is a woman that never looked back and could constantly reinvent herself . after all  she was an adult model turned christian missionary . this movie does not over dramatize anything . it could have included fictitious moments of page sobbing hysterically and begging god to forgive her . it could have shown page running and screaming through the rain  trying to escape the ghosts of her pastand yet it does not .  the notorious bettie page  tells a simple story and that is something rare by today  s standards . fortunately  it is quite refreshing .  br    br   final thought  the notorious bettie page  is a relaxing movie with absolutely amazing cinematography .  br    br   overall rating      a   
what can i say  i think i have to write  spoiler alert  and then  reveal  they used the f  word a lot in this movie  like in every two sentences . i did not like this movie at all  too much hints on sexual perversions  sidesteps and cheating . and that swearing was totally out the window . i gave this movie    and two of those points are for mira sorvino  s sexy movements on the dance floor .  
she  s not michael jordan  br    br   think of all the marvelous nba players whose career light has been dimmed for no other good reason than the timing of their birth . their names might trip as easily off the public  s lips as russell  cousy  byrd  magic  mchale  oscar  wilt  the list goes on but the volume gets turned down a little  for stockton and malone  charles  patrick and all the other great players who always lost the headlines to michael .  br    br   i  ve seen it written that gretchen mol  s career flamed out in the wake of the cover article in the     vanity fair issue which predicted inevitable superstardom for ms . mol . it was later said that she had been over hyped . i disagree .  br    br   i still remember that for some time after i saw  the devil  s advocate  in    or     i would get confused as to which actress played mary ann lomax . was it mol or theron  oh yeah  charlize theron was the one in   days in the valley  and  mighty joe young  and gretchen mol was in  donnie brasco    celebrity   and  rounders  .  br    br   by the time i had seen  the thirteenth floor   mol  and  sweet november   theron   i pretty much had them straightened out but i still put them in the same mental file drawer . both were highly talented  had sweet faces  similar body types  short blonde hair and so on .  br    br   theron  though  was offered more work . i loved her as sara deever and as adele invergordon her beauty was downright intimidating .  br    br   in      monster  was released and from that point until the handing of the oscar itself  all of filmdom knew who the  best actress  award was going to . and deservedly so  theron was aileen wuornos . the only way to get a more accurate understanding of what made the real aileen wuornos tick would be to somehow replay the digital video trapped in selby  s head . and for a major talent to make herself that physically unattractive  unheard of   br    br   then in      the notorious bettie page  was released . mol  s performance was extraordinary . maybe she was standing in the shadow of ms . theron . it was like the ballroom for the victory celebration for the losing presidential candidate  nobody came and nobody cared . it was viewed as a continuation of an old tale  once promising actress with a declining career does a nudie part in a  b  movie . ho hum  no  no  no  wrong  no matter what you may think of the film  and i enjoy films about the fifties  if you pass on this one you  ll be missing one of the better performances of that year . ms . moll was every bit as much bettie as ms . theron was aileen . unfortunately aileen  to the film  going public  is the more sympathetic character . for whatever reason  an amoral  sociopathic killer is less embarrassing to us than a nave  unsophisticated  uninhibited  religious girl whose most capital crime was to live her life totally trusting and completely exposed . bettie page was one of the icons of the fifties . her photos and films never sexual  never pornographic  but she presented as a near caricature of all things kinky . there was no sense of realism  only parody . ms . moll captured the very essence of the character . she gained   pounds to add some zaftig to her normally slim figure and when she posed for various photographers in the film  her body was bettie  s . her full frontal lack of any inhibitions accurately fits everything which has been published about bettie . cinematic nudity normally depicts eroticism or sexuality . in this film it  s all about innocence . seeing gretchen  bettie nude didn  t make me want to jump her but instilled a desire to protect her from all the horrors that people can inflict on each other . if you pass on this film you  ll be missing out on one of the best performances of recent years . by the way  shame on the mpaa for giving this an r rating .  
a low budget effort from texas that  s at least filmed well  but that is little consolation . bad acting  or  should i say  bad over  acting  a pretty limp story line that  s nothing new  bad special effects  bad  bad  bad . seems like a bunch of young folks are putting together a haunted house for halloween  which is done every year  but this year things are different . has a long extended lesbian theme that is not only annoying but definitely fills out the empty spots  of which there are a lot . putrid  puerile  definitely avoidable  at all costs .  
i  ve known about bettie page for many a year now . the soft  core porn images of her from the      s have since become iconographic and still have a strong draw even today . the  bettie page  look is also still hugely popular within the hetero fetish world and remains as distinctive today as it did then . so i watched this film with quite a bit of familiarity to begin with . the result did not disappoint .  br    br   among other things  it was hugely entertaining to see the movie  s recreation of actual figures like irving klaw  john willie  and bunny yeager  all consider trailblazers today . mary harron did an excellent job creating the desired ambiance of sexual repression and hypocrisy in      s america along with a sexuality that  by today  s standards  was innocent in the extreme . i particularly liked the use of monochrome versus color as a visual shorthand for the emotional and spiritual climate bettie found herself in .  br    br   i think that gretchen mol did an excellent job of presenting the character of bettie in all her innocent sexuality and all her utter naivet . bettie loved to look pretty  loved the attention  saw nothing wrong with nudity  and enjoyed dressing up in  silly outfits  for the camera . the underlying sexuality and deeply fetishistic desires all that evoked were completely lost on her . to this day she still doesn  t understand  what all the fuss was about  when it comes to her pictures or the sm content of them .  br    br   this isn  t to say she  s uneducated or too simple to understand it  s just that she simply doesn  t  get it  about fetishism and never will . no harm there . bettie page is simply being who she is . the film captured this quite nicely .  br    br   the social atmosphere of the      s depicted by ms . harron and written by her along with guinevere turner makes me truly glad i live in the day and age that i do . the hypocrisy and repression combined with the massive ignorance about our sexuality all combined to a frighteningly stifling world . the film well captures this and brings to cheering as bettie endures it all with her unshakeable faith and her unchangeable naivet .  br    br   this film was a bit slow at times but hit all the points ms . harron attempted and hit them well . i  d recommend this film even for those folks with little to no knowledge of who bettie page was and what effect she had on american culture . for those with such interests  then this film is a must see .  
sucks . that  s all i got to say about this sorry excuse for a film . sucks . sucks . sucks . i mean  what the hell were they thinking  the idiots involved should never be allowed to make another films . the acting was so bad that it even failed to entertain on a bad level . the attempt at a  lesbian scene  was sad . i felt so bad for the ladies involved . this movie sucks  sucks  sucks   br    br   i heard rumors of a sequel .  br    br   god  br    br   help  br    br   us  br    br   all  
the first two  thirds of this biopic of fetish model betty page are very interesting . betty  as portrayed with enormous sincerity by gretchen mol  comes across as a pleasant  girl  next  door type  who saw nothing wrong with what she did  and there certainly wasn  t anything  wrong  with it  . director mary harron  who also made  i shot andy warhol  and  american psycho   recreates betty  s america by mixing old black and white stock footage with new  degraded  black and white footage . once betty lands in florida and starts working with bunny yeager  color is introduced . betty  s notoriety was mostly the result of her work with paula and irving klaw  lili taylor  in a great performance  and chris bauer   as well as john willie  jared harris  . the scenes where harron recreates betty  s bondage photography sessions are fascinating and adroitly executed . the early purveyors of fetish material are not portrayed too condescendingly and we get a sense that these folks were part of a tight  community  . betty never had too much of a problem with her notoriety  although we get the impression that her reputation prevented her from gaining legitimacy in the straight acting world . because the film  s third act is virtually non  existent  we are left with the impression that we have been watching a feature length documentary on betty page rather than a structured drama . flaws aside  it  s a film well worth catching and represents yet another fine feather in the cap of producer christine vachon .  
ya i rented it  so shoot me   br    br   a decent premise sets up an otherwise awkward story with no real payoff  but at least it  s shot well . director jon keeyes takes the simple idea of a fake haunted house with real danger inside . in most cases this should be a slam dunk  but this little stinker derails quite quickly . the cinematography is above average and the acting is mediocre at best  but the story and writing is just plain awful . slower scenes drag on forever and the scares are too few and far in between with no real climax to the film . an eerie mood is set at the beginning but loses it  s luster before any type of horror transpires  and i found myself bored to death and making another sandwich . . . the cover art is appealing and i suppose it  s worth a rental if you  re looking for mindless low budget dreck  but if you enjoy a good story and eventful ending  reach for something else .  
although the notorious bettie page is well acted and shot  is is  at best  a cliffs notes version of bettie  s biography . the film mainly centers on her work with irving and paula klaw  the brother and sister team who produced the bulk of her most famous photos . it does not detail her life after posing  aside from her religious rebirth . it cites  the real bettie page   by richard foster as a source  but it ignores bettie  s later years of mental illness and incarceration in a mental hospital . the narrow focus of the biography can be debated  but the majority of bettie  s fans and the  civilians  would probably be more interested in her modeling career  which is what they get .  br    br   the film is well acted  with gretchen mol faithfully reproducing the look of bettie  as well as conveying the sweetness that her photos exuded . the character is played as rather naive  a probable byproduct of interviews given by bettie in recent years . it is more likely that bettie was aware of the nature of her photos but rationalized it as acting and costumes .  br    br   the supporting cast is also outstanding  with chris bauer and lili taylor playing irving and paula klaw  and david strathairn as estes kefauver . the film errs with the character of john willie  played by jared harris . john willie never met bettie page and was not involved in photo shoots with the klaws . harris plays willie a bit like peter o  toole  in his more debauched state .  br    br   despite the quality of acting  the film is a bit of a disappointment in terms of depth . the story is rather cursory and we never feel that we truly get to know bettie . much like her photos  it  s just an image . it does tend to exaggerate bettie  s notoriety . her photos were mainly seen in and around new york  in a very narrow market of underground and cultish publications . her real fame came after her photos were reprinted in the late    s and    s  and the cult of betty page  as her name was usually spelled  grew . bettie  s greatest exposure  pardon the pun  was in playboy  appearing in the january     issue  the christmas photo  which is staged in reverse in the film  .  br    br   the film is well done  if rather shallow . it is able to sustain interest until the end and showcases many fine performances . it hits the high points of bettie  s life  but ignores many details which would have given it far greater depth . the ending is rather a let down . it feels rather abrupt . still  the movie is definitely worth viewing by anyone interested in bettie  or even the time period . the soundtrack is great  really pulling the viewer into the      s . if nothing else  the film stands as a showcase for america  s burgeoning sexuality and the clash with its puritan past . it  s also a peek at an icon for both men and women .  
one out of ten stars  br    br   because if it was  it gets an f . holy mother mary of god was this bad . i mean  i gave it every reasonable accommodation considering it was a straight to video film  but it let me down at every turn . like so many other b movies  the basic storyline was decent and the filmmakers seemed to have a reasonable level of resources  but the execution was ridiculous . it  s a shame they attached the good name of halloween to this fiasco .  br    br   the basic premise surrounds some frat douche bags hosting their annual halloween haunted house fund raiser  when a satanic spell book shows up out of nowhere and hurls the frat boys into a living hell . well that  s the idea anyway  but instead most of the film is devoted to displaying these frat boy  s relationship escapades  abound with an outrageous lesbian subplot . very little of the actual story is devoted to halloween or the mysterious spell book . it actually makes me mad that the film makers thought they could get away with making such dribble .  br    br   the film is essentially about frat boy relationships . this is not what the movie is billed as . i  m tempted to track down the producers and at the very least threaten them with bodily harm . the acting is about as bad as it gets  it  s atrocious  the script is unintentionally funny . the cinematography is just plain lazy . the whole film is amateur night . this movie actually makes the syfy channel movie productions look like masterpieces .  br    br   the last half hour of the film felt like the film makers realized they weren  t producing a soap opera and had to throw in some sort of horror sequences . the evil spell book finally comes into play and turns everyone in the haunted house into the character their dressed up as . i almost feel like crying as i write this review . wow  i mean wow  this thing was an undecipherable chopped up disaster .  
beautifully made with a wonderful performance from gretchen moll capturing such a stainless plain happiness in her work  and the recreations of the little movies and the photographs are perfectly made and often hilarious . according to harron they used film stock that is no longer produced and fifties style studio lighting even for the outside locations to give the colour portions its distinctive look . bettie page saw the movie at hugh heffner  s house  she is now eighty  three  with the producers there  but not the director  in case it got awkward if she didn  t like it . she apparently did like it up until the official inquiry  which she found unsettling . some great costumes too . the idea for the movie started in      but this was worth the wait . the portrait of her never seems to ring false in reference to all those images and snippets of  dreadful  movies that many of us will have already seen . it would make an interesting companion piece with goodnight and goodluck  but much more pleasant viewing   
horror movies can be a lot of fun with low budgets  bad acting  and a bit of panache . i think the film is just missing panache  because  one thuddingly dull scene after another  people make laughably harmless claw  handed grabs at the air . if it weren  t so boring  it might be funny .  br    br   a horror film can go a long way with a tired concept like  college kids in a haunted house   in much the same way the evil dead movies had a lot of fun with a similar standard plotline . hallow  s end  unfortunately  doesn  t go a long way . actually  it doesn  t go anywhere . it spends the better part of an hour setting up faceless and anonymous characters with what seem like endless interpersonal drama . i have nothing against character development  not even in a horror movie  but these are strictly one  dimensional characters  the alpha  male  the milquetoast  the . . . um . . . throwaway characters that exist mostly for sex scenes .  spending forty  plus bloodless  droning minutes with them was more horrific than when the bloodshed started .  br    br   well  implied bloodshed anyway . when the college kids turn into whatever they dressed as for their haunted house  one  s a vampire  one  s wearing o . r . scrubs and some white pancake  they look pretty much the way they did in their amateur haunted house costumes the dead hate the living  using a similar theme  is a masterwork in comparison . there isn  t really any gore to speak of  nor are there any real scares .  br    br   i  ve thought about this one from almost every approach . if it was supposed to be a tight  suspenseful horror movie  which would explain why things moved so slowly   the pathetic sex scenes and cheap monsters would invalidate it . if it was supposed to be a genuine blood  guts horror movie  which would explain the schlock  . . . where  s the blood and guts  and the anticlimax is one of the unexciting endings to a movie i  ve ever seen . it  s the kind of movie that  though it doesn  t have a narrator through the film  is bookended by voice  overs because all of the meaningless dialogue just wasn  t enough .  br    br   this was a hard one . . . coming out of it  i wonder if i  ve just sat through a christian horror film . maybe the  i know hell exists  of the opening wasn  t meant that way  but there are some hints  or misdirection   i  m not sure which  . for all the profanity in the film  a line like  gosh  darnit  comes off a little absurd  and so does most of the crucifix worshipping  god  fearing  and satan  dreading  especially after some lecherous ta sex scenes  one heterosexual  one lesbian  .  br    br   if it a christian company  highland myst  s logo even has a bit of a crucifix resemblance   then this film weighs in heavily for the atheist camp . an omnipotent being can  t be this bad a filmmaker .  br    br    
the notorious bettie page           gretchen mol  lilli taylor  chris bauer  jared harris  sarah paulson  david strathairn  austin pendleton  norman reedus  dallas roberts .  br    br   mol shines as legendary pin  up queen bettie page in a fine biopic .  br    br   gretchen mol is probably best known for being tauted as the next  it  girl a few years ago when no one knew who she was despite an infamous cover story by vanity fair among other media dubbings but despite a few co  starring roles here and there her predicted stardom seemed to twinkle less brightly until now . here as the famous pin  up queen bettie page  gretchen mol is indeed a shining star on the rise .  br    br   bettie page was tennessee born raised as a god  fearing and family oriented proper girl who seemed to find herself the unwarranted object of lust and affection  as she grew older . a gang  rape that is flashbacked is wisely not graphically depicted nor is the subtle showing of her own father having less  than  decent designs for his own kin which is important to understand how page managed to escape the possible nightmarish life for a career as an actress by heading to new york city in the     s when in fact that was the time and place to be to catch lighting in a bottle . what page didn  t realize is that in fact she would be just that when she arrived .  br    br   a beautiful raven haired sweetheart with a divine figure  page is spotted on coney island one summer day by a black policeman asking to take her photograph which leads to her posing in his basement and eventually to the studios of irving klaw  bauer  and his sister paula  taylor  who cater their kitschy but considered pornographic stills to a unique clientele fetish types .  br    br   although page is rather nave she is undeniably smart and knows that her body is not a sin and can see the forest for the trees in the sense that she is in control  or at least abides in what is offered her as work in that it is not indecent and she is having fun in her increasingly less  clothed portraits  until a congressional witch  hunt seeks out a few scapegoats to make pornographic images a crime .  br    br   talented filmmaker mary harron and her screen writing partner guinevere turner   an american psycho  and  i shot andy warhol   streamline the biopic trappings rather neatly and maybe a bit too hasty in getting at who really was bettie page although they do justice in depicting an era of uptightness at its zenith . large thanks to gifted cinematographer mott hopfel for his languorously gorgeous black and white images and also the sprinkled color segments that recall douglas sirk films of the era for its melodramatic kindlings . part feminist treaty and part american dream fulfilled the story chugs along nicely with fine performances by its ensemble including the comical bauer and taylor as siblings in smut and harris having a field day as a fellow fotog with a taste for wine and chatter . it  s amusing to see strathairn in a bit of stunt casting as a senator on a campaign for righteousness after portraying news bulldog edward r . murrow in his last outing   good night  and good luck  as an opposite the table role .  br    br   but hats off to the truly fine talents of mol as the uninhibited yet deeply morale and most importantly intelligent bettie page who lets her child  like innocence beam through her bold nudity and now  considered  tame  and  quaint  borderline  kitschy poses that caught the male fancy for decades and is still a bookmark for human sexuality in this country and perhaps the world overall . mol is perfect and uncannily resembles her portrait  s subject down to her knowing  teasing smile . the real bettie page was reportedly not involved with the project but apparently gave her blessing and continues to live a somewhat secluded life that is alluded to in the final moments as to having found jesus and shirking her  notorious  image once and for all . a shame since this film oddly embraces the resounding decency imbued within its subject  radiating for all to see in its naked splendor .  
warning . there might be spoilers ahead  if you care .   br    br   okay  the basic premise of this homegrown texas film is college kids  spookhouse  evil magic book  scary stuff . in practice  it equals a lot of time looking at the time to see how much longer this movie is going to drag on . a bunch of frat boys  along with assorted girlfriends  volunteers  is setting up a charity haunted house . the project is being presided over by a thoroughly repellent character  whose main purpose seems to be verbally  physically assaulting as many cast members as possible . i had a hard time believing that anyone would even attempt to work with this person in any capacity he  s nothing but rude and abusive to everyone  including his girlfriend and his buddy . regardless  the kids are visited by local character  annual pumpkin  carving champion  pumpkin jack   an elderly coot who is described as the  santa claus of halloween   and who drops off a load of props for the house  including an ominous book that figured prominently in the irritatingly strobe  flashed prologue  where a gaggle of robed cultists get turned into stir  fry  . needless to say  some damn fool starts messing with the book  and eventually most of the costumed monsters turn into real ones  and the remaining few normal folk have to try and survive . there  s some good stuff in this film  but not much everything is shot well  and the makeup effects are decent . on the other hand  the performers either underact  or overact drastically much of the plot makes little sense outside of a  this happens so that can happen  series there is hardly any musical score to speak of  just snatches of songs throughout the film and the movie takes an hour to actually get anywhere . that last problem is the most telling two  thirds of the   minute running time is used to repeatedly set up the characters . tom is a nice guy dating heidi the control freak  but he used to date jill  who is now dating dan the jerk  but she  s started a relationship kira the girl who wears too many shawls  capes . dan is a really big jerk  gary likes to play jokes  and steve  lily like to have a lot of sex . stuff that could have easily been dealt with in   minutes or so drags on and on  to the point where the lesbian  sex  scene  calm down  it  s pretty tame  left me looking for the fast forward button . that leaves us with half an hour of lo  calorie scares  a klunky ending and a deep  seated dislike of ol  pumpkin jack  who i blame for the whole mess . unless you can get this on some sort of deep  discount rental  and really have seen everything else in the store   put it back on the shelf and keep looking .  
this is one of the best jodie foster movies out there and largely ignored due to the general public  s misconception of it as a teen flick . it has wonderful performances  particularly a fight scene between jodie and her mother  played by a convincing sally kellerman . the three girls that play jodie  s friends are somewhat amateurish but i do think it is worth seeing .  
i honestly believe that anyone considering film  making be subjected to this mind  boggling failure . like the  films  of edward wood  jr . in the    s and    s  this film is a shining example of why real filmmakers expend so much energy rewriting scripts  re  editing their films  and reworking their special effects until they finally look right . this movie is also a decent argument for the studios  pre  screening process . if mr . hines were forced to endure the honest reactions of an impartial audience  perhaps he would have cut    or the walking  running  strolling scenes and edited this movie down to a more bearable   minutes .  br    br   film students should view this movie as an example of just how dangerous thinking their work is  good enough  can truly be . every performance  every line of dialog  every digital effect  every filter effect  indeed every frame of video expresses the danger of striving for mere mediocrity . a beginning filmmaker may find himself  herself tempted from time to time to think  at least i accomplished something  or  just finishing this will be an accomplishment in itself  . this movie will help them understand just how badly a film can turn out .  br    br   critics might also benefit from seeing this movie before they dub the latest summer entertainment  the worst movie ever made  .  br    br   beginning writers can learn from this film just how important rewrites are  and perhaps understand the necessity for rewrites . also  beginning directors can learn the importance of a good screenplay  and some degree of respect for just how hard it is to write a script that causes the audience to feel emotionally compelled through the story . writers and directors who watch bad made  for  cable movies of the week and think  i can do better than that  can see get an idea from this movie how difficult it really is to produce even mediocre results .  br    br   i sincerely believe this movie can serve as an educational tool to beginning filmmakers . particularly those entering the craft in this current post  lucas and post  spielberg environment . there is a reason filmmakers such as these are hailed for their ability with special effects . the war of the worlds illustrates clearly that not everyone can pull it off . some can  t even come close to it .  
first  let me say that notorious is an absolutely charming film  very lovingly rendered of its time and subject  s  . gretchen mol is utterly  painfully convincing  the very soul of the contradictions smoothly reified by ms . page herself . irving and paula klaw are richly drawn as the working  class stiffs they were  having met paula at movie star news in     i can say that lili taylor  s performance is unimpeachable   and jared harris as john willie  coutts  is an adoringly debauched genius . anyone with an interest in the recorded history of american attitudes toward sexuality must see this movie  in a theater preferably  where votes made with dollars count more .  br    br   second  i will allow that i am a producer of material similar to that for which the klaws would become famous  which is no way affects my estimation of ms . harron  s work as the splendid piece that it is  but does condition my view of notorious as an act of political resistance of the first order . ms . harron has crafted a work of subtle subversion . along with v for vendetta  it is a movie about another time for our times .  br    br   few readers of this site will be aware that the government they will see enacted in notorious  through transcription of the very words uttered in closed senate committee hearings  is a very close approximation of the one they live under right now . while ms . harron expressly disallows that she has a political agenda appended to this film  her faithfulness to the facts  and the respectful and unsensational way in which she renders them  synchronizes notorious with the present day . the very acts that notorious portrays in loving and accurate detail are defined as obscene by the communications decency act  recently brought to the supreme court as a first amendment case and turned back there at the behest of the bush administration . in other words  the delicate and ineffectual bondage depicted in notorious is indictable today by federal prosecutors in whatever  hostile  jurisdiction they choose . of course  there were no hearings in the senate or elsewhere on this matter when the cda was passed . of course you know nothing about it  because you don  t want people in peoria telling you what you can and cannot look at  likewise  people in peoria probably don  t want me telling them what they  re allowed to view  . of course notorious will never be indicted . it  s hollywood . it  s lawyered up . countless klaws will  however  continue to be steamrolled by a puritanical bureaucracy that has not advanced its aesthetic  moral or biological composition much in    years .  br    br   in addition  notorious posts no   usc     compliance statement  which is mandated by the unnoticed  earmark  recently voted into law . if any media contains images of  sadomasochistic restraint  it is required to make available  ex warrant  records of age and circumstance of all performers . notorious fails in this regard also .  br    br   in addition to being a splendid piece of entertainment and an  nearly  accurate historical document  notorious will be the litmus against which the bush justice department is itself judged with respect to the   th  equal protection  amendment and on perhaps several other constitutional grounds . in this regard alone  a debt of gratitude is owed mary harron . you  ll be grateful in any case  constitutional or otherwise  if you see this film .  
this movie proves that you can  t judge a movie by the awesome artwork on the dvd cover . it also goes to show that you should learn more about a movie before you buy it  or get it for someone at christmas  . the beginning of this movie actually looks somewhat promising . well  until you meet the characters . pumpkin jack  the old guy from down the street  brings the college co  eds a book full of witch  s spells that he leaves at their annual haunted house  where the movie takes place  . after that there is some drinking  fighting  and soft core porn . then the action of the movie finally takes place after over an hour .  br    br   overall  hallow  s end was predictable  unsuspensful  and reminiscent of a soft  core porn . this movie is probably best viewed with a group of friends who have nothing better to do  as it is a good movie to make fun of . and for first  time viewers  it is really fun making predictions of the order of people who die .  
i had a vague idea of who bettie page was  partly due to her appearance in the very wee days of playboy  apparently  when she got her photo taken of her and her santa hat  just that  she didn  t know what the mag was  . the movie  co  written and directed by american psycho  s mary harron  fleshes out the key parts of her life well enough . a southern belle of a church goer has some bad experiences and leaves them behind to seek better times in new york city  where she gets into modeling  and from there a lot more . soon  she becomes the underground pin  up sensation  with bondage the obvious  and  notorious  of the title  trait attributed to her . the actress gretchen moll portrays her  and gets down the spirit of this woman about as well as she could  which is really a lot of the success of the film . she  s not a simplistic character  even if at times her ideas of morality are questionable   well  adam and eve were naked  weren  t they   she comments a couple of times  . apparently  the filmmakers leave out the later years of page  s life and leave off with her in a kind of redemptive period  leaving behind the photo shoots for jesus .  br    br   in all  the notrious bettie page is not much more than a kind of usual bio  pic presented by hbo films  albeit this time with the stamina for a feature  film release . the best scenes that harron captures are page in her  questionable  positions  getting photos of her in over  the  top poses and starring in ridiculous films of whips and chains and leather uniforms . this adds a much needed comic relief to the film  s otherwise usual nature . it  s not that the story behind it is uninteresting  which involves the government  s investigation into the  smut  that came out of such photos and underground magazines . but there isn  t much time given to explore more of what is merely hinted at  with page and her complexities or her relationships or to sex and the fifties . it  s all given a really neat black and white look and sometimes it seemed as if harron was progressing some of the black and white photos to be tinted more as it went along . it  s a watchable view if you  re not too knowledgeable of bette page  and probably for fans too .  
i probably give this more credit than it deserves because it  s halloween  i was just at  knott  s scary farm  and i was in a mood to watch a really cheesy halloween movie .  br    br   oh  and it only cost me one dollar .  br    br   usually i  ll ffwd through a movie like this to get to  the good stuff   but i resisted the urge here and i  m still not sure why . it was obvious from the opening shots this wasn  t a  real  movie  not even a b  movie . it  s more in the category of the decoteau  horror  movies like  the brotherhood  that are shot on film  look video for about   cents  in fact  i was half afraid any minute one of his beefy college boys would stagger out rubbing himself in his underpants or something  . there were no cutaway shots  too expensive to do multiple camera setups  and flat lighting but . . . it  s hard to pinpoint . there  s something refreshing about watching a director with no money pull off a half  decent movie . the fact that he  s doing even a half  decent job is commendable  and this movie has it  s share of merits   the acting isn  t bad  the photography is pretty good  if too bright to be scary   there are some surprises  and the whole thing is sort of . . . different somehow .  br    br   a bunch of college kids are  for some unknown reason  stuck in the warehouse where they are decorating the annual haunted house . a creepy old man gives them a satanic book and they accidentally summon up the powers of hell . this results in the costumed people in the haunted house becoming who they are made up to be  and causing a lot of mayhem and human suffering . along the way we are treated to an oddly complex and thoughtful lesbian relationship subplot   it  s interesting that this couple seems to be the most well  rounded in the movie . yes  there  s a sex scene but it isn  t salacious   or at least no more so than you  d find in any legit movie about lesbians that shows them having sex . it  s rather unusual for a horror film to take the time and effort to do this without resorting to cheap exploitation .  br    br   the other thing about this that held my interest was how it was clearly trying to emulate the  stupid kids have sex and get killed  vibe of the    s slashers . it  s hard to take that on because there are so many of those films that already exist  the genre has been done to death . i  m not sure if it  s good or bad that these filmmakers simply tried to make another entry in that genre  without irony  as if it was still a living genre  but i appreciated the attempt .  br    br   which is why i sat through it sometimes you just want to watch a mindless  no  budget   a  for  effort  horror film . there really was too much set up  not enough gore  endless plot  holes  dead  ends and clichs and the unfortunate overall feel of a movie that simply did not have enough money behind it to be the film the producers envisioned . . . but at the very least the haunted house scenes were pretty cool . i  d pay to go to that haunted house if it existed  and didn  t mind paying a dollar to see it on dvd even if i  ll never watch this again .  br    br   oh  and possible spoiler  but there was great  brief business with the vampire girl in the coffin  i used to be claustrophobic . but i  ve changed .  ha ha  good one .  
  the notorious bettie page  is about a woman who always wanted to be an actress but instead became one of the most famous pin up girls in the history of america . bettie page played by gretchen mol was one of the first sex icons in america . the type of modeling bettie page took part in included nudity and bondage which lead to a u . s senate investigation in the     s .  br    br   walking out of the film  all i could think about was how far we have come in terms of pornography since the     s . you can go on the internet now and find some of most disturbing and shocking images ever shot  that the footage questioned in  the notorious bettie page  seems almost childlike and innocent . most of the footage including the bondage did not feature nudity when bettie page was involved yet today we have sick images where we can see women having sex with animals . i find that maybe the envelope has been pushed a little too far since the     s because looking at this movie in terms of today  s pornography  it was very tastefully done .  br    br   to be honest  i was pretty impressed with  the notorious bettie page   i found the film to be very well done and interesting . the movie is exactly what the trailer leads you to believe it will be and is a very interesting look at one of the first female sex icons in america . gretchen mol looks just like bettie page and gives a very fine performance . i also thought that since the movie was shot in black and white it made the film seem realistic because it made the audience believe they were watching a film created in the late     s .  br    br   my only complaint about the film was the running time  there seemed to be a few scenes that were cut and seemed to be a little shorter than they should have been . i looked this up and it seems that   minutes was cut from the film since its original showing at the toronto film festival . also the ending was pretty tame and i was expecting a little more from it or maybe some paragraphs to come on the screen to tell the audience more about bettie page  s life where the film left off . those are my only two complaints about the film other than that the directing was solid  the acting was great especially gretchen  and the writing was good .  br    br   mary harron  who directed  american psycho   which is one of my favorite films  is the director and writer of  the notorious bettie page .  i feel that mary is a very talented director who knows how to create a setting and create great movies based on characters because like  psycho   bettie page is a character study and a fine one at that . harron captures the   s and   s with ease as well as all the characters . she is a very talented director who i hope will be around for many years to come .  br    br   bottom line  the notorious bettie page  is definitely worth a look . it  s a very interesting story that shows how far america  as well as the world  has come in terms of pornography . the film also provides a fine performance by gretchen mol who literally nails the role of bettie page on the head . and top it off with a talented director who was able to capture the look and feel of a previous era and you have a good movie on your hands . sadly  this film is probably going to flop since not many besides people who grew up in this era will show interest in the film but i think it  s worth checking out .  br    br   moviemanmenzel  s final rating for  the notorious bettie page  is a     . it  s an interesting character study about one of the most famous pin up girls and sex icons in american history .  
wow . . . where to begin . . . picked this up at big lots for only   .   . that  s three bucks i  ll never see again . . . ever . . . and for what  i  ll tell ya . an hour and fifteen minutes of boring  boring  boring chat and college angst that seemed more suitable for a lifetime movie than the horror flick advertised on the box .  may the marketing droids who designed it burn in hell for all eternity  . follow that up with a little bit of cheap gore  not even good gore mind you . . .  and a plot twist at the end that comes out of nowhere  and makes no sense . awful  awful  awful . . .  br    br   was there any redeeming qualities  well  on the joe bob briggs scale  there were six breasts involved  but that  s hardly worth my long lost three bucks . without those  this coulda been on sci  fi at  say  two or three in the morning . . .  br    br   bmoviefreak  
i saw this movie at the     palm springs international film festival and it is a movie and not a film since it apparently was shot by hbo to be shown on their cable network sometime this year . this movie presents page as a bondage and discipline fetish pinup and bd stag film actress who had enough talent to become a real actress . page was a little more than that and the film touches on some of her other roles in modeling but not enough to balance out the career of the    s pinup icon . this film is supposedly based on the book  the real bettie page  by richard foster . it  s shot in black and white for that      s nostalgia feel . i have the book called  bettie page the life of a pinup legend  that has a lot of great photos chronicling the career of page and i must say that this movie reproduces on film  with gretchen mol as page  many of those famous photo  s very accurately . mol herself with the bettie page black wig and brown contact lenses is bettie page . not only does she have the bettie page look but she has the smile and characteristics of her personality that came through the camera down perfect . and her body is as close to a replica of page  s as possible . terrific casting . the story is kind of thin and tabloidesque and certainly could have been a lot better . but this is a pretty good tv movie . i would rate it a  .  of a scale of   and recommend it  s viewing when it comes on tv .  
once again i took a chance and rented this bag of crap . billed as a horror flick  there wasn  t one scene  not one  that was even remotely scarey . not one   sure there was some nudity  but all the lesbian action got a little old . i guess maybe that was suppose to be this movie  s saving grace  and dan  what an annoying ass bag   right from the beginning i knew i was in for it when good ol  dan first spoke . and he was suppose to be intimidating  what a laugh   all in all  this movie is dreadfully awful  how in the hell do movies like this get made  if you want a movie with a few thrills in it  don  t rent this one . this movie is about as thrilling as the teletubbies .  
for a film that  s ostensibly about sex and leather  it doesn  t have any right to be as oddly sweet as it is . the story of bettie page  a good christian girl from the south who  s momma wouldn  t let her date until she married  who moved to new york and ended up becoming the most successful pin  up of her age  is driven by an outstanding performance from gretchen moll . her page can  t quite reconcile the pictures that she takes  nobody  s allowed to touch  it  s all fun and respectful  with the pornography trials and supposed ill  effects that her images have on the world around her .  br    br   page has been an inspiration to every burlesque artist since  not just because she had a figure to die for  but because she invested every picture with an innocent sense of fun that was uniquely sexy and simple at the same time . rather like this film  in fact . filmde in both black and white and glorious technicolour  it  s a lovely way to spend a couple of hours .  
a handful of critics have awarded this film with positive comments . i don  t wish to argue with their opinion  but i strongly disagree . when i first watched this film i was mildly impressed . but after comparing it with other films  particularly with the late master  bruce lee i quickly changed my mind . in fact  if it wasn  t for the title of the film  i would never have bought it . game of death  doesn  t relate to the original game of death   except it shares one character  billy lo .   br    br   i was stunned to see how similar game of death  was compared to enter the dragon . the plots have striking similarities both bruce lee and bobby lo are on a mission to avenge a relative . the two locations are similar  in which they both are very isolated and are surrounded by thousands of blackbelts . there is an element of prostitution in both films  women are sent two the guests rooms in both films .  both han  enter the dragon  and lewis  s henchman have a hand missing . their is an underground drug operation in enter the dragon  believe it or not  there is one in game of death  . han has a pet cat in enter the dragon  the director has used his imagination and awarded lewis with a pet monkey  the list continues .  br    br   regarding other aspects of the film  such as the script and the acting  i felt it was very poor . it seemed to me that the director was looking for a group of martial artists to star in the film and prayed they could act .  br    br   on a positive scale  i cannot deny that the choreography is impressive . although the fighting sequences have strong elements of acrobatics in them  they are none the less skillfully performed . however  as the plot is insufficient  i couldn  t relate to the characters  therefore the fighting sequences were more exhibitions rather than having a meaning to the film .  br    br   in conclusion i would say this film is recommendable to any martial  arts fans  but for those who enjoy a solid action film  with a good storyline and strong characters  i seriously wouldn  t recommend this film . my opinions towards this film may seem very bias and one  sided  but when bruce lee set a new standard in the martial arts cinema  particularly after his masterpiece enter the dragon  this film failed to rise to these standards . if anything they imitated a truly brilliant martial  arts film  in hope of achieving the same level of fame .  br    br   in reference to my evaluation  awarding this film a very harsh  out of    the film is barley watchable  and must be thankful that it had the fighting sequences it did .  
bettie page was a icon of the repressed     s  when she represented the sexual freedom that was still a decade away  but high in the hopes and dreams of many teenagers and young adults . gretchen mol does a superb job of portraying the scandalous bettie  who was a small town girl with acting ambitions and a great body . her acting career went nowhere  but her body brought her to the peak of fame in an admittedly fringe field . photogrsphed in black and white with color interludes when she gets out of the world of exploitation in new york  this made  for  tv  hbo  film has good production values and a very believable supporting cast . the problem is  it  s emotionally rather flat . it  s difficult to form an attachment to the character  since bettie is portrayed as someone quite shallow and naive given the business she was in . the self  serving government investigations are given a lot of screen time  which slows down the film towards the end . but it  s definitely worth watching for the history of the time  and to see the heavy  handed government repression that was a characteristic of the fifties .      
in this  sequel  bruce is still called billy lo  get it  bruce billy  lo lee . no   but apart from that  that  s all it has in common with the other movie . billy doesn  t seem to be an actor anymore . he seems to be in another country . he  s more like a spy . he  s the only cast member to return and sadly  they kill him off to make way for a new character  his brother  bobby . sadly  when bruce dies  the movie pretty much dies with him . this was extremely poorly made . it seemed like they were writing the script as they were filming . the footage works for a while  it  s not too obvious at first  but soon bruce is always shown in the dark all the time  he kicks out a light at one stage for no other apparent reason to hide the fact that it  s not bruce playing the part  . sadly when he dies the movie changes . i can  t help but wonder if they were filming as they were writing and may well have planned to keep bruce alive  but later decided to kill him off because it would not have been plausible as bobby does not appear until billy is dead . it  s hard to change the lead character halfway in the movie and bruce is a hard act to follow so it  s hard to now accept bobby as the star . bruce is never seen again in this movie . i think they should have made this sequel without bruce he has a lame role in this movie . people hoping to see a new bruce lee movie will be disappointed to see that although he  s given the top billing  he only has a featuring role . even the worst movies have at least one memorable bit . if there was one bit about this movie people seem to talk about  it  s the scene where billy fights in a plant nursery . ironically it doesn  t even use bruce lee footage . mind you  they did it more convincingly in no retreat no surrender . not one of the other actors here ever made anything else memorable . bruce  s girlfriend  colleen camp  is never mentioned . my advice is to turn it off as soon as bruce is finished writing his letter to his brother . nothing else in the movie is worth watching . i found it really sad to see bruce die . i don  t see how a small budgeted movie like this could get enough money to use footage from enter the dragon . this was a cheap way of trying to cash in on bruce  s name . oddly this and the original are credited in bruce  s filmography . thankfully so far  no one has tried anything like this again .     was the year of bruce  s last movie appearance . it was a sad way to end it  but thankfully this is proof that bruce  s movie career should be left alone .  
canadian filmmaker mary harron is a cultural gadfly whose previous films laid bare some the artistic excess of the sixties and the hollow avaricious eighties . with  the notorious bettie page  she points her unswerving eye at fifties america  an era cloaked in the moral righteousness of joe mccarthy  while experiencing the beginnings of a sexual awakening that would result in the free love of the next decade . harron and her co  writer guinevere turner  are clearly not interested in the standard biopic of a sex symbol . this is a film about the underground icon of an era and how her pure unashamed sexuality revealed both the predatory instincts and impure thoughts of a culture untouched by the beauty of a nude body . if the details of bettie  s life were all the film was concerned about  then why end it before her most tragic period was about to begin . clearly  harron is more interested in america  s attitudes towards sexual imagery then and now . together with a fearless lead performance by gretchen mol and the stunningly atmospheric cinematography of w . mott hupfel iii  she accomplishes this goal admirably  holding up a mirror to the past while making the audience examine their own  enlightened    st century attitudes towards so  called pornography . as america suffocates under a new conservatism  this is a film needed more than ever .  
this is high grade cheese fare of b movie kung fu flicks . bruce  wannabe  lee is played by bruce li . . . i think . of course  let  s show quick clips of bruce and do closeups of his eyes and if you quint at the right angle during a certain time of the day during the winter solstice  it kind of looks like bruce . you  ll laugh in awe at how the film splicing isn  t very good  but some cool deleted scenes from enter the dragon are thrown in the mix . according to the movie  bruce lee was killed by a dart while hanging from a helicopter . of course  they think this can excuse bruce li for trying to be bruce even though his character is supposed to be bruce  s brother  who for some reason still mimes bruce  s gestures and fighting style  very poorly  . see bruce go one  on  one with the cowardly lion . the props department stopped by kay  bee  you see . bruce also finds nothing wrong with savagely beating up a crippled man . towards the end  the director decided  let  s throw a flashback  for a scene just shown  minutes ago   they must  ve thought that only one  celled organisms with attention deficit disorder could fully understand this film .  br    br    
more a snapshot of the most popular pinup of all time than your typical dragged out biopic  this fun and fabulous film has the look and feel of the era with an excellent soundtrack and everything you would want in an indie  type film . i think the tendency would be to portray bettie page as some sort of sex vixen  like a jayne mansfield . but if you  ve truly looked carefully at bettie  s poses  she always looked happy . not a  you wish you could get with me  haughty look  nor the  i  m just doing this because my acting career didn  t work out  look of a porn star . and so  the ladies involved with this film  three female producers  a female writer  director  female co  writer and the lovely gretchen mol  who i  m sure helped shape this role with her own sugary influence  really captured the idea of a sweet  somewhat naive  southern girl who really enjoyed having her photo taken and hoped that good ol  jc wouldn  t be too upset with her .  br    br   gretchen mol turns out a career high performance  she may just have the most perfect breasts ever   which i am happy about  because she did have the curse . several years ago  she made the cover of vanity fair when no one really knew who she was  touting her as the next it  girl . and let  s be frank  that was a bit presumptuous . i mean unfortunately she has never made it to gwyneth status  though not for lack of talent . making a few poor film choices when you are a pretty blonde in fickle hollywood renders you forgettable i  m afraid . if this doesn  t put her back on the a  list  well i  ll be a monkey  s uncle .  br    br   intensely private  bettie herself has not seen the film yet . bettie left the pinup party on a high note and fell in love with her old flame  jesus . whatever floats your boat honey . you were one helluva woman . i hope you  re happy wherever you are .  br    br   congratulations mary harron  you  ve done our cult idol justice .  
there are so many stupid moments in  tower of death    game of death   that you really wonder if it  s a spoof . at times  it felt like i was watching a sequel to kung pow rather than a bruce lee film .  br    br   to be honest  this film has bugger all to do with  game of death  . if anything  it  s more a sequel  remake of  enter the dragon   incorporating many elements of that film  particularly the actual footage . bruce lee  s character billy lo  apparently  investigates the sudden death of his friend and encounters a piece of film that was left with the man  s daughter . when the body is stolen during the funeral     billy is also killed and it  s up to his wayward brother to avenge both men  s deaths .  br    br   tong long stars as brother bobby lo and doesn  t really have the sort of charisma to carry the film . his fighting abilities are very good however . bruce lee obviously turns up thanks to  no longer  deleted footage simply to cash  in on the legacy . saying that  on the whole  the footage is actually edited  in better than in  game of death  but it doesn  t stop the film from being a mess .  br    br   ok  so the fights are actually very entertaining  dare i say mind  blowing  and make the film at least watchable . but there are so many daft elements to this film that it really tests your patience . first off  there  s the supposed villain who lives on his palatial estate . . . or is that mental institution  seriously  the nutter eats raw venison  drinks deer  s blood  carries a monkey on his shoulder and owns some peacocks and lions     . this attempt to make him look tough and intelligent just makes you feel sorry for him  you half expect someone to escort him back to his room .  br    br   in fact  this middle section is awful and when the scene involving a naked hooker and a lion suit arrived i turned it off . however  i did finish the film and was kind of glad i did because the fight scene towards the end  much like  god   was the whole reason for watching . while the story is an embarrassment  the action is very good and contains excellent choreography .  br    br   but even the finale disappoints if the premise was anything to go by . what we were told was that the  tower of death  was a pagoda that was upside down and underground . this sounded great  like a twist on bruce lee  s original idea with different styles of fighting on each level . could this be the  game of death  that was originally planned  no  the film should have been named  generator room of death  because thats as far as the tower goes . of yes  there were indeed one or two  different  styles . . . there were foil clad grunts  leopard  skinned henchman and stupid monk . it  s as though enter the dragon had never been made  with the plot being a poor imitation .  br    br   worth watching once for the fast paced fight scenes  but so stupid sometimes that it hurts . if this was intended  then fine . thumbs up  however  for recreating that projector room scene from  enter the dragon  .  
if this film strikes you  as it did us and  apparently  others departing the theater  as disappointingly thin  it may be because the subject herself is mildly disappointing . the film faithfully presents us bettie page as she probably was a playful almost  innocent from the rural south whose career as  the pinup queen of the universe  was for her just goofy  natural fun . her eventual moral qualms  religious conversion and sudden departure from nude and bondage modeling are biographically accurate  yet hard to understand given how untroubled she seemed by her livelihood .  br    br   there are many reasons to see this film even so  not least of which are the amazing bw noir cinematography of w . mott hopfel iii  complete with old fashioned wipes and dissolves   the      s  faithful acting of the cast under the direction of mary harron  pitch  perfect performances by some of our most underrated supporting actors  including chris bauer  lili taylor  sarah paulson  austin pendleton  dallas roberts and victor slezak   not to mention the oscar  worthy and technically difficult lead performance of gretchen mol .  br    br   ms . mol does several scenes fully naked and most others in amazing period lingerie and  specialty  costumes  gloriously assembled by costume designer john a . dunn   yet she astonishingly maintains bettie page  s unstudied pleasure in her lush body . to watch ms . mol as ms . page  an aspiring actress  progressing through degrees of progressively less  bad  auditions and student acting scenes is to see a truly fine actress in complete control of her craft .  br    br   the script does effectively bring us into      s america  where childhood sexual abuse  lawless abduction and rape  and the legal suppression of brands of pornography which today seem laughably tame  is a reality .    s new york is evoked with seamlessly  inter cut news reel footage .    s miami comes alive in super  saturated    mm  style color . the real bettie page seems to scamper  smile and pose before us  and yet the effect is curiously lightweight  barely lewd and not at all dangerous .  br    br   how odd that bondage  s greatest icon should be so lacking in venom  and that this technically excellent biopic should have so little sting .  
this is even worse than the original game of death . a jumbled  incoherent storyline leads to  billy lo  falling from a helicopter to the ground below  killing him  as we  re left to follow his younger brother  bobby lo . so not only do we start out following some bruce lee clone  the film kills that one off and has us follow another one thirty minutes into the story . the main reason to watch this one is when bobby lo fights a lion  which is quite obviously a guy in a lion costume . jang lee hwang is also the villain  who is usually pretty awesome but his screen time is significantly small . mainly watched this and the original game of death because they  re a part of the bruce lee boxed set . it  s no wonder they  re included with lee  s finished works . no one would buy them otherwise .  
two years passed and mostly everyone looks different  some for good and some for worse . i still enjoyed as much as i did the original though .  br    br   some flaws they had though like changing the joker he now has no red lips and looks like more blackish hair and black pupils  hes still voiced by mark hamill which is a plus i guess . they made poison ivy more white hinting that she is becoming more like a plant and catwomen looks much different and not as  attractive  as she was in the original .  br    br   though costumes like batman  batgirl  killer croc and scarecrow look badass  especially scarecrow .  br    br   the show isn  t as dark as the original because batman doesn  t work as alone as he used to . most of the time working with batgirl and the new robin  tim drake . while nightwing  dick grayson  comes to the rescue often . batman gave up the yellow logo and with the black wing on his suit and seems like he got a bit bigger but still kicking tons of ass .  br    br   the show isn  t as good as the original mostly because of some of the revamped characters but the stories are as exciting as ever and the dialogue is still elite .  over the edge  might be one of the greatest batman episodes ever so make sure you check that out .  br    br   overall        
bruce lee was a great martial artist  but this film still is probably one of the worst films ever made . it has bruce lee die as the result of falling off a helicopter after being hit by some kind of a ninja knife to the back of the neck but it doesn  t explain how he came to be on a helicopter since the prior scene has him near but not on the helicopter which is already    feet in the air . it just gets downright absurd from then  like something out of a cheap comic book . maybe the idea isn  t so rotten but it isn  t done with any degree of artistry from a film making point of view . there are dozens of such martial arts bombers out there  usually all made in hong kong . i think that jean claude van dam improved the genre with adding plausible stories in his films and having film makers who know how to use the camera . even steven seagal  s films are way better than   percent of the martial arts junk movies made during the     s and early     s in hong kong .  game of death ii  falls into the category of junk cinema in my opinion  despite bruce lee being in it .  
four teenage girls in a suburb of los angeles get into all kinds of trouble parties  drugs  cops  mixed  up parents  older boyfriends . jodie foster  sort of the mother hen of the pack  tries keeping everyone together like  a family   like the family unit she  s never had   and the heartbreaking thing about the movie is that she can  t . slowly  everyone grows up and goes away . that precise plot point  though underscored throughout  is unfortunately tampered with . did we really need a long sequence with scott baio outracing a car full of thugs on his skateboard  or an even longer sequence   also with baio   where foster has a strange soliloquy about the  pain of illusion  . some of the dialogue in fact is downright loopy  and i didn  t much care for an edit late in the film that segues clumsily from a death to a wedding . but these are nitpicks in what is basically a very sensitive story about the loss of a tight bond . and jodie  s face at the ending speaks volumes . if viewers do get choked up at the end  the movie has earned this . it doesn  t pander for tears or ask for sympathy . it shows us an example of friendship and hopes we understand .  from   
is it possible to give a movie no stars  i suppose not . however many stars imdb displays this just think zero and you  ll get my drift . director and photographer timothy hines didn  t have much of a budget compared to spielberg  s herculean effort with the same material  rumored to be the most expensive movie ever made   but that need not be an insurmountable handicap . i  ve seen some wonderful work done on a comparative shoestring   soldier and saints  is a recent example  . with hard work  integrity and  above all  talent it is certainly possible to realize a faithful rendition of wells  novella   and at fraction of what was spent by dreamworks on its  war of the worlds  . unfortunately  hines failed in all these departments . even if he had had spielberg  s budget and tom cruise signed for the lead his movie would have stunk just as badly as this barnyard animal he  s foisted on us .  br    br   primarily  hines seems unable to tell a story . thanks to digital video technology he can record images and sound  but he shows little aptitude for assembling a narrative with what he records . a guy walks down a country lane  a lot . he talks badly aped received english to some other guy . then he walks down the same lane  only shot from the back this time to show he  s returning   clever  eh  walking and talking  for nearly an hour that  s all that happens . ok  i  ll grant that one extended excursion from the main character  s house to the impact site on horsell common to show that it  s a considerable distance from one place to the other might be useful  a first  year film student could storyboard a more economical and more aesthetical establishing sequence than this  btw   but half a dozen times  back and forth  back and forth  et cetera  et cetera with some yakkity  yak in between . remarkable . the only explanation for this surfeit of redundancy other than total artistic ineptitude is a desire to pad out thirty minutes of wretchedly amateurish cg works into something that could be offered as a feature  length film . finally the martian fighting machines appear and the walking and talking becomes running and talking  or shrieking . later we get staggering and wailing for dessert .  br    br   thankfully  much of the dialogue is lifted straight from h . g . wells  text else we  d have no idea what is going on . but is it not the whole point of cinema to illuminate a text  to realize what words alone can  t convey  if a film relies on dialogue or monologue to tell us what we see or how to feel  why bother  why not do a radio play  orson welles made himself a household name doing just that . however  hines thinks he  s a filmmaker  so he  s content to mouth the words and swallow the meaning .  br    br   secondly  hines was able to buy some cg effects of a sort for his movie  but he has no idea how to use them . now i for one have no unquenchable sweet tooth for eye candy . i believe good science fiction cinema doesn  t need dazzling technical effects . some really potent sci  fi  s have flourished on virtually none at all . but  the war of the worlds  as film requires a certain baseline effort . wells tells a story that hinges on things can be seen and heard and even smelled . the effects don  t need to be complex they can even be crude  e . g . fighting machines on wires gliding over miniature streets as seen in the george pal  byron haskins     version   but they must be handled well . unfortunately hines  effects are both crude and incompetent  tripod fighting machines higher than a cathedral spire stomp around making a noise like a pogo stick bouncing on linoleum  martian squidoids even though oppressed by four times the gravity of their native world scurry and flit about without perceptible effort  skeletons totally denuded of flesh and muscle writhe and scream   the same damn horse and buggy greenscreens its way across the foreground a dozen times  flipped left for right occasionally in hope that we might not notice   and on ad nauseum . crude technique is forgivable . so you have a cg fire effect that  s less than convincing  fine  we can work around that . just don  t use it too often and only show glimpses of it . that stomped woman sequence looks more like a crushed plum  throw it away . it  s not necessary . you say your martian flyer looks like a toy on a string  if you must use it  go ahead  but please don  t show it twice  but no  hines won  t listen . we get the worst looking stuff used again and again . gotta get those    minutes somehow  boy .  br    br   next we have acting  or more precisely too much acting . whether in a speaking role or just paid to die on queue everybody in this film is acting his little heart out . evidently hines thinks he  s getting a bargain   more fleeing in terror over there  you  quaking behind that tree  let  s have a real conniption fit this take . you call that writhing in agony  nonsense  my grandmother can writhe better   nevertheless the cast as a whole and individually stink . they aren  t even good amateurs . but this needn  t prove fatal . many a good movie has been made with rancid acting . that  s what directors are for . and editors . which brings up another point who the hell let tim hines edit this cheese factory  if america  s butchers were as adept at meat cutting as hines is at film cutting your next hamburger would be all fingers and no beef . in spite of the near three  hour running time there is lots of stuff missing from this movie   not sequences  but single frames  creating a herky  jerky effect that  s nauseating to watch . maybe hines intention was to simulate the effect of a hand cranked cine camera of the      s . if he was i can say he doesn  t know how to do it .  
this is so to say a sequel to batman the animated and it is pretty much as good as it to and for all the same reasons it has lots of action in it the storyline to it is good the voice over actors are really good such as kevin conroy as batman  mark hamil as the joker  etc . the villains are really good such as the joker  two  face  catwoman  clayface  etc . so i am sure you will not be disappointed with the new adventures of batman because it is really good . so make sure that you watch it on tv or rent or buy the collectors edition because it is really good .  br    br   overall score  out of   br    br    out of   
i found this movie boring  monotonous and quite uninteresting with a hurried  shallow  upbeat  ending that didn  t ring true to the overall story . following these characters through a weekend of awful events  unfriendly attitudes and bad news just isn  t my idea of a watchable  interesting movie and i got very tired of its  one note  theme and couldn  t wait for it to end   in fact i almost stopped about halfway through . the whole movie just seemed pointless and wandering  and the characters were for the most part depressing and unpleasant  though the acting was good . a small movie with small ambitions and small appeal   sorry  but it just didn  t make it with me  and i love good  small films  this one just didn  t jell  though i kept watching it hoping and trusting that it would . i was disappointed  especially after two local reviewers put it on their  year  s   best  list . i  d strongly recommend watching  the house of sand  instead   now there  s a good  small film   
i liked it . . . just that . . . i liked it  not like the animated series . . . i love it    . the fact that this make less appealing is that we all try to compare and not to appreciate  but this cartoon was awesome  but it really didn  t like it that much . there  s too much people talking about bruce being so cold  but if this is around  years later  anybody in a crime  fighting gang would get this angry and darker attitude  so to me it isn  t a flaw . batgirl was awesome she really fit there  as there isn  t more dick grayson as a robin  batman needed a good teammate  not like the new robin  he is just a child and you cant rely that much on a child . but heres what didn  t work the new artwork . . . it isn  t horrible but . . . to me it does  nt work in a series like batman . this is a dark character  with a maniac killer like the joker  so you cant put this kind of artwork in this cartoon  the joker isn  t a bad design but i still like the past joker  but to me the best joker ever was the one who appeared in batman beyondreturn of the joker   so this joker isn  t near as good . the good thing about the joker is that it still mark hamil voice . my favorite character harley quinn  im in love for her  they put an awesome episode for her mad love  to me the best episode of this series  . here we finally know how she turned harley quinn  and how the joker twisted her mind  and it feel that atmosphere that you feel in the animated series  darker  no happy ending  brutal fight with the joker  but too short   this is how it was to be all the series . but in general i didn  t like how she made harley in this series . . . in almost every episode they put funny but in a ridiculous way  she get punched  she say nonsenses  she make flaws . . . c  mon she is funny in a way you can laugh with her  not from her . . . and here they put ridiculous  like i said the only episode where i don  t think that its in mad love and beware of the creeper  so in general its a good series  it has it upsides and downs  the drawn could be better  my good    kill that catwoman      nice sound effects  nice music  nice voices and nice episodes my favorites  mad love  jokers millions  old wounds  sins of the father  and cold comfort . if you enjoyed batmantas you can watch this but don  t spec too much  in the other hand if you didn  t watched tas  watch this first and then watch tas in that way you  re really gonna love tas d  
this is  ostensibly  a movie about multiple grief . as such  it ought to move viewers and make them empathetic with the plight of the main characters . however  its irritatingly postmodern style makes it almost incomprehensible . the camera continually switches from one scene to another  from one personal crisis to the next  creating a choppy  disjointed effect . most characters appear to live aimless  unstructured lives  held together by their professional commitments .  it also stretches credibility that a man who has just been given what amounts to a likely death sentence  would cheerfully indulge in a sex romp with a woman he has just met  . the storyline  if there is a storyline  is difficult to follow . in sum  the overall effect is rather disappointing . in spite of all that  the acting is generally good and some of the scenes are quite powerful .  
the new batman adventures  also called gotham knights  takes place  years after the final episodes of batman the animated series  btas  and only aired for   episodes . this isn  t a horrible show  but it just isn  t as good as the original batman animated series . i  ll start with all the things that i found not to be very good .  br    br   first thing  s first  the animation itself long and sweet  gotham isn  t dark anymore  the sky is always bright red and orange  btas did this also  but it was drawn on a dark palate  do the colour of the sky was more ominous  in this show  the colour of the sky is too bright . it all just looks like any other kids show and doesn  t seem unique like batman tas did with it  s dark  cool art style on gotham . the art style is ok  but doesn  t remind me of batman anymore . every character is comprised of straight lines  squares  and triangles making characters look less human  like . in the original series  btas   characters look more like drawn versions of real people . the animation may be more consistent here than in btas  but it definitely isn  t as good .  br    br   next some of the episodes seem too dumbed down and childish  but some of the subject matter is even stronger than in btas .  two  face attempting to kill tim drake  robin   and some villains get some pretty harsh treatment  . this leads me to my next point .  br    br   because this is supposed to take place in the future as well as the final episodes of the batman animated universe  many villains do meet their demise or leave forever . poison ivy apparently drowns when a cruise ship explodes two  face nearly kills penguin  killer croc  and himself  so he  s moved to arkham forever joker falls into the exhaust tower of an industrial plant  though he will return later on the justice league animated series   catwoman moves away to france leaving batman  etc . . . just because the series is ending does not mean that they have to get rid of some great characters  the villains  motives are pretty bad  too . there are none  in btas  we learn that these villains are mentally tormented and their lives are ruined  that  s why they act the way they do  in this show  the villains are just committing crimes to progress the story . it  s like batman just doesn  t even care about saving whatever sanity there is left in the people that he fights  he just beats them senseless . this batman is a colder and meaner version of the character  but since he  s been doing this job for years  i can see why he is so harsh .  br    br   next  the redesigned character models they  re awful . gordon slimmed down about    pounds . . . is he sick  many villains look stupid  joker  riddler  catwoman  mr . freeze  mad hatter  and killer croc are among the worst  . although  i do think that some characters look better  bane  scarecrow  batgirl  . harley is about the same  and ivy  who is even hotter now  has pale green skin .  br    br   with the series having many faults  some episodes are great  over the edge  mad love  beware the creeper  girls night out  old wounds  legends of the dark knight  and never fear are my favourite ones here  in my opinion . all of the crossovers featuring batman in the superman animated series were great  also .  br    br   the absolute worst part about this show is how the creators say they love the animation of this series more than the original . on the dvd features of the original batman animated series  they talk about how proud they were with the art style  and how difficult some characters were to animate  but they did eventually succeed with  the difficult animation necessary to animate clayface  for example  . on the dvd features of the new batman adventures  the creators basically say  to hell with btas  this is a fresh  new re  vamp  it looks better and we love how we nearly ruined the series    alright  that is an exaggeration  . when the creators cast away the amazing art style of btas  that really annoyed me   br    br   it  s not a bad show  but i still don  t like it as much as the original animated series . at least the show doesn  t talk down to its audience  so for that reason  i still commend it . though some of the episodes in this new series are fantastic and worth watching .  br    br   superman the animated series  and justice league the animated series are great follow  up shows to batman the animated series and the new batman adventures  so give them a watch as well .  
something i really love about this woman  s short films was the elusiveness of theme   especially in  living with happiness .  this film has some nice beginnings   unusual location and the potential for a strange cinematic treatment  but fails to succeed with clunky expositional dialogue  patchy performances and very television coverage .  br    br   it  s once again charming television and very ordinary cinema . the ideas are so fleshed out that they almost feel pat like a television commercial . but the sentiment is good so we can  t complain too much .  br    br   i really would love to see this director make a full length animation and try and work with a producer who doesn  t demand so much boring clarity .  
i loved this series when it was on kids wb  i didn  t believe that there was a batman spin off seeing as the original show ended in     and this show came in     . first of all i loved the idea of robin leaving batman to solve crime on his own . it was an interesting perspective to their relationship . i also liked the addition of tim drake in the series  and once again like it  s predecessor this show had great story lines  great animation  better then the original   fantastic voice work and of course brilliant writing . the only thing that i didn  t like was that was when it was in the us it would often run episodes in a   minute storyline . i just wish some of the episodes could be longer . my favorite episode of any batman cartoons comes in this series  and it  s called  over the edge   in my opinion as good if not better then  heart of ice  and  robin  s reckoning .  overall a nice follow up  along with superman this show made my childhood very happy .  
the film had some likable aspects . perhaps too many for my taste . it felt as though the writer  director was desperately trying to get us to feel the inner conflict of all of its characters . not once  a few times . . . but all of the time .  br    br   this is the job of television  not cinema .  br    br   the location of the train station was well chosen and i enjoyed sascha horler  s performance as the pregnant friend .  br    br   i felt as though justine clarke  s performance was wan . her reactions to things felt forced  as though the director were trying to vocalise the themes of the film through her protagonist  s expressions . i also can  t believe that a director can make the wonderful daniela farinacci into an unbelievable presence .  br    br   i cannot understand the choice of pop music slapped over entire sequences . this is a lazy device  especially where the pop music comes from no place diagetic to the film and  or where the lyrics of the song feel embarrassingly earnest .  br    br   that said  there is a breezy quality about the film that evokes the australian heat and local attitude with originality . it does create an atmosphere of heat and sunshine . especially with the usage of wonderful animation sequences that rescue the film from complete mediocrity  infusing it with passion and hand  crafted charm .  br    br   i am curious why the dialogue feels so overworked .  who knows if there  s a god  like some guy sitting there up in the sky telling us what to do  or whatever the line was .  br    br   perhaps one of the more embarrassing moments was the friend returning home from cricket with a bunch of flowers to declare to his wife  i  m giving up smoking .   br    br   an anti  smoking commercial  a tac ad with some tasteful animation  i had to leave the cinema at the   minute mark   it was all too much .  
i totally disagree with the other reviews . all basically negative . i took a chance on this movie and was glad that i did . glad indeed . i couldn  t find anything wrong with it . nothing period . the script is original . the actors are all likable and convincing . dee smart reminded me of marcia brady from the brady bunch . but this gal truly can act . the setting in the australian outback is perfect . incredible scenery . great soundtrack i . e paul kelly . god bless paul kelly . the cranberries are also here . i have seen this movie twice in less than   hrs . i will probably watch it again . it is that interesting . it makes one think . it is  was  probably better than nine  tenths of the so  called hollywood blockbusters that were also out during this time . back of beyond is a likable . well photographed film . i couldn  t find anything wrong with it . check it out  my first review   
a mummy narrates vignettes about men  women  and the sex between them . huh  at the beginning  the mummy randomly asks the viewer   imagine having sex with this girl . imagine having sex with this boy  about   times  while flashing pictures of half naked mod youths . later  said mods boys pelt mod girls with . . . vegetables  if you ignore  or fast forward  through the mummy  s rambling  the shorts aren  t bad in their own right . i found a few of them rather funny . my personal favorite is one where the sexually  confused man tries to convince a girl to have sex with him while his pet lizard sits on the bed . this is one  well  bizarre movie .  
the    club gives a great perspective on world events . some have described it as disingenuous or cheesy . i find the program to be informative and inspirational . it is only natural for many to throw mud on a program that has proved to be so successful . there are very few shows that can point to a   year track record of success in the world of television media and the    club is one of them . while mr . robertson may have been wrong to say that someone should be assassinated  i find it curious that so many people will literally trip over themselves to hop on the bandwagon of criticism . i have certainly said some foolish things in my life . i would certainly be willing to forgive mr . robertson since he puts out a great show .  
its awful i cant believe that one of the greatest nonsenses in the world can be a blockbuster and the favorite movie of millions of people                      a movie which has no story  again shahrukh khan has been appeared on the screen with nothing new the same as usual he is trying to make you cry by start scrambling his head for thousands of times  i think this is to much  pretty zinta spouse to act the character of a pakistani girl i didn  t know that there is enough facilities in pakistan for the pakistani girls to do so many plastic surgeries on their face and also there are enough make up facilities     and also i didn  t know that an indian can cross the march  s between both countries  go to pakistan and start dancing and singing may be pakistani soldier  s were sleeping           
the person  s comment that said that pat robertson is evil and his program is evil has nothing to compare what evil and righteous is . his definition of evil is the opposite of evil . the bible itself says that in the last days people will call good evil and evil good  he doesn  t even know that he fulfilled bible prophecy  if you don  t know god and refuse to know him now  that  s okay . he still loves you but when you do finally bow your knee to him  and you will  it will be too late for you . god sends no one to hell  not even you  you will go there of your own decision and your spewing defines it  may god have mercy on you and give you a damascus road experience . the    club and pat robertson  s ministry is one of the reasons i  m still here . on the edge of alcoholism  adultery  and probably death  god reached through the tv screen and used pat robertson to do it  and thank god he did  you have a right to say what you said but you don  t have a right to curse with your words . god have mercy on you .  
i  d like to start off by saying that i am not an anime fan  with a few notable exceptions   and i generally have a low opinion of so  called otakus  as they are so in love with their particular brand of cartooning that they label every movie starring spiky  haired  big  eyed characters as a work of art without even considering other more vital factors  such as the plot . and no anime movie better represents this division between otakus and people with actual taste than this elegant piece of trash  fatal fury the motion picture .  br    br   as seen through the glassy  witless eyes of an otaku  there  s little to find fault with in fatal fury   there  s plenty of quirky japanese  y humor  one  on  one duels  some  dramatic  moments  and everything is beautifully drawn . but everyone else will be turned off by the cliched  predictable plot with cliched  predictable characters  culminating in a cliched  predictable ending . the love scenes are hilariously overblown   the scene in which sulia  heals  terry is obviously intended to be a tender moment  but it  s virtually impossible to not be thrown into spirals of giddy laughter by the sheer ludicrousness of it . and of course  fatal fury is not without the obligatory cartoon ta   this is supplied gratuitously by the huge  breasted mai shiranui . and since fatal fury is based off the video game series of the same name  oh boy   we  re treated to numerous pointless cameo appearances by popular characters with little or no relevance to the plot whatsoever  they go through all the trouble of introducing kim early on  only for him to disappear from the movie totally after that point  . this mess of a movie reaches its climax with the unintentionally farcical final battle  in which all the main characters engage the all  powerful main villain in one  on  one combat in turn . that  s some thing that  s always amused me . . . even when battles in animes aren  t taking place in a tournament  they always happen as if they were  regardless of the fact that it makes no sense whatsoever   br    br   otakus always rave about how anime movies should be treated as movies as opposed to merely cartoons  and a disturbing portion of those same people love fatal fury . so would fatal fury have been good if it wasn  t an anime  the answer is an emphatic  no    all of this movie  s charm  what little of it there is  resides in the actual drawings . had fatal fury not been an anime  it would have been worthy of an episode of mystery science theater      if the show was still on the air . that  s the key   this is nothing more than a laughably bad b  movie in the guise of an anime epic . if you  re a fan of movies so bad that they  re actually entertaining  consider renting fatal fury  or catch it on the sci  fi channel   as it is definitely one of those . if you  re an otaku  please wake up and realize that a good    of the stuff you  re watching is garbage . as for everyone else  buy a dreamcast and fatal fury mark of the wolves  but don  t even consider seeing this movie .  
contrary to what those who hate christianity  the    club provides real answers as well as inspiration . it also provides reliable news  logical commentary and a different view than what abc  cbs  nbc and pbs thinks is best . unlike other programs  which provide social and faith  related commentary  those who are behind the    club provide help for those in need  such as feeding the hungry with operation blessing  providing medical help to those living in poverty  stricken communities and giving hope to those who need hope . it  s not at all hateful . if the    club offends you  i suggest reaching for the remote control and turning the channel on your tv set . i do the same thing when i find cnn headline news or for that matter  programs which i find biased or offensive . what i find offensive is the way that the abc family inserts the disclaimer that the views of the    club do not reflect those of abc family .  
and i thought the beach was bad  with the difference that this movie has one of the greatest actors of our time  nicolas cage . don  t blame him for the awful script  if any one can make any sense of what the hell was the point of that movie  give your self a pat on the back . its a cross between the village and a crappier script . its starts off kinda catching your eye  and then as it goes further into the plot  it just makes no sense  and don  t get me started about the ending     what was that  the only thing that makes this movie exist is nicolas cage usual great humor  and his ability to be funny in the weirdest situations . if you go to a blockbuster and this is the only movie to watch  save yourself five bucks and just go back home and turn put some thing on fire and when some ones asks you why  just say the stupidest thing that comes into your mind  and there you go   
nothing new is this tired serio  comedy that wastes the talents of danny glover and whoopi goldberg . considering that this was produced by the stars and spike lee  it  s pretty tame and tired stuff . and how come the whoop never changes her hair or glasses over the many years this film covers  blah   
i watched this movie because i like nicolas cage and well  i found it strange and completely pointless . . . so i decided to poke around a little bit and got my hands on the   s copy of it . wow . what a difference . the original one was way better . i  d like you all to know it did originally actually make a statement  it  s existence did have a purpose . it was really the christian public expressing their fear of paganism . if you dig deeper into it it also makes comments on life but i don  t want to go into details  just  simply put  if you were disappointed and you  d like to know what it should look like  feel free to watch the   s version  a little dated  but a lot better .  
i really in enjoyed watching this movie . like most of the people that watched it . i wasn  t sure that i was getting . whoopi goldberg is a very funny comedian and she has done a lot of funny movies i . e . sister act .  br    br   however this was not really comedy . it is a drama with comedic moments . so if your looking for a laugh riot then keep looking .  br    br   this movie is about a black family moving up from a nice neighborhood in the city to an upper middle class neighborhood . i would say more but it think it would spoil the movie . this movie does not just deal with race relations between whites and blacks  but also about relations with in the black community . i do think that it is worth a chance . if your not really interested in see another movie about race relations then this movie isn  t for you  
where oh where to begin in describing the comprehensive wretchedness of neil labute  s latest attempt at film making   br    br   there are many kinds of film fans out there  but by far the most annoying and shallow is mr . intriguing . you know mr . intriguing  don  t you   br    br   he  s the fellow that no matter how stupid  lame  and incomprehensibly dull a film is  he says  gee  i don  t know why everyone hated it  i found it intriguing .  he  s the kind of guy who finds the scent of dog poop intriguing . especially when he smears it in the shape of a hitler mustache on his upper lip and marches about the house ranting about the brilliance of science fiction that features thinly veiled references to greek mythology . he  s also the guy this version of the wicker man was made for . no one else could stand it .  
story about four teenage girls growing up in california . jeanie  jodie foster  is the most level  headed of the bunch   but wants to move out of her house where she lives with her divorced mother  sally kellerman  . annie  cherie currie  is addicted to drugs  alcohol and bad boys and is beaten up by her father . madge  marilyn kagan  has overprotective parents . deirde  kandice stroh  thinks she  s more mature than the rest of them .  br    br   this is nothing new from what we  ve seen plenty of times before   but this one has one big difference   it  s accurate . i graduated from high school in      when i first saw the film  and i was surprised at how realistic it was . they got the dialogue  clothes and attitudes down completely right . even the main song of the movie   on the radio  by donna summer  was a big hit before this came out . this film hit me harder than any other teen film of the time because i could understand and relate to the characters . i knew girls in high school who were just like this  the film is  of course  dated but it captures a time we will never see again .  br    br   the acting is good on all counts with foster giving the best performance . the relationship between her and kellerman  who was excellent  was realistic and well  done . even scott baio  who has a small role as a friend of the girls  more or less realistically played a teen boy .  br    br   a very good movie   essential viewing if you came of age in     . the film has a deserved r rating  plenty of drug use and swearing  but should be seen by all teens . i give it a  .  
wow . . .  br    br   i picked this up at the local wal  mart after reading online that it had been released early . i  ve been following this online for some time  and just had to buy the film .  br    br   wow . . .  br    br   i guess the thing that really struck me was the editing  or lack thereof . time and again  characters  usually the narrator and whoever he is with  are shown walking . . . and walking . . . and walking . i am not an editor  but i do know that you can cut between someone leaving point a to show them arriving at point b . there is no need to show almost the entire journey  wow . . .  br    br   i actually ended up feeling somewhat sorry for the actors involved in this . they seem to have been given no direction as to what to do during scenes other than to look scared or look happy  depending on what action was to be added at a later date .  br    br   wow . . .  br    br   why it was decided to do almost all the effects using cg is beyond me . even ilm still employs miniatures sometimes . one of the most distracting uses of green screen in this film is the constant rushing about of  according to the end credits  the same group of people representing the citizenry of different towns and cities  including london . at times these folk are coming and going with no regard as to the angle of the shot or the distance they are from the camera . in one shot in london  there appear to be at least two men over six feet tall walking just behind the narrator  s brother  played by star anthony piana without his distracting mustache  . not since gettysburg have i seen such a fake piece of facial hair .  br    br   wow . . .  br    br   why timothy hines talked up this film the way he did is beyond me . it is a turkey  plain and simple . on the plus side  at least for me  it has provided some of the most genuine laugh  out  loud bits of hilarity i have seen in quite a while .  
i enjoyed this movie quite a lot . i have always been a fan of whoopi goldberg and this movie only emphasizes it . she portrays a housewife in an african  american family which is moving up the social chain due to the husband  s  danny glover  success as an attorney . she moves to an all white neighborhood where the people are friendly  yet a little awkward toward her . the various events that arise during the course of the movie make for some laughs but mostly appeal to the other emotions . this movie is not so much a comedy as a drama . i give it a strong     . i highly recommend you catch it on tv or rent it soon .  
the wicker man  starring nicolas cage  is by no means a good movie  but i can  t really say it  s one i regret watching . i could go on and on about the negative aspects of the movie  like the terrible acting and the lengthy scenes where cage is looking for the girl  has a hallucination  followed by another hallucination  followed by a dream sequence  with a hallucination  etc .  but it  s just not worth dwelling on when it comes to a movie like this . instead  here  s five reasons why you should watch the wicker man  even though it  s bad  br    br    . it  s hard to deny that it has some genuinely creepy ideas to it  the only problem is in its cheesy  unintentionally funny execution . if nothing else  this is a movie that may inspire you to see the original     film  or even read the short story on which it is based .  br    br    . for a cheesy horror  thriller  it is really aesthetically pleasing . it  s pretty obvious that it was filmed on location instead of using green screen or elaborate sets  so we get to see some very great scenery . there are also many nicely composed shots . it is a very good looking movie .  br    br    . nicolas cage is not so much an actor as he is a force of nature . whether you  re a fan of his or not  it seems as if it  s impossible for cage to play a  normal guy  . there is always some kind of eccentricity or nerdiness he brings to the characters he plays  and personally  i am always fascinated by watching him in any movie he does . whether nicolas cage is great or terrible  he always brings his unique energy into play  and he is never boring to watch . he is terrible in the wicker man  but in the most wonderful kind of way .  br    br    . a student could probably write a hell of a paper on this movie  as it seems to be the strongest anti  feminist movie ever made .  see   you could write   this is what happens when women are allowed to run a society   also  the similarities between this  summersisle  society and a bee colony are pretty interesting and worth noting .  br    br    . if you  re reading this  there  s probably a good chance you may have seen a youtube video that has become very popular a collection of  highlights  from the movie  including cage running around in a bear suit  and of course  the infamous  aaghh   the bees   my eyes     line . these scenes are hilarious out of context  and they are still fairly funny while watching them in the film  s entirety .  br    br   i bought the used dvd at blockbuster for about  dollars . . . when you work that out  it  s about a dollar per reason . it  s a pretty good deal .  br    br   note the unrated version of the movie is the best to watch  and it  s better to watch the theatrical version just for its little added on epilogue  which features a cameo from james franco .  
this showtime movie really deserves a far better viewer rating than a  .   i gave it a   based on the story and the acting of the two stars . after reading the viewer comments  i was surprised at how many folks expected this movie to be a comedy . yeah  i see that imdb lists it as comedy  drama under genre . that sure is misleading  isn  t it  fortunately  i saw the movie before logging onto this website so i did not have that expectation . in fact  based on the synopsis of what i heard  i fully expected it to simply be a drama . i  m wondering if disappoint at this not being a funny movie caused so many low votes .  br    br   another factor that might have caused low votes is that this movie is very much  character  driven  .  driving miss daisy  is an example of another character  driven movie that comes to mind . someone  s previous comment complained about a boring trial . tom  s  danny glover  work scenes seemed to distract from the real plot of the movie . that is  how he was engineering the upward social climb of his family  or his personal troops  if you will . however  they served to establish credibility and justification as his right to move to greenwich and move  up  in the world .  br    br   tom  s obsession became a compulsion . he proved that he would stop at nothing to blend into the white neighborhood . his chagrin when another black person moved next door was not due to skin color . it was because of everything the  interloper  represented everything that tom had left behind . in essence  tom had become an oreo cookie black on the outside but white on the inside .  br    br   the last   minutes of this movie are among the most powerfully written  directed and acted  by whoopi goldberg  i have ever had the pleasure to witness . i realized that the climax of the film was not the obvious event that happened next door  don  t want to give it away  . the climax is verbal and whoopi delivers it . i am still not clear if it is the conversation when she informs tom which college tom  two is going to or when she releases it  all in the middle of the night and tom wakes up . nevertheless  the denouement is great . you know that life on that street will never be the same .  br    br   my favorite kind of character  driven flick people go through problems  some pain  do their dance  they grow  they change  and life goes on . as an audience member  i may learn something or be inspired .  
great mystery  but the film goes down hill from there . the beginning is promising with a car wreck and a woman and her daughter being burned alive in front of a police officer  edward . he is traumatized over this and is seen popping pills . a mysterious letter turns up from an old girlfriend asking for help in finding her missing daughter . so ed travels to an island commune of mainly woman . they don  t like outsiders . a lot of filler is with ed shown looking around town for the girl . that made the movie too long . it finally gets a little better toward the end when we learn of the crazy rituals the woman perform and finally of the sinister plan in store for edward .  br    br   overall  not a well written story and too long .  br    br   final verdict i would skip this .  
this movie will not sit well with some  but it is a must view . i am glad someone finally brought up for discussion the realities of how african american couples worked to make a name in communities and how many of them felt trying to stay there as  other  african americans moved in .  br    br    minor spoilers   br    br   this little showtime film is almost like a spike lee joint . . . you have an african american male  danny glover  who worked his way hard through the traditionally white law profession positions in the      s . like any american  he moved his family to be compatable with his upwardly mobile status but forgot  there was still alot of problems going on . the only african americans in the neighborhood at the time was the maids . one owning a home  wow .  br    br   then the blending in began . his wife  whoopi goldberg  is told to  get involved  so she does what all the other women in her neighborhood do . and just when the man thinks he and his family are  in   right next door comes another african american who got in because they won the  lotto   mo  nique   and in his eyes and he wants nothing to do with them for he doesn  t want the neighborhood to think they are alike . he  of course is of a better calibre  his new neighbor is  ghetto  not an shouldn  t be there  who  s got a problem now   br    br   what this film shows you is the great pains it takes for this family to fit in  and how they lose themselves in the process . it makes you question where does racism begin and end . . . and with whom . it shows how no matter what colour you are and how much money you have  you can still shut yourself off from the real world and helping those around you . it also shows how these african american children  when  blending in  neighborhoods such as these fall into the trap of changing themselves to suit the culture  complete with blonde hair and blue eyes  mind you   around them . they laugh along with the jokes  not knowing they are the joke and not knowing . . why .  br    br   but overall  this film is about  people  . no matter what race you are  this film gets into how terrible you can be towards your neighbor and toward each other . . . all for the sake of fitting in . . all because you feel you have more money than others  so that automatically makes you better   and you forget the struggles you had and those coming up behind you .  br    br   again  not for everyone . but take a look and judge for yourself .  br    br    
this movie is suppose to be a mysterious  serious thriller about a man looking for a missing girl . however    minutes into the movie  it turns into a funny  unrealistic story with annoying characters and random scenes . i can  t imagine anyone not laughing when cage randomly karate kicks that blonde girl or when he  bear  punches that old lady . the lines  characters  and acting are all poorly done from the get  go . i  ve always liked nicolas cage as an actor  but he has made some terrible movies this year this being by far the worst one  yet . . .  .  br    br   i wouldn  t recommend this movie to anyone who wants to watch an intense story  gripping thriller . if you really want to enjoy this story  go rent the original . however  if you intend on watching it  get ready to laugh at some of the lines and end scenes rather than taking them seriously that  s the only way you enjoy this film .  
this is a visual adaptation of manga with very little dialogue . what dialogue there is appears in word baloons as it would in the manga . the plot of this is existent but only vaguely accounted for . there is an issue of the manga on which this is based available in english in the blast books collection   comics underground japan   and it has actual captioned dialogue that explains the plot a bit more than here . i recommend checking that volume out if you liked this  as it explains some of the  plot  of the movie  which is otherwise inexplicable . animation wise this is pretty decent  good unintrusive use of computers and the images are for the most part realized well . it jumps in and out of episodes  as the characters  a cat and his brain  dead older sister cat wander in and out of a series of odd images a boat  a circus  a desert . for a mere half hour they go through a number of semi  plots and settings  which leads me to believe that the director chose a number of issues of the long  running manga to adapt at random  but primarilly selected visually . knowing what  s going on might somewhat increase appreciation . this reminds me mostly of the kind of stuff they used to play on the mtv show  cartoon sushi  in particular a short that features a cat chasing a man  s severed butt  cheek around the house . only in this case the cats resemble hello kitty more and their adventure is expanded to include death and reincarnation and a number of other themes though not all that easy to tell what  s going on . the dvd of this has director  s commentary and a  making of  features  but i cant comment on those because i didnt get around to them . i  m giving this a     for now  here isnt much to compare it to in anime  and i hope for more like this .  
a trooper is on the side of the road making sure every  is obeying the speed limit  doing his job   he then pulls over a woman who appears she is a mother  there is a child in the back seat   he then is telling her what is wrong and bam . . . they get killed . okay  this is the start of what i personally thought would have been a good movie . when i was watching this movie in the theatre i was with some friends . this was our first night out after the summer so we wanted to go and see a good movie . we all decided to see a suspense  thriller that looked good to everyone in the group . . . this was one of the biggest mistakes of my life . not only did i waste   . oo on a movie ticket  but i had to sit through torture for the brain . this movie started off with mystery and suspense and i seriously thought  this cant be bad  . . . i was so wrong . the whole problem with this movie is that it makes no sense even if you can get passed the bad acting  the  not so scary  storyline  and the over all horrible mess this movie was  you will still be puzzled . it  s not because you  re not smart enough to understand it  it  s because no human with a brain could comprehend what this stupid movie is about . right now you may be thinking  oh man  i have to watch this movie just to see if it  s as bad as this person says it is  . get that thought out of your head right now    i  m trying to save you the trouble of watching this movie by telling you that it is so bad that there is no point in even considering seeing it . please people don  t make the same mistake i did thinking that this movie has potential . . . it doesn  t . i give this movie  out of    if i could give a zero i would   and i do not recommend anyone to ever see this movie  you  ll be saving yourself many sleepless nights trying to think w . t . f . that freaking movie is about .  
japanese animators have a unique freedom with animation  which is why they tend to be able to come out with movies like these  movies that ultimately end up on anime  fans hard  drives and college student  s floors  but get completely ignored by pretty much anybody outside of its country of origin . cat soup is one of those films that  from western eyes  is supposed to be experienced on drugs or deeply analyzed . really  it  s just a beautifully detailed surrealist journey .  br    br   there  s no real dialog  which makes it easy to pass on to other interested parties uninterested in things like subtitles . a cat and his half  dead  brain  dead   sister travel through various landscapes of imagination and association . there  s a general theme of water  or lack thereof  possibly because of the cat drowning at the beginning  possibly because of the title   . there  s an interesting sort of genesis take . there  s a pig that gets to eat itself . an elephant made of water . and it  s gorgeous  compelling  exciting  and fun   provided you don  t watch it around druggies who cannot experience anything visually unique without comparing it to an acid trip . eventually the movie turns itself off  adding another compelling self  reflexive level to the proceedings .  br    br     polarisdib  
first this movie was not that bad . it was entertaining . . . at least to me for probably all the wrong reasons . i have never seen the original so can  t compare the two .  br    br   this movie reminded me of that weird christopher reeve movie village of the damned . the two movies have different plots  but that creepy disgusted feeling and unwanted comedy exist in both .  br    br   the wicker man is suppose to be a mystery  thriller  men please don  t anger the women movie . i don  t know the whole pagan thing and sacrifice was a little off .  br    br   nicholas cage  his glorious bad self goes to a secluded island called summerisle when he receives a letter in calligraphy from his long lost fiance who claims her daughter has been taken and hidden by fellow islanders .  br    br   cage is a police officer and being the weary policeman he is he goes to the semi uncharted island leaving no word of his whereabouts to anyone who is located in the real world . stupid .  br    br   things get weirder when the large amish  esquire women who populate the island snarl at him and lie about the whereabouts of the missing girl . his fiance is no help who seems to be elusive and weary the whole time . cage stays on the island when he learns that the missing girl is his daughter and he is the lucky man tricked to come to this island as a sacrificial victim during the islands sick harvest festival .  br    br   in this movie males do not fare so well . a sick twisted display of feminism   br    br   i found the movie laughable at times particularly when cage punches some women and runs around in a bear suit . i think there were too many potholes in this movie . i find the whole concept of angry women secluding themselves on an island without any care for males quite entertaining  but the way it was portrayed in this movie was just weird . while most women have had some jerk hurt and anger them this is clearly a form of sexism . i would have turned the movie off in disgust if the roles were reversed . this movie is something to watch maybe just once or twice . it is not a thriller it should be categorized as just strange .  
i really loved it although while reading the reviews it was quite disturbing to me . . but as an anime art fan i can totally understand this perfect art work even though some of it was against my cultures and believes . . but hey  it  s the world of art . .   the beginning of the film is very strong  strange and confusing . it  s hard to understand the contents which make me respect the one who made it . only someone who is extremely opened can do such daring film . . it  s absolutely not for kids . . even though the characters are cute and adorable but they go through some disturbing adventures that cannot be erased  sorry if the spelling is wrong  from ones memory . .  
it  s unfortunate that you can  t go any lower than one star . prior to watching the wicker man  i had considered aliens  to be the only movie that would actually merit negative stars . in all fairness  the wicker man doesn  t detract from the enjoyment of an earlier film  but the fact remains that my cumulative movie enjoyment has been reduced by seeing it .  br    br   there is a cheap trick all too often used in hollywood when the producers are too stingy to hire good writers or in too much of a hurry to allow them to bring a plot to a satisfactory conclusion slap in a shocker ending and hope that the public will mistake it for something artistic or meaningful . it is a gambit that rarely succeeds and in this case manages only to splatter embarrassment on a fine actor and ridicule upon the producers . even more so in that the  carefully crafted   or however they put it  conclusion didn  t seem to follow logically from the plot  which naturally i can  t elaborate on without introducing spoilers   and instead negates what merit the plot had up to that point .  br    br   it is a film that might logically appeal to psychopaths  pedophiles  and possibly die  hard nicholas cage fans  but only to a few of the mainstream audience . if you really want something along these lines  i heartily recommend m . night shyamalan  s the village instead . lacking some kind of memory  erasing pill  i suppose i need to watch something better to force it from my mind  say  attack of the killer tomatoes or pee  wee  s big adventure   
cat soup has two  hello kitty   type kittens embarking on a bizarre trip through the afterlife  where anything can happen  and does . this mind  tripping asian short uses no dialog  substituting word balloons instead . there is no way of describing this demented cartoon except to tell you to see it for yourself . and make sure no one under   is in the room . dismemberment and cannibalism and cruelty and savagery and sudden death and callous disregard for others are common themes . honest . perhaps the most memorable image is that of an elephant composed of water that the kitties swim through and in  and also ride . but like practically everything else in this film  that silly  picaresque interlude soon comes to a horrible end .  
i  m a big fan of nicolas cage and i never thought he would work on a movie like this . i couldn  t believe the other reviews and i thought it shouldn  t be bad to watch it at least once . . . but trust me  it is .  br    br   i haven  t seen the old movie . . but why would they want to remake a movie like this . the very basic idea of a good horror movie is either it should have an extremely intelligent script or it should be extremely graphic . this film doesn  t fall under any of those and just remains dumb . i just kept watching the movie hoping it would get interesting at some point  but it never does .  br    br   so this movie is a big no no for both horror movie fans as well as for the cage fans . you could probably for it show up on television .  
cat soup at first seems to be a very random animated film . the best way i  ve been able to explain it is that it  s quite acidic . though it  s not totally random . the story is about nyatta  a young cat boy and his sister nyaako . nyaako is very ill and dies  however  nyatta sees her soul being taken away by death and is able to retrieve half of it . the story is about their quest to bring nyaako fully back to life .  br    br   though a lot of the content in this movie seems completely random  it is not . most of it is symbolism for life  death and rebirth . you can also see references from other tales  such as hansel and gretal . this strangely cute short film has an interesting story  packed with a deeper meaning than what you see on the surface of the screen .  
waitress honey  here  s them eggs you ordered . honey  like bee  get it  that  s called pointless foreshadowing .  br    br   edward basket huh   on the road  basket here  s your doll back  little girl . you really shouldn  t be so careless with your belongings .  br    br   little girl yeah  whatever .  br    br   crash  boom  whoosh  crackle basket i think that something bad is about to happen .  br    br    later  basket mmmm . vicodin  what the   tears open letter .  wow  my ex  girl  s handwriting has really improved . and look  her missing daughter looks kinda like the girl with the doll i accidentally was sort of responsible for getting killed  in a way . and she kind of has my hairline . i wonder  should i torture myself and go find her  let  s see what my friends at the precinct think .  br    br   basket  s fellow male cop hahaha . willow  s a funny name .  br    br   basket i think that something bad is about to happen .  br    br    on the island  basket what  s in the sack  ahhh .  br    br   tree  named crone it  s not her daughter  though .  br    br    in the tavern  basket can you swing that  big  boned  tree  named tavern wench huh  basket  smashes a bee  . everything is ok .  br    br   sensually pretty  formerly promising actress playing a lusty tavern scullery maid that  s good . honey  s not a plant  though .  br    br    on the greensward  willow oh  yeah  and i forgot  you are the father my child  conan  er  i mean rowen .  yawns .  i could have stayed and had a life with you . but i didn  t . i wanted to be princess of the beehive  instead . i mean  never mind .  nods off  jerks awake  widens eyes to anime proportions  . mwah  kiss  kiss . love ya  what were we talking about  basket who burned it  who burned it  who burned it  who burned it  who burned it  willow edward . sniff . blink . why . are . you . yelling . at . me  is it because i jacked your vicodin  sniff . snore . what were we talking about  basket i think something bad is about to happen .  br    br   willow my lips hurt .  br    br    in the schoolroom  rose what is man  unappealling twins  in unison phallic symbol  phallic symbol .  br    br   rose echo  echo  basket step away from the bike .  br    br   rose and i  m the good twin .  br    br   basket i think something bad is about to happen .  br    br    at the beehives  basket hmmm . hallo  ow  ow  ow  oh bother . silly old bear . snore .  br    br    at the queen bee  s mansion  sister summersisle you have so much potential . what are you doing here  weren  t you the stud cher slapped in the face in moonstruck   licks lips .  basket i was about to ask you the same thing . where  s the girl  sister summersisle how you drone on . let  s talk about the significance of my superfluous  s .  basket look out for that semi  truck barreling toward us  aaaaah  oh . never mind . goddammit   pops another pill .  mmmm . thorazine .  br    br    back at the tavern  big  boned  supercilious tavern wench i  ve tried weightwatchers  jenny craig  south beech  and i still went up a bear  suit size since last year .  br    br   tree  named crone hahaha . all the better to roast that nosy cop in  my dear .  br    br   big  boned wench totally .  br    br   basket that was the last straw that broke the basket case  s back  take that  wench   slugs her .   edward basket is mysteriously attacked from behind  voluptuous tavern wench eeee  snap out of it  leave the island already and take me with you  do i have to tackle you or what  snap out of it  i say  eeee  basket take that  wench   courageously kicks her in the face . her eyes roll back in her head and become cartoon xs .  voluptuous wench snore  at the nicolas cage roast  ellen burstyn and who can forget the part where basket  s cell phone rings in the middle of his bear suit scene and then the call gets dropped . it  s like a wireless ad help me  can you hear me now  hahaha .  br    br   kate beahan and remember when i produced the bullets i jacked from basket  s gun  he looked so surprised . you should be more careful with your belongings  nick . hahaha . and your movie choices .  br    br   all the drone must die  basket  screaming  oh  yeah  you bitches  well  roasting me isn  t gonna help your goddamn honey  aaah . my legs  honey   honey  get it   put down that torch and step away from the basket case . honey  smokey bear says don  t play with matches . hahaha . what the  look out for that hurtling semi  truck  ahh  oh . goddammit  these flashbacks from my drug experimentation phase in the seventies are getting old  where  s my heroin  ouch . ouch . my watch isn  t fireproof . ouch . i think something bad is about to happen . can you hear me now  i  m ready for my close up . goddammit   six months later  voluptuous wench in modern  day slutty attire i told that eponymous basket case to take me with him .  br    br   innocent young drone i like to help people .  br    br   volptuous wench then get me out of my contract for the sequel  i think something bad is about to happen . eeeee   
short  but long enough  cat soup is a very wild trip to watch . one day  i was just searching though my on  demand list through the anime section and came across it  and decided to watch it . i spent the whole time basically sitting with my jaw agape . the whole time i was either vacant of thought  or had a fleeting one which screamed  turn it off     . but i didn  t . and actually  i  m glad i did .  br    br   the animation is stunning . very artistic  odd and dark . i personally loved it for the amazing animation  but the seemingly vacant story behind it is equally compelling for myself .  br    br   a young boy   well  cat   goes in search of his sister  s soul . in the first part she  s lying sick in bed  and is soon paid by a visit from a sort of grim reaper . her soul is split in half . one is regained by the cat boy while the other half is lost .  br    br   then the rest of the film is slightly lost to me  honestly . i expect they go back  and their world is . . . perhaps slowly falling apart  maybe her absence of soul is the answer behind this  for the rest of the film contains various stages of which the world  s in . first there  s a giant flood  and next it dries up into a bleak desert  and then everything freezes  thanks to either what is god or fate  as you will see  . then i believe they find the sister  s soul in the form of an orange flower . after that  the whole world disappears . haha  totally didn  t get that  but it sends shivers down my spine each time .  br    br   despite it  s seemingly random scenes  i  m sure there  s a deeper message behind it if you watch it enough and do some research . personally  i love trippy stuff like this  and would love to spend time doing that just to understand it . but to some people it  s probably not their cup of tea . it comes off as highly disturbing  so if you like your straight forward anime  this is not a film for you . if you have an open mind however  i highly recommend this movie .  
sometimes laughter in the middle of a horror film is a signal of its greatness . i remember the nervous laughter from the audience in the re  release of the excorcist really nervous laughter . it punctuated just how freaked out we all were watching the voice of satan coming out of a   year old girl . in the case of the     remake of the     cult classic the wicker man however  it made me think that this new wickerman is about as scary as the south park character  scuzzlebut  the friendly forest monster with tv  s patrick duffy for a leg and a celery stalk for an arm who  s favorite hobby is weaving wicker baskets .  br    br    years ago a friend of mine in hollywood told me that he heard that nicolas cage was going to do a remake of the film . i started laughing and my friend  keith  got mad at me touting nicolas cage as a great actor . i just didn  t think that he could pull it off and unfortunately for moviegoers i was right . gone is the realness  the outstanding original music  the originality  the creepiness and the wonderfully powerful dialogue . instead we have horror movie clichs  affected acting and changes to the storyline that make any believability fall apart . like many of the countless hollywood remakes we have been inundated with lately this feels like we are watching  th graders on a playground  playing wickerman  .  br    br   the original film takes place on a remote scottish isle where a scottish police officer is lured there to find a missing young girl named rowan morrison . in the new spin a california cop  cage  is lured to an island of the coast of washington state by his ex  girlfriend to find her missing daughter . she sends a photo and the missing daughter looks exactly like a young girl he tried to save in a fiery crash not long ago . the crash still haunts him in part because the girl  s body was never found . yet even after he gets a letter with her picture in it that connection is completely cast aside as he heads north  alone  to help his ex  girlfriend find her daughter . he arrives to find an island full of actors pretending to be the descendants of wiccans  many of whom seem like they didn  t get call backs for roles in the village . and like the village it isn  t long before you realize there is nothing to be afraid of here . not even the cloudy eyed blind sisters who speak in unison .  br    br   i think that the opportunity in hollywood to make great amounts of money on a film often comes at great expense to the artistry . i think someone like nicolas cage who is in so many films these days loses touch with the magic that film can be when it gets to the point where he has a personal chef on the set preparing his snacks . we needed a bad re  make of the wickerman like we needed yet another       movie . i  m starting to wonder if nicolas changed his surname from coppola because he wanted to or because he was pleaded with to do so .  
a young cat tries to steal back his brothers soul from death but only gets half of it and then has to go adventuring to get the other half . . . or maybe not .  br    br   frankly i  m not sure what happens in this film which is full of very strange  very surreal images some of which parents might find disturbing   ie . the cats slicing off part of a pig who is traveling with them and the frying it like bacon which all three eat  .  br    br   this is a very strange film that some have likened to hello kitty on acid  i think its more like hello kitty as done by dali .  certainly this is more alive than destino which was directly based on his work  .  br    br   if your up for a very off beat film that will challenge your perceptions of things then see this movie . just be ready for some very strange images that will be burned into your memory forever .  br    br    
if edward woodward was the the flicks watching this film then that  s what he would scream out in horror .  br    br   i  m sorry folks but enough  s enough . we had get carter  the italian job  alfie and now this . what  s the similarities  no . it  s not exactly a coincidence that three of the originals star maurice micklewhite and the other stars another great british actor . the main common ingredient in those originals is the britishness of the films . they weren  t made to impress hollywood . they were quirky english films with a unique charm  atmosphere that just cannot be replicated in the usa . the word is cult and what better way to destroy a cult film than to bastardise it with a remake or even a sequel .  br    br   wicker   had a tough task before it even hit the road . wicker   is even more enigmatic that other said cult films it defies genre  intelligent scripts  a  grade actors  the music score  set  pieces that defy description and all the stories surrounding the film .  br    br   so here comes a remake . don  t worry . no originals were harmed in the making of this remake . some major aspects of the story needed to be reworked for the modern usa  communications  paganism  virgins . but that  s just about the whole premise . so we give the cop a nam style trauma past complete with shock music flashbacks for the cheap scares . then with no mobile phone mast on the island that sorts the communication out  but in the real world this wouldn  t happen . cops just don  t go missing . give him a blood link for motivation rather than the clash of beliefs and you have the remake . wafer thin though  isn  t it   br    br   it  s just that it was all laid on with a trowel . the name alterations were simply hammy  almost carry on  there was no sense of community on the island  no centre of town to catch your bearings  just a few houses dotted about a forest and that was it . willow was just annoying by not giving out any info at all and cage was useless to let her get away with it . when he went into the well you just knew he would get locked it . the screenplay was signposted all the way to the end  and you just wanted it to hurry up and end . the epilogue was absolutely hilarious and didn  t know when to stop .  br    br   that ending is probably the best way to summarise the difference between the two . one ends in the most beautiful sunset after the most horrific day . the other ends with a post  production explain  it  all  to  the  thickies type conclusion .  br    br   i loved the original but went to the cinema with an open mind and was excited to see the film . i left thankful in the knowledge that this film will probably end up beneath a highway somewhere only this time mercifully forgotten forever .  
if you weren  t there  then unfortunately this movie will be beyond compassion for you . which as i say is a shame because although some of the acting is amateurish  it is meant to be for realism . let  s face it   in real life  we don  t say things in an exacting or perfect way  even when we mean to . in this sense  it works . this  however  does not apply to our  known  actors in this film  notably jodie foster  born a natural  . the fact that the other  girls are not accomplished only adds to the story   jodie plays the glue that struggles to keep their friendship close  even with the obvious feeling of fatality . meaning that no matter how close friends are  eventually there are some people that just fade away  no matter how you try .  br    br   and therein is the core of the movie . it  s not about partying  it  s not about sexuality  but about these  girls and their final time as still young girls before they have to go the world alone .  br    br   if you have ever had a friendship like that in your life  you will feel this movie   it will mean a lot to you  no matter what era it is set in  or what era you grew up in . we all knew these girls in school  or at the very least knew of them . we all knew the frustrated virgin  half wanting to hold onto childhood and half wanting desperately to grow up and thinking that will do it for her . we all knew the boy  crazy one  the fashion plate whose vanity hides her fear of the world  her fear of acceptance . we all knew the party girl  the one they whispered about  with tales of not only her sad home life but of her notorious exploits . and we all knew the  mother figure   the one a little more real  a little more grounded  a little more sad because she knew what would happen . maybe you were one of those girls . maybe  like me  you had been each one at one time or another . . .  br    br   this film really captures that fragile time in life when want  needs  pressures  womanhood  childhood  the world and loneliness are all embodied in each female  s head  each factor on the precipice . which aspect do you hang on to  what do you toss over the edge  no matter how you may want to hold on  and how painful is goodbye to everything you  ve known  that  s what this movie is   steps into womanhood while clinging onto childhood  and how damn tough it is to keep walking . if you were there  you know . . . and love this film  as i do . aching and tenderly done . a fine piece of captured femininity .  
i must admit i burst out laughing when i saw one reviewer compare this to lotr . well yes  if you exclude the dwarfs  the cast of thousands  the great special effects  the big battles  the strong characterization  the decent plot  the good acting  the classy direction and everything else . which leaves you with the walking . and boy  does this film do walking  if mr piano had his way  this would probably be an uninterrupted three hours of hardcore walking through the wisconsin countryside  but every   minutes or so these pesky martians pop up for a few seconds to interrupt him before he goes for another bit of a ramble . you  ve never seen so much walking in a movie . if this really had a    m budget  most of it must have gone on mr piano  s shoes  because he had to get through plenty of pairs with all the walking he does . which explains why there  s no money left for decent effects  a decent video camera or proper actors . honestly  it  s like watching some bizarre fetish video for people with a thing about going for long walks in period costumes . even on fast  forward  this is a looonnnggg walk .  br    br   as for the sci  fi stuff  i think it was a mistake to put martians in the film they only get in the way of the walking  which is clearly much more interesting to the director than the story .  br    br   i wonder how much mr piano charges to walk dogs   
wow . a truly fantastic  trip  movie that has tons of super  surreal imagery  dark intent and a black  pretty strange sense of how cartoon animals must see the world . it  s populated with a very cute off  world bunch of characters that bend and flow with warped backgrounds . as with all cool fantasy  the wandering plot is secondary to the eye  popping visuals and we follow a little cat and his zombie sister as they encounter death  deluge  water elephants  samurai swordsmen and pigs that fish . i  d never heard of it  but now i love it  probably because it reminded me of the surreal pencil  work of american cartoonist bill plympton . it  s a demented delight for fans of odd  pretty things and it had me glued to the screen for fear i  d miss something amazing . simply put  it  s  hello kitty  without the  o  .  
ok  so i am an original wicker man fan and i usually don  t like british films remade by americans  so why oh why did i put myself through the most painful cinema experiences ever  i am not a nicolas cage fan and i had some kind of moment of madness perhaps  the film was appalling  the bit at the beginning with the crash  fire had no relevance to the film at all and the female cop knew where edward was going  so the bit at the end with the two girls visiting the mainland  well it wouldn  t have happened as the whole thing would have been investigated . the history behind the wicker man wasn  t really explored  and i guess being set in america didn  t really help the whole pagan theme . this film was slow and contained no atmosphere or suspense . i must say that the best bit was right at the end  when nicolas cage goes up in flames  i am in such desperate need to see the original again now  in order to cleanse my disappointed soul . i really can  t stress how disappointing this film is  please don  t see it if you  br    br   a  don  t like american re  makes of british films b  are a fan of the original c  hate nicolas cage  
best animated movie ever made . this film explores not only the vast world of modern animation with absolutely boggling effects  but the branches of the human mind  soul  and philosophy . the story features a family of cats  where in the big sister dies  the younger brother sees this and rescues her body  but when she awakens she is left without a soul . so  the two sibling cats embark on a journey to find it . i have related this journey to many things . the history of the world  the bible  the cycle of life  and every time i watch it i discover more and more hidden themes and metaphors . if you aren  t so into the physiological aspect of it then  you will still adore it . the animation is superb  and the creative scenes will have you attached to the screen . for example  the ocean freezing in time  god eating soup out of the earth  a strange and slightly snm retelling of hansel and gretel . to conclude  cat soup is an absolute treat for anyone .  br    br   ps  not for kids  gratuitous violence included .  
well  finally got to see the remake last night in london  unintentionally hilarious  sexless and devoid of any real humour . i don  t really know where to start  whilst i was entertained by this strange homage  it didn  t really move me . the acting is screamingly hammy  there is no original music  the costumes are far too  disney  there is a ridiculous  six months later  insert after the burning of nic cage  which didn  t come soon enough for my liking  the bit with cage in the bear suit had the audience suppressing mirth as did the comedy punching out of various  baddies  on the island . it  s such a weird remake that i cant quite believe i saw it  it reminded me of something that the comic strip presents would have done in the eighties  a bit like their hollywood interpretation of the miner  s strike  very strange   
cat soup is a short anime based on the legendary manga nekojiru . it won the award  best short film  at the  th fantasia film festival and also won the  excellence prize  at japan  s media arts festival .  br    br   when little kitten nyaako  s soul is stolen by death  she and her brother nyatta embark on a bizarre journey to get it back . in the surreal dreamscape of the other side  they encounter many fantastic characters and remarkable  often disturbing adventures .  br    br   cat soup is an anime like nothing you  ve ever seen . it  s hello kitty on acid  it is very original  stunningly beautiful and possess a great sense of strangeness and lyricism . cat soup is very surrealistic  there are no dialogue  and sometimes cruel and gory . so it is more an anime for adults than children  they may not understand at all   . a great journey for those who get the chance to see this absolute masterpiece . an must  see   
the wicker man has done the impossible  it replaced cat woman as the worst recent movie in my steel trap cinema mind . yes it  s really that bad . so bad that when sitting down to write this review i thought to myself  if i had a choice to either see this movie again or to have red hot needles shoved in my eyes  i might actually go for the red hot needles .  br    br   neil labute created a rare movie where joel schumacher could sit back and say with comfort and a guilt free mind  yeah that  s some bad direction right there  .  br    br   i think the first clue for myself should have been the tag line  some sacrifices must be made  . sure it might sound sort of cheeky ominous line to intrigue you but the sacrifice will be all on the audience side of the screen . trust me on this the people responsible for this movie should be charged with a hate crime . . or at least fraud for trying to pass this off as anything resembling entertainment . seriously  the movie is about an island where men are just there for breeding and i would still rather with be stuck on gilligans island with only pictures of condoleezza rice then find myself stranded there .  br    br   the most entertaining part about this movie was the guy who ripped the loudest fart i  ve ever heard in a movie theater . that  s not a joke nor is it fictional . i  ve never been to a  thriller  and heard so much laughter through out the entire film . i can  t tell you with an certainty if the laughs were intentional in some effort to lighten the cinematic tension or if they just really thought this crud would actual fly . i honestly found myself routing for a power outage or a perhaps a fight to break out in the movie theater  anything to make this more interesting which is pretty sad since deez  powder and i pounded  beers each before the film just for a little mental anesthesia  soon to be a law before all nic cage films  write to your congressman today  don  t delay  . at one point i actually thought perhaps this movie is really a spoof and anna ferris is going to show upoh how i wish .  br    br   nic cage throws out so much ham per frame i  m thinking of having a cholesterol test done today . to think that i ever thought sean penn was a dck for slamming nic  s acting  oh he  s still a dck just lesser of oneyes sean penn  s dck was lessened because of this film . do us all a favor nic play your strengths and stick to being pathetic losers and drunks . you cannot play superman you do not get to play strong hunky roles go straight to jail do not pass go do not collect    dollars . his best moments in this film are when he finally comes unhinged and actually punches out a burly woman to steal her bear suit  like the fart  not a joke or a functional moment during this review  then proceeds to run amok like conan o  brian  s masturbating bear  but with half the hilarity of a bear knocking his junk around . thankfully he meets his end shortly after when it turns out he  s to be a sacrifice to the crowd at the new tour hybrid show of burning man and lilith fair . yes     i just spoiled the ending for youand if you knew any better you  d build statues of me in worship and sing songs of my legend . i sat through this crap  fest so you don  t have to .  br    br   about half way through this little misadventure i kept thinking to myself jack bauer would have wrapped this case up in   minutes of real time . . ok   minutes if kim gets attacked by a mountain lion first . even steve martin as inspector clouseau could have figured this out in under an hourand you sir are no inspector clouseau .  br    br   if for some reason you are taken captive and you have a choice to see this film or take a bullet  take the bullet .  br    br   somewhere uwe boll is laughing at us all .  
when i saw this movie a few days ago  my eyes were completely fixed to the screen . its greatness held my attention to such an extent that i focused all of my attention on it for its entire duration . i would recommend seeing it not just to fans of anime  but to anyone who likes great movies period  or who likes really weird stuff  . the style of art is beautiful  the sound is perfect  and the symbolism within it is breathtaking . i  ve heard complaints about the weird insertion of english text in the movie  but i think the way its done is complementary to the strange style of the movie . the self  attributed description of  hello kitty on acid  doesn  t do justice to this film of absolutely epic proportions . i  d like to find more works by whoever made this  and see them .  
a phenomenal achievement in awfulness . it  s actually hilariously awful .  br    br   first off . . . nicholas cage must now have made it to the finals in the over  emoting category in his acting class . wearing new hair plugs and with a face that has been lifted so many times his pinned back ears seem to be straining to touch in the back he oozes not only a sick smarmiess but creates a  hero  character that you have no vested interest in .  br    br   i don  t know what it is with neil labute and female characters . he makes females out to be totally deviant and evil . . . and pays them back by having cage punch several of them directly in the face and call them all  bes  a few times too . i  ve enjoyed labute  s early films and a few of his plays . . . but it  s a strange fascination he has .  br    br   i  d give this film a  out of   solely based on ellen burstyn  s performance . by the time she finally makes her appearance  bravely soldiering through her scenes with her wig line clearly visible on her forehead  it seems like all hope may be lost . she deserves an oscar right here and now for saying her lines with a straight face and when she appears wearing a white mumu and blue  white  and gold face paint booming about the wicker man you know that working with scorcese and friedkin really prepped her for this role dang well .  br    br   this movie is so wrong  headed and cuckoo that is has to be seen to be believed .  br    br   highlights include nicholas cage running away from a swarm of bees and then falling down a hill .  br    br   nicholas cage stealing a bicycle and looking like ms . gulch from the wizard of oz riding around on it .  br    br   nicholas cage running around the island kicking down doors looking for the missing girl .  br    br   leelee sobieski plummeting from a once  promising acting career in a  brawl  with cage .  br    br   ellen burstyn dancing around in a said while mumu .  br    br   nicholas cage screaming  who burned it  who burned it  who burned it  who burned it  who burned it  who burned it   for no reason .  br    br   nicholas cage in a bear costume  i  m not kidding  running through the woods  taking off the costume  but leaving the bear feet on  and then doing some karate moves to some villains .  br    br   and you haven  t lived until you have seen the final   minutes of the movie and its dreadful epilogue that looked like it was shot yesterday in your cousin  s basement .  br    br   needless to say  if you can make it through this film without laughing out loud then you deserve a medal . there was actually a point in the movie where i stopped snickering to wonder if maybe this wasn  t an elaborate send  up of  hysteria  films . . . only to be reminded when cage would scream  shout  whisper his dialogue that he really was taking himself quite seriously .  br    br   i think this one is destined to be a cult film all over again . . . just because it  s so dreadful .  
first of all  this movie is   minutes long  which means you could watch it three times in a row and still have spent less time than you would have watching most other movies . second of all   you need to do this . this sensational short film explores the potential of animation through a world of playful or horrifying but always powerful images . cats riding in and drinking out of a water elephant  a circus featuring a bird that has consumed the sky  and pigs eating their own fried flesh   that  s only the beginning . the scenes and images  extraordinary on their own  flow together without obvious causal links in a way that demands re  watching . furthermore  the dvd includes an amazing director  s commentary  which  given the extremely spare dialog  only enhances the viewing . the commentary gives a few interpretations of scenes  but also provides priceless quotes on the crafting of cat soup  along the lines of  well  the artists were asking what we should do in this scene  but i didn  t know myself  so its hard to say why it turned out as it did   that  s a bad paraphrase by the way  . also  the sound throughout the film is very high quality  very precise  and very moody . in all  the absolute minimum viewing experience should go as follows  br    br   first viewing watch the dvd without the commentary . second viewing watch the dvd with the commentary . third viewing rewatch without the commentary .  br    br   once you  ve watched it three times  however  you  re not going to stop there . . .  
i have never seen the      older highly rated version . i am a nicholas cage fan  by the way  fine acting as usual  . this movie probably took all of five minutes to hammer out the whole plot  i can see it being done on a cocktail napkin at a dinner party   if you can  t figure out the ending of this drool in the first thirty minutes you will probably find this movie entertaining . this is  of late  the terrible rut that hollywood seems to have dug for itself with the horror  mystery  thriller genre  unable to give the audience enough credit and write a fresh  smart  and tantalizing screenplay  they dish out some creepy music and throw in a couple of things to make you jump a little and then send the final print off to your local theater . at least  it didn  t have the jiggling hand  held camera syndrome .  
gender bender sexes things up a bit for the x  files . this episode has an interesting premise  a good story  but an ending that is wanting . gender bender is also the x  files debut for actor nicholas lea  better known as alex krycek . in this episode he plays michael  a man attacked by one of  the kindred  . you need to see this episode just to see nic lea  s less than spectacular beginning . an interesting thing about the kindred  s  power of seduction  . when marty does it to his victims  they become turned onto him  her . however  when andrew seduces scully  she only because disoriented and groggy  and does not become attracted to andrew . maybe it  s because marty has more experience at it than andrew . this episode reminds me of why it would sometimes be miserable to film up in british columbia . throughout the episode it is so wet  soggy  and muddy  it could not have been that much fun . despite the disappointing ending  gender bender is still a decent episode to view .  
don  t let the premise fool you   this was one funny movie . the problem   it wasn  t supposed to be a comedy . the story sets you up nicely for an ending that never comes . even worse  the set  up is never explained . you will leave the theater asking  is that it   i rate it a  simply because there were a few brief moments of promise  but the finish leaves you completely flat . nicholas cage did as good a job as can be expected in the role  but he had very little to work with . there are odd quirks  and interesting turns everywhere  which had absolutely nothing to do with the movie . let this one come out on video before wasting your money .  
okay  that was a pretty damn good episode . much better than the credit it receives .  br    br   the camera work is splendid . best yet . i love that final shot . the atmosphere is fantastic  the costumes are great and the guest cast  minus the helpless victims  is strong .  br    br   what i don  t like about this episode is that many things that are left unexplained . why does it change sex  what  s the purpose  and they  re aliens  what kind  why were they never shown again in the later mythology   br    br   i  m giving this episode a high three stars . one of my favorites yet  but the plot holes bother me . still . . . not gonna let it ruin my entertainment .  
everyone else who has commented negatively about this film have done excellent analysis as to why this film is so bloody awful . i wasn  t going to comment  but the film just bugs me so much  and the writer  director in particular . so i must toss in my hat to join the naysayers .  br    br   i saw the original  wicker man  and really loved the cornucopia of music  sensuality  paganism in a modern world  and the clash of theological beliefs . this said  i am not part of the crowd that thinks remakes of great movies shouldn  t be done . for example  i liked the original      s  invasion of the body snatchers   but equally enjoyed the     remake . both films can stand on their own . another example is  the thing  . the original  as campy as it looks compared to today  s standards  has a lot to be proud of in the     remake with kurt russell  my all time favorite horror movie  . so that small minority of people who like  the wicker man  re  make can not accuse me of dissing this piece of crap just because it  s a re  make .  br    br   this film solidified for me neil labute  s sexism and misogynistic tendencies . it also made me wonder how executives  wanting to make a serious thriller  would green light a product that is so anti  female . there are too many scenes of cage hitting women just because he  s frustrated with them thwarting his investigation of a missing girl . would he react like this off the island in other cases where suspects aren  t forthcoming  the original created a society in which men and women are equal participants in a goddess based religion . the threat to the main character came from everyone  male and female . there was no sexual hierarchy .  br    br   the metaphor of bees  drones etc was a bit heavy handed and convenient   the drone must die     especially when cage  s character has bee allergies . i kept wondering why the men on the island didn  t fight back and use mere physicality to stop these women from treating them like grunts . these were not women with special supernatural powers  and half of them seemed to be pregnant  the other half old and fat  and the rest girls and thin blonde waifs  so if the men really wanted to escape they could do what most men do when they hate women . physically dominate them . there didn  t seem to be any guns or weapons beyond cutting tools to hold them if they were unhappy . but if they were content being drones  why make them unable to speak  they could be used as a threat to cage because they will defend the community . they are drones because neil labute seems to believe that a society ran by women would leave men castrated .  that movie was made already .  the stepford wives  anyone   classic symptoms from men who are afraid of what may happen if women got their sht together and were truly equal citizens .  br    br   the problem with the man  hating female society is that it makes uninteresting movie viewing and creates unintentional humor when cage starts knocking women out . i belief labute should  ve left the society an egalitarian one  kept the sexuality and uninhibited lasciviousness  and pushed buttons of discomfort in regards to the children on that island . no one likes pedophiles or children to be sexually exploited . so how would a cop react if he saw lewd acts performed by adults with children around  there would be a logical mental leap that these children are abused  thus  an urgency created to save the missing child and get help for all the children . labute has said he created the fianc and daughter story thread to give cage  s character an incentive to search . i don  t think you need that . any child abused will make an adult react to save them . the irony of course would be that the child cage  saves  ultimately brings him death .  br    br   the dialogue was contrived and campy . the whole third act was hilarious . the audience i saw it with guffawed  and later booed at the end  . i just thought the movie started off wrong when the letter arrived written in the fancy handwriting and all the flashbacks cutting into to show how wounded cage is . we don  t need that . just show him arriving on the island for an investigation of a missing child . most of us in america have seen  law  order  and other cop procedurals . we come into the movie as if we are cage  s partner solving a mystery .  br    br   so much potential . . . wasted . neil labute  stick to talking head pictures for people who enjoy your male angst  ridden plays and flicks of that sort . stay with your own company of men . leave the thrillers for people who understand thrillers . here is your jar of honey . i  ll watch that .  
gender bender the limerick  br    br   a man or a woman  who knows   br    br   it turns out that  it  is both .  br    br   sleeping in clay  br    br   then they all went away  br    br   in one of their ufos .  br    br   gender bender is another great season  episode . i enjoy this one because the story is the kind where you are never really sure what  s gonna happen next . it is entirely original . the teaser is very fun with the close up of the eye and the reflection of the disco lights . i really need to learn my that thumb trick the genderbender heshe does . i really like the atmosphere at the kindred  s little village and mulder and scully sneaking around in the middle of the night . its very exciting . this is one of my favorite season  episodes in fact . i think the thing i like about it so much is how they turn out to be aliens in the end and left crop circles . many people see this as a non  mythology related alien episode kind of like  the unnatural  or  space  but i think this could easily be seen as mythology related . maybe the genderbender was just like the alien bounty hunter and could appear to look like anyone . huh  anyway i give the episode a  out of   .  
this film was terrible . ok  my favourite film is  the wicker man         so i was always bound to be a little biased .  br    br   the plot rambles along  throwing out enough of the key elements of the original to make the term  remake  highly dubious .  he  s not a virgin  but is allergic to bees . wow   so many things happen that make no sense and are unexplained  which i  m afraid mr labute does not a horror movie make .  how are two people we clearly saw blown up in a car at the start alive and well at the end of the film   cage looks haggard and bewildered throughout  and his character is prone to calling out  rowan    at the slightest noise . the  nods  to the original are irritating as they come off as tacky rather than as intelligent homage . for example  certain incidents mirror the original  the girl falling out of a cupboard pretending to be dead when woodward  cage is searching the island  and several lines of dialogue are plucked straight from anthony schaffers original screenplay and shoehorned in .  br    br   i  m sure others will provide a better and more detailed analysis than this  i really can  t be bothered to write any more about this film . it lacks any kind of substance . throw it on the scrap heap with all the other remakes that have sullied the good names of the films they were  based  on  in this case very loosely  .  
this episode from the first season slightly edges towards controversy with the whole gender bending angle . i imagine there would have been a significant amount of editing before this was finished to appease censors .  br    br   the story itself is original and well written and the directing is complemented by the fine acting .  nicholas lea makes his x  files debut though not as agent krycek but as a victim called michael  i especially enjoyed the built up to and the ending itself .  br    br   its different but enjoyable . ignore any bad reviews you may hear . watch it for yourself and make judgement then  
what ever you do do not waste your time on this pointless . movie . a remake that did not need to be retold . everyone coming out of the theater had the same comments . worst movie i ever saw . save your time and money     br    br   nicgolas cage was biking down hills  swimming in murky water and rolling down hills while being attacked by bees but yet his suit was still perfectly pressed and shirt crisp white until the very last scene .  br    br   although a good cast with ellen bernstein and cage the acting was just as unbelievable as the movie itself . it is amazing how good actors can do such bad movies . don  t they get a copy of the script first . if you still have any interest at all in seeing the movie at the very least wait for it to come out on dvd .  
this movie is just so good  despite carmen electra  this has to be one of the better films i have seen in awhile . jamie kennedy is just amazing  and loren dean plays an insane spoiled movie star very well . the plot is great as well . it  s all very real which is scary . it says here that it  s a drama  but this is one of the damn funniest dramas i have ever seen . go check it out .  
this has got to be one of the worst fillums i  ve ever seen and i  ve seen a few . it is slow  boring  amateurish  not even consistent within its own simplistic reading of the plot . the actors do not act . i can  t blame them  they have been given a script of such utter banality all they can do is trudge through it with a pain behind their eyes which has nothing to do with the evil goings on in summersisle .  br    br   there is not one moment in this film that rings true  not an honest line nor a single instant where one is moved . the nicholas cage character is so badly drawn that one feels not a smidgeon of compassion for him through all his tribulations . i have no doubt that i was seeing a suffering man up there but it was nicholas cage fully aware of the fact that he was in the worst movie of his entire career .  
dirty sanchez is the more extreme  british version of jackass in which the four boys  pritchard  dainton  joycey and pancho  go to great lengths to hurt and humiliate each other . the reason this show is better than jackass is because most of the stunts are not planned which makes the reaction much more funny . there are  series of the show  the first follows them around and takes a long look at their lives eg . there  s an episode on their love lives  jobs etc . the second series sends the boys to try out different occupations . the third follows their european tour . it seems that the boys get more and more daring as the show progresses through the series . in my opinion the third series is the best  but trust me when i say  if you have a week stomach do not watch  as you are lightly to see a fair amount of blood and puke in every episode .  
i am currently sitting here  forcing myself to finish this . i figure i blew  bux on the vhs  might as well suffer for it . i remember about  or  years ago doing a search on the internet for  war of the worlds  cause of the rumors of the spielberg movie at the time  and i missed the old tv series from the early    s . the website make it out that this was a multi  million dollar budget rendition of the classic book . it was going to be a  perfect translation  . perfect crap is more in tune with this film .  br    br   first off  the video on this movie was glitched  it looked as if i was watching the full motion video from an old mid     s pc or playstation cd  rom video game . sadly enough  the color quality was similar . the acting made shatners classic  dramatic pause  look damn near shakespearean in quality . the cg rendering of various scenes was horrendous  and green screen sequences were worse than those seen in old dukes of hazardd scenes .  br    br   secondly  it is slow and terribly drawn out . i sat thru   minutes of the video  no promo  s at the beginning  before the cylinder actually opened to reveal the first alien . after that  the alien was a terribly constructed cg squid . i am now an hour into it and the most of the alien weaponry i have seen is a spinning silver disk  crappy down even  attached to a mechanical arm . the dramatic scenes are murdered with overly done instrumental  s . the last thing on that  for an alien invasion in the turn of the century      s no one is concerned for their life . it  s like they have no concept . even though media was slow  word of mouth spreads fast and people would have known . the  illusion  of day and night was shoddy at best . simply changing the color around the people to purple  blue or green does not signify night time . perhaps some lighting and actual night time shoots would have given a much better illusion . there is a lot of wasted sequences throughout the film of just watching the  hero  gallop around or walk down silly roads . get on with the film . i know how people get around  you do not need to be so in  depth .  br    br   now  finally an hour and  minutes into the film and they show the alien machines . mighty morphin power rangers had better looking effects . even the skeletons of vaporized humans looked as if animated by a freshman high school computer app class student . the animations do not match up to the scenery at all .  br    br   in closing folks  if you want  the war of the worlds   do one of four things .   watch the     original    watch the early    s tv series    wait for spielberg  s rendition to be released shortly  or   read the frikkin book  something we all probably did in elementary english class  . avoid this movie . it is a waste of your money .  
starfucker  which reads starstruck on my box  was the most amazing movie i have ever seen . i thought that it was one of the best movies i have ever seen . so why not a    nothing is perfect . jamie kennedy proves why he is one of my favorite actors in this very interesting look at a darker side of hollywood . i have forced a few others to watch the movie and they all agreed that it was an outstanding flick .  
how this film could miss so many of the fascinating  complex and mysterious aspects of the original story or the original movie is truly remarkable . an unbelievably thin and unengaging plot  ankle  deep characterisation  motivation and a really awful soundtrack  replacing tension with vast swathes of noise  replacing the arcane musical references of the original for digitised crashes and roars . then there are the specific references to the original which are merely  plastered on  over the cracks . . . dreadful . in a world where gormless  brain  dead amerikan remakes of the italian job  a tear appears   get carter  sobs uncontrollably  and alfie have desecrated our screens recently  this one takes the proverbial biscuit . execrable nonsense . how ellen burstyn ever got involved is a wonder . . . rubbish .  
the version i saw of this film was the blockbuster rental with a similar title  but a swear word in it .  br    br   this film was funny as hell . it was also true to the bone . if you have ever spent time in hollywood or the area around it  you will understand the humor . if not  you may not  get it  at all .  br    br   the story of two people in the business struggling to make it until they finally reach a breaking point  it is a rare gem . it states it is a drama  but it is a drama as much as deer hunter is a comedy .  br    br   loren dean is wonderful  as always  as a supporting actor . jamie kennedy was able to hold his own well . his performance is especically impressive during the poodle scene . the only downside was carmen electra but we can  t have everything .  
anyone not aware of the     original british lion movie  the wicker man  would  no doubt  have left the cinema with the impression  poor  and  peurile  .  br    br   as a devotee of the original i left with the impression purely poor .  br    br   from the grim reality of haggle toothed inbreds drawing the force of law and order into a web of paganistic barbaric ritual on a remote scottish island  named summerisle  the original  to a near amazon  ic colony off the maine coast of the us  named summersisle  the remake hardly hits the spot .  br    br   this is  quite sadly  a case of what  could  have been a classic remake of a classic being tampered with to cater for a simple minded public . nothing more and nothing less .  br    br   gentlemen  or given the reworked context of the film  ladies involved . . . hang your heads in shame .  
as a low budget enterprise in which the filmmakers themselves are manufacturing and distributing the dvds themselves  we perhaps shouldn  t expect too much from broken in disc form . and yet what  s most remarkable about this whole achievement is the fact that this release comes with enough extras to shame a james cameron dvd and a decidedly fine presentation .  br    br   with regards to the latter  the only major flaw is that broken comes with a non  anamorphic transfer . otherwise we get the film in its original  .     ratio  demonstrating no technical flaws and looking pretty much as should be expected . indeed  given ferrari  s hands on approach in putting this disc together you can pretty much guarantee such a fact .  br    br   the same is also true of the soundtrack . here we are offered both dd  .  and dd  .  mixes and whilst i  m uncertain as to which should be deemed the  original   the fact that ferrari had an involvement in both means neither should be considered as inferior . indeed  though the dd  .  may offer a more atmosphere viewing experience owing to the manner in which it utilises the score  both are equally fine and free of technical flaws .  br    br   as for extras the disc is positively overwhelmed by them . take a look at the sidebar on the right of the screen and you  ll notice numerous commentaries  loads of featurettes and various galleries . indeed  given the manner in which everything has been broken down into minute chunks rather than compiled into a lengthy documentary  there really is little to discuss . the  anatomy of a stunt  featurette  for example  is exactly what it claims to be  and the same goes for the rest of pieces . as such we get coverage on pretty much ever aspect of broken  s pre  production  production and post  production . and whilst it may have been preferable to find them in a more easily digestible overall  making of   in this manner we do get easy access to whatever special feature we may wish to view .  br    br   of the various pieces  then  it is perhaps only the commentaries which need any kind of discussion . then again  there  s also a predictable air to each of the chat tracks . the one involving the actors is overly jokey and doesn  t take the film too seriously . ferrari  s pieces are incredibly enthusiastic about the whole thing . and the technical ones are  well  extremely technical . of course  we also get some crossover with what  s been covered elsewhere on the discs  but at only   minutes none of these pieces outstay their welcome . indeed  all in all  a fine extras package .  
i haven  t seen the original  but just wanted to drop a quick note to anyone who happens to scroll down this far wicker man is the worst movie i  ve seen this year . maybe even in two years . i wish i could ask the theater for my money back or turn back time to warn myself not to see it .  br    br   i  ll give it two positive nods the sarcasm of cage  s character at least got some laughs from me and the scenery of the island was beautiful . sorry  that  s it . here come the jeers . the movie  s plot is only propelled forward because other characters won  t give cage any straight answers   and he puts up with this    how this could go on for over an hour of my time  much less days in the movie  is beyond me .  br    br   not to mention that the plot is full of holes . you leave the theater with enough unanswered questions to fill a library . how anyone could read this script and think   yes  people should pay    to see this shady outline of what a film should look like  is beyond me .  br    br   do not go see this flick . or even rent it on dvd .  
an independent feature can now be seen as both a work of film art and a video resume . enter broken  and aggressively promoted  twenty minute short with style and enthusiams to spare . but is it any good as a film  or does it only work as a demo piece  ah  there in lies the rub .  br    br   broken is the story of bonnie clayton who is abducted after awakening from a reoccurring nightmare one night by  a sadistic stranger and his colorful entourage   quote from the video box  . as she  s held captive  it becomes obvious that her abductors know things about her that even she didn  t know about herself . while they question her  a black  clad soldier guns his way into their hideout in an attempt to rescue her . mayhem ensues .  br    br   fortunately for us  director alex ferrari seems to know what he  s doing  or at least he  s very good at faking it . broken does not suffer from any lack of visual flair  which is especially commendable considering its budget and the inexperience of all involved . what it does suffer from is weak and kind of derivative writing . think long kiss goodnight meets the matrix  written ten minutes after reading fight club . the good news for ferrari and producer  writer jorge rodriguez is that the story elements are easily ignored for the oodles of eye candy on display . does the plot really matter that much in a twenty minute short meant to show off the technical skills of its creators  no  not really .  br    br   though it would be unfair of me to overlook any negative aspects in light of the films budget and length . broken is no genre classic . the biggest problem was that it actually would have worked better as a full  length feature . the final  twist  doesn  t get enough build up time to be shocking . if ferrari were allowed the time to slow burn the feature as needed  plot elements would seem less random  and the film more complete . here  s to knowing he  s getting the chance .  br    br   audio broken  s dolby digital  .  presentation is second to none in the indie world . i  ve never heard such aggressive surround from such a small feature . the matrix inspired soundtrack is very rich and deep  gunshots have punch  and even the dialogue gets in on the surround effects . of everything presented on this disc  it is the audio that speaks the praise for modern independent dvd production . also included is an equally impressive dolby  .  surround track  which is the menu default .  br    br   extras there are literally hours of making of features to be found on this disc . there are so many extras  in fact  that i find it unrealistic to list and describe each of them here  while still expecting my readers to continue reading . whatever shortcomings the actual short may have  the dvd is unprecedented in its informational resources . people who enjoyed the film can learn all there is to know about its production  including everything from the conceptual art to the promotional campaign . those with plans to make an indie film of their own can learn just about everything they need to know from these features .  br    br   the extras are broken down into categorical menus . these include pre  production  production  post  production  after the short  and cast and crew bios . from a critical standpoint  i found that some of the sections were quite short . had they been edited into one featurette per menu option  they would  ve been less frustrating to navigate  as the curser defaults to the top selection with every return to the main section menu . this is  of course  just nitpicking  but perhaps for future dvd releases the filmmakers will take my advice to heart .  br    br   it has six audio commentaries and hours of interview footage and talented people  and despite the consonant salesmanship  their true colours do shine through .  br    br   the willingness to share their film  making secrets with anyone who picks up this dvd is quite generous . from the extras i learned what editing and effects software is most reliable and effective  what brand of camera creates the most professional look for the lowest price  even where to get cheap air soft weaponry . on top of this  i was given several alternate options  in case i found myself unable to locate any products used on this particular production . wannabe filmmakers unwilling to read a book on the subject would do well to watch this dvd .  br    br   overall i  ve scored the actual short as a  out of    but wish there was an option for feature length potential and effort  because i  d have scored it an  or  in these fields . i recommend the dvd for its features and as a perfect example of what can be done with a mere eight thousand american dollars . those who purchase the dvd can think of themselves as ghost producers for a larger project  as the more attention these guys get  the more funding the feature  length version will get .  
unfortunately  this movie does no credit whatsoever to the original . nicholas cage  fairly wooden as far as actors go  imbues the screen with a range of skill from  non  plussed to over the top . the supporting cast is no better .  br    br   the plot stays much the same as the original in terms of scene progression but is far worse . not enough detail is given to allow the audience to by into what is being sold . it turns out it  s just a bill of poor goods . disbelief cannot be suspended  nor can a befit of a doubt be given . the only saving aspect of this film is that it is highly visual  as the medium requires  and whomever scouted the location should be commended .  br    br   there was much laughter in the audience and multiple boos  literally  at the end .  br    br   disappointed  wait for the original to come on television  pour a whiskey and enjoy .  
in my line of work  i occasionally get contacted by independent filmmakers who are trying to publicize their film . when i can  i take a look at these low  budget films and often they make me think that the future of hollywood is going to the dogs . once in a while  though  there is a film that is born of pure passion and desire  as if created for the purpose of reminding the film industry that good movies are still possible . the short film b r o k e n  directed by alex ferrari  is a genuine surprise and worth a second look .  br    br   clocking in at a scant   minutes  b r o k e n tries to tell a compelling  but surreal  story with almost no back story . the audience is plopped down in the middle of the action with no clue as to what is happening . a young woman  samantha jane polay  awakens from a dream to hear a gunshot and is subsequently abducted from her home . when she awakes  she is surrounded by a group of mercenary thugs that look like they would be at home in a comic book . these nasty guys and girls are larger than life . they are all guns and knives . there is no way out .  br    br   the kicker here is that  despite being a low budget film it doesn  t play like one . from the very beginning  the feeling is that b r o k e n has been shot  edited  and produced by professionals . it looks like something quentin tarantino might have done on his day off when he was jamming with the wachowski brothers . the film is sharp and cool  it looks good and it feels like something big .  br    br   the acting is much better than i usually see in these smaller films . polay and paul gordon  who plays the head killer  duncan  were well chosen . as two of the few speaking roles in the film  it is up to them to carry the film . no special effects  no matter how good  would have saved this film from bad acting . thankfully  polay manages to convey true fear and gordon manages to come off as a real psycho . some of the more limited roles seem to be filled by lesser talent  but it hardly shows .  br    br   the downside to b r o k e n is that it  s only   minutes long . the story ends with a twilight zone twist that seems a bit contrived and is hardly subtle . watching it  i felt like i was supposed to have some epiphany  but there was only a feeling that it was much more mundane than i had hoped it would be . the film tries hard to be one of those puzzles that leaves audiences talking for hours at the local coffee shop  but it comes off as unsatisfying . i keep thinking that this is the first   minutes of a longer film .  br    br   my rating  out of   .  
the wicker man . i am so angry that i cannot write a proper comment about this movie .  br    br   the plot was ridiculous  thinly tied together  and altogether  just lame . nicolas cage . . . shame on you  i assumed that since you were in it  that it would be at least decent . it was not .  br    br   i felt like huge parts of the movie had been left on the cutting room floor  and even if it  s complete  the movie was just outlandish and silly .  br    br   at the end you  re left mouth agape  mind befuddled and good taste offended . i have never heard so many people leave a theater on opening day with so much hatred . people were complaining about it in small groups in the mall  four floors down from the theater near the entrance . it  s that bad .  br    br   i heard it compared to  glitter  american werewolf in paris and gigli . my boyfriend was so mad he wouldn  t even talk about it .  br    br   grrrr   
as a low budget enterprise in which the filmmakers themselves are manufacturing and distributing the dvds themselves  we perhaps shouldn  t expect too much from broken in disc form . and yet what  s most remarkable about this whole achievement is the fact that this release comes with enough extras to shame a james cameron dvd and a decidedly fine presentation .  br    br   with regards to the latter  the only major flaw is that broken comes with a non  anamorphic transfer . otherwise we get the film in its original  .     ratio  demonstrating no technical flaws and looking pretty much as should be expected . indeed  given ferrari  s hands on approach in putting this disc together you can pretty much guarantee such a fact .  br    br   the same is also true of the soundtrack . here we are offered both dd  .  and dd  .  mixes and whilst i  m uncertain as to which should be deemed the  original   the fact that ferrari had an involvement in both means neither should be considered as inferior . indeed  though the dd  .  may offer a more atmosphere viewing experience owing to the manner in which it utilizes the score  both are equally fine and free of technical flaws .  br    br   as for extras the disc is positively overwhelmed by them . take a look at the sidebar on the right of the screen and you  ll notice numerous commentaries  loads of featurettes and various galleries . indeed  given the manner in which everything has been broken down into minute chunks rather than compiled into a lengthy documentary  there really is little to discuss . the  anatomy of a stunt  featurette  for example  is exactly what it claims to be  and the same goes for the rest of pieces . as such we get coverage on pretty much ever aspect of broken  s pre  production  production and post  production . and whilst it may have been preferable to find them in a more easily digestible overall  making of   in this manner we do get easy access to whatever special feature we may wish to view .  br    br   of the various pieces  then  it is perhaps only the commentaries which need any kind of discussion . then again  there  s also a predictable air to each of the chat tracks . the one involving the actors is overly jokey and doesn  t take the film too seriously . ferrari  s pieces are incredibly enthusiastic about the whole thing . and the technical ones are  well  extremely technical . of course  we also get some crossover with what  s been covered elsewhere on the discs  but at only   minutes none of these pieces outstay their welcome . indeed  all in all  a fine extras package .  
this movie is the biggest waste of nine dollars that i  ve spent in a very  very long time . if you knew how often i went to the movies you  d probably say  that  s hard to imagine  but never  the  less  it  s true  after seeing the trailer for this movie  i knew that i had to see it  if you  re a fan of horror  mystery  and suspense  why wouldn  t you  the trailer is nothing less than intriguing and exciting unfortunately  the movie is none of these .  br    br   from the cinematography  to the script  to the acting  this movie is a complete flop . if you  re reading this  planning to go to the movie expecting some thrills  mystery  action  horror  or anything other than a waste of an hour and forty  five minutes i  m afraid you are in for disappointment .  br    br    why is it so bad   you might be asking yourself . let me tell you . the movie was neither mysterious nor suspenseful . nothing about the movie made me the least bit  on edge   frightened  or curious . the script was at best laughable . there were numerous times throughout the film where the dialogue was just so ridiculous i began to write it off as comic relief only to find out a few seconds later that it wasn  t . the acting was absolutely dreadful . i like nicholas cage but this was a miss . without exception  every performance in this movie was incredibly below average . the cinematography was awful with not one moment of suspense or mystique . finally  the story is completely transparent . you can see the end of this movie coming a mile away .  br    br   i am not usually a very harsh critic . frankly  when i go to see a comedy i want to laugh and when i go to see a mystery  suspense  horror  i just want to be surprised . this movie was boring  poorly acted  poorly written  and an overwhelming disappointment . do yourself a favor and go see something else .  
the young lady  s name is bonnie  polay  . she  s attractive  is apparently living a pretty decent life  but all of a sudden is inexplicably snatched from her home and life by evil dude and the various and sundry evil henchmen . now she has no idea what the hell is going on  only that a bunch of armed  to  the  teeth people apparently want her dead . . . and she  s going to die not even knowing why .  br    br   god  i hear the whining all the time . now that content is so cheap to produce and people can create their own movies  books  comics  internal organs  there  s going to be nobody to ensure that there  s a standard of quality  we  re going to be drowning in crap  the only people who actually think this are people who haven  t watched any movies or read any books recently   because we  re already doing a dead man  s float in crap . it  s folks like ferrari and rodriguez who put the lie to these ignorant so  and  sos by throwing   k on the table and making . . . well  what i would say is a better action flick than anything you  ve seen in cinemas this year . . . but you haven  t seen any action flicks in the cinema this year . i  ve seen the box office . you  re staying away in droves . you would do better to snag a copy of this  spend twenty minutes being entertained  and get on with your lives .  br    br   it  s sheer entertainment . you enter  like bonnie  with a lot of questions and where the whole thing ends up is nebulous . the whole conceit has been done before in multiple ways but not in such a compressed amount of time and not without such concentrated tasty gunplay . you  re there for the atmosphere  the mystery  and the guns . that  s it   that  s all the filmmakers promise  and they deliver .  br    br   it warms the black pits of my heart to think this was made on such a budget . we get passed a goodly number of indie films around here  but seldom do we see anything as polished as this short is  and we  ve never seen one done in the action genre that looked this good . hell  you could hand these two guys mi  and it might draw me into watch it . the bond franchise . hell  anything . no  in fact  better yet i  d like to see these guys make a feature on their own and stay the hell away from hollywood . whatever  s out there killing the movie industry is no doubt infectious .  br    br   best indie we  ve seen in a while and the most effective indie calling card we  ve ever seen . the dvd  s    and has bonus features out the ass . go take your movie ticket budget and put it towards this instead .  
prior to this release  neil labute had this to say about the     original  it  s surprising how many people say it  s their favorite soundtrack . i  m like  come on  you may not like the new one  but if that  s your favorite soundtrack  i don  t know if i want you to like my film .   br    br   neil  a word . you might want to sit down for this too as lord summerisle says  shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent . see  neil  the thing about the original  is that paul giovanni  s soundtrack is one of the most celebrated things about it . the filmmakers themselves consider it a virtual musical . along with richard and danny thompson  and bert jansch  it practically kick  started the     s folk new wave . to undermine it is akin to imagining jaws without john williams . or the buddy holly story without buddy holly . the result  s one of the most breathtakingly arrogant  pointless remake of a british cult classic since sly stallone  s get carter .  br    br   the original had apparently left nicolas cage  disturbed for about two weeks .  so disturbed  during that fortnight  s window  that he pitched the idea of re  imagining one of the most nuanced films about inter  faith struggle ever devised to a writer  director previously known for his wholly unsubtle depictions of male chauvinism . it  s like some parlor game what would you get if sam peckinpah took on bambi  or gaspar  irreversible  noe remade love  actually   actually  i  d quite like to see that  . unfortunately  someone took this parlor game seriously all labute  s succeeded in doing is ripping out the original  s guts while saddling it with his own gormless sex war preoccupations .  br    br   after failing to rescue a little girl and her mum from a fatal car crash  cage  s highway patrolman spirals into a medicated torpor . then he receives a letter from ex  fiance willow woodward  this one trades on name  homages for kudos   now living on the private island community of summersisle  that extra  s  stands for  superfluous   and wants edward to help locate missing daughter rowan .  br    br   summersisle  it transpires  is a female  dominated joint  conceived as a haven for oppressed womenfolk and refugees from the salem witch trials . here  the matriarchs observe the olde ways  and the few males are near  mute breed  mules . it  s like lilith fair on a grand scale . summersisle  s main export is honey  a symbolic and literal headache for edward  as he  s allergic to bees .  beekeepers   cries edward .  they seem to be everywhere on this island   well  that  s probably because summersisle  s main export is honey .  br    br   while making his investigations  edward overhears of an oncoming mayday ritual called  the time of death and rebirth  . he discovers the previous year  s crop failed nearly dies from bee stings and eventually comes to the conclusion  a conclusion which admittedly couldn  t be more obvious if the locals had tattooed a timetable of events on the back of his hands  that rowan will be burnt alive in a pagan rite to ensure a bountiful harvest . he also meets the queen bee of the hive  sister summersisle  burstyn   who has her own plans for him involving the eponymous wicker man  the drone must die .   br    br   first  the good news any concerns cage would be airlifted from the wicker man  s flaming jaws at the last minute by a fleet of black cia helicopters can be laid to rest he toast . that  s about it for the good news .  this is a story whose chapters were carefully written  intones burstyn with sublime irony . though retaining the basic cat  and  mouse premise  and credits typography   what  s left subjects the original to a scorched  earth policy .  br    br   crucial to shaffer  s original screenplay was that his christian copper  in accordance with ritual  came to the island of his own free will  and most importantly  was a virgin the perfect sacrifice . in reducing matters to a sexual  as opposed to a religious power  struggle  labute presents the flimsiest of qualifiers for a harvest sacrifice . by the time cage has worked out he was the bait  you honestly couldn  t care less .  br    br   and cage is one of the very worst things in this a lumbering  drawling donkey  an arsewit whose tongue seems just slightly too big for his mouth .  goddamit  he moans after he hallucinates a drowned rowan  with all the mental torment of a man who  s set his morning alarm clock half  an  hour too early . one hopes it  s his character  s frequent reliance on pills that has reduced him to this state  alternately fatigued  then full of preppy  overbearing vim . if so  it  s a fine portrayal of an undistinguished iq addled with anti  depressants . if notit doesn  t bear thinking about . as willow  the saucer  eyed beahan is similarly dreadful  presenting her lines as if in competition with cage for themosthalf  hearteddelivery . while burstyn entirely lacks the mercurial menace to convince . who  s afraid of naomi wolf   br    br   every element that made the original great  the lovingly detailed depictions of folk customs  the ingenious score  the dialogue  lord summerisle  s majestic  you did it beautifully   has been replaced with the rather less attractive  you did it excellently   whoah  dude    have been substituted for a meandering battle  of  the  sexes thriller with occasional crash  bang wallop . namely  walloping women this is a labute flick  after all . cage  s sister beech bashing is just one of the more embarrassing episodes impotent little men will be hooting with glee at how them uppity hippie chicks finally got what was comin  to  em  hyuk hyuk .  br    br   the closing coda sees the whole rotten mess collapsing under the weight of genre clich in a bar  two guys run into a couple of summersisle maidens on shore leave  flirty  fishing for fresh martyrs . at the moment of their successful pick  up  you half expect the women to turn round and give an exaggerated wink and a thumbs up to the camera .  br    br   one more thing keen credit watchers may have noticed that films sporting an unusually high producer count  anything up to    tend to be not much cop . the wicker man has   producers in total .  
an excellent film depicting the cross currents in the lives of a multi  ethnic mix of not so ordinary people in the rural pacific northwest . solid directing and writing along with fine acting  especially the performances by kwami taha and dan stowe . interestingly  this film was made in the same year as the highly successful  crash   written and directed by paul haggis . the pace of the action may not be as frantic as that in urban los angeles  and the characters may seem to be better acquainted with each other in  apart from that   but the personal relationships of the characters are as flawed and troubled and their stories as resonant as any of those in  crash .  for those viewers who appreciated  crash  this is a must see film . also  fans of jim jarmusch and john cassavetes will like this movie .  
the story young  goon is a girl whose family has a history of mental illness . she ends up in a mental institution after she starts believing that she is in fact a cyborg . in the institution she meets park il  sun  a young man who develops a bond with her .  br    br   if you  re reading this you probably already know how talented chan  wook park is . but  i  m a cyborg . . .  is a big departure from familiar  and  sadly  stronger territory . i  m a big fan of any film or story which is attempting to do something different . god knows  we all get subjected to enough crap at our local cinemas . the main point about the movie i need to say is  that it fails to say anything about mental illness  or create a characters that you care about .  br    br   this story has to be one of the weirdest things i  ve seen in years . . . but weird isn  t enough . there  s no heart to the movie . . . just surrealism and confusion . confusion does seem to be the main theme of the movie . the characters all try to make sense of their own problems  but it  s chan  wook park himself who proves to be the most confused of them all .  
saw this my last day at the festival  and was glad i stuck around that extra couple of days . poetic  moving  and most surprisingly  funny  in it  s own strange way . it  s so rare to see directors working in this style who are able to find true strangeness and humor in a hyper  realistic world  without seeming precious  or upsetting the balance . manages to seem both improvised  yet completely controlled . it i hesitate to make comparisons  because these filmmakers have really digested their influences  cassavetes  malick  loach  altman . . . the usual suspects  and found their own unique style  but if you like modern directors in this tradition  lynne ramsay  david gordon greene   you  re in for a real treat . this is a wonderful film  and i hope more people get to see it . if this film plays in a festival in your city  go  go  go   
chan wook park is nothing if not inventive . i  m a cyborg but that  s ok is chock full of amusing little technical flourishes with some ingenious ideas sprinkled in between . attempting to walk in the footsteps of the likes of marc caro and jeunet  city of lost children  delicatessen   park embarks on a fanciful  lighthearted tale which is a radical departure from his usual morbid fare . hardly one to be faulted for his ambition or his vision  it is genuinely unexpected  then  to see all park  s effort add up to so very little .  br    br   i  m a cyborg but that  s ok seems astonishingly to subtract from itself as it goes along  with the the end result being a fraction of the sum of its parts . the premise is promising  gags are copious and offbeat humour abounds but it all fails miserably to create any meaningful connection with the audience . the characters are cute and quirky and played with gusto by the cast  but  try as i might  i could not bring myself to care for any .  br    br   sympathy for lady vengeance was a misstep  indicating perhaps that park was overindulging himself a little bit  but it still managed to showcase some of the director  s unique flare and in the wake of an impressive filmography  was readily forgiven . none of the assured confidence that commanded joint security area or sympathy for mr . vengeance is evident here . i  m a cyborg but that  s ok left me so utterly unengaged i caught myself instinctively fast forwarding from time to time  more regularly as the film progressed  . i gave lady a      and by that measure  this probably deserves no more than a  . for old time  s sake  i  ll be generous      
at a time in our culture where reality exposed as narrative is overpowering fiction as we know it on the small and big screen   apart from that  is a film that exposes real life moments that feel more honest  fresh and innovative in there presentation than i have ever seen before . the usual spoon feeding conventions are non existent in this film  leaving a content audience to sit and watch these real life moments trickle one after the other on the screen . while watching the movie  and even upon post contemplation  it is hard to believe that these amazing performances where actually that  performances . every moment with the large cast of actors felt like the truth being exposed in their daily usual lives . even so   apart from that  does not feel like a documentary or reality television  but instead transcends into a category of its own  with its unique cinematography and direction . i look forward to watching this new category of storytelling continue with other films by directors jennifer shainin and randy walker .  br    br   this movie must be seen .  
it definitely fits the time period as the axis  allies were playing espionage games throughout most of north africa  the rest of the world . it  s not the best of films  but certainly not the worst of the budget films as described previously from the compilation war classics .  br    br   duncan  cisco kid  renaldo was actually very good in one of his first feature films . i really enjoyed the performance of harry parke  credited as parkyarkarkus  . why he never got any bigger roles is beyond me . he played the perfect buddy  partner role and saved the movie . . . imho .  br    br   as said  this film was part of a budget package from superbox  mart entitled war classics . eight movies for eight bucks  which included other never  heard  from  films that has some decent stars trying to pay the bills .  br    br   this script is . . . well  not so hot . the editing  cinematography is . . . worse . if you can by  pass all of that and want to see the future cisco kid  a great sidekick that sadly never fulfilled his true potential  definitely pick it up  otherwise  there  s other ww  films to watch .  br    br    thunderossa .  
i have to say although i despise these kind of shows  shock horror  i  m a girl  i feel i have to express my opinion . i had seen dirty sanchez before i saw jackass and think it way surpasses jackass in terms of programme making . story lines and interviews are inter weaved to create a more interesting show . i saw a few minutes of jackass movie the other night and couldn  t believe how poorly put together it was  everything just put in a line joke after joke with no relation between anything . it must have been the quickest easiest show to edit ever  shockingly amateur . while drinking puke isn  t really my thing  as far as a substantial entertainment show goes  dirty sanchez is way out of jackass  s league .  
normally when i write a review for a movie online  it is for one of three reasons . either  i have found something exceptionally lacking in a film that otherwise would have been excellent  i feel that the public  s perception of a film before viewing it is inaccurate for a number of reasons  or i believe that the purpose or message of a film needs to be clarified or explained with the help of other reviewers . while all of these reasons may appear to be somewhat negative  i find that writing a review that lavishes nothing but praise and statements such as   this is one of the best films of all time    does nothing to enlighten a potential viewer on its merits and downsides  nor does it often give reasoning as to why a movie is so good  which should be the point of the review in the first place . with that being said  war of the worlds is nothing more than a hurried  incompetent attempt at a money grab piggy  backing its loathsome carcass on the multi  million dollar advertising campaign of the film of the same name directed by steven spielberg . many people will buy this dvd in anticipation of the summer blockbuster and many more poor souls will buy it looking for more material on the same subject . this movie is not even  so bad  that it becomes funny or endearing  rather the audience will be so unbelievably disappointed as to reach the point of anger . now with most of the insults out of the way  allow me to give some arguments as a warning to those more fortunate than i .  br    br   judging from the cover and the lack of any publicity for this film  i found it as sam  s club for  bucks   i assumed that the cast would be no  names and that the special effects would be nothing too spectacular . check . this is not a big deal for me  as i find a large budget and an over  reliance on big name stars and se can diminish an otherwise decent movie . i also did not expect to be blown away by great dialog or a moving score . check again . what i did hope for was an actual serious attempt at a classic theme and a few alien  battle scenes .  br    br   now  as per imdb  s policy any spoilers must be announced in advance  no matter how small  so here is fair warning . the movie opens with a lot of inane small  talk  followed by a trip to an observatory to look at a red dot . seriously  it is a pictures of a red dot in a tube . it is very hard to describe every little issue in depth  but by the end of the first ten minutes  the combination of shaky camera  work  spliced scenes  and a lot of walking begin to frustrate the viewer . however  the costuming is surprisingly not bad and the hope that the pods will reveal something mysterious keeps you going . the next   minutes basically go as follows one of the main characters walks to one of the pods  he looks at the pods and talks to another main character about looking at the pod and it may be hot . they both walk back to town . these walks aren  t two seconds or added so that dialog may be exchanged . they are twenty seconds or more and are there simply to add filler to an already bloated three hour movie . in a particularly grueling scene  the main character is shown looking at a pod  then he is shown pacing and panting  then he looks at the pod  then he takes a one minute walk through a field to town  then comes in to town and walks into a building  then he has a cup of coffee and says  thank you mary  to a random maid that serves him coffee  then he puts down the coffee and walks out the building  then he walks a minutes through the field and back to the pod . i apologize for the extreme run  on sentence  but it is perhaps the best way to summarize this entire film . characters speak way too long about mundane things  they walk a lot  they send other people to walk  the camera fluctuates between high speed and slow speed  but for no dramatic effect  simply the camera man is a sophomore at tech somewhere . the editing is mind  bogglingly bad . people actions make little sense . for instance  when the professor goes to a farmer  s house and says that he needs the farmer to give him a ride to town  the farmer stutters and paces around . when the professor says that there is a pod and that men might be trapped inside  the farmer locks him in a shed only to see the professor grab a pitchfork and open the weak shed a second later . nothing of any consequence of course comes from this entire scene  as the professor runs into the main character a moment later so they can begin their afternoon walk . the entire film feels as if someone at one point had a good idea about making a film  but absolutely no idea how to put that in motion . i have seen better high school video productions . finally  the special effects are laughable and do nothing to advance the story . i get the feeling that the director really wanted this film to become somewhat of a cult classic of campy garbage . however  it is so awful in technical aspects  and in sheer common sense that it only makes people mad . avoid this film at all costs .  
i recently purchassed the very underrated dreamcast and went off into town to find some games to use them on . i bought soul calibur  a classic  and then i stepped across the domain of resident evil code veronica . i have resident evil     and have played res evil  numerous occasions  and i have been impressed with all of them  especially no .  which has to go down in history has a classic .  br    br   but none of them  come anywhere near to the dreamcast attempt of brilliant gory gameplay . if its just for the sake of buying a dreamcast for this game it is worth every moment of your time and effort  ive never been so enthralled over a computer game in the way this has enthralled me .  br    br   anyway  the story carrys on from the  nd story in which claire redfield searches for her brother  chris  from the  st story   who is presumed missing under the conspiracy of the dreaded umbrella corporation . little is known about this corporation except the fact that you though you destroyed them  times in the previous storys .  br    br   so aiding claire  with the assistant of super brat steve  u must unlock the truth of the real location of your brother . the  nd cd enables you to control chris  thats if you manage to get that far without running out of the room in fear .  br    br   the control are very slick and the movement of the characters are magnificently realistic  when the character notices danger  he  she faces the direction it is coming from . pure genius    br    br   overall i gave this game      because it is simply the game of the year  game of the decade and the best game in the world full stop   . please purchase this game as soon as possible .  
you don  t expect much from a prc picture  and with rare exceptions   mainly from edgar g . ulmer and a few by joseph h . lewis or lew landers   that  s exactly what you get not much . this  epic  about nazis in africa trying to incite an arab revolt against the british isn  t much different . the script  by longtime prc hacks arthur st . claire and sherman lowe  is trite  laughable  full of unfunny  wisecracks  and plot holes the size of outer mongolia . the direction  by longtime prc no  budget specialist al herman  is semi  comatose at best . the performances  though   except for spectacularly incompetent and irritatingly hammy lead walter woolf king   aren  t really half bad . veteran comedian parkyakarkus is actually the best thing about the film . he plays a guy from brooklyn masquerading as a razor  blade salesman and brightens up the screen considerably when he shows up . he  s got great comic timing  charm to spare and seems to be having a heck of a good time . duncan renaldo is fairly convincing as an arab sheik   despite his spanish accent   and veteran bad guy george j . lewis as renaldo  s arab rival does his usual fine job of villainy  even if he goes a bit over the top sometimes . joan woodbury is quite pretty and has a nice light touch  and she and renaldo have great chemistry together  although   like the rest of the cast   she has none at all with king . h . b . warner  whose career stretched back to the silent era  lends a shred of dignity to the low  rent proceedings  even though he blows his lines several times and  prc being prc  they weren  t cut out . there  s a great deal of stock footage spliced in from a big  budget silent movie with a similar arab theme   although i have no idea which one it is   and  prc being prc  no effort was made to try to make it inconspicuous i  ve seldom seen stock footage that was so blatantly obvious .  br    br    a yank in libya  isn  t very good  of course   well  ok  it stinks   but it would be worth a look just to see parkyakarkus in his prime . i had heard of him and knew that he was the father of actor  director albert brooks and super dave osborne  but had never actually seen him in anything before . it was worth watching this tenth  rate prc  extravaganza  just to see him in action . otherwise  forget it .  
this game ranks above all so far . i had the honor of playing mine on ps  so the graphics were really good . the voice acting was above standard . the difficulty level is just right . wesker has to be the best characters in the re series in my opinion . the story amazed me and took many different twist that i wasn  t expecting . the only rating this game deserves is great .  
woman  miriam hopkins as virginia  chases man  joel mccrea as kenneth  for father  charles winninger as b . j .  . woman wants to get man to invest some of deceased mother  s money in father  s business venture but  father is notorious for losing money on hair  brained schemes . little does anyone know  but real evil schemers are posing as man  s best friends in order to steal his fortune . . .  br    br   the production looks engaging  but the story fails to engage . the players don  t play drunk well . notable as broderick crawford  s first appearance  as gopher  hunk   other than running errands  mr . crawford gets pinned to the floor by mr . mccrea .  br    br    woman chases man          john g . blystone  miriam hopkins  joel mccrea  charles winninger  broderick crawford  
i just can  t believe that these games can get so much better  but they do . unfortunately i had to rent a dreamcast to play it  but even though i did beat it i can  t wait to buy it for ps  . this is the only series of games that i must own all of them even if i have beaten them many times over . i hope they never stop making this type of game even if the series must come to an end .  br    br    
it felt like i watched this movie thousand times before . it was absolutely predictable . every time the story tried to get a bit twisted  every time i awaited something interesting to happen  i saw nothing but what i expected . like  the bread factory opened up another facility  because there was not enough bread  . in two wordsflat story  that has become a clich  bad acting  bad special effects . . . only the dumb russian cop  vlad  was a bit funny while punishing around the bad guys . the pile of muscles was so incredibly stupid  that it made me laugh at him for a moment . i wonder why i waste my time spitting on that shame  of  a  movie . . . it won  t get worse  because it is not possible  d  
one of the most frightening game experiences ever that will make you keep the lights on next to your bed . great storyline with a romantic  horrific  and ironic plot . fans of the original resident evil will be in for a surprise of a returning character  not to mention that the voice  acting have drastically improved over the previous of the series . don  t miss out on the best of the series .  
this movie is a vehicle for schwarzenegger  clone alexander nevsky . his charisma however is insufficient to lift this movie above the level of its poor script . he has little to add to his arnie  act .  br    br   michael york is quite pathetic as the begging diplomat . watching him revisit his d  artagnan  act from the time that he was a better actor made me feel uneasy . come on  you can do better than that   br    br   the story is full of holes and unexplained relations top of this bill is the informer of vlad  who sounds like an american woman  but from the context appears to be working for a russian government  department .  br    br   although the story takes place well after the end of the communist  regime  all the russian characters are still very communist  like . in contradiction to that  vlad is allowed to drive a pimped up all utility vehicle as police  car . the action scenes are poorly shot and therefore lack dynamics .  br    br   not a must see movie . . .  
this is one of the best of the series  ranking up there with resident evil   nemesis  or biohazard last escape  the game has a very good storyline in which you play as claire redfield in the search for her brother  chris redfield  whom you probably know from the original resident evil  it is as scary as the other resident evil  and contains alot more cutscenes .  br    br   my rating  out of  stars  rating based on comparison to other videogames   
but it does have some good action and a plot that is somewhat interesting . nevsky acts like a body builder and he isn  t all that attractive  in fact  imo  he is ugly .  his acting skills lack everything   sascha is played very well by joanna pacula  but she needed more lines than she was given  her character needed to be developed . there are way too many men in this story  there is zero romance  too much action  and way too dumb of an ending . it is very violent . i did however love the scenery  this movie takes you all over the world  and that is a bonus . i also liked how it had some stuff about the mafia in it  not too much or too little  but enough that it got my attention . the actors needed to be more handsome . . . the biggest problem i had was that nevsky was just too normal  not sexy enough . i think for most guys  sascha will be hot enough  but for us ladies that are fans of action  nevsky just doesn  t cut it . overall  this movie was fine  i didn  t love it nor did i hate it  just found it to be another normal action flick .  
resident evilcode veronica is a great well made video game  it has great graphics  very comfortable controls  a great storyline and high fun factor . the storyline to this is claire redfield gets taken to an island for trespassing on umbrella grounds  and reaking havoc at they  re main lab while looking for her brother . code veronica  s graphics are very good  the fire and rain effects are great looking . the controls are comfy  but the button pattern doesnt fit the dreamcast control  makeing it hard to get used to . its still fun going around some wierd disturbing place  shooting the guts out of zombies . codeveronica also has a little bit of  romance  between the two main characters . you also get to play as chris redfield  from resident evil  . the sound in this game is better than ever  for example  even though i hate the new feature  when the giant spiders crawl  they  re feet make a disturbing scampering sound  and the guns sound alot more realistic . great graphics  outstanding story  comfy controls  and realistic sound makes resident evil codeveronica a definite loved . i give it a   out of   .  
a retired diplomat  played nicely by michael york  goes to russia to get revenge on the russian gangster that murdered the diplomat  s policeman son . there the diplomat meets an exceptionally strong and decent russian cop who helps him bring the russian gangster to justice .  br    br   i remembered the old action flicks of the     s that always portray the russians as evil bad guys out to undermine the righteous u . s . government . it  s interesting to see this time the russian guy as a hero .  br    br   not a great flick  it  s really typically a  b  action flick . michael york lends some class to this mediocre movie . alexander nevsky  who plays the russian cop is kind of  blah  but surprisingly has some chemistry with michael york . face it  michael york is such a good actor that he  d have chemistry with anyone he  s doing a scene with . disappointingly  the handsome adrian paul gets killed within the first   minutes into the movie . now  if adrian paul was in this movie longer  it would  ve been an above average  b  action flick . all i can say about adrian paul is that he is real nice to look at for the first   minutes of the movie . the villain  played by richard tyson  is your typical bad guy . he  s very blonde and very villainous in this movie .  br    br   rent this flick if there is nothing else on tv to watch . it  s okay . it doesn  t suck too bad . the action scenes are decent . the acting could be better  the plot could  ve moved much faster  but hey  you get to see what russia looks like today   
the third  and final installment of  hanzo the razor  is the most concrete of them all . the  training  even gets completed within the first five minutes of the film . not for everyone  this film details hanzo  s investigation of loan sharking being performed by an order of blind monks . it also makes a historical comment on the prideful refusal of old japan to incorporate western technology . where the first hanzo film was just a funny and gory ride with little connection to it  s plot   hanzo   who  s got the gold  manages to connect everything  and brings it all home in the end . definitely the perfect finale . oh yeah  hanzo still has a lot of sex  and there  s a lot of needless blood and violence  it is hanzo the razor after all  .  
this was a quite brutal movie . there were huge implausibilities  and a silly script  bad acting  etc .  br    br   the only reason to watch this movie is that from time to time some quite impressive sets of breasts were exposed .  
who  s got the gold  is  unfortunately  the last of the hanzo the razor films  starring shintaro katsu as the title character  the multi  weapon proficient  authority  bucking samurai officer with the  unique  technique of raping confessions out of unwilling female informants until they  spill the beans  and beg for more . . .  br    br   this entry starts with hanzo  uncovering  a woman who poses as a ghost to guard a lake that  s filled with bamboo trunks filled with gold stolen from the treasury . this leads to hanzo discovering a loan  sharking scheme and an orgy ring run by a blind monk . the requisite swordplay and rape  interrogation ensue  finalizing in a decent ending for this strange trilogy of films .  br    br   not quite as strong and enjoyable as the snare  part  of the series . . .   but still great for fans of samurai sleaze and japanese pinky  style films .      
this is only somewhat attractive for fans of  bad movie  entertainment . it is more worthwhile for students of      s pop culture the fashions  the furniture  the attitudes  and that great  women  s lib  moment of the early      s  when it was still fresh and novel for a self  employed  independent woman to exist .  br    br    superchick   joyce jillson  had a monetarily rewarding if stultifying career  after all  what is a flight attendant but a waitress at       feet   that goes for the male ones too   she slept around with multiple men  could protect herself and others  with karate  and wasn  t tied down to anything . this is the kind of emancipated woman that scared the juices out of anti  feminists  those retrograde idiots who believe that no woman is complete without a husband .  br    br   the  sexy stewardess  was a potent archetype of the late      s to      s   geez  even on  the partridge family   i remember swinging bachelor ruben kincaid constantly hooking up with stewardesses  and from that point of view  this silly film is an important pop culture time capsule of the pre  aids  free  love  women  s lib  swinging seventies . the plot is quite awful though . and for those cavemen in the audience  there are few bare breasts to look at .  
shintar katsu  who played the blind swordsman  zatoichi  in a total of   movies  ends the hanzo trilogy with this excellent film in which he gets to make love to a ghost  mako midori  blind beast  .  br    br   the big stick  used often in the pursuit of justice  is retired forever .  br    br   katsu was his usual impudent self as he pursued those who would steal from the treasury to lend at usurious amounts to those who could not afford to pay .  br    br   the usual amazing swordplay and skill of the big guy was present  along with the blood .  br    br   i  m going to miss him .  
suggesting nothing less than a movie  length version of the     s tv hit  love  american style   decked out with flashes of nudity   superchick        is a lighthearted piece of fluff that somehow still manages to entertain . and the lead character here  tara b . true  really is some kind of superchick . a stewardess  not flight attendant  who  s so good  looking that even her plane  s autopilot has made a pass at her     and with a hunky boyfriend in every port  this wingin   swingin  gal really does put the  lay  in  layover .  what with her germaphobe surgeon beau in new york  her playboy with gangster problems in miami  and her creatively challenged rock star dude in l . a .  tara sure does keep busy . and when she  s not draining these guys of all their manly energies  as the viewer learns  she  s liable to be taking a karate class  mile  high clubbing  fending off flashers and rapists  attending groovy pot parties and stopping a hijacking attempt on her airplane . as i said  lighthearted fun  and surely good for a night when you  re feeling somewhat brain  dead and just want to veg out in front of the tube . future astrologist joyce jillson does bring some vacuous charm to her role as tara  and the film looks handsome enough to please . disappointingly  buxom    s faves uschi digard and mary gavin  aka candy samples  are wasted here in very small roles  but still get to do what they do best   show off their chesticles  though the picture is never laff  out  loud funny and doesn  t really have many thoughts in its metaphorical head  it does succeed in being consistently amusing  and i suppose that is something . strange that the end credits should call attention to ms . jillson  s body double  however don  t think i  ve ever seen that before   
after the glories of the snare  it was unlikely that a further outing for hanzo would be able to do any better  and this doesn  t breach that expectation  but it is a fine film and sits neatly in between the fun but messy first chapter and the terrific second in terms of quality and general entertainment . the screenplay comes from yasuzo masumura and has some parallels with the snare  as well as the expected hi  jinks of a hanzo film  but the film rings nice little changes on the formula by amping up the character driven humour as well as giving the film a quieter  reflective edge . the film opens with hanzos assistants scared by a ghost  and typically he decides straight away that he needs to have carnal knowledge of this ghost . it turns out that the ghost is serving as a guard for a stash of stolen coins and from this set  up unfolds a story of theft  corruption and usury  with expected violent and sleazy results . shintaro katsu is terrific as expected as hanzo  coming across effortlessly as a deadly fighter and sexual force of nature  he is equally good in the moments of knowing humour and likable  almost an ordinary gentleman in moments of drama  it is a beautifully rounded performance filled with social conscience and a touching edge of personal feeling . the expected comedy comes off fine as well  his moments with  snake  magobei are perhaps the most amusing of the series whilst his interactions with his servants are kookily entertaining as ever . though neatly laden throughout with nice moments  a fair amount of action and a little sleaze  the film does lose a little from a relatively restrained approach . there are shades of both prior films  the plotting  pace and smarts recall the snare and when the film aims for sleaze it does very well  with a potently handled and impactful early interrogation sequence . equally though  director yoshio inoue presents potentially sleazy scenes in a more experimental way as per kenji misumi  s less well handled work in sword of justice  with consequences sometimes very nice  as with a man playing a tune on the koto  with close ups of his fingers plucking at the strings as unbeknownest to him hanzo ploughs his wife  and sometimes a bit weak  as with an orgy that is reduced to a nudity free psychedelic whirl of limbs in motion that just looks confusing . the nudity and bloodshed is generally downplayed which is a pity  though there is a little of both a stronger approach would have worked better  it is definitely the sort of film where trashy and unrestrained nudity and violence are most appropriate . but even with less in the way of exploitative goods this is still thoroughly entertaining stuff  the predictable moments are wrought with aplomb and there is more than enough intrigue and excitement  even some effective surprises to go around . its a film for the fans really  playing off the work laid down in the previous instalments and working sweetly if not spectacularly with it . altogether a near wholly pleasurable if mildly flawed end to a delightful trilogy  the second best of them and well worth a watch for enthusiasts of such things .  
the name  cult movie  is often given to films which continue to be screened  or to sell in home movie format  more than a generation after they were first released . superchick  which was first released in      now comes into this category . its cult status is largely due to ongoing interest in it by those women who regard it as an early and effective feminist film .  br    br   despite the  superwoman  connotation   superchick  is not a cartoon character but a very competent young lady working as an air stewardess  a career option which in the      s was commonly regarded as one of the most glamorous open to any girl  and which also enables her to emulate the traditional matelot who reputedly has a wife in every port . since she holds black belt status in karate  she is in a position to make it quite clear that she is very happy with her bachelor existence  and is in no way beholden to any of her extensive suite of male admirers . this film is a situation comedy which avoids the generally much shorter lived appeal of outright farce . its appeal to feminists is also heightened by a climax in which our heroine uses her karate abilities to avert a hijacking and save all the other passengers on her plane from a potentially unpleasant fate . to ensure that this film will appeal to men as well as to their partners  the director has wisely ensured that is liberally sprinkled with eye candy .  br    br   superchick can be enjoyed by those who are not too critical and want a very light easy to watch comedy which they will forget soon after viewing . it is so forgettable that they will probably find it equally enjoyable if watched again in a year  s time despite its age it may therefore retain its status as a cult movie for some time to come . however the dialogue and acting would make it hard to give this film a rating of more than     .  
i need to be honest . i watched and enjoy this show because it was gross  offensive  hilarious  and raunchy . yeah  there is a lot of humor for all tastes . if you are into the kind of humor that deals with making fun of people falling from skateboards  for example then you will have a great time for it .  br    br   or  if you enjoy people on extreme stunt actions going bad  you will also have a great time . and if you enjoy scatological humor and extreme situations oh  you will enjoy the show .  br    br   i enjoy all three kinds of humor that  dirty snchez  offers . i like to have a hard laugh with the situations of the show .  jackass  is like a walk in the park compared to this one . so if you are tired of the typical american stupidity of jackass  give it a try to english extreme stupidity on this show . with all due respect .  br    br   this is a show that has little taste or class . it  s not recommended for those who are easily offended or grossed out .  br    br   now  these guys need to see a psychologist . specially the paco character .  
my children watch the show everyday that its on . its a great program for younger children . however they need to stop showing re  runs and do some more actual shows and get rid of rooney  s and deedee  s yellow teeth . moe is the only doodle bop with clean white pearlie teeth and the children notice these things and ask if the  don  t ever brush their teeth  does the show ever make its way to the united states and if so where can we find its schedule at . and one other thing if we might be able to add . moe you need to stop hiding so much . sometimes when you pop up out of no where you scare the younger children and whats with the pulling of the rope  what does that signify  other then getting wet all the time . they need to add newer things to their show instead of the same ole same ole . kids loose interest that way .  
as much as i have enjoyed the hanzo the razor movies  three is definitely enough  who  s got the gold    the final adventure for the japanese lawman with the impressive package  is a fairly enjoyable piece of pinku cinema  but offers little new in terms of ideas whilst taking a big step backwards as far as outrageousness is concerned .  br    br   the film opens with the appearance of a female ghost  and looks as though it is going to explore supernatural territory  something which might have taken the series in an interesting new direction unfortunately  after the spook turns out to be nothing but a scooby doo  style ruse  cooked up by a corrupt treasury official keen to keep people away from the lake where he is hiding stolen gold   director yoshio inoue is content to recycle familiar elements from the first two films  the result being a rather stale affair .  br    br   once again  hanzo heads an investigation that requires him to interrogate women through the use of his mighty penis  slice up his enemies  and abuse his superiors . on the way  we get wild orgies  good  natured rape  hanzo forces himself on women who wind up appreciating his willfulness   and bloody sword  fights .  br    br   if you  ve already seen and appreciated the first two films  you might as well watch this instalment to complete the set  but be warned  this is probably the least satisfying one of them all .  br    br    .  out of    rounded up to  for imdb .  
this was an awful movie . basically jane march was a half  korean north korean spy sent by kim jong il to do something horrible to the american forces in south korea . she becomes a maid for an american military family  they all regard her as being korean even though she looks more white  i believe the actress is either    or    southeast asian  not at all korean   and the teenage boy of the household starts out hating her and ends up sleeping with her . the way korea and the u . s . military in korea is depicted is completely insane . of course  the screenwriter and the director were obviously white men who  ve never spent a day in korea prior to this movie and had no intention of showing any real insight into life in korea for either koreans or american gis and instead just tried to fulfill their pathetic asiaphile fantasies without any regard to how completely unbelievable it made the movie . anyone who  s ever been to korea will know this is utter garbage . in the end the north korean honhyol spy  girl gets killed  in an obvious  paying for her sins  way . very bad film with a made  for  tv feel to it .  
following the brilliant  goykiba   aka .  hanzo the razor  sword of justice        and its excellent  and even sleazier  sequel  goykiba kamisori hanz jigoku zeme   aka .  razor   the snare         this  goykiba oni no hanz yawahada koban  aka .  razor   who  s got the gold  is the third  and sadly final installment to the awesome saga about the incorruptible samurai  constable hanzo  the razor  ittami  brilliantly played by the great shintar katsu   who fights corruption with his fighting expertise as well as his enormous sexual powers . as a big fan of   s exploitation cinema made in nippon   sword of justice  became an instant favorite of mine  and i was therefore more than eager to find the sequels  and full of anticipation when i finally stumbled over them recently . while this third  hanzo  film is just not quite as brilliant as its predecessors it is definitely another great piece of cult  cinema that no lover of japanese exploitation cinema can afford to miss .  who  s got the gold  is a bit tamer than the two foregoing hanzo films  but it is just as brilliantly comical and crudely humorous  and immediately starts out fabulously odd the film begins  when hanzo  s two assistants see a female ghost when fishing . having always wanted to sleep with a ghost  hanzo insists that his assistants lead him to the site of the occurrence . . . if that is not a promising beginning for an awesome film experience  i don  t know what is . shintaro katsu  one of my personal favorite actors  is once again brilliant in the role of hanzo  a role that seems to have been written specifically for him . katsu is hanzo  the obstinate and fearless constable  who hates corruption and deliberately insults his superiors  and whose unique interrogation techniques include raping female suspects . the interrogated women than immediately fall for him  due to his sexual powers and enormous penis  which he trains in a rather grotesque routine ritual . i will not give away more about the plot in  who  s got the gold   but i can assure that it is as cool as it sounds . the supporting performances are also very good  and  as in the predecessors  there are plenty of hilariously eccentric characters . this is sadly the last film in the awesomely sleazy  hanzo  series . if they had made   sequels more  i would have happily watched them all  the entire hanzo series is brilliant  and while this third part is a bit inferior compared to its predecessors  it is definitely a must  see for all lovers of cult  cinema  oh how i wish they had made more sequels   
i saw this movie the other day in a film school class  and i hadn  t seen an almodovar movie before but went in expecting it to be good . unfortunately  it turned out to be a pointless film with only a couple of laughs mixed in with two hours of sheer boredom . high heels is just a collection of random scenes that might have worked in their own separate movies but together don  t add up to any kind of meaningful whole at all .  br    br   or so i thought . then  the next day  my film professor spent the entire class period explaining all of the movie  s hidden little details  like how the mural depicting stereotypical flamenco dancers in the background of the drag queen scene is some kind of commentary on the lack of identity that spain as a nation has developed under fascist rule . apparently  the whole movie is chock full of clever little visual tricks and references like this .  br    br   great  but you know what  it  s still a bad movie . it takes more than depth and complexity to make a good film   you still need to give the audience a reason to keep paying attention  something to interest the viewer enough to actually care about all the subtle tricks . high heels gives us strange  off  beat characters but keeps them in mostly mundane situations recycled from other movies  and almodovar doesn  t seem to be using them to make any kind of point . what is the significance  for example  of the hitchcockian surprise character revelation that occurs towards the end of the film  why is that even in there  just to surprise us   br    br   there is one funny scene that has to do with a news broadcast . and that  s it  that  s the only entertaining moment . the rest of the movie is just nonsensical filmic references and visual cues that apparently exist only for the sake of showing us how smart pedro almodovar is . but no matter what my film professor says  it takes more than self  indulgent trickery for a movie to be good .  
shintar katsu  best known for the zatichi films  again stars in this third and final movie in the kenji misumi  mostly known for  lone wolf and cub   directed saga of hanzo  the razor  itami feature the big dicked one battling ninjas  rapeing  ghosts   and uncovering shady goings on at the shogunate treasury . the hanzo  plot  was kinda getting stale and repetitive . what was once novel in the first film  was not any longer . fortunately  this one was better then the second thanks to having more humor . i  m just glad that they choose to stop at the one trilogy  i  m looking at you lucas   br    br   my grade b  br    br   dvd extras merely trailers for all  hanzo the razor films  br    br   eye candy aoi nakajima unleashes both tits  mako midori just her left one  
high heels are tricksy things . they can elevate women  or cross  dressing men  to newfound heights  put forward a sharp statement of style and bring a touch of fragile elegance . alternatively  they can be a perilous foot pain that will inevitably lead to trips  falls and ultimate tragedy . tacones lejanos is more of a disappointment trip than a stylish high riser .  br    br   almodvar  s mother  daughter drama is stylish for sure  but in terms of plot it  s a tongue  tied and tedious affair full of confusing  complex characters that never fully engage or make sense . a few moments of comedy aside  tacones lejanos just isn  t interesting . the best bit comes at the beginning in a marvellously macabre case of manslaughter orchestrated by a child . from this brilliant bit of black comedy things are looking up  but then the film comes to a heel .  br    br   there  s solid enough acting performances and there  s some stylish  arty direction that you  d expect from almodvar  but otherwise tacones lejanos isn  t an impressive piece of spanish cinema . with a story of murder  showbiz  femininity  fractured mother  daughter relationship and a character who is alternately a judge  a transvestite and a police informer this could have been a melodramatic powerhouse . instead it  s poor . high heels stumbles for sure .  
the final chapter in the hanzo the razor trilogy provides fitting closure for this entertaining series of samuraisploitation . inoue replaces yasuzu masumura  blind beast  red angel  manji  in the director  s chair  but the style is pretty much the same  perhaps due to shintaro katsu serving as the producer  apart from the titular antihero .  br    br   hanzo uncovers a female ghost who is guarding treasure hidden in the bottom of the lake . of course  hanzo being hanzo  he  s not put off by the fact she  s a ghost  so he proceeds to rape . . . ahem  interrogate her  using the now familiar revolving net device . the plot takes through a series of blind monks who also doubletime as loansharks  corrupt officials  promiscuous wives and the necessary hack and slash . hanzo  s superior officer  onishi  and his two servants  provide the typical comedic notes  and generally  it  s business as usual .  br    br   significantly less convoluted and easier to follow than the first  which is all over the place and a bit of a mess   less stylish  dramatic and bloody than the second  arguably the finest in the hanzo series   but still entertaining and worthwhile on its own merits . complete with trademark training sequences  the obligatory rape  swordfights  and a mystery hanzo is called upon to investigate  this will ultimately satisfy the fans .  
david lean  s worst film . even  in which we serve  was  nt as bad as this . usually a film with a really good reputation like this one  has at least some redeeming qualities  which makes one understand why it might be considered a classic . but after watching this i just could not get why this piece of crap was liked so much even back in      i disliked the acting  stiff upper lip british mannerisms  story  script  which may be quite witty at times but totally unfunny  and soundtrack . the elvira character is meant to be alluring and attractive  but was in actual fact ugly and had a weird and annoying voice . just another film that has convinced me not to trust a films reputation . another very overrated  british classic  .  
this pm entertainment production is laced with enough bullets to make john woo say   enough already   of course  it isn  t nearly as beautiful as woo can deliver but it gets the exploitive job done in   minutes . eric phillips  don wilson  is an undercover cop in the near future . when his wife is framed for murdering the governor by a team using a look  a  like cyborg  it is up to eric to clear her name . wilson gets to pull van damme duty as he plays the heroic lead and his evil cyborg doppelganger . why the academy failed to take notice is beyond me . being a pm production  there are tons of car chases  exploding cars   in the first  minutes   and shoot outs . i particularly liked the van that flips in midair before it even comes close to touching an exploding truck . my other favorite bit involved a neighborhood girl coming over to perfect her karate in don  s simulator . it is merely a chance to show off some cheapo lawnmower man effects circa     .  
i recently saw the broadway revival of  blithe spirit  starring angela lansbury  rupert everett  christine ebersole  and jayne atkinson . it  s a terrific production  and shows what good actors can do with a play that is less than perfect . angela lansbury is extremely funny as madame arcati .  br    br   it was probably a mistake  then  to check out the film version of the play starring rex harrison . the movie does not have the energy or the laughs of a good stage production .  br    br    blithe spirit  is probably one of those plays that works better with a live cast  in an audience full of people who have come to laugh . the actors can improvise  give touches and nuances to their performance and delivery of the lines  and involve the audience on a personal level that you can  t get in a movie house  or with a dvd showing  where the audience is separated from the story by the  fourth wall .  the story charles condomine  rex harrison   a successful writer  lives with his wife ruth  constance cummings  in a house in the english countryside . seeking information for his next book  a book dealing with the supernatural  charles invites madame arcati  margaret rutherford  reprising her role from the original     london production   a local spiritual medium  over to his house to conduct a sance . charles believes that spiritism is a sham  but hopes to pick up  the tricks of the trade .  but then madame arcati brings back the ghost of elvira  kaye hammond   charles  s first wife  who died of pneumonia seven years ago . elvira refuses to leave  and develops a spitting rivalry with ruth over charles  complicated by the fact that only charles can see or hear elvira  .  br    br   on stage  the actors can give performances that invite laughs in this situation . but on the screen  the actors in  blithe spirit  tear through the lines as if they don  t know that anyone is listening to them . they mumble lines that were designed to get laughs on the stage . the performances by harrison  cummings  and even kaye hammond are flat and lifeless . only margaret rutherford seems to have retained her spark and humor as madame arcati .  br    br   the oscar  winning visual effects in the film are unimpressive   not just by today  s standards  but by the standards of      they consist mostly of kaye hammond walking around in fluorescent green outfits and makeup  being photographed in special lighting to make her look like a glowing ghost .  br    br   the cinematographer deserves some credit for creative lighting . but compare the dull visual effects of  blithe spirit  to the truly groundbreaking effects in disney  s  song of the south    which was eligible for awards the same year . in  south   humans and animated characters share the screen seamlessly for minutes at a time . compared to  south   the oscar that  blithe spirit  received for special effects was completely undeserved .  br    br   at any rate  i can only encourage you to catch the broadway revival of this play with angela lansbury before it closes . as for the movie with rex harrison  skip it .  
this is a strange  cerebral  surreal  esoteric film . if there is such a thing as  intellectual horror  cinema  this film is it . i started to get scared and wish there was someone else watching it with me  and it barely has a plot  i  m going to have to see this film again multiple times before i feel i really understand it . if you  re the kind of person who likes  my dinner with andre  and films by godard  or if you do a lot of mind  altering drugs  you will probably enjoy this film . wow .  
i love watching early colour films  you mean those   s clothes weren  t all grey   br    br   margaret rutherford dominates this movie . her  eccentric  garb is actually rather attractive and yes  she has an amazing hourglass figure . but i feel she was given her head rather too much . she probably developed this characterisation over many performances  and nobody told her  if it gets a laugh  leave it out .  she does too much deranged fooling about when she  s supposed to be surprisingly down to earth . the madame arcati joke is that mediums were usually portrayed as wispy females in long drapery . arcati behaves like a retired headmistress  we  ll really put our backs into it   . the contrast between her breezy  commonplace manner and her wacky beliefs isn  t really brought out .  br    br   just because all the actors are english  apart from cummings   the americans feel they have to use the words  brit    stiff    lip  and  upper  . oh  give it a rest  the three main characters lose their tempers constantly and make risqu remarks  did he make love to you  yes  but very discreetly  he was in the cavalry   .  
l  hypothse du tableau vol  the hypothesis of the stolen painting       begins in the courtyard of an old  three  story parisian apartment building . inside  we meet the collector  an elderly man who has apparently devoted his life to the study of the six known existing paints of an obscure impressionist  era painter  tonnerre . a narrator recites various epigrams about art and painting  and then engages in a dialogue with the collector  who describes the paintings to us  shows them to us  tells us a little bit about the painter and the scandal that brought him down  and then tells us he  s going to show us something . . . .  br    br   as he walks through a doorway  we enter another world  or worlds  or perhaps to stretch to the limits  other possible worlds . the collector shows us through his apparently limitless house  including a large yard full of trees with a hill within these confines are the  paintings come to life  or half  way to life as he walks us through various tableaux and describes to us the possible meanings of each painting  of the work as a whole  of a whole secret history behind the paintings  the scandal  the people in the paintings  the novel that may have inspired the paintings . and so on  and so on . every room  every description  leads us deeper into a labyrinth  and all the while the collector and the narrator engage in their separate monologues  very occasionally verging into dialogue  but mostly staying separate and different .  br    br   i watched this a second time  so bizarre and powerful and indescribable it was  and so challenging to think or write about . if i have a guess as to what it all adds up to  it would be a sly satire of the whole nature of artistic interpretation . an indicator might be found in two of the most amusing and inexplicable scenes are those in which the collector poses some sexless plastic figurines   in the second of them  he also looks at photos taken of the figurines that mirror the poses in the paintings   then he strides through his collection  which is now partially composed of life  size versions of the figures . if we think too much about it and don  t just enjoy it  it all becomes just faceless plastic . . . .  br    br   whether i  ve come to any definite conclusions about  l  hypothse du tableau vol   or not  i can say definitely that outside of the early  and contemporaneous  works of peter greenaway like  a walk through h   i  ve rarely been so enthralled by something so deep  so serious  so dense . . . . and at heart  so mischievous and fun .  
summer holiday is the forgotten musical version of eugene o  neill  s ah wilderness and deservedly so with the broadway musical adaptation of take me along . with the exception of the stanley steamer song  none of the other harry warren  ralph blane songs are worth remembering and even that one is questionable .  br    br   it was right after the release of this film that mgm let mickey rooney go and i don  t think it was a coincidence . the film was made in     and released in      so mickey was   playing an andy hardy like teenager . he was just way too old for the part of the   year old who was affecting radical ideas in a spirit of youthful rebellion .  br    br   rooney made four films for mgm from     to      this one  killer mccoy a remake of robert taylor  s a crowd roars  love laughs at andy hardy and words and music . in all of them rooney was playing an adult part . even in the andy hardy film  mickey played an adult andy hardy returned from world war ii . why he was in this louis b . mayer only knows .  br    br   rooney  s bad casting makes summer holiday all the worse because in the original ah wilderness the emphasis is on the father  s character played here by walter huston . and in the broadway show take me along which won a tony award for jackie gleason  the great one played the inebriated brother  in  law uncle sid here played by frank morgan and that  s the central character .  br    br   gloria dehaven steps in for judy garland as rooney  s sweet and adorable girl friend and marilyn maxwell plays the show girl who gives rooney an adult education . in the original play o  neill has her as a prostitute  but this was the hollywood of the code so all marilyn does is get young rooney soused .  br    br   a lot of really talented people had a hand in this one and they do their best  but summer holiday fades rather quickly into a chilly autumn .  
i must say i was impressed the cinematography was amazing  the frames close to perfection and the way he built up the tension around a subject that sound more like a dreadful bore is beyond be .  br    br   the film is about two narrators  one seen  one unseen . they are both trying to explain the significant of a series of painting that caused a scandal a long time back . the film is all about theories and explanations of views but the conclusion is quite shocking i must say . definitely a film that deserves more than it  s    votes .  br    br   with only   minutes to play out it  s plot the film still felt like a complete work . fantastic direction  i must say far better than blood of the poet which it for some strange reason remind me a bit of .  br    br   i suppose you can call it by the slang word  artsy  . it  s pretty much just a lot of professional talk about various theories and stunning visual effects but the crew and ruiz did pull it off . at least for me . an amazing film .  
you just got to love opening sequences like the one in  seven women for satan   during the intro there  s a naked girl running through the woods  chased by a hunting dog and a malignant looking dude on a horse  until she falls off a cliff and splits her head open on a rock . then the camera zooms out on the face of the guy and we notice how he  s simply sitting behind a desk whilst his secretary waiting for him to sign some papers .  oh i  m sorry  i was lost in my thoughts  he then says  sweet  i have stumbled upon yet another completely bonkers movie . even if you only understand a minimum of french and have a look at the original title  you immediately know that  seven women for satan  hasn  t got anything to do with satan or ritual sacrifices  but simply revolves on the flamboyant escapades of a perverted and mentally unstable count during his weekend in the countryside . this is  in fact  another sleazy variation on the classic milestone  the most dangerous game  about a lunatic  s disturbing hobby of hunting people  preferably hot naked chicks  in the forest for sports . well actually  this is more than just a variation on the     classic  as writer  director  actor michel lemoine had the pretension to directly link his protagonist to leslie banks  legendary villain in  the most dangerous game  . count zaroff supposedly is the original count zaroff  s son but he exchanged his private island for the remote french countryside . he also can  t afford to be unemployed anymore  so he  s an office clerk from monday to friday and a maniacal killer during the weekend . zaroff is a genuine weirdo who hallucinates about dancing with deceased woman but actually runs his car over the live ones . his butler once pledged to prevent the zaroffs from killing  but he  s obviously doing a lousy job . there isn  t any depth in the screenplay and the build  up certainly doesn  t pay attention to suspense or sinister atmosphere . really  the only useful thing to do during this film is count the girls that are lured for zaroff  s deceptive trap and hope they  ll reach seven rapidly . half of the film is pointless and tedious padding footage  like the overlong erotic dance act in which a statue inexplicably transforms into a muscular black guy       and the other half exists of psychedelic sleaze that eventually grows tiresome as well even though all the girls look ravishing . i have the impression that it was michel lemoine  s intention to imitate his pal jean rollin and make a deliriously kinky sex  thriller .  seven women for satan  is a french production  so inevitably it also stars jess franco regular howard vernon   the awful dr . orloff    zombie lake   . lemoine himself surely has the looks of a crazy killer  but not the talent to depict one .  
this project was originally conceived as the movie version of popular japanese manga slamdunk  and that  s not something new to jay chou  who made his movie debut playing a character from another wildly popular manga initial d . along the way  it was decided to incorporate some kung fu into the movie  so hence the title  even if the idea wasn  t very original  with stephen chow  s shaolin soccer coming to mind with martial arts and ball games combined .  br    br   however  and thankfully  those scenes where kung fu actually influenced the games were kept to a bare minimum  and in kung fu dunk  really quite unnecessary  because they don  t add much to the plot nor drum up much excitement  and at most offered some cheap laughs and reminisced about the time when stephen chow used kung fu in football games . jay chou is comfortable in his role as a martial artist fang shi  jie since it  s not the first time he fought using martial arts  curse of the golden flower anyone    and under the stunt direction of ching siu  tung  he was made to look really believable as he trashes countless of gangsters in a bar as seen in the trailer  just to let you know who  s boss .  br    br   that was almost why his character is made a kung fu practitioner  and for the fact of giving him an excuse for being a top shot  able to shoot the hoops from practically any angle . and with eric tsang as a small time hustler chen  li who sees his potential and becomes his agent  he joins a university to play varsity basketball  but not without the initial objection of team captain ting  wei  chen bo  lin  and team star xiao  lan  baron chen  in his big  screen debut  . but you know with team members on the same side  it  s not before long they combine their strengths to take on adversaries on the basketball court .  br    br   and i will stick my neck out to say that this movie is to basketball just as how goal was to football . it made the sport look good because of its charismatic characters  despite them dripping so much coolness and aloofness on the courts . here  special effects and wire  work were employed to make the actors seem like professionals who can take out a top side in the nba league  and in all honesty  really looked stunning  especially when they mimic various dunking moves  and performing combo  moves thanks to technology and stunt work . so in actuality  the kung fu elements don  t really have to be in the movie . the stunt work itself will be able to justify most of the moves as they  re quite grounded to reality  only having you to suspend belief that boys of average height have springs in their feet to leap that height for a professional dunk .  br    br   pity too that the number of games were only a handful  with the time spent on plenty of subplots  but each were loosely developed and flitted in and out of the story as and when they please . things like the abandoned shi  jie  s quest to use the basketball games to get his parents to one day attend them  that of gangsterism penetrating and influencing games  and his love life with charlene choi in yet another flower vase role just to look good and do nothing else . everyone  s acting a little too cool  leaving little room for main characters to add depth . one of the key themes here is the realization of the importance of teamwork rather than on individual talent and ability  and it could have been brought out much stronger if the players themselves interacted a lot more off the court  than only on it  and during competitive games  apart from the high  fives and friendly passes .  br    br   with the us   million budget  it is easy to see where the money went to  the effects  in particular  a massive fantasy sequence at a crucial point in the movie . it  s quite flawless  nice to look at and probably justifiable on its quality alone  but again i like to emphasize  that even without those elements  the basketball stunts itself would still make this a decent movie with nifty basketball moves . and having jay chou playing for your team is a big boost to any hopes of a box office success .  
a warning to potential viewers if you are looking for an adaptation of the classic story  the most dangerous game   look elsewhere .  seven women for satan   br    br   only superficially addresses the original work by using the name of zaroff and having said character murder people .  br    br   some of what follows might be considered by some to be spoilers . or not .  br    br   boris zaroff is played by writer  director michel lemoine . whereas his ancestor hunted men because they were the only prey that were truly challenging  boris  victims are usually in a position where they cannot defend themselves . the film rambles from scene to scene with a near  total lack of clarity . the director seems to have totally disregarded pacing and left the viewer with a suffocatingly dull film . a few individual scenes are mildly interesting  such as a torture rack sequence   but as a unit  the film fails to entertain . viewers who are more  br    br   interested in an assortment of attractive and semi  attractive actresses in various stages of undress might find the film watchable . most will probably find their time is better spent watching mentos commercials .  br    br   in a side note  the dvd extras included a fair amount of information on the film  s history . apparently  it was banned for several years in its native france which pretty much ruined any chance it had for widespread distribution .  
jay chou plays an orphan raised in a kung fu school  but kicked out by the corrupt headmaster after fighting with a bunch of thugs in the employ of a nefarious villain . he happens upon down  on  his  luck trickster eric tsang  who immediately sees cash potential in the youngster  s skills . basketball is the chosen avenue for riches  and tsang bids to get him a spot on a university team and to promote him in the media . general success leads to a basketball championship and a really nasty rival team managed by the same nefarious villain of before .  br    br   it  s all a bit shaolin soccer i guess  but not so quirky or ridiculous  the plot sticks pretty close to sports movie conventions  and delivers all the elements the crowd expects from the set  up . you  ve seen it all before  but it  s the kind of stuff it never hurts to see again when it  s done well . luckily it really is done well here  some might say  surprisingly  with chu yen  ping in the director  s chair . . . i expect he had good  assistants    the script delivers and the presentation is slick and stylish . jay chou remains pretty much expressionless throughout  but such is his style  and when he does let an emotion flicker across it can be to quite good comic effect . eric tsang compensates with a larger  than  life character that he  s played many times before  in real life  for instance  who gets many of the films most emotional moments .  br    br   since the film revolves around basketball  it  s good that the scenes of basketball matches are suitably rousing . the cast show some real skill  including chou  and some well done wirework and cgi add that element of hyper  real kung fu skill that make the scenes even more entertaining  assuming you like that sort of thing  and justify the movie  s plot  existence .  br    br   there  s only one significant fight scene in the movie  but it  s a doozy in the  one against many  style . jay chou appears to do a lot of his own moves  and is quite impressive  he  s clearly pretty strong and fast for real  and ching siu  tung  s choreography makes him look like a real martial artist . i wish there  d been more  but at least it  s a lengthy fight .  br    br   very much the kind of chinese new year blockbuster i hoped it would be from the trailer  and recommended viewing   
what do you expect when there is no script to begin with  and therefore nothing that the director can work with . hayek and farrell  and donaldson and kirkin are good actors  they just don  t have anything to say or anything to react to . even the earthquake was pretty poor . and i don  t know how closely the movie follows the novel  but two have the jewish girl show up out of nowhere just so show that arturo has a nice  warm heart  but some stereotypes don  t amount to anything . and he even buries camilla out in the desert  instead of bringing her back to l . a . for a nice catholic burial where he could at least bring her flowers once in a while . pathetic . and the l . a . set was ridiculously graphically created . anything good  the window to his apartment felt real  the curtains  the sounds  the wind . and donaldson is always great . has been since the body snatchers or night of the living dead  whichever it was .  
i knew about this as a similar programme as jackass  and i saw one or two episodes on freeview  and it is the same  only more extreme . basically three welsh guys  and one mad british bloke were brought together by love of skateboarding  and a complete disregard  masochistic pleasure to harm themselves and their health and safety . they have had puking  eating pubes  covered pizza  jumping in stinging nettles  naked paint balling  jokes on the smaller guy while heavily sleeping  snoring  stunts in a work place  e . g . army  cowboys  and many more insane stunts that cause bruises  bumps  blood and vomit  maybe not just for themselves . starring matthew pritchard who does pretty much anything  lee dainton also up for just about anything  dan joyce  the british one  who hardly does much physical stuff and has a ott laugh  and pancho  mike locke  who does a lot  but is more popular for being short  fat and lazy . it was number something on the    greatest funny moments . very good   
this show stinks . for parents  they usually want their kids to watch something good for them . it is usually educational  funny  and bright .  br    br   is it educational  no . the doodlebops sing and that  s it . they usually sing about themselves  they don  t try teaching anything .  br    br   is it funny  no . the doodlebops instead say something which is not intended as a joke  and laugh at it .  br    br   is it bright  it  s so bright  it  s painful . as far as color  s everything is extremely bright  so that  s good . but nothing is ever wrong in the world of the doodlebop  s . therefore  they are always happy . a kid in trouble will become depressed because they have never been exposed to being sad .  br    br   the show is also extremely cheesy . every syllable is said to the highest level of exaggeration and very corny . it  s overkill .  br    br   for kids  it  s entertaining  but past the age of  you won  t want your kids to see it . they  ll never know how to grow up .  
i don  t care if you  d like my comment or no but i think that you who write that the movie isn  t good . . you  re so obsessed by the films of hollywood that you can  t see how good is this movie i  m not a fan of jay chou but i like his play and not only his . . . and may be you think that there is not a big sense in the idea and may be you think it  s not so interesting but look deeply there is more than action in the movies more than love and passion and tears there is more than usa in the world and it  s good   really good . and it cost a lot to do it so please don  t criticize the actors the directors cause you don  t know how hard they work for you to be happy in this hour and a half watching them thank you    
gorgeous bodies  gorgeous colors and camera work  pretentious dialog  banal plot . the name of the prima donna  camilla  and the eponymous flowers that appear frequently  are enough to remind us of the plot similarities from dumas  novel la dame aux camelias  the movie camille starring garbo and  i think  robert taylor  and last but not least verdi  s opera la traviata . beautiful  not  too  virtuous young ladies  social outcasts for one reason or another  loved  split up  reunited just in time to die of tuberculosis in the last scene . . . one forgives banal plots and stupid unrealistic dialog in opera  but why waste hayak  don sutherland  a beautiful rendition of la in the   s  a deus ex machina earthquake that conveniently kills the other woman  and all that beauty on this mediocre turkey where there isn  t even any beautiful singing   
a mess of genres but it  s mainly based on stephen chow  s genre mash  ups for it  s inspiration . there  s magic kung  fu  college romance  sports  gangster action and some weepy melodrama for a topping . the production is excellent and the pacing is fast so it  s easy to get past the many flaws in this film .  br    br   a baby is abandoned next to a basketball court . a homeless man brings him to a shaolin monastery that  s in the middle of a city along with a special kung fu manual that the homeless man somehow has but can  t read . the old monk teaches the boy but expires when he tries to master the special technique in the manual . the school is taken over by a phony kung fu master who is assisted by four wacky monks . the new master gets mad at the now    year old boy for not pretending to be hurt by the master  s weak punches and throws him out for the night . the boy is found throwing garbage into a basket from an incredible distance by a man who bring him to a gangster  s club to play darts . this leads to a big fight  the boy  s expulsion from the monastery and the man  s decision to turn the boy into a college basketball sensation .  br    br   al this happens in the first   minutes with most of it happening in the first   minutes . aside from the extreme shorthand storytelling the first problem is how little we get to know the main character until way into the movie . the man who uses the boy is more sharply defined by the time the first third is over . the plot follows no new ground except for the insane action climax of the film . i  m sure you can easily imagine how the wacky monks will show up towards the end . the effects  photography and stunt work are all top  notch and make up for the uninspired plot .  br    br   stephen chow has a much better command of plot and comedy writing and this film will live in his shadow but that  s not a good reason to ignore it . it  s quite entertaining even with a scatter  shot ending . recommended .  
this film is based on the novel by john fante . could someone please tell me why  i see absolutely no reason why this fine book should be adapted in this way . if you want to make a romantic melodramatic hollywood production with colin farell and selma hayek  then how could you possibly make a connection to ask the dust  the novel    and if you wanted to make this story into a film  then why would you want to make it into a romantic melodramatic hollywood production with colin farell and selma hayek  i don  t get it .  br    br   the adaptation of the story is poorly made  and if you have read the book and liked it  i  m almost sure you won  t like what towne did with it .  br    br   in the beginning of the film you  ll maybe find the casting odd  the acting bad and the cinematography just a bit overdone . but you hope for the best . i really hoped a lot during this film . i actually wanted it to be good . but it only gets worse  and it is as simple as that whether you read fantes novel or not  this is not a good film . just another romantic melodramatic hollywood production combined with bad acting  lack of structure and  of course  plenty of shots of colin farells naked butt .  br    br   i could complain a lot more about this film  but why waste my time . i  ve seen it . alright . i had to see it  because i like the book so much and was curious . and i  m very disappointed .  br    br       is for colin  s sweet little mustache in the end of the film . so sweet . . . had he worn it the whole time through  i  d given it     .  
just finished watching the movie and wanted to give my own opinion  and justice  to the movie .  br    br   first of all  to get things straight  this movie is not pretending to be anything other than a solid action comedy movie . it doesn  t aim to revolutionize the movie industry and garner critical acclaims nor does it want to be regarded as one . if you really want to enjoy this movie to the fullest  i suggest you discard your critical  mindedness and your longing for a good plot because you won  t find any in here . with that established  let us further into the movie .  br    br   i had low expectations for this movie simply because it didn  t have a strong plot  yes  moviegoers  i underrated this movie as well   but i never expected myself to enjoy this movie that much . i even enjoyed this more than the stephen chow flicks  which i find kung fu hustle to be his best effort and would  ve rated it a  as well  . action is tight and epic while comedy chokes on to the right places .  br    br   spoilers alert  i think the action might be unreal  but why would i want to watch a serious basketball movie anyways  there are a lot other sports movies  drama  that already did it well  why create another  spoilers end  br    br   i  m not even sure why you  re reading this . go ahead and watch it . just remember  no thinking  just watch  enjoy  smile  laugh  and  br    br   every once in a while they  the movie industry  creates masterpieces such as pulp fiction or the godfather movies  and sometimes they create movies which are better off in the pile of dump . i  m not saying kung fu dunk deserves the recognition that the previous examples have  then again  if we  re talking about stephen chow  ish comedy  this one  s a top ten .  br    br   highly recommended if you love  no brainer movies with really good action  kung fu  death trance  kung fu and comedy  what the heck  watch this . you  ll have a great time .  br    br       for you the cast of kung fu dunk .     
the      were a golden age of los angeles with its film industry and great potential of various other possibilities to become rich and famous and happy . people were arriving there hoping to fulfill their dreams . expecting open arms and welcoming offers there were only a few who managed to succeed and find their way to stardom  majority then condemned to live starving  disillusioned and unwanted  searching for a bit of respect in dirty bars and nasty hotel rooms .  br    br   young italian  american writer arturo bandini arrives to la on a similar quest  to spread his charms around to get one of those beautiful wealthy women and to write an excellent novel that would set him on a career path  having so far written a single short story published in an obscure anthology . wishing to create a romantic masterpiece he seems to be unable to produce anything without experiencing it himself though  occasionally  he sends pieces of magazine stories to a local editor that helps him survive . he is proud to present himself as an italian but deep in his heart he truly feels his italian origin as a burden . the little money and the courage to conquer the world he once had are all long gone and watching his dream turning into a hangover he holds a last single nickel to spend .  br    br   the coffee she brought him was cold and sour and spitting a curse on her triggers a never  ending relationship of insults  unspoken excuses and a love concealed beneath . camilla being an uneducated girl trying to receive us citizenship through a marriage also carries her heavy cross of a non  perspective racial heritage . though she is much of a stronger and life experienced person her situation as a beautiful mexican woman is much harder to deal with than arturo is able to realize .  br    br   is it obvious that arturo eventually finds his inspiration to work on the novel  is it possible that their love finally finds its place in the sun  is it likely that their romance takes an unlucky turn   br    br   it is very surprising to find out that the chemistry between the two main characters  performed by salma hayek and colin farrell  does not work . the relationship lacks the raw and authentic feelings . hayek though livelier a character compared to farrell  s forgot to arm camilla with the passion and strength of her once brilliant character frida . also it is hard to have faith in a character which being intelligent but uneducated and illiterate uses quite difficult vocabulary and complicated sentences . a tougher character of a phil marlowe sort would definitely suit farrell better  though he looks stunning in a period costume  he seems very lost trying to find the fragile world of a twenty  year old dreamer balancing between a hidden love and desire to be true to himself .  br    br   feeling embarrassed watching the two on the screen is not right . their relationship might have been wild but it is more likely what a thunder and a lightning are without a storm  far from real passion  feelings just described not felt inside . it is very sad that such a potential of an interesting script and good actors was wasted  turned into a grey average of soon  to  be  forgotten .  
the movie is absolutely silly .  br    br   but were you expecting a high  brow intellectual film based on a comic called slam dunk  really  jay chou  s acting isn  t exactly the most moving thing i  ve ever seen  but i certainly enjoyed the movie . was it somewhere near the level of awesome that someone like jet li or stephen chow can produce  no  not really . was it thoroughly entertaining if you  re just taking it at surface value  absolutely . it  s a movie about some chinese eye  candy idols and musicians who can play basketball at an unreal level of expertise . there  s an evil triad  style dude and a wacky scheming guy who gets jay chou involved in all of this . a love interest . it  s formulaic but really  suspend disbelief for a while . come on . it  s called kung fu dunk . what do you really think you signed on for  do yourself a favor if you watch it  i found myself a copy with some engrish subtitles that made the movie nigh unintelligible conversation wise  but we got a great laugh out of it . they would appear to be extremely fixated on jerusalem and the numbers     .  br    br   i laughed  i cried  i hurled . i  d watch it again .  br    br   especially for that fight scene in the bar . well choreographed and well shot . i especially enjoy the plexiglass lit pool table  i  d love to play on one of those .  br    br   slick enough for me  but i dig on trash cinema .  
i don  t like this film  but then i didn  t think much of the book either which  although lauded by many as a  masterpiece   i found lacking in character development and disjointed and illogical in plot  although it was far more readable than fante  s dreadful first effort  road to los angeles  not published until fante became fashionable in the mid   s .  br    br   i was intrigued to see what sort of soup towne would make with such meager ingredients . he has worked hard script  wise to repair the many shortcomings of the book but for my money didn  t rescue it . there was never a movie in ask the dust while ever he tried to stay faithful to the book . i consider this film towne  s folly .  br    br   in a word forgettable .  
i don  t know the stars  or modern chinese teenage music  but i do know a thoroughly entertaining movie when i see one .  br    br   kung fu dunk is pure hollywood in its values  it  s played for laughs  for love  and is a great blend of kung fu and basketball .  br    br   everybody looks like they had a lot of fun making this  the production values are excellent  and modern china looks glossier than los angeles here .  br    br   the plot of the abandoned orphan who grows up in a kung fu school only to be kicked out and then discover superstardom as a basketball play  and love and more etc  is great  this is fresh  fun  and immensely entertaining .  br    br   with great action and good dialogue this is one simply to enjoy  for all ages  and for our money was one of the best family movies we  re seen in a long time .  br    br   please ignore the negative reviews and give dunk a chance  we were really glad we did  a good sports comedy movie .  
given the history of the director of this movie  it is hard to believe that this was such a painfully bad movie to sit through . i was at the european premiere last night and one of the executive producers was there . he was yet to see the movie and  boy  was he in for a surprise . i have not read the book that this is based upon  nor do i know if it highly rated or appreciated  but i have read  captain correlli  s mandolin  and given how poorly that was adapted for screen and how bad this movie was  i can only presume that something similar has happened here . the acting wasn  t bad albeit that there were a couple  too  many raised eyebrows from farrell . honestly  i can  t believed how little i cared for any character in this movie . situations play out on the screen in an empty sequence of nothingness . donald sutherland  s part comprises a few scenes where he opens a door  says something and closes it again . i kept looking at my watch when i wasn  t cringing at the dialogue on the screen . i have never walked out on a movie but i was tempted to start during this . i gave this movie a score of    for reasons which seem horrendously shallow to me but these are the best things that i can say about this movie . the first is that i really enjoyed the all  too  short earthquake scene and the second is that salma hayek got naked and looked beautiful . i can say little else positive about this movie . don  t ask the dust anything  it can  t talk   
lost isn  t the greatest tv show in history  but it  s not far off . it doesn  t have the plot or characterisation of the west wing or possibly even early er  however  it is arguably the most continuously gripping show i have every come across . i love the way i can  t guess what  s going to happen . i love the re  telling of the characters  back stories which often give rise to new dimensions for us to see them in . in some ways i want the show to last forever  but i think they can get    seasons out of it before they have to end it on a glorious high . the combination of the characters and their nationalities coupled with the show  s fluidity for moving backwards and forwards thus extending dead characters  life spans  all adds to the overwhelming sense that this show is something very different from what we are used to . it  s captivating  surprising and  here  s a little suggestion for all of you conspiracy theorists  more than a little interactive  keep those internet discussions going  you  re only adding to the plot . . .  
  ask the dust  looked intriguing from the trailer  and we especially like all of the actors . unfortunately  the movie was not compelling enough to be considered drama  and it wasn  t funny enough to be a comedy . it practically seemed to satirize itself  and to no entertaining effect . after seventy minutes of waiting for this thing to get better  my wife and i walked out  valuing not having wasted any more time on such nonsense . it simply was not interesting  moving  funny nor artistic . it appears as though it were written  produced and directed by a high school kid worse yet  it was such a shameful waste of otherwise extraordinarily talented actors  not to mention our time and money .  
the first episode immediately gave a good impression what to expect from the series  mysteries waiting to be solved and a lot of good drama  i love the fact that they gradually reveal the stories concerning the characters  explaining just enough to stay excited  of course this show has some flaws  in the first two series there are some characters who for some reason don  t show up in the third season  many of the characters have a decent sent off but some of them just aren  t there  like rose and her husband  where the hell are they  what happened to them  maybe they will return in later episodes  but it is a little inconsistent  that being said  lost  manages to be thrilling every episode  especially the first two seasons   that is a very hard thing to do  i do notice that in the third season the focus is more on character development than the mystery aspects of the show  this is not a bad thing  it even saves some episodes from getting boring  one of the elements that can be considered the strength of this show are the wonderful characters  you will grow to love these characters  good or bad  but eventually i will want to see some mysteries to be solved and get closure  the danger of  lost  getting canceled due to declining ratings is near  and that would be devastating   
a film starring salma hayek and colin farrell  two respected and talented actors  sounds like a great idea . an independent film sounds even better . the studios will control less of the content allowing the actors and writers and director more creativity .  br    br   but then why is this movie so bland  ask the dust .  br    br   this film assumes right off the bat that we are deeply invested in the characters . no one is given a proper back story  so we don  t ever know why the characters act the way they do .  br    br   explanations for physical and emotional scars are left to our imagination  if you still have one left at the end of this movie .  br    br   i told a friend that i went to see this film  and that i thought it was awful .  br    br   her question  not even colin farrell could save it   my response  not even colin farrell  s ass could save it .   
lost holds something interesting for everyone . you can say an awfully lot about this series  and an awfully lot has been said  so i won  t be the one to spell it all out for you again . just read the persons who loved it  and you  ll know why you want to watch it . the nice thing about this series is that its totally new . there are not much movies  and even fewer  series based on the theme of only suspense  but lost lives up to the theme with pride . its all about the unexplained and if you combine that with an exotic location  nice plot twists  an excellent cast and a good format  present and past combined in single episodes  you  ll have a series in which every episode is a story on its own but part of a greater telling . you want to have all the insights of the characters  you want to see the overall picture and you  ll want to know where the writers are taking you . the result of that is that its a series which does not let you go . on a more sceptic note  the series went under a bit in season   probably due to its own success . it is well known that lost was only written for one season originally and when the overwhelming success followed  the writers were overwhelmed too . in my opinion they made the mistake to add even more mysteries and in a higher pace in season   then to solve the ones  or partially at least  the ones of season  . at the end of season  you ended with a big blurr of secrets  plot twists and unexplained phenomena  but there is only so much a viewer can take . the difference between season  and  however was huge . season  handed out a lot of insights  to partially replace them with new questions . and that  s exactly how they should write you want to thumble from one plot twist to the next  not get a tsunami of secrets spread all over you and then pick up a few to explain to the viewers . they got that in season  and brings us a promising series future for season  . its good to see that such a different format of a series  can be so hugely popular .  
i love the depiction of the   s and   s in film . i love salma hayek . i was more than ready to love this picture . but . . .  br    br   booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo        br    br   no sir  nothing good about this . the only entertaining aspect for me was colin farrell  s character is an insecure writer and this screenplay  despite tackling the juicy subject of racism  approaches the audience in the fashion of an abc afterschool special .  br    br   the only person who didn  t sound like he was  acting  was sutherland  and his minutes were few .  br    br   stale approach to a tired plot .  
  lost         carnivale    desperate housewifes  . . . the list goes on and on . these  and a bunch of other high  quality  shows proves that we  re in the middle of a golden age in television history .  lost  is pure genius . incredible layers of personal  and psychologically viable  stories  underscored by sublime cinematography  incredible to use this word  when describing a tv  show   a killer score  great performances and editing . anyone who isn  t hooked on this  are missing one of the most important creative expressions in television ever . it may have its problems  when watching only one episode a week  but the dvd format is actually an incredible way to watch this . hope they keep it up  as i  m sure they do  .  
it must have been excruciating to attend the dailies as the shooting continued on this failure of a film . probably cruise  the exec . prod .  saw what was happening and had towne use much  much more of the nude footage in the final cut then towne wanted to  to make up for the disaster he saw looming .  maybe cruise even thought of  titanic  .  a few items colin farrell can  t act his way out of a paper bag . but he  s one of the flavors  of  the  decade  a producer  s darling and one is forced to avoid the embarrassment of watching him by not attending his films . he has so many moments of not believing in what he  s doing and you can see it in his eyes . i think he would have been at his best as a film actor  albeit not as rich or famous as he is now  playing second banana to dynamic leads who can act . the trap of spending a lot of money for period sets  costumes  cars  et al and photographing them as if they just came from the dry cleaner or car wash  wax . no one seems to want anything to look  well  worn . or dirty . is this because the production designer was told by the line producer to make sure they didn  t ruin the stuff because then the company wouldhave to pay for the ruined items   br    br   this was a story about the depression  thirties folks  not a disney broadway musical about that era . how about doing it in black and white or better yet  given caleb deschanel as your d . p .  have him desaturate the colors during the mix to suggest some of the actual grime and poorness of the times . it should have been  after all  a bit depressing to live so desperately as these folks did  in the depression . more on farrell . did anyone for a moment believe this guy was a writer  h . l . mencken on the wall did i see his eyes roll at one point  hayek and farrell as a sexually dynamic duo  sending a boy to do a man  s work  perhaps in the book  which i haven  t read  the story was about an older woman and a youth . i cannot delve too deeply into the middle to latter parts of the film because i bailed out early on . but the memory of the scenes i did see made me think that someone was doing a not  too  amusing parody of a noir movie . sort of what saturday night live has been like for the past decade not funny .  in my mind i kept thinking of a guy noir sketch  music and all .   
before lost everything shown on tv was predictable . you could predict who was gonna die or who will find something  but in lost you could predict nothing . every thing was so surprisingly stunning and it really was a mystery not because it has so many secrets but because there was nothing like it before everything was so great . i literally became addicted to it . lost is a classic work of art . it gives you something to look forward to every week . it is genius . the surrounding is brilliant it is calm and warm at the beach and so scary in the jungle . the characters are a work of genius every one of them especially the ones already on the island . the castaways are so dramatic yet we can never predict their deaths because they have so much more to do and so much more to say and they have secrets affecting the other castaways that die with them .  
a friend told me of john fante last summer after we got into a conversation about charles bukowski . i did not know that fante was a favorite writer of bukowski  s  an author with similar edge and humor except from one generation earlier .  ask the dust  was the first fante book i read  and it remains one of my favorite novels . the novel was a brilliant piece of writing about a sad  frightened young writer posing to himself and the outside world as an overconfident  masterfully talented author who had no idea how to write about the real world experiences he had none of . in the novel the protagonist is a virgin  with no idea how to win the graces of the women he desperately wants to write about in magazines . the story of his bizarre relationship with camilla  how he settles for his first sexual experience with a  wounded  admirer  and how he eventually is left with nothing but the story of his failed attempts at love is biting and real  with no touching hollywood ending . the film adaptation stays true to the book for a while  but meanders into the cinematic trap of love persevering through racism  sickness and death . the heart of this story lies in the fact that bandini is a jerk and camilla is f  ing crazy  and their love never was and never would be the real thing  no matter how much either of them wanted to find it in each other . this movie tore out the real meaning of the story out and replaced it with schlock . i can  t believe the man who wrote chinatown could read this book and make a movie about it that got it so wrong .  
to many people  beat street has inspired their lifestyle to something creative concerning the hip hop culture .  br    br   the young lee is living in ny in the    s when hip hop was at its beginning . his a crew member of  beat street   a b  boy crew . the movie follows lee in his average day  dancing  graffitiing  etc .  br    br   the director has succeeded in making a movie with a plot and at the same time presenting hip hop to the rest of the world . the movie has old school features such as  br    br   afrika bambaataa  the soul sonic force  grandmaster melle mel  the furious five  the rock steady crew  the new york city breakers  and many more . . . .  br    br   neither the movie beat street nor the beat street spirit will ever die .  
most definitely the worst columbo ever dreamt up . no murder and the abandonment of the tried and tested formula makes this a real drag . falk looks bored throughout and so will you be if you waste anytime watching this .  
the great vincent price has done many fantastic horror films  some of which range among the greatest genre gems of all  time . price  s greatest achievements were doubtlessly his films in the   s  with films such as roger corman  s brilliant poe  cycle  still the greatest horror cycle of all  time   michael reeves   witchfinder general        or ubaldo ragona  s  the last man on earth        marking the ultimate highlights of this brilliant man  s career . the films that made the man famous and thereby made him the immortal horror icon he is  however date back to the   s  with  house of wax        marking his rise to stardom .  the mad magician  of     follows a plot that is very similar to that of its successful predecessor . this is not to say  however  that this film isn  t an original  delightfully macabre and absolutely wonderful gem itself . as the lines above may suggest  vincent price is my favorite actor  and  while i personally would not allow myself to miss anything the man has been in  none of my fellow fans of the man may miss this little gem .  br    br   price stars as don galico  aka . galico the great   an underrated master magician and inventor of magic devices  whose boss  a sleazy businessman  stole his wife  eva gabor  from him . when the boss takes away one of galico  s ingenious inventions and gives it to his rival  the great rinaldi  john emery   galico snaps  and a murderous spree of revenge begins . . .  br    br   don  t we love vincent price when he  s out for revenge  some of his most famous and greatest films such as  the abominable dr . phibes        or  theater of blood        were about absurd and delightfully macabre revenge murders  and this earlier film in his horror career is another proof that no one takes revenge as vincent price does . this film provides a wonderfully eccentric leading role for price  who  as always  delivers a brilliant performance  and guarantees   minutes of outrageously entertaining and macabre fun for every horror fan . another must  see for my fellow price fans .  
ned kelly  ledger   the infamous australian outlaw and legend . sort of like robin hood  with a mix of billy the kid  australians love the legend of how he stood up against the english aristocratic oppression  and united the lower classes to change australia forever . the fact that the lower classes of the time were around    immigrant criminals seems to be casually skimmed around by this film . indeed  quite a few so called facts  in this film are  on reflection  a tad dubious .  br    br   i suppose the suspicions should have been aroused when  in the opening credits  it was claimed that this film is based upon the book  our sunshine  . if ever a romanticized version of truth could be seen in a name for a book  there it was . this wasn  t going to be a historical epic  but just an adaptation of one of many dubious legends of ned kelly  albeit a harsh and sporadically brutal version .  br    br   unfortunately  ned kelly is nothing more than an overblown hallmark channel real life historical drama  wannabe  the story plods along at an alarming rate  alarming because never has a film plodded so slowly   the feeling of numbness after the two hours of pure drivel brought back memories of costner  s awful wyatt earp all those years ago . simply put  nothing happens in the film  but it takes a long time getting to that nothing . this would possibly have been a tad more bearable if the performances were good  because the direction sure as heck wasn  t  . however  unless you are looking to play a game of spot the worst oirish accent  then you  re gonna be disappointed . between that  the game of who has the stupidest beard    spot the obvious backstabber    clue  they are all ginger for some reason   and nature in australia . including lions   it is an experience similar to flicking through hallmark  the history channel  discovery channel  and neighbours whilst suffering a huge hangover . yup  nature pops up a lot  as to fill even more time  possibly an attempt to look arty   the film keeps showing pointless wildlife shots  and once all the native species are shown  here  s a circus to allow for a camel and a lion  which is used during one fight to try to make us actually feel more sorry for the lion than the massacred people  .  br    br   this is a turgid  emotionless piece of historical fluff which should have gone straight to tv . there isn  t even one good word i can say about this film . even the usually fantastic rush seems embarrassed to be here . when one of the characters comments that there is only  bullets left for him and his pal  i myself was wishing i had a gun to blow any memory of this film out of my head   
after becoming completely addicted to six feet under  i didn  t think there would ever be another show that would come close to being as good as this show . well  i was wrong  lost is spellbinding   i absolutely love this show and cannot turn it off . the richness of the characters  the intricacies of the plot  the beautiful setting are all amazing . i am totally and completely hooked . i don  t know how the creators do it  but each character touches me very deeply . i feel their joy  their pain  everything  right down to my core    i don  t have cable so i  ve been renting the series on netflix . when i put it on i watch all the episodes at once and feel sad when it is over . i can  t wait for the next disc to arrive at my house . this is probably the best tv show i have ever seen     
this movie proves that good acting comes from good direction and this does not happen in ask the dust . colin farrell is usually a fine actor but in this he is juvenile . donald sutherland comes across as an amateur . why  because the script is awful  the adaptation is awful and the actors seem bored and half hearted . the atmosphere of the movie is bad  i could only think when it would finish and i turned it off half way . the director has done a very poor job and even though i have not read the novel it is certainly a missed chance . the atmosphere this film is trying to evoke and the message and storyline never reaches the audience . in one word  it is a terrible film .  
lost is one of a kind . . . its so enchanting and full of suspense  thrill and emotions all at the same time . i have never seen any tv series like this before . it is full of jungle thrills and has a good screenplay . the actors have emoted life on an island in such a natural way that i feel lost in the island myself while watching it . it is an excellent piece of work narrated in a very intelligent form . the series is like a movie depicting the life of the survivors lost on a deserted island . i am tempted to watch one episode after the other and i highly recommend this series for all the tv show lovers . watch it to see the magic of being lost in nowhere .  
this is a movie that demonstrates that mood and music and texture aren  t enough to make a good film . sure  the viewer is treated to numerous fine scenes of los angeles in the thirties   i especially liked the view of the trolley approaching the tunnel  and the tram rising up the hillside   but in a sense this fine cinematography is self  defeating  because it creates a mood that  something  s going to happen    and nothing does . the script too keeps feinting toward some plot or action or trauma   and time after time not delivering . not even delivering the  i assume  theme of the movie  the characters  essential misfit . the lead actors  both too pretty for their roles  didn  t convey any repression or agony  and the script didn  t expose us to any .  br    br   now  donald sutherland  that  s another story . his character was so well fashioned  so perfectly played  that i wanted the camera to follow him .  
the  st season was amazing  the whole idea of them adjusting to the island  while mysteries were being explored  and seen  was just phenomenal filled with suspense  tons of cliffhangers  and an amazing plot . i mean  i love the whole idea of just seeing them get used to the island . and then first seeing the smoke monster in the first episode really caught my attention . from then on  i was hooked the second season was right on par with the  st season  only a little better . i absolutely loved the idea of the hatches and the dharma initiative . the whole plot and sequences of season  were mysterious  creepy  and exciting . i loved all the suspense surround others on the island  but the dharma story really made season  amazing .  br    br   season  wasn  t quite as good as  and  . . . but nonetheless  great . i loved seeing the back  stories of the others  seeing their camp  and seeing the mysteries further explored .   tricia tanak is dead  is one of my favorite episodes  . this season  while not as good  was still breathtaking and fun  but most of all exciting  now  the  th season . i had hopes for this season  and the  st couple of episodes we  re good  but then it really started to get boring and monotonous . i mean  i really despise the new  rescuers  such as miles and daniel . the plot got old after the first couple episodes . . . and most of all . . . . season  was stripped away of something which made lost a perfect series the mystery  suspense  comedy mixed in  charlie gone  and overall excitement . also  some of my favorite characters have left .  
one of the other commenters mentioned that they almost walked out . if i hadn  t been with my wife  who wanted to stay  i would have left . it  s a shame  too  because i think it could have been a good movie . but this is easily one of the worst adapted screenplays i  ve ever seen . it starts out nowhere and it goes nowhere  i would say it goes nowhere fast  but it really goes nowhere slow . . . painfully slow  . from time to time there are hints that something interesting might happen  or that there is potentially some depth underneath one of the characters  but that  s all we get  hints . there is not a single payoff or revelation in the entire movie . not that i need a slick plot to be entertained . . . i love a good meandering character study as much as the next indie buff . but these characters add up to nothing . for the entire duration of the film you don  t care what happens to a single one of them . as a matter of fact  you almost start hoping they die  because at least a death might be more interesting than watching their inexplicable behavior  which is so strange and unpredictable that you  d think it in itself would be compelling  but it  s not . instead of quirky  noir  esquire characters acting in hard  boiled fashion  you simply recognize it immediately for what it is a bunch of talented but miscast actors  brooding and raising their eyebrows while reading bizarre dialogue without a hint of relevant context . all this for two plodding  painfully slow hours . awful .  
lost is largely considered one of the most beautiful tv series that have never done . . . and so is . . . if you lovers of mysteries  intrigue and adventure this is the series for you . . . in the first season . . . since the first episode starts to go increasingly to move forward until you get to the second season . . . in the second you lose a little its cocktail of mystery and expectation and pushes very on and reveal the various mysteries that the island hides . . . the third season is perhaps the second most beautiful because resumed suffered since the first episode with the pace and tenacity of the first season . . . the fourth also not let pass unnoticed and tends to reveal a little mysteries . . . but not as the second season but at a somewhat different . . . for the fifth season expects . . .  
i  ll be blunt . i  m not one for politically correct movies where the woman plays the bad ass who  s not going to take any crap from anyone . if any one of the cast members wanted to  they could have just taken her out in a heartbeat . it was entertaining on mst  k  but don  t rent the real version . trust me . have i ever lied to you   
series   br    br   as the uk eagerly awaits the launch of series two of  lost   series one  which just finished showing here  did not disappoint .  br    br   a group of over forty passengers struggle to cope after their plane crash  landed into a deserted island . they pray for rescue . however  as the days turn into weeks and the survivors explore the rainforest that surrounds them  they begin to wonder whether they are alone .  br    br   admittedly  the series has a hard time keeping up the pace after the explosive pilot episodes  which hurls at the group a polar bear  a giant beastie and the possibility of others on the island . nevertheless  the series manages to pick itself up after a few episodes and is outstanding by the final episode . possibly the greatest thing about  lost  is the fact that we visit each character  s life before the crash in a series of flashbacks . this gives us more insight and  hence more suspense and excitement as the events unfold in the present .  br    br   ultimately  this show is a superb combination of drama  suspense and the supernatural it is  quite simply  unmissable .  br    br   spoilers for season  follow  br    br   series   br    br   after the cliffhanger that was the end of series  of  lost   series  begins with our protagonists delving deep into the heart of the phenomenon that is the hatch . they discover a mysterious man who has a job to do . meanwhile  michael and sawyer struggle to cope with the aftermath of what happened on the raft .  br    br   as the series progresses  the viewers will be unable to bring themselves to turn off their television set  as every episode of the series contains more twists than a curly  wurly chocolate bar  one of which introduces a whole host of new characters . with every mystery solved with  lost   five brand new ones seem to come out of the woodworks . after the    th plot twist of the series  it finally dawns on the viewer that it doesn  t actually matter whether the plane  crash survivors make it off the island . however  the stunning series finale answers just over half of those questions  despite its anti  climatic ending .  
sure it takes place in the west  but the title makes it seem like it is a conventional western . instead  it is a movie of a woman sheriff . make no mistake though this is a bad movie about a woman sheriff . she becomes sheriff when her husband is gunned down she is only a tad bit upset by this . her main goal is to go after the villain who is also a woman  but the villain hires a guy to kill her . so this is what happens  the hero falls in love with the killer and vice versa . utterly stupid  as anyone killed in this movie has the new sheriff to thank . she had more than a few chances to put the killer behind bars  but i guess because she liked him she wouldn  t do it . the killer is also after the mayor of the town for personal reasons that are also rather dumb . this movie is very boring and not really worth watching . . . it is not one of the better episodes of mst     they made . i can not imagine anyone seeing this without them because that would make it that much more painful . corman is a low budget director  but even he should know better than to have people go into one place and coming out another .  
lost is an extremely well made tv series about some people that are lost on an island . there  s so many twists and turns that you can  t really decide who your favourite character is  one minute its him then he does something so he  s coolest then shes about to do something so shes the coolest then suspense builds up and just as you are about to burst the episode ends and your like noooooooooooooooooooo       so you have to wait a whole week too see the next episode but it is worth the wait . suspense  action  romance  humour its got it all apart from the topless girls but thats good as it means that you can actually concentrate on the story more and story is what this is all about . so if you like a good story and like suspense this is a good one however   i think is probably better .  i have a review on that too that you could check it out .  i would give lost a good  out of   mainly because its so unpredictable  you never know what will happen next .  
i guess that  gunslinger  wasn  t quite as god  awful as most of the movies that  mystery science theater      shows  but westerns just aren  t roger corman  s forte . portraying rose hood  beverly garland  becoming sheriff in an old west town after her sheriff husband gets murdered and having to fight off baddies  the movie is pretty predictable . john ireland is rose  s new hubby  secretly working for unctuous allison hayes  yes  the    foot woman  . also appearing briefly is frequent corman co  star dick miller as a mailman  miller nowadays stars in joe dante  s movies  .  br    br   i do wish to assert that you  ll probably want to watch the  mst  k  version to really enjoy this movie . they had a great time with it .  
the first series of lost kicked off with a bang . . . literally and slowly decreased in pace . this may have put some viewers off and people who started to watch halfway through would either be bored or just plain confused .  br    br   i would advise people new to the world of lost to simply watch from the beginning and don  t get pt off by the slower episodes . the acting throughout is excellent but why have  series  planned . . . why    all this means is that there will be no answers for at least  years  oh well  i  ll keep watching if it keeps the tension up and dialogue flowing .  
beverly garland was born in the wrong time . she was an actress ahead of her time  bringing power and grace to even such lame flicks as the corman films she starred in . in gunslinger  she  s the town sheriff  s wife . he gets offed  so she takes over his job to pursue his killers . she  s better than the material she  s working with  by far . the movie is gray  stilted  and mostly boring . there  s some  unintentional  humor with the tire tracks everywhere  people running behind one building to emerge suddenly in front of another  i  ve heard of false fronts  but this is ridiculous    and the truly stupid plot line of the newly widowed sheriff falling in love with the guy hired to kill her . even if she hadn  t loved her husband  it had only been something like a week or two since he  d died  and she ends up shooting the guy to death in the end  anyway . no luck with men  this one .  br    br   the villain of the piece is another woman  the saloon owner . she  s scheming to buy up a bunch of land just in case the railroad goes through and makes her rich . her plan of action if it doesn  t is pretty lame  she  ll just steal as much from the town as she can and skedaddle . hell  it  s just her and her hired gun at the end against an entire town . are you telling me these people aren  t armed  look what happened in real towns of the old west when bank robbers came in to rob the bank  then were cut down in a hail of bullets by the armed and dangerous town folk .  br    br   there  a a lot of pointless talking and riding around  interspersed with a few lame shoot outs . the ending is as grim as usual in a corman flick  although thank goodness it lacks the moral proselytizing at the end that was in it conquered the world . the sheriff turns over her badge to sam bass and rides off into the sunset  although the movie was so gray that you never saw the sun .  
it  s not well shot  well written or well acted but it has to be the most addictive show i  ve seen since twin peaks . every single revelation is timed so well that you have to see the next episode to get any kind of closure . they have even slowed down the pace of the show where they only reveal tiny amounts of information per episode however it feels like they  ve just told you everything you wanted to know . however some of the acting is just about awful and some of the duologue is downright brutal . some characters are very two dimensional . the more experienced actors like locke and ecko really stand out over actors who play jack  kate  sayid and so on . the development of the show can also be very frustrating as the following episode may not show what the previous episode lead up to . annoying side plots have become part of the story that sometimes tell you nothing . however  the second season has developed to a point where back stories reveal more about the island than they had previously . all in all its a great show but not perfect .  
  when the local sheriff is killed  his wife takes over until and is determined to clean  up the town . not everyone in town  however  is happy with what she  s doing . when the sheriff orders a curfew in town  the local saloon owner  also a woman  hires a killer to take care of the sheriff . there  s no way the saloon owner could know that the sheriff and the killer would fall in love .  br    br    gunslinger is an example of what happens when you have a fairly interesting concept and combine it with poor execution . there  s a good movie here somewhere trying to get out . in more capable hands or with a larger budget  gunslinger might have been an entertaining look at the role of women in the old west . as it is  gunslinger is a sloppy mess of a movie .  br    br    there are just so many things wrong with the movie a supporting cast with no acting ability  stilted and unnatural dialogue  and sets that look like sets . but the biggest offender is the editing . i was amazed at how many times a scene would begin with the actors  and horses for that matter  obviously waiting for corman to yell  action  . the best is the scene of two riders on horseback just standing beside a building . all of a sudden  they take off and come racing around the corner like they had been riding hard for several miles . or  take the example of people who can seemingly transport themselves across town . we see a man enter a building and a second later emerge across town to mount his horse .  br    br    it  s not as if corman didn  t have a few decent actors to work with . while none were great stars  beverly garland  john ireland  and allison hayes were all capable of turning in a good performance . but  in gunslinger  they  re not given much to work with .  br    br    i have now seen both the mst  k and non  mst  k versions of the movie . i would strongly recommend going the mst  k route .  
i watched the first series avidly  but wondered whether i  d go back again after a lengthy break from it . however  i tuned into episode one of series  and was hooked all over again . this really is excellent telly ground  breaking stuff like missionimpossible back in the     s . the characters are well rounded  and expand as the series goes on  they change as they adapt  some more readily than others  to their new surroundings  but they cleverly remain strictly in character  and yet it is more than possible to have sympathy for someone whom you wouldn  t have thought you could ever feel sorry for  when something really crushing happens to them . i hope there will be many years of  lost  to look forward to  and i don  t actually mind all that much if i never get answers to all the mysteries   
i  ll admit that i don  t expect much from a roger corman film . generally  i expect a lot of walking and bad scripts . yet in this case  i am pleasantly surprised .  br    br   the gunslinger is a story of a woman  played by the spunky beverly garland  who takes over as sheriff after her husband is brutally murdered . ms . garland is a pretty good shot herself  killing one of the murderers the next day at her husband  s funeral . her first task is to shut down the local bar that is violating the town curfew . the bar  s owner is trying to buy land in anticipation of being bought out by the  hoped  for  railroad . however  ms . garland is a thorn in her plans  and the bar matron hires a man to kill ms . garland .  br    br   because of ms . garland  s plays her role honestly and realistically  there is absolutely no temptation to go to suzanne somers  she  s the sheriff  jokes . with the exception of a couple of faux pas  the apartment door that opens out from the inside  jeep tracks  and the two horsemen waiting on screen for their cue to ride around a corner   the movie becomes quite passable as movie fare . however  corman could not resist padding his film with horse riding scenes  much like he does walking in other films .  br    br   sterno says the gunslinger is a horse opera worth your time .  
an absolutely brilliant show . the second season began where the first ended  with much mystery . suspense in most  if not all episodes and mystery everywhere . one that made me think and think again . it  s truly amazing how the writer can come out with all the connections and link all the characters together and combine all these elements to make the lives of the characters in the show so meaningful . never fail to excites and i am looking forward to the new season . hopefully more secrets will be reveal and at the same time  more mystery to be solved . good selection of cast too for this show  fit the characters perfectly . really can  t wait to finally discover the secret . hopefully all the hype won  t spoil the ending .  
being a big fan of corman  s horror movies i expected from his western a bit more than i got . well  i was entertained all right . i had almost as many laughs as watching mel brooks  blazing saddles .  br    br   see the spectacle of mobile tire tracks on the prairie of the old west . you can kill time by counting them if there happens to be an otherwise boring scene going on . and the horses seem to have gears in them too  considered the fast  forward chases . see also the swinging bar room queens of the traditional wild west saloon doing a number that reminds of a certain fashionable dance from      s  here decades before the style was invented . hope the saloon around them won  t crumple .  br    br   in the middle of all this mayhem the main actors do a decent job . ireland  garland and hayes are all truly fine . a special praise for them for doing the best they could with the material that seems mostly having been lifted from  johnny guitar   but doesn  t quite impress the same way . but there is really nothing wrong with a laughable western like this . just like a really bad old horror movie  it might fail one way but succeeds to give joy anyway . that is one of the reasons corman  s work appeals to me and that is why i dare to recommend you to experience this movie if you get the chance .  
i had not seen this movie since the late    s and decided to pick up the vhs version of it . the plot is very slow  and the actors almost seem robotic in this breakdance flick . the music  hip hop  freestyle artists and the breakdancing scenes are what make this movie special . the breakdancing is actually better in this movie than in  breakin    but i have to say that  breakin      carry the energy  excitement to the screen a lot better . it  s a movie i will keep in my library  but it  s not a movie that i can watch over  over again  just once in a blue moon .  
an uninspired and undistinguished  new  columbo which sees the man  in  the  mac attend his nephew  s wedding  only for his bride to disappear on their wedding night . columbo investigates . . .  br    br   and that it is about it indifferently plotted and surprisingly laden with a flat script  given that it is written by robert van scoyk  who penned the highly enjoyable columbo story  murder under glass  in the detective  s heyday there is not even a murder to speak of and the greatest amount of ingenuity afforded to columbo by the script  writer is the narrowing down of suspects via the photos taken at the wedding  which include everybody who was there   br    br   devoid of every columbo trait possible  i thought i was watching an episode of hill street blues . an insult to the history of the series  with appropriately soap  opera style acting . very avoidable stuff .  
only seen season  so far but this is just great   a wide variety of people stuck on a island . nobody are who they seem to be and everybody seems to have loads of skeletons in their closets . . . . it sounds like melrose place meets the crusoe family and why is that so great  it probably is not but then ad a spoon full of x files  a dose of  what    and a big  hey  and a island that is everything you ever dreamed of  in your freakiest nightmares and you  ll be lost to . the story got so many twists and turns it is unbelievable . great set up  solid acting with a liberating acceptance that at the end of the everybody is human  well almost everybody . . . i think . . .  with good and bad sides . but weird oh so weird . . .  
generally i don  t like films directed by sydney pollack   the firm  being somewhat of an exception  and i  ve never been a robert redford fan either . still  i thought  three days of the condor  must be good because of the number of praising comments it has received .  br    br   although the widescreen cinematography is quite pleasing for the eye and max von sydow does a nice job as the sinister professional killer  i found the whole affair tremendously disappointing . the film undeniably radiates paranoid atmosphere  but everything is ruined by the muddled plot which doesn  t seem to make any sense .  br    br   the film also contains one of the most unsatisfying endings i have ever seen which really leaves the viewer hanging in the air . and what can one say about that absurd romance between redford and dunaway  i  d much rather watch any of hitchcock  s films five times in succession than to sit through this piece of waste once more .  
  i have looked into the eye of this island  and what i saw was beautiful   proclaims one of the main characters in abc  s award winning television show  lost  . the series could be summarized as a drama story about a group of plane crash survivors stranded on an unknown island  but that would be doing the show a disservice .  lost  follows a large group of characters who come into conflict with the island  each other  and ultimately themselves as they struggle with their new way of life and their dependency on each other . the situation becomes more complicated when it becomes clear this isn  t an ordinary island  either  and that they may not be alone .  br    br   my initial fear after hearing the concept of this series was the lack of new stories they could tell us after a certain period  but this proved to be unfounded . the narrative flows naturally  the dialogue is witty  the characters are memorable and the execution is superb . the island is a character all on its own  and to understand this comment you  d have to see the series for yourself  which only goes to show its originality and greatness .  br    br   at the time of writing this review  only the first two seasons have aired  and they  re filled with strong episodes . my only mild criticism is that the second season seems to slow down a bit halfway  but then fortunately comes back in admirable shape for the final episodes .  br    br   if i can recommend one television series you should be following right now  it would certainly be this one . if you like excitement  adventure  character driven stories  an extremely strong cast and crew  beautiful locations  and an island that seems more spiritual than natural   lost  is for you . just be sure you start at the beginning .  
  st watched            out of    dir  sydney pollack    dvd version i watched titled   days of the condor   so so cia drama full of laid  back performances making for a very laid  back movie . the premise of the story revolves around  out of  members of a cia research group being killed with robert redford  s character  codename  condor  being the one that was left . who killed them and why  that  s what redford tries to find out while trying to not be the  th victim at the same time . along the way  he gets faye dunaway  s character involved involved  originally because he needs a place to hide  and then she eventually helps him out after a little lovey  dovey time . this is one of a handful of innocent guy on the run stories but this one doesn  t have a lot of suspense . the flat performances don  t help and the finish doesn  t seal the deal for the audience enough either . despite having a good director in sydney pollack and a group of classic performers  the story and the performances are not what they should be and therefore the movie is not what it should be .  
ok i  ll be honest  when i first saw the trailer for the programme  i thought it was an advert for some sun  screen product . with all the people walking around on the beach . despite this i decided to watch it  thinking it would be some new show i could laugh at . but i was seriously amazed .  br    br   from the first   seconds of the program i was hooked  why is he lying in the trees  why did the plane crash etc etc .  br    br   it  s not everyday that a show comes along which combines intelligence  humour  action and suspense . but  lost  manages all of this . with a great cast and crew  beautiful locations  and pretty decent special effects   lost  will catch anyone who tunes in  and is a must see for anyone who  s sick of cheesy sitcoms and crappy reality tv .  br    br   lost is on tuesdays at   on channel   uk                 o  
i cannot get past the message of this movie . it  s laid out much too clearly to ignore  and it is obscene because it has lost its sense of what it  s about . i haven  t read the novel  but pollack  s film opens with a scene at a cia  front organization in new york  which is broken into by two professional assassins  headed by max von sydow  who proceed to brutally slaughter the half dozen quirky staff members we  ve come to know and understand . the staff include an elderly female receptionist  a fussy elderly professorial guy who  s toupee falls off when he is machine  gunned  is that a joke    and  last  the beautiful tina chen who looks up from the copier  realizes she is about to be murdered  and says  pitifully brave   i won  t scream .  von sydow replies sympathetically   i know .  these murders are completely unexpected  savage  unmotivated by anything that we are aware of  and graphic . it is a brutal scene .  br    br   there is absolutely no way in which von sydow and his henchman can be redeemed . and yet that is exactly what pollack tries to do towards the end .  br    br   after having killed these innocent good guys  von sydow switches sides  because the other side is willing to pay him  and assassinates the evil mastermind behind a complicated intramural cia plot . the script then turns him into a perfectly reasonable  sensitive human being .  it is better to live in europe . things are not so rushed .  or whatever . i swear i  m not making this up . pollack wants us to believe that it is better to be an honest mass murderer than a crooked bureaucrat . that  s the message . you should write it down in case you forget . just exactly what kind of psychiatric shambles do you have to be in order to turn ordinary values  not to mention common sense  upside  down like that  i understand that there are thoughtful adults who dislike the government of the united states  even hate it  and who see conspiracies just about everywhere  providing a knee  jerk explanation for otherwise unexplainable events . i know that people who think this way exist because i number some of them among my closer friends . nevertheless  at some point this dislike  this hatred  if it increases in intensity  must pass beyond politics or ethics and into the realm of the psychiatric . i don  t for a moment believe that a man who murders people for money is better than a sinister government official . i don  t care how suave and cultured the murderer is or whether he knows how to reach the louvre on the metro . whoever is purveying that message needs either medication or meditation .  br    br   i  d like to be able to argue that the production is as thoroughly rotten as its message  but i can  t . it  s quite well done .  in some ways that  s worse  because it makes the film less dismissable .  even new york city looks photogenic on the screen . and it  s been a long time since i  ve thought of new york as photogenic . robert redford does an admirable job of projecting his character  s initial shock and confusion  but then turns into a telecommunicational semi  genius . and  man  he looks just fine  his wardrobe is just right . even his rimless glasses are becoming . and his peacoat . it  s not everyone who can make a navy pea jacket look glamorous . he seems extremely handsome too  the swine . i want to look like that . i want to wear a denim shirt and a tie with such panache . faye dunaway is alright in her role but it  s not too believable a role . would anybody eagerly sleep with a guy who has just kidnapped her and is holding her at gunpoint  even if he did look like redford  would anyone be emotionally wounded if  when this ambivalent relationship is about to end  redford asked her not to tell anybody about what happened  cliff robertson is surprisingly good . he does one or two extremely good double  takes . the mailman is superb . the fight between him and redford in a crowded apartment is exquisitely choreographed and  for once  we really don  t know for sure how it will turn out  because redford  a book reader after all  seems mismatched against the brute cunning of this hired assassin . this is one of john housemann  s final roles . a shame . he  s a magnet on screen . and what an end to his life a friend finds him lost  wandering the streets of new york  in a neighborhood he  d been familiar with for most of his life .  br    br   yes  the movie is very well executed  but i can  t ignore that vicious  paranoid message . i have the same problem with leni riefenstahl  s  triumph of the will .  or her olympic documentary in which the announcer is watching a foot race in which jesse owens is pulling into the lead and says ominously   this negro is dangerous .   
  the first episode i saw of lost made me think  i thought what is this some people who crashed and get chased by a giant monster . but it  s not like that  it  s far more than that  because their is no monster at all and every episode that you see of lost  well it  s getting better every time . a deserted island with an underground bunker and especially the connection between the people who crossed paths with each other before they crashed . that  s the real secret .  br    br   this series rules and i can  t wait to know what  s really going on there i hope that they don  t air the last  episodes in the theaters  this series deserves a  out of    
the small california town of diablo is plagued with mysterious deaths after sheriff robert lopez unearths an ancient box . legend has it that the box holds the sixteenth  century mexican demon named azar . fbi agent gil vega is sent to investigate the murders and joins forces with the sheriff  s daughters  dominique and mary to fight with evil and bloodthirsty demon .  the legend of diablo  is an absolute garbage . the film lacks scares and gore  the acting is amateurish and the direction is bad . the animation is the only one aspect of the film i enjoyed . i  m a big fan of indie horror flicks  for example i loved  torched    live feed    bone sickness  or  neighborhood watch   unfortunately  the legend of diablo  is a huge misfire . definitely one to avoid .  
i am obsessed  the story is amazing and the show is highly addictive  but i love it . i am on season   disc   and i tell you that i am too attached to the characters now . for anything bad to happen to them would seriously affect my vote for the show . and  michael is on my list now . kidding . . . i am so happy to see there is a season   because i was too afraid to go onto disc  thinking that it would be ending . i can  t wait to see the rest now . thanks to the directors  producers  and actors of lost . . . i enjoy watching tv again . before lost i surfed through every channel going to bed sad because of my disappointment in television  but i have to say that lost is my kind of entertainment   
this may be one of the worst movies to ever make it to production  ever .  br    br    . the most exciting part is the beginning  where the guy is walking . . . and walking . . . and walking  spoiler  . there is about   minutes of just walking . how   br    br    . not to mention there  s a lot of issues with the lighting  and it  s almost like they even shot the night scenes during the day .  br    br    . the acting was terrible . it looks like they found a community theater  in mexico  . . . and then took the people who were turned away .  br    br   please  for the love of everything holy  don  t rent this movie . if you know someone who owns it  apologize to them . the director should be subject to punishment through the war crimes tribunal for foisting this on the public .  
this show is without a doubt one of the greatest shows ever to be on television . i mean the acting is great  the suspense  the drama  the comedy  it has everything  and with such a simple story a plane crashed on an island . the characters are great and evangeline lilly is hot       matthew fox once again shows us what a great actor he is  josh holloway is so great  jorge garcia is hilarious  i could go on and on . also  the unexpected plot twists  the back stories of the characters  the music that is at the end of every episode . j . j . abrahms has once again proved what an excellent writer and producer he is . i mean this is better than alias  and i loved alias . whoever isn  t watching this show  should definitely consider getting the dvd  s and watching it  because they are missing something great . this show could possibly be the best show in television history    
me  my boyfriend  and our friend watched this  movie  if thats what u wanna call it  and we agree with the last person  but we were stupid and bought the damn thing  we thought it really was about diablo so we bought it .  br    br   we hate it really suxz                                so beware do not buy this thing they call a movie                         br    br   we would return it  but don  t no if anybody would want this stupid movie .  br    br   oh and another thing  the shouldn  t call it  the legend of diablo  they should of called it  legend of azar  .  br    br   and this movie is rated r      this should not of even been not rated .  br    br   we think that diablo would be crying his eyes out laughing at this stupid movie .  br    br   this is a movie that would have been done by a church .  br    br   theses  actors  are never gonna become nothing because this movie .  
here is an innovative television drama which so easily blends a compelling story  brilliantly drawn out character development  humour  romance  and drama into each episode . here is a show that sings to it  s own tune  whether it  s audience chooses to follow or not . how many other shows on television these days so boldly change in tone from one season to the next  where most of the other top shows on this site have found a formula that works  that brings in the viewers and the dollars and have stuck like glue to that formula  prison break     and desperate housewives come to mind   lost takes a different route where even after achieving that plateau and that winning formula  the team of executive producers are brave enough to completely reinvent the show in order to service their higher goal of compelling storytelling . this is where lost differentiates itself from normal television . this is how it  s so defiant of conventional tv . and this is why lost is one of the most cutting edge and innovative creations of modern television . forget the naysayers  lost is  has been  and always will be  there to appease it  s cult following first and the general public next . but it  s a testament to it  s inventiveness that it  s garnered a fan base which consists of the best of both audiences .  
the good news is a movie was made  drawing on a supposed aztec myth and featuring an unusually aztec  american  is such a word exists  cast . the bad news is  it was dead at birth .  br    br   if ed wood had come out of retirement and coached george romaro through his classic  night of the living dead   this is what we might have come up with .  the legend of diablo  is clearly fodder for any future resurrections of  mystery science theatre        br    br   i don  t think one can even call this a  b  movie . the production values are so abysmal that i kept getting the feeling i was watching either a lengthy skit from a variety show or a backyard   mm film shot by a group of school kids .  br    br   some spoilers  br    br   the basic plot line sounded interesting enough to lure me into renting it . a rural california sheriff finds a box containing an aztec demon and accidentally unleashes it on the unsuspecting community . his daughters  one hot and one homely  team with a gringo fbi man and a priest  to try to re  cage the demon .  br    br   meanwhile  every zombie scene one has ever seen in previous undead movies is re  enacted  poorly . these zombies walk more like an army of nutty professors than the undead  the supposed infrared scenes from the demon  s viewpoint are nothing special  and he  she  it sure seems to back up a lot  as opposed to turning around the moving forward  . and the scene where the priest lures the demon out of the cave in fast  motion is ludicrous  it really  really appears to be done for comic effect  although i know it wasn  t  i kept expecting the benny hill theme music to start playing  for the whole gang of zombies to start chasing the priest all over the beach   br    br   of course the darth vader  field of dreams voice  calling the fbi agent becomes downright comical . then again  so was most of this cheese ball  robert napton  director and writer of the screenplay  should win something for this effort   how about a lifetime blackballing  like the  hollywood      this one  i now see  is rated  .  on a    scale . i fear this might be a tad generous   br    br   is there anything good about this movie  well  lindsey lofaso looks pretty hot as the younger daughter of the dead sheriff . this is probably why her homely older sister  calvi pabon  really ran away from home  fred estrado is reasonably decent as the fbi agent . i wonder if mario soto  who played father rodriguez  is the same mario soto who pitched for the cincinnati reds  if so  he should have stuck to baseball . in fact  they couldn  t have done any worse if they had gone with a baseball theme and called it  demons in the outfield    br    br   if i find out this was actually a project for a community college cinema class  i will issue apologies . it might be good enough for a b or even b as long as the gang got the college  s camcorder back to campus in one piece   the blair witch project  proved that a cool  campy movie could be made on a shoestring .  the legend of diablo   though  didn  t appear to have a shoestring or shoes to work from  it was low  budget  low  talent  low  everything . the very final scene  and i mean about the final   seconds of the film  is the only mildly creative or interesting moment .  br    br   i paid   .   to rent this . i could have better spent it on a hamburger   
a very addictive series . i had not seen an exact combination among drama  action  suspense and sci  fi never before . i am impressed every chapter . the screenplay is very intelligent  i don  t know how the creators invent all this amazing stories  every character have a strange past  troubles  stormy relationships  it gives to the show the human sense needed for creating intimate characters .  br    br   the most incredible is the fact that all the characters are related among them the numbers  they have met before without knowing it  and so on . the others  enigmatic security system and the darma initiative are elements that don  t let us lose a chapter .  br    br   mr . jj abrams  what did you think to create this amazing story   
it is one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen  but hostel is definitely much more worse . this movie is more funny and ridiculous  than scary . i laughed most of the time when watched it . low quality effects  when you gonna watch it  you  ll understand what i  m talking about and how low quality is that   bad actors  i hear of them for the first time   and it seems like it  s shot by an amateur camcorder  so it looks more like a tv show  than a movie  . but at least i  ve had the patience to watch it till the end . like comedies  watch it . wanna horror  go watch ju  on the grudge or some other good horror movie .  br    br   if i  m talking about the legend of diablo  i don  t even know if i can classify it to a horror genre . just some low  budget crap .  br    br   i rate it  out of    
hi  br    br   i heard about lost from a co  worker that had obvious differences of opinion on entertainment  he loved it . well i watched an episode or  in the early seasons and was bored  so i tuned it out . after a few years i stumbled upon lost bored with the current sci  fi fare . wow was i surprised . can you say gravity well  damn i got sucked in . the pace and scripting are very good  some of the flash forward  backs are so so with the lamer characters  but over all good . my favorite characters are ben  locke  jacob  richard alpert  sayid jarrah  sawyer  hurley  daniel faraday  jin  wife  walt  charlie  desmond  and jack  s dad . jack and michael definitely are immature asshats  very spoiled and immature . kate  step above them  juliet was way more classy than kate . mr . eko way under  rated and on the level of charlie if not more  too bad they both died . the guy dressed in black talking to jacob  way back  is a genuine curiosity . as a whole great  very layered series looking for more .  br    br   regards  
this isn  t cinema . it isn  t talent . it isn  t informative . it isn  t scary . it isn  t entertaining . it isn  t anything at all .  br    br   i got this because my cousin says   diablo  cool   yeah  right . the only thing cool about this experience was the lone fact that i didn  t buy it but rented it instead .  br    br   it  s shot like a bad soap opera . no wait . soap operas at least look professional . . . sorta . this  this looks like it was shot with someone  s camcorder . it  s horrid  wretched  it sux .  br    br   the cinematography is detestable  who is this director anyway  i don  t even care enough to look him up . he stinks  the performances by these poor unsuspecting actors were far better than this crap  fest deserved .  br    br    .     on the  b  scale .  br    br   that registers about a  .     on the  a  scale from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
intriguing . exciting . dramatic . explosive . complex . epic . words that only touch the tip of the iceberg in terms of the grand story that is lost being told .  br    br   from the acting down to the rare visual effects  lost is the essential show on television for fans of science  fiction  fantasy  action  adventure  and lots and lots of mystery .  br    br   each cast member is so well chosen  and so good in their roles  that you either love them  or hate them  or downright wish them dead .  br    br   the visual effects  when used  which is rare  are actually quite well done considering the usual production of shows . be it the  smoke monster   to the polar bears  lost is believable in terms of eye  candy .  br    br   as far as story goes  nothing can compare to the vast complexity this show has made viewers like me endure . beginning to end  continuity is virtually perfect  characters are developed  and the ever  evolving story slowly gives the answers to its questions so many crave .  br    br   overall  there is practically no flaw in lost . it does for dramatic  sci  fi television what arrested development did for comedy it has set the bar .  br    br   i highly recommend lost to those that are patient  intellectual  and love every moment of the ride  no matter how long it takes to reach the end .  br    br   see this show .  
as a mystery science theatre     fan  i can withstand any motion picture that can be foisted upon me  but there is absolutely no reason for this .  br    br   rated  super action  in the blockbuster video section and given the dreaded  restricted viewing sticker  i  m assuming these are the only methods that film maker  ha   robert napton could use to get at least  .   from one unsuspecting person .  br    br   shame on you robert napton  shame on you for exploiting these poor mexican actors who you probably promised hopes for making it big in american cinema . you are a disgrace   br    br   there isn  t one moment in this movie that holds the slightest bit of action . did you use snot on these people  oh  look  they  re having a rave in a field  like all  of them . and isn  t that an asian guy in the background  why is it always daytime  why did it take    of the movie to show anything . . and more importantly why did we watch the other      br    br   ps you owe me  .   .  
i just wanna say that amongst all the so  called classic hiphop films ive seen like wild style  krushgroove  breakin   style wars etc . . . imo beat street is the best amongst the others . whenever i ask other people about which is their fave  then it seems that beat street pops out the most . but still  its the lowest ranked of all .  .  is just a punch  under the belt   if say   points is the belt  . i love the music performances  the breakdancing makes me wanna spin  ramo makes me wanna throw a piece . . . c  mon  its a classic     
absolute garbage . the reason that this is so terrible is not because it deviated from the formula  but because the plot was just pathetic .  br    br   the supposed star didn  t do anything to solve the case  and neither did anyone else really  it was just routine police work . utterly tedious .  br    br   you sat right till the end hoping for a twist  and got nothing but a huge sense of disappointment .  br    br   there was so much potential in having a relative in apparent kidnap . could the lt  s personal involvement finally cloud his judgement   br    br   all the obvious signs were of a stranger doing it . but surely a genius like lt c  by constant conversation with the wronged husband  would gradually uncover a fiendish plot involving a tape recorder playing in the shower room while a masked groom surprises the bride  hides the body and then plants subtle clues . it could have been good . it was a complete waste of time .  
lost is the best tv series there is . first of all  it has great actors and wonderful directing . the writing is a very controversial issue because in the first two seasons the writing was extraordinary but after season  the writing became highly complex . for instance  who is jacob  why are there polar bears on the island  what  s the fog  how did the island disappear  who is richard alpert  a lot of people think that the writers are lost and that they have raised a lot of questions and mysteries that they can  t explain . i believe these people are wrong . i have confidence in the writers . i think that if the mysteries are revealed from now all the charm of the series will be gone . anyway  lost is undeniably the greatest tv series and it will continue to be for a long time .  
i rented this movie because it sounded pretty interesting but to my horror this movie was the worst movie i had ever seen  i read the comment from gumby   and he has to be a part of the cast or the crew . unless gumby   is a  year old child or some demented cult member no one in their right mind would think that this movie had any potential at all .  br    br   i couldn  t believe gumby    s comments .  br    br   quoting  from the  dune  inspired opening animation to the quick pace . . . this film keeps the eye moving and works so well that repeat viewing is not unexpected .   br    br   the animation is the only aspect of the movie that was interesting and the fact of that the film keeps the eye moving  well that  s because you keep looking for any type of suspense . i mean give me a break halloween was shot with a budget of         .   and a painted mask and also by the way became a cult classic . as far as  repeat viewing is not unexpected  i think he made a typo .  br    br   another quote from gumby   the only fan  the acting is also a strong aspect of the film .   br    br   with all due respect for the actors  their performance is nothing more than the respective talent of robert napton .  br    br   the catchy tagline  beware the hour between dusk and darkness   br    br   that  s because there is no dusk or darkness in this movie .  br    br   mpaa rating  rated r for some violence  gore   br    br   the only gore you see is some red paint on a sheet over a dead body you never see . as far as i know it might be a clump of grass .  br    br   in summation  i have seen horror flicks from the    s     s and    s . i have seen what i thought to be the absolutely worst and some that were very good . the director of this film either did not make any attempt  was asleep  or took a hit of acid . whatever the case i think the actors deserve applause for trying to salvage a very poor job of direction . i would give this film a rating of .  for a  b  movie .  
lost  probably the best t . v series ever made . the storyline is clever and when all your questions are answered watching one episode     more are raised . if lost can carry on it  s magnificent ways and not get too carried away then it will be stapled the best show ever . the survivors of a plane crash are forced to live with each other on a remote island  a dangerous new world that poses unique threats of its own . after reading this your thinking how on earth can that be interesting  and heres your answer  every season so far has always been full of surprises  your always questioning your self why did that just happened and what  s gonna happen next each time  very unexpected thing  s happen and the story goes on wonderfully so far  the series just sucks you in  it  s chilling and very addictive  everything from the wonderful creators and directing to the magnificent performances by the cast creates a very believable story . lost is simply unbelievable  amazing  highly entertaining  top notch  t . v at it  s best . how ever you want to put it .  br    br   lost beat  s all other show  s by a landslide . and if your hating or criticising lost you don  t know how to watch t . v or watch drama . lost simply doesn  t disappoint  you would think a series carrying on for so long can  t keep getting better . but it does  it just keep  s on flowing it  s unlike anything you would ever think off .  every thing happens for a reason .  and that is truly shown in the series . eventually you will reach a point were all the clues and everything that  s happened or being done adds up . you will feel and realise how the characters have changed and how and why everything is going on .  br    br   the   minutes of excitement you see something you didn  t see coming  something major has happened to character or on the island . there  s hope somewhere . you see a major twist that can or will change everything . you hear your thought  s churn  you wonder what  s gonna happen next . your heart beating . the   minutes of brilliance you see a flawless scenes  tension building  you hear wonderful music by michael giacchino . you see great flash backs  impressive acting . you see wittiness  chilling atmosphere  which then get  s converted back into tension .  br    br   everyone has there show that they are addicted too  that they can  t get enough of  that they admire every minute and can  t wait for the next episode  that they talk about     . too me and many others it  s this series . lost . once you start watching  you won  t get enough . the creators did a flawless job . lost is completely unique and original  you won  t see anything like it . the clever idea of  flashbacks and flashforwards  and something major and different in every season sucks your thoughts . would they ever make a series like  lost   something so interesting and something you will always remember . it simply has stunned the world when it hit t . v . a new generation of dramatic  sci  fi . a instant classic before it reached out to the viewers .  br    br   i  m sure you all heard of lost and it  s  star reviews  and your annoying friend that won  t stop telling you about it  so what  s stopping you from watching   br    br   every episode leads to something new and it just doesn  t stop getting better and better  you get more interested as it goes along  you learn things that are on the island that you wouldn  t even think off . the characters start to become very likable  and if your the critic type you would love to see lost in further detail  things like how the relationship between characters develop and how they learn the ways to under look and take on challenges from the island . all together it  s a great drama and a flawless series . i guess we just all hope that lost will not have a downfall in the episodes to come and go to far . . . . . so if you don  t watch lost  read the comment from the top again and you should change your mind . seeing is believing  so until you start watching you will never know . i strongly recommend this masterpiece of series lost   start watching    you have not seen nothing until you watch lost     
as has been noted  this formula has been filmed several times  most recently as  you  ve got mail   with tom hanks and meg  trout pout  ryan . of the several versions  this is my least favorite . the problem i think is that the studio coasted on the stars charisma  which doesn  t quite cut it here .  br    br   the chemistry betwixt the two leads never comes to a boil in this movie . there are no real sparks . van johnson and judy garland remind me of day old donuts  pleasant but bland . and when the leads are boring the rest of the movie can only follow . judy in particular is disappointing . she looks like she has no neck  i don  t know if she was having trouble with pain or something but she looks like a turtle trying to pull it  s head into it  s shell  all hunched up and everything . i couldn  t figure out what van johnson was getting so hot about . i would have made a bee line for that cute violin player . and van wasn  t great either . i  ve always thought of him as a rather generic hollywood leading man and he doesn  t do anything to dispel that image here .  br    br   if you  re a fan of the stars or the early      s then you might like this movie . but there are a lot more entertaining romantic comedies out there  and they offer you much more than a mouthful of stale confection .  
i love this show  it  s like watching a mini movie each week    the first episode was so gripping and terrifying . . . so was part  of the pilot . . . i  m definitely gonna keep tuning into this show  this is the real survivor  i  ve looked at a few of the other comments and i can see that already after just one or two episodes the morons here are already crying wolf . . . sorry if it  s not another reality show  kiddies  there was once a time where there were . . . now brace yourself  actual tv shows  and this one is actually good unlike most of the crappy sitcoms today or the ump  teenth carbon copy of a law  order or nypd blue or csi series they  re dishing out . . . watch this yourself to form your own opinion  don  t take one from the boneheads here   
one can only assume that robert osborne is contractually obligated to express delight at even the least appealing films in the tcm library as this would explain him extolling the  virtues  of this  charming  film during his introduction when i saw this on cable tv . seeing as any old film on imdb receives  classic  status from a number of fawning amateur reviewers  i thought there was a dire need for a more honest review of this film .  br    br   this is not your father  s  shop around the corner  . for all my quibbles with  you  ve got mail   it still outshines this as a remake in just about every way imaginable . for those who have seen the original  the flaws will only be all the more obvious .  br    br   from one of the lamest meet cute sequences i can recall seeing  a sad slapstick attempt at  humor    this film gets off on the wrong foot and it never really gets back in step . this  musical  only qualifies as one in the sparsest sense of the term . there are a sprinkling of instantly forgettable musical numbers and then there  s judy singing  i don  t care  while flailing her arms around as if in a seizure . the christmas song she sings in the store is probably one of her better numbers here . miss garland was wonderful in a number of musical films  but here she seems horribly miscast . the role was originally to have been filled by june allyson and judy is definitely unable to fill the shoes of margaret sullavan  s old part . van johnson also turns in a rather bland performance as a second rate jimmy stewart type . the leads never achieve the chemistry of stewart  sullavan or even that of hanks  ryan .  br    br   this is a film that knows  some of  the notes  but not the music . it doesn  t really seem to understand why the original worked and even feels the need to add another possible love interest for van johnson  s character to complicate things unnecessarily . the remake  s substitution for the original  s infidelity subplot is a hackneyed plot device involving a priceless violin . it is almost embarrassing to watch and feels as if it had perhaps been lifted from an episode of three  s company by someone with a delorean and a flux capacitor . it  s really just an excuse for a keaton pratfall . even the big resolution scene between the romantic leads is mishandled . after seeing both films  you  ll understand why they called it  the lubitsch touch  and not the  robert z . leonard touch  .  br    br   avoid this and rewatch either the original film or one of judy garland  s earlier films unless you  re an iconoclast who enjoys seeing a once great star falling down to earth .  
while originally reluctant to jump on the bandwagon of watching  lost   i accidentally caught one episode at the beginning of season  the one with the polar  bearand it has had my undivided attention ever since . the show  that is . not the polar bear . so bear  heh  with me while i throw out as much rambling  semi  coherent praise as i can muster .  br    br    lost  takes a simple idea of a passenger flight full of people crashing onto a desert island  and gradually adds extraordinary depth to its premise by exploring each character deeply and unflinchinglywhat drives them  who are they  where did they come from  it soon becomes clear that the island upon which they are stranded acts as a common denominator for many things in their lives  whether they  re running away from something  sawyer and kate among others  or getting in touch with spirituality  locke  claire  . but  lost  also zooms in on the island itself and the mysterious horrors that it houses . . . and they all seem to be strangely connected .  br    br   while television actors are not exactly known for their subtlety or dazzling acting abilities  most of the cast of  lost  are  in truth  spectacular actors for their respective parts  projecting heart and humour in their performances . there  s also a multitude of eyecandy  but not generally of the plastic hollywood kind as most tv shows . the characters all feel very real and they are extremely compelling to watch . their interactions rarely fall prey to predictable sappiness  petty arguments or cheesy melodrama  although they are annoyingly secretive   these people are first and foremost trying to survive and whatever relationship appears is treated secondary to action . the realism of these characters facilitate an already well  sculptured plot .  br    br   about this plot . . . imagine a tree as the template plot  then the branches as subplots  in this case  one branch for every character   well  lost adds twigs to each branch and then tiny twigs to those twigs as other story lines . if you  re a brother  sister to one of the main characters in the flashbacks  you will get your own storyline . if you  re a dog you will have your own storyline . unless the writers manage to weave them all together into some glorious culmination in the end  they are setting themselves up . i am more than a little worried there will be some disappointing cop  out to this show  as i  m sure most people are .  br    br   but assuming the writers do pull this off   lost  is possibly the best show ever to hit television .  br    br        
this little show is obviously some stupid little prequel  spin off of the original series .  br    br   compared to the live action series this show is utter crap . the live action show had intelligent jokes and story lines . while the animated series is basically a toned down bittersweet version for younger viewers to digest but i think maybe kids deteste this crap .  br    br   the storyline in every episode is basically just sabrina has some stupid and pointless dillemma and she uses magic to fix it . thats basiclly the idea every episode . the most bizarre episode was when sabrina uses magic to become gem and gem to become sabrina . so then gem becomes a witch and hypnotizes harvery to become her slave . this then leads to a bizarre yet rather interesting scene were gem says  just adore me for now  and harvey get down on his hands and knees and starts kissing her feet like shes a god .  which is quite right since he  s her mind control slave  but this stupid spin  off is not worth the time or the effort .  
a pretty memorable movie of the animals  killing  people variety  specifically similar to  willard  in that it stars an aging character actor  in this case  a step down a bit to the level of les tremayne  who puts in the only distinguished performance i  ve seen him give  in a role as a man whose life is unbalanced and who subsequently decides to use his animal friends to exact revenge on those who have wronged him . yes  this is one of those movies where pretty much everybody is despicable  so that you will cheer when they die  and really the selection of actors  locations  etc . couldn  t be better at giving the film an atmosphere of shabby decadence .  br    br   tremayne  s character is  snakey bender   and he is certainly the most interesting thing about the movie an aged snake collector who is obsessed with john philip souza  s music . when the local preacher clamps down on his practice of collecting small animals from the local schoolchildren as bait for his snakes  and his friend gets married to a stripper  thus upsetting his ritual wednesday night band concert  he goes on the rampage  in the process creating a memorable pile  up of clunkers beneath the cliff where he dumps the wrecks after disposing of their unfortunate owners . one amusing game you can play while watching  snakes  is to place bets on which cars will land the farthest down the cliff .  br    br   all in all  very cheap and exploitative  but will really be a lot of fun for fans of these kinds of movies .  
florence chadwick was actually the far more accomplished swimmer  of course . she swam the english channel both directions . she swam from catalina island to the california coast . marilyn bell  s is a sweet story  but the usual glorification of us canadians in the face of a superior world . another sample of our inferiority complex . our political system works pretty well and the health system allows people not to die in hospital lobbies . that  s pretty good . better than lebanon . what should we do about hockey though . . .  and curling . the notion of calling this a sport  of its inclusion in the olympics . . .  ah  but we digress . . .  
although kurt russell was and is probably the closest person to look like elvis in show  business  so many things were false in this film . first of all  the makers claimed elvis opened his famous live shows in    after a  year hault for films by wearing a white jump  suit made in     . also they claimed he sang  burning love  which he first sung in     and  the wonder of you  which he first recorded in     . they also claim that he got his first guitar for christmas when all elvis fans know he got it for his birthday . i know all movies based on past have something false but these things are so obvious to people who like elvis .  
this is your only spoiler warning . what a sad state of our cinema when unprofessional junk like this is considered  oscar worthy  .  br    br   i divide material into three levels . the first is the stage theatre . here the viewer is stagnant and the power rests in the presentation of the actor and  most importantly  in the power of the writer . a good playwright is better than a good screenwriter because he or she knows the ways of words better . the best playwrights know how to create imagery that the barren stage cannot show .  br    br   the second level is film . in this medium  a weaker writer can be used  but the viewer is not sitting in one spot the entire time . with film  the context can take the qualities of visual poetry and meaning in addition to strong writing . furthermore  film can manipulate everday elements like sound and color in ways that are almost surreal .  br    br   the final level is literature . in this context  everything is imagined by the author  translated onto paper  and then re  imagined by the reader . far more detail can go into a novel than is conceivable for a film studio .  br    br   this is why adaptations can go up  but never down . novelizations are never better than the base film  see the dime  per  dozen ones at your local book store   whereas the film cannot convey the same power as the original book  catch    and lotr  . movies can rarely be made into plays and plays can always be made into movies .  br    br   as for  the last picture show   it fails . it is a film that should stick to the stage because the director is too stupid to shoot anything right . the characters talk the same and act the same  it  s pure futility . add to that an obnoxious soundtrack and you have an entirely unwatchable film .  br    br   i saw this in my high school drama class with about   other wannabe thespians . the instructor raved about how sad the movie was . what is sad is how such stagnant work is considered depressing when the material itself is hilarious . had this been in color the scenes of impotence  the pool party  and the old hooker would be considered great comedy . look what lucas did with  american graffiti  a few years later .  br    br   the american secondary education system needs to start teaching about film rather than trying to teach with film . two visually powerful downbeat films apocalypse now and barry lyndon . rely on them  not this . it  s the  last  i want to see of it .  out of  .  
i have loved this movie since i first saw it in     . i  m still amazed at how accurately kurt russell portrays elvis  right down to how he moves and the expressions on his face . sometimes its scary how much he looks  acts  and talks like the real elvis . thankfully this is being released on dvd  so all of us that have been waiting can finally have an excellent quality version of the full length film . i have heard the detractors  who say that there are some inaccuracies  or some things left out  but i think that keeping in mind that john carpenter only had about     hours to work with  and that this was being shown on television  just two years after elvis  s death   that he did a fine job with this . in fact i haven  t seen another elvis movie that even comes close to this one . highly recommended .  
after hearing raves about this movie for years  i finally decided to rent it and watch . let me start by saying that i  m glad that the rental was free from the local library . this move was slow  boring  unrealistic and the plot made no sense . after  hours  i was ready to nuke that backwater texas town and put the group of those characters out of their misery . i realize that taste is subjective  but believe me  i just do not understand all of the hype that i have heard about this movie . dallas provided as good a detail of the life in texas as this movie . rent it only if you want to understand how movie studios can pay enough money to reviewers to convince the general public that a bad movie is good .  
i remember watching this film a while ago and after seeing     miles to graceland  it all came flooding back . why this hasn  t had a video or dvd release yet  it  s sacrilegious that this majesty of movie making has never been released while other rubbish has been . in fact this is the one john carpenter film that hasn  t been released . in fact i haven  t seen it on the tv either since the day i watched it . kurt russell was the perfect choice for the role of elvis . this is definitely a role he was born to play . john carpenter  s break from horror brought this gem that i  d love the tv to play again . it is well acted and well performed as far as the singing goes . belting out most of elvis  s greatest hits with gusto . i think this also was the film that formed the partnership with russell and carpenter which made them go on to make a number of great movies  escape from new york  the thing  big trouble in little china  and escape from l . a . someone has got to release this before someone does a remake or their own version of his life  which i feel would not only tarnish the king but also ruin the magic that this one has . if this doesn  t get released then we are gonna be in heartbreak hotel .  
for getting so many positive reviews  this movie really disappointed me  it is slow moving and long . at times the story is not clear  particularly in the evolving relationships among characters . my advice  read the book  it  s a fabulous story which loses it  s impact on screen .  
this movie is one of those  wow   movies . not because it  s the greatest movie of all time  but because it surprised me . not only was it a t . v . movie  but it was on elvis . i can safely say as many impersonators as there are there was only one elvis  but i can also safely say that kurt russel came extremely close to being the real thing . it was one of the greatest impersonations that i have ever seen . he had me believing that it was really him . i learned a lot about elvis  life from watching this movie . and don  t led the television part of it let you stray  it  s actually a really fantastic film  and kurt russel could  ve been elvis  twin    
black and white film . good photography . believable characters .  br    br   just awful .  br    br   i have wasted another perfect evening watching a film that other rated as  worthy  and  very good .  there is some good acting here and the back ground setting for the plot is good  more should have been done with this  but it is very slow to grow and never develops . it is totally bases on sex without much romance with much un needed nudity . more could have been done with the main characters . if you are looking for something to watch with you family this in not the movie and if not you will have trouble sitting through it . though this film is long its only about  inch deep   
kurt russell is elvis  plain and simple . his dedication to this role resulted in what i think  is the best movie bio ever . if you  re an elvis fan  see it if you can .  br    br   the made  for  television film was made two years after elvis  death .  br    br   one piece of advice  there are two versions  one at    minutes and one at    minutes . the only one to watch is the longer one . the shorter one has more than one hour of footage edited out . it just does not work because the scenes in it are often dependent on the scenes that were cut .  br    br   this masterpiece takes you from elvis childhood through his emergence as entertainment  s greatest star . shelley winters and bing russell  kurt  s real dad  are excellent as elvis  parents . and pat hingle delivers a very competent col . tom parker .  br    br   long live the king   
i gave this movie a very fair chance  and it betrayed me . this is very little more than a black and white excuse to bore the hell out of the audience even as the egotist bogdanavich  who did way better with targets  gets  great performances  out of a ton of hams in their debuts . lots of teenage sex clichs come out of this movie  such as doing the teacher  s wife  impotence  doing the ugly prostitute  which is very awkwardly shot and grinds things to a complete halt  not that things were really going anywhere anyway  and skinny dipping .  br    br   i suppose this movie is supposed to be funny because of all the sex nonsense  to me  it was just annoying . i was seriously much more entertained by cleaning my finger nails than watching this mess .  
i enjoy watching people doing breakdance  especially if they do it as well as in the best scenes of this movie which takes you to a disco club called  roxy  . especially at christmas time  because there also appears a  mc santa claus  .  br    br   even if this is an old film  and even if i have videotaped it from tv  when the state movie archive of finland showed this in the summer of     on their own big screen  i went there to check it out . it  s much more enjoyable on big screen than on tv .  br    br   even if many people here think that watching this on big screen is a waste of money for the ticket cost  i disagree with this and i think that when i paid my ticket  i got the money  s worth by seeing this  as it is on big screen  especially seated on front row of the cinema  an unforgettable experience  and much better than just on video .  
loyalty to peter falk is all that kept me from giving this awful picture the    it deserved .  for that matter  loyalty to mr . falk was what kept me watching this film all the way from heads to tails .  even if you forgive all the glaring errors  this was just plain the poorest excuse for a made  for  tv  columbo  film ever . i  m glad i watched it on tv for free would have hated to have coughed up the bucks for a print .  
kurt russell  whose career started when he kicked the real elvis in it happened at the world  s fair  will probably never top his performance as the king in this biopic helmed by slash and shock meister carpenter . there are times you feel that you  re watching elvis until something snaps you back to reality . . . perhaps memories of a hapless don johnson in elvis and the beauty queen  all the performances here are excellent season hubley as priscilla  pat hingle as the colonel  even shelley winters brings the right level of nerves and hysteria to her rendering of momma presley .  br    br   kurt  s dad bing is here playing elvis  father vernon  and there  s a fine understated performance from robert gray as elvis  buddy and bodyguard red west .  br    br   a must see for rock n roll fans .  
a boring movie about a boring town in the    s . how can anyone think this is a classic  the producer pretty much ended his career by pushing his girlfriend  cybil shepard  into several movies that were way above her acting ability . i think this movie gives an insight to how bad peter bogdonovitch  s future movies were going to be . cybil shepard  s career took a dive after being in several movies that peter bogdonovich produced . it wasn  t until  moonlighting  that her career started to come back . i thought the acting was poor rendition of the   graduate  . i have noticed that this movie hasn  t been shown in the us . the only place i have watched it was overseas in europe late at night .  
kurt russell  s chameleon  like performance  coupled with john carpenter  s flawless filmmaking  makes this one  without a doubt  one of the finest boob  tube bios ever aired . it holds up  too the emotional foundation is strong enough that it  ll never age carpenter has preserved for posterity the power and ultimate poignancy of the life of the one and only king of rock and roll .  i  d been a borderline elvis fan most of my life  but it wasn  t until i saw this mind  blowingly moving movie that i looked beyond the image at the man himself . it was quite a revelation .  elvis remains one of the top ten made  for  tv movies of all time .  
i  m not going to comb over tlps  s obvious peterbogdanovichian flaws . instead  i shall take a look at the positive aspects of this overrated celluloid pygmy of a film .  br    br    . peter bogdanovich managed to make a movie that can be endured in its entirety . this fact alone places the movie high up above and all the way up to the top of his lame filmography .  br    br    . bogdanovich had shown how amazingly generous some lucky boyfriends can be  by sharing cybill shepherd  s  his then  gal  fabulous body and breasts with his male audience  and not just on one but on two occasions . brava  the unquestionable highlights of this cinematic festa del siesta .  br    br    . tlps has barely a scene without stereotypical country music doodling in the background .  peter tried to make the obvious point that the movie is set in america  s deep south  as if it weren  t bleedin  obvious  so he hammered that point on and on and on . . .  how is this an advantage  you might ask  well  when the movie finally ends and the monotonous country music finally ceases massaging your tired ear  drums  you start experiencing a strange exhilaration  the movie  s finally over   it  s pure joy .  br    br    . the movie gives all women who look like cloris leachman hope . hope that they  too  may one day snatch a much younger and maybe even good  looking boyfriend .  br    br    . cloris leachman  s biography  which i realize isn  t technically a part of tlps  gives hope to all women that look like that  that they too may one day win a miss chicago beauty pageant .  provided they have enough money to bribe the jury with .   br    br    you think i  m joking abut cloris having won a beauty pageant  huh  well  check out her bio and then we  ll see who laughs last . . .   br    br    . the movie was shot in black and white which spared us the sight of cloris leachman  s face in its original  natural non  glory .  
getting to work on this film when it was made back in the summer of     . shot partly in the biltmore estate in asheville  nc and the remaining parts in winston  salem . the massive offices of the rj reynolds were used in several office scenes and places in around the beautiful city that is know as the tulip capital of the world winston  salem  i enjoyed my work although it was exceedingly hard work building all the sets like the golf of mexico where renee russo and jim belushi went on their date . i also had a big hand in decorating the bar where larry encounters the magical bartender mr . destiny . i tacked all those pics on the wall of sports heroes and decorated that phone booth where larry makes a phone call for a cab . i even put my mothers photo at eye level so i could freeze frame it and show it to her when we watched it . i remember dyeing the grass at his old house with green dye because it first had to be sodded  it was a new house in a new development and i guess they leased it for the movie  . . then i had to cut that newly laid sod to make it look nice . . man that was hard  as far as the movie  when we made it we had no idea what it would be like but after seeing it i fell in love with it because really tells the story of  what if  as good as i ever had seen it  including the great it  s a wonderful life . i cried so many times  br    br   i can  t count . i got to meet the wonderful actor michael caine while shooting scenes at an old minor league ballpark where larry  s boyhood scenes were played and replayed . i remember after he had done a take an was heading back to his trailer  i ran him down and asked him for a picture and he was quite amiable and said  why not   he is a good guy and a really natural and forceful actor . i can  t say the same for jim belushi . . he was so full of himself  smoking big cuban cigars and talking loudly so  br    br   everyone in earshot could hear his every word . his career never did take off but he has had a decent tv career recently . i would say watch this movie if you ever get the chance . it  s wonderful and really heartfelt and real . you can feel larry  s pain after he enters into the new world mr . destiny gives him after hitting the homer  and as he wants so badly for people to believe he is not this bad guy everyone thinks he is . they all think he belongs in a nuthouse  but eventually he wins people over but by then he wants his real life back so badly  especially his wonderful wife  played so beautifully by linda hamilton . . and he wants his dog back  so see it .  
many people see this as a classic  but i obviously must have missed something . life in anarene  texas in the early    s is pretty dull  which means that a movie about life in anarene  texas in the early    s will be pretty dull too  what is it that so many people see in this  once the last picture show in anarene closes there really won  t be anything to do in town . duane  jeff bridges  makes that point at the end of the movie . but even before it closes there isn  t much to do  so basically everything revolves around sex . high school students make plans for how to lose their virginity  sometimes with each other and sometimes with some of the equally bored adults in town . you see  there  s not much for them to do either  except to have sex  sometimes with each other and sometimes with the bored teenagers  or to whine about the local high school football team . three times something happened that i thought was going to add some spark of drama to the movie . sam  ben johnson  dies unexpectedly  but nothing really happens because of that  sonny  timothy bottoms  and jacy  cybill shepherd  elope  but nothing really happens because of that  joe bob  barc doyle  kidnaps a little girl  but nothing really happens because of that . the only thing that added anything of dramatic value to the movie came at the end with the death of billy  sam bottoms  which really points out the emptiness of life in this pathetic little town  as the men stand around looking at the body debating where to go for breakfast .  br    br   peter bogdanovic filmed this in black and white  which is intended i suppose to point out how grey this town is  but the only thing i found interesting was the early look at actors like bottoms  shepherd  bridges and randy quaid .  as an aside it was terrifying to see how much quaid  in      actually looks like his character of cousin eddie in the national lampoon vacation movies .  classic  i don  t think so       
reading the various external reviews of roger ebert and other well  known film critics makes me hesitate to admit how much i love this movie  even though i only have a dubbed  into  japanese video version of it .  br    br   apparently  many critics seem to take it as a minus that the story premise has been used before  most famously in the very great  it  s a wonderful life .  to me  a great premise is a great premise no matter how many times it  s used  and i  d be happy to see more movies using this particular premise   the discontented man who gets a chance to gain a fresh perspective on his own life through a bit of  divine magic .   br    br   i suppose folks and critics of a more intellectual bent are not as pulled into the story  but i don  t go to movies to critique them with notebook in hand   i go to movies to throw myself into them and let them take me where they will .  br    br   if you are sentimental sort like myself  you  ll be well rewarded by seeing this picture . the performances are excellent throughout  and the movie was very well cast . wonderful choice of music  too . michael caine is superb as the sympathetic bartender . jim belushi does a great job as an  average joe  kind of guy who wonders if his life hasn  t gone as it should . linda hamilton  always excellent  is again right on target here as the loving wife . jon lovitz entertains as usual  and even has some surprisingly moving moments in  mr . destiny .   br    br   no   mr . destiny  is not  it  s a wonderful life   but who says it has to be  taken on its own terms   mr . destiny  is an enjoyable  well  made  funny  and moving film . i  ve seen my japanese  dubbed video of it numerous times  and i  m sure i  ll see it several more times . if that somehow makes me a  lowbrow   so be it  i  m just glad that i hadn  t read any reviews of  mr . destiny  before seeing it .  br    br   i suppose i should have the courage of my convictions and give the movie nine or ten stars  but i couldn  t help but doubt myself after reading all the critical reviews   
it  s sort of hard for me to say it  because i so greatly enjoyed both  targets  and  paper moon   but i thought  the last picture show  was a somewhat fascinating but overly self  indulgent film . its main positive  as far as i  m concerned  is the stunning photography . but for me the film had nothing to offer beyond surface beauty  and a kind of hidden beauty  at that  . the characters were very hard to relate to or to care about . basically you had this very slow pace and this naturalistic style of acting  but it was all there to prop up a very formulaic and predictable story  complete with all the trappings one would expect from any small town melodrama   everything from the boy cheating with his teacher  s wife to the handicapped kid who everyone picks on . it was like  american graffiti  without the joy of life .  br    br   some might say this film is more realistic   nowadays a lot of people seem to think that realism is the only virtue a film can possess . but for me the film was simply oppressive  and i want to see it again about as badly as i  d like to spend a few hours in that miserable town the characters live in .  br    br   maybe this film really just belongs to its time   perhaps if i  d seen it in     i would have been impressed by its novelty  just by seeing something different on the screen . but that would basically assume that i had never seen anything like  say  godard  s  breathless  . maybe the overt references to classic films would have appealed to the movie geek in me and helped me to overlook some of the film  s weaknesses . but in the post  tarantino world that hardly seems unique or special either .  br    br   it is interesting though how he uses the films in the film to give his own film more depth . we see  films as i recall in the picture show . first we see vincente minnelli  s  father of the bride    liz taylor  s exquisite looks provide a contrast to sonny  s girlfriend and minnelli  s studied upper  middle class milieu contrasts to the character  s  real life  surroundings in a similar way . later  clips from howard hawks   red river  emphasize the theme of a broken friendship between a mentor and a protg . it really just reminds me that bogdanovich is kissing his own mentor  s butt  much as he did if i remember correctly by selecting a hawks film as part of his own on  screen reverie with boris karloff in  targets  . i guess in     this kind of thing was new but looking at it today it just seems self  indulgent  like so much of the rest of this film .  br    br   ultimately  i  d rather see another film by hawks  ford or minnelli than to have bogdanovich  s film remind us of why they were so striking in such a less  than  subtle way . maybe he intends to remind us of the giants whose time had passed   all he really does is remind us how small he and most of his contemporaries are in relation .  
  br    br   ok the film wasn  t going to win any awards and it is pure bubblegum  and it is a modern update on  it  s a wonderful life  . but it  s just come out as a cheap release on dvd and there are a lot worse ways of blowing    . you get a film that has a surprisingly strong cast but for most they were still a year or two from becoming b list celebs . however it  s an enjoyable way of passing an hour and half just don  t think too much in it .  
this is the kind of movie which shows the paucity of french cinema when it comes to making thrillers . the director  s desire to  sound american  is so glaring that you will not be fooled a minute  unless you have not seen a serial killer movie since  peeping tom  .  br    br   two male cops  or one and a half  more like  as you will see   horrible murders  a plot more complicated than complex . charles berling is not lucky with the genre  see the astoundlingly dumb  l  inconnu de strasbourg  a couple of years ago  . the scenes with his pregnant wife  which are supposed to be a counterpart for the otherwise noir atmosphere of the rest of the plot  are among the worst ever filmed . add a steamy love scene between them and a gory autopsy to get a pg   and thus to attract the huge adolescent audience . a violent and absurd conclusion  followed by a silent epilogue who could make a nice commercial for the cte d  azur  it  s really the silence of the lame .  
i have seen this movie plenty of times and i gotta tell ya  i  ve enjoyed it every single time . this is belushi  s pinnacle movie in my opinion . belushi and lovitz are so likable and identifiable with the common man that you can  t help but get involved once you start watching . the movie has a wonderful cast of stars  some already were big  and others were just getting started . it  s billed as a feel good movie  and that  s exactly what it is . this movie teaches you that life isn  t always so bad after all . sometimes you  ve just gotta look at stuff in a different perspective to fully appreciate what you already have . when you  re done watching  you  ll appreciate the things you have a lot more and you  ll also be smiling . you can  t ask for much more from a movie in my opinion  not to mention it  s a hilarious movie and you  ll never lose interest . very very underrated movie here folks .  br    br   rating from me   i am out     
i totally agree with the review by a reviewer of variety that the film is never quite as funny  lively or insightful about the creative process as its premise would seem to warrant . narratively it is messy and the lighting is really problematic . if the film is supposed to be character  driven the poor lighting doesn  t enhance the acting and it is sometimes difficult to observe the facial expressions of the actors . many non  south africans will have difficulty in following the spoken english in the film and some of the local humor will be lost in the process . i watched the film at the cape town world cinema festival last year . comments and reactions to the film ranged from unwatchable and sloppy to a welcome departure from the films about our painful past . unfortunately bunny chow won  t be remembered as one of the bright lights of the south african new wave  but some of the remarkable films about our apartheid history will indeed be rated among our best in our    year old film history . not surprisingly the film disappeared from cinemas in cape town only two weeks after its release and from most of the cinemas in durban and gauteng . it has clearly limited appeal among south african audiences .  
it has been some years since i saw this  but remember it and would like to see it again . it kind of became a  therapy  for me with a personal experience of my own .  br    br   a thirty  five year old man laments over a high  school baseball game in which he  missed the ball  and his team lost . he thinks about it   years later   if only i  d hit that ball  and how his life would be better because of it . then  he gets a chance to find out . . . . and gets a little more than he bargained for .  br    br   it reminds me so much of when i was in high school  i twice tried out for our drill  dance team and didn  t make it . this team was the closest thing to a sorority in my school . if you were on it  you were  all that .  i didn  t try out till my last two years of hs and after the second time  i took it really hard . i  d hit and bruised my leg badly just before tryouts and wore tights to cover the bruise  and that caused me to not make it . that was in     .  br    br   through the years  even now sometimes  i think  if only i hadn  t hit my leg i would  ve never worn those stupid tights .  now i don  t sit and think my life would be any better or even any different had i made it  but seeing this movie made me realize that we never really know how different things may be by changing one little thing way back in the past . who knows  it could have changed the course of events to the point that i wouldn  t have met my son  s father .  br    br   i would recommend this movie to anyone who has that one moment in the past they wish they could change . be careful what you wish for     
i so wanted to believe in this movie after the only form of mainstream comedy this country recognises is slapstick and stereotypes .  br    br   of course  it went completely the other way  let  s be cool and edgy  and came out the other side with little to show for it . i bet one small seed went nuts for this . i know sl did .  br    br   none of the main characters have the comedic chops to pull it off . even danny k had better timing . i  m actually being serious . every time they introduced a bit character i kept thinking   darn  this person should have been the lead   .  br    br   independent doesn  t mean that the camera work needs to be horrible . black and white did nothing for this movie  actually with such flat dialogue it hurt this even more by bringing the boredom into sharp relief . the black and white also wasn  t crisp . the composition was horrible . the use of music was horrible . strangely enough i watched little miss sunshine after this movie and the composition on that was superb  maybe that  s why the deficiencies in this movie stick out in my mind .  br    br   i think corne  who was funnier than the leads before he even said anything  was speaking to this movie and not david  see it and you  ll understand . i bet the guys who organise oppikoppi were dismayed . one would think nothing happens there at all . i got the feeling it could have been filmed in someone  s back garden . i know regular guys who have much funnier  raunchier and wittier conversations than any of these  comics  . the dude who they hooked up with end was ok though .  br    br   guess sa comedy  s gonna stay in the stone age a little longer . nice work guys .  
i actually like this movie even though i don  t fancy james belushi very much . in this movie  you can actually see several big names on the rise  linda hamilton and courteney cox namely caine  s was already big of course . the plot in this movie is simple its just like that sliding door movie . it however was told in a light  hearted manner and i like the comedy moments in it . it made me trying to relive my own important moments in live  eg what if i  ve taken that girl out for a movie  and not the other etc . it tells us that people around us could have taken different roles in our lives if some minute details were to change . it also reminds us to be careful what we wish for . life is not always as good on the other side as we think maybe  what we have now is the best for us  all things considered .  
this could have been a very good film  if i had been able to watch it . the hand held camera was very bouncy . from the opening credits i was worried . several of us watching it felt very nauseous by the end . but we did stay until the end because it was such a charming and interesting film  giving some insight to the young pop culture in south africa . the black and white film did enhance the artful feeling of it . the acting seemed very authentic . some of the dialog was a little hard to understand  but a theater full of non  south africans seemed to find most of it funny . if you get motion sickness at all though  you may seriously consider skipping this film . it  s quaint  but not worth the nausea .  
larry burrows has the distinct feeling he  s missing out on something . ever since he missed a crucial baseball shot at school that cost the championship  he  s been convinced his life would have turned out better had he made that shot . then one night his car breaks down again . walking into the nearest bar to wait for the tow truck  larry happens upon barman mike  who unbeknown to larry is about to change his life for ever . . . . . . .  br    br   the alternate life premise in cinema is hardly a new thing  stretching back to the likes of it  s a wonderful life and showing no signs of abating with the quite recent sandler vehicle that was click . it  s a genre that has produced very mixed results . back in     was this james belushi led production  rarely mentioned when the said topic arises  it appears that it has largely been forgotten . which is a shame since it oozes charm and is not short in the humour department . we know that we are being led to its ultimate message come the end  but it  s a fun and enjoyable path to be led down . the film also serves notice to what a fine comedy actor james belushi was . i mean if his style of smart quipping and larking exasperation isn  t your thing   then chances are you would avoid this film anyway . but for those engaged by the likes of red heat  k   and taking care of business  well mr . destiny is right up your street . along for the ride are linda hamilton  michael caine  jon lovitz  hart bochner  jay o . sanders  rene russo and courteney cox .  br    br   mr . destiny  pure escapist fun with a kicker of a message at its heart .      
i could not even bring myself to watch this movie to the end . i cannot comment on the story as i did not watch the whole film and the reason i couldn  t watch it was because of the  actors  . firstly  for the most part they just looked stiff and i  m sure their scripts were in their hands just out of frame  but that  s a minor issue . the main issue i have with the actors isn  t really their fault . . . it  s whoever cast this film  come on  this movie came out in     . . . i thought that casting people in their late twenties to play teenagers went out of fashion with new wave   i cannot watch a movie where one of the first lines  from a grown man older than myself  is  i  m     how can anyone take that seriously      don  t fall victim to this movie  go out for a walk for   minutes and you  ll get far more than this movie could ever give .  
it  s not a big film . the acting is not amazing  some sub charterers are even played badly   the film is not beautiful in any sense . nothing really inventive or new . if you like big films  this one is not for you . yet it has a big  really big plus on the story . larry  s story works  because we know this story from our own lives . the girl we didn  t ask to a date  the test we  ve failed  the friend we let down  are all in our history . this movie works  because it touch it  it  s a great story because it  s a small one . it  s the life we all have  with regrets we all have  and yet the message hits every life we could have lived would have had their downside . the first time i watched it  i was   . it was shown in a party at my school .   years later  i keep reflecting on it every once in a while  and every time i see it  it puts a smile on my face . watch it . it will do you good . you  ll be happier with what you have .  
i saw this film at the ny gay  lesbian film festival and thought it was pretty bad . first and most distracting was the way much of it was shot that is  a lot of slow motion and overly arty close  ups that seemed to have no point   story wise or aesthetically   other than to show the skills of the cinematographer  who i believe was also the director  . this film seemed what a pretentious film student would come up with . the lead actor  sam levine  was certainly very cute  but was a mediocre actor at best and the rest of the cast ranged from so  so  to bad . the story itself was mostly annoyingly predictable . i do have to concede that most of the audience seemed to enjoy the film laughing and sighing constantly  but i disliked it a great deal .  
this movie changed it all for me . . . i heard of breakdancing and hiphop  but had never seen it professionally done  hey i was an    year old kid from holland   when i saw this movie  this all changed . i got actively involved in the hiphop  movement in our city  started breakdancing and writing lyrics .  br    br   to this day  i still consider this movie to be a personal favorite . sure  the filming and  cinematographic  importance might not be that significant . but who cares if the wide  shot was filmed badly or if you could see a mic hanging above somebody  it  s what it does to you personally that counts . . .  
i love columbo and have seen pretty much all of the episodes but this one undoubtedly ranks as the worst of the lot . a mind  bogglingly tedious  pointless  muddled pile of unwatchable drivel that wastes both the time of the viewing audience and of the acting talents of an exceedingly bored  looking peter falk . the  plot   such as it is  just seems to be made up as the film goes along with not even the slightest hint of the ingredients to the formula that made the show such a brilliant success to start with . one part of the proceedings which i found extremely puzzling  or possibly annoying  was peter falk  s character being introduced to the guests at the wedding as  lt  columbo . if the producers insist on keeping columbo  s first name a secret  why couldn  t they have omitted this line altogether as it sounds ridiculous  like i said  this is the pits and all true columbo fans would do well to avoid it like the plague .  
mr . destiny   .    stars  br    br    mr . destiny  s  theme is recycled from many films spanning many different years . its theme ranges from recent spoofs on such plots  see  scrooged    to the same  more serious and dramatic notion that worked in  it  s a wonderful life   and a century earlier in the story of scrooge as told by charles dickens in  a christmas carol .   it involves an ungrateful man being taken on a guided tour of his life  and witnessing how his life could have been  or would have been  first  hand .  br    br   in most of these types of movies the guardian angel rescues a man from ungratefulness and shows him his life in retrospect  or how it could have been . should have been . would have been . in this case we are shown a businessman named larry  james belushi  . he hates his life . he lives with an unexciting wife  linda hamilton  and yearns for a bigger life with bigger meaning . if only he had hit the ball at the state championship in high school years ago . he is convinced his life would have been better . i guess he remembers this seemingly small moment of his life because it made a big impact on his subconscious side  but i doubt a grown man would yearn for one single act from high school . still  it works in the movie .  br    br   anyway  larry is driving home from work one night  where he is a penpusher along with jon lovitz  when his car breaks down . he wanders into a bar looking for a pay phone  and reluctantly decides to tell the bartender  michael caine  about the way his life is turning out . this is where we first see him remembering his childhood baseball strike  out .  br    br   the bartender listens and nods  apparently not worrying about any other customers . this is probably due to the fact that the bar  though old and tattered  seems to have never been occupied by any living humans save these two men . in fact  larry even makes a comment about never seeing the bar before . this is most likely for a certain reason that the audience is expecting before larry .  br    br   so the bartender  who may as well be an angel of god incarnate  just like clarence  fixes larry a special drink of his  which ends up putting larry  s life on reverse  showing him what his life would have been like if he had hit the home run all those years before . but larry has no idea of any change at first  just like jimmy stewart didn  t realize that clarence had erased his life until he went into the bar and got kicked out larry continues to be oblivious to any change until he goes to his home to find the lawn different outside  and a large  wrestler  type man occupying his home .  br    br   larry soon finds out his life would indeed have been very different had he hit the home run . instead of marrying linda hamilton he married rene russo and moved into a large mansion with children . he finds out that jon lovitz is no longer his friend but an employee of his . and the most surprising fact of all is that with his new life  that larry has always wanted . . . he finds himself lusting after his old wife  linda hamilton proof that sometimes money and a great  looking yet shallow wife don  t make up everything in a man  s life  like an intelligent wife and love and true happiness . just like  it  s a wonderful life  showed the audience a man  s life is what he makes it  and that every person has an impact on people   mr . destiny  shows us that material wealth is not the same as spiritual wealth  a lesson taught us over and over again  but never quite so fluffy  forgettable and truly sweet as it is shown us in  mr . destiny .   br    br    mr . destiny  is never exceedingly hilarious  but it is a sweet  good  natured comedy that never takes itself too seriously . the problem with all the  it  s a wonderful life  retreads out there  like  the family man   is that they try to be as influential and memorable as  it  s a wonderful life  was . but there are only so many times you can single  handedly rip off a famous film  and  mr . destiny  knows this  and plays right to the fact . it doesn  t try to be anything it isn  t rather  it is something it didn  t try to be  and this is obvious to the audience .  br    br    
i basically found eden  s curve to be a very poorly constructed that made it difficult to watch . however  there is something i must say about how the director captured something about the atmosphere of the early    s in the choice of settings and clothing . the  back to the earth  philosophy and the interest in sexual exploration and drugs that was not dramatically decadent  as portrayed in many later versions of the    s was right on  as was the  don  t ask don  t tell  pseudo  liberalism of the fraternity made up of east  coast intellectuals  except that i would have thought this was more likely of a new england school rather than one in virginia  where i imagine the  good ole boy  mentality still dominated even elitist schools like this one . another thing i appreciated and could relate to is that this was a time when homosexuality was not linked so much to leathermen or drag queens and i appreciated some homosexual roles not related to these terribly overused images . i felt it was very unfortunate that  gay culture  took on certain standard forms in the    s out of castro and christopher streets and these defined the movement and left out huge numbers of gay men that were more subdued in their lifestyles . i appreciated the film mainly as a way of remembering a more natural way we were about our sexuality and personal relationships without  the scene .   
everyone plays their part pretty well in this  little nice movie  . belushi gets the chance to live part of his life differently  but ends up realizing that what he had was going to be just as good or maybe even better . the movie shows us that we ought to take advantage of the opportunities we have  not the ones we do not or cannot have . if u can get this movie on video for around     itd be an investment   
this is one of those movies that  s trying to be moody and tense  and instead  ends up tripping all over itself . having seen it at a queer film festival  i was intrigued by the  young college threesome gone wrong  write  up  however  over  all ended up quite disappointed .  br    br   it  s hard to critique a  true story  since there  s not much that can be done about the plot  but i found this disjointed  melodramatic and wholly depressing . it  s dark and almost sinister  painting a darn creepy flash of the seventies with imposing music and jerky close  ups . it just doesn  t work  some scenes where so cheesy that instead of hushed awe  my audience was supressing snickers and rolling eyes .  br    br   the story has an interesting premise  but this just spins downward into a dark  miserable spiral .  
not really a big box office draw  but i was pleasently surprised  br    br   with this movie . james  i did some things to farrah fawcett  orr  br    br   co  wrote and directed this movie about an ordinary  average guy  br    br   named larry burrows who thinks his life would have been  br    br   incredibly different if he hit a homerun at a key baseball game  br    br   when he was   . but thanks to mysterious and magical bartender  br    br   mike  larry gets his wish  yet soon realizes that his new life  br    br   isn  t exactly as he hoped it would be .  br    br   i must say  this movie really impressed me . critics have given  br    br   it mixed  and i must say the concept is really interesting and  br    br   pulled off well . yes  it is a little standard  but packs enough  br    br   funny moments  drama and excellent acting to make it really  br    br   good . james belushi  i think  was oscar worthy for his role . jon  br    br   lovitz is perfect  and linda hamilton plus renee russo shine in  br    br   their roles . michael caine is perfect as the bartender . it  s  br    br   just a good movie with a good lesson . if you  ve never seen  i  br    br   highly recommend you check  
everybody just seems to be raving about the subject  and not really noticing how the movie was made . the deaf  mute guy is fine  the underdog wins  that  s good  the cricket aspect is great  but the movie is average overall . i think it could be made much much better than it is .  br    br   the plot is too predictable for a movie that is not based on a real life event . i  m sure the movie could have been made more interesting . the songs are just stuffed in there  and i had to literally forward the scenes where the same thing would be shown from different angles .  br    br   good acting  though . watchable .  
spoiler    this movie is based on the concept of what if  of course mr destiny will be able to answer this question . the main character goes through a bad day  like many of us  and asks this question . chaos theory states a butterfly in china could have an effect on someone over here from a chain reaction . the focus of this movie is based on one event during a baseball game . this event sets into motion one  s destiny just like ashton in  the butterfly effect  except mr . destiny uses comedy over drama . the results make a fresh  somewhat original movie . if one  s philosophical are in tune with  the butterfly effect  one will likely enjoy mr . destiny . i give it a  out of   . amazing for i have seen the first half of this movie  times  and finally watched the ending on tbs .  
once big action star who fell off the face of the earth ends up in a small town with a problem with drug dealers and a dead body of a federal agent . reuniting with some former co  stars to clean up the town .  br    br   low key  often to the point of blandness   action  comedy mostly just doesn  t work . part of the problem is the casting chris klien as a former action hero . he  s not bad  but he  s really not believable as some one who was taken to be a tough guy . as i said he  s not bad  he  s just just miscast for what his back story is . the real problem here is the combination of the script  which really isn  t funny and seems artificial at times  and the direction which is pedestrian to the port of dullness . there is no life in the way things are set up . its as if the director had a list of shots and went by that list . it makes for an un  engaging film . and yet the film occasionally springs to life  such as the in the final show down that ends the film . that sequence works  but because the earlier parts of the film floundered its drained of much of its power .  br    br   i can  t really recommend the film . its worth a shot if you  re a fan of the actors or are a huge fan of independent cinema in all its forms  but otherwise this is just a disappointment .  
jim belushi is terrific as the  average joe  who gets his   minutes in  the twilight zone  . michael cane is the mysterious bar tender who not only listens to belushi  s  story   but has a  cure  for all of belushi  s middle class problems a magic potion to bring about an avalanche of changes in belushi  s life .  br    br   flashbacks show a   year old horribly ashamed of causing his high school baseball team  s championship defeat . belushi goes on with his  pitiful life   seemingly happy  but always wondering  what if . . .  for what seems to be several days  belushi experiences a  different  life  one of enormous success  admired and hated by others in equal measure .  br    br   this is not quite  it  s a wonderful life   but some elements are similar  and very endearing . the  ending  is predictable  but still satisfying . watch for a very young cortney cox in a bit part as  fatal attraction   like other woman . a very pleasant film   
it  s been a long time since i last saw a movie this bad . . the acting is very average  the story is horribly boring  and i  m at a loss for words as to the execution . it was completely unoriginal . o  and this is as much a comedy as clint eastwood  s a pregnant schwarzenegger   br    br   one of the first scenes  the one with the television show  where the hell are you   got it right  the cast was    of let  s face it  forgotten actors . if they were hoping for a career relaunch  then i think it might never happen with this on their cv  the script had the potential  but neither    of the actors nor the director  who  s an actor and clearly should stick to being an actor  pulled it off . fred durst was the only one who seemed better than any of the rest .  br    br   i  m sorry  but if you ever consider watching this  i highly recommend you turn to something less traumatic  because not only it  s a total loss of time  but also a weak example of what bad cinema looks like .  
belushi at his most ingratiating and courtney cox before friends has a small role . i often think belushi is under  used in hollywood and this film role is one of his best . for those of you who watch his tv show  this is a very different and likable character . the movie itself is not earth shattering  nor is the message new but rather it is sweet and endearing . the supporting cast of familiar faces and unfamiliar names is a perfect balance although lovitz  s whining can get tiresome  and michael caine  s charming spiritual guide has a slightly sinister if not well  meaning edge . hamilton  as belushi  s wife is unfortunately two  dimensional and one wonders why he married her . in addition  renee russo is wasted and not terribly convincing at the  prom queen  who got away . nevertheless  a nice way to spend two hours .  
dumb is as dumb does  in this thoroughly uninteresting  supposed black comedy . essentially what starts out as chris klein trying to maintain a low profile  eventually morphs into an uninspired version of  the three amigos   only without any laughs . in order for black comedy to work  it must be outrageous  which  play dead  is not . in order for black comedy to work  it cannot be mean spirited  which  play dead  is . what  play dead  really is  is a town full of nut jobs . fred dunst does however do a pretty fair imitation of billy bob thornton  s character from  a simple plan   while jake busey does a pretty fair imitation of  well  jake busey .  merk  
this movie is one of my favorites because it makes me think of all the choices i have made and how my life would change if my choices had been different . it plays right into the  multiple universe  theory .  br    br   the only thing that doesn  t ring true is how larry burrows  james belushi  has such a hard time understanding what is going on  that everything has changed .  br    br    
in a movie that follows a struggling actor  played  evidently  by a struggling actor  this does no favours for chris klein . he struggles to bring anything memorable to the role and meanders on through the shallow script managing to display  what could only be described as  a bland leading man . the story exists  but that is all  and fails to show any basic start  middle and end and the viewer is left shrugging his shoulders feeling as though nothing in the past hour and three quarters has really happened .  br    br   one bright light in the midst of this is fred durst  who manages to stand out above his seemingly averagely talented co  stars and does a semi  decent job of bringing the backward character of legde to life . whether fred can re  create this when working with a higher calibre of cast remains to be seen but i  l be watching out for him in future .  
ok  so it borrows a little from  it  s a wonderful life   but that was   years prior to this film  so why not a new attempt . belushi is having a rotten   th birthday . he didn  t get his wheaties  his coffee  and has lost his job . the capper is when his self described  big blue piece of sh  car breaks down at the end of the day . he heads into an empty bar to call for a tow . while waiting  he  s recognized by the bartender  caine  as the kid who lost the town  s championship baseball game   years earlier . this gets him to thinking how life would  ve been if he had won the game . he finds out when  unbeknownst to him  caine serves up a motion potion in a glass that gives him a mansion  the prom queen  russo  as his wife  and makes him president of the sporting goods company he  s been canned from . caine later reveals himself as the one who  s responsible for this change  but belushi is not entirely on board . he never fully adjusts  and in a plot development that doesn  t kill the movie but is still odd  he tries to court his wife  hamilton  from his real life  who is now married to someone else . the good move is that they don  t spend too much time on it  as basically they rip of  ghost   with belushi constantly telling hamilton things only she could know . it also brings in a hokey dramatic element  as two of his lovers kevetch in the shadows  new wife russo  and his unbalanced lover cox . but the keys to the film are the somewhat lengthy beginning  and cheery end . also good work from the big and recognizable cast  as belushi is very likable  very attractive ladies chosen  and caine is perfectly easy going as the title guy . strange that this was belushi  s second film of     dealing with him getting an alternative lifestyle of riches  which was found in  taking care of business  . though similar  both films are on the same level of laughs provided . so check this out for a fun exploration of  what if    
bridges of madison county is a better made version of this story . i felt the ending of this movie was not handled sensitively as they did in the original english movie . this movie is very indianised  if you are a very sensitive person who cries in a movie when hero dies in the end you  ll love this movie  on the other hand if you are a fighter in life and think crying is for wimps you may not like the ending . but on the whole it  s pretty good subject is well handled for indian conditions . tabu was good as a caring wife and mother . everybody acted well .  
i admit i have a weakness for alternate history stories  from its a wonderful life to groundhog day to      . among those greats is this little gem . it  s pretty difficult to get through mr . destiny without giving a nod of appreciation to each and every cast member  from the goodhearted james belushi to the murderous courtney cox . this movie lacks the gravitas and scale to make it a great film  but it  s a fine cheer  up on a rainy afternoon . it  s also a great rental for an inexpensive date .  
it is considered fashion to highlight every social evil as a result of patriarchy and male dominance  however moronic this illogical  logic  may be . however within the story and theme of the film  there is no grey area and the woman who should be called the film  s antagonist  is the   villain of the story   . under no circumstances can what she did be justified . sexuality of women is just hype in this case and has nothing to do with the actuality . it is betrayal of the ultimate sort . the man ended up spending his resources and time in the wasteful raising of another man  s offspring . to top it all  the most feeble of arguments raised by the   liberated  female characters in the climax is pathetic . a woman  s sexual needs are no excuse for her to commit adultery and continually betray her husband and worse  there are no other children . so in essence his life has been wasted . in some societies where justice still prevails  such situations result in the execution of the unjust .  
entertaining jim belushi vehicle  a modern cockeyed version of it  s a wonderful life . michael caine plays a sort  of angel who lets belush see what life would have been like if he had  made it big  . jim is at his best with a good story and supporting cast seems like real chemistry between him and hamilton . not an oscar contender but good warm  hearted fun .  
joyce reynolds seems a might grown  up for the role of janie  a boy  crazy sixteen  year old in small town america who ditches her steady guy for a visiting soldier and winds up on the cover of life magazine  smooching at a blanket party  all in the same week  non  stop barrage of wisecracks  put  downs  bull talk  and unfunny bits of business such as janie  s little sister bribing family members  hattie mcdaniel  as the maid  constantly scuttling after sassy kid sis  janie  s mother involved with the red cross  and janie  s father trying to write an editorial on the problems with today  s teenagers  as the parents  stuffy  sexless edward arnold and pert  chatty ann harding make an unlikely couple  even for      he looks incapable of helping to conceive a child much less raising two of them  . nominated for an academy award    for owen marks  editing  warner bros . followed this in     with  janie gets married  . reynolds must have outgrown her co  horts by then   she was replaced by joan leslie .     from   
without doubt beat street is the best film about the breakin scene . everything about it is spot on  the clothes  puma   the music and most importantly the dancing  the storyline is basic  but hey whats there to tell a story about  the whole point of the film is to show what kids of that moment in time were doing  what mattered to them . it shows that teenagers in general are good  all that mattered to these everyday kids was music  dancing and friendship . having watched the dvd recently i was plesantly surprised how well it had stood the test of time  the clothes didn  t look dated  possibly because puma is now having a massive comeback   the music still sounds fresh  and the dancing is still captivating to watch . a film anyone      years of age should see as part of their youth culture .  
the script for this columbo film seemed to be pulled right out of a sappy      s soap opera . deeply character  driven films are great  but only if the characters are compelling . and in this film the only thing compelling was my desire to change the channel . the villain  s dialog sounds as if it were written by a romance novelist . the great lt . columbo himself is no where near his famous  lovable  self  effacing  crumpled self and the bride  kidnap victim is a whimpering  one  dimensional damsel  in  distress  she cowers in fear from a tiny scalpel held flimsily in the hand of her abductor  come on    i could have knocked the scalpel out of his hand and kicked him in the you  know  what in  seconds  . in any sense of reality  this character would have at least tried to struggle or fight back at least a little . and speaking of reality . . . . the story revolves around a kidnapping which is worked and solved by the police . the police   give me a break . everyone knows the fbi takes over every kidnapping case . this was no columbo  just a shallow and totally predictable crime drama with our familiar lt . columbo written in and stretched to  hours .  
wow  i loved this film . it may not have had the funding and advertising that the latest hollywood blockbusters get but it packs twice the emotional punch . the tale revolves around this one family from utah and it  s the connections between the people in the family that provide the film with its punch . the main lead  giovanni ribisi  plays his part very well  at no time does he leave you to believe that he  s acting all his feelings . it  s his brother  elias koteas  who stole the show for me though . when the two were in scenes together they bounded their lines off of each other  giving fantastic performances . great cast  great film .  
i know i  m in the minority  but . . .  br    br   uwe boll is about as talented as a frog . not even a toad just a frog . he  s reminiscent of about a hundred other no  talent hacks who churn out one useless crap  fest after another .  br    br   this movie  is a crap  fest . slater  s talent is only minimally utilized leading one to believe he  s got other things  like his failed relationship  on his mind . reid performs as if she has either forgotten her acting lessons  been severely hit on the head and made to forget her acting lessons  or has one of the worst directors in the history of film . i  m voting on the third choice  myself  although the other two are always possible .  br    br   uwe boll has never done a single thing from which i  ve derived even the slightest pleasure . frankly  i  m satisfied that he made this stinker . i was concerned with bloodrayne competing with  underworld evolution  for ticket sales . now  i  m confident that len wiseman has nothing  and i mean nothing  to worry about .  br    br   this rates a  .     rating for this messy  convoluted crap  fest  from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
an interesting tv movie based on true fact  betrayed by the description of one of the leading characters  that of a prisoner . giovanni ribisi plays his younger brother  who has the delicate mission of deciding if he will appeal to the courts for his brother  s death penalty . but when he goes to visit him and enters elias koteas  the problem starts . it has nothing to do with koteas  acting ability . he just looks like the version of a prisoner of proletarian roots according to  g . q .  magazine  with a language too sophisticated for someone who has spent most of his life behind bars . this realization came to me after meeting again an old friend  whom i had not seen for almost   years  which he spent in several panamanian jails . the young man i used to know is gone  not only because he is older  but due to his exposure for a prolonged time to the penal system . there are jails and there are jails  one must say  but this one prisoner in  shot in the heart  is definitely out of this world .  
it should come as no shock to you when i say that alone in the dark is a crappy movie . to put it bluntly  it  s as if a dung monster defecated  ate the result  and then vomited . the final product would still outshine this movie .  br    br   seemingly based on an ancient    atari video game  the movie has something or other to do with a portal to the bowels of the earth  the unleashing of demons  and ancient civilizations . something about there being two worlds  that of darkness and that of light .  guess which one  s ours .  oh  and       years ago a really super  duper advanced civilization opened the portal  demons came over and had a blast  then wiped out the civilization . which is why we  ve never heard of them  conveniently enough .  br    br   christian slater  perhaps pining for the days of heathers and pump up the volume  plays edward carnby  a paranormal researcher to whom something bad happened when he was   years old . he  s hot on the trail of one of the artifacts of said advanced civilization . carnby used to be part of a secret institution called     which has been trying to figure out what happened to that long  ago civilization . but carnby believed he wasn  t going to be able to find the answers he sought  so he left the group .  br    br   but see  these beasties are out  and they get their prey in varying ways  such as gutting them  splitting them down the middle  implanting neurological control devices in them  or just turning them into killing zombies . yes  it  s another zombie movie .  br    br   that  s about as distilled i can make the plot . it  s pretty convoluted and incomprehensible . in similar movies  one might see the intrepid researcher  adventurer figure things out a step at a time  and when we the audience are mentally with the researcher  it  s a lot of fun . but when the scenes shift from attack to attack with no perspective or context . . . not so much fun .  br    br   the acting is dreadful  save for slater  who  although he almost seems embarrassed to be in the movie  showed he was capable of carrying the acting load . he had to get this  tara reid is cast as a museum curator  honest to goodness  i thought i  d seen the casting of a lifetime when denise richards was cast as a nuclear physicist in tomorrow never dies . but reid here matches richards  crappy emoting for crappy emoting . hightlights include reid pronouncing  newfoundland  as  new fownd land   reid delivering most of her lines in a dazed  throaty monotone  kinda like she  d been on an all  night bender for the past week before filming   reid  a museum curator  mind you  spending a lot of the movie in a midriff  bearing top and hip  hugger jeans . oh yeah  she was as believable as jessica simpson giving stock quotes . oh  why must the pretty ones be so dumb   note i don  t think tara reid  s all that good looking . she looks like she  s in perpetual need of food .  almost everyone else in the cast is completely forgettable  except perhaps for steven dorff  who played burke  one of the leaders of    . dorff  s character wasn  t terribly well developed  but nothing in the movie was  from the sets to the characters to tara reid . but i digress .  br    br   anyway  the perplexing and utterly preposterous storyline is tough enough to follow with the film moving at such a breakneck pace  but director uwe boll tosses in a pounding  mind  deadening soundtrack it  s so loud you can  t hear what the actors are saying in some of the scenes  that can  t be right . given the acting level  however  perhaps thanks are in order to mr . boll .  br    br   oh  and a fun note . the opening moments of the movie include narration . . . of the words that are crawling across the screen at the same time . remember the first star wars  you heard that now  familiar star wars theme while the prologue crawled . there was surely no need for narration why do i need some doofus to read what  s on the screen for me  were the producers simply looking out for blind people  maybe that also explains why the soundtrack was so loud  they were also looking out for hard  of  hearing people . also  the narrator inexplicably had a lisp for the first few lines of the crawl  then lost it . bizarre .  br    br   alone in the dark is a loud  dopey mishmash of dreadful acting  an incoherent script  and ham  handed directing . hardly a note rings true . there  s so much chaos that the audience simply gives up caring about the characters and roots for their demise . even in the dark  the demonic creatures seem cooler and much more developed by comparison .  br    br   ironically  since there were only three other people in the theater  i watched this alone in the dark . i wonder if uwe boll planned it that way  i can  t quite give this the lowest rating  because i had low hopes for it to begin with  and because it never grabbed me enough for me to get worked up about it . it  s atrocious  although slater redeems himself a tiny bit .  
the acting  fantastic . the story  amazing . the script  wonderful .  br    br   just a few ways to describe this movie . yes  it  s slow and it has mostly talking  but the whole story of all of their lives and how it  s told with the flashbacks thrown in and out makes you want to listen to every little thing to learn more about this haunting and tragic story . i  myself  am reading the book that the movie is based off of and it has shown me even more light into this story and answers some questions that were left unanswered in the movie . i  m also to read the exectioner  s song  which is the  other  half of the gilmore story . this movie made me think so much about the phrase  piering into the other side of the looking glass  . you hear a song in the movie called gary gilmore  s eyes  which is by a punk band that wrote a song about what it  d be like to have gary gilmore  s eyes  which is one of the things gary gave as a transplant when he died  and as you listen to it  which is after the last time mikal ever sees gary  you look at the whole situation a little differently if you were to only here the song itself . this movie opened my eyes in that way and in many others . i recommend this movie  and the book  very very much .  
in      mine workers find the remnants of an ancient vanished civilization named abkani that believe there are the worlds of light and darkness . when they opened the gate between these worlds ten thousand years ago  something evil slipped through before the gate was closed . twenty  two years ago  the government paranormal research agency bureau    was directed by professor lionel hudgens  matthew walker   who performed experiments with orphan children . on the present days  one of these children is the paranormal investigator edward carnby  christian slater   who has just gotten an abkani artifact in south america  and is chased by a man with abilities . when an old friend of foster house disappears in the middle of the night  he discloses that demons are coming back to earth . with the support of the anthropologist aline cedrac  tara reid  and the leader of the bureau     cmdr . richard burke  stephen dorff   and his squad  they battle against the evil creatures .  br    br   in spite of having a charismatic good cast  leaded by christian slater  tara reid and stephen dorff   alone in the dark  never works and is a complete mess  without development of characters or plot . the reason may be explained by the  brilliant  interview of director uwe boll in the extras of the dvd  where he says that  videogames are the bestsellers of the younger generations that are not driven by books anymore  . further  his target audience would be people aged between twelve and twenty  five years old . sorry  but i find both assertions disrespectful with the younger generations . i have a daughter and a son  and i know many of their friends and they are not that type of stupid stereotype the director says . further  imdb provides excellent statistics to show that mr . uwe boll is absolutely wrong . my vote is three .  br    br   title  brazil    alone in the dark  o despertar do mal    alone in the dark  the awakening of the evil    
shot in the heart is wonderful . it brilliantly illustrates the plight of gary gimore  a convicted murder who requested death . shot in the heart shows the ordeal that gilmore  s family  torn up by hatred  went through . this movie is an incredible psychological study  and is wonderfully depressing and uplifting .       
first off i  d like to say that if i had to honestly rate this movie from a  to a    then i  d give it a   . it  s not that i  m a tough critic  it  s just that this movie is that bad . everything from the story  to the directing  to the editing is awful . the story is not even halfway decent to begin with  you can  t expect much since it is based on a video game  something i was not aware of going into the movie  but the directing and editing made it even worse . the movie cuts at awkward points and goes to scenes that are completely unrelated to the previous ones some  like a quick sex scene in the middle  don  t even make sense being put into the story seeing as how the characters don  t show any feelings toward each other . you could go into this movie expecting to see a pile of crap on the screen for an hour and a half and you  d still be disappointed . honestly  if you pay to watch this movie then you are wasting your money  and if you don  t pay anything then you are still wasting an hour and a half of your life . so do yourself a favor and don  t watch it .  
while the original     version  with preston foster  was good  there  s no remake more worthy than this     one  or more impossible to find anywhere  just as i strongly suspect mickey rooney to have had something to do with that . never could a mere performance have ever been so masterfully brilliant  or a script more thought  provoking  as well as an improvement upon the original . many years after the last of my several viewings of this film  in      i read an article in which mickey rooney was recounting a visit he  d made to death row  and which had apparently very drastically eliminated whatever sense of personal identification he  d felt with people in similar circumstances . the article was about as short as the main character here  and didn  t cover much  other than the extent to which his extreme disillusionment with the quality of the inmates themselves had been emphasized  even in language i would not care to explicitly quote here . . . . . one of my main problems with capital punishment is that  of course  it is not evenly  impartially applied  just as many innocent people are far  too  carelessly  thus unnecessarily sent to meet this particular fate . another problem i have with it is that it is not applied swiftly enough  or  for that matter  even publicly enough  the bible makes a special point  in such cases  about one of the more important purposes of such  as a deterrent  being ineffectually obscured  minus  not only a public viewing  but also the direct participation of all  as for those who claim to prove  statistically  that such is not an effective deterrent  in addition to having a problem about the reliability of their data  i have little if any objectively disprovable doubt many are behind bars now due to the extent that such a deterrent is lacking . however  i do have a problem about the fact that robert duvall  in the apostle  had been punished at all  for his particular  crime   or that the only hope of leniency for one such as he would have to be based on a  temporary insanity  defense  as though that would serve as the only acceptable excuse in his kind of case . . . . in addition to various other questions concerning the motives of mickey rooney for that particular visit he  d recounted  and about the answers to which i can only try to speculate  i suspect the main one had been of a decidedly religious nature . i don  t know exactly when he  d become the professing christian he now makes it a special point  whenever possible  to emphasize that he is but  as anybody should be well  aware  this particular category of people tends to be the most vehemently out for blood  when it comes to extracting an eye for an eye . however  i have no particular bone of contention concerning that  per se  just as there  s no doubt  scripturally speaking  that not all  and perhaps not even most  shall be spared the same ultimate fate  at the hands of the lord himself  as a result of his sacrifice on the cross . however  there is a problem  for me  about the spirit or attitude with which most professing christians emphasize their enthusiasm for capital punishment for  contrary to the lord himself  who would love to see everybody saved  ezekiel        ii peter      they seem to go vindictively out of their way to find reasons to condemn  . . . what most people  on either side of this superlatively ever  burning issue  cannot appear to sufficiently appreciate  is that the lord is as dynamically and elusively soft in nature as he is hard . the two sides of his nature appear to be so inherently incompatible as to render him mentally deranged  at least by any strictly human reckoning . yet  regardless of how harrowingly ungraspable this miraculously dynamic blending of the water and oil in his nature surely is  there can be no doubt that anything short of it  or anything fanatically and characteristically on either one side or the other of this equation  falls inadequately and unacceptably short of the entire judicial truth . indeed  i  ve seen the most blood  curdling thirst for the same come out  self  contradictorily enough  on far  too  many occasions  whenever the categorically anti  death penalty advocates are confronted  even in the most rationally well  balanced ways  with the fact that  although the lord died for everybody  not all are thereby going to be saved . after  all  in order to receive absolution  one must  to repeat the same term  reach out and receive it  that is  repent  luke        . could anything make more sense  . . . but  then  what about the lord  s command to forgive  even in the case of one  s enemies  of those who despise and persecute you without a just cause or provocation  one of the far  too  prevailing difficulties with this kind of sentimentality  as popularly misinterpreted  is the way it obscuringly over  simplifies the real meaning of forgiveness . the act of forgiveness does not  in itself  mean the same thing as unconditionally excusing the one being forgiven . when one takes a clearly sober  rationally well  balanced view here  from the perspective of god  s own attitude  all it actually amounts to is a fervent wish that the one forgiven will ultimately succeed at finding his way  seeing the light  and being granted mercy . this attitude is  of course  the very opposite of  say  that of jonah  who actually resented it when god told him that his preaching to the people of nineveh would result in their repentance . jonah didn  t want them to repent  but vindictively desired that they be destroyed . how self  righteously  cold  bloodedly like unto most professing christians he was  save that even his reasons were undoubtedly better than most  i envy jonah almost as much as he would me  however  minus the repentance of the one being forgiven  any forgiveness he may receive from a genuine christian is not going to do him any good . in such a case  the only one to benefit is the real christian himself   
i remember reading all the horrible  horrible reviews for this film when it came out . i meant to go see how horrible it was but it was out of theaters in three weeks . the only other movie to manage that is gigli .  br    br   when the movie came out on dvd  i bought it to see how awful it was . i couldn  t think of the sheer horrible attention that this film was getting was possible . after seeing it  i can understand .  br    br   first off  let me say that this film is not without some cool shots . there  s a nice shot at the beginning that shows a bullet being fired from inside the gun  which i thought was neat . and the way the monsters in this movie die is sort of cool to look at but it gets old after the first time you see it .  br    br   let me start with the worst thing in this movie tara reid . if bad acting was a sin  then hell would  ve chucked tara reid right out since she  s so unbelievably awful in this movie it  s unthinkable . and of all the roles  she plays a curator . now if she played a dumb  empty  headed sex toy then maybe i might be able to forgive her for how she treats her character . apparently  uwe boll didn  t realize that  although he did seem to think that if she took off her shirt in the movie  people would see it . he just didn  t realize that making her do that in the middle of the film at the absolute wrong moment just made the movie even more hilariously bad . and is that a mexican song or something during the scene of dry humping  i couldn  t tell .  br    br   which brings me to my next complaint uwe boll shows off some of the worst directing skills you  ll ever see in a movie . i mean  i  d give house of the dead an f  and i only do that for very few movies  but hotd would score at least a b compared to this screwed up piece of junk . the movie starts off with a very  very long narration that causes immediate confusion  and read by a horrible narrator  and from there  the cuts are really  really dumb . there  s this one point where slater and reid are looking around a building that  s been destroyed and the screen blackens out . when it comes back  slater and reid are shooting everywhere and suddenly  an entire army has joined them . huh   br    br   and someone did not bother checking the mistakes in this movie . at one point  a team breaks through glass  but the glass breaks before they touch it . tara reid  s earrings switch colors in the middle of one scene and after slater walks away from a dead comrade  you can see her begin to get up .  br    br   as for the story . . . i was really lost . something about an old tribe releasing darkness and someone  opens the path  or something and all the evil monsters pop out . it  s just an excuse to have a lot of gun scenes  the technology is so advanced here that no character ever needs to reload in this film  that get  quite simply  boring .  br    br   i bought this movie hoping to laugh at how incredibly stupid it was . i didn  t laugh  but i still think it  s stupid . very  very  very stupid .  
having not seen this film in about   years i am still impressed with it  s hard  hitting impact and stellar acting . of course  one mr . mickey rooney is indeed  incredible in his role as the ring  leading  killer  .  in reference to another review here  none other than orson welles evoked mickey rooney  s name as the greatest movie actor  also .  i also recall the jazzy  brassy score and the bare black and white photography . i love the mick  s last line before he goes out for his dose of lead poisoning .  i think the stranglers lifted it for a line in one of their songs  get a grip on yourself .  this is a great film and unjustly buried film . let  s get it out  side note  a recent film review magazine gave a big write up on don segal  s  babyface nelson   made a couple years before  last mile  and also starring mickey rooney . another rave of the mick  s intense and sympathetic performance . perhaps it  s the start of a groundswell of a appreciation for some truly superior cinematic performances .  
we should all congratulate uwe boll . he  s done the unthinkable . he may be the only director to have two movies in the bottom    on imdb  he  s like some kind of cinematic cockroach . no matter how little talent he has  and no matter how bad these movies are  he manages to keep making them . i know  he finances them all himself through some kind of bizarre german fund  but even so  his ability to keep making movies despite absolute  complete failure is one of the great mysteries of the universe .  br    br   it wouldn  t be so bad except that video game developers keep giving their best properties to this guy . i really enjoyed the alone in the dark series of games . even the latest one  the new nightmare  was good for a few hours of game play . there was a good movie to be made out of edward carnby  s adventures  but this is not it . now uwe boll has gotten his hands on bloodrayne and hunter the reckoning . what  s next  silent hill  doom  i can only imagine the swath that this guy is going to cut through game  to  movie adaptations if he  s not stopped . someone needs to take away his line of credit  or these video game publishers need to wise up and realize that when they make a bad movie out of a game that kills the franchise  no one is interested in that title any more .  br    br   think about it  is house of the dead or alone in the dark a viable game title anymore  no way . a new house of the dead game comes out for x  box and nobody  s gonna care . the title is dead  and all because of uwe boll . so if any of you out there work for a game publisher  or know a game publisher  or have access to a game publisher . . . please warn them .  br    br   this movie itself is not even worth reviewing . i can  t separate what i didn  t like about this pile of dung from the rest of it . literally  everything about it sucks . the writing  the acting  the music  the cg effects  the editing . i thought that if i waited until it came out on dvd and then rented it with low expectations  i wouldn  t be disappointed . boy  was i wrong . never underestimate uwe  s ability to turn out a big  steaming pile of boll sht .  
saw this movie when it came out in      left a lasting impression . great group of actors . a little short timewise but a great movie all the same . have only seen once since then and that was some time ago . hopefully they  ll put it out on dvd if they haven  t already .  
alone in the dark is one of my favorite role  playing  games of all time . i remember spending whole nights facing the pc screen  trying to escape that mansion and actually being startled at times when monsters came surprisingly charging in . now  mind you  i am weary of  computer  game  generated  movies . i don  t remember a single success story in this new hollywood genre  although some are entertaining enough to be watchable . and yet  i am such a big fan of the game that i couldn  t resist . my rationale was that if the movie had a plot that so much as resembled the game  s  it would be ok .  br    br   man  those were   minutes  which seemed like     of my life that i  ll never get back . if i had that chance  i would have gladly spent them rearranging my sock drawer instead . this isn  t even in the  so bad it  s funny  category . you would think even christian slater had a bit more sense than joining this stink bomb . now  tara reid . . . i  m not complaining about her presence . however  if the purpose of putting this chick in a starring role is to have a sex scene   which i totally understand and support  hey  i  m a guy    i  ve seen more of her body on press conferences .  br    br   there is no plot to speak of . won  t waste your time pitching it to you . the credibility of the story sinks below  i did not have sex with ms . lewinski  . the acting is but a few notches above  street fighter   which  by the way  being one of the worst movies i  ve seen  i would recommend over this one .  br    br   kids  i recommend the video game . it has far better story  acting and much more thrills . as for the movie  here  s a spoiler  it stinks  wait for the porno version .  
this is a very grim  hard hitting  even brutal film about a death row break that goes awry . it  s black and white photography keeps it from being dated . mickey rooney is excellent as the twisted  yet strangely sympathetic lead . one of the first movies to portray the psychological desolation of death row . it is also quite poignant .  
there should be a rule that states quite clearly that movies like resident evil are supposed to be made in the spirit of the game  not in the spirit of blowing up everything possible . re was a survival horror game  and a damn effective one at that  yet paul ws anderson managed to make it like any other video game movie to come along . alone in the dark is essentially the same kind of a spirit as resident evil  so of course  there is the slight hope the director will manage to have some piece of a brain enough to make a horror movie and not an action movie . instead  alone in the dark just proves that there is no longer hope for video games becoming movies .  br    br   the plot  despite the fact that it obviously isn  t supposed to matter  is the largest of many problems with the movie . the movie starts with what can only be described as five minutes of scrolling text that may or may not be important  as after a minute passes  the audience stops caring and just sits through the rest hitting the object closest to them . then there  s something about an orphanage  some artefacts  an ancient tribe  some bureaucracy and some demons  all of which get so jumbled together that the viewers really can  t follow with what is going on . characters move in and out of the plot like candy  some having huge build  ups for meaningless deaths . basically  what i can understand is that some demons got released  and edward carnby  slater  has some link to them thanks to some operation given to children in his orphanage which has failed on him . he finds an artefact involving the demons and brings it to an ex  girlfriend anthropologist  reid   who of course he manages to have sex with right away for no good reason . then  out of nowhere  all hell breaks loose  and the pair end up with a military team led by some asshole commander  dorff   who apparently has a mutual hatred for carnby .  br    br   it  s all ridiculous  and the reason i don  t really understand it isn  t just because it  s complicated and jumbled  but it leaves no room for anyone to really care . instead  i highly recommend that  if you must see this film  bring a tennis ball or something to occupy yourself when the plot manages to bore you into confusion .  br    br   the action scenes in a movie with a plot as terrible as this should at least bring it up a little  right  too bad  this movie is like any other ruined crap ever made  with enough quick cuts to behead a coop of chickens . considering that this is based on a horror game  not an action game  it is especially annoying .  br    br   the first action scene involving a man chasing cranby from a taxi is among the worst i have ever had to witness  and the rest isn  t all that great either . the demons look somewhat cool  though the fact that they turn into powder when killed takes away all that effect . scenes involving lots of guns which should be cool to watch instead involve the muzzle fire as the only source of light and the camera zooming and panning faster than the head of a crack addict . it  s all the kind of seizure inducing crap that keeps children in bed at night .  br    br   the acting is what i like to call taking actors and making them do nothing . slater does nothing but sound important for the whole movie  though he does seem to have more talent than he is letting on . the same is true of dorff  who gets a thankless role despite actually having some talent  something that has happened to him a lot  . reid is pretty much exactly what she should be  background sex appeal  as whenever she tries to act it is a disaster  as is the incredibly bad scientist look she has in the beginning  .  br    br   in all  this is the type of movie that worries me about future video game movies . if they keep ruining the spirit like this  it  s only a matter of time before samus aran is killing middle  easterns with an ak    and tommy vercetti is fighting a squadron of aliens . unlike resident evil  however  this one doesn  t deserve a second chance  as i don  t think anything could possibly help me forget just how terrible this movie is . it  s bland  uninteresting and unexciting . this is the movie equivalent of diarrhea it  s all thrown together  nothing really fits and  in the end  you  re just glad it  s over .  br    br   total    
  br    br   i have seen this movie many times . at least a dozen . but unfortunatly not recently . however  etched in my memory never to leave me is a scene in which mickey rooney    killer mears  knows that he is to be executed and it  s getting close to the moment of truth  he dances  and cries  and laughs  he vacillates from hesteria to euphoria and runs the gambit of ever emotion . never have i seen such a brilliant performance by any actor living or dead  past or present . it was then i know for sure that mickey rooney  yes   andy hardy  was and is a actor of great genius . however i kept it  my opinion to myself for years thinking  surely i must be alone in this viewpoint . about   years or so after i saw this film for the last time on television  i chanced to read the old q  a section of the los angeles times . the question was posed to lawrence olivier  and the question was  mr . olivier you are considered one of the greatest actors of all time  whom then do you consider to be among the greatest actors   his answer was   peter finch and mickey rooney  i was stunned  but not surprised . i immediatly flashed back to his  killer mears  and i felt very good for having seen this great ability in him  and now having my view supported by another whos work i admired . . later of course there was  bill  and many other great moments with mikey rooney . this film   the last mile  should be seen by all acting students . i frankly cannot remember a great deal about the film after all these years but mr . rooney in it  will never leave me . if anyone out there remembers this film the same as i do  i would be interested in hearing from you . for this picture etched in my heart alone i gave it a   just on the face of his performance .  
alone in the dark is uwe boll  s kick in the nuts to hollywood after house of the dead  s punch in the face .  br    br   if anything it proves just how much of a master manipulator boll is . after forcing artisan out of business over the flop that was house of the dead  one can only assume the normally credible lion  s gate films only released aitd under contractual obligation after acquiring artisan  s assets . because aitd is an even bigger example of complete lack of coherent film  making ability  plot exposition and just plain stealing poorly from other movies because it was supposed to look cool instead of because it fitted within the movie  s framework .  br    br   but then that  s the point  isn  t it . boll isn  t trying to make a coherent film because he isn  t trying to direct alone in the dark . he  s just trying to manipulate hollywood .  br    br   alone in the dark  like house of the dead  dungeon siege  far cry  bloodrayne and the other  or  projects that are  announced  or in  pre  production  .  br    br   these aren  t movies to be directed  but investment portfolios . every single one of them rushed into production under the pretence that the tax law boll and his investors are exploiting may be closed within the next  to  years . the more bomb projects he can release within that time  frame  the more money he and his investors can gain . why bother making a good movie when a bad movie  s making you a mint anyway  the result is movies like the awfulness of alone in the dark .  br    br   alone in the dark  like all his other movies are just a cynical exploitation of hollywood  s current trend for lazy film  making .  br    br   and to those who support boll by calling him misunderstood or the next ed wood  congratulations  by making a cult figure out of the man  you  re just making it easier for him to get investors but giving him notoriety .  br    br   for more information  read here http   www . cinemablend . com  feature . php  id    http   www . cinemablend . com  forum  showthread . php  sthreadid      as an aside  just don  t ask me how he  s getting his cast  lists together . unless the actors are in on the investment  scam somehow  that mystery has still to be uncovered .  
have just finished watching this film  which upset me greatly . have also been to south africa twice  around the time this film is set .  br    br   it is certainly hard  hitting  and the opening scenes tend to  set the scene  . the slow but steady increase of pace hardly allows a break  and there are certainly few light moments .  br    br   will never be able to view nigel hawthorne the same again . he came across as a very twisted individual  and i found myself disliking him more each time he appeared .  br    br   totally agree with steve  thomp  s articulate and well thought  out comments .  
alone in the dark is one bad movie and tied with deuce bigalow for worst movie of the year . i wish that was all i had to say but of course the imdb stipulates a word count and all that .  br    br   i  m in two minds about what kind of bad movie is a worse kind of bad movie . a low budget dreck like red zone cuba  monster a go go and manos . or a huge budget disgrace like gigli  superbabies or this guff . you see movies like monster a go go and manos happen because the director hasn  t a clue . movies like this happen because the director is a stupid  money grabbing idiot who simply doesn  t care about his audience .  br    br   it  s more shocking when you consider that uwe boll  the mastermind behind this shocking crap and already has some real garbage under his belt  has created something that only happens once in a blue moon . the really terribly bad horror film . everything about it is a mess . cheesy cgi  bad plot  insane random camera cuts and appalling soundtrack .  br    br   alone in the dark is a dreadful movie that should be watched by absolutely nobody . woo hoo  review over . give me a bud  roll on     and may i never speak of this again .  br    br   don  t watch this film .  
i guess when  beat street  made a national appearance   flashdance  came at the same time . the problem with  flashdance  is that there was only one break dancing scene and the rest was jazz dance and ballet . that was one of the reasons why  beat street  was better . the only movie that could rival  beat street  seems to be  footloose   because both movies focused on how dance had been used by people to express their utmost feelings .  br    br   the break  dance scenes in  beat street  come just before the middle and at the end of the flick . and i loved all of them . almost all of the break tricks were featured in the break jam scenes the jackhammer  the flares  the head spins  the suicide sit  the crazy legs  the mortal  the forward flip  the figure four    almost everything .  br    br   like  the warriors    beat street  does have violence related to the gang life in the hip hop world . . . but in a much less violent way than the former . the only major fight scene in  beat street  was when graffiti artist ramon  which in the movie was abbreviated as  ramo   is chased by a rival gang member on the new york city subway tracks . . . . . fighting each other on the third rail and both dying by electrocution on that rail . well  although that chase scene ended tragically  it was better that they died that way than having blood exploding from a gang gunshot .  br    br   most of the gang stuff in the flick was graffiti related to the hip  hop culture  and rap music . a lot of rap music appeared in the flick  because hip  hop members used rap music as a diversion to the negative aspects of gang life . even the theme song of the movie  which closed the curtain to the flick  was not just an homage to hip  hop culture   it also was an homage to the death of ramon .  br    br   by the way  during the dance scene called  tango  tango   i guess the female drummer in the pit orchestra conducted by actress rae dawn chong was sheila e . making a cameo appearance .  
seriously what were they thinking  over the course of years the columbo series has tried out some new things and diverted away from the usual successful formula but this movie really overdoes it . this movie is basically very different from any other columbo movie but the differences are not for the good of the movie .  br    br   main thing that of course makes this movie different from any other columbo movie is the fact that there is no murder being committed . the entire premise of this movie is totally different and it places the columbo character in a totally different environment and situation . also the overall is just totally different and more  modernized  .  br    br   director alan j . levi did some other columbo movies in the past  which all very much sticked to the usual formula . it also makes it an odd choice that he got picked to direct this movie .  br    br   the columbo character himself also feels quite different  perhaps because of the reason that he gets placed in a totally different environment and situation  when he helps out his nephew after his bride disappeared right after the wedding . the absence of some good relieving and trademark columbo humor also doesn  t exactly make this a good or enjoyable watch .  br    br   in all honesty  the movie doesn  t begin too bad but the movie starts to become more and more ridicules with its story as it progresses . it  s such a stupid written kidnap  thriller with a story that starts to become more and more unlikely . it also makes the movie more and more unwatchable . this is a very little interesting columbo entry that also really doesn  t know to entertain its viewers in any way .  br    br   it also doesn  t help much that the supporting actors aren  t the most talented ones around . despite the fact that his character is put in such a totally different situation and the movie is shot in such a completely different style  peter falk still holds up well and his presence still somewhat saves this movie . can you just imaging how this movie would had been without him  it would had been an extremely bad and ridicules cheap movie i can tell you .  br    br   an odd columbo entry  which could be described as a failed experiment to divert from the usual formula .  br    br        
this movie is nothing short of a dark  gritty masterpiece . i may be bias  as the apartheid era is an area i  ve always felt for . but i  d say it ranks right up with cry freedom and cry the beloved country . sadly up until a few days ago i  d never even heard of this movie . inside is one of the most underrated films of all time  probably because it was a small film company  i  d never even heard of it before . eric stoltz  one of my favorite actors anyway  is believable and dramatic  nigel hawthorne plays his dastardly role well . do not look for humor in this film  there is none . it is real  savage and gritty to the last  and to the sensitive i  d say bring a box of tissues . but movies as great as this make you wonder  why is it that the greatest films are often never heard of   
    s christian slater  tara reid  stephen dorff  frank c . turner  mathew walker  will sanderson . directed by uwe boll .  br    br   based on the video game director uwe boll attempts to recreate the game into an action  packed nail biter sadly he doesn  t succeed . instead he makes one of the worst movies ever made  even though he gets minor celebrity such as christian slater  tara reid and stephen dorff his movie lacks the necessary fundamentals that a movie needs to be good such as a story line  and some basic relativity of what  s going on in the dark and the light . the movie bounces all around and uwe boll has no creative control . and not to mention the bad cgi used on making the monsters . even though they did look cool and the feedings were well  a little lame . honestly this is one of the worst movies ever made . my final rating     .  
scanners ii the new order is just as good as david cronenberg  s classic scanners  scanners was made in     and scanners ii in     so their  s an eleven year gap between the two movies . the film captures the style of scanners which is a good thing  it wouldn  t be scanners without a head explosion so scanners ii has a head explosion scene that  s just has gruesome as the first . scanners ii the new order has some other imaginative gory scenes that are done well . the plot to scanners ii the new order is a new take on the series since it has the scanners being used as a vigilante force for a police chief and a group of scientists until a young scanner named david kellum discovers he  s being used and decides to get revenge .  br    br   scanners ii the new order is a great sequel to david cronenberg  s sci  fi classic scanners and should be seen . check this out .       
the title of worse film of all time is one that gets handed out quickly and often . most of the time it is exaggeration of the fact but i would like to welcome alone in the dark to the short list of real candidates plan  from outer space  battlefield earth  and the adventures of pluto nash .  br    br   as i watched the   minute bore i found it difficult to even stay awake even while i was trying so hard to laugh at the film . but alas i felt alone in the dark  i was gonna try to avoid the pun but i couldn  t resist  as i looked around hoping to see mike nelson and his two robot friends . alas my friends and i had to provide comedy throughout the film .  br    br   so . . . about the film itself . lets talk about the action and effects since that should be the only positive part of the film . the film contains evil creatures that are a cross between the xenos in aliens  they even call them xenos   and the creatures in pitch black . the can turn invisible at random  and i assure you it is random  and get hurt by light . also present are small centipede creatures used to control humans that transform them into something resembling a zombie . all of these are shown with outdated special effects that would have been mediocre in     . the action scenes are chaotic and are impossible to follow . people shooting randomly on a blue screen stage or an empty set at monsters who were inserted in post . light quickly flashes on a dark screen making your pupils burn from overwork while bad rock music blares in the background .  br    br   and those were the high points . the story revolving around a paranormal investigator  slater  whose idea of looking tough is wearing a black wife beater tshirt with a trench  coat and not shaving for  days . an archaeologist  reid  who is rather inept . and a government agent  dorff  whose lines involve barking order . all three should be ashamed at their performances  not that they have really ever done a good a job before  and the casting director should be ashamed . reid and slater are supposed to be lovers in the film i guess . the film contains the single most awkward love scene i have ever seen on film between the two .  br    br   then comes the plot . quiet frankly the parts that make sense are not interesting at all . the rest is illogical at best . the plot holes could contain the collective egos of all three stars . the film begins with text and a voice explaining the back  story . this opening lasts for over a minute and already the viewer knows they are in for something terrible . this opening narration is later repeated adnausem in the awkward dialog in a very clumsy and heavy handed fashion through the rest of the film . and the ending did not make one ounce of sense . not only did it not make sense in the world of the film  it simply did not make sense .  br    br   finally the direction of one uwe boll . disgrace  thats all that can be said . his use of shaking the camera to simulate suspense . his lack of direction with the actors . just watch reid in scenes in which she is not center focus of the shot . the complete waste of special effects money for bullet time effects . and finally choosing to use voice over to explain something that should be painfully obvious to the viewers .  br    br   i payed a   .   to see this show at a second run theater . and while the laughs me and my friends provided made it worth every quarter i would advise people to avoid paying any more for this film . grab about  friends and split the rental cost and tear this movie a new one .  br    br   shame on you uwe boll . shame on you tara reid . shame on you christian slater . shame on you stephen dorff . shame on anyone who was associated with this film .  
as b movies go  it was well above average  i warn the reader now that i may reveal certain key elements of the plot or other parts of the movie  although i am trying to minimise any such tendency  . as sequels usually go  it was utterly fantastic  despite a  cookie cutter  approach to trying to copy certain elements from the original movie verbatum . despite this sometimes tedious tendency  it seemed to work in this particular film  so long as the viewer could divorce his attention from comparisons to the original  scanners   .  br    br   the movie was similar in ways to the  superman  series  in terms of the main character  s description of his early childhood and relationship with his parents  who seemed modelled along the same lines as the kents in the  superman  stories  and the theme of a morally pure hero possessed of extraordinary powers from an early age  etc . the depiction of profound feelings of alienation of prodigious or otherwise non  conforming children  adolescents and  or adults was a theme which reminded me of films such as  real genius   and  to a more superficial degree   doctor mordrid  and struck a particularly strong chord .  br    br   the film had a positive message  and was fun to watch . i found some of the insights and accuracy  in terms of depiction of certain aspects of paranormal experiences  fascinating  and even profoundly touching at times . these moments occasionally appeared from among all of the great formula  driven schlock and gratuitous sex  uality  in this case  as the sexual elements were tastefully done  and violence that makes b movies  or shakespearian plays  for that matter   so much fun to watch   br    br   this is a must watch for all comic book  sci  fi   remote viewing  enthusiasts  and horror fans  with the right exposure in the right circles  the film could develop quite a cult following  along with the original  scanners  .  
this should be my kind of movie . even if it sucked  it still should have been right up my alley hell  i like  congo   and  allan quatermaine  movies . i have a soft spot in my heart for silly alien  demon  adventure movies . let  s go over why i decided to watch this in the first place .  br    br    . horror  sci  fi almost always intrigues me  . i  m a big fan of archaeology  and this movie does involve a rare treasure .  . super  natural enemies with quality fx .  . christian slater and dorf i generally enjoy .  . tara reid is hot .  br    br   so this movie had potential  at least in the cheese  horror section of the video store  but boy did it suck ass . the only redeeming aspects are slater and dorf  and not everyone finds them as entertaining as i do . . . i mean  let  s face it  both are melodramatic . but now on to some of the many faults .  br    br   tara reid . even though the movie as a whole is worse  reid  s performance is truly awful . we  re not just talking bad  i  m talking about nominating tara reid for worst performance of the year . i don  t know if she is capable of acting  but playing the museum curator is simply out of her league . . . completely . watching her try to carry the roll of educated scientist wasn  t much different than what you get watching the setup in bad porn . i mean this isn  t just bad  it is laughably bad . oh  and for those of you curious  she doesn  t get naked  only down to a bra in a silly  totally unnecessary love scene .  br    br   even with reid  s performance  perhaps the movie could have worked  but the plot is what dominates  and the plot seems written by a   year old . i hadn  t realized this was a video game adaptation until after watching the dvd  otherwise i would have appreciated the stupidity in real  time .  br    br   the storyline jumps back and forth from slater  s childhood at an orphanage where he gets flashbacks of something terrible that happened  he has amnesia  of course . in his adult life slater was recruited by some unit     a paranormal military force that apparently hunts evil or something . slater had to leave because he was too rebellious  i guess  you never really know unless it was in one of those voice  overs i zoned out during . the movie starts with slater hunting artifacts  obtaining his latest piece after some dealings with a  chilean mercenary force specializing in selling rare antiquities .  i may have the exact quote wrong  but you get the idea .  br    br   there is an evil doctor that wants to unleash some hellions on earth  no reason given   experiments on children  super demon  alien  human hybrids   photonic  bullets  the demon things can  t stand sunlight  and  of course  slater and dorf to try to save everyone .  br    br   jesus  i can  t even being to wade through the clichd elements . the script badly needed reworking to narrow the focus and provide some depth . i mean  why is this evil scientist so damn evil  oh right  humans are doomed and he is just trying to save the human race . i guess he  s infected  how did that happen  oh right he has one of the evil demon things in a cage and draws its blood to shoot into himself . how the hell did that happen  why and where did he get the super slugs  oh yes  they use the old sci  fi stand by of parasitic aliens  demons which  fuse  with the spine of their host  of course  slater is  like blade  half super  slug powered  but his slug  didn  t fully fuse due to an electrical shock   thank god . oh  and the people with these  fused  spines  have no idea they  re half  alien  demon and act as good members of the community until some secret signal is given whence they turn killer zombies . yeah we get zombies .  br    br   so lots of crap that could be entertaining  but none of it is .  br    br   also  the ending is completely stupid as everything turns out to be not that big of a deal to fix in the first place . . . at least nothing a little dynamite can  t handle .  br    br   not the very worst thing you  ll see  but a truly bad movie .  
as a rule  a full moon production logo is a warning sign to avoid a film . but because i  ve enjoyed jeffrey combs in other films  i gave it a shot .  br    br   it  s not bad . not great  but that  s something else . the film involves a struggle with a mystic  evil   brother  who wants to dominate the worlds  and the title character . dr . mordrid also has to deal with people  and authorities in the mundane world  which he does successfully .  br    br   possible spoilers follow .  br    br   dr . mordrid can travel between  dimensions   and does so to find a companion guarding a fortress however  the guard has been blinded . his eyes are ruined pits . so the wizard passes his hands across the other  s eyes  and hey  presto  his eyes have been restored  this sort of healing apparently only works with eyes .  br    br   later  mordred and his  brother  animate a couple of animal skeletons in a museum to fight . guess which one wins .  br    br   however  side from that  the picture isn  t at all bad  though much like a comic book . dr . mordred  s more  human  adventures are okay  and combs plays the role convincingly .  br    br   i  ve seen lots worse .  
tara reid as an intellectual  christian slater  usually great  as a dollar store constantine and stephen dorff as . . . well it  s stephen dorff for christ sake     i personally just want to thank those brilliant casting directors for the hard work and effort . you guys are on . heres an idea  just my humble lowly opinion as the movie going public but it follows directly with your previous choices  a movie about the most brilliant neuro  physicist in history invent one pill to cure all diseases ever known to man and get this  heres the clincher they have to be played by jessica simpson and paris hilton . i knew you guys would love that . seriously though you owe me   .   .  
possibly the best movie ever created in the history of jeffrey combs career  and one that should be looked upon by all talent in hollywood for his versatility  charisma  and uniqueness he brings through his characters and his knowledge of acting .  
spoilers ahead  but does it really matter  have you ever read a movie review composed entirely of questions  could this be it  why did an ancient civilization bury artifacts all over the world  why is this question never answered  why was the opening text crawl incoherent  why would a nun  she sure seemed nice   hand over   orphans to a madman  has there always been a gold mine in downtown vancouver  why does one of the gold mine  s shafts exit in the front yard of an orphanage  why does tara reid  s character suddenly show up at christian slater  s apartment for sex   or did i just answer my own question   why would even a non  archaeologist bang open an obviously valuable solid gold chest with a sledgehammer  why would modern computers still display green pre  tron  era grid outlines of objects  complete with little  bleeps   and must all movie explosive timers have digital displays  why doesn  t anything in this movie make any sense   
this film surprised me a little . i watch a lot of horror  sci  fi films and this is a straight  to  video release that caught me off guard a little . i believe this is full moon  s best movie thus far and one of jeffrey combs best performances . good movie .  
honestly  i can  t be bothered to spend my time writing about this milestone of cinematic incompetence  life is simply too short . what i will say is that  alone in the dark succeeds in only three things  . it will make you laugh  but for all the wrong reasons .  . it manages to throw several useless plots into the air but dropping all of them .  br    br   and  br    br    . it utterly disgraces the classic pc game on which it is supposedly based by being a complete failure in all aspects of film  making .  br    br   doctor boll  if that is indeed what you are  i  m thinking proctology here   what on earth are you doing in a director  s chair   
two sorcerers battle in the fourth dimension  one  brian thompson as a kabal  trying to destroy the earth  the other  jeffrey combs as a anton mordrid  trying to save it .  doctor mordrid  is an enjoyable fantasy fare which offers plenty of cheese . the plot is pretty silly and the gore is completely absent  but the film is very short and entertaining . so if you have enough time to kill give this one a look . my rating  out of   .  
i usually start by relaying the premise of the film  but before anyone makes any hasty judgments about my review  let me preface it by saying that i  m someone who likes most films  just check my other reviews  . alone in the dark is a film by director uwe boll  whose film right before this one was house of the dead       . like alone in the dark  it was also a film adaptation of a video game . almost everyone hated it . well  i loved it . i even gave it a   out of    my point in stating this  which will surely turn some readers off immediately  is that if even i hated alone in the dark  there must be something wrong with it .  br    br   the premise who am i kidding  attempting to state a premise for this film is about as easy as trying to balance the united states  budget  but here it goes anyway . some archaeologists discovered evidence of some lost american indian tribe . the indian tribe apparently had discovered some means of broaching the  second world   which was evil in nature . the bad stuff wiped them out  but not before they could lock the door to the evil world and throw away the key . later  some scientist  government researcher who had been experimenting with the paranormal  and specifically this tribe  decided to experiment on some kids  to try to produce some kind of hybrid with the second world .  believe it or not   everything up to this point and then some is told to us in a written prologue to the film   it  s just white text scrolling across a black screen with a voice  over also reading it to us  . then  there was something about the kids being in an orphanage  but the government takes them back out  and then a bunch of people are searching for archaeological relics  and there are super humans roaming around  and a bunch of military people are called in and on and on .  br    br   in fact  the exposition never really stops . it  s like a neverending backstory from hell . there are enough ideas here to fill at least   films  maybe   . but not one of them is presented in a coherent way to create one good film . in addition to the mystical lost indian tribe and the superhumans  we also get monsters that resemble a cross between alien and a werewolf  worms that invade your body and turn into snake  like aliens  tunneling worms underground  zombies  starship trooper  like wars  evil scientists  underground lairs  gold mines  spooky warehouses  impalements  big mostly unused museums  government conspiracies  golden trunks pulled out of the sea  nuns  explosions  complex backstabbing plots  a very ambiguous romance  car chases  home invasions  kitchen sinks . . . wait  i can  t remember if that last one was in the film . even more amazingly  amusingly    in fangoria      producer shawn williamson was quoted as saying   we  re spending much more time on story  being very meticulous about that  . tara reid called alone in the dark  a smarter film  .  br    br   let me not mislead anyone . a lot of that stuff above might sound yummy to the potential audience for this film  but the problem is that nothing has the slightest connection to anything else . i usually had no idea what any setting  s relation was to any other setting  why we were there  or what anyone was doing  at least when each scene began  . it  s just a random mishmash of settings and clichs  as if director uwe boll had    unrelated ideas in a hat and pulled them out like lottery numbers . then when he was done  he and editor richard schwadel decided to cut the film by using dice  then reassembled it by throwing the i ching . sometimes the film plays like an extended director  s reel  which is a combination of short  varied  unrelated scenes that directors circulate to try to get work   but perhaps that  s being too generous . i  m not sure boll would get work if this were his reel .  br    br   just as i tend to at least like most films  i tend to like most actors and most performances . it  s very rare that i say that a performance was bad . well  tara reid was bad here   and i  m someone who usually likes reid . i don  t know what happened . for a large percentage of the film  they just move her around the set like a prop . they might as well have just bought a blow  up doll . that would have saved them money that they could have used for some cgi ghosts and vampires in castle and graveyard settings . maybe they chose to move her around like a pretty piece of driftwood after they saw the dailies of her mumbling nonsense dialogue in a monotone that  s usually reserved for entertaining mother  in  laws .  br    br   and speaking of that dialogue  a lot of alone in the dark plays like a godzilla film without godzilla . by that  i mean that it  s a lot of pseudo  scientific gobbledy  gook . at least in godzilla films  there  s a campiness to it  because they know how ridiculous it is  and there  s a big payoff in that we get to see godzilla destroy downtown and battle a giant gnat with radioactive death beams shooting from its eyes or something .  br    br   just what stephen dorff and christian slater are doing here  besides overacting and filing lawsuits against their agents  is difficult to say . i can  t say that i thought anyone in the film had a decent performance  although maybe slater at least saw the cigar . i think that  s unprecedented for me .  br    br   still  i didn  t give this film a  . there was some competent cinematography  even if boll and schwadel made mincemeat out of it  and the hard rock tunes over the end credits were good . heck  even the novelette prologue wasn  t so bad . i actually thought the film had promise at that point . but this may just be the worst film i  ve ever seen with a budget of   million or more .  
new york city houses one man above all others  the possibly immortal dr . anton mordrid . mordrid is the sworn protector of humanity  using his magical powers to keep his brother and rival  kabal  chained up so that he may not enslave the human race . well  wouldn  t you know it  a prophesy comes true and kabal breaks free  and begins collecting elements  including platinum and uranium  for his alchemy experiments . with the help of a police woman named sam  can mordrid defeat his evil brother   dr . mordrid  comes to me courtesy of charles band in the full moon archive collection . i had not heard of it  which is a bit odd given that i  m a big fan of jeffrey combs  mordrid  and the film isn  t that old . but now it  s mine and i can enjoy it again and again . the film certainly is fun in the classic full moon style . richard band provides the music  which doesn  t differ much from all his other scores  and brian thompson plays the evil kabal . we even have animated dinosaur bones  what more do you want  of course  the cheese factor is high . i felt much of the film was a rip  off of the dr . strange comics . and the blue pantsuit was silly . and plot holes are everywhere  i could list at least five  but why bother  . and why does the ancient symbol of mordrid and kabal look suspiciously like a hammer and sickle  combs has never been a strong actor  so he fits right in with the cheese . these aren  t complaints . full moon fans have come to expect these things and devour them like crack  laced grape nuts . i  m guilty . . . i loved this film .  br    br   if you  re not a full moon fan  or a jeffrey combs fan . . . you may want to look elsewhere . but if you like the early     s style of movie  making and haircuts  you  ll eat this up . stallone and schwarzenegger fans might like seeing brian thompson as a villain  looking as goony as ever and not being able to enunciate english beyond a third grade level . i did . i wish there was a  mordrid ii   but the company that makes a sequel to practically everything  is  gingerdead man   really necessary   passed on this one .  
the definition of an abomination as defined by webster  s dictioary is  a cause of abhorrence or disgust .  if someone can think of a more appropriate word or definition than this for alone in the dark  please let me know because this is the best i can come up with . however  i do no feel that in anyway this word describes how truly awful this film is .  br    br   i went to see this film with two of my roommates . one has very similar tastes to me  the other is an action  adventure flick guru . this latter guy usually doesn  t care about the size of the plot holes  as long as the movie contains lots of explosions he will walk away satisfied .  br    br   that being said we entered the theater for the friday viewing of alone in the dark . little to my surprise we were the only people in the theater . when it started i knew why immediately .  br    br   it begins with the worst opening scene of any movie  and unfortunately i have to admit it only gets worse from there . the opening scene is a  minute scroll text that is narrated . yet  i understand why it was narrated . the director must have understood that only illiterate people would even ascertain the thought of paying to see this movie . yet  not only is this first scene the longest scroll text in the history of cinema  but it also makes no sense . it seems as if in the same sequence we are hearing about to completely separate movies . one is about an ancient civilization and its tampering with a portal  the other is about a crazy scientist and his experiments on orphans . if you are reading this and are confused  you are not alone .  br    br   then the awful storyline  acting  effects  and camera work begin . tara reid is horrendous as an actress . she does nothing to even for one second make you think that she is a museum curator . slater is just bad  not convincing  and has no chemistry with reid .  br    br   the plot is probably the worst thing ever created by man . the entire time myself and the roommate with similar tastes are asking questions like what is this  and what is going on  other than this scrolling garbage we have a few narrated sequences by slater himself . are they good  no . do they explain anything  no . do we at any point as an audience have the slightest inkling as to why we should care what happens  once again  no .  br    br   then we have a random sex scene . we are told that slater and reid are together  yet at no time do they act as though they even care about on another . but then bam . . . sex scene . once again i don  t know .  br    br   a good  oh i don  t know    seconds after that woeful scene ends we have a gunfight with   or so military and a similar number of alien things . this is set to a heavy  metal track and causes more brain hemorrhaging than one ever thought possible .  br    br   and if that wasn  t enough . . .  br    br   there exists no main villain . there is the scientist and there are the  alien  things . at one point the scientist controls the alien things and stands on a hill commanding them to attack the military outpost . why  how did he become the supreme commander of these things  why do they listen to him  once again i have no idea .  br    br   the movie ends with slater and reid walking in an evacuated city . why was the city evacuated  did the alien things break through  did the military tell them  who knows . . . and by this point who cares  i didn  t and you won  t .  br    br   but to top it off  slater and reid are attacked by an alien thing . even though it was stated that alien things will be killed by exposure to sunlight . and thats right  you guessed it  it the middle of the ing day and it  s bright as can be . maybe the alien thing bought a pair of sunglasses  i don  t know and i don  t care .  br    br   now after the movie ended i ran outside the theater  all  foot  inches of me  waving my arms and shaking my afro telling everyone not to go see this movie . even my gung  ho action  adventure roommate  who would consider a movie that just cut and pasted  hours of explosion into  film to be the greatest thing ever created  admitted that plot holes were very evident in this film .  br    br   to sum up this crap  fest i give it a  .     and would give it lower if i could .  br    br   unequivocally  the worst movie ever made . i wouldn  t wish this movie on my worst enemy .  
i loved this movie for two reasons   jeff combs is absolutely wonderful in it . plays the role of the modern wizard to the hilt .  and is absolutely adorable .    the movie helped to inspire a role  playing game i thoroughly enjoy  mage the awakening . i  ve shown it at various larp after  parties  and it  s always a big hit .  br    br   dd love and jeff  squeeing aside  it  s not exactly a masterpiece  but it  s well  done and thoroughly enjoyable . the plot is fast  moving and engaging in its simplicity  the special effects are pretty good for such a low budget  and the script  while nothing stellar  was not too badly done  and cheesy in all the right places . a good way to spend an evening .  
the minute the forward started  i knew we were in for trouble  the premise is laughable at best . the story line was even worse  if that is possible .  br    br   the acting was stiff and the actors gave off a sense of inexperience . you expect more from the likes of slater  reid and dorff . lines were delivered as if from a robot . and i  m sorry  i like reid but she was very unbelievable as an archaeologist . slater and dorff picked a lousy film to try and stage their comebacks .  br    br   the continuity was off through out the entire film . the creatures weren  t bad  but they really weren  t good either .  br    br   bottom line  i want that ninety minutes of my life back . they can keep the money  but give me the time  what a waste .  
doctor mordrid is one of those rare films that is completely under the radar  but is totally worthwhile . it really reminds me of the old serials from the   s and   s . which is why i  d have loved to see follow  up movies . . . but judging by the rest of full moon  s output there simply weren  t enough tits to satisfy the typical audience . unfortunately  thanks to a completely superfluous sacrifice scene there two too many for a family audience  which is unfortunate  because without em  this could have been a harry potter  style magicfest that kids would have eaten up . both jeffrey combs and yvette nipar are great  i wasn  t sure if ms . nipar hadn  t wandered off an a  list picture onto this film  she was very believable . no  seriously  anyway  it  s a shame they didn  t have the bucks to license dr . strange  because i think this could have been a total kiddie phenom .  
this movie succeeds at being one of the most unique movies you  ve seen . however this comes from the fact that you can  t make heads or tails of this mess . it almost seems as a series of challenges set up to determine whether or not you are willing to walk out of the movie and give up the money you just paid . if you don  t want to feel slighted you  ll sit through this horrible film and develop a real sense of pity for the actors involved  they  ve all seen better days  but then you realize they actually got paid quite a bit of money to do this and you  ll lose pity for them just like you  ve already done for the film . i can  t go on enough about this horrible movie  its almost something that ed wood would have made and in that case it surely would have been his masterpiece .  br    br   to start you are forced to sit through an opening dialogue the likes of which you  ve never seen  heard  this thing has got to be five minutes long . on top of that it is narrated  as to suggest that you the viewer cannot read . then we meet mr . slater and the barrage of terrible lines gets underway  it is as if he is operating solely to get lines on to the movie poster tag line . soon we meet stephen dorff  who i typically enjoy  and he does his best not to drown in this but ultimately he does . then comes the ultimate insult  tara reid playing an intelligent role  oh help us  tara reid is not a very talented actress and somehow she continually gets roles in movies  in my opinion though she should stick to movies of the american pie type .  br    br   all in all you just may want to see this for yourself when it comes out on video  i know that i got a kick out of it  i mean lets all be honest here  sometimes its comforting to revel in the shortcomings of others .  
this started out to be a movie about the street culture of the bronx in new york . what it accomplished was to give birth to a new culture and way of life  for american youth . what other movie has done this except rebel without a cause  one of the most important movies of all time . the elements are simple yet fascinating . the story is timeless  young people try to succeed against all odds . yet the story is always believable and never depressing . the characters are so realistic  a city dweller  would recognize them as neighbors . the story is entertaining  and comes to a satisfying ending . buy this one for your permanent collection . it is a piece of american history .  
whenever a columbo story deviates from the familiar plot  colorful killer commits crime  columbo smokes out killer  columbo becomes a pest in the process   the writers somehow are never able to match the quality and interest of most traditional episodes . this episode deviates in the extreme  and the result is a major flop .  br    br   would you believe columbo never faces the villain till the very end     br    br   frankly  i was tempted to turn it off about two  thirds through .  br    br   oh  the sacrifices we self  appointed reviewers make     
i really enjoyed  doctor mordrid  . this is a low  budget film  which may be off  putting to some  but i have no problem with it . i admire it even more for that  considering it  s way more entertaining than the drivel that hollywood churns out every year . too bad this didn  t get a theatrical release i don  t know about anyone else  but i would have went to see it in theatres . doctor mordrid  is a very entertaining science fiction film that just about anyone can enjoy  especially if they  re into sci  fi like i am . i don  t see why this is a r  rated film only one f  word is said  and there are no gruesome death scenes  nor is there any blood at all . the timeless rivalry between sorcerers anton and kabal  anton wanted the use his powers to save the human race  while kabal wanted to enslave them   gave the story a sense of enchantment  while the mythical plotline added charm to the story itself . basically  this a film that  s just plain fun to watch . there is one unintentionally funny thing in this movie  though seeing jeffrey combs keeping a straight face while wearing that silly blue cape and suit . that makes me laugh every time i see it . but i digress . . . anyway  the acting is great the main protagonists  anton  and his lady friend  samantha   are very likable anton is sympathetic  and hospitable  and samantha is friendly . plus  the settings were wonderful . the floating island in the other dimension was very cool setting we  re only given a glimpse of it twice  though it would have been great to see more scenes take place here . the main setting was also very neat anton  s apartment is very roomy  and he has some cool devices  especially the monitoring system he uses to keep track of the world  s occurrences . he even has a pet raven that he keeps in his apartment named edgar . overall  this a great film it was fun to watch  and the main actors put a lot of feeling into their roles . if you can find anywhere that rents doctor mordrid   you should rent it  or  in my case  buy it . it was definitely money well  spent    br    br   my rating  stars out of ten .  br    br    
well where do i begin my story   i went to this movie tonight with a few friends not knowing more than the actors that were in it  and that it was supposed to be a horror movie .  br    br   well i figured out within the first   minutes  what a poor decision i had made going out seeing this movie . the plot was crap  and so was the script . the lines were horrible to the point that people in the audience were laughing hysterically .  br    br   the cast couldn  t have been more plastic looking . even some of the scenes seemed like they should have been made much quicker . . . like they dragged on for no particular reason . very poor editing .  br    br   all in all this movie was a giant waste of time and money . boo .  
dr . mordrid  what can i say  jeffrey combs has done it again   br    br   anton mordrid has been on earth for    years waiting for kabal  an evil sorcerer  to come so he can kill him . mordrid and kabal used to train together as kids  so mordrid knows all kabal  s tricks .  br    br   the film as a little bit confusing at begin with  but soon you feel a part of the action . i won  t give away the ending  so go and watch doctor mordrid   br    br   i found the film to be very enjoyable because it doesn  t have a lot of violence in  nor sexual scenes . the film focused on the plot and that  s what i like  i find the best films are the ones where times seems to fly by . this is because you are so engrossed in the film . doctor mordrid is a fantasticly engrossing movie  i give it a   out of   . worth seeing   br    br    
the movie starts out with some scrolling text which takes nearly five minutes . it gives the basic summary of what is going on . this could have easily been done with acting but instead you get a scrolling text effect . soon after you are bombarded with characters that you learn a little about  keep in mind this is all you will learn about them . the plot starts to get off the ground and then crashes through the entire movie . not only does the plot change  but you might even ask yourself if your watching the same movie . i have never played the video game  but know people who have . from my understanding whether you  ve played the game or not this movie does not get any better . save your money unless you like to sleep at the theaters .  
i have to admit that holly was not on my watch list for the edinburgh film festival . however  after the artistic director of the festival specifically recommended this film to an audience of over    people prior to the screening of another film  i decided to go to see it . wow   br    br   this film is dealing with the very difficult issue of child prostitution and does so without any compromise . i have found myself crying a number of times during the movie and laughing at others . speaking about an emotional roller coaster .  br    br   the lead actor  thuy nguyen  is a vietnamese newcomer  who was only   at the time of filming  and had to tackle this incredibly complex and difficult role . she reminded me of keisha castle  hughes from whale rider but the role here is much more demanding as she has to play a child prostitute . chances are that she will win numerous awards .  br    br   the main story is about a girl who was sold to prostitution by her family and held as a sex  slave in a brothel in cambodia . she meets an american  played by ron livingston in a strong dramatic role that we are not used to see from him   who after spending some time with her decides to help her . by that time however  she is sold again and he is going on a search for her around cambodia . the story turns and twists and the audience can never predict what will happen next .  br    br   the acting was strong across the board with a very interesting international cast . udo kier  very convincing as a sex tourist   virgine ledoyen  touching as a social worker  and chris penn  one of his last movies  . the asian cast was also superb .  br    br   although the film deals with this difficult subject matter it focuses successfully on telling a compelling  powerful story . it was shot in cambodia  some scenes in real operating brothels  which adds to the feeling that you are almost watching a documentary . it seems that the dp used a lot of hand held camera and close  ups and overall it made you feel like you are right there as part of the story .  br    br   after the screening  i was listening to other members of the audience as they left and it seemed that they were all stunned . this is not an easy film to watch and i salute the filmmakers for not making a  hollywood film .   br    br   it is by far the best film i have seen in the edinburgh film festival . opinion shared by my husband and a couple of other friends .  
obviously a lot of talented behind the scenes crew members worked on this movie  so don  t even look at the credits at the end  you  ll only hold it against them . nobody seemed interested in seeing this movie  only  were in the theater two passed out after   minutes  and they were the lucky ones . the  monsters  were the unemployed worm from star trek   the wrath of khan  and rejected designs for the space creatures in alien . the creators of the movie obviously didn  t want to overshadow the third rate movie monsters  so they hired forth rate actors who apparently didn  t get to memorize their lines  or in some cases learn to pronounce the words before filming began . some scenes are incredibly inept in conveying just what is supposed to be happening  if anything is . if you are unfortunate enough to be in a theater where this movie is showing  and you don  t pass out  you  ll laugh at what are supposed to be frightening or suspenseful moments of the film . the implausibility of several scenes will just stun you  and stephen dorff  s regular spewing of the  queen mary of curse words  conveys the feeling of anyone who pays to see this . if you must see this movie  do yourself a favor and wait until it  s in the bargain bin at the video store . if there  s any justice in the film industry  one of the main actors will be there to rent it to you .  
the movie  holly  is the story of a young girl who has been sold by her poor family and smuggled across the border to cambodia to work as a prostitute in the infamous  k    red light village . in the movie  holly is waiting to be sold at a premium for her virginity when she meets patrick who is losing money and friends through gambling and bar fights . patrick and holly have an immediate bond over their  stubbornness   but this is all disrupted when holly is sold to a child trafficker and disappears . as movie goers  we are then thrust into patrick  s pursuit to find holly again . holly then shows her willingness to leave this lifestyle but her confusion on what is right and wrong .  holly  carries us through the beautiful and harsh cambodia while discovering that holly is not just one girl . she is the voice of millions of children who are exploited and violated every year with no rights or protection .  br    br   holly is less extreme than its subject matter might suggest  such as documentaries that involve   year olds and sexual trafficking  but does manage to shed considerable light on cambodian  vietnamese trafficking of children into prostitution . it is a moving story that helps to shed light on the horrible situation in which many children face and their struggles to trust and realize what is right and wrong .  br    br   patrick  the antagonist of the film is an american dealer of stolen artifacts who is also losing money and friends while playing cards and getting into bar fights . while on a journey  his motorbike runs out of fuel  and he is forced to rent a room at a brothel . during his stay he comes across holly  a twelve year old girl who has been sold by her parents and is being abducted into slavery and prostitution . holly and patrick begin a friendship of trust and understanding . he discovers a clever  stubborn girl beneath the traumatized exterior and becomes determined to save her   though their strictly platonic relationship is misinterpreted by almost everyone they meet . when she suddenly disappears  he starts a journey to track her down  without having thought if he can really help her .  br    br   holly is able to escape on her way to another brothel  when she jumps from the truck and runs into a field filled with mines . a mine is set off by a cow and the truck driver believes she is dead  so holly is then left on her own . during patrick  s journey to find holly he meets a social worker who tries to talk some sense into him and shares the facts with him that haunts the cambodian region . the idea of paying for her freedom simply fuels the demand  she explains       children in prostitution in cambodia  next year it could be       .  i  m not trying to save         he tells her   i  m trying to save one .  patrick discovers that the idea of whisking her to safety is quickly put to rest when the social worker tells him that the us will not let him adopt and  although it takes five minutes to  save  a child  it takes five years to reintegrate her into society . patrick is not affected by the information and he continues his quest to find holly .  br    br   the audience is then shown that holly makes it to a small town and is foraging for food with other homeless children . she is then befriended by a local policemen who seem little better than criminals with a badge  when they sell her to another brothel and then make a deal to a vietnamese businessman who then takes her virginity . holly then seems to think that this is her destiny and when patrick finally find her  she is willing to  yum yum  and  boom boom  her distant friend . patrick is utterly confused by this change in behavior  but he is not deterred in his plan to take her away from this world . in the end  he steals her away and brings her to a safe  land in the comfort of the social worker . holly is given fresh clothes  if feed and brought to a dance class  but she is forbidden to see patrick . this intense yearning to be in the comfort of patrick  s friendship  she runs away from the safe house and back onto the streets in cambodia .  br    br   meanwhile  patrick is dealing with the decision to leave the country and flee back to the united states or to stay in cambodia . his thoughts continue to revert back to holly and during a visit to a bar an older male sees the picture he is holding and comments on his sexual appetite when he had sex with her . this enrages patrick and he hits the man and runs out of the bar . eventually  patrick is caught by the police in the eyes of holly  who is hiding behind a pole .  br    br   the movie  holly  may make the audience want to donate money towards organizations that improve the life for these poor youngsters  and even campaign to reduce the amount of brothels in the region  but the film  s dramatic weaknesses may reduce its chances of being seen by enough people to make a difference . overall  i think the concept is better as a documentary and it was not as touching as a movie . the actors did a great job of showing their raw emotion and the true confusion of the youngsters who are affected by this lifestyle  but in the end  the harsh lifestyle of the region and the desperate notions of the parents who sell their children to uphold their own starvation  does nothing to help the children  s situations .  
i don  t know where to begin . tara reid needs to be stopped before she  s put in another movie . stephen dorff looks like he got his character  s motivation from val kilmer in  top gun  . slater sleepwalks through this dreck . the direction  editing  sound  do we really need a heavy  metal video in the middle of a gunfight    costumes  bulletproof vests with muscles on them   and hey  there  s no discernible plot either . it amazes me that no one attached to the project stopped and said   hey guys  this just doesn  t make any sense  let  s start over  . hopefully slater  s career can rebound from this disaster .  br    br   hands down the worst film i  ve ever seen .  
i had the privilege of watching  holly  at the edinburgh film festival last week . what a powerful and moving story  holly is a   yr old vietnamese girl who is sold into prostitution by her own family and living in a brothel in cambodia . patrick  an american  comes into holly  s life and decides he wants to help her . when holly is sold again  patrick desperately searches for her . we follow they  re difficult journey through cambodia and hope for their reunion .  br    br   holly is one of millions of children who are sold and trafficked every day . the movie portrays this difficult issue without crossing the line . i walked away wanting to know more about the issue of child trafficking and asking how can i help  this movie should be seen by everyone because it is a beautiful story and it exposes an issue that we should no longer ignore .  
true  there are many movies much worse then this movie . this movie was no manos the hands of fate  or troll   yes  i have seen them both . . twice  but at the same time this movie is no alien  predator or even alien vs . predator  yes  even that movie surpassed this  . movies like this make battlefield earth look like a star wars it is so bad . razzie awards lookout  your biggest competition has just arrived in theaters . this film i  m talking about is of course alone in the dark . i  ll try to take you though a step by step process on why this film was so bad .  br    br   acting  i  ll first start off with what perhaps was the best component of this film  next to the ending credits  which played  wish i had an angel   the acting . christian slater must be proud of himself  he successfully proved that it is possible to act decent in a film worse then drinking antifreeze . though all his awful dialog he had to speak  it made me wonder why he just didn  t walk off the set halfway . perhaps it was because of stephen dorff being in the film as well  somebody he wishes he could be but fails at it  . tara reid is a bad actress but good looking and that  s all that really matters in films like these . that is not to say the acting was perfect though  it was average  not good  and perhaps the only thing in the film not good .  br    br   the soundtrack  except for  wish i had an angel   the soundtrack is pointless and bad heavy medal being pumped into the viewers ears  perhaps to disguise the awful story  something i will get to soon  . a long and very expensive  cd soundtrack is now up for sale for those musically challenged .  br    br   the directing  directed by hollywoods favorite director uwe ball who brought us the classic house of the dead . telling us  yes  movies can get this utterly bad and that  s just the beginning to my deadly saga of awful movies  . at least it is said to be directed by uwe ball . without being told i would have guessed a monkey was kidnapped from the congo  brought here and forced to make opinions on how to make the movie under penalty of being shocked . the director of photography was probably a camcorder taped onto a skateboard and pushed forward until it hits a wall . on the scenes where the camera should stay still it is constantly moving  not allowing us to stop anywhere and when it should be moving in action  the camera stops for some reason .  br    br   the producing  who on earth is stupid enough to put money towards this bomb  i pity the fool . . . sometimes . sometimes i  m glad he or she was taught such a lesson to never put money towards garbage worse then dog dung tied up in a bag .  br    br   the writing  storyboard  trying to analise the story is more painful then jamming an ice pick under a big toe and kicking a soccer ball as hard as i possibly could with it right after but i will still attempt it .  br    br   edward carnby escapes as a child from an orphanage where   children where to go under science experiments . he escapes and hides in an electrical outlet where he is electrocuted  this is the point where it got so bad i started to laugh out loud  . then it fast  forwards many years later where he  s a paranoia detective . he get  s attacked by some zombie that can  t be shot to death  kills it and moves on with life . later on he gets attacked by some crazy looking monster and he discovers secrets that nobody else knows .  br    br   yeah  the plot is bad  really really bad . the film beings with expecting us to read approximately   minutes  which felt like     of random text about an untrue civilization called the abskani . the film goes not to have one twist after another  more then the audience can handle  more then the audience wants to handle  more then the audience could ever care about . this storyline is rock bottom bad that even double dragon does better .  br    br   overall  miss out on this movie . i gave it a  out of   but that is because there is no  .  
after seeing the movie last night i was left with a sense of the hopelessness faced by organisations trying to tackle the problem the film portrays . the scale of the prostitution seems so large that it  s hard to see how it can be defeated without major governmental changes in cambodia .  br    br   anyway  on with the review .  br    br   although it is a sombre movie with an uncomfortable central relationship this is a very compelling film  and i  d even go so far as to say it was enjoyable . the film was well edited for the running time and the performance by thuy nguyen was excellent . i also felt ron livingston played a very difficult role well .  br    br   it would have been nice to have a little more insight into why patrick feels he has to help holly  but maybe the reason is a simple as he explains to chris penn  s character . i won  t explain it here  go see the movie .  br    br   this is a good  thought  provoking film with obviously good intentions . i hope it gets a wide enough release to reach a decent sized audience and gain more support for the k    project .  
can it ever be said that there are some movies that have no redeeming features whatsoever  answer yes  and this is one of them . after helming the appalling  house of the dead  director uwe boll has now cast his less  than  talented eye towards yet another video game adaptation . don  t these guys get it  to anyone who can  t understand  here it is in block capitals for you video games do not make for good movies  the acting here is  at best  sub  standard . the set design and special effects are poor . unlike the video game  which did have its scary moments  the movie has no atmosphere of impending doom  no sense of danger or menace . pacing and plotting is confused and the paper that the script is printed on would have been better used as toilet paper . the main culprit is the director . uwe boll uses the camera with the grace and skill of a monkey using a paintbrush . hackneyed zooms  swoops and pans are spliced into the whole dreary affair at unpredictable moments leaving the audience disorientated and bored . why this guy was ever let near a movie set in the first place must stand as one of modern cinemas greatest secrets . avoid at all costs .  
brilliant  my wife and i joined the sprawling line to see holly at the edinburgh film festival . after seeing the film  i can understand why there was such a long line . holly is a touching story about an impossible connection between two people . she is a young girl  he is a worn out westerner . the film grasped every bone in our body . there aren  t any graphic scenes or anything that is hard to watch  its the surrealism of normality that really kicks you in the gut . the film is beautifully shot . among others  we loved the scene where patrick teaches holly to ride a small motorcycle . thuy ngoyen  s rawness  cant believe this is her first acting job  and ron livingston  s performance stayed with me for a couple of days . highly recommended .  
i was honestly surprised by alone in the dark . it was so bad  i could hardly believe what i was seeing . there are no characters  just a few stereotypes wandering around and getting killed . the extent of the character development was giving each character a name and an occupation  and that  s about it . there was no real plot  and none of the characters seemed to have any motivation . in fact  many action scenes just began on their own  coming from nowhere with a pounding techno track . while i was watching this movie i kept asking  where is this happening  what  s going on   the acting was high school drama quality  with stiff wooden delivery  as though the actors were reading from cue cards without comprehending their lines . their trouble delivering lines was made even more obvious by horrible sound design . adr sounded like it was recorded in an open room . the actors were constantly taking obvious care to hit their marks  looking almost robotic in their movements . so  these listless automatons are whisked through a series of implausible and confusing scenarios  often without even the benefit of transition scenes . they were here  now they  re there . this was happening  now that  s happening . random scenes with little rhyme or reason . i had a lot of fun watching it . definitely not worth nine bucks though .  
wow  this film had a huge impact on me  it moved me  . it is an amazing story about a girl in cambodia who is sold into the sex trade . i can not stop thinking about the fate of the little girl named holly . the setting of the film is realistic  the film was an eye opener  i can not imagine anyone walking away from it with out wanting to help make a change with this horrifying problem that exsists .  br    br   the content of the film was very very moving . it was one of the best films that i have seen this year . the  br    br   girl who plays holly does a fantastic job with her character . ron livinston gives a fantastic performance . the film moved me to tears  it tells an important message that needs to be heard worldwide . everyone should go see this film . i think this film will make a difference  i loved it   
i stopped watching lost at this episode because i thought ana  lucia and libby  s deaths were unnecessary and really depressing . then i found out that they kept libby around just to die in the next episode  gah  i can  t handle it .  br    br   i liked this show for the first season  but it definitely declined in the second season  i found jack and locke  s little religious feud to be annoying . the deaths of rodriguez  watros  characters was the final straw   br    br   i give this episode a      for being the end to my viewing of this formerly great series created by alias legend j . j . abrams . i hope his series in the future will improve on this one .  
i just watched holly along with another movie about trafficking and child sexual exploitation called trade at film by the sea international film festival . i have to say that holly blew trade out of the water .  br    br   holly is a powerful and amazing film on many different levels . from purely an artistic and cinematic perspective  it is amazing . the sound  mixing  camera angles  directing and acting are all spot on .  br    br   additionally  the way it handles the subject matter is tasteful and non  exploitative . it presents the issue of child sexual exploitation in a way that is both educational and accurate . the filmmakers paid an exquisite amount of attention to detail  truly capturing the nuances of the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and trafficking . too often when dealing with a subject matter of this kind  it is tempting to shock the audience with graphic scenes of rape  and violence . holly is able to achieve all of this without falling into that typical hollywood trend .  br    br   i  ve had the pleasure of seeing holly at two separate film festivals  once in the us and once in netherlands . i can honestly say that i have never seen audiences more moved . just listening to conversations after the screening  people are asking what they personally can do to fight child sexual exploitation .  br    br   i highly recommend it to everyone  both for its cinematic value and its subject matter .  
this is a badly made  poor remake of bimalda  s classic parineeta . the story is based on sarat chandra  s book of the same name and it is a distortion of the original . well one can appreciate some degree of creativity but not sham creativity . the acting by everyone is affected and the entire movie is a sham . shekar  s father  s choice of words in abusing lolita  balan  sounds cheap and morbid and destroys the spirit of the original story . again the scene where shekhar  saif  slaps lolita is quite out of place with the flow of the movie and the characters  is quite jarring to the senses  and could have been easily avoided . similarly the sex scene between saif and balan is quite unbecoming the movie and a cheap gimmick to attract the audience . when a creative work is not faithful to the original and destroys it  s spirit  the work falls apart . the song  piyu bole  is quite ok . another silver lining in the dark cloud of this movie is the scene where saif stands up for himself and rebels against his father . this is a positive departure from the original and deserves credit . on these counts this movie deserves  stars . the song and dance by rekha smacks of artifice and it is a put on . the song is tuneful but i remember having heard it somewhere before and if iam not mistaken the tune appears to have been plagiarized .  br    br   well  agreed the times have changed from then to now . but then this movie is not even reflective of the modern times .  br    br   this is what happens when the modern bollywood film makers get increasingly obsessed with impressing the nris and grabbing the lucrative nri entertainment market . such movies end up neither belonging to india nor to any other part of the world .  
for my humanities quarter project for school  i chose to do human trafficking . after some research on the internet  i found this dvd and ordered it . i just finished watching it and i am still thinking about it . all i can say is  wow  . it is such a compelling story of a   year old vietnamese girl named holly and an american man named patric who tries to save her . the ending leaves you breathless  and although it  s not a happily  ever  after ending  it is very realistic . it is amazing and i recommend it to anyone  you really connect with holly and patric and your heart breaks for her and because of what happens to her . i loved it so much and now i want to know what happens next   
snow white  which just came out in locarno  where i had the chance to see it  of course refers to the world famous fairy tale . and it also refers to coke . in the end  real snow of the swiss alps plays its part as well .  br    br   thus all three aspects of the title are addressed in this film . there is a lot of dope on scene  and there is also a pale  dark haired girl  with a prince who has to go through all kind of trouble to come to her rescue .  br    br   but it  s not a fairy tale . it  s supposed to be a realistic drama located in zurich  switzerland  according to the tagline  .  br    br   technically the movie is close to perfect . unfortunately a weak plot  foreseeable dialogs  a mostly unreal scenery and the mixed acting don  t add up to create authenticity . thus as a spectator i remained untouched .  br    br   and then there were the clichs  which drove me crazy one by one snow white is a rich and spoiled upper class daughter  of course her parents are divorced and she never got enough love from them  because they were so busy all the time . her best girlfriend  on the other hand  has loving and caring parents . they  a steelworker and a housewife  live in a tiny flat  poor and happy  and ignorant of the desperate situation their daughter is in . the good guy   prince  is a musician    from the french speaking part of switzerland  which is considered to be the economically less successful but emotionally fitter fraction of the country  . he has problems with his parents . they are migrants from spain  who don  t seem to accept his wild way of living  until the father becomes seriously ill and confesses his great admiration for his son from a hospital bed .  br    br   and so it goes on naturally  the drug dealer is brutal  the bankers are heartless  the club owner is a playboy and the photographer  although a woman     has only her career in mind when she exposes snow white in artsy pornographic pictures at a show .  br    br   this review doesn  t need a spoiler in order to let you add these pieces to an obvious plot . as i like other films by samir  e . g .  forget baghdad   i was quite disappointed . let  s hope for the next one .  
being that i am a true product of the hip  hop and electronic dance music generation  this is without a doubt one of my favorite movies of all time . beat street  although not as  authentic  in some respects as wild style  is a film that is guaranteed to tug the heart strings of anyone who takes pride in the culture of urban sample  dj  based music and electro  club culture .  br    br   although i will admit that at times the dialogue is somewhat cheesy  you can  t help but feel for the characters  and ultimately  wish you were there  for the beginnings of hip  hop culture in new york city in the early eighties . the b  boy battle scene at the roxy nightclub  a real  life  real  time competition between the legendary rock steady crew and the nyc breakers  is just as essential to a hip  hop fan  s archives as any classic album . watch some of the breakers  moves in slow  motion if possible to truly appreciate the athletic and stylistic expertise of a seasoned b  boy  b  girl . all praises due to the zulu nation     
this should not have been listed as a colombo because in my opinion it does not resemble any of the other colombo ever made . this should have been listed as a movie starring peter falk and not playing the caracter of colombo because it does not do justice at all to our great lieutenant colombo .  
  holly  is an issue  driven film  but it is neither manipulative nor overly sentimental . at its heart is it is a character  driven film  which wouldn  t be nearly so successful without the fleshed  out portrayals of patrick  ron livingston   the lost soul with the gradually awakening conscience  and holly  thuy nguyen   the strong  willed but ultimately over  matched young vietnamese girl . from the vibrant locations and photography to the effective editing  everything is forthright and well  done . the contemporary classical score may put some off at first  but it is top  notch composition and underscores the admirable restraint which is evident throughout . this film  which raises many issues but provides few clear  cut answers  ultimately succeeds in raising awareness of and compassion for holly and the many who share her plight . kudos to those who managed to get it made .  
snow white is in my opinion a bad movie on an artistic point of view . the plot is pretty much foreseeable  the characters are stereotypes  the editing too exaggerated . anyway  the movie seems not to have a lot of artistic ambitions .  br    br   instead  i think this is a straight commercial thing . including a character from the french part of switzerland  the actor is the leader of the band he is touring with in the movie  the band  s called sens unik  seems to aim to a larger audience . a straight german  swiss movie would not have sold in the french part  and vice versa . what really got on my nerves were the product placements all over the movie . sometines scenes remembered of advertisement clips   br    br   i also think the topic of  young people taking drugs without any other targets in their lives  is a wide spread reality in zurich . therefore  it should be elaborated with more care . i hope samir got enough money with snow white  in order that his next movie is gonna show his true artistic skills .  
child  sexploitation  is one of the most serious issues facing our world today and i feared that any film on the topic would jump straight to scenes of an explicitly sexual nature in order to shock and disturb the audience . after having seen both  trade  and  holly   one film moved me to want to actually see a change in international laws . the other felt like a poor attempt at making me cry for five minutes with emotive music and the odd suicide .  br    br   i do not believe that turning this issue into a hollywood tear jerker is a useful or necessary strategy to adopt and i must commend the makes of  holly  for engaging subtly but powerfully with the terrible conditions these children are sadly forced to endure .  trade  wavered between serious and stupid with scenes involving the death of a cat coming after images that represented children being forced to commit some horrendous acts . i found this unengaging and at times offensive to the cause . if i had wanted a cheap laugh i would not have signed up for a film on child trafficking .  br    br   for anyone who would like to watch a powerful film that actually means something i would suggest saving the money on the cinema ticket for the release of  holly  .  
sean  you know i think that you are absolutely the greatest actor in the world  but i can  t commend you for this . comedy just isn  t your strong suit .  br    br   however  it wasn  t all your fault . some of the stuff was just too hard to understand . alfred lynch did a decent job  but you gotta wonder where the lines came from from the beginning .  br    br   once again  sean . . . i apologize .  
holly addresses the issue of child sexploitation that is rampant all over the world  some  million children are trafficked every year  and does so sensitively and without manipulation   a tall order that the team at priority films does with great success . american actor ron livington stars in the film alongside newcomer thuy nguyen  a vietnamese actress who plays holly  and together they bring to screen what is commonplace to the people at the notorious k   redlight district in cambodia . although it tackles a heavy topic  the film holds on to moments of laughter and hope as we get to know the characters up close  keeping the two  hour film from being one that is too difficult to watch . i am glad a film like this is bringing the world  s attention to the problem . child prostitution needs to be stopped and this is a very good first step . it  s great and a film everyone must see .  
featured in      s the cobweb is an all star cast ranging from silent screen veteran lillian gish to actors studio progeny susan strasberg . set at an exclusive psychiatric hospital  what is this movie about you wonder . . . . . . high drama  doctor  patient relationships  shock therapy treatment  no  this howler is about who exactly will get to pick the draperies for a psychiatric hospital  you think i  m kidding  you won  t believe your eyes as you  re watching this unbelievable storyline that was turned into a movie  progressive head shrink dr . mciver  richard widmark  wants to have all of the hospital  s patients involved in the design  selection and execution of the needed new draperies . mciver  s wife played by marble mouthed gloria graham wants to get her  cents in on this monumental task too . so does long time staffer miss inch  lillian gish  . directed by vincent minelli  you kinda wonder if he really became this overly involved in minute detail because of his marriage to worry wart judy garland . talented actors like lauren bacall  susan strasberg  charles boyer  and john kerr are wasted in this hokey story . what were they thinking   
i loved good times with the rest of many of you . i love reading intelligent and insightful commentary . the writers on this show were fantastic and the actors were beyond talented . to answer strawberry    the neatest commentary to the other superior and positive commentary  . . . what happened was that james was killed in an accident  i believe i remember that it was a trucking accident or car accident  and it was the saddest episode  when it first aired and i was a tiny thing . . . it was so sad to me . .  .  br    br   florida and the children actually get out of the projects and even become neighbors with willona  wilnona  and that is how the very last show ended .  br    br   all of the children achieved their dreams and found opportunity in each of their dreams . it was a wonderful ending and i cried because i was happy for them and the show seemed so realistic that i actually believed in their fate . i hope that this kind of ending rings true in actually for many .  br    br   a great show and many other great shows followed including benson and the jeffersons . this was an awesome period for african  american television and the best writers were awesome at that time . tv land is awesome for the memories and i just love it because i cannot stand the junk that we are watching today . somebody . . . bring back the     s and     s quickly . . . your intelligent viewers are a dying breed out here and we need better material .  br    br   love  a tv land original sitcom junkie of the   s and   s  as they sing in  all in the family  . . . those were the days . . . . . .  
  the cobweb  is an example of many examples of movies that feature strong  sometimes noteworthy performances and high points  but unfortunately are shattered and slowed down drastically by a murky plot and very little to interest the audience . it stars richard widmark as a doctor working at a mental institution whose life becomes in turmoil due to family problems and a rather ludicrous and overworked conflict that really seems like no big deal at all .  br    br   the plot is preposterous . its time for the institution to get new drapes for the library windows . one old woman wants to have her drapes put over them  but a lot of the patients want to make their own . and somehow  this ridiculous and unintentionally loony conflict breaks out into the point where lives are in danger and families start to fall apart . it sounds more like a conflict that would occur between very young children .  br    br   the questioning of the logic of the plot and whether it could really happen is so massive that one wonders if only a real  like lunatic could buy it . don  t get me wrong  there  s nothing wrong with the acting . the cast following widmark is composed of other great actors  many of them academy award  nominees and winners . and there is occasionally a moment in the film that works out brilliantly  but it always excludes the stupid plot about window drapes . unfortunately  there is too much about the doggone drapes and thus  the movie slows down . a lot of the takes are long and done from one camera viewpoint  adhering to the slow pacing and lack of viewing interest .  br    br   in a short analysis   the cobweb  is an unrecognized film and it becomes obvious why to the viewers basically as soon as the plot comes into focus  which it does pretty quickly . it just really doesn  t sound like much fun to watch and i tell you that it is not much fun to watch .  
reading all of the comments are very exciting . but can someone please tell me the name of the real artist that painted the pictures for the good times broadcast . i realize that everyone refers to j . j . as the artist in the family but  there was a real family that has the real artist  and he hasn  t gotten any credit in this sight yet . so if you don  t mind if someone can tell the name of the real artist i would also like to tell him  job well done  . i know this sight is for the good times cast but  wouldn  t you agree that he has also touched the hearts of us all . i would like to know if he still paints or  if he is still alive . i would like to have some of his work displayed in my home .  
this film just goes to prove that not every film made during the glory days of hollywood is worth seeing . just because you  ve got an excellent ensemble cast doesn  t mean that this can overcome a script that was probably written by a chimp  think about it   the film featured richard widmark  lauren bacall  charles boyer  gloria graham  lillian gish and paul stewart and yet it still was a bad film  the basic premise of the film isn  t bad   a private psychiatric hospital where the staff are more screwed up than the patients  also  the subplot involving the overworked husband and wife  widmark and graham  had a lot of promise . however  the script was handled with all the finesse and deftness of a drunk buffalo   with bellicose and way over the top scenes again and again in the film . in fact  it was less like a drama and more like a very bad episode of  general hospital  . subtle  this film ain  t   realistic  this film ain  t    br    br   while most of the reason this film reeked was the awful script  but i also blame the producers as well for miscasting and misusing come veteran actors . for example  paul stewart may not be a household name but this character actor had exceptional talent   especially when playing gangsters in film noir movies . yet here  stewart is cast as a very nondescript psychiatrist with some bizarre european accent   it just didn  t work since this was well outside his acting range and his character was totally undeveloped and one  dimensional . also  charles boyer just seemed hopelessly miscast and totally out of place . seeing this fine romantic actor as a psychiatrist in the heartland of america just seemed bizarre .  br    br   overall  this is a rather awful film . it is very watchable in a train wreck sort of way but it certainly isn  t very pretty . my wife and i disliked much of the movie but also felt it could have been very good had the writing been competent .  br    br   ps   in a case of art imitating life  oscar levant played one of the patients . in real life  the brilliant levant spent much of his life in and out of mental institutions .  
another norman lear hit detailing the problems that african americans had to go through in the turbulent     s and     s .  br    br   with esther rolle and husband along with  children living in a chicago high  rise project in a predominantly black neighborhood  the show depicted what black people were going through with a landlord  black agent mr . bookman  as well as prices and the day  to  day problems of just existing .  br    br   the  children depicted how people seem to face their problems differently  from the comical jj to the militant ralph carter  to their daughter who also aspired to attain success  this show was a perfect description of african  american life .  
confounding melodrama taken from a william gibson story  produced by john houseman and directed by vincente minnelli  richard widmark heads up posh  upscale rural nervous asylum  where his loose wife battles with self  appointed queen bee lillian gish  and widmark himself gets the straying eye for staff  newcomer lauren bacall  who is putting her life back together after the death of her husband and child . facetious and muddled  set in an indiscriminate time and place  and with a  david and lisa  love story hidden in the plush morass . widmark and bacall do have some good chemistry together  but this script gives them nothing to build on . for precisely an hour  most of the dialogue concerns what to do about the drapes hanging in the library  this thread isn  t used as symbolism  rather it  s a red herring in a non  mystery   . the picture hopes to show the loggerheads that disparate people come to when they  re working in the same profession and everyone thinks their opinion is right  but unfortunately the roundabout way minnelli unravels this stew is neither informative  enlightening nor entertaining .  from   
after enjoying this show for years  i use to dream of being able to see them all again and share them with my grandchildren . i am so happy to pay a small amount for the memories that i have found recorded on dvd . florida was a caring mother with a loving hard working husband  one spoiled beautiful daughter and two sons as different as day and night . michael  the baby son is a freedom walker and jj is a clown . i know many afro  americans disliked this show  but i know many can relate and should have accepted it as it was . my heart was sad when i learned that ester rolle had passed . tyler perry is now the leading writer actor of today and i support his work  but not as much since he made such cruel mocking of rolle in one of his plays . no one should have to hear ugly things about physical appearance . the show started getting less interesting when daddy james died . it picked up a bit when florida remarried  but slumped when she took an absence from the show . in all  the show was great and again i am pleased to own copies of part of my past . i do try to keep up with the work of the former stars of good times  and i must say  they are one group who has not been wiped up and down with rumors . i think children of today will enjoy this show and i have no problem sitting and watching with children . congrats to the writer  crew  and stars for years of renewed memories of a time that i can once again enjoy without having to skip scenes .  br    br   ok so i watch the shows over and over . lately i have noticed thing that has made me rethink the series  but not dislike them . i think florida was a bit harsh when it came to money that the children made . not that the children did not need supervision  but it was done in a way that makes florida  s mothering different . the scenes where florida had to speak about how other people were not very good looking bothers me now . when james was alive  the show made a big thing out of james wanting his own fix  it shop  but never lived to see his family out of the projects  but florida marries someone who owns a fix  it shop . a bit of a slap in the face to an actor who should have ended his time on good times showing that he accomplished all he strove for . lastly  as i watch the shows  i see the series going in to overtime and being renamed  jj  . to be truthful  after james left everything mostly centered around jj . not a bad thing  just a noticeable thing . i would not trade my dvd  s for any amount of money  but time  maturity and experience began to guide your eyes after a while .  
first of all i would like to point out that this film has absolutely nothing to see with the dutch folklore story of the ghost ship that is also called the flying dutchman . in this film  you will not see a single sailing boat . you will not see sailors  ghosts  or anything remotely exciting . it is not the story of the ghost ship  and i wish they had notified it in the main credits or i wouldn  t have watched it  because i really thought it was the film about the legend . it seems many people think the film has to do with the legend of the ghost ship  since the film is listed on the wikipedia page for the  flying dutchman  legend . . . i don  t understand why . it is maybe based on the resembling legend called  the wandering jew   or maybe did they just adapt the worst parts of the legend  the film begins with a fight sequence that would let anyone hope the film will have battle scenes . unfortunately  it is the only battle scene of the film . then you see daniel emilfork  who was krank in city of lost children  for about two seconds  and that would let anyone hope the film will have good acting . unfortunately he is very bad in the film . the same thing can be said about italian actor nino manfredi  who was one of italia  s best actors ever  and who here is condemned to embody a crazy bird wrangler with no back story whose only purpose is to seem to be the  wise man  of the film . and boy  does that film need wiseness  every other character of the story seems to enjoy swimming in excrement  yelling  torturing others  in excrement   fornicating  in excrement  or laying in excrement some more just for the fun of it . it seems to be such fun that each character of the story gets to have his or her turn being dumped in feces at a point or another . coming from a dutch director  you might think that extreme dirtiness and shockingly real filth are necessary elements in a period piece  elements which contributed to make dutch filmmaker paul verhoeven  s film   flesh  blood   such a great film . the thought of  flesh  blood  would let anyone hope that a film similarly filthy and visually straight  forward would be good . unfortunately  and unlike  flesh  blood   there is no dramatic progression  no fights  no good acting  and put simply  no  flesh and blood  . the photography  as the opening sequence unfolds  is well  done and enticing . this too  stops very early in the film . the music  from nicola piovani  of  la vit e bella  fame  is repetitive and annoying  when not irrelevant  it sometimes implies that there is grandeur in a sequence  while on screen the actors are splashing in liquid dung  . throughout the first  act  of the film  which lasts nothing less than an hour     the film takes place within the same perimeter  which is around the farm where the main characters live . the characters play with excrement a lot  drown in it  play in it . a long period of time elapses through numerous ellipses to allows the main character  a young boy who loves to play in excrement  to become older and play in excrement some more . the bird  man talks a lot to say foolish things in italian . spanish conquistadors speak french . nothing makes sense . everything is confused and takes hours to happen . then there is a second act called  the ship   in which we see what might have been a ship  a long time ago  but which is now remains of a ship  covered with excrement did i mention   . the main character  while walking a bit further away from the farm  just happens to run into it  and decides it  s really cool so let  s live in it . the hunchback who lived in it before is trying to kill him  but he doesn  t really mind because  did i mention   he  s not very bright . he thinks the ship can navigate and hopes to sail on it  until more conquistadors show up  at least they seemed to be conquistadors because of the don quixote style hats but as i  ve said it  s really confused who  s who   make the dutchman a prisoner  along with the retarded hunchback  and they burn the ship to the ground . the last part of the film  which is really hard to bear for the spectator because it just consists of even more excrement with even more retarded middle  age peasants fighting in it  takes place in a mad asylum . yet more torture and drowning each other with feces . yet more loitering for the director  who seems to have definitely given up on his job  or passed onto the second crew camera assistant to do the rest of the job . in the end  a lot of the mentally  challenged new  friends  that the dutchman made die . the woman he had sex with who was his brother  s wife to begin with tries to have him meet his son . the dutchman and his son talk . the film ends after two hours of dungy images and calamitous acting and technical performances . then the credits roll and the spectator fells immensely free from having to watch atrocious films with no plot that pretend to be something exciting like fantasy films based on legends  while they are nothing but a mere catalog of how full of excrement some films can get when they don  t have enough financing powers to put battles instead or even horses .  
like the jeffersons  good times was one of the those classic american sitcoms which was never aired in the uk  not to mention it came out in the     s  a decade where of which i wasn  t born yet .  br    br   but like most fans of the show  i watched a few episodes on you tube  and afterwards  i loved it .  br    br   the evans family are headed by james and florida  two parents trying to make ends meet  and who despite their lack of qualifications  encourage their children  who have their own aspirations in life to fulfil them and to take their chances . james was the strict but loving dad  who didn  t dare hesitate in disciplining j . j  michael and thelma  should they over  step the line . whilst florida  in contrast was a fair  kind  hearted and considerate mother and loving wife  although she was in many ways similar to james  with regards to their attitudes to parenthood and family values from an afro  american perspective .  br    br   the kids were just as lively and entertaining as the parents themselves j . j was an aspiring artist with a goofy personality and crazy sense of humour  who would often wear multi  coloured outfits  and whose  dy  no  mite  catchphrase is as infectious and familiar as arnold jackson  s  whatchoo talking   bout willis   from diff  rent strokes . michael was the smart  alec  who dreams of becoming a lawyer  whilst sister thelma had her own dreams and hopes . her verbal taunts with j . j were mostly hilarious  as was the love  hate relationship between brother and sister  which was played out extremely well by both mike evans and bernadette stanis .  br    br   over the seasons  there were a few cameo appearances made  most notably from janet jackson  debbie allen and a young gary coleman as himself  i actually prefer good times over say  the cosby show  which was an   s show because a  i preferred the evans family over the huxtables  both in terms of a  characterisation and b  as i felt it tackled serious and difficult social issues  in a way that resonated with many viewers . it was a comedy but it was also a social commentary which aimed to highlight the lives of working class  afro  americans in     s america . the cosby show attempted to cater to the mainstream audience in a  candy coated  way  as the huxtables were portrayed as blacks who easily assimilated themselves into an upper  class u . s culture we would associate whites with  whereas good times in contrast was much more  edgier  and it was not afraid to address themes such as drug and child abuse in a realistic way . i actually found that whilst the cosby show can be fun to watch at times  it lacked that bit of  sassiness  which good times has and of which made it trendier and cooler .  br    br   the show did jump the shark during the latter seasons  as it continued after john amos  s character  james died in a freak accident  in reality  it was known at the time that john had quit good times for good . and so  his character  s death was written as it is on the show  . without john  the show suffered and alas  it lost a lot of its charm .  br    br   still  for a sitcom  good times ticked all the right boxes . if only they had shown this in the uk during the   s . as it certainly is  as jj would put it   dy  no  mite     br    br   my rating  and a half  
i started to watch this movie with high expectations . however  after one hour i gave up on this movie as it only instilled lots of unanswered questions upon me . this already started in the opening sequence and only got worse .  br    br   why would they bury the hollander under a statue  why is there an italian comediant present  why did the farmers wife save the hollander  why did he  upon being saved  not run for his life instead of starting to make love to the farmers wife  why did the farmers wife not save the hollander at a time when the farmer wouldn  t be around  why did these presumably illiterate farmers understand italian  why did the italian comediant know about the hollanders gold  why did he hide it in the cesspool in the midst of the evil farmers property  these and many more questions popped up  and none of them seemed to get answered in an acceptable way . so i guess i am totally missing the point of this movie  and i am not connecting to the story in any way . . . .  
back in   eric monte made the classic t . v show good times . jj has always been my favorite and i love watching the reruns on t . v land . jimmie walker always seemed to be the star and not esther rolle . john amos most of the time felt a little jealous of jimmie walker  s popularity winning millions of fans time to sit and watch good times . the show would have been dead if jj would  t have been there to save it with his always kool aid attitude . drinking kool aid was like his favorite thing on the show . i was  when it came out and  when it ended . instead of          it should have went longer like in the      s when i was just growing up .  
terrible film made on a budget of about   .   . very obvious miniature sets used  poor acting and an awful storyline concerning aliens who use discarded meat from a butcher shop as fuel for their spaceship . the film contains some blood  not enough to disturb  and a character with an eggbeater replacing one of his hands .  yes you read that correctly .   br    br   one saving grace was a song performed at the  talent show   how  s that for irony   by a punk  new wave band that i think was called  i  m a heat seeking missile  . other than that  this is not worth your time  not even on a  so bad it  s good  level . watch if you are into cheesy alien films  but anyone else should steer clear .  br    br   rating  out of    
this was what black society was like before the crack epidemics  gangsta rap  and aids that beset the ghettos in the eighties . decent  hardworking families that struggled to get by and all the traumas and tribulations they faced . black america was a different group of people in the seventies . still full of hope and flying high on the civil rights movements of the sixties  times were hard but still worth fighting for . keepin  your head above water  making a wave when you can  this show showed how black society struggled to work together as people and families  before they started to prey on each other and everyone else in order to survive the horrors of the ghettos . it is heart  breaking to see what the black ghettos were like then and what they have become now .  
if you like films that are totally bizarre  then this one is for you  abdullah is one mean mother  with a passion for strangling people and eating ham . you should check this film out  just for a laugh . it is a low budget sci  fi  musical  comedy  cannibalistic  classic . if you get bored of the film half way through you should persevere  just for the sake of seeing the aliens  which are nothing more than little toy robots  but in my opinion are the films highlight .  i  m the big meat eater  pass me  
cinematically  this film stinks . so does a lot of the acting . but i  br    br   don  t care . if there is a strong representation of what the    s were  br    br   like  for a lot of us in the innercity anyways  and what hip  hop  zulu  br    br   nation  and break dancing were really like . great music  great  br    br   dancing  it almost seems like a documentary of a time now past  br    br   when hip  hop was a way of life . it  s also interesting to see new  br    br   york looking like ground zero from a nuclear attack . some viewers  br    br   may be too young to remember that it was a poor  run down city  br    br   during the    s and    s . this is the best of all the hip  hop  break  br    br   dancing movies that came out around that period . of course the  br    br      s are considered a joke now with all the bad tv shows and  br    br   movies  but those of us who lived through it will always remember  br    br   it fondly for a time when music  dancing  and graffiti were fresh  yo   
i agree with most of the columbo fans that this movie was an unnecessary change of format . columbo is a unique cop with unorthodox police methods . this movie looks like a remake of any other ordinary detective dramas from the past . and that is the disturbing point  because columbo is no ordinary detective .  br    br   there are two parts in this film that left me intriguing . first  i can  t figure out the title of this movie . it is misleading . maybe a better title would  ve been  the vanishing bride  or something similar . second  columbo hides a piece of evidence without offering the reason  to the viewers at least  why he does it .  br    br   i don  t feel betrayed  just disappointed . i  m glad peter falk went back to the usual columbo .  br    br    
when people think of downtown chicago they think of walter payton  ditka and  da bears   ryne sandberg  the white sox breaking the curse in     or the immortal michael jordan and his six championships  and finals mvp  s  with the chicago bulls . rarely in this generation do people think of the struggling side of chicago  the ghettos  the drug infested streets and life in the urban housing projects during the      s .  br    br   one of television  s most formidable shows ever and a groundbreaking sitcom was  good times   which i remember vaguely as a small child on cbs  and i enjoy regularly now on tv land .  br    br    good times  was another norman lear classic  the producer that gave us  the jeffersons   the best african american sitcom of all time and  all in the family  the greatest show of all time .  good times  brought out the hardships of the ghetto and the urban housing projects  and did so with charm  well written and thoughtful plots  and some wonderful acting especially by the matriarch and patriarch of this struggling ghetto family played by esther rolle and john amos . the children in the supporting cast were also pretty good especially the ever popular janet jackson in her early years and ralph carter as florida and james evans youngest son whose character at a young age realizes that life is unfair  and he has to learn to stand on his own two feet .  br    br   the eldest of the children j . j . played by jimmy walker is somewhat out of place on this show and is there mainly for comic relief . his emotional age is about   or   even though he looks like a guy in his early twenties . j . j . gets annoying  and it is a credit to the often nasty james evans  amos  that he never tells j . j . to get his own life  get a job and get out of the house . j . j . is an aspiring painter but unlike his younger brother is never serious about getting a college degree  or more important to the family getting a job to help support a household that is just above welfare status .  br    br   two classic episodes of good times was the one where the janet jackson character is running a fever of     and florida evans is desperately seeking good medical help for her can  t afford anything but a clinic doctor who is very professional yet doesn  t want to give a family from the projects any more attention than she legally has to . the other episode is the one where james evans can  t afford the rent a paltry low     a month . the evans are about to get the largest of family setbacks  being thrown out of the projects with no where to go . florida evans goes downtown to the board of social services to try to get either a loan or a grant to help her family . but the government doesn  t consider her family poor because they have over       in assets for a family of five which is unfairly but unfortunately legally over the poverty line . james and the kids want to hustle for the money  but florida is a person of great moral character and doesn  t want to do anything dishonest no matter how dire their predicament is . in the end the family does find a solution to keep their heads above water .  br    br    good times  a classic show from the      s is about keeping you  re head above water in a cruel world . james and florida evans both work hard in menial jobs to try to bring their children up right and avoid the social stigma of welfare . i was too young to understand the message of the sitcom as a toddler in the   s in its first airing on cbs  but i really enjoy the reruns on tv land in     .  good times  is one of the classic sitcoms from back in the day .  
anyone giving this movie a good review obviously must have had something to do with its creation . this movie is a painful suckfest . the acting is stiff  the stock generic soundtrack is laughable  the direction is bland and strangest of all  the teacher really isn  t all that attractive  making the student  s blatant advances all the more awkward  . the creative minds behind this trash should disband and spread out to prevent further displays of such concentrated craptitude . i  m certain that some starving kids in africa could have used the money squandered on this project . hell  the funds would have also seen a more enlightened purpose fueling a crack  addict at least someone would be getting some entertainment out of it . for the sole reason that it didn  t give me a terminal illness  i  ll give this film a two .  
this show was a landmark in american comedy as it was the first sitcom to star an all afro  american cast . sadly though it was never broad  casted on british tv .  br    br   the evans family are a poor afro  american family living in a tower block . the dad is called james  he tries to run the house  but his wife florida always gets the better of him . the three children are the artistic jj  the moody thelma and the young intellectual child michael . always coming into the house is florida  s gossipy friend willona .  br    br   i watched two episodes of this show on youtube  black jesus and sex and the evans family  the only two on the site  . you may be thinking why has an english viewer watched a series that has never been shown or hardly heard of in his country . the answer is this . in      britains first all black sitcom came out called  the fosters  only two series were made and it now seems forgotten . but i watched an episode and was really impressed . then i learnt that the scripts were identical to  good times  . they were exactly the same characters but with different names  sam foster was the dad  his wife was pearl foster and the three children were sonny  a young lenny henry   shirley and benjamin . pearl  s gossipy friend was vilma .  to read about the fosters  i have wrote a review about that  . whilst watching  good times  only two things annoyed me . first off was the opening theme tune  awful  and secondly was the audience laughter . i like audience laughter  but in this somebody would say a slightly funny line and the audience would go mad and start clapping . apart from that it was a very funny show . let  s hope more episodes turn up on youtube and lets hope that someone will release  the fosters  on dvd in england .  br    br   best episode sex and the evans family  series  episode  . the foster  s episode of it was called sex in the black community . the other episode i saw  black jesus was a title of one episode of  the fosters   
student seduction finds saved by the bell alumni elizabeth berkley on the other side of the desk and attracting the attention of young and hunky corey sevier . speaking for myself i can truthfully say that no teachers save one ever did anything for me hormonally back when i was a student . that was a ms . diaz who was a music teacher in junior high school . even as a young gay kid  i could see what she was doing to the rest of the class . she was the only teacher i had who in any way could have been played by elizabeth berkley .  br    br   corey being the hotty he is  is also used to having his own way with women whether they agree or not . the fact that he comes from rich parents reinforces that belief . he  s flunking chemistry which is what berkley teaches and to keep his gpa up she agrees to tutor  but believe no more .  br    br   so when he attempts a rape and gets no for an answer it  s damaging to his ego . when berkley goes out of channels and reports the crime to the police  the cops who are keeping in mind the cases of pamela smart and mary kay letourneau just don  t believe here . sevier  s parents have the wherewithal to get a good publicity spin on this for their boy .  br    br   student seduction which is a misnomer of a title if there ever was one is trash all the way . after the beating that berkley took for showgirls this tv film was not an upward career move .  
first  i  ll give my rating for the series overall   out of ten stars . i  ve taken away three for the downhill slide this series suffered after john amos departed . don  t get me wrong there were hard hitting episodes later but only after esther rolle left for a season and returned .  br    br   in february of      a really great sit  com  with dramatic overtones  premiered on cbs . it was a tv first  a show about an african  american family living in the chicago projects in the     s . created by norman lear as a spin  off of  maude   he once again struck the right chord with viewers .  br    br   not since this show have i seen a situation comedy directly talk about the struggles of inner  city families .  well  there was fox  s  south central  in    but was not renewed .   br    br   john amos as james evans sr . was the ultimate father figure for this family and acted as any father should to keep his family together and his kids from going down the wrong paths in life .  br    br   esther rolle was a wonderful no non  sense mother figure who was on the same page as her husband when it came to their kids upbringing .  br    br   ralph carter as michael a young but very bright young man for his age but stuck in a school system that doesn  t meet his academic needs . his character  s name is the same as the show  s founder mike evans who was lionel jefferson on  the jeffersons  .  mike evans passed away dec .      .  br    br   thelma is a young girl of   or   and has to deal with the dangers of being a young woman in the streets of the ghetto . jimmie walker as j . j . evans jr . is the typical young wise  cracking  jiving kind of young man who does not take life seriously enough .  br    br   simply put  all my favorite episodes are with john amos  with the exception of the penny gordon  janet jackson story lines .  br    br   after the demise of the james evans character  the show lost it  s stability and viewers departed . esther rolle left for an entire year  not wanting to play second fiddle to jj  s smart  aleck  dyno  mite  s    br    br   she returned the next season  after securing a guarantee that the writer  s would even things out . florida  s neighbor wilona woods was a divorced woman who ended up adopting an abused little girl penny gordon  played by a then   year old janet jackson  . penny  s abusive mother was played by totie fields  kim fields  mother .  br    br   in august of     the show came to an end  with all leaving the projects for a better life . jj the artist had sold an idea to a comic  book company  michael went off to live on campus at college .  br    br   wilona  penny  thelma  football player husband keith  florida all moved into the same building in uptown chicago . not the most realistic ending but by that time it didn  t matter .  
there are a couple of prior comments here which opine about this flick  s abundance of clichs throughout   and i agree completely  both with regard to the characters and the dialog .  br    br   i  d read about elizabeth berkly  s awful performance in the equally  awful  showgirls   which i  ve never seen  and her performance here  while not awful  is barely up to the standards of lifetime  s worse fare . there was not a hint of depth to her character  but then there probably shouldn  t have been . if so  it would have placed the film completely out  of  balance  since there wasn  t a hint of depth or charisma  not a trace  in any one character  performer  or portrayal .  br    br   the principal  s handling of liz  s initial complaint after her tutee had kissed her in the hall was laughable . her husband  s initial reaction and advice were likewise  forrest gump  attacking jenny  s boyfriend in his car provided a more realistic  intelligent action  and  hell  he was mentally  challenged  .  br    br   the smarmy  unctuous lawyer  excuse the redundancy  father of the lying student actually performed something probably worthy of praise in his performance he was both laughable and thoroughly annoying at the same time  no mean feat . her attorney was more of an insensitive nerd  also not unknown in the profession .  br    br   finally  and frankly  i rather enjoyed this part   the police were such a collection of insensitive oafs  that you  d rather depend upon barney fife  without andy  to handle all law enforcement and investigation in your community . i know that most real  like cops fall a bit short of the sharpness  intelligence and empathy of the level displayed by most characters on the  law and order  series   and the like   but dolts of this level seem to be a staple on  lifetime .   br    br   finally  i found a kind of  story within a story  fascination with josh  s concoction of his being the  victim  of his teacher . this scripted performance within the story was even worse than his overall performance in the main story . this was something of an achievement  like going from  f  to  f  minus .   br    br   this whole lame situation should have been resolved  in real life  in about   minutes  following a realistic meeting between teacher and school authorities  with husband involved . but then that would have precluded the contrived drama following  and left an hour  s blank film in the camera .  br    br   but the writer  s  here  proved with their ending  they could do even worse . when the situation was finally  resolved  and  righted   this was accomplished in all of about   seconds  with no indication of what measures might have been forthcoming in any  real world  context for the perpetrator and his parents  or whether they might have been able to find some sort of path toward redemption .  br    br   this one  s a   presentation the second    because it does have some mild  fascination .   
  good times   in my opinion  is a must  see cbs hit  despite the fact that i  ve never seen every episode  i still enjoy it . it  s hard to say which one is my favorite . also  i really love the theme song . if you ask me  even though i like everyone  it would have been nice if everyone had stayed on the show throughout its entire run . everyone always gave a good performance  the production design was spectacular  the costumes were well  designed  and the writing was always very strong . in conclusion  even though it can be seen on tv land now  i strongly recommend you catch it just in case it goes off the air for good .  
is there anything that happens in this movie that is not predictable  i think not . basically the movie is clich after clich and really nothing ever comes as a surprise . it makes the movie extremely predictable and because of that the movie is also seriously lacking in tension . so for a thriller it is not tense and unpredictable enough but also as a drama it  s a failure . this is because the movie its story is highly unlikely . i mean  no way this could ever happen in real life  as in the same way as the events occur in this movie . so the movie has a real suspense and credibility problem .  br    br   but it truly are the clichs that killed the movie . it was cringing stuff at times . everything is so formulaic in this movie . the predator is portrayed as a cool heartless  almost psychopath like sexual frustrated boy and the victim as a naive young woman  who acts like she didn  t see any of this coming . everything that happened in the movie was so obvious and all seemed to happen for a reason . such as the sequence in which the  predator  fixes the  victims  broken car . that has got to be one of the oldest clichs out of the book . i knew what the movie tried to achieve after that point . i tried to look as if the teacher and the student were really growing toward each other trough the eyes of the other persons around them . it was so incredibly obvious and cheap that i almost wanted to stop watching the movie after that point . the movie is filled with moments like these .  br    br   the title might suggest that this is a cheap porn movie but this in fact is a sappy made for tv movie . which means that everything is slowly happening and the movie spends halve its time on character development and unnecessary sub  plots to make the movie even more drama like .  br    br   i  ll admit that elizabeth berkley is pretty good acting in this movie . she makes some of the clichs and events look even almost realistic at times . her hollywood career is as good as over after appearing in the paul verhoeven movie  showgirls   so unfortunately she will probably only still appear in movies  and television series like this one . it  s a waste of her talent and she surely deserves better . all of the other characters are a disappointment . corey sevier plays the clich pretty  untouchable  rich boy and the way the husband of the main character is portrayed is even worse . he looks more like a sexual frustrated predator than the true predator of the movie . he basically tries to have sex with his wife in every sequence . he wakes up  he wants sex . before he goes to sleep  he wants sex . he gets home  he wants sex . it might be a realistic thing but i don  t know  it just didn  t feel right for a movie like this one and the story in general .  br    br   a clich filled movie and i can  t think of any reason why anyone should ever watch this movie . it  s predictable and therefor also lacks in suspense and credibility . not an  horrible  movie and it certainly is a watchable one at times but all the weak and clich elements in the movie also make this far from a recommendable one .  br    br        
i would like to know why john amos left the show  and how did he die off the show again  i couldn  t relate to everything  but sometimes they hit home with the problems they were facing . by the way  did they ever make it out of the ghetto  i think the episode with the black jesus was my favorite . we got to see them experience a few good times . something they didn  t have very often . i wish they would bring the show back . during the daytime so people can actually stay up to watch . i don  t think a movie or a new show would work . especially without the original cast . they are really what made good times goodtimes . these are my questions and comments . thank you    
unless you  re twelve  this movie really isn  t worth it . it  s obviously a low  budget film with b actors  and with a genre like fantasy that sometimes requires intense cgi work that  s not good . i knew it would be bad when i rented it . i enjoy laughing at bad movies . i didn  t know how bad though . it  s bearable  until after hour   then it really starts to burn . fighting styles go between normal fighting that obey the laws of physics  and wire  fighting . there  s no real explanation for the transitions . it has a plot  but once again  it  s obviously a kid  s movie . it seems like there are explicit moral lessons of the day that are being conveyed  like sesame street or something . it  s bearable . but much better if you  re  say  nine .  
good times was a groundbreaking comedy about the first nuclear black family living in the chicago projects . whether or not  you live in the inner cities  ghettos  suburbs  or rural countryside  this show is still a treasure to watch and observe a family being just a family rather than a show about a poor black family . but they don  t dwell on it . they find humor and have strong family values and morals . despite the story behind the scenes  this show was worth keeping on the air except i didn  t like them killing off the father which i agreed with esther rolle who fought hard to keep the family together . but despite all the fights behind the scenes  good times was a show about a family . we all loved jj  s dynamite and his antics . we watched janet jackson  s penny grow up a little . this show was groundbreaking to show despair in drugs  gangs  and alcoholism . without being to preachy  the evans always tried to do the right thing rather than do something wrong to get out of the ghetto .  
i was in such high hopes of seeing an adaptation of a classic story like the arabian nights . instead i was disappointed in a film that failed to keep my attention from the very beginning  even though i tried watching it twice    br    br   it was a bonus that caradine was in this movie but it didn  t amount to much as the actors lacked likability . for something a little similar zorro with anthony hopkins and bandaras is much better for action  comic moments and overall enjoyability .  br    br   ok  so son of the dragon has many possible fans out there  but if your looking for something to wow about in terms of martial arts and plot line you wont get it . if you just want the kids to settle down on a sunday afternoon then maybe this it for you along with the  ninjas .  
when  good times  premiered in      it was one the first black family sitcoms . it centered on the poor chicago  based evans family and their struggles to make ends . most of the early episodes focused on the parents  james and florida evans  and their struggle to provide for the family . john amos and esther rolle were the best part of the show . they were terrific actors and had great chemistry as james and florida evans . they had three kids j . j .  thelma  and michael . j . j . was the skirt  chasing but well  meaning teenage son who made up for his lack of subtletly with artistic talent . thelma was an attractive  bright girl who was constantly trading insults with j . j . michael was a near child prodigy who was well  educated on social issues and was destined to become a lawyer .  br    br   in      the producers made a huge mistake by firing john amos  literally killing off his character . this really changed the focus  and not for the good i might add . the shows began to focus more on j . j . and his buffoon  like behavior which angered black viewers as well as series star esther rolle  who left after the next season . instead of a show that focused on key african  american issues that existed in society at the time  viewers got shows that were overloaded with skirt chasing and fat jokes .  br    br   once esther rolle left  the quality of the show suffered even more . although it was still watchable  it was no longer the great ground  breaking show that it once was .  br    br   although esther rolle came back for the     season  it became obvious that the show was on its last legs . all loose ends were tied up during that season and the show quietly faded off the air .  br    br   first three season a . last three seasons c .  
yeah  stupidity  i just finish watching and i still have bad taste in my mouth . too much colors  too much unnecessary  addons  to a story  too much stupid characters  i presume they wanted to achieve comic relief  but i only wanted to cry  . . . too much of everything . shame to spoil one of divine stories from  arabian nights  like this . childish  naive  both on a bad way  and with lot of magic  breaking mistakes  i don  t think this could keep a child of five for more then ten minutes . princess is lovely  but should be tongueless  cause actress don  t know how to carry a role . rest of the cast is even worse . . . our  bad guy  is really bad . shame that the  good guy  is not better . only light in this dark is  of course  david carradine  who goes unfortunately deeply down under his level with this  but at least keep his actor   fighter  skills at top . i  m still sorry to see him in a thing like this  but glad that i had something to watch in whole charade  so thank you david . only  only  for him  i give this  stars to this fiasco . . . i would give more for him  but that would rise final score to entire movie . the rest is so bad  that i would  maybe  like to grade it  but there is no grade lover then  here  and i think that would be too much .  
this is another great movie i had the good fortune to see for the first time on the big screen  thanks to rick baker et al  . back in the late    s i was a relative newcomer to the genre and only really new about the big three jc  sh  yb . i wasn  t sure what to expect when i payed my hard earned money to see this in a  triple bill of classics  at the old scala . i need not have worried  i was left breathless by this movie . if you  re a fan of hong kong action  kung fu movies and haven  t seen this movie  do so now   
this mini  series is actually more entertaining than some others with much bigger budgets and grander aspirations . sotd falls somewhere between  kung  fu  and  h r pufnstuff  on the entertainment spectrum . if it weren  t so long  nearly  hours  i think that kids would like it quite a bit . it  s got adventure  action   cliffhanger scenes   and not too much romance or other  icky  stuff . when you  re young  you  re not too critical of flexing rubber swords  campy acting  and scenes that are repeated .  at least two scenes are repeated identically in the movie  just as was done in old  time serials in order to bring the audience up to speed .  finally  kids are usually more accepting of american english dialogue coming out of the mouths of asian actors .  not to mention the fact that several of the leading roles are played by non  asian actors .   br    br   i was going to give this movie three stars  but i felt like the director  producers  and cast deserved some extra credit for at least carrying through on the project . this movie is not art  but  like painting your house  it actually took some time  effort  and discipline to get it made .  br    br   overall  not a recommended use for your time  but it might keep the kids entertained while traveling in the mini  van .  br    br   oh  yeah . . . hey  imdb   dialogue  is the preferred and traditional spelling . your spell  checking seems to think that  dialog  is the proper spelling . while  dialog  is acceptable  both webster  s and the oed consider it an alternative form .  
but this is a great martial arts film . liu chia liang ranks second to none as a fight choreographer  only sammo hung at his best compares . this is immediately clear from his proud exhibition of technique  rather than flashy camera angles etc .  during fights . the direction is tightly controlled to not only excite the viewer by the speed and movement but to awe her with the precise skill displayed . this film benefits also from liu  s participation in front of the camera . liu  s performance at the banquet scene with which the film opens is one of the high points in kung fu movie history . liu is supported by the beautiful and talented hui ying hung  of my young auntie fame  and  hsiao hou  whose acrobatics are breathtaking  and preferable to any amount of wirework as for the plot  this film follows the not uncommon theme of revenge  but with character and moral development along the way  and a most fitting resolution . the humour in this is also of the best . if you only watch one kung fu film ever  this would be a good choice  it has it all .  
can i give this a minus rating  no  well  let me say that this is the most atrocious film i have ever tried to watch . it was painful . boringus maximus . the plot    is well hidden in several sub  levels of nebulosity . i rented this film with a friend and  after about thirty minutes of hoping it would get better  we decided to  fast forward  a little to see if things would get any better . it never gets better . this film about some dude getting kidnapped by these two girls  sounds interesting  but  in reality  it is just a bore . nothing even remotely interesting ever happens . if you ever get the chance to watch this  do yourself a favor  try  plan nine from outer space  instead .  
forbidden planet is one of the best examples of hollywood sf films . its influence was felt for more than a decade . however  certain elements relating to how this wide  screen entertainment was aimed at a mid  fifties audience that is now gone have dated it quite a bit  and the film  s sometimes sluggish pacing doesn  t help . but  the story  s compelling central idea involving the ancient  extinct krell civilization and  monsters from the id  hasn  t lost its appeal and continue to make this film a relevant  must see  movie . what i  m mostly interested in saying here is that the current dvd for this movie is terrible . the movie has never really looked that good on home video and it  s elements are in dire need of restoration . i hope that will happen soon and we get a special edition of this sf classic .  
i expected a comedy like the  big mama  movies . instead  the movie was a bizarre mix of comedy  drama and a love story .  br    br   this movie has three plots the first involves madea and her taking in a foster child . the second involves a woman who is engaged to a rich man who is abusing her . the third involves a relationship between a single mother with  children and a single father .  br    br   there is actually very little comedy in the movie . there are also a number of very twisted messages in the movie . for example  madea beats the foster child with a belt  in a comedic manner   to convince the child to straighten out . the child does  in fact  turn herself around . apparently  it pays to beat children .  br    br   there are plots dealing with child rape  with the consent of the mother  . there are scenes with old men ogling young girls who are related to them .  the ogling takes place at a family reunion .  the movie jumps from plot to plot such that you are always off  balance . is this a comedy  a love story  or a drama  it is  in fact  nothing . . . except a waste of time and money .  
of all the breakdancing  hip  hop films released between     and      the     film beat street is unquestionably the best one . the story follows a dj  his younger breakdancing brother  a graffiti artist and a wanna  be showbiz promoter through one winter in which they try to break out of the ghetto using their  street  talent . the acting isn  t always up to par and the characters aren  t fully drawn out  but they are more than compensated for by down  to  earth dialogue  a plausible story  fantastic dancing sequences and a timeless hip  hop sound track . it should be noted this film was shot in the birthplace of breakdancing   this ain  t new york  this is the bronx     and features appearances by the fathers of breakdancing  dance troupe rock steady crew and rapper afrika bambaata . rock steady crew provide the best scene in the film when they dominate a dance battle at the premiere breakdancing club of the early    s  the roxy . a must see for hip  hop lovers .  
the major fault in this film is that it is impossible to believe any of these people would ever be cast in a professional production of macbeth . hearing david lansbury  s soft voice struggling laboriously with the famous  tomorrow  tomorrow  and tomorrow  speech made it impossible to believe anyone would ever consider him for the role . i kept believing therefore that he didn  t get the part because he was a lousy actor not because a bigger name was available . then when we see portions of the play in rehearsal it is difficult to believe the director is not parodying things with a hopelessly miscast  misdirected travesty of actors who are unable to articulate or even understand the verse and directors who see the play through their own screwball interpretations . sometimes directors are so anxious to have their films done  and writers think they have the ability to direct their own works  that they settle for less . this appears to be such an example .  
vincent price  s follow  up to house of wax        the film which cemented his reputation as a horror icon  similarly revolves around a bitter  albeit resourceful  showman . though a remake  the former  shot in technicolor  remains the superior effort that said  apart from some resistible comic relief  the obligatory resort to cheap gimmickry  it was another   d showcase  and occasional narrative shortcomings  whatever happened to the missing bag which supposedly turned up at some police station containing a severed head    this offers more than enough grand guignol  type thrills and overall camp value  price hamming it up in a variety of disguises as an inventor of illusions impersonating  missing  star conjurers who had taken advantage of his genius  to stand on its own two feet . incidentally  director brahm  s involvement here proves no mere coincidence  since the narrative incorporates elements from two horror titles  both starring laird cregar  he had previously helmed i . e . the lodger       and hangover square       . the young leads are played by mary murphy  as price  s ingnue assistant  and patrick o  neal  as her police detective boyfriend  curiously enough  he would himself take the lead in a similar piece  chamber of horrors        which i have acquired just in time to serve as an encore to this one  . an interesting sideline here is the latter  s adoption of a novel detection technique  fingerprinting  which is crucial in bringing about price  s downfall  in a predictable but rather awkward fiery climax  though the persistent snooping of his amateur crime novelist landlady has at least as much to do with it in the long run  watching the star in a made  to  measure role  the film emerges a good deal of fun  particularly at a compact   minutes .  
i saw this at the premiere in melbourne  br    br   it is shallow  two  dimensional  unaffecting and  hard to believe given the subject matter  boring . the actors are passable  but they didn  t have much to work with given the very plodding and unimpressive script . for those who might have worried that ned kelly would be over  intellectualised  you can take comfort in the fact that this telling of the story is utterly without any literary depth at all  told entirely on the surface and full of central casting standards . however  it doesn  t work as a popcorn film either . its pacing is too off  kilter and its craft is too lacking to satisfy even on the level of a mundane actioner .  br    br   i very much doubt gregor jordan could sit back and say to himself  this is the best i could have done with the material  .  br    br   ned kelly is a fascinating figure  and equally so is the national response to him . possibly folk genius  possibly class warrior  possibly psychopath and probably all these things  he has dominated australian true mythology for over    years . once again  his story has failed miserably on the big screen .  br    br   such is life .  
this was one of those  .   cent deals of yore    and far more complex than most realize    and it was in color  not only are the effects extraordinary  vs . crap like  earth vs . the flying saucers     the real  killer  is the  universality of plot     everything hinges on two principles    the ancient concept of a hidden incestuous  thinking father  s desire for his daughter  and the idea of what would happen should a world  s tech reach the point where all citizen  s desires become manifest .  br    br   needless to say if everyone we wished dead gets dead  not many  if any left    and that became the fate of the  forbidden  planet  s populace    rather modern  actually . unfortunately the  gear  of  the krell     wasted by ignorance  remains  and  morpheus   the incestuous father  knows how to access such tech    and does so  to prevent losing his daughter to another . ancient plot  beautifully rendered .  br    br   and considering its age  it remains a stunning suspense  action  human  emotion classic    and visually very modern    don  t pass this one up    it presages all modern sci  fi    and its pscychological content elevates it  beyond any genre    a timeless work     br    br   and the soundtract  you will see  hear no pure  synth  and perfectly syched moog background    a  not miss      
i saw the movie last night here at home  but i thought it was too long first of all . second  the things i saw in the movie were way too out of text to even have in this what i thought was going to be a comedy type movie like the rest before . the things isn  t funny in the movie fianc hitting his girlfriend  beatings . the movie was way too long   talk about wanting to go to sleep and wondering when it will end when you wake up and still have it playing  some of the things at the reunion were too much to capture   like the lady singing   i felt like i was almost watching a spiritual song show here  come on perry  you can do better then this   
this has always been one of my favourite movies  and will always be . over the last few years i have become a    s     s sci  fi freak  trying to collect all of the better ones that were made back then . i love lots of things about them from how corny they could be to how technically correct some of them were . the great colours and the sets get me going too . it  s a pity when they re  make some of these good old movies they nearly always stuff it up   just look at the recent re  do of the day the earth stood still  it  s utter garbage   forbidden planet is one of the benchmark space films of all time  and now they  re trying to re  make it too  and i shudder to think what the new one will be like  to my mind  some things  such as fantastic classic movies  should just be left alone to be what they are  classic examples of great attempts at telling simple stories  and giving people a thrill in the process . once they add all the techno  crap that we have available now  the film just seems to be more dog  meat from the hollywood sausage factory   nothing special at all . by the way  i notice that the astronauts  uniforms in forbidden planet were also used for  queen of outer space   that just tells you that the budgets were a bit lower back then  doesn  t it  hey  less money and better films  hmmm . . . .  br    br   great performances in this movie from leslie nielsen  in a serious role  and anne francis  walter pidgeon  who has always been one of my favourite actors   earl holiman  and of course robby the robot   br    br   the special effects are fantastic  and the storyline is not too far  fetched . this is a great sci  fi experience   
the original show was so much better . they should have left on a good note . this movie killed the whole idea . it was boring  over  dramatic  and the funny parts were too far in between to make up the slack . this movie really seemed like it was trying way too hard to be serious  and that was definitely not what i was wanting from this sequel . not to mention  that for a long time it was just depressing about the same thing over and over again . so  sorry  tyler perry  but try harder next time . this movie is just kinda dull  and not that funny either . sorry .     stars is it .  br    br   jay addison  
forbidden planet represents the kind of science fiction that is precious in cinema  especially from the     s . there was the day the earth stood still and war of the worlds  but lest not forget this gem which took some of its story from shakespeare  s the tempest to tell a tale of astronauts on a planet that has a doctor on it who has made a remarkable breakthrough . it  s the kind of breakthrough that is not so much incredible to look at  though for     it does look quite amazing to look at some of those sets and that gigantic machine the doctor creates   but with its emphasis on the characters and its themes of technology taken too far by the more primitive side of human nature even when we don  t know we  re channeling it .  br    br   on the surface  that is in the first ten minutes  it looks standard  if a little more professionally acted and directed with better skill than the b  movies of the period . a ship of astronauts are on a mission to the planet altair   to bring back an expedition that went missing decades before . but the only one left is dr . morbis  walter pidgeon  and his daughter  who somehow were immune to an attack that left everyone else dead . morbius appears to be a cordial and highly intelligent man  and his technology looks to be so impressive that the only thing the astronauts  led by the skipper  leslie nielsen   can think to do is to report it back to their superiors on earth .  br    br   but there  s a catch  something is killing off members of the crew of the ship  one by one  every night  even when the others keep an eye out and then put up an invisible electric fence  which the invisible something goes through easily . meanwhile  there  s some romance possibly between the skipper and alraira  and there  s a more pushy vibe from the doctor you shouldn  t have come to the planet to start  and now you need to go . what happens from this is even more fascinating  just on a purely intellectual level  but forbidden planet never forgets that its audience should also be entertained by this story while getting some useful ideas . while everyone may remember robbie the robot  and for good reason  perhaps the most unforgettable image for me is the monster realized on screen with the crew firing to no avail  animated with red electricity and looking so beastly that it looks out of fantasia .  br    br   the acting from pidgeon is subtle you wouldn  t expect him to be a villain  though something is there in the character and in the performance that speaks to this  and by the end it makes the character far more complex than one would expect . and the other performances are workmanlike but also excellent  from nielsen as a born leader to holliman providing some great comic relief as the cook  who  i should add  helps with one of the funniest scenes in the film with those gallons of bourbon robbie provides  . and the effects for its time are extraordinary  sophisticated in a nostalgic pulp way for today too   and the music  done by electronics  is beautiful in its  tones  . but ultimately it  s the screenplay and careful direction from hilcox that puts this a notch above the rest of the b  movie lot . when it  s meant to be funny  it  s intentionally so and it works . when it  s dramatic it connects quite well even in its stiff moments with the actors . and when we are made to think about a horrible situation  it comes on gradually  with nuance  not shoved in our faces or injected with mega  action .  br    br   an inspiration for many other sci  fi films  and a fine marker of thoughtful science fiction stories and books from time  old  it  s a classy and entertaining classic .  
i  m a black man living in a predominantly black city . that being said  i have some major misgivings about tyler perry  s work . i realize that some people out there feel the need to praise him  because he  s black and trying to portray a positive image about the culture . but  i honestly do believe that  were perry white  this film would have had the naacp  al sharpton  and jessie jackson all over his ass .  br    br   i have been forced to watch this movie one whole hell of a lot recently and each repeated viewing makes my blood boil . the characters are poorly written and acted . the jokes are so bad  i have to actually be told something is supposed to be funny . i  m just going to break this big pile of sh  t down .  br    br   madeasuck . the character may have had some appeal  but it doesn  t anymore . when the only thing she ever seems to do is smack around children and threaten adults with violence she is less than useless . she is unnecessary .  br    br   the situation with the wife beating fianc was horsesh  t . if a woman was so scared to death of her husband  why would she try to run away when he  s sleeping in bed . wouldn  t it have made more sense for her to leave when he was at work . at any rate  the characters in this arc were so annoying and overbearing that i hoped he would throw her off the balcony and was royally ticked when he didn  t .  br    br   then there are the two lovebirds . a bus driver asks a woman out by harassing her while he  s making his rounds . i couldn  t believe it . i really couldn  t believe when she agreed to go out with him even more . but  what takes the cake is that a grown man was reduced to tossing pebbles at a window and passing notes like a ten year old by a castrating mega bitch . i don  t use this term lightly  but that woman only had two modes . morose victim and psycho momma . no matter which of these two faces she showed  however  there was one constant . the bus driver wasn  t going to get any . he even married her without sampling the goods   wtf   br    br   then there  s the family reunion scene . here we  ve got the mother load which includes implied incestual taboos  grinding for the sake of grinding  shirtless  overly musclebound  b  ball  plus the great taste of maya angelou . when those babes dragged their butts outside and called a meeting  was i wrong to wish that the oldest of them was claimed by a heart attack . all this crap is going on at the reunion  in laughably easy to separate groups  and then they ring a bell . when they do  everyone drops what they  re doing and heads on over for a stern talking too  just like a pack of pavlov  s doggies   wtf    br    br   then you have the final five minutes of the film . in it we see the abusive fianc get manhandled by his longtime victim and all around bad actress . there is an impromptu wedding where black people are dressed like angels and are hanging from the ceiling   wtf    the only reason to watch it this far  besides testing your threshold for pain  is the hope that the second villain of this story gets her ass handed to her as well . guess what  it doesn  t happen . instead  perry takes the testicularly challenged way out and plays it safe  ending the movie on a tone of forgiveness   wtf    br    br   i  m pretty sure that  if given a day  i could probably write a doctoral dissertation on all the ways this movie sucks . don  t even get me started on the rest of tyler perry  s films . i  m just going to say this . in my opinion  as a black guy  d . w . griffith  s legacy lives on . the irony is that it is doing so through a black man who will be praised for doing what birth of a nation did  selling us down the river . i only wish perry  s films were dudes so i could kick them in the nuts . thanks a lot  dude   what are you going to follow this up with in      a comedy about the raping and savage beating of slaves in colonial america   
i was surprised at how a movie could be both cheesy and excellent at the same time . the frisbee flying saucer was naff beyond comprehension  especially when landing  yet the specially effects when the krell attacked were awesome for a film that was made over half a century ago  living in the middle east i saw shades of islam creep in when jj adams suggested alta should dress more modestly  and as an engineer  was amazed by the imagination used for the  futuristic  gadgets  and gizmos dreamed up by the props department . all in all  an entertaining hour and a half  my first time seeing walter pidgeon and a chance to see leslie neilsen as a  young  man  
a famous show master enters the elevator with his girlfriend . suddenly  she kills him and runs away while an old lady gets a heart attack . the name of the female assassin is sawa . she is still going to school and works for an vicious criminal  akai  who is sleeping with her . one day sawa finds out he killed her parents . .  br    br           br    br   even the biggest anime fans will have to admit that this vicious action thriller is an disappointing gore fest .  kite  has style  but it is still trash . the weird plot about a teenage girl that kills people as an assassin tried to be scary and touching at the same time  only causing the story to fall flat on it  s face . one of the highlights is an action sequence in which the good  bad heroine sawa is falling together with a bodyguard from a building  yet the dramatic structure isn  t nearly as good orchestrated and the director yasoumi umetsu  s weird and grotesque animation of the character  s faces is awful . not only that  the intercourse sequences are just simply creepy .  br    br   grade      
certain elements of this film are dated  of course . an all white male crew  for instance . and like most pre  star wars science fiction  it tends to take too long admiring itself .  br    br   but  still  no movie has ever capture the flavor of golden age science fiction as this one did  even down to the use of the  electronic tonalities  to provide the musical score . robbie the robot epitomized the asimov robots  and was the inspiration for all that followed  from c  po to data .  br    br   the plot line  of course  is shakespeare  s  the tempest  . morbius is prospero  and exiled wizard who finds his kingdom invaded by interlopers . . . it was a movie that treated science fiction as an adult genre  perhaps the first .  
well  there  s no real plot to speak of  it  s just an excuse to show some scenes of extreme violence and gratuitous sex  which can sometimes be fun  too  but it  s not in this case  . what else can i say about this . . .  the action  when happening  is inventive and there  s a cool scene where two characters are falling from a skyscraper  one that has to be several miles high   but overall there  s not much to recommend  kite  . watch it if you want  but you  re not missing much if you skip this one . . .  
i  ve now seen this one about   times  so there must be something about it i like   br    br      s us sci  fi movies were pretty much a mixed bunch they were either intelligently made and  or thought provoking or cheap and laughable cheese . forbidden planet is a bit of both  but in that rarity for the genre  colour .  br    br   it also had a head start with the script  although shakespeare might not have recognised it  it was based on his timeless play and thus guaranteed a certain amount of longevity itself if made well .  br    br   it  s the story of one mans murderous id artificially magnified infinitely by machines a dead race left switched on        years before . along the way the plot bristles with    s stereotypes and corn so pure you wonder sometimes why you  re watching it  but always do . that love triangle thing . . . yuk  disney  s cartoonery still holds up well  and the cartoon backgrounds straight off the covers of galaxy magazine etc look good even after   years . robbie driving the car over the desert in the far distance is a hoot though   br    br   all in all  with all faults  the best of its kind and we should be grateful that such a pristine print survives .  
  spoilers   br    br   i shoulda figured . the dvd didn  t even show the time or how long it was . i thought wild cardz was the worst anime movie i  d ever seen . this one is much worse . makes no sense . thrown together plot . all so we can see oversized breasts on a figure that doesn  t support them .  br    br   it had to of been a student film . that musta gotten a c grade  br    br        br    br   quality     entertainment      until i found out it wasn  t going to end .  the ending made no darn sense  br    br   replayable      
i should say at the outset there are many  many things i love about  forbidden planet  and yes  i certainly consider it a  classic  science  fiction film for many reasons . but the adulation it has received over the years goes a bit over the top in my opinion . no less an authority than leonard maltin says  forbidden planet   . . . is one of the most ambitious and intelligent movies of its genre .  ambitious  without a doubt . intelligent  depends on what part of the film you  re talking about . it certainly was the most prestigious and highly  budgeted science  fiction flick to that point . at a cost of nearly   million  this was      remember   mgm pulled out all the stops to produce a dazzling  eye  popping outer space adventure unlike anything seen on the big screen before  even employing artists from the disney studio for some of the more elaborate special effects .  charming  is not usually a word used to describe special effects in sci  fi movies  yet that is the one that seems most appropriate here . even the dreaded  monster from the id  is only a well  rendered cartoon figure by the disney people  unlikely to frighten anyone over the age of  . when i see the various sets and take note of the art design  models  costumes  etc .  i am reminded of nothing so much as  the wizard of oz   with its gorgeously saturated colors and elaborate if not always convincing effects . so much work has gone into these films that one is inclined to smile in admiration at the effort regardless .  forbidden planet  is wonderful to look at . the scenes take place on obvious stage sets that are fabulously decorated  matte paintings of planets and space in the background  and intricately designed miniature sand dunes and so forth to give the illusion of depth . it  s a bit like watching the most elaborately  produced stage play you  d ever see . the most believable and convincing scenes are probably the ones inside the massive krell complex  where shots showing the vast depth and width of this inner space are well  done and credible . but then we get to the actors  darn it . the performances are almost uniformly awful  though in fairness one has to say the dialogue hardly ever transcends the level of adolescent locker  room humor  except for some passages of barely adequate scientific technobabble . even the great actor walter pidgeon is reduced to giving such a hammy performance  it  s lugubrious at times . a very young leslie nielsen stars as the spaceship commander j . j . adams  and doesn  t convey an ounce of believability or conviction in the entire film . he seems to instinctively know  thirty years ahead of time  that his true forte  lay in comedy  as there are times he seems barely able to keep a straight face reciting his lines . every forced reaction  whether it is anger or passion or solemn meditation  looks right out of a high school play . anne francis  also very young  fares a little better as the supposedly innocent alta  whom we are to believe has never seen a human male other than her father until the crew of the spaceship shows up .  alta morbius  now there  s a name for you .  unfortunately  even at this early age  anne francis seems about as virginal and naive as elizabeth taylor in  butterfield  .  there is a good story here  buried somewhere beneath the crew  mates  leering comments about alta and yet another juvenile subplot concerning earl holliman  s  cookie   ship  s cook .  holliman turns in a horrendous performance too . i  m guessing all these actors went straight from this movie to acting school .  based on shakespeare  s  the tempest   the story of a dead race  the krell  and the fantastic world of machines they left behind is what most people tend to remember about  forbidden planet   and for good reason . for a few minutes here and there  you can forget about the rest of the movie and be dazzled by the disney artists  conception of the krell underground complex . is it enough to make up for the rest of the film  s shortcomings  you  ll have to decide that on your own . oh  and of course there  s robby the robot  every      s ten  year  old  s idea of what a robot should look and talk like . he  s funny . in places . so   forbidden planet  to me is a very  very mixed bag . it deserves credit for being the inspiration for a whole wave of sci  fi films and tv shows that followed  not least of which was  star trek .  but i would suggest that anyone who thinks it  s more than well  staged comic book sci  fi go back and watch it again .  
the same night that i watched this i also watched  scary movie    making for one messed up double feature . unfortunately for these killer tomatoes they could not stand up to the laugh riot that is the scary movie franchise . while i fought boredom here watching jokes that were silly and stupid  brutally dated and brutally bad  the more recent parody had me laughing out loud . how could i desire any more than that . director john de bello uses the basic premise that some sort of growth hormone has gone terribly wrong and turned the tomatoes into killers . but his main objective here is to slap around the disaster movie genre that was so big back in the day . the script reeks of stoner humor  and perhaps if you take illegal substances with your movie nights this could be your cup of tea . i  sober  was stuck watching a grown man go under cover as a tomato . and that one joke  that is never funny  where the discrepancy between the japanese speaking actor and the voice over is also here . some may giggle  i did not . they even had a hitler joke that wasn  t funny  and i thought all hitler jokes were funny .  br    br   the narrative of this film is so splintered  for no good reason  that it is nearly impossible to explain . tomatoes kill people  the government tries to stop it  bad jokes are told . their aim may have been correct as their targets include the media  consumerism  and paranoia  three things that still control our lives today  . oddly enough the main selling point of this film  those gosh darn tomatoes  really don  t make much of an appearance . and when they do  get this  they  re played by real tomatoes . that washed up gimmick did nothing for me as i get very little out of watching a pack of tomatoes devour a body thanks to the magic of stop action camera tricks . there is also a fear of going for broke at work here that prevents this film from being truly funny . the gag of having somebody fall asleep in nearly every scene may please some audience members  but more than likely it will be seen as an invitation to join in the fun .  br    br   i might also add that there does seem to be some old fashioned human egotism at work here . man eats tomato and that  s dinner  tomato eats man and that is a worldwide catastrophe . but that is just the way the world works . in the film the produce becomes evil because of genetic modification  but in the real world our produce  see taco bell  becomes evil thanks to neglect . and like those evil doin  green onions this film  s shelf life expired a long time ago . there are a few good chuckles to be had . the last shot was really quite splendid  but it was nowhere near enough to save this moderate stink bomb . i  m pretty sure there is a good movie buried deep within this concept  but the script needed to be filtered through about a dozen rewrites to get there . and by  there  i mean to the level of  scary movie  .       
as did others in this forum  when  fobidden planet  was offered in      i rushed to see it . this story is an interesting phenomenon i suggest because young  old  male  female  sci  fi experts and people who find such fare  way out  all can follow and enjoy this film  s story and plot lines very well . this is the first movie set on a planet other than earth in the   th century other than serials such as  flash gordon  . leslie nielsen was vocally a bit weak for his role  at that time  but walter pigeon  marvin miller  anne francis  richard anderson  earl holliman and especially warren stevens all acquitted themselves very well . there are so many visual splendors in this one  it  s hard to choose a favorite from the film  s scenes . the approach to altair    the starship itself  the landing on the planet  s alien surface  the descent via extensor stairs  the first view of the landscape  the approach of the rocket  sled  dr . morbius  s house seen from without and from within  the underground complex and its wonders  the setup of the weaponry  the battle with the monster  the final approach of the unseen destroyer  the escape from the doomed planet   all these scenes are etched into the viewer  s mind because we discover them along with the participants . veteran cyril hume  s literate script was filmed intelligently by long  time director fred mcleod wilcox with clarity and imagination . it is a shock to realize there  s no music at all the film is carried by the words  the actors and the mystery  revelation storyline . it can be watched again and again with pleasure   i have been doing so for nearly fifty years . until this famous and well  loved film was created  no film had tried to imagine a world beyond earth and for decades afterward  ships kept crashing back on the planet   as if the writers  imaginations were failing and causing the crashes . still the best  many say . that says something negative about this nation  s so  called intellectual leaders  imaginations   and something very positive indeed i suggest about those who made this gem .  
with a title like  attack of the killer tomatoes    anyone going into this thing would be expecting either a  a bad science fiction movie or b  a comedy making fun of bad science fiction movies . it  s supposed to be a mix of both  with a dose of parody splashed in . unfortunately  it falls flat very soon .  br    br   you  re never supposed to take this movie seriously  i realize that  but you  re supposed to think it  s funny  right  i found only a few of the jokes or situations were funny  i . e  the side  by  side phone conversations  the russian olympic spy eating steroid cereal  superman walking by lois  etc .  .  attack of the killer tomatoes  strives to be a cult classic  but it doesn  t make it . a cult classic is a movie that is so different that only a select group of people understand it  or a similar description  .  attack of the killer tomatoes  could be enjoyed by any   year  old with a bad sense of humor  so therefore  it does not qualify as a cult film .  br    br   there is one good actress in the entire thing sharon taylor as lois fairchild . she is a thin  gawky reporter  but has an endearing personality  loves to overact  and is a natural comedienne . unfortunately  she is put to bad use here .  br    br    attack of the killer tomatoes  is not as funny as  say   amazon women on the moon  or  kentucky fried movie   but it does have a few hilarious moments  so i would still recommend seeing it once . avoid the director  s cut  it has interruptions by the producer of the movie and some supposedly  lost  footage dubbed in a pretend african dialect  it can be found in english on the out of print tape  .  
shakespeare  s  the tempest  is a model for this exceptional science fiction film . we look for differences . prospero and his daughter  miranda  are stranded on a mediterranean island .  morbius and altaira are marooned on the  th planet circling the star altair . ariel is a spirit . robby the robot is a man  made servant . caliban  s evil hardly approaches that of monsters of the id . shakespeare spares prospero . morbius dies when altair  blows up .  the tempest  is a comedy .  forbidden planet  is a tragedy . we wonder if mankind must suffer the fate of the krell in some future time . anne francis is altaira . jack kelly is lieutentant farman . kelly starred with james garner in the comedy  western tv series   maverick .   
the only aspect of this film that saves it from being my least favorite piece of celluloid trash is a single line uttered by an agent attempting to infiltrate the man  eating tomatoes by dressing in a tomato costume  can somebody please pass the ketchup   i highly urge anyone with a sleeping disorder to use this film as a sedative it works better than an overdose of demarol .  
i know i should like this film  and i do for the most part  but as other  s have mentioned  it is a bit long in the tooth . i to also found the raging hormones of the all male crew to be a bit annoying . it  s a wonder they didn  t start panting and howling at the moons as well . i also have to say that overall  the movie leaves me cold . it  s a very sterile atmosphere that permeates the film . on the plus side the effects are great  besides the cartoon monster   as are the effects  props  costumes and of course robbie . if the robot was not in this film  i don  t think it would have been as popular as it was  is . the second half of the movie picks up steam once we start to investigate the forgotten gadgets of the  krell .  as many times as i  ve seen this movie  the krell still leaves me scratching my head as to exactly who or what they were . based on what was being produced at that time  besides  this island earth   forbidden planet is miles above the average sci  fi movies of the time . being filmed in color also adds to its enjoyment . certainly a classic in its own right  flaws and all  and deservedly so .  
never see this movie .  br    br   it tries to be a spoof on scifi  thriller films of the     s and     s but all it succedes at is making you wish really badly that you were watching one of them and not it .  br    br   it is very lame . a spoof has to have some aspect which has some above par quality to it . this movie does not have any such aspect .  br    br   save yourself . it  s too late for me but . . . just don  t watch it .  
i love tudor chirila and maybe that  s why i enjoyed the movie so much . two days before the movie premiere i went to see his concert . i saw the trailer and the video  zmeu  before the movie and i thought i had it all figured . . i was wrong instead of a good movie i assisted a great one  i felt the movie . it was sad . . it was funny . . but most of all it pictured love . . i can  t even begin to describe the soundtrack . . so i won  t   i  m not a movie critic . . i can  t describe it in more words . . my kinda vague description is all because the play left me speechless . . thank god for the keyboard   thank you tudor giurgiu  thank you maria popistasu  thank you ioana barbu and thank you tudor chirila . encore     
the stranger jack  matthew lillard  arrives in the studio of the crook collector of antiques max  vincent d  onofrio  and tells his ambitious companion and specialist in poisons jamie  valeria golino  that he is jack  s brother . jamie does not buy his story  dominates jack and ties him up to a chair . when max arrives  jack proposes us        .   for each one to protect him in a negotiation of the antiques  spanish judges  with a wealthy and dangerous collector . max invites his stupid acquaintance piece  mark boone junior   who comes with his retarded girlfriend that believes she is from mars  to compose the backup team . however  jack double  crosses the collector and then he intrigues jack  jamie and piece .  br    br   the low budget  spanish judges  is a movie with a reasonable screenplay with an awful conclusion that wastes a good cast . valeria golino is astonishingly beautiful but together with the good actor vincent d  onofrio  they are not able to save the stupid story . further  the scenes that are supposed to be funny unfortunately do not work  and actually they are silly and not funny . my vote is three .  br    br   title  brazil    tudo por dinheiro    all for money    
when one thinks of     s science fiction films one thinks of the sort of schlocky black and white b films that were parodied on the old mystery science theater     television show . yet  while there were far more films like plan  from outer space and robot monster than good films  the     s did have some very good  if not great  science fiction films like the day the earth stood still  the incredible shrinking man  invasion of the body snatchers  war of the worlds  and the thing from another world . yet  the best of the bunch  for its literacy and production values  was undoubtedly mgm  s first big foray into a level science fiction  forbidden planet  released in     . it was a   minute color film  directed by fred m . wilcox  that featured then state of the art special effects  and was endowed with a very good screenplay by cyril hume  from a screen treatment called fatal planet  by irving block and allen adler  who adapted aspects of william shakespeare  s the tempest into it .  br    br   the film drew raves when it was released  for its oscar nominated special effects  its all electronic music score  by louis and bebe barron  although credited as electronic tonalities  to avoid music guild fees   vivid matte paintings  inspired by chesley bonestell  and the famed monster of the id  moti   which was animated by an animator  joshua meador  on loan from the walt disney studio . even more famous was the appearance of robby the robot  in his first role in either film or television . later he would appear in the film the invisible boy  included in this dvd as a bonus  as well as several appearances in the     s sci fi tv shows the twilight zone  night gallery  and lost in space  with whose own robot he is often confused  and a cameo appearance in the     film gremlins .  br    br   the tale is simple  but elegantly constructed  and filled with humorous asides that leaven the forced  love story  aspect in the film . in the   rd century  the united planets cruiser c    d  a flying saucer  led by commander j . j . adams  leslie nielsen  yes he was once a leading man type before his police squad days   is en route to the planet altair iv  to investigate what happened to the crew of the bellerophon  sent to the planet twenty years earlier . after a year  s journey  there they encounter the lone survivor of the party  doctor edward morbius  walter pidgeon   the prospero stand  in  a philologist  his gorgeous blond daughter altaira  anne francis   the miranda character in a pre     s miniskirt  and robby the robot  the domestic servant who is the calibanian counterpart . morbius warns the crew of a mysterious force that killed the bellerophon party in their first year  yet he was immune to it . all in all  it  s a technically good film  especially with some rear projections and matte paintings  and the absurdity of the adult reactions to timmy  s and robby  s exploits borders an dalian surreal absurdity . yet  it  s manifest that the filmmakers had no sense of the sublime absurdity the film conjures  for it  s played straight  thus making it even funnier . as for the main feature  forbidden planet deserves all its kudos . it  s not a perfect film  but it  s a great way to spend a couple of hours  and far better than star wars  which although made twenty years later seems much more outdated  and juvenile . only such films like      a space odyssey  solaris  alien and aliens  and the first two terminator films  have really equaled or surpassed this classic in depth and effects .  br    br   it  s worth knowing that  despite forbidden planet  s  happy ending   there is the possibility that the moti is still dormant within alta  as well . after all  she is her father  s daughter  and had an even more vivid nightmare than her father when the moti attacked the ship a second time . also  the film wisely only  shows  the moti once  and never shows the krel  for the imagination can always conjure greater scares than the best special effects . the film also makes good use of narrative ellipses to condense the tale  something that far more realistic art films often fail to do . forbidden planet is one of those rare films that both defines yet transcends its era  unlike other sci fi films which were rather obvious cold war allegories . watch it  and you will agree  as well as sleep a little less easy . but  even if you don  t  there  s still the scene of anne francis skinnydipping . that alone is timeless .  
  attack of the killer tomatoes  consists mostly of rambling  poorly assembled footage in search of a movie . the plot makes no sense  and the various characters drop in and out of the picture with no explanation at all . watching this silly spoof  you get the feeling than so many other comments have captured so accurately that it  s easy to make a cheap  low  quality film and then use the  parody  angle as an excuse for its cheapness and low quality  in one scene  female swimmers are terrified of tomatoes that are floating near them how far can  suspension of disbelief  go  even in a parody   . the title song is great  though .        
okay  so robbie  s a little hokey  looking by today  s standards  and some of the acting is pretty stilted  and most of the special effects could now be duplicated by a bright   year old kid with a decent computer editing program . and don  t get me started about the poster .  br    br   this is still a great movie    years after it was released . i grew up watching  science fiction  on the local tv station  s  science fiction  adventure theater  on sunday afternoons  so i  ve seen quite a few sf movies from the    s . at a time when most movies were content to slap a rubber costume on somebody and have him demolish a miniature model of a city  forbidden planet forever raised the bar and showed that it was possible to make a science fiction movie which actually had a plot .  br    br   i doubt that many sf movies made in the    s will still be considered worth watching in     .  
this movie  s heart was in the right place  no matter where its brain was .  br    br    attack  is basically a spoof a la  airplane    two years before the fact  nice going .  of what happens when vegetables  or in this case fruits  attack .  br    br   through all manner of film magic  stop motion  papier  mache tomatoes on skateboards  reverse filming  people watching off  screen tomatoes  people throwing basketball  sized tomatoes at the on  screen actors   the tomatoes do indeed attack everyone in their leafy grasp .  br    br   then  it  s up to mason dixon  miller  and a group of spies i wouldn  t wish on any government  s side to save the day . of course there  s a meddling reporter  taylor  who pops in at the worst times  dancing and singing army soldiers  japanese scientists with dubbed  in voices  some guy dragging around a parachute and a samurai sword . . . and oh yeah  the san diego chicken before he made it big .  br    br   the gags here aren  t all that great . in fact  you could probably make up better yourself after watching these . some of the dialogue is inutterably bad   please pass the ketchup   not something to say in front of tomatoes .  and as far as  puberty love  goes . . . well  i can  t blame the tomatoes for shriveling up on hearing it .  br    br   what  s good about it  well  i liked the theme song and the beginning credits  and there was a scene with four people on the phone at once that was pretty well executed . . . . that  s about it .  br    br   three stars . not a  killer  comedy  but it tries .  br    br   rock on  peace .  
level one  horror .  br    br   when i saw this film for the first time at    i knew it would give me nightmares . it did . surprisingly  as i recall  it was the sound as much as the sight of the monster that caused them .  br    br   level two  psychoanalytic theory .  br    br   later as an adult  i saw the story for what it was what if the savage  unrestrained instincts we all repress became manifest .  br    br   level three  pure science fiction .  br    br   the best way plausibly to realize the plot  s  what if  is through the science fiction genre . this is pure science fiction  not the  cowboys in space  that passes for the genre today .  br    br   after   years  forbidden planet remains the greatest of all science fiction films . if planning a remake  skg or lucas  watch out   
  br    br   attack of the killer tomatoes is a  parody  of bad monster movies which ends up being worse than the movies it spoofs . the  very meager  story tells of tomatoes who revolt against those who treat them badly . basically  they spin and growl  yes  they growl  and the next thing you know the person is covered in ketchup . the actors are no  names who never made movies after this  so there would be no point to name them . there  s a guy who  s hired by the governement to try and stop the menace of tomatoes . he  s accompanied by a black guy who  s master of disguise and a girl and a guy who dives . anyway  there  s another woman who spies on the first guy that works for the government . if this isn  t making much sense to you  you understand . this movie never would have been very good in the first place  but it even lacks the fun of laughing at stupid attack scenes . the movie is horribly cheezy  which although being the whole point  really really hurts what could  ve been a  reasonably  entertaining movie . at one point  a giant wax tomato  slides  on an unconcealed plank of wood with wheels on it  maybe i would  ve recommended the movie if it would have enjoyable camp value  but even this is lacking from this terrible movie .      
today  s sci  fi thrillers are more like rambo in outer  space with monster special effects  frequently ludicrous such as sounds of explosions in the vacuum of space  . though tame by today  s standards  the special effects of  forbidden planet  were quite striking for their time . even today  they still hold plausibility . yet  the best part of the movie is perhaps the reason that radio thrillers still have appeal . much of what was going on was left up to the imaginations of the audience .  what did the krell creatures look like   by having much of the framework of the story never divulged or only divulged in the end  the tension and suspense held throughout the movie . the ending was also very thought  provoking and satisfying . in my mind  this is still one of the best  if not the best  sci  fi films ever made .  
i knew this film was supposed to be so bad it was funny  so i went into it with that expectation . i just found it to be so bad it was murderously boring . the whiny theme song is funny for about   seconds  until you realize there is nothing clever about it except its intentionally irritating quality . seeing things get splattered with tomatoes gets old in about   seconds . there is just nothing clever or funny about the film except for the premise . it could sustain a    minute comedy sketch maybe  but this is just not a feature film by any stretch of the imagination .  
there were a lot of    s sci  fi movies . they were big draws for the drive  in theaters . a lot of them were crappy even back then . this movie and  the day the earth stood still  stand out  and both have aged well in their own way . from the very beginning with its eerie theremin musical score  which still sounds weird since theremins are hardly ever used  forbidden planet takes you where no man has gone before . speaking of star trek there  s so much material in this film that got into star trek tos its like a pilot for the series from the interactive captain  first mate  doctor  the mad scientist  alien beings  babe in short skirt  computer intelligence it is all de rigeur now but this was the first of its kind . besides  it has good acting and well  done artwork which even today evokes a certain awe at the imagery . consider how the huge krell machine is successfully depicted with some real depth . i saw this as a kid  at a drive  in    when it was a new movie and it scared me . of course every movie that was even vaguely scary did back then but i remember being real worried about the invisible monster . forbidden planet is a movie a sci  fi fan can watch several times and find something new with each viewing .  
awlright  damn it  the moocow will grudgingly admit the truth i kinda  like this cheap  cheesy    s parody . the idea that vast hordes of killer tomatoes are destroying the us is a great idea  and in spite of itself  the moovie does provide some decent chuckles  moostly the sight of terrified extras running away from large  obviously fake tomatoes . this film  along with the kentucky fried moovie  is one of the earlier attempts at spoofs  which became so popular in the    s     s  thanks largely to airplane  . this one  like moost spoofs  is pretty poor . many attempts at humor are dismal failures  and will induce much groaning . but thanks to the ravenous tomatoes hordes  the obnoxious  puberty love  song  and the awesome helicopter crash scene  attack of the killer tomatoes does provide some goods  though largely for the wrong reasons . there are sooooo many things wrong with this film . . . and so right  it  s hard to explain . enough people must also have enjoyed it as the tomatoes made a comeback in  moore films  and a cartoon series   large chunks of time spent away from the tomatoes are pretty dull . and dig those    s clothes  dude      this tomato is seedy and cheesy  but worth a chuckle or two the moocow says grab a pizza and pop in the tomatoes     
first off  consider that this film is nearly fifty years old  yet  it still stands up as one of the great films of all time . i wonder how many of todays throwaway celluloid productions will still be talked about in       br    br   the story is simple  yet solid enough and the effects are nothing short of phenomenal for the day . i can still recall the first time i watched this  as a kid  when the monster enters the force  field protecting the ship and you got to see its outline for the first  and only  time . had me shivering in fear  i can tell you . looks dated today  but still more than effective enough .  br    br   the scenes with the tiger show their age now . you can see the outline where the tiger was matted into the shots with altaira  but they are only just visible .  br    br   likewise  the effect whereby the creature melts its way through the krell doors are wonderfully done .  br    br   it  s also amazing to see leslie nielsen  better remembered for the airplane and naked gun movies  as a young  but still mature man . he was   when this film came out  nearly   now   br    br   all in all a good movie that is sure to continue being a favourite for years to come . timeless .  
yes  it can be done . john de bello and costa dillon cleaned out the garbage of their minds and come up with the worst comedic  horror  sc  fi musical . if there is any acting  it is terrible or way over the top . special effects take your pick . . . very low budget or kindergarten . every cheap clich thought of is used . no doubt a fun movie to watch . worth a cold six  pack or two . point the finger at radiation if you need an excuse . mutant tomatoes grow to almost the size of a tow truck and begin attacking mankind . san diego is a good place as any to start . scientists and an absent minded military must find the way to stop this red rolling menace . this cult favorite features david miller  eric christmas  al sklar  tom coleman  sharon taylor and john qualls .  
there  s a good reason that walter pidgeon is warning off leslie nielson and his crew from the relief ship  stuff he dare not dream about .  br    br   as doctor edward morbius  pidgeon is the last survivor of an expedition that came to this planet   years earlier . since that time he married another member of the expedition and had a daughter  anne francis . they are the only humans left on this planet which was once the home world of an ancient civilization known as the krell .  br    br   the records as deciphered by pidgeon indicate the krell came to a cataclysmic ending of unknown origin . the machinery they left behind is still functioning .  br    br   maybe functioning too well as members of the relief party start dying and in a particular gruesome fashion .  br    br   i see all kinds of speculation about a remake and this is one film not to remake because it  s as fresh as it was in     . the terms would change  we would now say warp speed instead of hyper drive  courtesy of the enduring popularity of star trek .  br    br   we might not see the men in the relief expedition in a flying saucer like space ship . it might look a lot more like the starship enterprise or the ship from     a space odyssey . it  s interesting to look at science fiction films from different generations and see how are conceptions of the future do change .  br    br   the story behind forbidden planet is a timeless one  about mortal beings trying to play god .  br    br   you can  t write about forbidden planet without commenting on robby the robot . this mechanical marvel  put together by pidgeon with the knowledge he gained from studying the krell was quite the hit back in the day . he got a new lease on life in the sixties with the character of the robot from lost in space . his scenes with earl holliman who plays the cook on the space ship and his complying with earl  s request for some home spirits are very funny .  br    br   robby and the other special effects were nominated for an oscar  but lost to the ten commandments and the parting of the red sea . forbidden planet  s bad luck to run up against a hollywood founder like cecil b . demille .  br    br   classicists among you will recognize forbidden planet as a futuristic reworking of the tempest which when you think about it could have been shakespeare  s one venture into science fiction .  br    br   my favorite among the cast is warren stevens who  s sacrifice enables leslie nielsen to learn exactly what he  s dealing with .  br    br   never miss this one whenever it  s broadcast .  
i have only had the luxury of seeing this movie once when i was rather young so much of the movie is blurred in trying to remember it . however  i can say it was not as funny as a movie called killer tomatoes should have been and the most memorable things from this movie are the song and the scene with the elderly couple talking about poor timmy . other than that the movie is really just scenes of little tomatoes and big tomatoes rolling around and people acting scared and overacting as people should do in a movie of this type . however  just having a very silly premise and a catchy theme song do not a good comedy make . granted this movie is supposed to be a b movie  nothing to be taken seriously  however  you should still make jokes that are funny and not try to extend a mildly amusing premise into a full fledged movie . perhaps a short would have been fine as the trailer showing the elderly couple mentioned above and a man desperately trying to gun down a larger tomato was actually pretty good . the trailer itself looked like a mock trailer  but no they indeed made a full movie  and a rather weak one at that .  
i have loved this movie all of my life . it  s such an intelligent story also  with plenty of classical allusions . eg . the ship that went missing decades earlier was called the bellerophon . well  in classical mythology this was the man who slew the chimera  a legendary beast composed of two or more other creatures . in fp  walter pidgeon is clearly the chimera  himself and his id monster .  br    br   i like movies where the writers have clearly credited their audiences with a modicum of intelligence  unlike most modern blockbusters which spend     m on special effects  but about   .   on a screenplay .  br    br   cheers  
when i heard the plot for this movie i simply had to see it  i mean whole cities being wiped out by killer tomatoes  sadly the title is about as funny as it gets .  br    br   led by detective dick mason  a special team of military and scientists  including greg colburn who never takes his scuba outfit off and lt . finletter who is never pictured without his parachute trailing behind   attack of the killer tomatoes  is a parody of b  movies  in particular japanese horror of the      s . the film begins with a standard sized tomato being discovered by a women washing up in her kitchen before we find ourselves in a middle of a crime scene as the tomato has supposedly murdered this lady  and let me tell you it doesn  t get any saner as the film progresses  to be fair there are a couple of funny moments  for instance anytime the japanese scientist dr nokitofa speaks his voice is dubbed over in an american accent  or when disguise expert sam smith infiltrates the tomatoes  hey  can somebody please pass the ketchup   . equally this film was probably a lot funnier in     with the whole so bad its good concept . unfortunately for  attack of the killer tomatoes  spoof films such as the  airplane  and  naked gun  series have been released and done this kind of comedy a lot better since .  br    br   the acting is atrocious there is zero continuity in the editing and it just feels genuinely slow and lacking energy . for a parody film to work you need a lot of things happening at once  one gag after the over . the singing in the film seems pointless and the adverts for the furniture store that flash across the screen are damn right bizarre  even for this film . ultimately  however  you can see why this film is a cult one i can  t see many people being indifferent to it . unfortunately terrible would be the way i would sum this up .  
forbidden planet rates as landmark in science fiction  carefully staying within  hard  aspects of the genre  science   not fantasy  ergo nerds will love it  while still playing with imagery and ideas of contemporary     s values . morbius  s isolated house is a model of modern design with open spaces that step out into sculpted gardens  a swimming pool  and the ultimate home appliance robby the robot .  a housewife  s dream   exclaims the captain after lunch and a demonstration of the robot  s abilities to synthesize food and disintegrate waste .  br    br   also revealing to the     s fruedian psychology rears its head in the id explanation  although morbius dismisses it as an outdated concept . there is a touch of the pacific war drama in the battle with the invisible monster and life aboard the saucer . perhaps most timely is the post  atomic fear that science is the enemy  and arrogant scientists will unwittingly bring down destruction in their blind quest for knowledge .  br    br   yet the suburban drama presented by forbidden planet seems uniquely fresh in the sci  fi genre . they aren  t swashbucklers or heroes  but ordinary sailors crossing the galaxy with a serviceman  s crudeness and honesty . the good guys drive the flying saucer  and the aliens are so long gone we don  t even know what they looked like   although their music er   atmospheric tonalities  by bebe and louis barron are remarkably futuristic today . the views from morbius  house are truly alien with jagged cliffs and pink bonsais . the interior of the saucer is just this side of buck rogers . there  s a lot visually to like . although we get fantastic monsters and robots for the kiddies  forbidden planet is a cerebral movie  slow paced and talky . it is working on many levels at once hard sci  fi against space adventure  philosophical against domestic .  br    br   there are many suburban touches . in spite of all their space  talk  the soldiers are dressed for the golf course . morbius  fatal discovery is a humble educational facility  a schoolhouse . the most interesting character is morbius  daughter altaira . having never seen a man she is unashamedly forward to the crew . she  s a post  madonna teen who designs her own space  age clothes and takes every opportunity to change outfits   imagine christina aguilera with a household replicator . men watching the film might see her as a naive girl in a minidress  but every woman knows there is no such thing as a naive girl in a minidress . anne francis deserves better recognition for humiliating the leut with kisses . alas we  ll never know if she was  working  him as he suspects  since the captain interrupts and becomes a more interesting target for her attention . she is the character who makes the important change in the film . shocked that her father compares the dead doc to the other  embeciles  in his landing party  she turns away from her father  her home  to leave with the sailors for earth . it  s this act of defiance  of maturity  that sends morbius  id creature over the edge  allegorically destroying its creator just as it did thousands of centuries earlier to the krell .  br    br   maybe the krell had teenage daughters too . . .   
in case you  re a self  acclaimed connoisseur of cult cinema and  or bad movie  making  there comes a certain point in life  preferably sooner than later  that you have to watch  attack of the killer tomatoes  . it  s an inescapable certainty  as this is one of the most notoriously awful cult movies ever made . one tiny but essential detail  however  is that  attack of the killer tomatoes  is deliberately awful . right from the opening message already  mocking alfred hitchcock  s  the birds   this is clearly intended as a zero  budgeted parody and i can  t escape the impression that writer  director john de bello never expected for his film to become such a hit . the film spoofs the contemporary popular trend of so  called  eco  horror  movies  plants  animals and nature in general revolting against humanity  and introduces the least menacing type of vegetable imaginable as undefeatable killing machines . a secret government agricultural project to produce bigger and tastier tomatoes goes horribly wrong and soon there are reports about tomato  attacks coming from all over the country . the president puts together a special forces team to battle the juicy enemy  which includes secret agents with very specific areas of expertise and scientists with horrendously dubbed voices . the first half hour of  attack of the killer tomatoes  is very entertaining . as silly as it is  the sight of normally shaped vegetables jumping up from the sink and attacking hysterical housewives is quite original and funny . the first half hour also contains numerous memorable moments like the catchy theme song  the  jaws  homage and the infamous unforeseen helicopter crash  see the trivia section for more details  that made it to the final cut . after that  however  the whole thing turns into a tedious  unstructured and insufferably amateurish mess . the quality level of the jokes goes from fresh and inventive towards embarrassing and downright not funny and there are too many characters and sub plots . personally  i prefer the late    s and early    s sequels  which i saw before seeing the original  because they benefit from slightly better production values  incredibly over  the  top tomato special effects and the presence of veteran actor john astin   the addams family   as the mad scientist dr . gangreen . but  as said before already  the original inexplicably remains obligatory viewing material at some point in your life .  
if you like star wars  trek  come see where they got all their ideas and cinematic devices . it  s my top  favorite movies of all times  other  worldly  futuristic and psycho  thriller . the intensity of the root material  shakespeare  s  the tempest   is not overshadowed by whizbang gimmickry  a la later lucas  . and just because it was made in      don  t assume you can  see the strings  holding the flying saucer up . this was the first movie where you couldn  t . miracle it was made at  a  movie  scale  economics and tastes at the time were stacked heavily against it . and director wilcox  s previous  hit  was  lassie come home  . until i looked him up  i assumed  fred wilcox  was a pseudonym for a director who was already or later became famous  but at the time didn  t want to be associated with sci  fi  which was strictly a  b  genre back then . this was either a very very visionary production  or a very fortuitous  mistake  on the part of the folks who bankroll hollywood .  br    br   there are the massive  scale mattes with live action almost microscopically inserted that lucas used extensively . there are intelligent machines that transcend the stereotypical  user interface    computers   as they  ve come to be portrayed much less futuristically in later works . star trek  s  transporter  is there  visually  almost unaltered by roddenberry   years later . and if the trek  wars technobabble turns you off  fp  s scientific references are not overdone and are all accurate  even today . the  ship  set is comprehensive  sparklingly realistic  as good as anything you  ve seen since  and more convincing than anything  trek  has done  for tv or film . we didn  t get to spend as much time there as i would have liked .  br    br   if you ever wondered how movies got into space so competently  watching fp will explain all that . it  s definitely not  wagontrain to the stars  .  
the easiest way to describe this movie is as a satire . the target of the satire is quite vast  from the us government to corporate america . it is also not a stinging satire  but rather a silly one .  br    br   think of this movie as a mix between the kentucky fried movie  airplane and police squad series  done with a much smaller budget and not as funny . i can see how this movie is a satire of many sci  fi disaster movies from the    s and    s . i see this movie as a big influence on tim burton  s mars attacks .  br    br   the plot is simple enough . genetically engineered giant tomatoes go  crazy  and start attacking people and cities . at first there is a cover up and then it blows over into full blown war .  br    br   the movie runs the gamut of characters and characterizations  lois  fairchild   a lois lane clone   a very ambitious presidential press secretary  clark kent  mason dixon  fia agent who hasn  t worked since the bay of pigs   a useless president  who only seems to be able to sign his name and attack new york   an even inept congress  a sleazy marketing ceo  and mason  s team consisting of an obese east german  female  swimmer  a scuba diver  a crazed wwii paratrooper and an african  american disguise expert  disguised as george washington  abraham lincoln  hitler and finally as a tomato  . did i also forget to mention  lots and lots of tomatoes  there are all kinds of tomatoes from small tomatoes  to giant plastic tomatoes  to smashed tomatoes  to tomato juice and finally to people dressed up as tomatoes .  br    br   on top of all this  you have a couple of musical numbers as well . they aren  t that good and seem to be dubbed . the best tune is by far the theme of the movie   attack of the killer tomatoes   . it is way too catchy and you might end up humming or singing it in public . be warned .  br    br   most of the movie is quite amusing and shows the absurdity of various real life situations as well as various entertainment genres . i don  t believe i was induced to laughter  but mostly smiled and scratched my head . i definitely recommend this movie for fans of b and c grade movies  but only as a rental .  br    br    celluloid rehab  
i viewed the movie together with a homophobic friend  my wife and her female friend . so i had views from all kinds of directions . mainly  the film made me laugh  the sexual tension was not really there and the only noticeable actors were tudor chirila and maria popistasu . yes  i do think she played her role well  even if the script was not appropriate . there were good romanian actors around  they just didn  t have complex roles . i applaud puya  s entering the movie business . i don  t know why  but i think he  s a good guy  i just hope he  ll be a good actor .  br    br   the wife loved the movie  though  and i think there might have been chords being played and to which i had no ear for . if the film tried to present uncommon sexual behaviors and their consequences in todays romania  then it failed miserably . there were no consequences . just imagine that the girls are actually a boy and a girl  and the same story becomes just a boring  uninteresting plot .  br    br   i have no idea why it got all those bafta awards . in my book  it should have gotten the  better luck next time  award .  baftagood luck in romanian  .  
although the director tried  the filming was made in tynisia and morocco   this attempt to transport the new testament in the screen failed . the script has serious inaccuracies and fantasies  while the duration is very long . but the most tragic is the protagonist chris sarandon  who doesn  t seem to understand the demands of his role .  
the only thing i knew about this film prior to seeing it was robby the robot . my preconception was that it was another in a long line of cheesy sci  fi flicks that the      s was noted for . how wrong i was . big studio  big budget and big production values make this a strong contender  at least visually  for the best sci  fi film coming out of the era . i qualify with the word visually  because  war of the worlds  is a lot darker and scarier than  forbidden planet   and probably fits the mold better as a foray into alien territory .  br    br   what impressed me immediately was the color rendition of the cinematography  followed by the intricacy and scope of detail involved in dr . morbius   walter pidgeon  home and laboratory . but that was only the prelude to the icing on the cake  the labyrinthine underground that served as the krell stronghold . it appeared that krell technology was even more advanced than say  that of  star wars  . which made me consider  audiences for this movie back when it was released probably sat in the same kind of awe that theater goers experienced in     with sw  or in     with  aliens  . watching it on a large screen tv in my living room offered me the same effect  and i  m fairly resistant to hyperbole .  br    br   it  s not too much of a stretch to imagine  forbidden planet  as a direct antecedent of the  star trek  tv series gene roddenberry himself stated that the movie had a great impact on his vision for the show . followers of that short lived series will readily recognize plot elements used here that turned up in  star trek  . i had to do a double take when the men of united planets cruiser c    v headed for a transporter room  while the conundrum presented to robby that created an impossibility to respond was an element used at least two or three times in the st series .  br    br   where the movie definitely took a cerebral turn had to do with the whole idea of  monsters from the id  . that morbius himself was using his subconscious mind to defend altaire iv was certainly a unique concept for      when every other sci  fi flick of the time was dealing with martians or other grotesque space creatures . the film worked it  s subtle magic on this viewer by helping me understand that morbius was the protector of altaire iv some time before commander adams  leslie nielsen  explained it .  br    br   you know  looking at the calendar  the year     isn  t that far off . this movie may be the one that actually gets it right relative to exploring and living on other planets . i think though  that they  ll have to come up with a sleeker looking version of robby .  
there aren  t enough gay  themed movies and there aren  t enough coming out  movies . every one is a welcome addition to the genre . although the production values are high  the movie looks  good  matthias freihof  philipp  looks real good in a pair of jeans  this is a bad one . it is a period piece gay life under an oppressive regime  east berlin       a life that seems   years behind the west . in a way we  re seeing our own history what it might have been like for gays in the    s and    s here  it often reminded me of last exit to brooklyn the book not the film  . but it is unremittingly depressing and slow in a contrived way that evoked an old sctv send up of ingmar bergman . it is so sloppily edited i wonder if the director just didn  t hack at random . yes  it is a miracle that this was filmed and released before the wall came down and yes  life behind the curtain  was hard for gay people . a good director could have shown all that without stupefying the audience . a good director would have had me mark this one as one of the great coming  out movies and not one of the misses .  
a flying saucer manned  literally  by a crew of about   male space explorers travels hundreds of millions of light years from earth to check in on a colony founded some   years ago on a  forbidden planet .  what they find is a robot more advanced than anything imaginable on earth  a beautiful and totally socially inept young woman  and her father  a hermit philologist haunted by more than the demons of the ancient civilization he has immersed himself in .  br    br   on the surface  this story is a pulp scifi murder mystery . some compare it to shakespeare  s tempest  but this is a stretch  and  in some ways  an insult to the scifi genre . stripped of what makes it a scifi film  sure  its the tempest  but how many hundreds of films can you say something similar about   br    br   underneath  this is a cautionary tale about progress and technology and the social evolution necessary for its appropriate and safe use . yet the film still proceeds with all the hopefulness for our future that we have come to expect from shows like star trek .  br    br   anne francis is not the only reason why this film is best described as beautiful . the special effects  and even the aesthetics of the backdrops are powerful enough to make the uninspired directing and uneven acting almost unnoticeable . if it were not for the goofy retro  art  deco  ness of     s sci  fi props  you might think you were watching a     s piece .  br    br   this is a classic of that very special sub  genre of sci fi i like to call     s sci  fi  and  though not  in my opinion  the best it is certainly a must see for anybody interested in sci  fi film and special effects . the clever plot  now rendered trite by its reuse in six or seven episodes of star trek  lost in space  and even farscape  is worth paying attention to  and will sustain the interest of most scifi fans . trekkers will be particularly interested in the various aspects of the film which seem to have inspired themes of star trek  s original series aired about   years later  though they may find themselves disappointed by the  relatively mild      s sexism and the lack of any kind of racial integration . while i do not mean to nitpick  the lack of social progress manifest in this film was the one major problem i had with it .  br    br   some will probably see this film simply to catch a glimpse of young  good  looking leslie nielsen in one of his first starring roles . unfortunately  nielsen  s performance is only average  and at times down  right poor  especially at the climax of the film  . walter pigeon  though quite excellent in other films  over  acts his role as well . ms francis  earl holliman  and the amazing robby the robot are the stand  out actors in this crowd  though on the whole the character actors filling in the ensemble do a good job . the problems with the featured performances  i think  are as much the fault of the director and the editor  as anything . though they certainly got most of the film quite right .  
the fight scenes play like slow  motion jackie chan and the attempts at wit are pathetic  worst pun by far  guess what  this time i heard you coming   . the stars are a mismatched pair brandon lee  despite the terrible lines he has to say  actually shows traces of charisma and screen charm  things that dolph lundgren is completely free of  at least in this movie  . note to the director in the future  please stay away from any love scenes  especially when your main actress won  t do any nudity and you have to rely extensively on a body double .        
this is a film that has it all  the dashing hero  the beautiful damsel in distress  the noble figure with the tragic flaw  and a truly wonderful robot . forbidden planet has maintained that special magic over the years and doesn  t lose its flavor with repeated viewings  although the sex appeal of the youthful anne francis helps considerably on that score  .  br    br   movie fans will recognize the youngish leslie nielsen portraying the handsome and heroic commander adams  although those of us who have grown fond of him in comedic roles will perhaps be a bit taken aback by his appearance in a serious role . the distinguished and noble  looking walter pidgeon is also a featured player as the scientist with a secret  id  . other supporting cast deserve a nod  especially warren stevens as the brainy and resourceful  doc   and of course the charms of miss francis  as noted above .  br    br   this film was an early pioneer in the use of electronic music  in the     s  no less . the credits call them  tonalities   but those of us who tried to tinker together early versions of the  theremin  device will recognize the eerie and spooky whines and screeches sometimes used in the sound track . still  it lends to the image of the exotic and alien landscape of the mysterious and forbidding world of the krell .  br    br   the special effects are also quite arresting . i recall my fear as a youngster waiting for the next manifestation of the invisible  id  monster  and when it is finally visualized in the one battle scene it literally shook me to my toes in wonder and awe . the magic of matte art is fully exploited in the dizzying scenes of the krell scientific complex as the characters make their way through the various labyrinths and passageways  guided by the enigmatic dr . morbius .  br    br   i recall feeling some measure of jealously that dr . morbius would have such a cool toy in the form of robby the robot . the persona of robby is quite charming and in some ways he seems more human than some of the other characters . viewers of follow  on shows like twilight zone and lost in space will recognize the recycled robby prop in some of those episodes  although i recall he never had the  personality  of the original robby .  br    br   i must admit to not fully understanding the complexities of the plot until i was old enough to understand the various references to freudian psychology and the danger of unleashing the hidden and normally contained fears and rage we carry within but have trained ourselves  through force of will  to submerge and control through adherence to societal codes . although the key to the story seems obvious once revealed  it remains unknown  or perhaps deliberately overlooked  by dr . morbius until pointed out by the clear  thinking commander adams  who forces dr . morbius to confront the evil within himself . it still gives me goose bumps when commander adams pushes dr . morbius down before the krell machine that endowed him with superior intellect  which opened the flood gates of his subconscious to the power of the krell machine  here . here is where your mind was artificially enlarged . consciously it still lacked the power to operate the great machine . but your subconscious had been made strong enough .  zowee   br    br   forbidden planet remains probably my favorite sci  fi film ever  and remains timeless and classic for its carefully crafted story and wonderful visualization and realization on the screen .  
extremely poor action film starring the ever wooden dolph lundgren and brandon lee trapped in a sidekick role that never seems to gel . the action is at best average  a bit of nudity chucked in and yes tia carrera does use a body double   br    br   the set  up is the usual renegade cop forced to break in a new partner on a big case  the makers at least try to give the formula a twist making lundgren the cop with oriental values and lee the modern city slicker but there is zero character development making it almost comical  lundgrens oriental warrior outfit for the big showdown has to be seen to be believed . the action sequences are by the numbers and lee  who would go on to make the excellent the crow  is never given the scope to show off any particular martial arts brilliance . but given his illustrious parentage he must have been under a hell of a lot of pressure and was far better served not having to live up to his father by taking on a very different role in the crow which showed what a unique actor he may have become if not for his tragic and early death .  br    br   unless your a hardcore lundgren fan or a fan of poor    s style action movies  think cobra etc .  then avoid .  br    br   poor      
a number of factors make it easy for me to state that i still think this is the most important science fiction film ever made  despite some of the acting  outdated dialogue etc .  br    br   first  there is the scale of imagination in describing the krell  a humanoid race native to the planet  now all dead  who were  million years more advanced than earth humans  us   and their technology  particularly the      cubic mile machine .  br    br   second  there is the music and sound effects  which are inseparable from each other . it creates an eerie  unearthly feeling  unlike        which had traditional classical music .  br    br   third  its  monster  is not only the most powerful and deadly ever envisioned  it  s also based on real science and doesn  t break the laws of physics and biology .  br    br   finally  and most importantly  forbidden planet is the only movie ever made that attempts and  more incredibly  succeeds in making an honest  intelligent and mercilessly logical statement on the limits or ceiling of human  or any other biological entity  s  development  no matter how long we survive as a species .  br    br   in other words  it predicts our inevitable destiny .  
well  i couldn  t even enjoyed this movie much for its cult values . it  s a b  movie action  flick  by the director of  commando   that is however far too lame and silly to consider it a good b  movie with enough entertainment value in it .  br    br   it  s an     s flick but foremost the movie should remind of an     s action movie  when these type of b  movies were at an all time high . these movies always went over  the  top and never paid much attention to its story or acting . it was all about blowing stuff up  big muscle heroes and bullets flying around . this movie has all of that ingredients in it but yet i really didn  t liked watching this movie as much as i like watching some similar type of movies . hard to say why really  since the story and acting and such are just as bad as would be the case in basically any other genre movie from the same era .  br    br   it  s probably because the movie is being often far too silly . all these type of movies have its silly moments but this movie is just filled with it . the fighting  dolph lundgren running around shirtless  the characters  the story . it all just isn  t very good because it  s often just too lame for words . the story at times isn  t even trying to make a bit sense and what  s even the main plot  line of the overall movie  its story is all over the place really and seems only to be written to create a movie out of with fighting sequences  gun fights and such . and those sequences aren  t even much good to watch really . the moments are way too short and quite disappointing to watch really  from the man who brought us  commando  .  br    br   it  s foremost a dolph lundgren  in which he gets to play the big action hero star  who kicks butt with seemingly relative ease  knows how to handle guns and other weapons and of course also gets the girl  played by tia carrere . this all also brings us one of the worst montage sequence in action movie history and also definitely one of the worst sex sequence i have seen in any movie really . both are just too lame for words and just very poorly put together .  br    br   none of the characters work out really . the good guys are cops but they never seem to behave like one . they simply kill around without having to face responsibility to anyone and they are not very keen on making any arrest  or to inform anyone about their discoveries . not even when they find out a big japanese crime syndicate is trying to take over the streets of l . a . and a beer brewery is working as a cover for a drugs factory and large scale drugs smuggling . and also just think about it for a moment  what is brandon lee  s overall purpose in the movie  the movie could had easily done without him and the girl as well .  br    br   too silly  lame and simplistic and just not entertaining enough .  br    br        
sure star wars  a movie i have seen at least fifty times  beats all the others in special effects  but this film has every thing else   br    br   it has horror  non  graphical   romance  robots  witty repartee  intelligence   surprisingly good  special effects  and drama .  br    br   i saw this film a couple of years ago in a revival with a newly struck print  and i was amazed at how well it held up today . i thought the old    s style electronics would look hokey  but they somehow looked futuristic and moderne .  br    br   ann francis in here  mostly  short skirts and bare feet with a girlish innocence that is hard to beat still gets a rise out of me .  br    br   the krell monster appearing in the ray beams still scares the bejebees out of me .  br    br   of course we all know that the  great bird of the galaxy  probably modeled much of  star trek  from this movie .  br    br   no one has yet to beat robby  the robot  in terms of personality  br    br    sorry  r  d  and c  po  .  br    br   this movie  overall  is the standard that all other science fiction films will have to measure up to   br    br   honorable mention for the haunting electronic score which kept us all on pins and needles .  
seeing all of the negative reviews for this movie  i figured that it could be yet another comic masterpiece that wasn  t quite meant to be . i watched the first two fight scenes  listening to the generic dialogue delivered awfully by lungren  and all of the other thrown  in oriental actors  and i found the movie so awful that it was funny . then brandon lee enters the story and the one  liners start flying  the plot falls apart  the script writers start drinking and the movie wears out it  s welcome  as it turns into the worst action movie ever .  br    br   lungren beats out his previous efforts in  the punisher  and others  as well as all of van damme  s movies  seagal  s movies  and stallone  s non  rocky movies  for this distinct honor . this movie has the absolute worst acting  check out tia carrere  s face when she is in any scene with dolph  that  s worth a laugh   with the worst dialogue ever  brandon lee  s comment about little dolph is the worst line ever in a film   and the worst outfit in a film  dolph in full japanese attire  . picture  tango and cash  with worse acting  meets  commando   meets  friday the   th   because of the senseless nudity and lungren  s performance is very jason voorhees  like   in an hour and fifteen minute joke of a movie .  br    br   the good  how about not awful  performances go to the bad guy  who still looks constipated through his entire performance  and carrere  who somehow says her  lines without breaking out laughing  . brandon lee is just there being lungren  s sidekick  and doing a really awful job at that .  br    br   an awful  awful movie . fear it and avoid it . if you do watch it though  ask yourself why the underwater shots are twice as clear as most non  underwater shots . speaking of the underwater shots  check out the lame water fight scene with the worst fight  scene  ending ever . this movie has every version of a bad fight scene for those with short attention spans and to fill  in between the flashes of nudity .  br    br   a bad bad movie                                         
i first saw this movie when it originally came out . i was about  yrs . old and found this movie both highly entertaining and very frightening and unlike any other movie i had seen up until that time .  br    br   basic plot an expedition is sent out from earth to the fourth planet of altair  a great mainsequence star in constellation aquilae to find out what happened to a colony of settlers which landed twenty years before and had not been heard from since .  br    br   theme an inferior civilization  namely ours  comes into contact with the remains of a greatly advanced alien civilization  the krell         years removed . the  seed  of destruction from one civilization is being passed on to another  unknowingly at first . the theme of this movie is very much good vs . evil .  br    br   i first saw this movie with my brother when it came out originally . i was just a boy and the tiger scenes really did scare me as did the battle scenes with the unseen creature  force . i was also amazed at just how real things looked in the movie .  br    br   what really captures my attention as an adult though is the truth of the movie  forbidden knowledge  and how relevant this will be when we do  if ever  come into contact with an advanced  alien  civilization far more developed than we ourselves are presently . advanced technology and responsibility seem go hand in hand . we must do the work for ourselves to acquire the knowledge along with the wisdom of how to use advanced technology . this is  in my opinion  the great moral of the movie .  br    br   i learned in graduate school that  knowledge is power  is at best  in fact  not correct  knowledge is  potential  power depending upon how it is applied  . . . if it is applied at all .  it  s not what you know  but how you use what you know    br    br   the overall impact of this movie may well be realized sometime in mankind  s own future . that is knowledge in and of itself is not enough  we must  must have the wisdom that knowledge depends on to truly control our own destiny or we will end up like the krell in the movie  just winked  out .  br    br   many thanks to those who responded to earlier versions of this article with comments and corrections  they are all very much appreciated   i hope you are as entertained by this story as much as i have been over the past    years . . . .  br    br   rating   out   stars  
this movie is one of the most unintentionally bad action films ever put to film . dolph friggin  lundren with a japanese accent is funny enough  but add really corny buddy  buddy action to the mix  an eccentric and over  the  top villain  a clichd love interest subplot and one of the worst endings of all time  and you  ve got yourself quite the little suicide  inducing cure for people who enjoy their life and  up till watching  showdown   had never contemplated killing themselves with a blowtorch .  br    br   i don  t know if it  s just me but the whole homosexual subtext is none too subtle . there are constant references to male genitalia  and not by females  either . brandon lee and dolphin talk about each other  s manly parts  and in fact before going on a suicide spree  brandon says to dolphy   in case we don  t make it  i want to tell you  you have the biggest d    i  ve ever seen .   br    br   now  is this what a normal man would say to another man  in an action film no less  and would you want those to be your  dying words     br    br   later  there  s this gem  br    br   dolph  regarding the villain    i would like to cut off certain parts of his anatomy .  brandon  man  you  ve got a fixation .   br    br   as the guy at ruthlessreviews . com pointed out   unfortunately  dolph doesn  t respond with   i  ve got a fixation  i  ve got a fixation   you  re the one who decided that his last words should be about my privates  i was just gonna chop of his ears and his nose  man .   br    br   this is relentlessly silly stuff and great fun if you  re someone who enjoys receiving root canals from unlicensed dentists  without novocain . it  s about on par . great fun for the whole family   
i am always so frustrated that the majority of science fiction movies are really intergalactic westerns or war dramas . even star wars which is visually brilliant  has one of its central images  a futuristic  gang that couldn  t shoot straight .  imagine your coming upon about    people with conventional weapons  most of them having an open shot  and they miss .  br    br   i have read much science fiction  and wish there were more movies for the thinking person . forbidden planet  one of the earliest of the genre  is still one of the very best . the story is based on a long extinct civilization  the krell  who created machines which could boost the intelligence of any being by quantum leaps . unfortunately  what they hadn  t bargained for  is that the brain is a center for other thoughts than intellectual . the primitive aspect of the brain  the id  as freud called it  is allowed to go unchecked . it is released in sleep  a bad dream come to corporeal existence . walter pigeon  dr . morbius  is the one who has jacked his brain to this level  and with it has built machines and defenses that keep him barely one step ahead of the horrors of the recesses of his own mind . his thoughts are creating horrors that he soon will not be able to defend . the krell  a much superior species  could not stop it it destroyed them . the landing party has never been of great interest to me . the rest of the actors are pretty interchangeable . ann francis is beautiful and naive  and certainly would have produced quite a reaction in the fifties adolescent male . her father  s ire is exacerbated by her innocence and the wolfy fifties  astronauts  for they are more like construction workers on the make than real astronauts  . they are always trying to figure out  dames .  the cook is a great character  with his obsession for hooch . robbie the robot has much more personality than most of the crew  and one wonders if mr . spock may not be a soulmate to the literal thinking of this artificial creature . the whole movie is very satisfying because the situation is the star . morbius can  t turn back and so he is destined to destroy himself and everything with him . there are few science fiction films that are worth seeing more than once this is one that can coast right into the   st century .  
 warning  this review contains  plot spoilers   though nothing could  spoil  this movie any more than it already is . it really is that bad .   br    br   before i begin  i  d like to let everyone know that this definitely is one of those so  incredibly  bad  that  you  fall  over  laughing movies . if you  re in a lighthearted mood and need a very hearty laugh  this is the movie for you . now without further ado  my review  br    br   this movie was found in a bargain bin at wal  mart . that should be the first clue as to how good of a movie it is . secondly  it stars the lame action  star dolph lundgren . that should be the second clue as to how good of a movie it is . i  m still shocked that it was even put on dvd  who would waste their money doing such a thing    though as you might imagine  there aren  t any extras or bonus footage on the dvd . in fact  there  s not even a menu the movie just starts playing .  br    br   first  the writer for this movie deserves to be tortured and killed . it has one of the worst scripts ever written and is plagued with terrible one  liners remarkably unbelievable  fake dialogue and inappropriate comments  like lee  s comment on lundgren  s . err . manhood  which i  ll mention later  . there isn  t one single sincere sounding line in the entire movie . the dialogue and plot go hand  in  hand  as the script and plot both progress in an entirely nonsensical fashion . the two cops hate each other for no apparent reason at the beginning  and then for again no reason at all  lee  s character pulls over to the side of the road  runs around to the other side of the car  and says i  m not going to let you go alone   cause despite myself  i like you  and i don  t want to see you get killed   . or something to that extent  anyhow . there are disgusting one  liners  mostly said by lee . for instance  when duking it out with a bad guy  lee says you have the right to remain silent . you have the right to be dead   lastly  i  ll mention the entirely inappropriate and nonsensical comment that lee makes about lundgren  s nether  regions . when bad guys start to attack after a seemingly random love scene between lundgren and carrere  and lundgren decides to fight them off in his underwear  lee says to him incase we die  i just wanted to let you know that you have the biggest dick i  ve ever seen on a guy .  . yes  he actually says that . it makes no sense and isn  t even possible  lee never actually sees lundgren naked  so how would he know    but the writer threw it in the script anyway . the entire movie looks like some kind of action video game  and lee even admits it . after lee and the underwear  only lundgren defeat all of those bad guys  lee makes a comment that is also truly beautiful wow  this is sort of like a video game we just defeated the first wave    br    br   second  the plot of this movie is despicable . it suffers  in my opinion  mainly from the fact that it just doesn  t exist . the trailer for this movie  which imdb has available for viewing  by the way  makes it sound like the movie is about two cops trying to stop the japanese yakuza from taking over lost angeles . this is extremely misleading  however  since the movie has practically nothing to do with that at all . they make very brief  vague references to the yakuza trying to start up a methamphetamine business with local drug dealers  but the entire movie actually revolves around a poorly  written attempt for kenner  lundgren  s character  to revenge the death of his parents  whom the yakuza leader  named yoshida  killed when he was only  years old . the entire plot can basically be summed up like this yoshida wants kenner dead  kenner wants yoshida dead  and the two try two kill each other . and of course all the while kenner  s sarcastic sidekick  named johnny and played by brandon lee  acts like an ignorant idiot  and tia carrere gets naked . twice .  br    br   the acting is one of the worst parts of the entire movie . the dialogue is so unrealistic  and their entirely insincere portrayal of it emphasizes this even more . you  d expect poor acting from action stars anyway  but this movie highlights some of the most unimaginably bad acting ever recorded .  br    br   finally we get to the heart of the movie  s baseness the flagrantly bad action . there are so many astoundingly bad  unrealistic action sequences in this movie  it  s just downright impressive they managed to fit them all in . although lee has his fair share of bad scenes as well  most of the truly terrible action involves lundgren . for instance  lundgren nonchalantly takes on four or five kung fu bad guys one  handed  without spilling his tea . then  when surprised by an oncoming speeding car  lundgren casually leaps over it . or how about when he reaches through a closed door  grabs the villain on the other side  pulls him back through the door  and beats him up  or when he picks up tia carrere  gently walks  not runs  backward through a glass door that shatters around him  and leaps down a one  story height with tia still in arm  only to then lift up an entire car without the slightest effort and uses it as a barricade to shield them from bullets  all of the shameless gunfights are terrible as well  with lundgren and lee killing every bad guy instantaneously  while the rain of bullets from their fifty attackers never seem to hit either of them . that is  of course  until the final fight scene of the movie . lundgren gets shot point blank in his bare chest in a region that even if it did manage to miss his heart  would still immediately begin to fill lungs with blood and kill him within a matter of seconds . despite this  lundgren remains in top  notch condition and manages to duke it out in the middle of a parade with yoshida  the evil super villain . and of course the passing people in the parade dressed as samurai are carrying real  fully sharpened katanas  which the two use to sword fight . now in addition to his bullet wound  lundgren gets several deep slices in his chest and arms . does this stop him  no  of course not  in fact  a few seconds later after easily killing the evil yoshida  who gets pinned to a dartboard  like wheel and then bursts into flames for no reason   lundgren casually walks off with tia and lee as if he wasn  t injured at all . god  it  s terrible .  br    br   all of these factors are then mixed up with an entirely unnecessary  gratuitous nude scene every five minutes  including topless women at a party  the beheading of a topless woman  women at a strip club  nude women at a japanese spa  and the pointless hot tub and love scene with tia . not to mention the trip to the bizarre sushi bar  at which rich japanese men are eating sushi off of naked women . which  by the way  prompts lee to say with much fake enthusiasm that after defeating the bad guys he and lundgren will go eat fish off those naked chicks   which  of course  is followed by a disturbing high five . and we can  t forget the terrible editing either  like when the villains are crushing a man trapped in a car at a junk yard  and the editors left in a really obvious glimpse of a prop dummy . the credits also list an enormous list of stunt workers  which implies that a lot of the action probably wasn  t done by the movie stars after all .  br    br   in the end  this movie repeatedly outdoes it self with brazen badness . it is illogical and impossible  and as a result  remarkably entertaining . if you  re looking for any kind of thoughtful cinema  this movie will make you want to die . if you  re looking for a good laugh and a good time mocking bad movie making  this movie will delight you . as an actual movie  i  ll merit this movie a  .  out of   . as an entertaining way to waste an hour and eighteen minutes  however  this beauty takes the cake .  
forbidden planet is the best sf film from the golden age of sf cinema and what makes it a great film is its sense of wonder . as soon as the spaceship lands the audience  via the ships human crew  travels through an intelligent and sometimes terrifying adventure . we meet the unforgetable robbie  the mysterious dr morbuis  his beautiful and innocent daughter altair and we learn about the former inhabitants of the planet  the krell who died out overnight . or did they   br    br   you can nitpick and say the planet is obviously filmed in a movie studio with painted backdrops but that adds to a sense of menace of claustraphobia i feel and bebe and louis barrons electronic music adds even more atmosphere  br    br   im shocked this film isnt in the top    imdb films .  
i am commenting on this miniseries from the perspective of someone who read the novel first . and from that perspective i can honestly say that while enjoyable  i can see why it hasn  t been rebroadcast anytime recently . more specifically  this mini has some serious problems  such as  br    br     it is terribly miscast . the actors who played the younger generation were all   to   years older than the characters . ali mcgraw    at the time  was playing natalie jastrow who was supposed to be about   . jan  michael vincent    at the time  was playing byron henry who was supposed to be about   . the other henry children  and pamela tudsbury  were also played by actors way too old for characters who were supposed to be in their    s .  br    br     some of the acting was absolutely awful . ali mcgraw at times almost made this mini unwatchable . i have seen more convincing performances in high school plays .  br    br     the directing was poor . to be fair to ali mcgraw  the bad acting and character development were probably the directing . the portrayal of hitler was way overdone . his character came off looking and behaving more like a cartoon villain than the charismatic  sometimes charming  but always diabolical genius herman wouk painted him as in the novel . some of the other characters are done so stereotypically  berel jastrow  they do not gain the depth of character that wouk created for them .  br    br     this mini is very dated . the hokey music  the pretentious narration  it sounded like a junior high school history film narration   and the entire prime  time soap opera feel of the mini made it almost comical at times . also  too often byron and natalie are costumed and made up to look like they are in     rather than     .  br    br   someone who watches this without the benefit of reading the novel first will probably not sit through it all  because it will come off more as a late    s  early    s  take myself too seriously  prime  time soap drama  rather than the television version of what is certainly a modern american classic .  br    br   remakes of older movies and the like are sometimes poorly done  but this is probably one case where a creative and inspired director could make a very stunning  memorable  and critically acclaimed production . i don  t ever see that happening since a remake would have to be just as long    hours  or longer to do it right  and given the short attention span of most of the current american viewing public  it wouldn  t fly .  
the jist see something else .  br    br   this film was highly rated by gene siskel  but after watching it i can  t figure out why . the film is definitely original and different . it even has interesting dialogue at times  some cool moments  and a creepy  noir  feel . but it just isn  t entertaining . it also doesn  t make a whole lot of sense  in plot but especially in character motivations . i don  t know anyone that behaves like these characters do .  br    br   this is a difficult movie to take on   i suggest you don  t accept the challenge .  
 . . . . this mini does not get better with age . i saw this and it  s sequel when originally broadcast  and like so many others was blown away . in early     i borrowed the novels for both wow and w and r and was even more impressed . i then decided that i had to see both again and invested     plus on the dvd sets . i watched both minis again in painful detail and realized i had done things backwards  i should have purchased the novels and borrowed the dvd  s .  br    br   don  t believe it is abysmally miscast  read the novels and see for yourself . don  t think this is dated  screen it for somebody not old enough to have seen it originally broadcast and watch the reaction you get  warning  reactions from such people range from looks of horror to belly laughs  .  br    br   according to the trivia section for this mini  dan curtis himself chose ali macgraw and robert mitchum . yikes   production quality  music scoring  dialog  a great story was turned into a late    s soap opera by an overly ambitious producer  director who was in way over his head . this thing was dated the minute it was completed .  br    br   these two minis were great when original broadcast and to those of us who saw them then  tug at a nostalgic string that reminds us of younger days . imo  this mini does not nearly live up to its reputation and severely disappoints .  
the jist see something else .  br    br   this film was highly rated by gene siskel  but after watching it i can  t figure out why . the film is definitely original and different . it even has interesting dialogue at times  some cool moments  and a creepy  noir  feel . but it just isn  t entertaining . it also doesn  t make a whole lot of sense  in plot but especially in character motivations . i don  t know anyone that behaves like these characters do .  br    br   this is a difficult movie to take on   i suggest you don  t accept the challenge .  
a wonderful television mini  series completely ruined by a    year old woman trying desperately to pass herself off as a    year old ingenue  no exaggeration  that  s the actual age of the character played by ali macgraw when the film opens just prior to the surprise attack at pearl harbor . this tv mini  series really is the most classic example of the title of this post and one i refer to whenever the topic comes up .  br    br   that alone makes this completely unwatchable  despite the fact it  s one of the best filmed wwii  global  dramas tv has ever produced . if you have the stomach  or a decent fast  forward ability  you might be able to enjoy the late robert mitchum in a very strong performance .  br    br   i  m stunned at some of the comments referring to the love story  pun intended  . did they watch the film with their eyes closed  or are they aging boomers who never cease to amaze me with their  selective memories  and  selective vision  . i  m a boomer myself so don  t think for a second i  m some hubristic young punk .   will always look   . get used to it . deal with it . age gracefully damnit .  br    br   the winds of war could have been . . . so good . how much more would we be talking about this mini  series today  some   years later  had an actual ingenue been cast in such an important  critical role  right now  with the constant haggard old biddy distraction  that alone cancels out most of the wonderful aspects of the winds of war .  
love is overwhelming . . . in all it  s manifestations . . . gorgeous  absolutely gorgeous . . . tudor chirila  maria popistasu and ioana barbu  one truly dramatic story about love in all it  s shapes  a story about the undecipherable ways of young hearts  about life and lost innocence all directed by the skillful eye of tudor giurgiu . with a magnificent soundtrack featuring faultline  chris martin and vama veche it surprises in every way leaving behind the sour taste of misunderstanding love . . . truly remarkable . . . is it me or is romanian cinematography slowly but surely advancing and gaining respect  this is a brilliant film . . . two thumbs up to everybody involved .  
this movie is not as good as all the movies of christ i  ve ever seen . and i  m quite amazed that in this story pilate wants to finish jesus  when the scriptures  as well the other movies  state differently . it lacks also a very important issue the resurrection . . none of the other movies skip this very important part the faith of all of us christians lies in this very event . as paul says in one of his letters  if christ did not rise from the dead  our faith is vain  . a very impressive scene for me in this movie was seeing on the streets the remains of the palms that were used when jesus entered jerusalem .  br    br   finally  and in opposition to my jewish co  commentator  jesus was not a myth . and as a matter of fact  he was also a jew . there are plenty of documents  relgious and secular  that prove the existence of this extraordinary man  or should i said  god become a man  that indeed changed mankind . i strongly advise him  given he is a historian  to read about flavius josephus  the most brilliant jewish commentator of the  st . century .  
if in the    s you  re adapting a book written in the    s  set the bloody thing in the    s and not the     s . see    year old mores and values tend not to play as well  or ring as true  that far down the road . it  s a simple rule that hollywood habitually keeps violating . and that  s the problem with this film . it should have been set in the era it was written in . you  d think that would be a no  brainer  but nooo . i  d elaborate  but bmacv  s comment spells it out quite well . i  ll limit my commentary to rachel ward . she looks like she dieted her ass completely out of existence for this role . as a result  she looks like a crack ho  on chemotherapy  and is about as sexy as a gay leather couch in drag . i found her  i could die at any moment  look quite disconcerting  and it greatly detracted from her supposed  hotness  and the  sexual tension  the film intended to create . other than that  the film was quite good a   out of   .  
despite much style  flash  and glitter  this french musical fails to speak . the tunes are repetitive  predictable  and tedious . the story is uninteresting  as are the many characters .  br    br   people break into song and dance  without motivation or reason . most of the cast wears phony looking wigs and hairpieces  and the sets look hopelessly studio bound .  br    br   to be honest  this video of the restored version was stopped before the end  so negative an effect it had on me . certainly a shame  to have such a multi  talented cast in so feeble a final effort .  br    br   goes to show  i guess  where followups  in this case  to the great classic   umbrellas   often do go awry . one cannot recapture  only recreate .  
  br    br    after dark  my sweet  is a strange mix of sensuality and dullness . the film runs slow  very slow  but takes a rythm to tell a story about murder and passion . jason patric never ever was so sexy and powerful  the man gives a true performance   and rachel ward is all but sexy .  br    br   the sexual tension  the pshycological heat  the footsteps of the past . . . the flashback scenes  the weirdness of the patrics character  all becomes a sexy mystery . i recommend this one cause is the more sexy dull movie that i ever seen . check the love making scene  its particulary sexy .  
the comparison is perhaps unfair  but inevitable . those attracted to the intimacy and depth of umbrellas will be slightly horrified to discover a cut  and  paste musical in the american style  awkward  stilted dialogue with inexplicable song  and  dance numbers . gene kelly  s french accent was apparently so poor  that a dreadful job of dubbing was substituted  as you  ll remember  the dubbing was almost perfectly pulled off in umbrellas  . the translation of the french  for subtitled versions   as well  leaves something to be desired  although this can  t be attributed to demy . the film also has several self  aware moments that come off a wee disconcerting  such as references in songs to legrand himself . and the costumes  well  the tight pants  white boots combination  and the freakishly unnatural colors  reminds one of an austin powers film . . .  br    br   but demy does reward the viewer with allusions to umbrellas note  for instance  the suitcase carried by maxence in his departure from rochefort  this is the same suitcase carried by guy in his departure from cherbourg . also  note the  convenient brunette of resolution   madeleine in umbrellas  and josette in young girls .  br    br   generally speaking  those expecting the natural feel of umbrellas  save the floating bicycle scene   or looking for similar deeper questions and ambiguous endings as in umbrella  s script  should probably pass this one b y . those looking for a french version of a thin    s american musical will be quite happy .  
the performances in this movie were fantastic . the dialogue was great . jason patric delivered a fantastic performance as  kid  collins in this wonderful adaptation of the jim thompson novel . far superior to  the grifters   which was a good movie  this film really stayed true to the pulp fiction  film noir roots from which the story came . i recommend this movie to all film noir fans .  
before writing this review  i went back and reread the reviews of others . this movie was a particular disappointment to me  since it features two of my favorite dancers  gene kelly and george chakiris  boasts a score by the often wonderous michel legrand   wuthering heights    ice station zebra    the thomas crowne affair   . the dancing was stilted  unmotivated and unoriginal  the songs forgettable  the story a joke . even the costuming was not particularly flattering . only the photography correctly captured the proper mood and spirit . i  m glad other people enjoyed  the young girls of rochefort   though i most certainly did not .  
foley  s noir quality in this saturated and intense pulp film is seemingly  perfectly  fit together . shot by shot  edit by edit  the film unfolds itself around a disturbed boxer discovering his own purpose  or lack thereof  . the other comments around perhaps indicate a lack of pulp interest  but i personally think this is a superbly put together cinematic piece   
what a disgrace  i was checking this out hoping it would be an undiscovered james garner gem and what a stinker it turned out to be  the production quality was fine  but the plot was undeniably lame and i can honestly say that i am only a couple hours older and a lot dumber now . the movie really had no redeeming qualities and if this kind of stuff keeps coming out  it will give hallmark a bad name . for those of you who insist on knowing what it was about  it  s about nothing  and in this case  it  s not a good thing . we are subjected to watching one old ornery woman who is one of the dumbest creatures ever to roam the earth  who happens to be married to a real sweetheart who is probably the only person alive that could put up with her . she drags him through one mess after another  gets him into one embarrassing situation after another  and is proud of herself the whole time . then the movie ends . what a relief that was  not worth the time it would take to watch it  so do yourself a favor and skip this one  you  ll be glad you did if you knew how bad this one really is .  
i saw this film a few years ago and i got to say that i really love it . jason patric was perfect for this weird role that he played . the director  i don  t too many things about him . . . and i don  t care . the screenplay is good  that  s for sure . in just a few words i have to say about this movie that is weird  strange  even dark  but it  s a good one . i saw it a few years ago and never saw it since then . i want to see it again and again . i know that i  m not gonna get sick of watching it . the scenes  the atmosphere  the actors  the story . . . everything is good . the movie should have lasted longer . i think    minutes should have been perfect . i was hoping for a part  for this movie . too bad it din  t happened . jason patricyou  re the man  very good movie . the end .     
this film is the worst film i have ever seen . the story line is weak  i couldn  t even follow it . the acting is high  schoolish . the sound track is irritating . the attempts at humor are not . the editing is horrible . the credits are even slow  i would be embarrassed to have my name associated with this waste of film . don  t waste your time even thinking about this attempt at acting .  
an excellent interpretation of jim thompson  s novel  this neo  noir thriller has all the requisite elements   deranged ex  boxer turned drifter  alcoholic widow with sinister desires  ex  cop turned small  time crook  and a kidnap plot destined for doom . yet  the film never crosses into cliche country  but remains fresh and intriguing . the performances are all superb  particularly bruce dern  s role as the wicked sleazeball  uncle bud . there is a tense uncertainty to the film  s movement which  intentional or not  adds to the grim proceedings . highly recommended .  
the funny sound that you may hear when you eyeball this execrable version of jules verne  s classic  journey to the center of the earth  is verne spinning in his grave . the only thing about this   minute opus that has anything to do with  journey to the center of the earth  is the title . otherwise  everything else in this lackluster production is new and not worth watching . in fact  the director has written here at imdb . com that he directed only eight minutes of  journey to the center of the earth  and the studio tacked on part of  dollman  helmer albert pyun  s sequel to his own  alien from l . a .  with kathy ireland . evidently  the producers ran out of money and to satisfy overseas contractual obligations  they grafted pyun  s sequel onto director rusty lemorande  s movie . please  don  t rent or buy this wretched piece of garbage .  br    br   unlike director henry levin  s period piece  journey to the center of the earth        with james mason and pat boone  lemorande  s  journey to the center of the earth  takes place in contemporary times in hawaii . two fellows  a british nanny  and a dog are brought together for the adventure of a lifetime purely by coincidence . richard  paul carafotes of  blind date   and his comic book obsessed brother bryan  ilan mitchell  smith of  weird science   are going out to explore a cave . the heroine  crystina  nicola cowper of  underworld    works for a domestic service called  nannies r us .  being a nanny has been crystina  s life  long dream  but she has made a less of all five of her nanny jobs . nevertheless  her sympathetic supervisor  ms . ferry  lynda marshall of  africa express    sends her to hawaii . crystina  s new client  rock star billy foul  jeremy crutchley of  doomsday   who is scheduling one last concert to revive his flagging career  has a dog named bernard . foul wants crystina to take bernard to a doggie day spa . crystina is waiting on the arrival of her taxi when a careless motel attendant accidentally puts the basket that conceals bernard in richard  s jeep . you see  foul has hidden his canine in a basket because motel management strictly prohibits pets on their premises . foul has disguised the dog as a human baby . anyway  crystina catches a cab and tells the driver follow richard .  br    br   after she catches up with them to get her dog  the cabbie cruises away and abandons her . crystina demands that richard drive her back to town  but he has other plans . unhappily  crystina joins the guys and they get lost  and then find themselves in the lost city of atlantis  a police state ruled by a dictator  at the center of the earth . the rulers of atlantis repeatedly notify their citizens that life on the surface does not exist . our heroes and heroine stumble onto atlantis quite by accident . atlantis resembles a disco and everybody looks like they are straight out of a punk rock opera . the ruler of atlantis  general rykov  janet du plessis of  operation hit squad    is orchestrating a raid on the surface with clones of the first human  wanda saknussemm  kathy ireland of  necessary roughness    to visit atlantis . predictably  general rykov machinations to rule atlantis and overthrow the earth fails  and our heroes and heroine save the day .  br    br    journey to the center of the earth  is an abomination . the movie seems to be a comedy despite its superficial satire about dictatorships . albert pyun is one of my favorite low budget action directors  but he blew it on this lightweight shambles of a science fiction saga .  
i didn  t expect much when i rented this movie and it blew me away . if you like good drama  good character development that draws you into a character and makes you care about them  you  ll love this movie .  br    br   engrossing   
journey to the center of the earth is the story of some tourists of hawaii  three of them siblings  and one of them a young british nanny babysitting a dog . when the siblings accidentally drive off in their jeep with the basket of dog biscuits  the nanny follows them  it might  ve just been safer to purchase more  all the way to the cave the siblings intended to explore  i guess  . for some reason  they actually go in the cave and then  when the place starts caving in  they try to get out to no avail  except for the six  year  old sister who they tell to go get help . meanwhile  the more they move around in the cave  the more they continue to plummet further and further towards the earths cavernous core . and behold  it is here where they find the city of atlantis and its bizarre alien habitants who are living under the oppressive rule of one alien that doesn  t want them asking to many questions about the worlds external to their own .  br    br   i see that rusty lemorande  the named director of the film has provided comments on this film  in which he explains that part of latter half of this film is actually the sequel to alien in l . a . well  whatever it was  it was an amazingly cheap movie that i would rank only slightly higher than city limits  a     sci  fi film also made on a non  existent budget  because at the least ending of this dreadful piece of mostly incoherent film  making that cuts corners where it can aims for some humor and amusement in the last   minutes when we finally see what life is like in the alien world at the center of the earth . i also give it a two star rating rather than one because it was at times  funny  even if only in its subtleties . for example  the aliens asks the british girl if she  s an alien and she explains that the ministry should be sending her work visa shortly . or when the alien girl finds bryan and explains that he is in the city of altantis and he mistakes this for atlantic city  new jersey . little things like that make the idiocy of the first hour or so tolerable . imagine how great the film could  ve been though if they had   actually intended to make it  and   actually had money to make it .  br    br   i do like how in the end  no one wonders what happened to the little sister who was sent away in the beginning to get help . she  d just be wandering around the hawaiian caves and not too far from the erupting volcano  mind you .  
if you  re as huge of a fan of an author as i am of jim thompson  it can be pretty dodgy when their works are converted to film . this is not the case with scott foley  s rendition of after dark my sweet . a suspenseful  sexually charged noir classic that closely follows and does great justice to the original text . jason patrick and rachel ward give possibly the best performances of their careers . and the always phenomenal bruce dern might have even toped him self with this one . like thompson  s book this movie creates a dark and surreal world where passion overcomes logic and the double cross is never far at hand . a must see for all fans of great noir film .      
who in the world told harrison ford that this was a good role for him     br    br   and josh hartnett . . . how does a   year old who can  t fire a gun become a cop  over used cliches plus zero character development and about   pointless music industry cameos equal a surprisingly bad film     
after dark  my sweet is a great  modern noir  filled with seedy characters  dirt roads  and  of course  sweaty characters . it seems that most of the truly great noirs of the last two or three decades have taken place in the south  where the men glisten and the ladies  um  glisten too . why  because it  s hooooottttttttttt . and because everyone looks better wet  at least the men do  sweaty women leave me clammy  .  br    br   anyway  there might be some spoilers in here .  br    br   this film is a wonderful example of everything a noir should be  steady pacing  though some with attention disorders refer to it as  slow    clearly and broadly drawn  though not simple  characters  and tons of atmosphere . noir  if anything  is about moods and attitudes . that  s why the great ones are not marked by your traditional definitions of  great  acting  look at bogart  mitchum  hurt  and nicholson  they  and their characters  were anything but real  but they had style and sass and in a crime movie that  s exactly what you want  . or quickly paced adventures  again all great noirs seem to be on slow burn like a cigarette  . great noirs create an environment and you just inhabit it with the characters for a couple hours .  br    br   after dark my sweet let  s you do that  and it let  s you enjoy the company of some very interesting and complex characters . uncle bud and collie are intriguing  never allowing the audience to know what really makes them tick  and patric and dern  i love bruce dern  by the way  are pitch perfect  dern especially  see previous comment  . they take the basic outlines of a character and give them depth and elicit our sympathies .  br    br   the story itself is also interesting . there  re better plots in the world of noir  hardly any mystery here  mostly it  s suspense   but this one is solid . if anything  the simply  okay  plot has more to do with jim thompson  s writing than anything else . with thompson  plots are almost secondary he eschewed the labyrinthine tales of hammett and chandler for simpler stories with stronger  more confusing characters . look at a novel like the killer inside me and and you  ll see right away  from the title  what it  s all about . when it comes to thompson  it  s not what it  s about  it  s how it  s about it  to quote roger ebert  . so  really  the relatively simple plot of a kidnapping is not the point and  if you don  t like it  well the jokes on you .  br    br   why this is an  star movie rather than a   star one is because of the female lead . she  s not bad  per se  but she  s not angelica huston or anette benning  see the adaptation of jim thompson  s the grifters if you don  t know what i  m talking about  besides it  s a better movie and you should start there for contemporary noir  it  s the best of the     s and challenges blood simple for the title of best since chinatown  . she simply doesn  t have the chops  or the looks for that matter  and though she and patric have some chemistry  i don  t have it with her . so there .  
the movie was  ok  . not bad  not good  just ok . if there was anything else in the theater this would be skipped by far . sadly  fast and furious  also stunk  but i  d rather see this than ff  .   if you have a fetish for harrison ford or that other young punk  this will be a  cute  movie for you . personally  i  d wait for hbo or blockbuster .  
ever read jim thompson  he  s hard  boiled noir with the most extreme fatalism and misanthropy i  ve ever encountered . there are rarely private detectives in his work  just losers  psychotics and small  time con artists . this film has thompson nailed   if god made any real mistakes in this world  it was in giving us a will to live when we  ve got no excuse for it .  every character in the film balances on a razor  s edge between surreal and creepy realism . there  s sleazy  conniving uncle bud  played by bruce dern and spookily well  intentioned doc goldman played by george dickerson . jason patric gives a wonderful  often heart  wrenching performance as kid collins  a none  too  bright  shy ex  fighter who  s more scared of himself than of anyone else . rachel ward is fay  the sexy femme fatale who we can  t quite figure out . . . it  s not your standard film noir  nor is it intended to be . after dark my sweet  along with the grifters  are two excellent adaptations of novels by one of my favorite writers  jim thompson .  
remember when harrison ford was the biggest star in hollywood because he made great movies  those days are feeling like a more and more distant memory .  br    br   while  hollywood homicide  is by no means terrible  it is a routine and surprisingly boring buddy cop movie . it  s a comedy that  s not particularly funny  and an action movie that  s not especially exciting . an overabundance of subplots cannot mask the weakest of the central storyline .  br    br   ford at least appears to be enjoying himself more than is his last few projects  and he is able to carry the film most of the time . hartnett is adequate  but he and ford aren  t exactly newman and redford as far as chemistry is concerned .  br    br   all in all   hollywood homicide  is a reasonably amusing diversion  but just barely . take out ford  and it  s not even that .  
i expected something differentmore passion  drama . . . again another failed attempt of originality . i  m sorry to say that the film falls into the old clich of  cheesiness  .   year old teens may appreciate it though . the acting was not very convincing and the lines common  lacking any wit . still  the soundtrack was good and well adapted . i can  t say that this movie is a total flop  because people do watch it but it didn  t meet the public  s expectations and sunk into mediocrity . so  to conclude  the production keeps you in front of the tv for almost an hour and a half  which is an appreciable thing . thus  i guess its worth seeing if you don  t get annoyed  
no  not the administration of gwb  the decider  strutter  smirker   but the mini  series  monarch cove .  lifetime must have realized what a dog this was because the series was burned off two episodes at a time  most of them broadcast between   p . m . friday nights and  a . m . saturday mornings . as to why i watched the whole thing  i can only plead to weekly sudden convulsive attacks of masochism .  br    br   most of the cast are unknowns who are likely to remain unknown . the only two recognizable names are shirley jones and rachel ward  who turn in the only decent performances  jones doesn  t make it through the entire series   lucky woman  . ward  by the way  is aging quite well since her  thorn birds  days .  br    br   the one main thread to the plot   who murdered the father of the heroine who is wrongly convicted of dad  s murder but is freed after six years in the slammer   is stretched out for so long and concluded so hastily that you won  t especially care who dun it . there is a great deal of  steamy  sex  several murders  and all sorts of rude behavior   virtually none of which is either interesting or credible . most of the cast is not particularly attractive and definitely not talented . the writing and direction is on a par with the cast .  br    br   if you stick around to the end  the post card is a  very minor  hoot .  br    br   consider yourself warned   
it is rare that one comes across a movie as flawless as this . it  s truly one of the best acted  most tightly structured films i  ve ever seen . every line of dialogue can be interpreted in several ways  relating to each of the three main characters differently . the film weaves an intrinsic web of motivations and double crosses that snare you and refuse to let go . add to this that the slow  burning romance between kevin and faye is as moving as anything that  s ever been committed to celluloid and you have the ingredients for a perfect film . it exposes the romance of movies such as  titanic  as the trite cliches they are . if you  re looking for a movie to watch while you fold laundry  this isn  t it . you have to commit yourself to this film . you can  t have a conversation while running in and out of the room . this movie demands your attention . treat it with the respect you deserve and you  ll get a lot out of it . unless you think  titanic  is the greatest film ever .  
this film actually manages to be mindless enjoyment for    of the journey . sadly  the film ends up being too  confused .  while i know some of the plot contrivances are standard of  buddy cop  films i got drawn in to the characters who foil each other brilliantly but in the end the film relies too much on chase sequences as a crutch and i lost interest .  br    br   the filmmakers did a great job of getting the characters alone and doing their own thing and we got to see who they are and identified with both cops early on . we formed our own opinion instead of being force fed a view of them through constant bickering .  br    br   in the end there is too much going on and it detracts greatly from what could  ve been an enjoyable piece of escapism . here  s what  s concerning joe gavilan  harrison ford  at the end of the film  br    br    . his real estate deals  . his affair with a radio psychic  . he  s being investigated by internal affairs  . the homicide investigation  br    br   if you add in casey  s concerns you fond out he wants to be an actor and avenge his father  s death . now some of these things do come together and even come together well but all the plot elements come together amidst this bogus chase that is so long and pathetic that i hardly have time to break my ennui and give a crap about what just happen . the impressive screenwriting acrobatics cannot overcome the bad filmmaking .  br    br   as if a ridiculous chase sequence wasn  t bad enough  one which has four separate sections and could last close to half an hour  wasn  t bad enough  joe gavilan fields calls about his real estate deal while chasing the perpetrator with a gun . all these extra  curricular plot lines and jokes make it absolutely meaningless to me whether or not the criminal gets caught . we already forgot or no longer care about the murder plot at this point because multiple plot  lines and eye candy of the chases have numbed us beyond all comprehension .  br    br   while i could go on about the chases and how they ruin a decent story  i won  t . this could  ve been a very enjoyable formula film but it got much too big for its britches and it turned into a redundant waste of time . harrison ford and josh hartnett actually did rather well and a small appearance by gladys knight is worth noting . sadly none of the actors can help this hopelessly misguided film from being forgettable .  br    br   while this will probably be better than the likes of  the hulk  and  lara croft ii  that still doesn  t make this film good . i once heard that harrison ford claimed to only make films that eh thought would make money  i  m not sure if that  s true or not . what is true is that to get great box office you don  t need a great movie or a great actor  this film has neither in its lead roles . my advice to harrison ford would be to stick to indiana jones because at least you can still run .  
the first of two jim thompson adaptations released in      the other being the more well  known grifters   after dark has all of thompson  s hallmarks dangerous women  the confidence game  and characters that are either not as dim as others suspect them of being  or not as harmless .  br    br   jason patric is superb as a former boxer disqualified from the sport for life due to an incident in the ring  director james foley uses raging bull  esquire sequences to flesh out the back story  and the too  little  seen rachel ward also delivers a great performance . but bruce dern is the film  s secret weapon his sweet  talking grifter uncle bud subtly commands each of his scenes .  br    br   there  s almost no comic relief in this film  so watch it prepared to be sucked into the void .  
josh hartnett  s dead eyes  the thick writing of it  and harrison ford being in a buddy  cop comedy  here  s  reasons to hate it  avoid it  and to utilize    minutes of your life better .  br    br   the buddy  cop movies are fun . however their real golden age was back in the     s and the     s . making one that tries to mix action and comedy through the police of hollywood itself is sure a good idea but the final result of that turned out to be not at least a spoof of the subgenre but a reason to ask god to have mercy upon all the past movies of the same kind whereas the worst of them was by all means greater than  hollywood homicide  .  br    br   what really did happen to this entertaining formula   since a whole decade the things hadn  t been the same . you  d have a buddy  action stubborn flop after another . i  ll delight you with some titles to catch on the disaster well   i spy         national security         taxi         starsky  hutch        and the worst of them all yet  miami vice         br    br   i believe one of the reasons is the natural case of saturation after many similar cinematic flicks and tv shows during  decades already . add to that  particularly here  the negligent dealing and the dull humor . actually the matter this time is totally unbearable . yes  we  ve got the characters of  loyal cops who have second jobs  and the background of sinful city  but what else was new   it  s not about clich it  s about few renewals mixed with clichs where both have been badly made .  br    br   the acting  especially from  hartnett   s side  is terrible . this guy is anything but a comedian  or actor   . so his character was wanting to revenge for his father  s death  revenge on yourself man  he probably died out of watching your acting   . even the small roles got people that have nothing to do with comedy  or that  s what they seemed here anyhow   .  br    br   the directing fails in presenting something that comic or that harsh  some parts managed to be highly dull  arresting the black guy through the lack     it  s a rare time to be boring in what supposed to be action  comedy  they didn  t utilize hollywood itself whether as an ironic place where there is ugly face behind the superficial charm  or even as a place which  s full of shining or fallen stars  cameos that could  ve given it few interesting moments  .  br    br   it  s a very easy movie that relayed on being watchable by only its stars  glamour  and as being a buddy  cop movie to end up as one of the worst cases of  stars with non  chemistry on the screen  one of them has no chemistry with the screen itself  guess who     and a buddy  cop destroyer more than movie  god  don  t make me  or my children  live enough to witness  hollywood homicide  part    at last  look at harrison ford  s performance  he wanted to have a good time  but at least we didn  t .  
intense actors like bruce dern  jason patrick and rachel ward combine to make this modern  day film noir a winner . of the three  i don  t know who was most interesting as all offer good performances and intriguing characters .  br    br   patric does the narration in this noir  playing an ex  boxer and mental patient . wow  that alone makes for an interesting guy  he looks dumb  but he isn  t . ward is the slinky  attractive  cynical  intelligent and compassionate co  conspirator of a kidnapping plan that goes bad . bruce dern also is in the mix and dern never fails to fascinate in about any film .  br    br   the movie could be considered kind of downer to the average viewer  but i found it fascinating . . . . and i don  t like depressing movies normally . what i found was a kind of quirky crime film . take a look and see if you agree . this is pretty unknown film that shouldn  t have that status because it  s simply a good story and well  done .  
lame movie . completely uninteresting . no chemistry at all between indiana jones and the guy from black hawk down . the car chase scene just goes on and on and on ad nauseum . they manage to switch vehicles a few times  but always end up right on the tail of the baddies . the scene where hartnett grabs the family  s car with the crying kids in the back was just as stupid as could be . he is telling them about eastern philosophy and how it is all right to die  which i imagine the writers thought was funny or even witty . it just came off as moronic  totally unbelievable and even cruel .  br    br   some subplots weren  t even explored  they were just used as filler . why does hartnett get sick seeing dead bodies yet keeps ordering burgers at crime scenes  why  and on what grounds  is the bad ia guy suddenly arrested out of the blue by the chief  why can ia pick up the buddy cops and then just let them answer their phones or pretend to be indian mystics and then just let them waltz out of there without so much as a slap on the wrist  for some reason  even though ford is uncovered as a cheat and a fraud when acting as a realtor   he makes up the prices when he is trying to sell the producer  s house to jack up his own commission   they keep coming back to him anyway  they knew he lied to both of them  yet there they were  coming to terms that both said they would never go for . stupid  just stupid . this is also one of those cop movies where they just fire wantonly on public streets with no care in the world for innocent bystanders . there they were  just standing on the sidewalk blasting away while people ducked for cover . amazing that they didn  t hit a single person after having fired about   rounds each . . . .  br    br   the scriptwriting was terrible  the action sequences were boring  the plot just a sidestory to a very pathetic attempt to have us root for ford and hartnett . it fails miserably . and ford  s phone  turn the damn thing off  how many times could it ring in a   hour movie        it was frustratingly aggravating by the midpoint in the movie  every   seconds  that stupid tune would play  and if it wasn  t ford  s  then hartnett  s was ringing  it was incredibly annoying   br    br   complete waste of time  ford  s worst movie since  days  nights  which was without a doubt  the lowest point of his distinguished career .  
i went to see it  times this movie  a friend of mine went to see it at the release party  and he was telling me it was so great  that i was expecting very much about the movie  to mutch  i couldn  t enjoy it because i was not watching it in nuteral position . the second time i knew what to expect and i enjoyed it more than the first time . after the second time i felt so in the mood to have a party . i loved the music it  s just great .  br    br   if tom barman improves his directing talent he will be a director where everyone will be talking about . if you can delivere this movie as your first you must be talented .  br    br   the acting is done by some great belgian stars  dirk roofthooft  and a bunch of upcomming talents like titus de voogdt .  br    br    
this film was one of the worst i  ve seen in a long while .  br    br   it  s a combination police drama and comedy about two hollywood detectives  harrison ford and josh hartnett  investigating a shootout at a hip hop club .  br    br   the plot is contrived and there are way too many side issues going on . ford is hustling real estate on the side  martin landau is one of his clients   hartnett runs a yoga school where he  s hustling chicks in his spare time  the two are under investigation by internal affairs  ford is screwing the ex  girlfriend  lena olin  of the ia investigator and she  s a psychic who has a radio show  the man who set up the killing at the club is a dirty ex  cop who shot hartnett  s father years ago .  br    br   toss in the obligatory car chases and some lame attempts at humor  and that  s about the gist of this turkey .  
a must see film with great dialogues  great music  great acting and a superb atmosphere .  br    br   in the film you will follow  people for one day in the city of antwerp  they are all individuals and sometimes plain weird  that  s how i love them   .  br    br   i  m not going to say anything else  just go see and enjoy it .  
well this movie actually made me feel so strongly that i signed up for an imdb account just to warn people . it is patently awful   nothing makes sense in this movie . there is way too many subplots for a start . josh hartnett  s character is an aspiring actor and yoga instructor as well as a cop who seems to be living way beyond his means and only teaches yoga to hot girls  some of whom wait naked in his jacuzzi for when he comes back from work  . add to that the fact that his dad was killed by a crooked cop who just so happens to be in on the current crime being investigated by the hapless duo . harrison ford  s character is trying to sell real estate on the side and is sleeping with the internal affairs investigator  s ex  wife who happens to run a psychic radio show which ford  s character calls from time to time . nonsense    br    br   i can  t remember the characters names  that  s how forgettable this is  so i  ll refer to them as ford and hartnett .  br    br   then there  s the dialogue which is brutal . i mean cringe  inducing stuff here . throw in every clich in the book  having a heart  to  heart in a dark bar during the day over a drink where the bartender knows his name the duo being investigated by internal affairs  why     hartnett confronting his dad  s killer  and you  ve got one hell of a mess .  br    br   as i mentioned the plot is preposterous and continuity is non  existent   when ford  s car is being repossessed  how the hell did the repo guys know where it would be parked  were they following him     when hartnett goes to the morgue and it just so happens that the only clue from the crime scene  an earring  is replicated on of the charred bodies there  that was lucky     when the two are arrested and taken in for questioning  ford keeps answering his phone and hartnett  centers himself  with a yoga pose on the table . instead of taking the phone from ford the ia guy waits for it to ring each time and then tries to grab it off the table before ford does . meanwhile the female ia officer in with hartnett is rubbing herself all over him . then  inexplicably  the two are released without answering any questions .   during the car chase hartnett  s car is crashing and smashing its way around hollywood but then suddenly the car is perfect again . not a scratch    when ford chases the bad guy into the building and he gets in the elevator how the hell does he know which floor the bad guy got off at     when the two are chasing the bad guy around in hartnett  s car  ford is trying to close a real estate deal . come on    the bad guy is the most unconvincing record exec ever . his motivation for killing an aspiring group of rappers on his label  they might leave his label and it  s a warning to keep his other groups loyal . but hang on  how is he ever going to sign anyone new with that business plan     why is the ia guy who is investigating ford arrested in the end  there is no explication     and hartnett gets to use his  acting  to capture the bad guy in the end .  br    br   i could go on  i really could . anyone who is looking deeper into this movie than a straight up action comedy needs their head examined because that  s all it is . there  s nothing else to it  it  s not supposed to be satirical or ironic . it  s just crap .  
  life hits us in the face . . . . . . . . we must try to stay beautiful   br    br   debut movie from one of belgian  s best artists  he sings songs   tom barman . a long awaited movie and    happy happy joy joy for flemish filmmaking    really worth watching  and a promising piece of work  it takes us into the lifes of  main characters that live through a friday  and night . the title says a lot about the way we spend time with them we float as they do into friday night  s party where they kinda  meet .  br    br   it  s rhytmic style is very  thought off  . superb use of music . it sometimes takes the upperhand to the images and then you feel its power . gainsbourg  qotsa  the party scene    minutes     is a thrilling visual experience cause of the way that it  s shot . it keeps you really with it while it  s set in a small place with a lot of people having a big party . . . . . so hard to shoot .  br    br   thank you menijr barman for making this daring movie in these  already some years going  poor times of flemish filmmaking . you made my day   
where to begin  the special effects should be named special defects  when the director shouted  action  i guess he also indicated to the actors to carry out the worst performance they could think of . maybe he was annoyed with the producers and wanted to make sure that they would not recover a single cent out of their investment and that the work would be a case study of how not to make movie . or maybe he hated art school and wanted to be an accountant but his family did not let him .  br    br   the only thing that is sure that whoever employs him in the future is because its in love with him  so its objectivity jumped through the window  or because he changed its name and deleted all past previous references .  
those of you who know the group deus  know the lead singer tom barman . he directed this movie a bit like he creates music  it  s a mix of everything . this is a comedy  though mostly absurd and cynical  a drama  none of the main characters have a happy life to say the least  and it does not really have a goal .  br    br   the movie starts on a friday morning in antwerp  belgium  with scenes of several persons  some of them have nothing in common but they will come in contact with each other during the day and night . there are several main characters a teacher who writes books nobody reads  a young researcher with a morbid taste of death and his sister  a gallery owner  two young men constantly in touch with the law  a man who works in a movie theater and two young women . throughout the movie there walks a man who has something to do with wind . all characters have their troubles  with their family or friends or just with life itself .  br    br   the movie is set in antwerp and shows several beautiful shots of the city and the port . the events of the day are not easily explained  i advise to simply watch the movie  there is simply too much to tell . but i can say this  barman has an excellent use of the camera and uses a lot of music  mostly dance music  not really rock  to set a mood  especially the party is filled with excellent music .  br    br   this movie is an experience on itself  it will not leave you any wiser about life  perhaps only that you have to live it and not waste it  or have any false moral truths .  br    br   in short  see it  it is definitely worth it   
literally every aspect of this science  fiction low  budget flick falls under the categories that have been classified for its predecessors  contemporaries  and those to follow . bad special effects  a weak storyline  ridiculous amounts of blood and gore  annoying and pointless characters  all that you can expect .  attack of the sabretooth  is about a new vacation resort where the proprietors are genetically engineering smilodon cats for an attraction . the cats escape and begin to kill people  the guy running the show wants to save them and not warn the unsuspecting visitors about them  and there is a band of visitors and some employees who rebel and plan to kill the cats .  br    br   special effects  wise  the film is about an average achievement given its budget . the sabretooths are portrayed through poor cgi . amazingly  though  the cats look more realistic in an up  close  detailed shot rather than the longer  more distant shots where the cgi is better concealed . their attacks are recklessly bloody and distasteful . just as you  d expect  they attack  rip off some arms and legs  and leave very little behind . this is part of the reason why the film descends into poor schlock .  br    br   the plot and characters are just as horrendous . we have some college kids who come to the island and they plan a scavenger hunt . and take it very  very seriously . even so much as to trespass on private property  tamper with security systems  and steal . why are they taking a simple game so seriously  did i miss something  was there money involved  or were they sent to do it  i don  t know  i could barely follow the film . but it seemed to me like they were just doing it for the fun of doing it . even so  they went too far for normal .  br    br    attack of the sabretooth  is a very poor film . even for a low  budget sci  fi flick  it is a very poor and cheap example . it will bore most viewers to tears  might be attractive for some  and will make you chuckle and laugh all the way through . and keep in mind  this is not a comedy  this is a cheap horror flick  so it  s not suppose to be comical .  
i think  anyway . . .  is a kick  ass movie . really . tom barman spent like years making it  and it shows every scene is polished  has a meaning  . . . i guess most agree on that . one thing many people tend to criticize is the  lack  of story . i  m afraid that that  s an effect of us being overwhelmed with  traditional  storytelling  all the time . i mean what you can achieve with a book  you can  t achieve with a movie  what you can achieve with a movie  you cannot achieve it by just telling it to a buddy . the problem is that we  re so used to movies  series  . . . to be just a filmed version of a story a visual recording of events  just like when you watch the news  that we expect every movie to have this epic characteristics a strong storyline with a lot of unusual events . and i stress the idea of  unusual events   most people see on tv in the news  in movies  series  . . . very unusual things  once  in  a  lifetime situations . and here  in  anyway . . .   there are unusual events  but not in the same  hollywood big explosion  kind of way guy gets fired  couple back together  car gets stolen . . . and of course very usual things . and that  s strong just being able to appreciate all of that  that universe  that  s art . and i agree that especially what can only be achieved in movies  that atmosphere created by the score and the photography is put central . but not like in traditional visual movies  visual blockbusters such as the matrix   it serves the characters and remains deeply human . i mean  in every shot you feel the love that tom barman has for antwerp and urban lifestyle . and he has no point with this movie  like to  learn  us something and he has no big story to tell with incredible scenario twists . he just shows everyday people with everyday lives  he shows a city  all with their good and bad sides and says this is us  that  s our city  that  s life  let  s enjoy it . so basically   anyway . . .  is not only that super groovy movie  it also has a much stronger  message   it  s not explicit  maybe even not intended  than most movies how really intend to pass a message . one drawback now  we  ll have to wait five years to see the next barman pic  and everyone will expect so much of it . . .  
just the fact that the cover is a drawing  like those old b  movies should give you a warning about the quality of this movie . this is  however not a b  movie . it is a d  movie   br    br   there are no known actors  and the animals  wow  it is the worst data  animation ever made during the last two decades .  br    br   you hardly ever see the scaaary sabretooth shown on the front cover . you just hear people scream  bleed and die and you occasionally see a teeth or a tiger  paw . it  s so amateur  maybee worth seeing  just because it  s so bad . give it to a friend and say  this is the best movie i have ever seen  and wait for their reaction  he  he .  br    br   the movie is to weak to give it a spoiler alert  this is a spoiler .  
tom had a wish to make film for a long time and he did . it is as if he has visualized a dirty and worn out notebook full of great little ideas he has been filling up and carrying around for   years . no grant character transformations  no hollywood ingredients just life and a little bit of magic . the balance  in speed  in weirdness in comedy vs drama is perfectly weighed . this film takes you on a journey that is over before you realize how nice it was . the music is great and your eyes will be equally satisfied . the fact that this film is about nothing  merely a sequence of sketches of people that are mainly linked trough a party of one of the characters  makes it very pleasant and surprisingly entertaining  it is brilliant because it is empty . in between the lines it is happening . to see or not to see  that  s the   
this movie was pretty bad . sci  fi is usually my favorite channel so i watch all the original movies that play on it . i really don  t know if this movie can be called original . starting a zoo  theme park on a remote island sounds pretty familiar . what was it  oh yeah  jurassic park . but this has sabertooth tigers instead .  br    br   the movie starts out with a few stereotypical college kids on an island doing some kind of treasure hunt . one of them ends up dieing a rather gruesome death with some of the worst special effects i  ve seen . the blood looked a lot like ketchup . also at the beginning there is a scientist who wants to make as many saber tooth tigers as possible for people to enjoy .  of them have already escaped and are going around eating the tourists  or the people invited to the island to see the tigers first hand . again  sound like jurassic park . probably the coolest thing was the     lb saber tooth who crawled around on his front legs killing the mad scientist with a tooth statue of sorts that somehow shrinks and goes through the guys neck . funniest death i  ve seen on tv .  br    br   the acting is extremely cheesy  the special effects are horrible . the cg tigers could almost pass for clay models  and even some of the sounds were off . for instance  when one of the college students is trying to escape  he uses an ax to break down a door  the ax goes into the door and about  seconds later you hear the sound . this movie was pretty bad . the cheesy deaths were quite funny though .  
this movie blows you off your feet . this debut movie from tom barman  known from the belgian rock band deus  introduces you to  intriguing people  building blocks of a compelling movie mosaic . they each survive one day and one night in the metropole of antwerp . barman paints his characters with great deal of verve and competently interweaves their individual stories  a tour the force that reminds of the best work of robert altman and paul thomas anderson . the patchwork of anecdotes surprises  moves  amuses the dialogues are so natural  they seem to be improvised . some great performances by matthias schoenaerts  natali broods and the extremely funny duo from ghent  jonas boel and titus de voogdt . sam louwyck is the memorable  windman   a bizarre guy dancing throughout the movie . sam is also responsible for the stunning choreography  and of course tom barman himself took care of the ultra cool sound track . we were seriously impressed any way the wind blows is a movie that blows you off your feet .  
this movie should have never been made . from the poorly done animation  to the beyond bad acting . i am not sure at what point the people behind this movie said  ok  looks good  lets do it   i was in awe of how truly horrid this movie was . at one point  which very may well have been the worst point  a computer generated saber tooth of gold falls from the roof stabbing the idiot creator of the cats in the mouth . . . uh  ooookkkk . the villain of the movie was a paralyzed sabretooth that was killed within minutes of its first appearance . the other two manages to kill a handful of people prior to being burned and gunned down . then  there is a random one awaiting victims in the jungle . . . which scares me for one sole reason . will there be a part two  god  for the sake of humans everywhere i hope not .  br    br   this movie was pure garbage . from the power point esquire credits to the slide show ending .  
i think it is a nice movie i think it is a very romanian movie through scenery and atmoshpere i think it was not intended to be sensual  sensuality is a result  not a purpose   i think it is very natural i think it is humane i think it was interesting i think the actors never made me think . . . waw lame acting  they are not sean connory  co  neither is the film a block buster  they are like the movie . . . normal ppl that can act . . .  i think the movie reached its intention i think it made me feel things  or feel them again     i think i  m not objective  br    br   i really enjoyed it . . . that i know .  
this movie appears to have been made by someone with some good ideas but who also never had made a movie before nor had they considered that a script should be edited or even funny . when i saw this film  i saw it for john candy and assumed  incorrectly  that it would be hilarious . instead  there was a stupid plot about mind control and so many flat  unfunny moments . and  to top it off  candy delivered some of the crudest lines i had ever heard up to that time . so  despite a potentially funny cast and story idea  we are left with an amateurish and crude movie that will probably be too stupid for the average adult  though teens will probably find a few laughs . it  s really a shame   it could have been so much better . i mean  with eugene levy  joe flaherty and john candy it should have been wonderful .  
barman directed any way the wind blows as he would sing a deus song . anarchy rules over a logical and common strain of thoughts . the story behind this movie just goes any which way the wind blows . and that can truly be refreshing to watch  if you are prepared and willing that is . viewers who state that there is nothing to keep the story  lines together are right . who the hell is that windman anyway  still  i really enjoyed this movie . antwerp is a beautiful  bustling  happening place and any way captures that feeling . it also captures the silliness  the racism  the bureaucracy  the addictions and the violence that survives undetected in a seemingly friendly city . the movie is entertaining  funny and a little shallow . barman  s screen debut will not make as heavy an impact as his music debut . in that light some might be disappointed . but then again   worst case scenario  would be a subtle subtitle for any way the wind blows .  
this movie was the worst movie ever made on the planet  i like barney more than this movie . the graphics suck  half the movie is animated  the deaths suck  and over all  i was ready to sue the people that made this movie  please do not waste hours of your life watching this movie . the only good part was when the movie  ended  this movie is   percent jurassic park  .  percent sabretooth  and   .  percent dumb  please do not waste your time watching this movie  you will regret it . you want to know why this movie sucks  well  the cover sucked  the graphics sucked  the blood looked  i mean is  ketchup  the people tried to blow themselves up  the college students think there all that and can stand up to the animal . i mean  there was a  ft . tiger running straight at a woman  she throws a spear at it from    ft away  wait till you can actually hit it  the acting was horrible too . jurrasic park is actually a good movie  and this just had to go and ruin it .  
i really liked tom barman  s awtwb . you just have to let it come over you and enjoy it while it lasts  and don  t expect anything . it  s like sitting on a caf  terrace with a beer  in the summer sun  and watching the people go by . it definitely won  t keep you pondering afterwards  that  s true  but that  s not a prerequisite for a good film . it  s just the experience during the movie that  s great .  br    br   i felt there were a few strands that could have been worked out a little more  but being a lynch fan i don  t care that much anymore    br    br   and i loved the style  or flair of this movie . it  s slick  but fresh  and the soundtrack is a beauty . any music  lover will get his kicks out of awtwb  i can assure you .  br    br   i  ll give it  out   .  br    br    music  wise   out of     
first  the cgi in this movie was horrible . i watched it during a marathon of bad movies on the scifi channel . at the end when the owner of the park gets killed  it  s probably one of the worst examples of cgi i have even seen . even night of the living dead had better animation .  br    br   that said  the movie had almost no plot . why were they on that island in particular  well  it wasn  t stated in the movie . and  why would the people keep coming into the cat  s area  makes no sense .  br    br   one thing that stood out in this movie was moderately good acting . in what could be called a  b made for tv movie  movie  the acting was very good . parry shen stood out in particular .  br    br   if you have absolutely nothing to do on a saturday  watch this movie . it may be good for some memorable quotes .  
barman just wanted to make a movie because he wanted to . just as simple as that  and he succeeded . not only in his goal  but also in making a wonderful movie  especially visually . he knows how to use pans  slow  motion sequences  tracking shots  crane shots  etc . in a beautiful  smooth way . this gives the movie a very relaxing feel to it .  br    br   the story is about the lives of  very different characters who have nothing in common except one thing a party that they all attend to  which also is the turnpoint of this movie . the beauty of this picture lies not in the question how the characters have effect on eachother  in comparance with a similar  of course better movie like magnolia  . i simply don  t think that that was barman  s idea . the beauty lies in the different details of experiences that people go through which makes or breaks their lives . barman is very successful in telling those little stories that describe little experiences . he knows people . . . . . and antwerp .  br    br   the soundtrack of the movie is also excellent  but not a surprise as we know that barman is also a very succesful songwriter and musician with his band deus . the music is sometimes hot and at the same time relaxing which contributes to the sunny  smooth feel of the movie . other times we hear funky pop  rock  melodies which give some scenes the strength that they need .  br    br   there  s only one flaw  and that  s the last half an hour . was it the runtime  which was breaking me up  or weren  t the last scenes that fresh and accurate than the scenes until then  i can  t figure it out . . .  br    br   all in all a beautiful sunny movie which lifts the belgian cinema up .  br    br    out of     br    br    it  s the breeze that flows through a girl  s hair on a sunny afternoon making her even more beautiful it  s the fresh breeze that makes you relax when it passes you at a crowded party when someone opens the door it  s the breeze that carries the perfume from that beautiful girl sitting next to you in the park who you just met a week ago it  s the breeze . . . . .   br    br    
the film is about a sabretooth on the lose at a amusement park where teens are on a scavenger hunt . since there are no rules they break into a building and start getting killed off . the deaths are cheesy and are dumb . but at least it had better effects then sabretooth . i gave it a three because stacy was in it and i loved the movie sabretooth . i thought it was okay but some deaths were off  screen . there was a dumb scene where the two teens kiss and the sabretooth  s head pops out and the boy leaves his girlfriend behind leaving her to have her totally fake looking red guts out . then the sabretooth gets up in the vents and bites the kids head off . the end death with the owner was totally fake looking graphics . even that death was stupid because the statues tooth went through his mouth and hangs there like that will support it and there is a scene when a goth girl loses her contacts doesn  t find them  and seems like she doesn  t need the . the film is idiotic and a waste of time .  
this belgian film  directed by tom barman  singer of the well  known group deus  will not be favoured by everyone . for the simple reason that there isn  t a clear story or even a plot . this movie just shows   hours in  a city   here antwerp  and allows you to watch and truly enjoy the dialogues  the directing  the humorous  dario   the osteopath bruno   . . .  and tragic  windman  paul garcin  . . .  characters .  br    br   there are several memorable scenes the windman on the beach  the dance party at the end  the kiss  fan  windman visits the osteopath  . . .  br    br   clearly some other viewers didn  t understand what  s so beautiful and interesting in this movie . they complain that this movie has no story  etc . but it  s the atmosphere that keeps you watching and that will drag you into it .  br    br   if you didn  t watch it yet  be sure to listen carefully to the music . the soundtrack is extraordinary just like tom barman and his group deus .  br    br   and  ssst  mondje dicht h .   don  t tell anyone   
everything about this film is hog wash . pitiful acting  awful dialog  ugly native girls . this movie sinks into oblivion                the director must have been a weekend bender . robert c . is totally lost and has not got a clue on what is going on . the college kids are worst . no acting talent at all  very stupid reasoning  and just down right dumbbells . special effects are for the birds . the so called security force around this park belongs in toy land with stupid looking guns  walkie talkies that are useless and a computer system that ranks with a roll of toilet paper . if the park is under construction and nothing works why bother inviting potential clients until everything is complete . the writers should be the first victims of the mess along with the producers and the crew . the whole film belongs in a septic tank shot to another planet for viewing . what a gem . convicts should have to watch this  so they can commit suicide .  
any way the wind blows is tom barmans  who is also know as front man of the rock formation  deus   debut movie . entirely shot in antwerp  belgium   the movie starts on a sunny friday morning and skips rather superficially between the events that fill the day of a dozen of main characters . when the movie ends  you have a lot of stuff to think about  because most of the different story  lines are left wide open .  br    br   the movie has a  purely instrumental  sound track that will rock your socks off . in most scenes  the music truly enhances the general atmosphere and feel  really making the movie hallucinating to watch at certain points of time . the main scene in the film  the party  is very well shot .  br    br   the director didn  t hesitate to use video clip techniques  having his main characters dancing on one of the best sound tracks i  ve heard lately .  br    br   the screenplay is great stuff . camera angles and colors are very well chosen . the  costumes  are very hot and very  seventies  too . and i loved  most of the  acting .  br    br   the thing i liked most about the movie  are the subtle touches of absurd  surreal  very dry or even cynical humor that interleave .  br    br   without claiming to be a comedy  this movie certainly is not a comedy but rather an alternative piece of art   it still manages to have its audience giggling and even burst into laughter at some times .  br    br   this is one more directors  debut that shouldn  t be an ending . i hope to see more tom barman movies in the future because i had a good time . cheers .  
spoilers will be in this . the movie could have been better if they had just had a different script  director  and cgi provider . not much right  the movie has a man starting his own theme park . . . err . . . zoo on a deserted island where people can see dinosaurs . . . err . . . sabretooths and it is called jurra . . . oops . . . primal park . i do not mind rip  offs  because there are no original ideas for these kind of movies  but this one just slaps you in the face with it  r e p e a t e d l y . there is even the  creature  s shadowed head on the design  thing . the sabretooths  that are not sabretooths according to mr . primal park  just ancient killing cats   are rather junky but the crowning accomplishment is the one i call  sloggy  . because  after disposing of one big cat  a hero is relaxing a little because there is only one left . enter the weird feeding guy who says  nah  we made three  the third being a monster who pulls itself around with its front feet . great  groovy . a group of college students are also on the island for a scavenger hunt  there test to get into their cliques frat or sort  always thought that needed a short nickname  . out of the ones who do live  only one has completed their task  so i got a kick out of that . oh yeah  the mandatory  evil capitalist must die  clique is in force with not one  but two of them  mr . primal park  s death is the most laughable thing you will see in one of these movies as a sabretooth statue  s tooth jars loose  courtesy of sloggy   shrinks a few sizes  and impales the man through the throat . if i had only gotten away so easy . i like  sabretooth  better than this spin  off .  
  written on the wind  is an irresistible  wonderfully kinky film  as only director sirk could have done it . the movie is submerged in a bucket full of freudian symbols  weird melodramatics and colorful contrasts . the connection between financial success and moral decay is the film  s main theme . sirk seems to suggest that sexual dysfunction is one of the side effects of capitalism . however  i prefer to see the movie as a prime example of what sirk could do with kitschy material . the palette of colors is particularly impressive . the acting in the film is great too . rock hudson and lauren bacall are terribly glamorous and give the film an aura of elegance  but the movie belongs to robert stack and dorothy malone  she deservedly won the best supporting actress oscar   who manage to keep the film at a boiling point . kudos to frank skinner  s pulsating score  russell metty  s brilliant camera work  every single shot is a masterpiece in itself   and the production design department . also  the title tune is a beauty . it  s an unforgettable movie .  
three giant sabretooth tigers  . . created in a laboratory from mitochondrial dna  a  genetic breakthrough  derived from fossil material  are on the rampage accidentally set free through a series of events  such as a computer geek  s introduced virus in order to unlock security measures keeping the resort novelty shops closed during construction  a security guard  s leaving a gate open while searching for the missing page from a porn mag that flew away in the breeze  that threaten the lives of those it comes in contact with . the tigers are always hungry  but are unable to digest what they eat . so pretty much the tigers just rip their prey to shreds . victims include a group of college kids  . . the stereotypes include a goth girl  jock and tech nerd   security personnel  and those somewhat developed rich scoundrels who we can easily despise and wish horrible death .  br    br   rounding out a series of bad sci  fi channel flicks  attack of the sabretooth has some of the most wretched computer simulated animals i  ve seen yet . and  the final death sequence is so putridly presented  you  ll demand within the deepest recesses of your soul the time spent on this truly awful exercise in the creature feature canon . there  s some good dark humor deriving from heads being torn from necks  but even here the prosthetic work is unconvincing . prosthetic body parts and blood aplenty as victims are pounced upon  crying for help and receiving none . i  m starting to sound like a broken record  repeating myself in every user comment i write for these sci  fi channel flicks . i think maybe it  s time to move on to other kinds of cinema . robert carradine has a role as a ruthless businessman who is being wooed by his truly repellent ex  brother  in  law  nicholas bell  the one opening  primal park   a resort  zoo featuring genetically created sabretooth tigers as it  s major attraction . stacy haiduk  still quite yummy  is a security officer who attempts to convince bell to get the investors he hopes to goad into putting money in his multi  million dollar project to leave the island . brian wimmer is haiduck  s lover and his role is a mechanic keeping operations running smoothly .  br    br   bell  s fate at the end  resulting from a dislodged tooth from a sabretooth tiger statue is the pits . carradine spends a great deal of the film taunting bell  his arch nemesis . the tiger  s point  of  view shows humans in a bright color as it moves towards them . the film ultimately consists of characters walking through darkened corridors  . . the tech nerd  s virus cut off the power  worried for their safety . the college kids commit breaking and entering to score certain items needed  . . it  s a scavenger hunt type of activity  to enter a fraternity  sorority . the cast playing these kids do not rise above their clichs .  
i  m not sure if this is some kind of masterpiece or just sleazy fluff elevated by the performances and visuals . whatever the case  i  m sure i loved it . from the wonderfully twisted  lurid  intertwining stories  to the deliciously sinister performances from robert stack and dorothy malone  to the vivid  gaudy colour with which it  s all captured  this is high  class trash and it  s great fun . not to mention the amusingly sly and thinly veiled sexual subtexts which permeate the entire film  always threatening to escape from the image into the dialogue but never doing so . i  d be lying if i said that the film  s sheer entertainment value didn  t contribute to my love for it  but there  s some sort of bizarre artistry behind the unintentional  or was it   comedy and i really  really dug that . i could really get into this melodrama stuff .  
i remember watching attack when it first came out and caught it again recently . the sci fi channel has run worse  but not by much . a shameless ripoff of jurassic park  attack substitutes sabertooth cats for dinosaurs . and they are on the loose  devouring as many extras as possible . the cgi is pretty bad  and closeups of prosthetic cat heads are laughable . we get some gore  which helps a little . wait until you see how the mad scientist who started this whole mess gets it . other than robert carradine  who has very little to do  the cast is unknown . apparently this was shot in fiji . nice work if you can get it . reminds me of all those low  budget monster stvs that were popular in the   s and   s .  
written on the wind  directed by douglas sirk and released in      is like all of sirk  s mid    s films  pure melodrama . yet it is engrossing  richly developed melodrama  and sirk  s trademark lurid colour expressionism  throbbing  barely repressed emotions  symbolism and juxtaposition of the classes make this a film to crave .  br    br   the film opens brilliantly  with the four central characters and the plot being introduced as the credits are still rolling . sirk uses a clever flashback structure to take us into his world . . .  br    br   robert stack and dorothy malone are magnificent as the two hadley  kids   kyle and marylee . he drinks and sleeps around with women . she drinks and sleeps around with men . they both are worth millions  thanks to the hadley oil business . hunky  yet poor  mitch wayne  rock hudson  is kyle  s lifelong friend  and marylee  s dream lover . enter into this sordid mess lucy moore  lauren bacall   a slim  attractive young woman who falls under kyle  s charms after he picks up a phone and flies her across the countryside one evening . mitch loves her too  but kyle wins her . they quickly marry  and kyle stops drinking . but fate seems to be written on the wind  and it is not long before a conniving marylee  who will  have mitch   marriage or no marriage   a secretly smitten mitch  the confused lucy and the sad drunk kyle come to blows . . . .  br    br   malone is just wonderful as marylee hadley  thoroughly deserving her best supporting actress oscar . she steals every scene she is in . stack is almost just as good  amping up the melodrama  while still maintaining subtly and quiet desperation . hudson and bacall are a lot more restrained than those two  yet it is in keeping with the characters they play .  br    br   so  what  s all this melodrama really about it  well  a lot of things . stack  s powerful portrait of male inadequacy and fear  for one thing . sirk surrounds stack with phallic symbols throughout the film  note his tiny little gun  the oil derricks and the ultimate phallic symbol  kyle  s seeming inability to conceive children . stack seems to be suffering from a massive male superiority complex  made worse by his father  s preference for hudson  his sister  s desire for hudson  and his suspicion that his wife is carrying on with hudson . with all this wealth kyle hadley still ends up at the wrong end of town  buying cheap corn liquor like a  bum  .  br    br   it  s about impossible dreams  and having to let go of them . the river where kyle  marylee and mitch used to play when they were kids is constantly referenced throughout the film  symbolising kyle and  especially  marylee  s wish for the innocence and simplicity of youth . in an excellent melodramatic scene  perfectly pulled off by malone  marylee  s stands by the river and imagines herself again as a child  with voice  over of mitch telling marylee that she will always be his girl . this is where sirk strikes a huge emotional chord with the viewer . who hasn  t dreamed about going back to that special place in childhood  who hasn  t  at some point  lived on a treasured memory  who hasn  t wanted something they couldn  t have  and hudson  s last line of the film  yes  he gets no dialogue in the last   or so minutes  only close  ups  recollects on how  far we  ve come from the river  marylee  . amazing .  
i have a piece of advice for the people who made this movie too  if you  re gonna make a movie like this be sure you got the f  x to back it up . also don  t get a bunch of z list actors to play in it . another thing  just about all of us have seen jurassic park  so don  t blatantly copy it . all in all this movie sucked  f  x sucked  acting sucked  story unoriginal . let  s talk about the acting for just a second  the carradine guy who  s career peaked in     when he did  revenge of the nerds   which was actually a great comedy  . he  s not exactly z list  he can act . he just should have said no to this s   t bag . he should have did what mark hamill did after  return of the jedi  and go quietly into the night . he made his mark as a  nerd  and that should have been that . i understand he has bills to pay  but that hardly excuses this s   t bag . have i called this movie that yet  o . k . i just wanted to be sure . if i sound a little hostile  i apologize . i just wasted  hrs of my life i could have spent doing something productive like watching paint peel  and i feel cheated . i  ll close on that note . thank you for your time .  
an overblown melodrama typical of its period  mid      s  and appropriate matine food . rock hudson  the hulk everyone always falls in love with  plays his usual stereotype role  but whereas in giant  made the same year  when his material and co  stars  taylor  dean  were above average  in this movie he is just not good enough to raise the calibre beyond a mushy tale of how difficult it is to be both rich and happy . the self  destructive brother and sister  robert stack  reeling his way through the film in a drunken stupor  and dorothy malone  playing a vampish poor little rich girl totally over the top  end up the losers and hudson gets bacall  who is rather wooden in this part which does not have enough character or wit to get her going . to paraphrase oscar wilde  the good end happily and the bad unhappily  that is the meaning of fiction . however  i was interested to read that the film is based on a true story which vindicated the plot . like other films of the period  homosexuality is disguised in heterosexual terms . maybe the film could be remade stack  s character would ring truer if he was hiding homosexual feelings for mitch by marrying . todd haynes  s far from heaven greatly improved on all that heaven allows  also directed by sirk . perhaps haynes could remake written on the wind and give us a truly memorable film .  
this movie had a lot of blood in it when the sabretooth attack it also i loved it when that guy and the women were having some good time and then the sabretooth attacked the women and ate her stomach and took the liver out . that was the best and the  ton sabretooth walking on its front legs hilarious to make this movie better more action and less talking if you know what i mean and also please please people who made this movie don  t make anothwer movie like this movies ending cause it was terrible  sabretooth alive and killed that women in the end this movie reminds me of the grudges ending always there  s  enemy left  ok damn it this movie sucks i can  t believe it i loved it when my lil bro got freaked from the attacks stomach takin out and the blood ya  
on the surface   written on the wind  is a lurid  glossy soap opera about the sexual dysfunctions of a texas oil family . but underneath it all is a deep  social commentary on      s life . director douglas sirk scores again with another univeral sudser . robert stack falls in love with lauren bacall . the problem is that stack  s best pal  rock hudson  loves her too . when stack finds out he  s sterile and bacall ends up pregnant  the fireworks fly . and  the all  too  good dorothy malone won an oscar for her portrayl of texas  biggest nympho who is shunned by hudson . good epic soap opera .  
the film starts with a manager  nicholas bell  giving welcome investors  robert carradine  to primal park . a secret project mutating a primal animal using fossilized dna  like jurassik park  and some scientists resurrect one of nature  s most fearsome predators  the sabretooth tiger or smilodon . scientific ambition turns deadly  however  and when the high voltage fence is opened the creature escape and begins savagely stalking its prey  the human visitors  tourists and scientific . meanwhile some youngsters enter in the restricted area of the security center and are attacked by a pack of large pre  historical animals which are deadlier and bigger . in addition  a security agent  stacy haiduk  and her mate  brian wimmer  fight hardly against the carnivorous smilodons . the sabretooths  themselves  of course  are the real star stars and they are astounding terrifyingly though not convincing . the giant animals savagely are stalking its prey and the group run afoul and fight against one nature  s most fearsome predators . furthermore a third sabretooth more dangerous and slow stalks its victims .  br    br   the movie delivers the goods with lots of blood and gore as beheading  hair  raising chills  full of scares when the sabretooths appear with mediocre special effects . the story provides exciting and stirring entertainment but it results to be quite boring . the giant animals are majority made by computer generator and seem totally lousy . middling performances though the players reacting appropriately to becoming food . actors give vigorously physical performances dodging the beasts  running  bound and leaps or dangling over walls . and it packs a ridiculous final deadly scene . no for small kids by realistic  gory and violent attack scenes . other films about sabretooths or smilodon are the following  sabretooth       by james r hickox with vanessa angel  david keith and john rhys davies and the much better    .    bc        by roland emmerich with with steven strait  cliff curtis and camilla belle . this motion picture filled with bloody moments is badly directed by george miller and with no originality because takes too many elements from previous films . miller is an australian director usually working for television  tidal wave  journey to the center of the earth  and many others  and occasionally for cinema  the man from snowy river  zeus and roxanne  robinson crusoe  . rating  below average  bottom of barrel .  
it  s a strange  yet somehow impressive story  about love . personnaly  i never run over such a twist  off story in real life . but  i can image there is .  br    br   it  s a story that promises to be  sick  from the title . but  after i watch it  i didn  t get this feeling of  sickness  which i would surely have regarding society rules . it  s something beautiful in this movie . . . something impressive . . . which i cannot contradict using any moral or society rules .  br    br   the movie focuses mostly on relation between kiki and alex . you can see how this relation starts  evolves and finally ends . you feel the moment when this love blossoms  the first whispers  touchings . you feel the connection . and no moment i though this is immoral . you even hope it will not break in the end . . . . it cannot break . . . it  s not right . you feel the pain of being hart broken in the end . . .  br    br   but  i need also to add a negative spin to this comment . . . i don  t know if the story is not somehow showed to give the feeling that these relations are sick only in form  but not in content . you don  t have the total story  but only fragments . when movie has started  the relation between kiki and sandu was already in place . so  no clue about the nature of the relation . you feel only a tension between them . . . a fight between the need for love and desire to break this relation . i think this line of kiki to sandu says all  i want to stop . . . and if you love me  you will do as i ask you  .  br    br   this movie will probably stir some questions about what is love and what is to be moral . . . and where  s the limit between them . i don  t know if the idea of this movie is  love conquers all . . . even social and moral standards  or  love is beautiful . . . no matter how or where  . but in my opinion  this movie is already a success for the simple reason that it makes you think . . .  
john candy . need we say more  he is the main reason you should see this film . most people don  t realize how gifted he was as an actor . witness him changing from poor slob to horny jerk . just a simple  subtle  facial change and off we go . there are many great bits in this movie and many really dumb bits . the best moments for me are the kung fu u scenes as well as the great moment when john  in a trance  goes up on stage and talks about how much he loves his girlfriend  that is how much he and his genitals love his girlfriend . i  m sure reading this you might think this sequence sounds really crude . it is  but it is also very funny mainly because it is john candy doing this bit . the story in general is pretty lame and eugene levy and joe flaherty  both sctv alumni with candy  are not given enough to do in the film . levy has his moments  especially filming the wedding at the end  think rod serling  and the great scene when he is talking to his mother on the phone . overall a good movie if you have had a tough day and need to put your brain on stupid . i give this one  out of   .  
director douglas sirk scores again with this  the grandaddy of all dysfunctional family films . this lush  trashy saga is a masterpiece  beautifully combining all of the elements of sirk  s soapers and strategically placing them all into one movie .  written on the wind  very obviously influenced the     s tv series  dallas  and  dynasty   as this is basically a feature  length version of those later nighttime soaps .  br    br   lauren bacall  wonderfully and subtly  plays lucy moore  a new york city secretary who marries oil baron  kyle hadley  robert stack  . unbeknownst to both of them  mitch wayne  rock hudson  is also in love with the quiet  but sexy secretary . they all go back to kyle  s family  s mansion in texas where we meet his white trash slut  of  a  sister  marylee  dorothy malone in an oscar  winning turn  . yipee  the sparks begin to fly  from the romances to the catfights  this is a campy trip . not only does mitch have to fight the feelings he has for his best friend  s wife  but marylee tries to sleep with everybody since she can  t have her one true love who is mitch . topping it all off  kyle learns he  s impotent  but somehow lucy ends up pregnant .  br    br   this is pure soap and pure melodramatic entertainment . how can you not love it  this film signals one of universal  s most popular films and one of director sirk  s best works . some of the dialogue is absolutely sizzling and visual metaphors are thrown in every which way  the theme of wind throughout is great . the cast is great  although bacall is completely underused despite receiving top  billing behind hudson . stack  s oscar loss reportedly devastated him . he considered this his finest performance and apparently was none too pleased to lose out . and he did turn out a fabulous performance as the whimpering alcoholic . what a stunning movie  this film proves what i  ve been thinking for ages  sirk is the master of classic melodrama . where  s his oscar   br    br    
in the fiji islands  the greedy and unscrupulous owner of the valalola resort primal park invites investors and guests for an opening party of his compound composed of hotel and zoo aiming to find partners for his discoveries . when a bunch of college smalltime thieves puts a virus in the security system to participate in a scavenger hunt  the greatest attractions of the zoo  sabretoothes from the prehistoric age developed from dna found in fossils  escape  killing the hosts and guards for pleasure .  br    br   the incredibly lame and cheap  attack of the sabretooth  is one of the worst movies i have recently seen . the characters are awful and not funny or pleasant and the story is a terrible jurassik park rip  off with a bad collection of clichs . basically all the lines and situations are poor and stupid  but the winner is when the guard explains that the sabretoothes are bulimic and like to kill for pleasure . my vote is three .  br    br   title  brazil    o ataque do dente de sabre    the attack of the sabretooth    
spoilers spoilers released in      and considered quite racy at the time  douglas sirk  s over the top candy colored melodrama is still a wonderful thing . the plot concerns the goings on in an oil rich dysfunctional texas family that includes big brother kyle  who is insecure  weak  wounded  very alcoholic  played by robert stack in a very touching  vulneable performance and his sluty sister marylee played in an extreme manner by dorothy malone . ms . malone  s performance is telegraphed to us via her eyes  which she uses to show us her emotions  which mostly consist of lust  for rock hudson  and jealousy  for lauren bacall  . malone is the only actress i  ve ever seen in movies who enters a room eyes first . now don  t get me wrong  her performance to say the least is an absolute hoot  and is one of the supreme camp acting jobs of the      s . but it is also terrible  because as likeable and attractive as malone is  she  s not a very good actress  and she  s not capable of subtly or shading . her performace is of one note . she does get to do a wicked mambo  and in a great montage  as unloving daddy played by the always good robert keith falls to his death climbing a staircase  sirk mixes it up with an almost mad malone doing a orgasmic dance as she undresses . stack   who should have won an oscar   malone   who won the award  but shouldn  t have  are the real stars of the film  the ones who set all the hysteria  both sexual  otherwise in motion  while the  real stars  of the film  hudson  bacall fade to grey  brown  which are the colors that they are mainly costumed in . hudson who was a better actor then given credit for plays the childhood  best friend of stack  s  and the stalked love interest of malone  s who moans  groans over rock through most of the film . but hudson wants no part of her  and instead is in love with bacall who is married to stack . no one is very happy  no one is happy for very long . the stack  bacall marriage falls apart big time after a year  and stack pretty much drinks himself into oblivion because he thinks he is sterile  and can  t give bacall a baby to prove that he  s a man . sirk who was a very intelligent man  and had a long  fascinating career both in films and theatre in germany  ended his hollywood career at universal in the mid      s with a series of intense vividly colored  women  s movies  or melodramas . although they were mainly adapted from medicore or trashy source material  in sirk  s hands they became masterpieces of the genre . sirk had a wonderful sense of color  design which he brought to play in these films filling his wide screen spaces with characters who played out their emotional lives among weird color combinations  lighting  make believe shadows  and lots of mirroed reflections . in  written  the characters are always peeking out of windows  listening at doors or sneaking around . so in the end  after much violence  an accidental murder  a miscarriage  more sirk ends the movie with a final  startling scene of a  reborn  and reformed malone in a man  tailored suit  sitting at a desk foundling a miniature oilwell .  
after a series of power  outages on a remote island zoo  genetically engineered sabertooth tigers are on the loose and mauling residents of the island . man  the sci  fi channel has made some bad  original  movies  but i think this might possibly be their worst so far  this badly written and directed  jurassic park  rip  off offers all the usual clichs  mad scientists who thinks people killed by the monsters are  expendable losses   characters walking down long dark hallways alone  brain  dead teen characters who  s only function in the film is to die a horrible death  etc .   and  unsurprisingly  no suspense whatsoever . the special effects are atrociousthe puppet heads in close  ups of the title beasties are bad enough  looking like stiff plush dolls  but the cgiwhich makes the computer  generated dinosaurs in  walking with dinosaurs  look life  like by comparisonare just downright awful . there  s some gore  but most of it looks pretty unconvincing . oh  and the death scene of the scientist at the end is truly one of the worst things i  ve seen in years . i couldn  t even laugh it was so bad   br    br   don  t waste your time  this one is just downright bad .  br    br       .  br    br   oh  and here  s some interesting trivia for youthis film borrowed music cues from the     sci  fi film  alien hunter   which was far superior to this piece of crap .  
in her autobiography  laureen bacall reveals that bogie told her that she should not make such dud movies as this one or something like that . at the time  douglas sirk was labeled  weepies for women   actually  he was restored to favor  at least in europa  after he stopped directing . and when he filmed  written on the wind   sirk had only three movies to make  tarnished angels    a time to love and a time to die   his masterpiece  imho  and finally  imitation of life        . then there was silence . actually bacall and hudson characters do not interest sirk . they are too straight  too virtuous . dorothy malone  who was some kind of substitute for his former german star zarah leander  and her brother robert stack provide the main interest of the plot . a plot constructed continuously  most of the movie being a long flashback . the instability of the brother and the sister  from a family of rich texan oil owners  is brought to the fore by garish clothes  and rutilant cars that go at top speed in a derricks landscape . malone  s metamorphosis at the end of the movie is stunning suit and chignon  toying with a small derrickshe  s ready for life  the rebel is tamed . now alone  because she  s lost hudson  but anyway  he was not in love with her  . this end is a bit reactionary  but melodrama is par excellence reactionarythree years later  in  imitation of life   sarah  jane  susan kohner  will be blamed because she does not know her place .  
considering john doe apparently inspired kyle xy  s creator i was expecting its pilot to be quite interesting . however i probably had too high expectations because i was quite disappointed by it . first they turned the protagonist into a freak who had the crazy idea of showing off his amazing knowledge in front of an audience  in a public area . so after that scene i began to worry that it was just entertainment . but the problem is that it got worse as none of the other characters were properly introduced . they focused too much on john doe which made the story far less intriguing . i was also slightly disappointed by dominic purcell  s performance because i found he didn  t make a believable john doe . an other problem was the police story . it really felt like dj vu and it wasn  t a pleasant sensation . it leads us to the worst issue in the bunch  the episodic format . i could already see the fillers coming one after an other .  br    br   so overall i was very disappointed by it and don  t recommend it to anyone . considering how bad it was i better understand now why the show got canceled . in some way i have the impression that it missed its target  developing characters to help the protagonist find his own identity . it  s sad because there was potential  like the people he met at the club . the production quality was also quite good and the casting correct . but i  ll never know if it got better  probably not  because i don  t plan to watch the next episode .  
one thing about hollywood  someone has a success and it  s always rushed to be copied . and another thing is that players give some of their best performances away from their home studio .  br    br   rock hudson got such accolades for his performance in the texas based film giant that universal executives must have thought  let  s quick get him into another modern texas setting .  br    br   similarly robert stack got great reviews for the high and the mighty as the pilot who was cracking under the strain of flying a damaged aircraft that it was natural to give him another crack up role .  br    br   both of these ends were achieved in written on the wind . before hudson was the big ranch owner  now he  s the son of a hunting companion of robert stack  s father who took hudson under his wing . in other words the james dean part without the james dean racism from giant .  br    br   lauren bacall is the executive secretary of an advertising agency that stack  s hadley oil company uses . hudson likes her  but she  s dazzled by stack  s millions and when he woos a girl he  s got the means to really pursue a campaign . she marries stack .  br    br   and last but not least in the mix we have dorothy malone who  s stack  s amoral sister who has a yen for rock  but rock ain  t about to get tangled up with this wild child .  br    br   dorothy malone spent over   years in a whole bunch of colorless film heroine roles before landing this gem . she got a best supporting actress award for her part as marilee hadley and it was well deserved .  br    br   if you like splashy technicolor fifties soap opera than this is the film for you .  
my giving this a score of  is not what i would give the original soviet version of this film . it seems that american  international  a studio that specialized in ultra  low  budget fare in the   s  bought this film and utterly destroyed it   slicing a two hour plus film into a   minute film  plus  much of this   minutes was new material  such as the  monsters     so you know that this film bears almost no similarity to the original . the original film appears to be a rather straight drama about the soviet conquest of space   though i really am not sure what it was originally  for insight into the original film  read steven nyland  s review   it was very helpful .  br    br   by the way  this was the third soviet sci  film i  ve seen that american  international bought and then hacked apart to make a  new  film   standard practice to a company that was willing to put just about anything on the screen to make a buck   provided  of course  it didn  t cost them much more than a buck in the first place   this americanized film was about two rival world powers  not the us and soviets  trying to be the first to mars . the tricky  bad guys  try but fail and the  good guys  rescue one of the idiot astronauts and then head to mars . unfortunately  they are temporarily stranded on a moon of mars where they see some monsters  added by american  international  that are reaaaally cheesy and one does bear similarity to a certain part of a female  s anatomy . then  they are rescued   returning to earth heroes .  br    br   the bottom line is that the film was butchered   turning an incredibly beautiful piece of art  for the time  being turned into a grade  c movie . because of this  the soviets really had a reason to hate america  i  m just shocked that the horrible job a  i did with this film didn  t convince them to refuse to sell more films to these jerks  it  s worth a look for a laugh  but the really bad moments that make you laugh are few and far between . so  the film is a dud   not bad enough to make it a must  see for bad movie buffs and too dopey to be taken seriously . i would really love to see this movie in its original form   it must have been some picture .  
another classic study of the effects of wealth on a southern family is masterfully depicted in written on the wind .  br    br   kyle hadley has it all . wealth  a plane  you name it . kyle  s best friend  mitch  has always gotten him out of difficulty . mitch finished college  kyle got thrown out . mitch is not from a wealthy home . kyle  s family  with hadley oil  controls most of everything in the town .  br    br   while in n . y .  kyle meets the girl of his dreams  nicely played by lauren bacall . after a whirlwind romance  he marries her and brings her home . there she meets her father  in  law who warns her how difficult kyle can be . kyle sleeps with a gun under his pillow . the bacall character meets kyle  s sister  mary lee  a tramp if ever there were  played to the fullest by dorothy malone  who was voted best supporting actress .  br    br   rock hudson plays mitch  the faithful friend .  br    br   a year of wedded bliss for kyle and his bride ends when kyle is told by the doctor that he can  t have children . it is when his wife reveals to him that she is indeed pregnant  kyle  thinking that the child is mitch  s  goes on a drunken frenzy and is accidentally shot dead in a memorable scene .  br    br   mary lee  who has always loved mitch  tries but is unsuccessful in blaming mitch for kyle  s death . in a memorable courtroom scene  malone pulled out all the stops in finally admitting that kyle  s death was an unfortunate accident . her oscar was well deserved .  br    br   surprisingly  robert stack  brilliant as kyle hadley  was nominated for best supporting actor and lost in an upset victory by anthony quinn  as paul gauguin  in lust for life .  br    br   douglas sirk was the master of soap opera films of the     s . written on the wind is no exception .     .  
what is this  a low budget sex comedy  anyway it describes perfectly the people in spain . they could come up with a better idea  i mean they do this kind of movies since the   s . . and people like them  this is neither a teen comedy nor a family one  you can  t let your   year old watch  guys in bed kissing  he  ll never want to go to spain  . this should be rated  r   because only people    seem to laugh watching s i  m truly disappointed  maybe i don  t like gays  which is quite an important part of the movie  .  br    br   foreign humor is awful in films  except kusturica   stick with doing dramas  if you want a new comedy try talladega nights  
douglas sirk directs this over  acted drama about the unhappy affluent . kyle hadley  robert stack  and mitch wayne  rock hudson  are boyhood friends with different looks on life . kyle is the womanizing son of an oil tycoon mitch works for the hadley oil company . both fall in love with the same woman  lucy moore but it is kyle that has the means to wow her off her feet and marry her . sister marylee  dorothy malone  seems to be the town  s nymphomaniac and carrying a torch for mitch  who always seems to be the one to clean up the hadley  s messes . ambitious with pretension a little over the top  but the stars make it a movie to see . i was most impressed with malone . rounding out the cast robert keith  edward platt  john lurch and robert j . wilke .  
strange  almost all reviewers are highly positive about this movie . is it because it  s from     and has chamberlain and curtis in it and therefore forgive the by times very bad acting and childish ways of storytelling   br    br   maybe it  s because some people get sentimental about this film because they have read the book   i have not read the book  but i don  t think that  s a problem  film makers never presume that the viewers have read the book  .  br    br   or is it because i am subconsciously irritated about the fact that english  speaking actors try to behave as their french counterparts   
after playing a nymphomaniac in written on the wind  dorothy malone finally said good  bye to her sweet sister  wife roles and demonstrated an ability to play mantraps with the best of them . she and gloria grahame played the same sort of tramps   and for her efforts here in a very manipulative role  malone won a best supporting actress oscar .  br    br   the film she  s in is not quite up to oscar standards  but it is a strong enough melodrama under douglas sirk  s capable hands . there  s an almost noirish look to the explosive opening scene and it sets the tone for the rest of the sudsy fireworks in a story that has rock hudson  lauren bacall  robert stack and dorothy malone as its headliners .  br    br   domestic squabbles among the inhabitants of a wealthy family with an oil background are the primary focus of the drama  with the accent on the strong supporting players  stack and malone . both of them seize the opportunity with both hands and stack  too  should have been awarded for his sterling job as the weak  alcoholic brother driven to desperation by his own wild motives .  br    br   the nominal stars have less impressive work to do  but do it with their usual skill and conviction   hudson and bacall . they play their more sympathetic roles with quiet authority and understanding .  br    br   the use of color is particularly striking  as it usually is in a sirk film  and yet it doesn  t preclude me from thinking of the film as a technicolor film noir in the vein of leave her to heaven .  br    br   well worth watching with some interesting performances from the entire cast .  
  br    br   as with the other episodes in this made  for  tv series expanding on the many adventures of the sea legend  horatio hornblower  s super human infallibility ruins all chance for suspense .  br    br   as little wesley crusher ruined many seasons of the next generation  horatio hornblower invincibly saves every situation . each and every clever solution inevitably comes only from the lips of horatio hornblower . immeasurably superior  hornblower  s main trouble in this movie series seems to be tolerating the many error ridden characters above and below him in the chain of command . a perfect being makes for dull story telling . so superior is our hero  that even those who attempt to help him are powerless to do something correctly unless hornblower is there to direct and control their every move .  br    br   what is the sense in telling a story about any person who cannot do wrong and will repeatedly win at everything every single time  what is the point of watching such a story   
stack should have received the academy award for this performance  period . its a crime that he did not . amazing how he humanizes a rich worthless character .  br    br   dorothy malone did earn a well  deserved academy award for her performance . in fact  all of the acting in this film is excellent .  br    br   the plot begins with a taxi ride  then an airplane ride  then keeps moving on an emotional ride that will hold your interest throughout . you will be entertained   br    br   however  this is only a blatant soap opera . one  dimensional      percent soaper . you might call it the ultimate soaper  because the acting so thoroughly triumphs over the material . excellently acted  well directed  but strictly within its soap genre . i wouldn  t even call it a melodrama  such as  mildred pierce  or  imitation of life   . while not denying the great entertainment value of this film  you can only imagine what this talented cast and director might have achieved with more substantial subject matter .  
to anyone not familiar with c . s . forrester  s book this film should be interesting . it is colorful  well acted and depicts high adventure  but to those of us who know the original stories it is appalling . i could hardly sit through it .  br    br   for some reason screen  writers seem compelled to rewrite the stories they are working on . of course  the spoken word is different from the written word  and there are some episodes that would be difficult to film . but  why do the screen  writers rewrite the story instead of just adapting it  in this case the writers out  did themselves .  br    br   just a few examples there was no mutiny on the renown . the officers did take over the ship after the half  insane captain was driven completely mad when he fell through a hatchway  for reasons implied but never given . there was no court martial . the court of inquiry was conducted in an almost congratulatory atmosphere . captain pellew does not appear appear in this part of the hornblower saga  nor does col . ortega  s wife . hornblower  himself  was never in the brig either on the ship or on shore . there are plenty of such manipulations of forrester  s story .  br    br   on a purely technical basis  i think the film  s repeated use of the flash  back device hurts the continuity of the story .  br    br   why  oh why did screen  writers have to mess up a good story   
this gloriously turgid melodrama represents douglas sirk at his most high strung . it eschews the soft wistfulness of  all that heaven allows  and the weepy sentimentality of  imitation of life  and instead goes for feverish angst and overheated tension . and of course  it  s all captured in vibrant technicolor .  br    br   the cornball story has something to do with a friendship between rock hudson and robert stack that becomes a rivalry when hudson snags the affections of lauren bacall  but who  s really paying attention to the story  dorothy malone won a best supporting actress academy award for her splendidly over  the  top performance as stack  s sister  who takes the family business into her own hands when no one else will . a highlight of the film comes when this high  spirited wild child breaks into a frantic dance in her bedroom  unable to bear the restraints placed upon her by middle  class propriety . as so frequently happens in sirk movies  the scene is both unintentionally hilarious in its absurdity and yet strangely moving in its effectiveness .  br    br   sirk came closer than anyone else to turning pure camp into high art  satisfying the philistines and the high brows at the same time within the same films . his was a unique talent and i don  t know that there  s ever been another film maker quite like him since .  br    br   grade a   
this god forsaken film is about three dumb millionaires who gather a bunch of people to play a deadly game  and the winner gets a million dollars . first of all  the acting is terrible  and the movie makes absolutely no sense at all . it is not scary in the least bit  it is so stupid that it made me laugh  which is why it earned that  star . the movie is not violent at all  but is pretty sleazy and focuses mostly on the women  s breasts the whole time  and some of the characters are very annoying and whiny . plus  the monsters in this movie are so cheesy and fake and not scary that it just makes you want to throw something at the screen . last  but not least the ending is terrible . i don  t want to give it away  in case you actually are strange enough to see this piece of junk . avoid at all costs       br    br   not rated  but should be r  for nudity  profanity  and mild gore .  
lauren bacall was living through husband humprey bogarts illness  death when she did this film . rock hudson was near the top of his      s stardom . dorothy malone is in excellent form  and wins an oscar for support . robert stack is nominated  falls just short for his role .  br    br   the story is a little soapy from another time but just as worthwhile as most dramas . amazing how well drunks can drive in this film  also how quickly stack sobers up in a couple of the films early sequences .  br    br   you can see why the cast is so good  actually production wise this film is very good . you can tell bacall is distracted during this film as while her acting is fine  she looks emotionally drained in some sequences .  br    br   the sexual references in this film are so mild  that many of today  s young viewers would not realize what they are . film does a good job telling a story  actually leaves a sequel to be made at the end though none ever was made  though written beyond the wind would be a good title .  
a real head scratcher of a film by bill rebane who appeared to be getting worse in his trade throughout the eighties . three crackpot millionaires invite nine people to a remote hotel to compete in a last person standing contest in which the final contestant will be given   million provided he or she makes it that far . a series of lame pranks are pulled on some of the guests while the others engage in what most adults would do under the circumstances namely get shatfaced at the hotel bar . most scenes are merely an excuse to focus the camera on various female body parts including an opening dance number that is a crossover of american bandstand meets geriatric aerobics complete with hookers . if there was any hesitation that white people can  t dance this scene hammers the final nail in that coffin . pay close attention for the nipple slip . this continues on for about forty  five minutes until bill rebane begins throwing darts at various plot twists and whatever he hits becomes the inspiration for the next scene making this one incoherent mess . it  s a game until it  s not a game . the three old coots are in complete control until they  re not . the hotel is possessed by a supernatural force until it becomes just props . they  re dead until they  re not . even the narrator at the end replies that he doesn  t know what the hell happened . i defy anyone to reason where rebane was going on this one . the acting is dinner theater caliber minus the dinner . most of the actors probably went back to their day jobs at the local stuckey  s . i give it a few points for the scene where the yuppie broad opens the closet and a skeleton is inside skull humping himself . let  s see gone with the wind do that  this chilling classics collection is really becoming the bane of me . bane  get it  like rebane  i hate myself .  
i think that the idea of the plot is perfect for exploring first of all the emotional experiences of the people involved and second  as someone else wrote in a comment  the implications of this kind of relationships  incest and lesbianism  in the romanian society .  br    br   so . . . to begin with the second aspect . . . to make it short  it wasn  t visible at all . . .  br    br   as for the first . . as i said  it had much more potential . . . i think that those kind of relationships carry much more tension . . . much more tension . . . and the potential tension didn  t get through . . .  br    br   i think the soundtrack could  ve been more than those few songs on the background and the theme  wich was nice but not enough and not always in the right moments  . . . yeah . . . i could feel the absence of a better soundtrack . .  br    br   the actors . . . i think that they were somewhere from  to     . . . not enough sensuality in the key moments . . .  br    br   a total of     . . . . mostly for the story  
i remember i saw this cartoon when i was  or  . my grandfather picked up the video of it for free at the mall . i remember that it really sucked . the plot had no sense . i hated the fox that became casper  s friend . he was so stupid  casper cried his head off if he couldn  t find a friend . so what  get over it  the only good part and i don  t want to sound mean  spirited was when the fox got shot and died at the end . i laughed my head off in payback because this cartoon sucked so much . the bad news is the fox resurrects and becomes a ghost . i wish he had stayed dead . i think i even gave the video of this to somebody because i hated it . no wonder they were offering it for free at the mall . if you have a child don  t let them watch this . they will probably agree with me that it sucks .  
  written on the wind  is a douglas sirk  s melodrama . douglas sirk was rediscovered by the  cahiers du cinema   fassbinder etc . . that hailed him as a master director  i think that it is because of the sophistication of his cinematography   written on the wind  offers luscious color images and gorgeous decors . but i ask myself is this enough to carry a film  the acting in  written on the wind  ranges from weak to fair  excepting robert stack  he is convincing as the weak  spoiled playboy  . lauren bacall  normally a powerful presence in the screen  is miscast in this film . dorothy malone as the seductress  the care  free  femme fatale  is ok  but she lacks the strength for the role . rock hudson is efficient but vapid .  br    br   the plot has very interesting ingredients . the main characters are  br    br   a rigid patriarch  br    br   his alcoholic son kyle  robert stack   never loved by the disappointed father   br    br   his frustrated and nymphomaniac daughter marylee  dorothy malone   br    br   lucy  lauren bacall   a woman of principles  formerly a secretary and now married to kyle  br    br   mitch  rock hudson   brought up together with kyle and loved by the patriarch .  br    br   secrets beyond the door  a love triangle  frustration  fistfights  laughter  death etc .  well  when i read the story summary on the back cover of the dvd i thought that i was in for a treat . my mistake  why  i  ll try to explain  written on the wind  takes itself seriously and tries to tell a dramatic story . as i said before the acting  in general  is not good enough  the intensity is lacking . there are many strong scenes in the story  but the actors just do an efficient job . i think that maybe with italian or spanish actors those scenes would have been explored fully  they would end  for us  in an explosion of laughter or tears .  br    br   what remains to us is the beautiful cinematography of douglas sirk . for me this is not enough . if you want to enjoy a good melodrama  see  aventurera  .  
this complete mess of a movie was directed by bill rebane  the man partly responsible for the truly infamous anti  classic monster a  go go . as i was nearing the end of the cold i came to the unbelievable conclusion that this film was in fact even worse than that    s shocker . the story  such as it is  is about three eccentric millionaires who invite a group of people to their remote mansion to play a series of macabre games . whoever manages to last the pace and survive to the end will win           . it  s a very simple plot but rebane still somehow manages to make proceedings verge on incomprehensible . things happen . characters are completely forgotten about . nothing makes too much sense . and then it ends . weirdly . i mean what the hell was that ending all about exactly  i guess you are left to draw your own conclusions . production values and acting are without question of a pornographic movie standard . in truth pamela rohleder  shelly  isn  t even that good . she is so unbelievably terrible she  s compelling . sadly the same thing cannot be said about this crap  fest as a whole  it  s just a bargain basement rotter .  
the absolute summum of the oeuvre of that crafty dane douglas sirk  born detlef sierck   written on the wind compels our prurient attention in every gaudy frame . from its justly famous opening sequence  with the leaves blowing into the baronial foyer of a texas mansion and the wind riffling the pages of the calendar into a flashback  the movie compresses into its   minutes all the familial intrigue that was to fuel such later  little  screen knockoffs as dallas  dynasty and falcon crest over their years  long runs .  br    br   the combination of wealth and dysfunction is a theme americans  in our dollar  based society  find irresistible . brother and sister robert stack and dorothy malone are the spoiled  troubled heirs to the hadly oil fortune boyhood chum rock hudson and new bride lauren bacall are the sane outsiders who try to keep the lid on the roiling cauldron .  it  s been rumored that the story was based on libby holmann  s marriage into reynolds tobacco money .  as always  the misfits get all the scenery to chew   and the best lines to spit out  malone  in her oscar  nabbing performance as the boozing nymphomaniac with a jones for hudson  gets to detonate a whole fireworks display of them  . hudson  while good  can  t compete with all this over  the  top emoting bacall starts out strong but grows recessive  a mere plot convenience . no matter with a succession of set  pieces shot in extravagant hues  sirk gives an object lesson in how to turn out overwrought melodrama set in the lush consumer paradise of late    s america . nobody ever did it better .  
this is one strange hacked together film  you get the feeling that the bond company had to come in on this one  i  m not surprised there  s no credits on it  who would want to be associated with this film . the acting of all involved is terribly stilted and the plot jumps around all over  it all makes very little sense . as i said before it looks like the bond company had to come in because it seems like there was alot of footage that wasn  t shot that needed to be  and all the music was very ill  fitting library music  cheap i guess  . very  very odd . i might actually buy a dvd of it though  if it could let me in on what the hell was going on  and what happened to this movie .  
on   october      the hard  work geologist of the hadley oil company mitch wayne  rock hudson  meets the executive secretary lucy moore  lauren bacall  in the office of her boss bill ryan in new york and invites her to go to a conference with the alcoholic playboy and son of a tycoon kyle hadley  robert stack  . on the way of the meeting  he confesses that they had traveled from houston to new york to satisfy the wish of the reckless kyle  who is his best friend since their childhood  of eating a sandwich from club   and the meeting was just a pretext to kyle  s father jasper hadley  robert keith  . mitch and kyle immediately fall in love for lucy  and kyle unsuccessfully uses his money to impress lucy then he opens his heart and proposes lucy . they get married and travel to acapulco and the insecure kyle stops drinking . meanwhile  kyle  s sister marylee  dorothy malone  is an easy woman and has a non  corresponded crush on mitch that sees her as a sister . one year later  kyle discovers that he has a problem and might be sterile and starts drinking again . the jealous marylee poisons kyle telling that his wife and mitch are having a love affair . when lucy finds that she is pregnant  kyle believes that the baby belongs to mitch and his mistrust leads to a tragedy .  br    br    written on the wind  is an overrated melodramatic soap opera  with artificial characters and situations . there are at least two great movies with characters with drinking problem  the lost weekend        with stunning performance of ray milland and  days of wine and roses        with awesome performance of jack lemmon . robert stack has a reasonable performance and his character  s motives for drinking are shallow and clichs . in the end  the forgettable  written on the wind  is entertaining only and never a feature to be nominated to the oscar . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    palavras ao vento    words in the wind    
this is one lowly film . it has no real plot . we never are made privy to motivations  other than wealth . the characters are some of the worst actors ever to be put on film . the threat seems to be supernatural  but then it  s being controlled by these three older people . why are they doing what they are doing in order to strike fear into other members of the group  i don  t know . there is some mist from a fog machine that rolls around in the halls and everyone seems to be scared of it . does it do something  i don  t know . there  s some nudity for its own sake . i  m always surprised to see this in films this old . things have actually settled down in this regard these days . anyway  the people run around like chickens  ready for the ax . they have no plan no resources no nothing . there are about five silly climaxes in the film . who are these people and  is  there a ghost or demon . what happened to the other people  i challenge anyone to tell me this with any confidence . what a mess .  
fabulous film  rented the dvd recently and was floored by this stunning piece of work . douglas sirk was a filmmaking genius and he gets performances out of rock hudson  dorothy malone  oscar winner   robert stack  oscar nominated   and lauren bacall that words cannot describe . paul verhoeven brilliantly payed homage to this film by having dorothy malone play sharon stone  s murdering inspirational guru in his basic instinct . what a great joke   br    br   by turns the film is hilarious  riveting  campy  biting  trashy  compelling  and eye rolling  it  s definately the grandaddy of every tawdry big  and  little screen soap opera but none have had the dazzling style like you  ll see here the camera work is smooth and polished  the use of color is breathtaking  the opening montage set to the title song is beyond memorable  the one dimensional characters are unforgettable  and the final image will have you scratching your head as to how the censors back then let it make the final cut   br    br   while most older  highly regarded films can sometimes be a boring chore to sit through  written on the wind contains so much and goes by so fast that it  s actually a shame when it ends . thank you to mr . sirk for crafting  and todd haynes for drawing attention to  what has now become one of my favorite films of all time  see this movie     
this movie had what sounded like a good premise  people facing their fears to win one million dollars . unfortunately  it did not turn out to be a good movie . there are several scenes that are way too long and really pointless like the dancing scene . a few scenes are just an excuse to point the camera at female body parts . the acting is bad  but some of the lines are amusing in their awfulness . what  s really strange is that towards the end of the movie it turns into like a  minute western  and at the end  the twists  of which their were several  don  t make sense with the rest of the movie . it seemed as though the director just added stuff on because he thought it would look cool  while conveniently ignoring the plot of the movie up to that point . it just didn  t make a lot of sense . the only creepy thing was the old people dancing down the hall  but that doesn  t even come close to making up for the rest of this mess .  
  written on the wind  was an enormously successful universal picture . it could only be done by douglas sirk  a man who saw the possibilities in the material he was given . based on a popular novel by robert wilder and an adaptation by george zuckerman  it had all the elements that make an excellent melodrama nymphomania  a large oil fortune  alcoholism  incest and a mild touch of homosexuality . mr . sirk laid the path for what would follow later on in the soap operas genre  mainly   dallas  and  dynasty   just to mention two .  br    br   the fact is this movie was shot entirely inside a studio . most of the decor is phony . like a lot of those     s pictures   written on the wind  was shot entirely in a studio lot . just look at the scenes that are supposed to take place in manhattan  or miami  or even the lake are  one can see how the scenery is a painted backdrop . mr . sirk couldn  t care less about realism as long as he could tell the story his own way .  br    br   we recently caught a screening  part of a revival of mr . sirk  s work  where people were laughing at some of the most dramatic moments  especially during the scenes where rock hudson  who plays the good mitch wayne  appears . there is also something graphic in the way that both robert keith  who plays the patriarch jasper hadley  and later on his own daughter  the evil marylee  caress the oil derrick that adorns the elder man  s desk  a sort of phallic object d  art .  br    br   douglas sirk probably wanted his cast to give over the top performances  which makes sense in the way dorothy malone portrays the nymphomaniac marylee  and to a certain degree  robert stack  who overacts as kyle  the tormented heir of the story . that would probably be the easy explanation of what comes across the screen . the only one that seems normal is lauren bacall  who wasn  t asked to make her lucy moore character appear to be anything but a grounded person caught hanging out with the wrong crowd .  br    br   together with his other hollywood movies   written on the wind  shows the genius of a talented director who gave the public just what they wanted to see stories bigger than life that could only be seen on the big screen  
for a good half hour or so  i remember myself thinking  hey  this could very well be bill rebane  s best achievement ever   . the opening sequences are atmospheric  there immediately are some scary moments to enjoy and our director even refers to his own notorious stinker  the giant spider invasion  in a playful way . the concept is shamelessly stolen from william castle  s  house on haunted hill   with three old and extremely bored millionaires luring nine losers to an isolated mansion to win           in an elimination game . naturally  the participants start vanishing quickly and one by one  and it takes the remaining greedy boneheads too much time before they realize either the old folks are sadists . . . or there  s another murderer amongst them . the film begins  ends with an odd narrator telling a lot of senseless stuff that isn  t relevant or even interesting to the plot  but there  s some nice ta to admire in the first ten minutes and that dumb bimbo  shelly  i believe she  s called  is really hilarious to observe . after the first half hour  naturally the inevitable happens and  the cold  turns into a textbook rebane  production with retarded plot twists  the dumbest dialogs ever and a total lack of excitement . there wasn  t any budget for bloody murder sequences but our multi  talented director    tries to compensate this with endless footage of disco dancing girls and an amateur rock band . the film also has four or even five different climaxes and none of them are a slight bit satisfying . maybe it was an inspiration for lotr return of the king  avoid this film  you  ll live longer and happier .  
another in the they don  t make em like that category . this story of a family with some real skeletons in its closet still qualifies as good clean  sometimes over  the  top fun . robert stack and dorothy malone are at their peak as the troubled hadley siblings  and they really took the roles and ran with them . malone won an oscar and stack was nominated in the supporting categories  both honors being eminently well  deserved . they counterbalance the somewhat bland leads . neither bacall nor hudson could ever be called bad actors  but they  ve both had better parts and played them far more convincingly than they do here . it  s kind of hard for me to accept rock hudson playing such a red  blooded heterosexual as he does here  but that  s more of a personal bias than anything else . but that doesn  t take away from the movie  s overall entertainment value  which is considerable and this movie is extremely watchable . if you  re up some night and this movie comes on i  d say watch it . it  s well worth it .  
am not familiar with the trilogy but came upon this film last night on showtime . the film looked very well done with the set design and the cinematography  but the screenplay was stilted and wooden . the acting was fairly bad  thought the two female leads were serviceable . you never really believed anything the supporting actors said though . there were the stereotypes  bible  thumping reverend without a hint of nuance  authoritative captain  hot  headed soldier  etc . i am sorry to say that based on these deficiencies i clocked it straight away as canadian without knowing it to be such  the telefilm canada end credits gave it away . i know i  m a horrible person .  br    br   maybe i missed something in the beginning but the hostility towards the girls is never explained . here they are besieged in a fort by werewolves and the men are wasting time and energy brutalizing two young women for no reason . focus people . there  s a bit more of a pressing situation beyond your walls than whether or not these girls are lesbians  that  s just my inference for the hostility directed towards them . if they can aim and fire a gun you might as well make nice with them . the question of their  immortal soul  can be resolved later .  br    br   also  i guess this relates to the rest of the trilogy  these girls are supposed to be the protagonists  one of them murdered the indian guy at the end that saved one of their lives . i guess one is just a victim of her condition who can  t be necessarily blamed for her actions  but the other is just a murderer who doesn  t deserve her happy ending .  
does any one know what the  sports cars were  i think robert stack  s might have been a masseratti . rock hudson  s character told his father he was taking a job in iraq  isn  t that timely  i have had dorthy malone in my spank bank most of my life  maybe this was the film that impressed me . loren bacall sure did have some chops in this film and probably out  acted malone but malones  s part made a more sensational impact so she got the oscar for best supporting role . was loren  s part considered a leading role  old man hadley character was was probably a pretty common picture of tycoons of his era in that he was a regular guy who made it big in an emerging industry but in building a whole town he had forgotten his children to have his wife bring them up . in time  being widowed he realized that they were all he really had and they were spoiled rotten  looking for attention  so rather than try to relate to his children he blew his head off . an ancient morality tale . but seriously  what were those sports cars   
what a load of rubbish . . i can  t even begin to describe how awful this film was . the rating it has here is really hard to believe .  br    br   avoid . . . particularly if you enjoyed the first ginger snaps . the first one was well written  well directed  well executed . . a brilliant film with a fantastic aesthetic and atmosphere . the second one was  alrite   decent as a self  standing film  but clearly not up to the level of the first . . . the third is an insult to the series  period . i rate the films       . it  s that bad .  br    br   oh  and yes it really is set in the past  the sisters are still called ginger and b fitzgerald . . . all muddled in with some half  assed native american mythology . the sisters don  t have any real story  or progression  or even a clear relationship . . . they  re just trying to survive and be  together forever  . that  s about as deep as it gets .  br    br   staggered that the girls agreed to be in this pile  of  shite  after reading the script .  br    br   oh and another thing  staging of action was terrible  people appearing from nowhere regularly  like the girls turn around and there  s an elaborate candle  lit setup with a mystic native american woman just sitting there  about to go into a speech . sets were terrible  couldn  t get away from the fact that it was all obviously based in a set  which really didn  t help . also  there was consistently snow outside the camp  but not a trace inside  . . on the set  .  br    br   arrghh    so bad  i really was hoping it would be at least as good as the second one .  
rich  alcoholic robert stack falls in love with secretary lauren bacall . he marries her and is so happy he stops drinking . however  bacall is secretly loved by stacks  best friend  rock hudson . and stacks  nymphomaniac sister  dorothy malone  lusts after rock . throw in a few complications and the movie goes spinning out of control  in a good way  .  br    br   very glossy movie in beautiful technicolor with jaw  dropping fashions and furnishings  check out bacall  s hotel room at the beginning  . everybody looks perfect and dresses in beautiful  form  fitting clothes . basically this is a soap opera with grade a production values . the story itself is lots of fun and some of the dialogue at the beginning is hilariously over the top . the acting by hudson  stack and bacall isn  t that good  but seeing them so young and glamorous is great . . . especially stack . . . when he smiled my knees went weak  dorothy malone  on the other hand  is fantastic   she deservedly won best supporting actress for her role . she  s sexy  violent  vicious and sympathetic . . . all convincingly .  br    br   fun  glossy trash . don  t miss it   
this could be a cute movie for kids my grandson watched it once . he was watching it a second time i was watching some of it with him .  br    br   when the little bear gets lost on the ice burg and he is in the water he is trying to get to a piece of ice it says  come back stupid ass fool  .  br    br   i don  t want my  year old grandson watching movies with words like this in it .  br    br   that is why its rated for children . should be child friendly . that is what i would expect . put out by warner brothers and g rated i would expect this to not have cuss words in it . the words don  t even fit the movie in most places as it seems added later . and the movie drags out in many parts .  
director douglas sirk once said there  s a very short distance between high art and trash  and trash that contains craziness is by this very quality nearer to art  . this statement defines his cinema perfectly  a very unique body of work that includes classic stage adaptations  adventure and war films  westerns and of course  his famous melodramas .  br    br   sirk  s melodramas were  as the very word signifies  dramas with music . the music sets the tone for his masterful style  and every stroke of his brush  sirk was also a painter  leaves a powerful image on the screen  turned  canvas . but this ain  t life but its representation  an imitation of life . sirk never tried to show reality  on the contrary . none of the directors of his generation made a better use of all the technical devices provided by hollywood  most notably technicolor  to distinguish the artificial from the real thing . let  s remember that his golden period coincides with the time when hollywood films turned its attention into the social drama  blackboard jungle  rebel without a cause  . sirk always knew that cinema was meant to be something else .  br    br   another of sirk  s statements summarizes this you can  t reach  or touch  the real . you just see reflections . if you try to grasp happiness itself your fingers only meet glass  . i defy anybody that has seen written on the wind to count the amount of mirrors and images reflected that appear on screen . one ends up giving up .  br    br   therefore  we are in a hall full of mirrors where there  s no difference between real and its false copy . nobody can say that the hadley are real people . that town ain  t real either  with those hideous oil pumps all over the place . so in this realm the acting is affected  the decore is fake  the trick is visible . everything is pushed a little bit off the limit  the sexual connotations of dorothy malone with the oil tower  for example  . sirk was criticizing and theorizing at the same time .  br    br   the angles are the director  s thoughts the lighting is his philosophy  . in written on the wind we follow the fall of a traditional way of life both in a geometrical way and in terms of light and shadows . the hadleys house  with its different levels connected by the spiral staircase operates in a strictly metaphorical way . a house that resembles a mausoleum  that no party can cheer up . as tragedy progresses from luminous daylight to shadowy night  sirk  s photography becomes an extension of the inner state of his characters  and so are the colours of the clothes they wear . drama is thus incorporated to every element at the service of the director  s craft .  br    br   sirk considered himself a story bender   because he bended the standard material he was assigned with to his style and purpose . written on the wind is a good example . it wouldn  t work in any other hands .  br    br   the other director that was using similar strategies was frank tashlin  who was for    s comedy the same that sirk was for melodrama . their films are full of the machinery of american life  advertising  tv sets  jukeboxes  washing machines  sport cars  vacuum cleaners  to depict its emptiness and decay . i  m inclined to think that their films were regarded in a different way by their contemporary audiences . the game was played by both sides  so it was camp . now we regard them as cult  or bizarre   because we are not those spectators anymore . that is why todd haynes  s homage far from heaven  turns into a pastiche  because it reproduces sirk  s work nowadays as if nothing happened in between . then sirk turns exactly into that painting hanging in the art gallery that julianne moore and the gardener discuss in the aforementioned film .  br    br   sirk understood the elements of melodrama perfectly . there were always immovable characters  rock hudson and lauren bacall here  against which he could assemble a series of split ones . his balance through antithesis is remarkable and not surprisingly we root for the split characters  because these are the ones sirk is interested in too . when robert stack flies the plane and tempts  lauren bacall with all sorts of mundane comforts of the world below them  obvious faustian echoes  we are strangely fascinated with him too  as we are when the devilish nymphomaniac little sister painfully evokes her past with mitch alone by the river .  br    br   in the sirk  s universe the studio often  imposed happy ends  have no negative impact . in fact they worked just great . sirk was fond of greek tragedy and considered happy endings the deux ex machinea of his day . thus the final courtroom scene fits well and one must also remember that the whole film is told in flashback  so we know from the very beginning that tragedy will fall nevertheless over the hadley feud .  br    br   it was pointed out the many similarities between written on the wind with the godfather saga . i absolutely agree and i  m sure the parallel is not incidental . both share the theme of the old powerful father head trying to keep his empire going while protecting his family . the temperamental son portrayed by robert stack has an amazing physical resemblance with jimmy caan  s sonny corleone . the action of fighting her sister  s male friend is symmetrical . the non  son in which the old man put his trust is also common in both films  as the fact that both families carry the names of their town . even details as the gate that gives access to the property  and the surroundings of the house covered by leaves  suggest that coppola had written on the wind in mind while setting his masterwork . because both films deal with the subject of power the acquisition of power  its manipulation and legacy  even kyle hadley  s sterility  the event that hastens the turmoil  is an issue easily tied to the central theme of power  in this case  a weakness in sexual power  . the other great film that deals with power and uses american life as its representation is citizen kane . one wouldn  t think at first of similarities between welles and sirk  s films but there are a good many  starting with the petrol business as the origin of the family  s fortune and ending in the fact that mitch wayne  rock hudson   as charles foster kane  was adopted by a tutor  having his own father alive . amazingly  the same actor  harry shannon  perform both wayne and kane  s fathers . this detail is cannot be a coincidence .  br    br   written on the wind is a masterpiece in every aspect  in execution and vision  in style and technique  a highlight in the career of this wonderful director . some say that this is his best film . in my opinion  magnificent obsession   all that heaven allows   there  s always tomorrow  and imitation of life  are just as good . and for those who put sirk in the level of dallas or dinasty i wish them no happy end .  
this has got to be the cheesiest  stupidest  most retarded monster film of all time . it  s a complete joke that this even surfaced into theaters . this is sort of like watching the loch ness monster in rural america . this movie deserves to be thrown in a toilet and completely forgotten . john carradine  shame on you . the people involved in this moronic pile of trash need to be lobotomized . wait  maybe i  m giving them too much credit . i  m sure they were lobotomized before the filming . how else can one explain the utter and sheer stupidity that this bucket of crap contains . don  t waste a minute of your life watching this . don  t even waste your time sending a review .  
it is ironic that during the    s  when douglas sirk was at his most successful in terms of audience appeal  he was virtually ignored by the critics he is now seen  however  as a director of formidable intellect who achieved his best work in melodrama  br    br    written on the wind  is about the downfall of a texan oil dynasty surrounded by worthless reputation  alcoholism  and nymphomania it is about the twisted  fatal connections between sex  power  and money . . .  br    br   stack draws a compelling portrait of a tormented drunken destroyed by frustration  arrogance  jealousy  insanity  and some deep insecurities  br    br   dorothy malone succeeds as an attractive woman with an excessive sexual appetites  degrading herself for hudson and to other fellows in town her best line  i  m filthy .  in one frantic scene  we see her shaking  quivering and sweating to a provocative mambo in another weeping alone over a model oil  derrick at her father  s desksymbol of excessive wealth and masculine tyranny  br    br   the frenetic atmosphere is both made palatable and intensified by sirk  s magnificent use of colors  lights  and careful use of mirrors  
  true  story of a late monster that appears when an american industrial plant begins polluting the waters . amusing  though not really good  monster film has lots of people trying to get the monster and find out whats going on but not in a completely involving way . give it points for giving us a giant monster that they clearly built to scale for some scenes but take some away in that it looks like a non threatening puppy . an amusing exploitation film thats enjoyably silly in the right frame of mind .  my one complaint is that the print used on the elvira release is so poor that it looks like a well worn video tape copy that was past its prime   years ago .   
i saw this film at the chicago reeling film festival . to pick up on the previous reviewer  s remarks  the claustrophobic feel and off colors of the film is i sense quite intentional and conveys the sense of limited space  drab architecture  overall drabness that constitutes the urban environment of most people in eastern and central europe . a bit shabby housing project style is how i  d describe it  and this is how many people live on the outskirts of larger cities . i can  t say that i  m familiar with bucharest  romania where the action unfolded  but i have visited and lived in eastern europe for six months .  br    br   when i visited russia as a student for a semester  my entire group had to drag their luggage seven stories up the staircase of a shabby student dorm building  just as the heroine does when moving in with a woman  because the elevators weren  t working . but  i do concur with the reviewer  that the claustrophobia and muted colors  it  s overdone  for there are  to be sure  beautiful historic buildings  parks  squares you can find in bucharest or in any historic city center of eastern europe  and bucharest  s didn  t get much of any footage in this film . for me watching this film conveys well the claustrophobia that i would feel during my half  year stay there  feeling trapped and limited .  it makes you see why someone would want to immigrate and find a better life  just as people if hope to escape from a united states urban ghetto .   br    br   also  given the climate of homophobia  say  circa  us in the     s  the two young women who fall in love with one another are forced to keep their love a very private matter hence  the focus on their interaction in the apartment .  br    br   it  s remarkable and commendable in my view that this queer themed film was even made in romania  and i find the complaint of the previous reviewer about the poor film quality quite uninformed and patronizing . it  s unlikely that the director and producer drummed up much government support and funding for their film  and they did the best they could with their likely limited resources . the actors were fairly good and believable the dialog was overall well done  and i could identity with these women .  br    br   the film offers an added twist to that of forbidden love between two young women  kiki  an energetic  fun  loving free spirit with a dark  troubling secret  her admiration and love for an abusive  incestuous brother  sandu  falls in love with alexandra  a bright  bookish  idealistic young woman who moves to bucharest to begin her college studies . opposites attract  and their personalities seem to complement one another  though there is some tension between the ambitious  studious  intellectual alexandra and kiki  who seems to be attending college to please her parents . keeping their love hidden from their parents seems manageable  though we don  t get any sense of the tension it requires  nor do we ever see or meet any other students   hard to believe   and the tension keeping their love secret would have entailed . the chief threat to their love is kiki  s brother and her difficulty in trying to severe her relation to him . but kiki  s love for alexandra seems to give her the strength she needs to finally severe this bond  or does it  that  s what the suspense of the film focuses on as the narrative develops  and i won  t say how it concludes .  br    br   ironically  kiki  s love  sickness  isn  t love for another woman  but her illicit  incestuous love for her brother . thus  loving a woman offers the potential cure to the sickness of loving a sibling .  br    br   though this feel of this film is stifling and claustrophobic  overly confined to interactions between kiki and alexandra  it was still engaging and moving to watch  so i  ll give it a  .  
i can not believe such slanted  jingoistic material is getting passed off to americans as art house material . early on  from such telling lines like  we want to make sure they are playing for the right team  and manipulative framing and lighting  a love divided shows it  s true face . the crass manner in which the irish catholics are shown as hegemonic  the protestants as peaceful and downtrodden  is as poor a representation of history as early us westerns that depict the struggle between cowboys and american indians . the truth of the story is distorted with the stereotypes and outright vilification of the irish catholics in the story a corruption admitted by the filmmakers themselves  it is sad that people today still think that they can win moral sway by making a film so easily recognized for it  s obvious intent  so far from attempting art . this film has no business being anywhere in any legitimate cinema or library .  
robert stack never really got over losing a best supporting actor oscar for his role as kyle in  written on the wind  to anthony quinn  s    minute performance in  lust for life .  stack plays the deeply disturbed  alcoholic son of an oil tycoon . he has lived his life in the shadow of the friend with whom he was raised  mitch  played by rock hudson . they both love the same woman  lucy   lauren bacall   who becomes kyle  s wife . kyle  s sister  marylee  dorothy malone   is a drunken slut who  s in love with mitch . their story plays out in glorious color under the able direction of douglas sirk  who really dominated the melodrama field with some incredible films  including  imitation of life    all that heaven allows    magnificent obsession   and many others .  br    br   make no mistake  this is a potboiler  and stack and dorothy malone make the most of their roles  malone winning a best supporting actress oscar . there  s one amazing scene  mentioned in other comments  where she wildly dances to loud music as her father collapses and dies on the staircase . we  re led to believe that marylee sleeps with everyone  including the guy that pumps the gas  because she  s in love with mitch . mitch wants nothing to do with her . he  s so in love with lucy that  out of loyalty to kyle  he wants to go to work in iran to avoid temptation . i doubt he  d be so anxious to get there today no matter how much in love he was .  br    br   hudson and bacall have the less exciting roles here  hudson  s mitch is the good guy who  s been cleaning up kyle  s messes for his entire life  and bacall is mitch  s wife who finds herself in a nightmare when her husband starts drinking again after a year of sobriety . sirk focuses on the more volatile supporting players .  br    br   in sirk  s hands   written on the wind  is an effective film  and the big scene toward the end in the mansion is particularly exciting . the director had a gift for this type of movie  and though he had many imitators  he never had an equal .  
i could barely keep myself from either nodding off or just turning off this turd  but i decided to stick it out if only for the reasoning that maybe something would happen . this is the work of a writer  producer  director  special fx  kenneth herts  who wants to make a statement on ecological damage while making a monster movie . that  s what he wanted  anyway . what it turns out to be is a lot of acting  either slightly hammy or just mundane and without much merit  and scenes that seem to repeat themselves as the monster attacks in the river waters  oh  and what luck  a woman just happens to be naked in it . . . even though there have already been disappearances    br    br   this is just nonsensical stuff  but i suppose it  s not too harmful it  s not very obnoxious at the least and once or twice we get a semi  interesting peek at brazilian  culture   which is the father walking through town with his flock or other pieces of a semblance of  hey  this is not america    . but whatever hope the director had in casting mitchum or carradine is squandered on at best pedestrian and at worst excruciatingly banal and dumb dialog . it doesn  t help that when we finally get something of a good look at the monster and the  action  happens  it too is stupidly staged and with only sleazy appeal . usually i would feel sorry for a filmmaker who had a lot of problems getting a particular picture finished  in this case it took the better part of the mid   s  but with monstroid or monster or whatever it  s called . . . nah .  br    br   if you happen to get the elvira dvd double  feature of this  bad print with bad transfer quality  with blue sunshine  make sure to skip this one . unless  of course  you  re an elvira die  hard and can  t help yourself to hear her luscious commentary personally  i  d rather get joel or mike nelson with the robots from mystery science theater on this roast turkey .  
at the academy awards ceremony on march         dorothy malone won the best supporting actress oscar for her torrid  over  the  top portrayal of a spoiled heiress of a texas oil tycoon in written on the wind . the     potboiler  adapted from robert wilder  s novel  was a veritable three  ring  circus showcasing alcoholism  greed  impotence and nymphomania .  br    br   malone  s performance as marylee hadley  a lonely rich girl who picks up men to assuage the pain of rejection from a former childhood sweetheart  was representative of the movie as a whole . mesmerizing to watch even as it resorts to the  lowest  common  denominator  melodrama  written on the wind is ultimately the work of one man  the incredibly gifted director douglas sirk  an migr from pre  world war  weimar germany who left his european theater heritage behind to pursue a career in hollywood .  br    br   an extremely erudite man  sirk made a name for himself in the      s as universal studios  reliable director of lavish soap operas  most notably with ross hunter  s productions of magnificent obsession  all that heaven allows and imitation of life . independent producer albert zugsmith offered sirk the opportunity to work outside the limiting constraints of universal  s demure entertainments and create a more adult   sensational  product  hence the sultry wind and its follow  up       s tarnished angels  both released under the universal international banner . it  s anyone  s guess why sirk didn  t pursue loftier themes  but apparently directing these exaggerated dramas appealed more to his artistic sensibilities . written on the wind could be considered sirk  s epic soap opera  indeed  it is so rife with human vulnerability and neurosis as depicted among the very rich that it is as compelling to watch as any real life domestic squabble among the rich and famous  perhaps more so . robert stack  not an actor typically known for over  emoting  nearly matches malone in intensity with his offering of the weak  willed brother kyle hadley  a mere shadow of his patriarchal father . when he finds out that he is unable to impregnate his new bride  a beautifully leonine lauren bacall   hadley goes off the deep end  escalating an already serious drinking problem with a  secret  gun fetish that threatens to make him a human time bomb . both brother and sister  as venal and unlikeable as they are  are presented as victims of their past  giving them a human quality that makes them seem less monstrous  and far more interesting than the  good  side of the family  mainly bacall and the impossibly handsome rock hudson  young hadley  s old boyhood friend and business associate  a surrogate son to the old man and malone  s unattainable object of desire .  despite all the domestic co  dependency on display  it  s not so much the story that is memorable here as the way it is filmed . with a real panache for pictorial composition and editing  director sirk draws his audience into this picture with the most heightened technicolor cinematography imaginable  every single shot in this film is an eye  filling canvas of saturated colors  from the sight of a tank  like pink cadillac pulling up to an enormous mansion  s front doors to the garish decor of a luxury miami hotel  a spectrum of hues almost blinding in their diversity . action and dramatic scenes feature sirk  s adept use of tilted camera angles  shadowy lighting and cross  cut editing  shown to greatest effect in the scene where a rebellious  drunken malone dances uninhibitedly in her upstairs bedroom to the loud blaring of a record player while her stricken father precariously ascends the huge staircase  the scene is so riveting that you swear you are experiencing a great oedipal drama unfold . what you  re really watching is trash of an enormously entertaining kind  gussied up in lurid technicolor and polished to perfection by a visual genius .  
tough guys  sexy women  lots of swearing  and a most unconvincing monster that rises from the depths of a polluted lake . you  d think  monster  would be fun . . . but it isn  t  really . it does star tony eisley and john carradine  however  and in my book that makes it worth viewing at least once . in an interview with  fangoria  in      eisley recalled that herbert strock had directed the bulk of the film  but somehow kenneth hartford   who only directed the footage featuring his children andrea and glenn  portraying characters named andrea and glenn  in a particularly inventive turn    received full credit . considering how awful the end result was  strock was probably glad that he hadn  t been credited   monster  has the look and feel of a mid  to  late  seventies tv movie  which is why i like to leave it on in the background every so often . as entertainment it falls flat on its face  but as a reminder of another age and a vanished type of film  making  it  s very effective . the only thing that  s missing is a car chase .  
the photography was beautiful but i had difficulty understanding what was happening . . . was there a lot of symbolism  . . . the  goldfishes  do they mean something in thai culture  there  s not much plot  not much happens and it just meanders along . no real start  no real middle and no real end . rather unsatisfying really .  br    br   it was difficult to get into the characters as you never felt you got to know them . . . it was difficult to know which scenes were imaginary and which were real . the move felt chaotic and disjointed . i don  t know what the pang brothers were hoping to achieve . maybe if i were thai it would make more sense . . .  
monster is a mind numbingly awful movie about an evil american concrete factory  are there any else in hollywood   polluting the waters of the small colombian town of chimayo somehow creating a catfish  like beast with a predilection for lamb and loose women . james mitchum is bill travis the man who is sent down to chimayo by his foul  mouthed boss barnes who himself can  t keep his hands off of his secretary  s rear to get to the bottom  pun intended  of the story . while in chimayo bill must contend with an annoying reporter who apparently broadcasts all of her stories in perfect english directly back to america . i guess in the seventies there was a market for news from small south american towns . there is also a radical named sanchez that wishes to sabotage the factory for polluting the water which  by the way  also supplies the town with jobs for the locals  but why let cold hearted economics get in the way of touchy  feely enviro  marxism . pete the factory boss is unwittingly aided by the monster when he has sex with his ex  girlfriend on the beach  tells her that he is seeing the mayor  s daughter juanita and it  s over between them  then she is promptly eaten that night . a little side action without the evidence . my hat is off to you sir . john carradine rounds out the cast as a priest that believes the monster is sent by god to punish sinners . you can see the contempt he has for being in this movie in his face . might as well filmed him running to the local currency exchange to see if his check didn  t bounce .  br    br   supposedly based on a true story  so much so they say it twice in the opening credits  this film is awful on all fronts . filming began in     and was abandoned until eight years later when kenneth hartford put his foot on the throat of monster by adding his two annoying children as new characters  even putting his daughter  andrea in top billing with mitchum and carradine . the sound quality is nonexistent and most of the scenes seem as if someone smeared tar over the camera before filming . this is made even more tedious during the many scenes done at night . the monster itself is laughable as it rears its ugly rubbery head for the anticlimactic ending . james mitchum along with his brother chris are proof that nepotism in the acting industry needs to be curtailed . utterly unwatchable dreck . shame on you john carradine .  
a young girl surviving as a prostitute .  br    br   a cheap hustler who wants to get the big score .  br    br   they meet each other in thailand . you may think by the opening titles it  s going to be a violent movie but it is also a story of love with two persons in their own struggle to get the money for a better way of life . this film feels like an essay sometimes because of its changes of images  but still refreshing . this story is also about eros and thanatos .  it  s not an original joke but it is well told  says a character and that also applies to this one we  ve seen the story but this way we see it . thailand appears in hot tones  the photograph going from one colored to a multicolored place . and it captures the city as the cage of this imperfect persons . there is also a good use of the music to dot the actions .  
hey hulu . com is playing the elvira late night horror show on their site and this movie is their under the name monsteroid  good fun to watch elvira comment on this crappy movie . . . . have fun with bad movies . anyways this movie really has very little value other than to see how bad the    s were for horror flicks bad effects  bad dialog  just bad movie making . avoid this unless you want to laugh at it . while you are at hulu check out the other movies that are their right now there is   episodes and some are pretty decent movies with good plots and production and you can watch a lot of them in    p as long as you have a decent speed connection .  
it was fabulous  the photography  editing  cinematography  music combined to transport us to the dangerous side of a tourist destination . it was the enjoyment of  slumming   without going through the danger . we were there  the dream sequences and flashback  sequence  ending were fresh . it spoke to me . keep up the good work  another of that genre is city of god . also  don  t laugh   the comedy  desperately seeking susan . nice ensemble types  with great performances by all . sorry  i think training day fits that genre as well  with fantastic performances by an ensemble cast . i had to switch the channel on some of the gritty sequences  but all  in  all  a great film   
this is a wonderfully goofy example of a self produced  written and directed vanity project . . . while i was working as a crew member john carradine commented to me  before the burning at the stake sequence    this is the worst piece of sht i  ve ever worked on . . . and i  ve worked on a lot of pieces of sht .  also an interesting moment earlier when jim mitchum was having trouble with his lines and started cursing in the courtyard location of the santuario  a religious shrine in chimay   at which point one of the local  vato loco  low  rider onlookers growled  . . . show some respect man   which apparently caused jim to remember where he was  as he then made a very profound and heartfelt apology for his inappropriate behavior . in any case the crew did the job on deferment and were never fully paid  but came away with plenty of particularly bizarre stories  like the night we caught the producer  director  s   year old son entertaining himself by constructing miniature burmese tiger traps for us to break our legs in . like they say  ya gotta  love the biz . . .   
i  ve just watch  films of pang brothers  the eye and one take only . when i watched the eye  i was kind of disappointed about this two guys  who i had heard good words about them before . that film  the eye  has a really bad script  especially the ending  childish  cliche and too coincident in my opinion   but its still good in photography and experimental images . so i decided to see one take only and i didn  t disappointed again . still great photography  stunning image  mtv  style editing  cool music and this time  the story has a lot of indie spirit  logical and beautiful  you  ll see some tiny plot holes  but it doesn  t cause any trouble with the storyline . the only problem about this film is i get a bad dvd .  
i didn  t know this was a silent movie with narration . i don  t care for silent movies  the corny humor  flickering lighting and film  etc . i  m sure that attributes to the low score i assigned it . it was about chapter  before i found any interest in this story and had i had popcorn i may have thrown it at the screen . maybe this appeals to the sci  fi crowd  the only thing missing was a zombie scene and a brain transplant . i went with two other people on a friday night and there were a total of  people in the entire theater . isabella rosselinni narrated this movie  the one enjoyable aspect of the movie . no one left commenting how much they enjoyed this nor appreciated the unusual approach to telling this story . i cannot recommend this movie .  
this movie was directed by victor nunez who also wrote the screenplay  ulee  s gold  . nice and straightforward writing  that was nominated for the independent spirit award  looking at ruby  s day to day life . what we see is a slice in the life of the young woman ruby . ashley judd  sisters  won the independent spirit award best female lead for this role . ruby is starting to live on her own and establishing her own identity . she explores jobs  friendships  boy friends  sex  a typical young adult search . the movie won grand jury prize at the sundance film festival . as an independent film enthusiast i picked the movie because of sundance . i appreciate this type of movie  because it does not carry the hollywood baggage .  br    br   although the stories are completely different this reminded me of nobody  s fool  staring paul newman . the later movie is a slice of the daily life of a common man . i like that . the story is very nicely told  and all we had to do was sit and enjoy the story . the only thing i am not sure about is the title . i am sure that there are not that many bugs  and flies in paradise as there are in florida . as i am allergic to mosquitos  florida is no paradise to me  i itch all over thinking about florida . i turn into a complete red boil . i recommend this movie  favorite scenes ruby and her friend rochelle bridges  played by allison dean walking at the beach of panama city  florida . indeed the sand is very white . i have been there . favorite quotes  necessity has always been a good excuse .   all that fuss over finding a man is not at all different now  who is going to be and when and why .   br    br    
i should have never watched this movie . the style of filming may be considered artsy to some  but it is considered migraine  inducing to me . i think it may have had an interesting plot  but since i couldn  t watch it for long stretches at a time i missed a lot . the flickering pictures and stop motion filming branded my brain . i stopped watching mid way through and won  t be back for a second try . i suppose if i were home alone in my own lighthouse some dark and stormy evening  this might be just the ticket . . . ps not sure if the lighthouse  film style thing can be considered a spoiler  but i don  t want to be blacklisted on my first review    
this movie captures the essence of growing up in smalltown america for a young girl on her own . the realism and subtle nuances  offered to ashley judd  s character  ruby  by the storyline  capture what can only be described as a true to life setting in the panhandle of florida . from the slam of a screen door  to the lack of work  the echoes of what life is really like on the  red  neck riviera  provide rough choices for the young girl . paradise did not come easy . but she slowly overcomes obstacles and deceit  and learns to be her own woman  with a strength that flows from within . ashley judd  s winning smile  and infectious gait exude warmth and command respect and admiration . the careful pace of the character development resembles that of  ulee  s gold  in      starring peter fonda  and also directed by victor nunez .  
this is one of those films that  s more interesting to watch from an academic perspective than from an entertainment perspective . i do my ratings based on how much i enjoyed or was entertained by the movie  so i  m giving it a  . if i were to rate it as an academic film  though  it would get a   .  br    br   it is shot in a very interesting manner  like a pseudo  silent film with elements of sound effect and reality . it  s meant to convey disjointed memory and fragmentation of the mind  and it is interesting in these respects .  br    br   however  the film has a lot of disgusting elements to it that i didn  t find all that entertaining . they  re mainly just disturbing . it has some very interesting imagery too  and some interesting concepts  but some of the character relationships  especially between the mother and son  are pretty disturbing .  br    br   in all  this film will either appeal to you or it won  t . for me  it was interesting from an academic perspective  but it wasn  t a good watch  and i  ll probably not go back to it a second time .  br    br       if you  re looking for entertainment .      from an academic standpoint .  
i love ashley judd and think all of her movies are great . ruby  br    br   in paradise is one of her best . it is a very understated movie that you really have to watch close to appreciate it . a story of a woman trying to make it on her own and refusing to give in to temptations that would make her life easy . some of her movies such as kiss the girls and time to kill probably did better at the box office and video rentals . they were very good movies  br    br   also  but take the time to really look at ruby and i think you will agree it is one of ashley  s best .  br    br    
i  ve noticed how all the other reviews of this film mention how  wholesome  and  entertaining  it is . these people need to get out of the house more often . i don  t know why they  re shilling for this vapid  insipid  brainless piece of fluff . pat boone has absolutely no acting talent whatsoever  and his ineptness is exceeded only by that of his co  star pamela austin  a former model  yet one more reason to outlaw the insidious practice of inflicting talentless models on an unsuspecting moveiegoing public  a foul habit that unfortunately persists to this day  . a good supporting cast  terry  thomas  edward everett hortyon  among others  tries hard to make some sense out of this  but to no avail . i noticed that two directors shared credit  although  credit  isn  t the word i would use  neither is  director   . as for  wholesome entertainment   there are plenty of those types of movies available without torturing your loved ones by forcing them to sit through this . find one of those films  and skip this one .  
allison dean  s performance is what stands out in my mind watching this film . she balances out the melancholy tone of the film with an iridescent energy . i would like to see more of her .  
while not exactly offensive  the     version of  the perils of pauline  is certainly moronic . the title might lead you to expect a tribute to pearl white  the original pauline in the     silent   episode serial  but for that you would be better served by the     version starring betty hutton . this     version is like a mix of  casino royale  and the weakest of the elvis movies . worst of all it is not a blend of these but more like someone scotch  taped together segments from each so that the thing skips back and forth between the two styles .  br    br   what unity there is in the production comes from the pairing of pamela austin  pauline  and pat boone  george steadman   a good match because both lack even the most basic of acting skills  imagine mandy moore playing opposite dan quayle  .  br    br   austin would later play opposite john aston in  evil roy slade   with the talent disparity between them actually painful to watch . in the mid     s she was the  dodge rebellion  girl  as such she was featured in a similar series of perilous situations  imagine sandra dee in a dark blue jumpsuit . when the automaker  s ad agency replaced her with the  dodge fever  girl someone got the bright idea to showcase her in a feature film .  br    br   what story there is here begins with pauline growing up in the baskerville foundling home run by the actress who played mrs . chatsworth osborne sr . on  dobie gillis  . george falls in love with her  pauline  not mrs osborne  and sabotages several opportunities she has to be adopted . george leaves to seek his fortune and   year old pauline gets a job tutoring a young oil rich middle eastern prince . when he tries to add the attractive blonde to his harem she runs away and goes from peril to peril . these include african pygmies  a    year  old millionaire who wants to freeze her until his one year  old grandson is old enough for marriage  the movie industry  and the russian space program .  br    br   all this is intended to be silly and charming but manages only the silly part . there is some effort to incorporate a silent film look to the action sequences by simulating the under  cranking of a camera  which speeds up the action  . unfortunately everything else  film stock  production design  editing  is depressingly      s . nothing here even approaches the images of pearl white strapped to a log moving toward a buzz  saw or tied to railway track waiting for the approaching train .  br    br   then again  what do i know  i  m only a child .  
i  m not much of an expert on acting or other movie details  but this movie just hit me deep . i don  t think i  ll ever forget it . one scene especially  i think that anybody who has seen the film will know of which one i am speaking  is imprinted on my brain .  br    br   i also watched the similar movie lilja   ever  as referred to by a previous commentator  . it was also very moving  but not quite as straight to the point and brutal . if you are sensitive at all  either will bring tears to your eyes  but anjos do sol  angels of the sun  may stay with you forever .  br    br   this is very depressing subject matter  but i think  no  i hope that the film succeeds in bringing more attention to it .  br    br   more people need to see this film        
what has ireland ever done to film distributers that they seek to represent the country in such a pejorative way  this movie begins like a primer for film students on irish cinematic cliches unctuous priests  spitting before handshakes  town square cattle marts  cycling by country meadows to the backdrop of anodyne folk music . quickly  however  it becomes apparent that the main theme of the film is the big daddy  o of irish cliches  religous strife . it concerns a protestant woman who wants to decide where her catholic  fathered child is educated  which would seem like a reasonable enough wish  though not to the     s county wexford villagers she has to live with . rather than send them to a catholic school  she decides to up and leave for belfast  then scotland  where a few more cliches are reguritated . while she  s there  her father  who looks eerily like george lucas  and family back home are subjected to a boycott  which turns very nasty . i  m not going to give away the ending  not because i think people should go see this movie  but because it  s not very interesting . one of the problems with the film is the central character we  re supposed to sympathise with her but end up instead urging her to get a life . the villagers are presented as bigots whose prejudices should be stood up to  but traumatising your kids seems an innappropriate way to go about it . in addition  it takes on burdens which it staggers igniminiously under when it tries to draw analogies with the current northern ireland peace process the woman is told by her lawyer that she  must lay down preconditions  for her return . the film is allegedly based on a true story but it  s themes have been dealt with much more imaginatively  and with less recourse to hackneyed cliches  in the past .  
this is an intimate movie of a sincere girl in the real world out of hollywood  s cheap fantasy is a very good piece of its class  and ashley judd fills the role impeccably . it may appear slow for thrill seekers though . cool movie for a calm night .  br    br    
like some of the other folks who have reviewed this film  i was also waxing nostalgic about it . . . before i had the misfortune to actually watch it again . alas  my childhood memories of this film were completely untrustworthy  and the perils of pauline is now revealed to be an embarrassing exercise in banal  racist  and plain boring film  making . even the presence of old pros edward everett horton and terry  thomas can  t overcome a rancid screenplay  a horrible theme song  and some wretched  special effects  . in addition  the stereotypical depictions of african and arab characters make for painful viewing  especially considering this was produced in the immediate wake of the civil rights movement . michael weldon  s original psychotronic encyclopedia reports that the perils of pauline was originally produced for television but inexplicably ended up getting a theatrical release . judging from the results  that is a completely believable  and baffling  scenario .  
another one of those films you hear about from friends  . . . or read about on imdb  . not many false notes in this one . i could see just about everything here actually happening to a young girl fleeing from a dead  end home town in tennessee to florida  with all her worldly possessions in an old beaten  up car .  br    br   the heroine  ruby  makes some false starts  but learns from them . i found myself wondering why  why didn  t she lean a bit more on mike  s shoulder  but . . . she has her reasons  as it turns out .  br    br   just a fine film . the only thing i don  t much like about it  i think  is the title .  
i  ve seen the original non  dubbed german version and i was surprised how bad this movie actually is . thinking i had seen my share of bad movies like ghoulies   rabid grannies  zombie lake and such  nothing could  ve prepared me for this  it really was a pain to sit through this flick  as there  s no plot  no good acting and even the special effects aren  t convincing  especially the so  called zombies  wearing nothing more than white make  up and their old clothes  so their good set wouldn  t be ruined by ketchup and marmalade stains .  br    br   if you really want to waste   minutes of your life  then watch it  for all the others  don  t do it  because you will regret it   
in the sea of crap that hollywood  and others  continue to put out  this is one of those diamonds in the rough . a small  simple movie that is very entertaining and leaves you with the feeling that you didn  t just waste an hour and a half of your life .  br    br   ashley judd is really quite amazing in this movie . i had never really been a fan or had noticed her before but going back and seeing this early performance of hers convinced me she  s extremely talented .  br    br   watching this film was an assignment in a college course for me so i was skeptical i would even care . i thought   oh boy  some dumb chic flick or feminist male  bashing indie crap . . .  i was pleasantly surprised . without analyzing the many relevant themes  i  ll just say  if you haven  t seen it  do yourself a favor and check it out . sometimes the down  to  earth  slice  of  life movies are the best  and this is a great one .  
a movie best summed up by the scene where a victim simulates disembowelment by pulling some poor animal  s intestines out from under her t  shirt . too terrible for words .  
my brother brought this movie home from the rental store and i remember expecting it to be such a bore . i think the title especially put me off . i can  t ever remember starting a movie with such low expectations and being so completely won over . i watched the movie twice before i let my brother take it back to the store . it is very infrequent that a movie speaks to me the way this one did . i was completely caught up in ruby  s situation as she tries to make her way through her life . the bad thing about this movie is that it seems to end so quickly . i could have kept watching for hours . another downside is that i have been unsatisfied with everything ashley judd has done since . she is so perfect in this movie . this film is easily in my top ten favorites of all time .  
this really is one of the worst movies ever made . i consider myself a huge zombie film fan and usually tolerate bad acting  lame  special effects  a dumb story and whatever you may encounter in second rate movies  as long as the film has a good atmosphere  story  suspension or whatever to offer . this one has basically no positive aspect to it and is third or fourth rate  maybe worse . some friends of mine and myself made a small movie during a weeks holiday and definitely did a better job  no zombie film though  .  br    br   this flick is not even funny  not speaking of anything else . really bad and redundant special effects  zombies that look like normal people  except for a white additional skin pulled over their faces   way to much fake blood  i like realism a lot  the combination of realism and zombie films being debatable  but the presented gore is just plain silly  . the camera stays quite long with feedings scenes  it gets boring and you cannot help but wonder  why the zombies use weapons    to kill their prey . i will not go into the details of the dubbing  others have done so  . although i am from germany myself and am at least a bit curious about the original version  i will not waste more of my time with this movie .  br    br   keep away from it  as far as you can .  
victor nunez imbues this unsentimental tale of a young woman  s emotional journey with a sense of poetry seldom seen in cinema . by poetry i mean the sense in which the literary and the cinematic come into play . there is something very literary about the film  almost as if a novel has been adapted page by page to screen . in this sense  the film achieves depths many cannot but it is also rather slow at other times  undercutting the depths it once achieved in favor of ennui . the film  s star ashley judd has not yet made a better film than her debut here . she fits the role of lead ruby like a glove  almost as if she didn  t have to act . she has true movie star presence in the film  and hasn  t really managed to convey the same allure in her later films  although she was impressive in normal life .  
this movie is god awful . not one quality to this movie . you would think that the gore would be good but it sucks bad . the effects are worse and the acting if you can call it acting is the worst i  ve ever seen . this movie was obviously shot on a camcorder and runs on a budget around    dollars probably . if you want to watch a good zombie movie than watch dawn of the dead or day of the dead . if you want to watch a good cheap shot on video zombie movie like this but way better than watch redneck zombies . please avoid this movie at all costs . it is unwatchable and pointless . you  ve been warned . i  ve got nothing else to say about this stupid movie .  
this will be a different kind of review . i  ve seen this movie twice on tv and would like to have a copy because it talks about panama city and the beach in the winter time which is my favorite time to be there . it was the first movie i  d seen by ashley judd and she was great and i  ve enjoyed every other thing i  ve seen her in . sundance  s reaction made an impression on me too  as did the director  victor nunez  who has directed and written several movies about florida . this movie speaks to me and i  ve seen nothing with which to compare it . the plot speaks less to me than the surroundings . well  i told you it would be a different kind of review .  
first  i am not really a fan of the whole  things eating flesh in disgusting new ways  genre of film but i am a bad movie afficionado so my next door neighbor said he had the worst movie ever . this one . so we start watching it . first and foremost  it is recorded on a camcorder sans tripod  second the voice of the skinny white doctor is dubbed by a large black man  third  none of the dialogue makes any sense . fourth  the zombie scenes  though unconvincing and chockful of poor makeup and tomato paste  lead me to believe the director  and my next door neighbor  are in need of psychological help . it  s funny for about  minutes but it gets old fast . it  s so amateurish it  s like watching a poorly dubbed high school video yearbook . . . . with zombies . a note to anyone involved with this movie  i want the   minutes of my life i spent watching this  before i fell asleep  back .  
this was the first movie i ever saw ashley judd in and the first film of victor nunez  that i ever say  and boy am i glad i did . its  quiet tone  its  relaxed pace  its  realistic depiction of a young woman just starting out in life  its  fine depiction of the struggles she has to go through to make her mark in life  the decisions she makes based on real things  the people she meets  there is nothing wrong with this movie . it is as close to movie magic as i have ever seen outside of the  star wars  movies  and  given what those films are like  that means this film deserves a high rating indeed . ashley judds  acting  mr . nunez  writing  and its  great simple worthwhile story make this a fine coming  of  age story and a wonderful movie .  
wow  not only is this film a  new lesson in real bad taste   but also a lesson in  real bad film making .  don  t get me wrong  i appreciated the concept of  zombie     extreme pestilence   but at the same time one must realize when a movie is terrible . in case you missed out on the storyline  the plot of  zombie     is about a government plane carrying toxic chemicals that so happens to crash into the wilderness  causing the chemicals to spill  turning locals into hideous looking zombies . the next thing you know  zombies are all over the city eating people alive  while a goofy  looking doctor and a government agent are trying to figure out the disease that  s making these people eat one another  hence the name  extreme pestilence .  from then on  all we see is zombies having a field day on every local in sight  nothing but extreme and sickening disembowelments and dismemberments accompanied by endless buckets of guts and gore . since this is a german film  the film had to be dubbed into english and when you  re not laughing at the feeding frenzies of the zombies  the voice  overs are quite hilarious and entertaining as well . as user unratedx mentioned spoiler spoiler spoiler  there is a scene in the film that crosses the line between what  s acceptable and not acceptable  hence the scene in which a woman  who is carrying her infant baby  is being wheeled around in her wheelchair by some dude and a horde of zombies come out of nowhere and attack them . one zombie grabs the baby and rips it into pieces  eating its organs as you hear the baby crying . wow  that is a new lesson in reallllllllly bad taste . atrocious i tell you  atrocious .  
  ruby in paradise  is a beautiful  coming  of  age story about a young woman  ruby lee gissing  escaping her stifling roots to become herself . although the title character is played artfully by the gorgeous ashley judd   in likely her first movie role  albeit one to be quite proud of   the emphasis is not upon becoming  somebody   a la the next madonna  whether jesus  mother or the lurid  attention  hungry singer  .  br    br   it instead emphasizes following ones  instincts and being somewhat introspective about them  to grow into one  s ideal  adult self . note this isn  t an action movie    it uses an occasional voice  over narration  by ms . judd  while writing in her journal   and oh  i see i  ve just lost the male half of the readers out there . but be patient with this beautiful movie  where we learn that one  s bliss can be discovered in   oh  i dunno  carrying water and chopping wood .  br    br   actor  director  writer todd field  who played nick nightingale in  eyes wide shut   co  stars as ruby lee  s noble love interest  one who helps her heal her idea of relationships implanted from youth .  br    br   but not even his character is the answer for ruby lee there  s no external hero imposed upon her . the ultimate message is that we are responsible for ourselves . writer  director victor nunez  who also wrote  directed  ulee  s gold   did an amazing job showing a young woman growing into herself   confronting age  old challenges of good v . evil along the way .  br    br   the supporting cast is also stellar  and the music used  particularly the cuts by chanteuse sam phillips  whom i hear is the wife of t . bone burnett   is right on   most especially  trying to hold on to the earth .  now  when i hear the first few chords of that song  tears spring to my eyes  pavlovian and unbidden   not sure if it  s the music  or the indelible connection to the movie  s quiet  charming message of empowerment .  br    br   this movie is highly recommended for any young person trying to find his  her way . for any woman of any age  it is a must see  the downside it is not on dvd  except in spanish .  we learned  however  that it is legal to make one copy of a vhs version  which can be readily found online . my beloved husband found someone with a vhs copy and got a dvd copy made for me .  although this treasure of a movie occasionally pops up on  air  on an indie channel  usually  you can  t count on that when you might need it most as a tonic to soothe the pressures of the world . so buy a copy for yourself .  br    br   this movie should have a major re  release  and it would  if i were queen of hollywood .  br    br     figgy jones  
this is one of the worst movies i  ve ever encountered  but i want to say that some of the criticisms i had heard turned out to be unwarranted . .  br    br   as far as pure film  making technique goes  this director is competent . he  s held back by the limited budget and the vhs camera  but the actual editing  camera angles  camera movements and scene staging are pretty professional . i  ve seen many movies where the  directing  was much worse . at least the scenes flow in a way that is not confusing and he has a few clever shots here and there . also  the forest scenes contained a decent atmosphere . there is only so much you can do with a vhs camera  and he does a nice job as far as the technicalities go . as far as artistic merit  there is none . the scene where the camera pans down so that we can watch a guy urinate in the woods for   seconds sort of epitomizes the artistic style of the whole film . this is pure trash . . . total garbage .  br    br   the gore is decent for a film in this budget range .  it  s obviously fake but there  s lot  s of it  and it  s very outlandish . .  br    br   i saw the american version with the intentionally campy dubbing . this was a good idea  and it  s the only thing that allowed me to make it through the film  . . . unfortunately  it  s overdone  especially towards the end .  br    br   it  s really a terrible film  but i have to recommend it for it  s camp value . it  s really hard to find a movie that  s worse than this and that sort of puts it in a unique category .  
i cannot begin to describe how amazing this movie is . suffice it to say  anytime i  m depressed about how unfair or futile things seem  this is the movie i go rent to put me in the right frame of mind . the background music makes you realize the easiness of existence and how simplicity provides for the greatest happiness . the indian girl that sings is but one example of a character in this film who does not try hard  and is happy as a result . persifina  the laundry co  worker of ruby  s  ashley judd  is another  her eyes and smile could make the hardest person  s day . i watch this movie and i dream of better days to come or of a good conversation with friends  and i realize that being alone   ruby is alone quite often   isn  t the same as being lonely . recommended for anyone who enjoys a thoughtful lull of a movie .  
this review is based on the dubbed shock  o  rama video released on an undeserving world in     . how bad is it  it  s awful  which is what a    represents on the imdb scale   but it  s much worse than that . it  s nice to imagine that an original german  language print might improve matters   the comedic english  language dubbing isn  t funny at all   but truthfully  this is one of the worst amateur films of any genre you  re likely to see . the zombies in the film are as slow and clumsy as ever  and they don  t seem to have the ability to speak or think about anything beyond their next meal . however  they  re also intelligent enough to operate chainsaws and malicious enough to know that western taboos about genitalia will no doubt enliven their dinner table conversation . george romero  s land of the dead posited a zombie nation that retained a shred of social coherence here  zombies are nothing more than an empty canvas for the perverse imaginings of director andreas schnaas . utterly without redeeming social value  and even worse  entirely lacking as entertainment  zombie    is a bad joke on anyone who wastes money on it .  
very slow  paced  but intricately structured and ultimately very touching . a nice  very true  to  life look at a small florida beach town in the dead of winter   i  ve been there  and this is absolutely accurate .  br    br   it  s also the debut feature of actress ashley judd  and she makes a big impression here . it  s hard to believe this film is   years old   i remember seeing it in theaters  and i recently rented  ruby  again . except for the    s looking clothes  it has held up very nicely . ashely is so radiant and touching here  that it  s hard to think of her subsequent career without wincing . boy  talk about failing to fulfill your early promise  anyone seeing ashley here in  ruby in paradise  would assume this elegant  natural beauty went on to all kinds of interesting art films and serious acting   instead she has become the  go to  girl for dumb action films and slasher movies  very disappointing  but at least we have this lovely performance preserved to showcase her early promise .  br    br   as some other commenter  s say  this is not for everyone as it  s very slow paced . this is not an action film  nor is it really a romance . the director  victor nunez   ulees gold   another excellent character study  treats this ordinary young woman  s life with deep respect  allowing her story to build slowly and with a lot of detail . in that way  i think this is one of the most moving and respectful coming  of  age stories about young women that i can recall   it  s not about ruby  s sexual awakening or  how she lost her virginity   but about her life choices and her growing maturity .  br    br   a lovely film  if you take the time to watch it . . . i think it would be a really excellent film to show teens and young girls  or boys for that matter  and give them a chance to think about and discuss it .  br    br   particular kudos to director nunez  who also wrote the script  which is so realistic and nicely detailed that i assumed all through the movie that it was based on a female  written novel or memoir  but in fact it  s mr . nunez  s original work . rated  out of   .  
what in god  s name happened here  how does one go about creating what is practically a cheap knockoff of redneck zombies  was zombie    ever supposed to entertain someone . . . anyone  or even make a dollars profit  but mainly  what happened here   br    br   zombie    extreme pestilence was directed by a lunatic by the name of andreas schnaas  who specializes in earth  shattering gore films  such as goblet of gore  and anthropophagus      and some of which contain profanity in the titles . in the gore department  this one isn  t much different than the rest . although  the level of ineptness . . . well  earth  shattering .  br    br   zombie    extreme pestilence is as bad as peter jackson  s dead  alive is gory  think about it .  br    br   getting too specific with the story would be a waste of time . an accident  involving chemicals causes the dead to come back  and eat the living . never has the concept been treated in such a manner . the gore effects are a whole  new low . just a z  grade nightmare . i can  t tell whether  or not this was originally meant to be funny  somehow  i doubt the english dubbing was being very true to the original script  but stranger things have happened . the whole thing just reminds me of a shot  on  video introduction to a troma movie  except it lasts a hell of a lot longer .  br    br   i  ve seen only one film that was worse than this  the chooper .  br    br   for proof that andreas schnaas is an actual director  i would highly recommend nikos the impaler if you think you have no standards in what you look for in a bad movie  give extreme pestilence a try  but you  ve been warned . it takes nerves of steel to make it all the way through . but if gore is all you  re here for  then you might be able to stomach this one . other than that  no atmosphere  no  and i mean no budget  no entertainment value  but mostly  no pride . show some pride  schnaas .      br    br   updated        after a few more viewings of zombie     i  ve had a change of heart  or i guess i just get it now . zombie    is hilarious  so nevermind the harsh words  although  extreme pestilence still only deserves one star .  
in northeastern of brazil  the father of the twelve years old illiterate maria  fernanda carvalho  sells his daughter to the middle man of a prostitution organization  tadeu  chico dias   to be employed as a housemaid and have a better life . however  the girl is resold to the farmer loureno  otvio augusto  that deflowers her  and he gives the abused girl to his teenager son to have his first sexual experience . then she is sent to a brothel in a gold field in amazonas and explored his owner  the despicable saraiva  antonio calloni  . when maria escapes to rio de janeiro expecting a better life  she is explored by the cften vera  darlene glria  .  br    br    anjos do sol  exposes the sad and shameful reality of child prostitution in brazil through the fate of the girl maria . last year i saw  lilja   ever  that tells an identical story in the former soviet union therefore this problem does exist in third world countries . director and writer rudi lagemann presents a great movie exposing the reality but never showing nudity or explicit sexual scenes . it is the debut of the promising fernanda carvalho  who has an excellent performance in the role of a scared child fighting for survival . most of the prostitutes are amateurs  and it is impossible to recognize the famous darlene glria so different she is after many plastic surgeries . the bitter and hopeless end of the story is also very realistic . my vote is ten .  br    br   title  brazil    anjos do sol    angels of the sun    
seriously  i mean very seriously  when i first started watching the show i thought it was good . but the plots just got worse . the storyline were either too boring or predictable . george isn  t always funny  he sometimes acts stupid . his jokes are overdone . his mom is the silliest character of the show . how can a mother treat her own son that way  okay if it was the daughter in law  but this was her own son . i give this show a     just because the first few shows were a little funny . the actors constance marie and masiela lusha do a great job . don  t know how these shows get to play for so long .  br    br   if you  re really bored like i was and have nothing else to watch  i  d suggest you watch this .  
the film begins with vincent price about to begin his performance as a magician . however  mid  way through the very successful show  the police come and shut him down . it seems that his old boss had cheated him out of the tricks price had created   even those he made on his own time at home . as a result  price justifiably kills the evil man . the problem is that while the viewer understood why price killed and most probably thought this was a good thing  because price was a bit mad  he just couldn  t stop at one  sort of like eating lay  s potato chips  .  br    br   the film was full of very creative and spectacular magic tricks  including a huge circular saw and a crematorium for the shows   great plot twists as well as exciting action . one thing you can  t say about this film is that it is dull . while it  s also far from subtle  it is fun throughout  though and well worth a look .  br    br   had i never seen vincent price  s version of house of wax  i probably would have liked the mad magician a lot more and scored it an  or  . that  s because while the mad magician is a wonderful film  it  s highly reminiscent of the film that preceded it  house of wax  . the bottom line is that since house of wax was so successful  the formula was re  hashed in the follow  up film . both were made in   d  both have a plot where price has every justification to kill but he can  t stop once he  s committed the first and both are great fun to watch . the biggest differences  and there are few  are that house of wax was in color and was more of a horror film and the mad magician was definitely more of a mystery .  br    br   my advice is to see this film and house of wax  the price version only  . they are both terrific     s horror films .  
i saw this film opening weekend in australia  anticipating with an excellent cast of ledger  edgerton  bloom  watts and rush that the definitive story of ned kelly would unfold before me . unfortunately  despite an outstanding performance by heath ledger in the lead role  the plot was paper thin . . . . which doesn  t inspire me to read  our sunshine  . there were some other plus points  the support acting from edgerton in particular  assured direction from jordan  confirming his talent on show in buffalo soldiers as well   and production design that gave a real feel of harshness to the australian bush  much as the irish immigrants of the early   th century must have seen it . but i can  t help feeling that another opportunity has been missed to tell the real story of an australian folk hero  or was he   . . . . in what i suspect is a concession to hollywood and selling the picture in the us . oh well  at least jordan and the producers didn  t agree to lose the beards just to please universal . . .  br    br   guess i will just have to content myself with peter carey  s excellent  secret history of the kelly gang  .      
i first saw this film when i was about   . it blew me away then and in many respects it still does now . but i am less inclined to see it as an accurate historical piece now . there is precious little effort made to examine and interact with the racism  and thus fails to recognise that the most potent anti racism weapon is to understand it at its very core in those who commit it . what we get instead is a dichotomy  on the one side  beko and woods in  d panoramic rainbow vision  on the other  two dimensional characters are portrayed as unapologetic unthinking evil .  br    br   this all makes for a great film story  but it worries me that people see the portrayal as  accurate  .  
beyond dirt cheap  this shot  on  video exercise in ineptitude was difficult to get through . it  s got the typical gore that you  d expect in a zombie movie  but none of the required atmosphere to make it worth while .  br    br   what  s strange is that this is an amateur german video  and the version i saw is english  dubbed  the dubbers seem to be american fans  penpals of the germans    who can  t decide whether they want to play it straight or turn it into a comedy . one character  a white german  of course  is dubbed by a black guy apparently  who speaks with thick ebonics   kno wahm sayin   comrad   
this movie is using cinematography fantastically  the depth of the camera catches each character . denzel washington and kevin kline put on awesome performances though washingtons accent does die in certain scenes . how is this movie laying forgotten  unable to rent nor hire in recent times it threatens to be lost forever . a worrying idea . attenborough at his best since ghandi  this master piece stands for what it should in movies such as these  no worrying about gaining audiences rather a cry for freedom in the south african apartheid . though critised for the biased nature  the movie is faithful to the book by donald woods and faithful to the message intended to express to the world . ta and peace  
i will keep this as short as possible as this piece of crap barely warrants a mention . zombie   is one of the worst films ever made  right up there with schnaas  other horrible zombie entry  zombie doom  aka violent sh  t   . these films suck so bad that everyone involved in their creation should be shot . i somehow managed  barely . . .  to sit through zombie doom  but zombie   is so horribly inept  even when compared to schnaas  other horrible film  that i had to fast  forward through everything after the first   minutes . zero acting skills  inept gore  horrible camcorder  style camera  work  ridiculous dubbing . . . it just goes on and on . i really can  t find a single thing redeeming about this garbage  and i can usually find something redeeming in just about any film . this truly is one of the worst films ever made  you  ve been warned . . .      
i was electrified when i first saw this in     or     . steven biko is gone half way through the film but the resonance of his courage and wisdom is not forgotten . i didn  t when finally in south africa in     . it is also largely a story about friendship and loyalty . when i was in south africa and heard the audience at a dance recital in natal sing nkosi sikelel  iafrika  my hair stood on its ends . there is a lot to learn from this story for all peoples .  
a chemical spill is turning people into zombies . it  s up to two doctor  s to survive the epidemic . it  s an andreas schnaas film so you know what the par for the course will be . bad acting  horribly awful special effects  and no budget to speak of . the dubbing is ridiculous with a capital r and the saddest thing is that i feel compelled to write one word about this piece of excrement  much less the ten lines mandatory because of the guidelines placed on me by imdb . my original review of merely one word crap wouldn  t fly so i have to revise it and go more in to how bad it is . but i don  t know if i can  so . . wait i think i may have enough words  or lines rather to make this review pass . which is cool  i guess . so in summation this movie sucks balls  don  t watch it .  br    br   my grade f  
i have just finished watching this film in my gcse history class . it was thrilling and was a brilliant insight to what actually happened to steve biko during the time of the apartheid law . how anybody can say that this film was the most boring or dull  and a half hours of their lives i don  t know because it had me hooked from start to finish . it was great how denzel washington portrayed him and showed how he was fighting against the apartheid law and to get equal rights for black people . in one part steve biko says to a policeman we are just as weak and human as you are  this is to show them that he and all of the other black people in south africa were no different to the whites . donald woods inspired me because he fort for what he believed in and did not believe totally in apartheid . he and steve biko formed a very strong friendship that shook south africa and went on to awaken the world . i very much enjoyed this film and strongly recommend this to people . it helped me see that racism is not right and that everybody is equal  their fate should not be determined by the colour of somebody  s skin . n  
  the secretary  is one of those cheesy  cliched   thrillers  that one is subjected to watching on a sunday afternoon  when there is virtually nothing else on . while the plot  a demented woman becomes jealous of all who succeed over her in the office and decides to do whatever she can to stop them  may be one of a kind  i recognized countless plot twists  probably taken from other tv movies that i had been subjected to for the very same reason .  br    br   to make matters worse  i was not wild about the cast . mel harris is one of those actresses who appears in so many tv movies as either a  mom  or some sort of  victim  of foul play or abuse  that one must wonder the kind of life she leads . in this one  she gets the joy of playing a mom and a victim of psycho secretary sheila kelly  who was not a very good choice as the villain . while sheila kelly has made some good career moves  singles  breaking in  and i guess  law and order   she is also beset by a string of pitiful tv movie roles  and this one just adds to it . as for the others  i don  t have any clear memories of them  so that must say something .  br    br   this one will play on the lifetime network  i think that  s where i saw it   but don  t bother watching it  unless you are too bored for words . not that it will make you any more excitied . . .  
i keep watching this movie over and over and over . i have to watch it at least once a week . i am from africa and looking at that movie taught me some things that i didn  t even know about africa . denzel  s movies are all full of lessons for people of walks of life . i wish he was my own brother . i have also seen and love your masala mississipi . what a thrilling situation . when denzel was trying to hook his brother up on the job  reminds me of my teen ages when my brother was always mad with me about getting myself busy all the time . my brother was always caring for my old father and he wants to see me the same way too . by the way where did denzel get that african accent from in the cry freedom movie  i have first seen that movie in africa and i didn  t know then that denzel was american till i moved down here .  
the temp       didn  t do much theatrical business  but here  s the direct  to  video rip  off you didn  t want  anyway  ellen bradford  mel harris  is the new woman at millennium investments  a high scale brokerage firm  who starts getting helpful hints from wide  eyed secretary deidre  sheila kelley  . deidre turns out to be an ambitious daddy  s girl who will stop at nothing to move up the corporate ladder  including screwing a top broker she can  t stand and murdering anyone who gets on her bad side . she digs up skeletons in ellen  s closet  tries to cause problems with her husband  barry bostwick   kills while making it look like she is responsible  kidnaps her daughter and tries to get her to embezzle money from the company .  br    br   harris and kelley deliver competent performances  the supporting cast is alright and it  s reasonably well put  together  but that doesn  t fully compensate for a script that travels down a well  worn path and offers few surprises .  
i first watched this movie on its release in     and was greatly affected emotionally  through a combination of guilt at what my fellow white human beings could do to innocent people and the reluctance of the outside world to really investigate these atrocities against man .  br    br   particularly moving was the funeral of steve biko  made even more vivid and hard  hitting by the south african anthem played at the time . i have long believed that this movie achieved what nobody else had managed  to open the eyes of the world to what was really happening in south africa . i consider myself to be a normal right thinking person and i can attest to how this film changed my whole way of thinking about not just south africa  but how we as white people perceive black people . i have never seen any difference between people of any colour or creed  but after viewing this film i physically changed my life and have spent the last   years living in a predominantly black country and helping many people rise above their present standard of living and achieve that which they would not have thought possible . the greatest reward i can honestly say i have received  to be able to say that in my own small way i have contributed and redressed the balance a little . but if more people thought like me and actually did something to help black people without seeking reward then the entire black population of this planet would be a little better off .  br    br   i challenge any right thinking person to watch cry freedom from beginning to end and not feel that emotion tugging at your heartstrings as you witness the    schoolchildren brutally shot dead in sharpville for refusing to learn afrikaans  the senseless murder of steve biko  such a champion for his own people  s rights  and then  ultimately  to understand that all this is not merely a film  albeit a magnificent one  but that it all actually happened and less than   years ago .  br    br   yes  my friends  watch this movie and then see if you can go out afterwards and party hard . i couldn  t . i was too upset at knowing the truth . that is the hallmark of a great film . it was obviously the intention of sir richard attenborough to get this message over about south africa . of course he has achieved it . unless you happen to support apartheid . god help you .  
an actor  s first film is usually something one can afford to miss  it  s often that first job where the lack of film experience by everyone involved is truly on display  and this film is no exception .  br    br   but worse than that  even by     standards this is so bad  it  s hysterically funny . filmed entirely in the chicago area on an obviously small budget  most of the acting by the entire cast is stiff  wooden  and cartoonish  a cross between a high school play and bad community theater . noise from nearby traffic often drowns out the dialog  and the dialog is truly bad  very declarative in a way that comes off as forced and expedient rather than natural and organic . scenes are contrived and choppy  and even though the characters go through a span of years  neither the children nor the adults age at all .  br    br   i do believe it  s possible to make a christian film that  s palatable to a large  secular audience  but too often the creators of such films are so focused on  the message  or in this case  their own autobiographical ties to the project that good film production values are tossed aside .  i  m sure it  s no coincidence that the main character has the same name as the producer  director  editor  and cast member .   br    br   luckily  michael madsen was much more interesting  and believable  to watch in his subsequent films . careers like his are certainly not built on films like this one .  
  cry freedom  is not just a movie . it is a historical account  heroic story  and insight into the cultural background of a major event in history . not only does denzel washington do a terrific job of impersonating a motivating  determined hero  steve biko  but he delivers a message to the public about the horrors of south arfrican apartheid . the story of biko  an influential leader  and his main  influencee   donald woods  is a heartbreaking one . but  the ultimate success of his life can go beyond the atrocities committed in south africa .  cry freedom  manages to communicate to its audience the optimistic aspect of the seemingly disturbing plot . it is because of great films like this one  that the public can become educated on terrible events in history  great leaders who sought to end them  and how we can never allow them to happen in the future . because of this importance   cry freedom  is an amazing film that should be seen by all .  
poor michael madsen he must be kicking himself to know folks have found out about this horrible flick . i really can  t think of anything worse i have ever seen  except amateur porn . it  s that bad  and all here wooden acting  bad script  crappy moral ending  you hate it and it is in this movie .  br    br   my question is  who the hell put  into this piece of doggy doo  at least we could have seen michael  s sister virginia nude in a scene  but i don  t think even that would save this stinker . . .  br    br   for a cool guy that has made some exception movies  i want to know what wacky church sponsored this piece of crapola .  
the performance of every actor and actress  in the film  are excellently natural which is what movie acting should be and the directing skill is so brilliantly handled on every details that i am never tired of seeing it over and over again . however  i am rather surprised to see that this film is not included in some of the actors  and director  attenborough  s credits that puzzles me aren  t they proud of making a claim that they have made such excellent  long lasting film for the audience  i am hoping i would get some answers to my puzzles from some one  possibly one of the  knowledgeable  personnel  insider  of the film .  
i picked this dvd up at the dollar store . the dvd was on the  for   rack  but since it had michael madsen in it  i thought that since i had never seen the movie  i bought it anyway .  br    br   i must say that i didn  t like the movie . the movie played more like a documentary or an advertisement for religion than anything else . i found that the director  s use of flashbacks did not add to the story line for me . i would have preferred to view the story line in chronological order .  br    br   i won  t throw it away like one of the other commentators  but it may be quite awhile before i would consider watching this movie again .  br    br   who knows  since it was michael madsen  s film debut  maybe it might have some archival value at some future date .  
this is a film that everyone should watch . quite apart from raising hugely important points  while south africa is on the road to recovery there are still many countries in similar situations now   it is superbly directed while denzel washington gives  in my opinion  the best performance in his career so far . kline also gives a good performance  although perhaps not as stunning as washington  s . john thaw also puts in a good turn as the chief of police .  br    br   there are so many possible areas where a film on apartheid could fall down  but all of these have been avoided . it would be easy to simply portray white people as the bad guys and black people as the good guys  but attenborough has not done this . sure  there were some white characters who seemed inherently evil  such as the captain at the soweto uprising  but to add extra dimensions to all the characters would make the film unbearably long . some people complain about the length of the film as it is  but i think it needs the whole two and a half hours to tell the whole story  for it really is an incredible one .  br    br   the best scene in the film is that of steve biko  s funeral . when the whole crowd begins to sing the south african national anthem  it is probably one of  if not the most moving scenes i have seen .  br    br   if you haven  t seen this film already watch it . it may not be comfortable viewing  but it  s certainly worth it .  
i am a huge michael madsen fan  so needless to say  i bought this movie without even renting it or anything . . . this movie was so horrible  i didn  t even take it back to the store  i wouldn  t want anyone else to be subjected to this human poison  i just threw it in the trash  never mind the money  it was worth the price to be able to throw it away . the acting wasn  t that bad  it wasn  t good or anything . the story was horrible  and the ending was something i despise . he was a broken man  alcoholic . his life was a bunch of junk . i thought his horse  peanuts  was an awful device to show his childhood innocence  a dog would have been much much better . i also hate religion  so this ending without a doubt angered me . jesus heals all . . . i hate that i know people just like this that are huge christians and catholics  and time will show that god doesn  t heal all  or anything . it was a horrible movie  if u have the option to see it  pass  or better yet buy it  or rent it  and throw it in the garbage  and leave the coffee grounds on it in the morning  
this film moved me beyond comprehension  it is and will remain my favourite film of all time  mainly because it has almost every emotion all rolled into its    minutes . what is the hardest part for me to take is that whenever i want to hear the amazing music and songs from the film  i have to put it into my dvd player  so i was wondering if anyone anywhere knows who sings the songs in the film and where they can be found  as i have looked everywhere i can think sporadically over the past  years . my favourite quote from the film is when in court the advocate says  but your own words ask for direct confrontation  isn  t that a direct call for violence   biko replies  well you and i are in confrontation now  but i see no violence     br    br   craig robertson fife  scotland  
definitely an odd debut for michael madsen . madsen plays cecil moe  an alcoholic family man whose life is crumbling all around him . cecil grabs a phone book  looks up the name of a preacher  and calls him in the middle of the night . he goes to the preacher  s home and discusses his problems . the preacher teaches cecil to respect the word of god and have jesus in his heart . that makes everything all better . ahh . . . if only everything in life were that easy . the fact that this  film  looks as if it was made with about     certainly doesn  t help .      
i think the weighted average for this film is too low . i give it a  . very entertaining  although over the top in a few places . my wife says it passes the danielle steele test . superb performances throughout  particularly by andie macdowell .  
this show is awful . how is george wanting the death of his mother funny  this show is terrible . the parents are obviously horrible and the children should be taken to child services . the daughter is a witch with a b and the son is just a complete brat . george isn  t funny  especially when he speaks his loud and obnoxious brand of spanglish . ernie is a loser  but at least i  ve chuckled at him a few times  but mainly at how pathetic he is . george  s mother  benny  in an awful  despicable character . sure  her husband left her  but how anyone can laugh at the way she treated george as a baby is beyond me .  br    br   can someone explain to me how george  s head being big is funny  it  s not even that big  i  ve moved on from characters because they  re too awful and it would take hours for me to write and i  frankly  don  t care enough . i do care enough to tell anyone looking at this and wondering whether or not they want to watch this show  that this show is an abysmal excuse for a sitcom  and is not worth your time .  br    br   i give it  starts  because the wife is extremely attractive .  
what is  cry freedom  like  it is simply great and unique experience about making of south africa and how black people in that country were repressed by white people . main character of the story is donald woods  kevin kline   chief editor of the newspaper daily dispatch in south africa . woods writes several articles  where he speaks critically about views of steve biko  denzel washington  . soon woods meets biko and he changes his views about him and he also begins to understand what authorities are doing to black people in south africa  right from the top  even from the chief of police  . when biko dies in police custody  woods decides that he have to write book about him and that no matter what he has to publish it . but woods must escape from his country to get that book published and he must also put his family on second place  so world can find out the truth .  br    br   attenborough managed to make a good movie about people  with main message that black and white are the same  cause we are all people . story leads us to south africa and this  movie  is great way for the whole world to learn what happened in that land and i  m disappointed that only     people rated this movie . this is movie from which we all can learn something . although it is a bit long  this story couldn  t be presented in any shorter way because director wanted to show us how hard was for woods to get that book published after death of biko .  br    br   also relationship between woods and biko was shown great  just like families of those two people and all the problems they are going through . but sometimes sacrifices must be made  biko  s death  so the truth could be reveled  woods book  .  
against all hope is a very poorly made  sometimes painfully so  movie . this is michael madsen  s first movie  and it shows  he isn  t that good in it . some people might find the story laughable an alcoholic realizes his life and family are falling apart so he calls a preacher as a last resort for help . after telling the preacher his story  he accepts jesus christ into his heart .  br    br   i actually found many of the religious scenes  as when cecil moe  madsen  goes to a church but walks away from it  pretty realistic . i also liked how cecil knows his life is breaking apart and tries to get help  but realizes only god can help him . at the end he realizes with the help of god he can go through life without drinking again .  br    br   this movie is not well made at all . the acting is bad  the script could use some work  and looks worse than my home videos  but it has a good message . now  just because you become a christian doesn  t mean you will automatically be able to stop an addiction or heal your broken family  and cecil realizes this and works hard to stay on track . overall  if your a christian you will appreciate how this movie portrays christianity and if you aren  t  you may find yourself being called to find out more about the faith .  
steve biko was a black activist who tried to resist the white minority governed south africa in much the same way as gandhi tried to resist the british empire  s colonialism in india . richard attenborough  s film cry freedom is not about biko or apartheid as much as it is about donald woods  the white liberal newspaper editor who risked his life trying to tell biko  s story . the film has a jarring point of view switch after biko dies in prison from tortuous behavior at the hands of south african  police  . woods  played by kevin kline  must choose whether to do the right thing and flee the country to publish books about biko or allow his wife  played by penelope wilton  to pressure him into forgetting about the books . in that case  biko dies in vain . what begins as a life  changing friendship between biko and woods degenerates into a standard by the numbers escape over the border yarn after biko  s death . oscar  nominated denzel washington is good in only his fourth film as biko  but something is wrong in a film that tries to depict the struggles of apartheid by focusing more on the trials of a white family for more than half the film . attenborough would have served his topic better by focusing on biko  s rise to prominence instead of beginning where biko befriended woods . perhaps a black actor in a leading role in a     hour film wasn  t exactly conducive to big box office  but the film was a tremendous box office flop anyway . film politics aside  the film still entertains and sends a message or two  albeit  in pg  sanitized fashion .  of  stars .  
here  s how you do it believe in god and repent for your sins . then things should turn around within the next day or so .  br    br   until the last fifteen minutes  this movie just plays as a bad recap of a drunk  s crappy life . his mom dies . his stepmom  s a b  tch . his dad dies . he drinks . he gets married . he has kids . he drinks some more . his wife gets mad . he disappoints his kids . the wife threatens to leave . he calls up a reverend late night b  c he wants to kill himself . then after the recap happens  that  s when we get the  left behind   like subtle message .  br    br    he needed a paycheck  . this is the phrase i had to repeat over and over once credits started to roll so i wouldn  t lose my respect for madsen .  br    br   madsen drops to his knees and begs christ  s forgiveness . once he does  he walks outside and actually says that he sees the world in a different way . he tells his wife that he  s found god and that  s good enough for her . flip scene four months and the wife is tired of going to church . end the movie as madsen walks by the bar and gives a soliloquy about how happy he is with christ and without alcohol . final moment  he gives a little dismissive wave to the bar  i . e . sin house  and give a gay  miami  vice  after  school special congratulatory jump in the air as the camera freeze  frames . see why i had to repeat the phrase   he needed a paycheck  .  br    br   man this movie is bad . the b  grade    s production values don  t help much . the script could have easily been a  touched by an angel  episode . it could have been knocked out in   minutes plus commercials . the acting is wooden and never believable . even madsen  of whom i  m a big fan and is the sole reason i sat through this  makes it clear that this is his first acting job and he doesn  t know his a from his elbow yet on camera .   minutes into it i started to get discouraged . this thing was like homework . i just wanted to put it away and say that alright  i saw half of it . that  s good enough . but no . if i sat through cheerleader ninjas  i could sit throughout this .  br    br   the only reason i  m not giving this thing a  is for two points   i love madsen . i know it  s not fair . but it  s great seeing the opening title  introducing michael madsen  . sue me .   some of the dialogue is so bad that it  s classic . i  ll stick some quotes at the end of this so you can enjoy them too .  br    br   that  s about it . to wrap it up  this thing is a piece of crap that should stay flushed with the rest of the turds . but hey  look  michael madsen   see also tilt  executive target  my boss  s daughter  etc  . now i  ve gotta rewatch reservoir dogs and watch madsen torture a cop to get my respect back for him . see ya  kids .  br    br    this stuff  s gonna make me go blind  but i  m gonna drink it anyway   madsen  s first taste of cheap alcohol  br    br    i don  t understand  everything seems so beautiful    madsen walking outside after confessing to god  br    br    i  m going downtown later and pick up a bible and i  m gonna get a haircut too   madsen after converting at the dinner table  because satan lives in your hair  
a long film about a very important character from south africa  stephen biko . he is one of these blacks who did not survive apartheid  who actually died a long time before their normal time . the already old film though does not show how important biko was  what he really represented . his life and his teaching is reduced to little  at best a few witty remarks . the film being from      the objective was to push south africa over the brink that would lead her to liberation . so the film aims at showing how irrational the south african supporters of apartheid are  in     . to show this the film has to look beyond biko  s death  hence to center its discourse not on biko but on a white liberal journalist and his escaping the absurd system in which he is living . his escape is made necessary because of the victimization he is the victim of  along with his family  and because he wants to publish the first book on biko  after his death  and that can only happen in england . the film shows a way to escape south africa  while apartheid is still standing and killing . so do not expect this way to be realistic and true . it could not be . but the film has tremendously aged because it does not show south africa with any historical distantiation  the very distantiation that has taken place under nelson mandela  s presidency and that is called forgiveness provided those who want to be forgiven speak up and out . the film is strong and emotional but that very historical limit makes it rather weak today  especially since the film does not mention the third racial community  the indians . panegyric books or films all have that defect they are looking at the person they are supposed to portrait from only one point of view . that explains why the film has aged so much  seems to be coming from so long ago  as if nothing had changed at all . a remake is necessary .  br    br   dr jacques coulardeau  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  university versailles saint quentin en yvelines  cegid  
in a summer that also boasted such repugnant stinkers as snakes on a plane and the da vinci code  that  s a pretty bold statement . but i stand by it nonetheless . superman returns  like king kong  months before it  is overlong  hyper  indulgent and with cgi up to the eyeballs . my god  this stuff is doing my head in .  br    br   richard donner had the idea of  keep it real  for his  outings . and i do find his approach to the special and optical effects to be the most appropriate . brian singer bombards us with so much cgi that it really takes you out of the story and constantly reminds you that you are watching a wannabe blockbuster that thinks that the only way to impress an audience is to spend     million  a totally irresponsible amount of money  on obnoxious visual effects that don  t live up to the hype . we  ve seen everything and been everywhere that cgi can take us . there  s no real atmosphere or involvement in this . and for a film that is    made up of this crap . . . well you figure it out .  br    br   i  ve read so many reviews from fanboy critics about how the movie has  soul  or  a human heart  or  tender character moments  . puh  lease  we  ve already had brooding superheros silently screaming  you  d love me if you knew who i am  dozens of times already in recent years and sr offers absolutely nothing new in this regard . even the plot is recycled garbage . lex luthor  a seriously mis  cast and hammy kevin spacey  plotting to destroy the landmass of america was done in the first film already  and  well . . . that  s your lot  it  s amazing that they managed to draw out this junk to  .  painful hours  even if the cast were likable it would make it less unbearable . but brandon routh has the on screen personality of a mahogany hat  stand  kate bosworth is completely unconvincing as a pulitzer prize  winning journalist  james marsden is     wooden  as usual and kevin spacey really needs to either fire his agent or acquire some better judgement . the only cast member i liked was the lovely parker posey . but i  m into weird  looking girls .  br    br   every year films like this get bigger and more bombastic . pretty soon we  ll have     million films . studios need to realise that maybe they should start looking down instead of looking up . for all the money that warner spent on this pile of crap  for all the resources that this movie cost to make . . . was it worth it  in my opinion  certainly not  this garbage has put me of superman for life   
it  s a shame that this piece of work wasn  t acknowledged as a piece of work . it has everything a historical film must have a serious historical research  outstanding performances of every actor involved and a discrete but great direction .  br    br   when i saw the movie i knew it should be a prototype for every biographical movie .  
in my eyes this is almost the perfect example of hollywood ego  only beaten by the new king kong movie . superman is the original super hero and deserves to be treated with respect even though he wears tights . brandon routh was the worst superman i  ve ever seen  from the start of the movie u just wanna shove a chunk of kryptonite down his throat . he looks just silly wearing the costume . but enough about him  kate bosworth was a bad choise for lois lane  she is supposed to be a hard ass reporter  but in this movie she looks more like a schoolgirl . the plot was weak and predictable  wow  he is actually supermans son  who would have ever thought . . . .  and the acting was horrible . this movie has one good thing going for it  and it  s name is kevin spacey . his portrayal of lex luthor was brilliant but even he could not save this movie . what this movie needed was the cast of  lois and clark   except kevin spacey of course  and a different story . i watched this movie after watching  the hills have eyes  and i was chocked to learn that there existed worse movies then that .  
this is an absolutely incredible film . it shows south african racism from the perspective of the victims  and provokes a feeling of anti  racism in everyone who sees it . it is the best historic film i have ever seen .  
after a long period in the space  looking for the remains of planet krypton  superman  brandon routh  returns to earth . he misses lois lane  kate bosworth   who got married and has a son with richard white  james marsden  . meanwhile  lex luthor  kevin spacey  plots an evil plan  using crystals he stole from the fortress of solitude  to create a new land and submerge the usa .  br    br   after so many delightful movies of superman with the unforgettable christopher reeve  or tv shows like  lois and clark   and teri hatcher  or  smallville   a great expectation was created for the return of superman in this bryan singer  s version . unfortunately  the awful story is too long and boring  with many unnecessary parts  lack of emotion and overrated in imdb . in addition  the romance between lois lane and superman is something shamefully ridiculous . the twenty  two years old actress kate bosworth is wrongly miscast  playing the role of a mature reporter and experienced mother of a five years old boy . brandon routh is two years younger than tom welling  who plays a teenager clark kent in  smallville  . the character of parker posey  kitty kowalski  is actually a silly caricature . last but not the least and in spite of being a terrific lex luthor  kevin spacey is forty  five years old  therefore older and older than the rest of the lead cast . the corny conclusion looks like a soap opera and is terrible . my vote is four .  br    br   title  brazil    superman returns   
  cry freedom  is a movie about how far people will go to find the truth .  br    br   the first half is an interesting portrayal of an unlikely friendship between activist steve biko and editor don woods  played fanatically by dezel washington and kevin klein  . while the second half deals with woods looking for answers on biko  s death .  br    br   although most people favor the first half of the movie which focuses on the unlikely friendship between biko and woods  . i found the second half about don woods struggle to have biko  s story be heard around the world much more interesting .  
as a long  time fan of superman from the comics  through the     s series  the first two of the chris reeves films and lois  clark  and finally smallville  i was really hoping for something clever with  superman returns  .  br    br   instead we got lex luthor making another attempt at real  estate conversion  another superman  beaten  up  while  wearing  kryptonite sequence  and internal inconsistencies he couldn  t stop himself falling into the ocean when stuck with   of kryptonite  but when lois breaks off   of it  leaving the rest embedded in him  he can lift a continent into space   really  the only hero in the story was lois  partner  i can  t remember his name off  hand . he did all kinds of life  saving  heroic things with nothing but guts and skill  no superpowers  no invulnerability . . . just a normal human .  br    br   they keep making superman so small . why can  t we have superman battling brainiac or fighting to save the universe from general zod instead of lex  s petty schemes . oh  i forgot . . . they  re doing that in smallville .  br    br   yeah . . . i think i  ll stick to smallville . . .  br    br   you probably should  too . . .  
richard attenborough is a director whose name is synonymous with the academy award winning  gandhi   back in    . i didn  t know of any other work of his till i recently came across  cry freedom   released back in     . while it may not have been as popular as his gandhi  it is every bit as gripping  if not more  and was released when south africa still had not got rid of the shackles of apartheid . while most movies on social issues come out after the event had happened  i guess this one released during the time .  br    br   the story is based on real life characters and events . the book on which the movie was based  was written by donald woods  kevin kline   a journalist who used to work in south africa until the end of the seventies . it traces the origins of woods friendship with the charismatic black leader steve biko  who is wonderfully portrayed by denzel washington . i cannot imagine a better choice for the role . washington exudes a natural charm and screen presence  which biko  s character required .  br    br   while initially  woods was against what he felt was black racism being spread by biko  after meeting the man  he could not help being drawn into his struggles and ideas . the bond between them grows stronger  and woods and his family realise and become more sensitive to the plight of the people biko represents .  br    br   however  finally  tragedy strikes  and woods must now concentrate on escaping from south africa  with his book  so that he can get it published and let the outside world know what is going on . the second half of the movie is a gripping tale of his escape from south africa  along with his family  and will keep you on tenterhooks .  br    br   there are some deliciously humorous dialogues too . the scene between biko and the lawyer in the courtroom is an example .  br    br   lawyer do you advocate violence  biko i advocate a confrontation . lawyer well  isn  t that violence  mr . biko  biko not necessarily . you and i are having a confrontation now  but i don  t see any violence .  br    br   however  there are moments that bring you back to the horrors that pervaded the country before better sense prevailed . the scene where the army opens fire on a protest by school children is gut wrenching and heartbreaking .  br    br   this is definitely a must watch . i would suggest those not familiar with attenborough  s work  do take time out for this . there are movies which make a lot of money . and there are movies which make lives . i would any day prefer the latter .  
it really doesn  t matter that superman comic books are unbelievably naive and their target is ten year old . what matters is that  superman returns  is bad movie .  br    br   in the beginning  a question for you dear readers  how many of you actually believe that superman will be defeated by bald kevin spacey  anyone  just as i thought . no spoilers here . so let  s get to some major issues right now .  br    br   firstly  this movie looks like commercial  scene in the bar with superman  clark kent drinking budweiser is only scene which looks as it supposed to  . imagine commercial of superman  two and half hour long . let  s be serious this isn  t  amadeus  or  the departed  . you actually feel  that this movie is way too long . and special effects are not so special by the way .  br    br   secondly  scenario is silly . sometimes even if something is acceptable in comic  in cinema it looks just stupid . and it  s like that in this case . of course dialogs are disgrace . i can  t believe somebody took money to write them . how many times we will be fed with villain making speeches  how many times laws of physics will be raped   jesus  it  s not only the matter of superman  s strength but also a resistance of materials his dealing with .  how many times lois lane will be fooled by kent  how many times hollywood producers will seek for a story in a trashy comic books  since there  s hard to make a good story  why having a weak story for a starter  it just doesn  t work . guys  get a grip . try harder  please . or just stay on this strike forever  who cares . i got the feeling that wga is permanently on strike . no offense . i  m not questioning the lame money those people are paid  but the quality of the product they deliver . in this case there is no quality at all .  at this point you may ask yourself is it that bad  yes it is .   br    br   thirdly  acting is weak  which is quite a surprise since bryan singer  usual suspects  is directing . kevin spacey is having fun  but he  s the only one . audience is rather not in the mood for jokes . thing is that comic book hero can be developed into real personality  with clear motivations but also with doubts  fears  some depth . in this case nobody did that job  and characters aren  t really interesting .  br    br   finally  whole effort of creators turns this movie into parody . second unit is so bad that attracts attention  since there  s nothing interesting going on on screen anyway . the harder they try  if they try   the funnier it gets  but it isn  t laugh you could expect  .  br    br   final conclusion  one word shame .  br    br   this particular movie  ladies and gents  is camp . don  t waste your time and don  t waste your money too . stay home  read a book .  
what a brilliant film . i will admit it is very ambitious  with the subject matter . at a little over two and a half hours  it is a very long film too . but neither of these pointers are flaws in any way . cry freedom  despite the minor flaws it may have  is a powerful  moving and compelling film about the story of the black activist steve biko in his struggles to awaken south africa to the horrors of the apartheid . it is true  that the first half is stronger than the second in terms of emotional impact . people have also complained that the film suffers from too much woods not enough biko . i may be wrong  but although it is biko  s story  it is told in the perspective of woods  so woods is an important character in conveying biko  s story to the world .  br    br   cry freedom visually looks amazing . with the show  stopping cinematography and the stunning south african scenery it was a visual feast . the opening scenes especially were brilliantly shot . george fenton  s music brought real dramatic weight to most scenes . it was subtle in scenes in the second half  but stirring and dramatic in the crowd scenes . the script was of exceptional quality  the courtroom scenes with biko were enough to really make you think wow this is real quality stuff . the first half with biko as the main focus constantly had something to feel emotional about  whether it was the police  s attack of the south african citizens or biko  s death . the second half entirely about donald woods carries less of an emotional punch  but is compensated by how it is shot  performed and written . and there are parts that are genuinely suspenseful as well .  br    br   the performances were exceptional from the entire cast  from the most minor character to the two leads  there wasn  t a single bad performance . regardless of the accents that is  but it is forgiven so easily by how much the performances draw you in . denzel washington in one of his more understated performances  gives a truly compelling performance as biko  and kevin kline shows that he can be as good at drama as he is at comedy  for he gave a suitably subtle performance to match that of washington  s . and the two men  s chemistry is believable and never strikes a false note . penelope wilton is lovely as donald  s wife wendy  and she is a great actress anyway . out the supporting performances  and there may be some bias  two stood out for me . one was timothy west  who relishes his role as captain dewet . the other was the ever exceptional john thaw in a brilliantly chilling cameo  role as kruger . lord richard attenborough  s direction is focused and constantly sensitive as usual .  br    br   overall  a truly wonderful film . ambitious and long it is  but never ceases to be compelling  powerful and achingly moving . a definite winner from lord richard attenborough  and worthy of a lot more praise .      bethany cox  
at the beginning i was happy to know about a new superman movie  i though that will be great but it wasn  t .  br    br   is a bad copy of the richard donner work  lex is again a villain that makes no more else  even played by kevin spice .  br    br   the evil plan is the same of the first movie of donner just a lot forced .  br    br   the script is predictable and simple  all stuff luthor finds in a museum or an old lady  .  br    br   the story is the wrong thing  it must be the kevin smith script and may be it could be better .  br    br   i just hope a sequel without brian singer and with a new talent director to do something new and not a copy .  br    br   all read you later  
i think the context of the story has been covered by other posters so i would just like to write about the impact this film had on me .  br    br   i first saw this film the year of it  s release around     . my school organised a trip to the cinema to see it  for an re project i think . we all went along of course excited because we were on a school trip to the cinema  little did we know what we were about to experience . to this day i still remember the feelings it invoked in me and i remembered crying a lot as were most of my friends . i think at the age we were we found it shocking and quiet rightly outraged in our own youthful way . it had such an impact on me that i joined the anti apartheid movement the same year .  br    br   i think it served it  s purpose in my case .  
i usually don  t walk out of a movie  but halfway thru i did . this movie promised something different  but i kept thinking haven  t i seen that before  spoiler alert  back in   the spaceship crashes and lands on earth  well  all these years later  with a super adult on board no less  this thing still manages to burn up and crash  what  this advanced civilization can  t seem to develop landing gear  for an industry that  s so liberal  we get to see another woody allen movie  no blacks please  superman runs around saving people  making sure he sticks to europe and the us  don  t go into darkie areas please . maybe i could stomach this about   years ago  but now now .  
what a movie  i never imagined richard attenborough could have such a movie in him . gandhi has always left me indifferent  apart from ben kingsley  s performance  and i never considered attenborough a particularly good filmmaker . but cry freedom held my interest like few movies have in recent times . it  s an exciting  mesmerizing political movie with great performances by kevin kline and a young denzel washington .  br    br   kline plays donald woods  a south africa newspaper editor who befriends the civil rights activist steve biko . it starts as a difficult friendship  for woods sees biko as a black supremacist preaching hatred against whites . but biko  with his kind words  upbeat attitude and complete transparency  wins over woods and introduces him to a reality about apartheid that woods knew nothing about .  br    br   biko is a decent  law  abiding citizen who altruistically stands up against all prejudice and the system that keeps down his people . one night  coming from an illegal meeting  he  s arrested and beaten to death . the authorities try to hush up the matter because biko has become a huge personality in south africa . but through the efforts of woods the truth comes out . but what should be a triumph only becomes a nightmare as woods and his family become targets for the secret police .  br    br   this movie has an interesting structure . it has in fact two narratives first it narrates the life and death of biko . it  s an amazing first half  completely dominated by the charisma of washington in what may be his greatest performance yet .  br    br   the second half  no less interesting  narrates woods attempt to escape from south africa to publish a book about biko . woods has become an enemy of state  a banned person  which means he can  t meet people or leave his country . plus he  s constantly spied by the police . kevin kline gives a great performance in this second half too .  br    br   although the first half is quite straightforward  the second does interesting things with editing  by giving flashbacks of biko and of events that show the repression against the black south africans . some may argue this is to make it more interesting  but for me the second half just as captivating  as woods and his family devise a bold plan to escape south africa .  br    br   the last minutes were so heartbreaking i was in tears . george fenton and jonas gwangwa  s score certainly had something to do with it . although i  ve never been much of a fan of fenton  cannot stand his gandhi score   i do think the score for cry freedom is one of the most beautiful ever composed for cinema . the movie  thanks to the music married to the powerful images  at times reached incredible peaks of emotion .  br    br   cry freedom is definitely not a movie just to watch because of denzel washington . this is a movie to be cherished in its entirety . acting  writing  music  editing  cinematography come together in a perfect synthesis to create an ode to the power of the human spirit . this movie deserve a place alongside movies like the pianist  life is beautiful and the shawshank redemption .  
 . . . this would be the worst film i  d ever seen . hmmm  ok maybe tied with boogeyman then . awful  truly awful .  br    br   i had low expectations and it failed to meet them  i honestly cant think of one good thing . so here are the worst points . . .  br    br    . the acting  . the plot  . the cgi  xbox    has better graphics . . . . seriously   . the plot  . the dialogue and finally . . . .  . the plot  br    br   there are so many unanswered questions  did they make a     hour long movie then realize they hadn  t put lex luthor and superman in a scene together and were forced to settle for the  minute bit or did they actually think no  one would notice that the main hero and villain have less screen time together than superman  s son and the henchman he kills     br    br   was half the budget spent on persuading kevin spacey to do it   br    br   when superman goes to hospital  why don  t the doctors ask  what the f do you want us to do   he  s a fing alien  we don  t know jack about his anatomy     br    br   what happened in the  years superman was away to cause technology to advance   years   br    br   where the people who wrote good reviews watching the same movie   br    br   and finally  why  just  why   br    br   btw  for those of you wondering how come superman could lift an entire continent of krypyonite  i think i  ve figured it out . . .  br    br   . . . since superman is unaffected by the kryptonite till he sees something green in the rocks  it is clearly all in his head . therefore the continent thing is just him suppressing his fear of shiny green rock . . . .  br    br   either that or the writers are slack  jawed half  wits who didn  t think that was a fairly obvious mistake .  
  crush  examines female friendship  for the most part avoiding the saccharine quality which spoils so many films with the same theme  e . g .   steel magnolias   . at the same time  it reveals the power of a sudden passion to overwhelm and surprise . the events depicted were highly improbable  but the underlying emotional truth seemed very genuine to me . not a film for the speeding  vehicle  and  explosion crowd  but grown  up women are certain to respond with both laughter and tears .  
this show was absolutely terrible . for one george isn  t funny  and his kids are snobby little brats . he also treats his mother with no respect . as a hispanic  i am highly offended by this show and the way the characters are portrayed .  br    br   plus the dysfunctional family thing  s been done to death . for once  i want to see something original . what makes this show funny when other shows have done it millions of times  i thought abc would come to its senses and pull this piece of garbage off the air  but sadly  we  re going to have to stomach this until they  jump the shark  .  br    br   in my opinion  they already did .  
  the true story of the friendship that shook south africa and awakened the world .   br    br   richard attenborough  who directed  a bridge too far  and  gandhi   wanted to bring the story of steve biko to life  and the journey and trouble that journalist donald woods went through in order to get his story told . the films uses wood  s two books for it  s information and basis   biko  and  asking for trouble  .  br    br   the film takes place in the late      s  in south africa . south africa is in the grip of the terrible apartheid  which keeps the blacks separated from the whites and classifies the whites as the superior race . the blacks are forced to live in shantytowns on the outskirts of the cities and towns  and they come under frequent harassment by the police and the army . we are shown a dawn raid on a shantytown  as bulldozers and armed police force their way through the camp beating and even killing the inhabitants . then we are introduced to donald woods  kevin kline   who is the editor of a popular newspaper . after publishing a negative story about black activist steve biko  denzel washington   woods goes to meet with him . the two are wary of each other at first  but they soon become good friends and biko shows the horrors of the apartheid system from a black persons point of view to woods . this encourages woods to speak out against what  s happening around him  and makes him desperate to bring steve biko  s story out of the clutches of the white man  s south africa and to the world . soon  steve biko is arrested and is killed in prison . now woods and his family are daring to escape from south africa to england  where woods can publish his book about steve biko and the apartheid .  br    br   when i first heard of  cry freedom   i was under the impression that it was a movie completely dedicated to the life of steve biko . i had never actually heard of steve biko before i seen this film  as the events in this film were really before my time . but it  s more about the story of donald woods and his journey across the border into lesotho as he tried to elude the south african officials . woods was put on a five year type house arrest after steve biko was killed . so in order to publish his manuscript on steve biko  he had to escape . because the manuscript would be considered treason in south africa and that could have resulted in woods meeting a fate similar to that of biko  s . the real donald woods and his wife acted as consultants to this film .  br    br   denzel washington is only in the film for the first hour  and i was disappointed with that as i was expecting to see him for the entire movie . but he was amazing as steve biko  and captured his personality from what i  ve read really well and his accent sounded perfect . his performance earned him an oscar nomination for best supporting actor . kevin kline delivers a excellent and thought  evoking performance as donald woods  and penelope wilton is excellent as his wife wendy .  br    br   filming took place in zimbabwe  as needless to say problems arose when they tried to film it in south africa . while in south africa  the south african gestapo followed the film crew everywhere  so they got the bad vibes and they pulled out and went to neighbouring zimbabwe instead . despite everything  and the fact that the apartheid didn  t end  til seven years later   cry freedom  wasn  t banned in south africa . but cinemas showing the movie received bomb threats .  br    br   richard attenborough brings the horrors of the apartheid to the screen with extreme force and determination . he doesn  t hold back at the end of the movie when showing what was supposed to be a peaceful protest by students in a shantytown  turns into a massacre when police open fire on them . the film ends with the names of all the anti  apartheid movers who died in prison  and the explanations for their deaths . many had  no explanation  . quite a few were  epilepsy   which is hard to believe  and many more either fell from the top of the stairs or were  suicide from hanging  . no one will ever know what really happened to them  but i think it  s fair to say that none of these men died at their own hands  but at the hands of others or to be more precise  at the hands of the police .  br    br    cry freedom  is a must  see movie for it  s portrayal and story of steve biko . it  s also a searing and devastating portrayal of a beautiful land divided and in the hellish grips of racial segregation and violence .  
or it  s a bird  it  s a plane  no  look . . . it  s a disaster  or no need to look up in the sky .  br    br   or  . . . ok  that  s enough .  if singer tried to make a romantic titanic like movie to crash the box office record  he failed . the sr structure can  t do this  the dark and restricted color scheme  i would call it  wishi  washi    the boring usual dialogs  the clown with advanced alien technology  the missing fun and magic  etc . makes the movie completely disappointing .  br    br   it simply doesn  t work .  br    br   the main thing at a character like superman is  that he is a superhero . that  s the core  the most important thing .  br    br   love trouble and a sadly lost depressive supersoftie can maximal only be a facet in a     long superman movie  not the whole time .  br    br   because then it is not a superman or superhero movie anymore . it  s like a  and in this case a very bad and boring  social study  where every   minutes a person flies around .  br    br   that  s a big difference .  br    br   this movie is a joke . holy skywalker  this is superman  so give us supervillains  superaction and the most important thing  superfun .  br    br   we want entertainment  singer  if you want to make a     long soul love trouble drama about lost and sadly people  then take normal human characters and make a yentl remake .  br    br   they say superman returns . and then  supersadlysoftie stands in the door .  br    br   maybe singer has tried to kill the legend without kryptonite  but one bad movie can  t do this . don  t give up  they plan a sequel . . .  br    br   next time singer  and warner brothers   make a superhero movie  not a depressive superlame soap  or let it be . a superhero movie means a colorful fantasy with a lot of fun and magic .  br    br   this movie is like a very cheap chocolate box with a super cover . yes  technically there are all sorts in  yes  there is a lot of small talks  there are a few jokes  a view action scenes  etc  but the only one what all these worse pieces have in common is their poor quality .  br    br   it  s not more than a super boring patchwork and one of the worst movies i have ever seen in my live .  br    br   the ridiculous cast strategy  cast them young as possible  so we can make sequels in the next   years  gives the rest . kate bosworth plays a   year old star reporter  she  s looking like   . superman was full five years away  so he slept with her  years ago  so she was     looking like    and a daily planet reporter  wroting  i spend a night with superman  . warner brothers  that  s too much .  br    br   routh is not so bad  he is playing a little bit wooden  but the whole movie is wooden  so . . .   temporary good were marsden and sometimes posey . the rest  forget it . even spacey  this is not his terrain .  br    br   reeve  hackman  kidder were acting so easy  with fun . what a difference .  br    br   the jesus poses at the end are ridiculous too . what the hell should that be  the problem here is  they mean this serious  not as a joke . next time spiderman or batman or ironman falls and rises like jesus or angels  or they speak with god directly . why not  they are superheroes  saving human lives every day . so at least one talk with god every week should be possible . . . oh my god .  br    br   maybe this was not the real announced movie  instead it is from a bizarre dull parallel universe .  br    br   for the warner brothers this superlame depressive flick will be possibly the greatest disaster in history . not only because of the money .  br    br   i understand how difficult it  maybe  was to create and transport some messages or feelings  but showing lone  lost and sadly people isn  t new and thousands of movies or tv  shows did it better  in very old or new ones like magnolia . and the flying frogs there were more impressive than this flying superwoman  sorry  superman of course .  br    br   singer and wb  that  s simply nothing . in fact it  s even more than nothing  it  s like a black hole that destroys the passion for  comic  superhero  movies and steals us three hours of our life .  br    br   mrs . smilla  s little brother .  very angry and green like the hulk .   
very rarely does denzil washington make a bad movie and come to think of it that goes for kevin kline and in this case  this must count as one of their best films . it is more about of film about how strong friendship can more than the story of steve biko although we do get an insight into what the man was like and how far the reporter and friend donald woods went to preserve the mans name and let the world know what a corrupt  putrid society south africa was . the direction is outstanding from david attenborough as it was for gandhi although if there is any critisism to be aimed it could be at the length of the film . two and a half hours is a long time to sit through a historic movie . what is amazing is how he manages to control all the extras . thousands of people in both films . this film really does open your eyes to what happened before the break up of aparthiet and you cannot fail to moved by it .  out of   .  
did the movie  makers even preview this before they released it  the script jumps from place to place without giving much explanation . the beginning doesn  t clarify if its a prequel or not . it starts with superman  s beginnings on earth and then jumps to a point after the last movie  but doesn  t really alert the viewer of this . very confusing  superman himself is weak and in need of prozac . he is portrayed as a potential home  wrecker  a stalker  and someone who is clearly depressed and confused . this type of character rarely makes for an interesting hero . the ending is absolutely ridiculous . superman ending up in a hospital just made me want to kill him off myself . i  m seriously waiting for a snl skit where superman appears on maury povich and maury says   the results are in  in the case of the child  superman  you are the father .  to sum up  ok acting by this superman and kevin spacey  but horrible script . the movie is basically unwatchable .  
it  s sad to view this film now that we know how the anc got shafted by international capitalism . biko died for nothing much . woods achieved little . yes  outright apartheid was abolished  but all the apparatus of power was reserved by the minority whites  leaving the anc government more or less impotent . as naomi klein writes in the shock doctrine  in the talks between the black and white leaderships  the deklerk government had a twofold strategy . first drawing on the ascendant washington consensus that there was no only one way to run an economy  it portrayed key sectors of economic decision making    such as trade policy and the central bank    as  technical  or  adminsitrative  . then it used a wide range of new policy tools    international trade agreements  innovations in constitutional law and structural adjustment programs    to hand control of those power centres to supposedly impartial experts  economists and officials from the imf  the world bank  the gatt and the national party    anyone except the liberation fighters from the anc .  the statistical results are horrifying  with not much change accomplished  and aids flourishing . viewing cry freedom in this light is deeply ironic    actually tragic . the anc has transformed itself from being the solution to being the primary problem .  
this movie is a very poor attempt to make money using a classical theme . i used to love superman movies  but this one made me want to shoot myself . very poor acting  outrageous special effects  and a plot equal to zero . to summarize  superman leaves earth  because scientists discovered pieces of his home planet  some were in space  duh   doesn  t tell his girlfriend anything before leaving  duh again   takes off in a spaceship       comes back i think  years later  and look forward to hooking up with his girlfriend again  who is now razing his son  which son  in my humble opinion is at least  years old  . and what about that lex luthor  trying to grow a new continent in order to sell land  please    br    br   i vote  out of   for this movie  only because i am not allowed to vote  . if you have anything else to do with your time  don  t go to see this movie  and even if you don  t have anything else to do  stay home and watch tv   
an overlong  but compelling retelling of the friendship between civil rights leader steve biko and donald woods . the first half of the film is the strongest where we see the bond formed between the two men  and how they help each other out  but the second half isn  t as strong  due to the elimination of the biko character . still  its a compelling film with great performances by kline and washington  in the film that put the latter on the map . washington was also was nominated for best supporting actor for the first time . overall  a well made film that could have been trimmed down a bit .     .                                      
this movie was extremely poorly conceived from every angle except technological . i stood and watched everyone waddle out of the theater  their faces drained like their lives flashed before their eyes   eyes wandering at their neighbor  wondering if it was just them . i mean  how could the movie really be bad . nobody  ll admit it  it  s a classic case of the emperor wears no clothes .  who am i to question a movie containing a guy who stops a jet liner   but the fact remains  every member of the audience is thinking what i  m writing right now . i actually plagiarized their faces .  br    br   obviously lois is only aroused by power  she won  t even have a cup of coffee with the superman with glasses who doesn  t stop jet liners . it can  t be the look in  his  eyes to the depths of his soul or anything like that . in the old supermans  she had some level of connection with him  he wasn  t priority number   obviously  but it strengthened her character that she was  torn  . i bet henry kissinger would have even won this lois over before clark kent .  br    br   and now it  s official  kryptonite does to superman what eating at mcdonalds does to the avg . person .  br    br   superman  one  he loses his earth dad  then finds his real super dad  the story is captivating every step of the way . he  s human  he relates to people and he feels love for people  he relates to highschool students  he relates to people who feel different . he relates . the superman returns superman seems to relate only to superpeople and it seems he  s just  doing a job  when he  s saving people .  br    br   there  s something about clark that lois likes  she  s really internally in love with him but can  t admit it  and when he comes into the picture as superman  it throws a kink in the on  the  rocks love . without superman  she would  ve fallen in love with clark  at least that  s what the movie points to  whether it was the intention or not  . superman returns is a love story between a woman and superman  clark is like a pile of horse maneur to lois . literally .  br    br   superman two i just watched it again . as a kid  i  thought  i enjoyed the action  but now i know it was the story that held me then too  watching it over and over again . if i saw superman returns as a child  i would  ve hated it then too  i think .  br    br   there is so much heart and soul and superpower going around in this movie  it  s sick . superman gives up his powers for love as a world plot is going on and meanwhile  meanwhile  lex luther  s got something fantastic up his sleeve .  br    br   superman three now there  s a three  way love story between superman and lana and clark  only humanity wins and clark  s inner nature beats superman  s power  because when his supermoral nature is gone and he  s superhuman  who does human things with his superpowers   she sees it  s not the power of superman that she  s in love with  it  s not superpowerman  but supermortalman that she loves   and who  s really super . and when she tells clark she  prefers  him to superman  he is elated  he has made a human connection again . he wants to be accepted for who he is  not just for his ability to bend steel . this is the kind of stuff that  s missing from superman returns .  br    br   clark super  sneezes to help the kid get a strike  humanity again . plus  it  s an ineresting use of superpowers . he  s not just using straight brute strength .  br    br   he crushes the coal into a diamond for his woman because she had to sell hers  love is the only thing that drives him to use his powers other than for saving .  br    br   it seems there  s nothing at stake in superman returns . even in superman three  we see the damages caused by the nemesis  world domination plot . . we see suffering  we see how it effects pryor and others and people in the middle of it . . there  s no damage  esp . emotional from lex  s plot to sink the us . we see a glob of crystal thrown into space . . superman had to get very creative in the first three supermans in order to stop the plot against him  he couldn  t just  access  his superpowers . in the first one  he had to stop two missiles going in different directions and then break his universal mandate and erase history to save lois  life . . .  this was thirty years ago     in the second one  he had to outsmart three guys that he was already more powerful than  but combined with lex  s genius  and the villains  immoral tactics  superman  s overpowering wasn  t enough  he had to work one against the other and outsmart them . . . in superman iii  again  his superpowers weren  t enough to win . . he had to outsmart a computer that calculated everything it saw . he couldn  t use straight aggression on the computer because it calculated it in advance  so he had to use a benign acid that would only become deadly to the computer after the computer responded to the aggression . and he found that acid earlier when he couldn  t simply use his superpowers to blow out a fire because it was a chemical fire  so he had to use his superbrains   he couldn  t carry water  so he froze a lake and dropped it on the fire . . now in superman returns  he simply lunges the island into outerspace  like a night temp for ups . he doesn  t need to figure anything out  he just uses his  super strength  . and lex luther  s brilliance was shown at the premeditation level of a junkie who just ran out of junk .  br    br   to say nothing of the fact that he threw that island into outerspace after getting stabbed with a knife of kyrptonite right in the bloodstream and the island itself was dripping kryptonite spores in his face  but he just averted his eyes and nose like it wasn  t grey poupon he was looking at .  
as anyone old enough knows  south africa long suffered under the vile  racist oppression of apartheid  which completely subjugated the black population . one of the most famous anti  apartheid activists was steve biko  who was murdered in jail . following the murder  reporter donald woods sought to get biko  s message out to the world .  br    br   in  cry freedom   woods  kevin kline  befriends biko  denzel washington  before the latter is arrested on trumped up charges . when woods attempts to spread biko  s word  he and his family begin living under threat of attack  and they are finally forced to flee the country . the last scene gut  wrenchingly shows police firing on protesters .  br    br   as one of two movies  along with  a world apart   that helped galvanize the anti  apartheid movement   cry freedom  stands out as possibly the best ever work for all involved .  
i saw the movie last night and i really wanted to like it . my expectations for the movie had been going up and down ever since i heard it was being made . some days i  d see something spectacular and some days i  d be disappointed .  br    br   yet being the kind of fan i am  i had high hopes for this movie but in the end i was sorely disappointed .  br    br   while i love the richard donner movies i didn  t like their sometimes campy nature or the changes they made to superman  s character and his powers .  br    br   singer however chose to take the worst elements of the donner movies and put them in his version .  br    br   while his lex luthor is slightly darker he  s still nothing more than a shyster  a conman and a common criminal . he  s no more intelligent than when gene hackman played him . kevin spacey does his best to play luthor well but ultimately he falls victim to shoddy writing and unremarkable dialog .  br    br   his henchmen are more two dimensional than even comic book henchmen . most of them literally have no dialog in the movie .  br    br   spoilers ahead kitty kowalski is almost exactly the same character as ms . tesmacher . she seems to be as evil and cold as lex luthor but she proves to be just an underling who melts after seeing superman in trouble and quite predictably betrays luthor .  br    br   the biggest disappointment in the movie was frank langella as perry white . i wasn  t a huge fan of the over the top perry white in the donner movies but at least he had a soul . he was after all said and done  a veteran reporter who cared about the truth and a good story . langella  s perry white is nothing but a corporate stooge . he wants everyone to concentrate on the superman related stories because they sell papers even though every other paper is doing the same thing . he doesn  t care about the real stories  the real mysteries like the black out and what lex luthor is up to now that he  s out of prison .  br    br   the worst thing about langella is that he  s dull  some actors can be quiet and sober and yet have an undercurrent that lets you know that still waters run deep . frank langella is puddle .  br    br   brandon routh is not a bad actor . he  s ok but again there is not a single memorable line in the whole movie . not the actor  s fault . his movements are clearly meant to look graceful  like even the slightest movement of his fingers effects the way he flies . but it still looks choreographed and artificial .  br    br   lois lane while badly written was surprisingly well acted by kate bosworth . unfortunately  again  for a pulitzer prize winning journalist and writer  she is about as eloquent as any teenage on dawson  s creek .  br    br   james marsden was my favorite actor in the whole movie  mostly because he looks more like superman than even routh . without any superpowers he manages to figure out lois lane  s message  flies a plane to the location  gets on board luthor  s yacht and rescues lois and her son .  br    br   the only moving moment in the movie is when they are all trapped pantry as it is flooding with water and the ship is sinking . you see them slowly going being immersed in the water . you know superman  s going to come by at the last moment to rescue them but still you can  t help but feel sorry for them .  br    br   as i said before the plot is very haphazard . unlike singer has said  this is not a movie about a superhero returning and trying to find his place in the world . as soon as he returns the world welcomes him back with open arms . lois is the only one who  s not happy to see him back . even luthor is happy to have superman back because it gives him a chance to settle the score with the man of steel .  br    br   superman is shown to be probably one of the dumbest heroes in the universe . a big green piece of meteorite is stolen from a museum  lex luthor is out of prison  he now has knowledge about superman  s powers and weaknesses  and yet he  s still not able to connect the dots enough to know luthor would be using kryptonite against him .  br    br   according to the movie the only thing superman is good for is lifting really  really heavy things . the action sequences are all incredibly predictable .  
cry freedom is an excellent primer for those wanting an overview of apartheid  s cruelty in just a couple of hours . famed director richard attenborough  gandhi  is certainly no stranger to the genre  and the collaboration of the real  life mr . and mrs . woods  the main white characters in their book and in this film  lends further authenticity to cry freedom . the video now in release actually runs a little over  and a half hours since   minutes of extra footage was inserted to make it a two part tv miniseries after the film  s initial theatrical release . while the added length serves to heighten the film  s forgivable flaws uneven character development and blanket stereotyping in particular  another possible flaw  the insistence on the white characters  fate over that of the african ones  may work out as a strength . viewing crying freedom as a politically and historically educational film  as i think it should  over its artistic merits   the story is one which black africans know only too well  though the younger generation may now need to see it on film for full impact . it is the whites who have always been the film  s and the book  s target audience  hopefully driving them to change . now twelve years after the movie  s production  cry freedom is in many ways a more interesting film to watch . almost ten years after black majority rule has been at least theorically in place       s cry freedom  s ideals remain by and large unrealized . it therefore remains as imperative as ever for white south africans  particularly the younger ones who have only heard of these actions to see it  and absorb the film  s messages . in total contrast to american slavery and the jewish holocaust  s exposure  south africans  struggles have been told by a mere two or three stories cry freedom  cry the beloved country  ok  count it twice if you include the remake   and sarafina  did i miss one   . all three dramas also clumsily feature american and british actors in both the white and black roles . not one south african actor has played a major role  white  coloured  indian or black   . and yes i did miss another international south african drama  mandela and deklerk . though this  also highly recommended  biopic was released after black majority rule was instituted  mandela was played by a black american  sidney poitier  who also starred in the original s . a .  themed cry the beloved country   while the afrikaner deklerk was played by a  bald  very british michael caine  a good performance if you can dismiss that the very essence of afrikanerdom is vehement anti  british feelings . until local sabc tv and african films start dealing with their own legacy  cry freedom is about as authentic as you  ll get . as villified as the whites  particularly the afrikaners  are portrayed in the film  any observant  non  casual  visitor to south africa even now in      not to mention     when cry freedom takes place  will generally find white  s attitudes towards blacks restrained  even understated . looking at cry freedom in hindsight  it is amazing that reconciliation can take place at all  and it is . but cry freedom at time shows not much has really changed in many people  s minds yet  and that the black africans  goal to freedom and reconciliation is still ongoing . this is why if you  re a novice to the situation  cry freedom  is your best introduction .  
i guess this movie is a fitting tribute to the first superman film  as it is just as crummy and painfully long as the original .  br    br   after an opening scene consisting solely of murky intergalactic visuals  the credits pay homage to the even  crummy  looking  for  their  time futuristic sweeping credits of the original superman film .  br    br   then there is some more murky stuff . ma kent sees some kind of murky ruckus on the farm  and spends a good portion of my life slowly walking up to some debris in the cornfield . then superman sneaks up on her and faints .  br    br   next we catch up with lex luthor in a scene about many murky close  ups of an old lady as she dies . we don  t see luthor  s face until the end of the scene  an early instance of the film  s drive to leave no hackneyed stone unturned . lex luthor is a guy who doesn  t like superman because he is not human . also  he probably doesn  t like humans either  as the movie occasionally features some kind of plot about lex luthor planning to kill most of earth  s population .  br    br   after a while  clark kent shows up back at his old job  i forgot to mention  he had been away on a five year trip where nothing happened  . then he finds out lois lane has an illegitimate kid and is dating cyclops . it upsets him so much that he loses control of his super strength to such an extent that he accidentally breaks a picture frame .  br    br   at this point we see that miss lane is on some kind of jet attached to some kind of space shuttle . it is some kind of important event on account of it is on television . then we learn that there are people in a control room monitoring this event . there are also people watching it on television and there are pilots in the cockpit . the film then reminds us that these people are involved by cutting between them for most of the summer .  br    br   as the events leading up to the inevitable disaster started to build  i excused myself to get a soda . i accidentally walked back into the wrong theater and watched that movie about al gore showing slides in its entirety . i tried to find my way back to superman returns  but i somehow wandered into prairie home companion  which i watched twice in a row . then it was time to stop messing around .  br    br   i walked back into the first theater  found my seat  and looked up to see that the impending lois lane space shuttle disaster was almost upon us . still  it seemed to be taking forever  so i wandered around the theater  met a girl  got married  raised a son and sent him off to college . while attending my son  s medical school graduation  i remembered that i should probably check in on superman returns  so i excused myself and raced back to the theater only to learn there was no need to hurry . it still took about another half hour before things went wrong for space shuttle lane . when they did  superman saved everybody  which was pretty cool .  br    br   . and then there is a a subplot where superman turns really creepy and starts stalking lois lane and her family with his x  ray vision and super  hearing . then he tries to get her to cheat on cyclops  who seems like a good guy .  br    br   meanwhile  lex luthor is involved in some kind of contest to display every possible generic villain behavior before the end of the movie . i forgot to bring my scorecard home with me  they give you one at the door   but i think he scored damn close to one hundred percent . i hope he wins the million dollars .  br    br   at this point  things start to gear up for the big murky finale . i think maybe the projector was broken  on account of the movie seemed to be in some kind of loop for a while here . i remember seeing murky things growing out of the water  superman getting sick  superman getting better  back to the murky things  he  s sick again  no wait  he  s okay again .  br    br   then lex luthor unleashed his final bad guy move yelling at his girlfriend a little bit .  br    br   then superman died and came back to life . i thought the movie was over  so i left .  br    br   ninety years later  the nursing home where i lived felt a little chilly . i realized i left my sweatshirt back in the theater  and i went to retrieve it . when i did  i was slightly surprised to find that superman returns wasn  t over yet . i tried to ask some of the viewers what i missed  but most of them were only skeletons with long gray beards by now .  br    br   i sat back in my old seat and watched as lois lane puttered around her house for a while . then superman showed up and started quoting the beginning of the movie  and since i already saw that part i thought it was okay to leave .  br    br   so that is my review of superman returns .  br    br   oh  also  if you like jokes about people eating dogs or jokes about one dog eating another dog  you will love this movie . on account of there are two jokes like that in it .  
billed as the story of steve biko   played excellently by denzel washington  as you  d expect   this was actually more the story of donald woods  played by kevin kline .  br    br   this was undoubtedly the making of kline as a serious actor  and he was surprisingly good in the role .  br    br   attenborough gave this the sort of direction you  d expect  and the often spectacular scenes of the masses were those of the sort that only he can get across .  br    br   the remainder of the cast was competent enough and did a good job  in what ends up as an ultimately sad tale of a south africa that is still nowhere near the distant past .  
special effects  good .  br    br   script  terrible . no plot . no depth . no meaning . this film rendered superman as a meaningless hero  a hero with no archetype . in the original film  he represented america in the cold war . here  he represented nothing but a hulk .  br    br   sure  the actors were fine . kevin spacey was a fine choice  among others .  br    br   this still does not resolve the problem that this film had no depth whatsoever . i cannot see how anyone can come away with anything meaningful from this film  when superman was  and is  daily created to be a meaningful hero in not only comics but also in people  s minds . this was a real waste of money considering how many directions this film could have taken .  br    br   just a few instances lex luthor could have been a villain of global corporatism  political domination  totalitarianism  and on and on and on . he was just another goofball hackman incarnation .  br    br   and superman  for what did he stand in this film  nothing but another hack  savior  figure .  br    br   wait until it comes to the dollar theater if you see it at all .  
this film is  quite simply  brilliant . the cinematography is good  the acting superb and the story absolutely breathtaking . this is the story of donald woods  a white south african who thought himself a liberal until he found out the reality of apartheid . kevin kline is completely convincing  so much so that when donald woods himself appeared on tv some years later  i recognised him from kline  s portrayal . denzel washington also turns in a masterful performance  as ever .  br    br   i urge you to watch this . it is long  but it is worth your patience because it tells such an incredible story . remember  folks  this really happened .  
first  let me just comment on what i liked about the movie . the special effects were fantastic  and very rarely did i feel like i was watching a video game . there  that is the last nice thing i have to say about this film . in fact  i would just like everyone reading this to take note that i can  t even put into words how hard it was for me to write this review without swearing .  br    br   i have innumerable complaints about the film  but four major complaints jump to mind . my first major complaint has to do with the incredible cheesiness of the  plot twist   if you can call it that since most people probably saw it coming a mile away  where lois  s  year  old son turns out to be the super  powered child of superman . when the crying super  child throws a piano at lex  s henchman to save his mother  i almost got up and left the theater . singer could have made a much better superman movie without resorting to cheap gimmicks like a seemingly fragile but latently super  powered illegitimate child . it  s been  days since i saw the movie and i still want to vomit .  br    br   my next major complaint has to do with the fact that superman lifts a continent made out of kryptonite up into outer space . it doesn  t take comic book guy from the simpsons to point out what  s wrong with that . i don  t know how many comic books brian singer has read  but when superman is exposed to even a small amount of kryptonite he barely has the strength to stay on his feet . whoever had the idea to have him fly a large island made out of his greatest weakness into space has no business being associated with any superman  related projects ever again . the concept is as ridiculous as making a dracula movie where the title character has a stake through his heart and still manages to fly a spaceship made out of garlic into the sun . why not just have superman eat kryptonite  he can eat it and then brush his teeth with it  and then go to sleep in kryptonite pajamas . that  s not any more absurd then having him hoist a continent of kryptonite into space and then fall powerless through the atmosphere without burning up in re  entry or splattering all over central park when he hits the ground .  br    br   my third major complaint has to do with the fact that singer slaps movie  goers across the face with religious symbolism the entire movie . i have to take issue with his characterization of superman as the only son of a god  like jor  el sent to earth to be a savior . jor  el wasn  t all  wise  he was just a scientist . and he didn  t send his son to earth to be a savior  he threw him in a rocket and hurriedly fired it into space because his planet was about to explode . i  ll buy the christ allegory if brian singer can show me the part in the bible where god sends christ to earth because heaven was about to explode  and then radioactive pieces of heaven become christ  s primary weakness . furthermore  the  crucifixion  scene where luthor stabs superman in the side with a kryptonite  spear  just makes me want to slam my face into a brick until i  m too brain  dead to notice the brazenly obvious and inappropriate symbolism that will be tainting the man of steel for the foreseeable future . they might as well rename this movie  superman returns the passion of the christ .   br    br   and speaking of luthor  my last major complaint has to do with singer  s depiction of lex luthor . lex luthor is a shrewd  cold  hearted business tycoon who is more apt to run for president  which he does in the comics  than try to destroy the world . the man wants money and power he wants to be in charge  not wreck everything . yet the luthor we see superman returns  as well as all the previous superman movies  is a wacky theatrical dunce who comes up with zany schemes to destroy the world . if singer had the slightest loyalty to the characters instead of the  quite awful  previous superman movies  this film might not be such an unbearable travesty . maybe singer  s next project can be a batman movie where he focuses on the interpretation of batman from     s tv show . zam  whap  pow    br    br   to summarize  i don  t know what i hate more  the movie itself or the fact that so many people seem to be giving it good reviews . everyone is entitled to their opinion  but if you don  t hate this movie then your opinion is wrong . i sincerely encourage anyone who reads this not to see this movie if you haven  t already . don  t see it  don  t buy it when it comes out on dvd  don  t rent it . . . basically don  t contribute any money towards it in any way . this movie does not deserve to make any money . in fact  i think that for every person that sees this movie  bryan singer should be fined   billion dollars . if you  re a superman fan and you really want to see this movie  just bend over and have someone kick you in the balls and you  ll get the same experience without having to waste  hours of your time .  
i show this film to university students in speech and media law because its lessons are timeless why speaking out against injustice is important and can bring about the changes sought by the oppressed . why freedom of the press and freedom of speech are essential to democracy . this is a must  see story of how apartheid was brought to the attention of the world through the activism of steven biko and the journalism of donald woods . it also gives an important lesson of free speech  you can blow out a candle  but you can  t blow out a fire . once the flame begins to catch  the wind will blow it higher .   from biko by peter gabriel  on shaking the tree  .  
along with  days in the valley  i think this is one of worst movies i  ve ever seen . just another of the long line of tarantino rip  offs that have emerged since pulp fiction . the atmosphere the movie creates is amusing for the first five minutes  but then the film makers make the unforgivable mistake of allowing unnecessary and grotesque violence to up the  hip  quotient . you  re better off skipping this one .  
great battle finale and nice sets help keep this often  slow movie enjoyable . at times it had me checking my watch  although there were enough memorable moments to make the film stand out in my mind days after watching it . the ending should surprise even those familiar with the nibelungen story line .  
the beginning of the   s brought many  quirky  and  off  beat  independent films  a particular sub  genre of which is the semi  spiritual desert crime movie . others of note are  wild at heart    from dusk til dawn   and to a certain extent  natural born killers  . good films like those spawned junk like  highway       destiny turns on the radio  and this ineptly surreal anti  masterpiece  under the hula moon  . it  s a comedy that aims for a certain emotional tone  attains it  but keeps going to the point of irritation . while the pursuit across the spirit  world of the desert and the casting of chris penn are good ideas  the film is not dirty enough or hard enough to be a good crime movie  and isn  t focused enough on laughs to really be a comedy . i won  t blow the ending  but let  s just say it  s bad . the film is basically a bad side effect of genre  cancer . this is the dregs of indie  mania .  
this is a very moving picture about  forty  something best friends in a small england town . one finds a passionate loves and a new beginning with a younger piano instructor  when tragedy strikes and hearts are changed forever . definitely a film to have a box of tissues with you  a powerful piece of work . this is definitely one of my favorite films of all time .  br    br   spoiler    spoiler alert   spoiler     br    br   the main character is taken by her young  handsome piano instructor and a passionate romance blossoms . her two jealous  friends  play an immature prank which quickly leads to tragedy . she loses her love and her friends in one foul swoop . in the end a unexpected surprise pulls them back together .  in my opinion her forgiveness is not warranted   
outside of the fact that george lopez is a pretentious jerk  his show is terrible .  br    br   nothing about lopez has ever been funny . i have watched his stand  up and have never uttered any resemblance to a laugh .  br    br   his stuff comes across as vindictive and his animosity towards white people oozes out of every single pore of his body .  br    br   i have laughed at white people jokes from many a comedian and love many of them .  br    br   this guy has a grudge that won  t end .  br    br   i feel bad for hispanics who have only this show to represent themselves .  br    br   the shows plots are always cookie cutter with an hispanic accent .  br    br   canned laugh at the dumbest comments and scenes .  br    br   might be why this show is always on at  am in replay .  
in  die nibelungen siegfried   siegfried was betrayed . now  kriemhild seeks revenge . she marries hagen  and through a series of events  finally engages in a very drastic  but fitting  action at the end .  br    br   one of the things about watching this movie nowadays is that we can look at certain portrayals . attila the hun  called etzel in the movie  is shown as the strange person from the east  possibly an allusion to the soviet union . obviously  it was not fritz lang  s fault that hitler used  the nibelungenlied  for german national pride in the third reich  but one can see what the fuhrer liked about the story . nonetheless  this is an absolutely formidable movie .  
so far nightmares and dreamscapes has been erratic and disappointing . the first segment  directed by brian henson  may have offered little in the way of groundbreaking storytelling or real scares  but at least it was well  directed  suspenseful  and visually interesting  with solid acting by william hurt and very impressive special effects for a mini  series .  br    br   however  the second story in the series was just dreadful  and not in the good way . the screenplay is bad  requiring the shallow  unlikable protagonists to act illogically in order to move the plot  and having characters ramble on endlessly for the purposes of clunky  unnecessary exposition . the acting is overdone and unconvincing  and i felt far more empathy for a cold  blooded killer in the first story than for the newlywed couple in the second . the director used a million tricks to try to make the narrative spooky  but with the amateurish acting and writing  the end result looks like a freshman  year film school project  with camera moves for their own sake  and little in the way of plot or tension .  br    br   if the rest of the series continues like this  i  ll be sorely let down . i look forward to william h . macy  s installment  and hope he gets a decent director and screenwriter for his segment . so far the quality is far too inconsistent to predict either way .  
fritz lang  s german medieval saga continues in die nibelungen kriemhilds rache       . kriemhild  margarete schoen  wants to avenge her murdered husband  siegfried . her brother is too weak to bring the murdered  hagen  to justice . kriemhild marries etzel  the king of the huns  rudolf klein  rogge  . she gives birth to a child  and invites her brothers for a party . etzel and the other huns should kil hagen  but he is protected by his brothers . we see a huge battle of life and death begins  and she sets the whole place on fire . eventually hagen is dead  and so is kriemhild . these movies deal with great themes  such as revenge and undying love . sure we have later seen some better movies made of those topics  but this was one of the early ones .  
with its companion piece masters of horror  nightmares and dreamscapes can only be seen as the absolute nadir of the genre that began so auspiciously with the twilight zone and the outer limits .  br    br   of course  part of the problem is that it does nothing to be of any interest to a comparatively adult audience  instead aiming at ten  year  olds  who are only able to count body  bags  and scarcely that . and so grossness is king  and king is grossness .  br    br   stephen king is simply illiterate  in general he has the aptitude for storytelling of bart simpson . since he cannot read his sole inspiration is the movies .  br    br   true  the cinema is not such a bad place to start  since it has generally escaped the onslaught of  realism  . but these films are only the rumor  not the thing  and if you want to write  you have to dig deeper .  br    br   of course  only pickman had monsters as close acquaintances . but even so  it should be clear to any undergraduate that vampires are not dracula and lugosi .  br    br   at least autopsy room four is a clear indication of what is wrong . one can almost imagine this pathetic dolt sitting as his desk trying to come up with something scary .  br    br   not  mind you  trying to describe accurately the horror of the system of which he is an integral part  making the stupid stupider  but trying to come up with a scary story for his little nephew . suppose  you were paralyzed  and people thought you were dead and started to cut you open like they do at those autopsy things  wouldn  t that be gross  and that  boys and girls  is the story .  br    br   what about characterization  oh yes  he  s one of these suits  who never really appreciated life  you know  and now it  s too late  right  and he  s shouting  well  they can  t actually hear him  you know  he  s saying that he  s going to sue the hospital  but he  s not such a big shot anymore  you see  lying there  or is it laying  i can never remember  and all . and he  s thinking oh no please  please don  t cut me and this is terrible  lying  or laying  like that  now  wouldn  t that be a great story  you know i read somewhere that a snake bite can do that  i think it was that great medical authority agatha christie . what was the name of that snake again  oh yeah  a boomslang  has quite a ring to it  doesn  t it .  br    br   let  s make it a peruvian boomslang  sure  steve  that  s great  except that boomslang is afrikaans  you moron  but how can you really tell that the target audience is children  and not simply mental defects  it  s easy there  s no sex .  br    br   well  there is  but it  s the kind glimpsed through a crack in the door to our parent  s bedroom . modern filmmakers are really big on the erotic aspects of the genre  the monster  the female victim  the chase .  br    br   but unlike universal and lewton they have no idea what  s going on . all that  s really left is the giggling outside the sm club and the fascist credo that people with sexual preferences are intrinsically evil .  br    br   in spite of a certain discrepancy in size  king kong knew exactly what to do with fay wray . freddy krueger can only kill her .  br    br   and since there  s no real titillation in that  he has to torture her first  not in any way that might excite her  you understand  since that would upset our puritan sentiments . and so  horror and romanticism become simply unpleasantness and the grooming of psychopaths .  br    br   our hero  you see  is a rubber fetishist  and can only get a boner if someone touches him you know down there with you know  rubber gloves  giggle  . and that  s what they use in autopsies  and that  s how they discover that he is  in fact  you know .  br    br   obviously  this is the author at the height of his inspirational powers . too bad  they cut it out  since it might have upset the five  year  olds watching the show   
i finally got my wish to see this one in a cinema . i  d seen fritz lang  s film on video some years ago . i  d been hoping that ideal screening conditions would work their magic .  br    br   conditions were ideal at cinematheque ontario . pristine full  length print . intertitles in the original gothic  script german with simultaneous english translation  accurate without being too literal . live piano accompaniment . ideal .  br    br   the film  s magic sputtered for a little while but ultimately failed to catch  at least for me .  br    br   this film bears no real relation to wagner  s ring cycle as i already knew but some may not . wagner had adapted the   th c . niebelungenlied to his own purposes . part i of fritz lang  s epic    siegfried    has much that will be familiar to listeners of wagner however .  br    br    kriemhild  s revenge  is the story of siegfried  s wife kriemhild  her marriage to king etzel  attila  the hun  and her desire for revenge against hagen and gunther  the rechristened nibelungs  for the murder of siegfried . the spectacular conflagration in this film presumably evolved and expanded in the wagnerian mythos into his gtterdmmerung  his twilight of the gods  and the end of valhalla . this film remains earthbound .  br    br   most of the film is spectacular . the massive sets rival those of  cabiria         which inspired griffith  s  intolerance        . their decoration sets a new benchmark in barbaric splendour . there  s a huge cast of scarred  mangy huns and art deco burgundians . and battles . battles that never seem to end in fact .  br    br   kriemhild is very successful in her plan of revenge . she manages to destroy all around her . her loyalty to her martyred siegfried seems not to stem so much from love  or devotion  but from something closer to psychosis . lady macbeth cried out   unsex me here .  she knew she was emotionally unprepared for what she needed to do . but kriemhild displays no normal human emotions  and certainly nothing one equates with the feminine principle . she is already  top full of direst cruelty   to borrow shakespeare  s phrase  from the outset . margarethe schn and her director convey this with a glower . i don  t want to exaggerate  but that glower is virtually the only expression ever to  animate  kriemhild  s face . it  s the ultimate in one  note performances . it  s clearly intentional however  not simply a case of poor acting .  br    br   what we have then on offer is a one  dimensional sketch of an avenging fury . some might see kriemhild as an empowered heroine . i just see the film as misogynistic .  
i  ve barely just made it through one episode   crouch end   . the dialog was stilted and down  right cringe worthy . the acting was tragic . eion bailey  despite his best attempts to be dramatic  remains mostly expressionless . his eyebrows hint at a recent botox treatment . claire forlani could have just as easily been playing the damsel in distress in a silent movie . the characters were cartoons  each playing their stereotypical cog in the plot mostly random  meandering plot . cheesy special effects can be excused given the tv miniseries budget . but attempts to create suspense and surprise through distracting cinematography added to the unwatchability . i get the feeling that the ending was supposed to be witty and surprising  but it was lame and had little to do with the rest of the story . if i had to compare it  s overall quality to something else  i  d put this episode of  nightmares and dreamscapes  on par with the nbc  s hercules .  
in some ways  the wrath of kriemhild surpasses siegfried  s death  but it also loses some of that film  s greatness . the plot of this one is more cohesive than the first  which is quite amazing . the second half of the actual poem is a lot sloppier and a lot harder to tread through  until  that is  you get to the climactic battle scenes only the iliad  s are better . lang and harbou embellished the huns . the poet  compiler of the nibelungenlied didn  t know a hun from his right ball  and as a result they are  more or less  the same as the burgundians in custom . for example  although the poet clearly describes etzel as a heathen  which is kriemhild  s main concern as rudiger tries to persuade her to marry him   when she gets to hunland  the first thing she does is go to mass . the huns here are clearly heathens they  re almost like caveman . the depiction of them is hilarious  especially verbal  the jester  who has two marvelous scenes . etzel  s character has been given more weight . he is much more formidable . all he does is bemoan his fate in the original poem . lang and harbou are masterful at building suspense  especially at the banquet scene  which is intercut with verbal  s second performance to an amazing effect . however  as is the nature of this half of the poem  the film  s amazing technical accomplishments are missing in this one  for the most part  except for a dazzling sequence where etzel  s hall burns down with the nibelungs inside . the one thing i do have to object to is the way harbou changes the ending . spoilers in the poem  after hildebrand captures hagen and gunther  they are imprisoned . kriemhild visits hagen in his cell and demands that he reveal where he has hidden the horde . he refuses and she herself decapitates her brother . when hagen still refuses  she decapitates him . hildebrand  or possibly dietrich  is so disgusted that a woman would presume to murder a great warrior that he  in turn  decapitates her  calling her a  devil woman  . etzel  who is much weaker in the poem than he is here  says something silly like  ah me   i can understand why they would want to keep a unity of time and place as hildebrand brings them from the castle to retain the prison settings of the two deaths would make the film very anticlimactic . i also understand why they didn  t have hildebrand kill kriemhild his character is much reduced here his name is only mentioned once . but  to have kriemhild kill herself  adopting brynhild  s death from the icelandic sources  is just catering to the audience instead of challenging them . the point of the poem is that kriemhild  s wrath goes far beyond it should into the realm of pure evil . here  we simply have her die for her lost love . it  s not as interesting .  
i just saw the third week of stephen kings  nightmares and dreamscapes mini series meaning  i saw  episodes so far . i have to say that the stories are really weak . i have read stephen king  s skeleton crew  a collection of his short stories that was published way back . i recall most of the stories were average to poor but there was one that was really excellent  if not outstanding .  br    br   what i  m trying to say is that just because this mini series is from a collection of stories from stephen king does not mean that it will be any good . in fact  if his previous collection of short stories are of any indication  then most of this mini series will be average to poor .  br    br   in stephen king  s defense  i have not read these new short stories . perhaps they are good as stories in a book and not readily adaptable to television  or perhaps it was the fault of the scriptwriters in trying to write an interesting script . who knows . also  these short stories may have been made exclusively for this mini series and not not for print purpose . maybe that may have been the problem . if stephen king had submitted these crap stories to an editor  i am sure the editor would have immediately told him to make it more interesting because as is  it is simply boring .  br    br   what is clear from all of this is that the problem is with the stories  script and not the actors and actresses because this mini series has some excellent people acting on it .  br    br   seeing this mini series really makes me appreciate those old  twilight zone  series . each series was only half an hour but it was compelling and riveting . i don  t understand why this mini series could not accomplish similar feat . i am sure this mini series had a good deal of money to make a good mini series but unfortunately  something must not have clicked .  br    br   for instance  this week there were two episodes shown . the first involved a horror story writer who buys a picture drawn by an artist who committed suicide . the writer begins to see changes in the picture as he is driving homeward . feeling uncomfortable  he throws away the painting but it keeps appearing near him . also  the portrait of an individual in that picture is killing people and is out to kill him .  i will not even mention the second episode for this week involving criminals and their loot because it was even more boring than this episode    br    br   this premise is interesting and so the story should be good but after seeing it  i was frustrated because there were too many gaps in the story as well as extraneous materials that was shown that did nothing to help the story . after the last scene  i was left with more questions than answers .  br    br   i tried for  weeks to get into this mini series but it was just too aggravating due to poor stories  script . if this was a movie  i would have recommended that people should wait for the movie to come out on cable or such . i would not even recommend that it be rented in your video store . however  given that this is on tnt  a cable channel  i would say if you have not seen it already  then try it for one week . if you do not like it that week  then you will not like the past series nor the future ones  since they all share the same boring trait .  
please see also my comment on die nibelungen part   siegfried .  br    br   the second part of ufa studio  s gargantuan production of the nibelungen saga continues in the stylised  symphonic and emotionally detached manner of its predecessor . however  whereas part one was a passionless portrayal of individual acts of heroism  part two is a chaotic depiction of bloodletting on a grand scale .  br    br   as in part one  director fritz lang maintains a continuous dynamic rhythm  with the pace of the action and the complexity of the shot composition rising and falling smoothly as the tone of each scene demands . these pictures should only be watched with the note  perfect gottfried huppertz score  which fortunately is on the kino dvd . now  with this focus on mass action  lang is presented with greater challenges in staging . the action sequences in his earliest features were often badly constructed  but now he simply makes them part of that rhythmic flow  with the level of activity on the screen swelling up like an orchestra .  br    br   but just as part one made us witness siegfried  s adventures matter  of  factly and without excitement  part two presents warfare as devastating tragedy . in both pictures  there is a deliberate lack of emotional connection with the characters . that  s why lang mostly keeps the camera outside of the action  never allowing us to feel as if we are there  and this is significant because involving the audience is normally a distinction of lang  s work  . that  s also why the performances are unnaturally theatrical  with the actors lurching around like constipated sleepwalkers .  br    br   nevertheless  kriemhild  s revenge does constantly deal with emotions  and is in fact profoundly humanist . the one moment of naturalism is when atilla holds his baby son for the first time  and lang actually emphasises the tenderness of this scene by building up to it with the wild  frantic ride of the huns . the point is that lang never manipulates us into taking sides  and in that respect this version has more in common with the original saga than the wagner opera . the climactic slaughter is the very antithesis of a rousing battle scene . why then did hitler and co . get so teary  eyed over it  a fact which has unfairly tarnished the reputation of these films  because the unwavering racial ideology of the nazis made them automatically view the nibelungs as the good guys  even if they do kill babies and betray their own kin . for hitler  their downfall would always be a nationalist tragedy  not a human one .  br    br   but for us non  nazi viewers  what makes this picture enjoyable is its beautiful sense of pageantry and musical rhythm . when you see these fully  developed silent pictures of lang  s  it makes you realise how much he was wasted in hollywood . rather than saddling him with low  budget potboilers  they should have put him to work on a few of those sword  and  sandal epics  pictures that do not have to be believable and do not have to move us emotionally  where it  s the poetic  operatic tonality that sweeps us along .  
i usually don  t write reviews but i can  t understand why this is rated so high and wanted to give a warning to horror lovers since i can only assume that all those high ratings were given by average tv watchers .  br    br   i have only watched the first two episodes but those two were so clich  it wasn  t even funny any more . the same old stories you  ve probably seen  read a couple of times already  living toys  evil things from other dimensions . . . and it  s not just that these stories aren  t innovative  they are also pretty bad versions of those clichs . i  d prefer e . g .  chucky  and  silent hill  over those two episodes anytime . and don  t even ask about the visual effects . . . the ones in the first episode are alright but the ones in the second . . . awful . looks like some film student  s project gone wrong . blood . . . or gore . . . erm . . . nothing worth mentioning .  br    br   it might be interesting for some ten year old kid who probably hasn  t seen  read that many scary stories yet  although i  d rather recommend  beyond belief   now that  s what i call a decent mystery tv show  . but for an adult horror fan this is worthless . i only gave the  points because there is in fact some beautiful cinematography  especially in the second episode  and some nice acting .  
i saw this film last night at a special movie theater showing in nrnberg  and it was superb . i do have to admit that the original music composition of the cello player and percussion  xylophone player influenced the mood of the film  but the film itself also had force in its portrayal of the tragic nibelungen saga .  br    br   if you are interested in silent films or in the nibelungenlied  i highly recommend this film . the costumes were fantastic and creative  the sets were opulent and exotic  and the acting was dramatic and breathtaking  as is typical of silent film  tragedies   unfortunately  i have not seen the first part of this film duo that concerns siegfried . the story of this second film begins after siegfried  s death  when kremhild  gudrun in the norse versions of the story  begins to plan her revenge against her brothers .  br    br   also  i watched this film in german i am a native english speaker and have a basic german knowledge . it was difficult to read the  subtitles  what do you call that in silent films   at first because of the old style german script  so i advise that if you watch it in german that you make sure you can differentiate your  k  s    f  s   and  s  s  in the old script .    
man  i really wanted to like these shows . i am starving for some good television and i applaud tnt for providing these  opportunites  . but  sadly  i am in the minority i guess when it comes to the cinematic stephen king . as brilliant as king  s writing is  the irony is that it simply doesn  t translate well to the screen  big or small . with few exceptions  very few   the king experience cannot be filmed with the same impact that the stories have when read . many people would disagree with this  but i  m sure that in their heart of hearts they have to admit that the best filmed king story is but a pale memory of the one they read . the reason is simple . the average king story takes place in the mind  scape of the characters in the story . he gives us glimpses of their inner thoughts  their emotions and their sometimes fractured or unreal points of view . in short  king takes the reader places where you can  t put a panavision camera . as an audience watching the filmed king  we  re left with less than half the information than the reader has access to . it  s not too far a stretch to claim that one becomes a character in a king story they read  whereas one is limited to petty voyeurism of that same character when filmed . for as long as king writes  hollywood will try shooting everything that comes out of his word processor  without any regard to whether or not they should . i don  t blame the filmmakers for trying  but it takes an incredible amount of talent and circumspection to pull off the elusive stephen king adaptation that works . the task is akin to turning lead into gold  or some arcane zen mastery . oh well  better luck next time .  
canto   how kriemhild mourned over siegfried and how king attila woos her through his ambassador rdiger von bechlarn kriemhild  margarete schn  insists on having the head of the killer of her beloved husband  hagen tronje  hans adalbert schlettow   but her brother  king gunther  theodor loos   refuses her request . when king attila of the huns woos kriemhild through his ambassador rdiger von bechlar  she makes him promise through oath in the name of his king that no man would ever offend her . hagen tronje hides the nibelungen treasure in the bottom of a lake .  br    br   canto   how kriemhild takes leave from her homeland and how she was received by king attila kriemhild brings some earth from where siegfried died  and travels to the court of the huns  where she is welcomed by attila himself  who also promises through oath to defend her .  br    br   canto   how king attila besieged rome and how kriemhild summoned her brothers when kriemhild delivers a baby boy  attila returns to his realm and asks kriemhild what she would like most to please her . she asks him to invite her brothers to come to his kingdom .  br    br   canto   how kriemhild receives her brothers kriemhild insists on having the head of hagen tronje  but her brothers keep loyalty to their friend and again do not accept her request .  br    br   canto   how the huns celebrated the summer solstice with the nibelungen kriemhild asks attila to kill hagen tronje  but he refuses since in accordance with the laws of the desert  a guest is considered sacred . kriemhild offers gold to the hums for the head of hagen tronje . there is a fight  and hagen tronje kills attila  s son .  br    br   canto   the nibelungen  s distress the huns lose the battle against the nibelungen  but keep them under siege inside attila  s castle . kriemhild promises to spare their lives provided they deliver hagen tronje  but her brother gunther tells that german people are loyal with their friends .  br    br   canto   the nibelungen  s end after the death of rdiger von bechlarn  giselher and gernot  hagen tronje and guhther are finally captured . kriemhild kills hagen tronje  ending her revenge with the destruction of the nibelungen .  br    br   the conclusion of the poetic saga of siegfried through  kriemhild  s revenge  is also told through seven dramatic cantos . the nature of the first part is a magnificent tale of fantasy  adventure  romance and betrayal the second part is a dramatic story of hate  revenge and loyalty . the solid screenplay with a perfect development of the characters  the excellent performances of the cast and the awesome direction of fritz lang produced another epic ahead of time . margarete schn is impressive with a total different woman  obsessed and inflexible in her revenge wish . the costumes that kriemhild wears are also very impressive  and her acting is based on her face and look . i was a little disappointed with the reaction of attila after the death of his only son  since i found it too passive . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    os nibelungos  parte ii a vingana de kriemshild    the nibelungen part ii kriemhild  s revenge    
the first episode set the bar quite high i thought . it starred william hurt as a hit  man who is contracted to kill a toymaker . we are given very little information on his character or who is paying him to kill  indeed the episode is notable for having no dialogue at all . returning to his modernist penthouse he is delivered a package containing toy soldiers  this gives him a smile but he dismisses it and goes about his business . but he is in for a night of hell  the soldiers are alive and are about to wage war  driving jeeps  shooting machine guns and bazookas and even flying helicopters  . the special effects are good for a tv show and it becomes quite tense as he dodges around the apartment using his wits to survive  sometimes getting the upper hand and other times not . i wont spoil the ending but suffice to say it was a clever little twist . this gave me hope for the rest of the series but i was in for a disappointment  the other episodes were all rubbish and i lost interest by the fourth one . stephen king adaptations are always a mixed bag and these are no exception  
after repeated listenings to the cd soundtrack  i knew i wanted this film  got it for christmas and i was amazed . marc bolan had such charisma  i can  t describe it . i  d heard about him in that way  but didn  t understand what people were talking about until i was in the company of this footage . he was incredible . clips from the wembley concert are interspersed with surrealistic sketches such as nuns gorging themselves at a garden party as marc bolan performs some acoustic versions of get it on  etc .  i  m still learning the song titles  . george claydon  the diminutive photographer from magical mystery tour  plays a chauffeur who jumps out of a car and eats one of the side mirrors . nothing i can say to describe it would spoil it  even though i put the spoilers disclaimer on this review  so you would just need to see this for yourselves . it evades description .  br    br   yes  i love the beatles and was curious about ringo directing a rock documentary  that was   years ago  now  i finally find out it  s been on dvd for  years  but it  s finally in my home . it  s an amazing viewing experience  even enthralling .  br    br   now the dvd comes with hidden extras and the following is a copy and paste from another user  br    br   there  s two hidden extras on the born to boogie double dvd release .  br    br    . from the menu on disc one  select the bonus material and goto the extra scenes  . on the extra scenes page goto scene   take  and keep pressing left  . when the cursor disappears keep pressing right until a  star      logo appears  . press enter  br    br    . from the main menu on disc two  select the sound options  . on the sound options page goto the       i think thats right  option and keep pressing left  . when the cursor disappears keep pressing right until a  starhome video  logo appears  . press enter  
the majority of stephen king  s short stories are little gems  with original ideas that don  t take a long time to develop basically lean and mean   he sets them up quickly in a scarce number of pages  you read  em  and you  re finished before you know you  ve begun . they  re like the equivalent of a carton of mcdonald  s fries   they taste really good and you know there  s not much nutritional value in them  re from a literary standpoint  they don  t say much about the universal human condition   but you  re still gonna scarf  em down  just don  t be a pig and go for the extra  super  sized portion and fill up on too much grease   too much grease  is a metaphor for the prose in king  s novels when find yourself reading one of them and saying come on   enough with the pop  cultural observations or clever yankee asides   get on with the story already   he has compiled four books of short story collections . i  ve read them all   from nightshift to the latest  everything  s eventual  and they all display an efficiency of getting  to  the  point which is sometimes sorely lacking in his tome  sized novels .  br    br   but his short stories never overstay their welcome . . . which brings us to the tv adaptations of nightmares and dreamscapes . . .  br    br   how in the hell did they  the series  producers  get a green  light to turn stories that usually averaged   pages into   minute episodes  i  ll tell you how   two words    stephen king .  stories with his name on them probably didn  t come cheap  and one hour shows enable more advertising than half hour ones  so . . . what should have been an anthology of mostly   or   minute episodes is turned into double that length  and double the commercial time . . . ka  ching   br    br   i  m not going to waste time synopsizing the plots of these stories   this review supposes you have already read the stories and  or seen the show what follows is merely my gut reactions to what tnt presented . . . of the four installments so far  here  s my ten cent assessment  from first to worst    br    br   battleground   not a classic by any means  but hey  how could anyone argue with keeping william hurt from opening his trap by filming this episode without a single line of dialog  and the tongue  in  cheek reference and destruction of the killer zuni doll from trilogy of terror proved to me the producers  and the writer of the teleplay  who is richard matheson  s son   the writer of tot  knew their mission with this one was to make the action deadly  yet at the same time  fun . it took longer to get to hurt  s apartment than it should have  but i think it fulfilled it  s objective .      br    br   umney  s last case   liked this one primarily because of william h . macy  s performance . i think the writer  umney should have appeared in the story sooner into the private eye  umney beginning because he was the actual reality of the story  and anyone familiar with the king short story  probably half  if not more of the audience  knew the chandleresque set  up was due to get interrupted by the writer  s reality  so let  s get on with it already  and cut  out the cute and clever hard  boiled repartee  private dick banter already . once the writer  umney  s family tragedy began to reveal though  i thought the show developed an emotional connection that made the viewer  me  at least   feel sympathy for the real  life macy  s attempt to escape his sorrows by usurping his fictional creation  s exciting life .      br    br   the end of the whole mess   uh  this title is how i felt about this episode when it was over . after twenty minutes  i was ready to scream at the tv   ok  we get it already  the younger brother is a mega mensa genius prodigy extraordinaire  we know from ron livingston talking to the camera   time is running out for me    not fast enough  i thought  that the young whiz kid is going to discover something really bad for humanity   we know this because he  s already built an airplane but almost died because he couldn  t steer it out of the path of a tree and  he blew up his chemistry lab while teaching himself chemistry  to think the end of the world could have been prevented if only this kid had some more parental supervision  . so much time was wasted on establishing the uber  genius of henry thomas  when we finally get to the resolution of his discovery   the end of the world through unintended idiocy   how much do we get to see of the world  ending     a cheap video shot of a reporter starting to forget what she  s reporting on  and brief radio broadcasts announcing the day of judgement is at hand . oh  and the brother  s parents drooling and singing old songs . my point is  if your story is really about the  end of the whole mess  world    i wanna see the  mess  as it goes up in flames and crashes and burns . talk about ending with a whimper  indeed .      br    br   crouch end   this episode just ticked me off totally . i could have lived with the taking  forever exposition of the happy couple arriving at their hotel  playing slap  and  tickle  having lunch  and getting a taxi  that was half the episode right there   if once they finally crossed  over into crouch end the episode delivered the chills  but it failed miserabley . not only wasn  t it scary  it was practically laughable . ooh  look   a kitty . . . wait  it turns . . . oh my god  look at it  s scary eye  uh  huh . they could have gone a long way towards filming the crouch end sequence at night instead of in daylight  too . things you might unintentionally find funny can become scarier when you see them in the night shadows . but i guess the budget wasn  t high enough to shoot at night on the fake london sets they slapped together for this one . on the page  this is a very scary story about tourists wandering into places they shouldn  t and the terrible things that might lurk just around a corner there . the only terror in this adaptation was the directing and acting   those were truly horrifying .      br    br   overall series average  so far        
if you  re a t  rex  marc bolan fan  i recommend you check this out . it shows a whimsical side of marc bolan as well as ringo starr  apparently having a pretty good time shooting some of the scenes that aren  t part of the concert  but fun to watch  leaving you with a sense of getting to know them as just people  and when the concert is shown a talented musician  both playful and professional that rocks and seems to impress the screaming girls . watching him in concert  you would never know that being a rock star is a job  but just having a great time playing some great songs with some good friends  like elton john and ringo starr appearing in some of the live performances . true  there are a few songs missing that i would like to have seen on there  but like any album it can  t have everything . i just bought this in      but if i would have know it came out in      i would have definitely bought it years ago . sad and strange that a man with so many songs about his love for cars  would never learn to drive and would die in a car crash   
this film was basically velvet goldmine if the writers of party of five got a hold of it and made it a t . v . movie . the film lacks what velvet goldmine had which was good acting  writing  and basically everything else . the film had some of the worst writing i  ve seen since wild wild west . it definitely needed to be interesting . i know vh  has become a household name for their behind the music shows . which are a lot better than all this which would have worked if it was a behind the music episode but didn  t and feel flat on it  s face .  
panned by critics at the time but loved by the fans  this film has now become a classic . mixing supposedly  surreal  footage shot at john lennon  s home among other places with live footage of marc bolan  t . rex at their very best  this film is not just a must for everyone who  s liked marc bolan but gives a fascinating insight into the era .  br    br   these were the times when marc was hobnobbing with the likes of ringo starr of the beatles who directed it and you can even find a brief spot from one reg dwight elton john to you bashing the ivories in an amazing and never officially released version of tutti frutti and rocking and ballad versions of children of the revolution .  br    br   there  s also wonderful scenes featuring chelita secunda said to have  created glam rock  with her use of glitter etc  mickey finn and even the actor from catweazle    br    br   the best scene for me is in the garden when marc leaves the dining table  sits down cross  legged in front of a string section and knocks out acoustic versions of classics such as get it on and the slider .  br    br   highly  highly recommended   five stars out of five .  br    br   rory  
serge farnel made a very precise critics of this film in the revue  the rwandese night   www . lanuitrwandaise . net   br    br   a critics which shows how france was behind all the situation undergone by the united nations in rwanda .  br    br   the un soldiers were in a dangerous situation while the french soldiers were warmly welcomed by the genocide forces .  br    br   the day before  ten un soldiers had been killed by the genocide forces .  br    br   that is why the un soldiers decided to protect their own lives by driving behind the french trucks .  br    br   by doing so  they gave up the tutsi which is unforgivable of course .  br    br   but we must keep in mind that the french soldiers organized this situation .  
the first word which comes into my mind after watching this movie is  beauty  . beauty is all around  in actors  play  andie is superb as always   in well designed shots  and in authors  red line idea  the love .  br    br   i think the kenny  s character is the only white spot in these three womens  otherwise boring and predictable life . his interaction makes andie  s character living as entertaining as it could possibly be . when he  s gone  it became obvious that we cannot really appreciate and hold to our inner believes and sacred desires .  br    br   the fact that andie successfully recovers from this loss is nothing bad  instead it shows that life prevails in any forms  even in this small british village  which is shown perfectly .  br    br   another reason i love this movie is that it is so british in all ways  all that houses and  fags  and accents     . and andie again is doing superb job  it is a shame that this movie got such low marks .   out of ten   
i watched this show and i simply didn  t find it funny at all . it might have been the first episode . lately i realize abc is playing a lot of stupid shows nowadays and is going down as a station . all the characters on this show are pretty bad actors  but even if they were good the jokes and script are pretty horrible and would still bring the show down . i would say that i believe this show will be cancelled  but seeing as how abc is doing pretty horrible for quality of shows they are playing  they might just keep this one simply because it  s average compared to them .  
born to boogie is a real  find    though a rock fan for nearly thirty years  i only first saw the film a few days ago  and rank it among the top rock films of all time the music  s terrific  the cream of t . rex  and the visuals consistently exciting and unusual  leaving this viewer craving any more past directorial efforts of ringo starr  who did a fine job here . if you love the music  you  ll be in t . rextasy throughout  as marc bolan really is the star of the piece  front and center . even the fact that some songs are repeated doesn  t matter a bit different venues  costuming  musical arrangements  and bizarre visual concepts are all used to lend different textures and a great deal of upbeat humor to what could have ended up as  only  a concert film in other hands . as rich and full packed as born to boogie is  the film  s only about an hour long  but what is there is totally satisfying . therein lies my only criticism   the video package states something like   minutes  and at least one online source claims the film to be   minutes  but apparently it  s more like   minutes of rocking fun .  
this movie is told through the eyes of a young teacher at a catholic school  watching as the rawandan genocide un  furls around him .  br    br   the movie starts off with a brief explanation about the past history and rivalry of rawanda . then it jumps to the story as told through the eyes of a young idealistic  new  comer  a young teacher who doesn  t take life or the situation too seriously . as he and the driver approach a road  block he plays around with his drivers i . d . not realizing that this is a serious moment and that if the driver can  t identify himself as being of the right tribe to the soldiers they  ll be killed . and thats how he treats the unfolding story of chaos and unfolding around him . suddenly realizes that every rawandan  including his driver  is involved and that the europeans soldiers and tourists cannot and will not help . the media cameras cannot stop machete  s  and there  s too many machete wielding militia  men too shoot . the title comes from the armies captain saying he  s going to shoot the dogs eating the dead  bodies around his compound  but won  t shoot the militia  men that are killing people around the compound . mainly because they haven  t fired at the soldiers yet . finally he realizes the hopelessness of the situation and the guy who tells the evacuation team that he wants to give up his seat for one of the intended victims  flees with his tail in  between his legs  rather than face immanent death with the school kids he  s promised not to leave behind .  br    br   it  s more of character study  and a come to jesus moment for one character  than a story about the genocide in  rawanda  . this movie didn  t have to take place in rawanda  it could have taken place any one of the genocidal hell holes going around this world at any given time .  
this is indeed a treat for every bolan fan  some might think that it  s a little over the top  and that it is only about ringo and marc  s egos  but i think it  s similar to any other concert video  except for the fact that this is marc bolan  not just any guy  i especially liked the music video for children of the revolution  with elton john and ringo starr . this clip alone is worth all the money  i can  t believe they did  not release this version as the single . the movie is really superb  especially for us danes . now  i wasn  t alive during the    s . but danes in general was totally shot out from what was happening around them . the media didn  t play or show any of the popular music back then  including marc bolan and t . rex  they only played a little with the doors  only the really popular songs though . so  i know from my dad  that seeing this  gives him back a part of his youth  he never got to experience .  br    br   i wont make this too long  so . . . if you  re the least bit fan of marc bolan  you need to see this . you might find it boring or as said before  a little over the top . but at least you  ve seen one of the best musicians ever  in action   br    br   only thing that disappoints me a little  is that ride a white swan isn  t on the tape . but i forgive it  since jeepster and get it on are so wonderfully played .  
i thoroughly enjoyed a man called horse when it was released in      but return played like a typical sequel . everything about it   budget  script  plot  casting  and acting   was inferior to the original . gale sondergaard as elk woman  an elder of the yellow hand tribe  looks nothing like an indian  and neither do half of the other  indians   who were played by italians  mexicans  and latinos with cheap wigs . and the old guy who played the chief acted more like a fat old squaw than a fierce leader of warriors . he even used the bow like a woman  finally  richard harris  who did such a superb job in the original  seems to be coasting this time around . i guess he couldn  t resist the easy paycheck he got for reprising his role as horse .  br    br   to be fair  there are some interesting moments in the movie  such as horse  s undergoing a painful purification ritual to  find his vision  and rally the yellow hands against their indian enemies and white oppressors  but on the whole  return is uneven  boring  corny  and predictable   just like most sequels .  
so halfway through the season  i got so caught up in school and my activities that i didn  t realize that the show had been canceled halfway through  which is crap .  br    br   i think the followers of this show should write fox and ask them to at least finish filming so that a the season can be released on dvd later . maybe then they  ll see how many people were disappointed that the show didn  t survive its first season .  br    br   i loved the show and looked forward to it every thursday after the oc . can you imagine my disappointment when i came back to try and watch the show only to discover that it had disappeared  needless to say  i  m not very happy with fox right now . even more so after discovering that no ending was filmed . i mean  if you  re going to work on a project  at least finish it to see what happens . a half filmed show is like a half made car  it  s pretty much useless . fox  film the damn ending and give some of the show  s fans some peace .  
caught this by accident on a t . v . showing  and could hardly believe how utterly awful the whole experience was . by comparison  the original  a man called horse  was spell  binding because it held one  s interest throughout . but this piece of nonsense  words fail me . it was bad enough to have some kind of a  story  presented with all the impact of a wet loaf of bread  but that error was compounded by the obvious lack of subtitles throughout whenever the so  called  sioux  spoke . for goodness sake  couldn  t the film  makers have found enough north american indians who were also actors and near  actors to perform as  indians  in this farrago instead of the imposters they actually used  i also found it quite embarrassing watching richard harris cavorting all around the countryside at the obvious behest of the director standing just behind camera  telling him to run and jump from pointless point a to pointless point b just to make up film footage and minutes . absolutely terrible in all respects   
i can  t believe that they took this off the air . especially  when they only had a few more episodes left . my daughter  sister and a few of my friends loved watching this show . we were so upset when they stopped showing this because of so called ratings . it is not fair to the people who were watching this show since the beginning . we had a right to see the end . i wish they would take an overall vote from all people with a  times a year voting system . they could send out papers in the mail and we as viewers could give an overall vote on all programs that we watch or have heard about . this could also help promote a new show . people would see it and wonder what it is . not only could you see what the viewers are watching  you could also use this as a tool for free advertisement for tv and cable channels . we want to see the other episodes . bring it back    
this is a weak sequel it lacks the interest and light touch of the magnificent  man called horse  in nearly every aspect and when compared to each other they hardly seem to be the same genre .  br    br   the return is almost a parody of the first and tries to evoke different indian ceremonies but comes across as trying way too hard to bottle the magic of the first . in this film the tribe is lost and abandoned  having lost their homelands  modern life has encroached on paradise and they are living in abject misery and poverty . perhaps this is the point the first film took us to a place where we would want to be  a simpler time . this takes us to broken indians in a miserable world and the white man is the hero and savior which rather negates the whole idea of the film .  br    br   the beauty of the first lay in the fact that the white man learnt and discovered that real civilization lies in values rather than western materialism . in the second film this is all but lacking and so we end up with a weak film .  br    br   a huge disappointment .  
i really love this show  it  s like reading a book and each chapter leaves you wanting more . it gets you thinking about what is going to happen in the next episode  and the struggle of trying to maintain their friendship throughout the years . after each episode ends it leaves a sweet bitter taste in your mouth knowing that one  the show was good  you can  t wait for the next episode and it really gets you thinking about what actually happens to the friends throughout the twenty years . and two  the fact that the show has been put  on hiatus  and we will not see the show finish in it  s entirety . fox obviously do not know what they have done  they claim that they are losing viewers in the      category they clearly do not know what people want to see if they got rid of a good show such as  reunion  . i have one query though that i would like to raise . if they were to bring the show back and it went on for another season how would it work since each episode is done in the period of a year and the story is based on what happens in the span of twenty years  your answers are most welcome . bring back reunion  bring back reunion   
no one goes to a movie like the hills have eyes  and expects the second coming of citizen kane . the same is true for the majority of low  rent horror flicks  especially those roger ebert has dubbed  dead teenager movies .  the hills have eyes  definitely qualifies as a dead teenager movie  only here  the teenagers have been given the superficial appearance of military trainees .  br    br   some will argue the line  it  s only a movie  when questionable facts are raised in a movie review  but i  ve always been a firm believer that all good fantasy must be rooted in reality in order to be effective . in the hills have eyes   we  re to believe the main characters are military people on a training exercise  but they look and talk like high school kids camping in the desert . the dialog is awful and frequently vulgar to excess . though the films aren  t nearly comparable  i kept imagining these  soldiers  being in platoon  and shuddering with dread .  br    br   very little about the characters evokes a soldier other than rifles and fatigues radio transmissions are carried out like teenage phone conversations a colonel is addresses as  hey  asshole  by a private . and nobody seems to have the slightest idea what to do  or any sense of command structure  when things begin to go wrong . i think of the soldiers in james cameron  s aliens  a film of pure fantasy  and how even those futuristic marines behaved like real soldiers despite their fantastic situations . fantasy rooted in reality .  br    br   i try to begin watching a movie as a  on a scale of    and judge it  s strengths and weaknesses from there . you have to allow concessions for the material there  s no way star wars is as good of a movie as the godfather  on equal terms . but both are excellent examples of their type .  br    br   in that respect  while the hills have eyes  is a pretty dreadful exercise in amateur and immature writing  it  s only modestly worse in that regard than the typical dead teenager movie . on a technical side  the movie appears to have decent production values and is pretty well made from that perspective . scenes that are intended to shock  or which are intended to evoke urgency or suspense generally work . so  while watching the hills have eyes  may indeed be a fate worse than death  there are certainly far worse horror flicks in circulation .  br    br   it  s worth a watch for those who enjoy this type of stuff without the usual fanboy baggage  or those who don  t tend towards thinking every movie they see is either the best ever or the worst ever of all time . if you don  t  get  horror  especially the dead teenager variety  you  re not likely to have a good time with this one .  br    br        
so  fox pulled the plug midway through a drama  mystery . . .  br    br   how lame is that  do they expect us to invest our time in their new shows when there is a realistic risk of never finding out what happens  why weren  t the remaining  already filmed episodes aired in the us  they were broadcast elsewhere .  br    br   hey  fox  are you listening  this was a great show  but you left us hanging . if you  re going to introduce new drama  mysteries  at least air a conclusion before abruptly ending mid  theme . every time something like this happens  and it seems to happen a lot with you  i . e .  fox   there are more of those who will  wait and see  before investing their time . this means you will see an artificially low interest share  and are more likely to end the series . see  it is a vicious cycle . don  t let us down again . . .  
thhe remake was a superior movie remake in every way . most remakes end up being total garbage but under the very talented direction of alexandre aja became one of the best ever made in terms of remakes and also as far as the mutant inbreed human sub  genre of horror is concerned . in steps part  directed by another individual martin weisz and written by the father and son combo of jonathan and wes  i cannot make a good horror movie to save my life anymore  craven and if this is any indication of weisz directing skills and young craven  s writing skills we are all in for a painful future as thhe  not only fails to be as good as the first but also fails to entertain on any level .  br    br   we start off with a fairly graphic mutant baby birth which though is rather cool will not prepare you for the utter garbage that is to come  only hint to what could have been in this film . we then get to see a crew of scientists who all to briefly are introduced and dispatched by our radiated rejects . in steps our main cast of army reservist to save the day  this is where the major problems begin .  br    br   from very sub par acting  yes even for this kind of movie  to the horrible characters to the lack of true carnage for most of its running time thhe  becomes a labor to watch as a lot of nothing happens as idiotic soldiers make mistake after mistake only to meet there demise not by the mutants but themselves . think the marines in aliens only the exact opposite and you have the idea of how well these soldiers are trained . this is the true shame of the film as most of the hills occupants do not get the kills you would like to see  like in the first film  in fact if this did not have thhe  attachment in the beginning and the brief overview in the beginning tying this loosely to the first this could have nearly been a sci  fi channel original .  br    br   the mutant mountainbillies as well are not as amusing this time around in fact in a lot of way they are far inferior to our prior batch as they all come off as being rather under designed and uninteresting . also the one that took the cake was the sloth  like mutant  you know sloth from the goonies  who helps them out in the  rd act . i was waiting for him to ask for a baby ruth or start going on about rocky road ice cream . truly disappointing and shameful is the only way to describe most of the goings on here .  br    br   the gore is in the film but not nearly as visceral as the original in fact it seemed toned down for the most part as other than the mutant baby birth scene there really isn  t anything that stood out like in the first . another major strike against this movie . so what did work here  the answer is nothing at all . this felt like a sequel designed specifically to make money off the success of the first and not to make an actually  good  film .  br    br   i can go on about the crappy drill sgt .  the radio man that has a speech impediment  that  s right  he is the kind of guy i want radioing in for help in a real crisis  or the pacifist fighter that resembles the exact same character mold as our  hero  in the first film but i believe you get the point . this movie is not even in the same league or even the same planet as the first . it should have been given another title and been added to the saturday night line up on the sci  fi channel . a true shame as a solid sequel could have been made but alas it looks like another horror movie that drops the ball on nearly every level and will get one of my lowest scores as i give thhe  the same score as its part     dreadful words cannot describe how bad this movie is a total polar opposite of its predecessor in every way  uninspired and down  right unnecessary . next time guys if your going to make a sequel this bad . . . don  t even bother . please don  t go support this garbage at the theaters  save your money and thank me later      
i  m usually not too into a specific show  save for the o . c .  desperate housewives . . . hey  i am      but  no kidding  after one episode of reunion i was hooked .  br    br   i can  t even say how bummed i was that it  s time  slot conflicted with bush  s speech last night because i was really looking forward to the     episode  which will now air next thursday . again  that conflict was disadvantageous because  being a new show  it needs to build up a following and having the second episode pushed back a week kills some momentum .  br    br   that said  tv doesn  t always have to be emmy worthy to be enjoyable . i don  t expect reunion to take home any prizes  but i do expect it will be able to capture my attention all season . ever watch the first few episodes of a beloved show years later  sometimes you wonder how you ever got hooked . character building takes some time .  br    br   the one episode for each year idea is wonderful  in my opinion . the only other show i can recall doing something similar is    with each episode being an hour . . . and having an eventful year is more realistic than a day that eventful  please give this show a shot . relax about art form . . . it  s just tv   
you know  i went to see  the hills have eyes   wanting to like it . i really enjoyed the original  and the remake was fairly entertaining . they obviously had more money to throw around than wes craven did on special effects the second time around . even though i still prefer the original film  the remake was done well  and it was kind of a guilty pleasure for me . bloody  intense  and great special effects . in short  a great popcorn movie for any horror fan .  br    br   which brings us to  the hills have eyes   . man  where do i start  the plot  or lack of one  is paper thin . we are not exactly breaking new ground here . the military has decided to monitor the area  and all of these people turn up missing . so what do we do now  let  s send in the national guard to investigate . in true hollywood fashion we need to make them the dumbest  and worst soldiers ever seen . gee  i  ve never seen that premise before . to make a long story short  you have the mutants killing off the moron soldiers one at a time in graphic fashion . once again the special effects by nicotero are great  but the kills no matter how graphic become boring  and predictable . honestly it seemed to me that this flick was done just to grab a quick buck . it was bloody  and graphic  but i found it predictable  boring  and not scary at all . for me it would have been nice if this film contained one original thought . wes craven and his son shared the writing duties  and he has been involved with many of my favorite horror films  but sadly this isn  t one of them .  
believe it or not  at   minutes  this film  for      is a full  length film . very  very few films were longer than that back then  but that is definitely not what sets this odd little film apart from the rest  no  what  s different is that all the actors  with the exception of one frog  are bugs . . . yes  bugs  this simple little domestic comedy could have looked much like productions starring the likes of chaplin  laurel and hardy or max linder but instead this russian production uses bugs  or  i think  models that looked just like bugs  . chaplin and laurel and hardy were yet to be discovered and i assume linder was busy  so perhaps that  s why they used bugs  using stop  motion  the bugs moved and danced and fought amazingly well   and a heck of a lot more realistically than king kong   years later   br    br   the film starts with mr . beetle sneaking off for a good time . he goes to a bawdy club while his wife supposedly waits at home . but  unfortunately for mr . beetle  he is caught on camera by a local film buff . plus  he doesn  t know it but mrs . beetle is also carrying on with a bohemian grasshopper painter . of course  there  s a lot more to this domestic comedy than this  but the plot is age  old and very entertaining for adults and kids alike .  br    br   weird but also very amazing and watchable .  
just recently  i  ve been obsessing over and anticipating this movie so much that i almost had to see it . well  having just seen it today  the  .  rating is completely understandable . i think that if you anticipate something so much that it becomes a dire need  it turns out not to be worth it .  br    br   sure  the hills have eyes  has its moments . it has a very cool and well  developed storyline that ties in well with the actual product itself  but the whole thing is so self  indulged that it becomes so hard to follow . and if it weren  t for wes craven  s production on this film  it wouldn  t be anything to do with the original remake .  br    br   but the whole thing makes you go  is this supposed to be horror or comedy   because there are lots of ridiculous  randomly placed jump moments and stupid one liners  i . e .  there  s a hand in the sher   or  you motherfuer  i  ll kill you all damn sons of btches    and the acting  god don  t even remind me how bad it was .  br    br   storyline  this part contains spoilers  beware   the movie begins with a woman giving birth to a mutant baby  ooh la la    and then the screen fades to black with the movie  s title appearing  and a monologue . then we go to this office where there are randomly placed war veteran mannequins . we find that this is for this one scientist keeping track of people looking for mutants . the box to keep track of audio feeds is gone  and everyone dies  after that tone  setting opening  you  d expect more .  br    br   then  we go to this one team of military recruits training in baghdad . as the captain parades them  a good job at stupidity   their last day of training is in new mexico  the desert where the family in the last thhe had stayed because they were stuck . while in training  things go ultimately wrong  people die  and . . . do i need to tell you any more  because right now i have the attention span of a goldfish just forcing myself to sit here and type this .  br    br   the thing that  s wrong with thhe  is that it just dosen  t work . no flashbacks here  and the ending is pretty safe . . . but with a twist  a stupid one  that is . i  m pretty sure the ultra super director  s cut with a holographic cover and a ticket to the hills have eyes  will showcase all of it  s alternate endings  but at this point  i  m not sure if i care .  br    br   so by all means  if you loved the first thhe so much it  s almost a sin not to see this  then by all means  see it . but if else  then  avoid at all costs . it  s for your own good .  br    br        
this is one of the best animated movies i  ve ever seen in my life . this isn  t just a fun movie  or a well  made movie . this is a landmark in the art of animation and even if it weren  t  just the technical skill that went into making it  would grant it a place in the history of animation .  br    br   wladyslaw starewicz created a stop  motion movie about the secret life of beetles . he imagined a coherent world of insects  with jobs  houses  nightclubs  movie houses  even little props like posters and bicycles and paintings .  br    br   in this movie he tells a simple tale of hypocrisy and revenge . mr . beetle has an affair with a dancing dragonfly  much to the chagrin of a grasshopper but he  s a cameraman and decides to shoot the fling . mr . beetle returns home and finds mrs . beetle having her own affair . mr . beetle chases the lover away but forgives his wife . the two make up and go out to the movies . and the movie they watch is mr . beetle and the dragonfly . described thus it sounds banal  but once seen it becomes a gripping work of cinema . along with emile cohl and jiri trnka  wladyslaw starewicz pretty much invented everything that future animators would use in their work . for that reason he must not remain forgotten .  
this movie was just plain dumb i do not think it was scary at all i went in hoping to be shocked and scared but was mostly laughing some of the scenes were just to fake and thrown together blood scenes were extremely over cg and some of the mutants were ridiculously gay looking it also sucked because the acting was just plain horrible u think they could get some good actors and most of the characters i hated just because how stupid and lame they acted even though they were supposed to be in the military i get to watch movies for free and seen many people walking out im guessing because it was so dumb kinda glad i didn  t have to pay for it in short dumb ass movie don  t see it . . . but then again thats my opinion  
this short is a puzzlement . words fail me here  as this is almost indescribable  technically exceptional after more than   years  the visuals are remarkable and even occasionally amazing   this is not something you watch if you like things that are mundane or  normal   because it most certainly is not either . this be an odd one  gang . well worth checking out  but if things like ren and stimpy make your head hurt  you may want to skip this . recommended .  
the film picks up after last years remake with the military setting up electronic surveillance equipment in the desert where the attacks in the first film happened . the crew is killed not long before a group of soldiers on a training exercise show up to find no one around . you can fill in the rest .  br    br   this is a paycheck picture all around . there seems to be no passion in anyone  s performances  nor in anyone behind the camera . this is a movie that was made for the money and nothing else . on some level this should have worked  it could have been a more horrific southern comfort  where national guardsmen run afoul of some people in the swamps   but instead its not much of anything . in large part you can blame the script  written unbelievably in part by wes craven  which hits the same old targets again and again . add to the mess the fact that the direction is dull and the set up of sequences is so lack luster as to remove any inherent tension in any scene .  br    br   its not bad as such  but badly made and dull . let me put my feelings into context the reason i saw this film was because a local multiplex screwed up and ran this film instead of the kids flick the last mimzy and i wanted to see what caused the out cry  i mean the films have so much in common  he says sarcastically  . i  m convinced that this film will only scare those who like the last mimzy .  
well  i thoroughly enjoyed this movie . it was funny and sad and yes  the guy andie macdowell shagged was hot . interesting  realistic characters and plots as well as beautiful scenery . i think my mum would like it . i still think they should have been allowed to call it the sad fkers club though . . .  
despite positive reviews and screenings at the international festivals  this movie is not for everyone .  br    br   the story is very similar to other movies  in which a teenage girl from the family of immigrants needs to overcome many common personal problems of her age  and also to struggle against the pressure of ethnic traditions in her family . she does that by choosing some kind of sport  and with the help of a local boy  that for some reason falls in love with her  she confronts her problems and wins .  br    br   in girlfight it  s boxing  in bend it like beckham it  s soccer  and now it  s kung fu .  br    br   but fighter is much inferior product than these two  it was simply embarrassing to watch it . semra turan  the  actress  that playing the role of a teenage girl  maybe can do a lot of things  but one thing she can  t do is to act . her presence on the screen is anemic and clumsy  the dramatic situations  in which she tries to show some emotions  are dreadful  her body and facial language are of amateur actress  badly instructed by the director . the rest of the cast is a little better  but they just cannot save this clich movie with stereotypical characters and shallow plot . besides a few relatively good moments this movie has nothing new or interesting to offer .  br    br   even the kung fu fighting is not a reason to watch this  it  s just so boring . the slow motion was really unnecessary  the choreography was basic and lacked the inspiration  and most of the kung fu scenes are just training or standing in all kind of kung fu positions  not actually fighting . not to mention how ridiculous it looks when a small and skinny girl fights big and muscular boys  and knocks them off their feet .  br    br   the only reason this movie has been noticed at all is because it  s european . it  s very easy to publicize this movie  a first martial arts film from denmark  but don  t be fooled  it  s not . it  s just a drama about stupid teenage girl and her problems  which are  by the way  not really convincing .  br    br   bad movie with embarrassing lines  acting and story .  
an absurdly hilarious and strikingly human tale of the jealousies and infidelities surrounding a beetle marriage  russian animation pioneer wladyslaw starewicz  s  mest kinematograficheskogo operatora    the cameraman  s revenge   or  the revenge of a kinematograph cameraman   is a delight of early animation  brimming with highly  effective stop  motion puppetry and no shortage of imagination .  br    br   mr . and mrs . beetle have a completely uneventful marriage  and both yearn for more excitement in their lives . mr . beetle  s desires can only be satisfied by the beautiful exotic dancer at the  gay dragonfly  night club  whom he visits whenever he takes a  business trip  to the city . she is the only one who understands him . a fellow admirer of this dancer  an aggressive grasshopper  is jealous that mr . beetle has stolen his lady and  as fate would have it  he is also a movie cameraman . the devious grasshopper follows mr . beetle and his acquaintance to a hotel room  where he films their exploits through the keyhole .  br    br   meanwhile  mrs . beetle has  likewise  acquired a friend to add excitement to her life . he is an artist  and he brings her a painting for a present  before they both settle down on the couch for some intimacy . at that moment  however  mr . beetle returns home and witnesses the entire spectacle . as mr . beetle bashes through the front door  the artist friend clambers up the chimney  but he doesn  t escape without mr . beetle first venting his anger and frustration upon him .  br    br   there is a certain irony in the statement that follows  mr . beetle is generous . he forgives his wife and takes her to a movie .  he is generous enough to forgive her  and yet he had been equally unfaithful just minutes earlier . at this point in time  however  we still haven  t forgotten the jealous movie cameraman who had been plotting his revenge  and it is no surprise when he turns out to be the projectionist for the film mr . and mrs . beetle are attending . suddenly intercut into the film they are enjoying is the footage of mr . beetle  s disloyalty  and the angry wife hits him across the head with an umbrella  before the frightened and angry husband dives through the theatre screen in search of the grasshopper .  br    br   in the final scene  both mr . and mrs . beetle  now somewhat more appreciative of each other  are serving time in prison for the fire that broke out when mr . beetle sought his final revenge . we do  indeed  hope that  the home life of the beetles will be less exciting in the future  this film may appear to be a mere story of the comings  and  goings of a miniscule insect species  but starewicz is communicating so much more than that . this isn  t a story about beetles  it is a story about us . and it  s startlingly accurate  isn  t it    
alexandre aja  s remake of the hills have eyes was one of the bright spots of     . not only was it a remake of a classic horror film  but it was pretty damned good too . so  nearly a year later  we are being treated to the sequel to that remake . while original scripter wes craven is back as producer and co scripted  this film just fails to rise to the level set by the original and the remake . a group of military trainees stop by in the desert to check in on some scientists and find themselves run afoul of the mutant family from the first film  at least those that remain plus some new ones  . there  s plenty of gore to be had here . what annoys me about this film is the utter lack of characterization . the viewer does not give a damn about what happens to any of these people because we haven  t gotten into them . even the mutants had some characterization last time out and this time  nothing . gore for the sake of gore is pointless . there has to be a reason for this to happen for it to be interesting . nothing that happens here is interesting . and what is it lately with rape scenes in films  here we get yet another one for no real reason . hopefully this is one set of hills that won  t be visited again .  
the cameraman  s revenge is an unusual short not because of the subject matter  adultery  or because it  s animated  winsor mccay had introduced little nemo on film by this time  but because it depicts bugs to tell the story  ladislaw starewicz had originally wanted to film actual bugs fighting but couldn  t get them to do it on camera because of the hot lights they suffered through so he took dead ones and started using stop  motion techniques to manipulate movements to his satisfaction . this short does a good job of putting human characteristics on little creatures such as riding motorcycles  painting  filming  kissing  and dancing . starewicz would also make frogland       and the mascot       but his first notable work would be this one . if you  re interested in this and the other shorts mentioned  check your local library to borrow the dvd the cameraman  t revenge and other fantastic tales from image entertainment .  
as has been stated countless times   the hills have eyes   is not a remake of the  generally disregarded  mid     s sequel to wes craven  s     original . but wishing to give this postmodern sequel  to  a  remake the official stamp of diminishing returns  craven himself  a double threat alongside his son  jonathan  has decided to pen a film that is of the same quality   in plain english  horrible . former music  video director martin weisz takes the reins from alexandre aja  and is clearly in way over his head   yet one wonders how anyone could have created a watchable film from the cravens  screen writing    scrawl . not only are the characters  in this case  a gang of goofball national guards  wo  men sent to investigate the turbulent hills of the original remake  completely obnoxious and prone to really annoying genre pitfalls  played without a lick of irony  mind you   but they are constantly cracking jokes that aren  t funny . after viewing their total ineptitude during a training exercise  their fate against the repulsive  roaming cannibals is painfully obvious . only this time out   as in the original    s sequel   the script is so simplistic  barely existent  actually  that any potential subtext is jettisoned in favor of upping the ante in repulsive shocks  we  re treated to a combo childbirth  murder during the opening credits  plus a gratuitous rape for those who haven  t ejected the dvd by the midpoint   . even the mutants in this outing are personality  free freaks of no memorable stature   the tacky  rubbery  looking makeup fx seems  like the rest of the film  to be trying to hide its face from embarrassment . i really groaned at the lame  surprise  at the end of aja  s otherwise excellent film  and the producers quite literally go for broke at the end of  hills    setting the stage   very lamely setting the stage   for a third installment . . . yet the cravens and weisz have created a film that is such a cynical bastardization of what made the          versions work that they  d be hard  pressed to find an audience after this insulting slap in the face .  
ladislas starewicz  s curiosity with insects and cinema melds into a short film about a love triangle between mr . beetle  an artistic grasshopper  and mrs . beetle . the rather simple story of an adulterous beetle couple that both seek stimulation outside their marriage is similar to a biograph or vitagraph short of the time . starewicz  s twist on the story is to use embalmed beetles with wires straightening the legs in frame  by  frame animation . the story builds as mr . beetle is unknowingly caught on camera with a dragonfly from the local nightclub by a jealous grasshopper . when mr . beetle comes home to find his wife in the arms of her artistic friend  he chases her around angrily  but eventually forgives her and takes her out to see a movie . however  mrs . beetle soon learns of her husband  s infidelities as the movie they watch is the jealous grasshopper  s footage of mr . beetle and the dragonfly together . mrs . beetle thrashes mr . beetle with her umbrella  mr . beetle jumps through the screen  and they both end up in jail after the projector they wreck catches on fire . the insects are placed in humanized settings such as a house or a nightclub  and are given human characteristics of jealousy  anger  lust  and revenge . the insect characters carry briefcases  drive motorcars  and even wear shoes yet they also twitch their antennae and open and close their mandibles as real insects would . the novelty of the story doesn  t wear itself out  even after multiple viewings  but as fluid as the movements are  the film moves slowly . action happens with intricate detail  but rapidity and a quicker pace of filming is lost in the process . despite its pace  the film is an excellent example of starewicz  s early puppetry and is highly recommended .  
i  m no horror movie buff  but my wife  s nieces and nephews are . so  i saw the first movie . it was gruesome  and tense  but not my taste . still good though . for similar reasons  at this very moment  i am being exposed to a sequel .  br    br   the premise itself is beyond absurd . i can buy that disasters occur in the desert . i can buy that mutants exists . i can even buy that the events might be so weird and strange that the military may decide to get involved . it is unlikely  yes  but i  m willing to suspend my belief .  br    br   however  under no circumstances am i willing to believe that the military squad assigned to recon such an area would be unable to fend off the mutants . being a member of the united states army  i can assure that while fresh recruits may lack the seasoned eyes and experience of combat soldiers  any such recruits would be integrated into a capable squad .  br    br   a squad of armed soldiers is not about to be taken out by a few mutants with knives . that  s just the way it works . squad movements  vastly superior firepower  and of course  radio support  would ensure nothing less than total victory . i  m not saying you wouldn  t have casualties  but as soon as the area was verified as hostile  military training would take precedence  no  one would go off on their own even to use the bathroom .  br    br   and if it were discovered that the area was so infested with hostiles that the squad was unable to handle the danger  they would radio in for backup . and believe me  their radios would not be jammed  if there was a chance that normal radios would not do  the squad would have a military issue satellite phone . chances are  if they were unable to check in every hour  a search would be called .  br    br   in order to accept this movie  you must accept that our soldiers are incompetent fools  with incompetent leaders  and an incompetent chain of command . while it may still be true that the most dangerous thing in the world is a lieutenant with a map and compass  our military forces are filled with intelligent  well  trained  competent soldiers . mutants with knives are far below our ability to deal with .  br    br   with the whole execution of the movie depending solidly on the impossible to imagine  the film fails to deliver . instead  we are expected to believe that our soldiers  sailors  and airmen are incapable of dealing with even the most mediocre threats .  br    br   as a combat veteran  i find the movie insulting .  
for animation buffs it  s a must  but even general audiences will enjoy the cameraman  s revenge  a very early example of  pixilation  by the hard  working pioneer wladyslaw starewicz . starewicz and his helpers painstakingly manipulated a cast of flexible insect figures to tell this story  paving the way for the likes of willis o  brien  george pal  ray harryhausen  and legions of modern digital effect creators .  br    br   the cameraman  s revenge is only about   minutes long  but packs in lots of amusing detail as the story follows the amorous adventures of two beetles from their home to a nightclub  a hotel  a cinema  and  eventually  a prison cell . there are two brief dance numbers at the nightclub  performed by a frog and a dragonfly   a scuffle between a beetle and a grasshopper  and a large  scale donnybrook at the cinema  which ends with the projector bursting into flames . pretty elaborate goings  on for      when even john bray and winsor maccay were just getting started  and walt disney was still in grade school   br    br   it  s interesting to note  too  what an impact the alteration of a silent movie  s title cards can have on the story being told . i  ve seen two versions of this film offered by two video companies  and watched them back  to  back  and although the image content itself is almost identical  two different sets of intertitles tell two very different stories .  and the plot outline someone provided above tells yet a third story  which suggests that there  s another version out there somewhere .  the british film institute  s print  which has rhyming intertitles  tells the story of two sibling beetles  each secretly married  who hide this information from one another in order to inherit their late father  s fortune . the other  russian print  tells a simpler story of married beetles who are each guilty of infidelity . in the russian version mr . beetle visits his girlfriend at the  gay dragonfly  nightclub  while in the english version brother bill beetle visits his wife at the music  hall . personally  i prefer the straightforward   and spicier   russian story the bfi version tries to cram too much plot into what should be a simple tale  and some of the rhymes are a bit awkward .  br    br   still  in any rendition  the cameraman  s revenge is a delightful film  and would make an ideal lead  in to that other great animated work which features beetles  yellow submarine .  
no plot  crappy acting  and pointless gore . . . .  br    br   this is supposed to be a horror movie  there  s no fear  or suspense  just boom bang gore  then done . some kinda marines are in the desert for some weird  crappy reason and they get hunted down by those mutated beasts from the first movie  which was good  and should have been left it at that .  br    br   this is just another excuse for money  and use of pointless violence  just like the  saw  sequels . they know no matter how pointless the plot is  and the more gore they can add  people will see it . i miss good suspenseful horror movies . come on hollywood  you can do much  much better .  
this film has special effects which for it  s time are very impressive . some if it is easily explainable with the scenes played backwards but the overlay of moving images on an object on film is surprisingly well done given that this film was made more than   years ago .  
wow this is the worst movie ever . the only reason i signed up for imdb was so i could complain about this movie . i have never walked out of a theater or stoped a dvd but i almost stopped this one  and i should have  . but i watched it all the way to the end just to get let down again with an absolutely terrible ending . wow if this is all that wes craven can produce his time is long up . i  ve never seen the first one and will never after watching this . its terrible acting with a terrible plot . hey looks someone is shinning a mirror at us lets go check it out . and the sad part is that when this movie came to dvd it was completely checked out at blockbuster forever . so i feel bad for all the people that saw this junk .  
tess of the storm country was a mary pickford vehicle i had intended to get for some time . i finally found a vhs copy for a reasonable price and got to enjoy it .  br    br   mary gives her typical spunky  innocently sexy portrayal of a wrong  side  of  tracks girl who wins the heart of a rich heir . only this time the stakes are higher a false murder charge  an illegitimate child  and ensuing case of mistaken motherhood  and contemplated suicide .  br    br   one can see why pickford wanted to redo this one . the story is a real morality tale  the kind that she loved to star in . the controversial topics aren  t always spelled out plainly a viewer has to pay attention and pick up on hints to catch everything that is being implied on first viewing  although everything is more or less explained in the end .  br    br   about the only negative remark i can make would be concerning jean hersholt and the dog . hersholt  whose character  ben letts  looks to be about        pounds  bigger next to mary  of course    is sent fleeing in panic when a    pound chocolate lab charges toward him  then  to top it off  or maybe to justify his perplexing fear of the dog   it manages to pin him to the ground and somehow injures him so badly that he is still struggling to get up much later  as a bad storm hits  this is the same lovable lab that sleeps with frederick  lloyd hughes  and cuddles with mary  yet mary later throws boiling water in ben  s face  which barely slows him  ok  i  ve vented about ben and the chocolate lab  other than that  the movie was quite touching and certainly held my attention . pickford  s supporting cast was strong and believable . this is certainly among her better films .  
i couldn  t believe my eyes once i  ve watched this movie . there  s no point in it either then blood and violence . unlike other scary movies that had gore and a meaning to it this movie is just blood  gore  and killing one after another . this movie isn  t interesting at all  has no meaningful plot or story line  nor does it have an intelligence in it . the blood looks very fake and this movie overall  is pointless . don  t even waste your time with it . it  s just an hour or two of mindless violence . it has many bloody scenes that aren  t scary but just plain revolting . this is probably the worst horror film i have ever watched out of all the horror films i ever saw .  
mary pickford often stated that tess skinner was her favorite movie role . well said  she played the part twice and for this version which she herself produced  she not only had to purchase the rights from adolph zukor but even give him credit on the film  s main title card . needless to say her portrayal of this role here is most winning . indeed  in my opinion  the movie itself rates as one the all  time great experiences of silent cinema .  br    br   true  director john s . robertson doesn  t move his camera an inch from start to finish  but in robertson  s skillful hands this affectation not only doesn  t matter but is probably more effective . a creative artist of the first rank  robertson is a master of pace  camera angles and montage . he has also drawn brilliantly natural performances from all his players . jean hersholt who enacts the heavy is so hideously repulsive  it  s hard to believe this is the same man as kindly dr christian while lloyd hughes renders one of the best acting jobs of his entire career . true  it  s probably not the way mrs white intended  but it serves the plot admirably  as otherwise we would have difficulty explaining why the dope spent a fortune on defense but made not the slightest attempt to ascertain who actually fired the gun that killed his future brother  in  law  needless to say  this particular quality of the likable hero is downplayed by jack ging in the bowdlerized     version which also totally deletes the author  s trenchant attack on smug  middle  class christianity . notice how the well  washed priest here moves forward a pace or two in surprise at the interruption  but then makes no attempt whatever to assist our plucky little heroine in the performance of duties that he himself was supposedly ordained to administer . this is a very moving scene indeed because it is so realistically presented .  br    br    tess  also provides an insight into the work of another fine actress  gloria hope  whose work was entirely confined to silent cinema . she married lloyd hughes in     and retired in     to devote her life completely to her husband and their two children . lloyd hughes died in      but she lived until      easily contactable in pasadena  but i bet no  one had the brains to interview her . another opportunity lost   br    br   to me  forrest robinson only made a middling impression as skinner . i thought he was slightly miscast and a brief glance at his filmography proves this he usually played priests or judges  but david torrence as usual was superb .  br    br   in all  an expensive production with beautiful photography and marvelous production values .  
this movie pretty much sucked . i  m in the army and the soldiers depicted in this movie are horrible . if your in the military and you see this movie you  ll laugh and be upset the entire movie because of the way they acted as a squad . it was ridiculous . they acted like a bunch of normal people with army uniforms on not knowing what to do . it was a pretty gory movie i  d have to say the least . there was a couple scenes where they try to make you jump . i  d recommend seeing it if you are bored and want to see a violent  gory movie . it will be a better movie also if your not in the military . i also would have to say i liked the first one better than this one .  
this film does not fail to engage and move  even in     to an audience only familiar with modern over  produced sound and computer enhanced techniques .  br    br   the experience of the movie goer in     who could only see this in a cinema with others on their big screen must have been truly profound and a thoroughly satisfying experience .  br    br   one has to ask could a film maker today make a two hour silent movie and make it interesting and achieve the same structure tempo and balance as this movie has . silent film making was pure art  it had to hold the attention through its structure  direction and acting  there was no padding out with more words or computer generated distractions . a poorly made or uninteresting silent movie is unwatchable .  br    br   this film needs to be put into context for those who might be disconcerted with the mention of christian themes . this is not a  christiany  film  it is not selling anything . these themes along with reference to current moral standards often appear in this era  also church going on sundays was a national past time  christianity was a given in most households thus the film is only depicting normal life as it was then . the themes would have rung true and deep at the time .  br    br   it is most odd given the strong support to good christian thinking of this particular movie  and it is not preaching religion to anyone  only highlighting the difference between hypocrites and the honest  that in     a pastor in an open debate with a representative from the film industry with a large crowd denounced pickford as an example of immorality  along with some other individuals he named . ny times     .  br    br   maybe they should have watched this movie that also came out in     and  learned some lessons .  br    br   the pastor complained that since the film industry had started church attendance had dropped        . the film representative in the debate however made the following observations that saloon attendance had also dropped  that there were far more pastors in prison than actors  fact  and that selecting a few examples from among the many was not representative of the whole .  br    br   thus there was an ongoing battle between church and the film industry during the early days of film .  br    br   this is a wonderful film about being honest and true to family friends and to be willing to make sacrifices . mary pickford  naive  honest  feisty  full of happiness and joy  faithful  humorous and silently sacrificing  though poor and uneducated she represented the perfect character . this however is not thrust down our throat but revealed bit by bit through the film .  br    br   this is reminiscent of some modern chinese films where characters are slowly  languidly revealed over the course of a film and it is this tempo that creates a stronger connection with the character .  br    br   it has a smooth even tempo for the first half that builds all the elements for the last section . the last   minutes are great film making and it has to be appreciated it was achieved without the benefit of sound  running dialog  it was achieved through deft acting and great directing . it is sometimes surprising to realize that at the end of the film you haven  t hear a word spoken  but it feels like you have heard everything .  br    br   the supporting cast put in great performances especially gloria hope  jean hersholt and lloyd hughes .  br    br   the final few minutes are typical pickford understated humor as she goes outside under the pretext of sweeping the snow  a near perfect balance and ending . this is a special type of touching humor that should not be underestimated . chaplin used this device often and copied some of from pickford .  br    br   another special observation to be made about silent films and especially pickford films is that the star often has to hold the camera for much of the movie without the audience becoming jaded or bored  with the actors over  exposure . that pickford is usually thoroughly the center of attention through most of her movies but the people still couldn  t get enough of her is a testament to her fine acting ability .  
isn  t anyone else tired of that old clich  where a nearly dead person shows up in a horror film  gives us some informations  and then blasts his head off for no apparent reason  i know i am .  br    br   the sad thing is that it  s use in this film is worthless . if you have seen the first film  the first remake i should say  then the information given is completely worthless  because you would have already known it . i guess  you can that it isn  t worthless to the main characters . . but then why does the idiot shoot himself in the head  wouldn  t he want to live  sure  he would have died anyway . .  br    br   this is the second film to be titled  the hills have eyes ii .  the first being the sequel to the original    s film . this is where it gets a little complicated for someone like me . see  i  m probably part of minority of people my age that even knew there was a hhe  to begin with  much less an original hhe  . and now that we have a sequel to a remake and the fact that this sequel is named exactly as the sequel to the original hhe  . . . it just makes it worse  but anyways . .  br    br   wes craven  s original hills have eyes was decent . in the end  though  the idea was better than the presentation  but he most likely had a low budget . to be quite honest  wes craven isn  t that good of a horror director . he  s only made a few good horror movies  nightmare on elm st .  new nightmare   a few alright ones  scream  and a bunch of horrible ones  cursed  shocker  vampire in brooklyn  . oh yeah  and he made swamp thing  as well . . . but the original hhe  falls under the latter category . i  ve only seen a few minutes  but it was terrible .  br    br   now he has co  written the new hhe  . . and it  s such a disappointment  last year  s hhe remake was even better than the original film . it was tense . i guess it had to do with the fact that the main characters were a family  and not a bunch of beer and pot and sex crazy teenagers . it made us feel dirty . for the first hour  we were in hell  and finally in the last few moments  the good guys got revenge on the bad guys and it felt good . .  br    br   this new film has no tension . no suspense whatsoever . just violent things happening to mostly stupid people . there is hardly any menacing presence here . just ugly hobos hiding under rocks .  br    br   i  m getting tired of horror movies where people die because of the stupid mistakes they keep making . it was just the other day that i watching  deep blue sea  where samuel l . jackson kept on walking around the water  while giving the speech  and then he gets eaten by a shark  only because the idiot stayed to close to the water . . something that nobody would do in the given situation  here is the exact same thing . people go off by themselves to take a leak even though they know people are dying . . seriously  couldn  t a potty break wait  and then when you think people would have learned  someone else goes of by themselves  seriously  isn  t more scary when the characters are bringing their a  game and still losing  i would think so . . .  br    br   it even under delivers . it should have made the first remake look like  the fog  remake  which was less menacing than an episode of  becker   . more bad guys . more time in the caves . more tension . more of everything .  br    br   but it actually downgrades . less bad guys . no tension . sure we have more time in the caves  but not a whole lot happens there . in the end  it only seems like there is two or three bad guys . the last film made it seem like a whole tribe of people . where is this tribe  who keeps on watching them through binoculars  seriously  these are the things this film should have brought us  but it ends with the exact same promise that the last film gave us  with that exact same  being watched  scene . come on  i  ll give the devil it  s due . the look of the film is good . . but thats it .  br    br   i don  t even think fans of gore will like this . . though i  m probably wrong  there is gore  though most of it is sped  up while in the dark   but without the tension  and characters you even care about . . the gore does nothing in my book  in the end  you  re not frightened . youre not shocked  unless you  re an  year old girl  . you don  t even feel like you have seen anything new .  
tess of the storm country is possibly the best movie of all of mary pickford  s films . at two hours  it was quite long for a     silent film yet continues to hold your interest some   years after it was filmed . mary gives one of her finest performances at times the role seems like a  greatest hits  performance with bits of mary the innocent  mary the little devil  mary the little mother  mary the spitfire  mary the romantic heroine  etc . characteristics that often were used throughout a single film in the past . the movie is surprisingly frank about one supporting character  s illegitimate child for     and at one point our little mary is thought the unwed mother in question  if the academy awards had been around in      no doubt the best actress oscar for the year would have been mary  s .  
i appreciate the need to hire unknowns for these kind of  horror  movies  but they should at least hire some proper actors . the sergeant especially is guilty of using his monotone to bulldozer every single line he has . but let  s face it  the lines aren  t really important . there isn  t really a recognisable plot  so most of the writing involves the words fk  st  mfr and other assorted bad language in place of proper dialogue .  br    br   the  story  as it is  is mostly made up of seemingly random gore and death  with a couple of cringe  worthy  surprises   which happen around   minutes after you see exactly what  s going to happen . not only this  but there are several glaring plot holes and continuity errors  why are they going in there  didn  t he have a weapon  wasn  t he dead    so it makes the whole film seem as if it has been cut down by the several hours it would take to fix them .  br    br   another film which simply relies on blood and gore instead of any real cinematic experience .  
had this been the original     version of tess of the storm country  also starring mary pickford   i probably would have rated it a lot higher  as this sort of extreme melodrama and sentimentality was pretty typical of the teens . however  by      this film was already starting to show its age . and  compared to many of ms . pickford  s other films  such as daddy longlegs  sparrows  my best girl and suds   tess comes up a tad short   and not every pickford film merits a    even if she was  america  s sweetheart   . now this isn  t to say that it  s a bad film   it certainly isn  t . but  i just can  t see how so many have given this film a   .  br    br   the film has a very long and complicated plot   especially because most films of the era were shorter . a rich old crank builds a mansion at the top of a hill next to the river . at the bottom of the hill are some dirty squatters who he hates but who he cannot evict . so he tries to come up with a variety of ways to get them off the land . one ends up in tragedy  when his daughter  s fianc is killed in a scuffle with the po  folks . the man accused of the murder is dear old mary  s father  though he is innocent . to make things a lot worse  the only witness to the real murder won  t talk and the dead man had gotten his fiance pregnant  so  at this point  we have an innocent man in prison waiting to be executed and a pregnant lady afraid to tell her sanctimonious father she is  in the family way  . there  s a ton more to the film  such as the crank  s son falling in love with mary  but it  s best you just see the film for yourself .  br    br   the film excels in some ways . the plot  while very complicated  is also rather interesting and the cinematography is top  notch . the very final scene is also pretty cute . however  there is so much overt sentimentality you can practically cut it with a knife . mary is so good and so sweet and so plucky  at times the viewer might find it all a bit hard to take . while it worked great in      making her the biggest star in the world   today it  s very dated . this is not true of all her films  but this one certainly is .  br    br   by the way  the image entertainment dvd is of decent quality  though a few scenes are badly degraded   something that isn  t very surprising considering the age of the film . also  the only extras included are a brief filmography .  
my god . this movie was awful . i can  t complain about it too much . i went to see it just to be grossed out . it did suffice  sort of . it  s funny that the most disgusting part of the movie was in the very  very beginning where the woman is extremely vividly forced to give birth to a horribly mutated baby .  br    br   i also think that it  s funny that the most notable actor in the movie was the hispanic soldier  who was a supporting actor in next friday . everyone in the movie did a horrible acting job . it was some of the worst acting i  ve ever paid to see .  br    br   i also expected that it would be much more gruesome than the first one . it wasn  t . i expected it to be more gruesome because it  s a sequel and horror movie sequels are usually much less successful than their predecessors . i expected it to be more gruesome since gore and violence usually sell a horror movie these days  grudge   saw   jeepers creepers     dead silence   but it actually wasn  t nearly as gruesome as the first one  which was yet another disappointment .  br    br   the mutants in the first one were kind of disturbing but the filmmakers were trying so hard in this one to make them creepy that they were absolutely hilarious .  br    br   i also hated the entire concept of showing the clip of the female soldier  s son on her camera  phone saying  i love you  mommy  four times . it was stupid to show it in the first place because they were just trying to make us feel worse for the vulnerable mother than the rest of the soldiers  and it was even more stupid to keep trying to make us feel even worse for her by showing it three more times for no reason . this movie was a joke .  
me being of irish origins  loved this movie  not only was the guy hot and funny he was also sincere and honest . i loved the girl who he fell in love with too  she was pretty . they were such a cute couple . the ending was so sad . love this movie  although it is a little dirty  it reminds of a british or irish version of prime . if you liked this movie you should watch prime . same story line young guy falls for older women  older women falls for young guy to . a lot of paths cross  in the end  the best decision is made or task is completed . don  t have anything else to say  without ruining the whole movie  all though i thought the french guy was ugly  less appealing to me . umm . . . if you like irish movies  i would recommend  circle of friends   that movie is so good . quick quote  you might not get unless you watch it  well  thats my dinner ruined .  lol  
this ludicrous and inept film is certainly the most misguided version of  hamlet  to ever reach the screen . branagh  s approach to the material can only be described as vulgar going to such lengths as depicting ophelia in a straight jacket  having fortinbras  army appear suddenly on the horizon  looking very much like the climax of  monty python and the holy grail   when the palace is apparently guarded only by francisco  who shouts the very un  shakespearean cry of  ataaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack  before being gunned down   and multitudes of star cameos that harken back to the days of jimmy cagney  s bottom and mary pickford  s kate .  br    br   branagh chose to set his film in an edwardian setting but at the same time decided to employ an almost uncut text  so that frequently the dialogue that is firmly rooted in elizabethan mentality makes no sense in the context that it is being performed . and branagh does not concern himself with such textural subtleties as the ambiguous nature of hamlet and olphelia  s relationship  treating the audience to a vulgar nude sex scene between the couple that tosses any ambiguity right out the stained glass window .  br    br   the uncut text does allow branagh to indulge in his favorite cinematic pastime more footage of kenneth branagh . this is never so apparent as in the  how all occasions inform against me  speech that ends the first half of the nineteen hour film  at least that  s how it feels   which attempts to play to a dramatic crescendo along the lines of gone with the wind  s  i  ll never be hungry again .  this may serve branagh  s ego  but it does not serve shakespeare or the speech when i saw the film in the theater  i leaned over to my companion and snickered  great moments with mr . hamlet .  branagh saves the funniest and most tasteless moment for last  when he attempts to out  do the olivier film and its justly celebrated death of claudius by having hamlet jump from off a high tower onto the monarch  impaling him with a sword . branagh  s dane does in the king by heroically throwing an apparently magic rapier from across the palace to run through claudius  heart with a super hero  s bulls eye . the only thing that saved the moment from being unbearably maddening was that it was so off  the  wall funny .  br    br   while this film has been praised in some quarters as a serious depiction of the tragedy  it is in fact nothing but a star  studded display of a once  talented filmmaker being overtaken by his own narcissism . the emperor has no clothes  and this hamlet has nothing to offer but a few unintended laughs and the appalling sight of one man  s ego out of control .  
i had never seen a silent movie until july        . i had never seen a movie with mary pickford in it . i  ve seen thousands of movies . very few are hypnotic to me . i found last of the mohicans and unforgettable  ray liotta  to be hypnotic  so consider the source as you read this . i started watching tess of the storm country on tcm just to see who this mary pickford was  who has been credited by many for launching hollywood . i had no idea what i was in for . two hours later  i snapped out of it  and realized i  d watched one of the most beautiful women i had ever seen  playing a role perfectly suited to her . imagine a movie fan in      having never seen anyone that gorgeous and that expressive before . you would have to see her again and again . the setting was perfect for a girl that expressive . she was a poor squatter  couldn  t speak the king  s english  but you had to admire her . what a movie . . . time to start my mary pickford movie collection   
martin weisz  who directed the solid  rohtenburg   will be taking the heat  with wes craven  for another shabby  the hills have eyes   . the memory of the legendary original  which boasted an unbelievable storyline and a dog having a flashback  will be erased forever by this more technically polished remake  in name only  . a bunch of national guardsmen  and women  are sent to a desert research area surrounded by hills filled with mutants . one by one the weekend soldiers are picked off . that  s it . there is some hardcore violence and a reasonably brutal rape scene  but there is precious little else to get excited about . the film  s  heroes  are the usual bunch of clichs and the mutants  a far cry from craven  s original  family   mostly resemble brian thompson from  cobra  coupled with some creatures stan winston had left over from the  wrong turn  shoot . much of the action takes place in caves  ala  the descent   and is well shot by sam mccurdy . a laughable aspect is wes and jonathan craven  s addition of a sympathetic mutant who skulks around his cave like leatherface in hooper  s original  chainsaw  . weisz will be blamed for this dull debacle  but he  s not really at fault because he does his best to maintain suspense and squeeze some freshness out of the contrived situations . not a fan  unfortunately .  
uneducated  defiant  beautiful tess of the storm country is the daughter of a fisherman squatting on a rich man  s land . spirited  bold  she captures the heart of the millionaire  s son  but violence  terror  sudden death are what will haunt her immediate future before she can claim the sweet peace of happiness .  br    br   mary pickford is utterly charming in this splendid  heart  wrenching film . she considered tess to be her favorite role and she fills it with all the spunky joy  enthusiasm which made her for years the world  s most popular movie star . the story has all the essential elements for a modern fairy tale  with mary the lovely  distressed heroine beset by all manner of dangerous  stressful situations . the atmospherics are first  rate  with the outdoor fishing village sets being particularly well  conceived .  br    br   in the supporting cast  jean hersholt stands out as the vile villain who tries forcing pickford to marry him . hersholt  a very gentle soul off screen  manages brilliantly to depict his character  s complete moral corruption .  br    br   this was actually the second time pickford filmed tess . a     version had been one of her first important films  but its production values were a bit antiquated by the standards of the      s  no close  ups  for instance  and mary  producing her own films  powerful enough by     to make whatever film she wanted  decided for the only time in her career to remake a film . the end result certainly lived up to her expectations . both films were very popular at the box office .  br    br   a fascinating study for some future film researcher would be the influence of christianity in mary pickford  s life it certainly runs like a golden thread through the silent movies she produced . although the romanticism inherent in the very nature of silent cinema might cause these spiritual sentiments to appear somewhat awkward today  we are compelled to accept them as sincere reflections  by their very repetition  of mary  s heartfelt beliefs . in tess  one beautiful scene in particular stands out in this regard pickford is teaching herself to read using a bible . she indicates to lloyd hughes  who plays her sweetheart  a word from near the back of the book that she does not understand . he mimes it for her  the word is obviously crucified   and  eyes turned heavenward as the full meaning of the sacrifice dawns upon her  mary  s face becomes positively beatific .  br    br   a splendid new orchestral score for tess has been supplied by jeffrey mark silverman which perfectly underscores the beauty  pathos of this wonderful film .  
the premise of this awaited sequel was really good and after the huge success of the remake i expected a lot sincerely .  br    br   the sad truth is that this movie is really absurd and inept . the situations are dumb and beyond reason and the acting is truly awful .  br    br   this time there aren  t likable characters or violins unlike the remake . also  the gore is not that abundant and when it happens it  s truly bad .  br    br   the violence is minimal and it  s a shame because there are many arguments that make you think that there  s room for heavy violence . i mean  there  s a swat team that is hunting a family of cannibal mutants . you surely expect something different  when i watched it on the movies i wanted my money back .  br    br   anyways this is a clear example of how rushed out movies turn out to be a mess and demonstrate poor quality on all aspects .  br    br   a mess that let down the fans of the remake like me . that  s why sequels are never welcomed at least this movie isn  t as terrible as the     sequel to the original .  
here is proof of why mary pickford was america  s sweetheart .  in this rather complex drama  mary plays the young daughter of a squatter that dare to dream of a relationship with the son of one of the hill  toppers .  the scenes where they steal a kiss and otherwise fall in love are simply delightful . she is even willing to take a bath . that mary could pull this role off at the age of   is simply amazing and somewhat due to her diminutive stature     .  br    br   tess must face numerous physical and emotional challenges . she does so with spunk not seen in many heroines of the time . tess packs a wallop and is not shy about fighting with anyone . why she agrees to help the hill  topper  daughter is beyond me  but she sacrifices her own happiness in order to keep a deep secret . pickford  s close ups are wonderful .  br    br   danish  born jean hersholt is simply wonderful as the villain . the scene in which he manhandles a small baby is enough to make you throw vegetables  or whatever  at the movie screen . if forrest robinson  who plays daddy skinner  had worn a beard  he would have been a match for the model used in those world war i recruiting posters of uncle sam  wants you   br    br   although the story is somewhat predictable and slow in the beginning  it is worth the investment in your time to see the piece or pure americana .  the film highlights choices available to us all involving making someone else happy and what it is to be a real christian . recommended .  
okay  let  s not get confused here . if this is a sequel to a remake of an original horror classic  does that mean it also automatically is a remake of the original horror classic  s sequel  here  s to hoping that  s not a general rule  as wes craven  s own sequel to the original  the hills have eyes   released somewhere during the mid     s  is easily one of the worst and absolute most redundant horror movies ever made . part two didn  t have an actual plot and re  used footage of the original only to further exploit the success of the genuinely gritty and petrifying premise . craven also wanted us to believe even dogs suffer from flashbacks and painful memories  as the loyal german shepard of the carter family re  experienced his bloody fight with one of the mountain hillbillies . there were quite a bit of alarming signs indicating us that this sequel would be a horrendous failure as well . the remake came out barely one year ago and here  s the sequel already  the incredible speed of its release righteously causes you to question the quality of the script . don  t they need a little more time if they want to come up with a film that should be scary  menacing and disturbing  with his excellent film  alexandre aja nearly single  handedly altered the general opinion about horror remakes  as he had the courage and intellect of changing essential elements in the plot and adding more nauseating gore than anyone could ever had hoped for . also  aja is quite a talented young director and made himself noticed with his french instant cult classic  high tension   but who is this new director  aja  s  the hills have eyes  was an unexpected hit  appreciated by both experienced and older generations of horror fans as well as the younger and over  enthusiast target groups . it  s a really good film and  even though an avalanche of new sequels and clones will be inevitable  it  s highly unlikely that one of them will ever equal the surprising quality level of aja  s smashing hit . bearing all this in mind  plus a rather large dose of personal skepticism  i must admit this rushed sequel really isn  t as awful as anticipated . the screenplay is routine and clichd horror fodder  introducing a fairly large number of characters with few or even no backbone and tastelessly depicting how they get slaughtered by traditionally repulsive  looking freaks . after the events of the first film  the us army has set up a camp in the middle of the new mexican desert to investigate the effects of the nuclear tests  which took place there in the    s and    s . for the horribly mutated survivors of the miner  s community that stayed there during the radioactive testing  the scientists and researchers form a tasty starter until the main course of incompetent soldiers arrives by truck . they are just supposed to drop off food and supplies but encounter their ultimate military training exercise when faced with the relentless humanoids that live inside the remainders of the mines .  br    br   this basically is just another by  the  numbers slasher with dumb characters who are  even after losing several of their friends already  still stupid enough to separate themselves from the group and act like easy targets to kill . it  s also very easy to point out which ones will make it out of this adventure alive  especially when one of the soldiers is against all types of violence and another one continuously stares at video images of her cute   year  old son .  the hills have eyes ii  completely lacks  as to be expected  originality  logic and plausible situations . the mutated miners aren  t nearly as menacing as their colleagues in part one  mainly because they aren  t organized this time and only just behave like drooling and sex  hungry prototype monsters . since you don  t care for the amateur g . i . joe  heroes  and definitely don  t feel any sympathy for the eyes in the hills  this film is a whole lot less compelling and involving than last year  s original . most peculiarly  this second film isn  t nearly as violent and gory as the first  sequels usually compensate the lack of suspense and the absence of surprise  twists with extra bloodshed and more graphic killing sequences  but the action in this sequel is really tame compared to the sick footage featuring in its predecessor . there are a handful of scenes to satisfy the bloodthirsty horror fanatics  mainly showing soldiers falling down cliffs or getting shot by their own guns  but there sadly aren  t any outrageous pick  axe battles or virulent dog attacks . what a shame  what  s the point of a sequel if it even fails to surpass the level of grossness and  or gratuitous filth of the original  luckily enough the film is never boring or unnecessarily sentimental  and you  ll have the most fun spotting all the things that don  t make the slightest bit of sense  for example  wallets falling out of people  s bloodied heads  women without any muscle power cast as tough  ass soldiers and  my personal favorite  assigning the one soldier with a speaking disability to operate the radio communications .  
this movie is an eye opener for those who can only the glamorous lifestyles of the stars . it tells you how people who would like to do good are not able to . plus the bomb blast scene is very real .  br    br   what you read and are taught just does not happen     br    br   can raise your bp level by     br    br   all actors played their role very well .  br    br   some scenes may  could have been avoided to include teenagers .  br    br   this movie is quite adult in nature .  br    br   not a movie that can be seen with family .  br    br   casting is great     
thhe  is entertaining in that you  ll laugh a lot and cringe and probably say  oh sht   and  get your face away from the goddamn hole you dumbs  or things along those lines but i don  t know if its really worth seeing  i was very annoyed throughout the entirety with the horrible military characters who don  t seem to know the first thing about combat .  br    br   yes there was more violence  gore  and a higher body count than the first one but i am still am debating whether that cancels out my feeling throughout the whole movie about how ridiculous it is  and not a good ridiculousness like dead alive or feast  . my time would have been better spent watching aja  s remake for the  th time .  br    br   so go for some laughs  or go for some gore  but don  t go hoping to come out of it satisfied .  
this is yet another tell  it  as  it  is madhur bhandarkar film . i am not sure why he has this obsession to show child molesion and gy concepts to the indian filmy audience  but i find some of those scenes really disgusting  what  s new  it is a nice piece put together by bhandarkar  where he shows the story of an entertainment reporter played by leading lady in the famous film  mr  mrs iyer . what makes this movie different is  that it also covers the stories of people that this reporter interacts with or is friends with  such as her roomies  her colleagues  film stars  models  rich people and others featured in the entertainment page  in her newspaper .  br    br   noticeable it is another good performance from mrs iyer . she is likely to be noticed for this role . she does selective roles but shines in them . she is noticeably de  glamorized and less beautiful in this film . but then  entertainment reporters are not supposed to outshine the people they cover  right  verdict madhur has come up with another good movie  that brings social issues to the limelight very nicely . however  this movie loses focus and one is not sure what the director is trying to convey .  br    br   is he trying to show us the glitz and glamor of the rich people  or is he trying to show us the life of an entertainment reporter and contrasting that with the life of the real crime reporter  is he trying to tell us how the government and rich folks rule the press  or is he trying to illustrate the issues with child abuse and gy folk . the other concepts brought forth include the unwritten rule that young women have to sleep with directors or co  stars  if they wish to enter bollywood .  br    br   in addition  he talks about how flight assistants get sick and tired of their jobs after a while and resort to extreme measures by marrying much elder people  etc . he also talks about unhappy women and spoilt kids in rich families .  br    br   this was all okay for me . . but might be too complex for an average movie  goer  who just wants to relieve some stress from day to day work  
the hills have eyes ii is what you would expect it to be and nothing more . of course it  s not going to be an oscar nominated film  it  s just pure entertainment which you can just lose yourself in for   minutes .  br    br   the plot is basically about a group of national guard trainees who find themselves battling against the notorious mutated hillbillies on their last day of training in the desert . it  s just them fighting back throughout the whole film  which includes a lot of violence  which is basically the whole film  as blood and guts are constantly flying around throughout the whole thing  and also yet another graphic rape scene which is pointlessly thrown in to shock the audience .  br    br   i  d give the hills have eyes ii  out of   for pure entertainment  and that only . although even then i found myself looking at my watch more and more as the film went on  as it began to drag due to the fact it continued to try and shock the audience with graphic gore and the occasional jump scene just to make sure the audience stays awake . the hills have eyes ii is just decent entertainment  something to pass time if you  re bored  and nothing else .  br    br        
page  is a great movie . the story is so refreshing and interesting . not once throughout the movie did i find myself staring off into space . konkana sen did a good job in the movie  although i think someone with more glamour or enthusiasm would have been better  but she did do a great job . all the supporting actors were also very good and helped the movie along . boman irani did a great job . there is one thing that stands out in this movie the story it is great  and very realistic  it doesn  t beat around the bush it is very straight forward in sending out its message . i think more movie like this should be made  i am sick of watching the same candy floss movies over and over  they are getting hard to digest now . everyone should watch page   it is a great film .  just my  cents    
last year  s remake of  the hills have eyes  was one of the better attempts to update the vaguely exploitational horror flicks of the     s for a new audience . alexandre aja allowed for an admirable degree of character development and when the violence started it was mean and savage and all carried out in a landscape of impeccable photography and production design . i was one of the few people who actually thought that it was better than the original and looked forward to a second visit to the particularly dark and cruel world of the savage desert mutants .  br    br    the hills have eyes    released just a year after the original  seems a rushed and ill  conceived attempt to cash in on the franchise with little thought to quality . jonathan craven  s screenplay could have been written in a weekend  and given the speed with which this movie made it into cinemas  probably was . it falls back on every hackneyed genre clich in the book while offering absolutely nothing new to the desert mutant mythology . i always let out a groan of disappointment when a sequel replaces civilian characters with the military . soldiers are always so lazily written and never fail to thoroughly bore with crude caricatures of strutting macho bullshit . in my mind   aliens  was the only movie to successfully make such a transition  due to james cameron  s talent  not simply for directing the best action sequences around  but never forgetting that an audience has to care about the people being butchered . he was also ably assisted by some genuinely talented actors . with  the hills have eyes    it  s clear that video director martin weisz is no james cameron  and the cast of television bit  parters haven  t the talent or even the inclination to turn their cardboard cutout characters into anything approaching living  breathing human beings .  br    br   needless to say  every character is a broad and generic clich . they act in dumb and illogical ways  making dumb and illogical decisions that lead them to predictably dumb and illogical deaths . the latter half of the movie becomes just another tedious chased  through  dark  corridors scenario .  the descent   on which sam mccurdy  coincidentally  also worked as cinematography  proved that even this most derivative of sequences can still be carried out with genuine originality and suspense  but we see no such innovation here .  br    br    the hills have eyes   is just a very lazy movie  devoid of any suspense  tension  or surprise  with not a single individual involved remotely interested in producing anything of quality . it  s a tame and tired excuse for a sequel and deserves to spend the rest of its life in a blockbuster  s bargain bin .  
page   out of  stars  br    br   madhvi  konkona sen  enters her boyfriend  s house and its empty . she looks here and there and then goes in his bedroom and you get the picture   ah  another girl  that two  timing baddie and yes indeed he his two timing her but it  s a guy this time around . and i say  brilliant    br    br   end of spoilers  the above scene is not a spoiler really . . . but for me it was so i didn  t want to take a chance   br    br   when asked upon as how was this film  my friend answered  oh  it just an expos of the p  people  which made me believe that ill be watching a stupid movie if nothing more . when i went to the theater  i thought to myself   i better get a pen and a paper to jot down the bad things about this film   but i was proved entirely wrong and then some because i could muster only the goods . this film was great . great  not because it is offbeat and noncommercial cinema like storyline but because of the cleverness in the screenplay and how this movie tells you how to handle a movie brilliantly which could have been a dumb and senseless movie if given in the wrong hands .  br    br   konkona sen sharma is grace . she is so damn beautiful who has nailed her role perfectly as if she was born to play this part . one of the most charming actresses i  ve ever seen . but this is not the only performance which is good in the film  there  s sandhya mridul  boman irani and atul kulkarni . particularly sandhya mridul who just fires up the screen .  and guess what even the unusually accented tara sharma speaks normally   br    br   the movies stars off with some silly old parties of the hush  hush celebrities of the film industry et al and you get the idea of what this movie will be about . and for about half hour through the film you feel just about the same . but then the movie picks up the pace grabs onto a good storyline and never lets go of it . even boman irani agrees to that statement   it was a good story  madhvi  .  thank you  . the great thing is that it tackles the issue of how silly these people are with style and does not make it over done and also tackles the social issues and does not make them boring . in the end its all a roller  coaster ride and madhvi informs us that by just smiling at all these people . just the reason why i love watching films . ecstatic film  making . the screenplay is beautiful  clever and witty .  
  the hills eyes ii   one of the most pointless and blatantly stupid sequels to come around in some time  is   minutes of incompetent film making at its finest . or worst  however you choose to look at it . while      s  hills  remake was one of the year  s best  and truly frightening  horror films  this sequel takes every spark out of what made that such an accomplishment . part  never gets off the ground  and neither does its mind numbing dialogue . worst of all  it  s not that scary .  br    br        s remake followed a family who find themselves in the middle of the new mexico desert  deserted  and one by one being picked off by deranged and sadistic hill people . people who  as a result of the military testing the atomic bomb on their land years ago  have become who they are . surviving off travelers who wander into the region . the sequel puts audiences in the same desert  now occupied by the military as they covertly investigate the hills and what might have happened to that poor family . when a group of military trainees are brought to the campsite  they find it deserted with no signs of life . a grim reality soon befalls them  as they come to the realization that they  re not alone . and the bloody fate that was handed to many before them will soon become their destiny .  br    br   it doesn  t take a genius to realize that  hills  has no legitimate reason to exist . but because last year  s remake was received well both at the box office and by critics  it came to no surprise that a sequel would be rushed into production while there  s still money to be earned . there  s no rhyme or reason to it this time around  just an unbelievable and ridiculous set  up to pave the way for thoughtless characters  unoriginal killings  a non  existent story  and slipping interest . originally  director alexander aja made craven  s cult classic into a remake that was a unique and thoroughly disturbing experience . one that gruesomely crossed the line on more than one occasions . its frank display of violence  sadistic torture  well  rounded characterization  and white  knuckled suspense were all effectively used to shock and repulse audiences . the second time around  it  s rehashed hand  me  downs . there  s no style  no grit . it tries to build up tension by dismembering bodies  when all it really does is make for a been there  done that kind film  where even the gore seems tame compared to more recent bloodbaths .  br    br   it  s a sad state of affairs when deformed mutants who capture women for breeding purposes fails to keep your attention . it  s a bore  nothing more .  hills  has no bite . despite a jump or two here and there  there  s nothing very scary about this by  the  numbers horror flick . it feels like something you  d see on the sci  fi channel  only with some f  bombs  a blood splatter here and there  a rape  and a graphic birth scene that  s more gross than shocking . it  s cheap . and with  hills   you reap what you sew . with no effort given  you can  t expect anything in return .  br    br   replacing aja with martin weisz as director was the film  s first big mistake  all he does is drain the film of any sort of emotional resonance . but even more shocking is the uncharacteristically bad script penned by wes craven and his son  jonathan craven . you ask  how bad could it possibly be  this is the kind of dialogue that makes any comparison look like shakespeare . craven has had his fair share of clunkers in the past  but i  d never expect something like this from him . it  s so unintentionally funny  you have to wonder  is craven playing a joke on this  or did he dump this one on his son after the studio payed him off  the film  s characters are one  dimensional talking heads with no emotions or common sense . the acting is just as bad . the only character who may win you over is  napoleon  napoli  the scrawny kid who doesn  t fit in with the others . even the deranged and instinct  driven villains  who we might have found some favor with in the deepest of our thoughts a year ago  are met with indifferent . you don  t hate them  you don  t like them . you honestly couldn  t care less . just like this movie .  br    br   even if you were giddy with fear during  the hills have eyes   as i was  you  ll have a tough time finding anything to enjoy in this piece of garbage . it  s as generic as generic gets  and there  s absolutely nothing here we haven  t seen done many times already . i can  t express this enough  avoid  the hills have eyes ii  like the plague . it  s frightless  unoriginal  frantic  and a bore . stick to the remake or craven  s original vision . because if you don  t walk out after the first thirty minutes  don  t say i didn  t warn you .  
madhur from chandni bar started making realistic films  which some people called dry  br    br   he made satta which was another realistic though filmy film but a great film  br    br   aan men at work was a formula film by him which flopped  br    br   he returns with his superlative page   br    br   a film which dwelves into the lives of journalists and it  s a brilliant film  br    br   the film is well narrated though the half baked romantic portions of konkana could be avoided but that is forgiven  br    br   the entire upendra limaye track is superb too  br    br   while the atul kulkarni track is great too  br    br   the dial between manoj joshi and his friends are funny at first but repetitive at times  br    br   the subplot of bikram  tara is brilliant and so is the entire hospital scene and also the final child abuse which shocks you  br    br   the film has a open ended ending which is nicely handled  br    br   madhur does a great job music is okay  br    br   konkana excels as madhavi  using her expressions to the best tara sharma is decent except her voice sandhya mridul is good as usual upendra limaye excels in his part as the cop  one of the talented actors sadly he isn  t used well nowdays atul kulkarni too is good in his small part boman irani is restrained and does a great job rest are okay  
okay  i  ve tried and i  ve tried  but i still don  t get this guy maddin thing . tales from the gimli hospital left me cold  that movie about the austrian villagers and the one about the ice nymph were pretty to look but lacking in the story department . . . and this nudie movie about abortion and hockey is just boring . i  m glad maddin has an appreciation for silent film  but i dislike his films for the same reason i dislike the films of quentin tarantino they  re empty homages to better  more imaginative films   films that advanced the art form or broke new ground   and are all style and no substance . no amount of jump cuts and odd camera angles can disguise the fact that maddin is an unoriginal david lynch wannabe  though he does have one advantage over tarantino he generally doesn  t write embarrassing dialogue  because most of his films rely on intertitles . the bottom line is  maddin  s schtick is clever clever film  making for aspiring film majors .  
yet again  madhur bhandarkar takes you on a ride to the wild side . and a remarkable one it is  literally and figuratively .  br    br   mumbai hi  society   stars and starlets  glam dolls and witch doctors  business tycoons and broker types  yep the whole stinking lot   are in sharp focus here . in typical tabloid fashion  their worlds unfold  with every colorful story a clever sub  plot in itself .  br    br   a struggling starlet dumped by the producer after getting her pregnant  the stewardess and her high  profile husband  the pedophile businessman and his neurotic wife  the reporters and the police captain all shades on display and countless hues in between .  br    br   bhandarkar does a swell job of digging up the dirt on the drama kings  the dancing queens and the living dead . atul kulkarni packs a punch  as does boman irani and sandhya mrudul . konkona sen sharma is effective as the ex  crime beat reporter  but she could have been dolled up a little in keeping with the job change and the party circuit .  br    br   highly focused  running time    min  and refreshingly different film  well worth the money .  
i  ve seen many of guy maddin  s films  and liked most of them  but this one literally gave me a headache . john gurdebeke  s editing is way too frenetic  and  apart from a tour  de  force sequence showing a line of heads snapping to look at one object  does nothing but interfere with the actors  ability to communicate with the audience .  br    br   another thing i disliked about this film was that it seemed more brutal than maddin  s earlier works   though his films have always had dark elements  his sympathy for the characters gave the movies an overriding feeling of humanity . this one seemed more like harshness for harshness  sake .  br    br   as i  m required to add more lines of text before imdb will accept my review  i will mention that the actor playing  guy maddin  does manage to ape his facial expressions pretty well .  
madhur bhandarkar has given it all raw . but the best part is he hasn  t forgotten to give the ingredients . it has come short and crisp to the viewer and it is the audience to make the choice now . page  is a revelation of the naked truth irrespective of the crudeness attached to it .  br    br   madhavi  konkan sharma  is a journalist and enjoys her work . a simple and peaceful life adores her with a caring boyfriend and a nice roommate pearl . she covers the page   celebrity page  of nation today  where she has a very supportive editor deepak suri  boman irani .  but life takes turn for her as she hits the first bump and takes herself away from page  and goes into crime bit . omigosh  a whole new world was waiting for her there . she is shocked  excited  stunned with the revelation . her reaction has resulted in losing the job . at the end she is back to page  . now when she meets any celebrity in a party  she knows the actual looks of each  hidden under the illusive face .  br    br   the movie has a message and it is crude . the audience needs to get it in their own color . the theme and the screenplay was fantastic . there are some very good thoughts applied to prepare the audiences . like the foreplay  club is shown before the pedophiliac exhibition  the short suspense before gay  actions in bathroom . the dialogs are strong and the actors are really good at delivering it . charu mohanty  s  words speaks volumes and he is very successful in uttering those two words with such ingenuity  it leaves an impact . the set selections could have been better . the songs don  t stand anywhere but they were needed in the background . atul kulkarni has a small role with high  impact . there were a few flaws visible . atul kulkarni explaining konkan sharma that honesty should be tagged along with intelligence . there could have been a better dialog as this sounds like a preach . the meeting between thapar and his daughter doesn  t call for acting . that scene looks very unprofessional .  br    br   overall it is a must  watch movie with selective options before the pedophilia incident . that may spoil your mood .  
corridors of time . the movie you can watch if you  re looking for a sophisticated way of suicide . some use guns  ropes  or gas  but you want to ruin your brains  do not wait any longer  corridors of time is probably one of the biggest possible mistakes  thinking christian clavier is able to act and to bring you fun . i do not miss the   francs this poor thing cost me  sometimes  one has to reset its evaluation system looking at the absolute zero . this film deserves a      but that  s only because i like jean reno . too bad for him  he also stars in ronin . i think i  m gonna dislike him . . .  
andie macdowell  s facial expressions are great again in this movie . when you enter   and have been single for a while  or all your life  you may feel you are wasting away . the movie is a sweet reminder that love can be found just anywhere if your antennae is acutely active . i liked the quick sexual encounter  which must be out of character for a normally reserved school teacher  macdowell  . her ex  student is cute enough  still carrying a crush on his teacher for so long .  br    br   there are some parts that i thought rather unrealistic or unpractical  though . for example  at a scene where the other women  s jealousy override and a scene was set up to make andie macdowell dump the young man  would a mature police officer  the other friend of macdowell  allow her friend to do such a sinister act  is it so easy for anyone to not stop in front of a car  of course accidents happen all the time  but i hoped to see the heroine get happily married with the first man she got involved with  that was the hardest part to believe   for such a beautiful woman to stay single for so long    . . .  br    br   maybe the movie producers are aware of the fact that many romance between an older woman and a younger man do not last for long . beside they know that a happy ending would not appeal to the public  especially to jealousy women over    who are waiting some miracles to happen . the sad ending with a glimpse of hope for the sad woman who lost her true love is sweet  but if the man continued to live  would that last  for how long  nobody knows . nonetheless  it  s a movie to make you want to watch it again sometime later . . . . a year later maybe .  
i saw this film on its release  and have watched it  or  more times  including last week . i regret i have to be a voice of dissension with regard to mr . branagh  s performance .  br    br   this is really a glorious  sumptuous film  to say nothing of ambitious at over  hours long  beautifully shot and designed . derek jacobi  julie christie  kate winslet  richard briers  and many others do fine jobs . then there  s kenneth branagh . if ever there was a vanity project for an actor  this is it  and mr . branagh spares nothing in putting the  ham  in hamlet . from the stunt casting  which gives us the worst performance ever by the woefully miscast jack lemmon   to the bits of distracting business thrown in to infuse a sense of  naturalness   to his own performance which runs the gamut from throwing away the single most famous soliloquy in all of literature to screaming every line of others . his performance confirms that  while he may come across better on stage where bigger is necessary  he has never been a great film actor . the scenery budget could be charged to catering  mr . branagh eats so much of it . his performance is a perfect example of why people don  t go to see shakespeare   full of sound and fury  signifying nothing .  and if there is fault to his direction  it is that he keeps the camera firmly glued on his overblown performance .  br    br   no matter what theories people may posit on the bard  he was  after all is said and done  a playwright . the brilliance of his plays rest in the fact that his themes are universal and timeless . although there is no  right  way to play his plays  there is most certainly great acting  good acting and bad acting . shakespeare himself gives instructions to the players in the text of  hamlet  itself . it amazes me how mr . branagh  mouthed  it  but did not hear it . it was an example of spending too much time working out how he  s going to say something  and too little figuring out what he  s saying .  br    br   while mr . branagh has certainly done a wonderful job in mounting some entertaining productions  he would be wise to stay behind the camera and allow those who know the art of acting to practice it . his direction has always been better than his acting . i still give him immense credit for resurrecting interest in filming shakespeare . he set a great template for other productions . and  it would be interesting to see him onstage  from about   rows back . but  i do hope he chooses to direct more and act less .  br    br   is it worth seeing  certainly . there are many little joys to be found in the film . but  it  s a long  long movie and  by the end  one may feel less that they enjoyed than survived it .  
the movie is a real show of how unemotional and selfish the upper society has become . it has plenty of characters and each and every character is representing a different category of person . no character is     good and moral unlike the heroes of all the typical indian movies and no character is     bad rather all are just different . the movie is a very perfect mixture of emotions  drama and entertainment . for the very first time i liked a movie that has raised some social questions . i would recommend all to see the movie . madhavi sharma is a journalist who covers those hip  shaking parties of bollywood for the page  of the newspaper but this is the story of how she becomes a crime reporter for the newspaper . but this is not all  then it shows how she couldn  t survive there and when she helped rescue some innocent children  how brutally her voice is suppressed . even she is fired from the job . then she couldn  t find a job of crime reporter and has to do page  again . not only her but a very very large number of characters are interwoven in the movie and all gives different feeling while watching the movie . i would really congratulate the director for making such a great movie . please do not afford to miss it .  
the original  les visiteurs  was original  hilarious  interesting  balanced and near perfect . lv  must be a candidate for  worst first sequel to a really good film  . in lv  everyone keeps shouting  when a gag doesn  t work first it  s repeated another  times with some vague hope that it will eventually become funny . lv  is a horrible parody of lv   except of course that a parody should be inventive . if you loved lv  just don  t see this film  just see lv  again    
madhur bhandarkar goes all out to touch upon taboo issues and gives the most realistic picture of the modern society . one gets the impression of the director even from his earlier movies like satta and chandni bar . the issues just hinted on in the latter movie are explored and exposed in totality here . the casting is amazing and one can see the judgements on each scene from many angles . mostly  the movie leaves you wondering on lots of facts around . as you start guessing the things  you end up at most being close  but missing the mark in many a scenes . it leaves a lasting impression in the end .  br    br   actors to watch are konkana sen sharma  boman irani  atul kulkarni among others . the dialogues are well written and you feel you  ve lived around some of these people . there are still some scenes that make you think of more depths . the songs are in the background saving time and lata  s voice in a very meaningful song  kitne ajeeb  leaves you feeling you  re left all alone in the midst of the modern society   
in       the visitors  was an enormous hit in france . so  the sequence was inevitable and unfortunately  this sequence ranks among the worst ones ever made .  br    br   this is a movie that doesn  t keep its promises . indeed  it  s supposed to tell a sole story . jean reno must go in the twentieth century and take christian clavier back in the middle ages so that time can normally follow its course . the problem is that clavier feels completely at ease in the world of the twentieth century  and so make him get back in the middles ages is rather hard . . . instead of this  the movie goes on several other stories without succeeding in following the main plot . as a consequence  the movie becomes sometimes muddle  headed  sometimes a bit of a mess .  br    br   but the movie also suffers from the performance of nearly all the actors . reno and clavier fall into the trap that however they could avoid in the first movie they  re going over the top and become annoying . then  why did jean  marie poir the film  maker engage muriel robin in the female main role  he made a mistake because she seems ill  at  ease and is absolutely pitiful . the other actors aren  t better marie  anne chazel is nonexistent and christian bujeau  unbearable .  br    br   of course  the movie contains a few good moments with efficient gags but it often falls into vulgarity and easiness . certain sequences and dialogs are affected . it also appears hollow because poir takes back elements that secured the success of the first movie . thus  a young girl takes reno for a close relative of her family and asks him to take part in her wedding .  br    br   a labored and disappointing follow  up . anyway  what  s the interest of this movie otherwise commercial   br    br    
the first review i saw of page  said  what is madhur bhandarkar finally wants to say   . should he say something so decisive .  br    br   the most beautiful thing about page  is it doesn  t take sides . no propaganda whatsoever . this is the film that captures so many angles of an issue  i don  t know what do i call as an  issue  here  and yet like any mediocre movie doesn  t come up with an solution . i was so intrigued when i realized that the movie ended almost in the same scenario just like it started .  br    br   the movie defines so many characters who are completely with completely different priorities and different ideologies and yet they are all a part of the system which is all the more apathetic . i wish i can say more but there would be more spoilers ahead . so watch page  if you wanna see one of the most mature films of the recent times .  
everybody who wants to be an editor should watch this movie  it shows you about every mistake not to do in editing a movie  my grandma could have done better than that  but that  s not the only reason why this movie is really bad   it  s actually so bad that i  m not able to write a sentence without exclamation mark   if the first episode of les visiteurs  was a quite good familial comedy with funny jokes and cult dialogues  this sequel is copying badly the receipe of the first one . the funny parts could be counted on one hand and maybe half of it . clavier is over  acting his role even more than in the first part  robin is trying to act like lemercier  because she  s replacing her  but that  s grotesque  . lemercier is lemercier  robin is robin  even if muriel robin can be funny by herself on stage  she is not in this movie because she  s not acting as she used to act . i know that it should be hard to replace somebody who was good in a role  lemercier obtained a csar award for her role in the first movie  but she made a big mistake instead of playing her role  she played lemercier playing her role   as for the story  it  s just too much  of course we knew at he end of the first movie that there would be a sequel but poir and clavier should hae tried to write a more simple story like the first episode . the gags are repetitive  childish and dj  vu . no  really  there  s no more than  funny parts in this . the only good things might be the costumes and some special effects . so you have only  reasons to watch it   if you want to learn how to edit awfully a movie    if you want to waste your time or if you really need a brainless moment        
page  is most definitely a very enthralling and captivating eye  opener that very cleverly exposes the hypocrite lifestyles of mumbai  s elite . from the fake kisses to the plastered smiles  page  leaves no stone unturned in revealing the shocking lives of the rich and the famous . backstabbing  gossip  corruption  and scandal lurk in every dark corner in the world of glitz and glam . humanity and generosity are analogous to an oasis in the desert in this world where social darwinism is the prevailing mentality . everyone is constantly craving for more money  more fame  and a higher reputation  driving them to do the most shameful things imaginable ranging from signing film contracts at a funeral to child molestation . anything is possible in this metropolis where there is a such a wide gap between the social classes . the audience sees the ugliness of both of these classes through the eyes of the protagonist . she observes the suffocating atmosphere and the mind  boggling frenzy that the socialites live in . bollywood  business tycoons  politicians  and the underworld are all intertwined in a completely convoluted mess  kitne ajeeb hai is a nice track as is the peppy kuan main doob jaongi . terrific film with excellent character development   
this film is so bad and gets worse in every imaginable fashion . its not just the poor acting and script nor is it the lame and perverse time one wastes on watching it . what really puts this film in my hall of shame is the apparent struggling that the writers and producers do with the film to try and make it funny . the actress replacing jean reno  s descendant is to old and learned her lesson in the first film so they add a new girl who is to be married . nearly all of the original extras and gags return however this time makes me want to ripe my eyes out of my sockets because it  s a waste of perfectly good film . the torture of the constant camera cuts and shots in any scene in this movie can put the viewer into violent convolutions . this second film takes the successful original and drags it out of its coffin and parades the corpse out in the public square and perversely degrades not only the original idea and its legacy but our intelligence as well . this film unlike the spruce goose could not fly for it had no plot in the principals returning for a  necklace  . no script since it was apparently written and added to daily . no attention to camera or shots in mind . poor lighting and special effects done for the sake of doing so . this film would not even pass for a student film in basic film    . how this pile got through no one can tell . it was a big loosing investment and it appears that no one had the strength to put this unnatural cruel mistake out of our miseries . this movie has one good part . . . its end  this film is my   worst film of all time  finally  howard the duck  is no longer the goose .  
madhur bhandarkar directs this film that is supposed to expose the lifestyle of the rich and famous while also providing a commentary on the integrity of journalism today .  br    br   celebrities party endlessly  they like to be seen at these parties  and to get due exposure in the media . in fact the film would have us believe that this exposure makes celebrities out of socialites and the newspapers have a huge hand in this . imo there is much more synergy between the celebrities and media and it is a  i need you  you need me  kind of relationship . however  the media needs celebrities more and not vice versa . anyhow  in this milieu of constant partying is thrown the social column  page  of the newspaper  reporter konkana sen sharma . she is shown as this celebrity maker  very popular at the social gatherings . she has a good friend in the gay abhijeet and in the struggling model rohit  bikram saluja  . she rooms with an air  hostess  the sassy pearl  sandhya mridul   and a struggling actress  gayatri  tara sharma  . the editor of the newspaper is boman irani and a firebrand crime beat reporter is played by atul kulkarni . the movie has almost too many plot diversions and characters but does work at a certain level . the rich are shown to be rotten to the core for the most part  the movie biz shown to be sleazy to the max with casting couch scenarios  exploitation of power  hunger for media exposure . into all this is layered in homosexuality  a homosexual encounter that seems to not have much to do with the story or plot  rampant drug use  pedophilia  police  encounter  deaths . in light of all this pearl  s desire to have a super rich husband  a socialite daughter indulging in a sexual encounter in a car  the bitching women  all seem benign ills .  br    br   the film has absolutely excellent acting by konkana sen sharma  atul kulkarni has almost no role  a pity in my opinion . but the supporting cast is more than competent  boman irani is very good  . this is what saves the film for me . mr . bhandarkar bites off way more than he can chew or process onto celluloid and turns the film into a free for all bash . i wish he had focused on one or two aspects of societal ills and explored them more effectively . he berates societal exploitation yet himself exploits all the masala ingredients needed for a film to be successful . we have an item number in the framework of a bollywood theme party  the drugged out kids dance a perfectly choreographed dance to a western beat . i hope the next one from madhur bhandarkar dares to ditch even more of the hindi film stereotyped ingredients . the film is a brave  albeit flawed  effort  certainly worth a watch .  
in a way  corridors of time is a success story because the movie reaches its goal  being seen by thousands . but it fails at making them laugh . . .  br    br   les visiteurs has had its success  because the subject was an original way of considering the time travel  forget about zemeckis  s back to the future  here comes the old france  the middle  age knight and its nearly barbaric way of life . full of pride  funny thanks to the ancient words he uses  montmirail can sometimes be disgusting but he keeps his honor . then comes the sequel .  br    br   nobody had foreseen the tremendous success of les visiteurs  the first . and it  s no use being a movie expert to realize that the corridors of time has been made for money .  br    br   the general story begins after the end of les visiteurs  and immediately tries to justify the sequel with a time paradox that would have needed some second tought . explanation  it  s no use trying to get back the jewelry jacquouille has stolen  don  t you remember this nice red shiny and expensive car he bought at the end of the  st episode  where do you think he found the money  selling the jewelry . . . and that  s only one of many holes poir tries to avoid . . . and fails .  br    br   let  s have a look at the characters  montmirail doesn  t change  he  s just a little more boring . regarding frenegonde . . . that  s another story  valrie lemercier decided not to compromise herself in this sequel to avoid getting stuck in the bourgeoise role . and muriel robin tries to imitate her in a way that i found so pitiful i nearly felt pain for her . and poir doesn  t realize that a cast of humorists isn  t enough to make a good comedy .  br    br   forget about the time travels  about the digital effects  concentrate on the story and you  ll see that there  s enough room on a mail stamp to write it   times .  br    br   the main interest of this film is the landscapes . a movie for youngsters  let  s say up to   years old .  
page  is one of those films madhur bhandarkar makes to expose societal filth . the film is compelling  but  like most of bhandarkar  s films  it is one  sided and overly pessimistic . this film is all about tabloid journalism  gossip  celebrities . the film exposes the lives of socialites  whose lifestyle is disastrously boastful  peculiar and repulsive . they party  they care for nothing but fame  they plan parties at funerals  they are craving for more money and a higher reputation  they will do anything to get due exposure in the media  to get their names boldly printed on the daily newspaper  s social column known as  page   with huge photographs which will be the center of people  s discussions . they are attention seeking  salacious and hypocrite . the film industry is shown as sleazy  with casting couch being a common phenomenon among filmmakers . that  s where our lovely heroine  a young social column reporter madhvi sharma  is thrown . all these people from mumbai  s elite depend on her articles and she is the right person to befriend at these parties if you want her to mention you in her article . later in the film we learn that even those who are madhvi  s friends are no different from these high  society people . this was tough viewing for me  although the film is unquestionably brave and the issues it deals with are interesting .  br    br   the film  s music is average . the only passable songs are  kitne ajeeb  and  huzoor  e  ala   sung by the two melody queens lata mangeshkar and asha bhosle  respectively . otherwise the soundtrack is bad . one song which was particularly horrendous is  filmy very filmy  . the film  s writing is quite good . the second half is far better than the first  as it turns more matter  of  fact and exposes much more important issues such as terrorism and child abuse . that  s where the film has to be applauded . it was sad to know that people prefer to ignore such crimes out of fear and konkona sen sharma  s character  s disappointment was very easy to relate to . she was excellent throughout the film and her acting in the last few scenes was particularly impressive . atul kulkarni  s part was very small but he did full justice to it . boman irani is solid as the newspaper  s editor . sandhya mridul is lovable as madhvi  s sassy roommate pearl who marries an older man for money and is honest enough to admit it . the film  s ending is really well  done  and provides a certain sigh of relief after the unimaginably tough proceedings . page  is a good film  it is interesting and at times moving  but the level of its interest and its general quality are marred by its exaggerated  overly messy and negative portrayal of the rich and famous .  
les visiteurs  the first movie about the medieval time travelers was actually funny . i like jean reno as an actor  but there was more . there were unexpected twists  funny situations and of course plain absurdness  that would remind you a little bit of louis de funes .  br    br   now this sequel has the same characters  the same actors in great part and the same time traveling . the plot changes a little  since the characters now are supposed to be experienced time travelers . so they jump up and down in history  without paying any attention to the fact that it keeps getting absurder as you advance in the movie . the duke  jean reno  tries to keep the whole thing together with his playing  but his character has been emptied  so there  s not a lot he can do to save the film .  br    br   now the duke  s slave  helper  he has really all the attention . the movie is merely about him and his being clumsy  annoying  stupid or whatever he was supposed to be . fact is this character tries to produce the laughter from the audience  but he does not succeed . it is as if someone was telling you a really very very bad joke  you already know  but he insists on telling that joke till the end  adding details  to make your suffering a little longer .  br    br   if you liked les visiteurs  do not spoil the taste in your mouth with the sequel . if you didn  t like les visiteurs  you would never consider seeing the sequel . if you liked this sequel . . . well  i suppose you still need to see a lot of movies .  
i did not like chandni bar from the same director .  br    br   i did not watch his other movies . they came and went .  br    br   but page   is nicely made . seems real . like satya from rgv did .  br    br   the mental sickness of the so called high society is the summary of the movie . in the midst of all the sickness  its difficult to lead a normal life which the protagonist  konkana sen  does . serious movie  not to be watched with children or expecting wives . page   of newspapers is the usual place for reporting the activities going on in the parties of the rich and elite who indulge in much more filth then what is reported . how this page   is also a business prospect is shown in the movie . event management firms get paid to arrange parties and make a rich but not famous people famous overnight by clicking photographs with the celebrities invited to the party .  br    br   the western culture has crept into the high society of mumabi quite deeply . the movie shows it boldly  no holds barred .  br    br   madhur bhandarkar starts a new journey from here .  
at a panel discussion that i attended after viewing this film  the filmmakers stated that one should look at this not as a movie but a provoker of thought . well  the only thoughts that were provoked from me were of the time wasted watching the movie . the gimmicks of the film  documentary style  futuristic setting  served as distractions of what was supposed to be a thoughtful examination of the abortion debate . this film illustrates the problem when people try to use film as a platform for their political views  usually a very boring movie that preaches to the choir .  
the write word  br    br   what you see is what you get . not really  what madhur bhandarkar  s brave and brilliant  page   does is destroy the myth attached to the glam and glitterati that colour the pages of our newspapers and whose lives  read party habits  we follow with such maniacal fervour which only our intrinsic voyeuristic streak can explain .  br    br   the page  phenomenon is as deplorable as it is enigmatic . how exactly did it gain such control over the printed word and when did it start to encroach into the front page is subject for another debate . bhandarkar cleverly avoids that . he is concerned only with the mechanisms of this grotesque existence . and in doing that  he pieces together the various elements of this way of life . like robert altman  although i  m not comparing bhandarkar to altman  s genius   bhandarkar uses myriad characters to further his motive . whether it is a page  wannabe nri  the gate  crashers  the newly  rich  an upcoming model  a socialite politician or an erotic novella authoress all the characters are introduced with an objective and each of them has a separate character  sketch  even if their parts may be miniscule . and therein lays the film  s appeal .  br    br   konkona sen sharma plays madhavi sharma  a young and talented journalist who covers page  for nation today . initially content with her job  she soon begins to see the ugliness of this underbelly that is covered by its fake and cosmetic profligacy . but bhandarkar resists the temptation to make this subject into a moral  policing movie and avoids concentrating on one character alone . hence the movie is not only about madhavi  but also equally about deepak suri  boman irani   madhavi  s editor who passively accepts his role as a cog of a larger machinery  anjali thapar  soni razdan   a socialite suffocating from the social pollution  abhijeet  rehan engineer   a homosexual make  up artist and madhavi  s roommates pearl  sandhya mridul   the sassy airhostess and gayatri  tara sharma   an aspiring actress . it seems like an impossible task to assimilate so many characters  and more  in one story  but full credit to nina arora and manoj tyagi for penning a tight screenplay . the dialogues by sanjeev datta and bhandarkar have been written with great attention to detail .  br    br   any narrative  no matter how good  can fall flat with the lack of genuine performances . thankfully   page   brims with actors and not stars . konkona goes through her author  backed role with effortless ease . ditto boman . sandhya mridul gets the best written part  but almost overdoes it . atul kulkarni is wasted though with an underwritten character . at times  the director seems too keen to incorporate as much as possible  paedophilia  homosexuality  etc .  . but the contexts in which they are used do not make them look rushed .  br    br   ultimately  bhandarkar  s attempt is to satiate our voyeurism  but he takes it a step further . he takes us inside the photographs and exposes us to the gruesome realities of this sect of humanity that strangely seems to be living in a different and remote world . these are the same people that indulged in new  year  s revelry while a few hundred kilometers away their fellow countrymen had been ravaged by nature  s ferocity  clever writing  skillfully incorporated songs  able performances and a genuine feeling of sincerity are what make this film worthy in spite of its lack of finesse and poor production values .  page   is an optimum way to enter a new year of cinema .  br    br    abhishek bandekar  br    br   rating    br    br    poor  average  good  very good  excellent  br    br     th january       
the makers of this film have created a future where not only is abortion and birth control illegal in every state  but women are prosecuted for murder and sent away to serve long prison sentences . in other words  this film is every liberals worst nightmare  the political agenda is so heavy  handed here and the style of the film is so low  key that it just loses steam pretty quickly . regardless of which side of the fence you  re on  i  d recommend skipping it .  
as the story in my family goes  my dad  milton raskin  played the piano for the dorsey band . after sinatra joined the band  my dad practiced with him for hours on end . then  at a point in time  my dad told sinatra that he was actually to good to be tied up with such a small group  band   and that he should venture off on his own . by that time sinatra had enough credits  under his belt  to do just that  dorsey never forgave my dad  and the rest  as they say  is history .  br    br   i have some pictures and records to that effect  and so does berkley university in california .  br    br   i have seen just about every sinatra movie more times than i wish to say  and his movies never get old . . . thank you frank  
i am a big fan of the original book and this adaption is simply bad . first of all  it had trouble deciding if it is a kiddie toon or an adult one  that caused a strange mix of an adult story and some pretty violent scenes with a silly little duck that keeps giving  funny  moments in the beginning .  br    br   but that  s hardly important  the film is simply boring  unmoving and not true to the original story . it simply fails to transfer to the picture all the points orwell tried to make to his book .  br    br   spoiler  br    br   second revolution    haven  t they guys learned anything   who be the next napoleon then  benjamin     
as with most of eleanor powell  s films  this one plays out along the flimsiest of plots . for some reason   oh it is explained    she  s selected to transport a magnetic mine to cuba . good guys and bad guys compete for the mine and who is who gets confusing . but  as always  powell  s dancing is superb and worth the price of admission . and in this one lahr plays his cowardly lion  evoking warm memories of that technicolor film of     . a fringe benefit is hearing a young frank  with that wonderful voice and skinny vulnerability that he abandoned for his wise  guy persona later on . in addition  the great drummer  buddy rich  has a wonderful time displaying his virtuosity . watch particularly for his unique duet with dorsey  s trumpet man  ziggy elman . i say  unique  perhaps in ignorance  but i know of no other drum  trumpet sequence like this one on film or records . this film is fun . even skelton  s goofy persona is relatively restrained . powell shows again that she is the greatest film dancer ever .  
first off  i have to say that i loved the book animal farm . i read it with my  th grade class  and it was great . we also decided that watching the movie would be beneficial . the movie was so disappointing to me . the movie cuts out some characters  and misses a lot of the main points of the book . it skips around a lot  and doesn  t explain anything in detail . if someone was watching this movie without having first read the book  they would be confused . the most disappointing thing in this movie to me  was the ending . the ending in the book was the most powerful  and in the movie  they changed it  it was supposed to be the pigs and men in an alliance and sort of  melting  together  but instead  the movie made it seem like the animals were going to rebel against the pigs . to sum up  i don  t think that this movie captured the real meaning that orwell portrayed in his book .  
i thought this was one of those really great films to see with a bunch of close friends . i laughed and cried and laughed and cried at the same time . it was just really touching . although not a new concept this was a very well made film .  
as an inspiring director myself  this movie was exciting to watch with criticism in mind . shot with low end digital camera probably with   mm adapter for dof . the editing is good acting decent  sound effects aren  t too over the top . i would have give it a  for an indie film  but the story aren  t that interesting . it  s more on the drama side  character developments than a horror flick .  br    br   it  s not for those who wants to get spooked startled frightened grossed out  or sit down with popcorn to just enjoy .  br    br   honestly this movie would be good if we were still in the    s  br    br   this movie is about a family who has a dry field  and that is just that .  
the plot of this enjoyable mgm musical is contrived and only occasionally amusing  dealing with espionage and romance but the focus of the film is properly pointed upon the tuneful interludes showcasing the enormously talented and athletic tap dancing eleanor powell  abetted by tommy dorsey and his orchestra  featuring ziggy elman  buddy rich and frank sinatra . red skelton shares top billing with powell  and he and sidekick bert lahr are given most of the comedic minutes  although skelton is more effective when he  if it can be believed  performs as powell  s love interest  with virginia o  brien actually providing most of the film  s humor as the dancer  s companion . the technical brilliance of powell is evidenced during one incredible scene within which buddy rich contributes his drumming skills  and which must be viewed several times in order to permit one  s breathing to catch up with her precision . director edward buzzell utilizes his large cast well to move the action nicely along despite the rather disjointed script with which he must deal  and permits powell  s cotangent impossibilities to rule the affair  as is appropriate .  
animal farm       was a very good read about the dangers of totalitarianism . how good ideals can be changed and distorted by those who are ignorant or rule with an iron fist and an empty head . sadly this movie does not portray either of these . what we  re shown is a propaganda piece with a lot of finger waving and pointing . the animation and the direction were good considering the budget and the time period but the very essence of george orwell  s novel is sorely missing .  br    br   if you  re one of those who want to see how not to adapt a novel or are just interested in seeing an adaptation of this brilliant novelette then by all means watch . i just found this one to be somewhat mediocre . just one man  s opinion however .  br    br   the remake is a notch below but not by much .  
what fun  bucketfuls of good humor  terrific cast chemistry  skelton  powell  lahr  o  brien   dynamite dorsey  driven soundtrack  miss powell  s dance numbers have exceptional individual character and pizzazz . her most winning film appearance .  
this film is a portrait of the half  spastic teenage boy benjamin who has to visit a boarding school because of his lousy marks in math . he didn  t make the best experiences in life before and got serious self  esteem issues . after a rough start at his new school  he starts making friends  falls in love with a girl and does some american pieish teenage stuff .  br    br   beside some comedy elements  the film is told in a very serious way  focussing on benjamin and his problems .  br    br   if you already don  t like this story outline  save your time and watch something else . if you do  please be aware of the following  br    br     benjamin is a total loser . whatever he does  he does it terribly wrong and then he goes for self  pity all the time . for me he wasn  t that kind of  charming loser  who you can feel sympathy for and laugh with . instead he and his behavior really annoyed me and with my own teenage years not so far behind i could barely stand watching .  br    br     the film hardly tries to be realistic and the story seems to be but from my experience the characters just aren  t  except for janosch maybe  . and yes  i know this film is based on an auto  biography written by a    year old  but having some experiences with german schools and german youth myself  i don  t believe him .  br    br     showing the sexual awakening really is an important thing for a film with this subject . but i doubt that teenage boys do an  ejaculate on the cookie   contest where everyone has to hit a cookie with his sperm during mass  masturbation in the woods and the loser has to eat the sperm  wet cookie afterwards . although it kinda amused me in a contemptible way  it  s nor funny neither underlining the serious attempts of this film .  br    br     there  s a sub  plot about benjamin  s family and his father betraying his wife  still  i don  t know why it  s there and where to put it . it just bored me .  br    br   well  i personally hated this film for having the character of benjamin  being without a message  concept  scheme  whatever and it  s failing attempts to be dramatic and serious . however  i can image that some people may find it sensible and touching . if you liked  the other sister  you  ll probably like this one  too . i hated both .  br    br      year old boys shouldn  t write an autobiography and if they do  it doesn  t seem to be the best idea to make a film out of it .  br    br    out of   .  
  ship ahoy  was probably made in order to showcase mgm talent . the film is a fun trip on an ocean liner on its way to san juan  puerto rico  at the time in which the country was involved in wwii . this was typical fare for the studios  which gave the movie going public light weight entertainment as a distraction during those difficult times the country was living .  br    br   the beautiful eleanor powell is seen at her best in some musical numbers where she clearly shows us she was a dancer to be reckoned with . red skelton is also seen in a straight part with not too much clowning  as he pursues the beautiful ms . powell on the ship that is bringing them to puerto rico . the irresistible bert lahr has good opportunities in the film to show he was a funny man . also virginia grey is seen as a fun girl who is not fooled by anyone .  br    br   there are good musical numbers featuring tommy dorsey and his orchestra  in which one sees  among others  the amazing buddy rich  who has a few solos with mr . dorsey and ms . powell . a young frank sinatra appears also as the lead singer of the band  backed by the pied pipers .  br    br   this is a nostalgic trip that should be savored by fans of this genre  which mgm totally controlled .  
after stopping by the movie store to find something to watch  we stumbled on this . it looked appealing from the summary  at least  so we gave it a try . and here  s the kicker the first   minutes are interesting  it  s actually enjoyable  oh  wait  spoke too soon .  br    br   somewhere in there  the movie took a disgusting turn into fundamental  right  wing christian brain  washing . not entirely sure what happens  but i think the screenplay writer found god somewhere in there  finished writing this script  and had no time to edit it because he had a kkk meeting to get to with his friends from the westboro church and his hood wasn  t clean .  br    br   can they put warnings on this  i refuse to support this religious idiocy . much like video games have rating systems  movies need some sort of symbol maybe a small cross in the bottom corner to show us that a movie is going to take a turn for the worse .  br    br   unless you share sentiments with whatever moron came up with this story  and will have your bible open in your lap while you watch this and plan on how you  ll convert your neighbors  don  t waste your time . it  s some of the worst junk that  s come out in a very long time  and the radical religious nuts don  t need anymore funding .  
i saw this movie with my friend and we couldnt stop laughing  i mean there was nothing scary about this movie  it was funny all the lines freddy said were hilarious  i think they shoudln  t have even made a new nightmare and just gone to freddy vs . jason . although some parts were gross  like the head blowing up  . and any elm street film from    sucked . this was the best besides number  . i wouldnt recomend this movie if you want a good horror . but if you have nothing else to do rent this and you  ll laugh alot . i want to see the texas chainsaw massacre i think it would be scary . freddy  s dead the final nightmare overall grade b   
the deceptive cover  title and very small hidden print of power of prayer tricked me into renting this movie .  br    br   it started out really well and pulled me in . i really liked it . between    and     s of it  the film started throwing in things that were not set up and made no sense . my first thought was   this is not written by someone who knows how to tell a story .  i ended up re  watching parts of the movie  thinking i had missed something .  br    br   by the time i reached the last    of the movie  it was all boring  annoying  religion thumping dialog that made no sense  said nothing  and was annoying to listen to i turned off the sound and did a fast forward to the end .  br    br   don  t waste your time with this flick .  br    br   beware of dvds labeled whitlow films and level path productions .  br    br   and i  m a practicing catholic .  
warning    tons of dead giveaways    don  t read if you haven  t seen this series  or you can  whatever .  br    br   they  re are few words to describe a movie that claims to be the last and comes out with another liars  cheats  maybe even some words that can  t be uttered . but when elm street   freddy  s dead shows everyone who thought the series got old  and wanted to stop seeing him  or people who wanted their hero  or villian  just stops for his final breath  this film was it .  br    br   this film starts with a parody of wizard of oz  then you see a kid who is named only as john doe  who is the last child in springwood  ohio  leaves and gets out of freddy territory . a woman who resides at a hospital  place to get kids off their feet kind of place meets this boy  and at the same time  has a dream about a man  a water tower  and a promise of a secret floating in her mind  goes back to springwood to figure out this frightening vision  and soon finds out that she is freddy  s child  and we soon find out that freddy can only leave springwood if his daughter can be a sort of host for him . and beyond that  fright ensues . this film seems to hit the nail on the head of everything you wanted to know .  br    br   this film has tons of humor  and cameo appearences  like rosanne barr and tom arnold  alice cooper  johnny depp  and a very young breckin meyer playing a teenage stoner who sees psychadelic vision of flowers and iron butterfly  s  in  a  gadda  da  vida   then gets stuck in a super mario parody of sorts . this film will either make you hate this movie  or like krueger even more . the best of the best .  
things i learned from  the list  .  br    br   a decent cinematographer  a hot girl who can act and malcom mcdowell couldn  t stop this movie from sucking .  br    br   blockbuster won  t give you your money back .  br    br   even when he reads the script and says  ugh  really     malcom mcdowell still tries .  br    br   chuck carrington desperately needs acting classes .  br    br   hire a writer .  br    br   jesus hates me too and punished me by making me pay   .   to see this movie .  br    br   when making a movie  you don  t need an ending . just leave everything unexplained  unresolved an uninteresting enough so that the audience falls asleep before the ending . genius .  br    br   any random landlord can cure death just by drawing a cross on a window . so make friends .  br    br   your maid can sing you back to life .  br    br   chuck carrington still needs acting classes .  br    br   your roommate will hate you and make fun of you if you bring home this movie .  br    br   apologies will not be accepted .  
first of all  i have to start this comment by saying i  m a huge nightmare on elm street fan . i think it  s the greatest horror series ever . for me  freddy is the boogeyman  of course  freddy  s dead  which tried to be the last chapter back then  is a weird movie . it doesn  t have the same atmosphere than the previous films . freddy has a lot of screen time . some think it makes him less scary  which i do agree . and that  s  in my opinion  exactly the point . this movie exists so we can know freddy a little better  who he is  who he were  how he became the man haunting our dreams . for some people  it  s a bad thing  it  s better if we never know because it  s scarier not to know why evil is evil . obviously those people won  t like rob zombie  s remake of halloween . to truly enjoy this one  you have to see things differently . it  s not about a strange guy hiding in the bush of your dreamland waiting to scare the hell out of you . this was the first one  and it was awesome . as the years passed by  freddy killed more and more people  and nobody could ever get rid of him for good . now it  s time to learn about the nature of this evil  the psychological aspects of freddy  s realm of terror . beside the story of freddy  s past  i also really liked the atmosphere of the movie . no more kids in springwood  only crazy grown  ups . the nightmare scenes are all great . the soundtrack is awesome  especially the opening song called   i  m awake now   performed by goo goo dolls . in my opinion  the final nightmare is a horror masterpiece and i can  t believe it  s so underrated . maybe it is misunderstood  or i have different tastes  anyway  all freddy fans should watch it . it has a lot of scary moments as well as funny moments too  and a lot of cameos  get yourself ready for something different and you might not be disappointed .  
i believe in keeping religion out of government and out of the movies . when i want a sermon  i  ll go to church  but i don  t want one from a movie . i don  t mind some supernatural themes   after all  religion is about as supernatural as you can get   but this movie had so much preaching in it that i was really annoyed . the landlady reminded me of witches that of seen in other movies . the bad guy even looked like he had horns .  br    br   and what a silly ending the hero went into the meeting and yelled at all of those old men  and that broke the spell . if only life were that simple . i think that when movies are that stupid  they ought to be distributed with a warning danger  preaching contained herein   
okay  i am a fan of the nightmare series and everyone says on here that this is the worst  but it  s not    haven  t  s you seen freddy  s revenge    wtf  that was the worst of all    now this movie is pretty decent and it sticks to the freddy story and it  s cool that he had a daughter etc . etc .  br    br   and then i found out it was in   d    i was so excited  i remember when i saw it on the dvd box set i instantly skipped to the   d sequences . quite a lot was in   d though like lisa zanes hand  dream demons  freddy  s claw  more than once   lezlie dean holding a knife  lisa zane with a baseball bat  doc  s hand  freddy  s head exploding .  br    br   i truly loved this movie because it was in   d  but i wish the whole movie was in   d not just the last   minutes .  br    br   by the way it  s   minutes not ten                  
i have nothing against religious movies . religious people need something to watch on a saturday night  i guess . but what really ticks me off is when the write  up on the dvd box does not indicate this fact to the potential viewer . passing off religious propaganda as entertainment is not cool  bro .  br    br   and even if i was a religious person  i would have to agree with most of the other posters here  this movie was a mess . poorly directed  poorly acted  poorly edited  and the attempt at a soundtrack was hilarious . the fake accents were terrible  the characters were mainly stereotypes  and continuity was out the window . the only reason we sat through this lame waste of time was that it was too late to watch another movie instead . should have just gone to bed .  br    br   absolutely no redeeming qualities to this movie  unless you are the religious type who will immediately endorse anything that will preach your beliefs to the unbelievers  even if it  s a pile of garbage . if you aren  t  avoid this at all costs . do not be deceived by the box write  up .  
if your a hard core freddy fan then you might not like it . this seems to be a spoof of the nightmare series . not much to see here . the only reason it holds it self up is the back story on freddy .  br    br   the one thing that is always great in nightmare movies are the death scenes . but the death scenes were very crappy in this . the visual effects were great and the acting was ok but the back story was excellent . basically freddy  s story comes full circle in this .  br    br   i have read bad reviews for this but i actually enjoyed this despite its many flaws  br    br    . a nightmare on elm street .        br    br    . freddy  s dead the final nightmare .        br    br    . a nightmare on elm street   the dream master .        br    br    . a nightmare on elm street   the dream warriors .        br    br    . a nightmare on elm street   the dream child .        br    br    . a nightmare on elm street   freddy  s revenge .        br    br   i recommend it if you enjoy the series . this is were freddy is fully explained but thats all there is . next on my list wes cravens new nightmare .  br    br          
 . . . then they will have a proper place to file this crap . sorry  not a  mystery  as claimed  it is religious mumbo  jumbo . i kept waiting for the  unimaginable evil  that was promised me  but the  evil  in this flick would only be unimaginable by a five year old with learning disabilities .  br    br   i can  t believe that they actually managed to find some bigger name actors willing to be involved in this embarrassment . unfortunately it has forevermore changed my opinion of them  and i will likely avoid anything they do in the future . i  m also a little cheesed off that i now have a writer  s name and director  s name to memorize as i  ll be avoiding anything they do like the plague from now on too .  br    br   it  s really unfortunate that all the religious fanatics posting on here and saying that this movie is   out of    etc . will get their reviews posted first . this could lead to more people getting tricked  as i was  into believing this movie was something other than religious preaching .  br    br   well  it  s off to the video store to get my money back for false advertising . too bad they can  t give me back the    minutes i wasted watching this thinking that it was actually a hollywood horror  supernatural film .  
freddy krueger the dream stalker from elm street returns  the great character actor robert englund is back in this sequel of nightmare   dream child . i hope i got the number correctly . there  s been so many  and this one is one of the best  especially for the cameos byrosanne barr  then arnold  tom arnold  johnny depp   who did the very first nightmare in    alice cooper  singer  you will see freddy as a tormented child  a teenager who loves pain  and as a family guy  creepy  the effects are very funny and creative  the cast also includes lisa zane  billy  s sister  breckin meyer  road trip  yaphet kotto  alien  live and let die  and amanda donahue  father knows best  i was one of the people  who saw this in  d  well the ending . i love  d movies . i missed the first  d wave in      i wasn  t even born yet  the second wave was in     . i like all the freddy movies . this one stands out as one of the better ones not counting the first which was absolutely brilliant  freddy became the new monster of the   s and   s  along with jason voorhees  chucky  micheal myers  and leather face . can you imagine a film with all of them  i recommend this to all freddy fans and horror fans alike . that freddy is such a cut up .  out of   .  
didn  t know anything about the film or that it was based on a best selling book . tried guessing from the opening scenes what it would be about  best guess  buried treasure and a death list . that lasted about   minutes when i got the sneaky suspicion that the film was crap . i  ll not bore you with how bad the plot and acting were but anyone who gave it more than two stars must work for the film makers . i watched until the hero jumped into his corvette to rush to the hospital . he had his on his suit  shirt and tie arrived at the hospital in jeans and a t  shirt . couldn  t even get the continuity right . i got the christian theme  hard to miss it .  
the movie freddy  s dead the final nightmare is just as horrific and disturbing as every other nightmare on elm street  yes it has comedy essence about it  so has all the other films  but how can anyone possibly say that you wouldn  t find freddy krueger scary  if you were to come across this man in your dreams you wouldn  t find him even more scary with a comic essence about him because his comedy shows that he doesn  t care at all about killing you that he finds it extremely funny  and freddy also plays comic mind games with them  which in its own way is very disturbing  by using his comic ways i think that makes the horror movies nightmare on elm street what they are today  the writers are extremely clever making krueger comic and scary as oppose to jason vorhees  who doesn  t say anything and hasn  t got the wit to truly frighten his victims  this movie is about as good as freddy  s wit gets and i would recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour and by the way  don  t fall asleep   .  
i just finished watching this movie . it wasn  t ridiculously bad  but i  m really disappointed with it . i  m not really sure why someone would make a movie like this . it was marginally entertaining  but i feel like the people making it had a lot of disagreements on what they were making . monday  the writer was in charge tuesday  the director wednesday  the guy who gets the coffee etc . it almost seems like they really wanted to make a couple different movies  but only had the time and money to make one .  br    br   someone else commented that the acting was really good  but i  d have to disagree . then again  if the actors were able to keep a straight face during the filming  perhaps they  re better actors than i give them credit for .  br    br   the back of the dvd gives the impression that the movie would be a mystery . . . something along the lines of a historical law and order or national treasure . it starts off like that  but then  out of nowhere it takes a turn towards a bad episode of the twilight zone  or . . . what was that other show that wasn  t as good . . . a bad episode of the outer limits .  br    br   my main complaint about the movie is that it is just so played out . there  s the evil guy with spiked white hair . there  s the love interest  who  when she first appears  the wind actually blows through her hair . seriously . once you realize it  s a christian movie  the end is also pretty easy to spot .  br    br   the cinematography was poorly done  especially in the opening scenes  way to put your best foot forward . it wasn  t atrocious for most of the movie  but there was the occasional ridiculously bad shot of an old lady  praying  arms up in a dark room while lightening is striking  the sort of thing that just makes you a little bit embarrassed to be watching the movie .  
ok  i admit . i think kenny doughty looks amazing in this movie  but beyond his good looks  the movie is carried by a sometimes predictable  but reasonable plot .  br    br   starting out  we  re introduced to the three lead females of the movie . one a headmistress  very concerned about her image and never married . a police officer  with child and a bad ex to go on about . the third  a power  status hungry doctor with a desire for recognition and three ex  s .  br    br   they are almost the  first wives club   and indeed there is much verbal bashing of ex  s involved as well as some  he left the credit card  behaviour . characters set  the movie continues .  br    br   mcdowell  s character  the headmistress  arrives late at a funeral  where a young organist  filling in for the regular player  doughty  catches her eye . what will her two friends say about the ensuing mischief  will they live happily ever after   br    br   a tissue or two recommended if you  re the teary type  the end uplifting  but maybe not what you  d expect . all in all a great movie which stands out amongst the current choices of action  special effects and schlock horror .  
a film with very little positive to say for it .  br    br   firstly it has zero pace and is positively lacking in any drama .  br    br   besides being remarkably slow the empty acre seems dedicated to using the same stock footage again and again . i lost count of how many times i had seen  that  field at night or that bit of cracked earth .  br    br   it also has the fundamental flaw of thinking that if the audience don  t know about things they will be gripped rather than just confused . so with no signs that there are any issues we suddenly find the marriage is not what it seems to be despite being given the impression that it  s fine . we find jacob is possibly the worst farmer in the universe as he seems to spend no time on the farm and also seems to have bought land with a wholly useless acre . beth has a key to a warehouse of books  there are innumerable other questions some of which are resolved later in the movie  much later  in fact too late .  br    br   and on the point of the acre . horror filmmakers note that large inanimate objects are inherently not scary  and also if they  re meant to be an acre big then make them so .  br    br   there is also a frightening lack of reasonability as beth  the best performer in the piece  followed by jefferson  the cop  suddenly appears to be accused of everything under the sun just because she is on  medication  .  br    br   with the full ten minutes plus of running round the fields looking for the missing child  did he crawl out of the window  he  s six months old  the film descends into badly written scene after badly written scene . bad plinky plonk  horror  music fails to add atmosphere .  br    br   often bad films can be amusing but not the empty acre  which is just bad .  
freddy  s dead the final nightmare       was the last film to feature freddy krueger as a solo act  not as an entity or a co  star  . the years of killing have taken a toll upon the town of springwood . it has gotten to the point that the little city has become a virtual ghost town . the parents who killed freddy krueger so many years ago have all paid the ultimate price . only the mad inhabit the town and the survivors are scattered everywhere . but that doesn  t stop freddy from seeking out his final revenge . no matter how they try to stop him  he always comes back for more . but this time he finds out a little more about his old life . can the kids finally stop freddy for good  what is this secret that is buried in freddy  s twisted mind  to find out you  ll have to watch freddy  s dead . the end was originally filmed in   d .  br    br   a fitting way to end the franchise . freddy learns something about himself and his perverted life and he gets to go out in a bang  lisa zane  yaphet kotto and freddy krueger star in this final installment . rosanne  tom arnold and johnny depp make special appearances . a whole lot better than the last one but it  s filled with a few dated jokes . if you enjoy the series then you don  t want to miss out on this one .  br    br   i have to recommend this movie for freddy fans .  
how sad there is no option to post a mark lower than  . i watched this piece of nonsense and could barely believe what i was watching . every single part of the film was awful . music  acting  direction  story  everything  simply everything . i actually found myself laughing out loud at various points in the film . i particularly loved the bit where our hero is dashing through the hospital in soft focus slow motion  and knocks the clipboard out of the nurses hand  because  . . . . . . . . . . . . . well . just because . product placement  crucifix  s  crucifi   everywhere . if you are of a christian persuasion and very easily satisfied  you may like this movie . if you do like this movie  you really need to get out more .  
now all the kids and teenagers of springwood  ohio are all dead expect for one teenager  shon greenblatt  is still alive . freddy  robert englund  is letting him go and the teenager doesn  t have much of a memory  when he  s arriving in a new town . when a tough female psychologist  lisa zane  tries to break though the new patient . she  s finds out  where he  s from . she brings him along to springwood to spark some memories but three teens  lezlie deane  breckin meyer and ricky dean logan   who unexpected came for the ride . once they arrived in springwood  the psychologist has some memory that she did lived in that town before as a child . while freddy knows the true secret of her true identity .  br    br   directed by rachel talalay  ghost in the machine  tank girl  made a grim but somewhat oddly different sequel with some visual style and funny moments for this horror  fantasy  thriller . yaphet kotto  alien  has a supporting role as a psychologist expert on dreams . this has some ingenious visual effects  not everyone will love the climax  especially in   d  and some good style in its storytelling . this one did out gross some of the film  s series at the box office .  br    br   dvd has an strong anamorphic widescreen   .      transfer  also in pan  scan  and an strong  dolby digital  .  surround sound . dvd has the original theatrical trailer  jump to a nightmare opinion and cast  crew information . the  elm street  series box set  the eighth disc has interviews with the the cast  crew of this sixth film . the sixth film is also in   d for the film climax but you could watch it at   d also . this is the last of the  elm street  films until wes craven resurrected freddy into a different  darker style in  new nightmare  and the silly but surprisingly enjoyable spin  off horror film  freddy vs jason  . watch for robert shaye  co  owner and co  ceo of  new line cinema    roseanne barr  tom arnold  johnny depp and alice cooper in amusing cameos . written by michael de luca  john carpenter  s in the mouth of madness  . from a story by the director .       .  
the imdb plot summary in no way describes the essence of this film . it should have read  be prepared to be catapulted back to the prison of the  rd pew from the back of your family  s church at  years old  listening to the preacher drone on about god  s will while all you can think of is getting back home to your lego  .  br    br   it starts off well intentioned  building intrigue by planting some real and surreal clues such as renny  s  how did the cut on my thumb heal so fast   moment . it then slowly morphs into a christian jamboree  sacrificing its plot completely in a wash of evangelistic  induced babble . i believe i counted the use of the word  pray  about   times in a five minute span near the end . after the   st  i tried to twist the context of the word to its synonym   prey  . sadly  this little mind game of mine made the film at least bearable for the last   minutes . plus it made me laugh whenever a character would say  prayer    preyer  to me  as it became totally zany . indeed  even my catholic wife sunk in her chair from boredom  almost to the point of ending up on the floor .  br    br   for all the salivating christians who ranked this film     stars  i suggest sticking with your theology  reinforcing safety standards like circle square  the ten commandments  anything from narnia  jesus christ superstar and the like . stay away from more cerebrally challenging subject matter in films such as jesus camp  the god who wasn  t there  what would jesus buy  or the soon  to  be released religulous .  br    br   maybe robert whitlow  s book is better .  
freddy has gone from scary to funny  in this  th installment in the nightmare series .  br    br   it  s been  years  well actually   since this film takes place in     . and freddy has killed every last kid on elm street except one  john doe  jacobb from part   even doe the film gives on hint who he is   in which he uses to bring more children to come to elm street . not only does freddy gets his wishes  but he also gets his daughter back to elm street . when she finds out what is happening  she and other kids decide to kill freddy once and for all . we also get to see some of freddy  s eerie backgrounds .  br    br   rachel talalay  who has been contected to the nightmare series for a long time by now . many people hate this film  but i liked it . it tried to bring out what freddy was doing with his wisecrackes . . . comdey and makes the series more funny than scary . so this film is really a comdey sore to speak . it is not the wrost in the series  part  still holds it .  br    br    
it started out with an interesting premise . i always like civil war stuff and ancient secret societies . the more the film progressed  the more i realized that this was a b movie at best . in the latter half  it quickly became a c movie  then d  then f  then  i wish that this wasn  t a rental so that i could put it in the microwave   i can  t say that the acting in all cases was awful  just most . the writing  however . . . i never read the book . maybe the book is well written . the screenplay was written by a   year old . it was ridiculously shallow  the dialog drab and uninteresting  the characters about as interesting as a  pound bag of fertilizer . i really hated this movie  as did my wife . i am a christian and i have no problem with movies that promote or support christianity . this movie did a great disservice to the cause . awful  terrible  worthless . if you liked it  i strongly recommend superman  .  
i guess i  m part of the silent minority who enjoyed this film . is it one of the best of the  nightmare  series  maybe not  but i had lots of fun with it . freddy krueger reaches his evil  wisecracking potential . since parts  and  kind of lagged the series down  i felt this so  called final installment   new nightmare  is the real finale  brought the series out of its slump . there are some great nightmare sequences  including one where breckin meyer plays a stoner who gets trashed  falls asleep and gets stuck in a video game to which freddy controls . this is both a highly original and hilarious sequence  especially when we see him out of the dreamscape  hopping around like super mario . and freddy belts out the funny one  liner   great graphics .  and since the movie was made about   years ago  it brought back memories when freddy started controlling the game with the powerglove . anyone who remembers the first   bit nintendo remembers the powerglove .  br    br   the cast is superb . lisa zane is perfectly cast in the lead . i haven  t seen yaphet kotto since  the running man   and i think the last time i saw that film was about  years ago . he  s another great  underappreciated actor who possesses a powerful screen presence . and who can forget the cameos  the best one is by johnny depp  from the first  nightmare   playing a spokesman for an anti  drug commercial .  br    br   the  d sequence at the end is really awesome  so for those who are looking to check this film out   please rent or buy it on dvd  hopefully all the editions come with the  d glasses  but i  m sure the video edition has the  d element removed .  br    br   i personally didn  t see many things wrong with the film . it even elaborated on freddy  s backstory . the film is a great mix of humor and scares  and the gross  out effects are terrific . could this have given better justice to the franchise  of course it could have . but rachel talalay did a fine job . and finding the perfect conclusion is easier said than done .  br    br   and in closing  i loved the montage over the opening credits . fans of the series will be delighted  and will look at it as a tribute to beloved freddy .  br    br   my score   out of     
at the beginning we get to see the start of a secret council of some sorts . it all looks very promising from the get go . with some supernatural elements thrown in  the mystery gets more interesting by the minute . the main character who seems like a good bloke gets into trouble because of his claim for money he is entitled to  temptation  and other factors . you really empathize with the guy and you want to know what exactly is going on . normally a person in his situation would have several options . somehow he does not have those options . in this movie there only seems to be one solution even when it is clear it is not his fault . out of the blue he encounters characters who talk about church  prayer and god . and they provide the answer for his problem . it should be obvious at a point in the movie what this solution is . now let me say that there is nothing wrong with this message . since it always is helpful . but was it really necessary to disguise this message . this religious element actually ruined the viewing experience for me . while the message is good  it  s simplicity can  t escape the fact that in real life more needs to happen to resolve issues presented in this movie . the mystery that is presented to us never gets solved . in stead you are forced to deal with another topic that essentially has nothing to do with the plot . don  t get fooled because of malcolm mcdowell . the once brilliant actor is adequate  but if you watch closely you will see that he is not serious at all . he really must be desperate for money . otherwise what would posses an actor of his caliber to act in a movie like this .  
this is a great show  and will make you cry  this group people really loved each other in real life and it shows time and time again . email me and let  s chat . i have been to australia and they real do talk like this .  br    br   i want you to enjoy five mile creek and pass on these great stories of right and wrong  and friendship to your kids . i have all   episodes on dvd  r that i have collected over the last  years . see my five mile creek tribute at www . mikeandvicki . com and hear the extended theme music . let  s talk about them .  br    br   these people are so cool   
unless you are an evangelical christian then make like an egyptian and avoid like the biblical plague .  br    br   awful  why oh why does imdb list the most favourable reviews at the top of the list  it was due to one of these that i have just wasted the end of what started out as good evening on this claptrap .  br    br   the plot premise started out strong enough  i was drawn into the film and was interested right up to the point where the bible sermons took over . what a waste .  br    br   this film has so incensed me that i have registered with imdb for the first time just to complain about it  i hope at least that by doing so i save someone else  s evening .  br    br   hay  what a christian act on my part     
in the opening scenes of this movie a man shot arrows through his hotel room into another man  s bathroom and blew out all the lights . this must have been very hep for      but rather way way out and had nothing to do with the film  robin hood did not make an appearance as far as i could see . however  bette davis  daisey appleby    the whales of august      was very young and attractive and performed one of her best roles in a long career in hollywood . daisey never stopped teasing or being very sexy with her nightgowns and so called swim suit on her yacht with george brent  johnny jones    the spiral staircase      . daisey even proposed marriage to johnny in a ferris wheel upside down and even got a black eye . davis and brent made a great couple  one suppose to be very rich and the other a very poor reporter . off stage  davis and brent were having a real torrid love affair  which is good reason why there was sparks when these two appeared in this film . if you liked bette davis and george brent  this is the film for you   
germans think smirking is funny  just like americans think mumbling is sexy and that women with english accents are acting  . i had to cross my eyes whenever the screen was filled yet again with a giant close  up of a smirking face . one of those  housewife hacks corporate mainframe  tales where she defrauds a bank by tapping a few random keys on her home pc which is connected only to a power socket . the director obviously loves the rather large leading lady . can  t say i share his feelings . there  s quite a funny bit when the entire family sit in front of the television chanting tonelessly along with the adverts . apparently this review needs to be one line longer so here it is .  
this is an excellent example of early bette davis talent . the production is above average for     timeframe . i cannot understand why the owners of the rights to this film have not put it on dvd . owners  please please release it . i would buy it immediately . i have not seen it in more than thirty years  on television  but remember it well .  
not sure why this movie seems to have gotten such rave reviews .  br    br   while watching  bang  one night on tv  i found myself bored by the nonsensical  random plot which was occurring on screen . the entire movie seems to be nothing more than an exercise in meaningless  artsy  fartsy self  indulgence on the part of the filmmaker . the fact that the director  writer goes by a one name moniker only reinforces this sense of pretentiousness .  br    br   those interested in indie flicks would be better off looking for something better written and dare i say  more entertaining than this complete waste of time .  
at first sight this movie doesn  t look like a particular great one . after all a bette davis movies with only    votes on imdb and a rating of    must be a rather bad one . but the movie turned out to be a delightful and original surprise .  br    br   you would at first expect that this is a normal average typical     s movie with a formulaic love  story but the movie is surprisingly well constructed and has an unusual and original story  which also helps to make this movie a very pleasant one to watch .  br    br   the story is carried by its two main characters played by bette davis and george brent . their helped by a cast of mostly amusing characters but the movie mainly involves just around them two . their character are involved in a most unusual and clever written love  story that work humorous as well . it makes this movie a delightful little comedy to watch  that is perfectly entertaining .  br    br   the movie is quite short  just over an hour long   which means that the story doesn  t waste any time on needless plot lines  development and characters . it makes the movie also rather fast paced  which helps to make this movie a perfectly watchable one by todays standards as well . it does perhaps makes the movie a bit of a simple one at times but this never goes at the expense of its entertainment or fun .  br    br   a delightful pleasant simple romantic  comedy that deserves to be seen by more   br    br        
this movie was made for people who found gremlins too serious and critters to hardcore . like many of the critters  trolls  gremlins movies of the    s this movie is bad . the sad part is that there  s no punchline to that comment . it  s just bad and not in a funny way .  br    br   the problem with this miniature monster movie is that it actually tries to be funny and ends up being as successful in doing that as howie mandell was in walk like a man . what made the other    s horror movies into classics was that they were genuinely trying to be scary  but were hilarious because they failed so miserably . someone must have told bettina hirsch  yes the bettina hirsch  she had a knack for comedy before she started directing this movie . unfortunately they were wrong .  br    br   sure seeing a weird little mutated cross between a ferret and a tumor wearing a brown trenchcoat and throwing pool balls at an outcast from the lost boys is amusing  but not enough to save the movie .  br    br   by far the most annoying part of the movie is the paul character . his paul reiser wannabe schtick is enough to make you start fast forwarding from the time of his first scene until the ending credits only stopping once to see a scene where a munchie throws pool balls at a guy . . . not that i did that .  br    br   so the bottom line is run  don  t walk  to your nearest blockbuster and shake hands with the manager and thank him for not having the grapes to stock this pile of garbage on the shelves .  
this film got terrible reviews but because it was offbeat and because critics don  t usually  get  offbeat films  i thought i  d give it a try . unfortunately they were largely right in this instance .  br    br   the film just has an awkward feel too it that is most off putting . the sort of feel that is impossible to describe  but it  s not a good one . to further confound things  the script is a dull aimless thing that is only vaguely interesting .  br    br   the immensely talented thurman just drifts through this mess creating barely an impact . hurt and bracco try in vain to add something to the film with enthusiastic performance but there is nothing in the script . it may have been less embarrassing for them if they had merely chosen to drift and get it over with like thurman .  br    br   one thing the  esteemed  film critics did fail to mention however is that the film is actually quite funny . whether it be moments of accurate satire or some outrageously weird moments like when the cowgirls in question chase hurt off their ranch with the smell of their unwashed . . . ahem . . . front bottoms .  br    br   because of the chortles acheived throughout  while i wouldn  t recommend this film  there is entertainment to be had and watching even cowgirls get the blues is worthwhile for something different .  
when i saw this movie  i couldn  t believe my eyes . where these hilarious creatures  dustbin muppets with big pointy teeth  really meant to be scary  or where they designed to have a good laugh  i sincerely hope so  . if you watch carefully you can even see the strings operating them  better dragging them across the screen  . the whole was rather funny than scary and i had a good time watching the movie because i was amazed by its overall incapacity to have only one good part . it is one big joke from beginning to end and i believe this movie belongs into a new category so unbelievable crappy you  ll be laughing from beginning to end .  i  m not even gonna try to comment on the acting or all the other things   
this was an excellent film . i don  t understand why so many people don  t like it . there was so much in it to connect with  so many beautiful images  and so much compassion in the things that weren  t said . i was thoroughly entertained  and was left with a feeling of joyous exuberance  just as i am when i finish most any tom robbins story . now i haven  t read this particular book of robbin  s  so i don  t now how this matched up  but i can  t imagine this movie could have been a very bad interpretation . the movie left a lot for you to define yourself  which is the best part of any tom robbins novel  dreaming up the details .  br    br   to all of you who said this was the worst movie ever  i pity what little must be left of the dimming light in your hearts . far from the worst ever this movie was glorious . long live the whooping crane .  
i suppose all the inside jokes is what made munchies a cult classic . i thought it was awful  though given the ridiculous story and the nature of the characters  it probably could  ve been a much better  and funnier  movie . maybe all they needed was a real budget .  br    br   munchies  as many viewers have pointed out already  is something of a gremlins parody . hence  all the references to the movie . the movie begins somewhere in peru during an archeological dig . an annoying dufus named paul  aspiring stand up comedian who offers no sarcasm or witty jokes during the movie despite his career plans  is holed up with his dad in the caves . his dad is an unconventional kind of archeologist  searching the caves not for artificats or mummies or anything  but proof of u . f . o .  s . and that  s where the munchies come into the picture . hidden in the crevice of a rock is an ugly little mutant that looks like a gyrating rubber doll with a gizmo voice . they name him arnold  stash him in a bag  and bring him home so paul  s dad can finally show proof of extra terrestrial life .  br    br   paul  the idiot that he is  breaks his promise to his dad to watch arnold  a wager he made with his dad  if he loses  it  s off to community college to get a  real  career  . the creepy next door neighbor with the bad rug  cecil  television veteran harvey korman   wonders what his neighbors are up to . so  he and his lazy son  some airhead hippie type  who looks more like they should  ve made his character a biker or heavy metal enthusiast  to go and snatch arnold . why  a get rich quick scheme of course . and of course  even cecil  s son is too dumb to look after arnold . and after a few pokes and prods at arnold  he multiplies into more munchies .  br    br   this wasn  t even a movie that was so bad it was good . it was just plain awful . i was hoping that the munchies would  ve mutated and killed the morons that were always after them  even paul and his girlfriend . at least it would be one way to get rid of all the bad acting in this movie that really hams up the movie . not to mention poor special effects that look like hand puppets . and really bad writing all around   it wasn  t even funny   not even that young cop who can really give you the homicidal twitch in your eye . like i said  munchies  if they had been given an actual budget and better actors  they might  ve been able to pull off a good parody . pass .  
crush provides a combination of drama  humor and such irony that i find the english establish very well when it concerns matters of the heart . mostly known for directing john mckay wrote this wonderful screenplay about three forty  something friends in a small town in england . all three professional women down  out of luck with men formed a ritual ladies night gathering with gin  fags and sweets intake included with endless chatter of their dates erroneous behavior or the needs of their libidos . andie macdowell once again thrown by the surrounds of the british  which is where i find she exudes the most  is absolutely charming as the head mistress of a prestigious school who becomes involved with a younger man . small town gossip and the disapproving jealous friends  great supporting cast  conflicts with her relationship . unfolding a series of brutal unfortunate events and showing us the many difficulties when one is in pursuit of true happiness . keep in mind the main premise of this film is friendships and the ending shows us exactly that . this is the type of film you either love or hate  which is why i believe a lot of mix reviews and not that greatest success resulted when this film was released . as i  m sure most are just unearthing the film now . i very much enjoyed this film and highly recommend for those in the likes of such films as  love actually   and  three weddings and a funeral  . not to mention the soundtrack is extraordinary perfectly capturing those crucial moments .  
five minutes after watching this i logged on to imdb to warn all of you out there not to bother with this movie . . . genrehorror  it had moments of mild suspense and throughout the whole movie i was thinking to myself  somethings gotta happen soon  it did not . . . when the movie ended i felt so embarrassed for the writer  director i  ve never been the biggest fan of patrick rea this guy just does not know how to make movies and after watching this sorry excuse of a horror flick i  ve gone from not been the biggest fan to will not watch another of his works . .  br    br   i was taken in by the plot summary please don  t make the same mistake .  br    br   i gave this movie a  for the actors . . they were not bad and it wasn  t there fault they got such bad direction . . .  
even though it has one of the standard  revenge price plots   this film is my favorite of vincent price  s work . gallico has that quality that is missing in so many horror film characters  likeability . when you watch it  you feel for him  you feel his frustration  the injustices against him  and you cheer him on when he goes for vengeance  even though he frightens you a little with his original fury . as the film goes on  his character becomes tragic . he  s committed his murder  but now he must kill to cover that up . and again to cover that one up . and again . . . your stomach sinks with his soul as it goes down its spiral  like watching a beloved brother turn into a hood . even if the revenge story is of old  the plot devices themselves are original  gallico uses his tricks to kill in more and more inventive ways . a shame this one isn  t available for home veiwing .  
the annoying mouse and lullaby really got to me and really had nothing to do with the story . . . it  s something i would have done my  st year in film school . very sad . additionally  the story just seemed to drag on for no apparent reason . . . there were too many things just thrown in there that had nothing to do with the story  which makes me feel that the creative team didn  t really know what they were doing  or just that it should have been shorter . . . which would have been a blessing  not a crime . as i have just watched all of the episodes up to this point over the past week . . . i  d have to say that this was by far the worst  and i just wanted to warn others not to start with this one .  
i admit  the first time i watched even cowgirls get the blues  i didn  t think it was very memorable in any regard . but now after viewing it the  th time  i admit that it has very much grown on me . the characters of sissy  ms . jellybean  and the countess have become very endearing . and the romance between sissy and jellybean seems very sweet . though the plot is very weak  i think the satirical humor more than makes up for it . then there  s the kick  ass soundtrack which features the tremendously talented k . d . lang  who reminds me a little of patsy cline  at her best . i can  t think of any movie that has  grown on me  after an inauspicious first impression  as much as cowgirls has .  
the title creatures wreak havoc at a peaceful little desert town . that  s basically the whole plot for this film  and while the scenes devoted to the munchies themselves are somewhat fun  in a lowbrow kind of way   all the rest is just filler  and bad filler at that . from the  hero   who is a painful woody allen wannabe  to the ultra  dumb town cop  it  s hard to pick the most irritating character in the film . there were some times when almost all of them were on the screen together and i was thinking   ok  at least the girlfriend is cute  but why do we have to put up with the rest of those morons   . the film is also filled with pop references  from ozzy osbourne to linda blair   which probably made it already dated by the early    s .        
worst movie of all time  wow  whoa now . you cannot be serious .  br    br   maybe it  s all about what you expect a movie to do to you . i live in oregon  so i got to enjoy the beautifully  filmed shots of familiar yet still amazingly beautiful smith rocks and other areas in central oregon  as well as the sweet cameo of our own ken kesey and ken babbs looking down on baby sissy  s cradle at the beginning of the movie  . those alone were enough to spur me to give the movie a better than  average  score .  br    br   or . . . . maybe it  s all about what expectations you have . having read the book ages ago  and thinking to myself  goodness  no one could ever make a movie out of this interesting  quirky  weird book . . . especially   years later  when mores  morays   can  t put in the accent mark online  have changed    i was actually quite pleasantly surprised when i first watched the movie when it came out in     and even liked it more today watching it again .  br    br   sissy was exquisitely cast  and i don  t care what you all say  i was also pleasantly surprised at rain phoenix  s and john hurt  s performances . i am not a lesbian nor bi nor trans  but have met many folks who are similar to the folks they were supposed to portray   and those  real  folks kinda acted the same way as these actors acted . stilted a bit  stage  ey   always a bit  on .  gus van sant is one weird native oregonian but by garsh he done a good job adapting this crazy book  imho .  
 . . . and that  s a bad thing  because at least if this had been a troma film  it would have had wanton violence and a greater sense of anarchic abandon that might have brought my rating up a bit .  br    br   so what we have instead is a very tame  rated pg   barely lukewarm  low budget  roger corman produced it with an unknown director who has subsequently remained unknown  gremlins        critters        wannabe with almost exclusively flat humor  little of the logic that made gremlins work so well   fantasy logic or not  no suspense  no sense of adventure  and no violence or nudity to make up for it .  br    br   although i  m sure some of the problems with the film are inherent in the script   let  s face it  no one could deliver these jokes so that they would be funny   it seems like the biggest blame has to fall into the lap of the director  bettina hirsch . in more capable hands  munchies could have been entertaining .  br    br   after all  it starts out like many great adventure films . simon waterman  harvey korman  and his son paul  charles stratton  are in peru on an archaeological dig . simon is a bit of a wacky archaeologist who is always floating theories about the connections between ancient sites and alien civilizations . for example  he thinks he sees evidence of laser  cutting on ancient stonework . so they  re at machu picchu looking for more evidence of simon  s theories when they happen upon a secret chamber . inside they quickly find the animal they later dub  arnold   one of the titular munchies .  br    br   they take arnold back home to their small california desert town . simon  who thinks that arnold is probably an alien creature  has to go off to a colleague  s lecture  and he plans on telling the colleague that he finally has an alien specimen . paul and his extremely cute girlfriend  cindy  nadine van der velde   are left in charge of arnold  but as they haven  t seen each other in a long time  they leave arnold unsupervised while they hop in the sack .  br    br   meanwhile  simon  s brother cecil  played also by korman in a dual role   owner of a successful snack foods company  is eager to buy off simon  s home and land   they  re adjacent to his own . simon doesn  t want to sell  so cecil hits upon a scheme to steal arnold . things gradually spiral out of control  and the munchies  who have a mean streak to go along with their cravings for junk food  begin to overrun the town .  br    br   that reads better in a summary than it plays on the screen . the best shots in the film are those with natural landscapes in the background  such as when characters are driving on the outskirts of the desert town . interiors  with the exception of cecil  s home  tend to look like poorly decorated  cheap sets  and more importantly  they tend to show that hirsch is not very skilled at blocking and setting up shots . oddly  given the paucity of the production design overall  cecil  s home is quite a gem  imbued as it is in overblown     s style down to the smallest details  and cecil  s stepson  dude  jon stafford   was an amusing counterpoint . too bad  then  that he  s out of the film so quickly .  br    br   at any rate  korman is a fun actor  but he comes across much better here as simon than as cecil . unfortunately  simon ends up being absent for most of the film . cecil  who is differentiated physically by a ridiculous wig and facial hair  is not only the  evil capitalist  of the film  he  s one of korman  s classic inconsiderate  boorish characters   that was one of his specialties  frequently capitalized on in  carol burnett show        skits . unlike  the carol burnett show   which tended to succeed because directors clark jones and dave powers had a studied way of pushing the skits just to the brink of chaos  hirsch reins korman in way too far  and the cecil character just doesn  t work the way it should .  br    br   there are a lot of other director  related problems  not the least of which is wonky pacing and editing  which completely sap any possible suspense or compelling dramatic impact from the film . even scenes that should have been shoe  ins for amping up the drama   such as when the munchies are harassing an old lady on the road   are put together far too awkwardly to have much affect .  br    br   there are also serious logical problems with the story as it stands . where did the munchie in the chamber at machu picchu come from  the film  s trailer seems to show an answer to this  but it was edited out of the final cut . a more serious problem is that  unlike gremlins  there is no clear reason for munchies to go from cute  cuddly furballs to menacing monsters . it just happens . further  because munchies was kept pg  and the violence remains toned down  when the creatures are in their monster phase  they  re never very threatening . they  re also easily dispatched  at least temporarily .  br    br   admittedly  the gist of the film isn  t suspense  horror  compelling drama or any of that other stuff  but humor . it  s intended more as a spoof of gremlins and the countless rip  offs in its wake . the only problem with that is that the film just isn  t funny  even though i chuckled a couple times . a surprisingly high percentage of the jokes are bland clichs . too much of the remaining material consists of non  sequiturs . given bad timing from hirsch  it all just falls flat . there was potential to make a film that while a spoof  was both funny and frightening  hilarious and disturbing  cheesy and suspenseful  all at the same time  ala killer klowns from outer space       . too bad  then  that munchies comes nowhere near that .  
the film is exceptional in it  s gay iconography and extends this beyond the asthetics to the music and cast . throughout the whole film exists a childlike wonder as seen through the eyes of the main character . her lighthearted take on the world around us is comical and beautiful . in a way it  s a slacker movie for girls . watch this is you fancy a relaxing entertaining mid  night movie . buy this if you like diferent takes on the world of media and love combined    .  
cute and playful  but lame and cheap .  munchies  is another gremlins clone to come out from the   s . i  m not much of a fan of the imitations .  br    br   first it was the excellent  gremlins  .  br    br   then came the very average  critters  .  br    br   lets not forget the lousy  ghoulies  .  br    br   but the complete pits would have to go to  hobgoblins  .  br    br   is there more    br    br   now  munchies  for me would have to fall somewhere between  ghoulies  and  hobgoblins  . actually i probably found it more entertaining than  ghoulies   but i preferred thst one  s darker tone .  br    br   from the get  go it plays up its goofy nature  which it  s better for it   but due to that nature the hammy acting  alix elias and charlie phillips   can get rather overbearing that you rather just see the munchies running amok . that  s where the fun occurs . mostly light  hearted fluff though  as the story mainly centres on the munchies  who are either hungry  horny and destructive  in a whole bunch of supposed comical encounters  some moments do work  in the small desert town as a couple of people are on the chase . it  s silly  but strangely engaging thanks to the zippy pacing . the creatures themselves look rather bland and poorly detailed  as they  re basic dolls being chucked about . where their personalities arrived from is that they can actually speak . . . and with attitude .  br    br   charlie stratton and a feisty nadine van der velde  who was in  critters   were fair leads . harvey korman was acceptable in two roles . robert picardo also pops up .  br    br   amusingly low  cut entertainment for the undemanding .  
i saw this movie the first seconds the voice of t . r . took me on to the journey  well i disliked the big glued thumbs in the beginning  but the absurd humor it and the gordious looks of both sissy actors  i do not know who played the young her  but she was great and so was uma      br    br   the two other people who where in the cinema went out after about half an hour  i was with a friend  and it is always a test to watch a movie i like good with one of my friends  and  we both enjoyed it too the maximum  hilarious laughs  sadness about the  realistic police  normalos  . both of us fans of t . robbins books . . . i found it well done  thought  that robbins would also approve  though i do not have an idea if he likes the film or not . . .  br    br   i would love to see the cut out stuff  i heard that gus v . sand had to take out lots of scenes because of the first  time viewers  or the producers     well still it is an artistic movie . much too short though . . . it is one of my all time favorites  and i am aware of it that the majority of people can  t stand that kind of movie and assume that people who enjoy that films are whatever they think . . . . . . . what a pity . hopefully there will come the day that there will be a dvd with the full material  hoping to see more of crispian  keanu  expecting to see her baby and all  br    br   if you have the chance to see it  think twice  and enjoy it if you made the choice to watch . . . m  
i think i watched this movie  but don  t quote me  as i may have fallen asleep during watching it as it didn  t exactly  grip my excitement and imagination .  at least i know i watched enough of it to know i won  t be watching it again soon . or ever .  br    br   jeez  talk about lame . . . really lame . totally lame . it wouldn  t even appeal to a six year old . it basically had no worthwhile dramatic impact . zilch . nada . just shlock turned into dreck . comedy  that was supposed to be comedy  ya coulda fooled me  ee  ee . . .   br    br   now  if the aliens had been insatiably carnivorous like in the movie  critters   we could have had the human characters do something a little more profound than be overly smugly cutesy . . . like yelling and screaming and running for their lives so they wouldn  t be eaten so the story could be something more exciting than watching paint dry .  br    br   don  t bother watching this . it  s not worth the effort . you can find something more interesting to do . like watching paint dry . or falling asleep .  
if you have ever read and enjoyed a novel by tom robbins you will appreciate this movie as a whole  hearted attempt to translate his outrageously unconventional writing style into a workable piece of big screen art . the actors and the direction of this film are both good .  br    br   the only trouble with the film  as i can see it  is that robbins can relate ideas and sentiments with his words that were still beyond hollywood  s capabilities at the time this film was shot .  br    br   given both the irreverence of today  s movies  as well as the willingness and abilityof today  s audiences to delve into the bizarre  i think  even cowgirls . . . would receive a better reception today than it did when it was originally released .  
ridiculous  looking little boogers that spawn foam and reproduce themselves . so far for the horror  elements this movie has . all the rest of munchies plays out like a really retarded comedy that  s so stupid you won  t find it funny anymore after about   minutes . i can imagine little kids cheering for these little boogers  but adults will be left with only those supposedly  smart  references translating to on  screen stuff like capt . kirk  s log entries from star trek  the most well  known scene from e . t .  a blatant statement from the filmmakers going  look  we  re cashing in on gremlins  success here   and a cardboard cut  out of clint eastwood telling us . . . what about his western movies exactly  that last one was totally lost on me . . . oh yes  and chemical waste disposal in caves seems to be a bad thing . don  t know where they got that idea from .  br    br   not to say that munchies is the most insufferable film to sit through  for that matter . it  s just really  really dumb . and if you manage to crack a smile while watching it  you  ll probably feel as dumb yourself for having done that after the film  s finished .  br    br   good badness  yes  but only if  dumb    retarded    ridiculous  are criteria you  re looking for .     and  well  uhm      .  
i feel very sorry for people who go to movies with a pad and pencil to write down flaws and keep notes on how bad a movie is . i feel equally contempt for people who go to movies and can  t suspend reality and  or let themselves enjoy   minutes aways from their boring or busy lives  get a grip people . ecgtb is a very entertaining movie . if you take movies seriously  this is not for you . if you are expecting the movie to resemble the book in any way  this is not for you . but if you enjoyed the utter hilarity of priscilla queen of the desert  or the  what the hell am i watching  of moulin rouge . or the gross out comedy of  the sweetest thing  then let yourself escape to cowgirls . it has some really funny parts . hilarious actually . it also has some really good musickudos to kd . lang . also did i mention it has   minutes of uma thurman . . . . . need i say more   
munchies starts in deepest darkest peru  looks more like a dirt road to me  where archaeologist simon watterman  harvey korman   his son paul  charles stratton  are on an expedition . simon thinks that ancient aztec buildings were in fact spacecraft control centres  he is on a mission to gain proof that alien lifeforms have visited earth  while in once such structure he discovers a strange small creature which he sticks in his backpack  takes back home with him to the small american town of sweetwater in california . simon feels that the creature is the proof he has been looking for  for some inexplicable reason decides to leave the thing at home while he goes to share his discovery . simon ask  s paul  his wife cindy  nadine van der velde  to take care of it . meanwhile simon  s brother  fast  food businessman cecil watterman  harvey korman again  steals the creature so his brother won  t make any money out of it  but his idiotic stepson dude  jon stafford  has a fight with it  chops it up with a knife but the individual parts grow back into separate little creatures that proceed to cause much havoc amongst the townspeople . . .  br    br   directed by bettina hirsch this has to be one of the worst horror comedy  s ever  if not the worst . the script by lance smith is so unfunny it  s painful . every joke in munchies misses the target by the proverbial mile  i doubt the humour in this piece of crap would even appeal to pre  teens . there just isn  t anything even remotely funny or even amusing in munchies as far as i  m concerned . the basic story is crap too  they just happen to find this creature running around with no explanation of what it is  why no  ones ever seen it before  how it manages to learn english so quickly  how it learns to drive etc . the whole thing is a big gremlins       rip  off with none of the elements that made that film so good . the character  s are moronic  the stupid deputy  charlie phillips   his dad  hardy rawls   cecil wearing an embarrassing wig  fake moustache  his air head wife melvis  alix elias   more besides . they just plain embarrass  are ridiculous  i defy anyone to find any of this rancid rubbish funny . basically munchies fails spectacularly at being either a comedy or horror  ends up being  yes you  ve guessed it  crap .  br    br   director hirsch was obviously working with a low budget here  it shows  the entire thing takes place in two houses  the desert  some caves  a miniature golf course . this is really cheap  incompetent film  making . the special effects on the munchies themselves are really awful  their just dolls that have no movement unless someone off camera pulls a string attached to it  s arm . i cannot stress how bad the effects are  these things wouldn  t convince my  year old nephew  as proved by me  him yesterday   . total incompetence all the way  this film sucks .  br    br   technically the film is terrible  bad special effects  lame production design  rubbish sets  well  just everything  s crap . the acting is rotten through  through  from the cops to korman who has two roles both of which prove he can  t act  isn  t funny .  br    br   munchies is a really bad film that fails in everything that it tries to achieve  sure watch it if you want i won  t stop you but just don  t say you weren  t warned  my advice would be to watch gremlins again instead  but the decision is yours   
gus van sant has made some excellent films . i truly am a fan .  br    br   however  i can  t help but feel that the cerebral edge of tom robbins book  even cowgirls get the blues  is lost in translation to the big screen . alone  tom robbins and gus van sant are incredible visionaries and towers of talent . ultimately though this one just didn  t work .  br    br   it wasn  t that the characters weren  t well developed or the plot and content didn  t come alive . it  s just that our imaginations are much more powerful when reading a book like this . we  re taken away to a different time and place and we sometimes think the worst and  or the best and it adds to the overall roller  coaster of the book as it neatly unfolds according to the author  s precision . movies however can leave one with less of the imagination and emotion roller  coaster detracting from the overall experience . this is what i believe happened here .  br    br   i suggest reading the book   
not a knock on korman as he was very funny on the carol burnett show . he was also good at playing secondary characters in mel brooks  movies   high anxiety  comes to mind  . he is  however  not a person who can carry a movie in dueling roles no less . this one is basically a  gremlins  knockoff  following a tradition of such movies as  critters  and  ghoulies  . it is not a very good knockoff either  on par with  ghoulies   but with a much lighter tone to it as it is no where near as dark as that movie got . in fact  this one is too light and frothy  and unfortunately many of the jokes end up falling flat . though i did give it a  for a score  this is only because there is a movie that is even a worse  gremlin  knockoff . if you watched mystery science theater     you know the one i am talking about . . . the infamous  hobgoblins  . this one has a guy finding a little critter in some underground place  i only saw this movie once a long time ago so i don  t remember everything to clearly  and it starts out friendly enough . however  this creature quickly becomes unfriendly and of course more are spawned and that is the movie . more misses than hits in the joke department  and it is also really lame to see korman playing the evil brother role . best to skip this one  but then you may want to check it out just for kicks .  
i could not agree less with the rating that was given to this movie  and i believe this is a sample of how short minded most of spectators are all over the world . really . . . are you forgetting that cinema used to be a kind of art before some tycoons tried to make it only entertainment  this movie is not entertainment  at least not that easy entertainment you get on movies like titanic or gladiator . it has style  it is different  it is shocking . . . that  s why most of you have hated it so much because it does not try to be pleasing to you . it  s just a story  a very weird one i admit  but after all  only a weird story . it is not a great story  not even a great cinema work  but i believe it is worth a   stars rating only for the courage of both author and director to shot a story that is not made to please the audience  thus selling billions of copies and making the big studios even richer . this movie is  for me  european  artistic  like movie made in the us  and everyone involved in the making of it deserves respect . be it for the courage  or be it for the unique sense of humor .  
an excellent performance by alix elias highlights an otherwise mis  directed and confused pile of dreck . i have seen this movie  perhaps   times  and with each run through  i find less and less pleasure . why are munchies so lustful  is that ever explained  are they a reflection of our wanton  boorish  animal selves   if they are  why not make it more obvious  why not peal back just a touch of the subtlety that plagues this movie  and make that connection explicit  another part of this movie that bothers me to no end  motorcycles . the jacket the little monster wears on the front cover seems to suggest  street  wise  traveler . the sun glasses say  pretty cool dude .  with all this i  m ready for easy rider meets the muppets . all i get is munchies       . what gives  stick to the gremlins series if you  re a fan of diminutive  wise  cracking  reptile puppets  it  ll give you the treatment you deserve .  
i recently found a copy for   at a video store  and snapped it up eagerly . while the music and  obviously  graphics aren  t up to the standards of my favorite of the series  beyond the mind  s eye  i am still entranced by one segment  br    br   stanley and stella in  breaking the ice  . the music is brilliant  and the emotions feel real . the clip on odyssey  s website doesn  t have the story nor the music  unfortunately .  
i didn  t expect much when i saw this at the palm springs film fest this weekend . it was an alternate choice when two other films were sold out . still  i held out hope . it sounded a bit much like  bride and prejudice   l . a . guy falls for an indian beauty  parental conflict  blah blah blah  . bp was not perfect but it was an enjoyable film with some good laughs and likable characters .  br    br    my bollywood bride  had none of that . the acting seemed stilted and way to by  the  numbers . characters were so clich the story seemed like it could have been written by high school freshman drama student . technically  the sound really bothered me . it seemed as if there was a lot of over  dubbing of dialogue . i mean a lot . i know sometimes it  s necessary but it sounded like half the film was shot in a closet and it became very distracting .  br    br   two stars is being somewhat generous .  
when this first came out  my dad brought it home  we were amazed by it  it was so different from anything we had seen before . i was looking for a specific movie last night  and i found  the mind  s eye  again . the box is falling apart  and i am surprised that the tape still works  although it is not  finding nemo  quality graphics  it is still very good . they should sell this again  it is a landmark for computer animation imagery . highly recommended   br    br   this is what it is  br    br    the mind  s eye  is a spectacular odyssey through time . your journey begins at the dawn of creation and moves through the rise of man and technology . travel in the world of abstraction and on into the future with breathtaking computer animation imagery .  br    br    the mind  s eye  joins the imaginations of over    of the world  s most talented computer animation artists with a powerful  original music soundtrack . this unique collaboration takes you on an incredible voyage into  the mind  s eye .   
unbelievable   br    br   this film gets a  out  f   . this has to be one of the worst films i have seen in years . not only was the acting incredibly bad  the storyline  if you can call it that  was just as bad . offcourse everyone knows what  s going to happen within the first  minutes . which is not a bad thing if you can captivate the audience during leading up to that moment . that however  is not the case . there is no action  no suspense  not even a spark between the  leading actors . it was unfortunately a waste of my time  and certainly a waste of my money .  br    br   and the  of merely for trying  
kenny doughty as jed willis is sexier in this role than any male porn star  even though he keeps his pants on .  br    br   the movie tore at my heart reminding me of the intensity of the big explosive love of my life . i don  t think i can think of another movie  except perhaps zeffirelli  s romeo and juliet that captures that giddy joy that well .  br    br   the other draw of the movie is the very english eccentric characters enjoying the scandal vicariously . in that sense it is much the same appeal as midsomer murder or a miss marple mystery  without the mayhem .  br    br   this is a great antidote to the mock horror currently popular in the usa an any relationships between people of different ages .  
here is what happened  br    br     head of bbc  needs to make programmes aimed at different audience to bbc  and bbc  to keep licence and job .  br    br     lenny henry offers his unfunny friends up .  br    br     head of bbc  snaps them up  completely ignoring the fact that they are not funny .  br    br   worst of all  it is arguably racist  as all the characters play up to bad stereotypes . if a white person did this kind of thing  there  d be uproar   br    br   trash .  
when this first came out  my dad brought it home  we were amazed by it  it was so different from anything we had seen before . i was looking for a specific movie last night  and i found  the mind  s eye  again . the box is falling apart  and i am surprised that the tape still works  although it is not  finding nemo  quality graphics  it is still very good . they should sell this again  it is a landmark for computer animation imagery . highly recommended   
i saw most of  my bollywood bride  today at the iaac film festival in new york and had to leave the theater due to feelings of nausea welling up within me . i  ve seen bollywood movies  and i  ve seen satires of bollywood movies . this movie couldn  t decide which one it wanted to be  so it ended up being a joke on itself .  br    br   it seems to have been liberally copied from movies like bride and prejudice and bollywood calling  and what a sloppy  lazy job at that . how can bollywood ever be weaned off of its determination to stick to overused  well  trodden scripts  is there no one who can bring to the screen the millions of real  fascinating stories that surely exist and transpire in the land of a billion people  the over  smart auto driver  the cow on the street  gratuitous scenes of foreign locations  pointless scenes of mumbai streets  they  re all in there . every possible clich about india has been faithfully included . so sickeningly predictable . ugh    acting performances are weak across the board except for neha dubey  who is talented and beautiful . one wonders why she would pick a project like this .  
as a kid  i loved computer animation although it was extremely limited and the tools were almost nonexistent . this movie  as i sat in awe and watched the amazing images and almost  hypnotic music  shaped the desire in me to create moving things in the computer . this is a whole  package deal  between the music and the video  that really packs a one  two punch . if you know any child that wants to get involved in computer animation  this is a must have .  br    br   i still  almost   years later  rate this movie as one of my top  favorites . the originality  i think  is still unsurpassed by most of today  s mcmovies that hollywood spits out . i am currently wanting to see if i can re  make it on my own if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then this movie deserves a ton of imitation    
it wasn  t notable enough to be truly horrible  it was just incredibly lame . the story was not half bad  but the execution was just horrendous .  br    br   to start with  it moved too fast for us to emotionally get involved with what was going on . it was just paced badly . the dialog was so utterly un  sparkling  just flat and boring .  br    br   and the characters  cripes almightly  they made deadpool boring . how the hell do you make deadpool boring  he wasn  t even funny . he wasn  t crazy . he was just an annoying guy with a couple of swords he did not even know how to use properly .  br    br   gambit was boring . and since when did he have telekenisis to make the cards just float and fly around  or super strength to leap hundreds of feet into the air  and what the heck was up with all the stupid helicopter moves  i mean  we know they are mutants  but they still exist within the realm of physics . a round bo staff is not a helicopter blade  you cannot fly by twirling super  duper fast . which gambit wouldn  t be able to do anyway . nor deadpool  especially when using it as a replacement for real fight choreography .  br    br   and this film stands as proof that wire work should only be used by fight coordinators who know wth they are doing  and know better than to use it in every . single . shot . as a replacement for real fight choreography .  br    br   three of the most physical fighters in marvel comics  logan  creed  and wilson   and some of the worst fight choreography i have ever seen in recent film memory . it was as if the stunt coordinator just shrugged his shoulders and left it all up to the special effects guys .  br    br   and then you had the break out  with all these mutants who did nothing . even mutants who had been shown in their cells to have powers  nice to see a quicksilver nod   did f  all when they got out . only emma  really  lame  for  this  film  frost and cyclops did something .  br    br   and since when was logan so pretty  and the stupid   the bullet will take his memory away .  don  t you think xavier and the x  men would have noticed the big freaking bullet holes in his adamantium skull when they x  rayed him in x   i felt sorry for liev schrieber man  he actually brought in a good sabretooth considering the script . he made one of marvel  s more simple super villains feel real . but he could not save the film from it  s own epic lameness .  br    br   seriously  this was  daredevil  level of suck . decent story  good actors  absolutely horrible execution .  
these things have been floating around in my head for damn near   years now . some pieces of this work were really memorable .  id love to see another more current example of cg showy offy stuff . actually i  d love to be part of it .  br    br   if i  d would of had the chance to just say what i wanted and thats it  i wouldn  t have to write all this extra in order to make    lines if text  as this website requires . i mean really  this almost discourages me  i mean luckily for the guys that made the movie i really liked the minds eye  and it took me  times to have enough lines  i hope you don  t get me on the misspelling .  yup you did .  
most would agree that the character of wolverine is one of the most intriguing characters in comic book history . i  m no marvel expert  but i did grow up with the adventures of the x  men and definitely approved of hugh jackman  s now widely known portrayal of the scruffy logan . i enjoyed the first x  men  found the sequel too heavy and messy and liked the third one as comic book entertainment . all through the three movies  i probably enjoyed jackman more than anything else . i figured the idea of making an  origins   movie about wolverine could very well end up being a better movie than all of the three x  men movies . if we concentrate on one character  i figured there could be a movie that achieves what i found the second movie failed at  being a fairly complex and character driven comic book adventure .  br    br   the reason that the wolverine  movie fails is not because the competition is tougher after the dark knight . it  s not even because of a plot development that is beyond obvious and rudimentary  even though that certainly isn  t good  no  it  s because the movie doesn  t even seem to try . to begin with  this does not qualify as good entertainment . there is something about the action in this movie that comes off as so very  very automatic . with no greater special effects or elements of suspense  and when one event will make you predict the following five  it almost feels like an uwe boll movie  imitating an action  adventure movie concept that you  ve seen a dozen times before . of course  nothing in this movie is as downright awful as a piece of bollst but when everybody  s talking clichs as if they are part of a chain of events that is so standard  you at least make the connection and that surely is bad enough .  br    br   but there is an even bigger problem . even a generic action movie is a generic action movie and  by the way  that makes you forgive a lot of plot holes and character stupidities . i think you find the most fundamental flaw in the very title . i mean   origins  . really  what to the people behind this movie think about that title  what do they mean   you want to know the origins of wolverine  he grew up with his brother . they ran away from home during dramatic circumstances . then they went off to war . all of them  the civil war  world war i and ii and vietnam too . why did they do this  still unknown . eventually  the brother  sabertooth  played by liev shrieber  became evil .  how   you ask . i don  t know  it was somewhere between omaha beach and hanoi .  yeah  but why   you still ask . i just said i don  t know   the movie doesn  t explain . he  s evil alright   yeah  but . . . you know   origins   . . . yeah  well that  s an origin  i mean  duh  anyway  eventually they end up with a super secret team of mutant elite soldiers . something with the government  ho  hum . wolvie gets enough and leave his brother . for six years he  s a happy lumberjack with a loved one  who ends up a little defenseless around the time sabretooth suddenly appears again .  yeaaah . . . but . . . whyyyy    oh shut up   and wolvie decides to be a guinneapig for a bunch of evil scientist who make him a flesh  covered metal war animal . he goes after all the bad guys and they come after him and after all the fighting he ends up with his memory wiped  cue x  men the first movie .  br    br   there . that  s the origin . you can also find it on the back of the dvd cover . the actual movie won  t tell you anything else . with no worthwhile scenes of action  no good heroes  villains or characters in general  lines from my couch audience fat suit  token black guy  oh  i give you    in cash if that girl survives this movie . .  that is supposed to be gambit . . .  mmhm  yeah well . . . uh  huh  right   not one line of memorable dialog and zero lines to cover a t  shirt with  added to that the common stupid things that ruin the plausibility in general that you might usually forgive . . . . . . well  that sounds pretty much like a waste of time  right  fans will check this out  or have already . there  s no stopping that . but if you liked the x  men movies for no other reason than that they were well  made and entertaining  see them again and do yourself no favors by trying to look for origins where there are none .  
this has to be the all time best computer animation classic . even though most of the animations where experiments . they have an artistic quality that has stood the test of time . twelve years after it  s release  i have gone back to watch this video and found some inspiration for new types of computer graphics . some of the techniques used in this video have never been full explored .  
soulless milking of cash cow franchise . generic superhero flick . cgi showcase . gavin hood  s  a series of improbable events .  combinatoric iteration of mutant fight scenes strung together by inane exposition justifying formation  dissolution of arbitrary alliances . i  m not expecting shakespeare here but the clich per minute meter was off the charts primal scream while looking skyward and kneeling over murdered girlfriend . renegade military commander . predictable double crosses . revenge sought for slain lover . erased memories . evil character discovering morality at last minute . misguided failures to execute nemeses after defeating them in melee . lover not really dead . lover actually acting as spy for hero  s arch  nemesis . girlfriend  spy actually falls for protagonist . good people work for antagonist in order to save kidnapped family members . evil mastermind fails to honor promises to reluctant employees . kindly old couple care for weary hero and get murdered for their troubles . certain deaths averted as third parties arrive on scene before coup de grace . hero reluctantly joining secret government agency . abandonment of elite squad in protest over slaughter of innocents . scientists unable to control indestructible killing machine of their own creation . outdated but lovable government  secret weapon  kills off better designed but heartless successor . hero strolls away from wreck and casually lights a trail of gasoline behind him . after everyone has given up  flatlined heart monitor picks up a pulse . evil mastermind explains plans to hero he no longer sees as a threat . hero refuses to kill defeated foe because he  s  better than that  . transparent comic relief character makes hilarious understatements and offbeat comments . cheerful psychopath revels in random murderous rampages . nigh indestructible goliaths hurl one another through a series of walls and other physical traumas that would kill a mere mortal . man dispatches dozens of gun wielding enemies with nothing but skillful swordplay . common sense and the laws of physics  biology and chemistry temporarily abandoned . antagonist using loved one  s murder as justification for misguided crusade .  br    br   i could go on but this is just exhausting . if you  re over the age of twelve and not living in mom  s basement  there  s probably nothing here for you . depressingly enough  it  s not too far off of par for superhero movies so discount all i  ve written if you can  t get enough of the genre .  
i probably saw this movie first in about     . since then i  ve returned to it many times . it  s great  i especially like the first and second clips   creation  and  civilization rising .  wow  this was so cool back in the glory days of cg animation . cg is way older than i am  as i know the film  tron  was made  years before my time . but this film was a landmark in the early    s . it was probably the first collaboration of different cg experiments set to music . i like it so much  i think i  ll go watch it now . bye  
this film was slated to be a blockbuster film  and it really is . this is the type of movie that is made to eat popcorn to and watch the flashy graphics . with that in mind  the movie delivers  perhaps not as well as the ultra flashy iron man  but well enough . outside of the popcorn munching action and special effects  the film drops off of the cliff faster than wile e . coyote .  br    br   many viewers  myself included  will complain about how most of the characters were severely altered  but that only makes the film a poor adaptation  not a poor film . this film is unsatisfactory for other reasons . the makers focused more on making it appealing to the eye than they did to the mind . the characters that have been long awaited and promoted are reduced to   scene cameos . the main characters of wolverine  victor creed  never called sabertooth in the film  and colonel stryker are well developed . i was pleasantly surprised by liev schriber  s performance . the rest of the characters are tossed to the wayside to make way for the all important eye  candy . wolverine  s character is fully developed after    minutes  as is sabertooth  though victor does pull off some surprises late in the film .  br    br   the  final boss  of the film is a twisted and perverse adaptation of the original character and barely gets any development to show just why he is the way he is . the filmmakers obviously felt that all they really needed to do was create a bad ass character who could do anything they wanted and slapped on the name of a popular character .  br    br   very disappointing . . .  
this is an  odysessy through time  via computer animation  supposedly th work of over    artists . made in the late    s and released in      this was cutting edge stuff for the day . i thought it was good and quite interesting in spots .  br    br   most of the short scenes made no sense  just forms evolving into other forms  but that was fun to watch . this is all about visuals  not really about any kind of a story . there were some strange sequences in which odd  looking men  creatures would dance around with birds overheard . all of it is computer animated which was new back then . even the term  computer animated  was not well  known .  br    br   it  s simply a chance to show off this new technology in short bits of cartoon  like happenings with beautiful colors and imaginative scenes . no words  just pictures with electronic music . stoners must have really loved this .  br    br   it  s a nice  intriguing   minutes of  eye candy  and  head candy .  by today  s cg effects this may have lost impact  but i think you  d still be entertained by this .  
all of the x  men movies were great . and i mean all of them  including the long hated x  men  . they had solid characters  magneto and xavier were the best ones  in my opinion   and a good story arch .  br    br   i was all excited when i heard this movie was on production  and my expectations grew bigger and bigger until i saw the movie . i was so disappointed .  br    br   hugh jackman is not a bad actor  his best movie is the fountain  although you won  t hear about this movie when they talk about the actor   and his acting is not what screws the movie up .  br    br   the whole film is plagued with lots of meaningless characters that add nothing to the plot  like blob or gambit   which were tossed there to make fans believe that the film makers had read the original comics .  br    br   i am a fan of xmen  i have read many  many of their stories and this movie respected none of them . none . not even the continuity . it doesn  t respect weapon x project  or the relationship between wolverine and sabretooth  or emma frost  the motivations for wolverine are plain stupid and seen in millions of movies revenge for the death of a loved one .  br    br   oh . what i was expecting the whole darn movie was a berseker moment for wolverine similar to the one he has in x  in the school when stryker men come in and he alone decimates the enemy forces  but hey  this is fox  this a family flick and you will not see explicit violence from the most violent and gruesome marvel hero .  br    br   besides  i had a feeling of constant dej v with this movie because wolverine  s origins are already explained in x   we already know how he got his adamantium skeleton so it kind of does not make sense to make a movie of something we already know .  br    br   i personally believe that wolverine is one of those few characters that does not need a solid back  story because mystery is the nature of the character . do we really want to know how the joker got his scars   
well  well . . . . roeg touched a bit of a nerve there  didn  t he  he was a genius while he was cataloguing his various characters  descents into psychosis for a couple of decades  but as soon as he has the bad taste to suggest that redemption  or even some good advice  might be found in the bad old catholic church  the hipper  than  thou alternative movie crowd gets extra vicious . worse still  theresa russell  s character  faced with experiences that nothing in her avowedly rationalist outlook has an explanation for  is unwillingly forced to deal with those experiences on another level  that of the spiritual . you know  the realm of the ignorant and superstitious  the sort of thing that the art  house cinephiles are supposed to be above . oh  the horror . . . so she finds her marriage  the idea that it might be a uniquely important commitment  affirmed by what seems uncomfortably like divine intervention . people who find this idea prima facie offensive could maybe ask themselves why they instinctively jump into attack mode at being challenged to take seriously the idea of a spiritual dimension to their lives . but they probably won  t . sure  this film has some problems  notably talia shire  s delirious hamwork as the overwrought nun      s  style attire and all . and the dialogue between marie davenport and the young priest in their last scene is straight out of the spellbound school of glib interpretations  though hitchcock  s movie escaped similar charges due to the source of wisdom having impeccably secular credentials as a freudian psychoanalyst  . but  sadly  nicolas roeg appears to have copped a critical mauling as much for even asking the question as for the possible answers this film presents .  
where to begin  how about with the erroneous synopsis  br    br    x  men origins wolverine tells the story of wolverine  s epically violent and romantic past  his complex relationship with victor creed  and the ominous weapon x program .   br    br   his epically violent past turns out to exceptionally non  violent .  br    br   his relationship with creed is so glossed over it  s difficult to understand how they have any connection at all . we are thrown from one point in the opening scene that shows them as children on the run  to a montage of war scenes that they have fought in throughout their long lifespan  and finally to the present where they are a part of a hardcore government team of assassins .  br    br   there is nothing by way of showing their relationship as brothers at all . nothing complex is laid down for us to believe is authentic or even loving .  br    br   the romantic element of the movie between silverfox and wolverine was forced and abrupt . we are thrown into a romance so fast that it  s over before you can blink an eye . having just introduced the character  silverfox is killed off roughly fifteen minutes later . we are left wondering why we should care about this . who was she anyway   br    br   for a pivotal element of this weak revenge driven story  the romance is surprisingly unexplored . it was rushed in simply because it was required .  br    br   oddly enough  when wolverine finds that his love is dead he leaves her in the woods to rot as he goes off to find sabertooth . being the romantic that he is this was out of character for him yet necessary to serve the plot in pulling off a very predictable surprise .  br    br   as for the weapon x program  lets just say that after the painfully crippling procedure wolverine is up and running . eventually he arrives at the home of a conveniently old yet overwhelmingly loving couple . surprisingly ma and pa kent aren  t alarmed when finding a naked sweaty man in their barn . is it any wonder what fate awaits them   br    br   in the previous films and the comic books  the main reason that wolverines  amnesia plagued him partly hinged on the fact that he was said to have been viciously evil and coldblooded .  br    br   knowing this was the case . . . did he really want to remember such horrors or keep them hidden and continue his current more positive lifestyle of fighting against the villains of the world alongside his team mates   br    br   as hinted to in x   x  men united when stryker gives up some of his secrets it is said that wolverine would be disturbed if he had known of the evil works they committed together . this film sets up the team fairly well only they don  t really do much of anything . no disturbing violence  no ruthless actions  they merely harass a few natives in foreign lands for the ten or fifteen minutes they are on screen .  br    br   it seems that wolverine wasn  t an evil man under stryker at all . instead he was constantly trying to put a leash on his brother sabertooth which consequently was the violent agent we all thought wolverine was . eventually he just leaves all together .  br    br   no conflict of duality here at all .  br    br   idiotically removing that character conflict of good and evil dulled the story immensely . they may as well have given him rubber claws .  br    br   there were a ton of other errors in this film that contradicted the x  men trilogy  including the introduction of one of the lamest deus ex machinas to ever hit a script .  br    br   magic memory  erasing bullets .  br    br   really   br    br   apparently they are the only thing to bring down wolverine . yet this was apparently forgotten when agent after agent was sent to bring him down with bullets and bombs that would surely not work on him at all .  br    br   another problem with this film is that it tried to focus on wolverine while throwing in a ton of other mutants which did little to nothing at all . interesting characters were mere window dressing and did nothing for the story . most were in the film for     minutes max and yet you find yourself wishing we saw more of them and less of wolverine .  br    br   fred dukes  the blob but not the comic version  can punch a launched tank missile with little to no physical damage to him at all  but a simple headbutt from wolverines metal noggin is enough to daze him   br    br   cyclops optic beams  which instead of being concussive force are now more akin to lasers  can burn through buildings but when fired at sabertooth directly it simply smashes him into the ground without even damaging his clothes . adamantium trench coats anyone   br    br   the  gravity defying  mutant gambit  instead of utilizing his signature cards  is made into some sort of crazy acrobat . in one poorly edited scene he is knocked unconscious by wolverine . . . then amazingly enough a few minutes later he is on a rooftop running towards wolverine . how he regained consciousness  ran away a few blocks  climbed up a building  then ran back to wolverine and sabertooth in the middle of a scratching match is a mystery yet to be explained .  br    br   some have excused this films weakness by claiming it was made from a comic and therefore should be weak on character and heavy on flash . the idea that this movie being a comic film is flimsy and superficial because of that fact is incorrect .  br    br   the comic book source material  the real origin of wolverine . . . is a story worth bringing to the screen . it doesn  t sugar coat his past nor treat the reader like mindless cgi junkies . it is a well crafted story and although retold and readjusted over time  began with weapon x by barry windsor  smith . a much more intense and exciting story .  br    br   this fox film should seriously be forgotten .  br    br   anyone have that magic gun   br    br        
after reading the other tepid reviews and comments  i felt i had to come to bat for this movie .  br    br   roeg  s films tend to have little to do with one another  and expecting this one to be like one of his you liked is probably off the mark .  br    br   what this film is is a thoughtful and unabashed look at religious faith . the only other film like it  in terms of its religious message  would have to be tolkin  s the rapture .   br    br   i am astonished that anyone could say the story is muddled or supernatural . it is a simple movie about catholic faith  miracles  and redemption   though you would never guess it till the end . it is also the only movie i can think of whose resolution turns  literally  on a pun .  br    br   as a  happily  fallen catholic myself  i know what the movie is about  and i find a sort of fondness in its ultimate innocence about the relation between god and man . but if you are not familiar with the kind of theology on which the film is based  then it will go right over you head .  br    br   as a film  as opposed to a story  cold heaven  it is not ground  breaking . while the rapture  is heavy with pictorial significance and cinematic imagery  cold heaven  downplays its own cinematic qualities . there are no striking shots  no edgy effects  no attempts to fit the content to the form . it is workmanlike shooting  but subdued . nor does it have dialogue or acting to put it in a class of high drama . it is a simple story that unfolds simply . it may seem odd but at the end the mystery is revealed . it looks ambiguous but with a single line the ambiguity vanishes in a puff of catholic dogma .  br    br   in this regard  cold heaven  has at its heart exactly the same sort of thing that drives a movie like the sting   or the sixth sense   or final descent   or polanski  s a pure formality .  all of these are films with a trick up their sleeves . they may frustrate you along the way  but they have a point  an obvious one  indeed   but the fun is  at least in part  in having been taken in .  br    br   still  even if it seems like little more than a shaggy dog story with a punch line  it is worth watching for way it directs  and misdirects  you . try it  especially if you are  or have ever been  a catholic .  
  cement  is a bad movie about a bad cop  penn  with a bad attitude and a bad disposition who has a bad guy in a bad way up to his cajones in fast drying concrete . while we  re waiting for the cement to dry and the film to figure out what it  s about  we  re periodically jerked back in time without rhyme or reason so we can watch events leading up to the cement thing . a boring junk flick overall   cement  suffers from lack of a story  a clumsy execution  and that most ubiquitous of filmdom  s faults no reason to care . a time killer for the needy couch potato at best .  d   
i loved this movie . in fact i loved being an actress in this movie . iwas featured as a pregnant teenager in the second half of the movie . you may remember me more clearly in the classroom scene when the werewolf was exposing himself on film . i was the female in the front row with my hands planted on my face in reaction to what we were watching on the movie projector . in fact they double took me a few times so it  s hard to miss that mistake . thumbs up to full moon high . wish it come to cable soon . cheryl lockett alexander leesville  louisiana i loved this movie . in fact i loved being an actress in this movie . iwas featured as a pregnant teenager in the second half of the movie . you may remember me more clearly in the classroom scene when the werewolf was exposing himself on film . i was the female in the front row with my hands planted on my face in reaction to what we were watching on the movie projector . in fact they double took me a few times so it  s hard to miss that mistake . thumbs up to full moon high . wish it come to cable soon . cheryl lockett alexander  br    br   leesville  louisiana  
i found the writing in this movie absolutely terrible .  br    br   the only thing that saved this movie from me rating it as a  out of   was lacy chabert  s performance who i thought played the multiple personalities really well . for me she was definitely the highlight of this movie .  br    br   dina meyer was pretty as always but i found her role pretty bland so i don  t think one can say that her acting was great .  br    br   as for the male lead  armand assante  his interpretation of the role reminded me mainly of doctors in cheese     s hospital series .  br    br   all of that i could have lived with . however the terrible  terrible  terrible end  solution  the role of the psychic and even the role of psychic were just some of the worst writing i have seen in a long time .  
no doubt intended as a totally campy joke   full moon high  portrays     s teenager tony walker  adam arkin  accompanying his father  ed mcmahon  on a trip to romania . sure enough  tony gets bitten  and grows fur and fangs whenever there  s a full moon . a particularly interesting aspect in this movie is that he can  t age as long as he has the werewolf curse  and that he has to fulfill a destiny  even if it takes twenty years .  br    br   but otherwise  the movie  s just plain funny once it gets going . ed mcmahon  s character is an over  patriotic right  wing yahoo  he thinks that everyone should have listened to joe mccarthy   kenneth mars  s coach  principal is a tense dweeb  and then there  s more . one of the most eye  opening cast members is demond wilson  best remembered as lamont on  sanford and son   as a bus driver who gets a big surprise . but probably the funniest scene is the changing of the presidents then gag with gerald ford really summed him up  anyway  it  s a real treat . considering that alan arkin  who plays a zany psychiatrist  just won an oscar on sunday night and thanked his sons  i wonder whether or not he remembers co  starring with two of them in this movie  aside from adam  his son anthony also has a small role  . quite funny . also starring elizabeth hartman .  br    br   ps director larry cohen is probably best known for the killer baby flick  it  s alive  .  
i found myself very caught up in this movie  at least at the beginning  and any credit i give to this movie  is lacey chabert  she was fantastic   but thats where it ends . i seem to be very good at figuring out who the killer is  and i like it when a movie is able to completely baffel me  but i felt out and out lied to  they whole time they lead you in one direction and then suddenly they decided to go in a completely different direction at the end  they gave no hit to it at all  thats not misleading that very bad writing and planning  someone did not think at all   br    br   i felt the movie would have been much better if they had stuck to the plot that the lead you on  they also seemed to not answer anything  why did jane  maria  burn down the professor  s house .  br    br   its a great pity as i felt it started out as a relatively good movie .  
having no knowledge of this film prior to seeing it on rialto channel i found it to be a pleasant  poignant and enriching film .  br    br   the casting was excellent . i loved all the characters  they were a little exaggerated in places   but this is a film  . the way it looked and the enjoyably giddy ride the main character took until it turned badly  as real life can and does . yes  i thought andy macdowell was great . i was particularly interested to watch this film once it began because people so often joke about her acting abilities  i find this quite wierd because she  s always a solid actress in my opinion  .  br    br   i loved the bit at the end where andy  s character said  sometimes i feel he was never here  etc .  it was so completely how it really is in a situation like that  which i can personally identify with   then there was that gorgeous classical piece  nocturne  i think by chopin  which was a beautiful way to end  bar the light comedy at the end  which was probably unnecessary  .  br    br   i say  well done  to the film makers  i have seen      s of worse films   
picture the scene where a bunch of scriptwriters sit around a table and one says  lets have a black woman approach an unsuspecting member of the public  also black  in the street and ask him if he is black  then walk away  . the other writers fall about laughing hysterically until one suggests they repeat it in every episode . more laughter . now if you think the premise is funny  and the show contains many such types of situation  you will enjoy this show . for the rest  use your zapper and find something more entertaining like watching paint dry . those that have written glowing reports of this show should either get out more or be forced to watch television comedies that are really funny . another example of the humor in the show  a girl tries to get out of paying at a supermarket checkout by trying to hypnotise the cashier . marginally funny the first time but why repeat it over and over in different shows with different cashiers  i could give other examples but these just might be treated as spoilers  divulging why this comedy just is not funny at all .  
full moon high        of  dir larry cohen stars adam arkin  ed mcmahon  roz kelly  br    br   tony  arkin  is your average ordinary high school guy . prepping for the big homecoming game  girlfriend trouble and growing hair in strange placesyou know the usual . but the hair in strange places part gets a wee bit out of control when a trip to transylvania with his father  yes  mcmahon  leaves him with a wicked case of the furballs . now doomed to walk the world forever young as a werewolf how will adam get any girls   br    br    full moon high  is not often talked about but it is a silly and entertaining horror spoof . larry cohen  q the winged serpent  the stuff  incorporates as many gags as he can possibly come up with as writer  director . arkin  h    halloween    years later  shows nice timing in the lead role . if you happen to be a fan of spoofs like  airplane  and  student bodies  i think you  ll have fun with this chuckle  fest .  
this horrible  the acting  costumes  production values  editing  the script  everything about this film is as bad as it can get . it looks as if it was filmed with a video camera . can you give a movie a negative rating  watch the ring instead .  
it  just funny  watch it     br    br   ok they want   lines so there this is a spoof of   s    s werewolf movies . lots of satire  some political . feels like an early clouseau movie  probably due to alan arkin   but with less slap stick . if you like the naked guns movies you  ll like this too  once again less slapstick in this one  .  br    br   actually  the humor ranges from light sexual innuendo  unavoidable in a teen comedy   to really poignant socio  political satire . the transformation of the moon high school from   s to   s is really funny . the sequence with the changing presidential portraits is brilliant  ok maybe not brilliant but still hilarious . there are tons of  histarical  cracks starting from the   s cold war paranoia and the late   s inflation .  br    br   anyway  just watch the movie if you get a chance   
the plot of corpse grinders  is very much similar to the original corpse grinders  what is left that is different from the other film consists of weird aliens .  br    br   it is my belief that this film would be the   worst film on imdb  if anyone had actually watched it . the plot is disconnected and  in several  way too many  instances  makes absolutely no sense whatsoever . the real wonder here is why in the world was this sequel created to such an unsuccessful and horrendous  but still somewhat better  film .  br    br   i would highly recommend this film if you enjoy watching terrible movies for a good laugh .  
in this send  up of horror films     s cold war paranoia  reagan  era america  and high school films  adam arkin plays tony  the star quarterback of full moon high in the      s . he and his father  ed mcmahon  travel to communist romania and while he  s lost in the streets one night  he is bitten by a werewolf . when he returns stateside  he cannot control his animalistic urges and goes on a killing spree . frustrated  he flees town . decades later  the immortal tony returns to town and re  enrolls in highschool . he still can  t control his transformations  and the townspeople  and his friends  realize he  s not quite human . it all culminates during the schools big football game .  br    br   i expected this to be one of those  so bad it  s good  films from the early    s . but i was surprised that the film was actually  legitimately funny . the cast  including kenneth mars as a pervy coach  roz kelly as tony  s lusty former flame  demond wilson as a bus driver  and alan arkin as a oddball doctor  go all out  with hilarious results .  br    br   while watching this film i was struck by how similar the writing and humor were to  family guy .   full moon high  has that same anything goes attitude and never takes itself seriously .  
in a far away galaxy is a planet called ceta . it  s native people worship cats . but the dog people wage war upon these feline loving people and they have no choice but to go to earth and grind people up for food . this is one of the stupidest fk  ng ideas for a movie i  ve seen . leave it to ted mikels to make a movie more incompetent than the already low standard he set in previous films . it  s like he enjoying playing in a celluloid game of limbo . how low can he go  the only losers in the scenario are us the viewer . mr . mikels and his silly little handlebar mustache actually has people who still buy this crap .  br    br   my grade f  br    br   dvd extras commentary by ted mikels the story behind the making of   and a half minutes     minutes    seconds of behind the scenes footage ted mikels filmography and trailers for  the worm eaters   girl in gold boots    the doll squad    ten violent women   featuring nudity    blood orgy of the she devils     the corpse grinders   
while visiting romania with his cia dad  tony  adam arkin   quite a talented high school quarterback seen as the savior to lead his team finally to a victory over rival simpson  is told by a would  be palm  reader  . . in romania  the people are not allowed many books  so she took up palm reading  that he would be bitten by a werewolf   when the moon is full  don  t make any appointments . . you will be busy .   . well  who would have thunk it . . tony is in fact bitten and his life would be forever changed . after his father unfortunately dies in a mishap within his bomb shelter    under odd circumstances  firing at his werewolf son inside a metallic bomb shelter isn  t a very good idea  especially if the bullet doesn  t leave the room and bounces around like a pinball gone berserk   tony travels the land through endless years  until he  s tired of packing  and returns decades  . . and many us presidents  later to hopefully lead his football team to a win over simpson . . a task he abandoned long ago . what was once a very white  clean  cut high school has indeed changed into a ghetto of drug use  violence  and perversion . to get an idea of what the early    s full moon high school  s prom party resembles  think studio   with teenagers . .  br    br   larry cohen  s parody of werewolf flicks  among others things  is crammed full of gags  homages  and in  jokes . my favorite sequences contain one in the sex  ed classroom where tony reveals to the    s class his werewolf transformation and the introductory scene to dr . brand  alan arkin  who steals the film when kenneth mars isn  t on screen   quite possibly the worst psychiatrist on earth . his task to talk down a jumper leads to two men falling off a balcony . . the jumper and a fireman  trying  at first  to talk him out of it   both fuming mad at brand  brand even tries to get tony to sign a waver for his body  s being donated to science so he can get his wife a fur coat  kenneth mars had me rolling in the floor as a homosexual football coach  . . and later in the    s as the principal  who likes to pat his players on the behind . . his scene where tony  s unloading the truth to the sex  ed class is classic . the film is loaded with inspired casting choices . . just littered with funny characters and the cast interpretations . . such as ed mcmahon as a very conservative military blowhard who actually looks identical to joseph mccathy standing next to his photo in the bomb shelter  . . always talking about commies   joanne nail as bulging eyed ricky in present day who falls for the werewolf  elizabeth hartman  a patch of blue  as a mousy  nerdy sexually molested  . . and molester  teacher who finds an attraction towards tony  james dixon as a deputy  . . his great scene has him stealing a line from his police chief reciting it to dr . brand who begins mouthing the words to himself for memorization   roz kelly as jane  an undyingly devoted female desiring tony for only herself constantly demanding he ravish her  and bill kirchenbauer as flynn  tony  s long  time pal and now the police chief who only got jane after his friend left town . can not forget jm j bullock as flynn  s closeted gay son trying to fit in at the school hoping to find a dame with hilarious results .  br    br   i like how the film pays homage to the werewolf genre such as when he  s on the prowl . . he  s often referred to in the papers as jack the nipper because he likes to bite his victims on the cheek . . and i  m not talking face . he  s seen more as an annoyance than danger . the homages to carrie and psycho are nice  and the violin shtick is also amusing . cohen tosses so many zingers at the viewer  eventually one has to stick . obviously in a comedy such as this  not every joke hits it  s mark  but many do . the cast makes this worthwhile . the film looks cheap on the typical larry cohen budget . notice the    s scenes where the obvious old cast members that would show up down the road wear glaring wigs . loved adam in the lead . . he is the perfect foil for the gags that follow him and the zingers he lets fly from cohen  s script . the film moves quickly  rarely catching a breath . i liked this horror comedy more than most it seems .  
i am a huge fan of ted v mikels and the original  corpse grinders  is the main reason why but this is quite possibly the worst film i have ever seen . even the brilliant casting of the legendary liz renay   desperate living   could not save this worthless piece of garbage . this film should serve as a lesson to all past  present and future film makers . . . when you have a film as successful as the original  corpse grinders  was you should probably leave sleeping dogs lie and you should definitely not try to revitalize it over twenty years later  unless you have the financial backing to pull of a superior sequel such as herschel gordon lewis did with  blood feast   all u can eat   even if you do decide to do this you should probably spend a little bit more money than you did on the original and for god  s sake . . . never film a movie onto video . . . why do film makers even attempt to do this when everyone knows the quality is going to turn out hideous . . . i personally have yet to see one film made in this fashion that  s even worth the powder to blow it to hell . . . if you can  t afford to make a sequel that is better than your original film then sell the rights of the film to someone who can . . . and what was ted v mikels thinking about  or smoking  when he wrote this god  awful script  i mean come on  dog and cat  aliens  from another planet  a cardboard box painted to look like a devastating machine capable of grinding up human bodies . . . bones and clothes and all  if any of these actors  aside from liz renay  were paid more than five dollars for their hideous performances than they are grossly overpaid  avoid this film at all costs and watch the original instead .  
i  m not kidding about that summary and vote  the video distributors have packaged this as just another typical    s werewolf movie  but it is in fact the greatest parody of the horror genre that you can imagine  having done for the horror movie what  blazing saddles  did for the western . i have seen plenty of comedies  good  bad  stupid  weird  etc .  usually walking away unimpressed   and i think that comedy must be the most difficult genre for filmmakers and actors to work in  it takes just the right kind of touch to make things successful  and part of that is having good ideas .  full moon high  is bulging with good ideas  so many  in fact  that it can easily put the zucker  abrams team of  airplane  and  naked gun  to shame . one of the best of these is the very presence of ed mcmahon in a starring role as a john birch  style right  wing crackpot . the jokes  non  sequiturs  wisecracks and word  play are literally non  stop and everything  including the kitchen sink  has been thrown in . the ironic tone is very similar to that of  back to the future .   br    br   some people  i . e . almost every reviewer here  must have been turned off by the spirit of anarchy here  but i almost died of laughter  and this is one of those movies in which you never know what kind of insane situation will transpire next . since b  movie extraordinaire larry cohen had not made a straight comedy before this  one gets the sense that he was making up for lost time by including any joke he or his collaborators could think of . if mel brooks had made this  the critics would have labelled it a comic masterpiece  but because it was made by cohen  it has been dismissed as schlock . critical reviews have called this movie too  silly .  silly  what is a comedy supposed to be  serious   anyway  i laughed out loud more for this movie than any other i can think of . cohen makes fun of everyone  himself included  with plenty of references to his usual brand of low  rent film  making he and the actors must have had a complete blast making this .  br    br   the humor is very mel brooks  ish  and anyone who loves jewish humor or watches a lot of b  movies  especially horror  will love this . trust me the movie isn  t too hard to find  and as long as you accept it for what it is  a roller  coaster of belly laughs with no pretense of social value whatsoever  then you  ll truly enjoy it    br    br   one sidenote this movie should somehow go down in history as the one thing bob saget ever starred in  albeit briefly  that was actually funny .  
ted v . mikels  s film corpse grinders  is    minutes of excruciating cinematic swill . the plot is pretty much a mixture of nonsensical business dealings among people who grind corpses into cat food while cat aliens  who are losing a war with dog aliens  looking to get some of this cat food . watching this movie  i began to look for any kind of distraction  anything to reassure myself that i was doing something else besides losing my mind from the inside out .  br    br   several scenes go on for far too long  as characters take forever to do simple things . i  ve heard that mr . mikels doesn  t like to use jump cuts too often  fearful that they will confuse his audience . i  m not sure if this attitude is  avant  garde  or just  stupid .  try as i might  i could not bring myself to care about any of the characters in the unnecessarily huge cast  well with the possible exception of the old men who are the caretakers of the factory . the majority of the cast are a bunch of no  talent amateurs who don  t even bother to learn the lyrics to  amazing grace  before they have to sing it on camera . although perhaps the blame should go to the poor sound quality  since i only actually heard around    of the dialogue while watching the dvd .  br    br   this is quite possibly the worst film to ever be shot . i  ve listened to snippets of the commentary  and mr . mikels comes off as a surprisingly sweet old man  what the hell was he doing making this kind of trash  i  d like to hear the explanations from the old men who had to lie shirtless on a metal conveyor belt waiting to be ground up . movies i  ve long hated suddenly seem a lot better . i long for the intermittedly appropriate music of excalibur  and the consistent lighting of dawn of the dead . i need to go do something  anything . don  t see this movie .  
silly movie is really  really funny . yes  it  s got its dead moments  it can be a bit too obvious  it declines a bit in the second half and the story is an incoherent mess  but it  s laugh out loud funny all the way . and it  s worth seeing just for ed mcmahon as a right wing kook . this movie is in the same class as elvira  mistress of the dark  another incredibly funny  underappreciated film .  
want a great recipe for failure  take a sy plot  add in some weak  completely undeveloped characters and than throw in the worst special effects a horror movie has known . let stew for a week  the amount of time probably spent making this trash  . the result is corpse grinders  a movie that takes bad movies to dangerous and exotically low places .  br    br   the movie utterly blew . my words cannot convey how painful it was to watch . this is not one of those bad movies that you and your friends can sit around and make fun of . this is not plan  from outer space . this is a long  boring  sad waste of time . corpse grinders ii is the biggest waste of energy and talent i have ever seen . i depresses me when i realize that people actually took time out of their lives to act in this shit  if you can call it acting . but than again  when you have poor direction  poor storywriting  poor everything  acting is the last thing to criticize .  br    br   this movie is like a huge  disgusting turd that you yearn to quickly flush out of existence  fearful that a friend or loved one might somehow see it . i really with i could somehow destroy every copy of this film  so it will not pollute the minds of aspiring filmmakers . thank you  ted v . mikels  for giving me new found respect for every movie i have ever seen . you have shown me what is truly awful  and why i should appreciate all those movies that are merely crappy or boring .  
i don  t know why people except a lot from low budget indie films but i enjoyed this one as i  m a fan of urban horror . there  s not too many urban horror movies out there so when i saw this one on the shelf  just the title alone peaked my curiosity . so i decided to check it out and i was surprised . . . it  s not too often you run into a low budget indie horror film with great acting and a good story . is it low budget  yes . can you tell that it  s low budget  yes . . . but once you start watching the movie you become so wrapped up in the story that it doesn  t matter . i like hip hop music too and the soundtrack is nice  i don  t know what  s up with all these bad reviews for this film . all i hear is  worst movie ever  . have these idiots seen every movie out there  there  s thousands of movies out there  how can you categorize one as the  worst  ever  a video not  movie  like  zombiez  may be the worst film i ever seen but i can  t say that it  s the worst movie ever since i haven  t seen every movie out there . bottom line these people who gave this movie bad reviews are probably from the suburbs . listen  if you don  t like minority based  urban films  the ghetto films  hip hop  etc then why watch these types of movies       knowing that you don  t like this type of stuff  sure  this is a horror film but it  s not just a horror film but it  s an urban horror film with a multi  cultural based cast . i don  t like tv shows like dawson  s creek or the o . c .  they suck to me . films like  garden state    wedding crashers  and  i heart huckabees  suck to me . i  m a guy from new jersey and these shows and movies suck to me . why  because i can  t relate to them . they don  t peak my interest . just common sense . believe me  i will never watch garden state   garden salad  wedding crashers   here  s a sequel to torture you again since the first sucked so bad and i heart huckaboring . now back to this movie  in regards to saint     s comment above  i don  t know if this guy was smoking crack or got knocked  stupid  by his drunken dad before he watched the movie but to me  everyone did a great job . the actor who played ricky  i forgot his name  did a very good job . i  m an aspiring actor myself taking theater at my school and i had to do a play where i had to cry and it  s not easy to be emotional in a scene so i give props to actors who have to do an emotional scene and can pull it off . anywho  i liked this movie and never heard of these actors and directors before but you bet i  ll be looking out for their stuff for now on and if they are reading this  bring on the sequel    i  m out . jerzee representin    
the original exploitation classic  though far from enjoyable on almost any level concerning some guys who turn cats into human flesh eating monsters because the cat food they make is made with people is remade with scifi elements added . the cats can  t get enough and when the flesh tainted food runs out the cats turn on their owners . poorly put together on almost every level this is an example of the absolute bottom of the barrel material that used to actually play movie theaters in the early      s updated with alien cat and dog races battling for supremacy . director ted mikel is a hack  but is so lovable a person  i generally like the guy thanks to his smile inducing interviews and commentary tracks  that you can pretty much excuse the garbage he mostly turned out . mikels wanted to make films and he didn  t care how they turned out so long as he was producing something . more power to him  but i wish he wouldn  t subject us to his home movies  
welcome to oakland  where the dead come out to play and even the boys in da hood can  t stop them . this low  budget  direct  to  video production seems timed to coincide with the release of land of the dead  the latest installment of george a . romero  s famed zombie series . the ghetto setting and hip  hop soundtrack may provide additional appeal for inner  city gore hounds . ricky  carl washington  works at a medical research facility while raising his kid brother  jermaine  brandon daniels  . but the teenager  bored by macaroni  and  cheese dinners in their tract house  would rather spend his time hanging with street friends marco and kev . apparently there is not a lot for african  american high  school dropouts to do on this side of the bay except deal drugs and scuffle with the homeys  including rival latino gang bangers . ricky plans to sell their late parents  house and move inland to the castro valley  a more middle  class and presumably safer environment . unfortunately  before this can happen  a drive  by shooting leaves jermaine dead on the porch . grief  stricken ricky tries a last desperate ploy . he tells scotty  his lab assistant  to steal some of the experimental cell regeneration formula they have been testing on rats . when a double dose fails to revive jermaine  there is no choice except to call    . but a funny thing happens on the way to the morgue . the boy is reanimated as a sputtering  growling zombie  chews the ambulance drivers and staggers off into the night  bent on revenge and hungry for fresh meat . the feeding frenzy infects more victims  and before the night is over the east bay is a battleground between the living and the blood  spattered undead . the horror genre has seen more than its share of cheap movie makers  from ed wood to herschel gordon lewis to charles band . but low budgets do not necessarily mean bad films . consider val lewton  s programmers  cat people  the leopard man  isle of the dead   roger corman  s poe quickies  romero  s night of the living dead and john carpenter  s halloween . the difference between memorable and awful has more to do with talent and ambition than money . hood of the living dead is more fun than several hundred million dollars  worth of recent high  priced horrors . cheapness has its charms . in truly cheap films actors wear their own clothes amid real settings . here the tract houses have freshly painted walls in neutral matte tones  lending a bleakness as oppressive as douglas sirk  s bourgeois melodramas of the    s . lines seem more improvised than scripted .  so what the hell are we gonna do now    just keep your eyes open for any f n  thing that looks out of the ordinary .  ricky and scotty call their boss  who calls an ex  military man named romero .  i have a huge bitch of a problem that we have to take care of fast .   not a problem   says the merc  closing his phone and grabbing his guns . everybody has guns  and even when fighting zombies they  re on their cell phones  as who isn  t nowadays  information is exchanged with naturalistic understatement .  what happened    we got into it with some crazy motherfockers .   deja f n  vu . it  s that park zombie again . . . .  ricky even has to blow his twitching girlfriend away  saying only   she  s gotten out of hand .  unlike most zombie movies  this one provides a motive for mayhem . jermaine takes revenge on the gang bangers who shot him  who in turn continue the rumble . this is urban film  making that implies its own social commentary  a near  guerrilla production suggesting a future for low  budget horror that reflects real life instead of supernatural clichs . the brothers quiroz  who have trademarked their name as if in anticipation of a new movement  may inspire others to tell stories arising from personal experience rather than imitating tired hollywood product . considering their limited resources  jose and eduardo quiroz have made a cheap but technically acceptable feature about people they know . photographer rocky robinson gets the job done  music by eduardo quiroz is no simpler than carpenter  s haunting halloween theme  and hip  hop songs by the darkroom familia and others add atmosphere . the result is promising if not exactly exhilarating . they are learning their craft and  unlike lewis and wood  who never got any better  their next may be one to watch .  
this movie is awesome . i watched it the other day with my cousin jay  jay . he said it was alright  but i think it rulezzz  i mean  it  s so cool . ted v . mikels is so brave and smart . he made a movie totally unlike those terrible hollywood films  like the matrix and stop or my mom will shoot . it could have been better  though . i like ninjas and pirates . i also like that big talon that the funny man wears . i think he  s the coolest guy since that domino pizza claymation guy . not only does this movie look really cool  like those out  of  focus movies my dad made of my birthday when i turned  . but it tells a complex tale with dozens of characters that seem to be totally unrelated  but they all meet up in the end . it  s genius how this web is woven to make everything meet up . i wish ted v . mikels would make a sequel . but it needs more aliens . and a pirate .  
let  s get some things straight first zombies don  t exist so the filmmaker can have them walk  run  hell even fly if he wants to . that  s what makes this original zombie movie so good . everything they did was so damn original . i hate it when filmmakers do everything like romero or when fan boys expect everything like romero . some idiots think that zombies should only growl like a typical romero movie  once again zombies don  t exist so a filmmaker can make zombies whistle if he wants . the zombies in this movie all look very good but obviously they are not decaying corpses since they just freaking died  they are pretty messed up though and full of chopped faces and blood . one of the coolest scenes was a half eaten cat . it looked so damn real my daughter cried when she saw it . this movie got really good reviews in fangoria and rue morgue so that made me want to go see it . i  m glad i listened . they are always right when it comes to real horror fan  s tastes .   out of    go rent it   
actually  the movie is neither horror nor sci  fi . with a very strong christian religious theme  this movie delivers minimal content and no suspense . second  tier actors do half  decent jobs of reading their boring roles . the only good performance is by sydney penny who plays a role of a mother of . . . i won  t spoil the movie  it  s either christ or anti  christ . avoid watching this movie unless you a christian religious fanatic obsessed with apocalypse .  br    br   being a non  christian  i had to force myself to watch this movie just because i wanted to write this review . it  s a pity that sci  fi channel had to air this movie at the peak evening time .  
there have been  race  pictures almost from the beginnings of the movie business . films starring almost entirely black casts have been made by segregated poverty row studios  more often than not owned by caucasians  for ghetto theaters . with the growing urban blight during the     s  this idea was revived with a wave of  blaxploitation  pictures made for urban grind houses which overlaid black actors and funky atmosphere over traditional b  movie plots . this trend even spread into horror features  with titles like blacula  blackenstein and sugar hill serving up blaxploitation versions of monster standards . and it didn  t die with the closing of most urban theaters  it just slowly eased into the video age  and continues with low budget direct  to  dvd releases like this one . ed and jose quiroz  s hood of the living dead  adopts the recent popularity of horror movies for the hip  hop audience . ricky  carl washington  is a young scientist in oakland trying to keep his younger brother jermaine  brandon daniels  out of trouble after the death of their parents . after jermaine is shot by drug dealers in a drive  by  ricky decides to use the experimental cell regenerating formula he  s been working on in an attempt to save the teen  s life . apparently his efforts are for naught  and jermaine  s body is taken away . however  the body never makes it to the morgue  jermaine re  animates in the coroner  s van as a flesh  hungry zombie . he kills the drivers  then goes after the gang that killed him  spreading the zombie infection wherever he goes . having heard from jermaine  s friends kevin  derek taylor ii  and marco  raul martinez  about the attack on the gangsters  ricky feels that the only thing to do is to capture jermaine and try to cover up the whole matter before he and his accomplice scott  chris angelo  get arrested for the mayhem they  ve caused . however  they soon find that the contagion is spreading too fast for them to control it . by keeping things simple  the quiroz team manages to produce an entertaining little horror feature without overextending themselves to the point where things start to look shoddy . along the way  they also add in a few interesting bits of business . when first confronted with a zombie  scott tells ricky   shoot him in the head like in the movies    an effective as any way to discover how to kill zombies . an extra twist is added when the first head shot doesn  t kill the brain  adding to viewer unease . another good point is that the soundtrack makes only limited use of sub  eminem style rap  laying in standard  creepy  music throughout .  
i guess if you are into the sci  fi and horror stuff it might be interesting . the acting was okay but not great . the two pregnant girls are supposed to be fifteen but are played by obviously older actresses who turned out to be twenty and twenty  one at the time . the plot is okay  but the story does jump around a bit  leaving one guessing whether you  re in boston or pennsylvania . the priest seems to use warp speed between the two . the catholic church is portrayed as having a secretive sect for investigating events which only happen to those of that faith . what if the two girls had been protestant  would the catholics of cared  therefore some what contrived . who knows  some day the catholic church might even learn what the bible teaches . if you miss this one  don  t feel you  ve lost anything .  
this is a refreshing  enjoyable movie . if you enjoyed   four weddings and a funeral    peter  s friends   etc .  you will see a number of familiar and talented actors . made me laugh  made me sad . i view movies for entertainment  and english  set movies generally fit that bill for me . enjoy   
thanks to the bbc for this show . i used to suffer from an inferiority complex  i hated leaving the house  talking to new people and i had an overwhelming sense that people hated me . however after watching one episode of  non blondes my fortunes started to change . after episode  i started applying for new jobs  wearing fashionable clothes and i actually felt talented . when the series had finished i was running the sales department at work  banging a plethora of women and frequently won the karaoke competition down my local . if you ever have a confidence crisis and don  t know where to turn then take a trip down to poundland and pick up the dvd it  s only   p .  
i  ll be honest . i got this movie so i could make fun of it . i mean  come on   hood of the living dead   what other reaction could i have  the thing is  though  the movie  and its makers  decided that it wasn  t going to be made fun of . instead  it was going to try its best to be a good movie .  br    br   and you know what  it came awfully close . a little less cheese in the incidental music  a little more professionalism in the photography  the acting  the incidentals  like the props   love the best buy bag  . . . well  it  s not a classic of the zombie movie genre  but it  s still a pretty neat little movie on its own . and the acting  writing and pacing are all surprisingly better than i would have expected . there  s even some decent humor  as two of our leads debate how to decide if a dead zombie is really dead .  br    br   if you can overlook the low budget  which leaves its fingerprints in everything  alas  and the almost constant profanity  this can be a pretty fun time at the movies . no  it ain  t great . yes  it could have been better . but the makers  the actors  the crew  they all tried to make a good film  instead of a camp classic  and that counts for a lot . the line of campy zombie films is a mile long  and thank you  guys  for not adding to it .  br    br   kudos to the quiroz brothers . i  d love to see what they do next . and hey  somebody  give them a budget   
this piece of crap might have been acclaimed   years ago  but it is one of the most racist movies ever made with the native american indians played by white men . the right  wing republican james stewart was a huge racist in real life  just like his close friend john wayne . in     stewart had actor hal williams fired from  the jimmy stewart show   a short  lived series that mercifully flopped  just because williams was black . as if that were not bad enough  this film is very dated and boring . watch  dances with wolves  instead for a less racist view .  br    br   stewart was in his forties when this awful movie was made  and even with his ridiculous wig he still looked like a paedophile chasing after    year  old debra paget . i  m surprised it was even allowed .  br    br       .  
man  if anyone was expecting a great zombie movie after reading that title  then you are a retard and you deserve to be disappointed . as for myself  i was expecting a low  budgeted cheeseball zombie flick  and that  s exactly what i got . i wasn  t disappointed at all . i thought it was a cool little movie . the zombies were exactly as they should be  because all of the zombies had just been turned  so they are freshly  undead zombies . obviously they did that because it would  ve been pretty costly if they had done full  on rotted zombie fx . i understood the whole thing  i have no idea how anyone could seriously nitpick this movie . it  s called  hood of the living dead  for the love of god  would you watch  redneck zombies  and any uwe boll movie and actually expect it to be great  of course not  so why there are some morons on imdb whining like school girls about this movie  i  ll never understand . oh and yes  there are worse movies out there  so stop saying that this was the worst you  ve ever seen   cause you know you  re full of it  you ever watch  zombiez      or  feardotcom       or  house of the dead      those are some of the worst i  ve ever seen . if you can  t see that it  s just a low  budgeted zombie movie obviously made by zombie movie fans  then something  s wrong with you . i just had fun with it . thumbs up from me and i  d also like to see a sequel .  
the explosion of tv channels must be eternally grateful to the randolph scott western production line  because any any moment there must be one of what seems like a hundred randolph scott movies playing on at least one no  budget station .  br    br    man behind the gun  is a typical early      s period melodrama with pre  wwii production values that relies on a historically  topical murder mystery plot peppered with action scenes to disguise the script  s complete absence of character development  and thus lack of suspense . in years to come the role of these films would be taken over by tv shows like  gunsmoke    bonanza   etc  and these actually did the job better . randolph scott  looking particularly grizzled in this  is the good guy  struggling against the bad guys against whom he will eventually prevail . there  s no more interest in what he goes through emotionally than in what his horse is feeling  unless you count wondering whether he  ll sort out the initial misunderstanding with the female lead by the end . the music is a stronger indication of the emotional state of the  characters  than the acting is . but it  s fine if that floats your boat and i wouldn  t berate you for enjoying  diagnosis  murder   either .  br    br   workmanlike  pedestrian  and ageing rapidly .  stars for being competently put together  for artistic endeavour .  
when i watch a low budget film i know what to expect . i expect the acting not to be as good  budget reasons   i expect the lighting not to be as good  budget reasons  i expect the sound not to be as good  budget again  . stop judging these low budget movies like a big budget film    i  m a filmmaker myself so i understand the budget constraints on a low budget film . stealing locations  shots etc . . . the list goes on and on . i don  t want to say all the acting was bad . jose rosete  chris angelo  victor zaragoza are good . raul martinez is a natural . not sold on carl washington yet . he has to understand that every line is not important  some are throw away lines . i say if a film makes you want to see what happens next  it  s a good film . i liked this movie . i gave it an  . i wanted to see what was gonna happen next . great job quiroz brothers   
oh dear  what a disappointment . i  ve been watching old westerns on british tv for decades  and i wasn  t aware of this one until its showing yesterday  most other scott westerns come around every few years or so and are usually worth watching again .  br    br   the rich colour and outdoor sets were good  but that  s all i can say about this film . i have to agree with most of the other negative comments already made . several times i felt like turning it off  and finally i did  halfway through  something i hardly ever do .  br    br   scott seemed unusually oily in charming the girls  his two sidekicks were annoying and so was the mexican bandit lad . and i  ve a feeling the army uniforms were   years or so too modern  not that this has bothered makers of many other westerns .  br    br   perhaps it got better in the second half  but i couldn  t be bothered to wait and see .  
good times working with the quiroz brothers  and the entire cast on this project as the  guy on the bench .  i was amazed how well they accomplished capturing all the identifiable traits of a true  b  horror film . hopefully i will have the opportunity to work with pumpkin patch pictures team again in the future . i moved to detroit shortly after completion and have been recognized in public on several occasions since the release . one time was actually in the video store and the girl damn near lost her mind . it was pretty funny and that was my  st real autograph moment as i signed her receipt . one day i asked the girl at blockbuster if the movie is rented often  and she confirmed by looking it up in the computer . at the time it was renting more than ring  which was also a new release at the time . . . the title really captures immediate interest in the more urban markets . she also noticed on many occasions the movie had not been returned by the customer leading me to believe the movie is just so good people don  t want to give it back . . . . watch out for zombies when in the hood cause they will get ya  jaysun barr  guy on the bench        
i  m a huge randolph scott fan  but this film is a dud . the whole thing has a canned  fake  soundstage feel to it  with truly awful rear  screen projection . it has a good plot idea that the screenwriter has successfully buried in a nitwit script  which makes it impossible for the audience to become immersed in the action and truly care about any of the characters . the directing is pedestrian  and only accentuates how bad the script is instead of helping to improve it . i  ve seen plenty of thoroughly enjoyable  soundstage productions  before  but this is not one of them . all it does is make you appreciate the gritty scott  boetticher films all the more .  br    br   randolph scott is tanned  trim  and shines that million dollar smile throughout . he  s always a pleasure . . . even in the worst of his films . aside from scott  the other main reason i wanted to see this movie was due to how much i enjoyed ms . wymore in errol flynn  s movie   rocky mountian  . in  man behind the gun   she is just as beautiful  and you can tell she  s a good actress  but she was forced to say some pretty dumb lines  and the blocking she was given by the director was truly awful . i  ve only seen phil carey in  operation pacific   and he plays the exact same character here . . . an arrogant pain  in  the  butt you want to beat into unconsciousness . i guess it proves he  s a good actor . . . he made me hate him . there are some lame attempts at comic relief that only detract from the film  in my opinion . although there are many elements to knock  i must say that i found myself truly enjoying the two spanish songs sung in the musical numbers . . . but that  s not why we go to see randolph scott movies  right   br    br   there are definitely worse scott films out there  and this one certainly isn  t unbearable  but it also certainly couldn  t be deemed anything beyond mediocre .  
according to this board  i guess either you love it or hate it . usually how it goes with all movies . there is no need to get testy with others though . all we are doing here is giving opinions . i rented this movie last night and i want to come and throw my opinion in the mix . i was surprised by how many people are thrashing it though . there  s a difference between a movie fan and a horror movie fan . i  m a horror movie fan . most plain ol  movie fans don  t like horror movies . so many low budget cam corder looking movies are coming out these days . it  s hard to keep up . and what makes it tough to stay into these movies is how bad they are . i wanted to come and write a review about  hood of the living dead  because it  s pretty damn good compared to the rest of the junk out there . it  s nothing special but it  s those horror film makers that try to be too serious that end up making a horrible horror film . i really liked this one . you telling me there is no effort in this one  and one more thing  i bet all of you have all of these huge dvd collections that you are so proud of  nothing but major motion pictures right  nothing wrong with that  but you have to know how to appreciate low  budget independent . i knew what i was getting when i watched this movie . i  m not going to be upset because i thought it was going to be some    million dollar movie . some of you might need to stick with watching the matrix over and over again and stop trying to compare everything to the matrix . and if most of you are under    that explains everything . good movie folks  check it out .  
a family traveling for their daughter  s softball league decide to take the  scenic route  and end up in the middle of nowhere . the father is an avid photographer  and when he hears of an old abandoned side show in the town  he decides to take another detour to take some photographs .  br    br   of course  the side show is filled with inbred freaks  who promptly kidnap the women and leave the young son and father to fend for themselves .  br    br   the only cool thing about this film is how the family actually fights back against their inbred captors . other than that  there  s nothing worthwhile about the film .  
hood of the living dead had a lot to live up to even before the opening credits began . first  any play on  . . . of the living dead  invokes his holiness mr . romero and instantly sets up a high standard to which many movies cannot afford to aspire . and second  my movie  watching companion professed doubt that any urban horror film would surpass the seminal leprechaun in the hood . skeptical  we settled in to watch .  br    br   we were rewarded with a surprisingly sincere and good  hearted zombie film . oh  certainly the budget is low  and of course the directors  amateurs friends populate the cast  but hood of the living dead loves zombie cinema . cheap  yeah . but when it  s this cheap  you can clearly see where love holds it together .  br    br   ricky works in a lab during the day and as a surrogate parent to his younger brother at night . he dreams of moving out of oakland . before this planned escape  however  his brother is shot to death in a drive  by . ricky  s keen scientific mind presents an option superior to cpr or     injections of his lab  s experimental regenerative formula . sadly  little bro wakes up in an ambulance as a bloodthirsty oakland zombie  chaos and mayhem  i think it  s more economical to eat your enemies than take vengeance in a drive  by  but then again  i  m a poor judge of the complexities of urban life .  how poor a judge  in response to a gory scene involving four men  i opined  ah  ha  white t  shirts on everyone so the blood shows up . economical  i used the same technique in my own low  budget horror film .  jordan replied   no  that  s gang dress . white t  shirts were banned from new orleans bars for a time as a result .  oh .   br    br   a lot of the movie is set in someone  s living room  so there  s a great deal of hanging out and waiting for the zombies . but the characters are sympathetic and the movie is sincere   it surpasses its budget in spirit .  br    br   zombie explanation when man plays god  zombies arise  or  perhaps follow fda  approved testing rules before human experimentation   br    br   contribution to the zombie canon this is the first zombie movie i  ve seen with a drive  by shooting . as far as the actual zombies go  infection is spread with a bite as usual  but quite unusually head shots don  t work   it  s heart shots that kill . zombies have pulses  the absence of which proves true death . and these zombies make pretty cool jaguar  growl noises .  br    br   gratuitous zombie movie in  joke a mercenary named romero . groan .  br    br   favorite zombie jaguar  noise little brother zombie  of course   
i blind bought this movie and am pretty upset that i paid as much as i did but i would say that it  s at least worth a rent for some cool deaths and laughable acting . it is not a good movie in any way but i must say that i was pretty darn entertained . i guess it could be called so  bad  it  s  good .  br    br   as i said  the acting is awful  i feel like i could have done a better job showing  at least  any emotion . the story is nothing new and has been done better . i guess i just have a soft spot for any carnival  esquire type film . i would say rent this or download it but definitely don  t buy it . it is not worth more than one watch .  
most of the bad reviews on this website blame  hood of the living dead  for one  or more  of the following reasons   it is a low  budget movie with virtually no acting   it was so bad it made me laugh   it is something i could do myself . i won  t even discuss the first point because it is a very subjective matter whether you like low  budget and independent stuff or not . i must say  however  that i still fail to understand people renting such a movie as  hood of the living dead  and then looking surprised when they realize it is not as polished and cute as a romantic comedy with lindsay lohan or matthew mc conaughey . as for the second point  i really don  t see what  s so wrong with laughing . i personally like to laugh  and love movies that make me to  be they comedies or horror flicks . when in  hammerhead  i saw this girl stepping into a puddle and the shark  man came out of it to eat her  i just cracked up . and i was grateful that the director made such a stupid scene and gave me ten seconds of pure fun . honestly  laughing just makes me feel good  while it seems that many people writing reviews see it as a bad bad thing . if you only want to feel sad and scared while watching a movie   hood of the living dead  and low  budget flicks are definitely not for you . but please don  t come and tell us that you find them laughable . we already know it . this is most probably why we decided to watch the movie in first place . however  it is the third point that leaves totally baffled . just several years ago people were lining up out of theaters to see  blair witch project   which is a way more rudimentary  boring  plot  less and bad  acted movie than  hood of the living dead   and takes itself way too seriously too  . moreover  half a million people go on youtube every day to see the short films of  lonelygirl     which is certainly something everyone with a cute girlfriend  a room and a webcam could do  not to talk about all of the even more amateurish videos you can find there . why don  t people blame those clips for bad acting and non  existing plot  i think it is one of the best things of our times that everyone  with affordable technology and a bunch of friends  can make their own movies and share them with people that have similar interests . and i feel a certain admiration for people who spend their weekends with their friends making a honestly bad  yet refreshing  piece of trash like this rather than shopping at the mall or playing video games alone . leave aside your biases and your desire to sound like a smart film critic by attacking b  movies  and you  ll see that  hood of the living dead  can bring you almost as much fun as it did to its makers  if you have a taste for refreshing and enjoyable home  made horror movies  i recommend  zombiez    the ghosts of edendale    the killer eye    monster man    don  t look in the basement    the worst horror movie ever made    redneck zombies    jesus christ vampyre  slayer  and  habit  .  
yet another movie about a group of less  than  intelligent individuals on a road trip who wander off their original travel route for either a short  cut or  in this case  to visit a run  down side show attraction . the results  as expected  are not at all good  as this particular side show is home to a bunch of lunatic  in  bred residents who were escaped prison inmates from years before . the father  who is apparently a professionally photographer  just has to stop and take pictures of the place  only to find that it still inhabited . the various members of the family wander off to view the various attractions  only to be scared away . thinking they made it safely on their way  the van tire explodes  surprise    leaving them to seek refuge and accommodations in the small town  which we find out is inhabited solely by the freaks  surprise   .  br    br   this film plays out as expected  with the family being stalked and killed by the freaks . there is some fighting back on the families part  but these are probably among the worst scenes in the film  as they are badly executed . there is nothing remotely original here  unless you count the totally inappropriate soundtrack that is played during particular scenes that completely ruins the atmosphere and mood of the film . the acting is about as bad as i have seen in quite some time by everyone involved  it is pretty bad when your cast is out  acted by the cast of  camp blood  . the special effects are lousy and the ending made me want to punch my television .  br    br   still  though  despite all the negatives  i somewhat enjoyed this film . it definitely has a  so bad it  s good  vibe to it . i made it through the entire movie and was even pleasantly entertained once i got past the ridiculously clichd plot  terrible acting  and cheesy special effects . though the ending left me feeling cheated and angry  particularly because the film is not that great to begin with and the ending makes the entire film pointless .  br    br   bottom line  i can list countless films that if you have seen them  you have seen this . the difference is most of those film are better . though not a complete waste  this film is pretty bad and not remotely scary .  br    br   my grade d  
i thought the movie  i do they don  t  was fantastic . in the past i  ve watched rob estes on  suddenly susan    melrose place  and also josie bissett on  melrose place  and loved seeing them together again in  i do they don  t  . they have great chemistry together  i guess being married in real life helps that    in the movie they are both widowed with children and careers and they fall in love and try blend their already busy chaotic families together without dropping the ball . of course they stumble  but they keep it together which is what working and raising a family is all about . so many people have been talking about this movie  all good   and the movie left us wanting more . this would make a great series  appealing to many ages   it would be so nice to see a real life  down to earth  family show like this that portrays the reality of so many of our lives today  instead of the so called  reality tv  that all the stations are overwhelming us with these days . someone tell the people at abc family they have the start of a new series here   
after   seconds  you already realize that there was no real budget for this cheap knock  off . the story is taken from great movies like  texas chainsaw massacre  and  hills have eyes  . i like those kind of movies  even if they  re duplicated well  wrong turn  timber falls  carver  .  br    br   but  side sho  is hard to watch the actors are really bad  the dialogue is cheesy and the music is stupid and totally misplaced . you do not care at all what happens to the characters . the so  called bad guys are also not interesting at all and rather stereotypical . so how about the blood and gore  well there is some  although it is rather cheap and the action is executed very poorly .  points  just for the gore and blood but do understand that this is hardly worth a look  even for the gore  hounds . .  
rob estes  josie bisset and a crap load of kids that look nothing like either of them .  br    br   basically  rob and josie have a shotgun wedding on a drunken night during a vegas vacation . they each come home to find that their respective children already know of the nuptials due to tabloid  like not  so  fodder . they  rob and josie  move both of them and their eight kids into one or the other  s house .  br    br   rob builds furniture  i think  which is close enough to frank lambert  s  patrick duffy  construction job on the much similar step by step to warrant eternal mockage .  br    br   josie is some sort of cookie  making queen  though it doesn  t look like she makes any of the cookies . not close enough to carol foster  s  suzanne somers  hairdressing job to warrant likeness mockage  but hilariously preposterous enough to warrant atrocity mockage .  br    br   unlike step by step  they were a couple before the vacation and actually knew one another  s last names  or so one assumes if their serious enough about a relationship to take a trip together .  br    br   anyhow  there are eight kids moira  sandy  jeff  lily  daisy  nathan  andrew l . and andrew b . i  personally  think they should  ve just called the younger andrew  andy  .  br    br   there  s a lot of product placement  particularly for soup at hand  which is disgusting  and listerine pocket packs . there are also some stupid  senseless moments . it  s also not a great film to promote happy families .  br    br   but  hey  rob estes  this concludes my review of  step by step . . . on some really bad drugs .  watch it for rob estes and his pretty  eyes . there are some great pretty  eyes shots .  
a family looking for some old roadside attractions to include in the father  s coffee  table book come across an ancient  decrepit old freak show run by an eccentric one  eyed man . when their family van breaks down upon leaving the sideshow  they  re forced to stay at a nearly abandoned fishing camp that was the site of a prison break decades prior .  br    br   there have been many films in the  freak  subgenre of horror  ranging from tod browning  s beloved  freaks        to alex winter  s hilarious  freaked        . those are both classics  or soon  to  be with  freaked   .  side sho   however  never will be . and if it ever does reach classic status . . . well  it will be an obvious clue to the sad state of our genre . from the ridiculously bad opening song to the    year  old daughter that  s obviously older than her natural mother  this film did not have much going for it . the writing was subpar  but not completely awful . . . just boring . the direction was poor  and the rare freak effects were pretty horrendous and unbelievable . the acting was abysmal and the casting was even worse . anyone who would believe the ages of these two camp  age teenagers must not have met a teenager in a long  long time . there was far from enough gore  violence to make up for the lack of any other quality . . . and when there was a bit of violence  it was not well done at all . and  i can  t forget to mention the ending fight scenes which were  with all honesty  some of the worst i  ve ever  ever seen in a film . overall  this is an easily forgettable and poorly made horror film that deserves to be left alone at the bottom of the dollar bin .  br    br   final verdict  .     .  
how nice to have a movie the entire family can watch together . josie bissett and rob estes  who are married in real life  play a couple who marry in las vegas on a whim and then not only have to break the news to their kids but then have to try to meld their respective households  each has two boys and two girls  into a cohesive family unit . what transpires when the group  which includes four teenagers  two preteens and two younger children  makes one wonder at first if there can ever be true happiness for carrie and jim . the fights between the kids  and one little love affair between two of them  make one wonder if everyone will ever be able to get along . more interesting than the brady bunch  what this is a totally enjoyable way to spend a couple hours . recommended as a feel good movie for all ages .  
from the decrepit ranks of the already over  saturated  hillybilly horror  sub  genre comes this woeful tale of a vacationing family terrorized by inbred rednecks . sound familiar  well it most definitely should to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the horror genre . there is absolutely new here . the film seems content to recycle all thee old worn out clichs  deformed hicks  a peaceful family turned gun  toting killers when push comes to show  the rebellious daughter  the one  freak  who  s good at heart  etcetera . . .   but does even that half  heartedly enough to make this an utter waste of time . this is forgettable dreck  but humorously enough lead j . d . hart once starred in a movie called  films that suck  earlier in his career  quite an ironic omen indeed .  br    br   my grade d   
i really truly enjoyed this movie .  which is why it surprised me that it got such a low rating from so many users at this site   i am not saying that it is a cinematic masterpiece but it was a great way to spend a cold  snowy saturday night . it is funny  poignant  and a great tales of the ups and downs of female friendships lasting through difficult times and the bad things that female friends tend to do to each others   fess up ladies  we have all been there   bill paterson shines as the reverand gerald marsden and andie mcdowell proves that she can be a fine actress when the role is right and she puts her mind to it .  and truly  there is the best  wedding escape  that i have ever seen or dreamed up in this film . . . more guts than anyone i have ever known   you will laugh and you will cry    ignore any marketing campaigns and how this film is being marketing . . . . it is a hidden gem that should have done tonnes of box office .  now i have to look around to purchase a copy    
i wasn  t sure how to rate this movie  since it was so bad it was actually very funny . i  m not a gackt fan by any means  though he is talented  despite the weird pseudonym that sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball . i always thought hyde was talented though  faith is an interesting album .  br    br   but on topic here folks . this movie is ridiculous . it  s so over the top and nonsensical it  s almost like a parody of supernatural action films .  br    br   the movie has almost no plot here  except it  s just about vampires with gangster friends . in a way  this film almost reminded me of spider  man   with how there were too many ideas  which resulted in not enough time to pay attention on one of them .  br    br   the action scenes were laughable . quickly edited  almost hard to understand  with choreography that  s so laughably bad . though hyde looked very stylish during the action scenes  but that  s this film  s only such redemption . i  m a sucker for good action movies  but the action was horribly done . though the final shootout was ok and the highlight of this otherwise depressing movie .  br    br   it keeps jumping between genres  not a good thing . it wants to be a drama  or an action flick  or a horror  or a romance . . . what the hell .  br    br   if this review is making you mad  why  is it because gackt and hyde are your love  don  t fool yourself  this movie is bad .  
eye in the labyrinth is not your average giallo . . . and to be honest  i  m not really sure that it really is a giallo but giallo or not  despite some problems  this is certainly a very interesting little film . i  m hesitant to call it a giallo because the film doesn  t feature most of the things that make these films what they are but many genre entries break the mould  and this would seem to be one of them . the film doesn  t feature any brutal murders as many giallo  s do  but this is made up for with a surreal atmosphere and a plot just about confusing enough to remain interesting for the duration . the plot seems simple enough in that it focuses on a doctor who is murdered by julie  his patient who  for some reason  she sees him as her lover and father and is offended when he walks out on her . we then relocate to a big house lived in by a number of people  but nothing is really what it seems as there are a number of secrets surrounding various events that happened before julie  s arrival . . .  br    br   the film seems to be professing something about how the mind is like a labyrinth . this never really comes off  and i preferred to just sit back and enjoy what was going on rather than worrying about what point  if any  the film is trying to make . eye in the labyrinth is directed by mario caiano  the director behind the excellent night of the doomed some years earlier . he doesn  t create the atmosphere as well in this film as he did in the earlier one but the surreal aspects of the story come off well  and the mystery is always kept up which stops the film from becoming boring . the film stars rosemary dexter  who provides eye candy throughout and also delivers a good performance . most of the rest of the cast aren  t really worth mentioning  with the exceptions of adolfo celi  who is good as the villain of the piece and alida valli  whom cult fans will remember from a whole host of excellent cult flicks . the film does explain itself at the end which is lucky as i  m sure i  m not the only viewer who was more than a little confused by then  overall  this may not be classic stuff but its good enough and worth seeing .  
guy de maupassant was a novelist who wrote a novel about a man  a poor man  without any moral qualities . he only wanted to success in a society where all the people  the politic men  the businessmen  the journalists  the women are corrupt . the only king is money . the maupassant hero  charles forestier is going higher and higher in the society scale thanks to his seduction poser . he is in love with all the women who could help him in his action to climb the society stapes . at the end of the novel  he married himself with the biggest daily paper owner  s daughter  in the greatest church of paris   la madeleine  .  le tout paris  is there . he has a fortune and more  he will become a member of parliament and later a minister . the  useless  women are out of his view  but he is always keeping in touch with the pretty and the usefull women . the picture  the private affairs of bel ami  is a story of morality . it is everything  but not a story in the maupassant idea . why had they put  bel ami  in its title   
this little seen movie is a languid and laid  back giallo . it veers away from some of the clich  s of the genre and adopts a looser approach . it  s about a woman searching for her missing lover a psychiatrist who has suddenly vanished for no apparent reason . her search leads her to a villa populated by a group of eccentric individuals . in true giallo style  murder is never far away .  br    br   the cast is really rather good . we have aldofo celi  thunderball   alida valli  suspiria   horst frank  cat o  nine tails  and a very young sybil danning     s scream queen  . the lead actress is rosemary dexter  and while i am not familiar with her  she does a good job in leading the picture .  br    br   one of the defining features of eye in the labyrinth is its music . atypically for a giallo it features a jazz  rock fusion soundtrack . this score  composed by roberto nicolosi  is reminiscent of miles davis  especially his work on in a silent way . it  s an excellent soundtrack and really gives this movie a different feel than most gialli . the fusion groove accentuates the languid atmosphere and compliments the sunny  sea  front scenery that the film is mostly made up of .  br    br   this is a giallo so we really need to talk about the murder set  pieces . well  this film falls a little short in this regard . it  s certainly not devoid of them but they are few and far between . the opening dream  murder being probably the best on offer as well as a memorable burning car sequence . but this really isn  t a particularly violent film . still  i don  t think it should disappoint too many seasoned fans of the genre . the mystery is fairly compelling and it has enough eccentric characters  the idiot boy saro and that unsettlingly inappropriate dubbed accent   and moments of the bizarre to satisfy while the sleaze  factor is upheld with a smattering of nudity throughout .  br    br   eye in the labyrinth plays like a giallo version of an agatha christie mystery  as it features a group of unsympathetic characters in a villa  all under suspicion of murder we have the obligatory flashbacks detailing their connections with the final hours of the  highly unsympathetic  murder victim . while this isn  t a grade  a example of the genre  it  s certainly an appealingly different one  as it doesn  t borrow too heavily from other films of the sub  genre . for giallo enthusiasts i give this a thumbs up and hope one day it  s given a nice dvd transfer . it certainly deserves the treatment .  
as the      s came to a close  king kong  s adopted daughter went ahead and made a tearful announcement her show as coming to an end .  br    br   while miss winfrey was tearing up  i was laughing and screaming like a wild indian from the old west .  br    br   so what does oprah do  she takes famous people  and puts them on her show . what kind of famous people  people who  ve suffered  just like her  except these people have lost more than their virginity  they  ve suffered melted faces  true story   missing limbs  true story  see end of paragraph   and spousal abuse  too many to count  . and somehow they come on the show and tell their story  as if we haven  t heard it before tons and tons of times  bethany hamilton  i  ve heard your tale about losing an arm to a shark since day one  which was october   st      . don  t tell me you have no hard feelings .  but the biggest thing probably on oprah was michael jackson  s interview in      after being accused of being a child molester . sadly  mr . jackson has since passed away . but that one particular show told about michael  s personal life  something not many people knew about at the time .  br    br   oprah  s real influence comes from middle aged women and soccer moms . they seem to think she  s like a personal jesus sometimes . but all i see in oprah is some big ghetto lady who made it big  and she  s just showing off how rich she is .  br    br   i  m glad her shows going to end soon . we need better television programs .  
giallo fans  seek out this rare film . it is well written  and full of all sorts of the usual low lifes that populate these films . i don  t want to give anything away  so i wont even say anything about the plot . the whole movie creates a very bizarre atmosphere  and you don  t know what to expect or who to suspect . recommended  the only place i  ve seen to get this film in english is from european trash cinema  for    .  
really . does any week go by that oprah doesn  t remind us that she was abused as child   br    br   she makes herself the focus of every interview .  br    br   oprah cannot resist commenting on the answer to every question she asks . she often interrupts guests before an answer is finished to interject her own aside or anecdote . directors are obviously instructed to focus on her closeup reaction rather than guest  s faces because that  s what counts  what oprah feels  what oprah says .  br    br   oprah  oprah  oprah . it  s always all about oprah .  br    br   oprah says  feel sorry for me  i was so poor . feel the pain of my battle with my weight . feel my hurt when i  m turned away from a fancy store after they  ve already closed . feel good for buying my magazines and books . feel good for my success . feel good when you give to my charity to make me look good . feel good for making me rich beyond belief .  br    br   my interpretation of her point of view you viewers are all deeply flawed and you need my daily advice . i have all the answers for your life though i have nothing in common with you plebes . i have never been married nor do i want to be . i have never had to raise a family  but i know all about it . i have little respect for men or marriage . i clearly prefer people like me over others  witness  legends ball      . gayle is my best friend but we are not gay .  br    br   as of           the heading on her website actually reads   oprah . com is your leading source for information about love  life  self  relationships  food  home  spirit and health .  how presumptive and obnoxious is that   br    br   in june      she crashed two private wedding receptions in oklahoma to gather footage for her september     shows . she keeps promising to quit tv but her yapfest drags on with no end in sight .  br    br   contrary to what she thinks  oprah is neither a queen nor a goddess nor on a personal mission from god . she  s just one very lucky  overweight  black woman who copied phil donahue  s style and called it her own . she happened to be in the right place at the right time and knew exactly how to suck up to the right demographic .  br    br   oprah is the p . t . barnum of this age and it amazes me that people cannot see through her facade .  br    br   so ladies and gentlemen  boys and girls and you too oprah if you can fit that inflated ego through the door  this way now to the great egress . . .  
i love this tv series so much . it contains animation that is interesting and beautiful . i cant believe that they cut it off tv  and also that i never found out whether cybersix and data  die or not  apparently they survive  but i  m not sure . cybersix was by far the best tv show ever . i know its to late to hope they will start the series over again so i  m really glad i got to watch it . i luved it so much    br    br   its about a women by the name of cybersix  she is not human . she goes by adrian sieldman  a man teacher at a highschool . now cybersix is actually a women  she is just disguised as a man in the day . by night cybersix patrols the city .  br    br   a guy by the name of von reichter is the one who created cybersix  and once he finds put she is alive he uses everything he can to capture her .  br    br   if u have never watched it before u should totally download it . it was the best tv show in the world . why did they cut it off     some people have issues . but i  m glad i got to watch the   episodes .  
the seventh sign has a great opening hook as the israeli defence force come across a terrorist base . this is the type of hook that is a must when writing a script  it grabs the reader  audience and the introduction of david bannon as he rents a room from abby and russell quinnn telegraphs the point that this is a man whos not who he says he is . however after the great opening third i found the rest of the movie confusing and uninvolving with a large number of plotholes and isnt all that different from umpteen other supernatural thrillers that ive seen  
have you ever  or do you have  a pet who  s been with you through thick and thin  who you  d be lost without  and who you love no matter what  betcha never thought they feel the same way about you   br    br   wonderful  wonderful family film . if you have a soft spot for animals  this is guaranteed to make you cry no matter your age . i used to watch this movie all the time when i was a little kid  and i find that now  at age sixteen  i love it as much as i did then . i could never decide on a favorite character then  and i still don  t think i can  i love all three of the animals . the dialogue seems very real and comfortable  like a loving  but feuding family . i do love chance  and how at the end he says that he has a family at last . cheesy  yes  but one must remember that this is meant to be a family film  and it fulfills that role perfectly . sassy has just the perfect dose of  sassiness  and shadow is the perfect leader  role model to the young  adventurous chance .  br    br   the animals way outshine the humans  but of course most of the teary moments are to be had during an interaction with them  ie . rescuing molly  and the end  . not to mention the incredible soundtrack that gives each moment even more emotion  and an accompanying heart  swelling feeling . i give this     . to be compared to  and even rated better than  cats and dogs and babe .  
  br    br   dull demi  going thru the motions . ditto prochnow . ominous portents that elicit yawns . michael biehn trying to be dynamic  which ain  t his shtick .  br    br   to quote buffy summers   if the apocalypse comes . . . beep me .   br    br   going back to sleep now .  
i am a fan of animal movies . if you can take a plot and put animals as the main actors you will usually win me over . homeward bound did just this . they took a plot that has been as old as time and put a new spin to it . it was a complete success . it is very much an archetypal movie . you have the obi  wan of the group  shadow  who is wise and logical  you have the lovable but impetuous and untrusting chance  and the prissy princess who thinks that she should be pampered and praised . these three personalities bounce off of each other very well . i also like how they made chance and sassy such dynamic characters  and they did not overdue it . most people say that it cannot be good because it is too much of a kids film . what they are forgetting  however  is that it is supposed to be a kids film  and this still does not take away from the acual movie . this is a good movie to watch when you are bored and you just want to watch a movie . it is a disney movie without the cartoons  an air bud movie with a better plot . i would  without a doubt  advise you to watch it .  
the movie confuses religious ethics and ideals so much that it fails to create coherent argument against the death penalty on any level . by presenting the lawful execution of a convicted murder as the catalyst for the apocalyptic end of mankind the movie elevates a parent killer to the status of martyr for christ . somehow  according to the plot  god is outraged that society has chosen to rid it  s self of a fanatic who killed his own parents by starting them on fire while they slept defenselessly in their beds . yet this same god has no indignation for the acts of the killer . the lead character  an nonreligious pregnant suicidal woman  ultimately gives her own life in a defiant but implausible attempt to unsuccessfully save this convicted killer . in other threads of the underdeveloped plot jesus comes back as a powerless and frustrated vagabond to symbolically unleash the wrath of god . the modern lackluster incarnation of christ not just dehumanizes him but mocks the messianic ideal of all religions as well . he is unable to affect humanity for good and unemotionally skates the edges of life waiting for mankind to destroy it  s self . meanwhile  with little help from jesus the mentally unstable pregnant woman finds herself with the ability to reincarnate herself into her newly born soulless child which somehow saves all of mankind from the wrath of the almighty . i also interpreted that as a statement in support of abortion on some levels . this movie which attempts to weave many religious themes into a thriller fails to make any religious point that i could clearly interpret except to mock people  s beliefs . it raises many questions that it never even attempts to answer . it disregards the religious values of its audience while attempting to portray an asinine version of their fulfillment . silly  
this movie is a true masterpiece  it really is . it  s rare you come across such a heartwarming flick  full of fun  laughter  heartbreak  and with a little drama to keep you on your toes .  br    br   a true family film  homeward bound tells the story of three brave pets  who set out to cross the rocky mountains in an attempt to find their owners  following the changes they go through and the obstacles they encounter along the way . one of the truly stunning things about this movie is its ability to give animals human personalities  the voice acting is that good . shadow is a wonderful character  old  wise and brave  and watching him trying to save sassy in the river was a very powerfully moving moment . chance  who wouldn  t love a dog like chance  he  s got to be the most mischievous and lovable pup ever shown on the big screen . and sassy is very witty for a cat  she had me in stitches when she was mocking the keeper  here kitty kitty kitty . . . not on your life  chubby .   br    br   there were also lots of well made emotional scenes  such as sassy going over the waterfall  i was truly scared for her   shadow falling in the ditch  almost in tears  and then the fantastic ending  when all three pets return home . . . including good old shadow   br    br   a favourite for all time  anyone who doesn  t like this film must just not like animals . rent it or buy it now  and it  ll leave you with happy memories that  ll last a lifetime .  
one word boring .  br    br   the young demi looks good  but she  s pregnant   point for that d  the movie is not scary at all . . .  br    br   the first scenes looked little crappy  i could render better clouds with my laptop  and after effects . but that was then . . . and now is now . some movies do not get old well . . . this is one of them .  br    br   not worth renting or buying . . . get something better instead like the exorcist  . . .  br    br   next d  br    br   oh the drama part in the beginning just and simply suxor d  
i watched this film so many times through my child hood that even to this day i can pretty much re  sight all of the dialogue . and when i watch it now it just makes me happy and surprisingly still laugh . i think it  s amazing how they managed to train animals especially the cat to the extent that they are able to play the main role of a feature film . however watching it now i can also unfortunately notice that it isn  t the masterpiece i once thought it was . but i prefer to remember how i felt about it when i was younger watching it on vhs on my fist tv that would cloud the image in yellow . and and bearing in mind it is a children  s film  that is why i would still definitely give it      .  
when i saw this film on fearnet  i thought it would be a scary movie . apparently  it wasn  t . i have no clue how this movie was allowed to be featured on that site . fearnet is a site that shows scary horror movies .  br    br   the acting is wonderful from all the actors . i hated the story . the story was stupid . the movie starts out with a man with a scroll with a signia stamped onto it . he breaks the seal and certain disasters happen . the water turns to blood  the oceans die out  the moon turns red  etc .  br    br   the female character was annoying as well . a lot of the stuff she did didn  t make sense . like when she sees a piece of paper with a date on it . coincidentally  it  s the date she  s expected to give birth to her baby and she starts freaking out about it and starts researching it and asking religious people what it all means .  br    br   spoiler alert  br    br   the two worst things happened in this movie are the execution of a mentally retarded man who claimed that god told him to murder his parents and the end where demi moore dies after giving birth to her baby and transferring her soul into it .  br    br   here  s what happens . the mentally retarded person gets shot and killed and the apocalypse begins . demi moore gets into a hospital in the middle of a massive earthquake and gives birth to her child . she touches her child  s head  transferring her soul into the child and then dies . then  the apocalypse stops .  br    br   why does god all of a sudden have a change of heart  he gets furious when the governor allows the execution of a mentally retarded man then he  s all about forgiveness once a lone woman transfers her soul into her baby   br    br   end spoiler  br    br   the movie is pretty stupid . it  s another religious end of the world propaganda piece . the acting from demi moore and michael biehn and everybody else is excellent . that  s about all there is .  br    br   i give this movie  stars out of   . good acting with a lot of nonsense   
i haven  t seen the original  incredible journey  since i was a child  so i can  t really compare the two versions . this version tells the story of three animals  two dogs and a cat  whose owners leave them with friends in the countryside when the father of the family has to take a new job in san francisco . the pets  believing that they have been abandoned  escape and set out on a long homeward journey through wilderness .  br    br   this story might have been most easily filmed as a cartoon  but both versions are in fact live  action films made using real animals . one major difference is that in the later version the animals speak in human voices  giving each its own distinct personality  something that was not done in the original film .  a similar device of talking animals has been used in other recent children  s films such as  racing stripes   . some critics have been rather sniffy about the use of this device  but my own view is that giving the animals distinctive personalities of their own helps to strengthen the film rather than weaken it . the animals were voiced by big  name stars  don ameche  michael j . fox and sally fields .  br    br   both dogs are male  and their relationship parallels that between many humans in  buddy  buddy  movies . shadow  a golden retriever  is the wise  experienced older dog chance the younger one is brash  cocky and impulsive . to british eyes chance looks like a boxer  but is actually an american bulldog  which is apparently a different breed to its british cousin . sassy the cat is female with a rather prim and proper personality . she is very proud of her status as a cat  which in her eyes makes her vastly superior to any mere dog .   cats rule  dogs drool    .  br    br   from an adult viewpoint the film has a number of faults it can be sentimental  some of the incidents  such as the one in which the animals manage to catapult a mountain lion into the river  are quite incredible  and the human characters are all completely forgettable . this  however  is a film which is mainly aimed at children  and i suspect they will enjoy it immensely . certainly  any animal  loving child will do so .  comments by some professional critics such as james berardinelli  who complained that the animals  voices lessened the film  s  grandeur   only serve to strengthen my view that professional critics are not always the best guides to children  s movies . i doubt if many playground conversations about  homeward bound  concentrated on its supposed grandeur  .  br    br   one thing adults will appreciate is the photography of california  s sierra nevada mountains . they may also appreciate the film  s blend of humour and excitement as the runaway pets encounter perils such as bears  mountain lions and porcupines in the wilderness . this is a very enjoyable family film .      
  the seventh sign  borrows a lot from  rosemary  s baby  and  the omen   it actually blends the two stories  . even its title recalls bergman  s  the seventh seal  .  br    br   nevertheless  it begins well enough  with all the omens scattered on the whole earth  and in parallel  a  seemingly  distinct plot with moore  s husband trying to save a poor boy  who killed his parents who were brother and sister  from death penalty . this time  both christian and jewish religions are called to the rescue  even the wandering jew is involved   which makes the lines sometimes unintentionally funny  have you ever been to sunday school  but they taught me that god was love   . the best scene imho  is the short dialog between priest john heard  who does not seem to take things seriously  too bad he was not given a more important part because his laid  back acting is priceless  and the young jew .  br    br   demi moore probably registered the same desire as ex  husband bruce willis saving the world . she does not save the movie for all that .  
spoilers alert  br    br   homeward bound the incredible journey is an important film from my life because it  s the first film i remember seeing in the cinema of my home town as a   year old scamp . the story is based on the sheila burnford novel  and is a reason why it  s not possible to write this one off as a brainless lassie clone .  br    br   the basic story two dogs and a cat happily live in the seaver family when the new husband to the mother of the three children  gets a job in the city and they have to temporarily move into inner san francisco while the animals are sent to a ranch to live for a couple of months . the bonds between the animals and the children they watch out for are especially strong  and shadow the golden retriever and sassy the himalayan cat are heartbroken as the children are  though the young and happy  go  lucky american bulldog known as chance is a little less concerned and somewhat cynical  due in part to his voice  over explaining his being abandoned as a pup  picked up to an animal shelter  and being bought by the family   though his growth as a character during the story provides much of the important storytelling .  br    br   the three pets escape the ranch and head off into the wide and dangerous wilderness  fantastic wilderness settings by the way   driven on by shadow  s instincts of direction . they meet several perils along the way  hoping to make it home  while the family and the ranch hosts are suddenly concerned about the animal disappearance . there are funny moments all the way through  great dialogue between the three animals and hilarious lines  see  memorable quotes   and a touching comradeship that grows between the main characters during the course of the storytelling  punctuated by moments of sadness  such as when sassy  s arrogance of trying to cross a river without getting wet causes her to fall in the river and get washed down a waterfall  leaves a moment of loss that is felt deeply by the viewers  .  br    br   somehow though  i fail to see what the inclusion of saving the girl lost in the wilderness adds to the story and the journey they take . somehow  it seems a little unnecessary as part of the story .  br    br   the ending cranks the stakes higher when shadow falls into a pit in a trainyard and having hurt his leg  finds it hard to get out and gives up  exhausted  followed by chance climbing in with him to persuade him to climb out  telling him how important he is to him and how he  s pushed them this far so he shouldn  t throw it all away so easily .  br    br   the way that this scene  brilliantly done  isn  t concluded leaves an ambiguity that carries on into the final scene when chance and sassy return home  but shadow is nowhere to be seen . then just as all seems lost  he slowly appears  and is reunited with the family . chance  s conclusion at the end speaks of the comradeship that has developed between he and his fellows on the journey  and the realisation to what home really is from his long journey to get there  leaves a fine epilogue to demonstrate how much his character has grown  but also how the other two have as well . hang on a second  i think i  m going to cry . . .  br    br   anyway  i haven  t read sheila burnford  s book  so i don  t pretend to know where the differences between book and film lie . but this is a film that all the family can watch  and while the tots will love the talking animals  older viewers will understand the plot line better  as i found when i watched the film again after several years without seeing it  . this film is a masterpiece in cinema  and i suggest that if you haven  t seen it you go out and get it   br    br   and please avoid the sequel  see my review for homeward bound ii    
it  s official  folks   hou hsiao  hsien doesn  t have a thought in his pretty little head . are you wondering why he chose shu qi as his muse   br    br   shu  or is that qi   doesn  t appear in this one . instead we get a snaggletoothed yo hitoto  apparently a pop star in japan   judging by her song at the end  she  s a pop star just like the girl who serves you at rockin  curry is  a actriss    and a wasted tadanobu asano  typically an indicator of quality  who is required to do nothing here but stand around and look like a mumbling asian hipster and is too old to manage even that .  br    br   hou  s philosophy  life is limbo  a big nothing  feel it and move on . i  d like to do that but hou gives us nothing to feel in cafe lumiere beyond a bland photo essay of life in tokyo circa     and the flabbergasting observation that people are ships that pass in the night  no  make that trains that pass in the day  never connecting  each hurtling to its own destination  usually some variant of a dark tunnel or maybe a bridge if they  re lucky . yikes . flowers of shanghai is one of the most rarefied  technically accomplished and mesmerizing films of all time . how could the same director who created the opening shot of that film  which features about twelve actors conversing at machine  gun speed for about ten straight minutes   an impossible directorial feat   get trapped making this laconic sub  jarmusch reality porn for two films in a row now  millennium mambo may be dead weight  but at least it has two great shots  shots that hint at hou  s true calling as the film equivalent of odilon redon those shots are the sex scene with the arrhythmically blinking lights and the opening shot of shu qi floating down a blue corridor . his m . o . while making cafe lumiere seems to have been to remove the two great shots from millennium mambo to make it more consistent . you be the judge if that sounds appealing .  br    br   hou does not need to refine   you cannot refine the limbo idea further than flowers of shanghai . he needs to expand  to bloat outwards  to release the inner expressionist and genre  revitalizer that is being squandered so senselessly on clichd minimalism . it  s time for him to do a live  action remake of akira or something . this kind of art film where the actors are supposed to be authentic because they are held facelessly in long  shot and speak in monosyllables is now every last bit as safe  ghettoized and stagnant as the hollywood action blockbuster .  what is the connection between  reality  and people who can  t talk  it seems to me that people  in real life  never stop jabbering .  then again  considering that     alone brought big  budget movies as diverse and rich in ideas as aeon flux  the island  and king kong  it  s now safe to say that even michael bay has surpassed hou  and that  s really sad .  br    br   the good news is that  though hou is in his   s  it frankly feels to me as if he hasn  t even begun . there are a couple moments in this film that show the promise is still there  such as a moody bit early on in the bookstore when the room dims to a bloody sunset  red while hitoto talks about babies with the faces of goblins . but whatever fear is holding him back  however comfortable it is to make the same film over and over and be hailed by the gullible and pretentious as the savior of cinema  hou  your time as the darling of the rotterdam  venice  toronto  berlin and whatever else film festivals is almost up and people are catching onto your ruse double  quick . two words for you atom egoyan . two more words  or maybe three tsai ming  liang . you are now cribbing from both of these tedious frauds who are about to go up their own dark tunnels forever . risk your shirt on a sci  fi epic  sell out  be reviled   but leave the social critiques to people that have no eye and no heart . let your painterly talent express itself to the full . you  re not going to ever get out of limbo otherwise .  
i was very surprised how much i enjoyed this film . i thought it was funny  sexy  painful  and warm . andie macdowell  s performance was nuanced and vulnerable . for once  the director of a macdowell film did not make her beauty another character in the film . the romance between kate and her young man is lovely to watch and it plays out very well . her relationship with her friends is both a thorn and a balm in her life . imelda stalinson  who has been a mvp in so many british films  does a great job in this . there is some tragedy in this but i think the film is saved in the end by the brilliant acting  clean direction  and witty writing . the film quality is excellent and the music is good  too  though unavailable on sound track .  
unless you are already familiar with the pop stars who star in this film  save yourself the time and stop reading this review after you  ve reached the end of the next sentence .  br    br   forget you ever stumbled upon this film and go watch something else .  br    br   but if you insist on reading  consider  br    br   lame vehicle for japanese teen idol pretty  boys featuring nonsensical  convoluted  plot  that drags out for an insufferable amount of time until you  re ready to scream .  br    br   nothing in this film makes sense . it  s an endless series of people expressing various emotions  from joy to anger  from happiness to tragedy  for no good reason . we can obviously see something incredibly  dramatic  is happening  but we just don  t give a crap why  cause there  s no backstory .  br    br   by the time this film is over  you will be sick and tired of these stupid  lanky  girly stars  faces . you  ll be revolted at having spent all this time watching them smile  sneer  cry  look mysterious  be  serious   and any other pointless expression they slap on their faces .  br    br   that some moron would ever go so far as to refer to this piece of insipid trash as being the  soul  of any of its  actors  should prove to you beyond the shadow of a doubt what the trailer and countless adoring comments on this site will not tell you  br    br   only the  converted   mindless minions will like this film  the majority of them teenage girls with a pathological adoration for anything androgynous . freud would have a field day .  br    br   unless you  re one of these mindless  fans   stay the hell away from this abomination .  
first of all  i loved bruce broughton  s music score  very lyrical  and this alone added to the film  s charm . the best aspect of the movie were the three animals  superlatively voiced by michael j . fox  sally field and the late don ameche . whereas fox has the funniest lines  ameche plays a rather brooding otherwise engaging character  the voice of reason   and field adds wit into a character that is always seen telling chance off . the humans weren  t as engaging  and sometimes the film dragged  but that is my only complaint . this is one beautiful  looking film  with beautiful close up shots of canada  i believe . although the film itself is quite long  there is never a seriously dull moment  and this is advantaged by the voice work and a well  written script . all in all  a charming and perhaps underrated film  with a     from me . bethany cox .  
cafe lumiere is a beautifully photographed nullity . unacquainted with the work of the director  i am well  acquainted with the filmmaker he is supposedly paying tribute to  ozu yasujiro . while not even approaching ozu in greatness  hou has communicated nothing of ozu  s depth of emotion and concentration on meaning within a closed space . one of the things he misses entirely is ozu  s attention to character  we are not even  introduced  by hou to his lead character  a perfect blank page  . there are no medium or close shots of his people . one of the dvd extras offers interviews with the actors and gives us precisely what hou doesn  t  a good look at their faces .  br    br   there was a great spanish film by bardem called nunca pasa nada  which translates to something like  nothing ever happens  . that would be a far better title to this pointless exercise . all through the film we are given clues about an obscure taiwanese composer some of whose work we hear on the soundtrack . but the clues  like everything else  add up to nothing . unless you  re a trainspotter  this film has nothing to recommend it .  
this is a really nice and sweet movie that the entire family can enjoy . it  s about two dogs and a cat who are taken away to live with someone else for a little while but the animals don  t understand and they escape and go to find the family on their own . the cat is named sassy and she lives up to her name . chance is the younger dog who knows a lot about life on the inside of the pound . shadow is the older and wiser dog who senses things . put those three together on an adventure and it makes for a happy and fun filled time . there are no special effects of the mouths moving so it isn  t cheesy at all . it  s the best talking animal movie that i  ve seen so far . it  s a really good movie for families .  
i  ve given  kh jik  a low score not because it was a bad movie  but because it doesn  t do anything worth praising .  br    br   i  ve not seen any of hsiao  hsien hou  s work before  but for the uninitiated  me included   kh jik  is advertised as a homage to yasujiro ozu .  a japanese director whose last film was way  way in      the film is an extremely sparse work . . . containing very little dialogue  story  music or emotion .  br    br   yo hitoto plays  yoko  a jobless  wandering character who spends her time in her local coffee shop or loosely investigating a taiwanese composer she likes . tadanobu asano plays her friend  who works in a cd shop and occasionally indulges his otaku interest in trains . and that  s about all it .  br    br   we watch as yoko drinks coffee alone . . . walks around . . . waits for a train . . . catches a train . . . falls asleep on the train . the kind of mundane reality anybody in japan can see on a daily basis . hou captures these ordinary moments of these characters life  but without any meaning to these vignettes it  s an entirely pointless film to make or watch .  
this is one of my favorite family movies . loved it when i was little and it still holds up with me now that i  m older . i still laugh at all the same old jokes and might even shed a tear a times . i never have much cared for animals talking  or at least un  animated ones but this one i  ll stand up for . it  s a pretty old movie but it will always hold a place in my heart .  br    br   there aren  t any other live animal movies that i can think of at the moment that i even could compare with  let alone like as much as this one . i might be giving too much praise to this movie but i don  t think show . i really holds that great message that  home is where the heart is .  or at least that  s the message i gained from it . definitely recommended for a good old family movie night .  
i am a relative latecomer to the transcendent work of film auteur yasujiro ozu  whose masterfully understated views of japanese life  especially in the post  wwii era  illuminate universal truths . having now seen several of his landmark films such as      s  late spring  and      s  tokyo story   i am convinced that ozu had a particularly idiosyncratic gift of conveying the range of feelings arising from intergenerational conflict through elliptical narratives and subtle imagery . it is taiwanese director hou hsiao  hsien  s keen aspiration to pay homage to ozu on his centenary with this generally enervating     film . among with co  screenwriter t  ien  wen chu  hsiao  hsien appears to get the visuals right but does not capture the requisite emotional weight that would have made the glacial pacing tolerable .  br    br   the story concerns yko  a young japanese writer researching the life of mid    th century taiwanese composer jiang wen  ye in tokyo after coming back from taiwan where she taught japanese . after   drawn  out minutes of character set  up  she reveals to her father and stepmother that she is pregnant by one of her students in taiwan . at the same time  yko  s coffeehouse friend hajime  who runs a used bookstore  has an obsession for trains and seems likely to be in love with her . hsiao  hsien connects this slim plot line with a series of shots held for inordinately lengthy takes as the frame composition changes . there are also long stretches of silence as well as an abundance of scenes featuring trains . while these techniques are consistent with ozu  s style  hsiao  hsien cannot seem to dive into the characters  psyches the way ozu did with maximal fluidity and minimal theatrics  in particular  yko  s plight seems rather non  committal in the scheme of the drama presented and her parents  reaction overly passive to hold much interest . in fact  the whole film has an atmosphere of exhaustion about it  which makes the film feel interminable .  br    br   the performances are unobtrusive though hardly memorable . j  pop music star yo hitoto brings a natural ease to yko  while tadanobu asano is something of a cipher as hajime . the rest of the characters barely register  even nenji kobayashi and kimiko yo as yko  s parents . cinematographer lee ping  bing provides expert work though he violates a cardinal rule of ozu films by not keeping the camera stable during shots . hitoto speak  sings the fetching pop song used over he ending credits   hito  shian  . the dvd includes an hour long  french  made documentary   mtro lumire   which actually does help provide some of the context for hsiao  hsien  s approach to the film . it includes excerpts from ozu  s films  in particular   equinox flower   to show the parallels with this film though surprisingly no mention of either  tokyo story  or  early summer   the obvious basis for some of the scenes and situation set  ups . there are also edited interview clips of hitoto  asano and hsiao  hsien  as well as the film  s trailer .  
this is a story of two dogs and a cat looking for their way back home . old and wise golden retriever shadow  young american bulldog chance and himalayan cat sassy flee from the ranch and go into the wilderness to be reunited with their family . homeward bound the incredible journey       is a family adventure directed by duwayne dunham . it  s a remake of a     film . this movie got a sequel three years later . michael j . fox is the perfect man to do the voice  over for chance . fox has some youthful energy he brings to the role . sally field does great voice work as sassy . don ameche is fantastic as shadow . this was this veteran actor  s second last movie . also the visible actors are great . kim greist plays laura burnford  seaver . robert hays is bob seaver . benji thall plays peter burnford . veronica lauren is hope burnford . kevin chevalia is jamie seaver . jean smart portrays kate . it  s quite amazing to watch these pets trying to survive in the wilderness . we see sassy taken by the river and she seems like a goner . the bear scene is exiting and funny . chance has no chance with that big  hungry bear . and his meeting with the porcupine looks painful . this is some great fun for the whole family .  
while the acting and directing could be argued as having some merit  the storyline is a very poor wannabe vietnam movie with the country name simply changed .  br    br   at the very least  for a movie to hold some credibility  try and have some semblance of accuracy in equipment  weapons and tactics . nevermind the gross misrepresentation of the behaviour of the troops as a norm .  br    br   aside for the limited use as silly propaganda about the south african defence force  it serves little purpose  definitely no entertainment value .  br    br   aspiring movie makers  this is how not to make a war movie . do some research  and have some pride in your product .  
great voices  lots of adventure and clever dialogue make this a very good movie . the addition of  character  to the three lead animals gives the story a lot more depth and meaning  particularly the relationship between the older fellow  shadow  and the young hellraiser  chance . the earlier versions of this film were unable to give the animals any real personality or motive  which is done perfectly here . sally field is lovable in anything  but really shines in this film as the proud feline  sassy . great contrast between cat and dog perspectives on life  and just the right amount of spirit and warm fuzzies to make the plot and resolution excellent . there  s even an uplifting score and beautiful mountain scenery . definitely perfect for an evening alone or with the kids . hats off to disney .  
ok this movie was really  unique  shall we say . carrie fisher was by far the most talented in the movie  even though it is said she had a coke problem during the movie . but she said that she can  t remember to much of it . well thats her excuse but whats everyone else  s    i can  t imagine they all had a coke problem . whatever it wasn  t all that bad i mean i guess the plot was ok and it had some pretty funny moments . although the part where the guy gets that thing shoved in his head was a little too violent for my taste . oh well i guess i was disappointed cause carrie fisher is like so awesome and this movie did nothing for her .  
this is one of the greatest child  pet movies ever created . i cry every time i see shadow yelling  wait  wait for me peter   as the family car is pulling away . this is a must see if you love animals  best movie ever  the lines in the movie are sometimes stupid . like when sassy says to chance  cat  s rule and dogs drool   lines like this i could do without  but when i was six i bet i loved that line . the storyline may seem hooky to some  but i like it . shadow as the older dog who  s preparing chance to take over for him when he  s gone is really moving when you think about it . it reminded me of my childhood dog . i think everyone can find a piece of themselves in  homeward bound .   
carrie fisher has stated on more than one occasion that she made this movie during a period of her life when she had a heavy cocaine problem  and she doesn  t remember very much of it . that would explain why she made this film  but it doesn  t explain why anyone else in the cast or crew did i can  t believe that everybody had a coke problem . this has to be one of the absolute worst movies ever made  and that  s saying something . the blame can  t be laid at the feet of  director  tim kincaid or  writer  buddy giovinazzo  as it is obvious that this picture wasn  t written or directed by anyone . apparently it just spontaneously came together  as there is little evidence of coherency  consistency  design  plot  sense  intelligence or anything else . what is really amazing is that there were some actual professionals who were involved in this glop . co  star robert joy has done good work in other films  and composer jimmie haskell and cinematographer arthur marks are both industry veterans  marks also having been a director  and not a bad one . why they got involved in this steaming pile of offal is beyond comprehension . tim kincaid  the alleged  director   has made quite a few low  rent sci  fi and horror films  and  having seen most of them  i can tell you that not a one of them is any good . this one  though  is by far the worst thing he  s ever done  and that is a major accomplishment on his part . everything  absolutely everything  about this movie is   th  rate   at best . the cinematography is terrible  the acting is laughable  the  special effects  make  plan  from outer space  look like  spider  man   the story is trite  derivative and stupid . don  t waste your time even looking at the video box cover  let alone renting it . a complete  utter  annoying  total dud .  
this is simply a classic film where the human voices coming from the animals are really what they  re thoughts are . i don  t know whether my video copy has a scene missing but it never shows how the dogs got out of the pit . it also shows an animals survival instinct and tracking abilities . put humans in the same position ant the helicopters would be out . for once an original film is improved by a remake as the voice  over for the first has been removed . only the use of animals can work in a film of this kind because using people would have had to spice out the story by turning it into murder  proving that  after all  animals are more interesting than people  
this movie should be number one on the bottom    . the acting is so horrible that when my son and i watched it we nearly got physically ill . and the story is worse . i could go on and on about how bad it is but all i really wanted to do was add a warning to frankbob  s review as i see no one else has gone to the trouble of doing so yet . don  t waste your time  money  energy or anything else on this movie . thank goodness we saw it on tv so we didn  t spend anything on it . had we  i would have been forced to write the people responsible for this abomination and be forced to hurl an execration in their general direction . in conclusion  i would like to say that i have always enjoyed watching carrie fisher act . but i am sad to say that she is not worth watching in this particular film . don  t spoil your opinion of carrie by viewing it .  
hey guys   br    br   i have been looking every where to find these two movies and i can  t find them anywhere in my local area .  i am australian  . could you please help me and tell me where i can buy it from . in general home ward bound  and  are the best movies i have ever seen and are good for people of all ages . it was my favourite movie wen i was  and it still is even now when i am a teenager . it is a great movie for the whole family . my entire family loves this movie except for my younger sister because i have watched it that many times that she is sick of it . i love this movie and i cant wait till i can buy it again on dvd .  br    br   sally  
whoa . in the twin cities  we have a station that shows a  big bad movie  monday through friday . tonight  s nugget was a film with carrie fisher called  she  s back  about a really annoying woman who ends up getting murdered when thugs break into her house . bea  beatrice  comes back to haunt her husband . she wants him to seek revenge on her killers  hence  she  s back  . and she won  t let him rest until he does so . she irritates him endlessly . . . and the viewers  too  this movie is truly one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . hey  i like bad movies  though  my fave movie is xanadu  . i was really shaking my head throughout the whole film  wondering who thought this would be a good idea for a movie . bea is just so annoying . the plot is silly the acting is bad the story . . . well  you get my drift . anyway  if you wanna see a really bad movie  really really bad movie  check this one out . you won  t be disappointed . heh .  
i really liked the film . at ending i was in tears . this film is incredible . go watch the movie . you will enjoy it . i could have given it ranking more than   . i liked the teasing between chance and sassy . i like the leadership of shadow . overall this movie was perfect .  br    br   its sequel is good but not good as this movie . i think there should be a third sequel to it . not only this film attracts children but also adults . my whole family enjoyed this film . chance was full of humor . sassy is an intelligent cat .  br    br   again i say this movie is a must watch . the more u see this movie the more you are attached with this movie . this movie is a classic .  
protg runs in a linear fashion expect no fast  paced action  and neither will you find yourself with baited breath because there are simply no seating  on  the  edge moments .  br    br   there is not much of a crux  so don  t expect one either . i would not fault the acting  the show would have been much worst if not for wu  s acting which was the film  s only saving grace . and  oh that cute little girl too .  br    br   the humour is at best  weak  and the show must as well pass off as an anti  drug campaign which employs the usual shock  tactic  esp in the scenes with zhang  to tell us stuff that we already know  i . e . drugs break up families  heroin drives you crazy  it is not so easy to wean off  you will fall into a vicious cycle .  br    br   i know it may seem all a little harsh  but i feel that the show is far from seamless and somewhat patchy  spoiler alert take for example when andy lau got brought to the police station what  we were just told  oh we have all the tapes and evidence against you since       and that is how he got caught . nope  no chasing  car action  just a jump  of  scene  which kind of undermined wu  s role as an undercover in the first place .  i suspect the lack of creativity is attributed to the fact that it is after all  a production of mediacorp raintree  a singaporean production film company .  
this is a really cool movie  i remember first seeing it when i was really young and i used to watch it all the time like once a week . . . shadow was my favorite character in the movie . homeward bound is really funny and its really cool how they train the animals to do all those things . parts of the movie are sad though  such as when sassy  the cat  falls down the waterfall  and when shadow falls in the hole at the end .  i have seen the second homeward bound but i gotta say its not as good as the first . shadow is the smart one  sassy is  well  sassy  and chance is the funny idiot . i recommend this movie to anyone who likes comedies  or talking animals . this is one of my top ten favorite movies   
andy lau stars in another cop undercover tale . daniel wu plays nick who is working for the cops and is also close to the top of a drug dealing gang  lau  . the movie begins as we watch the police try to make a drug bust only to see it go to pieces . we then are introduced to the young drug addicted mother and her daughter living near nick and to his cronies and the cops  and   minutes in i shut off the movie and put on the news . well acted and great to look at this is as uninvolving a movie as i  ve seen in a long time . its not bad as such its just you really don  t care . i mean i really didn  t care at all . i actually started to do something else completely forgetting i had on a subtitled movie on  thats how much i didn  t care . i wish i could have hated the film but the film is such a nonentity that it made almost no impression on me  its not even something i could sleep to its just something to ignore  . come on the box called it the chinese scarface  what after he was dead  this is one to avoid .  
too bad a couple of comments before me don  t know the facts of this case . it is based on actual events  a highly publicized disappearance and murder case taking place in the wilmington  de  philadelphia pa region from    through     . i have to admit i was highly skeptical of how hollywood would dramatize the actual history and events and was actually quite impressed on how close they stayed to what was constantly reported on local newscasts and philadelphia inquirer news stories throughout the time period . of course i immediately pointed out that the actress  who i really like in cold case  who played fahey looked nothing like her  anne marie was actually prettier  . i have to admit though that mark harmon really nailed the type of personality that was revealed as capano  s and the behavior that capano exhibited throughout this period . details of the case were right on . . . no deviations of dramatic effect . . . even down to the carpet  gun  furniture  and cooler . in conclusion  i also wanted to add that i have met tom carper many times at various functions  a good man  despite being a politician  and i am so glad that he pulled the strings in the federal realm necessary to solve this heinous crime . guys like capano are real and it was great to see him finally put behind bars .  
when you see boris karloff and bela lugosi as co  stars  you expect to find a well done horror movie  but this was actually quite different  representing as it did what i would describe as an early effort at science fiction . karloff and lugosi both play scientists  rukh and benet respectively   competitors to an extent  until rukh wins benet over with a demonstration that proves his great theory . the science here was  to say the least  a bit rough around the edges  thus science fiction  with the emphasis on the fiction  but somehow rukh harnesses some sort of ray from andromeda that allows him to look at the earth  several thousand million years ago .  in that pre historic time  a huge meteorite slammed into africa  leaving deposits of a substance the scientists call  radium x   which can heal and destroy . a large portion of the movie is set rather tediously in africa  on a search for the meteorite deposits  which rukh eventually finds and harnesses to create a great weapon  unfortunately infecting himself with some sort of disease that makes him a great weapon as well .  br    br   karloff and lugosi were both pretty good here . lugosi pulls off a role in which he  s the good guy pretty well  although i frankly found him a bit unconvincing  especially during the scenes set in africa . the story also plodded along a bit  and while it held my attention it didn  t captivate me . given that this is really a sci  fi rather than a horror flick  and that sci  fi was in its very early stages  i suppose the movie needs to be cut a bit of slack . it was ok  nothing more  but also nothing less than that .      
there have been countless talking  animal films in the past  the majority of which either feature animals  mouths digitally animated to nearly match the voice acting  or are ridiculously amateur .  homeward bound the incredible journey  is neither .  br    br   this film doesn  t need the infant  pleasing addition of moving canine lips  or gesturing feline limbs . it has the ability to make you believe that the animals are authentically talking to one another  and you can get rather emotionally attached to them at heart  as all great boy  and  and  his  dog films should  .  br    br   homeward bound is the epitome of all family  friendly animal romps to me  and boasts some beautiful cinematography  an inspiring soundtrack  from the genius of bruce broughton   and an impressive cast . . .  br    br   michael j . fox . . . chance  br    br   sally field . . . sassy  br    br   don ameche . . . shadow  br    br   frank welker  voice god  . . . various  br    br   it is a modernised version of the children  s classic work of fiction  the incredible journey   which was made into a semi  documentary film by disney long long ago in     . the sequel  lost in san fransisco  isn  t nearly as good a film  but extends the adventure of my favourite furry  footed friends  and is a fun urban  twist on the grand  outdoor  adventure theme . want to entertain your children with a witty  pretty  heart  warming mini  epic  without the idiotic and often utterly ridiculous comedy of modern children  s cinema  parents  buy all three films for your children  now  thank you  disney  for bringing a tear to my eyes with each time i watch this early    s classic   
i rented it because the second segment traumatized me as a little kid . i snuck downstairs really early one morning  started watching hbo  and the raft  segment   terrorized me good . this time around  i still enjoyed the raft  although i couldn  t tell whether it was for nostalgic reasons or if it was actually a good short . the other two segments were complete trash . i can  t believe a producer somewhere payed to make this junk . all i  ve accomplished by watching this was to ruin one more childhood memory . creepshow  will now join rad among my list of tainted childhood classics .      
  homeward bound the incredible journey  is one of those wonderful old movies about house pets . deserves a place among the great movies of its genre and even the cinema world in general  together with other animal movies like  old yeller    napoleon    fluke  and  air bud  . this means it is more than just a movie about pets .  br    br   can this possibly be just a  remake   it is too good to be a  remake   i know this one by heart  since my early teen years  when i was    .  br    br   it  s a family movie to treasure . it  s emotional  thrilling  adventurous  exciting  entertaining  humorous  charming  sweet  nostalgic  beautiful  heartwarming and sometimes dramatic . it  s one of those movies to put a smile on the faces of those who appreciate this kind of films .  br    br   this movie does not lack qualities . it has a well thought story  enjoyable characters  excellent and relaxing instrumental soundtrack  dazzling sceneries  landscapes of the magnificent sierra mountains  in oregon  . speaking of the vistas  it  s not all mountains forests  trees  rivers  waterfalls  sunsets . . . in conclusion  all of pure nature  s wonders  truly a full panorama .  br    br   the main human characters are nice  well developed and well portrayed by respective actors . robert hays is awesome as the kind  hearted dad  bob seaver . kim greist is good as laura burnford . veronica lauren is equally good as hope . kevin chevalia is conventional as the youngest and cute brother jamie  his appearance actually reminds me very much of kevin corcoran in  old yeller   . benj thall is great as peter burnford .  br    br   when it comes to our quadruped pals  shadow is my favorite . shadow is the loyal  wise  mature  beautiful  caring and loving old golden retriever  brilliantly voiced by don ameche  . chance  the american bulldog  is the opposite of shadow . he is carefree  silly  impatient  anxious  clumsy  hilarious and loves to play  voiced by the talented michael j . fox  . chance just can  t stand still . sassy is the epitome of cats  s image elegant  independent  very confident and self  proud  with a typical cat attitude but with a certain feline charm . sassy is a seal point himalayan cat  one of the most beautiful cat breeds . sassy is voiced by sally field  who also does a good job .  br    br   our four  legged friends are  themselves  great  actors  by nature ben as shadow  rattler as chance and tiki as sassy .  br    br   it  s an underrated movie  but a classic by its own right . its sequel is clearly inferior .  br    br   this should definitely be on top    .  
five years after the original creepshow  another inferior horror sequel is penned by george a . romero and stephen king creepshow  . this time there are only three stories instead of five . none of the three stories is really original or distinguished either . the first story is a horror staple  formulaic story about a wooden indian statue seeking revenge against the killers of its owners . the effects are really neat in this story  but it  s just too familiar to be compelling enough . george kennedy and dorothy lamour play the elderly store owners . the second story   the raft   is a stephen king story . it  s about four teenagers that unwittingly spend the day on a wooden pallet in the middle of an isolated lake . soon the kids are screaming for their lives as a watery blob does each of them in for no apparent reason . however  instead of being suspenseful  the kids are saddled with bad dialog and dopey  headed behavior  preventing us from really caring about what happens next . there is also some unintentional humor in this segment . the third and final story is  the hitch  hiker   which is actually a retread re  adapted for creepshow  . the original story  by lucille fletcher  was filmed in     as a film noir suspense film . then it was adapted for a famous twilight zone episode featuring inger stevens .  the hitch  hiker  works the best out of these three offerings  but it  s not without its problems either . lois chiles plays a cheating spouse  who ends up running over a hitch  hiker  or so she thinks . however  we don  t know whether to sympathize with her or condemn her . as in many average stories of this type  the characters exist merely to tell the stories with their twists and turns . the wrap around story with the bullies seems a bit out of place . tom savini appears as the  creep  in this installment . the good thing is there haven  t been any more sequels .     of  stars .  
very few so called  remakes  can be as good as the originals . this one crosses that border with flying colors . just a remake  i don  t think so  i saw it theatrically at the age of nine  and was completely entranced and enraptured by the film .  br    br   the film certainly invites comparisons to its     counterpart . the earlier film is also a enjoyable and entertaining movie  but admittedly it tends to feel more like a nature documentary than a film . this update is more epic and cinematic . still  i thoroughly recommend both films .  br    br   this film is certainly a must  see for an animal lover . we have the wise old golden retriever  shadow the sharp  sarcastic himalayan cat  sassy and the young  fun  loving american bulldog  chance . the animals are brilliantly voiced by don ameche  sally field  and michael j . fox  respectively .  br    br   there is virtually nothing offensive in the film . there is a bit of scatological humor  but nothing extreme . no hard violence  save a few tense scenes involving a pounding waterfall  an angry porcupine  and a dark railroad shaft .  br    br   hilarious  scary  moving  and above all real  it surprised me to see that this film didn  t win any awards  not one . nevertheless  i will have to say this is just as good as some of the best picture nominees nowadays .  
sequels have a nasty habit of being disappointing  and the best credit i can give this is that it maintains that old tradition . these three tales aren  t anything as good as any from the original creepshow .  br    br   by far the best of the trio involves a wooden idol which comes to life to take revenge on the thugs who killed its owners . the second story is about a lake monster which seems to be nothing more than a lot of floating slop  makes you wonder how anybody could possibly be scared of it . the third story includes a cameo from stephen king as a truck driver  but other than that is a pretty unmemorable tale concerning the victim of a road traffic accident who comes back from the dead for the person who knocked him down .  br    br   watch the original creepshow instead  or if you already have done then be happy with that .  
i  ve seen this about  or  times and haven  t regretted it . homeward bound is not just a typical animal movie . its unique  fun and bursting with adventure . the things that make it a fun movie are the animals  obvious  who are wonderfully trained . a very good effort .  br    br    .       
i am a big fan of old horror movies  and since i am middle aged  old to me is a movie made before     with most being made in the      s to      s period . i am not a big fan of more modern horror movies  with one exception being creepshow   which i thought was great . i could reminisce about the stories there but i really really enjoyed the monster in the box story with hal holbrook  and also the one about the really clean guy was a great ending . all the stories were great though . so why did i like them so much  the characters had some decent development  the lines were very plain about who was good and who was bad  the horror bits were heightened with a close up of a face aghast with fear  and the funny bits were really funny  this sequel is either greatly lacking of these elements or they are totally absent  i am writing this only having watched it partially because the movie was a complete waste of time and i turned it off to do other things like write movie reviews on imdb . com  lol . when george kennedy and an old dorothy lamoure get top billing it  s telling you something . . . . .  of   . also  romero  s expertise is hard to find here  they must had told him to tone it down to a pg standard  i don  t know what this was rated at but it looks pg to me   and that  s not a good thing for a movie with nothing else going on . it  s shown on the encore cable channel if your dieing  yuck yuck  to see it .  
it surprises me how much i love this movie despite the fact that i don  t really like dogs . fox  field  and ameche do a wonderful job with the voices of chance  sassy and shadow  and the acting by the animals themselves is just amazing .  br    br   i have seen this movie   times already  i know that sounds scary  but it  s true    and every time the ending scenes still get me . i highly recommend it to people of all ages and especially to animal lovers . it is indeed my all  time favorite movie   
  creepshow   is little more than a pale imitation of the original  designed with little purpose other than to cash in on the name of the previous film . it even amplifies the flaws of its predecessor  which was often predictable and heavy  handed . still  the first time around  there were enough thrills to make up for it  s periodic lulls  resulting in an uneven but overall fairly entertaining effort . the sequel has few worthwhile moments  so the transparency of the stories are even more apparent . once in a while  it delivers  but most of the time  it just lingers there .  br    br   as in the original  all the stories revolve around the common theme of revenge and just desserts . a wooden indian comes to life  wreaking vengeance upon the killers of its owner . teenagers are devoured by an aquatic monster . a hitchhiker returns from the dead to pursue a careless motorist . none of these premises are inherently bad in themselves  but they are utterly lacking in inspiration . there are few surprises and no scares . this a textbook example of unmotivated  by  the  numbers filmmaking . it doesn  t help that this cheap  looking movie suffers from a flat directorial style  although to be honest  there wasn  t much to work with . in the end  the second story comes off best  but not by much .  br    br   for the most part  the performances are okay at best . george kennedy  as the ill  fated general store owner  does an adequate  if not particularly inspired job . dorothy lamour  on the other hand  is quite good as the guilt  ridden motorist  evoking sympathy for her plight despite the predictable  redundant material . however  most of the characters are pretty thin overall .  br    br   one would think that  creepshow   would have turned out better . george romero  who directed the original  returned to pen the screenplay  based on more of stephen king  s stories . makeup effects artist tom savini turns in some good  gory work . so why is the film a letdown  i guess romero didn  t really want to make a second film  but was forced to do so for financial reasons . it was a decade of horror sequels  clones  rip  offs  and whatnot  so this one was certainly inevitable . i can imagine the guy writing the script in a hurry  picking up his paycheck  and running off . i guess he had to do what was necessary to get his own projects financed we can  t blame him .  br    br   rating      out of    br    br   released by new world pictures  
this movie was awesome . . . it made me laugh  it make a bawl  and most of all it has talking animals in it   this movie should be seen by all kinds of people  it is one of my favorite movies  and i just love it so much that i just had to comment on it    it rox  it is so heart felt and a wonderful storyline that makes up a great and heartfelt movie  my favorite character is shadow . this is because i think that he is the most interesting and charming . i used to have a golden retriever just like shadow  i miss him so much    he was my best friend and i knew that when he died  he would be in a happier place  but i miss him with all of my heart   this movie is the best i love it and everyone should  love your pets no matter what they do  cherish them forever     
creepshow  had a lot of potential  they just didn  t put enough time in perfecting it . the stories were pretty cool and creepy enough  but it was lacking . it  s a good movie  but after you  ve seen it once  you might want to see it again . this movie could of been better .  
as a kid i thought this movie was great . it had animals  it had beautiful music  and it had my favorite actor michael j . fox . now  i still love this movie  for different reasons . it has well trained animals that are put through various stunts and scenes that look excellent on camera . it has beautiful  well  written musical that fits the scenes perfectly  with rousing fast  paced melodies and the heart wrenching main theme  that still makes me cry . even when people hum it . and it has my favorite actor  michael j . fox .  br    br   based on a book  this is the story of three house pets  an intelligent  overly  trusting and considerably paternal lab by the name of shadow  a witty and vain  but still smart  cat with a fear of water named sassy and a street  smart ridiculously curious and slightly neurotic bulldog  chance . the three are taken to a friend  s farm when their family goes away . dismayed and worried  the pets break out and plan a trip across the sierra mountains for the trip of their lives . a truly incredible journey . so what  maybe home is just over that mountain . but what if it isn  t   br    br   i suggest homeward bound for people that like the three amazing actors providing the voices for the lead animal characters  and for anyone else that . . . yeah  everyone go watch it .  
creepshow  is the ill  fated sequel to the george romero  s  overrated  original  creepshow . any sequel following a romero film that  s not directed by romero himself has got some large shoes to fill  mostly because of the romero fans out there who think he  s god . i didn  t care much for the first film and funny enough  i didn  t care much for the sequel . the film series had so much potential but it was short  lived because both films were less than stellar .  br    br   the biggest problem with creepshow  was that it only had three stories  excluding the in  between story   and because the first story sucked beyond belief  it only left the chance for almost half of the movie to be really good . i saw cs  at the movies and the first segment was a real groaner . anything dramatic with george  i can  t act  kennedy is automatically doomed and the indian statue story was too hokey and simply didn  t belong in this sequel . so after a really trite and dull start  there were only two other stories left to reverse the fiasco of the aborted beginning and unfortunately the two other stories weren  t great enough for me to forget the first story . the raft and the hitchhiker are moderately successful  moderately because though the two other segments have their moments  they still sorta fall flat . the two last stories are basically stretched out for too long . it  s not that i wanted the stories to happen at a dizzying pace and end fast  but both good ideas found within those stories were sorta nullified by the fact that they were slow and padded and eventually fell flat when the segments needed to be more energized  more erratic and with punchier endings . also  if the two last stories hadn  t been stretched out to pad the movie or had all three segments been more brief with better editing and direction  they could have added a much needed fourth story to the bunch . having only three padded segments made for a boring feast .  br    br   the acting and writing in both the raft and the hitchhiker segments are from awful to good . i like lois chiles in the last segment . it  s probably her best moment on screen aside from her role as bond girl holly goodhead in moonraker and in death on the nile . but even her role is difficult to understand at times because of the serviceable direction and the unfocused story . are we supposed to hate her or sympathize with her  are we supposed to sympathize with the annoying hitchhiker  if the hitchhiker  s body was found by other people on the road  what was he when he attacked chiles  was he a ghost or a zombie or what  how did the body eventually left the presence of the other people who found him dead in order to attack chiles  the whole thing is not very clear  even for a supernatural story . and the ending is rather dull and uneventful .  br    br   as for the infamous the raft story  well  the acting is mostly on the awful side and none of the characters are sympathetic or interesting . the characters would have been more interesting had the actors played themselves . none of the actors are convincing in their specific roles . paul satterfield looks smarter than the dumb jock he  s playing and the actress who plays his girlfriend is not very convincing as the typical bitchy slut . she seems too timid . the same could be said with the two others who play the  plain  teens . the idea of the killer oil slick is interesting and creepy but not well executed . there should have been a fifth character to the story  maybe a homeless man or a ranger who lurks around the lake and knows about the oil slick and could have been the watery monster  s alter ego of sorts . as creepy as the oil slick is  it doesn  t make for a compelling  character  . and the way the story ends  everything seems pointless . no punch to it whatsoever .  br    br   except for the few titillating aspects which always seems to make boring things worthwhile  seeing creepshow  at a theater was basically a waste of money and time . cs  is more rental material than something you pay to see on the big screen .  
this is definitely one of the greatest disney movies ever made . it  s a real pleaser to anyone . it  ll make you laugh  it  ll make you cry  and it  ll put you into suspense .  br    br   basically  what homeward bound is about is three household pets who are sent to live on a farm while their owners go on vacation . they don  t know what is going on  and desperately wanting to go home  they escape from the farm and try to find their way home through the wilderness .  br    br   this is one of the last movies that don ameche starred in . he provided the voice of shadow  the old  wise and friendly golden retriever . also starring in this movie was sally field providing the voice of sassy  the himalayan cat . but seriously  what this movie is all about is chance  voiced by michael j . fox  my all  time favorite actor   chance is basically all you  d expect from a dog  lovable  playful  energetic and goofy  and every time i crack up when watching this movie  it  s because of chance it  s like the comedy never ends   br    br   this movie is also very sad at times . it sometimes reminds people of the times they  ve been alone or when they lose their pets .  br    br   one scene that always puts me in suspense is the scene where the trio is trying to escape from the pound i especially feel shocked at the part where chance gets his collar caught in the fence and almost doesn  t make it . the movie had other suspenseful moments  but none to me seem more suspenseful than that one .  br    br   overall  it  s a wonderful family movie . if you enjoyed this movie  you  ll probably enjoy the sequel too . i give this movie a solid  out of     
i might not be a huge admirer of the original  creepshow   but its trashy sequel makes that anthology look like perfection  and to think i was going into this expecting to like this one more . five years after its predecessor  george romero gets back on board the ec comic style trail and on this outing pens the screenplay for steve king  s three stories . though  the direction is handed off to michael gornick . the film mostly falters in that aspect with uneven brushes by gornick . but most of the blame would have to go to romero  s dreadfully static and unbearably cringe  like script  especially in those dialogues streaming through the first and final story  . moralistic messages  that came from mostly a sour bunch of characters  simply took over the black humour . oh it was painful and the same can be said about the lively rotten music score accompanying the picture . loosely linking the three tales  old chief woodenhead  the raft and the hitchhiker  together is a mildly curious and effective wraparound story done in nostalgia    s  animation form . i rather liked this segment and the wisecracking creep character was a glowing light .  br    br    the first story  old chief woodenhead  sees two elderly proprietors  george kennedy  dorothy lamour  of a general store in a dying native community  dead river . get robbed and eventually killed by a couple of punks dying to live it up in hollywood . in front of the store is a wooden statue of an indian chief that comes to live to avenge their deaths .  br    br    listen to george kennedy waffle . . and waffle on for   minutes about how he  s committed to his  great  community . what a nice touchy feely time . well  just like kennedy  s speeches  this is one monotonously colourless and overdrawn item that never makes good of a fine premise . the overbearing script is plain inane and the performances are suitably so . these two factors really added to my headache . when the indian comes alive and turns avenger  the goons meet a very quick  though grisly  death in the proper fashion . the effects were commendably done  but what about that free flowing hair . how could hollywood knock that lock of hair back  ugh   br    br    second story  the raft  follows a group of dope smoking and yahoo teens heading up to a secluded lake . after swimming to the raft in the middle of the lake  they get trapped on the platform because of an ominous looking creature lurking in the water .  br    br    now this is much better  much better . what starts of as your basic teens run afoul turns into a mysteriously creepy set  up that  s full of tight and claustrophobic tension . and it doesn  t even cop out on the flashes of nudity or spiteful splatter . quite morbid it is and that goes for its sense of humour too . the surprisingly ironic ending has a beautiful touch to it . the performances from the nobodies are acceptable without making a huge mark . gornick  s direction sticks to the nasty and rather gooey side . while  the alarming music score on this occasion pressed the right chords . the sludge  like creature in the lake  like many have mentioned  looks like an icky black tarpaulin  yeah you  re reading that right   floating on the water .  br    br    finally number three concludes with  the hitchhiker  . a wealthy  but sexually lacking woman is on her way back home after being with her male gigolo  but she  s is running late . thinking of some ideas to explain for her lateness if needed  she skids off the road and accidentally hit  s a hitchhiker . instead of checking or getting help  she drives off in the hope getting home before her husband . soon enough she  s being terrorised by the mangled corpse of the dead hitchhiker .  br    br    not awful  but i really didn  t get into this laughably ludicrous exercise at all . compared to the first two this one was so different in tone and tried to tickle the funny bone instead . lois chiles was okay in the lead role  but that constant assuring and the little conversations she has with herself became pitifully aggravating and downright tired . the vivid make  up effects are well  displayed and dripping with vision . when she hit  s the hitchhiker that  s when it becomes hectic  cheesy and over  the  top in its execution . from there onwards we endlessly hear our supposedly dead hitchhiker repeat and repeat and repeat the line   thanks for the ride lady   this happens every time she decides to run over him . have a little courtesy for the dead darling .  br    br   in all  the second short story  the raft  and the unpleasantly  well  conceived effects is what lifts this extremely inferior sequel .  
i first saw this film when i was around  or  years old and didn  t really think it was anything particularly special . as time went on i watched it a few more times and it started to grow on me as i started to understand the morals of the film  which i will come to later . for a while i left this film alone and didn  t watch it for a while . when looking for an old classic film to watch a few weeks ago  now being     i dug out the vhs of homeward bound . after watching this i was left on a natural high that i couldn  t really explain . the film gives an overwhelming sense of joy that you never really expect . the films nature of three completely different animals collaborating together to find their way home really sends a message home that no matter how different you are you can always find common ground  something that you all need . the way the personalities of the characters is chosen is truly fantastic . in that you have an old knowledgeable wise golden retriever  looking after or guiding  chance  the fun loving if slightly clumsy young american bulldog  with sassy the clever  vulnerable but confident cat . the film follows these three friends or companions on a journey that is so realistically impossible it creates magic in that you start to believe that this journey can happen .  br    br   i don  t want to sound like a soft tissue grabber when it comes to films i assure you i am quite the opposite  but the most uplifting part of this film is without a doubt shadows return  when shadow desperately tries to escape and chance and sassy  painfully are told by him to leave . when both animals return to their beloved owners there is a silence until shadow limps over the horizon to the awe of all . there is a fine line between heartwarming and corny rubbish but this film is pure magic even at the age of   . this film may not be lord of the rings but for disney to produce such a fantastic film using animals and for it to uplift myself in the way it does even at this age it deserves      .  
we  ve all been there  sitting with some friends watching a bad movie  laughing at how terribly it was made and how poor the acting was eventually the credits roll and everyone looks around and says  how is it possible such a movie was made  who paid money to have this script made into a feature film   well jigsaw is not that kind of film  instead of asking how this garbage was budgeted you wonder why the makers were shot out of a cannon into the sun . yes  jigsaw is quite possibly the worst movie ever made or conceived  this coming from a guy who has seen campfire stories and fever lake . the film starts out in some kind of college class  what kind of class i am unsure  but it is imagined to be an art class . now these dorks have been given a final project by their idiot teacher  five of them are given pieces of a mannequin and told to design it in any way they see fit  and since there are only five pieces the other students in the class receive and automatic a  oddly enough there are only six students in this entire class so the one goth chic gets a free a  good for her  a week passes and the five students  plus teacher  plus one hillbilly husband meet in a bar to discuss their and complete their project  they put the pieces together  head  arms  legs and inform the others why they chose their specifics designs  now these creative geniuses used the week to their full advantage  one puts a saw blade in the left hand  the other gets a sawed off shotgun  the right leg gets a bunch of broken ceramic glued to it and the left some magazine clippings  the head is the worst getting a camera in the eye  ala hellraiser   with some bottle rockets for a stylish mo  hawk . after they have all spilled their guts about their specifics designs the now drunk teacher says they are to burn the mannequin  now aptly named jigsaw . now up to this point it has been standard horrible movie fair  bad acting  dialog and everything else  but has still been pretty plausible  yet after jigsaw catches fire things take a turn for the worst . . . jigsaw comes alive . . how you ask  i have no idea  he just does because the writers couldn  t think of a realistic way for two pounds worth of molded plastic to become alive  come on guys  a bolt of lighting  a traveling voodoo priest  anything could have worked .  so once jigsaw comes to life he uses his new abilities of walking very slow and stilted with the use of his molded fingers to wreak havoc . first he kills the cool guy with some barb wire  this guy who was about to get it on with a hot chic decides drinking ground beer off in the distance is more important than what is in front of him . with him gone jigsaw shoots the sexy girl in the face and then gives an old man a heart attack with a slight twist of his head  he then saws up a nasty looking southern woman and then her hillbilly husband jigsaw then kills the nerdy guy with some headless deception . did i mention jigsaw was taking body parts off his victims to make a human version of himself  no  well its not important they don  t even show his macabre creation  they don  t even show him steal away a torso from his poor creators  maybe he was trying to create the head detective from in living color  . so after these five have been killed the teacher and the nerdy girl are all who is left  the teacher figures out that jigsaw only needs a head to finish his masterpiece  since he is still uninterested in that torso thing . so being the coward he is the teacher ties up the girl as a sacrifice to jigsaw who comes in only to go for the teacher with his electric buzz saw which isn  t even plugged in . that is where the freaking movie ends  we don  t even get to see the teacher get killed or what happens to the girl  let alone an explanation why jigsaw came to life or how he cleaned himself off after being burned . this movie is so shameful it has too be seen  it is only   minutes so it is a small part of your day for the memories of a lifetime  jigsaw  jigsaw  jigsaw . thank you total recall  the judge has ruled  watch jigsaw only if your plans of severing off your genitals seems played out .  
homeward bound is a beautiful film . y  know the part where shadow falls down the ditch . . . thingy  i cried  considering i was only six  i cried  it takes a lot to make me cry  the dogs and the cat are excellently trained . a nice family movie  not for completely hardened non  fluffy people or animal  haters but could for soft  as  crap a . k . a . people like me .  br    br   a good film overall         
ok another film bought by me and joe swatman . ok this isn  t the worst film i  ve reviewed this week but it still sucked royaly . we had a lot of fun watching this piece of crap .  br    br   the monster jigsaw is a mish mash of all these dysfunctional students ideas  u just know ur in for trouble when someone equips him with a buzzsaw and a sawed of shotgun  the film wasn  t as gory as we hoped  i mean on of the deaths is a heart attack . again i think the acting sucks  sum of the actors must be porn stars and one get into her undies for what ever reason .  br    br   the absolute worst part is the ending  it leaves it open for a bit of a jigsaw  but thats never gunna happen lets face it .  br    br   my ratings  br    br   funny      mock  how much fun we had mocking it        acting      generally        
thomas capano was not anne marie  s boss tom carper  the governor was . that is the reason the feds became involved  he called clinton and asked him to get the feds involved in the case . i lived outside of philadelphia at the time so the case was front page news every day . i also read ann rule  s book and saw the  city confidential  segment on ae . tom capano was a megalomanic  sp .   an uber  controller and a monster . he claimed to love ann marie but all he wanted was someone that he could control . when she wouldn  t let him do that anymore he killed her  the ultimate form of control . i think it  s a waste of money that he is still alive .  
a somewhat dull made for tv movie which premiered on the tbs cable station . antonio and janine run around chasing a killer computer virus and . . . that  s about it . for trivia buffs this will be noted as debuting the same weekend that the real life  melissa  virus also made it  s debut in e  mail inboxes across the world .  
this movie is definitely on the list of my top   favorites . the voices for the animals are wonderful . sally field and michael j . fox are both brilliant as the sassy feline and the young inexperienced pooch  but the real standout is don ameche as the old  faithful golden retriever . this movie is a great family movie because it can be appreciated and loved by children as well as adults . humorous and suspenseful  and guaranteed to make every animal lover cry   happy tears    
whether you want to spend nearly  hours of your life watching this depends how you like your horror movies . if you like them so god damn awful they  re hysterical  watch away . jigsaw is without a doubt the worst movie i  ve seen in my life  and i  ve seen  long time dead    and i say this as a fan of the low  budget horror  gore genre and having seen a good few to compare it to . i  m not even going to go into the specifics of what makes this movie was bad as it is  the only good thing about it is it  s so so terrible it  s one of the funniest things i  ve seen in years . if you can find this to rent cheap it  s definitely worth watching  if you were involved in making it  shame on you . o  imdb need to introduce a     ranking especially for this movie  it thoroughly deserves it .  
this is a great movie for all ages . its the story about three animals how have to find their way home . there is a bit of a twist at the end and mainly throughout the whole movie . you never know what is going to happen next . this movie makes you cry and makes you laugh . you just don  t know what going to happen next . the trek home is all beautiful with all the wonderful wildlife scenes . they producers also spent a lot of money for this movie and it shows too . the animals in this movie were well trained and are great actors  actress themselves . everything about this movie is great    out of   the whole way  rent or buy it today i can guarantee you will love it the whole family will   
i am not sure who is writing these  br    br   glowing reviews for this movie but trust me it stkinks . i have seen hundreds of horror films and slasher flicks and this one is lame it is only about   min long and believe me that is all i could take . plot is terrible  acting is even worse . and there is no development at all .  br    br   even the david cocteau films are better than this . run away from jigsaw . i expected to hate the acting  which can be forgiven in direct to video movies  if the plot is good .  br    br   this had no scares  very little gore   br    br   and a truly unattractive cast .  br    br   i watched this with three other friends  br    br   who i hope are still talking to me   br    br   they wanted me to fling the disc out the window . i can not believe anyone could have  br    br   given this tripe a good review .  
i watch this movie all the time . i  ve watched it with family ages  to    and everyone in between they all loved it . it really shows the true scenes a dog has  and the love and loyalty you get from a pet . just beautiful .  br    br   it  s great for thoes who love comedy movies  the tear  jerker movies  or even just pets .  br    br   the music is wonderful  the animals spectacular  the scenes truly thought out  and the characters perfect . what i liked about the characters is the true and nicely mixed personalities shadow  the oldest  a golden retriever  he  s the wise one  filled with the wisdom and mindset of any dog  chance  the american bulldog puppy  is basically a puppy with a witty side  the comical character and sassy  the hymilayan cat  she  s the real cat who shows what a real cat will do for their owner  the real girly one .  
i love b movies . . but come on . . . . this wasn  t even worth a grade . . . the ending was dumb . . . b  c there was no real ending    . . not to mention that it comes to life on its own . . . i mean no lighting storm or crazy demonic powers   slow as hell and then they just start killing off the characters one by one in like a   min time period . . . and i won  t even start on the part of the thing killing the one guy without its head . . . . and then you don  t even get to see what jigsaw even does with his so called  new jigsaw puzzle  . . . . unless you have nothing better to do . . . id watch paint dry before id recommend this god  forsaken movie to anyone else . . . oh and to make it even better the other movie totem you can see the guy throwing the one creature in the basement scene from the window . . that was funny as hell and probably the only good part of watching that waste of film  
maybe i  m a sap but this is the sweetest movies ever  i saw it for the first time when i was around  or   and i cried my eyes out . between then and now  embarrassed at age    i have seen it over   times and have sobbed each and every one of them . don  t worry they  re tears of happiness  and it  s not all sap  there  s a lot of humor and comedy in it too . usually the whole talking animal thing can be a huge drag but in this movie it  s not the case . my only word of advice even if you love this  don  t see the sequal . . . cornyness  i suggest everyone checks this out . . . you won  t be sorry  no matter how old or young you are   
i go to a lot of movies  often i bring my  year old son  i am so glad i did not bring him to this one . there are many references to sex and a skinny dipping scene  however  that is not the primary reason i would not take him to it . the trailers lead you to believe it is a light  hearted comedy nevertheless  virtually all of the funny moments are in the previews . i kept waiting for it to get interesting  funny  or anything but serious however  i nearly fell asleep as the plot  less story dragged on . i understand that dogs can be great company  that being said  the entire story focused on a poorly behaving dog that the owners were not savvy enough to train . if a human caused this much damage and mayhem that person would be banned . the worst movie i  ve ever seen with jenifer aniston or owen wilson  a waste of their talent . the best way to sum up this movie is  couple gets unruly dog  couple falls in love with dog  dog dies  couple sad . the end .  
i found this film to be the usual french slap in america  s face . the camera  all too often  focuses on fat people  on sloppy homes and on tacky rural areas . while the narration seems to sympathize with and admire the small town folks who are introduced to the viewer  the cinematography exploits and demeans them . there were  undoubtedly  thin people to be seen in glencoe and neat  organized homes  but malle chose to show us the worst of what was there to be seen .  br    br   i can only hope that some american filmmakers will go to france to reveal to the american public its worst elements . i can assure you  as a frequent visitor to france  that all is not well there . foreign immigrants are not readily assimilated  thus creating severe social inequities . but americans are not eager to unmask the french for their prejudice toward their own compatriots and their envy toward the u . s .  so we  re not likely to see films on the subject .  
it  s interesting at first . a naive park ranger  colin firth  marries a pretty  mysterious woman  lisa zane  he  s only known for a short time . they seem to be happy  then she disappears without warning . he searches for her and  after a few dead ends  stumbles upon some of her abused childhood and sleazy recent past  which may include criminal activity . and then  it seems the filmmakers didn  t know what to do with the story . the beginning  while not as suspenseful as it sounds  is at least watchable . then it ceases to be interesting or even make much sense . and the ending is so lame  so dull  and so devoid of any excitement or intelligence  you  ll think the screenwriters didn  t know what to do with it and got bored trying . what a sorry waste of a good idea   
i just love malle  s documentaries . they are so effortless and simple but still so fascinating . i have no idea why this documentary works . it is about glencoe  minnesota .     people live there and nothing happens  really . but still malle manages to make it fascinating and interesting . his love for humanity  even racist or homophobic people  is so overwhelming that you just can  t help but also to fall in love with them too .  br    br   malle filmed most of it in     . he came back  years later to see what had changed . this would have been a good film without the material  years later but this small addition makes it great . it may sound like malle was just doing what has been done in the up series but in fact it is not . the up series are about people . malle  s emphasis is not so much on what happened to each person but what has happened to this community . and the change is great .     is the reagan era and the farmers are suffering . once a proud community  now no one sees much future at all and parents hope their children will educate them self and do something else than farming .  br    br   this documentary is quite relevant today . our financial crises today started because of what was happening then . just take a look to these final words in the film  spoken by an older lawyer from the town  in        br    br    well i have high hopes for this country because the things that are going on right now can only be characterized in my mind as an obsession with greed . and a nation doesn  t live long with that obsession . and particularly a democracy that . . . there  s good  there  s good  a lot of good in this country and a lot of good people and they aren  t gonna  they aren  t gonna subscribe to this philosophy of greed that  s going on now . it  s horrible .   br    br   unfortunately it took more than   years and a hell of a headache before that happened .  
as i sat in front of the tv watching this movie  i thought   oh  what alfred hitchcock  or even brian depalma  could have done with this   chances are  you will too . it does start out intrigueing . a british park ranger living in los angeles  collin firth  marries a pretty  demure brunette woman  lisa zane  whom he met in a park only a short time ago . then  one day she dissappears . the police are unable to find any documentation that she ever existed  and firth conducts his own search . so far  so good . just as he  s about to give up  he turns to his womanizing best friend  billy zane   and they stumble onto her former life in l . a .  s sordid underground of drugs  nightclubs  and ametuer filmmaking  and then to her history of mental instability . at that point  firth  s life is in danger  and the film falls apart . none of the characters from lisa zane  s past are remotely interesting . the film moves slowly  and there  s very little action . there is a subplot regarding missing drug money  but it  s just a throwaway . no chases  no cliffhanging sequences  and no suspense . just some dull beatings and a lot of chat by boring characters . one thing worth noting  lisa zane and billy zane are brother and sister  but they never appear in a scene together . by the end of the movie  you  re torn between wondering what might have been and trying to stay awake .  
revenge is the theme of this denzel washington thriller that offers its share of action  mayhem  murder and grisly bloodletting . the essentials are a bodyguard  s search and destroy mission as his charge  young dakota fanning  is kidnapped from school  which is exactly what washington was hired to prevent . the mexico city locations are as chaotic as the storyline moves towards its predictable  violent conclusion  with plot twists along the way . washington  a former cia operative with a drinking problem  gets a good reference from a former fellow agent which sets in motion the plot  s outline . washington and fanning have a great chemistry between them and after a troublesome beginning  the bodyguard and his charge become the best of friends . christopher walken  rachel ticotin  radha mitchell  giancarlo giannini and mickey rourke comprise the good cast in support of the two stars .  
you believe in god or you don  t . you believe in jesus or you don  t . you believe he is the son of god or you don  t . the choice is up to you .  br    br   director denys arcand has really done everything he could to bring back jesus to a mere historic figure  social worker  son of two humans  instead of the son of god the holy spirit and mary  who opened heaven again for us . encouraging the big bang  a world come from evolution  instead of seeing the beauty of creation . the film depicts a theologian bringing some  modern findings  to the actor who plays jesus in the passion play  who happily incorporates them in his play .  br    br   the depicted priest who runs the sanctuary where the passion play is performed in montreal has a sexual relation with one of the female players of the passion play instead of showing his love for god through celibacy . more often than not the director  s abhorrence of the church is clearly visible .  br    br   the director has tried to make a parallel between jesus  life and the passion play actor  s life . this is an admirable attempt  but depicting the resurrection with the transplantation of the passion play actor  s organs in other bodies signifies how the director thinks about jesus .  br    br   my opinion is not important  god  s opinion is  but i wouldn  t want to stand in the shoes of the director and actors when standing before jesus  throne .  
basically  the movie might be one of the most mesmerizing titles made by either of the two scotts  ridley and tony  . let  s make it straight  the movie deserved its hype as one of the most stylish actioner  thriller ever made .  br    br   when it comes to disgruntled tragic heroes  denzel washington and tony scotts really make a perfect duo . both this movie and deja vu are better thrillers you can expect . washington really got very comfortable in the shaky cameras and every executing scenes in the movie . one would easily be related to his character  s emotions therefore enjoyed all the killings on the road . it  s a success that they created a super  dark mexico city with a lot of shits happening . one would be easily convinced by the extent of corruption depicted in man on fire . i don  t know what would the mexicans think when they watch this . . . . . .  br    br   well  let  s face it again . it  s among the best of the death wish genre  but it also suffered from extensive amount of violence . it  s a bit annoying that they justify the actions of a vigilante by making the movie very realistic and let denzel washington play the  missing sheep  type of tragic hero . in the end  they even had the kidnapper shot in his own swimming pool like a documentary . i was checking on imdb if the movie was based on real events for that . . . . . . so that  s for your consideration if you also finds the movie  s theme is a little bit phony .  br    br   at the end  i hope one would not take this movie for real .  br    br       for art direction  editing  cinematographic  denzel washington .  
well  jesus of montreal is basically an intelligent movie . the actors are indeed good and the technical side of the movie is okay . but  although i was very interested in the topic and like to think and discuss about religion  i am an atheist   it was hard to force myself to watch the movie to the bitter and in my opinion somehow unconsciously funny end . why is this movie so incredibly boring  i don  t know . it just is and so it is not recommendable .  
this film contains the one ingredient that all revenge movies should have and that is true emotion . sorrow  love  laughter  anger . there are so many emotions thrown into this film . from start to finish this film is immensely captivating . the plot on paper sounds like the usually rubbish that is mostly thrown in the faces of the audiences but don  t be mistaken  this film is powerful . washington as always puts on a great performance .  br    br   the plot in a nutshell man suffers from depression  a young girl brings life into him  kids gets kidnap  man wants revenge . doesn  t sound like anything special but it far superior than any other similar film out there . for instant  taken is a similar film but when you compare them both  man on fire wins hands down . the characters are engaging and everyone puts in a great performance and the directing is great . mexico city feels alive  it looks like mexico city  it smells like mexico city . everything is portrayed brilliantly . the style of direction was something i enjoyed and brought the best out of mexico city  br    br   this is one of those films you  ll bring out once a year to watch again or a film that you  ll beg your family and friends to watch . from start to finish you are rooting for the main protagonist  making it a roller  coaster journey . there enough action to keep you happy  there enough character development to please you and then there  s washington to bring a smile to your face . watch this film  you won  t be disappointed  
this film really disappointed me . the acting is atrocious . unbelievable . and it  s about actors . the story is incredibly obvious a group of independent actors stage a passion play and  in turn  they start to live out the lives of the characters they play . i  ve been watching a lot of movies lately  thanks to netflix  and this is the first one i haven  t watched all the way through in a long time . i felt i didn  t need to see the end we all know the end of this story .  br    br   for some  it seems  this  modernization  of the gospels is either sacrilegious or enlightening . i cannot speak to any of this as i wasn  t raised in the christian church . that being said  i was raised in the us and i live in an increasingly christian culture . i  m curious enough about jesus and about the modernization of the religion  for better or worse . i haven  t seen mel gibson  s version  but i  m guessing that those who liked that one will like this  except for the most conservative . i just wish this was a better film .  br    br   lots of these reviews praise arcand  s direction and especially the cinematography . i liked neither . the film itself is rather prudish and preachy . i didn  t believe the characters  personae and i was never involved with their on screen lives . the play within the play is very much dated and would not  i think  carry it  s own weight in a real time production . but that  s beside the point . what i really needed for this to work would have been stronger development of the characters and the plot to support the philosophical and theological questions the film would like to be about . and the musical choices are obvious and unoriginal .  br    br   there were two examples of this that come easily to mind . firstly  there is a reenactment of the parable of jesus driving the money lenders from the temple the lead actor  who has fallen for the woman who will play magdalene and who is also a model and dancer  becomes enraged that she must debase herself by auditioning for a commercial  with a wicked producer and plenty of panting men in the audience  with her pants off . he trashes the place and chases them all out . i guess this is the level that the film wishes to reach . the romance between these two is entirely arbitrary and not at all emotionally realized and the scene is played out like a high  school rendering of death of a salesman  i . e .  not well . please stop hitting me over the head with this high  handed  significance .  the other is the relationship between the other female lead and the priest who has asked them to do the play and who  eventually  turns against them and betrays them to the nowadays  corrupt church . why . why does she sleep with this guy .  it brings him so much pleasure and me so little pain .  ah  the saintly whore and the lovable old coot . it seems to be just enough for arcand to signify but not worth the trouble to enrich and enliven these characters . they are going through the motions and i  m reaching for the eject button .  br    br   feel free to write me off as bored  jaded or just not interested . feel free to watch this movie and see the passion  in all its beauty  sadness and inspiration  delivered as an amateurish and gimmicky charade . feel free to have all your preconceived ideas affirmed and see any shred of artistic integrity forsaken for monotonous drivel . but don  t say i didn  t warn you .  
tony scott can make good films and bad  personally i think he can be a bit flashy and trashy and his work obviously suffers in comparison with that of his rather famous brother  but this is quite possibly his best film .  br    br   what makes this film so great is that scott gives denzel  on scorching form  better than training day  and the revelation who is dakota fanning time to develop a relationship of real warmth and tenderness . the set up is absolutely not boring  although it takes time  it is involving  and takes us on a little journey into the characters  including a superb role for radha mitchell as the mother . this all serves to make the action so much more effective  as we are so invested in the characters  for all their all too obvious weaknesses . this film has you on the edge for its entirety  and doesn  t cop out at the end either .  br    br   the film would of course be nothing without washington . i often wonder why he seems to get so many duff roles  when he quite clearly is as good as almost any leading man out there  i can only really think of one  daniel day lewis  who has more on  screen power these days  . this film should have been huge  given his status and the strength of his performance  and the quality of the film . it just goes to show you that if a studio doesn  t back a film to the hilt  it ends up going straight to video . i wish i  d got the chance to see this on the big screen .  
this film was slow but tedious and the acting often drifted into the land of ham . redgrave  s character was unappealing as the   something woman trying to compete with thurman  s   something for the love of fox  s character  why is beyond me  . the title of the movie should have been  shallow people on the lake  . the actors played like they were in a rehearsal . a dreadfully predictable ending to boot . i can  t believe this is on this website as a comedy   
to those who have not followed the anne marie fahey murder case . you are missing out one of the saddest yet complicated murder of all . the murderer is popular delaware attorney  tom capano and the victim is the delaware governor  s scheduling secretary  anne marie fahey . their relationship was a well  kept secret until her disappearance and murder . she wanted to leave him but he just wouldn  t let her go so easily . on the other hand  he had a mistress and a wife and four daughters . where did he find the time to have two mistresses and a domestic family life  besides  the case is extremely complicated and fascinating for a four hour mini series . while the actress who plays ms . fahey does a fine job  she does not have her dark long hair . his other mistress is definitely more attractive than the actual woman . mark harmon is better looking and does an emmy award winning performance as tom capano . it would be better with actual delaware and philadelphia locations . with ann rule  s executive producing  she adds accuracy to anne marie  s characteristic of organization and her personal battle with an eating disorder . these bits of information might be overlooked by any other executive producer or director . if you have not read the book  it is well worth it . ann rule is a fascinating storyteller of true crime . it is ironic that mark harmon plays tom capano . he also played ann rule  s former friend and subject  ted bundy in an another book adaptation many years ago . he was brilliant then and now . he does an above average job with an amazing story . even president clinton offered his assistance in the anne marie fahey case . and now  the former governor tom carper is now the united states senator for delaware who defeated longtime  popular incumbent senator richard roth in the november     election . if you don  t think the movie is interesting  then the read rule  s book .  
i  ve just lost  hours of my life watching this mindless plot . i could make a better movie with my cellphone camera . how do they manage to get actors to play in those movies   porn movies have better scenarios and effects . . . i wish i had those  hours back . . .  br    br   the only good thing about this movie is the cast . even though  their acting skills in this one could not lift this movie to passable  the rest was just way too bad   br    br   it  s the type of movie that i  d recommend using to torture prisoners into scaring them straight .  br    br   even worse  i saw a translated version of this flick . . . imagine  a bad movie . . . with an even worst translation . . . yikes   
man on fire tells a story of an ex  special forces guy with a drinking problem who accepts a job as a personal bodyguard of a little girl in mexico during the wave of kidnappings for ransom . at first he  s not to friendly  but then they befriend with each other  he decides to stop drinking etc .  etc . . . then one day she gets kidnapped . . . and killed . . .  br    br   and he  won  t stop at anything to get the revenge .  br    br   that  s basically the story of man on fire but expect some big twists at least a few times including the ending which is beautiful and will probably make you cry .  br    br   that  s also because of the great music harry  gregson williams with lisa gerrard  gladiator  composed .  br    br   but the strongest part of the movie . . . wait . . . the thing is  everything here is perfect .  br    br   first  acting . denzel washington is at his best  mickey rourke and christopher walken good as always  great radtha mitchell and amazing young dakota fanning . and that  s not the end of the list . . .  br    br   then come the cinematography which is dazzling and along with superb editing  should have won an oscar for sure .  br    br   the story is . . . not just a revenge movie . the story is intelligent  the story makes you think . . . and is pure beautiful . really .  br    br   this is one of those movies you need to see in your lifetime  at least once   
this service comedy  for which peter marshall  joanne dru  s brother and later perennial host of the hollywood squares  and tommy noonan were hyped as  the new lewis and martin  is just shy of dreadful a few random sight gags are inserted  everyone talks fast and nothing works quite right   there  s one scene in which noonan is throwing grenades at officers and politicians in anger they  re about five feet apart  noonan is throwing them in between  and the total reaction is that everyone flinches .  br    br   in the midst of an awfulness relieved only by the fetching julie newmar  there are a few moments of brightness marshall and noonan engage in occasional bouts of double talk and argufying  and their timing is nigh unto perfect   clearly they were a well honed comedy pair .  br    br   it isn  t enough to save this turkey  alas .  
in mexico city  the former cia assassin and presently an alcoholic decadent man john creasy  denzel washington  is hired by the industrialist samuel ramos  marc anthony   with the recommendation of his old friend rayburn  christopher walken   to be the bodyguard of his young daughter pita  dakota fanning  and his wife lisa  radha mitchell  . pita changes the behavior of the cold creasy  making him live and smile again  and he feels a great affection for her . when the girl is kidnapped and creasy is informed that she was murdered by the criminals  he swears to kill each one responsible for the abduction .  br    br    man on fire  is almost a masterpiece  and will become certainly a classic in the future . the story is excellent  never corny and although having    minutes running time  the viewer does not feel time passing . the cast is composed by excellent actors and actresses  their performances are outstanding  highlighting denzel washington  dakota fanning and radha mitchell . the cinematography has wonderful moments  and the screenplay has stunning lines . i personally loved when the character of christopher walken explains to manzano  giancarlo giannini  that creasey  s specialty is death  and he is preparing his masterpiece . i agree with the user that commented that  man on fire  is one of the best  if not the best  film of the year in this genre . my vote is ten .  br    br   title  brazil    chamas da vingana    flames of the revenge    
the rookie suffers from so much . there are the random musical songs interspersed through the movie  the long pointless script and enough grating slapstick to make jerry lewis blush . noonan and leavitt just don  t know when to quit . it takes a full hour before the story finally gets to the main plot and the characters are shipwrecked . then the guys start playing japanese sailors with the standard racist caricature of the day . it is a shame the funniest parts of the movie are when noonan and leavitt are playing the stupid  stereotyped japanese guys . but  it gets pretty tiring after switching back and forth between two sets of characters . then it just abruptly ends . even a naked julie newmar in a towel can  t save this one .  br    br   there is really little charm in the movie and it is over a half hour too long . the story just flounders along trying to set up funny situations and failing . stick to martin  lewis . at least deano had charm and jerry had that animated face .  
i am amazed that movies like this can still be made . i watch all kinds of movies all the time with my friends and i can say that this is one of the best i ever seen . never thinked that a movie of    minutes can make me think about it on and on .  br    br   washington  charismatic and intense as ever  plays creasy  a washed  up ex  counter  terrorist agent who  s taken to the bottle . once he  s assigned to protect young pita  dakota fanning  in mexico city  his emotional and redemptive arc is jump  started in the way only an adorable little girl can provide . inevitably  pita is kidnapped by thugs  and creasy decides that most of mexico city must pay the price for daring to take away his character  s teddy  bear  clutching catalyst . yes  he has become . . . a man on fire .  br    br   you must see this movie .  
it  s hard to tell if noonan and marshall are trying to ape abbott  costello  martin  lewis  curley  larry  or some other comedy team  but whoever it was they were trying to imitate  they failed miserably . there  s barely one weak laugh in this whole incredibly stupid picture . noonan  who helped write the alleged  script   and marshall have no chemistry whatsoever marshall seems to be trying for a dean martin type of devil  may  care coolness  but he doesn  t come even remotely close . god knows what noonan thought he was doing  but being funny sure wasn  t it . he seems to think that flapping his arms and legs a lot and staring dumbly at everyone and everything is the height of screen comedy maybe for him it is  but not for the audience . i remember seeing this in the theaters when it came out . it was on the bottom of a double bill with a three  year  old jeff chandler western   pillars of the sky   which was pretty good  and a three stooges short   sappy bullfighters   which wasn  t   and about   minutes into this thing all the kids in the audience were throwing stuff at the screen it was so staggeringly unfunny that it didn  t even measure up to the worst of the three stooges shorts . i stayed around for the end of it  not that i wanted to  but my folks weren  t due to pick me up until after the movie ended   and by the time this mess was over  i was the only one in the theater . i saw it again about   or so years ago on cable one night  and stuck around to watch it to see if it was as bad as i remembered . it was worse . the only thing it had going for it was julie newmar  who was as smokingly hot as ever other than her  this thing has absolutely nothing to recommend it . the two of them also play japanese soldiers  and the way they do it makes jerry lewis  infamous playing of japanese characters as thick  lensed  buck  toothed  gibbering mental defectives look benign by comparison . marshall went on to host  hollywood squares   and noonan kept trying his hand at making movies  but most of them were almost as bad as this . not quite  though  as i don  t think anything could be quite as bad as this . a truly pathetic waste of film . don  t waste your time on it .  
it  s hard to top this movie in several ways . everything works really well here the casting  acting  script  and cinematography are all first  rate . for the moviegoer  it  s a moving  violent story of love and human redemption . for the film critic  there  s plenty of sharp technique and technical merit . there are some tactical blunders  and as has been discussed on the boards  the ending lacks realism if one is rigorously formal with the cia agent training angle . however  i took the ending as being more moving due to the fact that rather than pursue the cia agent  s pragmatic approach  creasy basically commends his soul to the ultimate without considering the consequences . like jesus himself  creasy becomes superhuman through his sacrifice  whether it actually makes pragmatic sense or not . in any case  i appreciated the fact that creasy dispenses with conventional bourgeois morality and just caps the bad guys one by one in his methodical quest for justice  which actually results in redemption both for himself and the innocent .  br    br   in any case  this film is very much worth watching if you  re at all attracted to the genre . an excellent soundtrack  great writing  flawless casting  and solid performances across the board make this a top      or better  film .  
in sum  overlong and filled with more subplots than swiss cheese has holes  the director and co  writer says he wanted to mix genres  in this case drama and comedy . well  at least here  these two mix like vinegar and oil . to boot  the comedy is not very funny and juvenile . additionally  the film is not really realistic . liberties are taken regarding the legal system in committing french citizens against their will and the apparent ease of absconding with drugs in french hospitals . i watched this film on my big screen tv at home and found myself shouting at the film to move on . eventually toward the end i fast forwarded the final long speech one of the main characters makes to his ex  lover  s son . by that time i was worn out by the preposterous confused plot that deals with a dead lover  marriage of convenience and a nutty ex  lover . at times the plot diverts to the families of the two main characters and then reverts back to one of them  either ismael or primarily nora . to the detriment of the audience  viewpoints keep changing from nora and ismael  her ex  lover confined against his will in a psychiatric hospital . there probably are two potentially interesting films here neither of which are well developed . the epilogue does not really wrap up many of the sub  plots and seems to want the viewer to believe nora somehow will find happiness although given her circumstances in real life the chances are equivalent to a snow ball  s chance in hell . the actors do their best and are appealing  but this is not enough to overcome all the glaring faults of poor writing  editing and lack of focus .  
man on fire  is definitely one of the best drama  crime thrillers i have ever seen . despite having a slow beginning the story is so amazingly complex and sensitive that it sticks together rather well . this is denzel washington  s perfect role  in which he plays a body guard  called creasy that is tormented by his past and is an alcoholic but never gives up on his duty to save his latest protge  pita . dakota fanning plays pita  the very smart  enthusiastic little girl that loves so many things  and acts in a very convincing manner  she has a great future ahead of her . as i said the story is somewhat complicated  in order to fully understand it  you must watch it a couple of times .  br    br   this film is made in two parts  there  s the first hour  where everyone is happy  nothing  s wrong  everyone  s just living their lives happily until the kidnapping of pita occurs and where creasy is almost killed . and then there  s the second part  the rest of the film  where suddenly everything becomes complicated and somewhat gruesome and disturbing  when creasy  s recovered from his severe injury and starts chasing and killing the numerous criminals and  la hermamdad  that were responsible for the planning and execution of the kidnapping of pita .  br    br   denzel washington shows us his most up to date acting talents alongside many other talented actors which have a great future ahead of them . it is a real shame that this film hasn  t been acknowledged enough  washington really deserved another oscar for his performance  and so did fanning and the director . and even maybe the visual effects which were of very high quality .  br    br   if you like excellent  slightly deranged  suspenseful thrillers  this is the one to see . the most amazing thing is that elements of this film are actually based on a real story and real characters        
too many secondary plot lines without a primary one . too many hot buttons are pushed without any reason  they managed to stuff this boring film  that does not say anything  with every drama element that is out there death  divorce  money issues  parenting problems  suicide  psychological problems  drug abuse  adoption  rejected love  traveling problems  sex  generations misunderstandings  robbery  legal issues  guns  medical ethics   deep real love   you would think that it would make for an interesting movie  but hell no  all these events are secondary to something primary which is not there . boring . not to mention that the  super  deep   and super  long  lecture to the child at the end of the film is a total nonsense . pity .  br    br   oh  forgot to mention the actors  all of them  are quite good . that  s what kept me from turning it off . to bad their talents went to waste  the film is well shot  too the light  the motion etc . of every episode   that  s all in place . it  s just the meaning that  s missing .  
this comment does contain spoilers    br    br   there are few actors that have an intangible to them . that innate quality which is an amalgamation of charisma  panache and swagger . it  s the quality that can separate good actors from the truly great . i think george clooney has it and so does jack nicholson . you can look at clooney  s subtle touches in scenes like his one word good  bye to andy garcia in ocean  s   when they just utter each other  s name disdainfully .  terry .   danny .  you can pick any number of jack  s performances dating as far back as five easy pieces in the diner to a few good men and his court room interrogation scene . these guys just have it . you can add denzel washington to the small and exclusive list of actors who exudes that terrific trait in everything he does . if you look at some of his explosive borderline diatribes in the siege to his impressive tribute to malcolm x in spike lee  s film of the same name  you can see that there is no finer an actor working today . i don  t mention all of this to insinuate that man on fire is perfect just because of denzel  s work  but he is definitely the cog of the production . i was literally mesmerized with some of his scenes that are raw  emotional and incendiary all at the same time .  br    br   washington plays creasy a former spy or cia agent or one of those covert government operatives . he has pretty much hit rock bottom as he has become disillusioned with the life that he has led . he has killed and perhaps done things that are best left unsaid and this has made him a hardened and bitter man . his friend and perhaps mentor  played very reservedly by christopher walken  is living in mexico making a very comfortable living by providing body guard services for the rich . apparently the kidnapping business in mexico is so vibrant that these paid former s . e . a . l . s and such can do very well while providing a needed service . creasey needs the work and accepts a job with a well to do family who seems to be in some financial difficulty . marc anthony is fine as samuel  radha mitchell is tantalizingly sexy as his wife lisa and dakota fanning is just unbelievably and precociously brilliant as pita . i don  t know how a child of her age can have such range to play the characters that she does but her interpretation of pita is nothing short of oscar worthy . the film  s entire first half is dependent on the relationship between pita and creasy and if there was a weaker actress in the role  perhaps that emotional synergy would not have come across so succinctly . but fanning is nothing short of remarkable in the role .  br    br   it is the relationship between pita and creasy that drives this film to the apex of cinema . together they are perfect and there is a real bond developed between them . tony scott directs with a frenetic urgency and his eye for visual flare has never been better . i am interested to see how his next film  domino  turns out . i think scott is one of today  s under rated directors and with more films like this one  his name will surely be elevated to icon status .  br    br   the story has creasy really taking to pita  and vis  ca versa . there is a definite connection between the two of them and perhaps it stems from the fact that although pita loves her dad  he is not around much . he is a philanthropist and obviously has little time to spend with his family . soon  creasy is taking pita to her swimming competition . he is reading her bedtime stories and she is naming her teddy bear  creasy  . it  s not just a friendship between them  it is more of a kinship  and a deep parental love seems to be present .  br    br   the film changes gears when pita does get kidnapped and held for ransom and creasy is is almost fatally injured trying to protect her . this is where the story becomes thick with innuendo and ripe with deceit as the plot pieces get unraveled like an onion . and this is where denzel becomes a tour de force . like i said earlier  i have seen denzel give some outstanding performances in films like crimson tide and training day  but never have i seen him like this . he is a man possessed and with the possibility of pita being dead  he becomes a literal man on fire . it rages in him as he hunts down and dishes out his brand of comeuppance . denzel  s anger and acerbity are ubiquitous and not easily quelled as he hunts down each person responsible for pita  s violation . this all vigilante justice as the mexican authorities always seem to be one step behind .  br    br   also what is paramount to this film  s audacious brilliance is that there are few films that actually give the criminals their due comeuppance . i have often been frustrated to watch films where the bad guys get let off easily . they inflict all kinds of torment for the entire film and then they take a bullet and die . but not in this film . writer brian helgeland sees to it that retribution here is unequivocal and it is painful . the perpetrators here feel creasy  s wrath and they experience the torment that he unleashes . there is nothing gimmicky about his brand of justice . he needs information and someone loses a finger . he wants answers and a homemade bomb is placed in places that are meant for other things . there is no punches pulled here and this is one of the true strengths of the film .  br    br   man on fire is one the five best films of     . now that it is out on dvd  my recommendation is to get the se . it is loaded with bonus features that include about  hours of documentaries and different commentary tracks .       
  kings and queen  is a bloated french drama that rambles on for an interminable two hours and thirty  two minutes to no discernible point or purpose .  br    br   the film features two stories that seem unrelated at first but which eventually connect with one another about halfway through the movie . the first centers around nora and her struggles with various men in her life  including an elderly father who discovers he has only a few days left to live . the other story involves a young man named ismael  a violinist who finds himself placed  unfairly  he believes  in a mental institution through the machinations of an unknown third party . after traveling along on separate tracks for awhile  these two narrative strands eventually come together when we learn that ismael is a former lover of nora  s and the man she has chosen to adopt her son from an earlier  tragic relationship .  br    br   with a bit more focus and a considerable amount of streamlining   kings and queen  might have been a potent  engrossing drama about modern day relationships . it certainly has moments of tremendous insight and emotional power  and the performances are  for the most part  complex and touching . but  taken as a whole  the film meanders and maunders to such an extent that  quite frankly  it begins to wreak havoc on our patience and to wear out its welcome early on . even more distressing is the fact that  even though we spend what seems like a mild eternity in the company of these people  we really don  t know quite what to make of any of them when the show is finally over . for instance  nora  s father  on his deathbed  writes a withering diatribe against his daughter  s character that simply doesn  t gibe with the woman we  ve been looking at for well over two hours . nora is admittedly no mother theresa  then  again  who is    but she certainly doesn  t deserve the invective thrown at her by her very own father . nora could be accused of being confused  indecisive  a bit self  absorbed at times  but evil enough to have her father wishing he could give her his cancer and make her die in his place  i don  t think so .  br    br   perhaps this film is simply operating at a level of depth that i was unable to fathom . but my suspicion is that even writer roger bohbot and co  writer  director arnaud desplechin would have trouble fully explaining their purpose here . this is a well acted  pretentious bore of a film that takes the viewer on a long  rambling voyage through a sea of personal crises  a journey that leaves him no wiser or more enlightened at the end than he was at the beginning .  
this is an excellent  heartbreaking movie . it is by far the best i  ve seen that depicts the current reality in latin america . . . kidnappings  corruption  ruthless and greedy police officials and heartless mayhem towards innocent victims . denzel washinton gives the most moving performance in his career  in my opinion . dakota fanning is an amazing young actress . the relationship between washington and fanning is wonderfully written and portrayed  i believed every minute . the cast is brilliant  christopher walken  mickey rourke are great as always . walken lights up the screen for me like no other actor . i would have loved to see more of both of them . the authentic locations are remarkable . the camera work is interesting and different . there are many famous latin actors in the cast  making it all the more interesting for people familiar with latin american cinema . i highly recommend this movie .  
  rois et reine  is a sprawling mess of a movie which will probably irritate as many viewers as it delights . it focuses by turns on ex  lovers nora  emanuelle devos  and ismael  mathieu amalric  as they each confront a major crisis in their now separate lives . while nora  s story is played straight and is sombre in tone  ismael  s is played mainly for laughs  although it  s not particularly funny . nora  s crisis is triggered by the terminal illness of her father louis  maurice garrel   and ismael  s by his sudden incarceration in a mental hospital at the instigation of a mysterious third party . ismael and louis are just two of the males who have shaped nora  s life  and in turn have been shaped by her  the most notable others being her now deceased first lover pierre and their young son elias . as events past and present are played out for the audience  and the ex  lovers become involved in each other  s lives once more  it gradually emerges that nora  s personal take on her life story may be less reliable than first meets the eye .  br    br   cult director arnaud desplechin has fashioned a considerable oddity here  one which has garnered major plaudits in france . he wilfully eschews established narrative convention and develops the movie via a series of dramatic shifts in mood and tone . had this approach been founded on a coherent unifying core idea or theme it might have worked  but it  s not clear in the end what exactly desplechin  s film is actually about . heavy  handed allusions to greek mythology and freudian theory are evidently freighted with meaning but  at least for this unschooled movie  goer  remain less than helpful in illuminating and interpreting the lives of the characters . at other times the treatment lapses into kitsch but the use of the anodyne  moon river  as the film  s theme tune suggests this is probably deliberate .  br    br   spoiler alert i suspect a major theme of the movie is the not very original observation that how we see ourselves can differ radically from how others see us or even how we think others see us . this idea is most obviously represented in the film by the violent death of pierre and the revelation contained in louis  secret diary  but unfortunately both events seem entirely disconnected from what has otherwise been revealed to the audience of pierre and louis  respective relationships with nora . this seems a cheat on desplechin  s part  as if he is thrusting the idea upon us in unmediated form rather than illustrating it more subtly in the natural course of the narrative . one or two darkly surreal touches imply the presence of an alternative but largely unconscious world of persons stripped frighteningly bare  but again these are felt more as pretentious intrusions of film  making technique rather than eruptions from a deeper reservoir of truth inherent in the story . in fact  for all its heavy  handed hints at depth  the characters are curiously undeveloped and unnuanced  as if they function more as ciphers for their creator  s many ideas about people rather than as real people in their own right . much of the detail of their lives seems arbitrarily applied rather than organic . for example  ismael  as we are constantly reminded  is a viola player  but more than two hours pass before we actually see or hear him play  and the effect of his chosen instrument or profession upon his personality is never elaborated . hence  he may just as well be a marine biologist or a trapeze artist .  br    br   amalric brings a certain manic charm to the unhinged but ultimately sane ismael  but i found devos cloying and monotone  which may be intentional  however  as the elusive nora . meanwhile jean  paul roussillon as ismael  s father  elsa wolliaston as his psychoanalyst and magalie woch as the psychically wounded but defiant sinologist he befriends in hospital make the biggest impact amongst the supporting actors . catherine deneuve  s in it  too  though her role is little more than a self  referential cameo .  br    br   ultimately   rois et reine  is very much an acquired taste . should it fail to push your buttons  it  s very likely that desplechin  s undisciplined and florid approach will frustrate and exasperate even as you somehow keep watching .  
man on fire was hot . i love a classic tale of good ol  revenge  and what better cause for revenge than the kidnapping of an innocent little girl .  br    br   the writers did an excellent job in this movie of building the relationship between creasy  denzel washington  and pita  dakota fanning  so that the viewer would understand and actually feel the drive creasy had to rescue pita . it was also good that creasy wasn  t a choir boy type trying to rescue pita through the  proper  channels  but instead used torture tactics and street smarts . some may say   torture is wrong regardless   and you may be right  but when you see the pain creasy goes through due to the loss of pita and the sheer passion he has for getting her back  you can  t help but side with creasy and pull for him to be even more merciless . there would be no progress if creasy used diplomacy to deal with the different nefarious gangsters and criminals and he knew that .  br    br   creasy  s quest ended with the return of pita to her mother and creasy dying in the vehicle of the bad guys . but creasy  s death did not diminish the effectiveness of the movie  it in fact enhanced it by showing that creasy was willing to die to get pita back . his death was noble in fact .  br    br   denzel does an excellent job as do the writers . this movie deserves good marks because it definitely was a good movie .  
i  m sure this was one of those  woah   attractions in     when epcot opened  but now it  s just silly . the film  s message is clich . the circle  vision is disorienting . and that awful song at the end is grating . and i really wish they  d install seats . after so much walking  all you want to do is sit down for a few minutes . and when you hear there  s a film to see it sounds pretty glamorous  you get entertained while sitting down  right  wrong  you  re standing there for    minutes leaning against a short little railing . disney should make a newer maelstrom like attraction to liven things up and replace this dull  lackluster film . not fun . skip it . in fact  skip canada altogether unless you  re eating there . move directly to the united kingdom .  
i get teased all the time by family and friends for my tears over movies  and they were not disappointed when i watched this one . i cried numerous times but believe me it was not over sappiness . i ached for the family and i ached for this man as he tried to redeem himself the only way he knew how . denzel was fabulous as always  and so was chris walkin . mickey rourke  i did not even recognized though the years have not been kind to him . my husband is not one to re  watch movies unless they are historically accurate war movies  snore      he has watched this movie  times now and i am going to have to get the dvd to watch it again because he has worn out the tape and it jumped the whole time i was watching .  
anita and me seems to be little more than an excuse for meera syal  the author of the novel and screenplay  to air her prejudices  grievances and general antipathy towards the english . the general sentiment of indian superiority over the english in this film is foul .  br    br   the english people in this film are portrayed as overweight  violent  foul  mouthed  promiscuous  engaging in child neglect  stupid  uneducated  racist  ugly  eating poor food  and dim  witted   tellingly  only by turning to indian culture can the local priest be  redeemed  at the end of the film .  br    br   by contrast  the indian family are beautiful  clever  educated  can speak many languages  are caring and loving parents  and grammar  school fodder . the film is so insidiously prejudicial that i am astonished the bbc funded it at all . had it been the other way round  an english family in an indian community depicted this way  the film would have been seen as racist .  br    br   there were a few moments where my eyebrow shot so far up my forehead  i thought it would lodge in my hairline . first  the gossip scene between the women at the divali celebration   undertext the english are dirty and promiscuous   and the men   undertext english women are prostitutes . second  the meal with anita where neema  s family lie to her about cutlery   undertext the english are so stupid  you can make them do anything .  br    br   but the underlying contempt towards anything english   even english weddings are an object of scorn   is evident all the way through the film . the character of anita was drawn so appallingly   almost the fallen woman trope   that i finished the film feeling angry .  br    br   this is not a  bend it like beckham  where the humour is focused on loving exaggerations of a community  s behaviour and customs from somebody within that community  and is a film about two girls from different backgrounds coming together . instead  anita and me seems to convey that a form of cultural apartheid is inevitable  as the english are almost an version of the indian untouchable caste  and this is underscored by a thinly  veiled series of attacks upon the film  s  other  community the english .  br    br   i felt anita and me is a hate  filled  grievance  based piece of work . on that basis  the bbc should not have funded its production .  
when i remember seeing the previews for this movie and not really thinking much about it . it was almost one of those movies that when you see the preview  its stunning  and then when it comes out  you hear nothing and totally miss it  and your memory totally doesn  t correct the mistake of missing it . man on fire was one of those movies . i was curious on a rental one time  and i decided to take it home with me  my precious blockbuster rental in my hands . i watched it  and witnessed such a beautiful movie . it is like none other . . . drama and action combined to create something amazingly spectacular . the cinematography done by tony scott is extremely well done and unique  unlike another movie . the subtitles can explain something without even listening to the actual voices  and the music is very intriguing for the setting . i got into this movie  and ended up buying it as soon as i could scurry out of the household and head over to best buy . i  ve watched it several times now . denzel washington  creasy  does an amazing job with becoming this lost  minded ex  special forces man with no reason to live . dakota fanning  pita  puts life back into him with her undying love for him right from the start . they bond and become good friends  until she is kidnapped by notorious gangsters part of the brotherhood  la hermandad . creasy  denzel  tells the mother of dakota fanning that he will hunt down the killers  fearing that pita is dead . this is where creasy really shows the person he can become . he uses his contacts from pita  s kidnapping and creasy  s hospitalization to find one of the men and he begins his pursuit . my favorite line of all  is in this movie  when christopher walken tells the afi agent that  a man is a work of art  in anything that he does . . . . cooking  whatever . creasy  s art is death . . . he  s about to paint his masterpiece .  he plays a very unique roll of creasy  s old partner and friend . after finally pursuing the brother of  the voice   leader of la hermandad . creasy arranges a meeting to trade pita for himself and the voice  s brother . in the end  creasy dies from being shot earlier  and his wound getting infected and massive blood loss . it is a very sincere and sad ending  but a great one . i love this movie and recommend it to anyone that is looking for a memorable flick . the story is in depth  everything is explained from beginning to end  and nothing corny at all in any way or manner .  
i had high expectations following  my beautiful laundrette    bend it like beckham  and  less so   east is east  . the histories of british asians fitting into their adopted home has had many good runs on the big screen  as well as a number of excellent tv and radio series  goodness gracious me  etc  . this one falls flat . inspite of a good start it rapidly went down hill .  br    br   ultimately this was a horribly typical bbc effort  complete with strong regional accents  whacky over  acting characters  a  those were the days  soundtrack  and lots of  issues  in an attempt to be worthy .  br    br   i found myself cringing at many points during this film . the writing is predictable . every possible cliche was dragged out and aired . in fact  i have trouble thinking of any cross  cultural  cross  generational devices that could have been used that weren  t . the characters were thin and cliched the eccentric non  conformist minister the well meaning but ultimately racist old woman the over weight  overbearing aunt the pushy indian parents the working class neighbour the  wise  profound grandmother the motorbike riding thug . the script was weak  with every chance to shock the audience with overt racist dialogue from the two dimentional racist white characters taken . and why it had to be set in the    s  apart from needing an excuse for a    s soundtrack  is a mystery . possibly it make unbelievable characters slightly more believable to people born after     . i don  t know .  br    br   even these things aside  good acting could have carried this into respectable obscurity . instead  the usual  bbc comedy  suspects were wheeled out to ham it up .  bend it like beckham  had far better comic acting  and serious acting  in fact  than this  with a virtually unknown cast .  br    br   in summary  a lazy cliched script  over acted  in a dull predictable story . give it a miss .  br    br    
this excellent drama had me in suspense the whole time . i could not take my eyes off the screen for one second because every word kept connecting the pieces to this puzzling murder . this movie really touched me because it showed how sad and hard life can be . i really did cry in the end  which i don  t want to give away   it also let me realize how cruel and sickening people can be when it comes to murder .  br    br   the cast was also very good . the only bad cast member was the actress who played anne marie . the actress did a great job  but the director didn  t . i say this because he found someone who didn  t look a single bit like anne marie fahey herself .  
ok  the movie is good but i give it a  because the idea of a computer virus becoming an organic virus is pure fairy tale . this kind of crap just adds to those uncomputer savvy moron  s paranoid delusions that a computer virus is exactly like an organic virus . first of all  strings of code and dozens of  s and  s add up to computer virus . an organic virus is much more complex  even though it  s way tinier . though  it  s considered one of the simplest forms in the universe  organic virus  s attach burrow into your cells and attach themselves to the rna  then change your own rna code . explain to me how something like that could be processed from a monitor  maybe the radiation has some effect on the user  s cornea that turns your eyeballs into these viruses  i could see that  but obviously  the writer didn  t think of that .  
  kidnappings in mexico are as common as honeys giving me their phone numbers so if you  re rich then you  ll need a good bodyguard to keep you and your kids safe . a couple hires a washed up bodyguard called creasy to protect their adorable kid pita . at first  their relationship is a tad buggy but after a while  creasy eases up to the girl and the two develop a father  daughter relationship . one day pita is kidnapped and creasy is badly injured in the process . when he wakes up he finds out that the girl has been killed due to a ransom negotiations that went wrong and this sets creasy on a path find the men responsible for her death and make sure they are brought to his brand of justice .  br    br    keep some tylenol next to you while watching this movie because you will need to take some after watching it . i really love the story here of going to the extreme to obtain revenge because most movies usually just want revenge but really never go too far where as this movie they show how far a man can go to do what he feels is right . the only problem is the annoying visual style  which will either make you hate the movie or hate tony scott . i really feel sorry for the cinematographer because i  m sure he came into this movie thinking he was going to be filming an action movie and probably got all excited but instead he got stuck being the dp for a filmmaker that feels that the whole movie should look like it  s been possessed by demons . i wouldn  t have mind if the crappy visuals were restricted to a few action scenes but when it  s spread through out the whole movie then that  s when we have some problems . the same annoying style was recently used on  domino  and much like with this movie the style did hurt that otherwise great movie .  br    br    another person i feel sorry on this movie was the soon to be great harry gregson williams who had the impossible task of trying to compose music out of the jagged images . somehow  williams wrote some decent music for the movie but i  m sure if the movie had been more stable then the music would have turned out a lot better . the sound is wrongfully used throughout the movie and instead of enhancing the movie experience  it rather makes you feel like you  re being punished . the overuse of the subwoofer is irritating as every  seconds or so you can hear an ungodly low end sound coming out of it . i don  t know why scott thought the audience needed to be bombarded by the subwoofer but it really takes you away from the movie .  br    br    the acting in the movie is a beast despite the visuals . little fanning does yet another great job here and the scene at the end of the movie just breaks my heart . if the end of the movie doesn  t make anyone cry then they  re dead on the inside . denzel washington breaks his rule of not making any action movies with this movie and luckily  for him he gets to play a great character . the whole idea of a man that  s lost in life and all of a sudden due to a tragedy finds a purpose in his life is nothing new but washington brings some heart and emotion to the otherwise flat character . i love how we witness him from being a loner to actually learning to have emotion and after the kidnapping becoming a cold instrument of revenge . radha mitchell plays marc anthony  s wife and she along with fanning are the two reasons why i can  t hate the movie too much . j . lo  s husband comes and goes in the movie but he doesn  t really stand out much . mickey rourke and chris walken all have minimal roles in the movie but they do make an impact .  br    br    one thing that makes me laugh is how the filmmakers try to makeup for the crappy way they portray mexico by calling it a fine city at the end of the movie . a little too late for that if you ask me . let  s hope that tony scott is done with this phase of intentionally trying to ruin his career because a filmmaker as talented as him can and must do better than this .  
  anita and me  is a drama about growing up in multi  ethnic britain  rather like  bend it like beckham   or more closely   east is east   with which it shares a     s setting . the tone is resolutely chirpy  in spite of the dour black country accents   but the film lacks  east is east  s vigour and the result seems rather thin and trite . moreover  the portrayal of the film  s central relationship  between an asian girl and her white friend  is insufficiently deep to justify the way that the movie is structured around it . i have also grown tired of films where the hero years to be a writer  this is naturally often something that real writers have experienced  but hardly a fresh element in a fictional story .  east is east  was fun and sharp  anita and me  seems obvious and dull in comparison .  
you know you  re in for something different when a movie has christopher walken playing the part of a professional hit man  and he isn  t even one of the bad guys  although it could do with some judicious trimming here and there   man on fire  is a generally effective crime drama that ranges in tone from the openly sentimental to the downright brutal  and just about every tone imaginable in between .  br    br   denzel washington stars as creasy  a former cia assassin who has recently quit the business and is seeking some sort of redemption for the sins he  s committed . so far  he  s been looking for answers in a bottle and the bible and not doing all that well with either . as the movie opens  mexico city has been ravaged by a series of kidnappings aimed at the powerful and well  to  do  possibly perpetrated by the very police force assigned to keep law and order in the community . creasy accepts the position as bodyguard to the daughter of a wealthy business owner who rightly fears for her safety . the first third of the film is devoted to the growing friendship between creasy and his charge  pita  a sweet little girl who  slowly but surely  works her way into creasy  s initially hardened heart and affections . the last two  thirds of the film turns into an avenging angel melodrama  as creasy systematically seeks out and eliminates all those responsible for a tragedy that occurs early on in the story .  br    br   based on the novel by a . j quinnell   man on fire   astutely written by brian helgeland and flashily directed by tony scott  is a coolly efficient action picture that never shies away from the raw brutality of its subject matter . it takes a risk in asking us to identify with a man who is  for all intents and purposes  achieving his redemption by torturing and murdering  admittedly disreputable  people . these scenes of carnage and violence are both intense and suspenseful  even if they do at times border on the exploitative . even better are the quiet  intimate moments between creasy and pita in the early parts of the movie . washington and the wonderful dakota fanning establish an natural  easygoing rapport that helps to set the stage for the chaos and turmoil to follow .  br    br   washington carries the movie with his quality of stoic righteousness  making us understand his character on an emotional level even if what he is doing eludes us intellectually . in addition to the two leads  there are solid performances from walken  marc anthony  radha mitchell  mickey rourke  rachel ticotin and giancarlo giannini . but it is washington and the delightful ms . fanning who steal the show .  br    br    man on fire  would have been better with about a half hour taken out its running time  but this is still a better  than  average crime thriller .  
paint by numbers story and mediocre acting saved by some authentic color  and a few moments that are really wonderful and deeply felt . it does effectively capture the delicate transition of a girl into adulthood  and deals very sensitively and inventively with the cultural conflict the main family experiences .  br    br   unfortunately this germ of a good movie is imprisoned in an aimless and extremely convoluted plot that manages to incorporate religious strife  a conflict over a road construction project  the sex life of secondary and even tertiary characters  a mysterious man who lives in the woods  a bunch of racist hooligans  at least three different carnivals  the intricacies of local church politics  and on and on and on . and all of that doesn  t even include the actual central plot  which is only about the hopes  dreams  and frustrations of two girls  and their entire families  at the turning point of their lives . i was actually shocked when i realized the whole thing was supposed to take place over the course of one summer  and that so much movie got accomplished in  .  hours    br    br   ultimately the movie is melodramatic  every plot point is predictable  major life altering events happen and then are forgotten about   minutes later . . . and some of those events are extremely distasteful . most shockingly the fact that one of the characters is involved in a horrible crime  in a totally predictable  twist   and then is completely forgiven and the entire incident forgotten about from then on . similarly  a secondary character is introduced solely to die a couple minutes later and provide another  twist .  it  s all totally mechanical  right up to the ending that neatly ties up all the loose ends  well not all of them  just the ones the movie thinks you care about .   
although released among a flock of revenge  minded action flicks  kill bill vol .   the punisher walking tall   man on fire works as well as it does thanks in large part to the always  watchable denzel washington  one of the best actors around today .  br    br   in man on fire  based on a . j . quinnell  s     novel  first filmed in      with scott glenn   washington plays a down  on  his  luck ex  mercenary who has now stooped to drinking from a flash of jack daniels  until his old partner  christopher walken  offers him a chance at redemption . he is hired on as a bodyguard to the   year  old daughter  dakota fanning  of a mexican businessman  marc antony  and his american  born wife  radha mitchell  . while he and fanning work like oil and water first  not mixing very well   he really gets to form a bond with her  encouraging her to do better at swimming  while he at the same time attempts to deal with the demons of the past . it is that very bond that will force washington back into his old line of work when fanning is kidnapped and held for a    million ransom  and he is nearly killed . with almost any other stock action hero  schwarzenneger segal  etc .   the subsequent bloodbath would be the same repetitive schlock we  ve seen a million times before . but washington  s character  though he  s killing for a reason  does not particularly enjoy doing what he does . still  he gets help from a very intrepid mexican newspaper reporter  rachel ticotin  out to expose  la hermanidad   the brotherhood   the kidnap gang responsible for fanning  s abduction .  br    br   man on fire is flawed to some extent because of the hyper camera work  nearly headache  inducing montage editing  and various film stocks that are par for the course of its director tony scott  top gun crimson tide   but which are not necessarily unique to him  witness oliver stone  s use of montage in jfk or sam peckinpah  s in his classic   s and   s films  . still  scott gets a very good performance from washington  as well as fanning  who comes across as far more than a typical movie  brat kid . harry gregson  williams  south  of  the  border spanish guitar score is enhanced by soundtrack splashes of chopin  debussy  and even linda ronstadt  s classic     country  rock version of  blue bayou .  although the film overall is quite violent  it is no worse than most action films of the last ten years  and overall it is much better than most .  
i remember seeing this movie a long time ago on television . i remember the premise of the movie being about a bunch of hotel occupants being attacked by man  eating ants . what i didn  t remember was how awful it was     br    br   i recently caught this movie on television late at night . i  m sure it must have been a mistake because movies like this usually disappear from existance and are never to be found again  suzanne somers  at the pinnacle of her career playing chrissy on  three  s company   plays a vacationer at lakewood manor . constructions workers are installing a swimming pool outside and accidentally disturb an ants  nest . or should i say  a man  eating ants  nest   one of the workers actually gets attacked by the ants . one minute he  s picking them off his clothes one by one  the next minute he  s covered in them . the next scene shows a skeleton in the dirt .  br    br   if you thought that was pretty far  fetched  you should see myrna loy playing a wheel  chair bound resident who gets airlifted out of the manor via helicopter  i could almost picture her thinking in relief that she was getting airlifted out of the movie   br    br   the final scenes depict suzanne  robert foxworth and a third guy sitting on the floor of a hotel room with their backs to each other  blowing through straws and covered in ants .  br    br   that  s basically the movie . there  s really no  disaster  appeal or  big  star  draw to the film . it was intended to be a  grand  scale  television event at the time . now  it  s lucky if it gets dumped in a     am timeslot on your local television station .  br    br   if you want to catch suzanne somers at her best  then watch an episode of three  s company . if you want to see myrna loy doing anything to put bread on the table and pay the bills  then watch this movie .  br    br        
there are many reasons to watch this movie to see the reality that whips latin america with regard to the kidnappings thing  the police corruption at continental level  among so many realities that we live the latins .  br    br   the performance of denzel wahington was brilliant  this guy continues being an excellent actor and that it continues this way . dakota fanning just by   years  an excellent actress has become and i congratulate her . the rest of the movie was of marvel  i have it in my collection .  br    br   i hope that they are happened to those producing of hollywood to make a movie completely in venezuela  where they show our reality better with regard to the delinquency  the traffic of drugs or the political problems . they have been few the movies that they play venezuelan land  for example aracnophobia  jungle  jungle  dragonfly  they should make more  as well as they make in mexico .  br    br   the song  una mirada  i hope that it leaves in the soundtrack  it is excellent . my vote is       
this is another one of those  humans vs insects  eco  horror  features a theme that was popular in the late    s . only you can  t really call it horror . there  s zero suspense and no gruesome events . in other words this movie is pretty lame . it  s not that it  s really bad or something it  s just very boring . a construction site near a hotel uncovers a big nest of ants . later on we learn that  probably due to different sorts of pesticides used in the past  their bite became poisonous . some people get bitten and rushed to the hospital and it takes ages for the residents of the hospital to figure out what  s going on . robert foxworth figures it out first and then you can see him go berserk with a digging machine for what seems like several hours . then they flee in the house  waiting to get rescued . and  man  you should see all the efforts they make for rescuing them . i won  t spoil too much  but at one point they even use a big helicopter . all the time when i was watching this  i sat there thinking  come on  people  you all got shoes on . just run out of the building . i  m sure a bunch of ants won  t catch up with you .  it  s all pretty ridiculous .  br    br   of course  lots of close  ups of crawling ants are shown throughout the whole movie . ants in the garden . ants in the garbage . ants in the kitchen . ants on the roof . ants in the bedroom . ants in the sink . and the best part ants crawling on people  s faces while the actors are breathing through straws . but when you see groups of ants in wider shots  they indeed look like black rice the set designers glued to the wall .  br    br   one small surprise came near the end . no  it has nothing to do with a twist in the plot . it was just that brian dennehy made an appearance as a chief  fireman . ehrr . . . what more can i say  this movie is called it happened at lakewood manor but the box  art of my copy read ants and the title during the opening credits was panic at lakewood manor . there you have it . now  since this is a made  for  tv movie from the    s  i  ll be once again extremely mild in my final rating . now  the savage bees  another  humans vs insects  tv  movie from     was much better than this one . i even feel i have to go back and add a few points to its rating after having seen ants . lacking suspense  action  thrills  shocks and creepiness  the only thing you  ll be left with after seeing ants is an annoying itch .  
i liked this film a lot . it  s dark  it  s not a bullet  dodging  car  chasing numb your brain action movie . a lot of the characters backgrounds and motivations are kinda vague  leaving the viewer to come to their own conclusions . it  s nice to see a movie where the director allows the viewer to make up their own minds .  br    br   in the end  motivated by love or vengeance  or a desire to repent  he does what he feels is  right  .  will god ever forgive us for what we  ve done    it  s not a question mortal men can answer  so he does what he feels he has to do  what he  s good at  what he  s been trained to do .  br    br   denzel washington is a great actor  i honestly can  t think of one bad movie he  s done  and he  s got a great supporting cast . i would thoroughly recommend this movie to anyone .  
a pretty worthless made for television movie that pretty much follows the killer insect script . ants mysteriously turn into killer ants near a hotel . i think it is from the hotel food because the sewage from the hotel kitchen drains directly into the ant bed . there is a lack of suspense in this film and it is not scary either . watching a bunch of ants sting their victims is not very terrifying .  br    br   spoilers section the stupidity of the hero is near incredible . he is told that the health inspector that the ants could not be the hero . it has to be a mysterious virus . after the inspector says this  the hero takes his bulldozer and wrecks the huge ant colony . this disturbs the millions of ants and traps the people in the hotel .  br    br   end spoilers overall  this movie is extremely lame . i don  t understand why it got a dvd release when so many deserving movies have none . my only guess for the dvd release is that suzanne summers is featured in the film . this is a movie to avoid .  
here  s a gritty  get  the  bad guys revenge story starring a relentless and rough denzel washington . he  s three personalities here a down  and  out  low  key  now drunk  former mercenary  then a loving father  type person to a little girl and then a brutal maniac on the loose seeking answers and revenge .  br    br   the story is about washington hired to be a bodyguard for a little american girl living in mexico  where kidnappings of children occur regularly  at least according to the movie .  he becomes attached to the kid  played winningly by the child actress of our day  dakota fanning . when fanning is kidnapped in front of him  washington goes after the men responsible and spares no one . beware this film is not for the squeamish .  br    br   this is stylish film  making  which is good and bad . i liked it  but a number of people found it too frenetic for their tastes as the camera  work is one that could give you a headache . i thought it fit the tense storyline and was fascinating to view  but it  s  the shaky camera  not for all tastes .  br    br   besides the two stars  there is the always  interesting christopher walken  in an uncharacteristically low  key role  and a number of other fine actors .  br    br   the film panders to the base emotions in all of us  but it works .  
i remember watching this movie when i was young  but could not recall the title to it then going through horror movies i find it and think to myself  that is the title   this movie is a kind of combination disaster film  insect attack film with fewer notable stars in it . it is also somewhat boring too  as it has that television vibe to it where you can see the movie fade out for commercials and such . the plot has this sort of resort being invaded by ants . i think they were a bit disturbed by construction or something going on nearby  but do not quote me on that . the most memorable ant attack for me in the whole flick was the first one involving the kid who falls into the swimming pool after being swarmed and of course summers attack scene too . what else stands out in this one is the very goofy ending where the survivors use cardboard tubes to breath through . in the end though like most television movies this movie is very tame and not very scary in the least unless you panic at the sight of ants .  
mean  spirited  ugly  nasty retro  action thriller  about a bodyguard who is determined to find  and destroy    the killers of the girl he was supposed to protect . this film is almost an anachronism in today  s politically correct atmosphere . director scott doesn  t have any desire to apologize for the inherently immorality behind the film  s dramatic structure . scott is either not aware or doesn  t care for   years of social advances . i really don  t think we will see a more violent film any time soon  so you better go and see this one while you can . despite its relentless grimness  i think the movie is a powerful example of cinema at its most sinister  exploitative  and effective . scott has a tough thing to sell  but i think i  m a buyer . the extraordinary technical aspects of this film are just too effective for me to ignore . scott  s directorial choices are simply astonishing  and he pulls a great performance out of denzel washington . sensitive souls need to stay away from this one  but i recommended it to those viewers looking for a great  action  filled movie .  
is there a book titled  how to make a movie with every  man vs . nature  clich imaginable   if not  ants would make excellent source material for the chapter on killer insects . ants doesn  t have one shred of originality to be found at any point of its    minute runtime . i suppose the most surprising thing about ants is that they actually stretched the film to    minutes . the set  up  the characters  the various sub  plots  the death scenes  and the way the ants are presented have been done before any number of times  and in most cases  much better . it  s amazing that so many of these insects on a rampage films were made in the   s because they  re all basically the same movie .  br    br   and can someone please tell me what in god  s name myrna loy is doing in this monkey  turd of a movie  a woman as talented and classy as loy deserved better than ants as one of her final movies .  
this is by far one of the better made movies and didn  t leave me disappointed at all . the sound track along with finely shot hand  held camera work was exquisite . the are always chances a movie won  t hold ones beliefs as well as another  but i felt that rhythm of this picture and the timing was excellent . dakota fanning is rapidly becoming a staple in movie that require a child with an old soul personality and she has never disappointed me with her talent . as for mr . washington and of course christopher walken they both exceed the challenge of showing the darkest sides of humanity trying to move to the light .  
even for a tired movie model as the nature vs . man cycle that prevailed so predominantly in the     s  ants falls miserably short of being even somewhat effective  though entertaining for reasons it was not intending  . it is sooooo preposterous . apparently these ants that are bulldozed near an inn have been eating poisonous waste for decades and have now adapted by emitting poisonous bites  hundreds of these bites being fatal . watching actors of some notoriety clumsily fall amidst tiny black specks is painfully funny in a not  so  good  but very  bad way . so many scenes just look ludicrous a boy trying to fall in a dumpster whilst being attacked  suzanne sommers crying out in horror while lounging in bed  robert foxworth and lynda george breathing through pieces of wallpaper  bernie casey faking a gam leg  and the list goes on and on . the peril shown ranges from ants crawling from a drain to black lines of ants all over the walls . the cast for the film is not bad on paper  but none of these actors seem to believe in the material . poor myrna loy has to sit in a wheelchair through this horror . i hope she found a good use for the money  for it is obvious that was the only reason a woman of her pedigree would be in this nonsense . although it is quite a bad film  it is watchable  once for me  and does have many of those seventies bad film qualities  start  studded actors embarrassing themselves  that made  for  tv feel  and the dreaded creatures of nature reeking vengeance on man . this time man must push his hand into a pile of ants to be affected . really quite dreadful .  
i loved this movie . i  m a mexican and was in the least offended by it . in fact  i think this movie should be shown at police headquarters all over mexico . it  s a sad truth that our police system is as rotten as a  month old corpse . it angers me to read in the news how killers  kidnappers and other slime go free by paying a laughable fine or live like kings inside prison cells . we should have someone like creasy  denzel washington  s character . a bodyguard turned vengeful vigilante . kidnapping is flourishing industry down here  at least in the big cities  . i actually wish real life kidnappers could suffer the same fate as the one  s creasy did his fine job upon . that would be so marvelous  sorry  i am that resentful   . man on fire is a gripping film that you can  t miss . it might be hard on some of you  if you aren  t used to reading subtitles  mexicans do that all the time while watching american movies  but the effort will be well worth it . some of the editing is a bit fuzzy . . . kind of like traffic  remember   another brilliant take on how corrupt mexico is  . the movie starts out a bit slow but the pace picks up frantically by the second half . i swear you  ll be cheering as you watch denzel washington dispatch the wrong doers . his performance is nothing short of excellent . the ending  no spoilers  ok     is a bit sad  but i  m sure you  ll like it anyway . man on fire is one of the year  s best movies . a  must own  for a dvd collection    out of    
not only was he invariably annoying to listen to  but he had no jokes . i swear  some fobby asian guy telling yo momma jokes would  ve been funnier than leary  s crap .  well  maybe funny for a couple minutes but at least i  ll be able to laugh at least once   leary claimed he stopped taking drugs during one of his  jokes  . . . apparently he was still high on something he was just some crackhead imprecating rants mostly drug related . one of his jokes was something like   i wouldn  t use crack  especially having the same name as between my ass   oh man  how did he come up with that one   i swear the only guy that needs to shut the fk up is denis leary . thank god i didn  t have to see him live . this guy totally sucks .  br    br   if you  re easily amused by swearing  and  jokes  where you can come up with yourself  then waste your time with this junk .  
this has to be one of the best  if not the best film i have seen for a very  very long time . had enough action to satisfy an fan  and yet the plot was very good . i really enjoyed the film  and had me hooked from start to finish .  br    br   added blood and gore in there  but brought the realistic nature of what happens to the front of the film  and even had a tear jerker ending for many people i should think .  br    br   it is a must watch for anyone . seen many reviews  slating the film  but to be fair  most the films that get bad reviews  turn out to be some of the best . this proves it once again .  br    br   rent this film  buy this film  just go out and watch this film . you will not be disappointed .  
this by far one of the worst movies i have ever seen in my life . i gave up to watch it after an hour and regretted that hour a lot . the acting is horrible and there is almost no plot . my guess is that someone came up with a strange shape of an animal and started to make a story around of it . borrowing some ideas from movies like resident evil and aliens doesn  t result in a movie like them . if this going to be a top korean movie  i  d rather won  t bother to see even a korean movie trailer . . .  br    br   by the way  this movies is a good reason to believe that not necessarily a high rating means the movie is promising . i think every korean who has internet for online gaming rated this movie over the   even though has no clue what it is about .  
he is the quintessential narcissist and manipulator in this case  portraying attorney  and murderer  tom capano .  br    br   kathryn morris is sympathetic as victim  anne marie fahey  but in the beginning is a bit too much the victim . we are sorry for the situation  but become simultaneously disgusted after seeing his victimization of several other women  including rachel ward  as well .  br    br   the sad part is where she is actually getting help with her self  esteem issues  and capano actually had her psychologist killed . pretty hard to believe  but this was based on a true story .  br    br   there is a cameo with olympia dukakis  excellent  as capano  s mother . all in all  an interesting story because it is based on a true murder  and you will want to read ann rule  s book to get the accurate details .     .  
in some ways  the concept behind the storyline was a rather interesting blend of several typical movie types in an interesting combination . however  no point in this movie was so obvious that it did not deserve lingering close  up shots . i felt as though i had been beat over the head with the so  called mysterious explanation for the disease killing people .  br    br   the writer appears to have simply lifted clichs from other movies as a substitute for writing lines adapted to actual characters . the actors did not help matters . no chemistry . i guess they were supposed to develop some kind of attraction if only for the reason that such is an essential element of these stories . however  the writers didn  t work very hard to develop the chemistry . sure  they  re both attractive  but whether they  re attractive to each other seemed to be an open question .  br    br   the confidence turner  s character shows in sabato  s developed far too quickly and for no particular reason . sabato  s character is supposed to be a discredited doctor who just can  t seem to play by the rules . think of the jeff goldblum character in  independence day .  usually  that kind of character is supposed to demonstrate some kind of talent or brilliance . sabato  s character does not . he  s cassandra with just the crazy and all the prophetic skills of a magic eight ball . he appears to be right by random chance .  br    br   the death scenes are comical . every actor was really trying more than a little to hard to demonstrate the agony inflicted on them . the symptoms looked like bad claymation  sort of like that video from the   s  peter gabriel  i think .  
i loved the real mc coys            it is too bad that lydia reed has decided to be forgotten and not appear . she was excellent in the show . of course walter brennan was great as well as tony martnez . i loved it when he called amos seor grampa . i have purchased season i on dvd and i cannot wait to buy seasons    . if only there would be more shows on television like this one  everything would be better . this show appeared briefly in the summer of     but then disappeared . god bless all the departed members of the cast and please  llydia reed  make yourself known again to the public . you are loved and respected . the real mc coys will live forever .  
the original book of this was set in the     s but that won  t do for the tv series because most people watch for the     s style . ironically the tube train near the end was a     s train painted to look like a     s train so the underground can play at that game too . hanging the storyline on a plot about the jarrow march was feeble but the   s version had students who were beginning to think about the world around them so i suppose making them think about the poverty of the marchers is much the same thing . all the stuff about japp having to cater for himself was weak too but they had to put something in to fill the time . this would have made a decent half hour show or they could have filmed the book and made it a better long show . it is obvious this episode is a victim of style over content .  
although i didn  t like stanley  iris tremendously as a film  i did admire the acting . jane fonda and robert de niro are great in this movie . i haven  t always been a fan of fonda  s work but here she is delicate and strong at the same time . de niro has the ability to make every role he portrays into acting gold . he gives a great performance in this film and there is a great scene where he has to take his father to a home for elderly people because he can  t care for him anymore that will break your heart . i wouldn  t really recommend this film as a great cinematic entertainment  but i will say you won  t see much bette acting anywhere .  
this is really a new low in entertainment . even though there are a lot worse movies out .  br    br   in the gangster  drug scene genre it is hard to have a convincing storyline  this movies does not  i mean sebastians motives for example couldn  t be more far fetched and worn out clich .  then you would also need a setting of character relationships that is believable  this movie does not .   br    br   sure tristan is drawn away from his family but why was that again  what  s the deal with his father again that he has to ask permission to go out at his age  interesting picture though to ask about the lack and need of rebellious behavior of kids in upper class family . but this movie does not go in this direction . even though there would be the potential judging by the random backflashes . wasn  t he already down and out  why does he do it again   br    br   so there are some interesting questions brought up here for a solid socially critic drama  but then again  this movie is just not  because of focusing on  cool  production techniques and special effects an not giving the characters a moment to reflect and most of all forcing the story along the path where they want it to be and not paying attention to let the story breath and naturally evolve .   br    br   it wants to be a drama to not glorify abuse of substances and violence  would be political incorrect these days  wouldn  t it   but on the other hand it is nothing more then a cheap action movie  like there are so so many out there  with an average set of actors and a vinnie jones who is managing to not totally ruin what  s left of his reputation by doing what he always does .  br    br   so all in all i . . just . . . can  t recommend it .  br    br    for vinnie and  for the editing .  
 . . . dont read any plot summaries because in words the plot might seem trivial  brain  dead and pointless . the film is excellent  the acting by both denzel and dakota  she will go sky high  trust me on that  are just fabulous  and the plot is mind blowing . actually  fabulous  is a small word to use for such talented actors . the film is just based on actual facts and some characters are not fictional  a fact that adds up to the shock that i was having during and after the film . if you are fond of both actors and of somewhat deranged films  you still haven  t watched your favorite one yet . . . trust me  in the end you will have a weird and inexplicable feeling . the film is awesome  see it  rent it  buy it or whatever . . . just don  t miss it  
i already know that critics and some audiences say that it was a satire  there were numerous political and social messages  the names make refer to some other names etc . it might be . i cannot realize such things  i don  t want to do anyway  because i am not interested in  i am interested in  cinema  . as for the movie itself  again it is said that the movie is clever and dramatically powerful . i could not see anything which we don  t see in monster movies except the scene which takes place in a office in the second half . yes  that scene says somethings about humanity  but it does not make the movie brilliant . the movie is entertaining  mildly  and exciting in some moments or scenes  but no more than that . as for the biggest flaw of the movie  it is visual effects . it was just shocking  i could not pull myself together for a while  because i had expected a realistic monster  because it is not one of the old gojira movies  it was made in      but it was not . it is like if you don  t believe that there is a monster  you cannot care about . if you agree with me about this  i highly recommend you cloverfield that is extremely realistic . the design of the monster is not interesting  but at least planned  there is an effort . dramatically powerful critique . some critics talk about it as if it is a kurosawa movie . yes  it is rather a drama than a thriller or action  but it should not mean that it is dramatically powerful . i don  t want to compare the host with other monster movies  but i try to mean that the host does not do something that other monster movies do not do . by the way  may be some people call the movie masterpiece because of their sympathy for asian cinema . yes  i like asian cinema too  but this is the fact .  
certainly one of the finest movies i have seen for quite some time . exquisite direction and flawless acting make this a very entertaining and often moving film . denzel washington plays one of his most engaging and emotional roles to date  and the rest of the cast perform beautifully . christopher walken is of course superb in his part although he did not appear as often as i would have liked . a story of ultimate greed that backfires is offset against a childs innocence and love . this is also a film for action movie lovers as it has its fair share of bullets  rockets and revenge . the location of mexico city adds a feel of seediness and corruption which in itself is an eye opener . all in all  a truly gripping film from beginning to end . highly recommended   
monster  he was great i loved the special  effects which created this monster which looked like an updated version of  the creature from the black lagoon .  the scenes with this beast roaming the land and capturing people ranged from good to jaw  dropping .  br    br   social commentary much of the story takes place in the quarantine area as the doctors  under orders from the government  state that sars  like disease is out there . in a nutshell  we get the familiar government cover  up story . you know  i expect this liberal paranoid mindset with hollywood films always painting our government as corrupt  but it looks like the koreans are copying the format  and it  s very tedious . in here  it takes away from the excitement and suspense of this  monster .  it just drags the film down . the main family featured in the film has to watch from a distance while the young girl in their family  presumed dead  was hauled off by the creature .  br    br   moral a typical  don  t pollute the water  message because this is what can happen  a horrible mutated monster . this used to be the anti  nuclear bomb message from the     when radiation caused giants ants  spiders  fish or whatever in those schlocky sci  fi films . now its  environmental issues  that are the focus .  br    br   the humor this was mostly stupid . i normally laugh at slapstick but this wasn  t funny . i don  t know if the korean sense of humor is that pitiful  or the film was purposely trying to be ultra  corny with a take on the old  godzilla  movies . let  s hope it  s the latter .  br    br   transfer  the video transfer was good . this was a sharp  looking picture and sound was decent with a lot rear  speaker crowd noise . i watched this in korean with the english subtitles . that might have been a mistake as the korean guttural voice sounds got annoying after a half hour .  br    br   overall  this had a promise but turned out to be a big letdown and even boring in too many spots  which is inexcusable for a modern  day monster film . two hours was way too long for this story . how this film drew record crowds in korea i don  t know . they must not have much in the way of films to enjoy and support .  
i have seen maslin beach a couple of times  both on free to air tv in brisbane . i won  t go into whether it is good  bad or otherwise as others have well and truly covered this .  br    br   i will say that it is so australian . only in australia can we have a film about relationships among people spending the day as naked as the day they were born  and to view it on free commercial television .  br    br   i have a friend from the us who is constantly amazed at what we put on our free tv compared to her home country . sex and the city and huff are just too examples .  br    br   despite our government trying to turn us into the   st us state  it is good to know at least some things remain truly aussie  
what a terrible movie . rotten tomatoes had a good rating for this too . don  t be fooled by the positive comments it wasn  t scary . it wasn  t funny . it wasn  t clever . it won  t even hold your attention . i just wasted  hours of my life viewing this crap  fest . the computer generated monster was interesting to see the first couple times . after about   minutes it no longer entertained . the dialogue was terrible  must be a translation thing . another negative that stood out was the idiot americans .  were portrayed and they were all lacking character  intelligence and judgment . now i will write a couple of lines to pad this since we have to have   . the employees at the video store should have slapped me for bringing this title to the counter .  
this movie is great entertainment to watch with the wife or girlfriend . there are laughs galore and some very interesting little nudist stories going on here . the actresses are all very interesting and definitely worth watching in their natural beauty . maslin beach life is full of diverse nudists and personality types . the australian coast scenery is  simply  splendid to see . what a place to visit  to say the least  and one day it may become my hideaway . i really enjoy this movie and every time i watch it i enjoy it more . i would love to see more of these characters and i always wonder what became of them . although the plot is somewhat soft  this movie is  of course  a great excuse to just sit back on the couch and enjoy the wonderful and famous maslin beach with these wonderful nudists and their own personal stories .  
don  t be deceived as i was by the  glowing  reviews quoted on the dvd box .  wildly entertaining .    a seriously scary freakout .   and the worst of all   on par with jaws .  this movie is none of the above .  br    br   normally i don  t bother with writing bad reviews for films but i can  t believe this one is resting at a comfortable  on imdb . it doesn  t deserve it .  br    br   after a so  so opening daylight attack by a monster created by  what else  chemicals dumped by lazy scientists  this movie goes absolutely nowhere and it goes there sloooowly . basically and improbably  a girl is snagged by the monster  i  ll give them points for a good creature design but this ain  t no weta creation  and her semi  comical family spend an hour  and  a  half tracking her down . . . in the sewers surrounding the han river . their search lacks any suspense  again  someone called this on par with jaws   and by the time they find her you realize it was all pretty much pointless . other than that  a big bulk of the movie is committed to a government quarantine that culminates in one funny scene involving a guy spitting in a gutter in front of a crowded bus stop .  br    br   blech . this was bad . i  m not kidding . you want to see a rotten monster movie  rent deep rising . at least you  ll save   minutes of your life .  
maslin beach is a real nudist  naturist beach south of adelaide  on the fleurieu peninsula  in south australia . it is also the name of an australian film that used the beach as a location .  br    br   maslin beach is labelled a romantic comedy . this could be slightly misleading  as it is not a  hilarious  film  nor is it really romantic in the traditional sense  but it does have light  hearted moments . much as life itself  there are also moments of sadness too . it is also entirely shot at the nudist beach mentioned above  and nudity runs throughout the length of film . the viewer quickly learns to accept this as normal  and concentrate on the plot  not the copious amount of flesh .  br    br   simon and marcie  michael allen and eliza lovell  arrive by car at a beach  side car park . they take their belongings to the beach  and while they are walking  a voice  over from simon talks about his confusion about what real love is . the rest of the film is an exploration of this  framed by one complete day at the beach . the basic story is of what happens to simon  s love life  but there are also many other characters highlighted in several separate vignettes .  br    br   when they arrive at the beach  both simon and marcie appear bored with each other . marcie sees them as a  romeo and juliet  romantic couple . simon is just bored with it all . next  we are introduced to gail  bonnie  jaye lawrence   paula  zara collins  and jenny  jennifer ross  . they are walking down the beach together discussing gail  s chances of finding the  perfect  man  aided by the  powers  of a necklace that brought good luck to her grandmother . however  there are many more interesting people on the beach  not all of them  attractive  and young  part of the realism of this film  .  br    br   to service the beach  s patrons there is a flatulent  short  sighted ice  cream salesperson with a van . this is ben  gary waddell   who is a friend of simon  and is also his unofficial counsellor . i would think that this character is the main comic element . it is hard to say though  as there is nothing about ben that would make you laugh aloud  unless you were intoxicated  male and very young  maslin beach does have a major redeeming feature though  and that is that it does not dwell too long on any one subject . as the quality of acting is variable  the script is suspect and everything about maslin beach is cheap  the lack of continuity is a positive boon . in fact  there is something about this film  not the nudity  that i find appealing . it is hard to define what it is  but it could be something to do with its bluntness  and downright  aussie  attitude to carnal matters .  br    br   the camera work in maslin beach deserves a mention . sometimes it is very good  with some stunning static shots and  pans  of the beach  cliffs and a sunset . as nudity is a major factor in this film  framing is an important aspect of the camera work . there is no sense of gratuity in the framing  meaning that the framing is done so that the camera does not dwell on  private  body parts . this helps to ease any sense of viewer discomfort from being within the subject  s  personal space   and makes the film more tasteful . not an easy task  given the location for filming .  br    br   maslin beach is neither a  skin flick  for post  pubescent  testosterone charged males  nor a  mills and boon  romance for under  appreciated women . maslin beach does not seem to fit anywhere in genre . the actors are not  attractive  in the baywatch sense  and are just  normal  people that you would see on the beach anywhere . it does not have a message to put across and it would not even act as a tourism advertisement  other than perhaps to naturists . apart from the australian accent  the filming could have been in any sunny country . what makes this film distinctly australian is the fact that it is pointless  cinema verite    and only australian cinema  and other medium sized national cinemas  could consider such a rash option . at the same time  these medium sized cinemas have room for experimentation in the quest for identity  and a  flop  is not going to damage their reputation too much . it is always possible  given that maslin beach is now a collector  s item  that the film might become internationally popular  but it is very unlikely .  br    br   during this critique  i have been sounding highly negative  at times  about maslin beach . this is not the real position  as i found the film very easy to watch . i enjoyed it as a reflection of near reality and real people  and problems  . the problems confronted in the film are those of the everyday  and a little low on spectacle . this does it no harm in my view  and i wish that more films dealt with the everyday like this . there is a connection here with the cinemas of europe  and with french film in particular . they rarely deal with major disasters or catastrophes  but with the everyday . hollywood is in direct opposition to this  and rides the crest of the hyper  real action  drama  angst wave . the pace too  is much faster in hollywood  but it is not reality . maslin beach is not exactly  jacques tati  either  but it is on the right track  even if it does ignore issues of multi culturalism  equality  gender orientation and so on  that are of such importance in current cinema . i am sure that you will either love or hate this film  with little room for a middle ground .  br    br    
first of all let me say the first   minutes are great  the monster looks superb and the cgi is reasonably done . it  s a shame then that the rest of the movie is such a disappointment   br    br    spoilers below   br    br   from the opening scene we can see this movie is anti  american  normally this sort of stereotyping wouldn  t bother me  we brits get enough from hollywood  but here it  s not subtle about making the americans brain  dead morons . it goes past the point of realism and your left wondering if a yank has raped the directors mother .  br    br   the grieving scene was really poor and the part of the movie where it starts going downhill .  br    br   here we are introduced to the olympic medallist auntie and drunk uncle who walk into the memorial and start blaming the father for his daughters death  then hitting him before they all start rolling around on the floor crying . hardly realistic bonding at a time of crisis   br    br   the whole virus sideline is ridiculous . if the americans know there isn  t a virus  why are they wasting time  money and resources investigating  the us government agent orders the brain drilling of an innocent korean for nothing  making the americans look evil  or stupid   it wasn  t helped by the fact this guy was cross  eyed for comical effect .  br    br   the movie is about hunting the monster . us and korean special forces are assigned to finding the creature although through  out the movie they are invisible . the only people hunting the monster  in the whole of korea  is the main family and some random tramp who appears at the end to save the day  naturally a few us  korean agents try to stop them along the way .  br    br   the sister was only included in the movie so she could make the vital shot at the end . it was clichd  you knew it was going to happen but to make it worse she does bugger all until that part  and my final annoyance  how the hell did that kid survive at the end  the monster had been swimming with it  s head underwater for about  minutes  why didn  t the monster eat the kids in the first place   
i bought this game on ebay having heard that it was a similar game to elite . the gameplay is indeed very similar  and is very addictive . once i  d played it a couple of times  i immediately went back on ebay and bought copies for all my kids so they could join in the fun too . . . . i have played this game right through and the storyline makes it feel as if you are actually in a movie  it  s brilliant . if you have trouble feeling free to explore because of the restrictive nature of the storyline in the single  player game  simply set up a freelancer server on your own pc  easy to do and the software is included  and play to your heart  s content . there are still a huge number of freelancer servers on the internet  so multiplayer is no problem and is not all that threatening  because you don  t often meant other players unless you want to . so go get a copy of this game  learn it by playing the single  player campaign  then set up an online presence and enjoy yourself . the depth of this game is staggering  with huge systems to explore and wrecks to find  as well as all sorts of other things to discover  hidden planets  wormholes  secret bases  the list is nearly endless . fantastic game and especially as you can get it for a couple of quid on ebay . get one with the full written manual if you can  blue box  not xplosiv red box   it  s loads better   
gwoemul  the host   due to pollution in the han river a mutated beast goes on the rampage . the youngest member of the park family is snatched by the beast  and it is up to the rest of her family to find her  before she becomes the beast  s latest meal .  br    br   firstly  i love monster movies mutated bears  over  sized alligators  packs of ravening komodo dragons  the whole lot . creature features are my favourite kind of horror film . so  i really wanted to like the host  but it wasn  t to be .  br    br   there were three major problems with it  br    br   the first can be seen with a quick look at it  s imdb page  br    br   genre action  comedy  drama  fantasy  horror  sci  fi  thriller  br    br   too many damned genres . it took itself too seriously to be a comedy  and yet was too light hearted to have any real message  though it did seem to be trying to make some kind of statement . anti  pollution  anti  american or anti  government  . the drama was misplaced and mixed in a confusing mish  mash with all the other styles .  br    br   secondly  after the initial monster attack nothing happens for almost the entire film . the central family wander about looking for one of their own while the governments of korea and america  apparently  do nothing . and that  s it  they just wander about  occasionally hitting one another  presumably for a bit of comedy relief . this lack of action made my attention wander  and apparently it did the same for the director  as whole plot threads go unresolved  a mystery plague invented by the evil americans is completely forgotten about  and is never resolved  .  br    br   and lastly  the film is clumsily political . it paints the americans as being stupid and evil  but gives us no american characters with any more depth than a cartoon villain . the opening scene has the most obvious stupid american vs wise korean moment . with a korean morgue assistant asking his boss  the coroner  not to pour chemicals into the han river . the american coroner all but cackles maniacally as he orders the assistant to carry on . as well as being racist  it  s lazy film  making and there is no excuse for that .  br    br   on the plus side  the monster is good  kind of a mix of the relic and deep rising . some of the movement effects are quite cool  and the initial monster chase through the park is a lot of fun . there are also some nice shots in the film . some of which remind me  strangely  of the way firefly was filmed  shuddering cameras  out of focus shots etc  . there is also a nice scene at the end  where the hero and a little boy he has saved are sitting in the family  s mobile food stall . it  s night  time and snow is falling  the street  lamp is giving out a cold light  but the food stall has a warm glow coming from it .  br    br   overall  i was really disappointed by this film . i  d been looking forward to a decent creature flick  and instead i get some pseudo  political  horror  comedy lite . looking at the comments on imdb i can  t help but think that if this had been a us production it would have been slated . just  cause it  s a foreign flick doesn  t mean it  s any good . there have been some great movies out of korea in recent years  the vengeance trilogy and brotherhood  for example   but this certainly isn  t one of them .  br    br   for once i  m in favour of a remake . tighten up the directing  improve the scripting and this could have been a nice film . as it is  it  s not worth a couple of hours of anyone  s time .  
this is a great game  okay perhaps it didn  t have some of the features it was meant to have but digital anvil have still come up with a good game . there is a certain similarity to elite  you can trade  pick up weapons and cargo off destroyed ships  go on missions  however this game features a heavily scripted mission . it is a great mission . the control system is different it uses the mouse  you basically fly you spaceship around a system and work your way up  the game features some pretty good graphics even through it was made in     . it should run well on even a modestly specified pc . the story features some great voice acting from john rhys davies  george takei  jennifer hale  she appears in every computer game  . stick with the story it gets better and better as it goes on . there is even a race section  where you and an opponent have to race your spaceships around a course  it involves you going through rings  . this section took me a while to beat . it adds variety to the game . some sections are a little tough here and there but overall you can beat this game . the game has an active mod scene on the net . pick up some mods to extend the game . i haven  t played any of the mods yet .  br    br   sadly a sequel to this was cancelled  a shame   
what this movie does well is combine action and horror with comedy and drama in a unique way that teases more emotion form the audience than a typical horror movie . unfortunately with disjointed storytelling  frustrating plot  holes  and contradictory scenes this movie mainly caused me frustration and is hardly  the greatest monster movie ever .   br    br   let  s start with the good stuff comedy  acting and special effects . from the get  go  this movie starts off fast paced and cheeky . the opening scene  the monster  s origin  is campy and quick  paying homage the the classic  environmental  disasters that have given birth to so many other monsters . the pacing is fast  which was a welcome break from the long and often pointlessly dramatic opening scene from other monster flicks and allows the movie to jump right into the action . with in the course of   minutes you get the  why    where   and  how  of the beast and are ready for action . in this the movie delivers .  br    br   after another short and well shot sequence the characters are introduced the lazy son and his precocious little girl  kind grandfather  and talented sister  aunt  and  of course  the monster . the characters are introduced in context to each other and their conflicts are instantly apparent  allowing the audience to feel for them when the monster shows up suddenly to wreak havoc in the river area where they live and work .  br    br   the monster it  s self looks great alien yet familiar  kinda like a dog and fish pooped out by a squid . the effects of the creature are second to none and although it looks strange it is believable and at no point in the movie could you  see it  s strings .  even the movement of the monster was horribly familiar  like a growing and excited rottweiler on linoleum the monster barrels through the crowd  slipping on surfaces  crushing and eating those in it  s path . when the monster  s path intersects with the family and tragedy ensues it truly is a painful moment  and you can feel the need for revenge but from there on out the movie  s appeal begins to unravel .  br    br   following the dynamite beginning the movie quickly loses focus and continuity . plot  lines are introduced  then abandoned  characters change their position for no apparent reason  and comedy is interlaced into dramatic scenes confusing intent  while obstacles appear and disappear seemingly at random .  br    br   as for the comedy  let me say this i  m willing to accept that a lot of the humor is probably cultural . i am not familiar with korean humor so maybe things were lost in translation . however  as an asian studies major in college and as someone who has been living in japan for the last  years  still here  i  d like to think i have a better grasp on asian humor than the average white  guy . that being said there were many parts of the movie that i understood were supposed to be funny  but  to me  weren  t .  br    br    spoiler for example after the initial attack where the young daughter is lost the family is at the funeral everyone is mourning . a new character is introduced  a brother  and tension is raised even higher as it becomes obvious that the two brothers are at odds with one another . they both begin to grieve for their loss and wind up competing with each other over who is grieving harder . this competition is  at it  s core  funny two brothers who dislike each  other so much they even compete at a funeral  it shows the prickly nature of familial love common in asian comedy . this subtle slap  stick comedy poking fun at family and ritualized mourning is supposed to be funny but  seemed really out of place in the context of a lost little girl .  end spoiler   br    br   then come the plot holes . there are so many points brought up in this movie that are never explained  or  worse  are explained and fretted over only to be proved impotent and pointless in the end . finding out an obstacle isn  t an obstacle can be a good thing for a character  but you  d expect some comment to that nature . instead the audience is barraged by moments of anti  climax when problems just  aren  t there  anymore and no one gives an indication that it was ever a problem to start . so i ask you why even bring it up in the first place   br    br   this was prevalent through out the film as problems gave rise to new problems  and suddenly the world of the movie is filled with opposing forces that never resolved each other . of course introducing new and greater problems is a time  tested story telling tradition  but if the introduction of a new arc leads the the forced shortening of another you would expect at least that the new arc gets full explanation . not in this movie . instead it was as if you get several stories  each only explained    of the way and  in the end  the parts never converge to complete the whole .  br    br   again  i  m willing to accept that a lot of this might be  cultural .  maybe its in korean story  telling tradition to put comedy inside a tragedy . maybe it  s normal for stories to go all over like a child who colors outside the lines on every  page  but never finishes one . maybe it  s ok to present a problem in order to develop the plot but then remove that problem randomly without any apparent solution or catharsis . or maybe these are all hallmarks of sloppy work and bad storytelling rampant in a movie that seems to have a much better reputation than it deserves .  
this game is very addictive  i kept playing it for hours straight until late at night but also the fact that you can  t save a game when you are in space contributed to this  at times i just had to play on in order not to loose any game data .  br    br   so yes   freelancer  is addictive but also quite flawed . also for instance  something that extremely bothered me was that you couldn  t skip any of the cut scene  s with as a result that at times you had to watch the same few minute cut scene time after time . a great opportunity for me to multitask to check my e  mail or have a chat with my friends and more things like that  while i had to wait for the cut scene to be over .  br    br   the story starts of promising but the further you get the more ridiculous it all gets . also the game also ends quite abrupt  at least it did so for me . it is quite obvious that they are hinting at a upcoming sequel . i don  t know if a sequel is in the works at the moment but i am sure that most likely i will pick one up once it will be released .  br    br   the gameplay is very easy  even for those who are not familiar with flight games . to put it boldly  every fool can play this game . yes  some levels are quite hard and require lots of effort . it took me about    weeks for me to finish this game which might be a bit too short . but thank god for the multi  player option  it allows you to keep playing short missions  just like the single player game once you have completed it by the way .  br    br   even though lot  s of mission are the same  it just simply stays cool to be in the middle of the at times massive dogfights .  br    br   the graphics are good but just not anything revolutionary or anything .  br    br   addictive game but beware of its flaws .  br    br        
i really  really didn  t expect this type of a film outside of america . how anyone can take the subject of sexually abusing children and turn it into a  thriller  is just sick . auteuil  whom i had previously admired  going around like some sort of child  saving rambo was ignorant and insulting to all the children being sexually exploited around the world .  br    br   what  s doubly depressing is that the stunning and ground  breaking film  happiness  came out the year before this film . menges and his cohorts should be ashamed of themselves . it  s admirable to read some of the comments by the more intelligent viewers out there . they were able to see the shoddy and ridiculous handling of this topic . those of you who think this is great cinema display a disgusting amount of ignorance and you need to watch  happiness  to open your minds to the true horrors of pedophilia .  br    br   do you think your child is more likely to be kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery or be molested by a neighbor  teacher  friend or even a relative  hmm . . . i wonder . if they are going to make a film about international child slavery of whatever kind they owe it to everyone to make it realistic and emotionally involving instead of this button  pushing crap .      
as far as i know  this show was never repeated on uk television after its original run in the late    s  early    s  and most episodes are now sadly  missing presumed wiped  .  br    br   series  from     however still exists in its entirety  and i recently got the chance to watch it all  the best part of  decades on .  br    br   after rushing home from school  freewheelers was essential viewing for me and many of my contemporaries back in those halcyon days of flared trousers  slade and chicory tip . and watching it again brought a nostalgic lump to the throat .  br    br   never mind the bad  hammy acting  the unintentionally amusing fight scenes  plot holes wide enough to pilot a large ocean  going yacht through and the  frightfully  frightfully  rada accents of the lead players .  br    br   no  forget all that . because freewheelers harks back to a bygone  dare i say  golden   age of kids  tv drama  when the shows were simply about rip  roaring fun and didn  t take themselves so seriously . before they became obsessed with all the angst  laden  ishoos  that today  s screenwriters have their young protagonists fret over  such as relationships  pregnancy  drugs  stis etc .  br    br   no doubt if it were  remade for a modern audience  in these days of all  pervasive political correctness  the boss figure would be a black female  one of the young male heroes would be a muslim  the other would be a white lad confused about his sexuality and the girl would be an all  action go  getter with an iq off the scale  who  d be forever getting the lads out of scrapes and making them look foolish  in other words a million miles removed from wendy padbury  s deferential  ankle  spraining washer  upper .  br    br   it  s a show that  s very much  of its time  . but is that a bad thing  i for one don  t think so .  
for daniel auteuil  queen margot  was much better . for nastassja kinski  paris  texas  was much better . the biggest disappointments were from chris menges  crisscross  and a world apart  cannot even be compared with this one   and goran bregovic for use of a version of the same musical theme from queen margot  for this movie  attention to the end of the film  . if this was an american pop movie  i would not feel surprised at all but for a european film with more independent actors and director  a similar common approach about child abuse with no original insight is very simple  minded and disappointing . there are those bad guys who kidnap and sell the underage people . there are those poor children who hate people selling them and wait to be saved by someone . and finally  there is that big hero who kills all the bad guys and saves these poor children from bad guys . every character is shown in simple black and white terms the good versus the evil . plus  from the very beginning  i could understand how the story would end . is this the end of the history of child sexual abuse  i believe that the difficult issue of child molestation and paedophilia is much more complex than how it is portrayed in this not very original movie . i think this movie was not disturbing  but very disappointing .  
ah  true memories . i lived in holland at the time and looked eagerly forward to it every sunday evening and later tuesdays . i saw it during my      s . very good for my  at the time school   english  as dutch tv provides subtitles for other languages  except for kiddies shows nowadays . so you would hear the original voices and language .  the best series were the first three ones and then after the third series  the great character  nazi von gelb  who was such a formidable enemy  disappeared from the series  i don  t think they ever really caught him  he always escaped  leaving room to have him appear again in a next story  because evidently the series also was distributed to germany  and a nazi enemy wouldn  t go over very well  too bad  because geoffrey toone did such a wonderful convincing job of portraying the intelligent nazi aristocrat  who had this ongoing obsession to take revenge on england . it was a true delight to see this kind of high quality performance in a youth series  but ronald leigh  hunt was a good counterpart and the youngsters were so normal . they were very believable to me at the time and as a kid i could just imagine to be part of these youngsters  who at the time were about four years older than me . it was a very exciting series to me  standing out in my memory of those times as a special show with  the prisoner  as well . i hope they will publish a good quality dvd of the series  that would be wonderful . even the bad copies around are still enjoyable to watch . the later series were not as good  watered down and just not as much fun as the first three . hopefully they also find the other series with von gelb to be put on dvd . greetings from canada .  
in the lost son  a private eye searching for a missing man stumbles upon a child prostitution ring . this film incorporates all of the worst stereotypes you could imagine in a worst  case scenario that exists only in the minds of hollywood  the press and ag john asscrap . if you get a chance to see this  you  d be better off getting lost yourself .  
i couldn  t have been more thrilled just eight years old back in      i was going to see a star wars movie at the theater  the best day of my life was about to happen . to that time  my only star wars experience had been a few hbo showings of star wars . i hadn  t even seen the empire strikes back yet .  br    br   and boy  did that day deliver for my less critical eyes . jabba . big rebel spaceships . the emporer . a green  bladed lightsaber   wow  since that magical day  i must have watched this movie hundreds of times . i can  t even form an accurate estimate at this point . with those multiple viewings  i have of course observed that this movie  the real episode iii  does have its flaws .  br    br   of course in the context of a star wars movie  those  flaws  are more like  quirks  .  br    br   millions had had their magical day in     and     . in may of      i had mine . and this was my star wars movie .  
actually  this flick  made in      has pretty good production values . the actors are attractive  and reasonably talented . there aren  t a bunch of clowns running around blasting away  expending hundreds of rounds  but never hitting flesh . nor are there wild car chases  crashes where thousands of dollars worth of beautiful machines are uselessly trashed .  br    br   the interiors look respectably modern  architecturally  and the equipment looks up to snuff . well  there is that high tech computer room furnished with what look like leftovers from a    s electronics lab . and the pancake make  up on the corpses cracked me up . not pancake make  up in the conventional sense  but what looks like dried pancake batter slathered over their exposed skin . this is supposed to support the idea that the bodies have calcified   though how the virus would accomplish this transmutation is an exercise left for the student  viewer  .  br    br   ah yes  the virus . i would like to tell you that this is not the absolute worst premise for a sci  fi  horror flick i know of  but i can  t . a computer virus that is transmitted via a television  or computer monitor  screen and becomes a lethal biological pathogen  gimme a break . warp drives a la  star trek  are one thing  but photons becoming viruses  this is so silly the desired  fright factor  just isn  t realizable . the flick could have used one of those awful dream sequences where the dead come alive  or have a cat jump out of the closet  or something  because the viral thingamajig isn  t doing it .  br    br   one presumes robert wagner has the same excuse for playing in this inanity that lord oliver gave for some of his later  trashy venues . he needed the money . no other comparison between the two should be construed  however .  
i previously thought that this film was the lamest of the muppet films . i would like now to retract that statement . in my opinion now  the lamest muppet film was the tv movie it  s a very merry muppet christmas  am it  s a wonderful life rip off that was truly dreadful . muppets take manhattan is nothing special  but miles more enjoyable than merry muppet christmas .  br    br   the best songs are that  you can  t take no for an answer  song  the one the muppet babies sing and the songs for the big finale itself . as i loved the muppet babies tv show  i loved the muppet babies sequence here  i  m told that it was what inspired the muppet babies show   br    br   the manhattan melodies show itself was the real showstopper  with muppets from sesame street even appearing for the wedding . as kermit puts it in his final line  what better way could anything end   . but i wish that what was between the beginning and end was a bit more entertaining . there are cute cameos from brooke shields and gregory hines and a great dance sequence from rizzo and the rats  choreographed by the late  great jim henson himself  and the film certainly entertains . i must state though that muppet movie  great muppet caper and muppet christmas carol are the three defininitive muppet movies .  
i am very surprised by the positive comments because there were four of us that saw this at one screening and we all walked out . we personally felt that it was painfully slow to watch and couldn  t sit through the whole movie . and we really tried to stick with it . in particular  those in the group who really wanted to like it because of their personal experiences with sexual orientation alienation in the school years depicted didn  t like or identify with it at all .    br    br   that said  it is great to see that this film really resonated with a lot of people here on the boards and with reviewers . that  s the beauty of the subjective art form of film .    
this was the best muppet movie i  ve seen ever  i happen to know that miss piggy  s fantasy of meeting as infants was the cause of muppet babies . the songs will remain in my head forever . only saying so because that stupid nickelodeon show hey dude song still remains in my head . sorry  a little off the topic there . but anyway what i like is animal after the credits saying  bye bye  bye bye  bye bye  bye bye  bye bye  hasta luego   that made me laugh so hard . my absolute favorite is the play at the end . i was surprised that the sesame street characters popped in at the wedding . i  m just glad this movie was very entertaining . i borrowed it from the library  and now i have bought it because i can  t keep the library  s copy forever . in conclusion  i proclaim this is the best movie i  ve ever seen  in my case  it  s even better than austin powers in goldmember  which was my favorite movie   
i really must have caught a different film from the rest of the commentators on this site because at a screening of the film last night the audience was so mortified by the dialoge that  i  m not even kidding  half walked out . shot as if the filmmaker thought he were approaching some daring new territory by presenting a homosexual coming  of  age story  the film utilizes david lynch inspired visuals with fassbinder inspired acting . the performances in this film are so dull and bored that i figured one of the actors was going to pass out by how uninspired they seemed to be by the script . what  s worse is that it  s colored like an episode of miami vice . i don  t know who this director thinks he is maybe he has pretensions of the surreal like bunuel  jordowsky  etc . but the problem is that all of the afore mentioned directors display a level of erudite sensibility that is sorely lacking here . i could understand the meaningfulness of this film about ten years ago  but when we  ve got masterpieces such as bad eduction  mysterious skin and show me love why bother with this cinematic turd  there is nothing new to be seen here .  
as far as the muppet line goes  however  this is not the best  nor the second best . this was marketed towards the kiddies  but has some dark  and emotionally upsetting adult moments  to which parents may not wish to expose their children . one of which showcases miss piggy going  postal  in a jealous rage  which lasts basically throughout the duration of this work .  br    br   beyond that  however  the story is progressive  and highly entertaining . one scene in which joan rivers and miss piggy go berserk in a department store is simply hilarious  and there are other parts of this work which contain the same level of levity and fun .  br    br   i like this very much  and enjoy it still today .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
as a lesbian  i am always on the lookout for films relating to gays  lesbians . however  with this kind of crap out there   it would be enough to discourage any audience .  br    br   i kept waiting for something to happen   anything    a story to develop  or just for it to make some kind of sense . neither occurred . it was just meaningless scenes  unconnected in any way with anything . the film failed to conveyed any kind of story or depth to the character .  br    br   after an hour or more of this nonsense  i simply turned it off .  br    br   don  t waste your time on this absurdity .  br    br    star  and it doesn  t even deserve that .  
yes  it  s another great magical muppet  s movie and i adore them all the characters  the movies  the tv show episodes  it  s the best comedy or musical tv show ever  and all the artists behind it . but here they did such a rare fatal mistake and i  m surely talking about the weird ending    br    br   i think it  s very dangerous to involve that much  in american drama  and end a love affair by marriage   we  as all the poor viewers  feel so free or maybe happy for the absence of its annoyance  peevishness and misery  so we all enjoy these stories which gather  cute heroes as couple in love without the legitimate bond like mickey mouse and minnie  superman and lois lane  dick tracy and tess  etc . so with all of the previous couples and their likes i bet that you feel safe  serenity and peace . therefore when you look at what the makers of this movie had already done you  ll be as mad as me   br    br   they made the weak miserable creature  kermit  marry his daily nightmare  the most vexatious female ever  miss piggy   this is a historical change by the measures of the american entertainment  s industry  and it was pretty normal to have a negative impact upon the audience whom just refused to bless or believe or being satisfied with that sudden marriage  even the pathetic frog didn  t have the time or the proper opportunity to think or to decide anything   . therefore no wonder at all when you know that this movie is the most failure one in their cinematic serious  grossing only   millions vis    vis   millions earned by the first one  the muppet movie       five years earlier    br    br   simply in this movie they took manhattan  and my rest too   
one would think that a film about a young person  s coming to terms with his burgeoning homosexuality would be anything but boring . think again . this production should be bottled and sold as a cure for insomnia because it  s about ten times as potent as any sleep aid on the market . it  s almost as if the film maker considered making a movie  but got lazy and decided instead to run a series of random  and randomly boring  images and go  nowhere scenes  throw in a couple of actual scenes featuring actual acting  pretend that good lighting ins  t important in the film  making process  and wrap it up under the auspices of an  arthouse  film . this is exactly kind of crappy product that makes it easy for a lot of traditional film  makers to poo  poo the indie film movement  and which keeps the general public from more easily embracing indie films .  br    br   if you  re interested in films covering this subject matter  you  d be much better off tuning in to some of the great short films available at logo  s website or renting get real . better yet  read stone butch blues . whatever you do  skip this long  winded piece of dreck .  
but if you like the muppets i defy you to dislike this one . basically the same plot regurgitated  this time new york  not la  it features a lot of fun cameos and muppet hi  jinx . a lot of the muppets leave the film pretty early on as it centers around kermy and miss piggy . i happened to have enjoyed it greatly . fun to watch with your kids .  
  wild tigers i have known .  it will only be showing in big cities  to be sure . it is one of those films so artsy  that it makes no sense what so ever  except to the director  i hate those  and all of those oh  so  alternative  artsy people try desperately to find  metaphors  in what is evident horseshit .  br    br   there was no plot  no story  no moral  no chronology  and nothing amusing or even touching . to me  it was a bunch of scenes thrown together that had nothing to do with one another  and were all for  show  to show how  artsy  and  visual  they could get . it was an attempt at yet another teen angst film  but missed the mark on every level humanly possible . then the credits roll  i was waiting for it to make sense  i was waiting for  the good part .  i own about   independent films in my dvd collection  many of which could arguably be called  art house  films . this will not be amongst them . you will be very angry at yourself for paying to see this film  much less ever buying it on dvd .  
i first saw this movie in the theater when i was  years old and it still cracks me up . the muppets are so cool and they approach show business in a refreshingly naive way . my favorite scene is when the rats start a whispering campaign on behalf of kermit at a fancy restaurant . this is one smart and funny movie for kids and parents alike . long live kermit  miss piggy and the rest of the gang .  
about the only thing i liked about this film is that there was just enough in it to keep me in my seat to the end . . . i kept thinking that maybe in the next scene things would gel . . . alas . . .  br    br   those who like gus van sant  s films  especially his later ones  will probably like this . personally  i find van sant  s films to be dull  pretentious and facile . well  he was an executive producer for this film  so it is no surprise that the film could almost have been made by him  although personally i actually liked this better than van sant  s latest efforts  e . g . elephant  .  br    br   contrary to many here  i did not think the film was difficult to understand or disjointed  i thought that above all it is a film that wishes to portray a certain mood  the mood of an adolescent moving slowly into the adult world  but so slowly that the changes are barely visible if at all . but i feel that the problem with the film is that  mood  is not enough . . . and not only that  but that the mood painted here is  to my mind  incorrectly chosen for the story that is supposedly happening . the dream  like quality  so closely linked to nature  is beautifully captured here  but it is a mood which belongs much more to a much younger child  one who really still does get totally caught up in watching nature unfold  waves on a beach  grasses and flowers  spiders etc  . the rhythm of the film reminds me of my summers when i was about eight or nine . there is a languor to the film that is in opposition to what should be a very tense time in an adolescent life . when you are caught up in a crush on someone  or being the object of bullying at school  you are anything but languorous  there are only two moments that truly worked for me in the film . . . spoilers here  first when logan drops the groceries and his mother throws a bit of a fit . the frustrations of an adult dealing with a klutzy kid  especially with no father present  seemed real to me .  br    br   the second  and only part of the film with any tension to it  were the scenes where  leah   logan  s re  creation of himself  phones rodeo and tries to seduce him into phone  sex . the first reason i liked it is because the person who did the voice  over of  leah  was the most convincing actor in the entire film .  it made me think of claire danes from my so  called life . . . the voice even sounded like claire .  she and rodeo had the only scenes that seemed totally believable between the kids . and what i especially liked was the fact that rodeo only pretended to play along . . . it was perhaps the best moment in the film as  finally   we got some character development .  br    br   all in all  a somewhat misplaced effort . . . we will have to see what he does in his next film before we can really say much about the director  s possible talents . in the meantime  if he can get away from van sant  s influence  it might do him a world of good . who is this director anyhow  one of van sant  s boy toys   
don  t think of this movies as just another kids movie  the whole family can enjoy it . its a strange mix of a movie  as its seems to have a movie within it  but at least it does make sense at the end  unlike modern films   it does give you all the elements of a film  decent plot  good characters  well it does star the muppets  a list of lesser celebs which films would clamour for  what is surprising  is the fact that it can be a roller coaster of emotions  some sad  some heartwarming  some funny and some serious  it all makes an enjoyable family film that everyone can watch together .  br    br    the celebs in the film are actually top stars of the day but there is only one true star of the film and no one dare outshine miss piggy      
first of all  this film is glacially slow  moving  and i can see most viewers losing patience with it altogether in the first thirty minutes .  br    br   the film  s subject matter was one i think would form the basis of an excellent film what was most lacking here was a plot that would advance the underlying themes .  br    br   it  s unfortunate  because in the hands of a writer like  say  lanford wilson  i think symbolism like a mountain  lion invading a school campus could take on great  tragic proportions without being heavy  handed .  br    br   i think  with a good script supporting the film  the same filmmaker  with the same tastes  and even with the same actors  who didn  t really even get a chance to impress me   might have been able to present a meaningful and touching depiction of the pains and struggles that a boy goes through when he develops a powerful  crush  on an older boy that he admires .  br    br   however  i  m sorry to say that without this foundation  and armed with a vague  dull  witted  and vastly uninteresting script  without any sort of plot in sight  and lacking any sort of sensible structure  for example  after viewing it  i believe you will find that you cannot point to climactic scenes  and instead  will find yourself enumerating  well  maybe that scene  or that one  were climaxes . . .     the result is   minutes of tedium .  br    br   without a good plot  we never get terribly interested in any of the characters their trials and difficulties are simply dull and boring .  br    br   without a good plot  dramatic devices and surrealistic directorial liberties become puzzling and confusing rather than enhancements to the story  line . i never really could believe  for example  the creation of  leah  and i think that most viewers would be utterly baffled by the conventional way in which her telephone calls were filmed .  br    br   as the film stands  i  m afraid it  s one i cannot recommend at all . what i can never understand is why a film like this one isn  t re  made by an enterprising film  maker . . . instead of all the mediocre remakes of films that were superlatively good in the first release  all it needs is a good script  written by good writers  and i think this film could be easily turned into an unforgettable classic about an aspect of male coming  of  age that is rarely treated in drama . all the elements that were so tedious and seemed so recherche in the film  the messages written on the boy  s belly  the  leah  scenes  the television  screen fantasies  could become rich if underpinned with a good storyline .  br    br   i see in quite a few comments that people are talking of this film as somehow being about a  gay  subject  and i think that  s mistaken . obviously  the  crush  depicted is that of a newly pubescent boy on an older adolescent boy  but the character of logan is far too young to have settled on any particular sexual choices  and  indeed  in his depicted masturbation fantasies  we see all sorts of stimuli  sexual and non  sexual  as we would expect in a very young boy like him . i believe  crushes  such as logan  s are common among male youths who grow up to have a decided preference for female sex  partners .  
stars julianna donald  lonny price and louis zorich . cameos art carney  brooke sheilds  liza minelli  james coco  joan rivers  dabney coleman  linda lavin  gregory hines and others .  br    br   muppeteers jim henson as kermit  rowlf  dr . teeth  swedish chef  waldorf  ernie and others .  br    br   richard hunt as scooter  janice  statler and beaker .  br    br   frank oz as fozzie bear  miss piggy  animal  bert  cookie monster and sam the eagle .  br    br   jerry nelson as camilla the chicken  floyd pepper  lew zealand  crazy harry and pops .  br    br   dave goelz as gonzo  zoot  beuregard and bunsen hunnydew .  br    br   steve whittemire as rizzo the rat and others .  br    br   another great muppet flick . this time  kermit  fozzie  miss piggy  scooter  rowlf  the electric mayhem  gonzo and camilla the chicken are out of college and starring in a musical that they  re trying to get on broadway . after miserably failing at getting it produced  they all split up and go their separate ways . i love the characters and cameos . the songs in the film are  together again    look at me  here i am    saying goodbye    and i  m going to always love you    rat jazz  and  he  ll make me happy  . frank oz directs this movie excellently and all the actors do a great job acting like the muppets are real . see it    minutes . rated g . my rating a .  
i haven  t actually finished the film . you may say that in this case i have no right to review it  especially so negatively . but i do  only because i stopped it on account of i couldn  t watch anymore . . . i got over halfway  and i only got there by promising myself something good was just around the corner . this film is so tiresome  so lackluster that i was actually insulted . i haven  t read many of the other reviews  so i  m not sure if there are other homosexual teens who have suffered through it  but i am homosexual  and i did go through  similar  revelations  day dreams  issues etc etc . there were maybe two moments where i actually felt this film could go somewhere  where i felt it may have some inkling of meaning  or relativity  but these hopes were dashed the moment the next set of clich  ridden narration came on . i mean  just look at the quotes on the imdb page . unfortunately you  re not able to hear the scratchy play back  nor the echo  ey fades if you  re just read the quotes  because they are just too painful  ridiculous  stupid to miss . i did give the film three stars  and all three of those stars go to the films cinematographer who did a fantastic job attempting to transform archer  s tired  concepts  into something watchable . mind you  i pray he wasn  t the one who decided to include all the long shots of tv closeups . . . another unnecessary clich already over done in films such as korine  s gummo . . . i think it is extremely fitting that this film premiered at sundance  only because archer had connections in the festival via volunteer work he did  by the way . . .  because sundance seems to be the one festival where clich heavy drivel like this is still accepted as  arthouse  . no  it  s not art house  i  m afraid it  s just plain st  house . do not watch .  
in this muppet movie  kermit  miss piggy  fozzie  gonzo  rowlf  scooter  camillia  dr . teeth  floyd  animal  janice  and zoot are college graduates who decide to bring their successful college musical  manhattan melodies  to broadway . unfortunately  no producer will even meet with the muppets . after being denied by too many producers  scooter suggests that the muppets decide to move on on their own . however  kermit still believes that he can get his show on broadway  but after he finally does and let  s everybody know that he sold the show  kermit get  s amnesia and the others don  t know where he is .  br    br   this features many great scenes  including a live action sequence that introduced the muppet babies  a wedding sequence filled with muppets  including the sesame street cast and traveling matt  from fraggle rock   scooter as a movie theatre usher  and a scene where rizzo and the other rats cook breakfast .  br    br   my only complaint is that more characters weren  t included more . sure  many of them appear at the wedding  but there should have been some significant roles for bunsen  beaker  beauregard  and sweetums  and lips should have been part of the electric mayhem in this movie like he was in the muppet show  s last season and the great muppet caper  and miss piggys dog foo foo should have been with her as well  after all  rizzo the rat  also performed by steve whitmire  had a big part in this movie  and he wasn  t very well  known at the time  .  
wow  i hated this movie . the subject matter should have resulted in a really fine film  and the lead actor was definitely sensitive and talented enough to handle the topic  but the script  if there even was a script  is a mess . this is less a movie than a random slide show that goes nowhere . i  d say it goes nowhere fast  except that it  s actually the longest   minutes you  ll ever sit through . as i  ve mentioned  the lead actor is good . so is faruza baulk  sp    as his sometimes  harsh  but  ultimately  loving  and  accepting mother . the film makers have a lot to answer for here  because this is a mess . a real shame  because i really wanted to like this movie  but it  s basically out  takes from a movie that never got made . skip this one  it wasn  t even worth the   i shelled out for pay  per  view .  
  the muppets take manhattan  is different in a lot of ways to every other muppet movie made so far . for one  it remains the only muppet film not owned by disney . as of      the film still belongs to   th century fox  cbs fox at the time of its release  even though disney owns the rights to the muppets . also  this film has a story line that  s very non  linear  and events that are otherwise unpredictable .  br    br   of course  it  s very hard to beat the original  muppet movie  from      especially since that movie had more memorable songs than  manhattan  does . however  one way in which  the muppets take manhattan  is better than  the muppet movie  is perhaps the surprisingly realistic scenarios . in the first movie  all the muppets really have to do is go to hollywood  walk into an agent  s office  and they are immediately given a  rich  famous  contract . in this movie  the muppets learn that they actually have to work for their desired success  and it  s a lot harder to do that  especially in the entertainment business  than they initially thought . that  s an important and often times overlooked message  provided one is willing to suspend the disbelief that the muppets  being small and made of cloth  don  t necessarily have to live in a spacious place or even eat respectively . above all  their struggle to make it after graduating college creates a very good story . another note the celebrity cameos in the movie were cool  and they surprisingly managed not to take away the spotlight from the muppets . that ability right there is a testament to henson  and how appealing the muppet characters were even to adults .  br    br   where  manhattan  falls flat  and this is where i  m sure people will disagree with me  is with some of the key songs  especially in the end . i thought the wedding song  he  ll make me happy  was too somber for such a happy occasion as a wedding . it sounded more like a song that  s played at a funeral . every time i watch this movie  hearing that song makes me unusually depressed  especially when the film begins on such an upbeat number as  together again  and ends happily for that matter .  saying goodbye  was a sad number too  but it fit better into the movie because the muppets were disbanding and weren  t sure they were going to see each other again . that last song was such a let down  and perhaps even added to younger viewers  misery of seeing their favorite muppets leave the big screen .  br    br    the muppets take manhattan  is overall a good film  and one that marches to the beat of a different drum than the other muppet films  including the newer ones made after the deaths of jim henson and richard hunt . fortunately  the film marches in the same direction as well . i just wished the film ended on a better song that wasn  t quite so melancholy . plus  disney should have gotten its hands on this film  s copyright and given it a proper dvd release . maybe it will someday . we  ll see .  
i read the half dozen other user comments on this board and it seems as though the opinions vary greatly . i have to agree with those who found this movie to be awful . it pains me to write that since i would have hoped this would have been great  or i wouldn  t have bothered to see it the other day . i like supporting indie cinema  especially if they are gay  themed  but this movie is almost too much to tolerate . those that walked out  as i considered doing after about three minutes  probably didn  t mind shelling out    .    or just figured it was going nowhere  fast  and not going to improve . maybe i am slightly more optimistic than they are . . either that or they didn  t pay to get in in the first place .  br    br   logan is bored . he  s a klutz . he  s gay . i  m okay with that . the problem is that because the main character in a movie is bored does not necessarily mean that the movie about him has to be boring also  there are endless scenes of this kid just laying around like a load of laundry  re  establishing everything that you already learned in the first scene  and the second scene  etc .  etc . . . nothing or no one goes anywhere . no one says anything even remotely insightful or funny or interesting . probably most appalling of all is that i didn  t feel the slightest bit of empathy for logan . that in itself is a major accomplishment . he didn  t grow  he didn  t change  he didn  t learn  there is no one to teach him anything   he didn  t do anything  and neither did the movie  scene after scene of the same thing do not a movie make .  br    br   additionally  the title makes no sense at all .     .  
i suppose jedi is now chronologically to be considered the very  last  entry in the popular saga  and it  s a very good one  as were several of these . i liked how directly this sequel took off after the empire strikes back  and i appreciated the maturity of luke skywalker as a character  and also mark hamill  as an actor  . after hearing so many negative things about the ewoks  they weren  t so bad . i enjoyed the thrilling chase within the woods  and i felt there was a lot of well  realized emotion with this chapter . the ending  with some new additions  i presume   successfully weaves all  chapters into a wonderful tale of fantasy . i know many true star wars fans hated george lucas for changes he made to the original films  but being a relative novice to these movies rather late in life and not missing what i didn  t already know  i think he made these  movies work perfectly as a whole entity . oh  and  err   carrie fisher looked quite delicious in her skimpy outfit .  
despite its stereotypes  virtually  no  name  cast and an obviously low budget i thought this film was alright much better than i expected it to be . i was skeptical at first  the idea of a computer virus that can also infect people seemed a little ludicrous to me . but in the end  i thought the film handled the concept well  even if some scenes were a little clichd  .  br    br   the cast was quite good  and the two leads seemed to take their roles very seriously . i couldn  t help thinking  though  that janine turner is a bit of a geena davis look  a  like . maybe it  s just her face or the make  up  hair and clothes she had in this movie but it just kept nagging at the back of my mind the whole time .  br    br   while it  s not a  must see  or a great film by any standard   fatal error  is an entertaining flick that will keep you watching until the end .  
i found this to be the most enjoyable muppets movie  because i felt it was the most light  hearted and had the best comic delivery on most of its lines . the muppets try to go on broadway to sell an original musical they  ve written  but along the way  they run into the usual problems  including kermit  s memory loss here . while there aren  t as many great cameos here as in the original  muppets movie   there are some including joan rivers and dabney coleman . simply the timing and delivery of so many of the lines is great  and the situations the muppets find themselves in are hilarious . the original songs are also good here  and the ending is satisfying . there is not much else to say about the film  but muppet fans should see it for sure . it is the funniest muppet movie and is sure to be enjoyed by all .  br    br       out of   
had some lovely poetic bits but is really just an artsy  fartsy toss  together with no direction or resolution . how do these people get through film school  who gives them money to make this crap  could have been so much more  fine lead actor  and i always like fairuza balk  but come on  the alt  rock metaphor of just staring vacantly unable to find anything compelling is just so tired  and it sure doesn  t make for good films . the director needs to go away and live life for a good long while and not come back to the camera until they really have something to say . this is like the throw  spaghetti  at  the  wall school of art  making  just juxtapose a bunch of earnest imagery and hope hope hope like hell that poetry emerges . that can work  if the director actually has any kind of vision  or has a brain that knows when it  s in the presence of potential  but here it  s just space filler  of no consequence . i felt the lazy ending coming moments before it hit  and was yelling  you lazy bastard  at the screen when the credits popped up .  
the third muppet movie is perhaps the most relaxed and pleasing  with the gang taking their modest college musical to the bright  yet volatile  lights of broadway filled with typically nave optimism . of course  their first attempt fails and kermit  leader of the group and author of the show  blows his top so  the others all go their separate ways so that he won  t have to feel responsible for them . kermit himself befriends a young wannabe fashion designer making ends meet by serving food at her father  s diner  the old man  then  has a line in particularly tortuous non  sequiturs   . we get the usual cameo appearances by a variety of stars art carney  as a producer   james coco  as an overzealous dog owner   dabney coleman  as a confidence trickster   elliott gould  who was also in the muppet movie         gregory hines  liza minnelli  as herself  having her portrait at a classy restaurant replaced by kermit  s  sporting fake moustache  as an ostensibly celebrated entrepreneur in a ruse to attract publicity to the muppets  show   brooke shields  and even director john landis  in possibly the film  s funniest scene as a broadway producer before whom kermit appears acting streetwise and chummy and hilariously donning shades and an afro wig   . the other muppets more or less go through their typical paces  with  regrettably  less space given to gonzo this time around while miss piggy is something of an acquired taste with me  the scenes in which the latter spies on what she takes to be kermit  s romance with the waitress  and especially her violent reaction to this  are undeniably funny . what disappoints  however  is the climactic show itself  after a fairly redundant midsection wherein kermit gets amnesia and eventually picks up advertising on madison avenue  which  rather than the expected splashy routines  procures nothing more original than the wedding ceremony of kermit and his eternal flame miss piggy   
visually disjointed and full of itself  the director apparently chose to seek faux  depth to expand a  minute plot into an   minute snore  fest .  br    br   the moments that work in this film are very limited  and the characters don  t even feel real . how could you feel invested in a main protagonist who was made so surreal   br    br   substantively and stylistically  it all feels like a quirky dream sequence . jarring irregular camera work  awkward silences and gaps in action  and what  s with the little spider image crawling across the screen  whoever thought of that needs to go back to film school . it added no meaning  just cheese  and didn  t even stylistically work with the rest of the film  assuming the film even had a style  which is a close call  . what a flop .  
jim henson  s muppets were a favorite of mine since childhood . this film makes me feel like a kid again . okay  the muppets are back with miss piggy and kermit the frog and their friends . the premise is that they are trying to get on broadway in a musical show in where else but new york city . you will see cameos by the then new york city mayor ed koch . anyway  the film turns   this year and i hope the kids of today will learn to appreciate the lightheartedness of the muppets gang . the problem with the show is kermit goes missing and the gang has to find him in new york city . it  s worth watching for kids and even sentimental adults like myself .  
i see that someone already thought of a similar analogy  which was similar to the first thing that came to mind after i watched this movie . they said that the ingredients were there but there was no plot . besides the sexual scenes which bordered on child  porn  which i feel could have been edited out or been presented more suggestively in nature rather than graphically  i would liken this movie to a recipe that  s been torn in half . it  s kind of like being handed a list of ingredients  with no directions on how to put them together into a finished product . from the start  character development and story development are lacking . . . unfortunately  many times in this monotonous drivel we are teased with bits of plot and we think  ahh  ok . . . finally we are going to find out something more about why this scene is going on . . . or . . . who this character is . . . or maybe we are finally going to get to know and appreciate this character more . . . or understand and get involved more with this inter  character relationship . . . etc .  but no such luck  on the contrary  many times i was tempted to just turn it off more than once but stuck it out when the carrot was dangled  only to find that whatever mini  plot within whatever mini  plot  and that poorly presented  was just a ruse . why i stayed with it till the end is a mystery  other than usually ifc has better selections and they gave it      stars  another mystery  . it  s not that the characters aren  t likable to some degree  or that you can  t identify with them or their humanness at all . . . it  s just that this could have been so much better with just a little more effort . i notice this was shot around santa cruz and find myself wondering if it was someone  s film school project . i wish i could have given this a better review but honestly it was a frustrating and disappointing waste of an hour and a half .  
this was the third muppet movie and the last one jim henson was around to take part in the making of before his premature death in     . the first three films starring the famous characters were all made and released into theatres before i was born . i originally saw the first and second installments in the original trilogy   the muppet movie  and  the great muppet caper   around the mid  nineties  as a kid  but didn  t see this third one   the muppets take manhattan   until april     . this was shortly after i had seen its two predecessors and      s  muppet treasure island  for the first time in many years . this third muppet movie definitely didn  t disappoint me the first time i saw it  and my second viewing nearly three years later may not have impressed me as much  but if not  it certainly didn  t go too far downhill .  br    br   the muppets  stage musical   manhattan melodies   turns out to be a big hit on their college campus . they are graduating from college  so they will soon be leaving  but decide they will all stay together and go to manhattan to try and get their show on broadway . after their arrival  they begin searching for a producer  but after many rejections  they finally decide to part and go find jobs . most of them leave town  but kermit stays  and is still determined to find the right producer and reunite the muppet gang . he gets a job at a new york restaurant owned by a man named pete . the frog quickly befriends pete  s daughter  jenny  an aspiring fashion designer who currently works at her father  s restaurant as a waitress . as kermit continues his attempts to reach stardom  now with the help of jenny  he doesn  t know that miss piggy has secretly stayed in new york and is now spying on him . she begins to see kermit and jenny together  and to her it looks like they  re getting close  which leads to jealousy   br    br   when i saw this movie for the second time  it looked disappointing at first . it seemed a little rushed  unfocused  and maybe even forgettable around the beginning . there are some funny bits during this part of the film  such as animal chasing a woman through the audience on the college campus  but for a little while  the film seemed bland to me compared to its two predecessors . fortunately  it wasn  t long before that changed . the film is entertaining for the most part  with  saying goodbye   the poignant song the muppets sing as they part  and a lot that happens after that . the two funniest parts might be miss piggy  s tantrums after she sees kermit and jenny hugging  but there were definitely many other times when i laughed  such as poor fozzie trying to hibernate with other bears . the muppets still have their charm and comical antics  which obviously also helps carry the movie for the most part  as does the plot  a simple but intriguing one for all ages . there are some weaker moments  such as the muppet babies sequence  and juliana donald  s performance as jenny is lacklustre  but neither of these problems are too significant  and are far from enough to ruin the entire experience .  br    br   i would say  the muppet movie   the film that started the franchise in      is the best of the original trilogy  and that seems to be the most popular opinion . this third film is probably the weakest of the three  but all of them are good . unlike  muppets from space   the third of the theatrical films in the franchise made after henson  s sad passing  at least  the muppets take manhattan  is still the muppets  i won  t go into details about what i think of the muppets      film  released twenty years after their first one  since i  ve already explained in my review of it why i found it so disappointing  and even though it does have some appeal  i  m clearly not alone . however  every theatrical movie starring the lovable muppets that was made during henson  s life is good entertainment for the whole family  even if the second and third installment each showed a slight decline in quality after the one that directly preceded it .  
after watching this movie on dvd  i watched the trailer . the voice  over describes the movie as surreal . well  there  s surreal  and there  s surreal .  br    br   there was really only one part of the film that seemed surreal to me  but frankly  it was more confusing than surreal . the other unusual imagery  particularly the lunchroom scene where everybody is on the floor  were so nonsensical they had no meaning . i don  t mind imagery that doesn  t mean anything  but these scenes just seemed irrelevant .  br    br   my impression is that the director was trying to convey logan  s inner monologue . i don  t know what else would explain what was going on . unfortunately  nothing i saw gave me any clue what logan was thinking about  what his perspective was  or even his emotional state . all i could tell was that he wasn  t particularly happy with his physical appearance  and that he had a crush on an older boy .  br    br   i thought the ending signaled what the relationship between the boys had become  but not much else did . purposely juxtaposing ambiguous scenes with those that were more straightforward seemed more like a cop out than an artistic decision .  br    br   still  as tiresome and as content  free the movie was for me  it was a definite change of pace . i very much liked madagascar skin  and i had the feeling this movie aspired to that kind of narrative  and perhaps even style . it didn  t even come close . for me there  s no question about it this movie deserves an a for effort  but a d for execution .  
when i first saw this film in the      s  i was in my middle teenage years and somewhat reluctant to see this since i considered myself grown up and out of the  sesame street  muppets  age . i honestly don  t remember if i liked it at the time or not . however  somewhere in college i watched this film again  and it wound up going  and staying  into my personal best films ever collection .  br    br   this film is loaded with humor that goes far above and beyond what one would have expected from the muppets . i mean  obviously the muppets always have appealed to adults and children because there  s humor geared towards both generations . but come on . . . janice is accidentally overheard telling someone  i don  t take my clothes off for anyone  even if it is artistic  . . . there  s a joke from a father to a son that if the son in love with kermit the frog then the father doesn  t want to hear it . . . gonzo saves a chicken with mouth  to  mouth resuscitation  sp   and afterwards says  i think we  re engaged now  . . . these and plenty of other moments in the film had me rolling . add to that very smart dialogue  very smart new york  broadway  wink wink  humor  the usual large amount of celebrity cameos and some really enjoyable songs that don  t border on  kid  level cheesy  whatsoever . . . this film is a masterpiece  i don  t throw      s out on a regular basis . . . but this one deserves it . over   years later  this film totally holds up  perhaps even more so . the muppets never were and never will be again  as funny and smart and just plain brilliant as this film was and is .    q  
sitting down to watch the   th season of the bachelor   on the wings of love    i knew i would be in for an  interesting  time . i had watched some of the previous seasons of the bachelor in passing watching an episode or two and missing the next three or so . i find that the bachelor is often appealing and intriguing  though its quality and morality are often lacking .  br    br    on the wings of love  details the journey taken by jake  a   year old commercial pilot from dallas  texas  to find true love  as true a love as one can find in a season  long reality  drama dating show . jake meets   beautiful girls from all over the country . he begins to get to know them a bit  but it is mostly superficial how well can you get to know someone in a few  minute conversations  jake tries to make his true intentions known from the very beginning  at least to the audience . he noted that he doesn  t just want love or a good time  but he wants a fianc or wife . we can only assume that he has made this clear to the women in the competition as well . if that is the case  it might explain  to a degree  some of the women  s actions . the women are super competitive . while they don  t even know jake at all yet  they are still in it to win it no matter what the cost .  br    br   not only were the women competitive  but they were also confident and catty . threats  backstabbing  and warnings of  watch out   all show that these women weren  t there for a good time either . jake noted that he was not just looking for sex appeal  but looking for  a connection .  however  the girls pulled out all the stops to try to impress jake with said sex appeal . they arrived at the mansion in skimpy dresses  either low  cut or short .  br    br   while some girls seemed to maintain their sense of decorum  others missed that memo altogether . one girl  channy  noted that jake was a  good guy  to whom she could be a  naughty girl .  she went on to say that jake could land on her  runway anytime .  she got flack from the other girls for her provocative statement which showed their take on these situations .  br    br   so  a reality dating show couldn  t be that bad  could it  besides the obvious issue of sex  driven attraction  there are other issues that mar this seemingly harmless show . is this the right way to find a future mate vying for someone  s attention by flaunting oneself to extreme proportions  unfortunately  however  that is what america has reduced dating to these days pleasure and sex without commitment and a little happiness on the side .  br    br   another problem is the premature emotional attachment by which many of the girls bound themselves to jake . a few girls in particular seemed to be overly attached . one girl said  if i don  t get that first impression rose it will kill me   as mentioned before  they don  t even know him yet and she was talking about a specific rose  not just one of the   roses to keep from being eliminated .  br    br   michelle  in particular  seemed to have some issues with attachment to jake . the other girls noticed it too . after one particular michelle outburst  vienna asserted that michelle had a  mental breakdown and we  ve only been here an hour .  michelle got the last rose of the evening on the first show  narrowly missing elimination  and was extremely emotional about it . the other girls thought it was simply ridiculous . another girl also cried  but because she was eliminated .  br    br   it began with survivor  and from there it just took off  reality tv . it shows our entertainment interests as a country if we weren  t watching the shows and giving them good ratings  the networks would not continue to run them . the only logical conclusion that can be drawn is that enough of america is hooked . one thing is clear america  in general  loves reality tv and its ensuing trappings .  br    br   this begs me to question why is it that we even like reality tv  what is it about it that draws us to it  is it because we see the similarities to our own lives  or is it because we want to be sure that we are more stable and less pathetic than others  whatever it is that draws us to it  we should be careful of the media and entertainment that we allow to fill our minds . i  m not saying that all reality tv shows are bad however  i am saying that we need to evaluate each one .  br    br   episodes used for critique season premier and episode  .  
i love this film . the songs and story lines are great fun . and the song  saying goodbye  always moves me . what a brilliant thing to do to bring puppets to life  in a way that you actually care about these things made of cloth and fabric and whatever . great voices and great talent . why were all the other muppet films that came after this one so much less interesting  moving and funny  is it that mr . henson is just so very missed   
yes  even as a fan of shows like survivor and the apprentice  this show is pretty bad . i didn  t mind the first couple of shows  but then realizing how pathetic everyone was to actually go on the show in the first place . the antics of alex and aaron giving men a bad name at the way they cheated on or dumped their choice at the first opportunity really was not a good look for the show .  br    br   ryan  you can have trista . she had the most annoying voice i  ve ever heard on television  and she definitely wasn  t the smartest girl around  very media savvy  but i doubt there  s much more there  .  br    br   i haven  t really watched any of the shows since  apart from the occastional re  run on daytime tv . i think the point of reality tv is to treat it as  entertaining trash  . view it as something you can laugh over  and don  t have to think too hard about  i don  t watch csi its like reality tv  tired and clichd  but you have to think too much anyway while watching  .  br    br   a couple of thoughts on some reasons fro going on the show . at the very first  the woman tell all  woman such as amy  who had a lot of class about her  commented that she had tried every scene aka the bar and club scene to meet a guy and it wasn  t happening for her . hey amy  how about joining a club  getting a hobby  doing charity work  changing your job to one where you meet more guys  gees  all i know is that going to a bar is not the ideal place to meet a future partner .  br    br   amy and many of the other girls seemed to be obsessed with the idea of meeting  the perfect man  . clue to ladies he doesn  t exist . there are  however  many great guys out there that would make great husbands  some who may be right for you  they may not earn six figures a year or be a jfk junior look alike  but they are great guys all the same . the shallowness of woman on this show is quite unbelievable . im still a youngster  at was lead to believe that woman gradually grew out of their shallowness as they got older and more realistic about their future partner . this show is proving otherwise .  br    br   overall this show does a lot to confirm many stereotypes of how woman view men in society . it really is a terrible show and i think all of these types of shows should just stop being made . the best dating shows by a country mile are blind date and the fifth wheel because they are fun . nothing is manned more between the  couples  than a simple night out . the bachelor  sadly takes itself way too seriously .  
throughout this film  you might think this film is just for kids . well  it is mainly pointed towards them  but it  s also well  rounded enough with the jokes pointed also at the adults in the audience . this time around  the muppet gang try to get on broadway  with the dire straits keeping them from getting it produced  leading them to splitting up . but kermit won  t stop  and his determination keeps things moving along until after getting the deal together he gets hit by a car and sent into amnesia   br    br   it  s a send  up  in part  of those old starring vehicles from the   s with musicals actually as the topic of a musical  only here there  s the usual lot of zaniness and wonderful moments thrown into a pot of hysterically funny moments  lou zealand  s boomerang fish gonzo  s water  stunt display  the whisper campaign  among many others   but also with a lot of heart too . the muppet writers aren  t shy of the conventions  on the contrary  they embrace them to the point where it  s almost refreshing to see such a  lets put on a show  story where through thick and think the characters will meet their dream .  br    br   while not as totally original in scope as the muppet movie  it  s got many catchy and memorable songs  excellent locations all over manhattan  and even some intonations of inter  species dating  and marriage   cameos include liza minneli   a frog     elliot gould  as the cop   brooke shields  propositioned by a rat   edward i . koch  gregory hines and joan rivers . so get ready to sing  along  or just have a lot of big laughs and romantic  yes romantic  times with one of the best muppet movies .  
it makes one wonder how this show is still on the air . there  s been one couple that has stayed together  married  and has children  but everyone else has broken up . what  s the point of continuing this  the show can be entertaining at the beginning . you see all the girls swooning over one man  that almost all of them like instantly . it  s just like in real life  the girls start to take sides  bitch one another out  and show their true selves  or so we think  . but that one man is left to decide who to pick that he thinks he can marry and live happily ever after .  br    br   what is true love exactly  how can you fall for someone when you  re forced to pick them  this show is unbelievable . you thought dating online was bad  but people have to go on tv to find love  it  s not realistic . how could a girl be with a man when he is going out with several others  making out with them  none of these questions are answered  and finally when the show ends  you know there won  t be a happy ending in the future . for all we know  everything is scripted .  
when i saw it for the first time i was really impressed . the director made such a mysterious atmosphere  especially in the end . through all the story spectators can expect that richard will really kill thomas or he will do it first . but . . the main point was not conflict but . . friendship  older and mature one prayed himself to save the younger who has the whole life to life . it is amazing . every time i watch it i enjoy  of course it is pretty violent like every action movie but i think it is acceptable . thanks a lot louis liosa and tom berenger  amazing film  i advice everyone to see it . i am sure people wont regret and will really have a good time .  
i watched this movie . to the end . and that was really not easy . it is so boring  bad played and in nearly every detail stolen from  blair witch project  that you can  t believe the makers take this serious . even harder to believe  is how this  product  made it onto vhs and dvd .  br    br   so  if want to see a horror  movie  just watch  scream   but if you want to laugh out loud and have a good time  watching some kids running through the woods screaming at each other and showing of their inability  watch dark area .  
this is the best movie ive ever seen    thomas beckett  richard miller  two mankinds who want to survive in the  jungle  of violence and madnes  one shot  one killed    you must kill  if you getting doubt about something  you must survive    br    br   p . p .  i appologise of my bad  worst  english     
please  do not waste any money on this movie . it really is nothing more than a boring german blair witch ripoff made by some high school kids . i couldn  t finish watching it  and usually i like watching all kinds of b  movies . how on earth could they find a distributor for it     funny however check out wikipedia for  dark area  . the guy who wrote the entry must be completely out of his mind . maybe he got loads of money from the producers . money that should have been spend on actors  camera and editing . even that wouldn  t have helped  since there is absolutely no interesting idea behind this film . unfortunately  dark area  has already gotten too much attention . please  director  producer and author of this movie  stop making movies like that . . . you are not doing yourself a favor . the world would be a better place without this film .  
i am curious of what rifle beckett was using in the movie  and also the caliber of the bullet that he was suppose to be firing . if this is loosely based on carlos hathcock  s sniping  i am guessing that it is a  mm . round . i am also curious of the rifle itself . he also made a comment in the final sniper movie about the rifle that the vietnamese man let him use that belonged to his father . beckett mentioned that he thought it was the best sniper rifle ever made . i would like to know which rifle that is also . i know that this particular rifle was made around wwii or beforehand . i just couldn  t get a close enough look at it watching the movie to identify it .  br    br   as for mr . hathcocks kills  his longest shot was  .   miles  and he had   confirmed kills and   unconfirmed kills . after his wounds somewhat healed from being burned in vietnam  he spent the rest of his career teaching snipers in the usmc the skills that they would need in the field . his sniping career is still mentioned to our brothers and sisters that train in the usmc . i found out his name from my friend who is a former marine . any information would be great .  
a friend of mine bought this  very cheaply  and decided to give it to me as a birthday present . i thought i  d never watch it  cause i knew it was a joke and the cover of the dvd looked pathetic  but then my friends and i got really bored and watched it . from start till finish  i know quite an accomplishment but it really is a masterpiece . it  s hard to describe . you should see it  it  s a real lesson on what people are capable of when they believe they  re creative and smart and really aren  t . the  acting  is sous  terrain  you can actually see the  leading lady  laugh on some occasions  she  s definitely the worst  . the  story  is to stupid to be summed up and really everything in this film sucked . please  pay special attention to  the sheriff  . the guy is an adult and therefor has absolutely no excuse to be involved in this . he  s extremely bad as well . whatever it did have some hilarious moments . check it out  haha  
i know i know it was a good ending but sincerely it was awesome . i love when a movie ends on a terrific dark nature but this time i was impressed with darth vader turning against the emperor i really stayed astonished . the anguishing sequence in that film was when luke is tortured and defeated by the emperor  darth sidious . he is about to be destroyed when darth vader  dark lord of the sith  eliminates his dark master . a nice sacrifice . the cinematography of this film is impressive . i was surprised with all the vessels of the rebel battle ships and all imperial war ships and super star destroyers . i loved the new race they brought on screen the mon calomari  the ewoks  the sullesteian  lando  s co pilot  and many more . . . most of my favorite scenes are in that film   when vader destroys the emperor and is fatally wounded .   when luke sees the spirits of obi  wan and yoda and then it shows up anakin skywalker  sebastian shaw   the greatest scene in star wars    when leia slays jabba strangling the hutt crime lord .  br    br   i personally like the script and the battle of endor presenting a ground and space combat as well the best duel of star wars between darth vader v . s luke skywalker on the death star . post  script the scenes with leia in the slave bikini are memorable .     .  
like so many media experiments  this amateurish effort contains seeds of a very interesting social commentary . in the   years since it was released  the premise has been made less outrageous by real world events in software development  and i found it less boring than the previous commentator for that reason  i imagine . . . the director clearly is a fan of hitchcock  and it  s too bad that the film was not better executed  but in fact  it is nearly a parody of pulp fiction  including the soundtrack screeching at us when we are supposed to pay attention . one can almost see the exclamation points and capital letters on a yellowing page .  br    br   i have to admit i found it rather entertaining for all these reasons and more . sometimes the slick has less to offer us  and i would recommend it to anyone interested in deconstructing it for education purposes . oh yes   and even though the seams showed and it creaked a lot  my heart rate went up  and i was reluctant to get up and take a break .  
this was another great tom berenger movie . . but some people are right it was like another sgt barnes character but it was still awsome . . tom berenger played a great sniper in the jungles of panama  billy zane was a wuss at first just like cpl upham from saving private ryan but then he got a little more aggresive in the end  sniper was awsome and action buffs should watch it . . i remind you it wouldnt have as much action as a reg action flick . . i got this one on dvd too and it is excellent   
not too keen on this really . the story is pretty horrid and unconvincing . i enjoyed the first   minutes  bill nunns good . after that it was pretty appalling . tim doesn  t fit the role  he comes across as a smug self inflated ass  pruitt taylor vince is entirely unconvincing as a trumpet player . it  s a idealist film and as a musician  feel slightly offended after watching it . there  s no scenes of     practising or playing with his fellow band mates  he  s completely self indulgent . i find it hard to build any relationship with this kind of character  maybe i  m watching the wrong film . if you have no real passion for life or sense of what musics all about then happily indulge in the suspension of disbelief and watch this waffle .  
this is one military drama i like a lot  tom berenger playing military assassin thomas beckett . this marine is no  nonsense  in your face  and no questions asked kind of person who gets the job done . there you have billy zane   the phantom  and others  who plays richard miller  a former swat form d . c .  works for the government and takes orders only from them . who needs a bureaucrat  i don  t  when these two are paired  sparks should be flying . and how . however  beckett teaches the young bureaucrat on how it works . when the other sniper hits  it  s wits vs . wits  cat vs . mouse  gunman vs . gunman . and when the seasoned sniper is caught  it  s up to miller to put politics aside and save him . who needs politics when you a pro like beckett  he took orders from no one but himself  plays by the rules and not the book  and mutual respect is brought out despite the politics . the movie was a direct hit . watch it . rating  out of  stars .  
the american humane association  which is the source of the familiar disclaimer  no animals were harmed . . .   the registered trademark of the aha   began to monitor the use of animals in film production more than   years ago  after a blindfolded horse was forced to leap to its death from the top of a cliff for a shot in the film jesse james       . needless to say  the atrocious act kills the whole entertainment aspect of this film for me . i suppose one could say that at least the horse didn  t die in vain  since it was the beginning of the public waking up to the callous and horrendous pain caused animals for the glory of movie making  but i can  t help but feel that if the poor animal had a choice  this sure wouldn  t have been the path he would have taken   
just as tom berenger put you into the soul of sgt . barnes  he has done it again with thomas beckett . if i thought his world was folding in on him in the first scenes  it was nothing compared to how much more i felt during the last scenes . great movie  even for a girl .  
this had a great cast with big  name stars like tyrone power  henry fonda  randolph scott  nancy kelly  henry hull and brian donlevey and a bunch more lesser  but  known names with shorter roles . it also had technicolor  one of the few movies made with it in     .  br    br   now the bad news . . . . . . . regrettably  i can  t say much positive for the story . it portrayed the james boys in a totally positive light . . . . and hollywood has done that ever since . why these criminals are always shown to be the  good guys  is beyond me . this film glamorizes them and made their enemies  the railroad people  into vicious human beings . the latter was exaggerated so much it was preposterous . well  that  s the film world for you evil is good good is bad .  br    br   hey hollywood here  s a news flash  the james boys were criminals  really  look it up   
zane and beringer will keep you on the edge of your seats . i don  t typically go for military  war movies  but this was worth my time .  br    br   it was serious  but it was also humorous . beringer  s character proved to be heroic and honest . no matter what  you know that he  s got your back .  br    br   zane  s character developed throughout the film . he wasn  t just a suit  he definitely proved that he could be a hero and handle a gun .  br    br   the ending through me a little though . it didn  t really go with the action throughout the film  but i  m glad that i saw it  nonetheless .  br    br   it  s worth checking out .  
in a college dorm a guy is killed by somebody with a scythe . his girlfriend beth  dorie barton  discovers him and tries to commit suicide . she  s institutionalized . a year later she  s out  has a new boyfriend named hank  joseph lawrence  and is about to spend spring break with hank and four other mindless friends in a big  beautiful condo in florida . naturally the killer pops up  for no reason  and starts killing again .  br    br   lousy slasher thriller   a textbook example of how not to do a low  budget horror movie . for starters  large portions of this film are endless filler of these six idiots videotaping themselves  having  fun   more fun than the audience   getting drunk  acting stupid etc etc . also there is no nudity in here at all . i  m not saying a horror film needs nudity but anything to liven this up would have helped . none of the deaths are really shown  you hear them   are only a little bloody and there is no gore . there  s one real gruesome one   but that  s not till the end .  br    br   with a few exceptions the acting sucks . dorie barton is dreadful as the main woman and tom jay jones is lousy as oz . chad allen pops up as brad and he  s terrible . lawrence is actually very good   handsome and hunky and giving this crap his all . and jeff conaway pops up in a small role doing a pretty good job .  br    br   logic lapses abound   after they realize a friend has been killed two of the girls casually talk about sex baston  s non reaction to seeing a friend getting killed is kind of funny and what happens to lawrence  his character disappears without a trace at the end  dull  stupid  no gore  no nudity   skip this one .  
there are few movies that appear to provide enterntainment as well as realism . if you  ve ever wondered about the role of snipers in modern war  take a look at this one .  br    br   i just loved the scene where hundred soldiers get shooting at the jungle  no  one quite sure where that shot came   br    br   and  they nicked one scene to saving private ryan  so it has to have some merit in the scene .  br    br    
i know slashers are always supposed to be bad  but come on  what the hell is this  it  s like a bunch of    year  olds saved their lunch money and started filming this by the end of their week .  br    br   anyway  six young people all go to the same house to get killed off screen . we have the brainy one  the slut  the other slut  the black guy  the killer  stereotypes like that . after one gets eaten by a shaking boat  the others all get stalked by some guy who wears a mask the people at the poor box rejected . there  s one pretty decent murder somewhere in the middle  but then it  s back to even more boredom  and especially more false scares . seriously  we actually know it can  t be the killer when a person gets attacked because the guy sure loves to take his sweet time for everything .  br    br   after every character you expected to die dies  the standard ugly blonde chick and her soon  to  be  boyfriend eventually get captured by the killer  they get like  pushed down and then faint  and the killer reveals himself . i think the writers of this movie just took a blindfold and a pen and put it somewhere on the list of characters . the motive is just lame and don  t even get me started on the damn secret . the killer then of course takes way too much time to explain everything  and then about ten minutes extra in which he slices up his own arm for some reason  and eventually gets overpowered by a guy with a gun . hey  no fair   br    br   really one of the most awful movies i  ve ever seen . i could enjoy myself more by watching a lindsay lohan  movie  i swear . i mean sure  most    s slashers sucked as well but at least they threw in some ta . this movie just has nothing going for it .  
sunday would not be sunday without an action movie  and when you want intense combat  you turn to tom berenger  platoon  .  br    br   here he plays a sniper in the jungle going after rebels and drug lords . life  s a bitch  so he gets a green office type  billy zane  to help on the mission .  br    br   the film is in the hands of luis llosa  who stunk up anaconda . he doesn  t do much better here  but berenger makes the movie worthwhile .  br    br   sure  it may be a little long  who wants to see a lot of walking through the jungle  but is is good  tense action when the time is right .  
this is one of the worst horror movies i have ever seen . . . unfortunately  i am a horror movie buff and will rent any horror movie unless it  s not made for t . v . when looking at the box it says it is rated r for gore and some language . . . where was the gore  was their one good death scene where you actually saw gore  i could have overlooked that if there had been some brief nudity or some good dialogue . there wasn  t even one remotely witty or amusing line in this lame movie . sometimes horror movies are awesome because they are so stupid  but this was just sad .  
some guys think that sniper is not good because of the action part of it was not good enough . well  if you regard it as an action movie  this view point could be quite true as the action part of this movive is not actually exciting . however  i think this is a psychological drama rather than an action one .  br    br   the movie mainly told us about the inside of two snipers who definitely had different personalities and different experiences . tomas beccket  who was a veteran and had   confirmed kills  looked as if he was cold  hearted . however  after beccket showed his day dream of montana  we can clearly see his softness inside . it was the cruel war and his partners  sacrifice that made beccket become so called cold  hearted .  br    br   millar  on the contrary  was a new comer  a green hand  and was even not qualified as a sniper . billy zane did quite well to show millar  s hesitation and fear when he first tried to  put a bullet through one  s heart   as what beccket said  . what he thought about the actuall suicide mission was that it could be easily accomplished and then he could safely get back and receive the award .  br    br   these two guys were quite different in their personalities and i think that the movie had successfully showed the difference and the impact they had to each other due to the difference in their personalities . these two snipers quarreled  suspected each other and finally come to an understanding by the communication and by what they had done to help even to save the other .  br    br   sniper isn  t a good action movie but a good psychological one .  
do you guys wanna know a secret  . this movie sucks . well actually i don  t know because if you allow yourself to be indulged by plagiarised versions of original movies  then perhaps you may find this movie astounding  this movie being a plagiarised copy of i know what you did last summer  . the first   minutes of the movie is based on a typical story setting a bunch of so  called cool teenagers relishing their vacation in florida and being themselves by behaving very much like the juveniles they are . the only insight we get at this point is the extent to which the director succeeded in illustrating a pretentious sense of adolescent decadence within the characters . the second half hour of the movie gains a little momentum and begins to illustrate a start to the no  where  near unprecedented killings . the third half hour of the movie will most definitely remain a mystery to me because i switched it off before i could further delude myself into thinking that the movie may still have something interesting and original left to show . as far as the story is concerned  it can easily be explained in a few lines . a bunch of teenagers go to florida on vacation . while they are busy partying  they slowly  and i mean slowly  begin to get killed because they know some sort of silly secret . the only thread to the killings is that all victims were matriculates of a common high school . one thing that did however amaze me about this movie  was how much betty  im not sure about her name . . the blonde character  looks like reese witherspoon . another thing that amazed me about the movie was that it made me jump from my seat a few times . does that make it a work of art  absolutely not because my   year old niece made me drop a glass of orange juice because she  boo  ed  me when i was just about to go through the guest room door . . whats the difference between the director and my   year old niece      br    br   do you wanna know a secret    i  m not sure about you guys  but i don  t . .  
  one shot  one kill  no exceptions .  a must see if you are into marines or snipers . two big thumbs up  great overall storyline  great camera work  good drama  action  details  and more . pretty close to the real thing . but this isn  t a film to breakdown and pick out the editing faults . this is to sit back and have a good   mins . the plot has some depth but this movie isn  t really about making you think . its about enjoying the sniper lifestyle and action . sniper  and  are pretty good follow ups but the first is still the best overall movie . tom berenger does a great job playing his character and showing the hidden side of the sniper life . the plain of dealing with all of the death . must see for sniper fans .  
ok  a slasher movie . a very  very stupid slasher movie .  br    br   we got your stereotypical teenagers in a house thing going . we got a fbi agent that  s seen dirty harry one time too many .  so what  s the secret . . . . punks   we got about  different little camera shots and scene that make no sense at all .  hey man  i  m fixing the sprinklers    that guy was my favorite part of the movie   suddenly there  s a preacher tied up on a couch watching home movies  he gets killed .  br    br   they follow the killer into the middle of nowhere  with no cops . suddenly she  s in a church  wearing a wedding dress . i swear this is the stupidest slasher movie i  ve ever seen .  
two snipers travel deep in the jungles in search for their targets a slimy south american drug  lord and a prominent general .  br    br   moderately successful at building a brooding atmosphere  sniper is by most accounts a very solid thriller  taking it  s time  establishing it  s characters and their plight and climaxing in some good action sequences . director llosa isn  t always successful at maintaining the sombre mood and could have tightened the story somewhat some detours here don  t add up to much . but this film is far better than his stallone  stone travesty the specialist .  br    br   billy zane  usually incredibly tiresome  does surprisingly well as the inexperienced sniper teamed up with veteran berenger . as for berenger this film proved to be his last good big budget hollywood venture . he can do these kind of roles in his sleep and he  s very convincing here  reprising the role twice more in direct to dvd sequels .  
spoilers redicules slasher film that makes no sense at all with a killer running around dressed in a black robe and wearing what looks like a pull  over peter lorre rubber mask . were told early in the movie  almost the very first scene  that young beth morgan was in rehab due to heavy drug use after her boyfriend was murdered in tennyson collage about a year ago .  br    br   it  s also brought out that fbi agent sacker  s  jeff conaway   who  s obsessed in catching the killer  daughter was also murdered in tennyson around the same time . by the time the movie  do you wanna know a secret  is over it  s never explained just what those two killings back in connecticute has to do with the slaughter in florida of some half dozen collage students a year later  other that the killer  at least in the murder of beth  s boyfriend  wore the same silly halloween outfit .  br    br   at spring break in the sunshine state the six students spend their vacation at a beach house and before you know it they start getting knocked off one at a time . starting with computer geek brad clyton  chad allen  the killing even spill over into town with a number of people who have nothing to do with the targeted student including the police chief gavin  jack mcgee  getting sliced open .  br    br   the masked killer saves beth for last in this weird ceremony at a deserted church  in what looks like the florida everglades . he then finally reveals who his is and what he intentions are which make as much sense as the movie does  none . trying to scare it  s audience all the movie does is confuse and bewilder it with a number of not  too convincing slasher scenes . the most effective ones having the victim oz washington  tom jay jones  survive at least three attempts on his life and ending up  together with agent sacker  the hero in the film .  br    br   oz also had a vicious cut on is foot from a large splinter of glass that almost cut it in half and crippled him but later he miraculously recovered  after getting arrested for a murder he didn  t commit  in fact he had it out two more time with the killer with him not as much as having a slight limp in his walk  it also made no sense at all why oz and beth went on their own to tack down and catch the killer instead of calling the police  with a cellphone that oz had  instead   br    br   beth  s boyfriend  who loses his head over her  in the movie hank ford  joseph lawrence  is also very unconvincing as well as the two girls at the beach house . they together with with beth oz end up being the killers victims and then somehow disappearing from sight  for a moment you didn  t know if they were really killed at all or if it was some kind of hallucination on oz  s or the local police part . until the off  the  wall final scene where they popped up in the church .  br    br   we also get an insight on a previous relationship between tina and hank with her  drunk and acting obnoxious  trying to get it on with hank as beth walks in without hank and tina even noticing her . that seemed to have upset beth even more then her boyfriend being murdered at the beginning of the movie   
sniper gives a true new meaning to war movies . i remember movies about vietnam or wwii  lots of firing  everybody dies  bam bam .  sniper  takes war to a new level or refinement . the movie certainly conveys all of the emotions it aims for  the helplessness of humans in the jungle  the hatred and eventual trust between beckett and miller  and the rush of the moment when they pull the trigger . a seemingly low  budget film makes up for every flaw with action  suspense  and thrill  because when it comes down to it  it  s just one shot  one kill .  
this mindless movie is a piece of crap and boring like the full house repetitions . for all the people who want to see a great  exciting and cool horror movie shouldn  t even think about watching this bunch of mindless work . a f  in my opinion . i have one question  what were they thinking  let  s make a list   bad script   bad script   bad script   bad acting   bad directing and last but not least a bad script . i mean i am not like grumping about every movie  but i was disappointed when i watched it . this movie should be banned into a box  locked and sunk down into the sea . so please don  t do something like this again  please  please  please      
as most off you might off seen star wars return off the jedi you may knows its a good movie but as you might have seen on video they mmight have a party at the end and they just probably end the movie with the party with no a spirits or anything but on the original one  live tv  when they are partying but before i say more when ben obi  wan dies in the imperial ship or death star they saw him disappear and yoda dies from either old age or internal illness but because luke killed darth vader  real name anakin skywalker  when they all are partying at the end when luke or someone stops the spirits off ben and yoda stands starring at him and smiling while another spirit appears is its darth vader but not as a sith as the old usual selve off him and started smiling with ben and yoda i reckon that made the movie ending a little bit interesting but the producers or anyone should off made a spirit off padme and mace windu and other jedis that got killed with younglings under there arms in the back ground  
i have read the novel reaper of ben mezrich a fews years ago and last night i accidentally came to see this adaption .  br    br   although it  s been years since i read the story the first time  the differences between the novel and the movie are humongous . very important elements  which made the whole thing plausible are just written out or changed to bad .  br    br   if the plot sounds interesting to you go and get the novel . its much  much  much better .  br    br   still  out of   since it was hard to stop watching because of the great basic plot by ben mezrich .  
this will be somewhat short . first  don  t listen to the critics  as it is not as bad as most say it is   sniper uses a classic movie formula  which many dismiss immediately as flawing the movie . while sniper does not reflect the     truth about how our country  s military snipers work  it does give those who know nothing about the professional sniper a glimpse into the world of the sniper . and yes  the movie has many flaws  but what movie doesn  t  there are many good scenes and good acting by tom berenger . i have to say the  worst scenes are at the beginning of the movie with billy zane in the helicopter followed by zane in the marine  s bar scene . the best scene in sniper is with berenger in the middle of a field with the opposing force sweeping it   also there are plenty of good shots of the jungle and some classic shots using the camera as though you are looking through a riflescope . and yes  the sniper motto is one shot  one kill  . judge sniper for yourself    br    br    
in a college dorm a guy is killed by somebody with a scythe . his girlfriend beth  dorie barton  discovers him and tries to commit suicide . she  s institutionalized . a year later she  s out  has a new boyfriend named hank  joseph lawrence  and is about to spend spring break with hank and four other mindless friends in a big  beautiful condo in florida . naturally the killer pops up  for no reason  and starts killing again .  br    br   lousy slasher thriller   a textbook example of how not to do a low  budget horror movie . for starters  large portions of this film are endless filler of these six idiots videotaping themselves  having  fun   more fun than the audience   getting drunk  acting stupid etc etc . also there is no nudity in here at all . i  m not saying a horror film needs nudity but anything to liven this up would have helped . none of the deaths are really shown  you hear them   are only a little bloody and there is no gore . there  s one real gruesome one   but that  s not till the end .  br    br   with a few exceptions the acting sucks . dorie barton is dreadful as the main woman and tom jay jones is lousy as oz . chad allen pops up as brad and he  s terrible . lawrence is actually very good   handsome and hunky and giving this crap his all . and jeff conaway pops up in a small role doing a pretty good job .  br    br   logic lapses abound   after they realize a friend has been killed two of the girls casually talk about sex baston  s non reaction to seeing a friend getting killed is kind of funny and what happens to lawrence  his character disappears without a trace at the end  dull  stupid  no gore  no nudity   skip this one .  br    br   rated r for graphic violence and some profanity .  
despite some negative comments this film has garnered in the imdb pages  it  s still worth a look as this is a story about survival and camaraderie between two different men with different mentalities while in a difficult mission in the panamanian jungle .  br    br   peruvian director luis llosa takes us along to watch this thriller set in panama . the film has some good moments as beckett  the veteran marine  takes a newly arrived man  recently sent to try to eliminate a notorious drug cartel head and the corrupt army general who might be the next president of the country . the only problem  miller  has no experience in what he has been entrusted to achieve .  br    br   miller  the arrogant newly arrived man to the jungle and to the guerrilla warfare between the military and drug lords against the infiltrated american intelligence men  learns a valuable lesson from beckett . what looks good in theory  is irrelevant in the jungle .  br    br   tom berenger  is an actor who doesn  t register much  as he proves in this movie  but in the context of the movie  he is right as a man of a few words . billy zane playing miller does what he can with a role that doesn  t afford him any glory until the crucial end .  br    br   for lovers of action film   sniper  offers an    minutes of action that with a bit of trimming would have made a more satisfying movie .  
good deaths . good mask . cool axe . good looking girls . . . . but watch out    no plot and little scares completely lower it  s standards . they tried to make an  i know what you did last summer   but ended up making a  scream  . but hey  what do people expect from a horror movie  answers totally vary . rent it if you want  but i regret ever seeing it .  
spoilers the film  sniper  is undoubtedly based on the exploits of legendary us marine sniper carlos  gunny  hathcock . the unassuming soft  spoken mister rogers look  alike who ran up a score of as much as    confirmed and unconfirmed vietcong and north vietnamese military kills during his two tours in  nam  . which shows just how deadly and effective a trained military sniper really is .  br    br   tom berenger is cool clam and deadly as sgt . thomas beckett who  s at the end of his career as a top us marine sniper but who later in the movie realizes that a life as a civilian will be pointless . since there  s nothing outside for him to do with his skills that he learned in the us marines unless he decides to become a mob hit  man . backett reluctantly accepts his fate as a lifetime professional killer for his country .  br    br   the story of the film  sniper  is focused on sgt . beckett with the assistance of former sharp shooting silver medalist and us government agent richard miller  billy zane  being sent deep inside the panamanian jungle . the two snipers are to take out rebel general miguel alveraze  frederick miraglittoa  and colombian drug king  pin raul ochoa  carlos alveraze  who  s supporting him in a planned a military take  over of the country .  br    br   we see earlier in the movie sgt . beckett scope and take out a rebel leader which i feel was the best scene in  sniper  . for it shows step by step how sgt . beckett with the help of his spotter cpt . papich  aden young  does his job . there  s also a sub  plot that was later aborted in the movie about a rebel sniper desilva  eward wiley  who was stalking beckett and who later killed papich as they were both waiting to be lifted out of the jungle by a military helicopter . you would have thought that a deadly cat and mouse was being played out between the two that would culminate when the movie ended but sgt . beckett had no trouble at all in dispatching desilva early in the film by using an unsuspecting miller as bait .  br    br   what hurt the movie the most was ironically the last fifteen or so minutes when the story went from a one shot one kill sniper movie to a rambo  like ending with sgt . beckett and agent miller fighting off an entire battalion of rebels with bullets flying as thick as a london fog .  br    br    sniper  is still well worth watching for the fact that it tells the story about a person who until now has not really been glamorized in war movies a solitary killer who kills with the precision and skill of a master diamond cutter or accomplished neurosurgeon and who does it in total secrecy .  
the secret is . . . this movie blows . sorry  but it just did .  br    br   spoiler  br    br   in this bad riff on i know what you did last summer and scream  beth  played admirably by dorie barton  joins several friends on a spring break trip . the group rents a fancy house and tries to enjoy a fun vacation . then  the deaths begin . first one then another then another of the friends is murdered  leading to a sad and trite climax with predictable results .  br    br   one note  dorie barton is the poor man  s reese witherspoonshe looks like reese  acts like reese and could pass for reese in a police lineup . maybe that  s how they cast her  anyhoo  decent cinematography and fair acting could not quite make up for bad dialog and terrible writing .  
i  ve heard people who say this movie is dull dull dull . i don  t think they were watching the right movie . this isn  t the prototypical action movie  thank god .  br    br   this is a psychological drama about the rookie and his mentor that just happens to be about killing people . in this way it works extremely well  with terrific performances from berenger and zane  who doesn  t sleepwalk through the movie like he has in other roles  he actually looks like he  s acting  .  br    br   i was disappointed with the action towards the end  a lot of it didn  t make much sense and was unsatisfying given the buildup from the rest of the movie . but watch zane  s face as he panics  alone  while berenger does the dirty work .  
i normally have no problem walking away from a bad movie  however this was an unique case . this movie was so bad that i actually sat through the whole thing almost praying it would have one minute of good movie time to justify the hour and a half that was wasted . needless to say i was brutally disappointed . set at a beach house where a group of college friends are celebrating vacation  this movie suffers from numerous problems making it not worth seeing . first  there are gaping plot holes . second  very few of the c  list  i don  t even dare call them b  actors can act worth a damn  so any scenes that have potential fail miserably . third  the rate of the film is very choppy and awkward to watch most of the time making suspense building very difficult  leading to very few surprises for the audience . fourth and most importantly  the ending is completely anti  climatic partially because of how it ends  setting  who the killer turns out to be  and partially because the dialog is just atrocious . to the films credit  it is the only movie that i will ever say is the worst movie i have ever scene  and i  ve seen a lot .  br    br   so  just like a bad joke you would have been all the happier never hearing  the next time someone asks you if you want to know a secret you will be yelling no  you really don  t as you run in the opposite direction .  
firstly  this is simply the funniest movie i have ever seen . it incorporates perfectly  timed slapstick  sexual humour  and cleverly  thought  up stand  up . but it goes deeper than that . the souler opposite is an original love story  something we don  t see that often  that gave me hope that there is love out therethat two people who love each other can work through their adversity and that such a comedic take on life  something i believe we all should have  can be accepted by the people that really matter . chris meloni gives a such a convincing performance as barry singer that he should have won an oscar . the film is brilliantly written and i hope we will be seeing more films from everyone involved in the future .  
well ok  i watched this movie a little over  years ago and now i pulled it out of the dusty shelf to watch it again and i must say  i actually think this movie is good . this movie caught a buzz as the bootleg i know what you did last summer   much like final stab was to scream   and well this movie isn  t that bad . i mean it had flaws and of course it would be laughable to release this in the theaters but still for a midnight popcorn flick  this movie is not half bad . it has some scares  and some really hot women i might add . plus it shows off joey lawrence  s new beefy look though obviously even that hasn  t won him any big hollywood roles either . . . . . . i feel bad for the man  he had such a career in the early and mid    s with blossom  some disney movies and the everlasting lawrence brothers show . . . . . joey lawrence was a bit player in the sitcom scene  but then like in a    degree turn  his career went south only doing low budget movies like this one .  br    br   the movie also throws you off guard in  it makes you think between the crew  there really is a secret that someone knows  to only be disappointed in the end to find out the secret . it also throws you off on who the killer is  i had an idea but still woulnd  t think the killer was who he was  but his motives combined with the secret was a huge letdown . now  had there been a secret that was let out  this movie could  ve been one of the better b rated movies . but also i am a sucker for college themes and i also in college went on spring break in a mansion sized beach house similar to the one in here so it just made me feel sentimental about this movie .  br    br   a so  so slasher flick . good for a midnight movie .  
i finally got myself set up on mail order dvd rental so i could find movies not available to me in the stores . i chose the souler opposite because i love christopher meloni  and also like small  often ignored films .  br    br   this one is such a treat  meloni has such charm in this part . it  s easy to pigeon hole him is you only ever see him as his alter ego elliot stabler  losvu  . in this film  meloni is an out of step unattached mid  lifer who is hitting the skids in many ways  only to find a path to happiness in someone unexpected .  br    br   the relationship drawn between barry  meloni  and tim busfield  s character is realistic and not over done . i haven  t seen busfield since   something  and he was fun to watch . but it was all chris  film . i became such a fan girl all over again .  br    br   it is a bit slow in the beginning  i will admit . i thought some of the  flashbacks  could have been edited down . but overall  this film will delight you  male or female  as it has an honest  refreshing view of relationships today .  
i am so confused . what in the world was this movie about  what was the killer  s motivation  he seemed quite angry  but i have yet to figure out why . nothing in this movie made sense . it had zero depth . or less than zero depth . which i guess would make it a hill . or a pile . of crap . the acting was horrible . when i searched for a few of the actors in this movie  they had been in very few things that i had heard of  and that came as absolutely no surprise . i can  t decide whether to feel sorry for them for the embarrassment of being in a movie this bad  or to feel that they should never be offered another acting job again . starting . . . now   seinfeld reference .  really  though  don  t waste your time with this . there  s so little substance that there  s nothing there even just to make fun of . this was undoubtedly one of the worst slasher flicks   no  one of the worst flicks of any kind  that i have ever had the misfortune to watch  and i  ve seen quite a few .  
who knew they could be so funny   christopher meloni and janel moloney are known more for their outstanding work in some of television  s hottest dramas .   law  order svu  and  the west wing   put them together on the big screen and what you get is an engaging romantic comedy with plenty of laughs .  br    br   the actors develop the story  s ongoing relationship with impressive skill  leaving the audience bound to fall in love with barry singer  meloni   despite the fact he  s a standup comic who also happens to be a mean  spirited  sexist jerk .  br    br   you  ll be rooting for him even as he takes all his insecurities with the opposite sex and chases thea  moloney  halfway around the country in hopes of winning her heart . they have so little in common . . . but when barry finally opens his heart  you  ll wonder why thea keeps running away .  br    br   the souler opposite is a wonderful movie with an incredible cast and a gifted writer . well worth your time .  br    br    
no  didn  t think so  well  in that case all you have to do is stay far  far away from  do you wanna know a secret   as it  s just the umpteenth pointless post   scream  slasher with absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever . the plot is extremely ridiculous the characters are insufferably dumb  the gore  factor is negligible and the whole thing is just plain boring  as you can derive from the title already  this film is mainly inspired by  i still know what you did last summer   as the events take place in a similar setting and the killer  s motivations are equally stupid . why anyone would want to steal ideas from junk like  ikwydls  is a complete mystery to me  anyway . at least that film could depend on the precious rack of jennifer love hewitt  whereas the girls in this junk are  apart from brainless  also terribly unattractive . one year after the still unsolved murder of her boyfriend  beth morgan  her new adulterous lover and four other simple  minded college students go to florida to spend their spring break holiday in a fancy beach house . the killer hasn  t made a move all year  but now he follows the posse to florida and starts butchering them whilst leaving behind the titular message as some sort of business card . you really don  t need to be a horror  expert in order to quickly figure out which face hides behind the unspeakably ridiculous mask and the writers  attempts to put you on the wrong track are downright embarrassing . since the plot is so thin  most of the film is purely irrelevant padding  including the sub plots regarding the incompetent floridian police force and the  mysterious  fbi inspector who seems to have a personal score to settle . the murder inexplicably happen off screen  don  t you hate it when that happens    there isn  t even any gratuitous ta to enjoy and you better don  t get me started on the quality of the dialogs . suffering through crap like this only makes you realize that the delightful spirit of the    s slashers is gone for good .  
i happened upon this film by accident  and really enjoyed . timothy busfield  s character is without redeeming qualities  and at one point  busfield and star meloni ogle women as they pass by . . . meloni  s take on the parade is different from busfield  s . janel maloney is terrific . . . she looks very much like tea leone  but the major difference here is that janel can actually act . some very nice things in this film and well worth your attention when it  s on cable .  
simply awful slasher  molded from the i know what you did last summer type of fodder  has beautiful wealthy college students spending spring break in a florida condo being murdered one by one . a misfire in every category imaginable from properly built suspense to the executed death sequences . . nothing is handled properly and the characters leave little more than caricatures you root to see decimated as quick as possible . del tenney  the curse of the living corpsei eat your skin   of all people  executive produced  co  wrote  and stars as a priest in a pivotal role whose relationship to the killer i guess means something to why he  s psychotic . the revelation of the killer is awkwardly handled and ineffective  probably not surprising a soul who watches it . there are a lot of attempted jump scares  with one character popping out to frighten their friend  which couldn  t even manufacture a few cheap thrills  because they are so calculated in such a tepid way . most of the attacks occur off  screen with bleeding throat cuts  . . or pools  representing the only real display of violence . the protracted finale  where the killer goes on and on with the actor desperately trying to make his villain as diabolical and demented as possible  is embarrassing and tense  less . there  s not one single positive to derive from this clichd and dull exercise with the pretty cast making little effort to rise past their one  dimensional roles . and  for pity sake  they could  ve at least allowed us to see joey lawrence get decapitated or something for withstanding the misery of sitting through this junk heap for   agonizing minutes .  br    br   dorie barton  as the heroine final girl  beth morgan  who the killer seems to be obsessed with  couldn  t be more vacuous and uninteresting  . . oh  she was in rehab  and takes pills for her nightmaressuch intriguing exposition  . chad allen  cast against type as a very intimidating  friend  of the group  . . who happens to disappear from the film first  setting up the idea that he  s the first victim   has a tough hill to climb with his role  so steep he eventually stumbles  rolling uncontrollably with no end in sight . jeff conaway  needing some cash i guess  has the beleaguered fbi agent role  whose daughter  s murder motivates him to seek out the killer  leading him to florida . jack mcgee has his usual ahole role as a smart  mouth florida police chief who is often nose to nose with conaway  s agent .  br    br   oh  the answer to the title  s question . . not really . because once you get the answer  you will wonder why you bothered with this anyway .  
come on    they did that on purpose   two of my current faves on tv  meloni from  oz  and  l and o  svu  and janel from  west wing   hook up for a nice little sleeper  character study . plot  s nothing fancy  but the acting is right on the mark . tim busfield shows up for some neat bits . worth a look .  
suppose you  ve been on a deserted island the last ten years . haven  t heard of scream and left when halloween part  entered the cinema . then this movie would have been a blast and a completely new vision on the horror scene .  br    br   at the moment  a  .  rating is on imdb and it doesn  t deserve a that low appreciation . slashing all the way  like  i know what you did   and a who  is  it that when getting to the end convinced me of that who  and  why .  br    br   no big surprise  just a nice flick to watch with a cola  popcorn and no urge to get a difficult plot  deep characters . if the video rental is out of the top titles  you can take it without a risk  but don  t expect a masterwork . i  ve seen a lot worse .  
overall i would have to say that i liked the movie . some of the fight scenes are really good . especially the fight against leung ka  yan . one point that really bothered me was the fact that they used an asian to play a black man . i mean really . talk about bad taste . during a fight scene  you see one of the fighters on the floor is laughing . otherwise  sammo copies bruce lee  s fighting moves perfectly .  out of   stars .  
a warning to you not to be seduced by the names bigelow and red .  undertow  is pointless and unengaging  and made me think often of a phrase by twain about wishing all the characters would be drowned together . when someone brings up the category of worst films ever made  it  s not the likes of  plan   or  attack of the killer shrews  that i think of it  s the likes of this . what a complete waste of time   my own and everyone who was involved with this flick .  
no  there is another   br    br   because every star wars fan had to have an opinion about i  ii  iii and because that opinion was biased since we missed so much the atmosphere and the characters of the original trilogy  i will state the good points of  the return of the jedi  and a few corresponding bad points of the prequel . of course  i loved the music  the special effects  the two droids  but this has been overly debated elsewhere .  br    br   what we get in the original trilogy and in this particular movie   a strong ecological concern  anti  militarist positions  fascinating insights about the jedi order and the force  cute creatures  harrison ford  s smile  a killer scene  near the ending  when vader looks alternatively at his son and at the emperor . the lightning of the lethal bolts reflected on his black helmet . and when he grabs and betrays his master to save luke  thereby risking his own life  oh  boy   br    br   what is wrong in the prequel inmho   the whole  human factor  element that the original cast was able to push forward is somehow missing  the force seems to be more about superpowers and somersaults  than about wisdom  too many jedis at once and too many light sabers on the screen  the lack of experience of a few actors too often threatens the coherence of the plot  br    br   by the way  if you enjoy the theory of the force as explained by obi web  obi wen  i mean  and yoda  then you should read a few books about buddhism and the forms it took in ancient japan .  br    br   the magic of star wars  imho lies mainly in the continuing spiritual heritage from a master to his apprentice  from a father to his son  albeit the difficulties .  de mon me  ton me    from my soul to yours   as would write bejard to the late zen master t . deshimaru .  
i rated this movie a  since the plot is so unbelievable unbelievable . judge for yourself . be warned  the following will not only give away the plot  but will also spoil your appetite for watching the movie .  br    br   a computer virus  designed by a frustrated nerd  sends out a code through television screens and computer monitors . when the code  in the form of light  enters the eye it can access the  electrical system  of your body . what it does is forcing the body cells into excretion of calcium . within seconds after infection the patient reaches for his neck  develops tunnel vision  his skin will turn white of the calcium  after which he falls and his hand and scull will crack in a cloud of chalk .  br    br   this virus is very intelligent . when it finds out that a blind computer expert is trying to disassemble the code with a braille output device  operated by hands  the device is set on a very high voltage  which causes severe burning wounds on the skin of the expert  s head . the virus also senses aggression against remote controls and the keyboard of an atm . fortunately it could be stopped by throwing over outdated desktop pc  s in a rack and electrocuting the nerd with his back on a broken computer and his feet in some spilled water .  br    br   oh dear . . .  
the most agile fat guy in martial arts does it again . an early sammo film that has him imitating his character  s hero  bruce lee  sammo is amazingly lee like in his actions and fighting . the way he slips into bruce  s style and then back to his own  more familiar kung fu is a joy to watch and shows how accomplished and adaptable he is at his art . throw in a bit of slapstick humour so beloved of this type of flick and this a movie that has it all  comedy  some unintentional  like the fake black guy   action and some incredible fight scenes .  br    br   a great beer and buddies movie that is worth an hour and a half of anyone  s time .  
just below the surface lies what  a simply awful movie is what .  br    br   as other viewers have justifiably commented  the storm sequences are just plain ridiculous . chopping already sodden firewood in the pouring rain  now that  s smart . menace  foreboding  sexual tension  for those read dull  contrived  dull  contrived and dull  overly contrived .  br    br   i want to say thank god for mia sara  s shower scene but in retrospect i think the producers of the film  having seen the completed mess realised that they had to put something in to make it half way worthwhile at all . so it just becomes yet another contrivance . do yourself a favour and give this a miss .  
  one of hung  s better early efforts . the humor is dead  on in parts as hung tries to imitate lee  s moves and facial expressions  and also in a bit where hung pokes fun at jackie chan  s drunken master . the action is also pretty good  especially when hung takes on a trio on martial arts experts at the end . it  s not the greatest film  but pretty good for     s kung fu  especially if you  re a fan of hung and  or lee . be warned  though most video versions of the movie have pretty shoddy quality . there is also a character in blackface which some people might find offensive .  br    br   sammo hung is a rural swine  herder who moves to hong kong to fight off some bad guys . sammo turns on his dead  on bruce lee impersonation when fighting   br    br   this film is often billed as a parody of bruce lee  s  enter the dragon   but it  s not exactly that . . . sammo is a rural swine herder   obsessed with bruce lee   who moves to hong kong to help his relatives run a small open  air restaurant . once situated at the new job  he is forced to defend the eatery from local gangsters looking for protection money . when sammo switches into fighting mode  he switches on his bruce lee impersonation  which must be seen to be believed  this film is pretty sloppy  in many of the fight scenes sammo battles against people who are obviously actors rather than martial artists  and there  s one character who  s supposed to be black who is played by an asian man in heavy  and preposterous  makeup . but what this film lacks in budget and accuracy  it more than makes up for in atmosphere and energy . highly recommended for a good mood .   
the viewer leaves wondering why he bothered to watch this one  or why  for that matter  anyone bothered to make it . there is no plot  just random scenes of ridiculous action . mia sara  s shower scene appeals to the male libido  but that  s not much reason to make a movie .  
this movie is not a kung fu movie . this is a comedy about kung fu . and if  before making this film  sammo hung hadn  t spent some time watching films by the great french comic filmmaker jaques tati  i . ie .  e . g .  esp . jour de fte   he is certainly on the same wave length .  br    br   personally  i think tati  s films are hilarious but they  re not to all tastes . some have told me that they loathe his work . i  ve never figured out why  but i think it  s because the character that tati usually plays himself is so totally dead pan  so unaffected by the events around him  which he is usually causing  that many miss the more subtle comic bits happening around him .  br    br   at any rate  tati  s main shtick  or at least his best known  is to take a pretentiously upright petite bourgeoisie with   th century sensibilities and drop him into   th century france where he must confront a society that is largely defined by the gradual eroding of those sensibilities . he usually has serious difficulties with little things like record players or radios . he  s a hazard in a car  but the world  s no safer when he rides a bicycle . but through it all  he never loses his aplomb  which is derived from his inner recognition that the nineteenth century was more interesting than the   th overall .  br    br   in a similar fashion  the character sammo hung himself plays is a country boy come to the big city of hong kong  utterly convinced that what makes the city interesting is that bruce lee made kung fu movies there . this gets him into trouble in small ways  since he takes in stride happenstance which would never be noticed in a small town but which are deemed inappropriate in a big city  such as the moment when he appears to be urinating in the street  a cop stops him  only to discover that hung is actually just squeezing water out of his shirt  soaked during an accidental dip in the bay . what  s interesting about this gag is why it is hung doesn  t understand what the cop  s fuss is all about  in a country town  as long as no one  s looking  if you gotta go you gotta go . in other words  hung is not really urinating in the street  but he certainly would  and what  s the problem officer  of course hung  s obsession with bruce lee also gets him into big troubles as well . he beats a gang of thugs who have refused to pay his restaurant  owner uncle . of course  in a bruce lee movie  the thugs would be considered trounced  and they would have learned their lesson . but in hung  s hong kong  reality unfortunately prevails  and the thugs return when he  s not around  to trounce his uncle .  br    br   of course  hung finally triumphs in the end  just as tati always did . characters like this must always triumph  at least in comedy  because they are completely innocent  and as such  despite their comic missteps and misunderstandings  they really represent what is best in the humans we admire and wish to be . we don  t really want to be bruce lee  who has to experience the loss of all of his friends before he gets a chance to beat the bad  guy   we  in our own innocence  really want a world where lee  s heroics are possible .  br    br   unfortunately  that world only exists on film .  br    br    ah  but what if . . .    and in that question we find sammo hung at his comic best .  
i sat through this turkey because i hadn  t seen it before  and because the premise sounded like it had potential . it was mildly entertaining until the hurricane sequence . at the height of the storm  the wind is strong enough to blow windows out of the house  yet the trees in the background are perfectly upright and not a leaf is moving  in fact  when the characters move outside the house  bright sunlight is visible illuminating the treetops . at that point  whatever credence the filmmakers had developed evaporated faster than the highly localized rain in their film . too bad all hurricanes aren  t like this one  it would surely help our homeowners insurance rates here in the sunshine state .  
this is of of sammo  s great early comedy films . this isn  t a parody of enter the dragon  the main character  sammo  is obsessed with bruce lee and emulates him freakishly well for a man of his size . nominal story about how his fighting keeps causing his loved ones trouble  then fighting . oh  the fighting . good  fast  paced scenes with high impact  the white guy who plays a boxer looks like he really gets hurt by one of sammo  s kicks  .  br    br   the funniest bit of this movie was purely unintentional . there is a jim kelly looking guy  one of three experts hired to take out sammo   but he was a chinese guy in blackface with an afro  wig . come on  didn  t they have any real black people in hong kong in      well  i guess i  ve seen enough white fake  as  hell  chinese people  in old american movies too .  br    br   this is one is for any sammo or bruce lee fan .  
as a premise  this backwoods version of the dead calm storyline had promise .  br    br   however  director eric red  s inability to render a convincing hurricane leads to a deluge of continuity and lighting errors .  br    br   ultimately  the viewer is more spellbound by the bizarre weather effects than the intended storyline . intermittent spates of ham  fisted over  direction are similarly distracting .  br    br   charles dance  doing an  inbred backwoods hardass  schtick  does his best to save the movie . but ultimately  undertow squeals like a pig . . . and has more ham to boot .  
  enter the fat dragon  is one of the funniest martial art movies i had the opportunity to see . sammo hung portrays a chinese farm boy that comes to visit a city friend . just like tang lung of  way of the dragon .  wherever sammo goes  trouble starts  therefore he has to rely on his martial art skills to solve the differences . luckily  sammo  s character learns martial arts by imitating and mimicking his idol  bruce lee . he even strokes his nose with his thumb exactly the way bruce lee does and also releases his screeching yell . he also uses nunchucks in a scene . it was like watching a fat bruce lee . there  s a great showdown near the end of the movie which consists of foreign fighters . sammo has to encounter each opponent one by one . sort of like  the game of death   where each fighter possesses a different martial art discipline from one another .  br    br   this is one of the films i really enjoyed watching and also the very first sammo hung movies i  ve seen . excellent fight scenes and a lot of laughs . a rare classic sammo hung film i highly recommend for all you martial art fans out there .  .       
oh dear  what a horrid movie .  br    br   the production was so cheap and nasty . . . remember the shot from  the natural   where the lightning hits the tree  leaving a glowing stump  that roy hobbs makes a bat from   well the producers of this movie used that same scene to prefix a scene where a tree branch slammed into the house .  br    br   i wonder if they paid to use the footage from the natural  or did they just hope that no  one who would watch the film would pick it up   br    br   then at the end where they were getting trying to get away in the truck . such over  acting in the cabin .  br    br   a really bad film  a really bad film .  
sometimes realism can work against the effectiveness of a film . that  s no problem here . the sets are cheesy  inside and out . the fog is ubiquitous  half disguising the shabbiness of the production . if there  s a bar  the name painted on the front window says simply   wine and spirits .  the result is a claustrophobic set of scenes . not a single shot of a city or even a fake skyline . that  s the kind of dublin this story is about  just as jack the ripper movies are about seedy  foggy  cobblestoned whitechapel . who would want it any other way  how could it have been any other way with no bankable stars  a minuscule budget  and a four  week shooting schedule  the acting follows suit   outrageously hammy on everyone  s part . sometimes  my god  it  s positively excruciating . mrs . mcphillips moaning after frankie is shot dead outside the house . victor mclaglin however delivers exactly the right kind of overdone performance . wardrobe has stuffed him into a too  small jacket so that he seems to be bursting out of it like frankenstein  s monster . his every movement seems to go a little farther than it was intended to . when he slaps his cap on his head  he bops himself on the temple . a big  blustering  blubbering baby  he seems constantly drunk . he betrays his best friend for the reward money which will take him and his would  be girl to america  not a good guy in the ordinary sense . yet we wince as he begins to spend the   pounds  more and more of it during a wild  alcoholic night  because every expensive and grandiose gesture takes him farther from his dream . i wouldn  t argue it  but i can understand why he won an oscar .  br    br   as for max steiner  s score  wow . every movement  already overdone  is not only underlined by the mickey mouse music but highlighted in glossy yellow . it shouldn  t have happened   the heavenly choirs  the endearing young charms  the minstrel boy  the gurgling tune while mclaglen drinks from the bottle . it would have been better off with no score at all .  br    br   well  how is it as a whole  dated   by any measure  but not a product of its times . that  s why i admire it . yes  the symbolism is clumsy at times . mclaglen  a real dummy  bumping his head against a hanging sign . the fog . the blind man . but what impresses me is how little of this was being tried at the time . what strikes us as overly arty today was in     something quite different from what was seen in most of the programmers being ground out at the time . if it falls short at times  it doesn  t matter . the movie was an act of courage  politically and morally as well as poetically .  the legion of decency condemned it because of a scene in a brothel .  a director  s goal should exceed his grasp  or what  s a script for  watching it now  however  in      the story is more disturbing than ever . john ford obviously sympathized with the irish rebels . they kill  but only out of what they see as necessity .   he knows too much to live . what if he goes to the tans  oh  it  s not me  self i  m thinking of but all of us  of ireland herself .   the irish are sentimentalized and sympathetic . i wonder if the jihadists in the middle east don  t use a similar logic to justify their acts of violence .  
the film began with wheeler sneaking into the apartment of his girlfriend . her aunt  edna may oliver   a person too talented for this film  didn  t like wheeler   a sentiment i can easily relate to . the aunt decided to take this bland young lady abroad to get her away from wheeler . they left and wheeler invested in a revolution in a small mythical kingdom because they promised to make him their king . at about the same time  woolsey was in the same small mythical kingdom and he was made king . so when wheeler arrived  it was up to the boys to fight it out  but they refused because they are already friends   which greatly disappointed the people  as killing and replacing kings is a national pastime .  br    br   i am a huge fan of comedy from the golden age of hollywood   the silent era through the     s . i have seen and reviewed hundreds  if not thousands of these films and yet despite my love and appreciation for these films i have never been able to understand the appeal of wheeler and woolsey   the only comedy team that might be as bad as the ritz brothers  despite being very successful in their short careers in hollywood  cut short due to the early death of robert woolsey   i can  t help but notice that practically every other successful team did the same basic ideas but much better . for example  there were many elements of this film reminiscent of the marx brother  s film  duck soup  yet cracked nuts never made me laugh and duck soup was a silly and highly enjoyable romp . at times  woolsey talked a bit like groucho  but his jokes never have punchlines that even remotely are funny  in fact  he just seemed to prattle pointlessly . his only funny quality was that he looked goofy   surely not enough reason to put him on film . additionally  wheeler had the comedic appeal of a piece of cheese   a piece of cheese that sang very poorly  a missed opportunity was the old vaudeville routine later popularized by abbott and costello as  who  s on first  which was done in this film but it lacked any spark of wit or timing . in fact  soon after they started their spiel  they just ended the routine   so prematurely that you are left frustrated . i knew that  who  s on first  had been around for many years and used by many teams  but i really wanted to see wheeler and woolsey give it a fair shot and give it their own twist .  br    br   once again  i have found yet another sub  par film by this duo . while i must admit that i liked a few of their films mildly  such as silly billies and the rainmakers   which i actually gave   s to on imdb   this one was a major endurance test to complete   something that i find happens all too often when i view the films of wheeler and woolsey . where was all the humor    
this picture in     walked away with all kinds of ocars for best director  john ford  actor victor mclaglen and music by max seiner . victor mclaglen   gypo nolan    call out the marines       gave an outstanding performance as an irish rebel who belonged to a rough and tough crowd who were all fighting for a cause and at the same time getting poorer and poorer with plenty of drinking . gypo nolan made a bad mistake when he decided to become an informer for his best friend in order to take a trip with his gal to america and a new way of living . preston foster   don gallagher    guadalcanal diary       gave a great supporting role as the leader of the irish rebellion and was anxious to capture the informer of his group . gypo nolan becomes haunted by his betrayal of his friend and begins to feel just like a judas . great film for     and wonderful acting by mclaglen  but rather depressing in every aspect of the film .  
inept  boring  and incoherent supernatural  thriller  in which college student cassie  melissa sagemiller  is the constant victim of hallucinations and nightmares after a car accident claims the life of her boyfriend sean  casey affleck  .  br    br   i can  t begin to tell you how bad this is . . . nothing of any importance ever happens nor is there ever any sort of actual entertainment value . i did not like this cast in this particular film  they are all sadly unconvincing  then again  their roles are no good  . to promote this as a horror film is a joke . where are the scares  there  s no sense or suspense  there are a few good songs but that  s about it .  br    br   how on earth did this project get the green light  writer  director steve carpenter has no discernible vision or talent that i can sense . worst of all  the conclusion really makes the whole movie pointless .  br    br   the alleged  killer cut  that i watched is   minutes of pure tedium .  br    br        
in the mid      s hollywood was regaining its confidence after the difficulties of the talkie transition . although all the technical problems of sound had been solved very quickly  it took longer to resolve the questions of how talking pictures should look  how they should be structured and how they should be acted . the informer is a key picture in that it shows the extent to which wordless moments can convey story  asserting the power images without ignoring the necessities of sound and dialogue .  br    br   this is not to say the informer is truly a throwback to the golden days of the silents . for one thing  many silent pictures were not so purely visual in their narrative  and were overburdened with title cards . but what the informer has is the self  assuredness to extend moments between dialogues  to focus on reactions more than speeches  and to let shots play out simply for atmosphere .  br    br   director john ford  for all his capability  was a filmmaker who appears to have put in effort in proportion to how interested he was in the material . if he thought a story was silly  he just did it half  arsed . luckily the informer  with its depiction of community  honour  working class life and most importantly irish setting  was everything ford loved  and the result is one of his finest works . in it  ford only really employs too kinds of shot . the first is of places  the dublin streets shrouded in mist and darkness so their furthest depths cannot be seen dingy interiors where the walls and ceilings seem to press in on us . the second is of faces  striking close  ups against plain backgrounds  usually without dialogue  focusing us upon the inner conflicts of these people .  br    br   lead man victor mclaglen fits perfectly within this character and this manner of filming him . mclaglen  s performance does not look like much  being as it is about    drunk act . but the other    is heartfelt emoting  as here and there his gypo nolan has what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity . with such performances are oscars won . mclaglen is backed by a spot  on supporting cast  among whom there are no weak links . in particular it is nice to have donald meek and una o  connor  usually only seen in comic relief roles  playing straight dramatic parts for once  although meek  s appearance does contain one or two jokes  the tone of the scene and much of his manner is serious  . not only do these two deliver incredibly deep performances  their familiarity to most viewers as comedy players gives an added note of poignancy to their part in this tragedy .  br    br   rko  who produced the informer  were perhaps the most adventurous and willing to take risks of all the major studios . thanks to this  we are able to see a dismal story with a despicable anti  hero at its centre  which could easily have been a clunky  over  earnest mess  instead filled with a moody atmosphere and depth of character which keeps us watching and draws us into its world .  
what  s wrong with this film  many  many things . the editing tries too hard to look good  and does nothing but confuse the viewer whilst also supplying him  her with a powerful headache . the plot is muddled and obviously prolonged from what started as a short  story or film  . the plot only makes for less than ten minutes of good story  and this is just stretched out painfully until it reached the minimum length for a feature film . we all know what happens to things when we stretch them  right  exactly . they get thinner . in the end  the plot is just so paper  thin that you might even miss it  if you aren  t paying attention  which is hard to do when watching this movie . the acting is not even slightly impressive . the characters are poorly written and dull  uninteresting . one of the worst things that are wrong with this film is that apparently  whoever was in charge of the score  soundtrack had no idea what the movie was  or what it was supposed to be about  not that i blame him  i couldn  t figure it out either  . as a result  half of the music in the film doesn  t fit the scenes at all . also  what was with all the sexual undertones between eliza dushku and the main character  naturally  this was in order to attract young males  but it was just so cheaply done . and did the first scene have anything to do with the rest of the film  on any conceivable level  at all  the two creepy guys didn  t seem to have anything to do with the film at all  they were just there in order to have some chase scenes . i doubt anyone would really enjoy a film so poorly put together and such a shameless and awful hollywood  like attempt at a somewhat interesting idea . but i digress . i recommend this to teenagers with low attention spans who don  t mind a really bad horror  thriller as long as there  s some sex and gore in it  although that may only be true for the killer cut  which i saw  .      
like many people here  i started out finding my patience being tried by this film . by the end  i actually shed a few tears .  br    br   it seems to be in the nature of most old films to drag for    th length and then catch fire right at the end . older film  goers learned to bide their time patiently through the slow parts  calm in the knowledge that the big payoff is on the way . but that isn  t quite accurate . you see  to earlier audiences  what are to us the  slow parts  were the main body of the story . they watched and found anecdotal and thematic interest there . modern audiences  post  spielberg  are in a constant state of waiting to be hit with a small climax every two minutes when they see older films . it  s the inflation problem of modern movies . well  that isn  t going to happen . it is not necessary to apologize for these films it is simply that you have to adjust your expectations and personal rhythm when you watch them . at this point  the difference between avatar and the informer is like the difference between euripides and a traveling production of rent . think about it for a minute or two . not to strain at the obvious  but euripides still deserves a hearing .  br    br   the  exciting part   for most modern viewers  begins with the ira tribunal scene and escalates to the final couple of minutes  which  if you are at all on board or even paying attention by that time  will tear your heart out . it  s not some high  tone universal abstract plea for forgiveness it  s a plea from one dimwit  and those who feel sorry for the big lummox  for a little mercy . it  s that personal  and that embarrassingly naked an appeal . for after being mad at gypo  irritated at him  thinking this is the dumbest character of all time  you finally find yourself won over by the scene of gypo  s erstwhile girlfriend pleading to another woman to talk her man into going easy him .  br    br   the film may be sentimental  but the sentimentality is not cheap as some here have charged . there  s a matter of life and death that plays out here  and as long as you take the proposition of one life to a customer seriously  it  s sentimentality wrung out of the most serious stuff .  br    br    of   . and the fault for it not being   of   is my own and in some measure yours  if you are reading this . we have all asked for more  ever more  faster  ever faster until we cannot put ourselves in       just yesterday  really   as easily as we should be able .  
having seen the hot eliza dushku in the pretty good wrong turn  i decided to pick this one up instead of return of the living dead  of all movies . haven  t seen that one yet  but  considering it is one of the most highly acclaimed horror movies ever  safe to say i made the wrong choice . there is simply nothing to recommend this movie  and i am talking about the supposedly superior killer cut . it didn  t even have the youthful sex appeal of mediocre to poor movies like i know what you did last summer or valentine or urban legend . it simply made no sense  held no excitement  had very little interesting acting or compelling writing . the release date was apparently put off numerous times for about a year running  and the reason is obvious . the whole movie comes off as a bunch of meaningless scenes thrown together haphazardly  to meaningless effect . get wrong turn instead  if you want to see dushku . i would like to see a movie with her and the super  hot elisabeth harnois   but i don  t think even that would have made this movie watchable . casey affleck  so promising in good will hunting  is awful here   he seems to lack both intelligence and guts . that  s enough on this one .  
i just saw this film on turner classic movies last night and was blown away by victor mclaglen  s performancein every sense of the word a  tour de force  . the atmosphere of     dublin evoked through the cinematography and production design really foreshadowed techniques used in the best film noirs of the    s and early    s . very nice attention to detail alsoduring frankie mcphillip  s  wallace ford  s  wake  the mourners are all praying in gaelic . max steiner  s score is unforgettable . as in later films such as      s gwtw  he appropriated folk ballads to lend local color and a sense of place and time . john ford already a film giant in       
this film concerns a very young girl  cassie   melissa sagemiller  who leaves her family and heads off to become a college freshman . one night cassie and her friends decide to go to a wild party with plenty of drinking and dancing and cassie is riding with her boyfriend who she likes but never told him she loved him . as cassie was driving  a car was stopped in the middle of the road and she was unable to avoid an accident and as a result there is a bloody loss of lives along with her boyfriend . cassie becomes very emotionally upset and has nightmares which cause her to have hallucinations about her boyfriend coming back to life and encounters men trying to murder her and she is struggling to find out who her real friends are  who wants her dead and will she survive this entire horror ordeal . cassie dreams she is being made love to by her boyfriend after he died and finds another guy in her bed and is told she was asking him to make love . this is a way out film  and not very good at all .  
  return of the jedi  is often remembered for what it did wrong rather than what it did right  and that is a shame  because the last chronological installment in the star wars saga is a shining example of epic storytelling . it manages to wrap up all story lines of the previous movies in one grand finale  and does so very convincingly .  br    br   yes  there are ewoks  cute and cuddly bears that arguably served to broaden the star wars demographic  and in the middle the movie tends to slow down a bit . but the final hour is arguably the best piece of the entire saga  where luke finally comes face to face with darth vader  the most recognizable villain in movie history .  br    br   return of the jedi did so many things right that people tend to overlook it presented an incredible conclusion to the darth vader storyline  which went from slightly implausible in the  empire strikes back  to very convincing here   an exciting opening at jabba  s palace  a masterful performance of ian mcdiarmid as the emperor  luke finally coming into his own  the resolution of solo and leia  s romance  and the extremely powerful final moments on the endor moon .  br    br   yes  there are slight annoyances . but they are the annoyances of a generation of moviegoers who  ve had time to nitpick every single scene . it  s still a magical and moving piece of cinema that also serves as a great final chapter . it  s not a  good  movie  it  s fantastic   
robert wagner is the evil boss of digicron  a telecommunications company with a virus that kills people .  br    br    so you  re saying that the software virus has become a real virus that can kill people  that may be medically possible but not possible from my system   br    br    i  m having to write some new virus software of my own to trap it  it may take some time   br    br    but it  s not going after software  it  s killing people   br    br   watch out for the  i  m into virology  love moment and perhaps first ever film plot to feature death by braille keyboard  
spoilers powerhouse movie that shows how men in desperate situations can go so far as sacrifice their best friends and family members and not realize what monsters that they are by doing it . until like in the case of bull  like gypo noland  victor mclaglen  it  s too much too late .  br    br   it  s     and the hight of the black  tan irish revolt against the mighty british empire with the tans  british occupying troops  on the lookout for wanted irish republican rebel frankie mcphillip  wallace ford  wanted for the killing of a briish soldier . gypo a good  really the best  friend of the fugitive mcphillip is down on his luck not having a job with his girlfriend katie  margot grahame  forced to turn tricks in the dublin red  light district in order to pay her rent .  br    br   after an outraged gypo worked over a potential john who want  s to spend a few hours with katie  for a shilling or two  an angry katie tells the not so bright gyro that he  s preventing her for supporting herself with the only bankable asset she has  her body . katie also tells gypo that he should wake up to reality and realize what a desperate situation that she  s in . telling the mind  numbed gypo that it would only cost ten pound sterling for her to go to america  and get out of the poverty of ireland  gypo suddenly remembers a poster of his good friend frankie mcphillip that he just saw announcing a reward of   pound sterling . thats enough money for both him and kaite to travel to america .  br    br   gypo going to a local dublin flop house and soup kitchen to get a free meal is startled to run into his friend frankie mcphillip . frankie tells him that he snuck into dublin to see both his mother mrs . mcphillip and sister mary  una o  connor  heather angel  and if he can make sure that everything is safe for him to go home and later leave for his irish republican unit outside the city .  br    br   all gypo can see in frankie  s face is the   pound sterling reward for him being turned into the police  without as much of a second thought  after he assured frankie that everything is all right  gypo secretly goes to the police and informs on his friend who  s later shot and killed in a police and tan shootout in his moms house .  br    br   with the deed done the chief of police hands over the   pound sterling  much like thirty pieces of silver  to an almost emotionless gypo who takes it and sneaks out the back door of the police station so that one one can see him . you can see in the police chief  s face and actions that he has nothing but utter contempt for gypo  s betrayal of his friend frankie mcphillip . even though he was wanted for murder and an enemy of the british empire . that  s how low traitors or informers are held even by those whom they secretly work for .  br    br   gypo turns out to be his own worst enemy after his betrayal of frankie as his conscience takes control of his mind . gypo sees and hears everyone  including his unsuspecting girlfriend katie  pointing a finger and implicating him in frankie  s betrayal and death at the hands of the british authorities . gypo  s guilty mind has him getting himself royally and gloriously drunk  on the reward money  that by the time he  s forced to to admit his crime to his irish republican army colleagues  who had the almost dead drunk and slobbering gypo on trial  the money was just about gone in his partying drinking and whoring .  br    br   whatever good feelings  if that  s possible  that you had for the weak minded and strong shouldered gypo was completely demolished when in an act of total desperation  in order to keep from getting shot  he falsely implicate an innocent man mulligan  donald meek  in his crime of informing on his friend frankie mcphillip . which is quickly exposed as a total fabrication by non other then the guilt  ridden gypo himself . the dye is then cast as straws are drawn for who would be the one to put a bullet in gypo  s head for the final gut spilling chapter of this heart wrenching and unforgettable crime  punishment classic .  
what a bad  bad movie  i tried watching without fast forwarding . . . that failed . after about   minutes i stopped the movie  went on  line to see how many minutes this disaster was .  only   minutes  whew   it was a confusing  boring movie . i don  t think anyone can get knocked down by getting hit with a fluorescent bulb much less gutted by one   the one funny thing is that i watched  the killer cut  version of the movie . the box boldly states  more blood    more sex    more terror than the theatrical release   yikes  if this movie was horrible with all those claims i wonder just how lame the  un  killer cut  was    if you want to see a great movie about the world of the living  the world of the dead watch any of the night of the living dead series    
victor mclaglen  s performance is one of the finest in film history .  br    br   i think we can all feel for  gypo  because we  ve all struggled with what is right and what isn  t and been wrong . this was one of the first art  house pictures to be released by a major american movie studio  rko radio pictures  .  br    br   joseph h . august  s cinematography is at its very best here . however  august  s stunning portion was mostly overlooked he didn  t receive the oscar nomination he rightly deserved .  br    br   this is a psychological drama  with thought  philosophy  sadness  all conveyed with as little words as possible .  
may i start off by saying that casey affleck is a very talented actor and i respect his work very much . i wish he was in more movies that showcased his talent . with this said  soul survivors was a very  very bad movie . very bad .  br    br   i would have to say that i lay almost all the blame on the poor script . affleck is a very talented actress  wes bentley had an outstanding performance in american beauty  melissa sagemiller did well  and eliza dushku is currently the it girl in hollywood . i don  t think any of the actors really got into the script  and i understand why . to say that this movie belongs to the horror genre is an overstatement . it did have the twists and turns you would expect  but they just didn  t lead anywhere . . . except to more confusion . i just found the ending very anti  climatic  because it just didn  t seem to make any sense or really answer any of the questions that i had about the storyline .  br    br   i wish i could give this movie a good review  but i can  t . in all honesty  the only thing i think you will find scary about this movie is that you paid for it .  
yet again  early morning television proves an invaluable resource for films that i otherwise would never have been able to track down . at four o  clock in the morning  i stumbled out of bed to begin recording  the informer         my fourth film from prolific american director john ford  and an excellent one at that . set during the irish civil war in      the screenplay was adapted by dudley nichols from the novel of the same name by liam o  flaherty . though he was born in the united states  and is most renowned for his  americana  pictures  both of ford  s parents were irish  which explains the director  s decision to direct the film . victor mclaglen plays gypo nolan  a brutish but well  meaning ruffian who informs on an old friend  frankie mcphillip  wallace ford   in order to claim the    reward for his girlfriend  katie  margot grahame  . when frankie is killed during his attempted arrest  the irish republican army  of which both frankie and gypo were members  begins to investigate the traitor behind the incident  every clue bringing them closer and closer to the real culprit .  br    br   meanwhile  gypo is plagued with guilt for his friend  s untimely death  and descends into a bout of heavy  drinking that rivals don birnam in  the lost weekend        in its excessiveness . as gypo drowns his sorrows in copious volumes of alcohol  trapped in a vicious little circle of depression  his extravagant spending captures the attention of the investigating ira members . for the one time in his life  gypo finds himself surrounded by admirers  including an amusing j . m . kerrigan   who enthusiastically clap him on the back and christen him  king gypo  for his physical might . however  it  s obvious that these people feel no affection for the man  and are simple showing him attention to exploit him for money . the additional    brought by frankie  s death could never buy gypo an assembly of friends  indeed  in a bitter twist of irony  the money was only made possible by the betrayal and loss of one of his only good companions . a relatively simple fellow  gypo could not possibly have fully considered the consequences of his actions  and is eventually offered forgiveness on account of his  not knowing what he was doing   but his foolishness must not go unpunished .  br    br   criticism is occasionally levelled at ford  s film for its allegedly propagandistic support of a  terrorist  organisation . though this stance obviously depends on one  s personal views i certainly don  t know enough irish history to pass judgement  there  s no doubt that the film portrays the irish republican army as selfless  dedicated and impartial  a proud piece of irish patriotism if i ever saw it . however  the main theme of the story is that of betrayal driven by intense poverty  one ordinary man betrays the confidence of his good friend  and comes to deeply regret his actions . the tormented gypo is played mainly for pity  and victor mclaglen gives a powerful performance that betrays a lifetime of unsatisfying existence  culminating in one terrible decision that condemns him to an uneasy death .  the informer  was john ford  s first major oscar success  winning a total of four awards  from six nominations   including best actor for mclaglen who snatched the statue from the three  way favourites of  mutiny on the bounty          best director and best screenplay for dudley nichols who declined the award due to union disagreements .  
i  m just quite disappointed with  soul survivors  . it doesn  t worth even a comment in this forum . the script is very poor as well as all the  acting  and for our entertainment it features a pointless plot .  br    br   please  do yourselves a favor  be a real  survivor  . . . don  t waste your time in this piece of crap  someday you  ll thank me   
this amazing oscar winner   in total  and john ford  s first academy award winner  is simply spellbinding with a pounding score by max steiner . called an art film  because ford had very little money to make this great story about guilt and retribution  and greed and stupidity . but what makes this movie such a classic  is the direction and astounding photography and use of fog and lighting  that was so different from the usual american film  and more in the tradition of german expressionism . and the oscar winning performance by victor mclaglen as the drunken gypo is simply unbelievable . basically the movie takes place in ireland  and gypo turns in a friend in the rebel movement to the english to collect   pounds to give to his girlfriend . but having all that money  he starts blowing it on an all night drunk and giving it away  while the leaders of the movement are trying to track down the informer . the whole movie is one night in a dark and foggy ireland  and a cast of characters that are memorable but all along  the whole world of gypo is closing in on him  both psychologically . if i had to pick maybe three directors to have all their movies on a deserted island forever  and nobody elses  john ford would certainly be one of them . what a truly remarkable movie . . .  
i have anticipated the various sci  fi and thriller type movies this summer but was so disappointed about this particular film . while some people walked out of the film  i decided to stay  only to laugh along with the other moviegoers at the acting  lack of suspense  ridiculous ending and difficult to follow story line . i found myself almost as confused as the main character in the film . the only redeeming quality of the film was the soundtrack . this is one of those budding star films which they later regret doing . in retrospect  i wouldn  t even rent this one  let alone pay more than   to see .  
john ford is one of the most influential and best remembered american filmmakers in the history of film  his name usually associated with the western film genre . however  john ford  s arguably best film is not a western at all but a seedy drama set in the irish fight for independence in the early     s      s the informer .  br    br   times are tough on many in ireland and the burnt out gypo nolan is caught in a web of poverty and desperation  and the walls are closing in . gypo is big but he is not the brightest bulb on the tree  has a warm heart but a short fuse  and never seems to really think things all the way through but he is not a criminal or a self  centered pig . walking the streets starving with no where to live  the hulking gypo nolan finds the prime lady in his life  katie madden  on the streets soliciting herself because of her own desperate situation and starts to dream about taking her to the united states if he only had the   pounds to pay for it . as luck would have it  his friend frankie is back in town with a   pound price over his head and gypo is desperate enough to inform the police of frankie  s whereabouts . gypo  with the new   pounds of blood money earned  finds this foggy night particularly foggier as guilt swells all over him and the ira invests all their resources to find frankie  s informer .  br    br   victor mclaglen portrays the fallen gypo nolan and definitely deserved the best actor oscar he was awarded for this film . his brutish  stupid  and tender turns give the character dimension and mclaglen is only second to dudley moore  s character arthur bach from the     film arthur as the most entertaining cinematic drunk . margot grahame  s performance as katie madden is also excellent but she and mclaglen are the only members of the cast who truly impress . preston foster is especially miscast as an ira head  mainly because he is most obviously not irish  and j . m . kerrigan borders on irritating throughout his role in the film but this disappointing supporting cast is the film  s only poor point .  br    br   often overshadowed by some of ford  s better known westerns like the searchers or the man who shot liberty valance  the informer is easily one of john ford  s best films  if not his very best . beginning what would be a long career of oscar nominations and wins for john ford  the informer won four oscars including one for him for best director in     . ford and company  s use of shadows and light in the film is particularly engaging and vital to telling the story . gypo  s walk through the streets is narrated by the gloomy state of the town and the glaring accusations of the street lamps  each shadow constantly reminding him of his dark deed . ford  s command of this technique was amazing to watch if the informer was made   years later  thus making the genre requirements  it would probably be considered one of the best films noir of all time but that does not hinder it from being remembered as an excellent classic film .  
 . . . had i watched it in my teenage years . this movie was mildly entertaining . what i liked about soul survivors were the gothic atmosphere during the party scenes  and the constant flips between  dream  and  reality .  br    br   had there not been movies like  the  th sense  and  don  t look now  i would have been surprised by the ending .  
maybe it  s because i looked up the history of the irish troubles in the     s and then the sad civil war that engulfed the free state after the signing of the treaty before watching this movie . anyway  the sudden turn at the end brought tears to my eyes .  br    br   victor mclaglen isn  t as famous today as he was back then  and he should be better remembered . in this film  i think he  s playing himself as he would have been without his innate talent and brains . for example  the scenes where his buddy in the crowd is challenging men to fight with him is probably quite reminiscent of what mclaglen actually did in earlier years  when he was a world  class bare  knuckles boxer . john ford is partly responsible for that the imdb trivia section shows how he tricked mclaglen into getting a really bad hangover for the trial scene . this director also could bring out a lot in his actors  even without such tricks . mostly  though  mclaglen is firmly in control  especially when his character is almost totally blotto  which is difficult for an actor to do believably   and he also plays gypo nolan with a depth and emotional power that is surprising for someone who has only seen mclaglen later in his career  in  the quiet man .  i especially like the contrast between this role as an ira man and the much more obviously controlled performance he gave as the ira man denis hogan in  hangman  s house .   br    br   in  the quiet man   of course  mclaglen is a country squire at odds with the local ira . victor mclaglen was big and bully  in the old  fashioned sense of the word  but he was a good actor  too  and capable of wide range and fine nuances of performance that we just wouldn  t expect of a such a man today . it  s a rather sad comment on our own set of expectations and prejudices .  br    br   ford  as usual  packs a lot into a little bit of film . all the characters are excellent  though the commandant  s mostly american accent is distracting    note there be spoilers ahead    knowing that gypo once drew the short straw and was ordered to kill a man but let him talk his way out of it instead  we really empathize with the man who draws the short straw for executing gypo  and the humanity he shows  most notably when they go to take gypo in mary  s room .  br    br   john ford really shows his genius here  taking what could have been a gruesome and yet expected outcome to the whole story and instead using it to set up a totally unexpected and yet very satisfying ending that makes us think not just of gypo and the other characters  but of poor ireland during that tortured time .  
steve carpenter cannot make horror movies . first of all  the casting was very wrong for this movie . the only decent part was the hot brown haired girl from buffy the vampire slayer . this movies has no gore  usually a key ingredient to a horror movie   no action  no acting  and no suspense  also a key ingredient  . wes bentley is a good actor but he is so dry and plain in this that it  s sad . there were a few parts that were supposed to be funny  continuing the teen horror  comedy movies  and no one laughed in the audience . i thought that this movie was rated r  and i didn  t pay attention and realized it had been changed to pg    . anyway  see this movie if you liked i still know what you did last summer . that  s the only type of person who would find this movie even remotely scary . and seriously  this is to you steve carpenter  stop making horror movies . this movie makes scream look like texas chainsaw massacre .  
one of john ford  s best films  the informer  doesn  t feature any grand scenery of the american west . instead the intense drama ford was known for plays out on the no less rugged terrain of british character actor victor mclaglen  s face . the former prizefighter  who once faced joe louis in the ring  delivers an academy award  winning portrayal of disgraced ira soldier gypo nolan on the worst night of his life .  br    br   the plot is gracefully simple in     dublin  a starving and humiliated man who  s been thrown out of the ira for being unable to kill an informant in cold blood  himself becomes an informant . for    he betrays a friend to  the tans  and for the rest of the night he drinks and gives away his blood money in rapidly alternating spasms of guilt  denial  self  pity  and a desperate desire to escape the consequences of his actions .  br    br   it is the remarkable complexity given to the character of the seemingly simple gypo that is the film  s most impressive achievement . in most movies a burly lout of gypo  s type would be cast as the heavy  he  d have at best two or three lines and be disposed of quickly so the hero and the villain could have their showdown . in  the informer  gypo himself is both hero and villain  while the showdown is in his inner turmoil  every bit of which is explicitly shared with the audience .  br    br   because liam o  flaherty  s novel had previously been filmed in      rko gave ford a very modest budget . the director and his associates  particularly cinematographer joseph h . august  turned this to their advantage in creating a claustrophobic masterpiece about a man at war with himself . in addition to mclaglen  s oscar  the informer  also won john ford his first along with wins for best screenplay and best score .  
melissa sagemiller  wes bentley  eliza dushku and casey affleck play young students at middleton college in the town of middleton . the four teenagers form two love triangles . one night during an ominous full moon they drive and argue along a slippery and twisting mountain road . not looking properly they careen into another car and one or more of them are killed . the ghostly nightmare begins . . . pretty lousy and politically correct horror flick without gore and nudity . it  s obviously influenced by  carnival of souls  . the cinematography is decent  unfortunately there is zero suspense .  out of    just another instantly forgettable teeny  bopper trash .  
today if someone mentions the name victor mclaglen the response most likely will be  who   or perhaps  why   well  believe it or not  victor mclaglen won the academy award for best actor in this film  which is about a poor  desperate man who is willing to sell out his best friend for  carfare  to the united states . it  s an interesting movie which shows how low even the most well  meaning shnooks will go just for a few bucks . the movie takes place in british  dominated ireland and while all the other characters are either directly or indirectly fighting for the political independence of ireland  all mr . mclaglen  s character is concerned about is getting money and getting drunk . the movie makes one wonder whether political activism is worth all the trouble because while the activist is struggling to make a point  many others not only do not care  they don  t even know what the fuss is all about . the morale of this movie is look out for the friend  he may sell you out for a dime .  
first off let me say that this has to be on the top of my list of boring movies . nothing  and i mean nothing in this movie is even remotely thrilling . most of it is very confusing and as it progresses you just wish it would end   some people want a movie that makes them  think  through the entire thing  to which i say . . .  more power to you    i on the other hand just want to be entertained . which brings me back to this stinker  entertainment it is not . this movie is stupid and a complete waste of time . seems that most here agree also . most of this didn  t make any sense  and by the time you think you have one scene figured out another lame scene comes around and . . . . well i guess you see where this is going . avoid  this one sucks . . . . bad    
to watch this film from start to finish without bursting into laughter at some point requires almost an act of faith  as one has to keep saying to oneself   it  s old    it  s a classic    be kind   not because the movie is so bad  but because at its best it  s so good . this is one dated movie . it  s also a classic  if a tarnished one . i  m not inclined to laugh at people anyway  on principle  and i get more than a little irritated when others do so . to make fun of the informer to my mind is a little like giggling at an idiot savant when he dribbles his orange juice all over the tablecloth . yes  one says to oneself  he is an idiot  and yet when he  s on top of his game he is also a true savant . the same is true for the informer  which is on occasion very dreadful indeed  and yet it boasts splendid photography  some fine acting  a wonderful score and a good  decent simple story . in the end  which i won  t give away  politics  religion and psychology come together  in a church  in such a way as to make the scene seem corny and over the top  and yet so is life sometimes . uneducated people of simple faith behave differently from us  presumably brilliant  modern folks  and the scene isn  t so much unbelievable  i buy it  but i know the irish  as embarrassing . yet people do behave that way  they do say things like that . not everyone is hip  and it may not even be desirable for everyone to be hip . are people today so much superior to those of seventy or eighty years ago  and in what way  i don  t think so . we  re just different . now go watch the movie .  
i didn  t have huge expectations for this film when renting it for   at the video store  but the box at least showed a little promise with its  killer cut  of  more gore  more sex   can  t go wrong there  well . . . needless to say  the box is a fraud . how in the hades did actors and actresses of this caliber sign on for a film this low   br    br   it all opens with a drunken college girl walking out of a frat house or some other building like that and saying some useless crap to her boyfriend    as a camera on a bad steadicam follows her . then she gets chased by some dude in a clear plastic mask and grabbed by another . they slit her wrists for no real reason and you can see when they  cut  her that someone drew the cuts with what looks like a crayon .  br    br   from there  repeat the same theme of the girl getting chased  killed unbrutally by two guys for about   more minutes . add in one tit shot . that is soul survivors .  br    br   i wouldn  t have had a problem with this film had the box not frauded me into renting the flick . if i rent a bad film that claims to have more violence and sex . . . . i want more violence and sex  one full frontal shot in   minutes from a chick who is clearly androginous and gore that would not scare a child does not cut it . if this is the killer cut  what is the theatrical cut   of course  i doubt this garbage was actually put into theaters in the first place . shame on the actors in this film . i could see them making their screen debuts in here because they have not done anything before  but they were all established before this was released . i don  t know if it was filmed before they had all been established and the studio sat on the film until they were semi  big names or not . but what i want to know is . . . . they really spent    million on this film    
victor mclaglen  the title character of john ford  s the informer  reminded me of the circus man from fellini  s la strada . anthony quinn played the brutish man  who may have even been influenced by the pug  faced  oscar  winning performance given by mclaglen . poverty  stricken dublin is the true  life  atmospheric setting of the picture  which takes place in     . dense fog and a long damp night are the main elements of a story about deep irish patriotism and the fight of the irish republican army . the conflict of individuality and the cause is what makes the informer tick . mclaglen  s large  simple character just wants to go to america and we  re reminded by signs of the price for a ticket frequently . two different signs become the psychological centerpiece for the drunken irishman . one is the previous  the other a wanted sign . should he do it and get the money to go   br    br   john ford once famously said   my name is ford . i make westerns .  after seeing this film  he obviously could do a heck of a lot more . the serious social issues dealt with here are heartfelt and ones you will find yourself thinking about . and the look of the piece is amazing  consisting of long dark shadows cutting into a miserable ireland night . ford was always known for his luminescent  gorgeous cinematography that helped to foresee the conflicts within his characters . this is hard in color  but he did it in pictures like the searchers  painting john wayne in a sometimes vicious manner . victor mclaglen  s performance not only benefits from the lighting  but by the sheer simplicity of his acting . he shoves a lot . he knocks people out . he is a brute who knows no better . he should  however  know whether or not to cross the ira .  br    br   see the film to find out the gritty details . see it also for mclaglen and ford  s patriotic portrayal of the ira . max steiner  s score is innovative in how it matches gestures of the characters  placing more emphasis on them . this was usually only seen in silent films  especially chaplin . the topic of naming names or  informing  is obviously still important . just look at how the media covered this year  s oscars  giving much attention to the elia kazan scandal .  
an incoherent mess with a gratingly deafening sound track   soul survivors  is the latest entry in the  who  s dead and who  s alive  genre of horror films . two teenaged couples  sean and cassie and matt and annabel  prepare to go off to different colleges  but before they part until thanksgiving break  they attend one last fling at a rave  type party in some burnt  out church at the suggestion of lusciously slutty annabel  eliza dushku  a . k . a . faith  the other vampire slayer  . motiveless creepy guys start paying far too much attention to cassie  the generic melissa sagemiller  for reasons that are never explained  and before long  the quartet leave the party . driving away in their suv  they are pursued and then passed by the motiveless creepy guys  who promptly and inexplicably do an intentional    in the middle of the highway  causing a nasty and fatal accident as the suv flips over an embankment and plunges into a river . sean is killed  or is he    and cassie spends the rest of the movie coping with loneliness and guilt  she was driving  when she  s not being haunted by sean  s ghost or chased by those motiveless creepy guys . much unexplained incoherence follows as cassie  s mental state degenerates further  until we reach the predictable conclusion . so  who is dead and who is alive  after ninety minutes of this purgatory  who actually cares   
star wars episode  .  br    br   the best star wars ever . its the first movie i ever sean were the bad guys win and its a very good ending . it really had me wait hing for the next star wars because so match stuff comes along in this movie that you just got to find out more in the last one . whit al lot of movies i always get the feeling that it could be don bedder but not whit this one . and i will never ever forget the part were wader tels luke he is his father . way too cool . also love the bob feat figure a do hes a back ground player . if you never ever saw a star wars movie you go to she this one . its the best .  br    br   thanks lucas  
this has the logical consistency of marshmallows filled with ketchup  and the overall aftertaste is just as disgusting .  br    br   will be used in the  th circle of hell at recreation time . just plain torture .  br    br   i would rather choose to watch   minutes of my computer going through     blue screens of death than watch this appalling drivel again  ever . horrible . horrible . horrible .  br    br   you know  the good thing about swiss cheese is that along with the holes you get some cheese here it  s only holes  and the excitement factor  well that turns watching paint dry into an adrenalin rush and an olympic speed sport .  br    br   my brain hurts from trying to work out who ok  d this drivel  did they think about the premise   i sincerely hope not  otherwise there is no redemption  the only consolation is they had the pleasure of sitting through the rushes . made for tv should not be a synonym for  sure  let the horses bowels run loose across the living rooms  our audience are idiots    br    br   i was hooked just to know how it could get any worse . this is not a good sign  folks .  br    br   hallmark should be ashamed for releasing it .  br    br   i should be ashamed for watching it .  br    br   i am ashamed . i  m off for a long shower .  
i don  t doubt that victor mclaglen won his best actor oscar for this film by dint of a three way split among the mutiny on the bounty leads of clark gable  charles laughton  and franchot tone who were all in the same race . but the informer is still a fine film because john ford wouldn  t have gotten his first best director oscar if it wasn  t . no split involved in his award .  br    br   the movie and the story by liam o  flaherty that it is based on involves a poor simpleton of a man named gypo nolan who was once a member of the irish republican army . he was cashiered out of it for some imbecilic stunt he pulled and wants back in . he  s down to his last pence and if he can  t get back in  wants enough for passage to america . there  s a twenty pound reward for information leading to the arrest of a former comrade named frankie mcphillip played by wallace ford . in a moment of weakness he goes to the black and tan constabulary and informs on mcphillip .  br    br   the ira is pretty anxious to find out who ratted mcphillip out and they  re pretty certain it was mclaglen . he hasn  t the wit to really cover his own tracks . he does make a feeble effort to implicate another man named peter mulligan played by donald meek . he also picks up a hanger  on played by j . m . kerrigan .  br    br   the whole action of the informer takes place in     in dublin from about six in the evening to early the following morning . of a necessity it is shot in darkness and shadows  making it possibly the first noir thriller . had it been done post world war ii the informer would have ranked as a great noir classic  like odd man out or the the third man which it bares a lot of resemblance to .  br    br   john ford knew this world very well . he took some time off during the rebellion and was in ireland at the time and had a brother who was in the ira . his real name before having it anglicized was sean o  fiernan .  br    br   preston foster plays the ira commandant dan gallagher . in the book gallagher is a harder and meaner man than foster has him here . my guess is that john ford wanted him as a sympathetic character to give movie fans some rooting interest . he makes it clear that foster has to eliminate the informer because the black and tans will grab him and get quite a bit more out of him and put the whole organization in peril .  br    br   the ira trial scene is the highlight of the film . when foster asks donald meek whether he recognizes the authority of their court  meek ain  t in a position to say no . the king  s justice and writ does not run here . it graphically illustrates at that point despite occupation by army troops and constabulary  the british are indeed losing their grip on the population .  br    br   of course the informer a rather grim story has its john ford touches  but rather fewer than you would expect . even as mclaglen is spending his money on a drunken spree  the ira is constantly in the shadows watching him and counting every farthing .  br    br   the informer is a tale well told about ireland in a grim and dismal time .  
this is not a very good movie  but it  s not a stinker either . it is very confusing and unnecessarily long so rent it at your own risk .  br    br   my gf and i have figured this movie out  we think  so here it is  br    br   major spoilers below  br    br   firstly  this movie is actually quite simple after you remove all of the confusing unconscious  dream  state junk     of the movie .   br    br   ignoring the junk  what really happened is this a group of school friends go to a rave one night . they leave and get into a car accident where everyone but cassie and sean die . that  s the simple cut down version .  that  s right  i said sean  bear with me   br    br   right after the accident  cassie lays in the hospital stuck in between life  death right up until the very end of the movie . this is where the dream part starts .  br    br   the movie is called soul survivors  right  cassie  s mind and soul carries on after the accident interacting with the other souls  annie  matt  raven  the  weirdos and jude  along with images conjured up by her mind  sean  school and everything else around her  . the souls continue doing what they were defined as annie the rave  going chick  the  weirdo  killers  from opening scene   father jude still helping people etc .  br    br   we are then taken on a very long ride  shown lots of images  many of which my gf and i still can  t tie in  but it all boils down to it not being cassie  s time to die .  br    br   at the end  cassie wakes up in the hospital after being  dead  for a while . her family and sean are there . this is reality again . she  s ok .  br    br   then the director adds a little extra spice by trying to confuse us again by showing a little dream snippet of her in the wheelchair being strangled . but this part is really just a nightmare  and she wakes up beside sean  obviously still dealing with her traumatic experience .  br    br   due to space restrictions  we didn  t cover every little thing  but feel free to drop us an e  mail if you want to .  br    br    
this film deals with the irish rebellion in the     s and more specifically one man  s life after he informs on a friend for the bounty on his head and the subsequent consequences . watching the film  i got the feeling that you could take the script and with just some minor updates  do it again and it  sadly  would still fit contemporary events . but te remake wouldn  t be nearly as good . a magnificent performance by victor mclaglen  for which he deservedly got an oscar  and a fine ensemble cast that includes most  if not all the actors with brogues in hollywood at the time  most of them recognizable character actors either established at the time or just starting out . a very good film well worth watching . highly recommended .  
i wanted to watch this movie because of eliza dushku  but she only has a smaller part in it  and her character isn  t very likable . however  the main character  played by melissa sagemiller  is extremely beautiful and a perfect delight to look at throughout the movie . this is really nothing but a showcase for her looks and talent . she does a very good job .  br    br   the story itself is  on the face of it  pretty nonsensical . after a car crash  some friends are possibly dead  but keeps on living their previous lives  while all sorts of mysterious things happen . some bad guys are after them  but we never really find out who they are  possibly they were the ones in the other car  but we certainly don  t hear anything about why they are after them  . the final scenes especially seem filmically ambitious  but i can  t get anything coherent out of it . the opening scene  where the bad guys  who wear some strange masks  cut a blond girl  s wrist and gather up some of her blood is never explained or followed up on . unless the bad guys are supposed to be a representation of the surgeons who  re trying to pull cassie  sagemiller  back from the dead . . . but no  that doesn  t seem to work . the bad guys are just bad guys they really just mess up a story that might otherwise have been interesting . in a supernatural story about death and love and sacrifice  who the hell needs bad guys   br    br    out of   .  
magnificent and unforgettable  stunningly atmospheric  and brilliantly acted by all .  br    br   i really cannot understand what sort of people are panning this masterpiece and giving the preponderance of votes as   and nine ones    br    br   this  along with grapes of wrath  is john ford  s greatest movie . i would say that long voyage home is next in line  though quite a way back .  br    br   rating   . it deserves a   .  
  a possible spoiler or two   br    br    soul survivors  is quite possibly the worst theatrical released movie ever . nothing makes sense at all  there  s some plot about a girl who has strange visions of people who may or may not be dead . the entire movie is just a bunch of random shots of things that don  t really tie together  by the end of the film .  br    br   tha acting is non  existent  the camera work is jerky and the script is so confusing  it just makes the movie even harder to watch .  br    br   i kept waiting for something to tie the movie together but nothing came . definitely the worst film of the year .      stars .  
a brilliant portrait of a traitor  victor mclaglen in oscar winning performance  who is hounded by his own conscience . mclaglen plays an ira rouge who betrays his leader to collect a reward during ireland  s sinn fein rebellion . the scenes showing fights and mob actions are very realistic  focusing on the desperation within individuals . the lack of hope for a better future seems to be a fate worse than death .  br    br   director john ford superbly creates an murky and tense atmosphere  enhanced by the foggy and grimy depiction of the irish landscape . max steiner  s dramatic music score adds to the cinematic delight . oscar winner also for best screenplay  nominated for best picture . this is one of hollywood  s classic .  
if the writer  director is reading this  and i imagine you are since you should now be out of work  then i must tell you  i have seen some bad movies in my time but this one gets the distinction of having the worst premise i  ve ever heard .  br    br   spoilers  nothing happens   br    br   a total waste of time . i laughed out loud at the end .  br    br   side note   if the whole movie was her in a coma then does the scene where she sleeps with that guy mean someone raped her while she was knocked out    br    br   utter rubbish .  
gypo nolan  victor mclaglen  is as poor as anyone on earth . living in     s ireland  gypo and his fellow irishmen are part of an underground rebellion against the oppressive brits . one particular rebel  wanted for murder by the english  arrives back into town secretly . he thinks he can trust his friend gypo  but the    reward proves too tempting . gypo gets his friend killed and sinks into a pit of despair and drunkenness . meanwhile  the other irish rebels are searching for the informer . right away  gypo  with money burning a hole in his pocket  is their main suspect  but they  who are his friends  don  t want to believe it . the story of the informer is simple in its plot  but complex in its moral and emotional issues . it  s easily one of john ford  s most emotionally involving films . what gypo did was wrong  but we can certainly understand his motives . we also understand his sorry character  and there  s a lot of sympathy that arises for him . the script is very suspenseful  as well . it  s the kind of suspense where we are pretty sure we know how everything will end up  so we have to grit our teeth and bear along with it . the acting is remarkable . victor mclaglen  who acted in many of ford  s films  probably gave his best performance here  and won an oscar for it  . every other performer in the film deserves his or her kudos . in addition to an amazing script and acting  the informer is one of john ford  s most expressionistic films . i love the darker side of ford . in its mood  as well as in its themes  the informer reminds me of two of my other favorite ford films  the long voyage home       and the fugitive        it  s also a bit similar to the grapes of wrath       in these respects .      .  
like a relative that gives you a bad gift  soul survivors has its heart in the right place but trips up with a bad execution . stephen carpenter  s writing  directing effort borrows freely from other  better films  such as jacob  s ladder and abre los ojos  open your eyes  . for those who haven  t seen either of these films  i won  t give the premise away suffice to say it  s not nearly as well handled here than in those two superior films .  br    br   melissa sagemiller stars as cassie  about to go away to college . her current boyfriend sean  ben affleck  and ex  boyfriend matt  wes bentley   both friends  and annabel  acerbic eliza dushku  are in a car accident after being pursued by two killers    in transparent masks . she survives the wreck  but while attending college has visions of the hospital ordeal and dead people reappear and disappear  leaving her in a state of total confusion who is dead  who  s alive  what  s real   br    br   soul survivors has the look of a bad been  there  done  that  gore  filled  blood  splattered  body  stacking teen exploitation flick . true  it has its share of killer  stalking  the  victim scenes  plentiful  repetitive  and mind  numbing   but at least it attempts to build suspense through ideas rather than cliches  unfortunately rather unsuccessfully . it breeds confusion much more often than cohesion  as the story becomes jumbled  messy and incoherent near key points of the mystery  predictable as it is .   br    br   horror fans who pick up a copy will have no idea they are in for a film that is more concerned with building an uneasy facade of reality than delivering a body count . credit goes to carpenter for attempting to create something beyond a derivative teen horror flick too bad he  s created a derivative psychological thriller . sagemiller also deserves kudos for showing strength in the central performance  actually developing her character and evoking some sense of emotion as the unraveling cassie . it  s great the filmmakers try something different  but the film ends up a mixed bag and failed experiment .  br    br    out of    
i have decided to not believe what famous movie critics say . even though this movie did not get the best comments  this movie made my day . it got me thinking . what a false world this is .  br    br   what do you do when your most loved ones deceive you . it  s said that no matter how often you feed milk to a snake  it can never be loyal and will bite when given a chance . same way some people are such that they are never grateful . this movie is about how selfish people can be and how everyone is ultimately just thinking about oneself and working for oneself .  br    br   a brother dies inadvertently at the hands of a gangster . the surviving brother decides to take revenge . through this process  we learn about the futility of this world . nothing is real and no one is loyal to anyone .  br    br   amitabh gave the performance of his life . the new actor aryan gave a good performance . the actress who played the wife of amitabh stole the show . her role was small but she portrayed her role so diligently that one is moved by her performance . chawla had really great face expressions but her role was very limited and was not given a chance to fully express herself .  br    br   a great movie by raj kumar santoshi . his movies always give some message to the audience . his movies are like novels of nanak singh  a punjabi novelist who  s novels always had a purpose and targeted a social evil  because they have a real message for the audience . they are entertaining as well as lesson  giving .  
final score  .   out of     br    br   after seeing  jay and silent bob strike back  i must have been on a big eliza dushku kick when i rented this movie .  soul survivors  is a junk  psychological thriller  dressed up like a trashy teen slasher flick  even to the point of having a masked killer stalk a cast of young up  and  comers like dushku  wes bentley  american beauty   casey affleck  drowning mona  and likable star melissa sagemiller . luke wilson is also in there  ridiculously miscast as a priest . the movie  the brainchild of writer  director stephen carpenter  seems like a mutant offspring of  open your eyes  or  vanilla sky  and movies where a character  and the audience  is caught in a world of dillusion caused by an accident  death . the movie keeps churning out perplexing images and leaves us in a state of confusion the entire running time until this alternate reality is finally resolved . i don  t think these movies are that entertaining  by their very nature  to begin with  but  ss  is rock  bottom cheap trash cinema any way you slice it . the visuals  the script  the acting and the attempt at any originality all are throwaway afterthoughts to movies like this . plus  it  s pg    so it doesn  t even deliver the gore or ta to sustain it as a guilty pleasure  even the unrated version is tame  . i had heard that the movie contained some  hot  shower scene between dushku  sagemiller . as the movie fell apart in front of me and all other entertainment seemed to be lost i found myself waiting patiently for the shower scene  at least i would get something out of this . then it comes the two girls get paint on their shirts  they jump in the shower fully clothed and scrub it off . that  s it . people thought this was hot   soul survivors  is one of those drop  dead boring movies that is so weak and inept that it is hard to have any feelings at all toward it . it puts out nothing and is hardly worth writing about . in the end it leaves us empty . carpenter  s finale is a mess of flashing light and pounding sound and that  s probably the most lively part . it will no doubt be making the rounds as a late night staple on usa or the sci  fi channel  due to it  s low cost and pg    rating  and that  s probably best for it .  
family is about two families who are after each other  s blood .  br    br   viren sahay  amitabh bachchan  is an underworld don  operates from bangkok . he has a family in india . once by mistake he kills shekhar  akshay kumar  . like viren sahay  he also has a family  a brother  wife and parents  . aryan  aryaman   shekhar  s brother is out to take revenge of his brother  s death . he kidnaps viren sahay  s family for the same reason .  br    br   the film has got one turning point  amitabh bachchan  . second half of the movie belongs to him completely where instead of his dialogs  expression matters more . akshay  s minuscule role has also put him at par with amitabh . i didn  t understand what bhumika chawala was doing in this movie .  br    br   there were a few loose points in the script like amitabh has been shown as the most wanted criminal of the city still he walks scot  free in the city . kidnapping of his family is also seemed vague . how can the family of such a big don doesn  t have any security cover   
this suk  why do they have to make movies that they must know suk from the beginning  i mean  look at alien from     . if the movie your about to make is not better than anything made billions of years before  why make it  i had problems with the plot and who the main character was . that  s not good either .  
a movie made for contemporary audience . the masses get to see what they want to see . action  comedy  drama and of course sensuous scenes as well . this is not exactly a movie that one would feel comfortable watching with entire family . it isn  t for eyes of children . i had to fast forward quite a number of scenes .  br    br   if it is just entertainment you are looking for  then this movie has it all . the songs are catchy . a lavish production  i must add .  br    br   however  the message of the movie is not universal . it emphasizes on the idea of karma . that is  if you do good  you will get good . and if you do evil  you will get evil . the fruit of good deeds is good  while the fruit of evil is evil .  br    br   in real life  this is not always true . it is well  known that most people do not get justice in this world . while it is true that some evil people do meet with an evil end  there are many who escape . and then  there are many people who do good  and yet in return they meet with a sorry end .  br    br   if you don  t care about the message  and all you want is an escape from worldly reality  this movie is an entertainer alright .  
i saw this movie a long time ago . . . luckily it was for free . i have to be one of the maybe twenty people who saw this movie in the theater . i don  t remember a whole bunch of it  but i do remember i was incredibly bored  the plot made no sense and when i came out of the theater the only thing i could say was at least now i know what the worst movie i ever saw was . i just was incredibly bothered by one thing if they can make the temperature as they approach the sun low enough for humans to survive  why can  t they turn it down to a comfortable temperature instead of being all hot and sweaty  how stupid do they think we are   
even though this was a disaster in the box office  it is my favorite film . it gives a powerful message of family . it has a lot of violence and has one song with a bunch of girls in bikinis . compared to other bollywood films  the action scenes in this movie are more realistic . it is an incredible combination of akshay kumar and amitabh bachchan . if you want to see the indian godfather  amitabh portrays that in this film . don  t read reviews by critic  they  re just ignorant . this movie has good mix of comedy  romance  drama  and especially action . so if you want to see action more realistic than main hoon na  still good movie   this is the movie .  
the world is facing imminent destruction and a suicide mission is sent to the sun to avert catastrophe by firing a bomb into its fiery heart yes  it  s solar crisis  aka crisis      which burned up a huge chunk of change that  s never apparent on screen back in     and returned barely enough to buy a happy meal for each of the cast in japan before going straight to video  remember them   in a re  edited version credited to one alan smithee . the plot hook  s pretty much the same as sunshine  suicide mission to the sun  saboteur on board  logic cast adrift  except that this time they  re not trying to reignite the sun but to prematurely detonate a solar flare before it can reach earth . with a talking bomb . voiced by paul williams . who wants to be promoted so the crew will take him more seriously given that the cast also includes jack palance at his most dementedly ott  charlton heston at his most rigid  top  liner tim matheson at his most anonymous  the original hills have eyes  unforgettable michael berryman  you may not remember the name  but you do remember that face  and peter boyle as the industrialist out to sabotage the mission because  er  if it succeeds the world will be saved but his share price will go down  you  d expect if not a laugh  a  minute at least a laugh every reel . no joy . this is the worst kind of bad movie a boring one . the fate of the world may be hanging in the balance but the whole film is shot with a complete lack of urgency or momentum at the same unvarying deadly slow pace . there  s low  key and there  s walking through it  but here the cast don  t even do that . instead  they just stand still looking at screens in near darkness for most of the time . you keep on hoping for paul williams  talking bomb to suffer an existential crisis  but instead the film just . . . stands there  doing next to nothing . literally . this is one of the most inert movies ever made  so inert that if clive owen had been cast  he  d almost have looked lively by comparison . even a poorly explained suicidal repair attempt fails to raise a fritter of interest since it mostly involves  yep  the cast just standing still looking at screens in near darkness . even when the bomb prematurely goes into countdown before being launched they deal with the new crisis by standing still looking at screens in near darkness as if they had all the time in the world . merchant  ivory films have better action scenes .  br    br   things aren  t much livelier down on earth where the movie spends most of it  s running time with matheson  s son  chuck  s grandson corin nemec trying to hitch a ride to the spaceport across an arid landscape with palance  s insane desert artist  looking for that note out there while the chicks still dig me  while waylaid by rejects from a mad max ripoff and evil corporate suits who track him down so they can release him on a nice beach . just don  t expect logic  if you haven  t already guessed that much . best moment  a ditzy girl in a bar describing jack palance as  an old guy with white hair and a face like rotting leather   though chucky baby taking out the villain  s aircraft with a bazooka fired from the hip from an office window or beating up a barfly who likes his beret are welcome morsels of camp in a film that for    of it  s running time offers a whole lot of nuttin  . richard c . sarafian  s slightly longer original cut that played in japan offers an additional six minutes but cries out to be cut down to a more manageable   minutes the director of vanishing point must have thanked his lucky stars when the re  edit gave him an excuse to take his name off the film . a film so bad it  s not good  and painfully unfunny with it  
not many reviews  hence thought i would add one .  br    br   do not go by the other reviews  this was a excellent movie .  br    br   rks is one of the very few indian directors that can actually put together a really good movie .  br    br   ab and akshay given yet another example of great acting  as does bhoomika too  which was a little unexpected  but great to watch .  br    br   am surprised there has not been much hype around release .  br    br   or filmfare  other awards nominations  considering how good the movie was .  br    br   better then khakee i thought and i thought khakkee too was good movie .  br    br   is a fairly long movie  but definitely worth it and while watching it  definitely does seem long .  br    br   cant wait for rks next movie and the next ab  akshay movie they always seem to do well together . . . e . g . waqt .  br    br   bhoomika too has acted really well in the movie and should do really well if she continue in the same fashion in the future .  
yet another movie with an interesting premise and some wondrous special effects falling right into the trash can .  br    br   boring direction and performances  with the exception of the lovely annabel schofield who is much cuter as a brunette and probably deserves better material  and the ever earnest charlton heston  earn the rating of a real stinker .  br    br   it  s amazing to watch heston perform up to his usual par and display how really bad this movie is . he even plays in a sub  plot that kept me interested just to see how it tied back into the main line of the movie . the way they ended up resolving it was that they didn  t . it simply falls off the end .  br    br   really . don  t waste your time on this one .  
dear readers   br    br   the final battle between the rebellion and empire . the second death star is nearing completion and when it is completed it will spell doom for the rebel alliance . luke skywalker  now a jedi knight  returns from tatooine with han solo and princess leia  now revealed as luke  s twin sister  they agree to lead the attack on the shield generator on the forest moon of endor while lando calrissian leads the attack on the death star . little do they know that a most ingenious trap has been laid for them and the emperor palpatine himself is personally overseeing the construction of the second death star .  br    br   return of the jedi is my favorite of the original trilogy . it  s got action  drama  romance  great battles  fantastic acting  amazing fight scenes  and awesome music by john williams . mark hamill is fully matured now into a jedi knight  gone is the naive farm  boy and in his place is a calm  relaxed jedi determined to save the galaxy . leia is still cool in this film as well as han and lando .  p   r   and chewie do their roles to a t while james earl jones still is cinema  s greatest villain darth vader . ian mcdiarmid is also an excellent villain as the twisted and brutally ruthless emperor palpatine . the action sequences of this movie are breathtakingly amazing and the sword fights are serious and gritty . john williams  s score is still cool and enhances the film by several levels .  br    br   signed  the constant dvd collector  
i didn  t expect much from this tv movie . you have to set the bar lower than you would for midget limbo for any tbs movie starring antonio sabato jr . still  it managed to disappoint  failing even to be a good  bad film .  br    br   every scene was by rote  as if someone had cut and pasted scenes from a dozen movies and tv shows dealing with big business conspiracies into the script  leaned back and said   my work is done  . it  s all cliche  all predictable  and  even worse  the actors are forced to look like they  re taking it seriously   even when the plot developments are laughable  .  br    br   do yourself a favor . watch  the x  files  if you  re in the mood for paranoia . they handle it better . also  let anyone know that sitting through  fatal error  is just that .  
well  i get used after awhile to read comments about these movies that don  t reflect my experience at all . to me  amitabh was a better villain here than in some of his most famous movies . he was a die  hard villain  a no  apologies villain . to me it was a breath of fresh air to see him in a role where his villainy isn  t sort of undercut in some way .  br    br   the kid who played aryan was probably over his head with this cast . there i think maybe the director could have done better . but  to be honest  the very best part of this movie was shernaz patel . she is an unsung heroine  a true veteran thespian who is overqualified for every role she is offered . but i must say i appreciated her contribution greatly as she played virendra sahi  s wife . she may be given little to do  but she does everything with total conviction . i  m sure she sailed right over the heads of most of the audience .  br    br   so if you are in a habit for settling for bollywood average  you won  t get much out of this movie . but if you constantly search for something more  then this might give you some of what you  ve been missing .  
i had high hopes for this film  since it has charlton heston and jack palance . but those hopes came crashing to earth in the first   minutes or so . palance was ridiculous . not even heston  s acting or annabel schofield  s beauty  or brief nude scenes  could save this film . some of the space effects were quite good  but others were cheesy . the plot was ludicrous . even sci  fi fans should skip this one . grade f  
brilliant movie . the drawings were just amazing . too bad it ended before it begun . ive waited   years for a sequel  but nooooo     
one of the requirements of science fiction  at least before it starts to become satire  is that it be somewhat plausible . i would think that an anti  matter bomb would do considerably more damage than for what it was intended . but i  ll leave that to the physicists who might have seen solar crisis .  br    br   it is a crisis the earth is facing because solar flares are getting totally out of hand . they  re getting close to earth  so much so that it  s become unseasonably hot  as if the entire earth were death valley . the answer is an anti  matter bomb which a space ship will have to take to the sun and explode it there . that will divert the flares off in say the direction of say mercury providing it  s not in direct alignment with the earth .  br    br   who to deliver it  but captain tim matheson and his crew . that is if he can keep his mind on the business at hand and not on runaway son  corin nemec . taking care of the personal side of the family problems is admiral charlton heston  matheson  s father  and nemec  s grandfather .  br    br   there  s a villain here too  peter boyle who is the ceo of a multi  national corporation which in this crisis is trying to control the world  s food supply for the survivors . the idea he might not survive doesn  t enter into his thinking . he  s doing his best to sabotage matheson  s mission .  br    br   solar crisis seems like a bad mix of      a space odyssey and voyage to the bottom of the sea . boyle seems to be taking his cue from gene hackman as lex luthor in superman  apparently he  s the only one in the cast who realizes he  s in a turkey and overacts accordingly .  br    br   the rest of the cast are stalwart  true blue and dull . except possibly desert rat jack palance who finds nemec and cares for him .  br    br   the key here is that the film was directed by that noted hollywood purveyor of flop films  allen smithee . the film gets as much as four stars for the cast involved and it was out in time for a thanksgiving carving .  
it  s been quite some time since i  ve watched this lotr . i am currently hunting for a copy to purchase . bakshi  s work is quite true to the original work . the visuals are engrosing and sometimes haunting .  br    br   drawbacks  occasionally  the movie is confusing or muddled . there are one or two times where the storyline slows to a crawl . but  overall   buy this movie . it  s great for kids  adults and collectors .  
it was one of those late night  it  s there  i saw it things . sometimes they are great . this one was awful  but it really shouldn  t have been .  br    br   the movie had a really good cast . how can you fail when you have charlsten heston and jack pallance  we  re talking oscar winner turf here . it had good special effects . it even had some really good tits  and i mean nicely shown  full breast with full nipple and at one point even some beaver . but it didn  t compensate for the one missing ingredient  a story  the plot was ludicrous . i don  t mean the  solar crisis  sun exploding stuff  but that was bad enough . it was the rest of the stuff  the oh so stupid and totally predictable evil corporation stuff . man that just stank  no amount of good acting or cool space ships or fight scenes could get around that one .  br    br   i have seen the same cast members be incredibly good . i have seen wonderful science fiction movies that had miniscule casts and budgets . all the difference is in the writing .  
if you have read the books then forget the characters that tolkien built in your head . the representation of hobbits  dwarves etc have had the  disney  treatment . the dark riders are excellent  and as i had always imagined from the books .  br    br   cinematically this is an excellent film  mixing live motion and animation to produce amazing effects for the year . i only wish he  bakshi  had been given the money to complete his epic .  br    br   it  s worth having the video as they will be worth a bit after the     lord of the rings    
disowned by richard c . sarafian  this disaster stunk up japanese theaters before coming to the states and going immediately to video  where it was not seen again until the turner networks needed something other than infomercials to fill their  am   am time slots and found this tape at the bottom of their bin . the smithee name is supposed to be used when the studio hacks the movie so badly that the director no longer wants his name attached to it . but i  m afraid that sarafian can not blame the studio entirely on this one . the actors  mostly recent graduates of  overacting      deliver one cornball line after another . the plot is convoluted . the special effects are unimpressive . the parts that aren  t laughable are just plain boring . the script or the book must have been good  why else would palance  matheson  boyle  or heston agree to appear in this dud  but something went horribly wrong from the page to the screen . summary avoid . not even bad enough to be so  bad  it  s  good .  
  br    br   i just bought this movie on dvd and watched it for the first time the other night . i  ve been a fan of tolkien  s work for about  years now  ever since i got out of high school . i didn  t grow up on this movie . . . perhaps my mother kept me away from it . it  s definitely not for children . not that it  s bad in a graphic sense  but that the themes would go right over most   year olds heads . overall  the animation was excellent considering this was made in          . i thought the story followed the book fairly well in a loose sense . but i am bothered that bashki didn  t just add another   minutes or so and tack on the return of the king parts . that would  ve made it the ultimate movie . i was bothered by it  s abrupt end  and then when i heard return of the king sucked  i was bothered even more . too bad it wasn  t one great animation film . it might have garnered a higher vote from me . i give it a  . i can only hope peter jackson will do the books justice with the new live action lotr .  
i picked this title up from a friend who had it sitting in his exhaustive dvd  video  laserdisc collection  so luckily i didn  t personally have to pay for it . i had an inkling that it would be a bad film  but i know what a truly bad film is after watching greats like children shouldn  t play with dead things and the incredibly strange creatures who stopped living and became mixed  up zombies  and now there is truly nothing that fazes me unless it is astoundingly bad .  br    br   solar crisis is bad  but it doesn  t reach that sweet spot of absolute pain that some movies are at .  br    br   anyway  the general plot is that the sun is about to unleash a huge solar flare towards the earth that will essentially destroy it . in order to counter  act this imminent threat  humanity has assembled a spaceship and crew whose duty it is to fire an antimatter bomb  which the opening describes as  the biggest explosive ever   into the sun  which through some convoluted sci  fi logic will cause the flare to shoot out at a different angle  leaving earth unharmed .  br    br   never mind that what i have just described to you sounds like a bad episode of the original star trek . even with an ensemble cast  charlton heston  peter boyle  and jack palance   solar crisis can barely manage that level of mediocrity  thanks to a plot that starts simple  yet becomes increasingly nonsensical as time wears on .  br    br   the crowning achievement of this debacle of a movie is the addition of a villain character  played by boyle  who insists on sabotaging the mission . through means that are never explained  he sends an evil minion with an embarrassingly bad haircut to exercise some sort of vague electronic mind control over the space crew  s genetically engineered scientist  played by female lead annabel schofield . why is he sabotaging the mission  because by his moronic viewpoint  he believes the flare won  t happen and that when it doesn  t  he will become fabulously wealthy because he has dug his evil claws into the stock market . in effect  you have a villain with the most absurdly stupid motivation imaginable .  br    br   the film  s plot becomes amazingly convoluted and develops very slowly  in time tapping the use of characters who have only vague or uselessly brief roles in the storyline . i could sit here and explain in detail precisely what happens to demonstrate the sheer inability of the screenwriter to make a plot that actually clicks or holds your attention  but i am sitting here writing this review on microsoft word and i know for a fact that this would take three pages  and i would only succeed in losing your interest . but then again  you would probably get the same effect from watching the film .  br    br   anyway  the film is miserably bogged down with exceedingly poor dialogue . imagine if all that ever happened on the star trek enterprise was that the characters spewed sci  fi jargon back and forth at each  other . yes  i know  they already do that  but imagine if that  s all they did  and that they used said jargon to set up vague and near  nonsensical scenes that produce no excitement  tension  or interest in the viewer whatsoever .  br    br   this is best exemplified at the point when a character in a zero  g environment screws a bolt back onto a metal box before proceeding to cry in agony for a couple of minutes before suddenly exploding . the script alludes previously to the character risking an explosion  but doesn  t bother to give any solid answer as to why or how this occurs  nor why he can  t really escape . in totality  you have a sorry cross between the bizarre and the laughable .  br    br   then we have several scenes where dramatic build  up leads to nothing . jack palance  s performance is wasted on a character that serves only to drive the boy hero  don  t ask  around the desert  before getting roughed up and killed by a bunch of suits . on his death  bed  palance finally tells our boy hero his last name  while wearing a horrible bruised makeup job that makes it look like somebody put a balloon under his eyeball   which he kept quiet about before . colonel travis j . richards . the boy repeats it quietly after he expires  giving viewers the impression that the name is of some significance later on in the film . perhaps charlton heston  s grizzled admiral character knows him and the plot will advance thereby once his name is repeated . something . anything .  br    br   nope . sorry . any hopes you have will be dashed when this moment turns out only to be another of many pathetic  failed attempts at creating dramafor a character so flat and hackneyed that it will forever be a stain on palance  s career  just as those of the rest of the cast are similarly marred .  br    br   completing the film is a painfully abrupt ending featuring schofield piloting the bomb into the center of the sun in an effort to redeem her deeds while under the villain  s spell  a climax which features another of the film  s considerably well  done visual effects sequences that  even for the visibly elaborate care put into them  still always manage to make the film look just as chintzy as it really is . the saddest part about this film is the obviously large budget  tragically wasted on a stinker of a script and a supporting cast behind boyle  heston  and palance that manage to nail the coffin shut with pure over  acting .  br    br   grade d   
one thing i can say about this movie is well long  very long  i actually recently purchased this movie a couple of months ago seeing that there was a new version coming out . i was happy to find that it was made in     because the    s  even though i never lived in them  is actually one of my favourite decades  especially for the music  when i watched this movie the story was actually very good at the start but then after about   mins it started to get very boring and repetitive . i will admitt the animation did impress me  it was nothing i had ever seen before and was well pretty cool to see . but the movie honestly could of been a bit better  it could of had alot more talking and story to it than just   to   minute scenes that just had wierd fighting . then for the last  or   minutes the movie picked up and got good again but ended unexpectedly . in my opinion i thought it was extremely long . i know its   minutes over  hours and that is still long for a cartoon but since it was boring for most of the movie  it made it seem like it was  hours long     but overall it is an okay film i guess and i will watch it again on one of those  nothing to do days  . i will see the new one and i hope it is better   
oh the hilarity  oh the joy  another film that is so bad it  s good  or  so i thought . in actual fact  this one misses the  so bad its good  phase and goes  sadly  straight to the  could have been so bad its good  but they screwed it up and made it plain bad  .  br    br   for a start its way too long . cut half an hour and it might have been more endurable . then put in such ludicrous plots as  the man who is sabotaging the mission to save the earth  because he has all the food stockpiled and he  ll be rich if the mission fails   . duh  . or the  talking bomb  plot device last seen in dark star . guess what . . . . just like in dark star  the bomb has a malfunction . . . . . hmmmm . add in a dash of  we can  t act our way out of a kindergarten play  and you have solar crisis in a nutshell .  br    br   light relief is to be had in the form of jack palance  or jack pants  as we called him in this flick   whose sole purpose in the film is to drive a kid around the desert and telephone the kid  s dad to come pick him up . . . . eventually . between driving and phoning  jack dispenses pointless drivel and leers and cackles a lot  but contributes little to the story  such as it is . in short  he  s the best bit of the movie .  br    br   my award for  the most ironic line delivered straight  faced  goes to charlton heston  who  when meeting his eldest son for the first time in ages  comments that his son looks a little  out of shape  whilst he himself is standing there with his gut bulging over his waistband and in dire need of a captain kirk corset .  br    br   also amusing is the bad guy  s top henchman  who has a bright white hairstyle that kept making me think of andy warhol  for some reason .  br    br   apart from these hilarities  there  s little to recommend this movie . the ending is a sequence copied from  but mercifully shorter than  the end sequence from     .  br    br   tips for enjoying this movie more  if you are foolish enough to watch it  like i did  br    br    . any time the bomb speaks  imagine it  s called tarquin  trust me  it works    br    br    . whenever chuck heston is on screen and about to speak  pre  empt him by reciting a line from planet of the apes such as  get your filthy paws off me   or similar .  br    br    . whenever the female lead is looking stressed  this is most of the time  keep hoping against hope that she  s having an aneurism and will die soon .  br    br    . during the interminable  the ship  s broke again  scenes  keep hoping the tech  engineer guys will spout a scotty  ism like  you cannae change the laws of physics   or some such crap .  br    br   other than that  do what it takes to get you through this one . i dozed off half way through and woke to realise i hadn  t missed anything  nor had the plot  laughable though it is  advanced any . so don  t worry about tuning out for a few  you won  t miss anything .  
i recently rented the animated version of the lord of the rings on video after seeing the fantastic     live action version of the film . the lord of the rings live action trilogy directed by peter jackson will undoubtably be far better than george lucas  star wars  prequel  trilogy  episodes     will ever be as the real fantasy film series of the   st century   br    br   i remember seeing the animated version as a child  and i didn  t quite understand the depth of the film at that time . now that i have read the books  i understand what the whole storyline is all about . to be sure  some of the characters are quite silly   samwise gangee is particularly annoying  almost as much as jar jar binks in star wars episode one   awful    but  i have to say it follows the book rather closely  and it goes into part of book two  the two towers . the good things are that the action is somewhat interesting and some of the animation is quite remarkable for it  s time . the bad things are that it ends upruptly halfway through the two towers without any result of frodo  s quest to destroy the one ring  and the animation looks quite dated compared to today  s standards .  br    br   overall  not as bad as many say it is . but  the     live action version is the new hallmark of the lord of the rings  at least ralph bakshi took the script seriously  peter jackson has said that the animated version inspired him to read the books  which in turn caused him to create one of the greatest fantasy series ever put on film  so we can at least thank ralph bakshi for that matter  i  ll take the animated version of lord of the rings over the live version of harry potter anyday   br    br   a  out of a scale of      far less violent than the     live action version  but nowhere near as good  for diehard fans of the books and film versions of the lord of the rings .  
when i had first heard of  solar crisis  then got a load of the cast  i wondered why i had never heard of a movie with such a big cast before . then i saw it .  br    br   now i know .  br    br   for a movie that encompasses outer space  the sun  vast deserts and sprawling metropolises  this is an awfully cramped and claustrophobic feature it feels like everyone is hunkered close together so the camera won  t have to pull too far back .  br    br   and the effects  while good  are pretty underwhelming we  re talking about the imminent destruction of the planet earth if a team of scientists and soldiers cannot deflect a deadly solar flare . but other than shouting  sweating and a red glow about everything  there  s no real feel of emergency .  br    br   don  t get me started about the cast . what heston  palance  matheson  boyle  et al are doing in this movie without even bothering to act with any feel for the material is anyone  s guess . makes you wonder who else  s condos aren  t paid for in hollywood . . . .  br    br   and as far as the end goes . . . . well  let  s just say it  s tense and intriguing but it  s too little too late in an effort like this . if it had kept up that kind of pace all through the film  maybe i would have heard of  solar crisis  sooner .  br    br   two stars . mostly for lost opportunities and bad career moves .  br    br   i wonder how alan smithee keeps his job doing junk like this   
there seems to be only two types of reviews of this film on the net . those who hate it and curse ralph bakshis name and those love it and call it work of genious . i  m inclined to be in the middle . i  am forced to agree with most of the criticisms of this film  e . g . the cruel cutting of the story  badly rotoscoped charecters  over acting etc . . .  but dispite this i still love this film . the rotoscoping  when done properly  adds an eerie lifelike dimension to the charecters and the final battle scene at the end of the film is fantastic . the surrealistic scenes when the nineriders chase frodo are stylish and well executed and the musical score . . . magic . sadly the bad points outweight film but if you can bring yourself to ignore them it is a great film .  br    br    no doubt i  ll be lynched by an angry mob of people who hate this film after writing this review  ah well  such is life   
the movie lacks credence with the helicopters which didn  t exist until the     s . but no woman would do what was done here  even a woman before the women  s movement of the   s and   s . about the only portion of the movie that you could believe in was that germany would want to know where the landing would be . ignore for the moment that the british had captured all the spies but even if they had not  they wouldn  t have let one roam around like this just to reassure the germans that the landing would be at calais . it isn  t one major thing that makes the movie not work . it is the culmination of all the things wrong that makes the movie fail . bad directing  bad scripts  no attempt at authenticity  at all  all combine to just make the movie fall flat . generally speaking spies should fade into the woodwork . the suspense comes in with the spy wondering if the information they have is valid or not and worrying about being detected . on this one that game was over from the start . this spy was doing anything but spying . your only chance at getting something that has some credibility and instills some suspense may be to read the book .  
i remember watching this late at night on black and white tv  long before a live  action version was so much as a twinkle in peter jackson  s eye . . . and being very impressed . finally getting my hands this week on a vhs copy that was being thrown away  and isn  t that just par for the course . .   i had the chance to revisit this film  and found that it still stands up quite well  although it  s not quite the success that memory had painted .  br    br   i have to confess to a certain bias here . some reviewers announce themselves as confirmed jackson  lovers  others as jackson  haters i  m not exactly either . i was a devotee of the bbc radio adaptation by brian sibley originally broadcast in      and instantly recognised the voice of gollum here   peter woodthorpe would reprise this performance almost note  perfect for the radio three years later .  br    br   i must say  however  that where i found jackson  s films an increasingly indulgent disappointment  the bakshi version  for all that it has been cut to the bone  is actually more accurate . yes  there are the usual  understandable changes  here it is legolas rather than arwen who is substituted for glorfindel as the elf sent from rivendell to meet the party  and there is a great deal of telescoping of the action .  the only exception to the latter  as others have remarked  is the oddly extended sequence at the ford of rivendell  where the ringwraiths  having demonstrated a chilling ability to freeze and draw back frodo in mid  flight   which they deploy again when he defies them after crossing the river   then for some unexplained reason simply chase after him in a prolonged straight gallop  which is initially nightmarish but pointless  plot  wise  and definitely goes on too long .  i would also agree that the balrog is unsatisfactory  due partly to bad animation  and that gandalf windmills his arms too much .  br    br   but having watched both approaches to the film  i feel more than ever that the animated route is the one to take . in a tale that is half  myth  oddly enough  one thing that is included is a snippet of aragorn  s story of beren and luthien  the extreme literalism required by live  action filming  where everything from monsters to mail  shirts has to be created in detail to appear on camera  is counter  productive latex  faced  or cgi  monsters are less monstrous than sketchily  drawn shapes  heroic costumes tend to look rather silly worn on real bodies  and hobbits or dwarfs with non  human body proportions are easy to animate but hard to film convincingly . many reviewers have cited the sniffing ringwraith in the woods  with its crippled  half  human movements  as one of the scariest moments in the film   it certainly frightened me silly when i saw it for the first time alone in the dark   br    br   the extreme stylisation of the introduction  plus a voice  over done with great skill and economy to sum up the back  story in a few sentences  works very well to depict an almost mythical era  and the change to the comic  book rusticism of the shire   i particularly like the proudfeet   corresponds effectively to the similar change in tone of tolkien  s prose . i did feel that there were some missed opportunities where the potential of animation could have been used to great effect gandalf threatening bilbo with his true power in the opening scenes  bilbo seeming to become a gollum  like creature under the influence of ring  lust at rivendell  and galadriel  s famous temptation speech all were drawn more or less straight  where it would have been trivial to distort the scene to reflect the hobbits  changed perceptions . but generally speaking the changes in detail and palette   firelight hues at bree  bright colours re  emerging at rivendell and in the fangorn clearing  dirty greys and browns for moria and the desolate lands   work well to reflect the mood of the various episodes  where a live  action approach simply doesn  t allow you to blur the background or sketch in a stylised setting .  br    br   as a fan i didn  t care for either jackson  s or bakshi  s depiction of lothlorien   again  i feel that the radio soundscape was the best evocation i  ve come across of a beautiful  slightly uncanny woodland paradise caught out of time   and i feel that bakshi got the elven singing at this point pretty badly wrong  but i do like the little montage at this point showing the various members of the company relaxing together after their travails in moria . aragorn giving a hobbit  fencing  lesson here is as charming  and equally uncanonical  a spectacle as boromir engaging with the hobbits in hollin in the jackson version .  br    br   the depiction of aragorn as convincingly weatherworn ranger is good throughout this film  viggo mortensen  s scruffy jesus look really didn  t work for me   although it would have been interesting to see how they planned to  clean up  the character in the second half for gondor  s benefit . john hurt  unsurprisingly  gives a sterling vocal performance  as does a resonant william squire in the part of gandalf . the hobbits are  i suspect  intended to reflect contemporary youth as audience  identification figures i find the animated style  their proportions are much more  cartoonish  than those of the human characters  works well to differentiate them  and the whole  hairy feet  thing as drawn here comes across as much more plausible than in more literal depictions  including much fan art .  br    br   personally i have less objection to boromir as viking   he was always a fairly bludgeoning type   than to beardy  aragorn  illogical they were both numenorians  after all   although i am clearly in a minority here   br    br   the big flaw in this picture is always going to be the fact that it was an unfinished project  with a bizarre tacked  on voice  over ending attempting to resolve matters . a pity it would have been interesting  not to mention less frustrating  to see what bakshi planned to make of shelob and minas tirith  never mind the dead . . .  
to make a good movie you either need excellent actors or an excellent director . you need at least one of the two . in this eye of the needle we have none .  br    br   i don  t even remember the name of the director . he mustn  t have done much in his career . i like very much donald sutherland but he absolutely cannot be the main actor in a movie . he falls short . sutherland is excellent in a movie when he appears for not more than   minutes . i would say for instance that sutherland was excellent in jfk of oliver stone when he talked to kevin costner on the bench of a park for   minutes non  stop without even taking a breath . wonderful . but sutherland being the principal actor in a movie is no good .  br    br   kate nelligan  she is probably good for tv series . the dvd is awful . terrible colors . terrible light . i couldn  t even appreciate the scenery of storm island for how lousy the photography was .  br    br   this ken follett story was good but it  s a pity they turned it into an uninteresting movie .  
with the release of peter jackson  s famed  lord of the rings  trilogy  it is even easier to dismiss ralph bakshi  s     animated lord of the rings film as inferior . i agree with the majority that jackson  s trilogy is the essential film adaptation of tolkien  s work  but that does not prevent me from enjoying bakshi  s ambitious pioneering effort . jackson has admitted that he received at least some inspiration from seeing bakshi  s film and there are some clear similarities between their adaptations .  br    br   the film  s colorful picturesque backdrops are excellent and the score is memorable . i was for the most part satisfied by the drawings of the characters . the pairs of pippin and merry and eowyn and galadriel are mostly indistinguishable from each other visually  the balrog and treebeard were unimpressive  but these points didn  t bother me very much . however  the nazgul are aptly drawn and made sufficiently eerie . the only character representation i was bothered by was sam  s he was made to look unbecomingly silly .  br    br   this film is novel for its animation techniques . in addition to hand  drawn characters  live actors are incorporated into the animation through rotoscoping . it is quite apparent which characters are hand  drawn and which are rotoscoped  but none the less i found that the film  s style was a novelty . the use of rotoscoped live actors for the battle scenes was a good decision and helped these scenes turn out well .  br    br   the voice acting was generally of high quality . particularly good was john hurt  who provided an authoritative voice for aragorn . aragorn isn  t a favorite character of mine from the stories  but backed by john hurt  s voice he was my favorite character in this adaptation . my other favorite was william squire  whose voice is appropriately strong for gandalf . the only actor who seemed inappropriate was michael scholes as sam  whose voice acting was irritating and added to sam  s unfortunately silly image . the only other bothersome part of the voice acting is the mispronunciation of character and place names . particularly strange was the decision to frequently have saruman referred to as  aruman  .  br    br   in producing this film  ralph bakshi expected to have the ability to produce two films . hence  this film contains about half the story  from the start of  the fellowship of the ring  to the end of the battle at helm  s deep in  the two towers  . the obvious implication of this is that the film  s story is a highly condensed version of the story from the books . i enjoy the original stories and more thorough adaptations  but the liberties taken to compress the story didn  t bother me  even the choice to leave arwen out of the story . enough of the key elements of the story were in this film to keep me engaged for the duration and there was even a novelty in being able to breeze through half the lord of the rings story in    minutes . the battle scenes were impressive and in particular the orc march to and battle at helm  s deep were tremendous .  br    br   ralph bakshi  s version of  the lord of the rings  isn  t perfect and no doubt a number of lord of the rings readers lament the cuts to the story . however  for me the drawbacks of this film were minor compared to the thrill of seeing an effective adaptation of half of a great trilogy . my only strong lament is that i am unable to see the second part of this  first great tale  of the lord of the rings since bakshi was not given the budget to create a sequel .  
i don  t know what it is about donald sutherland  s acting style  or vocal style  but he always seems to be acting from behind a massive wad of soggy kleenex . he  s just . . . i don  t know  thick  somnambulistic  on meds  weird .  br    br   that said  i just saw the flick again for the first time since its original release  and frankly  i don  t remember it ending anything like that . a bad ending  too  because nothing gets tied off . what about the dead husband  the annoying child  and was the kid dubbed    the scotland yard and military pursuers  i would have liked something wrapping things up and giving some dramatic closure to it all  not just the big panoramic pull  away .  br    br   and what woman sleeps with the man she knows just killed her husband  even if she was trying to allay needle  s suspicions to protect her kid  she could always have had a headache . that last encounter made me feel way too itchy and uncomfortable . . .  
i only wish that return of the jedi  have been directed by somebody else  i mean  there is far too much ewoks scenes  completely unnecessary . besides this time our heroes look like different people princess leia no longer fights with solo  luke looks boring  darth vader is not as evil as before  and yoda just dies .  br    br   but there are many extraordinary things going on this episode that i just can  t hate it .  br    br   some spoilers   jabba the hut   the sail barge attack sequence .   the emperor  now that  s evil    the speeders chase at the endor forest .   the last battle .   the dark side seduction scene .   the return of anakin to the good side of the force .   and the last celebration .  br    br   some of those are so good that they can bring tears to your eyes . if some scenes would have been cut  and another director was hired  this would have been as perfect as episode  and   but still is extraordinary .  out of   .  
extremely disappointing film based on the james michener novel .  br    br   what was even worse was marlon brando  s performance . his southern drawl was ridiculous . i found myself laughing when he spoke as he sounded like an elderly southern lady coming home to roost . brando  so great in previous films  was reduced here to a laughing stock . tyrone power  in  witness for the prosecution   should have been nominated for best actor instead of brando here .  br    br   the film  dealing with racism  dealt with the u . s . government  s attempt to avoid marriages between u . s . soldiers and japanese women .  br    br   brando was stone  faced throughout the movie . his moving from anti  these relationships to a pro one occurs when he finds love with an asian woman . his emotions and talk made it difficult to see how he could espouse such new views .  br    br   only the lord knows why red buttons and miyoshi umeki received supporting oscars for their performances . nothing about either performance was equally impressive . umeki  s appearance on the screen was short and without much of anything being depicted on her part . a better performance in this film was done by miiko taka  who did nicely as brando  s love interest . she showed great emotion as the anti  american who found love with the brando character . her face was etched with the unhappiness she had for losing her father and brother in world war   . she realized that her dancing was not her way out of this existence that she was living .  br    br   martha scott went from the hebrew mother yochobel in  the ten commandments  to the bigoted mother of brando  s love interest at first . her performance together with the one of ricardo montalban was wasted . patricia owens  as brando  s first love  showed depth and conviction in her performance .  
when a small hobbit named frodo baggins inherits a magic ring from his uncle  the wizard gandalf investigates and discovers that the ring is an ancient creation of an evil dark lord . should the ring end up back in his hands  he will regain his power and destroy middle earth . frodo and his loyal friends set out on a a quest to destroy the ring with a band of warriors . this is an underrated adaption of the classic novels as it only covers the first half of the story . regardless  this is an epic and wonderfully animated film .  br    br   the animation is superbly done with rotoscope  which is tracing over live action footage . ralph bakshi worked well with the low budget he was given . the film also boasts a grand music score by leonard rosenman that fits every scene . there are a few plot holes with the script  but that has to be excused  considering the original deal was to make the book trilogy into two films  much had to crammed in the first one . my biggest gripe is some of the character design  samwise was a bit too goofy  while the other hobbits act completely normal . the other characters are actually well written for the screen  and the voice actors do a great job  i was pleased that legolas is actually a bit more helpful to the plot . the rotoscoped orcs are more comical than frightening  while the ringwraiths are eerie and nightmarish .  br    br   another problem is that the evil wizard saruman is called aruman  thanks to the writers . overall  i think a little more money and better writers would have done this a lot of justice  but there is something charming about it . ralph bakshi made a valiant effort of making screen adaption of these classic stories . the film suffers terribly from being overshadowed by the live action films  but it  s still a great movie for animation lovers of all ages .  
i am partly a fan of miyazaki  s work . i say  partly  because most of his films fall into two categories brilliant  and boring . sadly this film falls into the later category .  br    br   this film suffers from the same fundamental problems as miyazaki  s recent film  howl  s moving castle  . an intriguing premise is set up  but then immediately reduced to little more than a backdrop for some unfathomable events that only serve to confuse the plot rather than explain it .  br    br   the first third of the film reveals the post  apocalyptic world the story is set in  and actually looks like an very interesting story is about to unfold . from then on things go down hill . the middle part of the film is mostly made up of thinly  veiled eco  propaganda  and the ending is heavily marred by the reliance on the kind of impenetrable spiritualism which ruins a large number of japanese animated films .  br    br   overall the film feels as though someone ripped out every other page from the script before passing it on the the animators . what is left is something which is visually stunning  although sadly the version i saw was an nth  generation copy  with poor colour  which gives rise to the common myth that nausicaa shows her bare bottom when flying   but which makes little sense and ultimately left me confused .  
peter jacksons version  s  are better films overall from objective point of view . that being said  they are not my favorite screen versions of lord of the rings  and let me explain why .  br    br   firstly  the acting of the on  screen characters is just too ordinary and uninspiring with jackson  s lotr . the whole cast is too run of the mill .  are you claiming that those silly cartoon characters of ralph bakshi version are better actors than real people   one could ask . well  they are not really silly  save for hobbits  later about them  and they certainly pack more personality than jackson  s party  even with much more limited dialogue time . and that is because of superior  voice  acting of the bakshi  s lotr . take aragorn for example . in this version his voice is deep and charismatic with full of authority  aragorn the lord  and with a seasoned rasp  aragorn the ranger  . this is due to john hurt  s brilliant voice acting . compare that to viggo mortensen  s rather high pitched sound with no soul and the duel gets quickly uneven hurt beats mortensen hands down .  br    br   and then there is gandalf . probably the most dominating  and the most popular  character in the whole saga . in this bakshi version gandalf  william squire  is a real wizard . and by that i don  t mean he shoots bolts from his fingertips  he does not   but his presence is just captivating . he is a mystical  powerful and can switch from gentle old man to a scary person with ease . add to that his looks tall  old as the ancient oak  beard long as his body  sharp eyes  wizardy hook nose and of course  the classical wizard hat . a perfect gandalf  just like in the books . ian mckellen  s gandalf in the other hand  is simply just too boring . he looks too human  sounds too human  acts too human and wears no hat or wields no sword . yes a sword . in this bakshi version gandalf scores couple of bloody orc kills with his sword  as he did in the books  . and those are stylish slow motion kills . gandalf is not a power to be messed with . and it must be noted  that while i  m sad to say this  the great christopher lee didn  t bring saruman alive . fraser kerr in this movie did  even with a very limited screen time and lines .  br    br   before i move completely to visual aspects of the movie  it must be mentioned that the voice acting and the general presenation of the orcs are also superior to jackson  s pretendeous bad guys . bakshi  s orcs taunt their enemies  or each other  constantly with growls  screams and nasty language . they are more believable as monsters and are more faithful to the book in my opinion . and finally  the black riders  or the nazgul . those ultimate bad guys are scary ghosts in this one  not just some riders wearing black . and they speak with haunting voice  which mesmerizes their victim . my favorite scene in the film is when the nazgul are chasing frodo near the river . while peter jackson couldn  t do anything but show the riders simply chasing the party  bakshi throws in a nightmarish dream with some cool slow motion scenes and thundering sky .  br    br   but as much i like this film more than jackson  s  the latter are  if only technically  still better . and that is because of some key visuals . as you know bakshi lotr features a mixture of animated characters  all hobbits and the main cast  and real actors covered with paint . i don  t really have a problem using real people in animation this way  but they just don  t fit very well with traditional cartoon figures . this is especially true with humans  riders of rohan  tavern people etc .  orcs are different matter  since they are meant to look very distinctive from other characters . orcs  while played by humans with animation mix  look far superior to jacksons version . they have brownish  green skin  shiny red eyes  flat face and pointed teeth .  br    br   biggest screw up in this films visuals  howerver  are the hobbits . while i prefer almost every character in bakshi version compared to jackson  the latter has clearly superior hobbits  in fact they are perfect . with bakshi you get some irritating and rather poorly drawn humanoid disney bambies . and you are forced to spend a lot of movie time with them  so be warned . again  the voice acting is ok with them too  but the actors mouths cannot save the  immersion damage  made by these little weasels . well  i never really liked those halflings anyway .  br    br   general failures in the bakshi script are well known . limited playing time  with limited budget  and a lot of missing scenes . so while this film covers nearly half of the story  it doesn  t do it in extensive detail compared to jackson  s version .  br    br   in a summary the ralph bakshi version of lotr has a superior  br    br    overall atmosphere  it feels more like middle  earth   overall voice acting  music  i really dig the fantasy score by kont  rosenman   gandalf  aragorn  one of the john hurt  s finest roles   king theoden  orcs  black riders  elrond  he  s not some fairy hippie in this one    br    br   while jackson version is better  br    br    because it covers the whole story  overall visuals and special effects  gollum  smeagol  balrog  hobbits  br    br   lord of the rings by ralph bakshi  even with it  s well known shortcomings  is one of the best animation films ever made and it captures the atmosphere of tolkien  s fantasy world very well  if not perfectly . i  ll give it a score of   out of   .  
  this is a review of the later english release by disney  featuring alison lohman  patrick stewart  and co .   br    br   i really wanted this film to be good . really  really . i  m a huge fan of princess mononoke and spirited away  and after seeing all the glowing reviews on this earlier miyazaki film  i was eager to see it . but i was shocked  shocked i say  at the quality of this film . those later films boast well  crafted plots    dimensional characters  and the best film music since . . . well . . . ever . this film just doesn  t come close .  br    br   might as well start w  the positive aspects  though . like all miyazaki films  this one is still very imaginative  with a bizarre fantasy  sci  fi setting  in a post  apocalyptic world where insects are the dominant species . nausicaa can also boast some far superior animation to other films from its time .  though not as beautiful and fluid as miyazaki  s later films  and the english voice acting is quite well done .  br    br   but this film . . . just . . . isn  t . . . good . . . the characters are all cardboard  from saccharine sweet little nausicaa  to the ruthlessly evil tolmekians  to everyone in between . once you  ve seen each of them for   seconds  you  ve seen all there is . and the fact that the plot just ambles along doesn  t help .  br    br   then there  s the music . . . now  hisaichi is hands down my favorite film composer  but nausicaa doesn  t do him justice . half the music is    s keyboards on overdrive  and it usually enters and leaves so abruptly that it distracts the visuals rather than helping them . i highly suspect that hisaichi was told to compose a lot of the music before he even saw the picture .  br    br   but wait  there  s a great message with this film  right   let  s all save the environment  too bad that this film hits you over the head with it like a sledgehammer . there is a scene in which nausicaa hugs a tree . no  really . i ain  t kidding .  br    br   it makes me a little sad to talk about how lame this film is . but for some reason all the other reviews on imdb seem to adore it . and when the characters have to talk to themselves in extended sentences to tell you what  s going on  that  s lame .  br    br   if you  re the kind of person who worships anime  enjoys    s music  and plants a tree every arbor day  you will probably like this film . otherwise  save your money for his later films  because they rock big time .  
i happened upon this movie as an     year old on a cold  dark november afternoon . i was outside playing all day  freezing  and when i came in around  pm  i had a cup of hot cocoa and sat down in front of the tv with a blanket . i was surprised to be watching a cartoon that wasn  t all happy and silly   and was in fact dark  and moralistic . it captured my imagination . i  m sure it misses the text  and is abbreviated in all the wrong places for the tolkien purist . but it still captures the spirit of the story  the choice to carry a burden for the good of others  the consequences of selfish  rash decisions  etc . the quality of animation leaves room for complaint . but the one place where this movie clearly rises above the new films is the voice characterizations . john hurt is great in this . if you don  t like how the character is drawn  look away  and just listen to him . his voice is extraordinary . i  ve seen it again many  many times and it always brings me back to that time  as a kid  thirsty for some magical adventure . it  s for this reason i say  lucky   the film is nostalgic for me so i overlook its shortcomings . but between john hurt  and tolkien  s fantasy  it still reached me  and still does .  
tom wolfe  s sprawling  brilliantly observed satiric novel of life among new york snobbery gets a glossy look here but is nevertheless not well served . the film suffers not merely from the miscasting of everyman tom hanks as an uncaring yuppie  kewpie  doll melanie griffith as a manipulative southern belle and bruce willis     as the darling of new york  s literati . the most serious miscasting was in the director  s chair . robert altman might have breathed life into these unlikeable characters and made them interesting  but brian de palma  for all of his visual sophistication  has never had an eye for the nuances of the human experience . the resulting film looks good but seems blah toward its subject of dehumanization in favor of status . honestly  if a satire does not make the viewer angry  what is the point   
my friend had the idea of watching the animated lotr after seeing the peter jackson return of the king . so i finally bought it off e  bay  thinking right from the start it was going to suck . actually  it really wasn  t as bad as i thought it would be . the animation was good for its time  they used a unique method of blending live action with animation to create some interesting effects  and the guy who did the voice for frodo sounded somewhat like elijah wood .  br    br   not the greatest adaptation of a book  but trust me  i  ve seen a lot worse . it skips quite a lot of things  since both fellowship and the two towers are compressed into one two hour movie . definatley worth a watch  kids might like  but still  absoutley no comparision with the peter jackson trilogy .  
based on tom wolfe  s satirical novel that was praised by all  i have not read it yet  tom hanks stars as a wall streeter who accidentally kills a black boy while lost in a bad part of nyc willis stars as the reporter who starts hanks on his downward spiral . . the characters are very thin and there seems to be no empathy for anyone in this movie and for a comedy or a satire there arent a lot of laughs either . . melanie griffith had her breasts done during filming so a fun thing to do is to see if her boobs change size during different parts of the film . . this will keep your mind off other things like the lack of script or humor . . on a scale of one to ten . .   
first of all no adaptation is ever as good as the book  especially when you  re dealing with master writer like tolkien . this adaptation wonderfully synthesizes tolkien  s universe with     s psychedelia  aesthetics  and liberal culture . yes  the animation and background painting is sometimes a little  rough  in its technical execution but it  s beautiful none the less  and very evocative in terms of giving a unique  sense of place  to each of the scenes . beyond the absolute uniqueness in imagery is the absolutely outstanding voice acting  acting that  s far superior to the acting in the new live action movies . and while the cell animation might not be the most  technically proficient  animation it superbly captures the expressive bodily and facial gestures of the acting while at once not forgetting to be subtle and nuanced . the background paintings vary from traditional  fantasy  motif to outright abstraction  but the transition to abstracted settings is always motivated by the narrative and contributes greatly to the themes of the film . if you  re a person who has to have extensive computer rendering in a film so that everything is visualized for you then i can see how you might not like this movie but if you enjoy superior acting  transcendental imagery  and jrr tolkien then this film is a must see .  
as someone who has both read the novel and seen the film  i have a different take on why the film was such a flop . first  any comparisons between novel and film are purely superficial . they are two different animals .  br    br   the novel is probably intended as a satire  but it arrives as a cross between tragedy and polemic instead . any comedic elements such as those which later formed the stylistic basis of the film version are merely incidental to the author  s uniformly cynical thrust . and lest the omnipresent white suit of the author fool you into thinking this is another mark twain  think again . a more apt literary precedent would be the spectre of ambrose bierce in a top hat and tails . tom wolfe is equal parts clown and hack  more celebrity than author  always looking for new grist for his self  absorbed mill .  br    br   it is therefore no wonder that the excellent production skills and direction lavished on the making of the film were doomed from the start . unlike true satire  which translates very well into film  polemics are grounded not in universally accessible observations on some form or other of human behavior  but in a single  minded attack on specific people   whether real or fictional straw men   who have somehow earned the wrath of the writer . any effort to create a successful filmed story or narrative from such a beginning must have a clean start  free of the writer  s influence or interference .  br    br   having said that  i too find fault with the casting . it is not merely that incompetents like bruce willis and melanie griffith fail to measure up  but that real talents like tom hanks  f . murray abraham  and morgan freeman are either totally wasted or given roles that are mere caricatures .  br    br   there is enough topical material here for a truly great film satire  but it fails to come even close .  
i  m fond of this film and it vexes me that so many  reviewers  rank it below the peter jackson trilogy . a filmed novel is always interpretive in particular an animated film relies on the artist  s vision and should be judged on its own terms . speaking as a purist  this is a finer homage to tolkien than the updated version . while this film has its flaws it stays truer to the source  especially so far as the characters are concerned .  br    br   in the jackson version tolkien  s frodo is barely recognizable from the first scenes he is portrayed as a weakling  constantly wavering  manipulated by forces around him and never standing on his own two feet  this is physically and metaphorically true .  you wonder why fate chose this limp biscuit to carry the one ring to the cracks of doom . jackson unforgivably rewrites tolkien and robs frodo of his finest moment when he allows arwen to rescue him from the ringwraiths . . . bakshi  s version respects the original  presenting a frodo who demands the wraiths  go back and trouble me no more   bakshi sustains frodo  s character as tolkien conceived it . we see his decline as the weight of his burden increases . frodo is so pivotal to lord of the rings you wonder why jackson took such liberties  he does so with numerous characters  since character development propels the plot to its inevitable conclusion . bakshi  s film better explores the companionship between legolas and gimli in a few judicious scenes that are completely lacking in jackson  s version . similarly we see boromir horsing with pippin and merry  furthering the idea of fellowship . for my liking the camaraderie is more developed in the animated version than the live action .  br    br   tolkien  s poetry is an important ingredient in the novels and bakshi makes tribute to this in one of my favorite scenes when frodo sings the  merry old inn  song  minutes before stumbling into strider . the cheery tune is chillingly juxtaposed with the darker theme music when seconds later  invisible to his friends but visible to the wraiths  frodo is dangerously exposed . this is one of the most atmospheric portions of the film and chills me whenever i see it .  br    br   the well documented budget  time restrictions limit this film  s final impact but had it been completed it may have resonated with more viewers . as it is  it  s worth a look . even its detractors admit that peter jackson derived much of his inspiration from this prototype .  
the point of wolfe  s original novel   indeed the point of the whole story   is that things take place because of a carefully calculated sense of expediency . the goal is survival within a particular kind of life style . the novel is full of malice . the only relationship that rings emotionally true is that between sherman and his daughter  campbell  and that  s only touched upon . that aside  everyone is out for what he can get in the way of publicity  power  money or self aggrandizement .  br    br   wolfe was criticized for hitting every character and every social segment of new york city over the head . his response was a denial . after all  he lived in new york himself and belonged to a neighborhood improvement committee and other admirable organizations  exactly the qualifications one would want on his resume in order to deny that he disliked new yorkers .  wolfe has a phd in american studies from yale and is no dummy .  those supposed weaknesses are what made the novel memorable . nobody was any good . and sherman mccoy wound up broke  a professional protester for social justice . the movie throws all of that away and imposes a moral frame on the story that simply doesn  t fit . wolfe did his homework . the novel was rooted in reality . every event was not only possible but thoroughly believable . wolfe might have made a great cultural anthropologist   he knows how to get inside a system and record its details .  br    br   yes  any of us might have found ourselves  as sherman and his mistress do  stuck in the south bronx  threatened by a couple of black kids  and making a getaway after bumping into one of them . that scene is transferred neatly from print to celluloid .  br    br   but after that scene the movie seems not to trust its audience and at times become frantic in its attempt to spell out its message  however nebulous the message is .  br    br   sherman might accidentally hit some kid and be arrested for it as he is in the novel  but he would not immediately upon his release from jail go back to his phenomenally expensive condo  take out a shotgun  and start shooting into the ceiling with it  as he does in the movee . in what  s supposed to be a funny scene  ceiling plaster falls all over the party guests and they scurry away  shrieking . it simply would not have happened . the movie has left the novel  s unspeakably detailed reality in the dust . wolfe  s sensibility  the work he put into capturing the real  has been lost . what we get instead is a noisy  fantastic  and silly scene that doesn  t do anything except wake the audience up . similar empty scenes follow  screaming out for wolfe  s verisimilitude .  br    br   the movie also fails because it thrusts a lot of sin and redemption into an entertaining story of moral nihilism . here we see  don juan in hell  at the opera . we get lectures on redemption from a poet with aids . we see a lot of guilt in sherman . a black judge who preaches from the bench and gives one of those final speeches about how we all have to start behaving nicely again . a reporter who feels sorry for sherman after turning him into a sacrificial lamb . and a happy ending in which sherman gets off by breaking the law with an idiotic grin . the scene sits on the movie like a jester  s cap on a circus elephant  s head .  br    br   the movie not only makes points that are already trite and unoriginal  it overstates them  as if the audience were incapable of absorbing any subtleties .  br    br   it  s not the acting or the direction that  s poor . the film  s not bad in those respects . and the photography is pretty good too  including two rather spectacular shots   the gargoyles of the chrysler building and the landing of the concorde . it  s the script that is thoroughly botched .  br    br   the first half of the movie  roughly  is okay in conception and execution . it keeps some of the little details from the novel . sherman and judy  s dog is named marshall . who the hell would name a dog marshall  it loses its focus almost completely in the second half and on the whole is barely worth watching .  br    br   wolfe  s cynical redneck right  wingism may be offensive to a lot of people  but he  s got the cojones to lay his percepts out . alas the writers and producers did not have the courage to pick them up and thus blew the chance to make a fascinating study of new yorkers .  
first of all  the only reason people keep bitching about this film is because they can  t stand a few parts of the true story being  altered  . well guess what  peter jackson  s film wasn  t a perfect rendition either . well enough ranting . this is a very beautiful film . the backgrounds are gorgeous and taken from well known tolkein artists . the film covers about half the trilogy  fellowship of the ring and up to the battle of helms deep in the two towers  and moves at a good pace . the voice casting is top notch and the most of the characters look like i imagined they would . samwise is a bit too ugly for my tastes  but aragorn looks awesome . the film has a great score that completely supports the movie . if you enjoy good fantasy stories but hate reading  the books are even better  give this movie a try  keeping in mind it was made   odd years ago .  br    br   also of particular note peter jackson  s adaption of fellowship follows almost exactly the same strand as ralph bakshi  s  jackson has said many times how much he admired bakshi  s effort  .  
most book adaptations are bad but this film left out key parts of the storyline and changed the description and some characters . they rewired the storyline and combined scenes and changed the order . they added ridiculous things into it that never happened in the book and would never happen .  br    br   if i hadn  t read the book beforehand it would have been an incredibly dull film  it didn  t make you care about the characters  like them or dislike them . it turns the characters into jokes .  br    br   awful .  br    br   ridiculous .  br    br   waste of two hours of my life .  
godard once said a way to criticize a movie is to just make one  and probably the strongest kind that could be made about ralph bakshi  s take on tolkien  s magnum opus the lord of the rings  has actually been made by peter jackson . the recent trilogy  to me  aren  t even total masterpieces  but they are given enough room with each book to breath in all the post  modern techniques crossed with classical storytelling to make them very good  sweeping entertainments .  br    br   but as one who has not read the books  i end up now looking upon the two versions  live  action  albeit partly animated in its big visual effects way  and animated  albeit partly done with actual live action as the framework  in relation to just the basic story  not even complete faithfulness to the books . and with bakshi  s version  it  s almost not fair in a way  as what we do see is really not the complete vision  not what jackson really had  probably final cut  . robbed of return of the king  s big climactic rush of the story  and with the other two parts becoming rushed  i ended up liking it more for what it did within its limitations  though as such those same limitations make it disappointing .  br    br   what  s interesting too  after seeing the jackson films first  which i also slightly regret being that i might  ve reacted to this differently when i was younger and prior to five years ago  is that the basic elements of the story never get messed up with . everything that is really needed to tell the fellowship of the ring story is actually pretty much intact  and if anything what was probably even more gigantic and epic in tolkien  s book is given some clarity in this section . the actors playing the parts of the hobbits and the other heroes  are more or less adequate for the parts  with a few parts standing out  john hurt as aragorn and william squire as gandalf  .  br    br   the lack of extra characterization does end up making things seem a little face  value for those who  ve not even seen the other films or read the books and can  t put them into context . but there is some level of interest always with the characters  and here there  s a more old  fashioned sensibility amid the large aura of it being more . this is not a garden variety disney adaptation  warts and all  this is a bakshi film  with his underground animation roots colliding with the mythical world of middle earth .  br    br   and what bakshi and his animation team bring to the film is one that ends up giving what is on screen  in all its abbreviated form  its hit or miss appeal . along with being not totally complete as a film  or as stories  the form of the film is an experiment  to see if something can be entirely rotoscoped . the results end up bringing what seems now to be retro  but at the time of course was something that was a rough  crazy inspiration on the part of the filmmakers . might it have been better with more traditional drawn animation  in some parts  yeah it does become a little noticeable  as was also the case in bakshi  s american pop  that the main characters move in such ways that are a little shaky  like some kind of comic  book form done in a different way . still  there  s much i admired in what was done .  br    br   the orcs  for example  i found to be really amazing in they  re surreal surroundings . they  re maybe the best part of the combination of the animation on top of the live  action  especially during parts where there isn  t battle footage  that  s really the real hit  or  miss section  as there isn  t continuity from the good and bad rotoscoping   and the chiaroscuro comes through with big shapes on top of horseback . it  s creepy in a good way . and the backgrounds  while also very rough and sometimes too sketchy  are beautiful with the mixtures and blasts of colors together . it  s almost something for art  film buffs as much as for the ring  nuts .  br    br   so  how would i recommend this animated take on the lord of the rings  i don  t know  to tell the truth . it  s certainly a good notch above the other tolkien animated film i  ve seen  the hobbit  and i  ve yet to see the animated rotk   and there is some real artistry going on . there  s also some stilted dialog  an all  too  rushed two towers segment with the most intriguing character gollum being reduced to maybe two scenes in all . and seeing something as fragmented like this ends up only reinforcing the completeness of the more recent films .  br    br   if you  re a fan of the books contemplating checking this out  i would say it  s worth a chance  even if it  s one of those chances where you watch for forty minutes and then decide whether to stop it or not . as for it fitting into bakshi  s other films i  ve seen it  s an impressive ambitious and spotty achievement  where as with lynch  s dune it  s bound to draw a dark  mordor  like line in the sand between those who hate it passionately and those who don  t . i don  t .  
regarded by many critics as one of the biggest stinkers of all time  certainly the biggest stinker of director brian de palma  s career  .  br    br   sherman mccoy  tom hanks  is a smug rich boy whose life goes to pieces when he and his lover maria ruskin  melanie griffith  are involved in a hit  and  run . his story is chronicled by another smug guy  reporter peter fallow  bruce willis  .  br    br   well  as i said in my summary . . .  br    br   what is this movie supposed to be  it seems to combine comedy  drama  and satire  but it sure doesn  t add up to much . it  s undermined by unimaginably loathsome  one  dimensional characters who you  d never want to have the displeasure of meeting in real life .  br    br   i  m no big fan of the novel  i started reading it once  but couldn  t finish it because it wasn  t to my liking  but it  s obvious to me that those who did  do enjoy the novel consider this film to be a complete travesty .  br    br   i  ve never seen so many talented actors strive to hard to give a below  average movie some semblance of quality and fail . what a waste .  br    br   the problems start with casting nice guy tom hanks in a role that is clearly supposed to be unsympathetic . and the role of peter fallow in the novel was that of a brit . bruce willis is badly  badly miscast in the role . what was the thinking there .  br    br   alas  not even morgan freeman can escape the film with his dignity intact  being obliged to deliver a lame  heavy  handed lecture on  decency  after the climax .  br    br   this movie ends up turning into an absurd farce .  br    br   i liked the assemblage of talent for that i will give it four out of ten  but i  m sure some people will say a much better movie could have been made from the source material .  
as an animated film from      this is pretty good   generally well above the standard of the days when disney hadn  t done anything good in years  and tolkien cared little for disney anyway  . it gets major points for innovative and careful camera work  applying cinematic techniques with relative success . the much  maligned rotoscoping actually works pretty well  especially with the ringwraiths  and the opening narration . however  it is so drastically overused   possibly as a money  saving technique   that it detracts from the overall effect . the same technique that makes wraiths spooky and otherworldly doesn  t fare so well in the prancing pony .  br    br   as for the adaptation of the story  it  s actually quite good . we lose little bits here and there  minor details such as the old forest and tom bombadil  the gaffer and the sackville  bagginses . we compress a few characters  such as revising legolas as one of elrond  s household and an old friend of aragorn  s  but that  s a rather wise decision for film . in books you have room to include the references to the larger world of the elves and middle  earth  s vast history . in film  you trade that for visuals and sound that convey the same elements in a different way . nothing critical is truly lost here  and although i have minor quibbles about some of the changes  i  m generally pretty happy with it .  br    br   if only the dratted writers had managed to remember saruman  s name   he  s frequently referred to as aruman  a decision probably made to make him more distinct from similarly  named sauron it took me a second viewing before i was certain i hadn  t misheard it . it  s also annoying that boromir is a bloody stage viking  and irritable from the start . however  gandalf is excellent  and most of the rest of the voicework is excellent . if only john hurt weren  t too old to play aragorn i love his voice .  br    br   of course  with the film ending at the midpoint of the story  there  s a vast disappointment built in . what makes it far  far worse is the altogether miserable job done by the rankin  bass crew on the sequel . that they were permitted to do return of the king after butchering the hobbit remains a huge mystery they seem more interested in bad songs than in proper storytelling . for all its faults  this film  s heart is solidly in place and it tries very hard to accomplish a nearly impossible task . i can only hope that the upcoming series of films keeps as true to its vision . . .  
this is one of the most atrocious rewrites i  ve ever viewed . if they want to make a movie with a lousy story  they should refrain from giving it a title of a fine book . there is hardly a relation between wolfe  s book and this movie other than the title . i don  t mind changes if they help a story flow on screen . at least the changes shouldn  t hurt the final product . the last scene in the movie is painfully unconvincing . the actors are miscast . the director and  or screen writer obviously could not decide whether to make a lame comedy or preach an unconvincing sermon .  br    br   if you  ve seen this movie and disliked it  try the book . if you  ve seen this movie and liked it  read the book .  
more than twenty years before peter jackson  s visionary adaptation of the lord of the rings  there was this     animated effort from director ralph bakshi . an ambitious and reasonably faithful version of the story  this has sadly been rather over  shadowed by the jackson trilogy . indeed  many reviewers here on the imdb  mainly those who saw the newer version first  seem to be fiercely unkind to this version . . . . but if one applies a little common sense  and takes into consideration the time when it was made and the technical possibilities that existed at that time  then they will realise that this is a pretty good film . indeed  it was shortly after seeing this animated movie back in the early    s that i sought out tolkien  s book and immediately became a lifelong fan of these richly detailed middle earth adventures . so  in some respects  i owe this film a degree of acknowledgement as the film which shaped my literary tastes forever .  br    br   sauron  the dark lord of middle earth  forges an all  powerful ring that gives him incredible power . following a great battle during which sauron is defeated  the ring falls into possession of a king named isildur . but instead of destroying it he foolishly chooses to keep it . for centuries the ring passes from hand to hand  eventually coming into the possession of a hobbit named frodo baggins who lives in a peace  loving community known as the shire . frodo learns from a wizard named gandalf that his ring is in fact the one ring  the very same that was forged by sauron all those centuries ago  and that its master is once again searching for it in order to restore his dark power over the entire land . frodo embarks on a perilous journey to protect the ring with three other hobbit companions  but every step of the way they are hunted by sauron  s ring  wraiths  the black riders . there follow many adventures  during which a company of nine adventurers is formed to guide the ring to the only place where it can be  unmade   mount doom  in the land of mordor . the film concludes with frodo and his best friend sam on the borders of mordor  closing ever nearer to their horrifying destination . meanwhile gandalf and the other members of the company fight off a huge army of orcs at the legendary fortress of helm  s deep .  br    br   this version covers just over half of the original book . a second instalment was planned to bring the story to an end  but was sadly never completed . while the ending feels abrupt  it does at least end at a sensible point in the story . one has to feel a little frustration and regret that no sequel exists in which we might follow these animated heroes to their eventual goal . the animation is passable  with a nice variety of locales and characters presented in interesting detail . the music by leonard rosenman is suitably stirring and fits in appropriately with the epic narrative . the voice  overs are decent  too  especially john hurt as aragorn and peter woodthorpe as gollum . on the other hand  michael scholes  who provides the voice for sam  is rather campy and goofy  which is not well suited to the character . the lord of the rings is a commendable attempt to visualise the staggering book on which it is based .  
this was a great book and the possibilities for a truly great film were definitely there . but the casting decisions completely wrecked the movie . hanks is a great actor to be sure  but lacks the smarmy  morally ambivalent characteristics needed for the lead role . jeff daniels would have been my choice .  br    br   putting melanie griffiths in  for eye candy reasons  is understandable  but again  she did not portray the depth or ambivalence  so need to pull this off .  br    br   this movie is a great example of how every decision  even those early on in the movie production can make or break a file .  
a very good movie . a classic sci  fi film with humor  action and everything . this movie offers a greater number of aliens . we see the rebel alliance leaders and much of the imperial forces . the emperor is somewhat an original character . i liked the ewoks representing somehow the indigenous savages and the vietnamese .  excellent references  i loved the duel between vader and luke which is the best of the saga . in return of the jedi the epilogue of the first trilogy is over and the empire finally falls . i also appreciated the victory celebration where it fulfills vader  s redemption and returns hi into anakin skywalker spirit along with yoda and obi  wan . it gives a sadness and a tear . the greatest scenes in star wars are among this movie when vader turns on the emperor . luke watches and finds comfort in seeing obi  wan  yoda and . . . his father      version not hayden christenssen  . the next best scene is when luke rushes to strike back darth vader to protect leia . there is a deep dark side of this film despite there is a good ending . i felt there was much more than meets the eye . and as always the john william  s music will bring the classicism into star wars universe .  
i was expecting a little something from  k       i mean it did look like a cute movie that i could get into . i always did love the dog comedy movies . but it looked like it was supposed to be jame  s movie  not jerry lee  s . the plot was pretty lame and the two love interests really didn  t have chemistry to begin with . not to mention that james seemed to have a total sexist view in the movie despite the fact the writer wasn  t going in that direction . james just really ticked me off for more than half the film . the dogs were the true stars and that  s pretty sad that they out shined the actors .  br    br   so  i  m glad it  s not just me on imdb who agrees that this was a pretty stupid movie . but hopefully  james will realize it was his brother jim who was the talented one  no offense  but not everyone can be their star sibling . don  t you wish ashlee simpson would take that same advice  d  br    br        
i really enjoyed the reunion a lot  i would have rated it a   if they had had  hassie  and  little luke  . there wasn  t even a mention of where they are today or why they didn  t participate in the reunion . they were very popular characters and i think it was a mistake not to give an explanation about their lack of appearance .  br    br   anyway  i was glad that tnn ran the series again  i had been looking for episodes for years and what a joy to be able to tape the whole series  i may have missed a few episodes  . jenny hanahan  
i have to say i am really surprised at the high ratings for this movie . i found it to be absolutely idiotic . the mother gets  visions  when she touches certain things or people  and one thing she touched twice made her vision continue . . . just seemed so ridiculous . deedee pfieffer  s performance was awful i thought . she was very irritating . the girl who played lori did a good job and so did most of the supporting cast for what they had to work with .  br    br   i usually love lmn and am very open minded when it comes to movies but this movie seemed to have a ridiculous plot and over the top acting and it just was not for me .  
this film  in my opinion  is  despite it  s flaws  which i maintain are few   an utter masterpiece and a great and glorious piece of art .  br    br   what mr . bakshi has done here is to create an utterly beautiful film and has shown his immense talent and versatility as a director of animated films . he does not receive      th of the credit he deserves for literally saving the art of animation for an adult audience . if it were not for mr . bakshi  i don  t believe animation would have survived the disney onslaught . what is more  with the lord of the rings  he has not only created a beautiful animated film  but he has created an entirely new art form  unfortunately one that never quite made it off the ground .  br    br   most people will complain about the use of rotoscoping in the film  the use of live action images which are used as background images and often animated over using various techniques from what appears to be small amounts of tinting to full blown animation  . but i feel that the people who complain about it simply cannot accept an art form which is out of the norm . no  this is not disney animation . no it  s not live action . no  it  s not  cheating   what it is is a new  fascinating  and absolutely wonderful art form . something so fresh  and so new that it feels completely at home in such a fantastic tale as  the lord of the rings  . bakshi  s pioneering use of this technique brings the subtleties of middle earth to life is a very dark and mysterious way  in particular  the darker of tolkien  s creatures  particularly the nazgul  are realized in a way that traditional animation or live action have not been able to accomplish .  br    br   peter s . beagle  s screenplay  based very little  as i understand it  on an early draft by chris conkling  is a very loyal adaptation of tolkien  s works . where possible he uses dialogue directly out of the novel and it feels at home in the world which bakshi has created . there are many cuts that were made to fit the first book and    into a single  hour   minute film  but there are very few changes to the storyline . there are a few holes which it would have been nice to have filled the reforging of narsil  the gifts of galadriel  the huorns at the battle of the hornburg  but  again  with the time limitations he had  already the longest animated feature in history   these are certainly understandable  though it makes one wonder how they could have been explained in a sequel  .  br    br   also there is the delightful  one of my favorites  score by leonard rosenman  who also scored barry lyndon and star trek iv  the score for which is clearly based on his lotr work   . it is bombastic and audacious and  dare i say  perfect . it stands on it  s own as an orchestral triumph  but when coupled with the images of the film  it enters a whole new world of symphonic perfection . so far from the typical hollywoodland fare that it turns many people off .  br    br   the voice actors are wonderful . of particular note is john hurt as aragorn who just oozes the essence of strider .  br    br   the character design is also wonderfully unique  though not often to everyone  s taste . but remember that it is the duty of the director of an adaptation to show you what he  she imagines  not what you might have imagined  and so aragorn is realized with a distinctive native american feel and boromir appears in viking inspired garb . this is perhaps not what you imagined  but i can only applaud mr . bakshi for showing us what he  saw  . it also might be noted that he spent a significant amount of time with priscilla tolkien in developing the character outfits for the film .  br    br   one farther word  the flight to the ford sequence  in my opinion  is one of the most subtlety beautiful sequences ever to be caught on celluloid . bakshi is not afraid to slow down the pace for a moment  and his mastery is clearly shown by the incredible tension is able to build . bakshi  s artistic ability and tolkien  s incredible work fuse in this sequence to a glorious peak which has yet to be equaled .  br    br   the recent dvd release       by warner brothers  is sorely lacking . while we can offer our eternal thanks that the film is finally available in widescreen format  the package is woefully short of extras . how glorious it would have been to have had a director  s commentary  been able to see the   minutes of extra footage that were removed for the theatrical release . another delightful addition could have been the assembled the live action footage which was later animated over . also present in the dvd release is the utterly horrible voiceover at the end of the film which is a departure from the simple voiceover which occurred in the very final frames of the film . this version is plastered and poorly rendered right over the musical climax of the score .  br    br   of course  the greatest tragedy of all is that the sequel was never made . we will never be able to see bakshi  s interpretation of gondor  of shelob  of faramir  of the cracks of doom  of eowyn  s battle with the witch king or gandalf  s confrontation with him . we will never be graced with bakshi  s image of denethor or the palatir or the paths of the dead . it is a shame beyond all shames that we will  in the end  have to accept peter jackson  s glitz and glitter hollywood  action film version of these later events in tolkien  s masterpiece  but  i suppose even that is better than having no cinematic version at all .  br    br   david  
bonfires of the vanities is a film drenched in flop sweat . i can recall no film that has tried so hard to be so unrelentingly outrageous  provocative and important  yet failed so consistently across the board . it is like a stand up comic who  s not getting laughs  but can  t leave the stage . the harder the film tries  the louder each attempt at a laugh results in a resounding thud . the desperation the film displays is so glaring it almost rouses pity for all those involved .  br    br   the film achieves laugh  out  loud status only twice . once is in the sight of geraldo rivera playing an obnoxious  arrogant and amoral tv tabloid journalist   which is funny only because he apparently doesn  t realize he is playing himself . the other scene that deserves to be laughed at is the film  s final  big moment   wherein the judge played by morgan freeman delivers the sanctimonious lecture about what morality is   it  s what your mama taught ya    . the pomposity of the moment is insulting to the point of being absurd .  br    br   yet  one must admit it is a noble effort . it does have a good  if poorly cast  band of actors  who try to make characters out of cardboard thin caricatures . the film looks professionally made and the little cinematic flourishes that director brian depalma just loves are apparent  if not particularly effective . but the film  which apparently wishes to be a commentary on modern morals and ethics  never arises above the level of cartoon . satire requires style . farce requires energy . even sitcom requires timing . but the best bonfires can muster is desperation . in the end  you don  t want to laugh  you just want to turn away .  
there be very little doubt that hg wells is the most influential writer of the   th century . jules verne has some claim to be the father of science fiction but his stories were more adventure stories using marvellous inventions as plot devices . wells was profound and brought subtext to his tales . perhaps his greatest legacy is that there  s very little if any evidence that people believed in life on other planets before the   th century where as now many people including richard dawkins consider it a near certainty . there  s no evidence of this of course and one can  t help wondering that is was wells who introduced this to human thinking  undoubtedly it was wells that planted the seed .  br    br   things to come was adapted by wells himself from his own novel . it is rather obvious however that he is unable to tell the difference between the technicalities of writing novels and writing screenplays . the dialouge is often laden  heavy handed and unconvincing . one case in point is the two pilots from opposing sides discussing the nature of war  why must we murder one another . why   this mirrors the criticism  near naked contempt that orwell had of wells in his essay wells  hitler and the world state and it is true that wells anti  war message is painfully overstated . it  d be impossible to believe a conversation taking place between an raf pilot and his opposite number in the luftwaffe a few years later  br    br   that said it is absolutely fascinating watching a film from     predicting a world wide war taking place in     that heralds the end of civilisation . there  s a striking and haunting imagery as a child bangs a drum as a phantom army marches in the background and the collapse of society and the fear of the wanderng sickness is wonderfully realised . even the rather lazy storytelling of showing the year of the setting has a compelling nature it  s the images that makes this film along with arthur bliss score that makes the film so memorable . and to be fair wells does ask the question  the universe or nothing . what shall it be   . in short this is a film whose flaws are easy to forgive  
it  s frequently said that movies can never equal the original book . well  in this case  not only the movie is not  as good  as the book  but is an insult to the book . i  d rather see milan kundera  s novel turned on fire than into this  something   which the director probably calls  adaptation .   br    br   all the beautiful philosophy that asks  is it better to carry a heavy load on your shoulders  or cope with the unbearable lightness of being   is put aside  and instead  all the movie deals with is daniel day lewis   i cannot say tomas  sexual adventures with his dumb wife  his mistress  and his other mistresses . franois truffaut already said it bad directors make bad movies . don  t waste your time and money . read the book instead  it  s really worth it .  
things to come is an historic film . along with metropolis        it stands as one of the first great science fiction spectacles . it is also one of the first doomsday movies . it is remarkable how the filmmakers predict the start of the second world war within a year  and even  in a subtle way  the year it would end in the real world . but then the film departs from reality  depicting a world ravaged by war  only substitute poison gas for nuclear weapons which of course did not exist in      .  br    br   the last half hour of the film is an incredible sight  making groundbreaking use of models and matte paintings   later to become staples of the science fiction genre . it is sad that  after things to come  sci  fi would become identified with cheaply made b  movies  a stereotype that wouldn  t be broken until     a space odyssey more than   years later . if they  d stuck with the quality of the effects in this film  things would have been very different in hollywood .  br    br   raymond massey and some of his co  stars play multiple roles in this film  to good effect . massey plays a great  doctor who   like role as a pilot from an advanced  for      civilization who tries to win over the populace of a devastated country ruled by a simple  minded warlord  a very effective performance by ralph richardson  . ultimately  the storyline covers    years . but that  s a big problem with this film   there really isn  t a cohesive storyline .  br    br   perhaps in such an episodic film   somewhat reminiscent of intolerance  actually   it  s hard to have a conventional plot  but i felt more could have been made of the material  and although the visuals in the final third of the picture are indeed stunning and worth the price of admission . . . the plot is nonexistent and the movie itself suddenly ends just as it is getting interesting . maybe the producers were thinking of another future sci  fi innovation a sequel   br    br   things to come is a film every serious sci  fi buff should see at least once . unlike metropolis  however  it might not bear repeated viewings .  
oh  i heard so much good about this movie . went to see it with my best friend  she  s female  i  m male  . now please allow me a divergent opinion from the mainstream . after the first couple of dozen  take off your clothes   we both felt a very strange combination of silliness and boredom . we laughed  at it  not with it   we dozed  and would have been better off staying in bed   we were convinced we had spent money in vain . and we had . the plot was incoherent  and the characters were a group of people about whom it was impossible to care . a waste of money  a waste of celluloid . this movie doesn  t even deserve one out of ten votes  but that  s the lowest available . i  m not sure why this movie has the reputation that it does of being excellent i don  t recommend it to anyone who has even a modicum of taste or intelligence .  
this was the most costly film  when produced . sir alexander korda and h . g . wells were both distressed by its poor ratings    for good reason . it was and remains far ahead of its time . aside from the seemingly poor direction  probably editing  at the very beginning  the work moves along to a stunning conclusion .  br    br   whether its sir ralph richardson  s  boss  role  or even better  his wife  s  sir cedric  s  as adversary to space  faring  raymond massey  s  john cabal  center role    all deliver mind  boggling performances .  br    br   the scene with mr . korda  s incomparable set  of the small girl  child  running out to an absolutely  never  to  be  matched  scene  commenting  life just keeps getting lovelier and lovelier   that swiftly brings tears to any parent  grandparent . this is not a film for the young   unless  experienced  and rather those who have seen  the horror  it opposes .  br    br   sure  the  phony  parachuting   looks hokey    while using a  magnetic  cannon   now termed  mass  driver  may be viewed as ridiculous  vs . rockets    give sir korda a break   mr . wells made that choice . and at      million  this film went way beyond  over  budget     so he concentrated on what he could manage .  br    br   the true power of this greatest of cinema rests in  john cabal  s  final statement of human destiny    his friend  passworthy  doubts the wisdom of space  faring  saying   we  re such little animals .  john cabal  s proper response is   paraphrased   yes  little animals  and if that is all we are  we must live and die as such .  they are standing under a large astronomical telescope . he sweeps his hand over the night sky .  yet we may have all the universe  or nothing .     then the final chorus breaks in     which shall it be      this is not  star wars    blade runner     anything you may consider  great     this is the real thing .  br    br   i remind all of steven hawking  s most recent address  upon his latest  medal of honor      humanity must leave earth  or die .     the very core of this work    i love  standard entertainment     yet this  relic   for the wise viewer  offers far more .  which shall it be   be in the proper  mood     whatever that takes    this will take your breath away    i  guarontee     overall  for humanity  the most significant of cinema .  br    br   since posting  i note many have commented on the poor  media  quality  of  surviving  examples . in the    s i developed a  proprietary   colorization  process which required a  clean  original . this led me to michael korda  who sadly noted all were gone    so we must relish what remains     sad but true    
this is possibly one of the worst movies i have ever seen . i don  t care what the critics say  it  s bad . i think the problem is with kundera  s novel . it  s not that it  s unfilmable it  s just that like    of his work  it  s pretentious and overdrawn . he seems to be enamored with himself  his characters come off as navel  gazing  and his novels as a whole are misogynistic . i have read many of his works  even his socialist realist poetry . that was truly awful    i just don  t understand what the fuss is about . characteristics  like the self  absorption  in his novels make for infuriating reading . in a movie  all the things that i dislike about kundera were magnified . maybe i just missed something  but i don  t think so . on a side note  i cannot believe that this is a criterion collection dvd . no way is this movie that essential .  
this is an amazing movie from     . although the first hour isn  t very interesting  for the modern viewer   the stylish vision of the year     that comes afterwords makes up for it . however  don  t plan on being able to understand all of the dialog  the sound quality and accents  it  s american  but      s  american  make it difficult .  br    br   basically  the story is a sweeping    year look at a fictional us town called  everytown  . it spans from      when a war is on the horizon  to      when technology leaps forward and creates its own problems .  br    br   the first one hour is a bit slow  although it  s tough to tell what audiences back then would have thought . the events  suspense and visuals are pretty low  key in today  s terms . however  when it gets to the future  it  s just plain fun to watch . the large sets and retro sci  fi look of everything is hard to beat .  br    br   unless you have great listening abilities  this movie is hard to listen to . i think i understood only    of the dialog . it could use closed  captioning .  br    br   if you  re a sci  fi fan  this is one of the genre  s classics and is a must see  well  at least after the first hour  . for the average viewer  wait until there  s a closed caption version and then watch it if you  re comfortable with movies of this time period .  
yeah cheap shot i know  but this movie is a great example of how a collection of signifiers of  deepness   political turmoil  love  lust  can be combined haphazardly to great critical acclaim  see also  american beauty   . kaufman  s movie plods along with gratuitous sex scenes interspersed with often painful dialog sequences  in one scene i counted three different  generic european  accents affected by the actors  and displays of state might run amok  yet fails to tie them together into the coherent meditation kundera offered . and in its over  long three hours it manages almost completely to gloss over franz  the missing fourth piece in the love triangle that lies at the heart of the plot  and in this manner sacrifices the novel  s central mechanism of displaying the spectrum of emotions and of power relations that obtain in love affairs . it also fails to even include token screen time for tomas  son  used in the novel to exemplify some of the political points kundera was making in the novel . combined with the overweening soundtrack  these flaws make this movie  s three hours unbearably weighty in tone yet light in content .  
synopsis the future as seen from     england . as war loomed over europe  the salvation of mankind will not be found in the politics of the past . it is up to the brave new world of science to overcome man  s past mistakes .  br    br   concept in relation to the viewer beware your leaders and what you are told . thinking outside the box can lead to a brighter tomorrow . there will always be descent and fear  and learning to overcome it is our only hope .  br    br   pros and cons i had seen this film long ago and recently downloaded it off of the internet  it is in the public domain  . this is a fascinating work on numerous levels . since it is a story about the future as seen from      it has obvious flaws . this vision of the future is both terrifying and whimsical . this film was cutting edge for its day . the special effects are very good as is the story line . the acting suffers a bit in the british theatrical sense  in that it can lean a bit toward shakespeare .  br    br   one of the underlying themes of the film is that science and technology can solve all our problems  which we now know is not always true . the films other plot line is that charismatic leaders are a curse of human existence and will probably always be with us .  br    br   the underpinnings of almost all later science fiction movies can be seen in this film . the set design and wardrobe of  forbidden planet   the failings of technology in       a space odessy   even the lush landscapes  cityscapes of  star wars  owe some amount of inspiration to this film .  br    br   the ending of the film leaves the viewer a bit perplexed . while it is optimistic in its ending sequence of reaching for the stars  we are left to wonder if mankind will ever be able to make it . even as we reach  there are those that are trying to hold us back . this films vision of the future while interesting is also a bit humorous by todays standards . huge flying machines and guns that could shoot people into space never materialized in the real world  but in     they were considered the next logical step .  br    br   many great british actors are in this film as young men . cedric hardwicke and ralph richardson are the most recognized and their oratory skills are evident here . raymond massey is a curious choice to play the lead character  cabel . his character almost comes across as the new christ sent to save the world from its own destruction with the new religion of science .  br    br   this is a good piece of cinema history whose themes are still relevant today even if its vision of the future missed the mark .  
harsh  yes  but i call  em like i see  em .  br    br   i saw this in the late    s  and it was truly one of the most awful  boring films i  ve ever forced myself to watch .  br    br   yes  the cinematography is lovely . the czech settings are truly stunning . the political backdrop is enticing  but unlike similar  historically set  stories  e . g .  dr . zhivago   qv    this one failed to make the politics relevant to the story  or even interesting .  br    br   sure  olin and binoche are beautiful . but this film manages to make even  erotic  scenes plodding and slow . i  m all for romance  but this movie was so boring  i started hoping the russians would shoot them all and put an end to my misery .  br    br   i  m sure if i  d read the book  the story would have made a bit more sense . however  life  s too short to expend any more time on this one .  
this movie is difficult to watch in our fast  paced culture of the   st century  but it is worth it for the messages that it conveys  chiefly the consequences and ramifications of technology upon society  specifically when that technology is used for warfare .  br    br   this movie presents a full circle cycle of dehumanization and rehumanization as influenced by the advent of technology and the subsequent deconstruction of civilization and therefore serves as a cautionary tale against the misuse of technology  but as the circle completes itself  familiar themes and sentiments pop up again to present self  serving rather than self  destructive ways that humanity may utilize technology .  br    br   brilliant for it  s time  the picture and sound quality may pose a challenge for some  but as a landmark in the history  development  and evolution of the sci  fi genre  it is a must . in the end  free will and free choice are once again posed to humanity as a means for controlling our own destiny rather than having it served to us by someone else or indeed  the state of  br    br   society itself  as shaped by world events .  br    br   those who are downtrodden by what life throws their way sometimes tend to remain so  but yet there is always a glimmer of hope and continuity that remains  as this film posits .  br    br   as far as qualifying as sci  fi  one of the biggest common demoninators of that genre is it  s speculative nature . it asks us the questions  what if these events happened this way  and what effect would it have on society or the individuals within it  how would we react   br    br   as far as influence  this film projects those speculative sciences that make sci  fi as unique as it is and keeps us asking those important questions .  
seriously  why do american and frech actors pretending to be czechs need to speak perfect english with a fake russian accent  i am a man  so i enjoyed the gratuitous nudity   but a soft porn flick would have more of that  and at least wouldn  t pretend it  s artistic .  br    br   all the political statements where painfully didactic  has the director heard of subtlety  the acting was also woody and melodramatic  and the comic relief was never funny . the characters were very shallow  and i just couldn  t identify with them at all .  br    br   the bit where i did laugh was when they cut the actors into archival footage of the demonstrations in prague  and they were black and white and then sepia to match the footage  just ludicrous .  br    br   i read many of kundera  s short stories  not the unbearable lightness of being   and there are good things about his style of writing  although his themes are one big male fantasy   and i have to say  the film did not convey any of the goodness of kunderas style .  
with such actors as ralph richardson  raymond massey  cedrick hardwicke  and margaretta scott  how can you go wrong . very unusual scenics  especially the modern ones . the realization of the modern machinery is very effective . here you have ray  gun blasts from building vehicles that help clear the area  so new structures can be made . although she  s much younger in this film  it  s not very hard to figure out who the future mrs . pumphrey from the bbc series  all creatures great and small is going to be  really effective  reappearance  of both raymond massey and ralph richardson . the musical score is by the renowned swiss composer  artur honegger and it is also unusual . for the time       it looks like they used really  large sets or the effects make it seem that way . lastly  it  s a really good story .  
this film is quite boring . there are snippets of naked flesh tossed around in a lame attempt to keep the viewer awake but they don  t succeed .  br    br   the best thing about the movie is lena olin   she does a masterful job handling her character  but day  lewis garbles most of his lines .  br    br   kaufman clearly had no idea how to film this . the incongruities in bouncing between domestic household  marriage issues and political crises are badly matched . character attitudes change without explanation throughout . badly disjointed .  
i have   things to come   on d . v . d . and it  s very clear compared to my vhs version . the audio is fair  but can be hard to understand at times .  br    br   i liked the movie so much that i searched for a copy of the book and found it . it gave details of why some things happened . the best things about the movie are the small things that i didn  t notice at first . such as  john cabal playing with a toy airplane at a christmass party  like it was a dive bomber  out dateing sea power by naming a battleship   dinosuar .  ships sunk by air  power  an undeclared enemy sneak attack by airplanes . swept flying wing planes . strong rolls for the women through the entire movie .  br    br   there are more  see the movie to enjoy them .  
after reading the book  which had a lot of meaning for me  the movie didn  t give me any of the feeling which the book conveyed . this makes me wonder if kaufman even liked this book for he successfully made it into something else . either that or he is simply bad . most importantly where is the lightness   from the very first scene  music drownes out most of the dialogue and feeling  and this continues right through the movie . i think the makers thought that by having upbeat music playing right through the movie  this would make the story feel light  however they have completely failed here . instead the music manages to give everything that  movie feel   in a way dramatising events so that we linger on them  so that everything actually feels heavy .  br    br   another example of the how this adaptation fails is by embellishing the story line making it more dramatic . in the movie we see franz passing tomas on the street  who is on his way to see sabina . the introduction of this chance meeting  passing  which im sure didn  t happen in the book  gives tomas  story more significance than it does make it light .  br    br   there are many other examples where the continuity of the story has been changed  imo for the worst  however this might have been done because the book simply doesn  t convert well into a movie  such is kundera  s style . this makes we wonder if all the generous reviewers on this site were writing with their book and movie experience in mind rather than writing about just the film . a film which is as long as it is uncompelling . for those who haven  t read the book yet i recommend just reading that . for those who have  i have to say you will just be wasting your time and probably end up here writing similar stay  clear warnings .  
h . g . wells story the shape of things to come was made into a movie in     . very well made science fiction tale about a war that lasts for decades . great cast includesraymond massey  arsenic and old lace  sir cedric hardwick  ghost of frankenstein  ralph richardson  time bandits  and margaretta scott . early glimpses of helicopters  holograms  a rocket ship  and futuristic cities . this film was ahead of its time . directed by william cameron menzies  invaders from mars  its very enjoyable much like the earlier movie metropolis       but avoid the so called sequel the shape of things to come  that was made in     . this movie has nothing to do with the original . h . g . wells like jules verne had a vision for the future with his stories . a classic science fiction movie .   out of    
 contains spoilers   br    br   i did not like this movie at all .  br    br   i found it amazingly boring and rather superficially made  irrespective of the importance and depth of the proposed themes given that eventually we have to die  how should we approach life  in a  light  way  like tomas in a  heavy  way like tereza or should we find ways not to face that question  like sabina  how much is fidelity important in a relationship  how much of the professional life can be mutilated for the sake of our loved ones  how much do we have to be involved in the political life and the social issues of our country   br    br   unfortunately  i haven  t read kundera  s novel but after having being let down by the movie i certainly will i want to understand if the story was ruined by the movie adaptation  which is my guess  or if it was dull from the beginning .  br    br   i disagree with most of the positive comments that defined the movie as a masterpiece . i simply don  t see the reasons why . what i see are many flaws  and a sample of them follows .  br    br     the three main characters are thrown at you and it  s very hard to understand what drives them when making their choices .  br    br     the  secondary  characters are there just to fill the gaps but they don  t add nothing to the story and you wonder if they are really necessary .  br    br     i did not like how tomas was impersonated . nothing is good for him . he is so self  centered and selfish . he is not human  in some sense . but when his self  confidence fails and he realizes that he depends on others and is emotionally linked to someone  i did not find the interpretation credible .  br    br     it  s very unlikely that an artist like sabina could afford her lifestyle in a communist country in     . on top of that  the three main characters are all very successful in their respective professions  which sounds strange to me . a  how can tereza become effortlessly such a good photographer  b  how can they do so well in a country lacking all the economic incentives that usually motivate people to succeed   br    br     the fake accents of the english spoken by the actors are laughable . and i am not even mother tongue . moreover  the letter that sabina receives while in the us is written in czech  which i found very inconsistent .  br    br     many comments praised the movie saying that prague was beautifully rendered i guess that most of the movie was shot on location  so it  s not difficult to give the movie a eastern european feeling  and given the intrinsic beauty of prague is not even difficult to make it look good .  br    br     i found the ending sort of trivial . tereza and tomas  finally happy in the countryside  far away from the temptations of the  metropoly   distant from the social struggles their fellow citizens are living  detached from their professional lives  die in a car accident . but they die after having realized that they are happy  indeed . so what  had they died unhappy  would the message of the movie have been different  i don  t think so . i considered it sort of a cheap trick to please the audience .  br    br     the only thing in the movie which is unbearably light is the way the director has portrayed the characters . you see them for almost three hours  but in the end you are left with nothing . you don  t feel empathy  you don  t relate to them  you are left there in your couch watching a sequence of events and scenes that have very little to say .  br    br     i hated the  stop the music in the restaurant  scene  which some comments praised a lot  . why sabina has got such a strong reaction  why franz agrees with her  i really don  t see the point . the only thing you learn is that sabina has got a very bad temper and quite a strong personality . that  s it . what  s so special and unique about it   br    br   after all these negative comments  let me point tout that there are two scenes that i liked a lot  that  s why i gave it a two  .  br    br   the  naked women photoshoot   where the envy  the jealousy  and the insecurities of sabina and tereza are beautifully presented .  br    br   the other scene is the one representing the investigations after the occupation of prague by the russians . tereza pictures  taken to let the world know about what is going on in prague  are used to identify the people taking part to the riots . i found it quite original and tereza  s sense of despair and guilt are nicely portrayed .  br    br   finally  there is a tiny possibility that the movie was intentionally  designed  in such a way that  tomas types  are going to like it and  tereza ones  are going to hate it . if this is the case  i strongly doubt it  though  then my comment should be revised drastically .  
this is probably the best of all of the star wars movies .  br    br   the starting point of the movie was almost like episode iv   spacey cabaret music and thoughts of a cabaret place  where the seriousness of mobster jabba the hutt was getting even more serious . he ordered luke to die in a basement pit by the bone  crushing teeth of bantha  who looked almost like a cross between a bear and a shark . luke  s jedi powers eventually finish the monster off . adding to the sneaky rescue of han solo  who was frozen alive at the end of episode v  jabba was very angry about this that luke was sentenced to die at the sarlacc pit outside .  br    br   but all of the star wars  good guys   especially r   d   had other ideas . . . and those other ideas fended off luke  s execution in the end  most of jabba  s soldiers died and princess leia was able to use the force to fatally choke jabba to death .  br    br   like in episode iv  the death star in episode vi makes its appearance . as i analyzed the rebel fleet attacking the imperial fighters around the death star  the star destroyer personnel  i guessed  sped up the arming of the main laser  using the imperial fighters as a diversion . the      star destroyers that lined up were ready to attack but was called off and instead the laser weapon on the death star was fired in surprise . once it fired  the rebel fleet  s only hope was that the death star  s deflector shield was going to be knocked out  and this affected lando so much because he wanted to destroy the death star but he couldn  t until the shield was taken out . and it was taken out with lando  s increasing impatience .  br    br   like in episode v  the imperial walkers make their menacing appearance with their twin cannons  killing at least one of the ewoks . . . but the ewoks found ancient yet unusual way to deal with them . for instance  chewbacca  as well as another ewok  was able to commandeer one of the walkers  and actually used that to destroy from behind one of the walkers   and the other ewoks used logs to knock out two other walkers .  br    br   it is amazing what luke could do with his jedi powers on his light sabre  like  for instance  the scene on endor where luke deflects incoming laser shots from a storm trooper speeder bike  and using the sabre to knock out part of the bike . or  in a climax  using the sabre to break off his own father  s arm during the final sabre fight with sith vader .  br    br   you probably know the ewoks celebration after the death star was blown  complete with a short display of fireworks  drumming on the spoils of victory  e . g .  storm trooper masks   and luke finally meeting up with leia after luke  s own nemesis    darth vader  now dead  is burned on a pyre . the celebration include ewoks singing but i think lucas did not buy that   even with the strong respect of film composer john williams .  br    br   on the home movie version  i think lucas himself wanted a different ending . in addition to the celebration on endor  he wanted shots of celebratory scenes on the several surviving rebel planets  including a celebratory laser shot that destroys the statue of the sith . the ewoks song was replaced by an alternative instrumental piece . he probably wanted the extra stuff to prove that with the death star  s destruction  balance had been restored to the rebel galaxies .  
if you are one of the people who finds  according to jim  great television comedy  this is going to rock your world . and might i add  kudos for proving that good talent  good writing and a charismatic star are all you really need on any network other than abc  which prefers to air crap like jim belushi  s show year after year .  br    br    k      is a big  steaming  brown  german shepherd  sized  thank you  for all of the geniuses who loved the first movie . it  s exactly what fans of that film and the lesser belushi deserve . jim  s comedic chops and choice in projects are never far behind his ability to butcher a blues standard . look for him to try to showcase all of his diverse lacks of talent into every project he hurls at the public like a surly zoo chimpanzee .  br    br   if you enjoy jim  s work  this movie is your reward .  
amazing effects for a movie of this time . a primer of the uselessness of war and how war becomes a nurturer of itself .  br    br   a wonderful thing about this movie is it is now public domain and available at archive . org . no charge  no sign up necessary . watch it in one sitting and you will be propelled .  br    br   i plan to share this flick with as many people as possible as i had never heard of it before and i am a hard core sci fi fan .  br    br   i would like to see how others react to this movie .  br    br   watch it .  br    br   rate it .  br    br   tell us what you think .  
i think phillip kaufman read the cliff  s notes version of the kundera novel and then set about making this film . okay  of course it won  t have the punch of the original . kundera  s novels are great because of his manipulation of the narrative concept  his ability to step in and out of stories he constructs . this film does not even try  the one dream sequence of tereza  s  so vital to the atmosphere of the book  is reworked and makes no sense whatsoever . also  and this is perhaps a lesser point  daniel day  lewis looks a lot like ben stiller in this  i know it  s not really a valid complaint  but hey  . a perfect example of the hollywood  izing of otherwise fine literature .  
things to come is indeed a classic work of speculative fiction both an essay on the destructive nature of war and the terrors of progress . it makes some surprising accurate depictions of the war that was to follow a few years later  but is woefully naive in it  s utopian ideals .  br    br   raymond massey  cedric hardwicke  and ralph richardson make up a fine cast  although the drama is played more as a stage piece  than a work of cinema . there are grandiose  if somewhat stilted speeches  often delivered as if the actor is trying to reach the back of the theater . however  there are some profound words there . is technology the savior of mankind  or the instrument of its destruction  the film is a visual feast  if one can detach oneself from the age of the effects . sure  hollywood is more sophisticated today  but rarely as inventive . for the imaginative  the third act is a treat a world with underground cities  massive deco bombers  space cannons  gyro copters  and secret organizations of scientist saviors . it has all of the makings of a sci  fi pulp adventure  but instead uses the trappings for a philosophical exercise .  br    br   things to come and metropolis were the hallmarks of neolithic hollywood science fiction cinema . they are operatic in scope  and visually inspiring . technology has long left them behind  but their ideas still burst forth . there is an artistry there  one with more heart and emotion than the computer generated mass  produced cinema of today . these films are the products of artisans  not industrialists .  
another great movie by costa  gavras . it  s a great presentation of the situation is latin america and the us involvement in latin american politics . the facts might or might not be accurate but it is a fact that the us was deeply involved in coups and support of latin american dictatorships .  br    br   despite this though the spirit of the movie follows the typical leftist  communist propaganda of the cold war era . costa  gavras is a well  known communist sympathizer and his movies are always biased . for example he presents the us actions as brutal and inhumane  while representing tupamaros  extremist activities as something positive .  br    br   as it turned out it was a blessing for uruguay and the rest of the latin america that the us got involved . europe is filled with poor east european prostitutes . i never heard of poor uruguayan or chilean girls prostituting themselves en masse as it happens in most east european countries . the us was fighting a dirty war and god bless us all the monster of soviet communism was defeated . it is unfortunate the us had to do what it did in latin america  and elsewhere  but sometimes you need to play dirty . this is not an idealistic world as costa  gavras and matamoros like to believe . had matamoros come to power in uruguay  we would  ve had another ukraine in latin america .  br    br   all in all this movie follows corrupt and bankrupt leftist ideology of times past and tries to pass it as idealistic and morally correct .  
geniuses william cameron menzies and herbert george wells craft this extraordinary anticipation film  with ambition and scope hard to find today . they predict world war ii and the way great britain was attacked  and also the fact that the war would be followed by a space race . they change the timing in the film the war and the space exploration are much longer  but there are so many qualitatively correct things that it  s amazing . we even see an helicopter  the film is older than them  .  br    br   unforgettable giant planes and a futuristic meritocracy of scientists that seem romans with bubble  helmets if you can see through those funny costumes you may appreciate the state of the art architecture by masters from the   s  well  s vision of a rationalistic society  interesting reflections on the nature of power  and john cabal as archetype of the adventurous and inventive human being  the one that chooses to shape reality and not to be shaped by it .  br    br       out of   . inspiring like that final monologue by john cabal .  
hanna  barbera sucks the life out of another famous property . the violence is watered down  the stories are formulaic  the animation is bad  the music is obnoxious and repetitive  and frankly  the show just isn  t funny .  br    br   at the time  h  b put every one of its series through the same clichd situations  regardless if it fit the world of the cartoon or not . thus  popeye and bluto appear in a recurring segment as cavemen   hey  popeye is popular  and the flinstones are popular . put  em together  and you can  t miss    . also  in an apparent ripoff of  private benjamin   olive oyl and the goon have a regular segment that features them as new army recruits . seriously  why   br    br   adding to the annoyance factor are the public service announcements in every episode  standard practice at the time for cartoons  but still annoying  . popeye lectures his nephews on crossing the street safely  recycling  and  are you ready for this   the dangers of smoking   i swear i  m not making that up .   br    br   the only charm remaining from the original cartoons is that jack mercer  the voice of popeye from the early days  continues the role here .  br    br   worth checking out once just to get a new appreciation for the old fleischer shorts . otherwise  avoid at all costs .  
this sci  fi masterpiece has too many flaws after the editors had butchered it after its opening in     . visually it is a wonder to behold  but the script allows too many intellectual speeches about war and progress . this gets very corny when the actors are given to recite a lot of high minded messages at all times . raymond massey and cedric hardwicke  both great actors  come off as quite a pair of fanatics . ralph richardson is very good as the  the boss  a megalomaniac warlord . the prediction of world war ii was very eerie considering that the world was on the brink of the most devastating conflict in human history at the time . i  m sure glad that war didn  t turn out as it did in the movie . there are some visually stunning montage sequences bridging the leaps of time between the movie  s different episodes . although its not as entertaining as i hoped it would be  this movie sticks in your mind long after you  ve seen it .  
popeye and big foot  popeye  s engine company  getting popeye  s goat      br    br   i used to lap these up as a kid but  catching an episode of the series comprising three cartoons back  to  back now i . e . several years later  they preceded the theatrical screening of the pirate yarn raiders of the seven seas         i can see how they don  t hold up all that well  the character of popeye isn  t exactly sympathetic to begin with  olive oyl distinctly overbearing and bluto  s antics failed to elicit much interest either  in short  the scripts were alarmingly thin  fairly awful and generally unfunny to boot . they  re strictly juvenile fare  yet i doubt today  s kids would even have the patience to stick with them   furthermore  the animation style is unattractive .  br    br   taking each short per se  i guess they improved from one to the other after the initial shock  one adapted to its mediocre quality as it were  so that the third cartoon easily results in being the most enjoyable of the lot  popeye is entrusted with a mascot army goat whose immense appetite causes him no end of mischief  hardly original  i know  but always an amusing ploy  . one interesting element here was that the shorts were bookended with popeye delivering moralistic bits of wisdom to the kids in the audience .  
if scientists behaved in a way that h . g . wells was confident they would in the future  history wouldn  t quite have turned out the way it did in things to come . were almost   years past the point that wells wrote the shape of things to come on which this film is based and no closer to the world he describes than before  in some ways farther away .  br    br   though such well known players as raymond massey  ralph richardson  and cedric hardwicke are in the cast  they  re more caricatures than real characters . it  s the main weakness with the film  it  s devoted to wells  s philosophy of science will solve all problems and the rest of us are backward fools .  br    br   massey  s characters  two generations of the same family holds that supremely optimistic view . cedric hardwicke is a skeptic who feels man is rushing too far forward . and ralph richardson is a warlord arisen from the destruction of another thirty years war fought with modern weapons . by the way as the atomic bomb had not been invented  poison gas was deemed to be weapon that almost destroys mankind .  br    br   according to wells  science and conquest can never mix . scientists as a group are far too above the world of politics to engage in such things . in wells  s lifetime scientists certainly fled the rightwing fascistic governments of hitler and mussolini . those same folks however in order to defeat them  subordinated themselves to the allies and fashioned the atomic weapons that ushered in the modern age . if they behaved as wells would have liked them to  someone like albert einstein would have headed a junta of scientists who would have established a new order after world war ii .  br    br   wells got it wrong both in time and in development . he apparently never envisioned the computer as well as atomic power . computer programmers are far more likely to be our rulers in a brave new world than scientists at the moment . still things to come  aided by the direction of william cameron menzies and the sets created offer an interesting glimpse into the mind of h . g . wells  certainly a respected thinker of his time though he didn  t quite get right the shape of things to come .  
 . . . mainly because ju  on  boasts an outrageous forty minutes  worth of material literally taken straight out of the first ju  on  and when you consider that the sequel only runs for   minutes  that leaves you with   original minutes  worth of film . ho  hum . i found that deeply irritating  as if viewers simply wouldn  t remember the same stuff   not to mention dull  having to watch it all over again .  br    br   ok  that complaint aside  the byline for ju  on  was that it was supposed to explain a lot of the unanswered questions from the first movie  which frankly  over   minutes  simply doesn  t go far enough to making any kind of sense of the original  s highly convoluted storyline .  br    br   there are  however  some really nice new horror sequences which show how good the film might have been  had it had some time to develop and some of the questions raised by the original  some  but not all  are answered .  br    br   so in conclusion  if you loved the first original movie and want to see some further developments on the story  go for it  but just remember to keep your remote control to hand with your finger on the fast  forward button for forty minutes .  
the first  parts seek to reduce to absurdity the rise of wasteful wars and rule by nationalist barbarians . the  rd part speculates that progress and exploration toward the moon and beyond is the key to ensuring a meaningful use of human talents and resources . it has speeches that some viewers dismiss as naive or bombastic but that make others tingle with excitement . it depicts a space gun  launcher and a helicopter  along with inventive mass communication devices  elevators  flat screen panels  and wireless intercoms . it  s probably incorrect about windowless buildings in the future . but it portrays a child  like vision of boundless scientific  technological investigation .  br    br   to me  it seems like a movie about a group of rational minded thinkers guided by a spinozean  like morality in their quest to immortalize themselves and live ethically through scientific advancement and a unified world government . the pro  progress characters  such as the two cabals  believe humanity could  live forever  by preserving our experiments and progress for future generations  always standing on our humanity as if on the shoulders of giants .  br    br   arthur c . clarke  author of      a space odyssey  suggested this film to stanley kubrick as an example of an excellent sf movie . kubrick hated it and said he would never watch another movie based on clarke  s suggestions  source clarke  s special millennial introduction to his     novel  . though the late clarke kept suggesting it at the top of his list whenever someone asked him about the best sf movies . it has a beautiful menzies art design  but mediocre special effects  esp . the toy tanks  .  br    br   i personally loved it and think it excellently captures the zeitgeist of modernity . it is a bit naive about the plausibility of creating a society without crime for an extended period of time . it also seems implausible about the inevitability of progress . it seems to me we could just as easily go right back to the dark ages or at least become so stagnant in science that we kill ourselves off through overpopulation or through our inability to escape the next major natural disaster . but it nicely portrays the importance of taking risks against public and nanny outrage for potential threats of space accidents and deaths . it challenges us to choose the side of progress over petty desires for safety or comfort or happiness  br    br   cabal  too much rest and too soon  and we call it death . but for man no rest and no ending . he must go on   conquest beyond conquest . this little planet and its winds and ways  and all the laws of mind and matter that restrain him . then the planets about him  and at last out across immensity to the stars . and when he has conquered all the deeps of space and all the mysteries of time   still he will be beginning .   br    br   cabal  if we are no more than animals   we must snatch at our little scraps of happiness and live and suffer and pass  mattering no more   than all the other animals do   or have done .  he points out at the stars .   it is that   or this  all the universe   or nothingness . . .   quotes from screenplay  .  br    br   if this sounds like a rationalization for devoting all of society to progress  then the council members  of the world government  will seem like technocrats . but actually those  technocrats  allow their citizens to become artisans or pursue other passions freely  and they would have to be suppressed by government bans  laws against science and experiment  and other mandates and restrictive uses of power that would turn their critics into tyrants .  br    br   in fact a huge group of rebels in the plot feel belittled by all the council  s developments of science and technology  so they try to put a stop to progress and an end the council  s freedom to experiment . the progress oriented council will not suppress the free speech of the rebels though  only preparing its  peace gas  in times of emergency and merely wanting the freedom and space to pursue its progress .  br    br   so it  s also a story about the freedom to do science  just as much as it  s about the wonders of progress . many people in our society would actually agree with some of these basic premises  except in cases of social bias  many want to ban cloning  for example  or naturalism  some don  t want us to progress freely  and would rather we just become extinct in due time while enslaved to the earth  or fear  reason  some believe we aren  t ready for advanced science  technology since we might destroy ourselves  . but cabal  the president of the council  has an answer to the problem of danger  our scientific revolution did not abolish death or danger . it simply made death and danger worth while   screenplay  .  
this movie was the most horrible movie watching experience i have ever had to endure  and what is worse is the fact that i had to watch it  and didn  t have the opportunity to stop it because it was for school  admittedly  the storyline was decent . . . but i found the acting terrible  the exception was marianne jean  baptiste  i thought her performance was wonderful . she was the only highlight  without her  i doubt i would have been able to bear watching the film . every time i hear somebody say  daarling  i cringe  i nearly attacked a customer the other day because they said  it  . it made me remember one of the worst one and a half hours of my life   br    br    i apologise if this has offended anybody  i am only expressing my opinion   
h . g . wells in     was past his prime and the books of his that will survive were long gone by . he was coming to the end of his life and he was confronted to his dream gone sour . at the very beginning of the   th century he defended the idea that the world was doomed because the evolution of species  natural biology  on one side  and marxism  market economy on the other side  were necessarily leading to the victory of the weaker over the stronger due to the simple criterion of number . the weaker were the mass of humanity and the stronger were the minority elite . he defended then a strict eugenic policy with the elimination of all those who were in a way or another weakening the human race . first of all the non  caucasian  with the only exception of the jews who would disappear thanks to mixed marriages . then  within the caucasian community all those who were not healthy  the alcoholics  the mentally disabled  all those who were genetically disabled  etc . that was not hitler . that was h . g . wells and that was not after the first world war . that was more than ten years before . and twenty years before the first world war he had published the time machine that defended the idea that the human  race   left to its own means and due to the vaster cosmological evolution of life on earth  would see the differentiation of the human  race  into two  species   the working class would become a subterranean laborious species and the bourgeoisie would become an idle surface species . the point was in the novel that the surface sophisticated and weak idle species was the prey of the other species who were the predators . wells was convinced humanity was in danger and politicians were supposed to stop this evolution by imposing a strict eugenic policy . the first countries to follow this injunction were the scandinavian countries who were also the last to drop it only very recently for some of them . the film here proposes a vision of     with a world government that is absolutely dictatorial in the fact that there is no election  no parliament  no really democratic institution  only peace imposed by military conquest  and the government is dominated by one man or at the most one man and his few councilors . and in that future world all  absolutely all human beings are caucasians . wells was able to imagine humanity being completely white by     . amazing . wells envisaged some kind of a rebellion but that would be short lived and lead to nothing at all . the last sentences are the vision of this white civilization conquering the whole universe when contemplating the sky and its stars and planets . frightening . and that was produced in     . all the more frightening since nowhere the slightest mention of hitlerism  fascism  japanese imperialism or stalinism can be found . but it is essential to have that film in a good restored edition because it is crucial to have a full vision of h . g . wells . we are obviously very far away from the brave new world of absolute  democratic  social selection  or the animal farm of the dictatorship of the porcine proletariat  or the     of the abstract mediatic dictatorship of big brother . this vision is at least just as much frightening as the three others . and i only want to compare wells with the british science fiction writers of his days . it would be unfair to go beyond . this reveals that in england in these first three decades of the   th century there was a tremendous fear among intellectuals the fear that the future would only be somber  bleak and in the form of an impasse of some kind .  br    br   dr jacques coulardeau  university paris dauphine  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  university versailles saint quentin en yvelines  
i have seen a lot of movies . . . this is the first one i ever walked out of the theater on . don  t even bother renting it . this is about as boring a soap opera as one can see . . . at least you don  t have to pay to watch a soap opera  though .  
i first saw this film   years ago on n . y . television  and thought it was a depressing look at the future . wells sees restriction of private freedoms as a good thing .   no private airplanes  . the   year plus war in the film was the reason this film was not shown to british film goers doing the war . the concept of the future  and the korda an co . concept of the the machines of the future are the real stars of the film . the very best acting performance is that of ralph richardson as the boss . a combination of winston churchill and edina from absolutely fabulous comedy series . it is interesting to note that the boss  s negative personality is somewhat similar to the war time churchill .  
  horrible people  ought to be the subtitle of this horrible film . if you want to see ordinary people doing ordinary things  then look out of your window at real life . but if you want to see unpleasant people doing dull things  you  ll have to watch this horrible film by mike leigh . the characters talk at length  but never actually manage to communicate with each other . why not  presumably because leigh things that all of us are as ineffective and pathetic as his actors  and he wants to film real life . but we  re not  and he failed .  
saw it first in     on some german tv channel and was hooked immediately  afterwards i saw this movie around   times in cinemas and nowadays i have a videotape which i watch at least once a year  this movie is excellent in every aspect  direction  acting  cut  musical score . . .  . the sets are outstanding and very impressive  the idea of a devastating world war starting in the late thirties seems like prophecy for a     film  the dictator of  everytown  is pure mussolini and raymond massey is just charming  believable and ideally cast as  the hero  . the positive tone towards technology and progress is quite refreshing by todays usually pessimistic standards  especially the finishing scene which always brings a tear or two to my eyes  even after watching the film so many times .  br    br   this movie is good on tv but it was made for the big screen  so if you have an opportunity to see it in some cinema . please do  it  s overwhelming .  
well  eyeboy  i must say that it pleases me to no end when someone singles me out and tries to make fun of me  especially when it is someone who seems as intelligent as you do . my favorite part of your post was  but no big bang  bang good  guy bad  guy here  kimosabe . me suggest you stick to movie with lotsa bang bang .   br    br   well said  i do like action movies  especially if they are well done  but i also like movies that don  t have a whole lot of action  as long as they are well done . i  m sorry  but secret  s and lies does not fit into that category and is simply a very bad movie . i really don  t see very many non  american films  so maybe i was spoiled  and didn  t realize how bad foreign films really were when i saw secrets and lies . perhaps if i judge foreign movies by a different standard i could some day see how secrets and lies could possibly be one of the highest rated movies on the imdb . hmm . . . if true  that is very scary .  br    br   jeremy barger bitsmidohio . net  new e  mail   
i think the opening   minutes of this film is perhaps one of the most exciting filmed  with the brilliant music score working to build tension to a shattering climax . what cinema goers made of this in the   s  i can only imagine . the  times  said at the time   a miracle has come to the screen .  watch it and marvel .  
first of all there wasn  t really anything in this movie that grabbed me really . it wasn  t a bad movie  just another movie where i said  well  that wasn  t anything special  after i  d seen it . there was probably drama and stuff  but it simply didn  t grab me  but more seamed semi  dull . as i said in the headline it seamed very cheap in a way . the quality of the film itself  the images  seamed like a low quality and reminded me more of some cheap made for tv  movie than a well respected english film  maker . the camera angles and shots were very amateur like in my opinion . didn  t really have any close up shots or similar effects to produce interesting scenes . i haven  t seen many english films and the ones i  ve seen didn  t really impress me more than this and they seamed kind of similar done with the camera work  colors and such .  game  tried to be more cool  hip  smart  see my review of  lola rennt  about this if you wish   but didn  t succeed for me either . overall just a little indifferent movie that wasn  t anything special  at best  i  m afraid  and basically unfortunately over two hours wasted .  
when i think of return of the jedi i think epic . yeah ewoks were in there so what  they  re an interesting add to the movie  not to mention they are similar to the vietcong who were also able to take down a technologically advanced army with primitive acts  . jedi is definitely more darker then the rest of the movies . emperor palpatine  portrayed by the amazing theater actor ian mcdiarmid  was one the best parts of the movie . palpatine is so evil and vicious  vader looks like mr . rogers compared to him . speaking of darth vader  what an amazing end to such an iconic character . vader is truly a modern day greek tragedy and i think people can now especially understand and appreciate this after revenge of the sith came out . his redemption at the end was moving and really brings a happy yet bittersweet feeling to you . the best part was of course the special effects . it  s amazing how a film from the early eighties can still stand the test of time with it  s graphics . the scenes at jabba  s palace  leia looks amazing in that metal bikini  and of course the epic three way battle at the end are still stunning to look at . in all jedi  s deep plot and emotional moments  primarily between luke vader and palpatine and when luke reveals the truth to leia  and incredible special effects is a fitting end to one of the most beloved franchises in cinema history .  
the original was a good movie . i bought it on tape and have watched it several times . and though i know that sequels are not usually as good as the original i certainly wasn  t expecting such a bomb . the romance was flat  the sight gags old  the spoken humor just wasn  t . this may not have been the worst movie i  ve ever seen but it comes close .  
things to come is an early sci  fi film that shows an imagined world  or  everytown  through    years . you can break it up into about  different scenes or parts . the film spans from     to     and is mainly about how this ruler or the  boss  wanted to get the capability to fly in airplanes again  after everytown was bombed and war broke out .  br    br   this film only has about  faults it  s audio is muddy and video had some quirks  the characters aren  t deep at all  and the overall plot isn  t altogether solid . the plot is lacking something that i can  t put my finger on . . . it just seems a little  fluffy .  but if you love sci  fi and are interested in what h . g . wells though might happened in the next hundred years  this is a must see . it  s worth seeing just to learn of what everyone was fearing a long  drawn  out war  because they were just about to go to war with germany  and there was a threat of biological weapons and everything .  br    br   things to come is a pretty good movie that most people need to see once .  
at least among those movies with    votes or more . nominated for best screenplay written directly for the screen  brenda blethyn nominated for best actress in a leading role   nominated for best picture   i always disagree with many of the oscar picks  but this movie might very well be the worst movie of all time to be honored by the academy . the writing and acting were both horrible . blethyn  s perfomance in particular was one of the worst i  ve ever seen  and probably the most over  rated acting performance of all time . awful movie  not worthy of the big screen and not worthy of any cable or television channel that has ever played it  including hbo  where i saw it  . i am only thankful i didn  t actually pay to see one of the most over  rated movies of all time .  
the message of a world on the brink of war is disregarded by the masses the mythical city of everytown in     represents england in general  but it could just as well stand for any nation of the world . when war finally does arrive  it  s ravages continue not for another five years  but until     at which time everytown is completely destroyed . adding to the desolation and toll on humanity is the  wandering sickness   a pestilence that continues for another four years .  br    br    things to come  balances both a fatalistic and futuristic world view  where science holds out a hope for a revived civilization . the  wings over the world  concept plays out a bit corny  though it  s spokesman cabal  raymond massey  is unwavering in his mission and dedicated to his cause . if he fails  others will follow . this message is continually reinforced throughout the film  brought home convincingly in massey  s end of movie speech . man  s insatiable need to test the limits of knowledge and achievement requires an  all the universe or nothing  mindset .  br    br   the film  s imagery of automation and machinery in the second half is reminiscent of the great silent film  metropolis  . as everytown is rebuilt and transformed by the year      the spectacle of the city  s rebirth strikes a resonant chord  as architecture of modern cities of today suggest the movie  s eerily prophetic vision is coming to fruition . where the movie gets it wrong by sixty seven years though is man  s first mission to the moon  but in      a hundred year timetable probably seemed more legitimate than     .  br    br    things to come  is one of those rarities in film  a picture that makes you think . which side will you come down on  the forces for advancement in the face of uncertainty or maintain the status quo  it  s not a comfortable question  as both choices offer inherent dangers and unknowable outcomes . those who choose to be bystanders risk being swept away by forces beyond their control .  
time is precious . this film isn  t . i must learn to ignore critics who rave about small films like fargo and this complete waste of time .  br    br   the theater was packed and everyone left with the same reaction is this the film the critics are raving about  what a piece of crap   br    br   the hook of this film is the upwardly mobile black daughter seeking out and finding her white trash family . get it   br    br   the acting is superb .  br    br   the production  lighting  sets  editing  sound  is about  steps above a   minutes story . the characters are shallow and unintelligent . i was insulted by the fact that these people could not figure out about each other what was blatantly obvious to the audience the audience was murmuring to the movie screen what the characters should say next .  br    br   i have had more fun doing the laundry .  
i never saw this movie until i bought the tape last year . i was enthralled and entertained . it has all the elements of what i love to see in a sci  fi story  in a book or on the screen . there  s social commentary  speculation  and a good story .  br    br   there  s something eerie  and amusing  watching a     view of the  distant future  of the   s and   s .  br    br   i think it  s a must see  and not only for sci  fiers .  
painful to watch  and not entirely for empathy with the struggles of the characters . two of the main characters  cynthia the mother and monica the acknowledged daughter  spend the great bulk of the film pathetically mewling and bitterly bitching respectively . their characters are so firmly established that their redemption into tolerable personalities after a quick family catharsis is unbelievable . it wasn  t worth the wait . i wish a worthy pitch for honesty among families was less of a headache to view .  
  things to come  movie review by kwrice  br    br   here is another wonder filled science fiction film from a different time and place . it is a film i  ve only seen in truncated parts  but art should be taken as a whole . i experienced this film as it was designed  in a darkened theatre  on a silver screen  with whirling reels of film and an audience to share it with . that audience and myself were effected by this film  one woman who lived through ww ii was choked up by the remembered ravages of war and replenished by the positive  albeit corny  ending .  br    br   the things that caught my attention from the beginning were the initial credits . the first thing we see is  h . g . wells  in bold angular block copy much like the  superman  of yore . it is not the film title  but the creator  s title  and then before any other humans  such as actors or production  are listed  the director william cameron menzies is up there  who  you  ve probably seen his work before   around the world in   days    pride of the yankees   and  gone with the wind .  he did not direct after this sci  fi epic opera he and mr . wells created  but his film imagery  sets  and design are very recognizable .  br    br   that imagery is very effecting . i recognized images from many other films  that have paid homage to this classic . the recent  hitchhiker  s guide to the galaxy  is obvious  along with bugs bunny   fantasia    monty python and the holy grail    sky captain  the world of tomorrow    night of the living dead  and more that i know of  but which titles escape me . this is real special effects here  scenes now done with cgi are done with actors  big sets  and detailed models . this film was made in      and it  s obvious it meant something to the other auteurs . wells and menzies also worked with bliss  doing the music  and korda  the producer  to create a masterpiece with message  warning  and sermon .  br    br   the lines the shakespearean actors cedric hardwicke  ralph richardson and raymond massey speak  sometimes sound preachy  but i also heard lines i still hear now .  these toys children have nowadays are nothing like i had when i was child    it  ll help develop their coordination    what do we need books for  what do we need to read for     we don  t need cars  there  s nowhere to go  we have all we need right here    there will be no war .  but war there is  the naive citizens of  everytown  refuse to see the literal writing on the wall . the never  ending war explodes christmas eve . the little boy wanting to be a good soldier like his daddy is an image that will likely always stay with me . this is the world of     that wore blinders to hitler  s appeasement . this war does not end . the poison gas of the aerial wars segues into the second act .  br    br   it is another dark age . no government  no services  and people carried along and cheering the war that no one remembers anything about . plague  warlords and bullying to get the planes flying for fuel that no longer exists . loved ones are shot in the street  before they can carry the plague to another . midway there is a marvelous vignette about the rolls royce  that is a much needed respite mid  way . into this lands a futuristic plane that heralds the future .  br    br   that future is the third act . the world has rebuilt itself with the help of that  puny animal  man .  helicopters fly in this film  before they were even invented . the plumber  s helper has other uses than the dalek  s or glenn miller  s . wide screen plasma screens beguiling the masses  and orators inciting the people to tear it all down .  beware the concussion  you have been warned    the city father warns the riotous populace . so be warned  this film might hit you like it hit me . there are some cute miscues and miscalculations  but the thought provoking idealism is what is really worth pondering again  and i do want to see this artful film again . others criticize mr . wells vision . it is very easy to work with      hindsight regarding things  costumes and foley miscues . i believe mr . wells   things to come  is not about things  but is actually about concepts  social trends  and philosophical ideals . besides  we are now just beginning the new millennium and are not in the time still to come . this is not cheap cardboard british science fiction  but worthwhile epic filmed opera  sans singing  that as a whole concept overcomes some minor dated shortcomings .  
  spoilers  wow  this is a bad one . i did a double take when watching an old star trek episode the other day  it was the one where everyone gets infected with that space sickness and then go a bit nuts  and there was stewart moss  a . k . a the unlikable  hero  of it lives by night  he played the first crewmember infected  who dies from terminal depression . all i could think was that he  d watched his own movie too many times  that  s what caused the depression . this movie is full of truly unlikable people . there is no redeeming character in the film  not one . it  s very hard to feel bad about dr . beck  s turning into a bat  or whatever he actually turned into   because you just don  t like him . and you don  t like his shrill  bony wife  or the nasty sleazy sgt . ward  or dr . mustache love . . . so why would you invest any time or energy in this movie  where there is no empathy with the characters  there is no reason to bother caring about it . not to mention the horrible cinematography  which made it look like they  d filmed the movie through urine  and the five cent bat special effects  many of which appeared to be pieces of paper thrown into a fan to simulate hordes of bats flying . not the worst film i  ve ever seen on mst  k  but down there in the bottom ranks  definitely .  
aside from the great movie metropolis  this is about the oldest pure sci  fi movie . while at times the film is a bit preachy and the acting can be a bit broad  it is a great film for two reasons . first  it is extremely original in both style and content . even in the   st century  there are no films i can think of that are anything like it . second  for its time  the special effects were absolutely incredible   using matte paintings  models and huge casts to create amazing scenes of both a post  apocalyptic world and a vast city of tomorrow . sure  you could sit back and knock the film because  by today  s standards  the effects are only so  so . but  you must appreciate that this was state of the art when the film came out in     and it must have really amazed audiences . in many ways  the sets look highly reminiscent of the  modern cities  featured at the     world  s fair .  br    br   i think the movie is also interesting because it seems torn by the question  are people really that stupid or are we destined for greatness   the end result seems to be a little of both  how true   br    br   a final note i saw this twice on tv and just a short time ago on video . all three times the sound and print quality stank   particularly the sound . if this is available on a dvd  hopefully it is a lot cleaner and will provide optional captioning . as the sound on the video kept cutting out  i really would have appreciated this   
the movie that shoots scenes of a scenic caverns tour .  br    br   remember no one from this movie except for michael pataki who dished out extreme pain as jc in  five the hard way  . he  s the really annoying sheriff who i did applaud when he practices nightstick on our rabid doctor . probably the most laughs you will have is with dr . beck  s epileptic seizures out of nowhere . could mrs . beck be anymore wooden  seriously  if you took a  foot branch  stuck it in a hot tub  you wouldn  t be able to notice a difference . the dread and suspense is looking over at the clock wondering when the credits will roll .  br    br   watch it as a late night movie  mstified  but don  t go out of your way .  
things to come is that rarity of rarities  a film about ideas . many films present a vision of the future  but few attempt to show us how that future came about . the first part of the film  when war comes to everytown  is short but powerful .  ironically  film audiences in its release year laughed at reports that enemy planes were attacking england   appeasement was at its height . wells  prediction was borne out all too soon .  the montage of endless war that follows  while marred by sub  par model work  is most effective . the explanatory titles are strongly reminiscent of german expressionist graphic design . the art director was the great william cameron menzies  and his sets of the ruins of everytown are among his best work . margaretta scott is very seductive as the chief  s mistress . the everytown of the   st century is an equally striking design . the acting in the   st century story is not compelling   perhaps this was a misfired attempt to contrast the technocratic rationality of this time with the barbarism of     . unfortunately  the model work  representing angry crowds rushing down elevated walkways  is laughably bad and could have been done much better  even with   s technology . this is particularly galling since the scenes of the giant aircraft are very convincing . this is redeemed by raymond massey  s magnificent speech that concludes the film   rarely has the ideal of scientific progress been expressed so well . massey  s final question is more relevant now than ever  in an era of severely curtailed manned spaceflight . the scene is aided by the stirring music of sir arthur bliss  whose last name i proudly share .  br    br   unfortunately  the vhs versions of this film are absolutely horrible  with serious technical problems . most versions have edited out a rather interesting montage of futuristic workers and machines that takes us from     to     . i hope a good dvd exists of the entire film .  
  the bat people  is a really bad film that deserved the mst  k treatment just as well like that other film  the creeping terror .   br    br   in it  we are in some sort of mountainous terrain full of bats . we see many things happen  like bats flying out and attacking and stuff  station wagon chases  mishaps at the emergency room  and much more  all this  plus the cheesy mediocrity of the     s  hey  think  mitchell  here    making  the bat people  actually one of the very best of the last  mystery science theater      episodes made in the series  moviewise  it  s awful . it should be avoided like the plague  unless tom servo and crow are watching with you .  br    br    the bat people   more like  the bad people       lol  br    br       of course       
i must admit a slight disappointment with this film i had read a lot about how spectacular it was  yet the actual futuristic sequences  the age of science  take up a very small amount of the film . the sets and are excellent when we get to them  and there are some startling images  but this final sequence is lacking in too many other regards . . .  br    br   much the best drama of the piece is in the mid  section  and then it plays as melodrama  arising from the  high concept  science  fiction nature of it all  and insufficiently robust dialogue . there is far more human life in this part though  with the great ralph richardson sailing gloriously over  the  top as the small dictator  the  boss  of the everytown . i loved richardson  s mannerisms and curt delivery of lines  dismissing the presence and ideas of raymond massey  s aloof  confident visitor . this boss is a posturing  convincingly deluded figure  unable to realise the small  fry nature of his kingdom . . . it  s not a great role  yet richardson makes a lot of it .  br    br   everytown itself is presumably meant to be england  or at least an english town fairly representative of england . interesting was the complete avoidance of any religious side to things the  things to come  seem to revolve around a conflict between warlike barbarism and a a faith in science that seems to have little ultimate goal  but to just go on and on . there is a belated attempt to raise some arguments and tensions in the last section  concerning more personal  life   yet one is left quite unsatisfied . the film hasn  t got much interest in subtle complexities it goes for barnstorming spectacle and unsubtle  blunt moralism  every time . and  of course  recall the hedged  bet finale raymond massey waxing lyrical about how uncertain things are   br    br   concerning the question of the film being a prediction i must say it  s not at all bad as such  considering that one obviously allows that it is impossible to gets the details of life anything like right . the grander conceptions have something to them a war in      well that was perhaps predictable . . . lasting nearly   years  mind   a nuclear bomb  the  super gun  or some such contraption  in     . . . a technocratic socialist  we don  t believe in independent nation states   type government  in britain  after     . . . hmmm  sadly nowhere near on that one  chaps     no real politics are gone into here which is a shame all that surfaces is a very laudable anti  war sentiment . generally  it is assumed that dictatorship  whether boneheaded  luddite  fascist  as under the boss  or all  hands  to  the  pump scientific socialism  will be the deal  and these implications are not broached . . . while we must remember that in      there was no knowledge at all of how nazism and communism would turn out  or even how they were turning out  the lack of consideration of this seems meek beside the scope of the filmmakers  vision on other matters .  br    br   much of the earlier stuff should  and could  have been cut in my opinion only the briefest stuff from       would have been necessary  yet this segment tends to get rather ponderous  and it is ages before we get to the richardson  massey parts . i would have liked to have seen more done with margareta scott who is just a trifle sceptical  cutting a flashing  eyed mediterranean figure to negligible purpose . the character is not explored  or frankly explained or exploited  except for one scene which i shall not spoil  and her relationship with the boss isn  t explored but then this was the     s  and there was such a thing as widespread institutional censorship back then . edward chapman is mildly amusing in his two roles more so in the first as a hapless chap  praying for war  only to be bluntly put down by another massey character . massey himself helps things a lot  playing his parts with a mixture of restraint and sombre gusto  contrasting well with a largely diffident cast  save for richardson  and scott and chapman  slightly .  br    br   i would say that  things to come  is undoubtedly a very extraordinary film to have been made in britain in      one of the few serious british science fiction films to date  indeed  its set  piece  design and harnessing of resources are ravenous  marvellous .  br    br   yet  the script is ultimately over  earnest and  at times  all over the place . the direction is prone to a flatness  though it does step up a scenic gear or two upon occasion . the cinematographer and mr richardson really do salvage things however respectively creating an awed sense of wonder at technology  and an engaging  jerky performance that consistently beguiles . such a shame there is so little substance or real filmic conception to the whole thing powell and pressburger would have been the perfect directors to take on such a task as this  they are without peer among british directors as daring visual storytellers  great helmsmen of characters and dealers in dialogue of the first rate .  br    br    things to come   as it stands  is an intriguing oddity  well worth perusing  yet far short of a  metropolis  . . .  tis much as  silly   in wells  words  as that lang film  yet with nothing like the astonishing force of it .  
i didn  t think this was as absolutely horrible as some people apparently do . it passes as one of those cheesy horror movies you might waste time with in the middle of the night when you can  t sleep  although admittedly it  s no better quality than that . it  s true that the acting isn  t great  i thought marianne mcandrew as cathy beck  for example  came across as completely passionless  but the main problem is that several aspects of the plot didn  t really make sense to me . the becks are on a trip described by john  stewart moss  as part work and partly the honeymoon they never had  now that  s romantic   the work part has something to do with touring caves  which in itself sounds strange  how does being part of a tour group through a cave relate to anyone  s work   but it gets stranger when we find out that he  s a doctor doing research in the area of preventative medicine  huh  that connection completely lost me .  bitten by a bat while he  s in the cave  he begins to transform into what i guess was supposed to be a human  bat hybrid  although when we finally see him in makeup he looks a lot more like an ape  man of some sort  and a killing spree starts . here  s another problem . the first killing is a nurse in a hospital . at first  everyone thinks her death was an accident . the second murder is of a young girl  who is described as having her throat ripped out . the sheriff  michael pataki  then tells us that her death was similar to the nurse  s  meaning throat ripped out   how could anyone think that was an accident   and what  s with the sheriff  he seems pretty no  nonsense until the scene in cathy  s hotel room when he takes a swig of liquor and then almost rapes her  after which everything seems to go back to normal . it  s saddled with an ending that left almost everything unresolved  and also with one of the most irritating theme songs i  ve ever heard in a movie . even for all that  there was something here that kept me watching . sometimes pure cheesiness can get you through an hour and a half . pretty bad  yeah  but not as awful as some people say .  
while a bit preachy on the topic of progress as the saving grace of mankind  this is still a stunning film that presages the science  fiction special effects blockbusters that would take another   years to arrive on the silver screen . it predicts the global chaos of wwii  but expands on the premise by having the conflict last   years  and then tells the epic tale of man  s struggle out from under the rubble and into the wilds of space . the acting seems wooden and strangely sterile  but this is perhaps a result of its contrast with the visuals which must have been utterly breathtaking at the time of the movie  s release  and which still impress today . this is a film not to be missed by anyone at all interested in the sf genre .  
currently  this film is listed on imdb as the   nd worst film ever made   which is exactly why i rented it from netflix . however  i am saddened to report that the film  while bad  is no where near bad enough to merit being in the bottom    films ever made list . i have personally seen at least    films worse than this one . hardly a glowing endorsement  but it just didn  t meet the expected level of awfulness to be included on this infamous list .  br    br   the film begin with stewart moss and marianne mcandrew on their belated honeymoon  by the way  they are married in real life as well  . he  s a doctor who is obsessed with bats and insists they go to a nearby cave . once there  they behave very  very  very stupidly  hallmark of a bad film  and are soon bitten by a bat . according to this film  bats love to attack people and there are vampire bats in the us   both of which are not true at all .  br    br   oddly  after being bitten  the man doesn  t even bother going to the hospital   the first thing on anyone  s mind  especially a doctor  is to get medical help immediately  but not this boob . soon  he  s having seizures   yet he still isn  t interested in seeking help  again and again you keep thinking that this must be the stupidest couple in film history    br    br   after a while  he eventually goes to see a doctor and is sent to the hospital . but  by then it  s too late and his attacks become more violent and he begins killing people to suck their blood . when it  s totally obvious to everyone that the man is a crazed killing machine  the wife  who  like her husband  has a grapefruit for a brain  refuses to believe he  s dangerous   even after he attacks people  steals an ambulance and runs a police car off the road    br    br   now most of the time moss is going through these episodes  his eyes roll back and he looks like a normal person . oddly  however  a couple times he develops bat  like hands and towards the end they used some nice prosthetics on him to make him look quite bat  like . had this been really cheesy  the film would have merited a  .  br    br   in the very end  in a twist that hardly made any sense at all  the wife inexplicably turned into a crazed bat lady and had a swarm of bats kill the evil sheriff . how all this was arranged was a mystery as was moss  and mcandrew  s belief that this film would somehow help their careers   though they both have had reasonably long careers on tv playing bit roles since     .  br    br   overall  very dumb . the plot is silly and makes no sense and strongly relies on people acting way too dumb to be real . not a good film at all  but not among the worst films of all time either .  br    br   note for some reason  imdb shows the graphic for the three dvd set for it  s alive and it  s two sequels of the web page for the bat people . while the bat people has been seen with the title  it  s alive   the two movies are not at all related . it  s easy to understand the mistake   especially since they both came out in      but the movie i just reviewed starred stewart moss and marianne mcandrew and the other film starred john ryan and sharon farrell .  
i first saw this as a child living in east london . the scars of hitlers luftwaffe were all too evident and the landscape of the movie was reminiscent of our street . i remember having nightmares after seeing it . the odd thing is  it really hasn  t dated if viewed as a piece of social history in cinema fiction .  br    br   apart from a globally destructive war  the scale of the machines was badly awry  more nano  technology now  but overall  an excellent and well  crafted work . it was interesting to see how space travel was perceived back then . i would think that firing a spacecraft from a gigantic gun would almost certainly kill the astronauts . however  much was right . mans desire for war  mans inhumanity to man . the means of war as a catalyst for development .  br    br    
ok  don  t let my summary fool you . this movie sucks hard . but the worst movie ever  this movie was terrible in ways people shouldn  t have to rack their brains to describe . but it is in no way worse than manos the hands of fate  hobgobblins  horrors of spider island  or a small handful of movies . as a review the movie sucks  it  s terrible . don  t see it with out mst or you may develop health problems . but there are worse movies .  
this early sci  fi masterwork by herbert george wells with music by arthur bliss is a powerful piece of film  making . adapted from wells  somewhat different work by the author  it presents a look at the human future with the subject of periods of war as versus periods of  peace  . the structure is that after a contrasted  pair of episodes of normalcy and gathering clouds of war  the script allows the war to happen . two families  the cabells and the passworthys disagree about what may happen passworthy takes a hopeful view of civilization  s  automatic  progress cabell is the thinker  the doubter . their city everytown   obviously london   becomes wrecked by a war featuring tanks  a magnificent war march by bliss  and the end of civilization . the second portion finds people living in the wreckage of what had been the city under a  boss   played with bravura by ralph richardson  whose woman  lovely margaretta scott  is as fascinating a dreamer as he is a concrete  bound dictator type . he is trying to rebuild old wwi airplanes so he can attack a nearby hill tribe to complete his petty kingdom a young scientist complains about having his work continually interrupted demands for planes   etc .   everlastingly this is wells  comment on war versus progress . the survivors are subject to a plague called  the wandering sickness  also . enter a modern flying machine piloted by the cabell of the first section of the film  now part of wings over the world  an international scientists  coalition  who are planning to end warfare forever . this flight  suited modernist has fascinating conversations with the boss and his woman  their attraction being evident then boss sends up his aircraft against them  the scientists come with huge numbers of planes and drop the  gas of peace  onto the ruins of everytown . only the boss dies  fighting too hard against the pacifying . the film then shows ore being mined and by slow steps being made into the girders of a magnificent new futuristic city of towers . in section three  a future cabell argues with a future passworthy over the morality of human science . passworthy wonders if they have a right to send men to the moon cabell champions man  s right to advancement and the need to expand his horizons . the son of passworthy and cabell  s daughter  are the astronauts being sent . theotocopulos  a religious  minded luddite  makes a fiery speech on a huge screen in the city  s forum and leads an attack on the  space gun  that is to fire the new rocket free of earth  s gravity . the climax of the plot is the firing of the space gun successfully the denouement and ending is a speech by cabell praising worth and science that is universally considered to be the most profound defense of the mind ever penned .  it is all the universe   or nothing   cabell tells passworthy .  which shall it be   as cabell  raymond massey gives perhaps his greatest screen performance he is thoughtful  compassionate  and reasonable  a true scientist . as the rabble  rouser who wants to end the age of science  cedric hardwicke is perfect and powerful . edward chapman playing passworthy does admirably impersonating the voice of convention and fear . the storyline is logical  frequently beautiful and always interesting . given the near  extinction of mankind  the idea of a civilization run by rebuilder scientists is rendered plausible and credible to the viewer . this is a triumph for the director  william cameron menzies  for bliss and for all concerned . listen to the dialogue with someone you love within its constructed limits  this is a thinking man  s drama debating two possible human futures   progress or its reactionary opposite .  
i dunno sometimes . . . you try and try and try to be charitable towards all the b thru z grade movies out there  but once in a while a particular movie just tests your patience until you want to slap everyone involved .  bat people   which i saw under the title  it lives by night   is just such a movie . you can  t watch this without thinking that it really should have been an episode on  night gallery   and not one of the better ones  either .  br    br   the movie has something to do with a doctor who gets bitten by a bat and consequently starts to morph into a were  bat who drinks human blood .  actually  you  d think if he was turning into a real bat  he  d be eating mosquitoes by the gallon bucket  but because this is a cheap  lurid horror movie  blood  s the word .  in spite of the fact that he has grand  mal seizures at the drop of a hat  and black  out episodes almost every night  his friend and fellow physician  dr . mustache aspen  extreme  insists that he  s just having an  allergic reaction  to the rabies shots . meanwhile  the world  s most obnoxious and stereotyped county sheriff suspects the doc of being responsible for the brutal murder and exsanguination of several local girls  and one wino  . also meanwhile  the doctor  s wife decides that denial is a river in egypt and alternately patronizes him and nags him to distraction .  br    br   it  s not so much that the acting is bad  you can tell that the actors are making professional level choices  and are trying to bring some juice and life to the script  even the guy who plays the sheriff .  okay  it is pretty bad  but it  s bad in a clichd  wooden  professional way  . it  s just that everything about the acting  the way the scenes are paced  the costumes  the dialog  the script and the story line in general sets your teeth on edge and makes you want to  well  slap everyone involved .  br    br   i think the movie had an outside chance at being a spooky  unsettling little cult favorite  but  br    br     the director needed to beat michael pataki  an experienced character actor  with a chair until pataki agreed to act  and not just channel dennis weaver .  br    br     he also needed to find a script that made a little more sense with regard to the whole  bat bites human  who then turns into a bat  scenario .  br    br     he also needed the actor who played the doctor to find a little more physically believable bit of stage business for his  episodes   instead of resorting to  man has a seizure  page from the little golden book of clichd acting mannerisms .  br    br     he needed to rework the whole  wife  character  make her both more intelligent  less shrill and waaaaay more observant .  br    br   i would never voluntarily watch this film again  except with the help of mike and the bots . it  s bad  but it isn  t bad in a silly  humorous or interesting way . still better than  battlefield earth  or  waterworld   though .  
i was but a babe in arms when george lucas was wowing the world with his out of this world saga chronicling the adventures of young luke skywalker and the notorious darth vadar but even today   years on i can appreciate the genius that is lucas and the incredible imagination he  s been blessed with . in a new hope lucas showed a new way to tell stories as he introduced us to such memorable characters as the plucky princess leia  the rougish han solo and the spirited luke skywalker as well as that best loved of villains  the sinister darth vadar . in the empire strikes back he went all out to show us special effects can add to a tale and managed to something no  one thought you could do on screen . he made a film with no specific end or beginning and it went down a treat . return of the jedi is a fitting end to a saga that will stand the test of time .  br    br   when the empire srtikes back ended with encasing of the lovable rouge han solo in carbonite to be delivered to jabba the hut and young luke reeling from the discovery of a terrible truth about his father we were left with the feeling that things were going from bad to worse . vadar it seemed had won the day . how we asked could the rebels ever recover from this blow  in lucas stunning and captivating final chapter we are kept on the edges of our seats from han  s daring rescue from jabba  s palace to the the final climactic battle on the death star between luke and vadar as luke struggles between fulfilling his duties as a jedi and rebel fighter and attempting to reawaken the good he believes is still in his father  s soul .  br    br   old friends like the smooth talking lando calrissian and the ever lovable chewbacca reunite for one final battle to end all battles as a new darker more dangerous enemy emerges in the form of the emperor himself  played by the brilliant ian mcdiarmiud . how he missed out on an oscar is a mystery .  desperate to turn luke to the dark side even if it means betraying his apprentice darth vadar . all in black with his red eyes  ghostly white disfigured face and sinister laugh he truly is a terrifying addition to the story and is the undisputed master of the events that unfold . his new and improved death star spells disaster for the rebels but the brave group launch one last desperate attack to end the empire  s reign for good .  br    br   lucas managed to incorporate three different stories at once and keep the action going so that the audience is riveted . we watch in excitement as han and leia attempt to bring down the shield around the death star from the forest moon of endor with the help of some adorable ewoks  who i really do not believe take from the movie at all . in fact i feel they provide a sort reprieve from the tension of the battles at and in the death star  and hindered by legions of stormtroopers and imperial officers . we cheer on lando and the other pilots as they take on the mighty imperial fleet and risk life and limb to fly into the deatn star to destroy it once and for all . and we watch with bated breath as vadar and the emperor attempt to turn luke to the dark side while he in turn tries to turn his father back .  br    br   but for me the most difficult and yet compelling battles is that going on inside darth vadar . for rotj is a battle of emotions and feelings . vadar is caught between his loyalty to the emporer and the empire and his fatherly inclinations to luke . never did i think that a mask could show emotion but some  how one can  t but see the confusion and pain on vadar  s face during the final scenes as the emporer turns on luke . there is more depth and emotion to vadar than i believed a villain  especially one more machine then man could have and that i think is what makes him so accessible . he is conflicted . the apprentice as much as the master . the victim as much as the villain . without ruining the end too much vadar  s final scene is the most poignant and wonderful in the trilogy .  br    br   so in conclusion what can i say . george lucas is the master of the saga . star wars is the most compelling and engaging sagas i  ve seen in a long time and i have yet to see another saga rival it . return of the jedi has all the ingredients necessary to provide the ending lucas masterpiece deserves . it  s action  suspense  romance  tragedy  redemption  joy all rolled into one and it  s memorable characters  wonderful special effects and catchy music make both a great movie in its own right and an ending that lucas can be proud of .  
i am very disappointed with  k     .  the original  good  quality of  k    doesn  t exist any more . this is more like a sitcom  some of casts from original movie returned and got some of my memory back . the captain of dooley now loves to hit him like a scene from old comedy show . that was crazy . what  s the deal with the change of police  it seems like they are now lapd  not san diego pd . it is a completely different movie from   
just a note to add to the above comment . fear of a black hat doesn  t have the criminal who  s image has been ripped off by the band  that  s in cb  . easily confused as the two films are so similar  but black hat is vastly the superior of the two . . . . . yeah .  
while exploring some caves with his wife  a doctor is bitten by a bat which causes some alarming side effects . . .  br    br   occasionally creepy atmosphere and some decent  though under used  makeup effects don  t save this b horror flick from being a sub  par tale of man  becomes  creature . the bat people aka it lives by night suffers from its senseless story that  s awkwardly plotted and lackluster in pacing . the plot never seems to go anywhere much and the movie never offers an explanation for what happens  or even a satisfying conclusion for it all . the cast is fairly mediocre in their performances .  br    br   still i give the film some points for its haunting theme song and nice filming locations . the makeup work of the late stan winston is pretty good too  but it doesn  t get much of a showcase here . a missed opportunity for sure .  br    br   definitely one of the lesser man  creature flicks out there .  br    br       out of   
  br    br   if you like rap or hip  hop  watch this movie  although it  s funny if you don  t get the references  as a straight comedy .  br    br   haven  t seen much of the much hyped cb   but what i did see didn  t have the heart that this little stormer has .  br    br   haven  t heard from the people involved since  which is a surprise . the film is very similar to spinal tap  which is no bad thing  and i think a lot of the dialogue  while priceless in tap is funnier here  probably because i  m more into rap than rock theses days  so my own judgment does cloud that point .  br    br   the rap songs are funny as hell  and it  s basically spot the reference for most of the film  not all of them are in  your  face  which means the physical comedy and the one  liners get priority over the take  offs .  br    br   great fun  one to watch twice if there ever was a movie .  
unless the title is supposed to be some kind of spoiler for the wife  s transformation  the fiends  ruining it for us  . anycase  if this movie wasn  t made  for  tv  it should have been  it  s so remarkably low  budget  underscripted  underacted  and hits every    s cliche except disco . nobody is likeable  and you could careless what happens to anyone in this one . eminently forgetable except for the bad  bad performances .  
i don  t remember when i first heard about this movie  but i rented it about six years ago  and it still remains one of my favorite comedies . i will admit  you probably will despise this movie if you know nothing about rap music . but if you are a rap fan  even a casual one  you will love the inside jokes and references . one of the best lines in the movie is about the difference between a b and a h i still use this line today and get lots of laughs with it . one of the best performances comes from larry scott  who played nerd lamar in revenge of the nerds  . it is unfortunate that this movie will likely never get a dvd release .  
really  the use of stock nature documentary of swarming bats employed by the bat people is some of the most effective ever . there are shots of teeming bats hanging from the ceilings of caves  swarming bats flying out of caves or swirling about near the mouths of caves . that alone is enough to be unsettling imagine all of them swarming after you  and they do indeed swarm in what should have been a show  stopper sequence that happened at about the forty minute mark  a downright inappropriately hilarious sequence where a teeming swarm of bats seem to attack a police car  splattering across the windshield like bloody broken eggs . the problem is that this sequence happens about fifty minutes too late to save the film  most of which consists of one or more people running around  screaming  waving their arms about at jabbering excitedly about some poor goofball who managed to get bitten by a bat during his vacation .  br    br   the fear is that he is coming down with rabies  which does indeed suck  so their vacation is ruined  as the plot synopsis on the top of the bat people  s reference page does indeed point out . so here is an effective summary of the movie a young couple goes on a romantic getaway which is ruined when the guy is bitten by a bat . they bravely try to stick it out but he starts raving  trying to convince those around him that it  s a bit more involved than rabies  that he can  t control himself  and they everyone should keep away .  br    br   now  when some one is frothing at the mouth  covered with sweat  eyes boggling about like one of the cheaper muppets and screaming at you to get away from me  you get away from him . you don  t try to give him drugs  you don  t try to tell him you love him  you give the guy his space  go home  and try that scenic getaway next year .  br    br   but no  the people in this movie all behave like morons  insist on pushing the guy to his brink  and he flips out  mutates into a part man part bat type creature  and kills a bunch of non  essential secondary characters . nothing wrong with that  but the movie forgets that it  s a low budget creature feature and tries to be some sort of psychological study . instead of a monster movie  we get lots of people running around trying to get this guy to take a chill pill  and eventually he runs off into the hills looking very much more human than he should have  people insist on trying to chase him down and pay the expected price .  br    br   the main thing wrong with the movie is that this should have happened in the first fifteen or twenty minutes  thirty tops  and the movie should have been about the guy after he had turned into a bat person  rather than about the journey there . it takes a good eighty minutes to really pick up steam on that front  with some interesting character sketches along the way involving the always entertaining michael pataki as a small town cop who  s lost his moral edge  and the late paul carr as a physician friend who doesn  t quite get the message .  br    br   the movie is dreadfully boring  about fifteen minutes too long and missed the opportunity to be a nice  forgettable little creature feature about a mutant run amok like the italian horror favorite ratman  which i watched today and was sadly inspired to try this one after seeing . me and my bright ideas  though the scene with the cop car was a howler too bad we couldn  t have had another twenty minutes of that .  br    br        
well i don  t personally like rap  but i still found fear of a black hat hilarious . i  m sure i didn  t get some inside jokes  but some i knew  and it was funny enough to make me laugh just after i  d stopped laughing . i  m a big fan of spinal tap  so naturally i had to check this out . it was deriviative from this is spinal tap  sometimes blatantly  but this film still stood on it  s own as an original  intelligent  and funny satire . my personal favorite  back in the time of slaves  they didn  t have hats to protect them from the sun  so at the end of the day they were too tired to revolt . now we have hats .   
the movie is just as fun as staring at the sun . sheriff pataki is a total retard that loves nothing better to do than sit on his fat rear making a smoke ring from his puffy cigars and drinking booze while the doctor acts like a zombie version of nicholas cage sucking up all that so called  blood  which in reality seemed like fruit punch .  br    br   most of all the plotting seemed very horrid to even call this piece of crap a movie . the rest of the characters in this movie are total wastes of time  the ending was awful  the outlines were cheesy  and the scenes were terrible . what else more should i say to you viewers out there  my advice would be to get your rabies shot if you  ve already watched the movie . this movie may give you the foam in the mouth if you didn  t get your up  to  date shots .  
 . . . is just as good as the original . very nearly achieves greatness because of cundieff  s remarkable ear for music and dialogue . skewers the self  important swagger of the hip  hop poseurs . the group  niggaz with hats   nwh  are every rap group you ever heard and utterly self  parodic . wardrobe is unbelievable . buy the oop soundtrack if you can .  
a man wakes from a nightmare about bats . he and his wife go out into the desert for a picnic on their honeymoon . he seems to hear a strange noise  and she is disturbed by the sight of a bat crawling across their picnic blanket . he wants to go on a tour of a cave  which has something to do with some kind of work he is doing  but she wants to enjoy their honeymoon . she relents . they go on the tour  but leave the group to make out . she falls down a slope  where she is disturbed by insects . he follows her . he hears the strange noise again  and seems to know a bat is approaching one does  and gets in her hair . he fights it off her  and it attacks him  biting his forehead .  br    br   they get out of the cave  but when they are in a gondola at a ski resort  he starts having seizures in which he has hallucinations or visions of bats attacking people . he becomes angry when this happens . he  s unable to drink alcohol without spitting it out . his wife worries about rabies  and he starts a pasteur treatment for that  but reacts violently to the injection .  br    br   and then some people are killed . we see parts of the man  s transformation into a bat person . it seems it is not just in his mind . whether the bat bite causes these transformations is not clear  since he already was having some symptoms prior to the bite .  br    br   while the title seems inappropriate  the implication at the end is that the same thing is happening to another person . not a very good movie  but i liked the variety of the desert  cave  and ski  slope locations  and some of the weirder scenes . i didn  t think this was as bad as other people do  and i didn  t think the     movie bats was as bad as others think either  i rated that one a      .  
i am shocked . shocked and dismayed that the    of you imdb users who voted before me have not given this film a rating of higher than  .       that  s a c  . if i could give fobh a    i  d gladly do it . this film ranks high atop the pantheon of modern comedy  alongside half baked and mallrats  as one of the most hilarious films of all time . if you know  anything  about rap music  you must see this   if you know nothing about rap music  learn something   and then see this  comparisons to  spinal tap  fail to appreciate the inspired genius of this unique film . if you liked bob roberts  you  ll love this . watch it and vote it a     
this movie promised bat people . it didn  t deliver . there was a guy who got bit by a bat  but what was with the seizures  and the stupid transformation  where was the plot  where was the acting  who came up with the idea to make this  why was it allowed to be made  why  why  i guess we  ll never know .  
this movie is a great mocumentary . it follows the rap group  nwh  made up of ice cold  tasty taste and tone def through their unique path to gangster rap highs  lows and back to highs . through trouble with women  egos  cops and whitey  this group gets to the top of the gangster rap world  as this movie goes to the top of mocumentaries . i know everybodies favorite mocumentary is this is spinal tap  for very good reason  however i think that if in the right mood  this movie is simply better . the laughs never end  even for someone not into the rap culture .  br    br   i  m a white guy  that has no interest in rap music  culture or anything else associated with it  however i love this movie . rusty cundeif  who wrote the screenplay  songs and starred in it showed great potential and it is a shame that i haven  t seen him since fear of a black hat . however  i have seen him one more time than you have  and is that  that i recommend fear of a black hat to you for quick laughs .  br    br   remember   don  t shoot to you see the whites  . . . . of their eyes  no don  t shoot to you see the whites .   br    br   fym and enjoy the movie .  
ok  so . . . . . guy gets bitten by a bat and then turns into a bat  well  sorta  . i can only assume this made sense to someone at the time  aren  t bats supposed to fly  use radar  and eat bugs instead of attacking humans tho   
if you like cb   you have no idea what you  re missing if you haven  t seen this film yet . this movie is crazy hilarious  and incorporates a lot more about the hip hop industry than any other parody movie . . . it is unfortunate that this movie has not been released on dvd because it is one movie that everybody i  ve ever watched it with has loved and wanted a copy . if you really want a good laugh and you like hip hop and are a little familiar with some old  school performers  definitley rent this movie . there aren  t that many video rental places that have copies of it  but if you happen to come across one you will not be disappointed .  
stewart moss stars as a scientist who is on a working trip with his wife  and one gets the feeling that he was picked for this role for his ability to roll his eyes back in his head . . . imagine the auditions for this . .  can you . . . no  that  s not quite it  thank you  next   . anyway  he  s bitten by a bat  and then  he  s either changing into some kind of bat creature and killing people or . . . . he  s not . for no one else sees his strange transformations  but he himself seems to think that he  s changing because his wedding ring pops off when his hands turn into claws  etc . to its credit the movie does kind of hold back on whether he  s just nuts or whether he  s actually transforming into something until almost the very end . this has some good locations  sort of a decent atmosphere at times but unfortunately none of that can make up for the somewhat lame story and the wonderfully bad acting . kind of fun in a  so bad it  s good  way  but leans more towards just plain bad .  out of   .  
cb  was awful  but it may have given cundieff the idea to it better . more like spinal tap than anything else  the film is clever from the start . surprising anyone who saw it back in the mid nineties . the performances are played for laughs but not so much so that they are cartoon characters  more like marx brothers . these guys are real and slightly diverse . they react to situations like any of us might . well  we may not throw a tantrum when our performance hats are late to the gig  or pull guns and beat down a record company exec  but you get the picture . n  nas  w  with  h  hats  takes itself seriously enough to reel you in  then you  re hooked . rent or get this at all costs  even if you  re not really into rap music  this will still leave you gassing out loud . comparing this to cb  is like comparing george lucas  star wars to gil gerards  buck rogers  i think you see my point  
  the bat people  is a proud resident of the imdb bottom    . every once and a while the movie suddenly vanishes from the infamous list  depending on whether there are new movies with paris hilton in the lead or documentaries about american idol stars  but it always reliably returns sooner or later . and why  because  unlike the majority of crap in that list   the bat people  is a legitimate bad film and it deserves to be on there regardless of any media influences or internet buzz  this nearly isn  t the worst film ever made  since the basic concept definitely has a certain charm and ingenuity  but it  s still indescribably difficult to sit through the whole thing . the script is incredibly boring  with absolutely unnecessary padding footage and gigantic gaps in continuity  and yet the main characters still remain total strangers throughout the entire film . other than a sensible screenplay  the film also lacks spectacular killing sequences and the make  up effects  although courtesy of a young stan winston  are ludicrously inept and remain largely unseen until the end of the film . the film  s title is inaccurate  as  people  refers to a number in plural whereas the story actually just revolves on one bat person . much more than bruce wayne  the real batman plays in this movie and he as well has a genuine bat  cave and a bat  mobile  a stolen ambulance   the plot introduces a young couple on their honeymoon  weekend exploring caves . they wander off from a guided tour group and he gets bitten by a bat whilst trying to protect his wife from the animal  s vicious attack . worried that he might be infected with rabies  he undergoes an intense treatment at the local hospital  but still this doesn  t prevent him from slowly transforming into a bloodthirsty bat creature . he kills random people at night and toys around with the suspicious police sergeant whilst his loving wife is still vastly convinced the awkward behavior is exclusively due to allergic reactions to the rabies treatment . sure  honey  the script never explains why a bat would attack people and how come john always changes back into a normal human being at the dawn of a new day instead of gradually turning into a permanent state of bat  guano . so basically   the bat people  is a variation on the good old werewolf  theme  but obviously not a very interesting one . the concept showed a lot of potential  but somehow the sub plots center on whiny drunks and perverted sheriffs instead of on ghastly monsters . some of the settings and exterior filming locations look impressive  the misfit song playing during the credits is strangely catchy  there  s a nice bit of gore during the climax  finally   and main actress marianne mcandrew is ravishing to look at  though not to listen to  . this truly bad and boring film  s current listing in the bottom    is spot number    and personally i hope it sticks somewhere in that region . the list simply wouldn  t feel and traditional without  the bat people  .  
  fear of a black hat  is a superbly crafted film . i was laughing almost continuously from start to finish . if you have the means  i highly recommend viewing this movie it is  by far  the funniest movie i have had the pleasure to experience . grab your stuff   
or maybe that  s what it feels like . anyway   the bat people  is about as flat as a rug  bland as a sack of flour and as exciting as a rock . . . and as intelligent as all three combined .  br    br   okay  plot in a nutshell  fitting vessel  that . . .   a doctor  moss  gets bitten by a bat while checking out a cave with his wife  mcandrew  and subsequently turns into a bat  well  not exactly a bat but a bat  like creature that looks more like a werewolf who kills his victims in a first  person camera viewpoint . . . .  br    br   but then there  s the business of the sheriff  pataki   who is about the worst kind of sheriff the hick kind . he hassles people  he leers at married women  he steals handkerchiefs from haberdasheries  the fiend    he smokes with one of those cigarette holders in his mouth and talks at the same time  making him look and sound like buford t . justice in  smokey and the bandit  and  this is the worst part  . . . he  s the most likeable character in the whole film   br    br   the whole film  though  is just tv movie  of  the  week  like crapola  guano  in this case  . it  s an aip  for crying out loud  what did you expect  oscar caliber stuff   br    br   and what else can you say about a film that not even mst  k can save   br    br   how about . . . no stars for  the bat people   full version or mst  k version   br    br   by the way  if there  s ever a sequel for this movie  i  m burying my tv .  
after   empire strikes back     return of the jedi   is my second favorite movie from the star wars series .  br    br   luke went to tattoine to save han solo from jabba . at the same time  the galactic empire is doing in secret  the construction of a new space station like the previous death star . if this station stays totally constructed  it will be the end of the rebel alliance . both vader and the emperor are impatient because of the delay of the new death star  and they need to kill many of their commanders to have the project made in schedule .  br    br   r  and c  po are inside jabba  s palace to send a message from luke to jabba  where lukes pretends to negotiate han  s life . he gives r  and c  po as a gift to jabba as part of his plan . jabba does not accept the negotiation  since he is using han solo as a piece of his palace  s decoration .  han still is frozen in carbonite  lando is hidden as jabba  s guard and chewbacca is also gave to jabba by a reward hunter . when the same hunter tries to save han solo and makes him stay in human form again  we see that is actually princess leia in a disguise . the problem is that jabba discovers leia  s plan and takes her as his slave  while han is thrown away in chewbacca  s cell .  br    br   luke comes as a jedi knight to rescue his friends . at his first try to kill jabba  he falls into jabba  s monster cell  bantha   but easily kills it . jabba stays angry and decides to thrown han  chewbacca and luke to sarlacc  a big creature from the desert who stays  .    years digesting it  s  food  . luke  han and chewie has success in scape again  and even boba fett dies when han accidentally throws him in to sarlacc  s mouth . leia kills jabba and goes after han  luke and chewie as well c  po and r  .  br    br   everybody  s safe again  luke decides to go to dagoba to complete his training as a jedi  as well his promise to yoda . the problem is that yoda is too old and sick  since he already has    years old  and before he dies  yoda says to luke that he does not need more training  but to really be a jedi  he must fight with vader again . he confirms to luke that vader is luke  s dad  and that there is another skywalker besides luke . in his last moments  yoda asks to luke to remember his advices about the temptation of the dark side  and to luke transmit his jedi knowledge to other people . when yoda dies  obi wan  s spirit shows up to luke and tells him that luke  s father killed his good side anakin to become darth vader  and also that he is more machine than a man since he became a sith . luke stays worried about killing his own dad  and says that he feels that his father still has kindness . obi wan tells luke that his twin sister is leia  and says the reasons why luke and leia were separated since babies . he gives his last advice to luke saying that if he refuses to kill vader  the emperor will win the war .  br    br   at the same time  the emperor says to vader that he must give luke to him when he shows up  since luke is stronger than before  and they both needs to combine their efforts to bring luke to the dark side .  br    br   now we are going to have one of the best battles from the star war series  when the rebel alliance plans to attack the new space station  the   death star     luke will confront vader and the emperor  and leia  han and chewie needs to turn off the  death star   power field  with the help of the ewoks .  little creatures who looks little bears   br    br   this is for sure one of the most exciting star wars of all   
the biggest one that bugs the hell out of me is that they say zues takes dutch commands . but she is speaking german to him . the  languishes are completely different  its like saying  well he takes french commands  and start talking spanish .  br    br   james belushi gives more the feeling of being a comedy actor not a detective in the slightest . the role just doesn  t fit him  even if its mend to be a comedy .  br    br   to many stereotype  predicable stuff . typical comment or comebacks .  br    br   if you don  t look at those things i think it could be a nice movie to watch if its ever on tv . but i wouldn  t suggesting renting it .  
i first saw this movie on some movie channel  hbo   some time ago . i was a fan of public enemy  nwa and other early rap and had seen cb  in theaters . anyway  the promo for it caught my eye  and i wanted to see what it was all about . well  right off the bat i knew it was going to be good  warning   and i was right . the parody songs alone make this movie worth watching over and over  my peanuts   but the overall flow and delivery of the movie was great . you  ve got to love the satire of rap groups  obviously nwa   certain rappers  eazy e  flava flav  ice cube   and the humor of the three members of nwh . who can forget tone deaf scratching with his ass  it  s too bad this movie didn  t get the credit it deserved  as it was overshadowed by cb  during their releases  but in my opinion is a much better film . if you know and like    s  gangster  rap  you  ll be watching and laughing with this movie for a long time . if you aren  t into or don  t like  rap   you  ll enjoy the jokes at the expense of the genre .  
i saw this movie on mystery science theater when it was called  it lives by night  . that title is much less misleading than  batpeople  . in fact it would more accurately be called batperson . this movie is about a doctor who studies bats i am thinking because he wants to make a better cure for rabies . this is not really clear . what is clear is that he and his wife take a tour of a cave and he gets bitten by a bat . why a scientist needs to take a tour to study bats is beyond me . shouldn  t he be able to go in by himself . well after being bitten he and his wife go on their honeymoon where he starts having fits . they go to the worst doctor ever . the guy stays in the hospital and kills a nurse . in the end the guy kills    people and his wife stands by him and you are supposed to be rooting for him instead of the sheriff investigating the murders .  
i picked up the movie with no cover and not even knowing what it was  but when i watched it i laughed so hard . it is now one of my favorite movies of all time . rusty and the guys created a masterpiece i would highly recommend this movie to any one with a sense of humor . thank you rusty for giving us something to laugh at .  
watching it lives by night makes you wonder  just who in the world greenlit this crap . a newlywed couple go spelunking on their honeymoon  get attacked by bats and the husband starts to run around in his pajamas attacking various people . and where exactly are they  they  re in the desert  then they  re skiing  then they  re in a small town that looks like it has mountains nearby . the town is run by a sheriff who likes to watch and has a personal vendetta against whiny doctor boy . the ski hospital is run by a really groovy guy with a nice thick mustache and the wife looks like mary tyler moore or marilyn quayle . there  s no dramatic tension and the ending will leave you filled with anger . special effects and makeup guru stan winston did the effects for this movie . i guess you have to start somewhere .  
chances are  you  ll think this movie is incredibly stupid the first time you watch it . but if  by chance  you watch it a second and third and fourth and fifth time  i  m well into the hundreds by now   you will find yourself spitting a line from it here and there and cracking yourself up  my friends and i have actually thrown fear of a black hat parties to get more of our friends   as they say  down with the riots  .  
after being bitten by a bat in a cave  a doctor named john beck undergoes an accelerating transformation into a man  bat creature . his wife assures him that there  s nothing wrong with him  it  s all just due to rabies or the anti  rabies drugs he  s taking . the local cop thinks that john is responsible for several gruesome murders .  the bat people  by jerry jameson is one hell of a horrible film . the script is deadly dull and there is no gore nor nudity . this pointless piece of crap is so mind  numbingly boring that you  ll scratch your head in a total disbelief after suffering through it . even the design of a man  bat creature by a young stan winston is completely pathetic and unmemorable . avoid this stinker like the plague .  out of   .  
its too bad that no one knows anything about this movie  and it gets old telling people it  s rap  s version of spinal tap . and you know  im sorry i dont have any better comments  but damnit  go get the movie and watch it  and then make all your friends watch it too  just like im gonna .  
i had the distinct displeasure of seeing this movie at the     vancouver international film festival . i have been attending this festival for over  years  and i have certainly seen some poor movies on occasion . however   first bite  has reached a brand new low in film . in spite of being shot in beautiful locations  with the occasional  exquisite close up of fabulous food  the movie contorts an excessive number of plot twists and stilted characters until i was practically begging for it to end .  br    br   the lead actor  david la haye  completely failed to show any character development throughout the movie  portraying a pompous chef from beginning to end . additional sub  plots  such as eating disorders  were developed so poorly and completely did not fit within any context that the movie had shown up to that point .  br    br   a theme of mysticism was used as a poor attempt to conceal a movie that achieves nothing  goes nowhere  and completely disappoints .  
having seen both  fear of a black hat  and  this is spinal tap   i can honestly state that while similar  both movies are truly must see . there will be many times in  fear  that will have you in hysterics . it is no wonder why both movies have such a huge cult following .  fear  will soon be available on dvd . rent it if you must  but the only way to fully enjoy this movie is to have it for yourself .  
i just saw this at the     vancouver international film festival . the synopsis in the festival guide sounded pretty good so we decided to check this one out . i  m sorry to say i was very disappointed .  br    br   besides being poorly written  it was boring . i won  t take away from the actors as there is not much they could do with this bad script .  br    br   first bite was clich without being ironic  over the top seriousness without being funny . the movie would have been better had hunt hoe went with a campy horror feel . instead he took himself to seriously and this resulted with a boring film . i can  t recommend this film . it felt too long and all in all just plain weak .  
i first saw this movie about  years ago and i was expecting something funny  similar to cb  . i was blown away . i was on the floor laughing my butt off this movie is so great . way better than cb   the characters  the songs  the plot  everything . top notch independent film that was given  two thumbs up  by siskel and egbert  and if two old white guys can understand the humour in this flick  you know it  s good  .  
this film is so bad i can  t believe it was actually shot . people who voted   or    and even   are you insane  did we really watch the same movie  or the same sh should i say . everything is bad in this film . the story  is there a story   is going nowhere  completely incoherent  the acting  some dialogs are simply just ridiculous   the music score  what the  is that    the editing  and especially the artistic direction  a pure disaster . reminds me the old macist movies . . . to give you an example of the amateurism of the production  the mermaid  s costume is a sleeping bag with spangles sticked on it . i  m not joking  that  s exactly what it is .  br    br   another example of the enormous mistakes we find here you see in a scene an extra  a fat woman of about    pounds  who  s talking on her cell phone . the next shot  which is in a complete different location  you can see this same woman  still talking on her cell phone    yes  it goes that far .  br    br   a big  huge  waste of money . useless .  
i cannot stop saying how much i loved this movie . this movie is one of the least known and one of the funniest movies i have ever seen . the movie follows the exploits of a rap group  nwh  nirs with hats  it goes from the beginning of the group to the end of the group  after it  s tragic break up . following the group is documentary maker nina blackburn .  br    br   the movie is on a shoestring budget  but it does not seem to matter  this is a very well made  well produced film and the performances by all of these actors and actresses are excellent . the main strength of this movie is the writing  there are so many brilliant lines and takeoffs on rap in this movie  it is unreal .  br    br   spoiler  br    br   there are takeoffs on actual rappers  like mc slammer  vanilla sherbert  ice cold  tone def  tastey  taste  and songs  booty juice  grab your dick  etc .  rusty condieff has made an excellent film . in the movie he plays rapper ice cold . the movie does not quit  it is funny from the beginning to the end .  br    br   the movie works so well because it becomes outlandish on occasion  but it strikes that line where it is funny without going too far out there . listening to the three leads try to talk some kind of philosophy was one of the best parts of the movie  like tone def telling a record producer  when you take the bus  you get there   and the producer responding  that  s deep    br    br   the group portraying n . w . h . has some sort of natural chemistry to them . they work so well together  and they manage to pull this movie of to where there is not a week moment in the film . what really makes this movie so good is how true to some of the rap groups of the time this movie is . many rap groups had problems with violence  with censors  and like nwa  the group only became popular when the establishment began to make a big deal out of the controversial lyrics .  br    br   i like this movie because it is offensive . there is something here to offend everyone in a good natured way . the movie has a takeoff on a good number of people too outside of rap  the funniest being of spike lee . where they came up with this dialogue i cannot imagine . the movie has line after line that will have you rolling on the floor . as i said before the writing is just excellent .  br    br   i am not surprised that this movie met such limited release . it is an intelligent  controversial  and even thought provoking film . this is too much for mainstream  despite the fact it is hilarious  and nearly flawless in it  s production . there are no major stars  but a lot of familiar faces  including marc lawrence  who plays tone def . watch this movie  at the very least you will definitely have an opinion of it .  
  st watched            out of    dir  john bianco   pretty lame gangster movie about a godfather  like family in brooklyn who like to say four  letter words a lot and kill people . the only thing of interest here was their attempt to show the feds being a lot like the gang . this is the only attempt at good film  making . the rest of the movie was predictable  and cheaply  made . the quality of the photography on some of the scenes inside bars and floozy joints almost made you think there was a problem with your dvd player because of the bad contrasts and some of the actors were hard to hear at times because of the bad sound . the acting was pretty  much characatures of all your favorite gangsters from better movies with corny names like vinnie knuckles  and jimmie tattoos   and the plot pretty much followed those patterns as well . so  go see a better gangster movie before you put your money out for this one .  
fear of a black hat is a hilarious spoof of hip  hop culture . it is just as funny as this is spinal tap  if not funnier . the actors are incredible and the documentary style is superb . mark christopher lawrence is a tremendous talent that should be starring in a lot more films . this film is a true cult classic   
this movie was a confusing piece of garbage . you never knew what was going on . the characters were poorly written and for the most part they were totally unsympathetic except for gus  played masterfully by george eads  . i hate this movie but compared to others  dark harvest  dracula  s curse  it should have won an academy award . it was particularly sad to see a talented actor like george eads in such a disgraceful and tacky film . lifetime you have sunken to whole new low . someone needs to make sure that this director never works in movies again . also was this supposed to be a horror film because it was a lot more funny than scary . for shame lifetime  for shame .  
i have zero interest rap and in ghetto culture  i  m white and like classic rock  however  that did not stop me from appreciating this fantastic comedy . its pretty much a sequel of this is spinal tap in the sense that it is the same movie  just about rap instead or rock . yet it  s hilarious . there are many funny jokes but not without a few jokes that just fall flat . the characters are all very funny and believable . i watched just because it made me laugh at  a . m .  and any movie that can do that warrants at least a test screening . one of the reasons why this movies was so funny was that it makes fun of rap from a different . rap today is concerned with the wrong things and get by with studio noise and little talent . this movie comes from a time where rappers deserved more credit . overall  it  s a funny movie with many jokes about racism  sex and music culture among the more obvious themes of humor . this is highly recommend for any fan of this is spinal tap . they are essentially the same movie  just about different worlds  and yes  the same jokes work in both movies .  
did i miss something here  this  adaptation  has everything that brookmyres first novel had . everything apart from the story  the laughs  the black humour  the political intrigue  the characterisations  the plot  and some semblance of sense .  br    br   spoilers  br    br   godamnawful  from beginning to end . they made a mockery of the plot  they had a romance between parablane and a cop  and what was that all about  dr slaughter was portrayed as a bystander  and who the hell was annette crosby supposed to be   br    br   it looked like they had made a three hour adaptation  then chopped it down to   minutes .  even though the   minutes seemed to last forever .  please  please  do not do this to any other of brookmyres books   especially  country of the blind .   
i first saw this movie when it came out in     and just watched it recently and it is still funny . i don  t know if you have to understand hiphop in the    s  but it helps if you do . in the    s when nwa and public enemy were at the top  there were internal strife within the groups and members when their separated ways  ice cube  easy e  etc  . also there were the wanna b  s  accessible rappers that start making the scene  vanilla ice  freedom williams from cc music factory  etc  . this movie makes fun of all of that in a way that seems like it  s an actually documentary . kasi lemmons plays an interviewer that spends a year in the life of a fictitious rap group name n . w . h . the members of the group are ice code  rusty condieff  director   tasty taste  larry b scott  revenge of the nerds  and tone def  mark christopher lawrence  . they are an up and coming rap group whose politics makes them controversial . whats good about this film is that it is so thourough in its portrayal of the hiphop industry of the   s and they way it pokes fun at it . but  if you know    s     s rap  you know how much of this stuff is true . still  on it  s own  without hip hop knowledge  it is still a funny funny movie . and for all of those who ask  yes spinal tap came first  but spinal tap is not the first spoof movie either . this  in my opinion is equally as funny and in some ways  better than spinal tap . as spinal tap is to heavy metal  fear of a black planet is to rap . and the songs are off the hook also . the dvd is chalk full of extras to include music videos of nwh as a group and as solo artists . brilliant performances by rusty condieff and larry b scott .  
what an absolute pile of pants . having read chris brookmyre  s books religiously since i came across  quite ugly . . .   i was delighted to find out that this drama had been commissioned .  br    br   i obviously had too much faith .  br    br   nesbitt is probably the best thing in this show  and even he doesn  t quite fit . how anyone can read the book  and then adapt it to this piece of dross is beyond me .  br    br   entire characters are changed  situations are dropped  and to see parlablane  s dramatic break  in reduced to nesbitt doing a quick chin up and sliding open a bay window . . . it brought tears to my eyes .  br    br   i dread to think what  s going to happen with  country of the blind  if this is the benchmark . . .  br    br   please  just avoid it . . .  
thanks to kevin smith  a bunch of geeks are running around saying that return of the jedi isn  t any good because it  s actually fun to watch . and oh no  muppets are involved  that makes it bad  everyone liked return of the jedi until someone in a kevin smith movie made a negative comment about it . now all of a sudden people people look at you like you have some kind of disease if you mention how much you like it . this movie is so much better than anything kevin smith ever even considered creating that it boggles my mind that the man would even think of denouncing it . this movie is good fun  it  s just as awesome as i remember it being when i was six  enjoy this movie for what it is and stop stealing kevin smith  s opinions  his aren  t correct   br    br   and that ewok song at the end ruled  i bet you people don  t even enjoy  ewoks battle for endor      i  m going to set you all on fire   
this movie was just plain bad . just about every cop movie clich is present and accounted for . bad guy gets away  check . partner  check . wacky personality clash with partner  check . rookie with something to prove  check . rookie shows up grizzled veteran . check . about the only ones it didn  t touch on were idiot shoot themselves in the foot and retirony but i guess they  re saving those old chestnuts for dooley  s next outing . add in the battle of the sexes with girl power along with tired old sight gags and banal overdone material like dooley  s prize car getting trashed all the time and you have the recipe for one really bad movie . avoid this one at all costs .  
my  kasi lemmings certainly is a fair looking woman . this film is a lost gem  a dead  on satire  mockumentary  of the early    s hip hop scene  when mc hammer had just began to fade away into that good night . we follow the three members of the nwh as they embark upon their picaresque journey of would  be riches and fame . and like nickolas nickleby  at the end  they finish their journey not far from where they started  but at least a little wiser and lot less naive . this is one of the best films that no one has ever heard of  but it  s the kind of film you either love or hate  a lot like  company man  in this regard . i regard this movie like the     islands of upstate new york it  s a wonderful little secret you want to keep to yourself .  
if you want an undemanding and reasonably amusing hour or so  then it  s ok to watch this . it  s not all that bad  really . yeah  it  s got more lapses in logic than i care to describe here and might tax the patience of people  like myself  i have to admit  who are inclined to throw things at the tv on occasion  but it  s funny at least . just because it  s not always intentionally funny  there  s no need to let that get you down .  br    br   however  if you  ve read the book  or any of the other books by brookmyre  then you  d probably best avoid it . i  ve read them all and when i first watched this film  i despised it . i  ve trashed it in detail and at great length on another site  in fact . the tv plot bears practically no relevance at all to that of the book and served only to outrage and infuriate many faithful  and admittedly rabid  brookmyre fans .  br    br   best bit of advice . .  watch this  then read the book and only then make your comparisons and submit your judgement .  
i saw it in a posh movie theater where the audience is usually white  educated  and urban . the showing i attended had a sprinkling of african  americans  and it made the difference in audience  reaction between the two groups a wonderful social commentary on the state of race relations in this country . basically  the white folks were afraid to laugh or laughed nervously at the funny bits   and there are many    because they  d be  laughting at blacks   while the blacks also stayed pretty silent because many couldn  t laugh at themselves in front of the whites .  br    br   i  on the other hand  being asian  and thus belonging to neither group   had a great time viewing this satire of rap culture and its egos  trappings  values  pseudo  philosophies . the cast is talented and does at great job becoming the characters portrayed . the songs are too funny to be believed .  br    br   this film is one of the best pseudo  documentaries to come along  including  a mighty wind   
leslie sands  stilted play  deadlock  becomes a poor  choice vehicle for bette davis and gary merrill  just after their joint  success in  all about eve  . after killing her spouse  a scheming woman is visited by her husband  s best friend  who passes himself off as her husband once others begin stopping by the house . irving rapper  one of bette  s best directors from her peak years  is sadly unable to elevate this ridiculous material  in which davis is curiously aloof and restrained until the outrageous finale  where she thankfully pulls out all the stops  . production and supporting cast strictly second  rate only for bette davis completists .     from   
i  ve just read the most recent remarks about this movie and i would like to respond . you  re probably not familiar with the original story of rap group n . w . a . which dates back to the beginning in      in     ice cube left the band to go solo and ultimately in      the band breaking up when dr . dre left . which led to a lot of beef starting with the departure of ice cube and dr . dre in     . this story was somewhat based on that .  br    br   further more this movie was a   minute laughing spree  the way they explained the bootie juice song to be a political statement was hilarious . not to mention the  love song  tasty was hooking up . and when vanilla sherbert got his ass kicked  just like the record company executive is also hilarious and having they  re managers getting shot every time too .  br    br   people who didn  t enjoy this movie probably didn  t get it or were complete idiots  my opinion  
  don  t drink the water  is an unbelievably bad film . it  s based on a     broadway play by woody allen . it stars jackie gleason  the comic genius behind  the honeymooners  . the director  howard morris  has appeared in several mel brooks comedies  life stinks  high anxiety  silent movie  and has made a mark in animation  characters he has voiced include gopher from  pooh   jughead  archie  and beetle bailey  what went wrong   br    br   i think the problem is that the premise is played out too seriously to work effectively . allen  s original play was tongue  in  cheek  which is why it worked on broadway and in allen  s     remake . the screenplay by r . s . allen and harvey bullock beats the premise to death and makes too many changes from the original play . making gleason  s wife an airhead in this version when she was a headstrong woman in the original is just one example of why this doesn  t work .  br    br   the acting isn  t much better . gleason does the best he can with the material  but he can  t save this . gleason was a comic genius  but also a fine actor as he demonstrated in  the hustler  and  soldier in the rain  . his abrasive personality could have worked here  but the lousy script doesn  t even give him a chance . too bad . estelle parsons  airhead wife will drive you nuts after   minutes . see how soon it  ll take for you to want to strangle her . that is also a shame because she is also a fine actress  having turned in two exceptional performances in  bonnie and clyde  and  rachel  rachel  none of the other actors do particularly well either .  br    br   woody allen hated this film so much that he remade the film in     with himself and julie kavner  marge simpson  in the leads . they manage to hit all the right notes and the film itself is a comic masterpiece . it  s finally on video after a long battle over rights . do go out and find that version . all the     original is good for is clearing out unwanted guests who overstay their welcome .  br    br       out of  stars  
this is a really funny film  especially the second  third and fourth time you watch it . it  s a pretty short film  and i definitely recommend watching it more than once  you will  get it  more the second time .  br    br   it  s like spinal tap but the rap version . it has a lot of attitude in it which can be a negative thing in rap influenced films  but it  s just a total ps take and isn  t a problem because of the irony it creates .  br    br   plenty of stand  out bits  one of those types of films which you will find yourself quoting lines with your mates  and it will raise laughter .  br    br   my personal favourite part is the  guerrillas in the midst  section . great video  superb   
the toy box       bomb  br    br   sure  i like looking at nude women . while i prefer hardcore porn flicks  i  ll take softcore exploitation grindhouse junk like this too under the right circumstances . well  these aren  t the right circumstances . these aren  t any circumstances . there  s supposed to be a horrific subplot lurking in here somewhere  but i  ll be damned if i can untangle it . this is another of those amateurish steaming piles of badly made manure that bores you to tears rather than stimulates you  despite all the simulated sex going on all over the place . bah   if i want to see good sex scenes  i  ll watch the real stuff .  
okay  my title is kinda lame  and almost sells this flick short . i remember watching siskel  ebert in    talking about this movie  and then playing a clip or two . not being a rap  conscious guy  although i could identify snoop dogg  vanilla ice  and mc hammer music   i wasn  t much interested when they started talking about the film . but then  se showed the scene where the band explains how they picked their name  using some  shady  logic and a bunch of  made up  facts   and then another scene where the band  and their rival band  both visit a school to promote getting involved  and  of course  nwh comes up with some  info  about how the rival band leader is a loser because he got good grades in school and was on the yearbook committee  . so i filed it away that i should see this movie .  br    br   a couple of years later  this thing shows up on hbo and i recorded it  only to laugh my butt off for hours . yes  it has a  spinal tap  kind of rhythm to it . . . even the documentarist takes essentially the same  tone  in setting up the clips  and the band follows a similar path  what i now call the  behind the music  phenomenon  smalltime band has good chemistry  gets famous  too much money too fast  squabbling  drugs  some type of death  band breaks up  then reconciles  finishing with a hope for more albums in the future  and fade to black  . the one thing that is true is that in spinal tap  you catch the band perhaps with a little more success in their past . but tap drags at some points  and in my mind is reduced to laughs that are set up by specific scenes . oh  this is his rant about the backstage food  this is spot where he wants the amp to go to  eleven   this is the spot where the guy makes the pint  sized stonehenge  etc . . .  br    br   contrasting to foabh  which seems to have more  unexpected  humor . you can see some of it coming  but there isn  t a big setup for every joke . sometimes  the jokes just kinda flow . cundieff and the other actors in the band had a real chemistry that worked . also  the direct references to vanilla ice  hammer  and a bunch of other caricature  type rappers really worked well . this strikes me as a film you watch once to get the main story and laughs  and then go back and watch to catch the subtle jokes . and the songs . is  my peanuts  better than  big bottom   from spinal tap   i don  t know  but they  re both damn funny . tone def  s awful video during his  awakening  phase is so bizarre  yet so funny .  br    br   i could go on awhile  but save your time and don  t waste it on cb  . i watched the first half hour  and got bored . you don  t get bored on foabh . there are slightly less funny moments  but you can never tell when something good is about to happen . perhaps my favorite scene is when ice cold and tastey taste  name ripoffs if i  ve ever heard any  discover they  ve been sharing the same girl . . . . at one point  you  ve got those two pointing guns at each other  and the next thing you know  the manager  the photographer  the girl  and i think even tone def are in the room pointing guns at each other  switching targets back and forth . and  of course  someone does get shot .  br    br   i did find it odd that nwh  s managers suffered similar fates to spinal tap  s drummers  although none spontaneously combusted  i don  t think  . there were enough similarities that i cannot ignore the likelihood that cundieff saw  spinal tap  prior to writing this film  although this is clearly much more the spinal tap of hip  hop . while some similarities exist  the humor is different  and the movie seems more like a real documentary  maybe because we don  t recognize a single actor in this thing  even the guy who played  lamar  from  revenge of the nerds   . all in all  this movie has  in my opinion   street cred  . kinda like nwh .  
the long list of  big  names in this flick  including the ubiquitous john mills  didn  t bowl me over to the extent that i couldn  t judge the film on its actual merits . it is full of stereotypes  caricatures  and standard  set scenes  from the humble air  ace hero to the loud  mouthed yank flyer . the music track was such that at one point  about an hour before the end  i thought the film was over loud  rising crescendo  grand flourish and finish then silence  but then the movie continued  i found no real storyline  haphazard writing  but smartly  pressed uniforms and the pretty jean simmons  pre  nose job  with a rousing little ditty . i cannot say that this picture has any of the ingredients which make a film great . i found it maudlin  mawkish and minor .  
i  m too old to know  or care  exactly what the difference between rap and hip  hop is . and  being canadian  it  s likely that i  ve never actually seen mtv  but i  m not certain .  br    br   but i thought this film was very funny when i saw it  a bright little satire . hip  hop culture is so pervasive these days that it  s difficult not to keep hearing about it over and over .  if only we could say the same about bagpipe music .  i got most of the jokes  at least i think i did  . sure  it  s derived from spinal tap  but there are lots of targets that could stand a tap treatment . just not the carpenters  they  re sacred .  
i actually prefer robin williams in his more serious roles  e . g . good will hunting  the fisher king  the world according to garp  . these are my favorite robin williams movies . but seize the day  although well  acted  is one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen and certainly the worst robin williams movie  even worse than death to smoochy  club paradise  and alladin on ice  .  br    br   every good story is going to have its ups and downs . this movie  however  is one giant down . i don  t need a feel  good hollywood cheese  fest  but i  ve got to have something other than   minutes of complete and utter hopelessness . this movie reminds me of  love liza   which is actually worse  because it seems that the only point of the movie is to see how far one person can fall . the answer  who cares .  
after a big tip of the hat to spinal tap  this movie is hilarious . anyone who grew up watching mtv will love it and if you didn  t  rent it anyway  the  my peanuts  and  a gangster  s life  videos are worth the three bucks alone .  
prom night  is an ok horror movie but prom night is way better and this movies about how the prom queen mary lou in     gets killed by her boyfriend and comes back   years later for revenge . the best actor in this movie is micheal ironside and the movie stars other ok actors and actress like justin louis  i   wendy lyon  lisa schrage and richard monette  i  . and there are some good gore scenes like when mary lou kills the girl that is trying to hide in her locker by crushing the lockers together and how one of the students are on the computer and mary lou electrocutes him to death . over all this is an ok  good horror movie and my rating is  out of   .  
rated r for strong language  violent content and some nudity . quebec rating    canadian home video rating   a  br    br   fear of a black hat is one of the funniest  most original comedies i have ever seen . its basically a gangsta rap version of the film this is spinal tap . its a shame not many people have heard of this gem of a film . if you manage to find this film anywhere don  t hesitate to buy it even if you don  t like rap music . there are not too many comedy films that i give a perfect      to . the only ones i can think of at the moment are this film  clerks  the world according to garp  the   year old virgin and chasing amy . this film is a hilarious stereotype of the gangsta rap culture . the movie is about a woman named nina blackburn who is making a documentary about the fictional rap group n . w . h  nz with hats  . they are basically the stereotype of a rap group making many controversial rap songs about killing and being a gangsta . fear of a black hat is an excellent comedic film and i recommend it even if you are not a fan of the gangsta rap scene . its a shame this film is not in the top    .  br    br   runtime   min  br    br         
hello mary lou prom night ii starts at the hamilton high school prom of     where mary lou maloney  lisa schrage  is cheating on her date bill nordham  steve atkinson  with bud cooper  robert lewis  . bill finds out  is devastated  meanwhile mary lou is announced prom queen      takes to the stage to accept her award . bill  still hurting  decides to play a practical joke on mary lou so he throws a firecracker on stage but the still lit fuse catches mary lou  s dress setting it  her on fire  within seconds mary lou is toast .   years later  hamilton high is soon to hold it  s annual prom night . bill  micheal ironside  is now the principal  has a teenage son named craig  justin louis  who is dating vicki carpenter  wendy lyon   are both planning on going to the prom together . bud  richard monette  is now a priest  that terrible night   years ago still haunt both bill  bud . one day vicki is looking around the schools basement when she discovers a large trunk which she opens  this turns out to be a bad move as the vengeful spirit of mary lou is set free  is intent on claiming her crown as prom queen  in her spare time sets out to avenge her untimely death . first up is jess browning  beth gondek  whose death is put down to a suicide  mary lou begins to posses vicki  s body as the night of the prom draws nearer . after disposing of some competition in the shape of kelly hennenlotter  terri hawkes  who tries to fix the prom so she wins . mary lou in vicki  s body is crowned hamilton high prom queen which allows mary lou herself to come back from the dead to make an unexpected appearance  really liven the party up . . .  br    br   with absolutely no connection to the original prom night        directed by bruce pittman i thought hello mary lou prom night ii wasn  t a particularly good film . the script by ron oliver concentrates more on supernatural elements rather than cheap teen slasher themes  whether this was a good or bad decision will depend on your expectations i suppose . personally i found these different elements didn  t really gel or work that well together at all . the whole film was far to slow to be really enjoyable  after the opening sequence where mary lou dies no one else is killed until the half hour mark  then the film plods along for another half an hour until vicki is finally possessed  the film finally picks up momentum for the climax where an evil mary lou kills a whole one person at the prom before she is supposedly defeated  come on horror film fans you did expect that clichd  killer not dead  ready for a sequel  ending didn  t you  don  t expect a hight body count  just five throughout the entire film  none particularly graphic although i did like the way monica  beverley hendry as beverly hendry  tried to hide in a shower room locker which mary lou crushed  resulting in poor monica  s blood oozing out . the supernatural side of hello mary lou prom night ii is depicted by vicki having lots of hallucinations for the first hour  mary lou controlling objects during the latter stages including a couple of creepy shots of a rocking horse which comes to life  the blackboard scene is quite good as well as it turns into water  zombie hands drag vicki into it . the slasher side of hello mary lou prom night ii isn  t outstanding  i did like mary lou herself as she churns out the obligatory one  liners  she made for a good villain even if she didn  t get to kill enough people . oh   yes i did get the running homages to various other horror film director  s with almost all of the character  s sharing last names with one  this obviously adds nothing to the film but is a nice little touch i suppose . the acting is ok but the normally dependable micheal ironside looks lost  uninterested almost as if he  s asking himself what he  s doing in this  if he  ll ever work again . forget about any gore  someone is hanged  there is a stabbing with a crucifix that happens off screen  someone is impaled with a neon light  a computer goes crazy  electrocutes someones face      mary lou bursts out of vicki  s body at first as a rotting zombie which was quite a cool scene . there are some full frontal nudity shots in the girls shower as well  if that  s your thing . to give it some credit hello mary lou prom night ii is ok to watch  has reasonable production values throughout  is generally well made . overall i was disappointed by hello mary lou prom night ii  it was just too slow  ultimately uneventful to maintain my interest for nearly    minutes . i  m not sure whether it deserves a  or  star rating  i  ll give it a  as there  s nothing specifically wrong with it i suppose  i  ve sat through much worse films but it just didn  t really do anything for me i  m afraid .  
  fear of a black hat  is everything the  much weaker   cb    should have been . rusty cundieff  s satirical eye is ruthless  as he folds  spindles  and mutilates every aspect of hip  hop trends and culture . does  foabh  resemble spinal tap  yes  a bit . is it derivative of spinal tap  no  not really . the aim is more focused  the satire is better focused  and to be honest  it  s funnier .  
what is the point of creating sequels that have absolutely no relevance to the original film  no point . this is why the prom night sequels are so embarrassingly bad .  br    br   the original film entailed a group of children hiding a dark secret that eventually get them all killed  bar one  in a brutal act of revenge . can someone please explain to me what a dead prom queen  to  be rising from the grave to steel the crown has to do with the first movie then  prom night  had continuous plot holes that left the audience constantly wondering how did that happen and why should that happen  but in the end  i guess you could call it one of those movies that is so bad  you end up laughing yourself through it .  
okay . this movie is a pure pleasure . it has the ever so violent horror mixed with a little suspense and a lot of black comedy . the dentist really starts to loose his mind and it  s enjoyable to watch him do so . this movie is for certain people  though . either you  ll completely love it or you will totally hate it . a good movie to rent and watch when you don  t got anything else to do . also recommended psycho iii  
this is only related to the first movie by the name . the plot has nothing to do with the first and the whole movie stinks    i have no idea what they were thinking but this movie is so bad . avoid this at all costs  the first movie in the series is acceptable as a slasher flick and so is the fourth but this one and the  rd are rubbish    
this film is to my mind the weakest film in the original star wars trilogy  for a variety of reasons . however it emerges at the end of the day a winner  despite all its flaws . it  s still a very good film  even if a lot of its quality depends on the characters that have been built up in the superior  installments .  br    br   one problem here is the look of the film  which isn  t very consistent with the other  films . i put a lot of that down to the departure of producer gary kurtz . the first  films have that dirty  lived  in look with all the technology and so forth . in  jedi  on the other hand even the rebels look like they just stepped out of a shower and had their uniforms dry cleaned . this makes for a much less textured film . also the creatures were excessively muppet  like and cutesy . at this point it seems like the film  makers were more concerned with creating the templates for future action figures than with the quality of the film itself .  br    br   another aspect is its lack of originality . where  star wars  created a whole new experience in cinema and  empire  brought us to alien worlds of swamps  ice  and clouds   jedi  lamely re  cycled the locations of the first film . first we are back on the desert planet tatooine  and then we are watching them face another death star  maybe the emperor couldn  t think of anything new . . . but you  d think lucas or kasdan could  . also we have these ewoks  who really are just detestable made  for  mattel teddy bears  in a recycled version of what was supposed to be the big wookie  fight at the end of  star wars  if they hadn  t run out of cash . it just feels like lazy construction .  br    br   the most unfortunate aspect of  jedi  for me is the weak handling of the han solo character . whereas he is central to the plot of the first  films here he is struggling for screen time  trading one liners with the droids . instead of a real drama we  re stuck with the lame pretense that han is still convinced leia loves luke   as if the conclusion of  empire  where she confessed her love of him had never happened . the whole thing is very contrived and barely conceals the fact that the solo character was not part of this film  s central story after his rescue . ford  for his part  looks bored and lacks the style that distinguished his earlier performances . this is more like a     s ford performance  bored and looking  above  the film itself . fisher for her part is visibly high in some scenes . lando  an interesting character introduced in  empire   here is stuck as the ostensible person we care about in the giant space battle . only hamill  given an interesting development in the luke character  is really able to do anything new or interesting with his character . probably he was the only major actor in the film who still cared about his work . and to be fair the script gives him a lot more to do than the other characters . really it is his story and the other characters are only there as part of the package . ian mcdiarmid does excellent work as well as the emperor . the film would sink if he had been too far over the top  as he was at times in the new films  .  br    br   visually and in terms of effects work  other than the  clean  look of everything it  s hard to find fault . jabba is a very effective animatronic character  one of the most elaborate ever constructed . the space battles towards the end are very impressive .  br    br   ultimately this film coasts to success based on the accomplishments of its forebears . but on its own  it is a satisfying piece of entertainment and imho far superior to any of lucas  later productions .  
i just got the uk   disc special edition of superman  for about   . the additional stuff includes the     feature superman and the mole  men . so i slapped it into the dvd player last night  and here are my findings .  br    br   some initial disappointment  i hadn  t checked  and i think i had it mentally tagged as one of the kirk alyn serials . i  m not a huge fan of george reeves as superman  and i hadn  t seen anything other than the odd clip of kirk alyn  but hey ho  never mind .  br    br   this black and white production runs for less than an hour . it has the feel of a couple of episodes of one of reeves  early tv series  a two  parter  put together for cinema release  although imdb says it was filmed as a cinema release in advance of the first tv series . in any event  it  s an odd choice for reasons i  ll get to later . i  m of an age where i recall tv and movie productions which are limited to one or two locations and sets  so there were no major surprises here . even so  for a low budget movie  this one is really low budget .  br    br   the story concerns the small town of silsby  population       which  puzzlingly  is also home to the world  s deepest oil well   miles  . the story opens with the well  s foreman hurriedly taking steps to close the well down . this conflicts with the arrival of metropolis reporters kent and lane to report on the well  at the behest of the oil company . as clark is sniffing out the fact that the drill has emerged into a radioactive cavern  miles down  a couple of odd little guys  small in stature  big in head  black in jumpsuit  and bushy in eyebrow  emerge from the capped  off drillshaft  and start mooching round town with puzzled expressions on their faces .  br    br   a deep breath now  here is the remaining plot of the picture . the little guys scare some kids  so jeff corey  playing the town  s rampant xenophobe  incites some pals to kill these  creatures  . superman steps in  moderately ineffectually  and catches one of the little guys who has been shot and takes him to the local hospital . corey  s pals burn down the shack the other little fellow has hidden in and assume he is killed  but he escapes and legs it down the shaft . corey incites a lynch mob  despite the sheriff arresting him  to hang the hospitalised mole  man . superman stops them entering the hospital and takes the injured chappie to the shaft to return him to his fellows . a total of  mole  men emerge with a weapon of some sort which they fire at jeff corey  i call this an aargh  gun because its sole effect seems to be to make corey go  aargh    and superman saves him . he immediately changes his ways because of amazement at superman saving him after the way he has behaved  the mole  men go back down the shaft . the end .  br    br   despite the film only being an hour long  there is an inordinate amount of creeping around  bewareing and pursuing  i have left out all the  mole  man  creeps from a to b  looking out to make sure no  one is following him  stuff . the mole  men are never engaged in any way whatsoever  they have no dialogue  they just turn up  get persecuted  and go back . they do look a little creepy  but they are hardly the bug  eyed monsters that the town  s reaction implies .  br    br   reeves is quite a good clark kent  very much a hard  nosed reporter  much more so than phyllis coates  rather indifferent lois lane . but he is a terrible  terrible superman . not only does he not look the part  at least his hair is dyed black in this  which is an improvement from the rather light hair he sported in some of the tv episodes   the way he plays it is all wrong in my book . i  m sure he was told to  strike the pose   which superman does constantly   but someone should have told him that it should be fists on hips  not fists on ribs . and he plays superman as a rather strict and touchy schoolteacher  he doesn  t actually wag his finger in remonstration  but he may as well have done .  br    br   and superman does a huge amount of walking around  i say a huge amount  he isn  t actually in it all that much   and a bit of running . he takes off and lands a couple of times  but isn  t seen in flight at any point . oh  some bullets bounce off him  and he uses telescopic vision as clark  but with no accompanying visual effect . in fact  visual effects are conspicuous by their absence  and the few which are present aren  t very good .  br    br   i  ve tried to consider this effort by reference to the standards of the time but even by those standards i think it  s a pretty threadbare effort . thankfully  production standards on the tv series were higher  and at least they took the trouble to come up with stories which had a bit more to them .  br    br   something of a disappointment  i shan  t be watching it again .  
brian yuzna is often frowned upon as a director for his trashy gore  fests  but the truth is that his films actually aren  t bad at all . the re  animator sequels aren  t as great as the original  but are still worthy as far as horror sequels are concerned . return of the living dead  is the best of the series and society isn  t a world away from being a surrealist horror masterpiece . this thriller certainly isn  t a masterpiece but it shows yuzna  s eye for horror excellently  and the plot moves in a way that is always thrilling and engaging . i  m really surprised that a horror movie about dentistry didn  t turn up until      as going to the dentist is almost a primal fear  it  s running away from a tiger for the modern world . dentistry doesn  t frighten me  but surprisingly i would appear to be in the minority . the plot follows perfectionist dentist dr feinstone . he has a nice house  a successful career and a beautiful wife  pretty much everything most people want . however  his life takes a turn for the worse when he discovers his wife  s affair with the pool cleaner . and his life isn  t the only one as it  s his patients who feel the full brunt of his anger . . .  br    br   when it comes to scaring the audience  this movie really makes itself . however  credit has to go to the director for extracting the full quota of scares from the central theme . the fact that he does a good job is summed up by the fact that i  m not squeamish about going to the dentist  yet one particular scene actually made me cover my eyes  the film follows the standard man going insane plot outline  only with the dentist you always get the impression that there  s more to the film than what we  re seeing . it isn  t very often that a gore film can impress on a substance level  and while this won  t be winning any awards  the parody on the upper class is nicely tied into the plot . the acting  while b  class  is actually quite impressive with corbin bernsen taking the lead role and doing a good job of convincing the audience that he really is a man on the edge . i should thank brian yuzna for casting ken foree in the movie . the dawn of the dead star doesn  t get enough work  and i really love seeing him in films . the rest of the cast doesn  t massively impress  but all do their jobs well enough . overall  the dentist offers a refreshing change for nineties slasher movies . the gore scenes are sure to please horror fans  and i don  t hesitate to recommend this film .  
and not in a fun  to  watch way . it  s just bad . it  s shocking that people have posted positive things about it here . the story sucks  the acting is bad  it  s not scary  the special effects aren  t special   oh no  the blackboard has hands coming out of it  oh gee   the mirror turned into water  the hair  clothes and makeup in the    s scenes aren  t accurate  and they got a middle  aged man with a receding hairline to play the high  school version of himself . this is like later  on nightmare on elm street stuff . i enjoy sitting down to watch a cheesy horror movie as much as anyone else  but there are better bad ones out there to choose from .  
when i saw the dentist  i thought it was very cool . but this movie is not for everyone  especially people who do not like gory scenes as the dentist has lots of gory scenes . that  s why it has it  s r   rating . it  s about a beverly hills dentist dr alan feinstone  who finds his wife brooke cheating on him with the poolman . it  s best to go to your dentist  before  you watch this . but if you don  t like going to the dentist already  then it  s best not to watch this as you may be put off going for life . the dentist has the best bloody revenge in it that i  ve ever seen . who has ever seen a movie that has a dentist  spoiler  pull out all his cheating wife  s teeth and cut out her tongue with no anesthetic  overall awesome flick  but not for everyone .  
mary lou is a slut whose spirit seeks revenge on those who let her come to her fiery doom back in     .  br    br   well  the movie mainly takes place in     . the movie falls into the    s trap of weird  stupid special effects  including some weird demented looking rocking horse .  br    br   anyway  mary lou  s spirit does bad things to people and tries to take over one person  s body . whether or not she succeeds  you  ll have to watch to find out .  br    br   anyway  the movie is largely boring and based around a bunch of worthless characters . this also isn  t really a sequel  the only thing in common with the first is the name of the high school . it has the avg . horror flick fall backs  gore  pointless nudity  knocks against the catholic church . basic stuff  boring movie .  br    br   the acting is decent enough to give it a  out of   . you can waste your time doing something else .  
as dr . alan feinstone  corbin bernsen turns a marvelously deranged performance in  the dentist  .  br    br   with his already obsessive compulsive tendencies in high gear  the irs hounding him  and a very suspicious acting wife dr . alan feinstone is losing his sanity more and more each day .  br    br   when the doc indeed does realize that his wife is having an affair with the local pool boy  it sets off a string of events that lead to torture  murder  ant total mayhem   the dentist  is a solid film  bernsen makes the character of dr . feinstone relatable and hateable at the same time . even though he is completely out of his gourd  the audience will still feel sympathy towards him . that my friends . . . . . is damn good acting .  br    br   a nice solid cast of supporting actors round out this gem of a film . excellent direction  good killings and gore  and effective pacing will keep you entertained throughout the movies run .  br    br   highly recommended   
your attitude going into prom night ii will determine how much joy you take away from the film . if you  re expecting a horror masterpiece  look elsewhere . if you like campy movies that are rather fun to watch unfold  you  ll like this . lisa schrage has the time of her life playing an over the top mary lou and wendy loyd channels schrage  s rage perfectly during her time  possessed  .  br    br   not classic cinema but a fun way to kill a couple of hours with a wicked ending .  br    br    
corbin bernsen gives a terrifically intense and riveting performance as dr . alan feinstone  a wealthy and successful beverly hills dentist who  s obsessed with perfection . when he discovers that his lovely blonde babe trophy wife has been cheating on him and the irs start hounding him about tax problems  feinstone cracks under the pressure and goes violently around the bend . director brian yuzna  working from a suitably dark  witty and demented script by stuart gordon  dennis paoli  and charles finch  exposes the seething neurosis and psychosis bubbling underneath the squeaky clean well  manicured surface of respectable affluent rich america with deliciously malicious glee . moreover  yuzna further spices up the grisly goings on with a wickedly twisted sense of pitch black gallows humor . bernsen positively shines as dr . feinstone he expertly projects a truly unnerving underlying creepiness that  s right beneath feinstone  s deceptively calm and assured veneer . the supporting cast are likewise excellent linda hoffman as feinstone  s bitchy  unfaithful wife brooke  earl boen as smarmy  meddlesome irs agent marvin goldblum  molly hagan as feisty assistant jessica  patty toy as perky assistant karen  jan hoag as jolly office manager candy  virginya keehne as sweet  gawky teenager sarah  ken foree as thorough  no  nonsense detective gibbs  tony noakes as gibbs  equally shrewd partner detective sunshine  michael stadvec as womanizing stud muffin pool cleaner matt  and mark ruffalo as on the make sleazeball steve landers . the first  rate make  up f  x are every bit as gory  gross and upsetting as they ought to be . the polished cinematography by levie isaaks boasts lots of great crazy tilted camera angles and a few tasty zoom  in close  ups . alan howarth  s spirited shuddery score also hits the flesh  crawling spot . an enjoyably warped treat .  
i agree with everything people said on this one but i must add that the soundtrack is probably the worst one i have ever heard my entire life  there are actual vocals during times when you are supposed to be listening to the actors talk  and the vocals are like a broadway version of danzig singing   the darkness of the forest  oh the darkness of the dark  dark forest   or something else so unthreatening . the singer has a terrible vibrato and has been recorded with a treble  y microphone over some synthed  up string section and fake drum beats . it  s horrible    br    br   yes  the male leads are awful . so are the female ones . this is one bad case of gender stereotyping  it  s so bad  everything they say revolves around being a male or a female  just playing up the stereotypes to the max . makes me sick . soooo boring     br    br   the children were so echoey in their lines  you couldn  t understand them . and why do female ghost children always wear cute little bows in their hair  pretty blue dresses and long hair  and ghost boys always wear clean cut slacks with cute little shiny blond hair  not scary  stupid .  br    br   daddy  s face was way too blemish free and clean to be that of a man living in a cave . nice beard and bangs  pa . did you perfectly cut those with a knife yourself or did you stroll into town and go to the salon   br    br   stupid movie .  
this movie was very enjoyable  though you  ll only like it if  you hate going to the dentist but aren  t afraid of a movie where one of them goes beserk  you love horror movies  br    br   i particularly liked the fact that some care was given to explaining the brute actions of the main character . the fact that he  s totally obsessed by cleanliness  especially in the mouth  and then catches his wives providing some oral pleasure to the mud  covered pool  man is a pretty believable reason to go overboard .  br    br   liked it . i give it an  .  
i saw this movie at an actual movie theater  probably the   .   one  with my cousin and uncle . we were around   and    i guess  and really into scary movies . i remember being so excited to see it because my cool uncle let us pick the movie  and we probably never got to do that again   and sooo disappointed afterwards   just boring and not scary . the only redeeming thing i can remember was corky pigeon from silver spoons  and that wasn  t all that great  just someone i recognized . i  ve seen bad movies before and this one has always stuck out in my mind as the worst . this was from what i can recall  one of the most boring  non  scary  waste of our collective    and a waste of film . i have read some of the reviews that say it is worth a watch and i say   too each his own   but i wouldn  t even bother . not even so bad it  s good .  
the dentist was made on the time when almost every profession had it  s psycho . we had mad police officers  ambulance men  secretery  s and that was just for starters . the dentist came suprisingly late because going to dentist is usually everyman  s nightmare .  br    br   the plot is twisted . super clean dentist doctor feinstone lives perfect life in his great  white house   he has beautiful blond wife and great place to work as a dentist . dark clouds are coming to his horizon in the form of nasty irs guy  terminator  s earl boen   dirty pool cleaner  cleaning  his wife and suddenly everyone  s teeth seems to have gone through dark filter . he goes nutso and starts to take care of people teeth in the nasty way . and you don  t want to come to his path .  br    br   crew were professional . producer  director brian yuzna had produced stylish horror movies like re  animator and from beyond . he directed the sequel to re  animator and his first movie society was nice spinoff from john carpenter  s they live . film  s producer pierre david is known from movies like scanners . cast was great . corbin bernsen really suprised me . i knew him from la law and major league  but i could newer dream him as a psycho dentist . he was actually great in his role and he was kind of sad person . linda hoffman was beutiful and dumb as feinstones wife . micahel stadvec did not have much line  s  but after i saw him with ladies of the neighbourhood i knew my future profession . ken foree  dawn of the dead  from beyond  was nice sight as cop on the case . virginya keehne was the innocent teen who is about to be next client to feinstone .  br    br   final warning if you  re like me and have problem with dentist  s then maybe you should skip this one . but if you want to try than you should prepare yourself with dark humor and lots nasty drillings .  
it  s a ghost story . it  s a cannibalism story . it  s a revenge story . it  s a very poorly done film with a lot of violence . i suppose it follows cheaply along the lines of every slasher movie you  ve ever seen . it has the usual isolated place  the cocky campers  heading off to the wilderness . granted  there are some pretty intense scenes . it  s just so dull . bad editing and the whole works . there are ghost children who sound like they are talking into a wastebasket . i  m not really sure what rules the ghosts and the psycho with the seed cap are playing by . it also has the gross out scene where a man eats a piece of meat which is actually what  s left of his wife . a friend of mine once asked me why it is necessary to show this kind of gratuitous  sick violence . i fear that it  s just another step in our desensitized evolution . three is no cleverness here  no tongue in cheek  only a sad waste of time . lots of blood little plot .  
this movie is very great  the acting is fine  with excellent casting of corbin bernsen as the perfectionistic dentist who freaks out and tortures his patients . in the beginning he sees his wife with the poolman  and then he goes crazy . he also takes revenge on his wife and the poolman  beside the patients he tortures . the most special effects are also beautiful  although some are really fake  like a drilled  out tongue  that has laid for  night outside  and is still red in the morning  . but the torture scenes are absolutely well  done . though this movie has the weak point that it is very slow between the heavy parts are sometimes just extremiously boring parts . but for the real horror  thriller  fan this is a must  watch   
i sought out a copy of the forest because i was watching a vh  special  i think  where are they now   and saw the video box flash across the screen during a segment on the actor corky pigeon . he played the male child ghost in this b horror horrible  but i remember him from his character freddy on the silver spoons television show . this flick  s a major letdown . there  s nothing here . it actually took me four months to watch it from start to finish . i kept stopping it in boredom  setting it aside and forgetting about it  then stumbling on it and trying once again to get through it . obviously  the angle of this film that was intended to set it apart from its counterparts was the supernatural element  the apparitions . and obviously  here  that doesn  t work . i can  t stand the male leads . i kept expecting them to look down at their palms during the longer dialogue scenes in order to read cheat lines . the situation at the beginning where the couples decide to go camping separately is awkward and plain dumb . i guess the only positive thing to say about this one is the scene where the guy falls and breaks his leg  you can see the bone sticking out of his flesh . it  s fairly good gore makeup there . man  i  m really reaching for a positive now  huh . the only other no  budget horror film on a level as bad as this one would be home sweet home .  
first it was jack the ripper  now it is alan feinstone . the crazy dentist tortures people in horrific ways . quite realistic at times but some of the acting is abysmal and comical . especially from corbin bernson . in some scenes there is dental torture that will really make you cringe .  
the forest isn  t just your everyday standard slasher  backwoods cannibal fare  it also has an interesting mix of supernatural elements as well . the story is about two couples that hike into the forest on a camping trip . a cave dwelling  cannibalistic woodsmen and the ghosts of his dead wife and two children soon terrorize them . there is something you don  t see every slasher . director don jones gets an  a  for effort although the film itself falls flat on just about every level  the acting is just simply average except for jeanette kelly who plays the dead wife of the woodsman  michael brody aka gary kent  .  br    br   the film opens with some beautiful shots of a couple hiking through a valley and into a forest . they realize too late that someone is stalking them . they are both dispatched in typical slasher fare . our killer uses a trusty hunting knife throughout the entire film  except during a flashback when he implements a handsaw  pitchfork and rusty saw blade to dispatch his cheating wife  s lover .  br    br   the forest has a good story line but the movie just doesn  t work along with it i found it pretty boring with simply crappy acting .      
the dentist starts on the morning of dr . alan feinstone  corbin bernsen   his wife brooke  s  linda hoffman  wedding anniversary . on the surface mr .  mrs . feinstone seem to have a nice life  a beautiful home in los angeles  he has a successful career with responsibility but beneath things are very wrong . alan discovers that brooke is having an affair with matt  michael stadvec  the swimming pool cleaner  to add to his humiliation alan then discovers that matt is also having sex with paula roberts  lise simms  one of his next door neighbours  to top it all off he owes the irs  who are breathing down his neck  a shed load of money . alan starts to lose his mind  he convinces himself that everything is decayed  rotten  just like his patient  s teeth   it  s up to him to fix it . that morning at work he begins to take his frustrations  anger out on his patients  first he injures a young boy named jody  brian mclaughlin   he sexual assault  s a patient named april reign  christa sauls  after he hallucinates that she is his wife  deliberately performs an unnecessary  painful procedure on another . alan also begins to take drugs as he completely loses it  goes homicidal starting with his adulterous wife  pool cleaner . . .  br    br   directed by brian yuzna i thought the dentist was a good film  tried something a bit different . the script by dennis paoli  stuart gordon  charles finch is more of a psycho thriller than straight slasher which came as a surprise to me as i was expecting the latter  it would have been easy to make a teenage slasher film like friday the   th       with a high body count  a wise cracking dentist villain but what the dentist actually turned out to be is very different . the dentist is at heart a character study of one mans descent into madness  it does a fine job although having said that i  m not sure what he goes through is enough justification for his subsequent murderous actions . it moves along at a nice pace  has a nice narrative in which i liked the constant connection alan makes between the decay he sees in his patients  the decay he sees in the world around him  is an entertaining way to pass   odd minutes . it goes without saying that anyone with a phobia about the dentist probably should give this one a miss or you  ll never go again  i liked the ending too where the tables are turned  i  ll say no more . . .  br    br   director yuzna does his usual fine job here  in fact i don  t think i  ve seen a yuzna film that i didn  t enjoy to some extent  he obviously  predictably takes the opportunity to play on our fear of the dentist with some nice dental torture set pieces including pulling people  s teeth out  sexually molesting them  performing operations on drugs  torturing people with the dreaded dentist  s drill . there are some other gore scenes as well  a dead dog  someone gorily slashed with a knife  cut out tongues . yuzna gives the film a certain style on what was probably a low budget  he likes to tilt his camera which make for some nice angles  i liked the shot where the camera is above someone being knifed  huge sprays of blood splatter on the floor in a nice wide overhead angle .  br    br   technically the dentist is fine  decent cinematography  music  production values although some of the special make  up effects look a little unconvincing . the acting is pretty strong from everyone involved with corbin putting in a good crackpot performance . the ever cool  genre favourite ken foree turns up as detective gibbs one of los angeles finest .  br    br   the dentist didn  t turn out like i had expected  all the better for it  if your a horror fan  perhaps want something a bit different then this is well worth checking out . i liked it  think it  s definitely worth a watch .  
a truly disturbed  cannibalistic psychopath  john  gary kent  under the pseudonym michael brody  who lives in a cave  stalks campers who make the unfortunate mistake of backpacking in his wilderness . steve  dean russell  and his buddy charlie  john batis  get into a playful argument with their wives  sharon  tomi barrett  the late real  life wife of gary kent    teddi  ann wilkinson  over surviving in the woods camping by themselves . to prove a point  the gals decide to head for the wilderness out of los angeles for a camping trip disturbing their partners to the point that they soon follow afterward . falling prey to john  teddi is soon killed as sharon runs for her life as the men arrive late to the wilderness due to their truck  s overheating . afraid  tired  and paranoid  sharon receives some very unusual assistance . . john  s ghost children  that  s right  john  s children remain in the wilderness  ghostly apparitions which spy on those who exist in the woods  taking a special liking to sharon  helping guide her to safety and her friends . meanwhile  steve and charlie soon find shelter from a down pour and the darkness of night in the very cave where john lives . cooking over a burning fire  the meat simmering is actually from charlie  s wife  teddi  unknowingly charlie eats from the meat when offered by john who finds the outsiders inside his dwelling place  anyway  soon  worried about their wives  steve and charlie set out to find them as morning breaks . meanwhile  john goes a hunting  with charlie  steve  and sharon in a fight for survival . when steve suffers a compound fracture stumbling between two massive rocks over a flowing river  he will be handicapped only increasing such an already nightmare scenario  with sharon following her ghostly young friends to potential safety . . they even  at one point  plead with their father to not kill her . charlie  unfortunately  doesn  t have such friends .  br    br   director donald jones  . . who also wrote it and went broke funding the film  smartly shoots the film in such a breathtaking  gorgeous location in the sequoia national park  in california  where those gargantuan trees tower to great heights  and i basically watch backwoods slashers for this very purpose . for some strange reason  i didn  t particularly find jones  direction of the setting very atmospheric . . the dread was missing  although there are some rather disturbing attacks by john using his knife  . . shot in a clever way  jones  camera suggests more than what is actually on screen  yet  somehow  still achieves that gasp at what john is doing to victims  . within such a picturesque landscape  to see innocents preyed upon by a maniac  that kind of increases the terror . city folk attempting to spend a nice few days in a different place  to smell the clean  fresh air  enjoy the sights of a lovely view  only to find themselves stalked by a creepy predator with a very intimidating knife . providing the back  story to why john is the monster he is  jones allows us to witness his memory flashback in discovering his wife  s adultery and reacting accordingly  . . she is also a ghost in the wilderness looking for her children  wishing to punish them for  being naughty   killing both her and the lover in bed  . . a refrigerator repairman  . the children  sad and depressed committed suicide and now  haunt  the wilderness  still interacting with their pa or whoever they so choose . i realize such a novelty as ghost children in a backwoods slasher is unique and appreciated by some  but i found the idea rather hokey and too silly to take serious . they do help our heroine escape a few potentially dangerous situations  but it was awfully hard for me to keep from giggling uncontrollably . the music i found hideously    s and the performances aren  t mind  blowing . i mean i could react to the situation they were in  because it is indeed quite terrifying to find yourselves in an unfamiliar and hostile territory being hunted by someone who knows the area so well . i think the film is similar in many ways to don  t go into the woods . . alone   except that the forest has the aforementioned ghost children  . . their voices echo when talking to sharon  their father  or each other  . gary kent looks like a filthy george lucas  with tattered clothes  and humanity lost . as i mentioned above  the violence isn  t as grisly as what is suggested because director jones is able to effectively cut away from a great deal of knife penetration  yet the way he stages the set pieces leave you rather unsettled  . . such as teddi  s murder  the violence mostly silhouetted on the surface of a nearby huge stone formation  her pleas for john to stop and  once stabbed several times  attempts to crawl away from her predator only to be finished offa hanging corpse john is skinning  . i  ve seen better and worse of this type of slasher film  it  s rather mediocre  at best  with some effectively shot scenery . i don  t really think it  s particularly memorable  for the exception of the ghost children .  
this is a gory mess and pretty convincing . corbin bernson is very much in command of this movie with his slick portrayal of the loony control freak eponymous practitioner . linda hoffman plays his cheating wife and she is very easy on the eye  unfortunately for her  the little  tryst  with the pool guy brings severe punishment in a way the good doctor knows best  shame about that pretty smile  the last half hour of the movie is devoted to bernson  s character losing it completely and the spotlight falls on a young actress called virginya keehne . an extremely talented performer  she hogs the limelight from the moment the braces come off . nice legs  too   
the movie starts with a pair of campers  a man and a woman presumably together  hiking alone in the vast wilderness . sure enough the man hears something and it pangs him so much he goes to investigate it . our killer greets him with a stab to the stomach . he then chases the girl and slashes her throat . the camera during the opening scene is from the point of view as the killer .  br    br   we next meet our four main characters  two couples  one in which is on the rocks . the men joke about how the woman would never be able to handle camping alone at a double date  sparking the token blonde  s ambition to leave a week early . unexpectedly  the men leave the same day and their car breaks down . . they end up arriving in the evening . when the men arrive  they are warned about people disappearing in the forest by a crazy ralph doppleganger . they ignore the warning and venture into the blackening night and an eighties song plays in the background with lyrics about being murdered in the dark forest . the men get lost .  br    br   in the next scene we realize that this isn  t just another the burning clone  but a ghost story  the women  scared and lonely are huddling together by the fire . two children appear in the shadows and decide to play peeping tom . well they are obviously ghosts by the way their voices echo  their mother appears with blood dripping from a hole in her forehead and asks the two ladies if they  ve seen her children  before disappearing of course .  br    br   the children run home to papa and tell him about the two beautiful ladies by the river . this causes quite a stir and he gets up  grabbing his knife from atop the fireplace .  daddy  s going hunting   the little girl  exclaims with bad acting . it is apparent here  that the dad isn  t a ghost like his children .  br    br   freaked out by something in the woods  the token blonde splits  running blindly into the night  carrying a knife . she encounters the father who explains he  s starving and it will be quick . this doesn  t make sense because of the panther growls we heard earlier  maybe he  s allergic  are panthers honestly even in california   she ends up wounding him slightly before getting stabbed in the head . a thunderstorm erupts and the men seek shelter  which turns out to be where papa resides . clearly someone lives here because there  s a fire and something weird is roasting over it . the children appear and warn them of papa  who shows up moments later . they disappear as soon as he arrives .  br    br   for whatever reason  our killer only goes after females . he invites the men to have something to eat and tells us the story about his ex wife . we are given a flashback of his wife getting caught cheating . the old man doesn  t tell them however that he kills her and her lover afterwards  but daydreams about it . we aren  t given the reason for the children  s demise . the men go to sleep and are left unharmed . the next morning the men discover the empty campground of their wives . after a brief discussion they split up . one is to stay at the campsite  while the other goes and gets help . the one that is going back to his car breaks his leg . we are then reunited with the children as they explain to the surviving woman that they are ghosts who killed themselves from being sad about their mother . they agree to help the woman reunite with her friends  br    br   the following scene defies the logic of the movie when papa kills the guy waiting at the campsite . he was also dating or married to the blonde . somehow the children realize he is murdered and tell the woman about it . she decides to see it for herself and obviously runs into the killer . luckily the children make him stop by threatening to leave him forever . you know where this is going .  br    br   overall the movie deserves four stars out of ten  and that  s being generous . for all its misgivings  the musical score is well done . it  s still watchable too . there are some camera angles that look professional  and some of the sets are done well . the plot is unbelievable . there is such a thing as willing suspension of disbelief  but with the toad  miles away i can  t imagine the token blonde would take off like that in the middle of the night . i mean  come on   br    br    alan  skip  bannacheck  
first  i  d like to say that  while i know my share about star wars  i am not a fanatic . i do not know how many chromosomes a wamp rat has or the extended family of tk    . what i know is this star wars  all the movies  less so with episode  though   captured something magical . it  s hard to say what  what button lucas has found and boldly pressed  but it works . star wars is more than a movie . it  s an idea .  br    br   how  may you ask  i shall explain . star wars touches on the most universal of stereotypes  good vs evil . it does this so obviously  so profoundly  that literally any person from any environment can understand . episode vi does the very well  concluding the epic struggle between a son and his used and manipulated father  yet also  with the addition of the prequels  reveals even more to the hinted back story . suddenly  it  s darth vader at the front  and viewers realize that it  s the story about anakin  not just luke . but even before     there was amazing depth to it all . it felt real  as if capsule fell from the sky into lucas  s lap  detailing a historical account of a galaxy far  far away .  br    br   star wars is definitely something far above the norm  and i must admit  whenever i see them  particularly this one  i feel very small . i feel as though i  ve been thrust into a world where good and evil are so clearly defined . i get a tingling feeling when i see them  a feeling that something  somehow  has touched me more than any physical thing could ever hope .  
back in the     s  wpix ran  the adventures of superman  every weekday afternoon for quite a few years . every once in a while  we  d get a treat when they would preempt neighboring shows to air  superman and the mole men .  i always looked forward to those days . watching it recently  i was surprised at just how bad it really was .  br    br   it wasn  t bad because of the special effects  or lack thereof . true  george reeves  superman costume was pretty bad  the edges of the foam padding used to make him look more imposing being plainly visible . and true  the mole men  s costumes were even worse . what was supposed to be a furry covering wouldn  t have fooled a ten year  old  since the zippers  sleeve hems and badly pilling fabric badly tailored into baggy costumes were all painfully obvious . but these were forgivable shortcomings .  br    br   no  what made it bad were the contrived plot devices . time and again  superman failed to do anything to keep the situation from deteriorating . a lynch mob is searching for the creatures  rather than round up the hysterical crowd or search for the creatures himself  he stands around explaining the dangers of the situation to lois and the pr man . the creatures are cornered  again  he stands around watching and talking but doesn  t save them until they  re shot . luke benson  the town  s rabble  rouser  shoots at him  attempted murder to any reasonable person  but superman releases the man over and over to cause more problems . superman had quite a few opportunities to nip the problem in the bud  but never once took advantage of them .  br    br   that said  both george reeves and phyllis coates played their characters well  seemingly instantly comfortable in the roles . if only they had been given a better script to work with .  
as if most people didn  t already have a jittery outlook on the field of dentistry  this little movie will sure make you paranoid patients squirm . a successful dental hygienist witnesses his wife going down on the pool man  on their anniversary of all days   and snaps big time into a furious breakdown . after shooting an attack dog  s head off  he strolls into work and ends up taking his marital aggression out on the patients as he plans what to do about his  slut  of a wife . there are plenty of up  close shots of mouth  jabbing  tongue  cutting  and beauty queen fondling  as well as a marvelously deranged performance by corbin bernsen . the scene in which he ties up and gases his wife before mercilessly yanking her teeth out is definitely hard to watch . a dentist is absolutely the wrong kind of person to go off the deep end and this movie sure explains that in detail .  the dentist  is incredibly entertaining  fast  paced  and laughably gory at times . check it out   
a friend and i went through a phase some  alot of  years ago of selecting the crappest horror films in the video shop for an evening  s entertainment . for some reason  i ended up buying this one  probably v . v . cheap  .  br    br   the cheap synth soundtrack is a classic of its time and genre . there  s also a few very amusing scenes . among them is a scene where a man  s being attacked and defends himself with a number of unlikely objects  it made me laugh at the time  doesn  t seem quite so funny in retrospect but there you go  .  br    br   apart from that it  s total crap  mind you . but probably worth a watch if you like films like  chopping mall  . yes  i  ve seen that too .  
i realize this review will get me bashed by the expert film critics patrolling this site  but i will defend this film .  br    br   the dentist is actually a really good film . the acting isn  t always top notch  but the thrills are good and the story  s good . plus you see linda hoffman  s boobies . not that i  m an expert in this field  but the direction seems good and the plot makes sense . corbin makes a great creepy dentist . it does to dentists what jaws does to sharks . . . ish . it obviously had a fairly limited budget  but they did well with it what they could  and developed the characters well  those that count  .  br    br   the end .  
i mean of all the obscure  overlooked  low budget horror movies waiting to be re  discovered in a dvd release  why pick the forest  i love ultra low budget direct to home video or other alternative release horror . i love   s hacker horror . i love backwoods slashers with fools wandering off into the night to be chased  murdered and eaten by psychopaths . i am all for the idea of non  professionals working on a horror movie as a way to maybe break into the industry or just making a movie because they want to make one . i am all for using found public locations  non  actors  no name talent behind the camera and in the studio . no problem  the most evocative image from the forest is it  s opening shot of a couple walking in the distance across a forest into the woods we see them as tiny  vulnerable creatures entering a dank gloomy world where humans may not be the top of the food chain or most feared predator . then the film takes a dive  never recovers   we briefly meet the backpacking couple just as they realize that they are being stalked . they get separated  both are butchered  and then we meet the movie  s protagonists as they drive their car in a traffic jam . they meet up with their respective mates and decide to take a camping trip . sounds of snoring fill the room as people who came over to watch a movie fiddle with their cell phones text messaging people not there telling them how much the movie sucks .  br    br   this film is too slow  this movie is too boring  and this movie is too talky . which wouldn  t be such a bad thing if the writers had given the people something to say other than the most stupid  asinine and unnecessary things . you know your horror movie is in trouble when the character with the most interesting lines is the droopy  faced park ranger who warns everyone away from the cannibal woods . and speaking of these  woods  they look about as far away from civilization as the overgrown vacant lot behind the soccer fields  only with bigger rocks and a stream flowing through it . there are impressive shots of the forest primeval  but no real sense of being out in the middle of it . if any one of the characters just sat down on the trail and waited long enough someone would amble by .  br    br   what is worse about the film is that it fails to generate any human interest i don  t know who these couples are and don  t care what happens to them . the hermit cannibal slasher guy is uninteresting even when pretending to saw freshly cooked meat off the leg of one of his victims to serve grisly bites to her boyfriend  who just happens to seek shelter in his cave . the irony of which is the epitome of  underwhelming  . coupled with a deliberately ominous synthesizer music score  cinematography that suspiciously looks like someone strapped a camera on a dog and it follow people  s movements  a lack of appreciable gore  nudity  lurid thrills and unwholesome atmosphere and what we have here is a horror movie that isn  t even as frightening as a pbs educational tv show about how magnets work .  br    br   i don  t mean to  dish it out  to the people behind this film  since they obviously went into the project with next to nothing  did not push themselves to be creative and ended up with just another boring movie about some maggot chasing women through the woods with a knife . there is nothing wrong with that concept  what is wrong is the unimaginative and utterly pedestrian way this was executed  right down to the utterly pointless conclusion when the film simply peters out at about the   minute mark . the best thing that you can say about the forest is that it is over relatively quickly and there isn  t much to command a repeat screening   hence my confusion at why anyone would feel the need for a dvd release . it was fine as a prism video rental years oddity  as a dvd it will be   .   rack fare inside a month of hitting the shelves . there is little or no urgency to see the film  unless you are considering making your own ultra low budget backwoods hacker set in a public park where nobody can charge you money for filming there . here is a guide of steps to avoid making .  br    br   with all that said and done  the film did have one interesting sequence  or rather one sequence that was so pathetic and ineptly thought out that it becomes an enigma in an otherwise cut  dried film the madman comes home to find his wife in bed with the local contractor . he dispatches his beloved  arms himself with a kitchen knife that looks like it was made just to be used in a horror film and takes off after the interloper . the guy corners and attacks his quarry  who sidesteps  runs away  only to have the psycho materialize in his footsteps with a bigger  badder weapon . the psycho attacks again  and the guy gets away . the psycho materializes again  and once more the guy gets away . then again  finally on the fifth try the psycho trips the dude so to fall on some sort of a bladed contraption . how did he keep materializing armed with bigger badder weapons like that  is there some supernatural element to this psycho  since the film never makes it clear either way the scene is just an enigma  staged to build some tension . it  s purpose remains unclear . the whole film is like that really  existing without any need to be made and executed in such a ham  fisted  uninteresting manner that one cannot help but wonder what the point of it was .  br    br        and ample evidence that just because you can release a movie on dvd that doesn  t mean you necessarily should .  
i remember being terrified of movie blood when i was younger  and gradually getting less so  until getting jaded enough  as i  m sure many other viewers have become  so that the barrage of gory films produced in last few years have entertained me but not scared me or made me squirm .  the dentist  turned that around .  br    br   the setup seems simple a mentally unstable dentist wreaks havoc on the insides of mouths  and perhaps bodies as well . a clever twist  though  is that the dentist is the film  s protagonist  so instead of being some one  dimensional bad guy with no clear motivation  his development is the most extensive of any character and he is very human and believable . the viewer thus feels sympathy for him as well as his victims  and instead of hoping for justice to come to him  i found myself hoping he would somehow find a way to cover up his tracks and return to a normal life .  br    br   what really  makes  a horror movie is the violence . and  the dentist  does it better than any other film i can think of . first off  the film has tons of tension  which is something that modern gore films tend to lack . in one scene    the dentist is emotionally distraught and has to see a young child patient for the first time . as he reaches into the child  s mouth  you hope that  for the dentist  s and the child  s sake  the encounter ends without injury . i won  t spoil what happens . second  when the gore does come  it hits all the worst  squirmy nerves . once again  i won  t give anything away .  br    br   of course  being a movie that you  ve never heard of  it does have flaws . most importantly  it  s exclusively for horror fans . also  as another reviewer mentioned  by taking place over a span of just a few days  we don  t really get any background on the characters . and the tension drops a little bit during the very end . but really  the fact that we would even want to know background about the characters is evidence to how good it is  and the bulk of the film is solid enough that any small lapses in tension can be forgiven .  br    br   it  s strange  after years of being accustomed to movie gore  to suddenly want to cover my eyes at the sight of blood .  the dentist  made me scared and thoroughly uncomfortable  and for this it earns my full approval .  
a cannibalistic backwoods killer is on the prowl and two bickering couples might be his next source of protein in this bargain basement friday the   th  clone cheapie . there s literally nothing of interest to see in this one  the killings are surprisingly sparse and when they do happen  completely amateurish . it also adds ghosts into the mix for no reason what so ever . i felt drained after watching it as if my brain was liquefying and draining out my nose . and it remains without a doubt donald jones  worst movie . if you  re thinking of renting it because of code red  s snazzy new dvd re  release don  t bother  br    br   my grade f  
the brilliance of this movie is that even a competent dentist is pretty scary . it  s one of man  s primal fears . this movie is the nightmarish image every kid has to go through in the waiting room . corbin bernsen gives a surprisingly non  lackluster performance as a crazed dentist who i guess tries to kill people but he only works on their teeth so it  s not really working out . in a particularly gory scene we find so  so actor earl boen having his teeth completely destroyed with drills and whatnot  which i guess is the absolute worst you can do when you  re a killer dentist . it  s a typical brian yuzna situation  not well written but there  s gore . the plot is shoddy and at times seems to be made up on the spot but hey  it  s a killer dentist movie  we  ve all thought of it but they did it first .  
one of the most boring slashers ever . . if you can even call it that . i wouldn  t watch this if it even ended up being some kind of porno movie  which it completely resembles . the fact that you  re watching a small group of middle  aged people in the woods is really unbearable . they made these kinds of movies for teens  so who were they really aiming for when they made this sleep  fest  my favorite part of this movie is the cover art and it  s the only reason i chose to seek out this movie  which happened to be part of a suspense classics   movie pack . . and after seeing the other movies in this   pack  you  ll realize that it belongs nowhere else . so if you  re in the mood for a decent slasher in the woods  i recommend just before dawn and the final terror .  
i love this movie . as a kid  this was one of the first movies i saw that made me flinch . sure  it is mild now  but back in the day  it was awesome . dentists are one thing so many people fear  so why not do a movie about a killer dentist  it  s cheesy  it  s fun  sometimes it  s scary  but it is awesome . and i have always had a love for medical horror . and corbin bernsen plays dr . feinstone perfectly  no one could have done it better . and for a low budget horror film  the effects and such are quite good . and i also love the theme music  it goes well with the film . ken foree  dawn of the dead  is also in this one playing a nosy cop  and does a fine job . there is a fair amount of blood  and some really cool torture  death scenes . check this one out   
the title of this obscure and  almost righteously  forgotten    s slasher inevitably reminds me of the cure  s mega  smash  monster hit song with the same title  hence a piece of the lyrics in the title  section of this user comment . also  i didn  t have anything else to say that was useful  anyway . but hey   the forest  isn  t totally hopeless and not even that bad  actually . if nothing else  at least it obeys the  admittedly unwritten  first rule of    s slasher kill someone within the first   minutes of playtime . sure you  ve heard about the basic premise of this film a dozen times before  but don  t let that discourage you from watching it  as  the forest  has a couple of things more to offer than just an appealingly sinister cover image . it  s actually a bit of an atypical    s slasher  the main characters aren  t ordinary brainless teenagers and the script has solid ambitions towards supernaturalism . the concept isn  t always successful  let alone plausible  but it  s more than interesting enough to hold your attention and there are even are a couple of surprisingly strong moments of tension and plot twists to enjoy . two married couples decide to go camping in the most isolated woods of california  but due to a stupid bet the wives travel separately from their husbands . barely set up for the night  they receive uncanny visits from a mother looking for her two children  the children themselves and finally the father who  s out hunting for human flesh . the demented family may be real or imaginary  but the women are definitely in danger and by the time their husbands arrive  they have already vanished . the men too encounter the family  and they find out more about the slightly dysfunction background .  the forest  is a weird and unusual film  to say the least . it  s not exactly a masterpiece of plotting  but the thoroughly strange atmosphere will certainly appeal to open  minded fans of    s horror . the murders are fairly gruesome and will  filmed  including a slit throat and a painful saw  massacre  and the filming locations are stunningly beautiful . the more you contemplate about the story and its abrupt twists  the less it makes any sense  so my advice would just be to enjoy this odd viewing experience for as long as it lasts and not a minute longer . the acting performances are just above average  the music is okay and at least director donald jones  also responsible for the    s exploitation  sickie  schoolgirls in chains   tried to be a little more creative that the majority of    s horror films . too bad it ultimately fails .  
before we begin  i have a fear of dentists . this movie gives me the creeps and even makes me cringe . that is what i love about this film . the movie is kind of boring . for that  i take  stars off   br    br   spoiler alert  br    br   the movie revolves around dr . alan feinstone who has just found out his wife has been cheating on him . soon  he begins to have hallucinations and begins torturing his patients  killing co  workers  and he has even tortured his wife to death and killed the man he was having an affair with .  br    br   end spoiler  br    br   the movie is very bloody and gory . i would recommend it if you are into gore .  br    br   i give this film  stars out of   . dr . alan feinstein is not your normal everyday dentist   
the mood of this movie is pretty good and it captures the feel of the    s well with some good performances .  br    br   however . . . . .  br    br   the script is run of the mill with the exception of a couple of comedic moments and comes off as being weird where i expect it was intended to be edgy . the characters are totally over dramatized and unbelievable and full of right wing clichs that the script writer probably saw watching a panorama documentary on the national front . the biggest problem is this movie has no real story . it ticks all the right  arty  boxes but nothing actually happens and at the end you are left wondering what the point was .  br    br   very disappointing  
the dentist is a really good thriller . and pretty disturbing . i think we can all agree that the chances of running into a psycho dentist are much bigger than running into monsters  vampires or zombies . that  s exactly why this movie is so scary . during this film  you  ll probably think about your own dentist a few times . whether he  s capable of doing such things . . . you better pray his wife doesn  t cheat on him . that  s what the story is all about . a respected dentist in la snaps when he finds out his wife is cheating on him with the pool  boy .  that must be the greatest profession in the world  by the way . poolboys always take advantage of the housewives when the husband is at his work  from then on our dentist  dr . feinstone  can only thing about taking revenge . he can  t concentrate on his patients anymore and a couple of them get hurt . things aren  t made easier for our dentist when he  s chased by an annoying tax  controller  a curious cop and a suspicious staff member of his . at one point  dr . feinstone can  t take it anymore . now he  s not only after his wife but after everyone who comes near him . . the dentist is written and directed by brian yuzna and co  written by stuart gordon . you can take that as a recommendation to itself . these  persons already gave us a few great horror movies  and personal favorites of mine  like re  animator  from beyond and society . with the dentist  they succeed once more to bring an entertaining and very chilling thriller . this film came right on time actually . the decade hadn  t brought us many great horror films so far . i  m not at all saying this is a masterpiece  but it  s a nice change . corbin bensen is great as the dentist obsessed by hygiene . i remember him mostly as a comedy or drama actor  but he can sure handle a psychotic character . the rest of the cast does good work too . the woman who plays feinstone  s wife is really attractive . also  it was great to see ken foree acting again . the actor from my all time favorite movie dawn of the dead plays the cop in this film . yuzna casted him in from beyond too    years ago and i thank him for that . i don  t recommend this movie to everyone  if you have a weak stomach  i  ll advise you to skip it  but if you do watch it  you  ll enjoy it very much . you  ll be disgusted . . . but that  s an extra reason  i think . it  s been a while since i was really freaked out by watching a film . it  s a great topic to handle in the genre and yuzna does it in a great way . too bad this film was followed by a completely unnecessary sequel . my humble opinion on the dentist . . .      
i watched this film last night with anticipation  but really wasn  t very impressed .  br    br   with the exception of  combo   i thought the acting was poor and the narrative was limited . it came across like a  made for tv  drama .  br    br   i felt that the film was very contrived . the whole set up of hammering in the context at the start  yes  we get that this is   s britain  you can stop now  was tiresome  and gave a very one  sided view of what life was like in   s britain  poverty  war juxtaposed with royalty  margaret thatcher  yet nothing in between  there were actually middle  classes who existed back then  just ordinary working people  with a decent wage and a mortgage . the falklands clips also seemed to be added randomly towards the end  for  dramatic effect   i presume .  br    br   the sequence of events felt a tad disjointed  as the characters moved one one action to the next without us seeing how their mindset could  ve changed so quickly .  br    br   the relationship between  shaun  and  smell  was toe  curling . i couldn  t even look during the snogging scene . i find it very hard to believe that she would  ve been attracted to a boy who was not only so much younger  but also looked so much younger . i know there were only four years between them  but four years is nothing once you reach your twenties  yet it  s a huge difference in your teens  in my experience  that kind of teen age difference only occurs when the girl is the younger one  since girls mature so much quicker  and are more on the wavelength of boys a few years older . sorry  but i didn  t buy it  an unnecessary plot point created for shock value .  br    br   the ending was somewhat abrupt and  again  contrived . if the flag throwing incident was supposed to be iconic  then it fell somewhat short in my eyes .  br    br   it bugs me that british films only concern themselves with either the upper classes or the poverty  stricken . don  t get me wrong  i love trainspotting  and four weddings has its charms  but can  t we brits come up with anything different  why are our films always so hung up on the class system  i was born in      so wasn  t much different in age to  shaun  would  ve been in     . i grew up in a single parent family on a fairly down  trodden council estate in a city in england . however  my childhood experiences were vastly different to those portrayed in the film  i don  t even remember racism being an issue  although i  m not saying it didn  t exist  .  this is england   not in my experience .  br    br   the bottom line is that i felt this film lacked substance  and i was completely bored and unimpressed throughout .  
i  m surprised no  one has thought of doing a movie like this before . horror is often most effective when it uses real life unpleasantness as a theme . and nobody  except for steve martin in the little shop of horrors  likes going to the dentist . tooth torture has been done before  see the marathan man for example   but this brings the terror into suburbia .  br    br   the plot revolves around a dentist  dr . alan feinstone  corbin bernsen   who descends into madness . now our dear doctor wasn  t playing with a full deck to begin with  but driven by jealousy and an obsessive  compulsive disorder he begins to reek havoc on those around him . the doctors spiraling mental condition is kinda close to what we see in micheal douglas  s character in falling down  but with a horror edge .  br    br   written and directed by horror stalwarts stuart gordon and brian yuzna  its witty and has a great flow . also featured playing a cop  is the ever welcome ken foree .  br    br   now i believe this movie would not work without the absolutely fantastic performance from corbin bernsen . having really only seen him in la law before  i was blown away by his acting .  br    br   the sequel the dentist  is also worth watching  but slightly under par compared to the original .  br    br   ttkk  s bottomline  a fun movie with some scenes that will make you cringe  capped  pun intended  by a great performance from bernsen  
   minutes of mindy . . . mindy is a tease to boyfriend bill . . . mindy prances at the high school dance . . . mindy hitchhikes to big sur  shoplifts a loaf of  shepherd  s bread   mindy nearly gets gang  raped . . . ah  the pleasures of crown international drive  in features . you must remember that these films were never designed to be watched start to finish on dvd players . they were made as   minutes of ambiance so the teens of the   s would have a soundtrack as they got it on in their pintos and citations . the lack of pacing and structure didn  t matter to the original audience   they probably only tuned in when the t  a on screen matched what they were up to  out in the parking lot . the film is really irritating when watched as a story . it  s a lot more fun to talk about it than watch it . my favorite inanities   bill and his friend accompany the teacher to find mindy . with no luggage or change of underwear  they spend  nights sharing a motel room with the teacher  just like in real life .   after being abducted and nearly raped by depraved bikers  and after their innocent friend  pan  is savagely beaten  mindy and her girlfriend find an unattended motorcycle on the road . mindy immediately brightens up and chirps   i  m going  to big sur    but again  it  s a lot more fun to talk  read about than sit through .  
not that many films have truly exploited the fear of going to the dentist that many people have . those in the profession have some genuinely intimidating looking instruments . give writers dennis paoli  stuart gordon  and charles finch for deriving maximum make  you  squirm  in  your  seat shock value from their premise .  br    br   corbin bernsen  in a nicely nuanced performance  is alan feinstone  dedicated dentist whose train jumps off the tracks early on . an unbalanced obsessive  compulsive  he starts dwelling on thoughts of decay  even imagining it where there isn  t any  and also equating decay with corruption of society in general . having witnessed his unfaithful wife brooke  linda hoffman  getting it on with their pool boy  he determines to punish her . at the same time  he  s under pressure from a smarmy i . r . s . agent  earl boen  best known as dr . silberman from the  terminator  franchise  to do a favor in exchange for the agent keeping his mouth shut about feinstone  s financial affairs . feinstone starts to perceive everybody around him as decayed in one way or another  and he goes on a murder spree as police detective gibbs  the always welcome ken foree  picks up his trail .  br    br   director brian yuzna clearly has great fun with the script . it allows for some genuinely nasty and remarkably entertaining gore scenes that do just as well as creating sympathy for the victims as thrilling the audience . the script gives the feinstone character some fine lines of dialog and is overall quite sly and amusing  with large doses of pitch  black humor  such as feinstone ordering a victim to  get their tongue out of the way    . brooke and the i . r . s . agent figure in particularly effective torture scenes . the makeup effects are for the most part quite good . and the film does a fine job of maintaining its forward momentum  as feinstone  with his relentless drive for perfection  switches from respected professional to unhinged killer in record time .  br    br   foree  always cool and fun to watch  is rather wasted in a standard  issue detective role  but there  s some enjoyment in watching boen play his slimeball part to the hilt . hoffman and christa sauls provide very appealing eye candy . and a pre  fame mark ruffalo can be seen in a small supporting role . but this is all very much bernsen  s show as he sinks his teeth  pardon me for using that expression  into his plum leading part with total conviction .  br    br    the dentist  ranks as one of the more original and interesting horror films to come out of the      s .  br    br        
have you ever sat watching a movie when   or   minutes have gone by and suddenly you realize that you have actually seen the movie before  that happened to me with  the young graduates  . the cover of the video box  if you can find the video  is extremely deceiving . i  d swear that the two women on the cover aren  t even in the film .  br    br   anyway  i was either born a decade too late to appreciate the finer points of this film or . . . it is simply pointless junk . i  m heavily leaning toward the latter but i guess some out there have developed a connection to this movie .  br    br   hmm . . . plot . a plot . let  s see . . . there must be a plot around here somewhere . nope  i can  t find it . it  s pretty much about some high school seniors acting dopey and doing drugs and speaking in a language that became outdated decades ago . one of the female students has a crush on her teacher . the teacher has a frigid wife  whom he indeed refers to as an iceberg  so he is receptive to the girl  s advances .  br    br   there  s a lot of driving around and inane dialogue and plenty of spastic dancing . our cat  booboo  was transfixed by the dancing high school kids . she watched with amazing intensity as the dancers gyrated and shook out on the dance floor . it  s nice to see that at least one species has found something interesting in this relic .      
this would have been so much fun to see in a theater  back in     . there is a guilty pleasure corner of my movie taste which really appreciates really well done shocker movies .  br    br    the dentist  is panned sometimes probably because people usually have strong feelings over dental matters . maybe the ada launched a campaign against it  since dentists report they have to apologize for this movie and for  the marathon man   which only has one scene comparable to the many in  the dentist   .  br    br   it  s amazing to note that according to the trivia page  the movie was shot in   days . of course  post production can take longer than movie shooting sometimes and the editing for  the dentist  is picture perfect . the quick cuts heighten the tension so much that in the scene where the dentist  takes care  of his wife there  s only two quick cuts showing what is happening . the rest is left to our very fertile imaginations  corbin bernsen was a good choice for the role since he has lots of experience playing psychologically  off  characters and he completely sold the obsessive compulsive aspects of the dentist .  br    br   for me the pacing of the movie was just right . the film makers reveal the wife  s naughtiness in just the right way . all of the characters in the dental office look like they are actual people working in a real office . there  s lots of tension while they are dealing with impatient people awaiting the dentist  s arrival . meanwhile the dentist is off on the cusp of a huge psychotic breakdown  unlike so many movies of this genre  the script is very very tight . all the victims fall into the dentist  s trap in very calculated ways . two law enforcement types even get involved in a little subplot that ends up creating a shocker of a showdown near the end .  br    br   definitely not for the faint of heart or the dental  phobic but a real roller coaster ride and heavily recommended for fans of intelligent gorefests .  
  a trio of treasure hunters is searching the west indies for a hidden fortune . the lure of gold makes for a rise in tension as the men come closer to the treasure  s location . the deep  sea divers hope to track down the gold  but find that greed and hatred leads to murder   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  manfish  is the name of their boat  not a monster . the skeleton who gives muscular captain john bromfield  as brannigan  his half of the treasure map is very good . old salt victor jory  as professor  provides the other half of the map . first mate lon chaney jr .  as swede  plays dumb  and sexy tessa prendergast  as alita  guards the rum  not very well  obviously  . serious editing and continuity problems mar the picture  which otherwise might have amounted to something .  br    br    manfish       w . lee wilder  john bromfield  victor jory  lon chaney jr .  
i thought that rotj was clearly the best out of the three star wars movies . i find it surprising that rotj is considered the weakest installment in the trilogy by many who have voted . to me it seemed like rotj was the best because it had the most profound plot  the most suspense  surprises  most emotional   especially the ending  and definitely the most episodic movie . i personally like the empire strikes back a lot also but i think it is slightly less good than than rotj since it was slower  moving  was not as episodic  and i just did not feel as much suspense or emotion as i did with the third movie .  br    br   it also seems like to me that after reading these surprising reviews that the reasons people cited for rotj being an inferior film to the other two are just plain ludicrous and are insignificant reasons compared to the sheer excellence of the film as a whole . i have heard many strange reasons such as a  because yoda died b  because bobba fett died c  because small ewoks defeated a band of stormtroopers d  because darth vader was revealed  br    br   i would like to debunk each of these reasons because i believe that they miss the point completely . first off  who cares if bobba fett died    if george lucas wanted him to die then he wanted him to die . don  t get me wrong i am fan of bobba fett but he made a few cameo appearances and it was not lucas  intention to make him a central character in the films that star wars fans made him out to be . his name was not even mentioned anywhere in the movie . . . you had to go to the credits to find out bobba fett  s name    judging rotj because a minor character died is a bit much i think . . . secondly  many fans did not like yoda dying . sure  it was a momentous period in the movie . i was not happy to see him die either but it makes the movie more realistic . all the good guys can  t stay alive in a realistic movie  you know . otherwise if all the good guys lived and all the bad guys died this movie would have been tantamount to a cheesy saturday morning cartoon . another aspect to this point about people not liking yoda  s death . . well  nobody complained when darth vader struck down obi wan kenobi in a new hope .  many consider a new hope to be the best of the trilogy  why was obi wan  s death okay but yoda  s not . . . hmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . . another reason i just can not believe was even stated was because people found cute ewoks overpowering stormtroopers to be impossible . that is utterly ridiculous   i can not believe this one   first off  the ewoks are in their native planet endor so they are cognizant of their home terrain since they live there . if you watch the movie carefully many of the tactics the ewoks used in defeating the stormtroopers was through excellent use of their home field advantage .  since you lived in the forest all your life i hope you would have learned to use it to your advantage  they had swinging vines  ropes  logs set up to trip those walkers  and other traps . the stormtroopers were highly disadvantaged because they were outnumbered and not aware of the advantages of the forest . the only thing they had was their blasters . to add  it was not like the ewoks were battling the stormtroopers themselves  they were heavily assisted by the band of rebels in that conquest . i thought that if the stormtroopers were to have defeated a combination of the star wars heros  the band of rebels  as well as the huge clan of ewoks with great familiarity of their home terrain  that would have been a great upset . lastly  if this scene was still unbelievable to you . . how about in empire strikes back or in a new hope where there were several scenes of a group consisting of just han solo  chewbacca  and the princess  being shot at by like ten stormtroopers and all their blasters missed while the heros were in full view   and not only that  the heroes  of course  always hit the stormtroopers with their blasters . the troopers must have very  very bad aim then  at least in empire strikes back  the battle of endor was much more believable since you had two armies pitted each other not  heroes against a legion of stormtroopers . don  t believe me  check out the battle at cloud city when our heroes were escaping lando  s base . or when our heros were rescuing princess leia and being shot at  somehow they missed  as han solo and luke were trying to exit the death star .  br    br   the last reason that i care to discuss  others are just too plain ridiculous for me to spend my time here .  is that people did not like darth vader being revealed  well  in many ways that was a major part of the plot in the movie . luke was trying to find whether or not darth vader was his father  annakin skywalker . it would have been disappointing if the movie had ended without luke getting to see his father  s face because it made it complete . by annakin  s revelation it symbolized the transition darth vader underwent from being possessed by the dark side  in his helmet  and to the good person he was annakin skywalker  by removing the helmet  . the point is that annakin died converted to the light side again and that is what the meaning of the helmet removal scene was about . in fact  that  s is what i would have done in that scene too if i were luke  s father . . . isn  t that what you would have done if you wanted to see your son with your own eyes before you died and not in a mechanized helmet   br    br   on another note  i think a subconscious or conscious expectation among most people is that the sequel must be worse  even if it is better  that preceding movies is another reason that rotj does not get as many accolades as it deserves . i never go into a film with that deception in mind  i always try to go into a film with the attitude that  well  it might be better or worse that the original . . but i can not know for sure . . let  s see .  that way i go with an open mind and do not dupe myself into thinking that a clearly superior film is not as good as it really was .  br    br   i am not sure who criticizes these movies but  i have asked many college students and adults about which is their favorite star wars movie and they all tell me  except for one person that said that a new hope was their favorite  that it is rotj . i believe that the results on these polls are appalling and quite misleading .  br    br   bottom line  the return of the jedi was the best of the trilogy . this movie was the only one of the three that kept me riveted all throughout its    minutes . there was not a moment of boredom because each scene was either suspenseful  exciting  surprising  or all of the above . for example  the emotional light saber battle between luke and his father in rotj was better than the one in the empire strikes back any day     br    br   finally  i hope people go see the phantom menace with an open mind because if fans start looking for nitpicky  insignificant details  or see it as  just another sequel   to trash the movie such as  this movie stinks because luke is not in it   then this meritorious film will become another spectacular movie that will be the subject of derision like rotj suffered unfortunately .  br    br    
  you  re not going to shoot those little creatures . in the first place  they haven  t done you any harm . in the second place  they may be radioactive .  ah  the joys of no  budget   s sci  fi yet despite the odd gem like that  superman and the mole  men is pretty uninspiring going even with a lean    minute running time . it  s beyond cheap  the one shot of superman flying is an incredibly inept few frames of animation  and pretty dull with it  though it has a surprisingly altruistic message  the mute mole  men  diminutive actors with enlarged skulls and fur coats who look more like mr mxyzptlk without the hat than subterranean critters  released from their underground world by oil drilling are not malicious  merely misunderstood  and george reeves  man of steel tries to prevent the local small  town mob led by jeff corey from killing them . an interesting counterpoint to the paranoia of the day  perhaps  but with little more than good intentions to recommend it .  
this is an entertaining movie . actually might make you uncomfortable since it isn  t some undead psychopath or sociopath  its your everyday doctor . how scary is that . got some good actors and actresses in this movie  though some where unappreciated like virginya keehne as sarah . ken foree who you might recognize from rob zombie  s devils rejects and halloween       co  stars as our detective on schizoid dr . alan feinstone  s  corbin benson  trail . short little summary is this dr . alan feinstone  a guy who has a sexy wife  nice house  and is a great dentist everyone loves . until he catches his wife cheating on him with the pool cleaner . then he starts having hallucinations that his patients  teeth are all rotted and that the female patients are his wife as he starts going nuts in this thriller . but before that  nice guy .  
the reason the dvd releases of this film are in black and white is because nobody can get their hands on a color print of this public domain film  a modest sea story at best .  br    br   distributed for television thru allied artists  dvd  s  or vhs  on the market at this time for this title are all coming from the same   mm television print . films distributed for television prior to     were often distributed in b  w prints  because the bulk of viewers did not have color sets anyway . striking b  w prints for television was also cheaper  as it often involved quite a few prints to cover all stations running a film on a syndicated basis .  
doctor feinstone is a dentist . he has a beautiful wife and a huge house with a pool . suddenly he discovers that his wife is making out with the pool attendant  he realises that behind everything clean  there is decay . he starts to torture his patients . . . corbin bernsen is brilliant as the deranged dentist  he is completely believable . there is surprisingly little gore but the scenes of dental torture are quite nasty and grotesque . highly recommended .  the dentist   is also worth checking out   
i went to see this movie  actually i went to see family portraits  which contains cutting moments   other short films by douglas buck  at the mar del plata festival  argentina  . . . i just couldn  t watch it  i had to cover my eyes after the  st half of cutting moments and take a peek every once in a while . by the time it was over  my stomach was upside down and i felt light headed . i just had to leave the cinema a few minutes after the  nd short begun  btw  of course i was not the only one who left the room  . it was waaaay too violent and disgusting for me  i am impressed by the many brave people who actually loved it . i just don  t get how you can love that kind of movies  the shocking and bloody and horrible images i saw got really stuck in my head for like two days   i also try to analyze the story  my boyfriend did see the whole thing and told me about it  and i just don  t think it makes any sense . i mean  that amount of violence and stuff  makes no other sense than to try to shock people . and that  s not a good enough reason  i think . there  s absolutely nothing in this movie that i can say  well  at least  x  thing about it was good  . but well  i guess i will never understand that kind of films .  
director brian yuzna has had an uneven career in the horror genre  creating masterpieces such as  return of the living dead   or  bride of re  animator   but at the same time he has done awful movies such as  faust love for the damned  or the mediocre  progeny  . he is obviously better in the seat of producer where his work producing stuart gordon  s films has been superb .  br    br    the dentist   is one of his lesser works as director  but the low profile it has benefits the film and its lack of pretensions makes it a very enjoyable experience . it tells the story of dr . alan feinstone  played superbly by corbin bernsen   a successful dentist who one day discovers that his perfect life is not really as perfect as he thought when he discovers that his beautiful wife  linda hoffman  has an affair with the pool boy . this event disturbs his mind and puts him in a killing spree as he takes revenge on the world for being so  filthy  .  br    br   the premise is very well handled by yuzna  as he takes us on a ride following feinstone  s day of revenge . what makes this movie different from most slashers is that we are not in the victim  s perspective  we follow feinstone because he is the main character . we witness how he goes from respected professional to psycho murder in a day . yuzna manages to give the movie the exact amount of suspense but adds a good dose of dark humor that really helps the movie .  br    br   most of the success of the premise is in bernsen  s performance as feinstone . he can make you feel sympathy and hate towards him at the same time  and the subtle humor his character has is another aspect that aids the film . the rest of the cast is not as good  and i think that their sub par acting hurts the film more than it should . a notable exception is ken foree  as the detective trying to catch feinstone . while his part is quite small  he makes a great job with it .  br    br   with a dentist as killer  gory scenes are expected  and brian yuzna delivers great sfx in the correct amount . it  s good to see that he does not go over  the  top with it as he usually do  and i dare to say that this is a highlight of the film . it has the exact amount of gore that is expected  nothing less and nothing more . yuzna restrained himself of his common excesses and the result is great .  br    br   while this is not among yuzna  s most well  known films  i would say that it is one of his best . sure  it is not classic material as his masterpieces  but it is a movie that entertains and never gets tiresome or boring . it is a low  budget simple film  but for what it is  i think it rocked .      
ludicrous violations of the most basic security regs are only the beginning . it  s hard to see how they achieved such abysmal trash on such a low budget . i turned it off once  then got curious to see if it could get any worse . it did .  
i remember this movie in particular when i was a teenager  my best friend was telling me all about this movie and how it freaked her out as a kid . of course being the blood thirsty gal that i am  i had to go out and find this movie . now i don  t know how to put this without loosing credibility  so i  m just going to say it  i actually had fun watching this movie  i know that it  s stupid  not the best story and beyond bloody and gruesome  but that  s what i was looking for and the dentist delivers in the scares  blood  sex  and crazy psychopaths . sometimes i just need a fun movie like this to just let loose and get grossed out by .  br    br   dr . alan feinstone is obsessed with order and cleanliness . on the day of his wedding anniversary  he spies his wife brooke having sex with their filthy pool man  matt . at his dental practice  feinstone  s first patient of the day is young jody saunders  there for his very first dental appointment . feinstone begins to clean jody  s teeth . everything goes smoothly at first  until he imagines that jody  s teeth are brown and rotten . his dental pick slips  stabbing jody in the gums . jody  s mother picks up her crying  bleeding child and leaves angrily . feinstone sees his second patient  beauty queen april reign . alone with april  feinstone sedates her with nitrous oxide so that he can fill a cavity in one of her molars . as she drifts off into unconsciousness  feinstone imagines that she has transformed into his wife . he begins kissing and fondling her on the dental chair  then begins to choke her . april starts to cough and half  wakes up from the gas . feinstone snaps out of his trance and quickly re  buttons april  s blouse . feinstone decides to end the day early and sends his staff and patients home . later that night  brooke meets feinstone at his practice . he reveals his new italian opera  themed patient room . he encourages brooke to try out the room  s dental chair . when she does  feinstone binds her to the chair and sedates her with nitrous oxide . with operatic music blaring in the background  he begins to pull out brooke  s teeth . feinstone has gone off the deep end and is definitely not going to let anybody stand in his way of cleanliness .  br    br   honestly  as silly as this movie sounds  i did have a lot of fun watching the dentist . the best scene without a doubt is when he teaches that nasty irs agent a lesson in hygiene that i  m sure he  ll never forget . man  i don  t think i  ve brushed my teeth so much after i watched the dentist . yeah  i am going to warn you  this movie is in no way for the faint of heart  it  s very bloody . there  s stabbing  gun shots and just these brutal dental torture scenes that will make your stomach turn . yet somehow i just enjoyed this movie  if i ever want just a good gore movie that was made for true horror fans  i slip it in my dvd player  and that  s the  tooth  lol  i am so funny  um  yeah  i try  give me a little credit .  br    br        
this is a rather tame fluff piece concerning ww ii codes being broken  stolen  etc . the acting is about what i expected from this cast of mgm  b  actors .  br    br   one big caution . jean rogers  who did such a great job playing the very sexy dale arden in the first two flash gordon serials is just awful in this movie . her character is extremely annoying . she absolutely never lets  up with her overacting . we are supposed to believe that during the height of a world war in what would obviously be a top secret code facility  she would be allowed to just pop in and out of any office of her choosing although she has no official function . from that standpoint i  m sorry that i ever watched this film . it has forever changed my perception of ms . rogers . talentwise  she is an extreme lightweight .  br    br   lee bowman is his usual self  meaning that he is merely adequate .  br    br    
after witnessing his wife  linda hoffman  engaging in sexual acts with the pool boy  the already somewhat unstable dentist dr . feinstone  corbin bernsen  completely snaps which means deep trouble for his patients .  br    br   this delightful semi  original and entertaining horror flick from director brian yuzna was a welcome change of pace from the usual horror twaddle that was passed out in the late nineties . although the dentist  is intended to be a cheesy  fun little film  yuzna ensures that the movie delivers the shocks and thrills that many more serious movies attempt to dispense . despite suffering somewhat from the lack of background on the central characters  and thus allowing events that should have been built up to take place over a couple of days  the movie is intriguing  generally well scripted and well paced which allows the viewer to maintain interest  even during the more ludicrous of moments . the dentist  suffers  on occasion  from dragging but unlike the much inferior     sequel  there are only sporadic uninteresting moments  and in general the movie follows itself nicely .  br    br   corbin bernsen was very convincing in the role of the sadistic  deranged and perfectionist dr . alan feinstone . the way bernsen is able to credibly recite his lines  especially with regards to the foulness and immorality of sex  particularly fellatio   is something short of marvellous . while many actors may have trouble portraying a cleanliness obsessed psycho without it coming off as too cheesy or ridiculous  bernsen seems to truly fit the personality of the character he attempts to portray and thus makes the film all that more enjoyable . had the dentist  not been intended to be a fun  almost comical  horror movie  bernsen  s performance would probably have been much more powerful . sadly  the rest of the cast  including a pre  fame mark ruffalo  failed to put in very good performances and although the movie was not really damaged by this  stronger performances could have added more credibility to the flick .  br    br   the dentist  is not a horror film that is meant to be taken seriously but is certainly enjoyable  particularly  i would presume  for fans of cheesy horror . those who became annoyed at the number of scream        clones from the late nineties may very well find this a refreshing change  as i did . a seldom dull and generally well paced script as well as some proficient direction helps to make the dentist  one of the more pleasurable cheesy horrors from the      s . on top of this we are presented with some particularly grizly and  on the whole  realistic scenes of dental torture  which should keep most gorehounds happy . far from perfect but far from bad as well  the dentist  is a flick that is easily worth watching at least once . my rating for the dentist    .     .  
this is almost like two films   one literate and engaging  the other stupid and clichd . it  s really a shame all the problems weren  t worked out with the writing  but considering how quickly most b  movies were written and produced  this isn  t too unusual . it  s a real shame  though  as this could have been a very good film .  br    br   first the good . the movie is original and involves wwii code  breakers . this is pretty fascinating and i liked watching the leading man  lee bowman  go through his paces as a master code  breaker . in fact  the first two  thirds of the film was very good . but now for the bad  the film just went on way too long and lost steam at about   minutes . additionally  jean rogers  role as the  kooky girlfriend  must rank as one of the worst  written and distracting roles in film history   for every smart move made by bowman  the idiot rogers then stepped in to screw things up as some sort of misguided  comedy relief  . if her role had been intelligently written  the overall film would have improved immensely  instead  watching her  it  s hard to understand how we actually won wwii    
this gem for gore lovers is extremely underrated . it  s pure delight and fun  gratuitous servings of blood  insanity and black humor  which can please even the most demanding lover of the genre . a full exploitation of the almost universal fear of dentists and flawlessly shot . only for the connoisseurs .  
oh my . i decided to go out to the cinemas with some friends  wanting to watch one of those mild  feel  good christmas movies  and i walk out disgusted . the movie failed . full  stop . paul giamatti who i consider as a good actor played his character and roll just horribly  along with vince vaughn who has always been a personal favourite of mine . they try and turn a christmas movie  into some new  style . sort of bad  mixed with good  but it all turned out very wrong . the first ten or so minutes weren  t too bad  but once we saw santa  it was over . it didn  t get any better  the rate stayed the same  there was no character development  and certainly is one of the worst christmas movies ever invented . don  t watch it  whatever you do .  
i love the satan pit    david tennant is such a great actor and so is billie piper    who else loves will thorp to pieces    he is so cute  isn  t he  i hated the bits where he got possessed by the devil and where he got told to  go to hell   as rose so bluntly put it . mind you  he was quite funny when he said   rose  do us a favour  will you  shut up   . mr jefferson was so brave  wasn  t he  dying to save the others . i felt really sorry for toby  will thorp  when he came out of the possession for the  nd time because he was so scared . i was like  oh my god if i was rose i  d be so scared for him  . and when she hugged him i was like  grrrrrr  he  s mine  hands off   but i thought that was really sweet . and the doctor . . . . well  i thought he was gonna say to ida  tell rose i love her  but he didn  t . oh well .  
did anyone read the script . this has to be some of the worst writing and directing of the entire year . three great actors  paul giamatti  rachel weisz and miranda richardson couldn  t pull this one out . about two  thirds it looked like giamatti eyes were saying  i can  t believe i signed the contract . it  s not the worst movie i ever saw  but it  s on the really really bad christmas movie list . not enough lines  but what else can be said  okay  the movie just doesn  t move with vaughn  s con  man dialogue  his character is just a creepy guy that you just can  t get past . it was just a lackluster walk through  that no one seemed to be able to get into .  
anyone find it interesting that the ood look strangely similar to the  great cthulhu  of h p lovecraft vintage  hmmm   br    br   great pair of episodes  not referring to billie piper as most seem to do   in the impossible planet and the satan pit .  br    br   also the link to  legion  i think also used in who before and also referring to satan in various novels post exorcist era . . .  br    br   great suspense episodes utilising fear and faith elements . the new team for these  who  s are working great magic for tv .  br    br   this certainly creates new fears and  hide behind the sofa  feelings not seen for many  many years in this continuation of a superb bbc series  pity it is confirmed by the bbc that billie piper is quitting  perhaps not permanently  after end of series   o     
i went into this movie expecting it to be really god  awful . and it was . i really felt sorry for the star  studded cast  kathy bates was a wonderful actress . . . before she made this movie  vince vaughn and paul giamatti were disappointing as usual but miranda richardson couldn  t put in one of the fabulous performances i know and love her for . fred  s dad  played by trevor peacock  of vicar of dibley fame  amongst others   had about one line .  br    br   the plot was predictable and all over the place  and the humour was . . . lacking .  however  there was one part of the movie where santa enters the house of a jewish family . . . that made me laugh just because their expressions were classic  don  t see this movie unless your only other alternative is having a head  on collision with a train  actually  maybe the train would be better . . .   
i thoroughly enjoyed the first part of this two parter  the impossible planet  and was slightly worried that the second part wouldn  t hold up quite so well as has been true in the past of the two parters of the past  who series . but thankfully my fears were unfounded as i found myself enjoying this episode as much as the previous one . anyway we start off with the surviving crew members on the run from the ood  whom have become the devil  s pawn . there is also a bit of philosophizing on the doctor  s part in the episode that i quite enjoyed . needless to say it was a good solid doctor who story . might be a tad too intense for the younger viewers though .  br    br   my grade b  
the most ridiculous thing about this ridiculous movie is its conceit that if one becomes a saint  he or she and his or her family and his or her significant other live forever . let  s forget that in order to become a saint  the saint must be dead  and saints don  t have significant others . that  for a millennium  nick has been the jolly elf to fred  s scrooge is never even hinted at  open on nick learning how to make toys  then on fred learning how to run numbers nick giving a sick child a dolly  fred repossessing the dolly  along with the family farm  after a few more such episodes  morph to present  day fred venting his spleen at siblings anonymous as his fellow losers nod in empathy . there  i just wrote a more cohesive storyline than this idiocy   br    br   this santa  who is one  ho  ho  ho  ho  ho  away from a massive coronary  is a neurotic wuss saddled with the queen of the harpies  an operation straight out of mega  mall hell  and answers to a board  huh   which just gave the easter bunny his pink egg . oh  and his right  hand man is a ditzy blonde in a skin  tight mini  dress and go  go boots . ho . . . ho . . . ho . . . ho . . . ho   br    br   but what really sent me over the edge was slam being named   on the naughty list . shouldn  t a naughty list be reserved for the future hitlers and stalins  children who are the true embodiments of evil  nope  to old sausage  fingers  a good boy who lashes out because he is unwanted and unloved is the demon seed   br    br   the nimrods behind fred claus should be boiled in their own pudding  bah   
this was an excellent   part episode  although i had never been seen the older ones  i never thought the doctor would go up against anything that is paranormal  extra terrestial of course but not paranormal .  br    br   this episode brings the things that we most fear and how would we humans  in a futuristic time  would fight and defeat real live evil when most odds say that would be impossible .  br    br   being that it  s a family film i am surprised that they brought some stuff in like fear and faith  especially if its also going to entertain american audiences . but who care about what yanks say  we rock  doctor who has shown potential ever since from episode one from the new series in      first being so harmless to scary  from fun to serious  from light to darkness . i hope many old fans will one day soon say  the old doctor who has returned  .  br    br     out of    
it  s always tough having a sibling doing better in their life than you  always a struggle to get out from under that shadow and not let bitterness keep you away from your family . so  imagine that your older brother is santa and then imagine how tough that must be . that  s the premise here .  br    br   vince vaughn plays the titular fred  an embittered loser who spends a lot of his energy making sure that people don  t go around expecting good things to happen to them or giving his brother  santa  played by paul giamatti   too much praise for simply being the limelight  hogging  fame  hungry  slightly creepy guy that fred would want to portray him as . then  wouldn  t you know it  fred needs a financial favour and so has to make up for it by helping his brother on the run up to christmas . and hilarity and life lessons ensue .  br    br   well  that  s what should happen . the reality is that we get a christmas movie featuring a few good moments of vaughn  s patented fast  talking  a ridiculously out  of  nowhere music video moment  kevin spacey playing an auditor out to close down santa  s operation  and he  s one of the weakest baddies i have seen in some time   not enough of the gorgeous elizabeth banks in a lush christmas outfit  too much of john michael higgins in his elf outfit  to be fair  he  s a highlight though  and a movie that  s too swimming in bitterness to feel like good seasonal fare yet too schmaltzy in it  s latter half to feel like a fun poke at all the bad things about the commercialism of the time .  br    br   rachel weisz is along for the ride too  as is kathy bates  but it  s really nothing more than a movie for vaughn and if you like his style you will find something to enjoy here . unfortunately  there  s very little else to recommend this seasonal stinker . outside of vaughn  s rantings the script barely throws up anything decent with the exception of one particularly good scene involving a hilarious support group dealing with a very specific problem .  br    br   david dobkin  s direction is as mediocre and staid as the   p christmas card that you send the auntie you haven  t seen in   years and he seems to think that simply putting the ingredients together without a good mix or decent care taken will guarantee a delicious christmas pudding . nope  we get a burnt  bland lump with too much sugar on top . forget this and stick the hilarious elf on again if you want a great  modern christmas comedy .  br    br   see this if you like the santa clause   santa baby  the santa clause   the escape clause .  
return of the jedi is certainly the most action packed of the series  and is a fine conclusion to the star wars saga . with han solo imprisoned by jabba the hut and the empire building a new death star  the rebel alliance is facing an uphill struggle against the dark side  and only our favourite heroes can pull it off .  br    br   the opening sequence  set on tatooine  we see jabba  s palace  a pit of slavery and scum  and new home to han solo  as luke and the gang prepare for his rescue  and with luke  s jedi powers  they have the edge .  br    br   we also witness a tremendous triple battle at the end . han  leia and chewy battle it out on endor  desperate to deactivate the shields protecting the death star . the rebel fleet led by lando  battle with the imperial fleet while they wait for the shields to go down  and luke has a final showdown with darth vader . an epic end to a classic saga  and it  s only just of the pace of the first two .  br    br         
this film is notable for three reasons .  br    br   first  apparently capitalizing on the success of the two  superman  serials  this low budget feature was made and released to theaters  marking george reeves  and phyllis coates  initial appearances as clark kent  superman and lois lane . part of the opening is re  used in the series . outside the town of silby  a six  mile deep oil well penetrates the  hollow earth  allowing the  mole  men  to come to the surface . forget about the other holes  those in the plot  .  br    br   second  unlike most sf invasion films of the fifties  the hero plays a dominant  and controlling  force in preaching and enforcing tolerance and acceptance of difference against a raging mob of segregationist vigilantes . no  mild mannered reporter  here  clark kent  knowledgeable and self  assertive  grabs control of the situation throughout   i  ll handle this     even assisting in a hospital gown in the removal of a bullet from a mole  man  as superman  he is gentler than clark towards the feisty lois  but is also the voice of reason and tolerance as he rails against the vigilantes as  nazi storm troopers .   br    br   third  you will notice that the transition from the fleisher  like cartoon animated flying of superman in the two serials to the  live action  flying in the  adventures of superman  had not yet been made .  
this is  without a shadow of a doubt  one of the scariest and most intriguing episodes of doctor who . this is a thrilling psychological ride and you will probably find your own beliefs being thrown into question . riddled with spine  chilling moments  this is an episode no  who  fan can afford to miss .  br    br   starting from when the pit was opened after the events in  the impossible planet   the doctor and ida are trapped and are running out of air . with no other alternatives  they decide to find what lies at the bottom of the pit  an event which surpasses even the doctor  s expectations . whilst there  the doctor is forced to make what he considers to be the ultimate sacrifice . . .  br    br   meanwhile  rose and the other members of the planet try to find a way to fend off the ood  whose minds have been poisoned by the beast . also  is toby zed truly cured of his possession by the beast   
my take a tired formula christmas comedy . the laughs are tired and the talents behind it seem to be too .  br    br   i love the holidays as much as the next guy  even if i often have a bad case of the holiday blues   but it seems it  s just being a dumping ground for a bunch of holiday comedies that would be bad movies on any day of the year  but that doesn  t make them any less painful during the season . as if we already had enough santa clause movies  three and gulp still counting   who wants to see a movie about his brother  in a plot that would be at home with disney  s santa clause franchise  save the occasionally crude humor and santa  s  little  helper wearing a short skirt   fred claus is a one  joke premise that goes on for    minutes . sure  jolly ol  saint nick has a brother  but where does it go from there   br    br   it  s a shame really . fred claus is blessed with a cast that could have made it an enjoyable christmastime comedy that will probably melt away along with the snow  but it would have been so much better than this . vince vaughn is your typical snob  but we are led to believe he  s really the long lost brother of the never  aging santa  paul giamatti   who invites his good ol  brother to visit . mrs . claus  miranda richardson  is reluctant  and worse  an efficiency expert  kevin spacey  has come to keep a watchful eye on father christmas  and his this close to being shut down . hah  and guess who plays santa  s mother  kathy bates of course . elizabeth banks is santa  s helper charlene  john michael higgins is one of the elves  and rachel wiesz plays fred  s girlfriend  si don  t know if i  d praise the casting or to bash it . here we have some familiar faces to add a touch of quality  but they  re given way too little to work with .  br    br   as for humor  the best that fred claus could possibly come up with is santa  s brother being his exact opposite and some joke about a dj elf . i have to admit i had a few giggles involving fred attending a group counseling for celebrity brothers  where he is joined by stephen baldwin  roger clinton and frank stallone   but the giggles begin and end there . worse still  the movie even succumbs into sentimentality that  s supposed to make us  feel good  and teach us a lesson about  what christmas really means  . apparently  what christmas means to hollywood is getting as much of our leftover christmas shopping money as they can .  br    br   rating  out of  .  
the impossible planet and the satan pit together comprise the two best episodes of the  new  doctor who  s second season . having said that  it should be obvious that much of the story basically transposes the plot of quatermass and the pit       to an outer space setting  with the history of the universe intertwined with that of the beast    . these episodes cement the emotional ties between rose and the doctor  whilst also highlighting rose  s increasing self  confidence  establishing her as a not  quite  equal  yet  but  getting  there partner with our beloved time lord . also of note is matt jones elegant screenplay  which decreases the occasional over  reliance on one  liners for the doctor  and the performances of the entire cast  most notably the excellent shaun parkes as acting captain zachary cross flane .  
  fred claus  somehow avoids becoming this year  s  the santa clause  by at least having a bit more amusing moments than that tim allen starrer  but it doesn  t mean that it  s got enough going for it that  s worth a trip to the theater .  br    br   as holiday movies go  it  s contrived and sentimental . but actually  that could be the least of one  s concern as  fred claus   boasting of having david dobkin   shanghai knights    the wedding crashers   at the helm  contains virtually nary a genuinely funny moment as it clumsily treads the line between a boorish vince vaughn vehicle and a fuzzy christmas film . in the end  it amounts to not much of both . and with a cast that comprises of paul giamatti  kevin spacey  rachel weisz  and kathy bates  all the more it leaves one disappointed .  br    br   vaughn plays fred  nick  s  giamatti  older and estranged brother  who once upon a time  left him and their parents  bates and trevor peacock  after having had enough of enduring his parents  favoritism of his younger sibling . nick grows up to be santa claus  and as the voice  over tells us  time freezes on you and your family when you become a saint   while fred becomes a yuletide  jaded repo man in chicago who  s having a hard time remembering his girlfriend wanda  s  weisz  birthday .  br    br   he runs in trouble with the law and had to call his younger brother  who eerily looks at least a decade older than him  to bail him out of jail . nick agrees but only if fred agrees to help out on the toy  wrapping business up in the north pole . fred reluctantly agrees but his cynicism clashes with santa and the elves  perpetually cheery nature  even as an efficiency expert  spacey  is checking on the toy factory operations  only too happy to have the whole arctic operations shut down if things fail .  br    br   the film  as said  does have its moments  but the padded running length stretches them thin across its duration . in between are piles of christmas film clichs that were handled better in  say   elf  and the attempts at sentimentality are as endearing as last year  s fruitcake .  br    br   vaugn  as usual  brings on his coarse charm to the table  but the neutered script of dan fogelman keeps him from really doing his thing . giamatti  underneath the bad fat suit  brings a jolly old charm to his iconic character  but unfortunately  has to play second fiddle to fred . spacey brings his game face  but his turns usually end as unfunnily vapid .  br    br   ultimately   fred claus  becomes a forgettable film that falls below what those involved in it deserve . sure  there are worse ways to start the season at the cinema  but there are certainly far better ways .  
this two  parter was excellent  the best since the series returned . sure bits of the story were pinched from previous films  but what tv shows don  t do that these days . what we got here was a cracking good sci  fi story . a great big  really scary  monster imprisoned at the base of a deep pit  some superb aliens in the ood  the best  new  aliens the revived series has come up with  a set of basically sympathetic and believable human characters  complete with a couple of unnamed  expendable  security people in true star trek fashion   some large  scale philosophical themes  love  loyalty  faith  etc .   and some top  drawer special effects .  br    br   i loved every minute of this .  
well  i have to say  this movie was so bad that i would have walked out if i didn  t have to review it for work . and the worst part is  i wanted to see it so badly that i drove all over the city  paid    parking two times because the newspaper listings were wrong . vince vaughn plays the guy he always does   the only time i  ve seen him play someone else was in that movie with john travolta . anyways  the plot has potential   it sounded great in the preview  but it is filled with totally ridiculous  predictable  weak plot turn points . and i was hoping that this would be one christmas movie where christmas didn  t have to be saved  and that santa didn  t need a replacdmetn  but nope . the only cool part was the sleigh rides  and the little bladck kid was the best character . i  m sure this movie would be great for young kids  but for adults it  s so lame that it  s chore to sit through .  
main theme in this dirty harry is that revenge is a dish best served cold . sandra locke is as cold in this film as she is beautiful . locke is an    normally  but  with a deadly pistol in her purse   cocked  for the bad guys  she climbs all the way up the scale to a     . having been gang  raped  along with her younger sister  some years ago  locke  as jennifer spencer  has tried to block out the attack from her life  as best she can . her sister  tho  is almost comatose as a result of the trauma  so the memory is never far from her mind . one day  jennifer sees one of her attackers on the street in s . f .  she buys a pistol  follows him to a bar  lets him pick her up  then when they  re alone in his cadillac  beginning to make love  she shoots him . . . . once in the genitals  once in the brain   this in the opening scene   ya gotta love this spunky lady . she  s got her priorities straight . plus  jennifer is a professional artist  putting all her anger on canvas until now . after executing her first perp  jennifer curiously watches det . insp . harry callahan process the fresh crime scene after the body is found in the caddy . then  she insults some creepy teenage bucks who are hassling women on the street  visits her sister in a nursing home  then goes a  hunting in san paolo  ca  up the coast  where the rape event took place years ago . with more bullets in her suitcase and more resolve in her mind  our heroine relives the rape inside her head with vivid recall  as she comes closer to executing each subsequent rapist . not uncommon to us right  wingers  when it comes to sentencing or executing a violent criminal  don  t be sorrowful for his own wretched humanity  we remember the crime and the suffering he inflicted . such recalled events steels jennifer to pull the trigger on each of her attackers  once in the genitals  once in the brain . throughout the movie  scenes of jennifer  s revenge are interspersed with good  il  dirty harry blowing away some gangstas in a coffee shop  remember  go ahead . make my day .   later on  he threatens to step on a punk kid  who  d just insulted callahan  in a courthouse elevator like he  d step on dog  st . . . . leaving a young female govt employee staring after clint as if to say  i want to have your baby .  my favorite scene is only about   minutes into the action  when harry threatens and frightens a murderous mafia boss named threlkis into a fatal coronary during his granddaughter  s wedding reception at the mark hopkins hotel . michael grazzo  pantangeli in godfather ii  does a wonderful job as the sinful mafia don  even if he  s only in one scene  dying in a most  convincing manner . however  harry  s troubles aren  t over with yet  the elevator punk  s gang and threlkis  henchmen each attempt to assassinate harry in two close  ordered scenes  and most of them bad guys end up dying horribly . yup  some of the gun  play comes off as uninspired screen violence . . . . looking like clint the director may have been tired that day of shooting this movie . but  there  s only so many ways you can dispatch a man with bullets . the punk kids die much more creatively  though  as they both burn to death and drown in s . f . bay . warms my heart . with so much violent intent directed at insp . callahan  his bosses send him to san paolo to try to get some background on the    caliber vasectomy killing  as jennifer spencer  s crime is now known  but not before harry delivers one of his famous sermons  to  the  chowder  headed  liberals . love that harry . while our hero  up annoying the local cops and citizens in san paolo  two more murders happen  same m . o .  on a sleazy  lazy fisherman and on an equally  creepy hardware entrepreneur . then harry meets jennifer  they find they both agree on subjects such as law and order  making the guilty pay  etc . could a hot  love scene be in the offing soon  we  re led to believe just that . characters abound in this real  man meets real  woman crime drama  and we get to meet a brassy bull  dyke named raye parkins who  s both irritating and entertaining . raye set up jennifer  s rape for her  boyfriend  years before  and she  ll get hers eventually . the san paolo police chief  played by reliable eastwood co  star pat hingle  the hanging judge in  hang em high    is strangely at odds with callahan  s detective work related to the    cal vasectomies  until we find out that his own adolescent son was one of the gang of rapists . much like jennifer  s sister  chief janning  s son is now a comatose adult  but driven mad by guilt . it can  t end here  though . the dyke  s rapist boyfriend  mick  now a kinky  sex jerk of a criminal  drives in from vegas becuz raye  s dropped a dime on jennifer  summoning him up to san paolo to prevent more executions . mick sleeps at raye  s house  but his timing is all wrong  and he  s arrested before he can spend more time with raye  mostly due to the fact that she  s since been sent to the island of the eternal lesboes by a shot from jennifer  s revolver . psycho mick makes bail at long last  with jennifer gunning for him . a desperate chase ensues  as harry tries to keep these two from killing each other . it all turns out well in the end  with the good gal and the good guy walking off into the sunset together to a beautiful roberta flack blues song .  
okay  during this past thanksgiving break  whilst having the whole family together everybody decided to go see a movie  and since fred clause was voted majority  thats what we went and say .  br    br   to start off the movie had so many plot holes it was pathetic . simple explanations of why a certain event was happening was void . example who the heck is trying to  shut down  santa clause  is it some sort of corporation  a little explanation would of been lovely .  br    br   second the movie tossed you flimsy characters that evoked no sympathy from you about their feelings or actions . example the little elf named willie and the only tall girl in the elf village . they see each other twice and then they are a couple and i could of cared less because this movie didn  t make me care .  br    br   third i suppose this was suppose to be a family film  its rating was low at just pg . for a family film there were several articles of suggestive conversation . it didn  t bother me  but if i were a parent i could see a problem .  br    br   through the whole movie paul giamatti looked extremely bored with his role  but honestly he was the only one worth watching in the movie . vaughn had a few funny moments but played the same character he has for the last two movies . mouthy frat boy .  nothing against vaughn  he  s been good in other movies   br    br   so this movie gets a  out of   stars from me  just because somebody had to put in the effort to produce  film and release this flick .  br    br   in my opinion i would definitely pass on this flick  or if you have to see it save it for a rainy day rental .  
despite the other comments listed here  this is probably the best dirty harry movie made a film that reflects   for better or worse   the country  s socio  political feelings during the reagan glory years of the early     s . it  s also a kickass action movie .  br    br   opening with a liberal  female judge overturning a murder case due to lack of tangible evidence and then going straight into the coffee shop encounter with several unfortunate hoodlums  the scene which prompts the famous   go ahead  make my day  line    sudden impact  is one non  stop roller coaster of an action film . the first time you get to catch your breath is when the troublesome inspector callahan is sent away to a nearby city to investigate the background of a murdered hood . it gets only better from there with an over  the  top group of grotesque thugs for callahan to deal with along with a sherriff with a mysterious past . superb direction and photography and a at  times hilarious script help make this film one of the best of the     s .  
how hard is it to write a watchable film with vince vaughn  paul giamatti and kevin spacey  apparently very difficult for the writers here .  br    br   i still have no idea how santa is younger and looks   years older than vince  who plays the big brother  . i must have missed that part of the story but in reality  it really didn  t matter . many scenes seemed out of place and contrived the kind of  funny notion  scenes that are drug out way too far to where any sense of comedy is lost .  br    br   the director  producer tried to go  tear jerker  at the end  which would have been suitable if anything leading up that point had been worth following .  br    br   ugh  major disappointment . i can see how some people might enjoy this ok  since many people will take any garbage they  re fed  but i would strongly encourage waiting for dvd on this one . not worth the        it takes to get your family to the movies these days .  
sudden impact is the best of the five dirty harry movies . they don  t come any leaner and meaner than this as harry romps through a series of violent clashes  with the bad guys getting their just desserts . which is just the way i like it . great story too and ably directed by clint himself . excellent entertainment .  
every christmas eve i make my kids endure yet another showing of it  s a wonderful life . i also thoroughly enjoyed bad santa . so sue me . i admit it . i like cheesy  schmaltzy movies . i like excellent  intelligent ones too  but as with so many things  variety is a good thing . what would the christmas season be without the annual cinematic ka  ching ka  ching of santa in all his guises  from edmund gwenn to billy bob thornton  fred claus will make no one forget bedford falls  but i do not believe a christmas film should have to reach iconic stature to succeed .  fred  is a perfectly ok holiday movie  with enough humor for the adults and sufficient charm for the kids . my wife and i laughed a lot  even if most of the humor was obvious and vince was just being vince . paul giamatti was a top  notch santa  which helped a lot . not a great flick  and unlikely to become must  viewing for anyone  s annual christmas traditions . but my wife and daughter and i enjoyed it for what it was  holiday schmaltz with a small dash of spice . there  s nothing wrong with that .  
i dont know why people think this is such a bad movie . its got a pretty good plot  some good action  and the change of location for harry does not hurt either . sure some of its offensive and gratuitous but this is not the only movie like that . eastwood is in good form as dirty harry  and i liked pat hingle in this movie as the small town cop . if you liked dirty harry  then you should see this one  its a lot better than the dead pool .     
painfully bad christmas film that has an equally painfully bad performance by vince vaughn  who is paying his usual frat boy self but this time for a children  s movie but with out the wit or charm that is in his r rated films . vaughn seems like he  s on autopilot though most of the film and he keeps running into walls with his lackluster performance . after   minutes into the film  you would be in touch your inner scourge and say  bahumbag  at how unfunny this film is and after another   minutes  you will want to walk out over how unbearable the film has gotten during that point . out of all the actors involved in this mess  only paul giamatti and rachel weisz brings some life to there perspective paper thin roles and that  s manly because they are both way too good of actors to be in this film . paul giamatti brings some depth and warmth to the character of saint nick himself but he  s forced to vaughn  s level of juvenile behavior when they are doing their sad sibling infighting . you can see in giamatti face that he  s not having fun with his role and it painfully shows in certain parts of the film . rachel weisz brings a sense of fun and spirit to her role but she really does not have much of a character to work with and you can see in her face that she  s well aware of that  so much so that she seems irritated in certain parts of the film . fortunately for her  she  s not in the film much at all and is able to save some face  unlike giamatti  who looks like he  s about to fire his agent by the end of the movie . the direction also feels uninspiring  like there is no feeling or flow to be had and this is a supposed to be a holiday movie but it ends up feeling like you are just staring at a fancy widow display that is being torn down .  br    br   i don  t know what went wrong here but with only two actors involved  giamatti and weisz  trying their best to at least bring something to the table with a unfunny script they had to work with  spotty direction with no feeling for the subject at hand  and this is a christmas movie of all things  and a actor who just does not care about his performance  vaughn   you have a very unevenly bad film that is very painful to watch .  
excellent  br    br   good  br    br   fair  br    br   poor  br    br   go ahead  make my day    br    br   the fourth picture in the series is directed by eastwood himself  who was rumored of directing most of magnum force  and he brings back the violent society from the first two films . however  the film still lacks impact and believability . this film was released in the early    s  the time of regan and the young republicans . the premise of a raped woman taking vengeance on her rapist doesn  t appeal to this time frame . this plot would have been better for the enforcer  which actually would have made it a good movie . what sudden impact needed was a plot like in wall street but with dirty harry in the middle .  br    br   rating  stars  
i just saw this film tonight and i have to say that it  s a mess . i love vince vaughn but he ends up more annoying that funny here and the film is more than less a remake of the crappy    s classic  santa claus the movie  but with out the camp or the bad sheena easton song at the end . . the story is your run of the mill black sheep in the family who comes back to face his family for the holidays kind of thing but with north pole as its setting . of course fred  vince vaughn  is the family screw up who comes home after a series of set backs that include his girlfriend  rachel weisz in a cameo role  dumping him  so he comes home to face his parents and his more successful brother santa claus  paul giamatti  and wacky high jinks follow with a bit of sibling rivalry and a bit of anarky as well that threatens all of christmas . now if you think you know the ending of this film  i think you would be right because it  s predicable to the hill . as for the acting  vince vaughn plays the same lovable loser he always plays but this time he ends up more annoying than likable  miranda richardson plays mrs . claus but the role is more than less one note  elizabeth banks plays santa  s assistant but she  s not much of a character at all other than a neurotic joke and poor kevin spacey ends up basically playing the same person he plays in the film  glengarry glen ross  but a little more anal . the only two actors who come out of this film with their dignity intact is paul giamatti  who brings a real sincerity and warmed to his role as santa claus but he looks somewhat embarrass to be in the movie and you can  t blame him and rachel weisz  who manages to do a lot more with a very small role than most of the main actors do with theirs  which is a shame because both rachel weisz and paul giamatti deserved a lot better than what this script gave them .  br    br   to put it in a nutshell  a major disappointment .  
dirty harry has to track down a rape victim who extracts revenge by shooting her assailants in the goolies before killing them . probably a more apt punishment would be to let them live after the initial shot and let them suffer forever like she and her sister has . . . anyway . . . . . an action  packed story set again in san francisco and santa cruz . the chief rapist  played by andy drake is suitably vile and gets his punishment at the end  of course   . not a classic movie but better than the others except for the original dirty harry .  
alien hunter  out of    is it me or does every movie that starts in roswell  new mexico suck . take alien mixed with the thing  mixed with contact  mixed with of all things on the beach  the andromeda strain  the classroom scene from raiders of the lost ark and a throw in a little stargate to boot .  br    br   derivative doesn  t even begin to describe this movie . of course with nothing original plot wise they amp up the gore and sex right  nope gore is a blink and you miss it affair and sex is all tease .  james spader causally mentions he needs a shower and the delectable leslie stefanson asks to join him . he turns her down . aggh    br    br   in fact if a movie ever needed a shower scene to liven things up this is it . i mean if your going to have impossibly good  looking women in white bathing suits wandering around an antarctica research base why not go for broke .  br    br   with about   seconds of actual thrill in the entire movie alien hunter is remarkable serious and slow going for a sci  fi adventure . needed a much better plot twist to liven it up and by the way the alien itself is a horribly clichd artifice and has virtually no screen time for someone who shares half the title .  br    br   i also inquired during viewing what is with the children of the corn in space motif .  note that since jason of friday the   th fame  pinhead from hellraiser and that leprechaun have all traveled to space to slay nubile teenagers why not the cornfield   the characters in the cornfield dress like logan  s run extras and i was just waiting for the stalks to come alive and attack them .  br    br   that however would have been exciting and apparently against this movies covenant . the acting is mostly fine as spader reprises his stargate role while stefanson and janine eser model the latest in antarctic beachwear . john lynch however read the whole script and acts the like the insane bad guy well before the story would indicate it .  br    br   alien hunter is a disappointing derivative slog that makes me pine for a proper children of the corn in space movie .  
after what was considered to be the official dirty harry trilogy with the enforcer       to be the final chapter in the series . dirty harry is back  older  more dirtier and grittier than ever since the original     classic .  br    br   dirty harry in the past has killed a psychopath killer  vigilante cops  and vietnam veteran terrorists . but now he  s after a new killer  a killer who wants payback  by gunning down her attackers .  br    br   sudden impact brings a new meaning and more darker tone to dirty harry . callahan is on a new murder case that is circling back to a woman  played by sondra locke   who was brutally raped  along with her sister  who is left traumitized . ten years after  she  s out for revenge by gunning down her attackers . at the same though callahan is on a heat of trouble by his superiors after he provokes a mob boss to a heart attack  of which the mob are hunting him as well . so in order to let the heat die down within the city  harry is on order to take a vacation on a seaside town  but at the same time the raped victim is in town as well  while hunting her attackers one by one . harry is on the investigation and finds the killings very similar  as he homes in on the killer  s trails .  br    br   sudden impact in my opinion  has to be one of my top   revenge films  as well as being the second best dirty harry movie yet  far better than both the enforcer and the dead pool combined . sudden impact has what the original dirty harry had  a dark tone with entertaining value .  br    br   so do you feel lucky  punk   
i am oh soooo glad i have not spent money to go to the cinema on it    . it is nothing more than compilation of elements of few other classic titles like the thing  final fantasy  the abyss etc . framed in rather dull and meaningless scenario . i really can not figure out what was the purpose of creating this movie  it has absolutely nothing new to offer in its storyline which additionally is also senseless . moreover there is nothing to watch  the fx  es look like there were taken from a second hand store  you generally saw all of them in other movies . but it is definitely a good lullaby .  
despite the feelings of most  star wars  fans  in my opinion  return of the jedi  is the greatest cinematic film ever created . ever since the first time i saw it  it  s depth  intensity  special effects  and moving story have overwhelmed me . the film was so well put together that it has been able to stand the test of time over the last   years . filled with powerful action  as the climax of the original trilogy  george lucas gives us a rousing finish of the  star wars  saga in  jedi  .  br    br   film summary  contains spoilers for those who have not seen it   br    br   after  the empire strikes back  left us hanging for  long years we finally find the end of the story in  return of the jedi  . darth vader  in emotional turmoil makes a surprise visit to a new uncompleted death star to oversee it  s construction . the emperor is first seen in this film as he has the ultimate plan to destroy the rebel alliance and bring young luke skywalker to the dark side . luke  lando  leia  chewie  and the droids all travel to tatooine to rescue the frozen han solo from the crime lord jabba the hutt . after han has been rescued  and jabba defeated  luke returns to dagobah to find a dying yoda where he learns the awful truth darth vader is in fact his father . the rebel heroes regroup with the rebel fleet . now joined by other species and races including the mon calamari the rebels must make a all  or  nothing plan of attack to destroy the death star before it is completed . while lando heads the space attack in the millennium falcon  the rebel heroes must disable the death star  s shield generator on the forest moon of endor . it is here that the rebels happen upon the furry  but mighty ewoks . during the the two part intense battle  a third battle must take place as luke willingly delivers himself to vader in an attempt to convince him to leave the dark side . in emotionally charged sequences luke must face his father as the emperor lures out his dark emotions . as young skywalker is about to face his death at the hands of palpatine  vader turns on his wicked master to save his son  s life .  br    br   filled with a deep timeless story of good vs . evil   return of the jedi  is a spectacular  emotionally charged film that redeems the good in all of us .  
  the domino principle  is  without question  one of the worst thrillers ever made . hardly any sense can be made of the convoluted plot and by the halfway point you  ll want to throw your arms up in frustration and scream  i give up      br    br   how gene hackman and director stanley kramer ever got involved in this mess must only be summed up by their paychecks .  br    br   i hope they spent their money well .  
i watched the mccoys reunion and was glad to see richard crenna and kathleen nolan and tony martinez    to see them now was wonderful  because i always watched the show growing up so when the tv said that there was going to be a reunion i was so excited     the only thing i could not figure out is why lydia reed  hassie mccoy  and michael winkelman  little luke  was not on there . i know that walter brennan had died . so i got on my computer and tried to find out about them and found this site so if there is anyone out there that can tell me what ever happened to lydia reed  hassie mccoy  and michael winkelman  little luke i would be thankful    i have searched everywere and no luck . the only thing i could find out about michael winkelman is he was supposed to be born in     . this show had value and morals each show gave a lesson to be learned . the shows today dont have that . the whole cast was incredable the only thing better than finding out obout them would be to meet them so since that is impossible if there is anyone that can help please do    thank you glenda  
lifetime did it again . can we say stupid  i couldn  t wait for it to end . the plot was senseless . the acting was terrible  especially by the teenagers . the story has been played a thousand times  are we just desperate to give actors a job  the previews were attractive and i was really looking for a good thriller . once in awhile lifetime comes up with a good movie  this isn  t one of them . unless one has nothing else to do i would avoid this one at all cost . this was a waste of two hours of my life . can i get them back  i would have rather scraped my face against a brick wall for two hours then soaked it in peroxide . that would have been more entertaining .  
clint eastwood has definitely produced better movies than this  but this one does not embarrass him . dirty harry catches everyone  s attention and unless one wants to watch romance  there is no reason why you won  t like him . he is cool because he is dirty  is great because he kills without much thinking  is perfect because he gets the bullet right through your heart and a hero because he doesn  t care .  br    br   from what i have seen in movies in which eastwood acts  the character of the lead role always captivates the audience . in white hunter black heart  he is the crazy director  in  in the line of fire  he is the  old  un  while here is the  almost  jobless with his job  that is to say he makes work for himself  doesn  t care one damn about his superiors who practically send him out for a vacation .  br    br   based on a rape victim  this movie is promising for all the  no non  sense  movie watchers . the movie has nothing that goes away from he central plot . however  what makes it slightly inferior to the better movies of eastwood is that though the character of the lead role is captivating the plot is not  as it is far too obvious from the beginning . it is not a movie that is going to make you sit at a place without moving . also  there are too many people far dirtier than dirty harry .  
this movie couldn  t decide what it wanted to be . there were a couple of sub  plots that for awhile made you think these items would all come together in the end . . . but they didn  t . if you want a  alien in the frozen waste  story  stick with the      s version of the thing  not the abomination that was remade in gore  o  vision    years later  .  br    br   i couldn  t get over the fact that the  alien  looked pretty much recycled from independence day .  br    br   the  bare minimum  sets would have been more effective if they had hired actors who could actually act and carry off the intended mood .  br    br   lots of scenery chewing with little payoff .  
sudden impact tends to be treated as eastwood  s artistic failure at a point in his career when he had established a good reputation as a director . the reason is actually not the film itself but the attitude it takes towards vigilantism which it seems to support . in some places it actually owes more to death wish than the original dirty harry film . one might argue if that is so  at the end of the day it  s a film about guilt  justice and retribution . for me  at the end of the day it  s more empathy than sympathy . however  in view of all these arguments it is easily overlooked that sudden impact is an awfully well made film . forget the  go ahead punk  make my day scene   that  s iconic but not original . but look at the views of san fransisco taken from the air  zooming in on the city . the first   or   minutes are quite spectacular . or have a look at the brilliantly made scene where sondra locke  s character visits her mentally ill sister in hospital . eastwood makes great use of the juxtaposition of faces . so all in all sudden impact is a very visual film that really shows how mature eastwood is as a director . and if i remember correctly it was actually the first time eastwood put that on screen albeit in an action film of debatable ideology . also  i think this is the first well paced film eastwood directed . although eastwood has enormous talent as a director  dramaturgy has always been his weak point  see play misty for me  breezy etc .  thepace of the narrative leads to the visual elements being well integrated into the film and not distracting from the story . the only thing that is really annoying is the farting dog .  
snuggle down in your favourite chair and switch on the play  station  as you toss this into the waste disposal unit . spend a useful   min . living your favourite game . disjointed  poorly filmed  non directed junk . it takes a bits from several other  science fiction  movies and badly attempts to join the parts into a pathetically weak story . there  s nothing new here  the filmmakers do not seem to realise that providing simple entertainment would achieve a monetary game  but a touch of skill ingenuity and flair is required to turn it into a good film . any money spent watching this is a waste  and personally i would like my   min of life back .  
this was without a doubt the best of the  dirty harry  series . from the opening credits  you  re swept up in a revenge tale that hits hard and is profoundly engrossing . sondra locke is perfect in the role of a traumatized woman out for revenge . eastwood has many  aside  sequences that have nothing to do with the plot  but show harry at his bad  assed best . loaded with unforgettable characters in minor roles  this film rocks and should serve as the standard for detective  action flicks . this is the one dirty harry flick that  s raw and devoid of any  fluff  . i can watch this again and again  okay  not in one sitting  because it  s a gratifying  out for revenge  yarn . the pace is quick and several of the scenes are unforgettable .  go ahead  make my day . . . you feel lucky  punk  . . . .  classic eastwood as only eastwood  with his anguished  rubbery expressions  and whispery  menacing voice can do it .  
is it a remake og the thing             i think it is  there are so many factors from det previous movies do deny it .  br    br   so the acting is bad  james spader does a superlow stargate re  enactment of himself  with his coffy mug and his somwhat strange thinking  movements but that  s about it  the other actors i did  t even notise . you don  t get the feeling of getting to know anyone of the main characters . and the plot evolvement is slow  boring and  yah i know what is about to happend in   mins . score  music is ultraboring  imean there are alot of ubertallented people out there that would make scores for a coke and a credit  but this is major crap . some of the special effects are nice  if it was made in early    s . if you like slimy aliens  chills and thrills  don  t whatch this movie . its a dull combination of the thing  alien   outbreak and some jerry bruckheimer  michael bay production gone really really bad . now this combination would be cool if somone knew what they where doing  and the only ones on this production that knew that was  no one .  br    br   though i have seen far worse  i would not recomend this movie to anyone  but if you are up one cold night  and just wanna glanse at something  it will pass the time  slowly .  
when this film was originally released it was promoted with the notably unimaginative tagline  dirty harry is at it again  . whatever this pitch lacks in originality is more than compensated for by it  s complete and total accuracy .  sudden impact  retains all the aspects that made the previous three dirty harry movies so successful  tight pacing  a compelling plot  strong supporting characters  endless gunplay  and bone  dry humor . some of these elements are not only retained but amplified  this is easily the darkest  bloodiest  and most overtly right  wing installment of the franchise .  br    br   the plot is somewhat intriguing after killing a ridiculous number of hoodlums  inspector callahan is sent on a forced  vacation  by his superiors to the sleepy coastal town of san paolo . he is tasked to investigate the background of a recent homicide victim who was shot in the genitals before being put out of his  no doubt considerable  misery by a second shot to the head . early on in the film  the audience is made aware of the identity of the killer  an artist named jennifer spencer  sondra locke  who is hunting down the thugs who gang  raped her and her sister at a fun fair some ten years earlier . this incident is shown in a very disturbing flashback  snippets of which recur before each new murder . as more bodies start to appear with the same m . o  it becomes clear to harry that both the local police chief and his new love interest  guess who   know more than they are telling . to make matters even more complicated  the one  time rapists realize who is hunting them and start to hit back hard .  br    br    sudden impact  offers relentless action from beginning to end . clint eastwood directed this film himself and expertly handles a series of set pieces that culminate in an exhilarating climax . sondra locke  s performance effectively conveys the blend of ruthlessness and fragility that define her character . that having been said  it is fair to wonder if another actress  who was not eastwood  s off  screen companion at the time  could have brought more charisma and dramatic weight to the role  theresa russell and cybill shepherd jump to mind as possible candidates . members of the supporting cast that punch significantly above their weight include albert popwell as harry  s partner horace  paul drake as the psychopathic mick  and the truly scene  stealing audrie j . neenan who portrays the vicious ray parkins .  br    br   however the film has some notable problems  some of the subplots  the animosity between harry and a gang of twentysomething hoodlums  a mob vendetta against him  take up too much screen time and don  t really have any bearing to the larger story . their only real use is to raise the body  count to absurd levels . in the first half of the film it sometimes appears that dirty harry shoots people more often than he has to use the restroom . however the film moves into top gear as it progresses and the triangulated cat  and  mouse game between callahan  spencer  and her former tormentors assumes prominence . this second hour makes it clear that a more stripped  down and slightly refocused screenplay would have given  sudden impact  the potential to be a first  class  neo noir  style thriller that could have taken the series to new levels but still have contained more than enough .   magnum heroics to satisfy the harry loyalists . instead we get the film that eastwood and warner bros . clearly wanted to make  a superbly executed but prototypical eighties action flick that mostly declines to particularly challenge the intelligence of it  s intended audience .  br    br   this was by far the biggest grossing of the series at the box  office and it is not hard to see why . though not the film that it could have been  this is still big  trigger  happy fun . even after repeated viewings  it  s going to make your day .  
begins better than it ends . funny that the russian submarine crew outperforms all other actors . it  s like those scenes where documentary shots . . .  br    br      spoiler part     the message dechifered was contrary to the whole story . it just does not mesh .  br    br    
sudden impact was overall better than the enforcer in my opinion . it was building up to be a great movie  but then i saw the villain  s  and was disappointed .  br    br   sudden impact was different than the previous installments . the plot went a different direction in this movie  as dirty harry doesn  t take as much of a police approach this time around . we also don  t see the villain  s  until later  which means less screen time for them  which is better for us all .  br    br   clint eastwood once again steals the show as dirty harry  enough said . pat hingle was enjoyable as chief jannings  harry  s new assigned boss . bradford dillman seemed to change his name to captain briggs here  either way  he wasn  t any different . michael currie is decent as lt . donnelly  harry  s annoying superior . i personally enjoyed kevyn major howard as hawkins  the young punk who has a vendetta against harry . albert popwell was excellent as horace  harry  s buddy . audrie j . neenan was good as ray parkins  a famous lesbian around town . jack thibeau was well cast as kruger  a pervert . now for the really bad part . sandra locke  eastwood  s long  time lover was horribly miscast as jennifer spencer  harry  s love interest . and paul drake was just horrible as mick .  br    br   the movie would have been so much better if not for better writing and acting on some parts .  br    br       .  
an unoriginal  overly predictable and only mildly entertaining low budget rehash of a sci  fi formula that we  ve all seen a hundred times before  a group of scientists in isolation confronting some unknown alien something  and in of all places  surprise  surprise  antarctica   br    br   the film features james spader and an almost nameless supporting cast  with the exception of carl lewis  who  s actually not that bad for a non  actor   who deliver ho  hum performances that do little to invigorate the script  s unimaginative dialogue . to make things worse the film  s pace is slow  there  s almost no subplot  and the few action sequences are stereotypical and not that exciting . its little wonder that this thing went straight to dvd . what is a wonder is why spader  an excellent actor at times  who won the cannes best actor award for sex  lies and videotape   and did a splendid job in the innovative sci  fi flick stargate   chose to sign onto this lackluster project . or maybe not  if you look at his career  for it seems he has invested his talents in more misses than hits .  br    br   the most remarkable thing about alien hunter  is how they managed to cram in so many elements from so many great sci  fi films  and still have the thing turn out so listless and contrived . there are huge borrowed bits from the thing   both howard hawks  original and john carpenter  s excellent     remake   contact  and outbreak   a few hints of alien   ce  k   the andromeda strain   kubrick  s        i . e . the alien black box   and mission to mars   i . e . the mystery message   and even a little dash of sneakers  and a remarkable mind   although not sci  fi films  they share a cryptology  connection  . hell  there  s even cornfields and antarctica  just like the recent x files movie  . and the luminous translucent spaceship at the end looks exactly like something that was plucked from an outtake from the abyss  .  br    br   its all been done before and done a whole lot better  although i will admit there were a few mild surprises towards the end . i could say a little bit more about the plot  but there  s absolutely no need . you already know over half this movie without ever seeing it .   out of     
in don siegel  s     masterpiece  dirty harry   clint eastwood epitomized the super  tough  super  cool unorthodox  no  nonsense cinema  cop with his role of the eponymous inspector  dirty  harry callahan . two sequels followed  the first of which   magnum force   tamed down on the delightfully politically incorrect attitude of the first one that had outraged many critics but enthused audiences . the second sequel   the enforcer  was grittier again  and was promoted as  the dirtiest harry of them all  . this title  however  truly belongs to the fourth film in the series  clint eastwood  s own  sudden impact   which is doubtlessly the grittiest  nastiest  most violent and downright dirtiest of all harry films  and  in my humble opinion  the second  best after the masterpiece original .  br    br   warning  spoilers ahead   in a small town near san francisco  a mysterious sexy lady  sondra locke  lures men into being alone with her . what these men don  t know is that mysterious beauty is their former rape victim  longing for bloody revenge . as fate wants it  san francisco  s toughest cop  inspector dirty harry callahan  who has been suspended once again for angering his superiors  spends his leisure time in this exact little town . . .  sudden impact  is the dirtiest callahan film in several aspects . the film is extremely gritty and graphically violent . harry callahan himself is dirtier than ever . not afraid to make use of his   . magnum in order to stop trouble  harry treats  punks  as they are to be treated and even allows a person to get away with several murders because the revenge  murders are justified in his opinion . clint eastwood is  as always  brilliant in the role of harry callahan . eastwood epitomized coolness and bad  assery as the  man with no name  in sergio leone  s dollar trilogy  and he did so again in the dirty harry films .  sudden impact  gives us the dirtiest harry we have ever seen . eastwood  s real  life girlfriend sondra locke fits very well in the role of the vengeful beauty . the great pat hingle  who had already worked with eastwood in ted post  s tough  minded western  hang  em high  in     plays the police chief of the small town . the film furthermore includes a wide range of truly despicable scumbag characters  including a pathetic criminal played by kevin major howard  best known for his role in stanley kubrick  s  full metal jacket   and a woman named ray perkins  audrie j . neenan   doubtlessly one of the most disgusting and despicable female characters ever in cinema . albert popwell  who played the bank robber in the famous  do you feel lucky   scene in  dirty harry  and the black militant leader in  the enforcer  is also part of this one again  this time as harry  s colleague and buddy . overall  sudden impact  is the grittiest  dirtiest and probably the most violent of all  dirty harry  films   though  the dead pool  isn  t exactly tame either   and my second  favorite after the brilliant     original . an absolute must  see for callahan fans  and highly recommended to all lovers of police thrillers and cinematic bad  assery . my rating  .      
very bad acting  and a very shallow story . not even a decent b  movie  br    br   events that were suposed to be shocking like humans geting on board an alien ship were boring and very lame .  br    br   this is one of the worst sci  fi i  ve ever seen . i saw the  .  stars and decided to watch it since i like the genre  but it sucked so bad .  br    br   now there  s really very few good movies on alien subject  i think because most of them are low budget  br    br   i give it      
clint eastwood returns as dirty harry calahan in the  th movie of the dirty harry series . clint is older but he  s still got it  harry was told to have a vacation after some trouble that happened because of a robbery  where the memorable  make my day  catchphrase comes from   but the city he took a vacation was worse  a woman turned vigilante after a rape attack in a funfair and starts getting the punks one by one . the last movie to see sandra locke in a clint eastwood movie  an improvement after the enforcer which was a bit more of a comedy and less serious . clint eastwood  s sunglasses were gargoyles which are best known for the sunglasses that are worn by arnold shwartzeneger in the terminator . worth a watch if you like clint eastwood  the dirty harry films or like action crime thrillers .  
with one of my very favorite actors  james spader  i expected this film to be at least tolerable . it wasn  t . after the first half hour i watched the rest of it with the remote control in my hand so the fast forward was at the ready . so trite  so standard  one knows what  s going to happen in each scene . one can even predict the dialogue word for word . this is one of those movies that makes one scratch ones head and say   how did this movie ever get made   in an effort to say something positive  i  ll add that there are some mildly entertaining special effects . but  on the whole  if you  ve seen  sci  fi movies  or you are over  years old  do yourself a favor and skip this one .  
sudden impact is a two pronged story . harry is targeted by the mob who want to kill him and harry is very glad to return the favour and show them how it  s done . this little war puts harry on suspension which he doesn  t care about but he goes away on a little vacation . now the second part of the story . someone is killing some punks and harry gets dragged into this situation where he meets jennifer spencer a woman with a secret that the little tourist town wants to keep quiet . the police chief is not a subtle man and he warns harry to not get involved or cause any trouble . this is harry callahan trouble follows him . the mob tracks him to this town and hell opens up as harry goes to war . meanwhile the vigilante strikes again and the gang having figured it out is ready for her . jennifer spencer is caught and harry comes to her rescue during the film  s climax . sudden impact is not the greatest dirty harry but at the time it gives us a harry that is very much an anti hero ready to go to war just to pursue justice . again not the best not the worst but the one with the most remembered line . go ahead make your day .  
recap something mysteriously dense that transmits radio signals is discovered in the ice of antarctica . the mysterious block is dug out and brought to a research station on antarctica . julian rome  a former seti  worker  is brought in to decipher the message . problem is that one of the researchers is a old girlfriend of his  and the situation quickly turns awkward  especially since the other female researchers practically throw themselves at him . and the block of ice with the thing inside is melting unnaturally quickly . soon the object is in the open . the mystery continues though as the object generates a huge amount of electricity . it is decided to open the object  but just before that is done  julian decodes the signal .  do not open  . but too late  and the object explodes as it is finally breached  and two things unleashed on earth . the first is an alien  that had been dormant in the object  and the other is a virus that instantly kills the research staff . and washington  that is suspiciously updated on this historic event  decides that those things can not be unleashed upon the earth . so a russian nuclear submarine  carrying nuclear weapons is sent to antarctica .  br    br   comments the movie holds a few surprises . one is carl lewis who surprisingly puts in a good acting performance  and the other is that the special effects that are beautiful  well worked through and a lot better than expected . unfortunately the story holds a lot of surprises of its own  and this time not in a good way . actually it is so full of plot holes that sometimes the movies seem to consist of almost randomly connected scenes . it is never really explained why washington know so much  why washington is able to command russian submarines  why the object is in the antarctic and has woken up now . it is really puzzling that the alien pod is transmitting in understandable english . some might want to explain this with that the alien had been to earth before and knew the language  and obviously chose english  why   . but then it is very confusing why the nice aliens that apparently want to save the earth from the virus  send their  do not open  message encoded  and finally the end is as open as an end can be .  br    br   the movie is a little entertaining but too much energy  from me  must be diverted to fill in the voids in the plot . therefore the total impression of the movie is not too good .  br    br        
i liked nearly all the movies in the dirty harry series with the exception of the one i think is titled  enforcer  .  deadpool  was a bit weak in areas too  but i still enjoyed it . this one is one of my favorites of the series  if nothing else for the great line of  go ahead  make my day  . this one also features an interesting albeit familiar plot of someone killing those that have done her wrong . just think  magnum force  with less mystery about who is behind the killings and you have your plot . granted there is a bit more than that as this one does feature a very nice final showdown at an amusement park . it also features dirty harry getting a bulldog as a gift and it tripping up sandra locke in a rather humorous scene . the only question that remains is why clint eastwood had to have the rather mediocre actress sandra locke in so many of his movies . she brings the score down a point every time even when overall the movie is enjoyable to me . granted she is not to bad here  but her character could have been so much better by someone else . another problem with this movie and other dirty harry movies  at times they almost seem to be advertisements for guns . i like guns as much as the next person  but do we really need scenes of him explaining all the different strengths of his newest weapon and how many bullets it holds  still  very nice entry into the dirty harry series of movies .  
  hey everybody  i  ve got an idea  we found this egg  shaped thingie from outer space so why don  t we thaw it out and open it up    yes  i know that would be the dumbest thing a scientist could do  and it could be filled with contaminating bacteria or viruses unknown to earth and could potentially wipe out the human race  but hey  i want to know what  s in it  .  and nobody tell nasa  they might take it away from us  .  wow this thingie gives off vibes    yes  really strong ones on contact so don  t touch it but it  s okay to cut it open  .  hi there handsome  check out my nips  .  later that day    do not open       uh oh  we have to run all the way to the lab and tell them not to open it because we don  t have phones or radios or intercoms even though we have a gazillion dollars worth of other equipment here .  i  ve never seen such organic technology    yeah  lemme take this stick and stab it .  .  i  m getting out of here  i don  t care if i do kill the other  billion people on earth  nobody  s nukkin  me    look  it  s the friendly aliens from  the abyss   they want us to come with them  . the end  
clint eastwood would star again as the battle  weary detective harry callahan  but would also direct the fourth entry in the  dirty harry  series .  sudden impact  again like the other additions  brings its own distinguishable style and tone  but if anything it  s probably the most similar to the original in it  s darker and seedy moments  and bestowing a classic line  go ahead . make my day    but some of its humor has to been seen to believe . a bulldog named meathead that pisses and farts . oh yeah . however an interesting fact this entry was only one in series to not have it set entirely in san francisco .  br    br   the story follows that of detective callahan trying to put the pieces together of a murder where the victim was shot in the groin and then between the eyes . after getting in some trouble with office superiors and causing a stir which has some crime lord thugs after his blood . he  s ordered to take leave  but it falls into a working one where he heads to a coastal town san paulo  where a murder has occurred similar in vein  bullet to groin and between eyes  to his case . there he begins to dig up dirt  which leads to the idea of someone looking for revenge .  br    br   to be honest  i wasn  t all that crash hot on eastwood  s take  but after many repeat viewings it virtually has grown on me to the point of probably being on par with the first sequel  magnum force  . this well  assembled plot actually gives eastwood another angle to work upon  even though it feels more like a sophisticated take on the vigilante features running rampant at that time   quite literal with something punishing but luridly damaging . it  s like he  s experimenting with noir  thriller touches with character  driven traits to help develop the emotionally bubbling and eventual morality framework . his use of images is lasting  due to its slickly foreboding atmospherics . dark tones  brooding lighting like the scene towards the end akin to some western showdown of a silhouette figure  harry with his new .   automag handgun  moving its way towards the stunned prey on the fishing docks . it  s a striking sight that builds fear  mixing the hauntingly cold with plain brutality and dash of humor . it seemed to come off . a major plus with these films are the dialogues  while i wouldn  t call  sudden impact  first  rate  it provides ample biting exchanges and memorably creditable lines  you  re a legend in your own mind  . don  t you just love hearing harry sparking an amusing quip  before pulling out his piece . the beating action when it occurs is excitingly jarring and intense the only way to go and the pacing flies by with little in the way of flat passages . lalo schfrin would return as composer  after  the enforcer  had jerry fielding scoring  bringing a methodical funky kick  which still breathed those gloomy cues to a texturally breezy score that clicked from the get  go . bruce surtees  an eastwood regular  gets the job behind the camera  where he did a piecing job with  dirty harry   and gives the film plenty of scope by wonderfully framing the backdrops in some impeccable tracking scenes  but also instrument edgy angles within those dramatic moments .  br    br   eastwood as the dinosaur callahan still packs a punch  going beyond just that steely glare to get the job done and probably showing a little more heart than one would expect from a younger callahan . this going by the sudden shift in a plot turn of harry  s quest for justice by the badge even though he doesn  t always agree with it . i just found it odd a real change of heart . across from him is a stupendous performance by his beau at the time sondra locke . her turn of traumatic torment  being senselessly raped along with her younger sister   is hidden by a glassily quiet intensity . when the anger is released  it  s tactically accurate in its outcome . paul drake is perfectly menacing and filthy as one of the targeted thugs and audrie j . neenan nails down a repellently scummy and big  mouthed performance . these people are truly an ugly bunch of saps . pat hingle is sturdy as the chief of the small coastal town . in smaller parts are bradford dillman and the agreeably potent albert popwell  a regular in the series     but under different characters  . how can you forget him in  dirty harry   yes he is bank robber that  s at the end of the trademark quote  do i feel lucky  well  do ya  punk    
the acting  other reviews notwithstanding  was remarkably well  done . brad pitt handles the role of an annoying  obnoxious austrian climber quite well . other acting is fine . the story could have been riveting  but somehow  it misses  one never really understands or cares for the characters shown  and so the story  which could have been quite dramatic  fails to draw in this audience .  br    br   beautiful scenery and cinematography  a remarkably dramatic true story  important events that shaped the world that we live in  but i could not  try as i might  involve myself in this story . as an unabashed brad pitt fan  i consider him one of the top  actors of his generation   i expected to love this flick  and yet  it left me cold .  br    br   it could be a failing within myself  but i tend to point toward the creative end of this movie  direction  scriptwriting  production  editing  somehow  they lost me . it  s a shame  because it could have been wonderful .  br    br   good acting  dramatic story  beautifully shot  it should have been magnificent . it wasn  t . probably worth watching  just to make your own mind up on it  but don  t expect too much  and perhaps you won  t be as disappointed as i was . mostly  it bored me .  
this final entry in george lucas  s star wars movies is often regarded as the weakest of the lot . however  this is not to say that it is a totally worthless entry in the series . on the contrary . sure  it  s not as groundbreaking as its predecessors and a bit more slow  going at times  but return of the jedi still offers a lot to warrant the price of admission .  br    br   the first third of the movie  where luke and his friends rescue han from the palace of jabba the hutt  is a classic . jabba  a truly disgusting blob of bloated flesh who speaks in his own language  not only makes a great villain  but a memorable one  too . it must have been a nightmare to construct this giant puppet  much less give it the spark and life that we see on the finished product . actually  what also makes this sequence fun is the clever use of puppets for the various members of jabba  s court  including the intimidating  slavering rancor and scary sarlaac pit monster . it builds masterfully to its climax and pulls punches all the while .  br    br   things get a little bit slower around the second act  where luke discovers that he and leia are related by blood and when we travel to the forest planet of endor  home of the cuddlesome yet stalwart ewoks . most of the complaints about return of the jedi that i  ve read seem to be centered on these furry creatures  in that they somehow disrupt the tone of the saga . i don  t totally agree with that  although this moment is probably played out a bit longer than it should . however  their leader  wicket  played by warrick davis  is a delightfully memorable creation  and watching how they handle the imperial troops  technology with their simple  natural weapons provides a nice contrast .  br    br   by the time we get to the third act  though  the pace picks up again  as we intercut between the ewoks battle against the troops  lando and the rebel forces launching an attack against the empire  s all  new half  completed death star  and luke  s final showdown with darth vader and the emperor . the latter ties with the jabba palace sequence as the highlight of the movie . mark hamill flexes his acting chops once again as luke skywalker in these scenes  and watching him as a fully matured jedi knight makes for an unforgettable performance . also  as iconic as james earl jones  voice as darth vader is  he is rivaled only by the shriveled  crone  like emperor  played with deliciously raspy  frightening evil by ian mcdiarmid . the tension between this trio heightens the excitement of this climactic moment  which is appropriately darkly lit and menacingly underscored .  br    br   the star wars movies have always set standards for special effects  and the technical work in return of the jedi can easily hold a candle to its predecessors . the space battle fights are as exhilarating as always  and the speeder bike chase through the forest is a knockout . of course  given that this movie was made after a new hope and the empire strikes back  it probably shouldn  t be so surprising that the special effects have reached an even greater level of excellence . the acting is classic star wars fare hamill  harrison ford and carrie fisher all mature and deepen into their roles  and anthony daniels provides more hilarious moments as c   po . frank oz  s yoda only appears in two scenes  but he makes the most of it . and yes  there  s also john williams  music .  br    br   all told  while return of the jedi falters a little bit in the middle  the first and third acts deliver in style  making this a rather satisfactory finale to one of the greatest sagas ever .  br    br   in      george lucas re  released the classic star wars in digitally restored  and revamped   special editions   which featured added  in effects and  or shots as well as some enhancements . of the three  return of the jedi appears to have caused the most commotion with star wars fans . perhaps it can be due to the jarringly out  of  place  albeit funny if you  re not so easily offended   jedi rocks  musical number in jabba  s palace  which  although technically amazing  does disrupt the flow of the film . however  i did like the ending montage scenes where we see victory celebrations occurring on the various planets of the galaxy . this dvd version features yet more tweaking   we get to see more montage finale scenes  notably on naboo  where we hear what sounds like jar jar binks screaming   wesa free     and  in what is probably the most controversial change  hayden christensen as the specter of anakin skywalker in the closing scenes . probably due to the intense  and unfair  disdain fans have for his somewhat shaky work in episode ii attack of the clones it seems inevitable that fans would put this edition down for that alone . however  if you  re watching the star wars saga chronologically  and contemplating about it   chances are you may react a little differently . nonetheless  it is an issue that fans have raised  so it  s probably best to be warned beforehand .  br    br   as nice as it would be to have lucas release the original versions of these three classic films  he nonetheless stands by what he said about these revamps being the  definitive  editions of his classic trilogy  and  when viewing the star wars movies altogether as one complete saga  as lucas intended   it actually makes sense to keep them technically and aurally consistent . the original films will always be engraved in our memories  but these new incarnations are just as much fun  if one can give them a chance .  
what did producer  director stanley kramer see in adam kennedy  s novel and kennedy  s very puzzling screenplay  were there a few pieces left out on purpose  and what about gene hackman  richard widmark  edward albert  eli wallach and mickey rooney  what did they see in this very muddled story   br    br   and why did candice bergen  who gave a horrible performance  accept such a thankless role   br    br   the domino principle wants to be on the same footing as the parallax view or the manchurian candidate and misses the mark by a very wide margin . a major misfire by stanley kramer .  
clint eastwood reprises his role as dirty harry who this time is on the case of a vigilante  sondra locke  who is killing the people that raped her and her sister at a carnival many years ago . eastwood makes the role his and the movie is mainly more action then talk  not that i  m complaining . sudden impact is indeed enjoyable entertainment .  
ok  here it is  nazi mountaineer befriends the dalai lama .  what we do is  first we get a major star with no idea whatsoever how to do a germanic accent  and we let him flounder around between french  german  american  and british for over  hours . then we concoct a series of wildly improbable events and space them apart very widely  so that the plot inches along almost imperceptibly . but just to make sure the viewer doesnt fall asleep  we throw in details which are shockingly absurd  such as our hero smoking a cigarette at an altitude of       feet . naturally  we must also remember that our target audience does not want to read too many subtitles  so we have every character  even the lowliest peasant in the forbidden closed  off city of lhasa in      speak perfect english  also with dubious accents . of course  the trickiest part is how to handle the spiritual and political aspects of the story  so what we do is this we have the dalai lama befriend the now  reformed nazi because the latter is so good at fiddling with film projectors  radios  antique cars  and any other devices with represent the freedom of the capitalist west . in return  our hero learns from his young proteg a kind of vague  undefined buddhism which is never really brought out or treated in a serious fashion . we also have lots of scenes with the hero flaunting all the marks of respects and protocol which the rest of the tibetan society accords the dalai lama  even as we pretend that the hero has deep and profound reverence for these people and their spiritual leader . in other words  we just expect the audience to believe that this guy is now a buddhist  sort of  in his own way  even though we ourselves dont seem to know what his transformation entails or how far we want it to go . and last but not least  we hang a statistic onto the end of the film about how appallingly the chinese have treated the tibetans  which is certainly true   thus opening ourselves up to charges that we have made a  political  movie  even though it is nothing of the sort . so  zat ist my idea . vat do you zink  can ve make zis movie   
having never seen the original dirty harry  i judged this movie on a clean slate . and i must say  i quite enjoyed it . sure  some of the acting by sondre locke made me a little squeemish  but hey  it was the    s . but even if you can  t get past her  and i almost couldn  t  or her revenge killings  which seemed a little . . overdone p   it  s worth it just for dirty harry . or at the very least  the bull dog he affectionately names  meathead  p  br    br       .  
i read the book   years in tibet  from heinrich harrer and was fascinated of it . then i immediately grabbed the dvd and started to watch the movie . i remember the first time i saw it back in    i kinda liked it . well  now i watched it again in full knowledge of the book it is based on . and soon i realized how wrong it all was told  br    br   when they enter lhasa the people start to stick their tongues out of their mouths and thewlis and pitt have the impression that its the way to say hello in tibet  so they greet back . . . in the book harrer explains  that sticking the tongue out is a sign of absolute humbleness and loyalty in tibet and they may do it in front of the dalai lama but certainly not for these two europeans  not only the mother but even the dalai lama himself was wearing glasses in the public . in the book harrer mentions  that no one in tibet wore glasses to that time  sorry forgot the reason  but its explained in the book too  . the young dalai lama did  but only when he was alone and nobody could see him  and what about that mao tse tung lookalike  destroying the mandala in front of the young  living buddha    childish . . . and the tailor made harrer and aufschnaiter tibetan clothes not european designer suits  why are so many events that really happened eliminated from the story  just to fill the time with a fictional love interest  the female tailor . . .  that is completely unimportant  just like the whole story about harrers son  rolf . not one word is mentioned about him or even any family member of harrer in the book . but that was ok for me because   years in tibet  is not a book about harrers person . its about tibet . i  m very disappointed by this  adaption  of the famous book . and i bet heinrich harrer was  too . . .  stars  just for the cinematography .  
director  star clint eastwood  s  sudden impact  is an intriguing addition to the  dirty harry  series  a combination of crude film  making and genius . it  s mediocre and silly in parts  brilliant and classic in others  with compelling  gripping pacing . there are numerous echoes of the first film here  the shoot  em up  make my day  scene recalls the  do you feel lucky  one  one of the villains is as viscerally repugnant as the first film  s scorpio  an actor who played a minor baddie in the first one returns here as harry  s partner  just to name a few .  br    br   harry callahan is still at odds with the higher  ups in the department  still mean  still tough  but now he  s older and wearier . his constant conflicts with his superiors are a metaphor for his inner conflict  a respect and reverence for the law versus a desire to serve the pure spirit of justice  the two things not always being compatible . this  incompatibility  is the underlying theme of the series . the first film posed a simple question   what about the victim  s rights     do they outweigh those of the criminal  vice versa  depends   . that film  s answer was controversial  prompting a sequel  the highly enjoyable  magnum force   which set out to draw the line between harry  s brand of justice and pure  heartless vigilantism . dirty harry  like many of clint  s other roles  is the personification of vengeance  the protector of the the defenseless . this movie however brings it back to the victim  in this case jennifer  portrayed by sondra locke   who decides to avenge the rape of herself and her now  incapacitated sister by ruthlessly hunting down and ritualistically executing the men  and one woman  who committed the crime .  br    br   without going into a play  by  play of the whole movie  i will say this  i mentioned earlier that  sudden impact  echoes the first film  it actually also sprinkles in little references and in  jokes from the whole series  the confusion concerning the captain  s last name is an example  an intentional prank  i believe  . the relationship between callahan and jennifer is neat  has our rogue cop hero found a soul  mate in this lady vigilante  and is she a vigilante or a victim justifiably standing up for her and her sister  s tarnished rights  the exchange between these two at the very end of the film is a poetic denouement of the series  one which i personally  as a fan  found quite moving . that last scene alone makes sudden impact the legitimate climax to the  dirty harry  collection  the perfect answer to the conflict posed in the first film .  not to knock  the dead pool   that excellent movie was a relatively light  hearted suspenseful yet comic thriller featuring harry callahan  rather than a character  defining film like this one  .  br    br   this movie did well in the theaters  audiences in the reagan era found harry and his ilk quite appealing  and the president himself frequently quoted  go ahead  make my day .   
i  ve read all the comments on this film . i am a great admirer  br    br   of the dalai lama . as such  i read the book upon which this  br    br   film was based . the movie is an ugly and demeaning fictionalization of the truth . i do not criticize it for  br    br   altering small details or events for dramatic purposes it is  br    br   not a documentary . but the script changes the impact  reaction   br    br   realities  and changes in every main character . it vastly alters  br    br   the real relationship between harrar and the young dalai lama .  br    br   from the ridiculous rivalry for a tibetan woman  which demeans  br    br   the culture of tibet  to harra  s music box gift  to harrar  s  br    br   change of heart  everything about this movie is false  except  br    br   for the amazing photography . i understand that the shots of the  br    br   potala  the palace  were smuggled out of tibet . however   br    br   changing a real story about the relationship between two people   br    br   one of them very important to this world  in order to build up a  br    br   movie star is sad  
anyone witness to our justice system  or lack thereof will find this film truly satisfying . there weren  t too many shades of gray with regard to characters or plot . virtually every character in this film epitomized what is best and worst about our society . the popularity of this film is probably due to the fact that most of us at one time or another have had to deal with scumbags along with the namby  pamby  lily  livered  melee  mouthed bureaucrats that empower them in the name of  political correctness  .  br    br   the performances across the board were compelling . i sympathized with the rape victim  while at the same  found it gratifying to see her wipe the smug  vicious arrogance off the faces of her former attackers . in particular  i found the dyke one of the ugliest characters in all of the films i  ve seen  so it was nice to see her former victim shut her mouth for good . the lead rapist and psychopath was equally ugly  so it was only fitting that dirty harry himself offed him in a loud grotesque fashion in the end . this was the only sequel in the dirty harry saga that equaled the first .  
i can  t believe it  imdb really does have every tv show known to man  i have not seen this show in over   years . i only remember two episodes  and i barely remember those . i remember that tony may not been on from the start  because one of the episodes i remember is the one in which everybody trying to get tony to join  but he rejects them  but typically at the end of the show he becomes a member of power house  with everybody cheering .  br    br   the other one i remember is the one where lolo for some reason pretends to be dead   complete with funeral and mourners  . i don  t remember why he plays dead  or how the show ends .  br    br   this is one of those shows that i convinced myself that i must have dreamed up since no one else had ever heard of it .  
inspector  dirty  harry callahan once again angers his superiors with his maverick approach to police work . refusing to take a vacation he is given a simple case which takes him outside of san francisco . however  he soon discovers a link between a recent murder in the city and a murder outside of the city  which leads him to the trail of a revenge killer .  br    br   as an entry in the dirty harry franchise the film starts with some very promising moments  including the legendary  go ahead  make my day  line that eastwood delivers wonderfully through clenched teeth before single handedly foiling a robbery . very badass and it just what fans can expect from him . however  the film soon shifts gears and focuses on the mysterious revenge killer . the problem is that this killer isn  t all that mysterious as she is characterized as much as harry is . this really detracts from the presence of the main character who ruled all of his previous film appearances with  pardon the pun  magnum force .  br    br   on the bright side this new storyline does draw several parallels to harry  s own unorthodox methods and gives his character dramatic depth that was not there before  but fans that were looking for another badass harry outing will more than likely be somewhat disappointed . however  a tense climax ends the film on an exciting note so if you don  t mind something a little different  it is a good movie for fans .         br    br   rated r for violence and a rape scene  
this doesn  t quite plumb the depths of creepshow   but it comes close . it also uses the same technique of using some of the same actors in multiple roles throughout the anthology  which is distracting to say the least .  br    br   it also rather irritating rips off the twilight zone  with the bookshop being comparable to serling  s later night gallery  . unfortunately  the producers  writers forgot that serling would build up sympathy for his characters before messing them over . none of the characters are particularly sympathetic or interesting until the last segment .  br    br   framing story adam west is . . . well  himself . he doesn  t go the bruce wayne  batman campy   s route  but he rarely does . he simply plays the not  particularly  enigmatic  jay   there  s an ominous spine  chilling name to compare to the likes of dr . terror  eramus  and the cryptkeeper   and makes some mildly awkward  creepy statements .  br    br   abernathy seen rod serling  s  a stop in willoughby   then you  ve seen this . the red herring of the nutso wife is introduced to no purpose  but even the main character  s friend identifies him as a wimp . as well directed as can be expected  but basically incoherent .  br    br   nex  s diner reminiscent of various serling time travel stories  mixed with steve allen  s  a meeting of minds .  most of the actors aren  t too bad  except for josh astin as cassius  who manages to walk  talk and even breathe awkwardly   and the idea is mildly interesting . but like abernathy  it doesn  t go anywhere . the main character raises some relatively reasonable questions  bugs out a bit  who wouldn  t    and for some reason he ends up banished to a nuclear wasteland .  br    br   life replay not a bad little piece  and manages to predate both click and creepshow  . i suppose it says something that people are fascinated by the magical properties of remote controls . the main character is mildly sympathetic . nothing substantially innovative here  but it  s okay .  br    br   fighting spirit you see the twist coming a mile away but like the main character  it has some heart and it  s a decent story of defeat and redemption .  br    br   finale so . . . why do people end up in cold storage in silver lame suits  don  t know . and doesn  t make sense . so . . . all the protagonists wandered into the bookstore and became trapped  kinda undermines the happy ending with the boxer  thanks  guys    and the guy in the first segment died . so how did he get trapped  did he visit the bookstore before he died  got trapped and . . . didn  t die  what  huh  i supposer this isn  t expected to make sense because it  s supernatural . but still . . .  br    br   overall basically not dissimilar from the two newer twilight zone series  or some episodes of tales from the darkside or monsters . the last two stories and part of the second are probably worth your time . but there  s nothing really spectacular here .  
it  s a strange thing to see a film where some scenes work rather weakly  if only in comparison to other films in its legacy   and others in a  sub  plot  or supporting story are surprisingly provocative and strong . sudden impact is one of those cases  where clint eastwood as star  producer  director shows when he can be at his best  or at his lessor of times when dealing with a crime  mystery  detective story in his dirty harry fame . we get that  make my day  line  and un  like in the first film where his  do i feel lucky  speech was playful and cool the first time and the second time at the end tough as nails  here it  s switched around . he gets into another shamble with the department  as usual  when he tries to fight crime  his  way  in particular with a diner robbery  inspiration for pulp fiction   and with a high speed pursuit with a senior citizen bus . he  s told to  take a vacation   and that  s the last thing on his mind . this whole main plot isn  t very convincing aside from the expectancy of the story and lines  which just adds to the frustration . but soon his story merges with the sub  plot that eastwood develops from the start .  br    br   enter sandra locke  s character  jennifer spencer  whom we soon learn after some  appropriately  mysterious scenes that she and her shy sister were victims of a cruel  unjust sexual assault  err  outright rape   and is sleekly  undercover  like  getting revenge . her scenes and story are the strongest parts of the film  the most intense  and finally when it goes into callahan  s storyline  he  s getting facts in the same small town she  s in on a murder   the film finally finds a focus between eastwood  s classic form of clearly defined good vs . evil  though sometimes blurred  to be sure  . eastwood films the flashbacks  not to say too much about them  expertly  in a fresh  experimental style the trademark lalo schifrin score is totally atmospheric in these scenes and in others . it almost seems like a couple of times an art  house sensibility has crept into eastwood  s firmly straightforward storytelling style  which helps make the film watchable .  br    br   it  s a shame  though  that in the end it goes more for the expectable  or maybe not expectable  points  and until the third act callahan doesn  t have much to do except his usual  it  s smith . . . wesson . . . and me  shtick . however  with locke he gets out of her a very good performance  more subtle and touching than the one in the gauntlet  and an exciting climax at an amusement park . in a way i do and don  t agree with ebert  s remark that it  s like a  music video  in eastwood  s style here . i admit there is comparisons with the simplicity of both  the directness  but the scenes where eastwood does break form are superior to those of any music video . it  s cheesy  it  s hard  edged  it  s not up to par with the first two  harry  pictures  but hey  there could be worse ways to spend a couple hours with the master of the .   .  
i actually felt bad for the actors in this thing . no doubt a high school drama class could do a better job or at the very least as well a job . the actors must have thought this would be their big chance working in a film  it certainly was not . besides the terrible acting the stories were boring and for the most part predictable . the one about the remote control didn  t even make any sense . to bad cause it had the best premise in the bunch .  br    br   i  m all for supporting low budget films and giving new film makers a fair chance  but this turkey is a waste of time and an insult to the viewer . i only watched it because of some good comments posted here . they must have been planted by people with ties to the film . you may fool people into watching this  but you can  t fool them into liking what they saw .  br    br   i gave it a  instead of a  because at least the boxer story tried to be heart warming . sure it failed miserably  but it tried . i reserve  s for the worst of the worst .  br    br   do yourself a favor and skip this dribble . i wish i had .  
spoilers spoilers after two so  so outings   magnum force  and  the enforcer    dirty harry seems to have regained his stride in  sudden impact   a gripping thriller that wisely plays to its strengths the charisma of clint eastwood  who also directed  and a story that spends just enough time on exposition and reserves its energy for the big scenes .  br    br   for once  the case takes harry outside his native san francisco  where he  s again in trouble with his superiors for his  shoot first  ask questions later  tactics   to the hamlet of san paulo . there   warning potential spoiler  a group of lowlifes is being gruesomely murdered  one at a time  by a woman whom they gang  raped years earlier  and whose sister has been in a state of catatonia ever since the attack .  br    br   the killer is portrayed by sondra locke  and she makes the character of jennifer spencer an interesting mix of compassion and cold  bloodedness . locke  s cold eyes and frosty voice  when either trying to comfort her hospitalized sister or dispensing vengeance toward the rapists  are very effective in painting a portrait of a woman wronged whose years of suffering and rage are now beginning to bear deadly fruit .  br    br   the rapists are a despicable lot  especially the leader  who has  psycho nutjob  practically stamped on his forehead  and a lesbian who seems almost one of the guys  despite her anatomical inability to participate . the flashback scenes  while not graphically explicit  are nightmarish enough  and clearly intended to make the audience cheer for jennifer as she kills her assailants .  br    br   some will dismiss  sudden impact  as trash a mindless  manipulative revenge tale . on a certain level this is true  but it  s well  done trash . what works to the movie  s advantage is the strength of the sondra locke performance  giving us a complex character whose wounds are more visible in her paintings than in her gestures or speech . what we have here is an action movie with a point of view .  br    br   you can take or leave the idea that some wrongs deserve to be punished by any means necessary  but as the mystery behind the slayings becomes clear to harry  a realization that  wisely  is not spelled out with dialogue   he is presented with a choice   what to do about a killer whose motivations he can sympathize with but whose conduct he is bound by law to not tolerate . this makes the story more interesting than the usual dirty harry fare .  br    br   the movie  s other redeeming quality is eastwood  s direction . this is  after all  a dirty harry movie  and eastwood knows the character better than anyone else . the movie is directed with style and wit  and edited to give the action scenes a big payoff . some of the best  harry moments  in the entire series are here  including harry  s best  known line   go ahead   make my day .   br    br    sudden impact  is a movie that has the courage of its convictions in presenting a tale about a despicable crime and the brutal consequences that follow . it is also a riveting detective story  well made and well told . and it is certainly never dull . on those criteria  it succeeds tremendously .  
and maybe  as fred sandford used to say   one across the lips  . that to those who released this film on an unsuspecting public . and perhaps to the person in  rue morgue  who called this a  fender hellbender  and said it was good .  br    br   five young girls  apparently taking a short  cut home from a high school football game  become lost and stop to ask directions at some small store in the middle of nowhere . while there the driver accidentally hits a parked suv  knocks out a headlight  but the girls all decide to just leave  not go find the driver . but the driver does come to find them  and it  s not just that the headlight on her vehicle got dinged  it  s for another reason that the girls do not yet understand . when the driver does first catch them she  yes  it  s a she  brandishes a shot gun  makes them strip down  and keeps screaming at them   how much did you see   . of course the girls are scared to death  don  t know what she  s talking about .  br    br   as the night rolls on the girls end up in a cat and mouse game with the driver of the suv  who manages to inflict all manner of injuries on the girls  who are remarkably resilient to shot gun blasts and screwdrivers where they didn  t want them . eventually they come to find that something happened back at that store after they left that is the reason for this woman  s psychotic rage . and eventually they have a chance at revenge and take it about as far as they can go .  br    br   there are elements of this film that are rather disturbing and scary  but unfortunately  those moments are undermined by bad acting  bad dialog  and huge lapses of credibility . one girl is hit by a shot gun blast and appears to be mortally wounded  and she  s feeling cold  her life is passing before her eyes  but she got better  and how far can a mini  van run on an almost empty gas tank at speeds of   miles per hour  i need one of those things  it apparently gets great mileage .  br    br   there should have been an ending when the girls got their revenge  but the film goes on for a bit after that  which is an anti  climax  but they at least learn some of what set the woman off  and the driver is still worried about  messing up her mom  s van   which is obviously the least of anyone  s worries .  br    br   so this isn  t the worst film i  ve seen  but it  s too amateur to be good and yet a bit too scary and gruesome at times to be completely terrible . but it does take the cake for plenty of shrill hysterics and you  ll want to put two across your ears if you watch this . which  by the way  i don  t necessarily recommend .  out of   .  
with this movie being the only dirty harry movie which clint eastwood not only stars  but produces and directs as well  you know it  s got to be good . although some say that the enforcer is the best out of the series  i completely disagree . in my opinion  apart from the original dirty harry  sudden impact and magnum force are the only two worthy of being in the series . although the enforcer is an alright film with a couple of good action sequences  it doesn  t get the dirty and gritty impact that the other three films do . this film captures all the excitement that makes a clint eastwood film good  and it  s got the quotes that make a dirty harry film good . in diry harry it  s  . . well do ya  punk    in magnum force  a man  s got to know his limitations   and in this it  s  go ahead . make my day .  also in this film it  s nice to see a change of scenery  as you get a bit tired of seeing the same old san fransisco streets in the other films in the series . with great acting by clint eastwood and co  star sandra locke  and good directing by clint  this is in my opinion the best dirty harry sequel ever .  
five across the eyes starts as five young teenage girls are driving home in time for their curfew  they stop off at a store  accidentally hit another car  decide to just drive off  leave it . soon after the other car forces them to stop  a crazy woman with a shotgun gets out  shouts at them  makes them take their clothes off  makes them pee on them  then randomly drives off . shaken  shocked the girls think their ordeal is over but the crazy woman comes back for seconds as she seems intent on killing the terrified girls who are lost  are low on gas . . .  br    br   produced  directed by greg swinson  ryan theissen with swinson writing the thing  theissen responsible for the cinematography  editing i have to say that five across the eyes is easily one of the worst films i have ever seen if not the worst  i mean i  m struggling to think of a film i have seen that  s worse . now let me start off by saying that i am sure a lot of the film  making decision taken here were deliberate to try  provoke atmosphere  tension  realism  suspense but there is not one aspect of five across the eyes that i didn  t hate it to be honest it looks like a bad home video that has been put up on youtube  even then it  s still slightly embarrassing  a frankly worthless waste of   odd minutes of my time that i could have been doing something more entertaining  fun like pulling my fingernails out with pliers . the reviews on the web seem quite positive but on the imdb  the amount of  star comments is revealing  they can  t all be wrong  right    it  s message board which i think is much more of an indicator of what the average person thinks it  s absolutely trashed by just about everyone  the phrase  the worst film i have ever seen  is used a few times  to be fair most of these negative comments mention th same things  i have to agree with them . the story is terrible  alright i suspect it  s meant to be minimalistic but this minimal  there  s never any reason or explanation for the events that happen  it just feels totally random . it goes on for ages  the amount of plot here would struggle to fill a thirty minute made for telly program let along a full length feature . the dialogue is awful with these annoying girls who don  t seem to have a brain cell between them taking about random stuff  screaming a lot . oh god the screaming  there are seemingly endless scenes of these girls screaming or crying or whining which not only irritates  annoys  prevents any sane viewer feeling any sort of sympathy for them it also makes what they are trying to say almost impossible to hear properly . then there  s the real killer  the entire film is set  shot within the confines of a mini van  seriously the camera never leaves this car  as you can imagine it gets really boring  add that the low body count of just one person killed on screen  five across the eyes is a film that i hated with a passion .  br    br   on a technical level again i can see that the film  making style here was a deliberate choice but i have to be honest again  say five across the eyes is the worst looking film i have ever seen . as a fan of film i like my films to look like proper films as it  s a visual medium  i definitely don  t want them to look worse than the average youtube video or my home films shot on a camcorder while i was drunk . it really does look that amateurish  that bad  it  s a complete eyesore  i hated every moment of every second of it . just think the blair witch project       only ten times worse looking  sounding  you will be almost there . there are times during five across the eyes when you literally can  t tell what  s going on or happening because of the camera  work  the almost pitch black  grainy contrast levels . the violence is tame too with a few splashes of blood  a stabbing at the end .  br    br   low budget doesn  t even begin to describe five across the eyes  with a supposed budget of about       this is easily one of the lowest budgeted films ever given a wide release . the two vans in the film were owned by members of the production  that  s basically pretty much the entire budget right there  the locations . the acting is pretty bad by the main cast  i just hated all the fake put on crying  screaming that didn  t convince at all but did irritate immensely .  br    br   five across the eyes will go down as one of the worst films i have ever seen  i have seen a few films  whenever anyone now ask  s me what  s the worst film i have ever seen five across the eyes will definitely get a mention . i hated it  every single aspect  wretched moment of it .  
with harry callahan getting up in years  the inevitable old man with a chip on his shoulder  story had to come into play eventually . callahan  looking fragile sometimes and out of place  his demeanor still was unwavering . thankfully  this film took some time off to develop a different type of story  one that might reinvent the dirty harry and the whole genre . while the film fell short in doing so  it was still an excellent addition to the series  even if it was getting a little out of place during a time of silly fashion trends and new wave music .  
i never finished this movie for a reason  it was dreadful and thats just the acting . i wasn  t even sure what the film was about tbh it didn  t make a lot of sense and the violence was awful . i mean ususally i like some nude in a film  lol  but it was just sick because of what was happening . all the characters annoyed me and it was just full of loud screams and the camera was shaking at parts and it looked like a sequel to the blair with project but without any good qualities . this is one of the worst movies i have seen in a long time and would like my time back please . i wouldn  t recommend this film to anyone or even consider it .  n   
the dirty harry series began with very gritty cop action  and was almost immediately lightened up for  magnum force  . by the time that  the enforcer  rolled around  dirty harry was little more than a television cop show  saved only by tyne daly  . after a break of seven years  dirty harry has finally gone back to his roots . maybe he  s been gone for too long this time .  br    br   clint eastwood makes the first well  directed harry film since don siegel made the first  which helps considerably . harry is a darker character once again  not the nice cop he had become . he can once again say things like  go ahead  make my day  and really mean it .  sudden impact  is a true dirty harry sequel .  the enforcer  should never have been made .  br    br    .  out of    
im the type of person who always goes  to horror section when i  m picking a film  so i picked five across the eyes  i was disgusted with this film and thought there was no story line and no point that you could enjoy it  it made my skin crawl to think that people like to watch films that just encourage violence for the hell of it it was low budget and very rubbish  i think i could of done better myself . i think that it was the worst film i have ever seen in my life and you should not bother to watch it the actors were rubbish the camera was awful the picture was bad and the sound was not up to scratch  i think it was a little bit like a cheep rip of off the baler which project and it has not worked at all it was foul .  
after  star wars a new hope  redefined science fiction  and  the empire strikes back  redefined  star wars   it  s hard to believe that the third and final film of this trilogy can manage to be as good as the other two  but this one really does a nice job . the first part of the film resolves the cliffhanger left by the previous one  with an elaborate escape plan that is in keeping with the incredible suspense and action of the first two films . then the film moves back to the rebel alliance and what  s going on in the war . there is a lot of action in the scenes building up to the rebellion  s final confrontation with the emperor . when the battle begins  the audience is already on the edge of their seats from everything leading up to it  and this final battle is even more intense than those from the other films . this climax is definitely more dense with action than any other part of the trilogy  with the most at stake for the rebellion . this is continually changing between a ground battle between the rebel strike crew on land  including han solo  chewbacca  and leia   the battle raging on in space  including lando   and a confrontation between luke and the emperor on the new death star  which leads up to another duel with darth vader . it is really intense since the rebels constantly seem to be losing the battle that will determine the outcome of the war  and there seems to be no escape . although i think the idea of ewoks overpowering stormtroopers is a bit far  fetched  it didn  t seem very unrealistic since they were more of a distraction that the rebels could use  rather than an actual threat to the stormtroopers  although they did have some luck fighting them . there is also a twist or two at the end that nobody saw coming  which may not be quite as stunning as that of  the empire strikes back   but still complete a very spectacular trilogy very well . with the light tone of  a new hope  and the more sinnister tone of  the empire strikes back   this film really completes them by combining the two in this grand finale . the special edition for  return of the jedi  concentrated on what would have been nice to change  since not much of the original really needed it . fifteen years of technology advancements didn  t seem to make up for fifteen years of deterioration as far as the rancor scene is concerned  and there still is the occasional disappearing tie fighter  but other than that it was good . the gaping non  threatening sarlaac  s mouth was given moving tentacles and a huge fly  trap looking head that emerged  which definitely added to the suspense . also  the disco was taken out of jabba  s palace  and the lame ending of the original was replaced by a huge victory celebration spanning the entire galaxy  instead of just a small ewok village  which was the case of the original and that didn  t really end a story this big the way it deserved . it  s hard to say which of the three films was the best  but since it  s all part of the same story  the over  all trilogy is like one big  outstanding film . a third must  see for film fans .  
stanley kramer directs an action thriller and leaves out two key things action and thrills . the domino principle features gene hackman as a convict sprung from prison in order to perform some mysterious task . richard widmark  edward albert  and eli wallach are his operatives    they presumably work for the government  but that  like most of the movie  s plot line  is never made clear . hackman asks a lot of questions that never get answered so the film goes absolutely nowhere . while it strives to be like night moves and the parallax view  the domino principle mixes up ambiguity and mystery with confusion and boredom . the film is extremely well photographed but even that works against it . kramer  s direction is devoid of any style . it  s a very sunny movie   br    br   the acting is fine with hackman proving he  s pretty much incapable of being bad . widmark and wallach are suitably nasty and albert is well cast as widmark  s cruel lackey . even the usually obnoxious mickey rooney is pretty good as hackman  s sidekick . one oddity however is the casting of candice bergen as hackman  s wife . we  re told she  s done time in prison and she seems to be trying to put on some sort of southern twang . kramer  s idea of making her appear to be trailer trash is to have her wear an ugly brown wig . it  s a role better suited for the likes of valerie perrine or susan tyrell .  
the fourth in the  dirty harry  series  this film features one of the most despicable  ugliest  unlikable  profane  disgusting females i have ever seen on film  ray perkins   played by audrie neenan . she is the modern nasty low  life version of the      detour  character   ann savage .   br    br   her foul mouth and gutter attitude turned me off so much i never watched this film again until i acquired a profanity filter which shut her up . . . . and least some of her  then i could enjoy the rest of the movie .  br    br   everywhere  harry callahan   clint eastwood  goes  violence immediately follows . . . . . within minutes  it happens so often it  s almost laughable but it makes for a fast  moving  entertaining film with a satisfying ending as all the scumbag villains are eliminated one  by  one .  br    br   this is a very sophomoric film that appeals to our base instincts . . . . . and connects  sad to say . most of us like to see these dirtballs get it in the end  and who does it better than dirty harry   
less than   minutes into this film i wanted it to end as it was painful . all this  horror  movie was about was a group of whiny bitches doing stupid things for   minutes  arguing  crying and screaming . do not let the positive reviews fool you as this really is a terrible movie and you really shouldn  t watch it .  br    br   the movies plot had potential to be something great  but it just doesn  t happen . a group of five  teenage  girls are driving home one night when they find themselves being pursued by a crazed female driver who wants to kill them . two minutes into the movie  and the characters are already arguing and this doesn  t stop . all we have for   minutes is a bunch of girls whining  crying  screaming   acting  and arguing . none of the dialogue is even remotely interesting too  so you don  t get to really know these characters or enjoy them .  br    br   the acting was terrible and i was shocked to find out that these characters were meant to be teenagers . none of these women looked a day under    and one of them easily looked like she was nearly   years old . at least get people who look the age . none of them gave even remotely decent performances  and just seemed like they were picked off the street or were friends of the director with no acting abilities . the  actress  who played the killer overdone it  but she at least showed something that the other girls didn  t  a little bit of talent .  br    br   the characters don  t help things because these girls are a bunch of whiny  stupid bitches . that is all i can really say about them  and it did not help that they all survived . if i have to go into detail  in one scene the girls are being chased by the killer and having their car knocked a lot . one girl injures herself and is whining about it . . . four of them aren  t wearing seat  belts . . . what do you expect  one of your friends is being brutally attacked by the killer . . . and you all just happen to be conveniently  too hurt  to help  whatever .  br    br   the filming of the movie is absolutely terrible . i don  t care if this movie had a budget the size of a peanut  the filming was terrible and it was like watching a pirated version of a movie . the cameraman was clearly in the car with the girls  pushed up against a window somewhere and the amount of times the camera blurred out  shook and brushed up against an  actress  was horrendous . it was also grainy  and at times you couldn  t hear what characters were saying  not that it was anything worth listening to  .  br    br   supposedly the killers car in the movie  that supposedly got hit  even though we only heard the accident  is actually the directors car in real life . no wonder they didn  t show the car getting hit  this movie is so cheap  they can  t even show a car getting a little scratched up . oh  gotta mention the soundtrack also . . . if that  s what it was . it was horrid . . . sad one second  then hard rock the next .  br    br   at the end of the day  five across the eyes just feels like a terrible home  movie filmed in the middle of the road at night with a bunch of stupid girls screaming and arguing for   minutes . it doesn  t help when the script is terrible  the scares  tension  suspense and  hardly even any gore to make up for it  are absent  the acting is terrible and the picture quality and filming are horrendous .  br    br   this was a horrible low  budget movie . avoid it at all costs .  br    br        
sudden impact is the  th of the dirty harry films and one of the best traits of these films is that they don  t really degrade in quality from one film to the next . thus  sudden impact provides another thrill ride through the life of dirty harry callahan . this time harry attempts to solve a series of murders while on vacation . harry  s always on the job it seems . clint eastwood plays harry as he plays all his men of action  slow  deliberate  and without fear . as the first of the dirty harry films to be made in the    s  sudden impact lacks a bit of the    s feel that characterizes the first three films . this doesn  t mean that it  s quality is any less . bottom line brimming with intensity and action  sudden impact is another worthy addition to the dirty harry series .  
this  film  attempts to follow the genre of low budget  hand  held camera flicks that have proved to be very effective and successful .  br    br   this one  fails  and how .  br    br   it  s amazing how many so called  awards  this piece of garbage has got plastered on the cover . . . . . it makes you wonder what these critics were on when they actually submitted this . . . .  br    br   words fail to describe just how absolutely appalling this movie really is . seriously  it  s that bad .  br    br   i watched it in   minutes flat  on almost continual fast forward .  br    br   from rubbish lighting to dreadful directing  grainy visuals to muffled sound  and of course not forgetting the abysmal acting  this was one completely and utterly pathetic piece of so  called film making .  br    br   it seriously  has no redeeming qualities  whatsoever . save your cash and watch a decent low budget horror flick  there are plenty out there  dead end  the blair witch  rec  to name but a few .  br    br   avoid this rubbish at all costs . do not waste your money or time on this piece of trash pretending to be an actual film .  br    br   take heed of all the other comments  you  ve been warned   
the vigilante has long held a fascination for audiences  inasmuch as it evokes a sense of swift  sure justice good triumphs over evil and the bad guy gets his deserts . it is  in fact  one of the things that has made the character of dirty harry callahan  as played by clint eastwood  so popular . he carries a badge and works within the law  but at heart  harry is a vigilante  meting out justice his  way  which often puts him in conflict with his own superiors  as well as the criminals he  s pursuing . but it  s what draws the audience anyone who  s ever been bogged down in bureaucratic nonsense of one kind or another  delights in seeing someone cut through the red tape and get on with it   even if it  s only on the screen . and that satisfaction derived from seeing justice done   and quickly   is one of the elements that makes sudden impact   directed by and starring eastwood  so successful . in this one  the fourth of the series  while working a homicide  harry encounters a bona fide vigilante at work   an individual whose brand of justice parallels his own  with one exception whoever it is  he  s definitely not carrying a badge .  br    br   in his own inimitable way  inspector callahan has once again ended up on the bad side of the department and is ordered to take some vacation time . so he does as only dirty harry  can . in a small town north of san francisco  harry finds himself smack dab in the middle of a homicide case  which he quickly links to a recent murder in san francisco because of the unique m . o . employed by the perpetrator . unaccountably  harry encounters resistance from the local police chief  jannings  pat hingle   who advises him to take his big city tactics and methods elsewhere . not one to be deterred  however  harry continues his investigation  which ultimately involves a beautiful and talented young artist  jennifer spencer  sondra locke  . gradually  harry discovers a link between the victims the burning question  though  is where does jennifer spencer fit into the picture   br    br   eastwood is in top form here  both in front of and behind the camera  and it is arguably the second best of the five  film series  right behind the original dirty harry .  it had been seven years since the last harry  offering  the enforcer         but eastwood steps right back into the character with facility and renewed vigor . and this one definitely benefits from having him in the director  s chair  as he is able to recapture the essence of  not only his own character  but that spirit  that made these films so successful  and he does it by knowing the territory and establishing a continuity that all but erases that seven year gap between s  and  . as with all the films he directs  eastwood sets a deliberate pace that works perfectly for this material and creates just enough tension to keep it interesting and involving from beginning to end .  br    br   the screenplay  by joseph stinson  is well written and formulated to that distinctive dirty harry  style the dialogue is snappy and the story itself  conceived by charles b . pierce and earl e . smith  is the most engaging since the original dirty harry   as it successfully endeavors to play upon the very personal aspects of the drama  rather than entirely upon the action . the characters are well drawn and convincing  and  of course  this is the film that gave us one of harry  s best catch  phrases go  ahead   make my day . . .   br    br   as harry  clint eastwood perfectly embodies all of the elements that make this character so popular he lives by a personal moral code  a true individual made of the kind of stuff we envision as that of the pioneers who settled this country and made america what it is today . harry personifies that sense of freedom and justice we all strive for and hold so dear  possibly more so today than ever before . no matter who we are or where we come from  there  s undeniably a part of us that wants to be harry  or at least have him around . dirty harry  is an icon of the cinema  and it  s impossible to envision anyone but eastwood portraying him for better or worse  eastwood is  dirty harry  without question  just as sean connery is james bond and basil rathbone  sherlock holmes .  br    br   sondra locke is entirely effective here in the role of jennifer spencer  a young woman wronged and out for vengeance  or as she sees it  justice .  she manages to bring a hard  edged determination laced with vulnerability to her character  with a convincing  introspective approach that is far beyond what is typical of the action  genre . even amid the violence  locke keeps her focus on jennifer and the traumatic events that have brought her to this stage of her life . her portrayal makes a perfect complement to eastwood  s harry  and becomes  in philosophy and deed  something of his counterpart .  br    br   in supporting roles  two performances stand out paul drake  as mick  creates the best psycho  since andy robinson  s dynamic portrayal of the serial killer in the original dirty harry .  with actually very limited screen time  drake establishes a genuinely disconcerting presence that is believable and convincing  which adds much to the purely visceral response of the audience . this is the guy you can  t wait to see harry take care of in the end . also effective is audrie j . neenan  who makes her character  ray parkins  the epitome of the proverbial low life   who can be found in any bar in any city . it  s a performance that evokes a gut  level response  and it adds greatly to the credibility of the film  in that it helps provide that necessary sense of realism .  br    br   the supporting cast includes albert popwell  horace   mark kevloun  bennett  and nancy parsons  mrs . kruger  . with a perfect blend of drama and action  sudden impact  dispenses justice that is a fulfilling respite from reality the perfect justice of a not  so  perfect world  that makes for a satisfying cinematic experience .     .  
um . . . okay  i guess i get the whole shaky  cam  gorilla  style filming technique but unfortunately i think a gorilla could have made a better movie . . . this thing was just a complete mess from the get go . bad acting  bad directing  bad story and horrific cinematography . how this piece of garbage was released i will never know  but it has and unfortunately i watched it . filmed on location in tennessee by the directing team of greg swinson and ryan thiessen  harry and lloyd    five across the eyes  i  m assuming is supposed to resemble a  blair witch  type film but falls short . . . okay it nose dives off a cliff . i was actually embarrassed for these young women  whom i  m sure were promised hollywood stardom  but ended up in this dung heap . the dialog is ridiculous  and actually aggravates you as you listen to it . how this is supposed to be a horror flick is another mystery  as there is nothing even remotely scary about it  except for the fact that i watched it . . . try this one on for size there is  of you and  of her  do the math and beat her ass . . .  the end  . saddly it went on  and on  for   more minutes of mind  numbing stupidity . . .  br    br   i saw it for free  and wanted my money back .  
when i first saw this film  in london  in      i was bowled over . i had never seen a film like this before . it had a strange  hypnotic effect  quite unlike the films that i had seen previously and it left a lasting impact .  br    br   i believe that odile versios  marina vlady are sisters  if not twins . certainly the interaction is amazing in its power to influence the viewer .  br    br   if this has been converted to dvd  in region  format  and in the original french language  i would love to hear about it  where it can be purchased .  
definitely  definitely the worst film i  ve ever seen  no questions asked  contradictors of this opinion might argue that this title should not be judged by the same criteria as others  since it  s an independent  low  budget film  but c  mon already  the amateurism and meager innovation is horrifying .  br    br   agreeing with everything that has been said about this film  for example the mind numbingly weak acting  when it  s this bad you take another go at shooting the scene  god damn it   the thing i found the most annoying was the total lack of common sense in the script  assuming such a thing existed during the production . there was an obvious absence of a dialogue with respect for the viewers  the girls switched personalities several times and they seemed to show absolutely no sing of any rationality or even brains  five relatively fit girls against one slight female psychopath  gang up on her  why don  t you   br    br   the only thing that can be regarded as somewhat of a conquest for this title is the camera not leaving the van at any time thus the viewer seeing everything from inside it  which is  as the rest of the film  a good idea executed exponentially dreadfully .  br    br   oh and by the way  this movie is nothing like the blair witch project or cloverfield or any other title filmed with a hand  held camera  this is an effect and not a trait  used cleverly it can be breathtaking  but in this case it  s an excuse for inadequate cinematography .  
  toi le venin  is robert hossein  s masterpiece  and one of the great thrillers of the fifties . based on a frederic dard novel  a writer the director often worked with  see also  le monte  charge  which hossein did not direct but in which he was the lead too   the screenplay grabs you from the first pictures on a desert road by night where a beautiful blonde might be the fieriest of the criminals to the mysterious house where he finds his femme fatale . . and her sister . then begins a cat and mouse play . one of the sisters is in a wheelchair . but is she really disabled  which one is the criminal who tried to kill the hero on that night   br    br   the two actresses  marina vlady and the late odile versois were sisters .  br    br   turn off all the lights before watching . highly suspenseful .  
watching this movie  l thought to myself  what a lot of garbage . these girls must have rocks for brains for even agreeing to be part of it . waste of time watching it  faint heavens l only hired it . the acting was below standard and story was unbearable . anyone contemplating watching this film  please save your money . the film has no credit at all . l am a real film buff and this is worse than  attack of the green tomatoes  .  br    br   l only hope that this piece of trash didn  t cost too much to make . money would have been better spent on the homeless people of the world . l only hope there isn  t a sequel in the pipeline .  
strange enough  all the previous comments merely described the beginning and left the details over . i feel a necessity to confirm that this is a family work  since marina vlady was also robert hossein  s wife  and the  excellent  jazz music was written by te director  s father  andr . under these circumstances  no wonder it was a really good thriller  seen when issued and immediately identified with the music . the suspense was flawless  and maintained throughout until the end . robert hossein  at the time one of the best european players  managed to impose himself also as a top screen and stage director . he  s still putting up great stage shows  with a preference for religious subjects . harry carasso  paris  france  
do not watch this sad excuse for a film . i have wasted time and money on this and am pretty psed off about it .  br    br   the acting is comparable with high school plays . the script is shocking . there is no plot . twenty minutes from the end  which i believe i should be rewarded for reaching  i had a headache from all the screaming  crying and wailing the five girls make .  br    br   the majority of the violence is  rare for a film nowadays  suggested rather than graphically depicted but i found the characters so damn irritating that i wanted to see them  and indeed every single person involved in the making of this piece of st  die in the most horrible ways possible .  br    br   i spend ten more minutes of my life saving you from a very poor    minutes of yours . don  t do it .  
we  re talking about a low budget film  and it  s understandable that there are some weaknesses  no spoilers one sudden explosives expert and one meaningless alcoholic   but in general the story keeps you interested  most of the characters are likable and there are some original situations .  br    br   i really like films that surprise you with some people that are not who they want you to believe and then twist and turn the plot . . . i applaud this one on that .  br    br   if you know what i mean  try to see also  nueve reinas   nine queens  a film from argentina .  
given that a lot of horror films are based on the premise that one or more of the central characters does something stupid at some stage during the proceedings  the girls in this film would be collecting gold  silver and bronze at a darwin awards olympic ceremony . a mentally disabled baboon would have made better choices than they did  and would have screamed a lot less while doing so .  br    br   if you like films with a grainy picture  deliberately amateur camera  work  my   year  old grandmother wields a camcorder with better results   extremely poor sound and no discernible plot  narrative  then this is your ideal film . also note that you should enjoy the following women screaming for no reason  women whining for no reason . in fact reason and logic don  t appear much in this film . for example  we have to find stephanie   yeah i can  t believe i was speaking to her  like  last night   she called you last night    yeah  she wanted to talk about some date she got asked one   what  how come she didn  t tell me   as in  our friend is being chased by a serial killer with a shotgun and an array of grisly weapons but i have a problem with the fact that she didn  t tell me she was going on a date .  br    br   okay  so the budget is low . that doesn  t mean you have to make it look like it cost half the budget . the  score  is interesting since all  with the exception of one  tracks have been written and performed by the writers  directors of the film itself . in fact it would appear that the entire budget has been blown on sampling a track by the duskfall  a death metal band from sweden .  br    br   the most worrying thing of all in the entire film is the ending which leaves us with the possibility for a sequel .  
an interesting thriller that has paul winfield as a detective on the case of a murder . paul winfield was an underrated actor who pulled off all his roles with such ease  it was hard to tell the man was even acting . maybe most known by younger viewers as the voice  narrator of  city confidential   winfield ends his career with a so  so movie but as always  winfield shines . a treat to watch .  br    br   erika eliniak is well  erika eliniak  nice to look at but leaves a lot to be desired in the acting department . though  to be fair  this is one of her better efforts .  br    br   bottom line a watchable thriller that shouldn  t be missed by any paul winfield fan . a decent telefilm to help send paul winfield off to celluloid heaven . what an actor . he will be missed .  
i  ll keep this fast and sweet . five girls on their way home from a football game decide to take a  short cut  that leads them down a deserted forest  ridden road . of course nothing but good things happen to them  and they safely arrive at their destination .  br    br   alright  they don  t . soon they  re hunted down by a deranged chick who has some severe mental issues  and what ensues is   minutes of sheer boredom .  br    br   i hope to never see any of these actors in any movie ever again . their screaming  screeching voices gave me a headache  and the script was so poorly written that it included a lot of repeat phrases and nonsensical hysterical screaming . all in all  one of the worst cheap horror flicks i  ve ever seen . . . and i  ve seen a lot .  
it  s hard to tell you more about this film without spoiling it . i enjoyed it because i wasn  t expecting what i was seeing  but an ordinary sex  drama so . . . . it  s a pscyho  sexual thriller  in which nothing is what it seems . it features emmanuelle seigner  no stranger to the genre  and to nudity  in which her husband  polanski  had directed her . and a creepy performance  did i say creepy  yes creepy  from toreton  bernard tavernier  s actor  . it looks like a pascal bruckner meets roman polanski  better than bitter moon   like a chabrol gone astray or clouzot thriller  i have seen someone mentioning les diaboliques   but closer to georges franju  s les yeux sans visage  eyes without a face  the godfather of dr . phibes and more  . a gem  i am just afraid they will blow this into a hollywood remake like they did with nighwatch and the vanishing .  
the problem with this movie is that it is shot on the worst possible camera and the film is blurry and grainy . maybe it  s just the fact that whoever was holding the camera couldn  t hold still because they were having a seizure or something . there is also way too much poop and vomit in this movie . there is someone vomiting every twenty minutes and it makes me think that this was made by some bulimic or something . it was disgusting . then there is the annoying high pitched screaming that goes on and on and on and doesn  t stop until the credits roll . i also didn  t like when all her friends were being shot  or not i don  t know  and she goes in the van and puts band aids on . that was just really really stupid to even have that in a movie . how much gas can a person siphon to get a van going  it must be a whole lot because they don  t run out of gas for the rest of the movie . it was a terrible movie and i would highly suggest not ever seeing it in your whole entire life .  
this is a quite slow paced movie  slowly building the story of an ex stripper who begins a new family life with a complete stranger . the viewer slowly feels that there  s something wrong here . . .  br    br   i really loved this movie even though it leaves a slight bitter taste in the end . it is clever  well paced and very well acted . both philippe toretton and emmannuelle seigner are deeply into their characters .  br    br   the little son  pierrot  is also very touching .  br    br   a thriller which does not seem like one . a very unconventional movie  very particular atmosphere throughout the whole movie though you might feel awkward a few times with a couple of scenes .  br    br   i  ll give it a        
  contains miner spoilers   br    br   i have seen a number of decent indie horror films such as the hamiltons  the boys love mandy lane and cabin fever unfortunately i felt five across the eyes does not fall into this category . from start to finish the film is plagued with amateurish acting resonating from a very poor script  god only knows why the writer  s  thought dialogue such as  no don  t go out there don  t go out there she  ll get you if she gets you she  ll kill you and if she kills you you  re dead  is of movie quality .  br    br   this film displays very little character development and to be honest i couldn  t care less about what pain and torture was inflicted upon them as they are just a group of ditsy college girls who show almost no redeeming qualities  . all they do is cry and whinge throughout the entire movie and if the girls aren  t crying their arguing when they do converse the topics are completely random about dating boys or how one of the girls father was recently cremated  appropriate subjects when you  re being chased by a psychotic killer  .  br    br   the soundtrack is also abysmal exhibiting corny techno music during both the start and end credits  although hearing the credit music knowing the end was nearing seemed like heaven  .  br    br   the camera  work is appalling and at times makes the film unwatchable . i  m guessing due to having little or no budget the director was limited to just one digital camera which resides in the girls  car almost the entire movie . i think this was an effort to stick the audience as close to the action as possible to feel and experience what the girls are going through . but due to a very shaky camera  grainy picture and being too close to the action it can be hard to tell what is going on during action scenes and is simply chaotic . it  s one thing to make a film subjective but it  s another to have action on the screen that an audience can  t decipher because of the poor cinematography .  br    br   i understand that five across the eyes is a low budget indie film but that does not excuse the extremely poor quality . there are no redeeming factors to this film bad acting  poor scripting  shoddy camera  work and no story . in light off all this i decided to give the film  out of   as it left me very disappointed wanting a meteor to hit the earth bringing me sweet relief . its   minutes off stupid college girls crying  arguing  aimlessly running and having random inappropriate conversations . however  how many times do you get to see girls defecating into their hands and throwing the crap onto the windscreen of a chasing car .  
the last film in lucas  saga is a lavish  spectacular  looking production . it is often considered the ugly duckling of the original trilogy  but i think it is a notch above episode iv  and just a notch below episodes iii and v  . in fact  i think it is the third best film in the   part saga . as far as i  m concerned  it is still a grandiosely entertaining film . it is not a movie with a beginning  climax and ending the film  s mechanism operates with only one goal in its mind bring closure to lucas  universe . there is an air of finality attached to the whole thing  which makes the film a little too sentimental  but emotionally rewarding . also  it is a lot of fun . new characters are introduced and old ones face new  unexpected challenges . c  po and r  d  provide  as usual  great comic relief . leia and solo are a wonderful romantic duo  and luke is still a great character to identify with . again  it is luke  s  and vader  s  inner conflict what gives the saga its backbone . lucas  aggressive imagination is still very much apparent  and the film  s themes of loyalty  hope  and redemption resonate strongly . i  m glad lucas eventually dropped the idea of making episode vii  viii and ix  because this film is a great bookend to a long  fascinating and captivating saga . not a perfect movie  but fun in the best matine style .  
there are really two sections of this film . firstly there  s the laughable prologue to the film which is so hysterical and cornball that it would almost feel appropriate that the  the simpsons  troy mcclure should be doing the narration .  br    br   then the rest of the film begins  starting off with a title song which really doesn  t fit in with the rest of the film  which  while technically ok  is killed by a vague  inconsistent and unconvincing plot and not just uninteresting characters  but characters that make no sense .  br    br   this is especially so with mickey rooney  s spiventa  who was supposedly in on the plot and part of the  organisation  the whole time yet what would have happened had hackman made the seemingly arbitrary decision to take him along when breaking out  in that case he would  ve been a totally superfluous and unnecessary character  which in the end he still is .  br    br   the overall problem of the film is that it  s totally unwilling to put any detail on who or what is behind this conspiracy . it  s as if the filmmakers didn  t have the courage to imply that a particular section of society would be capable of creating such an organisation and instead settled on the hope that a lack of explanation would suffice and the audience would form their own conclusions .  br    br   put simply  the film fails on all levels .  
eglimata   crimes  is a story about little crimes everyday people commit that in a crazy scenario could lead to the absolute disaster . one of the smartest greek series ever  actors like ketty konstadinou and maria kavogianni showed a whole new dimension of themselves and talent and gave us moments of incredible  guilty  laughing . every viewer seemed to recognise the bad side of their self in one of the characters or at least a side of their self they wish they had . actors of every age that played bigger and smaller parts gained an equally big space in greek audience  s heart . my personal favourites  apart the first two i mentioned  are vassilis haralambopoulos  athinodoros prousalis and stavros nikolaidis but so many amazing actors passed by some episodes from time to time . whoever around the world understands greek should find a way to watch this series  even though it  s been more than  years that it was on tv . in greece they keep repeating the series  ant   in every chance there is like summertime or early afternoon zones . we  ll never forget eglimata or any of the casting crew   
i  m dumbfounded . yes that  s right . i  m really caught here . no way did i find it awful  but on the other hand it was a frustrating experience in macabre hysterical and murky incoherency . the idea behind such a trim  minimal low  budget indie production isn  t bad  but it  s a confused muddle and in the end didn  t do anything for me . it  s amateurish and simple it wants to exploit beyond reasoning and do so in that of  late fashionably rapid filming style . we have the documentary laced  hand  held  camera moving everywhere  despite never leaving the van   and sometimes feeling unfocused and blurry making certain details hard to figure out . lately you kind of get use to it  but there are times when it does become too distracting and even nauseating . keeping it still will help . the context has little groundwork  which has five teenage girls on their way home from a football game late at night and becoming lost on the back roads . at a road  side store they become involved in a minor accident which smashes an unoccupied suv headlight . scared  they flee and not too long that one  light suv appears behind them . soon to make their night an unforgettable ordeal in terror  spending most of the time playing out a drawn out  noisy and relentless cat and mouse game .  br    br   as for being disturbing i guess that depends . some moments can make you squirm with its attention to pain  desperation and demented brutality  with good use of piercing sound fx that seem to be more favoured over the imagery and not forgetting the alienating background sound effects   but also i found myself snickering too . in passages it can be repellent and intense with a real gradual rush  but hardly believable . the injuries of random characters never seem as serious like you were to believe  despite obviously they should be . watch how blood runs freely  but it  s not entirely convincing and can get dull . the constant nocturnal car chase could only do so much before getting repetitive . we get screaming  spewing  bleeding  running  cursing  body fluids and so on . quite unpleasant details followed too . with little really to do  it needed a much stronger script than the measly forced one that was penned up . too many cringe  moments arose from it  and there was not much in the way of depth for the characters and situation they were in . it was about set  pieces  waiting for next torturous encounter and it drew it out long enough . helping out is it had an unpredictable pattern .  br    br   the performances jennifer barnett  angela brunda  danielle lilley  sandra paduch and mia yi are workman  like with their distraught characters and draw an authentic chemistry to make up for the script  s weaknesses in its character  foundation . veronica garcia  s flipped  out  bug  eyed intensity as the loony driver of the suv was something yeah something . her character  s real motivation for terrorising the girls and her unstable state of mind is virtually non  existent . i guess being psychotic was good enough . now probably the most unnerving thing i came across in the feature was that hideous soundtrack . terrible techno music  to cheesy hard  rock and an overwrought closing score . it never felt overdone or got in the way  but it did stick out like a sore thumb . co  directors greg swinson and ryan thiessen try to get the most out of their slight resources  but even with it edgy spirit it ends up being something quite ramshackle . maybe it was enjoyable to make  but watching it just wasn  t the case .  
add pure humor  quick and unique sentences  sex  unfaith sex   love  lies  dark deadly thoughts  secret plans  fun  black humor  sex  . . again   black dresses   needed for the unlimited funerals    eglimata    or in english  crimes   our heroes are two married couples  their relatives  their friends and neighbors . there is soso and alekos and flora and achilleas  two married couples who have everything but not real love  flora is the mistress of alekos  and when soso finds what  s going on  she is planning with her best friend pepi to kill alekos and look like an accident  many plans were made but everyone else dies except alekos  achilleas find  s out that he has a sister who is a hooker and tries to put her in the right road . . korina is a temptation to mens but her tries to get married all goes wrong  since when they learn her past  freaks and leave and she ends up marrying a rich farm man . as for the other roles they are like they are from cartoons  grandpa aristidis which fakes that he is paralyzed  machi is his nurse who is secretly marry to aristidis for his fortune  johny  son of machi  who has it ok with everybody to have all the benefits  michalakis who has only one purpose in life . . to suicide  but he is unable to do it so he is desperate  every time  i see the replays and every time when it finishes i miss it . . one of my favorite all time classics . . .  
may contain spoilers . . . but doubt it can actually be spoilt   .  br    br   five across the eyes can be summed up in one word . . . . amateurish . this film tries it  s best to be different from most films by the  blair witch  type of filming . . . . it doesn  t work . . . . it just ends up looking and feeling like somebody had a cheap video camera  a van and decided to make a movie . the story has no explanation  the protagonist is given no real motivation  and looks like a lesbian wearing a power  suit compared to the five girls  and there is no violence to speak of . . . just the sounds of screaming and crunching . the whole film takes place inside a van which means decent scenery is out of the question . the five girls really do their best with what they  ve been given but on the whole come across as pretty terrible actresses . . . although with the material given it  s hard to judge if they can actually act . . . . they spend the whole movie screaming  squealing and whimpering . . . . so much that half the time it  s hard to make out what was said and the cameras are so bad it  s actually hard to tell who said it . this video paints itself as a violent torture film but is in fact just five girls in a van screaming in terror . . . that literally sums up the whole movie . . . . . we then get to the end after what seems like  hours of constant screaming and all five girls are still alive . . . with one minus a finger . the only thumbs up  get it . . . finger . . . . lol  is for the poor actresses who tried hard and probably lost their voices  and their pride  after making this terrible movie . do not judge this by the poster . . . . you  ll be very let down .  
along with  aparadektoi  the best greek comedy series ever  lefteris papapetrou writes and antonis aggelopoulos directs in a magnificent way soso  alekos  flora  achilleas  grandpa aristides  machi  johnnie  corrina and michalis  in a few words  alekos  a butcher living in a district around the center of athens is married to soso . one day he meets flora  an old date of his  who now is married to achilleas and lives along with her father  in  law and his caretaker  machi . machi also has a son named johnny who appears at the end of the first period and the entire second one . the rest main characters are michalis  alekos  s assistant at the butcher  s and bi  sexual and corrina  achilleas  s lost sister who has turned up to be the best prostitute in the entire athens . the main story of the series is soso  s attempts to kill alekos  because he is cheating on her  but everything else happening in that are not of lower importance . brilliant screenplay  with an excellent plot  poisonous quotes  awesome performances and a great directing . original idea and especially the shootings were something that was done at the greek television  for a series of the greek television  for the first time  e . g . scenes shot under water  surely a serial you will never stop enjoying   
five across the eyes ain  t worth one off the wrist  i must admit at one point i was really worried  for about   seconds nobody made a noise and i thought my speakers had blown or that i had gone deaf with the constant screaming and high pitch yelling  me and the speakers are ok now thanks for asking  funnily enough that was the best bit of the film .  br    br   i won  t waste your time telling you the plot  read the other comments for that .  br    br   if you have bought this dvd but not yet unwrapped it don  t  take it back and demand your money back  i  ve wasted mine don  t do the same .  br    br   i was actually shouting at the telly  they  re over here in the car  look for the camera lights  and get the camera man first   i have left the swear words out but you can guess where they go .  br    br   if anybody would like to buy this film  it  s really good  it  s yours for a ten quid .  
fido is a story about more well mannered zombies who have been trained to serve the human race . all falls apart though  when young timmy  s zombie fido eats the family neighbor . from then on  disaster  well  maybe not disaster  but to some extent  chaos  occurs . most of the people treat their zombies with fairness  and one such character sleeps with his zombie  very funny part of the movie  if not also very disturbing too  . and we find the loving fido whatever he may do . this is a very funny and unique film  especially for the zombie genre . it is also probably one of the least violent of zombie movies  no negativity in this statement  . i very much recommend it to people who are looking for something funny and different . i rate this     . rated r for zombie related violence  
this was probably the worst movie ever  seriously . i could actually do better myself  it wasn  t even set up properly . it  s like this movie had a   budget and left with change . don  t watch it . i didn  t even get all the way through this movie  had to turn it off . i  ve give this a     because it was hilarious how the producer of this movie wanted it to be a horror movie  but actually turned into a really bad comedy . basically  a bunch of girls crashed into a car  broke a headlight  and the owner of that car went after them . the bit that i saw was a women with a gun telling a load of girls to take all their clothes off  what the hell  it must be some kind of cheesy porn movie as well .  
  fido  is to be commended for taking a tired genre  zombies  and turning it into a most original film experience . the early   s atmosphere is stunning  the acting terrific  and the entire production shows a lot of careful planning . suddenly the viewer is immersed in a world of beautiful classic cars   eisenhower era  dress  art deco furniture  and zombie servants . it would be very easy to dismiss  fido  as cartoon  like fluff  similar to  tank girl   but the two movies are vastly different .  fido has structure  a script that tells a story  and acting that is superior . make no mistake  this is a daring black comedy that succeeds where so many others have failed . highly recommended .  merk  
the writers and producers of this little outing have plummeted new depths of depravity . did writer  s block set in so badly  or had ideas dried up so much  that they were forced to include a disgusting scene where a young woman defecates in the back seat of a van  and then promptly throws the excrement at the car behind  mind you at least this summarises what this film is worth  . we had already been treated to one of the other women urinating over one of her friends at gunpoint  as well as numerous episodes of graphic vomiting once would have sufficed . . . we got the message  this really is taking toilet humour to another level  had the script and acting been better then i could have easily forgotten that i was watching a film shot entirely on low budget video . this was a fairly original storyline  with a clever  the only  piece of direction in that we only ever got to take the viewpoint from inside of the van thus making it feel much more real . we never got to see inside any other locations  such as the store or the field where several of the women disappeared  and this could have added much needed tension .  br    br   the script was dire . lines like  i don  t feel too good . . . i want to go home  after one of the girls has been pursued by a psychopath subjected to rape by a screwdriver and shot at  seem a little undercooked .  br    br   the acting was diabolical  apart from the maniac  . did all the main  actresses in this learn acting by taking a correspondence course during a long postal strike  the sound was so bad that i had to watch the entire film with the subtitles on .  br    br   the director seemed to have an easy job in this . it seems that the only direction he must have given was  scream girls  .  br    br   and as for the screaming . . . . . . if you watch this please be sure to have some paracetamol at the ready   
who says zombies can  t be converted into useful members of the community  certainly not the makers of  fido   who take us to a never  never  land version of the      s where the undead have been turned into butlers and servants for the burgeoning middle class . timmy robinson is the all  american boy who becomes emotionally attached to the family  s new full  time domestic  a recently resurrected zombie whom timmy has affectionately dubbed fido . all of this has been made possible by zomcom  a big  brother  type organization that has found a way to render the zombies  who were originally brought to  life  by radiation from outer space  manageable and docile  at least most of the time .  br    br   this twisted  modern  day spin on the tv series  lassie   it might easily have been entitled  a boy and his zombie   takes slyly satirical swipes at such pre     s concerns as obsessive social conformity  here keeping  up  with  the  joneses means having more zombie servants than the folks next door   the sterility of suburban life  the corporate control of civic affairs  small town corruption and nuclear family values  all played out in a beautifully designed setting of parti  colored houses and immaculately manicured lawns . the movie doesn  t hit the audience over the head with its message nor does it engage in endless hyperbole to generate laughs . instead  this is a low  keyed  subtle little satire that elicits appreciative chuckles rather than full  bellied guffaws . much of the humor derives from the incongruity between the placidness of the setting and the cavalier attitude towards death demonstrated by the fine citizens of the community  life magazine has been replaced with a periodical entitled death magazine  . despite some playfully graphic violence  the movie stays true to the spirit of innocence we generally associate with both the      s itself and the cheesy  low  budget horror movies that were so much a part of the pop culture scene of that decade .  br    br   k  sun ray  carrie  ann moss and dylan baker are amiable and appealing as the wide  eyed timmy and his cleaver  esquire parents  with slightly sinister undertones   while billy connolly accomplishes the well nigh impossible task of bringing a great deal of humanity and depth to the role of a resurrected corpse .  br    br   this is what  lassie  might have been had timmy  s best friend been afflicted rabies .  
as horror fans we all know that blind rentals are a crap  shoot . sometimes we find a real gem  but many times we find that the film we  ve just spent our hard earned money on is nothing more than a putrid steamer made worse by the completely undeserved rave reviews and film fest awards listed on the box . such is the case with five across the eyes  a title i  m sure is a double entendre referring to both the films budget and the compulsion anyone watching it might have to using all five fingers to stab their eyes out  .  br    br   the story  or  at least what the ahem writers think passes for one  centers on a group of teen girls who unwisely decide to go on a backwoods joyride late at night after leaving a football game and run afoul of a crazy woman who plays cat and mouse with them as punishment for what she thinks the girls found in her car after a fender  bender in a gas station parking lot .  br    br   in fairness  it  s an interesting idea . some of the best horrors have very simple story lines . it  s in the execution of five across the eyes that this idea falls flat . the film tries to be a cross between the blair witch project with its shaky camera work and the texas chainsaw massacre in its bare  bones approach to the material but succeeds at being neither . what we get instead are redundant scenes of chase  torture  release chase torture  release  in that order for   minutes with long interludes of bitching  moaning  and incoherent rambling acting as plenty of padding in  between chase sequences .  br    br   the look of the film is incredibly grainy and dark  which  in a better made film might have enhanced the tension and the realism . here it  s merely annoying . the characters are undeveloped and the viewer is hard  pressed to find anything to sympathize with them . one character stops to get a first  aid kit and tend to some scrapes on her face while gunshots heard in the background indicate her friends may be getting killed . another girl mutters hilariously dumb lines like  don  t go out there  she  ll get you  if she gets you she  ll kill you and if she kill  s you you  re dead  .  br    br   it was an accolade from fangoria magazine and dreadcentral . com listed on the box that compelled me to check this one out . talk about a fake orgasm  perhaps my expectations would have been met had this been in the comedy section . i  m all for low  budget indie horror but this one takes the crap  cake . give five across the eyes  or fate get it   a pass .  br    br   razorfriendly gives fate  slash out of five   
due to the invention of a  the domestication collar   flesh  eating zombies are brought under control  and become productive members of society however  they perform menial tasks . the servile dead attend to those living in fenced us     s  styled small towns  while untamed zombies roam around in  the wild zone  . in the town of  willard   pre  teen k  sun ray  as timmy robinson  lives with parents carrie  anne moss and dylan baker  as helen and bill robinson  . alas  the robinsons are the only family on their street who do not own a zombie their new neighbors  the bottoms  have six . so  to keep up  the robinsons obtain zombie billy connolly  as fido  .  br    br   unfortunately  mr . connolly  s  domestication collar  is damaged by an old lady  s walker  and he eats her then  new and hungry zombies infest the town . meanwhile  young ray has grown attached to connolly  the boy and his zombie are like tv  s  timmy and lassie   and  the robinson family find it difficult to cooperate with the controlling  zomcom  authorities .  br    br    fido  doesn  t go far enough into its own intriguing  wild zone   but  it is a colorful  stylish  and amusingly satirical addition to zombie film lore . ray and the cast perform well  individually with nubile zombie sonja bennett  as tammy  and owner tim blake nelson  as theopolis  the most memorable pair . director andrew currie and crew  including rob gray  design   jan kiesser  photography   don macdonald  music   and james willcock  design   deservedly won awards .  br    br    fido       andrew currie  k  sun ray  carrie  anne moss  billy connolly  dylan baker  
i can  t believe this is on dvd . even less it was available at my local video store .  br    br   some argue this is a good movie if you take in consideration it had only a      budget . i find this funny . i would find it very bad whichever the budget .  br    br   still more funny  i read the following in another review  dramatics aside  if you love horror and you love something along the lines of duel       updated with a little more story and some pretty girls thrown in  you  ll love this movie .   br    br   what    this is a shame comparing those two movies .  br    br   i give a     since i can  t give a    . i just don  t see any way this movie could be entertaining .  
for the life of me  why did this film receive an r rating   while it is about flesh  eating zombies  believe it or not  it  s actually a pretty good family  friendly film   at least if your kids are age   and older . unlike the traditional zombie films  this one has an excellent sense of humor as well as a traditional values   albeit a bit twisted  the language isn  t a serious problem  there is no nudity and the film style is definitely geared towards kids  much like the old tv show  eerie  indiana     yet some knucklehead slapped an r rating one it  believe me  most kids have seen worse violence than this and it just seems silly to make audiences think this is an adults only film .  br    br   the story is set in a parallel  type world . while the fashions  cars and mores appear circa      in this bizarro world there has been a fierce recent zombie plague that resulted in the  zombie war  and massive changes in everyday life . at school  kids are trained in armed combat and there  s a cute scene late in the film where the father gives his son a handgun and tells him to keep it in his backpack  just in case   as for life outside of school  it  s pretty weird as well  as people now have learned that zombies aren  t such a bad thing  heck  using shock collars and training  they can be made into slaves who can do your housework  clean streets  deliver milk or  in the case of a really sick guy  be your  special friend  .  br    br   this film deals with one particular family that finally buys their first zombie slave  played by billy connally  . mom is thrilled and her son slowly becomes the zombie  s friend . dad  on the other hand  isn  t convinced   as he was forced years early to kill his own zombie father and he hasn  t yet gotten over this   funny  irreverent and unique   this film needs to be seen by a much wider audience .  
how  in the name of all that  s holy  did this film ever get distribution  it looks as if it has been shot on someone  s mobile phone and takes the screaming girl victim scenario to whole new depths . they literally scream for the full   minutes of the movie . and that  s all they do . there is no plot  no tension  no characters  and not a lot of acting . just screaming and more screaming .  br    br   i gave up after fifteen minutes and fast  wound through it to see if anything happened . it doesn  t  except for screaming  of course . odlly enough  the act of going through it on fast forward highlights another problem  there is no camera  work to speak of . every shot looks like every other shot  middle distance  one angle  dull  dull  dull .  br    br   it  s not so bad it  s good . it  s just plain bad .  
i really enjoyed this movie . the acting by the adult actors was great  although i did find the main kid a little stiff . but he carried himself very well for being a new talent . the humor is very sublime and not in your face like most hollywood comedy junk . i . e . the nutty professor . if you have a short attention span and are used to the typical hollywood stuff you probably wouldn  t like this as it is a bit slower paced . i picked it up on blu  ray and i have to say the image quality is top notch . probably one of the better looking blu  rays i  ve seen so far . the extras were cool too . they deleted quite a bit  but that  s probably a good thing as most of the deleted scenes didn  t really add anything .  
this film was positively the worst film i have ever watched . i couldn  t sit through the whole thing . i also think writer must have some weird fetish for women peeing puking and crapping . . . i mean what was that all about  i cant believe this was even made and am disgusted at have ingwasted a   rental fee . the quality both picture and sound are terrible  the acting . . . well doesn  t exist . it was a poor excuse for a film and the scenes of pee  crap and puke were reminiscent of  girls  cup . urghh . . . . . . . avoid at all cost  the girls looked like they had been picked off the street and only got the part cos they  d be willing to take their tops off . . . while these girls have nice bodies it certainly didn  t make up for the fact their shrieking was awful unconvincing and a pain to my ears .  br    br   this was like  possibly worse  than an ammateur school production without any proper direction and hey there is no need for a set as it all seems to revolve around a car    br    br   definatey not one to buy folks . sorry if my first comment is terribly negative but i could not find anything positive to say and i would like to think i may save someone else wasting their money like i have .  
in the immortal  shaun of the dead   we are introduced to a london where the slackers and the high  and  mighty alike are forced to battle flesh  eating  reanimated corpse versions of their friends and family . at the end of the film  it is suggested that the zombies are rendered harmless and used as cheap labour .  fido  presents us with an epilogue to  shaun  set in      s america  in a hilariously witty and original  what  if . . .   movie .  br    br   the film is set post  zombie  apocalypse  for a change after the terrors of the zombie wars  ended by the creation of the zomcon company and their patented zombie collars which make the corpses as docile as lambs . every town in the world is fenced off from the wild zone  the once  fertile landscape torn asunder by the surviving zombies and left  overs from the apocalyptic wars . the idyllic town of willard is your typical  pristine    s suburbia  with one small difference social status is measured by a family  s amount of domesticated zombies . unfortunately  the robinson family has no zombies whatsoever  due to their patriarch  bill  s  fear of the reanimated dead . timmy robinson and his mother helen both suffer from the pressures of suburban life  until the day that helen purchases a zombie servant in a desperate attempt to impress the neighbours .  br    br   the zombie earns timmy  s love when he rescues him from a pair of violent bullies  and the two form a bond to rival the classic  boy  and  his  dog  clich . . . a boy and his zombie . timmy names his  pet  fido  and he soon becomes an aid for both timmy and helen to escape the prison  like routine bill has put them in . but when fido  s domestication collar goes on the fritz and he devours the elderly mrs henderson  the robinsons have to contain their connection the sudden wild zombie epidemic and still manage to keep their beloved fido .  br    br   a film whose sharp wit and satirical gore carry it just as much as its all  star cast  including  the matrix   s carrie  anne moss as helen robinson and billy connelly as fido    fido  is a zom  com for the ages . with some rather twisted subplots  for example  the sweet and unsettling feelings that helen and fido begin to have for each other  and a poignant commentary on    s suburbia and the zombie genre  the film manages to bring out the worst  and the best  in its characters while still enabling you to care for them .  br    br    fido  is  by far  one of the best dark comedies i  ve ever seen  one of the best films that i  ve seen in a long time  and the best zom  com since the incredible  shaun of the dead  .  
this really is the most dreadful film i have ever seen . i simply have no idea how anyone has the audacity to put this on release .  br    br   the production standards are atrocious . there is no pretence here at cinematography . the camera work  scripting  acting and sound are unbelievably crass . i think there is a plot  but it could have been done in   minutes sparing us the time to watch it . the hysterical neurotic girls at the centre of this piece have no credibility whatsoever .  br    br   i would urge anyone to avoid spending any time or money on this title . it is truly atrocious .  br    br   jdd    december      
up until the sixth and last episode of the star wars saga  which finally ended in      i had always looked at this     entry as my favorite film of the long  running series . the varied action scenes and really different characters  jabba the hut  furry woodland creatures  etc .  made this a particularly appealing movie .  br    br   none of the action ever focused too long in one spot  either . the last half hour exemplifies this the most as the scene switches every few minutes from the woods to the battle among space ships to the individual laser  duel between luke skywalker and darth vader .  br    br   another nice characteristic this film had that the two previous did not was the absence of in  fighting between two of the stars . gone was the incessant bickering between carrie fisher and harrison ford . finally  everyone was on the same page  it was nice to see .  br    br   in the end  this was simply a wonderful adventure tale  more than anything else .  
first  it takes a full half hour to get hackman out of jail and to start doing the job . what a waste of time  we all know hackman is getting out to do some job for his masters  why waste almost a third of the movie on these sequences . then hackman stays in a hotel and the story arc again goes nowhere  simply proving to us that hackman is under close watch and anything he says or does is know by the masters . again  another   minutes . then more wasted time showing the reunion with his wife . all of this should have taken      minutes at most simply as a set  up for the real action  intrigue and plot twists . by the time the real action gets going  i was so bored that i just wanted the movie to end . hackman is great as usual  and the other actors as well  but this is a dud of the first magnitude .  
i was also on hand for the premiere in toronto . this film was sort of a consolation when i thought i wouldn  t be able to get in to see my first choice . well  i was totally blown away . by the time i got to the theater i could remember little other than the basic plot of the movie  yes  i actually forgot who was even in it .  terrific performances from the entire cast . carrie  anne moss was great in a true departure from her days as trinity . as for billy connolly  i think not since chaplin has an actor played so brilliantly with no lines what  so  ever . the kids were also great . definitely check this one out if you get the chance .  br    br   and  by the way  i got to see my first choice anyway  and this was way better .  
do not waste your time watching this  unless you want to study it for all the wrong things you shouldn  t do to make a good film . i am not one to usually review a movie  but this one is personal . i wasted precious time which they cannot give back . i feel compelled to write this report to warn others not to waste their time watching this crap . if this was a student project  i would have to say not bad  but only for the first   min . . . after that it gets annoying . the screaming  the bad audio  the bad video  a good camera man could have made it much better  . and yes  whats with the blair  witch effect  no budget  i was hoping it was going to get better  but it doesn  t . now how the hell did it deserves a    is more fair but  for wasting my time  i have said my peace .  
fidois a very odd film . and in many ways  a very good one .  br    br   my first thought after viewing  was how the hell are they going to market this thing  if shaun of the dead is a romantic comedy with zombies  fido is a boy and his dog story blended with fifties nostalgia comedy with zombies . doesn  t exactly trip off the tongue .  br    br   fido has little of shaun  s carnage  gore  belly laughs . it is a different beast altogether  forgive the pun  .  br    br   fido kicks off with a black  white information film that explains the back story  humans have won a war against zombies by developing a control collar that subdues the flesh  eaters into dumb servants .  br    br   at first i thought we we were in for a fifties cold war paranoia parody a la matine  but we are soon hurled into a world of bright primary colours and fifties middle  class nostalgia .  br    br   young timmy robinon is a lonely kid who doesn  t fit in at school . his mom is would  be social climber  and his dad is nervy and detached .  br    br   seeking to keep up with the joneses  mom  carry  anne moss  has acquired a zombie . jimmy is disinterested at first  but  fido   billy conelley  soon proves a great buddy for jimmy . until his collar goes on the blink . . .  br    br   fido is not a horror film  but my problem with the movie is figuring out exactly what it is .  br    br   much of the humour is of the light family variety  and sometimes the plot line is too heavily reliant on the boy and his dog  family moments .  br    br   yet the film is shot through with wonderfully dark  truly funny moments  which while welcome  will ensure an r rating for what is  for extended periods  a family comedy .  br    br   the film looks gorgeous  and is wonderfully performed by all involved .  br    br   despite its difficult tonal problems  i hope this movie finds a niche  as it  s quite a little gem in this year  s deluge of cinematic crap .  
this movie has many problem associated with it that makes it come off like a low budget class project from someone in film school . i have to give it credit on its campiness though . many times throughout the movie i found myself laughing hysterically . it was so bad at times that it was comical  which made it a fun watch .  br    br   if you  re looking for a low  grade slasher movie with a twist of psychological horror and a dash of campy ridiculousness  then pop a bowl of popcorn  invite some friends over  and have some fun .  br    br   i agree with other comments that the sound is very bad . dialog is next to impossible to follow much of the time and the soundtrack is kind of just there .  
i watched fido on some movie channel and i have to say that i  ve become an instant fan . the film feels like a comic book that perfectly captures the look and feel of the surreal     s  you know the wholesome decade when they danced to elvis while dropping nuclear bombs in the desert just for the heck of it . people were so naive back then that it  s frightening and the idea that those clean cut folks would find it normal to have zombies as pets actually works here .  br    br   kudos to this canadian production  the colorful crisp cinematography and the excellent cast  including carrie anne moss  billy connolly  henry czerny and the kid .  br    br   it  s a shame this film wasn  t a bigger hit . it deserved more recognition . it  s much better than the stuff from tim burton or the shaun of the dead team . oh well . it  s an instant classic nonetheless .  
after just watching five across the eyes  i gotta be honest . . . i just didn  t like it . i had read so many good reviews on this movie  but i just did  nt get where these reviews have came from   br    br   i have got a lot of time for newcomers into film  making  and i  m sure the directors will do well for themselves  but the budget they had was the main problem  there was two cameras used in the entire film  which was ok  but they seemed like really cheap cameras . another problem was the sound  you get all these girls screaming and shouting all at the same time  all talking on top of each other  it  s just impossible to hear what they  re saying .  br    br   it had a good idea going for it  in a nutshell  they hit a parked car then drive off  a short while later they are getting chased by the car they hit  driven by a mad woman  who wants to kill them  and has plenty of chances to do so  . . . and on the other hand the girls have plenty of chances to escape  but don  t   br    br   very frustrating . . . i only just scraped through this one   
in an alternate     s  where an outbreak of the undead  caused by a mysterious  space  dust   has been contained through the use of special electronic collars  a young loner  timmy  finds a friend in fido  billy connelly   his family  s recently acquired domesticated zombie .  br    br   fido quickly becomes a surrogate father to timmy  whose real dad is unable to adequately express his love for his son  or for his hot  to  trot wife  played by the gorgeous carrie  anne moss  having been psychologically scarred as a child  when he was forced to shoot his own father  who tried to eat him   .  br    br   timmy runs into a spot of bother  however  when his putrid pal  s collar goes on the blink  and he attacks and kills an elderly neighbour . with the authorities on fido  s trail  trouble brewing with a pair of local bullies  and his mother forming a bond with their undead house  help  will timmy be able to hold on to his new found friend   br    br   a refreshing take on the whole zombie schtick  fido is a thoroughly entertaining  deliciously dark comedy that should appeal to anyone with a slightly twisted sense of humour . taking the romero zombie  verse and transplanting it into     s small town america is a stroke of genius  and the result is simply one of the most original films to tackle the whole  reanimated dead  theme that i have seen .  br    br   connelly  s fido is a cinematic zombie worthy of inclusion in the undead movie hall of fame  along with day of the dead  s bub  and return of the living dead  s tarman it is not often i feel empathy for a walking corpse  but the big yin  s performance is so fine that i actually found myself rooting for the big blue bag of pus  the rest of the cast also give commendable performances  with young k  sun ray  as timmy  and ms . moss deserving special mentionsray  because  for one so young  he puts in a particularly assured turn  and moss because she is so bloody yummy   br    br   this is the third zombie film that i have watched this week  the others being the somewhat disappointing planet terror and the rather fun flight of the living dead   and  to my surprise  it is also the best . director andrew currie has given fans of the genre something truly original to treasure and is a talent to be watched in the future .  br    br    .  out of    rounded up to  for imdb .  
the word in the summary sums it up d  oh   five girls get lost trying to find their way home  when they stop at a store to get directions they hit a parked car breaking one headlight on it  they flea the scene in fair of getting in trouble but suddenly they see one headlight coming up behind them  ooooh  .  br    br   from there out everything is screaming  crying and violence when they try to get away from this crazy person who lost it because of a headlight    well the screaming and crying pretty much stays through the entire movie  very annoying  the movie is shot  with a cheap camera trying to make it seem  real  or  shocking  i guess  it  s just embarrassing and useless though . in lack of anything better to compare it with   blair witch style  .  br    br   the screaming and crying for pretty much the entire movie with crappy sound was over the top annoying  you literally get a headache    br    br   i  m sorry but this was not scary  only an annoying painful piece of crap movie .  
loved it  what  s not to like    you got your suburbia  you got your zombies  you got your family issues  you got your social dilemmas  you got yourself one fine retro       s  style flesh eating under class held at bay by an uneasy worried about whether they  re the next meal upper crust . you couldn  t ask for more .  br    br   cast is superb . carrie ann moss is absolute perfection as a debutante social climbing housewife . she  s both wanton  and criminally conspiratorial . every fellow  s dream . k  sun is really great as the son just trying to be as normal as possible in this nightmare existence  and somehow succeeding . he  s a genuine screen presence . very photogenic  and natural . without naming them all  the rest of the cast is wonderful . henry czerny plays a suspicious policeman with honed instincts and little squeamishness as if it  s his everyday persona . billy connolly is delightful as fido . a fine actor i wish that he had played the title role in  braveheart   with gibson directing . my sense is that his william wallace would have been closer to the actual character . his fido is contained  yet accessible . a nice touch .  br    br   in short  a great and marvelous satiric poke at morals  values  social pinnings  feelings  growth  coping in uncertain times  and compensatory adjustments to impossible conditions . a true reality show .  
i think this movie was supposed to be shocking . but the only way in which it is indeed shocking is how shocking badly it  s been made . . . and simply is . it  s one  and  a  half hour of torment . even more so for the viewer than for the characters in the movie  the five girls  .  br    br   sure the main characters get their bloody piece in a bad way  which is basically fine  since it  s a horror  movie . and i  usually  like horror  movies . i  ve no problem with violence in these type of movies per se . however all the violence in this film serves no end whatsoever . it  s no spectacle other than that it  s simply grotesque . it  s so lame it even gets boring  and really quick too .  br    br   the worst thing  if the above wasn  t bad enough for ya  about this movie is that they  ve tried to copy the blair whitch project  by filming with cheap hand  held  cameras . but  again  this too  serves no end whatsoever . in the  blair which   sure enough  there  s an explanation  namely they are their with a camera looking for the blair witch . in this film  there  s no other explanation than  hey ya  ll we wanted this to look like the blair whitch    the sound in the movie is also something to get depressed about . the girls are screaming so hysterically that many a time you can  t make out what they  re saying . also  no effort has been made to make anything any better  sound  wise or other wise .  br    br   than finally  there  s the soundtrack  which is just as bad as the rest  and varies from cheap euro  house to the worst grungy hard  rock . . .  br    br   my advise don  t watch this under any circumstances .  
even without speaking a word  billy connely is wonderful as a zombie . . . carrie ann moss as  mom    even better . zombie girlfriends   br    br    . . . my father thied to eat me . . . i never tried to eat timmy .   br    br   and i thought dawn of the dead was good . it  s kinda like airplane meets  meats   night of the living dead  sponsored by zomcom . .  br    br   and don  t forget my head coffin  br    br   and fido in an aloha shirt is just way cool   br    br   and yes  the social comment is just too much to even begin to comment on .  br    br   sufice it to say  it all really works   
i can  t believe anyone liked this movie . i  ve seen a lot of low  budget indie films  but this one absolutely sucked . low budget doesn  t mean the movie has to be demented . horror doesn  t mean the movie has to be demented . there was nothing scary about this movie at all . it was just a gore  fest  and a particularly disturbing one at that . the acting was average  considering they were all unheard of actors  but the story was pathetic  the dialog was pathetic . the movie tries to come off as  artistic   or something . this is not one of those really great indie films that cost only thousands of dollars to make  but are incredibly well done . this was nothing more than an excuse for some extremely sick people to put their perverse obsessions on film . other reviews here also said that the soundtrack sucked . . . that  s because most of it was written by the same person  and some of the songs were written by one of the writers of the movie . there were no redeeming qualities to this movie at all . a complete waste of my time and money .  
ok  i didn  t know what to expect when i saw the cover to fido  honestly when i came across it in the video store i was tempted to rent this movie  but nothing about it really grabbed my attention . but when i was looking around in netflix  they were advertising this like crazy if i liked  goofy  scary movies  so i figured to just give it a shot . i  m so glad that i did watch it  this was just a great movie  it was absolutely hilarious and so charming to watch . like i said  it  s pleasantville meets night of the living dead  it  s just a great concept  what does happen after a mega zombie attack  as we see in another zombie comedy  shaun of the dead  they have fun by making the zombies left over as  handy  citizens . this is a very overlooked horror  comedy movie  i think a lot of people were just so blown away with shaun of the dead that this got the boot . but it  s a great story and the cast was perfect and made this into just a really funny movie .  br    br   in a     s alternate universe where radiation from space has turned the dead into zombies . this radiation still plagues humanity  as all those who die after the original contamination turn into the undead . in order to continue living normal lives  communities are fenced with the help of a governing corporation named zomcon . zomcon provides collars with accompanying remote controls to control the zombies  hunger for flesh so as to use them as slaves or servants . in the town of willard  a housewife  helen  buys a zombie in spite of her husband bill  s zombie phobia . their son  timmy  befriends the zombie  naming him  fido  . one day fido  s collar malfunctions and he kills their next door neighbor  who turns into a zombie . timmy  kills  the zombified neighbor . when a pair of local bullies are blamed for the missing neighbor  they capture fido and timmy . helen comes and rescues timmy and fido from the bullies and they try to forget about the whole thing . several days later  the neighbor  s body is found and the murder is traced back to fido  who is taken away to zomcon where the public is told he will be destroyed . timmy learns through a friend that fido is simply working in a factory at zomcon . timmy sets out to rescue him with the help from his neighbor with a zombie girlfriend in hopes to get fido back .  br    br   i really do highly recommend this movie if you get the chance to see it  it  s so silly but a lot of fun . billy connelly did a great job as fido and really brought  no pun intended  a lot of life into the character . i think the scene that made me laugh the most was when timmy has to burry the old lady that fido attacked and killed  his last words to her were so funny   you weren  t really nice  but you liked flowers  so  and he buries her in the garden . not to mention the neighbor with the zombie girlfriend  sick  disturbing  wrong  but classic laughs . i still love how even though this is like the leave it to beaver  esquire type of world  there still is a lot of gore in the movie . so if you do have a chance to see fido  take it  i promise some good laughs .  br    br        
daddy  s girls florence lawrence and dorothy west receive some terrific news at the local post office  unaware they are being stalked by burglar charles inslee . meanwhile  father david miles receives a message  from young robert harron  which necessitates daddy leaving home so  when the young women return  they can be home alone . as the vulnerable pair bed down for the evening  the local  grand ball of the black and tans  gets underway and  a dark  skinned drinker portends additional danger for d . w . griffith  s dynamic duo  br    br   mr . inslee has one of his better biograph roles  stealing the film from  the girls and daddy  . ironically  director griffith appears as one of the black  faced extras at the  black and tans  ball .  biograph girls  lawrence and west are suggestive of later  griffith girls  lillian and dorothy gish  especially in  orphans of the storm         and  they are excessively affectionate in bed  the racist tone is unfortunate  since the story of a burglar redeemed by saving his potential victims from a greater danger  is intriguing .  br    br    the girls and daddy         d . w . griffith  florence lawrence  dorothy west  charles inslee  
as soon as i heard about this film i knew i had to check it out . well  i heard about it  then i found the trailer . after that  that  s when i knew i had to see it . and i am so glad i did . you want to see classic television mixed with zombies  no  then get lost .  br    br   fido is a movie unlike anything i  ve ever seen . well  actually  it kind of is . it  s kind of like a lassie episode and a zombie film . though when combined  it feels completely new and original . fido is about a little boy named timmy and his new pet fido . well this new pet ain  t no squawking parakeet or some potty  trained puppy . it  s a re  animated dead guy . . . a zombie . a large radiation cloud engulfed earth which led to all of the dead rising  which ensued the zombie wars . though through the genius of reinhold giger  lead scientist of zomcon  he discovered that if you destroy the brain  the zombie will perish  thus giving us the edge and the win in the zombie war . though due to lingering radiation  whoever dies becomes a zombie . which can be a problem especially with the elderly . though zomcom steps up again with more breakthroughs  especially with the domestication collar . the collar stops the zombie  s need for human flesh and thus making it harmless as a household pet . but not all is perfect in this zombie utopia  collars break  old people die and . . . . well i  ll just let you watch this incredibly unique flick .  br    br   fido is a fantastic idea brought to fruition . with an all  star cast  and great writing fido rises above most in the comedy  horror genre . there are plenty of funny and original situations that really had me entertained . though after seeing the film  i personally think the movie would have been better in black and white . at less than   minutes  the movie doesn  t go on for too long and moves from scene to scene at a good rate . it  ll probably end up being a cult  classic of sorts  since it  s not really a laugh out loud comedy or even a horror movie . it  s a comedy  family  zombie film immersed in the     vibe . if you thought anything i said here was interesting by all means check this film out . but if you  re still on the fence  swing your leg back over and stay there .  .  outta    
yet another british romantic comedy which audiences all over the world seem to have a ravenous appetite for . this feeble effort is an unintentional parody of the genre  all the classic clichd scenes are here from ridiculously elaborate misunderstandings to running after departing trains to declare one  s love . the characters are one  dimensional caricatures save for love  hewitt who manages to bring some cohesion to the film . things threaten to spiral out of control in the plausibility department as the film progresses our good  natured suspension of belief finally comes crashing down during the preposterous ending . if you  re looking for a bridget jones  notting hill kind of experience you won  t find it here .  
when you see the cover of the dvd you  re convinced this is some class b cheesy cheapie  a film made for       in somebody  s backyard .  br    br   wrong   br    br   this is quality material and really good . it  s a comedy and a clever one at that . it also is very touching in spots  with a nice spot of kindness . the production values are very good  this looks excellent   the actors are known  the film  s direction and sets are great . it  s amazing . who would have thought   br    br   carrie  ann moss  playing against  type  is terrific  as  helen robinson   the june cleaver  like wife billy connolly is great as the grunting good  hearted zombie  fido  tim blake nelson   mr . theopolis   is a hoot is the neighbor with the sexy zombie girlfriend  tammy   and henry czerny and dylan baker as dads  check  are excellent  too k  sun ray as young  timmy robinson   shouldn  t be overlooked  either . in fact  he probably has more lines in the movie than anyone .  br    br   if i explain the story it will sound so stupid that few of you would watch it . you  ll just have to take the word of the people here who liked it and found it to be a very  very pleasant surprise . you need a dark sense of humor  though an appreciation of the absurd .  
there have been more interesting polish documentaries on worm farming  in brail    the competition  worm farming  had a better plot and more interesting characters . i was physically ill after watching this movie . the cheating husband  i think dougray  scott   was a joke in every meaning of the word . poor jennifer must really need the work  and what was with the accent   . the locations and random meetings reminded me of a high school prank  and showed the humility of a   year old in cooking class . it was that bad that i think i will write the sequel named  this is not a laxitive  . thank you for listening it was a great weight of my conscious .  
my goodness . this movie really really shows the talents of actors . billy connelly flexes his acting muscle . truly an amazing man  if you look at him in absolution as a rebel  boondock saints as a madman  killer  and then finally in fido as a zombie  his character in fido looks from cute to frightening  absolutely fabulous  cariie ann moss is no hack either  jumping in career from matrix and momento as a darker character  to a heart warming conservative      s housewife  rare these days to see actors being able to not be so type  casted .  br    br   now onto the storyline  no spoilers  don  t worry  . this movie would make max brooks  author of zombie survival guide  world war z  happy with joy  finally a well done twist of zombies and comedy .  br    br   if you like zombies  if you don  t like zombies  if you are just bored  or if you are too busy  go see this movie   
hiya folks   br    br   well  this movie sucks really . think  love actually  in reverse . nothing fits quite right  nothing is coherent  and certainly nothing makes you laugh . love is rare in this film .  br    br   it is a total flop . as indicated however  there are three redeeming points about this mangled potential of a film .  br    br   a  with a star billing of jennifer love hewitt  there will be hordes of guys who will submit with grace to viewing this just to catch a glimpse of the petite hewitt with form fitting clothing . to tell you now guys . . . . there are some promising scenes . . . . but it  s really weak eye candy . the  possibilities  here are watered down . nevertheless  i watched the whole thing tempted by the next scene of you know what . . . . . titillating   br    br   b  the ending is romantic and positive . that it  s contrary and  over the top  is relevant . . . . . yet for me was still a positive point .  br    br   c  dougray scott plays an amourous friendly guy . . . . . . . . refreshing  thank you   br    br       not worthy of your   or so dollars .  br    br       s of the way through  i was convinced jennifer love hewitt was becoming the next softcore legend . although i  ll take that back for now . . . . . it hinges greatly on her next film .  br    br   oh  and her sister is way stupid . her husband is way stupid . . . and what the heck  she  s way stupid .  br    br   next time . can  t wait for the next love actually with jlh   
when it comes to creating a universe george lucas is the undisputed master and his final star wars film is very  very good  and more appropriately rated in comparison to the two previous films in the original saga  . having recently seen revenge of the sith really puts this movie in perspective . the final battle seems even more climactic knowing what anakin skywalker went through at the manipulative hands of the emperor . it also makes the final battle between luke and vader more bitter considering the love he felt for padm and the love she felt for her children . actually while the new films  especially episode ii  are inferior to the original films they are good for one reason only . they make the old films seem even better .  br    br   mark hamill does an exceptional job in this movie . he really brings the changes luke has gone through seem real . in all fairness i believe that he should have become a big actor based on these films because he really does a great job . harrison ford is still good . however  you can feel that he has done raiders and blade runner in between the two final chapters of star wars because he seems to have grown quite a bit . he adds more comedy  obviously inspired from raiders  to the character which works brilliantly . in short han solo is better than ever . carrie fisher was never really a good actress but she does a decent job and is certainly passable . ian mcdiarmid appears in this film and having seen episode iii i can safely say that he is one of the most accomplished villains ever . james earl jones still provides the voice for vader and he is still very  very good .  br    br   in terms of how the movie looks its pretty safe to say that the star wars universe looks better than in either of the previous  two  movies but this was always lucas  fort so that is really to be expected . the final battle over endor is very well made both in terms of the general effects and tension wise . it was also a nice touch that lucas decided to have three battles take place at the same time as it added to the overall tension of the climax .  br    br   the only thing i feel is dragging the movie down from an otherwise deserved  are the ewoks . these little creatures are so annoying they almost ruin every scene they are in . besides i find it to be a little to kiddy when a group of teddy bears with bows and arrows can defeat a squadron of storm troopers with laser guns and mighty machinery .  br    br   all in all return of the jedi is a very good movie but the fact that richard marquand is a less accomplished director than irvin kershner does that the overall feel of the movie is less than brilliant . also george lucas  stupid decision to add the ewoks to the universe does that the film falls short of brilliance .  br    br        
gene hackman gets himself busted out of prison by a nameless government agency who want him for an assassination . it  s a given of course that hackman has the proficient skills for the job .  br    br   nobody tells him anything though  he  s given as the audience is given bits and pieces of information . that  s supposed to be suspenseful  instead it  s annoying and boring .  br    br   hackman goes through with the mission  but the getaway is messed up and the guy at the top of this mysterious entity orders everybody dead to cover it up . so everyone in the cast dies and at the end you don  t really care .  br    br   one of the other reviewers pointed out that the film was originally twice as long  almost three hours and got chopped down quite a bit . maybe something really was lost in the translation  but i tend to think it was a mercy act on the audience .  br    br   a very talented cast that had people like richard widmark  candice bergen  mickey rooney  eli wallach  and edward albert is so thoroughly wasted here it  s a crime .  br    br   and we never do find out just what federal agency was doing all this  the fbi  the cia  the dea or even the irs .  
this film takes place in the     s . according to this the dead  called zombies  have arisen to eat the living . however a company has developed a collar that  when put around the zombies neck  makes them docile and perfect servants . the robinsons mom helen  carrie  anne moss   dad bill  dylan baker  and son timmy  k  sun ray  hire a zombie because everyone on their block already has one . tim names the zombie fido  billy connolly  and becomes friends with him . but his dad hates him and timmy looses control of fido and things go wrong .  br    br   as you can see this is   among many other things   a takeoff on the  lassie  series with fido being a stand in for lassie . timmy was named that for a reason  every single of the famous lassie episodes are spun here . my favorite is when timmy sends fido off to get help before the zombies eat him  also it  s a satire of those     s douglas sirk films where everything is bright and colorful   but dark secrets are tearing people apart . the characters wear very bright     s clothes  moss is always in a dress    the furnishings  settings and cars especially are all     s in hyper bright colors . even when the script becomes repetitious there  s always something to look at . the script is good   but there are only so many lassie jokes you can make . the melodramatics are kind of silly but the cast pulls it off . everyone here is excellent and right on target . even connolly as an emotionless zombie does a good job . moss is the best   playing each line for all its worth    but never going overboard .  br    br   this isn  t for everybody  of course  . the satire may be lost on most people and the gore is pretty tame . the gore is done so casually and with happy music playing over it it  s hard to take it seriously . so  for some people  this will really work . i give it an  .  
i ordered the movie from korea because i was an extra in it and was interested to see how it turned out .  br    br   having watched it i can say that i am ashamed to have had any part of it . i feel embarrassed not only for myself but for everyone else who had any part in the making of this mockery of british  comedy  .  br    br   from beginning to end the film is predictable  tedious  dull  monotonous and cringe  worthy to the point that on several occasions i actually looked away from the screen in dis  belief . until you actually see the movie it is difficult to conceive how un  romantic and un  comedic a romantic comedy can be .  br    br   it  s not only a bad story  but a badly  made film . in one scene  you can actually see a runner or assistant director showing the s . a .  s when to wipe across . i will post details of this in the  goofs  section .  br    br   on the up  side  it did fill me with emotions  disappointment  rage  embarrassment   
and this somebody is me . and not only me  as i can see here at imdb or when leaving the theater . why did the people love it  it  s obvious everybody knows zombies by now  at least the horror fans by heart and the others through the  dawn of the dead  reinvention or resident evil movies etc .   br    br   or at least they thought they knew everything about zombies . . . that is until this movie came along . and you  ll see zombies in a new light  perhaps  . this is not a horror movie  although it does contain some violent scenes  but is rather a comedy . a satire to be precise . and it never runs out of steam  that is why i rated it so high . pacing wise it  s incredible  the acting is great and the script has no  obvious  mistakes . . . quite the contrary it  s a gem and if you  re only a little bit interested in zombies you ought to see it  and even if you dislike them  watch it  because it  s a great  comedy  movie   
watching truth about love  is this a double entendre about the star   is like plugging in white noise or manufactured water sounds to help you sleep  you put it in the dvd slot because there is nothing else left on the store shelves and you are in need of distraction after a hectic day . and it works for that for that purpose being a british romantic comedy it is a bit more .  br    br   the story is a rather simple one about a wife alice  jennifer love hewitt  married to an increasingly distant husband sam  jimi mistry  who has put their love life on hold due to the burdens of his busy law practice . his partner archie  dougray scott  is fond of both sam and alice  but has a longtime attraction to alice that goes beyond friendship . alice pals with her sister felicity  kate miles   a free love advocate  who encourages alice to have affairs . on valentine  s day  after a drinking binge with her sister  alice mails a card to sam signed  anonymous  as a test to see if sam responds  testing his fidelity . at the same time archie mails a radish seed packet to alice on which he has inscribed a suggestive love not . both have ex post facto regrets . sam in fact is spending time with a lover katya  branka katic  and is indeed cheating on alice . alice arranges assignations with sam via email and phone calls and plans to meet sam in disguise as  anonymous  to test his fidelity . the entire cast of characters gets caught up in the silly charade and the ending proves that real love must be based on truth  and how that results in the various pairings is the surprise  of sorts  of the fluffy script .  br    br   british comedies work because of the quality of writing and the tight quality of acting . perhaps had director john hay elected to cast a british actress as alice instead of pasting a phony accent on jennifer love hewitt the result may have been improved . but in the end this story by peter bloore bounces between mildly humorous and pathetic in its messages . one terrible distraction is a musical score that is consistently so loud that it covers all the dialogue and is intrusive . there are some nice scenes of london and a few moments of passable humor  but in the end this little film is truly best utilized as background music  white noise . grady harp  
a year or so ago  i was watching the tv news when a story was broadcast about a zombie movie being filmed in my area . since then i have paid particular attention to this movie called  fido  as it finished production and began playing at festivals . two weeks ago fido began playing in my local theater . and  just yesterday  i read a newspaper article which stated fido is not attracting audiences in it  s limited release  with the exception of our local theater . in fact  here it is outdrawing all other shows at the paramount theater  including    . of course  this makes sense as many locals want to see their city on screen or spot themselves roaming around in zombie make  up . and for any other locals who haven  t seen fido yet but are considering it  i can say there are many images on screen  from the school to city park to the forbidden zone  that you will recognize . in fact  they make the okanagan valley look beautiful . that  s right beautiful scenery in a zombie movie  however  fido itself is a very good movie . yes  despite its flaws  it is better then most of the   other movies playing in my local market . fido is best described as an episode of lassie in which the collie has been replaced by a member of the undead . this is a clever premise . and the movie even goes further by taking advantage of the      s emphasize on conformity and playing up the cold  war paranoia which led to mccarthyism . furthermore  it builds on the notion that zombies can be tamed or trained which george romero first introduced in day of the dead .  br    br   k  sun ray plays a small town boy who  s mother  carrie  ann moss  longs for a zombie servant so she can be like all the other house wives on her block . however  his dad  dylan baker  is against the idea as he once had to kill his own  zombie father  . eventually  the family does acquire a zombie named  fido   played by billy connolly   and adjusts to life with the undead . billy connolly was inspired casting . he is able to convey fido  s confusion  longing  hatred  and loyalty through only his eyes  lumbering body  and grunts . connolly shows that he can play understated characters better than his outrageously comedic ones . this is his best role since mrs . brown .  br    br   fido follows in the footsteps of other recent zomcoms such as shawn of the dead and zombie honeymoon . being someone who appreciates bruce campbell and misty mundae movies more than eli roth and jigsaw ones  i prefer humor over gore in my horror . however  i understand the criticism of those horror fans who feel there is not enough  undead carnage  in fido . yet  i am sure patient viewers will be rewarded by the films gentle humor .  br    br   the movie does break down in it  s third act . it  s as if the writers were so wrapped up in the cute premise of domesticated zombies in the     s  they forgot about the story arc . however  given my interest in horror comedies and my appreciation for seeing the neighborhood on screen  i rate fido  out of   .  
whattt was with the sound  it sounded like it was all dubbed .  br    br   otherwise  bad . plot  bad . accents  bad  even dougray  and we live in scotland   acting  bad  harp  bad  sex scenes  bad  cringeworthy .  br    br   still  we watched it until the end in disbelief . how could such a good roll call of actors perform so badly  will they ever get a decent job again   br    br   bad  bad  bad . by the way  we gave it  because we at least were enticed to watch it to the end due to its bizarre plot  etc .  br    br   and to the older reviewer  i totally agree  it was like a romantic farce from the     s . how did it get made in       br    br   ok  ok  there were some ok bits . they had a nice house in bristol . dougray had a nice boat . jennifer looked nice in a little outfit . but how come the sister got all the men   
this is the first must see film i  ve seen in the last year  it  s wickedly funny  incredibly original  unbelievably great looking  they went for this super cool wide  screen technicolor look that  s awesome to behold   and it actually has depth in character and in what it says about society . it  s really smart satire that nails everything from homeland security to race issues  while at the same time leaving you laughing and realizing how much are world lives in fear . carrie anne moss turns in a comedic performance i never imagined would come from her  she  s sweet  funny and sexy  billy connolly is great as fido who can only grunt and moan  and dylan baker as the dad is priceless . in fact the whole cast is perfect . henry czerny as the bad guy  tim blake nelson as the neighbor with the hot sexy zombie girlfriend  getting the idea now   funny  though  provoking and just all round amazing  go and see this movie  it  s like nothing you  ve ever seen before .  
the movie had a cute opening  i truly believed i was in for one of the best romantic comedies i  ve seen in a while . . . there was something particular  foreign  about the way the movie was set up  realistic yet somewhat abstract and mystical . but then the story line started becoming more and more unrealistic . to say that the ending was corny and predictable would almost be an understatement . . . the most typical romantic ending where everything goes great for every  likable  character . a scene where the main character realises that he has made a mistake and chases the  woman of his dreams  only to confess his love for her in front of a sympathetic crowd of on  lookers . come on . in the end  the  good guys  win   bad guys  loose . . . you get the picture . a waste of a potentially interesting movie .  
set in a middle class neighborhood in the imaginary town of willard in the     s  this dark comedy with a light touch toys with such american obsessions as gun mania and violence  materialism and keeping up with the joneses  fear of others  slavery  golf  and the disposing of the dead . yes  it all sounds a bit heavy  but trust me on this  it  s nearly as light as a feather .  br    br   zombies are featured prominently among the characters . crucial questions arise  such as who will become a zombie     of the willard folks choose this final path  while only    prefer a traditional funeral   who owns how many zombies to do their bidding like robots  they  ve become a mark of social status   and  what is the range of possible relationships that can be worked out between the living and the sort of reincarnated dead   br    br   somehow  director andrew currie  who also co  wrote the lively screenplay  with robert chomiak and dennis heaton   keeps this improbable material percolating along for an hour and a half without once faltering for want of a good laugh . a super cast helps carrie  anne moss  billy connolly  dylan baker  henry czerny  tim blake nelson  mary black and sonja bennett are the principals  aided by young k  sun ray as timmy  the innocent kid with a good heart who acts as fair witness to all the lunacy of the grownups .  having seen her only in  memento  and  the matrix   i had no idea that ms . moss had such fine comedienne chops .   br    br   the production design and music are exquisitely   s  to a tee . maybe this one isn  t for everybody . it surely will be a hard film to beat for my annual bizarro award . but intelligent comedies that stay funny from start to finish are among the hardest won achievements in movie  making . for me anyway   fido  is a hoot  my grades  .      a    seen on           
i  ve seen better production quality on youtube  i pity the actors  as the writing was terrible and the direction shocking  not sure how they could get the lines out  i really doubt any actor would have been able to salvage this movie no matter how good they were . the characters were not developed at all  and there was no real cohesion in the plot which just seemed to go nowhere much . it  s a shame really  as the premise for the movie was good and with better production quality  direction and script it could have been a decent movie . it certainly was not a comedy  unless you laugh out loud at the dubbing  which was amateurish  even the english actors sounded weird .  
fido is a cute comedy that deserves wider recognition  especially considering the mainstream crap that is supposed to entertain us these days .  br    br   as has already been pointed out  this is hardly a real zombie film  but rather a sweet satire that employs the undead to point fingers . while there are necessarily some bloody scenes  there is almost no gore and the way this movie is presented  feel  good   s style   i can  t imagine anyone being actually scared or turned off by fido  his fellow sufferers .  br    br   while the cast is generally good  i felt that moss and nelson stood out . the humor is not in  your  face  but rather subdued there  s a lot of attention to detail and i caught myself smiling benignly several throughout the movie . this is certainly no masterpiece of cinema  but it doesn  t strive to be  instead  currie succeeds in delivering a heart  warming black comedy .  
at least it  s not full of sensless violence or fluff . it  s also not very full of thought or a smooth storyline . this story had some potential but the director appears to have lost site of the green . the story is disjointed and goes off in strange  br    br   directions  to no conclusion . i also don  t believe the director spent much time around a golf country club  either . some of the depictions are absurd . not very engaging .  
saw this movie at the vancouver film festival and thought it was deadly smart  stylish  and funny .  br    br   the cast was rock solid . great work by carrie anne moss  dylan baker  tim blake nelson  billy connelly and up and comer  alexia fast .  br    br   weirdly  i found myself thinking about the movie for days after seeing it .  br    br   writers  dennis heaton  robert chomiak and andrew currie layered in a lot of political subtext  but didn  t whack you over the head with it .  br    br   the world they created had depth  and made sense . there is a giddy carnivorous spirit to this movie .  br    br   fido is guaranteed to cure grumpiness .  br    br   loved it     
the only word i can think of to describe this movie is ordinary .  br    br   the plot line about gary sinise  s character attempting suicide is a ridiculous premise and c  mon . . living as some sort salingeristic hermit or recluse in a shack driving golf balls into the ocean because he couldn  t handle life in the lucrative pro  am golf community  cry me a river . i wish these were my problems . i do enjoy dylan baker and sinise but this movie was clearly a bad choice or a pay check for sinise . the scene in which little timmy price gets verbally abused by the other club member in front of his father during the tournament is so over the top that i am embarrassed to watch it  
just saw the world preem of fido at the toronto international film festival and thoroughly enjoyed it . here we have a welcome reworking of a genre widely thought to have been pioneered  certainly  fleshed out  extensively and successfully  by george romero . but this is a canadian film by a canadian director and it  s a comedy  and  yes  i actually think it is better than  shawn of the dead  . thoroughly believable and  perhaps even more importantly  enjoyable performances by dylan baker  carrie  anne moss and young actor k  sun ray  whom i suspect we  ll be seeing a lot more of in future features . however  i must confess that i most enjoyed the delicious turn by tim blake nelson as neighbour mr . theopolis  essentially playing a willing animated version of victor van dort from the corpse bride  or  for those who  ve seen the film  wouldn  t that read even better here as the corpse pride   and  of course  scotch actor billy connolly in his least animated  yet somehow deeply moving role as the titular character . just think  he would not have gotten this role had it not been for peter stormare  s commitments to prison break  as was revealed in the qa following thursday night  s screening  . i can  t help but speculate that the screenwriters must have drawn a lot of inspiration from day of the dead  s zombie  bub  . i am not keen on ever revealing plot details during a comment and i won  t start now . suffice it to say that fido is not one of those dour  graphically gory zombie films you can rely on from romero . rather it is a film that will have you constantly chuckling and  although  and i did have to think back carefully to be sure  there is a fair dose of blood  letting and violence  the delectable humour  so well enhanced by the surreal milieu created by director currie and his co  screenwriters  goes a long way towards making this seem like a feature that ought to be rated pg    . i urge you to go see this little canuck gem . i  ll certainly be buying the dvd once it emerges hopefully by next summer .  
  a gentleman  s game  uses the game of golf in a country club setting to illustrate an adolescent  s discovery about honesty  prejudice  and other life lessons . several times i thought i knew where this film was heading  only to be proved wrong . unfortunately  i  m not so sure that the filmmakers ever knew where it was heading  either . the defining moment in this movie is probably the scene in which gary sinise mocks  the karate kid  and debunks any notions that he  s going to become a mentor to the adolescent golfer . it  s refreshing  in a way  that this movie refuses to follow most of the simplistic and over  worked movie formulas . however  too much of it still comes off as contrived . at the drop of a hat people drop all pretenses of civility  or fail to stick up for the things in which they believe  or are exposed for something far less respectable than their place in society assumes . unfortunately  there is often no resolution to these moments . and except for the fact that the club serves as backdrop for them  there is no real continuity or linking of them . it  s a shame that the writers and director could not salvage a better film  especially given some of the talented actors and potential in the setup .  
at a risk of sounding slightly sacrilegious  on first viewing i  m kind of inclined to put this right up on a par with  shaun of the dead  . now  given i view simon pegg as an unquestionable comedy genius  i realise this is a rather big claim . and to what extent you agree with that last statement may be a good preliminary gauge of whether  fido  will appeal to you .  br    br   in a way the comedy picks up where  shaun  left off  except we  re back in the original     s living dead  era stereotypical middle  american small town . the zombie wars are over and zombies themselves are becoming more well  adjusted  useful members of the community . this  so we  re informed at the outset  is largely thanks to the scientific advances made by the good people at zomcom  a nice play on romantic comedy perhaps   br    br   the beauty of the film lies in its dead  pan depiction of a respectable neighbourhood maintaining core values while making a place for zombies and the special hazards they pose . the charm and balance with which it does this is near enough perfect . themes you might expect from a more mainstream kitsch comedy come through  the veneer of good clean living  keeping up appearances  repressed emotion  muddled parental values  social decorum and the plight of the alienated individual .  br    br   it  s a story told with happy heart and wide appeal that is brought to life vividly by the film  s all  round strong cast . it  s one of those works where it really shows through that everyone involved got a kick out of taking part . it  s also fun imagining what billy connelly learning his script must have been like . . .  br    br   so in conclusion  it is probable you will appreciate the humour of this film unless your father tried to eat you .  
i had the good fortune of reading the book before seeing the movie . it was an epic of adolescence  a dream of summers gone  a great potential indie film or big budget drama . it somehow got into the hands of a hack  who clearly took notes watching boogie nights and rushmore without actually learning anything at all . the script loses the meat of the book in favor of forced emotional notes and low brow gags . i feel sorry for the actors  since the characters in the book were rich and textured  but cut down to embarrassing charactures in the film . mason gamble is great when given the opportunity  as is dylan baker  but the skeleton that remains of the story plays out like a bad after school special . poor people  good  rich people  bad .  br    br   though it  s almost worth watching to see the southern california beach where gary sinise parks his trailer which is meant to pass for a bay in delaware .  br    br   it  s a good book  but an embarrassing turn for first time director mills goodloe .  br    br   k .  
i suppose the ultimate curse of attending the toronto film festival is your release date time table get messed up . quite frankly  i  m just happy fido got picked up for us distribution . in any case . . .  br    br   ever seen shaun of the dead  good . how about lassie  able to reconcile the two  well  if you can your name might be andrew currie  canadian helmer of the first ever family themed zombie comedy  or zomedy .  seriously  that  s what the press book in toronto called it .  though not as violent  dry  or british as shaun of the dead  fido remains true to its roots a devotion to old   s black and white television including both lassie and the infamous sci  fi pulp that was being pumped out during the period .  br    br   fido  s talented headliners  carrie anne moss  billy connelly  dylan baker  and tim blake nelson  stand as a testament to the brilliance of the script . the film explores all the implications of its premise a world where zombies have been converted to servants because of the sheer number of them due to a strange accident . what would you use your new undead servant for  a butler  manual labor  a pet  unspeakable acts  fido tackles all these possibilities in a sweet and surprisingly classy way  with much thanks to the work of connelly  as one of said zombies  and young tv actor k  sun ray  who seems at times to be a better young elijah wood than the young elijah wood was .  br    br   if you  re expecting another shaun of the dead  don  t waste your time . there  s not nearly enough gore and pokes at the genre to satisfy you and you  ll just leave the theater bitter and depressed . but if you  re willing to take a look at what happens to shaun of the dead when it jumps across the lake  you  re in for a treat . think of fido as the sensitive  more often beaten up little brother to shaun of the dead  s rebellious loser  and you  re starting to get the drift . if you like  or at least tolerate  zombies  small children  and loads of deadpan satire  fido  s the film for you . if that  s not the case . . . . well  you know the drill . just hit  em square between the eyes .  
i saw this movie way back when it premiered .  br    br   it was based on the notion that autistic children could communicate with typed  out messages with someone else merely aiding them and guiding their hands .  br    br   then suddenly these children  many of whom weren  t even observing the keyboard or the screen when the messages were being typed out  they could be looking up at the ceiling in some instances   but their moderators were eyes glued on the keyboard  began typing messages of abuse from their parents and other persons  sending parents and child welfare agencies in a proberbial tizzy  left and right .  br    br   this whole thing was proved a fallacy when a third person presented a folder  opened it to the child and said  type the picture you see   then as the presenter turned the folder to the moderator  a fold would fall down  revealing another different picture .  br    br   so while the child may have seen a dog  the moderator saw something like a boat .  br    br   every time  every bloomin  time  the name of the picture typed was what the moderator had observed  never what the child was shown .  br    br   so who was doing the typing  never the child .  br    br   this movie further took a disastrous turn with  as the australia poster stated  the person who molested the child in the movie was in the situation trying to help the child .  br    br   had melissa gilbert never put her son in that place  he wouldn  t have been molested  is what the movie says . he was better off under her supervision .  br    br   if i turn my kid over to your organization for aid and he gets molested instead  do you think i  m going to be keen to listen to anything you have to say after that  not likely  i think it is a safe bet that all of these accusatory messages that these kids were typing out  that this movie was based on  they never accused someone within their operation as took place here .  br    br   unfortunately  i do recall that the movie gave a very good performance from gilbert as the mother of an autistic  but other than that  the movie really didn  t do much .  br    br   the worst by far was the child typing at the end to patty duke  and we hear the mechanical voice read back what he typed  . . . . .  we won   this child was molested . if you cut my leg off and i take you to court and you are found guilty of damaging me  assault  whatever  then that is legal justice  but it doesn  t bring my leg back .  br    br   at best  in my condition  i will view it as a hollow victory .  br    br   whatever chance this child had at what is perceived as normalcy with the autism alone is further damaged by the molestation .  br    br   a  normal  child has enough to contend with from such an experience .  br    br   it  s utterly superficial to think that you must look upon any situation and go  we won  if that person is found guilty in court .  br    br   just a bad handling of a situation and circumstances all the way around here .  
a long time ago  in a galaxy far  far away . . . . . there was a boy who was only two years old when the original  star wars  film was released . he doesn  t remember first seeing the movie  but he also doesn  t remember life before it . he does remember the first  star wars  themed gift he got . . . a shoebox full of action figures from the original set . he was too young to fully appreciate how special that gift would be . but years later  he would get what to this day goes down as one of the best gifts he  s ever received another box full of action figures  ten of the final twelve he needed to complete his collection . it  s now legendary in this boy  s family how the last action figure he needed  anakin skywalker  stopped being produced and carried in stores  and how this boy went for about ten years  until he got into college  trying to track one down and finally bought it from someone on his dorm floor for a bag of beer nuggets  don  t ask . . . it  s a northern illinois university thing  .  br    br   i can  t review  star wars  as a movie . it represents absolutely everything good  fun and magical about my childhood . there  s no separating it in my mind from christmases  birthdays  summers and winters growing up . in the winter  my friends and i would build snow forts and pretend we were on hoth  i was always han solo  . my friends  dad built them a kick  ass tree house  and that served as the ewok village . they also had a huge pine tree whose bottom branches were high enough to create a sort of cave underneath it  and this made a great spot to pretend we were in yoda  s home . i am unabashedly dorky when it comes to  star wars  and i think people either just understand that or they don  t . i don  t get the appeal of  lord of the rings  or  star trek  but i understand the rabid flocks of fans that follow them because i am a rabid fan of george lucas  s films .  br    br   i feel no need to defend my opinion of these movies as some of the greatest of all time . every time i put them in the dvd player  i feel like i  m eight years old again  when life was simple and the biggest problem i had was figuring out how i was going to track down a figure of anakin skywalker .  br    br   grade  for the entire trilogy   a  
i can  t believe they got the actors and actresses of that caliber to do this movie . that  s all i  ve got to say  the movie speaks for itself    
those french and those germans sure have a long history of not liking each other . it is interesting to note that kamerdaschaft or comradeship in translation takes place in     . only a few years later  hitler would siege germany and begin his plans to take over the world  france being a casualty of his ambitions . but these are times of sereneness compared to the future . a group of miners at the border try to cross over to france to get work . they are spurned back and later at a nightclub by their french neighbors . then a disaster happens in the mines of the french and a well  crafted and written scene  a troupe of german miners decide to come to the rescue . a simple story is it not  pabst was a poet of silent cinema and i am not sure if this is his first sound movie or not  but his poetry is there to be discovered . he isn  t fussy but brings a rugged realism to the ordeal . ther is even a flashback to a wwii event that beckons the point of this story . supposedly based on a real event  the movie does the events proudly with directness and terseness . smetimes  that  s what a movie needs to be .  
first off  i would like to point out that while i am not an expert  the way the trial was handled will insult your intelligence . firstly  the prosecution never proved that  facilitated learning  actually works . irresponsible for both the prosecution  because they can get an appeal  and the defense for not acting on this . as another commenter said  facilitated learning was proved untrue . secondly  they used terry as the translator who has personal interest  and even will testify  in the trial which is just stupid . if the court had allowed him to testify that way  they would have brought in someone neutral otherwise they would be just asking for an appeal . thirdly  this child was never asked specific questions about the defendant by the prosecution  birthmarks  details of the event  etc .  and even when asked by the defense specific questions like when it started  he could not answer . if that isn  t reasonable doubt i don  t know what is and a competent lawyer would have gotten an acquittal .  br    br   bottom line  it starts off well with the pressures of being the parent of a child with autism  but the trial makes this movie wholly unbelievable .  
sentimental and naive but undeniably affecting  emotional man  helping  man plea  in this case personified as german and french miners forced to be closed off from each other after the great war thanks to a new border  leading to disillusionment on the german side  as the french are the bosses . but when a fire begins on the french side  the common decency of the german men lead to assistance  safety and even friendship . this was a plea that would fall on deaf ears within the decade  as a certain man from pabst  s own side would break that piece and turn the great war into merely a prelude . but it is obvious to me that pabst really believes or at least wants to hope for this kind of fundamental humanism  as this film radiates with this optimism whereas his more flippant  cynical adaptation of the threepenny opera lacked the bite needed to make that work work . also furthering his honest belief are the fact that the characters here are not simplistic mouthpieces for positions  but real people  with real families whose home lives we are privy to as well . these are ordinary  working  class men who just happen to believe in the worth of caring and treating right your fellow man  and in this day of individualist opportunism  i  ll take a little thinning in my plot to get a positive message that represents a point of view that i think we can all aspire to .  br    br    note apparently the ending is cut on most prints  where the french rebuild the mining gate  closing off the men once again . this is a brutal turn of events  and may have made the film a better overall film  but i would have lamented it souring the positives vibes of the final sequence  so in short  i  m glad it was clipped .  grade      b      of    of       
i looked forward to watching this film and then realised that any hope of a coherent dialogue between the actors was swamped by the unnecessary swearing . now i am not a prude in any way  but to shout obscenities at each other does not a good film make . ewan bremner is arguably one of the worst actors in the world at this time  witness his performance in the god awful life of stuff   his  cockney  accent is almost as bad as his edinburgh accent . avoid . how many more of these films  kiss kiss bang bang    beautiful creatures  do we have to suffer before the film makers realise that the f  word  the c  word etc does not replace proper dialogue .  
valliant effort to use a mining catastrophe as a vehicle to pronounce this director  s distaste for war . the audience not only learns a great deal about early mining rescue procedures but  we learn that europeans at the interval between wwi and wwii  had concerning pacifists  for lack of a better term  . the speeches given by both representatives of each country at the end of the film  are inspiring given the time . although the revised edition  through the transfer technology of early foreign films   cuts  off characters heads  at times  this film holds it  s own in many different aspects . character analysis  lighting techniques  historical content and a scenario that has tested and inspired many a writer and filmmaker .  br    br   pabst went on to direct and put to screen weil  brecht  s  three penny opera   starring the original star  lotte lenya .  
this is truly terrible painfully irritating stylised performers screech and mug gratingly incoherent dialogues which take place in scenes which seem to have no purpose  no beginning  middle or end  cut together without any apparent narrative or even cognitive intention  all in the service of some entirely uninteresting and almost undetectable  story  . what makes it worse is the film  s pretentions to  style   suddenly a remote  head crane shot spirals downwards  and  without any apparent reason there are sudden whip  pans or wobblyhand  held sections all this  style  merely serves to magnify the almost unbelievably huge misconception of the project and the almost offensive vacuity of the material . definitely a candidate for the worst film ever made .  
this film  along with westfront      are my favorite pabst  directed films and i enjoyed them more than his much more famous films which starred louise brooks  such as pandora  s box  . it  s probably because both are very similar to the neo  realist films that the italians perfected in the     s and   s . this style film called for using non  actors  just typical folks  in everyday settings in order to create intensely involving and realistic films .  br    br   in this case  the film is about french and german coal miners  so appropriately  the people in the roles seem like miners   not actors . the central conflict as the film begins is that there is a huge mine located on the franco  german border . instead of one big mine  it is divided at the border and german workers are not welcome in the french mine  despite there being greater unemployment in germany . this  language differences  illustrated wonderfully in a dance hall scene  and wwi conspire to create a huge rift between the factions   resulting in a we vs . they mentality . later  an explosion causes a huge collapse in the french and the germans refuse to sit back and do nothing . risking their own lives  they prove that there is true comradeship between miners and men in general .  br    br   the film is a strong criticism of xenophobia and tried  in vain  to get the german audiences to see the futility of war and hatred . it was a gorgeously moving film with some of the scariest and claustrophobic images i have ever seen . considering history  though  the film  s impact was minimal at best . it  s a real shame  as like this one  westfront      jaccuse  gance  and all quiet on the western front  milestone  had great messages of peace and harmony but ultimately were failures in positively swaying public opinion . so  from a historical point of view  it  s an amazing and sad relic that is well worth seeing .  
  mojo  is a story of fifties london  a world of budding rock stars  violence and forced homosexuality .  mojo  uses a technique for shooting the     s often seen in films that stresses the physical differences to our own time but also represents dialogue in a highly exaggerated fashion  owing much to the way that speech was represented in films made in that period   i have no idea if people actually spoke like this outside of the movies  but no films made today and set in contemporary times use such stylised language . it  s as if the stilted discourse of     s screenwriters serves a common shorthand for a past that seems  in consequence  a very distant country indeed and therefore stresses the particular  rather than the universal  in the story .  mojo  features a strong performance from ian hart and annoying ones from aiden gillan and ewan bremner  the latter still struggling to build a post   trainspotting  career but feels like a period piece  a modern film incomprehensibly structured in an outdated idiom . rather dull  actually .  
based on an actual mining disaster  this early german talkie  with english subtitles  still remains one of the most effective docu  dramas ever filmed . featuring many non  professional actors   kameradschaft  gives a chilling view of the friendship that binds the mine workers  regardless of which side of the french  german border they may be from . a deadly accident brings out the very best in everyone  nullifying any superiors  orders . a fellow miner in need will receive the help of his comrades  even at threat of great loss  including life .  br    br   this film reminds of the self  sacrificing heroism shown by the nyfd following the     attacks . putting aside any formal rules and regulations  these men and women in uniform knew only one cause to save lives  and to find their fellow  fire fighters .   more than   years later   kameradschaft  still has the strong and timeless message a friend in need is a friend in deed .  
this is a film where the actors are all fine  especially brigitte bako and erik palladino  in a film where every one of the three couples meet in a situation that feels verrrrry forced to be either cute or to set the story in motion . in other words  it feels like they are contrived movie scenes  not like real life . even if women who work at peep parlors ever go out with one of their customers  it just doesn  t seem realistic at all the way it is written in this film . also  when one of the characters meets the overweight woman in the film  it feels artificial  the way they look at each other seconds after arguing . again  the actors are all good  and moments of this film are nice  but overall yet another indie that could have used some rewriting before production got rolling .  
the name of this film alone made me want to see just what it was all about  so i taped this film during the early hours of the am . if you ever wanted to see what miners had to go through during the early days and actually see a dramatic scene when the mine crumbles in on the men . this film clearly wants to show that germany and france can work together and be friends after ww i and how the germans came to the aid of the french miners much to the unbelief of the french townsfolk . the actors were all outstanding  with unusual scenes in the mine with a horse and a small young boy who worked in the mine . there is an old old retired miner who manges to go down the mine by ladder when the elevator breaks down . if you are a real film buff  this is a film you will not want to miss .  
she has been catapulted from   to    with magic dust involved  courtesy the    year  old matt  but nothing is made of that except as an unexplained device . new york city  especially central park  but also every other slice of the place incorporated into the movie  seems hope  filled and easily livable  and save for lucy there  s no villain in jenna  s adult life  and even lucy is not cast as monstrous  only as a nasty    year  old grown   years more devious . chris  the one  time boy object of jenna  s yearning  is now a porky cab driver  and you have seen enough films to know that matt will play a major role in jenna  s future . you don  t know quite what might impede this before it is finally achieved  though i  m here to whisper in your ear  so to speak  that the device is not unique . in fact  not only is this a variation on the theme of tom hanks   big   though nowhere near as fine  it is also a strictly by  the  book version of this subset of the cinderella story .  
this  the finest achievement from georg wilhelm pabst  s social realism period is based upon a tragedy in early     that claimed the lives of nearly     french miners as a coal dust explosion deep in mines at courrieres in northern france took place after a fire had smouldered for three weeks  eventually releasing deadly pit gas that brought about the fatalities . estimable designer erno metzner creates stark sets that simulate the tragedy  providing a perception of reality  augmented by matchless sound editing  with the only music being produced by integral orchestras during the beginning and ending portions of a work for which aural effects possess equal importance with the eminent director  s fascinating visual compositions . pabst  s manner of  invisible editing  that segues action from shot to shot through movements of players proves to be smoothly integrated within this landmark film that also showcases sublime cinematography utilizing cameras mounted upon vehicles  enabling the director to shift amid scenes without having a necessity of cutting . although the work  s cardinal theme relates to socialist dogma  the unforgettable power of this film is held in its details  born of pabst  s nonpareil skill at weaving numerous plot lines into a cinema tapestry that stirs one to admiration for german rescue squads of whom their fatherland is greatly proud while no less despairing of disastrous losses to the families of french victims certainly  a seminal triumph fully as stimulating today to a cineaste as it was at the time of its first release .  
what the bliep is it with this movie  couldn  t they fiend a better script  all in all a  nice  movie  but . . . it has been done more than once . . . up till the end i thought it was okay  but . . . the going back to the past part . . . barf so corny . . . was waiting for the fairy god mother to appear . . . but wow  that didn  t happen . . . which is good .  br    br   i loved big with tom hanks  but to see such a movie in a new form with another kid who wished that he  she is older  bigger that just is so pas  br    br   just watch till it comes out on tv . don  t get me wrong  but it ain  t all that  
brown of harvard is a hard movie to pin down . we expect a lot more from our movies these days  so it helps to remember that audiences in the    s were a bit more innocent . william haines is charming as the rogue who has to stumble through pain and humiliation to find success and  even  glory . all of the relationships in the movie feel very stilted except for the homoerotic tie between billy and jack pickford  the town nerd . the movie has everything  romance  tears  love  death  and even sports . . . it  s a great education in how society has changed in the   th century .  
i  m beginning to see a pattern in the movies i give a  to . they are almost all movies that my wife made me watch . maybe i should stop having faith in her taste in movies . anyway  this is typical drivel aimed at pre  teen girls but done even more poorly than usual . once again  the writer broke the cardinal rule of any movie . he  she made the main character unlikable . she starts off by being a complete btch to her friend at the beginning  and then finds out when she becomes    that she  s basically a shtty person  having affairs  etc .  . why the f would we feel for this person  ok  let  s say we can get past that . jennifer garner is about as far from attractive as you can get without having some sort of deformity . i don  t know if it  s her or the writer  s fault  but her character goes well beyond my threshold for annoyance . here  s a tip for future filmmakers   year olds are not entertaining  they  re annoying . far and away the most embarrassing moment in the movie came when they danced to  thriller  . holy crap that was painful . it showed her practicing that dance at the beginning . that explains why she knows it  but an entire club full of people    argh    the macarena would be more believable  all of a sudden she  s completely incompetent and has no clue how to do her job and no one notices  at least tom hanks  character on  big  had a job that made sense to a child . these body  switching  child becoming adult overnight movies are really getting out of hand  and this is by far the worst one yet .  
this is apparently the second remake of this film  having been filmed before in     and     . and  in so many ways it reminds me of the later film  a yank at oxford . both films concern a conceited blow  hard who arrives at one of the top schools in the world and both  ultimately  show the blow  hard slowly learning about teamwork and decency . in this film  william haines is  tom brown  and his main rival   bob  is played by frances x . bushman . and  in a supporting role is jack pickford   always remembered as the brother of mary . of these three  pickford comes off the best  as the sympathetic loser who becomes tom  s pal   he actually has a few decent scenes as well as a dramatic moment just before the big game  all the standard clichs are there and the movie  because it was done so many times before and since  offers few surprises . however  it is pleasant film and is enjoyable viewing .  br    br   in my opinion  for a better silent college film  try harold lloyd  s the freshman   it  s football scenes are frankly more exciting and harold is far more likable and sympathetic than the annoying tom brown . the freshman is probably the best college picture you can find from the era . another reason why brown at harvard is a lesser picture is that william haines played essentially the same unlikable and bombastic character with the same plot again and again and again  such as in westpoint and the smart set  among others    and if you  ve seen one of these films  you  ve seen them all . well made  but certainly not original  and  because it is just a rehash of his other films  anyone giving the film a score of   is strongly advised to see these other films .  br    br          i just checked and saw this this small film was the highest rated film on imdb from the       talk about over  rated  there are dozens and dozens of better films   how this film got to be   is anyone  s guess .  
this movie is horrible . everything in it has been done before . there is nothing original . i cannot stand when writers don  t come up with their own plots .  br    br   a girl makes a wish on her   th birthday and wakes up as an adult . hmm  sounds a lot like a movie in the   s called big . what is even more annoying is jennifer garner  s acting . she doesn  t act like she is   she just acts like she is stupid .  br    br   from then on  you can guess the whole plot . she gets a good job and it just so happens that a friend she had at   works with her . wow  how awesome  but  no . . . . her friend is bad and turns on her  trying to get her job . but  of course  she wins in the end when she comes up with a  great  idea .  br    br   there  s also a dancing scene in the movie that i  ve seen a thousand times before .  br    br   i hate this movie .  
i  ve been intrigued by this film for a while  in part because of the extremely high score here on imdb   a  .  average with over    votes gives it the highest rating of any accessible silent film  how had i not heard of this film before this website  well  you can  t always trust the ratings . this is actually a very good film  preserved quite well if the fine vhs transfer i rented is any indication   excellent acting by the principals  especially william haines as brown  and good location work at cambridge with some fine action footage in the climactic harvard  yale football game   but the story must have seemed a hoary chestnut even in     . obnoxious  self  centered and charismatic guy goes to school and gets put in his place  becoming in the process a caring  self  sacrificing friend i doubt people in     found much that was really exciting in the last few reels  the predictability factor is high . still  it starts out very well  and is certainly deserving of being remembered  if not praised to the heavens . maybe the previous    voters are mostly harvard men . . .  br    br   edit now     voters and the score has actually climbed to  .   seriously  folks  there is ballot  stuffing going on here  i defy anybody to explain why this is a better film than  metropolis  or  the general    
this esteemed production has it  s fans . but to paraphrase the classic bad review of  mary reilly   moby dick is like a painting  only slower .  br    br   this is because the philosophical grounds for a movie  production  are never to make a great film  rather it  s to substitute the lack of a strong guiding idea  in this case for a books transference to film  with a list of hopelessly atomized  undynamic but dazzling conceits in an effort to trick viewers into thinking they  ve seen greatness . as viewers  critics are apt to fall for this  oscars follow  feeding the whole dumb equation .  br    br   i don  t share in the pleasure all these reviewers found . moby dick is stunningly uninvolving . actors dutifully recite essays about jonah  moby dick  the ocean  moby dick  moby dick . . . all things that can  t respond  and not one of which is absorbing in the slightest . it  s dramatically inert . it doesn  t build . in narrative terms moby dick  as a movie  is little more than a foregone conclusion in search of an actual story . after half an hour i was muttering  oh terrific . . . another oath . . . another  minute soliloquy    br    br   in the failed effort to involve you  it  s a pretty campy overacting showcase . a lot of grey hair here . starbuck is supposed to be a golden god .     br    br   one knows one is looking at a great director when he makes the medium his own rather than trying to replicate the feel of someone else  s paintings  palette  or reverently embalming a classic as huston does here . paintings and books are nice but they  re a different mediums . a movie like this fails to grasp that an honestly enjoyable piece of crap  village of the damned  is better in most respects than an insufferable piece of culture . this is the eat your vegetables school of film  making .  br    br   one appreciates the work that must have been done to make the movie  but not the narrative . only a few segments reflecting maritime research are interesting the recording of shanties as a means of structuring work  various sea efforts and the technology of whaling . and that doesn  t call for a two  plus hour movie .  
i  m sick of people whining about ewoks  true  they  re not the best thing that ever happened to star wars  but they did happen  so deal with it  besides  they are cute  and i don  t care if they  re marketable . yubb nubb   br    br   this movie always leaves me in tears . it  s perfect . the end could not be better . i  m excited for the phantom menace because it will suddenly throw the focus of the whole story from luke to anakin . i love how he is revealed at the end  it would be too unresolved any other way . so those of you who are complaining that vader  s helmet was removed  take a moment to think about it . it  s very effective . vader  the man who hid behind a mask for   years  is finally revealed as a sick  looking man . he is not entirely machine  he  s vulnerable .  br    br   i don  t know how the casting director happened to pick such good actors in a new hope . they all do so well . they are believable characters . hamill does an excellent job with his dramatic character development . fisher does a fine job being a female role model  i mean  come on  she killed jabba even when so many others had failed   . harrison ford  need i say more   br    br   the music is once again brilliant . it  s so very touching and significant when you can pick out character themes at different parts of the movie . the best climax is when luke shouts  nooo   and jumps out to fight his father in the final battle . john williams is nothing short of a genius  what an amazing man   br    br   already  the movie has so much more meaning for me because of episode i . i can  t wait to finally see it in the theatres  can i wait     and then watch the original trilogy yet again .  br    br   bravo   
i love these actors  but they were wasted in this flick .  br    br   i can only wonder  what were they thinking agreeing to this crap     br    br   debra winger just phoned it in dennis quaid and arliss howard were caricatures . some people thought it was deep . well  if you liked  breaking the waves   you  ll probably like this too . i hated both .      
this is an extraordinary film  that tricks you constantly . it seems to be heading toward cliche at several points  and then something astonishing will happen that genuinely startles . it would give away too much to say much more  but stick with this film and you will be richly rewarded . william haines is absolutely delightful  he is certainly a star that deserves to be re  discovered . the gay subtext in his relationship with jack pickford is amazing  there is even a scene where haines rubs pickford  s chest  pickford has a cold  . both actors play this sub  text subtlely and with great depth of emotion  so that there are moments that are very moving . and i never thought i could get so involved in a football match as i did in this movie  and i don  t even understand the rules  also excellent is francis x . bushman  s son ralph as haines  rival for the girl  yes  it  s not completely a gay movie  . wonderful silent classic  a great example of twenties commercial cinema with an edge .  
non existent plot  tons of poorly directed  super  cheesy scenes  snipers  world famous sharpshooters who can  t even hit their targets a few feet away  plus what  s up with the ending      a bunch of law enforcers vandalizing a carnival  s shooting gallery  wth    technical mistakes  how many bullets can you fit into a magazine of a glock       these people fire their guns without the need of reloading  . the movie is so bad that even senior hollywood actor like michael biehn  aliens  terminator  can  t save this junk .  br    br   do not watch this movie  i realized that i wasted some good    minutes of my precious life on this one  . hopefully the director would either stop making movies  or learn more for his next movie .  
one of the biggest hits of      brown of harvard is a exciting comedy  drama featuring regatta and football scenes that gave william haines the role he needed to become a major star . it  s patented haines all the way brash smart aleck who takes nothing serious until he is rejected by everyone wises up and becomes a man  hero and wins the girl . no one worked this formula like haines . a terrific comic actor  little annie rooney with mary pickford  show people with marion davies   haines could swing from comedy to tragedy with a change in facial expression . he is a total joy in this film as he was in tell it to the marines  with lon chaney  and west point  with joan crawford   where he repeats the formula . mary brian is good as the girl  jack pickford is very good as the sickly roommate  ralph bushman is the rival . edward connelly  mary alden  david torrence  guinn williams  and grady sutton co  star . this film is noted now for its homoerotic relationship between haines and pickford and for being john wayne  s film debut as a yale football player  but i never spotted him  . haines was a top  five box office star starting with this picture through     . it  s a shame he has been largely forgotten and that most of his films appear to be lost . he was one of the most appealing and talented actors of his time .  
  handsome guys with bad haircuts     beautiful girls without any clues     stupid gangsters who cannot shoot straight    from dragon dynasty comes the hong kong gangster drama   dragon heat .  for reasons which will probably forever be completely obscured  the production and casting call for this  criminals  on  steroids  movie somehow got both maggie q and michael biehn to sign on as villains . but they don  t get all that much to do in this horrid slug  fest .  br    br   they are two of the best contemporary actors around  each with their own resume  and list of accomplishments  and biehn in particular has had the courage to take some rather challenging and non  heroic roles .  br    br   maggie q was the super  bad  mai  in  live free or die hard   so  nuff said .  br    br   biehn is  of course  famous for being the soldier  from  the  future who made  the terminator  of     such a believable science  fiction  fantasy romp  by crashing up against big arnold  who is now the governator of california    br    br   michael biehn is almost wholly wasted in this terrible train  wreck of a police drama . there is absolutely no reason for that  as the incredibly convoluted plot   given mostly in chinese  as it is a hong kong story   could have been better elaborated for non  chinese audiences with a foreign narrator .  br    br   in other words  if biehn had been used as something like an interpol observer or coordinator  or an agent under deep cover  who needs to get some  splaining given to him every five or ten minutes  that would have been great . but no  he  s brought in as a part of an odd group of special forces  type bad guys who seem to be freelancing their own corrupt deal  in the middle of somebody else  s totally corrupt deal involving the local king of corrupt deals .  br    br   yes  there  i said it all . confused  me too .  welcome to the party  pal .   br    br   in the truly superb hong kong crime drama  known by its english title as  breaking news   there are also a number of fascinating characters at work  but there is only one story line in the plot .  br    br   bad guys vs . good cops . in this wretched and excessively violent foray into the world of a hong kong triad  or gang  it seems that the hot  shot police force is little more than a parade of ducks in a shooting gallery  the way the criminals mow them down .  br    br   so  not surprisingly  there  s an almost otherwise incomprehensible scene  several scenes  in fact   where kids are trying to shoot wooden ducks in an arcade game  to win stuffed animal prizes . and so the hot shot good  guy police officers quite naturally intervene on their behalf  so that the arcade owner has to give up the kewpie dolls .  br    br   there  s also a half  hearted attempt at creating a  love interest  between one of the  visiting cops  and the sole female  visiting cop  .  br    br   the visiting cops are supposed to be material witnesses against the triad gangster leader  who gets hijacked on the way to his court appearance  but not by his own team but by the mercenaries  biehn  maggie q  and some others  . these killers all want something but we don  t get to learn about what it is  until the very end of the film   that was a stupid mistake inside of the overall story .  br    br   you cannot build suspense in a crime drama without something to obtain  or get  or get away from  being introduced very early in the story .  br    br   add to that some  cut  away scenes  done for purely artsy effects  all showing the bad  bad guys  and the regular bad guys  recent pasts  and any film buff can readily understand why this barking dog gets a  rating from this fan of all things cinematic with criminals and conspirators and hong kong .  
a family  mother  patricia clarkson  father  jake weber  son  erik per sullivan  go out for a family get together in some remote house in the middle of winter . they accidentally hit a deer while driving there . this angers some of the locals   especially otis  john speredakos  and things slowly  very slowly  go wrong .  br    br   i was expecting the worst when i started watching this . the bulk of the reviews for this  on this site  are extremely negative . well . . . i disagree . first off it  s not a horror film . the horror doesn  t even begin until the closing   minutes . it plays more like a family drama with horror elements thrown in . on that level  it  s pretty damn good .  br    br   first   the bad stuff the pace is way too slow jake weber is a horrible actor way too many false dream sequence scares the wendigo barely figures into the film and the clear view we get of the wendigo at the end is laughable .  br    br   the good stuff pretty good dramatic script clarkson is excellent as the mother some great direction with eerie sound effects which are a little scary a pretty explicit hot sex sequence between clarkson and weber  which actually is necessary for the integrity of the plot    pretty good acting by sullivan  only   at the time   and speredakos and a completely unexpected tragic ending .  br    br   i think many people are annoyed with this film because it  s being pushed as a horror film   which it isn  t . so  if you can ignore that  i think you might like it . i  m giving it a  .  
at the end of  dragon heat   all i could think of was why i bothered sitting through the whole thing .  br    br   the film  s premise is interesting and that  as well as maggie q  is what attracted me to the film in the first place . but was i ever disappointed . writer  director daniel lee can  t hold a candle to the likes of john woo  ringo lam and corey yuen .  br    br   this has to be one of the most annoyingly  directed films i have ever seen . lee is so wrapped up in his visual style  and i use that phrase incredibly loosely  that he fills the film with completely needless black  and  white stills  freeze frames  slow  motion  fast  motion and other visual nonsense . i suppose he did all that to make up for the lack of a good story or dialogue .  br    br   the action scenes are nothing special and play out like some hopped  up music video more than anything else . there is little to care about any of the characters  including two supposedly professional snipers who couldn  t hit the broad side of a barn from the inside   who are then laden with some of the cheesiest dialogue i have seen in one of these hong kong actioners .  br    br   the plot is devoid of any twists and turns  from the initial set  up  everything unfolds in predictable fashion  and lee feels the need to keep reminding us of the characters  back stories in case we didn  t get it the first several times . this is awfully amateurish writing and film  making and wastes the talents of sammo hung  michael biehn and maggie q . though  to be frank  i am hard  pressed to remember biehn being in any good film that was not directed by james cameron .  br    br   if you really are in the mood for a great hong kong actioner  you are much better off sticking to some of the staples  john woo  s  the killer        and  hard  boiled         ringo lam  s  city on fire         which quentin tarantino stole for  reservoir dogs         or his  point blank        remake   full contact        . or  even check out yuen  s  so close         a supremely entertaining  yet preposterous  popcorn flick . and there  s always the terrific french police actioner   the nest        .  br    br   true  most  if not all  are a bit over  the  top  but they were films that remain exciting  thrilling and even suspenseful . they have characters we care about and mind  blowing action sequences .  br    br    dragon heat   on the other hand  is just terribly mediocre . the trouble is that lee has not made a bad action film  he has made a dull one .  
if you want scream or anything like the big  studio horror product that we get forced on us these days don  t bother . this well  written film kept me up thinking about all it had to say . importance of myth in our lives to make it make sense  how children interpret the world  and the violence in it   our ransacking of the environment and ignorance of its history and legends . . all here  but not flatly on the surface . you could technically call it a  monster movie  even though the wendigo does not take physical form until the end  and then it  s even up to you and your beliefs as to what  s happening with the legendary spirit  beast . some standard thriller elements for those looking just for the basics and the film never bores  though in fact the less you see of the creature  the better . fessenden successfully continues george romero  s tradition of using the genre as parable and as a discussion forum while still keeping us creeped out .  
a lot of promise and nothing more . an all  star cast certainly by hk standards  but man oh man is this one a stinker . no story  that  s okay  the action will make up for it like most hk action flicks . what  the action is terrible  corny  and sparse  dragon dynasty  s releases up to this point are by and large superb and generally regarded as classics in asian cinema . this is a blight . they managed to wrangle a couple of actors from infernal affairs  but they can  t bring life to a disjointed script . there are scenes of dialogue where two or three lines are spoken with a cut in between each and no continuity in what the characters are saying . you almost feel like they  re each giving a running monologue and just ignoring the other characters . michael biehn is made of wood  really  sammo hung uses a stunt double  no way . yes way . stay away .  
this movie is excellent . i found it very interesting . i thought the wendigo legend was pretty cool . the acting was also great  as well as the costumes  production  photography  directing and script .  br    br   a very happy family  on vacation gets stranded in the middle of nowhere after they hit a deer . a huntsman then appears and is very angry and outraged over the fact that one of the deer  s antler  s is broken . he then starts to stalk the family and weird things start to happen to them .  br    br   see this movie . it  s worth it . kudos to the cast  crew and filmmakers . two thumbs way up   
ahh this film had so much potential  a good cast of quality b actors  the thighs of jessica simpson and . . . that is about it   br    br   i believe some guy in some unnamed marketing department had an idea . basically  lets do a kind of legally blond film  but do it in new york . that big bright city of chances  power and money and where everyone is a heartless  power  money hungry person . let  s add to this jessica simpson  small town bimbo  that brother of owen wilson and for some no apparent reason andy dick  only because of him you should ignore this film  .  br    br   basic story line  br    br   boy leaves girl for ny  girl follows  boy cheats  girl stays in ny with cousin  gets a job under false pretenses  mucks up  is courted by other boy  brother wilson  and together save the day and kiss .  br    br   a few words come to mind when reflecting upon this film  i . e . dire  awful  unbearable  intolerable and xenophobic  br    br   just don  t watch this film  you will be happier . one reviewer referred to guantanamo and i definitely agree with him . this film induces shock . and i know what you are thinking . . . at least at some point will i see simpson naked or close too . it  s not gonna happen  spare yourself the time and youtube her . you will have better sexy time   br    br   the films editing is flimsy  the acting is unbearable  and why do they use blue screens   br    br   in conclusion this is cinematic treason which should be punished to the maximum  br    br   another question why does willie nelson always play a kind of father figure in almost every jessica simpson flick and why are there no black  latin  asian or european people in this movie   
wendigo is a pretty good psychological thriller  the film has some great drama between the characters and some good creepy scenes . the acting is good  the characters act like a normal family . the wendigo effects are good  the deer form reminded me a little of the rabbit in donnie darko .  br    br   the film sees a family going to stay at a house for a while but accidental hit a deer  a group of hunters arrives and one of the hunters named otis starts to argue with the dad george  after the car is lifted they drive off to the house . the son miles is a little shook up about the deer but his parents try to tell him that it  s natural for things like that to happen . that night while he  s in bed he starts to see weird things in bedroom  the next day they go into to town and miles meets a man at the counter who gives him a little statue of the wendigo  when miles shows kim the statue and tells her that a man at the counter gave it him the owner says the she only works there . once returning home george takes his son sledding and while there sledding he  s knocked off the board and miles is chases by the wind  after gaining conciseness they go looking for george  they find him outside the house where he tells them he was shot  in the hospital kim tells the sheriff that otis may have shot him  the shrieff goes to otis  s place where he  s bashed over the head with a hammer  as otis drives down the road he finds that the wendigo is after him .  br    br   wendigo is a pretty good thriller that has some chilling moments . check this out .       
  first of all  excuse my bad english  of course only a movie starring jessica simpson can include serious goofs like this . . i  m a norwegian and i felt offended and shocked the makers of this movie did not take the time to do their research upon making this american   norwegian  movie . even wikipedia is more accurate when it comes to facts about this country .  br    br   so i  m posting my corrections out of my frustration  the country is named norway  not norwegia .   da  is russian  not norwegian .  norwegian priests never use those black capes with that white paper by the neck as the protestant church is the dominant by far  it  s true we have a native traditional folk  outfit  that we only use like twice a year  but the outfit in this movie is more like a german outfit .  i could not understand the so called  norwegian  in this movie . . jessica was not making any sense . . neighter did the  norwegian priests   br    br   the only thing i recognise is the norwegian flag  and the viking hats  but that  s so stereotypic what people think about norway  vikings  o gosh   br    br   well . . i guess the people who made this film will never read this comment . but at least i cleared some things up and got rid of some of that frustration . .   br    br   i  m proud of my country and i  d love if people in the us were less stereotypic and more accurate when they talk about this country .  br    br   that was all . . lenge leve norge  p  
now this is what i  m talking about . finally  a low  budget horror outing that uses its limitations to its advantage . wendigo  while occasionally flawed  is a triumph of the imagination . granted  it leans heavy on evil dead style camera moves for its moodiness  but it  s still a damn sight better than    of direct to video dross .  br    br   the story is pretty simple a family takes a vacation at a remote cabin and are menaced by one particularly unhinged hunter . but director larry fessenden really knows how to build suspense and add layers of unsettling creepiness through the use of the mythical wendigo . is it real  is it all in the boy  s imagination  is it an externalization of the child  s emotional state   br    br   some have quibbled that the film is unsatisfying because it  s left to you to decide . don  t be put off by such petty nonsense . a film that makes you think is not one to avoid . it  s one to rejoice in .  
i knew this movie wasn  t going to be amazing  but i thought i would give it a chance . i am a fan of luke wilson so i thought it had potential . unfortunately  a lot of the movie  s dialog was very fake sounding and cheesy . i think that aquafresh gave some money towards the production of the film because they were seriously dropping some hints throughout . there is a shot where the aquafresh sign sticks out at you that you can  t help but notice it . maybe they should have focused on writing and acting more than how many times can we drop aquafresh products in the movie without people getting annoyed . the movie had its moments  but i  m glad i didn  t spend   .   to see it in the theater .  
a haunting piece that the discerning horror film fan will fall upon with gratitude . keep your freddys and your jasons   this film is in the same company as  the haunting   the original  . lyrical and truthful  it stays with you long into the night  much like those terrifying cbs radio mystery theatre shows . a smart rent .  
this might be unbelievable  but this movie has grossed         in russia  it  s shown in almost all cinema theaters and still running  well  i have no idea why distributors put their eye on this particular uh  movie   which had almost no screening around the world . that  s some kind of enigma  haha  maybe it was based on the fact that another movie   pledge this  with paris hilton  which was as well released only dvd almost everywhere  had major screenings in russia and grossed more than  mln . besides  both movies had a lot of promotion  like there were the banners all over the city  tv commercials and etc . speaking about movie  i  d say it  s dull and absolutely boring . it could be better  really . even if it has jessica simpson .  
if you want scream or anything like the big  studio horror product that we get forced on us these days don  t bother . this well  written film kept me up thinking about all it had to say . importance of myth in our lives to make it make sense  how children interpret the world  and the violence in it   our ransacking of the environment and ignorance of its history and legends . . all here  but not flatly on the surface . you could technically call it a  monster movie  even though the wendigo does not take physical form until the end  and then it  s even up to you and your beliefs as to what  s happening with the legendary spirit  beast . some standard thriller elements for those looking just for the basics and the film never bores  though in fact the less you see of the creature  the better . fessenden successfully continues george romero  s tradition of using the genre as parable and as a discussion forum while still keeping us creeped out .  
the story goes something like this a small  town girl  katie  jessica simpson   decides to visit her boyfriend in the big city . when she arrives she discovers he isn  t quite as faithful as he should be . katie then ends up venturing into the adventure that is new york . filling in as bike messenger comedic and charming mishaps ensues . she falls into a hole in the ground and thus meets charismatic good  guy ben  luke wilson  . it  s not love at first sight  at least for her  but destiny and ben  won  t give up quite that easy . being  just  a small  town girl and blonde a couple of evil executives at a building firm decides she  s the perfect scapegoat for their cunning plan . misunderstandings with hilarious and sad consequences follow . however  this is one blonde who won  t take it lying down   br    br   people being judgmental of this film will soon enough be proved wrong . the jokes are confident and fitting  and the story well developed . the relationship between katie and ben feels so natural that it puts anything godard has created to shame . the multi  talented jessica simpson once again surprises with a strong role only she could pull off . simpson really is the marilyn monroe of our day  there  s even one scene honoring her   . she balances perfectly between vulnerable and whimsy . katie really does show us that you can  t judge a book by its cover  luke wilson is as charming as ever . even if he was covered in manure that man would be as appealing as anyone . his light touch  puppy dog eyes and laid back manner makes it difficult to resist . andy dick plays the role he was born to play  one of the two diabolical executives . he really cannot be underestimated . the strength of the performance lies in his restraint . it  s remarkable  because most actors would just run away with it and play it for cheap laughs . not this guy   br    br   in conclusion  director scott marshall has crafted an intelligent and frequently hilarious comedy that is destined to become a classic alongside masterpieces of cinema like epic movie and norbit . kudos to everyone involved in this  especially jessica simpson . her sincere smile and whole  hearted laughter would make even the toughest man break out in a big grin . you may be tough  but you  re not that tough  warmly recommended to everyone who wants to be swept off their feet and see a romantic comedy that for once  feels honest . thank you for this film  oh  and the soundtrack rocks   br    br   now if you still haven  t gotten it . i  m being sarcastic .      
this film is more about how children make sense of the world around them  and how they  and we  use myth to make sense of it all . i think it  s been misperceived  everyone going in expecting a stalkfest won  t enjoy it but if you want a deeper story  it  s here . . . . . . .  
this movie had all the elements to be a smart  sparkling comedy  but for some reason it took the dumbass route . perhaps it didn  t really know who its audience was but it  s hardly a man  s movie given the cast and plot  yet is too slapstick and dumb  blonde to appeal fully to women .  br    br   if you have seen legally blonde and its sequel  then this is like the bewilderingly awful sequel . great actors such as luke wilson should expect better material . jessica simpson could also have managed so much more . rachael leigh cook and penelope anne miller languish in supporting roles that are silly rather than amusing .  br    br   many things in this movie were paint  by  numbers  the various uber  clich montages  the last minute  misunderstanding   even the kids  party chaos . this just suggests lazy scriptwriting .  br    br   it should be possible to find this movie enjoyable if you don  t take it seriously  but it  s such a glaring could  do  better than you  ll likely feel frustrated and increasingly disappointed as the scenes roll past .  
perspective is a good thing . since the release of  star wars episode i the phantom menace   claims and counter  claims of just how episode  s ii and iii will eventuate has taken the spotlight off the  original  star wars films  making them part of a cohesive whole  rather than segregating the older and new films into separate trilogies . what the new films have done is allow fresh perspectives to be placed on the older films . this new outlook allows us to greater appreciate what has often been viewed as the weakest of the original trilogy  return of the jedi  . often derided for its overly  cute  factor  rotj is in a sense as strong as the original and only slightly less impressive than the nearly perfect  the empire strikes back  . indeed the  cute  element of rotj  namely the ewoks  remains a weak link in the entire series . did george lucas place the furry midgets in the film purely for the merchandising possibilities  only he can answer that question .  br    br   this cute factor aside  the film is a brilliant full circle and evolution of the saga . following on from the conclusion of  the empire strikes back   luke skywalker  mark hamill  follows his rebel alliance friends to tatooine  his home planet  to rescue han solo  harrison ford   the space pirate turned rebel hero who was captured by jabba the hutt for overdue debts .  br    br   skywalker is a changed man since leaving tatooine with ben  obi wan  kenobi  alec guiness  to fight the evil empire . now swathed all in black  luke  s discovery of his origins have left him confused and torn . his psychological make up is not as strong as his outward appearance would suggest . while he might aim to always assist his rebel friends  he yearns for another chance to confront the evil darth vader again  despite his unassuredness as to whether he will destroy him or eventually turn to the dark side and join vader at the emperor  s side .  br    br   early scenes in tatooine are impressive  from jabba  s lair  to his floating palace and the  almighty sarlac   an intenstine that lives in the sand . lucas  cgi enhancements to the film in     actually worsened the overall effect of the sarlac  making it look fake and overdone .  br    br   the battle scene on tatooine is outstanding  and is one of the more memorable of the saga . luke almost singlehandedly anihiliates jabba and his cronies  proving his prowess as a jedi is now almost complete .  br    br   when luke returns to the degobah system to visit the ailing yoda one more time  the viewer is let down by yoda  s distinct lack of screentime . undoubtably the star of  the empire strikes back   yoda is all but erased from the story as the progression of luke  s destiny is played out on screen .  br    br   rotj really is luke  s film  perhaps even more so than the original . his journey carries the movie as he moves closer to his confrontation with darth vader and his fate . the other rebel characters certainly work in his shadow . the romance between leia  carrie fisher  and solo is all but non  existant  unlike in  empire  . in fact only leia  s character is developed in rotj  solo  s character seems to fade as the facets of his personality have become too familiar in the first two films .  br    br   their roles are consigned to working alongside the rebels to destroy an all new death star that nears completion . this time the emperor himself is overseeing the final stages of construction . the empire intends to crush the rebellion once and for all  while the emperor himself schemes to bring the now powerful skywalker to his side to work alongside  or is that replace   darth vader . the emperor is a different kind of evil for this film  less cunning than governor tarkin  peter cushing  from  star wars   more deeply psychologically dark than anything else . played brilliantly by ian mcdiarmid  the emperor is just one of those characters you love to hate .  br    br   all the other actors are well entrenched in their roles . hamill surprises as the more wisened luke  making his character  s progression from whiny teenager  impatient student to enlightened warrior one of the few real character developments of the series . ford  s role is waring thin  as all his charm and charisma was spent in the first two films   he was the real star of the first film after all . fisher  s leia is more of a prop  at least unti the end of the film where she learns things about herself that she was never sure about . . . add in favourites like alec guiness as kenobi  yoda and the loveable chewbacca  c   po and r  d  and the series resembles a family more than a cast .  br    br   despite the film  s corny forest battle involving the ewoks and the empire  it ends well and includes a three way battle sequence on endor  in space and on the death star  each with very impressive special effects . the music  as always  is brilliant and captures the mood perfectly in every instance . just as the  blue danube  worked perfectly for       a space odyssey   john williams  score is as much a part of  star wars  folklore as light sabers and the force .  br    br   lucas left the ending open to interpretation  meaning there could have been more episodes made . indeed sci  fi fans have created their own versions of episodes vii  viii and ix in their heads over and over again . rotj works when given a chance  and furry cute animals aside is a good finish to the series .  br    br   when all six episodes get to be viewed together  this saga could well be the best ever made . is it already  the addition of episode i changed the landscape of the series . this is why  return of the jedi  can now be viewed in a different light and be given a whole new appreciation nearly   years after its release .  
blazing saddles  it  s a fight between two estranged brothers  dennis quaid and arliss howard   both of whom can ignite fires mentally they square off over childhood differences  with dippy love  interest debra winger caught in the middle . director glenn gordon caron  the tv whiz  kid behind  moonlighting   smothers the darkly  textured comedy in vince gilligan  s screenplay with a presentation so slick  the movie resembles an entry from an over  enthusiastic film student on a fifteen million  dollar grant . it has the prickly energy of a big commercial feature  but a shapeless style which brings out nothing from the characters except their kooky eccentricities . these aren  t even characters  they  re plot functions . barely  released to theaters  the film is a disaster  although strictly as an example of style over substance it does look good . winger is the only stand  out in a cast which looks truly perplexed .     from   
george and kim are traveling with their young son miles to a remote cabin in upstate new york when their car hits a deer and swerves into a ditch . but what seems to be a mere occurrence of misfortune marks the beginning of a terrifying journey  where myth becomes reality and a flesh  eating spirit  half animal and half man wendigo  haunts a small town . . .  wendigo  by larry fessenden is a thought  provoking horror film that often tenderfoot  s into a somber family drama . the acting is great  the characters are well  developed and there are some bone  chilling moments . the subtle glimpses of wendigo are handled effectively and it  s never clear what is real and what is imagined  or even if the story is taking place entirely in miles  head . overall   wendigo  is my first contact with larry fessenden  s work and surely won  t be the last . give this film a chance  if you don  t mind watching something unconventional .  out of   .  
watching this i mainly noticed the ad placements . dhl  aquawhite strips  rockstar and more . it  s one product placement after another . it  s quite obvious how this movie got its funding . jessica simpson  s  acting  is laughable . any dick shouldn  t ever get work because he plays the same lame character . the  story  is just a backdrop for this very long commercial . i can  t believe this movie was even considered for theatrical release . the longer you watch this movie the more you  re embarrassed for everyone involved . the only minor saving grace is larry miller and rachael lee cook  who gets almost no screen time as jessica  s cousin . i  m embarrassed i watched the whole thing . i would recommend avoiding this one .  
from the first scene  i was really excited .  i can tell this is going to be awesome   i thought . the acting was so good  i felt as though i was eaves  dropping on these peoples  lives . the music too was exquisitely unsettling . the plot started with a sudden event and then drifted forward  one could sense  toward some irrevocable fate . the build was slow  but i personally love that kind of thing  as long as the quiet tension stays on track and doesn  t get derailed before it  s ready to pay off .  br    br   so everything  s going fine  and then the fireworks begin  and before you know it  the credits are rolling .  what      was all i and my movie  night companion could say . if you understand the director  s intentions  the blunt ending does make sense  for those of you who have seen the movie already  check out the very fascinating and hilarious interview with larry fessenden at filmcritic . com   but i can  t help saying it was not pulled off quite right .  br    br   this probably could have been resolved with as little as ten more minutes of material before the climax . in any case  it  s too bad . those ten minutes could have made all the difference in the world .  but for those of you who don  t write or make films  you should know that crafting a story arc with the proper timing is a huge pain in the butt  and i am certainly not making this critique from any kind of pedestal    br    br   wendigo feels to me like a masterpiece that was given up on before it was finished . but hay  i  d take a blunted masterpiece any day over an over  produced piece of dog  poo over  compensated with too many digital effects  like most horror movies these days  .  br    br   one other comment . some of the monster scenes left me confused as to whether i should be scared or laughing . i don  t know how to explain it  but there was a distinctively monty python feel about this monster in his more blatent  monster  forms . although this may sound like a terrible criticism for a horror movie   i don  t know  it still worked for me in some crooked way . i will never look at deer antlers in the same way again     
this was a silly movie with a predictable storyline and dreadful acting   willy nelson was as stiff as his braids . the movie just seemed like a very long advert for the bright red lipstick that jessica simpson wore  especially as there were so many close  ups on her face . the premise was not amusing and as i said  soooooooo predictable . whatever money was spent on making this movie was a shameful waste . any allusions to other old marilyn monroe movies did not enhance the viewing of blonde ambition at all . it was also so unbelievable  jessica simpson being able to step into an executive secretary position at the drop of a hat  that was laughable     
possible spoilers  br    br   the biggest part of the movie that doesn  t work is the wendigo  and when your title character fails  your movie usually isn  t far behind it . the filmmakers  interpretation of the wendigo  s form is interesting  and can be properly menacing when filmed correctly  when the fleeing killer sees the wendigo in a flash in his rear view mirror  for instance  and the tree  form was actually very good . however  as a monster character it never really comes to life . we don  t get much of an explanation for its behavior  and what we do see from it doesn  t jibe with either the story told in the movie itself  or any wendigo lore i  ve ever read .  br    br   i think one of the main reasons that the monster fails is that it isn  t given enough to do  in the movie . when you boil this film down to its bones  what you have is a suspense thriller with a little bit of a supernatural element  instead of a movie about a monster .  br    br   the cinematography is good  though a little cheesy the filmmakers use scenery  lighting  and time of day to convey atmosphere and mood rather well . the character of otis comes across as truly dangerous and unpredictable  making him the real monster in the film . it might have been more effective to explain his behavior as him being possessed by the hungry spirit of the wendigo  which would also be a more accurate representation of the real legend .  br    br   i have heard unconfirmed reports  from a newsgroup  that the reason the wendigo doesn  t do much is that  when the monster suit was built  it wound up so heavy and and uncomfortable  in order to mimic the stance of it standing on cloven hooves  the performer had to walk on his toes  that it was nearly impossible to run  walk  or otherwise perform in it . thus the many flashes of the creature standing still  and the obvious sped  up footage of it running . i stress that these reports are uncomfirmed .  
by now you should already know about this film  the jessica simpson  bomb  that pretty much went straight to video  limited  anemic theatrical run  . basically  ms . simpson  s katie travels from a small town in oklahoma to visit her boyfriend  to surprise him  only to find him in bed with another woman . she is stranded  but has one friend  rachel leigh cook  whom i wish we saw more often in film   who lets her stay . katie ends up getting a job via two conniving co  workers  penelope ann miller and the always amusing andy dick  who are just using katie to get the president of the firm  larry miller  ousted . this is strictly a b movie  its not meant to be profound . jessica simpson is not a great actress by any means  but she is pretty much beautiful and never truly annoying . the film is watchable in that its not an abomination  but its throwaway fluff . in a cameo  penny marshall is funny  a subtle in  joke about milwaukee made me chuckle   and there is a funny scene involving norwegian priests  don  t read too much into this  . so  not horrible  but easy to skip . your safe bet is to watch it on television if it ever does . again  not good  but not a profound disaster .  
a solid b movie .  br    br   i like jake weber . his understated delivery is refreshing in a time of over the top performances . i liked the relationship between the father and son . i liked the family dynamics . the wendigo looks silly  but it is a representation of the kid  s toy and the dead deer . it  s an amalgamation like  see  this is a psychological story  not a freddy slash em up instant gratification flick . watch it and reflect on your inner child and what the movie might have to say to you and you  ll be fine .  br    br   nice work .  
this is an embarrassment to everyone and everything used in making this joke . i personally don  t care one way or another about jessica simpson and her talent or whatever so many people find fascinating about her . just as a movie this is something that wouldn  t even get a passing grade in film school . the script is a mess  the acting is atrocious  and the fact luke wilson  co  writer of  bottle rocket   did this makes me wonder what the hell he was thinking . he did  old school  for crying out loud  this doesn  t even belong in the same state as my  old school  dvd  please for whatever reason do not watch this  i see there is a comment that this is so bad it  s good  but that frankly is too kind . when will we stop seeing singers that obviously can  t act keep trying to  i hope ends soon . the worst part is that there are actually some decent actors  penelope ann miller  rachel leigh cook   luke wilson  who are part of this dump . as far as the plot  well it is almost non  existent and so poorly done and written  yes i know it  s another rehash  i very much doubt anyone will remember anything about this . please whatever you do don  t waste your time  but if you do  feel sorry for the actual actors involved for wasting their time doing this bomb . jessica simpson you  re pretty  but stick to singing  although i  m not much a fan of that either . and whoever did this film  i wouldn  t put this on your resume .     because you can  t give a zero .  
this is one of those unique horror films that requires a much more mature understanding of the word  horror  in order for it to be appreciated . the main thing people may fail to realize that this story is told through the point of view a little boy and  as with most younger children  he gets frightened easily . mainly because he simply doesn  t understand things  like why his father is hardly ever there for him . from watching the film you can see the husband arguing with his wife the balance between work time and family time and you can easily understand it  but the little boy doesn  t . also one can imagine the boy being afraid of the woods  as it is established early on in the film  that the family is from the city . also  in the beginning as the family is traveling to the house they hit a deer  then get held up  then they argue with the locals about it  and the little boy surely didn  t find this introduction to the woods pleasant at all .  br    br   the  wendigo  is ultimately what his young  innocent mind fabricates to explain all of this . there is the american indian legend  but when looking at the scene where the young boy hears about about it  it is explained to him like bluntly and simplistically . not because that  s what the wendigo actually is  but because that is how he understands it . when you look at the film from this point of view you can really begin to appreciate it . obviously it was low  budget and shot cheaply  but the jumping montages  use of light  and general eeriness more than make up for it . and the final question the film asks is is it all in your head  or is it really out there       br    br   rated r profanity  violence  and a sex scene  
who wrote this  some guy named john cohen . i guess this was the first screenplay he  s ever worked on . someone should  ve told him you  re supposed to write dialog that sounds like something someone actually might say .  br    br   and who directed this  scott marshal  son of gerry marshall . my the nut has fallen far from the tree . someone might have wanted to let him know that you can  in fact  shoot a scene in a cab in new york  and it will look real  and you won  t have to fake it with a blue screen for no reason . might have also wanted to let him know he should stay away from jessica simpson  but hopefully he  s learned that lesson now .  br    br   and jessica simpson . . . naturally she can  t act . hell  she makes jessica alba look like audry hepburn  and yet she  s starring in this movie . oh wait  it was produced by her father . okay  that  s why she got the part . that  s really the only reason i can think of .  br    br   so should i be surprised it  s bad  no . should i be amazed at how bad it is  i think a lot of people would if they saw as much of it as i did . i mean you expect a movie starring jessica simpson to be bad  but this . . . it  s not just bad  it  s the complete opposite of a classic film . think of a great woody allen movie  this film is as bad as that film is good . it  s the anti  annie hall .  br    br   i am so glad i didn  t pay to see it  i stopped watching ten minutes in cus i couldn  t go on . no doubt i would  ve walked out of the theater sooner . in fact i wonder how many of the  people who saw it per theater actually stayed and watched the whole thing . the film starts out laughably bad  and then goes to the point of being so bad it becomes a kind of chinese water torture . and then  around when the first act is ending  you realize it  ll only get worse  and that  s when you either need to leave  or kill yourself .  br    br   in conclusion  this film goes under the category of being so bad it should be used in place of water boarding at guantanamo bay . although some prefer the water boarding .  
if you like horror movies with lots of blood and gore  tons of jump  scare moments and unrelenting  escalating scenes of excruciating death  then look elsewhere . if you like quiet  moody  thoughtful horror which casts blood aside in favor of a genuine feeling of dread  then wendigo is for you .  br    br   thoughtful  stressed out george  his psychoanalyst wife kim and their young son miles are heading out to the snowy countryside for a long weekend vacation away from the city . on the way up  george hits a stag with his car . the hunters who had been pursuing the deer are not thrilled when they find that george has ended their chase . in particular  deranged hunter otis takes it personally . he follows the family to their vacation home  making sure they see him . he spies on george and kim as they have sex . he fires through their windows with his rifle when they aren  t home  letting them discover the ominous holes in their windows and walls when they return . when kim takes miles to the drugstore in town  miles is attracted to a small sculpture in a display case  carved to resemble a man with the head of a stag . a native american man tells miles that this is the wendigo  a spirit of the woods who has a taste for flesh and is always hungry . miles takes the figure home with him  already haunted by the death of the deer the day before . that afternoon  when he and his father go sledding  george is shot and miles pursued through the woods by a creature barely glimpsed . . . or is he just in shock  and imagining the whole thing  hours later  george is rushed to the hospital and miles  still clutching his statue  either faints  dreams or goes on a vision quest  in which the wendigo returns . this time the angry  flesh eating god  part tree  part stag and part man  is hunting for otis  who has finally gone over the edge .  br    br   wendigo is a beautifully made film  almost totally silent but for the wind howling through the snow covered trees . okay  so the monster itself is kind of fakey  looking  but it  s a small flaw  more than made up for by the genuine feeling of tension and dread that creeps through every frame of the film  and the eerie backdrop of the silent  snowy countryside . the performances are great  particularly by jake weber as the moody and thoughtful george and patricia clarkson as his sweet but no  nonsense wife . they are a happy couple with their share of common problems  and it is the strength of their relationship and their love for each other that makes this film powerful . watching this film is often like watching someone  s home videos  so realistic are the performances .  br    br   this movie is not for everyone . a lot of people may find themselves totally bored  waiting for the hideous lovecraftian beast and bloody revenge that never come . we can never really be sure if the wendigo even exists  seen as it is through the eyes of a sensitive child and also  later  through the eyes of a madman . this is more a psychological drama than a horror film  but it has more than enough creepy elements in it to satisfy fans of subtle horror .  
this is probably one of the worst movies i have ever seen . jessica simpson not only lacks any acting skill  but the script is incredibly shallow and lame . you actually hear serious dialogue that goes   i love you more .   no  i love you more .  i stopped watching the movie  online  after the first half hour  i couldn  t take it anymore . her  southern girl charm  just doesn  t work and is really quite annoying her attempts at slapstick humor fall flat and she delivers lines like she is reading the script right off the page .  br    br   poor luke wilson . did he not read the script before agreeing to do this  or did he fall for papa joe  s  jessica  s dad and also the producer of the movie  promise of big profits  hopefully he now knows better than to sign on to another movie like this . luke wilson is actually a good actor  i hate seeing the pained look on his face as he suffers through the bad dialogue .  br    br   also  i think the previous commenter giving this movie an  out of   was probably either involved in the movie somehow or hired by papa joe to give the movie a better rating . no one in their right mind would actually find this movie engaging .  br    br   jessica has lots of money  right  maybe buy some acting lessons   
larry fessenden has been thrashed by most of the comments on this forum . well  the worst mistake  evidently  is the marketing of the movie and the way the dvd might have been targeted . obviously  this is not a true horror movie  at least  not for people expecting anything that will be gory and instantly satisfying .  br    br    wendigo  is basically a film that seems to be told from the mind of the young miles . things that are not readily understood by children tend to stay in their young minds and ultimately dominate their fears and the menacing world they can  t comprehend . it is obvious that kim  the mother  is a psychologist  but she has no clue to what is going on in the mind of her son . this is also a story of alienation . it  s clear that the father  george  is a distant figure  perhaps a workaholic  who seems to be living in a different world .  br    br   miles  fears reach a point of crisis during the week end in the country . that part of new york state  with its winter landscape  barren trees  play havoc on the little boy  s imagination . it doesn  t help that he encounters a strange figure in town  it creates even more doubts in his young mind . ultimately  miles  world comes crashing down on him and he can  t do anything  even evoking the wendigo spirit .  br    br   the film is well paced and acted . patricia clarkson is excellent  no matter where movie she is in . jake weber is perfect as the distant father who has an opportunity to come closer to a son he doesn  t understand . erik per sullivan  as miles  conveys the inner turmoil within him . i thought he was extremely effective since the whole movie is miles own take on what  s going on around him . finally  john spredakos is perfect as the menacing otis  a man who resents the world for the way he has turned out .  br    br   instead of putting this movie down  future viewers should approach it with a open mind .  
  contains spoiler from both original and movie versions   br    br   i am a huge fan of notre dame de paris musical  i also read book this summer and i watched movie today  in the beginning i was hopeful to watch a good film especially when i saw  .  imdb point . first scenes were good but i actually waited for  theaters scene directly from book  but it was normal but when esmeralda kisses gringoire i felt something is wrong . . they don  t even kiss in book  even in musical . .  br    br   and there were huge gap why esmeralda being judged by sorcerer  in the book she teaches her goat how to respond numbers of clock or write word  phoebus  . . wait there were a phoebus weren  t there  in this movie he is some soldier junk nothing more  the creators made quasimodo  s love to show around and they even canceled frollo  s love . . but notre dame was frollo . his thoughts his struggles between love of god and love of human in movie we cant find anything like that all we have is  some villain who is really bad and kills people whose clashes with his thoughts . . and not mentioning phoebus  not mentioning love of frollo  not mentioning jehan  brother of frollo  not mentioning mother of esmeralda  maybe it is ok  the storyline would have chopped much  they even not mentioned the real story . .  another psfrollo wasn  t a opus dei or some cult member he actually in interest with alchemy he tries to make gold . . he was stuck in science and religion   br    br   finally don  t watch this movie  it is some kind of directors edition to real masterpiece  and if you have watched it before read the book  god have mercy on you . . you must read to book immediately . .  br    br   this movie is worse than hunchback of notre dame ii the animated movie  spend your time with watching notre dame de paris musical . . enough said . .  
kim  patricia clarkson   george  jake weber  and son miles  erik per sullivan  are headed to the country for winter weekend relief from manhattan  s bustling metropolis . on the way  they hit a buck and end up stuck in the snow . a group of hunters who were tracking the buck come along . rather than helping  at least one of the hunters  otis  john speredakos   is mad because the accident cracked the buck  s antlers . george  kim and miles are disturbed by otis  and even worse  we quickly learn that otis has learned where they  re staying . meanwhile  miles is given a wendigo  a kind of indian shape  shifting spirit  monster  token by an indian whom only he has seen . is otis a psycho out to get our heroes  are there wendigos in the woods   br    br   i can see where wendigo would have a number of problems appealing to viewers . it is a fairly low budget film  with technical limitations frequently showing through . much of the film  and maybe all of it  is not really about the titular creature . and perhaps the fatal blow for many people  it has a very ambiguous ending  with a number of questions left unanswered . if you are discouraged by such endings  and you do not like films that have an aim of making you think about and discuss what everything meant  do yourself a favor and avoid wendigo .  br    br   personally  i like films like that . i usually prefer some ambiguity . the marketing of wendigo is geared towards those who want a quick  scary creature flick  where they  d expect a grand battle with some supernatural monster who is defeated in the end  and everything is tied up neatly except for an opening for wendigo   the monster returns  but that  s not what this film is . wendigo is much more thoughtful and poetic than the surface of such a creature flick would suggest to most people . heck  writer  director larry fessenden even has a character  george  reciting robert frost . the frost poem  and george  s comment that frost can evoke complex imagery and atmosphere out of seemingly simple things  is the key to the film .  br    br   one of the best things about the film is its complexity . in a way  there are four different films occurring at the same time  a thread from each character . in george  s thread  he isn  t exactly the happiest or most pleasant guy in the world  and he has some parenting problems . for him  the film is a realistic  horrific descent of his life going from bad to worse . in patricia  s thread  she  s looking for rejuvenation of her life and family . she  s a psychologist mostly denying the problems around her  hoping that they  ll go away and get better . in otis  thread  he  s even more down on his luck than george  and george  s arrival into his life symbolizes the final  crack  in his psychological armor . and in miles  thread  which is probably the most important of the film  life is like a grand poem due to his youthful innocence and interpretation of the world . but this is a horror story  after all  albeit one with a glimmer of hope  and the events in the film give miles  poetic interpretations a dark turn . still  when everything is said and done  he seems to be the only one retaining his composure  due to the poetic outlook .  br    br   even though the film is low budget  there are a lot of well  executed higher budget ambitions . fessenden and director of photography terry stacey find some great shots in beautiful locations  and created some interesting slide show like montages  such as the cards  or the indian wendigo images from the book  . there are also interesting more traditional montages  such as miles  nightmare . wendigo is better shot and edited than many big budget films .  br    br   other technical aspects are good for the budget . the  wendigo  appearance at the end worked for me and was appropriately ambiguous . the lighting was usually good   there were a few times that dark scenes weren  t as clear as they could have been  but it seemed to be more of a problem with the film stock  it could have been digital instead  or transfer . i thought the performances were good and far more realistic  if you value that  than the majority of films . although i didn  t really notice the score  it must have been okay  or i would have noticed it with a negative judgment .  br    br   overall  wendigo is a very good film that deserves to be watched without preconceptions  as long as you don  t mind having to think about the movies you watch .  
this is very much a television version of the tale  the film starts out like an episode of  xena . . .   with little meaningful dialog or character description . it does get a bit more substantive after a while  but all characters are still cartoonish .  br    br   salma is the exotic beauty . richard harris is an evil and sexually repressed frollo  fiending to bust a nut up in salma . the other characters  including quasimodo are quite forgettable .  br    br   its also a sorta liberal version of the story  frollo is a suppressor of enlightenment ideals  like the abbot in  name of the rose   and quasimodo is a champion of liberty . the shadowy side of the quas character is ignored  though he does pour liquid led on people . he is really only an outsider in that he looks different and enjoys playing with bells more than the average person .  br    br   perhaps the film is intended for children  but i doubt it  considering frollo flogs himself bloody to amend wanting to spank his monkey . a mostly uninteresting and forgettable  but not awful  and sometimes entertaining  rendition of the tale .  
good sequel to murder in a small town . in this one cash and his police lt . buddy unravel a sticky plot involving a nazi criminal  a philanthropic witch  and a family of screw  ups and their wierdo helpers . as in the original  the viewer is treated to a nice little mystery with distinctive sights and sounds of pre  war america . go see it .  
what a shame that alan clarke has to be associated with this tripe . that doesn  t rule it out however get a group of lads and some stellas together and have a whale of a time running this one again and again and rolling around on the floor in tears of laughter . great wasted night stuff . al hunter homes in on a well publicised theme of the late   s  that hooligans were well organised and not really interested in the football itself  often with respectable jobs  estate agent     . but how clarke can convince us that any of the two  bit actors straying from other tv productions of low quality  grange hill  or soon to go on to poor quality drama  eastenders  can for a nanosecond make us believe that they are tough football thugs is laughable . are we really to believe that the icf  on whom of course the drama is based  would ever go to another town to fight with just six blokes   br    br   the icf would crowd out tube stations and the like with hundreds . andy nicholls  scally needs to be read before even contemplating a story of this nature . the acting is appalling and provides most of the laughs  oldman is so camp it is unbelievable . most of them look as though they should be in a bubble of bath of mr matey . a true inspiration to anyone with a digital video camera who thinks they can make a flick  go for it .  
pleasant  diverting and charming . the best part is the swing numbers  especially the rendition of my buddy  partial though it may have been . the acting was a bit over the top in areas but the mood set by wilder is so pleasant it is hard not to enjoy this film .  
i  m sorry  but this is such a bad movie it  s hilarious . football hooligans arguing in a travel lodge  suits  shades   alan clearly had no idea what he was talking about when he made this  it is as far from the truth as you can get .  br    br   the casting was atrocious . . . gary oldman as a football hooligan  he doesn  t look scary  act scary or even come across as someone who would like football . and as for yeti  what the hell  suits  shades and sitting in a travelodge childishly taunting each other with  its about time you got your nappy on  . please .  br    br   and the yeti  s gang spraying the icc  s underwear   br    br   i don  t see how anyone can even take this film seriously  .  br    br       . its possibly the most inaccurate portrayal of the crisis of the late eighties hooliganism i have ever seen .  
i noticed that a new hope and the empire strikes back are in the top    but that this one isn  t even in the top    .  br    br   this movie has a bad reputation because of ewoks  but there are so many reasons to love this movie  br    br    the rescue of han solo from jabba this official wraps up the han solo in debt sub  plot that was established when we first met the character in a new hope .  br    br    the emperor was finally revealled well alright this might not work as well now that the prequels are out but this was the first time we saw the emperor as kids .  br    br    the speeder bike chase alright  so this was a special effects moment . but it was definitely one of the most memorable and exciting moments in all the films   br    br    the  part climax   the battle of endor  led by han and leia    luke confronts his father  the fall of the emperor   the destruction of the second death star  lando  s moment   br    br    the final celebration with our heroes like i said  this movie gets a lot of crap because of the ewoks but i think it  s kind of cool that while the entire galaxy celebrates the fall of the empire  our heroes are having their own private party in the woods with each other .  br    br   all in all this was a great final chapter for our heroes and a fitting end to the star wars story .  
let  s see . in the  st . elsewhere  finale we found out that there was no hospital and that every thing had been in the mind of an autistic child .  newhart  ended by telling us that it had all been a dream . and  roseanne  ended by telling us that it all had taken place in her mind . very  creative  . annoying was more like it . yes  it was just a tv show and wasn  t at all reality . it  s just that when you get caught up in a great movie or tv show you end up at least wanting to believe that it  s all  real  . at least as far as the reality it portrays on screen . this type of series finale had been done twice before and was old hat  frustrating and simply not fun to watch . now  newhart  being all a dream  at least done in a creative way that far exceeded the expectations of anyone who loved the show . the idea itself was not too engaging but it was so brilliantly done that its arguably the best series finale ever . roseanne left me feeling cheated after being such a loyal fan .  
this is just one more example of the absolute genius of gene wilder . he wrote and starred in this terrific mystery . no one could have done it better . the suspense was palpable throughout . i wish mr . wilder would grace us with another of these . i have enjoyed everything i have ever seen mr . wilder in but i had no idea how truly talented he was until i saw  murder in a small town   and this follow  on . he truly has a firm grasp on what audiences want and how to deliver it in his writing and  of course  in his brilliant acting . his subtle wit comes through in spades . i would recommend this movie to anyone who likes mysteries and  or gene wilder  s film work . his star just gets brighter and brighter .  
alan rudolph is a so  so director  without that special touch . as an example  there was one shot in the secret lives of dentists in the dental office which could have expressed the entire relationship between the husband and wife . rudolph squandered it . the camera is in the hallway looking through the doorways of the two dental offices  with dana and dave each alone in their respective rooms . you get the idea of their desolation and isolation  but not much more . the lighting  the colors  the body language  the facial expressions could all have been vastly improved upon . if i were directing  i would have spent all day  if necessary  to get that shot right . that  s the beauty and power of film it can express so much  whole lives  in a matter of seconds  br    br   the shot with the toddler stepping in the puddle of puke could have been improved on . the child should have shown more fascination with the puddle  should have stomped and shuffled her feet  should have had her head bent down to look at the puddle with all her attention .  br    br   campbell didn  t deliver . he plays a uncommunicative man  true  but instead of conveying his inner turmoil in voice  gesture  body movement  the film relies on voice  over narration and dialogue with his imaginary macho alter  ego  played by denis leary .  
  the lady in question        starring gene wilder is a well  acted mystery drama that reminds me of the old black  and  white raymond burr perry mason series . both perry and  cash  kept me guessing right up to the end . there were many suspects with a motive for the murder  but i had no idea which character it would be .  br    br   gene wilder has a special charming wit about him  even in his facial expressions and vocal inflections which make him perfect for the part . the portions of the movie which portrayed actors acting was done very well . i  m sure this is an additional challenge for the cast to pull off . i am not surprised to see that he did some of the writing for the movie . even his singing was a delight . i like him in this role more than his former  sillier  roles like  the young frankenstein  and  willy wonka .  i am hoping a  e will continue this series . they ought to call it something like  the a  e gene wilder mysteries .   br    br   the music fit the period . i enjoyed the cool live combo and the swing tunes . i was a little unclear at the beginning whether we were seeing a flashback or whether the action was taking place in that time period . and i do not agree that the inclusion of profanity is necessary to the flow of the script . to me  that always distracts .  br    br   overall  my wife and i thoroughly enjoyed this second in a well  crafted start in what we hope will be many others   just like one of our other favorites raymond burr  s perry mason .  
an idiotic dentist finds out that his wife has been unfaithful . so  no new story lines here . however  the authors managed to create a stupid  disgusting film . if you enjoy watching kids vomiting  or seeing a dentist imagining that he is pulling all his wife  s teeth out in a bloody horror  type  go see  or rent  the film . if not  move on to something else  my fair lady  anyone    
a delightful if somewhat predictable tv movie  though i admit a little bias   as far as i  m concered  the more gene wilder in this world the better . i  d love to see numerous additional movies detailing the adventures of larry  cash  carter   
it  s common practice for a film about repression to be somewhat muted in style and tone . there  s a difference  however  between using restraint and encouraging narcolepsy among audience members . in  the secret lives of dentists   starring campbell scott and hope davis  director alan rudolph plays as close to the vest as possible  with the result being a film that never amounts to much beyond a rumination on how teeth are a metaphor for married life .  br    br   scott gives a fine performance in the role of david hurst  a dentist married to another dentist  davis  . rudolph sets up the dynamic of their relationship quickly  he is completely absorbed in the day  to  day duties of being the parenthood  she is quietly disillusioned with their frantic family life  and then ratchets up the tension when scott may or may not witness his wife with another man . from this point on  the film focuses on whether or not david is going to confront his wife dana about her possible adultery  or whether she will beat him to the punch and leave for good . from time to time  david is treated to visits from an imaginary  friend  in the form of a former patient played by denis leary  borrowing heavily from brad pitt  s tyler durden in  fight club   .  br    br   while there is enough uncertainty about dana  s infidelity and david  s instability to warrant examination  the last two thirds of the film are embarrassingly empty of theme or narrative . instead  rudolph creates drama out of a nasty fever that travels slowly through the hurst family  culminating in a pointless hospital visit at the film  s climax . the film never picks up on the hints at what david is really capable of if he wasn  t so dedicated to his family neither does it spend much time looking at dana  s precarious balancing act between her family life and her other  more fulfilling ambitions .  br    br   by choosing to spend the majority of the film worrying over a fever gone awry  rudolph kills the momentum of his film . by the time the fifth member of the family shows up sweating and sickly  the film has used up all the good graces of scott  s well  measured performance . david and dana end up retracing their steps over and over again until a less than cathartic finale . with nothing to build on over the last hour  the conclusion seems awkward and patched  on .  the secret lives of dentists  takes a common theme and does nothing to improve upon it . altogether  a disappointing  unimaginative film .  
as a   minute experience  it is not up to the standard of drive   as the actors clearly learnt their trade at the who am i   academy  while the action sequences are generally no better than those in the superb mark dacascos beat  em  up . however  those who enjoyed drive    and i thought it was wonderful    will undoubtedly enjoy this too . you certainly won  t rewind back to the start and watch it all again  but you will definitely flick back to some of the action scenes for a long time to come .  br    br   it is refreshing to see that the art of quality fight choreography is still being practiced  even if not in hong kong  and i would love to see what these guys could do with the budgets  time and respect afforded to the likes of yuen woo  ping and corey yuen kuei . if you sit through the first half hour and aren  t sent crazy by the atrocious dialogue then you are in for a treat . bosch is magnificent  and can really bust a move with some magnificent acrobatics  kicks and simple acts of bravery .  br    br   if you are fortunate enough to be within    miles of a copy  then track it down and watch it . it  s not shakespeare . in fact  it  s less articulate than coolio in china strike force   but you will be impressed with both the moves on display and the pain felt by the stunt team   i  m pretty sure there  s no safe way to land directly on your head  or be forced to head butt a wooden roof by a speeding car    .  br    br    
yeh  i know   you  re quivering with excitement . well  the secret lives of dentists will not upset your expectations it  s solidly made but essentially unimaginative  truthful but dull . it concerns the story of a married couple who happen to be dentists and who share the same practice  already a recipe for trouble if it wasn  t for our separate work  lives  we  d all ditch our spouses out of sheer irritation  . campbell scott  whose mustache and demeanor don  t recall everyman so much as ned flanders from the simpsons  is the mild  mannered  uber  dad husband  and hope davis is the bored  stiff housewife who channels her frustrations into amateur opera . one night  as dad  the daughters attend one of davis  performances  he discovers that his wife is channeling her frustrations into more than just singing he witnesses his wife kissing and flirting with the director of opera .  one nice touch we never see the opera  director  s face .  dreading the prospect of instituting the proceedings for separation  divorce  and custody hearings   profitable only to the lawyers   scott chooses to pretend ignorance of his wife  s indiscretions .  br    br   already  the literate among you are starting to yawn ho  hum  another story about the pathetic  sniveling little cuckold . but rudolph  who took the story from a jane smiley novella  hopes that the wellworn  ness of the material will be compensated for by a series of flashy  postmodern touches . for instance  one of scott  s belligerent patients  denis leary  kept relatively   and blessedly   in check  will later become a sort of construction of the dentist  s imagination  emerging as a devil  on  the  shoulder advocate for the old  fashioned masculine virtues   dump the b    h    etc .  . when not egged  on by his imaginary new buddy  scott is otherwise tormented by fantasies that include his wife engaged in a three  way with two of the male dental  assistants who work in their practice . it  s not going too far to say that this movie is eyes wide shut for real people  or grown  ups  at least  . along those lines  campbell scott and hope davis are certainly recognizable human beings as compared to the glamourpuss pair of cruise and kidman . further  the script for secret lives is clearly more relevant than kubrick  s . as proof  i offer the depiction of the dentists  children  particularly the youngest one who is about  or  years old  and whose main utterance is  dad  dad  dad  dad  dad  dad     this is family life  all right  with all its charms .  br    br   the movie would make an interesting double  bill with kramer vs . kramer  as well . one can easily trace the feminization of the american male from     to     . in this movie  dad is the housewife as in kramer  but he is in no way flustered by the domestic role  unlike dustin hoffman  who was too manly to make toast . here  scott gets all the plumb chores  such as wiping up the children  s vomit  cooking  cleaning  taking the kids to whatever inane after  school activity is on the docket . and all without complaint .  and without directorial commentary . it  s just taken for granted .   br    br   the film has virtues  mostly having to do with verisimilitude . however  it  s dragged down from greatness by its insistence on trendy distractions  which culminate in a long scene where a horrible five  day stomach flu makes the rounds in the household . we must endure pointless fantasy sequences  initiated by the imaginary ringleader leary . whose existence  by the way  is finally reminiscent of the brad pitt character in fight club . and this finally drives home the film  s other big flaw lack of originality . in this review  i realize it  s been far too easy to reference many other films . granted  this film is an improvement on most of them  but still . the secret lives of dentists is worth seeing  but don  t get too excited about it .  not that you were all that excited  anyway . i guess .   
this movie has great fight scenes . now its true that the acting is a little rough . but if i wanted to see a movie based on acting skills i would watch a cheesy movie like american beauty . but if you want to see a movie with true martial arts in it and with amazing stunts without the use of wires and flying threw the air like so many movies around now which are over killing the matrix . then watch this . now it  s true the two main stars in the show where in the kid show the power rangers and another cast member of that show has a bit part in this movie . but hey the fight scenes are enough to make jet li ps his pants . and the stunts are worthy enough for jackie chan to sit threw and admire .  
there may something poetically right in seeing dentists suffer . suffer they do  in this dreary  truly dreadful film  but they cause the audience to undergo pain of the non  dental variety too . if you ever wanted to see a movie full of screaming kids  barfing kids  sick kids  lots of long  long meaningful glances  a deadpan wife and a concerned husband it  s all here for you . boring  overlong  it stands out as one of those examples that scream out why  is there a saving grace  yes  there is . there is a short scene from nabucco  with some pretty good singing . save your money  or if it  s on tv or cable  save your time . you can always read a book or make an omelette .  
robert urich was a fine actor  and he makes this tv movie believable . i remember watching this film when i was    and when seeing it a second time my opinion stays the same . people lose who they were when enter this exclusive club  in a computer rich californian town . urich try  s to figure out what is wrong with his family  and i love the halloween space suit idea  brilliant . this film is about the battle of one  s sprit . tv quality  that exceeds  the big budget  gangs of new york . i wonder if robert urich was the compassionate man he portrayed in many of his movie  i hope so   or  out of   .  
i tend to like character  driven films . i also think hope davis turns in consistently good work  so i had high hopes for this movie . those hopes were soon dashed .  br    br   the main flaw with this movie is the direction . there are a lot of scenes that are daydream sequences . the movie makes frequent use of the denis leary character as the alter ego of the campbell scott character . it doesn  t work for me at all . this would have worked better as a play than a movie .  br    br   there are problems with the plot as well . it is important that the characters in a movie take a journey and end up in a place different from where they started . i didn  t feel that the characters grew in the experiences portrayed in the movie .  br    br   finally  the editing wasn  t well done  either . there was a very big sag in the middle of the movie that was exceptionally boring .  br    br   except for acting  which i felt was consistently strong  this movie failed in almost every aspect of cinema .  
everything is idyllic in suburbia when the little family moves in  as the father have got a new job in a computer company there . but no paradise would be complete without its snake . strange things happens as the family joins the local country club without the husband  as it certainly holds secrets . the father is not a joiner  but pressure is on him to join  as everyone who is anything in the neighborhood and at work are members . robert urich  s good guy part is a bit tepid  but joanna cassidy as good natured housewife turning nasty sizzles . suspenseful and well  made chiller with a bitchy susan lucci as club chairperson . look out for cult favorite michael berryman in a bit part as a valet . the movie captures the sense of paranoia and the special effects final is worth waiting for . i have seen this movie quite a few times .  
basically  a dentist husband  wife team and their  daughters deal with infidelity . the premise is interesting  the acting is good  and the music  although sometimes abrupt and without direction  is pretty cool .  br    br   the problem is the plot . the husband dentist drops his wife off backstage at an opera before the show  she has a minor role  and then walks back in to give her something  but sees her with another man . the rest of the movie deals with his angst about this episode  his visual hallucinations and a macho alter  ego  denis leary  a former patient of his  and his fear in confronting his wife lest he will have to  do something about it .  i won  t tell you the ending  but let me say that the film goes nowhere and the ending is like a sputtering whimper . the motivations of the characters are missing why is she cheating on him  he  s a dentist  decent looking  good father . the film doesn  t say . who  s she doing it with  don  t expect any answers on that either . why does he want to keep the marriage going in spite of all this  who knows . what purpose does all the kids vomiting serve  where is this film going  good performances by campbell scott and hope davis  and denis leary as comic relief  are completely wasted by this stilted nonsense which doesn  t know if it wants to be american beauty or a family film . a root canal is more interesting . avoid it .  
a classy film pulled in  directions . to its advantage it is directed by wes craven . on the downside the tv film budget shows what could have been so much more with a larger budget . it moves along as susan lucci draws robert urichfamily into her clutches and trying to persuade him into the secret of her health club . his latest invention  a spacesuit which can analyse people or things becomes unexpectedly useful in his new neighbourhood . anyone seeing this should pay attention to susan lucci . her looks and performance had an unexpected repercussions a few years later . the actor  scientist and parapsychologist stephen armourae is a fan of this film and wrote a review of this film . lucci became subject of a portrait by him followed as the basis for works of a sitter called catherine . lucci and barbara steele  s portrait in  black sunday  were used as references for the catherine portraits which were immediately withdrawn by armourae . probably due to a personal nature between the artist and catherine . so by seeing both films we can get an insight into another story and the appearance of unknown woman that would make an interesting film .  
ugh  where to begin . . . first  campbell scott  s non  stop angst becomes a real turn  off after awhile  a very short while  as he internalizes his mounting anguish  curiosity and anger . only we don  t care  these characters as presented by the writer and director are wholly unlikable  and therein lies the key . they haven  t given us anything to make us care if they are adulterous and whether or not they are still in love with one another . when scott quietly tells his wife   i could kill you  before their three daughters at the dinner table  after the shock of his selfishly poor timing wore off i almost wished that he had   and then done the same thing to the smug  wisecracking apparition of denis leary before being hauled off the the looney bin . an utter waste of time and perhaps   only perhaps   resources .  
better than the typical made  for  tv movie  invitation to hell is blessed with excellent casting  urich  lucci  cassidy  mccarthy  pre  murphy brown joe regalbuto  soleil moon  frye  and a high concept update to the familiar faustian plot . urich is likable as always and lucci is particularly fetching and devilishly over the top in the mother of all femme fatale roles . kind of a hybrid version of stepford wives and they live  the movie commits early to its apocalyptic miltonesque vision and horror fans will likely not have many complaints until the soppy  maudlin denoument .      
this movie was not very entertaining  certainly no where as original or as good as a christmas story . the characters  except the youngest  try to emulate the preceding actors  and they fail . the hillbilly neighbors come out of nowhere as they weren  t a part of the first movie . this really sucked  might have been good with the original cast  then again maybe not because the story is so weak . skip it .  
when the scientist and family man matt winslow  robert urich  finally accepts the invitation to work the micro  digitech corporation in a space suit project  he moves with his beloved wife patricia  joanna cassidy  and their son robbie  barret oliver  and daughter chrissy  soleil moon frye  to a huge modern house in the corporation compound . they meet their friend tom peterson  joe regalbuto  and his family completely adapted to the new lifestyle  and tom invites the winslow family to join the steaming springs country club . tom tries to seduce matt telling him that every member of the club has a meteoric professional ascension in micro  digitech  but matt is not tempted with the offer . later he is introduced to the director of the club  jessica jones  susan lucci  that befriends patricia and convinces her to join the club with her children . matt feels the changing in the behavior of his family and decides to investigate the club  finding an evil secret about jessica and the members .  br    br   in the    s  when i saw  invitation to hell   i liked this movie that partially recalls  the stepford wives   with people changing the behavior in a suburban compound . i have just seen it today  and i found a great metaphoric message against the big corporations  when people literally sell their souls to the devil to climb positions and earn higher salaries . i am not sure whether the author intended to give this interpretation to the story  but i believe it fits perfectly . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    convite para o inferno    invitation to hell    
a christmas story is a holiday classic and my favorite movie . so naturally  i was elated when this movie came out in     . i saw it opening day and was prepared to enjoy myself . i came away revolted and digusted . the anticipation that rang true in a christmas story is curiously missing from this mess . a red ryder bb gun is better to get than a chinese top . and it is not very funny at all . charles grodin is good but the buck stops there . bottom line  star . don  t even bother .  
i will admit  i thought this movie wasn  t going to be any good but i soon changed my mind . the movie was keep you guessing as which direction it  s going . pierce broson is amazing in his role as a hit man  who suddenly becomes burned out  asks a man he met at a mexican bar for help . greg kinnear is an awesome straight man  as his role as a mild mannered man from denver  who starts a innocent conversation with pierce at a mexican bar . the movie will have you laughing as pierce delivers hilarious one liners  mostly about sex  .  br    br   the imaginary in this movie is very well done  especially at the bullfight scene  when pierce sees himself when trying to finish his last jobs .  
i heard about this film and knew it wasn  t real good . but i started watching the film  on my film  channel  and was interested . this could be a really great  darkly black satire on todays morals in media . the small featurettes on every contestent were good . it build up to something i wouldn  t wanna miss . but when the so called show starts everything becomes implausible  cheap and rather silly . here  s where the writer should have added something that would make people think . but instead it  s wrapped up and assuming people are this dumb .  br    br   the ending is so bad i give it a  . even if the film starts of promising .  
fortunately for us real mccoy fans  most likely all baby boomers who grew  up in the late    s and    s   three of the adult actors  actress appeared when they did for the reunion show  in     . tony martinez and richard crenna both died shortly thereafter . as enjoyable as it was to see luke  sugar  babe  and pepino together again  it was equally mysterious about the complete absence of any mention of lydia reed and michael winkleman  it is my understanding that little luke had passed away in      but i  m not sure how . there is no information about hassie on the internet  that i can find . very curious why they were not even mentioned  it was so conspicuous  their absence from the reunion show  that i suspect that the family of michael and lydia herself  if still alive  either    requested to be left out of the discussion and therefore their desire was granted  or   tnn could not find any trace of either michael or lydia  like the rest of us   they seemed to have vanished . therefore  it would be the safest policy to leave them out of the conversation all together .  br    br   otherwise  the retrospect on walter brennen was wonderfully done . they made no bones about it . . . it was grandpa who made the show such a success . i remember  as a child  mimicking grandpa  s gimp walk and my parents laughing  as i  m sure a million other children did back then  . one annoyance that did bother me a bit  was the tendency for richard crenna to dominate the discussion . . . at times interrupting tony and kathleen to make a point . in fact  although tony martinez seemed completely capable to contribute to the conversation  he was not allowed to speak  out and say too much during the reunion show . unfortunate  since i wanted to hear from all three  equally . all in all  the reunion show was a real treat for me . i  ve watched it on dvd several times and have enjoyed it each time .  br    br   dodgerdude  
this movie sucked . it really was a waste of my life . the acting was atrocious  the plot completely implausible . long  long story short  these people get  terrorized  by this pathetic  crazed killer   but completely fail to fight back in any manner . and this is after they take a raft on a camping trip  with no gear  and show up at a campsite that is already assembled and completely stocked with food and clothes and the daughters headphones . additionally  after their boat goes missing  they panic that they  re stuck in the woods  but then the daughters boyfriend just shows up and they apparently never consider that they could just hike out of the woods like he did to get to them . like i said  this movie sucks . a complete joke . don  t let your girlfriend talk you into watching it .  
its no surprise that busey later developed a tumor in his sinus cavity  this film is also a poor decision  but one i enjoyed fully . the first  minutes is the most uninspiring  minutes in any film boring  bad dialouge  and then  with a spiderman stance  busey yells the best  worst line in any film ever created . . .  your worst nightmare butthorn   i coughed up some of my egg nog laughing so hard . that line resonates so well  it even tops clooney  s infamous  hi freeze  i  m batman  line . other classic moments is busey constantly getting upset for people reminding him that he got his ex  cia partner killed . . . which he did by accidentally shooting him in the chest  all made possible by a super slow  motion flashback sequence that makes watching paint dry seem exciting  . there  s an ashtray to the nads  punches to the face  and a  that wasn  t my fault and you know it   well  the footage shows him missing the bad guy and hitting his buddy  so . . . other scream out  loud moments has to be his ex girl  friend dropping a grenade to the ground to enable his escape   a plan that defies all logic  physics  and absurdity . and lastly  when mcbain jumps out of the thunderblast during intense guerrilla warfare and starts to run and hurdles a small object  i almost wet myself . some of busey  s best work by far  rent or buy it today  butthorn   my vote is a perfect    on the poo meter that is  .  
this is an in  name  only sequel to  a christmas story   originally entitled  a summer story .  ralphie narrates his family adventures during the summer when they moved to a small hick  town in the middle of nowhere . hilarity  unfortunately  does not ensue .  br    br   the original worked because of its irreverent nature and honesty  everyone could relate to it . this one is simply stupid and not very funny at all . charles grodin  s last movie  no wonder  it  s one of his poorest roles . i felt sorry for him .  br    br   mary steenburgen is given little to do  everything  s formulaic  and you have to wonder why they even bothered .  br    br   and i mean  come on  a competition with spinning tops   sadly  it  s the best part of the movie . . .  
gary busey is the title character  frank  bulletproof  mcbain  your standard  issue reckless maverick cop who  s earned his nickname because no matter how many bullets he takes    and counting   he never stops going after the bad guys .  br    br   when a cutting  edge u . s . tank dubbed  thunderblast  is driven across the border into mexico  it  s nabbed by revolutionaries  terrorists led by general brogado  rene enriquez  and libyan colonel kartiff  henry silva   who  s aligned himself with russian villains . the army personnel involved are kept as prisoners  chief among them devon shepard  darlanne fluegel   who happens to be mcbain  s ex  girlfriend . mcbain is then recruited by the army for a rescue mission .  br    br   busey may not have the physical presence of say  someone like schwarzenegger  who would have been another appropriate lead for a film of this type  but he  s a blast as a self  confident dude who  s quick with the wisecracks . fluegel is a great female lead she not only looks incredibly sexy but makes for a fine butt  kicking action babe . enriquez  silva  juan fernandez  and the always welcome william smith  as a russian major  are loathsome scum in the classic action movie tradition . the supporting cast is quite full of familiar and reliable character actors l . q . jones  r . g . armstrong  thalmus rasulala  lincoln kilpatrick  mills watson  luke askew  danny trejo  and cary  hiroyuki tagawa .  br    br   t . l . lankford and b . j . goldman supply the script  based on a story by lankford and veteran b director fred olen ray . it  s the kind of script where you just know the writers have their tongues in their cheeks they know their material is absurd and cheesy  and just have fun throwing credibility out the window . veteran action director steve carver keeps it moving and delivers a respectable amount of gunfire  explosions  and general all  out mayhem .  br    br    bulletproof  is good fun for the action fan who doesn  t mind switching off their brain now and then and just enjoying a generous assortment of violence and humor .  br    br        
really bad . why anyone thinks this is a good film let alone funny is a true mystery . i like comedies as much as the next man and i loved  a christmas story .  the fact that it has the same director and was based on the same writer  s memoirs has me completely puzzled as to why this film is such a complete failure on every level . charles grodin is woefully miscast as the father for starters . for another it does not seem to have the same pacing   it just doesn  t flow well . everything seems tired and forced . the joy of life that permeated the first film is completely absent here   you just want the movie to end . i wouldn  t even recommend this movie for curiosity  seekers who enjoyed  a christmas story .  it  s that bad .     .  
guns blasting  buildings exploding  cars crashing  and that  s just the first ten minutes .  br    br   this action  packed film involving a rogue ex  cia mercenary who can  t seem to die no matter how many times he  s shot  hence the title  is pretty decent .  br    br   tough and toothy gary busey  usually cast as a villain in these kinda flicks  has his usual crazy charm but is a bit more subdued after all he  s carrying the entire show . which doesn  t mean there isn  t a lot of terrific supporting roles including william smith  luke askew  mills watson  r . g . armstrong  henry silva  lincoln kirkpatrick  thalmus rasulala  and several other  forgotten  character  actors .  br    br   there  s enough smaller action sequences to hold up the entire story busey has to free a group of  kidnapped  american military elites and return a high  tech  supertank   a normal tank with a cheesy add  on pasted to the top  back to the states .  br    br   but does america deserve this killing machine any more than the bad guys  this question is asked  of course  like in any film centering on the cia . . . but without getting preachy .  
funny how a studio thinks it can make a sequel to what was a classic christmas story with an entirely new cast and expect it to float . sure they used various actors for batman  but in that instance batman was a classic character before any of the actor donned his cape . in this instance you had a classic character in the blond headed horn rimmed glasses wearing ralphy that wanted a red ryder bb gun for christmas . . . somehow we are supposed to forget him and accept another little boy that share no resemblance to the original . . . if i had not known it was a sequel i wouldn  t have guessed it from the cast . . . except of course charles grodin tries so hard to imitate darrin mcgavin that your are constantly reminded that the original was far better . . .  br    br   in the end it might have work if they had cast the movie better . they should have looked for look a likes or simply ignored the original and not tried to copy its look and feel . this one is just a cheap imitation . the ralphy evokes no sympathy just a desire to seem his character shoot his eye out or die .  
this film quite literally has every single action movie cliche and all of them work to its advantage . straight from lethal weapon gary busey wisecracks  shoots and chuckles through this film with such reckless abandonment it can  t help but amuse and entertain . there are tanks  helicopters  machine gun battles  grenades and ice cream vans and if they aren  t good enough reasons to watch this film then how about the best one . . . danny trejo . and if you don  t know who danny trejo is then you probably won  t like this film .  
since its release in       a christmas story   the jean shepherd  narrated story of his alter  ego  ralphie  has become a true classic .  my summer story   however  still has shepherd as the narrator  but it has absolutely none of the charm  and the characters are nowhere near the caliber of the original film .  br    br    my summer story  is basically a mishmash of mediocre and just plain not very interesting stories  which include hillbilly neighbors and battling tops . charles grodin  who i normally like  is extremely unlikeable in the role of the father  more aptly handled by darren mcgavin in the original   and his character never seems anything but forced . kiernan culkin is a poor substitute for ralphie  and the little brother is all but forgotten here . only mom seems to have any worth here and perhaps that  s because she beans a cinema manager with a gravy boat when he pushes his luck too far with irate housewives on  free dish night  .  br    br   the stories in this are mostly inconsequential and stretched paper  thin . may appeal to the extremely undemanding but as a sequel to  a christmas story   it  s a very poor one and not worth most people  s time .  out of   .  
i caught this film late on a sat night  sunday morning with my brother . we had been drinking . this is one of the best films for ripping apart i have ever seen . from the  luxury  ocean liner actually being a  roll on  roll off  ferry  complete with cast iron everything to the doors with adhesive stickers saying staff  then seeing the same door being used for something else in another scene  this film rocks   the continuity is so poor you cant help but notice it  it slaps you in the face with the holes . in the final scene he jumps off a life boat with the ferry in the distance . cut to his son and new girlfriend  the ships pr director who knows kung  fu and used to be in the police but was dismissed for doing things her way  true  on the ferry going very fast away from the explosion . . . . . . . then the dad is there hugging them . how     who cares  its magic . there is not one redeeming feature to this film . the casino is the size of a large bedroom with one casino table . when being chased by the villains there is only one place to hide  you  ve guessed it . enter the villains who  instead of checking under the one table  proceed to shoot up four fruit machines and a little corner bar  a corner bar in the casino  fantastic  . they walk straight past the only hiding place thus allowing our casper to get around them and  take them out  .  br    br   get some mates over  get a few drinks in  put this film on and howl .  
  a christmas story  is one of many people  s all  time most beloved films . acs was able to take the viewer to a time and a place in such a way that very few films ever have . it had a sweetness and goodwill to it that is rare .  br    br   so i awaited  and awaited  its sequel   it runs in the family  . the film was almost released a couple of times  only to be pulled at the last minute . when it finally came out  iritf was  and is  i guess  a total failure .  br    br   the sets and cinematography were just fine  but the directing totally  completely missed the mark . the film was nothing more than a cash  flow formula of lazy casting  lazy writing  and disconnected acting .  br    br   the narrator  jean shepard  who was one of america  s great humorists and story  tellers  forced upon us a false reprise of the warm wit he used in acs . he over  emoted  and why he did that i  ll never know . he somehow managed to become an annoying  overwrought parody of himself .  br    br   the writing and acting in iritf is inauthentic and forced . the actors may have seen acs  but whatever wit and nuance that was in acs mustn  t have registered at all on any of them . the acting was embarrassingly slapstick and bereft of any of shepard  s dry humor .  br    br   acs will always be a real treasure  but to call iritf a sequel is to insult all of the fans of jean shepard and acs .  
i truly enjoyed the movie  however  i did not realize that little richard had so many things going on in his life . first of all i was not aware of lucille . there is very little  hardly any  mention of females being intimately involved with little richard . even in his life today there is no mention of any involvement of females in a romantic way . i wonder why this part of his life was not mentioned . overall the movie was great . i also did not like leon playing the part of little richard  he is a good actor but i feel that the part of should have went to a different actor . visually he did not remind me of little richard . i also was totally unaware of the promiscuity that little richard was a part of . from the movie he was pictured as a sexual addict . in todays time he would be referred to counseling for his sexual addition . he was a voyeur . i don  t want to ruin the movie for someone that has not seen the movie however there were several things about the movie that i feel should not have been a part of the final cut .  
like most people i love  a christmas story  . i had never even heard of this film and perhaps for good reason   it is awful . same locale  same narrator  same director but the warm fuzziness of the original was lacking . charles grodin was a poor choice to replace darrin mcgavin but i cannot imagine anyone being able to replace him . the story seems forced and lacks the sweetness of the original . the interaction with the neighbors  the bumpuses  is ridiculous . in  a christmas story  ralphie  s obsession with the bb gun seems cute but his obsession in this movie is boring . scud farkus  the original neighborhood bully  is replaced in this film by yet another kid with braces and a weird hat but with little of the scud farkus menacing appeal . it would be pretty difficult to equal the original  even if this movie had been made with the original crew .  
actually they could not have chosen a better diversified actor to portray little richard than leon . he captures little richard to a most believable essence . the outfits where wonderful and any person watching this movie will definitely keep a smile on their face through the entire movie . although the movie is a little long  it keeps your attention with the personality and outfits of little richard in mind . the ending should have taken a direction of moving little richard more into the present where you could see him as he has aged into this new millennium . he will always be the king of rock  n  roll as far as i am concerned regardless of what the other media says .  
et  s obsession with dannielynn smith is despicable . leave the child alone . with all the constant attention she  ll most likely grow up psychotic  depressed or worse . think of princess diana and how she longed for privacy . now poor little rich girl ashley olson just wants to be left alone . no wonder greta garbo became a recluse and said  i want to be alone  . how much does et make off this little girl  does et not have anything better to report on  i bet there  s lots of people who really don  t care what color her birthday cake and balloons were . by the way  i never heard that anna nichole ever won any of those court cases over the will and her inheritance . who is paying for the lifestyle of larry  howard and little dannielynn  could it be et   
tressa  s vocal performance was outstanding   tressa played the female singer role  while richard was in the club . when she first step out on stage  and started to riff and strut her stuff  it made my soul shake . her voice is platinum . she needs to make a cd . she has more fans then she realizes . i loved her show stopping performance in the five heart beats  which she also starred with leon when she was younger . how can a little girl have a voice so big . she is truly amazing . good voice good good good good voice voice voice voice excellent voice fantastic voice  back shaking  tear crying  uplifting  take you back in the days voice . tressa if you read this commit  please take my advice and start recording a cd . if not just for the love of singing  but for your fans . i believe you can truly make it . look at these other one hit single studio singers  lol .  
this show is unbelievable in that . . . what it represents and what it focuses on and . . . words cannot describe how insane et is . they will report anything . if a celebrity is even remotely indirectly connected to the story et will report on it . if a dog poop in the tom cruise  s yard they will report on it . if a celebrity dies . . . they will talk about it for weeks on end to the point where the public envy that celebrity . if a celebrity is on trial . . . et will report it for months on end . there is no end to what this show will reports and no time frame that dictates how long they will focus on a story . is it even considered legitimates reporting  the reports are so dang annoying too  with harsh rambling voices and end with an unnecessary pause to convey a sense of important . i cannot watch this show without questioning humanity  s existence . et is one big reason i avoid pre  evening shows in general . i regret that imdb can only allow a minimum of one star rating and not zero or even in the negatives . for this show deserve    stars .  
it is fitting on a musical sunday to get your heart a pumping  and no one can do that better than little richard . the man could sing the drawers off the ladies and defined rock and roll .  br    br   look to leon to provide a definitive characterization  as he has done so with david ruffin in the temptations and jackie wilson in mr . rock  n  roll the alan freed story .  br    br   this was a fascinating biopic as we saw little richard struggle with his father  with his church and with himself over just who he was . he won the battle and there is no one else that has his voice or his style .  
entertainment tonight has been going down hill for the last few years  but as of last night  aug   th      they reached a new low .  br    br   in an effort to try to hype up their broadcast  they decided to post actual photos of jonbenet ramsey  s body in their teasers last night . . . saying  pictures from the case you have never seen before  . the two photos were graphic and very disturbing . one was of the side of her face and head  neck and you could clearly see the cord that was used to strangle her around her neck  and bruising on her face . this was so hideously awful  i could not believe it . how has this got to do with anything remotely related to hollywood entertainment   nothing   they have dropped their level of dignity and values to a new low . . . . and it shows . this used to be the premiere show to watch . . . and it  s just garbage now .  br    br   i will watch access hollywood from now on .  
it is always a nice suprise when a film made for tv turns out to be entertaining such as little richard . this is a very watchable film about the story of rock and roller  little richard played by an actor called leon who i have never seen before but does an very good job . as most tv films  this is a little tamer than if made for cinema which is a shame because i am sure there is lot we could have seen about little richard that was controversial . instead we see a lot religous rubbish which is the only thing that spoils the film and eventually spoilt a very promising career . all in all this film is good and the acting is above average fot a tv film .  out of   .  
apparently none of the previous reviewers  most of whom praise the film for its accuracy  have actually read a biography of louis pasteur . the most glaring inaccuracy is in the relationship between pasteur and napoleon iii . back in the      s the latter was invariably shown in a bad light . while far from an admirable character  he was an inept politician and a self  appointed  military genius  who allowed france to be dragged into a disastrous war  he was not the stupid reactionary depicted here . he had an intelligent interest in science  and like many other people in the   th century saw a bright future because of the improvements it would bring . far from exiling pasteur  he was his patron  building him a laboratory and providing him with all the resources that he needed for his research . while the lab was under construction  pasteur became gravely ill . a bureaucrat  deciding it was a waste of money to build a laboratory for someone who would soon be dead  ordered work halted on his own authority . when the emperor heard about this  his outrage shook the bureaucracy so that there was a flurry of buck  passing  and work promptly resumed . the emperor personally visited pasteur to comfort him and reassure him that he would get his lab . the emperor would often bring members of his court to admire pasteur  s projects  and it was obvious to everyone that pasteur was one of the emperor  s favorites . pasteur  s main worry concerning the emperor was that napoleon thought pasteur was virtually a miracle worker who could do almost anything  and was constantly assigning him tasks outside of his previous experience . pasteur  a very modest man  was always protesting this  but napoleon would say that he had complete faith in him  and pasteur despite his misgivings  always came through . they always had a close and friendly relationship  and after the emperor was overthrown  pasteur refused to say a bad word about him  grateful to the end of his life .  br    br   the part about his daughter having the baby  and pasteur sacrificing his principles to get a doctor  never happened . the part about the anthrax and rabies  for which he was famous  is generally correct  but the notion that the anthrax experiment raised him from obscurity to fame is false . he was famous and respected at the time this happened . this movie is ok from a dramatic standpoint  but very distorted as biography .  
i didn  t have many expectation going into the film  but i thought it was fantastic . pierce brosnan is outstanding in a very different role . he has dumped the slick armani suits for a ridiculous look and pays off showing that he is an excellent actor . pierce and greg kinnear play off each other great  and make for one of the better buddy pairings in a long time . the humor is dark  the performances by brosnan  kinnear  and hope davis are great  mix that with a touching element to the story about friendship  and you have a great film . this is probably one of the better buddy comedies in a long time . this is a film that definitely shows that we can expect great things in the post  bond era of brosnan  s career .  
i really don  t understand all these positive user reviews . this movie is the worst movie i  ve ever seen and i  m not trying to be pessimistic .  br    br   eva mendez is hot but terrible in this film . but i don  t think it is her own fault but the directors . he have somehow managed to make everything look artificial their acting  the idea  the make  up  everything .  br    br   the star i  m giving is only for the idea behind the movie  which was very bad executed .  br    br   don  t watch this bullshit  go watch a fellini  woody allen or some david lynch .  
leon was fantastic as always  this time playing little richard in his early years . the movie showed a fully fleshed out little richard without neglecting to fill the show with lots of great music . my only complaint is that the ending was a little abrupt  i was hoping for a   parter   
another vast conspiracy movie that tries to blame the us government and the armed forces  especially the army  for every disaster since the great flood . anyone who has ever served time in the us military can see how bogus this film is . uniforms  equipment  sets  and mannerisms are all wrong .  and of course  all senior officers are either corrupt criminals or total idiots .  blatant propaganda with no attempt at objectivity . most of the theories presented have been disproven over the past few years . uses every cliche   rumor  and urban legend from the gulf  all are presented as gospel .  the truth is  no one knows for sure why some gw vets are sick and others are healthy as horses .  ps this is not new . war is not fun and i know wwii  korean  and viet nam vets with some pretty serious ailments  too .  and the government has the responsibility to take care of all of them .  sensationalistic movies like this will not solve the problem   
i really liked this movie  it was good  and the actors were brilliant  leon robinson  who played richard  and many other classic singers  is very good at his job  when you see him in a musical movie  you know that it is going to be good  i would suggest that people watch this heart warming  sad  and special movie  if they want to know more about richard  outstanding  fresh   
what this movie fails from answering is how wrong this war is  and most us wars recently made only to get some oil  .  br    br   how many innocent civilian casualties there has been  how many lives perished and how blatantly stupid the perpetrators are .  br    br   so  let me ask you  if american soldier kills women and children apart from enemy  its ok  but if government accidentally kills their own forces by deadly chemicals while killing many civilians as well  it is not  your logic fails  gentleman .  br    br   i  ll give it  for the solid performance and  to everything else   in total .  
the life and time of little richard  as told by little richard  as produced and directed by little richard  was about as one sided as one of his songs . this is not a biography or even a docudrama  but does have good writing  great energy and an outstanding leading actor playing richard . all the music is by little richard  so it rocks a tight lipsync on every song .  br    br   the movie covers his early childhood  carrys thru the formative years in music  the wild success and richard  s throwing it all away to praise the lord . its all tied together well and the obvious comeback in     manages to stay away from the idea that little richard discovered the beatles  whom opened for him .  br    br   my main objection is that his outrageous  counter cultural behavior is underplayed and you get no feel for how his audience experienced him at that time . some of his energy  which he still has  does not come across full force . he seemed tame  compared to what i remember of him at the time .  br    br   the best scenes are richard getting jilted by lucille and writing a song about it and the strip to bikini shorts while performing  to make the point about not having a decent place to change .  br    br   if they had gotten into the  bronze liberace  as richard use to refer to himself in interviews  then there  s a story . trust me i just saw him perform a couple of months ago and he still flirts with the pretty white boys  giving the one particularly good dancer in the audience  his headband . nearly   and still going strong i recommend this movie and any concert or t . v . appearance you can find . little richard is always on  
the thumb idea isn  t such a winner the second time round . thumbtanic wasn  t as good as thumb wars for a number of reasons . primarily  i think  mr oedekerk had far less to work with in the titanic send  up . unlike star wars  the movie titanic hasn  t  yet   become a cultural myth and there are far fewer references to be made which will resonate with the audience .  br    br   in thumbtanic  the holes are filled by one  off jokes which don  t really seem related to anything . for example  the hero  s insinuation that the heroine isn  t clean during the  jump off end of ship  scene  it  s not funny . rather  you just think to yourself   did i miss something in the original movie   . there were too many of these type of baseless jokes  cf . arachnid  .  br    br   by contrast  the send  up of the smarmy ship  s designer had meaning and was funny . also very funny was the send up of the bloke in the movie who wanted to go  faster  as a maniac running around demanding everything be  faster  including the sinking of the ship and himself being the first to die . these sort of jokes meant something in the titanic context and lent meaningful humour to thumbtanic .  br    br   the thumb  media   the faces and the voices  are still amusing . the props and sets and the cg animation are worthy of appreciation . overall  although thumbtanic proves that quirkiness alone won  t work  this filmette still keeps you amused and chuckling to the end .  
first of all  i think the below comment is unworthy for a site like this . obviously you have no taste and you don  t respect the taste of others . not to give you a history lesson but i think it needs to be done . black actors out there are just  if not more  successful as others . if you are not a part of the  black  race you cannot understand the quality  creativeness  and vibrant of old movies such as  sparkle  and  mahogany  and  cooley high .  since unfortunately you are not black  you do not have the pleasure of feeling what we feel when we watch these classics  so therefore you need to keep your freaking mouth shut and just stick to your non  dancing race . thanks .  
i watched this on a whim because it was available and i  d heard the thumb movies were funny . this one was not . the majority of the jokes were based around  geranium  s  physique and  in turn  kate winslet  s . i think it  s really pathetic of the the  thumbtanic  creators to stoop so low to make jabs at a respected actress just because she  heaven forbid  doesn  t starve herself into the model of ideal modern beauty .  br    br   my favorite part was the line that goes something like   hey  i have a great idea  let  s swim over to this makeshift raft that no one else seems to see   thirty seconds of amusement out of a   minute movie does not redeem its value .  
the movie was actually a romantic drama based on three sisters who had desires to become a famous girl group . in their endeavors  the oldest sister meets a drug dealer and street hustler called satin  whom sister goes after because she believes he is the  big time  who will give her everything she ever thought she wanted out of life . though he could be accused of killing her  he really kills only her spirit and will to live  after which she becomes a drug addict and ultimately dies from an overdose . the story isn  t about the street life or the italian mobster who tries to buy stix off  then threatens him  it  s about how love can overcome even the worst tragedies in life as portrayed in song and style and the character that was the life in the times for young women trying to be  discovered  back then .  
i saw chan is missing when it first came out  about four years after moving from san francisco to new york . maybe it was the perspective of a few years away  but this movie seemed to capture the essence of the city and its people better than anything else i  d ever seen  still does  . it concentrates on one particular community  the chinese  but that  s fine  because so much of the city  s soul is refracted through the settings  the faces  and the maybe above all the voices of the characters .  br    br   this isn  t the tourists  san francisco . the settings are humble and everyday a taxi cab  the kitchen of a chinese restaurant  richmond district row houses  little chinatown apartments and small  business offices  the piers  a philippine elder center . this is what the city looks and feels like day to day to the people who live there  even now  in the era of silicon gulch urban redevelopment . unlike  say  dirty harry  in its own way an excellent san francisco movie as well   everything is filmed at street level we come to understand the characters  points of view from the perspective their surroundings give them  not from some fancy vertiginous shooting .  br    br   wang apparently filmed in bw because he didn  t have the money to do otherwise  yet one of the strongest visual elements of the movie is the natural light he achieves . the often harsh  pervasive quality of the sunlight is one of my closest associations with san francisco it seems to expose everything  bringing the buildings  the hills  the other landmarks down in scale and  in a funny way  making the people you pass on the streets seem more individual and potentially closer to you than they might in another place . wang  s photography perfectly conveys this  and even helps the story along at points .  br    br   wang captures the speech and conversational style of chinese and other san franciscans better than anyone ever has  i think . if there  s such thing as a true san francisco  accent   it  s what you hear from the balding taxi medallion broker  i think  who appears talking on the phone in one scene  listen to the way he calls the person on the other end  ya dingaling    .  br    br   the story is poignant and  despite a few very small missteps  makes its points beautifully about the longings that pull at the hearts of people living in old immigrant communities  including the justified political and ethnic resentments  and little ironic amusements  that help to fuel them . all this is communicated delicately  perhaps why some respondents here think the film meanders . it doesn  t  suffice it to say that the two cab drivers  quest for chan becomes a quest for something more personal .  br    br   chan is missing finishes up with a chinatown travelogue sequence backed by a goofy novelty song from the     s  i guess  about san francisco and all its crazy diversity . an american caricature  yes  but somehow not entirely off the mark either .  
standard rise to fame tale that has a few high points . number one  lonette mckee as sister who gives a stunning  star making performance . the fact that she never became a huge sensation after this is beyond me . sadly  she is a supporting character and we are forced to focus on irena carter  s bland character  sparkle  whose rise to fame is easy  boring  and unconvincing . however  whenever the girls go on stage and perform  the movie comes back to life . the original music by curis mayfield must be praised . the copy i saw was a very old vhs tape . the picture quality was pretty low  as well as the production values i  m guessing . all in all  its worth a gander .  
what a wasted opportunity to actually make an interesting film about a complicated subject . there is very little exploration about what it really feels like to be a straight  or gay  man working in a gay sexual environment . the dancers keep talking about their art as if it has no erotic component . they may not all be prostitutes for hire  but they are indeed sex workers playing out fantasies and selling private sessions where more than dancing is offered . from the film one would get the impression that they mainly appeal to the women who go to the gay clubs and then end up hiring the  dancers  for private sessions . even the shots in the club only show women in front of the stage and the  dancers  only playing to the women in the audience . this just isn  t the reality of these clubs . it would be pretty hard to make a living doing private dances for straight women and couples . so what do they really feel about their gay admirers and clients  we learn very little . instead we get filler . a gay activist who adds nothing to the study of straight dancers . a manager who tells us about the costumes for the drag acts but offers no insight into the dancers  lives and attitudes .  br    br   the pictures of mexico city are generic . the phallic montage showing sausages roasting is ridiculous .  br    br   this is a totally simplistic film which should be of interest only to those who want to see a few pictures of pretty boys dancing . the rest of the movie is an insult to gay men .  
i watched this movie every chance i got  back in the seventies when it came out on cable . it was my introduction to harlem  which has fascinated me  and bill clinton  ever since . i was still very young  and the movie made a big impression on me . it was great to see a movie about other young girls growing up  trying to decide whom they wanted to be  and making some bad choices as well as good ones . i was dazzled by lonette mckee  s beauty  the great dresses they eventually got to wear  and the snappy dialogue . as someone being raised by a single mother as well  i could really identify with these girls and their lives . it  s funny  these characters seem almost more real to me than beyonce knowles   
cedric kahn  s films have been character  based  rather than action  based  i  m thinking of l  ennui and feux rouges  so it is jarring to see this series of really expert car chases interspersed with some plodding attempts to give character to succo . i don  t find stefano cassetti to be an interesting actor he reminds me of pro athletes who are coaxed into movies  like bret favre . that blank stare looks like a really vicious deer caught in the headlights . a real actor would have forced us to reflect more on succo  s personality  rather than admiring his skill at carjacking .  br    br   the little acting there is comes mainly from isild le besco as the needy schoolgirl succo takes by storm . the interview at the police office is a marvel of bland obstinacy with a little fear of the future blended in . le besco apart  there is little to recommend this film .  
a remarkable example of cinematic alchemy at work  with a trite  n  turgid lump of lead script  penned by numbingly mediocre hollywood hack nonpareil jole schumacher  no less  being magically converted into a choice chunk of exquisitely gleaming    carat musical drama gold thanks to brisk direction  fresh  engaging performances  spot  on production values  a flavorsome recreation of    s era new york  an infectiously effervescent roll  with  the  punches tone  and a truly wondrous rhythm and blues score by the great curtis mayfield .  br    br   the story  loosely based on the real life exploits of the supremes  prosaically documents the arduous rags  to  riches climb of three bright  eyed  impoverished black teenage girl singers who desperately yearn to escape their ratty  unrewarding ghetto plight and make it big in the razzle  dazzle world of commercial rb music . all the obvious pratfalls of instant wealth and success   egos run destructively amok  drugs  corruption  fighting to retain your integrity  and so on   are predictably paraded forth  but luckily the uniformly excellent work evident in the film  s other departments almost completely cancels out schumacher  s flat  uninspired plotting . the first  rate acting helps out a lot . irene cara  lonette mckee  and dwan smith are sensationally sexy  vibrant and appealing leads   and great singers to boot . comparably fine performances are also turned in by a charmingly boyish pre   miami vice  philip michael thomas as the group  s patient  gentlemanly manager  dorian harewood as mckee  s venal  aggressively amorous hound dog boyfriend  and perennial blaxploitation baddie tony   hell up in harlem    bucktown   king as a dangerously seductive  smooth operating  stone cold nasty gangster . the tone dips and dovetails from funny and poignant to melancholy and blithesome without ever skipping a beat  deftly evolving into a glowing  uplifting ode to the human spirit  s extraordinary ability to effectively surmount extremely difficult and intimidating odds .  br    br   veteran editor sam o  stern acquits himself superbly in his directorial debut . bruce surtees  luminescent cinematography and gordon scott  s expert editing are both flawless . o  stern  s firm grasp of period atmosphere  keen eye for tiny  but telling little details  and unerring sense of busy  unbroken pace are just as impressive . no fooling about curtis mayfield  s impeccable soundtrack contributions  either .  jump    what can i do with this feeling    givin  up    take my hand precious lord    lovin  you baby   and  look into your heart  are all terrifically tuneful  soulful  almost unbelievably fantastic songs  with the sweetly sultry love jones number  something he can feel   which was later covered by both aretha franklin and en vogue  clearly copping top musical honors as the best  ever song in the entire movie . the net result of all these above cited outstanding attributes persuasively illustrates that sometimes it  s not the screenplay so much as what  s done with said script which in turn determines a film  s overall sterling quality .  
for a film about a killer this is surprisingly dull .  br    br   nothing much happens and even when things do happen they don  t generate any real excitement or interest .  br    br   the acting is good from the two leads  cassetti in particular delivers a great performance combining the certainty and stupidity of succo but the rest of the cast also do what they need to .  br    br   the problem is that there is poor writing and direction and the fact that as a true story it isn  t interesting  succo is not a unique character  he isn  t interesting or exciting .  br    br   films of this sort normally try to generate tension or empathy or outrage and this generates nothing except a feeling of regret that you wasted your time watching it .  
an excellent movie . superb acting by mary alice  phillip m . thomas  and a young irene cara . tony king was very realistic in his role of satin . this movie was one of the last predominately  all black  movies of the    s and unlike the  blaxploitation  movies of that era  this movie actually had a plot  and was very well done . the movie soundtrack  sung by aretha franklin  was popular on the rb charts at the time .  
i have seen already fantastic stories  but the premises of this one are so unbelievable that it comes very close to being ridiculous . a rich and young guy undergoes a heart transplant the day after his marriage  and he is somehow witnessing his own surgery and the plot of his surgeons to kill him . even if there is a medical explanation to such a phenomenon what next happens is a mixture of dialog among . . . say . . . souls  . . . maybe and real life where the dedicated mother will do everything to save the life of her son . there is no shade of suspense or thrill  just a combination of a bad and simplistic plot with a series of coincidences that can never happen in life .  br    br   this is not to say that the film is completely lacking quality  actually first time director joby harold does a decent job in directing a good team of actors that includes hayden christensen at his first major role after having taken off the anakin skywalker costume  fabulous jessica alba and super  gifted lena olin . all would have deserved a better story .  
i was  years old when i saw this musical movie while on vacation with my family in st . thomas in     and immediately fell in love with it .   years later  it is still an original inspiration for achieveing my goals that i have set to accomplish since that time   br    br   this tragic story of a hard  core  behind the scenes  of the entertainment industry during the late    s   sparkle  successfully portrays the struggle of three young sisters looking for their place in the sun . this story could simply become the biographical story of many young aspiring artists about what could materialize when things seem to happen too fast and role models are not available to lend a helping hand .  br    br   the phenomenal music written and composed by aretha franklin and curtis mayfield  the soundtrack carries the plot with every song . from being subjected to situations that almost leave no choice for strong long  term decision  making  to making the ultimate sacrifice in order to get ahead  all three young girls  sparkle  sister  and delores  represent the different routes that one could take when you set out to achieve your ideal opportunity as your contribution to society .  br    br   this movie could have possibly spawned the ideas of creating  dreamgirls  on broadway  and mariah carey  s  glitter     years later . as an original audience member of both productions  i have seen a lot of similarities in both stories to  sparkle   as well as in  saturday night fever    fame    flashdance   and the off  broadway smash hit  mama  i want to sing .   
quite unimpressive . the  twists  are all pretty predictable  if you  ve seen any movies within the last ten years  and the few somewhat interesting parts  wherein someone utilizes context clues to make a decision  are few and lack much punch  since the  secret  has already been shown before these clues are explained .  br    br    spoilers  sorta   br    br   the acting is decent enough . the story simply isn  t very interesting . the whole  still awake  premise becomes nullified by the astral projection stuff  not kidding  .  br    br   the surgery scene is initially tense  a bit discomforting  but then becomes utterly banal .  br    br   not horrible  but not memorable . terrence howard  s least interesting role to date  so far as i  ve seen .  br    br   kind of boring  overall .  
i saw this movie while it was under limited release  mainly for the novelty of seeing pierce brosnan with a moustache  but it turned out to be one of the funniest movies i have seen all year . it starts out almost as a thriller  but steadily progresses into a hilarious piece of work full of one  liners and great comedic energy between pierce brosnan and greg kinnear . also  while i say this movie is a comedy  it doesn  t forget it has a heart at times and can be very touching when it needs to be . when i went into the theater i didn  t know what to expect much more than a moustache  but what i got was one of the best movies i have seen in a long time . leaving the theater i felt very fulfilled from the film and plan to see it again in wide release . i recommend it to anyone who appreciates a good comedy with a well  written script and a big moustache .  
live  yes  but not kicking .  br    br   true story some time ago  a dutch tv station made an announcement that they were going to air a new reality show . a contest rather . the main participant in this show would be a woman who was dying of something terrible and she would be donating her kidneys to one lucky person with progressive kidney failure . for real .  br    br   the country and the international media were all over this story like flies on a turd  saying it was appalling  immoral  what  is  this  world  coming  to  and the like . in a way  i had to agree .  br    br   as the months passed  the tension built up to a degree that the government was mostly occupied by the issue of whether they should let this show go ahead or not  instead of running the country .  br    br   the show did air and right up to the last moment they were pushing ahead . and up to the last moment the country was up in arms  the prime minister making speeches  every newspaper writing about it  everyone in the country holding their breaths . and the network pushed on . towards a new frontier in television . and they definitely succeeded in doing just that . they pushed the envelope .  br    br   the show aired and we all watched a terminally ill woman selecting the right candidate to receive her kidneys so he or she would live  whilst she would die shortly after .  br    br   and then  in the last moments of the show it was revealed that it was a partial hoax . the woman was not ill  but all the candidates were . there was no kidney auction . the whole show  that  with the publicity and the commercials and all the discussions  built up for months to a fantastic climax  was a publicity stunt to focus attention on the problem of major shortages in organ donors . the man who founded this particular network himself died of kidney disease .  br    br   now this is television . leaving everybody far behind in amazement .  br    br   don  t give me a poorly acted  poorly directed flick about some woman trying to get a russian roulette show on american tv .  br    br   as if .  br    br   spoiler as if i  m going to believe they would get this through the fcc . as if i  m going to believe this would get through the us supreme court on the basis of free expression . as if i  m gonna believe the ridiculous ending where this woman pulled it off and has conscience issues because some guy shot himself on air .  br    br   it  s all been done before . watch running man with arnold instead . at least it had a semi good ending .  br    br   spoiler this is an appallingly bad piece of film  together with a ridiculous ending . so she gets shot in the end  is that supposed to make us movie going public feel better after we leave the theater because there was some kind of justice  don  t take my word for it  but i would say this leave this one alone and watch a test pattern instead  you  ll get more quality .  
farrah fawcett has spent the better part of her post  angel  s career confounding us  with an occasional noteworthy acting performance sandwiched in between her playboy frolics and letterman escapades . but when it comes down to it  there  s no denying that this girl can act . far from a story of epic proportions  this well  done tv  movie is gentle  quiet and occasionally moving . fawcett plays the wayward black sheep daughter come home only to find that she missed the last days of her mom  s life as well as the funeral  much to the chagrin of her more stable and presumably more sensible sister . brad johnson plays the love interest  and a story unfolds with all the typical elements of telefilm drama  but then there  s always that confounding farrah to watch  and she does  indeed  remain eminently watchable .  and  yes  i admit it  i did have that farrah poster on my wall way back when  . silk hope gets three and a half stars  out of five  on the corkymeter . bosley would be proud .  
after watching awake  i led to a conclusiondirector and screenwriter joby harold made awake with the intention of laughing at the spectator  for the simple fact the movie is full of ridiculous elements . awake has a lot of plot holes and it is full of absurd and ridiculous elements  for example  the hospital uniform the spirit of the main character uses . . . did the ghost of a doctor leave it in the floor   . the concept behind this movie is slightly ingenious but all the plot holes and the absurd things make of this a stupid and crappy film . with the exception of the great lena olin  all the actors bring bad performances . hayden christensen has zero expressions and the same applies for jessica alba . the extraordinary actor terrence howard is enormously wasted on his role . awake makes a laugh of the spectator . it  s so ridiculous and full of absurd things that it  s impossible to take it seriously . my recommendation isskip this crappy movie .  
this is a pleasant film  even if the premise is silly . it was sort of a guilty pleasure to watch . meg ryan seems to be able to pull off roles in this kind of film  another example is joe vs . the volcano  . that  s what makes her a star  in part . walter matthau  of course  had that ability  too  and he really puts himself into the role  making an amusing  good  hearted einstein . i suppose you could say they  re both good at portraying loveable characters  though loveable in different ways  loveable young women vs . loveable curmudgeon  .  
hayden christianson and jessica alba two of my least favourite actors of this century team up in what is quite possibly the flattest attempt at remake the already dire the butterfly effect . awake is so dull and so utterly uninteresting that you  d be better off asleep . terrance howard still recovering from the diabolical august rush puts up a decent fight as the sadistic doctor who seems hell bent on killing christianson and after viewing his performance i would gladly assists .  br    br   alba  still recovering after fantastic four rise of the silver surfer . is naturally disastrous and equally unwatchable as she always was . only once has she ever been rather brilliant at that was in the safe hands of master director robert rodriguez in sin city . could it possibly be that jessica alba isn  t as poor of an actress as most give her credit for and is is possibly that her acting abilities are being weight down by a poor script . if so then that would explain awake . what with a script that would shame that of plan  from outer space .  br    br   jessica alba  hayden christenson  and terrence howard star in first  time director  screenwriter joby harold  s nerve  jangling psychological thriller about a man who experiences the frighteningly common surgical phenomenon known as  aesthetic awareness   in which those laid out on the operating table remain acutely aware of what is going on around them despite remaining completely paralyzed and unable to cry out for help . when a successful young young man  christenson  goes under the knife and realizes that the anaesthesia hasn  t quite done its job  the horror quickly sets in as his worried wife  alba  waits anxiously and a terrifying drama unfolds in the operating room .  br    br   hoping to do for operating tables what final destination did for planes  this first effort from director joby harold pivots on a blood  frosting conceit . the pre  credits sequence tells us one in    people suffers from a phenomenon known as  anaesthetic awareness   where the patient remains conscious but paralysed during surgery . one such unfortunate individual is clayton beresford jr  hayden christensen   who finds himself wide awake during a heart transplant . . . and he can feel every single slice .  br    br   intermittently inventive as it probes away at his tortured psyche  awake fails to inject true terror into its novel premise . spiralling from chilling simplicity into absurd conspiracy  it  s hindered by stilted turns from christensen and jessica alba . you  ll wish you  d popped a sedative before watching  br    br   verdict awake is at very best extremely undemanding . a pull no punches film that undoubtedly looked better on paper . as a film though its awfully generic and extremely derived . awake fails to inject terror into its novel premise . the end result is really quite lousy . alba and christian are the very least of your worries as the films main flaw lies in its inability to scare its audience . awake is a film you  ll most likely sleep through .  
iq is a cute romantic comedy featuring two great actors that seem to click well on screen . plot is a typical guy wrong for girl  guy gets girl format  but makes the solid point that one must love with the heart and not the the mind . addition of albert einstein and his band of geniuses provides excellent comic relief . overall  a good movie . not great  but good  
i was very surprised to see that this movie had such a good rating  when i checked it on imdb after seeing it . this really is one of the worst movies i have ever seen and i have seen many bad movies . it looks like a good movie in the beginning  but when he comes into surgery i couldn  t believe how bad it got . this voice  over destroys everything  just imagine you are being cut open like that and then listen to what he says . i saw the movie in german so i don  t really know what he said in english  but ironic stuff like  yeah right  it doesn  t hurt . .   . . . what is this  telling yourself  think about something else  and then forgetting your pain by just thinking about your girlfriend is just . . . stupid . and his mother . . . how the hell does she figure something like that out  someone comes to tell her  her son died in surgery  what she kind of had to expect  . plus she found some letters in jessica albas bag . plus that  she knows the hospital  stuff . . . and then it takes her  one second  to figure it out  what the hell   and the ending . . . why does the police bust them  the patient died in surgery  thats all that happened . that drunk doctor doesn  t know anything else either . . . and then they bust them all  even the girlfriend    why    despite all that i think christensen did a bad job  but that doesn  t really count for me . . . those mistakes and stupid things i wrote about above are the problem . i watched this movie with some friends and we all were very disappointed . . . as i said  one of the worst movies i have ever seen . . . just don  t watch it    
  a little nonsense now and then  is cherished by the wisest men .   br    br   if you are too smart to watch this movie  then you are too smart to be alive .  br    br   wonderful romp  wonderful premise  period piece done with acute eye for detail .  br    br   walter matthau  meg ryan  tim robbins  et al  just wonderful   br    br   rent it  sit down  relax  take it in  smile a little . enjoy yourself .  br    br   then  thank me .  
from the beginning this movie did have a few flaws . the main character played by hayden christensen is a the rich young mogul who has inherited his father  s considerable wealth and power  and he is struggling to both fill his father  s shoes and cut the apron strings mother  and co  executive  keeps too tight . he also has the problem of having a heart condition and waiting in the limbo that is the organ donor registry . there are also minor back stories which your first instinct is to mostly ignore that become important later  such as his friendship with his surgeon  terrence howard  and his romance with a middle class girl  jessica alba  . uncreative story lines  but not bad enough to ruin the movie . the only real  oy vey   moment was the name of lena olin  s character . overbearing woman named lilith . . . subtle   br    br   the surgical scenes are not at all censored . i appreciated that  people who find surgery scenes scary might not . the horror of being awake during anesthesia was done well at first . you watch in emotional agony as christensen screams inwardly through the chest incision and the rib spreader . the moment of irony from the trailers then comes where while he is one of the unlucky few to be awake during anesthesia  he is also luck in that it helps him learn that his surgical team is planning to murder him .  br    br   the big twist  however  is very predictable and sends the film delving into the conspiracy and his memories of the little signs which were there but he  like us  initially missed .  br    br   there are two more twists at the end involving his relationship with his mother . one is an impressive gesture by olin  which comes of as unimpressive due to poor writing . the other is a secret about the family  s past which seemed very tacked on and pointless .  br    br   the initially well done anesthesia awareness drama gets lost in the poorly written conspiracy drama . there is a one final attempt to bring it back which falls flat  taking the entire movie with it .  
this is a romantic comedy where albert einstein  played wonderfully by walter matthau  and his cronies play match maker to his niece  meg ryan  and a talented auto mechanic  tim robbins  . the interplay among these major roles is augmented by a terrific supporting cast of well recognized character actors . this movie is cute and fun . . . a  feel  gooder   hearty recommendations .  
first of all  the big named actors must need the money . . . the surgical scenes were laughable . . . . and surely they must know that people who have a little knowledge of medicine would find this utterly absurd . . . . . . anesthesiologists do not leave the room during a heart transplant . . . . nor do they do the surgery in a tiny room devoid of instruments  heart lung equipment and sterile techniques . . . just a joke . . . couldn  t concentrate on the story line because of all the stupid surgery scenes . . . no blood  no personnel and then the hero doc coming in and taking over . . . it is not a film for thinking adults . . . . also the budget must have been limited . . . the street scenes were ok but who was the technical adviser . . . . seems like it was directed by a total idiot . . save your money and wait until it comes out on dvd and don  t rent it . .  
i loved the idea of this film from the moment i first saw a trailer for it . einstein has always been one of my heroes and the image of him as the kindly  playful  slightly mad genius was enough to get me to see the film . the added spice of matthau as einstein made it even better .  br    br   the story is pure fantasy  but a delightful one . an auto mechanic falls in love with a beautiful woman  who happens to be einstein  s niece . with the help of four fairy godfathers of physics  ed embarks on a quest to win catherine  s heart . throw a jealous fianc  who exemplifies the worst of experimental psychology  and eisenhower into the mix  and you have pure fun .  br    br   the film is filled with great character actors and delightfully sweet and daffy performances . walter matthau play einstein as a mischievous imp cupid with a slide rule . tim robbins is wonderfully endearing as ed and meg ryan plays a step above her normal rom  com level . stephen fry is a joy as the  rrratman  and ryan  s fianc who lacks a single romantic bone in his body .  br    br   the film fell below most radars  but is a delightful treasure that does not grow stale with repeated viewings . it features first  rate writing and performances and is a gentle treat in a less than gentle world .  
i just saw this movie last night and  being someone who had very low expectations to begin with  was still disappointed . the most glaring error in this abomination of a movie is that the main plot point  the guy being awake during the surgery   had nothing to do with the outcome . it would have ended the same way regardless . so  what was the point of this  who knows . also  this surgeon had  malpractice suits against him and he didn  t think people would ask questions if a patient died on his table  give me a break . jessica alba is completely talentless and christiansen is almost as bad . the whole thing was just laughable from start to finish . i  m fairly certain that if you could feel someone cutting through your chest with a scalpel  you would be in more pain than that .  
while fred schepisi  s  i . q .  doesn  t really have any important qualities  it  s still worth seeing . walter matthau plays albert einstein  trying to help mechanic ed walters  tim robbins  fall in love with princeton mathematics doctoral candidate catherine boyd  meg ryan  . probably the funniest scene is when dr . frizzyhead and friends  lou jacobi  gene saks and joseph maher  try to make ed look like a scientist he ends up looking like a french impressionist .  br    br   obviously little of the movie is historically accurate  but that  s not the point . it  s not intended as anything except a light comedy  quite the opposite of robbins  s most famous movie from      the shawshank redemption  . a movie about einstein  s whole life would have to focus not only on his scientific achievements  but also his political activism  namely how he wrote a letter on behalf of the scottsboro nine and came out against nuclear weapons  it got to the point where the fbi kept a file on him  .  br    br   so anyway  this one is acceptable . also starring stephen fry  tony shalhoub  frank whaley  charles durning and keene curtis .  
this is the most ludicrous and laughable thriller i  ve ever seen . oh . . . . where to start . . . .  br    br   plot  what little there is   clayton beresford jr .  hayden christensen   a young billionaire  with a bad heart is desperately in need of a transplant . clay has been secretly engaged to his mother  s pa  samantha  played by jessica alba . on the night that these two secretly get married  it just so happens that a heart donor with the same rare blood type is found . go and figure the odds of that one  once on the operating table  clay finds out the anesthesia isn  t working  and he can feel everything and hear everything .  br    br   fortunately clay seems to be able to filter out the pain of a razor sharp scalpel cutting open his chest by simply concentrating on his memories of samantha  which we are told he  s doing through an annoying voice  over which never seems to stop .  br    br   if you didn  t burst out in laughter yet  you will surely start to when you see the surgical scenes .  br    br   how could a young billionaire agree to have a heart transplant performed by one surgeon  one nurse  an attending physician and an drunk anesthesiologist  there were more people in the room when my wisdom tooth was getting pulled . not to mention the medical behavior  which is too preposterous to be taken seriously . . . the operating room isn  t even kept sterile . . . people are practically able to just walk in and out of the room without even having washed up . . . during the operation the viewer gets to hear clay  s thoughts  none of which are too fascinating . ah . . . but here  s what it  s all about . . . the doctors are trying to kill him in order to take his money . believing him to be unconscious  the villains speak freely . gosh  what will happen   br    br   well . . . at least there  s no interference from anyone else in the hospital  while an incompetent doctor who  s got four malpractice lawsuits running against him is performing major heart surgery . not even clay  s overprotective mother seems to be able to check on his status . the only one interested in keeping updated is samantha . . . but oh no . . . could sweet sam be in on it . . . . you  ll quickly find out through some scooby doo dialog . . .  br    br   in the end  it wouldn  t even matter whether or not clay underwent anesthesia awareness  because the end would have turned out the same way in both cases .  br    br   if you can ignore the feeling that the director  writer is trying to make fun of the patients who fell victim to anesthesia awareness  maybe there  s some dumb fun to be had . . .  br    br   enjoy . . .  
this was a great romantic comedy  historically inaccurate  einstein had no nieces or nephews as noted elsewhere in imdb  but he made a great matchmaker . he brought together two very nice people played by two of the best actors working . the supporting cast  lou jacobi  joseph maher  gene saks  stephen fry  etc .  all clicked on screen and made this a great viewing experience . the fact he drove a car to get around seems to contradict all those images and posters of him riding a bicycle to get around . and did he wear socks in one scene . . . reportedly  the professor never wore socks   two new entries for the imdb goofs section .  historical inaccuracies and inconsistencies aside  this was a great movie to watch with a great cast . i give it an    
ok . so it  s a low  budget  film   i used the quotes because it was shot in hi   video  . the acting is universally horrid  the makeup is laughable  the blood looks like it came from sherwin  williams and i  ve seen more convincing bruises made from halloween ghoul kits   and the lighting generally looks like they used someone  s borrowed toyota pickup to shine headlights on the actors .  br    br   i might be able to forgive these low  budget traits if there were some actual content  if a movie made an attempt to tell a story . but this collection of video footage can boast of no plot  no real characters  and no momentum . it  s a self  indulgent mess .  br    br   and don  t worry   no spoilers here   cause there  s absolutely nothing to spoil .  
this movie had me smiling from beginning to end  partly at the humor  partly at meg ryan  this is the perfect character for her   and always because it  s just one of the best feel  good movies i  ve seen . hopefully the dvd will be out soon .  
if you want to watch a film that is oddly shot  oddly lit  weird stories of these men  and one woman  who enjoy beating the crap out of each other  if you want to enjoy a story that goes nowhere of these two guys  one a boxer and the other a gay man  then you should watch this film .  br    br   after watching this film  i almost felt as badly bruised up and cut up  like the director  of the film  himself beat the hell out of me .  br    br   this is a movie where one is not meant to watch for plot or for great acting  this is a film to gawk at in horror and wonder . a lot like watching an airplane crash or a train wreck .  br    br   if you want to watch a great movie  a good movie  a  b  movie  or even a mediocre movie  this movie is not it .  br    br   a warning to all who watch this film  please don  t eat beforehand . you might want to puke by the end of the film .  
a solid  if unremarkable film . matthau  as einstein  was wonderful . my favorite part  and the only thing that would make me go out of my way to see this again  was the wonderful scene with the physicists playing badmitton  i loved the sweaters and the conversation while they waited for robbins to retrieve the birdie .  
i question its importance to queer cinema as it seems to be more about having a homosexual encounter via violent behavior than making any clear statements regarding homosexuality and violence .  br    br   three tales are tangled together in a rather sloppy manner . i found myself trying to untangle the messy narrative in the first   minutes  that alone didn  t sit well with me . weak plot points were endlessly repeated as though we might not have gotten it the first   times .  br    br   there was a feeling of padded dialog throughout the film . more like a   minute boy  s brief short rather than a fleshed out full  length film . it had a certain erotic flair  male nudity and sex appeal but overall the sum did not equal its parts .  br    br   the  st part boxer  stalker storyline was the strongest and yet it too felt like it had been pulled thin . bob has been following tim for four years and only now is he confronting him  i felt as though their cat  mouse game was not developed enough to merit its conclusion . we needed more information about them and less parking lot  locker scenes with tim relentlessly saying  what do you want    br    br   the  nd part danny wants his buddy  tony  to beat him up while he jacks  off . tony doesn  t seem to mind  but he doesn  t even appear interested in exploring the implications of his homo erotic hobby   not even after they do it in the nude . this tale lacks the all  important transition from  i  m a straight boy smacking my guy friend around for fun  to  i think i might be gay and hitting him because i  d like to spread his ass and do him s  m style .  a very important thing to leave out .  br    br   clearly these stories each could have conveyed their points in half the time . the  rd part with the man and woman slapping each other around adds to that thought . furthermore  it was unnecessary and added nothing to the film . yes  the actors did a fine job under the circumstances and the four male leads were very sexy . the make  up  bruises and cuts  however was on par with a grammar school talent show .  br    br   there wasn  t enough meat to this story to have any impact on the gay politic . the film made no statement  squandered time  and is not engaging or worthy enough for thoughtful investment . its fatal flaw is its amateurish approach  that makes it ultimately impossible to take seriously .  
interesting how much more realistic brosnan  s performance is to that of the original james bond novels when compared to the bond films . he  s neurotic  paranoid  an alcoholic and a womanizer to boot . this is perfect break for him  even so much as to make fun of the bond icon .  i  m a mess  a parody of myself  he says . it doesn  t get any better than that . i just finished reading dr . no and this is very much how ian fleming had portrayed james bond . personally i never liked brosnan as bond because he fit the icon too closely . there was nothing for him to personalize the character with  as compared to roger moore or sean connery . its great to see brosnan play a character both grounded in reality and flamboyantly off the wall . a shallow character trying to come to an understanding on deeper emotional and psychological issues to which he has no background dealing with . it  s an impressive portrayal  and having greg kinear to ground him  is just poetic . this movie reminds me a little bit of dynamics established between the main characters in  my blue heaven   but more genuine in their coping mechanisms .  
i give this film it  s props that it is very well made and reasonably well acted . but i couldn  t get past the implausibility of the whole thing .  br    br   first and foremost  a game built around the notion of  russian roulette  that has to fill on hour . the big problem is that if you are doing a  live  show  you run the possibility that your first contestant will be the one unlucky enough to draw the  real  bullet . then what do you do  you have   minutes of show to fill and nothing to show . the corollary is that okay  you get to the end and the first five contestants survive  which means number six has the bullet and can  t possibly get the payout . he isn  t going to shoot himself at that point  so it  s kind of anti  climatic .  br    br   second problem  almost as big . human nature . people are going to flinch  panic  soil their underwear and do things that would otherwise not make very good television . too much randomness . that  s why  real  reality television is actually tightly scripted and even more tightly edited .  br    br    the only random thing is the  performance artist  s  rant about female sacrifices  which were actually rare historically . even that was predictable  since she went through with shooting herself to no effect .   br    br   we are led to believe the shows ratings would increase while it was going on at  am in the morning  unlikely  with the token asian girl announcing each boost in ratings .  br    br   a point on race and sex . big surprise the movies two minority  one gay  and two female contestants are the ones who survive . so we are left with the two white males  and of course  the slightly less likable of them is the one who buys it . the purpose of such a show would be it  s randomness  but the guy you like the least is the guy who dies .  br    br   the climax is that after spending two hours fighting for televised suicide  the eva mendes character  mendes produced and starred in this thing  so she has no one to blame but herself  actually grows a conscience when someone dies . what did she think was going to happen  she is promptly shot by a bystander angry about the whole thing  motives never explained  and the show went on to be a big hit . really   br    br   the problem with media satire is that it has to either have some grounding in reality or it has to be so over the top to be ludicrous  like network  . this is neither .  
what a delightful romp  a very competently made film that has so much charm and a feelgood factor that a lot of romantic comedies lack . einstein is brilliantly acted by walter matthau  while meg ryan  s catherine is unforgettable  better than i have seen her in those films opposite tom hanks  as the young mathematician struggling to be recognized .  br    br   you don  t need to be a young woman to understand catherine  s struggle and feel sympathetic for her immediately  and as a young man it  s easy to understand what must have gone through ed  s  tim robbins  mind in pursuing his true love . there  s universal appeal in these emotions  even if i . q . keeps it all light  fun and tied up nicely .  br    br   sure it  s not heavy  but if you look there are some subtexts . people remember albert einstein as a scientist yet he was a great spiritualist his sayings such as something along the lines of   if it is not impossible  then why do it   suggest he is a believer in fulfilling higher goals beyond one  s immediate grasp . in this film  there are questions of what an accident really is  such as whether albert and his whacky sidekicks  intervention in prying catherine away from stiff  upper  lip  loveless james  stephen fry  who gives this otherwise cardboard character life and you cannot help but feel for his lack of feeling  counts . how much intervention happens in our lives that we do not see  and comes across as serendipitous   br    br   and of course  we  d like to think in real life  despite what we often observe of the people we know  that we edwards get the catherines and jameses have to learn how to defrost the icewater in their veins . how nice to know that it might work out in i . q .  s innocent  and disturbingly  exclusively caucasian  eisenhower  era land of make  believe .  
i saw  shiner  on dvd . while i was watching it  i thought   this is a really bad porn flick without the porn .  i also thought   whoever wrote this has some real issues .  then i watched the director  writer carlson explain his process as a special feature . yeah  it was real special .  br    br   the emphasis of the film is placed on two alcoholic losers who hit each other to get off . they are marginally attractive . there is frontal and full nudity . these factors probably account for the film being seen at all .  br    br   the most upsetting element of the film is the gay bashing and the subsequent further gay bashing of the same victim who tries ineptly to exact revenge from his assailants  the two drunken losers . not only is the subject handled absurdly and badly from a technical point of view  but the acting is horrendously bad .  br    br   then there  s the boxer  stalker theme . this is really insane  not just absurd . this hunky boxer is somehow traumatized by the persistent attentions of a fleshy momma  s boy who works at his gym  s parking lot . this is in la  mind you . the boxer is so traumatized that he turns up at the stalker  s house  strips in front of him and gets excited in the process .  br    br   well  all i can say is  why would a boxer who is at heart an exhibitionist be so traumatized by the attention of a stalker  it simply makes no sense . and  i  m afraid  some psycho  dynamics actually do make sense  if you take the time to read about them . however  bad scripts seldom make sense at all .  br    br   the director  writer seems to have thought that this film represents a considerable minority within the gay community . well  he may be correct  i suppose . we may never know  since that minority would be so dysfunctional they would hardly be able to get organized enough to ever get to an obscure gay film festival or dvd store  the only two places they could possibly find this turkey . thank goodness for that .  
this movie is a very relaxed  romantic  comedy  which is thoroughly enjoyable . meg ryan does a very good job as the genius niece of albert einstein  though she does believe in her own skills . tim robbins does an equally good job as the mechanic who falls in love with her when she comes into his shop with her fianc after her car stuffs up . i loved walter matthau as the one and only albert einstein . this movie just has a very relaxing feel to it  while still keeping some sort of seriousness to it  if that is actually possible  it happens here  .  br    br   i personally found this movie extremely entertaining  especially the old scientists  i thought they were fab and hilarious  this movie seems to have been underestimated beyond comprehension . if you have a cheeky sense of humour  this is the movie for you   
what an unfortunate mess is  shiner .  i wanted to like this over  the  top  anti  film aspirant  and in fact found a number of moments with powerful resonance . sadly  those moments are few and far between . while i appreciate some of what calson was attempting  any advantage aspired to by bare bones  no budget cinematography was destroyed with some truly atrocious editing that benefited the movie not at all .  br    br   while bad acting abounds in low budget  and big budget  cinema  shiner has some remarkably bad performances that are nearly painful to watch . in particular the  straight  couple linda and young guy . these are the two most poorly written characters offering almost nothing to the story . the acting is so abysmal and neither actor seems capable of resisting smirking or cracking up as they drearily drop their lines with an appalling lack of skill . the choppy editing almost lends the feeling that these roles were entirely gratuitous and dropped in to avoid the films being stereotypically cast as an oddball gay film . it would have been better off as such .  br    br   with all that is going wrong for it  there are several performances that seem to capture what calson was hoping to get . in particular the story centering on bob and tim . these are the two most richly drawn characters and offer the most rewards with genuinely captivating performances by nicholas t . king  bob  and david zelinas  tim  . tim is a boxer with some serious issues . remarkably low self esteem is disguised by an almost cartoon like arrogance that he wears like armour plating . obsessed with tim  the seemingly harmless yet ultimately creepy bob  stalks the boxer in classic cat  and  mouse fashion . when the tables are turned and hunter becomes the hunted  the resulting in the film  s only genuine emotional catharsis . in a film so artificially hard  edged  that  s a compliment  one character must have that revelatory break through  or breakdown  as the case proves here  and the final confrontation between bob and tim provide zelinas and king opportunity to display some real acting chops .  br    br   as played by scott stepp and derris nile  tony and danny seem to be the focus of the movie  and despite some bravado moments of their own  including one truly disturbing scene revealing the sex  violence obsession   but they can  t seem to escape a cartoon  like artifice and it  s difficult to look at  or beyond their seeming one note symphony and find anything other than the obvious .  br    br   ultimately this same raw material could  and should  be used to tell this story in better fashion . alas  there really isn  t much to recommend this yet  the performances by messrs . king and zelinas  really do offer something special and a glimpse of what might have been and are ultimately worth seeing .  
the part where meg visits the mechanic and he says   is the piston firing short    implying poor sexual energy on the part of her fiance  was hilarious . i love meg ryan and she is as sweet as ever in this wonderful movie . very lovable and very intelligent too . her innocent indignant expressions have you wishing she was yours . the hero handles the garage mechanic to physicist transformation well . einstein had a romantic side to his psyche  the puzzle round in front of the press and audience was done well . it  s awfully underrated and deserves accolades and attempts at a revival . it loses out one vote for including the highly improbable far fetched theory being bought by the us govt . i don  t see why it doesn  t figure in the top   romantic comedies of the century . great movie  it has the presidential seal of approval on it   
shiner  directed by christian calson  centers around three  couples  and their relationships with obsession and violence . pretty good start as far as i  m concerned . interesting . the couples break down into a heterosexual couple  two heterosexual male friends and a straight guy being  harmlessly  stalked by a gay man .  br    br   the  het  couple really don  t have much of a role in the film . there are some scenes that show how they like to be aggressive when having sex or playing around with each other  but seem to have no real purpose since the are so marginalized . my assumption is that they represent a more day to day illustration of how sex  violence are integrated in a couples life . the couple aren  t very aggressive and it  s not even shot in any kind of erotic way . as characters  they don  t add much to the theme or plot .  br    br   the two male friends make up the bulk of the plot . they engage in some gay bashing of sorts by convincing a homosexual man to have sex with them in an alley . this escalates into violence . and the violence changes them . it becomes a means of sexual gratification . and their need for violence t release grows as the film progresses . the main problem i had is the violence is not convincing . never once does it seem that any of the characters is in any real danger . it just doesn  t work . given that the whole theme of the film is about the characters  relationships with violence  this is a major problem . unfortunately  the make  up doesn  t help either . sometimes  it  s okay  other times it is very bad . in one scene  i really wondered why one of the characters had rouge smeared on his face . confusing .  br    br   the more interesting pair of the characters is the  stalker couple .  here calson seemed to have more to say and was able to develop a more coherent storyline . perhaps it is because the characters seem to develop more and have resolution at the end . shiner may well have been much better if it had stuck with these two .  br    br   i appreciate that calson wanted to achieve a lot with this film . it is admirable . most low budget flicks don  t aspire to much . i don  t think calson achieved want he was aiming for . myself  i found nothing particularly controversial or unsettling . shiner was unconvincing . this doesn  t mean  however  that the director can  t achieve something with his next film .  br    br   he seems to have something to say .  
iq is a wonderfully original romantic comedy that pits the greatest and deepest  thinking scientific minds of the   th century as cupid  s helpers . the juxtaposition of heart and mind is the central theme of this light  hearted yet thoughtful movie . you don  t quite know how to react because part of the time you are seeing great scientists do silly things to nurture budding love  but at other times  you hear them discuss some of the deepest puzzles of space  time of our age . the end result is a fun movie with surprises throughout . walter matthau is a perfect einstein  meg ryan creates a quirky  scatter  brained mathematician  and tim robbins brings to life the contradictions of a poorly educated working man who is fascinated by science . all together  they create a farcical trip through love and science  mind and heart .  
this is by far the worst film i have seen in my entire life . the acting is poor and the storyline is almost incomprehensible . whether or not you like lightships or any ships for that matter is irrelevant . as for special effects the film has none . the whole film crew were probably on the boat out in rough seas rather than in a studio and when some of the men are  stabbed   if you can even call it that  their reactions are totally unreal . the guns are more quiet than a mute . how this film could have one two awards puts serious questions to the state of the human mind . well thats about it . this review is probably more fun to read than the film is to watch . if anyone is considering watching it or buying it i would seriously advise you against it for obvious reasons . i have said that it includes a spoiler . if the fact that some people get stabbed and a gun gets fired is a plot giveaway . i suppose it is because they are the only good parts of the film .  
it was a doubly interesting experience . for some reason the greatest scientific mind of the   th century had never been the central figure in a movie . the closest i can think of as films with einstein in them are champaign for caesar  where  like a  deus ex ma  china   the great man is heard clarifying a point on a radio quiz show  so that ronald colman is proved to have given the correct answer after all  and in bullshot where the great albert is one of a dozen leading physicists and scientists who are drugged with cannabis by the villain  intent on stealing some machines of theirs . it is notable that in those two cases  and in iq  we are dealing with comedies . so far nobody has tried to do a serious film about the life of einstein  like john huston  s attempt to do one on freud with montgomery cliff . i guess it is just too hard to get the world of mathematical equations or the secrets of electro  magnetic field theory into exciting dialog . but then  only three years ago russell crowe and christopher plummer did a beautiful mind . maybe nobody really has tried .  br    br    subsequently  after writing this  i remembered the successful comedy young einstein with yahoo serious about ten years ago . but that is an exception and it was a spoof .   br    br   the other surprise was the actor playing the great albert . it was walter matthau  here taking time away from the series of films he did with jack lemmon in that last decade of their careers . matthau was a highly capable and gifted character actor  in both comedy and drama  but normally his comic personas were variants of his  whiplash willie  gingrich from the fortune cookie . they were connivers and gonifs . later they would shed their criminal propensities because we had grown to like them  but they remained grumpy types . but his albert einstein happens to be genuinely sweet . more like his kotch than like willie clarke .  br    br   he plays albert as good old uncle albert . it seems that matthau  s einstein is living in princeton with his niece catherine boyd  meg ryan   and she is seeing a stuffy professor named james morland  stephen fry  . but fry  s car needs repairs  and they take it to the auto shop where ed walters  tim robbins  works . robbins falls for ryan  who is attracted to him  but finds that he lacks the mental equipment that she admires . good old uncle albert  aided by his three friends  lou jacobi  joseph maher  and gene saks  decide to give their assistance to robbins and make him an apparently unrecognized physics genius . this will open the doors of romance between him and ryan  provided ryan is impressed and fry does not spoil things  as he hopes to do  .  br    br   the atmosphere is sweet  as when matthau and his chums rig up a super physics quiz that they help robbins cheat on  by switching the positions of their bodies  . the plot eventually leads to the outright lie that the brilliant robbins has constructed an atomic powered rocket ship  which brings in the interests of the nation in the figure of president eisenhower  keene curtis  .  br    br   it was a charming comedy  and an interesting stretch for matthau in that he was not as hyper as normal  but far more subdued .  
this has the absolute worst performance from robert duval who sounds just like william buckley throughout the entire film . his hammy melodramatic acting takes away from any dramatic interest . i  m not sure if this was deliberate scene stealing or inadvertent but it  s the only thing i can recall from a truly forgettable film . this picture should be shown in every amateur acting class of an example of what not to do . thank god  duvall went on to bigger and better things and stopped trying to effect a cultured accent . he is a good character actor but that  s about it . klaus is so much better . his performance is muted and noteworthy .  
while the sparkling chemistry between ryan and robbins alone is reason enough to see this movie  the supporting cast  including matthau  fry  shalub  durning and the hilarious trio of jacobi  saks and maher  is an additional plus . matthau shines as einstein  fry is perfect as ryan  s clinical fianc  and shalub  s line about einstein  s gonads is  as has been noted  one of the highlights of the film . the speech that robbins delivers at his first appearance in public is sheer poetry . kudos to the writers for handling this froth with wit and levity . i also thought that keene curtis was wonderful as eisenhower . this might be considered something of a chick movie  but i think everyone will get a kick out of it . eight very solid points .  
the pakage implies that warren beatty and goldie hawn are pulling off a huge bank robbery  but that  s not what i got out of it  i didn  t get anything  in the first half there  s a new character  without introduction  in every other scene . the first half  hour is completely incomprehensible  the rest is just one long  annoying  underlit chase scene . there  s always an irritating sound in the background whether it  s a loud watch ticking  a blaring siren  a train whistling  or even the horrible score by quincy jones . there are a lot of parts that are laughably bad  too . like  the bad guys chasing beatty on thin ice with a car  or  the police arriving at the scene roughly fifteen times . i really hated this movie   
this film tells the story of a romance between albert einstien niece and a gas station attendant . in order to get the two together  einstien agrees to help ed  hudsucker proxy  s tim robbins  learn to act more intelligent . this impresses catherine  meg ryan  . unfortunately einstien goes too far and ed is considered to be a genius . hilarity ensues . not to be missed . filmed in mercer county new jersey at princeton university  lawrenceville prep school  doubling for princeton university  as well as a beautiful vintage gas station in hopewell .  
how the hell did they get this made   presenting itself as a caper comedy  the misbegotten    is essentially two hours of people mumbling sentence fragments . the usually dependable warren beatty looks drunk  and the usually hilarious goldie hawn acts like she  s on depressants . as for gert frobe  his most famous role  goldfinger  was infinitely more admirable than his character here . not even the guy with the champagne bottle of lsd can save this litany of worthlessness .  br    br   am i comparing this movie to  plan  from outer space   i wouldn  t do such a thing even if someone paid me .  p  fos  was idiotically made but ended up hilarious this was idiotically made and causes you to feel like your brain just melted out of your ears . warren beatty and goldie hawn made up for this when they co  starred in  shampoo   but then they co  starred in the dreadful  town  country  . maybe they just shouldn  t co  star in movies . all in all  i would rather have my skin torn off than have to watch this again . awful .  br    br   maybe they should remake it with jackie chan . then i would pay to see it .  
being a big fan of the romantic comedy genre  and therefore having seen a large number of these films  it is rare that one strikes me as totally unique . for that matter  it is equally rare that i am gasping for breath through the laughter during several scenes . the love story is a little thin on the ground  but i  d say that  s probably for the best  as this romantic comedy has the emphasis firmly on  comedy   and in any case it stretches the bounds of credibility just a little more than i like most rom com  s to do . the four scientists provided some of the funniest moments not just in this film  but in any film i  ve seen in a long while . i hesitated for the briefest of moments before finally choosing a     over a    as a rating  as i believe that far too many people use it indiscriminately  and therefore the maximum rating loses some of its impact . i  m also a big meg ryan fan  which helps  but this is one of the few films i  ve seen in which i  d say she is comprehensively overshadowed . she and tim robbins are cast as the leads  but for me play second fiddle to the antics of the bumbling intellectuals . a genuine laugh  out  loud type film .  
millie is a sap . she marries a rich guy named maitland and they have a child . she then catches him cheating on her and divorces him . . . but lets him keep the kid she claims to love . back then in the early     s  she would have been entitled to hefty spousal and child support but lets the guy off amazingly easy . . . with no support . . . what a sap  later  when she has a boyfriend and life seems pretty good  he turns out to also be a cheat  wow  does she have a hard time picking men .  br    br   as a result of these bad relationships  millie changes . now she  s a wild party girl   doing everything she can to distract herself from her hard luck . suddenly  many years pass . millie  s daughter who she left early on in the film is now   and oddly fashions haven  t changed one bit . an old friend of millie  s  yes  it  s another evil man   is now pretending to be the daughter  s friend  but he has lecherous designs on her . millie promises him that if he touches the girl  she  ll kill him . take a wild guess what happens next   br    br   overall  the film is a confusing and often bizarre mess   a bit like  madam x  but much  much less focused . so often millie  s motivations and actions seem to make little sense . and  the film seems to have a little of everything tossed into it   so long as it substantiates the notion that all men are pigs . unusual but not particularly good .  
this movie is so great . its set back in probably the    s and meg ryan  s character struggles to be known as  smart .  plus tim robbins is so cute in this movie . and everything about it has a magical feeling towards it . everytime i watch it i feel happy . it  s definitely a girl movie  and i  m a girl  so i like it . i also love the music . the violin is awesome . but besides that i think it  s a cute story and everyone should watch it .  
this movie is very important because suggested me this consideration sometimes you can wish to be sick . . . sometimes you can wish to have a syndrome . . . sometimes  for example  you can wish have goldfield syndrome . . . that way you  d not remember this boring movie . . . and above all you  d not remember adam  superfluos  sandler . . . sometimes  simply  you can wish . . . have rented another movie . . .  br    br   my vote   out of   . my suggestion  if you are neither a fan of boring romantic comedies or adam sandler  . . . it  s a joke don  t exist adam sandler  s fan . . . i want to hope it   save yourself . . . someone to save  drew barrymore . . . . perhaps .  
i . q .  in my opinion  is a sweet  charming  and hilarious romantic comedy about finding the right person for you . if you ask me  james  stephen fry  really was a dull guy . to me  ed  tim robbins  was more suited for catherine  meg ryan  than james was . anyway  everyone involved in this film did an absolutely outstanding job . now  in conclusion  i highly recommend this sweet  charming  and hilarious romantic comedy about finding the right person for you to any tim robbins or meg ryan fan who hasn  t seen it . you  re in for lots of laughter  so go to the video store  rent it or buy it  kick back with a friend  and watch it .  
this film just goes around in circles  and the viewer does not know where they are . at first i thought . . mmmmm  could be kinda cool movie this  but it just drags on and on  and eventually you don  t know what  s going on . the lead female is a good actress and played her role well  and the psycho fella  is creepy  but after a bit you don  t really care what happens  because this film just drags on . shame really  this could have turned out a lot better .  br    br   would say though that the lead female and psycho fella  will have a good career ahead of them  but will they remember this film  for making them known  or for being the film they regret they ever made .  
first let me say the director has some wonderful use of titles in his establishing shots . i really enjoyed them . i really enjoyed this movie but i got to say next to pierce brosnan  greg kinear is pretty lackluster . brosnan melts into this character so well  that it is really hard to remember that this is the same guy that played bond . it also shows his range and depth as an actor . it is kinda of an indie flick and was really nice to see especially with all of the mainstream movies that flood the movies at this time of the year . i found the characters to be well crafted . the twist in the middle i felt was especially good . i also liked how the characters come off realistically . so many times we have in film these caricatures of people that are not really characters but walking  stereotypes . . . i like the different approaches this movie takes . i think of sideways when i think of this movie but i think this is more watchable and a better movie overall . . .  
there really wasn  t much of a story in this film . it loosely based itself off the events in the first lion king movie . it is supposed to be how timon and pumbaa met via their aloneness . but there isn  t much more than that .  br    br   it mixes some scenes from the original  then it ab  libs about how this movie changed them a little bit . but still  is that it  i was hoping for something a little more . instead  all i have to show for it is an empty plot with little explanation .  br    br   i guess if you wanted to see other meerkats in the lion king universe  then this is it . but other than that  it does little justice for the animators . disney really should stop these direct  to  video productions . it really was quite boring and could have used jason statham .  d    
this is a really fun  breezy  light hearted romantic comedy . you cannot go wrong with meg ryan  s cute perkiness combined with albert einstein  s genius . normally  i  m not a fan of completely fabricated fictional tales about actual people  now deceased and not able to defend themselves  but i think the late einstein might himself have gotten a chuckle out of this one .  br    br   it  s the      s . . . princeton  new jersey in the spring . the story revolves around a pretty  young  scatter brained mathematician  catherine  meg ryan   who is all set to marry a stuffy jerk  a behavioral researcher named james  merely because he has the brains she  s looking for in the father of her future children . however  it  s love at first sight when her car breaks and she meets an auto mechanic named ed  tim robbins  . as she doesn  t think ed is intelligent enough  her uncle  none other than albert einstein  plays match maker  assisted in his endeavors by three mischievous cronies  all theoretical physicists . uncle albert must make ed appear suitably smart  so concocts a charade portraying him as a physicist . . . naturally with amusing results .  br    br   walter matthau is his usual hilarious self  and pulls off the character of einstein quite effectively . with his three professorial buddies  kurt  nathan  and boris  a lot of laughs ensue . the real einstein had a genuine human side and this film just takes it one  outrageous  step further . if you suspend all logic  you can almost imagine this silly story happening   br    br   it might not be rocket science  despite its main character  but it is a wonderful sweet  refreshing movie . one of the best of the comedy romance genre .  
one of the worst films i have ever seen . got so bored that i switched it off midway through to watch the news . when i switched it back on  i fell asleep . the film starts with a dream  continues with a dream  and ends with a dream . then there are a few more dreams in between . come on  what is supposed to keep me interested in that  a film needs to have a reason to be interesting . the minute you felt the film was only a dream is when any sensible film  goer switches off . ever had someone insist on telling you their dreams and what it means to them  this is it     br    br   absolutely awful .  
bottom line  best romantic comedy ever . this movie accomplishes what all great movies strive for the creation of a world and time that we want to re  visit and makes us glad to be part of the human race . when i am blue  this movie lifts my spirit and makes me laugh  and that is still true after many viewings  always fresh  .  br    br   all of the actors are in top form . the characterizations are so dead on and the characters mesh so well together that you forget the actor  usually difficult to do with matthau  robbins and ryan  . the supporting cast is consistently brilliant fry   agae    a total pygmy package     jacoby  saks  maher  the three theoretical physicists as  greek chorus    but time doesn  t exist    durning   something we can launch from nj    shalhoub  whaley  robbins  boss and co  worker at the service station   and curits  eisenhower  how many comedies have eisenhower    .  br    br   don  t miss this overlooked treasure .  
i love horror movies . i can even appreciate most cheese  face it   out of   horror films these days are cheese   but this was just ridiculous . terrible acting  terrible writing  completely hollow and unbelievable characters  no meisner actors here   and a total lack of sufficient body count . i wish i could salvage the   minutes of my life i just wasted . at least the crook brothers are aptly named . the only good thing about the whole film was watching the alicia silverstone wanna  be get punched in the face . how this ever made it to sundance is completely baffling to me . most of the plot was absolutely unrealistic  even by slasher film standards . i mean  come on  who would rush out to get a cheap earring   seconds after a creepy stalker guy just left their doorstep  lame .  
fairly good romantic comedy in which i don  t think i  ve ever seen meg looking any cuter . all the players did a good job at keeping this a lively romp . of course  in the real world no genius mathematician would even glance at some grease monkey  but that is why i love romantic comedies . . . . one can just totally forget reality and have a good time . nice film . damn  meg is a babe  eh   
salvage  out of   . groundhog day meets a christian coalition horror film . okay maybe it  s not that bad . but it is close .  br    br   claire  played by alicia silverstonesque lauren currie lewis  is stalked and possibly killed by a serial killer  chris ferry who is quite menacing and brutal  . i say possibly because she wakes up and it was all a dream . . or was it   cue music   br    br   the basic problem with the film is that these fifteen minutes of plot  done quite well the first time  is repeated over and over again . and since claire wakes up every time and every scene is clearly a dream or alternate reality i just stopped caring what happened to claire and started wondering what lame twist at the end was going to pull this together .  br    br   i was rooting for a sance  which honestly would have made more sense  but instead got one of those too obvious by half surprise endings  think the village or below  yup the film collapses faster than donnie darko  s directors cut . all the great twist endings in horror movies the sixth sense  the original invasion of the body snatchers  happy birthday to me worked because the audience wasn  t expecting a left field explanation .  heck even the canoe ending in the original friday the   th was worth a jolt   br    br   salvage on the other hand screams twist ending with every scene change . other nagging faults is the one note piano soundtrack  though the featured songs were decent  the obvious time padding  claire doing the dishes  claire  s mother  s subplots   the way claire says  hello is anyone there  every time she thinks there is a serial killer around .  br    br   also some of the secondary acting roles  in particular claire  s mother played by maureen olander who resembles a mary kay zombie  shows the first time actor low budget roots .  br    br   both too clever by half and not nearly clever enough salvage keeps your interest if only to see how they are going to fix this mess . problem is they really don  t .  
australian fred schepisi  a cry in the dark  directs this comedy  romance that is fun  relaxing  and set in the spring . you will laugh while watching this movie . tim robbins  shawshank redemption  dead man walking  is an auto mechanic  ed walters  with a high iq  which gets higher with the help of albert einstein  walter matthau  grumpy old men  and his academic friends nathan  kurt and boris . you can tell them by their preppie shoes . meg ryan  sleepless in seattle  you  ve got mail  is catherine boyd  einstein  s niece who is a competent  but not so confident mathematician . perhaps it is because she is surrounded by all that genius . she thinks that if she marries someone with a high i . q . her kids will have a high i . q . as well  but she does not knows what she wants . between tim robbins cute smile and meg  s cuteness this is a refreshing movie . i love sweet stories . people all ages should enjoy this movie . catherine is engaged to the jerk james moreland  who works in animal behavior  but is very stuffy . this is a love a first sight type situation  between the mechanic and the mathematician . witty lines and subliminal lines  the cinematography is nice . princeton  new jersey is beautiful in the spring . with much help from all those brilliant men catherine falls for ed  without knowing that he is an automobile mechanic .  br    br   favorite scenes ed taking a multiple choice test in front of a crowd with the help of einstein  nathan  kurt  and boris . ed and einstein riding on the motorcycle . nathan  kurt and boris letting all the research animals free   br    br   favorite quotes albert einstein  don  t let your brain interfere with your heart  . ed walters  when was the last time he said  wahoo    catherine boyd  well i  m sure i don  t know  . this is a refreshing movie  i recommend it . i have the tape and every once and awhile i will watch it again .  
salvage is the worst so called horror film i  ve ever seen . there is nothing remotely horrific about it . it doesn  t deserve to be in a genre so fine . first of all i don  t see how so many people can think this piece of crap such a great movie . if i wrote something as boring and utterly ridiculous as this i would be laughed at and too embarrassed to subject others to the stupidity of it . second the acting is terrible and the lead actress is excruciatingly ugly . third the story sucks  its been used before  and the excuse that its a cheap movie is no excuse . read the summery on the back of the case  it reveals the whole story . i do not recommend that you watch this movie unless you have   minutes to waste on something that will leave you regretting that you watched it . i feel really bad for those crooks and the irony of their name . all hail anthony perkins           
this is one of my all time favorites . it is so simple and sweet  definitely a chick flick romantic comedy . i really like a film full of good quotes and this has it . . . one of my favorites is when albert einstein says to ed walters  are you thinking what i  m thinking  and ed says  now what are the odds of that happening   in my opinion  a film is fabulous if you can watch it again and again and get the same amount of enjoyment out of it  and with this one  you can   i also really enjoyed walter m . s way of portraying einstein . i think all the characters fit together really well and the story flows nicely . there are so many times that i find myself smiling right along with the film and quoting my favorite lines as i watch it  i would recommend this movie to anyone who has a heart and enjoys a feel  good romantic comedy now and then   
after reading all of the rave reviews about this film and a few that give it a so  so . i finally decided to throw in my no cents worth . i agree with most on the point that if it hadn  t been for lauren lewis and chris ferry it would have been a disaster . filmed in mariette oh . just north of dogpatch where all the real talent fled south down i    years ago  at least as far as a tank of gas would allow . i did get a chuckle from reviewers who subtly claim that they cerebrate a little better than most by claiming they followed the plot without an inkling of confusion . this wee tale by the brothers crook is like an old record with a skip in it . as an american i understand the difficulties ind film artists have to face . a trip to romania would have wiped out the budget for sure . lets face it this whole film was a loop de loop of claire in the gas station  claire on the side of the road  claire under the bleachers  claire in the house  claire in the cornfield  claire at school . claire here and claire there . it almost became monotonous and would have if she had not been the best actor in the cast . josh and jeff have to make a living but don  t write a two page script and turn it into an hour  twenty flick . before writing another screenplay about dreaming ghosts watch an episode or two of ghost whisperer or something and get a little background . all of the cast except the above mentioned and a couple of others were engaged in their first and last film . also  there is an appearance by co  director jeff as he is in all his films . just like alfred hitchcock  eh  one thing the film had going for it is that the cameraman seemed to have a fixation on lauren lewis  derrire . well  with all sarcasm now satisfied i still recommend the film for the horror buff just to see this young actress in the formative time of her career  i hope  and that chris ferry has established himself as a villain worth watching .  
i recently saw i . q . and even though i  m not a romantic comedy type of gal  i think that it was just a nice and sweet movie to watch . so many movies in my opinion lack honesty . you know that feeling when you  re watching a movie and you just feel robbed because it  s taking something from the story and it was like the director just threw it together like it was trash  the story between the scientists is a sweet and funny one . how they stuck together and they tried to help tim robbins character become smart . i liked the love story between tim and meg because it was simple and brought up a good point when it comes to love   nothing is what it seems  . i would recommend this for a sunday morning .  br    br        
this movie could have been so much better  especially considering the talent . larenz tate  s portrayal of frankie lymon was not good  especially in musical performances . he doesn  t lip sync well and his stage mannerisms are larenz tate  when he should have been frankie lymon . the portrayal of the women as a bunch of gold diggers has hollywood written all over it . the powers that be obviously pushed it  but it only made the characters more unrealistic . the positives of the movie were miguel nunez  s portrayal of little richard  and the cameo of little richard himself . lela rochon is eye candy  as usual  even in a conservative role . it  s too bad that the talents of halle berry and vivica a . fox were wasted . the whole frankie lymon saga was fascinating in real life . too bad this film was a wasted opportunity .  
i just watched i . q . again tonight and had forgotten how much i love this movie . it is wonderfully entertaining and leaves you feeling that all is right with the world . i love the allusions to mozart all throughout from the opening with  einstein  playing  twinkle  twinkle little star  on the violin to him humming eine kleine nachtmusik during the iq testing of the ed walters . i love that a woman is portrayed as intelligent and encouraged to have a career  an especially unique situation for the      s  the time in which this movie is set .  i myself have been a teacher but stayed at home to raise my children  so please don  t think i am some staunch women  s libber .  it  s wonderful how a man who is  only a grease monkey  is finally seen to be just as important and worthy as catherine  s fiance  a clinical behavioral researcher . the message to me is that we are not what we do  but who we are is defined by so much more  no labels . there are so many little gags and one  liners that are almost throwaways if you don  t watch and listen carefully .  br    br   i did catch a few things in the movie that are not listed on the goofs page . in the scene when ed walters is to speak at symposium  there are  instruments  protractor  ruler  etc .  hanging on the right from the chalk ledge . in the next camera shot  there only  . in the credits on our video  it lists tony shaloub  s character as bob watters  not bob rosetti as he introduces himself in the movie and is listed here on imdb .  br    br   i highly recommend this movie . it may be a piece of fluff in some estimations  but has lots more substance than many give it credit for . not only that  what a great cast is assembled here . watch it and enjoy   
the title should have been the walker . the guy expend    of the movie walking . he doesn  t know what he wants  or what he is . go through life stealing peoples identity for nothing . he gets no benefit  no money  nothing pretending to be another person .  br    br   no body was able to understand why he was pretending to be somebody else .  br    br   the only thing that was clear in this movie is that he love his father and was a good son . but the rest was crap .  br    br   may be director is a looser that would like to be somebody else . but what he really should do is to get a real job  because after his movie  i don  t think he has a chance to make as a movie producer .  
maybe i  m being too generous with the rating . . . but i just love this movie  i  ve seen it so many times  but every time i see it i fall in love with it all over again . it  s just a simple romantic comedy  with nothing huge or monumentous that happens . but i  m a big romantic and this movie is romantic . i love meg ryan and tim robbins  and walter mathau is so funny . the scientists make me laugh so much . . . i definitely recommend this movie to anyone who hasn  t seen it . it  s such a clean  good movie  and those are so rare now  my    year  old brother likes this movie  too  so it  s not just a chick  flick .    i recommend it if you need to laugh  or if you  re just lonely and need to watch a romance  if you yourself can  t participate in one . it  s a good  un   
the title should have been  the walker  . that was only he did walk .  br    br   there was nothing on the movie that was good . the description of the movie doesn  t really comply with the plot .  br    br   the only thing that i can get from the movie is that he was a good son  but a low life terrible person .  br    br   i  m sorry that i expend my money and time  on this movie . i saw people leaving the theater in the middle of the movie . i stayed hoping that it will better . . . . what a mistake . i got worse .  br    br   if there is a suggestion that i can make to he producer is to re  direct his life to another field  because making movies is definitely no his cup of tea  
about     i saw this movie by accident on tv one night . i was  years old . it was similar to my accidental viewing of the terrifying ending to don  t look now in     . i went to venice on holiday the next year in silent terror  hoping to god that my parents wouldn  t find out i  d watched it   br    br   would i have minded if my parents knew i  d watched les valseuses when i was a kid  i  d probably avoid the subject with my dad even nowadays  and my mum  s probably disapproving in the afterlife . i don  t know if they  d want to see it anyway . from the stalking and trapping of a woman at the block of flats in the first scene to sliding down the mountain roads with glazed satiated eyes i  m never sure whether this film is an insensitive piece of trash that disregards the sexual revolution or if it  s a sexy liberating movie to watch as it dawns on you that you could never be so offensive yourself .  br    br   it  s definitely violent . it has a violent view of sex  virtually no acknowledgement of love . even suckling a young baby mutates into a greedy sexual act of exploitation . but the scenario is very erotic and  god i  m so british  arousing  do they suck her breasts for her own good  that is exploitation . so why am i getting a woody   br    br   the fellows go in search of an experienced older woman  find an ex  con  mother  figure  i don  t know . it ends in a truly gruesome suicide . i described it to my friend jb nelson  who has cannibal holocaust  guts  and he went eeuurrgghh  no motherly love for this movie  quite the opposite . mutilation of where the boys began . why do they shoot the girl in the leg  why does she come back to them  do women need to be punished so that they learn what is right from men   br    br   i  m thinking of two movies  one of which i wish i  d never seen  the other makes me wish it wasn  t such a harsh world . swept away  madonna what a pile of insanity doesn  t compute never been so offended that a woman punished for being a woman becomes slave to man and its maybe madonna saying everybody respect guy ritchie im so enraged i cant use punctuation  once upon a time in america  leone god why does noodles do it  destroys the path to joy we  ve been following him on his whole life . so close to finally finding love with deborah . now they are both destroyed . why sergio  why   br    br   there is no rape in les valseuses but lots of sex and nakedness in abundance  of both sexes . very honest  no titillation . no fantasy shags  no perfect hollywood smooth moves . jokes  yes . but there  s too much darkness and jealousy and trickery in here to call it a sex comedy . forget carry on shooting a naked hairdresser in the leg cos she  ll come back  you  ll hook her up with your ex  con lover  s vengeant son  she  ll learn how to cum from him .  br    br   two things i can  t stand are rape movies and prison movies . les valseuses isn  t a rape movie  god nobody  s going to want to watch it now  it is a brilliant movie   
i just finished watching  el otro  . i have always taken my hat off to julio chavez  s performances  as he is a great actor  but this movie is really depressing and slow . i guess that it would have been even worse if it wasn  t for julio . anyways  this is definitely a film that you will never understand if you are not from argentina  and even if you are  i would advise you not to rent this movie in order to have a nice time with your girlfriend  boyfriend  family or friends . . . it is really depressing and incredibly slow  and the plot does not make a lot of sense neither . probably the director wanted to show the fragility of the human life  but what he does is bore and impress the audience with scenes that shock you a little bit . it gives you something to think about  but not in a good way . overall  i definitely didn  t like this movie .  
depardieu  s most notorious film is this       groundbreaker from bertrand blier . it features many highly sexual scenes verging on an x  rating  including one of jeanne moreau doing a hot     s version of her jules and jim menage a trois with the two hairy french hippies  depardieu and deware  . there is no such thing as a sacred territory in this film everything is fair game .  br    br   it  s very odd that americans tend to not like this film very much while many french people i  ve met consider it a classic . something about it goes against what americans have been programmed to  like .   br    br   gerard and the late patrick deware are two bitch  slapping  hippy drifters with many sexual insecurities  going around molesting women and committing petty crimes . they  re out for kicks and anti  capitalist  euro  commie  slacker  freedom .  blier satirizes the hell out of these two guys while at the same time making bourgeois society itself look ultimately much more ridiculous . best of all though  is the way the wonderful stephane grappelli score conveys the restless soul of the drifters  the deeper subconscious awareness or  higher ideal  that motivates all the follies they engage in .  
guy walking around without motive . . . i will never get those two hours of my life back . the guy kept on assuming identities and cheating on his pregnant wife . what was i thinking  how did this win a price anywhere  i understood he loved his father but other than that the movie was completely senseless to me . what was the purpose of walking so much and going to the funeral of a stranger for no apparent reason . how did this enrich his life    why did we have to see the dying old lady on her underwear        why         br    br   i though it would be deep or about something more interesting . i do not recommend the movie even to leave on while sleeping . . .  
dark comedy  gallows humor  how does one make a comedy out of murder  it can be risky business as the viewer is required to let go of their moral values and laugh at the antics of a man who kills people . so  the story has be rock solid with a good dash of suspended reality in order to make it work . so  pierce brosnan  the irishman  s answer to    is now cast as a chain  smoking  sex  addicted alcoholic who kills people for a living and is having a life crisis . he meets a struggling businessman  greg kinnear  and after a rocky beginning  he learns that he needs a friend . but  greg  s happily married to hope davis and brosnan sees in him the basic things he doesn  t have  love  home and a life . add character actor  philip baker hall as the hit  man  s manager and we  re off to the races . brosnan is wonderfully crass and crude as the anti  hero and kinnear delightful as his counterpart  the very human businessman . hope davis adds a sparkle as kinnear  s very conventional wife who is fascinated with this derelict who drifts into their lives . the ending is delightful and with some surprise to it . you should leave the theater feeling  at least  partly good   if you  re able to suspend being aghast at killing people .  
i found this to be an utter waste of time  effort and money . i know disney always displays lack of creativity when making  straight  to  video  films  but rehashing the plot of the original film with a  new perspective  is an all  time low . . . soon they  ll just be re  releasing the original films with new animation and new songs and be calling it a  new version of the movie we all love .  nathan lane surprisingly returns to his role of timon yet again . timon and pumbaa the animated animals from the world of the original  lion king  embark on a narrative journey to tell us the original story the way it really happened . . . as they see it .  br    br   of course timon is now the hero of the story  yadda yadda yadda  blah blah blah . . .  br    br   the musical sequences are lame and the animation is crap . the vocal talents are impressive for a video feature  but then again  when was the last time you remember matthew broderick  whoopi goldberg or nathan lane being in anything of real commercial substance  overall if you liked the original you  ll hate this . it  s insulting because it  s unfair to children and adults alike . and that about sums it up .  
as with that film we follow the implausible if always engaging adventures of the  lead characters . but whilst c  j eschew sex for a girly trip back into childhood  this pair revel in their carnality even to the point of exploring homoeroticism . most of the sex they acquire from grudging or unwilling partners and yet  despite their deeply un  pc behaviour  everyone emerges smiling . like c  g  through it all they remain innocents at heart  rebels against the quotidien  the bourgeois  the restrictive . as someone else has commented  i wouldn  t want to know these  and it  s a minor miracle that their trip brings scenes of mostly comedy and very little tragedy  and what there is of that cannot be laid at their door  and thus for that reason  it left me beguiled but with a sweet taste in the mouth . dare i say that only the french can get away with films like this . and that is part of their genius .  
i just came back from  el otro  playing here in buenos aires and i have to say i was very disappointed . the film is very slow moving  don  t get me wrong  i enjoy slow moving films    slow to the point of driving you crazy . all you hear is julio chavez breathing heavily throughout the whole film . this is a poorly made film  but more importantly  it is a film without a lick of inspiration  i felt nothing for the story or its characters .  br    br    el otro  was made only for the sake of making a film . . . making it forgetful . i would advise you to pass on this one  if you want to see good argentinian films  look for films by sorin .  
i remember hitch hiking to spain at    getting a lift from  what turned out to be  two fleeing italian small crooks . they were doing a lot outside the law  but from the other side carrying a little portrait of jesus in the pocket for their protection . . . just and unjust  good and bad  criminal and correct where here in a new combination  outside of the categories i used to know .  les valseuses  gives me  although a film and not real life  a picture close to my own experiences the intenseness of each moment as soon as you leave  all behind  and go for the momentous  whatever comes your way  it  s another state of mind and also  dangerous  form of life  because  as we all know  there are people who are not ready for this and willing to persecute you for  stealing  and so on . . . this film touches  values   it  s a story about  what  s right and wrong   morals . it  s resurrection of the individual fighting him  herself free against the  false morals  and conformism . . . there  s danger all the way  because  how far can you go with your own  freedom  and crossing your own moral borders and that of other people  what to do with people who are willing to hurt you  put you in jail or even shoot at you for the things that you do  like  stealing  some petrol from a multinational oil company for you fifth hand car  les valseuses re  awakens these questions in me  because morality  in contradiction to the usual  media message   is quite complex . . .  
quite average even by monogram standards  this mystery  a remake of the sphinx  has an oddball plot which is not unraveled to much effect   you  ll see through it after about ten minutes . the two leads have some nice breezy dialog at the outset  but john hamilton is hopelessly dull as the villain  perfectly cast lionel atwill originated the role  and warren hymer  s nitwit shtick is pretty annoying . however  it  s worth sitting through for a five  minute appearance by the incomparable mantan moreland as nicodemus the janitor  who gets the better of the defense attorney during a hilarious courtroom appearance . you  ve got to hand it to bill  one  take  beaudine he wasn  t much of a director  but he would always punch up a routine programmer with some goofy vaudeville .  
this film is a stunning piece that will convince even the most skeptical viewer that gerard depardieu is one of the finest film actors of the last   years . his performance shocks  entertains  disgusts and charms you while leaving you breathless . this film was shot in the very early days of his film career and is very raw  but still is able to convey the mastery of depardieu . a must  see for any depardieu fan and by far his best early work .  
i rented this movie because it falls under the genres of  romance  and  western  with some grand canyon scenery thrown in . but if you  re expecting a typical wholesome romantic western  forget it . this movie is pure trash  the romance is between a young girl who has not even gone through puberty and a middle  aged man  the child is also lusted after by other leering men . it  s sickening .  br    br   peter fonda is portrayed as being virtuous by trying to resist his attraction to brooke shields  and her character is mostly the one that pursues the relationship . he tries to shoo her off at first but eventually he gives in and they drive off as a happy  loving couple . it  s revolting .  br    br   i don  t see how this movie could appeal to anyone except pedophiles .  
i can remember seeing this movie as a kid in     or     . hbo would show it late at night back when they were they one and only movie pay channel in existence . back then it was unrated and was the only movie of its kind ever shown on pay television . . . especially back then . i would love to see it now as an adult where i would be more apt to understand the adult theme of it . it was probably the closest thing i had ever seen to pornography at the young age of  or  . luckily i had stupid babysitters and party  going parents on the weekends . most of my memory of this movie was the completely erratic sexual behavior of these two guys . breaking into houses to sniff underwear  feeding on a stranger  s breast milk on a public bus  and fornicating in a cab at the request of one of their female subjects were just a few of the whacked escapades these guys were pulling off . a very racy film for the early    s . until i checked imdb  i had no idea this movie had such a following . most people i talk to have never heard of it .  
beaudray demerille  a weak peter fonda  who also directed   an aging gambler  wins young teen wanda  nevada   pretty  but not talented brooke shields  in a poker game . together the unlikely pair  of course  embark on a search for indian gold in the grand canyon .  br    br   that  s the story and there really is no need to search for a deeper meaning in it . it just isn  t there . the acting is very weak too  which was quite a surprise given the fact that peter fonda was in the lead .  br    br   if you  re looking for something interesting in this film  take a look at the nice scenery and some good looks of a young brooke shields . her character however is so irritating  especially at the beginning  and dumb  that she never quite comes off as sexy or appealing . too bad  but  given the story  i doubt anything more could be made of this . i wonder why peter fonda directed and starred in this film . he must have even talked his father  henry fonda  into a  useless  cameo in this ridiculous mess . unfortunately  this was their only film together . couldn  t henry be in easy rider for example       
i originally saw this film years ago during cinemax friday after dark series  back when the cable box was built like a keyboard   and it intrigued me . even though there is a pointless aspect to the film it is well acted . the performances of depardieu  dewaere are very enjoyable . they have a good chemistry together  miou  miou makes a pink fur look breathtaking . a movie like this probably wouldn  t be made in these politically correct times  at least not in the us   since it seems to sensationalize things like violence  robbery   casual sex . this movie proves that with a talented cast  also talented directing a good movie is a good movie no matter the subject . it saddened me to find out patrick dewaere committed suicide  in the near future i  ll will check him out with depardieu  miou  miou in get out your hankerchief .  
any movie in which brooke shields out  acts a fonda is going to be both an anomaly and a horror . shields actually is only bad because she  s youthful  inexperienced  and clearly not well directed by her co  star . peter fonda is bad because  well  because he  s bad . i liked him in ulee  s gold  years later  but lord above  he  s awful here . not that anyone else is good . there  s not a single performance  outside henry fonda  s delightful cameo  that is even passable . i  ve never seen a movie with this many bad performances . in the case of luke askew  the chief villain  it  s clear this is because of poor dialogue and direction  as he  s done good work in the past . but his partner  played by ted markland  is an embarrassing ham . the writing is just bloody awful  and the actors cannot be faulted for the terrible things they have to say . but they say them so badly  the editing and direction are worse than pedestrian . shots are held way too long for no dramatic reason  or cut off before the impact of the scene can be realized . this picture was far worse than i  d imagined and would have been utterly forgotten  and probably never even made  without the participation of a couple of famous names . one bright spot the cinematography in the grand canyon is exquisite  capturing the beauty of that area in a way even big  screen imax productions have not quite done so well . and finally either this is a bad version of paper moon  with a lovable pair of father  daughter types  or it  s a bad version of pretty baby  with a considerably more icky romantic relationship between a forty  something and a    year  old . it suggests more of the latter than the former  and thus is pretty disturbing .  
the movie has a distinct  albeit brutish and rough  humanity for all its borderline depravity  the zippy  lyrical score points up the comic side of their misadventures  and even when they  re at their most thuggish  like terrorizing the woman on the train   a semi  pitiful vulnerability lurks never far away  dewaere sucks on her breasts like a baby  . blier cuts away from the scene where depardieu may be about to rape dewaere  so we  re never sure how explicitly to read the manifestly homoerotic aspect of their relationship  either way  that incident is the start of their relative humanization  so the movie could certainly be read as pro  gay  although it could likely be read as pro  anything you want  . the movie has many objectionable scenes and points of sexual politics and is probably best taken as a general cartoon on the foibles of both sexes  making a mockery of the whole notion of sensitivity and honesty  and hitting numerous points of possible profundity on the basis that if you fire off enough shots  some of them are bound to hit .  
wanda nevada is a pubescent fantasy movie using circa     ideas of what constitutes illicit romance for   year old girls . script  pacing  and direction are uniformly awful . action sequences defy belief . characters speak with the simplified diction one usually finds in films aimed at the under   set  but also includes multiple sexual references involving shields  character as well as graphic deaths .  br    br   the movie wants to be a comedy on some level but is never funny  an adventure picture but plot and action are insipid  and a children  s movie but introduces pedophilia and child rape as real possibilities . it also wants to be a buddy picture  a coming of age picture  a ghost movie  an indian spiritual movie  a travelogue  and a western . the overall affect is of massive stupidity with a nasty twist . wanda nevada is a complete waste of time unless you want to see a good many terrific shots of the grand canyon . that it manages to do just fine .  
not sure if this counts as a spoiler or not  so beware  br    br   just a small but crucial thing to watch for  an intriguing possibility the boys steal a green citroen at one point  for a joy ride  and return it to the owner having done purposeful and vengeful hidden damage to the car  hoping that the owner will crash . is it the very same car they steal much later from the picnicking family  we know the original owner sold it . they drive off at the end on a dangerous road  one which i understand has been closed to all but pedestrians for the last ten years . a whole new slant to the end of the film .  br    br   on another matter  this film could have been called  scent of a woman  . i don  t recall another film  certainly not american  that treats the scent of a woman in such a frank and open manner  much like the  nose  of a fine bordeaux .  
peter fonda is so intentionally enervated as an actor that his lachrymose line  readings cancel out any irony or humor in the dialogue . he trades sassy barbs and non  witty repartee with brooke shields as if he were a wooden block with receding hair even his smaller touches  like fingering a non  existent mustache on his grizzled face  don  t reveal a character so much as an unsure actor being directed by himself  an unsure filmmaker . in the southwest circa      a poor gambler  not above a little cheating  wins an orphaned  would  be teen lolita in a botched poker game after getting hold of a treasure map promising gold in the grand canyon  the bickering twosome become prospectors . some lovely vistas  and an odd but interesting cameo by henry fonda as a grizzled canyon man  are the sole compensations in fatigued comedy  drama  with the two leads being trailed by cartoonish killers who will stop at nothing until they get their hands on that map . shields is very pretty  but   although the camera loves her pouty  glossy beauty   she has no screen presence  and her tinny voice has no range whatsoever   every time she opens her mouth  one is inclined to either cringe or duck .     from   
a wonderful  free flowing  often lyrical film that whisks you along  ever smiling  even if there are truly shocking incidents along the way . one gasps at the way the women are treated and yet ultimately they seem to come through very well and it is much credit to all concerned that so many potentially disastrous scenes all work so very well . this is possibly depardieu  s best performance  certainly his most natural . jeanne moreau performs outstandingly in what must have been a very difficult role to play and including vigorous sex scenes with a couple of guys at least half her age . miou  miou is lovely throughout and again has very difficult scenes to play . initially this seems a down and dirty misogynist rant  romp but as the tale and characters unfold a much more tender and honest picture emerges . in the end this uncompromising and daring film demands respect .  
man oh man  what a piece of crummy film  making  but this is a guilty pleasure from my childhood even though i hate to admit it . they showed this movie on my basic cable system all the time . where i grew up in san jose  california  right on the border of cupertino  we had this thing called the g channel on our cable system . and they basically showed the same one movie over and over and over again . wanda nevada was one of those movies . i fell in lust and love with the young brooke shields and loved her dopey adventures in the grand canyon in the     s . the script makes almost no sense  the direction is poor  the few highlights are that henry fonda makes an appearance  a lot of dialog that  s so bad it  s good and a nice carole king song played over the end credits . maybe you have to be stoned to truly enjoy this flick . and hey  everybody knows there ain  t no gold in the grand canyon   
not so many people like the movies of bertrand blier simply because they don  t understand them . simply because they are different kinds of people .  br    br   if you have not been living under a deep desperation intertwined with great personal hope it may be hard for you to enjoy the humor blier shown here .  br    br   and also the film of blier cannot be classified easily as black  comedy or cult etc . like those of pulp fiction etc . because there is this delicacy which the audience of north  america frequently fail to appreciate .  br    br   when i looked at these two hooligans  dining with jeanne moreau in the seaside restaurant  i felt they were more gentil than any gentleman can have been .  br    br   the urge to make love wildly like these is the normal reaction we feel under the unbearable pressure of meaningless being  symbolized by the camion suddenly emerges at the carrefour .  br    br   so  les valseuses is much better a name than going places . to dance a valse you need to be elegant  but going places you don  t .  
this isn  t one of arbuckle  s or keaton  s better films  that  s for sure . fatty  s wife is tired of all his heavy drinking  so she takes him to a sanitarium where a psychiatrist  keaton  claims to have a guaranteed cure  well  once there  arbuckle accidentally eats a thermometer and is taken to surgery . then  he escapes and is chased about the place where he meets a cute girl who also wants to escape . finally  despite staff chasing them about  they escape at which point it becomes apparent that the girl is crazy and arbuckle is soon recaptured . however  he awakens and everything after the surgery has all been a dream   there was no sexy crazy girl and dr . keaton isn  t as big an incompetent as he seemed in the dream .  br    br   a lack of humor is the biggest problem with the film . sure  making fun of mentally ill people is pretty low  but in its day it was guaranteed laughs . i  d laugh  too  if there was just something funny to respond to  a lot of energy and that  s all .  br    br   fyi   during one of the chase sequences  fatty wonders into a race for men over    pounds  wow  what are the odds of that   . and  shortly after this  he backs into a post on which the number  was just freshly painted . as a result  the five is now on the back of fatty  s shirt and he looks like a regular participant . however  the number should have appeared backwards on fatty  s shirt but came out front  ways   a mistake  as they should have realized the mirror image would have been a backwards  .  
bertrand blier is indeed l  enfant terrible of french cinema and in the seventies he always could shock the public . filmed with his fave duo  depardieu and dewaere  and the usual dose of sex  miou  miou plays her typical role  at least the one from the seventies as little could we know that a decade later she would be the best french actress ever  . in first  les valseuses  is also one of the first roadmovies as the viewer is just taken to some journeys of two little criminals . those who only are satisfied with family life  or simply know nothing more  the movie would be quite a shocker but this movie is more than just that  it just let you think of all the usual things in life  working for the car  being bounded at work etc .  . it  s a sort of critic towards the hypocrite society we  re living in . great job and it just makes you wish two things  dewaere died just too young as he was a topactor and of course depardieu  he  d better should have stuck with french movies as he proves here that no one can beat him . timeless classic and   years later it will still shock some . . .  
despite some moments in heavy rain  an encounter with a drunk as well as an organ grinder with a gypsy and a monkey  and a stay in a sanitarium  this roscoe  fatty  arbuckle silent comedy short with support from buster keaton and al st . john is only fitfully amusing though there is a quite funny sequence of arbuckle in drag flirting with buster that  s the ultimate in  meet cute  scenes especially since it  s one of the few times we see the great stone face smile and laugh in the movies  also  many scenes seem to have been jump cut edited possibly because of overuse of the film stock . still  if you  re an arbuckle or keaton completist  good night  nurse  is certainly worth a look .  
pierce brosnan the newest but no longer james bond  is an assassin . he is very very good at what he does  but he  s getting old and tired . greg kinnair is really good as the straight and narrow business man . now when the story opens the movie shows these two people in their separate lives . then one night they are having drinks in a bar  and they begin to talk . then all of a sudden you find these two people getting drawn together during a series of events . the story is excellent  the acting is top notch  and the humor is hilarious i never thought that pierce brosnan would be this funny  but he really is and i must say this movie is a must see .  
having watched both the lion king and lion king ii and enjoyed both thoroughly . i thought lion king  .  might be worth watching . what a disappointment  disney must be getting desperate for revenues .  br    br   especially now that they lost the deal with pixar .  br    br   basically  they just picked up some bits of footage that were left on the editor  s floor  or garbage can  and glued them together to make a  br    br   quick buck . unlike lk i  ii  both of which had strong story lines .  br    br   this movie hardly has a story at all . while the characters and animation are always fun to look at  there is simply not enough material here for a movie . some of the bits could have been good  nd disk fillers on the original offerings .  br    br   disney  shame on you for putting this trash out to make a quick buck   br    br   next time take the time and effort and put our an enduring work .  
this is one a most famous movies of the french sexual empowerment of the seventies  starring gerard depardieu and patrick dewaere in extremely sarcastic roles . it is also one of the many dark psychological dramas of the seventies  eighties  such as  serie noire    buffet froid    beau pere   all realized by blier .  br    br   however  i would like to correct the previous comment that was posted on the movie the translated title in english is very far from the french version . it is true that both protagonists are  going places   but the title in french could be literally translated by  the waltz dancers   which is a metaphor for the movement of the testicles . . .  
what  s to like about this movie     br    br   it is in colour   br    br   it has some impressive underwater photography   br    br   it has a rhythmic musical score in the background that works well at times   br    br   so  out of     br    br   sometimes the music is speeded up  especially when the shark or the baddies are about to move in   br    br   sometimes it is slowed  as if to convey to the audience it  s about to be time for sympathy   br    br   as another one bites the dust  as if in a  spagetti western  this has much similarity to   br    br   it  s not that the italians can  t produce quality productions  there was a series of tv movies with a heading like  octopus  numbered about  to   screened on sbs tv in australia in the     s about mafia  type conflicts  and they were excellent  but alas  you won  t find it here     br    br   i assumed it was made about     s  sadly it was   years out of date  as evidenced by a funeral scene near the end   br    br   then there was the razor  sharp bite of the speedy shark that makes for a red dust repeatedly emerging in the bluish waters   br    br   amidst it all  either in bar  room brawl or in observing the latest sea  side bloody demolition by the relentlessly hungry shark  the mate of the hero looks on through his glasses of little concern  as if he too was bored in his relentless role amidst a lack of much evidence of plot or anyone  s character development   br    br   at least the hero indicates a fleeting concern belatedly  for his ex  wife   br    br   but of course  even if the music fails to awaken our realisation  we have the sinister sound in the baddies  voices  as if to nudge us that another dark deed is about to emerge   br    br   and near the end  someone thought of a twist  just when we thought it was all totally predictable  but stay tuned  folks  for you may find another twist  if you are watching closely  to  more or less  warm your heart   br    br   follow the advice of the hero  and have a few beers along the way  it  ll make your viewing of  night of the sharks  more enjoyable   br    br   then you  ll be ready for something like a      movie to ease your way back into reality when this is over     
i had mixed feelings for  les valseuses        written and directed by bertrand blier when i started watching it but i ended up liking it . i would not call it vulgar   dumb and dumber  is vulgar   the sweetest thing  is both vulgar and unforgivably stupid   i would call it shocking and offensive . i can understand why many viewers  especially  the females would not like or even hate it . it is the epitome of misogyny  or so it seems   and the way two antiheroes treat every woman they  d meet seems unspeakable . but the more i think of it the more i realize that it somehow comes off as a delightful little gem . i am fascinated how blier was able to get away with it . the movie is very entertaining and highly enjoyable it is well written  the acting by all is first  class  and the music is sweet and melancholic . actually  when i think of it  two buddies had done something good to the women they came across to they prepared a woman in the train  the lovely  docile blonde brigitte fossey who started her movie career with one of the most impressive debuts in ren clment  s  forbidden games        at age   for the meeting with her husband whom she had not seen for two months they found a man who was finally able to get a frigid marie  ange  miou  miou  exited and satisfied they enlightened and educated young and very willing isabelle huppert  in one of her early screen appearances .  their encounter with jeanne moreau elevates this comedy to the tragic level . in short  i am not sure i  d like to meet grard depardieu  s jean  claude and patrick dewaere  s pierrot in real life and invite them over for dinner but i had a good time watching the movie and two hours almost flew  it was never boring .  
  spoiles  lame south of the border adventure movie that has something to do with the blackmail of a big cooperate executive rosenlski the president of unasco inc . by on the lamb beachcomber david ziegler who  s living the life of reilly  or ziegler  in his beach house in cancun mexico . having this cd  that he gave to his brother james  that has three years of phone conversations between rosenlski and the president of the united states involved in criminal deals . this cd has given david an edge over the international mobsters who are after him .  br    br   the fact that james get  s a little greedy by trying to shake down rosenlski for  million in diamonds not only cost him his life but put david in danger of losing his as well . ropsenlski want  s to negotiate with david for the cd by getting his ex  wife liz to talk to him about giving it up  rosnelski made a deal to pay off her debts if she comes through . david is later killed by rosenliski  s mexican hit  man tony  with the help of a great white shark  who just doesn  t go for all this peaceful dealings on his boss  part .  br    br   tony had taken the cd that liz left for his boss at a local hotel safe and now want  s to murder james  like he did david  and at the same time keep the cd to have something over rosenlski .  br    br   david who had secretly hidden the diamonds that james had on him at the time of his murder is now the target of tony and his men to shut him up for good . david also wants to take the diamonds and at the same time give his boss rosenlski the impression that the cd that david had is lost but use it later  without rosenlski knowing who  s behind it  to blackmail him .  br    br   the movie  night of the sharks  has a number of shark attacks in it with this huge one  eyed white shark who ends up taking out about a half dozen of the cast members including tony . david who  s a firm believer in gun  control uses knives high explosives and molotov cocktails  as well as his fists  to take out the entire tony crew . even the killer shark is finished off by tony but with a hunting knife  not a gun . when it came to using firearms to save his friend and sidekick paco a girlfriend juanita and his priest father mattia lives from tony and his gang guns were a no  no with david he was more of a knife and spear man then anything else .  br    br   the ending of the movie was about as predictable as you can make it with david thought to be killed by the one  eyed shark later pops up out of the crowd  after rosenlski was convinced that he  s dead and leaves the village . david continues his life as a free living and loving beachcomber with no one looking to kill him and about two million dollars richer . to david  s credit he had his friend paco give rosenski back his cd but under the conditions that if anything happened to him his cousin  who rosenlski doesn  t know who and where he is  will shoot his big mouth off and let the whole world know about his dirty and criminal dealings .  
updated version of a story that had been turned into the film in     england  return of the frog  concerning the pursuit by the police of a master criminal known as the frog because of the frog like get up  bulging eyes etc  he wears .  br    br   one of the good wallace films from the      s it  s a solid little entertainment . clearly influenced by  or did this influence  the restart of the dr mabuse films  the frog seems to be more a super villain than a master thief . while not the best of the wallace films  it is worth a look . it would make an interesting double feature with the excellent earlier film .  br    br   between  and  out of   .  
this is one really bad movie . i  ve racked my brain and i cannot come up with one positive comment to make . the acting is atrocious . i  ve seen more believable performances on cable access . the plot is ridiculous . stolen diamonds  secret recordings of the president  and a shark that attacks anything that gets near it should have made for cheesy fun at the worst . night of the sharks isn  t even so bad it  s good . the dialogue sounds and is delivered as if it were written seconds before it  s filmed . and to top it off  night of the sharks has the worst soundtrack i  ve ever heard . i  m surprised my ears didn  t start bleeding from the   s techno synthesized sounds that someone actually bothered to record .  br    br   from everything i  ve read  the italian film industry was dead by     . night of the sharks is like a final nail in the coffin .  
this is one of the better classic edgar wallace movies from the german series  it features all basics for a highly enjoyable wallace crime flic movie way back from the   ies although his majesty  mr . kinski  is missing you still have young joachim  blacky  fuchsberger  starring once again as the typical clever american  womanizer   you have young eddi arendt in his best  and just as well typical  role ever  the cool  sophisticated british butler  and you have  not so young anymore  lowitz as the melancholic yet very  dry  ironic  and thus highly entertaining  police investigator . furthermore you  ll get offered a freakish and very campy  evil guy  behind a frog mask  hence the movie  s title    you  ll get a crazed  out swinging soundtrack  classic b  movie action scenes  partly filmed out off the wildest perspectives  please remind the time of its origin    yelling scream queens  and on and on . . . all those ingredients get shaken well up in a sweet tastin  cocktail of pure german edgar wallace campyness  highly recommended    
i gave it a  instead of a  because i think  the wild women of wongo  is worse . this is an exercise in patience . it  s like having your teeth cleaned by a bad dental hygienist . there  s no plot . there  s no logic . there is certainly no acting  although the shark has some quality dialogue  . we don  t wonder about anything . we don  t know how people got where they got . it  s always amazing to me how things like this even get released . i agree with the previous writer that it isn  t even funny bad . i know . it  s about   minutes long and that will fill up about that much space on a dvd collection . it  s like a paperweight . or a bad painting you bought at a starving artists  sale . it covers the crack in the wall .  
robot jox doesn  t suffer from story or bad effects . i mean  this was     if you know what i  m talking about . robocop  still used the stop animation as most of the movies did throughout the    s . if you look at your biggest blockbusters during this period  most of them did what they could with the special effects shots that was available to them at the time . it wasn  t until terminator   judgment day was released the following year that a breakthrough in technology was realized  and story boarders began to use that motive . but you  ll have fond memories of transformers  gundam wing  even power rangers  if you watch this film . the enemy robot is very menacing . it makes you not want to face the man without a really good back  up plan . and there are some great moments within this film . a traitor  spy is working within their midsts . who you think is on your side  backing you up all the way  could be the person you didn  t expect him  her to be . and that  s very troublesome to think so  don  t you agree   
i can see the guys doing the budget preparation for this flick .  well lets see now  we spend    getting dirk benidict  cause battle star galactic and the a  team were cool . the we spend    making a demon costume  never mind that the demon is supposed to be incorporeal in the script . and we spend the rest making the movie .  this was pretty bad and very cliche . . . . have a loved one present when watching  or bring a good book   
yep  you read that right  kids . michael bay should  ve studied this film before making either of his over hyped  overlong  overly pointless  transformers  movies .  robot jox  is better than both of them and it probably cost less than the  transformers  crew spent on megan fox  s personal trainer .  br    br   thankfully  this little robotic gem  initially known mainly for being the film that bankrupted charles and albert band  s empire pictures studio  seems to have developed a cult following over the years . i fondly remember watching it on vhs during its initial video release in the early   s and though some of the cold war  era politics  stereotypes were already out of date by that time  just the bands  luck that communism would fall while the film was sitting on a shelf waiting to be released  eh    it  s still a pretty damn cool little b  movie . they really don  t make  em like this anymore  or if they do  they go the bay route and cgi things to unbearable proportions .  br    br   for those who are unfamiliar  here  s the robo  scoop we  re somewhere in the future and after a nuclear holocaust  large scale  wars  have been outlawed . disputes between nations are now settled mano  a  mano  or perhaps that should be machine  o  machine  o  by one representative from each side battling each other in giant sized shogun warrior style robots . whichever  bot walks away from the fight wins for  his  side . gary graham  who would later go on to play detective sykes in the  alien nation  tv series   plays  achilles   the greatest robot jock in marketplace  a . k . a . the good guys  history . achilles has been undefeated in his previous nine robot bouts  ten being the maximum number of battles before a  jock  is retired  and at the beginning of the film he faces off against his counterpart from the  confederation   i . e . the russkies    the psychotic alexander  who is the most over the top  evil russian  stereotype bad guy since dolph lundgren  s infamous turn as ivan drago in  rocky iv   . the match is called a draw when alexander violates the rules with an illegal robot move at the last minute and ends up not only embarrassing achilles  but killing a whole bunch of spectators in the bargain . a rematch is scheduled to complete the bout  but achilles simply wants to bow out  hang up his helmet and move on with his life . rather than violate the spoiler rules by revealing much more  i will simply say that there are a great deal of twists and turns  behind the scenes skullduggery  and other difficulties for achilles and his fellow  jox  before the two robotic titans clash finally once again in the finale .  br    br   i hope i  m not making this movie out to be some sort of masterpiece of science fiction  because it isn  t .  robot jox  is just plain fun . i  ll grant that it is a bit higher  concept than your average b  grade sci  fi movie  and though the budgetary constraints do occasionally make themselves known  especially in the scenes involving some painfully obvious green  screen trickery   it is still the best looking movie ever to come out of the empire  full moon pictures factory . the robot fight scenes are very well done using old school stop motion  model techniques  and the sets and costumes don  t look half  assed in the slightest . empire pictures and director stuart   re  animator   gordon were definitely shooting for the stars with this picture . unfortunately it didn  t quite pan out for them  or the studio  but at least we got one heckuva cool little movie out of the deal . bottom line if you want to be aurally and visually assaulted for   hours  feel free to rent a  transformers  movie . by the end you  re likely to feel like you  ve spent all that time watching someone else play a video game . if you want to have a rock  em  sock  em robot good time  pick up robot jox instead .  
this is a simple tale but it feels very manipulative . it lacks pathos for it does not leave a room for imagination or a personal thought or time for reflection .  br    br   the animation is well done but i feel like it is too presentational . i would have preferred more images from behind  more space in the background and maybe then this would not feel so kitsch to me .  br    br   but for a hollywood style film it works ok but it is very derivative of aardman films and this is bothering to me . perhaps a longer film will test if this maker can do without the voice  over .  br    br   i think the voice over is too glib .  
from the start i knew i would be in for the best movie watching experience of my life . the idea of two giant robots  manned by brilliant humans  fighting each other for control of the world was the most intense and well thought of plot i have ever experienced . i can  t even begin to describe the brilliant acting and well written script . let  s just just say it compares to both lord of rings pictures  combined . the academy had a grave oversight in not celebrating the joy that is . . . . . robot jox .  
  sherrybaby  is quite a painful and sordid melodrama set in jersey  the story of a young mother who is out of jail on probe after a drugs  related conviction and fights to stay clean  to find a place for herself in life and especially to win back the love of her kid daughter who is being taken care by her brother  s family . the only reason the film is to be watched is maggie gyllenhaal  an actress at the top of her career  who fits very well in the role and carries the whole film on her shoulders . this is not enough however  as the story line is too simplistic and expected  and the emotional emphasis is put on the wrong place  i kept asking myself all over the picture whether i am supposed to be sorry about the ex and maybe future drug addicted mother as the director and script  writer wanted  or about the innocent kid who is in the middle . even maggie gyllenhaal  s acting could not convince me that i should not care more about the kid .  
after seeing this excellent film over    times  i still find new things that blow me away with this movie  great special effects  incredible acting  and a plot full of ingenious twists makes this movie an excellent depiction of capitalism versus communism  and in this ending everyone is happy and all is well . best movie ever     
this piece of crap  since i can  t call it a movie  can be summed up by the following .  br    br    stereotypical black criminal with black midget partner get in trouble  black midget pretends to be a baby with a fully developed adult face  body hair and genitalia  black midget is mistaken  somehow  by man and woman who happen to want a baby  black midget than goes on to commit acts of physical and sexual violence  demean white people wherever he sees them  and commit more crimes  happy ending  br    br   honestly  it could have been a good satire if it hadn  t been directed so shallowly and had such talentless bastards star in it .  
the one of the most remarkable sci  fi movies of the millennium . not only a movie but an incredible future vision  this movie establishes a new standard of s  f movies . hail and kill   
when watching little man  you  ll spend its running time trying to figure out its many plot holes . and thats not a good sign because this film is supposed to be a comedy  your supposed to be laughing at it   but will you  probably not .  br    br   the main problem with little man is its concept  its far too ridiculous to accept  even as a cartoonish comedy   so when the loud  laboured and over the top jokes kick in  they make the whole thing seem ten times stupider than it already is .  br    br    but its a comedy  some of you might be screaming . thats true but thats no excuse for such a dumb plot . i mean come on  think about it if you saw a baby with a grown mans face  wouldn  t you be the least bit suspicious  and if calvin wanted to hide the diamond so badly  why didn  t he put it in a nearby shelf instead of a random womans hand bag  and how can a qualified doctor not recognise that calvin is a grown man  i mean seriously . . . what   br    br    its not about the plot  its about the laughs  you might be screaming . well heres the thing see  there are hardly any laughs in little man and that just make the dumb ass plot stand out all the more .  br    br   if you really want to watch a wayans brothers comedy with a belief suspending plot  stick to white chicks because at least that had a few decent laughs . what ever you do steer clear of little man .  
hrm  i think that line was from the old movie posters .  br    br   this is a dumb movie that seems to have been translated from some language that was totally unfamiliar to the translator . here  s a tip any movie that starts with a black screen and text reading  in the future . . .  is going to be fun . this means that the premise is so implausible that they have to explain it to you .  br    br   in this case   in the future . . .  means that  instead of fighting wars  nations have guys climb into giant robots and duke it out to determine  well  that  s never terribly clear  but it  s probably something really important . there are good guys  obviously capitalists  i . e .  us   and bad guys  commies   and there are big stop  motion robots .  br    br   sadly  the effects budget was pretty slim  so we don  t get to see a lot of the big robots . there are plenty of cheap looking interior scenes  and then a big space fight near the end . the space fight is especially nice  as it serves precisely no purpose other than the blow the remainder of the effects budget .  br    br   with said money now spent  the climactic fight degenerates into  and i  m not making this up  two guys hitting each other with sticks . i can always get a laugh in a bar by re  enacting the final scene  complete with a last line guaranteed to leave any audience scratching their heads .  br    br   like i said  it  s dumb . that  s why i bought the tape .  
since this picture is classified a  pure entertainment  work and since there are already many comments on it  i  d like hereby to address something relevant to the abuse of humour . we can see that marlon wayans is playing the joker role in this film . certainly as long as he has been involved in the casting job  he has always been acting as a little man  an actor can change his customary dress but can hardly change his physical appearance  and the latter one can be an advantage when necessary . however far away from what i expected  i saw an image very disguising  pretending to expose different aspects of the baby life by mistake of a forty  year  old criminal . and with a ridiculous happy ending . so what is the point  many elements are mixed up  some principal ones are violence  sex and criminal activities  amongst which the story is badly composed and to some extent  lack common sense where is vanessa when the peace of her house is violated and her husband  s life being pursued  in addition the diamond is even bigger than the world  s no .  cullinan  but the most sickening facet is the continuous attempt to make up the little man as a superman by showing his physical weak points . and they call it humour . a diamond is precious  hard and fragile it cannot be cut by any other material but only be conquered by the hot blood of a male goat . hence it  s no more a diamond but pieces of debris .  
this will not likely be voted best comedy of the year  a few too many coincidences and plot holes . however we are talking about a movie where a hit  man and a white bread salesman become buddies so a few vagaries shouldn  t come as too much of a surprise . brosnan is excellent in this role  gone is the wooden james bond  a role he was wasted in  . if he can maintain this kind of quality i hope he continues to make comedies . greg kinnear is also excellent as brosnan  s straight man . i  ve read a few negative comments in here about hope davis but i thought she was quite good as a mousy housewife with a dark side buried deep within . there are lots of good chuckles as brosnan sleazes his way through and a few scenes where i nearly died laughing . my father  a consultant  nearly lost it when julian describes himself as a  facilitator  . much like  grosse pointe blank   another hit  man comedy  the humour can be very dark . if you are in to that be prepared to enjoy yourself .  
a dedicated fan to the tlk movies  with the first one being a milestone and the second probably the best sequel disney has produced  along comes this film . . . now i  m not arguing with animation  voice work  music  but this is no more than a timon  pumbaa screwloose in the tlk atmosphere . although it isn  t bad  it doesn  t add anything . basically this movie is one big joke . . . and that  s about all that saves it . make a real tlk   disney  the potential is there .  br    br        
the scenes are fast  paced . the characters are great . i love anne  marie johnson  s acting . i really like the ending .  br    br   however  i was disappointed that this movie didn  t delve deeper into achilles  s and athena  s relationship . it only blossomed when they kissed each other .  
so  has it really come to this  are we  as consenting adults  to blame for the next generation of cinema  goers lack of cinematic understanding and celluloid capability  concerning the wayans and co . latest addition to the moving pictures scenario little man . this united kingdom p . g .  parental guidance   anyone under the age of twelve must be accompanied by a responsible adult  certificated movie  is the epitome of what has now developed into the worse case of dumbing down since cigarettes were  wiped out  from pictures of movie icons of the      s .  br    br   the predominantly under twelve  s audience here who  some without grown up supervision too  sat there  obediently  taking it all in  oblivious to their subject and the partly grown up features that little man portrays  in part at least too . movies  in general  can do better than this poor attempt  while this nonsense is getting them in while they are still young and fresh  the biggest fear for the future of cinema is that a child  s ignorance just might carry on through to a grown up bliss . cinema deserves more than this  and so do its ever growing  and in the literal sense too  audiences  this blatant cash cow feeds on the ever  impressionable minds of the young .  br    br   there is no cinema experience here  no open eyed wonder  no awe  inspiring respect to the magic of movies  . there is nothing but bewilderment and contempt  for the lack of substance  originality and its delivery of mind less tedium and parody of everything that is so now ultimately wrong with the hollywood machine  for the sake of a quick buck  we must endure our future cinema audiences to the likes of this archetypal disaster movie .  br    br   will this have the likes of hitchcock  fassbinder  leone  kubrick and schaffner reeling in their graves  money they all liked  no doubt  but talent and exuberance for perfection and quality  and to a vast degree  respect for their profession and audience  they were never short off . we are seeing  once again  with the works of the wayans clan another clich of bad taste  while the likes of white chicks       were in no doubt a stab at the bourgeoisie of american society . the irony here is that the two leading protagonists  played yet again  by the wayans brothers  are so much undercover  that all recognition is non  existent  this makes for a better movie too  and it is the actor terry crews that gives white chicks its substance and personality  not the wayans .  br    br   yet again  with their pastiche of      s blaxploitation movies  as with the     movie i  m gonna git you sucka  this to can be seen as a comical and amusing movie  with heavy weights as isaac hayes  jim brown  bernie casey and the gorgeous actress ja  net du bois . the point being  that little man has absolutely no persona of any kind what so ever  he is shallow and narcissistic  with no appreciation or value toward his followers  he quickly dives in takes your money and before we know it  has hidden himself within the cogs of commercialism . there is no recognisable effort as to where our money has been spent  after scary movie        things could only have gone up  but alas they did not  no great pondering of artistic value and no doubt that the instalment from these intrepid movie moguls  next movies shall be straight to video  one can only hope .  br    br   the wayans seem to have created a movie genre all by themselves  to a certain extent they have bludgeoned to death the movie parody  they have watered down each and every avenue and with their inevitable style . they have slowly destroyed the reputation of the last one hundred years that cinema have given us  may the ghosts of movies past be ever so humble in their judgement  as their growing audiences  so far  seem to be  for when the bubble bursts  may they be as understanding too .  
the scenes are fast  paced . the characters are great . i love anne  marie johnson  s acting . i really like the ending .  br    br   however  i was disappointed that this movie didn  t delve deeper into achilles  s and athena  s relationship . it only blossomed when they kissed each other .  
i think its pretty safe to say that this is the worst film ever made  when i saw the trailer on tv i knew right from second  that this would be a piece of  and it would be best to avoid it  but i somehow got dragged into seeing this by some friends  i walked into the cinema with low expectations but i was hoping there would be a couple of cheap laughs to keep me awake during this film . the so  called  jokes  in this film bring a cringe to the face  they are mostly comprised of people taking hits to the face and balls  the baby looking weird and acting like a horny gangsta and the typical race jokes we see so often in todays garbage comedies . the film is obvious and the story is not only impossible to believe but also predictable and dull . the characters are extremely annoying and heavily stereotyped . i never want to have to see this  film again  i  d rather take a bullet to the foot than be exposed to this piece of fuckwood ever again . if anyone i see says they liked it i will physically punch them in the face  
what a master piece . to take the cold war conflict and transport it to the future . this film is satire of the highest order . in my humble opinion it outranks dr . strangelove .  br    br   the clever naming of the two superpowers  as the confederation and the market . cons being commies and market  the west  outstanding . the clever use of gen joxs  was ahead of its time . only are we really seeing the dangers of genetic engineering . robot joxs tackled the issue head on in     .  br    br   the message of this film is about the comradeship of the humble man and how it can overcome the wishes of government . this movies screams don  t do it you fools you  ll kill us all .  br    br   excellent       
i can catogoricaly and unequivocally say that in all my   years on this planet that is the worse  supposibly children  s  film i have ever seen in my life .  br    br   i took my three grand children to see it and even they were struggling to raise a smile during the all tortuous   mins . the sexual indendoes i will leave for another day but they were as tasteless as the film . they should pay you to watch it not you pay them . it  s truly truly awful  there is no other way to describe it . the people that made this film should be brought to task for taking money under false pretences .  br    br   aplogise for my spelling mistakes but i am so upset that it spoilt the time i had with my grandchildren regards  stephen  
note to previous reviewer this movie is  science  fiction adaptation of the iliad  according to the screenwriter . so whether the references are painful or not  no apologies  it is the basis for the film . they admit they stole . . . though adapted is the p . c . term .  br    br   great flick but too short . probably didn  t come out as well as the author  director  or studio wanted  but pretty damn fun . the fact that the studio itself imploded during the making only helps add to its legacy .  br    br   a big  budget remake wouldn  t be as fun  and probably wouldn  t do the screenplay any more justice . but it  s fun to dream about the potential there . a dvd release with some meager extras is apparently available but i don  t think it would play on ntsc players . i  m no expert and thus still trying to figure this out . for now  i live with the vhs incarnation .  
i was not impressed about this film especially for the fact that i went to the cinema with my family in good faith to see a film which was certificate rated   a here in the uk . to my dismay  this film was full of embarrassing sexual jokes .  which is not a problem to me as an adult  but not good for watching with children  . this film at times was very crude at times with fart jokes  getting hit in the groin etc . . . and for the most part of the film not very funny .  br    br   the premise of the film is that calvin sims who is a  inch midget  gets out of jail and steals a giant sized diamond but is then forced to put it in a womens handbag . so the rest of the movie sees him passing himself off as an abandoned baby  getting into this womens house so he can get this diamond back .  br    br   up until now  i have enjoyed most of the output from the wayans brothers  but this film is certainly taking the biscuit .  br    br   a bit of good advice  wait till it comes on tv or cable  
ok  this movie was cool . i don  t think it was the best movie ever made but it sure was fun . my brother and i still act out scenes once in a while  and will occasionally yank the movie out of the cupboard  blow off the dust and pop it in . enjoyable all the way until the end  but a great concept . this is a movie that one has to just forget criticism all together and just enjoy . judgment is victory for robot jox .  
what  s the point of reviewing a movie like this  it  s painfully and embarrassingly bad  not even in a way that allows you to make fun of it .  br    br   movies like  little man  depress me . they represent film at its most disposable . this movie was made for a bunch of      year old dipsht frat boys who the studio was hoping would come out and see it on opening night before word leaked out about how bad it was  so that the film could quickly recoup its investment .  br    br   a hundred other filmmakers with great ideas probably couldn  t get their films made because resources were going toward making this puddle of vomit .  br    br   grade f  
  br    br   robot jox is a great little film ok some of the sets are bad and the acting is not that great but the special effects are very good for a film of this size and age . you have to remember that this film is over   years old now and was made very cheaply in the  st place so you cant moan to much about the bad parts . so just sit back and watch a cool film with great big robots in it .  
america . a land of freedom  of hope and of dreams . this is the nation that  since its independence  has striven to bring democracy  prosperity  and peace to the entire world  for the good of all mankind . there are times  however  when one cannot help but wish that the american  s would just stay on their side of the atlantic .  br    br   this  movie   and i use that word with some reservations  evokes these feelings with an intense purity . this vision of hell follows the adventures of calvin  a freakish jewel thief who was created by attaching the severed head of marlon wayan onto the body of a two foot  high dwarf . after inadvertently dropping a large diamond into the handbag of vanessa  a career  woman who is reluctant to have children  calvin realises that in order to recover the diamond he must ingratiate himself with her . so  as any normal man would  calvin dresses himself up as a  year  old and parks himself upon the poor woman  s doorstep  where he is discovered by darryl  the broody husband of vanessa .  br    br   darryl incongruously falls for calvin  s disguise despite the fact that the  baby  has a full set of teeth  stubble  a tattoo  a knife  scar  and the sex  drive of a    year  old . even more absurdly  vanessa doesn  t see past calvin  s baby  wear either and actually attempts to breastfeed the diminutive pervert . this wretched assault upon the soul of mankind attempts  and fails  to find humour in rape  scatology  sexual assault  and paedophilia  however  in a dishonest attempt to transform itself into a piece of  family  entertainment  the wayan brothers stir in a sickening amount of sentiment and flawed morality .  br    br   the brothers dim attempt a freudian rehabilitation of their thieving rapist by revealing that he  had a bad father  . repeatedly hitting darryl in the crotch enables calvin to develop the loving father  son relationship that both he and darryl have always wished for . as if this wasn  t ridiculous enough  calvin  s attempts to sexually assault vanessa somehow convince her that it is selfish for a woman to indulge herself with a successful career  and that instead she should spend her life playing the role of the housebound little  woman  who spends her time alternatively squeezing out babies and cooking for her husband .  br    br   in this movie the wayan brothers have mixed their crass and twisted form of humour together with the clichd sentimentality that has infected much of hollywood  s recent body of work . additionally  they are endemic of the current generation of black comedians who are responsible for transforming african  american humour into a poor and wretched shadow of itself that over  indulges in fart  jokes and crude sexual gags . by rights these two should be legally barred from picking up anything even remotely resembling a camera ever again .  br    br   unfortunately the current artistic and moral bankruptcy of american cinema means that by this time next month they will undoubtedly have filmed two sequels and be making millions of dollars from tacky merchandising deals .  
one of the best movies out there . yeah maybe the cinematography wasn  t the greatest  but an excellent plot and concept . great for the time and brilliant and creative ideas . something different from the usual movies and great fun . one of my favorites and would recommend to anyone who likes creative and imaginative movies . post world war  and fighting in gigantic robots  the actors gave a great performance and made it all worth while . the sets are not amazing  but simple and worked for the overall look of the film . this movie is very hard to find on dvd  but also on vhs . check it out cause i have loved it since it came out . not a mainstream flick and not like anything you  ve ever seen . take a look and think like a child . it  s a great view and very fun .  
  little man   now on dvd  is a wayans brothers flop . it  s the tale of a smaller than a midget criminal played by marlon wayans  who hides a diamond in a lady  s purse after a heist . he and his partner tracy morgan cook up the genius plan to disguise marlon as a baby and plant him at the lady  s home . he then goes through all sorts of  home alone  or  child  s play  like mayhem to get the jewel back and be treated like a baby . i was surprised by how low the humor was in this film . the jokes have been done in other places so many times  that they aren  t cute or funny . i almost think the movie might have been funnier if they didn  t use cgi and used the small actor who marlon  s face was pasted over . in watching the deleted scenes  minus cgi  this actor was funny in a mini  me like way  but they chose a different route . a few cameos and tracy morgan make some funny scenes . . spend your rental fee  on borat if you want some real laughs these days .  br    br   http   mcmusicnotes . blogspot . com  
my girlfriend and i have a thing for robots . so i try to seek out movies that have robots . and this movie has robots . big ones . they beat the clang and bang out of each other  with the fate of nations hanging in the balance . it  s really cool . you have to forgive this movie its many shortcomings and just try to appreciate what the director and his crew of technicians were able to put on the screen while working with what was obviously a tight budget . it is very hard to dislike this movie . because of those big robots . they looked like transformers and they fought like pro wrestlers  it made my girlfriend smile . and that is good enough for me . and special mention must be made of veteran character actor paul koslo as the maniacal russian villain  whether he is ruthlessly stomping on his helpless opponents after they  ve already surrendered or complaining that their close proximity to him in a bar has caused his vodka to taste  like blood   a line he delivers with a deliciously campy sub  bela lugosi accent  he is clearly having a ball and the film benefits enormously whenever he is on  screen . this is a nifty little flick that deserves its cult reputation .  
this is exactly the reason why many people remain homeless . . . because stupid producers pay their money to make awful films like this instead of donating if they can bother   br    br   this film is even worse than white chicks  little man has a lame excuse for posing a character midget as a baby . story is awful considering it was written by six people . the idea still wouldn  t be too bad though  if it was original and not a rip  off of a cartoon episode . it has funny moments but some of them are way over  done and some are just stupid . the acting was very  very bad . so was the directing . anyone involved in this film should be ashamed of themselves . it is racist and very offensive to midgets . i mean  instead of showing sympathy to them  the film  makers make fun of them  it really disgusts me how they do it . they see midgets being just like babies . and for a character who is a midget  pretending to be an abandoned baby just to get a diamond from a certain family . that is its lame excuse for showing something like that . it just was not worth it . don  t watch this film . it is a huge waste of time and money .  
what a great film it is . the notion of nations sending people fighting each other with giant robots is tacky . the ending is not just a fitting one  it  s more inspirational .  br    br   but i am intrigued by the characters . it is a pity we never see the relationship of achilles and athena more developed beyond just a couple of kisses and athena  s fear for achilles  s safety . their romance is very enjoyable .  br    br    
this movie is most possibly the worst movie i have ever see in my entire life  the plot is ridiculous and the whole  little man  crap is just so stupid . the entire movie is unrealistic and dumb . let  s face it  it  s just a  black comedy  . this is just a pointless horrible piece that should have never made it to theaters . the jokes are not funny and the acting is horrendous . please  i beg of to you save your money than see this worthless piece of crap . i had to endure sitting through little man for an hour and a half wishing my eyes would bleed . i am disgusted that something like this would even be thought of  who writes this crap  the actors have no talent what so ever  how do these people get into hollywood  they are making money off this junk   
i remember this movie from when i was    it was amazing . . i remember it to the day not like most thing i watched back then  i have even tried to buy it but its like rocking horse sht  anyway  the acting is a bit chewy but the story is amazing considering it was a real b movie with a low budget and event the fighting scenes were amazing to watch  i must have watched it about   times . it was a very well made movie and i loved the idea of fighting giant man controlled robots  pity they had to spoil it by making a crappy spin off  crash and burn   don  t watch that movie by the way it is total pants  if your a real sci  fi movie fan then watch this  if it was re  made today it would be a winner . . i really would love to see a remake or even release the dvd of it .  
like some of the other reviewers have alluded to previously  i  d like to know what moron actually read the script and went    yea    this is it . this is the next film we are going to green light    and whoever that person is  should have his or her head examined for actual brain activity . because whoever is responsible for actually dishing out money to have this made after reading the script  well  i  d love to give you my email address and maybe you  d like to just give away some more money . this film is atrocious in every way .  br    br   the wayans are funny  at least they can be . they have made some good films and had some incredibly funny performances along the way . but in here  not only does the premise defy all logic  not only is the acting terrible  not only is the entire movie offensive from start to finish  not only is the direction as amateurish as you can find  but they actually want you to pay to see this film . maybe if it was free . . . naaah  it would still be a waste of time .  br    br   usually i  d be inclined to write some long winded  detailed review about why this film is so bad  but just suffice to say that let my brevity do the talking . this is the lowest common denominator film making and it is about as unfunny as a heart attack .  br    br       . . makes my top ten list of worst films of all time   
  the matador  is a dark comedy starring pierce brosnan as an aging hit man who befriends a straight  arrow  happily  married american businessman  greg kinnear  in mexico . although the sardonic julian  ironically surnamed  noble   appears to be a  tough guy  on the surface  underneath he is really just a mass of neuroses and insecurities  a man who realizes that his chosen profession has left him virtually alone in the world and friendless . thus on his birthday  he reaches out to danny  a man who has lived his life playing by the rules and who becomes strangely intrigued by julian  s  unconventional  lifestyle . in fact  both men find in each other the person they could never be but wish they could become in their quieter  franker moments of self  evaluation .  br    br   although the film is a bit too reminiscent of  analyze this  and  midnight run  to feel entirely fresh and original   the matador   nevertheless  earns points for the complexity of its characters and the quality of its acting . brosnan  looking aged and almost used up  sinks his teeth into the role of julian in a way he never has before . playing a man who seems constitutionally unable to make a serious connection with another human being  brosnan is flip and cavalier one moment  then genuine and sympathetic the next . he always keeps us off balance so that the humor never becomes crass or stale . kinnear is also excellent as the regular joe businessman who finds himself pulled ever more to the dark side as his relationship with julian deepens . hope davis does a fine job as  bean   danny  s loyal and loving wife who  like her husband  finds herself intrigued by this mysterious and  dangerous  figure from a world far different from the one she knows .  br    br   at times  we find ourselves feeling that  the matador  is holding something back from us  not quite plumbing the depths of its situation and premise . at the end it feels a little too light  a little too insubstantial to register the impact it should . this could be because this is the feature film debut for writer  director richard shephard  and he hasn  t quite gotten his movie pacing down yet . still  one appreciates the fact that he doesn  t always go for the obvious and that he keeps tightly focused on the two main figures in the piece  rarely settling for the trite setup or the easy laugh .  br    br    the matador  is a flawed but generally entertaining little comedy that will  hopefully  signal a new phase in brosnan  s acting career .  
i saw and liked the first two a lot  really . especially because the second is not just a try to make another one as good as the first . and it  s a story standing alone . you don  t have to know the first movie . i liked that in the  free willy  movies  too .  br    br   but . . . the third  here is absolutely useless  i tried it with a friend of mine  because we both liked the first two . we decided to stop after a good half an hour . the movie is okay  there are funny parts in it alright . but what for  timon and pumba were funny creatures in the first two movies . what lion king     is for me is a hard attempt to get even more fun of the first movie than it had already  plus telling the story from their point of view . but what for  i  d really like to know . you know  the idea of the two of them sitting in the cinema watching the first one  is really nice . but what comes after is mostly unnecessary . i guess many people liked timon and pumba  and so do i really . yet  for me many parts were very constructed with a try to be funny . no chance  most of it wasn  t funny at all  at least for me . btw . what was the movie about anyway  was it a  about timon and pumba or b  an attempt to get more fun out of the first movie  i tend to choose option b and i  m very disappointed about it .  br    br   if you like to see stories like  the story behind xy   you should see  rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead  by tom stoppard with tim roth and gary oldman . that  s really funny and no try to get more out of  hamlet  then it has .  
now i  ve always been a fan of full moon  s puppet work . but i have to say that robot jox is one of there better projects . yes  you heard me . the story works wonderful  the atmosphere really works and the actors do a first rate job . gary graham who really makes his mark on tv in shows like alien nation the series and star trek enterprise shows that he can be an action star who kicks ass and takes name . the stop motion effects could have been a tiny bit better . the color was wrong  they look plastic to me instead of the metal they were suppose to be . but that is a minor complaint compared to the whole that is the robot jox  if you like gary graham or other full moon movies  then you will like this movie .  stars out of   .  
it  s here . finally a movie comes out that i can honestly say is worse than larry the cable guy health inspector . yet i  m willing to bet the the wayan  s brothers  hilarious  will make more money than i ever make in my whole life on what is sure to be one of the top five worst films of all time  outside of my fifth grade outside the class re  enactment of romeo and juliet . i mean really why would anyone ever ever see this movie unless they were paid to . the comedy is weak and all even remotely funny jokes from the flimsy plot were surely revealed in commercials . final word is this movie was a terrible letdown for me . and the commercials looked so promising . . .  
this movie i  ve loved since i was young  its excellent . although  it may be a bit much for the average movie watcher if one can  t interpret certain subtleties in the film  for example  our hero  s name is achilles  and in the final battle between him and alexander he  s shot in the heel with a rocket  just as achilles in mythology was shot in his heel  . that  s a just a little fact that is kind of amusing  anyway  great movie  good story  it  d be neat to see it redone with today  s special effects  oddly enough  gary graham had average success  starring in the t . v . show alien nation . this movie is a fun watch and should be more appreciated   
there are some extremely talented black directors spike lee  carl franklin  billy dukes  denzel and a host of others who bring well deserved credit to the film industry . then there are the wayans brothers who at one time     years ago  had an extremely funny television show  in living colour  that launched the career of jim carrey amongst others . now we have stupidity substituting for humour and gross out gags  toilet humour  as the standard operating procedure . people are not as stupid as those portrayed in  little man  they couldn  t possibly be . a baby with a full set of teeth and a tattoo is accepted as being only months old  baby comes with a five o  clock shadow that he shaves off . it is intimated that the baby has sex with his foster mother behind her husbands  darryl  s  back . oh  yea that is just hilarious . as a master criminal  little man  is the stupidest on planet earth . he stashes a stolen rock that is just huge in a woman  s purse and then has to pursue her . co  star chazz palminteri  why chazz  offers the best line  i  m surrounded by morons .  based  without credit  on a chuck jones cartoon  baby buggy bunny . this is far too stupid to be even remotely funny . a clue as to how bad this film is damon wayans appeared on jay leno the other night  prior to the bat awards and he did not  even mention this dreadful movie . when will hollywood stop green lighting trash from the wayans brothers . when they get over their white mans guilt in all likelihood .  
if you like mech war games it  s pretty good . some of it is cheap but the robot fights is worth seeing . i  ve enjoyed the mech war field for some time and this is pretty much the only movie i  ve ever seen that come close to that feeling of what it would be like to pilot one of those huge mechs . if you like the genera then games you like are mech warrior three and four and if you have an xbox and     to spare steel battalion . the movie is worth seeing at least once . there really needs to be some more movies on the same theme out there . less remakes and more original works .  br    br   enjoy  
there was a bugs bunny cartoon titled  baby buggy bunny  that was exactly this plot . baby  faced finster robbed a bank and the money in the carriage rolled away and fell into bug  s rabbit hole . he dressed up as a baby to get into bugg  s hole to retrieve the money . the scene in  little man  where he  s looking in the bathroom mirror shaving with a cigar in his mouth is straight from the cartoon . this was a hilarious   minute cartoon not so much an entire movie . if you are really interested in this  buy the bugs bunny dvd . it  s was much more original the first time       . plus you  ll get a lot more classic bugs bunny cartoons to boot   
robot jox tries hard  but is fundamentally a series of fight scenes strung together   robot against robot  man against man  man against woman . the premise had potential  but it seems the script wasn  t really given the couple of more drafts it needed . still  it was fairly good  for a science fiction action movie . part of it was because the script was by joe haldeman . for those who aren  t familiar with the name  haldeman wrote the award  winning science fiction novel  the forever war .  it  s considered one of the very best powered battle armor novels  right up there with robert heinlein  s  starship troopers  and john steakley  s  armor .  and this movie is really more like a giant powered battle armor movie  rather than giant robots . it  s closer to what fans would have wanted instead of the travesty that was paul verhoeven  s  starship troopers   which bore only a passing resemblance to the novel it was based on .  br    br   despite some assumptions  this really isn  t based on homer  s  iliad .  a couple of names are all they had in common . achilles having his robot  s foot blown off had no parallel in the iliad  which didn  t include achilles  death . nor was the ancient achilles a noble warrior . he was the mightiest  but also vengeful and petty . even the robot jock killed off in the first scene doesn  t fit . he was named hercules  while the greek iliad would have had herakles .  br    br   the effects were fairly good for the time and the budget . true  it wasn  t comparable to  terminator   a year later  but that movie cost ten times as much . the stop motion was almost as good as the robotic walkers in  the empire strikes back  and  return of the jedi .  better  in fact  than a lot of ray harryhausen animation  which is highly regarded  but quite dated .  br    br   don  t bring high expectations into this and you probably won  t be disappointed . it  s better than a lot of other low  budget flicks and even some big  budget blockbuster wannabes that have better effects but far worse scripts .  
 . . . ever . this is the bottom . i am not joking . the theater should  ve had a warning of some kind .  abandon all hope ye who enter here  would  ve been fitting .  br    br   i don  t have the words to describe accurately the hell that this movie is . its debilitating stupidity even fails to amuse . this movie is definitely aimed at some of the slower turtles in the sandbox . the story was blatantly stolen from a   minute bugs bunny cartoon and then stretched like mr . fantastic to   excruciatingly painful minutes .  br    br   i remember when the wayans  s were funny . i guess the pressures of hollywood for them to produce produce produce are to blame for the poop that churns out at a consistent rate . i  m sad and offended that they think we are stupid enough to enjoy   minutes of kick  in  the  balls jokes with a thin plot based on a cartoon .  br    br   i disliked nearly everything about this movie . i won  t spoil anything but the baby is actually a midget with marlon wayans  s face poorly superimposed over the midget  s body . what i did like was the ending . not the movie  s resolution  but the actual end where we all stood up and walked out .  br    br   i gave this movie one star  but it clearly deserves less . i don  t feel that the six minutes they spent writing the script is worth a star . this does deserve a razzie and i pray to god it gets it .  br    br   when are people going to learn if you stop paying to see this idiocy they will stop pooping it out . seppuku is a reasonable alternative to this film . avoid it at all costs . you have been warned .  
i read somewhere  in a fairly panning review  that this is something of a live  action mecha anime  and i think they  re on the right lines . i first watched this movie when i was very young and i  ve been dying to see it again  and when i finally did just recently all the memories came flooding back . i don  t think this is to be taken too seriously  it  s just a bit of good old    s almost  a  tv  movie fun  it is set against the backdrop of a fairly dark future  although this point isn  t stressed too much  . what i admired most about this movie was that the dialogue didn  t sound generic  no clichs  no predictable lines  all in all just good fun  maybe time hasn  t been kind to this little movie  but still i can find appreciation for it in me . it  s by no means perfect  but it  s entertaining and doesn  t try to be anything other than that . let the nerds and comic  store  guys worry about technicalities  who cares  see it for yourself and make your own decision . no  one else  s opinion matters .  
when i saw that imdb users rated this movie the bottom    movies  i thought it was too harsh but little did i know that the low rating was absolutely correct .  br    br   i am a big fan of the wayans brothers . i loved their scary movie  and even enjoyed white chicks . little man  however  had very few laughs and the jokes were stale .  br    br   obviously  the joke will revolve around marlon wayans  who plays a grown midget that was recently let out of prison . he and his partner  tracy morgan  steal a diamond meant for a gangster . things go awry and the midget has to place the diamond with an unsuspecting couple played by shawn wayans and kerry washington . in order to get the diamond back  the midget pretends to be an abandoned baby left on the unsuspecting couples doorstep . of course  he is taken in and the drama begins on quest for the diamond .  br    br   the movie has some actors and actresses from saturday night live like molly shannon and rob schneider as well from in living colour . all these talents  however  cannot help the poor script and the jokes which simply was not funny .  br    br   the special effects to make marlon wayans to look like a midget was ok . i mean  it was not     believable but it was ok . . . nothing great . i just wish that the wayans brothers had put more effort into developing a script with good jokes rather than trying to shore up their poor script with cameos from their famous comedic actors and actresses .  br    br   wait for it on cable or television . it really is not worth any amount of money .  
this film seems to get bad critiscism for some reason . probably just by the mass populace . anyhow  this is actually a very interesting movie . the film is an under  budget sci  fi movie which actually works  due to an interesting storyline and well done scenes .  br    br   this movie may not be for everyone though . if there are any sci  fi fans reading this  i truly recommend this movie if you like good ole science fiction . the film has crazy ideas . the setting includes nations going to war with gigantic machines which the entire countries invest all it  s money in  the world has been divied up into territories . anyone can challenge anyone else to a war  or rather  a  robot  duel  . the method of warfare is cleaner than nuclear war  since now everyone is wearing those breath masks . definetly a movie that makes you think . intelligent  well written  and good effects for the measly budget .  br    br   i tend to like movies which have small budgets and actually work .  
i  ve now just realised that by watching this film i have lost valuable precious moments of my life i will never get back . thsi film isn  t just poor its dire . it reminded me of every stereotypical black sitcom ever made .  br    br   i regret watching this film .  br    br   flixmedia reckons its a race issue  apparently  white  people don  t like it because it doesn  t have white actors . mate  i think you  ll find the reason why no one liked this was because watching paint dry is far more entertaining and funnier then this pile of drivel .  br    br   please stop making crap films  
so one person says   this movie is a beautiful  delicate exploration of west german life after world war ii .  and the other says   former nazis living in bombed out buildings  and the movie is  beautiful  delicate    and the first sits there nodding  takes another sip of coffee .  i can  t explain . just see it .   
ripping this movie apart is like shooting fish in a barrel . it  s too easy . so i  m going to challenge myself to acknowledge the positive aspects of little man . first  i  m impressed with the special effects . it really did look like marlon wayans  head was attached to the body of a little person . i never doubted it for a minute .  br    br   secondly  i loved some of the unexpected cameos . david alan grier played an annoying restaurant singer  and his renditions of  havin  my baby  and  movin  on up  were priceless . john witherspoon  who  coincidentally  played grier  s father in      s boomerang  if you remember  he  coordinated  the mushroom belt with the mushroom jacket  now plays vanessa  s father in little man . so that was fun .  br    br   beyond that  this movie is about as believable as white chicks . how dumb is it when even the doctor can  t tell that it  s a    year  old man and not a baby  he  s got a full set of teeth    how is it possible that no one seems to notice that it  s not a baby  little man is so bad that there  s a rob schneider cameo . and please  if you  re stupid enough to waste   on this movie  at least do me a favor and do not bring your children . this movie is way too sexual for small children  lots of jokes and innuendo about sex  going down  eating out  etc .   and i felt embarrassed for the parents who brought their kids to the screening i was forced to endure . if you insist on seeing an idiotic film  as least spare your children the pain and suffering .  
this first part of the brd trilogy has more passion and plot density than lola  but less of the magic of veronica voss . the political musings have point to them we see the shortages after the war  how the blackmarketers were able to control so much of the day  to  day life  delicious moment when fassbinder  playing a grifter  tries to sell a complete set of kleist to schygulla  who remarks that burning books don  t provide much warmth she really wants firewood  .  br    br   there  s some clumsiness in the first hour . the scene in maria  s room with the black soldier  interrupted by hermann  s appearance should go quicker . the train scene when maria meets karl oswald falls flat when she insults the gi   i cringed  it was so bad . but as the story develops and the years go by  i was drawn more and more into this glossy  cold world .  
this was the worst movie i  ve ever seen in theaters . it was just a compilation of recycled material . people getting hit in the head is not funny . people getting kicked is not funny . after the third time a guy got kicked in the balls not even the youngest audience member was laughing anymore . it just got tired fast .  br    br   i went with my younger sister . she actually laughs out loud at king of the hill but this cinematic masterpiece bored her . i  m not surprised . the story is pretty lame . a midget thief steals a big diamond in what was definitely the easiest heist in hollywood history . then he hides out with a family pretending to be a baby . i know it sounds exciting but that  s the whole story . say those two lines over and over for  .  hours and you  ll get the picture there were predictable jokes galore . i really felt ripped off after seeing this . i wasn  t expecting much and i was still disappointed . i wish keenan would just hire some decent writers to write jokes and  or his next script . this was even worse than white chicks if that is possible . i  ve seen high school plays that were better  and cheaper .  br    br   there wasn  t anything positive about this movie . i don  t like my entertainment to be dumbed down .  
maria braun is an extraordinary woman presented fully and very credibly  despite being so obtuse as to border on implausibility . she will do everything to make her marriage work  including shameless opportunism and sexual manipulation . and thus beneath the vicey exterior  she reveals a rather sweet value system . the film suffers from an abrupt and unexpected ending which afterwards feels wholly inadequate  with the convenience familiar from ending your school creative writing exercise with  and then i woke up  . it is also book  ended at the other end with the most eccentric title sequence i  ve ever seen  but don  t let any of that put you off .  
comes this heartwarming tale of hope . hope that you  ll never have to endure anything this awful again . cough razzie award cough  br    br   i disliked this movie because it was unfunny  predictable and inane . while watching i felt like i was in a psychology experiment to determine how low movie standards could get before people complained . when i requested my money back at the end of the movie i was informed that because i watched the whole thing  i wasn  t entitled to reimbursement  . i was told by the assistant manager that several people had complained and gotten refunds already though .  br    br   the movie summary is pretty basic . the midget thief steals a diamond and the poses as a baby to elude police . underneath this clever outline however  lies a repertoire of original  fresh and hilarious skits . or not .  br    br   ask yourself the following do you like to see people getting hit by pans  do you like fart jokes  do you like to see midgets posing as babies threatened with a thermometer in the anus  do you like tired racial jokes  do you think babies say  goo goo goo goo goo gaa gaa   do you drool   br    br   if you answered  yes  to any of the above then this movie is definitely for you . although it has been billed in some places as  the worst movie of the decade   there is probably a movie or  that are worse . . . somewhere . i can  t say for sure . i gave this movie  stars because we all know a review with only one star would indicate bias on the part of the reviewer and then the review wouldn  t be taken seriously .  br    br   this lowbrow comedy is intended for a less intelligent audience and i cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone . save your money for something funny .  br    br   respect  
this is the best of the   films that rainer werner fassbinder made his most successful at least . he was one of the leading directors in the new germany after wwii .  br    br   hanna schygulla was magnificent as the cold  calculating maria bruan  who lost her husband to the war  found him after she took an american soldier as a lover  lost him again after he went to jail for her  and found him agin at the end . her day and a half marriage before he disappeared was longer than their time together at the end .  br    br   such is life . things come and go  and you do the best you can . you can give up or adjust you way of thinking to survive . even though maria adjusted her thinking and did what she had to do  she never stopped loving hermann  which makes the end such a tragedy .  br    br   excellent drama .  
so thats what i called a bad  bad film . . . poor acting  poor directing  terrible writing     i just cant stop laughing at some scenes  because the story is meaningless    dont waste your time watching this film . . . well  i must recognize it has one or two good ideas but its sooooo badly writen . . .  
    pierce brosnan  greg kinnear  hope davis  adam scott  philip baker hall . directed by richard shepard .  br    br   a well formulated story and film all together  brosnan has never been better in a film role outside of his  bond  movies . after      s  after the sunset  his newest role brings in the laughs and a great time . professional hit  man  so to speak  julian noble on a job in mexico city winds up meeting the exact opposite of himself a high strung business man danny wright  kinnear  possibly one of his best roles  also on business there . the two on  screen duo produce a comically charged  laugh riot and fail to not deliver the laughs . davis in one of her best roles since  american splendor  gives another charming and witty performance . one of the years most enjoyable and best films . my final rating      
contains spoilers      br    br   timon and pumbaa are watching the lion king . timon decides to go back before the beginning  to when the story really began . so they go back . way back . back even before simba was born . back to timon  s old home which was miles away from pride rock . a clan of meerkats burrowed underground to hide from hyenas . the worst digger in the clan was a pompous  self  centered meerkat named timon . his mother took pity on him but uncle max just shook his head . mother suggested putting timon on sentry duty timon had dreams of a bigger and better place out there somewhere . just then  hyenas shenzi  bonzai and ed arrived and nearly killed poor uncle max . that did it . the other meerkats just wanted timon to go away while timon took it upon himself to leave . so he kissed his mom goodbye and started off . he didn  t get very far before he started getting homesick . just then he met rafiki  who taught him to look beyond what he sees . timon had no clue what that meant so he continued on and met a warthog named pumbaa  who was all alone due to a flatulence problem . timon and pumbaa join up then  but timon declared them acquaintances  rather than friends .  br    br   they soon arrive at pride rock where all the zebras  antelopes  wildebeests  rhinoceroses  giraffe  s  elephants and many other plain animals had gathered . what was going on  timon didn  t care . they pressed on . timon then saw rafiki atop pride rock lifting into the air something he couldn  t see . just then all the animals took a bow . was this to honor the birth of the new king  no  pumbaa had passed gas and the animals were bowing to cover their noses timon and pumbaa try an assortment of new homes  but each are discomforting due to incessant singing or hyenas or a large stampede of wildebeests  pumbaa and timon suddenly find themselves heading down stream . when they reach land  timon decides to give up . but then they gaze around at their newfound paradise . it was beautiful trees and water falls as far as the eye could see . timon named the place after a strange phrase he learned from rafiki hakuna matata . timon and pumbaa go out bowling for buzzards one afternoon when they suddenly run into simba . they take him under their wing and become father figures . they teach him the arts of bug eating and belching contests . pretty soon  a teenage simba takes on timon in a snail slurping contest . simba won  leaving timon deathly ill .  br    br   then one day  simba  s childhood friend nala arrived . timon and pumbaa just knew she  d break up the friendship . suddenly  simba runs away . nala and pumbaa race after him  but not timon . he chose to stay at  hakuna matata  by himself  until rafiki  talked  some sense into him  so he joins his friends at pride rock . timon  s mother and uncle max arrive then . while simba battles scar  mother and max dig a large hole to trap hyenas shenzi  bonzai and ed in . it worked . scar is soon flung down the same hole where he is devoured by the hyenas . then all is well . mother  uncle max and the rest of the meerkats go live with timon and pumbaa in the paradise that is hakuna matata . back to the present  timon and pumbaa finish the movie when suddenly mother  uncle max  simba and rafiki want to watch it again . so do mickey mouse  donald duck  goofy  snow white  the seven dwarfs  dumbo  peter pan  the lost boys  mad hatter  march hare  genie  aladdin  and jasmine .  br    br   well  i must say that the lion king     wasn  t as good as i had hoped . it was too ridiculous and silly . the original lion king was a masterpiece . it had a serious story with light comedy thrown in . this one was just silly and made a mockery of it . i swear  sometimes timon and pumbaa are just way too overplayed . they  re overplayed to the point of no longer being funny  just annoying . the original voice cast is back nathan lane as timon  ernie sabella as pumbaa  matthew broddrick as adult simba  whoopi goldberg as shenzi  cheech marin as bonzai  jim cummings as ed  robert guillame as rafiki . new to the cast are julie kavner of tv  s  too  long running series the simpsons as timon  s mom and jerry stiller as uncle max . so anyway  this movie isn  t the lion king iii  and it isn  t ii because there already is a ii . it takes place right after part i and part ii is a ways away . hence  it  s     . in conclusion  i don  t recommend this to die hard lion king fans because it  s far too ridiculous and frivilous . however the kids will love it so i recommend it to them . i hope this will also be the last lion king movie . two is enough .  the lion king      . what we  ve come to expect from disney sequel makers .  br    br     
my first fassbinder was a wonderful experience . film and alternative cinema  small hall  with uncomfortable seats public had to wait while filmrolls were changed  were perfect match .  br    br   there were many cliches used in the film  but fassbinder presented them so cleverly that i found them really amusing . sound was also brilliant  sometimes back being louder than dialogue  .  br    br   everything seemed to be in right place . and i loved the way how after  war  time was presented . real fun   br    br    
a director and his crew head out to the isolated beal mansion  to make a low  budget horror film about the seven mysterious deaths of the beal family that have occurred there in the last century . even with warnings by the caretaker  the director pays no attention to the supposedly cursed house . one of the crew find a book titled tibetan book of the dead  and use some of the passages from it for their script . but in doing so  when red they raise a ghoul from its grave .  br    br   boring  confusing and tacky all rolled up into one  equals this penniless midnight horror production . what feels like an eternity  it just never seems to get going or demonstrate anything effective from somewhat decent ideas . even though director paul harrison  s clunky  tensionless direction did construct a couple eerie  moody and atmospheric set  pieces . but laziness did set it early . the whole film within a film structure takes up most of the movie and in this time little to nothing happens of great interest . nor is it fun . think of bob clark  s  children shouldn  t play with dead things         and now we  ve got older actors in the part . however i found  seven corpses  to be inferior . the script early on has some cutting wit abound  before it ends up being drab  predictable and left with many unfulfilled possibilities . the cheap foundation involving limited sets didn  t help matters either  but the mansion  s dreary  dark appearance had a creepy air to it . performances from a recognizable b  cast is mainly rigid . john carradine in small part mainly lurks about . john ireland plays a hot  headed director  faith domergue  s washed  up actress demands attention and charles macaulay hams it up . the slow grinding premise is crossed between  ten little indians  and your usual zombie set  up . however its not all that engaging  even with its occult and supernatural edge . hell they even throw in some graveyard action  with no prevail . when the rotting ghoul makes its appearance finally  but a bit late . it does get a little better  if very baffling . just like the inspired opening  the ending is deliciously downbeat . to bad in between  it constantly drags . continuity in many scenes comes across non  existent  and the death scenes are more exciting and bloodier  but indeed poorly executed  in the movie they  re making  then what actually happens to them when the zombie appears . the generic music score flounders on with its shuddery  but frank gothic cues  and the camera  work is blandly staged with a lack of imagination . shoot and frame . shoot and frame . job done . that  s a wrap .  
fassbinder  s most lavish production sacrifices little of his talent for identifying and deconstructing a locus of suffering in long  mobile takes that somehow also act as social encapsulations here  it  s much more overt  since the story takes place in war  torn germany at the end of wwii  and the central character is a woman  hanna schygulla as maria  who capitalizes on vulnerabilities  both economic and gender  related  to catapult herself up the ladder of a prominent textile corp . that makes coveted goods like lederhosen available to indigent workers  as she once was  . married amidst allied air raids  maria and her new husband herrmann are allowed a brief honeymoon before he  s shipped out to the russian front . in his absence  her despair is great she spends most days at the train station  waiting for him to return . when he is reported dead  she abruptly stops grieving and takes a job as a barmaid  prostitute at a brothel catering to american gi  s .  br    br   when he returns  things get plenty messy  as circumstances  and his sense of noble self  sacrifice  conspire to keep them apart . the message is fassbinder  s m . o . writ large  love is colder than death   but not only is maria contending with her own sanity and a husband largely incapable of loving her  but a country in deep flux with no discernible light at the end of the tunnel . fassbinder is making some kind of statement on post  war germany selling out to the highest bidder  but as with all his films  i tend to block those elements out and focus on the unbearable passions on display fassbinder  s as evoked through his characters his actors  as filtered through their real  life connections with fassbinder . taken together  his films can be either unbearable or indescribably mesmeric  often at once this falls somewhere in  between  although definitely closer to the latter . while i didn  t like it quite as much as the bitter tears of petra von kant or katzelmacher  maria braun certainly has a greater scope and what  s more  i could feel its passion and authentic detail to human emotions .  
well . . . now that i know where rob zombie stole the title for his  house of      corpses  crapfest  i can now rest in peace . nothing about the somnambulant performances or trite script would raise the dead in  the house of seven corpses   but a groovie ghoulie comes up from his plot  ha   anyway  to kill the bloody amateurs making a low  rent horror flick in his former abode  in hell house  sorry  i don  t remember the actual name of the residence   a bunch of mysterious  unexplained deaths took place long ago some  like arthritic lurch stand  in john carradine  whose small role provides the film  s only worthwhile moments   attribute it to the supernatural bellowing film director john ireland dismisses it as superstitious hokum . the result comes across like  satan  s school for girls   catchy title made  for  tv production values intriguing plot  crossed with  children shouldn  t play with dead things   low  rent movie about low  rent movie makers who wake the dead   trouble is  it  s nowhere near as entertaining or fun .  the house of seven corpses  is dead at frame one  and spends the rest of its   minutes going through rigor mortis  dragging us along for every aching second . . .  
this film exhibits artful cinematic techniques wherein instead of landscape capturing the attention of the camera it is small details in how someone appears  how the woman may be wearing a cocktail hat and wrapped in a sheet . how the husband may be wearing a hat and socks and shoes and his underwear and both seem so completely at ease and comfortable . how provocative the woman is posed is another feature of the tableau that the director chooses to let us know she is a free spirit sexually and aims to get the pleasure she seeks without flirting directly or with any particular sensitivity to what the man may be feeling . the relationship between the wife and husband is unique . it is an open one wherein she holds nothing back  feels no particular shame for how she has behaved and wants to share these facts with him because her primary focus always is on the fact of their marriage . nothing and no one can come between the two of them . only the chances of fate can intervene    his imprisonment during the war and what follows after his return at long last . a very intriguing film which is totally absorbing .  
this is the type of movie where it actually hurts to acknowledge that it really  really sucks . i normally sanctify stuff like this  early    s grindhouse flicks with scrumptious sounding titles and a schlocky low  budget atmosphere usually rock .  house of seven corpses  appeared to dispose of even more trumps  since the cast is a gathering of great genre veterans  including john carradine  john ireland and faith domergue  and the filming locations  the titular house  the graveyard  are obviously very expedient for a gloomy tale of terror . the film opens with its absolute greatest and most hauntingly memorable sequences  though sadly enough they  re the only ones that qualify as such . the credits are a splendid montage  complete with freakish color  effects and eerie freeze  frames  illustrating how the titular house received its notorious reputation . the last seven owners were mysteriously murdered here and the credits montage gleefully exhibits their final moments . someone falls down the balcony screaming  a lady drowns in her bathtub  and another female body hangs dangling from the ceiling and four more macabre tableaux . needless to say the house is cursed and the awkward behavior of t caretaker mr . price  carradine  only fortify this reputation . in other words  the house forms the ideal turf for the acclaimed director eric hartman  john ireland  to shoot his satanic horror film project . the film  within  film structure is what mainly causes  house of seven corpses  to be so boring and uneventful . a lot of movie  material is wasted on crew members putting films spools in the camera and dragging around cables or  even worse  faith domergue and charles macaulay portraying horridly intolerable actor stereotypes . the plot finally gets a little interesting  only a little  mind you  when one of the characters reads some lines from an occult book and accidentally awakes a rotting corpse in the backyard . the asthmatic  judging by the noises he produces  zombie slowly heads for the house and kills the entire movie crew  reminiscent of how the previous seven turned into corpses . after a running time of approximately   minutes  the film suddenly turns from humdrum into just plain weird and confusing . i  m still unsure whether the final twist has to do with the concept of reincarnation or just coincidence and all the remaining characters suddenly seem to go undergo vast mental transformations shortly before they die  for some reason . i honestly regret confirming  house of seven corpses  is a pretty dreadful movie . the locations and scenery are gloomy chilling  but not nearly used to full effect and there  s a serious lack of gruesome bloodshed . numerous low  budgeted    s gems were stunningly gross  so the lack of financial means is no excuse and the film  within  film murders really don  t count . even the always  reliable veteran stars deliver hammy performances and harrison  s direction is completely uninspired . not recommended  unless you think the zero cool four  and  a  half minute playing opening credits montage is worth the effort of purchasing a copy .  
the marriage of maria braun  mmb  is about a german girl  maria  getting married to a german soldier  herman braun  just at the ending of the war . after being married for half a day and a night  herman is send to the front again . to make ends meet  maria starts working at a bar for mainly american soldiers and get to know a black soldier . she got word that herman died at the front  and things develop between her and the american soldier . herman walks in on them  in bed  and after a confrontation between him and the american  maria killed the american . herman admits to the murder  ends up in jail and maria vows to wait for him . the country is in shambles one sees people leaving everything that they are busy with for a cigarette . there are food shortages . it is in short  a time of survival of the fittest .  br    br   basically this film projects maria  s attitudes  those attitudes she permits herself under the mentioned circumstances  as a metaphor for germany  s loss of soul after they lost the war  and how it proceeds to rebuild itself . for example  maria has the following conversation with a peddler  played by fassbinder himself   the peddler tries to sell her an excellent copy of kleist and she remarks that  kleist burns out to quickly  it does not provide enough heat for the cold  . the peddler answers  that  s another way to look at it . right now  it  s probably the correct way  .  br    br   maria meets a french  german business man  karl oswald after she bargains her way into the first class train compartment . she decides to get involve with karl   you  re not having an affair with me i  m having an affair with you  . she also takes responsibility in the company  and after a while has the complete trust of the firm . when karl says  i suppose we  ll just have to wait for a miracle  she replies  i prefer making miracles  then wait for them  . in her own words  she has become the  mata hari of the economic miracle  .  br    br   in a lot of fassbinder  s films he tried to expose the psychological processes which lie behind social mechanisms  see freud   in other words  he liked pointing his camera at the bullsht  the false social mechanisms  the pretending . the direct approach maria takes in this film is successful to convey this ideology . for example  she phones karl and when he picks up the phone her request is straight to the point  i need someone to sleep with  . as fassbinder said  the emotions people felt did not exist at all and were only a kind of sentimentality which we thought we needed to be properly functioning members of society  . he also remarked that his films are anti emotional .  br    br   i particularly liked the scene when karl and maria meet in the munich restaurant  apparently  frequently visited by hitler himself  . maria appears in control and karl a bit on the down side  as if maria  s  brutal honesty  wears him out  as if he is not completely up to the situation anymore . karl says  i have to tell myself over and over that i love life  . maria replies  that  s life isn  t it . as if we signed a contract to enjoy life . and then we go out to eat and talk about food  . i guess this is also about fassbinder attitudes on relationships  to never submit completely to anyone . and why would you  if the central matter of most of his films is about  what love becomes in this society  a commodity  an instrument of power  a weapon .   br    br   it was remarked that it is typical fassbinder to have the scenes with maria and betti walking in expensive dresses in the ruins after the war  with these clothing essentially the wrong period . what i think he wanted to portray here were those attitudes  when you feel bad  that  you can always put on your make up and face the day looking great  . but  fassbinder was not interested in perfection . any mistakes made in a film could just be corrected in the next project . since he completed films  approximately  a year  the way other people rolled cigarettes  it is not peculiar that this film has some very bad scenes . peter marthesheimer  who wrote most of the script  mentioned that fassbinder likely dreamed up the whole scene with maria and the american in the park  overnight .  br    br   hanna schygulla is brilliant as maria . mostly  she just stares bluntly into the camera . in maria  s own words  it is a bad time for emotions . but  i like it like that  .  br    br   there are different opinions about the end . after karl died of a hart attack  herman finally shows up .  herman left for australia after he got out of prison  to  become human again  .  after the testament is delivered  made out to her and herman in half   maria forgets to close the gas on the stove when she lights her cigarette  and blow her and herman up . for me it is obvious that she just did that by accident . at the same time  she must have been rattled when her dreams finally seem about to come true . she must have felt as if she was not herself anymore . she felt as if she had outlived herself .  
john carradine  john ireland  and faith domergue who as players all saw better days in better films got together for this grade g horror film about life imitating art in a mysterious mansion .  br    br   for carradine it was in those last two decades of his career that he appeared in anything on the theory it was better to keep working no matter what you did and get those paychecks coming in . with that magnificent sonorous voice of his  carradine was always in great demand for horror pictures and the man did not discriminate in the least in what he appeared in .  br    br   he plays the caretaker of an old gothic mansion who movie director john ireland has rented for his latest low budget slasher film . it  s even got a graveyard  but with a missing occupant . faith domergue is ireland  s aging star and carole wells is the young ingenue .  br    br   in the last twenty minutes or so most of the cast winds up dead that aren  t dead already . the script is so incoherent i  m still trying to figure out the point . i won  t waste any more gray matter on it .  
maria braun got married right in the middle of combat all around her and her husband hermann . an explosion ripped through the building  to begin with  and she and hermann had to sign the papers on a pile of rubble on the street . perhaps this may strike some as a heavy  handed metaphor for what  s about to come marriage on the rocks  so to speak . it  s a betrothal where the husband goes off to war and is held in a russian prison camp  unbenownst to the helpless but hopeful and proud maria  who keeps standing by the depressing rubble of the train station as some come home  others don  t  with a sign awaiting hermann .  br    br   trouble arises  as happens in rainer werner fassbinder  s melodramas  and as its one of his best and most provocative  we see as maria  uncommonly gorgeous hanna schygulla in this role  will do a two  face she  ll stand by her man  even if it means working at a bar for american gi  s and  even still after she hears from a fellow soldier that hermann has died will still stand by him as she sleeps with a black gi and comes close to bearing his child  that is  naturally  until he reappears and a murder occurs and he takes the rap so she can be safe   or working for a german businessman  effectively sympathetic ivan desny  and becoming his sometimes mistress and rising star in the company . maria will do whatever it takes to be successful  but she  ll always be married .  br    br   it  s hard to say there  s anything about maria that isn  t fascinating . money  sex  power  all of these become interchangeable for maria . she  s like the feminist that has her cake and eats it with a sultry smile she gets to have a husband  more or less  actually a lot less until the last ten minutes of the film  while obtaining things  a man who dotes on her whenever he can  a new and expensive house with servants  a secretary  money  that others around her aren  t getting due to already being with a man or too weak in a position to rise anywhere  such as the secretary  played interestingly enough by fassbinder  s own mother  .  br    br   maria is sexy  confident  and all alone  with an idealized life going against a life that should be made in the shade . she says of the two men  the american soldier and poor old and sick oswald  that she  s fond of them  and at the same time will stick by those roses the confused and soul  searching husband hermann sends from canada  after being released from prison . she  s casts a profile that a feminist would love to trounce  but understand where she  s coming from and going all the way .  br    br   fassbinder employs this inherent contradiction  and moments with maria appear to go against the conventions of a melodrama  for example  hermann walking in on the jubilant and half  naked maria and gi is just about a masterpiece of a scene  with maria  s reaction not of surprise or guilt but pure happiness to see that he  s there let alone alive   while sticking to his guns as a director of such high  minded technique with a storyline that should be predictable . but it isn  t really . it  s like one big metaphor for a country that  after the war  couldn  t really move on to normalcy . a few times fassbinder puts sound of the radio on in the background  and we see maria walking around her family house  hustle and bustle going on around her  and the radio speaks of a divided germany  of things still very unsettled  of a disarray . maybe the only way to cope is excess  or maybe that  s just my interpretation of it .  br    br   it  s hard to tell  really  under schygulla  s stare face and eyes  anyway . it  s such an incredible performance  really  one of those showstoppers that captures the glamor and allure of an old  time hollywood female star while with the down  and  dirty ethic of a girl of the streets . most telling are the opposing costumes one sees in one scene when she finally is with her husband  where she stars in one of those super  lustful black lingerie pieces and high heels  and then moves on to a dress without even thinking about it . that  s almost the essence of what maria is  and schygulla wonderfully gets it down  a headstrong but somehow loving figure who is adored and perplexed by the men around her  sometimes in a single sentence . this is what fassbinder captures in his wonderful first part of his  trilogy   while i might overall prefer veronika voss as a masterpiece  maria braun is perhaps just as good as a character study  of what makes a woman tick and tock with  almost  nothing to lose .  
ostensibly this is a z  grade dtv horror film .  br    br   but with lines like   br    br    it  s easy to die  i have  many times   br    br   and  br    br    why are you reading that book    because it makes the plot more interesting   br    br   and  br    br    you made your way in here  now you can make your way out again    after he leads a man into the basement   br    br    and take a listen to what they chant   br    br    it  s not that clear what this film  made in the era known for post  structuralism  is actually about  or whether its just bad film  making . the acting is atrocious  but some actors i know  so are they hamming it up   br    br   an old house  cut obviously with a contemporary dwelling  is the site of murders . a  bad  film is made in the grounds and the story replays again .  
spoilers spoilers this is without a doubt the best film rainer werner fassbinder ever made and even with the marvelous script the film is enhanced by a great performance by hanna schygulla . film starts out with maria  schygulla  and hermann braun  klaus lowitsch  just getting married as the bombs continue to fall and hermann is shipped out towards the waning days of the war and now maria and her mother and sister must scrape by to survive . maria decides to get a job as a dancer  prostitute in a club that caters to american gi  s and she meets a black army soldier named bill  greg eagles  and they start to see one another on a steady basis . maria hears that her husband hermann has died in the war so she gets very serious with bill . but one day while getting intimate with bill they see hermann at the door . he hasn  t died and when he enters the room a scuffle occurs and maria breaks a bottle over bill  s head and he dies . hermann takes the blame and he is sentenced to a long term in jail so maria tells him that she will succeed at something and get him out . the war has ended and germany must rebuild and one day on a train maria meets karl oswald  ivan desny  who is a successful businessman in textiles and she uses her charms to get a job . maria is determined to do well and climbs the corporate ladder and becomes karl  s mistress . she tells him that she will never marry him but he is in love with her . hermann gets out of jail but goes to canada to try and get over everything that maria has done since he has been locked up .  br    br   spoiler alert  br    br   one day karl dies and leaves maria just about everything in his will and maria buys her own house . then hermann finally comes home to his wife and they are both ready to start they  re marriage even though they have been married for some time now . but maria leaves the gas on the stove and the house explodes with both of them still in it .  br    br   there are so many interesting things in this film that its one of those movies that can be studied and talked about to great lengths . like in all fassbinder films the use of color is used in a very interesting way . as the film begins the tones are brown and gray to represent war torn germany but as maria starts to become successful they change to bright rich colors like red and white . the rebuilding of germany with all the sounds of construction are used as only backdrop and the film stays focused on the exploits of maria . fassbinder did want the sounds of rebuilding to remind us of what was going on in germany at that time . hanna schygulla was never better and her performance is the key to the success of this film . with a lesser actress this would have been just another interesting film but schygulla is so strong that her performance elevates this film to an elite status . schygulla shows maria as very determined and smart but at the same time she uses her beauty and femininity to get what she wants . she  s not embarrassed nor does she feel guilty about this and fassbinder wanted to show maria as a woman who practically sells her soul to survive . schygulla wasn  t nominated for an academy award but she gave a great performance that will stand the test of time . fassbinder himself appears in the film as a peddler and his own mother lilo pempeit plays frau ehmke . i have heard many things about the ending of the film and it has to do with whether maria purposely left the gas on . later in the bathroom she is running water over her wrist and she appears to be sad . this is only speculation and if you think i  m wrong please e  mail me . i think she was overly excited by hermann being home and left it on by accident  remember her putting on a dress for no reason   . then when the will is being read to her its at that point that she learns that hermann and karl had become friendly without her knowledge and i think she felt that everything she had done was for nothing . thats the reason for the bathroom scene . so when the house explodes its by accident . but i think the reason for fassbinder having an ending like that is to show that anyone who would sell their soul has no business living . fassbinder was fascinated by survivors but he was also incredibly passionate . in his view maria can  t have it both ways . a fascinating film .  
  a film crew is shooting a horror movie in an old  supposedly cursed house where over the years  seven people have mysteriously died . one of the crew finds an old book of spells and it looks like it would be perfect to use in some of the ritual scenes in their movie . it is reasoned that the spells in the book are better written than the script they are using . but as the book is read  the graveyard outside suddenly comes to life . now the cast and crew are faced with real danger .  br    br    imdb lists a running time of   minutes . for the first   of those minutes  nothing happens . far too much time is spent on the movie within a movie . are we supposed to be frightened by the horror movie that they are shooting  we already know that their movie isn  t  real  . these scares just don  t work .  br    br    there are very few things to enjoy about the house of seven corpses . the acting is atrocious . most of these  actors  would have trouble making a elementary school play . the score is terrible . it is very reminiscent of a   s television series and provides no atmosphere . speaking of atmosphere  other than a few moments at the end of the movie  there is none to speak of . character logic is all but non  existent . even in a movie  you expect characters to behave in a certain way . here  i don  t think i remember one scene where a character didn  t choose the most illogical avenue available to them . and finally  there  s those first   minutes of the movie that i  ve already mentioned . can you say boring   br    br    i haven  t rated the house of seven corpses any lower because of instances where the movie  probably by accident  actually works . my two favorite are the beginning and ending . the opening title sequence presents the deaths of the seven previous owners and may be the highlight of the movie . and  the ending scenes on the massive staircase as the zombie menaces the film crew are somewhat effective  what a ringing endorsement  . overall though  these moments aren  t enough to make this a good movie .  
sensual and tough maria braun .  hanna schygula  marries a soldier in the middle of world war ii and spends a half of day and the whole night with him . that  s how long her marriage lasts before she loses him to the war and then to prison . she carries on with her life  becomes a successful businesswoman being not only sensual but intelligent  ambitious  and willing to use sex whenever or wherever necessary  i don  t know a thing about business  but i do know what german women want . you might even say i  m an expert on it  . while climbing up to the success she always remembers her husband  hermann  her man  and convinces herself that whatever she does  is for him  for their future happy life together .  maria braun   s style reminds much of melodramas by fassbinder  s favorite hollywood director  douglas sirk and offers a glimpse of the loss and survival in postwar germany . hanna schygula literally shines in every scene of the movie and she is fantastic .  br    br    .      
 . . . but i  ve seen better too .  br    br   the story here is predictable   a film crew trying to film a horror movie in a place where murders occurred . three guesses what happens . this isn  t a total bomb   the cast is fairly good with pros john ireland  faith domergue and john carradine giving the best performances . it  s reasonably well  made   for a low budget film . just don  t expect any nudity  swearing  blood or gore  the film has a very mild pg rating  . i was never totally bored   it  s ok viewing on a quiet night . i saw it on video   it was a horrible print   very dark and some scenes were impossible to see . still i didn  t hate it and it does have a cool ending which surprised me   basically nothing happens up till then so it catches you off guard . worth seeing but only if you  re a horror film completest .  
this movie earned every one of the ten votes i gave it  thank you guys for making a movie worth watching . you showed the world  you can still write  direct  produce and star in a black movie without the negative stereotypes . the poetry was awesome as well  hats off to the poets and musicians .  br    br   i watched it last night  as i fell in love with my darling all over again . i will be adding it to my movie collection today  and recommending it to my friends and family .  br    br   please continue to produce quality  don  t worry about the quantity . . . .  br    br   thank you again  and best wishes and blesses to you   
after reading the previous comments  i  m just glad that i wasn  t the only person left confused  especially by the last   minutes . john carradine is shown twice walking down into a grave and pulling the lid shut after him . i anxiously awaited some kind of explanation for this odd behavior . . . naturally i assumed he had something to do with the evil goings  on at the house  but since he got killed off by the first rising corpse  hereafter referred to as zombie     these scenes made absolutely no sense . please  if someone out there knows why carradine kept climbing down into graves   let the rest of us in on it    br    br   all the action is confined to the last   minutes so i  ll attempt a synopsis . john carradine comes out to the cemetery to investigate  and is throttled by zombie   . so far  so good . but then we get the confusing scene where john ireland and jerry strickler  out for a little moonlight filming in the graveyard  discover carradine  s dead body . strickler repeatedly tries to push ireland into the open grave from whence zombie   had emerged  but ireland succeeds in flipping him into the open grave instead  and presto  strickler comes out as zombie    yeah  i guess we can infer that strickler was dead all  along  a witch    but why he changed from normal appearance into rotting  flesh version by flying into zombie    s grave is never explained .  considering how excruciatingly slow  moving these zombies are  i  d of thought he would have preferred to stay in his  normal  form until his business was concluded  . this scene also brings a question to mind   just who the heck is zombie      we can only assume zombie   is one of the original murder victims shown during the movie  s opening credits  but who knows which one  nor why he has a particular grudge against the film crew .  br    br   anyway  after ireland sees this transformation and runs away  we see the exact same shot of zombie   shambling through the trees as we saw for zombie   .  this leads to momentary confusion over just how many zombies there really are  . then in best      s horror  movie fashion ireland manages to trip while fleeing . he conveniently knocks his head on the small headstone of faith domergue  s dead cat  wasn  t that nice of john carradine to chisel a tombstone for a cat that he barely knew    br    br   meanwhile  zombie   has been wrecking havoc up at the house . he easily dispatches three film  crew members  then starts up the stairs . faith domergue hears him  and thinking it  s lover john ireland back from his night  shoot  goes out . upon seeing it  s only zombie    she lets out a scream and retreats into a bedroom where she retrieves ireland  s revolver . while starlet carole wells is showering at this point and can  t hear the scream  her co  star charles macauley  who  s boozing and hamming it up at a mirror in his bedroom  does . taking his sweet time  and only after some more swigs from his hip  flask  he finally decides to investigate .  one thing that strikes the viewer during the last quarter of this movie is how slow to react the stars are to screams and gunshots  . domergue comes back out into the hallway armed and ready  but mistakes macauley for zombie   and shoots him six times  he does a nice acrobatic flip over the railing  then a horrified domergue backs up  right into the waiting arms of zombie   .  br    br   carole wells is by now out of her shower and drying off when she hears gunshots and domergue  s screams she too feels no great urgency in running out to investigate . so during this time zombie   has time to string domergue up from the neck with a rope . wells sees domergue  s hanging corpse and faints dead  away . the next time we see her is in a stream outside the house        but more on that later . meantime  ireland has recovered his senses and stumbles into the house where he discovers zombie    s bloody carnage . though ireland has just stumbled upon  murdered people he  s more concerned that his film has been exposed and ruined  mercifully for him  and the audience   zombie   throws some movie equipment down on his head from the  nd floor . that  s the last we see of zombie   . at this point the audience is treated to a montage of all the deaths  showing that the new ones  mirror  the old ones . how profound .  br    br   zombie    meanwhile  has gotten near the house  remember  these zombies move as slow as molasses in january  where he happens to see carole wells floating by in a stream  and fishes her out . how did she get there  did zombie   carry her down  throw her in  then zoom back upstairs just in time to crush john ireland  apparently one of the original victims was drowned in the tub  so wells has to drown too  but why outside in a stream  instead of in the tub  is never explained  . zombie   never makes it into the house himself  everyone  s dead by now  anyways  thanks to zombie    but instead he carries carol wells back to the graveyard . as the end credits flash on screen  we see zombie   with his dead love still in his arms  descending into the open grave .  br    br   the viewer is left wondering yes  but wasn  t this zombie    s grave  why is zombie   taking up residence  and what if zombie   comes along and wants to climb back in   is zombie   gonna let him  or will there be a zombie fight  will the zombies share both the grave and the newly deceased carole wells  and what about now  dead john carradine   where  s he gonna stay  after all  from the earlier scenes we know he  s clearly at home in the grave . . . if this plot synopsis of the finale has left you confused  don  t worry cause you  re not alone .  
a realistic depiction of young love for the college set but also appealing to an older viewer like me . it has ups and downs and twists and turns and made me shed a tear or two . we rarely see movies with black urban characters that could appeal to older  non black audiences and show a more real life depiction of young black adults .  br    br   this movie takes place on a college campus and town where two people meet and fall in love . in the background are various friends acquaintances and situations that impact them for better or worse . typical plot some may say  but this really was unexpected .  br    br   i found myself rooting for the survival of the couple  s relationship  seeing my own past in their story . moments of deep thought and revelation came pouring out of the actors performances .  br    br   it  s a bright film that i would endorse for those young at heart and in love or have ever been in love . great movie . i  ll be looking for a copy to add to my movie collection .  
schlocky    s horror films . . . ya gotta love  em . in contrast to today  s boring slasher flicks  these k  tel specials actually do something scary and do not resort to a tired formula .  br    br   this is a b movie about the making of a b movie . . . that went horribly wrong . faith domergue  this island earth  stars as an over  the  hill  b movie queen making a movie about a series of grisly murders that befell a family in their home . her boyfriend  director  who looks and acts like gordon jump with an attitude  is filming on location and on a tight schedule . the ken doll co  star discovers a book of tibetian chants that they work into the script to add  realism  . unfortunately   realism  is something they could have done without .  br    br   john carradine  having long since given up looking for the   th gland  the unearthly   now eeks out a humble existence as the caretaker for the estate . he goes about his daily work  but always seems to run afoul of the director .  br    br   the horror builds slowly a dead cat here  john carradine entering a grave there  finally culminating in seven  yes seven murders .  at least there  s truth in advertising .  it  s just sad that the ghoul didn  t understand that there was a movie being made above him . how was poor faith to know that those darn tibetian chants would actually work  face it  you just can  t go around tugging on satan  s coat and expect him to take it lying down .  br    br   sterno says perform an autopsy on the house of seven corpses .  
love trap is not a short  it  s quite obviously a full length feature film with a running time of    minutes .  br    br   while i  m writing this  i might as well talk a bit more about love trap . i  m frequently asked what makes love trap different . . . this is how i respond to that question   it introduces characters  one in particular  that have never been seen before in film  period .  br    br     it reveals more truth about love  and delves more deeply into the very concept of love  than any other u . s . film ever made  in my humble opinion .  br    br     structurally  as in the way the story is told  it is unlike any love story you  ve ever seen .  br    br     it offers extremely timely insights on various cultural issues  both within and outside the black community .  br    br   over time  people will come to see love trap as about as wholly an original work as possible in this era  delightfully refreshing  authentic and honest . it is a rare morality play full of food for thought .  br    br   please visit www . lovetrapmovie . com for complete and accurate info about this film .  
i am a huge stooges fan but the one and only redeeming quality this movie has is that curley is in it . done long before he started drinking heavily he is his classic self in this  and larry  s not bad either  . moe  s character is a straight part  mostly  and this movie would be better named  the curley and larry movie  . not that any of the stooges movies were very good  in my opinion   but as one commenter here said  how sad it is that this movie had real potential . the casting was good  it was well directed  filmed  and edited  but the story line tried to be about something serious with just some stooges antics and musical numbers  which i guess were good back then  thrown in . the best thing you can do for yourself during this movie should you actually believe that it has to be better than mowing the lawn and taking out the trash  which is subject to debate  is to wait for curley  larry scenes and sleep or find something in the kitchen to eat during the rest of it .  
think pierce brosnan and you think suave  dapper  intelligent james bond . in this movie  brosnan plays against type  and has lots of fun doing so  as does the audience  . this is a film about a hired assassin who befriends a harried businessman . . . and it works   br    br   this is a fun movie  with very good scenes  a riveting  on  the  edge brosnan and a good  compliant  off   the  edge kinnear have some good lines  . my only cavil is that hope davis  playing the oh  so  tolerant wife   can i see your gun    doesn  t appear more often she could have been a marvellous foil to these men .  br    br   this movie is like a matador it plays with the audience  while  going for a kill  . the ending is awesome because a storyline  with a positive moral   emerges this is a frenetic  frantic and fun movie  which does deserve a wide audience .  
the only redeeming part of this movie was the price i paid . at least all i lost was   .   and the time elapsed sitting through this bomb . the crew member who was in charge of continuity missed the boat . when the female lead and the fbi guy went to the alleged killers location  mr . fbi handed the female a revolver . when the alleged killer came out the door  the revolver has magically transformed into an automatic . one is left to ponder would an fbp agent hand a weapon to a civilian  i think not . ms . xavier appears to be a very attractive female . it is too bad the r rating did not allow much of her to be seen . it would seem that a film editor cut what might have been the best parts of the film out .  
a few years ago i added a comment to the imdb on  the real mccoys  tv series . i said then and repeat now it was a charming  funny  and entertaining show  well  acted with wonderful characterizations .  br    br   i recently saw on dvd four old episodes plus the reunion of     with richard crenna  kathy nolan  and tony martinez . as another writer here mentioned  it is curious that lydia reed  hassie  and michael winkelman  little luke  weren  t refered to  but perhaps they can be tracked down via sag or aftra .  br    br   the reunion show was well done and gave us many unknown insights into the show . one piece of inside information we did not get was whether or not kathy nolan regretted quitting the show in an unpleasant contract dispute  which left luke a  widow  in it  s last year  which wasn  t very good . nolan went on to do a bomb of a comedy called  broadside   about women nurses in the pacific in ww ii . get it  broadside  no  not funny .  br    br   unlike the sleazy  salacious  and violent trash on tv now that is so undermining our values   the real mccoys  entertained with decent values and fine human beings . and i thank all involved  including the creator  irving pinkus  for having brought it to my family . we never missed it .  
jill dunne  played by mitzi kapture   is an attractive  nice woman  over  whelmed by a smart  mouthed teenage daughter  liv  martha macisaac  and a petty  two  timing husband  sean  rick roberts   both of which were tediously self  centered  and obnoxious .  br    br   this was advertised as a troubled family stalked by a crazed killer during a relentless storm .  br    br   the storm doesn  t even happen until about the last  minutes of the film  and then it isn  t anything to send anybody running to the storm cellar .  br    br   the stalking  likewise doesn  t get intense until almost the end of the film .  br    br   most of the film we spend listening to jill and her insufferable daughter  liv  argue until i just wanted to back slap the daughter into next week .  br    br   jill  s problem with liv is that she has taken up with zack  a boy of questionable character  and they are constantly making out   in fact jill comes home to find the two of them on liv  s bed .  br    br   the rest of the time we spend listening to jill  s husband sean either whine at jill or criticize her .  br    br   sean was not at all appealing   since his face is so covered in freckles you could play connect the dots .  br    br   the story begins with jill being notified of an out  standing bill on their credit card for a hotel she has never been to  and that she thought sean had never been to either .  br    br   jill goes to the hotel where she meets the owner  manager  richard grant  nick mancuso   a very nice  older  divorced man  who is sympathetic to her . in fact  when he spots her husband there again  he phones jill and tips her off .  br    br   jill returns to the hotel  sees sean with another woman . she is upset  leaves without sean seeing her  and does absolutely nothing . in fact  she doesn  t even say anything to sean when he arrives home . this made no sense to me .  br    br   jill has given richard her business card  and so he calls her and she is apparently in real estate . she shows him a condo . afterwards they have a drink  and things get cozy between them .  br    br   richard and jill are getting it on  hot and heavy . in fact  he seems a bit more aggressive than necessary  when jill suddenly decides to cut out .  br    br   jill and sean have a confrontation about his cheating . sean whines about how jill has been letting him down since her father died . apparently his lack of any morals is all her fault . eventually jill confesses her own lack of morals and near adultery to sean   and of course that  s all her fault too  as far as sean is concerned .  br    br   the little family decides to go on a camping trip   which means more whining and grousing among them  especially from the spoiled daughter .  br    br   i was so rooting for the stalker to get everybody  but jill .  br    br    stars  
i picked this film up at my local library . having met the director at a film festival late last year  i was curious to  check out  his work . i was pleasantly surprised .  br    br   the film takes a fresh look at familiar subjects  love  infidelity  friendships  jealousy . it can be a bit  talky  at times but never so much as to completely sink the film . i enjoyed watching a love story with characters that clearly belong together and watching them make conscious decisions rather than haphazardly  falling  into something as important as love .  br    br   the contrast between this film and the average low  budget shoot  em  up black film is quite distinct . check it out . if you  re lucky  your copy will come with a copy of the soundtrack like mine did . good stuff   
not even the most ardent stooge fan could possibly like the movie   i one of them  the stooges just aren  t given any material to work with . it is really a shame too because this is the only feature length movie the stooges did with curly  and this one effort by them is painfully unfunny  when it could have had great potential . awful musical numbers don  t help any either . the short they did with the same title has more laughs .  
love trap is a  must see  independent film . when i sat down to watch the movie  i came in with low expectations  but left with a blessing . the story is poetic  substantive  and creative . the writer pulls you in further and further which each scene  allowing you to relate to the realistic characters that every one can identify with . the movie allowed me to reflect on my life and what i consider love to be . the movie displayed what love really is  action not emotion . i was also impressed with the quality of the cinematography and the soundtrack of the movie . the entire presentation surpassed my expectations . i give the movie two big thumbs up and recommend it to everyone of all ages and all backgrounds .  
having just seen this on tmc  it  s fresh in my mind . it  s obvious that while the stooges are featured stars  they don  t really run the show . first  they  re broken into  groups  moe  as  shorty  and larry and curly as a pair of vagrants  so there  s not a whole lot of full team work . the love story that fuels the plot is uninteresting  the two ladies are the only ones with any acting ability  there  s another group of musical stooges that are unfunny  unless you consider their attempts at being funny to be sadly buffoonish . the music is tiresome  they drive cars to the ranch and then depend on horses  the dorky western wear is silly  and there  s an awful lot of the movie with no stooges on camera . by the way  this is obviously after curley  s first stroke  and his reduced energy level is clear . vernon dent appears early on in an uncredited role . i loved everything these guys ever did  including all the non  curley stuff  but this little dogie is pretty lousy .  
the van is a simple teensploitation picture made especially for the drive in that goes out of it  s way to make you feel comfortable  providing many opportunities to laugh and cry with your friends . danny devito has a small yet plentiful role as the manager of a car wash and almost steals the show  all the leads are well acted  the characters complex and the directing quite competent for this type of picture . a crown international release .  
the three stooges in a feature length western comedy  musical  perhaps  rockin  in the rockies  was meant to combine the stooges comedy short with the western musical  in a matine if so  this was a pleasant way to break up a saturday afternoon . jay kirby  as rusty  is a handsome young hero and  mary beth hughes  as the blonde june  and gladys blake  as the brunette betty  are pretty women . the hoosier hotshots are a harmonious group their songs are quite tuneful however  this is the     s  not the     s  so the film doesn  t exactly  rock  . there are a few laughs but the stooges  brand of humor is more subdued than usual . the talking horse is also underutilized .  br    br    rockin  in the rockies          vernon keays  moe howard  larry fine  curly howard  mary beth hughes  
i found it highly intellectual and artistic in every way  i felt that the script was conveying all the things i feel physically and emotionally when i got home from work and watched  it . this is a tribute to cinema in the highest form and format .  br    br   holy guacamole  how i wish those days would come again . i tried putting a bubble window on the side of my car  honda civic       but the vacuum formed muffin trays didn  t quite cut it . also in my civic  sexual positions are limited and are not supported by water bed as is brilliantly depicted in  the van  .  br    br    the van  is of the utmost side splitting hilarity and can even substitute for porn if you watch some scenes privately .  br    br   i highly anticipate that sam grossman  the director  has achieved his opus .  br    br   ratings john     sam   
i gave this a four purely out of its historical context . it was considered lost for many years until it popped up out of the blue on showtime in the early nineties .  br    br   moe is the straight man and larry and curly act as a duo . spade cooley has a couple of numbers . i guess it had something to do with working on a ranch . i  m not quite sure because the plot was so minimal nothing really sticks in my memory . i vaguely remember it being a western musical comedy . even the stooge  s seem to be going through the motions . overall there  s nothing much really to recommend here .  br    br   if you  re not a stooge fan then don  t bother . if you are a stooge fan  then stick with the shorts .  
simple  minded but good  natured drive  in movie about a simple  minded but good  natured high school graduate who has dreams of owning the coolest custom van in the world to use as his  ballroom  .  br    br   bobby  our hero  spends his entire savings to acquire the vehicle of his dreams . joint sharing and love making quickly commence with girls bobby has picked up at the local pizza parlor  but he finds out much responsibility  danger and heartache come with being the owner of such a mechanical marvel .  br    br   the van is a guilty pleasure of mine . it captures the laid back mid    s mood and has enough unintentional humor to put it into the  so bad it  s good  category .  
i have three comments to make about this film  which i discovered hanging out forlornly in a lower shelf at blockbuster . first off  it is interesting to see the approaches film makers take in trying to film essentially unfilmable works . some have  as kubrick did with  lolita   gotten the original author to write a screenplay that is something like the original work . of course that can  t happen here kraft  ebing is long dead . some have used the premises of the original work as a launch point to go in a completely new  unrelated direction  the recent adaptation of  tristram shandy  comes to mind here  . you can dumb it down  the film of  slaughterhouse five  is to my mind an example of that . or you can simply take the format of the original and try to render it in cinematic vignettes . that would be the approach of woody allen  s  everything you wanted to know about sex   and  arguably  this film . upon consideration  it is probably the only thing one can do with a scholarly work like  psychopathia sexualis  . the potential loss is that whatever cumulative point the original work had is obscured or destroyed . and so it is here .  br    br   point two is the cinematic style . some would call it an  homage  to murnau  pabst  carl dreyer  etc .  but i think it more crude than that . its far too heavy handed and self  conscious to be effective for long . it is eventually just annoying .  br    br   point three is perhaps a less intellectual observation . how did the people responsible for this manage to make a film about wild sexual deviations and perversion that is so incredibly boring  i found the film impossible to pay attention to  and anyone who is not automatically drawn to depictions of sexual deviance will find it so as well . i don  t want to be completely uncharitable and say the film is pointless  but i have to say that whatever point the film makers had is rather obscured by the nature of the source material  the overt copying of filmic styles  and the stubborn refusal to engage the audience on an emotional level  possibly for fear of being accused of titillation  .  br    br   the film is a dubious exercise from the start and doesn  t really work for me  i  m sorry to say .  
i am proud to say i own an uncut copy of this choice chunk of    s crown international drive  in sexploitation comedy cheese on dvd . it  s a really goofy and enjoyably inconsequential flick with a nicely breezy  n  easy    s vibe to it . it does attempt to make a sincere point about true love and friendship being more important in life than a cool set of wheels and a quick piece of tail . sure  it  s essentially a blatant adolescent male fantasy pic   the main teen goofus character bobby hamilton gets the girls  the respect of his friends  and a chance to show  up a local van  racing bully   but it  s way too dopey and good  natured to hate . stuart getz as our gawky protagonist makes for an endearingly dorky lead  deborah white as the main object of getz  s affection is a definite cutie  connie lisa marie is likewise quite luscious as a beauteous blonde babe  and sneering beefcake neanderthal stephan oliver  a    s biker movie perennial  is wonderfully hateful as the brutish dugan hicks . a pre  stardom danny devito in particular is an absolute riot as getz  s cranky carwash owner boss andy  a lovably cantankerous ne  er  do  well slob who wears very ugly loud hawaiian shirts and suffers from a severe gambling habit . i especially love the scene where two thugs brutally beat danny up   one holds his arms behind his back while the other guy works over danny  s torso  and sammy johns  insidiously catchy fluke hit theme song will be bouncing around your skull for at least a week . in short  it  s great groovy retro     s fun   
before seeing this movie  i was expecting a fictional drama based loosely on ideas from the book instead  it  s the book  interrupted with dramatic scenes illustrating the different  illnesses .  that didn  t bother me much  but it hindered my enjoyment of the film . one story or even two or three long stories with excerpts from the book interspersed through the movie would have been preferable  in my opinion . if you  re going to base a movie on a psychology text  you  ve got to find a more interesting  and preferably accurate  text than this one . the film drags during parts where it  s little more than a video encyclopedia of   th century sexual psychology and would be utterly intolerable if it weren  t sexual in nature  because  sex  interesting  for most of us  even me  . luckily  there are several stories with actual character development that pull us in .  br    br   but  disappointingly  krafft  ebing  s theories of sexuality went unchallenged  for the most part . i was hoping it would use stories to show how the imperfections of his archaic view of psychology which is still held by many to this day .  br    br   so  in the end  what do you have  a detailed catalog of a few fetishes and orientations  with some mildly interesting stories showing the trials and tribulations of a few  sexual deviants  before they are cured . for most of the film  the film moves with the crawling speed  and mood  of a wake . and  as an obviously low budget film  the cinematography and acting are not exactly top tier . although i was pleased with the music  costume and interior design .  br    br   i felt this film  s subject was right up my alley  and i still feel it  s a below average film . it deserves a      a     if i were feeling extremely generous . i can  t imagine anyone enjoying this if they didn  t already have an interest in sexual fetishism .  
in      i was a boy of   years old  my parents had just got the home box office which was pretty new to our neighborhood . as a   year old boy  this was the first time i saw boobs on television . i will never forget the joy of those times . racing vans  the total ass  wipe with the baddest van  the water bed  the smoking of herbs  the hot    s chicks  the  makin love in my chevy van song  it was all so new to me . a complete movie with all of the memories you could hope for . i own it and enjoy it about once a year . when i watch this movie  it makes me want to get my skates  with  wheels  not in a strait line  go to the park and hunt down some babes with feathered hair . truly great memories of young adolescence   
a memorable line from a short lived show . after viewing the episode where that line was introduced my fraternity intramural flag football team started using the line to break our huddles on offense . instead of ready  break  our quarter back said football and the rest of the squad responded you bet  a fun way to break the huddle that had our opponents scratching their heads as very few of them had watched the show . using this line added a unique element to our season that i  ll never forget . we had our best season during my time in college that year and in a small way it was due to the fun that we had using this line . the show was pretty much a stinker but it lives on in the memories of the     pi kappa phi intramural flag football squad at west virginia tech .  
 . . . this is  above all else  the typical crown international pictures drive  in  read  passion pit   programmer . the     sammy johns hit record  chevy van  is heard repeatedly on the soundtrack  this movie has even been reissued with the title chevy van   despite the film  s title vehicle being a dodge . danny devito makes only six minutes of on  screen appearance  but countless vhs reissues falsely credit him as the star of the flick . the movie is a comparatively sexist morality tale   will bobby find sexual satisfaction through the one  night  stand his customised van facilitates  or must he wait until tina  the girl of his dreams  gives him the time of day  still  it is representative of the prevailing carnal dream of male american high schoolers of the time  and on that basis alone the van has  almost in spite of itself  become an artifact of the period that must be referenced in any honest retrospective of the period  s popular american cinema . . .  
from the stupid  quaint african natives  travelogue footage with our badly  superimposed principals acting as narrators  to the horrible fake ears which transform docile indian elephants into african elephants  to the utter lack of any logic at all  to maureen o  sullivan  s incessant whining of  tarzan  tarzan    there is nothing about this movie which deserves classic status .  br    br        
  it wasn  t me  it was  er  my twin brother rupert   bobby says to dugan when confronted about being over at sally  s place . i have used this line dozens of times over the years  no one has yet to believe it  though  .  br    br   this movie is one of the all  time best for sheer fun and nonbelieveability . steven oliver was perfect for the part of dugan  so much so that he was in      s  malibu beach  as the same character  not nearly as much screen time  though  .  br    br    nobody calls dugan a turd   is another line for the ages . this classic film was definitely worth the price of admission .  
wow  this is very unusual in one regard usually the first movie in a long string of sequels is the best of the bunch . people are surprised when a sequel is actually better . with tarzan  i thought this movie was the worst of the bunch  or at least the first six which comprise my tarzan collection dvd package . i will gladly watch the sequels multiple times but i am through sitting through this turkey  thanks to several characters .  br    br   well  let  s start with the good news first  br    br   the good  plenty of action with a lot of wild animals on display  even if they are just stock footage . you see lion attacks  crocodiles  hippos  panthers  you name it  and you see several of the different tribes of all kinds  including pygmies  called  dwarfs  in the movie .  since this movie was made almost   years ago  i can  t knock any of the realism because they didn  t have it in the movies that long ago . they do the best they can so you put up with actors talking in front of fake backgrounds . however  weissmuller did a lot of action scenes and was in great shape . he and o  sullivan make a well  built handsome couple  if there ever was one in those golden years of cinema .  br    br   the film has historical value  with so many sequels  in that it shows how tarzan acquired jane and his beginnings of learning the english language .  br    br   the bad  from the moment  jane parker  is taken by tarzan almost every scene with her is maureen o  sullivan in hysterics  shrieking and screaming scene after scene . it  s enough to give you a headache and it ruins the film . thankfully  she calmed down in the sequels  but not in this movie . the movie also does no favors for  the great white hunter  image as c . aubrey smith  playing jane  s father  and neil hamilton  as  harry holt   the safari guide  shoot at every animal within sight  whether the beasts is threatening or not . these people are kill  happy  particularly smith . on another note  it  s too bad there isn  t anything in here explaining how tarzan got to be in the jungle in the first place . there is no history of him in here or footage of his growing up . he  s just there when jane and the group get to a certain point in africa .  
a good film  and one i  ll watch a number of times . rich  the previous commenter  is right there is much more going on here than is clear from the title boards  and i have to wonder how much has suffered in translation . were there more in the original  or was a native  language audience expected to lip  read more  or   since the screenplay was written by the author of the novel on which this was based   was this a currently popular story with which the audience was already very familiar  in short  very worth a look  but it probably requires more work from contemporary viewers than the original     audience had to put into it .  br    br   the alpha video release touts the new organ score  but the music is not matched to the story progression in any way . sure  it starts promisingly  but degenerates into a repetitive  phillip  glass  like monotony that reflects nothing of the action on the screen . after listening for a while  i turned off the sound and simply watched much better   
eddie murphy for best supporting actor    what an insult to alan arkin and djimon hounsou .  br    br   jamie foxx  who can act  walks through this film like a zombie .  br    br   beyonce    that was acting     br    br   this movie pales in comparison to chicago or just about any other recent musical .  br    br   if it were not for the great singing and performance of jennifer hudson i would have given this a zero .  br    br   and no i never saw the stage play so i am not making the typical broadway vs . hollywood rap .  
wasn  t sure what to expect from this film . i love watching brosnan in any movie  he  s always good  but this was totally different . he  s a mess  and plays being a mess very well . in fact he reminded me of myself a few times back in uni   so yes  there  s not a lot of violence  there  s not a lot of action  but the dialogue is cracking  the acting is superb and very refreshing  and it  s pretty funny too   i don  t think you  ll come out of the cinema going  wow  i was blown away   but you  ll come out smiling having enjoyed a good film . can  t ask for more than that .  br    br   oh  and if you  re lucky  some moron will put the adverts reel in wrong and you  ll get inverted  upside down  reversed  with reversed audio  adverts   brilliant . nothing like watching a jack daniels ad where the drink goes back into the bottle from the glass with a gruff american  twin peaks  commentary    
i agree totally with the last commenter this could be the worst movie ever made . i too had to fast forward through most of this movie . michael madsen must have done this movie as a favor to someone . the picture quality is grainy all the way through . and what little plot there is  is just plain stupid . i give this movie a  out of   if i could give it a lower score i would . don  t waste your time on this movie or you  ll regret it .  
in this truly fascinating  dark film  a young impoverished student sells his soul to the devil for a lot of money  in return the devil takes his mirror image  this is done brilliantly in the movie and eerily presaged when balduin  the student is earlier practicing swordsmanship in front of the mirror   a visual metaphor for a  man at war with himself  which portents his immediate future . the student enjoys his money  but the woman he loves is unattainable  he has made a pact with the devil  he is cut off forever from love and other riches of the soul  you can have love or you can exchange your soul for money  you cannot have both . balduin is haunted by his double  the intertitles express this beautifully as does the action . some of the scenes are incredible  the sense of doom when the devil disappears with balduin  s mirror image is amazing  as is the sense that his pact has forever cut him off from human society  the scene where he runs away from his double and ends up in the  wasteland  at the edge of the town  no longer entirely human  he has lost his soul  he is like a hunted animal outside of human society . there are so many other things to say about this incredible film . paul wegener was an amazing actor and director  a cultural hero of mine . it helps if you know a bit about german history at the time this film was made and about german doppelganger tradition  don  t google it  get a proper book  just remember  it  s a very early film  it  s a little clumsy at times  but considering what it has to say and it  s tragic finale  it  s one of the best ever  yes it is    
this movie is all flash and no soul . the actors put a lot of passion into the numbers  but these numbers often didn  t connect with the film and felt like stand  alone music videos . and no effort was made to make the numbers sound as if they were happening right there in front of you  every single one sounds like its coming from a studio  essentially sucking all the life from the songs . off the stage the performances were all dull and unrealized  especially hudson  who essentially plays the same angry   strong   she  s stubborn and selfish  black woman we  ve seen before . there was absolutely no depth to her character  nor any of the other female leads . though i think the movie wants us to believe that hudson  s character faces hardship because of her weight  it is really her own refusal to do what  s best for the team that lands her in trouble  making the end of the film totally meaningless . hudson  s academy award is a joke  there was no justification . when she sang  she put forth emotion  though it was often misplaced  but this was the writer  director  s fault   but when she was just acting  she did nothing to flesh out an already underwritten character . eddie murphy  s character is the only one with an arc  and he did a fine job  but still not oscar worthy . the only actor who really brought something to the roll was danny glover  who took a small  relatively unimportant character and made something real out of it . there is nothing here to sink your teeth into  no drama or heart  or even laughs . the placement of the musical numbers was so bad that at times the movie almost seemed to be making fun of musicals instead of being one the number when hudson is arguing with the other girls is so long  winded if it had been any longer it could pass for a family guy skit . the movie has no idea what it  s about  and i felt insulted by the last few minutes . it  s a big  boring waste of time  and really is the worst film i saw in     and nothing last year was really stellar to begin with .  
this early version of the tale  the student of prague  was made in germany in      starring paul wegener  who was also in  the golem  a few years later  . in this film he plays a dual role  technically impressive for a   year old film to see them in the same shot  after meeting a mysterious old man who makes a pact with him for gold  the gold he needs to woo a countess he  s previously saved from drowning .  br    br   moving at a fast pace  the film runs just over an hour  and fairly well written and characterised   the student of prague  has echoes of the faust legend as well as dr jekyll and mr hyde  starting as it does with a pact with a mysterious figure of potential evil  and developing into good and evil sides of the same person .  
we expected something great when we went to see this bomb . it is basically a broadway play put on film . the music is plain terrible . there isn  t one memorable song in the movie   heard any hits from this movie  you won  t because there aren  t any . some of the musical numbers go on so long that i got up to go to the restroom and get some pop corn and it was still going when i got back  if they were good songs well   but they suck . the pace is slow  terrible character development . the lead was praised for her singing but sounded like she screamed every song   it was almost impossible to stand . this movie has nothing to offer anyone but die  hard broadway enthusiasts . this is without a doubt the most over rated movie i  ve seen in my entire life . a complete waist of time and money . there is nothing memorable about this movie except danny glover   who wasn  t on screen enough and whose character wasn  t developed enough . rent the video and you  ll agree   this movie was an expensive  over produced  polished dog do .  
those engaging the movie camera so early in the century must have figured out some of its potential very early on . this is a good story of a playboy type who needs money and inadvertently sells his soul to satan for a lot of money . unfortunately  the soul is his double and he must confront him frequently  tearing his life apart . there are some wonderful scenes with people fading out and  of course  the scenes when the two are on the stage at the same time . the middle part is a bit dull  but the faustian story is always in the minds of the viewer . one thing i have to mention is the general unattractiveness of the people in the movie . also  they pretty much shied away from much action which would have at least given some life to the thing . i first was made aware of this movie about   years ago and have finally been able to see it . i was not disappointed .  
i just saw dreamgirls yesterday  and i was really underimpressed . despite all the oscar buzz  this is nothing special . anyone who was really impressed by this film has never bothered to see any of the true movie musical classics . except for eddie murphy  s great musical and dramatic performance  dreamgirls is just a glorified tv movie with no style or flair . just a bunch of amateurs singing at each other   br    br   now  the first half hour was good  but i was irritated at how eddie murphy  s terrific raveup performances were truncated and interrupted by montages . those were easily the best songs and best performances in the film . and the  rise to the top  portion of the film was the only part of the film that had a consistent point of view or any momentum . the remaining hour and   minutes was a formless  rambling mess that was neither realistic nor fantastic enough to be interesting . it was also visually dull and included too many sound  alike tunes .  br    br   condon didn  t try to turn any of the tunes into big show pieces as i  d expected they would . each number in the  nd half was just one closeup after another of people  singing  at each other . and the way they shot hudson  s big  love me  number was criminal  condon just shot her stomping around the stage   no drama at all  god it sucked   br    br   and note to all involved   that  sing  talking dialog  stuff might work on stage  but it does not work in movies  see embarrassing failures of evita and phantom  . all that  i  ll teeeell youuuu something efff  ieeee   crap should have been left on the editing room floor . those aren  t  songs .   br    br   again  the film   except for eddie murphy  s amazing performance   was nothing more than a glorified tv movie . there must have been megabucks behind the pr work for this film  i wonder how much money was spent to give it that pre  release  one to beat  oscar buzz  as a whole this film was  except for eddie  nowhere near an oscar caliber movie   except for eddie  i  d rank it right up there with grease  . big disappointment  especially after all the  very expeni  ve  hype   
a stupid young man becomes obsessed with a woman   so obsessed that he loses perspective and common sense . an evil magician approaches him and informs him he can give him great wealth that he can use to win the lady  s heart if he agrees to give him anything he wants that  s within their room . the dumb guy agrees and the magician steals the man  s reflection out of the mirror   and bad things naturally occur as a result .  br    br   if this film had been made just a decade later  i am sure i wouldn  t have been so charitable in reviewing and scoring this film . after all  the film  s plot is a bit vague in spots and the acting is  at times  a bit stilted . however  when you consider that in      full  length  films were rare   and often only   to   minutes long  plus  the whole idea of a complex story like you get in this film is very unusual   as stories were very short and broadly acted . so  given the limitations of the time  this film is pretty good and is one of the earlier horror films known .  
dreamgirls  despite its fistful of tony wins in an incredibly weak year on broadway  has never been what one would call a jewel in the crown of stage musicals . however  that is not to say that in the right cinematic hands it could not be fleshed out and polished into something worthwhile on  screen . unfortunately  what transfers to the screen is basically a slavishly faithful version of the stage hit with all of its inherent weaknesses intact . first  the score has never been one of the strong points of this production and the film does not change that factor . there are lots of songs  perhaps too many    but few of them are especially memorable . the closest any come to catchy tunes are the title song and one night only  the much acclaimed and i am telling you that i am not going is less a great song than it is a dramatic set piece for the character of effie  jennifer hudson  . the film is slick and technically well  produced  but the story and characters are surprisingly thin and lacking in any resonance . there is some interest in the opening moments  watching jamie foxx  s svengali  like manager manipulate his acts to the top  but that takes a back seat in the latter portion of the film  when the story conveniently tries to cast him as a villain  despite his having been right from a business stand  point for a good majority of the film . beyonce knowles is lovely and sings her songs perfectly well  but is stuck with a character who is basically all surface glitz . anika noni rose as the third member of the dreamgirls trio literally has nothing to do for the entire film . eddie murphy acquits himself well as a singer obviously based on james brown  but the role is not especially meaty and ultimately has little impact . foxx would seem ideal casting  but he seems oddly withdrawn and bored . the film  s biggest selling point is surely former american idol contestant  oscar winner jennifer hudson in the central role of effie white  the temperamental singer who gets booted from the group and makes a triumphant closing act return . for me  effie has always been a big problem in both the show and the movie . the film obviously wants you to feel sorry for her and rather ham  handedly takes her side  but i have never been sure that this character deserves that kind of devotion . from the start  effie conducts herself for the most part like an obnoxious  egotistical  self  centered diva  who is more interested in what everyone else can do for her rather than having much vested interest in the group of which she is a part . when she is booted from the group for her unprofessionalism and bad attitude  the charges are more than well  founded  but the stage show  film seem to think effie should be cut unlimited slack simply because she has a great voice . even though the film tries to soften some of effie  s harder edges to make her more likable  the charges still stand . her story becomes more manipulative by suggesting she should have our further sympathy because she is an unwed mother struggling to raise her daughter  using the implication that  much like the talent card  motherhood immediately makes any behavior excusable . indeed the only big effort the film makes to show effie  s mothering is to tell us about it and then include a scene where she barks at her daughter in the unemployment office  insists that the girl has  no father  and then refuse to look for gainful employment to support them since singing is all she knows . in the hands of a skillful actress  the gaps could perhaps have been remedied with technique and charisma . unfortunately  hudson is not that actress . she sings well  but the dialog  driven moments do not come naturally to her nor do high emotional moments . effie  s signature moment  the aforementioned and i am telling you . . . number  is well  sung by hudson  but emotionally flat in the acting department . effie is supposed to expressing her rage and desperation at her predicament  but hudson comes off as a cabaret performer belting out a hot number . all in all  not quite the emotional highlight one expects . the latter portion of the film is basically a predictable melange of events that maneuver foxx into hudson  s earlier position and allow her to strut back in and lord it over everyone . foxx  s criminal offenses in the film are undoubtedly par for the course of many struggling record producers  but the film  s seeming implication that he has it coming because he helped usher in the disco era is rather ridiculous  not to mention pretentious and condescending  particularly coming from a film with all of the depth of a puddle . the end result is a faithful rendition of the stage hit  drained of emotion  energy or anything that can be described as dynamic .  
  the student of prague  is an early feature  length horror drama or  rather  it is an  autorenfilm   i . e . an author  s film  . this film is a member of a movement of many movements that tried to lend respectability to cinma  or just make a profit  by adapting literature or theatre onto the screen . fortunately  the story of this book with moving pictures is good . using alfred de musset  s poem and a story by edgar allen poe  it centres on the doppelgnger theme .  br    br   unfortunately  the most cinematic this film gets is the double exposure effects to make paul wegener appear twice within scenes . guido seeber was a special effects wizard for his day  but he  s not very good at positioning the camera or moving it . film scholar leon hunt  printed in  early cinema space  frame  narrative    however  has made an interesting analysis on this film using framing to amplify the doubles theme characters being split by left  right  near  far and frontal  diagonal framing of characters and shots . regardless  the film mostly consists of extended long shots from a fixed position  which is noticeably primitive . worse is the lack of editing there  s very little scene dissection and scenes linger . none of this is unusual for      but there were more advanced films in this respect around the same time  including the better parts of  atlantis   august blom         twilight of a woman  s soul   yevgeni bauer       and the short films of d . w . griffith .  br    br   an expanded universal film vocabulary by     would allow for a vastly superior remake . furthermore  the remake has a reason for the lyduschka character  other than being an occasional troublemaker and spectator surrogate . here  the obtrusively acted gypsy lurks around  seemingly  with a cloak of invisibility . i know their world is silent to me  but i assume  with their lips moving and such  that their world would not be silent to them  so how can lyduschka leer over others  shoulders and not be noticed   br    br   nevertheless  this is one of the most interesting early films conceptually . wegener  who seems to have been the primary mind behind this film  in addition to playing the lead  would later play the title role and co  direct  the golem  in       helping to further inaugurate the supernatural thread in german silent cinma .  br    br    note the first version i viewed was about an hour long  surely not quite complete  and was in poor condition  with faces bleached at times and such . i  m not sure who was the distributor . i  ve also since seen the alpha dvd  which  at   minutes  is missing footage present in the aforementioned print and also has fewer and very different title cards  but is visually not as bad . the repetitive score is best muted  though .   
yeah . pretty sure i saw this movie years ago when it was about the supremes .  br    br   another recycled storyline glitzed up hollywood  style  borrowing scripts from better making  it  in  the  music  industry films .  br    br   nothing original here .  br    br   more make  up  glammier costumes and choreography  more money for the questionably  talented  beyonce draw .  br    br   if you like the throwback style  you should appreciate actual groups who struggled  without having digitized voices and a hollywood empire  .  br    br   beyonce  s involvement makes this hypocritical garbage .  
if  the cabinet of dr . caligari  is the father of all horror films  and of german expressionist cinema   this pre  wwi film is the grandfather . the titular student  starving in an empty garret  makes a deal with the devil   the devil gives him a bottomless sack of gold  in exchange for  anything in this room .  the devil chooses the student  s reflection in his mirror . he walks off with the student  s doppelganger  who commits crimes for which the student is blamed .  br    br   the film is marred by some limitations arising out of the technically primitive state of     filmmaking the plot cries out for chiaroschuro effects  but the film is  of necessity  virtually all shot in shadowless daylight . but the scene where the reflection walks out of the mirror still packs a wallop .  br    br   more interesting for the trends it fortells than for its own sake  the student of prague is still worthwhile .  
this was longer than the ten commandments  all lord of the rings and the matrix trilogy combined . my oh my  what a nightmare . this is the single biggest over  hype of     . there is not a moment that is not scripted and clichd . movie musicals can be done brilliantly and bring genuine excitement to the viewer . dreamgirls takes the route of chinese water torture  in the form of endless music montages  shoddy acting  and poor directing choices  seriously  mr . condon  did you have to do the old billboard countdown shots  it  s at     no wait  look its rising up the charts and here is the passing billboard notice to show you again . . . . and again . . . . and again   
one of the most important artistic movements in the history of cinema was without a doubt german expressionism  the highly atmospheric style of film  making developed during the   s in berlin . classic movies like  das cabinet des dr . caligari .        and  nosferatu  eine symphonie des grauens        were the most famous direct results of this movement  and while the movement didn  t have a long life  its enormous influence over cinema can still be felt today  specially in the horror genre . one of the key figures of this style would be director paul wegener  director of      s  der golem  wie er in die welt kam   as in his debut as a filmmaker  seven years before the making of that classic  he was already making experiments with expressionism in film . that early prototype of german expressionism was incidentally  another horror film  der student von prag  .  br    br    der student von prag    the student of prague    is the story of balduin  paul wegener   a student with the reputation of being the best fencer in prague  but who always find himself with financial troubles . one day  balduin rescues the beautiful countess margit  grete berger  from drowning in a lake after her horse drop her by accident . balduin falls immediately in love with her and tries to see her again  but soon he discovers that he  ll have to compete with her rich cousin  graf von schwarzenberg  lothar krner   who also wants to marry her . knowing that he can  t offer her much  balduin wishes to be wealthy  and this is where a sorcerer named scapinelli  john gottowt  enters the scene . scapinelli offers balduin infinite wealth in exchange of whatever he finds in his room . balduin accepts the proposal  only to discover in horror that what scapinelli wants is his reflection in the mirror .  br    br   loosely inspired by edgar allan poe  s short story  william wilson  and the classic legend of  faust   the story of  der student von prag  was conceived by german writer hanns heinz ewers  a master of horror literature and one of the first writers to consider scriptwriting as valid as any other form of literature . written at a time where cinema in germany was still being developed as an art form   der student von prag  shows a real willingness to actually use cinema to tell a fully developed story beyond a camera trick or a series of scenes . like most of the scriptwriters of his time  ewers screenplay is still very influenced by theater  although  der student von prag  begins to move away from that style . while a bit poor on its character development  specially on the supporting characters   ewers manages to create an interesting and complex protagonist in the person of balduin .  br    br   while  der student von prag  was paul wegener  s directorial debut and stellan rye  s second film as a filmmaker  it  s very clear that these two pioneers had a very good idea of what cinema could do when done properly . giving great use to guido seeber  s cinematography  the two young filmmakers create a powerful gothic atmosphere that forecasts what the german filmmakers of the following decade would do . wegener would learn many of the techniques he would employ in his  golem  series from seeber and rye . despite having very limited resources  rye and wegener manage to create an amazing and very convincing  for its time  visual effect for the scenes with balduin  s reflection  played by wegener too  . already an experienced stage actor at the time of making this film  wegener directs the cast with great talent and also attempts to move away from the stagy style of previous filmmakers .  br    br   as balduin  paul wegener is very effective and probably the best in the movie . it certainly helps that his character is the only one fully developed by the writer  but one can  t deny that wegener was very good in his role as the poor student who loses more than his mirror reflection in that contract . john gottowt plays the sinister scapinelli with mysterious aura that suits the character like a glove . few is said about scapinelli in the film  but gottowt makes sure to let us know that he is a force to be feared . the rest of the main cast is less lucky  with grete berger being pretty much average as countess margit  and lothar krner making a poor graf von schwarzenberg . however  it must be said that lyda salmonova was pretty good in her expressive character and fritz weidemann made an excellent baron waldis  schwarzenberg  showing the dignity that lrner  s character should have had .  br    br   considering the movies that were being done in those years in other countries and the fact that its remake  made   years after this film  is superior in every possible way  it  s not difficult to understand why  der student von prag  hasn  t stood the test of time as well as other early films . the movie  s main problem is definitely its extremely low budget  as it resulted in the film being considerably shorter than what ewers  story needed to be fully developed . this makes the plot feel a bit too vague at times  or even incomplete  as if there was something missing in the narrative  of course  there  s also the possibility that the existing print is really incomplete  . however   der student von prag  is a very interesting early attempt at a complex tale of horror and suspense in film that  while inferior to what other filmmakers were doing at the time  left a powerful impression in history .  br    br   as the direct predecessor of the german expressionist movement  it  s hard to deny the enormous importance that  der student von prag  has in the history of german cinema  probably in the history of cinema in general . it may look dated even for its time  but considering the limited resources its director had  it  s truly better than most films from that era . as the movie that started paul wegener  s career  and with that german expressionism   der student von prag  is a must see for everyone interested in this slice of film history .      
it makes sense to me that this film is getting raves from hollywood because oftentimes in hollywood it  s all just a popularity contest . it also makes sense when you think that people who are liking the film may just be reacting to the countless songs being spit out at you rather than story content . yet  this film is overrated and overblown . eddie murphy looks just ridiculous . no way do jeniffer hudson and beyonce knowles give the oscar rated performance so many have raved over before the film was even out . i can  t even believe that condon is being set up to be nominated for a directing oscar when all he did was put together an album . glitz does not replace a nothing storyline . a bunch of songs does not a movie make .  
while this movie  s style isn  t as understated and realistic as a sound version probably would have been  this is still a very good film . in fact  it was seen as an excellent film in its day  as it was nominated for the first best picture oscar  losing to wings  . i still consider wings to be a superior film  but this one is excellent despite a little bit of overacting by the lead  emil jannings .  br    br   jannings is a general from czarist russia who is living out his final days making a few bucks in the     s by being a hollywood extra . his luck appears to have changed as he gets a casting call   to play an imperial russian general fighting against the communists during the revolution . naturally this isn  t much of a stretch acting  wise  but it also gets the old man to thinking about the old days and the revolution .  br    br   exactly what happens next i  ll leave to you  but it  s a pretty good film   particularly at the end . by the way  look for william powell as the russian director . despite being made in      with the makeup he doesn  t look much younger than he did in many of his later films .  
i anticipated the release of the film as much as any fan of the broadway play . i waited and read reviews for months about the award winning performances . i mean with the star power of eddie murphy  jamie foxx  beyonce knowles  danny glover . . . the movie couldn  t be less than  out of  stars  right  wrong  i was definitely disappointed by the finished product . the film did not match up to the publicity hype it was given and the only saving graces were eddie murphy  anika noni rose and jennifer hudson .  br    br   eddie murphy  s james brownesque performance rescues the movie just when it hits its multiple lulls and jennifer hudson  s performance compels you to pay attention each time she  s on screen . her performance of  and i am telling you  was the only time that i felt the hype was deserved . you cringed as she begged her no good man to let her stay in the group and in his life . as many reviewers have stated  she steals the movie from the more experienced actors and deserves all the accolades she  s receiving for this performance . anika noni rose was also a strong presence with a great voice and comedic talent .  br    br   jamie foxx and beyonce knowles  on the other hand  cruised through their performances . foxx  s acting skills for this film seemed to predate his extraordinary  ray  performance and beyonce knowles was on an extended fashion photo shoot or video taping  posing and shimmying her way through the movie . her performance wasn  t strong enough to make you care about her character at any point in the film .  br    br   the movie was too hyped    minutes and  song  beyonce  s  heartfelt  solo to jamie foxx  too long .  br    br   dh   vancouver  wa  
russian emigrant director in hollywood in      william powell  is casting his epic about the russian revolution  and hires an old ex  general from the czarist regime  emil jannings  to play the general of the film  and the two relive the drama and the memory of the woman they shared  evelyn brent   of   years before .  br    br   try as i might  i feel it hard to warm to  the last command  for all its virtues .  the docks of new york  was indubitably a great film  and  underworld  is a film i have always been craving to see  but  the last command  is rather heavy  going . the premise is fascinating  but the treatment does really make the script come to life  except in the sequences set in hollywood  depicting the breadline of employable extras and the machinations of a big movie production with state  of  the  art technology .  br    br   emil jannings is  predictably  a marvelous russian general  distinguishing wonderfully between the traumatized and decrepit old ex  general  transfixed in his misery  and the vigorous  hearty officer of yore .  br    br   the ending is great and worth the wait  but in order to get there you must prepared to be slightly bored at times .  
yes there are great performances here . unfortunately  they happen in the context of a movie that doesn  t seem to have a clue what it  s doing . during the first      minutes of this all the music takes place as realistic performance . suddenly  about an hour in  the characters who  until this point  had always spoken to each other  suddenly start singing to each other . to further confuse things  a little further in  out of nowhere  they actually do about   minutes of sung  through dialog  then seem to drop that idea and move on to other things  such as a number that begins in a jazz club with a drummer and two electric guitars suddenly turning into a fully orchestrated piece with a massive unseen string section . on top of all this inconsistency in how the music is used  is the composers  clear inability to actually write music in the style that is supposedly being portrayed . while the first couple of pieces do sort of mimic the     s motown sound  the rest of the film is just  bad  broadway show music . then there  s the pure silliness of snippets of a group doing a bad jackson family imitation and eddie murphy morphing from little richard to james brown to lionel richie . when he started channeling stevie wonder i couldn  t help laughing out loud . this was clearly one of those films that make me appreciate how little time i have on earth and resent that i wasted two hours of it watching this film .  
the last command       is a silent film directed by josef von sternberg . it shows us czarist general  grand duke sergius alexander  emil jannings  in his days of glory . in     he had all the power but after the revolution and the collapse of imperial russia he has nothing . he also had the love of a woman  natalie dabrova  evelyn brent  . about ten years later he applies for a small part in a film about the revolution . his old enemy lev andreyev  william powell  is the director who gets to choose whether to hire him as a film extra or not . the last command is very good silent drama . emil jannings does memorable role work in the lead . evelyn brent is wonderful playing the woman lead . william powell is great as always . there are plenty of scenes to remember in this movie . like many scenes with jannings and brent . and then there is the ending with powell and jannings . this is a movie that touches in many parts .  
i had been looking forward to seeing dreamgirls for quite a while . . . what with all it  s raving reviews  nominations and media attention . and i must say  the first quarter of the movie was good  it really portrayed the black music scene back then . however  as the movie wore on  me and my whole family were bored out of our wits . the singing just kept coming  one after the other . i mean seriously  just one more music number and it would have broke even with rent .  br    br   furthermore  i noticed hardly any character development in any of the characters i just didn  t care what happened to them  even when eddie murphy  s character died of a drug overdose  i knew i should have been sad  but i just couldn  t feel any emotion for that character . the characters were given a flimsy background about singing in their childhood and whatnot  but there personalities were not revealed enough to draw me in .  br    br   finally  the conflict was simply not significant enough to make the viewer care  which goes along with the lack of character development . this movie reminded me of a copy  cat movie based on ray  chicago  and rent  ray and chicago were wonderful movies in my opinion  . overall i think this movie would best suit someone who doesn  t really care about an overall story  yet would enjoy two hours of entertaining and fun singing performances .  
i found this to be a profoundly amusing dark comedy . brosnan is genius as anyone will now testify  he is not to be pigeonholed in the bond role . kinnear was as charismatic and as funny as anyone could have been in the role . i don  t know if i  ve laughed as hard during any movie  what an unexpected pleasure  my favourite line would be  i feel like a bangkok hooker on a sunday after the navy left town  . brosnan delivered this very un  bond line with such unexpected comedic finesse . i was also very impressed with hope davis  s performance . it seems like everyone in this movie branched out from their previous work to such a degree that it actually improved the comedy . if you liked the dark and hilarious  the weather man   you will definitely like this .  br    br   i voted   .  
i just watched this film   minutes ago  and i still have no idea what i just watched . mainly i think it  s a film about an internet sm  star  of cd roms that are about as realistic as flash cartoons online . she  s murdered by someone  which causes her sister and a crack team of  fbi agents to investigate the death . the local homicide division of big city  usa is also investigating  though most of his work comes by the way of oogling the cd roms which he claims are as realistic  as the real thing  . i know . wow .  br    br   michael madsen is the only one in the film that has any kind of credits behind him . he  s in the film for about   minutes  and half of that is him banging the main girl for seemingly no apparent reason . i won  t even explain the ending  because quite frankly i can  t make it out myself . but before the final scene  we  re treated to a  or  minute montage of everything in the film . honestly  they could have ran that then the final scene and it would have been the same effect with the cross eyed direction and all .  br    br   all in all  stay away from this film . i got it because i love bad movies and i love michael madsen . i really could have used that   some minutes on something else and have been more satisfied . like  playing that game with a knife where you jab at your hand repeatedly . that for   minutes would be much more entertaining .  
      and hollywood had been on the map as the centre of the cinematic world for a little over a decade . now that it had become the site of a multi  million dollar industry and the vertically integrated studio system had been established  some of those in the calmer quarters of this film  making factory were taking the time for a little self  reflection . the last command  while its heart may be the classic story of a once prestigious man fallen on hard times  frames that tale within a bleak look at how cinema unceremoniously recreates reality  and how its production process could be mercilessly impersonal . it was written by lajos biro  who had been on the scene long enough to know .  br    br   taking centre stage is a man who was at the time among hollywood  s most celebrated immigrants  emil jannings . before coming to the states jannings had worked mainly in comedy  being a master of the hammy yet hilariously well  timed performance  often as pompous authority figures or doddering old has  beens . he makes his entrance in the last command as the latter  and at first it looks as if this is to be another of jannings  s scenery  chomping caricatures . however  as the story progresses the actor gets to demonstrate his range  showing by turns delicate frailty  serene dignity and eventually awesome power and presence in the finale . he never quite stops being a blustering exaggeration  the german acting tradition knowing nothing of subtlety   but he constantly holds our attention with absolute control over every facet of his performance .  br    br   the director was another immigrant  albeit one who had been around hollywood a bit longer and had no background in the european film industry . nevertheless joseph von sternberg cultivated for himself the image of the artistic and imperious teutonic kino meister  the  von  was made up  by the way   and took a very distinctive approach to the craft . of note in this picture is his handling of pace and tone  a great example being the first of the russian flashback scenes . we open with a carefully  constructed chaos with movement in converging directions  which we the audience become part of as the camera pulls back and extras dash across the screen . then  when jannings arrives  everything settles down . jannings  s performance is incredibly sedate and measured  and when the players around him begin to mirror this the effect is as if his mere presence has restored order .  br    br   sternberg appears to show a distaste for violence  allowing the grimmest moments to take place off screen  and yet implying that they have happened with a flow of images that is almost poetic . in fact  he really seems to have an all  round lack of interest in action . in the scene of the prisoners  revolt sternberg takes an aloof and objective stance  his camera eventually retreating to a fly  on  the  wall position . compare this to the following scenes between jannings and evelyn brent  which are a complex medley of point  of  view shots and intense close  ups  thrusting us right into the midst of their interaction .  br    br   as a personality on set  it would seem that sternberg was much like the cold and callous director played on the screen by william powell  and in fact powell  s portrayal is probably something of a deliberate parody that even sternberg himself would have been in on . unfortunately this harsh attitude did not make him an easy man to work with  and coupled with his focus on his technical resources over his human ones  the smaller performances in his pictures leave a little to be desired . while jannings displays classic hamming in the charles laughton mode that works dramatically  it appears no  one told his co  stars they were not in a comedy . evelyn brent is fairly good  giving us some good emoting  but overplaying it here and there . the only performance that comes close to jannings is that of powell himself . it  s a little odd to see the normally amiable star of the thin man and the great ziegfeld playing a figure so stern and humourless  like a male ninotchka  but he does a good job  revealing a smouldering emotional intensity beneath the hard  hearted exterior .  br    br   the last command could easily have ruffled a few feathers in studio offices  as tends to happen with any disparaging commentary on the film  making process  even a relatively tame example like this . at the very least  i believe many studio heads would have been displeased by the  behind  the  scenes  view  as it threatened the mystique of movie  making which was still very much alive at this point . as it turned out  such was the impact of the picture that jannings won the first ever academy award for best actor  as well as a best writing nomination for lajos biro and  according to some sources  although the issue is a little vague  a nomination for best picture . this is significant  since the academy was a tiny institution at this time and the first awards were more than ever a bit of self  indulgent back  slapping by the hollywood elite . but elite or not  they recognised good material when they saw it  and were willing to reward it .  
despite the excellent cast  this is an unremarkable film  especially from the aviation perspective . it may be somewhat better than the egregious  von richthofen and brown  but not by much .  blue max  remains the best of a small market over the last   years while  darling lilli  is fun if not taken seriously . it  s interesting to speculate what ilm could do with zeppelins and gothas in a new  high  quality ww i aero film .  
josef von sternberg directs this magnificent silent film about silent hollywood and the former imperial general to the czar of russia who has found himself there . emil jannings won a well  deserved oscar  in part  for his role as the general who ironically is cast in a bit part in a silent picture as a russian general . the movie flashes back to his days in russia leading up to the country  s fall to revolutionaries . william powell makes his big screen debut as the hollywood director who casts jannings in his film . the film serves as an interesting look at the fall of russia and at an imitation of behind  the  scenes tinseltown in the early days . von sternberg delivers yet another classic  and one that is filled with the great elements of romance  intrigue  and tragedy .  
funny that i find myself forced to review this movie  but here i am .  br    br   i am reviewing it  because just recently  i have had the chance to witness the revival of r . c . sheriff  s play  journey  s end  on stage in new york  at the belasco theatre  starring hugh darcy  boyd gaines  jefferson mays and others  as well as being masterfully directed by david grindley .  br    br   i left the theater shattered . i am not exaggerating  i was flabbergasted . after almost two and a half hours of a recreated and very claustrophobic depiction of soldier  s life in the trenches of the somme  i speculate   during world war one  brought to life vividly  by everyone involved  i came out of the theater with the shakes .  br    br   mind you  i am not easily shocked  nor am i too sensitive . i am a stage actor and a director myself  so i know the buttons being pressed to achieve certain effects  both emotionally  as well as psychologically .  br    br   but what i had just witnessed  came so much to life  that i had chills in my spine as i left .  br    br   none of these emotions came to life  while watching  aces high   the movie based on this play and even adapted for the screen  in cooperation with r . c . sheriff himself  shortly before he died .  br    br   the screen adaptation takes place in the skies over france . so  gone is the claustrophobic ambiance to start with .  br    br   the only plus of the movie  are the aerial battle scenes  which look dated in their special effects  compared to today  s standards  but still very valid in the flying tactics adopted on screen .  br    br   granted there had been a couple of screen adaptations of  all quiet on the western front  by erich maria remarque  which takes place in trenches  and not in the sky  but that was the  german  vision on things  if one would like to be picky on such things .  br    br    journey  s end  is just the other side of the medal  and would have made it into a great movie  if they had left it alone and intact .  br    br   the transfer on dvd is poor  even though in widescreen and adapted for     tv screens  the quality of the film itself is that of a movie theater . nothing more  nothing less . it sports various defects  such as minor scratches and dots  although the copy  for the rest  is clean .  br    br   if you want another wwi movie in your collection  especially for those who love and enjoy to see aerial battles among old  timers  then this is a picture for you . but i rather would suggest  von richthofen and brown  as an alternative  although that too  is a movie filled with inaccuracies .  br    br   for the rest of you  who love good acting and drama  i would leave this one out . buy the play . go watch the play  if you have the chance to get a decent revival of it near you  but keep off this would  be adaptation .  br    br   it is an anti  war movie  granted  but the weakest i have ever seen in my lifetime ever .  br    br   the presence of actors such as trevor howard  ray milland  richard johnson and john gielgud  is just a bluff  since they are just seen in very weak and very brief cameo roles throughout the movie .  br    br   mcdowell  the very talented christopher plummer  simon ward and peter firth  all deliver very weak performances  not due to their lack of skills  but rather due to lack of true and solid direction .  br    br   there are too many gaps in it  and as said before  it drags itself to the dubious end . dubious because in the original play  none of the men we come to know and sympathize with  stay alive . they are all killed in a fatal and futile mission . in the movie they all die  except malcolm mcdowell  who manages somehow to stay alive another day  being the wing commander of the unlucky bunch  just to receive another three pilots to fly and die for another lost cause .  br    br   the end of the play leaves a bare stage in total darkness . you just hear the cannons roar  the machine guns rattle  and grenade impacts throughout the theater . then  suddenly  total peace and silence . the curtain comes up . lights . and here they all are . lined up  standing straight and rigid . obedient corpses . . .  br    br   far more interesting and far more shocking than  aces high  finale  which is also dragged by the hair .  br    br   it is up to you to judge .  br    br   for me  if i had the money and the contacts to do so  i would take the play and develop it  the way it was meant . adding here and there some action scene in the field  just to visualize the  outer  horror and slaughter going on in the  vasty fields of france   around the men involved  but then  just strictly concentrating on what is going on  in that tiny  shack  at the edge of sanity and the world . . .  br    br   want such a movie   br    br   then ask for it .  br    br   this is not it .  
an extra is called upon to play a general in a movie about the russian revolution . however  he is not any ordinary extra . he is serguis alexander  former commanding general of the russia armies who is now being forced to relive the same scene  which he suffered professional and personal tragedy in  to satisfy the director who was once a revolutionist in russia and was humiliated by alexander . it can now be the time for this broken man to finally  win  his penultimate battle . this is one powerful movie with meticulous direction by von sternberg  providing the greatest irony in alexander  s character in every way he can . jannings deserved his oscar for the role with a very moving performance playing the general at his peak and at his deepest valley . powell lends a sinister support as the revenge minded director and brent is perfect in her role with her face and movements showing so much expression as jannings  love . all around brilliance . rating    .  
before i begin  i want to briefly say that this movie in and of itself is very well made and well acted by all involved  including whittaker  who indeed deserves his nomination . it is highly entertaining  and . . . taken in the right context as a work of fiction  it is a very good movie . for that  i give it the two stars .  br    br   however  rather than wasting your time with what you can read a hundred times elsewhere  i want instead to point out the absolute fictional nature of this film and how dangerous it is to sell people a work of fiction as if it is truth . i stress that this film nowhere in the credits lets us know that the main character  dr . nicholas garrigan  is a complete invention of fiction . rather  it presents this character into a real historical setting  and allows the uninformed viewer to assume he was in fact real  and what they are seeing is the truth . i have no problem with the blending of fact and fiction  but to do so in such a dishonest matter is  in a word  reprehensible .  br    br   there can be no doubt that africa  along with most third world countries is rife with human misery and suffering . hollywood has long attempted to capture the suffering of people in these countries on film . but hollywood also has its eye toward making money . the only true way to capture the suffering that seems to happen everywhere but the west is to either experience it for yourself  or to at least have it captured in an honest documentary .  br    br   but these depictions of fictional characters in real historical settings can only do so much . at the end of the day  they become less about presenting the facts for the viewer to decide for himself  and more about leading you from image to image and hitting you over the head screaming   see  we told you it was bad   the seminal example of this can be found by anyone willing to watch the documentary on the dvd after sitting through the movie . arguably the most shocking image of the film is the viewing of the body of kay amin  idi  s second wife  whom he killed when he discovered her infidelity . in the film  we see that her limbs have been severed and reattached in reverse  arms for legs and vice  versa  . this is the director making sure you understand that amin is  as the gungans say  bom  bad  but watching the documentary  we learn that this is in fact nothing more than a myth  which the sitting minister of health at the time himself tells us is not true .  br    br   so . . . what . . . they just make up these things  why  because hollywood has a low opinion of our intelligence  that  s why  they don  t trust us to come to the right conclusion ourselves . look  that she was murdered and dismembered is in itself enough for us to conclude that amin was not the likable guy he portrayed to the media  we don  t need this texas chainsaw massacre inspired imagery to reinforce that  and this is just the tip of the iceberg . what is also not explained to the casual viewer is that lead character garrigan is himself fictional . there was no young scottish doctor taken under amin  s wing . as such  garrigan is clearly present only for the sake of helping us dumb westerners understand the african world . the producers seem to thing we won  t be interested in a film about africa unless there is a white face in it .  ironically  even the titular character is portrayed by an american black actor   the problem with this is that the movie is no longer an expose of amin and his regime  but instead an exploitative thriller about a white westerner coming to africa for all the wrong reasons  making several horrible mistakes  and then  redeeming  himself  even at the cost of three other innocent lives . honestly  i have to say it is nearly reprehensible to suggest that the real tragic death of mrs . amin was the result of a tryst with a fictional scottish doctor  it almost seems to become a morbid joke for the sake of entertainment  i really wish hollywood would stop jerking us around for our money . i first realized its propensity to do this with the woefully manipulative a beautiful mind  ron howard and akiva goldsman  s sugary  sweet adaptation of the life of john nash  which deleted the darker side of the man to present only the tortured hero that america just can  t get enough of . the sad truth is that hollywood has been selling us these fakes for years  and viewers  who are predictably and understandably too lazy or uncaring to investigate for themselves  buy these fake portraits hook  line  and sinker .  br    br   look  i  m certainly not suggesting amin is being turned into a villain he wasn  t . my point is  with the truth being so shocking enough to convince us of the brutality of the man  why must hollywood then go to such fictional lengths  why must hollywood continue to insult us by holding our hands through these films  why can they not trust us to think for ourselves   can we not just put the honest portrayals on screen and let the audience decide for themselves  i urge all who continue to watch hollywood  s purportedly  true  movies to do yourself the favor of always investigating for yourself  and to never assume that what is on screen is even close to the truth   
thats my bush is first of all a very entertaining show by parker and stone  i thought . its often very very funny  and its quite subversive and crazy . south park fans would surely get something here .  br    br   another surprise is the production value here . a lot of money must have been put into this  and it shows . a lot of expensive little details . its not a little show . and comedy central is not an extremely rich channel  but they put a lot into this show obviously . in a way i understand that was the death of the show as well though  too costy . it surely could have been done cheaper and went on the will was there .  br    br   the critics liked it  and it had its little fanbase  but it failed gaining a big audience . as we know  the show stopped after  episodes  which i guess is almost  season .  br    br   as i really liked the show it has its faults . the problem of the show is kind of that it doesn  t know what it wants to be really . its like it tries to be a sitcom and a parody of a sitcom at the same time . the actors do a good job  and some of them are well casted  but in my opinion they seem to not always get     the bizarre humor they  re supposed to present .  br    br   i personally think that the show needed some characters that were more down to earth for the show to work . in south park you have kyle and stan  that are kind of a realistic touch in the more looney universe . i think thats kind of what makes south park work . you need some sane characters that you can relate to in a realistic way  and that makes the insane stuff so much more interesting too because that forces you to take them seriously at some level . if everything is archetypes and stereotypes its difficult to get emotionally included in the show  which really is thats my bush biggest problem . kyle and stan is characters in south park that makes sense of the insanity in the show . we have nothing like that here  and this show suffers from it .  br    br   another anchorpoint is parker and stones flirting with republicans . its the only thing about them i don  t really get what they  re trying to do . not portraying bush as nothing else than a dumb homer simpsons lovable kind of character is kind of subversive in a world where a lot of people that can  t stand him and think he  s the worst president since nixon  and a parallel comedy world of letterman and so on that only satirizes his every move . . . but its difficult to understand if parker and stone actually means anything by it . its like the joke is on us  but somehow it doesn  t hit the mark . it seems awkward  because it doesn  t remind you of the real bush at all .  br    br   besides that i actually thought the show was very enjoyable . some of the jokes in here are hilarious . the pro  life supporter who was a surviving aborted fetus is probably one of my favorite jokes by them in any show . and the show is packed with great material  and is sometimes insanely funny if you use your head a little while watching it .  
forest whitaker  s performance is all the more impressive for making it almost worthwhile to sit through this dreck .  historical fiction  does not justify changing history . the absurdity begins from the ground up with the imaginary lead character played by james mcavoy . to create a fictional observer for the purpose of giving the reader a point of connection in the book is regrettable  regrettable that white people can  t just read a book without a white protagonist to connect to  but at least he was placed in a somewhat passive role . making up a fake historical actor and crediting this fiction with exposing amin to the world is irresponsible  lazy and stupid . not making the actions of this creation believable or even sane is just criminal  and has opened the door for movies like the one they  re planning to make with leonardo dicaprio as a heroic enron whistleblower who never existed . the logic of the world does not apply in this film where some scottish kid thinks its okay to sleep with the wife of a murderous dictator . it doesn  t apply where the wife of the dictator desires to sleep with some stupid scrawny irresponsible white boy . for that matter everybody is lined up to sleep with this scrawny  irresponsible  arrogant white boy  he even has gillian anderson licking her comely chops .  br    br   let me declare  i do not like james mcavoy . i  m not sure what it is about him  but i thought his mr . tumnus in narnia was creepy and pervy . i think that kerry washington would never look twice at him so i can  t believe that the wife of a powerful dangerous man like amin would risk and lose her life for him . i don  t believe him as a doctor  and i just don  t see the appeal . his character seems to have far more arrogance than would make sense  and trying to make him look like a badass in shooting the cow was just . . . there  s that word again . . . absurd . think about it  you are watching all of these characters bend themselves into knots in order to accommodate this unbelievable main character and there never was such a guy .  br    br   gillian anderson looks incredible and sounds more british than most brits . whitaker gives a great expansive magnetic performance  and highlighted  with his incomprehensible pre  oscar speeches  just how much he was acting . it  s a shame the film around him had no reason to exist .  
that  s my bush is a live action project made by south park creators trey parker and matt stone . the show was cancelled after one season  not because of bad reviews  it actually got good reviews   but because it was very expensive . that  s my bush is a pretty funny spoof of an average network tv sitcom . it is also a political satire . now  this is nowhere near as good as south park  but it is a very funny spoof of a sitcom and also a pretty good political satire . the guy who plays in that  s my bush looks a lot like him  if you can find the show  check it out . there are plenty of laughs to be had   br    br        
this film can be judged from three viewpoints as history  as a profile of amin  as a fictional thriller .  br    br   it fails as history  it mentions in passing the coup that threw out obote  the expulsion of the asians  and has the entebbe hi  jack as background  but not in any chronologically consistent time frame .  br    br   as a profile of amin it may have been interesting  because forest whitaker is incredibly good  and if this was a better film  he would get an oscar .  he got it  which proves the oscar voters don  t watch the films they vote on .  it ignores relevant historical episodes in the novel  which observed amin and the history of uganda from the point of view of the doctor . it tells instead the fictitious story of the scots doctor and his impossible love life from the point of view of amin . but the story told is the one incident that amin was probably innocent of .  br    br   as a fictional thriller  there is no plot to hold it together . the beginning is taut  it takes cinematic liberties with the novel  but sets up the story . the character of the doctor is well  defined  but becomes lost in the second half of the film which suffers as a result .  br    br   why the doctor decides to stay in kampala is badly explained  seduced by power  why he befriends no  one is strange . the character of the friend in the novel has been lost because the scotsman has the affair instead of the black doctor  a ludicrous entanglement which does not seem even faintly believable  but allows the writers of the film to show the ferocity of amin close at hand . the man called horse bit at the end is risible .  br    br   finally in      uganda drove on the left  not right  the number plates were three letters and two or three numbers  and where are the equator tusks    br    br   in short  if you  ve never heard of amin  you may want to spend two hours watching this film to appreciate forest whitaker  s acting  but the last hour will bore you to confusion . if you know uganda or have read the book  don  t see the film  it will only depress you . and if you want to know why the doctor was so foolhardy  he wasn  t .  
i finally watched these episodes in     and i had to continually go back and verify when they were actually produced . they are absolutely scary in that they made spot on fun of what would be the future . either parker and stone lived in texas and witnessed the idiocy of gov bush or they are those weird  eerie people that pay attention to things . boo  scary  bush  s frat bros invading the white house dressed as arabs wielding rifles  bush  accidentally  executing someone   no  wait . he did sort of do that as gov .  this may have seemed a failure as a sitcom at the time  but must now be considered as brilliant  if spooky  prescience .  
truly a disgusting  vile film  with only a small amount of real humour .  br    br   the character of the father in particular is vulgar in the extreme  intentionally so  obviously   and portrayed in the most pathetic  seedy manner .  br    br   my wife and i found this film horribly upsetting  with absolutely no redeeming features at all . frankly  i wish i had never seen it .  br    br   i consider this british effort to be a sick and gross embarrassment .  br    br   those who enjoyed this film have an ability i totally lack that of rejoicing in a display of deep depravity and squalor .  br    br   the producers should be ashamed of themselves .  
zatoichi the outlaw was the first film made by its hero  s  shintaro katsu  own production company  this is perhaps why this is a slightly lesser entry in the series  though it is by no means weak overall . it tells of our hero coming across two towns  rival bosses and a mysterious ronin helping the poor and from this set up spins a tale encompassing tragedy  violence and no little interest  all served up with lashings of the unshowy but inspired swordplay that is one of the series trademarks . it is a fairly predictable plot and it mounts in unsurprising fashion  but it zips along with style and is interesting stuff . the helpful ronin for example is a nobly inscrutable revolutionary character  upsetting the established order without being painted as a truly likable or heroic figure  zatoichi himself makes one or two mistakes and causes harm by his actions  whilst the ruling system fuels the exploitation of the poor . its a harsh world  with one or two more visceral than expected moments in the fighting  though things aren  t as rousing as they could be . shintaro katsu turns in a typical bravura performance as zatoichi  mixing wisdom  deadly skill and worldliness with a subtly sad sense of vulnerability  while solid work comes also from rentar mikuni and an effectively baleful k nishimura  later to appear as katsu  s superior  snake  magobei in the hanzo trilogy  as the two main bosses in the film . there is also a good emotional turn from yuko hamada as a wronged woman . the film loses out through shaky pacing and a not so well constructed sequence of events  there is at least one slightly jarring time jump and the power of the plot becomes a little lost  meaning that when things heat up towards the end the film isn  t as exciting as it could be  emotional impact is lost also . the action or scenes of zatoichi using his ingenious skills are well handled by director satsuo yamamoto  though some of the gambling is less interesting and the film builds up in a workmanlike rather than really inspired way  without the lively characters or strong verve of some other installments . still  i enjoyed this one  it has its flaws and isn  t one of the best of the series but it still packs a sweetly satisfying dose of entertainment  a good story and decent doses of zatoichi  s trademark ingenious and quirky cool . recommended for fans of the series  and a reasonable entry point  classy stuff though not a true great .  
  women  they  re all scrubbers . . .    br    br   no  not a good translation not at all  this lags behind the previous year  s  dad  s army   entirely missing the special  small  screen magic of the seminal television sitcom original  and failing to play interestingly at all with the big screen . . . you could just about say that this film well represents a britain entering decline  and more precisely even than that  a british film industry entering decline . and that is hardly a recommendation  is it  to be an exemplar of saddening folly . . .  br    br   all that remains after the subtlety of the tv original has been surgically stripped away  by cliff owen  galton and simpson are endless  dilapidated musical cues  yawn  from the ron grainer theme . . . bolstered sentimentality  that shoddy  thick  eared ending . . . how much bolder does the second steptoe film seem in comparison  an increased seediness  with director and writers seemingly detaching themselves completely  fully applicable to something like the  misbegotten monstrosity   yours truly on this site  from       the mutations  . there is a strangely botched  cut  adrift tone about the scene where harold is beaten up in a rugby club  that i partly hate and recoil it  so far  as a friend intimated  from the mood of the tv series . . .   but this at least seems an original slant  and emblematic of tensions just rising to the boil in the britain of     . . . there is  however  an implied prostitute  aye of a  heart  of  gold  who turns loose woman  traitor  pon poor auld  arold  and beyond  caricature writing of the  class  element not to mention  surprisingly misjudged performances from the usually redoubtable leads . brambell and corbett collude with the script  and indeed fail to cure it of an essential ham . what would anthony aloysius hancock have made of it all . . .  i will merely concede that a few moments just about work  chiefly those where g  s play things a little more carefully and b  c touch tenderer nerves  and it is not on the whole an unwatchable affair .  br    br   but  and oh  how this pains me to say it it is tiresome  boring  both wilfully detached from reality and what made the tv series great  and also fully in tune with the lazy  tawdry  misogynist  fuck it  that  ll do . . .  actuality of much of what was allowed to pass for mainstream film  making in the britain of the time .  
this is one of the oddest films of the zatichi series due to its very unusual pacing and the role that ichi plays in the film . interestingly enough  this was the first zatichi film made by shintaro katsu  s new production company . now  instead of just playing the blind swordsman  katsu is in charge of making the films . this could easily explain why this film seems so different in style to the previous   films . as far as ichi  s role  the film is very different because he isn  t in the film as much as usual . he  s also easy to fool and actually  for a while  does a lot to harm people instead of helping   br    br    zatichi ryaburi  begins with ichi talking with an old lady who tries to take advantage of his blindness . oddly  in this scene  ichi says that he  s been blind since a toddler  though in an earlier film he says his blindness set in when he was  . this is a minor mistake  and only a crazed fan like myself would have noticed .  br    br   this film takes place over a period of at least six months and is more likely to have taken a year   so you can see what i said about odd pacing . most films in the series take place over a few days or weeks . ichi comes to a town where there is a boss  asagoro  who tries very hard to be nice to ichi because he knows of the blind man  s reputation . the boss is quite charming and surprisingly ichi is totally taken in by the evil man . at the same time  he meets another boss  shushui    a sort of guru to the poor . shushui admonishes the people to forsake all violence and even ichi falls under his teaching   giving up his blade for many months . shushui  s teachings are very similar to daoist teachings from china   non  violence and acceptance of life as it is  for good or for bad  .  br    br   months after leaving this town and thinking all was well  ichi learns that as soon as he left  asagoro showed his true colors   enslaving women  oppressing the poor and being an all  around jerk . in a way  ichi is responsible for this  as he helped asagoro and counted him as a friend . now  asagoro has captured shushui and several innocent people have killed themselves due to the evil boss  actions .  br    br   when ichi returns  he doesn  t accept automatically that asagoro is good or evil but tests him cleverly . this bit with a scarecrow is inspired and leads to a finale where  what else  ichi kills the baddies and frees shushui . this finale was very good and occurred in the rain . then final scene with asagoro and the rocks is great  though the beheading is a tad cheesy by today  s special effects standards .  br    br   pluses for the film are that although poorly paced  it is different and cannot be mistaken for the previous    which often seem very similar  . additionally  it does end very well . minuses  aside from pacing  are that some might dislike seeing ichi so fallible and the scenes with ichi and the other blind men that are included for comic relief fall flat . . . very  very  very flat . they are tacky and unfunny . . . that  s the sort of flat that it is .  
let me start by saying how much i love the tv series . despite the tragic nature of a middle  aged man seemingly unable to pursue his dreams because of his overbearing  manipulative father  it was incredibly light  hearted and fun to watch in practice . in my opinion  it is without doubt one of the greatest british sitcoms of all time . the tv series has my   out of   rating without reservation .  br    br   this movie spin  off on the other hand is a true tragedy in every sense of the word . hardly any of the essence of the tv show is transferred successfully onto film . this movie has a very dreary  depressing tone that almost moved me to tears on several occasions . seeing harold being beaten up in a pub  and not in a comical way  is not my idea of comedy but is most definitely one reason why fans of the tv series will not like this movie . the movie was painfully unfunny except for the scene where albert bathes in the sink and is seen by a neighbour .  br    br   the romance between harold and zita is completely out of tone and it makes me wonder whether the producers of this movie ever bothered to watch the tv series . in the tv series  harold always went after respectable girls  not strippers .  br    br   albert  s reactions to the remarks made against him by harold  s girlfriends were absolutely priceless in the tv series . in the movie  albert says virtually nothing when such an opportunity rises .  br    br   most movie spin  offs of british sitcoms tend to be quite dull  with the notable exception of the on the buses films  which in some respects were actually better than the tv series itself   . but  steptoe and son has to rank right at the very bottom of the pile  even below george and mildred .  br    br   my advice  skip this one and see the second spin  off  steptoe and son ride again instead . it has a much lighter tone  is more faithful to the tv series  and is actually very funny .  
if this had been done earlier in the zatoichi series it could have been one of the best . it is good enough  as most of them are  but the plot and the characters seem too complicated for the series at this point . the situation is unusually intriguing the farmers in the province have two champions  a benevolent boss  for once  and a philosopher  samurai who starts a sort of grange both run afoul of the usual local gangsters  who want the crops to fail because it increases their gambling revenues and their chances to snap up some land their chief or powerful ally is a seeming puritan who is death on drinking and gambling but secretly indulges his own perverse appetites .  he also resembles dracula  as the villains in the later zatoichi movies tend increasingly to do .  these characters have enough meaning so that they deserved to be set against zatoichi as he was drawn originally  but by now he has lost many of his nuances  and the changes in some of the characters  such as the good boss and the angry sister of a man zatoichi has killed  need more time then the movie has to give  so that the story seems choppy  as if some scenes were missing . other than that  the movie shows the virtues of most of the others in the series good acting  sometimes lyrical photography  the creation of a vivid  believable  and uniquely recognizable landscape  the absence of which is obvious in the occasional episode where the director just misses it   and a technical quality that of its nature disguises itself the imaginatively varied use of limited sets so their limitations seem not to exist . and of course there is the keynote actor  whose presence  as much as his performance  makes it all work . this must be one of the best  sustained series in movie history .  
despite the mysteriously positive reviews and high rating  this is an awful movie . awful enough  that l feel obligated to warn you how bad it is .  br    br   the movie is set in the final period of the raj  during the time of india  s fight for independence . what follows in the ridiculous plot just fills me with disbelief . what the characters do and how they behave just does not persuade me that the characters exist in that era .  br    br   for instance  would the young married hindu housemaid from the local village have an affair with her married englishman master  knowing full well that discovery of the affair would likely mean utter social ostracization and shame if not mortal punishment  unlikely  but still maybe . however  would the same young hindu housemaid  in the conservative society of india of that era carry on like a half naked britney spears in heat  partake in hot outdoor sex during daylight in open view where they might be discovered at any moment  that is not only bloody unlikely  that is a retarded plot line .  br    br   such idiocies combined with the poor acting  drove me to leave the cinema an hour into the movie  so i did not watch the second half of the movie . one could only hope the ending is of more intelligence than what i saw in the first half .  
an absorbing  although repetitive and rather didactic  analysis of exploitation and despair in a situation where there is no way forward or up  where the attempts to make yourself feel better by violating and putting down whoever is below you seems to be the only option . but even here  in this desolate wasteland of lost dreams and no future  that does not work  and reaching out to something or someone to comfort and share with  a simple act of charity  gives some reward  even if it just makes the present bearable by reviving memories of the past .  br    br   although there is little actual on screen violence  this is a harsh and brutal film about the small mindedness of oppression  politically and personally  that does not make for easy entertainment . clearly based on a play  with a small cast  a broader more expansive relation to the general social and political environment would possibly have helped the film to reach a wider audience .  
this movie fails to offer anything new to a genre that has traditionally shown the cross cultural love story underpinned by the politics mid   th century  pre  wwii india  where the british and their modern ways are bad and the primitive but honest and true indians are good . surely such clichd depictions of the british are rather pass now .  br    br   apart from the drama that fuels the second part of the movie the narrative is predictable  the acting is pedestrian and two  dimensional  and the directing obvious and unimaginative .  br    br   the story really needed to be fleshed out and would certainly have benefited from another half an hour of screen time to give the characters and narrative more depth and give the viewer something to feel some investment in .  br    br   all in all  rather uninspiring . oh and linus roache just cannot do tragedy  going cross  eyed with emotional pain just doesn  t work for me   
the matador is a witty  dark humored and suspenseful melodrama that rises way above mediocrity thanks to two very engaging and earnest performances from pierce brosnan  who has never ever been better than here  and the always reliable greg kinnear who has his best role here since playing jack nicholson  s gay neighbor in as good as it gets . a big plus goes to the writing as well . clever and occasionally very nasty dialog is delivered with gusto by brosnan and the slow building friendship between these two different individuals is completely convincing all the way . the story takes a few unexpected turns and keeps the viewer constantly guessing where it  s gonna go next .  br    br   nice artistic touches from the director such as good use of music  clever editing and somewhat unorthodox cinematography at times set a nice tone for the film and for a long period of time you don  t quite know how to label the film . but that  s also thanks to a very well written script which keeps the viewer  me anyway  on the edge of his seat .  
this is not michael madsen  s fault  he was hardly in it . this movie was just awful . if you want to laugh and be bored  go ahead and watch this movie . words cannot describe how idiotic it is . sorry michael . the cinematography was dark . all the other actors are unknowns . when watching it  it feels like a soft porn  but with no nudity or heated scenes . this movie had sexual overtones  since it is about a underground s  m killer . the acting was bad  except michael madsen  s parts . he looked like he wanted to laugh . i hope he got paid well for this lousy movie . it is something i would not be proud of . it is not even a b movie for cable  it is more like a f and it should never be shown  ever .  
it  s always nice to see angela bassett getting to do a role that she can really sink her teeth into . she is at times intense  funny and even sexy in her role as lena  a  colored  woman forced to make a home on a desolate mudbank just outside of cape town  south africa . danny glover is also good in a not entirely sympathetic role as her partner  boesman . willie jonah gives a finely nuanced performance as the stranger that discovers boesman and lena  s new living area . it  s not often that you get a chance to see an intelligent film dealing with mature themes . although it is based on a play  the late director john berry  who also directed claudine  opens the material up by having the film shot in the widescreen cinemascope format . he also keeps things visually interesting through the creative blocking of actors and by showing us things only mentioned in the play . just like diahann carroll in claudine  john berry may have directed angela bassett into an academy award nomination . this is definitely a film worth searching for .  
ok  let me again admit that i haven  t seen any other merchant ivory  the distributor  films . nor have i seen more celebrated works by the director  so my capacity to discuss before the rains outside of analysis of the film itself is mitigated . with that admittance  let me begin .  br    br   before the rains is a different kind of movie that doesn  t know which genre it wants to be . at first  it pretends to be a romance . in most romances  the protagonist falls in love with a supporting character  is separated from the supporting character  and is  sometimes  united with his or her partner . this movie  s hero has already won the heart of his lover but cannot be with her . his name is henry moores and her name is sajani  and they reside in southern india during the waning days of the raj  british imperial rule  . henry has been away from london for a long time and has fallen in love with his married indian maid  despite his legal marriage and child overseas . what could be better than that  they often sneak away for intimate afternoons until some children notice them . word spreads to sajani  s husband who questions her involvement with moores . she denies any contact with him  but moores asks her to leave the area . sajani refuses because of her devotion to him and commits suicide . please take note that these events occur in the opening third of the film . the film changes tone and becomes a crime  drama in its final portions .  br    br   sajani  s body is discovered right as moores  family comes to visit . the alleged perpetrator is moores  s english  educated assistant t . k . t . k . knows of his master  s affair but keeps silent until his life becomes threatened . once he is declared innocent  he attempts to regain his honor by killing moores . t . k . is too squeamish and leaves him in a dirt path as the rains fall .  br    br   i want to warn you  this isn  t a romance film . the dvd cover and theatrical posters show an indian woman and caucasian man embracing in an idealized tropic setting . this image is captured directly from the film  s opening  but quickly disappears . then it  s over . it seems like an effort to capitalize on western fixation on forbidden love . it isn  t effective  at all . not only is the movie not a romance  but its characters lack any personality . they are bundles of walking clichs . moores is an arrogant white man who doesn  t recognize his indian friend  t . k .  s intelligence . t . k . is torn between his own heritage and his educative background . sajani is a woman incapable of having a choice in her romantic life . oh  and  of course  moores  family is inquisitive into sajani  s death but still slightly racist to indians . if the tone wasn  t so serious  i would be willing to overlook these problems  but it isn  t . the film is presented with a didactic overtone which highlights its poor character development .  br    br   no  this film isn  t terrible . other than the laughable screenplay  it isn  t poor . the actors are all experienced and perform well here . nandita das  who plays sajani  was part of wonderful indian drama water . even director sivan has an impressive resume . he recently oversaw the terrorist  which is part of roger ebert  s  great movies  collection . what happened here  why is this movie so bad  well  sivan mentioned how he was inspired to direct this film because of a short he viewed in israel called red roofs . apparently  the story was  timeless   and sivan sought to create a similar experience set in      s india . i don  t have any problem with that approach  but i think sivan may have been too motivated this time . the actors  cinematography  and set design are acceptable but unless you share sivan  s aura  you  ll probably not enjoy it . my recommendation is that you presume you aren  t in accordance with him and watch something else . final consensus and  out of   
 haven  t seen this film  haven  t even heard of this film  it wouldn  t surprise me . one of the few truly  independent  films produced in the last ten years  no studio had faith in the picture and it was never picked up for major distribution . the independent company kino films  gave boesman and lena a very limited run with virtually no promotion  and the majority of major film critics didn  t even bother reviewing it . i guess a movie based on a one act  one set play about the apartheid and its affect on two individuals never really had a chance in today  s market  and it  s the intelligent film  lover  s loss .  br    br   for the record  both angela bassett and danny glover deserved ocsar nominations  as did the cinematographer  but the film received such little fanfare that i can  t even blame the academy on that one . this is a film that is challenging  thought  provoking  and heartbreaking  and it actually requires the audience to meet it on it  s own terms . taking that into consideration  it is definitely not a movie for mindless entertainment . director john berry wisely does not attempt to dress  up athol fugard  s play . sure  we  re given a few fractured flashbacks and some breathtaking scenic shots  but the film version of boesman and lena remains  on the whole  a story of two people living in inhumane conditions .  br    br   stripped of their basic human rights  boesman  glover  and lena  bassett  have no one left to attack but each other . a third character joins them for awhile  willie jonah  amazing in a largely silent role   but the film  s focus never strays from the title characters and what they  ve become . bassett and glover give brave performances as the broken couple  performances that simply could not be improved upon . vigorously and brutally stimulating  both intellectually and emotionally  boesman and lena deserves to be rediscovered of home video . hands down  the best film of the year     .  
although the actors do a convincing job playing the losers that parade across the screen  the fact that these characters are impossible to identify with had me looking at my watch a mere   minutes into the film  and more than once after that  . the plot development is disjointed and slow  the verbal diarrhoea of the main character  s only friend is practically insufferable  the base quality of most of the characters actions and the cavalier way in which they are treating is annoying .  br    br   it is typical of ventura pons to put forth crass psychologically handicapped characters . however  this faux sociological analysis is a big step down from caricias or caresses  where the characters maltreat and despise each other for well founded reasons that play out during that film . in amor idiota we are forced to follow the meanderings of a truly subnormal intelligence as he stalks a severely depressed and detached woman . supposedly this is due to his own depression but the script doesn  t support that . i won  t give away the rest of the story just in case there are any masochists out there is he cured through his obsession or is the woman shocked out of her own depression through his unwavering attention  even though i watched the whole thing i wasn  t made to care even for a moment about either of them .  br    br   if you can sit through all this prejudice  ignorance  betrayal  bad dialogue  flimsy philosophy  etc the camera  work was pretty good and seems to be something inspired by the dogma group . the makeup also seemed to aim at showing these players in a raw and gritty light as it is the worst i  ve seen cayetana guillen cuervo in any of her movies  while in person she is actually attractive  .  br    br   i suppose if the idea is that we should be forced to see the lower strata of society so we can be grateful we are not part of it then pons has achieved his objective . the barrage of nearly identical sex scenes was a proper waste of film  if the actors had been filmed but once in blue green clothing the background behind them could have been changed in the special effects studio for a pittance  . true that i heard much of the male audience squirm in their seats during this but an objective viewing proves that was not the real aim of those scenes .  br    br   save yourselves and watch something else .  
i did not read anything about the film before i watched it  by chance  last saturday evening . and then  as i was watching it  i felt the misery of lena and boesman into my bones . i was so captivated by the acting and the tone and the filming that i listened only partially to the dialogues . my husband fell asleep soon after we went to bed and i was sleepless  under the impact of the film . i wanted to wake him up just to say  if i would ever vote for an oscar nomination  it would be for these two actors .  i decided to wait until the next day . then i read more about the film on imdb  and was sad to learn that mr . berry died before the release of the film and that he had probably never seen the last version of his brilliant masterpiece . i still want to tell him that to me his film was a true independent film  in its concept and spirit . the actors are to be praised not only for their brilliant performance but for accepting a part with no shine  no showing off  well to the contrary  displaying the true image of human depression . sad but poignant .  
leave it to geniuses like ventura pons  the spanish director  to convince the higher ups in his country to subsidize this misguided attempt of a film . the sad state of the film industry in that country is a product of trying to make a film out of such thin material . most of the pictures that are made in spain fall under two categories those about the spanish civil war  that love to present past history as the writers deem fit . the other type of films show the viewer with a lot of gratuitous sex because the  creators  don  t have anything interest to say .  br    br   as the film opens we get to watch pere  s penis as he attempts to cut it off and place it in one of the platters at a party . later on  sandra will show all she has been given for the audience to admire . the story of pere  s attraction to sandra  a married woman that seems to be happily married  is false from the start .  br    br   our only interest in watching the film centered on an earlier  better made picture by mr . pons   amic  amat   but alas  it has nothing to do with the mess we are punished to watch in this venture . as far as the comments submitted in imdb  all the negative votes come from spanish viewers  which speaks volumes coming from them   
the acting in this movie was superb  but mixed with the truth about the condition of many africans in south africa made it heart wrenching . it was good that the writer isolated boesman and lena from others run from their homes  so we could share fully in their triumphs and defeats the conflicts they shared as they grew together and apart . worth seeing when you put the movie in it  s proper context .  
pere is an idiot  but he is aware about it and acts in consequence . his life is totally boring and he doesn  t know how to change it . when his last friend  nicco  dies . he feels totally empty and he decides to go out to become drunk . when he is returning home  he crashes with a girl that puts advertisements . although she ignores him  he fells in love and starts to follow her  obsessively . well the beginning of the film is a bit slow  and can result boring for most people . however  as action begins  it is a little better  not much   maybe  the best part is the  minutes of sex  almost   different scenes about it  that you can see in the middle of the movie it is not good for the erothism  but for the funny and unexpected that is the scene . probably it is the best of the film . neither the actors nor the directing is good  and the results is a boring film that that can result funny for some people  not for me  . all the film is based on absurd situations  idiot  as the film says   that have anything interesting . i like ventura pons  but i have to admit that this is not one of his best films  maybe his worst    he knows to do it better .  
i have always been a fan of the show so i  ll admit that i am biased . when the show  s run ended  i felt like too many questions remained unanswered . this movie to me felt like closure . to see all the people i  d followed over the past few years together at last was most rewarding . i have heard that this is probably the only homicide movie that we can expect . if that is so  this is the appropriate way to go out . this movie is sometimes poignant  sometimes upsetting  but always satisfying . if you are or ever have been a fan of the show  watch this movie .  
this movie displayed more racial hatred of jews by david mamet than i have  br    br   have ever encountered in an american film . the sterotypes are so over the top that my ability to continue watching died . i was so disappointed at joe  br    br   mantegna calling a bunch of men  sitting in a new york jewish center cleaning weapons  heros that common sense prevailed and i stopped . i am deeply  br    br   disturbed at the concept that jews are not americans and  different  . i suggest that mr . mamet is one of the causes of hatred not a healer of same .  
although there were a few rough spots and some plot lines that weren  t exactly true to character  this was classic hlots . the characters  outside of mike giardello  giancarlo esposito   were true to form  and the reunion scenes of pembleton  andre braugher  and bayliss  kyle secor  were as deep and well acted as anything ever to grace the small screen .  br    br    homicide the movie  aka  life everlasting  is a fan flick  but stands on its own as well as any   hour episode of the series . fontana  overmeyer and yoshimura did a wonderful job in pulling loose ends from  seasons and every major cast member of  the best damn show on television  together for the series finale that nbc never bothered to give it . true to  homicide  form  there were no happy endings  such is life . that  s what has always set this show apart from the mindless cookie  cutter cop shows left on television . kudos to the writers and the cast for creating something over the span of the series and in the movie that challenged television viewers and producers alike .  br    br    i call myself a  homicidal maniac  if for no other reason than to keep my co  workers in a cooperative mood .   
very disappointing film . by the end i no longer cared for any of the characters . i did enjoy seeing ving rhames in a very small part  and william macy was good as always  still not worth watching . it starts out strong and just keeps getting weaker and weaker . insomniacs will like it as i am sure it will put them to sleep .  
not only was this movie better than all the final season of hlots . but it was better than any movie made for tv i have ever seen   br    br   looking at the  top     i see that only one small screen movie has made it how the grinch stole christmas . i think it is time to increase that group to  .  br    br   i will admit that the original series had several shows that were better than this  but i didn  t mind . i just loved being able to enter the world of the baltimore homicide squad again   
david mamet is a very interesting and a very un  equal director . his first movie  house of games  was the one i liked best  and it set a series of films with characters whose perspective of life changes as they get into complicated situations  and so does the perspective of the viewer .  br    br   so is  homicide  which from the title tries to set the mind of the viewer to the usual crime drama . the principal characters are two cops  one jewish and one irish who deal with a racially charged area . the murder of an old jewish shop owner who proves to be an ancient veteran of the israeli independence war triggers the jewish identity in the mind and heart of the jewish detective .  br    br   this is were the flaws of the film are the more obvious . the process of awakening is theatrical and hard to believe  the group of jewish militants is operatic  and the way the detective eventually walks to the final violent confrontation is pathetic . the end of the film itself is mamet  like smart  but disappoints from a human emotional perspective .  br    br   joe mantegna and william macy give strong performances  but the flaws of the story are too evident to be easily compensated .  
spoilers spoilers well  seeing as i am a major hlots fan  maybe i liked the movie more than normal people would . however  this movie is still excellent . it had tons of surprises  and it gave some more closure to the series . while i was sad that bayliss turned into a murderer  the overall feeling i felt was satisfied .  
as a big fan of david mamet  s films and plays  especially his first film house of games that also starred joe mantegna  i was expecting great things from this film . instead  i found myself annoyed by the film  s superficiality and lack of credibility . racial slurs are thrown about without any feeling or meaning behind them  in the hopes of setting up a racial tension that for me never materialized . identity is totally reevaluated and men become  heroes  for no apparent reason . because of his oaths taken as a cop  the lead character adamantly refuses to perform one relatively small action that would harm no one and could possibly save lives  and yet performs another action which is very violent and very illegal  but then still refuses the minor action . in addition  a highly unbelievable subplot involving a man who has killed his family is introduced just for the sake of a plot point that was all but advertised with skywriting  and the cop  s reaction to that occurrence stretch credulity way beyond all reasonable limits . needless to say  after expecting another exciting thriller from david mamet  i was extremely disappointed to say the least .  out of   .  
hlots was an outstanding series  its what nypd blue will never be  on hlots the plots are real  the dialog is real  the relationships are real . with hlots back as a movie  tying up all the loose ends  it was good to have all the gang back together  even a few that passed away show up  wont say how  the storyline was fast paced  emotional and full of the spirit the series had week in and week out . homicide  life on the streets  network drama at its best      stars     thumbs up and all that . thanks nbc for giving us the finally we didn  t get   
i suppose bad laurel and hardy is better than no laurel and hardy at all  but just barely . it  s sad that the fox films are the ones getting a big release on dvd  exposing people who may not be too familiar with lh to their worst stuff rather than their classic comedies .  br    br   once again the boys are saddled with a dumb romantic plot about a guy who  s invented an invisible ray . he  s in love with the bosses  daughter  who hates him and prefers some slick guy . it  s incredible to think the geniuses at fox thought this is what lh needed in their films .  br    br   without their pancake makeup the boys look tired and old . the only scenes that work for them in this picture is when they try to sneak out of a bedroom window at night and the rather bizarre scene where robert mitchum  being a classic noir bad guy tries to sell oliver hardy  insurance  on stan .  br    br   otherwise  this script is just a mess . forget this and see if you can find a copy of  a chump at oxford  or  bohemian girl  or  sons of the desert  instead .  
for all the homicide junkies out there  this movie was great  every single character that ever was on the show made an appearance in the movie . it helped to resolve some  but not all  issues from the series . unfortunately  unless you actually did watch the series  most of the enjoyment would be lost  as the movie made heavy references to every season of the show  s existence . this probably would have been appropriate as a series finale as opposed to being a separate movie  but we gotta take what we can get . i hope they make more movies  and continue to feature homicide characters on law and order .  
i can understand after watching this again for the first time in many years how it is considered one of the worst laurel  hardy  s . for me  it isn  t as close to as bad as  air raid wardens  and  the bullfighters   but there are some definite huge flaws in it . the film is set up to show laurel and hardy as the owners and instructors of the dance studio . hardy is funny as the prancing lead of a  london bridge  dance  surrounded by   th century fox starlets  while in the next room  laurel teaches the beginners ballet while wearing a ballerina outfit . a clumsy carpenter spills glue on the floor  leading to a predicable gag where hardy ends up the looser . then  in come the racketeers  now selling insurance covering up their protection racket . one of them is a very young and handsome robert mitchum . but no sooner do they bully the boys into buying insurance  they are arrested .  br    br   this is the end of the gangsters and the last time we see the dance studio . the rest of the film is devoted to laurel and hardy  s support of wealthy patron trudy marshall and her inventor boyfriend  robert bailey . they first try to help them hide their relationship from her disapproving parents  matt briggs and margaret dumont  and hopeful suitor allan lane  whom we can tell right off is a no  good swine . this leads to briggs  hidden bar being revealed to tea  totaling dumont  and a gag where a rug is literally pulled out from the wealthy patriarch which crashes his bed into a pond below . when bailey uses the boys to help display his ray gun  pandemonium ensues . the dead  pan butler announces to case and dumont that their house is on fire .  br    br   later  hardy wants to use the insurance policy to gain money to pay their dance studio rent and hopes to get laurel to break a leg to do so . there is no reference to the fact that the insurance salesmen were gangsters and that the policy would probably be invalid .  even if they were to have become legitimate insurance salesman  after being arrested  their licenses would have been revoked  . laurel ends up getting off a bus which had been abandoned by the driver over a supposedly rabid dog  only a frosting covered  cake devouring toto look  alike  or possibly the actual pooch   causing oliver to end up on a huge beach roller  coaster that somehow the bus has ended up on  perfectly fitting its wheels onto the tracks . roller  coaster gags can be exciting  as evidenced in  abbott and costello go to hollywood   and this one is amusing but anticlimactic .  br    br   as the story wraps up  all of these gags seem to have no point  giving the impression that this was simply a series of one  reelers put together to make a full  length feature  hopefully part of a double bill . lh  as i  ve mentioned in other reviews of their later films  had lost much of their luster after leaving hal roach  s employ  but surprisingly here  they do not come off as old and tired looking as they had in films made in the same year . had the gags not been as amusing  as was the case with some of their other films  this surely would have ranked a    as opposed to a    .  
not to mention easily pierce brosnon  s best performance . of course greg kinnear is always great . really  when has he really been bad  i think this film is incredibly underrated  the use of colors in this movie is something very different in today  s film world where every other movie has the payback blue filter . i also love the way they used the song by asia . proving that even what was once thought of as kinda cheesy can be really cool placed correctly .  br    br   i was making my first feature when this came out . being that my film was a hit  man movie  i had to check out anything in the genre that was released . after seeing it  i  m sure it had some effect on me through the process . it was pretty cool when my film got on the imdb that it would recommend this film if you liked mine . how any of the others relate i have no idea  making an even more interesting coincidence .  br    br   http   www . imdb . com  title  tt          
a bdsm  sub  culture  of los angeles serves as backdrop for this low budget and shabbily constructed mess  plainly a vanity piece for its top  billed player  celia xavier  who also produces and scripts while performing a dual role as twin sisters vanessa and celia . a question soon develops as to whether or not some rather immoderate camera  lighting and editing pyrotechnics can ever reach a point of connection to a weak and often incoherent narrative that will not be taken seriously by a sensate viewer . celia is employed as a highly motivated probation officer for the county of los angeles  while her evil natured twin has become an iconic figure within her fetishistic world largely because of erotic performances upon cd  roms  but when disaster befalls  mistress vanessa   virtuous celia  determined to unearth her sister  s vicious attacker  begins a new job as a  sex slave  at the private castle club where the specialty of the house is a  dungeon party  . two fbi field agents  whose deployment to the vanessa case is ostensibly required due to her involvement with internet bdsm sites   in addition to a los angeles police department homicide detective  are assigned to investigate the crime  while endeavouring to provide security for celia whose enthusiastic performance in her new vocation is avidly enough regarded by her customers as to have created conditions of personal danger for her . flaws in logic and continuity abound  such as a homicide being allocated to l . a . p . d .  s operations  south bureau  a region of the metropolis that is far removed from the setting of the film . direction is unfocused and not aided by erratic post  production editing and sound reproduction . the mentioned photographic gymnastics culminate with a batty montage near the movie  s end of prior footage that is but tangentially referent to the scenario . one solid acting turn appears among this slag stan abe as a zealous fbi agent .  
this is the final episode we deserved . at the end of the last season  things were left in a  life goes on  mood  which was hardly the wrap  up that this realistic series deserved . while not a happy show  this series was always one that made you think  a rare thing on television   and this is no exception .  is death justified by reasoning    are morals reflective of society  or is society shaped by the morals that are selected by the few in power    what is a just death  and can it exist   all of these questions  and more  are posed by the writers of this show every week  and this is their final thesis . fine acting  great writing  wonderful camera  work  brilliant editing  clean direction . if you have seen the series and you missed this when it first ran  then get a hold on a copy somehow . if you never watched the series when it ran  then this will stand up on its own  but it may be heavy going trying to keep up with who all the characters are and what they are alluding to in their varied pasts . for those of us who were avid viewers of the series in the last two seasons  this is very satisfying viewing .  
for those fans of laurel and hardy  the     s and beyond were a very sad time for the team . their contracts with hal roach studios had expired and now they were  free agents    able to work for any studio who offered them a job . unfortunately  fox  rko  mgm  without roach  and even a french film company who hired the boys had absolutely no touch for their comedic talents . plus  stan and ollie were a lot older and seeing these geriatric men taking pratfalls seemed sad  not particularly funny . stan looked very ragged and ollie  s weight had ballooned up to the point where he could barely walk   and so it made me feel uncomfortable laughing at their very  very sedate antics .  br    br   in addition to their age  this particular film suffers because fox studios oddly cast them in a supporting role and created a parallel plot involving a young couple   something that reduced their time on screen and turned them into insipid  hangers on  instead of just being themselves . a cute and cuddly stan and ollie is very foreign to the old laurel and hardy of the   s and   s   and just seemed awfully strange and suited them poorly .  br    br   now even with their age  this could have been a decent movie if it had been given decent writing and if it appeared the studio cared   and it  s quite obvious they were using the  b unit  here   with  at best  second class support . in particular  there are very few laughs and the last   minutes of the film is simply dreadful   relying exclusively on a sloppy rear  projected screen for the stupid chase scene   which might just rank as one of the worst of its kind in film history .  br    br   for mind  numbed zombie lovers of laurel and hardy  it  s probably a film they will love . but  for lovers of the team who are willing to honestly evaluate this film relative to their amazing earlier films  it simply comes up wanting indeed . in fact  of all their full  length films pre       i can  t think of one i liked less than dancing masters . unfortunately  of the post      films  this might just be one of their better ones . sadly  it got a lot worse   with wretched films like the big noise and nothing but trouble . i just wish the boys had just retired after saps at sea .  br    br   finally  i wonder if all the generally positive reviews for this film on imdb might reflect the reviewers  love of the team more than it  s an indication that this is a good film  for an audience who are not already in love with the team  i don  t know how this film will do anything but bore the audience   it certainly won  t convince anyone that laurel and hardy were comedic geniuses . but even comedic geniuses need material worthy of their talents .  
for anyone who liked the series this movie will be something to watch . however  it also leaves you wanting more . i loved the way that every character  detective  made an appearance . least with the ending of who is the fourth chair for they leave a reason for another movie . my guess is bayless of course . this like the series was a very well put together series of scenes . this is a series i wish had lived on . thanks to the cast for some wonderful tv .  
this movie was long and boring . surprising that it was selected for cannes  although they tend to like pretentiousness . point is that contrary to other dutch stars of the arty genre like kerkhof and kruishoop  guernsey feels utterly empty . even more so it has no cinematic quality whatsoever . a long opening shot doesn  t mean cinematic depth  it  s just a long boring shot . the story wasn  t interesting and the characters had problems i couldn  t identify with at all . the actors didn  t shine under her direction and seemed lost at times . leopold tried  but she is not the talent i hoped she would be . where are kerkhof and kruishoop  they really made some waves in dutch cinema . leopold just made another attempt .  
the movie was excellent  save for some of the scenes with esposito . i enjoyed how it brought together every detective on the series  and wrapped up some plotlines that were never resolved during the series  thanks to nbc . . .  . it was great to see pembleton and bayliss together at their most human  and most basic persons . braugher and secor did a great job  but as usual will get overlooked . it hurt to see that this was the end of homicide . memories  tapes  and reruns on courttv just aren  t the same as watching it come on every friday . but the movie did its job and did it very well  presenting a great depiction of life after al retired  and the family relationship that existed between the unit . i enjoyed this a lot .  
guernsey  maria kraakman  belgium  netherlands      .  br    br   the mousy maria kraakman plays anna  a woman in her thirties  who finds out her husband  fedja van huet  is cheating on her but she doesn  t dare to confront him . she painfully avoids any confrontation with human beings  her parents as well as her sister  so we have a main character in a feature film that doesn  t do much at all . we barely know anything about her background or her motivations . just a woman who seems to be stuck in a blind alley  not just during this difficult episode of her life . she obviously suffers from something  but why do we in the audience have to suffer as well   br    br   i almost gave up on cinema after seeing this unwatchable mess . these were a very dull and painful   minutes . normally i try to avoid wasting energy on bad film making . i  ll take the beating and roll with the punches  but in this case a fair warning is in place . how on earth did nanouk leopold get funding  in large part from publicly financed funds  for this turkey  obviously  there was no script to speak off . it could be compensated by an ingenious filmmaker with cinematographic ideas or a cast with only a little more appeal . none whatsoever  just a vaguely defined concept   i want to do something from a woman  s point of view  . the result is an insult rather than a tribute to a female perspective on life .  br    br   to make things worse  there  s not an interesting shot to be found in the entire film . i cannot think of a cast who could have spiced this one up  but johanna ter steege is a  small  light in the dark  if possible with this dire lack of material . i  m trying to imagine how leopold tried directing maria kraakman  maria  look at the horizon  we  ll film you for three minutes  just express sadness  . a perfect cure for insomnia . get a copy and watch this late at night  guaranteed too put you to sleep .  br    br   camera obscura         
my favourite police series of all time turns to a tv  film . does it work  yes . gee runs for mayor and gets shot . the homicide  hall of fame  turns up . pembleton and nearly all of the cops who ever played in this series . a lot of flashbacks helps you who hasnt seen the tv  series but it amuses the fans too . the last five minutes solves another murder and at the very end even two of the dead cops turn up . and a short appearance from my favourite coroner juliana cox . this is a good film .  
anna lives with her family in a new housing estate just outside the city . she has been with her husband sebastiaan for years and they don  t talk so much anymore . while on a working visit abroad  a female colleague commits suicide . anna is deeply impressed by her death  even though she hardly knew her . nobody seems to know why she took her own life . for the first time anna realizes that one can be an unknown among your most dearest . anna doesn  t mention the incident back home and starts observing her husband and child . guernsey is the story of a woman who suddenly starts looking at her own life . and she wonders how she got so drifted apart from the people closest to her .  br    br    this is my translation of the dvd cover text synopsis . i hope you find it useful  as this movie doesn  t have an imdb plot summary yet at this date .   
following a roughly  year rocky road on nbc  it was decided to do just one last super installment . the series had been on the bubble several times thanks to not having the numbers that would qualify it as a block  buster of a tv hour . it had always had a sizable  hard core of hard corps of followers .  br    br   it was almost as if the series with the full title of  homicide life on the street           was a sort of  mr . in  between  of series . it was too big to just cancel  but too small to get a case of  rabid ratings ravings  over .  br    br   during the precarious tenure on friday evenings  they had presented some of the best and most daringly artistic of hourly dramas . there  i  ve said it artistic  artistic   but please  remember we mean artistic  but not just phony  pretentious  pedantic  politically correct preaching .  br    br   when at last  it was a sure thing that it was the end of the line for  homicide   this super episode was prepared as this  hour made for tv movie .  br    br   looking at all the past seasons  happenings and parade of regular characters  the production team went out and gave us what proved to be a super send off .  br    br   our story . as we join the story  we find that baltimore homicide unit commanding officer  lt . al giardello has  pulled the pin   retired from the job  that is . but  g  isn  t ready to really retire  retire yet . so  instead of a rocking chair o a fishing rod  we find that al is running for mayor of  charm city .   br    br   while out in the city  making some campaign stops and speeches  the former detective lieutenant takes an assassin  s bullet . alive  but in a comatose state  he is taken to the hospital .  br    br   news spreads quickly and as if officially summoned  we find all of the detectives of the baltimore unit we  ve seen on the show showing up to offer their services and assistance . there is a great meeting of all of these former and present gumshoes as they pitch in and follow every lead and possibility of a lead .  br    br   the producer found a way to deal with those who had died previously in bringing their memory into the story . they managed to answer some long standing questions and even introduced some here to unrevealed ones . the whole story winds up the series in a most satisfying and original way . but at least for now  we  ll leave that as  classified  .  br    br   in wrapping up everything into a neat  little package  this tv movie surely gets our endorsement . as for grading  the homicide movie   we must give it an a or a  even . but  no matter the grade here  it didn  t score as high as a typical weekly episode .  
this film uses all art  house clichs  slow pace  long static shots  minimal amount of dialog  to try to hide the fact that there really is nothing worth watching here there is no plot to speak of  the characters are dreary  female lead  or clich  tersteeghe  s character   and they do not ever talk to each other about anything that concerns their rather uneventful lives . the film is centered around a woman who finds out about her husbands adultery . instead of confronting him  she half  heartedly takes revenge by committing adultery herself . after a fight and a reconciliation with her sister  who knew about the adultery without telling her  she asks her husband to stop cheating on her . they seem to be re  united as a family . two other story lines  the planned move of the woman  s elderly father with his young wife to guernsey and the rivalry with the woman  s sister  do not offer any interesting developments . the suicide of a colleague of the woman that seems to set off events in the film is not a subject in itself . for      or any other year for that matter  this is not enough to make an interesting film .  br    br   moreover  what little possibilities for dramatic development there are in the script are not used or are consciously avoided  as when both the woman and her sister mark a particular piece of furniture from their fathers house which is going to be sold because of his planned move . both sisters want this particular piece and given their rivalry in the past  over much more important things than furniture men  this could in theory lead to a confrontation . or the matter could be resolved by one sister giving way to the other . either way  this would not be a very interesting or original development of the story but at least it would constitute some development . the film clearly sets this situation up  with both sisters looking intently at each other during the marking and one sister having mentioned she does not want to draw straws  but it cheats us out of any resolution the scene simply ends and how this  in itself rather dreary and materialistic  issue is solved  is not shown .  br    br   although almost completely absent  the dialog that is in the film is excruciatingly flat and tepid . for example  when during a visit to guernsey  the  sisters address their rivalry it is in a three line dialog that has a childish  yes it is  no it isn  t  ring to it . the fight and reconciliation scene with the  sisters is completely without dialog  giving a highly artificial  overly stylised and unrealistic impression and considerably reducing its impact . the way the woman finally  finally   addresses her husbands adultery in a single line of dialog has to be seen to be believed  and is at the same time completely unbelievable . the husband does not seem to have any noticeable reaction or if he has any  it is not shown . the woman does not mention her own adultery to her husband . the scene showing the woman  husband and their young son asleep on an airliner  watched by the sister is possibly meant as a happy end  but the way the characters addressed the issues of their lives in what went before makes this unlikely .  br    br   because of its slow pace  uninteresting story  leaden direction and absurd lack of dialog  i found this film an example of everything that can be wrong with an art  house movie and a complete waste of time .  
homicide the movie proved to be a good wrap  up to a well  written  well  directed  and well  acted series . loose ends were tied up that weren  t properly addressed at the end of the final season . the entire series  and especially the movie  provided a life  like look at life  and death  in baltimore  a culturally unique city with an extremely high murder rate . my attraction to the series began long before i moved to baltimore  but once i experienced life here for myself  i realized how realistic it was . and the movie certainly retained that spirit . i will certainly miss new original episodes of the series  but am very grateful to nbc and the producers and cast for giving us one last glimpse at the dark side of charm city .  
for me every piece of art is to be judged by these criteria form  function and meaning . guernsey seems to be dedicated to forms nice shots and sometimes interesting acting . the long close ups suggest a function that the viewer may fill in by himself . because of lacking texts the story becomes a quiz . an introvert person suggests to have depth  but sometimes it turns out he has nothing to say . this film acts like an introvert person . if you have not read the synopsis you cannot see that it was the suicide  and the unanswered question why   that changes anna  s view on life and makes her suspicious .  why don  t you speak to me   asks sebastiaan . anna doesn  t answer  she only starts looking a long time at him without saying a word . what is the function of that shot  what does it mean  my question is like sebastiaans what has this film to say  what is meant by this movie  the answer for me it shows us a handful of persons with the passion of a glass of water . the story of their lives is simple and boring . motives behind their actions are not shown . the rest is skins  residences  landscapes . nice and artistic done  but meaningless without having disposal of  instructions for use  . in my opinion this film is made for fellow artists  not for the common viewer .  
what can i say  an excellent end to an excellent series  it never quite got the exposure it deserved in asia  but by far  the best cop show with the best writing and the best cast on televison . ever  the end of a great era . sorry to see you go . . .  
definitely the worst movie i have ever seen . . . can somebody tell me where should have i laughed  there  s not a single hint or shadow of an idea . the three leading actors are pestilential  especially the one  i think it  s aldo  from sicily who  can  t  make a sicilian accent    not to say about the dream  like insertion about dracula . . . just another expedient  drawn from the worst cabaret tradition  to make this  film  last a little longer . massironi and littizzetto do what they can  but this so  called movie was really too  too hard to rescue . i would have given it        but the lowest mark was     and so i had to overestimate it by one mark .  
in all truth  this really isn  t a  movie  so much as an extended final episode by this i mean that  had you not followed the tv series  homicide life on the street  i suspect that you would have a hard time following this made  for  tv movie . having said that   homicide the movie  is still a great watch . i think it says a lot about a television production that every single cast member would return  many after years of absence  to once again portray their characters and bring closure to an incredible program . the movie brings out that sense of  family   not only amongst the characters  but amongst the actors  as well . it  s all very bitter  sweet knowing that this will be the last time we will see them all together again under the title of homicide . story  wise  i found this film somewhat lacking . giardello  s mayoral candidacy seems particularly contrived  and i felt his shooting could  ve been dealt with within the parameters of his regular position  as leiutenant . also  det . bayliss  s extreme plot twist  which was left hanging at series end  is finally resolved  but i  for one  never felt that it needed to be i enjoyed being left with a mystery  let us recall that the very first episode  s first case also went unsolved for the entire series run   . as a devoted fan of the tv series i can love this movie  and the fact that it even got made after hlots had been canceled  but i would not recommend it to anyone who hasn  t had the slightest exposure to the series . now  if they  d just release it on dvd . . .  
i don  t know what i missed here  but i can  t believe all these positive comments by so many people on this film . i thought it was silly  and a bit over the top . i did like the performances of gregg henry and michael rooker  however the others were just . . . boring .  br    br   now i like b movies  i really do  but this was a bit further down the alphabet for me . i saw someone compare the humor and horror in this to  army of darkness  and  shaun of the dead   as well as  on par with the re  animator  . you must be joking . i didn  t find this film funny  it tried  it did make an effort   possibly too much of an effort   but it failed in my opinion . by the time i was hit with the  rd or  th one  liner i was rolling my eyes and checking my watch .  br    br   there were definitely homages made to several other films  which is always cool  kind of like an inside joke for us horror fans . but here it may have just been a lack of original thought . admittedly there were some nice special effects  good gore  but that can  t carry an entire movie . the mutated grant looked like a cross between jabba the hut  and in the early stages of mutation  chet from  weird science   after he was turned into the monster  and one of the alien creature  children from  the explorers  . it just didn  t work . i thought it looked like something some kid from grade  art class could have designed . then there was brenda  the woman that grant impregnated and chained up in the barn . when help finally arrived she looked like a giant tick waiting to be popped . the design once again was totally unimaginative . a round flesh colored balloon with a face in the middle . yawn  br    br   now about the zombies  the more movies i see with zombies in them these days the more i wish george a . romero had a patent on them and was the only writer  director allowed to make movies about them . he  s the only person so far to do it right  with the exception of edgar wright and simon pegg  but that was a comedy  . oh  and danny boyle  but they were a different style of zombie . maybe mr . romero has ruined any zombie film for me due to his ingenious ability to get his actors to moan  groan and shamble about as if their joints are dried up and lacking even a drop of synovial fluid  and their muscles are fighting the effects caused by rigor mortis that had started to set in right before they were re  animated . the people of  wheelsy  just didn  t have the proper motivation . . . they were horrible zombies .  br    br   so in the end i give  slither  a   for a couple of laughs and a few nice gore scenes .  
i have always been a huge fan of  homicide life on the street  so when i heard there was a reunion movie coming up  i couldn  t wait .  br    br   let me just say  i was not disappointed at all . it was one of the most powerful  hours of television i  ve ever seen . it was great to see everyone back again  but the biggest pleasure of all was to have andre braugher back  because the relationship between pembleton and bayliss was always the strongest part of an all  together great show .  
slither is a horror comedy that doesn  t really have enough horror or comedy to qualify as one or the other . it has one scene that is exceptionally good  any number of zingers that work  but very few real scares and not enough humor to maintain the movie . in addition  the script does not focus on the hero and heroine  and goes off kilter in several places .  br    br   a major failing of this film is that it introduces and then leaves its hero  fillion  to follow grant grant  michael rooker  as he is first introduced and then becomes the monster . this whole part of the film drags  michael rooker  s character isn  t that interesting to us as a person  and watching as he goes through a series of motions while acting in the monster  s interest might be interesting if this was grant  portrait of a man turning into a monster rather than a horror  comedy alien invasion movie . in the final analysis this movie  s problems are in the script  it isn  t that important to the audience how the monster acts or propagates . the purpose of a horror  comedy is to get the heroes backed up in a corner with shotguns and then throw bugs at them  with them cracking wise every time something frightening or disgusting happens . instead we get an exploration of the alien  s habits and tactics that just makes this part of the movie drag . the ostensible heroine  elizabeth banks as starla grant  is more central to this part  but nonetheless i felt the movie had left its narrative track  unless it planned on following grant grant all the way to the end .  br    br   when fillion and his posse finally confront the alien the movie does begin to cook  but once again the problem is in the script . by this point that audience knows  and the characters should know  that grant is not just suffering from some disease  and act accordingly  shotguns   instead they continuously parley in the face of increasing evidence that this is not something that  let us get you to a hospital  is going to help . although their reactions might have been human and real  these are characters in an action movie and simply should have done what the movie promised  delivered action . a lack of action scenes in a movie with as few ideas as this is a great failing .  br    br    spoilers ahead  after the first confrontation and the bursting of the alien larval sack  a minor character and perhaps the best scene in the movie  the script once again betrays the movie . at this point one of the characters is almost taken over by the alien and develops an insight into the alien . the writer  director  gunn  chooses as this character a completely new character  rather than one of already developed minor characters . why  why did he need to introduce a completely new character more than an hour into the movie that becomes central to the plot  by the time this character is attacked  we know hardly anything about her and could care less about her  even though she is a winsome teenage girl in her bath . had gunn decided not to use this character and just used one of the established minor characters  he could have completely avoided introducing her family  and saved time and money . furthermore  the hero and heroine would have been filled in on the alien  s plans without all the additional characters  and could have gotten around to blowing away aliens sooner and with more vigor .  br    br   my last criticism is based on the movie  s look . gunn is primarily a writer  or maybe it was budgetary constraints  but this movie looked ugly and uninteresting . most of the action takes place at night in woods or on a field  and the screen simply looks drab . the sets in wheelsy  the fictional town where the action takes place  look cheap . the whole movie looks cheap . box office mojo states the films  budget was    million  newspapers say    million  and considering they didn  t use any name talent  i would say the money did not show up on screen . the monster is just repulsive  and rarely looks deadly .  br    br   the last criticism is primarily based on the reality of the character  s actions . by the time fillion and co have begun hunting grant  the alien  one woman has disappeared and grant is known to have been mutilating animals . at this point i was expecting the fbi or at least the state police to show up and take over from the hick sheriff . a woman has disappeared and likely been murdered  and a local has been acting psychotic . time to call the authorities . but basically i was hoping that would happen because i just wanted some characters who would show up and act .  br    br   although this movie is ostensibly a horror  comedy  the movie it bears the most resemblance to is dreamcatcher in terms of monstrous invasion and the type of monster and its intentions . whereas dreamcatcher had much bigger problems with story  especially the entire morgan freeman subplot  and particularly the ending  in many ways it was stronger  primarily because the main characters were stronger  but more importantly because it looked beautiful . although that may be anathema  preferring the movie that is weaker in general plot and structural spine because of production values  that just shows you how uninteresting i found the look of slither .  
i became a fan of the tv series homicide life on the street  late in the show  s run  but became a fan very quickly . it was a cop show unlike any other visually different in its use of hand  held cameras  taking the viewer everywhere  with its multiethnic and mutiracial cast and their varying and fascinating personalities  and that it covered all of the good and bad of a police department  including the corruption and personality clashes that bubble up to the surface .  br    br   homicide the movie  the reunion follow  up to the series  is as good as a made  for  television film can be . after lt . giardello  yaphet kotto   now a candidate for mayor of baltimore  is shot  the series  cast members are back to help find the killer . in addition  the cast members who left the force and those who died  also manage to have their place in the film . the intensity and fire that marked the series return  and the script bristles with the same fire that marked the series . all in all  a terrific tv movie .  br    br   vote   
what a preposterous story  murder blackmail  child sex allegations  gays and the catholic church . . . . . absolute tripe . how is it that most uk based tv dramas  sit coms etc have to include the obligortory gay  its really getting tiresome now . everybody accepts that there are gay people in society just has there are other minority groups  but we don  t want it ramming down our throats  i  ll pass on this one  in every single show . apart from the above  the drama went from what could have been an interesting little story into a pantomime  the priest was a paedophile and there are gays running about every where  oh yes just to be totally pc one of the gay couple was black . i am surprised at c ecclestone for even contemplating this when he read the script .  
a chance encounter between a salesman and a hit  man changes both their lives . this is an odd film that works  an impressive effort for writer  director shepard . in a daringly unglamorous role that is a far cry from james bond  brosnan is surprisingly effective as the lonely hit  man who starts to buckle under the stress of his job  but is unable to connect emotionally with anyone to help him cope . kinnear is equally good as the salesman  a decent fellow with a void in his life . davis is fine as kinnear  s flirtatious wife . mainly a character study  the film is rewarding because it feels fresh and unpredictable  an extremely dark comedy .  
this has to be the worst movie i have seen . madsen fans don  t be drawn into this like i was . he is only in it for a maximum of five minutes . this movie is so bad that the only reason why you would watch it is if all the rest of the movies on earth as well as t . v . had been destroyed .  
was  nt really bad for raw  s first ppv of    . but the ending was really really shocking to everyone in attendance  the ones who were watching at home .  br    br   first match  ric flair vs . edge w  lita for the wwe intercontinental championship not a bad opener  these two can seriously put on a great match if they had more time to put on a wrestling match . flair wins by dq after edge slams him with his mitb briefcase .     second match  trish stratus vs . mickie james for the wwe women  s championship not bad noticing the fact that this is the first time these divas faced off in the ring together . mickie goes for a modified chick kick  but trish ducks  nails her own chick kick for the win to retain her title .     third match  triple h vs . big show seriously good this match was  really . the whole match hhh focuses on big show  s injured arm but big show still fights back . later hhh is able to topple down big show  nails a pedigree for the win .     fourth match  shelton benjamin w  mama vs . viscera this was a bonus match not that bad  it was alright . after viscera was down  behind the referee  benjamin  s mama got a purse which had bricks in it  slammed viscera on the head with it three times . viscera got up only to get caught with a spinning heel kick by benjamin for the win against the big man .      br    br   fifth match  jerry  the king  lawler vs . gregory helms boring  slow  sloppy . both men didn  t really put a very good effort . jerry lawler wins after a fist drop for the win .      br    br   sixth match  torrie wilson vs . victoria vs . ashley vs . maria vs . candice michelle in a first ever women  s gauntlet match it was pretty entertaining to me . ashley i think eliminates candice last to win the first ever women  s gauntlet match .     seventh match  john cena vs . chris masters vs . carlito vs . shawn michaels vs . kane vs . kurt angle w  daivari in an elimination chamber match for the wwe championship it was a cool elimination chamber match . but nothing will top last year  s elimination chamber which was the best . the last three are masters  cena  carlito . carlito turns his back on masters  gets a roll  up on him to eliminate him . seconds later cena gets a roll  up on carlito for the three count to win the elimination chamber  retain his wwe title . but his night was not over yet .     after the match  vince mcmahon comes out  congratulates cena for his victory . vince mcmahon states that his night is not over yet   says that edge cashes in his money in the bank opportunity to challenge cena for the title . edge comes out with lita  gives the briefcase to vince  heads off in the ring as cena has one more match to go here tonight .  br    br   eight match  john cena vs . edge w  lita for the wwe championship cena who is busted open during the chamber match gets pounded straight away by edge  edge then nails a spear on cena  goes for the cover  to his shock cena breaks out . edge nails another spear  covers for the shocking three count as he has beat cena  has won the wwe championship for the first time in his career .     so last year  s new years revolution was better than this year  s  but it was still alright . the ec match was also good  the shocking of edge cashing in his mitb opportunity is definitely the most shockingest on the ppv show .  br    br   overall i  ll give it      a c  
what is happening to itv drama . first   losing gemma  quite simply the worst tv drama i have seen in years  and now  perfect parents  a complete shambles from start to finish . whoever is responsible for commissioning this drivel should be receiving there p   by special delivery .  br    br   in most drama  thrillers  a requirement to suspend certain levels of belief is necessary so that the the plot line can develop  but  perfect parents  took this to a new level  i suspended so much belief by the end of this nonsense i felt i had been force fed on a lorry load of  magic mushrooms   it was like the scriptwriters had decided to try and create a  drama by numbers  involving some serious issues  religion  education  greed  fear  murder  paedophillia the only trouble was as the great eric morecambe once said when playing a piano   i  m playing all the right notes  just not necessarily in the correct order  . for your next script guys  i suggest you try reading a few more books on script development than  script writing for dummies  .  br    br   due to the ridiculous script and the utter lack of tension in the direction  the acting was suitably low key  not the fault of the actors as the cast was top notch . but i suggest that all of the actors involved in this sorry piece of drama should instruct their agents the next time the postman attempts to deliver a script from itv drama department  make sure the letterbox is firmly nailed shut    
how i got into it when i started watching this series on cartoon network  i have to say that i  ve never seen anything like this  and it was the best . but when i started collecting the series on vhs  and years later on dvd part of bandai  s anime legends collections . it was amazing  and truly worth watching . it had a lot of exploding action that will blow you out of your seat . and of course  the theme songs  just communication   and rhythm emotions  were the best .  br    br   characters  and gundams my favorite characters in the show wereheero  duo  relena  treize  lady und  noin  and zechs . my favorite gundams in the show that i liked the most are the wing zero  and epyon  and of course the altron  and deathscythe i  and ii .  br    br   meaning of the show what this series also tells us that in real life  wars are very hard and we can sometimes win  or lose . but peace can also be hard to obtain  and i do believe the gundam pilots are doing the right thing  and are trying to obtain world peace .  br    br   but however  this show is truly the best of the best . so in closing to this review  after you watch this show  see the movie endless waltz .  
i have to admit that i liked the first half of sleepers . it looked good  the acting was even better  the story of childhood  pain and revenge was interesting and moving . a superior hollywood film . but . . . no one mentioned this so far  at least in the latest   comments   when it came to the courtroom scenes and brat pitts character followed his plan to rescue his two friends  who are rightly accused of murder  i felt cheated . this movie insulted my intelligence .  br    br   warning spoilers    br    br   why did anyone accept their false alibi  witnessed by the priest  if these two guys had been with him  why shouldnt they tell this during the investigation  amnesia  if you were the judge or member of the jury  would you believe it  is it wise to give the motif of the murderers away   br    br   i am sorry  but in the end  the story is very weak  and this angers me . this movie had great potential .      
over  powered mobile suits that can annihilate entire armies  check  weapons that hardly need to be aimed and still annihilate everything  check  mobile suits based on angels  check   br    br   ok  its a gundam series . this one  gundam wing  has good character development  real  world complexity  interesting ideas and some pretty eye  candy .  br    br   with characters  the initially weak relena dorlan  later peacecraft  then back to dorlan  gets stronger and more independent  although is still absolutely besotted with heero yuy  the series main character  . the aforementioned heero  initially a cold  hard butcherer  becomes more and more human  while still remaining in  character . and seeing the lost millardo peacecraft  whos nomm de guerre is zechs marquise  float between oz  freelance  and command of white fang shows how some people can really lose themselves in their own creations .  br    br   the complexity of the political and military situation is also quite good  reflecting how the real world works . however  in   half  hour episodes  it does become a bit of a liability in that this complexity isn  t used to its full potential .  br    br   the ideas at the core of the series  the necessity of fighting  the desire for peace  etc  are ones that resonate even today . in retrospect  the series was ahead of its time  what with the  war on terrorism  and all . but its exploration of these ideas  the monologues  especially those of treize kushrenada  is an incredible dramatic piece  forming some of the best writing in the series .  br    br   but that sometimes good writing is also sometimes extremely poor  which dramatically causes it to lose some of its edge .  br    br   in terms of eye  candy  which is what this one has in bucketloads  everything from the mobile suits to the battleship libra  no not the tampons you idiot   is wells designed  and explodes in big balls of orange  which is bad  because better animation would  ve had better explosions  . but who cares   stuff explodes  and thats all that matters .  br    br   in short though  the sheer complexity of the series means that if you miss out on a few episodes  you  ve missed out on a lot . the poor writing can leave you cringing  and sometimes the animation makes you go  wtf      but this is made up for in its classic animation style  its scale  sparks of incredible dialogue  and its more mature exploration that one expects of such japenese animations .  
this is the first time i have commented on a film because i felt that if the right person read it  they might wake up and do something about it . over the last few months  abc family began airing a new format of movies . i have seen the last three and enjoyed them . they were engaging and did the trick . my wife likes these films . i was looking forward to viewing  see jane date  . the trailers looked and sounded great . unfortunately  this is one film where the book must be light years ahead of the effort displayed by the writers and music people involved with this project . the year is      the source  all bad   the score was as interesting as an elevator ride in a department store . it was intrusive and did not add any emotional content to the film at all . it worked against it . i work in the business of film and television . i enjoy being entertained . this is one instance where i kept thinking could it get any worse . the script had lines from another decade and i know these women can act but you wouldn  t know it from this movie . to add to the overall experience  the end left me shaking my head . an advice to the executives at disney  abc  abc family and the producers under any circumstances please do not hire the composer or music supervisor to do any of your future films . they have lost their touch and they need to understand what the word  contemporary    present day  and  current  means when describing a romantic comedy . there is a world passing you by . all in all a huge disappointment from folks at von zerneck  sertner and abc family .  
i could write a big enough comment on any one of the characters in gundam wing  they could each lead the series with their internal conflicts . instead we get  great leads that take us through   golden episodes of anime bliss .  br    br   it contains dialogue that you can roll around in your head for months . . . years  and then go back to and derive new meaning from  a masterpiece in script writing  even though it has the typical anime trait of there being a disparity between subtitles and english dub  . it has an abundance of concepts and philosophies that make you think about your own views .  br    br   the relationships between the cold unfeeling males and loving female characters is a stand alone aspect of this series . the relationship between heero and relena  and milliardo and noin are joys to watch . the apparent rejection of the male is underpinned with an inner turmoil that makes the love  a word never mentioned in the series  of the women necessary for them in their harsh soldier environment . the women are chasing aspects of the men that we rarely  if at all see  which makes the leading men all the more enigmatic . it takes heero all of the   episodes to show some caring  but he gets there  and when he does  its a big pay off .  br    br   and then there  s the giant robot fighting . fun to watch awesome sequences as good as any hollywood epic fight scene . any less clued up person would see giant robot fighting as a silly cartoon function for kids  as has become clear when i  m trying to recommend this series to my friends  but they  re wrong . many of the giant robot fights in gundam wing contain a hefty dose of pathos  usually concerning young rebels fighting for what they believe in against an oppressive society making their beliefs obsolete .  br    br   the constant shifts in tone and emphasis through each episode makes gundam wing impossible to be boring  it is a captivating  thought provoking study on the potential of the human mind and body .  
this movie is a muddled mish  mash of clichs from recent cinema . there are some promising ideas in there  but while the director was clearly aiming to wind up with a hauntingly ambiguous film  what he ended up with was a confusing mess . lead actor daniel wu does a fair job but with no central theme it seems as though he doesn  t have much to work with . furthermore  the movie is largely devoid of scares  although  in fairness  there are some creepy moments amid the drudgery  .  br    br   mild spoilers  br    br   we have the mysterious death of an estranged twin  diabolical librarians  ghostly love interests  identity confusion  death by savage monkeys  oedipal conflict  abusive stepfathers  sublimated homosexuality  and crime gang connections . the only real commonality these elements share seems to be that they cause the protagonist to express a vague sense of confusion and discontent .  br    br   perhaps the most disappointing aspect to this film is that despite the brother  s death by monkeys being strongly featured on the dvd cover  the act itself is never directly portrayed . instead  director julian lee uses what appears to be stock footage of monkeys  not very scary .  br    br   end spoilers  br    br   avoid this one . for an excellent psychological  ambiguous horror tale  check out the korean film a tale of two sisters       .  
the second alternate gundam universe tale  g  gundam being the first   gundam wing is yet another different view into the gundam verse . the familiar elements are found but gundam wing is actually different then its counterparts . the biggest being the gundams are nothing more than terrorists combating one lone organization . in truth  the series doesn  t really become a show about war until episode  but in truth the real conflict  the eve wars  don  t happen until the later episodes .  br    br   the greatest positives of this series are it  s characters . all the main characters are fleshed out throughout the   episode run and you can really sympathize with each of the roles their put in . another great plus is the fantastic character and mecha design of the series . the designs put some of it  s other gundam counterparts to shame .  br    br   one of the biggest criticism of this series is how many die hard uc fans claim rip off of the original uc saga . why gundam wing gets this rap when the more apparent uc clone of gundam seed is out there is beyond me . true there are many moments lifted but their told in new ways and there are distinct differences as well .  br    br   take for example  the usual comparison of zechs merquise and uc icon char aznable . throughout the series  zechs is more the outcast in the alliance and in ways oz as well  while the red comet was shining symbol of zeon . another big difference is the fact zechs loses a lot soldiers under his command hence the other nickname he  s given in the early episodes  killer of his own men .  char isn  t given this label .  br    br   the problems with this series isn  t the philosophy mumbo jumbo but two problems . the first is the reused animation footage of the gundams attacks . sure it  s fun seeing heavy arms attack tanks  ms  and planes the first time . but on it  s fourth re  use scenes like this do get old .  br    br   the second problem is that the entire series is supposed to take place during an entire year . if you really think about all the events springing in the series  a lot happens in just one lone year .  br    br   but i guess you can easily dismiss this fact when ignoring the intro  s first lines every so often . as it ranks  this is probably the best of the alternate universe gundam tales and a great introduction into the gundam world . after all  this was the very first gundam anime to air in the us television .  
this series has its ups and occasional downs  and the latter is the case  here . there  s an agreeable amount of spatter  with an inventive implementation of the baby cart  s weapons  but the editing film is a seriously disjointed  the film  making itself rougher than usual . at times  the action slows to a crawl as the camera follows the wordless wanderings of the  cub   who nearly gets lost early on . all in all  disappointment .  br    br   that said  there  s a spaghetti eastern quality to the music and action that may win the approval of dedicated viewers . this installment spends much of its time following the minor misadventures of the little boy  who begins to stare into the abyss of death his father opened for him .  
while being an impressionable youth when first experiencing the gundam wing series  upon re  watching the series  i have reconfirmed my belief that this series is not only beautifully animated  but the plot  the gundam design  character design  and character depth are masterfully executed . while at first appearing like a boy band of sorts  the stylish attractiveness of the characters can partly be credited to just great art  with individual personalities creating clear and endearing distinctions among the characters . consequently  it is extremely easy to become to drawn to any particular character . personally  i liked heero because of his stoic personality . while i may be biased with a sentimental attachment of this show to my childhood  i can objectively say that gundam wing addresses the deeper questions of war and life in general  how can we obtain peace   while providing action packed battles in large robot suits  which  to say the least  is excellent .  
  arahan  adds nothing positive to the kung fu genre . to compare this confused motion picture with the inspired craziness and quality of stephen chow  s films is a mistake .  br    br   firstly the fight scenes are nothing new . all that is presented here has been done before and better by the likes of yimou zhang  tony jaa and jackie chan . fights in intelligent motion pictures need logic . there seems no point serving blows that have no damaging effect as in the  matrix  sequels .  br    br   the attractive female lead so  yi yoon captivated the screen but she never convincingly conquered the physical demands of the role as ziyi zhang had done so easily in  house of flying daggers  . having a martial arts background serves well in kung fu movies . to cast actors inexperienced in these skills is a serious mistake  see aya ueto in  asumi   unless you are a very talented director which as  arahan  proves seung  wan ryoo is not .  
i  ve watched almost all of the gundam  mech anime that have showed in the us and this by far has the best story . the way its plot twists and turns has u riveted . gundam wing is a series that mainly focuses on politics and war . the series follows a group of five   year old boys who have been trained to pilot state of the art mobile suits known as gundams . the gundam pilots were trained to battle a powerful insurgency known as oz . as things begin to heat up between oz and the gundam pilots  new political groups will form and old ones will dissipate . old conflicts will end and new ones will arise . to obtain peace the gundam pilots must come to grips with the events taking place in their world and put an end to all the fighting . but  how far are people willing to go to obtain their goal . i recommend this anime to anyone who is looking for a show that has a deep plot .  
i began watching this movie with my girl  friend . and after  minutes i was alone .  br    br   i succeed to stay until the end . it has been a painful experience .  br    br   i liked jean hugues anglade  but i think that he needed to eat  as us  and thus he accepted to play in this movie .  br    br   there are only  characters  and the rest could be called  art  or something that i couldn  t express  but that i didn  t understand at all .  br    br   the only worst movie i saw was crash  but i  m pretty sure now that i have enough experience to watch it successfully again .  br    br   good luck   o   
gundam wing to me happens to be a good anime . a bit slow moving  especially around the middle of the series   but over all enjoyable . now before anyone jumps on my case and calls me a  winger   i will admit that i have watched all of the original gundam  gundam     and      the   th ms team  and gundam seed .  br    br   i will admit that there were a few problems with the story telling and a few characters may seem to be  rip  offs   i . e . zechs marquise to the original gundam  s char   but this is an alternate universe show based on the original series  as is seed .  br    br   if you wish to view this series make sure that you watch the original gundam first  and then know that you are watching an au series .  
i only watched this movie because i was so impressed with olivier martinez in swat . but this is no swat . swat had a plot and some likable characters and made sense . bullfighter had none of these .  br    br   i should have realized that it couldn  t possibly be any good  after all  the always painfully bad michelle forbes had a starring role .  br    br   one poster here called the movie incoherent . another called it the worst movie ever . both gave the movie far too much credit . i am so glad i got it from the library for free  yet i still feel ripped off .  br    br   imdb needs to include a    in the  rate this film  vote  just for movies like this one .  
gundam wing is an amazing show from start to finish  every single episode is a joy to watch . the story is typical gundam fare  in the future earth  s populations grows to the extent where we create space colonies in order to expand . the story though is set in an entirely different reality than any other gundam show . it is the year after colony    and the corrupt earth government  known as the earth sphere alliance  is violently taking over the free colonies . to combat the alliance control and the even greater threat that is to come  an evil militaristic organization hiding within the alliance known as oz  which later takes control of earth and the colonies   select members of the colonies send  super powerful mechs to earth to try and save the colonies from the threat that is to soon come . these mechs  known as gundams  fight oz and try to regain peace in the colonies as oz takes the front  stage  completely eliminating the alliance and taking control of earth and its colonies .  br    br   gundam wing as i previously stated  is probably the most enjoyable gundam series to watch in my opinion . a large part of this reason is the difference between this series and any other gundam series before it  but also the stories are far more deep and intricate than majority of the other gundam series . gundam wing has more depth and emotion to it than any other gundam show i have ever seen thus far . this particular series seemed to focus more on character and the relationships amongst those characters than epic space battle . now don  t get me wrong  this show still has many epic battles within it  and the show still maintains the epic atmosphere that other gundam series have  but it achieves this by having the story follow an ensemble cast of  or  characters as opposed to following just  .  br    br   no matter how you look at it this is truly one of the most unique and enjoyable gundam series out there  and i strongly recommend it to any fan of anime  or sci  fi in general . the show sports some amazing animation and superb action  but the depth and intricacy of the story is what keeps you coming back for more . the characters are so well drawn out by the end of the show that you end up loving each and every one of them . this show is definitely one that shouldn  t be missed .  br    br   a perfect        
i bought this movie last weekend at my local movie gallery . it was buy  get  free and i needed one more so i chose this one . horrible mistake . the box reads like it would be a really good movie . well  it starts out like it is going to be this great movie . for about  minutes  that is . the movie is about a young woman  laila  who gets killed trying to save her beau  jack  from a bull . laila  s dad  cordobes  is a rancher that the townspeople are afraid of . he assumes that jack killed laila because she was supposedly afraid of this bull  and goes on this hunt to find him . that was the first  minutes that is good . what follows after that is only gonna get    times worse . whoever wrote the script  in my opinion  had to of been on some kind acid trip or something because nothing else made any sense what so ever . jack is on the run and finds this traveling radio dj named mary who gives him a ride . i think mary is supposed to be a virgin mary type character . you know  jesus  mother . but  who knows  i couldn  t make heads or tails of it . as they  re running . . . we get to see bad guys  magical visions  ghostly encounters  flashbacks  etc . . . and all these things are done in such a way that your brain hurts from trying to figure out what  s going on . needless to say  i took the movie back and exchanged it for something else . it  s horrible i tell ya  horrible . and  there is absolutely no bull  fighting in this movie . unless you count the first minute of the movie . hope i helped some other people keep from wasting their time on this movie .  
i  m not a big fan of most anime  but gundam wing is truly something else . gundam wing lacks all of that stereotypical melodrama that you might think of when you think of anime  since the number of jokes made over the   hours would only be in the double digits  gundam wing gets right down to business .  br    br   gundam wing is as much of a political thriller as it is an action series . large parts focus on the diplomatic dealings of a war  not only the battles . though battle animation lacks extreme detail in cases where it would just be a pain to animate  individual duels between gundams are almost pieces of art considering the animated use of complex mechanics and rapid movements .  br    br   to my knowledge  this   episode plus one movie series was picked up by cartoon network in      and then professionally dubbed by them too . the dubbing is simply flawless . not only does every word said match up  but the voices use truly make the characters much more believable . many believe that it is best to watch anime with subs in english  but i simply don  t have the determination to do that .  br    br   not only are the voices good  but the score used over the series is quite impressive . i  ll just say it left me scouring the net in vain to find a soundtrack .  br    br   the plot of this series is what will truly hook viewers  and no  not hook you like some prime time drama like lost which was only made for the purpose of hooking you . explaining the plot deeply would lead to many spoilers  since many of the characters do not even have names until quite a few episodes into the series . the rough idea of the series is that earth and its now independent space colonies are having difficulty maintaining peace . thus a war is started  leading to military coups and elaborate diplomatic situations . i feel that any more detail would begin to give away information  which is crucial to the plot .  br    br   i  ll end here saying that this series is great for anyone that likes anime  anyone that thinks all anime is stupid  they have good reason to think so   and anyone looking to get into anime with a serious tone to it .  
some very interesting camera work and a story with much potential . but it never comes together as anything more than a student  s graduate thesis in film school .  br    br   there are two primary reasons for this . fist  there is not a single likable character  not even a villain we might admire for his  her chutzpah . secondly  all the acting is awful  even from veteran willem dafoe . the ham is so plentiful here  you feel like you  re at a picnic  but one of those wretched company employee picnics where you drink too much cheap beer and get your hangover before you even stop drinking . then you eat an underdone hotdog and throw up .  br    br   all right  i  m being a little rough on a young director who might still go places  as i said  the camera work is quite good .  br    br   but i feel cheated  the blurb for this film suggests we will get to watch a  modern western   and the dvd packaging has pictures on it that suggest this as well  but nobody actually connected to the film  s making seems to know that this is the kind of film they  re supposed to be making .  br    br   that betrayal is what hurts but even without it  the fact remains that we don  t like these characters  we feel embarrassed for the actors  the story is hopelessly muddled  and in the last analysis  we just don  t care .  br    br   i took it out of the dvd player about half way through . but the rental store wouldn  t give me my money back .  br    br   now  that really hurts .  
the matador is better upon reflection because at the time one is watching it  it seems so light . the humor is always medium  gauge  never unfunny but never gut  busting . the story is a very simple thread . the characteristics of the plot are often recycled features  namely the unscrupulous bad guy in need of a pal and the straight  laced glass  wearing good guy in need of security in life team up and learn from each other and somehow complement each other  s lifestyles . i also find the bullfighting parallel to the story unnecessary  as it is a simply cruel thing and the symbolism is hardly potent enough to carry itself . however  it really is a good film  because though it seemed so thin and unaffecting at the time  it wasn  t . it has a subtle way of connecting with the audience .  br    br   i believe the reason it slowly but surely gives the audience something to take with them is because though it  s a formula that is nothing new  even most of the humor  both main characters  virtually the only characters in it  are somehow met and gotten to know . forget calling them real . that  s not at all what i mean . what i mean is that though pierce brosnan  s filthy  womanizing  boozing hit man is a detached comical character  he  s grasped firmly by the writer and definitely by brosnan  who is aggressively communicating how much he enjoys his breath of fresh james bondless air . greg kinnear  s character seems quite the same in his detached scriptedness  but he  s given certain very unexpected footnotes that for a moment due to the film  s lightfootedness pass us by but then hit us only a moment later . we then realize the film is not simply analyze this or planes  trains and automobiles told stalely over again . its truly saying something .  br    br   the film  s climax is of a sort that wants to partially be a thriller with twists . but with its lightness  how can that possibly be the focus of the film  though the plot has been leading up to it  no  the focus is what brosnan and kinnear get out of their unlikely relationship to each other . strangely  the matador is a film about regret and loneliness . brosnan deals with loneliness and regret every day  and though we don  t understand why kinnear is so lenient and accepting with brosnan continually interrupting his life  it  s slowly understood that brosnan is salvaging kinnear from a more down  to  earth version of his own feelings as a means of redemption . the very last scene of the movie stays with me . it  i think  is where the film  s subtle side  stepping impact finally begins to seep .  
it is a pity that you cannot vote zero stars on imdb  because i would not have hesitated  in fact i would go so far as to say that this film was in the negative stars .  br    br   i  like many others  bought this film thinking that because it has michael madsen in it  it could be good . . . no chance  this film was shocking  imagine a movie length  the bold and the beautiful   well  primal instinct did not even come close to that good  and i had previously thought that there would be nothing worse than a movie length  the bold and the beautiful  .  br    br   michael madsen  how could you do this to us  the worst part is  i didn  t fast forward a bit  i was hoping that at the end they would reveal that it was all some sort of sick joke  that they thought it would be funny to make us watch such a horribly bad film .  br    br   where do i start . . .  directing  zero stars  screenplay  zero stars  acting  zero stars  cinematography  zero stars  digital effects  zero stars  production design  zero stars  make  up  zero stars  casting  zero stars  editing  zero stars  trailer  half a star  graphic design  half a star  dvd menu  half a star .  br    br   however i think that it is very important to have seen bad films just so that you know what a really bad film is  so for that reason i am happy that i saw this film  just so that i have a bad film to put at the bottom of my list .  
gundam wing is a fun show . i appreciate it for getting me into gundam and anime in general . however  after watching its predecessors  such as mobile suit gundam  zeta gundam  and even g gundam  i find wing to be gundam lite .  br    br   characters an aspect long held by gundam is to have their characters thrust into difficulties and grow into maturity . this does not happen in wing . heero is top dog at the beginning  and he  s top dog at the end . personalities do not change  growth is never achieved . the best character is zechs  who is for all intents and purposes a hero throughout most of the series . but suddenly the series betrays him and turns him into a villain for no apparent reason .  br    br   mecha wing has great suit designs . the gundams are super cool  with the epyon being my favorite . i even consider a few of the oz suit designs to be on par with some of the classic zeon suits . but sweet suit designs doesn  t quite save the series from boring characters .  br    br   conclusion in the end  wing has cool fight scenes  though riddled with recycled animation  but shallow plot and character development . enjoyable  but not moving like previous gundam outings .  
i only rented this movie because of promises of william dafoe  and robert rodriguez . i assumed that upon seeing rr  s name on the cover  as an actor  that this movie would be good . it sounds like a movie that rodriguez would of made so if he  s going to lend his name to it  than it has to be good right  wrong wrong wrong . by far the worst editing since  manos hands of fate  . the way it was edited made no sense and made the movie impossible to follow and after the first   minutes you wont even want to try to follow it anymore . i have no idea how dafoe and rodriguez got involved in this film  maybe they owed somebody  but they are way to good for this . besides they were only in this movie for a couple minutes apiece and rodriguez didn  t even talk . so if you wanna see a movie with poor editing  poor acting  and confusing storyline than be my guest but don  t say you weren  t warned .  
since the title is in english and imdb lists this show  s primary language as english  i shall concentrate on reviewing the english version of gundam wing       as presented in the bandai released dvd set . my actual review for the whole series is under imdb  s entry of   shin kid senki gundam w        .  br    br   very little is changed in respect to plot  script and characterization its adaptation to english and it really depends on your own taste to choose which language to watch this show in . purists can stick to japanese all they want  but for a more  realistic  experience i recommend the english track since all the characters  except heero yuy  are not japanese .  most of them are caucasian in fact with a couple of non  japanese asians .  for one thing  the characters  personalities come across more  directly  than in the japanese version . the contrast between the characters is stronger thanks to some give  or  take performances but a very well cast group of actors .  br    br   wing gundam  s pilot heero yuy is a highly trained soldier who suppresses his emotions but slowly learns the value of his humanity . voiced by mark hildreth who  s deadpan delivery can be criticized as  bad acting  but it matches heero  s personality very well .  br    br   deathscythe gundam  s duo maxwell  ever cheerful in the face of death is given a crash course in the cherishing the value of life and friends . he is possibly the best acted character in the whole show  masterfully played by scott mcneil . he may sound a little too old for his age  but duo  s english voice easily out ranks his irritatingly nasal japanese one .  br    br   trowa  the pilot of heavyarms  is a lost lonely soul who  s only purpose so far has been combat despite his inner desire to form connections with the people around him  he only knows how to kill  not to befriend . kirby morrow gives a somber but realistic performance as trowa barton .  br    br   quatre rebarba winner is voiced by brad swaile who has no trouble brining out the caring nature of the character and the shattering of his innocence as he experiences horrors of war and death first hand . a huge plus point is that quatre no longer sounds like a girl  and yes he is voiced by a female actress in the japanese version  but a bona fide typical   year old guy .  br    br   the impulsive but determined wufei chang voiced by ted cole may seem a little over  the  top but it plays out in stark contrast to the more subdued roles of heero and trowa .  br    br   relena darlian sounds older in english  voiced by lisa ann bailey . this might not sit well with her youthful personification early in the series but as her character matures later into the story  her voice follows suit and ends up fitting in very well with the character development .  br    br   zechs merquise would be one of the more drastically changed voices when compared to the japanese version . both voices bring out different sides to the same character . his japanese voice is haughty  authoritative and commands respect  keeping in line with his high ranking status and charismatic nature . his english voice by brian drummond is more subdued  sounding more devious and  snake  like   highlighting zechs  secretive nature regarding his hidden agendas and staunch beliefs in his ideals .  br    br   the members of oz are a mixed bag really . treize kushrenada voiced by david kaye is given a more realistic and down  to  earth performance compared to his larger  than  life japanese style of speaking . however  lady une does not convey her split personality as contrastingly as in the japanese version and lucrencia noin just sounds . . . . . . . . . bored most of the time . the cannon fodder pilots and military leaders are nothing to speak of either .  br    br   i would have appreciated if they took the time to give different characters different accents to reflect their ethnic backgrounds . the maganac corp  s voices were generally uninspired but could have been more interesting if they were given middle eastern accents . the members of the romerfeller foundation would have also sounded better with some classy european accent that reflects their status of nobility .  br    br   despite underwhelming acting from the side characters  the main cast manage to carry the show and it results in an overall less over  the  top and more realistic rendition of gundam wing  s script . very faithful to the original japanese script  keeping all the underlying thought provoking ideas and themes about politics  war and human nature . sadly  it also retains the flaws of the original japanese script .  
i didn  t know willem dafoe was so hard up for bucks that he  d disgrace himself with such shocking hamming in this monstrosity . hell i  ll donate that money that i was going to send to ethiopia if he  s that desperate . i have never seen such a pathetic and disgusting film for a long time . . . who paid for this  they are either pulling some tax scam or insane . a   year old would be ashamed of the plot  and i  d rather get cancer than sit through more than the hour i suffered already . everybody involved should be locked up for a year in the sodomy wing of a third world prison . avoid at all costs . i  d give it minus   if possible . . . unbelievable .  
i have just recently purchased collection one of this awesome series and even after just watching three episodes  i still am mesmerized by sleek styling of the animation and the slow  yet thoughtful actions of the story  telling . i am still a fan . . . . . with some minor pains .  br    br   though this installment into the gundam saga is very cool and has what the previous series had  a stylish satiric way of telling about the wrongs of war and not letting go of the need to have control or power over everything  sound familiar    i have to say that this one gets a bit too mellow  dramatic on continuing to explain the lives of the main characters and their incessant need to belly  ache about every thing that happens and what they need to do to stop the oz group from succeeding in their plans  especially the character called wufei . . . i mean he whines more than an american character on a soap opera . get a counselor  will ya    br    br   besides for the over  exaggerated drama  i think that mostly comes from the dubbing of the english voice actors   this series is still very exciting and will still captivate me once again . i mean it can always be worse . it could be like the recent installment  seed . . . . . . eeeewwww  talk about mellow  dramatic . . . . i  ll chat about that one later .  
  bullfighter  was made in     but it is being released on video  years later for some reason . i wonder why  could it be the confusing storyline  the incomprehensible dialogue said by oliver martinez  and the annoying editing  it  s got to be . i think the plot was mary  michelle forbes  and jacque  oliver martinez  go on a mystical road trip . they meet a lot of wacky characters and avoid some evil ones too . the movie looks great and there is a lot of style  but there is no substance . most movies  when trying to subtle  don  t call attention to themselves with unanswered plot developments  and weak special effects .  br    br   don  t be fooled by the cover willem dafoe is in it for  minutes at most .  
mobile suit gundam wing is the fourth series in the continuing gundam chronicles . unlike the previous entries which focused on massive wars  this one is a little different instead of having an army  vs .  army situation  this one is led by five teenage boys  due to their ability to blend in more readily than normal adults  and their machines called  gundams  because of the metal alloy used in their construction . which leads to problems  since gundams are supposed to be destroyed  replaced by  mobile suits   which are piloted less  destructive weapon platforms and  dolls  which are ran on a . i . and are used as grunt infantry .  br    br   the whole point of the series is a metaphysical question that gives gundam wing an edge over a greater portion of the anime that makes it  s way here . especially since most anime is adapted from popular magazines  such as naruto  dragonball  one piece  dragonball z and inuyasha which are all from shonen jump  which is now available in america .  br    br   mobile suit gundam wing sets itself apart from most anime in the fact that instead of over  the  top battles between mortals who more resemble gods  gundam is very humanistic and seems to revel in the fact that it is dramatic instead of melodramatic and events seem to unfold across the series gracefully . normally in anime there are more than few series that think that the best way to go about having a  small  battle is to have it take a half  hour  something that would never happen in real life . gundam tops this by making sure that everyone knows that characters will die  machines will be destroyed and rebuilt  battles will be lost and won  and it never seems as though it makes the actions themselves satirical .  br    br   but the magic of gundam wing is in the details  and what this series has that more anime would be grateful for having . emotion . instead of mythic prophecies  magic  or overblown martial arts  gundam wing is hard  line science fiction from a country that hates hard  line science fiction .  note the author would like to state that neon genesis evangelion is not hard  line  plausible  in  real  life science fiction due to the religious subject matter that is the core of its series  they love star wars  but hate a . i .  the movie  . henceforth why gundam wing was and gundam seed is now in production for both japanese and u . s . releases at the same time with two voice teams . american audiences only have to wait two or three weeks after the end of the japanese season to catch the dubbed or subtitled versions or even the edited seed episodes that air on cartoon network .  br    br   the emotion is that these two sides that are fighting a war are technically backwards . the heroes are those who defend the rights of the more wealthy and aristocratic citizens of earth from the band of terrorists bent on victory at any and all costs that make up the protagonists of mobile suit gundam wing . this is not war  this is  total war  . every person  every building  every street is a target for attack  both on earth and off .  br    br   my only complaint  and the reason it didn  t get the score of ten  is that at about three  fourths of the way through  it just kind of goes dead for a few episodes  and no one really seems to change . kind of like a present  time flashback  which is fine due to what it reveals about the characters  but at the same time it drags down what should be the brewing between project meteor and oz . but the final two episodes and the overplayed  on  cartoon  network  back in           mobile suit gundam wing endless waltz movie more than make up for the slack .  
no scenario  bad actors  poor melissa gilbert  . . . beurk beurk beurk . . .  br    br   give a such budget to make this . . . in belgium  we make ten films which win all prices in cannes with this .  br    br   last time that i  ve seen a such null  film was hypercube . but scenario was better .  br    br   is anyone knows if the director was a graduate in school  film or a cop   br    br   the better things in this film was the word  end  .  br    br   why authorize to sell this    is to expensive .  br    br   i  ve pay ten dollars to buy this .  br    br   for me  pay for this was my big mistake of millennium .  br    br   too bad .  br    br   next time i  ll break my arm but buy this type of sht .  
dear readers   br    br   with high expectations  human beings leave earth to begin a new life in space colonies . however  the allied forces of the united earth sphere alliance gain great military control over the colonies and soon seize one colony after another in the name of justice and peace . . .  br    br   the year is after colony    . operation meteor . in a move to counter the alliance  s tyranny  rebel forces from several colonies send new arsenals to earth disguised as shooting stars . . .  br    br   however . . . the alliance forces catch on . . .  br    br   gundam wing is the most popular and most successful of the entire gundam series . with cutting  edge anime animation  stunning action  amazing mobile suits  breathtaking scripts  and some of the most unforgettable characters in anime history .  br    br   i  ll try to explain the plot of gundam wing as best as possible . earth has now colonized space  but the uesa forces have forcibly occupied them along with the help of the mysterious elite force oz and their shadowy leaders  treize kushrenada and the romefeller foundation . five pilots are sent to earth piloting mobile suits with extraordinary power known as the gundams . pursued by the mysterious lieutenant zechs merquise  treize  s second  in  command  a young teenager named relena  and the alliance military  the gundam pilots unleash hell upon earth for the freedom of the colonies while all the while  a plot most sinister architected by treize begins to start .  br    br   signed  the constant dvd collector  
i am very tolerant of really bad sci  fi and horror movies  i  ve been watching them since i was  or   so i  ve seen some really bad stuff  but i deal with it . i  ve even watched a lot of scifi channel movies so i know not to expect much  a usually promising movie that has no ending to speak of . hope springs eternal  i guess  or the triumph of hope over experience  as they say . unfortunately  this is a dog right from the beginning and i knew it  but like a moth to the flame  i kept thinking something  anything  interesting would happen . it doesn  t . all of the actors give a decent performance  given the script  i don  t know how they all kept straight faces . it has something to do with collagen  starved worm parasite creatures who are slowly taking over the human race  one body at a time . there  s an evil plastic surgeon who collaborates with the enemy by giving them the outward appearance of humans . . . don  t worry  he gets what  s coming to him . the slug people themselves don  t really know where they came from  they think they might have thumbed a ride on a meteor that landed on earth  but . . . somehow they know about the members of slug royalty among them  the slug princess has managed to breed with a human being who knows that she  s the worm queen and loves her for her self . . . oh  must i go on  please  i implore you  do not waste  hours of your life watching this . . . anything would be better . . . think of the worst  least enjoyable way you can spend two hours . . . it would be better than this .  
the booth puts a whole new twist on your typical j  horror movie . this movie puts you in the shoes of the protagonist of the story . the director wants you to see what the protagonist sees and thinks .  br    br   the story is about perception of the people who works  lives  and loves of our protagonist  and how he perceives the people who surrounds him in an antiquated radio station dj booth . the story peels back the layers of the main character like an onion in flash  backs as the movie runs its course  and from it we learned that things are not always the way it seems . the movie mostly took place in a small  out  dated radio station  s studio with a very bad history  where the main character was forced to broadcast his talk show due to the radio station was in the process of re  locating . it is from this confined space that this movie thrives and makes you feel very claustrophobic and very paranoid . at time our protagonist can not determined the strange happenings in the old studio were caused by ghost or some conspiracy by his co  workers or it was all in his mind . what i like about this film is that the film  makers makes you see through the eyes of the main character and makes you just as paranoid as protagonist did . this movie is a very smart  abide rather short   minutes film .  
i can  t believe how awful this movie turned out to be . i feel magnanimous even referring to it as a  movie  . the acting was flat  the editing was terrible and the plot leaves many major questions unanswered . the premise was ok  if unoriginal a small group of aliens is living in the us and trying to slowly take over humanity . but it goes rapidly downhill from there . how could they convince a  human  to accept an alien as his wife in order to make they alien  human hybrid they require  they show a larval alien but never show what it does . they have a plastic surgeon that can produce perfect looking skin on an industrial scale . they throw in the obligatory huge alien monster with teeth . the ending was almost too painful to watch . i suppose that i  m mostly disappointed that bruce boxlietner would have anything to do with this . how could he say to the huge alien monster with teeth   get away from him you son of a btch  with a straight face  it  s a long fall from his babylon  days . avoid this at all costs .  
like talk radio  the booth is actually kinda predictable  talk radio because we know the truth of what happened going in  the booth because of  let  s face it  the genre and the basic set  up  . that  s not necessarily a bad thing  in this case . it means  in essence  that the filmmakers don  t punk out in the end the way they might  ve in  say  an american version of this story . the booth moves inexorably toward its  foregone  conclusion  but is so beautifully crafted on every level that one can enjoy the ride the way one might a familiar cruise along a well  travelled stretch of  very scenic  road . it reminds me of harlan ellison  s spooky short story  flop sweat . the claustrophobia is  at times  almost palpable . worth a nice long look .  
words fail me .  br    br   and that isn  t common .  br    br   done properly this could have been great  funny spoof b  movie sci  fi  but sadly  it was not to be . rarely in the field of drama have so many competent actors struggled so vainly with such a dogs  breakfast of a script . i can only endorse the previous reviewer  s comments  go clean the bathroom . in fact do anything except watch this film .  br    br   positives lucy beeman  s nose . negatives everything else .  br    br   most apposite line  this isn  t going anywhere  .  br    br   if only every plastic surgeon could meet with such a fate .  
i liked this movie because it basically did more with less . it could have been made more interesting if they had kept it confined to the studio even more  though some of the plot elements would have been harder to develop  .  br    br   the guy playing the dj did a good job of showing someone spooked out and haunted by his memories . i also found his dialog with the callers pretty funny .  br    br   while parts of the movie you can see coming a mile away  other parts you do not expect to turn out the way they did .  br    br   i thought it was a pretty minimal ghost story for the most part  concentrating more on the living side of the equation . the last     minutes were pretty well done as everything is being revealed .  br    br   while it was a shorter movie  it felt to be just about the right amount of time to tell the story . any more and it would have started to drag .  
my friends and i rented this from blockbuster because we saw nana visitor  s name on the box . this movie is a travesty i hope she negates from her cv .  br    br   the  plot  was lose and flaccid  the acting was mostly dry and unbearable in some parts . the movie made no sense whatsoever . the rough plot of an alien parasite species that infects humans has been done many times by films with much better scripts than this  for example  invasion of the body  snatchers and the faculty .  br    br   if you ever have the misfortune to come across this movie  i suggest you burn it .  br    br   how it classes itself as a horror movie when there was no use of fear  suspense  gore  terror or any of the usual horror film techniques i don  t know  however if you still find yourself wanting to watch this film i suggest you have a lot of sugar before hand  so you can find parts of it funny .  
a surprisingly interesting meditation on the nature of regret in terms of the way it relates to paranoia . there  s a lot going on in this for having a run time of only   minutes  but it works . the scares are very subtle  not the jump  cut scares that seem to populate most recent asian horror films . the way the  scares  are set up is similar to the disturbing moments in  the uninvited   aka  inyong shiktak  directed by su  leon lee   but this isn  t nearly to the same caliber . the film does a nice job of balancing a classic ghost story with something more unusual and psychological . it  s not perfect  but it does what it  s supposed to do . i would recommend checking it out if you get a chance .  
  they are among us  is poor science fiction at best . mediocre acting bogs down this film . the plot holes are numerous . aliens that somehow came to earth on a meteor and have been hiding among us for over    years  but need a plastic surgeon to make them appear human . in their alien form they supposedly have exo  skeletons  which is why they need the plastic surgery  but when you see them they have teeth and fingernails . the heroine  s father  disappeared  after project blue book closed  but was supposedly an f    pilot . and on and on . if you want to see an alien invasion movie  pick  invasion of the body snatchers   and see how it is done right .  
i generally love these     mystery  police charlie chan type of movies  and this is no exception . however  something seems bad with this movie . a late attempt to switch from cerebral moto movies centered around the plot contrivances to a salad bar spoilt by comedy relief that is as relieving as sore feet . a typecast buffoon appears from nowhere impersonating a clumsy englishman who plays the detective  and even other characters seem entangled into providing comedy relief . the plot may seem odd or a bare excuse to us today  but back then the possibility of epochal archaeological discoveries was not only real  but a commonplace occurrence .  
  kids like these  could have been a decent film  given the subject matter . but instead it has become a below  average  run  of  the  mill tv  movie of the week  with not much going for it . the acting is stale  the plot predictable and the direction non  existent . for a better movie on the same subject  try the excellent  le huitime jour   a film that really cares about the people with down  syndrome . in  kids like these  they are merely used as an excuse for weepy sentimentality . pretty appalling .      
two years ago i watched  the matador  in cinema and i loved everything about this movie . obviously  i was totally under impression of pierce brosan  s magnificent role . yesterday  i caught this movie again on tv so i looked at it a bit deeper . now  i can say with certain that this movie isn  t that special but you just gotta  love it because of one man .  br    br   brosnan lifts its grade up in my opinion with amazing performance of julian noble  tired hit  man who has no friends . soon julian meets danny wright  greg kinnear  in mexico city  man who  s got bad luck his son died in accident  his job isn  t going that well and he  s not sure that he can keep his wife bean  hope davis  .  br    br   i always liked movies like this crime movie with big touch of humor . mostly that humor comes from brosnan as he tells jokes about dwarfs with big d . . . . or one of my favorite lines in this movie  i look like a bangkok hooker on a sunday morning  after the navy  s left town .  brosnan says it with his charm while he  s drinking his margarita as usually . i also like greg  typical american face  kinnear in the role of loser that is very lively made because there are plenty of people like danny wright .  br    br   so i recommend you to watch quite possibly the best role of brosnan ever . he  ll make you smile and admire him at the same time . great brosnan in not equally great movie .  
this has to be  by far  the absolute worst movie i have seen in the last   years . when i saw that michael madsen was in it i figured it couldn  t be too bad a movie since he has been in some pretty decent films  and he was a pretty fair actor . wrong  no one should waste their time on this film . i fast forwarded through   percent of it and i don  t feel that i missed a thing .  
a team of archaeologists uncover a real treasure  the crown of the queen of sheeba . from egypt  the crown is to be transferred via steamship to san francisco . but it won  t be an easy journey . there are plenty of would  be thieves who would love to get their hands on the priceless jewels contained in the crown . fortunately for all involved  mr . moto is on hand to guard the crown on its journey . however  that doesn  t mean someone won  t try to get their hands on the treasure .  br    br   after the disappointment of mr . moto  s gamble  i went into mr . moto takes a vacation hoping for the best  but  admittedly  fearing the worst . but within the first   seconds of the film  i knew i would find it more enjoyable . i  m a sucker for a     s style mystery that features anything to do with archaeological digs in egypt . and seeing moto disguised as a german archaeologist  imagine that  peter lorre playing a german    the beginning scenes really drew me in . while the movie may have quickly shifted to the less exotic san francisco  it remained just as enjoyable . dark  sinister characters lurking in the rainy night gunshots fired from open windows that narrowly miss the hero  s head sophisticated and supposed foolproof alarm systems just begging for someone to test them and master criminals believed to be dead  these are the kind of elements found in a lot of the really good     s mysteries that i love . and mr . moto takes a vacation  s got  em all . a couple other bonuses for me included the always enjoyable lionel atwill in a nice little role  comic relief from g . p . huntley that  s actually funny  and a return to form for mr . moto . i  ve already mentioned his disguise in the movie  s opening scenes  well the athletic moto comes out near the film  s finale . moto is a like a whirling dervish of activity as he goes after his prey . all this and i haven  t even mentioned the wonderful performance turned in by lorre . any way you look at it  mr . moto takes a vacation is a winner .  br    br   as much as i hate that the mr . moto series had to end after this installment  it  s understandable when you think about it . wwii was just around the corner . and after pearl harbor  a movie with a japanese hero wouldn  t have gone over very well . at least the mr . moto series ended on a very positive note .  
i watch lots of scary movies  or at least they try to be  and this has to be the worst if not  nd worst movie i have ever had to make myself try to sit through . i never knew the depths of masacism until i rented this piece of moldy cheese covered in a used latex contraceptive . i am a fan of julian sans  but this is worse than i would hope for him .  br    br   on the other hand the story was promising and i was intrigued . . . for the first minute and a half while the credits rolled and i had yet to see what pain looked like first hand . perhaps there are some viewers out there that enjoyed this and can point me in the right direction  but then again i know of those viewers who understand if not commemorate me  especially when we had to turn the video off  and that simply is not done with our watching  we had to make one exception obviously  .  br    br   if it were up for a remake  i  d give it a chance so long as they had at most   of the original incorporated into it . that  s all .  
this is one of my favorite mr . motos  and i have seen them all . as usual lorre is his charming self as the debonair mr . moto . lionel atwill plays a delightfully zany museum curator  the usual comic relief is quite funny here  and there are lots of suspects on whom to cast an eye . it  s fast paced and fun .  br    br   the archaeologist doesn  t have quite the same flair as thomas beck  the usual second lead in these programmers  but he  s adequate . stepin fetchit is on board  and while he speaks in a stereotypical manner his lines are funny  not demeaning to his intelligence  and he actually saves the day in his brief time on screen .  
this is the movie that i use to judge all other bad movies  and so far there hasn  t been anything close .  br    br   the only good thing i can say is that after watching this i know that i have seen the worst movie i will ever see .  
i totally disagree . i thought that this was a great movie for kids . dawn wells from gilligans island  and promise shown of a barely then known dana plato . it was disneylike and for that it can hardly be disregarded as meaningless fluff . no it wasn  t scary and wasn  t meant to be . i wont ruin the ending . but it was unusual the way that it was done . i mean the kids characters were great and i didn  t know what to expect in the end . the basic plot also had a lot more to do with these kids than you say the fact that these kids were expert fishermen is very central to the plot especially initially . it also helps them out of a jam towards the end . it also has the plus of not being overly long . i think it clocks in at under   minutes  
the movie opens upon julian sands  lying on his back  a black kitten drooling blood into his awaiting mouth from where he holds it  about two feet above him . that was so provocative  and i thought   here we go  a good vampire movie    br    br   and then it died . that was literally the only scene which captured any part of the imagination . it was slow  uneventful drivel thereafter . i was vastly disappointed  as my previous experience with sands  acting was quite enjoyable . however  this attempt was obviously misdirected and the screenplay left a lot to be desired .  br    br   even julian sands  s questionable performance could not begin to save this already sunken barge of a movie .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
this charmingly pleasant and tenderhearted sequel to the hugely successful  the legend of boggy creek  is a follow  up in name only . stories abound in a sleepy  self  contained fishing community of a supposedly vicious bigfoot creature called  big bay ty  that resides deep in the uninviting swamplands of boggy creek . two bratty brothers and their older  more sensible tomboy sister  a sweetly feisty performance by cute  pigtailed future  different strokes  sitcom star dana plato  go venturing into the treacherous marsh to check out if the creature of local legend may be in fact a real live being . the trio get hopelessly lost in a fierce storm and the furry  bear  like  humongous  but very gentle and benevolent sasquatch comes to the kids  rescue .  br    br   tom moore  s casual  no  frills direction relates this simple story at a leisurely pace  astutely capturing the workaday minutiae of the rural town in compellingly exact detail  drawing the assorted country characters with great warmth and affection  and thankfully developing the sentiment in an organic  restrained  unforced manner that never degenerates into sticky  sappy mush . the adorable dawn wells  mary ann on  gilligan  s island   gives an engagingly plucky portrayal of the kids  loving working class single mom while jim wilson and john hofeus offer enjoyably irascible support as a couple of squabbling ol  hayseed curmudgeonly coots . robert bethard  s capable  sunny cinematography displays the woodsy setting in all its sumptuously tranquil  achingly pure and fragile untouched by civilization splendor . darrell deck  s score adeptly blends flesh  crawling synthesizer shudders and jubilant banjo  pluckin  country bluegrass into a tuneful sonic brew . in addition  this picture warrants special praise for the way it uncannily predicts the    s kiddie feature bigfoot vogue by a good    odd years in advance .  
i love julian sands and will at least attempt to watch anything he  s in  but this movie nearly did me in . i  m hard pressed to remember when i found any other movie to move . . . . so . . . . . . slow . . . . . . . . . ly . . . . . zzzzzzzzzzzz  br    br   pop it in the vcr when you  ve run out of sleeping pills .  
i saw this movie when i was   and i really liked dana plato who later starred in different strokes as kimberly drummond . i don  t think it  s garbage . it was not meant to be a sequel to the documentary either . its just a cute kids movie about  children who go after men trying to find the boggy creek monster . the men get hurt and the kids rescue them with the help of the creature . haunting shots of the arkansas swamp and scenery were neat . this is a good movie for kids  no real violence a few mild scares but good fun for the young kids .  
the opening scenes move as fluidly as frozen velveeta . the attempt at dramatic dialogue only makes me wish i had better control of the fast forward control . vampires are usually portrayed as sexy and intelligent or mangy disgusting creatures . this vampire tries to seduce his prey by imitating a lost puppy . i usually tally a body count  so there was a cat  which doesn  t count  a bum  a girl who fell out of the sky with a sword in her  whatever that was about  and then the plot . foley artists are respected for using celery to create the sound of a broken arm  but using the sound of biting into an apple for a vampire biting a victim is just plain silly . i liked warlock  but this movie just stunk so bad that we turned it off  and it was so forgettable we rented it a year later only to turn it off again .  
this is a fantasy movie for kids based on the boggy creek legend although i don  t know why they called it return to boggy creek as if it  s a sequel . this movie has nothing to do with the documentary and its fantasy kiddie fare . dawn wells stars as the mother of  children who get lost in the swamp around boggy creek with  other men and the monster comes to their aid . yes it  s very silly and the plot is corny but this kind of movie is perfect for the     y  o group which it targeted . it  s harmless g  rated kiddie fare and at least you don  t have to worry about leaving your kids alone while they watch it . strictly for the     y  o set  older kids will get bored and think it lame .  
  note i thought i  d be the only one writing what i did below  but i see the others here agree . i guess it was pretty obvious  this was overdoing the bait  the  cat bit . anyway  here is what i had written   br    br   the owners have left on vacation for two weeks  a trip to california  leaving the cat  sylvester  all alone and locked in the house . that means no milk  but the cat  to his relief  does find a bunch of canned tuna . however  to his dismay  he can  t find the opener .  br    br   it turns out the little mouse in the house has it . . . and baits the cat with it . this is a mean rodent who keeps teasing sylvester with the opener and then yanking it away at the last second . sylvester tries everything possible to open the can of tuna but can  t do it .  br    br   this is a frustrating story  and why they make the sadistic mouse the  good guy  is beyond me . it  s like some of the tom  jerry cartoons where poor tom always gets the worst of it even though many times the little mouse starts the conflict   
 spoilers  br    br   my dad had taped this movie for me when i was  . by age   i had watched it over    times . i just watched it and watched it . and i still do today  it has a grim storyline  a lamb  s mother is killed by a wolf   a very emotional scene   and wants to become a wolf  like him . after years of training  the lamb is made into a really really evil looking thing . he and the wolf travel to his old barn  but he cannot kill the lambs  no matter how much he wishes to . he ends up killing the wolf  but is no longer seen as a lamb by his former friends  and can  t return to his previous way of life .  br    br   the art is beautiful  the songs are . . well  okay  and the voice acting is better than some things today .  br    br   all in all  you just have to see this movie  it is a great masterpiece . although  it  s very hard to find today .  br    br    
this movie was a horrible excuse for . . . a movie . first of all  the casting could have been better katelyn the main character looked nothing like her tv mom .  br    br   also  the plot was pathedic . it was extremely clich and predictable . the ending was very disappointing and cheesy .  but thats all i  ll say about that  .  br    br   the nail in the bag though  was a scene when katelyn  jordan hinson  was supposed to be crying  but the girl couldn  t cry on command  there were no tears streaming down her face  just a few unbelievable sobs . she is not a dynamic actress at all . she gave the same fake little laugh identical to that of hillary duff on lizzie maguire  sp   . thats when the movie went from not  so  good  to just plain bad . it really looked like she was acting .  br    br   in a nutshell this movie was really bad  it was kind of a mix of every clich kid movie from the      s that everyone  s sick of   only worse   br    br   i give it an  f   because it was just so darn hard to sit through  b  t  w  i was babysitting when i saw it  .  br    br   however  you may like it if your  or under .    
in a not so conventional sense of the word .  br    br   this movie was one of my favorites as a young child  and i just recently remembered it  and thought to look it up . while many of the details are no longer clear in my mind  the overall feeling that the movie gave me has stuck with me over the years .  br    br   if parents feel that their children can handle mature and sometimes violent themes  then i highly recommend this movie . it taught me a lot about life and death  and brought forth in me a lot of emotion . to this day  it remains one of my favorite films .  
i personally hated this movie because it was predictable  the characters were stereotypical  and the whole idea was a rip off of  the cutting edge   and  cadet kelly  .  br    br   the main character is a snotty girl who gets shipped of to a place where she doesn  t belong . the whole place hates her  and to make things worse there is a hot guy that seemingly doesn  t like her  well duh the whole damn school can  t stand you  . amazingly she finds a way to fit in and make everyone to like her plus  gets the guy to fall head over heels in love with her . then comes the choice  where she must choose between figure skating and hockey . she chooses hockey then she goes to the figure skating nationals  and gets to be on the olympic team . no real surprise there .  br    br   this whole movie was so damn predictable you knew what was going to happen before you even saw it . this was so awful i nearly puked  and by the time i was finished watching it  i had an awful headache and the urge to shoot myself for watching such crap . don  t watch this unless you are under ten  or actually like crappy tween movies .  
i saw this movie as a child and it broke my heart  no other story had such a unfinished ending . . . i grew up on many great anime movies and this was one of my favourites  because it was so unusual  a story about unfairness  and cruelty  and loneliness  and life  and choices that can  t be undone  and the need for others . chirin is made alone when the wolf kills his mother  but the wolf is alone  too  when chirin follows him into the mountain . the wolf doesn  t kill the lamb  even though each night he says  maybe i  ll eat you tomorrow .  the tape of it i have is broken and degraded from age and use . i will repair it and watch the movie again someday and cry just as hard as i did as a child . stories like this  with this depth and feeling  and this intricacy of meaning  are very rare . it is a sad story  but i  ve never encountered any catharsis more beautifully made . i am glad i have seen this movie  and i  m glad i saw it as a child .  
this movie was probably the biggest waste of my life ever . the acting was pathetic . jordan hinson could not show any upset emotions . at the beginning of the movie  she was supposed to be discouraged . instead  she bobbed her head with her bottom lip stuck out . she sobbed pitifully without any tears for the crying scene . i was almost angry that out of all girls who wanted to be actresses  they had to pluck out her . everyone else was suffering from over  acting as well . it was flat out annoying . it was also an insult to figure skaters . jordan took a month to train  and they cast her as a person who makes the olympic team . it  s practically spitting on the effort real figure skaters put into their work . a pitiful excuse for a movie  and a pitiful attempt to associate hockey and skating . don  t waste your life . it doesn  t even deserve one star .  
watching this several times as a child was quite the experience   years ago  and now that i  ve found it again it still has a film experience like few others . if risky  it  s a great display of morals and life lessons recommended for family viewing with young kids . while it still holds up as an adult  i was fortunate to have learned from it many times over years ago . trying to find it today is hard enough . . . but believe me it is well worth it no matter what the age . anime fans especially will find this a great entry to masami hata  s filmography . with impressive art work and unique designs   chirin no suzu  represents a worthwhile experience . while some of the lyrical songs are not so hot when recorded in english  the musical score is nevertheless captivating . but even the voice acting is far better than much released today . unfortunately is went out of print in the mid      s from rca columbia home video  and has not received any new format release to my knowledge  at least in the us . look hard for it and you will be quite satisfied  it  s an artful  intense  enjoyable  and important landmark in japanese animation .  
okay  when i came on the board for this movie  i was really expecting people to be making fun of it . i was surprised to see that people over the age of  liked it . i enjoyed the movie . . . but only b  c me and my little sister  who is  in fact only    made fun of the whole thing .  br    br   i am sorry jordan  but that acting was awful . you know a movie is headed for the toilet when the lead cannot act . and it didn  t even have a good script or plot to redeem it . i also thought that the character of pamela was very very lame . . . border  lining pathetic .  br    br   even with that being said  i thought there were a few good actors  such as gorgeous spencer  hollywood  and ronnie . still  not enough to redeem the movie .  br    br   two things about this movie that i just can  t get over  br    br    .  that that spencer guy would fall for her . okay  eww . i looked up the dates and while in reality  he is only about four years older than her  the difference in  go figure  seemed much larger . jordan is a very pretty girl  but in gf  she seemed like   or   . . . she seemed like a little kid  jake abel  spencer  seemed like a college student .  br    br    .  that there is any way that kristi yamaguchi would come just to skate for one girl . i mean  i know that katelin is good and everything  but it still just seemed kinda unlikely that kristi would go to a boarding school that didn  t even have scholarships for skating  or that a school would have employed a skating coach with such connections .  br    br   that all being said . . . it wasn  t the worst movie ever known  but it wasn  t very good even by dcom standards  which i consider quite low .  
julian noble  pierce brosnan  is a hit  man . or a  facilitator of fatalities   as he prefers to be called . he is also a drunk  a womaniser  and in the middle of a mid  life crisis . on a job in mexico city  he bumps into danny white  greg kinnear   an unconfident businessman who thinks he  s just nailed a recent pitch  but is unsure . they meet in the hotel bar late one night  after they  ve both had a few too many margaritas .  br    br   sounds like the set  up for a by  the  numbers comedy thriller  doesn  t it  but it isn  t . instead  the matador is a funny and sometimes touching character study . it avoids every twist that the above summary would suggest  sometimes even setting them up just to gleefully tear them down . it is a film that respects it characters enough to just let them get on with it  without feeling the need to shove them into needless plot contrivances .  br    br   brosnan  s hit  man will inevitably be compared to his bond  but this is unfair to both performances . bond is a half  formed idea  a product of all that has gone before while julian is a fully  formed character with his own motivations and flaws . he has existed in his own shadowy  seedy world for so long that he has forgotten how to talk to another human being .  br    br   when he meets danny in the hotel bar  he sees his opposite a normal guy with a normal job and normal problems . he envies danny the hit  man has become fed up with his life  sees himself edging ever closer to his inevitable  burn out   as he puts it . but when danny opens up about the death of his only son  julian tries to change the subject with a dirty joke . he is a man who has  in his own words  been  running from any emotion .  kinnear holds his own opposite brosnan  s performance  and injects danny white with his effortless everyman charm . he is the perfect foil to julian while the latter is drunken bravado and hedonism  danny is down to earth  with just a hint of eccentricity . but he too goes deeper than his established persona  showing us how far the everyman will go when faced with financial and familial ruin .  br    br   there is real chemistry between brosnan and kinnear . it is most visible in the film  s three key scenes the hotel bar a bullfight  during which julian tells danny what he does for a living  and takes him through a dress rehearsal of an assassination and a scene in which julian turns up at danny  s house six months later . this scene also introduces us properly to danny  s wife  bean  yes  bean  . in another example of how much the matador respects its characters  bean  hope davis   instead of panicking at the presence of a hired killer in her house  merely asks with forced calm   did you bring your gun   the script isn  t quite as good as could have been after maybe another rewrite . one or two lines seem a little forced  and a couple of the jokes need a little more work . but in the scenes where julian and danny  and later bean  just talk  the writing is superb . the film feels no need to put the characters in any outlandish situations  other than meeting a hit  man  and said hit  man turning up on your doorstep  . it just lets them talk  gently nudging them toward necessary plot points .  br    br   there is action  but only when it reflects on the characters . one notable instance is when julian botches a job in budapest because he keeps seeing himself through his rifles scope . the rest of the film is about the characters  how they interact  how they each affect one another . and  ultimately  it is about friendship  even in the most unlikely of places . at one point julian tells danny that he is his only friend . and he really means it .  
the movie is about two brothers that are supposed to be alike  but are not in any way expect for being smart  one is a surgeon and they other is able to write a computer code . geniuses as they like to call themselves which sounds very exaggerated if you compare it to personal characteristics can you perceive from the material of the title .  br    br   i honestly didn  t like the style of the movie . i believe that anxiety  confusion and deep blues it brings are there for a purpose  but what i don  t get is why there is so much of it . the movie is cheap on scenes and tells the story basically with no human aspect in it at all . it gives the comic book like experience . however it  s visually numbing the viewer  it somehow brings him inside the blues with brief dialogs  monotonic scenes  dynamic cut  music and abrupt noises .  br    br   the movie  s storyline is very simple  most of what  s going on is being dramatically pictured for long minutes  mostly in confusing delirium simulating effects of drug use and dynamic cuts .  br    br   i will say openly that this movie didn  t meet my expetations a tiny bit .  
thanks to warner archive  i can once again see this mammoth variety show which throws in everything but the kitchen sink .  the bathtub  however is present .  this film gives screen time to every person who was under contract to warners at the time . if some of the artists seem unfamiliar to some  it is because they were big in the silent days  and most faded with the popularity of the talkies . there are some truly remarkable artists from the vaudeville era as well . you will be most impressed with winnie lightner  who performs two numbers . also there is that french star  irene bordoni who croons a love song in a sexy manner . perhaps one of the biggest highlights is the two  strip technicolor  chinese fantasy   which has been restored for this version . it is truly beautiful and it stars myrna loy and nick lucas . finally  there is the massive  lady luck  finale which goes on for nearly a quarter of an hour . this is truly an epic of the early  talkie era . any old  movie buff will love this .  
i can  t say this is one of the best films i have ever seen . but then again  i can  t say it  s one of the worst i have ever seen .  br    br   ok  so it  s basically a girl does skating  is good at it  wants to go to an expensive school  can  t afford it and has to take a hockey scholarship . she has to hide her skating secret from her friends .  br    br   personally  i didn  t like the actress playing katelin . she absolutely couldn  t cry to save her life  just made wailing sounds  like a toddler pretending to cry to get it  s own way .  br    br   katelin was just an annoying person . the way she tried to act all nice and helpful to people . also the part where the two skaters are calling her names and they say something about her choreographer and she says she  draws the line  made me cringe .  br    br   we all knew where it was going to go with her and spencer . classically they didn  t like each other and sort of get together at the end was just typical .  br    br   overall  i think this is a movie to watch if you like skating but if you don  t mind the main skater being extremely annoying . it  s good to kill time basically .  
it is very hard to rate this film . as entertainment value for   st century viewers  it fails miserably . however  for the student of early sound films and history  it is a jewel .  show of shows  was a revue filmed to compete with mgm  s successful  hollywood revue of       which still survives intact complete with its technicolor scenes .  br    br   the purpose of the all  star revue was to showcase a particular studio  s silent stars in speaking roles  and show that they could make the transition . however  warner bros . seems to have forgotten this and employs many acts and stars that they didn  t even have under long  term contract such as ben turpin  lloyd hamilton  beatrice lillie  and even a marching band . meanwhile  their biggest talent  al jolson  is noticeably absent . even at a high salary he could not be compelled to join in . almost every act is overly long and the film plays like a dozen or so vitaphone shorts strung together with no continuity . the finale is also overly long  but it is really enjoyable with all of its dance numbers .  br    br   the highlights of the film are two numbers from winnie lightner   pingo pongo  and  singin in the bathtub   a couple of numbers with nick lucas  john barrymore performing shakespeare  and the chinese fantasy  li po li  with nick lucas and myrna loy . this last number is the only part of the film that survives in technicolor  and it really is quite attractive . reasonably enough  the players in these good acts were long  term warner bros . stars so perhaps the director knew how to play to their strengths since he was familiar with them .  br    br   this film acts as a snapshot at an odd point in film history  the year      which was the bridge year between two eras  the silent and sound eras  and the roaring    s and the great depression . just two years later this same film would have had an entirely different cast  as warner bros . would abandon its silent era stars and the stars they hired just to produce the early musicals in favor of those stars that gave warner bros . its distinctive urban look and feel  james cagney  joan blondell  edward g . robinson  and others .  
the acting was horrible and they got both of the sports wrongggg . . . . . . . not only did they get the figure skating rules wrong  but also they rules of girls ice hockey . in girls ice hockey you cannot check . you also don  t block for someone . not all they girls are disgusting gross mean and big . i play hockey and i  m only     and have been asked to go to schools like the one in the movie . also not all hockey players hate figure skaters . a lot of current girls hockey players were once figure skaters themselves . also we skate a lot faster then the ones in the movie . i was embarrassed by the movie it gave people the idea that we suck . . . . . . . although i must mention that it is difficult to transition between the sports because of the toe pick on the figure skates . . . . . also some of those twirly moves katelin was doing on the ice you couldn  t do in a regular hockey game . she basically tripped the person  which is illigal . its also unrealistic that she would get a hockey scholarship when she figure skates . that really made me angry that scholarship would normally be used to someone who could benefit the team .  
this is a deliriously colossal vulgar silly all star extravaganza revue of all the early talkie stars that warner bros could afford . . . . and like most other rarely seen films actually made during the late   s  an unforgettable opportunity to see and hear the genuine roaring twenties  exuberance and youthfulness put to song and dance . the show of shows is pretty gigantic . vaudeville act after soliloquy after tap dance after acrobat after comedian after fan  dance after ukulele lunacy after rin tin tin who introduces  an oriental number  . . .    . . . and on and on it lumbers  grinning and squeaking away in fabulous gramophone quality vitaphone sound . it is far too long  but among it  s delirious delights are the awesome  singin in the bathtub  number created on a scale of which the qe  architects would be proud . . . beatrice lillie lounging by a grand piano with some happiness boys amusingly warbling a witty ditty  nick lucas  and the never  ending grand finale in two color color . . . which is all set to the song lady luck . . so keen are the tubby chorus line and leaping teenagers to en  ter  tain us that they almost kick themselves repeatedly in their own faces with glee and effort . row after row of  doll  characters hop past and some even emerge from the floor . i kid you not  there are even girls strapped to the crystal chandeliers  mummified with shiny gauze and chained up with pearl ropes  unable to move  for days  i imagine  during production  whilst this katzenjammer of toy  box athleticism twitch and spasm below to the ukulele orchestra . of course i loved it and had to watch this color finale over and over and then invite friends and family to the screen for weeks on end just to horrify and terrify them each separately and to roll about on the lounge in shrieking in delight at each and every exclamation of their startled reactions . and so should you . . . and rejoice that there was an era when this was created simply to entertain and thrill . it is all so demented .  
some of my old friends suggested me to watch this movie but i got chance only recently . i had high hopes of seeing something interesting from kamal hans  what i saw was bunch of garbage camera angles mixed at high speed . i could not understand what was the message except demeaning hinduism . i am more like many religion type but i felt kamal hasan is a man low character to have orchestrated this kind of thought . he could have made a horror movie than this crap . he tried to add hollywood genre of viruses and god forbid he did not convert that guy into a mutant and ultimately going to go for world domination . this is a much befitting movie for a film school vs regular public . shame on him for not holding up to the talent he has . starting of story tried chaos to borrow ideas from butterfly effect  then in between little religious harmony at the cost of insulting hinduism  once again i insult hinduism more but this movie has no equal and my insult is same for religion in general which may have made this movie intellectual one .   
it is difficult to evaluate this or any other comparable film of the early sound era in terms that one might use for ordinary film commentary . at times there is almost a desperation  as many film personalities of the silent era try their wings at sound  surely fearing that they will be left by the wayside  as did happen to some   rin  tin  tin . however  was pertfectly natural . in such a vaudeville of unrelated sequences  some were sure to stand out john barrymore  s soliloquy from richard ii is a moment certainly worth preserving . by and large  only those with earlier stage training exuded confidence . however  this is over all reasonably entertaining  and a must for  film buffs  especially interested in the silent to sound transition  
i normally only write reviews for movies i really hated or really liked . and  as you can probably tell from the number of stars up there  i didn  t like it . by now  i assume you have read about the plot or maybe even seen the movie  so i  ll skip the summary . let  s break this down  pros and cons  br    br   cons the concept the premise was set up to be interesting . using chaos theory as a theme was interesting . however  it wasn  t carried out so well . correct me if i  m wrong  but it seems to me that chaos theory was kind of misrepresented . the event that occurred in the movie seemed more like contrived coincidence than anything . i guess the butterfly effect was represented by the whole  god  s  causes tsunami to bring back statue .  the presentation comes off as really sloppy though . some people call this intelligent  but it just seems to be another souped up action film .  br    br   storyline is it just me  or does it seem that kamal just threw this together to give him an excuse to play ten roles  the plot is extremely contrived govind kept losing the vial so many times in obscure accidents  his friend just happens to mix up the vial with a package he was sending to india  a crazy old lady just happens to throw the vial into an idol  half the cast just happens to unexpectedly meet up in the same hospital  and the case with the idol just happened to get mixed up with one that belonged to a famous singer .   br    br   cgi oh god  the cgi . it was even worse than the special effects in jaws   and those sucked . right away  i could tell which parts were animated . even my ten  year  old cousin knows that underwater cars don  t look like that .  br    br   stunts yes  i now that action scenes in tamil movies aren  t realistic  but the stunts in this one were horrid and actually distracted me from the story .  br    br   make up i have to admit  they did a better job than expected . i thought kamal would be playing people with similar skin tones  so the two fake white guys and the fake japanese aikido guy caught me off guard . however  it was still pretty bad  i could easily tell which ones were wearing masks .  br    br   the songs the music was distracting and out  of  place in many instances .  br    br   asin her character was possibly the most annoying one in the movie . she was loud  ditsy  and obsessed irrationally about that idol . i actually found myself wishing she would die .  br    br   plot holes and fridge logic let me get this straight a lab monkey was smart enough to get past a password  locked door  but not intelligent enough to tell the difference between a bar of chocolate and a vial with a deadly virus in it . and then  an ex  cia agent who  s after the vial figures out it  s headed for india . instead of immediately following it  he marries a pole dancer first . a famous punjabi singer with cancer checks into a small town hospital in the third world when he could easily afford the best medical treatment available . furthermore  he gets shot in the throat with a bullet . you  d think he would be killed  but instead  the magic bullet has cleared his tumor . you read that right  a bullet knocked out the tumor .  br    br   pros . . . the naidu character possibly the only likable part of the movie was his comedy .  
this is hardly a movie at all  but rather a real vaudeville show  filmed for the most part  in proscenium   and starring some of the greatest stage stars of the day .  singing in the bathtub  is an absolutely amazing production number that must be seen   be sure to wear your shower cap   
  a stage company cast finds themselves terrified when a bizarre killer known as  the fiend  targets them for death . a pair of reporters and their clumsy photographer set out to work the story of  the fiend  and find themselves targets as well . just as you think our trio of heroes has the case solved  you  re thrown another twist that has you wondering who the killer really is   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   taking  the hunchback of notre dame  to hollywood  producer sam katzman  s lack of studio settings probably helps  a face in the fog  look interesting  especially toward the end      s traffic  . the direction could be improved upon for example  the camera angle on the fight scene is not helpful . the budget appears slight . under the circumstances  most of the silent  talkie crossover cast perform it amiably .  br    br    a face in the fog         robert f . hill  lloyd hughes  june collyer  al st . john  
gung ho tries to express many ideas and entertain us with a wiseguy comedy at the same time . the result is uneven  but generally entertaining . keaton balances all three aspects of his lead character quite well . wantabedde is even better . one warning george wendt is very poor in his supporting role . otherwise  this is quite enjoyable time capsule .  
from the awful death scenes to guns that fire without making sounds to a character called the fiend . it  s all tiresome  slow moving  unimaginative drivel . it was ok seeing the guy with the cape and the hunchback lurking around . visually it was creepy and probably occupied the moviegoer of the time  but even in     one would think that there would have been a little more imagination and verisimilitude to even a film like this . i just kept waiting for something to happen of any importance as people stood around making speeches and acting like they were posing at an office picnic . and then there are those bullets as a previous commentator mentioned . perhaps the best clue would have been to search for a water spot on someone  s pants pocket .  
i really enjoyed this movie . typically ron howard who seems to like being associated with michael keaton . love the scene when hunt travels to japan with his sales pitch . whoa  how did that get in there  cheap laughs but great value  
i can  t believe anyone thought there was anything original or interesting about this movie . i  m a fan of science fiction as much as the next guy  and i can enjoy even old movies with ridiculous premises as long when they are written by someone other than a monkey .  see  for example  my glowing review of altered states       .   br    br   a monkey could have explained better exactly why i should for a second take seriously the basic idea behind this movie . the problem is not that the producers had a low budget   it  s that they didn  t care .  br    br   now  to publicly humiliate the worthless magazines whose glowing reviews appear on the box  br    br   chicago tribune  br    br   san francisco chronicle  br    br   san francisco bay guardian  br    br    actually  i enjoy reading the latter two . still  their movie reviewing credibility has gone through the floor . but i know if i ever make a movie with handheld camera  a cheesy plot and stupid effects  i  ll show it to these journalists and remind them what they said about conceiving ada .   
i remember watching  gung ho  as a child with my mother  and wondered why she would always cry in the last few minutes . i  of course  found the entire movie hilarious  particularly the mannerisms of the characters . it wasn  t until i was much older and watched it again that i realized how much deeper this show actually is .  br    br   michael keaton and gedde watanabe shine in their roles as the reluctant mediators . keaton ceases to amaze me with his real  life style of line delivery  and watanabe adds humor and pathos to the mix . i also thought that patti yasutake  umeki  was simply fabulous in her role as the comic relief .  br    br   i think this movie is one of the most underrated films of the   s . we can all learn a lesson from the merging of the american and japanese workers in this film . . . sometimes you really can have  the best of both worlds .  and now i understand why my mother felt the way she did in those closing moments . i  d rather have one of those cars  too .  
i haven  t seen anything this bad since i walked out of the james bond movie  moonraker  twenty years ago . i managed to sit through the entirety of this one only because of tilda swinton  but there was nothing she could do to save this beast .  br    br   as a cross between  pi    orlando   and  tron   this movie failed miserably in every aspect of moviemaking . the characters were cardboard and unable to evoke any kind of sympathy . the plot was wholly unbelievable . the acting was  with the exception of swinton  amateur . the computer graphics were worse than in  tron .  timothy leary was extremely annoying . i could go on  but what  s the point .  br    br   the only good thing i can say about this film is that tilda swinton was in it . i have no idea why an actress of her caliber consented to appear in such a dud  but she most likely regrets it now .  br    br   don  t waste your money or your time on this stinker . there  s nothing worth seeing here .  
i just have to throw my two cents in . relax  it  s a comedy . yes for the most part the characters are broadly written and acted . i can  t think of many comedies where they aren  t . this isn  t a new release  it  s out on video and airs on cable almost every week . would i see it in a theater  sure  i did  when it first came out . it  s funny . . . that should be enough .  br    br   even if i didn  t like it at all i  d still watch it on cable for michael keaton . he  s an underrated and under  appreciated actor . i can  t think of another who is so capable in every genre . nor can i think of one who  s as successful . a comedic actor who  s also an action star  short lived but still   who  s also a romantic lead  who  s also a dramatic actor a villain and a hero . i can  t think of any  at least not in hollywood . certainly none who have been successful at all those genres . i mean there  s tom cruise but to me he  s better at being tom cruise than becoming a character . however this isn  t about michael keaton vs . tom cruise so i  ll move on .  br    br   gung ho is worth renting  heck it  s worth buying since you can probably find it for    .   or less at stores like wal  mart . it  s worth watching on cable  if you have cable or satellite  . it  s one of those fun to watch movies . you can put your brain on pause  and just relax  and chuckle away .  br    br   to ask for more  in my honest opinion  is asking too much .  
encompassing virtual reality  the potential of computers  communication with the past  the ongoing struggle to express your identity in a constraining society  and the fascinating ada byron lovelace portrayed by the fascinating tilda swinton  this film should have been great . but it is lousy  terrible if you consider the potential  the acting  aside from tilda swinton and karen black  veers from tolerable to atrocious . the plot construction is awkward to say the least  the modern day programmer is a dull one  note character  but half the movie is spent setting up her character  and then when ada finally appears  it is to narrate the events of her life  not to present an engaging story  swinton almost pulls this off  though  . you never fully get to know her as a real person  just an icon from a grad student  s history paper .  br    br   the digital effects  such as a digital dog and bird  are lousy and distracting  considering it was     and not     . and  finally  the script is just bad . bad  often pretentious dialog  especially the fights between the programmer and her boyfriend  which made me squirm  cold and distant characters  and zero attempt to create a sense of wonder . the programmer successfully contacts a person in the past  astonishing  but it hardly seems to surprise anyone  and her boyfriend says   well  be careful .   although we  re given no clue then or later why it might be dangerous  and it never seems to actually be dangerous .   br    br   also  despite being about computers and ada lovelace and her love of mathematics  it is clear no one involved with the script had any knowledge of mathematics or computers  any references to these subjects come across as complete mumbo jumbo that defies any suspension of disbelief .  br    br   one scene  towards the end of the movie  is quite good  a monolog by tilda swinton expressing her sadness at the fragility of life but her joy in that life . poignant  passionate  and insightful  it seems to be dropped in from another movie .  br    br   so i am disappointed in this movie  because it is a missed opportunity for a fascinating little cult film . if you find the subject matter interesting  you might want to rent it  but be forewarned . see orlando for another  much much better examination of gender roles in history with a great tilda swinton performance .  br    br   spoiler  question    br    br   at the end of the movie  ada asks that her memories not be preserved  in what i thought was the best scene in the movie  . but then the modern day programmer seems to do it anyway  transferring the memories into her little girl  hence the title of the movie  . am i correct  that the programmer violated ada  s wishes without even struggling over it  or is this another confusing plot point that i  m misinterpreting   
i teach japanese for an online high school and i include cultural activities so that the students can learn about the country as well as the language . and watching  gung ho  is one of the requirements . the students can either buy or rent the movie . stereotypes or not  this helps the students to see that other people view the world and their lives differently than we do . many of my students have told me that they enjoyed the movie so much  they are going to get a copy for themselves . it is really interesting to see what we value in this culture and what they value in their culture . i just wish i could get a cleaned  up tv version . i  m not really into the crude language the auto workers use all the time .  
yes  in   years of film going i have finally viewed the stinker that surpasses all other ghastly movies i have seen . beating  good will hunting  baise moi  and  flirt  for sheer awfulness . this is pretentious blige of the first order . . . not even entertaining pretentious bilge . the effects are cheap  and worse  pointless .  br    br   the script seems to have been written by a first year film student who doesn  t get out much but wants to appear full of portent  the acting is simply undescribably bad  tilda swinton caps a career filled with vacuous woodeness with a performance which veers neurotically between comotose and laughable  intensity  . apparently  some fool out there has allowed the director of this film to make another one . . . be warned  
the turning point in  the matador  comes about half through the movie when danny  an unsophisticated man from denver  is sitting in the balcony of his mexico city hotel  enjoying a quiet moment . someone knocks on his door  and knowing it  s julian  the paid assassin  he refuses to answer . but did he really   br    br   richard shephard  the director of  the matador   presents us with a character  julian noble  who shows no redeemable qualities . in fact  we have already seen him in action  doing what he does best . when julian meets danny at the bar of the camino real in mexico city  he spills the beans and tells his new acquaintance what he really does for a living .  br    br   danny  who has come to sell his program to a mexican company  but it seems he is competing against a local outfit that appears to be in the front for getting the contract . danny is a naive person who falls prey of the charisma and charm doled out by the smarter julian . it  s not until some time later  on a cold winter night that the killer appears at danny  s door asking his friend to repay a favor and accompany him on a trip to tucson . it  s at this point that the secret that binds them together is revealed in an unexpected way .  br    br   pierce brosnan  acting against type  makes a great contribution with his irreverent julian noble . just to watch him walking through the hotel lobby in his speedo and boots gives the right impression about his character . greg kinnear  on the other hand  plays the straight part of this odd couple . hope davis appears only in a couple of scenes leaving us to lament why didn  t she stay longer . philip baker hall puts an appearance as the liaison between julian and his assignments .  br    br   richard shephard directs with style working with his own material . the musical score is by rolfe kent and the crisp cinematography of david tattersall enhances everything .  
ok  if you  re looking for another bastketball diaries  this is completely the wrong film .  br    br   i revolves around two brothers . max  the younger  has a major cocaine addiction . adam  the eldest  is a doctor . this movie is suppose to show the plunge from reality to the extreme lows that drugs make possible . it however  does not . it shows that cocaine can be fun no matter what the situation happens to be present . most of the movie focus is on max and his parting ways . eventually adam  can no longer take the stress from his job and begins to use as well  perscription drugs  .  br    br   this movie has almost no climax . doesn  t descend into what cocaine really does to you  has boring and low  budget scenes  and the acting of the eldest brother  adam  is horrific .  br    br   i have no idea how this movie has managed to pass and receive awards  it is not a heart  wencher . if you want a clear and true story movie on the extreme world of drugs  rent  if not buy  the basketball diaries  . and notice the difference .  br    br   try to avoid this movie but  if you think you will enjoy . try and see for yourself . . .  
i recently saw this movie in my international business class . i was not expecting anything other then another boring documentary  not to say i don  t love documentary i  ve just hard bad luck with movies in that class  imagine my surprise when this movie  that  s actually a movie  came up .  br    br   this film is a tell all of cultural differences in the work place and how they need to cooperate to get anywhere . the culture clash shows just how different the world is and just how differently we perceive ourselves until someone comes along and gives us a wake up call . i would highly recommend this film to anyone in business or who just wants a laugh  because yes it is funny .  br    br   well  that  s about it  cheers  
this was a nice attempt at something but it is too pretentious and boring to rise above it  s low budget trappings . the use of virtual sets almost works but at some points it fails miserably . they made good use of the small budget i guess . i just wish the story and most of the acting was better . there are a lot of parts where you see what they were aiming for and it would of been great if they actually hit those marks but they don  t . confusing and unbelievable story . bad dvd transfer too . it doesn  t take much for me to watch a movie in one sitting . this i had to shut off . it was too boring . i can do slow movies . but just make them appealing in some aspect . visually  story  wise  acting  etc . this was lacking in all departments so it never added up to an engrossing experience . maybe the film maker  s next attempt will be better .  
i saw this movie when it was new . later i rented it in japan after having been here three years  afraid that i would cringe when i viewed it in the harsh light of my expanded international experience . the movie pleasantly surprised me with how accurately it portrays the culture clash between japan and pennsylvania  where i  m from  . not all the stuff is factually spot on  but the tone is perfect .  br    br   i  m still in japan many years later  and i continue to enjoy this film for its even  handed treatment of the two sides in the story . interestingly  although the japanese  american actors spoke japanese in the original  the dialog is redubbed in the japan version to cover up obvious second  language delivery problems .  br    br   i noticed one reviewer uses this in a japanese class . i think you can learn more about what to expect from an encounter with japan by watching this film than by reading any of the  serious  books on the matter  most of which were written in the   s and financed by propagandizing japanese companies  .  br    br   don  t be fooled by drag on the average rating caused by one  star reviewers who  among other things  found it implausible that the japanese would want to build cars in the us .  of course  the japanese operate many factories there to be close to the customers and to avoid trade friction .  this is a very warm and funny movie that i would rate higher were it not for a few   s clichs  like the dancing around to cheesy electronic disco music . michael keaton has never been funnier .  
despite some occasionally original touches  like the  virtual sets  that provide the background for the victorian interiors featuring ada lovelace and her circle  this film falls short and ultimately disappoints . newcomer francesca faridany seems talented  but is wasted as emmy  a character who by mid  film is reduced to nothing more than staring at a monitor watching lady ada narrate an autobiography .  conceiving ada  takes off briefly when lady ada  tilda swinton  appears the camera lingers on her facial expressions  mannerisms  even making her appear to be translucent or momentarily invisible  apporting into scenes to dramatize emmy  s  virtual  rendering of her .  br    br   a straightforward biopic of ada lovelace would have been worthwhile  but this film unfortunately makes a hash of both lady ada  s life  and that of a modern  day computer scientist  and her broadly  drawn  doltish boyfriend  .  
gung ho is one of those movies that i never get tired of watching . michael keaton has always been a favorite of mine   he is absolutely hilarious in this movie . matching him step for step is gedde watanabe . the two of them work wonderfully together . although this movie is a comedy  i also like how it shows hunt  keaton   kazihiro  watanabe  struggling in their roles as the leaders of their respective groups . they both try so hard to keep the peace   then they finally get into a fight  which is hysterical to watch  . first  they  re both on the floor . then hunt jumps on a chair . kazihiro jumps on the desk . hunt jumps on the desk with him . the fight then spills out from the office into the factory . i love that after they are separated by the workers  you can tell that they both feel bad for letting things get so out of hand . also  there is a scene where you can see the influence that hunt has had on kazihiro . he is at his house  his boss from japan arrives  says he would like to visit the factory tomorrow  br    br   kazihiro tomorrow not good day . sakamoto why not  kazihiro factory is locked  we can  t find key .  br    br   tell me you can  t picture michael keaton saying something like that   br    br   i guess i really like this movie because it is genuinely funny   also shows how people that are radically different can not only learn from each other  but become good friends as well .  
if you make it through the opening credits  this may be your type of movie . from the first screen image of a woman holding her hands up to her face with white sheets blowing in the background one recalls a pretentious perfume commercial . it  s all downhill from there .  br    br   the lead actress is basically a block of wood who uses her computer to reach into the past  and reconstruct the memories of photographs  to talk history  s overlooked genius  ada  who conceived the first computer language in the     s .  br    br   the low budget graphics would be forgivable if they were interesting  or even somewhat integral to the script .  br    br   poor tilda swinton is wasted .  
this is a great film     br    br   i first saw this film when it came out . i just recently saw this film again and it still holds up to my memory of it . a lot of films we watched when we were younger don  t seem to hold up when we watch them later in life . the film is actually a great    s example of the type of films made then . keaton is at his best  all the actors actually did a very good job and ron howard was very good at letting the story push the movie along instead forcing it . the pace of the film is fast with few slow spots and seeing the cars from the    s is too funny . being from the    s i loved seeing the ugly pacer again . the film is a great film for any comedy lovers and    s film lovers .  
many days after seeing conceiving ada  i am still in awe that any group of people would spend so much time to make such an atrocious film .  br    br   no one ought see this film in hopes of learning anything of consequence about ada lovelock  her colleagues or the product of her endeavors .  br    br   likewise  no one ought to see this film in hopes of being entertained .  br    br   as a sci  fi film  this would unquestionably be a horrendous failure . somehow  the main character manages to bring the past to life and interact with it on her personal computer   with the advice and encouraging words of timothy leary . i doubt anyone could suspend their disbelief enough to keep this from seeming absolutely absurd .  br    br   as a drama film  this would unquestionably be a horrendous failure . somehow  the writer  director manages to fill eighty  five minutes with constant  unnecessary  annoying and trivial drama over essentially nothing . i doubt that anyone could feel that all the drama in the film serves only as an irritating distraction .  br    br   i find it difficult to fully express my degree of contempt for conceiving ada . the circumstances under which i saw it forbid me from leaving the theater but there is no question that i would have otherwise . i am still angry that i wasted the time that it took to see it . only that i might more effectively criticize this movie  i wish that i were more articulate .  
i saw this movie again as an assignment for my management class . were to mainly comment on the different management styles and ideas on quality  of the product  . i did rent this one back in the eighties and i remember it to be good  but not great  movie . i  ve always liked michael keaton  s style and delivery . he was a perfect fit for the movie .  br    br   i am surprised to see some of the low ratings for this movie . i grant you yes it  s no oscar winner but it does have decent comedic value . it  s more of a subtle comedy rather than a all  out comedy farce . i also find some of those that felt this was an inaccurate film on cultural and business differences . i beg to differ . i grant you again that there are a lot of generalities and dramatizations but then again this is hollywood film not a documentary . from what i  ve read about differences between automakers on both sides of the pacific at that time many of the principle ideas were accurate for the time .  br    br   some of the basic differences were that japanese workers made to feel as part of the company as a whole . teamwork was emphasized . they perhaps made the company above all else . where american workers had more of a management verses labor type of relationship . the individual was more important than the company . i  ll probably get some hate email over that comment i  m sure .  br    br   another difference was how quality was viewed and whose responsibility it was to fix . in many japanese plants defects or problems are examined and fixed at the time it is discovered . rather as one character in the movie put it  it was the dealers  meaning car dealer  problem  .  br    br   many of these things are probably dated but i  m sure some are still around as many us car makers are still struggling to keep up with the japanese . if one is more interested in the subject of american  european and japanese automakers i can recommend a book that studies this subject in more detail and was done around the same time period . the book is called  the machine that changed the world  by james womack  daniel jones and daniel roos . it  s about a study of automakers during and before the time period that this movie covers . parts are bit dry but i think you  ll find that it backs up much the movie also .  
expecting a combination of scifi and period film about ada lovelace  charles babbage  the history of computers  etc  i was disappointed by this movies nonsensical pseudoscience and mixture of real and fabulous history . it gives the impression that its writer  lynn hershman  leeson  has no real understanding of the math  technology  or history constituting the film  s subject  but is working instead from a sort of fuzzy artistic impression of them . this hits a sore spot with me  as i  ve long been irritated by the tendency of the arts to glom onto and awfully misuse science terms and ideas to the point of confusion  eg emmy coer  information waves have a half  life   ada  i  m not at all certain that half a life is better than no life at all  .  br    br   this movie does worse than fail to entertain  it misinforms . the only redeeming value i can imagine for it is that it might attract a viewer to learn about the subject it so badly distorts . it  s more likely  i think  to promote a superstitious perception of science and technology of any degree of advancement as indistinguishable from magic .  
way  way back in the     s  long before nafta was drafted and corporations began to shed their national identities  the united states and japan were at each other  s throat in the world manufacturing race . remember sayings like  union yes     the japanese are taking this country over   and  americans are lazy    br    br   as the reagan era winded down and corporations edged towards a global marketplace  director ron howard made one of several trips into the comedy genre with his     smash  gung ho   which drew over    million in u . s . box office receipts . while in many ways dated  howard  s tongue  in  cheek story of colliding cultures in the workplace still offers hard truth for industrial life today .  br    br    gung ho  focuses on hunt stevenson  michael keaton   the automakers union rep from hadleyville  a small  depressed town in the foothills of pennsylvania . stevenson has been asked to visit the assan motor company in tokyo  similar to real  life toyota   which is considering a u . s . operation at the town  s empty plant . with hundreds of residents out of work and the town verging on collapse  assan decides to move in and stevenson is hired as a liaison between company officials and workers on the assembly line .  br    br   the    minutes of  gung ho  is a humorous look at these two sides  with their strengths and weaknesses equally considered on one hand  an american workforce that values its traditions but is often caught in the frenzy of pride and trade unionism on the other hand  japanese workers who are extremely devoted to their job yet lacking in personal satisfaction and feelings of self  worth . in stevenson  we find an american working class figure of average intelligence with the skills to chat people through misunderstandings . with the survival of his workers  jobs and most of hadleyville on the line  stevenson proves a likable guy who wants nothing more than a fair chance  although his cleverness will sink him into a great deal of trouble . besides answering to the heads of assan  we witness a delicate balancing act between stevenson and his fellow union members  many of whom he grew up with . this includes buster  george wendt   willie  john turturro   and paul  clint howard  ron  s brother  .  br    br   the japanese cast is headed by gedde watanabe  also known for  sixteen candles  and  volunteers .  watanabe plays kazihiro  the plant manager who is down on his luck and begins to feel a sympathy for american life . he is constantly shadowed by saito  sab shimono   the nephew of assan  s ceo who is desperate to take his spot in the pecking order . while given a light touch  these characters fare very well in conveying ideas of the japanese working culture .  br    br   with hunt stevenson dominating the script  michael keaton has to give a solid performance for this film to work .  gung ho  is indeed a slam  dunk success for keaton  who also teamed with ron howard in      s  the paper .  he made this film during a string of lighter roles that included  mr . mom    beetle juice   and  the dream team  before venturing into  batman    one good cop   and  my life .  it  s also hard not to like gedde watanabe  s performance as the odd man out  who first wears japanese ribbons of shame before teaming up with stevenson to make the auto plant a cohesive unit .  br    br   the supporting cast is top  notch  including wendt  turturro  shimono  and soh yamamura as assan ceo sakamoto . mimi rogers supplies a romantic interest as audrey  hunt  s girlfriend . edwin blum  lowell ganz  and babaloo mandel teamed up for gung ho  s solid writing . the incidental music  which received a bmi film music award  was composed by thomas newman . gung ho  s soundtrack songs are wall  to  wall   s  including  don  t get me wrong    tuff enuff   and  working class man .   br    br   the success of  gung ho  actually led to a short  lived tv series on abc . while more impressive as a social commentary twenty years ago  ron howard  s film still has its comic value . it is available on dvd as part of the paramount widescreen collection and is a tad short  changed . audio options are provided in english  .  surround  english dolby surround  and french  dubbing   but subtitles are in english only . there are no extras  not even the theatrical trailer . on the plus side  paramount  s digital transfer is quite good  with little grain after the opening credits and high quality sound . while a few extras would have been helpful  especially that  gung ho  was a box office success  there  s little to complain about the film presentation itself .  br    br    out of   
i  m the sort of person who went down to the local library and read books on babbage  s difference engine whilst my schoolmates were playing football etc . . so  if there is any such thing as a target audience for this film  then i guess i  d probably be included in that .  br    br   maybe i just need to watch it again . a previous reviewer mentioned not to watch this film whilst being tired . maybe that was my mistake .  br    br   i tried my best to enjoy this film  and there are aspects of it that i do like  but overall i found it amateurish and quite plodding .  br    br   being somewhat of a self confessed computer nerd  i just can  t help but pick up on the exact time frame when the movie was actually made  and how the employed graphics reflect that time  i . e .      . having played games of the era c . f .  mind grind  to cite one example  this film cannot escape that    bit colour low res multimedia explosion of that time . now thankfully this has somewhat lessened in more recent years in the gaming world at least  in favour of actual game play .  br    br   having to resort to watching this movie via a german fta satellite channel  as i don  t think it  s ever been aired on uk fta tv  well not recently anyway   i was mildly amused to see the end credits note gottdog  god dog  had  people working on it  s design . maybe it  s mean spirited of me to be amused by this  given that ten years have elapsed since the movie was made  nevertheless the end result makes movie graphics from the eighties look good by comparison .  br    br   but  as for the main story  i agree that the format isn  t the best idea . like others i agree that ada deserves a film without the sci  fi angle  and a more straightforward biographical approach would perhaps be better suited to covering the life story of this remarkable lady .  br    br   there are fundamental mistakes that undermine my enjoyment of this movie . first of all the underlying idea that somehow lost real  world information from the past can be accurately reconstructed through some sort of extrapolation via software based intelligent agents  seems somehow ludicrous .  br    br   also  the theme running through the movie that a computing device can indeed predict the mechanics of all things through the course of time  e . g . the winds  is now known not to be the case .  br    br   ok  so the victorians may have held this view  but the   th century works of gdel proving that no mathematical system can be complete  turing  s works on the limits of computability  not to mention chaos theory and quantum mechanics  have all completely undermined these ideas  which seem central to how the modern day researcher  s software is supposed to work .  br    br   finally  the clicking of the mouse in the air to mean  programming  is also just plain wrong  as previously mentioned .  br    br   this film maybe could have been ok  but at least some technical and scientific consultation would have given the film some much needed credit in the believability stakes .  br    br   i won  t forget the film though  as like  pi   it is clearly a unique work  but with too many fatal mistakes for me to truly enjoy it      from me .  
wow  it  s been years since i last saw this movie . watching it in     is certainly different than watching it in     . initially i didn  t  think i would make it through the movie . hunt stevenson  michael keaton  was so obnoxious  arrogant and disrespectful that i found it hard to watch him . he embodied every negative stereotype of americans . if that wasn  t bad enough  once the small american town  s finest workers were shown the image only got worse . on the opposite spectrum the japanese were presented as emotionless  robotic workaholics . the movie wasn  t even all that funny  i only hung in there because of the nostalgic value of it . and i  m glad i continued the watch .  br    br   just like boxing  judges are swayed by how you finish the round . this movie went from about a three up to the seven i rated it because of the ending . the end was excellent . you always want a harmonious ending and this was just that . it was great that the town got to keep there jobs and keep the factory  but what was most special was the marriage between the japanese customs and values and the american customs and values . it was a mediocre movie that ended on a high note .  
have you ever seen a movie made up entirely of long wide shots  no  me  neither . well  i  ve finally seen one in  spring in my hometown   and i must confess  now i know why people don  t do this . the technique is  arty   to be sure  but it  s definitely not ripe for public consumption . the technique is heavily flawed simply because the viewer has no emotional attachment to the characters  and perhaps that might be the director  s whole intentions . i don  t know  i can  t read minds  and i certainly don  t know enough about the director to make a judgement .  br    br   but one thing about this movie that is painfully obvious is its ridiculous anti  american sentiments . as an american  i  m well aware of my country  s participation in the korean war  and i  m very well aware that we weren  t always angels  but i  ll be damn if i  ll take this guy  s version of how things happened . according to this blind fool  americans were not only at the root of the war  we were the cause of the war  and we almost singlehandedly destroyed the country . whatever  mister director . and i suppose you  d still be making this film in communist korea if we hadn  t interfered  right  talk about forgetting your history . this is almost akin to making the nazis the  good guys  while turning the allied forces into the  bad guys .  this movie is so historically naive and so factually inaccurate that it  s almost embarrassing to watch . for a man who comes from a country that owes its very existence to american interference  he sure comes off as high and mighty and judgemental .  
this comedy is bound to be good from the get  go . east meets west and east doesn  t want to lose . . . west doesn  t know what losing is like . it starts a little slow but it grabs you very soon and it doesn  t let go . this is definitely worth seeing .  
my title ought to be enough .  br    br   it baffles me that a culture so rich in literary excellence  dumas  flaubert  balzac  maupassant  would churn out such tosh as the  nouvelle vague  cinematic movement . until the   th century  france had a great tradition of artistic lucidity and clever philosophy . but the minute you hand them a movie camera they start acting like wooohooo look how weird i can be  plot  theme  pshaw  let  s film an amusement park ride going round  round  at least this is not as bad as godard  who has an unhealthy fascination with the backs of peoples  heads . oh  la  la  quel artiste .  . no  truffaut maintains a degree of visual clarity . but so does the security camera at a quickie  mart . the two are indistinguishable .  br    br   haha  just as an aside to all you dweeby film school nerds i bet the vein is popping out the side of your neck right now . but don  t leave without reading the last sentence of my review .  br    br   anyway  if you like french literature  you will hate this . people who like this movie probably have never read any books other than the ramblings of jack kerouac or maybe  hitchhiker  s guide to the galaxy  . or maybe they have read the lyrics to the doors songs  and they think that  s profoundly moving . whatever floats yer boat . i find it ironic that this film injects some  weak  allusions to balzac  one of the finest and most meaningful writers who ever lived . nice try  truffles . but you  re nowhere near the ballpark .  br    br   avoid this film like an aids  infected syringe .  br    br   if you  re the type of person who likes to think  then stick to jean cocteau  orphee   robert bresson  pickpocket  and the japanese masters kurosawa  ikuru   kobayashi  kaidan  and teshigahara  suna no onna  .  br    br   if you  re an idiot  enjoy your truffaut  godard  and andy worhol . and for pete  s sake push that vein back in your neck . you look like a cabbage .  
this is a wonderful movie with a fun  clever story and the dynamics of culture differences and the running theme of what  s important in life make this a very under  appreciated movie . don  t let the cynics of the world deter you from seeing this . keaton has wonderful moments and i wonder at the fact that comedy is never appreciated  because actors like keaton make going from humor to serious bits look tremendously easy . great movie all around   
this movie bewilders me . it may be that i  m just a stupid american  but i really just don  t get    blows . everything i  ve read about this movie has been a total rave  but i just couldn  t stay interested . i  m sure that it was as revolutionary in film  making as all the critics say  but when it boils right down to it  it  s just really really boring . maybe it  s the language barrier  may i  m just not  sensitive  or  artsy  enough  but whatever the case is  i hated this movie . the story itself isn  t bad it  s about a young french boy who is treated unfairly by his parents and his teachers  and eventually he ends up in a juvenile facility . that in itself ought to be interesting  and it was  at first . there was nothing wrong with the dialogue  but then again it  s hard to say because half of the conversations weren  t subtitled and for no apparent reason  so i didn  t always know what was going on . but for the dialogue we could understand  it made enough sense . the actors were believable enough  but it  s hard to say what a real person would do in these situations . so you feel for the main character  but only in the sense that when he gets into trouble you think  well that sucks . the plot isn  t even your typical plot . each time he gets in trouble  he gets into more trouble than the last time  but the reasons never vary too much . and through the entire film you realize that there  s nothing the main character can really do about it . so it  s more like just waiting to see how it ends . the ending  by the way  was completely over my head . it  s way too artsy for me  and i just didn  t get it . leading up to the end was easy enough to follow . the structure was certainly there  and it made sense as well  but everything was really drawn out . for the amount of dialogue and significant moments  the movie could have been an hour shorter . it just didn  t end . part of it was the unnecessarily long shots  none of which were especially memorable for example  the ending was a clip of the main character running down a country road that lasted a good thirty seconds . now  i  m sure that had some deeper meaning in it somewhere  but for the average viewer  i  d rather have gotten up to get some more food during that time . or at least done something a little more useful than sit and watch this boy running  like doing my laundry  or taking a nap .  br    br   final verdict  br    br   the feeling throughout the whole movie was that this probably would be very moving and just amazing and that it would teach me some great life lesson  if i could only get what the director was trying to say by his unique decisions . as it was  i just felt cheated out of a good two hours of my life .  
a very funny east  meets  west film influenced by the closure of gm  s flint  michigan plant in the eighties and the rise and integration of japanese automakers in the us . set in western pennsylvania  it features great performances by michael keaton  gedde watanabe  and george wendt . music by blues legend stevie ray vaughan .  
this is the sort of thing that only now thrills the film eggheads . after all  feierstein  s flex crush will have you know that real men don  t watch anything by truffaut .  br    br   it might have been interesting if truffaut had anything to  say  here . the camera  as  voyeur motif was nothing new . have we all forgotten de sica  s  bicycle thief   or anything by hitchcock   br    br   so all we get is the extended metaphor of the juvenile as truffaut  who spends all his free time  screwing up his eyes  at the movies  who wrecks schoolroom discipline  gets accused of plagiarism  the many petty thefts   and ultimately escapes societal confines to make  his own movie  . sorry . . . been there  done that too many times for this to matter .  
the matador is a strange film . its main character julian  played with an unusual mix of charm and unbalance by brosnan  is not your typical hero . julian is a hit man who is experiencing a late mid  life crises . having spent   years in the profession of cold blooded murder he now finds himself stressed out and desperately lonely . and so  after a chance meeting at a bar with danny  greg kinnear   he latches on and begins a halting  awkward friendship . danny  the quintessential nice guy  is dealing with some stuff in his own life and  truth be told  could use a friend as well . the two make an unexpected connection  and danny sticks around to hear julian  s story  even after learning the  unsavory  truth about julian  s work .  br    br   matador approaches a subject not completely unheard of in cinema  the anti  hero assassin  films like  assassins  and  grosse pointe blank  come to mind  . but matador differs in several key ways . first of all  the killing and gore is implied but never really shown in any detail  meaning that if you are an action movie buff looking for an adrenaline rush this movie will probably disappoint you . and second  unlike most anti  hero films  matador makes no attempt to show remorse and redemption from its main character . julian  s job is simply presented as an  it is what it is  kind of thing . this is unusual  given that   .    of us would consider killing for money horrific . and yet this unorthodox approach is perhaps what makes the film feel authentic . although we don  t like to admit it  almost anything could become mundane after we did it long enough  maybe even murder . did julian  s victims deserve to die  who is paying to have people killed  who knows . the movie never deals with these questions . the focus is on julian and his stumbling shuffle into a genuine friendship . if you read about someone like julian in the paper you would have a passing thought that people like him should be ripped out of society like a cancer  but forced to watch his life you are drawn in by his intense humanity . sympathy for the devil  i guess .  br    br   brosnan  s take on julian is well done and deeply unsettling . he doesn  t completely divorce himself from his james bond good looks and smooth charm  but rather just adds disturbing quirks into the mix . weird or crude remarks in the middle polite conversations and sudden shifts from suave charm to childish tantrums and sad desperate pleas for acceptance . it keeps you guessing about his grasp on his sanity and how it will affect those around him . it  s a bit like listening to a piano player that occasionally and unexpectedly hits a wrong note while he plays  but it works . the films only other major role  that of danny  is not nearly as meaty . kinnear turns in a solid if unspectacular performance as a regular joe with a regular joe life and problems .  br    br   the film doesn  t really have any huge shocks or m night shyamalan twists  but i wasn  t able to guess the ending and it felt satisfying . it doesn  t have any deep philosophical or spiritual insights and yet it felt very human . and it didn  t have any heart pounding car chases or gun battles and yet i thought the pacing was well done and i was never bored . maybe the only real message here is about the human need to reach out and make connections with one another  and how those needs have no moral prerequisites . even a murderer needs friends  and even good people can be friends with bad people . it  s a comment on the strange  random world we live in . a good film worth seeing .  
one star . that  s all this documentary deserves . i haven  t felt this disappointed in watching a movie  let alone a documentary  in quite some time .  br    br   i  m a big fan of the  walking with . . .  series  including it  s nigel marvin spin  offs  for all their gleeful fun yet informative information . and although the subject of prehistoric man has never interested me nearly as much as other prehistoric creatures  the subject is still interesting and unique to explore . having seen all the other docs from the series  i figured i need to see this one as well  especially after seeing relatively good reviews in other places .  br    br   well for those of you who put up a good review of this doc . . . what were you thinking   lol .  br    br   though the information that they were able to get through was interesting  the presentation failed in every other way possible . it had a terrible flow  was incredibly unfocused in what it was trying to say  with information scrambled and sometimes out of of place   horrible effects  that includes the few moments of cgi and especially the makeup effects   and overused mtv  style camera effects .  br    br   speaking of the makeup effects  one reviewer here mentioned how laughable the scene was when the cavemen come across this giant ape and how it looks a lot like a   s man  in  suit horror movie . well there are plenty of moments just like that were the people portraying the ape men looked ridiculous and acted ridiculous . none of this is helped by horrible camera positions and compositions .  br    br   the worst part of all is none of it is shown in an interesting or dynamic way  or looks remotely real . it doesn  t even look like it was taken seriously . it also lacked any emotional punch that the predecessors of the series had . remember the episode in  walking with dinosaurs  of the fate of the ornithochirus  sp    that episode still gets me on the verge of tears every time i watch it . it  s this sort of engagement with the subject that lacks here most of all . when you are more engaged in the subject and it  s own personal story  even one that is just speculation  you care more about the facts surrounding it .  br    br   the only saving graces of this production are the fairly good narration  at least in the bbc version i saw  and the music . otherwise  do not bother even renting this one unless you want to have a good laugh  which i did frequently  but usually followed by rolling eyes  . this does not belong on the shelf with the other  walking with . . .  docs .  br    br   and does it make sense to learn that this doc was not produced or directly involved with the same people who did the others in the series  hmmm . . .  
i used this film in a religion class i was teaching . the golden fish is swimming happily in his bowl in an upper floor apartment . a young boy and his mother are away from home . the boy has been given money to buy milk . on the way home  he stops at carnival to play a game . next to him stands a man in a black suit looking a little scary . the boy drops the bottle of milk . it breaks . the man in the black suit gives him money to replace the milk . this scene alternates with what is happening at home . a black cat climbs the fire escape and enters the apartment . he    discovers the fish bowl and watches it . the fish swims energetically and flips out of the bowl . by now  a bunch of teenagers in my class and i have fallen in love with the fish . the cat takes the fish in his mouth and we all hold our breath . the cat drops the fish into the bowl . the double story line includes the suspicious man in black and the suspicious black cat . both inspire prejudice . both are innocent . it was a great discussion starter in my class .  
as a kid i did think the weapon the murderer wielded was cool  however i was a kid and so i was a bit dumb . even as a dumb kid though the movies plot was stupid and a bit boring when the killer was not using his light knife to kill people . what amazes me is that the movie has a really solid cast in it . what script did they read when agreeing to be in this movie as it is most assuredly boring and only a means to show off a light saber on a very small scale . the plot at times is incomprehensible and the end is totally chaotic . the whole film seems to rotate around aliens and the one weapon . the plot has two kids and some dude having an alien encounter  flash years later and there seems to be a return as it were in the mix . dead animals and such to be explored and for some reason the one dude gets the weapon of the aliens and proceeds to use it to go on a very light killing spree . seriously  you just have to wonder why this movie was made  if you are going to have a killer have some good death scenes  if you are going to have alien encounters show more than a weird light vortex thing  and if you are going to have light sabers then call yourself star wars .  
surprised to see the rather low score for this movie . just saw this film for the first time in   years  and was reminded why i like it .  br    br   come back with me  children  to a time when michael keaton was a straight  up comedy guy  and you might find some joy in this film . it  s a gentle comedy   the kind ron howard specializes in   but if that  s your thing  you should check this out . keaton  s low  key charm is just right for this project .  br    br    gung ho  is a bit dated  because it takes places in the last stage of the pre  global economy world  when it still mattered what country a business was based in . that said  it delivers laughs as well as a lesson on how people can learn from each other  to great benefit .  br    br   you could watch this film and enjoy it without remembering one scene in particular you really liked  but that  s because the whole movie provides a slow but constant stream of laughs . it  s like an i . v . drip . and i mean that in a good way .  
this film aka  the four hundred blows  is a mistranslation . faire les    coups  means  to live a wild life . as a french  i  m stunned when i see the popularity of this good  but by no means outstanding film .  . it  s not the first film of the  nouvelle vague  movecheck agnes varda  s  la pointe courte         alain resnais  s  hiroshima mon amour         claude chabrol  s  le beau serge        are anterior . historically   les    coups  comes after .  . the  nouvelle vague  was sometimes ponderous and hard on their predecessorsovernight  julien duvivier  henri  george clouzot  claude autant  lara  yves allgret and a lot of others were doomed to oblivion . this selfishness and this contempt is typically  nouvelle vague  . you  ve never heard  or read  the great generation of the thirties  renoir  carn  grmillon  duvivier already  feyder  laugh at  say  maurice tourneur or max linder . so  thanks to truffaut and co  some people will never discover some gems of the french fifties or forties  duvuvier  s  sous le ciel de paris   autant  lara  s  douce   yves allgret  s  une si jolie petite plage  and  manges   . the novelle vague clique went as far as saying that william wyler  georges stevens and fred zinemann were worthless   .  les    coups  is technically rather disappointingit  s very academic  the story is as linear as it can be  the teachers are caricatures  and the mother claire maurier delivers such memorable lines as  you  ve got to be a french circa     to understand how ridiculous it is   well  your father  s got only his brevet  junior school diploma  and  as for me  i  ve got only my high school diploma  you  ve got to know  that circa      hardly   of the pupils had the hsd in france  antoine doinel should have been proud of his mother after all  she wants him to have diplomas  who can blame her   . compared to the innovations of  hiroshima mon amour   which features a brand new form  and a new  fragmented  content   les    coups  pales into significance . truffaut will master a new form only with the highly superior  jules and jim   helped by the incomparable jeanne moreau .  . the interpretation is rather stiffjean  pierre laud  arguably listenable when dubbed in english  is still decent  but he will soon degenerate into the most affected of his generation .  . the topicstolen childhood had better days  before  julien duvivier  s  poil de carotte   luis bunuel  s  los olvidados   and will have after  maurice pialat  s  l  enfance nue   kenneth loach  s  kes   i do not want to demean truffaut  his movie is not bad  but  frankly  french movie buffs  prefer  jules and jim   l  enfant sauvage   a film honest  true and commercially uncompromizing to a fault   l  argent de poche   as academic as     coups  but much more funny  or his nice hitchcock pastiche  vivement dimanche  .  br    br    
i think it great example of the differences between two cultures . it would be a great movie to show in a sociology class . i thought it was pretty funny and i must say that i am a sucker for that  lets band together and get the job done  plot device . it seems most people don  t realize that this movie is not just a comedy . it has a few dramatic elements in it as well and i think they blend in nicely . overall  i give it a solid  .  
  br    br   this movie sucks big time . it reminded me of the movie resurrection  christopher lambert   which i also found extremely boring . and  semana santa  is in every way an even poorer movie .  br    br   only fine one in the cast doing something for this movie is alida valli . alida is one of the grand old ladies in european movie history . i loved her maniacal looks in  suspiria  and  inferno   dario argento  . i will not spend more time dealing with this movie . i will say another good thing about this movie . . . use it if you want to fall asleep very quickly . . .  
gung ho is one of those movies that you will want to see over and over again . michael keaton is put in charge of wooing a japanese car company to come to his town thus creating jobs for the residents of hadleyville . what happens after that is one hilarious moment after another . the two cultures clash and it is up to keaton to hold things together . look for great performances from keaton  gedde watanabe  george wendt  mimi rogers  john turturro  soh yamamura and sab shimomo . all are perfectly cast . don  t be fooled by the low number rating . this is a  .  in my book . it is interesting to note that the town name of hadleyville was also used in high noon . yes  there is a real hadleyville but in oregon .  
i seems in the beginning a interesting film  a spanish thriller in a interesting nowadays madrid  but it isnt none of that  is actually a film only interesting for future films directors learning about what not to do making a film  it cant be worse in others words  even the presence of a oscar winner  mira sorvino  isnt enough to justify the   .   dollars expended to see this film  the acting is horrendous and it seems the actors were just waiting to finish the daily shots to go home  it lead to nowhere and is boring  weak and bad  dont expend time or money on this film .  
sherman  set the wayback machine for . . .     . the united states was just climbing out of its worst postwar recession  while japan was enjoying an unprecedented industrial boom . manufacturing industries were still a significant part of the us economy  and factory workers were a good example of the  average american  . the word  downsizing  hadn  t entered the general vocabulary yet  but everyone knew the phenomenon . bruce could be heard on the radio singing   foreman says these jobs are going  boy  and they ain  t coming back to your hometown .  chrysler had just been bailed out by uncle sam . bumper stickers could be seen saying  buy american   the job you save may be your own .   br    br    gung ho  does a better job of capturing the mood of the american industrial workforce than just about any other popular movie made during that period . certainly the movie has its flaws   some loose plot threads and mediocre acting jobs by everyone except michael keaton and gedde watanabe . but the story really is about the meeting of east and west keaton  s hunt stevenson personifies america  brash and confident on the outside yet insecure underneath . watanabe  s kazuhiro personifies japan  on top of the heap with a successful system  but wondering if there is more to be learned from their western rivals . the movie  s plot  flawed as it is  simply provides a framework for the conflict  and eventually synthesis  of their two personalities .  br    br   keaton  s acting overshadows everyone else  s  and practically makes the movie by itself . i  ve always admired keaton for his ability to deliver lines that feel improvised  no matter what script he  s following . his character  hunt stevenson  is a likable  affable everyman  a natural leader with a wise  ass streak . but he has a fatal flaw common to many of us he doesn  t want to disappoint anyone . he  ll distract the crowd with inspirational anecdotes  and even lie  rather than point out the ugly truth .  br    br   kazuhiro is the mirror image of stevenson shy and introspective  but also  because of his japanese upbringing  reluctant to be the bearer of bad news . the scene in which stevenson first comes to kazuhiro with the employees  grievances captures perfectly the japanese approach to workplace conflict . kazuhiro replies to stevenson  s complaints with  i understand what you are saying   but won  t refuse his requests out loud . stevenson misinterprets this as agreement  and goes away saying   okay  we  ve got that settled .   this is still a problem in japanese  american business relations in the   st century    br    br   ultimately  kazuhiro and stevenson have the same problem get the factory working smoothly  meet production goals  and fulfill their responsibility to the workers under them . in working towards this goal  they each have to take a page from the others  book . kazuhiro  s family becoming more  americanized  is an obvious example . also note that stevenson thinks it  s odd when kazuhiro explains how he had to make a public apology to his workers for failing them   and yet  later in the movie  stevenson does exactly that himself .  br    br   the plot and its resolution are a little cornball  but hey  this is a comedy . if you can overlook the movie  s flaws  there is a great story about self  realization and open  mindedness here .  
with all the european studios involved in this one  you would think you  d at least get some pretty photography but the local color is kept to a minimum .  br    br   irritation   is mira sorvino using a russian accent in order to play a spanish cop  wtf  the story is hopelessly confused . there  s a supposed romantic back story that is intentionally confused  is she or isn  t she a lesbian   serving no purpose whatsoever . the cops in the movie are the most stupid to have graced a serial killer film in a long time . there seems to be some message about the mid     s spanish civil war but since pretty much everybody involved in that is dead  one doesn  t see the point in it .  br    br   despite the bull  fighting backdrop of part of the narrative  which part  who can tell   you never even get a good look at a bull fight . earnest hemingway would have punched the director in the nose  with my blessings .  
you play as b . j . blazkowicz  a us secret agent soldier tough guy who is sent to uncover nazi secret and turn the tide of world war ii . that means everything from breaking out of a nazi dungeon to thwarting hitler  s war machine and even the fuhrer himself .  br    br   this is quite possibly the most influential game of its time . that  s because it literally inspired obsession . many games existed at the time and even more do today  but every so often you get a real grabber . this is one of them . just like tetris before it and more recently gta iii in     . yes  doom is better in almost every respect  but the shots heard around the world which led to one of gaming  s biggest tidal waves were fired by b . j . blazkowicz . the space marine  duke nukem  max payne  serious sam  john mullins  jc denton  agent    gordon freeman and legions of others owe their existence to the guys at id . whether directly or  in most cases  indirectly  but they still do .  br    br   even with its old look  very aged graphics  super simple gameplay  this is really a game  games now border on the  experience level   and highly rectangular levels  the scope of all six episodes provides lots of fun . especially discovering those secrets with treasure and a chaingun in them .  br    br   also  halt   bang  bang  bang    aarrrgh     never grows old .         br    br   voluntarily rated pc    for  profound carnage .  however  it  s exceptionally tame when compared to what games have today .  
semana santa is jaw  droppingly bad . it  s so wrong in so many ways i don  t where to begin . so  let  s see . . . mira sorvino  whose judge husband has been shot while protecting her  goes from madrid to seville for her cop job . during the holy week  semana santa  see  . . . everybody begins to fall sleep . . told u it was bad in so many points  even from the beginning   a killer executes his victims like bulls in a bullfighting arena . she teams up with male chauvinist pig olivier martinez and nice feodor atkine . soon she discovers she  ll be the next target of the killer  who wears a red robe  . why  oh but why   br    br   why . . that  s the questionthat has been in my head the whole movie .  br    br   q why did go to see that a  because i love mira sorvino  i even excuse her for that at first sight crap   br    br   q  why were we only  people in the theater this saturday on the first week end of release  a  ah  ah  ah . spider  man got relaesed the same day . but also the fact that the movie has been blast with execrable reviews .  br    br   q  why this movie has been made  a  money i guess . but boy did mira need the money .  br    br   then . . . why             first of all  there  s always something wrong with european co  productions . here you got a french  english  german  italian  spanish  danish production . yi  ha .  br    br   then it wants to play on the same playgroung as us thrillers  slashers  whodunit  mysteries  whatever . even valentine  though unnecessary and badly scripted and shot  was much better in the suspense and the fun .  br    br   then  to give some credit to the story  the screenwriter wanted to add some political sight to the story . wrong  done in flash  backs in a traffic  like photography  it  s certainly the most interesting thing i n the movie . could have stick to it  it wouldn  t have to sit through the whole movie . better go straight to guillermo del tros  s the devil  s backbone  el espinazo del diablo  for some clever fun .  br    br   then the homophobia . bullseye  the first victims are sm drug addicted gay twins who got stabbed to death . the annoying olivier martinez goes to a dating agency held by a badly shaved overweight transvestive with a blond platinum wig . calls mira sorvino  s character a big dyke all the time . do we need this kind of stuff  nah . just needless offensive remarks  just like ol  times .  br    br   then the suspense . yipee . no apparent motive . the first murders are plain illusion as they  re a representation of a famous painting . but no . and the revelation of the killer  a horrible fascist  of course  could have been done from the beginning as he appears at the end of the movie as  i guess  it was time for the director to say  weel  time to finish that damn movie . let  s reveal right now who the killer is and why he kills  .  br    br   then the director thinks he  s a director . wrong  no sense of suspense  no sense of directing the actors  no knowledge of change of pace . a giant  mega  bore . the scenes of the holy week are needless  maybe a co  production rule saying  ok  shoot in sevilla but show some creditsof this beautiful and historical town with the celebrations of easter . there we are  a mystery movie for tourists    br    br   then the actors . all wrongs . mira sorvino bores herself to death  she does practicly nothing except getting stabbed in the right hand . everything she did best  the replacement killers  mighty aphrodite . . .  were like they never existed . olivier martinez . . . hello  anybody here  when the producers will learn that he  s not an actor but a mannequin with no ability of speech nor feelings  feodor atkine  bland and transparent . only do we pay great respect to alida valli  one of the greatest actress this last century  and i hope for some more roles in this current one  . she  s tha main attraction here as she  s the only one to give life to her poor lines . i won  t mention the other actors as they  re only one  sided characters  uninteresting and shallow .  br    br   incoherent direction  inconsistent actors  implausible plot . idiocy incarnated .  br    br   superwonderscope says    br    br    
many neglect that this isn  t just a classic due to the fact that it  s the first  d game  or even the first shoot   em  up . it  s also one of the first stealth games  one of the only  and definitely the first  truly claustrophobic games  and just a pretty well  rounded gaming experience in general . with graphics that are terribly dated today  the game thrusts you into the role of b . j .  don  t even think i  m going to attempt spelling his last name    an american p . o . w . caught in an underground bunker . you fight and search your way through tunnels in order to achieve different objectives for the six episodes  but  let  s face it  most of them are just an excuse to hand you a weapon  surround you with nazis and send you out to waste one of the nazi leaders  . the graphics are  as i mentioned before  quite dated and very simple . the least detailed of basically any  d game released by a professional team of creators . if you can get over that  however  and some would suggest that this simplicity only adds to the effect the game has on you   then you  ve got one heck of a good shooter  sneaking game . the game play consists of searching for keys  health and ammo  blasting enemies  aforementioned nazis  and a  boss enemy  per chapter  of varying difficulty  which  of course  grows as you move further in the game   unlocking doors and looking for secret rooms . there is a bonus count after each level is beaten . . . it goes by how fast you were  basically  if you beat the  par time   which is the time it took a tester to go through the same level this can be quite fun to try and beat  and with how difficult the levels are to find your way in  they are even challenging after many play  throughs   how much nazi gold  treasure  you collected and how many bad guys you killed . basically  if you got     of any of aforementioned  you get a bonus  helping you reach the coveted high score placings . the game  mostly  but not always  allows for two contrastingly different methods of playing . . . stealthily or gunning down anything and everything you see . you can either run or walk  and amongst your weapons is also a knife . . . running is heard instantly the moment you enter the same room as the guard  as is gunshots . many guards are found standing with their backs turned to you  meaning that you can walk up behind them and stab them . . . nearly silently . in your inventory  you can get no less than four weapons and two keys . . . more about the weapons later . the keys unlock certain doors . most doors in the game aren  t locked . . . only two kinds need keys  and these keys are only introduced in later levels  you restart in levels  resetting weaponry  health  score and lives in each chapter  . much of the later game is spent looking for them . now  as i just alluded to  this game  like many of the period  late    s  early    s   is based on collecting extra lives . . . personally  i think it  s completely and utterly useless  it was mercifully dropped from here on end . . . i think     from the next  d shooter and onwards   since you can save anytime you want and  using a life  resets weaponry  health and ammo  like starting on a new chapter  which is a real pain in later levels  where you need heavier artillery  . now  i shall beat around the bush no longer . . . moving on to the guns  you start with aforementioned knife  which is silent but only effective up close  and a pistol . . . nothing special  but good for conserving ammo  unlike the next two bad boys . your third weapon is a german smg . . . a sub  machine  gun . it  s faster and automatic  and some later enemies use it . and the last one . . . is nothing short of a gatling gun  oh yeah  think t  . think predator . think about unloading massive amounts of lead into nazi fiends with such a gun . it  s every bit as entertaining as it sounds . most of the boss enemies use this  though  so be prepared . i won  t reveal the identities of these boss enemies  however . . . that  s for each player to discover for him  or her  self . the sound is excellent . . . very crisp and realistic . as you hear the tear of a machine  gun firing  the deafening metallic clank of a door slamming shut behind you or a nazi yelling surprised or a warning in german  you truly feel like you are there  trapped in these dark and depressing bunker systems . that segues me nicely into the level design . . . as you run through seemingly countless  nearly identical hallways towards the next elevator leading you further  you are grasped by the claustrophobic mood . i almost got motion sickness more than once  though that might also have something to do with little sleep  lots of humidity and unusual warmth . . .  from playing . though the level of detail isn  t terribly high  what there is is great . remains of victims  guards  quarters and countless nazi symbols . . . the list goes on . the game also features quite a bit of gore . . . for it  s limited graphics engine  john romero and crew certainly put in all the blood and guts that they could for the game . what is there left to say . . . the first of its kind  and it  s no wonder this spawned countless others  d shooters . sure  weapon bobbing and different height levels  stairs and such  didn  t come around until the next entry into the genre . . . doom . . . and it was duke nukem  d that introduced the feature of switching your view  so it goes beyond simply left and right  adding vertical dimensions to it   and jumping didn  t come around until a third  later title  the first quake  possibly  fellow gamers  help me out here  . . . but all of those games  as well as the rest of the genre  owe their existence to this one . so load up the luger  open the door to enter the bunker and step into b . j .  s shoes . . . he deserves the recognition  even  or maybe even especially   nearly fifteen years after he first appeared . i recommended this to all fans of  d games .      
  semana santa  or  angel of death  is a very weak movie . mira sorvino plays a detective who is trying to find a killer who shoots arrows in people . mira has an italian accent which falters from time to time . couldn  t she just speak english  all the other characters have a forced mexicanenglish accent which is distracting . the dialogue is very bad and the delivery of it is wooden . the cinematography looks nice  but that  s not enough to save this tripe . this next part of this review does contain spoilers      br    br   during the climax it looks like the villain is going to get away  but then he comes back down stairs to get shot and do a cool stunt down the railing . that just shows this script has no originality whatsoever . avoid   
 . . . but it was on a uhf channel and the reception was very fuzzy . i  d really like to own the movie since the reason i watched it in the first place is because i am a bus driver and at the time i saw this movie  i was driving that model bus . it was only  during his murder trial some   years later  that i remember vaguely that oj was one of the stars in it . i only recall that he was the driver and of the bus  being shot up and driven wildly . i  ve been looking all over for this movie to no avail  since viewing it in the mid    s . i liked the movie  i don  t usually watch thrillers  but after reading the summary in the tv guide  and viewing its beginning  although fuzzy  i stayed for the whole thing .  
this may actually be the worst movie that i have ever scene . incoherent would be a compliment . even the end made no sense but it was a tremendous relief that it was finally over . i watched it with a kind of fatalistic fascination to see if it could continue to deteriorate and it did . by the end of this mess i was sorry any of the characters survived and i wasn  t feeling too charitable about the actors either . if you want to watch a train wreck  i recommend hanging out at a train station . even waiting on a deserted train platform beats this mess . apparently i haven  t vented enough to fill up my prescribed ten lines so  at the risk of redundancy  i will say it one more time . this movie is a zero and it would be less if i had a word for an even lower rating . how about minus zero   
well you take o . j . simpson as a all american soldier turned all american bus driver who decides to rescue his passengers on his own just incase no one else is going to and arte johnson in an absolutely straight role as the tour guide who doesn  t know what to do but doesn  t want to admit they are in trouble and combine it with lorenzo lamas as one of three baby faced bad boys who intend to kidnap an heiress and leave a busload of people to die on the dessert and you have got to have action  plot twists and a lot of drama . everyone was good but seeing lamas as the baddest of the bad boys really blew my mind . he was much too believable as the overbearing bad guy who not only wanted to kidnap the heiress but rape the women and humiliate the guy who tried to stop him . this was evidently long before he cultivated his good guy image . and believe me a   year old lorenzo in tight jeans you really don  t want to miss   
i agree with the previous comment  what a disappointment . rented it thinking it was going to be a good movie since mira and olivier where in it . i was surprised by their performance  expected more since they  re good actors .  br    br   thought it was a slow beginning but it got worse . i even laughed at some bad stunts   when is supposed to be a mystery movie . you can even guess who is the killer beforehand     br    br   for real what happened    br    br   sorry to say but don  t even bother you  ll waste time and money .  br    br   boring     
richard dix decided to retire and so michael duane took his place playing the role as ted nichols who meets up with a young french girl named alice dupres barkley   lenore aubert  . this couple only knew each other for two days and they decided to get married by a justice of the peace  judge  and it is pouring rain when they pull up to the judge  s home and find out he is not home and will not return until the next day . as the couple are inside the house you see some one lift up the hood of their car and takes an automobile part from the engine . once you see this event happening you realize this couple is in for a big surprise and the story beings to reveal a very mysterious event which surrounds alice barkley and so poor ted nichols starts out with plenty of trouble and no marriage . good mystery  but i missed richard dix . enjoy .  
it was agonizingly bad movie . it will eat your heart out while you watch it . i beg you don  t watch this movie  you will hate you losing    hours of your lifetime  it  s not as some movies that are so bad that you can watch those and enjoy . . . this movie is boring as . . . there is nothing as boring as this movie . you will hate yourself after watching this movie till the end . and you will hate yourself that you didn  t listen to me .  br    br   i hate myself . i tortured myself and i did watch this movie to the end . now excuse me  i will shot myself . i have seen all .  br    br   please . read this very carefully . don  t watch this film .  br    br   please   
i hate reading reviews that say something like   don  t waste your time  this film stinks on ice .  it does to that reviewer yet for me  it may have some sort of nave charm . if you like the other  whistler  series films  this one will be watchable . if you like   s noirish films  this one will be watchable .  br    br   this film is not as good  in my opinion  as any of the earlier series entries which starred richard dix as the protagonist . it  s much slower  and the plot is trite . you  ve seen this same narrative device used in many other films  and usually better .  br    br   but the acting is good  and so is the lighting  and the dialog . it  s just lacking in energy and you  ll likely figure out exactly what  s going on and how it  s all going to come out in the end not more than a quarter of the way through .  br    br   the  whistler  series is semi  noir  and there character  mood  lighting  camera movement and angles are more important than the story itself . but this film is not noir . it  s too light weight and hollywood innocent for that . neither richard dix  s character nor those of any of his ladies in the previous films had to come to a good end . you just never knew until the end .  br    br   but still  i  ll recommend this one for at least a single viewing . i  ve watched it at least twice myself  and got a reasonable amount of enjoyment out of it both times .  
i saw this movie for a number of reasons the main being mira sorvino . with her on the cast it couldn  t be so bad . and it even seemed like it had some mystery and olivier martinez was her boyfriend at the time and he was pretty good in unfaithful  . the story is set in spain so it could be an exotic entertaining movie with one of my favorite actresses .  br    br   if you  re thinking about the same thing let me warn you this is a truly awful  uninteresting  boring movie . the only adjective that comes to mind is pathetic .  br    br   the story is contrived with sub  plots that add nothing to the narrative . they try to build a slasher  thriller with a look at fascism in spain but fail horribly . the twists have no credibility and the so  called investigation leads nowhere .  br    br   the characters are paper  thin  i didn  t care about anyone . more than that they  re irritating and pretty hateful people .  br    br   the acting is atrocious . mira what is wrong with you  why mira  you  re an oscar winner  keep some dignity  her character was weak but that is no excuse for such an awful performance . she seems to be sleepwalking all movie long . come to think of it  i actually think i saw her eyes slowly closing in some scenes . i used to think this woman was sexy . well she isn  t here . if you want to look at some skin try romi and michelle because there  s nothing to see here . and that accent  my god . . .  br    br   olivier martinez is even worst . it  s too painful to remember his performance to describe it here . im sorry but i cant . ive suffered enough with this garbage .  br    br   this whole movie is depressing  it  s so bad in every way it  s a wonder how it was even made . a lousy team to produce a lousy script and make some money over the actor  s name . don  t fall for it .  br    br   avoid it   br    br    
the matador         pierce brosnan  greg kinnear  hope davis  philip baker hall  dylan baker . brosnan gives one of his best non  bondian roles as a middle  aged assassin facing a mid  life crisis while on assignment in mexico where he befriends a square yet likable american businessman  kinnear at his most affable  and discovers there is more to life than death . newbie filmmaker richard shepard makes a solid big screen debut with a pointedly wicked black comedy with a sharp eye for visual detail and nuanced dialogue and character development that makes him a talent to watch in this breath  of  fresh  air into the  buddy comedy  formula skewering what is anticipated of his leads and allowing brosnan to get his ya  yas out with devilish glee . a sleeper gem indie hit .  
this has got to be the most stupid film i have ever seen  spoilers ahead   first of all  the plot is stupid . the little kid is weird and they move to a hotel because his father is the caretaker of it . we find that the kid has a gift  the  shining  . this gift never ever has anything to do with anything except to make the kid seem cool . then the movie gets more boring and boring until the man finally goes crazy . he goes on a rampage to kill the kid and his wife because . . . well  he feels like it . why else would he do it  all of a sudden we see a naked woman in the tub . the man kisses her and realizes he is kissing a dead corpse  which is utterly disgusting . somehow a black man enters the hotel and is whacked with an axe . then the kid and the woman take the black man  s vehicle and leave the father  who dies within minutes of hypothermia . most movies aren  t a complete waste of time  but this falls right into that category . the music is trashy  the characters are corny  except jack nicholson  who is a good actor   the plot is twisted and fits the description of vomit  the ending is very predictable  the storyline is slow  tedious  and boring . this movie is extremely overrated . avoid this movie at all costs . i  m surprised it  s gotten such a high rating on imdb .  
this was the eighth and final columbia whistler film and the only one without richard dix who had retired from movies and was to die the following year . it  s still a competent thriller  the machine carried on without him perfectly  but  something was missing dix  the stories in the whistler series were always interesting  sometimes brilliant  the screenplays often noir always atmospheric  but it wasn  t only the whistler himself that hung it all together on screen  dix did too .  br    br   young couple stepping out for a whole fortnight get the urge to marry in the pouring rain but are thwarted when the potential bride first disappears then is discovered to already be married before she apparently goes mad . is the potential groom put off  even when the private dick he  s hired to find her suddenly slugs him and lams  or is love blind  who  s twisting who is the question . michael duane in his penultimate film is ok if a bit of a wimp  lovely lenore aubert  s finest moments came next film in abbott  costello meet frankenstein  and richard lane was wonderful as ever on loan from boston blackie . also the only outing where the whistler himself must have got wet from slouching about in the rain  unless he got sprayed with sea foam in voice .  br    br   a lot happened in this last hour  well worth watching over and over again as usual to fans of the genre like me . the whistler radio series begun in     carried on until     clocking up nearly    half hour shows  nearly all of which are available on mp  and based upon what i  ve heard so far nearly all of which are well worth listening to as well .  
when we were in junior high school  some of us boys would occasionally set off stinkbombs . it was considered funny then . but the producers  directors and cast of  semana santa    angel of death  in the dvd section of your local video rental  are adults and they are still setting them off .  br    br   like the previous reviewer who wondered if the cast were anxious to get off the set and home  i doubt more than one take was done for any of the scenes .  br    br   mira sorvino  hot in  mighty aphrodite  and other top  rated films  seems to have undersold herself to this project . her acting is non  existent  confined mostly to wistful stares that are supposed to indicate how  sensitive  she is to the plight of the film  s various victims .  br    br   but let me warn you   do not be the next victim  step away from the dvd if you find it on the shelf . tbere are not many good leg shots of mira  the only high points i could find in the film  and the supporting cast is of inferior quality  delivering a mishmash of badly  done dialogue with embarrassing  spanish  accents worthy of the best high school theatrical production .  
this film reinvents the term  spring breakumentary .  hans  the fat one of the group  displays his talents as this generations chris farley . johnny kansas   the king of the   bet   shows he  s not in kansas anymore by consistently upping the stakes . kyle  s laugh is truly infecting  and offers a little eye  candy for the ladies as well  as does matt  . the dwarfs  while having their moments  did not do justice to the mexican hat dance like it deserves . and last  we have our protagonist  ed . he gives hope to all of us bumbling  stumbling  gangly  pale folk who are still searching for that special someone . and that hope  is a little place called cabo san lucas . while this blockbuster just missed the theaters  this is a must rent  as we can all relate to one of these spring breakumentarions .  
i could not  for the life of me  follow  figure out or understand the story . as the plot advances it too stays incomprehensible . i  m going to guess and say that there was a preproduction story  plot problem that never got sorted out . the producers could never separate the many details that the novel  or any novel  has the time and space to create from the other idea  which was to make a movie about a serial killer and the killer  s pursuit by the police . they ended up with too many things happening in a proscribed feature film time limit . too bad really because they had a solid cast  a director who knows how to move things around and excellent cinematography . in fact  a well made movie that one could enjoy and relax with for a couple of hours .  
i can tell you just how bad this movie is . i was in the movie and i haven  t seen it yet  but i cringe at the thought of anyone actually paying to see me drunk . especially considering what we did that year . the thing is that they probably over edited it . especially the scene where my roommate was snorting coke of the tits of a mexican prostitute  they probably should have followed him around  . we made a few come and go appearances but aside from that i can  t really remember anything . i was the mc in a few scenes  from what i  m told . what i can tell you is that everyone avoided the camera crew since who wants to be remembered as the guy who threw up or the girl who showed her tits to the world  or the girl that loser lost his virginity to  . overall the trip itself was crazy but people act different once the camera is on them .  
i like silent films  but this was a little too moronic . as much as i wish i could say that it was worth the hour i stood up i can  t . i don  t think any version of the movie even comes close to the book . and don  t try it out on kids  they might freak . and the lady who played pollyanna  how old was she     i know the labor laws were different back then . . . but come on people .  
i have always had the philosophy that every single human being has different tastes  i found this movie to be awesome and i think every college student out there might agree with me . notwithstanding this is not a  movie with a plot   its about real guys and some of the  problems  that they face . i found the movie hilarious  especially the parts that they played the practical jokes on each other  . simply put  if you are in the same  wave  length  as these people  you will find this movie amazing . i don  t think that this is going win any golden globes or oscars  or that the people in this movie will become future hollywood stars  but its a kind of  cult  classic  among young people who could relate to their experience . for me the guy that stands out the most is hans the scandinavian guy  who  according to him  isnt a looker   but gets all  or some  of the chicks . the  little  people  also play a big part in the movie  especially when they are drunk . if i keep going  i might provide a spoiler and i don  t want to do that  just go and get the movie and you will not regret . i give it a      
awful  absolutely awful  no plot  no point  no end . it looks like the director turned the camera on and then the whole crew went to lunch . every day . i  m trying to give this video away but no one will take it . i  m giving it a  instead of a  because i like benigni . roger  i  m going to have to say thumbs down on this one .  br    br    
when an orphanage manager goes on vacation  his father takes over the details of the center and winds up renting the kids . when a well off  got it made couple with a nice apartment and great life get the notion to adopt this idea was tailor made for them . why would they want to spoil their elegant existence with a trio of hairbrained carpet creepers  no way would people like these two need kids to make life wonderful . this movie makes it look like the real world works this way  but i am the picture of dubiety .  
i give this movie a one  for it is truly an awful movie . sound track of the dvd is so bad  it actually hurts my ear . but the vision  no matter how disjointed  does show something really fancy in the italian society . i will not go into detail what actually was so shocking  but the various incidents are absolutely abnormal . so for the kink value  i give it one . otherwise  the video  photography  acting of the adults actors  actresses are simply substandard  a practical jock to people who love foreign movies . roberto  the main character  has full spectrum of emotions but exaggerated to the point of being unbelievable . however  the children in the movie are mostly    years old  and they are genuine and the movie provides glimpse of the italian life . .  
the cast was good  and i thought it was a good performance from christopher lloyd  whom i like from previous movies . the movie was a great family movie  nothing that would make you worry to show it to younger kids  a good story line  lots of laughs  lighthearted and enjoyable . if you want to entertain children without being bored to tears this fits the bill . kid pleasing  and not difficult for a parent to watch  either .  
i was so disappointed by this show . after hearing and reading all the hoopla about it  how it was a  ground breaking show  and all sorts of wild promises if quality  i tried to watch it .  br    br   what a letdown   the acting was way forced and exaggerated . the story made very little sense . as for any hint of the vaunted  look into teenagers  lives   i could only see a paltry attempt that had as much reality to it as a reality show .  br    br   some are wondering why there are so many negative comments about this show . the reason is that it  s really not all that good and beating the drums over quality on this show only serves to attract attention to how poorly made it is .  
this movie is an extremely funny and heartwarming story about an orphanage that is in financial trouble . when the director goes on vacation  his dad agrees to step in temporarily to run things .  br    br   this is positively the best work that leslie nielson has ever done . his idea in the film to rent out children is immediately innovative  and his sales techniques will definitely make you laugh .  br    br   the little girl in this movie is so sweet and charming that i know i will never forget her . just make sure that you don  t miss the first five minutes of the movie   br    br   such great family entertainment is so rare these days . if you go for slightly corny pictures with happy endings  go for this one  i could watch this over and over  and i often do  my only complaint about this movie is that it is so difficult to find a copy .  
last week  i took a look at the weekly nielsen ratings  and there was veronica mars  supposedly  the best show you  re not watching  .  br    br   well  they  re right that you  re not watching it . it aired twice and was ranked    and    out of    .  br    br   translation this is the lowest  rated show on any nationally broadcast network . . . and deservedly so . i tried to watch it a couple of times because of all the press coverage hyping it as a  great  show  a  realistic look  at life and all such nonsense . the reality was otherwise . veronica mars is a bore . it  s as unrealistic as it gets  and it richly deserves to be canceled .  br    br   the only mystery is why cw felt compelled to put on its inaugural schedule the lowest  rated show in memory  after two years of continued commercial and artistic failure .  
russ and valerie are having discussions about starting a family . the couple live in a posh apartment and run an auction business that deals with valuable collectibles . at the same time  a dedicated adoption agency owner takes a mini vacation and leaves the orphanage in the charge of his father  leslie nielsen  . father harry is in the rental business and he gets the brilliant idea to  rent  some of the children of the orphanage to couples like russ and valerie . harry  who becomes aware of the couple  e dilemma  offers a family of siblings for a   day rental period  brandon  kyle  and molly move into the apartment with their temporary parents  with amusing consequences  as the new caretakers are inexperienced with kids . but  where is the possibility of a happy ending  this is a darling family film . the actors  including nielsen as the wheeler  dealer and christopher lloyd as the kind apartment doorman  are all wonderful . the script is snappy and fun and the overall production values quite high . yes  if only life could be this way  orphaned children everywhere deserve a chance to prove that they are lovable and can give so much joy to the parents who are considering adoption . if you want to show a film to your family that is rooted in good values but is also highly entertaining  find this movie . it is guaranteed to have everyone laughing  even as their hearts are melting .  
the biggest mystery of veronica mars is not one that she had to tackle on screen .  br    br   rather  the mystery is why this perennial ratings disappointment is still on the air . this week marked a nadir for veronica mars it ranked    out of    shows in the big   soon to be big   . yes  you read right . veronica mars was beaten by every show of the now  defunct wb and every show on upn . it was beat by all the shows on fox and of course by all the shows on abc  cbs and nbc .  br    br   now  the hip hypesters are going to say but this was a re  run . but everything on tv that week was pretty much a re  run  it boggles the mind why cw would choose this proved ratings disappointment as one of the few shows it saved from upn .  br    br   clearly something is going on behind the scenes . favors are being exchanged and influence peddled .  br    br   sorry to be so cynical  but what other explanation is there  the  veronica mars has potential  line is clearly dead now that it  s had two years to establish itself and failed to do so .  br    br   maybe it  s joel silver  s influence and clout  but frankly  i am at a loss why anyone would choose to spend their clout on a bad show that no audience is watching .  br    br   a great mystery and a very inauspicious debut for cw .  
i ran across this movie at the local video store during their yearly sidewalk sale . while scanning thousands of videos  hoping to find a few cartoon movies for sale  i came across this movie . i read the back of the movie and knew it was god  s hand at work for me to purchase this movie . you see  i have a sibling group of three foster  and soon to be adopted  children living with my family . immediately my foster children made a connection with the three children starring in the movie . the movie helped them better understand their own circumstances . for the first time  also  the oldest of the sibling group   year old  female  decided to open up to me a little bit about her past and the trauma she had experienced . she has been fighting the entire trust issue . this is also the first time i had seen her cry . after watching the film  i asked her what it meant for a child to be adopted . she replied   it means to be happy .  a must see for families who are fostering children and are considering adoption . it certainly opened the lines of communication with us .  
i  m amazed how many comments on this show are about how  real  it is . maybe i  m not part of the same universe because if veronica mars is anything  it  s over the top in a big way .  br    br   the acting is chewing the scenery with enthusiasm and the plots have holes you could drive a truck through . that  s not what i call real .  br    br   it is so earnest in its desire to be  relevant  that it only shows how cut  off from reality rob thomas and his staff are .  br    br   overall  i found it to be at best a snooze  fest and at worst more than a little annoying . kristen bell looks like she could be a good actress  but it  s hard to tell with the over  the  top style of the whole show .  
astounding . . . . . this may have been a poor attempt at remaking the already recreated omen movie  but i sure enjoyed it .  br    br   that last man who commented is a fool  this movie was one of a kind  and the music dark  jerry goldsmith himself  would had applaud this movie .  br    br   great recommendations from myself to watch or buy this film .  br    br   i collect horror movies and soundtracks  so listen to what i have to say  not that other idiot .  br    br   there is only one thing that do not fascinate me  the endings .  br    br   according to prophecy it is all inaccurate  including final conflict  and left behind .  br    br   but my conclusion being . . . . there great movies . . . and should be seen  before the great depression falls upon us  and before the democrats take over the presidency too .  br    br   so signed . . . . jacob eder . . . a farmer  with a mastermind .  
i went to see this film based on the review by siskel and ebert not only did i get duped  but i took some friends along  and had to spend the rest of the day profusely apologizing for making them sit through this pointless crap . after this  i never went to see a movie based solely on siskel  ebert  s advice .  
pierce brosnan has sipped his last martini and returns  in an outrageous self  parody  as the aging foul  mouthed boozy assassin julian noble  who has a particular fondness for teenage girls  bullfights and tacky clothes . during a job in mexico city he meets danny  greg kinnear   a straight  faced denver suburban business  man  who  s in town to make his deal of  a  life  time  in a hotel bar . despite their completely different personalities and julian  s crude and insensible remarks  they become friends .  br    br   largely carried by the performances of pierce brosnan and greg kinnear  director richard shepard revealed that he didn  t write the film with pierce brosnan in mind  but i can hardly imagine this without him . he proves to have a real talent for comedy and can be more than just james bond or cold  war spies . the scene in which the two meet at a glossy hotel bar  stunning sets and beautifully photographed  really is a bravura piece of acting skills . the scene lasts almost fifteen minutes  and although it was probably carefully scripted  the two actors are largely improvising  but they succeed wonderfully  it almost feels like a new standard in screen acting . think of robert de niro and harvey keitel in mean steets improvising and add one of the most subtle underpinnings of many genre clichs and the actors  own typecasting  brosnan  s james bond in particular   and you got one of the most delightful pairings in recent hollywood .  br    br   sadly  the story wears thin after a while . after an hour  the film just runs out of steam . nevertheless  and i can  t put my finger on it exactly  i did enjoy this very much . it just feels very fresh and original  with some imaginative use of sets and lighting  and some hints to seijun suzuki and jean  pierre melville . the other characters aren  t given much to do  but this film does offer something new  in that respect it almost effortlessly succeeds in blending all conventional genres into quite an entertaining spoof . very amusing .  br    br   camera obscura         
after just finishing the book the same day i watched the movie  i knew what was supposed to happen . i had high expectations of the movie  because of the rating . the only reason i give this movie a  out of   stars is that it was alright trying to be a movie . i have a couple main points for not liking this movie .  br    br    spoilers   br    br    . the casting . jack nicholson barely fits into jack torrence  s character . also  i would have never picked shelly duvall for wendy . i pictured wendy much differently . i can see why they picked jack nicholson though  the grin  the pointy eyebrows  but he  s not supposed to really look  evil  . he  s supposed to look normal  and he turns evil . also  they make one of the worst movie couples . danny was alright  he needed more life though . he acted way to droney .  br    br    . the screenplay . they cut out so many things that were in the book  and added things . some of the things that were in the book that i was looking forward to in the movie were either deleted  changed  or handled wrongly . some of the things that were in the book that i was looking forward to seeing  the hedge animals  the roque mallet  the elevator  were not in the movie  and it was  and half hours   i was extremely irritated .  br    br    . the ending . the ending was changed completly  halorann died  jack froze to death  wendy never got hurt . . . the overlook didn  t blow up . the ending was so cool in the book  and the movie messed it up so horribly  i was apalled . hallorann was never supposed to die  but jack killed him with an ax . if they wanted to kill him  at least have jack use a roque mallet . you never even saw a roque mallet during the whole movie .  br    br   there are other things that i didn  t like about the movie  but there are things that were all right . the camera angels were cool  the blood coming out of the elevator  didn  t happen in the book  was cool  but maybe i was too irritated that the movie didn  t go with the book  to try to be scared at all . i reccomend reading the book  before you see this movie . i applaud stephen king for actually agreeing to sign a contract to not dis stanley kubrik any more . i would never have done that  i would have taken all the rights i could get to yell at him all day . i can  t wait to see the  hour version  at least it has the hedge animals .  br    br   rating      
i thought the movie was actually pretty good . i enjoyed the acting and it moved along well . the director seemed to really grasp the story he was trying to tell . i have to see the big budget one coming out today  obviously they had a lot more money to throw at it but was very watchable . when you see a movie like this for a small budget you have to take that in to account when you are viewing it . there were some things that could of been better but most are budget related . the acting was pretty good the f  x and stunts were well done . a couple of standouts were the guy who played the camera asst . and the boy who played the child . these kind of films have kept la working and this is one that turned out ok .  
when i noticed that  hamish macbeth  was being broadcast in the united states  i was thrilled . i then had the misfortune to watch the darn thing . i adore m . c . beaton  s books about the wonderful scottish constable . the characters in the book are entertaining and very well  written . the powers that be who are responsible for this mish  mash apparently have never have read one of beaton  s books . only the name  hamish macbeth  has anything to do with the series . besides the lack of familiar characters  i find the whole show offensively loud . it seems that the actors feel they must shout their lines and scream at each other . if you love m . c . beaton  s adorable hamish macbeth don  t waste your time on this rubbish .  
i absolutely loved this show . i watched it from the time it first aired in the late    s to the very last episode . in my honest opinion it was a wonderful family drama that is so rare these days . definitely a show you could watch with a friend or your children . yes things have changed a bit with jo since we last saw her in the books  but it  s still compelling with great stories and good lessons . the actress that portrays jo bhaer  michelle burke  does a wonderful job as does as the actor who plays nick riley  spencer rochfort  throughout the series we get to see the developing romance between jo and nick as well as the daily stories and lessons the kids and students learn . i recommend this show to anyone .  
this does give away some of the plot  by the way . a charlie brown christmas is one of those timeless classics that teach you the value christmas and just enjoying the holiday . this  however  does not . it tries to capture the emotion of a charlie brown christmas  there even is another christmas play  but fails with lackluster and easy jokes . charlie brown is no longer wondering about the spirit of christmas but is instead wants to buy a present for peggy jean     gloves . . . what   . his sister sally is the most annoying character in the movie . here is one of her jokes sally wants to write a letter to santa  but doesn  t know how to spell charlie  for some reason he needs to be in her letter  so instead decides to name him sam  because she knows how to spell sam . also  sally plays an angel in the play with one word to day  hark   she instead says hockey stick  har har  . if sally saying hark   times  all oddly sounding exactly the same  doesn  t kill you  nothing will . peppermint patty and marcy are a large focal point  but that hardly makes it better . marcy is funny with her responses to patty  but patty is another story . she sounds like a boy  which doesn  t dispel the rumors  and gets mad when she has to be the sheep in the play  terrible baas and all  . apparently she is the sheep every year  and is worried she will forget her lines  lines she doesn  t have  . she is so worried she mentions it twice  one right after the other  and gets the same response . i  m assuming she must have short term memory loss  or something . lucy and linus are more welcome  although linus still has annoying advice   but hardly amount to much air time . i  m sure schroeder isn  t even in this one . all in all  it tries to be a parasite to the original  but compromised the message for a few quick laughs .  
i found this show really late at night  and gave it a try . it  s a refreshing change from the other kinds of things shown late at night  if you catch my drift . its simplicity of values and sweetness of hearts helps remind me of the way friendships were as children . it  s something i indulge in whenever i find it on  which is rare  maybe i should actually check the listings  haha  . . . . . and the tension between joe and nick is so cute . like any good chick flick  you really get emotionally involved in the characters . good ol  louisa may alcott still inspiring good stories   so apparently i must complete   lines of text in order for my opinion to be valid  so i guess i  ll tell you a bit more . the kids are played by talented actors and actresses  and the settings are lovely and nature  filled   another thing you don  t see much on television . i hope everyone gives it a shot . i recognize and am fully aware that it  s sappy  but it  s good heart . like i said before  it  s refreshing .  
very badly made film  the action  violence scenes are ridiculous .  br    br    point for the presence of burton and mastroianni   point for the real tragic event of the massacre of the innocent italians     .  
i was a fan of the book ever since third grade  so of course i had watched the movie  read the sequel  and then watched the television show . it was a good show in itself  and now as an adult i still enjoy the show . my only real problem with it was that it didn  t follow the book . the first time i saw it  i was so disappointed that i turned it off . but that  s coming from a girl who owns a first addition of the book . but after time i decided to give it a try again and ignored the book  kind of like what you have to do with the harry potter movies  . i found the series wonderful  it was clean cut and something that everyone could enjoy  just the right amount comedy to keep everyone going . it is truly enjoyable  clean and wonderful   
this was a big disappointment for me . i think this is the worst mastroianni  movie ever made . cosmatos tries too hard to make this movie a masterpiece and that makes this movie a typical  art   movie . i give     for this movie .  
the kids  aged  to    got such a huge kick out of this film that we gave a copy to all of the other kids on our birthday list this year . they all loved it  kids from  to  watch it repeatedly and frequently  and we get a kick out of watching it with them .  br    br   it  s rare that a film entertains the kids for so long  and offers laughs for the adults  too . most enjoy it more than the first .  br    br   top  quality production and an excellent cast  led by christopher showerman as a superior george   athletic  energetic  and wholly credible  with a lovable innocence and a particular knack of taking a tree in the face   well supported by the inimitable christina pickles as the evil mother  in  law  thomas haden church as the evil jerk rival  and everybody else . this is fun .  
it is a frank zappa axiom that  music journalism is people who can  t write interviewing people who can  t talk for people who can  t read .  if you ever needed proof that musicians can  t talk  this is the film for you . repeated attempts at profundity stumble over themselves to end up in monosyllabic comments delivered in awestruck voices  wow .   thank you  idris muhammed .  this film is pretentious but  while much of the pontificating from youssou n  dour and his gang of merry men  and one token woman  grates  the music saves the day .  br    br   the main idea behind the film  what i take to be the main idea  dredged out of the inarticulate commentary  is interesting . to gather a group of musicians from america and europe and take them on a journey through the different styles of music that grew up in and out of slavery  back to their roots in the music of west africa  and a concert in the old slave fort of gore off the coast of senegal . we are treated to gospel  blues  jazz and variations of these  including some fantastic drumming both in new orleans and senegal . there  s also a good deal of n  dour  s own compositions .  br    br   sadly  that  s another weakness . it  s never entirely clear what n  dour himself wants to achieve . to some degree  the film appears to be an exercise in self  promotion on n  dour  s part . he wants to play his own music  jazzed up to some degree and performed in the company of a bunch of musicians he admires . he  s clearly a little embarrassed by this and early in the film obtains the blessings of the curator of the gore museum .  br    br   the clash between the different agendas shows through in several other places . for example  somebody obviously felt that it was not possible to tell the story of black music without involving a gospel choir  but n  dour and most of his mates are moslems  a point made repeatedly throughout the film  . the whole early sequence involving the black christians is uncomfortable and then they disappear from the story until the close harmony group  the only black christians who can hold a tone   turn up in dakar at the end of the film .  to be fair  they turn up triumphantly and perform the best piece in the film .  if the story of black music needs to nod in the direction of gospel  why not also in the direction of latin america  where are the black musical influences from the caribbean and brazil  samba  reggae  then there  s europe . here the black diaspora doesn  t seem to have produced any musicians of calibre  since n  dour chooses to draft in austrian guitarist and a trumpet player from luxemburg . are they in the team just because n  dour has played with him before  what i personally found most irritating  though  was the long sequence which tried to recreate a kind of   s beatnik  black power  nation of islam cultural happening in the new york home of amir baraka  a . k . a . leroi jones  . hearing people talk about the importance of  knowing your history   and then in the next breath perpetuating ignorance . why do so many african  americans believe that taking an arabic name is an assertion of their african roots  and why do they think arabic islam is so much more admirable than european christianity  who do they think established the trade in african slaves in the first place  the film doesn  t have much to say about the situation in west africa today beyond the platitude that  present conditions  are a consequence of all the brightest and best having been shipped away for    years . the senegalese appear to be a poor but happy  musical gifted folk  friendly and welcoming  respectful of their elders  and not above fleecing the visiting americans in the fish market  . is this ethnic stereotyping or just my imagination  there is no comment on the armed guard that n  dour and the camera crew seem to need in the opening sequence as they walk through the streets of dakar .  br    br   there is also a strong implication in the film that the slaves who were taken from dakar came from dakar . the similarity between the folk drumming style of new orleans and the folk drumming style of senegal is cited in evidence . the last thing the slaves heard before they were shipped away was the drumming of their homeland  bidding them farewell . except  of course  that by and large  the slaves shipped from dakar did not come from dakar . they were captured or traded from the interior by the coastal senegalese and sold to merchants of whichever european power currently held the gore slave fort . the people of dakar are not the descendents of africans who escaped the slave trade  they are just as likely  more likely  to be descendents of the people who sold their black brethren into slavery and exile .  br    br   the two agenda  s clash again in the final part of the film . there are two separate endings . on the one hand  the concert which n  dour and co have been rehearsing and preparing along the way and which they deliver in the courtyard of the gore slave fort . the other end comes when the harmony harmoneers sing the spiritual  return to glory   in the seaward doorway of the slave fort . this is deeply moving  even if it is hard to believe the performance is quite as spontaneous as it appears .  br    br   this is a film that is flawed . unclear of the story it is trying to tell and tugged in different directions . irritating  confusing  beautiful and emotional by turns . watch it  listen to it  for the music and the feeling  but don  t expect enlightenment or intellectual rigour .  
in order to rate this movie fairly you have to think about the genre it  s supposed to be children  s . they had more guidelines to follow in order to make this movie  meaning it could not get away with some of the humor and or language from the  st  taking all that in this movie was fun and enjoyable to watch . sequels usually make me nervous  however this one did pretty well for itself . knowing that it didn  t have the star power of fraiser as george they capitalized on the humor and i believe showeman did pretty well as the lead . the plot being easy to follow and maybe campy at times fits well for a younger audience  if you want to watch a movie and hope for academy award honors this is not it  but if you want to watch a simple  fun  energy filled movie you would make a good choice with this one .  
oh  man  this thing scared the heck out of me when i first watched it . . . and i was sixteen     br    br   that creepy animated barbie is scary as hell  i want to stop talking about her now .  
i loved this movie  chris showerman did an amazing job  not only is he an incredible actor  but he is gorgeous with an awesome physique  he did a great job on the delivery of his lines  plus transformed into george better than fraser did . a great performance for his first major roll  this movie is full of hilarious scenes that every child will love . my kids have watched this movie numerous times since we purchased the dvd the day it came out . in addition to the movie  the extras on the dvd are just as hilarious . two thumbs up on this one  i highly recommend it to everyone   
i loved  the curse of frankenstein  so much that i rushed out to get  frankenstein must be destroyed  to see cushing at it again . . . even if it was without chistopher lee this time . to my great disappointment  this movie not only does without lee  but it does without frankenstein  s monster altogether  was it a case of  if we can  t get lee  we won  t have a monster at all   why would they do that  the monster is half the fun of the whole thing   this film is dedicated solely to the study of baron frankenstein and his quest to finish experiments he had begun in brain transplants before ending up in an asylum . i found the script extremely weak  with the need to suspend disbelief forced upon the audience a little too much . i  m willing to suspend a fair amount  but this movie got fairly ridiculous  which took me out of the film rather than immersing me in it .  br    br   peter cushing  though  is absolutely brilliant playing pure evil in this film . for being one of the most beloved actors and notoriously sweet men  he sure could play menacing and malevolent extremely well . the supporting cast is competent  but has little to do  even the young doctor and his fiance blackmailed into helping frankenstein . a bumbling police chief is introduced  along with his put  upon sidekick  to generate some comic relief  then they are completely dropped from the movie  why  we are led to believe that the police chief will be the main nemesis of the baron  then we are led to believe it will be the young doctor  and then it ends up being the victim of frankenstein  s brain transplant experiment . there was no tension  we weren  t invested in the  creature   and the ending was left so ambiguous as to leave one unsatisfied because it is so clear they are setting up another sequel .  br    br   also  there are virtually no  horror  elements . yes  there is a beheading in the beginning  off  camera   and we are treated to the sounds of cushing cutting the tops of two men  s skulls off  again  off camera   and there is the most unsettling and thoroughly unnecessary rape scene     of which is  again  off  camera  . i understand that there is a love of  letting the audience imagine it all  for their imaginations are far worse than what we can show   but come on  if you  re not going to give us a monster  then at least let us see the few  horrific  elements you do choose to include . showing us a skeleton in the lab lit with a green light is just not scary .  br    br   on top of a weak script  i thought the directing was mostly flat . there were a couple of nice shots  but otherwise no excitement  atmosphere  or suspense was generated . the same director did  curse  back in     and i thought it was brilliantly directed . . . guess he was as uninspired by this film as i was .  br    br   the movie gets a  out of   from me strictly for peter cushing  s powerful  nuanced performance . . . beyond that  i found little in this movie worth recommending . instead  my suggestion is to watch  the curse of frankenstein  and see a truly great hammer horror film .  
allow me to just get to the bottom line here i  ve got  kids  ages  to   . i consider a trip to the theater a success when there are no talking animals . i  ve seen most of the children  s videos in our collection at least   times . i can tell you when the film gets reversed in the wizard of oz  the over    sexual joke in el dorado and the tragic flaw with the ending of rudolph the red  nosed reindeer . i could probably storyboard nemo from memory alone .  br    br   what makes me support the one child of mine  it varies  who suggests this title for the family movie of an evening  in a word showerman .  br    br   moment of silence . . .  br    br   sigh  
there are three movies with this animation style that i fondly remember from my youth . this movie   the last unicorn    flight of dragons  and  the hobbit .  i own copies of both  dragons  and  the hobbit   both excellent  and i hadn  t seen  the last unicorn  in more than a decade . that was until today and now i wish i hadn  t . what bothered me the most was the script . it was incredibly choppy and often inane . things would happen for no reason and other things would happen without explanation . we  re not just talking about little things here either we  re talking about key plot points  the story itself isn  t that great to begin with  but it could have worked had the script been decent . not even close . on top of that the music was awful  i know that music in movies such as these rarely have what one would call classic pieces  but the music in this movie made me want to knock myself unconscious with a bowling ball . this was one of those films that i was going to show to my kids some day  but it just got cut . i don  t think i could ever sit through that crap fest again . disappointed is putting it mildly .  
i like peter sellers  most of the time . i had never seen him portray an upper  class brit until this movie . he pulls it off pretty well  although you see bits of inspector clouseau in the mix . it doesn  t get interesting until goldie hawn arrives .  br    br   i never expected the youthful hawn to deliver such a solid performance . her timing was great and her expressions were priceless . the way she alternately shoots sellers lecherous character down and seduces him is beautiful to watch . verbal sparring like i  ve seldom seen from a movie of that era .  br    br   the last thirty minutes of the movie does fall flat . it is worth the let down just to see the first sixty . hawn is nude for a few glorious seconds early on . enjoy it . . .  
what  s written on the poster is  at birth he was given  years to live . . . at   he takes the journey of a lifetime .  ami is an american  born israeli who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy disease at the age of one . at age of    after the love toward his   years old care  giver didn  t go well  he decided to come to the us to face the doctor who said that he would have only  years to live . he wanted to show the doctor that he is still alive  and weights   pounds . why  your guess is as good as mine  even i have seen this film .  br    br   obviously it  s courageous to live when all he can move is his left index finger  but why does he have so much anger toward the doctor who diagnosed his disease   years ago  his doctor just told his mom that based on the medical history  people with his disease won  t live long . what  s the point of him showing up at old doctor  s door for  why is tracking down this old doctor in the us is a journey of his lifetime  there are so many things we might be interested in ami  s life how can he make those animations with the movement of only one finger  how can he go through daily lives while totally depending on others  how did he out lived his doctor  s prediction  how does he deal emotionally when other people look at him like looking at a strange creature  the movie told us none of that . instead  the filmmaker got a van and set up a trip to let ami to show up at his old doctor  s door in order to show him that he is still alive . i thought it was a joke .  
i ran across this movie on the tv and could not turn it off . peter sellers plays an unlikable fellow who falls for an extremely warm and cute goldie hawn  who wouldn  t   . the way that goldie  s character holds herself from the beginning of the movie to the end is untraditional even today . this movie gave me a different angle into human relations and also i found it very funny . peter sellers role was a difficult sell  but i think he pulls it off well .  
what boob at mgm thought it would be a good idea to place the studly clark gable in the role of a salvation army worker   ironically enough  another handsome future star  cary grant  also played a salvation army guy just two years later in the highly overrated she done him wrong . i guess in hindsight it  s pretty easy to see the folly of these roles  but i still wonder who thought that salvation army guys are  hot  and who could look at these dashing men and see them as realistic representations of the parts they played . a long time ago  i used to work for a sister organization of the salvation army  the volunteers of america  and i never saw any studly guys working there  and that includes me  unfortunately  . maybe i should have gotten a job with the salvation army instead   br    br   so  for the extremely curious  this is a good film to look out for  but for everyone else  it  s poor writing  sloppy dialog and annoying moralizing make for a very slow film .  
the matador is hit  man movie lite . . . . if you can say that about a hit  man movie . the violence is never really shown but often introduced . at first i was scared i was in for another retread of mid    s gangster  hit  man  hipster  dark comedy but was happily surprised when i realized this is just a sweet and humorous story about friendship . nothing terribly exciting happens in this film but every bit of it is kept me grinning . the three leads have the best chemistry the big screen has offered in recent years and it looks like they had a great time making this film together . the writing is sharp though at times it felt as if the script had been adapted from a stage play because of the one set dialog scenes . this is a good film that i probably won  t remember for too long but at the time it was a complete joy . good film .  
i am going to keep this short . this  adaption  of the wonderful king book is a bad joke and nothing more . of course there are many kubrick and nickolson fans in this site and  as a result  this movie has mysteriously find its way in the top     .  br    br   jack nicholson is laughable as torrance and so is shelley duvall . the story  that has nothing to do with the book  is an incoherent mess and the characters of jack and wendy torrance are complete jokes .  br    br   my advice to anyone that hasn  t read the book and wants to understand the characters of this storystick to the tv series . . . .  br    br   oh  and the people who are saying that kubrick had every right to destroy the king story cause king is . . . not a good writer should stick to reviewing  masterpieces  like  eyes wide shut  .  
not sure why it doesn  t play in peoria  apparently  but this is a very funny  clever british comedy . it  s set at the end of the  swinging sixties  . peter sellars is fantastic as the rich  forty  something serial womaniser . the perfectly delectable goldie hawn  playing a   year american girl in london  is  initially  sellars   catch of the day  . but the urbane tv food critic can  t stop himself from falling for the dizzy american blond .  br    br   humour  pathos  great script  strong performances from the leads and supporting caste .  br    br   it  s a great film  and the best gag is the very last line .  br    br   try it  you  ll like it .  
  her cardboard lover  is norma shearer  s last movie . she quit the movies and  i think  joined the board of directors at mgm . that was a good move on her part .  her cardboard lover  was talky and boring in parts . it was obvious there were only a handful of actors with speaking parts so they had a lot of dialogue to speak to keep this turkey afloat .  br    br   the story was a good idea about a wealthy woman  norma shearer  hiring a man  robert taylor  to make her playboy fiancee  george sanders  jealous . i am surprised that the director  george cukor  did not cut many of the talky scenes between ms . shearer and mr . taylor . mr . cukor served ms . shearer well in  the women  but not in this movie .  br    br   the best performance in the movie was given by robert taylor . during mr . taylor  s career  he was given his best comedy roles in this movie and  when ladies meet  in     . in      he gave his best comedy performance in  her cardboard lover  and  up to then  his best dramatic performance in  johnny eager .  he had a busy year . i think of all the actors at mgm  mr . taylor worked with all the major and minor actresses on the lot . also  mgm gave mr . taylor all types of movies to make  most of them were successful . that is why mgm kept him for   years .  br    br   mr . george sanders was very good as a socialite heel . he played a similar role eight years later in  all about eve  for which he won an oscar for a supporting role . as for ms . shearer  this was one of her worst performances  she was not funny and too dramatic for this comedy . it is strange that she made a great comedy in       the women   and gave her best performance . it was obvious that she was too old looking for her younger leading men in  her cardboard lover .  also  it didn  t help that some of her clothes were awful .  br    br   too bad she and mr . taylor did not make another dramatic movie like their last movie together  the superb  escape  . the same comments about this movie can be said of another movie   personal property  that mr . taylor made in     with jean harlow . it was too talky  boring  and the actress looked old . ms . harlow looked ill throughout the movie and nobody in hollywood noticed to tell her to see a doctor  so in      she died at age   . what a waste  she was becoming a good actress and getting better roles .  
although the plot was a bit sappy at times  and very rushed at the end  as if the director had run out of his alloted time and needed to hurry up and finish the story  overall it was pretty good for the made  for  backwoods  cable  tv genre .  br    br   however  the actress who played the babysitter  mariana klaveno  was very good  i hope to see more of her around in movie  land . the music was also well done  getting every possible chill out of the dah  duh  dah  duh  think  jaws   type music  based tension build  ups .  br    br   i don  t think i  d want to watch  while the children sleep  again  but if i did  it would be to focus on the performance of the talented klaveno .  
in this forgettable trifle  the    ish norma shearer plays a fluttery  girlish socialite in monte carlo  caught in a tussle between george sanders and robert taylor . it would be tempting to blame this movie  s failure on the dull  talky script  or director george cukor  who never seems interested in livening up the film  s generally comatose state . mostly  though  it  s the fault of shearer herself  who desperately wanted to keep playing  young  parts as long as she could get away with it . inadvertently  this makes  her cardboard lover  a bizarre monument to an aging woman  s vanity .  
lupin sets off for morocco  looking for a legendary treasure . his only clue is an interesting jewel that an old man gave him . it  s a nice different location for lupin  with the desert and that hot exotic feel .  br    br   one interesting thing about this movie is that jigen has a much smaller role than usual  generally being in a different place than lupin . on one hand their classic dynamic together is missed  but it is a change of pace . plus  this way  lupin can focus on the ladies . . .  br    br   fujiko rules in this . throughout the entire feature she is seducing lupin  and us viewers . then there  s lara  the damsel of this particular tale  and she  s quite likable . this one has more nudity than any other lupin anime  which is a fun distinction to have .  br    br   there  s a very entertaining effeminate ninja guy who  s the best villain in this  and naturally he has some great fighting with goemon  as well as some fun scenes with fujiko . inspector zenigata of course is also on a warpath here  in fine form .  br    br   pretty much  this is a smooth ride with lupin . the plot is average and there are some slow spots  but all in all this movie is a real pleasure . enjoy .  
songwriter robert taylor  as terry  is  dizzy  slap  happy  and can  t see straight over otherworldly norma shearer  as consuelo  .  she makes the sun shine  even when it  s raining   mr . taylor explains . but  mr . taylor gets a lump in his throat whenever he gets near ms . shearer . finally  at the palm beach casino shearer frequents  taylor proclaims  i love you   shearer brushes him off  as she is engaged to george sanders  as tony  . however  to settle a gambling debt  shearer hires taylor to pose as  her cardboard lover   to make mr . sanders jealous .  br    br   this film  s title invites the obvious and appropriate three  word review  her cardboard movie  . it is most notable as the last film appearance for shearer  one of the biggest stars in the world from  he who gets slapped        playing another consuelo  to  the women        . to be fair  this was likely the kind of shearer film mgm believed audiences wanted to see . however  the part is unflattering .  br    br   plucked and powered  taylor and shearer were better off in  the escape        . if shearer had continued  she might have become a better actress than  leading lady   apparently  she was no longer interested  and certainly didn  t need the money . taylor has a great scene  reciting christina rossetti  s  when i am dead  my dearest  while threatening to jump from shearer  s balcony  as directed by george cukor .  br    br    her cardboard lover       george cukor  norma shearer  robert taylor  george sanders  
this movie is more lupin then most  especially coming from funimation . other then the bad dub  it isn  t bad .  br    br   the first hour is a lot like the comic  which is what all lupin the  rd stuff is based on  . lupin  s trying to get a huge treasure . fujiko  s using lupin  s weakness to women to try to get something out of it . the last bit isn  t that bad  he  s with another women  but of course fujiko  s still him number one .  br    br   a lot of the other lupin movies are more family with cuss words then lupin . any good lupin fan i think will be pleasantly surprised  i know i was after hearing so many bad things about this movie  . it might be a bit better without the little animations rolling during the credits  they make it a little mushy  but overall  it isn  t a bad film . good enough to be one of the few i  d watch again of the lupin iii movies .  
even by     standards of movie  making the setup which her cardboard lover presents was dated to the extreme . the machinations of one half of a pair  of husband  wife  ex  husband  ex  wife  to get the other back at the threat of marriage to another  divorce  or an eventual separation by means of jealousy  humiliation  or other schemes had been done much better in classics such as his girl friday and the philadelphia story . both of these movies features women with a strong  indomitable screen presence and who played independent  proto  feminist characters . in both movies  both women were estranged  divorced from their  witty  first husbands and set to marry colorless men who were their exact opposite  and both would be bamboozled into rejecting their soon  to  be husbands and re  igniting their passion for each other .  br    br   the plot in her cardboard lover switches the gender here  it  s norma shearer in the cary grant role out  this time  to ward off an ex  boyfriend  george sanders  by means of hiring robert taylor to pose as her gigolo . the problem is  shearer is much too old to be playing a role more suited to an actress in her mid  to  late twenties sanders is about as involved as a piece of furniture for the most   any man who would be in love with his fiance  on seeing a strange man come out of her bathroom as happens here  would knock the lights out of him and cause a huge scene . not here . and robert taylor plays his part as if he were trying to channel cary grant half the time  not in speech inflections but in overall essence .  br    br   but the worst part of it is shearer herself . for an actress used to parts which gave her a sense of intellectual sexiness and dramatic presence  playing consuelo craydon seems to put her into throes of complete over  acting  over  emoting  and over  gesturing which  while still a part of her style of acting and more appropriate ten years earlier  makes her look like an extremely mannered performer wrenching the joke out of a situation like water from a fairly dry sponge . it only fuels the fires that tell the theory which gives irving thalberg the maker of her career and chooser of  most of her  roles why she passed on roles such as charlotte vale and mrs . miniver on mega  hits now voyager and mrs . miniver is a mystery  but then again  most accounts also state that by this time she had just burnt out from acting  that she  d had lost interest in the whole thing altogether and it  s no secret that anyone who has experienced this sort of thing has essentially lost focus and can  t wait until retirement or the end of a contract is near to leave as soon as possible . such could be the case here . she seems lost  she seems tired  she seems ill at ease  going through autopilot instead of living the part . after this film she would make no more  but would be responsible of discovering janet leigh who would come into her own as a screen star during the late   s and into the   s .  
eric stoltz delivers an extraordinary performance as joel garcia  a successful young novelist who winds up paralyzed and in a special hospital for the recently disabled after breaking his neck in a hiking accident . while learning to cope and adjust with the gravity of his new limited physical condition joel befriends slick  fast  talking  charming womanizer raymond  an amazing wesley snipes  and boorish  surly  racist biker bloss  a terrific william forsythe   who feels threatened by the diverse multi  ethnic array of fellow patients he  s forced to share a room with . joel also receives substantial support from his loyal and loving  but married girlfriend anna  radiantly played by helen hunt  . but he still must come to terms with being disabled on his own .  br    br   this remarkable movie  s key triumph is its laudably stubborn refusal to neither sanitize nor sentimentalize the severity of what these men are going through . directors neil jimenez  who also wrote the thoughtful and insightful script  and micheal steinberg relate the story with exceptional taste  wit and warmth  specifically addressing with disarming candor and matter  of  factness how being handicapped irrevocably alters one  s lifestyle  including and especially your sex life  this point is most powerfully made in a striking sequence when joel and anna try and fail to make love in a motel room  . besides the expected poignancy  the film further provides a surprising surplus of wickedly funny raw  earthy humor that  s highlighted by the uproarious sequence with joel and bloss making a secret nocturnal expedition to a strip club . the uniformly superb acting qualifies as another significant plus stoltz  snipes  forsythe and hunt are all outstanding  with stand  out supporting turns by grace zabriskie as bloss  doting  amiable mother and elisabeth pena and william allen young as compassionate hospital nurses . despite the grim subject matter  the film ultimately proves to be a very moving  positive and uplifting cinematic testament to the astonishing strength and durability of the human spirit . a simply wonderful little gem of a drama .  
like all the taviani brothers films  this one looks great  but it is rotten to the core with false romanticism  and coincidences heap upon each other in some facsimile of a  story  . in actuality  this is really just a sentimentally cheap tear jerker posing as an intellectually distinguished art film .  
this work is a bold look into the mindset of men who find themselves in wheelchairs . this film never tries to tone it down  cotton candy  ize  or soft soap the angst  confusion  and pain of what these guys live with . that is its strength  i think .  br    br   but more so  the performances are fantastic  with well conceived and delivered dialog  which draws you in and makes you feel a part of the experience . the characters never attempt to block out the audience from knowing what  s on their mind  what  s in their hearts .  br    br   i found it plodding  but enjoyable .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
as i said  the book was pretty good and this might have been a good movie if melissa gilbert hadn  t been so horrible and unbelievable in the lead roll . what kind of accent was that suppose to be anyway  it sounded the same as her horrible russian accent in another movie that i have seen her in . every time she opened her mouth i cringed . it took  tries before i was able to watch the entire movie . brad johnson was good as the other lead .  br    br   i really liked the beach location scenes . they added some much needed brightness to take your mind off of melissa gilberts depressing portrayal . i think they could have used san francisco views more to their advantage though . it looked like the night scenes were actually sf  but i could be wrong . i don  t recall the character in the book being this depressing .  br    br   please keep melissa gilbert out of any future movies that require an accent   
i recently got the chance to view  the waterdance   and quite liked it . i don  t really understand why its called that as there isn  t really any dancing going on there  except maybe for the dancing at the strip club near the end . we are introduced to the main characters throughout the movie  invalids in a hospital . the story shows a love affair between a physically sisabled guy and a healthy woman  which is a very sweet story . unfortunately  you don  t get to see movies like that today . im not  stuck in a time warp   im not saying that everything during the   s and early   s was better than today  but i really think the movie industry is deteriorating and there  s much we can learn from old movies  by old movies i mean anything from          .  
this is a typical steele novel production in that two people who have undergone some sort of tragedy manage to get together despite the odds . i wouldn  t call this a spoiler because anyone who has read a steele novel knows how they all end . if you don  t want to know much about the plot  don  t keep reading .  br    br   gilbert  s character  ophelia  is a woman of french decent who has lost her husband and son in an accident . gilbert needs to stop doing films where she is required to have an accent because she  otherwise a good actress  cannot realistically pull off any kind of accent . brad johnson  also an excellent actor  is matt  who is recovering from a rather nasty divorce . he is gentle  convincing and compelling in this role .  br    br   the two meet on the beach through her daughter  pip  and initially  ophelia accuses matt of being a child molester just because he talked art with the kid . all of them become friends after this episode and then the couple falls in love .  br    br   the chemistry between the two leads is not great  even though the talent of these two people is not  in my opinion  a question . they did the best they could with a predictable plot and a script that borders on stereotypical . two people meet  tragedy  bigger tragedy  a secret is revealed  another tragedy  and then they get together . i wish there was more to it than that  but there it is in a nutshell .  br    br   i wanted mindless entertainment  and i got it with this . in regard to the genre of romantic films  this one fails to be memorable .  a secret affair  with janine turner is far superior  not a steele book   as are some of steele  s earlier books turned into film .  
i thought this was an excellent and very honest portrayal of paralysis and racism . this movie never panders to the audience and never gets predictable . the acting was top  notch and the movie reminded me of  one flew over the cuckoo  s nest  .  
this movie got off to an interesting start . down the road however  the story gets convoluted with a poor illustration of ancient black magic rituals . the male lead was very good  even though he gets the worst end of the stick in the climax . in comparison  this is  boomerang  meets  extremities  .  
this film lingered and lingered at a small movie theater in town  and the word  of  mouth buzz got me to see it . a comedy about disabled people  the subject matter keeps lots of people away from a funny and heart  warming film .  
this movie got off to an interesting start . down the road however  the story gets convoluted with a poor illustration of ancient black magic rituals . the male lead was very good  even though he gets the worst end of the stick in the climax . in comparison  this is  boomerang  meets  extremities  .  br    br    
touching and sad movie . portrays the trials and tribulations of a writer trying to come to terms with paralysis caused by a cycling accident . the film centers on his relationship with his married lover  whom he is often very hostile towards  and his interactions with other accident victims  particularly a black down  and  out and a white  supremacist biker . the film is often humorous  often sad  and always believable . get out the box of kleenex and watch this on a cosy sunday afternoon with your partner .  
this engaging  which it shouldn  t be  low  grade spanish exploitation  quite tame i might add  looks good  but huh  let me phrase that again  huh   . actually the word  huh   would be going through your mind quite a lot . nothing makes sense  nor does it try too . i just don  t know if its complicatedly cryptic or just a convoluted muddle  but there  s no denying how laconically uneventful  strange and wordy it feels .  br    br   unrelated sequences tied  like that nasty opening involving a little girl  dead cat and fire  in to a sparse story involving photographer mario  played by a chest  puffing john caffari  who  s mustache is a dead ringer for nintendo  s iconic mario . what  s the odds   that ditches his girlfriend at home and encounters a young lady  a gorgeously fixating patty shepard  who he asks to come with him on an photography assignment  where at this remote mountain retreat they come across some hooded witches .  br    br   look past the unhinged plot structure and wallow in what is simply a moody piece of atmospheric mechanisms and growing unease . raul artigot directs few jarringly unusual visuals and creepy passages  but for most part seems sporadically non  existent and unfocused just like his writing . ramon sempere  s striking cinematography lenses the gracefully rich scenery as we take in the scenic views and let the time leisurely grind away . however there are certain areas where it was too dark to see what was going on . fernando garcia morcillo  s hauntingly bombastic and overwrought score blends terrifically with compulsively dense atmosphere created . the leads are capable  but there  s also a sturdy bunch  the pick being vctor israel  of secondary performances .  br    br   slow with little in the way of interest  but this dreamy set  up  that seems to go on and on  manages to keep you watching until its closing .  
  the matador  stars pierce brosnan as a burned out assassin . he  s james bond gone to seed  in too  tight  garish clothes  gold chains  and an ugly haircut . our struggling assassin  julian noble  is in mexico  trying to regain his nerve . staying at the same hotel is a likable  down  on  his luck businessman danny wright  greg kinnear   also trying to regain his equilibrium . danny is desperate to close a deal and return to his wife in denver  hope davis  with good news .  br    br   noble and wright unexpectedly become friends . wright convinces noble to reveal certain techniques  which he demonstrates at a bullfight . noble is eventually targeted by his employers and shows up in denver .  br    br   writer and director richard shepard did the qa after this delightful movie at the austin film festival . shepard was also down on his luck . after suffering the loss of his agent and rejection of recent scripts  he decided to write a story no one would buy and create a character no one would want to play . then pierce brosnan called . brosnan regains his equilibrium in this movie .  there is life after bond   he has a wonderful flair for self  deprecating comedy . don  t miss it .  br    br   stay for the closing credits to read what the filmmakers say about bullfighting . i look forward to more of richard shepard  s projects .  
ok  honestly i dont see why everybody thinks this is so great . its really not . there were two good things that came out of this movie  . jack  s performance  he was very good i can tip my hat for him .  . danny  s performance  he was good . no other then that it got pretty stupid . and  what was stanley kubrick thinking drafting shelly as the wendy  she was so bad . she looked the same every time she got scared . the problem with this movie was the ending . i would have had more respect for it if kubrick would have ended it differently . and  the over all movie was just stupid . the problem with the movie is that the book was so much better . so dont see the movie read the book and you will be much better off .     .  
it  s funny how your life can change in a second . . . to attend   the waterdance   for the first time it was an unforgettable experience  the way you need to get used to a new way of life it can seem frightening  and to notice that there are other people going by a similar situation it can help you to go on .  br    br   eric stoltz  s performances and mainly of helen hunt  oh man   helen is the purest and graceful woman in earth . . .  are wonderful  wesley snipes also surprises in one of your last serious roles . a film simple and at the same time deep that doesn  t get to leave us indifferent to the message that is transmitted enjoy each moment of your life . . .  br    br   really to a film as that the any hour is not attended     sorry  it  s a brazilian expression . . .  .  
as someone else mentioned  it begins with a bizarre prologue about a little blond girl killing a cat . then the main story a photographer  gaffari  and a writer  shepard  meet by chance and take a trip into the mountains . first they spend the night at an inn where the slightly deaf landlord gets hollered at  with increasing irritation to the audience  by gaffari . once in the mountains they seek shelter again and are invited in by a kindly old lady who seems overly hospitable to strangers  hansel and gretel  anyone   what happens next i will leave for the bold viewer to sort out because i most assuredly couldn  t . now  i like eurohorror  and this woulda been better if only artigot  writer and director  had made some attempt at logical story telling . the backdrop  pyrenees   makes an excellent and intriguing location for mysterious and occult occurrences . the verdant peaks could easily obscure supernatural forces and those who command them . the photography is nice . just wish the whole thing made sense . you can view this film at archive . org .  
i know  that  s not what you expect from a film with this sort of  br    br   lineage  it  s a direct descendant of the best years of our lives  br    br   and the men . . . films dealing with men who are in the hospital  br    br   dealing with tragic circumstances . but this film is full of wonderful  br    br   surprises and performances . it features stellar performances from  br    br   eric stoltz and helen hunt  including a rather risque nude scene   br    br   and wesley snipes and william forsythe . as emanuel levy wrote  br    br   in his book cinema of outsiders  about the independent film  br    br   movement   the waterdance is coherant  attentive to detail  and  br    br   unsentimental with a wicked down to earth humor  it  s at once  br    br   funny and sad  and the entire cast is impressive .  i was  br    br   extraordinarily moved by this film  it  s hard hitting yes  but also has  br    br   very tender moments and laugh out loud moments . a rare gem .  
welcome to movie   on the chilling classics   pack . where we  ll see  that  s right . another movie that makes absolutely no sense . seriously  this movie had me so confused at the end  i thought i was rewatching  at dawn they sleep .  the plot seems simple enough . . . . well that is until  seconds into the movie where a girl supposedly killed a cat and then . . . um . . explodes  i have no idea what happened . and that was before the title screen . that  s really sad when i can  t even tell what happened in the first  minutes .  br    br   anyway it stars a photographer with a big mustache who finds this girl after dumping his other girlfriend on the way to take pictures of something somewhere . so we get there but not before somebody steals their jeep to drive it    feet out of the way towards a town . suspicious  nah . so they decide to stay at this deserted village with one old lady . and then blah blah stuff happens and blah blah talking . the guy with the mustache goes out in the fog for some reason even though the old lady tells him not to . he gets lost and then finds his way back .  br    br   oh  i forgot to mention this is all after an incredibly pointless   minutes of them staying in the house of a guy who looks like that buggy eyed guy from casablanca . then they leave . there  s really no point to this scene . it  s really just padding . if you cut it out no one would have noticed or cared .  br    br   but sadly  that was actually the best part of the movie . wait . let me rephrase that . really sadly that was the best part of the movie . because the rest is so confusing that i had to look on imdb to find out what happened . but of course no one else knows so i  m sol .  br    br   seriously  the last   minutes of the movie were some of the most mindscrewing moments i  ve ever seen on film . they dressed her up in a dress  he gets kidnapped  then released  he runs back to the house  then at the end the witches are in the house and it ends  seriously . i have hardly ever been so confused in a movie . i mean  as bad as movies such as  war of the robots  are  at least they make sense . this movie doesn  t even make the attempt to be coherent . the ending was as confusing as the end of  at dawn they sleep  and the plot was much more boring . this movie gets a  just for its sheer  i have no idea what happened in this movie  ness .  witches mountain  gets  confused movie watcher out of   .  
  waterdance  explores a wide variety of aspects of the life of the spinally injured artfully . from the petty torments of faulty fluorescent lights flashing overhead to sexuality  masculinity and depression  the experience of disability is laid open .  br    br   the diversity of the central characters themselves underscores the complexity of the material examined  joel  the writer  raymond  the black man with a murky past  and bloss  the racist biker . at first  these men are united by nothing other than the nature of their injuries  but retain their competitive spirit . over time  shared experience  both good and bad  brings them together as friends to support one another .  br    br   most obvious of the transformations is that experienced by joel  who initially distances himself from his fellow patients with sunglasses  headphones and curtains . as he comes to accept the changes that disablement has made to his life  joel discards these props and begins to involve himself in the struggles of the men with whom he shares the ward .  br    br   the dance referred to in the title is a reference to this daily struggle to keep one  s head above water to give up the dance is to reject life .  waterdance  is a moving and powerful film on many levels  and i do not hesitate to recommend it .  
i am working my way through the chilling classics   movie pack collection and the witches  mountain  el monte de las brujas  is something like the   th movie in the set .  br    br   the movie had nothing to it to hold my attention at all . the plot was incoherent . the dialog seemed improvised . the acting was poor . the characters were unsympathetic .  br    br   the best scene is the beginning  with an exasperated woman that is driven to burning her seemingly bratty daughter . however  the only connection this scene has to the rest of the movie  is the lead character  mario  who has the most stupendous mustache ever . but  that  s it .  br    br   the film was not effective on any level . the music was too intrusive . the lighting was very dark  so that some scenes are almost completely black . it really is barely watchable   what more can i say   
this was one of those films i probably never would have picked off the shelf  but it came on ifc one day and i said  eric stolz  william forsythe . . . why not  if i  d changed the channel  i would have really missed a treasure .  br    br   the subject is depressing  young author paralyzed in climbing accident convalesces in lower  class rehabilitation center . it would have been so easy and tempting to make this a manipulative tear  jerker . but  that doesn  t happen because it was written by neal jimenez  after he himself was accidently paralyzed . no hollywood happiness here . all of the patients in the ward come from wildly different backgrounds  but they share a feeling of helplessness  of being at the mercy of others . stolz is very good as a  lone wolf  type  forced into embarrassing dependence on his girlfriend  helen hunt   wesley snipes is fine as a former ladies  man whose family is falling apart but william forsythe takes the cake as a tough guy determined to make someone pay for taking away his independence .  br    br   see this film .  
i admit  i had to fast forward through this poorly transferred dvd after about   minutes   nothing was happening  and everyone has already described the  plot .  but has anyone mentioned the opening scene   a butcher knife is stabbed through a wig and it  s impaled on the grass in the front yard  i  m guessing the bratty kid did it  put it  s never explained . really trippy opening .  br    br   i wish this had been a better written or thought out film  because what we  re left with if pretty daft and a movie that makes no sense isn  t a  clever  movie  it  s just a poorly executed film .  br    br   i would like to see a cleaned up version and if there was any missing footage  i would like to see if it would help . otherwise  this is an odd little film that is best if fast  forwarded through   
this film never received the attention it deserved  although this is one of the finest pieces of ensemble acting  and one of the most realistic stories i have seen on screen . clearly filmed on a small budget in a real v . a . hospital  the center of the story is joel  very well  played by eric stoltz . joel has been paralyzed in a motorcycle accident  and comes to the hospital to a ward with other men who have spinal injuries . joel is in love with anna  his married lover  played by helen hunt  who shows early signs of her later academy  award winning work .  br    br   although the joel  anna relationship is the basic focus  there are many other well  developed characters in the ward . wesley snipes does a tremendous job as the angry raymond . even more impressive is william forsythe as the bitter and racist bloss . i think forsythe  s two best scenes are when he becomes frustrated and angry at the square dancers  and  later  when he feels empathy for a young korean man who has been shot in a liquor store hold up . my favorite scene with snipes is the in the roundtable discussion of post  injury sexual options .  br    br   the chemistry between stoltz and hunt is very strong  and they have two very intimate  but not gratuitous  sex scenes . the orgasm in the ward is both sexy and amusing . there is also another memorable scene where joel and bloss and the korean boy take the specially  equipped van to the strip bar . it  s truly a comedy of errors as they make their feeble attempts to get the van going to see the  naked ladies .   br    br   the story is made even more poignant by the fact that the director  neal jimenez  is paralyzed in real life . this is basically his story . this film is real  not glossy or flashy . to have the amount of talent in a film of such a small budget is amazing . i recommend this film to everyone i see  because it is one of those films that even improves on a second look . it  s a shame that such a great piece of work gets overlooked  but through video  perhaps it can get the attention it so richly deserves .  
i was never quite sure where this thing was going . these people seem interested in what is going on on some mountain . they investigate  have narrow escapes  leave  come back  leave  put each other in danger  sleepwalk  get attacked by witches who have consistent wardrobes  etc .  etc . the guy seems to like the girl  but leaves her unprotected numerous times . she gets taken off  he gets her back  leaves her again . you get the point . the whole thing seems to get around to some sort of sacrifice  i think  but i  m not sure  or turning people into witches  but i  m not sure . it  s just dull and endless and not worth the time . there are some atmospheric scenes  but the print is so bad that there times when twenty seconds of blackness is not unusual . is this caused by age or the overuse of night filters .  
overall i found this movie quite amusing and fun to watch  with plenty of laugh out loud moments .  br    br   but  this movie is not for everyone . that is why i created this quick question  ere  if you answer yes to any of the following questions than i recommend watching this flick  br    br      do you enjoy crude sexual humor     do you enjoy alcohol related humor     do you enjoy amazingly hot girls     do you enjoy viewing boobs     do you enjoy viewing multiple boobs     did i mention all the nice boobies in this film   br    br   if you noticed the spoiler alert  that is referring the mass amount of nudity you can expect in the movie  i myself have no idea what the plot was about . not that it matters .  
i couldn  t make sense of this film much of the time  and neither could anyone else  based on other reviews . the opening scene of this film has virtually nothing to do with the rest of the story . in it  a photojournalist with a big mustache cancels his vacation to get away from his girlfriend . he is assigned to photograph a mountain range . it  s rumored to be haunted  but i couldn  t tell whether he heard that from his boss or later in the film . on his way  he meets a beautiful writer  patty shepard  and convinces her to join him on his working trip . throughout the film  there is this terrible music score  mostly consisting of noisy singing that makes you want to scream  shut up already     what really will gall a person is that the film always seems like it  s about to become good  though it never does . there is beautiful mountain scenery and some genuinely creepy atmosphere . the inn and the silent  abandoned old buildings scattered on the mountain are rather ominous . the foggy nights look real  not like someone put an artificial fog machine on the set . and the idea  while not original  had potential . but it never does improve  at least not enough to be worthwhile . here  s how it goes  more or less . they stop at this inn run by a weird innkeeper  you expect him to be named igor  with a hearing problem . there is a scene where the writer thinks a peeping tom is in her window  but the scene is so dark  i had no idea what was going on . whether this was poor lighting or a poor film transfer is unknown to me . in any event  we never find out know what happened . there is a scene where she wanders off during the night . whether she is sleepwalking or mesmerized by the witches of the title is never explained . another scene which is never explained is when their car is stolen  then found again  with nothing stolen . they wind up in this apparently abandoned mountain village whose sole inhabitant is this seemingly kindly old woman . there are other things  including a chained wild man in a cave who is never explained  an attempt to sacrifice the writer in some way  will they kill her or brainwash her into joining them    the witches themselves  a bunch of brunette women in white robes who don  t show up until the last   minutes of the film and whose practices and beliefs are never explained . even the closing scene doesn  t make any sense . when all is said and done  most people will be saying   huh    
this is one of the funniest and most excellent movies ever made  although i  ve only seen forty minuets of it and i must say this is a good movie . the plot if funny and because there  s sex around pretty much every corner of this movie . it  s really funny and i don  t see how anyone could not like this film . i really really really want to watch the rest of the movie . it has one slightly sick scene in it  trust me  it  s not very pleasant  but apart from that this is a great movie . i rate this movie an    for comedy       for sexual content and      for the plot . please if your a fan of american pie and you want to watch a movie where there  s pretty much all sex in it the buy this movie . it will please you .  br    br         
highly implausible  unbelievable  and incoherent spanish production about . . . well  let me see just how close i can get to it . the film opens with a woman having one of her cat  s killed by a young girl . she then begs her lover to take her somewhere on his vacation . he calls work and demands that he loses his vacation time and she says he will pay for this . what relevance this plays out to is anybody  s guess at the film  s end  because the guy  a swarthy photographer  spies a beautiful patty shepard  queen of spanish horror films it seems  taking her bikini top off momentarily so he can snap a picture  ask her out to lunch  and then to his assignment to witches mountain  for reasons again we are never privy to . before they go  patty must stop by the house and loud   eerie  chanting echoes in our hero  s ears . again  this is never explained . the film goes on with these two stopping at an inn  going on to the mountain  and finally realizing why the mountain is called witches mountain . you know  there are several aspects to this film which make it better than a bad film . it has some atmosphere  some of the character actors are really quite good  especially the deaf innkeeper and the old woman   the leads are at least adequate  and the climax  though it makes absolutely no sense at all  is well  choreographed  literally  with the witches in white brassieres and long black hair . it just doesn  t make any sense though  and that is a huge detractor to me . i could watch the film another ten times and still not know more now than i did after the first viewing . that is a major problem . the witches mountain is a curious film from the long line of cheap  atmospheric european horror films that blanketed that decade . if you can get more out of it than me  better power to you .  
a lot of people hated this movie  but that i blame on two facts    they want it to be too much like the first couple of american pie movies . and   they are trying to take it too seriously .  br    br   this one i found was the best one out of all six  and i absolutely love dwight . the plot is predictable  i  ll say that  but then what teen comedy isn  t  road trip  dirty deeds etc etc  they are all incredibly predictable  but still goddamn funny  i say this is worth watching  i love it  i find it hilarious . just don  t watch it while comparing it to the first ones because it  s nothing alike .  br    br   after watching naked mile and this one  it became obvious that all the american pie movies were about  and only about  the stiflers . which is fine by me .  br    br   watch . enjoy . love . xd  
this was a fairly creepy movie i found the music to be effective for this . the photographs mario took of the village were also unnerving . however  i had three problems with this film . one is that the lighting was very dark so some of the time it was hard to tell what was going on  but this may have just been my copy . the second is that the very beginning is not explained very well and i  m still not sure what was going on there . the third problem is that i didn  t understand the ending  but apparently some people do . of course there are also the usual problems of people doing stupid things  and the male lead is very   s . all in all  watchable but not even close to being a favorite .  
funny  sexy  hot    there is no real plot but you needn  t anyone . . .  br    br   so the naked or almost naked girls and the typical fights between college  cliques need no development   br    br   all in all the whole seems to be known from simply every film in this category but the reissuer reached the goal that this film can be recognized out of thousand others .  br    br   last thing i  ve got to say . unbelievable funny   br    br   you  ve got to see it     br    br   and if you are young and you want know more about the female body you  ve got to see it twice  
saying this movie is extremely hard to follow and just as frustrating to sit through is putting it very mildly . also saying that the current available print is dark  dreary  scratchy  abysmally edited  painfully dubbed  seemingly censored and in almost unwatchable shape is also correct . this film is in dire need of a good remastering from the full  uncut  original negative and seeing how it  s reasonably atmospheric  and won the director an award at the catalonia film festival   it might actually be worth the trouble . then again  maybe not . . . it  s just impossible to tell in its current condition what kind of movie it actually is . it starts fairly interesting  if you can discount the completely senseless pre  credits opening sequence  which involves a deranged cat  killing  snake  loving little girl named gerda . the girls mom  carla  mnica randall  who should have laid off the eyeliner a little bit   splashes some gasoline around in the garage and torches the brat . seemingly about as crazy as young gerda  she goes to visit her estranged photographer  ex   boyfriend mario   john   cihangir caffari  . he  s on vacation from work  but so desperate to get away from carla that he begs his employers to set him up on an assignment . . . any assignment . she scowls  you  ll be sorry   as he heads out the door . well  mario is assigned to photograph  witches mountain   somewhere in the pyrenees  i believe  . before he gets to his destination  he gets sight of a hottie on the beach named delia  patty shepard  and snaps a few pictures of her taking off her bikini top . only slightly peeved  she claims to be a single writer  the two flirt and then decide it would be a swell idea if they went on the trip up the mountain together . when they stop by her place so she can pack her bags  mario suddenly hears loud  sinister music . delia claims he  s just hearing things .  br    br   so the two begin their trip up the mountain  taking a stop at a local inn to spend the night . there they encounter a weird  partially  deaf  crazy  eyed innkeeper  victor israel  and delia claims someone was spying on here through her window . the next day  under some trance  she wanders off up the mountain and is eventually located by mario  who hops out of his jeep and runs after her . while he  s finding out what  s up  someone steals their wheels and they  re forced to walk a piece  eventually finding the jeep undamaged at the foot of a small  ancient  seeming abandoned village . . . almost like someone was trying to intentionally lure them there . well as we will see  that  s exactly what has happened . in the village they encounter a friendly old woman named zanta  ana farra  who claims she  s the only person still living there and lets them stay in her home . mario takes some pictures of the  abandoned  city and when he develops them they are eerily full of people . slightly creeped out  he and delia begin to leave and get stuck in  treacherous  fog and have to pull over and camp out for the night . the rest of the movie has to do with voodoo dolls  black cats transforming into sexy women  satanic rituals performed by ladies in their bras and a deadly fall off a cliff . and yeah  coincidentally carla the estranged wife turns out to be one of the witches  too . it all takes place in semi  darkness and to be quite honest  i didn  t know what the hell was going on most of the time . the inconclusive  open  ending is just an additional slap in the face to anyone having to suffer through the rest of this senseless mess .  br    br   honestly  there are just a few things that stand out to me as being really good . the first is actress shepard  who has that great barbara steele kind of dark  mysterious beauty . there  s also an excellent music score  credited to fernando garcia morcillo  and chanting songs  which aided immensely in making this film as atmospheric as it is . the location work is fairly decent  but as i said  the print is ugly as can be and it doesn  t make a lick of sense  so proceed with caution on this one .  
ok  it was a good american pie . erick stifler goes off to college with his buddy cooze . during their arrival they meet up with eric  s cousin dwight . the two pledge to become betas and along the way they get involved with a whole lot of sex  tits  and some hot girls along the way . in a few words there is a lot more sex  nudity and alcohol . it is a good movie for those who want to enjoy an american pie movie  granted it isn  t as great as the first three is is a good movie . if you enjoy hot girls with really nice tits  get this movie . if you enjoy seeing a bunch of dudes making assholes of themselves  go to this movie . if you want to see the full thing  get the unrated addition . one last thing this is a better attempt than the last two american pies .  
okay  what the hell kind of trash have i been watching now   the witches  mountain  has got to be one of the most incoherent and insane spanish exploitation flicks ever and yet  at the same time  it  s also strangely compelling . there  s absolutely nothing that makes sense here and i even doubt there ever was a script to work with  but somehow i couldn  t turn it off . the scratching your head with confusion starts right away  with an opening sequence about an angry little girl that killed her mother  s cat . so you think this film revolves on children possessed by evil forces  heck no  because after this intro  the girl and her wickedness simply aren  t mentioned anymore . then cut to a guy  with the most impressively trimmed mustache you  ll ever see  who breaks up with his girlfriend in a rather unsubtle way . when she asks him to spend his vacation with her  he promptly phones his employer requesting him any type of assignment  great move . the movie finally starts now  as he travels to an isolated mountain area to photograph some peaks . though not before he picks up a new girl  patty shepard  and photographs her topless  throughout their journey  all kind of strange events occur that  you guessed it  are never explained . the girl wakes up in the middle of the forest  loud petrifying music plays everywhere and someone even steals the jeep  really  car jacking witches  apparently a coven of silent witches owns the mountains and they practice voodoo on trespassers . that  s as close as i get describing the plot  but there  s a good chance i  m way off more important here is the atmosphere   the witches  mountain  is occasionally very creepy  with its spooky music and interesting cinematography . the supportive characters all look uncanny and the ravishing patty shepard plays a good heroine . this is the type of european horror film that could have been legendary  if only someone had bothered to write a structured screenplay .  
  margaritas and cock . . .   br    br   this tremendously entertaining film grabs you from the opening scene and never stops delivering laughs  surprises and unexpectedly touching moments . i had more fun watching  the matador  than almost any other film from     . it is a wacky film with an unforgettable character  played to perfection by pierce brosnan .  br    br   julian noble  brosnan  is a facilitator  hit  man  who specializes in high  end corporate gigs  assassinating rich dudes  . he is also experiencing something akin to a mid  life crisis . after coming to realization that he has no real friends  no permanent home and no planned future  he stumbles into a mexican hotel bar one night and runs into danny wright  kinnear  .  br    br   danny is a down  on  his  luck family man who is on the verge of losing the big business deal that just might turn things around for him . he loves his wife dearly  especially so since they lost their young son a few years earlier .  br    br   the two men are chalk and cheese  hardly any common ground other than that they are in the same desolate bar one night . and somehow a conversation is struck that sets in to motion a chain of events that will change their lives forever .  br    br   the friendship they form reminded me a lot of laurel and hardy . one is the straight man and the other is the persistent fool who gets them into trouble . the interplay is superbly timed and finely tuned  due in no small part to the wonderful performances from brosnan and kinnear .  br    br   but make no mistake . . . this is brosnan  s film . he imprints one of the most memorable and despicably likable characters of the decade . he could shoot your mother and apologize immediately thereafter and you  d probably forgive him . brosnan may be cinema  s ultimate charmer  but this is his most endearing and complete performance to date . i wouldn  t be averse to seeing an oscar nod for this role .  br    br   consider one scene where he overtly ogles a high  school girl with the impurest of thoughts and utters the line   all blushy blushy . . . no sucky fucky  . he does it with the familiar bond smirk and manages to get away with it . he manages to tell a young boy   tell your mother to lose   lbs and   years . then get back to me  without coming across as unlikable . in fact  it makes us like him even more .  br    br   and yet the film manages to surprise us with some truly touching scenes  most of which come toward the end when the film takes some unpredictable turns . however  when julian thumbs through his little black book to find someone to call on his birthday  or when danny and his wife  davis  console each other in their bedroom one night  the film reaches an unexpected depth of emotion .  br    br    the matador  is stylish and energetic . it is constantly entertaining . and it contains a career  defining role for brosnan as the lonely hit  man looking for normalcy  friendship and a means to do at least one good thing in his life . this is an overlooked gem in     and you should make an effort to see this film as soon as possible .  br    br   tc candler of independentcritics . com  
ladies and gentlemen  please don  t get fooled by  a stanley kubrick  film tag . this is a very bad film which unfortunately has been hailed as one of the deadliest horror films ever made . horror films should create such a fear that during nights people should shiver their hearts out while thinking about a true horror film . in shining  there is no real horror at all but what we find instead is just a naive  foolish attempt made to create chilling horror . everyone knows as to how good the attempts are if they are different from reality . all that is good in the film is the view of the icy valley . the hotel where most of the actors were lodged appears good too . a word about the actors jack nicholson looks like a lost  lazy soul who is never really sure of what he is supposed to do . there is not much to be said of a bald  colored actor who for the most of times is busy pampering a kid actor . no need to blame the bad weather for the tragedy . it cannot be avoided as the film has been made and poor kubrick is not alive to make any changes .  
now i love american pie  and  while  was great just for seann william scott  s performance as stifler but after that the quality has dropped . band camp kept the standard reasonably high with characters you actually cared about but naked mile was the same joke and plot  lines recycled  erik stifler  s sex problem is like jim  s  . it had some amusing moments like the football game against the midgets and the  punishment  of coozeman but on the whole it lacked originality and the  mile  was just stupid and moronic . not to mention the irritating girlfriend who doesn  t want to have sex .  br    br   anyway enough about the naked mile . i watched beta house with apprehension as i thought it could take the series to a new low but i was pleasantly surprised . to be honest there is no real plot but it  s filled with hot girls  ashley is incredible  and sex jokes aplenty . yes it is formulaic and the jokes are old but dwight stifler  steve talley  raises the bar with an exuberant performance . the greek olympiad is entertaining especially the penultimate and final events while christopher mcdonald  s cameo is hilarious . there are weak points though . coozeman is as irritating as he was in the first  i  m still baffled to as how he ever got a part .  br    br   while coozeman is bad erik stifler is worse . john white made naked mile a pain to watch but in beta house he takes his performance to a whole new low . first and foremost he lacks charisma  a stifler prerequisite . you really can  t care less about him . the only reason i was bothered about his relationship was so ashley could be on screen  she shines above him as does the rest of the cast . seriously john white is the ultimate in bad acting and has about as much charisma as a dead fish .  br    br   saying that the film does entertain and coozeman  s fear that his girl is not exactly a girl is brilliantly funny .  br    br   overall this film is worth renting  get a few of your mates in and have a laugh at the vomit  fest event and vent your anger at erik  loser  stifler .  
in europe  it  s known as who dares wins in america  it  s known as the final option  but under any title this ludicrous sas action flick asks the audience to put their disbelief to one side for around two hours . i find it incredibly hard to comprehend how lewis collins  the hero here  was almost chosen as roger moore  s successor in the bond films . . . . this guy is so expressionless he  d struggle to get a job in a waxwork museum  as a waxwork     luckily  judy davis is on hand to partially redeem the affair with a meaty performance as a hard  line lady terrorist  and there  s a climactic ten minute action sequence that is quite competently orchestrated by director ian sharp . let it be added that it  s a very  very  very long wait for these closing excitements to come around  and i can  t honestly say that a near two hour wait for a bit of decent action was worth the effort .  br    br   sas hard man peter skellen  lewis collins  goes undercover among a group of peace protesters who would like to see the end of nuclear weapons stock  piling . he meets their leader frankie  judy davis   a strong  talking and opinionated woman who might just be capable of taking extraordinary measures to achieve her goals . frankie  s dedicated bunch violently lay siege to the american embassy in london  demanding that a nuclear missile be fired at a naval base in scotland  she believes that when the world witnesses a nuclear blast for real  everyone will be so appalled that they will join her campaign for disarmament  . unfortunately for frankie  she makes the mistake of taking skellen on her little embassy raid  and he plans to thwart their plan from inside with a little well  timed outside help from his sas comrades .  br    br   the film is inspired  quite obviously  by the awesome sas assault on the iranian embassy in     . someone who saw that event on the news apparently thought it would be good to devise a film along similar lines . unfortunately  the film is rather banal  with too much stupid dialogue and a heck of a lot of embarrassingly bad scenes  the arch  bishop  s debate which descends into a riot  anyone   frankie  s idea to bring about peace by instigating a nuclear blast is ridiculous anyway  so she becomes a laughable figure just when the audience is on the verge of viewing her as an interesting villain . who dares wins tries to be a celebration of the military legend that is the sas  but at the same time it dips into clumsy action clichs and ill  thought  out plotting . the result is a well  intentioned but wholly ineffective slice of boy  s own absurdity .  
tis and as  lots of boobies . some great characters  fun filled pranks and well put together teen action in this spin off of the amercan pie franchise . this feels like really old school . it feels a bit like porkys for the      s . some great funny characters combined with some very humorous situations make this one a real surprise for me .  br    br   whilst the original cast is all but gone except for one  this movie i found really entertaining . lets not get too excited  you have to take it for the booby teen comedy that it is  but for what it is  it excels . the characters are likable and funny  the girls are hotter than hell . the fun and games are hilarious  with some stuff i  ve never seen before in comedies  they make me cringe but laugh at the same time .  br    br   so ignore the haters and give this a run and see what you think . don  t expect the classic american pie  but expect something that should make you laugh and spark your attention for an hour or so .  
it  s      two years after the iranian embassy siege which involved the dramatic sas rescue from the balconys  and with a war with argentina over the falkland islands currently taking place  what better film to make than a gung  ho  sas  film that re  creates the iranian hostage siege  whilst using britains number one action hero of the day  lewis collins . throw in edward woodward and a few other well known actors and you  ve got a winner on your hands  . . . well maybe not  the film itself doesn  t make the situation serious enough  whilst the acting is quite second rate . it  s like a movie long episode of  the professionals   but without the formula . this film goes nowhere fast and is quite predictable . maybe cubby brocoli watched this film and decided to ditch lewis collins as a touted james bond replacement for roger moore . watch it if your a fan of lewis collins or sas stuff in general  if not  save your time .  
this is by far one of my favorite of the american pie spin offs mainly because in most of the others the main character  one of the young stiflers  always seems unrealistic in nature .  br    br   for example ap the naked mile . you have a teenage guy surrounded by naked college chicks  and has one in particular hot on his trail to rid him of his virginity  problem  and he ends up stopping mid  deed and rides a horse back to sleep with his girlfriend  who keep in mind gave him a  guilt free pass  for the weekend . i can appreciate the romantic aspect of the whole thing but let  s be realistic most people who are watching these movies aren  t particularly searching for a romantic story .  br    br   whereas the most recent installment finally seems to realize who the audience is and good old erik stifler seems to wake up and smell the roses and as always mr . levenstein lends his  perfectly natural  eyebrow humor to the equation and scored a touchdown with this new movie .  
 . . . just look at the poor robert webber character  great performance  once again   who tries to wrestle a sub machine gun from one of the terrorists . everything in this movie seems to be a little wrong . the biggest mistake in my opinion is the effort to give the action a firm footing in the actuality of the early     ies  the fundamental difference between this flick and the far more fantastic  ironic and therefore timeless die hard  . the story comes through as a failed attempt to glorify the sas commandos . ideas like when a commando shouts heads down  all good guys do it and all bad guys don  t so that they can blast away ad lib  with a good conscience   that the main character does not get mown down by the gas masked commandos although he wears the same clothes and carries a weapon from their arsenal just seem to be unlikely and make it hard to take the movie seriously . and it just happens that it tries to be more than just fun . don  t talk about the toilet  mirror  signal episode . . .  br    br   i don  t mind the criticism of the pacifist movement as a shield for evildoers and the arguments between the peace fanatics and the settled  even headed representatives of power in this movie . but the political comment is rather lame and uninspired . this is insofar regrettable as the movie features an early performance of judy davies . she plays the main fanatic and seems to have done extensive studies on the subject  . anyway  her performance is a notch above that of the others and somehow i feel the movie let her down .  
i just watched the movie i was afraid it  s gonna disappoint me . i was rather surprised at the end though . the american pie franchise is still in my favorite franchise movies of all times . yes  it won  t be true if i say that i enjoyed it as mush as i enjoyed the original ones . beta house along with the previous two pies definitely lost something that the first two pies had . it is not gonna become a classic as the first two already did . but what the hell  it is still funny with a lot of good moments and i think it should be the first movie to pick if you wanna have fun and relax after a hard day at work or school . beta house deserves     but i gave it     just for being another slice of pie .  
this is actually a pretty bad film . the ideology is not as perverse as in those films collins made later . however  my main misgivings about the film are that it is implausible and quite frankly boring for a long time . the whole concept of an ex  sas man joining terrorists for no particular reason isn  t very convincing and you can  t help wondering why a group of highly organized terrorists  who later become pretty clueless  fall for it . the film starts with a pretty powerful scene but then meanders for quite a long time building up towards the great finale . overall  i think who dares wins could have been an interesting   minutes episode of the professionals but the story doesn  t carry a feature film . although reasonably successful at the time this film initiated the demise of collins  career who in the eighties mainly made cheap and dubious soldier  of  fortune or army films . pity  because he actually is quite a versatile actor but at the end of the day martin shaw chose his roles more carefully and has a career that  s still successful .  
wow  this was another good spin off of the original american pie  not as good as band camp  but definitely a lot better the naked mile . dwight and erik stifler lead the comedy in this one  but i actually preferred the dialogue in this one to the naked mile . the script was written a lot better and the comedy flowed more smoothly  however most of the comedy came from sex  but that  s okay because that  s why we watch these movies anyway right   br    br   the midget rock also had a really good cameo  considering the intense effort given by him in the naked mile  his scene with stifler was awesome and had me laughing my ass off when i saw it .  br    br   the movie was a definite improvement in my opinion compared to the naked mile  if you liked any previous american pie films  you should like beta house  unless you view all of the american pie spin  offs a waste of money .  
the motion picture was  in all likelihood  made in the year     and released in     . i would surmise that talking motion pictures had great difficulty in making the transition from the silent era . nevertheless  this particular zane grey plot appears to be very weak . also  gary cooper was probably just learning to act . the result is something that would not be acceptable by today  s standards . for      maybe . for      not acceptable . some of the actors performed well . sadly  the indians always get the short end in these early westerns . they were living on the land long before the white man came  but according to twisted history  they had no right to defend themselves .  
 firstly  although many say it is the worst of the series  i don  t think that it is true  considering this one ideally reflects the   century teen mentality . it brings perfect opportunities to make you laugh and remind you of the good teenager times when you would have liked to have same fun as the characters do .  br    br    i agree with the fact that it is a teenager movie but comedy movies nowadays aren  t supposed to be for teenagers  i mean . . . cinemas are mostly the place for teenagers to hang out plus  seeing such a movie during a sleepover or something like that is very good for having a very good time .  br    br    many comment about the amount of nudity in this movie . well . . . let  s get real . . . doesn  t that reflect the thoughts of teen guys like those from the movie  what would you like to see . . . smart books  romantic stuff  that is not at all what would be in those teenagers  minds . . .  br    br    to conclude  i think that if you are a teenager  you must absolutely see the movie  and even if you are a real grown up man or a woman  you should see it if you still have a teen mind or you often think about how it was being a teenager  or things like that . thanks for reading   
this is a very old and cheaply made film   a typical low  budget b  western in so many ways . gary cooper was not yet a star and this film is highly reminiscent of the early films of john wayne that were done for  poverty row  studios . with both actors  their familiar style and persona were still not completely formed . this incarnation of gary cooper doesn  t seem exactly like the cooper of just a few years later  he talks faster in this early film  among other things  .  br    br   however  unlike the average b  movie of the era  there are at least a few interesting elements that make the film unique  if not good  . if you ever want to see the woman that was married to errol flynn for seven years  this is your chance . lili damita stars as the female love interest and this is a very  very odd casting choice  as she has a heavy accent  she was french  and wasn  t even close to being  movie star pretty  . incidentally  she was also married to director michael curtiz .  br    br   but for me  the most memorable and weird aspect of the film is the seemingly gay subplot   sort of like a brokeback mountain from the     s  and we thought this was a new idea  . gary cooper  s character was raised by two men who hate women and do everything they can through much of the film to keep cooper clear of females . this misogyny alone doesn  t necessarily mean much  but there are so many clues throughout the film that indicate the makers of the film really were trying to portray them as a gay couple . in particular  towards the end  when one of them is killed  the other is shot by an arrow and holds off dying long enough to crawl over to the body of his fallen friend and then falls   with his arms cradled around him  this was pretty edgy stuff for the time and i think this makes this dull film really fascinating today  as far as cooper and the plot go  the film is a bit of a disappointment and very skip  able . unless you are curious about damita or the homosexual undertones  do yourself a favor and find a better western .  
this movie is plain fun . i has nothing to do with the original america pie  but it is fun to watch .  br    br   another try  but better than band camp and the naked mile  at least funnier .  br    br   just after first five minutes i was laughing my ass out  so i decided to call my friend and we would watch it together . we had a few beers and we had fun .  br    br   you will not find any deep message in this movie  but it  s worth watching .  br    br   so  lay back and just enjoy .  
ok  i kinda like the idea of this movie . i  m in the age demographic  and i kinda identify with some of the stories . even the sometimes tacky and meaningless dialogue seems semi  realistic  and in a different movie would have been forgivable .  br    br   i  m trying as hard as possible not to trash this movie like the others did  but it  s not that easy when the filmmakers weren  t trying at all .  br    br   the editing in this movie is terrible  possibly the worst editing i  ve ever seen in a movie  there are things that you don  t have to go to film school to learn  leaning good editing is not one of them  but identifying a bad one is .  br    br   also  the shot . . . oh my god the shots  just awful  i can  t even go into the details  but we sometimes just see random things popping up  and that  in conjunction with the editing will give you the most painful film viewing experience .  br    br   this movie being made on low or no budget with  cast and crew is not an excuse also . i  ve seen short films on youtube with a lot more artistic integrity  joe  greta  i don  t know what the heck you were thinking  but this movie is nothing but a masturbation of both your egos . you should be ashamed of yourselves  in conclusion  this movie is like what a really lazy amateur porn movie will be if it was filled with  or  lousy sex scenes separated by long boring conversations and one disgusting masturbation scene . if that  s not your kind of thing  avoid this at all cost   
i have to hand it to the creative team behind these  american pie  movies .  direct to dvd  typically is synonymous with cheap  incompetent film  making . yet last year i was pleasantly surprised when i found myself thoroughly enjoying the dvd sequel  the naked mile  . the filmmakers took advantage of the opportunity to deliver a raunchy  yet funny little film . this year they offer up the followup   beta house  . this is the honest truth   beta house  makes the first few  american pie  movies look like  the little mermaid  .  br    br   this is no holds barred  tasteless  laugh  out loud fun . sure  the story is a bit thin  but that  s the beauty of the whole thing . within the first   minutes we  re introduced to the all the main characters  the new supporting characters  get a handful of raunchy gags  meet the villains  and establish the general plot  line . with all that out of the way  the movie becomes a no  limits ride . the gags are a plenty  and they did not hold back in this one . i  m talking male semen  urine  dildos  chicks  with  dicks  sex with sheep  female orgazim sprays  and plenty more . not to mention the fact that not a minute goes by without boobs or a sex scene .  br    br   returning from  the naked mile  are john white  jake siegel  steve talley  and eugene levy  in a similar supporting role as the last few films  . the entire cast does fine work . steve talley  dwight stifler   in particular  has a great energy and screen presence . i predict good things for him . the film is also loaded with great movie references for those who keep their eyes open . by far the biggest laugh of the film for me was  the deerhunter  parody . classic .  br    br   the bottom line is  if you  re a fan of the series  you  ll feel right at home with  beta house  . it really pushes the limits of good taste  but in the end is pretty damn funny .  
i admire  kissing on the mouth  for its frankness  pubic hair cutting and masturbation  especially from the lead  director joe swanberg . they weren  t afraid to show trueness to everyday  private  occurrences . unfortunately  the film falls under the  the brown bunny  realm  though with a slightly more developed plot of jealousy . yes  it mirrors  bunny  with a whole lot of nothing going on  or too many cinematography shots focused  or sincerely unfocused  on absolutely nothing  feet  hands or genitals . again  unfortunately  i can see why this film was released  and why people are renting true life sex scenes and full frontal  equally  both male and female  nudity . other than that  it was a complete waste of time . we quickly learn of a post  college male  female roommate pair in which the male has obvious feelings for the female that sees him as just a friend while continuously having sex with her ex  boyfriend . other than that  we are subjected to the every  day events of their boring lives she works for her parents he works on an extremely uninteresting sexual awareness project on his computer . for this all to work  the dialogue has to be interesting and the acting real . neither work and it  s as boring as watching someone drive for an hour  i . e .  the brown bunny .  the only actor that stands out is kate winterich  and even she does some questionable acting .  the dvd extra with her in front of a mike is actually worth watching  listening to .  again  i admire the filmmakers  especially swanberg  for baring it all and not being afraid to expose themselves or shower  habits  but overall the film falls flat . it has narrations that doesn  t fit the scenes  too many boring everyday events and unconvincing acting that you wonder  other than the soft  porn factor  why you rented this .  
always enjoy the great acting of drew barrymore and her great performance in this film  where she plays a very very complicated young gal   holly gooding    skipped parts        who leaves new york and travels to california and shares an apartment with a up and coming writer  george newbern   patrick highsmith    far harbor      . many strange things start to happen to holly and she seeks to find her brother in a mental institution after he killed her father . if you look close enough you will actually see the mother of drew barrymore in real life appear as her mother in this picture . if it was not for the good acting of drew barrymore and george newbern  this film should be seen only on halloween night  however  it sure has it  s surprises in the end      
this film was absolutely awful  i even feel uncomfortable calling it a film . its the typical  mumblecore  movie  with zero plot and a bunch of aimless whiny twenty somethings stumbling around trying to  figure stuff out  . i have tried to give mumblecore a chance  but lets be honest its just horrible .  br    br   i am not out of sync with cinema  i appreciate dogme   films  idioterne is one of my all time favorite films . so i do not mind if a film is cheaply made so long as there is some  any  substance .  br    br   everything in this film is horrid  the acting  the writing  or was it all improvised    the direction  but most of all  above everything else  the camera work was just plain and simple nonsense . the camera was never anywhere logical  there was no consistency . i got to admit being a guy i had heard there was nudity in this film so i thought to myself well even if its horrible at least there  s nudity  yea i know  i  m a jerk  . well thanks to the uber crappy camera  work you never really get to see anything  and the things you do see  trust me  you do not want to see . this film made me want to vomit on numerous levels .  br    br   the dialogue made me want to vomit  the camera  work made me want to vomit  but mostly the idea that this film was praised by some legit critics  well now that more than anything makes me want to vomit .  
there is a certain genius behind this movie . i was laughing throughout . the scene in the phone sex office  discussing how love heals the doppelganger was a nice attempt at this genius  humor . execution is poor  but you can see the writer  s message and they do have some talent . the doppelganger split at the end was like . . .  ok  wasn  t quite expecting that but let  s see what the movie has to say  . certainly ridiculous  but a sweet idea and actually very coherent to the story in a strange way .  br    br   is the point of a movie to be logical or is it to be entertaining or communicate on an emotional level  i  m easily bored by many movies  but this one kept my interest throughout .  br    br   i think the story may have some auto  biographical roots  but that  s just a guess . horribly bad  but good . i  m looking for other movies this person may have done  with more experience  .  
  it  s like hard to like describe just how like exciting it is like to make a relationship like drama like with all the like pornographic scenes thrown like in for like good measure like  and to stir up like contro  like  versy and make us more like money and like stuff .   ellen  the lost quote .  br    br    kissing  like  on the  like  mouth and stuff  is like the best like artistic endeavor like ever made . watching like ellen  s hairy arms and like chris masturbating was like the height of my years  long movie  viewing experience and stuff . but before i like begin like breaking new u . s .     something  airhead records with the my  likes   let me like just briefly list like the high  like  lights of this visual like feast  br    br    . chris doing the deed with his genitals . and not just that the way the camera  guided so elegantly by ellen and patrick  rewards the viewer with a full  screen shot of chris  s fat white  trash stomach after he finishes the un  catholic deed  that was truly thrilling . i can in all honesty say that i  ve never seen such grace . chris  you should do more such scenes in your next movies  because that is exactly what we needed as a continuation of what that brilliant  brilliant man  lars von trier and his  idiots     started . a quick w and then a hairy  fat  white belly what more can any movie  goer ask for   needless to say  i can sit all day and watch chris ejaculate  in spite of the fact that i  m straight  . . . such poetry in motion . such elegance  such style . no less than total  divine inspiration went into filming that sequence  plus a solid amount of zen philosophy . even barbra streisand could not get any more spiritual than this .  br    br    . ellen  s hairy  thick arms . the wobbly  camera close  ups  so skillfully photographed by our two directors of photography  i can  t emphasize this enough   ellen and patrick  often caused confusion regarding the proper identification of the sex in question . there were several scenes when we would see a part of a body  a leg  arm or foot   yet it was often a guessing game does that body  part belong to a man or a woman  naturally  chris and his fellow artists  ellen  patrick and whatsername  cast themselves on purpose  because their bodies were ideal for creating this gender  based confusion . it was at times hard to guess whether one is seeing a female or male leg . patrick is so very thin and effeminate in his movements  so hairless and pristine  whereas ellen and the other girl are so very butch  what with their thick legs and arms . brilliant .  br    br    . brilliant  especially the way that neatly ties in with the theme of role reversal between the sexes so utterly original and mind  blowing . ellen behaves like a man  wants sex all the time  while her ex patrick wants to talk  like a girl . spiffing .  br    br    . ellen  s search for a leftist mate .  he must love  the simpsons   which is quite leftist .  i am glad that the makers of this movie decided to break the long tradition of offering us intelligent leftists . ellen is such a refreshing  and realistic  change . the number of  likes  that she and her liberal friends manage to utter in less than   minutes is truly phenomenal        to be exact  . they have managed to realistically transfer their real  life ineptness onto the big screen with a minimum of effort  and i applaud them for that .  br    br    . the close  ups of toes . plenty of stuff here for foot  fetishists  which i think is a very liberal  highly commendable way of reaching out to sexual minorities . after all  shoe  and foot  fetishists are offered so little in modern cinema  so it  s nice to see that someone out there cares .  br    br   kotm  or rather  klotlmas  offers more than meets the eye . it is not just a modest little film about shallow people engaging in hollow relationships while indulging in meaningless conversations . no  it  s much more than that . it  s about the light that guides all silly creatures the guiding light that dominates the futile lives of various pseudo  artistic wannabes who just dropped out of film school  and plan to assault our senses with dim  witted drivel that will hopefully play well at pretentious festivals like sundance and cannes  enabling them to gain the necessary exposure hence some real cash for a change  with which they will later hire the likes of sean penn and george clooney in promoting the saving of this planet and the resolving of all political problems this world faces . what better way to do that than by making porn at the very start   br    br   if chris and ellen did the camera here  as is clearly stated in the end  credits  then who held the camera while the two of them were in front of it  they probably hired some passers  by and shoved the camera into their hands . . .  br    br   go to http   rateyourmusic . com  fedor   and check out my  tv  cinema    worst cases of nepotism  list .  
this film is fantastic . finally well  written characters you can love for all their good and bad . pierce brosnan is flat  out hysterical in this self  effacing role . i think its the best thing he  s ever done . he  s done other roles that exhibited shades of being capable of this kind of fully  fledged work  but this role finally gave him the room to run with it . i almost died when he walked across the hotel lobby in his underwear and boots . and greg kinnear and hope davis are a couple to aspire too  as well as actors to aspire too . kinnear is so goofy likable that his turn in the end is truly gratifying . you give good actors good work to play with and they give us something more back .  
not the best of the films to be watched nowadays . i read a lot of reviews about shining and was expecting it to be very good . but this movie disappointed me . the sound and environment was good  but there was no story here . not was there a single moment of fright . i expected it to a horror thriller movie  but there was no horror no thriller . the only scene where i got scared was during the chapter change scene showing  wednesday  . there are lots of fragments i the movie . most of the things are left unexplained with nothing to link it to anything . the story does not tell us about the women or other scenes that is shown . might be a good movie to watch in the    s  but not for the   st century .  
drew barrymore was excellent in this film . this role is the type of role you don  t normally see drew play . her typical role is as a woman looking for love . the storyline is also great .  br    br   when holly is implicated in her mother  s murder she moves to l . a . she moves in with a guy who becomes her lover . but her brother who is in a mental prison hospital for what they believe is murder is almost killed she is wrongfully accused . it is then revealed to her lover that she has multiple personality disorder . after that another woman becomes paranoid when she  s around her . in the end though  they find out the truth .  
what a time we live in when someone like this joe swan  whatever the hell is considered a good filmmaker . . . or even a filmmaker at all  where are the new crop of filmmakers with brains and talent    we need them bad  and to hell with mumblecore   br    br   this movie is about nothing  just as the characters in the film stand for nothing . it  s this horrible  so  called gen y  that is full of bored idiots  some of which declare themselves filmmakers with out bothering to learn anything about the craft before shooting . well  orson welles was a filmmaker . john huston was a filmmaker . fellini was a filmmaker . dreyer was a filmmaker  etc . current films like these show just how stupid young  so  called  filmmakers  can be when they believe going out with no script  no direction  no thought  no legit  camerawork   everything shot horribly on dv   no craft of editing  no nothing  stands for  rebellious  or  advanced  film  making . nope  it  s called ignorance and laziness or just pure masturbation of cinema  and there actually is an in  your  face  jack  off shot   so be ready  .  br    br   look at the early films of any accomplished  indie  filmmaker linklatter  morris  allen  lynch  hartley  jarmusch  jost  lee  or herzog . . . none made anything as tedious and aimless as this  yet swan  whatever the hell  is still going to sxsw every year and hailed as some kind of gutsy  new talent . it  s crap  i can  t imagine anyone liking this  and everything else this so  called filmmaker has done  all seen by me  is just as bad  the newer stuff clearly made to appeal to a more mainstream audience  one of the sitcom calling  . steer clear  unless you  re a friend or family member of those involved . . . on second thought  if you  re a family member or friend you  d probably be embarrassed to see a family member or friend in such compromising situations . . .  br    br   utter garbage . this isn  t art . this is the ultimate opposite of it .  
when two writers make a screenplay of a horror version of breakfast at tiffany  s  you know something is going to go right . drew barrymore  patrick highsmith  leslie hope  and sally kellerman are excellent actors . the fbi agent was a terrible actor . the scenes where patrick looked holly up and down like some sort of objectifier  those was just weird . drew barrymore is very hot . intimate strangers  where sally kellerman worked  was a great part . the weird gummy worm was just weird . nathan was a very handsome cat . but what was that scene where patrick followed holly into a cesspool and mr . gooding attacked him  and the scene with dr . wallace  what was he doing fumbling around in there  and not every male has a female  as sally kellerman stated . and when patrick and elizabeth saw drew outside of victor  s  that was weird .  
the cowboys could leave you a little sore in the saddle . definitely not one of johns best movies . don  t get me wrong  with any john wayne move there is always some good spots . and this one has it  s fair share . but over all the picture moves slow and just doesn  t live up to the aspirations it could have been . bruce dern again does an outstanding job as the villain . roscoe lee brown is another bright spot in the movie . the kids in the movie were average but could have been cast better . this would be a good movie for the eight to fifteen year old movie goers .  br    br   this would be a good family move to watch with your children . just be aware  there is a couple of scenes that you may want to take a look at before you let the young ones see it . but most kids that i know who have seen the movie like it . maybe it  s because they get to see kids their age do all the grown up work .  
i liked it  the plot was weird  drew barrymore and dc making out was awkward for both of them . drews acting was dodgy in places but this could be down to her life at the time . dennis christopher as the shrink was pretty cool  and as always he does his best  i  m a major dennis fan anyway  that  s why i bought the dvd .  br    br   i didn  t get the ending  that weird animatronic red skeleton thing looked just like it was out of filmschool  which is ok i guess but it could have been more .  br    br   . . . . and the whole thing with the knife  if it was that uncomfortable why didn  t they just get rid of it   br    br   it was very confusing as to when it was the doppelganger weird thing or when it was dc  or was it dennis all the time  because the doppelganger made out with dennis and patrick . in the scenes with patrick if it was dennis as the doppelganger then i think patrick would notice .  br    br   the music was ok but obtrusive in places  the whole orchestral score seemed to be revolving around a theme but this theme was overdone .  br    br   a big mix of lots of blood and gratuitus shots of drew nude .  br    br   all in all a bit of a gpm  guilty pleasure movie . don  t read too much into it  don  t look for secret messages and a fantastic script because you wont find it . there are some diamond moments and goofs galore  watch it and just have a bit of fun with it   
camille      br    br   aspect ratio  .      panavision   br    br   sound format mono  br    br   whilst visiting rome  an amorous nobleman  nino castelnuovo  falls in love with a beautiful young libertine  daniele gaubert   but their unlikely romance is opposed by castelnuovo  s wealthy father  massimo serato   and fate deals a tragic blow . . .  br    br   a sexed  up love story for the swinging sixties  adapted from a literary source  alexandre dumas   la dame aux camelias   by screenwriter michael deforrest  and directed with freewheeling flair by radley metzger who  along with the likes of russ meyer and joe sarno  is credited with redefining the parameters of  adult  cinema throughout the      s and    s . using the scope format for the last time in his career  metzger  s exploration of  la dolce vita  is rich in visual excess  note the emphasis on reflective surfaces  for example   though the film  s sexual candor seems alarmingly coy by modern standards . production values are handsome throughout  and the performances are engaging and humane  castelnuovo and gaubert are particularly memorable   despite weak post  sync dubbing . though set in an unspecified future  enrico sabbatini  s wacked  out set designs locate the movie firmly within its period  and piero piccioni  s  wah  wah  music score has become something of a cult item amongst exploitation devotees . ultimately  camille     is an acquired taste  but fans of this director  s elegant softcore erotica won  t be disappointed . next up for metzger was the lickerish quartet        which many consider his best film .  
the movie follows the events of the novel  cel mai iubit dintre pamanteni   could be translated as  the most beloved among humans    written by marin preda  a very controversial book and movie   a novel which became something like the bible or the story of hamlet  very popular and hard to get  due to its satiric contents over the communist regime . it represents the drama of the intellectual man  the humanist  in a  red  world . a movie filled with passion  fear  sexuality  all the great ingredients for a great movie recipe . one of the greatest romanian movies  despite its psychological charge  after all  it is an european movie  .  
it is like what the title of this thread say . only impression i got from that movie is that marlee matlin  s character was always angry  so cynical  and so pathetic . her character  s first date with william hurt  s character where they were dancing were dumb . all in all  i  ve tried to finish watching the movie four times  and of all four times i fell asleep . i would keep watching that movie with one intention . . . to beat my problem with insomnia  because all it do is to put me to sleep . sweet dream .  
i do not expect this film to be well understood by viewers out of romania . this tells something certainly about the value  or maybe about the lack of universality of the film  but also tells something about how different history and even life of common people was in romania compared to other countries  even in eastern europe .  br    br   the film is an adaptation of a novel by marin preda  a controversial novelist who died during the communist rule soon after the book was published . it tells the story of an intellectual  professor of philosophy whose life is crushed after he is imprisoned on false accusations at the end of the stalinist era . basically the first part of the film tells the story of his fight for survival in prison  the second describes his tentative to regain his life after being released . his release is actually only apparent  romania of the   s asks from him different types of compromises and crimes  but yet his fight for survival is as tough morally as in prison .  br    br   the film is splendidly acted by some of the best romanian actors . stefan iordache who has the lead role would be in another time and another place a mega  star  we can get here a good glimpse of his fabulous acting art . although suffering from a hesitant story  telling and falling sometimes in non  essential details or character comics  the film is still an important landmark for the romanian cinema  as well as for the process of recovering the moral and historic values in the romanian society .  
the movie itself is so pathetic . it portrayed deaf people as cynical toward hearing people . true  some deaf people are wary of dating hearing people  but they are not necessarily angry like of marlee matlin  s character was throughout the story . deaf people do not go to the bar and dance the way matlin did . all in all  the movie itself is more boring than pathetic . it is so boring that i  d like to believe that it is an insomnia  cured movie . if i have a problem sleeping  i can simply pop in children of a lesser god and watch . it will put me to sleep .  br    br   keep in mind  this is a deaf guy talking .  
if you like animal movies  this movie will please . my wife likes animals and animal movies  she especially like the parrot in this film . it is geared towards kids  but i laughed at most of the humor . the french fashion character made me laugh  and adds balance to the script . it is a disney film  with its sappy  happily  family apeal  but i like leaving the theater with a positive fealing .  
sorry . someone has to say it . this really is  was a dull movie . worthy perhaps  but dull nonetheless . i nearly cried with boredom when watching it . the acting is pretty dire  the story drawn out and predictable  the score and camera  work totally standard and unexciting . it  s one of those movies you are not allowed to hate  becase it is about disabled people  but hate it i suspect nearly everyone does . it is interesting that critics have been so kind to this movie . i suppose they too are not allowed to be objective . this was made to win awards  which i remember it duly did . but it was neither interesting nor entertaining . i haven  t seen the play so cannot compare .  
i really like    dalmations when it came out in      now  years later i went to see    dalmations in      i thought it was fantastic but i think    is better because i think it  s more funnier  more humor  and also that movie was based on the same story as the cartoon version  one hundred and one dalmations       i wonder if there are plans for    dalmations . i hope there is  maybe yes  maybe no  all of us dalmation fans will have to find out if there is going to be    dalmations in the future .  
so  this movie has been hailed  glorified  and carried to incredible heights . but in the end what is it really  many of the ways in which it has been made to work for a hearing audience on the screen do not work . the fairly academic camera work keeps the signing obfuscated  and scenes that are in asl are hard to follow as a result even for someone who is relatively fluent . the voice interpretation of matlin  s dialogue  under the excuse that hurt  s character  likes the sound of his voice   turns her more and more into a weird distant object as the film goes on . matlin does shine in the few scenes where her signing is not partially hidden from view . but nonetheless  most of the movie  when this is a love story  is only showed from a single point of view  that of the man . as ebert said   if a story is about the battle of two people over the common ground on which they will communicate  it  s not fair to make the whole movie on the terms of only one of them .   br    br   the idea that an oralist teacher who uses methods that have been imposed in many deaf schools for decades would be presented as  revolutionary  is fairly insulting in itself . his character becomes weakened as a credible teacher as the movie goes on . drawing comedy from a deaf accent is  quite honestly  rather low . and his attitude towards the male students of his class is pretty symptomatic of how he seems to act with women as an entitled man . a party scene involving a number of deaf people including a few academics meeting together leaves him seemingly isolated  in a way that  s fairly inconsistent with his credentials i have seen interpreters spontaneously switch to asl between each other even when they weren  t aware of a deaf person being in the area  and yet somehow he feels like a fish out of the water in an environment his education should have made him perfectly used to . as a lover  he seems like a typical dogged nice guy  including his tendency to act possessively afterwards . and yet the movie is  indeed  only really seen through him  as everything his lover says is filtered through his voice .  br    br   the scenes involving the other deaf kids are  in general  wallbangers . the broken symbolism fails  the dance scene  the pool scene  even the initial sleep scene which is supposed to carry some of it  all these scenes that try to hint at the isolation of the deaf main character are broken metaphors  at best many hearing people i know do dance on the bass beats that deaf people feel  instead of squirming like copulating chihuahuas   and going to take an evening dive for a hearing person is rarely an excuse to make a deep statement on the isolation of deafness  no  seriously  when i go swim  i go swim  . . .  br    br   it also fails at carrying the end of the play  instead making it a story of a deaf woman who submits to a strong man . even though the original play ended with a more equal ground  where both have to accept each other as they are  and where he has to finally recognize her real voice is the movement of her hands  not the vibrations in her throat .  br    br   and for all the breakthrough that it may have seemed to be  marlee matlin remains hollywood  s token deaf woman to this day .  
i enjoyed the film and would suggest to anyone just out for a good time . don  t take the film all too seriously because remember it  s disney and it  s rated g . it  s good clean fun although some parts may be recognised by adults but children would never notice  particularly the  triangle  between cruella  le pelt  and cruella  s faithful valet alonso . glenn close is fantastic and really has made cruella her own and is believably terrifying even when she is  cured  of her fur loving ways  she can instill fear in the audience with her shrills that literally shake the theater .  i even found myself jumping in my seat when she catches you by surprise with her  bipolarity  as the dog loving ella .  all in all i will go see it again in theaters  i found myself enjoying it so much .  
when i rented this movie  i had very low expectations . . . . . . but when i saw it  i realized that the movie was less  a lot less  than what i expected . the actors were bad  the doctor  s wife was one of the worst   the story was so stupid . . . it could work for a disney movie  except for the murders   but this one is not a comedy  it is a laughable masterpiece of stupidity . the title is well chosen except for one thing they could add stupid movie after dead husbands  i give it  and a half out of  .  
while this was a better movie than    dalmations  live action  not animated version   i think it still fell a little short of what disney could do . it was well  filmed  the music was more suited to the action  and the effects were better done  compared to     . the acting was perhaps better  but then the human characters were given far more appropriate roles in this sequel  and glenn close is really not to be missed  as in the first movie . she makes it shine . her poor lackey and the overzealous furrier sidekicks are wonderful characters to play off of  and they add to the spectacle disney has given us . this is a great family film  with little or no objectionable material  and yet it remains fun and interesting for adults and children alike . it  s bound to be a classic  as so many disney films are . here  s to hoping the third will be even better still  because you know they probably want to make one .    
dead husbands is a somewhat silly comedy about a bunch of wives conspiring to bump off each others husbands . its by no means embarrassingly bad like some comedies i could mention but it never fufils its potential . imagine how good this could have been if we had the farrelly brothers directing ben stiller in the role of carter elson .  br    br   oh is carter based on jerry springer  just curious because the catch phrase on dr elsons show is  look after each other and keep talking   
this is just as good as the original    if not better . of course  cruella steals the show with her outrageous behaviour and outfits  and the movie was probably made because the public wanted to see more of cruella . we see a lot more of her this time round . i also like ioan gruffudd as kevin  the rather bumbling male lead . to use paris as the climax of the movie was a clever idea . the movie is well worth watching whatever your age  provided you like animals .  
you can be fooled by your first impressions . as in  initial reactions to a movie  for example . as in  the first time i saw this movie i was bedazzled by the idea of it  first of all  i love black comedies  . could even  despite being male  myself  empathise with the feisty girls  fervor to see their husbands deceased without delay . was tripped up by my own face  value  and  i do mean  face  value   response to nicolette sheridan and a couple of the other delicious dames in the picture . it just goes to show you that you  ve gotta step back from a situation sometimes and see that it  s bad  and not  bad good   either   the reason i  m giving this movie a    rating is because of ms sheridan and her gams  the rest of  er is pretty good  too   but this movie has all the hallmark tv movie characteristics  which means you  ll be disappointed if your a lover of movies made for the big screen . the story contains plot holes you could run a tunnel through  and i  ll generally overlook holes in a plot if the overall thing does it for me and i just experienced an incredible letdown the second time i saw it . i don  t think it  s a total waste of time  but . . . .  
the delivery of some very humorous rude lines by pierce brosnan is alone worth the price of admission . he plays a kind of  james bond  s psycho twin brother   separated at birth  no doubt . as an intense hit  man  his character is very sexual but even better  very funny . add the kind  hearted  uber  likable american  guy next door   greg kinnear  to set up contrast . the myriad locations  vivid colors  and quick  witted humor provide great entertainment . hope davis is well cast as the  gem of a wife  . but the focus of the film is on the two fellows  a new  odd couple   and that  s the part that works very well . have a great  probably r  rated  laugh  and look for the places where the story goes a little deeper .  
these writings write about the end of the plot so don  t read it if you haven  t seen this rubbish .  br    br   i found this rubbish film in the horror section which made me think it would be a horror . if i owned a video store i  d put it in the boring section . this film is so rubbish it will make you feel like you have lost your socks .  br    br   this film contains endless shots of people driving as if that was scary . well i drive to work and back  and sometimes to the store or to visit my cats  almost every day and trust me it  s not scary . it even starts with   minutes of some people driving . even the little kid does it too . round and round he goes and he never stops . what  s so scary about watching a little kid riding a bicycle for an hour  i think nothing and if you watch it you will not think so too .  br    br   the family in the car arrive at a big castle and they are given a tour just walking around endlessly looking at kitchens . then the man walks around a for an hour and tries to kill his family for no reason . that  s all that happens and as you can see it  s rubbish .  
i noticed at once that this movie really wasn  t based on dodie smith  s novel . in any case  it was a nice idea that pongo and perdita  s son now had his own puppies . the cutest of the dalmatians was  of course  little snowball who was completely spotless till the very end of the film .  br    br   to be honest  i didn  t know what to think when cruella de vil seemed to have changed completely kind . in fact i have often thought about the possibility that she could become friendly  but now that she so quickly changed into  herself  again and announced that she was cruella once more  i almost began to be really worried about chloe  s dalmatians .  br    br   actually  the scene in which the puppies watched lady and the tramp while chloe and kevin had their dinner  was much better than i had expected . i also was fond of the parrot who played to be a dog  and it was incredible that the dogs had learned so many tricks for this movie .  br    br   of course i was content that at the end the dalmatians were saved again  but i would have liked to know what was going to happen to cruella after she had lost her whole property . and what on earth could the dogs  home do with such a huge sum of money   br    br   finally  it was quite touching that snowball also had spots at the very end of the film .  
there is only one thing essential to thorough appreciation of the indian runner . unzip your trousers . peek inside . is there evidence of a y chromosome  okay  you  ll do .  br    br   this film has all the male requisites blood  guns  car chases  fond women  death  multiple tattoos  cigarettes  liquor  violence  pyrotechnics   what have i left out    oh  yeah  blowtorches .  br    br   as a woman  i seriously hope sean penn regards this as a when i was a child . . .  kind of effort . since he both wrote and directed the thing  he  s nearly solely responsible . an uneven cast  viggo mortensen as usual demonstrating brilliantly how the job  s supposed to be done  tries to save penn . too late . the lines and action are there . even devoted  skilled acting can  t change those .  br    br   i found this movie puerile and silly  as well as predictable . the dialogue staggers along   sandy dennis has my respect for trying to breathe life into a woodenly maternal monologue without motherly authenticity . then she dies . after a bit  so does the protagonists  father  played by charles bronson . their absence is hardly noticeable .  br    br   at intervals  the pyrotechnics  etc .  noted above appear to liven things up and scare the audience into thinking something significant is occurring .  br    br   if you  re male and under    you may adore this film . plan to return to it at   . think you  ll still like it   br    br   i don  t think so .  
arguably this is a very good  sequel   better than the first live action film    dalmatians . it has good dogs  good actors  good jokes and all right slapstick   br    br   cruella devil  who has had some rather major therapy  is now a lover of dogs and very kind to them . many  including chloe simon  owner of one of the dogs that cruella once tried to kill  do not believe this . others  like kevin shepherd  owner of  nd chance dog shelter  believe that she has changed .  br    br   meanwhile  dipstick  with his mate  have given birth to three cute dalmatian puppies  little dipper  domino and oddball . . .  br    br   starring eric idle as waddlesworth  the hilarious macaw   glenn close as cruella herself and gerard depardieu as le pelt  another baddie  the name should give a clue   this is a good family film with excitement and lots more   one downfall of this film is that is has a lot of painful slapstick  but not quite as excessive as the last film . this is also funnier than the last film .  br    br   enjoy     dalmatians       
penn takes the time to develop his characters  and we almost care about them . however there are some real problems with the story here  we see no real motivation for the evil brother  s behavior  and the time line is screwed up . supposedly set in      the music is late   s  early   s . the references and dialogue is   s    s . the potential for a powerful climax presents itself  and penn allows it to slip away . but even with all these difficulties it is worth the watch  but not great .  
the first film was a nice one  but it is not as good as the wonderful animated classic which i found more poignant and endearing . this sequel is inferior  but not bad at all . sure the slapstick is too much  the script has its weak spots and the plot is a tad uninspired . but the dogs are very cute here  and eric idle is hilarious as the macaw . the film is nice to look at with stylish cinematography and eye popping costumes  especially cruella  s   and the music is pleasant . the acting is mostly very good  ioan gruffudd is appealing and gerard depardieu while he has given better performances has fun as cruella  s accomplice . but the best asset  as it was with the first film  is the amazing glenn close in a deliciously over  the  top performance as cruella  even more evil than she was previously . overall  nice .     bethany cox  
thin story concerns two small town brothers and their struggles over family honor . david morse is the responsible  straight  laced cop and  good  brother viggo mortensen  the  bad  boy  is a former soldier and ex  convict . as an actor  particularly in his earliest years   sean penn seems to have modulated his performances under the method . turning first  time writer and director for this arty  obtuse drama  he works his script and characters out through the same methodical process  slowing the pacing down to a crawl  ostensibly so we can catch every nuance and inflection  . this approach might be fascinating if there were three  dimensional characters to care about  but photogenic morse and mortensen aren  t really convincing as siblings . worse  we expect more from prominently  billed veterans charles bronson and sandy dennis  who hardly get a chance to come through with anything interesting . the picture is balky with turgid sequences  a wobbly narrative and confusing editing  always slanted to point up the artistic excesses  . penn  s tricks with the camera show off a talented eye  yet they are mostly an irritation .     from   
in      s     dalmatians   cruella de vil was arrested by the london metropolitain police  god bless them  for attempting to steal and murder    puppies  dalmatians . all covered in mud and hay  she spent the next  years in the  tin can .  now   years later  she  unfortunately  was released from the jail . i say  that  s about   years  in dog years       br    br   so  in      disney decided to release a sequel to the successful live  action version of the classic film and it is hereby dubbed     dalmatians .  in it  there is a    nd dalmatian added to the family  oddball is the name  i think i should know this since this was just shown on tv recently   and the puppy had no spots      also  while cruella  again played by glenn close  has escaped again  she wanted a bigger  better coat  made once again out of the puppies       br    br   i especially liked the theme song  i  m sure everybody loves the  atomic dog  song from the   s or so . and now  we hear a bit of it in this movie       br    br       dalmatians  is such a great film that i keep on wondering  when will there be a     dalmatians       lol  br    br     stars  
i don  t like sean penn  s directing very much  and this early work  the indian runner  is no exception . the movie has no core  it  s colored with a kind of redneck  anti  authoritarian tweeness that in all honesty taints most of penn  s work  his latest work even more so than the earlier . frank miller  robert rodriguez  clint eastwood  sean penn  the whole lot seem to produce such fundamentally banal product  ostensibly in some allegiance to honesty  but ending up being  for the most part  glorified pro wrestling matches  and moralistic  almost as if hallmark cards had developed a line of hell  s angels greetings  and make me long for the days of deliverance  which is a fine movie . viggo mortensen  s acting is much  much more believable here than that ridiculous eastern promises thing he did with cronenberg  and that  s about it . the movie is dead meaningless  and seems to be an exercise  a series of techniques  more than a story . kudos for charles bronson  however  who proves he can act . and i wanted more of sandy dennis  character . a lousy  out of   for this the indian runner crap .  
enormous fun for both adults and children  this film works on numerous levels there is everything from car crashes and cake in the face to some very good  yet subtle  jokes for adults .  br    br   glenn close is at her sublimely evil best as cruella  call me ella   de ville .  br    br   after three years in dr . pavlov  s behaviour modification clinic she is cured of her desire for fur  even the puppy  skin fur she had so intensely desired . she even has all of her fur coats placed in the dungeon of the extraordinary castle she inhabits .  br    br   but it wouldn  t be a dalmatian  movie without the subterfuge and machinations of cruella and you know that something will change her behaviour modification . and now she needs one extra puppy  hence    dalmatians  to complete her nefarious scheme this time round .  br    br   ioan gruffudd is instantly appealing as the hero of the film that runs the second chance  dog shelter . though he was in titanic  and in last year  s television version  as pip  of great expectations  i didn  t recognize him well  he was fifth officer lowe  in titanic  and i didn  t see great expectations  so i am not terribly surprised .  br    br   gerard depardieu does a delightful turn as the furrier  pawn of cruella . he prances and postures in the most outlandish and outrageous of fur clothing you have ever seen  and does it well . his  wicked witch of the west  homage is hilarious .  br    br   tim mcinnerny is superb is cruella  s not  so  evil henchman  he was also alonzo   cruella  s butler  in     dalmatians  and you may also recognize him from all of the black adder  brit  coms . he plays his usual bumbling  good  hearted  somewhat dim  witted character to great effect .  br    br   oscars for costuming are generally given for the entirety of the costuming in a film . this is unfortunate as the clothing worn by glenn close is amazing  it is incredibly detailed  note her handcuffs when she is being released from the behaviour modification clinic  and worthy of such an over  the  top character . her clothing alone deserves at least an oscar nomination .  br    br   animation holds a special place in my heart  but comparing this film to the original animated film is like comparing apples to orangutans it can  t be done . suffice it to say that     dalmatians  is even better than the film version of     dalmatians  that came out in     . there is a lot to like here from the sight gags  the dialogue  and the costumes to the casting  it is a good film for the whole family .  
there is something in most of us  especially guys  that admires some really working class small town  real men  populist fare . and sean penn serves it up for us with a cherry on top . hey  a lot of people use penn as a political whipping boy  but i don  t rate movies or actor  directors based on politics or personality . that is what right wing commentators like excretable faux movie reviewer debbie schlussel does . while acknowledging he is one of our best actors and a good director  i think this picture was a simplistic piece of aimless dreck that he has atoned for since .  br    br   okay  you have the gist of this there is this good cop  a small town trooper  joe  played against type by david morse  who in the opening scene chases some guy on a country farm road in big sixties cars . the bad guy stops  gets out  shoots at him so joe has to blast him dead . there was no explanation what drove this man to do such a desperate violent thing and the dead man  s parents do some redneck freak out at the police station while joe feels real sad and guilty that he had to kill someone . so we know that joe  the farmer forced off his land into a cop job  is a good basic sort of guy . then his brother frank shows up  he is a sadistic  amoral bully  fresh out of the army and nam where the war got his blood lust up . some people here and in other reviews called him just an irresponsible hell raising younger brother and sean was trying to make some point about what our john wayne tough guy culture and war does to otherwise good people but what i saw was an amoral  sadistic bully who enjoys hurting and ripping people off . then there is mom and dad  marsha mason and charles bronson  who do the requisite turn as old fashioned country couple  then die off she by illness and he by shotgun suicide  to advance the story for us . both times frank the bad guy is away being a miserable sob . but good joe brings him back to podunksville from jail so frank can straighten his life out by welding bridges and living with his utterly stupid screaming trashy pregnant wife . but joe has a nice wife  played by italian actress valeria golina  who is mexican and sean uses this as an exercise in some affirmative action embellishment of goody joe and his real soulfulness underneath his uniform and crew cut . for me  that was an utterly pointless affirmative action subplot that sean uses to burnish his tough guy creds by sucking up to mexicans because mexicans are so tough and cool .  br    br   but frank is bad and we get the requisite events like stealing friend  s car  robbing gas station by beating the clerk over the head then torching the car and all those cool things that hell raisers do . then there are the mandatory  mm film childhood flashbacks of young joey dutifully moving the lawn and cowboy dressed franky jumping on his back and wrestling him and yadda yadda so we all know what deep bond there is between the two of them .  br    br   so the film meanders around with a lot of small town schlock to warm the heart of any red stater . accompanying the film was a great soundtrack of good sixties songs like jefferson airplane and janis joplin which were totally inappropriate  except for the    s era effect  to win the hearts of old hippies . the worst offense is that  since the movie was inspired by a springsteen song   the highway patrolman   that song was not included .  br    br   so joe  s brain dead wife goes into labor and joe runs off to the bar to get loaded and spout some populists drunken victim  s spiel about how tough things are while good joey comes to drag him back to his wife . the bartender is good ole ceasar  played by dennis hopper . so viggo  frank whigs out for no particular reason and beats his pal ceasar to death after good joe the cop leaves .  br    br   so joe has chase his bad brother down and i was so hoping that he would do the right thing and blow that menace to society away . instead we get a scene where his brother stops ahead of him in some old    s junker on some lonely road at night  and little franky in his cowboy suit and cap guns gets out of the car to face good joe  the kid from the  mm flashback home movie sequence . oy  such dreck  then to top off this drecky sap fest  there is some zen crap about the indian runner  who is a messenger  becomes the message  ala marshall macluhen  see what i mean  sean has done much better than this so don  t be afraid to miss this one .  
this is a movie that i can watch over and over and never ever get tired of it  it has lot  s of laughs  guns  action  crime   good one liners  and a decent plot  with an over the top  donald sutherland in a rather comedic role as an assasain . tia carerra looks as hot as she ever did and can act too  thomas ian griffin is great in this as the lead character  max  a dea agent diane is the fbi agent  played by carerra  and john lithgow from frazier on tv  plays the bad guy    livingston  . the plot centers around max and diane trying to capture livingston while they fight and argue with each other about who gets the money for the respective agencies  throw into the mix the assassain sutherland  who pretty much has all the good one liners  this is the perfect crime caper  there is the usual love story   but played very differently than you would think by carerra and griffith . you also have the russian mafia  italian mafia  and chineese mafia here thrown into the mix   the film is shot in boston   where you have some great shots  and locals   great photography and music in this film  this movie is just the epitome of a crime comedy   it has everything that one could ever want . check out sutherland  s toilet in a particular scene   very unusual . this film is a riot and will make you laugh real hard   plus for me .  
spoilers  br    br   the unfunny radio quiz show host kyser and his mediocre band are the excuse for lugosi  karloff  and lorre to pick up a paycheck in this bland  sporatically watchable haunted house spoof . lugosi is a mystic whose seances are exposed as a fraudulent attempt to bilk an heiress  fortune karloff is the butler and lorre is a professor who exposes fake mediums  but it turns out that they  re both in conspiracy with lugosi .  br    br   of course  kay kyser and his band of    something year old  kids  uncover the truth with the minimum of possible humor along the way . not recommended to any but the absolute horror completist .  
hollow point  though clumsy in places  manages to be an extremely endearing and amusing action movie .  br    br   the primary entertainment value here is humor  everyone turns in clever performances that provide the film with a great deal of energy .  br    br   oh  by the way  advocates of gun safety will be horrified by the conduct of the characters in this movie . . .  
solid comedy entertainment  with musical interludes  it generates a fast pace that carries proceedings along in zestful tempo through a maze of humorous and chiller complications . boris karloff  bela lugosi and peter lorre form a strong setup of sinister villainy . the script contains all the standard mystery film props  sliding panels  secret passageways  thunder and lightning and poisoned blow  darts . karloff  lugosi and lorre go in for heavy leers and obvious melodramatics of the gaslit era . kay kyser and his band offered great entertainment for the people living in the      s who were trying to forget about the horror  s of world war ii .  
i think hollow point is a funny film with some good moments i have never seen before in action movies . well  both tia carrere and thomas ian griffith aren  t so good in acting  but tia carrere is nice and good looking girl  isn  t it  but donald sutherland is superb in his role so  so mad gangster .  
i knew my summary would get you . how is this movie like a pet rock and disco   well  unless you lived through the     s or   s  you probably can  t understand why anyone would like a new coke or own a pet rock  and frankly  at least in the case of pet rocks  i still don  t understand it completely  . they  re just a couple things that seemed to make sense at the time but really baffle the younger generation . the same can be said for kay kyser and his band . at the time  the     s mostly   they were very popular and had enough clout that the studio starred them with boris karloff  bela lugosi and peter lorre in this film . yet  if you didn  t live at that time  it was well before my time   you wonder why anyone liked this sort of  entertainment  . after all  kyser and his band mates are incredibly obnoxious and their humor is very  very broad  i . e .  unsophisticated and cheesy  . frankly  i couldn  t stand their antics nor did i appreciate that there were just too many musical numbers in the film . because of these factors  the great supporting cast was given a back seat and fans of these actors will probably be disappointed .  br    br   the film involves kyser and the band coming to a mansion where a young lady and her wacky aunt live . once there  the bridge is washed out and strange happenings begin . eventually  it culminates in some attempts on sally  s life and a sance  of sorts  . it  s all played for laughs   and it  s really not a horror movie despite the cast .  br    br   overall  it  s passable entertainment at best . as a lugosi and karloff fan  i sure felt cheated having to watch kyser and his knuckleheads .  
this film is one of the finest american b  movies of the   s . if you  re looking for a serious film  look elsewhere . however  if you  re looking for some action  a lot of laughs  and a tongue in cheek variation on cops fighting gangsters  this is well worth watching . everyone chews the scenery a bit  but that  s really what the film is all about  and everyone is quite funny . donald sutherland and john lithgow have great chemistry and need to do another film together .  
one of the silliest movies of the     s  an unbearable haunted house comedy with music starring kay kyser . kyer  orchestra leader and radio  star  and eternal college fraternity goof  off   was sort of the precursor to spike jones  hamming it up for his guests and backed up willingly by his merry troupe of musicians . he  s hired to play a birthday party in a gloomy mansion  the kind where poison darts imported from africa are framed and hung on the wall . the shindig is beset with a creepy judge  a scary professor  an ominous swami  lots of giggly females  and enough bad jokes to fill three bob hope pictures . the songs  by jimmy mchugh and johnny mercer  are nothing to brag out  and neither is over  confident kyser  yukking it up with elbow  in  the  ribs material that turns     back ten years .  from   
the plot a crime lord is uniting  different mafias in an entreprise to buy an island  that would then serve as money  laundering facility for organized crime . to thwart that  the fbi tries to bust one of the mafia lords . the thing goes wrong  and by some unlikely plot twists and turns  we are presented with another  cop buddies who don  t like each other  movie . . . one being a female fbi agent  and the other a male ex  dea agent .  br    br   so far  so stupid . but the strength of this movie does not lie in its story  a poor joke  at best . it is funny .  at least the synchronized german version is  . the action is good  too  with a memorable scene involving a shot gun and a rocket launcher . but the focus is squarely on the humour . not intelligent satire  not quite slapstick  but somewhere in between  you get a lot of funny jokes .  br    br   however  this film is the opposite of political correctness . legal drug abuse is featured prominently  without criticism  and even displaying it as cool . that  s the bit of the movie that seriously annoyed me  and renders it unsuitable for kids  in my opinion .  br    br   all in all  for a nice evening watching come acceptable action with some funny jokes  this movie is perfect . just remember in this genre  it is common to leave your brain at the door when you enter the cinema  tv room . then you  ll have a good time .      
i  m afraid this one is pretty dreadful  despite several good performances and generally competent acting  for  the  camera direction . it  s a first and last attempt by writer  director soo lyu .  rub and tug        is one of the unfortunate by  products of canada  s program to promote home  grown film  making . while the program encourages worthwhile efforts like  new waterford girl  it opens the door for untalented novices like lyu who did not have to aggressively pitch this project but was green  lighted without an adequate examination of her script or her credentials .  br    br   you don  t mind the low budget because the shabby production design  bad lighting  poor audio  and dreary docu  style shot selection is consistent with the subject matter the workers in canadian massage parlors . but the dialogue and the plotting doesn  t give the actors anything to work with  the editor much to assemble  or a viewer any mental challenge other than suspension of disbelief . when your story is this simplistic the last thing you need is a muddled storytelling technique even though nothing happens  the movie is hard to follow and point  of  view impossible to pin down .  br    br   don mckellar  s performance as conrad is several notches below his similar characterization in  exotica  . lindy booth  s lea is her standard quirky airhead as always she is likable but here she is little else . kira clavell  s cindy is a pleasant surprise  a kind of asian shelley duval . the only other role of any consequence  tara spencer  nairn  s street  wise betty  more than cancels out her excellent performance in  new waterford girl  . her shallow performance in  rub and tug  should curtail any tendency to seek out other films in which she has appeared unless you need further confirmation of  waterford  director alan moyle  s skill in working with young actors .  br    br   you quickly conclude that lyu  s reptilian brain cannot grasp concepts like plot complexity  so the need to insert a lazy and lame  deus ex machina  device toward the end is hardly a surprise . still it could be worse  the listless story has so little internal logic anyway that the unlikely ending is not as painful as would normally be the case .  br    br   then again  what do i know  i  m only a child .  
greetings again from the darkness . much anticipated  twisted comedy from writer  director richard shepard is a coming out party for pierce brosnan the actor . that bond guy is gone . this new guy is something else entirely   have read that shepard thought brosnan was too much the pretty boy for this plum role  but brosnan proves to be the perfect julian noble   facilitator  . . . and is anything but pretty  do not underestimate how twisted the humor is in this one . if you go  expect punch lines and sight gags regarding all types of sex  killing  religion  sports  business and anything else you might deem politically incorrect . brosnan takes an excellent script to another level with his marvelous facial gestures and physical movements . even sitting on a hotel bed  with or without a sombrero  is a joy to behold .  br    br   greg kinnear is the straight guy to brosnan  s comic and has plenty of depth and comic timing to make this partnership click . hope davis has a small  but subtly effective supporting role as kinnear  s wife  what  s with her name  bean    who happens to get a little excited when she has a facilitator in her living room .  br    br   the visuals and settings are perfect  including a bullfight  racetrack and denver suburb . and how often do we get the killers and xavier cugat on the same soundtrack  this one is definitely not for everyone  but if your sense of humor is a bit off center and you enjoy risky film  making  it could be for you .  
many king fans hate this because it departed from the book  but film is a different medium and books should change when they make the jump . that notwithstanding  the movie does fail completely  but it fails entirely on film terms . i  d like to smack the people who tell me it  s the scariest movie ever made . i always follow up with the question  really . . . exactly what scene scared you   every fan i  ve asked  goes silent . occasionally someone  at a loss for a decent scare  there are none . . .   names the  grape  juice  shooting  out  of  elevators  shtick . if you  re afraid of that  i don  t know what to tell you  except maybe that you  re easily scared . i just rolled my eyes watching these z  grade horror ideas play out in this schlocky  incoherent movie .  br    br   one place it diverts from the book and really is insipid is the tedious work the movie does to get mr halloran up to the overlook only to kill him with the dumbest member of the audience knowing that jack is waiting behind one of the columns in the corridor that it takes halloran forever to walk down . really one of the stupidest sequences ever put on film .  br    br   oh  and nice choice for mr . halloran  s artwork stanley  black light afro  nymphomaniacs really add to the mood and character development of a horror movie . has there ever been a more  off   out  of  place shot in any movie ever made   br    br   i consider it a miracle that i was eventually able to bypass this turd  and agree that kubricks     is a truly important film  given the immense  bad will  generated by both this stupid  stupid movie  and the cult of fawning but inarticulate kubrick fan  boys  who couldn  t describe an idea at work in it with every film resource in the library of congress in front of them .  br    br   toss in the grotesque overacting of jack nicholson  the introduction of dumb one  liners at tense moments  and the razzie nominated performance of shelly duvall and you have a very crappy movie .  
the only thing serious about this movie is the humor . well worth the rental price . i  ll bet you watch it twice . it  s obvious that sutherland enjoyed his role .  
if my memory is correct  when this movie was released it came across as something of a comedy  a funny look at the adult entertainment industry . if that  s what it  s supposed to be  it doesn  t really work . it just isn  t that funny . setting that rather significant  since this is called a comedy   failure aside  since i have no personal knowledge of the subject matter  i  ll avoid comment about the authenticity of the story  which deals with the goings on behind the scenes in a toronto massage parlour  except to say that  if this is true  the life is pretty dull .  br    br   for over an hour  this movie really doesn  t give us much of anything except some background knowledge of the main characters . conrad is the newly hired manager of the massage parlour whose basic job apparently is to make sure the girls aren  t giving  full service   a euphemism for actual sex . as for the girls themselves  betty  s goal is to buy a parlour of her own so that she can run her own business  cindy is an illegal immigrant to canada working to support her family back home and leah is  well  leah is a somewhat strange  undefined character with a nipple fetish  true  who seems to be in the business because  well  because she  s in it  i have no idea what her character was about . those three may well fairly reasonable composite characters who accurately represent the motivations of the women who get involved in this business .  br    br   the movie meanders about and doesn  t offer much until the  twist  reveals conrad to be the bad guy . we should have gotten to that point sooner . the only thing truly interesting here was that part of the story  conrad  s secret plan and the revenge plotted against him by the girls . that plan for revenge was pretty good  and you  re grateful when it comes out because basically up to that point you  re wondering why you wasted your time with this . had the story been more focused on the revenge  this might have actually been a fairly funny movie .  br    br   the performances from the  leads were all ok  although i didn  t think anyone came across as outstanding . all four characters were a bit shallow . cindy was a sympathetic character  and so was conrad for a while  although he turns out to be the bad guy of the movie . given the subject matter  there  s surprisingly little nudity  and what there is is restricted to one scene .  in fact  there even a certain air of innocence around a lot of this . as for the overall quality of the movie  it  s a low  budget effort  which shows  although you expect a certain griminess  i suppose  of a movie set in the context of a body rub parlour  so that  s forgivable . it certainly says something  though  that this was released  years ago now and is still the only credit on writer  director soo lyu  s resume and  given the normal lack of depth in the canadian film industry  that it wasn  t even deemed worthy of being nominated for any genie awards  the canadian version of the oscars .      and i  m being a bit generous with that .  
this is one of the best movies i have seen in a long time . all of you who regard this movie as absolute sht obviusly are not intelligent enough to grasp all of the subtle humor that this movie has to offer . it shows us that real life and  ficticious  action can produce a winning combination . also  as a romantic comedy  it has one of the most clever ways for two people to find each other . name me another movie where you can see all of that as well as donald sutherland singing a song like  they  re going to find your anus on a mountain on mars .   
this apology for a movie is about absolutely nothing  rachel griffiths must have needed the money . the film must have been made on a very low budget  because the lighting was non existent . i made a vow if i ever see pete postlesumthingor other i  ll commit suicide . i  d be happy to know if there was   a plot or   a script . my biggest regret is i wasted my time watching this rubbish .  
love the characters and the story line . very funny with plenty of action . thomas ian griffith and tia carrer give great performances . i enjoyed the dynamic and comical interaction of griffith and career . donald southerland plays a very likable  and surprisingly sympathetic  burnt out hit man . all three actors are among my favorites and having them in this movie made for a special treat . a nice addition to my extensive dvd collection . i highly recommend this movie . if you like . . . mr . and mrs . smith  the replacement killers  l . a . confidential  the long kiss goodnight  the abyss and  the whole nine yards . . . you will love this movie .  
billed as a kind of sequel to the full monty  about unemployed men in sheffield  this movie is a fake .  br    br   as someone born in sheffield  and still with links to the city  i was extremely disappointed by this film . someone said it could have been set in oklahoma  and that just about sums it up for me . this looked like a romantic view of northern england made for the us market . probably many americans  and many southern english people  don  t realize that sheffield is a big city of around half a million inhabitants  with a sophisticated urban culture . in among giants it was depicted as some dreary dead  end semi  rural small town  where everyone in sheffield seemed to drink in the same old  fashioned pub  and where the people  s idea of a party was line  dancing in some village  hall lookalike . this was a small close  knit community  not a metropolitan city .  br    br   the working  class sheffield men were totally unlike their real  life counterparts  who are generally taciturn and communicate with each other in grunts and brief dry remarks . they don  t chatter  and they certainly don  t sing in choirs .  br    br   even the rural settings  supposedly in the peak district  looked alien to me . i recognized a few places where i used to go hiking  but some of the aerial shots of pylons stretching out over a bleak landscape reminded me more of wales . indeed  in the credits at the end i spotted a reference to gwynedd  wales . the peak district is  in the summer  crawling with walkers and tourists in cars . it is situated between two big cities . it is not some kind of wilderness .  br    br   as for the notion that a young woman could fall in love with  and lust after  pete postlethwaite  that was ludicrous  and could only have been a male dream . her reasons for becoming his lover were never made apparent . none of the men was shown as having a partner or families they existed in a vacuum .  br    br   anyone wanting to see a film about unemployed sheffielders would have been led astray . this sheffield existed only in the minds of its middle  class writers and film  makers .  br    br   it was a gigantic fake   br    br    
the korean war has been dubbed americas  s forgotten war . so many unanswered questions were buried along with the   thousand men who died there . occasionally  we are treated to a play or movie which deals with that far  off  ghostly frozen graveyard . here is perhaps one of the finest . it  s called  sergeant ryker .  the story is of an american soldier named sgt . paul ryker  lee marvin  who is selected for a top secret mission by his commanding officer . his task is to defect to the north koreans and offer his services against united nations forces . so successful is his cover  he proves invaluable to the enemy and given the rank of major . however  he is thereafter captured by the americans  put on trial as a traitor and spy . stating he was ordered to defect  he sadly learns his commanding officer has been killed and has no evidence or proof of his innocence . he is convicted and sentenced to hang . however  his conviction is doubted by capt . young  bradford dillman   his prosecutor . convincing commanding gen . amos baily   lloyd nolan  of his doubts  he is granted a new trial and if found guilty will be executed . the courtroom drama is top notch as is the cast which includes peter graves  murray hamilton and norman fell as sgt . max winkler . korea was a far off place but the possibility of convicting a communist and hanging him hit very close to home in the      s . due to its superior script and powerful message  this drama has become a courtroom classic . excellent viewing and recommended to all .   
americans have the attention span of a fruit fly and if something does not happen within the span of a typical commercial  we tend to lose interest really fast .  br    br   i found out an exciting fact from this film someone has to paint high tension utility poles and do it on a schedule  and guess what  they really would like to be doing something else  the viewer has similar feelings  .  br    br   surprisingly  when i was bored watching late night infomercials and decided to actually watch this film  i found the characters to be interesting and highly engaging .  br    br   i just don  t usually watch that much late night tv  so i can  t recommend this film  unless watching paint dry is your idea of an exciting two hours out of your life .  
sergeant ryker is accused of being a traitor during the korean war  a hanging offense . a long drawn out court  marshal ensues during which time the sgt . must remain in a military jail . after much investigation the defense attorney attempts to exonerate the doomed non  com with an eleventh hour ploy . very good picture .  
movie didn  t have much plot and was uninteresting . basically you spend a lot of time watching people paint . also it  s very difficult to hear or understand the dialogue   partially because of the accents  but also because words are mumbled .  
engaging  riveting tale of captured us army turncoat who has to prove his innocence to avoid the hangman . paul ryker dodges friendly fire in a seemingly doomed attempt to convince a military court that he was actually a us spy on a secret mission in korea .  br    br   in the vein of classic courtroom dramas   sergeant ryker  is an extremely well crafted mystery  ably guided by an outstanding cast  director kulik  s constant momentum  and effective plot twists and turns .  br    br   this film was originally made as a television movie in      and subsequently beefed up for this revision with the presence of many  name  actors  and some action sequences . dillman  reprising his role  is spot  on as the doubting defence attorney  whose attentions sometimes stray to the personal plight of ryker  s supportive  yet somewhat distant wife  played with aplomb by vera miles . rounding out the frontline is peter graves for the prosecution  and norman fell and murray hamilton in key supporting roles .  br    br   marvin  s interpretation of the paul ryker character is a balanced depiction of a simple but dedicated man whose normally laid back demeanour is challenged by the desperate circumstances in which he  s placed . marvin switches perfectly from resigned indifference  to passionate determination  giving a convincing  often intense performance that is the highlight of this otherwise small  scale drama . it  s this performance that should elevate the film to a platform where it occupies a place on the best  ever lists of courtroom dramas .  br    br   however  despite its apparent obscurity   sergeant ryker  still remains a taut and compelling examination  like a book that you just can  t put down . highly recommended .  
well  i guess i  ll have to be the one to say  the emperor has no clothes .  when i saw this show listed for pbs last night i was both hopeful and apprehensive . i loved  morse   even going so far as to buy the complete dvd set  and felt that  while i always liked kevin whately  s sgt . lewis character  the show was john thaw  period  after watching the new  inspector lewis   as it is billed here   i am more convinced then ever that i was right . . . whately is fine  even though he looks awful  both badly aged and too fat   but he simply doesn  t have the charisma to carry the show as did thaw .  br    br   and as for his  sidekick  fox  well . . . perhaps the reviewers here from england can understand what he  s saying  but i for one mostly could not .  br    br   as for ms . innocent . . . all i can say is that i miss james grout .  br    br   i  m sorry to say that they should have left  morse  rest in peace .  
welcome back kiefer sutherland . it  s been too long since you  ve appeared in a movie   and what a movie this was  was it   no   but very intriguing  especially with a pro like michael douglas in the lead as the embattled secret service agent . kiefer  s character is the one chasing michael douglas the whole movie   kiefer  s partner   is eva longoria   the desperate houswife . wow she can actually act besides flirt all day and look good   i wish though that kim bassinger had a bigger role   but other than that  i really think the whole movie was a blast from start to finish . this movie is what i consider to b e a political thriller  everybody played their part to the hilt . nothing was revealed to sooon in the movie   so as to keep you guessing at all times . and i really think that kiefer did one heck of a job here in this movie   but in my opinion michael douglas had the besxt performance of the day   thumbs up .  
what a disappointment . . . admittedly the best of the prequels  but the story is weak  the plot is rushed and the end result is just a collection of set pieces  poorly realised and tacked together amateurishly . there are numerous continuity errors that clash glaringly with the original films  and the emergence of darth vader was handled so terribly that what could have been a legendary moment in modern cinema is now instead a cheesy goof that will be ridiculed for many years . i won  t complain about the abysmal dialogue  as this is star wars . . . the original three films had style  cult feeling and cracking stories  and the strange dialogue added charm . the prequels were shallow attempts to make more money  and this lack of love shows in spades . utterly disappointing .  
my take makes use of its familiar plot with fine performances and a few genuine moments of excitement .  br    br   the plot is familiar . an innocent man is framed for a plot to assassinate the president of the united states  the first traitor in the united states secret service . as his fellow secret  service agents pursue him  he tries to prove his innocence . of course we know his innocent  and the real culprit is just around the corner  but i was still entertained by the sentinel . in this time where thrillers are reduced to being too ludicrous and too abundant in action sequences  the sentinel is a good lick  back to all those good old  fashioned political crime thriller . the familiar plot is elevated by neat thrilling sequences and terrific performances .  br    br   michael douglas  the perfect man for the job  is long  running secret service agent pete garrison  who is framed for being part of a plot to assassinate the president . former colleagues in the secret service  kiefer sutherland and eva longoria  pursue harrison while he tries to find out who is behind the possible assassination and the traitor in the secret service . this leads to a lot of chase scenes that  surprisingly  and thankfully   are never unbelievable . the screenplay also offers a subplot involving garrison having an affair with the first lady  played by kim basinger  . this thankfully wasn  t unnecessary like most subplots are to these kinds of films .  br    br   the films director is clark johnson  s . w . a . t .  who manages to make the film look good . although many have criticized it as  should have been a tv movie   i must disagree . agreed  this is not a perfect film  and much of it is inspired from other action thrillers and political intrigues like in the line of fire or an episode from the tv series    which this film closely resembles when it comes to style and star sutherland   but even so  this film takes its plot into serious heights and doesn  t abandon even its smaller details . the performances are terrific  with a top  notch cast  its bound to be  even with the by  the  numbers script .  br    br   all  in  all  i award it      not perfect  but not far from it .  br    br   rating     out of  .  
this kind of storytelling is unacceptable the only reason this film is anywhere above the  stars out of   line is because it  s got george lucas behind it  and it has the words  star  and  wars  in its title . that is an insult to aspiring filmmakers  and many others out there who have made clearly superior films with superior story  writing and acting  but did not get the credit . this is a travesty .  br    br   first things first . the story . anakin  s evolution  there is none . apart from a little make  up around the eyes  and a little yelling  there is none . he becomes young  stupid  cocky anakin skywalker to darth vader in a single blow . the only thing consistent about darth vader in the original series was his intelligence  how good he was at almost everything he did  planning  fighting  you name it . the only consistent thing about anakin that is perceived in the prequel trilogy is his consistent stupidity . he even loses his body because of a bout of stupid cockiness .  br    br   what part of the emperor palpatine telling him legends of the sith does not point to the emperor being a sith  unacceptable   br    br   the fight scenes used too many digital doubles . everyone  s flying all over the place like teddy bears in a make  believe doll house . count dooku  emperor palpatine  anakin  obi  wan  almost every fighter had a rubbery digital double jumping around .  br    br   in one specific fight scene  obi  wan and anakin in the climactic battle  they both actually stop in the middle of parries and ripostes  to twirl their sabers a few times while inches apart . i realize the fights are choreographed  but that just got me shaking my head in disbelief and disgust .  br    br   the writing was awful . all the dialogue was of tremendously low quality . the good actors like ewan mcgregor and natalie portman did the best they could with their lines  but that just wasn  t enough . i can  t say enough bad things about this film . too much special effects  plot holes bigger than the centre of the universe  and absolutely no insights into any of the characters . this is the biggest mistake of this film nothing new is offered . we know the rough picture of everything  all lucas did was colour it in .  br    br   we knew anakin lost his limbs . we knew luke and leia are brother and sister  we knew luke is anakin  s son  we knew obi  wan and yoda go to exile  we knew everything . nothing new is offered in this film . if that  s all the fans wanted  then that  s fine  lucas couldn  t have gone wrong .  br    br   but when anakin finally becomes darth vader  and he asks after padme  and hears she is dead  he reaches out his arms awkwardly and screams  nooooooooooooooooooooo .  that scene screamed b  movie all the way  and i was half expecting darth vader to go  danger will robinson  danger  at any time . that is what this is . a b  movie  disguised by a huge budget and a ultra  loyalist fan base that will settle with anything now that the first two movies have pulled their standards down to the pits of the earth .  
it might not be the best movie of     but it was a just a movie to excite and to think about . the sentinel is a good political thriller movie which seems similar to or even borrows some elements from other political thriller movies such as in the line of fire and the manchurian candidate . the basic plot of this movie is similar to other movies like this a plot to kill the president of the united states . michael douglas stars as secret service agent pete garrison who spearheads the operation only to find out later that he has been framed . kiefer sutherland co  stars as a sort of rival by the name of david breckinridge and eva longoria as jill marin who is a rookie agent going under the guidance of agent breckinridge and academy award winner kim basinger as first lady sarah ballentine . one improvement for this movie could have been more action as it is by some sources considered just as much an action film as is a thriller film but a good thing about this movie is instead of just an assassination plot to kill the us president  it also concerns a mole  traitor  in the secret service who is leading the president in the wrong direction .  
revenge of the sith starts out with a long action sequence that is impressive without being terribly exciting  then gets really boring for the next hour and fifteen minutes  with the same horrible dialogue and dull machinations that have plagued the rest of the prequel series . the only thing that improves the proceedings is the slow   and i mean slow   build  up to what we know will be the birth of darth vader . and when that finally comes  it  s pretty all right . not great . not even good . but pretty all right . this movie is being vastly over  praised because it does not suck to high heaven like the previous sequels . instead it  s just turgid  dull  and routine . but you have to say  wow  those cgi environments are really impressive at times . bu the lightsabre fights  they  re all a blurry mess . i think the dark side took hold of lucas when he started these prequels and no one noticed . this will make a ton of money  but thank god it  s over  this once  worshipped franchise has been beaten down enough . i saw the      show  and after it  i heard a group of very small kids say  wow that was awesome  but everyone older than eight all grumbled the same thing i fell asleep in the middle . it was kind of boring . i just thought seeing the birth of darth vader would be better . so said we all .  
i  ll be honest  i finally checked this movie not because of the stars   though they were reasonably watchable and compelling  particularly the three leads   or even the compelling story of a breach in the presidential secret service  something  i  ve been informed through the dvd extras of this show  has yet to ever happen . assuming that  s true  that  s remarkable   . i got it because it was directed and has a choice cameo by none other than detective meldrick lewis   well  okay  clark johnson  one of my faves from  homicidelife on the street  and a veteran  mostly  tv director . i  d say that he does about as good as he can with a project that is watchable but pretty average  despite the possibilities .  br    br   veteran and ace secret agent pete garrison  michael douglass  has to find out both who is blackmailing him and who killed his friend  targeted and blew up an air force one chopper and is gunning for the prez .  david rasche . anyone remember  sledgehammer    . his affair with the first lady  kim basinger  clearly one of the hotter first ladies we  ve ever had  fictional or real  is certainly not helping his standing . he  s got to both ferret out the real mole in the service and avoid the hound dog like hunting of his former best friend and fellow agent and chief  kiefer sutherland  almost still completely in     mode  . throw in some other pivotal service agents  martin donovan and the foxy  somewhat hard to buy as the gig eva longorria  and shady foreign characters and you have a fairly standard political thriller that doesn  t aim as high as it purports and reaches the desired  if underwhelming  results .  br    br   the summary line is about the best way to describe how this show plays out without giving spoilers . the dvd extras to me seemed more insightful and interesting than the movie  though the film itself was entertaining enough to keep most  myself included  interested .  
first let me preface this post by saying that i am a fan of the original star wars movies . . . i don  t read the books  play the games  wear the underwear or eat the cereal  if there is one  . i am simply a fan of the films .  br    br   with that being said  i struggle to see how people are giving this movie such high praise . taking this movie by itself  and not comparing it to it  s terrible predecessors  ep      i don  t understand how you can say this is an amazing movie . for all of the terrible shortcomings in the script  cheesy dialogue  contrived scenes  ie r  suddenly being a badass  and long cgi intense chase scenes that have little human touch   horrible acting  and noted plot holes . . . how is this good  there was no real internal dilemma within anakin it just seemed like a switch was flipped and he was evil all of a sudden . i was not interested in the movie until the last   minutes or so  which by the way was ruined by the  noooooo   frankenstein scene  . when you bombard the screen with intensely amazing cgi effects and fill in the gaps with absolutely atrocious one  liners when more could have and should have been said  this is not a great movie . for a film with such a  dark  tone  there was too much levity in the speech of all characters .  br    br   i close with a question from the beginning to the end of the film  was there really a sense of urgency and importance for what was actually about to take place   
this film has a rotting core of flexible morality  and yet a quirky sense of justice . so many of the regular joes among us would love to  stick it to the man  . the  man  in this case is represented by several different characters . mr . keller  who carla reports to at her office . later  paul owes   large to mr . marchand the club owner . and then there is paul  s parole officer . there seems to be so much question about this last character  s side story . reviewers point it out as a weakness in an otherwise well crafted subterranean game of ping  pong between our two protagonists  escalating tit  for  tat until their lives change dramatically . they are beholden to each agent of the  man  . one or both could be fired  killed  or imprisoned if they don  t do as they are told .  br    br   the film has a sense of relief at the end . carla finally gets laid . her boss is forced out for being a jerk . mr . club owner is a pulpy mess in his own bathroom . they get the money . and . . . they need not worry about reporting in to the parole officer  because his moral weakness leads him to stash his wandering wife in the basement  or whatever the police found to arrest him  . it is a critical subconscious trigger to the lock tumbler that wound us up so tight . never mind that someone else may get paul  s file later to supervise his release for the moment they are free  they might even get away with it   br    br   woohoo . . .  br    br   they stuck it to the man   
i hate this movie  it was nothing like the book  and just thinking about it makes me mad . if you watch the movie before reading the book  then yeah  it  s a good movie . but king  s book was amazing and this movie was nothing like it . i mean  the general meaning might be sort of similar but most aspects of the movie are completely different . the ending for example  so in the book it is extremely intense and danny and wendy escape seconds before the hotel explodes . but in this horrible movie version jack like takes them through a stupid maze . . . yeah  there is no maze in the book and there is no reason for it . another part that made me angry was that jack just kills mr . halloran  what the heck  he is basically the hero of the book and they just kill him off like he wasn  t important . overall  it was just bad that the movie was so extremely off .  
seeing as keifer sutherland plays my favorite character in the history of tv  it was a foregone conclusion i was gonna go to the movies and spend    on this . i also think this applies to eva longoria fans .  br    br   the movie revolves around a leak that a secret service agent is planning to assassinate the president . as the investigation unfolds  it seems the only likely candidate is the highly decorated pete  michael douglas  . pleading innocence  pete goes on the fun  fugitive style  to search for the truth .  br    br   it  s solid  but certainly not spectacular . a decent cast  a decent story but it left me feeling a bit empty  but you could certainly do far worse .  
ludicrous . angelic   year  old annakin turns into whiny brat    year  old annakin  who somehow seems appealing to amidala   years his senior . now    year  old jedi warrior hero annakin has a couple of bad dreams  and so takes to slaughtering children  his friends  and the entire framework of his existence because a crazy old man convinced him a  his precious wife might really die  and b  only he can prevent this . ludicrosity squared .  br    br   i think the people who like this movie are not paying attention . the story is ridiculous . the characters are unbelievable  literally  not the perverted sense of  fantastic    wonderful   etc .  .  br    br   obi  wan kenobi was the wise and kind anchor for the entire series  but in the climax  he hacks off annakin  s legs  lets him burn in the lava  and leaves him to suffer . doesn  t anyone think that  s a little out of character  not to mention it was pretty stupid to take a chance on him living  as it turns out .  br    br   i was expecting at least a story that showed consistent characters with plausible motivations . none of that here . the story could have been written by a   year old .  br    br   oh yeah  the cgi is pretty cool .  
this was a pretty decent movie . this movie is good to just sit down and watch and be entertained . just a typical hollywood film . this movie will never win an oscar or anything and definitely doesn  t deserve one  but i thought it was pretty good . it  s kind of like the show   but set into movie format . if you like the whole we  ve got to stop the terrorist from killing the president kind of movie then you will enjoy this flick . i personally think that storyline has been done way too much  but the sentinel does add a little twist with the mole in the secret service . all in all  this movie won  t leave your jaw to the floor or change your life  but who says every single movie has to be like that to be good   
i  m trying to decide if jumping into a wood chopper would be more enjoyable than this dreck . it finishes the destruction of what was once a classic couple of films . with jedi  menace  clowns and sith we have the death of lucas  career . he wants us to swallow the annakin is vader nonsense  i never believed it was true . this film vindicates those feelings . the story hasn  t worked since phantom moron  and each new film just piled the crap on until all that was left was a toy parade . i have to go . i know where some new rocks to throw are . you want spoilers  here they come . luke and leia are not related . vader is not their father . duke countoo should have switched sides while he still could . yoda has less verbal skills than yogi berra . his advice has never been any good to anybody . obi wan lied to luke for the first two films . annakin didn  t build c  p  . he found him in the desert and lied to his mom about putting him together from scratch . chewbacca has fleas . this whole mess with vader and the fall of the republic can be blamed on that stupid bh amma  lamma  ding  dong . if she had any brains she wouldn  t have come within a light year of annie  but she had told do what george lucas wrote for her . what a dope   
good for an evening  s entertainment  but the plot was unconvincing . garrison  s affair with the first lady was unreal and passionless the president was a cardboard cut  out . and who were the real villains anyway  nothing was developed or explained sufficiently . i still don  t know why they wanted to kill the president or how the mole got involved . the villains were nameless and undeveloped  so you never felt involved in their plot . michael douglas and kiefer sutherland did their best to inject some reality into the story  the chase and confrontation were good . but kim basinger and eva longoria were both unbelievable in their roles  basinger totally lacked character and no way could longoria have been a secret service agent . this could have been a very good film but somehow it missed the way  with too many unanswered questions . disappointing on the whole despite some very good scenes . and did they use the  west wing  set for the white house scenes   i kept expecting cj or charlie to appear   
to make a film straddling the prequels and the  real  star wars trilogy would tax even a great film  maker . . . . mr lucas is not that film  maker .  br    br   to portray the fall of a good man into darkness needs a good actor . . . mr christensen is not that actor .  br    br   the first      minutes are overwhelmingly boring with only a few pockets of yet more light sabre fights but there is a lack of edge because you already know which main characters survive to the original star wars .  br    br   count dooku  christopher lee  has a very fleeting role here and about the best idea is to have jar jar binks silent   br    br   no the film only picks up with the chancellor turning on the jedi and has one great  overlong  sequence at the lava falls  
the sentinel features a sort of run of the mill and clichd suspense  mystery but is lifted with some good acting and taut pacing . these stories have already for the most part gone through as many permutations as we can bear  so what we  re left with is how good is the acting  how smart are the setups and bad guys  how well crafted is the main plot etc etc . . . . . so the sentinel does a solid job given it  s content . michael douglass and kiefer sutherland both maintain some good screen bravado and attitudes . eva longoria  first time i  ve seen her on screen  brings some satisfactory support . the whole affair side of the story is utterly implausible knocking it down a bit  but it deserves slack . worth a viewing if you like the genre .  
well  i finally saw it . i didn  t go when it first came out because  well  frankly  i was afraid . afraid of how bad it might be  or how disappointing . while not as bad as menace  and better than clones  it wasn  t particularly memorable  or satisfying .  br    br   i was   years old when i saw star wars . i still remember sitting in the theater . from the opening crawl to the final credits it was a movie experience i  ll never forget . a timeless story of the bored farm  boy who just knows he was meant for more  saving the princess and the galaxy from the evil menace while being mentored by the wise wizard  the rogue pirate and the various comic relief   all in a space  opera setting .  br    br   and that  s not to chastise lucas for using an old formula . it  s an old formula precisely because it works . and to his credit  he gave it new twists that made it very special .  br    br   then came empire and the story became more than just a fairy tale . darkness entered the picture and we learned one of the great movie twists of all time . the great villain  vader was luke  s father . wow  no one saw that coming . of course  i  m convinced neither did lucas till it showed up in the screenplay . go back and watch star wars again . knowing what you know now  particularly in light of the first three episodes  see if it really meshes .  br    br   which brings me to the problem i have . revenge is an entertaining movie   tremendous effects  plenty of action  some good fighting scenes . but a movie still lives or dies on its plot   the story it is telling . oh  certainly  really good acting can save a weak plot  but a weak plot coupled with bad acting   that  s a burden no director can overcome  certainly not one as bad as i  m forced to realize george lucas is  the man has managed to direct some of the worst performances in their careers from some very fine actors   liam neeson  natalie portman  samuel jackson  .  br    br   spoilers ahead the plot . oh my . understand  he  s already handicapped by what  s happened in the first two films so it  s an incredible burden . one too much for him to overcome .  br    br   first we have the sheer absurdities of the background . we have anakin being found as a child on tatooine  the product of a virginal  miracle birth   the  chosen one  . well  this detail never gets remotely explained . indeed  the closest explanation is yoda  s observation that maybe they were wrong . oh  well  okay then . our mistake .  br    br   now  this same wunderkind turns out to be the creator of c  po . hey  what a coincidence that is . and he  ll come back to tatooine and never know he was from there  wow  how about that . testing the old willing suspension of disbelief there  eh george  anyway  we have this bratty kid  moody  petulant  whining young adult  who must somehow become one of the greatest villains in cinematic history   the great tragedy of darth vador   the good guy who falls from grace  only to finally achieve redemption in the end .  br    br   how  pray tell  does this happen  why  he has a dream that his wife will die in childbirth . now  sure  he lives in a star  spanning civilization that treats gravity like we treat gasoline  but does it occur to the  dark one to be  to maybe check with a physician cause maybe  just maybe  this futuristic society might can do something about this problem  why  no  the only thing he can think to do is go kill some children because the bad guy at the root of all the evil they  ve been chasing for two films tells him that he  s got the secret to immortality .  br    br   well  of course he does .  br    br   sheesh .  br    br   how can lucas expect us to watch such foolishness and be moved by it  how can anyone expect us to care  hell  why would anyone want this brat to be saved or redeemed in the first place . i wanted kenobi to kill him not because he was evil  but because he was pathetically stupid .  br    br   oh  by the way  amidala finally dies . in childbirth . why  well  they don  t know . the doctor  who is a droid and himself indicative of the incredibly high technology to which this society has advanced  offers only the conclusion of  she  s lost the will to live  . well  oh  okay  of course she has . maybe it finally dawned on her what a dweeb she was sleeping with .  br    br   but here we are . we have kenobi present for all this . he knows of the birth of luke and leia . knows who their father is and knows what happens to them . knows  also  the role of both r  and c  po . and yet  in several years  as luke approaches manhood and shows up with  po and r   curiously   po  s mind is wiped  but not r   s   why      stating  i think these droids belong to you   kenobi  who knows that the protocol droid was constructed by the one he believed to be  the chosen one  and apprentice to the emperor himself  and who just happened to be built on this very planet  says  strange  i don  t recall owning any droids  .  br    br   oh good grief .  br    br   lucas simply made this up as he went along . once he introduced vader as luke  s father  sadly  the story began spinning out of control because he didn  t know what the story was . the plot of episodes    is simply incomprehensible . nothing palpatine did made any rational sense at all . and none of this ties into the story he originally told in star wars .  br    br   it  s an afterthought  and it looks it .  br    br   i can  t give this movie a high rating . it reminds me of triple x . a fun film to watch  but entirely forgettable . star wars will stand in my mind forever . thankfully  this one  and the two preceding it  will soon fade .  
the sentinel i was hoping would be a good film and boy i was right . a great story first of all from a novel and i thought this was an original story but i guess it wasn  t and it was a very smart story . michael douglas in this film is very good and keither sutherland is too  but however it is very hard to shrug him off his role as jack bauer in   but eventually you do and he is very different in the sentinel than he is in   . also another person trying to shrug off their tv role but failed . eva longeria . she wasn  t that good in the film and had a back seat in the entire thing . after i saw the film i had constant dreams about the sentinel and couldn  t sleep . overall sentinel is a good film and i would recommend it .  
at one point  violet  lucy liu  tells neil  cillian murphy  that why she constantly seeks out for an adventure . she said  because i  m bore  phobic  . it mean that she can  t really get on with her life by doing some mandatory activities . well  i think her reason and the way this film go is very ironic . because  watching the detectives  is a cheer boredom .  br    br   have any of these characters actually doing something exciting for once  neil is a geek who runs his own very small video rental shop . he and his other geek friends usually hang out around the shop and watching movies together while debating about them afterward . but neil  s life is completely turned around when violet walks into his store . she  s an eccentric woman who hides a little secret from him . anyway  after some dates  they decide to see each other . the problem is violet is a person who keep doing prank jokes on neil and can  t really doing something normal  whereas neil is completely opposite to hers . the question is . is they are going to be in love at the end  you bet .  br    br    watching the detectives  is a clich romantic  comedy to its core . and they made it even worst by pretending to be something else . from the first couple of set  up  we know that neil is pretty laid  back guy who didn  t really commit to anything . and then  violet enters the scene  looking all weird and annoying . so at this point  we all know that we  re going to sit though all meaningless situations to find out how they  re going to end up in the end . is it worth waiting for  i would say no .  br    br   as i said  they tried to give something more for the audience .  watching the detectives  is trying to talk about commitment . to observe how far people go to reach for something they desire . we knew in the end that insane things that violet has done is all the test how far neil is ready to go to win her heart  or whatever  . well  i think it is completely bullshit . this movie will end pretty quick if neil just said to himself  forget about it  that girl is one of a nutjob   after collaborating with many great directors recently  danny boyle  s  sunshine  and    days later   ken loach  s  the wind that shakes the barley  and neil jordan  s  breakfast on pluto  to name a few   it  s pretty weird choice for cillian murphy to make a movie with one of broken lizard comedy troop  paul soter . by all means  he  s not bad  as usual   but such a talent actor like him shouldn  t be wasting his time in the movie like this . on the other hand  lucy liu is dreadfully awful as violet . her acting is a mess . i mean it  s all over the place and so over  the  top . tony montana would have been proud .  br    br   the last but not least mistake that movie made is a completely irrelevant title . you simply can  t really connect a dot between the plot and its title and then you will end up thinking that it makes no sense at all . in short   watching the detectives  is pleasant if forgettable motion picture that you might have a chance to catch it on cable tv so quick that you couldn  t imagine .  br    br   bloodymonday rating  .     
i can admit that the screenplay isn  t very good  and that it has some slow parts  but all of you critics of this movie need to learn how to have some fun . first of all  the performances are great  michael douglas  kim basinger  kiefer sutherland  and eva longoria . michael douglas proves he has still got it  and kim basinger plays a very interesting character as the cheating wife . kiefer sutherland and eva longoria  play the dynamic duo  both adding their incredible talent to the pot . and second of all  this movie is the most fun i have had in years in a theodore . its plain and simple  if you want to go to the movies  and have a lot of fun see  the sentinel .  
lucy alexis liu and cillian murphy are both excellent actors  who can certainly rise to any acting challenge put to them .  br    br   unfortunately  watching the detectives        offers only one to both actors and audience alike not to fall asleep during a mind  numbingly boring  very predictable and unimaginative story .  br    br    watching the detectives        tries very hard to be funny  but the comedy is forced  extremely poorly directed and embarrassing to the verge of complete ridicule .  br    br   after a third of the film still nothing that may capture even the most willing audience  like the director  s friends and relatives  is even hinted at  not to mention actually happening .  br    br   i  m pretty sure everybody who liked it faked it or had to fake it like neil  s ex  girlfriend did when he showed her an old bw film she couldn  t care less about .  watching the detectives        is nowhere near category b  it falls somewhere between q  r  like  questions  and  repress the questions  the director knows what he  s doing  well  if his goal was to bore the viewer to death  he has done a very good job   br    br    watching the detectives        was a complete waste of time for lucy alexis liu and cillian murphy  bur please don  t let it be a waste of your time   br    br   rating  out of    .  
i thought that the sentinel was going to be a mediocre movie . when i finally saw it  i took a good surprise . the movie isn  t great thing but it  s very fun and the action scenes are very well done . this movie reminded me tv series like   or alias . it  s very similar to that series and it reminded me too  to the wolfgang petersen  s thriller in the line of fire . if you  re going to expect one of the most original and and one of the greatest thrillers in the history of movies  you will be disappointed . but if you go with little expectations  you will enjoy the sentinel .  br    br   rating   
basically this is a pale shadow of high fidelity  which was a witty and wonderfully acted film with several truly winning character turns . watching the detectives has none of that .  br    br   the premise of a video store geek swept off his feet by a quirky mystery woman is a good one but is never fully or adequately explored  thanks to a very weak script and the miscasting of the leads  not to mention the lack of any real visual story  telling style . i mean  this film is centered around movies  yet is itself incredibly uncinematic  that  s a major failing right there .  br    br   but the main problem is we simply don  t care about the main characters because the script and the actors  murphy and liu  fail to make them true or sympathetic in any real way . so the film just becomes a series of episodes involving two people who seem  well  not terribly interesting .  br    br   oh  yeah  another thing for a romantic comedy  it  s not funny . and the romance isn  t terribly romantic  either .  br    br   so avoid it . even at its    something minute running time it  s just not worth sitting through . . .  
i enjoyed this film . i thought it was an excellent political thriller about something that  s never happened before  a secret service agent going bad and involved in an assassination plot . unfortunately  for michael douglas  character   pete garrison   they think he  s the mole but he isn  t .  br    br   he  s just a morally  flawed agent having an affair with the first lady  since he  s doing that  he  s unable to give an acceptable polygraph exam and that makes him suspect number one when it  s revealed there is a plot to kill the president .  br    br    garrison  is forced to go on the lam but at the same time he  s still trying to do the right thing by protecting the president . douglas does a fine job in this role . i don  t always care the people he plays but he  s an excellent actor . keifer sutherland   david breckinridge   is equally as good  at least in here  as the fellow ss boss who hunts down douglas until convinced he has been telling the truth . when he does the two of them work together in the finale to discover and then stop  if they can  the plot . the crooks are interesting  too  by the way . also  i have never  and never will  unfortunately  see a first lady who looks as good as kim basinger  br    br   this is simply a slick action flick that entertains start  to  finish . are there holes in it  of course probably a number of them  and a reason you see so many critical comments . however  it is unfairly bashed here . it just isn  t intelligent enough for the geniuses here on this website . my advice chill  just go along for the ride and enjoy all the action and intrigue . yes  it gets a little rambo  ish at the end but otherwise it gets high marks for entertainment . . . . . which is what movies are all about .  
i  m not even gonna waste time on this one it  s not funny  not scary  practically unwatchable and only occassionaly gory  the fx suck though  no pun intended   . this is a disclaimer watch at your peril  ask yourself  question are slugs scary   
at first glance  this film looks like the keifer sutherland series   for the big screen . with the focus on a plot to assassinate the president of the united states  a race against time  and plenty of secret service agents  the agency under the spotlight in the sentinel .  br    br   but wait  the protagonist turns out to be michael douglas  character pete garrison instead  a veteran secret service agent famed for taking the bullet for reagan in     . the ss agents are specially trained to  take the bullet   which is what makes them special  who in the right mind will put themselves in the line of a bullet and a target  but garrison gets implicated in the assassination plot  and has to run for his life while at the same time doing his bit of investigations into the plot . all this because of his failure in a polygraph test  due to his adulterous banging of the first lady  kim basinger  . tsk .  br    br   there are shades of clint eastwood  s in the line of fire . both featured aging actors  and aging veteran has  been heroes with a bit of a historical reference  who took the bullet in their respective tours of duty . while eastwood  s movie has a more enigmatic villain in john malkovich  the sentinel suffered from its lack of a central strong villain  preferring to share the assassination responsibility amongst many forgettable ex  kgb villains  and the mole within the presidential detail . with douglas on the run from the law  he becomes similar to dr . richard kimble of the fugitive  hunting the proverbial one  armed man while at the same time  relying on his smarts to outwit fellow agents  which turned out to be quite interesting to watch  despite slick processes  it still boils down to the performance and gullibility of individual agents .  br    br   keifer sutherland and eva longoria  top tv stars of today from   and desperate housewives  get relegated into support roles as the secret service investigators who are looking into garrison  s probable involvement in the assassination plot  and at times seem to have lept off the pages of csi with their forensics skills . the beautiful couple had chemistry that could have resembled x  files  fox mulder and dana scully  but alas these two had very little to do here . we know the reason why they  re in the movie  and that is to get their fans into the theatres . also  longoria  s role seemed unable to shake off her sexy  mama gabrielle  and here  has her in fairly low cut blouses  sutherland actually tells her to cover up  and tight pants  ogle  fest for fellow agents  .  br    br   nonetheless  it  s still a pretty interesting look into the lives of probably the most highly charged and tense protection detail in the world  and the typical threats that they face daily  including the following up on every nutcase  s threat on the life of the most powerful man in the world . it  s a decent suspense and investigative thriller  with enough subplots to keep you entertained . but one thing though  like most ending action sequences  this one has a big enough loophole for you to fly a jumbo jet through .  
just kidding  this was one of the worst movies i have ever seen  it was so bad though  that it was hilarious . my friend and i purposly rented it because it looked so bad . cheesy old horror flicks are always good for some laughs . the plot stunk  some of the voices were dubbed  the quality was horrendous . but i sure had a blast watching it   
it  s been   years since gordon gekko used  wall street  to let us know that greed is good . now  michael douglas takes the gg persona and morphs it into a secret service agent  pete garrison . guess what  it works  this is a solid political thriller that kept me guessing . the detail work in showing the security precautions taken by the ss on behalf of the president and first lady was likewise intriguing . all the leads were pretty good but  try as i might  i could not accept eva longoria as a secret service agent . whereas jodie foster just made you suspend belief and really think she was fbi agent starling in  silence of the lambs   you do not get the same feeling with longoria . nevertheless  this is a fun film  escapist entertainment with the beltway as the backdrop .  
is seismic activity with little or negligible results on the surface . so in that respect  imdb  s average voting score is spot on .  br    br   a spanish film made in the usa with third or fourth rate actors giving a kind of  falcon crest  dimension to the whole affair is a wonderful way to waste your time  as well as wasting the money of those who backed the project financially .  br    br   the slugs involved are originals from asturias  northern spain  but as they were not allowed into the united states  plastic ones had to be made . however  chopping them up in the lettuce being used for making the evening dinner  time salad contrasts rather weirdly with parisienne music as well as a rather tatty array of other us forgotten hits  or misses if you have no idea who was responsible for composing it  . the actors involved were also a rather tatty array  just suitable for a low  budget film which might be categorised as horrific  horrifying  horrible or just simple awful .  br    br   as a result  the outcome is negligible on the surface  undetected underground  and about as attractive as chapter       of coronation street or the latest news from baghdad .  
it  s so rare to find a film that provides a plot that can  t be figured out at every turn . surprises throughout delighting throughout .  br    br   a couple of things i could not quite understand though is that here you have the lead female character who plays  the good girl  hard worker  and yet in the end she ends up being an anti  social risk taker . that was not enough to make me not like it though but it did give me pause .  br    br   the other thing i could not get was the old man who was being hauled away by the police at the very end of the film . i never did get who he was or what his issues were . if anyone has any ideas  i  d like to hear what they might be .  br    br   the film was exciting and fun throughout and always left me guessing . very much worth seeing .  
i caught this stink bomb of a movie recently on a cable channel  and was reminded of how terrible i thought it was in     when first released . many reviewers out there aren  t old enough to remember the enormous hype that surrounded this movie and the struggle between stanley kubrick and steven king . the enormously popular novel had legions of fans eager to see a supposed  master  director put this multi  layered supernatural story on the screen .  salem  s lot  had already been ruined in the late     s as a tv mini  series  directed by tobe hooper  he of  texas chainsaw massacre  fame  and was badly handled  turning the major villain of the book into a  chiller theatre  vampire with no real menace at all thus destroying the entire premise . fans hoped that a director of kubrick  s stature would succeed where hooper had failed . it didn  t happen .  br    br   sure  this movie looks great and has a terrific opening sequence but after those few accomplishments  it  s all downhill . jack nicholson cannot be anything but jack nicholson . he  s always crazy and didn  t bring anything to his role here . i don  t care that many reviewers here think he  s all that in this clinker  the  here  s johnny   bit notwithstanding . . . he  s just awful in this movie . so is everyone else  for that matter . scatman crothers  character  dick halloran  was essential to the plot of the book  yet kubrick kills him off in one of the lamest  shock  sequences ever put on film . i remember the audience in the theater i saw this at booing repeatedly during the last   minutes of this wretched flick  those that stayed that is . . . many left . king  s books really never translate well to film since so much of the narratives occur internally to his characters  and often metaphysically . kubrick jettisoned the tension between the living and the dead in favor of style here and the resulting mess ends so far from the original material that we ultimately don  t really care what happens to whom .  br    br   this movie still stinks and why so many think it  s a horror masterpiece is beyond me .  
i saw this film while at birmingham southern college in      when it was shown in combination with the red balloon . both films are similar in their dream  like quality . the bulk of the film entails a fish swimming happily in his bowl while his new owner  a little boy  is away at school . a cat enters the room where the fish and his bowl are  and begins to warily stalk his  prey .  the boy begins his walk home from school  and the viewer wonders whether he will arrive in time to save his fish friend . the fish becomes agitated by the cat  s presence  and finally jumps out of the bowl  the cat quickly walks over to the fish  gently picks him up with his paws  and returns him to his bowl . the boy returns happily to his fish  none the wiser .  br    br   the ending is amazing in both its irony and its technical complexity . it is hard to imagine how the director could  ve pulled the technical feat back in       it seems more a trick for     .  br    br   if you can find it  watch it   you won  t be disappointed  and if you do find it  let me know so i can get a copy  too   
warning this review contains spoilers . do not read if you don  t want some points revealed to you before you watch the film .  br    br   with a cast like this  you wonder whether or not the actors and actresses knew exactly what they were getting into . did they see the script and say  hey  close encounters of the third kind was such a hit that this one can  t fail .  unfortunately  it does . did they even think to check on the director  s credentials  i mean  would you do a movie with the director of a movie called satan  s cheerleaders   greydon clark  who would later go on to direct the infamous final justice   made this . it makes you wonder how the people of mystery science theater     could hammer final justice  and completely miss out on the return .   br    br   the film is set in a small town in new mexico . a little boy and girl are in the street unsupervised one night when a powerful flashlight beam . er . a spaceship appears and hovers over them . in probably the worst special effect sequence of the film  the ship spews some kind of red ink on them . it looked like clark had held a beaker of water in from of the camera lens and dipped his leaky pen in it  so right away you are treated with cheese . anyhow  the ship leaves and the adults don  t believe the children . elsewhere  we see vincent schiavelli  whom i find to be a terrific actor  watch his scenes in ghost  for proof  as they are outstanding   who is playing a prospector  or as i called him  the miner     er . he steps out of the cave he is in  and he and his dog are inked by the ship . twenty  five years go by  and the girl has grown up to be cybill shepherd  who works with her father  raymond burr  in studying unusual weather phenomena . or something like that . shepherd spots some strange phenomena in satellite pictures over that little new mexico town  and she travels there to research it . once she gets there  the local ranchers harass her  and blame her for the recent slew of cattle mutilations that have been going on  and deputy jan  michael vincent comes to her rescue . from this point on  the film really drags as the two quickly fall for each other  especially after vincent wards off the locals and informs shepherd that he was the little boy that saw the ship with her twenty  five years earlier . while this boring mess is happening  vincent schiavelli  with his killer dog at his side  is walking around killing the cattle and any people he runs into with an unusual item . you know those glowing plastic sticks stores sell for trick  or  treaters at halloween  the kind that you shake to make them glow  schiavelli uses what looks like one of those glow sticks to burn incisions in people . it  s the second  worst effect in the movie . every time schiavelli is on screen with the glow stick  the scene  s atmosphere suddenly turns dark  like the filmmakers thought the glow stick needed that enhancement . it ends up making the movie look even cheaper than it is .  br    br   and what does all this lead up to  it  s hard to tell when the final  confusing scene arrives . see  burr and his team of scientists try to explain the satellite images that shepherd found as some kind of calling card   but none of it makes sense . why do shepherd and vincent age and schiavelli does not  schiavelli explains why he is killing cattle and people and why he wants shepherd dead  but even that doesn  t make much sense when you really think about it . i mean  why doesn  t he kill jan  michael vincent  after all  he had twenty  five years to do it . and the aliens won  t need him if shepherd is dead anyhow  so why try to kill her  speaking of the aliens  it is never clear what they really wanted out of shepherd and vincent . what is their goal  why do they wait so long to intervene  how could they be so sure shepherd would come back  not that the answer to any of these and other questions would have made the return  any more pleasant . you would still have bad lines  really bad acting  particularly by shepherd  cheesy effects  and poor direction . luckily  the stars escaped from this movie . cybill shepherd soon went on to star in moonlighting  with bruce willis . jan  michael vincent went on to be featured in dozens of b  movies  often in over  the  top parts . raymond burr made a pile of perry mason television movies right up until his death . vincent schiavelli went on to be a great character actor in a huge number of films . martin landau  who played a kooky law enforcement officer  quickly made the terrific alone in the dark  and the awful the being  before rolling into the films he has been famous for recently . you can bet none of these stars ever want their careers to return to the return .  zantara  s score  out of   .  
there was some hesitation from my part about what this movie had to offer . for starters  the casting didn  t seem right . kiefer sutherland had already done very well in     and the preview didn  t seem to offer anything challenging to him or the audience . eva longoria appeared out of place  and the rest didn  t seem very interesting .  br    br   when the film finally ended  i was not completely displeased for i had seen a decent thriller that could have been much better  had the responsible parties taken a little more care to watch for the narrative gaps and given a little more care to character development . we have seen threats of this type before  and that made the main conflict much more challenging to the writers . as an audience  we don  t want to sit through the same old story again . we want to see something different  be thrilled and entertained .  br    br   there is nothing wrong with the casting . from kim basinger  s delicious first lady . she carries herself with enough grace and sex appeal to make the part memorable . michael douglas has been and done that before . unfortunately  the president is much of a non entity to even care about his fate . sutherland rehashes his     tough guy approach with enough power to make it big enough for the big screen  and eva does a passable job  as the newcomer .  br    br   don  t expect as many twists and fireworks as some of the established classics   north by northwest  and  the fugitive  come to mind  . leave your expectations outside and enjoy the ride for whatever it might be . it  s o . k .  
in all of low budget history . this movie has to be one of the worst . true ther are some humorous sides to the movie  but in general it was just plain awful . i just can  t understand what person could not out run a bunch of slugs . i mean they have to be one of the slowest creatures on the planet . the only part worth while in this movie is the close up of a slugs attempt to bite the finger of a man . this was rather amusing .  
my observations vamp outfit at end is ravishing and wonderful  exotic and fantastic . jeanette wore it well  and got even with naive nelson . boat crashing into his balcony served him right . costume outfits of his female mafia were designed surprisingly well  especially by today  s standards .     costume designer did great job . main song theme just lovely .  br    br   caution to negative posters     was time of ww ii pearl harbor happened year before . u . s . just coming out of great depression needed to get out and spend that hard earned money on diversion of singing  dance and yes  fantastic fantasy . despotic dictators were trying to rule out there in rl  snuffing out freedoms . thank goodness the public had these fantastic plot line movies to attend . movie going was a privileged treat  in those depressing times . when you  negative posters  become actors or even movie stars  then you have room to talk and criticize . jeanette  s and nelson  s movies stand the test of time .  br    br   angel wings wonderful  on the real angel . rl wings at costume party not so hot  but great on jeanette considering the sl .  br    br   beautiful singing by jeanette and nelson  as always . jeanette dancing was a pure delight .  br    br         
ok  where do we start with this little gem  mutant slugs begin to take over a small new england    town . only one man can stop them . . . and that man . . . is mike brady  now  if that wasn  t laughable enough  stay tuned .  br    br   the footage of the slugs is what  s known as stock footage . no matter who the slugs attack or where they are  the same shot of piles of slugs oozing everywhere is shown . keep in mind  this singular shot occupies at least half the movie .  br    br   the acting in the movie was knock down  drag out  steal your wallet  punch your girlfriend  kill your dog  bad . i  m sure there  s worse  but you  re going to be hard pressed to find it . the only gem was . . . you guessed it . . . . mike brady  he must have taken a few night classes at the ymca  because he was the best in the bunch .  br    br   as for horror  this film is not to be taken seriously . there isn  t horror  they  re slugs for crying out loud . the entire rising action could have been avoided with a salt shaker or two . only watch this film in a mst  k type environment  otherwise i can see some major damage to the brain .  
one used to say  concerning nathaniel hawthorne  that his failures were more interesting than his successes . i believe that the same remark could suit to mcdonald  eddy  s pictures . and especially this one .  br    br   it apparently possesses many characteristics of a failed movie it  s kitsch  the script  because of censorship  sounds inconsistent yet  this movie gets also some good points good rodgers  hart  s music   i married an angel    tira tira tira la    good acting with e . e . horton and reginald owen .  br    br   anyway  if you may dislike it  you can  t forget it . this strange movie actually leaves a very strong  dreamlike  impression  and you are very likely to keep it in mind for days  maybe for weeks . why  in the thirties and the beginning of the forties  movies didn  t have the same mean than today it aimed  like a dream  to divert the public in order to make it forget a difficult reality . of all the the dream  movies that was made  in that time  this one stands as particularly powerful .  br    br   in short  let  s say that the better way to appreciate this movie  is to watch it without wondering whether it  s good or bad . to watch it  like you would watch a dream .  
all you really need to know about this movie comes after the opening scene  where a guy falls into a lake and gets eaten . then they start rolling the title credits you see  slugs   in big letters  followed shortly thereafter by  the movie .  whew  i was worried i had accidentally tuned into  slugs the musical  or  slugs the game show .  anyway  from there the movie deteriorates into a kill  fest . you see a guy cut his hand off because he had slugs in his gardening glove  two people get attacked by slugs while having sex  and a girl falling on her back in an underground passageway get stung to death by killer slugs . it  s a pretty silly movie  falling in the  so  bad  it  s  good  category . it also is shot so poorly with such grainy film that you  re shocked to learn it was made in      my guess was      . i  m very surprised it has received as high a score as it has here  because most people here don  t give those types of movie any love . but if you want a movie that tries to be scary but ends up being laughable  this is one of your prime candidates .  
the movie is a fantasy . the story line is thin but serves as the structure upon which some wonderful songs are sung and sung beautifully .  i still cannot believe that such handsome and attractive people could sing this well .  some of the dialog is wonderfully clever . the costumes made me feel as though i was watching a haute couture fashion show from     .  br    br   movies are designed to serve various purposes . this one is designed to entertain and it certainly does . if i have one negative comment it would be that nelson eddy was a little too old to be the handsome dashing count . some of the closeups made me uncomfortable . but he could still sing and sing magnificently . however  jeanette macdonald was just as dazzling as ever . she makes a spectacular angel .  br    br   this genre is well before my time  and i an new to the jeanette macdonald  nelson eddy films and related conversation . the music in this movie is beautiful . as much as i love the classic rock music which fills most modern movies  there is no question in my mind that this music is simply and clearly more memorable  more delightful  better constructed . the stars in this movie are more talented than the stars i see in the movie theaters today . and jeanette macdonald  without the benefit of beverly hills plastic surgeons  was more beautiful than the stars i see today . i am unclear as to why so many other posters are apologetic about liking this movie and more generally this group of movies . they say it is dated and try to explain why it is the way it is . and those that do not like it say that it is not very good but compared to what  i think this movie will doubtless still be entertaining people when so many other movie are long forgotten . there is just too much quality in every way in this movie for it not to be remembered and enjoyed . i recommend this movie without reservation to anyone who appreciates great talent  great beauty and great music .  
this could have been a rather entertaining film  but instead it ranks with other duds like leeches and rest in pieces at the bottom of the cinematic food chain . had they played this flick tongue  in  cheek  it could have been a very entertaining film  like re  animator or dead alive  but juan piquor simon plays it tongue  in  cheek in spots but straight more often .  br    br   the premise of this film is a small community that is besieged by mutated slugs . there is an abandoned toxic waste dump near a sewer line that mutates the slugs into aggressive  meat  eating monsters  albeit monsters that move slowly and can be squished under your boot . health inspector michael garfiled and two accomplices are the only people that seem willing to fight the slugs while the sheriff and mayor think they are crazy . the climax is a laugh riot  unintentional at that  which makes you scratch your head as to how stupid  actors and screenwriter  the scenario of destroying the slugs is .  br    br   story   no new ground charted here . simon seems to play the gore elements tongue  in  cheek but the dialogue is straight . had simon worked with a clever script  one with plenty of one  liners and eccentric characters  this could have been a cult film  .  br    br   violence   you won  t be letdown here . we get plenty of exploding chest cavity scenes as well as a grand head explosion in the middle of a fine italian restaurant . the blood and guts  that many horror film watchers enjoy  is in full swing here . you also get corpses of people who have been picked clean by the slugs and plenty of slug smashing scenes  .  br    br   acting   wow  michael garfield seems to know that this script is a stinker and he delivers his lines with a facial expression that suggests he knows how preposterous this film  making endeavor is . kim terry  as his wife  does an adequate job even though she does little beyond the hold  your  face  while  you  scream bit . the  teenagers  were all horrible actors  no exceptions . man  this film could have used bruce dern or jeffrey combs    br    br   nudity   two teens get naughty in bed before they get dispatched  in a poorly done scene  by a horde of slugs that crawled into the girl  s bedroom . both male and female nudity here  .  
i know a lot of people don  t like this movie  but i just think it is adorable . there  s not much i can say  but the movie is a feel  good movie i guess . the songs are beautiful  the costumes are beautiful  the voices are beautiful  and there are a lot of funny lines in the movie  especially as briggitta learns about the do  s and don  t  s of society . if you like musicals  i  d say you  d like this one   
mike brady  michael garfield who had a minuscule part in the classic  the warriors   is the first person in the community to realize that there  s murderous slugs in his small town . not just any slugs  mind you  but carnivorous killer bigger then normal  mutated by toxic waste slugs  who still only go as fast as a normal slug  which isn  t that frightening  but i digress  . no one will believe him at first  but they will . oh yes  they will .  br    br   ok  killer slugs are right above psychotic sloths and right below johnathon winters as mork  s baby in the creepiness factor . so the absurdness of it all is quite apparent from the get go . the flick is fun somewhat through and is of the  so bad that it  s good  variety . i appreciate that they spelled out that this was slugs the movie as opposed to slugs the children  s game or slugs the other white meat . probably not worthy of watching it more than once and promptly forgetting it except for playing a rather obscure trivia game . director juan piquer simn is more widely known for his previous films  pod people   which mst  k deservedly mocked  and  peices   which is quite possibly the funnest bad movie ever made   br    br   eye candy kari rose shows ta  br    br   my grade d  br    br   dvd extras merely a theatrical trailer for this movie  
jeanette macdonald and nelson eddy star in this  modern  musical that showcases macdonald  s comic abilities . surreal   s musical seem to be making fun of   s fashions even as they were in current vogue . eye  popping costumes and sets  yes bw  add to the surreal  dreamlike quality of the entire film . several good songs enliven the film  with the  twinkle in your eye  number a total highlight  including a fun jitterbug number between macdonald and binnie barnes . also in the huge cast are edward everett horton  reginal owen  mona maris  douglas dumbrille and anne jeffreys . also to been seen in extended bit parts are esther dale  almira sessions  grace hayle  gertrude hoffman  rafaela ottiano  odette myrtile  cecil cunningham and many others .  br    br   great fun and nice to see the wonderful macdonald in her jitterbug  vamp routines . she could do it all .  
this is a mildly interesting late    s gore fest featuring some nasty slugs with a taste for human blood . if you can get past the ridiculousness of the whole thing you might actually get some minor enjoyment out of this . the acting is awful and the plot is simply there to hold the movie together between gory slug attacks  but the movie isn  t a complete waste of time . the special effects are actually quite good  and the gore is well done . it reminded me of the remake of the blob  probably because of the sliminess of it all . all in all  you could certainly do worse with an hour and a half of your time  but i wouldn  t suggest seeing this movie unless you  ve got a strong stomach and are into this sort of thing .  
it appears that there  s no middle ground on this movie  most of it takes place in a dream and  like most dreams  it  s often foolish and illogical . it  s also a gorgeous production with some great songs and fine performances  especially by our angel .  br    br   jeanette  s deadpan  unknowing insults and various other faux pas at the dream reception are hilarious  and her jitterbug with binnie barnes is a surprise and a delight . at one point  she gets to sing a snippet from carmen  followed by the final trio of faust  holding a lapdog  for some strange reason   then  aloha oe  on the beach   br    br   it  s a surreal comedy   tremendously entertaining if you can get into the groove .  
i love killer insects movies they are great fun to watch  i had to watch this movie as it was one of my favourite horror books by shaun hutson .  br    br   i have met him and i wish i did listen to him as this movie was terrible like he said it was  after he said that i was still dying to see how bad it was .  br    br   the plot people are dying mysteriously and gruesomely  and nobody has a clue what the cause is .  br    br   only health worker mike brady has a possible solution  but his theory of killer slugs is laughed at by the authorities .  br    br   only when the body count begins to rise and a slug expert from england begins snooping around does it begin to look like mike had the right idea after all .  br    br   this movie as the most overacting you ever see a movie  slugs in this movie are fast  then normal  and it looks like they fast forwarding the scenes   br    br   this movie is nothing like the book at all  the book was ten times scarier  ten times gory and had a lot more story to it   br    br   i didn  t like this movie at all  as i am huge fan of slugs the book and second book called breeding ground  both of books are great  br    br   read the book then watch the movie  you may like more then i did give this  out    
have never understood why the macdonald  eddy swan song has always been panned so mercilessly   not just by their detractors but by virtually everyone . to me   i married an angel  is more lively and imaginative than any of the duo  s more celebrated outings . the sets and costumes are as lavish as any to be found in an mgm musical  the script is by the reliable anita loos   san francisco    the women    gentlemen prefer blondes   etc .   the rodgers and hart tunes  albeit altered a bit by macdonald  eddy regulars bob wright and chet forrest  are given celestial treatment by herbert stothart  oscar  winner for scoring  the wizard of oz    and best of all  the  singing sweethearts  look great in their contemporary clothes and seem to be having fun with the bizarre proceedings . try to show  rose marie  or  sweethearts  to the uninitiated today and they may very well have a hard time sitting still  but this offbeat  fast  paced fantasy is bound to entertain .  
  br    br   the movie  slugs  is unique because the titular vermin are actually the good guys in this horrific tale of nature gone awry . you see  these poor slugs have been mutated through the pollution of evil humans and don  t mean to do anything malicious  they  re just slugs  slugs with sharp teeth who eat flesh and excrete poison  but slugs none the less . the real bad guys are the humans  who either actively try to destroy our beloved slugs  or overreact when they encounter them .  br    br   for example  take the scene where the guy puts on the glove full of slugs . they were just hanging out in a comfortable work glove when out of nowhere this giant hand came at them  and they reacted instinctively  defending themselves and biting the guy . now  instead of seeking medical attention for his slug bite  this guy runs around his greenhouse screaming like an idiot  spills some highly volatile chemicals  starts a fire  knocks a bookcase over on himself  and cuts off his own hand  then the fire and volatile chemicals mix and his house explodes . how can you blame that on the slugs   br    br   this movie paints a portrait of humans that is less than favorable . the characters in this movie include the dumb sheriff who hates everybody  the drunk hick who  s mean to his dog  and the lumpy sidekick whose wife is at least forty  five years older than him . there  s also a set of drunken teens  br    br   that get attacked while copulating  and we have to see the skinny long  haired freaks  genitals . meanwhile  there  s a guy who looks like a demonic leslie neilson who yells  you don  t have the authority to declare happy birthday   for some reason . finally  this parade of loathsomeness is rounded out by the guy from the mst  k classic  pod people  whose face explodes after eating a slug  laces salad  another easily avoided fate blamed on the helpful  harmless slugs  .  br    br   humans are portrayed as greedy  stupid  racist  alcoholic  and  in one pointless scene  as would  be rapists . in the movie  s climactic scene  the villainous humans try to burn the slugs who are cowering helplessly in the sewers  well  since they  re idiots  the humans succeed in blowing up the entire town . they alone do more damage than the slugs ever did   br    br   if you hate humans  and i know i do  you  ll appreciate  slugs  . if you  re a fan of bad cinema  you  ll also appreciate this crapfest from the director of  pieces  and  pod people  . there  s enough bad acting  silly dialog  illogical plot twists  lame special effects  pointless scenes  and poor dubbing to hold your attention .  
this was a great movie with a good cast  all of them hitting on all cylinders . and when dianne keaton is at her best  well  it just doesn  t get any better than that . but tom everett scott  always underrated  was even better . he should be a star .  br    br   my only complaint is with one aspect of the screenplay . none of the characters ever acknowledged that the dead daughter wasn  t always a good person . and neither was her mother  played by keaton . at one point she breaks a promise she made to one character not to reveal that he had been sleeping around .  br    br   one of the other commentators said the movie had a  political agenda  . that is a baffling thing to say . there was no politics at all in this movie .  
this movie features two of my favorite actors in kilmer and downey . it also boasts the always enjoyable larry miller in a too  small part . despite this i found it to be nearly unwatchable . michelle monaghan may be pretty but she is nearly charisma free and the reasons for downey  s character  s obsession with her character is not at all understandable in terms of the information the film presents or the way it  s portrayed . the ending seems pretentious and though the intention seems to be that the audience should join in the nod and wink the film  having failed to bring us in on the side of its protagonists leaves us unwilling or unable to do so .  br    br   fans of the film say that those who disagree simply  don  t get it  . i don  t think this is so . the plot was not complicated or beyond understanding . it was simply uninvolving and clumsily and obviously manufactured . i  got it  . i just didn  t like it . paddy breathnach  s  i went down  and guy ritchie  s  snatch  and  lock  stock and two smoking barrels  are much better realized examples of the kind of film  making that director shane black fails to achieve .  br    br   i share a birthday with shane black but a look at his credits  mostly as a screenwriter  makes me want to dissociate myself from any other connection .  
i thought this was one of the best movies i  ve seen in a very long time . it was a great story line and showed that people are so intricate in all kinds of different ways . have recommended it to all my friends   i always enjoy a good story line and this movie had one of the best i  ve seen in a long time . i could see myself having a daughter and doing the same things that natalie did to find out more about her life and loves . it showed how we not only have lives with our families  but also have parts of our lives that we don  t share with them  as it may not be in their best interest to know all the details of things we don  t do that we are so proud of .  br    br   i look forward to another such movie  and will keep my eye out .  
if you seen rodney dangerfield  s previous movies and performances  you  ll recognise several of the jokes made in this odd piece of dreck . written like a sitcom  this movie fails to strike any sort of likeable chord throughout  from the self  help doctor played by the aways sexy  as  chopped liver molly shannon to the  i  m fat  and therefore funny  john linette . the  wives themselves are likeable enough  and if this had been done as a pilot for an action  adventure series  it might have worked . instead  it comes off like a male fantasy that  s trying hard not to be politically incorrect .  
audiard made here a very interesting movie . it begins with the description of an almost  deaf young woman  in its working universe as a secretary she is ignored  frustrated  rejected . . . hiring an intern as an assistant appears to be a way for her to find someone in her life  but the guy is just coming out from jail . their both being rejected by the society reunites them progressively . characters  description is profund  goes into details . . . both start to help each other for she can read on lips  which reveals itself to be very useful for him . . . she will progressively evolve  far from what she was at first .  br    br   it  s beautifully filmed the whole is very convincing  even if it turns into a film noir at the end . gesture is in particular beautifully observed in audiard  s filming . emmanuelle devos should be nominated at the best actess cesar awards for her magistral play . action towards the end of the film prevents it from being a simple  etude de moeurs  . it  s actually surprisingly entertaining      .  
kubrick meets king . it sounded so promising back in the spring of      i remember . then the movie came out  and the kubrick cultists have been bickering with the king cultists ever since .  br    br   the king cultists say stanley kubrick took a great horror tale and ruined it . the kubrick cultists don  t give a damn about king  s story . they talk about steadicams  tracking shots  camera angles . this is a film  they insist it should be considered on its own . as it happens  both camps are correct . unfortunately .  br    br   if one views it purely as an adaptation of king  s novel   the shining  is indeed a failure  a wasted opportunity  a series of botched narrative gambits .  br    br   i used to blame that on kubrick  s screenwriter . the writer diane johnson  author of le marriage  l  affaire  le divorce  etc .  has a reputation as an novelist of social manners . maybe she was chosen for her subtle grasp of conjugal relations or family dynamics . but the little blue  collar town of sidewinder  colorado doesn  t exist on any map in her francophile universe .  br    br   kubrick the anglophile probably found her congenial  however . he  of course  is the real auteur . and considered on its own merits  his screenplay for  the shining    with its mishmash of abnormal psychology  rationalism  supernaturalism  and implied reincarnation   just doesn  t stand up to logical analysis .  br    br   i  m willing to consider kubrick  s  shining  on its own terms . i  m even willing to take it as something other than a conventional horror  genre movie . but it doesn  t succeed as a naturalistic study of isolation  alienation  and madness either . parsed either way  the film pretty much falls apart .  br    br   are the horrors of the overlook hotel real  or do they exist only in the mind   first as prescient nightmares suffered by little danny torrance  then as the hallucinations of his father  one notes how whenever jack torrance is seen talking to a  ghost  he is in fact looking into a mirror . one notes how the hotel  s frozen topiary  hedge maze appears to symbolize jack  s stunted  convoluted psyche . very deep stuff .  br    br   but if indeed the overlook  s  ghosts  are purely manifestations of jack torrance  s growing insanity  then who exactly lets the trapped jack out of the hotel kitchen  s dead  bolted walk  in closet  so that he can go on his climactic ax  wielding rampage   br    br   and can anyone explain  with a straight face  that black  and  white photograph  helpfully labelled        of nicholson as a tuxedoed party  goer that pops up out of left field and onto a hotel  ballroom wall during the film  s closing seconds  are we to seriously conclude that jack torrance  s bad craziness stems from a some sort of  past life  experience   and if you swallow that  since when are reincarnated people supposed to be exact physical replicas their past selves    br    br   maybe kubrick didn  t care about his storyline . maybe only wanted to evoke a mood of horror . whatever the case  the film tries to hedge its narrative bets   to have it both ways  rational and supernatural . as a result  the story is a mess . this movie hasn  t improved with age  and it certainly doesn  t improve with repeated viewings .  br    br   i don  t deny that a few moments of fear  claustrophobia  and general creepiness are scattered throughout this long  long film . but those gushing elevators o  blood  seen repeatedly in little danny  s visions  are absurd and laughable . and jack torrance  s infamous tag lines   wendy  i  m home   and  heeeeeere  s johnny    merely puncture the movie  s dramatic tension and dissipate its narrative energy .  i know i sat in the theater and heard the audience laugh in comic relief  whew  glad we don  t have to take this stuff seriously    finally  kubrick is completely at sea   or else utterly cynical   during those scenes in which wendy wanders around the empty hotel while her husband tries to puree their son . a foyer full of mummified guests  all sitting there dead in their party hats  yikes  now i really am afraid .  br    br   given jack nicholson  s brilliance over the years  one can only assume that he gave just the sort of eyeball  rolling  eyebrow  wiggling  scenery  chomping performance that the director wanted . the performance of shelley duvall  as a sort of female version of don knotts in  the ghost and mr . chicken   is best passed over in silence .  br    br   this movie simply doesn  t succeed   not as an adaptation  not on its own terms . it probably merits a  out of    but i  m giving it a  because it has been so grotesquely over  rated in this forum .  
diane keaton gave an outstanding performance in this rather sad but funny story which involved quite a few young people and their deep dark secrets . diane keaton   natalie    the family stone       who had an only daughter and loved her beyond words can describe . she always called her and told her   surrender dorothy   which was an expression used in the  wizard of oz       . a sudden car accident occurs and natalie gets herself deeply involved with her daughter  s friends and lovers . as natalie investigates  the more truths she finds out about herself and her real relationship with her daughter . great film to view and enjoy  especially all the good acting from all the supporting actors .  
as much as i love rodney dangerfield  this was a terrible movie . the plot was kind of a holistic rip off of various movies  but unfortunately they forgot to rip off any good jokes . in addition it was annoying and boring and that  s being kind . if you  re looking for a good laugh  rent a copy of private parts .  
i very much enjoyed watching this film . i taped it while watching so that i could review it later . i actually enjoyed the second viewing more since i was able to absorb more of the clever dialog between natalie and adam  the  main characters . i thought the way this story evolved was very thought provoking . i got very intrigued with how natalie was going to interact with her daughter  s friends  at first it seemed that she was going to spew a lot of animosity but once she started interacting more pleasantly i had to see how this visit was going to unfold . i wasn  t disappointed . gradually the secrets that sara kept from her mother started to reveal a daughter who was not so perfect  a flawed human being like most of us who wanted her freedom from a domineering mother who thought she knew her daughter but unfortunately had to learn in a very painful manner that sometimes to really love someone you have to give them their freedom . the viewers who stuck with this film to the end saw a very touching performance from diane keaton  who is always wonderful  even in some of her less well received films  think town and country  . the closing scene of diane keaton driving home was well worth waiting for  revealing that anyone who loves another human being has got to learn that we have to live our own lives  we love others but don  t own them and ultimately we have to let go . it  s a hard lesson but well worth contemplating now and then . thank you cbs for this broadcast  it was worth the long wait .  
when rodney dangerfield is on a roll  he  s hilarious . in my  wives  he  s not on a roll . the timing of the one  liners is off  but they  re the best thing going for the movie . the five women who play the wives don  t add up to one whole actress between them . the plot is very weak . even the premise is pretty weak there are a few jokes about having multiple wives  but the situation has little to do with anything else in the movie . most of the movie could play the same way even if rodney  s character had only one wife  so the premise seems more like an old man  s fantasy than a key part of the comedy . another old man  s fantasy we  re supposed to accept that rodney  s character is an athletic skier .  br    br   jerry stiller seems to be phoning in his role just to do a buddy a favor  and the rest of the name actors must simply be desperate for work .  br    br   the odd nods to political correctness later in the movie don  t really do anything for the movie . for those who like their movies politically correct  the non  pc humor is still there in the first place  and the seeming apologies for it still don  t get the point . for those who hate seeing a movie cave in to political correctness  the pc add  ins are just annoying digressions .  br    br   this has to be the mildest r  rated movie i  ve ever seen . there are some racy jokes  and the bedroom scenes would have made shocking tv   years ago  but that  s about it . maybe it was the topless men  kidding  .  br    br   the dvd features interviews where the cast members seem to find depth and importance in this movie and in their roles . i kept wondering if they were serious or kidding . they seem to be serious  but i kept thinking   they must be kidding   there  s also a peculiar disclaimer suggesting that since the movie never actually names the mormons or the church of latter  day saints  that somehow it  s not about them . never mind that the movie features a polygamous religion in utah  and makes reference to brigham young .  br    br   in short  my  wives was a disappointment . i was hoping for rodney on a roll  but the best i can say for the movie is that rodney was looking pretty good for a guy who was pushing   at the time .  
i completely disagree with the other comments posted on this movie . for instance  the movie is based on the book and if the writer had a gay character in it then how could  hollywood  just throw in a token gay character in the movie . and besides there was two gay characters and i thought they reflected each other great . one was normal and the other was more feminine but it wasn  t over the top . and diane keaton gave a wonderful performance and if the other reviewer had the decency to actual watch the entire film they would have seen that her character developed through out the film by interacting with the other characters . for instance when she and adam went to look at the car that sara crashed in the junkyard you could see the maternal side of her come out and later in the film you saw that she too was invincible . but i guess if you  re too worried about gay characters and characters that are flawed then this movie is bad . but if you  re more open  minded and i don  t know actually have some inkling of what is good then you  ll enjoy this film .  
this was a watchable movie  but plot was a little weak and most of the jokes were from some of rodney  s earlier movies . with that said  it was worth the time to watch . i gave this a  out of   . so basically  its one of those movies that you do not go out of your way to see  but if you find it on the tube  take a chance .  
charles mcdougall  s resume includes directing episodes on  sex and the city    desperate housewives   queer as folk    big love    the office   etc . so he comes with all the credentials to make the tv film version of meg wolitzer  s novel surrender  dorothy a success . and for the most part he manages to keep this potentially sappy story about sudden death of a loved one and than manner in which the people in her life react afloat .  br    br   sara  alexa davalos  a beautiful unmarried young woman is accompanying her best friends  gay playwright adam  tom everett scott   adam  s current squeeze shawn  chris pine   and married couple maddy  lauren german  and peter  josh hopkins  with their infant son  to a house in the hamptons for a summer vacation . the group seems jolly until a trip to the local ice creamery by adam and sara  results in an auto accident which kills sara . meanwhile sara  s mother natalie swedlow  diane keaton  who has an active social life but intrusively calls here daughter constantly with the mutual greeting  surrender  dorothy   is playing it up elsewhere when she receives the phone call that sara is dead she immediately comes to the hamptons where her overbearing personality and grief create friction among sara  s friends . slowly but surely natalie uncovers secrets about each of them  thriving on talking about sara as though doing so would bring her to life . natalie  s thirst for truth at any cost results in major changes among the group and it is only through the binding love of the departed sara that they all eventually come together .  br    br   diane keaton is at her best in these roles that walk the thread between drama and comedy and her presence holds the story together . the screenplay has its moments for good lines  but it also has a lot of filler that becomes a bit heavy and morose making the actors obviously uncomfortable with the lines they are given . yes  this story has been told many times  the impact of sudden death on the lives of those whose privacy is altered by disclosures  but the film moves along with a cast pace and has enough genuine entertainment to make it worth watching . grady harp  
i almost burst into tears watching this movie . not from laughing but from the memories of a great rodney dangerfield movie . candyshack was his first and stole the movie  easy money had him at his best  and back to school is by far an    s classic masterpiece . then there was ladybugs and that  s when it started to show . poor rodney was getting old  meet wally sparks was a slight step up from ladybugs but not saying much  .  br    br   in my  wives rodney plays monte  a name he must love since that was his name in easy money  a rich  isnt he always  guy who loves women and gets married like its nothing . well now he inherits a huge piece of land and since the land was run by the amish  he inherits  wives . this sounds like a great idea for a dangerfield movie . the problem is everything . the script is so poor that rodney seems to be saying his one liners to the camera and all the side characters have nothing to do . the movie looks like it was shot on video with some really poor stunt sequences that are obviously not rodney . andrew dice clay plays a gangster who looks like he is dying to say the f word  which he should since the film is rated r but plays as if it was pg  and jerry stiller has a nice  minute cameo . don  t get me wrong  at times i did laugh at a few of rodney  s jokes but the poor man is getting way too old and way too slow . we can see his jokes coming from miles . and the film turns way too pc which thanks to the horrible      s  the    s and    s rodney just doesn  t work anymore .  
the movie held my interest  mainly because dianne keaton is my favorite actress . i disagree with some of the other posts on the grounds that the plot was not convoluted . i had no trouble following it  maybe some people had too much eggnog the night before  . the movie was very sad and touching as well . what more do you want  alexa davalos is a fine new talent  beautiful too   and tom everett scott does an excellent job with his part as well . the relationship of the mother and daughter may have been a bit unrealistic  but the behavior of the young people in the movie was not . it was tragically sad but enlightening . it sure beat the other shows that were on tv new years day evening  
i have to confess right off that i have never been a fan of rodney dangerfield . indeed  from me he gets  no respect .  i watched this only because my wife wanted to see it  and found exactly what i expected a stupid story without any real humour . it  s full of lame  crude jokes and a totally ridiculous plot revolving around a developer  s  dangerfield  plans to build a ski resort in utah that just didn  t capture my attention at all .  br    br   in addition to dangerfield the film starred a weak cast  including the likes of andrew dice clay and the totally over the hill john byner  i didn  t even know he was still around until i saw his name in the credits for this .   br    br   this truly is a dangerfield disaster .  br    br        
i waited for this movie to come out for a while in canada  and when it finally did  i was very excited to see it . i really enjoyed it . of course  in the beginning  it is a very sad movie  and it was new years day  making it even sadder   however  it sticks with you . the next day i was thinking about it again  because although it revolves around something so emotionally draining  you realize after a few days that it is such a beautiful story . how one person can be seen as the link to so many people  but sometimes you can be blinded so many things . and how diane keaton  s character kind of saves the rest of them by just being there . and how they save her in the process as well . it was such an excellent movie  and chris pine  one of my favourite actors  provides the perfect comic relief . it is definitely a movie that will need a box of tissues  but will really stay with you for a long time .  
this movie was so bad  outdated and stupid that i had rough times to watch it to the end . i had seen this rodney guy in natural born killers and i thought he was funny as hell in it  but this movie was crap . the  jokes  weren  t funny  actors weren  t funny  anything about it wasn  t even remotely funny . don  t waste your time for this  only positive things about this were the beautiful wives   and molly shannon who i  m sure tried her best  but the script was just too awful . that  s why i rated it    instead of     but it  s definitely one of the worst films i  ve ever seen .  
what if a platoon of g . i .  s from the japanese army were to be send back in time    years right in the middle of the feudal wars that led to the formation of the tokugawa shogunate  great pitch right  the movie does exactly what it says on the tin .  br    br   thankfully the writers didn  t bother to explain the  usually ridiculous in sci  fi movies  scientific mumbo jumbo of time transport . no how  s or why  s . they just did . however the time transport sequence itself is trippy as hell and quite beautiful  if not a bit dated . not as silly as one would imagine .  br    br   the rest of the movie follows the premise to a t . but while it loses a bit of steam with the various subplots that follow the g . i . s arrival to medieval japan  it picks up with a devastating battle sequence . undoubtedly it  s the main order of the day . the whole concept and by extension the movie itself  was probably originated from this simple pitch what if g . i .  s equipped with the latest in modern warfare were to fight samurais  and boy does it deliver .  br    br   the main battle sequence that spans more than half an hour is probably one of the best of its kind in    s action  war movies . not only is it relentless and exhausting in pace and length  it  s also a terrific mish  mash of styles and techniques that only unique premises like g . i . samurai can deliver . i mean  where else would you get the chance to feature tanks  ninjas complete with shuriikens  a helicopter and samurais in the same shot  the g . i . platoon led by lieutenant iba tears literally through hundreds of extras  gunning them down with machine guns  mortars  grenades and tanks .  br    br   this mish  mash of styles is with one foot firmly rooted in the sprawling jidai  geki epic of kurosawa  s kagemusha or hiroshi inagaki  s samurai banners  while the other is in western action and war movies . there are stylistic touches  like the wonderful slow  motion shots and bloody violence  that bring sam peckinpah or enzo g . castellari circa keoma to mind . japanese cinema has always been influenced by westerns and other hollywood works and vice versa  and g . i . samurai effortlessly turns this east  meets  west melting pot into an exciting film .  br    br   the film  makers thankfully take the whole thing seriously and the movie benefits immensely from it . not that tongue  in  cheek mentality is completely absent  it  s just that it doesn  t try to pander to so  bad  it  s  good audiences that enjoy laughing at their movies . the budget was probably hefty  as it is evident in the hundreds of extras  elaborate costumes  very decent for a production that is not a traditional jidai  geki  and special effects . the camera  work and editing are all top notch  almost better than a movie with no higher artistic ambitions deserves .  br    br   it  s not withouts its flaws either of course . there are many  song  scenes  where all sorts of    s japanese rock  disco and country songs play over montages  there  s a bonding scene  a love  interest scene  a  war is hell  scene etc  . the songs themselves are pretty lame and corny and detract from the whole thing . although it clocks at a whooping    minutes  it flies like a bullet for the most part . still some scenes  flashbacks and subplots in the first half could have been clipped for a tighter effect .  br    br   the cast also deserves a mention  featuring such prominent names as sonny chiba  isao natsuyagi  goyokin  samurai wolf   tsunehiko watase  the yakuza papers  and hiroyuki sanada  all of them hitting the right notes .  
rodney dangerfield is a great . he has done a lot of great works . but this one . . . . is awful . the whole plot is whack . it could have been much better . the jokes in the movie aren  t funny . . . . their stupid . this was very not so hilarious . he can do much better than this .  
  gi samurai  sees sonny chiba and some other guys get transported back to civil war stricken feudal japan for no particular reason  and much carnage ensues . it  s a rather over the top essay of sword vs . machine gun that ultimately yields some interesting results .  br    br   the plot essentially runs along the rails that you might expect from the title initial fish  out  the  water antics   what is this flying metal box   etc etc    aren  t we better off here  discussions and ultimately a huge battle . the latter is proof that the film doesn  t take itself seriously at all  the carnage taking up most of the second half as samurai army battles chiba  s platoon a face off one would fully expect from the title but it still manages to overwhelm with its inventiveness and extravagance . it  s certainly one of the most unique battle sequences of its time and doesn  t drag despite its extended length .  br    br   chiba gives a gruff performance as iba  initially a good leader but someone who finally finds himself questioning his own morals as the situation slowly has an effect on him . this is certainly one of his better vehicles from his terrific cv . by the final act the two worlds have had such an effect on each other you have to wonder if it was a bit of nihilism on the part of the writers  as they seem to be asking  weren  t we better off back then   . but this is maybe reading a bit much into was can generally be described as a hugely entertaining two hours of  almost  non stop action .  
having watched   minutes of this movie i was bewildered  having watched   minutes my toes were curling  i simply couldn  t believe it the movie is really awful . in fact it is so awful  that i had to watch all of it just to be convinced    . during this  i came to realize that it reminded me of a bunch of danish so  called comedies from the    s and    s . the pattern is as follows take one extremely popular comedian  make a script putting this comedian in as many grotesque situations as possible  add a bunch of jokes  especially one  liners   and spice it up with a couple of beautiful young girls  film that  and you have a success  i wouldn  t know if this movie was a success  but unlike the danish tradition which died quietly  with a few great comedians  it seems that there is a market for this kind of movie in the us .  
pop quiz you  re a part of the modern armed forces in peacetime on routine manoeuvres and you find yourself thrown back in time with a chance to change history . what do you do  well  if you  re a hollywood studio  you change the japanese g . i . s in g . i . samurai  aka timeslip  to the crew of an american aircraft carrier  have them debate stopping the attack on pearl harbour for   minutes and then go home and hope that no  one reminds you that japan did it first and with more balls in     with this sonny chiba movie . but unlike its hollywood counterpart the final countdown  this sees its premise through thrown back    years into the japanese feudal wars  its peacetime soldiers decide that their best hope of getting back lies in provoking history by trying to change it by joining with a warlord to conquer the country  cue lots of tank and helicopter vs . samurai action  including a very impressive unrelenting   minute battle sequence featuring a cast of thousands inflicting serious damage on each other . and yes  there are decapitations .  br    br   of course  things don  t go as planned  and even superior firepower doesn  t stand up as well as hoped to thousands of soldiers . even before that  the soldiers are falling out with each other into those who want to go home  those who want to go to war and those who want to rape and pillage for the hell of it . impressively directed and surprisingly well thought through  the soft rock and country and western songs are sometimes a distraction  especially when they feature english lyrics sung by japanese singers who audibly can  t pronounce the words let alone speak the language  but it  s a forgivable flaw in a surprisingly good sci  fi actioner .  br    br   optimum  s uk dvd is a good transfer of the uncut     minute version .  
unbelievably awful film . i watched part of this on t . v . recently . my jaw dropped as i watched a horrendously conceived plot and listened to mind  numbing drivel . not a single line from the master of one  liners could come close to producing anything resembling a chuckle . it was so bad it made me want to exhume rodney dangerfield  s body  slap him around and scream   how could you   i know many films are done in haste  hoping to cash in on the popularity of a given actor or theme . but please  hollywood  show a little respect for your audience . it  s sad and scary that people were expected to pay to see such tripe . the bottom of the cesspool  even by sunday afternoon television standards .  
i would firstly say that somehow i remember seeing this movie in my early childhood  i couldn  t read the subtitles and i thought sonny chiba was sean connery . but i did really like the concept . if you are not able to at least partially suspend your adult scepticism and embrace your inner seven your old you may want to avoid this movie . that said  having just watched the restored    minute version on dvd i have to say i enjoyed it  though not as much as when i was seven  i remembered the ending  .  br    br   there are aspects of the movie that are worthy of criticism  the first   minutes and final   minutes both have some really comic moments  my favourite being the contrast between scenes acted out in the final   minutes and the curious choice of backing music  listen to the lyrics  .  br    br   for an action film there is a great deal of focus on the personal stories of certain soldiers and the social dynamics of the squad as the strain of their time travel takes its toll . by the ending of the movie i had decided that this was a good thing  when seven i though the  relationship  guff was a bad thing .  br    br   for an action film there is also plenty of gratifying gory action  especially a couple of epic battle scenes between the platoon and hordes of shogun era warriors . the makers of the movie have ensured that as many deaths as possible are bloody and  lets face it  humorous . i thought this was a splendid aspect of the movie when i was a kid  and i am not ashamed to say that i still do .  br    br   i also like the fact that the modern day soldiers in general don  t spend the movie walking on egg shells trying to avoid altering the space time continuum  they  ve got heavy calibre machine guns  mortars  rocket launchers  a tank and a helicopter and they  re hell bent on making feudal japan theirs . which is what i  d like to think any vigorous imdb user would do in their boots .  br    br   in short the movies worth watching  it makes the viewer regret that there are not more movies made with a similar premise  and at the same time offers some hefty hints as to why a movie like g . i . samurai is so unique .  
if you want to see women  s breasts  get a porno . there is no plot  but the last   minutes of this movie focus on resolving some sort of dangerous plan . the only value this movie has is that sometimes its so bad its funny  and  yes  boobs are boobs .  
what can you say when you see a good french movie which tries to draw a suspenseful story in line with the social background of the characters  the major point is we believe in those characters and once they  ve met each other we want them to stay together . it  s simple and really efficient . the background story is less important . why does the screenplay go on the side of a half  developed thriller  it helps not to get stuck in those social demonstrations most french film  jerkers like to make . not too much ambition  right sur mes lvres is only an entertaining french film with good characterization .  br    br   for all the clever noir points in the screenplay the end is by far too easy . it goes quite as easy as in rear window  an obvious reference and definitely not a noir film  but with a less compelling context . where i am amazed it  s to see that the character of the probation officer has not been erased . he brings very little to the story when he appears alone we wonder if we  ve not missed a part before . jacques audiard is not a new  comer yet . strange and weird .  
a disappointing film .  br    br   the story established our protagonist as chrissy  a  young   rather sullen individual drifting  not doing much . actually she does very little to move the narrative along so it didn  t surprise me to see the focus shifting on her relatives . it  s a pity though  chrissy seem like interesting character .  br    br   story was predictable and at times felt quite formulated . so the question now is  when are we going to see the campions  jacksons  and the tamahori  s breaking ground with compelling  cinematically  told stories that will inspire  rather than entertain for the toll of two hours   br    br   technically  a disgusting shot film .  
i just finished watching the    min version  widescreen  with some friends and we were blown away . i won  t bother repeating what others have said . what the filmmakers do with the concept is unexpected and fun . the huge battle is exhausting . afterwards we were stunned to find there was still nearly   minutes left to go but that didn  t keep us from being completely involved and entertained .  br    br   there is one thing that nearly ruined it and that was the horrific music  songs . blues  country  folk and rock ballads do not belong here and every time they are used we all broke out in laughter . it  s hideous . you have been warned but the story and storytelling keeps you grounded .  br    br   there are several outstanding moments that make you appreciate the talent behind the camera . there are many uses of silence as well as slow  motion photography that work beautifully . i really wish i could erase the music but alas .  br    br   seek this out . it  s fun  it  s different and it takes you to places you wouldn  t expect and that  s very refreshing .  
i was unsure whether or not andy sidaris could repeat his success with the cinematic hit  malibu express .  with his film fit to kill he has proved that sidaris is a serious filmmaker and not just a one  shot director . the plot written by sidaris  which was ungratefully passed up by the academy  is a complex screenplay involving many unseen twists and turns . the main characters composed work for a sexually based radio station known as ksxy . cleverly  ksxy is actually their secret headquarters . in  fit to kill  they confront their long  time nemesis kane  who is trying to steal one of russia  s most prized diamonds . a well  written screenplay is not all  excellent acting by the cast helps to ensure this film as a cult classic . panned by the critics and the box office  this film will be appreciated in years to come . it is now suffering the same fate as clockwork orange and taxi driver did  but in the future will undoubtly become recognized . i am disappointed no critic circles have recognized andy sidaris  s trademark filmmaking . the costumes  the special effects  all help to compliment this already beautiful piece of filmmaking . it may do you best to ignore the dismal  rating on this film and go out and rent it for yourself . my personal rating is      . the drama is as thick as the blockbuster runaway bride  and the action better or equal to the cinematic masterpiece last action hero . andy  keep up the good work .  
excellent episode movie ala pulp fiction .  days   suicides . it doesnt get more depressing than this . movie rating     music rating       
the previous poster obviously worked on the movie . it  s a joke how bad it is and no one would review this kind of movie the way he did . mentioning all of the actors  names and what they were in previously is a sure sign that he  s involved with it in some way .  br    br   it  s on cinemax right now and i was sure this was some movie where porn stars  the one called ava is gorgeous and well  endowed  were forced to make something else for some crazy tax reason .  br    br   also  when i first saw it  i was sure it was made in about      and i was born in     so i thought i knew what i was talking about . . . but no . . . it was made in       unbelievable   br    br   though i would call it one of those so bad it  s good movies . like watching a train wreck .  
i just can  t agree with the above comment  there  s lots of interesting and indeed amazing filmic imagery in this one  it has an unusual structure and moves well toward a frightening climactic sequence that is notable for it  s effective use of silence . what  s more  it explores the odd impulse of suicide in a very frank way  not pulling any punches in what it shows  yet not dwelling and over  sensationalising the subject matter . it has hints of documentary about it as well as horror and art  house cinema  and deserves a place amongst the canon of  different  horror films like the blair witch project and the original ring  both of which it predates and could well be an unacknowledged influence on  . it  s definitely worth seeing if you  re interested in the edges of horror cinema .  
since crouching tiger hidden dragon came along  there  s been a lot of talk about a revival of the hong kong movie industry . don  t believe it . the people now making movies in hk give new meaning to the word crass . running out of time  is a perfect example . ekin cheng is the name draw  here  but he spends most of the film just grinning idiotically and flipping a coin . he flips the coin over and over and again and again . why  who knows  sean lau plays a cop who chases after the coin  flipping pretty boy . but once again who knows why  there  s a pretty actress in the female lead who runs some sort of company and she has to pay a ransom or something but she mostly just looks like she would rather be at a spa or shopping centre than in front of a camera . nothing makes any sense . there is no action . there is no sex . there is no comedy . all there is is a name ekin cheng . and you know what  who cares   
der todesking is not one of my favorite jorg buttgereit film  but still is an interesting film dealing with suicide and it  s reasons and ramifications . those looking for a gore  fest  or exploitation in the style of the nekromantik films or schramm will probably be disappointed . der todesking is definitely an  art  house  style film  so those that need linear  explainable narratives need not apply . . .  br    br   the basic concept of der todesking is that there is an  episode  for each day of the week that revolves around a strange chain letter that apparently causes people to commit suicide  interspersed with scenes of a slowly decomposing corpse . . .  br    br   there are some very well done and thought provoking scenes  including the man talking about the  problems  with his wife  and the concert massacre  which unfortunately lost some of it  s  power  on me  because i was too busy laughing at the scorpions look  alike band on stage . . .  . but seriously  this is a sometimes beautiful  the scene that shows different angles of that huge bridge is particularly effective  especially if you understand the significance of the scene  and that the names shown are of people that actually committed suicide from jumping from the bridge . . .   sometimes confusing  sometimes silly  the she wolf of the ss rip  off is pretty amusing   sometimes harrowing  i found the scene of the guy talking to the girl in the park about his wife particularly effective  film that is more of an  experience  then just entertainment  as many of these  art  films are meant to be . still  i didn  t find der todesking to be as strong as nekromantik or schramm  and would probably put it on relatively even footing with nekromantik  in terms of my personally  enjoyment level  . definitely worth a look to any buttgereit or  art  film fan . if you dig this type of film  check out subconscious cruelty  in my opinion the best art  house  horror film that i  ve seen .     for der todesking  
this movie is about a cop  ching wan lau  trying to catch a super  clever thief  ekin cheng  who blackmails an insurance company headed by a kelly lin . basically  whatever plans the cop tries the thief somehow knows them beforehand . this movie  covered by handsome lead actors  beautiful lead actress and good camera shots of hong kong scenes  really has no substance at all . it  s all flash  and the flash quickly becomes dull too . i lost all interests a third of the way into the movie  and there is no redeeming quality after that  except for the cinematography  which looks good . only consider seeing this movie if you can do so for free . also  consider stopping watching the movie   minutes into the movie because it  s all the same to the end boring .      
what  s the best way to start a review of a movie like der todesking  let me start by saying i  ve just come direct from viewing this movie  and the images are still burned deep into my brain  and i don  t think they  ll be moving any time soon .  br    br   it  s probably fair to say that if you  re on this page you have a good idea what sort of film this is even if you haven  t seen it . if not  let me forewarn you that this is not a moderate  budget gem that  s been lost for a few years a la  near dark   nor is it a low budget  schlocky   fun  b  movie . what it is it low  budget art  put forward in a simple yet poignant way . the idea is a simple one  seven stories revolving around  and ending in  suicides interspersed with footage of a decomposing corpse . sounds simple right  even boring  it isn  t . words can  t really describe how powerful this film becomes by the time you are halfway through it virtually draws you into it whether you want to go or not .  br    br   i could go on a ramble here about the technical pros and cons of the direction maybe point out that the scenes are obviously shot on super   cameras and are at sometimes shaky . i could point out that some of the sound effects are out  of  sync in a way to rival any fulci movie  but at the end of the day this all seems to pale into insignificance .  br    br   as far as extreme movies go  i  ve seen the hardest of them  and yet der todesking moved me in a way that few others have managed  despite not being particularly gory and having very few scenes that i would consider  gratuitous  . in fact  the most disturbing scene i found was the last tale . i won  t ruin it  just to say that the character  s emotional agony virtually drips from the screen and makes you sympathise  if not yearn for his end .  br    br   sure  it  s not the best movie ever made  and in a lot of places is seems crude and maybe a little amateurish  but in spite of these flaws der todesking is an experience i would recommend to anyone who likes challenging cinema . if you  re someone who likes comfortable viewing or  nice  movies  or simply wants to gross out on something brutal and pointless  this is not what you  re looking for .  br    br   whether you enjoy it or not  it  s one you won  t forget in a hurry .  
the acting wasn  t great  the story was full of simplistic turns and transparent characters . it  s about the repercussions of the struggle between right  wing flemish block voters on the one side and the moroccon people living in the belgian city antwerp on the other side . is it a political analysis  is it some kind of belgian west side story or modern romeo and juliet  the film just isn  t strong enough to answer both questions  supposing those were the director  s questions  too  . still  some of the scenes could function as a kind of ken loach film  set in antwerp . after all  this city has been the starting point of the extremist right  wing flemish block party and is struggling with a lot of problems and tensions between different populations and cultures . it  s very difficult to make a film about this situation  and this one isn  t successful  unfortunately . still  it  s telling a story about a very real and complicated situation in present  day belgium . the few foreign viewers watching should try and enjoy it and realise it  s not the actual film that is important but the social dividing lines behind it that haunt belgium  a   million people country  in the     s  br    br   dries van dongen  
jrg buttgereit goes a bit too far with his movies and themes at times  even for my taste but his movies are always something special and hard to classify . they are artistically made  with also often deeper meaning to its themes . this movie is a perfect example of his work .  br    br   it  s also really hard to label this movie . it  s not really a movie with a story to it  in a sense of having a beginning  middle and end in it . it also doesn  t have a main character but instead focuses on  different suicides and killings  on  different days .  br    br   all different stories are being told with lots of class  though some of them are of course more  interesting  and realistic than the others . they are not necessarily connected but yet together they still tell a story . the movie doesn  t feel disjointed at all . all different stories have a different feel to it and buttgereit tells the story without hardly using any words  also typical for his style  but instead lets the images and obvious sensible emotions of the characters tell the entire story . it helps to make this movie an effective one to watch .  br    br   again  the production values all aren  t too high and this might be something that might scare off some people . it however helps for this particular movie to set the right tone and atmosphere for the entire movie and its dark  disturbing and depressing themes .  br    br   a buttgereit movie that i  enjoyed  watching .  br    br        
in the unlikely case that some aspiring directors are reading these comments  i  d like to offer some advice  free of charge    from a viewer  s perspective . if you want to make a serious exotic adventure film  do it . if you want to make a spoof of exotic adventure films  go ahead . do not try to make both at the same time  it doesn  t work . for example  having a goofy  comic relief  character killed and beheaded and following it up with a monkey shaking a tree and dropping a coconut on a cannibal  s head just makes you look like you had no idea what kind of movie you wanted to make . this one is boring  meandering  cheap  racist . . . . you get the picture . a couple of smart moments and a few glimpses of nudity from kathy shower  way too prissy here  are hardly worth your trouble . there is a reason everyone has forgotten about this film  s existence .        
  der todesking  is not exactly the type of film that makes you merry jrg buttgereit  s second cult monument in a row  which is actually a lot better than the infamous  nekromantik   exists of seven short episodes  one for each day of the week  revolving on unrelated people  s suicides . in between these already very disturbing episodes  buttgereit inserts truly horrifying images of a severely decomposing male corpse . the episodes aren  t all equally powerful but  as a wholesome   der todesking  is ranked quite high on the list of all  time most depressing art  house films . particularly the episodes on wednesday  involving a man explaining his sexual frustrations to a total stranger in the park  and the one of sunday  focusing on a younger man molesting himself to dead  are extremely intense and devastating to observe . the added value of this film  or any other shockumenary like it  is debatable and i  m not even sure whether or not buttgereit had any type of message to communicate here . there  s the vague mentioning of an eerie chain letter that encourages its readers to commit suicide but mostly we remain uninformed about these people  s motivations to end their lives so dramatically . entirely unlike i expected   der todesking  isn  t exploitative or repulsively graphic  on the contrary actually  i never could have hoped buttgereit would be so subtle and thoughtful regarding the portrayal of pure human misery . the thursday episode is a perfect example of this  as it stylishly shows different viewpoints of a famous german bridge while the names  ages and occupations of persons who jumped off appear on the screen . the production values are inescapably poor and the editing often lacks professionalism  but this isn  t what really counts in this type of cinema . the subject matter is strong and forcing us to contemplate about the less cheerful  but also indispensable  aspects of life . great use of tragic music  too   
looking through the other comments  i  m amazed that there aren  t any warnings to potential viewers of what they have to look forward to when renting this garbage . first off  i rented this thing with the understanding that it was a competently rendered indiana jones knock  off . what i got was one of the most offensive movies i can remember trying to sit through  made all the more shocking by the movie  s comparatively high production values .  br    br   i don  t think this is a spoiler  but if it is  be warned . . .  br    br   if your idea of entertainment is watching bimbo getting raped from behind by fearsome tribal chief  while she is staring into the dead eyes of her significant other  s severed head  by all means  rent this flick . if not  i  d advise you to look elsewhere for entertainment .  br    br   come to think of it  that scene so succinctly sums up the movie that there  s nothing else i really need to say about it .  
my god  buttgereit  s masterpiece is one of the best movies i  ve ever seen . closer to peter greenaway and jean  luc godard  s movies  this one is really disturbing but not gruesome as the nekromantiks . all the little stories have a deep philosophic interest and the directing is totally inventive  in spite of the lack of money  see the  bridge  sketch  . highly highly recommended   
although this is generally a cheesy jungle  adventure movie  it does have some highlights  the settings are quite beautiful  and the pacing of the adventure is good . you won  t be bored watching it .  br    br   keith is as breezy as possible playing the eponymous lead  an unabashedly drunk jungle guide shanghai  d into escorting rich boy van hoffman and his gorgeous wife shower on a hunting expedition in cannibal country . he never takes things seriously . shower is there as decoration and keith makes extensive use of her  she doesn  t really have to act much . she  s not the only female to show off her body and the prurient aspects of the film make it about halfway to a t  a picture .  br    br   there  s nothing in this film that would draw specific attention to it  or away from it . produced to be shlock  it succeeds without too much fuss . a good  am cable programmer .  
  der todesking   jorg buttgereit  s second full  length feature film  the first one was notorious  nekromantik   has no central character or characters  but instead thematic continuity in the act of suicide . divided into days of the week  it comprises of a series of set  pieces  each of which featuring the self  destruction of a complete stranger . yes  the production values are low and it  s disturbing  but in many ways  der todesking  is extremely effective . it makes you think which is sometimes more important than pure entertainment . unlike the other buttgereit  s works it isn  t very gory  but there are some unpleasant images like castration scene in the tuesday episode  a decomposing corpse and various acts of suicide . the last  sunday  episode is so depressing and full of pain   just amazing if you want my opinion .   out of    check out this post  modernism shocker  disturbing art in the purest form   
my   year  old daughter loved it  as disney execs crassly calculated that she would . that  s the problem with  air buddies .  it  s a strictly by  the  numbers children  s film filled with carefully calculated cuteness  a couple politically correct morals  and enough potty humor to avoid the dreaded g rating . as a parent  or even as a    year  old  you  ve seen it all before  and done better before . think     dalmatians meets home alone  and you get the general idea . i  m of the opinion that a good children  s story is a good story  period .  air buddies   which is about as original as recycled paper  fails to meet that standard . it isn  t the worst video your child could watch  but there are megatons of better ones .  
i read a small ad in some horror magazine in the early nineties about liebe des totes  the love of the dead  or something similar . this of course awoke my curiosity so i ordered nekromantik    and der todesking  the death king  . the nekromantik movies are ok  even kind of interesting and unique in their approach to the subject necrophilia  even if they obviously are horror  opera entries rather than intended to invoke fear in the viewers mind  they are actually quite funny .   br    br   todesking  on the other hand is  in my opinion  one of the best films ever made . it consist of a series of scenes depicting the many facets of death . death as an enemy death as a reliever  death as the very fysical decomposition of the body . the film is a metaphor over life . it shows how fragile life is and how short our lives are . it reduces its viewers to the childs they  we  actually are . the fact that we cannot really understand the nature of death  and hence neither the process of dying  is the core message of the film . this is a most realistic film . never does buttgereit try to hide death behind white roses or whatever . no matter what moral standards you set up  death is unevitable  and will sooner or later be not a fiction but your reality . this applies to you  dear reader  like it applies to the viewers of the film . some juvenile reviewers seem not to grasp this  which is fully excused  since they of course will live forever . . .  br    br   this is no exploitation movie . why  because death does not exploit us humans . it harvests us . we grow for seven days  then we are brought back to the schopenhauerian state of pre  birth  that is death . buttgereit gives us his version of the oldest of tales . whether you choose to regard it as  optimistic  or  pessimistic  is up to you . at first glance it may seem very dark . consider though  that in order for something to live  something else must die .  who wants to live forever    br    br   i believe that when buttgereit shows a body  that are being consumed by maggots  he shows not only decomposition  but generation of new life . is it not better to die and give life to maggots and then birds and eventually become soil  than to remain the living dead zombie that is one of the the favorite pets of the genre   br    br   when you realize this  you see der todesking it its right context .  br    br   sieben tage hat die woche  siebenmal letzte stunden . seven are the days of week  weak  mortal    seven times the last hour .  br    br   dont fear the reaper  buttgereit tells us  because the reaper takes only what is ripe . and apples that are not plucked for food will rot   br    br   have a good life  fellow imdb  ers   br    br    and watch this film  that compares only to ingemar bergmans  the seventh seal  in terms of depth and universality   
dear richard  i know we all loved you on home improvement with tim allen . but seriously  do you not have anything else to do besides lame sequels to air bud  i would have thought tim might have actually give you a bit role by now or even becoming his personal assistant . i know that seems ironic  but the pay benefits are much more rewarding .  br    br   everybody would see you around tim and instantly think  tool time  . you would even get roles with bob vila more often . instead  you appear for   minutes with a golden retriever and smiling . i know there wasn  t much of a script  but you could have added to it . i mean  come on . tim owes you one .  br    br   but seriously  this movie does nothing for the air bud line . quite the contrary  the fake talking puppies are cornier than actually seeing the dogs play sports . the original was better . and you  mr . richard karn  know that more than anybody .  br    br   this is an  f  movie .  
carla is a secretary who is essentially deaf without her hearing aids . when she finds herself overloaded at work  she is able to hire paul to help her out . paul is just out of jail  and his past is not entirely behind him . to say too much more about the story  which has many twists  would be a mistake .  br    br   the most interesting thing about this film for me is how sound is used to indicate when carla can hear and when she can  t   a sort of  point of hear   like point of view  . the early scenes that set this up  as well as the early character development of carla and paul  was more interesting to me than the twists and turns later on  some of which were hard to follow and  or stretched credibility a bit . there is also some unpleasant violence . back to the positive side  the cinematography was very good .  br    br   the film is worth seeing  but perhaps not seeking out . seen at the san francisco international film festival on          .  
  succubus   the edited version of  necronomicon getrumte snden   is a struggle to sit through  even at a lean   minutes any more of this dreadfully boring and pretentious euro horror tripe and i may have slipped into a coma .  br    br   jess franco once again delivers a truly awful piece of   s trash that appears to have been made by a cast and crew out of of their heads on class a hallucinogenics  since not one second of this mess made any sense whatsoever . apparently  this is one of the better of his     films  it  s hard to believe that there are worse efforts out there .  br    br   the unfathomable plot deals with franco  s usual themes of sex  violence and lesbianism and throws in a bit of sm for good measure  and yet it still manages to remain mind numbingly tedious .  br    br   i may leave it quite a while before entering the world of dodgy euro horror again  life is too short to be spent watching bilge like this .  
the author of  nekromantik   jrg buttgereit  s second feature film   der todesking  is a powerful masterpiece . centered around a chain letter originating from a group called  the brotherhood of the  th day   the movie shows  episodes  each consisting of one day during one week  where suicide is approached using different characters and situations all the while the letter is making it  s rounds . do not touch this one if you like hollywood movies or musicals  enjoy happy or even remotely  normal  movies or expect a movie to be good only  if it is focused on stage acting .  br    br   the nihilistic  avant  garde approach of der todesking well explains  why buttgereit  s movies in general were banned in germany  their native country of origin  during the    s and most of the    s . der todesking is not really focused on the characters appearing on  screen  but the meaningless apathy or depression most people  s lives consist of in general . buttgereit does not find reasons to go on living  only reasons to stop  and in choosing how and when you die  you can also be the king of death  der todesking .  br    br   buttgereit  s movies are generally difficult to categorize and der todesking is no exception . featuring the same crew and almost the same cast as all other of his movies   art film  would probably be the closest description every time . der todesking features an original method to shoot  create the mood and handle the central object in almost every scene . during one scene  the camera slowly  continuously pans in    degree circle  while a person lives in a small one  room apartment for a day . during another  buttgereit uses sound and film corruption to depict the collapsing mental state of a man  while he dwells in his desperation . during a third  seemingly pleasant scene names  ages and occupations of actual people to have committed suicide are shown on  screen  supposedly warranting the ban in germany for this particular movie .  br    br   episode movies  and especially this one  as the scenes are only vaguely connected  generally suffer from incoherence  and der todesking is no exception . while all episodes have the same focus of inflicted death and it  s consequences or subsequences in all it  s variations  there are very powerful episodes  yet an episode or two might even seem like filler material  partly draining the overall power of the movie  still  the the jaw  dropping  immensely powerful intermissions depicting a decomposing body manage to keep the movie together and cleanse it from it  s more vague moments back to the status of greatness . the general atmosphere is baffling  awe  inspiring  highly depressing and sometimes even disgusting  so much so that dozens of people left in the middle of the movie during a theater showing in a film festival i took part of .  br    br   this is one movie that does leave a lasting impression and i strongly recommend it for anyone looking for a special experience and something they will definitely remember in years to come . not recommended for the faint of heart or show time fans  this is a small  different movie that truly raises feelings in the audience . whether it be confusion  amazement or even hate  you aren  t likely to be left cold by this  in my opinion the best  achievement of this small indie crew .  br    br   the main theme of the movie   die fahrt ins reich der menschentrmmer part i  iii  was released in a limited     piece   vinyl edition  which is now much sought after . you still can get the classical masterpiece by getting  the nekromantik  soundtrack cd  which i highly recommend . the lo  fi synthesizer music in the movie is dark and quirky  almost illbient  like  makes an essential part of the movie  s atmosphere  and is something you would very  very rarely hear otherwise . much recommended   
i know that in this episode there  s other stuff apart from what i am going to discuss  and in fact i think it has some virtues for example  the fact  after we had been given a very negative opinion of jin from seeing sun  s flashbacks in  house of the rising sun   we get to see jin  s side of things and get a new  more balanced understanding of his life .  br    br   but there is an element in this story that made me so deeply uncomfortable that it greatly dampened my enjoyment of the whole episode . before now  in the scene where jin appeared with blood on his hands and shirt  it had been hinted that sun  s father was someone who was getting rich through shady  illegal methods . i thought maybe he was a mob boss  even mobs operate in korea  just like in almost every other country in the world  so it was a reasonable possibility . however  in this episode we learn that sun  s father is in fact the boss  or a top executive  of a korean automotive company  and that what jin had been doing was physically attacking a government official  who was actually going to be murdered  on his behalf .  br    br   i may be especially touchy about this because i happen to work in the automotive industry  but i would say it is spectacularly offensive and racist to even suggest that this kind of thing goes on in korea that huge  serious companies like hyundai or kia  which must be the model for this fictitious car company  as they are the only ones that actually exist in reality  operate with these mafia  like methods  instead of like any normal automotive company of the west . it is just unbelievable to me that the writers would have the gall to write something like that into the story  and that there hasn  t been an uproar in korea over it . it feels like extraneous  buy american   propaganda  portraying foreign car companies as criminal  untrustworthy  third  world outfits .  
  like the first touch of pleasure and guilt  like a spontaneous youthful flirt of fascination and fear  like a climax of contrary emotions  said one of the movie buffs after viewing love at the top  the misinterpreted title version of stylish director michel deville  s le mouton enrage .  br    br   vincent canby in new york times  however  just after the     premiere of the movie stated  love at the top which opened yesterday at the   th street playhouse  is a     french comedy that dimly recalls a number of nineteen  fifties english comedies about the rise and rise of cynical young men possessingand possessed byambition .  yet  the significant difference that he mentioned was the fact that love at the top is not concerned with the english class system . . .  january          br    br   having left the evaluations up to single individuals  of course  the test of time has done its just job . what may be said with certainty after more than   years is that we can hardly find such movies like le mouton enrage where decadence appears innocent  where liaisons appear youthfully enthusiastic  where feelings occur so manipulative .  br    br   for romy schneider  s fans  it seems useless to point out that this film is a must see  not only because she gives a unique performance  as she did in all of her roles  at the heyday of her career   years before her sudden death  but because she is particularly attractive here . it is not trio infernal where the  so to say   forced escape  from and the mockery of romy  s sweet image haunted for years by saccharine sissi meets its most discouraging manifestation  but a film where the brilliant actress is given a fair role . she plays roberte  a woman who becomes the object of lust for the story  s lead  playboy nicolas mallet  jean louis trintignant  . it is him who takes financial profits from lustful liaisons . this movie can boast truly memorable and unique shots of romy and she is given some of her very best scenes . romy  s sex appeal is unforgettable here .  br    br   another strong point of the film is its execution of the content with a development of individual perception . immoral as it may seem  the director makes a perfect use of contrast conventions vs pleasures  innocence vs decadence  genuine lust vs instrumental affair . nicola owns most of the features that viewers may like or detest  may find attractive or disgusting yet  his are the features the viewers must treat seriously  more to say  they are the ones we all must accept . that is why  one is led to a peculiar  gently wild  erotically unique world of the main character . although he sleeps with lots of women  there are two women that represent a sort of contrary worlds for nicola roberte groult  romy schneider  and marie  paul  jane birkin  . he manipulates them  makes love to them  cannot refrain from both desire for their bodies and desire for money yet  he perceives them differently . yet  despite all of this  adult maturity   he is emotionally like a little boy who plays with a toy  car on the table  a sort of  detailed insight into male mind . . .  in a comedy  like way  of course .  br    br   finally  there are very good performances  which makes le mouton enrage slightly underrated . not only the aforementioned romy schneider does a brilliant job supplying the viewers with an extraordinary insight into her role  but young jane birkin appears to be convincing in the role of young  inexperienced streetwalker marie paul  jean louis trintignant makes it possible to see nicola in the right way . this artistic merit lying in performances goes with terrific music by camille saint  sans  the tune that will ring in your ears for long . therefore  apart from some flaws of the movie like dated colors  slow action  sometimes   possible clichs  noticed by some viewers   the merits should be found significant .  br    br   le mouton enrage  in sum  is a clear manifestation of contrary manipulative tools in life . it is worth seeing as a moment in romy  s career  a prelude to strong eroticism  a chain of contrary emotions  of love and hatred  appreciation and disgust compared to the first orgasm and the first angasm . . . but aren  t we  humans   viewers   movie buffs built upon such contrasts   
almost golden the jessica savitch story  br    br   aspect ratio  .      br    br   sound format stereo  br    br   bland  soap  opera dramatisation of the rise and fall of america  s first female tv news anchor . with a tighter script and direction  and a better cast  this might have passed muster  but the flimsy story really wasn  t worth the effort . a good documentary on the subject might have been the best way to go . typically strong production values in the tv movie conveyor  belt manner  but it  s all as superficial as old fluff  and just as engaging .  
this is a comedy of morals  so occasionally a gentle touch of bitterness occurs  but a lightness soften all sarcasm and irony flows till all of a sudden one moment will halt your heart and changes everything .  br    br   this film  marvelously written and directed  is a gem that shines perfectly  with beautiful acting by all . jean  louis trintignant is exquisite as usual  and romy schneider is a pearl  perfect and glowing  that is not to be missed . a truly wonderful film    
i am a huge charlton heston fan . he is without a doubt one of the greatest actors of all time  but what was he thinking when he made this movie . normally if he made a bad movie i could blame it on the screenwriter or director  but in this case it  s all him . the suckiness of this movie is all his fault . it proves that not even heston can make a shakespeare story interesting . i wasted  and a half hours of my life on this snooze fest and i  ll never get that time back . this is by far the worst heston movie that i  ve ever seen . if you are a shakespeare fan maybe you  ll find this movie entertaining  but if you  re not don  t waste your time  you  ll regret it in the long run .  
nicolas mallet is a failure . a teller in a bank  everyone walks all over him . then his friend  a writer who  s books no one likes  has a plan to change his life . our hero tells his boss he is quitting . he intends to spend the rest of his life making a great deal of money and sleeping with a great many women . and he manages to do just that .  br    br   if it were not for the amount of death  murder  suicide  natural causes  in the film  this would be a farce . there are numerous jabs at marriage  politics  journalism and . . . life .  br    br   jean  louis trintignant is a likable amoral rogue . romy schneider is at her most appealing . definitely worth a look .  
i  m a big fan of lucio fulci many of his giallo and splatter flicks are amongst my favourites of all time  but this made for tv movie is extremely sub par and not what i  ve come to expect from the great italian director . the film is neither interesting  like some of fulci  s more tame giallo  s  or gory like the majority of his cult classics thus leaving it lacking in both major areas  and ultimately ensuring that the film isn  t very good . the film works from a plot that has been used many times previously  but still it  s an idea that always has the chance of springing an interesting story just because it focuses on the theme of the afterlife  which is the ultimate unknown . this film focuses on giorgio mainardi a man that isn  t exactly well liked and after he dies of an apparent stomach hemorrhage  there aren  t many people that are sad to see him go . this means that his ghost is trapped somewhere between life and the afterlife  and so he decides to try and get to the bottom of his death  and his only ally in this endeavour is his daughter .  br    br   the video that i saw this film on is proudly proclaimed that the film is  in the style of hp lovecraft   and that  s one of the most blatant attempts to sell a film i  ve ever seen . there is nothing even slightly reminiscent of the great horror writer in this tale  and the reason for that tagline would appear to be because of title similarity to the stuart gordon  lovecraft film   from beyond   which is a lot better . the film does benefit from a distinctly italian style  and the score is rather good . unfortunately  however  fulci has seen fit to positively roast every scene in it  and so the theme quickly becomes annoying . the plot plays out in a really boring way  and most of the scenes simply involve the ghost  desperately  trying to find things out  or the daughter placing her suspicions over her family members . this movie was made for italian tv  and so it  s not surprising that it  s all rather tame . there  s a little bit of gore and a nightmare sequence with zombies but this isn  t the fulci we all know and love . overall  this film is extremely mediocre and not a good representation of fulci  s talents . not worth bothering with  unless you  re a fulci completist .  
love at the top   the utterly wrongheaded american title for the superb french film  le mouton enrage   which means  i think  the rabid sheep    is such an original movie  the fact that it dates back to     seems all the more astounding . this film was far ahead of its time even by today  s highest standards  it accomplishes things that seem rich and new . filmed by the hugely underrated director michel deville  it rather defies description in the way it combines social critique  comedy  mystery  love  sex and satire into one wholly original mix   leaving for the end a major but subtle surprise to render all that has gone before suddenly sad and more understandable . the cast is splendid  ditto the writing and theme . but it  s deville  s delicious tone  keeping you constantly off  balance but enrapt  that pushes this  lost  film to a very high level indeed .  the written interview with the director on the  special features  section of the dvd is definitely worth reading if you have the time .   
seeing a photo of a man being attacked by zombies gave me hope that lucio  zombi  fulci might be up to his old tricks . unfortunately  other than the close ups of a rotting corpse  there  s little to recommend in this story of the murder of a wealthy man and his daughter  s quest to figure out who killed him . none of the characters are appealing and by the time you find out how they did it  that twist  at least  was cool   you stop caring . the only good thing i can say is that it made more sense than nightmare concert   
  kalifornia  is a good hollywoodish odyssey of suspense and terror which tells of two couples who drive cross  country to california to share the cost of gas a pair of losers  lewis  pitt  and two wannabee artists  a photographer and a writer  duchovny  forbes  . pitt  nails  his character which is the focus of this somewhat predictable thriller . a good watch for those into psycho  killer flix .  
this is definitely not one of lucio fulci  s better flicks by any stretch of the imagination . the plot is pretty bad  a millionaire is murdered and his spirt calls upon his daughter to find out who did it . but the biggest problem i have with this  besides knowing who killed him within   minutes of watching the movie  was wondering why anyone should even care  the father comes off as being a really big jerk to everyone he came across  including the daughter who he asks to help him  which made it quite hard for anyone to care who killed him . but no one really watches a fulci flick for a good storyline  to do so would be like watching a porn for incredible script writing and acting . typically his movies try to compensate for this by adding excessive scenes of gore but even that is lacking in this movie . if you  re looking for a good fulci flick  check out the beyond .  
so  so thriller starring brad pitt and juliette lewis  who join david duchovny and michelle forbes on a road trip out west . the latter couple are researching notorious murder sites for an upcoming book pitt  s a serial killer on the lam  unbeknownst to dave  and juliette is his poor  not  all  there companion . this is a good cast and the story moves along  but pitt isn  t belivably scary as a serial killer  although it is one of his better earlier roles . the best thing is here is michelle forbes  who always manages to shine  whether in her roles on homicide life on the street  or in the brief series wonderland .   br    br   vote   
he really lost the plot with this one  none of his distinctive trademarks here at all  an uninteresting plot and completely terrible acting make this his worst film  in my opinion  . even his trademark gore is gone  bar one scene in an operating theatre . oh well  at least his next film  nightmare concert  showed that he could still shock when he wanted to . . .  
  kalifornia  is a great film that makes us look at ourselves . the film has a great cast  brad pitt  johnny suede  a river runs through it  and the legends of the fall  as early grayce  david duchovny  the x files  as brian kessler  michelle forbes  star trekthe next generation  homicidelife on the street  and escape from l . a .  as carrie loughlin  brian  s girlfriend  and juliette lewis  natural born killers  cape fear  and what  s eating gilbert grape  as adele corners  early  s girlfriend .  br    br   brian kessler is a writer who is a liberal  is getting ready to write a book about serial killers . brian and his girlfriend  carrie decide they want to move to california  so brian places an ad at the college for some who wants to go to california  to share expenses on the trip .  br    br   early grayce is an ex con and sociopath on parole  who recently lost his job at the mirror factory in town  is in debt  owes his landlord money . early  s parole officer stops to visit him and tells him about a job . early goes to the college and sees the ad  he later tells adele  his girlfriend about leaving to go to california . early and adele meet brian and carrie at the bus stop and leave town . brian and carrie do not know that he is a killer who just killed his landlord . for a little while brian and carrie thought of early and adele different but got to know them and become sort of friends  carrie and adele become real good friends .  br    br   their journey is a very learning one . though brain and carrie not knowing early is a killer till later on in the movie . the question brian asks in this film about the difference between killers and us is a very good question . early grayce is a sociopath who doesn  t see the error of his ways  goes down hill later on and pays the price .  br    br   this film is a great movie  i give it      stars and  thumbs up . i love the songs in the movie  especially at the end of the film  the song  look up to the sky  by the indians .  
more of a mystery movie with some gratuitous horror elements thrown in mediocre overall .  br    br   it starts with a woman having a nightmare in which her sex partner gets out of bed  goes into the room of her crying child  and kills it . she wakes up . then  that man is dying in a hospital  spitting up blood . his estranged daughter arrives  and he manages to contact her through her dreams  i think   and he wants her to find out who killed him before his body entirely decomposes in its grave .  br    br   there  s not too much mystery about who did it  or even how most viewers will have figured that out long before it is revealed . i  m not sure the way he was killed would really have worked .  br    br   anyway  the horror elements get in through a gory autopsy  the recurring dream of the man killing the boy  a nightmare in which a plate of eggs turn into eyes which are then cut  and several shots of the decomposing man both in nightmares and actually in his grave .  br    br   i was a little surprised to see a dedication in the end by fulci to clive barker  interesting .  
david duchovny and michelle forbes play a young journalist couple who want to go to california  but can  t really afford to  so they  ride share  with another young couple  brad pitt and juliette lewis  to save on expenses . the idea is for them to stop at various murder sites along the way  sites where serial killers did their thing  since brian  duchovny  is a writer and carrie  forbes  is his photographer . what they don  t know is that pitt  earley  and lewis are serial killer and girlfriend who just goes along with whatever he says . i don  t care for pitt as a rule but he does justice to psycho roles . the scary thing is that he does them so well i  ve actually known people like him before  no  not killers  but with pretty much the same mindset . anyway  as the road trip goes along  carrie guesses that the others are about out of money  but earley seems to always come up with the cash somehow . . . . never mind that he leaves someone dead here and there to do it though . lewis does her role well  one that she excels at  a not  too  bright waif that has a good heart but doesn  t understand that she doesn  t have to put up with being beaten up by earley when she does something he doesn  t like . as things begin to get more unacceptable carrie insists that the other couple be put out at a gas station  and unfortunately it  s at that point where she  s inside that she sees a news bulletin that tells her exactly who they  ve been ride  sharing with  after which things go downhill for them at a rapid clip . this is not the greatest flick in the world  but it  s not bad . . . i watched what was supposed to be the  unrated  version but i wonder how much was cut out of the rated version  because this seemed fairly tame to me  really . . . not that this makes it family fare or anything  unless it  s maybe the manson family .  out of   .  
action  violence  sex and coarse language are the things that the characters do during the whole movie . and everything they do is done without reason . mark l . lester is  un  known for his violent  without reason  movies  commando  the base  . the story is weird but stupid . the actors play their stupid characters very well . . . i  m not telling they are stupid but i mean they are very bad actors . it  s another low  budget unknown b series action movie . if you saw something like operation delta force  drive  the patriot  sanctuary or something like these bad movies from the same kind than misbegotten . . . don  t rent it . . . and  by the way  don  t rent any of the movies i mentioned . . . . i give it  and a half out of  .  
i have to start off by apologizing because i thought the first       of this film was hilarious . it  s mostly because of brad pitt  s performance . spot on .  br    br   the acting by all involved was quite good but brad stole the movie . the atmosphere was perfect in all respects . i  m not a giant pitt fan but this has got to be one of his best roles ever .  br    br   brutal  honest  gritty . all good words to describe this movie .  br    br   i was reading a previous review and the person said that the reasoning behind early  s violence isn  t explained . it is explained but they thankfully don  t have to go into graphic detail to get their point across .  br    br   overall i gave this a  because every scene bar  or  was effective . i think the humor in the first half or so is perfect for this movie . underrated .  
routine suspense yarn about a sociopath  dillon  who gives his sperm to a clinic of human reproduction and starts to harrass the lives of the woman  antony  and his husband  mancuso  . extremely predictable  far  fetched and with undecided tone all the way . don  t lose your time with this one . . . make a baby instead   
i was totally engrossed in this film from the first to last minute . it is brilliantly shot  with lots of interesting and original camera angles and techniques employed . the plot surrounds a deaf woman who is picked on by friends and colleagues alike . she hires an assistant at work  with her true intention being to find love . he  s an ex  con and she takes advantage of him to wreak revenge on those who have hurt her . in return she must help him with a heist that requires her lip reading skills to pull it off . the film transcends into a dark film noir  with a couple of truly excellent scenes  and an even better finale . the real beauty in this film comes from the way the director takes advantage of the leading character  s disability . the use of sound keeps the tension consistent  and the dramatic shifts from silence to noise keeps the blood pumping  that  s for sure . throw in a little black comedy and undertones of erotic sexual repression you  ve got the makings of a great film . it  s the sort of film hollywood really wants to make  but just can  t .  
i  ve come to realise from watching euro horror  especially films made by cult luminary jess franco  that you can  t expect a plot that makes much sense . however  franco has gone overboard with this film and despite a surreal atmosphere  and the film  s reputation as one of the director  s best  succubus is unfortunately is a truly awful film . i  ve got to admit that i saw the american cut version  which runs at about   minutes but unless it was just the logic that was cut  i  m sure the longer european version is just as boring . the plot has something to do with a woman marauding around practicing sm and talking rubbish  and it  s all really boring . there  s no gore and the sex is dull  and most of the runtime is taken up by boring dialogue and despite the fact that this is a short film i had difficulty making it all the way to the end . i have to say that the locations look good and franco has done a good job of using his surreal atmosphere but the positive elements end there . jess franco is definitely a talented director that has made some classic trash films  but this looks like it was one he made for the money  and overall i recommend skipping it and seeing some of the director  s more interesting works .  
this movie is great  brad pitt will never be able to out act the performance he gave in this movie . duchovny was top notch  as was forbes and lewis . the  main characters embark on a scenic road tour of historic murder sites  in one of the coolest cars ever made       s model lincoln continental . early grace is a simpleton with a taste for dry toothbrushes and carnage . he likes his women to not curse or smoke  and wear pwt dresses . duchovny and forbes are a pair of artists from the city  while early and lewis are trailer parkers from the rural outskirts . even though the majority tone in the film is dark  there are plenty of funny scenes to be had . the writing  directing  and acting are brilliant . if you like road movies  murder  humor  and narration  watch this film . everyone delivers  and you will want more when the credits roll . one of my all time favorites .  hey . . . shave that dog n teach it to hunt    
i watched    of this movie and wondered why it got such horrible reviews here . it was fairly easy to watch  at  am  . it had good casting  kevin dillon  s role of the sociopath serial killer was very believable  he was both charasmatic and chilling . the rest of the main characters weren  t so bad either .  br    br   this is your typical stalker  suspense movie . a married couple cannot conceive so they go to a fertility clinic for help . a sociopathic  genetic material  donor fixates on the recipients and  in typical stalker form  intrudes into their lives .  br    br   as i said  most of the movie was fairly good . . we see  conan  grow more and more obsessed in raising his baby and creating the perfect family with the mother . of course things don  t work out for him the way he planned . not a bad plot line .  br    br   but  the last   minutes were just horrible . i am pretty tolerant with movies  especially at  am   . . but  i was just amazed at how bad the ending was written . i actually scoffed outloud   br    br   all in all  not the worst movie i  ve seen  but i wouldn  t be able to sit through it again  unless i skipped the ending  . the only redeaming quality here was kevin dillon  s role   one of the best serial killers ever .  br    br   try looking around at the other channels before watching this . . but  if nothing better is on  i  d give it a try . .    
i can  t say too much about kalifornia as sadly i have yet to actually see the whole thing  i  ve only managed to see it in bits and pieces on fuse .  but what i have seen is absolutely awesome  i am a fan of brad pitt but i admit not all his earlier movies are well good . but this role  i just  his acting is great  his character early seems so normal well okay creepy  dark weird but you know normal for a hillbilly of that type i guess . and juliette lewis  s performance although i can see how some may be annoyed by it i think it  s amazing . sadly i have yet to see the end  but from reading other reviews on here it sounds good  but disappointing . i have to admit that i wish david duchovany  s  sorry if the spelling on that is incorrect  was a bit flat but for him it was okay . his wife  s character was better  and i thought her performance while not the best in the movie was pretty good  a portrait of the avant  gard  older sister type . particularly the scene where early and brian go to play pool  and adele and carrie are having their one on one time together . i  ve watched that scene at least twice now and i still think the acting in it is just wonderful . one because of the emotion that adele portrays after talking about being raped by the three guys and how she feels about early and carrie  s reaction to it . everything about that i think is just so perfect . i mean  maybe it  s because i can relate a bit  i  m not sure .  br    br   as for brad pitt who plays the serial killer that we actually get to see for once i thought he was great . some movies with pitt that i  ve seen were just average or not worth seeing . i don  t think i  ve ever seen a terrible pitt movie or if i have it  s not because of his acting it  s other factors . this movie was not one of them . he turned out a great performance in kalifornia . i swear i  m not just some random i do like him for his acting not just because he  s good looking  i mean his character in this movie isn  t exactly handsome or cute by any means  pitt is dark  brooding and downright scary at times . yet he  s also cheerful  funny  nice  and even loving towards adele . granted there are some spots that made me want to reach through the tv and strangle him but that  s probably just me  and the character pitt played in the movie .  but it also shows how good pitt  s acting was in this movie it made me forget that he was playing a character  that is what good acting is supposed to do .  br    br   at any rate i wish i could say more  but that  s all i can really say without having seen the ending  i have seen most of the movie through what i  ve caught on fuse and as i  m writing this i  m taping it on dvr so hopefully i can write a more complete review later . i just wanted to share my thoughts on a movie that i thought was something really cool and something that seems to have gotten overlooked  it shouldn  t have    
grand central murder       dir s . sylvan simon  br    br   production mgm  br    br   this mediocre  b  mystery was one of only five films released in     with simon as director . surely he could have fit another red skelton film or two on his schedule  anyway  grand central murder is a shameless rip  off of the thin man films minus the wit  charm  and chemistry of the leads . we are treated to a paper thin plot that can barely support its   minutes  bad acting and weary gags .  br    br   van heflin and virginia grey play nick and nora char   er  rocky and butch custer . he  s a pi and she  s his wife and sleuthing partner . they engage in  humorous  banter with each other . see  it  s completely different already . heflin  s the only one here who hints at bigger and better things  although he  s real close to being a jerk in this . virginia grey was in another thin man  but again  let me stress  this film is nothing like that one  no sir . and just in case we start to think that this film is absolutely nothing like another film  say  the thin man  we actually like  sam levene pops up as the lead detective who  s kind of dim and has to have van heflin subtly direct him toward all the important leads . hmmm .  br    br   quickly  the  murder  is that of bitchy schemer mida king  who likes to trade up on rich men until she finds an even richer one . she  s played by patricia dane  who  s like a c  version of hedy lamarr  until she opens her mouth and turns into an f . there  s a whole array of wacky suspects  all with their own motivation for wanting mida dead . there  s the society type  the tough talking dames  the thug  the ex  lover  and a shady theater impresario  tom conway  here saddled with the unlikely character name of  frankie ciro   . roman bohnen plays a nervous  jittery type  something i believe he may have done before . millard mitchell plays an idiot cop who  in a running gag that won  t quit  can  t stop thinking about the piece of ass he  s got waiting for him once this case gets wrapped up  that  s right  millard mitchell  swordsman  . finally  in a completely ground breaking method of storytelling  something we  ve never seen before  all the suspects are gathered up in one place where they tell their stories  as flashbacks  to the detective  as rocky takes mental notes  until eventually the guilty person is compelled to dramatically blurt out a confession .  br    br   on top of the actual picture being a dud  i naively thought going in that there might be a couple of location shots of the actual      era grand central  but alas  no . there  s merely one very brief shot at the beginning . thanks for nothing  grand central murder . so  to sum up  a wee bit formulaic  but heflin was okay .  br    br    out of   
a surprisingly effective thriller  this .  br    br   david duchovny and michelle  ensign ro  forbes are a successful  professional couple  he a writer  she a photographer . forbes is desperate to move to california and  in an act of compromise  mulder agrees to the move on the condition that  along the way  they visit sites of historical interest concerning famous serial killers . his idea he writes the words  she takes the pictures  with the end result a bestselling coffee table book that will set them up for life . to help finance the trip  they decide to car share and advertise the fact . as their bad luck would have it brad pitt sees the advert and  shortly after killing his landlord  he and his girlfriend  juliette lewis  meet the writer couple and begin their cross country trek . inevitably  mischief ensues .  br    br   pitt is outstanding as the genuinely chill inspiring early grayce and is capably backed up by lewis playing her customary white trash character that seems to be her default setting . duchovny and forbes make for a convincing double act too and  as events spiral out of control  you as the viewer are sucked into their plight and can feel the tension ratcheting .  br    br   intelligent  sinister and beautifully shot  this deserves recognition beyond its current status . a top movie .  
i have to say this is an awful movie  for the mere fact that when you see this movie on the guide  it is listed as a documentary . as i watched it  i started laughing  thinking to myself  does this guy actually expect me to believe this is real  so i had to look it up  and now see that it is a movie  but now since it isn  t a documentary  it is now a movie with bad acting . so  either way  it is pretty bad . i actually didn  t make it to the end . i had to shut it off . i am a nyc police officer  and felt that someone was trying to mislead people into thinking this is a documentary  with the intentions of making money off of a terrible day for me and my coworkers . so  i took it a little personal . maybe i was blinded by that  and it isn  t as bad as i personally think it is . everyone has their own opinion .  
this was one scary movie .  br    br   brad pitt deserved an oscar for this .  br    br   a traveling novelist  played by david duchovny of the x  files fame  and his girlfriend pick up two hitch  hikers  juliette lewis and brad pitt  on their way to california .  br    br   on their way they stop at infamous serial killer murder scenes to photography the scenes for an upcoming book duchovny  s character is working on  little do they know that the most disturbed serial killer in the history of the country is sitting right next to them in the same car .  
a blair witch  war movie that is as much of a letdown as bwitch was  the title says it all  save your money and your time and spend it on a good movie such as  once upon a time in america    the shawshank redemption  or  enemy at the gates   if you want to watch a great  war  movie  etc .  br    br   this movie  if it were a baseball team and the major leagues were the pinnacle and single a was the rookies  then this movie was high school ball . it was filmed as if it were a high school drama club filming with their daddy  s old camera . sure they went into a hostile area  to make a film  but i don  t call that brave  around here we call that plain stupid  this is a pass all the way  now go watch it and then you tell me what you think .  
  a masterpiece to be recorded in the books and never forgotten  br    br        a classic in time simply a must see  br    br     a solid  worth  while  very entertaining piece  br    br        a good movie  but there are some uneven elements or noticeable flaws  br    br     may still be considered good in areas  but this work has either serious issues or is restrained by inevitable elements deemed inescapable  e . g .  genre   br    br        mostly a heap of nothing sparked by mildly worthwhile moments  br    br   bomb  not of a viewable quality  br    br    kalifornia    br    br    unrated  for strong violent material  considerable sexuality  and language   br    br   i rented this film expecting an in  your  face summer  blockbuster  quality celebration of brad pitt  s face  but was happily surprised and disappointed . this really is more of a drama  and very grim at that . . . i remember some emotionally intense duchovny voice  overs .  br    br   pitt plays out his possibly un  sexiest film ever with startling talent . who started out as a hopeless yet harmless  white trash  husband became realized as a violent  disturbing alcoholic with a messed mind . during some of the latter stages in the film  i found it hard to keep watching him  he was unpredictable and scary . this proves very good writing and acting .  br    br   the whole movie is filled with bizarre  sensational scenes that made me hold my breath not fewer than once  and i don  t mean action scenes . i mean dialogue scenes so brilliantly crafted i actually winced and gasped at what i was seeing . it was like watching a rhino and a lion put in a cage and watching as they gnawed each other to death . again  i am very impressed with the screenwriter  s   whoever they are did the impossible mixed oil and water .  br    br   i also very much enjoyed juliette lewis  s performance . it is so rare for this talented young actress to make an appearance these days that when she does it is such a joy . some of her moments in this film brought me to tears . i mean that . the emotions this girl can arouse in your head are incredible  and i clearly remember getting blurry  eyed on a few occasions .  br    br   i almost feel like i  m cheating the quality craftsmanship the film makers have displayed by only giving  kalifornia  a  rating . but the dark feelings that it stirs are too potent and depressing to raise it . i do believe that everyone should see this movie though . i truly do .  
this is a complete hoax . . .  br    br   the movie clearly has been shot in north western indian state of rajasthan . look at the chase scene  the vehicles are indian the writing all over is hindi  language used in india . the drive through is on typical jaipur streets . also the palace is in amer  about   miles from jaipur  rajasthan . the film  makers in their  about the film  in dvd bonus seem to make it sound that they risked their lives shooting in kabul and around . almost all of their action scenes are shot in india . the scene where they see a group singing around fire is so fake that they did not even think about changing it to afgani folk song . they just recorded the rajasthani folk song . how do i know it because i have traveled that area extensively . they are just on the band  wagon to make big on the issue . i do challenge the film makers to deny it .  
i had seen this film many years ago and it had made a lasting impression on me . alas  i have hardened to many films over the years and did not expect to be impressed by  kalifornia  upon watching again recently . i am pleased to say that it is every bit as unnerving and watchable as it was ten or so years ago .  br    br   there are two things which really give this movie its power . the first is its cast . we have a staggeringly disturbing turn by a young brad pitt as early grace . knowing pitt  as we all do  as one of the most enduring heart  throbs hollywood has ever had  it is refreshing to see him play such a vile  unattractive character . pitt pulls the show off without resorting to white  trash clich or parody  and manages to remain genuinely terrifying throughout the movie .  br    br   juliette lewis is equally impressive as grace  s tragic girlfriend  playing the character like a ten year old girl with a forty year old  s life experience . lewis manages to evoke pity  for her character  s station in life  as well as contempt  for her naivety   but she underpins her performance with the kind of subtlety rarely seen by an actor so young . personally  i think it  s a tragedy that neither pitt nor lewis were nominated for any awards for their performances here .  br    br   david duchovony and michelle forbes are both perfectly cast as the yuppy couple who unwittingly end up travelling across the us with pitt and lewis . duchovony is aptly geeky and naive  and forbes seems emphatically cynical and shut  off  but both actors manage to convincingly portray their characters  changes as they are equally intrigued  repulsed and strangely attracted to pitt .  br    br   the fine casting and uniformly brilliant acting aside  this film really grabs us by the proverbial balls through its flawless pacing . at the time  kalifornia  was released  hollywood was releasing a slew of nice  character  turns  out  to  be  psychotic movies   single white female    pacific heights    the hand that rocks the cradle    deceived    sleeping with the enemy  etc  . most of these movies followed the same formula  the only variation being the nature of the relationship between good guy and bad guy .  kalifornia  doesn  t really stray too far from this territory  but its first two acts are the perfect example of the slow  boil thriller  and we are kept on the very edge of our seats waiting for the tide to turn .  br    br   when the penny does drop  and pitt is let loose to play the maniacal bad guy  the film shifts gears completely and the last twenty minutes don  t quite live up to rest of the movie . that said  the action is thick and fast and the resolution is suitable cold . the fight is over  but the scars will always be there .  br    br   much of the narration  provided by a somewhat whiny  pre x  files duchovony  is a tad contrived . of course  it  s meant to be from the book the duchovony  s journalist character has written  so one could argue that the self  conscious narration is meant to be a nod to the kind of sensationalised style in which most journalists write .  br    br   the film is largely a success and is certainly a cut above    of the thrillers of the past twenty years . highly recommended  but not for the weak of stomach or mind . this film is disturbing on more than one level . but then  it  s meant to be .  
i just got back from this free screening  and this  osama witch project  is the hands  down worst film i  ve seen this year  worse than even  catwoman   which had the decency to at least pass itself off as fiction .  br    br   in  september tapes   a  film crew  of  documentary journalists  heads to afghanistan  despite being thoroughly unprepared for the trip  the conditions and  oh yeah  the psychotic and ridiculous vendetta of their filmmaker leader to avenge his wife  s death on sept .    to track down osama bin laden .  br    br   they  made  eight tapes on their journey  which now  document  their travels and  of course  their attempts to kill the terrorist leader .  the eight tapes  thankfully  all end at points significant in the narrative  which is convenient for a  documentary .    br    br   the psychotic  idiotic protagonist  who is given to long  significant speeches that he probably learned watching  macgyver   cares nothing for his own life or the life of his innocent crew as he gets them further and further into danger through a series of completely dumb mishaps . i don  t know why he didn  t just wear a sign on his back that said  shoot me .   br    br   the crew  s translator  supposedly their sensible voice  of  reason  does little more than whine and gets baffled as the idiot hero leads them into doom .  br    br   you wish they  d brought along someone on their trip to call them all morons .  br    br   around  tape    i began rooting for the terrorists to shoot the film crew .  
in     brad pitt and juiliette lewis did a tv too young to die where both played the almost the same kind of parts that they do in kalifornia . i have no doubt that is what led to their casting in this big screen film .  br    br   kalifornia finds aspiring writer david duchovny and his girl friend  art photographer michelle forbes on a rocky relationship of sorts due to duchovny  s obsession with writing a book and getting in the minds and souls of serial killers . in fact he  s got a most unusual odyssey planned  he wants to go cross country and visit the sites of several famous serial killers . but he and forbes are flat broke .  br    br   fate intervenes in more ways than financial with the arrival of brad pitt and juliette lewis a pair of strange southern types who agree to split the cost of gas on this cross country trip . it turns out pitt is a serial killer himself and he decides to do a little research on his own  delving into the mind of someone who is fascinated with amorality .  br    br   kalifornia is not the type of film i usually go for  but in fact the acting ability and charisma of brad pitt make it work to a large degree . pitt is the walking definition of an inbred gothic refugee from deliverance . but better than he is is juliette lewis who once again is playing these low self esteem types which she seems to do well . watch her scene with forbes as she does her hair and lewis describes her sad and pathetic life . lewis  s dialog and forbes  s reactions ought to be shown in acting classes around the country .  br    br   for those who like their slasher flicks  they don  t come better than kalifornia .  
this is the worst movie i have ever seen . i was going to get up and leave at tape  but i stuck it out . i now consider myself a masochist  afghanistan  come on guys  who  s the idiot who forgot to hide the sanskrit billboards  i thought the lead actor  george calil  was particularly inept . apart from the bad acting and over zealous camera shake  i thought using the events of     as a reason to make  larson the lunatic implodes  all over a screen near you  disgraceful and irreverent to the victims of     . using a phone call from larson  s wife  sarah  supposedly from one of the terrorist held planes on that day  was appalling . the camera shake didn  t make me feel sick  that cold hearted stunt did .  
if this is supposed to be a portrayal of the american serial killer  it comes across as decidedly average .  br    br   a journalist duchovny travels across country to california to document america  s most famous murderers  unaware that one of his white trailer trash travelling companions pitt is a serial killer himself .  br    br   rather predictable throughout  this has its moments of action and pitt and lewis portray their roles well  but i  d not bother to see it again .  
amateurish in the extreme . camera work especially overwrought  documentary camera operators needn  t spin around all the time .  br    br   the script is truly inane  and the acting is even worse . on top of that  the story is disjointed and meandering  with some gaping holes in logic . at one point the lead wishes to get thrown in jail in order to rub shoulders with suspected al  quada operatives  and thus get an interview with osama . i found the story entirely unbelievable as a result of so many flaws . the  filmmaker   lead role really portrays a rash  idiot frat boy . the only item of interest really  is that the filmmakers did in fact film on location . it  s truly a shame they wasted their opportunity to make something interesting .  br    br   who financed this crap   
kalifornia is a movie about lost ideals . a journey on the darkest road ever . the road of no return . the plot is about a couple that set out to find a better life in california . the man  david duchovny in his best role up to now  wants to write a book about the famous crimes that have happened in america and his girl  who is a photographer  is going to take the pictures . so they set out on a trail of famous murders not knowing what awaits them on the way . to share the journey expenses they decide to find another couple and they put an ad . but the couple that answers it is not just any couple . it is one of the strangest couples ever . the girl is a naive  frail creature that dreams a lot and loves cactuses . the man is exactly the opposite . a cruel ruthless murderer . we learn that early in the film and we follow him along the journey to kalifornia  not with c as usual  but with k  presumably symbolizing the word killer   along his journey of betrayal  murder and finally defeat . all the leads  duchovny  pitt  lewis and forbes give really good performances and you have to take into consideration that when this movie was filmed not even one of them was a star . the photography is amazing  with darkness covering the greatest parts of the movie  and the music suits the dark character of the film . on the whole this is a really good movie . don  t miss it . you  ll think again before taking some stranger in your car to share the gas with   
well  basically  the movie blows  it  s blair witch meets sean penn  s ill conceived fantasy about going to iraq to show the world what the  war on terror  is really about . the script sounds like it was written by  th grader  no offense to  th graders   the two main actors over  act the entire film they used the wrong kind of camera and the wrong type of film  not that i know anything about those things   but it just didn  t look like real documentaries i  ve watched   and worst of all christian johnson took a great idea and made it suck . it reminded me of the time i tried to draw a picture of my dog and ended up with a really bad stick figure looking thing that looked more like a giant turd . i  d rather watch the blair witch viii  than sit through that again .  
i bought this a while ago but somehow neglected to watch it until last night . i do like juliette lewis although i  m indifferent to brad pitt . after this viewing i have to admit he  s a perfectly fine actor  his character was entirely believable  and i didn  t think  brad pitt  at all .  br    br   unfortunately i can  t say the same for david duchovny . i  m an x  files fan and i had to look twice to confirm the date of this movie  as i  d thought it was made a few years later . i like duchovny but found his character a little two  dimensional here  except where he  s doing voice  overs . that part was strong  seemed in character  good intonation  etc . otherwise i kept thinking  agent mulder   which is a pity .  br    br   michelle forbes was a treat . why haven  t i noticed her before   i  ll be looking up to see what other roles she  s done and seeing those asap  i am slightly concerned about stereotyping re lewis  this film  and  natural born killers   a firm favourite  . interesting though to see a contrast of characters  in nbk she  s a willing accomplice  whereas here she abhors the violence and tries very hard not to acknowledge early  s dark side until it  s thrust in her face .  br    br   i enjoyed this film almost unreservedly . apart from duchovny  s character not seeming fully  formed  and perhaps being  washed out  somewhat by pitt  s   it was perfect . i was also pleased with the ending  glad that the innocent heroes did not die  yet they had to suffer first . it was realistic  tense  disturbing .  br    br   if you like nbk you may well like this movie  and vice  versa .  
this movie fails miserably on every level . i have an idea  let  s take everyone involved in this movie and ship them into a hot zone in the middle east . maybe if we  re lucky they  ll all be shot and killed and we won  t have to ever have our time wasted by them again . did i mention that i have never been so bitter about a cinematic pile of crap in my entire life  my god  i can  t think of anything i  ve ever seen that was this bad . i  d rather watch ishtar   times in a row than sit through   minutes of this sorry excuse for a film . if i ever happen to meet anyone who was involved in this film  i  ll spit in their face and then beat them senseless . that  s my two cents .  
surely one the french films of the decade so far  a taut  atmospheric thriller making full use of the lead characters hearing impediment to use sound in a way rarely explored in cinema . emannuelle devos gives a truly stunning  multi  faceted performance  at times devious and manipulative  at other times open and vulnerable . another reason why those who appreciate quality cinema should keep their eyes open for offerings from france .  
even though there  s a repertoire of over    films to choose from  this  succubus  is often named as the best jess franco film . heck  even the legendary filmmaker fritz lang counts  succubus  among his personal favorites . so  maybe it  s me but i thought this was a dreadfully boring and overly confusing movie . the opening is great  though  and shows janine reynaud performing an sm act on stage . it  s all downhill from here  unfortunately . reynaud  s character is a maneater who eventually kills her lovers in some sort of trance . franco had a decent budget to work with and spends it well on nice locations  beautiful photography and a mesmerizing musical score . this could have been his greatest film indeed  if it wasn  t for the lame and uninteresting story . it  s supposed to be psychedelic but i  d say sophomoric is a better term to describe what  s shown here . half of the time  you don  t have a clue what  s going on or what exactly is said so even the short running time of   minutes seems to last ages . this most certainly isn  t franco  s best film according to me . i wouldn  t even recommend it to die  hard exploitation fans . if you  re looking for more superior jess franco film  try to get your hands on  las vampiras    the awful dr . orloff  or  female vampire  .  
kalifornia is the story of a writer and his girlfriend photographer who are looking for someone to help pay gas money and take turns at the wheel for a cross country road trip to famous murder sights . ironically a serial killer and his girlfriend answer the post . kalifornia is a diamond in the rough and a very intriguing journey with a serial killer . great performances all around by the leads with pitt in particular being exceptional . check it out    
if it wasn  t for some immature gullible idiot i know insisting that i watch this  documentary  i would never have seen this comedy  this film is full of bad scripting and laughable moments . one in particular is where the afghan police  soldiers arrest don larson for filming in the streets while they allow the cameraman to carry on filming his arrest and then drive away  still filming  presumably to his plush hotel . then there  s the scene where a car crashes into another car which has been turned upside down and parked nicely on the side of the road without any evidence of it being in a crash or explosion .  br    br   i am surprised this has currently got the rating it has   .      . i thought imdb users had more sense .  
kalifornia came out in      just as  of the  lead characters were up and coming to the levels of fame they now possess in     . this is a nice psycho  thriller that should appeal to all david duchovny fans because of his dry and intelligent narratives that find their ways into his work  like with most of his episodes of the x  files  playing god  and red shoe diaries .  br    br   people who were put off by the heavy southern accent from brad pitt and juliette lewis  characters obviously have never spent much time in the south . for every  brian and carrie  in the south  there is an  adele and early  and in      that  s the real horror of this flick .  br    br   aside from that  i think the film was written with a cult film intention  like with carrie  s photography  it  s not suitable for mass consumption . but if you have a copy of this in your personal library  i think it says something positive about your tastes for freaky movies .  
i watched the first   minutes  thinking it was a real documentary  with an irritatingly overly dramatic  on camera  producer  .  br    br   when i realized it was all staged i thought  why would i want to waste my time watching this junk    so i turned it off and came online to warn other people . the characters don  t act in a believable way . too much immature emotion . for a guy to travel half way around the world into a war torn country  he acted like a kid . and i don  t believe it was because  his character was so upset about the trade center bombings  .  br    br   very trite and stupid .  br    br   have you seen  city of lost children   french dark fantasy film about a guy who kidnaps kids and steals their dreams . . . i liked it   
i had seen  kalifornia  before  must be about   years ago  and i still remember to be very impressed by it . that  s why i wanted to see it again and all i can say is that it still hasn  t lost its power  even though i  m used to a lot more when it comes to movies than that i was ten years ago .  br    br    kalifornia  tells the tale of the writer brian kessler and his girlfriend carrie laughlin  a photographer  who want to move to california . but instead of stepping on a plain and flying right to the state where they say it never rains  they choose to make a trip by car . he wants to write a book about america  s most famous serial killers and she will make the matching pictures . but because their car uses an enormous amount of petrol  they decide to take another couple with them  so they can spread the costs of the trip . only one couple has answered the add  so they will automatically be the lucky ones . but they haven  t met each other yet and when seeing the other couple for the first time  when their trip has already started  carrie is shocked . without wanting to be prejudiced  she can only conclude that early grayce and adele corners are poor white trailer park trash . she definitely doesn  t want them in her car  but brian doesn  t really mind to take them with them and decides to stop and pick them up anyway . at first the couple doesn  t seem to be that bad after all  but gradually early grayce changes from a trashy hillbilly into a remorseless murderer . . .  br    br   not only is the story very impressive  so is the acting from our four leads . brad pitt is incredible as early grayce . his performance in this movie may well be his best ever . the same for juliette lewis . she plays the childish and naive girlfriend that doesn  t want to hear a bad word about her early and does that really very well . but david duchovny and michelle forbes are a surprise as well . they both did a very good job and i really wonder why we never heard anything from forbes again since this movie  because she really proves to have a lot of talent .  br    br   overall this is a very good and impressive psychological thriller with a very powerful story  but because of the graphic violence  i can imagine that it may not be to everybody  s taste  although i don  t really see another way how to portray a serial killer in a believable way  . personally i really liked this movie a lot and the violence never bothered me  it  s a part of the story that  s too important to be left out  . i reward this movie with an     .  
i thought before starting with these movie that it might be a good one  but when i started with it i found it really awful . they said movie is being made in afghanistan but i think    of the movie is shot in india . you can see indian made cars . you can see lars drinking bisleri  an indian water brand   hindi written on the road  you can also see temples in afghanistan hahah its really funny and many more stuff which proves its not shot in afghanistan . i think one should not waste his  her time watching this movie . . pure time waste . . i would recommend to do something else instead of watching this movie or may be might heart is better idea but don  t watch this waste of time  
i just got done watching  kalifornia  on showtime for the fourth time since i first saw it back in july of     . you would think that with the recent wave of serial killer films  that  kalifornia  would be amongst some of the earlier films worthy of mention but hasn  t . perhaps if this film had been released sometime between like           maybe it might have been more successful . in my opinion   kalifornia  is much different from most serial killer films released during the late     s . it has an almost completely different atmosphere from most of today  s serial killer films like  seven  or  the bone collector  . many serial killer films have shown a killer but that person is always behind a mask or we never see enough of them to actually learn anything about them .  kalifornia  is a film that actually tries to break through that barrier and actually understand the criminal mind . it tries to answer questions like  why do they do the things they do  is it because of something that happened in their past  does it make them feel superior or powerful  or do they do it because they like the thrill of the kill   these are some of the things that  kalifornia  tries to answer but also leaves room for us to try and figure things out for ourselves . brad pitt makes an everlasting impression as early grayce . when we first meet early in the beginning of the film  we see that he is obviously one disturbed individual . when we first see him  it  s late at night . early is possibly drunk . we then see him pick up a rock  throw it off a bridge  and it later lands on the windshield of a passing car . pitt is fierce in this film . it is always good to see him when he plays psychos or really bad people . it  s funny that this would later lead him play a true loon like in    monkeys  and that he would be on the other end of the spectrum in david fincher  s  seven  .  
i went into this hoping it would be the  thought provoking  little gem people have reviewed this as . i love indy films and expected to dig this too . knowing what a hot button this topics is i expected to be really entertained  maybe even see an outsiders perspective .  br    br   all i can say is wow . . . . if your into self torture  or mutilation then maybe you  ll like this . personally i don  t like the idea of being pee  d on or cutting myself so i thought it was garbage . bad script  bad acting  bad story  bad directing  bad editing . . . . i could go on . i have no clue why a reviewer claimed he or she was making a political point by giving this movie a   . that  s misleading and ignorant . voting for a movie on imdb isn  t setting a precedent  it just lets other people think that a garbage bomb like this is ok to watch as long as it  s controversial  this film is not  it tries very hard to be but fails  .  br    br   you know the movie is bad when   minutes into it your praying that all main characters die horrifically . unfortunately they do die  but not in the painful manners that would have given the viewer some justice or vindication for having watched the  hours of crap they just endured .  br    br   do yourself a favor  just don  t even bother . i got this movie in a bargain bin at my local video store for .   and feel ripped off   
it  s amazing that so many people that i know haven  t seen this little gem . everybody i have turned on to it have come back with the same reaction what a great movie    br    br   i  ve never much cared for brad pitt  though his turns in   monkeys and fight club show improvement  but his performance in this film as a psycho is unnerving  dark and right on target .  br    br   everyone else in the film gives excellent performances and the movie  s slow and deliberate pacing greatly enhance the proceedings . the sense of dread for the characters keeps increasing as they come to realize what has been really happening .  br    br   the only thing that keeps this from a   in my book  is that compared to what came before it  the ending is a bit too long and overblown . but that  s the only flaw i could find in this cult classic .  br    br   if you check this film out  try to get the letterboxed unrated director  s cut for the best viewing option .  br    br   rating   
the movie was completely misleading and the bonus material confirmed my impression that it was a rip  off of joeseph conrad  s heart of darkness  the river is replaced by a road and the boat becomes a jeep and walter kurtz is osama .  br    br   the claims made on the outside of the dvd box was overt fraud to  br    br   take this fabricated death of a journalist and present it as factual  br    br   while some portions have muslims supporting the     attacks for the usa  s treatment of muslims around the world .  br    br   i alerted the video store that the movie should be removed from their  documentary  section and be placed in the war  drama area for quasi fictional accounts of actual events .  
  kalifornia  is one of my all  time favourite movies  and it easily could be labeled as one of the best psychological thrillers of the   s . the film has a very stylish surface to it  but behind that are a lot of disturbing and honest depictions of homicidal maniacs and the terrifyng violence they inflict upon others . one of the films strongest aspects is its performances  brad pitt is startlingly great as a trailer  trash psycho named early . pitt potrays his frightening character almost flawlessly . juliette lewis is equally as good playing his naive girlfriend  her innocence is almost heart  breaking .  kalifornia  has a very simple plot to it  that goes steadily and slowly forward for about an hour  but it suddenly plunges into a harrowing spree of murder  as pitt unleashes his psychotic personality . there are alot of shocking scenes  and it all mounts to a power  house climax that will haunt you for days .  kalifonia  is a film that should really be watched for its intense look at how monstrous a human being can be  and not only for its violence and gore .  
what a terrible film . it sucked . it was terrible . i don  t know what to say about this film but dinocrap  which i stole from some reviewer with a nail up his ass . ahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahah                    sigh . . it  s not roger corman that i hate  it  s this god  awful movie . well  really  but what can you expect from a movie with homoeric computer graphics . which is another thing  the cgi sucked out loud i hate this movie dreadfully . this is without a doubt the worst roger corman b  movie  and probably the gayest b  movie too . it  s  it  s    dinocrap  i  m sorry  i must have offended some nerds in these moments . it  s just an awful movie . . .         
in the same vein as natural born killers  another movie that was not so popular with critics because of its excessive violence but that i also loved  kalifornia is a movie that clearly glamorizes violence  but i like to think that it turns that around in the final act . kind of like how the basketball diaries glamorizes drugs at first  but shows the bad side by the end of the movie  which is far worse than the good side is good . david duchovny plays brian kessler  an artistic yuppie with an even more artistically yuppie girlfriend  who is into that violent sexy black and white photography generally reserved for  i don  t know where  places where nudity passes for art . maybe it really does and i just don  t understand it . at any rate  brian and carrie  duchovny and michelle forbes  who fits the role flawlessly   make the perfect couple to go on a documentary tour of famous murder sites . brian  the writer  will write the book  carrie can take the pictures .  br    br   being artistic types  brian and carrie are not quite financially prepared for such a trip  so they put out an ad for someone to share gas and travel expenses  and are contacted by early grace and adele corners  brad pitt and juliette lewis  . early is on parole and assigned to janitorial work at the local university by his parole officer  sees the ad on a bulletin board  and decides to leave the state for a while  violating his parole but also leaving the scene of his landlord  s murder so he won  t have to deal with a pesky murder investigation . two birds with one stone  you know .  br    br   the movie has a curious ability to portray two stereotypes  the artsy yuppies and the greasy trailer trash  without resorting to clichs or even ending up with caricatures of either type . brian and carrie are artsy liberals  but while carrie catches on to early and adele  brian is fascinated with early  s status as an outlaw  as seen in the scene where brian shoots early  s gun . never having fired a gun before  he  s as fascinated as a little kid . while adele and carrie are back at a hotel and adele reveals such things in her childlike way as the fact that early  broke her  of smoking and that she  s not allowed to drink  early doesn  t think women should   early and brian are out at the local bar . brian reacts nervously to a drunk trying to start a fight with him  and early first gives advice to brian on what to do and then steps in and dishes out a quick lesson for the guy .  hit him  bri  it  s comin  .  this is one of my favorite scenes in the movie  partly because it  s so funny what early gleefully says as the guy  s friends drag him away  bloodied and battered  but also because as it is intercut with the girls back at the hotel  we learn so much all at once about the two couples  their differences  and the conflicts that are likely to come up because of them . and besides that  because brian benefited from early  s actions and carrie is appalled by what she hears from adele  it also illustrates the different way that carrie and brian react to early and adele .  br    br   clearly  by now  you can tell that this is not your typical odd couple type of thriller  where the city folk run into the country folk and all sorts of stereotypical mayhem ensues . on one hand it seems a little too convenient that brian and carrie go on a tour of murder sites and just happen to be accompanied by a real life murderer  but on the other hand it  s a great way to counteract the glorifying of murder that is inherent within a cross  country trip designed to bring fame to murderers and their crimes . while studying the actions of past murderers  brian and carrie ultimately find themselves face to face with the very material that they are studying  and realize that murder is not as pretty or morbidly fascinating when it  s in your face as it is through disconnected studies of murders past .  br    br   i am constantly amazed at brad pitt  s versatility as an actor . consider  for example  his roles in movies like kalifornia    monkeys  fight club  and ocean  s   and   . pitt is like tom hanks in that he can change his appearance drastically or just enough to fit a given character  and is completely believable . incidentally  i tried in vain to be early grace for halloween this year  but just couldn  t get the hair and beard right . i even got the hat right  which initially i thought would be the hardest part .  br    br   it  s easy to understand why a lot of people disliked kalifornia or why they think that it glorifies violence and murder  but i think that whatever glorifying it does is done with the intention of clarifying the audience  s understanding of its subject matter . a film that didn  t glorify violence  at least initially  could never be as effective as kalifornia  but the movie structures it perfectly . the glorification is all embodied in brian  s and carrie  s fascination with the idea of murder and the auras of the places in which is happened  but their realization  and ours  is embodied in the real thing  which they encounter with early and adele . the movie  s very purpose is to describe that difference between idealizing violence and seeing the horror of it up close and for real .  
this is the first non  zombie subgenre review ive done but this movie is worth doing a review for . dinocroc is a good movie in general but unfortunately it is still an obvious b  movie . the dinocroc itself looked great but i thought the movie itself needed a little bit more weight as in action and violence because whenever the croc is shown or is in a fight scene not very much goes on except the croc is shown and the croc either kills or runs off in a repeated process . jane longenecker was hot which is a plus and the acting was better than average and the most surprising thing is that the croc looked fleshy instead of like a cartoon coughs curse of the komodocoughs . i enjoyed this movie enough to be glad that there is going to be a sequel which is more than what i can say about some movies in general . overall    stars and worth a watch .  
it  s amazing that so many people that i know haven  t seen this little gem . everybody i have turned on to it have come back with the same reaction what a great movie    br    br   i  ve never much cared for brad pitt  though his turns in   monkeys and fight club show improvement  but his performance in this film as a psycho is unnerving  dark and right on target .  br    br   everyone else in the film gives excellent performances and the movie  s slow and deliberate pacing greatly enhance the proceedings . the sense of dread for the characters keeps increasing as they come to realize what has been really happening .  br    br   the only thing that keeps this from a   in my book  is that compared to what came before it  the ending is a bit too long and overblown . but that  s the only flaw i could find in this cult classic .  br    br   if you check this film out  try to get the letterboxed unrated director  s cut for the best viewing option .  br    br   rating   
now i myself am a lover of the b movie genre but this piece of trash insults me to no end . first of all the movie is starring lizzy mcguire  s brother as the annoying little kid that goes looking for his lost  legged dog . now please what kind of dumb ass mistakes a three  legged dog for a god damn mutated crocodile please i ask you  and heres another point for pondering  why do they show the dinocroc on the back of the movie box being enormous and actually in the water  i believe if memory serves the thing spent about  .  minutes in the water and was just shy of  feet tall  that was a heart breaker . but redeeming qualities to this movie were that it was so bad that i almost died laughing because believe me the bad acting made me wish for death . but the fact remains that once again this thing is created by another military testing site to train super crocodiles for military combat or something like that from the source of all things evil e . v . i . l corporation . and let  s not forget the characters let  s see we have jerk off   as the male lead and half way decent chick  who doesn  t know how to act  as the female lead to that i say wow  the only thing worse then the acting was the end of course the heroes spend about what seems like  hours talking and planning some long elaborate way of killing the dinocroc only to have it fail and kill it in an ordinary way that could have taken about   seconds to come up with . all in all this movie was beyond gay with its random opera music in the background and the fact that it was probably the gayest of all cgi monsters ever made along with the fact it of course was impervious to bullets and bombs  otherwise it wouldn  t have been made for the military duh   . by far the best scene was when lizzy mcguire  s brother runs into the shack and the dinocroc eats him causing his head to pop clean off with a popping noise i might add . i believe that you would be better off shooting yourself between the eyes then to watch dinocroc . and as for the director i believe that we should get a bunch of people to hang him by a noose and all take turns kicking him in the crotch for wasting an hour and a half of our lives until he finally dies and then i can go on living .  
it  s a road movie  with a killer on  board . brian kessler  david duchovny   a sophisticated  urbane writer  wants to conduct field research on american serial killers . but  neither he  nor his girlfriend  carrie  michelle forbes   has the money for a cross  country tour of murder sites  so they advertise for someone to share travel expenses . who they end up with is a young couple  early grayce  brad pitt  and his girlfriend  adele  juliette lewis   two better examples of  poor white trash  you will never find in all of cinema .  br    br   indeed  early and adele are what make this film so entertaining  as they babble  cackle  confide  muse  speculate  drool  and otherwise behave in ways i haven  t seen since reruns of  the beverly hillbillies  . early  s idea of california  people think faster out there  on account of all that warm weather cold weather makes people stupid  . that  s enough to convince adele  i guess that explains why there are so many stupid people around here  . to which early responds proudly  it sure does  . early continues to instruct adele about california  you never have to buy no fruit  on account it  s all on the trees . . . and they ain  t got no speed limits  and i hear your first month  s rent is free  state law  .  br    br   but poor early has some  well  mental problems  which become ever more obvious to brian and carrie as the four travelers proceed west across the u . s . as they enter the desert southwest  with its beautifully stark landscape   kalifornia  starts to look more and more like  the hitcher         and early starts to act more and more like john ryder  everyone  s maniacal hitchhiker  whose terror seemed so unstoppable .  br    br   in  kalifornia   the acting is uneven . duchovny  s performance is flat . brad pitt is surprisingly effective  despite his overacting at times . michelle forbes is great as the avant  garde  photographic artist . but my choice for best performance goes to juliette lewis . with her nasal voice and heavy  duty southern accent  she is stunning  as the naive  highly animated  child  like adele .  br    br   toward the end  the film takes on a twilight zone feel to it  as our travelers enter a nevada nuclear test site with a dilapidated old house full of test mannequins . the plot dissolves rather messily into unnecessary and preposterous violence  an ending that was somewhat disappointing .  br    br   overall  however   kalifornia  is an entertaining film  thanks to a clever concept  great scenery  especially in the second half  good cinematography  great dialogue  and that wonderful performance by juliette lewis .  
a large part of the scenes should be cut off . there is a lot of scenes that should have been cut off . for example the scene where the hunters mentions  i got spiders on my dick    i like dick   playing in the mud scene  or a bar scene where a professional dinocroc hunters main job is a snake charmer .  br    br   how about other terribly incoherent scenes featuring a woman  diane who wants to loose her virginity to a boyfriend who walks like he wears women  s panties three sizes too small . while they make love  didn  t they realized they are making it out next to the little boy who will soon run away and loose his head  why did they do in a living room  i mean his head really flipped . how about the beach scene very reminiscent of steven spielberg  s jaws scene at grant lake . all these strange scene could easily be re  dubbed and billed as a comedy .  br    br   here in my local town  the cineplex theaters had been advertising for months about dinocroc  and i am glad i didn  t watch it because i later found out it was shown only for  or  days before it was canceled . the movie was that bad . i suspected that dinocroc was not a good movie looking at the preview . it features the leg of dinocroc that looks like a child wearing green pajamas and slippers with claws and walks up and down like a  year old . it could easily passed over as baby geniuses .  br    br   if any students of movie making wants to learn what not to do this is a real classic trash . such as diane  s boyfriend who walks like he had an advanced case of syphilis makes you wonder what the poor woman sees in this guy who looks drunk even before he get to drink beer . when this happens  who cares about dinocroc  the panties man looked more more interesting than the entire movie of dinocroc . his acting was so bad  he makes a much better replacement for mr . bean . move over rowan atkinson  here is a man with a better comedic talent in a horror sci  fi flick . perhaps the worse casting in the history of hollywood .  
in a way  this film reminded me of  jumping jack flash  . remember whoopi goldberg at the shredding machine  whoopi zonked out tranquilizers  whoopi as blind lemon and imitating mick jagger  great moments captured on film for sure but the movie still kind of sucks  right  that  s how i feel about  rich in love  . a man hears his wife sing for the first time . post  coital teenagers talk about the nature of love . albert finney eats ice cream out of bucket and  in another scene  has a lovely waking moment regarding his absent wife . alfre woodard adds another colorful character to her acting wardrobe . but there  s only the whisper of a plot here and you can  t wait for it to get moving . only when ex  go  gos  charlotte caffey  s the graces revs up a great pop song does the picture wake up . . . and then it  s over   br    br   this picture is the equivalent of a lazy summer  s day in the deep american south .  
there are some things i can never understand . such as this movie . what if i were to create a really really cheap and crappy looking dino and crocodile polygon model in maya and then proceed to cut and paste that into an amateur video clip having people scream and getting eaten by the same thing  how can anyone even believe that an utterly fake cgi dinocroc that looks completely out of place  would influence the events in this movie  i know that its b  grade  low budget and all but the producers could do better than making a piece of crap that no one will ever seen see or sit through . it just does  nt make sense . are people really so stupid that they would sit through this  apparently so . for laughs  no  this thing isn  t even worth laughing at .  
vincent cassel plays the part of paul  an ex  con assigned to an office job where he meets carla  a secretary who is quite deaf   when she has her hearing aids in very deaf when not  played by emmanuelle devos  . together they help each other to develop as people .  br    br   what was particularly interesting about this film was the complexity of the characters  not fitting into obvious stereotypes . paul appears uneasy in the office environment  is it that he  s just not cut out for work  this belief is dispelled when he gets a job in a bar and shines .  br    br   the film has a certain amorality which i find refreshing and showed how easy is to act criminally  even if we think it is harmless or justified .  br    br   finally  it is a film full of great moments  both touching and humorous . one is when carla is babysitting and is trying to comfort a screaming baby . she continues to cuddle it  but takes her hearing aids out for her own comfort .  
i had the misfortune to sit through the full    minutes of what  in my opinion  is this shockingly bad film . it fails on pretty much all levels the cast is awful  the acting  ham at best and the plot lacks any depth  leaving me feeling violently apathetic as to the outcome of any of the convoluted story lines .  br    br   plan b has none of the charm this genre has the scope to convey and i found myself physically cringing at the various points where the script makes its regular misjudged meanderings anywhere towards the region of comedy .  br    br   a bona fide saccharine coated turd of a movie .  
this is a racist movie  but worthy of study and enjoyment . first time through it the natural inclination is to focus on erbe  dad . they have a relaxed  peaceful thing going  what with her still at home about to graduate from high school  and him retired and kicking back waiting for inspiration to do something . second time through you realize how horribly the sister  s husband is dissed by her friends in the backwoods blues bar . he takes it  it  s the thing to do these days  and the critical moment passes as if they were chatting about the weather . in that same scene the sister  s blues song is a real tear  jerker if you  re the least bit sensitive and like that kind of music . her performance feels like the climax of the story a blues story with the good guys being  people of color  in their element in backwoods  sc . meanwhile  all the white folk in the movie lead what appears to be shallow meaningless lives fit only for making babies . that  s cool  long as you recognize it as fiction .  
this is possibly one of the worst giant killer animal movies i have ever seen . it follows the typical premise of a laboratory experiment gone wrong and a giant crocodile with a rapid growth chemical in it escapes . the monster looks way to much like a dinosaur  having big tyranosaurous  like hind legs  when it should just look like an over  sized crocodile . everything about this movie is unoriginal and it constantly oozes  cliche   minute after minute . why are there always two drunken redneck hunters out after dark who separate  plus  there  s always a guy and girl who share a lame  obvious love interest while they are in life threatening situations . to much has already been said by me and i feel as if i  m wasting my time writing this . . .  
i have enjoyed criminal intent series of law and order for a long time . kathryn erbe  det . alexandra eames  the female detective is rather hard and seems a bit bitter in the criminal intent series . see her other side in this movie .  br    br   this movie shows the marvelous soft side of this talented actresses and if you are a criminal intent fan this movie is a revelry in her acting and you get a pretty darn good yarn of family hardships in the south .  br    br   i did not like albert finneys role in this movie because he did such a convincing acting job of the older southern fellow that is hard headed and intolerant and unaccepting of change . he reminds me of so many men from my youth and the portrayal is divine  but you will likely find him hard to like in this movie .  br    br   katryn erbe is easy to like in this movie and why i recommend it as a   star for criminal intent  law and order fans .  
the film looks like as if the director was forced to make this movie by some gang of terrorists . it should actually be called dino crap .  br    br   there is nothing good about this movie . . even the actors are not worth a penny . don  t waste your time watching this movie . the director should be shot in the head for having the mentality to create such a bad movie . i mean isn  t he ashamed of looking at peoples faces after they have seen his movie  the dinocroc looks as if it was made in power point and pretty much cut  and  paste stuff . and its the same old story . man plays god . creates some creature . it escapes and is happy eating people . and finally a pretty girl and a guy in a sleeveless shirt has to come and kill it . bla bla . . u will figure out the plot in the first  minutes of the movie  
i liked this a lot . in fact  if i see it again  and i plan to  i just may love it . i  ll echo other reviewers in saying that this movie really does grow on you as you watch . it starts kind of slowly but the way in enfolds is very natural and has a mood to it . you just get into it .  br    br   i really liked the summery atmosphere to the movie and thought the movie was very touching as a whole . the characters have a strong element of realism and the movie very slowly and gently weaves a spell as you get involved in the various interactions between them all and want to know how it will ultimately turn out and what paths the characters will choose to take .  br    br   i am very surprised that there are less then a dozen comments on this  there are obscure tv movies that have more comments then rich in love .  br    br   one thing that i will say is i missed the ending which is driving me crazy and i have to watch it again to see that . this is a movie that may not be for everybody but that i feel is strongly underrated  even some of my most film buff purist friends who have seen almost every movie there is haven  t seen this  and it doesn  t even seem to have much of a message board but i liked it a lot and to all those who like family dramas that are warm on scenery  atmosphere and an unhurried languid pace should probably take a look at this . especially note worthy is that it takes place in south carolina so for those  like me  who love the south  and movies that take place there  this is a gem . i  ll add my vote to the woefully few comments and recommend this little known flick .  
what an awful movie . i love monster flicks but i couldn  t watch even half of the terrible acting  cardboard characters and abysmal special effects . there is nothing redeeming about this movie . the characters come from either an endless supply of suicidally stupid cannon fodder or else they are vacuous  uninspiring sock puppets . the plot is formulaic  cut and paste  standard science  run  amok drivel . even the cgi is horrible . you know it  s bad when you can  t even depend on the movie to provide some good eye candy . no surprises here  just same old same old . this is truly one of the worst films ever made . director roger corman should be hung from a lightpost so that children can use him as a pinata .  
  rich in love  is a slice  of  life film which takes the viewer into the goings on of a somewhat quirky charleston  sc family . highly romanticized  beautifully shot  well written and acted   ril  washes over you like a summer breeze as its plotless meandering breathes life into the characters such that at film  s end you  ll feel like an old friend of the family .  br    br   a wonderfully crafted character  driven film from the director of  driving miss daisy    ril  is a somewhat obscure little  sleeper  which will appeal most to mature audiences .  
just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water . . .  br    br   another computer generated mutant croc on the prowl for human lunchmeat  let loose by another one of those facilities conducting mad science . gereco biotech company is fooling around with growth hormone research  accidentally releasing a baby crocodile which is evolving at an accelerating rate .  br    br   b  movie cast add a deal of fun to this run of the mill  genetic mistake monster movie  . costas mandylor evokes mick dundee  aussie accent  hat  big ass knife  the works  as a croc specialist hired by gereco executive joanna pacula  . . wasted in the stereotypical role of corrupt administrative executive who denies any involvement with the gigantic beast her facility let free on innocent people  . charles napier is the local sheriff whose town is in danger and jane longenecker is his hot daughter  who works at the animal shelter . soap opera star matthew borlenghi is longenecker  s love interest  a local artist who welds sculptures  . . his brother is a victim of the croc  . of course  this skill will come in mighty handy when our heroes set up a created trap for the croc  hoping to poison it with carbon monoxide .  br    br   the croc itself is never the least bit convincing as it rampages through a reserve looking for food  the special effects of a low grade variety . in regards to roger corman productions dealing with renegade dino  monsters  i stick with carnosaur . the monster here is essentially a crocodile standing on it  s hind legs  often upright as it pursues potential victims . i felt mandylor and the filmmakers were spoofing crocodile dundee with his croc hunter  and this imitation might amuse where the monster itself fails . borlenghi and longenecker actually have pretty good chemistry together on screen . as expected  pacula gets her commuppance in hilarious fashion  . . gulp  .  
steely  powerful gangster supreme frankie diomede  the always terrific lee van cleef in fine rugged form  has himself arrested and sent to prison so he can rub out a traitorous partner sans detection . fawning goofball small  time hood and wiseguy wannabe tony breda  an amiable portrayal by tony lo bianco  gets busted as well . frank and tony form an unlikely friendship behind bars . tony helps frank break out of the joint and assists him on his quest to exact revenge on a rival group of mobsters lead by the ruthless louis annunziata  smoothly played by jean rochefort  . director michele lupo  working from an absorbing script by sergio donati and luciano vincenzoni  relates the neat story at a constant brisk pace  sustains a suitably gritty  but occasionally lighthearted tone throughout  and stages the rousing action set pieces with considerable rip  snorting brio  a rough  n  tumble jailhouse shower brawl and a protracted mondo destructo car chase rate as the definite thrilling highlights  . van cleef and lo bianco display a nice  loose and engaging on  screen chemistry the relationship between their characters is alternately funny and touching . the ravishing edwige fenech alas isn  t given much to do as tony  s whiny girlfriend orchidea  but at least gets to bare her insanely gorgeous and voluptuous body in a much  appreciated gratuitous nude shower scene . riz ortolani  s groovy  pulsating  syncopated funk  jazz score certainly hits the soulfully swingin  spot . the polished cinematography by joe d  amato and aldo tonti is likewise impressive . a really nifty and entertaining little winner .  
this is just a joke of a movie  they lost me already at the opening scene  spoilerwarning  dangerous creature kills other creature in his cage  this is watched by a scientist that works there on a monitor and guess what she does  well lets go in to the cage to check the stuff out  omg how dumb do those writers think human beings are come on thats the same like jumping in a fish tank with a great white shark because it ate your goldfish . . . pretty useless and even more dumber . and i will not even talk about the cast because they aren  t worth the effort . why they didn  t fired the guy that wrote that immediately is a mystery to me . . . . . and this kinda dumbness continues the entire movie . only good thing where the cgi that is better then average for these kinda low  budget movies .  br    br   if these kinda things don  t bother you go see it  but be warned if your iq is above   you will probably hate it .  
i scooped up this title by accident with the grindhouse vol .  collection of pure euro  trash movies . but this movie has a nice stamp of approval and should deserve a better transfer than what is out there . stupednous it is not . . . satisfying it is  watching this movie i couldn  t help to wonder . . . how come sergio martino didn  t make this flick  this has his signature all over it and punctuated by edwedge fenech  alas not as well known as she should be but she did get a nice cameo in hostel ii  . double  crosses and triple  crosses underly and cement this film from beginning to end with lee van cleef oozing coolness under pressure from the  st second . did this guy have to go to italy to finally reach his potential or did the studio system let this guy slip through  besides lee  s more recognizable films  film  goers should try this on for size and see how if sergio leone would  ve lowered his epic scale down on once upon a time in america to half the running time  and    of the budget  this is what it would  ve turned out to be like . so refreshing  it should be taken in during the day at home and make it for an couch matine  
this is a low budget roger corman horror  creature flick . a dinocroc is created when manipulation of prehistoric genes runs amok . an engineered croc first kills one of its own then gets the taste of human and becomes a fast growing terror after escaping . none of the characters have any depth  but then they are not the focal point . we only get a few glimpses of the huge two  legged dinosaur descendant and some of the best  kill  scenes in a small budget film .  br    br   my favorite scene is of a moronic character trying to use a three legged dog for bait and becomes croc food himself . nothing left on the pier but ankle top feet . with no real stand out roles jane longendecker  bruce weitz and charles napier . most pathetic is matt borlenghi and an obnoxious professional croc hunter costas mandylor . i was most impressed with the alluring joanna pacula as the respectfully feared dr . p . dinocroc is redeeming as a crock of pickles .  
frankie dio  lee vancleef  is a high  ranking mobster who turns himself in to the police or illegal gambling  for reasons that seem unclear to me  . tony  tony lo bianco  is a low  level thug who frequents a pool hall and spends his free time envying frankie . by being in the right place at the right time  tony gets arrested with frankie and is sent to jail . . . where they form a bond that may not quite be friendship  but it will do for now .  br    br   this film came to me under the title of  frank and tony   which is disappointing because i see an alternate name is  mean frank and crazy tony   which would have helped sell the film more effectively . i presume that  s an homage to  dirty mary  crazy larry  but what do i know  i watched it shortly after another italian crime film   violent professionals   and i must say the two complement each other very well .  br    br   italians have always lagged behind americans in their budgets and production values  which is a real shame with this film . it is considered a  grindhouse  film  which unfairly demotes it to a b  movie  or worse  . with a cleaner sound and picture  this could have been a hollywood hit  i suspect . i found the story very interesting  the characters  and actors  better than average and unlike  violent professionals  the plot is fairly clear   not too many secondary characters .  br    br   if you like mafia movies or crime films you should give this one a try . a film about the mob that  s actually from italy  how much more authentic do you want   is as much as you can ask . sure  it  s not  the godfather   but it  s not supposed to be . this isn  t a drama  it  s a light comedy  heavy action buddy film . . . like  die hard with a vengeance  from the point of view of the bad guys . well  okay  not really .  br    br   if nothing else  this film made me want to check out other films from the director and the principle cast . films besides  escape from new york   where vancleef plays  hauk   and the usual cult movies . what  s more fun than discovering a lost classic   
this tv  made thriller is all talk  little action . it works hard to set up its convoluted plot  yet the writing is so muddled the exposition is still cloudy at best . by the end  i knew no more about these characters than i did at the beginning . it has a quasi   ten little indians  scenario  but ditches it mid  way through in favor of spotlighting sally field and her uncovering of a killer . field overacts here with a gracelessness i  ve seldom seen from her . the early introductions are good  but the writing quickly strays off  course and eventually goes over the top . lots of hysteria  and constant thunder and lightning effects  which adds nothing  . a curious failure from producers aaron spelling  leonard goldberg . with all this talent  couldn  t they give us something more than a script full of red herrings and sally field hiding in a closet   
although i  m grateful this obscure gem of    s italian exploitation cinema features in the recently released  grindhouse experience  box set  and although it  s also available on disc under the misleading and stupid alternate title  escape from death row   i honestly think it deserves a proper and luxurious dvd edition  completely in its originally spoken languages with subtitle options  the dubbing is truly horrible   restored picture quality and a truckload of special bonus features  heck  i don  t even need the restored picture quality and bonus features if only we could watch the film in its original language .  mean frank and crazy tony  is a cheerfully fast  paced mafia  crime flick with a lot of violence  comedy  which  admittedly  doesn  t always work   feminine beauty and two witty main characters . tony lo bianco is terrific as the small thug pretending to be the city  s biggest don . when the real crime lord frankie dio  lee van cleef  arrives in town  he sees an opportunity to climb up the ladder by offering his services . frankie initially ignores the little crook  but they do eventually form an unlikely team when frankie  s entire criminal empire turns against him and a new french criminal mastermind even assassinates frankie  s innocent brother . tony helps frankie to escape from prison and together they head for marseille to extract frankie  s revenge . the script of this sadly neglected crime gem funnily alters gritty action  suspense with light  headed bits of comedy  like the grotesque car chase through the narrow french mountain roads for example . the build up towards the typical mafia execution sequences  guided by an excellent riz ortolani score  are extremely tense and the actual killings are sadistic and merciless  which is probably why the film is considered to be somewhat of a grindhouse classic . the film lacks a strong female lead  as the lovely and amazingly voluptuous beauty edwige fenech sadly just appears in a couple of scenes  and then still in the background . on of the men behind the camera  responsible for the superb cinematography  was no less then joe d  amato . great film  highly recommended to fans of italian exploitation  and i hope to watch it again soon in its original version .  
this sports a nice  deep cast but for a thriller you better deliver more than name actors and talk . the first third of this movie was nothing but talk  and more talk . most of that was a bunch of women bitching about everything to each other .  br    br   the first five listed actors in here are women so that verifies that it  s really a  chick flick  and little else . this probably plays on the lifetime network .  br    br   there was a quick murder scene and then more talk . by halfway through  they had lost me .  br    br   by the way  sally field looked about   years old in here .  
i had never heard of leos carax until his merde segment in last years tokyo  and his was easily the stand  out the film  s three stories . it wasn  t my favorite of the shorts  but it was the most unique  and the most iconic .  the lovers on the bridge  was the first of his full length features i  ve seen  a virtuoso romantic film that uses image and music to communicate an exuberant young love that overflows into the poetic . though he  s classified as a neo  nouvelle vogue  his films owe as much to silent cinema as the    s experimental narratives . his movies are closer to jean vigo in  l  atlante   jean cocteau  and guy maddin  than godard and truffaut .  br    br   in boy meets girl carax  s     debut he uses black and white and the heavy reliance on visual representation to display emotional states . he combines the exaggerated worlds of maddin  but based in a reality that never seems quite stable like cocteau  but by virtue of its expressions it becomes more accessible  emotional  and engaging like vigo  s movies .  br    br   the story of boy meets girl is simple  and similar to carax  s two following films which comprise this  young lovers  trilogy . a boy named alex played by denis lavant  who plays a character named alex in carax  s next two movies   has just been dumped by his girlfriend who has fallen in love with his best friend . in the first scene he nearly kills his friend on a boardwalk but stops short of murder . he walks around reminded of her by sounds of his neighbors having sex  and daydreams of his girlfriend and best friend getting intimate . he steals records for her and leaves them at his friend  s apartment  but avoids contacting either of them directly . he wanders around and finds his way to a party  where he meets a suicidal young woman  and the film becomes part  breathless  and part  limelight  .  br    br   later he is advised by an old man with sign language to  speak up for yourself . . . young people today it  s like they forgot how to talk .  the old man gives an anecdote about working in the days of silent film  and how an actor timid off stage became a confident  lion  when in front of the camera . heres where the movie tips its hand  but the overt reference to silent film is a crucial scene  since it overlaps the style of the film  silent and expressionist   with the content  a lovelorn young man trying to work up the courage to say and do the things he really wants to  . though alex is pensive at first and a torrent of romantic words tumbling out of him by the end  he is the shy actor who becomes a lion thanks to the films magnification of his inward feelings which aren  t easy to nail down from moment to moment  aside from a desire to fall in love .  br    br   there is a scene in the film where alex retreats from the party into a room where the guests have stashed their children and babies  all crying in a chorus that fills that room  until he turns on a tape of a children  s show making them fall silent . unexpectedly due a glitch the tv ends up playing a secret bathroom camera which reveals the hostess sobbing to herself into her wig about someone she misses . even as carax is self  reflexive and self deprecating of the very kind of angst ridden coming of age tale he is trying to tell  the room full of whining infants   he  s mature enough to see through the initial irony to the lovelorn in everything the film crosses . even the rich old  bell of the ball has a brother she misses . in another scene an ex astronaut stares at the moon he once walked on in his youth while sipping a cocktail in silence .  br    br   though indebted to films before talkies  carax is a master of music  knowing when to pipe in the dead kennedy  s  holiday in cambodia   or an early david bowie song  the sounds of a man playing piano  or of a girl softly humming .  br    br   in boy meets girl  when someone gets their heart broken we see blood pour from their shirt  when a couple kiss on the sidewalk they spin    degrees as if attached to a carousel  when alex enters a party an feels out of place  its because the most interesting people in the world really are in attendance like the famous author who can  t speak because of a bullet lodged in his brain  or the miss universe of     standing just across from the astronaut . this film is the missing link between jean piere jenuet  michel gondry  and wes anderson  whose stylistic flourishes and quirky tales of whimsy  all have a parallel with different visuals  musical  and emotional cues in these carax movies .  br    br   every line of dialog  every piece of music and every effect and edit in this movie resonated with me on some emotional level  some i lack words to articulate . there are many tales of a boy meeting a girl  but rather than just explore the banal details of any particular event this movie captures the ecstatic truth of adolescent passion and disappointment . the other movies you want to watch can wait . see this first . if i were to make films  i would want them to be like this  in fact i wish all films were like this  where the ephemeral becomes larger than life  and life itself becomes a dream .  
i have never read the bradbury novel that this movie is based on but from what i  ve gathered  it will be interesting  when i finally do read it and i will  . my comments will be based purely on the film . as soon as i saw the trailer i knew i had to see it and was so excited but when i finally did  i was so disappointed it hurt . this is because the movie itself felt so amateurish . the actors were not well cast  though robards and pryce are both good actors  just not here  . the kid actors  it seemed  were merely asked to show up  get in the characters  clothes  say the lines and make the faces . the set and props were cheap and unrealistic . the direction was surprisingly bad . i was so surprised at the awfulness of it that i had to go online and check who directed it  just to see the kind of work he had done . the editing was cut and paste and the plot  screenplay  was just that as well  even though the author had been involved himself  irony   . the building up of the tension  fear and suspense was so mild it was ineffective when the climax finally came .  br    br   i  ve read some of the comments on this movie and find it hard to believe people actually like it . what hurts the most is that the content is interesting and fun and intriguing . it had so much potential . unfortunately  the film was so technically bad it takes away from the brilliance of the story .  
if  unlike some of the commenters here  you are not staging a class war and don  t mind seeing the lives of other people who are fairly successful  extroverted  bohemian  gasp  and not being terribly english at a party and getting into all sorts of trouble as a result this is not a bad film  closer to euro cinema rather than an imitation of the usual slick american crap . . . i believe the minimal sound design and cheap camera is a conscious decision rather than bad film making  i  d defend this  the film isn  t any worse as a result  and it puts the spotlight on the cast  some of whom are really good  kate hardie  think that  s her name  as the sarcastic drunk is spot  on  the one exception being david baddiel  who should never be allowed to appear in serious stuff   it  s light  and we don  t go for this kind of anatomising  of  relationship crap in this country  but if you don  t have any real friends to go to a party with than you could do worse than to sit in and watch this .  
first and foremost  i loved the novel by ray bradbury . it  s the kind of horror that gets under your skin and sticks with you later . it was one of his best books  with  you know  fahrenheit    and dandelion wine . i as just hoping that this movie would be all right . it had lots of chances  with a great cast  like jason robards and jonathn pryce . and bradbury even wrote the script himself . and on top of all that  it has pam grier   br    br   how could it fail   br    br   there may be spoilers within .  br    br   first of all  it was dumbed down . much of the horror from the book was lost as bradbury must have been forced to keep the violence to a minimum . all the visuals from the book . . . gone . everything that made you squirm . . . gone .  br    br   and then there  s the acting . like a lot of movies that disney threw out in the   s  the kids in this movie cannot act . and  this bugged me a lot  neither of them looked   but  or   . their strong friendship wasn  t addressed . it was more like they were acquaintaces .  br    br   you  d think jason robards and jonathan pryce could pull this off in their roles of mr . halloway and mr . dark . but here it  s like they just don  t care . all they want to do is somehow pay off some mortgage or something . this is far from being some of their best performances .  br    br   pam grier was fine as the witch  but the charecter of the dust witch herself wasn  t well pulled off . she  s a lot less evil and doesn  t have the presence as she did in the book .  br    br   and everything that was left out of the book . the ballon night chase  the marking of jim  s house  the real death of mr . dark  what happened to mr . coogan on the merry  go  round  the fate of the lightening rod salesman  the real death of the witch  and oh so much more .  br    br   and the special effects were bad  even for the   s . the merry  go  round of doom for one thing with the superimposed horses going around wasn  t really creepy  and that weird green mist that really had nothing to do with anything .  br    br   i could keep going about how this movie ripped apart the original novel  but it makes blood boil . don  t see this movie but read the book . it  s a classic of bradbury .  
put yourself into carla  s shoes . she is an overworked  unappreciated administrative drudge who is invisible . you know her she  s trained three of her last three bosses  knows where all of the bodies are buried and might even look back at you in the mirror when you brush your teeth . always having time for another thankless task and does it better than most despite a serious disability  she has the desk on the way to the restroom that becomes the repository of half  finished cups of coffee begging to be spilled . what  you don  t want to hear it  well  she can  t and neither can you until your hearing aid is in place . prepare to experience life from the perspective of the hearing impaired .  br    br   carla  emmanuelle devos  needs a change in her life . work is leading nowhere friends are relying on her to meet their domestic needs and the only way out starts with a collapse that goes virtually unnoticed . she won  t take a vacation  a contract is going critical  so the only alternative is to hire an assistant . carla submits requirements that convey her real needs a  well  groomed  man . this brings an applicant for approval that reminds us that we should be careful with our wishes .  br    br   paul  vincent cassell  does everything wrong from the start of his job interview and his getting hired clearly demonstrates carla  s interest in his non  job  related qualities . she sees potential in this former thief and as the story unfolds  their relationship grows in a very unusual pattern of co  dependence .  br    br   paul has a difficult transition returning to the world outside of prison walls and finds himself in another sort of prison one of the office variety and another of indentured servitude to pay off an old debt . his skills as a thief help carla win a political battle in the office . but paul sees a grander opportunity with carla  s skill in lip reading and draws her even further into a world of intrigue .  br    br   this is a brutal film noir unrated and probably suitable for older teens . carla grows more powerful  professionally as well as personally  as the story progresses and her disability gives her clear advantages over the rest of us . she grows as a woman discovering her sensual side while she uses her resources to overcome the obstacles of competing in a man  s world .  br    br   the two main characters are meant for each other  in a strange way . without paul  carla will remain in her role of a doormat . she has our sympathy  hopes and best wishes even if she doesn  t make the best decisions along the way .  br    br   you will hear the world through carla  s ears  from awkward adjustments of your hearing aid  muffled sounds  all but inaudible without it to relatively distinct voices when you can see who  s talking . with one major sense disabled  we see carla  s heightened intuitive power to compensate . and we can all use that sense to hear not only what people say  but also what they really mean .  
  plan b  is strictly by  the  numbers fare except for one thing . i surprisingly found it to be rather insulting .  br    br   jon cryer is the  star  of this film and plays his usual  smarmy  egotistical  snotty character that was actually endearing in  pretty in pink  and has not been amusing ever since . grating doesn  t even begin to describe his performance . ricky  mark matheisen  is a muscular  blonde  struggling actor who  gasp   is only worried about his hair and getting laid . talk about a stock character . . . ugh . at least the other three characters are somewhat engaging . lisa darr and lance guest play a grounded  optimistic  caring couple who are struggling to conceive . since they are not whiny drama queens  however  their roles are apparently considered boring and they aren  t given enough screen time . sara mornell rounds out the cast by playing gina  your usual nice and good  looking young woman who just can  t seem to find the right partner in love . i  ve seen this character a million times before but at least her performance overcomes some of the shortfalls caused by the predictability of her situation .  br    br   what startled me about this film was its juvenile promotion of stereotypes . they introduced a russian character for the sole purpose of mocking him and making fun of the way he talked . he was portrayed as being wild  ignorant and amazingly shallow . they were just getting warmed up though for the usual nonsense about gays . gina decides to be gay for a while since she isn  t having any luck with guys . honestly . that wasn  t that bad except they really went overboard when gina brought a lesbian to a christmas party her friends were throwing . her lesbian date had very short hair  like i  m sure all lesbians do  . she also got quite upset  like i  m sure all lesbians do  when gina had the nerve to put on lipstick    . finally  her date goes around the party hitting on just about every woman there and mouths off when gina expresses her disappointment . of course  we all know how gay people can  t stay faithful for so much as a couple of hours much less months or even years  right   please note the sarcasm in that statement . thank you .   br    br   this film was based on a tired and predictable premise to begin with but cryer  s unlikable performance combined with the idiotic stereotyping sinks this movie to the lower depths of cinema .      
wwe armageddon  december          live from richmond coliseum  richmond  va  br    br   kane vs . mvp in an inferno match so this is the fourth ever inferno match in the wwe and it is kane vs . mvp  wonder why was it the first match on the card  . i only viewed the ending parts where kane sets mvp  s ass on fire as they  re on the apron and then mvp is running around the arena while yelling  eventually the refs put out the fire with a fire extinguisher as mvp sprawls around the entrance ramp . funny and visually quite entertaining ending .      br    br   wwe tag team championship this was originally supposed to be william regal  dave taylor vs . brian kendrick  paul london  c  in a regular tag team match . however  gm teddy long comes to the ring and announces that it  s going to be a fatal   way tag team ladder match . mnm and the hardys are thrown in and it  s all chaos . one word to describe this eye  opener  wow . man  i really can  t remember how many sick spots there were in this match and words can  t really do it justice . there was one particularly notable spot where the hardys set up a ladder in a see  saw position and jeff jumped off the top rope while matt held mnm for the kill  and then wham  nitro blew away while mercury apparently botched it and was bleeding like hell with lacerations over his face . he had to be taken away and nitro continued the match alone . another spot was when jeff powerbombed london while flipping off the ladder . there were other high  flying breathtaking spots too many to remember . london finally unbuckles the belts to win this rave show  stealer .  .      br    br   the boogeyman vs . the miz the two men get thrown in and around the ring until boogeyman explodes a sit  out powerbomb for the victory and then and drools worms over the miz  s mouth as usual .  .     for this three  minute incognito .  br    br   united states championship chris benoit  c  faces off chavo guerrero in yet another typical guerrero match . some good spots included a superplex off the top rope by chavo and an unusually long chain of german suplexes by benoit . vicki guerrero comes in the ring with the belt to nail benoit but benoit scares her off and takes a long time deciding whether to put her in a sharpshooter or not . this allows chavo to go for a roll  up but benoit rolls it up once more and chavo is locked in the sharpshooter . game over . nice hard  fought battle albeit slow at times .      br    br   wwe cruiserweight championship gregory helms  c  vs . jimmy wang yang for this one  in a fairly moderate  paced match . the match had some good high  flying spots  most notably helms  moves off the top rope  but the crowd didn  t seem to be into it after witnessing the ladder match  and yang needs to get more airborne . helms won the match after blowing yang away with a facebuster on the knee .  .      br    br   the undertaker vs . mr . kennedy in a last ride match after a series of matches between these two  this time it is a last ride match  the second ever of its kind and the winner has to escort his opponent out of the arena in a hearse . pretty good indeed for what these two could offer . kennedy manhandled a good deal of taker and even broke free of a chokeslam to throw taker off the armageddon set about   feet below and thank god for kennedy  otherwise it would  ve been brutal . kennedy almost got the win until taker got back up inside the hearse  i liked the camera view inside the hearse  . taker then missed a steel pipe hurl on kennedy and broke the hearse  s window instead  but then later busted kennedy open with a chair  and followed with a consecutive chokeslam and tombstone on the hearse  s roof . kennedy was unconscious and taker drove him out of the arena to win . i actually found myself really interested into these guys  willingness to take  give real sick shots .  .      br    br   santa comes into the ring  i go  what the hell   like many of the kids in the crowd  and then the word  lingerie contest  gets in my ear . break time .  br    br   batista  john cena vs . finlay  king booker talk about charisma vs . technicality . this match was actually a quite good main event with the momentum rationally shifting from one team to the other and retaining good suspense . even finlay got some legitimate good shots on his opponents this time  i kind of doubted his strength against the champs   and him and booker mainly didn  t succeed in trying to cheat  except at one point where booker rammed his scepter into cena  s throat . batista hits the bomb on booker for the win  didn  t get to see the f  u cena performed the  knuckle shuffle anyhow and i think he also did the stfu . this was probably the best technical match of the night and the participants did superbly indeed for what they could without a ladder  .     .  br    br   being an on  and  off wwe fan  i have to agree that armageddon was laced up with numerous eye  catchers throughout  and the ladder match ultimately swallowed half of the show the last ride match featured some fairly nerve  wrenching spots  and the main event also did very well for its category . all other matches also lived up to their billing except perhaps the boogeyman vs . the miz bout and the ever  useless lingerie contest . overall armageddon was a highly enjoyable pay  per  view and despite some big setbacks earlier in the ppv chronology  armageddon wishes this year  s goodbye respectably . ppv rating     .  
imagine that in adapting a james bond novel into a movie  the filmmakers eliminated all the action and suspense in order to make it kid  friendly . or if a television producer told chris rock he couldn  t cuss so that his specials could be rated pg . in the same way  the director of the movie  something wicked this way comes  took out the excitement and gore in favor of melodrama for younger audiences . this created a monotonous plot without the complications of the book . in trying to make the story of  something wicked this way comes  easier for children to follow  the filmmakers eliminated the theme of good and evil both existing in everyone  and good always prevailing over evil . this is apparent in will  s character transformation  charles halloway  s rescue of jim  and the carnival  s defeat .  br    br   will  s transformation into a more adventurous boy has been muted in the movie . the scene in which the dust witch visits will  s house in a balloon has been cut from the film . instead  a green mist follows jim and will home and gives them the same bad dream about the witch and her spiders . the balloon attack shows us that will has begun to conquer his fear of doing things on his own . he gets on top of a neighbor  s roof and tears the balloon with a bow  defeating the witch .  sorry  dad  he thought  and sat up  smiling . this time it  s me out  alone   will decides as he prepares to face her     .  removing this scene from the movie prevents us from understanding that will is becoming more adventuresome . the film shows us many examples of will being afraid to follow jim  but never growing curious like his friend . in the book  will has both a good  quiet side and an  evil   daring side like his jim . in the movie  each boy only has one mode of thought  which destroys bradbury  s theme of both good and evil being present in each person .  br    br   in the book  will saves jim because of their friendship  but  in the movie  charles halloway saves jim to repay jim  s father . will pulls jim off the carousel in bradbury  s novel because he doesn  t want his best friend to grow up without him . it is the good in will  the fact that he cares about his friend  that saves jim from the evil curse of the carnival . on the carousel  jim  gestured his other hand free to trail on the wind  the one part of him  the small  white  separate part that still remembered their friendship      .  this shows that there was good left inside of jim  which has the potential to still defeat evil . but when charles halloway saves jim in the movie  he does it to repay the debt he owes jim  s father  who saved will when he was a little boy . by changing the motivation for saving jim  the filmmakers have ruined bradbury  s original idea that it takes good to win against evil .  br    br   in the end of the movie  the carnival is defeated by a tornado and lightning instead of smiles and laughter . when the book ends  mr . dark turns himself into a little boy and charles halloway smiles and laughs at him so much that he can  t stand it and evaporates . in bradbury  s world  evil people feed off fear and can only be defeated by happiness and love . his message is that good will always prevail over evil  but only if that goodness is expressed outwardly .  good to evil seems evil   says charles halloway as he holds the dying mr . dark .  so i will do only good to you  jed . i  ll simply hold you and watch you poison yourself      .  in the movie  mr . dark is the only one left on the carousel when lightning hits it  and he dies . by eliminating the weapon of laughter and smiles  the filmmakers imply that bad weather is the most effective way to defeat evil  as if lightning only strikes those who are bad . this takes away the major theme of bradbury  s book  which is that doing  good  toward others wards off evil .  br    br   good may always triumph over evil  but trying to make movies more kid  friendly will always force filmmakers to leave out some of the themes from the books they are based on . in the movie   something wicked this way comes   will does not transform  will  s friendship does not save jim  and smiles and laughter do not defeat the carnival . as a result  the filmmakers have left out too many of bradbury  s main points . the process of adapting a book to a movie too often ruins the world the author has established . in the case of this story  bradbury  s frightening world of opposing forces of good and evil has been reduced to a tamer  simpler version of itself .  
armageddon ppv  br    br   the last ppv of      br    br   smackdown brand .  br    br   match results ahead  br    br   we are starting the show with the inferno match . kane v . mvp . this was an okay match . nothing about wrestling here . this was about the visuals . overall  this was not bad . there were a few close spots here with kane getting too close to the fire  but in the end  kane won with ramming mvp into the fire back first .  br    br   nice opener . let  s continue .  br    br   teddy long announces a new match for the tag team titles london and kendrick will defend against regal and taylor  the hardyz  and mnm in a ladder match     let  s get moving   br    br   match two fatal four way ladder match . this was total carnage . judging by three out of the four teams here  you would expect chaos . the spots were amazing . a total spot  fest . one point jeff went for poetry in motion and london moved and jeff hit the ladder  shortly afterword  jeff is set on the top rope with two ladders nearby as mnm were going to kill jeff  matt makes the save and jeff hits the  see  saw  shot to joey mercury  mercury is hurt . his eye is shut quickly and is busted open hard way . mercury is taken out of the match and nitro is still there . he is going to fight alone for the titles  regal and taylor then grab london and suplex him face  first into the ladder  jeff climbs the ladder and nitro in a killer spot  dropkicks through the ladder to nail jeff  awesome  in the end  london and kendrick retain the tag team titles . what a match     br    br   this was insane . i can  t figure out why wwe did not announce this till now . the buyrate would increase huge . i  m sure the replay value will be good though .  br    br   mercury has suffered a shattered nose and lacerations to the eye . he is at the hospital now . get well kid .  br    br   no way anything else here will top that .  br    br   next up the miz v . boogeyman .  ugh  this was a nothing match . will the boogeyman ever wrestle  the miz sucks too . after a insane crowd  this kills them dead . dud .  br    br   chris benoit v . chavo . this was a strong match . i enjoyed it . chavo hit a killer superplex at one point  benoit hit eight german suplexes too  benoit wins with the sharpshooter . good stuff .  br    br   helms v . yang  cruiserweight title championship match . this was a good match . unfortunately  the stupid fans did not care for this . why  helms and yang are very talented and wrestled well . i agree with jbl . he ranted to the crowd . jbl is     correct . learn to appreciate this or get out .  br    br   mr . kennedy v . the undertaker  last ride match . not too much here . this was a slug fest  with a few exceptions . kennedy at one point tossed taker off the top of the stage to the floor . the spot was fine . reaction was disappointing . the end spot was taker tomb  stoned kennedy on the hearse and won the match . unreal . kennedy needed this win . they both worker hard . still  kennedy needed this win . undertaker should have lost . creative screwed up again .  br    br   a stupid diva thing is next . i like women . not this . at least torrie was not here . that  s refreshing . judging from the crowd  layla should have won . the wwe wanted ashley . consider this your bathroom break . next .  br    br   main event cena  batista v . finlay  booker t . this was also a nothing match . the focus was cena v . finlay and batista v . booker . batista and booker can  t work well together . finlay tries to make cena look good . the finish was botched . finlay hit batista  s knee with a chair shot and batista no  sold the shot and finished the match . lame . not main event caliber at all .  br    br   overall  armageddon would have scored less  but the ladder match was the main event here . that was enough money  s worth right there . a few others were solid .  br    br   the last word a good ppv with the ladder match being the savior . smackdown is not a bad show just is not compelling enough . smackdown needs to stop letting cena tag along . let smackdown stand on their own two legs . this show proves that smackdown can .  
i watched this movie on march   this year . must say disappointment . but much better than  tridev  . plot is hackneyed . tells about prabhat who lives with his father  wife and his little brother . the movie opens when he saves a bride . anyway . azghar jhurhad makes a plot to kill his young brother . he makes a plan by sending few man . they come to a school pretended to be prabhats friends . kill that kid . his father throws him out of the house . then later comes back . he and aakash go to kenya to find him . sunny gives a good performance  chunky was annoying at best  naseerdun is wasted . divya did good  sonam was wasted  jyotsna was wasted but looked cute . the kid which played sunnys brother in the movie was cute . too sad he had to get his character killed . the girl was cute but was annoying . the other kid did good . alok did good . kiran was adequate . amrish and gulshan did good . the cinematography is excellent in both india and kenya . script is weak but has a few good dialogs . also drags . the movie . the music was alright . i only liked one song  saat samundar  the lyrics of that song was good . the other songs were forgettable . don  t watch this . rating       
wwe  s last ppv of      proved to be a hit with the fans  but for one reason only  the ladder match which was only scheduled to be paul london and brian kendrick against william regal and dave taylor . but with the recent crap ppv being december to dismember  wwe knew that it had to do something to get the fans talking again  this proved useful when it introduced mnm and the hardy boyz to the mix and announced that the match was going to be a ladder match .  br    br   the match was brutal and one of the best ladder matches i have ever seen  but joey mercury  s face was a total mess . johnny nitro didn  t even check on his partner  they just carried on like nothing happened  and taylor and regal did nothing during the match except hit people with a few ladder shots . in the end london and kendrick retained the titles .  br    br   elsewhere on the show kane defeated mvp in a decent inferno match when he set mvp  s stupid costume on fire . chris benoit downed chavo guerrero in a decent match  gregory helms defeated jimmy wang yang to retain the wwe cruiserweight title in a solid effort .  br    br   but the main event was a total mess  king booker teamed with finlay to take on john cena and batista . the action was shoddy and no one cared who batista picked for his partner .  br    br   overall results kane defeated mvp in an inferno match .  br    br   paul london and brian kendrick retained the wwe tag team titles against the hardy boyz  mnm and david taylor and william regal in a ladder match .  br    br   chris benoit defeated chavo guerrero to retain the us title in a decent match .  br    br   gregory helms defeated jimmy wang yang to retain the cruiserweight championship .  br    br   the boogeyman beat the miz in a terrible match .  br    br   the undertaker defeated mr kennedy in a last ride match .  br    br   john cena and batista defeated king booker and finlay in an abysmal match .  br    br   overall grade  b  
most action films are crass of hindi cinema  especially of sunny and his family  br    br   the film is typical sunny type with bashes  big dialogues and melodrama  br    br   the film also has typical rajiv rai ingredients of many henchmen and a weird villain  br    br   the starting is okay and then the shift to kenya is good but then the film goes on and on  br    br   the sequence of events move at a slow pace and nothing that great happens  br    br   they are many stupid scenes like the kenya policemen are shown like jokers especially sharat  br    br   the climax too is prolonged  br    br   rajiv rai does an okay job music is okay  only  song works and that is the last toofan camera  work is good  br    br   sunny deol is as usual  chunky acts like a monkey while his serious scenes are laughable  naseer is alright heroines are pure wood amrish puri is not even half as scary as he was in tridev the rest are okay  
wwe has produced some of the worst pay  per  views in its history over the past few months . cyber sunday  survivor series and december to dismember were appalling to say the least and so it was relying on its b brand show  smackdown  to attempt to end the year on a high note . armageddon had two major gimmick matches in the last ride and inferno matches  three championships were on the line and an interesting main event in the shape of a tag team war featuring batista and john cena against king booker and finlay . however  it was an amendment to one of those championship matches that brought us not only the match of the night but also now a match of the year candidate when teddy long gave us fans an early christmas present . t  lo changed the wwe tag team championship match from champions  london and kendrick against to regal and taylor to a four team ladder match including mnm and the hardy boyz .  br    br   i am not going to dwell on this match too much as nothing i can say would be able to do it justice . this has to be seen to be believed . there were many high spots and many more brutal bumps and awkward landings . the one move i have to talk about however was the one that took joey mercury straight to the emergency room midway through the contest . jeff hardy jumped onto a ladder that was set up in the see saw position with matt hardy holding both members of mnm over the opposite end of it to take the full force . unfortunately for mercury he didn  t get his hands up to protect his face and took the ladder full force in the nose and left eye . this was vicious . his face was instantly a mess for all to see and not surprisingly this ended mercury  s night early . we found out later he suffered a broken nose and cuts under his left eye . be warned . this is not for the faint of heart . the ending to this roller  coaster of a match came after paul london managed to grab both championship belts for the victory . i have been watching wrestling for almost   years and it doesn  t get any better than this match . unbelievable .  br    br   the night opened with only the  th ever inferno match . kane took on mvp in a good match but it was all about the visual and not really about the action . there were a few close calls with the flames for both competitors but in the end it was kane who forced mvp onto the flames after they both ended up outside the ring . mvp ran around the ring whilst his butt was on fire and there was a sick part of me that laughed watching this . may i suggest to michael hayes that mvp comes out next week on smackdown  to johnny cash  s ring of fire .  br    br   the other gimmick match of the night  and the second match of a triple main event was an all out war last ride match between mr kennedy and the undertaker . this was a stiff match from start to finish and was the best of the series undertaker and kennedy have had yet . the used poles  chairs and one scene had the undertaker thrown   feet from the armageddon set onto what was suppose to be the concrete floor . unfortunately it was plain to see that this was nothing but a crash mat and crowd didn  t pop for this . the ending came after a chokeslam by the dead man to kennedy on top of the hearse followed quickly by a match  winning tombstone .  br    br   in other notable happening from the card . chris benoit defeated chavo guerrero by submission in another stiff match . this was a very good bout with benoit hitting  german suplexes on chavo at one time . benoit was also considering whether to put vikki guerrero in the sharpshooter or not . luckily he came to his senses and let her go . this led to chavo attempting the roll up only for it to be countered into the sharpshooter for the submission .  br    br   another cracking match on the card was the cruiserweight championship contest between the longest reigning champion in wwe  gregory helms and jimmy wang yang . featuring a lot of high flying and dangerous spots  some of which took place outside the ring  this was a match much more deserving of the crowd response than what it got . jbl put it best when he berated the fans in richmond  virginia for sitting on their hands during this one and at one point even started a boring chant . helms picked up the duke after a jawbreaker type manoeuvre with his knees to smackdowns  resident redneck .  br    br   the boogeyman pinned the miz in a worthless match . i hate the boogeyman with a passion . only worth listening too for jbl  s ranting about miz . jbl is comedy gold .  br    br   the last match of the night was main event number  . world heavyweight champion  batista and wwe champion  john cena teamed up to take on finlay and the champion of champions  king booker . there was no way the match could top the tag team championship match from earlier on but it entertained none the less . the match would have been more memorable had it been given an extra five to ten minutes but how many times have i said that about wwe matches this year already . it was king booker who was pinned at the end of the match after a big batistabomb .  br    br   so     is over for the wwe in regards to it  s pay  per  view schedule . it started the year on a terrible note with new year  s revolution but ended on a high one with armageddon . this ladder match will long be remembered as one of the greatest ladder matches of all time . my hat is off to all eight competitors who but their bodies on the line to give the fans one hell of a match .  
before i begin  you need to know that i am a huge fan of many of sonny chiba  s films . his biographical series of the life of his master  mas oyama  were amazing and among the best martial arts films ever made  as were most of his street fighter films . the action was practically non  stop and with the possible exception of bruce lee  depending on who you ask   he was the greatest martial arts practitioner on film during the     s . because they are so good  i  ve seen at least   of his films and recently bought some more  which i am in the process of watching  .  br    br   unfortunately  despite my love of these films  i am not a mind  numbed zombie who worships the man to such a degree that i rate every film a   . there are a few reviews like this here on imdb and i truly think that anyone giving this film a   should be ignored because this is such a bad film from a technical standpoint and isn  t even close to the being chiba  s best work . a score of   isn  t a real rating   it  s some zombie fan trying to make a statement about chiba  not this film  as i said  technically this film is awful . some of this was the result of my seeing the american dubbed version  with its irrelevant prologue and bad dubbing . but most of the problem would still exist with the original japanese print . the camera  work is simply atrocious   like it was done by chimps  smart chimps  but still chimps nonetheless  . often  much of the fast martial arts action is missed because the camera is so slow or the tops of the actors heads are clipped off due to the shoddiness of production . and  again and again  the camera pans in and out like it is a new toy being used by an idiot plus the editing is beyond wretched   with cuts being done haphazardly and confusingly .  br    br   i don  t know whether the musical score is original or not   but it was also very  very bad . sort of like acid rock of     blended poorly with ennio morricone  s  spaghetti western  music   it was annoying  distracting and just plain silly .  br    br   as for the martial arts action  i think that having chimps do the choreography would have improved things a bit . instead of the great fight scenes you  d look forward to in a chiba film  the fights are too brief and often missed by the camera   so what you are left with is the story . . . and this might just be the worst part of the film  it  s supposed to be an anti  drug film starring sonny chiba as . . . . sonny chiba  and when the film begins  he vows to destroy the drug trade in japan . but  the mafia  complete with not a single member who looks italian  but who are all japanese  vows to stop chiba . and  when a lady comes to chiba with promises to give him information about how to destroy the drug trade  he agrees to help her and risk his life with no conditions   even though she  s never forthright about telling him what she knows  in fact  later it turns out she is just trying to use chiba to protect her while she herself sells a huge briefcase full of cocaine   and he continues trying to protect her   this makes no sense at all and throughout much of the film it looks as if they just shot the film without a script   such as when they went into the bars and brothels and had chiba walking about as if he was drunk .  br    br   so if it was that bad  why still does it merit a   well  first  there are many more horrid marital arts films  such as many of those from hong kong in the     s    including one with guys dressed up in gorilla suits doing kung fu and their handlers with  foot long tongues they used for fighting  now that  s bad  . second  while the action is very bad compared to other sonny chiba films  compared to its contemporaries  it  s not that bad . still  you could easily do a lot better than this horrid little film .  br    br   by the way  if you are wondering if this is the worst sonny chiba film  it certainly is not  in one of his first films  invasion of the neptune men  chiba plays a leotard  wearing super  hero who battles pointy  headed invaders from the planet neptune . it  s so bad that it rivals plan  from outer space and they saved hitler  s brain for awfulness .  br    br   a final note to parents   like most of sonny chiba  s films  this one is very violent and has its share of boobies . don  t let little kids watch this no matter how much they beg  make them wait until they are older before you let them watch wretched rated  r martial arts films   
tis is a farly typical tom and jerry short  a situation is designed  conflict arises and mayhem ensues . the characters behave in appropriate ways  the natural tensions between various characters leads to general chaos . the best  and funniest  part is when the peace treaty is in force and respected  all sorts of strange wonders appear before your eyes . a word of warning  it is most unwise to allow tom to help you perform your morning cleansing routine  highly recommended .  
the first few minutes of  the bodyguard  do have a campy charm it opens with crawling text from the bible  the part that samuel jackson recites to his soon  to  be victims in  pulp fiction    continues with two karate school teachers in new york arguing about the eternal question of mankind  who is better  sonny chiba or bruce lee    and then chiba appears  playing himself he immediately stops a plane hijacking and breaks a bottle in two with his bare hand . unfortunately  any entertainment value  intentional or unintentional  soon gets crushed by the disjointed story  the lack of action for long periods of time  and the poor quality of any present action . to keep it simple  here  s why  the bodyguard  is an unbearable movie to watch  br    br     you don  t know what  s going on .  br    br     there are barely any fights .  br    br     the fights that are there  are short and terribly filmed .  br    br   sonny chiba is cool . judy lee is gorgeous  her face is glorious . it  s only for them that i give  the bodyguard  a  nd star out of   . this movie makes   minutes feel like  hours .  
without being one of my favorites  this is good for being a change of pace . . . even if only for a few minutes .  br    br   it all starts with a big fight between tom  jerry and spike  who is renamed  butch  here  . they  re all beating each other  but suddenly spike makes a heroic and admirable decision he stops the fight and suggests that they all should be friends . so  all of them sign a peace treaty and become friends . . . which isn  t going to last for long .  br    br   meanwhile  the three become affectionate  patient and kind to each other . they even save each other when one of them is in danger of life . the relationship goes nothing but excellent  until a very big steak appears and they all become greedy . the three are guilty to return to their usual fights and rivalries .  br    br   but still . . . to see tom  jerry and spike as friends is truly a delightful and grateful experience  even if only for a while .  br    br   oh  by the way  as a curious fact  two songs from  the wizard of oz  are played here in instrumental versions  we  re off to see the wizard  and  somewhere over the rainbow  .  
the best thing you can say about this movie is that if you are a fan of sonny chiba  this movie gives you lots of him . chiba makes speeches chiba poses chiba sneers chiba glares at the camera chiba punches and kicks the living sushi out of a whole bunch of bad guys chiba sits around on couches and chairs and looks thoughtful  pensive chiba drives his car . . .  br    br   i enjoy chiba as an actor and a martial artist . . . but even for a chiba fan  this movie may have a little too much sonny chiba . it  s obviously something of a vanity vehicle for him . and no  i wouldn  t put  street fighter  in the same category  because in  sf  he plays a ruthless  amoral anti  hero and he shares the camera with an intriguing cast of friends and foes . here  he  s front and center almost all the time  and he tries to be batman  captain america and bruce lee rolled into one . toshiro mifune and chow yun fat couldn  t pull this off for the length of an entire feature film  and sonny just kind of wears out his welcome . at least he could have changed out of his suit once in a while .  br    br   the movie is further messed up by an entirely gratuitous and badly done introductory sequence  apparently tacked on to the front of the film for the american version  and a goofy cheer    viva   chiba   viva   chiba    that starts things on the wrong foot . there is some astoundingly amateurish and inappropriate dubbing  sonny  or his usual english stand  in  apparently couldn  t be bothered to do the vocals for the american version  so they got some poor dope with an entirely different and smoother voice and dialect that is quite jarring coming from the face we all know and love from  street fighter  .  br    br   even with all those flaws and the overexposure  this could still be a minor classic  but the camera work and the fight scenes are hopelessly cheesy . i  m willing to believe that karate actually works if someone as amazing as chiba  s character is supposed to be does it  but the director and cameraman hedged their bets by chopping and editing fight scenes with a weed whacker so you can  t really see what  s going on most of the time . it  s not all bad there are some decent shots and compositions  and there  s at least one memorable and nightmarish moment when the bad guys appear in the client  s bedroom in a genuinely inventive way .  br    br   and as for the actual plot . . . forget it . for a  bodyguard   chiba  s character is something of an idiot . the screenplay depends on his making mistakes and oversights that repeatedly place him  and his  client   in perilous situations so he can fight his way out of them  and after   minutes  it strains even the most credulous judgment to think that this guy is supposed to be any good .  also  if his character was really out to destroy the japanese drug trade  he  d have taken his client by her neck   minutes into the screenplay and shaken her until her teeth chattered like a castanet until she spilled her little secrets . . . and a whole lot of pointless death and conflict would have been avoided .   br    br   still  as a whole this movie is a long way from the bottom of the barrel . it  s still sonny chiba  and he  s still fun to watch . i paid a buck to get this off the bargain dvd rack at a local mega mart  and i feel it was worth watching once .  
tom the cat  jerry the mouse  and spike the dog  here called butch  his third name  his second being  killer   decide to sign a peace treaty to all love each other . it  s weird and a bit unnatural seeing them all buddy buddy like this and their friend  s seem to think so too . but by the end thanks to a disagreement over a steak  everything is back to normal and all is how it should be . this short is the second one of three on the new spotlight dvd to be edited and i have no clue why this one was . this cartoon can be found on disc one of the spotlight collection dvd of  tom  jerry   br    br   my grade b  
avoid the usa version . it is with added us footage and the worst dubbing you  ve ever heard probably done by new york amateurs . the dubbing is so bad that it sounds like mystery science theater     . i think a black guy from the bronx does chiba  s voice . i couldn  t watch the entire film it was that bad . instead of this americanized version watch chiba  s other greats like the streetfighter or karate warriors .  
this film seems to be well remembered as the time tom  jerry signed a peace treaty . things are idyllic for a time but  predictably  it goes sour . probably the most memorable moment was the endless fight involving a pipe  a frying pan  and a baseball bat that the two plus butch the dog engage in at the beginning and end of the short . i enjoyed one a bunch and you should try to catch it on cartoon network .  
i liked chiba in street fighter  and i figured hey  no matter how stupid this movie will be  i  ll at least get to see him kick some ass  right  wrong . this is a dull  dreary mess of pointless talking  half  assed scriptwriting and meaningless scheming . there are few action scenes of any kind  even fewer martial arts scenes  and the few that are are shot and edited so poorly that you can  t even make out what in the world is going on . the dub is also atrocious  and perhaps the idiocy that is this movie is best illustrated by the fact that it supposedly features the italian mafia . . . except they  re all japanese  avoid like the plague   you would see better martial arts by looking through the window of your local preschool karate class for five minutes .  
butch the peacemaker  evidently . after the violent beginning with spike  tom and jerry all swinging away at each other  butch calls a halt and wants to know why . it  s a good question .  br    br    cats can get along with dogs  can  t they   he asks tom  who nods his head in agreement .  mice can get along with cats  right   jerry nods  no   and then sees that isn  t the right answer .  br    br   they go inside and butch draws up a  peace treaty   complete with professional artwork   . most of the rest  and the bulk of the cartoon  is the three of them being extremely nice to one another what a refreshing change  of  pace . i found it fun to watch . i can a million of these cartoons in which every beats each other over the head .  br    br   anyway  you knew the peace wasn  t going to last . a big piece of steak spells the death of the  peace treaty  but en route it was nice change and still had some of usual tom  jerry clever humor .  
after watching  the bodyguard  last night  i felt compelled to write a review of it .  br    br   this could have been a pretty decent movie had it not been for the awful camera  work . it was beyond annoying . the angles were all wrong  it was impossible to see anything  especially during the fight sequences . the closeups were even horrible .  br    br   the story has sonny chiba hiring himself out as a bodyguard to anyone willing to lead him to the top of a drug ring . he is approached by judy lee  who is never quite straight with chiba . lee  s involvement in the drug ring is deeper than chiba thought  as the mob and another gang of thugs are after her .  br    br   the story was decent  and despite horrible dubbing  this could have been a good movie . given better direction and editing  i  m sure this would have been a classic kung foo movie . as it is  it  s more like another cheesy    s action movie .  br    br   note the opening sequence has a quote familiar to  pulp fiction  fans  and then continues to a karate school in times square that is in no way related to the rest of the movie .  br    br   rating  out of    
if you are a fan  then you will probably enjoy this . if you don  t know who misty mundae  darian caine  ruby larocca  or seduction cinema are  this is not the movie to start out with . it  s very cute  silly  the girls are hot  and it  s fun to watch . there  s no sex whatsoever until the very end of the   minute film  but the score is cheesy  trippy and the plot  s not a total bore . misty mundae  s makeup is bad in this movie and her hair is in awkward braids  so she  s not as hot in this as she has been in others . but her panties in this are quite cute  you  ll just have to see the movie for that to not sound really weird  . if you do like this one  you will probably enjoy  that    s girl    vampire vixens   or  erotic survivor   which is a bit more sexually graphic  . if you prefer watching misty or esmerelda in less sexual  more horror  exploitation  based  but lower budget  movies  check out the factory     website .  
this is easily one of the worst martial arts films i  ve ever seen  and that  s saying something . the chant of viva chiba  viva chiba is heard at the title  soon you will be chanting to yourself stupid  stupid . the basic story is that the mafia is running drugs into japan and one man vowels to stop them  of course that  s our man sonny chiba . the karate master offers up his service to anyone who can provide information on the drug lords . a woman comes forward and he becomes the bodyguard  but what are her true intentions  let me say at this point who cares  soon we are treated to or tortured by a series of poorly choreographed fights and a lame storyline that becomes more and more laughable at every moment . sonny eventually wipes out the bad guys with his karate skills  end of story . oh yeah the woman was corrupt too . congratulations you may have just watched the funniest film ever .  br    br   as stated already this is one of the worst martial arts films i have ever seen . what makes it semi watchable is to see how badly made a film can be . some have already mentioned the infamous american intro put into the film . that  s probably the most entertaining part of the film and it  s beyond funny . i would agree its worth watching just to see how lame the    s karate scene was at the time . watch as aaron banks leaves a guy hanging by his nuts then flips a fat student  bad editing  punching him in the throat . but everything is badly done in this film . terrible unbelievable fights  fake i mean fake blood  bad acting  dubbing  wardrobe  and let  s not forget the story . one man to take out an entire drug problem in a country  i bet . fight after fight is laughable . this was the    s when people still believed karate was effective in a fight  but chiba brings it to new levels with some of the nonsense put out in this movie . let  s see he kicks a gun in half  kicks a guy so hard what looks like his dentures fall out and of course chopping the bottle scene  give me a break . not to mention the fact that it  s very hard to tell what happens in the fights because it  s filmed so poorly . one part that was amusing was when he broke the guys arm through the door giving him a compound fracture . ok . as the action goes on we are treated to gobs of blood  really fake blood . too say it looked poorly made is and understatement . the acting is totally non existent in this film . i don  t expect much from a film of this caliber anyway as long as the action is good  but it wasn  t and as expected the dubbing is extremely poor . was it my imagination or did they dub the asian go go dancer with a black accent  as expected from a    s wardrobe you  ll be in stitches laughing at some of the trends and nasty women put forth for the gratuitous nudity that comes with these flicks . also why would the mafia be so obvious and all where black trench coats and hats all the time  don  t try and hide it now . the characters were stupid as well . the pimp club owner  s one of whom is decked out in a japanese pimp suit and the other who has a taste for bores head looks like fat hippie . also one last thing that bothered me throughout the film was the awful music with some woman whaling . it was very annoying .  br    br   overall this is a terrible film by both martial arts standards and good movie making . that doesn  t mean that it  s not entertaining . with a film made so poorly it  s hard not to laugh through most of this film  if you can stomach it . this was an old favorite watch with my best friend . if it was purely bad i would give one star  but the laughs it delivers bumps it up .  out   .  
as in amelie  recent french films seem to be taking a stereotypical male  female relationship slant  centered on a female finding her one true love . in this case  desperation leads to a convict  which leads to her evolution into a mob prototype . clever and surprising story in many ways  except that the female is there to support the male .  br    br   for those of us that don  t speak french  the subtitles are a little quick  but not unreasonable .  br    br   the soundtrack  as seems to be increasingly the case with european films  is great and in perfect sync with the film  s variations . nothing seems forced . visually  it reminds me of various urban horror movies . there  s a wes craven in chicago feel to it .  
i had quite high hopes for this film  even though it got a bad review in the paper . i was extremely tolerant  and sat through the entire film . i felt quite sick by the end .  br    br   although i am not in the least prude or particularly sensitive to tasteless cinema   i thouroughly enjoyed both woody allen  s  everything you ever wanted to know about sex  . . .  and michael hanneke  s  funny games    i found the directors  obsession with this ten  year  old wanting to drink women  s milk totally sickening . and when the film climaxed in an  orgy  where the boy drinks both his mother  s milk  as well as that of the woman he has been lusting after for the whole film  i almost vomited with disgust for the total perversion and sentimental pap that it is .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  i enjoy the vast majority of european cinema  as well as independently made films  so this flick should have pleased me enormously . avoid this film at all costs  it should be relegated to the annals of history as a lesson in bad cinema .  
metro  goldwyn  mayer is a very lost player in the short cartoon market . this market is essentially dominated by the looney tunes and the merry melodies shorts  coming from warner bros . but mgm is also able of releasing hidden gems  like  to spring   an astonishing story about the most beautiful season of the year .  br    br   in the environment depicted here  spring isn  t caused by natural cycles  but is fabricated . and by who  by little male elves who live below ground . each spring  when the snow begins to melt  they start working . they begin by felling rainbow rock columns  then reducing them to rubble and using this rubble to turn it into color fluids  which will be moved up to the ground and bearing grass  flowers . . . in other words  spring  the first half of the cartoon depicts spring  s fabrication  but the second part is a little bit different . old man winter comes back and he tries to extend winter by destroying the elves  work . so from this point  we assist to a battle between the elves and old man winter .  br    br   the music heard here is deliciously wonderful . the melodic parts stick in the head like an ink spot on a paper sheet . the second part melodies are thrilling and they perfectly fit with the action . this is just fantastico  giorgio  the animation sequences are also a delight . the colors are well mixed and every little detail is shown into a massive  epic environment . the concept itself is brilliant . the elves are attracting characters  so is old man winter  who effectively portrays the cold and ruthless feelings of the white season .  br    br   there  s also a strong message included here . the battle seems lost for the elves at the end  until a single late arriving elf jump into the action and it leads to the elves  victory over winter . so the point is only one single person can make the difference .  br    br   in conclusion   to spring  is a remarkable lost classic from short cartoon era . what is even more remarkable is that this cartoon  s director made his debut here . and who is  to spring   s director  it  s a certain william hanna . . .  
i just finished watching this film and wow was that bad . actually the only thing that kept me watching was that it was so monumentally bad it was kind of entertaining . the action of the characters is hilarious  from the hyper  dramatic way they fall to gunfire  to their incredibly bad acting  were the bad guys all just pulled off the street  or were they actually actors    to incredibly bad delivery of lines  to their inexplicable actions  if you are going to try and shoot someone through a doorway as they enter  obviously the thing to do is shoot directly at the doorknob    . this film must break some record for worst written and delivered lines .  br    br   the camera work was also really bad  you can hardly see what  s going on in the fight scenes due to switching camera angles and shakiness .  br    br   i would have voted    except that i do like chiba and sidekick sue shihomi  and i was entertained by a couple of scenes   breaking of a villain  s arm so the bone pops out of the skin  that  s gotta hurt    a drug kingpin eating a brown  furred animal  a monkey    by hacking away at the carcass with a meat cleaver   sonny chiba  s performing some impromptu eye surgery on a guy with his fingers .  br    br   i am actually a big fan of sonny chiba but this one is really not worth anyone  s time . i  ve seen about  or  of his films and have come to the conclusion that the only ones worth watching  and they are great   are the street fighter series  and the killing machine . i  ve also heard the executioner and golgo   are good . i recommend sticking to those ones .  
this cartoon is short on plot  but is a visually stunning piece of work . there will be very  very minor spoilers  br    br   this short has a  story  that  s incredibly slight  gnomes underground are responsible for the return of spring each year  yet must contend with a winter not yet ready to withdraw . both the gnomes and the storm have their own songs . that  s pretty much the plot  such as it is . but this cartoon isn  t about the plot  it  s about the color and animation . the visuals are exceptional . back in      such bright color was still something of a novelty and there  s some incredibly inspired work here .  br    br   my favorite moments of the short surround the movement of the liquefied colors through pipes . at more than one point  there are a series of pipes aligned in a row  from the shortest to the tallest and the colors move through the pipes and the musical track makes it seem as though the row is a pipe organ .  br    br   the visuals of the battle between the emerging greenery and the winter storm which refuses to leave quietly are exceedingly well executed . these types of shorts were things which hugh harman and rudolf ising are noted for  but they probably also helped lead to their ultimate departure from mgm  because this cartoon probably went over budget and mgm finally decided that they could control costs better if the animation department were managed by someone a little more conscious of cost than harman and ising were .  br    br   this is truly a beautiful cartoon and is well worth seeing . it  s available on the dvd attack of the    s characters . recommended  particularly if you like good animation .  
lil bush is a   minute cartoon show comprised of    minutes episodes shown on comedy central . it takes place in a fictional  cartoonish washington d . c .  and centers around the satirical  childish representations of george w . bush  condoleeza rice  donald rumsfeld and dick cheyney . other politicians are also satirized in the same manner  and act as minor characters .  br    br   the pilot of little bush  much to this commentator  s expectations  proved to be a rather shallow and esoteric production  which barely delivers on its featured promise a satirical look at the current presidential administration . while one must admit that premise of the show does have some merit  even though it would be hard to imagine a show based almost completely of the denigration of a single political persona would survive to continue to produce episodes after his term of office expired  execution that can only be described as sloppy at best  and downright awful at worst  has marred what little potential the show had .  br    br   lil bush  which may be technically classified as  satire   tends to disregard its actual use of the particular tool of comedy in order to lambaste its targets in exceptionally vulgar  but not particularly original  entertaining  or funny  ways . the show  s consistently weak writing often consists of little more than recording bush  cheney jokes heard elsewhere ad nauseam and placing them all in a single   minute block of television . as such  most of the jokes that presented by the writers were shameless clichs  some of which that been in public circulation for more than  years already . comparing the vice president to darth vader  for example  may have been funny in the first    times one has heard it on the daily show  colbert report  letterman  conan o  brien  leno monologue  any late  night  talk  show  ever  but it is not funny here . as if that were not enough  the show  s plots seem to exist simply as a means to advance the same old  tiresome bush jokes that the writers have made the center of the program .  br    br   in the show  s defense  when the writers dare to write in a truly original joke  which seems to be a rarity  it is often somewhat humorous . if the show were to expand its depth somewhat  and place its characters into new situations  exotic situations  rather than the same old mistakes and  quagmires  perpetuated by the bush administration  therefore not having to rely on the same old bush jokes over and over again  the show might be considered somewhat tolerable  and possibly even innovative .  br    br   ultimately  it is difficult to ascertain which shortcoming causes the lil bush series the most damage its clear lack of originality and weak writing quality  or its painfully narrow minded ambitions . it is reasonable to expect that lil bush will be able to maintain a small base of left wing fans  that is  if they are able to endure the exceptionally poor writing so long as the program continues to lampoon the bush administration thoroughly . even so  the majority of viewers will soon recognize the program for what it really is  a weak and pointlessly vulgar attempt at satire  and tune out in search of something more intellectually stimulation the price is right  perhaps .  
i am sad to say that i disagree with other people on this columbo episode . death lends a hand is frankly kind of a boring columbo to me . after a few times  i get bored and changed the channel . i still love robert culp and patricia crowley and ray milland in their roles but the story was weaker in this episode than in the others . first  robert culp plays an investigator for ray milland  s character . he hires him to investigate his young pretty wife played by patricia crowley to see if she is having an affair . in return  culp  s character blackmails the cheating wife who plans to expose his scheme to her husband ruining his career . out of anger  culp kills her by striking her in the face and setting the up the body elsewhere . i don  t know . maybe i just didn  t care for this one at all . of course  columbo gets him in the end . it  s just the question of how .  
i want to start by stating i am a republican  even though i don  t agree with a lot of the things bush has done in office . and i love the daily show and colbert report . they have to be two of my favorite shows on tv . i enjoy the bush jokes on conan  letterman  leno  because i admit that w is not the smartest guy to ever walk the earth  i do believe he  s not the dumbest either .  but it comes to a point when enough is enough and it  s not really that funny anymore . i see where it can be funny and it is  hey he  s making fun of our authority figure he  s hilarious .  . comedy central though is just trying to hard to poke fun at him . i mean maybe one special episode  but an entire series is just dumb . it seems cc is just saying the same bush jokes that we  ve heard way to many times . i really cannot see this show going past  season .  
  death lends a hand  is one of the pivotal early episodes of  columbo  that helped define the show for the next thirty years . it marks the first of robert culp  s four appearances  three as a murderer   playing much the same role in each show .  br    br   in this case culp plays brimmer  the head of a large private detective company who is asked to investigate whether the wife of a wealthy newspaper magnate  mr kennicut  is having an affair . although she is  brimmer decides not to tell kennicut  in the hope that he can blackmail his wife in return for snippets of information about her husband  s business associates . she reacts badly to this suggestion  an argument ensues which rapidly turns violent as brimmer whacks her across the face . because he is wearing a large ring  the blow knocks her to the ground and kills her .  br    br   there are some really priceless moments in this episode . one of my favourite scenes is where columbo pretends to be into palm  reading  although this is in fact a ruse to discover the shape and size of brimmer  s ring without admitting that he knows the killer wore a ring . columbo being columbo  he only reveals what he really knows when the time is exactly right to turn the screws a little . so initially he goofily plays the part of a rather simple  minded man who gets excited by the  lifeline going over the mound of the moon   or some equally ridiculous palm  reading mumbo  jumbo .  br    br   another great scene is when brimmer tries to offer columbo a job for his firm  effectively bribing him to stop poking his nose around . again  columbo doesn  t reveal that he knows what  s going on  he pretends to be honoured and excited by this job offer .  br    br   and there  s another where columbo says to kennicut  in front of brimmer  that he wishes the murderer could hear their conversation . he wants to hint to brimmer that he is onto him  without directly accusing him  so he rather cruelly  but understandable in the circumstances  decides to play mindgames on brimmer in order to spook him into panicking and doing something stupid . which of course he does  all the while  the grieving kennicut is unaware of the subtext of this conversation . it  s only near the end that columbo explains all to kennicut  not shown on screen  .  br    br   i won  t reveal how columbo finally nails the killer bang to rights  but let  s just say there  s a potato involved . . .  br    br   a really really good episode  possibly the very best of the first series . if you liked this then you  ll like  double exposure  too  also featuring robert culp .  
this show is not clever . that  s basically what it boils down to . the  original humor  that these writers try to pull off to avoid completely biting off the rest of the worlds bush bashing is just unfunny . in another comment  someone quotes a couple hilarious lines . the standout for me was george h . w . bush telling the kids they  re not supposed to watch any tv besides fox news . wow . i thought the episodes i saw were bad . the fact that this line is a high point for the series is pathetic .  br    br   my problem with drivel like this sad excuse for political satire is that these folks are getting a second season . i  m a liberal republican and i know bush hasn  t been a good president . we all do . but that  s no excuse for putting out this utterly poopie waste of time . i place these writers on the same level as the geniuses behind  meet the spartans  . their formula  bite off as many already unfunny topical jokes as you can and throw in even worse original material to actually be able to give yourself writing credit .  br    br   again  just plain bad . unfunny  and it just makes me more and more unhappy that crap like this is renewed  but amazing and original shows like arrested development are canned after  solid seasons . please don  t watch this crap  unless you  re one of those green blooded liberal hippies who think any sentence with the words bush and dumb is comedic gold .  br    br   oh  and the voice of bush sucks . all he does is slightly emulate a texan accent  and exhale really hard at the end of his sentences . at least south park admits the voices aren  t accurate . if you want funny political satire  watch daily show  colbert . or look for any political sketches on robot chicken  which is fun to watch  since the stop motion action figure animation is extremely well done . look for the george bush as a jedi bit on youtube . priceless  
this is one of the first and best columbos  starring robert culp and ray milland . robert culp appeared on another columbo  as did several other villains  including patrick mcgoohan  william shatner  and jack cassidy . ray milland also made a later appearance .  br    br   in this one  ray milland is convinced his beautiful wife  played by patricia crowley  is having an affair  so he hires culp to investigate . culp has a blackmailing business on the side  so he gives milland a fake report and threatens crowley with the real one if she doesn  t pay up . they get into a huge fight in culp  s home  and she winds up murdered . enter columbo .  br    br   culp does everything he can to get columbo off the case  including offering him a job  but columbo is on to him from the beginning .  br    br   excellent episode .  
abysmal with a capital  a  . this has got to be one of  if not the  unfunniest show on tv right now . i  m about as anti  bush as it gets  but this show doesn  t even get a chuckle out of me . what you think of bush as a president has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you  ll like this piece of crap show . the  jokes  are not funny at all . for example  in a scene when lil bush has his underwear on his head  welcome to camp al  qa  eeda   . there is nothing funny about that . is it even supposed to be joke  the commercials that were shown in the weeks leading up to the show  hyping it up  were funnier than the show itself  and that  s just sad . hopefully this does not even get considered for a second season . it shouldn  t even have had a first .  
this was the first regular filmed columbo movie episode but yet it aired as the second  after steven spielberg  s  columbo murder by the book  . it  s also at the same time among one of the better ones   br    br   bernard l . kowalski was one great creative director  no wonder that they later asked him to direct three more columbo movies . the movie has some real creative and innovative shot sequences and the movie as a whole is also clearly made with style  passion and eye for detail . every shot connects and is a reason why this movie is better and also better looking just any other average made for tv movie . it  s definitely one of the better directed columbo movies .  br    br   it  s a quit original columbo entry for a couple of reasons . the murder is more or less an accident and was an impulsive act . so the killer this time doesn  t have any time to plan out the  perfect murder  in advance and his to clean up any of the traces afterward and has to dispose the body . the killer in this movie is not only being handled as the man who committed the crime but more as the man who helps out lieutenant columbo to solve the murder . it makes the character a more interesting and layered one as well and also helps to make the way columbo solves the whole crime seem way more interesting as well because of that . of course columbo starts to suspect him pretty early on and as always he comes to solution by making himself vulnerable and look more stupid than he of course truly is and by gaining the killer  s trust . this is obviously no spoiler since this is the way every columbo movie gets set  up . i liked the story of the movie and how it progressed .  br    br   it also helps the movie that it has such a fine cast . at the time of this movie peter falk had really made the columbo character his own and the character at this was already fully developed . robert culp is truly great as the short tempered brimmer . funny thing is that he would later star in three different columbo movies again and one  mrs . columbo  episode  only in totally different roles . he even played the murderer in a couple of those movies as well again . he by the way was not the only actor that did this in other later columbo movies . also the great ray milland makes an appearance in this movie  as the husband of the victim .  br    br   all in all  a real great early columbo movie and among the better ones out of the long running series of movies .  br    br        
honestly  my expectations for little bush were low . i was expecting a little cartoon series with lots of fun  but rehashed and overdone  bush jokes . apparently i should have lowered my expectations even more .  br    br   the writing was absolutely pathetic . aside from the cheney  chicken  eating joke  and some giggly  little swipes  it was really boring and unfunny .  br    br   the animation was about as sophisticated as a thirteen  year old  s flash project . it  s disgraceful that they used macromedia  s product for this  because it  s capable of so much more .  br    br   i don  t like bush that much  and i enjoy a bush  joke as much as the next guy  but this was just a half  hour swipe at the president with several painfully un  funny moments . trey parker and matt stone did so much more with that  s my bush .  br    br   do yourself a favor  skip  lil  bush  and go buy a copy of the short  lived comedy  that  s my bush  . you  ll thank me .  
the second official episode of the  columbo  series   murder by the book   filmed later  hit the airwaves first  . robert culp  who would match wits with peter falk  s detective in several future installments  is terrific as the short  tempered head of a sophisticated private detective agency who murders a client  s wife when she refuses to cave  in to his blackmail schemes . the two stars are well  matched in this clever cat and mouse exercise that is one of the best in the series .  
i am marking this as a  spoiler  only because of some of my comments of the show  s content  not to the content itself .  br    br   as i read the comments it is apparent that those republicans somehow tolerate the show  but disdain it  while the democrats seems to relish in its so called truthfulness . one reader even  so it seems  actually indicates that he believes these events did or could have happened when bush was in grade school .  br    br   but as to the content as i see it  trying to be neutral  is that the group that made this series must actually be really bush haters . in the episode that i saw last  s   e    it showed that the program must have been put together long before mccain became the front runner for the nomination because  the other former front runners are all featured .  br    br   another thing that caught my attention  was the use of add in closets . i thought that the series must have been made in europe of for sure not in the u . s . a .  because i know of no home the u . s . a . that does not have built in closets  and most likely in the homes of the artists .  br    br   as i watch the show  yes i do get caught up in it  i am amazed to see what must be a terrific desire of the writers to do what they can to embarrass our president . sure there are problems as most american will agree  but that is no reason to be so hateful in public displays seen around the world . perhaps the trend has now been set by this show and network  so that if obama or hillary got in  would they continue to produce and air the same sort of  humor  about them   br    br   just one more comment on a commentator  s remarks . if there had been some sort of change in the election back in      according to that writer  he was so sure that there would be a completely different acceptable president . wow  wishful thinking on his part . as far as    events  i do believe that it was set in motion back when clinton was president  and i can  t see how if gore was president anything would be much different .  
this was the second entry in the regular columbo series  and it holds up well today . as i am able to look at it closely now on dvd and see how it is constructed  i am very impressed with the direction of bernard l . kowalski  who directed the fine macho callahan as well as countless tv episodes    watch how the post  murder actions of the killer are shown on a split  screen effect on his two eyeglasses  watch how the murder itself is shown in montage fashion  watch the point  of  view shot from the perspective of the corpse . also  the wild but impressive avant  garde musical score from noted jazzman gil melle was incredible and helped so much to create atmosphere . and the supporting performance of brett halsey as the golf pro was wonderful   such subtlety and complexity in a role that nine out of ten times would be a one  dimensional cutout . the  formula  had not yet been set when this episode was filmed  so there are still some surprises in columbo  s methods . of course  falk  robert culp  and ray milland are the highest  quality actors and it  s a pleasure to see them work   all men are familiar from many other roles yet lose themselves in their characters here . in all  this entry in the columbo series   and many of the others   are as well  crafted as a very good feature film .  
when anti  bush jokes get really easy to do  a show like this had better make sure it has something extra . when that something extra is kid versions of political figures making jokes about the future they don  t have yet  it  s just plain nonsense . dick cheney and george bush are done well but dick cheney mutters mostly . there  s also condoleeza rice who has a crush on bush for some reason and donald rumsfeld who isn  t really that similar to donald rumsfeld at all . the democratic characters rarely give their names so it  s a mystery as to who could be who aside from barack obama and hilary clinton .  br    br   the episodes have coherent stories but that  s not nearly enough to keep this from sinking .  
a very high  standard columbo story which was actually the first filmed episode of the long  running series but was originally transmitted second  after  murder by the book   .  br    br   robert culp makes his first of three appearances as the guest murderer in the series and plays the owner of a private detective agency  who blackmails the wife  patricia crowley  of a rich  highly influential businessman  played very sympathetically by ray milland  after he falsifies a report  in her favour  after it is discovered she was having an affair . the wife later rebels against the blackmail scheme but is killed in a fit of rage . . . .  br    br   a very satisfying episode in many respects  particularly as the plot is so strongly set  up and subsequently developed and also because of the rare columbo ingredient that the crime is an unpremeditated killing . the whole thing is further enhanced when the widowed husband uses the murderer to assist columbo in his investigations a feature that facilitates numerous good quality scenes  particularly in the first sequence when the three central characters meet and columbo  s crucially deceptive qualities are wonderfully in evidence .  br    br   directed with flair by bernard l . kowalski and acted to an appropriately high level  this really set the tone for whole series  since  murder by the book  was let down by a poor ending  . the script by columbo creators richard levinson and william link is precise  well  structured and well  thought  out and is underpinned by a steady  productive pace and meaningful sequences which really exhibit the unpredictability of the story . ultimately  the finale fittingly epitomises that columbo has always been one step ahead of the murderer .  br    br   overall  this is a very fine piece of detective work for columbo  and strongly suggests that the production team had worked positively and constructively to render a polished columbo story .  
if the only sex you  ve ever had is with a farm animal  then the tag line for this movie is probably still misleading .  br    br   this is by far one of the most boring movies i  ve had the pleasure to try and watch lately . i found the dvd lying around at my friend  s house  and i made the sad mistake of not burning it .  br    br   i am unable to tell any details without spoiling the movie because there are only about  details to this movie . just try to imagine someone making a movie about things on c  span only the fictional movie is   times less interesting than the most boring debate on c  span .  br    br   i think there is a conspiracy somewhere in this movie  but i was unable to tell exactly what it was after i gouched my eyeballs out and threw them at richard gere .  
perfect cast for a few  person drama . simon is dead but somehow resurrects from outside . what he had seen there is displayed in form of blank spots orchestrated to a magnificent score by german avant  garde composer werner henze . simon is haunted by his death  comforted by support of death people he  d seen on the other side . his girlfriend tries to hold him to life but failing to  decides to follow him after his finally occurring death . very touchy and moving  deeply psychological  but a bit slow and somewhere even boring .  
the main problem with  power  is that it features way too may pointless characters and subplots that add absolutely nothing to the movie whatsoever . it gets boring after awhile  sitting around waiting through scenes that don  t connect to find something that drives the movie forward . you could probably pass it all off as character development  but all of them are either recycled from earlier scenes in the movie  or are just simply to flat and uninteresting . lumet never gives enough time to let any of the supporting cast blossom . he should have cut a few of the characters  hackman  the wife  and concentrated harder on others  billings  . it could have been a great  hard political thriller instead of a jumbled mess that loses any message in a sea of bad writing and acting  a fact that amazed me considering the cast . even gene hackman performance wasn  t up to par . denzel washington is the only real actor of note here . gere and the others have all done much better performances elsewhere .  br    br   sidney lumet needs to go back to the fierce one man shows he did in the seventies  i . e  serpico  and stop trying to recapture his success with    angry men  and  fail safe  . it hasn  t worked yet sidney  and it most likely never will . leave the ensemble dramas to altman .  br    br        br    br          
what is very french about this film is the time taken to establish the two leading characters . this might require a bit of patience  especially since neither is  attractive  in the typical hollywood definition of such . however  once the  heist  kicks in  the film rushes forward quickly  perhaps at times too quickly . but it is a real rollercoaster ride and if you don  t look too closely it is all quite believable . the kind of film that you know hollywood would have botched up .  
instead  go to the zoo  buy some peanuts and feed  em to the monkeys . monkeys are funny . people with amnesia who don  t say much  just sit there with vacant eyes are not all that funny .  br    br   black comedy  there isn  t a black person in it  and there isn  t one funny thing in it either .  br    br   walmart buys these things up somehow and puts them on their dollar rack . it  s labeled unrated . i think they took out the topless scene . they may have taken out other stuff too  who knows  all we know is that whatever they took out  isn  t there any more .  br    br   the acting seemed ok to me . there  s a lot of unfathomables tho . it  s supposed to be a city  it  s supposed to be a big lake  if it  s so hot in the church people are fanning themselves  why are they all wearing coats   
alain resnais films are uncanny in the way that they aren  t really edited for continuity  but instead the shot seems to finish right where a memory has edited . love unto death is at times a quiet existential drama and a roundly creative magical realist movie  and either way treats the audience to a whole new aspect of the eros  thanatos relationship . . . or perhaps creates a new relationship  that of agape  thanatos .  br    br   the beginning is like a bizarre surrealist horror movie . a woman desperately runs around the house while a man lays dying in his bed   did she kill him  or what happened  soon that tension is dissolved as a doctor arrives and pronounces him dead  but from there a newer  stranger drama begins the man wakes up  and after being dead the woman and man fall in love to actually quite tragic consequences . meanwhile  their friends  who are both priests  watch on and submit their own debate into the nature of love  faith  and devotion .  br    br   resnais always seems to have some device to make these sorts of narratives work  and what  s so amazing about his films is that those devices always work . in this case  resnais intercuts the scenes with shots of snow falling to an arousing orchestral score  which fades off and bleeds into the subsequent shots that continue the story . trapped in this elegiac aside periodically  the film develops a rhythm not too unlike an epic poem  and i got strange flashbacks to dante  s divine comedy from this one  despite the lack of direct reference within the movie . resnais is known as a very poetic filmmaker but this extends past just the cinepoem structure to something that forces a degree of introspection in the viewer  which has the possibility to bring to surface some odd recollections . memory  narrative  resnais creates .  br    br     polarisdib  
everyone involved  and the audience  should seek out  the candidate  to see how good this movie could have been . what happened the south american story  what were julie christie and kate capshaw thinking to allow their roles to be cardboard cut  outs . up to now i have liked every gene hackman performance and  or movie . he was either disinterested  which i can hardly believe  or dreadfully miscast . i have also liked and defended richard gere  and been vilified for it  . but here he had no  power  . he was never intimidating and only occasionally persuasive . all in all i was very disappointed . i really expected much more from this director and cast . if you can  t find  the candidate  watch  wag the dog  again or even  bulworth  .  
master cinaste alain resnais likes to work with those actors who are a part of his family . in this film too we see resnais  family members like pierre arditi  sabine azema  andr dussolier and fanny ardant dealing with serious themes like death  religion  suicide  love and their overall implications on our daily lives . the formal nature of relationship shared by these people is evident as even friends  they address each other using a formal you . in      while making l  amour  mort  resnais dealt with time  memory and space to unravel the mysteries of a fundamental question of human existence is love stronger than death  it was   years ago in     that resnais made a somewhat similar film je t  aime je t  aime which was also about love and memories . message of this film is loud and clear true and deep love can even put science to shame as dead lovers regain their lost lives leaving doctors to care for their reputation . l  amour  mort is like a game which is not at all didactic . it is a film in which the musical score is in perfect tandem with its images . this is one of the reasons why this film can easily be grasped .  
if there was a zero rating  i would give it to this movie . today was the second time i tried to watch it and i still couldn  t make it through from beginning to end . i can  t believe the multiple stars given by others  can only assume they either know the actors or are a publicist in disguise  the acting is atrocious all around  the script is blah  the kid playing nichole shows zero emotion even when she  s being threatened . the  southern  accent from the actress playing amber  s mom is laughable  i  m from georgia and have friends from texas  believe me nobody talks like that  none of her emotions seemed real in any scene . the subject matter is very serious and deserves much better treatment .  
i used to love watching this . i had no idea it was part of a larger series . i must have been  or so at the time it was on tv . i just thought it was funny and for some reason i had a deep fascination for something that was clear that was in the president  s pile of bathtub toys . my parents had taped this off of tv when it originally aired on nbc . the tape even had the old sanka coffee commercial along with a few others . i  m planning on returning home sometime soon and will try to record the tape onto my computer so that those who want a copy can do so . if anyone of you would like to contact me  i think you can do that through the imdb site feel free . i will keep you updated and let you know when i have the show in a digital format .  
i think that elisabeth rohm  though she may try hard  is not very good at all . i guess it was because of budget that she may have been the only one they could get for that price . i mainly watched it for the performance of myron natwick  whose work i know very well .  br    br   he was the most believable and without doubt the most compelling to watch . when he wasn  t on the screen  the thing went dead . this was filmed in vancouver . he gave me the creeps  but be assured that in real life he is a kind  funny compassionate man . he even said playing that role gave him the creeps .  br    br   i  ll watch anything with him in it  but elisabeth rohm  never again . she was as exciting as lint on law and order . maybe a very nice person  but no actress .  
i was pretty young when this came out in the us  but i recorded it from tv and watched it over and over again until i had the whole thing memorized . to this day i still catch myself quoting it . the show itself was hilarious and had many famous characters  from frank sinatra  to sylvester stallone  to mr . t . the voices were great  and sounded just like the characters they were portraying . the puppets were also well done  although a little creepy . i was surprised to find out just recently that it was written by rob grant and doug naylor of red dwarf  a show that i also enjoy very much . like another person had written in a comment earlier  i too was robbed of this great show by a  friend  who borrowed it and never returned it . i sure wish there was enough demand for this show to warrant a dvd release  but i don  t think enough people have heard of it . oh well  maybe i  ll try e  bay . . .  
i am from the dallas  fort worth area and lived in arlington for a few years . this movie was way off as far as making it look like arlington . i saw mountains in the background of one scene  texas doesn  t have mountains . i guess that happens when a movie that is supposed to be in texas is filmed in canada . the accents are also really bad . they should have gotten actors from texas to play the parts . there a lot of aspiring actors from texas out in hollywood . the movie is really sad though  because it is a true story . i pray that the killer is found and convicted . the one good thing is that bc of her death  we now have the amber alert to help find missing children quickly after they are abducted .  
it was in      when i saw  the ronnie and nancy show  for the first time  on austrian television  . at that time  i was already a very big fan of spitting image  since when it won the bronze rose of the montreux film festival in      . of course i recorded every show on tape and watched it again and again  especially  the ronnie and nancy show  . i remember that scene when ronnie stood in front of a painting of abraham lincoln  thinking it was a mirror  and said to himself  i need a shave  . or most amusing of all  when he played ball with his dog  but vice  versa   br    br   it  s such a shame  that spitting image seems to fall into oblivion it was one of the most fantastic and most intelligent made tv  shows ever . compared to other satirical broadcasts it was definitely the best of all .  br    br   well  almost   years have passed since then  and i wish i could see the show again . is it possible to purchase it from someone . . . somewhere   
the female lead was a terrible actress which made the whole movie mediocre . she was smiling too much when she first went in front of the cameras to talk about her daughter . this should have made the police suspect her . i would have been inconsolable in the identical situation . she seemed way calm for a mother who could not find her daughter . it was as if she did not want to even be in the movie . jennifer aniston would have played the part better . and it would have made a lot more money for such a controversial  important subject . everyone else was excellent . i don  t know where the lead actress is but i hope she got some acting lessons .  
a long time ago  i watched this movie from the middle on cable . i then had a crush on mary moronov . i saw her again in eating raoul . i was convinced that she  s the hottest woman on screen .  br    br   i maybe biased about this movie .  out of   .  br    br   this  s the only movie i own on original tape .  
elizabeth rohm was the weakest actress of all the law and order ada  s and her acting is even worse here . her attempts at a texas accent are amateurish and unrealistic . nor can she adequately summon the intense emotions needed to play the mother of a kidnapped child at times while her daughter is missing she manages to sound only vaguely annoyed  as if she can  t remember where she left her keys .  br    br   this is an important true story  so it  s too bad that the awful acting of the lead actress distracts so much from the message . the rest of the cast is talented enough  but they just can  t overcome rohm  s tendency to simply lay on a particularly thick imitation of a southern drawl whenever actual acting is required .  
one of the unsung gems of the      s  scenes . . . features razor  sharp satire and outstanding performances from arnetia walker  how did she not get a ton of roles after this   and wallace shawn . it  s a delicious send  up of class warfare and the people in those classes . the writing is hilarious and the characters  while not subtle  are nuanced . and  sorry  but the asian gangs  if you can call one japanese guy extorting one of the other characters a  gang   were not put in for  sociological value  as another review implies they should been . the value here lies in what the movie is making fun of and in the sparklingly wicked way it does it . i found it creative  funny  and idiosyncratic .  
i am anthony park  glenn park is my father . first off i want to say that the story behind this movie and the creation of the amber alert system is a good one . however the movie itself was poorly made and the acting was terrible . the major problem i had with the movie involved the second half with nichole timmons and father glenn park . the events surrounding that part of the story were not entirely correct . my father was suffering from psychological disorders at the time and picked up nichole without any intent to harm her at all . he loved her like a daughter and was under the mindset that he was rescuing her from some sort of harm or neglect that he likely believed was coming from her mother who paid little attention to her over the  plus years that my father took care of her and summarily raised her so her mother could frolic about . the movie depicted my father in a manner that he was going to harm her in some way shape or form . the funny thing is that nichole had spent many nights sometimes consecutively at my fathers place while sharon would be working or doing whatever she was doing . the reason that my father was originally thought to be violent was because he had items that could be conceived to be weapons on his truck . my father was a landscaper . the items they deemed to be weapons were landscaping tools that he kept in his truck all the time for work . my recommendation is take this movie with a grain of salt  it is a good story and based on true events however the details of the movie  at least the nichole timmons  glenn park portion  are largely inaccurate and depict the failure of the director to discover the truth in telling the story . the funny thing is  that if the director would have interviewed any of sharon  s friends who knew the situation they would have stated exactly what i have posted here .  
often laugh out loud funny play on sex  family  and the classes in beverly hills milks more laughs out of the zip code than it  s seen since the days of granny and jed clampett . plot centers on two chauffers who  ve bet on which one of them can bed his employer  both single or soon to be single ladies  quite sexy   bisset and woronov  first . if manuel wins  his friend will pay off his debt to a violent asian street gang   if he loses  he must play bottom man to his friend   br    br   lots of raunchy dialogue  fairly sick physical humour  etc . but a lot of the comedy is just beneath the surface . bartel is memorable as a very sensual oder member of the family who ends up taking his sexy  teenaged niece on a year long  missionary trip  to africa .  br    br   hilarious fun .  
carnosaur   primal species       d jonathan winfrey . scott valentine  janet gunn  rick dean  anthony peck  rodger halston  terri j . vaughn  billy burnette . why even bother reviewing this movie  another stupid dinosaur movie in which top secret military guys discover those lethal  and very fake  looking  prehistoric monsters running around killing people in gory ways . the original was bad enough  the sequel was even worse . this falls somewhere in between  though unrelated to either of the previous carnosaur films . rating  out of   . rated r for graphic violence and gore  grisly images  and profanity .  
saw this movie on its release and have treasured it since . what a wonderful group of actors  i always find the casting one of the most interesting aspects of a film  . really enjoyed seeing dramatic actress jacqueline bisset in this role and wallace shawn is always a hoot . the script is smart  sly and tongue  in  cheek  poking fun at almost everything  beverley hills  . loved paul bartel  s  doctor  and ray sharkey  s manservant . this was raunchy and crude  but thank god  unless you  re a prude  i heartily recommend this movie . fyi for anyone who likes to play six degrees of kevin bacon  mary woronov  paul bartel were in  rock  roll high school  . mary woronov and robert beltran were in  night of the comet  together . they were all three in  eating raoul  .  
okay  i remember watching the first one  and boy did it suck . after watching it  i just laughed it off and told myself   oh boy  just another low budget b  movie . i  ll never see a part  to this one .  then  about     years later  there came part two . it sucked even more . but  i just laughed it off again and said   there  s no way i  m ever gonna see a part  to this one .  then  about    a year later  part  came out . i was stupid enough to rent it and boy  i just snapped after watching it . god  i never actually realized how much movies can suck these days . just save yourself   .   and don  t rent the whole series . trust me  it  s worth every penny .  
this movie is outrageous  funny  ribald  sophisticated  hits the bullseye where    of hollywood movies don  t even make the target . paul bartel should be recognized as one of the great directors of this or any era . he  s the american renoir  bunuel  combined    glad i have the videodisc .  
carnosaur  is bad . . . awfully bad . bad to the point where it is funny . how matter how much i try to convince myself  i just can  t believe anyone in this world could find this entertaining for serious reasons . i mean  come on  even the cover is bad  ok  the special effects are absolutely ridiculous . those  carnosaurs  are really ridiculous . a scientist tells the soldiers that they move incredibly fast  yet when you see them run  they run at the speed of . . . an actor in a rubber suit trying to run as much as he can . and the explosions are funny  there is no other word to describe it  . at the beginning  a bullet hits a jeep after a guys says  what was that   . . . and the other explosions are also laughable . but the worst thing is the screenplay and the so  called story . you don  t expect a good story  or  i don  t think anyone renting this movie expects a good movie  but at least the story has to try to make sense . i mean  how hard is it to make a story about dinosaurs killing people at least coherent . incredibly hard if you look at this . oh  and if you think that it  s easy to makes believable commandos as your characters  tell it to the writers of this awful  awful piece of crap . i mean  what sick human being would make cheap jokes after one of his buddies is dead  and they do lots of it . and if you think that a movie about dinosaurs killing soldiers can only be at least action  packed  wake up    this movie is incredibly dull . the carnosaurs  who invented this lame name anyway   attack  in boring action sequences where you don  t see much happening  . the soldiers think of how to beat them  in incredibly funny scenes where they try real hard to be serious but can  t seem to convince even just one second  . so  then  they attack the carnosaurs  but their idea doesn  t work  another laughable action sequence  . back to planning  with a few lame jokes thrown in  in another ridiculous scene . and this goes on  and on  and on . and let  s not forget the acting which is about as convincing as the special effects . . . and the story . . . oh ok  this movie simply sucks from a to z .  br    br    
deaf secretary carla  emmanuelle devos  is bullied by her mean spirited male colleagues .  br    br   when they suggest she needs an assistant it seems like the final insult  but  when the first applicant is ex  con paul  vincent cassel  she seizes the chance to change her life .  br    br   carla covers his mistakes and he  anxious to go straight  reluctantly helps her to take revenge on her colleagues .  br    br   when paul asks carla to return the favor  she finds herself drawn into the criminal underworld  ruled by ruthless lone shark marchand  olivier gourmet  .  br    br   recognizing her ability to lip  read as a weapon no one will have bargained for  the two set out to see justice done .  br    br   french filmmaker jacques audiard  s third feature  read my lips  is a genre  defying piece  switching from dark social comedy to visceral full  throttle thriller .  
where to start . . . if this movie had been a dark comedy  i would say it was fannn  tastic  unfortunately for me  and anyone else with free time and a buck to spare  mind you that was the price i paid  got it from wal  mart   this movie was meant to be a thriller . the only thrill i got was watching kirkland  s lousy rendition of anne wilkes from misery sans snowy woodland area . if you want a good laugh  on a rainy friday night with some friends  then i highly recommend this movie . but if you want to watch something at least half way decent  then don  t even bother .  br    br   i for one enjoy crappy films  the worse the better in most cases . but wow . . . i meant wow   the only person in the entire film that didn  t stink it up was the little boy  played by vincent berry . the only reason why i even give it  stars is because it gave me something to do .  
i remember seeing this in a the salem movie theater  where i used to attend  kiddie matine  s almost every saturday  in dayton  ohio when i was a young boy and have never forgotten it . it simply amazed me and my friends . i do wish there were some way i could see it again  i have tried to find some compilation of shorts or something like that to no avail . i only recently discovered that it was a cousteau film and that blew my mind even more . how the heck he accomplished this is beyond my understanding . the fish is actually in the cat  s mouth at one point  if i remember correctly  if anyone could help me find a way to see it again i would be extremely grateful   
as a southern baptist  it pains me that i must give a below average rating to an overtly christian movie . there certainly aren  t so many that i want to discourage film  makers from a genre that  s woefully under  exploited . still  i must honestly say that  love  s abiding joy  is a typically low budget  low key  self  consciously christian film . the plot is predictable  the acting mediocre  i  m being kind   and the editing atrocious . as a tv movie it might have been slightly above average  but as a feature film it leaves much to be desired . keep trying guys . you  ve got to have a movie about about real christians inside you somewhere . might i suggest you turn to g . k . chesterton or c . s . lewis for some inspiration   
this movie has great style  fantastic visuals and hot sex scenes with a beautiful woman . it falters at the end as the story twists get a little bit extreme . . but all in all  i would recommend this movie just because it has that good old russian feel to it . . big  impressive  powerful  bleak and brutal and at the same time beautiful in the old tradition of tragic beauty .  br    br   plot a guy who can make a blade shoot out of his hand at will  not a spoiler since they show it in the trailer  when he is really mad at you tries to have a girlfriend . . he discovers that after you kill one person with your sword hand  it  s kind of hard to keep a stable relationship . . . .  br    br   sword boy is on the planet for a reason . . he just doesn  t know what it is . . yet .  br    br   lots of dark street fights with guys unexpectedly getting filleted creatively .  br    br   russain w eng subtitles . . slick worth a watch . .  
i really hope that concorde  new horizons wasn  t trying to make a serious horror  or even action movie when they made carnosaur  . the movie is flat  out silly from start to finish . even the humor in c  is funny because it  s bad . definitely a high water mark in the  so bad it  s good  genre . if you enjoy the very worst of the worst  this is for you .  
for everyone who expects a traditional superhero  movie it might be an unpleasant surprise . it is definitely more of a drama rather than an action movie . it focuses mainly on emotions and it  s a bit like a greek tragedy  whatever the main character does it always goes wrong somehow .  br    br   that  s because sasha  like each superhero  takes the law into his own hands and the society doesn  t appreciate it . sasha becomes an outlaw . while on the run  he meets a beautiful girl and falls in love so things get even more complicated for him .  br    br   as you can see  the plot itself is really dramatic but the movie lacks in dynamics . it reminds me slightly of the narration in the recent movies by ram gopal varma . everything happens very slowly . however  when there  s an action scene it gets so immensely dynamic that before you realize what  s going on  it  s all over . but the director does not want to impress us with flashy and showy action . what is more important here is the outcome of sasha  s actions  which are mostly very drastic . the score is very scarce  which also makes it more difficult to concentrate on the film . so basically you need to be very patient in order to watch it .  br    br   is the film worth it  that is a question really difficult to answer . i don  t think that this experience enriched me so very much  but somehow i keep on thinking about this movie and feel like watching it again . mostly due to the atmosphere  which is really dense  but not suffocating because all the time sasha and katya have hope . after all they  re young people  who have all their lives to live . so no matter how hard it gets there  s always a slight joyous tune when they are together .  
this is probably one of the worst  wanna be a low budget hit films  to credit the dinosaur genre . the film is so predictable you could go away  cook yourself dinner  go answer the phone or whatever and when you  re back you  ll know exactly what has happened . the special effects are so poor you would have thought lego bricks were used and the  super fast  dinosaurs were so tame that it makes a pet dog look like a super predator . the acting is over cooked . they try so hard  yet there just isn  t enough character behind them to get into the characters and as for the scientist . . . yeah okay we know exactly whats going to happen to the blonde chick in glasses . stereotypical was created for films like this . if you want to watch this film  i suggest you aren  t in as a serious mood as the cast and crew obviously were . and if you are really really into dinosaurs and know everything in the world about them  don  t watch it  you might break the screen  the facts are that far off .  
a woman borough a boy to this world and was alone . they both were alone because a boy had a gift and a curse in one package  he was capable of withdrawing sword from his arm . there was always a wound on his wrist in the cause of this  gift   the wound of the deadliest weapon inside of his body . first he kills his constantly drunk stepfather who hurts his mom every time . then he grows up and decides to find his real father . just as simple as all the time for a superhero  he reaches the justice . . . . but the society decides this justice is not necessary and dangerous which is indeed right  cause it is not like in hollywood movies that the character does not try to kill anyone  sasha  he is the main hero acted by artem tkachenko  kills if the person who in his opinion deserves to die but gets blames from authorities and runs . in such a runaway from authorities and mafia he meets a girl  acted by chulpan hamatova  and falls in love with her . everything else is to be watched . . . not told . be aware that this film is more about feelings and emotions but not about actions . this film is full of pain of the main character full of him and his vision of life .  
this is one of the silliest movies i have ever had the misfortune to watch  i should have expected it  after seeing the first two  but i keep getting suckered into these types of movies with the idea of  maybe they did it right this time  . nope  not even close .  br    br   where do i begin  how about with the special effects . . . to give you an idea of what passes for sfx in this movie  at one point a soldier is shooting at a  raptor  as it runs down a hallway . even with less than a second of screen time  the viewer can easily see that it is just a man with a tail apparently taped to him running around . bad bad bad bad .  br    br   how about the acting  if that  s what you can call it . there is one character who  i suppose  is supposed to be from the south . however  after living in the south for six years now  i have never heard this way of talking . perhaps he has some sort of weird disability  the inability to talk normally . i find it fascinating that the character does nothing that requires him to have that accent  therefore there was no reason for the actor to try to do one .  br    br   how about the plot  it  s pretty basic  raptors escape  people with guns must hunt them down . i  m starting to wonder why the dinosaurs in these movies always seem to run into the nearest system of tunnels . . . wouldn  t they stay outside to hunt prey  oh well  at least they have the good sense to appear very very little in the movie which supposedly revolves around them .  br    br   other things  let  s say you are in a building and you know that there are man eating raptors running around in it . would you decide to take time out to have an argument about who is better  army or marine  and then decide to have an arm wrestling contest to settle it  how about the idiotic idea that they have to track down the raptors  split up into groups of two . didn  t they ever watch any horror movies  or at least an episode of scooby doo   in short  this is one of the dumber movies out there . miss it unless you want to groan your way through a movie .  
i went into this movie after having read it was a drama about a man with a supernatural gift  who was made into a monster by society . suffice to say i was expecting something entirely different from what i got . but it was a happy surprise . my friend and i both thought the movie was very romantic  the fact that the male lead isn  t bad to look at surely helped   and there was enough plot development  action and even humor  the fact that it takes them until the  rd part of the movie to now each other  s name had the whole movietheatre laughing  to keep you entertained and invested in the story . so in short not what i expected  but a very good surprise indeed . i  ll definitely buy this movie when it comes out on dvd .  
primal species       dir . jonathan winfrey   br    br   international terrorists get a surprise when their cargo turn out to contain living dinosaurs . the army commando team now have to think fast  if they want to prevent the extinction of the human species  instead of the reptiles .  br    br   you look at the cover and you gain your first impressions of the film . that is pretty much it . the acting is only just acceptable from a few characters . the story is poor  with the whole film based on the army and the marines trying to kill the dinosaurs . this film came out three years after  jurassic park  . instead  this film looks to have come out   years before  jurassic park  . the dinosaurs costumes are so poorly made  and i do mean costumes . there are obviously people dressed up  and this film makes no attempts at hiding this . a scene when a dinosaur runs down a corridor is created in a way  in which it looks like someone is riding the creature . the is one good thing  which comes out of this film . the short running time . at only  hour and   minutes  it doesn  t waste too much of your life  but still try to avoid it altogether .  br    br    it  s like a friday the   th nightmare .   officer  brian currie   
there is a lot of crap coming out of hollywood lately .  br    br   a friend  sends me movies now and again  as a surprise  it  s awesome .  br    br   i turned it on and couldn  t stop watching  it is a drama  but with a odd twist . imagine if romeo  as in shakepeare  had a super power . it is sad and poetic at the same time . hollywood should take notice of the new russian cinema  they are telling stories that are not about big explosions and cgi . it takes a simple basic premise and tells a story  without a spectacle . this is a lot like an asian film with a dark russian twist . granted it  s not perfect  but nothing ever is . you know what the power is but it is never explained  nor totally realized until the end . it becomes secondary to the emotion of the story . i don  t want to see a remake  it is too cool as is  the hollywood system would  as usual  mess it up . acting is top notch all around . directing and camera work are far above most of the crap that is out there . kudos to all involved  and i will turn a lot of people on to this independent epic . a  br    br   if you can find i  watch it .  
in general i like dinosaur movies but this one is pure crap . no script  no dialogues  no acting . and the brave colonel rance trying to show he is tough and so curving his mouth resembles as a twin brother the stupid proctor from the police academy . so this was a complete waste of time  fortunately not waste of money as i saw the film on tv  . and i really cannot understand  people who graded this sht   . they must  ve joked . my advice  if you see this title run from it   
despite the title  the sword bearer  and the dvd cover  action  herioc poses of the sword bearer  this is not a super hero film .  br    br    minor spoilers  it follows the tale of sasha  the sword bearer  who is cursed with having a retractable sword in his forearm . cool you say  but no  this is real life . if you had this power as a child could you control it when  say  faced by a mad man  or when your mum  s boyfriend is beating her . and if you don  t control it  how do you cope with being a two time killer at the age of   .  br    br   this essentially is where sasha is when we meet him . wandering aimlessly after another killing  much like a bout de souffl  . he then meet katya  and the pair fall instantly in love  providing sasha with a real reason to live and try and changes his ways . however  his past is still chasing him  in the form of two police officers .  br    br   that is essentially the story  and there is virtually no action on screen  though a lot if suggested .  br    br   i really like this movie . unlike many hollywood  super hero  films  we get very little back story  there is no bad guy  unless you count the sword bearer himself  abut there is a lot of heart and good character development .  br    br   worth checking out if you can find it .  
this movie is the worst movie i have ever seen . . . it is humorous how bad it is . . the entire time i was watching it i half expected music to start and the doctor starts dancing . .  i  ve seen porno  s with a better plot  when the raptor was trying to get in the door i think someone was throwing a plastic doll against the door from about  feet away . but as i said it is so bad you need to watch it so that you can see just how bad it is me explaining it isn  t going to do anything compared to if you watch it . . i don  t recommend renting it but if it comes on tv watch it for about   min just to see what i mean . i couldn  t watch more than   min but if you can sit through the whole thing then you have some good willpower  
what happens when the average joe finds out he has supernatural powers  the premise may sound familiar . the watchmen  unbreakable  however  the russian sci  fi action flick  the sword bearer  is far from the standard stock .  br    br   the story revolves around a man named sasha who as a boy was shunned from society  his peers and family due to a supernatural power that he possess . when he wishes or his anger allows  a sword extends from his arm piercing his own skin . very wolverinish  maybe . . . but that  s not the interesting part of this film . shunned all his life and driven by anger  and a temper he does have  our  hero  returns to his home town to turn his life around or find a reason to . the only thing he encounters here is trouble when an encounter with an old flame  s new boyfriend leaves him bloodied on the ground . this is where the vengeance and anger comes into play . this is a man you do not want to cross and from this point the mafia and the police are on his tail . he meets a girl and falls in love instantly as does she and this is really what the movie is about .  br    br   the film is highly impressionistic with bold colors and noir overtones spliced with short yet extreme action sequences . this is art house at it  s core  beautifully filmed with such attention to details in every scene over gruesome sci  fi action . it  s this odd mash that interests me so much in this film . the directors approach for this genre is refreshing focusing on the emotional journey of sasha and not a straight action film . don  t worry though  the action is there and plenty of it . however  much of these sequences show only implied violence with pictures of the horrific aftermath . this is not to say that action is not shown . these scenes are here and are fantastic  especially the ending where we see sasha  s full powers unleashed in desperation  . the director chooses to imply the violence of many scenes to keep the focus on the character  s emotional struggle at hand . this is a tragic love story and a refreshing entry into the genre .  
if this is your first time experiencing the wonders of cinema  if you  ve never seen a  moving picture  before  you  ll think this movie is a child of the gods . but if you  ve seen a movie  a tv show  even barney the dinosaur  then you won  t be very impressed by this film . heck barney the dinosaur was even more realistic than the dinos in this flick .  br    br   now i like b movies . i just watched  the giant gila monster  right before i watched this swill  and i liked that movie much better . it works as a b movie . it has lamer dialog  hokier acting  cheesier effects and an honest to gosh real gila monster as the monster  carno  just doesn  t pack much of a b movie punch . it has some gore  and that polchek guy comes close to being funny a few times but this movie is underwhelming  almost . . . . flaccid . it  s the little engine that couldn  t of dinosaur movies . i  m not saying you shouldn  t watch the movie .  br    br   some people can watch gum drying on a sidewalk and feel entertained . if you  re one of those people  then give this movie a shot .  
  mechenosets  is one of the most beautiful romantic movies i  ve ever seen . the name of the film can be translated in english as  the sword  bearer  . the main hero  sasha  was born with one exceptional ability he can protect himself with the extremely sharp sword which emerges from under the skin in his hand . at first side he can seem one more foolish superhero from the senseless movie about unreal events and feelings . but it is not about mechenosets . he hardly can be even called the anti  hero . i think he is just a person who lost the purport in his life and faith in good  justice and love . in his life he has never met someone who could understand and love him  except his mother  . every his step is stained with blood he takes revenge on everybody for his gift which became a damnation for him . and suddenly he meets her . she doesn  t need the idle talks and explanations . she loves him for what he is . she doesn  t care what he did . the fact that he  s next to her is more important than anything else . but soon she finds out his secret he kills two people  her ex  boyfriend and his bodyguard  to protect her before her very eyes . even after that she couldn  t escape her feelings . they try to run but it  s hart to hide . finally they have a serious car accident . he is caged she is in a mental hospital . they don  t know anything about each other  but she believes that he  ll save her . he surmounts a lot of obstacles but finally finds her . they run again but they aren  t invulnerable . she is wounded  she needs a rest  but police almost catch them . he doesn  t know what to do  they drive into a corner  and then his sword begins to cut down trees  helicopter around them  but there is no need for it  because she is already dead in his arms  and he is the lonely person in the whole world again .  
this is one of the funniest movies i  ve ever seen . i rented it as a joke  expecting to get a giggle out of the first few scenes  and let me just say i  ve never laughed so hard in my life . the first scene where ninjas randomly pop out of the air and start a huge and ridiculous fire fight is one of the most incredibly funny stupid action movie moments of my life . this is not a dinosaur movie  but more a movie that makes fun  and doesn  t mean to at all  of the action genre . i didn  t see the first two  but judging by the complexity of the plot  i don  t think there  s to much i missed . if you wanna see a movie that goes great with a six pack or any herbal remedy  than i insist you rent this movie and sit back and watch a    years of advancement in cinema get thrown in the trash and get shat on by carnosours  
i watched it subtitled as it was in russian  but really enjoyed it . the main character sasha was born cursed  with a deadly weapon as an extension of his body . he lived his whole life unhappy because he was different and because anger caused him to do deadly things .  br    br   when sasha finally found love in a young woman named katya everyone tried to take her away from him ending in a deadly battle . there was a fair amount of gore  but not too much for the weak stomached .  br    br   not for people who like the regular old hollywood movie  but for those who enjoy independent films . kinda got the feeling of an asian fantasy film .  
like all carnosaur movies  this is a joke . the way the dinosaurs move  reminds me of when my sister plays with her dolls  because they cannot be any stiffer or more fake  looking than they were .  br    br   the plot had no sense whatsoever . i mean  first they  re on a bus  then in a warehouse then  all of a sudden  they  re on a boat . and let  s be serious  does it make sense that a couple of dinosaurs can stay together on a van  or on a ship  i thought dinosaurs were the biggest animals  and now they can fit on a moving van . it sounds stupid even when you think about it .  br    br   the only reason for which i gave this a   is because it  s still entertaining . i found it better than the first one  haven  t watched the second yet  . just  don  t rent it . i saw it on tv and it  s a good thing i did because i wouldn  t have wanted to waste money renting it .  
i recently  may      discovered that this childhood favorite was available as a dvd . although i  ve seen a great deal of high quality movies since then  late    s  i was   in        this three  episode  low budget thing still stands strong .  br    br   what  s fun is that i now watched it with my   year old daughter  and she experiences just the same as i remember from back then the creepy music  she had to hold my hand  even though she  s been raised with watching lotr and resident evil   the ever changing theories of who the culprit actually is  and also complaining about the theatrical voices from an era before norway discovered the difference between stage acting and movie acting .  br    br   this is the one and only good science fiction movie  or series  ever made in norway . and it  s still worth watching .  
arg . the shuffling dinosaurs are back to take another bite out of our sanity in this all  awful third film . this time  european terrorists  irish i  d say  hi  jack an army convoy supposed to be transporting uranium . they pull into a shipyard  open the truck and discover our old friends the carnosaurs . pandemonium comes visiting then when the rubber dinos chomp the terrorists  the cops and some marines . the whole film seems to be  again  largely inspired from alien  as carnosaur  was  with the pathetic marines going through the  claustrophobic  shipyard  guns at the ready . this third opus is probably the driest and ungoriest film of the lot  with only one spurt of blood when a rubber dino rips a marine  s head off . the dinos are stiff  shuffling creatures as usual and the t  rex sounds like an enraged elephant when it roars  it also appears to have no eyes  . one of the goofiest scenes of the film is when the coppers arrive on the scene they enter the building where the hijacked truck is kept and hear some weird noise coming from another truck . on opening it  surprise  the rubber reptile gang burst out and devour them . why were the dinos locked up in the second truck after escaping from the first  how did they get locked in as the truck door could only be locked from the outside  what was the point of filming this scene     oh bother  who cares  both thumbs down for the over  sized rubber iguanas .  
  read my lips  sur mes lvres    which probably has different idiomatic resonance in its french title  is a nifty  twisty contemporary tale of office politics that unexpectedly becomes a crime caper as the unusually matched characters slide up and down an ethical and sensual slippery slope .  br    br   the two leads are magnetic  emmanuelle devos  who i  ve never seen before despite her lengthy resume in french movies  and an even more disheveled than usual vincent cassel  who has brought a sexy and  or threatening look and voice to some us movies  .  br    br   the first half of the movie is on her turf in a competitive real estate office and he  s the neophyte . the second half is on his turf as an ex  con and her wrenching adaptation to that milieu .  br    br   writer  director jacques audiard very cleverly uses the woman  s isolating hearing disability as an entre for us into her perceptions  turning the sound up and down for us to hear as she does  so it  s even more annoying than usual when audience members talk   using visuals as sensory reactors as well .  br    br   none of the characters act as anticipated  she is not like that pliable victim from  in the company of men   not in individual interactions  not in scenes  and not in the overall arc of the unpredictable story line  well  until the last shot  but heck the audience was waiting for that fulfillment  as we move from a hectic modern office  to a hectic disco to romantic and criminal stake  outs .  br    br   there is a side story that  s thematically redundant and unnecessary  but that just gives us a few minutes to catch our breaths .  br    br   this is one of my favorites of the year   br    br    originally written            
towards the end of this thriller ally sheedy  s gaunt latter  day image is used creatively to make up more than one hauntingly evil image . she convinces one that  if a nasty bette davis  type role were to come her way  she could carry it off brilliantly . unfortunately  i can  t find many other reasons for seeing this . if you  ve wondered what sheedy looks like in a pair of old  fashioned glasses  but why should anyone   then here  s your answer . for the rest  sally kirkland  s sex  starved crazy woman is really tiresome  and even if you like this sort of thing more than i do you  ll have to admit that the tension sags badly during these scenes . savage  s drunken brute of an insurance agent is equally distasteful but at least it  s a small role . of the leading actors  nicholas walker inspires no sympathy at all for paul keller  s plight and his acting is wooden . dara tomanovich is better and during her scenes with sheedy the level rises a little . sheedy  s meticulous  understated performance  though she often seems to be on automatic pilot  is admirable in itself but out of context with the rest . the sets are drab  the camera  work undistinguished .  
i remember this show from swedish television . i was only  years of age and it scared me beyond belief .  br    br   i would love to revisit this series and see if it was just as excellent as remember though i suspect my taste and demands have changed .  br    br   although this was released before alien and a plethora of other space  thrillers i suspect that it has its root in scary movies from the   s and the political climate of the   s . when i think of it  this was a real sci  fi  a movie trying to discuss scientific and political questions about who we are and what we are . the term sci  fi has since then become bleak and come to be the term for any movie that has space  ships in them .  
i haven  t seen the first two  only this one which is called primal species in england . i don  t think i  ll be bothering to look them out though .  br    br   this is an awful film . terrible acting  bad dialogue  cheap rubber monsters . everything about it is so nasty . the most sympathetic characters die really quickly and leave you with the annoying ones  especially one called polchak  who is an incredible jerk . no  one like that would survive  minutes in the army . he lasted for ages but i was pleased when he finally got his head got chewed off  i was having nightmares he was going to survive . the colonel was rubbish too  all moody pouts and clueless shouting . and the specky doctor looked and acted like she was out of a porno . i was waiting for her to take her glasses off  shake her hair and turn into a vamp  but she didn  t . pity that  as it would  ve livened the film up no end .  br    br   didn  t roger corman used to make half decent films once   
it  s beyond my comprehension that so much rubbish from norway has been remastered for dvd release  and still gems like this don  t get a shot at recapturing their past glory . i give this a   not because it is very good  but because it is one of the few scifi films made for norwegian television . this film is nothing less than a film  historic gem that in so many ways foreshadows the first alien film . and  my word  blindpassasjer was first  did ridley scott or anyone in the crew see the mini  series  however unlikely  the fact remains that the scenes are extremely similar . okay  the budget is  much  lower in the norwegian film  but given that  it  s a really well  done piece of work from the desolate age of norwegian movie  making  which incidentally lasted until the   s .  
ok . . . . . this is the third in the series of carnosaur . lets star with the dinosaur puppets  in the start of the film you cant see the dino  s cause when the body count starts you can only see the dino  s eye vision  pretty smart to hide the bad puppets  and maybe in   minutes forward on the film some special force team with scott valentine as the leader rance  the team walks into the warehouse and then they begins to find body parts and dead body  s after the dino rampage  after a while some big box comes failing on the team and you can hear a velociraptor scream  pretty creepy    and then a black girl walks forward and now one blooper is found  it pops up a raptor hand and slashed her face but if you pause when the raptor hand comes you can see that its just a guy with a hand puppet   wtf  the story is simple .  . some terrorist  s attacks some truck cause they though it wash some weapons in there .  . they where dead wrong it seams to be ten tons raptor and one giant t  rex in there  how did the t  rex fit in there     . rance and some nerds will kill the dinosaurs  sadly some stupid blond girl told him to capture one of them alive   . holy jesues the raptors have wheels on their feats   . the dino  s is now on a boat in the pacific .   strange i didn  t know that the t  rex had a strange thing on hes neck     . the end . the film is good if you want a good laugh .      
ok . i admit . i  m one of those nerds who have spent all to many hours with my beloved dvd player and my wonderful television set watching science fiction series . star trek  next generation  was my first space date  and since then i  ve switched partners regularly . i  ve seen  em all  it seems  and my favorites are lexx  farscape and the new battlestar galactica  in other words the newest  state of the art space operas . but  i also have a general crush on the old fashioned ones  the cheap ones  like the magnificent four seasoned bbc show blakes   . here  the budgets are smaller than hobbits  the special effects seem to be made on a commodore    but who cares when the scripts are sharp and intelligently written with dark humor  the acting dead serious and at times even high class   br    br   but why do they always speak english in the space future  because this is not the future  it  s fantasy for kids . still  it can be irritating at times . me  being a norwegian  have often damned this appalling fact that one never makes genre series  like science fiction  for scandinavian viewers . i never ever thought of the fact that this might have happened . but it did  actually  once  and even in my own homeland  norway . i was two years old when the so called fjernsynsteatret  tv theater section  of our national public service channel nrk produced this three episode version of blindpassasjer  the stowaway  .  br    br   when i first heard of it  i was not surprised of the fact that until this day  the show has only been screened once in norway  making it impossible for me to actually see it . it went on swedish  danish and finnish television also  in it  s time  but that was a long time ago . there have been no video or dvd release of it  not a surprise either  and when it was screened on an art house cinema  this happened in bergen  a city far far away from oslo  where i live  . and then there  s another fact about blindpassasjer that didn  t surprise me  that it was written by the two norwegian authors tor ge bringsvrd and jon bing  bingbringsvrd  . this duo basically introduced the scifi genre to norwegians in the seventies they published anthologies and wrote what they called fable prose . in my opinion  bringsvrd is the most interesting of the two writers  and has written several great and entertaining novels  masterpieces even  some of them hilarious  such as bazar and syvsoverskens dystre frokost . no other than this guy  also an acclaimed dramatist  could construct the script of blindpassasjer .  br    br   when i finally got to watch it  it was because a strange swede who recorded the three episodes on vcr in the    s  eventually managed to transform it to dvd and give it to me . he was a nice bloke . so i sat down and watched it  with swedish subtitles  bad sound and some scrapes and errors but the thing came through and i was surprised that i eventually came to love it .  br    br   the exterior scenes with the spaceships and planets are better than the ones in blakes   and the credit goes to caprino studios  who made the famous flklypa grand prix   and the interior of the marco polo  the space ship  works better than i  d expected . the acting is typically theatrical  but it works better than when they play ibsen  to put it mildly  and bjrn floberg carries his role solidly  as does trini lund . the legendary actress henny moan delivers her lines in a serious and laid back tone which fits the genre  but this is an ensemble play  and i  m happy to say that ola b . johannesen carries his mustache with nobility  and marit stbye is a really hot space chic of my standards .  br    br   but is it really that good  well  one have to swallow the rather abrupt ending  the pretentious criticism of modern society  but yes  it  s  well  not really really really fantastic  but charming  cool  nostalgic and pleasant . one and a half hour of classic norwegian scifi .  
ok i had higher hopes for this carnosaur movie simply because it seemed like the sequels were getting better as they came out . i did like carnosaur  better than  . i figured well this one is newer so it must be better right  well . . . i quickly learned i was wrong . i was extremely confused with the casting . they brought back rick dean for another spotlight character and michael macdonald as a police officer . now for rick dean lol  in carnosaur  i thought he fit the role pretty well and wasn  t really annoyed by him  now in carnosaur  wow they placed him as an elite soldier . now we are getting goofy here . the movie actually started out pretty good with a decent gun fight and dinos escaping out of there little freezer trucks  but as soon as scott valentines team showed up we had a mix of a romantic comedy with very funny performances from retarded and floppy dinosaurs .  br    br   i  ll start with the raptors first  they had there tails drag the ground  which in the second one they were up in the air which looked more common for a dinosaur that can run up to      mph . now when they ran they wiggled back and forth and the heads didn  t move at all . there hands were floppy all over the place and since they were extremely poorly shot by the director they looked stupid and out of place .  br    br   the t  rex was extremely pathetic  they would of been better off using the one from the previous  movies . at least that one looked somewhat frightening . the one in this film looked like it was smiling all the time . the legs when it walked was hilarious  like it was john wayne in the old west all stiff legged and stuff . lol another thing i noticed is that the hands did not move  they were stuck next to its body so it looked and sounded  god the sound effects were awful  retarded    now if i was the director and realized that i had this to work with maybe i would of maybe tried a little bit harder to hide the fakeness fact . as for the rest of the movie  well this was the sloppiest and loudest military team i have ever seen . the weapons they used wouldn  t make sense for the scenario . they even had an arm wrestling scene inside the warehouse where the carnosaurs were roaming  now i was tickled at this scene because i thought that while this stupidity was going on that the dinos would get in there and cause some damage . instead the director wasted about  minutes of our time . i would like to look at this movie as the  stooges of dinosaur movies . you have retarded military  retarded dinosaurs  retarded scenario and you have a wonderful   minutes to spend of your day watching this .  br    br   now i  m not saying i wouldn  t watch this  bc actually i do recommend everyone see this movie that wants   minutes of pure entertainment . it may seem like i  m ranting but really i  m hyping this movie up to what it is . its really a lot of fun to watch because while watching this you think to yourself   did the director really make this seriously    
  br    br   this movie is full of references . like  mad max ii    the wild one  and many others . the ladybugs face its a clear reference  or tribute  to peter lorre . this movie is a masterpiece . well talk much more about in the future .  
everything in this film is bad  the story  the acting  the effects but its funny  funny  funny    scott valentine with the army uniform thats ten sizes too big is so bad with the permanent attempt at a scowl on his face as the leader of a special ops group its hilarious  the   terrorists   are as scary and realistic as the   raptors    this is so phoney and bad at everything it tries you have to laugh . the part where the giant t  rex who somehow snuck on board a ship and then somehow got below is blown up and you see the metal pole sticking up where its head was is the perfect ending . if your into bad films  this is the pot of gold  the mona lisa of b  b  bad     
to quote flik  that was my reaction exactly wow . . . you  re perfect  this is the best movie  i think i can even say it  s become my favorite movie ever  even . wow . i tell you what  wow .  
i just couldn  t stop laughing   this movie is incredibly funny and stupid  but  never mind that  it is very entertaining  in this film  you don  t need to pay attention to anything  the acting is the same  lame  the dinosaurs are the same  rubber  oh  my i could see the stick that holds t  rex head for a moment .  the raptors are the same from the carnosaur   t  rex is also the same  but . . . in some scenes his head looks kinda stuffed and it looks like some kind of project failure from kindergarten . action is fast  sometimes too fast  actually i talk about fast editing  they edited it so fast  so that we cannot see the rubber dinosaurs  but oopps  to late  they are rubber  well  only things interesting here is to see rick dean in this sequel .  br    br   what can i say . . . don  t rent it . . . watch it on tv  with friends  it is much more entertaining   
this movie is by far the cutest i have seen in a long time  wonderful animation and adorable characters  even the bad guys were cute   made this one a total winner in my book  and also in the books of those i saw it with . i still want to see it again  but haven  t had time . better than toy story  which was good too  but not this good .  
primal species comes from b movie legend roger corman and as such everybody who watches this needs to realise that this is a low budget b movie and it knows it .  br    br   a bunch of terrorists high  jack a lorry and kill an entire army doing so  they believe it to hold uranium  but no . . . . . it contains two dino  s with a taste for human flesh . . . then a crack team  who might as well be called delta force get called in .  br    br   ok  this ain  t jurassic park  and yes the dino  s are never clearly seen because it  s obviously a guy in a costume that  s not too dissimilar to barney the dinosaur  only slightly less terrifying  but come on guys this had about   of jurassic park  s budget and as such does what it can .  br    br   does this deserve to be in the bottom     . . . . hell no    i think the nearly half of voters who give this a   are being way way overly harsh  it  s much closer to a  . . . it  s actually a lot better than a whole host of other movies not in the bottom     and has a similar production value to a sci  fi channel production .  again movies which get a overly harsh time from critics here on imdb   br    br   the acting is as expected in a b movie although none of the actors take it that seriously  neither does the script  br    br   all in all it  s an enjoyable b movie  not for film snobs  br    br    out of   
i thought this was a quiet good movie . it was fun to watch it . what i liked best where the  outtakes  at the end of the movie . they were great .  
i don  t know where to start the acting  the special effects and the writing are all about as bad as you can possibly imagine . i can  t believe that the production staff reached a point where they said   our job is done  time for it  s release  . i  m just glad the first two in the series never made it as far as the uk . i would actually recommend watching this film just so you can appreciate how well made most films are .  br    br   i don  t know how any of the other imdb users could find it scary when the  terrifying  dinosaurs waddle down corridors with rubber arms flailing around .  
i have to admit right off the top  i  m not a big fan of  family  films these days . most of them  imho  are sentimental crap . but this one  like toy story  the previous film from pixar  is a lot of fun . the two lead characters were perhaps a bit too bland  especially compared to the two leads in antz  but otherwise this film is better   but the rest of the film more than made up for it . the animation looked great  the humor  though broad  was consistently good  i especially liked hopper  s line  if i hadn  t promised mother on her deathbed that i wouldn  t kill you  i would kill you     and the actors doing the voices  except the two leads  were all terrific  denis leary doing an animated movie what a concept  . and like everyone else  i loved the outtakes  i hope the video has the new ones .  
this is one of the most hilariously bad movies i have ever had the privilege to see .  br    br   i watched this on dvd with a bunch of friends one friday night and we just couldn  t stop laughing from start to finish .  br    br   the story is simple enough terrorists hijack a convoy they think is carrying weapons grade uranium  but it  s actually carrying a bunch of man  eating dinosaurs . easy mistake to make . cue a startlingly incompetent team of army special forces to tackle the prehistoric beasts . they are led by colonel rance  played by scott valentine a man who seems to have perfected  smell the fart  acting  as advocated by joey in friends .  br    br   there  s plenty of gore and an awful lot of shooting  but unfortunately rance  s team seem to have a problem aiming their weapons in the general direction of a horde of giant  lumbering monsters . also  the lights always seem to flicker and go out whenever a velociraptor attacks  preumably so we can  t see how bad the creature effects are  .  br    br   having said all that  we all had a great deal of fun betting on who was going to get their head bitten off next .  br    br   as a jusassic park  aliens style action adventure this movie stinks worse than a dinosaur  s crotch  but as ludicrous  tongue  in  cheek entertainment it  s a roaring success .  
this movie blew me away . if you can see only one of the animated bug movies this year see this one instead of antz . the plot  characters  and jokes are better in a bugs life . also when you go stay in your seat until the end of the credits . it  s the best part of the movie . rating   
the third installment of the  carnosaur  trilogy features a bunch of keystone kops  quality military commandos trying to kill two velociraptors and a t  rex . i give it a  out of sheer sympathy and my affinity for dinosaurs . the movie is definitely the worst of the trilogy  it really can  t be taken seriously . more significantly  however  watching this movie i can  t help but notice some interesting parallels between the  carnosaur  and  xtro  trilogies . the first installment in both franchises is a dark  disturbing film that has become a cult classic  the second is an  alien  ripoff  and the third is a tongue  in  cheek  almost slapstick  whether intentional or not  movie that has you rolling on the floor laughing . also  like the  xtro  franchise  all the  carnosaur  movies are completely unrelated to one another . they they only carry the franchise name to drum up interest in the  sequels   i guess . obviously  carnosaur  and  xtro  have two different production groups at work here  but if you  ve seen all three movies of both franchises you find yourself referring back and forth between the two .  
i was amazed at the improvements made in an animated film . if you sit close to the screen  you will see the detail in the grass and surface structures . the detail  colors  and shading are at least an order of magnitude better than toy story . how they were able to pull off the shading  i will never know . i do hope that pixar will provide a documentary on how the film was produced so i can find out how all this was accomplished . based on this film  i think animated films of the future will be judged on the basis of this film .  
well here i go with another b industry movie . it  s sad enough to see some badly made films but i don  t care if a b industry or c industry produces the film . show some effort in your work . the characters are really bad . the acting isn  t in question in this one  surprise   but plot is . how can a tight  knit squad witness two of their fellow soldiers butchered  and then go on as if nothing happened . what sickened me was how the writer even threw in the remaining members a scene where they joke about how nice the doctor  s ass was . give me a break .  
sur mes lvres or read my lips is fine little thriller that also examines the lives of  outsiders   people who live in the periphery of our vision who struggle with the need to  fit in  . director jacques audiard with and co  writer tonino benacquista have created a tense  tight  completely entertaining little thriller that makes some significant statements about out of the norm individuals and their plights .  br    br   carla  emmanuelle devos  is a plain jane  mostly deaf  thirty something unnoticed secretary for a company whose life is one of social and sexual isolation and whose view of the future is rather bleak . enter paul  vincent cassel  a recent released ex  con parolee who responds to an ad to be carla  s assistant . there is a mutual physical repulsion at first meeting carla had hoped for a well  groomed  genteel man who might fulfill her fantasies and paul is a coarse  unkempt sleazy guy who is not impressed with being a clerk . their concepts change rather quickly when paul salvages carla  s job by filling her request to steal a letter that would cost her her job and paul discovers carla  s lip reading ability which he sees as a way to spy on the criminals from his past who threaten his life for money owed . so this odd couple of a team join forces and together enter a dangerous suspense filled ploy to gain paul  s safety and freedom . the relationship is full of twists and edge of the seat suspense with each of these unlikely characters fulfilling roles in their lives that fill the chinks in their walls of isolation in surprising ways .  br    br   devos and cassel deliver bravura performances and the remainder of the cast is uniformly strong . once again alexandre desplat has produced a musical score that enhances the tension and cinematographer mathieu vadepied finds all the right lighting and angles to suggest the worlds of isolation of the characters as well as the hitchcockian sense of suspense . director audiard wisely manipulates a factor that is at once sensitive and transformative for the story he shows us the difference between  hearing  the world with and without hearing aids and in doing so makes some powerful social comments . this is a fine film that remains in the ranks of the best of the french film noir genre . recommended . grady harp  
nicholas walker is paul  the local town reverand who  s married to martha  ally sheedy   but also is a habitual womanizer and decides to fake his own death to run away with his current affair  veronica  dara tomanovich  . however in so doing  he gets a bout of amnesia  hence the name of the film  . sally kirkland is also on hand as a crazy old coot who pines for the good reverand in a shades of  misery  type of way . it  s sad to see a pretty good cast wasted like this . not the least bit john savage in a horridly forgettable role as a shoddy private investigator . in a film billed as a  black comedy   one has to bring both elements into said movie . while this does bring the former in spades  it sadly contains none of the latter . furthermore you can  t emphasize with any of the characters and as thus  have absolutely no vested interest in them . technically not an all  together bad movie just an extremely forgettable one .  br    br   eye candy dara tomanovich gets topless sally kirkland also shows some skin  br    br   my grade c   br    br   where i saw it showtime showcase  
all of you who despaired looking at the emptiness and weaknesses of disney studios  last productions  here comes something that should heal your wounds . . . once and for all  a bug  s life brings the proof that purely synthetic pictures conducting a good scenario provides more interest than fake  hand  made  old  disneys  like  drawings  see the lion king  pocahontas  and all the latest productions where you sadly regret that bambi  s magical background and atmosphere are gone forever  .  br    br   a bug  s life      pattes for my fellow french cinemaniaks   succeeds in avoiding all the imperfections that make you awaken in the middle of the movie and say  hey  this thing is computer generated   . no weak parts  a tremendous effort showing its efficiency in the backgrounds and the general look of the sets  an astonishing  d bird  close to perfection in its imitation of reality  . . . and that  s only to mention the technical aspects .  br    br   the scenario  my friends  the real backbone of a motion picture  has some thickness  curiously  and obviously thanks to lasseter  s team  there is practically no musical sequence in a bug  s life . which means the story is long and rich enough to free itself from these  or  minutes that some kids appreciate  but most others dislike  same thing for the parents or the anime fans  like me  . this movie reminded me of a really old movie featuring steve martin and chevy chase  the  amigos  it had basically the same background story  a whole mexican village living in the fear of a few bad guys hires gunmen  who finally turn to be actors  to protect them  etc . . .  . simple  but efficient  and brilliantly adapted to a colony of frightened ants facing the wrath of vicious insects .  br    br   since microcosmos  many movies tell tales of insects  their lives  fears and hopes  but i do think that a bug  s life is the funniest and best directed of all . the humanisation process has been perfectly well achieved . . . and the whole audience was captivated by flik  s  aka tilt in france  adventures .  br    br   a big thank you for lasseter  s team  especially for the last   seconds . . . it  s so strange and great at the same time to see a whole theater caught in laughter while the bugs  actors forget their lines or hit the camera . . .  br    br   and finally  especially for those of you who have seen the french version  other congratulations go to the dubbing actors who made a great synchro work on this movie . a bug  s life is a really good piece of entertainment  and i think it will soon become part of my collection of videos  a privilege granted to extremely few movies  and that  s not a problem of storage room   . go and see it  that  s an order .  
put aside a dr . house repeat that i had missed  and a desperate housewives  new  to watch this one . i don  t know exactly what plagued this movie . i never thought i  d say this  but i want my   minutes of fame back .  br    br   script  direction  i can  t say . i recognized the stable of actors  the usual suspects   but thought herbert marshall was a class addition and sat myself down for a good cheesy flick . boy  was i wrong . dullsville .  br    br   my favorite parts where the  office girl  makes with the    keypunch and puts the cards into a    sorter . lol   the computer  . i  d like someone identify the next device  a     it  s before even this dinosaur  s time .  br    br   and we dinosaurs don  t have that much time to waste .  
disney  and the wonderful folks at pixar of course  offer a nice  humourous story combined with the best of computer animation . i admit that maybe the  faces  of the bugs were a little more static than in  antz  and they only had four legs  in  antz  six . . .  . but backgrounds were superb and animation was breathtaking . but let this be a lesson it was not the computer who made it such a success  it was the man behind the machine  who added the nice little twists  which i missed in  antz  . some highlights were of course the  bloopers  at the end  so keep watching at the end  it  s worth it    which were highly amusing and original . the line  filmed entirely on location  was intended for the more attentive viewer .  
i  m sorry but this is just plain pathetic . the little girl was a brat  their were no enjoyable characters and the plot sucked . besides it wasn  t even a gator as the film would like us to believe . if you check out any complete guide to reptiles you will find that it really is a crocodile  not a gator . obviously they didn  t hire a real animal expert or they would know that the creature is a croc . it is a sad excuse for a movie . especially the ending . i nearly fell asleep with this one .  
for starters  it  s a very funny movie with a few crazy characters running around that are bound to make laugh  check out the two russian bugs  .  br    br   a bug  s life has a classical disney storyline  but that  s one of the good things about the movie . family values are praised and the main characters of the film undergo some evolution in order to stand up against the grasshoppers in the end . and it also has a couple of great voice  overs by dave foley  julia  louise dreyfus  kevin spacey  of course   . . . but actually  the most amazing thing about this movie is the animation . it  s just wonderful . all the details  great colors  every ant looks different  beautiful backgrounds . . . and the guys and girls at pixar made it all look so realistic . all in all  a very nice piece of work . this is the best animation by disney since aladdin .  
not to be confused with lewis teague  s  alligator        which actually is an excellent film  this  il fiume del grande caimano  laboriously ends the exotic trilogy sergio martino made around the end of the seventies  including the rather watchable  l  isola degli uomini pesce  and the not so good  la montagna del dio cannibale   . tracing outrageously the plot of  jaws   the script fails at creating any suspense what so ever . the creature is ludicrous and its victims are simply despicable . stelvio cipriani  s lame tune poorly illustrates the adventures of these silly tourists presented from the very beginning as the obvious items of the reptile  s meal . no thrill out of this  rather laughters actually  and we could find this pitiful flick quite funny if the dialogs and the appearance of the natives were not so obviously inspired by pure racism . very soon the giggling stops in favor of a sour feeling witnessing such a patronizing attitude . we could excuse badly made films and poor fxs  but not that kind of mentality . never   
the animation was fab and the film funny . the two circus bugs  tuck  roll were very funny . if you waited till the credits at the end  you saw a very funny sequence of film  where they showed the bugs pretending to do things wrong like in other movies  that was clever as it made the characters more human and beliveable .  
very bad film . very  very  very bad film . it  s a rarity  but it defenitly is not worth hunting down . this italian jaws rip  off makes little sense most of the time  and no sense the rest . the  alligator  is not at all convincing  and many of the sub  plots go nowhere . if it  s at the local video store  you may want to watch it if you  re a fan of monster movies  but it  s not worth hunting down .  
a must see by all  if you have to borrow your neighbors kid to see this one . easily one of the best animation  cartoons released in a long  time . it took the the movies antz to a whole new level . do not mistake the two as being the same movie  although in principle the movies plot is similiar . just go and enjoy .  
ok  the cons first the obligatory     s alligator  all right  correction  caiman  with nonmoving limbs is made the worse for scale miniature underwater shots  with the full length of reptile comparative to the size of the boat  utilizing a toy alligator being swirled around the toy boat in broadly lit water  even for nighttime shots   br    br   unlike most primitives  killing  exploitative  westerners films  the superstitious natives going bat and start massacring the vacationers seems unjustified this time . no one really abused the natives  exploited  yes  but far from abusive treatment . after all it was one of the natives  canoodling with a spoiled supermodel during a taboo full moon  that brought the curse of the river demon on them  right   br    br   the vacationers are easily annoying  with the notable exception of the token old  soul  mildly blasphemous  little  girl  who  takes  a  shine  to  the  heroes that you often see in    s euroflicks   but far from from deserving violent death  unless they were your next door neighbors  mind you . a couple actually get killed being heroic  notable in that none of them fill the role of sidekick . there are only two straight villains in the entire film  so the demises feel more arbitrary than cathartic .  br    br   the sequence where the giant caiman crunches down and scarfs thirty tourists in under five minutes will probably strike you as unintentionally hilarious .  br    br   the point at which the natives decide not to wipe the surviving westerners and practically saying  hey  you aren  t so bad after all  sorry about that fuss last night   because they blew up the monster lizard  has you shaking your head as the corny music kicks in . you know  the local military dictatorship will wipe out the village for ing with the tourist trade after the credits roll . . .  br    br   the pros barbara bach . barbara bach . barbara bach . barbara bach . you all know why you  re interested in this film in the first place  right  i thought so . if you  re a bach completist  get the dvd reissued by noshame films earlier this year  digitally remastered with no real extras to speak of  aside from the director bemoaning the current state of international film distribution  .  br    br   the hero isn  t half bad  being far from an idiot  always a plus in b films  and the cynical little kid provides most of the comic relief .  br    br   worth a look  but get it cheaply   
i liked antz  but loved  a bug  s life  . the animation that was put into this paid off . i will definitely be getting this on dvd . by the way  disney should make a widescreen version of this movie on tape .  i heard talk of squishing all of the characters into the screen on the standard video format  . most will have to agree that the ending credits were the funniest  i only saw one of the two sets  but i can  t wat to see the other one   
i really do fail to see the actual surplus value of this movie . it  s not bad enough to be hilarious . there  s no sleaze or gratuitous nudity  although there was plenty of opportunity  . there  s no gore . there  s no suspense in the first hour of the movie  cause there  s way to much scenes of tourist having a party and natives playing funky tribal music . that last part was actually funny on many occasions you see these natives hitting congas and  jembs  and that  s indeed what you hear  badly synchronized  on the soundtrack . but they also added this funky bass  line on the soundtrack . so  where was the bass  player  at one point the natives get angry and start killing the tourists . why all of the sudden  it  s supposed to be because the evil white men build this tourist complex  which according to their myth awakened the wrath of the river  alligator  god  i actually missed the explanation for that one  . but the natives did help for several months to build the tourist complex  so why the sudden angriness  and how in the hell did they manage to push the helicopter in the water    it  s all silly and pointless . this movie also features the skinniest afro  american model i  ve ever seen .  br    br   at one point our heroic leading couple visits this cave where a weird  crazy old man lives . the only point to that scene is that they make the  shocking  discovery that the killer  crocodile is actually an alligator . crocodile or alligator  what  s the difference  it  s big  it  s made out of plastic and it eats people . all the same to me . the alligator is a rather silly creation . it  s very stiff  motionless and doesn  t even flap its feet when it swims . the eyes don  t even move when they  re shot in close  up . i guess they didn  t know  animatronics  back then in italy during     . there  s also a lot of pointless inter  cut shots of the local wildlife . i suspect it  s stock footage .  br    br   like  i said  the first hour was pretty lame and the only reason i didn  t switch off the movie was because my cat was asleep on my lap and i didn  t want to wake the sweet thing . but the last half hour of the movie did get better . we finally get to see some action when the alligator swims through a horde of panicking people snapping its teeth and munching on them . the most entertaining  and at the same time funny  scene is when alice and daniel drive a van over a bridge and it collapses . we  re looking at a matchbox  version of the van falling in the river here . funny . but nicely shot . in fact there are several other nice traveling camera  moves . surprisingly for this type of flick . i was gonna point out some stupid details concerning the end of the movie  but i don  t wanna spoil it completely  in case you do decide to watch this movie . my advice is to stay away from it . if you wanna see a decent alligator movie  then see lewis teague  s alligator . i admit  that one isn  t italian and isn  t a jaws rip  off  but it certainly is more fun . and if you  re interested in other movies made by director sergio martino  then i strongly recommend the highly entertaining      after the fall of new york . that one  s an over  the  top rip  off of every possible existing post  apocalyptic  future  of  doom  movie .  italians  and  rip  offs   two words that go together very well .  
now this is what a family movie should be  there are few films of recent years that have been targeted at families or children that really are worthy of their viewing public but this is one of them . my whole family came away from the film  awed  entertained  dazzled  and happy . we  re still quoting little anecdotes from it here and there . the children loved it and so did we  hubbie and i are   and    respectively    br    br   apart from its beautiful and striking animation  the characters  small as they may be  and imaginary as they are  are very well developed . there isn  t one of them that you cannot empathize with . the personalities bringing these little creatures to life are well casted voice talents  combined with the skill and artistry of some of disney  s best animators . this is a film worthy of walt disney  himself . i think mr . disney would heartily approve of this new film . . . flick  dot and their fellow band of tiny heroes may become as popular as mickey and minnie in our time .  br    br   this is one the family leaves the theatre wanting to see again . . and buy to own on video or dvd . i  m eager to see it again . . to pick up what i might have missed the first time .  never have i seen my children so quickly and vividly identify with and embrace characters before . . . my daughter is still talking about little  dot  .   br    br   this film is funny  heartwarming  clever and great fun for the whole family   
first off i want to say that this film is worthy of more than the four stars i rated it . i gave it four stars because for me this   minute movie always seems like  and a half hours and is not engaging enough to sit through it all . however   the big alligator river   the title my dvd calls it  is better than your average nature strikes back movie .  br    br   a tourist resort in the jungles of southeast asia is just opening and employs the natives while trying to manipulate the wildlife around . mother nature seeking revenge comes in the form of the god kroona  a giant alligator . but the creature isn  t the only thing the tourists and the main characters  a photographer and the resort staff  have to worry about  the natives are getting rubbed the wrong way too .  br    br   this movie is a pretty well  done adventure  horror story with a good musical score and direction . but the alligator itself  the main attraction of the movie  is obviously fake looking . some of the close  ups of its jaws are good but that should be all we need to see . some of the underwater far  away shots make it painfully obvious that what we are really dealing with is an alligator squeaky  toy you can probably get at a zoo souvenir shop . but the natives are believable  if not authentic .  br    br   probably not the movie that will give you non  stop thrills  if any  but shot and produced well enough to be given good mention . and like a lot of creature movies  this one ends with an extremely high body count . it also has lots of good jungle scenery . acting is below par though  but who was expecting it to be better  eh   br    br   much  much better than its recent american counterpart  primeival  but nothing to be compared with  jaws  . but remember it may not be engaging at a few points .  
bugs life is a good film . but to me  it doesn  t really compare to movies like toy story and stuff . don  t get me wrong  i liked this movie  but it wasn  t as good as toy story . the film has the visuals  the laughs  and others that toy story had . but the film didn  t feel quite as . . . i don  t know  but i thought it was still a pretty good film .  br    br   a bugs life . . . i don  t want to say this  is a film that i don  t remember . i saw it years ago . of course  i haven  t seen toy story in years  but i still remember it . i shouldn  t have reviewed this film  but i am . i am giving it a thumbs up  though it  s not exactly the best work pixar has done .  br    br   a bug  s life    
let me start out by saying i can enjoy just about any bad italian horror movie or jungle exploitation flick from the      s . seriously . this one was downright awful .  br    br   there are way too many elements that martino tries to inject and none of them work  except for the croc  gone  wild thing  very well at all . there are some ignorant westerners  of course  who set up a resort in the jungle somewhere . i don  t even remember where it takes place . . . how sad is that . . . basically  people come to the resort to see this native tribe and its  ceremonies but eventually they upset the  alligator god  of the river who then proceeds to go on a rampage  killing said vacationers and some tribesmen as well . sounds good  yeah  well  don  t get your hopes up . there is minimal violence until the end  the special effects are so bad it was like a kindergarten class performed them and the love story thrown in is laughable .  br    br   there is seriously a few scenes where it appears they set up a camera underwater in a pool and threw a toy alligator  like a dart  into the water and that is supposed to be the gator attacking . i  m not kidding . in another wonderfully crafted special effect  a matchbox van is targeted by the incredible sinking plastic gator  who all of a sudden is five times the size of a van .  a few minutes ago  he was only big enough to eat a human  but now he dwarfs a full  size cargo van . . .  it is really pathetic . the only other flick i can think of where the effects were so bad i was pulled out of the story was bruno mattei  s masterpiece   rats   what with the plastic rats on the conveyor belt and all who couldn  t be terrified .  br    br   normally i  d say anything sergio martino was a solid must  see but this one is a must  pass . waste of time and definitely not worth buying for the     sticker price from no shame . this one is a shame .  br    br    out of    kids .  
pixar has had massive success over the years with the full  length cgi animated movies they have made .  a bug  s life  was the second of a whole bunch of features they have made so far  preceded by the company  s feature  length debut  the groundbreaking  toy story   which was the first ever feature  length cgi movie . i remember when this follow  up was heavily advertised around the time of its release in the late      s  but i never actually saw it until november     . i watched it twice that month  and over three years later  i have seen it a third time . it has never impressed me as much as probably any other pixar film i  ve ever seen  but after three viewings  i still think it  s better than some of the films i  ve seen from dreamworks animation .  br    br   ant island is the home of a colony of ants . these ants are forced to gather food for a gang of grasshoppers who come and take it every year . one member of this colony is flik  an inventor with a bad reputation for causing trouble with his inventions  even though he doesn  t mean to . one year  when the colony has just finished preparing the annual offering  flik accidentally knocks it into a stream just before the grasshoppers arrive to get it  the grasshopper leader  hopper  decides to give them a second chance to gather food and have it ready by the end of the season  but they will have to double their offering  flik suggests to the colony  s royal council that he goes and finds  warrior bugs  to fight off the grasshoppers when they come back . princess atta  the future queen  lets him go on this mission just so he won  t be around to cause trouble while the colony tries to gather food for another offering . the inventor finds a group of bugs which he thinks are warriors  but after he takes them back to ant island and introduces them  he learns that they are actually not warriors  but circus bugs   br    br   the main reason why this second pixar feature has never absolutely astounded me might be the characters . to me  none of them have ever really stood out as much as they could have  and generally seem a bit bland . fortunately  however  it  s not like  shark tale   a film with a very idiotic and unlikable lead character .  a bug  s life  does have a likable enough main character  one which viewers can root for . the story also seems somewhat bland at times  but for the most part  it  s good enough to keep the film at least moderately entertaining  and sometimes has some good suspense  especially later on . the humour  like certain other aspects of the film  isn  t as good as it could have been  but there are definitely funny moments  some of them involving francis  a male ladybug who is sometimes mistaken for a female . you can always expect great animation from pixar  and the animation in this particular effort of theirs is no exception . with all this movie has to offer  it may be slightly disappointing when it comes to pixar standards  but it is reasonable family entertainment .  
this one is bad . a really bad and boring crime movie that has nothing out of the ordinary in it . a series of crimes  the killer that you do not see throughout the whole movie  the classic investigations . and also the classic tale about a cop who figures out what  s going on and isn  t believed by anyone  so he has to fight by himself to reveal the truth . not too much in this one . vote  out of   .  
a bug  s life is a very good animated feature . this movie is for younger children  but it is also a great movie for people my age . the story is about an ant named flik . he brought havoc onto his colony when he destroyed the food that were for the superior grasshoppers . he gets banished and he must find bigger bugs to fix the mess . this movie is a classic because it is a good movie and it is a pixar movie . the animation is brilliant especially for the late    s . the story is good  but a little more detail would be suffice . the voice acting is good as with most animation movies . the music is nice to listen to . nothing special  but it earned an nomination for one of the music categories . overall  this movie struck me as awestruck . this is a good movie for all families . i rate this movie      .  
this is a thriller with a good concept  good acting  good photography and good intentions all around  but which is confused and disjointed in execution .  br    br   garcia stars as john berlin  an l . a . forensic detective who has moved to a small california town at the behest of a friend of his on the force there . he soon becomes involved in the investigation of an unsolved murder which leads to his theorizing about the existence of a serial killer whom no one else believes in . the known victim is theorized to be blind  which leads to a romance with a blind girl  believed to be a witness  at a nearby school for the blind .  br    br   despite a basically intriguing story there were too many quantum leaps and plot holes in this movie where i found myself wondering   how the hell did we wind up here   or  how did we find this out   i found it confusing and disjointed  despite the good acting  etc . john malkovich has a small part toward the end as an f . b . i . investigator out to get berlin .  br    br   not recommended .  
carla works for a property developer  s where she excels in being unattractive  unappreciated and desperate . she is also deaf .  br    br   her boss offers to hire in somebody to alleviate her heavy workload so she uses the opportunity to secure herself some male company . help arrives in the form of paul  a tattooed hoodlum fresh out of prison and clearly unsuited to the mannered routine of an office environment .  br    br   an implicit sexual tension develops between the two of them and carla is determined to keep him on despite his reluctance to embrace the working week . when carla is edged out of an important contract she was negotiating by a slimy colleague she exploits paul  s criminality by having him steal the contract back . the colleague quickly realises that she  s behind the robbery  but when he confronts her  paul  s readiness to punch people in the face comes in handy too  but this thuggery comes at a price .  br    br   paul is given a  going over  by some mob acquaintances as a reminder about an unpaid debt . he formulates a plan which utilises carla  s unique lip reading abilities to rip  off a gang of violent bank robbers . it  s now carla  s turn to enter a frightening new world .  br    br   the fourth feature from director jacques audiard   read my lips  begins as a thoroughly engaging romantic drama between two marginalised losers only to shift gears halfway through into an edgy thriller where their symbiotic shortcomings turn them into winners . the leads are excellent effortlessly convincing us that this odd couple could really connect . carla  s first meeting with paul is an enjoyable farce in which she attempts to circumnavigate his surly reticence and jailbird manners only to discover that he was  until very recently  a jailbird . emmanuelle devos  who plays carla  has that almost exclusive ability to go from dowdy to gorgeous and back again within a frame . vincent cassel plays paul as a cornered dog who only really seems at home when he  s receiving a beating or concocting the rip  off that is likely to get him killed .  br    br   like many french films   read my lips  appears  at first  to be about nothing in particular until you scratch beneath the surface and find that it  s probably about everything . the only bum note is a subplot concerning the missing wife of paul  s parole officer a device that seems contrived only to help steer the main thrust of the story into a neat little feelgood cul  de  sac .  br    br   it was the french  new wave  of the    s that first introduced the concept of  genre  to film making and i  ve always felt that any medium is somewhat compromised when you have to use a system of labels to help define it so it  s always a pleasure to discover a film that seems to transcend genre  or better still  defy it .  
first of all  i was expecting  caged heat  to be along the same lines as  ilsa  the wicked warden  . boy  was i wrong  in no way is this film   s exploitation   chix in chains   or  women in prison  . sure  the plot consists of a bunch of women in prison  who wear street clothes btw  quite comical   but nothing happens .  br    br   there aren  t strong rivalries  no one tries to seduce the warden or doctor in order to try and escape  and no inmates make out . there are  shower scenes  that i suspect is just recycled footage  but no fights breaks out  no one is seduced here  or anywhere for that matter  aside from the lack of plot  unconvincing  unsympathetic  and flat characters  a couple of inmates that do manage to escape actually return to the prison in order to  free  their fellow inmates      br    br   puh  lease  the movie should have just ended off with the escapees riding off into the sunset . . . as opposed to letting this mess continue   br    br   i feel scammed .  
many of the american people would say . . . what    to my opening comment . yes i know that my comparison is without doubts an insult for the fans of the master akira kurosawa  but if you analyze this movie  my comment is right . we have the peasant who goes to the town searching for help against a band of grasshoppers who wants to steal the harvest of the village . the great difference is the way that the story takes . our samurais  a band of circus performers as in the original are a very complex mixture of personalities but at the end are what the village needs  heroes . please watch again this incredible movie  the seven samurai  obviously  and find another movies who has stolen the story and tried to get the same magic effect than the masterpiece of akira kurosawa . a tip is the   th warrior with antonio banderas  michael crichton copied the story to wrote his best seller  s  but he didn  t found the third foot of the cat .  
the thing that stands out in my mind in this film  sadly  is the introduction  where john berlin  andy garcia  is driving into town . you see his mercedes pass on a winding road through a forest that looks like its loaded with redwood trees . it  s quite beautiful .  br    br   as to andy garcia playing a character with the last name of berlin  well . . . andy is just too hispanic  latin for it to be passable . maybe a caucasian father married his spanish mother for this story  who knows . but i can tell you that when you put him in a town of farm folks and hicks  he stands out like a sore thumb  especially with his accent that flares up when he gets angry . yeah  i know  big deal right  he  s still a good actor .  br    br   the title concerns a serial killer who nicknames his victims jennifer . all of the victims are blind and he dismembers them . the killer has taken a hiatus but suddenly resurfaces when a blind witness  don  t ask  appears  helena robertson  uma thurman  . thurman does a good job of playing a blind person  to my surprise . when i saw lance henriksen playing sgt . freddy ross i got worried . henriksen  s played in some pretty strange films  especially of late . i still can  t forget him in the bloodbath movie  pumpkinhead .  br    br   berlin movies into a small town from l . a . as a detective . he begins investigating the jennifer murders after finding body parts in the local landfill . his brilliance in discovering one of the victims was blind seemed far  fetched . so did the irony of spoiler freddy  s murder  with the recording and name similarities . i got very confused as to the logic of how there came to be eight  jennifers  . and the motive of the killer as simply deranged didn  t pack much of a punch . in retrospect  this film is probably more true to life in showing an unsuspecting individual as capable of murder simply because they became a little wacko over time or maybe were born looney toons .  br    br   john malkovich does a stupendous job in his interrogation of garcia  albeit no cop would legally be allowed to press someone that hard and egg them on without rightfully get knocked out . as to the ending  it is a bit of a surprise  but is highly arguable  much like sgt . ross  murder . the killer chooses to walk after his running victim  opting instead to frolick i guess .  br    br   and there are so many opportunities he has in killing her that it  s ridiculous . i won  t ruin the very end because despite it  s shakiness  it  s a good surprise . afterward though  you  ll probably say  as i did   boy was she lucky        
when watching a bug  s life for the first time in a long while  i couldn  t help but see the comparisons with last year  s happy feet . as far as the main storyline goes  they are very similar  an outcast doing what he can to fit in while also attempting to be special . it just goes to show you how much better that film could have been without its liberal diatribe conclusion . a lot of people disagree with me when i say that i really like pixar  s sophomore effort . sure it doesn  t manage to capture the splendor of toy story  nor is the animation out of this world . however  the story is top  notch and the characters are wonderful to spend time with . with plenty of laughs and a moral center to boot  i could watch this one just as much as the studio  s other classics .  br    br   there is a lot about finding strength from within to conquer all odds here . between our lead flick needing to keep his self  esteem up to save his colony  the colony needing to open their eyes onto a new way of living for the future  and the circus bugs finding that they are more than just untalented sideshow freaks  everyone evolves into a better bug by the end of the story . even the villain hopper is fully fleshed and menacing for the right reasons . he is not doing it to be mean  but instead understands the fact that the ants outnumber him    to  . he needs them to fear him in order to not have to worry about them finding out the truth . it is very much a circle of life  but not one that can  t evolve with the ages .  br    br   when thinking about the animation  it is actually quite good . compared to antz  the rival film of the time  this is much more realistic and less cartoony . the water is rendered nicely  as is the foliage . you don  t have to look much further than the ants  eyes to see how much detail went into the production . the reflections and moistness  despite the smooth exterior  shows the realism . all the bugs are finely crafted too . the flies in the city and the crazy mix of creatures recruited to save the ants are never skimped on  whether for a small role or a more expanded one . it is also in the city that we see the workmanship on the environments . while ant island is nice  it is just the outdoors . bug city contains plenty of garbage doubling as buildings and clubs . it is a great showing of humor and inventiveness to see what the animators used for everything . from the ice cube trays as circus stands  the animal crackers box as circus wagoncomplete with full nutrition guide on the sideand crazy compilation of boxes to create a times square of billboards and facades  everything is done right .  br    br   as far as much of the humor  you have to credit the acting talent for wonderful delivery and inspired role choices . no one could do a male ladybug better than dennis leary with his acerbic wit . i dare you to think of someone better . our leads are great too with dave foley as flick and julia louis  dreyfus as princess atta  as well as the always  fantastic kevin spacey as hopper . spacey not only steals many scenes from the movie  but also takes center stage in the bloopers during the credits . yes  a bug  s life was the originator of animated outtakes from pixar  a tradition that has continued on . with many tongue  in  cheek bug jokes laced throughout  you also have to give props to the huge supporting cast . full of  those guy actors   it is people like richard kind  brad garrett  and the late joe ranft as heimlich the worm who bring the biggest laughs .  br    br   overall  it may be the simplest story brought to screen by pixar  one that has been told in one form or the other numerous times over the years  but it is inspired enough and fresh enough to deliver an enjoyable experience . there are joyous moments  sad times  and even action packed scenes of suspense with birds coming in to join the fun . complete with a couple of my favorite pixar characters  tuck and roll  there isn  t too much bad that i can think of saying about it .  
the lowest score possible is one star  that  s a shame . really  i  m going to lobby imdb for a  zero stars  option . to give this film even a single star is giving way too much . am i the only one who noticed the microphones dangling over hopper  s head at the station  and the acting  or should i say the lack thereof  apparently talent wasn  t a factor when the casting director came to town . my little sister  s elementary school talent show provides greater range and depth of emotion . and those fake irish accents were like nails on a chalk board . the only thing that could have made this movie worse would have been . . . oh  wait  no  no  it  s already as bad as it can get .  
lately i have been watching a lot of tom hanks films and old chaplin films and even some of rowan atkinson  s early bean performances  and it seems that all of them have their own unique charm that permeates throughout their work  something that allows them to identify with audience members of all ages  in a way that just makes you feel good . a bug  s life has that same charm  it has a connection with real life that allows us to easily suspend disbelief and accept a lot of talking insects  because even though they talk  they still act just like real bugs . it  s like the team that made the movie found a way to bring us into the mind of a child and allow us to think like them  to imagine bugs the way a young mind does .  br    br   honey  i shrunk the kids was one of my favorite films when i was younger  and to me  a bug  s life is like a more realistic version of that movie  if only because the animation is so breathtaking and this style of story  telling just opens up so many more narrative possibilities . i try not to compare it to something like toy story  which i still maintain is the best computer animated film ever made   because the story of a bug  s life is not quite as good as toy story  s  but then again  almost nothing is . the important thing is that it is still wonderful fun .  br    br   the story concerns a colony of hard working bugs who have an impressively developed society  mostly geared around building a harvest of food  most of which will go to the tyrannical grasshoppers  vastly superior in strength and general meanness  and hopefully still leave enough left over for the bugs to make it through the winter . we are treated to some visits from the grasshoppers  who make it clear that if the bugs provide an unsatisfactory quantity of food  the consequences will be dire . and incidentally  the similarities between this crippling level of food extraction is strikingly similar to mao tse  tung  s vicious forcing of food from his own people during the  great leap forward   br    br   the fun and excitement begins when flik  the main character  sets off on a quest to find a gang of appropriate warrior bugs to come back and help defend the colony against the grasshoppers . you see  he spilled all of the amassed food and placed everyone in great danger  so he feels it  s his responsibility  but he inadvertently ends up hiring a struggling group of insect circus performers . great for the audience  not so great for the safety of the clan .  br    br   the movie was released back in the late   s  when so many films seemed to have been coming out in twos  like armageddon and deep impact  independence day and the arrival  a bug  s life and antz  etc . comparisons between a bug  s life and antz are inevitable  although it seems clear to me that a bug  s life is by far the superior film  and not only because it doesn  t star woody allen stuttering and whining through the lead role . this is great family fun   
the plot is about the death of little children . hopper is the one who has to investigate the killings . during the movie it appears that he has some troubles with his daughter . in the end the serial killer get caught . that  s it . but before you find out who dunnit  you have to see some terrible acting by all of the actors . it is unbelievable how bad these actors are  including hopper . i could go on like this but that to much of a waste of my time . just don  t watch the movie . i  ve warned you .  
when i bought my toy story tape when it came out to video after being released in theaters i saw a trailer for this that said from the creators of toy story . as soon as i saw that i knew this was gonna be a good feature  i was right  a bug  s life like toy story is great story  great characters and great animation . my favorite characters are dim the rhino beetle voiced by brad garrett and hemlich the caterpillar voiced by the late pixar storyman joe ranft . my favorite scene is when slim the walking stick  david hyde pierce  lifts up hemlich trying to distract the bird and hemlich  s like you hoo mr . early bird . how about a nice tasting worm on a stick and slim  s like i  m going to snap  i  m going to snap  i just died laughing at that scene . being a big fan of insects i think a bug  s life is my favorite pixar even though i know a lot of people consider it the worst pixar film ever  i don  t know how you could hate a pixar film  i think they  re all pretty good films  good job pixar   
possible plot spoilers  br    br   i adore dennis hopper . i question why he accepted the role of a police detective in      s the spreading ground . this movie flat out sucks and i  m about to tell you why .  br    br   this is about a small town which is about to get a contract for a sports arena . one hitch there  s a killer on the loose and that is bad for business . the mayor makes a deal with the irish mob to find the killer and make sure he never makes it to court . det . ed delongpre has other plans . he wants this guy caught too  but he  s on the level and believes in the system . he wants to see the system do it  s job .  br    br   that could have been pretty good . it could have been riveting . it was horrible . first  they label this guy a serial killer . err no . there are specific criteria and none of it fits here . the bad guy has killed  kids the first day  and i think it was  the second day . this entire movie spans like a   hour time period . . . . hardly serial killer action . i don  t care what warped motives they give him in the end  serial killers do their deed over a long time span . they do not just all of a sudden kill  kids in two days . that  s a spree .  br    br   ok that irritant aside  the acting was atrocious . the only name here was hopper  and he  s the only one who came even close to pulling off his part . unfortunately  he  s kinda type  cast to me and i think he does psycho parts much  much better . this just wasn  t a good vehicle for hopper . it didn  t allow him to do what he does best  which is to act all creepy . it  s not that he did bad  it  s that i  ve seen him do so much better .  br    br   the irish mob guy  johnny gault  tom mccamus  long day  s journey into night   who is in charge of their investigation is just over the top stiff . contradiction  not really . he is trying to play the cold  hard kinda guy and he does that to the point that the character is just wooden . boring to the max . he didn  t scare me . he didn  t inspire any emotion at all except boredom . i cannot tell you how many times i checked to see how much longer it was til the end of this movie .  br    br   the other thing about this is that it had the feel of a made  for  tv movie . you know what i mean . the poor production values  low budget  re  use of scenes to save costs . just eh . yanno  but  i feel like comparing this to those is an insult to those .  br    br   derek vanlint was both the director and cinematographer on this project . he bit off more than he could chew . i can  t help feeling that hopper must have took this role as a personal favor to a friend . that  s the only rational i can come up with . this was vanlint  s first job as director  third as cinematographer . hopefully this was a learning experience for him .  br    br   i won  t ruin the ending in case you do decide to torture yourself with this one  but i do want to say that they all dropped the ball here . . . even hopper . in a scene that should have been emotionally gut  wrenching for the detective  it was just . . well . . blah . i didn  t see any of the angst at all that would accompany the total gear  change this guy made . very disappointing .  br    br   this    grueling minutes long and rated r for violence and language . no kid under   is going to have any interest whatsoever in watching this  so no worries there . it  s not suitable for anyone anyway . heh .  br    br   skip this one . you  ll thank me later .  
the movie was totally awesome and cool . the graphics was superb and it was amazing  especially  flik was superb and awesome in the movie and he was funny and he was and sometimes he was intelligent . the circus bugs are colorful and they are superb in the movie . the grasshoppers were also superb and cool in the movie . hopper was a pure and perfect villain . even  dot was cute . when  the bird comes to eat the bugs  that scene was superb and good . even  the last scene was awesome and cool . even  flik  s inventions was good . building an artificial bird was a good idea to scare away the grasshoppers . when  the ants are building the artificial bird  that scene was good and nice i should really appreciate the creators of  a bug  s life  .  
maybe i  ve seen one too many crime flick  or maybe i don  t take the right drugs .  br    br   this was the most clich ridden  plot deficient  plot  absurd  just plain stupid movie i have seen in a long time .  br    br   as for the direction  it looks like it took less time to show this than it did to put it together .  br    br   in fact it looks like to made it straight to video before it was completed .  br    br   it  s a bad rip off of  m  the classic fritz lang film starring peter lorre . you  d be so much better off renting that instead .  
such a joyous world has been created for us in pixar  s a bug  s life we  re immersed in a universe which could only be documented this enjoyably on film  but more precisely a universe which could only be documented through the world of animation . for those who have forgotten what a plentiful and exuberant world animation can offer  when it  s in the right hands that is  a bug  s life is a warm reminder . we walk out of the film with an equally  warm feeling  and a sense of satisfaction derivative of only high  calibre film productions .  br    br   it is only pixar  s second animated feature . the sub  group of disney made their spectacular debut and perhaps entirely inadvertent mark on the film world three years prior in      with their landmark movie toy story . it was a movie which defied convention  re  invented and breathed new life into animation and defined a whole new level of excellence . now  they return with their sophomore effort which  to be honest  draws a creeping sense of cynicism in us all prior to seeing the film .  br    br   after all  it  s a film about ants . well  all walks of the insect and bug world are covered in a bug  s life  but it is the ant which is the focal point in this film  as humans are the focal point in dramas  romances and so on . how can such an insignificant species of animal such as an ant act as the protagonist of a movie  let alone provide the entire premise of a feature film  surely they jest . however  we forget that in toy story  a bunch of toy  box items were able to become the grandest  most inspiring and lovable bunch of animated heroes and villains ever concocted . the guys at pixar manage to pull off the same feat  and manage to turn a bunch of dirty and miniscule bugs into the most endearing and pleasant gang of vermin you  ll probably ever encounter .  br    br   not only are they all entirely amiable and likable  there isn  t an unpleasant character in sight even the villains are riveting characters  but they  re colourful  they  re eclectic  and they  re idiosyncratic . and the array of characters is also gargantuan for lack of a better term  only adding the rich layers of distinctiveness already plastered onto a bug  s life from the beginning . we shall start with our main character  and our hero . his name is flik  david foley   and his character is rather generic to say the least . out of the thousands of faithful and obedient worker ants residing on the lush  beautiful ant island  he is the one considered the  black sheep  of the clan  as seen in the opening moments of the movie when he inadvertently destroys the season  s harvest with his antics .  br    br   the problem arises in the fact that the ants  harvest is for a bunch of greedy grasshoppers led by hopper  kevin spacey   who are eager to continue to assert their wrath and autocracy amongst the puny little ants when they show up to ant island for their annual banquet and see that their offering is gone  they go insane  for lack of a better term . hopper offers a proposition to save the ants from total extinction at his pack  s hands however  it  s a negotiation which is simply impossible to fulfil . the cogs and clockwork in flik  s mind run at full steam now despite his guilt and shame  and he offers to leave ant island in search of some mighty bug warriors who can come to the colony  s rescue and fight off hopper and the grasshoppers .  br    br   if you think about it  a bug  s life bears some heavy resemblance to the plot line  s of akira kurosawa  s classic seven samurai  or the american remake the magnificent seven  in which a village of hapless but good  hearted folk are threatened by malevolent and wicked enemies  one lone village  dweller goes in search for help in the big city  finds it and returns to the colony to drive off evil . in a bug  s life  the help comes in the form of a down  and  out circus troupe who is mistakenly perceived by flik as warriors in a bar  room brawl .  br    br   much amusement comes out of these scenes  and much amusement comes out of these circus troupe bugs . among them are an erudite stick insect  david hyde pierce   a side  splitting obese german caterpillar by the name of heimlich and a quasi  femme fatale ladybug who  s in fact a gritty and masculine ladybug  dennis hopper  . it  s exceedingly enjoyable watching these bugs on  screen  as it is watching the bugs and the insects interact on  screen  as is the entire movie collectively .  br    br   as i  ve said  much amusement and mirth comes out of their characters and joyous interactions with one another  which give way to a bevy of hilarious lines  wonderfully suspenseful and riveting situations and overall a dazzling movie . what makes a bug  s life even better is that the film isn  t restricted simply to children as many may perceive it to be  although children would indeed find more entertainment out of this film  the clichd kid  friendly situations are a bit more abundant than we  d like . however  it  s easy to ignore this fault  and it  s incredulously easy to enjoy this film .  br    br   although a bug  s life may not reach the dizzying and landmark standards set by its predecessor  this is still a superb movie  and the start of something promising here . pixar have proved that they  re not just a one  hit wonder  but instead a much  gifted and talented group of film artists in hollywood . they raise the bar endlessly  and when someone always manages to top their standards  it  s only always by themselves . what more is there to say about a bug  s life other than see it it  s not quite the best which we  ve seen from the folks at emeryville  california  but this beats out the lot of its year  and i  ll be damned if this isn  t the best animated feature of     .  br    br    .      
this movie kinda let me down . it seemed a lot like the movie jaws when the hopper was telling the mayor to close parks was like when roy shider was telling the mayor to close the beaches . they both said no way its summer  but the box says hopper has to get into the mind of a killer and think like one . but he really doesn  t do anything too interesting or exciting . i  m not even a little convinced he and his partner have any experience doing police work when they are in the office wondering how they are gonna solve this case . they just say lets do police work and we  ll solve it . and whats up with all the old men with pool cues . i didn  t even begin to believe that they were mob bosses . and then the guy who was doubting the guy the mob picked to handle finding the killer . with his hundred dollar haircut and that he thinks his dik is the size of a schoolbus . come on what cruddy lines . i thought he was gonna hit him with a baseball bat like in the other movies . i got this movie used and wouldn  t buy it new . i suggest you skip this movie . oh and it was funny seeing the microphone above the scene where hopper is going out to get coffee .  
you will marvel at the incredibly sophisticated computer animation  and the novelty probably won  t wear off on the first  second or third viewing  but you  ll be drawn in by the characters which are so simple yet intriguing  that you may find yourself actually caring for them in an unexpected way  which may or may not make you feel a little childish due to the medium .  br    br   disney continues to firmly hold the title of  greatest animation in the world   with  a bug  s life  standing as one of their greatest achievements . one of the innovative attachments being the delightful  out  takes  added to the end of the film . the dvd has two sets of these out  takes where as i  m told the vhs cassette has one alternating version per tape . the dvd also features  gerry  s game  which is a delightful little pixar short that was also shown prior to the film in theaters .  br    br   this is by far the superior insect  film in comparison to dreamworks   antz   which in all fairness is pretty good  but lacks something in the animation and in the story development and characters . if you look at the star voices of both films   antz  is largely cast with big name  movie  stars with a few familiar  tv  star voices  where  a bug  s life  is just the opposite  loaded with  tv  stars with kevin spacey as the only stand out exception . but the difference in quality is distinct and obvious .  br    br   dreamworks can  t be blamed or surprised though  when you go head to head with disney  you have your work cut out for you . this is the kind of film that almost makes me wish i had children to share it with . don  t think for a second that this is just a movie for kids  though .  
the movie had a good concept  but the execution just didn  t live up to it .  br    br   what is this concept  well  story  wise  it  s  dirty harry  meets  m  . a child killer has begun terrorizing a city . the lead detectives  dennis hopper and frederic forest  have never dealt with a serial killer before . the mayor and the police chief  in desperation  secretly hire the local mob to speed things up . . . to go places and do things that the police wouldn  t be able to in order to bring an end to this mess as soon as possible .  br    br   to be fair  this film does genuinely have some good things to offer .  br    br   besides the concept  i liked the look of the killer  s hideout . norman bates has his basement . this guy has an eerie sewer . in some of the shots  the light bounces off the water and creates rippling reflections on the walls often giving these scenes a creepy  dreamlike quality .  br    br   the acting was good too . dennis hopper is one of those actors who gets better with age .  br    br   once you get past that  however  it more  or  less goes downhill .  br    br   the film is paced way too fast . the actual investigation process from both teams feels very rushed as opposed to feeling intricate and fascinating . this could have been fixed in two ways either make the film longer or cut out some of the many subplots . either of these would have allowed the crew to devote more time to the actual mystery .  br    br   for an example of how bad this is  one of the crucial clues that helps them zero in on just the right suspect is this at one point in his life  the suspect went to a pet shop . . . that  s right . . . i  m being totally serious here . it  s like they went from point a  the first clue  to point z  the suspect  and skipped over all the  in  between  steps .  br    br   then there  s the characters . the only ones i actually liked were two pick  pockets you meet about half  way through the movie . considering that they  re minor characters  i  d call that a bad sign .  br    br   finally  there  s the mob angle . this is the one that gets me the most because this is why i coughed up the   to buy the dvd in the first place . i mean  what a hook  there  s been an absolute glut of serial killer flicks in the last      years . the mob angle was a gimmick that could have helped it rise above the rest . . .  but it didn  t .  br    br   i figured the gangsters  s methods would be brutal  but fun and thrilling at the same time kind of like a vigilante movie or something . . . maybe they  d even throw in some heist movie elements too . we are talking about criminals  after all . instead  we  re given some of the most repulsive protagonists committed to celluloid . the detectives question witnesses . what does the mob do  they interrogate and kill them . it  s not even like these witnesses are really even that bad either . i actually found the criminals less likable than the killer they  re hunting .  br    br   unless the good points i mentioned are enough to get your interest  i  d say give this one a miss . maybe some day  they  ll reuse the same story idea and do it right . i hope so . i hate to see such a good concept go to waste .  
critically  people say that antz is better . antz is a good film  but i enjoyed bug  s life a bit more . i can  t remember a pixar animation  other than the two toy story films  that i was laughing so hard . the animation is clean  the story is original and doesn  t preach . the voice overs are what make this movie . dave foley is an earnest ant that gets himself into trouble a lot . hopper is a superb characterisation by the always wonderful kevin spacey  as is haydn panettiere as dot . there is also sterling support from dennis leary  david hyde pierce and madeline kahn  and i could go on and on . the script is fantastic  so funny and sometimes even touching . it lacks the social messages of antz  but what we have is rock  solid entertainment .     . bethany cox  
dennis hopper is without a doubt one of the finest underrated american actors of our time  and it was interesting to see how he would play out his role as a cop on the case of a child serial killer . most movies hopper has always played to psychotic menace threatening to blow up stuff or go on a killing spree  but in this movie  hopper tried his best to keep that intensity and emotion while carrying a shield . once i got into the plot of the movie  i was hooked  but it  s just the little things that ultimately murdered the film .  br    br   the concept of the film is great  not only are the cops on the move of catching the killer  but we get a chance to see how the gangsters operate in catching the killer . the subplot of the football stadium is kinda ridiculous  but necessary to involve the gangsters in the killer hunt .  br    br   that  s about all that is good you can say about the film . although hopper did try to act like a tough  experienced street smart cop  i can  t help but feel his acting was below par  and there wasn  t enough conviction that he was truly attached to the case . the directing was also terrible  it didn  t have the feel of a true film  but rather a tv  movie production . this is most evident when the gangsters meet for the first time to form an elite team to hunt the killer down . when the leading gangster shoots the other mouthy gangster in slow motion  the acting was weak  predictable and terribly unexciting . that  s when i knew that  st of all  the action is going to be atrocious .  br    br   the angling of the camera was amateurish  and the recalling scenes or haunting images of the killer  s little sister had no true distinctive effect . if it was supposed to be scary  it wasn  t . everyone  s acting was terrible  and even for hopper  i didn  t feel for his character  and i just didn  t really care too much about his relationship with his daughter .  br    br   the final thing that bothered me the most is the swat team . once i saw the swat team in action  i was thinking  finally  something good . but i was wrong .  st of all  the entire swat team consisted of  guys . that is just impossible .  nd of all  apparently the swat team has no training whatsoever because many times in the film they carry their hka  submachine guns with one hand . had the killer been hiding near the staircase with a shotgun  these  idiots would  ve been blown to bits because they weren  t even aiming at anything or paying close attention . they should have had both hands on the gun aiming forward  but it just looks like they  re not taking the job seriously and are just flaunting around .  rd  swat team members do not yell out commands such as  keep your eyes open  watch out for yourselves  are we good to go . . . etc .  in reality  they use hand signals or have radios . but they  re literally yelling at each other  how are you supposed to catch the killer when he can hear you  re coming    and to top it all off  these guys have no plan  apparently they  re just running up and down going on a wild turkey chase . eventually they end up doing nothing . that was the last straw . i  m no expert on special forces  but basically what i  ve just outlined  is pretty common sense . when the audience knows the movie is terrible  the action pretty much becomes the life  saver of the movie  when you can  t even make an effort to make the action great  the movie is lost .  br    br   i give  stars for the concept  but the rest cannot be credited . if you want to watch a crime thriller  don  t bother with this one . there  s plenty of crime in the movie  but it has the lack of thrill .  
a bugs life is a great film that is not just for kids but for adults too . the story is set around a colony of ants and their struggle against the evil grasshoppers who come back every year and steal their food  a mirror of the magnifiscent seven  . there is some wonderfull computer animation and the voices are great too . you will love it    out of    
very businesslike authority with little responsibility and only a desire to keep his  her name clean  check . a veteran cop that has bad relationship with his family  check . mafia guys that while criminals  want to do something good vigilante style  check . a sociopath and loyal mafia guy not hesitant to kill people to make an example  check . cops  methods being less effective than the mafia guy  s brutal yet very effective methods  check . a corrupt cop tying the authority  the criminals and the police together  check .  br    br   slow motion and  or jerky frame rates for showing what the actor  s reaction can  t  check . a serial killer whose background is explained in far too much detail  esp . using childhood abuse as the reason for everything  check . a child spree killer that is very  very non  menacing  check . foreshadowing of the veteran cop  s moral values not being what the killer deserves in the movie  s and the majority of characters  opinion  check . morally ambiguous and predictable ending thanks to the foreshadowing and the good veteran cop  s coming to terms he should submit to the vigilante attitude of the majority of the characters  check .  br    br   recently saw this on tv and decided to endure it because it had dennis hopper in it and i could not sleep  check . realized that was a mistake and should just have stared at the ceiling  check .  
this is a funny film . it has all the usual disney components  music  great range of characters  story  appeal   entwined with superb animation and the excellent voice talents of less well known actors as those in say  antz  and  price of egypt  .  br    br   the characters work really well  and have a strong appeal  and the humour is aimed at a wide level which overcomes generational barriers . the movie is also presented in superb cinemascope format  which adds to the cinema experience .  br    br   call me crazy  but i have seen the film three times  and i intend on taking more friends to see it this weekend . many skeptics have seen this film on my recommendation and not been disappointed . i work in a multiplex  and i can honestly say that no  one has ever walked out of this movie without a sense of satisfaction .  br    br   see it  and don  t be put off because it is animated . you are sure to enjoy this movie  and make sure you stay for the end credits  the bloopers and out  takes at the end are the funniest part of the film  which is packed with laughs throughout .  
the best thing about this movie was  uh  well  i can  t think of anything . this was bad . the script was especially bad . the technical concepts were bad . the  suspenseful  plot was bad . the dialog was bad . avoid at all costs . do not rent . do not watch . you  ll be sorry .  
i watched this film not expecting much and not knowing anything much about it . i loved it . a very good  tight plot  an intriguing hook in the form of the ugly  fat  deaf girl and the ex  con  and a pace that kept things flowing without being hurried .  br    br   a much  much better film than the same director  s de battre mon coeur s  est arret  which was boring and unbelievable .  br    br   the only thing that didn  t quite work was that the supposedly ugly  fat girl was neither ugly nor fat solid  certainly  and far from conventionally beautiful  but with so much character in her face that she took over the screen whenever she was on it . superb . i wish she was in more films  and better ones than she generally is . i  ve seen a bit of gilles  wife and a bit of the moustache  and they both looked like rubbish  and i  ve seen all of de battre mon coeur s  est arret  and that certainly is rubbish . she seems to have a few coming up  so i  ll keep my fingers crossed .  
an executive  very successful in his professional life but very unable in his familiar life  meets a boy with down syndrome  escaped from a residence . both characters feel very alone  and the apparently less intelligent one will show to the executive the beauty of the small things in life . . . with this argument  the somehow amelie  like atmosphere and the sentimental music  i didn  t expect but a moralistic disgusting movie . anyway  as there were some interesting scenes  the boy is sometimes quite a violent guy   and the interpretation of both actors  daniel auteil and pasqal duquenne  was very good  i decided to go on watching the movie . the french cinema  in general  has the ability of showing something that seems quite much to life  opposed to the more stereotyped american cinema . but  because of that  it is much more disappointing to see after the absurd ending  with the impossible death of the boy  the charming tone  the happiness of the executive  s family  the cheap moral  the unbearable laughter of the daughters  the guy waving from heaven as michael landon . . . really nasty  in my humble opinion .  
there is great detail in a bug  s life . everything is covered . the film looks great and the animation is sometimes jaw  dropping . the film isn  t too terribly orignal  it  s basically a modern take on kurosawa  s seven samurai  only with bugs . i enjoyed the character interaction however and the bad guys in this film actually seemed bad . it seems that disney usually makes their bad guys carbon copy cut  outs . the grasshoppers are menacing and hopper  the lead bad guy  was a brillant creation . check this one out .  
my friends and i rented that movie last night and we had one of the greatest laughs in awhile . the movie is not supposed to be funny at all  but it is just so ridiculous and it lacks any realism whatsoever . first  phillippe  i forget what his character is called and i don  t really care  uses his regular employee id to go through all the top  security terminals . not only is that pathetic but it gets topped when his enormous efforts culminate in his finding the so  scary lego  room  which hosts the super computers . this is plain funny . the tense mood that we are supposed to experience is completely spoilt by the childish looking room . the ending  like all else  is very very very cheesy  especially when the bad guy  s lawyer shows up  right on time  . anyway  this movie is a good laugh . if you need something to make fun of  definitely see it .  
  a bug  s life  is like a favorite candy bar   it  s chock  full of great little bits that add up to something really tasty .  br    br   the story couldn  t have been better it  s clever  has  heart   emotion   and every character has a nice  arc   a growth or change  . by comparison  the only characters in  toy story  to have an  arc  are buzz  who learns to love being a toy  and woody  who overcomes his resentment of buzz . there are tons of laughs and cute moments in  a bug  s life  . all of the actors turn in great voice work  and the animation  both the motion and detail  is superb .  br    br   this serious movie buff doesn  t throw around     s lightly  but this movie certainly deserves the     i gave it .  
five minutes into this movie you realize that you have seen it all before . it is boiler room . it is the firm . and it is the devils advocate . and there are no new elements here . except for the all  to  clear bill gates  allegory . conpsiracies are always good stuff for movie  making  but why does it have to be so extreme  boiler room is a good movie  because it  for a while at least  seems realistic . in antitrust everything is wrong . how realistic is it for example that your boss pay an impostor to be your girlfriend in order to make you work harder and control you  i  d give it   but the soundtrack is ok  so     .  
  originally a response to a movie reviewer who said a bug  s life was too much  too fast   he was  dazed and exhausted  by the visuals  and seemed to ignore the story completely   br    br   okay  first off  i  m   years old  have a job  go to school  and have a fiance  . so maybe i  m nuts and just really good at hiding it . . . but not only did i not come away from a bug  s life exhausted or dazed  it wasn  t until i saw it the second time that i could even begin to truly appreciate the artistry and humour of the spectacular visuals   because the first time i went to see this movie  i got so wrapped up in the story and the characters that i forgot that i was supposed to be sitting there being  wowed  by each frame visually . how can you not empathize with flik and his road  to  heck  paved  with  good  intentions life   heck  indeed  i found myself identifying with that little ant  not to mention some of the other bugs  in a lot more ways than one . . . and that  in itself  says more to me about what an incredible movie this is than a whole book on its beautiful eye candy . of course  it  s beautiful  every blade of grass  the tree  the rain . . .  . of course  what they can do with technology is amazing  you can read their lips  try it   . but this movie is not just a masterpiece of art and tech  not just an dazzling explosion of movement and color . no  a bug  s life would be static if it were all that and no story . but  i  m glad to say  it  s not  a bug  s life has real heart . yes  there  s a lot going on  storyline  wise as well as visually  but that  s because the story and characters actually have some depth to them  just because it  s a kids  movie doesn  t mean you should have to turn off your brain at the theatre door   kids are smarter than you think  besides that  i think that the pixar crew made this for themselves  even before their kids . . . and it shows  in the amount of heart in has . this movie is moving  touching  funny  intriguing  and generally engrossing . the character development in such an ensemble cast is amazing  there  s a major amount of character growth  and not just of the main character   so rare in animation and often in movies in general . it doesn  t hit you over the head with its points once it  s made them   every scene  every frame has a reason in the storyline for being there  and there are no gratuitous shots . not always stating explicitly in words exactly what is going on means subtlety  to me  folks it means not  dumbing down  your movie and assuming the audience is stupid  which it mostly is not . all i can think is  if you can see a bug  s life and not feel anything at all  then you must have never made a big mistake  hurt your friends  had a crush  fallen in love  been frustrated that no one would listen to you  lied to someone you care about  felt like a social misfit  gotten excited over a new idea  come up with a great idea  had what you thought was a great idea backfire  been awkward one moment and confident the next  felt the pressure of responsibility  stood up for yourself and your loved ones  stood alone against the crowd  felt like a failure  felt like a big success  felt the need to make a difference with your life in the lives of others . . . well  you get the point . final words a rating from me please  if you  re going to see it try to see it in the theatre  pan and scan video is not going to work for this movie   if you loved toy story you  ll most likely love this  pixar knows how to make movies with heart   if you do love it see it multiple times or you still won  t know what you  re missing  the amount of detail and subtlety here is considerable   and whenever you  re feeling really low  just pretend it  s a seed  okay   
after seeing the trailer of this film in the cinema  i thought that it was an original concept for a thriller  setting it in the competitive world of computer companies . the all star cast was another message that this film would probably be good . but when i didn  t go to watch it in it  s first week of release then it disappeared by week  i feared something was a miss . patiently i waited for it  s dvd release  then bought it rushing home for an enjoyable evening  s viewing . the anticipation on the way home was far better than the film . for a start the direction is appalling . there  s no thought gone into it at all and the director just makes up a part for himself  so he can appear in the film . i wouldn  t be rushing out to employ him in the future . secondly the lead role is completely miscast as ryan phillipe . phillipe normally the cool character as in cruel intentions and way of the gun but in this he  s supposed to be a bumbling hero which he attempts to portray by slipping when he  s running and having geeky friends  but he just doesn  t look right . the female stars  rachel leigh cook and clare forlani don  t feature enough but when they do neither of the performances are close to their bests . the only highlight of the film is tim robbins in a role that could have been made for him and it  s his fiery temper and mysterious ways that drag the film along . the final point is that this film is another one which fills the trailer with scenes you don  t see in the film and instead feature only in the deleted scenes section of the dvd . causing even more disappointment as although some of these scenes are crude they do fill in important gaps in the story .  
a good film with strong performances  especially the two leads  . the film is about two american girls who are caught with  kilo  s heroin on an airport in thailand . they  re both thrown in prison and one of them signs a confession . bill pullman plays the lawyer who tries to get them out . all they have to do is find a nick parks who put the narcotics in the bag of one of the two girls . so far for the story which isn  t that original  it has many resemblances with the better return to paradise  .  br    br   the acting and newton thomas sigel  s beautiful photography make this film worth to watch . a  out of   .  
antitrust falls right into that category of films that aspire to make some great point while being uplifting yet falls completely flat . i don  t hate the film  but it is missing key elements  such as suspense . there have been other attempts to make an engaging film about computers  such as hackers and the net . they all fall short . the improbable ending of both the net and antirust seem to be nearly identical . these movie endings suffer from one huge error in perception people in the pc business having this over  indulgent self ego that assumes the general population lives it  s life waiting to hear the latest news about pc  s and software . i have worked for many companies and industries  and they all seem to suffer from an expanded view of their own self  importance  as does this film .  br    br   the way they introduced plot lines was pathetic . showing milo  who is deathly allergic to sesame seeds  almost ingest one from a restaurant breadbasket crossed the line of stupidity . only his  girlfriend  prevented him from sure death . this makes one wonder how milo could have survived as long as he did  braving the perils of big mac buns and sesame seed breadsticks  as they cloak themselves as  well . . . . sesame seed breadsticks and big mac buns .  br    br   antitrust also doesn  t provide much suspense . the patterned and predictable plot twists are easily figured out long before they are revealed  come on  was anyone really stunned when yee jee tso was killed    thereby destroying any real shock value . and here again we have yet another film  story where at the end  the bad guys are chasing the good guys to  get the disk  . we need to have a moratorium on this simple simon plot line for about   years . still  i pressed on . maybe the ending would be the payoff  but no . the completely ridiculous ending where we have the head of company security  another supposed evil guy  turn around and be the good guy that enables milo to bring down n . u . r . v ceo gary winston was laughable . and of course  the news coverage of the arrest of gary winston is more fevered than when hinckley or oswald was brought into custody . gary winston  played by tim robbins  is a cardboard cutout of the same character robbins played in arlington road . but that fits perfectly here in antitrust  which should be called  anticlimactic  or  anti  original  .  br    br   in the years to come  this film will likely be banished  to be shown only on your local third rate uhf channel .  
this is a low budget film with a cast of unknowns and a minimum of on location shoots . the philippines substitute for thailand and nobody actually goes to hong kong . the stock shot of a cathay pacific jumbo jet landing at the old airport makes the transition perfectly . this film proves that you need neither mega budgets nor a headliner star to produce an excellent movie . it contains neither the gaffes nor the excesses that young filmakers often stumble into . solid workmanship from people who know all the aspects of movie making and who understand the compromises between art and box office . an excellent piece of work   
i sort of accidentally ended up watching this movie . i  m still not sure if i regret it or not . i felt like i was watching the film made by that group of film school students that didn  t quite make the cut . it plays up every hollywood clich imaginable  all the while flogging us with the  corporations are the ultimate evil  message . subtlety this movie does not know . as far as that goes  it even manages to provide it  s own spoilers .  br    br   the story appears to be a computer nerd  s fantasy world come true . the lead character is an attractive teenage boy with a girlfriend  yet is a programming genius and apparent hacker  i think   among many other nerd  fantasy  come  true elements that you  ll have to see for yourself .  br    br   as well  i should  ve known it would be a z  movie when i saw ned bellamy . . . he tends to be a good tip  off .  br    br   can  t recommend this one  i  m afraid .  
after high  school graduation  best friends alice and darlene  decide to take a trip to thailand . whilst they are there  they meet a charming australian guy named nick . after spending some time with nick  he asks them if they want to take a weekend trip to hong kong with him . they agree . at the airport though  they are get busted for smuggling drugs and then get convicted for   years in a thai prison for something they say they haven  t done . not really knowing what to do they end contacting yankee hank  an american lawyer who lives in thailand with his wife . word has it that if you have the money he can help you . things start of well  but they still can  t get out .  br    br   the movie is really good because it doesn  t let on what  s going to happen and it  s interesting all the time . i couldn  t believe the ending though . it was one of those endings where you don  t know the     truth  but you still kind of know what really happened with nick and the drug smuggling because of the  owning up  etc .  br    br   claire danes and kate beckinsale both give quite good performances here . beckinsales performance was a little weak though . both danes and beckinsales characters friendship is good but could of seemed stronger . paul walker even has a small uncredited role here .    br    br   anyway  i thought brokedown palace was a good movie and i give it a     .  
one more of extremely unprofessional movies about computer programmers .  br    br   looks authors of that movie don  t know real specific of programmers world .  br    br     top programmers in the world  program which have own satellites  for what    program which using satellite freq .  somebody kill somebody to steal the codes  why   and much more of stupid moments at this movie .  br    br   peoples who not programmers not will see something awful at that movie  because not professionals on this . but peoples will see not real things .  br    br   programmers will find that movie odd and awful  because lots of moments inside movie is not related real life  why movie not scifi in this case   .  
good exciting movie  although it looks to me that it  s not been recorded on location in thailand  it still looks realistic . nice story about some girls having  fun  in one of the most beautiful countries on the world . in real the thai people are very kind .  
obvious attack on microsoft made by people who don  t appear to understand intellectual property or market economies generally .  br    br   loony liberal tim robbins plays a painfully obvious caricature of bill gates  and is a cartoonish corporate villain ordering murders right and left .  br    br   while microsoft may engage in some anticompetitive activity at times  it  s unlikely they actually murder people . therefore  the film is over the top and ridiculous from the beginning .  br    br   the  deeper  point is apparently that major tech innovations should be free to the public  and not subject to intellectual property laws . however  this ignores the fact that most major innovations would never have been developed if not for the market incentives  and rewards  provided by intellectual property .  br    br   it  s one thing to be opposed to anti  competitive conduct   that  s common sense . it  s quite another to be opposed to market competition in the first place  which is what the film  s mantra   knowledge belongs to mankind   represents .  br    br   yet another example of hollywood being completely out of touch with reality .  
possible spoilers although done before  and better  in  midnight express  and  return to paradise   brokedown palace still strikes a chord with me .  br    br   here we have the tale of two young girls who travel through thailand  and get arrested on charges of trafficking drugs . was it clare danes  alice  was it kate beckinsale  s darlene  was it the handsome stranger whom they met on their journey  none of that really matters  for this is a tale of friendship and trust and the limits they can be stretched to . throw in bill pullman as an unenthusiastic lawyer and jacqueline kim as his thai bride  and better lawyer than he is  and we have a nice little story that holds the audience  s attention .  br    br   brokedown palace is nothing extraordinary  or notorious for any reason  it is not an original concept  it doesn  t show sensationalised violence that leads to the wannabe  avant  garde crowd talking about it  s  gritty realism  or  hard hitting truths   it is merely a good story with some fine performances . bill pullman is weakest with his lazy drawl and gravelly way of talking  i was quite bored with the character .  br    br   kate beckinsale  while decent  is nothing spectacular . she acts well  but it  s not exactly a memorable performance .  br    br   jacqueline kim however  is in fine form  crafting a likable and defined character where  really  there is not much to work with .  br    br   but make no mistake  this is clare danes  movie . i  ve long been a fan of her work  and this is no change . she captivates in every scene she appears  and were it not for her  the film would probably stoop into boring fare . i particularly applaud her performance in the scene between her and darlene  s father .  br    br   the film also has a brilliant soundtrack .  br    br    out of    
antitrust could have been a great vehicle for rachael leigh cook  but the director cut out her best scenes . in the scenes that she are in  she is just a zombie . she is involved in a sub  plot that is simular to a sub  plot in  get carter   but she handles the sub  plot better in  get carter  .  i blame the director  the director  s homage to hitchcock was corny .  it  s the scene were ryan philippe  s charactor realizes he may not be able to trust tim robbin  s charactor  at least i think it  s a homage to hitchcock . the dvd shows the scenes that were cut out . i think the director should have trust his instincts and not listen to the test audiences .  
i think this is what this movie wants us to say at the end of the movie  or damn australian  i still don  t know  but what i know is that i really liked this movie but that couldn  t be my favorite movie   br    br   great story with great actors but with a terrible end . . . to make you cry and say  oh  she  s so good  . . . still  who made it  what really happened  who  s that guy  no answer to these questions . . .  br    br   mysterious movie with a good mark overall . . . i give it a      going on the  .    
it was interesting to see how accurate the writing was on the geek buzz words  yet very naive on the corporate world . the justice department would catch more of the big corp giants if they did such naive things to win . the real corporate world is much more subtle and interesting  yet every bit as sinister . i seriously doubt any corp would actually kill someone directly even the mod is more indirect these days . in the real world  they do kill people with nicotine  pollution  additives  poisons  etc . this movie must have been developed by some garage geeks  i think  and the studios didn  t know the difference . they just wanted something to capitalize on the microsoft antitrust case in the news .  
i loved the movie  but like everyone said  there were some bits that weren  t developed enough . i thought personally that the girls were very vapid before they landed in prison sure  they were supposed to be innocent american girls but still . . . i felt like they lacked that bond that best friends are supposed to have . for example  in the montage where they  re sight  seeing  the way they held each other for the photograph was very awkward  looking .  br    br   then  there are some parts that were very ambiguous . i think it  s pretty much understood that danes  character didn  t do it  but i can see how that could be confusing . also  why did the camera dwell on manat bearing a very grim expression after he put the bags in their taxi trunk  i thought it was suggesting something  but it turned out to be nothing .  br    br   apart from that  the movie was great . i cried when claire danes took the blame she  s a great actress .  br    br   also  i wanted to see that bitchy thai inmate get her ass kicked . talk about lack of closure . . .  
a terrible movie as everyone has said . what made me laugh was the cameo appearance by scott mcnealy  giving an award to one of the murdered programmers in front of a wall of sun logos . mcnealy is the ceo of sun microsystem  a company that practically defines itself by its hatred of microsoft . they have been instrumental in filing antitrust complaints against microsoft . so  were they silly enough to think this bad movie would add fuel to that fire   br    br   there  s no public record i see of sun  s involvement  but clearly the makers of this movie know scott mcnealy . an interesting mystery .  
this movie just pulls you so deeply into the two main characters . i popped it into my laptop without even reading the cover  let alone reviews  and was intrigued for two solid hours . two lost ships from two different worlds collide . the sexual tension that brews between a secretary and a criminal is almost palpable even without hardly any physical contact . toward the end i couldn  t decide which i wanted more our hero and heroine to pull off their caper or simply consummate their passion . rml could  ve done without a curious subplot and a traditional    minutes would have been plenty . i  m nitpicking though . after a series of netflix  blockbuster and local library duds this movie restored my faith in great film making .  
long  boring  blasphemous . never have i been so glad to see ending credits roll .  
brokedown palace is the story of two best friends  alice and darlene  who go on a spontaneous trip to thailand and wind up in prison after being caught with planted drugs in their luggage . in this way  the movie had the potential to turn into a serious and moving film  such as  return to paradise   but instead  the movie chose to focus little on the girls  situation and more on their friendship .  br    br   claire danes and kate beckinsale both turn in excellent performances  and the movie is much more about the interplay between them  the suspicion  the jealousy  the questioning and testing of their friendship and ultimately the sacrifices made in the name of friendship . this movie chooses not to delve too deeply into politics or even into the harshness of prison life  which is a bit glossed over   and focuses more on these friendship issues .  br    br   there were some plot holes here  and some parts that just didn  t seem believable or realistic . we didn  t feel the real fear or hopelessness of their situation as well as we might have . and we get very little feeling of life outside the prison walls  with bill pullman playing the supposedly sleazy lawyer who actually turns out to have a heart of gold . in short  this should  by all rights  have been a much darker movie than it was .  br    br   but overall  i enjoyed it . the acting was good  the soundtrack was perfect  and the storyline had enough twists and turns to stay interesting . worth seeing .  
aldolpho  steve buscemi   an aspiring film maker  lives in a battered nyc apartment and relies on his mother to help make the rent . he has a beautiful neighbor named angelica  jennifer beals  who may or may not be married but who aldolpho would love to star in his movie . when al unexpectedly gets a financial promise of funding for his film from a strange man named joe  he thinks he  s got it made . that is  until joe takes al along on an adventure to steal a porsche for part of the financial backing . will the film be made before aldolpho is completely without a moral backbone  and  will angelica star in the film  this is  in this viewer  s opinion  an awful movie . the script is abysmal  with a plot that wanders willy nilly . beals practically snarls all of her lines and buscemi  though likable  is nondescript . there is a good deal of distasteful material and unsavory characters to boot . finally  the production values are very poor  too  making the film look second rate at all times . if you have time on your hands  it is still a good idea not to take a chance with this movie . but  if you are the proverbial glutton for punishment  go ahead and watch the darn thing . beals does look beautiful  after all .  
two adventurous teenagers  best friends  take a trip to thailand for one last experience before separating and going off to college . it seems like a fun time of touring an exotic land  until they meet an attractive stranger who seduces them into taking a trip to hong kong and puts drugs in their luggage . they get nabbed by the local police and find that justice in asia is very different from justice in the u . s .  br    br   this is the main story line for  brokedown palace  and it was a good one . the film does a decent job of portraying the arbitrary and corrupt justice systems of third world nations . actually  the portrayal was rather mild  as the prison conditions are often far worse than depicted . it serves as a reminder that no matter how bad we think our justice system is  it is pristine by comparison to much of the rest of the world .  br    br   unfortunately  there were too many contrived situations in the film that hampered the story . the whole escape attempt was bogus fantasy . to think that friends would be able to smuggle money for a bribe into the prison in a padded bra  and not be discovered by the guards who were systematically checking everything brought in from visitors  assumes that either the guards or the viewers are utter blockheads .  br    br   the story also fails to bring closure to the nagging question of how the drugs got in alice  s  claire danes  backpack . did she actually agree to transport the drugs  we are left to guess . it was intriguing to be kept guessing about the girls  innocence throughout the film  but we finish the movie never really knowing if one or both of the girls might be guilty . except for this considerable flaw  the ending was excellent and the results unexpected .  br    br   the acting by claire danes and kate beckinsale was very solid and well done . danes  who has been oversold and over hyped  actually arrived as an actor in this film . though her portrayal was frequently immature  as was her character   she improved as the film progressed and the circumstances became more dire . beckinsale  in contrast has been flying under the radar her whole brief career and shines as the goody  two  shoes who suddenly finds herself in prison . her  s was the best performance in the film .  br    br   bill pullman was miscast as the lawyer . his wry and diffident style is an asset in films like  while you were sleeping   but as a lawyer in a third world country on a crusade to free two innocent girls from injustice  he had the wrong personality .  br    br   the tourist  s look at thailand was interesting  but it didn  t make me want to go there .  br    br   overall  an entertaining film made implausible in parts by the insertion of some ridiculous scenes . i gave it a     .  
how disney can you get  preppy rich girls act like idiots  buy a bunch of stuff  and get taught a lesson . is disney trying to send a lesson to itself  that maybe while buying everything it should maybe still be human  whatever the psycho  analysis  this movie sucked .  br    br   the girls want a rich party for their rich lives . but then money disappears and they have to use their riches to get the milk plant  yes  milk  going to employ the workers . they keep it afloat until daddy comes home . and the man at the beginning  who appears to be the one that takes the money  is the one . but the ending is dumb . webcam in the cayman islands  huh  not worth my time ever again .  br    br   but it is better than howl  s moving castle .  d    
i have been waiting for such an original picture such as this for quite some time now . brokedown palace has that hard to believe  aspect  however with the ingenious directing  and screenplay  palace scores big .  br    br   i  ve really never enjoyed watching claire danes in any of her movies  but i  ll tell you what  she really changed my mind with this one . kate beckinsale joins danes on a vacation to thailand where they meet up with a young man who convinces them to take a trip to hong kong with him . however  he neglected to inform them that they would be carrying an obscene amount of narcotics for him . well  ultimately they get caught  and end up in a thailand prison . i know  i know  how could you not know that you have   pounds of drugs  well if you can get by that one tiny miscue  you will find a very well written  and acted out story . lately i have found myself getting drawn into the storylines of the movies i watch  and developing a personal feeling for the characters that i watch . this movie is no different . by the end of the movie i found myself caring more for her than any of the other characters in the film .  br    br   bill pullman plays hank green  an attorney who lives in thailand and specializes in international relations . as always pullman delivers with an excellent performance and ties the movie together beautifully .  br    br   there are a few twists and turns that will  by the end of the movie  have you in tears . this is one of those movies that you have most likely passed by when searching for that movie to watch at home . it is my opinion that the next time out at the video store  do not pass by this one again .  
i watched this movie really late last night and usually if it  s late then i  m pretty forgiving of movies . although i tried  i just could not stand this movie at all  it kept getting worse and worse as the movie went on . although i know it  s suppose to be a comedy but i didn  t find it very funny . it was also an especially unrealistic  and jaded portrayal of rural life . in case this is what any of you think country life is like  it  s definitely not . i do have to agree that some of the guy cast members were cute  but the french guy was really fake . i do have to agree that it tried to have a good lesson in the story  but overall my recommendation is that no one over  watch it  it  s just too annoying .  
i saw this movie in the theater  and was thoroughly impressed by it . then again  that was when claire danes was a good actress  not the foolish  arrogant  hollywood  ized bitch she is today . anyway  this film really struck me as one of the more raw  realistic  beautiful friendship films . how far would you really go for your best friend  i was moved to tears at the end  and still tear up when i watch it now  i own it  . i remember as soon as i left the theater  i called my best friend and sobbed to her how much i loved her . this is a great film to watch with your best girlfriend . however be prepared for the almost certain conversation afterward where she turns to you and asks if you  d do something like that for her . . . .  
this movie kind of reminds me of a mary  kate and ashley movie  only worse . just the rich sisters kind of thing i think even though alysons more the actress  in this movie amanda michalka was okay sometimes but alysons acting stunk . i think that after high  school musical they needed to come up with somethihng better and this definitely wasn  t it . the story line wasn  t that great and i think they should have gotten two other people to play taylor and courtney . i  m not a big alyson michalka fan and this movie didn  t make me like her any better . i think they should definitely sick to singing and only watch this movie if you have nothing better to do  which sadly i didn  t   
i watched this movie   years ago in company with my best female friend . i got my judgment teeth pulled out so i didn  t feel very good .  br    br   i ended up liking it big time . it  s a hard watch if you take in account that it deals with friendship  unwanted betrayal  power  money  drug traffic  and the extreme hard situation that deals with living in a foreign jail .  br    br   the acting is on it  s prime level . two of the women that i lust the most star and that  s a good thing . claire danes is as cute and charming as always while kate beckinsale is extremely hot and delivers a fine performance . bill pullman is also great and demonstrates his histrionic qualities .  br    br   there are many plot twists to dig from and make it an interesting visual experience . plus it shows the difficult times at thailand .  br    br   this is an underrated movie . not many films like this one have come up in recent history . it should make you reflex about many things . . .  
this movie is truly awful . after seeing the advertisement for it  i thought it could have its charms . . . but it didn  t . the girls cannot act  and they cannot sing either . the soundtrack to this movie is full of their songs  and its not a pretty sight  terrible story line  unbelievable plot  its one of disney  s worst movies by far  . ally is not a bad actress on  phil of the future   so i don  t know what happened in  cow belles  . and her sister  aj  seems to be just hitching a ride on her sisters  fame   and she displays no talent what so ever .  br    br   at the end of the movie the girls do finally learn some clich morals  but this is to late to rescue this train wreck movie .  br    br   awful  
while i do not think this was a perfect    i do agree it was way above a  which is what it  s rated here . no  brokedown palace was not perfect and yes it  s plot has been done many times before . that doesn  t mean it shouldn  t be done again if it is done well and i think this movie had some strong moments . the acting of claire danes  as already mentioned many times  was flawless as was kate beckinsell and i think bill pullman was absolutely terrific as was the supporting performances  pullman  s wife  the crooked cop  skip or trip or whatever his name is  . the cinematography was also beautifully filmed  there was a lot that  s good to this movie even if there were some negatives  three major ones that i found  as well .  br    br   here is what i didn  t like about it  the friendship between the girls  in fact  the girls  own individual personalities  were not developed in depth until the late middle of the pic . it would not have been improbable to lose interest before then  because  despite the positives  more character development should have been done earlier on and certain scenes like when the girls were originally arrested  were almost glossed over so there was a bit to much jumping around without the character and scene development i think would have been appropriate for this type of film . that  however  is not my major problem . and warning  spoiler alert .  br    br   the ending as mentioned dozens of times already  was awful . it was awful in two respects . firstly  even though it would have been predictable and very hollywood  i wanted a happy ending  yes  it was an emotional and powerful ending but in a movie such as this  there is a sense that justice will be served and i did sit through it to see that . i was genuinely shocked at the ending and it was performed with excellence by all involved but i feel both girls should have got out or  barring that  at least the cop should have got what was coming to him . i mean nothing happens to the bad guys  they all get away with it . very disturbing .  br    br   also  i do not understand the ambiguity of the ending . i understand endings that are inspired to make one think  but this was not a mystery or  clue  type movie we were watching  and i would have liked to know something about what actually happened  who was guilty etc  with this ending we were left to decide that ourselves but since i somehow doubt there will be a sequel  i did not want to be kept guessing .  br    br   still  there was a lot to like about this movie  and the acting is definitely at the top of the list  i would rate this a  .  and say it is definitely worth a look .  
this movie was terrible to say the least . i was hoping for a lot better after seeing  high school musical  . the whole entire movie was a complete rip off of  the simple life   only it wasn  t a reality show .  br    br   the acting was not good at all . amanda michalka had her moments  when she wasn  t that terrible . on the other hand alyson michalka was bad all the way through . chris gallinger  who played the love interest of amanda was playing a french guy  but had an awful accent . one good thing about this movie was the completely adorable michael trevino  who played alyson  s love interest . just something to keep in mind  if this movie had been aired before  high school musical  it probably would not have seemed as bad . but it was no comparison .  br    br   overall i give it a  .  
i caught this movie by accident on cable in the middle of it and had to rent it to see it  s entirety and i  m glad i did . i was immediately drawn by the storyline and cared about the girls involved . naive high school graduates  best friends since childhood  take a high school trip and are taken in by a con man named nick who get them into serious trouble . they are used as sacrificial mules in a heroin smuggling ring . taken in to custody the girls learn to cope with their incarceration while trying to find a way out of their trouble . everything that they try to help themselves falls short when the thai criminal justice system shows shortcomings and the girls end up in more trouble and lose the trust of their american lawyer  yankee hank  . hank gives up trying to defend them after he feels betrayed by alice  claire dane  . however  the thai native wife of hank smells a rat in the case and does some further foot work of investigation and finds out the girls really were victimized . the end of the movie when alice does a selfless act to save darlene  beckinsale  had me in tears . i really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it .  
russell hopton acted in many films until his death in     . he only directed  and  black gold  was one   the other was also from      . frankie darro had a sometimes abrasive screen presence but in this he was playing a good kid . he was obviously quite popular on the  quickie  circuit  he made so many films . in this one he plays the son of an old oil rigger who is convinced that he will strike oil very soon .  br    br   j . c . anderson  berton churchill  is trying to convince the old man to sell up as he knows there is going to be oil struck at any moment . a geologist  henry  comes on the scene and helps  fishtail  s  dad . he also convinces  fishtail  to go to school regularly . henry has his eye on cynthia  the pretty teacher . this was gloria shea  s last film  she had begun her career as olive shea in  glorifying the american girl        .  fishtail  s  dad is killed when the rig is sabotaged and henry is determined to bring anderson and his cronies to justice . when henry is kidnapped anderson tries to persuade  fishtail  to sell his oil lease . it all ends well with oil being struck and  fishtail  going to military school .  br    br   it is okay for a rainy day .  
i like films that don  t provide the typical  happy ending   and that  s my main reason for my liking of this movie . alice marano  danes  and her best friend darlene  beckinsale  are arrested in thailand for narcotics smuggling after a tip anonymously phoned in to the thai authorities . the film does a solid job of keeping viewers guessing as to whether  or which  of the girls was involved  and bill pullman is perfect as their sleazy lawyer . jacqueline kim turns in a terrific performance as his more kind  magnanimous wife  yon  who is also an attorney . i wish the girls had been abused more in the prison  as another commenter has suggested  as i  ve heard that thai prisons can be quite brutal . where this film grabs me  however  is its ending . alice subjects herself to a sentence of   years in total so that darlene can be pardoned  and we  the viewers  realize that they are both innocent . any film that defies my expectation of the ending wins extra points with me  and this well  acted drama is certainly deserving .  
ostensibly a film that predicts the coming trends in british popular music  it  s wrong on so many fronts that it  s laughable . tommy quickly  the honeycombs  the movie does include a song by the spencer davis group  two by the animals  and one tacked on live film of the beatles doing their live version of twist and shout  all      . but all in all  an awkward display of british music circa     . oh  and herman  s hermits .  
in the film  brokedown palace   directed by jonathan kaplan  two best friends  alice  claire danes  and darlene  kate beckinsale  decide to celebrate high school graduation by taking a trip to hawaii  but hear that bangkok  thailand  is much more fun . they switched plans and decided to go to thailand without telling their parents the change of plans . while they were in thailand  alice and darlene met a really handsome guy named nick parks  daniel lapaine  . he tells them that he would trade in his first class ticket to hong kong for three economy tickets so that they could spend the weekend in hong kong . they accepted his offer and upon entering the airport the two were arrested for smuggling drugs . they were convicted and sentenced to thirty three years in prison .  br    br   i think kaplan was trying to show the audience that it is wise to make good decisions because in one instance one bad decision can change the direction of a life forever . also  a friendly face may not be as friendly as we think once we find out the real intentions of that friendly face . those girls made a decision not to tell their parents that they had switched their plans and it changed their lives forever . things have a funny way of happening showing us what decision we have made verses the decision that we should have made . sometimes life is not fair  that is why it is important to think long and hard about the choices that we make because we can never go back and change the choices that we have made .  br    br   this movie has a great setting it was filmed mostly in bangkok thailand . this film also has great music a few of my favorite songs are  silence  by delerium   damaged  by plumb   deliver me  by sarah bightman and  party  s just begun  by nelly furtado . i went out and bought the soundtrack after watching this film . these girls where young and naive and failed to think their plans out thoroughly  a mistake that anyone could make  therefore this film is good for any audience . it makes no difference young or old   we all are human and subject to mistakes . even though  i did not like the way this film ended leaving me in question of   who really smuggled the drugs    i would definitely give this film two thumbs up .  
not a movie  but a lip synched collection of performances from acts that were part of the british invasion  that followed the dynamic entrance of the beatles to the music world . some of these acts did not make a big splash on this side of the pond  but a lot of them did . featured are herman  s hermits  billy j . kramer and the dakotas  peter and gordon  honeycombs  nashville teens  animals  and of course  the beatles .  br    br   it is so much fun watching these young acts before they honed and polished their acts .  
we all have friends . some of us have more than others but there really are only one or two people that you feel really close with  people that you can say are like your brother or sister . alice  danes  and darlene  beckinsale  are like that . you can see that from the beginning . they graduated together  they go to parties together and they decide to go to bangkok together when they were supposed to be going to hawaii . they also get busted for attempting to smuggle drugs into a third world country and that spells disaster . the rest of the film is about survival and not giving up hope . it also has a strong message about the power of friendship and what it can mean to someone .  br    br   brokedown palace is a very good film  it is not excellent and that is due to a few issues that i want to talk about . but first i want to say what is good about the film . and for starters the acting is top notch  and you can look no further than the two leads . danes and beckinsale are perfect in the roles that they have . alice is always fiery and seems a little rough around the edges  but she seems more fun than darlene . but sometimes that fun can get her into trouble . darlene is always a little on the conservative side and although that can get irritating sometimes  it would have served the two girls better if her way was adhered to instead of alice  s . bill pullman is adequate as the american lawyer living in thailand . the film is photographed very well also . the inside of the prison while not the same as shawshank or natural born killers or return to paradice  but it does show the necessary  but underdone  hopelessness of the situation that they are in . johnathin kaplan  s direction is quite good as well . we see the two girls struggling to make it through each day but you can see their spirit is being put out a little more each day . brokedown palace is excellent when it talks about friendship and it shows how they have to rely on each other to survive . the other thing that i had to comment on is the soundtrack for the film . it heightens and compliments the mood of the film to perfection . the song that you hear in the trailer is also played in the film and when it plays you feel the plight of the women in this prison . you can feel how alone they must feel and how desperate they are to get out and get back to the simple things in life . and it also makes you look at yourself and realize how lucky we are to live in the society that we do . we have it easy compared to some country  s and believe it or not the music is a perfect catalyst for reflection on this subject . some of the music is done by a group called delirium  i think  but it is sara mclaughlin  wrong spelling  but how do you spell her last name   that does the lyrics and her voice is beautiful and haunting and it adds so much to the film .  br    br   what i didn  t enjoy about the film was some of the stupidity that the girls exhibit . i won  t say what it is that they do but when you see it for yourself you  ll know what i am talking about . also i didn  t really feel that the prison they were in was all that bad . it looked more like a minimum security prison and that may be because when there are similar circumstances in other films that invlove men doing time in a foreign country  the prison scenes are always brutal and sadistic . but i didn  t get that here .  br    br   overall this is a great film and it really does make you ask the question   how far would you go for a friend   that is a tough question and maybe one that none of us could honestly answer until put into the same situation . let  s just hope that it never comes down to that .  
why  why did they make this movie  if timothy olyphant wasn  t shirtless in it several times  there would be absolutely no reason to watch this movie  ever . um . . . plot  nope . well  defined characters  nope . the only time i laughed was when my boyfriend made fun of the whole she  bang . p . s . andy dick  nope .  
well  what can i say having just watched this fantastic film  when my nerves are still jangling  jacques audiard the director must be making quite a name for himself in france  and rightly so . vince cassel is no tom cruise and emmanuelle devos is no penelope cruz either  but these two are fantastic actors  and this is a taut and compelling thriller which starts off slowly with some clever character building and then starts to put tension on tension to a wonderful climax . others have written about the plot  so i will not say more than everyone in this film plays their role to perfection  the director  the actors  right down to the cameraman  and everything seems so real  no stupid gun play  the fighting when it happens is so credible  the expressions  the emotions  it is almost as you are there as a spectator . do yourself a favour  get the dvd  a bottle of wine  turn the lights low  take the phone off the hook and immerse yourself in this hitchcockian thriller    
when i sat down to watch this film i actually expected quite a bit  as the plot takes on quite complex issues . using football as launching pad for the complication also was an interesting approach . still unfortunately  despite its bravery of dealing with controversial issues as culture clashes between muslim and western culture  adding generation conflicts and prejudice towards gays  lesbians  it lets you down towards the resolution with a rather simplistic relief to all the suspense built up throughout the film . this leads me to the impression that the makers took on a little too big a task for themselves to tackle  attempting to be more profound then they managed to deal with .  br    br   however  this does not mean that the film is directly bad  as it  s rendering of the conflicts where quite believable and also amusing . the film succeeds in being engaging and entertaining in this matter  but as mentioned above the writers seem to have spun themselves a little too deep . this has led to some quite unrealistic character behaviour towards the end to confront the surging conflicts . by this dropping the ball at a time where the makers could really have shown brilliance taking the film to another level of appreciation .  br    br   even if the film does at no point really attempt to be a profound piece of drama  the setting has so much potential in the plot it becomes a disappointment when  the ball drops  . this way the film moves from being a good and reflected comedy to a standard clich that becomes ridiculous in its happy  ending . nothing is left out in the hollywood like ending . so even if the story is engaging and one can stomach the large amount of montages  one can  t help but roll eyes towards the resolution . personally i was close to shouting  finish already    at the screen .  br    br   there were some decent acting in the film  and the two young female central characters had some good moments . so did their parents and other bi  characters . however the handsome irish coach was an embarrassing piece of acting  that lets the film down quite a bit in terms of realism . he didn  t even appear very likable  but rather self involved despite his good deeds  which makes the impending conflict between the girls seem a little strained .  br    br   i give the film a   as it was an engaging story and they sought out a nice perspective to approach the subject from . the script and cast had many good believable characters  giving the audience a chance to recognise either themselves or others . had the let  downs not been this disappointing  i  d easily give the film a  or  . if you enjoyed this film  i  d recommend the film  east is east   which i think is an as good  if not better rendering of cultural conflict  as well as being amusing and engaging .  
it  s refreshing to see a movie that you think will end happily just like almost every other american movie  and then be surprised when that doesn  t happen . i like a happy ending as much as the next guy  but sometimes it  s better to portray things in a more realistic manner  and i thought brokedown palace did this very well .  br    br   the ending  with one friend basically sacrificing herself for the other  thus redeeming her earlier poor behavior which got them into the situation in the first place  was very moving . i almost rather would have done without the last line  which proved that she didn  t actually do the deed she confessed to  because that would have made the movie more about the friendship between the two girls  and less about the crime . whether she did it or not wasn  t that important .  br    br   the story itself bordered on the clich  but the actresses kept my attention with their excellent performances . very realistic  very captivating .  br    br    out of   .  
this film concerns purportedly non  establishment types  aesthetically and sexually  who apparently cannot resist basic romantic needs . although some excellent players take part  including jon tenney  timothy olyphant  and cynthia nixon  they are grounded by a puerile script which relies nearly totally upon clever dialogue which isn  t . nixon  s role possesses the best lines  but she often homes in on them too quickly  a timing flaw which must be saddled upon the director . the grotesque climax utilizes every available cliche  spent or not  and fittingly ends this drab attempt at comedy .  
i love claire danes  and kate beckinsale looks amazingly immature in her role . the movie is flawed only because it seems the two accused seem to be in some monastery  working like monks in the grass and under strict almost martial  arts  like discipline . the acting and filmography and amazing colors of what is supposed  to  be thailand is eye  catching  but claire daines steals the entire movie  and is unexpectedly profound in her learning the hard lesson of life itself to the very end  in an act of amazing unselfishness unheard of and completely unexpected in the real world . the flaws are minute and i recommend the film  which seems buried sadly forever to rare tv showings . i for one want the film for my collection  a collection of only     rated films . watch it  you will be very touched .  
my girlfriend has the habit of going to blockbuster and choosing movies no  one has ever heard anything about . admittedly  at times  it has led to some fun discoveries . often times  the best that can be said is they definitely run an hour and a half .  br    br   she brought home  advice from a caterpillar .  she was excited because the box said it was funny . lucky for us  the propaganda on the boxes never lie .  br    br   this movie was an exercise in patience . this is one of those movies where  unless you are a pretentious and shallow person who likes watching movies about yourself  you will hate every character in the movie . until the introduction of the one nice character . which the lead annoying pretentious character will fall in love with and act in such a way that  in the real world  would drive anyone away .  br    br   mild spoilers from here on  br    br   so a bunch of emotionally vapid  stuck  up  pretentious artists swear off love and find success in their careers . then  they meet a nice  intelligent  emotionally mature and loving character  an almost perfect guy  . we then watch the woman  the annoyingly pretentious artist  in her    s   freak out as she falls in love . so she tries to flee from the nice  intelligent  emotionally mature man and stay with the married man with whom she  s been having great but empty sex . she is rude to the man and does everything in her power to drive him away . in the real world  she would have been quite successful . i certainly wanted to flee from her and i wasn  t even in a relationship with her   br    br   although its nice that the man  fought for his love   i never wanted her to have him .  nor did my girlfriend  she didn  t deserve him . and  why i wonder  did the director think that the  almost perfect guy  should be punished by having to win a relationship with her  when the artist was asking the  almost perfect guy  to leave  we were screaming for him to leave too . there  s a problem with a movie when the heroine of the film is so annoying  childish and stupid that you want her to fail .  br    br   beyond that  let me say that andy dick made me laugh a few times even though his character was also pretentious to the point of annoyance . regarding the other characters  they were well acted  morally bankrupt and annoying characters .  br    br   it is a comedy and i can say i did laugh a few times in the film . unfortunately  not much laughing happened until the last   minutes or so . but by the time i had those laughs  i had been praying for the movie to end for far too long . i needed to get these vapid characters out of my life .  br    br   if you want to watch people you hate struggle with a love for people they don  t deserve  then this is the movie for you .  
  what would you do   is a question that will stick in your mind for weeks after watching the emotional brokedown palace . you will also be left wondering if alice  danes  was telling the truth or not  a issue that is left unresolved  and rightly so . this is a particularly well acted and beautifully shot film . although it is slow at times  its pace is reflective of the story line  but a lot of the film will have you on the edge of your seat wanting to know what happens next . the ending will also leave you imagining yourself in the shoes of the lead characters  which are brilliantly played by kate beckinsale and claire danes . bill pullman  s performance is commendable  too .  
a scientist  john carradine   sadly  finds out how to bring the dead back to life . however they come back with faces of marble . eventually this all leads to disaster .  br    br   boring  totally predictable     s outing . this scared me silly when i was a kid but just bores me now . i had to struggle to stay awake  with one exception  the acting is horrible . such expressionless boring actors  hopeless .  br    br   there are some good things about this carradine  despite the script  actually gives a very good performance . and there are a few mildly creepy moments involving a ghost of a great dane walking through walls . there  s also one of the worst  looking knockouts in cinema history . still  none of this is fun enough to sit through this . avoid .  
this movie is cold  bare truth . often we think  oh no  that won  t happen to me .  but it can . drug smuggling is big money and often people are unknowingly  or tricked  into doing things for smugglers . the story of these two girls is the story of many young people who like them  only wanted a exotic holiday  which turned into a nightmare . people need to know that these sort of events aren  t improbable or exaggerated  this is a major problem in today  s society .  br    br   i would recommend this movie to mature viewers because of the understanding needed to truly appreciate this movie . it is very emotional and raw . well worth watching and certainly stays in your memory .  
i thought i read somewhere that this was the last monogram production  but whether that  s true or not it doesn  t matter  because if it wasn  t  then it should have been . it  s a deadly dull affair starring john carradine with some gray in his hair to make himself appear like an older scientist who is experimenting with the aid of his young apprentice  robert shayne  in bringing the dead back to life . every time their subjects are revived  they seem to have a whitish face like marble as they are lying strapped to the laboratory table  big deal  . carradine manages to restore his faithful dog to life after it  s dead  and the mutt gains an unusual ability to walk through walls in a ghostlike fashion  wooooooooohhhh  . that  s about all she wrote .  br    br   for an ultra  cheap monogram quickie  this thing at least actually utilizes a more fancy  schmancy lab setup than is usually allotted . the funniest running joke in the movie is that the  older  doctor carradine constantly refers to his  young  assistant shayne as  m  boy  when  in fact  carradine was actually   and shayne was   when they made this   
alice  claire danes  and darlene  kate beckinsale  have been best friends since forever and after they graduate they decide to take a trip to thailand . due to a incident  they meet a young attractive mysterious stranger who invites them to go with him hong kong for the weekend . but at the airport  alice and darlene are mistaken for drug smuggling heroine and they are sent to prison . now it  s time for ultimate survival and true friendship . this was a pretty good movie  i  ve seen it a couple of times and after a while you notice that they are a few holes in the plot but the movie still keeps you entertained . claire danes did a great job as usual  she is a great actress . i would give brokedown palace      
this movie was absolute torture . first of all  it  s a whopping   hours long  true  the kargil war may have had several points that were captured and fought for  but every single one of those battles need not have been shown . so maybe this is a documentary  not a commercial film as advertised . sure didn  t seem like it  as enough background information was not given and there were some flaws . the battle sequences were so poorly executed . i am terribly disappointed from the man who gave well done sequences in border . each battle was the exact same as the previous . it was so predictable .  this might be a spoiler .  the whole army marches uphill  five or so soldiers curse five thousand times each  they also use the same cussword every time   one of the lead actors is shot  someone yells for a stretcher  the actor says   no  don  t get a stretcher . that will take  men from the battalion   and then an actor dies . that exact same thing happens over and over and over again . oh  and the songs are so bad and so long . the cast of the movie is too big for its own good . despite such a long movie  none of the characters were well developed . the actresses had the most miniscule roles . they all are dressed and portrayed to be the same . two of them were weeping synchronized . it was so comical . they moved their hands and heads at the exact same time and then bit their dupatta together .  br    br   the list just goes on and on . i know i  m still forgetting something . anyways  i think i have bashed the film enough that you get the picture .  
brokedown palace is truly a one of a kind . it  s an amazing story  showing two girl  s plight for freedom against the thailand justice system . they soon find themselves placing faith into a system they know nothing about .  br    br   alice morano  claire danes  and darlene davis  kate beckinsale   are two best friends  strait out of high school . they suddenly change their vacation plans from hawaii to thailand  and are immediately captivated by a young man  nick parks . he flirts with them both  and suggests that the three of them go to hong kong for the weekend .  br    br   when the two arrive at the airport  they are immediately searched for drugs . someone tipped off customs  and in an instant  their life is changed forever . in the mix of the confusion of settling into their new life  they learn about a highly respected lawyer  named hank green  bill pullman  .  br    br   an american who knows the thai justice system  he fights for the girl to be free . but they soon find out  when they leave or go is all up to them .  br    br   if you  re looking for a great movie that  ll stay with you for years  brokedown palace is definitely the way to go .  
i saw this movie with some indian friends on christmas day . the quick summary of this movie is must avoid . jp dutta wrote  directed  produced and edited this movie and did none of these jobs well .  br    br   the movie tells the story of the attempt by pakistan in     to capture part of the disputed region of kashmir from india . supposedly based on fact  you get a hint from this movie of the difficulty the indian army had in recapturing the area from the pakistani troops  who occupied the high ground . but instead of telling what must have been a compelling and heroic story  all this movie does is make the indian military look laughable and stupid  which i know is not true .  br    br   i watched this movie with an almost completely indian audience  who were very patriotic and clearly wanted to like this movie  but also found themselves laughing at scenes that weren  t meant to be funny .  br    br   the script was absolutely abysmal . it gave the impression that mr dutta knows nothing about how an army operates and was using bad war movies for reference . the result is a script that is brainless and repetitive .  br    br   the acting from most of the principals was not stellar  but considering the script they were given  i find it hard to criticise them too much . as for the supporting cast  all i can say is that i hope they were amateurs .  br    br   the editing was also pretty bad . it was pretty hard to follow what was going on for a lot of the time  and music would abruptly end at scene changes .  br    br   good things the cinematography was pretty good  although it was hurt a little by the fact that the movie didn  t appear to be colour corrected  the colour balance often varied significantly within scenes  . also  the few songs that were in the movie were quite enjoyable  for the first half a dozen or so verses at least . unfortunately they went on a lot longer than they should have .  br    br   and the worst crime of all  this mess is four hours long . there is enough here that a good editor could almost squeeze a good  .    hour movie out of what was shot . sadly  a good editor was not working on this movie .  
i saw this movie a million years   years to be exact  ago for the first the time . in the light of recent events with the australian woman schapelle corby being imprisoned in indonesia for so called smuggling pot  i decided to watch this movie again . i excepted to cry my heart out   cause i  m sucker for hot girls in need  just read my review of  the stalking of laurie show   . some moist escaped my eyes  but it were hardly buckets filled with tears . why  not because the two heroines weren  t utterly adoring and helpless  not because the movie wasn  t heartbreaking at the sight of these two kids in the prime of their live locked up in almost inhuman conditions . why then  why did i not cry  i wanted to cry  when i rent a movie like this  i except to be moved  to sob like there  s no tomorrow  to feel miserable and like it . this movie was simply too short to do this . it was just like the script was reduced to the main plot elements  and while doing this the psychological aspect was thrown aside . clare danes and kate beckinsale did an excellent job portraying the emotions of the two friends  but this movie just screamed for more footage of these girls in their depressing  and oppressing  surroundings . the mental journey is missing here for some reason . you only get to see the key moments of it  which are very touching  i admit   probably because of bad editing . sometimes i felt these girls were walking around in a postcard . the relationship with the family members could also have used a bit more attention . what  s up with the relationships between the girls and the parents  especially between alice and her dad   you catch a glimpse of it  but the film doesn  t quite offer the whole picture  sadly enough .  br    br   nonetheless this was a great movie  and at the end i even had to bite my lip a bit . but i guess this has more to do with the acting skills  and the looks  of the actresses  and the music  then with the merit of the director . to be honest  i hardly knew who kate beckinsale was before i watched this movie  again  . now  i am a fan  great movie  as long as you don  t expect it to be classic cinema .  
i should put out an alert all over saying that the movie shouldn  t be watched . it fails to a fitting tribute in such a magnificent manner that it is almost an insult to the memory of those brave men . the special effect were horrible  i hadn  t expected the total failure on the part of the director to appreciate military technology . how can a machine gun which normally fires at the rate of    rounds per minute fire at     th the speed  how can soldiers fall forward when a grenade explodes in front of them  how can people survive when there are artillery shells falling as close as   feet away  how come the artillery shells fall only on either side of the road and not the road itself   br    br   not only did this disrespect for the weaponry appall me  it was the cliched situations and the incongruity of the dialogues which had me screaming murder . there were the standard dialogues like ye bhi kisi ka bhai hai  ise laath mat maro and pakistan se jyaada musalmaan to hindustaan me hai and loc cross mat karo ye mera hukum hai . stupid to say the least .  br    br   what shobha de had written is true . the director worked without a script and it shows . there is no flow to the movie . there is no gradual progression from one battle to another . it is just one gunfight after the next with no connection to the overall scheme of the war . the explanatory scenes are awful . the chief of army staff looks unconvincing . to make matters worse the theatre people had indiscriminately cut footage to fit the four hour long movie into  hours .  
i saw this movie by luck  just because i was going through a phase where i had a new found admiration for bill pullman and wanted to see all of his recent movies and thank god i did  this movie has stuck with me ever since and remain one of my favorites  the story revolves around two girls who embark on a dramatic journey in a foreign country where they  ll learn the true meaning of freedom .  br    br   alice and darlene were just trying to spend a vacation together before going to college but their trip ended up a much more complicated story . the struggle they go through as they are arrested in thailand and became prisoners is very moving and intense . the acting is amazing  the images extraordinary  the soundtrack is fantastic and so right for the movie and the message transmitted definitely powerful . i actually can  t even find the right words to describe how this movie makes me feel every time i watch it . i know some people haven  t appreciated as much as me by the rating the movie has but i swear  this one  you have to see    i promise it will stick with you   
is this the movie    is this what indians are trying to show   i think this is one more effort from a sick  minded director to turn down pakistani soldiers and in fact country . . . . but what we pakistani  s know that we are always ahead of india in every part of our lives . . . not only in armed counters .  br    br   well . . . this is bad filmed as that of border in early     . . . and director and writer just tried to overcome a shame of defeat in kargil by pakistani armed forces  by creating films like these . .  br    br   one thing is very clear . . . whenever there will be an encounter between pakistan and india . . . . we will win . . . .    so mr . dutta try to make some good movies instead of nonsense movies like this  
i saw this film at a store in the cheap section . i actually vividly remembered seeing the commercials and trailer for it years ago . i thought  what the hey  and bought it  basically because the plot sounded interesting and claire danes has always been someone of talent in my eyes  this was also before i became a huge kate beckinsale fan  .  br    br   so it  s about two girls who sneak off to a vacation in bangkok  get busted for narcotics  which they are innocent of  and then are sent to a thailand prison . the film follows what will happen to them and at times questions their innocence .  br    br   both claire danes and kate beckinsale give great performances  and the plot of this film wraps itself up unconventionally  and raises some nice moral discussion questions .  br    br   i think this is a solid good film  but there could have been some improvements . it could have been longer . . . it would  ve helped to solidify these characters and more insight into the politics of thailand  s justice system would  ve helped .  br    br   nevertheless  other than that  it  s a good film with some great performances .  br    br   p . s . for all you pop  culture junkies be on the lookout for a two  minute role by paul walker . i didn  t even notice him the first time i saw the film .  
now please don  t start calling me names like   unpatriotic    weirdo  and more .  br    br   the very length of this movie   hours . .     is its biggest mistake . no editing at all  seems like j . p . dutta fell in love with his project too much . even lagaan was  hours long  but it was entertaining and gave a message as well .  br    br   it  s based on true incidents and real people . kudos to it  but were the repetitive war scenes really needed  on top of it the focus constantly shifted from one battalion  squadron to another and it was impossible to keep a track of them all .  br    br   between the skirmishes  there were songs about loneliness  lovesickness and related stuff . there were chummy conversations . in the beginning it gave some relief from the violence but became so monotonous later that one could even correctly predict nature of the forthcoming talk .  br    br   why were the soldiers walking around as if they were lions in jungle  fully unaware that enemy was lurking somewhere near  and when they were shot  it elicited sympathy but it seemed unmindful of them to be so cocksure of their safety in the first place .  br    br   music was melodious and the lyrics were soulful but did not fit with the movie . better to listen to them on the soundtrack rather than in the movie .  br    br   acting was the saving grace  from seasoned veterans like sanjay dutt and ajay devgan  to relative newbies like abhishek bachchan and akshaye khanna  everyone acted like a pro . manoj bajpai and ashutosh rana deserve a special mention for lightening up the mood whenever necessary .  br    br   dialogues ranged from brilliant   from madhuri . . with love     to illogical  monotonous   pakistan se zyada musalman hindusthan mein hain   . and the expletive spree consisting of all the mcs  bcs  cs and f  words wasn  t really required .  br    br   loc kargil attempts to provide a fitting tribute to the brave indian soldiers  but tries too hard and ultimately fails . indian soldiers surely deserve a better tribute .  
gentleman jim is another case of print the legend  with errol flynn playing the legendary boxer as a brash but charismatic social climber in a rollicking entertainment that barely stops for breath . it  s as pointless looking for historical accuracy here as it is in flynn  s the charge of the light brigade  this is sheer hokum with all the stops pulled out  filmed on a surprisingly lavish scale and given a real sense of energy by raoul walsh  s vivid direction . flynn is still at the height of his powers  you  d never guess he suffered a mild heart attack during the production   with alexis smith a beautiful romantic sparring partner and perpetual sidekick alan hale along for good measure  this time as flynn  s father  jack carson takes sidekick duties this time  . indeed  even the pirate galleon from flynn  s earlier movies makes a somewhat out  of  place cameo in a dockside bout  the    minutes just breeze by .  
this was a movie that i hoped i could suggest to my american friends . but after  attempts to watch the movie to finish  i knew i couldn  t even watch the damn thing to close . you are almost convinced the actual war didn  t even last that long . other  s will try to question my patriotism for criticizing a movie like this . but flat out  you can  t go from watching saving private ryan to loc . forget about the movie budget difference or the audience  those don  t preclude a director from making an intelligent movie . the length of the movie is not so bad and the fact that it is repetitive  they keep attacking the same hill but give it different names . i thought the loc was a terrible terrain  this hill looked like my backyard . the character development sequences  the soilders  flashbacks  looking back to their last moments  before being deployed  should have been throughout the movie and not just clumped into one long memory . to this day  i have yet to watch the ending . but there was a much better movie  not saying much  called border .  
a super  unusual film from audiard  read my lips is a pulpy  lonely  hearts thriller . it  s perfect for the handsomely grizzled charisma of vincent cassel and features a marvellously contained performance from emanuelle devos . devos is a recurring feature of audiard in the same way that karin viard pops up for jean  pierre jeunet unconventionally beautiful  she  s referred to by everyone as unattractive in this film   versatile and capable of a subordinate profile .  br    br   this is almost the definition of her role as carla  a put  upon office dogsbody  taunted by colleagues exploiting her deafness . yet she finds an ami d  exploitation  if you like in cassel  s ex  con paul . each exploits the other  s unconventional talents  theft and lip reading  to struggle through their respective situations and form an unconventionally romantic rapprochement . devos  audiard manage carla  s deafness and its attendant  warped inner world with discreet  stylish flair .  br    br   in this film       audiard is already clearly in control of his handling on tension  action and investing his frame with a truly visceral experience which will become the great hit  a prophet  of nine years later .      
up until the last   minutes  i was thinking that this is possibly jackie chan  s worst movie  excluding his pre      work  which i am not familiar with  . the final fight sequence changed all that it is long and good and intense  indeed  one of the highlights of chan  s career . but to get to it  you have to sit through a lot of  comedy  that might amuse five  year  olds  oh  look  someone threw a tomato at that guy  s face  and endless  football  scenes . not to mention the dubbing  which includes the line  how can i turn it off  it  s not a tap   watch to find out what it refers to  .  dragon lord  is worth renting for the final fight alone  but the rest of the movie is only for jackie collectors  and even then only for those who  ve already seen at least   of his other movies .     
i meant that in a good way  believe me . true to life  it ain  t . the whole oirish thing gets kinda thick  but you do enjoy the cast here  flynn  smith  bond  watson  frawley  etc . all good . i also liked seeing mike mazurki  of course he played a boxer  what else  typical forties flick teeming w  familiar faces and fast paced scenes  one after the other .  br    br   flynn is fine as gentleman jim  you never get past a  dimensional look at him or the rest here  i suppose  but it  s okay  it  s a cartoon and meant to please  that  s all . the boxing scenes were pretty good  ward bond  s vaudeville logging act a riot  and you hadda like seeing all those billyclub wielding bobbies come racing into the scene a couple of times .  br    br   really alotta fun  flynn was on a roll at that time and it  s clear to see why audiences loved him .  br    br    outta   
this film was the most longest film and the record breaking film for sure it had   actors after jaani dushman       i guess no one had the guts to do something like that  br    br   the film as the title suggests is based on the kargil war but the problem is there are too many characters and the romantic subplots and the songs of many characters are boring  br    br   even there are too many cinematic liberties like killing people with knifes  wonder which soldier does that   br    br   direction by jp dutta pales front of border music is okay  br    br   amongst the huge cast ajay devgan stands tall  saif is very good in his part and also it  s his first film with kareena  abhishek is likable manoj bajpai has his moments sanju is wasted  suneil is okay akshaye khanna does his part well rest are passable rani is good  esha is okay rest are passable  
errol flynn had one of his favorite roles as the brash braggart from a fighting irish family who went on to become the heavyweight champion of the world at a time when john l . sullivan  ward bond  went around claiming that he  could beat any man alive .  both flynn and ward bond give what is probably among the best performances they ever gave on screen .  br    br   raoul walsh has directed the colorful tale with robust style  capturing the family life as well with scenes that are warm  hearted and full of good humor . all the warner contract players make up the fine cast   including the always reliable alan hale as flynn  s rambunctious father  proud of his son  s fighting abilities  and alexis smith who makes the most of her role as a feisty society girl who enjoys taking flynn down a peg with saucy one  liners dealing with his conceited manners .  br    br   all of the     s atmosphere is captured in glorious bw  although it  s too bad warners didn  t have more faith in flynn to do the film in color . he was entering a rocky phase of his film career at the time  engaged in a widely publicized rape trial that had all of the tabloids busy sorting things out .  br    br   the fighting scenes are among the best ever choreographed for the screen  with flynn obviously in fine form and making very little use of doubles for most of the action . and the scene where bond turns over his award plaque to flynn at a social gathering is one of ward  s finest moments in a long career as a character actor .  br    br   summing up maintains interest all the way through  whether you  re a sports fan or not .  
okay  i was bored and decided to see this movie . but i think the main thing that brought this movie down was that there would be a hour of footage  then basically that same hour repeated  times . it consists of  . gathering the troops and discussing the attack plan   . flashbacks to the men  s wives  . the approach of the troops marching in a long line  . men running up hill and shooting  usually the first getting shot in the head then  other men rescuing him .  . defeat of the enemy and calling to base to tell of success  . men flashing back to wives and singing   minute songs . that was the basic movie  and that same order of events happened about  or  times . and every time it did a flashback to the wives  it would show the man  then his wife and him . there were about   men or more who would have a flashback so this took up tons of time . other than that  the men couldn  t kill their enemy except with either bayonets or grenades . i liked the music and there was a lot of action  though the action was repetitive . overall  i probably wouldn  t see it again  but it wasn  t too horrible .  
director raoul walsh was like the michael bay of the     s and years before that . and i mean that in a positive way  since i  m definitely ain  t no bay  hater . his movies are just simple high quality entertainment  just like the raoul walsh movies were in his days .  br    br    gentleman jim  is fine quality entertainment . besides a first class director  it also features a first grade cast  with raoul walsh  s regular leading man errol flynn in the main part .  br    br   what surprised me was how well the boxing matches were brought to the screen . they used some very dynamic camera  work  which also really made the boxing matches uplifting and exciting to watch  with the end championship fight against john l . sullivan as the ultimate highlight .  br    br   biopics of the     s and earlier on were obviously still very much different from biographies being made this present day . modern biographies often glorify its main subject and show his  her life from basically birth till death and everything  mostly emotional aspects  in between .  old  biopics were just made the same as movies that weren  t based on actual real life persons  which also means that the film  makers would often use a use amount of creative liberty with the main character  s personality and events that happened in his  her life . this movie is also not just a biography about a boxing legend but also forms a nice portrayal from the period when illegal bare knuckle fighting entered the modern era of boxing .  br    br   errol flynn does a great job portraying the real life famous boxer james j . corbett aka gentleman jim . not too many people known it but flynn did some real good acting jobs in the     s  of which this movie is one . fysicaly he also looks in top  shape . he also looks quite different by the way without his trademark small mustache in this movie . the movie also features some fine supporting actors and some fine acting throughout .  br    br   a great and entertaining movie that also still truly holds up real well today .  br    br        
there  s nothing new for me to say  hours of people dying over and over in the same hill . the cast was stellar  but unfortunately the producer  director  editor  god goofed . he should have eaten humble pie  if not for his own sake then for the men who died in kargil   hired one of these brilliant bollywood directors  hired a real scriptwriter  hired a real editor  hired a musician that wasn  t related to him in some way  and who seemed to have listened to some bad version of  apocalypse now  on some cheap indian drug   hired a real professional crew  thrown away all the fireworks and told a real story . unfortunately he  like the bigwigs of the indian army  made decisions that were terrible for his actors  and terrible for his audience . we all died over and over .  br    br   please don  t do that again  sir  sushma kathmandu  nepal  br    br   ps next time an indian director decides to glorify the gurkha regiment  i suggest he hire more than one nepali to represent the team . surely there are plenty of nepali men working in bombay   last count was       to half a million .  
errol flynn is  gentleman jim  in this     film about boxer jim corbett  known as the man who beat john l . sullivan . directed with a light hand by flynn  s good friend  raoul walsh  the film also stars alexis smith  jack carson  alan hale sr .  william frawley and ward bond . flynn plays an ambitious  egotistical young man who has a natural talent for boxing and is sponsored by the exclusive olympic club in san francisco in the late     s . though good  natured  the fact that he is a  shanty irishman  and a social climber builds resentment in olympic club members most of them can  t wait to see him lose a fight  and they bet against him . despite this  he rises to fame  even working as an actor . finally he gets the chance he  s been waiting for  a match with the world champion  john l . sullivan  ward bond  . sullivan demands a        deposit to insure that corbett will appear to fight for the        purse . corbett and his manager  frawley  despair of getting the money . however  help comes in the form of a very unlikely individual .  br    br   this is a very entertaining film  and jim corbett is an excellent role for flynn  who himself was a professional fighter at one time . he has the requisite charm  good looks and athleticism for the role . alexis smith plays victoria ware  his romantic interest who insists that she hates him . in real life  she doesn  t seem to have existed corbett was married to olive lake morris from     to     .  br    br   the focus of the film is on corbett and his career rather than the history of boxing . corbett used scientific techniques and innovation and is thought of as the man who made prizefighting an art form . in the film  corbett is fleet of foot and avoids being hit by his opponents it is believed that he wore down john l . sullivan this way .  br    br   good film to catch flynn at the height of his too  short time as a superstar .  
if you have seen very less films  this might be a big one for you . if you have seen lot of films  this is a joke . the acting of real heroes is portrayed very badly . not to mention  there are songs  there are lot of flashbacks  and most importantly  the fighting scenes are stupidily performed . new characters  good direction  would have done a better job  but since it contains all the bollywood heros  heroines  you can predict whats going to happen next . you do not feel sad when something happens  the emotions they protray is terrible  mainly because we have seen this actor in     other hindi movies . it suppose to be a realistic movie  but it fails to show . there are times you wondering  you have thousands of army vehical filled with soldiers moving and the pakistanis are bombing at them and none of their bomb hits them . are the pakis really bad at aiming or the director made them look stupid  there were only a few characters acting that was very good  but as far it is concerned with plot  action  it is poorly directed . this movie could have been short if they took out songs  flashbacks  stick to the point .  
in late     s san francisco  poor well  dressed errol flynn  as james j . corbett  works at a bank  and enjoys attending local  fights   boxing  with co  worker and drinking buddy jack carson  as walter lowrie  . one day  pretty alexis smith  as victoria ware  walks into the  comstock bank   where mr . flynn works . flynn is so taken with ms . smith  s elegant beauty  he offers to carry her withdrawal purse . smith is secretly taken with the handsome flynn  but is put off by his brashness .  br    br   flynn  s good deed  actually  pick  up attempt  gets him a complimentary membership in the snooty  olympic club   which conveniently includes a gymnasium  with boxing equipment  . however  flynn  s presumptuous manner  and practical joking  he tickles men on the parallel bars  irritates  club  members . when an english boxing champ visits the club  members endeavor to get flynn to fight the man . they are hopeful flynn will resign  humiliated by his defeat  but  flynn wins   br    br   first time producer robert buckner puts together a nice package for warner brothers  and director raoul walsh . mr . buckner was  certainly  basking in the success of his contribution  screenplay  to the studio  s brilliant  yankee doodle dandy  . unfortunately  this story is positively ludicrous . there was a  gentleman jim   this story is supposedly the filming of the real james j . corbett  s autobiography  the roar of the crowd   but  this movie must be significantly fictionalized .  br    br   flynn is a very appealing leading man he maneuvers the script lightly  and should have been recognized  by the early     s  as an excellent actor . many of flynn  s characterizations were  are   overlooked as great performances  and this is one of them . smith does well as his feminine interest  deftly transmitting her emotions for the viewer . director walsh makes the silliness look smooth and extravagant . the supporting cast is a treasure trove  from boisterous alan hale  as pat corbett  to walk  on lon mccallister   paging mr . corbett   .  br    br    gentleman jim       raoul walsh  errol flynn  alexis smith  alan hale  
storyline the film spanning   odd hours covers in adequate details the happenings at the kargil sector near the loc in     when the pakistani infiltrators had crossed the loc and had entered deep into the indian territory and the indian retaliation . to know more about the story  i would suggest readers to read the news  items pertaining to kargil .  br    br   comment if one is looking for a formula story in this movie  then one can be sure that it is absent . loc is a story of pure sacrifice  patriotism  courage and lots and lots of bullets and blood . the movie hall where i saw this film was full of whistles and cheers when the film shows indian bravery . movie audience seemed similar to audiences like in an india vs pak cricket match .  br    br   watch the movie as a tribute to the army  s sacrifice and for the characterization of the real  life war heroes   pvc honoured heroes  who have sacrificed their lives so that we could see this day . the movie has made a brilliant portrayal of the army who have battled all odds in rough weather conditions . the film  s negatives are that it is too stretched and the songs are extremely boring .  
excellent warner bros effort starring errol flynn in one of his best screen performances . it  s often cited as his best  and i can  t really judge fully until i have seen his  dawn patrol  . however  his work in  they died with their boots on  takes some beating . i  m a big flynn fan  he  s my favourite actor after james mason   it also helps that he  s an aussie  and i think he  s just marvellous  a great screen presence and also a great actor . he is the centrepiece of  gentleman jim  as the legendary boxer with the fancy footwork  but he is also backed up by a literate  warm and funny script  and raoul walsh  s direction . every walsh film i have seen never loses a beat of it  s pace  he truly was a born film  maker . walsh directs the ring scenes beautifully  as he does with the lighter moments and that poignant  great final scene between ward bord and flynn . add to that great production values  the  gay nineties  never looked better   and a lovely supporting cast and it  s pretty much perfect entertainment . alan hale usually played flynn  s sidekick  but here is his father  and it still all works . alexis smith is flynn  s love interest . the pair are head over heels in love with fighting with each other .  
loc could have been a very well made movie on how the kargil war was fought it had the locations  the budget  and the skill to have been india  s  saving private ryan  or  black hawk down  . instead it come across as a bloated   hour bore of trying to meld the war move with the masala movie . even the war scenes were terribly executed  using the same hill in all their battle scenes  and spending unnecessary time on casual talk . instead of trying to appeal to the indian public  a better movie would have been a to  the  book account of what happened at kargil  like  black hawk down   or even spending time on the militant point of view  like  tora  tora  tora   . even better  it could have used a competent director like ram gopal verma to write  direct and edit the film . until then  i  d like to see some one re  edit this film  with only the pertinent portions included it would make the movie more watchable .  
just to mention one more thing about gentleman jim . i agree with all the assessments that make this among errol flynn  s greatest outings in a career of great outings . i would think this role playing boxer jim corbett is more like his real personality than the swashbucklers he was typecast as . flynn seemed like a party animal from his memoirs and was one guy whose real life was more exciting than his screen life . the extra thing i wanted to point out is notice the great montages  transitions  and still inserts that punctuate the film . although the director was raoul walsh  a frequent collaborator with flynn  with cinematographer sid hickox  the montages were made up by an up and coming editor named don siegel . i never knew siegel went that far back but he  s listed right in the credits . he would go on to a great career as action director himself .  
michael keaton has really never been a good actor in the tim burton batman movies he always falls in the shadows of his great villains . here  he stars as a widowed husband that picks up radio frequencies that seems like is dead people that tries making contact with the living . . .  br    br   well  this is supposed to be a pretty shocking thriller  but it really misses about every spot there is shocking you . because there  s way too much stuff that ends up unexplained  undiscovered and uninteresting . so where  s the shocking excitement when it all gets so bad movie made in the first place that white noise makes a fool out of itself  truly bad acting and horrifying edited  this movie is nothing to watch . michael keaton tries making a thriller comeback but ends up missing the target more than ever .  
errol flynn  s greatest movie  not just a sports movie with a wonder last  minutes where ward bond shines . don  t miss it just because you think its an old movie . its a classic that could be easily missed . do yourself a favour and don  t .  
okay  i struggled to set aside the fact that in selling evp as real the movie was basically lying to me from the get  go . i reasoned that hell  i don  t believe in vampires but i still liked dracula so i could live with this .  br    br   however  even with that accepted the movie is just not very good . it  s competently made and acted  but it doesn  t really capture you at all . there are several  jump  moments  and i just looked at them and thought  yeah  i didn  t expect that  without actually jumping in the slightest .  br    br   also the resolution doesn  t make sense . if the force behind this is capable of doing the things it seems to be  then why the hell does it need to use a proxy  plus  the end caption was absurd . they obviously put it there as part of the  give the movie credibility by claiming it  s all real  thing  but for that to work it really needs to be at the start . but they can  t put it at the start because then they give the plot away . . . sticking it in at the end just made it stick out like a sore thumb .  
james j . corbett  heavyweight champion of the world from     to      turned out to be errol flynn  s favorite role . possibly because he didn  t have to wield a sword or be in a western . he grew tired of the swashbucklers and he said in his autobiography that he felt he was miscast in westerns and couldn  t understand why people liked him in them . it is an enjoyable film  but hardly does tell the real story of james j . corbett .  br    br   as portrayed corbett was the first scientific boxer to win in the heavyweight division  a man who used brains and speed more than brute strength to win . he defeated john l . sullivan and lost to bob fitzsimmons the heavyweight crown . he was also a compulsive womanizer and in that was a lot like the man portraying him . of course that was not shown on the screen . the character that alexis smith plays  the banker  s daughter who falls for him  has no basis in reality . corbett was in fact married twice and was flagrantly unfaithful with both of his wives .  br    br   also though after he lost his title and after the events of this film are concluded he suffered a great personal tragedy . his father in a moment of depression  probably over finances because he lost heavily betting on his son to beat bob fitzsimmons  shot his mother and then turned the gun on himself . the murder  suicide hardly squares with the happy clan that alan hale presided over .  br    br   one thing though that i did like about gentleman jim . ward bond got the career role of his life in playing john l . sullivan . director raoul walsh got a great performance out of bond as the blustering  but lovable sullivan . even given some of sullivan  s bad points that don  t make it to the screen like rabid racism  bond  s portrayal is the quintessential john l . and the best thing about gentleman jim .  br    br   speaking of racism  one thing that should have been told was the fact that sullivan while champion refused on grounds of race to meet peter jackson who was black and from australia and probably the best heavyweight of his time . i say probably because as a challenger corbett met him and fought him for   rounds to a draw . that fight more than any other created a demand for a sullivan  corbett title match . of course when corbett was champion he refused to give jackson a title shot . maybe he didn  t want another   round marathon with someone who may have been better on that particular day .  br    br   gentleman jim is not jim corbett  s story  it is a movie of errol flynn playing at being james j . corbett . but corbett had he been alive in     no doubt would have loved the movie and loved flynn  s portrayal of his life . it  s as he would have liked to have been remembered .  
  white noise  had potential to be one of the most talked about movies since  the exorcist  i think . seeing as evp is supposedly true it really had an easy passage to be a feared true fact . not many movies come along that really instill fear into the minds of people . like i said this movie could have  but did not . the movie degraded itself to a low class pg    scary movie . nothing compared to  the ring  or  the sixth sense  by any means . someone really needs to just take charge in the horror movie industry and just make a movie that not only makes us think  but it makes us jump  scream  everything a horror movie should do . i  m honestly sick of the pg    horror genre  because its becoming a genre of its own . we need the old days back  the blood and gore days  the freddy kruger  the jason  the mike myers days . few movies can pull off a think about this mentality being so not scary . so why try to pull it off  a few good jumps in this movie amount to nothing but one of the stupidest endings in movie history with no resolution at all . . . don  t waste your money on this movie .  
if you are looking for a definitive biography of the life of boxer james corbett  then this is probably not the film for you . the famed boxer receives a     s  hollywood  ization  of his life   making the story far more entertaining and engaging than real life . however  because the performances were so good  particularly by errol flynn  and the script so likable  the film  s embellishments can be forgiven .  br    br   errol flynn plays gay nineties  era boxer james  gentleman jim  corbett   a man who became world boxing champ in     . the film goes from his rather humble beginnings and follows his through his career through him winning the title match against john l . sullivan . however  while it could have focused mostly on the matches  most are rather brief in the film  except for the final title match  and the emphasis is on corbett  s brash personality as well as his relationship with the lady played by alexis smith . throughout the film  there is excellent supporting work done by a cast of wonderful supporting actors  such as the perennial supporting actor in flynn films  alan hale  and the writing really helped bring these people alive .  br    br   what is particularly nice about the film is seeing the athleticism of flynn as a boxer . while a few of the shots are of doubles  almost all the boxing scenes are of flynn and he did a convincing job as a pugilist . this was a nice departure for flynn  who generally played  pretty boy  roles or swashbucklers and this shows just how tough a character he was . to find out more about this  try reading a biography of him   he was quite the rough and tumble character before coming to hollywood .  br    br   now as for the real james corbett  read on if you aren  t afraid of finding out how the movie isn  t accurate . first  corbett was not a poor guy coming from a poor family  but was college educated and bright . second  while he did get alexis smith at the end of the film  they also divorced a few years later . third  the wonderfully touching final scene of the film between sullivan and corbett was probably the best part of the film  sullivan was a jerk and this never could have happened   in reality  sullivan was more the egomaniac and corbett was not the fat  headed guy they portrayed in the film   though it made for a lovely film .  
as a cinema fan white noise was an utter disappointment  as a filmmaker the cinematography was pretty good  nicely lit  good camera work  reasonable direction . but as a film it just seamed as predictable as all the other  so called  horror movies that the market has recently been flooded with . although it did have a little bit of the  chill factor  the whole concept of the e . v . o  electronic voice phenomena  did  not seem believable . this movie did not explain the reasonings for certain occurrences but went ahead with them . the acting was far from mind blowing the main character portrayed no emotion  like many recent thriller  horror movies .  br    br   definitely not a movie i will be buying on dvd and would not recommend anyone rushes out to see it .  
jean  jacques  career began with his essay answer to a prize question civilization makes us evil . this intelligent and exciting movie supports that argument . in that sense it repeats a theme common to french films society is real  identity is a construction  freedom is criminal . here the idea is treated literally . both main characters find themselves  and each other  only when breaking rules . this discovery may well hold true in france at any rate  it  s quite romantic .  
i was thrilled to watch this movie expecting it to be the sequel to the cult classic  private lessons  which portrays the dream of any male teenager .  br    br    private lessons ii  has nothing to do with the title i mention . it  s just a regular soft  core cinemax flick that won  t make a change in your life . there  s just one hot sex scene in a rooftop but that  s it . i watched this a long time ago but believe me  this is just a regular boring soft core flick .  br    br   the women are hot but that  s not enough to rent or buy the movie . my advice is to watch this only if it airs on cable .  
this is one of the greatest sports movies ever made by hollywood . what a wonderful story about one of the great sports figures of american history . what makes the story of james j . corbett especially interesting is that mr . corbett introduced the style of boxing that continues to this day . in that respect james j . corbett was truly innovated . but getting back to the movie  all the performances were excellent . alexis smith was beautiful . indeed  she looked like nicole kidman . and although it  s a period piece  the story withstands the test of time it has not gone stale . ward bond  s portrayal of john l . sullivan has to be one of the great portrayals of an actual sports figure in the history of movies and the boxing scenes are realistic  well  staged and highly effective . that coupled with a great script makes this movie a must .  
jonathan rivers  michael keaton  suddenly becomes a widower when his wife dies . soon after  he  s approached by a dr . price  an expert in electronic voice phenomena  evp   who claims he  s been receiving messages from jonathan  s departed wife anna via sundry electronic gadgets . is anna trying to tell jonathan something  is this merely a hint of something on a larger cosmic or otherworldly scale  it  s good to see keaton in a leading role  but the story he  s stuck with is convoluted and absurd at points it  s as if the movie doesn  t know how to answer any of the questions it brings up  so it just distracts the viewer with new  unrelated questions .  br    br   keaton himself is pretty good  convincingly cast as the bereaving widower desperately trying to communicate with his late wife . he  s matured quite a bit as an actor  leaving behind the frat  friendly waacky  hijinks roles he played   or so years earlier . he looks a little craggy  with a perhaps few more wrinkles than one might expect  but he  s lost none of the guile and panache that he  s shown during his quarter century in hollywood .  br    br   so it  s not that keaton turns in a mediocre performance  it  s that the script itself is subpar . written by niall johnson  the plot gets more confusing as it progresses  each tortuous path ending in another tortuous path . this is all well and good if the path leads to some sort of acceptable denouement  something that ties more or less everything together and explains . . . something . but not white noise i knew less about what had happened to jonathan than i did before i  d first seen him .  br    br   keaton  s really the only reason to watch this junk  although he gets fine support from ian mcneice  as dr . price  and deborah kara unger as the requisite love interest .  
i consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of boxing movies and as such there is only one thing that prevents me from calling  gentleman jim  the best boxing movie ever made . that is the robert wise  paul newman flick  somebody up there likes me .  that movie might be number   but  gentleman jim  is a close number  .  br    br   the movie doesn  t just chronicle the rise of james j . corbett  it also shows the sport of boxing at a crucial time of transition . in the late     s boxing was moving away from the brutal days of bare  knuckle rules to the more  gentlemanly  days of the gloved  marquis of queensbury rules . and the sport was moving away from the days when it was an illegal spectacle and towards a time of acceptance and respectability .  br    br    gentleman jim  is not a realistic look at those days . it is romanticized and  yes  even a bit hokey at times . but always delightfully so . errol flynn is perfect as the  gentleman  jim who really isn  t a  gentleman  at all but merely a fast talker from a working class family . alexis smith is quite ravishing as the upper class woman with whom he has a love  hate relationship  and we all know it is  of course  love that will win that match in the end  .  br    br   at the end of  gentleman jim  the great john l sullivan  whose famous line was not  i can lick any man in the world  of course . . . romanticism again  hands over his belt to corbett . this is truly one of the best scenes in any sports move ever made . realistic  no . but wonderful . hey  if you want realism watch  raging bull  instead . that is a much more realistic boxing movie . but  gentleman jim  is a lot more fun .  
i saw the trailer for this film a few months prior to its release  and man  did it look scary  especially how this film was based on a real life phenomenon . i was incredibly interested  and thought that this could finally be a decent horror  thriller film after years if crap . well you know how movie trailers make a film look better than it is maybe by showing all of the creepy parts or by overdramaticizing certain elements . the advertisements for the movie did both  which lead to my ultimate disappointment .  br    br   by no means is this  the most disturbing movie in years  . hell  i doubt it was the most disturbing movie of that week  s release . this movie takes the whole  based off of fact  thing too far .  br    br   this movie wasn  t complete crap . i must admit  it held my interest and micheal keaton was believable as a man searching for answers by supernatural means . other than that  though  this film is one big clich . after john  s wife dies  he learns about evp  which transmits the voices of the dead into everyday electronic appliances . he all of the sudden receives messages from his wife  my god  it  s not just his wife reaching him  it  s other dead people . gee  imagine that . a movie about helping dead people . come on  give me a break  the clichs don  t stop there . there  s also the obligatory clock  stopping  at  the  same  exact  time  every  night trick and three evil spirits that menace our hero . not only was the movie clich  it wasn  t scary . the film literally had two jump scenes  and those two scenes are almost identical . the ending is horrible  as it leaves the door wide open for a sequel . there  s also an ending message with a message saying how only  out of x voices heard through evp are threatening  with a nice happy tune playing . way to break the mood  you guys . jeez  in the end  if you want another forgettable horror film  see white noise . the only reasons i could possibly think anyone would watch this film for is that either that the person is a keaton fan or that they are interested in evp . sure  the evp aspects may be slightly interesting  but i don  t like my movie concepts to be shoved down my throat and blown up in my face . this film tries to be scary  original  and disturbing  but it  s just the opposite . you know you have a lame movie when the commercials use the ghosts to talk about there film .  i will see this film no more .   
loosely based on the james j corbett biography  the roar of the crowd   gentleman jim is a wonderfully breezy picture that perfectly encapsulates not only the rise of the pugilistic prancer that was corbett  but also the wind of change as regards the sport of boxing circa the     s .  br    br   the story follows corbett a perfectly casted errol flynn from his humble beginnings as a bank teller in san fransico  thru to a chance fight with an ex boxing champion that eventually leads to him fighting the fearsome heavyweight champion of the world  john l sullivan beefcake personified delightfully by ward bond . not all the fights are in the ring tho  and it  s all the spin off vignettes in corbett  s life that makes this a grand entertaining picture . there are class issues to overcome here perfectly played out as fellow club members pay to have him knocked down a peg or two  and corbett has to not only fight to get respect from his so called peers  but he must also overcome his ego as it grows as briskly as his reputation does . along with the quite wonderful corbett family  and all their stoic humorous support  corbett  s journey is as enthralling as it is joyous  yet as brash and as bold as he is  he is a very likable character  and it  s a character that befits the tagged moniker he got of gentleman jim .  br    br   the film never sags for one moment  and it  s a testament to director raoul walsh that although we are eagerly awaiting the final fight  the outer ring goings on are keeping us firmly entertained  not even the love interest sub plot hurts this picture thank you alexis smith . the fight sequences stand up really well  and they perfectly show just how corbett became the champ he was  his brand of dancing rings round slugger fighters is now firmly placed in boxing history . as the final reel rolls we all come down to earth as an after fight meeting between sullivan and corbett puts all the brutality into context  and it  s here where humility and humbleness becomes the outright winner  and as far as this viewer goes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . it will do for me to be sure to be sure      for a truly wonderful picture .  
john rivers  life as an architect and family man has taken a turn for the worst when his wife has disappeared and has been concluded dead after a freakish accident that involved changing a tyre on her car . during the days she has been missing  he confronts a man that  s been following and he tells him that his been in contact with his dead wife from the other  side through e . v . p  electronic voice phenomenon . naturally he doesn  t believe it but then hear gets weird phone calls from her phone and so he contacts the man to find out more about e . v . p . soon enough john is hooked onto it  but something supernatural doesn  t like him interfering with the dead  as now other then contacting his wife  the white noise is foretelling events before they happen .  br    br   since this dvd has been sitting on my shelf for a while now  i thought i better get around to watching it since it wasn  t my copy . but then again i don  t think the owners were in a hurry to get it back  as they haven  t question me about it . oh well . so i decided to give it a play  as i was in an undemanding mood . after hearing and reading all the bad press on it  i wasn  t expecting anything remotely good  but i was kept entertained for   minutes . well  more so the   minutes  as the last half  an  hour was pretty much a blur of confusion . the film is nowhere as good as it could have been  but the time breezed by quick enough even though it  s a rather tepid supernatural thriller . i thought it wasn  t all a waste . the first hour i found some effective sequences rather interesting and there  s a spooky awe generated with a slow progression of subtle stillness and tragedy that haunts you  but sadly that comes to a crashing halt later on in the film . that  s when the predictably forced jump scares come into their own and somehow it just doesn  t fit in with the context . it becomes rather hectic  loud and very muddled with its mtv style editing and kinetic camera  work that gets to close into the action . i couldn  t understand what was going on within choppy and abrupt climax . the whole explanation how everything fits into the bigger picture is pure hokey . it  s a very unsatisfying conclusion because it goes for something big  but hits rock bottom . i thought they did fine job up until that point with the lighting and showy camera  work . other then the distinctively stark lighting  the score kept this flick atmospherically gloomy . all of it is very slickly done with its glossed up and fancy hardware  which makes it come across as very sterile and empty .  br    br   you can easily see that the film  s heart is in the technical components and not in expanding the characters and story . there  s just no connection and lasting sentiment within this flimsy material . after a while  it just tries too hard to convince you that it falls into manipulative thrills and popping in many blood  curdling stuff from beyond the grave . it just got rather repetitious watching someone watch a fuzzy tv screen after while . the e . v . p machine was the star on the show . well  it did have more impact than the limp performances . michael keaton is more than capable actor  but lately his disappeared off the map and here he provides a modest performance as the dangerously obsessed john rivers . he really deserves much better  though . everyone else is pretty brittle and forgettable . not because of the performances  but of the lack of depth in their characters . this clunker wasn  t bad to begin with  but it does go pear shape by falling away drastically .  br    br   i wouldn  t care to see it again and i wouldn  t recommend to anyone  unless you got a interest for the subject matter and enjoy the recent crop of hollywood produced horror  thrillers . it  s just a damn shame that this over  produced flick couldn  t put it together successfully  as it had promise in its idea and a more than decent cast on hand . i didn  t hate it  but what a disappointment .  
gentleman jim not really a boxing film . it is a vehicle for errol flynn as jim corbett . but having said that  the boxing scenes are a real eye  opener to the modern viewer . there are no   round  points decisions here .  br    br   errol flynn plays the irish bank clerk who gets a shot at the heavyweight world title . flynn is well suited to the role of suave but unpredictable corbett . his opponent john sullivan is still better however  a bruiser of the old school played by ward bond .  br    br   the theme of the film is a man pushing for his big chance . corbett leaves his mundane life behind and builds a new persona as gentleman jim . jim is a chancer who can adapt to any social environment . he is a liar and an egotist . sullivan the heavyweight boxing champion is portrayed as a simple brute but his honesty and sportsmanship gives a certain contrast to the main character .  br    br   there is action and excitement aplenty and a wonderful ending with the requisite redemption for all . and errol flynn gets the girl .  
i don  t think i  ve ever been so bowled over by the sheer absurdity of a movie in my entire life as i was when i walked out of this piece of crap . nothing in it makes any sense . none of it is clever or well thought out . out of lack of truly suspenseful moments they repeatedly use that total cop  out trick where you build up the music before the character does something like open a door or push aside a curtain and then nothing  s there . thats ok to do once  maybe  but i counted three times . there are things thrown in for no apparent reason  characters  half  formed story lines . . . . the characters weren  t well developed at all . the ending was . . bad . bad  bad  bad  everything  every component  of this film is terrible . and i  m just here to warn you all of that .  
flynn  known mostly for his swashbuckling roles  and his bedroom antics   takes a different tack with this film and it works beautifully . playing real  life boxing champ jim corbett  flynn turns on the charm full blast as he makes his way from a stifled san francisco bank teller to a celebrated pugilist  all the while setting one eye on society deb smith . he and best pal carson attend an illegal bare  knuckle fight and are arrested along with scores of other men  and a dog   including a prominent judge . the next day  he gets a chance  via smith  to gain entrance to the judge  s private club . he uses this opportunity to weasel his way into the good graces of its exclusive members and land a spot as the club  s resident boxer . his unusually adept skill in the sport soon has him taking on all comers  up to and including the world champion john l . sullivan  bond .  flynn is downright magical here . he is the epitome of charm  charisma and appeal in this role . he looks terrific  especially in a hangover scene with his hair mussed and wearing a white union suit  and does virtually all of his own stuntwork  impressively   his line delivery is delicious and he is credible and sympathetic and at the same time duplicitous and rascally . smith exudes class and taste from every pore and is a good match for flynn . at this stage  he needed a female costar who could stand up to his advances and reputation  he was undergoing statutory rape charges at the time  and she does so admirably . she is repulsed by his freshness and cavalier attitude  yet can hardly help but fall under his enchanting spell . bond is incredibly burly  brawny and towering  yet tender when the script calls for it . amusing support is provided by a young and ebullient carson . frawley is his dependably cantankerous self as flynn  s manager . the rest of the cast is excellent as well including flynn  s rambunctious family and an assortment of stuffy nob hill types . the whole thing is beautifully appointed and securely directed . a few of the sets are amazingly presented . some of smith  s gowns border on the garish  but she suits the upswept hairstyles very well . it  s a terrific glimpse into the earliest days of championship boxing  but it  s also so much more . some of it  like the character traits shown by flynn  is enhanced or exaggerated for entertainment purposes  but a lot of it is authentic  like the methods and costumes shown in the fight scenes .  one line is particularly memorable  i believe you like me more than i like you  but it  s entirely possible that i love you more than you love me .  it  s classic romantic dialogue  and there are more than a few zingers sprinkled throughout the script as well .   
the idea was awesome  the actors were incredible  the story could of been very scary  but the writing was poor and there was no depth . i couldn  t really get into this movie . i couldn  t feel for the characters  there were a lot of cliffhangers  and the movie just ends very weirdly . was it a happy ending  i don  t know . was it a sad ending  again  i don  t know . you leave the theater feeling unsatisfied . the movie had so much to give  but couldn  t . just because you can edit  doesn  t mean you should  right  i wouldn  t really recommend this movie because you just can  t say that you left the movie feeling like it was completed . you  ll just be confused . trust me  you will probably thank me if you don  t watch this movie .  br    br        
some saying about  the play is the most important thing   or something like that  is attributed to that old bard of avon  himself  william shakewspeare . if it wasn  t old will  it may well have been our own  super  veteran film director  mr . raoul walsh . there are a large number of his films that would support this hypothesis . none are more appropriate than gentleman jim  warner brothers       .  br    br   the film also racks up another award  being named as errol flynn  s favourite of his own starring vehicles . it clearly gives on screen evidence that would easily lead viewers sitting in the darkened theatre  or viewing it on their home tv or dvd  to conclude same .  br    br   to be sure  the story is a semi  serious biopic  which takes a portion of factual material and blends it with a liberal dose of the old imagination to bring us a very satisfying  albeit somewhat fictionalized  what biopic isn  t   occurrences .  br    br   the casting is excellent  as it makes good use of the natural athleticism of our lead  mr . errol flynn . though not a swashbuckler  a western or a war picture  this gentleman jim is perhaps the starring role that was the best fit for the rugged australian .  br    br   errol was a member of the australian olympic boxing team in either     or     . his training and skills in the  sweet science  are clearly in evidence throughout the film and especially in the  big fight  for the world  s heavyweight boxing championship with the great john l . sullivan  himself .  played in expert fashion by ward bond  the cast reads like a duty roster of warner brothers  resident supporting players . it features alan hale as jim corbet  s father  a livery wagon operator . his two brothers are harry and george  pat flaherty and james flavin   the two  blue collar  men of the family  their occupations being stated as being  longshormen  .  br    br   the great jack carson does his usual masterful serio  comic performance in support as jim corbett  s friend and fellow bank teller . the rest of those we can both recognize and remember arejohn loder  william frawley  madeleine lebeau  minor watson  rhys williams  arthur shields  dorothy vaughn to name but a few .  br    br   director walsh also used a number of pro wrestlers in roles of various boxers . hence we have ed  strangler  lewis and an unknown grappler are featured as the  waterfront pugs in the opening scenes . others were sammy stein  mike mazurki  ever hear of him   and  wee willie  davis . these guys had a powerful  yet unpolished look about them that the old pier  brawlers would have possessed .  br    br   we haven  t forgotten leading lady  alexis smith . she is powerful in her characterization of an  independent  woman  yet maintains enough true ability as a comic player in many of the scenes . she displays quite a range in her part as poor little rich girl  victoria lodge .  br    br   with all these ingredients at hand  the trick is how to mix the elements in proper proportions to give it the  just right  blend . well  director walsh does so with a reckless abandon . because he is looking for  above all  a great film . his treatment shows all of the skills he had honed to a fine tuning starting with his days as a player with d . w . griffith . mr . walsh seems to have a special fondness for that period  the      s .  mr . walsh  s direction moves through the script at a fairly fast clip  breaking up the exposition scenes with a humorous punch  line   the corbetts are at it again   hence  he is able to maintain a light  even humorous touch to a story which could become too drab and serious .  br    br   furthermore  in an almost unnoticed element  brother walsh gives us an authentic look of a san francisco of the      s . and as a further example of his fondness for that period  he creates wide  dynamic images of the historic prize fights . there is a vibrant  joyful mood conveyed in those boxing scenes . as a crowning glory to this great  perhaps underrated film  director walsh gave the image a look as if it were an illustration from the police gazette  which covered such events in those  old days  .  br    br   but there  s just one thing to remember before viewing . if it is for the first time  or if your seeing it once more  br    br    the corbets are at it again     br    br    in my humble opinion as a historian of both film and pro wrestling  it looks like tor johnson  who years later was a favourite of director ed wood  s .  br    br    a  livery  is a somewhat archaic term for a vehicle for hire for local city transportation .  br    br    it  s true . mr . raoul walsh was a griffith veteran player . he was the actor to portray john wilkes booth in the birth of a nation       .  br    br    being born in      raoul walsh was old enough to have his own memories of the      s and of the sullivan  corbett championship bout and what it meant to the sporting life in the america of those days .  
i frequently comment on the utter dirth of truly scary movies on the market  and sadly white noise only served to reduce my faith that the film industry remains capable of such an endeavor . i was surprised to find myself growingly increasingly fatigued as the plot wore on and my static  induced headache increased . i found white noise to be preposterous beyond our best efforts of suspension of disbelief . even after witnessing the harrowing ordeal sustained by michael keaton  i was totally unaffected by his demise . up until the credits i diligently awaited for something   anything   of substance to connect me to the characters  story  but such relief never came . sure  there were the occasional heart  stopper moments  but only because loud noises tend to do that to the dozing viewer .  br    br   while the acting was lame  michael keaton may have played his studliest role to date . perhaps the only redeeming quality that white noise has to offer is the stunning archietecture in both of keaton  s abodes . overall  white noise leaves one with the morbidly depressing idea that those who die are trapped in a world guarded by three malicious shadows  contriving to trick the living into following the dead to their own graves .  
james j . corbett  s autobiography  the roar of the crowd  was the starting point of this lively and well  remembered fictionalized biography . the author was heavyweight champion of the world  succeeding john l . sullivan  before the turn of the century . the events of the narrative depict corbett as a brash but likable and intelligent young man whose conquest of the world of boxing and social prejudice in his time  when he was considered merely the son of irish immigrants  a lowly bank teller and a nobody surprised everyone . it took him several hours of exciting and often amusing screen  time to prove his compeers were wrong . he is an bank teller when the film opens  but he somehow wangles an invitation to a sporting club for the well  to  do . he falls in love with a beautiful but snobbish girl  with whom he always seems to be quarreling  and he lives at home with a brawling clan of corbetts who seem to fight with one another as often as with others . when he defeats the club  s best and a professional fighter borough in to embarrass him  he finally decides to become famous by fighting . he sets out on the road with his friend  who acts as manager and trainer  and despite a few near setbacks  he wins all his bouts and attracts attention . coming home to pursue his girl again  he contrives to annoy the boston strongboy  mighty john l . sullivan  who enters bars and claims he can  lick any man in the world  . few believe he can win a bout against sullivan  but corbett  dubbed  gentleman jim  for his gracious manners and patrician appearance surprises everyone by moving  dancing out of range  and negating the furious sullivan  s power . the film  s finest scene perhaps comes when a beaten sullivan comes to congratulate corbett . the new champion rises to the moment  tells sullivan a few years before it might have been different  and shows him nothing but admiration and respect . he gets his girl as a result of his two performances  but by the end of the film  as they visit his s parents  his manager is able to tell the world   the corbetts are at it again  . the films is attractive and has a consistent style without being flashy . the script was written by veteran horace mccoy and vincent lawrence from the corbett novel . sidney hickox did the cinematography  with period set decorations by clarence steensen and art direction by ted smith . heinz roemheld did the music and milo anderson the gowns . the film was ably directed by action  film specialist raoul walsh . flynn also liked working with walsh but did not care for the other director he worked for most often  michael curtiz . among the cast  were ward bond as john l . sullivan  in one of his best performances lovely alexis smith a bit spotty but intelligent as the girl corbett loves and a very able errol flynn as corbett  a young man he seemed to relish playing   he later said it was his favorite role from the period . . . jack carson was his manager  alan hale his charismatic father  john loder a rich foe  with william frawley  minor watson  madeleine lebeau  rhys williams  arthur shields  dorothy vaughn and mike mazurki along for the enjoyable proceedings . it is hard to say enough about the logic and light  hearted fun this movie  s makers have generated it is one of the best  liked of all sports biography films  and by my standards one of the most enjoyable as well .  
absolutely one of the worst movies of the year . the plot is ridiculous  the characters poorly developed  and the premise irritatingly stupid . it all begins when michael keaton  fresh off of doing nothing noteworthy since batman  loses his beautiful author wife  anna  to a car accident  possibly caused by her driving one of those convertible vw bugs even though she  s supposed to be rich . in his grief  batman moves to a new apartment and takes up a hobby recording nothing and then watching it . he learned this from a really fat pathetic guy who got murdered by three tall shadowy fellows who lived in his tv . pretty soon  he starts to see dead people  thanks to evp  or electronic voice phenomenon  which is evidently this deal wherein dead people can send messages to living people through tape recorders  video cameras  dead cell phones   anna cell calling  but she  s . . . dead  . . . must be ghosts . mhmmm . no other possible explanation . i  d better start messing around with this indiscriminately .   etc . why they can  t just write something down on a piece of paper or knock over some stuff to form creative pictograms is never explained . anyway  eventually batman discovers that he  s actually seeing the future  and he decides to go help this woman he doesn  t know . he gets out of his house just in the nick of time  because the tall dark guys enter just after he leaves   dmn it  can travel between the living and dead using electronics  but i  ll be dmned if we can be on time  am i right guys   they nod in bemused agreement  .   . he tracks this lady to a warehouse and finds out that this character from the first ten minutes of the movie  look hard  or you  ll miss him   is actually a serial killer working for three tall shadowy demons  who in raiders of the lost ark style swoop down and kill him  looking like the cartoons that they are . just then some detectives show up and save the lady . after batman  s funeral  he decides to send a message from beyond the grave apologizing to his son for being an idiot  evidently feeling that the best way to protect his kid from the horrors of evp is to expose him to it . the little kid just smiles . nothing phases that dude  not even when his dad  batman of course  starts talking to tv  s . the high  point of the movie was when someone  s phone rang and some guy yelled out   it  s anna    
this film enhanced my opinion of errol flynn . while flynn is of course best known for his savoir  faire and sprezzatura  to throw in a couple of high  falutin  european terms    this film gives him an opportunity to stretch  albeit only slightly  as an actor  as he plays an unabashed social climber with a big ego and a sense of nerve to match . the supporting cast is excellent everyone seems well  chosen for their roles .  br    br   the story moves briskly and  while not particularly profound  it misses  perhaps intentionally  the opportunity to render social commentary on the massively uneven distribution of income during that time   it certainly entertains and satisfies . from what i know of jim corbett  the story is also reasonably faithful to history . i also really liked the great depictions of     s san francisco . all in all  there  s little not to like about this film . . . very well worth the time to watch it .  
i first heard about white noise when i saw the tv advert . before then i didn  t even know it existed . i watched the trailer online and decided that i would go and see it . now being a fan of films like the sixth sense  i thought that this film would give me everything i wanted . it has michael keaton in it  and he rocks . unfortunately the film did not deliver . it tried to be another sixth sense or stir of echoes  and failed miserably . it has a very promising start  but the middle just drags on repeating itself  and ends with a completely poor twist which any monkey could have figured out . unfortunately like most  scary  films nowadays it relies on loud noises and bangs to make the audience jump . this film could have been so much more . it  s a shame because it was a good idea .  
well  i am delighted to hear a rumor that this may finally be issued on dvd . when that will happen  i don  t know  but i will grab it when it  s released .  br    br   in my humble opinion  this is errol flynn  s most entertaining film  especially when  gentleman jim  corbett  s ring career begins in the film . then it goes from a good film to a great one .  br    br   few people could play arrogant men and still come off as a likable good guy as well as flynn could and this film is a perfect example of that . reportedly  this was flynn  s favorite role and i believe that . you can just sense how much fun he was having here . ward bond also looks like he was really enjoying his role playing the famous john l . sullivan . bond  too  was never better .  br    br   there is just the right amount of action boxing scenes in here and they are pretty well done  too . corbett  s family is fun to watch  too  as they carry on in the stands during jim  s matches . out of the arena  corbett  s family  s constant arguments and yelling can get a little too loud and annoying but they set the stage for a fitting conclusion .  br    br   and speaking of the conclusion  sullivan  s speech to corbett after the big fight is very touching and the highlight of the film . some mean  spirited critics  variety  for example  didn  t like that ending nor the fact that much of the film is fictionalized but  duh  most films are fictionalized  like it or not . and  in this case  it made for a nice story and nice ending .  in real life  corbett was a very soft  spoken true gentleman  not anything like flynn  s portrayal  but flynn still make him a good guy .   br    br   this is one of the more entertaining classic films i have ever watched and i eagerly wait for the dvd .  
what a shame it is when a potentially captivating and refreshingly low  key story manages to latch onto your interest at the start and then gradually lets you down further and further until you  re left scratching your mystified head by the time it reaches its overdone conclusion . unfortunately  this is what happened to me by the end of white noise .  br    br   it wasn  t michael keaton  s fault it was a pleasure to see him return as the star of a brand new movie once again  looking a bit wrinkled perhaps  but still managing to give a strong and sincere performance . as a man whose wife has recently died  he becomes obsessed with her wandering spirit in the afterlife  not a new idea   apparently getting contacted by her through that funky electrical fuzz business you see on your television screen when there  s nothing being broadcast .  br    br   the idea of spirits communicating via the airwaves is called evp  electronic voice phenomena  and there are a lot of people who actually believe in it for real  so i  m not going to make any comments about what i think of that  or them . let me just say that i  m all for suspension of disbelief when it comes to buying into fantastic films like this  but what i can  t tolerate is not understanding what the hell was supposed to be taking place  which is about where i was left stranded when the credits finally began to roll . much static indeed .  br    br   there are occasionally movies like this that have me completely baffled  but if a film fails to make itself clear for me  i tend to consider that to be the fault of the filmmaker  not my own  unless i watched it while i was too tired to focus or something  . well  for white noise i was wide awake  bright  eyed and bushy  tailed   so guess who  s to blame   
if you like original gut wrenching laughter you will like this movie . if you are young or old then you will love this movie  hell even my mom liked it .  br    br   great camp     
i checked this one out on dvd for a dollar so i could easily smile as this dreadful movie unfolds . every time that you think it cannot get any worse  it inevitably does . the acting is absolutely horrific . the plot makes no sense at all . the title  cold vengeance  in the us dvd version has absolutely nothing to do with the script . the action scenes are so obviously taken in their first take . there are lots of mistakes during dialogues indicating that there is just no intend to do another take to at least try to make this movie bearable . i cannot remember having seen a worse movie and i do occasionally get bad ones   well  except for unstoppable with wesley snipes . no  who am i kidding  while a bad one  unstoppable deserves best picture awards at the oscars when compared to this piece of crap .  
interesting characters  lots of tension . as close to black and white without being black and white . i was turned off by how casually the supposedly sympathetic mainstream character  a quiet  near deaf secretary  was able to turn to crime to ruin colleagues  rough up people in her way and finally participate in a heist  and set up someone to be bumped off as a decoy to her own get  away . i  m a little put off by the trend for otherwise quality movies to portray criminals in a sympathetic way without addressing the injury they  ve done to others other than to portray their immediate opponents as jerks . in this film we never know who  s money it really is they abscond with  or what happens to the innocent wife who the sympathetic deaf  secretary uses to set up the of the sleazy bar owner to take the fall for the missing loot . too bad  the film could have been great .  
i can only believe that garson kanin must have been two people . the one who wrote the brilliant  a double life  and the funny  born yesterday  and co  wrote such excellent screenplays as  adam  s rib  and  pat and mike  with his wife ruth gordon and then the one who wrote and  or directed such tiresome  sad drivel as  bachelor mother    some kind of a nut   and this . the cast tries  but the script is so tired and clichd that even the efforts of the always wonderful brenda vaccaro are defeated . the script sinks to it  s nadir in the truly offensive sequence in which janssen  s character tests drivas  s character to make sure he  s not gay . an ugly sequence  but sadly one which could easily play in a film today .  ethnic  jokes are now totally verboten  but  fag  jokes are still  good  clean  family fun  .  
hilarious film . i saw this film at the     sydney gay and lesbian mardi gras film festival  and laughed from start to finish . the acting was subtle but very funny . i  m not entirely certain about  the real world  influence  we don  t get that here  but the film holds up without the understanding of that show . heather b steals every scene she appears in  most notably when acting with her seldom talkative red co  star . highly recommended . i  d love to see this released on video  dvd some time in the future .  
i saw this on cable recently and kinda enjoyed it . i  ve been reading the comments here and it seems that everyone likes the second half more than the first half . personally  i enjoyed the first story  too bad that wasn  t extended .  the second story  i thought  was cliched . and that  california dreaming   if i hear that one more time . . . chungking express is alright  but it  s not something that mainstream audiences will catch on to see  like  crouching tiger .   
this is one of the funniest movies i have ever seen . if you know the real world and the people from those shows  this movie will be top notch  if you have never seen the real world you will still think it is an extremely funny movie but you won  t get some of the inside jokes about the actors and the tv show .  
be warned   br    br   this is crap that other crap won  t even deign to be in company with because it  s beneath them  okay  got that out of the way  let me say something more substantive .  br    br   i  ve seen ashes of time a very long time ago thinking it was a fresh take on the material which is based on a highly revered wuxia tome of a novel due to the emerging reputation of the director  wong kar wai . well  despite of all of that wkw hasn  t succeeded at adapting the novel on screen according to a lot of wuxia fans mostly it is just shots of dripping water  beads of sweats  legs of horses running  etc . i couldn  t sit through most of the movie .  br    br   fast forward many years later when i wanted to give mr . wong  s movies another shot after hearing many praises  especially from cannes . i was intrigued by his latest      . a friend told me to start w  chungking express because it is his most accessible movies . so wrong  i was just p . o . that i got duped into wasting my time and money on this piece of pretentious nothingness . some professional reviewers mentioned it as a meditation on alienation and loneliness in a modern big city  blah  blah  blah . it  s all fine if the director has a point of view with something to say as to why these things happen and tell it . but no  he merely shows what is . faye wong  s acting is very typical of hong kong  s style garbled enunciation  deer in the headlight wide eye expression  try to be cute and girlish kind of acting the rest of the cast is equally uninspired .  br    br   i think the word  auteur  is a euphemism for a director who tries something new and different  which is to be applauded  but not one who hasn  t yet mastered the art of cinematic story telling  which is what mr . wong is  for the last   years   
an entertaining kung fu film  with acting  plot and fight scenes a cut above the average chop socky . all of the cast are likeable characters and skilled martial artists . alexander fu  sheng  s proto  jackie chan comedy antics are fun to watch  and his austere companion shows particularly impressive skills . for me  the film  s only glaring flaw is the size of the cast   at times  things get a little confused as the film chops and changes between various subplots  and some of the characters are not as fully fleshed  out as one might wish .  br    br   but a kung fu film should be judged first and foremost on the quality of the action  and shaolin temple definitely delivers on that count . the film climaxes with a high  bodycount battle that allows each character to show off his skills against a worthy opponent .  br    br   overall  shaolin temple is an enjoyable low  budget kung fu movie . not up to the quality of a good jet li film  but definitely worth a look for fans of the genre . my rating     .  br    br   misc notes the     warner home video release i saw was  predictably  poorly dubbed  and lacked full cast  crew credits .  
this film is another example of the curse of east asian cinema two or more separate stories rolled into one film . other reviewers have obviously picked up on it as well because there are several mentions of the  first part  and  second part  . how can you have any character development or a deep plot when the characters and the story are featured for such a short time  i was enjoying the first part until it abruptly stopped  it didn  t  end   it just stopped in what appeared to be the middle of the story  to be replaced by an inane and totally unbelievable second part that seemed to focus around a girl rearranging and cleaning a guy  s apartment  wow   i look forward to the day when wong kar wai is given a decent script to work with   
the only kung fu epic worth watching . the best training ever . the main character spending a hundred day  s on his knees outside the shaolin temple show how desperate he is to learn kung fu to fight the manchu dogs who have taken over china .  
for those deciding whether or not to watch this movie and are reading these comments for insight  i first offer these four words don  t waste your time   chungking express  was shoddily filmed  slapped together quickly and seems as though it were conceived in its entirety by someone standing in line at a hong kong burger king . i can  t remember ever watching a film with an assortment of such one  dimensional characters trying to work their way through a script this mundane  it  s an absurd effort with philosophically ridiculous dialog  a man wanders into his flooded apartment and offers the stunning revelation that  tears can be dried with a tissue  but water takes time to mop up   . the same character is also seen carrying on a deep  meaningful rapport with his towels  soap  stuffed animals  dirty laundry  etc . the shaky  wandering  hand  held camera  work was another annoying feature i could have done without . and if that isn  t enough to make you puke in your popcorn  we hear the old    s ode  california dreaming  by the mamas and papas blaring over the soundtrack over and over again during a particularly lengthy sequence .  br    br   quentin tarantino was responsible for bringing this loser to america through his rolling thunder productions company  though i cannot for the life of me figure out why a man with his talent would bother . he was known to have remarked   i  m happy to love a movie this much .  a lot of us  though  hope he will concentrate on making his audiences happy with more worthwhile discoveries in the future .  
chang cheh  s  shaolin temple  might very well be the highwater mark of the shaw brothers martial arts film cycle . this rousing kung fu epic boasts an amazing cast  a veritable who  s who of the shaw stable . though the plot is fairly standard and the fight choreography is superb as usual  it is cheh  s handling of the subject matter that makes this film remarkable and enjoyable . the sense of reverence displayed for the history and traditions of the shaolin temple is palpable in every frame . not unlike william keighley  s paean to the fabled fighting   th in that same self titled film or john ford  s salute to west point in  the long gray line   cheh  s  shaolin temple  is a lovingly crafted ode in that same style .  br    br   the cultural correlation i am tempted to make  is to compare the shaolin temple to the alamo . watching this film will give the same admiring and nostalgic feelings that you experienced many years ago in grade school history when you learned of the courage and sacrifice of those doomed heroes of the alamo . at the end of the film  you too might be tempted to call out  remember the shaolin temple   
i am completely baffled as to why this film is even liked  let alone held in such high regard  especially by so many critics who are  otherwise  quite sensible .  br    br   there is one key word which describes this film to its core  irritating .  br    br   the most easily explained example of this is the director  s use  or  more accurately  abuse  of music . in the first half  a really dull reggae tune is played about three times  when once is too often  . but in the second half  the mommas and the papas  california dreamin   is played at least seven times  usually at top volume . godsakes  whether you liked the song or not beforehand  you  d be thoroughly sick of it by the end . just think  some people claim to have seen this film four or five times . this means they  ve listened to california dreamin either   or   times . . . . .  br    br   all of this needless hyper  repetition  it contributes nothing to the story  could possibly be excused if the remainder of the film had any lingering merit  or if the story was in any way involving .  br    br   but it ain  t .  br    br   the only aspect i found likeable was bridgette lin  s charging around and still playing asia the invincible in a raincoat and sunnies . even this wore off fairly quickly .  br    br   i  m sure this film  s undeserved high reputation will convince many poor suckers to go and see it .  br    br   i can only warn you  if you  ve never seen a hk movie before  don  t start with this one .  br    br   if you feel compelled to watch it  avoid at all costs seeing it in a cinema . the fast  forward and mute buttons are essential tools for survival here .  br    br   you have been warned   
the idea  s which are shown in this film are with a lot of care and detail and depict what a lot of people from around the world think of the american policies  not neccessarily the united states itself . it shows what most of the people around the world think about america and what the americans dont know about themselves .   directors showing   amazing minutes each of something which will give us viewers a lot to think about when they go home after watching the movie .  
i saw virtually no redeeming qualities in this movie . the only thing i did see was quentin tarantino  s seeming insane obsession for it . . . there were some attractive women in this movie and perhaps that is one decent quality . overall however  i found this movie surrealistic and ridiculous . the hand held film making coupled with slow motion and other cinematic gimmicks i found clumsy and dizzying  even sickening . overall the music throughout was horrible and repetitive to the extreme as well reminding me of psychological warfare of the u . s . military against various malcontents .  br    br   the various vignettes that made up the movie are haphazard in their placement and unfulfilling and unresolved in their content and  conclusions .  a depressing movie  not a true  film   a term i reserve for true art  that left me with a bad feeling . do not believe the various people that try and spin this as a  romantic comedy  though there are certainly isolated elements of both this movie repudiates in content  form  and conclusion any association with this genre .  br    br   i suggest staying far away notwithstanding the seemingly overwhelming positive views of imdb and other ratings sources .  
  br    br   everything is relative seems to be the main theme from the outset by this set of eleven pieces by eleven directors . that is to say that what might be number one priority for people like bush  blair and company  may not be so for a great many other people  ordinary people . from the opening scene in which an iranian teacher is trying to impress on her little students the most important thing that has happened  with the result the children are not impressed  as the death of a neighbour and things like that evidently affect them much more closely than anything which may have happened in new york  usa  wherever that is  this series of almost documentary styled pieces establishes that not all things are as equal unto all men as some world leaders would try to prophess .  br    br   whereas  obviously  the attack on the wtc was a dastardly event by any yardstick  one does get the impression that both politicians and tv cameramen tend to blow up things out of all proportion  wonderfully manifested in one of these pieces . would the same reaction at international level have occurred if the attack had been made on lagos  say  or djakarta  say  or even on rio de janeiro  say  i rather think not . news seems to suffer distortion depending on where things happen much more tv time is given to an earthquake in italy  say  than one ten times more destructive in outer mongolia  say . greater distances seem to decrease the magnitude of the disaster .  br    br   this series of eleven pieces helps to put things in better perspective  or  perhaps i should say  some of the pieces do  as each director with complete freedom has made up his own story  his own translated perspective  such that it is not possible to judge the whole merits  but individually for each eleven  minute segment .  br    br   in no way should one deduce that this is an anti  american film that would be a too simple reading of the diverse messages manifested through the segments . however  it is not pro  american either . the eleven segments adopt varied attitudes and the common link  if there is one  is that the disaster of the wtc attack has to be seen in perspective from different view  points . only then will such people as george bush even begin to comprehend the planet he is living on .  br    br   clearly stated in one segment is a belief of mine i have been harbouring for two years now america has not learnt the lesson . and the lesson is that the usa has to share this planet with the rest of humanity  not dominate it by ruthless economical persuasion or just plain force . instead of learning that the usa cannot continue just stamping all over everybody and everywhere  its political leaders  aided and abetted by blair  and even aznar  have become even more arrogant and even more intolerant  which is not doing any good to anyone in afghanistan or irak at present  let alone much elsewhere . the white house mentality is totally rejectable the us and uk invaded irak and caused all the chaos  and so should clear up the mess they caused  not insist on the un and other nations to delve in with a helping hand and thus find an easy way out of the turmoil .  br    br   radical stances adopted by the us  or even israel  is only going to be met by radical stances from islamic people  who for years have been gearing up fanatical fundamentalism  if only to cover up their own macho uselessness  i . e .  stoning women to death or simply shrouding them from the tops of their heads to the dusty ground .  br    br   the world is in a terrible mess  fueled by the greed of a few rich countries who seem bent on not seeing or understanding anything from more multilateral perspectives . this film in eleven separate pieces accurately portrays this dismal and dumb posture .  
average viewers looking for any sense of internal coherence in a film should probably give this one a pass . it generates the same feeling as staring at a curious array of individual images that seem to have some relationship one to another  but never coalesce into a totality .  br    br   while this isolative approach to creating a kind of cinematic montage may appeal to a few students or critics steeped in the inside language of contemporary filmmaking  it is flatly irritating and condescending to us commoners who just fell off the haywagon . an overt avoidance of accessibility may be the intentional hallmark of auteurs like kar  wai wong and tarantino  but to me it comes across as andy warhol warmed over . the only redeeming characteristic i find is in the production values  and them there just ain  t going to cut it all by themselfs .  br    br   this is one of those productions in which you watch and listen and wait anxiously and in vain for some clever development of an idea or thought to sustain all the remarkable and beautiful individual scenes . sorry . the calligraphic credits unexpectedly begin to roll just as your interest begins to stir . i get the same big yawn and let  down reading what i guess are very knowledgeable and thorough comments about this film that never lead to anything truly comprehensible . ideas and images without some external context are not my idea of fun .  br    br   call me a philistine roaming the streets of hong kong looking for a bowl of chop suey .  br    br    
a great idea   stories about   september .   directors from different countries with different results . ken loach talking about an immigrant  as usual  is just brilliant  as usual  . the frenchman does a very good job also  while the burkina faso film was a nice surprise . however  the israel film was a bit boring  and the mexican guy  well  he should quit directing and work in a mexican restaurant .      
a never ending frenzy of clever visual ironies does not necessarily create an engaging film . the  blonde wig  half of the movie never took off perhaps due to too much self  indulgence by its makers .  br    br   the wong faye half  featuring a very playful  if karen carpenter looking  faye wong  holds much more appeal . all the ingredients are there  however  the girl  meets  boy story element takes a back seat to artsy cleverness . character development is uneven . emotion is missing .  br    br   for music lovers  wong faye  s  mung jung yun   cantonese version of the cranberry  s smash hit  dreams   is used effectively in chungking express . faye wong also recorded a mandarin language version called  zhen tuo .  both are on cd  although only  mung jung yun  is found on the official movie soundtrack cd .  
first than anything  i  m not going to praise iarritu  s short film  even i  m mexican and proud of his success in mainstream hollywood .  br    br   in another hand  i see most of the reviews focuses on their favorite  and not so  short films but we are forgetting that there is a subtle bottom line that circles the whole compilation  and maybe it will not be so pleasant for american people .  even if that was not the main purpose of the producers   br    br   what i  m talking about is that most of the short films does not show the suffering that wasp people went through because the terrorist attack on september   th  but the suffering of the other people .  br    br   do you need proofs about what i  m saying  look  in the bosnia short film  the message is  you cry because of the people who died in the towers  but we  the others  east europeans  are crying long ago for the crimes committed against our women and nobody pay attention to us like the whole world has done to you  .  br    br   even though the burkina fasso story is more in comedy  there is a the same thought  you are angry because osama bin laden punched you in an evil way  but we  the others  africans  should be more angry  because our people is dying of hunger  poverty and aids long time ago  and nobody pay attention to us like the whole world has done to you  .  br    br   look now at the sean penn short the fall of the twin towers makes happy to a lonely  and alienated  man . so the message is that the power and the greed  symbolized by the towers  must fall for letting the people see the sun rise and the flowers blossom  it is remarkable that this terrible bottom line has been proposed by an american . there is so much irony in this short film that it is close to be subversive .  br    br   well  the ken loach  very know because his anti  capitalism ideology  is much more clearly and shameless in going straight to the point  you are angry because your country has been attacked by evil forces  but we  the others  latin americans  suffered at a similar date something worst  and nobody remembers our grief as the whole world has done to you  .  br    br   it is like if the creative of this project wanted to say to americans  you see now  america  you are not the only that have become victim of the world violence  you are not alone in your pain and by the way  we  the others  the non americans  have been suffering a lot more than you from long time ago so  we are in solidarity with you in your pain . . . and by the way  we are sorry because you have had some taste of your own medicine  only the mexican and the french short films showed some compassion and sympathy for american people the others are like a slap on the face for the american state  that is not equal to american people .  
i like a movie that has at least a vestige of a story . this doesn  t occur in this movie . it  s a series of vignettes with no cohesion .  br    br   there are scenes of a person collecting pineapple cans . a woman with a blond wig never removes her sun glasses . this woman shoots at other people at the beginning of the movie and we never find out why . she disappears completely after about   minutes . there is another coquettish woman who endlessly cleans a man  s apartment . there are endless scenes at a fast food joint where the mamas  papas  california dreaming  is vastly overplayed  i used to like the song  . the dialogue is mostly concerned with food  pineapples  chef  s salad and ordering drinks  . i assume most of the actors gained weight during this movie because a lot of fast food was consumed .  br    br   there is no passion in this movie because there is no story . this is purportedly a romance  it is no such thing . i just wonder why i didn  t hit the fast  forward . i kept waiting for something significant to happen  it doesn  t . maybe that  s the only consolation to this movie  scenes shifted so rapidly that it tricked you into assuming that there was going to be a revelation to all the nonsense .  
the movie is great  like every other international project that includes strong impressions . three of them  israel  bosnia and egypt  should  ve been cut out . especially bosnian clip  which is pathetic beyond all reason  and doesn  t contain a single original thought or element on it  s own . everything else is really great  unrecognizable for most of americans  known for the rest of the world . unfortunately  clips speak about misery of the people all over the world . and  as i see it  there are so many of those who won  t give a damn about it . . .  br    br   top    . loach  . penn  . inarritu  . lalouche  . imamura  
kudos to the patience of paul muni  who spent hours and hours in the makeup room each day to look the part of zola . muni was the one of the biggest stars in the     s and i wonder how many people today  other than classic movie buffs  know anything about it . he was a giant in the business for at least a decade . he could have won the academy award for this performance  which would have given him two in a row  as he won it for playing louis pasteur the year before . my own opinion is that while he tended to overact a bit  i still think he was one of the great actors of the  golden age .  whatever part he played you were riveted to the screen watching him .  br    br   unlike the pasteur role  i thought this story smacked of a little too much of what we  ve seen in the last   years going overboard to make a liberal hero . even in      hollywood couldn  t suppress its disdain for police or for the military  here making it a point to tell us how  corrupt  those organizations are . filmmakers just love it when authority is challenged and defeated . in that regard  this film is way ahead of its day since we  ve seen this big  time since the     s .  br    br   however  it must be noted the facts support this story . it also does not in any way diminish zola  s accomplishments as a social reformer  getting rid of certain evils . good for him  i wish they had spent more time showing that  than concentrating on one trial .  
after erasing my thoughts nearly twenty  seven times  there is a feeling that i can now conquer this review for the complex french drama   read my lips  . having written over five hundred reviews  i have never found myself at such a loss of words as i did with director jacques audiard  s subtle  yet inspirational love story . thought was poured over what was loved and hated about this film  and while the  loves  overpowered  it was the elements that were hated that sparked further debate within my mind .  read my lips  is a drama . to be more precise  is a character driven drama which fuses social uncertainty with crime lords with the doldrums of everyday office work . here is where this review begins to crumble  it is all of these items  but it is moremuch  much more . as a viewer  you are pulled in instantly by emmanuelle devos  portrayal of this fragile woman named carla  whose strength is lost to the males in her office as well as her hearing difficulty . audiard introduces us harshly to her world by removing sound from the screen whenever she is not wearing her aid  causing an immediate unrest  not only from the characters within the film  but to those watching . without sound  the world is left open to any possibility  and that is frightening .  br    br   as we watch this difficult and unsettling woman setting into her life  we are then uprooted and given the opportunity to meet paul  played exquisitely by vincent cassel   a slicked  back hair  mustache  wearing lanky man who was just released from prison  homeless  jobless  and forced by his parole officer to get a job . this is how carla and paul meet . there is that moment of instant  unsettling attraction . the one where we think she loves him  but he is dark  and here is where it gets even more fun   and where we think he loves her  but she is dark . the constant role reversal creates the tone of the unknown . who  as viewers  are we to feel the most sympathy for  paul sleeps in the office  carla helps him carla looses a contract to a rival co  worker  paul helps her carla  s ability to read people  s lips comes in handy for a make  shift idea for paul . the continual jumps back and forth keep you on your chair  waiting for the possibility of some light to shine through this dark cave . it never does . audiard cannot just allow this story to take place  he continually introduces us to more characters one just as seedy as the next . even our rock  our solid foundation with the parole officer is in question when his wife goes missing  a subplot to this film that at first angered me  but upon further debate was a staple finale for this film . yet none of this could have happened if it weren  t for our characters . devos  solemn and homely look is breathtaking  as she changes her image for paul the truth of her beauty is discovered . paul  the wildcard in the film  continues to seemingly use and abuse the friendship for his final endgame . then  just as we assume one  carla takes on one last shape .  br    br   audiard knows he has amazing actors capturing his characters . cassel and devos could just play cards the entire time and i would still be sitting at the end of my chair . the story  probably the weakest part of this film  is at first random . the interwoven stories seem unconnected at first  but audiard lets them connect bit by bit . again  the entire parole officer segment was tangent  but that final scene just solidified the ends to the means . not attempting to sound vague  but this complex  yet utterly simple  story is difficult to explain . there is plenty happening  but it is up to you to connect the pieces . a favorite scene is when carla is attempting to discover where some money is being held . that use of sound and scene was brilliant . it was tense  it was dramatic  and it was like watching a who  dun  it mystery unfold before your eyes .  br    br   overall  i initially though this was a mediocre french film that i could easily forget about when it was over  i was proved wrong .  read my lips  opens the floor for discussion  not just with the characters  but the situations . one will find themselves rooting for carla in one scene  and paul in the next . when a discovery is made in paul  s apartment by carla  i found myself deeply angry . audiard brought true emotion to the screen with his characters and development  and what he was lacking in plot  the actors were able to carry . i can easily suggest this film to anyone  but be prepared this isn  t a one time viewing film . repeat . repeat . repeat .  br    br   grade  out of   
casting bone to pick david jannsen was   playing the father of robert drivas  who was then     yeah  i realize he  s supposed to be just out of college  but clues in the script have him being a loafer and so he  s probably      in the script    that still puts jannsen in parenting classes in junior high  . i assume the ama wrote medical miracle up in their     year in medicine . this movie hasn  t aged very well at all and now it  s main appeal is just to see a snap shot of sin city  circa     and all the incessant smoking  the weird hair  drivas has an atomic comb over that makes him resemble a well  groomed hip cousin it  and trendy fashions that went along with it . if anyone remembers  lv wasn  t exactly london . . . the city coddled the mob and codger gamblers in those days . drivas comes off as sexually ambiguous his dad thinks he might be gay  in a sad irony  drivas himself died of aids at    and the soapy conflict is from the generation gap issue  ahem  as if one may call  years a gap  . sonny boy wants to be his own man and dad wants to pull him into the casino  caesar  s palace    and plies him with girls  including the horny  for  money edy williams  . interestingly enough  the son doesn  t seem to mind being thought of as gay    unusual for the time and a cute brenda vaccarro is nearby to swoon platonically over him . what nudity there is is awfully lame    just what was needed to pull the audience in for an  r  rating in the early days of the mpaa rating system  which then was g  m  r     and x  . the editing is horrible and there  s stupid  silly overdubs by the committee  a late    s neo  avante  garde comedy troupe that mercifully faded off the map within a couple of years  . don rickles is on board as a blackjack dealer . . . seemingly preparing him for a role as a floor manager in the much better casino two decades later . not to give anything away  but they would  ve dealt with mr . rickles  character with power tools and a hole in the desert back then . a curiosity at best  far from joshua logan  s usual caliber of work . dos  dias . now go watch casino again . . .  
this academy award winning short film can rank among the greatest of the genre . told completely without dialogue  it is a visual treat about a young boy who buys a gold fish  lovingly places him in a bowl then goes off to school  leaving the gold fish unprotected and a window carelessly open . after a while  a neighboring orange tabby comes poking around  comes in through the window and heads slowly for the bowl . the fish apparently knows something is going on and becomes very excited . as the cat comes very near to the bowl  the fish jumps out . the cat catches the fish  drops him back in the bowl and exits through the window he came in just as the boy  not knowing what has happened  gets back . this was amazingly filmed with real animals how cousteau got these animals to behave in this manner is remarkable . i only wish this film were available now for people to see i only saw it once  in     when it was originally released  but it has remained unforgettable .  
i have read all of the love come softly books . knowing full well that movies can not use all aspects of the book  but generally they at least have the main point of the book . i was highly disappointed in this movie . the only thing that they have in this movie that is in the book is that missy  s father comes to visit   although in the book both parents come  . that is all . the story line was so twisted and far fetch and yes  sad  from the book  that i just couldn  t enjoy it . even if i didn  t read the book it was too sad . i do know that pioneer life was rough  but the whole movie was a downer . the rating is for having the same family orientation of the film that makes them great .  
first of all  i don  t understand why some people find this movie so anti  american . sure  there are moments when the u . s . are accused directly  like at the segments of youssef chahine  ken loach and  to a certain extent  mira nair . but come on  they aren  t naive accusations instead  they are based on real and documented facts  and all the documents that the cia released about chile confirms this  for example .  br    br   but returning to the film itself  what i enjoyed most on it is the variety of moods we find in it . we find children being educated for the respect of the all the people who died in the event we find a unhappy couple that will be changed by the tragedy of that day we find common people that have their feelings downgraded on the shadow of the events of september   and react differently to this  with dignity or frustration we even find someone in the movie for who the fall of the towers grounds for a moment of real happiness .  br    br   all these visions and others  as powerful as these or even more  make a consistent blend and help the spectator to have a glimpse about how different people spread across the world reacted to the events of september   th . thus  what we see is a panorama that is much more complex than whites and blacks  and this may make some people infuriated but this is the world where we live  and in it there is no place for manicheistic ideologies  regardless of what presidents or priests may say us .  br    br   finally  i think it  s a shame that there isn  t even a release date for this movie in the united states of america . it  s a shame because most of the american people is asking why this catastrophe happened  and this movie could give some clues to them . this film puts very clearly  differently of what some people of this forum think  that everything we do today will determine our future  and that the errors of the past will affect how we live today .  
a collection of deleted scenes and alternative takes  edited together and with added voice  over to make it appear to take place after the events of the first . pretty cool idea  but deleted scenes are left on the cutting room floor for a reason and this is further proof . as it  s just not as funny as  anchorman   and really let  s face it that film wasn  t exactly comedy gold either  so you get a  movie  worse than one that was moderately funny . in my eyes that still puts it one or two notches above  kicking and screaming   or  bewitched  . chross your fingers that  the wedding crashers  is a return to old school form  no pun intended   br    br   my grade d  
this is the greatest film i saw in      whereas i  m used to mainstream movies . it is rich and makes a beautiful artistic act from these   short films . from the technical info  the chosen directors   i feared it would have an anti  american basis  but . . . it  s a kind of    times  personal tribute .  br    br   the weakest point comes from y . chahine  he does not manage to  swallow his pride  and considers this event as a well  merited punishment . . . it is really the weakest part of the movie  but this testifies of a real freedom of speech for the whole piece . the weirdest comes from the mexican nearly conceptual  art film . . . i am still not sure what a . gonzalez inarritu meant . the  others are perfect  k . loach  s . penn  s . makhmalbaf  . . .  or nearly perfect  c . lelouch  and made me either smile  or cry or even left me stunned . i still don  t know if s . imamura  s fable is really related or not to the september   th catastrophe  but it is so pretty that its finale place deeply  makes it  .  
pieced  edited  together from dead body parts  deleted scenes  from corpses  anchorman   the frankenstein monster  wake up  ron burgundy  is definitely not a sight for sore eyes  something you  d ever want to watch twice . . . . . maybe even once for that matter .   br    br   more often than not  the relativity of the scenes in wurb are made relevant by a third person narrator . even more troubling is that the characters in wurb are inconsistent with the versions of themselves that we had at the end of anchorman  in opening narration we  re told wurb takes place shortly after the original .  at the end of anchorman  burgundy had grown since the start of the film and embraced having a hybrid co  anchorwoman  lover . in this film  he  s back to his immature antics with prank phone calls to veronica  quite clearly these are the more of the same scenes from the original anchorman spliced in to wurb .   br    br   the part that makes this a movie  a continually evolving story  involves a bank  robbing clan without a cause called the alarm clock . these scenes are almost painful to sit through . this part was scrapped from the original scripts for anchorman .  br    br   the majority of other scenes involving our channel  news team are clearly alternate  deleted takes on scenes from anchorman . they go to the same party as in the original  the same original  group bitching about having a woman on the team  scene  and the same cat fashion show segment that veronica had objections to reporting .  br    br   burgundy re  creates their first date with the drive  in spot overlooking san diego and dinner at his favorite club  tinos . neither character make mention that they  ve been to the drive  in spot before and when burgundy walks into tinos with veronica  he introduces it to her as though they  ve never been before . oh  and they  re wearing the same clothes as on their original date .  br    br   still  i have to give some credit to the filmmakers  even if wurb is nothing more than a clever way of presenting deleted scenes tied together with narration . between the two ron burgundy stories  this is the weaker one . looking back on it  it  s quite a feat for anchorman to have risen from the ashes of wurb . you stay classy  imdb . thanks for stopping by .  
this is a very interesting project which could have been quite brilliant . gathering   prominent international directors and allotting each of them   minutes   seconds and  frame to create a segment of their choice each short exploring the global reverberations of     . without using any spoilers  i would say that ken loach  s piece is the jewel in the crown  and mira nair  s short  segment  india    based on a true story  deserves to be made into a full feature film . one also realizes  while watching his short  why alejandro gonzlez irritu is one of the best directors in the world today  he simply is a master of the medium  who has also a profound understanding of the subject matter . unfortunately  not all   parts are made as well . youssef chahine  in his segment  egypt   assumes the arab stance of the self  inflicted collective guilt  which piece could have potentially been the most interesting one . he fails miserably . chahine  s short is poorly written and badly executed  at least enough to stand out amongst other  superior chapters of the film . despite the imbalance in quality  i would still give the film     for concept  if not for execution .  
look  i loved the proper anchorman film  but this was reaaaaallly bad . the kind of bad that makes you wish you could get that time back in your life  the kind of bad that makes you think  what on earth were they thinking to film this in the first place   the kind of bad that makes you wish you  d taken   more minutes when stepping into the kitchen to grab a snack during the film  the kind of bad that makes leprosy look fun  the kind of bad that makes you think you wish you rented a pauly shore film instead . . . . seriously  i cannot explain how very bad this was .  br    br   having said that . . . . there were some semi  amusing laughs  but they are all so much less funny than anchorman . sure  they tried to make it entertaining and fun  but the entire subplot that was left out of anchorman that made it here was genuinely left out for a good reason . . . it wasn  t even a little bit good .  br    br   do yourself a favour  or in the usa  a favor   and don  t watch this dvd . . . it will tarnish the good movie that anchorman is and you don  t want to do that .  br    br   okay . . . i  m alright now .  
i just recently watched this on the sundance channel . the idea for the film was to bring many filmmakers  illustrious in their own country  to make short films  eleven of them  all in one film  concentrating on just one subject september   .  br    br   from wacthing this movie i could tell why these filmmakers were great in their country because it had all elements of a great film .  br    br   the movie starts off with a film from iran in which a teacher struggles to teach the students about what had happened with september   which they fail to realize until later .  br    br   the second film from france involves a deaf women who writes a letter to her lover angrily while she is unaware of what is going as the t . v plays .  br    br   the next film from egypt involves the filmmaker himself talking with a dead soldier about recent events not only about terrorists of     but bombings in other places .  br    br   the next comes from bolivia in which a girl learns about the events of september   and believes they must march for them .  br    br   the next from a country in africa in which a group of boys follow a man whom they believe to be bin ladin .  br    br   the next comes from mexico in which nothing is shown but the sounds of that day .  br    br   the next from israel involving a reporter at the scene of a bomb trying to get a report but is frequently told about the attacks .  br    br   there are other films that i can  t remember at the moment but all of them are powerful . it will bring back your emotions from that day .  br    br         
i loved  anchorman the legend of ron burgundy  and hoped this would be just as funny  but alas  it wasn  t . some bits are excellent though . i thought the sports guy  champ kind  professing his love for ron burgundy in the car filled with the other members of the news team was hilarious . everyone is ignoring him and he just gets louder and louder and finally kisses burgundy which doesn  t get acknowledged either . but on the whole the story doesn  t gel . it  s a noble attempt  however  to salvage the unused bits from the first movie  including an entire plot about some pretty benign would  be domestic terrorists called  the alarm clock .  maya rudolph of saturday night live is one of the members and has a couple of funny lines  but basically this unused plot line has good reason to be unused in the first movie . the extras on this disk are pretty good  with the best two being the filmed rehearsals featuring lots of improv comedy  and the faux commentary with will ferrell and an  exec producer  who ferrell discovers early on was not even a part of the movie in any way  shape or form . turns out he  s  just a guy  who walked in the side door of the recording studio and pretended to be a producer . it  s some pretty funny stuff though and goes on for about   or   minutes  
ten out of the   short films in this movie are masterpieces  i found only the egyptian one disappointing  . stragely  all but the mexican director chose to portray the problems of individuals or groups in connection with      the afghan refugees  deaf people  palestinians  the widows of srebrenica  aids and poverty and corruption in africa  pinochets coup and ensuing bloodbath  suicide bombings in israel  paranoia  hit and state  persecuted muslim americans in the usa  old people living alone  and the aftermath of wwii in the hearts of asian soldiers . this might say something sad about the limits of empathy  in both ways the directors might feel that americans ignore the pains of the rest of the world and only care about their own tragedies  while they effectively do the same with their short films .  br    br   surprising myself  i found sean penn  s piece one of the very best in the collection  and spoiler ahead i also guess his portrayal of ernest borgnine as a half  crazy old man vegetating in a new york flat experiencing his widow life  s happiest moment when the sun shines through his window after the wtc  collapsed out of light  s way   i guess this might also be one of the most offending as the general american audience would see it .  
great cgi effects  a truly oscar  worthy performance by gary sinise as lt . dan .  br    br   tom hanks is a one  trick pony in this movie  how he got the best actor oscar that year over morgan freeman was a crime .  br    br   this movie is a pandering treacly love letter to the baby boom generation  with a barely concealed right  wing prejudice  beginning from forrest  s service in vietnam all the way through to the  resolution  with jenny at the end .  br    br   with that said  though  it is hugely entertaining and an american movie through and through . i found certain parts of this film exceedingly offensive  zemeckis dumbs down this movie almost to the level of gump himself . . . maybe that was the point he was trying to make .  br    br   watch this film and ask yourself  what is robert zemeckis saying about what makes a good american    br    br   forrest seems to have made the  right  choices and been at the  right place at the right time  for the last   years . those who are wrong according to the director  s vision seem to pay a heavy price . so is zemeckis saying that idiocy disguised as innocence and naivety is a patriotic  even american quality   
a patchwork about    . the   stories from   directors from   countries are sometimes humoristic  sometimes boring  the first one  for example   sometimes used to say to americans  we have had more deaths than you  and you supported the murderers   sometimes really weird  but highly symbolic and interesting  . i really loved the claude lelouch  personal live of a couple in new  york  showing that our day  to  day  problems  are unimportant   shoei imamura  bizarre  strongly anti  wars in general   and idrissa ouedraogo  funny  typical african optimism despite terrible day to day misery   and youssef chahine  an egyptian intellectual  pro  peace  having moral difficulties to accept the u . s . policy towards arab countries  i am really pleased to see that many americans liked this movie . it shows that we  or they  i am still belgian  but living in texas for   years  are still interested by other cultures  and able to question past and present actions of our government  like we should in a democracy .  
the first half of the film is ok  the second half one of the most tedious experiences imaginable . quite possibly the most overrated movie of all time .  pulp fiction  was robbed for  best picture .  this is one of those films that people feel required to love because the main character is  slow .   
i chose to see the this film on the day it opened nationally in france  as a personal way for myself to reflect on what had happened a year previous the collection works as intended it provokes a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions  working as an intellectual hommage  never stooping to cheap sentimentality nor knee  jerk reactionism .  br    br   there have been many allegations made that the film is anti  american while i cannot speak for everyone in this regard  i am one american who found such statements to be completely untrue . people make much noise about the egyptian segment  by chahine  because it voices perspectives of palestinian suicide bombers asserting that civilians in a democracy are  fair targets  for they elect the governments the bombers are seeking to attack  but this ignores much else in the piece several perspectives are discussed  no one being held up as the truth  and critics   if they even saw the piece   seem to forget the fondness and warm dialogue that takes place between the director and the ghost of the american dialogue  and the director  s intense sadness upon hearing of the tragedy .  br    br   pretty much all of the films are beautiful  thoughtful  inspiring  in particular the brilliant work by mahkmalbaf  tanovic  loach  inarritu . nair  good as usual  effectively tells a true story of an injustice committed against a muslim family in the wake of anti  islam hysteria that swept   and still sweeps   the states . i did find gitai  s piece a bit vulgarly loud and simple in it  s critic of media hysteria in the face of terrorism  and penn  s piece was too impressionistic and elliptical for my tastes  though i had expected to like it . borgnine is very good and brave in it . spoiler warning one reviewer below incorrectly read the falling of the towers as being a happy moment for the character my read is rather that the falling of the towers is what  because light floods his room  keys him into the loss in his life that he refused to recognize . again this is a sort of impressionistic piece  for we know that if the towers were really blocking the light to this man  s flat  then there would have been nothing but smoke and ash  not light  flooding through his window .  
how did this ripoff of  being there  ever get to be so loved  people say it  s proof that a decent  honest man can succeed despite lack of intelligence . they  re wrong . the movie is proof that luck is everything hope your friend invests all your money in apple and not atari hope your shrimp boat is the only one out at sea when a storm breaks hope that you don  t die of shock when you  re luckily shot in the buttocks and not in the back hope you don  t get aids from your wife . this movie is also politically reactionary   all who rebel against societal convention lose their legs  do drugs  beat their girlfriends  or die young . in addition  the product placement in this film  nike and dr . pepper  is shameless . an emotionally manipulative film that is very  very empty .  
this is a collection of documentaries that last   minutes  seconds and  frame from artists all over the world . the documentaries are varied and deal with all sorts of concepts  the only thing being shared is     as a theme  very minor in some cases  . some of the segements are weak while others are very strong some are political  some are not some are solely about      some simply use     as a theme to touch on human feelings  emotions and tragedies that are universal some are mainstream while others are abstract and artistic  . this film has not been censored in any fashion by anyone so the thoughts that you see are very raw and powerful .  br    br   this is a very controversial film  especially for conservative americans . i think two segments might really tick off the right wingers  one from egypt where a dead american soldier and a dead palestinian bomber come back as spirits another from uk which recounts the us  backed overthrow of chile on sept         which resulted in       deaths and horrible atrocities  . the segment from mexico was the most powerful  recounting the fall of the towers and the resulting death in vivid fashion  you have to see it to believe it  .  br    br   even though the final product is uneven  with some segments being almost  pointless   i still recommend this . it  s very difficult to rank this film because the segments vary all over the place  some weak  some very powerful  . i  m giving this a rating of  out of   simply because some segments were excellent and covered issues that usually get censored  mexico segment  uk segment  japan segment  egypt segment  .  
i chose  dead creatures  because i thought it was a zombies movie just like    days  or so . . . but not at all . it isn  t even a horror movie . nothing happens  except for a group of women that seem to have been infected by a strange virus that make her to eat human flesh in order to survive .  br    br   that plot gives rise to a series of disgusting scenes of cannibalism . . .  br    br   very very bad movie .  br    br   my rate      br    br                      br    br                      
first of all i  ve got to give it to the people that got this thing together .     is such a sensitive issue that making a movie that dares to be controversial about it takes a great deal of guts . it  s a shame  although not surprising  that the movie was banned in the us .  br    br   that being said i think that the movie is superb with a couple of weak moments . the movie starts up with the iranian segment which turns out to be somewhat reminiscent of majid majidi  s work  the absolutely beautiful  heaven  s children  and  the color of paradise   . much like those  films the clip shows what happened through the innocent eyes of a class of afgan refugees in iran . absolutely beautiful clip . same goes for sean penn  s clip which is superb as well . but just as some of the clips are beutiful others are absolutely brutal . alejandro gonzles irritu does the mexican clip and just like his gut  wrenching  amores perros  he does it as brutal as he can . most of the clip is a black screen with several sounds playing in the background . those sounds are of the reporters and their shock as the second plane crashes  those who called home from the burning towers and left messages for their families  those who were angry . . . . and he combines this with flashes of people jumping from the towers . a very hard clip to watch and one that you won  t forget .  br    br   some clips could turn out to be very hard to watch for americans as some of the clips could be interpreted as  you  re not the only ones that are suffering  . in particular the egyptian and british clips that not only say that but turn the tables and say how much suffering the us has caused to other people .  br    br   i will also make a special mention to the clips from bosnia  herzegovina  france  india and japan  although this last one may seem terribly out of place it actually isn  t  .  br    br   however  not all the clips are great and i make a special mention on the clip from israel which  in my opinion  is extremely weak . while the idea was good  a reporter is at the scene of a terrorist attack in tel aviv but his story gets bumped because of what happened in new york is something that a lot of us who live in countries at war can relate to  the realization is terrible . the clip ends up as just some entertainment reporter trying to get some air  time at all costs  a guy saying he  s a witness and hoping that he can go on tv  and soldiers and paramedics shouting just  because  . the clip fails to capture any of the drama of such a situation .  br    br   if you happen to have the chance to see it then you should  that is  unless you  re a conservative in which case you  d better stay out as you might get offended . but if you  re not then you might learn how many of us outside the us lived through     .  
  astonishing  screams the la times from the front of the dvd box . they must have been referring to the fact that such a sorry piece of crap was ever released . the film revolves around a bunch of girls who have a disease which forces them to become cannibals  and murder innocent people just to stay alive . their skin peels off throughout the film  we also see severed legs  heads etc that are about as convincing as a halloween fuzzy felt set . there is an awful lot of talking bllks  a bit of human cuisine and some weird zombie hunter chap who imprisons the sufferers of said skin illness in his closet strapped to a chair  before stabbing them in the head  chopping them into bits . . .  br    br   you get the picture . considering there is no acting talent on display at all  and the gore is laughably unrealistic  what is the point of this whole farrago  again looking at the video box  the guy responsible for it is an  underground cult director  . would that be like those weird religious cults where they brainwash you into thinking one way when clearly the opposite is true  because that  s the only possible reason i can think of for anyone to derive pleasure by watching this tax write  off . then  on the same paragraph he compares himself to mike leigh  ken loach and george romero . hahahahaha oh stop it . now you  re just being silly .  br    br   do you enjoy this film  are you offended by the above opinion  if so  you must be a member of said cult . do they pocket your wages  do they let you see other family members  do they force you to watch andrew parkinson films till you think he  s the best director since a . hitchcock  do tell . . . this sounds like a panorama special brewing to me . and say hello to the critic of the la times when you return to your colony  will you       
this document truly opened my eyes to what people outside of the united states thought about the september   th attacks . this film was expertly put together and presents this disaster as more than an attack on u . s . soil . the aftermath of this disaster is previewed from many different countries and perspectives . i believe that this film should be more widely distributed for this point . it also helps in the the healing process to finally see something other than news reports on the terrorist attacks . and some of the pieces are actually funny  but not abusively so . this film came highly recommended to me  and i pass on the same feeling .  
a bunch of women who can  t act sit around  talk  smoke pot . they have another woman in a wheelchair they hide because she is deformed  and occasionally they kill some one to feed this person human flesh that really looks like some store  bought ham which they dressed up by sticking on a few plastic fingers . we don  t see them killing anyone  suddenly there is a body on the floor  covered by a bloodied sheet . i can  t eat spam cover by a sheet anymore because of this . just the thought of spam cover by a sheet is enough to induce the same narcoleptic fit brought on by trying to get through all of this movie . occasionally there are randomly inserted scenes of a guy who is  hunting  them by way of torturing some guy he strapped to a chair is his basement . why he caught this guy and how he is connected to the sit  on  the  couch sisters is never explained . there are also scenes of some  superhuman  guy freaking out . he pes blood and punches through a wall  but who he is or what is wrong with him is neither explained nor even tied in to the story .  br    br   there is no action  no special effects  no story . if you want to watch some boring people talk in a profound way about nothing while sitting around and eating ham and smoking  then here  s   minutes of that  because  except for a scene where one chick does some hooking on a street corner and the aformentioned random scenes  absolutely nothing happens .  yawn  oh  i almost forgot  you get to see them move some stuff  including the deformed sister  when they move to their new apartment . its one of the few times they  re not sitting on a couch or lying in bed .  
probably the best film of the year for me . this small french film centers on put upon office secretary carla  emmanuelle devos  who spends her days doing other men  s jobs  uncredited  and being the source of their scorn and lunchtime conversation which is all too clear to her as  being partially deaf  she reads lips . a change is set in motion when she hires newly paroled con paul  vincent cassel  as her assistant . the relationship which develops between them is the centre of the film . mutual dependency  for vastly different reasons  bonds them . carla becomes attracted to paul and to the fact that he makes her feel attractive for  what seems like  the first time . paul does nothing to dispel her feelings because he needs her help . he owes money to a local gangster and forms a plan to steal from him which will involve carlas  skill of reading lips . i think the main thing that pushes the film way above an average suspense  drama is the amazing chemistry between the two stars . throughout the whole film  no matter what other characters are on screen  you can feel this amazing bond between carla and paul . i cannot remember when i have witnessed such sexual chemistry between two actors . emmanuell devos gives a brilliant performance  she won the french cesar for best actress  . you never feel like you are watching a piece of acting  this really is carla . the chameleon like vincent cassel is also wonderful . he makes a somewhat unappealing character both appealing and attractive . i loved this film because of these two people  and both times when i had finished watching it i wanted to go back into the cinema and become involved with them all over again .  
garson kanin wrote and directed this look at  modern day  las vegas and the gap between generations  his first directorial effort since the     s  david janssen is somewhat miscast as a big  shot casino owner who reunites with his son  robert drivas  who looks disconcertingly like an older jason bateman  . janssen approaches every scene the same way defensively  with a chip on his shoulder . playing this role cool and laid  back is asking too much from janssen  who barks at everyone like a grouchy put  upon husband  he even chews out don rickles and makes him cry   . his son  a ne  er  do  well in search of his own identity  makes hip comments about how young people look down on vegas  give them another ten years   and his disapproval of dad  s lifestyle causes friction . brenda vaccaro is cute as a self  conscious secretary and edy willaims has a fun bit as a showgirl at an audition . unfortunately   where it  s at  doesn  t have much else going for it other than the now  dated ruminations on ethics between adults and their kids  some quick ta shots and amusingly jaded satirical bits on the high  stakes world of gambling   most of which has been covered by now  ad nauseum .  from   
i first saw this film when it aired on the now defunct trio channel a few years ago  and recently watched it again   sans commercials   on sundance . i was impressed the first time  and found it even more engaging on second viewing . yes  some of the segments are far from perfect   amos gitai  s hysterical commentary stands out like a sore thumb   but taken collectively        is a total success . best of show shohei imamura  s amazing final segment  which contemporary critics such as the thick  witted mick lasalle somehow misinterpreted as an attack on  the terrorists   but now stands revealed as a masterful anti  war polemic samira makhmalbaf  s opening piece that manages to blend deep empathy for the victims of     with a prescient concern for the children of afghanistan and idrissa ouedraogo  s amusing children  s crusade for osama bin laden   a hunt almost as serious and successful an undertaking as the one for the real osama . youssef chahine  s segment is a noble if failed experiment which at least has the guts to remind the audience that bin laden and al  qaeda are basically creations of american foreign policy and the cia  and though sean penn  s character study seems out of place  it  s still an effectively bittersweet piece of film  making . all in all  essential viewing  and a darn sight better than oliver stone  s reactionary world trade center .  
this movie is one of those i regret having invested   minutes of my life that i  ll never get back in . the premise is really interesting  essentially it  s a zombie flick from the perspective of the undead  let  s not split hairs as to whether they  re actually dead or not . unfortunately  they fail to deliver a compelling story within this framework . the nearly unbearable monotony of the lives of the central characters may add to the realism of the film  but it sucks all the entertainment value right out of it . if they had put a little more effort toward keeping the viewer engaged  it would have been much more likely that they drive home the social commentary .  
eleven different film makers from different parts of the world are assembled in this film to present their views and ideas about the wtc attack . this is one of the best effort you will see in any film . films like this are rarely made and appreciated . this film tries to touch every possible core of wtc . here are some of the most important stories from the film that makes this film so unique .  br    br   there is the story from samira makhmalbaf  iran  where somewhere in iran people are preparing for the attacks from america . there a teacher is trying to educate her students by informing them about innocent people being killed in wtc massacre . then comes a story from youssef chahine  egypt  where a film maker comes across face  to  face conversation with a dead soldier in the wtc attack and a dead hard core terrorist who was involved in wtc attack . then we see a story from idrissa ouedraogo  burkina faso  where a group of five innocent children  s sees osama bin laden and plans to kidnap him and win the reward money from america . then we see the story from alejandro gozalez inarritu  mexico  where you see a black screen and slowly you see the real footage of wtc buildings coming down . and the people who are stuck in the building are jumping out of it to save their lives . the other most important story is from mira nair  india  where a mother is struggling to get respect for her dead son whose name is falsely trapped in wtc massacre  after september   attack  our heart beat automatically starts pumping if we hear two names anywhere in the world . . first is world trade centre and the second is osama  this film totally changes our perception and makes a strong point by claiming something more to it .  br    br   i will definitely recommend this movie to everyone who loves to have such kinds of home dvd collection . definitely worth every penny you spend . but please don  t expect anything more apart from films in this dvd . there is of course filmographies of the film makers but no extra features .  
spoilers                                  br    br   i watched half of this movie and i didn  t like it .  br    br   first reason boring . barely anything happens  the women sit around and discuss how terrible their lives are and how they have no hope  they smoke weed  read magazines  care for their sick friend  and cut up the occasional dead body . boring      br    br   second reason there are too many things left unexplained . many scenes are dedicated to a zombie hunter who kidnaps random men  restrains them in a chair and interrogates them . who are these men  how do they know anything about illegal activity concerning the diseased flesh eaters  why does he kill one and let another one go   br    br   also there is this dude who at first i thought also had the flesh eating disease but he puts his fist through a wall with superhuman strength suggesting he  s not quite what we originally thought  never explained  how frustrating is that   br    br   conclusion i found the women annoying  the story uninteresting  the duologue tedious  and the action non  existent . also the cover art is misleading since it makes you believe this movie is going to be cool when it clearly isn  t . i rented this movie based on some of the reviews made by other people on this website  and although i respect the fact that some people might have enjoyed this flick  i will from now on make sure i read more than two reviews deep into a movie so as to avoid renting another movie i regret seeing .  
i saw this series when it world premiered at the toronto film festival . i liked the idea behind the film  where two men got together and told a director from each country to direct a movie about    . these directors never met before until the project was complete  and they saw how it looked all together . warning spoilers ahead                       all the pieces were very powerful  and some were controversial . if you are an american  then you may not like this as some of the pieces may be found anti  american . however  i know a few americans who enjoyed these series . the piece that i found the best was the one from india . it was about how a muslim family  living in the states  had  sons  and one of them was missing . the americans gave them the cold shoulder and automatically assumed that he was linked with the terrorist bombing . it captures the mom  s despair and humiliation of these accusations so well  that it brought tears to my eyes . in the end we see that her son had died while trying to save the many victims from the crash of the towers . this was a true story  and that was what made it so real . there were a lot of emotional and powerful pieces  and the african piece was one of the best . it was humourous yet just as powerful as the others . a must see for everyone  and hopefully america will unban this  and let it play in their country .  
unfortunately  the realism is boring . this movie  i thought it would never end  would have been better if all the characters would have been nuked in the first five minutes . where  s blade when you need him  while as dismal as combat shock  requiem for a dream and as nightmarish as boise moi  dead creatures isn  t nearly as entertaining as any of the aforementioned bleak movies . while the gratuitous cannibalism might make the wannabe jeffery dalmers hearts race a little faster  it wasn  t nearly as interesting as ravenous . really  i found it about as interesting as late  night infomercials  and as exciting as a trip to the dentist . if you have strong masochistic qualities  you might be able to endure this  otherwise  for no one . i was really surprised that this one wasn  t made by the people at brain damage as that was the quality of dead creatures .  
though the pieces are uneven this collection of   short films is truly a moving and human experience . there were some who  in the wake of the emotion on the anniversary of the bombings  took this to be anti  american . i don  t think thats the case  even though some parts might be taken that way if you don  t look behind the obvious . ultimately the film is nothing except an attempt by people to express their confusion  sympathy and feelings about what happened . these are stories of people who  s worlds have been shaken up by what happened on a tuesday in september .  br    br   as i said this film will move you  probably to tears . its not always easy to watch  for example the film from mexico is little more than a black screen with sound  but its effect is such as to lay even the strongest of people low . if you can be strong you really should see this film . it will comfort you and enlighten you and affect you . . .  
ok i will sum up this movie . . . a bunch of skanky british women have some disease that basically is turning them into zombies . the whole movie consists of these women talking  smoking  and rarely going out for  meat  or humans to eat . i swear i had to make myself watch this movie . . . ugh  
as you may know  the subject here was to ask eleven directors from all over the world to make each a short movie of   minutes   seconds and one frame . we have here   samira makhmalbaf  iran   what afghan refugee kids can understand to the towers collapsing  well  nothing . a great lesson .  claude lelouch  france   a weak plot with a great cinematography . . . just imagine a deaf woman living by the wtc who sees without understanding it that her dog barks . . . well just see it .  youssef chahine  egypt   the greatest oriental movie maker has compassion . . . for everyone  for an us soldier who died ten years ago  for the people in the wtc but also for a palestinian suicide  terrorist . maybe the less tender movie towards the us .  danis tanovic  bosnia hrzgovia   good images  makes us travel  for sure . . . not a very good plot . idrissa oudraogo  burkina faso   from one of the poorest country in the world  a tender and funny story about five boys who want to capture osama bin laden . . . and they could have done it but nobody believes them when they tell they know where he is . ken loach  uk   september         the chile entered in a twenty  years long bloody dictature . thousands of death  tortures  all that was offered to chile by henry kissinger and the cia  and knowing this changes very much your point of view  i guess that is because of that particular short that no american movie distribution company accepted to release the movie in us theaters  loach forgot to point that     is also the year when the wtc was built   alejandro gonzalez inarritu  mexico   impressing images that we all know too well  and a lot of black screens . i didn  t get this one very much  it is more an artist video  to show in an exhibition  than a movie .  amos gita  isral   an absurd ballet of policemen  journalists  etc .  around a burning car in jerusalem . very well done .  mira nair  india   about the anti  islamic feeling that followed september the   th . very good actualy .  sean penn  us   a funny little story that reminds us a fact usualy forgotten  the wtc did have a huge shadow  and some places now have a daylight they never had .  shohei imamura  japan   a different one . here there is not even one word about the wtc  and the action takes place at the end of wwii . it has only one message  no war is holy . this short movie gives very deep feelings  but the director aparently would have done better with more than   minutes .    so    a great movie  a great attempt to take the world  s temperature . i love it .  
this movie is not that interesting  except for the first ten minutes . the pace and editing are a perfect introduction in an ensemble piece  even better than say gosford park . then it inexplicably slows down  loses focus and starts resembling a traditional french movie only to regain focus in the end with the love relation between antoine  depardieu  and ccile  deneuve  . in the middle there are too many sidelines and loose ends in the story  several threads started are not ended .  br    br   spoilers ahead the main story is the relation between antoine and ccile . he has been loyal to her after his relation with her many years ago  despite her remarrying and setting up home in morocco . as builder he now rebuilds his own life and recovers hers by taking the mask of ccile  s marriage . having accomplished this  he is buried after a freak accident  literally  and becomes a comatose . he wakes only after she has burned their old picture as indication that they  ve reconciled with the past and can properly start their lives again together . end of spoilers  br    br   it remains unclear what vision this director wants us to see us because there are so many other stories here illegal immigrants want to enter europe  there are frequent radio broadcasts about the overthrow of iraq  s former regime . ccile  s child is bisexual and is bitten by dogs  loyalty  once he meets his boyfriend  whereas the girl he lives with seems to be sick  of that   . her sister is traditional islamic  and enters a relation with ccile  s husband . it portrays morocco as unnecessary backward  despite all the building there is a strange colonial vision shining through that almost glorifies the past . it portrays islam as backward and prone to extremism  which may sometimes be true  but certainly not in general . in the end it can all best be described as adding some couleur locale and l  art pour l  art .  br    br   deneuve and depardieu are great . with this material they are so familiar they are able to spin something extra in every scene lifting an eyebrow  body language  radiating pride  awkward behavior . the movie itself is disappointing and only confirming the limited role of french cinema in the world nowadays . with some notable exceptions of course .  
this collection of eleven short stories in one movie is a great idea  and presents some great segments  but also some disappointing surprises . based on the tragic event of the september   th     in the united states of america  eleven directors were invited to give their approach to the american tragedy . the result of most of them is not only an individual sympathy to the american people  but mainly to the intolerance in the world with different cultures and people .  br    br   ken loach  uk  presents the best segment  about the september   th     in chile  when the democratic government of salvador alliende was destroyed by the dictator augusto pinochet with the support of the usa .  br    br   the other excellent segments are the one of youssef chahine  egypt   showing the intolerance in the world  and the number of victims made by usa governments in different countries along the contemporary history and the one of mira nair  india   showing a true story of injustice and prejudice against a pakistanis family  whose son was wrongly accused of terrorism in usa  when he was indeed a hero .  br    br   some segments are beautiful samira makhmalbaf  iran  shows the innocent afghans refugee children preparing an inoffensive shelter against bombs  while their teacher tries to explain to them what happened on the other side of the world the romantic claude lelouch  france  shows the life of a couple in new york nearby the wtc danis tanovic  bosnia  herzegovina  shows the effects of their war in a small location and the lonely protest of widows sean penn is very poetic  showing that life goes on and shohei imamura  s story is probably the most impressive  showing that there is no holy war but sadness and disgrace .  br    br   the segment of idrissa quedraogo  birkina faso  is very naive  but pictures the terrible poor conditions of this african nation .  br    br   the segment of amos gital  israel  is very boring and manipulative  showing more violence and terrorism .  br    br   the segment of alejandro gonzlez irritu is very disappointing  horrible  without any inspiration and certainly the worst one .  br    br   my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil      de setembro    september      
yes  i am just going to tell you about this one so don  t read if you want surprises . i got this one with the title christmas evil . there was also another christmas horror on the dvd called silent night  bloody night . whereas silent night  bloody night  not to be confused with silent night  deadly night  had lots of potential and was very close to being good  this one wasn  t quite as good . it started out interesting enough watching the villain  if you can call him that  watching the neighborhood kids and writing in books about who is naughty and nice  but after awhile you are looking for some action and this movie doesn  t deliver . you need character development  but this goes overboard and you are still never sure why the heck the guy snaps . about an hour in he kills three of four people while a whole crowd watches in terror  and the guys he kills aren  t even his targets they are just making fun of him . this is one of many unsuccessful attempts by the killer to knock of the naughty . he then proceeds to try and kill this other guy  and he tries to break into his house by squeezing himself into the fireplace . he promptly gets stuck and barely manages to get out . he then enters through the basement and then tries to kill the guy by smothering him in his bedroom . he can  t seem to kill the guy this way so he grabs a star off the tree and slits the guys throat . what the heck was a tree even doing in the bedroom in the first place  oh yeah  the killer before this kill stopped off at a party and had some fun too . well that is about it except for the town people chasing him with torches and the unresolved part with his brother and that tune he wants to play . what was that even about  he kept talking about something that was never really explained . how does it end you ask  well since i have spoilers i will tell you . he runs off the road in his van and proceeds to  well lets just say it was lame              
given the nature and origin of the   filmakers it is not surprising that this film is at best neutral in its stance towards america . probably the most  anti  segment comes from ken loach who is definitely not towing the british new labour party line . although those events of a year ago are shocking and painful to most americans and most spectators who saw them unfold live through cnn etc . the majority of the writers and directors choose to show that tragedy is not an american monopoly . should anybody be surprised that these     deaths are given the same weight elsewhere as the west gives to thousands tutsi  tamil  bosnian  chilean  kurdish  need we go on  victims . if this was a  wake  up  call for the states then it is equally tragic that in the subsequent   months the israel  palestine impasse is further from a solution while george bush jnr . would rather wreak revenge than make the world a safer place . i think many of the contributors wonder where the idealism of the founding fathers went  and why america orignally built as a bastion of freedom  justice and tolerance now sees its self  interest paramount while the third world wonders where the next drink  meal or bullet is coming from .  
i saw mommy . . . well  she wasn  t exactly kissing santa clause he has his hand on her thigh and wicked thoughts in mind .  br    br   this was enough to emotionally scar a young boy who wanted to believe . he grew up to be a bitter man who was upset at the quality of the toys being made  and the lack of christmas spirit .  br    br   expecting a real slasher flick  i was very disappointed that less than a handful of people dies  and there was no nudity at all . what a bummer .  br    br   i wanted to like this flick  but it was just too slow and really didn  t have a good script . i didn  t expect great acting  but i sure wanted some action . there just wasn  t any .  
french production in which leading film directors from   countries were invited to create    minute short films conveying their reflections on the events of september   .  br    br   the film segments vary widely in content and quality . two allude to u . s . complicity in terrorist acts  in chile against allende  who died on september         depicted in the segment by british director ken loach and in palestine by u . s .  backed israelis  shown in the segment from egyptian director youssef chahine  . two more recall other destructive acts  a palestinian suicide bombing in tel aviv  shot by israeli director amos gitan the japanese  holy war  against the west in ww ii  by shohei imamura  .  br    br   ironies abound in several stories . shadows that darken the new york city apartment of a grieving old man suddenly disappear as the world trade towers telescope to the ground in sean penn  s piece  bringing the man momentary joy . but in this bright light he can finally see that his wife is really gone . in mira nair  s film  based on a real incident  a missing young man  also in new york city  the son of a pakistani family  is first presumed to be a fugitive terrorist  but later he proves to a hero who sacrificed himself trying to save others in the towers .  br    br   there are poignant moments dotted throughout . loach has his exiled chilean man quote st . augustine  to the effect that hope is built of anger and courage anger at the way things are  courage to change them . imamura tells us that there is no such thing as a holy war . samira makhmalbaf shows a teacher with her very young afghan schoolchildren  exiled in iran  trying to tell them about the events that have just transpired in new york . but they are understandably more impressed with a major event in their refugee camp  where two men have fallen into a deep well  one killed  the other sustaining a broken leg . this is comprehensible tragedy on a grand scale for the  year olds .  br    br   idrissa ouedraogo  from burkina faso  creates a drama in which the son of an ailing woman spots osama bin laden in their village and gathers his buddies to help capture the fugitive terrorist  in order to get the    million u . s . reward . he tells his friends not to let any of the adults know their plans  for the older folks would merely waste the money on cars and cigarettes  while he plans to help his mother and others who are sick and destitute .  br    br   it is mexican director alejandro gonzalez inarritu  maker of  amores perros   who provides by far the most powerful and chilling segment  one that  for the most part  shows only a darkened screen with audio tape loops of chanting and voices and occasional thudding sounds . brief visual flashes gradually permit us to see bodies falling from the high floors of the towers  and it dawns on us that the thuds are these bodies hitting the ground . the sequence ends with elegiac orchestral music and a still shot  bearing a phrase first shown only in arabic  then with a translation added  does god  s light guide us or blind us    in various languages with english subtitles  grade      b  .  seen on          . if you  d like to read more of my reviews  send me a message for directions to my websites .  
no  i  ve never seen any of the  santa slasher  series  i . e .  silent night  deadly night   the original  black christmas  or this one   christmas evil .  i  ve heard all about their reputation  or  mads  mothers against deranged santas .  i thought i would rent this one as i  ve heard it pop up as a reference on a  fat guys at the movies  segment .  br    br   mothers should be against this  but not for the ooooohhhh  killer  santa  but for the fact this movie was just plain crap . boring  long  even at only   minutes  crap .  br    br   little boy sees santa arrive down a chimney in      deliver presents  eat some goodies and miraculously  float up the chimney . boy goes to bed  but returns to living room to witness mommy and santa  sort of  getting it on . apparently this messed up that kid for the rest of his life  though the scene was about as steamy as when ralphie  s dad got the  leg lamp  in  a christmas story .  he was sooo disturbed  he went to the attic and  well cut his own hand .  br    br   fast forward to the future  now  it  s     and messed up boy works in a toy factory . we get a whiff of him being a little off  kilter  and he stalks both kids and parents alike . who  s naughty  who  s nice  blah blah . it takes a good two  thirds of the film to get him to finally snap  as if that  s not foreshadowed from frame one . no movie should take that long .  br    br   i will admit  this movie had its tension building  but only because i kept expecting him to do something  anything to anyone . when he finally does  well  punish  who  s naughty   it  s as graphic as a  garbage pail kid  card . and i haven  t mentioned the wtf ending . i  m thinking it was a metaphor  but in reality  it  s just as weird as the rest of the movie .  take the brother who  s upset his sibling is killing  and his solution isuh  killing .  don  t open this mess  even on christmas eve  or evil . again  i didn  t watch the other  santa  slashers  but this one sucked bad . it built up suspense due to the nature of the movie and never once delivered a decent present .  
it was clear right from the beginning that     would inspire about as many films as world war ii and vietnam combined however  there is certainly a big danger that most of these films to come are about as good  or rather bad  as pearl harbor . it is a great luck that the first international release about     is not a cheesy love story starring a bunch of pretty faces  but a collective work of   directors from the entire world .  br    br   i  m not intending to say that all   episodes are great  youssef chahine  s  for example  has a needless prologue with too many cuts and shohei imamura  s has a really bizarre ending  or that the segments are in the right order  imamura  s  being the only one not referring directly to the twin towers  should open the film  not end it  alejandro gonzales inarritu  s should be the last one instead  as it  s the most impressive one  . but it is an impressing effort and an interesting portrayal of the way other parts of the world react to the collapse of the twin towers .  br    br   consider samira makhmalbaf  s opening segment  in which an afghan teachers tries to explain to her pupils what happened in new york and unsuccessfully suggests a one  minute silence . or idrissa ouedraogo  s part  which features a bin laden  double so much resembling the real one that you  ll be shocked when you see him  i promise   in which  boys muse about good things that can be done with the reward put out on laden .  br    br   there  s a surprisingly good  and extremely angry  segment by ken loach about a man from chile talking about what he calls  our tuesday september     that september   in     when their elected president allende was killed and pinochet installed his dictatorship  with the generous help from henry kissinger and the cia . this could have become a terrible effort in anti  americanism  but it did become a sad tale and shares my recognition for the best segment with inarritu  s  mainly sound impressions and phone calls from the hijacked planes to a black screen  sometimes a few pictures of people falling down the wtc and finally a collapsing tower  ending with the screen brightening up and one question appearing  and amos gitai  s about a hysterical reporter trying desperatly to get on air after a car bomb exploded in tel aviv  hard to recognize  but this one is a masterpiece of choreography  .  br    br   all these different segments  i haven  t mentioned yet claude lelouch  s about a deaf girl  danis tanovic  s about a demonstration of the women of srebrenica  mira nair  s  strange  but it takes an indian director to make the part that is probably most appealing to western tastes  about a muslim family whose son is under a terrible suspicion after     and sean penn  s with ernest borgnine  yes  ernest borgnine  as a widower leading the most depressive life one can imagine  add up to a unique film not easy to watch and hard to forget . i am sure this film will be a classic known to everyone thirty years from now . i hope it will be remembered for starting a long tradition of world cinema movies . but  alas  it  s far more probable it will be remembered as a one  film  only effort . and as the one of the few     movies made by then that don  t reduce this terrible event to a love story with a happy end just to please the audience .  
stupid and just plain weird movie about some kid who becomes traumatized when he finds out santa isn  t real      . he grows up and becomes an adult  brandon maggart  who makes lists of people who are naughty or nice . one christmas he snaps and sets out to kill the naughty people   dressed as santa of course .  br    br   boring and just plain bad killer santa movie . if you  re looking for gore  it  s not here . only a few of the murders are shown and they  re not that gory with very fake effects . most of the movie just contains brandon maggart talking to himself and slowly going crazy . the script is trite  the acting is terrible and it leads to an ending which had me staring slack  jawed at the tv . seriously  i had to rewind the tape and watch it again to make sure i wasn  t hallucinating  really really poor ending .  br    br   if you want a scary christmas flick rent  black christmas   the original   s version    not the terrible remake  . avoid this one at all costs .  
this movie is really not all that bad . but then again  this movie genre is right down my alley . sure  the sets are cheap  but they really did decent with what they had .  br    br   if you like cheap  futuristic  post  apocalyptic b movies  then you  ll love this one   i sure did   br    br    
this is without a doubt the worst most idiotic horrible piece o  crap i have ever watched .  br    br   this movies plot is that some guy goes crazy and dresses up as santa claus and kills people because he saw his mother give his father oral sex while he was dressed as santa clause . that is why he went insane  is it just me or is that the worst damn reason for someone to go insane like ever  and that  s not the only thing . i  m being serious when i say nothing happens in this damn movie . nothing until like  hour and   minutes of it have gone by .  br    br   there  s an entire friggin scene where he glues a friggin santa beard on to him . it  s a friggin minute long . who the hell wants to see that  however i must say the ending of this movie made me crap myself laughing at it . so if you see this movie on tv or something come back in like  hour and   minutes just to watch without a doubt the worst ending in all of cinematic history . and i  m serious about that .  br    br   it  s not even so good its bad  it  s tedious  it  s idiotic  it made me want to break the vcr . it  s just not worth your time also i  m sure every other review mentioned this but the actress who played the mother on home improvement was in this movie for a split second . you want to know how bad this movie is  i  d rather watch home improvement for sixty six hours then even look at this movies cover ever again .  
  read my lips  tells of a strange symbiosis which develops between a plain  socially maladroit female office worker  devos  and her workplace trainee  a crude excon  casel  . as the film fleshes out this unlikely duo down to their ids they become embroiled in a chilling merging of the minds  each using the other for their own selfish reasons with an extraordinary outcome . good stuff for anyone into character  driven films with strong psychodramatic undercurrents . in french with easy to read subtitles and good translation .  b   
thanks to some infamous home video distributor who brought in the so called german independent series  four for venice is not only awful  but really awful . so awful  that i have it dumped at the second hand goods store for extra cash .  br    br   nick and charlotte is a married couple who reached an agreement of having sex only on tuesday due to their hectic schedule of their profession . eva and luis is a pair of couple living from hand to mouth  where eva works as a waitress and luis  an artist . nick indirectly causes eva to lose her job as an waitress . luis and charlotte had an affair at the back of eva and nick . luis cheated on eva by lying to her that he would be flying off to london to do something related to his artwork  but the fact is  he is flying off to venice with charlotte for an adultery holiday . eva kidnapped nick and dragged her  kids along to venice for confrontation . the trip to venice ends up both nick and eva falling for one another .  br    br   the presentation of the journey from germany to venice between nick and eva marks the failure of the comedy . it not only look senseless  but also draggy . in the film  nick try to seek help for several ways  but it ends to no avail . it is either the strangers around him who acts like morons  or they are just simply dumb .  br    br   the comedy also had the tendency to add in unnecessary scenes to lengthen the story . while some of the problems that can be solved with common sense  no one in the film are using common sense to solve the problem . they prefer to go through one big round to solve the problem .  br    br   it fails so bad  that even the beautiful sceneries in venice fails to pull up the reputation of the film .  
i watched the movie while recovering from major surgery . while i knew it was only a  b  film  a space western  i loved it . it may have lacked the flash of high dollar productions it non  the  less held my imagination and provided great escapism . sadly our society has so much available  discounting small attempts is too easy . in the same way that i can enjoy a even a grade school performance of shakespeare  i can appreciate many levels of achievement for the art sake . i am a cop and found affinity with the retired lapd . dreams like his haunt me that i will be unable in the moment of crisis be able to respond to save another  s life  or my own  . while it was a romantic ending where farnsworth did take out the bad guy  predictable  i needed a little happy romance where good can triumph . my world is really too cynical .  
going into a movie like i this  i was expecting absolutely nothing entertaining except for a whorde of kills . . . . . what i got was even less .  br    br   christmas eve     a kid witnesses his parents doing it while daddy is in a santa suit . horrified  he runs up the stairs and cuts himself . the story begins   years later and harry stalling is your normal everyday joe . . . . . cept for the fact he  s obsessed with santa . after his boss makes fun of him he goes insane  dressing up like santa and starts killing non  santa believing patrons and his boss . an unruly neighborhood catches up to him and just as they  re about to torch him  he drives his van off a cliff . . . . . into the moon . not the best ending i  ve seen but it was original .  br    br   it was a slow paced  boring movie that really had no redeeming quality except when harry went apeshyt on the church goers . there was hardly any gore and even the  sex  scenes were toned down .  br    br   too boring . . . . . .  out of    
the question is  can a movie this entertaining really be considered a  bad  movie  my husband and i picked this up at a used video store for   cents simply because of the title and the fact that the box had the words  vestron pictures  on it  vestron has been highly regarded as a mark of quality ever since i first acquired the legendary films  suburbia  and  class of       . we were not expecting a movie as full of win as this one was . your basic plot as is follows grange  this goombaesque thug from planet earth  robs  the bank of the moon  and is sentenced to a penal colony on a remote planet  i don  t even remember the planet  s name  to mine for bauxite and other minerals . the  governor  of said colony and the owner of the mine are exploiting the prisoners for labor . walker  a bounty hunter  apparently one of only three on the whole planet  reminds the prisoners that there is no escape  because there  s only one shuttle out of the whole planet and they  d have him to deal with . then there  s the nameless  colonel   a retired bounty hunter who suffers from a haunting reoccurring nightmare . much of the movie centers around  futuristic  car chases  dunebuggies with plywood slapped to the sides  with explosions galore . the planet itself looks suspiciously like hemet  ca or one of those other dusty inland empire outposts . but what makes the movie truly shine is a surprisingly awesome soundtrack featuring several la punk bands of the mid    s . i seriously doubt that this soundtrack was ever pressed to vinyl  but it  s definitely worth buying the movie just for the soundtrack . i can  t even remember the names of the bands  they  re listed in the credits  other than exploding white mice  because that was the only one i  d heard of before i saw this movie  but i  m definitely looking into them .  br    br   basically  the movie is definitely not a waste of your time and would be best enjoyed with a   pack of beer and a few of your closest friends .  
why  oh  why won  t they learn  when you  ve got a nice  juicy exploitation gimmick  use it  don  t go messing around trying to get all deep and thoughtful you  re only gonna wind up looking foolish .  br    br   christmas evil is the story of harry stadling  who saw a little bit too much of mommy kissing  daddy  dressed  as   santa claus back when he was a kid . so  of course  harry grows up obsessed with christmas  and finally  when his disillusionment becomes too great  he flips out  dresses as santa  and wanders the city giving out toys to good little children  and viciously killing anyone he deems naughty .  br    br   simple enough  and not a bad place to start .  after all  how many other holiday  themed horror flicks use the same schtick   unfortunately  this film wants to be more  santa  portrait of a serial killer  than  silent night  deadly night  . two  thirds of the film are spent documenting harry  s slow but inevitable breakdown  when i would have been willing to buy the premise by the time the opening titles were rolling . you know a slasher film is in trouble when you find yourself urging the killer to just get on with it already .  br    br   perhaps harry  s descent into madness could have been compelling in the hands of a competent director  but alas  we  ve got some guy named lewis jackson . apparently  this is his only film  and it shows . the action jumps giddily from scene to scene  without establishing shots or clear views of the actors to let us know where we are and who we are seeing .  br    br   even once the film gets rolling  we  re still treated to heaping helpings of harry  s self  pity  insecurity  and neurotic behavior . more depressing than frightening  christmas evil is one to avoid .  
splendid film that in just eight minutes displays an unusual genre mix mystery  thriller  musical . briefly  we are allowed to tell about the story a girl comes into a european cafeteria and then . . . soft transit from nonsense mystery to narrative logic . in a no time  no place way vigalondo managed a delight in b  w by means of imagination and despite  thanks to  the tightest of budgets .  br    br   because of the unity of time  space the film reaches the intensity of a short poem  almost a haiku  . spain  land of quick poetry in b  w  remember the early buuel   .  br    br   a must see for reassuring our belief in young cinema outside the states .  
depending entirely on your own personal state of mind when watching this   christmas evil  can either turn out to become an ambitious and innovative psychological thriller or one of the most pathetic and infuriatingly lame holiday  themed slashers ever made . me  personally  i  m tempted to opt for the latter because i didn  t bother to do any research at all and simply anticipated a cheesy and undemanding early    s slasher with a nutcase in a santa clause costume butchering people . wrong  the movie actually handles about a bloke named harry stadling who  s obsessed with christmas  works in a rubbish toy factory and considers it to be his responsibility to determine on christmas eve who deserves presents and who deserves punishment . harry  s issues all started when he witnessed santa  his daddy in a costume obviously  caress his mommy  s naked legs at a tenderly young age . after that he just developed into a social outcast  much to the irritation of his younger brother  who  s bound to snap one  holi  day . i fully understand why certain fans appreciate this slightly eccentric horror movie  but did it really have to be so boring  there are several overlong and seemingly endless parts of the film in which absolutely nothing happens . i can forgive the shortness of gore and outrageous bloodshed  but this movie doesn  t even benefice from an unsettling atmosphere or unexpectedly demented plot twists  with the notable exception of the finale  i must admit  . also  i would have taken the concept more seriously if the crazed protagonist would focus himself on lethally punishing the naughty children  he doesn  t and exclusively kills misbehaving adults . how are you supposed to take wannabe controversial and original christmas thriller serious when santa doesn  t even commit one miserable child murder  that would have made  christmas evil  a classic  whereas now it  s just a forgettable and pitiable piece of junk .  
good film . tells a boyish fantasy story  telling us how trapped we are in social situations and what kind of extreme measures one has to take to behave differently . or at least the feeling that you have to break every rule if you are to break one . if you wanted to express love for someone you don  t know  how would you do it without creating a pressing social situation  also it  s about the fascism of deciding over others cultural life  of what kind of culture that is jammed down our throats . what gives disney or fox or the suicide bomber the right to decide what is our choice . are one not allowed to drink the morning coffee by one self . do we have to listen to the nrj shouting  see the stupid tabloid headlines and the street commercials before we even have had our morning coffee   
this is one of the worst b slashers i  ve ever seen in my life . the ending is something you have to see to believe .  br    br   the movie starts with harry standing and phillip standing sitting on the stairs with their mother watching their father come down the chimney while dressed in a santa suit . he puts the presents under the tree  eats the cookies and milk and then goes back up the chimney . phillip goes to bed but harry comes down only to find his father dressed in a santa suit sexually pleasuring his mother . then  harry goes up stairs  smashes a snow globe  grabs a shard of glass  and cuts himself .  br    br   then you move on to the present . you see harry . he is a lonely man who sleeps in a santa suit and watches little kids through a pair of binoculars . he has two books . one book for good kids and the other for bad kids . he writes down everything they do in these books . the guy is a creep . he also works at the jolly dream toy factory . his brother phillip has a family and two kids and lives in a nice house .  br    br   when harry finds out that his boss only cares about profits  he goes and collects all the toys and delivers them to a few kids . then  he travels to a church and kills  people . then he goes to another house and puts presents under the tree . the kids catch him but they go back to bed . so  harry goes to the bedroom and kills the father and leaves .  br    br   as he is walking towards a house  a bunch of kids spot him and run up to him . the parent  s are nervous and try to get their kids to come back to them so they don  t get hurt . how do they know that harry is the killer  sure  you have to be suspicious because you never know who it could be . harry gives the kids presents and the father pulls out a switch blade in an attempt to stab him in front of the kids .  br    br   when harry runs off  the townsfolk light torches and follow him to kill him . they don  t even know that he is the killer . when harry reaches his brother  s house  his his brother and him have a little talk and phillip strangles him . he only loses consciousness . phillip loads harry back into his van . when harry wakes up  he takes off .  br    br   the ending is something i could not believe . once again  you  ll have to see it to believe it .  br    br   one thing that bugged me was the black santa . that  s right  the man in the santa suit they saw was a white man . so why did they bring in a black man   br    br   skip this and see silent night deadly night and santa  s slay . you  ll get your money  s worth seeing those two films . they are better than this pile of garbage  i give this movie  star out of   . wish i could give it  stars cause that is what this movie deserves .  
a woman  mujar  marta belengur  enters a restaurant one morning at    unaware that a terrorist has kidnapped the people in said restaurant  is making them act out a musical number in this strange yet fascinating short film  which i only saw by finding it on the dvd of the director  writer  s equally fascinating  timecrimes  . it had a fairly catchy song  it somehow brought a smile to my face despite the somber overall plot to the short . i  m glad that i stumbled across it  wasn  t aware it would be an extra when i rented the dvd  and wouldn  t hesitate at all to recommend it to all of my friends .  br    br   my grade a   
what can possibly said about this movie other than   viewer beware  . christmas evil should come with a warning label like cigarettes do  because this was harmful to my eyes and ears . i am rarely this unsatisfied with a  b  horror flick  but this movie couldn  t even bring a little scare to a five year old . the point of a relentless lunatic that has a thirst for blood in a film is that he  she should seem almost god  like  like nothing can stop their maniacal rage  but in this film the resident psychopath gets himself stuck in a chimney in a bizarre attempt to surprise his next victim and of course follow along with the all to popular legend of santa claus  it  s a reminder to the viewer that this man is in no way dangerous because he  s far too stupid to be dangerous . all in all a total waste of film .  
this     oscar nominee is a very short b  w film in spanish . a young woman goes into a caf  gets a coffee  and notices a couple of musicians standing silently with their instruments . all the patrons are motionless  like mannequins . one guy  however  is quite jolly and breaks into a song about what goes on at     in the morning . there is one surprising moment after another until the end which is quite  well  surprising . the people  the place  everything looks quite ordinary . and like the musical piece  bolero   the thing keeps building until the climax . with its structure  theme  movement and wit  it is an  minute masterpiece .  
the only reason to give this movie even a single star is how much the ending made me laugh . i had high hopes as i usually love bad campy holiday horror movies  but this just didn  t qualify . it  s really just a bad attempt at showing a character slide slowly into insanity  which again  isn  t a bad plot  but is done poorly here . there are some scenes  such as the ending  which are not intended to be funny  but actually made me laugh out loud . there were a couple of times when i thought the movie would actually go in an interesting direction  but it never fulfills what it could and should be . in my opinion  if you are looking for a christmas slasher flick  try silent night  deadly night .  
if you  re amused by straight  faced goings  on that are logical within a given illogical situation  you  ll enjoy this whimsical   minute spanish film .  br    br   a woman enters a small caf . the scene looks ordinary  but the counterman  customers  and two musicians seem somehow oddly subdued .  br    br   suddenly  the musicians play and one man begins to sing the title song  dancing across table tops with musical  comedy gestures . the customers  at first immobile  at intervals chime in  badly but gamely  with phrases from the song  read from slips of paper in their palms . on and off they jump up and dance  awkwardly but earnestly  in choreographed motions  like backup singers .  br    br   but why    the woman wonders . the answer is revealed as the soloist  s jacket opens and she sees what  s strapped across his chest   just before the explosive climax . . .  br    br   even if you don  t catch the song  s  probably ironical  lyrics  the situation  perfect performances should give you a grin and a chuckle . . . i  d love to see it again   
this  extremely  low  budget movie is compared to the great classic  silent night deadly night   since it is labeled as a slasher flick . first let me say that i think that even  silent night part   is better than this  that one was filled with flashbacks of the original for more than half of the movie  .  christmas evil  tries to get psychological by introducing the main character as someone who goes insane   a strong word   slowly  very slowly  . he is irritated by people who do not get the true meaning of christmas and at work he can  t stand how the fabricated toys are made with such lack of quality and love . dressed up as santa he finally goes on a killing spree . also a strong word  since only  people are killed without the real need for special effects . no tension  no thrills  no gore  no cast . for one exception that is jeffrey demunn is in it . he is best known for playing aside tom hanks as one of the guards in the classic  the green mile  . he still must be kicking himself these days for ever accepting the role . he truly is the only one who really can act  his supporting role is better than the main lead .  who also isn  t that bad  but if you  re overshadowed by a little supporting character  you  re not great either .  . and what about that strange ending   you have to see it  to believe it  .  christmas evil  is downright boring  nothing happens and the artwork is just misleading . this is not a slasher . you wanna see a real christmas slasher  check out the all time greatest  silent night  deadly night  .  
with a minimal budget  a running time of eight minutes and a great amount of imagination  nacho vigalondo has achieved one of the most moving shorts i  ve ever seen . the subtlety of the screenplay is really remarkable  since it doesn  t give the ending away until the very last moment .  br    br   don  t let anybody tell you what the short is about  since you  ll be able to enjoy it a lot more . nacho vigalondo is the discovery of the year for his one  man show directing  writing and acting in this formidable short is the most remarkable effort i  ve seen in years . also pay attention to the performance of marta belenguer  her reaction shots are incredible .  br    br   overall rating      
i love the   s slasher flicks and i remember when  silent night  deadly night  was pulled from our theaters  i was very disappointed  so i was very excited to see some of these on fear . net . you better watch out was what i  ve come to expect of these types of movies . the quality of the special effects were laughable by today  s standards  the character development too long  but all in all it was laugh out loud funny   br    br   the scenes where he loses it because santa  aka dad  is feeling up his mom and later when the mob is actually shown lighting torches  not flashlights as you would in the   s  but real torches   really tickled my funny bone . however  the scenes where he was checking on the kids in his neighborhood gave me a creepy feeling of a different nature . i also enjoyed trying to figure out who some of these character actors were . it took me awhile to figure out that the main character was the lovable teddy bear on brothers .  
i was so glad i came across this short film . i  m always so disappointed that short films are hard to come across  so when i saw this and saw that it was nominated for the live action short film at the academy awards  i was so pleased that i actually had a film that i was rooting for .  br    br   the plot is pretty simple  the director  writer  and star nacho vigalondo tried coming up with a reason people would suddenly break out into a song and dance number like they do in movie musicals . the result is extremely entertaining and the song is actually really catchy .  br    br   it  s a well made short film  well edited and the actors all do a great job . and the last shot of the film is perfect .  br    br   i highly recommend this film .  
stewart kane  gabriel byrne  vanity fair  heads out with his local jindabyne  australia fishing buddies for a weekend of rest  recreation  and relaxation . but when stewart discovers an aboriginal woman  s body floating face  down in a river  things appear to have turned out for the worst . the largest casualty of the weekend is the men  s commonsense . they don  t hike out of the ravine  and instead finish their fishing weekend with some great catches . then they head out and report the body .  br    br   the town and the men  s lives quickly turn into a mess . the local media swarms them  and accusations of aboriginal prejudices rear up from the local natives . stewart  s wife claire  laura linney  the exorcism of emily rose  senses the deeper meanings of what her husband and his friends did  but has to battle with it through her own mental illness .  br    br   amidst all this chaos is the life that was this young woman who is now a media spectacle  splayed out on a morgue slab . her murder and subsequent dumping into the water are symbolic of what lay beneath the town of jindabyne a division of men and women  black and white  social and outcast .  br    br   the only other people who seem to understand some of what is going on are two young kids stewart and claire  s son who is being led around by a half  breed aussie who  s mother was killed also just a few years before . the young girl lives with her grandparents and is trying to let go of her mother the best way she can  and the discovery of a new body seems  strangely enough  a method in which to accomplish this  again  the underlying current of jindabyne is surmised  .  br    br   everything and everyone in this jindabyne township feels what lurks beneath its surface  yet none of them are willing to dive into the murky waters and take a look around  the symbolism here is seen when a nearby lake that is used for recreation and swimming is said to contain the old town of jindabyne under its surface  . none  that is  until claire forces them to .  br    br   the movie is interesting if a bit too convoluted . there are far too many story lines that needed exploring and it just doesn  t get done too many loose threads . the acting was okay  but the filming was terrible . wobbly cameras  grainy or dark shots  and just a generalized sloppiness hurt the overall production .  br    br   i enjoy symbolic films  northfork being one of my all  time favorites in that vein . but jindabyne needed to peak its head above the turbid water so that it could see its own problems  which simply didn  t happen .  
more directors like nacho vigalondo need a greater outlet for their talents .     de la maana is absolute genius . what nacho is able to convey in  minutes takes some hollywood directors hours of film to achieve . i watched this smiling  but feeling a little dirty and not in the sexual way . you sit and wonder how you should feel after watching this  min . nugget . i was entertained  but was disturbed at the same time . not many people can do that in just  minutes . it starts off simple enough . a young women comes in for breakfast at her usual place . she sits down and someone starts singing . from there  the film takes you through so many different emotions all at once it is hard to describe . it is in black  white  but this helps with the feeling the film gives you . this film makes you want to know more about the characters  how they interacted previously and how the ending impacted their lives afterward . i guess it like the old saying   leave them wanting more   nacho vigalondo is able to do that . watch this when you can . show it to your friends and wonder how  minutes can be so much fun without taking off your clothes .  
this is an abysmal piece of story  telling . it is about an hour into the movie before we have much idea of what it is supposed to be about the characters often mumble inaudibly actions frequently seem to have no relation to each other nobody seems to be concerned about who actually murdered the girl a pair of spooky kids go swimming in waters that seem threatening but nothing happens the irishman gets punched in the face by one of his buddies for no apparent reason . . . to continue would be as boring as the movie itself . the only half  entertaining element is the landscape photography but anyone could point a camera at the australian outback a get memorable shots . overall  dreary  incoherent  pretentious  and downright annoying for wasting so much of the viewer  s time .  
i picked this one up on a whim from the library  and was very pleasantly surprised . lots of tight  expressionistic camera work  an equally tight script  and two superb actors all meld together to make one very fine piece of film . not for the reptilian multiplex brain  but rather the true aficionado of cinema . if hollywood ever does get its grimy hands on it  i  m sure it will ruin it . a choice treat all the way around . other posters here have more than amply sung its praises  so i needn  t bother duplicating their paeans just take their advice  and mine  and don  t miss this gem . call it what you like i call it two hours of entertainment well  spent . read my lips don  t miss it .  
there is a reason this went straight to video  the story is smarmy  nick cage plays johnny in a sleazy way  sex in churches  and other scenes that border on tasteless  like the scene in the laundry room  taint this movie . judge reinhold as the cuckold is okay  but the movie itself with its themes of degradation and revenge are not well done . but it is a good film for trivia contests  because so few people saw it .  
this is a masterpiece footage in b  w   mm film . the film makes you see a strange way to begin the day at     am in a bar and how much things can happen there in  minutes .  br    br   the short amazingly  gets you in a complex story using very little elements  and step to step makes you realize that something isn  t totally right . it expresses a lot  makes your adrenalin go high with subtle details  and is incredibly understandable by anyone  not just the cinema critics experts .  br    br   but i know how it sounds  european short  black and white and low budgeted . don  t let that scare you . is really worth to see by anyone  not just experts in the genre .  br    br   isn  t really much more to tell  since the film just lasts  minutes  exactly   and i don  t want to spoil it . but i just watched it online and i couldn  t understand why no one spent a few minutes to post a comment about it .  br    br   really worth watching it .      .  
just too many holes in this movie to be enjoyable and worse of all a bizarre almost hollywood  like ending that is completely out of context with the rest of the movie  this is not a spoiler as you will never guess how it ends   .  br    br   you will also need to be thick skinned to all sorts of politically correct undertones . the conflict between whites and blacks was highly contrived and one sided . i didn  t understand why the author had the local black communinity behave in such an unacceptable manner  is he  she trying to be racist   br    br   a truly bizare movie . only watch if you like to be really annoyed by holes in the plot and like to debate all the things that may or may not have supposed to have happened .  br    br   but on the positive side the filming and acting is excellent .  
re pro jury  br    br   although the lead actress is strikingly beautiful  the plot stands little chance of acceptance because too many distracting details face the audience during the unfolding of the story .  br    br   one may believe that middle  class teen  age school girls in the      s easily gave away their virginity without thought of marriage to    year  old  s they barely know  but i doubt it .  br    br    easily give away virginity   what a shrewd remark about this film . truly .  br    br   one may believe that young high school teens are highly self  confident and self  assured as they interact with their elders in complex social situations  but my experience has been  more often than not  teenagers feel very awkward and act clumsy as they experiment in the adult world .  br    br   you just aren  t at all able to see the world other than through your own eyes  that  s sad .  br    br   one may believe that a experienced medical doctor would not know the pungent oder of stroptomycin   the smelly fermenting byproduct of busy earth microbes   and not detect that some lifeless bland powder is fake  but i think not .  br    br   and another  expert  opinion drawn from experience . dandy .  br    br   one may believe that    something  year  old troublemakers can enter into  and hang around inside  a public school rec hall during a school social and make trouble  but i think that school socials are traditionally a protected environment and parents  chaparones and school staff would be around to prevent this .  br    br   now be a good sport and tell us at which institution you grew up .  br    br   one final nit  throughout hey babu riba the five teenage friends referred to themselves as the foursome . there is probably an explanation why the five were the foursome  but because it was never detailed  each reference distracts from each scene .  br    br   of course there  s probably an explanation . good job figuring that out  now i  ll be generous and will help you out of your misery although it was translated as a general  foursome   the word      etvorka  has another meaning it  s a sports term used to designate a  m or  w setup  a rowing crew consisting of  persons  rowers and a coxswain .  br    br   this movie did not ring true for me .  br    br   we should all heed to your competent and praiseworthy opinion . dude .  
having heard so many people raving about this film i thought i  d give it a go . apart from being incredibly slow  which i don  t mind as long as the wait is worth it  but it just isn  t . as many others have said there are so many inconsistencies and so much of this film just doesn  t ring true . the reaction of the  men switches from shock  horror on finding the body to complete indifference whilst they fish . surely if they were the type of men that would go on happily fishing  then they would have just reported the body and said they had only discovered it after their fishing trip . . . . why on earth tie the body to a tree  go fishing and then tell everyone you found the body  days previously  its so hard to watch a film knowing that the behaviour of the main characters is so inconsistent . as for the rest of the townsfolk  well you  d think at least one of them might show some curiosity about who actually killed the woman  the body itself  naked except for the knickers . . . . what scenario leads to that  if she was raped then why still the knickers  if she was raped with the clothes on  then why remove them afterwards bar the knickers  if she wasn  t raped  then why take all her clothes off bar the knickers . . . . leaving yourself with evidence to dispose of  i truly cant think of any realistic scenario that would lead to that other than killing someone to steal their clothes so you can fill up your jumble sale stall  oh well its watchable but only just and only because  despite the poor script  the acting is strong .  
  hey babu riba  is a film about a young woman  mariana  nicknamed  esther  after a famous american movie star   and four young men  glenn  sacha  kicha  and pop  all perhaps      years old in     belgrade  yugoslavia . the five are committed friends and crazy about jazz  blue jeans  or anything american it seems .  br    br   the very close relationship of the teenagers is poignant  and ultimately a sacrifice is willingly made to try to help one of the group who has fallen on unexpected difficulties . in the wake of changing communist politics  they go their separate ways and reunite in      the year before the film was made  .  br    br   i enjoyed the film with some reservations . the subtitles for one thing were difficult . especially in the beginning  there were a number of dialogues which had no subtitles at all . perhaps the conversational pace required it  but i couldn  t always both read the text and absorb the scene  which caused me to not always understand which character was involved . i watched the movie  a video from our public library  with a friend  and neither of us really understood part of the story about acquiring streptomycin for a sick relative .  br    br   this yugoslavian coming of age film effectively conveyed the teenagers  sense of invulnerability  idealism  and strong and loyal bonds to each other . there is a main flashforward  and it was intriguing  keeping me guessing until the end as to who these characters were vis  a  vis the     cast  and what had actually happened .  br    br   i would rate it  out of    and would like to see other films by the director  jovan acin            .  
i had a really hard time making it through this move . it was extermly slow and at times wondered when the plot of the movie would actually come to life .  br    br   this movie seemed to flow to slow and i kept on wondering when it was going to end . i am normally a person who likes a good indie file every once in a while but this did not satisfy what i was looking for .  br    br   it seemed they tried to make to much out of this movie . at one point it seemed to turn political which i am not a big fan of in movies . if you are looking for a slow moving movie with little to no plot then this is the right movie for you . as for me i felt i wasted  hours when i could of been doing something else .  
i was intrigued by the title  so during a small bout of insomnia  fueled by my curiosity . . .   i stayed up and watched it . i then checked my tv listings and watched it again  there is one very obvious realization that occurred to me when i saw this film  in spite of politics  traditions  culture  etc .  teenagers everywhere are virtually the same . the characters of the kids from belgrade could have been transported to  let  s say  somewhere in the american midwest during the same time period  and language differences aside  would be impossible to tell apart from any of the local teens of that era . they certainly displayed the same growing pains and preoccupations  politics aside music  sex  movie idols  music  drinking  sports  music . . . as a matter of fact  much the same things that occupied my time growing up in      s southern california .  br    br   this was a bittersweet story  but the joy of youth made it very enjoyable . the characters  especially the young actors  were completely believable also . i won  t say this was the yugoslav  american graffiti   but i will say that it fits in nicely with other    s  themed movies .  
with no fault to the actors  they all put on great performances   the overall story was not very well executed . the movie opens with a great zinger a crazy old guy forces a young aborigine girl  s car off the road . but then  we  re forced to endure   minutes of character development with an entirely new group of characters . . . and we don  t know why until the   minutes are up . it turns out that they are the ones who eventually discover the girl  s body . . . and the story progresses from there .  br    br   while the story does pick up at that point  it really goes nowhere . after  hours  i asked myself was there a point to this  or was it just to see the characters struggle with accusations of racism and stupidity of how they handled the discovery  the story was ultimately unsatisfying and felt unfinished . while it is well acted  there  s not a strong enough backbone in the film to warrant recommending it .  
a very well made film set in early    s communist yugoslavia . the five young actors who are the teenagers at the center of the story give strong  sincere and emotionally deep performances . a clear depiction of how the natural trust and naivete inherent in teens can be easily manipulated and how that impacted the rest of their lives . highly recommended .  
there was some truth to this movie . i remember a story reported   to   years ago of  fisherman finding a body in the water and they chose not to report it until their trip was finished . i also recall they were charged with interfering with a corpse  or some such charge  . i  m not sure if it was in australia . the viewers outside of australia must think we live in a country full of rapists and serial murders . wolf creek and this film would encourage this perception . the film itself reminded me of a simple plan . but as far a being one of the best australian films ever  as someone claimed  i can  t be that generous . put it this way  i wouldn  t bother watching it again .  
a sharp political comment posturing as a coming of age story is what this movie is . the annoying thing is that it works effectively on both levels . it isn  t supposed to but it does . this tale of four boys and a girl growing up in     communist belgrade is a heart warmer . it is what gentlemen refer to as classic cinema . obviously      belgrade is not as harsh a dictatorial and fascist environment as the communist society is often portrayed . one can listen to rock and roll music  one of the songs played is the song  hey babu riba  ala the title of the movie . but jeans cannot be bought nor certain drugs which are illegal to possess . unlike a heavy  handed criticism of a communist society this movie does it by showing how it affects the lives of the five protagonists who refer to themselves as we four . the girl who has a father in exile in italy and is awaiting a passport for her mother and she to travel out to join him  the piano that is taken away from communion use from one of the boys  the sudden giving of your home and quarters to your new comrades because they need it . the boys spend a lot of time listening to music and it is made clear they despise the fascism that communism has created as they engage in tiffs with a fascist charlatan who has stalin tattooed on his hands . these all leads to the actions they take later on and the remembrance of a time fading away  as this movie was released in     in the twilight of the soviet empire . a great movie worth seeing again and again .  repentance is not your enemy but yet it is also nobody  s friend .   
before i watched this film i read a review here stating that this film could possibly be one of the best films ever   ha ha scene by scene the tension grows alright . . . from the annoying characters in this movie . from the little girl talking gibberish and trying to drown the little boy  to the killer just running about without any notice  and who was the guy at the beach talking to the little boy    . . things just seem to happen and then go unanswered in this film . as i watched it seemed like the film was going in one direction  then just doesn  t go anywhere  but into a new direction . . . and on and on . . .  br    br   the acting is great  but the writing is horrible . each character  in each scene  says or does something so unbelievable  unrealistic and the reactions of the fellow cast  extras are simply strange . there are no resolutions to the problems developed throughout the film  making it confusing and ultimately a big waste of time .  
one of the most beautiful movies ever made in ex yu . story is very familiar to people in ex yul because generation after war used to live in the same way . people in the west cant imagine how political situation in our country affect people . the plot is in the     when josip broz tito said no to the sssr and politbiro and because of that our borders becomes open for western influence . but  in a country were people didn  t had much money jeans was only ideal and friendship was everything . the friendship between for young people an a girl was so strong that after   years of their emigration from yu is still alive . they get together after all this years on ester  s funeral and they start to remember of their childhood  before their went to the emigration and become successful people .  
this isn  t art  it  s inner  urban  politically  correct propaganda  jindabyne  s political intolerance is beyond unforgivable . . . it doesn  t see people as individuals  but rather  as members of categories .  br    br   this is the most patronisingly offensive australian movie i can recall ever  and it  s up against some pretty stiff competition   . a message movie  every tired theme beloved of the trendy left is there aborigines are victims white men are violent or alcoholics white women aren  t that bad  particularly if they are lesbians  but they  re most likely of a depressive nature .  br    br   four men who go away fishing  find the body of a murdered woman  aboriginal  naturally  and leave her in the river for several days while they catch trout . it  s a strange decision taken with almost no discussion  as if the men are animals . the one man who briefly demurs is the goodie . . . we know this because he  s living with a bisexual woman  he likes to hold his baby a lot  and eventually moves to a more fashionable costal location  away from all these beastly bush  dwellers  .  br    br   this is a film made by those trendy urbanites who live in fear of the australian landscape and those evil rednecks who reside within . it  s ignorance of country life is almost as shocking as its contempt . the film is shot through with long  distance views of the bush backed by foreboding  mysterious music . it  s made very clear by the end that aboriginal people are the only ones at home in this landscape . it concludes with an excruciatingly implausible scene of black  white reconciliation .  br    br   in jindabyne  country life is reduced to little more than a backdrop for a story that by implication proclaims the superiority of the values of enlightened leftist urban dwellers over those of other australians .  br    br   this film was not made by people with real jobs but funded by the government  s film finance corporation . it  s a product of the artsy set  that soulless void populated by the beautiful people for whom lavish government funding sustains these patronisingly offensive projects  which are as detached from real life as possible   as opposed to actually making popular films people want to see . it doesn  t matter if the film is a stinker  they still get paid .  br    br   spare yourself from wasting time  avoid it like the plague . more jaded social commentary than actual entertainment  this film deserves to pan   
my personal feeling is that you cannot divorce this movie from its political  historical underpinnings like so many  american  reviewers tend to do . this is not about growing up on main street  usa . it is about growing up in yugoslavia at a time when it was torn between the east and the west . just like the guys are torn between esther and everybody else  and esther is torn between the  tovarish joe  and the guys . there is shame in certain situations that is lost on an audience that has never lived under tito . i feel the movie is under  rated and it is too bad we have lost the director . movies like this make freedom feel more important . it is not just  another eastern european coming of age film  . . . it is a sensitive portrayal of teenagers walking a fine line that might eventually lead them to real freedom .  
this film is terrible . i was really looking forward to it  as i thought  lantana  was great .  br    br   the following review may contain spoilers  br    br     br    br   first  the good things it looks great  some of the performances are ok . the bad things are everything else about it .  br    br   the story  as you possibly know  is about some blokes who go fishing and discover a body  with the twist that they find it on friday but continue fishing and finally report it on sunday when they get back into mobile  cell phone  range . however the film takes it  s time  boy does it take its time  getting to this central event .  br    br   of the ensemble of characters  about a dozen   not one seems to like another one  which is  i suppose  consistent  because they are all unlikable  . i was extremely frustrated by the failure to adequately explain how the characters are related  and it was not until near the end of the movie that i could vaguely construct the family tree .  br    br   it  s hard to think of a film us unrelentingly grim  which is a failure in the structure of the story  as the character  s lives seem just as bad before the fishing trip as after . once you  ve set the bar so high  it  s hard to up  it short of everyone committing suicide .  br    br   there are silly lapses in logic . the killer dumps the body in the lake  and then it somehow drifts miles upstream into the mountains . the fishermen walk out sunday morning  but for some reason byrne gets home late at night after his wife has gone to bed . then first thing the next morning the cops bang on the door to get him to come down to the station . um  they haven  t heard of the telephone  down at the station  the media know the whole story  less than   hours after they reported the body   br    br   totally missing from the story is the debate the blokes surely had after they find the body . this is a mystery  everyone asks them  how could you do that   and the audience is asking the same question .  the debate about what to do with the body is the key scene in  deliverance   . i know exactly what i  d do in their situation . someone needs to walk out to the car  drive to mobile range  call the cops  wait  and them guide them back to the location . if the others wait at camp and fish  who cares   br    br   a lot of all this just seems false . the only thing that rung true was that  as the girl was black  the local aboriginals seized on the fishermen  s actions as racist   wouldn  t have done it if it was a white girl .   br    br   throughout there is a curious indifference to who might have killed the girl  i think the subject is mentioned once   and there is no mystery  as the audience sees the killer in the opening scene .  br    br   so i  m sitting there simultaneously bored and confused  when there  s a twist  not in the plot  but the theme . suddenly it becomes about the quiet dignity of the bereaved aboriginals leading to a ludicrous ending with some incoherent stuff about black  white reconciliation . huh   br    br   this is australian film  at its finest   according to the age .  
finally a movie where the audience is kept guessing until the end what will happen . well  we all kind of know that the lives of the brothers  andy  played by hoffman  and hank  played by hawke  will spiral downward towards destruction since where else is there to go but down  but we do not know how or when until near the end of the movie . hoffman is superb  as usual  and even hawke was decent as the younger brother who basically does what he is told since he really cannot think for himself . hawke might have been a little out of his element  but he played the part well enough . add into this mix andy  s wife  played perfectly by marisa tomei  cheating with hank andy  s embezzlement of company funds to pay for his drug and sex addictions and a father who finally discovers exactly what happened the day of the robbery . this movie will get you thinking .  
there are similarities between ray lawrence  s  jindabyne  and his last movie  lantana   a dead body and its repercussions for already dysfunctional lives . but whereas  lantana  offered some hope and resolution   jindabyne  leaves everything unresolved in a bleak way that will leave most viewers unsatisfied  perhaps even cheated .  br    br   the storyline  the aftermath of a fisherman  s discovery of a corpse floating in a remote river  is based on a short story by raymond carver . it became an element in robert altman  s classic     ensemble  short cuts  . lawrence uses this theme for an exploration and exposition of relationships within a small australian community under stress . the movie poses some moral questions  would you let the discovery of a dead body ruin your good weekend   and more poignantly for australians  would it make any difference if the dead person was an aboriginal   the acting  especially by gabriel byrne and laura linney  is commendable . and there are elements of mysticism reinforced by haunting music  not unlike  picnic at hanging rock  .  br    br   if all this sounds like the basis for a great movie  be prepared for a let down  the pace is very slow and the murder is shown near the beginning  thereby eliminating the element of mystery . and so we are left with these desolate lives and a blank finale .  
thank god this wasn  t based on a true story  because what a story it is . populated by despicable characters whose depravity knows no bounds  before the devil is a mesmerizing  jaw  dropping excursion into perversion which would be laughable  and sometimes is  even with  or perhaps because of  the sickeningly tragic undercurrent of human dysfunction throughout  if it weren  t carried out with such magnificent  overwhelming conviction by its stars . the excellent script by kelly masterson and superb direction by none other than sidney lumet doesn  t hurt either .  br    br   the main dysfunction here is of a family nature  with the two majorly screwed up brothers  brilliant portrayals from philip seymour hoffman and ethan hawke  deciding to rob their own parents  jewelry store  an attempt that goes pathetically awry .  br    br   the story is told with time  shifts  which are noted on screen  such as  charlie two days before the robbery   so no one should be confused   some people have said they didn  t like this device but i thought it worked perfectly  adding to the skeweredness of the whole affair  considering that the two brothers in question are hardly playing with full decks  between them you couldn  t make a decent poker hand to save your life . throw in these cheesy extra tidbits one of the brothers is a drug addict  married to gina  marisa tomei  also excellent   who is having an affair with the other brother  toss in some monumental sibling rivalry  along with the fact that said drug addict brother hates his father  a wrenching performance from albert finney   who has apparently caused him serious past pain  and you  ve got a shakespearean  greek tragedy on your hands . proceed with caution .  
nice attempt and good ideas  redemption of the prostitute  human beings helping each other out  . . .  but a poor result . . . the director obviously tried to emulate his french colleague tran anh hung by recreating an ambiance which is suppose to portray viet nam . . . the only problem is that this viet nam is long gone and when  the scent of the green papaya  had a historical background . . . trying to project this kind of ambiance  muffled sounds and the slow pace of life . . .  on modern days leaves a feeling of fake . besides it rapidly creates a sentiment of boredom and the outcome becomes too obvious .  br    br   i can only suppose the action takes place in saigon or da nang because that is where harvey keitel  ex  marine in the movie  was probably stationed during the war . . . but in southern viet nam nobody or very few people speak with the clip northern accent displayed by the actors . . . seriously odd even for a bad vietnamese speaker .  br    br   an old poet with leprosy . . . very doubtful  not a disease for people of his condition   a peasant girl who can read and write elaborate vietnamese poetry  . . . even more doubtful . . .  br    br    
i settled back to watch  read my lips   a plate of freedom fries before me . the food was quickly forgotten as i became engrossed by director and co  writer jacques audiard  s original and superb thriller .  br    br   carla  emmanuelle devos  is a secretary at a firm that develops major building projects . she actually has some significant responsibilities that don  t often fall to secretaries and she  s capable and ambitious . and thwarted by a male hierarchy that will exploit but not reward her .  br    br   work piling up faster than she can handle it  carla is told to hire a secretary . enter ex  con and general layabout paul  vincent cassel  . he lies about his skills and in fact has none that any legitimate enterprise might require . after an initial serious misunderstanding by paul as to carla  s interest in him  the two become allies . a quirky friendship starts . in a stunt that would have made a real carla a major contender on  the apprentice   she trumps her egotistic male adversary at work with paul  s connivance . exit the rival .  br    br   carla is virtually deaf without her hearing aid . with it she hears almost normally . she turns the hearing aid off to isolate herself from unpleasant sounds and annoying people . she  s also very lonely . a heroic makeup effort was made to have her appear plain but she  s truly beautiful . she hasn  t a boyfriend . she babysits so a friend can have a liaison  it is a french movie  worse and humiliatingly  she accedes to a girlfriend  s plea that she hang out somewhere while that married friend has it off with her paramour in carla  s bed . not nice .  br    br   as carla and paul get to know each other better  the barely repressed larcenous side of the not so former felon emerges . there  s a side story  by the way  of paul  s relationship with his parole officer which neatly complements the main plot and has its own big surprise ending .  br    br    read my lips   ingenious paul recognizes that carla  s ability to read lips  even from a considerable distance  is more than the amusing parlor trick it first seems to be .  br    br   from there a caper develops . enough said .  br    br   paul and carla are a true criminal oddball couple . she wants love but will also accept money . he wants her  sort of  but business must come before possible erotic satiation . together cassel and devos are strong actors carrying an unusual crime tale to its end very convincingly .  br    br   rent it or buy it but if you enjoy a good crime story you  ll go for  read my lips .  and you may well want to watch it several times i do .  br    br        
the problems with this film are many  but i will try to mention the most glaring and bothersome ones . first of all  while the theme suggests a number of vignettes about manhattan life  the reality was that everything  as usual in movies and tv  was about something bizarre  usually of a sexual nature . the story lines were thin or nonexistent  and virtually every scene  camera shot  line of dialog  and expressed emotion was absolutely  and totally fake . it finally reached a point after an hour of so of mind numbing garbage that i walked out  something no uncommon for me in recent years .  i would have guessed the fi  lm was directed by some wannabe auteur drop outs from some  rd rate film studies program  but i believe the  at one time  pre  amelia  talented  director mira nair took part in this disgusting travesty  so perhaps the directorial talent in america has descended en masse into the cesspool .  
watching before the devil counts as one of my all time best experiences at the cinema . i have been intrigued my the mixed response to the film  and for me  the extremes of opinion indicate the film touched on something either embraced or disavowed by the general audience . it is one of those films that has stayed with me  and i continue to ponder and think about it .  br    br   surely the dvd would illuminate some more of the themes and the film  making elements  which include sidney lumet  s comeback movie  the time  shifting technique deployed in the storytelling  the superb combination of lumet and masterson and why it works so well  the masterly direction  the relatively rare focus hollywood movies give to male characters and their largely doomed struggle to become an open cheque book for their women  the under  presented  but nevertheless resonant marisa tomei  s performance  and  of course  the superb hoffman with that central monologue about the sum of his parts  for me the heart of the movie .  br    br   phew  surely a masterful film . so imagine my disappointment watching the eagerly anticipated dvd  only to find no commentary  no behind  the  scenes  no interviews  no extras .  br    br   hey  distributors  sort it out   
here goes the perfect example of what not to do when you have a great idea . that is the problem isn  t  the concept is fresh and full of potential  but the script and the execution of it lacks any real substance . it should grab you from the start and then pull a little on your emotions  get you interested and invested in the characters . this movie doesn  t have what it takes to take off and sustain flight  and here is why . first you don  t really care about the characters because they are not presented in a way that people can relate to  i mean this is not superman or mission impossible here  it  s suppose to be about normal people put in a stressful situation . they are not believable in the way they act and interact . example  jeffrey combs as a cop over chewing is gum  frowning and looking intense all the time isn  t the way to go here . i mean what is that   he looks like he  s on the toilet or something . i loved him in re  animator and the way he was playing the intense  neurotic  unappreciated medical genius was right on the money . but not for this  he tries too hard to over compensate by looking so intense and on edge but in a still mild neurotic manner  it  s not natural  i  m surprised he didn  t dislocate his jaw during filming . the movie is basically on life support  it barely has a pulse and it kept me waiting for something that would never come .  
  before the devil knows you  re dead  is one of the best movies i  ve seen in a  br    br   long time . the acting from  br    br   the excellent ensemble cast is incredible . philip seymour hoffman putting in an outstanding performance and is electrifying every time he  s on screen . ethan hawke matches him scene for scene and albert finney simply chews up the screen . marisa tomei is  however   br    br   criminally underused  but looks amazing for her   years . the script is excellent  the story  line non  linear but easy enough to follow . sidney lumet  although not known for his blockbusters  has turned out a gem with this one   
parasomnia has an interesting premises  but the story is poorly done without any tension or even a logical approach . the cast in unconvincing  even patrick kilpatrick  who played great roles in movies like scanner cop   open fire  under siege  and eraser . the rest of the cast is unknown  and not very good  with the exception of jeffrey combs .  herbert west from the great re  animator trilogy  . but he can play roles like this in his sleep  which is a little what he does here  . the main problem is that the actions of the characters make no sense at all . the story is rather dull and predictable with cheap computer effects mixed with some gory scenes  especially at the end .  br    br   this could have been so much better  i do not get the good reviews on this one . it is below average really .  
this intensely involving     character  driven suspense drama is like a big  juicy piece of shakespearean  level steak from a master filmmaker who knows how to draw out uncommonly ferocious  to  the  edge performances from his actors . consider for starters  henry fonda  s lone dissenting juror in  twelve angry men   katharine hepburn  s delusional mary tyrone in  long day  s journey into night   rod steiger  s conflicted concentration camp survivor in  the pawnbroker   william holden  s wintry lion in  network   and paul newman  s alcoholic lawyer in  the verdict  . the list encompasses some of the finest screen work of the past half  century  and you can safely add philip seymour hoffman  s desperately controlling andy hanson to the ranks . at    director sidney lumet shows no signs of octogenarian fatigue  and in fact  he revels in the melodramatic turns of first  time screenwriter kelly masterson  s thickly plotted script .  br    br   the scale of the story is deceptively small as it focuses on the moral compromises that unravel in a family where two brothers have become desperate for immediate cash . woody allen followed a similar fraternal dynamic in his last film  the oddly pinched  cassandra  s dream   but lumet is neither pinched nor cautious in his fierce approach to this inescapable tale of ambiguity and deception . the plot revolves around a crime that was meant to be victimless . embezzling funds from his real estate company  s payroll to keep his neglected wife gina happy and to satisfy an expensive drug habit  smooth  talking andy is about to be exposed in an irs audit . meanwhile  his younger brother hank is a mass of post  divorce  codependent insecurities falling way behind in his alimony and child support payments .  br    br   andy concocts a supposedly foolproof plan to rob their parents  suburban jewelry store while neither of them is supposed to be there . the goal was for the brothers to collect the haul  and the parents to claim the insurance . murphy  s law intervenes in every possible way starting with andy pressuring hank to do the job himself . after some brotherly cajoling  hank agrees to it  but too scared to do it alone  he recruits a reckless  gun  toting busboy to handle the robbery . by fate  the heist occurs on the one day that andy and hank  s mother is opening the shop  and things quickly spiral out of control from there . although the back  and  forth storytelling technique is not new  for example  alejandro gonzlez irritu  s    grams    masterson  s approach works effectively in delineating certain events from multiple perspectives so that you understand how each character is led to the repercussions of the unfortunate event .  br    br   the acting is pitch  perfect starting with hoffman  s riveting performance as andy  a machiavellian reptile whose cool exterior and innate amorality mask layers of resentment toward his family . i thought he was great in tamara jenkins   the savages   but he is even better here . lumet even draws a solid performance from the usually insufferable ethan hawke as hank  imbuing him with the emasculated weakness that informs his every ill  planned move . as their embattled father  albert finney acts with his typical late  career bluster  but he provides the necessary foundation for the oedipal  level complexities . marisa tomei is a smart choice to play gina  as the actress economically keys in on the responsive  watchful nature of a small but pivotal role . the estimable theater veteran rosemary harris  now better known as peter parker  s aunt in the  spider  man  trilogy  has precious little time as the mother  as does amy ryan as hank  s bitter ex  wife .  br    br   there are scenes that border on excessive  especially as the situation becomes increasingly desperate for the brothers  but the principals inject such energetic brio to them that the flourishes become forgivable . after the disappointment of the cartoonish  find me guilty   it is refreshing to see lumet in peak form here . the     dvd offers terrifically informative commentary from lumet  hoffman and hawke  all of whom converse with ease and insight throughout . along with the original theatrical trailer  there is also a better  than  average    minute featurette   directed by sidney lumet how the devil was made   which features on  set footage and snippets of interviews with lumet  two of the producers and the principal actors .  
it  s somewhat telling that most of the great reviews for the film on imdb all come from people who have only reviewed one film in their entire imdb career and yes you  ve guessed it  that film is  parasomnia  . i  ve often suspected suspiciously good reviews on imdb for what turns out to be an anything but good films as underhand marketing  but it seems fairly transparent in this case .  br    br   that  s not to say parasomnia is terrible  but it stops well short of being the good or great film it had the potential to be .  br    br   on the plus side  it has a great baddie in patrick kilpatrick who does a brilliant job projecting menacing and evil  i could easily see him having what it takes to play a truly memorable baddie on a par with hannibal lecter . there are some beautiful visuals in the dream sequences  in fact if the film had decided to explore that terrain more it might have been something better . the actual concept of devious misuse of hypnosis is great too .  br    br   although i understand suspension of disbelief is necessary for immersion in any good story  it  s the mark of a good story that it succeeds in letting you do that . if you find yourself being annoyed at what you find illogical or just plain silly  then the story is losing you and that  s what kept happening to me with this film . other reviewers have mentioned this here and i don  t want to get into spoiler territory  but i will say the setup at the ending was particularly ludicrous and disappointing  not too mention the varying mental age of a character that is only supposed to have experienced a few years of life .  br    br   all in all  there is the germ of a great idea here in diabolically misused hypnotism  but sadly this film fails to realise it into anything special .  
the humor implicit in the complete title proverb derives from the sunday school dictum that one would be better advised to prepare before you  re dead for the devil  s scrutiny  i . e . so the devil doesn  t care when you  re dead . there  s no percentage in trying to beat the devil . the characters apparently didn  t pay attention at sunday school  and find themselves forced into crisis management  having eschewed crisis avoidance . but even a seasoned ceo would have difficulty managing these crises . throwing dice is far more unpredictable than flipping a coin when people are involved  the list of possible outcomes becomes even longer than the long list of unforgettable sidney lumet films . until now  hawke may not have been an unforgettable actor but here perhaps had an eye toward earning billing among other lumet all stars like steiger and pacino .  
this film is very creepy indeed . unfortunately  not for the reasons the film makers would hope .  br    br   there  s a mastermind serial killer too  but he  s not what  s creepy either . he  s just your standard comic book villain  a cross between hannibal lecter and freddie kruger  though with nothing particularly fresh to add to either . incidentally  for even the vilest and most reprehensible of criminals  can they be detained chained in a stress position  on their feet  arms outstretched   hours a day week in week out  i suppose in the world that gave us abu ghraib and guantanamo bay  anything  s possible .  br    br   no  what  s really creepy about this film is the central character  danny . this unappealing young man  aided and abetted it  s true by some ludicrously lax security arrangements and a doctor entirely careless of any notion of professional ethics or patient confidentiality  wanders into the hospital room occupied by what can only be described as a highly vulnerable and defenceless young woman  and on the basis of nothing whatsoever  her chronic sleeping precludes from being able to give anything like informed consent  imagines himself to have some sort of special relationship with her .  br    br   seemingly within days  he has arrogated to himself the right to abduct her  believing  completely falsely  as we discover  that he is better able to care for her than anyone else  and within minutes of getting her back to his apartment  is sexually molesting her though she is  again due to her sleepiness  entirely unable to consent or resist .  br    br   our suspicions as to why he would feel this connection are pretty soon confirmed . he is of course more or less unable to form any mature adult friendships  let alone sexual relationships  so instead falls back on this essentially infantilised woman  who because of her permanent sleeping has a mental age corresponding to a lived experience of only a few years . the scene where she discovers ice cream is particularly cringe  making  and the coyly knowing look she gives him when he gloatingly says he  ll have to clean her up again causes a particular shudder of horror . but again  i  m afraid  not that shudder of horror the film makers were hoping for  but a much more straightforward spasm of revulsion . we can all see clearly what  s on the end of our forks here  it  s the paedophile  s perfect dream of innocence  sexual compliance and utter dependence . horrible  horrible  horrible .  br    br   what else have we got in this mish mash  twisted dreamscapes not quite as good as del toro . the compulsory  you need to go to the police  argument  where the lead character always has a reason for not doing so even though it  s the only sensible course of action . the automaton sequence  much praised in the comments here  though completely and utterly pointless   it serves no function    as sigourney weaver memorably protested in galaxy quest  and looking to me just like the abominable doctor phibes rehashed in one of the saw derivatives .  br    br   jeffrey combs does his best though  so a star for that  and a couple more because you have to keep lower rankings for films that are even worse than this  and in general this is well  shot and competently performed .  
this is a thoroughly diabolical tale of just how bad things can go wrong . a simple robbery . pick up some serious change . get our finances together and everything will be hunky  dory . butmom and pop  s jewelry store  no problem . insurance pays for it all . no guns . nobody gets hurt . easy money .  br    br   older  more successful  it would appear  brother andy  philip seymour hoffman  has a few minor problems . heroin addiction  cocaine habituation . a wife  marisa tomei  thatwell  he can  t seem to perform for . his flat belly days long gone . younger  sweet  slightly dim  witted younger brother  hank  ethan hawke  with a few dinero problems of his own . behind in child support payments for his daughter  in debt to friends and relatives  not exactly wowing them in the work of work  etc .  br    br   sydney lumet  in this performance at the age of       directs and gets it   .   percent right  which is hard to do in a thriller . i have seen more thrillers than i can remember and most of the time the director gets the movie printed and lives with the plot holes  the improbabilities  the cheesy scenes  and the hurry  up ending . here lumet makes a thriller like it  s a work of art . every detail is perfect . the acting is superb . the plot has no holes . the story rings true and clear and represents a tale about human frailty that would honor the greatest filmmakers and even the bard himself .  br    br   hoffman of course is excellent . when you don  t have marquee  leading man presence  you have to get by on talent  workmanship and pure concentration . ethan hawke  who is no stranger to the sweet  little guy role  adds a layer of desperation and all too human incompetence to the part so that we don  t know whether to pity him or trash him . albert finney plays the father of the wayward sons with a kind of steely intensity that belies his age . and marisa tomei  who has magical qualities of sexiness to go along with her unique creativity  manages to be both vulnerable and hard as nails as andy  s two timing wife .  but who could blame her   it  s almost a movie reviewer  s sacrilege to give a commercial thriller five or ten stars  but if you study this film  as all aspiring film makers would be well advised to do  you will notice the kind of excessive  according to most hollywood producers  attention to detail that makes for real art   the sort of thing that only great artists can do  and indeed cannot help but do .  by the way  i think there were twenty producers on this filmwell  maybe a dozen check the credits .  all i can say in summation is  way to go sydney lumet  author of a slew of excellent films  and to show such fidelity to your craft and your art at such an advanced agekudos . may we all do half so well .  br    br   okay  the   .   percent . it was unlikely that the father  albert finney  could have followed the cabs that andy took around new york without somehow losing the tail . this is minor  and i wish all thrillers could have so small a blip . also one wonders why lumet decided not to tell us about the fate of hank at the end . we can guess and guess . perhaps his fate fell onto the cutting room floor . perhaps lumet was not satisfied with what was filmed and time ran out  and he just said   leave it like that . it really doesn  t matter .  and i think it doesn  t . what happens to hank is not going to be good . he isn  t the kind of guy who manages to run off to mexico and is able to start a new life . he is the kind of guy who gets a  light  sentence of   to   and serves it and comes out a kind of shrunken human being who knows he wasn  t really a man when he should have been .  br    br   see this for sidney lumet  one of hollywood  s best  director of the pawnbroker        the group        serpico        dog day afternoon        network        and many more .  
i watched this movie after seeing other comments on imdb  even convincing my wife that it was a  unique horror movie .  i wanted to like this movie  but was unable to .  br    br   the  love story  was good  but the horror aspect was quite bad . if the story was just about a young man who fell in love with a girl suffering from parasomnia  then it would have been a better movie .  br    br   the care centre stretched credulity well past the limits  in fact it was quite ridiculous . the doctor happily ignors privacy laws and professionalism . a nurse goes into a room for a routine feeding of a dangerous patient  without security escort   and drops the tray and runs out of the room screaming for no apparent reason . the forensic patient  and the film  s villain  is tied up in a standing position fully clothed  apparently for years  none of it makes much sense .  br    br   the movie even had some actors that i  ve liked in other things  such as the detectives  but still i can  t recommend this movie .  
the beginning of this film is a little clunky and also confusing  but sit tight  because you are in for the ride of your life . the concept is compelling  with interesting devices utilized to tell the overall story . there are fine performances all around  with phillip seymour hoffman  s being the best of the cast  no surprise there . ethan hawke also deserves credit for a very strong performance as well . the direction by mr . lumet is outstanding . the film has a seventies feel in the respect that risks are taken in the telling of this story  but unlike the majority of trite films that populate the landscape today  this is a thriller that is sincerely based upon relationships rather than special effects or product plugs . you will be greatly rewarded for the time invested in this film .  
i watched this knowing almost nothing about it  other than the brief description i read here . after watching it i was originally going to say that the director shows promise but seems kind of amateurish  then i looked at the other stuff he  s done to see if this was his first or second movie  but no  he did house on haunted hill and fear dot com . he sort of missed the mark on both those movies and it was the same with this one .  br    br   the story was pretty awful too  could someone just fall in love with a girl because she  s pretty but has the mind of a child  i gave it a  because there were some visuals that i rather enjoyed near the end but as a whole this movie is pretty terrible .  
i really enjoyed this drama from sidney lumet . the best word i could come up to describe it with is insane . it throws the viewer around for an hour and fifty minutes and doesn  t let you breathe until the credits start to roll at the very end . trust me  this movie will keep you guessing the entire way through .  br    br   the story is very well crafted and almost brilliant . it  s almost like a more complicated tarantino type story . the acting is all amazing from all of the leads and even the small parts  excellent cast . i also loved the cinematography  it gave it the real feeling as if it were an independent film . it was all great .  br    br   this movie is excited  exhausting and heartbreaking . it  s almost hard to watch but you  ll be glad that you did .  
in the tower of babel installment of the mini  series  the narrator describes the builders of the tower as  the descendants of moses .   br    br   that  s like saying george washington lived many centuries before alexander the great .  br    br   or that the light bulb was invented before the wheel .  br    br   or that the guided missile was the forerunner of the bow  and  arrow .  br    br   need i say more   br    br   the writers of the greatest heroes of the bible should have at least paid closer attention to the chronologies of biblical people and events .  
if i watch a movie and don  t once look at my watch or clock to see how much longer it will be running or when i hope that the last scene wasn  t the end of the movie  it  s got to be pretty good . i  m not an movie internalist or cinema dissectionist . i watch movies and if they keep me interested till the end  then they are pretty good because some of the most critically acclaimed films bore me to death  the english patient  shakespeare in love  atonement  crash . this movie kept me interested and absorbed beginning to end . acting is great  story is absolutely original  flash  back technique very affective . there was a bit of citizen kane thrown in tho when hoffman trashes his apartment after tomei leaves him  but i forgive that cause i see it as a homage to  rather than a rip  off of  orson .  
this u . s soap opera   knots landing  has all the entertainment value of being trapped in an elevator . every episode contained plots such as rape  murder  kidnapping and drug smuggling  not much different to the plots of other drama shows of the period . as for the cast  i  ve seen better actors on a cereal box . from the mid to late     s  repeats of  knots  stunk up u . k  gold like a mountain of mildewing nappies . i regret to announce that i had to suffer this as my mother was a huge fan of the show and would watch it religiously . though since then  re  runs have been few and far between  let  s hope it stays that way  . the only positive thing that can be said of  knots  is the catchy saxophone signature tune  later used as the title music for the i . t . v sitcom   the upper hand  . great legacy that  eh   
i watched this film in a very strange way   i had put it on my netflix list and couldn  t remember why  other than that i knew philip seymour hoffman was in it  . since the film has no opening credits  i couldn  t even remember who had directed it .  br    br   as my wife and i watched it  i turned to her about   minutes in and said   you know  i keep wanting to decide that i hate this film  but something about it just won  t let me stop watching it .  then there  s a stretch of about half a dozen scenes in the middle of the movie that are truly electrifying in the actors  performances .  br    br   it was only as the end credits rolled that i realized it was a sidney lumet film . and i thought   wow . i  m surprised that lumet took on what was really a dirty  petty little story about really mean  broken people . but it  s a testament to his talent that i was so taken in when i didn  t even realize it was him .  br    br   philip seymour hoffman is really  really good in this movie . like scary good . put this up against capote and i would argue the oscar should have been for this film instead .  br    br   i also highly recommend the narrative special feature with lumet  hawke and hoffman talking about making the movie   it  s entertaining and educational  with hawke playing the student eager to learn at the master  s feet . lumet definitely teaches you the first rule of working with actors   kiss their asses constantly    br    br   there are a lot of violent  melodramatic movies out there that are empty ciphers when all is said and done . and there is an element of that in this film   that the actors fill the air with sulphurous blasts of emotion  and when the smoke clears there  s nothing left . nothing resonates on a deeper level .  br    br   but lumet has given us network and twelve angry men   films that  each in their own ways  have been elevated into the highest echelons of cinema .  br    br   this movie isn  t at that level . but there  s something about it that lingers . and maybe that  s enough .  br    br   my final comment is about the comments   if you look at the number of comments about this little movie here on imdb   and the depth and intelligence of the comments  pro and con   it  s a pretty good indication that something special is going on with this film .  
somewhere  buried very deep inside this film is a half  way decent movie trying to get out . the only traces are a few early scenes in los angeles  in a bar and a graveyard  and thereafter a couple of pieces of production design . like i say  buried very deep . one of the biggest challenges faced by movies involving the supernatural is how to have characters react believably in unbelievable situations . annie mcenroe  s reaction to being told that her sister  presumably dee wallace from the first movie  is  was   a werewolf is  if i recall  along the lines of  oh  really   . not one of the better responses to said challenge . the non sequitirs continue as the story moves to trannsylvania in search of stirba the  apparently self  appointed   queen of the werewolves  . as stirba  sybil danning is the two best things in the movie . yes  even better than the werewolf group  sex scene  reb brown  s acting  and the oddly simian  looking werewolf suits . the end credits have assumed minor legend status and are available in all their glory  at least until the censor finds them  on youtube . check them out to see why and remember  the whole film makes about the same amount of sense . if you happen to catch this on us television the credits have been re  edited to replace the endlessly repeated shot of danning ripping off her top with another endlessly repeated shot of her ripping open a cloak only this time she has some kind of top on underneath . it  s a sort of absurdity  cherry  on  top moment which defies satire .  
the hanson brothers  andy  apparently has his act together  and hank  clearly doesn  t have his act together  need money . andy comes up with a scheme to get some dough that will have consequences for the whole hanson family .  br    br   this film delivers . this is a layered  full  blooded roller coaster ride that knows exactly what it is doing . as a crime drama  thriller i would happily compare it to  no country for old men .  while both films have have an ample supply of character drama and thrills   devil  is more on the thriller side because of its fast pace .  no country  is a colder and bleaker film that you can really admire  while  devil  is a bit more enjoyable . there is definitely less violence in  devil  than  no country .  the acting delivers as well . ethan hawke  sometimes wooden in the past  brings the jitters  sweating and the deer  in  the  headlights  look to the besieged hank . philip seymour hoffman  as andy  has the film  s hardest scenes and is fast becoming the actor  who you believe can do anything .  br    br   there  s really not much wrong with this film . it jumps back and forth without being confusing . events spiral out of control  but the film never does  the writing  from first timer kelly masterson   directing  veteran sidney lumet  and the editing stay as tight as a drum . in many categories  this is award caliber stuff  though maybe films like  the departed  and  no country  squeezed this one out of the limelight . if you liked those  you  ll like this .  
this is a pretty bad movie . but not so bad as it  s reputation suggests . the production values aren  t too bad and there is the odd effective scene . and it does have an    s cheezoid veneer that means that it is always kind of fun . watch out  too  for jimmy nail  s brief appearance  his attempt at an american accent is so astoundingly rubbish it  s fantastic . fantastic too are sybil danning  s breasts  they make a brief appearance in the movie but the scene is repeated umpteen times in the end credits in what can only be described as the    remix of sybil danning  s boobs . has to be seen to be believed . as a horror movie it isn  t scary  the effects are silly and christopher lee turns up to sleepwalk through his performance . i guess he was buying a new house and needed some cash for the deposit . the two central characters  the man and the woman  were so negligible that i have forgotten almost everything about them and i just watched this movie earlier tonight . the werewolves are noticeably less impressive than in the original movie  in fact  bizarrely  they sometimes look more like badly burned apes . the eastern european setting is quite good and the music provided by the new wave band babel  while being pretty terrible  does at least give the film some added cheese .  br    br   overall  good for a laugh . not good quality but did you seriously expect it to be  and  at the very least  you  ve always got sybil  s knockers .  
if you  re a fan of film noir and think they don  t make  em like they used to  here is your answer  they just don  t make  em in hollywood anymore . we must turn to the french to remember how satisfying  subtle and terrific a well  made film from that genre can be . read my lips is a wonderfully nasty little gift to the faithful from director jacques audiard  featuring sharp storytelling and fine performances from emmanuelle devos and vincent cassel .  br    br   the basic plot could have been written in the    s dumb but appealing ex  con and a smart but dowdy femme fatale  who turns out to be ruthlessly ambitious  discover each other while living lives of bleak desperation and longing  manipulate each other to meet their own ends  develop complex love  hate relationship  cook up criminal scheme involving heist  double crosses  close calls and lots of money . all action takes place in depressing  seedy and  or poorly lit locations .  br    br   audiard has fashioned some modern twists  of course . the femme fatale is an underappreciated office worker who happens to be nearly deaf and uses her lip reading ability to take revenge on those who marginalize her . and where you might expect steamy love scenes you discover that both characters are sexually awkward and immature . add in a bit of modern technology and music and it seems like a contemporary film  but make no mistake  this is old school film noir . it  s as good as any film from the genre and easily one of the best films i  ve seen all year .  
new york  i love you  or rather should  be  titled manhattan  i love looking at your people in sometimes love  is a precise example of the difference between telling a story and telling a situation . case in point  look at two of the segments in the film  one where ethan hawke lights a cigarette for a woman on a street and proceeds to chat her up with obnoxious sexy  talk  and another with orlando bloom trying to score a movie with an incredulous demand from his director to read two dostoyevsky books . while the latter isn  t a great story by any stretch  it  s at least something that has a beginning  middle and end  as the composer tries to score  gets dostoyevky dumped in his lap  and in the end gets some help  and maybe something more  from a girl he  s been talking to as a liaison between him and the director . the ethan hawke scene  however  is like nothing  and feels like it  like a fluke added in or directed by a filmmaker phoning it in  or  for that matter  hawke with a combo of before sunrise and reality bites  .  br    br   what  s irksome about the film overall is seeing the few stories that do work really well go up against the one or two possible  stories  and then the rest of the situations that unfold that are made to connect or overlap with one another  i . e . bits involving bradley cooper  drea dematteo  hayden christensen  andy garcia  james caan  natalie portman  etc  . it  s not even so much that the film  set practically always in manhattan and not the new york of queens or staten island or the bronx  not even  say  harlem or washington heights   lacks a good deal of diversity  since there is some . it  s the lack of imagination that one found in spades  for better or worse  in paris j  taime . it  s mostly got little to do with new york  except for passing references  and at its worst  the julie christie  shia labeouf segment  it  s incomprehensible on a level that is appalling .  br    br   so  basically  wait for tv  and do your best to dip in and out of the film  in  that is  for three scenes the aforementioned bloom  christina ricci segment which is charming the brett ratner directed segment  yes  x  men  brett ratner  with a very funny story of a teen taking a girl in a wheelchair to the prom only to come upon a great big twist and eli wallach and cloris leachman as an adorable quite old couple walking along in brooklyn on their   th wedding anniversary . everything else can be missed  even natalie portman  s directorial debut  and the return of a hughes brother  only one  allan  to the screen . a mixed bag is putting it lightly it  s like having to search through a bag of mixed nuts full of crappy peanuts to find the few almonds left .  
legendary director sidney lumet gives us one of his finest films in his historic career in this very tense  and ultimately shocking story about a family that includes dysfunctional as one of the children . with an a  list cast headed by philip seymour hoffman  an oscar  worthy performance here   ethan hawke  marisa tomei and albert finney  lumet has captured not just elements of botched crime stories such as reservoir dogs  but also family stories such as ordinary people .  br    br   many viewers might be confused and feel underwhelmed at the construction of the plot lumet has gone with here . instead of showing it in a linear manner  he has gone the tarantino route and shows the central scene of a robbery gone wrong from different points of view all out of order . i personally found this to be very satisfying and left me constantly guessing what was going to happen next . the script is very strong with some excellent scenes between husband and wife hoffman and tomei  as well as between father and son finney and hoffman . all the actors are totally engaging to watch and lumet is obviously having fun in directing a style he usually doesn  t delve in . plenty of action and suspense to hold the audience for the two hour running time  this is a rare movie that doesn  t disappoint for one moment .  
now this film isn  t going to scare anyone  but it was interesting for two reasons  two big reason and a smaller one  well  that  s three reasons  isn  t it .  br    br   the first reason this is interesting is the special effects . i found them to be quite interesting and somewhat spectacular . to see the hair growing on marsha a . hunt and sybil danning was creepy  especially when they were participating in a mnage  trois .  br    br   of interest  is the fact that this marsha hunt is the famous  brown sugar  of the rolling stones song  and that she was in the infamous nude scene in the london cast of the rock musical hair .  br    br   besides the special effects  there were two other points of note in this film  and they were brought out repeatedly during the closing credits . i lost count  but i swear that sybil danning bared those points for us in the closing credits at least a dozen times and maybe many more . theyu were the most outstanding feature of the film .  
while the title  before the devil knows you  re dead  comes from an irish proverb the film plays out like a greek tragedy . it all starts with a botched robbery and continues to spiral out of control as two brothers attempt to escape the mess they  ve gotten themselves into .  br    br   the cast is well  assembled with philip seymour hoffman  ethan hawke playing the aforementioned brothers . notable support includes albert finney as their father and marisa tomei as the wife of one brother and lover of the other . beyond these principals the acting is unremarkable .  br    br   the story is compelling and is told with a certain degree of verve . the narrative structure keeps things interesting by providing different points of view and frequent time shifts . that being said  the film  s unpredictability is somewhat muted since it becomes apparent early on that this story is a tragedy  through and through . all in all  a pretty impressive debut for first  time screenwriter kelly masterson .  br    br   sidney lumet  s direction is well handled but i  m more impressed by the fact that he  s still directing at over eighty years old . i was less impressed by the score by carter burwell but it isn  t a major distraction .  br    br   in the end  the film proves to be compelling viewing and while the story  presentation may have superficial similarities to other films this one remains a unique experience .  
i have always been somewhat underwhelmed by joe dante  s original the howling        so i wasn  t particularly interested in checking out any of its sequels some time ago  i did catch howling iii the marsupials        by the same director as this one  and found it to be watchable but nothing special .  br    br   the second instalment  however  has quite a bad rep and i knew i  d have a good time watching it  if mainly to wallow in the sight of dear but pompous horror icon christopher lee squirming in the midst of it all  the gracefully  aged star has pathetically asserted a number of times in interviews that he hasn  t appeared in horror  oriented fare since his last picture for hammer films back in       . anyway  this film should have borne the subtitle  your movie is a turd   being astoundingly inept in all departments  beginning with the all  important werewolf make  up    br    br   the plot  and dialogue  is not only terrible  but it has the limpest connection with dante  s film  strangely enough  the author of the original novel gary brandner co  wrote this himself  still  one of the undeniable highlights  er . . . low points  of the film is the pointless elliptical editing  which tries to give the whole a semblance of style  but only serves to accentuate its embarrassment factor  similarly phoney  and grating  are the hokey transitions between scenes  the inane punk  rock theme song  and the cheapjack special  effects at the climax   br    br   what about the characters  then   lee is the werewolf expert  naturally  whom everybody thinks a crackpot  until they come into contact with the monsters  that is at the very least  though  one has to admire the makers  ingenuity  or gall  in devising a stupid subtitle with a dual meaning  incidentally  sybil danning  as stirba  werewolf bitch  the subtitle by which this is known in the u . k .   is quite fetching in an assortment of outrageous sm outfits . . . but her character is virtually given nothing to do  except preside over her brood of followers and engage in the occasional hilarious three  way lycanthrope sex    her two snarling lieutenants  one of them a sluttish black girl  are especially irritating .  br    br   aiding lee on the side of good are the two yuppie heroes  he being the brother of the dee wallace character from the first film and she a colleague of hers  and a ragged guerrilla  type band of transylvians  still  they generally manage to effortlessly overcome danning  s rather dumb werewolves   . notable among them is a knife  throwing dwarf who gets a particularly nasty  but  at the same time  side  splitting  demise he  s later revived  under stirba  s control  in order to lure lee  by making childish taunts at him all through the village streets  into a trap . the latter scene has to be a career nadir for the distinguished and imposing actor  well  either this or the early sequence in a discotheque where lee is made to don a pair of ultra  cool sunglasses so as to appear inconspicuous among the partying youngsters   br    br   in the end  if i were forced to mention elements in this which weren  t entirely displeasing  i guess i could say that the ossuary set  in which the heroine is to be sacrificed  is interesting  or that the hybrid werewolf  bat creature  danning  s pet who likes to  inhabit  the body of its victims  is just too weird to be despised . . .  
tarantino once remarked on a melodrama from the     s called backstreet that  tragedy is like another character  in the film . the same could be said  and not withstanding bringing up tarantino  for sidney lumet  s best work in years  a melodrama where character is of the utmost concern not simply because of what  s at stake with the cast involved . kelly masterson doesn  t have a masterpiece of a script here  it basically breaks into crazy killer mode by the end in a series of climactic events that only work by the very end  and even there suspension of disbelief is paramount   but her script does convey character before plot  and in a story where the actions surround a heist it  s crucial to know who these people are beat by beat . it  s bleak as hell  unforgiving as satan  but also absolutely riveting    of the time .  br    br   chalk it up not just because lumet knows how to handle a non  linear script where we see the day  to  day actions of character to character before during  and mostly after the botched  mom    pop  jewelry store robbery occurs  but because of the formidable cast assembled  which  i might add  is lumet  s specialty  . philip seymour hoffman and ethan hawke are brothers with their own respective financial f  ups  and the former approaches the latter on what looks like a fool  proof heist looting their own mother and father  s jewelry store in westchester . hawke  s hank involves another shady character though  murders occur  and suddenly it  s tragedy on a greek scale affecting the brothers and their father  played by a perfect albert finney . it  s the kind of material that most actors love  characters who  like in dog day afternoon  are painfully human  flawed to the bone but only wanting love   or things to be set right  and have the complete inability to fulfill their wants and needs .  br    br   in this case though hoffman and hawke are matched splendidly hoffman has  until the aforementioned last ten minutes  a super  calm and occasionally joking demeanor that reveals him as the brains of the operation  but then smaller scenes where he breaks down emotionally  i . e . with finney or the car scene with tomei  push his talents to the limit hawke  meanwhile  is called a loser by his ex  wife and daughter  can  t pay any debts at all  and is called a baby by his own father  and he fills the bill of the part in all the ways that matter  he  s not quite as flawed as his older brother  but who wants to pick a straw for that title  and finney  as mentioned  is spot  on all the way through  making his turn in big fish look like child  s play  the final scenes with him are terrifyingly tragic  his face recoiling in a horror that has built up all through the second half  .  br    br   also featuring supporting turns from a finely ditsy and perversely two  timing marisa tomei  bug  s michael shannon as bad  ass white trash  and amy ryan  brian f . o  byrne and rosemary harris making brief  exact impressions  this is a film with a tremendous lot of skill and heart  but not a forgiving heart  with a story that doubles back on details not for showy plot devices but to make clear every step of a family  s perpetual downward spiral . if it  s not as mind  blowing as serpico or network or the pawnbroker or   angry men it comes as close as anything lumet  s done since .  
to be honest  i didn  t watch all of the original  howling   but those scenes i saw made it obvious that the first howling was a great movie . so great  that seven horrible sequels had to be made . they started off with  howling ii your sister is a werewolf  . i got this movie on vhs from my uncle sometime ago when he was giving away a bunch of old movies he bought back when atari was brand new . i just watched it last night  and it wasn  t really bad  it was just weird . i mean  the whole thing with sybil danning going three  way with two of her werewolf minions was just out of place and quite disturbing  but kinda hot   christopher lee about to stab a dead karen as if she  s a vampire  etc . actually  this movie was actually like some sort of mish  mash of dracula and the lost boys . . . except with werewolves  because everything christopher lee  whom played dracula himself  was saying about werewolves pretty much ripped off from every other vampire movie  stake in the heart  garlic  the creature of the night must die at night  and the ruler of werewolves lives in transylvania  . not much for the acting  but the worst of it came from annie mcenroe . i swear  at some point in the film i found myself rooting for the werewolves to rip her throat out  because that damn throat always had to say something . anyway  the plot is pretty silly and clichd  so there  s no real point in telling you  you could just read about it on wikipedia . by the way  the thing that really makes me nauseous about this movie is the fact that it  s the only film out of all the seven sequels thats related in any way to the original  not counting howling iv        which was a remake of the original  or in other words  a sequel based on the same novel  . so don  t see this movie . there  s no real horror  hardly any werewolves  and just horrible special fx .      
in new york  andy hanson  philip seymour hoffman  is an addicted executive of a real estate office that has embezzled a large amount for his addiction and expensive way of life with his wife gina  marisa tomei  . when an audit is scheduled in his department  he becomes desperate for money . his baby brother hank hanson  ethan hawke  is a complete loser that owes three months of child support to his daughter  and is having a love affair with gina every thursday afternoon . andy plots a heist of the jewelry of their parent in a saturday morning without the use of guns  expecting to find an old employee working and without financial damage to his parents  since the insurance company would reimburse the loss . on monday morning  we would raise the necessary money he needs to cover his embezzlement . he invites hank to participate  since he is very well known in the mall where the jewelry is located and could be recognized . however  hank yellows and invites the thief bobby lasorda  brian f . o  byrne  to steal the store  but things go wrong when their mother nanette  rosemary harris  comes to work as the substitute for the clerk and bobby brings a hidden gun . nanette reacts and kills bobby but she is also lethally shot . after the death of nanette  their father charles hanson  albert finney  decides to investigate the robbery with tragic consequences .  br    br    before the devil knows you  re dead  is a comedy of errors  disclosing a good story . the originality and the difference are in the screenplay  with a non  linear narrative  la  pulp fiction  . the eighty  three year  old sidney lumet has another great work and it is impressive the longevity of this director . philip seymour hoffman is awesome in the role of a dysfunctional man with traumatic relationship with his father that feels the world falling apart mostly because of his insecure and clumsy brother . marisa tomei is still impressively gorgeous and sexy  showing a magnificent body . the violent conclusion shows that the world is indeed an evil place . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    antes que o diabo saiba que voc est morto    before the devil knows you  re dead    
in the first howling  we are introduced to a world where werewolves exist and are somewhat organized . the plot in that film made some sense a tv reporter investigates this and attempts to uncover the truth . she ends up having to kill many of them including her boyfriend who becomes one . then she shows the world that they do exist by transforming on live tv . the special effects were just laughable in the first movie and they don  t get any better in this one . whether it  s the transformations or the bad puppets or the cheesy computer graphics showing the superpowers .  br    br   the plot line isn  t all that bad they must kill the leader of the werewolves for some reason . this won  t destroy all werewolves and it really doesn  t end the threat from werewolves as it . . . they just want to kill her . i think there was some cloudy reason for this but it really gets lost in the film .  br    br   after the film  ends  we have a   minute montauge of the movie we just watched and every other scene is one where the female werewolf leader rips off her top exposing her large breasts while some devo  esquire band plays to a crowd of werewolves .  br    br   the only thing that makes this movie even watchable is christopher lee .  
the bible teaches us that the love of money is the root of all evil . the love of money leads to greed which can lead to pride and eventually to destruction . two brothers  andy and hank  will discover how far the love of money will cost them and those they love the most .  br    br   andy hanson  philip seymour hoffman  and his younger brother hank  ethan hawke  couldn  t be more different . andy is seemingly enjoying the success of working in new york  s real estate market and is married to his beautiful wife gina  marisa tomei  who is the idea of a trophy wife if one ever existed . hank  however  is divorce who finds himself at the mercy of his ex  wife  his daughter  s expensive school bills  and endless amount of child support payments . a man who means well and has good intentions  hank none the less cannot escape the water that his slowly raising above his head no matter how hard he swims to stay above it .  br    br   however  andy has his own problems with the only difference between him and his brother being that he hides them better . he has committed fraud against his company and is heavily involved in drug use in order to escape his fears . the pressure of his life  and the lies he needs to keep his appearances up  have now caused him to think about fleeing the country with gina in order to start over again . of course  like hank  he needs money to do this and believes he knows how to get it . how  by robbing the jewelery store that their parents own and run . this act of betrayal is where the hanson brothers  their families  and several other lives  will be destroyed because of greed  pride  and fear .  br    br   the uniqueness of before the devil knows you  re dead is the manner in which the story is told . after the robbery goes wrong  and nanette hanson  rosemary harris  who is the mother of both andy and hank is killed  the story is told from a variety of different points of view from various days before and after the robbery attempt . we learn more about the motivations of not only andy and hank but also the reaction to their father charles  albert finney  to the death of his wife . the relationship between charles and his two sons  especially to andy  is also explored and another possible motivation of sorts is discovered after it is revealed that there is little love between the two men . nanette may have been dearly loved by her sons but their father is a different story .  br    br   philip seymour hoffman proves once more why he is one of the most impressive actors in hollywood today by portraying andy as not only a greedy criminal with lack of morality but also  in contradictory way  as a man we can sympathize with . ethan hawke also brings hank alive not just as a loser but really as a man just desperate to hang on to what little he has left . andy and hank are thus brought to life in such a realistic way that it is easy to think of them as not just characters but the very real images of lost and confused men who now find themselves facing the consequence of their actions .  br    br   before the devil knows you  re dead is a moral tale about how our actions lead to consequences that we otherwise might not expect to face . more than that  our choices also can affect those around us in ways we never expected . in what should have been best picture of the year  we see how lives are easily broken when the love of money becomes the ultimate pursuit in order to ease our troubled lives . in other words  there are no easy fixes or answers to our problems and trying to find them can only make things worse .  br    br         
we had starz free weekend and i switched on the station to see what was on . it was this movie howling ii the acting was terrible but the eye candy was great . sybil danning and marsha brown as the afore mentioned eye candy . i was laughing a lot from the few scenes i saw .  br    br   my friends wonder why i never want to go to horror movies  if they saw this film they would know why . i would get thrown out for laughing so hard .  br    br   just a couple of trivia notes  reb brown who played ben white had played captain american in a made for tv movie marsha brown was mick jaggers inspiration for the song  brown sugar  mick has great taste in women for sure .  
sydney lumet  although one of the oldest active directors  still got game  a few years ago he shot  find me guilty   a proof to everyone that vin diesel can actually act  if he gets the opportunity and the right director . if he had retired after this movie  a true masterpiece in my eyes   no one could have blamed him . but he  s still going strong  his next movie already announced for     .  br    br   but let  s stay with this movie right here . the cast list is incredible  their performance top notch . the little nuances in their performances  the  real  dialogue and  or situations that evolve throughout the movie are just amazing . the  time  structure of the movie  that keeps your toes the whole time  blending time  lines so seamlessly  that the editing seems natural  flawless . the story is heightened by that  although even in a  normal  time structure  it would  ve been at least a good movie  drama  thriller  . i can only highly recommend it  the rest is up to you  o   
yes  the first  howling  was a classic . a rather good werewolf movie that i admit started slowly  but gained momentum along the way to have a rather good finish then the anchorwoman changed into a cute werewolf only to be gunned down on camera . yes that made for an entertaining horror movie to be sure . . . well forget all of that as this movie has nothing to do with that film . oh sure  they kind of make it out that the anchor woman is the same and that her brother or something is wanting to find out what and why things went down as they did  but they go from the little cozy retreat from the first movie to transylvania or somewhere here where they must battle evil magician werewolves or something . i often wonder what in the world christopher lee was doing in this movie  however i read the trivia here where it says he had never been in a werewolf movie before  but still read the script before you take a role . maybe you could have gotten into  an american werewolf in london  hell that could have been possible . it was set in london after all . heck  werewolves do not seem to figure much into this movie except for a rather bizarre and prolonged sex scene . in fact  the most memorable death in this movie for me was when the one gal started talking loudly and this one dude  s ear  s started bleeding .  
before the devil knows you  re dead starts off promisingly  setting up a simple heist that goes awry  told from varying perspectives  in rashomon style  . at around the hour mark  sidney lumet transforms this film into something that is so much more than the sum of its parts it eventually morphs into a multi  faceted family drama  exploring the full realm of human emotions  relations  as the story comes to its chilling climax .  br    br   as is the case with lumet  he manages to coax exceptional performances out of his star  studded cast  without any notion of over  acting or hyperbole . philip seymour hoffman  in one of his best roles  is a complex  mysterious  and interesting character  and oftentimes dwarfs ethan hawke  who plays his brother  hank . that  s not to say that hawke is not bad in fact he is quite above adequate  in a troubled role that suits his style . marisa tomei is excellent for her relatively short appearance  the fact that she bares her flesh adds to this  . albert finney  s character  andy and hank  s father  is the most intriguing  and in my opinion  he deserved a bit more screen  time . amy ryan also performs her job adequately .  br    br   before the devil knows you  re dead is not an exceptional movie  but it proves that lumet is still near the top of his game at the  apparent  twilight of an illustrious career . many of his characteristics and trademarks appear here  not least of which involves the use of his characters . infused with a killer script  no pun intended   smart dialogue and pacing  and a decent score  before the devil knows you  re dead is a must  see . a truly underrated gem .     .  stars  out of   . should just enter my top    at    . highly recommended .  
lee hosted the    years of horror for ted newsom and was talking about filmic werewolves . he said something to the effect that his only brush with lycanthropy was the howling ii  then he quipped   the less said about that the better .  indeed he was right as this film may very well be the worst in his entire catalog of screen performances . the first howling by joe dante was a groundbreaking werewolf film with its incredible special effects and its campy sense of style and subject matter . it was a film to be taken seriously . like other good original films  filmmakers for some strange reason thought that even more campy sequels were needed rather than what worked the first time  see chud then chud ii to illustrate this point  . this film is miles and miles away from the first on every front . there is absolutely nothing scary about it . it looks cheap and is pitch black through most of the major scenes . lee is the only actor in the film worth mentioning  okay  i  ll cede ferdy mayne too  . lee looks embarrassed as he says inane dialog and does ridiculous things  check out that ending with him and stirba  . lee looks incredibly tired and knows what dreck this is which is a tad more insightful than the two leads who leave america to go to romania . the story isn  t really worth examining here  and you can bet there is very little story worth mentioning when you have to have stephen parsons and his band babel play through much of the film in the beginning and the ending with that dreadful noise . sybil danning is here and  yes  she disrobes once and then we get that scene showed again and again and again  one reviewer said   times  i counted ten  but might have been so bored out of my mind by that point  . i gave the film three stars  but it really deserves a zero  the three i gave it are  for lee and two for ms . danning  s contributions . yuck   
director sidney lumet has made some masterpieces  like network  dog day afternoon or serpico . but  he was not having too much luck on his most recent works . gloria       was pathetic and find me guilty was an interesting  but failed experiment . now  lumet brings his best film in decades and  by my point of view  a true masterpiecebefore the devil knows you  re dead . i think this film is like a rebirth for lumet . this movie has an excellent story which  deeply  has many layers . also  i think the ending of the movie is perfect . the performances are brilliant . philip seymour hoffman brings  as usual  a magnificent performance and he  s  no doubt  one of the best actors of our days . ethan hawke is also an excellent actor but he  s underrated by my point of view . his performance in here is great . the rest of the cast is also excellent  specially  the great albert finney  but these two actors bring monumental performances which were sadly ignored by the pathetic oscars . the film has a good level of intensity  in part thanks to the performances and  in part  thanks to the brilliant screenplay . before the devil knows you  re dead is a real masterpiece with perfect direction  a great screenplay and excellent performances . we need more movies like this .  
this film is really bad  so bad that even christopher lee cannot save it . a poor story an even poorer script and just plain bad direction makes this a truly outstanding horror film  the outstanding part being that it is the only horror film that i can honestly say i would never ever watch again . this garbage make plan nine from outerspace look like oscar material .  
i must admit that this is the type of film that i would normally eschew  but i rented it basically because of the stars . i certainly was not sorry . in fact  as you see  i rated it five stars . this film is the perfect combination of sharp directing and superior acting .  br    br   andy and hank hanson are brothers who decide to commit the uncouth crime of robbing their parents  jewelry store . the crime goes terribly wrong  thus beginning an examination of the three men in the hanson family . through a series of flashbacks  we get to know charles hanson and come to an understanding of the strained relationship between father and sons .  br    br   younger brother  hank is basically a screw  up . he has always had trouble holding a job and pretty much goes in the direction of the wind . hank is insecure  cowardly  and very much under the influence of his big brother . ethan hawke has the character of hank  nailed to a t  and gives what is probably his best performance thus far . he shows us a man who is basically good  hearted but so influenced by outside forces that he is unable to follow through with any important task .  br    br   andy  on the surface  appears to be a successful businessman  but we soon discover that he is addicted to drugs and has been embezzling from his company to pay for his habit . it is andy who concocts the scheme to rob his parents  store  and he gets weak  willed hank to commit the act . philip seymour hoffman  surely one of the finest actors of our time  plays andy . hoffman is an actor who has the ability to portray a man who  on the surface  is a charming businessman liked by his acquaintances but a real slime ball underneath . he is absolutely perfect for the part of andy or it might be said that he  through his superior acting skills  made andy the perfect part .  br    br   albert finney plays a father common to his generation . charles hanson is not a bad or unfeeling man  but he has a lousy relationship with his sons because he never really understood what was necessary in nurturing a positive bond between his sons and himself . he has always been too quick to criticize and admonish . he always made it clear that he favored his younger son over his older thus causing a wide emotional rift between himself and andy . as we get to know charles and andy  the thought of andy forming a plan to rob from his father becomes less unbelievable .  br    br   on a personal note  i cannot believe how much charles hanson reminded me of my own father  and how much andy and hank reminded me of my own brother and myself . perhaps this may be one of the reasons that i enjoyed the film so much as this story of a distant  critical father  a more successful older brother  and a less successful younger brother hit so close to home . fortunately  my brother and i never came to the state of committing a crime against my parents  guess we were made of sterner and more moral stuff .  br    br   this complex of personalities and actions has been expertly put together by director  sidney lumet . at eighty  three  he still has the chops to give the audience engrossing characters and edge  of  seat action that hypnotizes .   angry men was his first film made fifty years prior to before the devil knows you  re dead  but he hasn  t lost any bit of his magic touch in showing us characters that will be long remembered .  br    br   the events and characters in before the devil knows you  re dead are harsh and unattractive  and this is definitely not a feel  good movie . however  it is two hours of ultimate entertainment which i thoroughly recommend .  
ben a out  of  town cop is convinced his sister was brutally killed and wants to bring her killer to justice  but he  s approached by stefan who believes his sister was a victim of a werewolf cult . so ben  his sister  s best friend and stefan travel to transylvania to put a end to this evil .  br    br   this is incredibly awful b  grade stuff and i wondered how it even got released . it makes the original  howling  look like a masterpiece . what was christopher lee thinking  as this has to be his worst performance i  ve seen .  br    br   there was a lot wrong with this real cheap  ass film  ranging from the really hammy and wooden performances from annie mcenroe  reb brown  marsha a . hunt and sybil danning  not to forgot lee   cheesy fashion  those sunnies   cheap and lame special effects  bad use of lighting  the humour . . . if there was any  trashy   s music  with some of the film just focusing on some unknown band playing   werewolf  s having orgies which is a sight to see and a tiresome story with flat and annoying dialogue . i thought if it was that bad it would be awfully funny  but i was wrong .  br    br   the positives were the location and settings of the film looked great  but that  s about it . . . actually i  ll add sybil danning short stripping scene too .  br    br   during the end credits the band plays their crap  house song during a weird montage of scenes from the film  which i beckon the question why   br    br   an awful piece of mess  however at least it isn  t boring .  br    br       
the full title of this film is  may you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you  re dead   a rewording of the old irish toast  may you have food and raiment  a soft pillow for your head may you be   years in heaven  before the devil knows you  re dead .  first time screenwriter kelly masterson  with some modifications by director sidney lumet  has concocted a melodrama that explores just how fragmented a family can become when external forces drive the members to unthinkable extremes . in this film the viewer is allowed to witness the gradual but nearly complete implosion of a family by a much used but  here  very sensible manipulation of the flashback  flash forward technique of storytelling . by repeatedly offering the differing vantages of each of the characters about the central incidents that drive this rather harrowing tale  we see all the motivations of the players in this case of a robbery gone very wrong .  br    br   andy hanson  philip seymour hoffman  is a wealthy executive  married to an emotionally needy gina  marisa tomei   and addicted to an expensive drug habit . his life is beginning to crumble and he needs money . andy  s ne  re  do well younger brother hank  ethan hawke  is a life in ruins  he is divorced from his shrewish wife martha  amy ryan   is behind in alimony and child support  and has borrowed all he can from his friends  and he needs money . andy proposes a low  key robbery of a small mall mom  and  pop jewelry store that promises safe  quick cash for both . the glitch is that the jewelry story belongs to the men  s parents  charles  albert finney  and nanette  rosemary harris  . andy advances hank some cash and wrangles an agreement that hank will do the actual robbery  but though hank agrees to the  fail  safe  plan  he hires a friend to take on the actual job while hank plans to be the driver of the getaway car . the robbery is horribly botched when nanette  filing in for the regular clerk  shoots the robber and is herself shot in the mess . the disaster unveils many secrets about the fragile relationships of the family and when nanette dies  charles and andy and hank  and their respective partners  are driven to disastrous ends with surprises at every turn .  br    br   each of the actors in this strong but emotionally acrid film gives superb performances  and while we have come to expect that from hoffman  hawke  tomei  finney  ryan  and harris  it is the wise hand of direction from sidney lumet that make this film so unforgettably powerful . it is not an easy film to watch  but it is a film that allows some bravura performances that demand our respect  a film that reminds us how fragile many families can be . grady harp  
ugly shot  poorly scripted and amateurishly paced sequel to joe dante  s     classic .  the howling  is one of the two or three only good werewolf  films ever made and yet it got  rewarded  by a series of obnoxious and unendurable sequels like this one . if it  s any consolation   stirba  is a sequel in name only and there  s absolutely no connection with the characters or events that were introduced in dante  s film . the plot here revolves on a bloodthirsty cult of transsylvanian werewolves  primarily female ones  led by stirba . stirba is played by sybil danning who transforms from a curvy old lady into a blond super  babe  with impressive bosom  in the blink of an eye and becomes all hairy when sexually aroused . her arch  enemy is played by a seemly fatigue christopher lee . his character  stefan crosscoe  is an occult investigator who travels to stirba  s kingdom  accompanied by an american couple who lost their friend to the werewolf cult . in case you  re exclusively looking for filthy gore and gratuitous nudity . . . this is your film . even the smallest killing is shown in great detail and we  re even treated to exploding eyeballs and the vile image of a dwarf who gets pierced on a pointy fence . however  if you want a little substance or depth  you  ll be sorely disappointed . the dialogues are embarrassing and there  s absolutely no tension to detect anywhere . the scriptwriters constantly seem to confuse werewolves with vampires  the transsylvanian setting  garlic  wooden stakes . . .  and danning  s gorgeous balcony is shamelessly exploited as the film  s only gimmick . during the end  credits  a shot in which she rips off her top  is re  edited repeatedly  according to my fellow reviewer dr . gore  no less than seventeen times   which is pretty pathetic and pointless . the music is okay and some of the scenery is rather beautiful . i  m talking about the fierce  looking statues during the opening credits and the dark dungeons of stirba  s castle . the directing by philippe mora is a giant mess and  as far as i  m concerned  his only worthwhile film remains  the beast within   released three years earlier .  
i must admit that i had my doubts about this movie before i was going to watch it . the main reason for that is because it was compared to a hitchcock movie . i  ve seen several movies that were said to be inspired by hitchcock or that could have been made by the  master of suspense  himself  but so far i haven  t seen any of these movie that would be able to stand the test of time . in my opinion hitchcock has become a household name which is too easily used to promote some  cheap  thrillers  but on the other hand i must admit that i was intrigued by it because this is a european movie . normally it  s the big hollywood studios who like to abuse hitchcock  s name if that can raise their income . but this movie was made in one of the most chauvinistic european countries ever and i  m sure that most french would rather drop dead than to admit that their movies have been inspired by an englishman . that  s why i decided to give this movie a try and i must say that i  m glad that i did .  br    br    sur mes lvres  or  read my lips  as it is called in english  tells the story of a young secretary named carla . she is a hardworking and loyal employee  but has never been very appreciated by her colleagues . that has much to do with the fact that she suffers from a hearing deficiency  which has denied her to climb up on the hierarchical ladder of the company . but when she is allowed to hire a trainee that can work for her  all this is about to change . paul angeli is a   year old and completely unskilled ex  convict . the man is a thief  but carla gives him a chance and covers for him when needed . she hopes to teach him what a regular life should look like  but at the same time he drags her with him in his old life . . .  br    br   since i still believe that the name hitchcock is used too often to describe a very good thriller  which this movie definitely is  i will not make any comparisons between hitchcock and jacques audiard  s directing . fact is that the man has done a really good job with this movie . i hadn  t heard of him before  but it is true that he knows how to build up suspense and how to keep you interested from the beginning until the end . that also has a lot to do with the very fine and original story of course . i doubt if there is someone in hollywood who has ever come up with the idea of using a handicapped woman in a powerful role  instead of making her the helpless subject of an abusive husband  you know  the typical tv  movie story  .  br    br   also worth noticing is the acting in this movie . vincent cassel is quite famous  but emmanuelle devos was a complete mystery to me . there is absolutely nothing glamorous about their roles  but they both did an excellent job with their characters  making them feel very believable and realistic . paul could have been the average tough guy right out of jail and carla the typically helpless woman  but thanks to their performances  you really believe that these are two strong people who both have had some bad luck in life but who will make the best out of it together .  br    br   all in all this is a powerful movie with a very fine script and some excellent acting . despite the fact that i had my doubts about it  i  ve soon become one of its greatest admirers . i give this movie an     . don  t hesitate to give it a try .  
an anthology is always risky business and i think this endeavor should be praised . there  s a lot of talent involved here . a great many talented actors  directors and writers . unfortunately  i couldn  t really enjoy this movie based on three issues i had .  br    br   first of all  the segments vary incredibly in tone and quality . and unfortunately some of them clash with the others .  br    br   secondly  several segments feel underdeveloped to me . like seeds of good stories that never come to fruition . i  m not talking about happy endings here  or even an ending period  but rather  they lack even basic development or even solid setups that draw you in .  br    br   last but not least  i did not feel new  york and its inhabitants were properly portrayed .  br    br   what you  re left with is high  brow short films that may still be of interest to some but will leave the average viewer unsatisfied .  
i am beginning to see a very consistent pattern form in the identity of      s films . if     was the year of the biographies and     was the year of the political films      can be identified as a year featuring a wide plethora of morality tales  films that portray  test  challenge and question human morality and the motives that drive us to do certain things . although this identification is rather broad  i think that there are a handful of films released this year  such as     to yuma  eastern promises  american gangster  no country for old men and others that specifically question and study human morals and the motives that drive us to acts such as violence or treachery . before the devil knows you  re dead is a deviously stylish morality tale  and quite a dark  bleak and depressing one at that . and even better is the fact that it comes from one of the greatest classic directorial forces of our time  the legendary sidney lumet  who many have said has passed his prime but returns in full force with this viciously rich crime thriller .  br    br   it  s one of those films whose plots are so thick  that one is very reluctant to go into details . it is a movie that is best enjoyed if entered without any prior knowledge to the events about to unfold  as there are twists and turns . but the thick and richly wrought plot is not at all at the center of this film the true focus is  as i mentioned  the morality tale the motives that drive these two men to the actions they do in the film . in a plot structured like a combination between the filmographies of both the coen brothers  namely blood simple and fargo  and quentin tarantino  we see two men driven under various shady circumstances to pull off a fairly simple crime that goes incredibly  ridiculously wrong  and reciprocates with full force and inevitable tragedy . and to make it all the more interesting  the film is told in a fragmented chronology that keeps back tracking and showing a series of events following a different character every time and always ending up where it left off the last time . sizzling  sharp  thick and precariously depressing  kelly masterson  s screenplay is surprisingly poignant and well rounded  in particular because it is a debut screenplay .  br    br   but the film has much more going for it than just it  s delectably sinister and quite depressing plot . first and foremost  the picture looks and feels outstandingly well . sidney lumet has  throughout his career  consistently employed an interesting style of cinematography and lighting naturalistic and yet stylish at the same time . the film carries with it a distinctive air of style and class  with wonderful natural lighting that just looks really great . editing is top  notch combining the sizzling drama  thriller aspect with great long takes that really take their time to portray the action accordingly . and vivid  dynamic camera angles and movements further add to the style . the film is also backed by a fantastically succulent musical score by carter burwell .  br    br   the screenplay does its part  and of course lumet does his part  but at the film  s dramatic center are three masterful actors who deliver incredibly good performances . first and foremost  there are the two leads . leading the pack is philip seymour hoffman  who has always been an excellent actor but has stumbled upon newfound leading  man status after his unnaturally fantastic oscar  winning performance in capote . his turn in this film is fascinating severely flawed  broken  manic . hoffman has some truly intense scenes in the film that really allow his full dramatic fury to come out  and not just his subtlety and wit . at his side is ethan hawke  who has delivered some fantastic performances in many films that are almost always overshadowed by greater  grander actors . here  he bounces off hoffman and complements him so incredibly well in all  the dynamic acting between the two of them is just so utterly fantastic and convincing  the audience very quickly loses itself in the characters and forgets that it  s watching actors . and then there  s albert finney . such a supple  opulent supporting role like the one he has requires a veteran professional and here finney delivers his finest performance in many years as the tragically obsessed father to the two brothers who get caught up in the crime . i love how the dynamics between the three of them play out . i love how hoffman is clearly the dominant brother and shamelessly picks on his younger brother even now that they  re middle  aged men and yet despite this  it is clear how finney  s father favours hawke  s younger  weaker brother . also on the topic of the cast  the two supporting female characters  wives of the brothers  also feature fantastic performances from amy ryan and marisa tomei  whose looks just get better and better as the years go by .  br    br   this film isn  t revolutionary . these themes and this style have already been explored by the likes of the coen brothers  and it  s very easy to imagine them directing this film . but for a film that treads familiar ground  it simply excels . lumet employs his own immense directorial talent and employs his unique and very subtle sense of irony and style to masterson  s brilliantly vivid  intense  and morbidly depressing first  time screenplay . the lead performances are incredibly intense and the film features absolutely fantastic turns from hoffman  hawke and finney but the truly greatest wonder of the film is that three years after he won a lifetime achievement oscar  much revered as the ultimate sign of retirement in the film business  sidney lumet proves that he still has the immense talent to deliver a truly wonderful  resonant  intense piece of cinema reminiscent of his golden years .  
ok  as everyone has pointed out  this film is a complete dog . to some degree this is because it was a gory sexploitation film that had a lot of material excised  or darkened down to near invisibility  to escape the censor  s x  rating but the film has many other flaws as well .  br    br   to begin with  the scriptwriter seems to have got his werewolves and vampires mixed up . the baddies in this film are furry and don  t like silver but in every other respect they behave like vampires . now you just can  t do that with a crappy genre flick  you  ve got to stick to the rules of the genre or the fans get all confused and annoyed by suspending disbelief in the wrong thing . in fact the whole  confusing and poorly presented  plot is something that has already been done for vampires  but doesn  t make any sense in a werewolf movie .  br    br   secondly  the werewolf costumes are the lamest you have ever seen . anybody in the werewolf movie business ought to know that the werewolf costumes and transformations are something the fans assess critically  yet some of these werewolves are just plain goofy .  br    br   there are a couple of slightly good bits . i actually quite liked the score . others have mentioned sybil danning  s tits . and . . .  br    br    spoiler  if such a thing can exist   br    br   i also quite liked the plan for attacking the werewolves  stronghold . there are so many horror movies that rely on characters behaving stupidly  but in this case they first acquire a very sensible and effective anti  werewolf arsenal and go slaughter the monsters . i mean  you can kill werewolves with silver bullets  and we have some pretty powerful firearms these days . shouldn  t be too hard to put two and two together  hmm  but in typical style this movie goes over the top and adds some other very zany and amusing anti  lycanthrope weapons .  
says andy  nobody gets hurt  everybody wins .  before he says it  we know the opposite is true everybody gets hurt  nobody wins . this is a new strand in american movies  or perhaps an old strand brought back at long last . think  eastern promises    there will be blood    no country for old men  . these movies are dark  serious  extremely well made  and don  t care about happy endings . i love them .  before the devil knows you  re dead  fits the general description  but creates an atmosphere all its own . kelly masterson  s debut script is as close as a hollywood movie will ever get to a greek tragedy . paying tribute to fellow veteran director stanley donen  sidney lumet expertly and soberly turns the sombre story into an outstanding  old school character drama . the opening shots  although of an obese accountant doggy  styling his trophy wife  have the look and feel of a dutch master  s painting . by contrast  the drug dealer  s condo looks more like a string of mondrians . great performances all around . only albert finney  s character charles feels a little over  acted  eyes wide and mouth agape almost all the time . but then he is in trouble deep  deeper than any of the troubles most of us will ever know . for compensation  marisa tomei is super hot . but of course you don  t need me to tell you that . why her character gina would want to be with a guy like andy  we  re never told  but that  s okay . action is character  after all . the unique and magic touch of carter burwell  s music makes this fine movie a masterpiece . don  t miss it .  
dreadful horror sequel to  the howling  . this picks off with karen white  s funeral  she was killed at the end of the first film  . stefan crosscoe  christopher lee sadly  arrives there and tells karen  s brother ben  reb brown  that karen was a werewolf . he  s going to transylvania to kill striba  sybil danning  the head werewolf . ben and a coworker of karens  annie mcenroe  join him .  br    br   a terrible script  bad direction  inept editing and truly horrendous acting by brown and mcenroe single handedly sink this one . the werewolf effects are mostly kept in the dark   for good reason  they  re terrible when you see them . subpar special effects also   although i did like the cartoon lightning that comes from danning  s fingers . there  s also a werewolf orgy which is particularly stupid and danning takes off her top at least eight times during the closing credits   br    br   there are a few good things   i found the village in transylvania amusing   it looks like it came from a universal horror flick from the     s  there are interesting camera tricks between transition scenes brown and mcenroe have good bodies and lee and danning are good in this   but they can  t save it . really   why did they do this  where that they hard up for money    this is one of imdb  s lowest rated movies . that alone should tell you something . supposedly danning was horrified when she saw the movie   i can understand why  a must  miss .  
sydney lumet hasn  t had a box office hit in   years and yet at   has managed to churn out a tight  well  cast  suspenseful thriller set in his old stamping ground  new york city .  how he got insurance  let alone the budget after all those flops  is a mystery also  . the story is a pretty grim one and the characters are not particularly likable but it held me on the edge of my seat till the final scene .  br    br   two brothers with pressing financial problems conspire to rob a suburban jewelry store owned by their elderly parents . the only victim is going to be the insurance company . the robbery goes awry and two people die . most of the film is concerned with the aftermath . the action is non  linear and seen from the main character  s differing points of view  but it is not difficult to follow . what is not so easy to work out is the back story  how did the brothers get into such a mess  there are clues  the younger brother being the baby of the family is his fathers  favorite while the older brother seems to be carrying a lot of baggage about his relationship with his father  and vice versa  but that hardly accounts for him becoming a heroin  using murdering embezzler .  br    br   as the scheming older brother  a corpulent philip seymour hoffman dominates the film  but he is well supported by ethan hawke as his bullied  inadequate younger brother . albert finney as their father seems to be in a constant state of rage but then the script calls for that . marisa tomei as the older brother  s cheating wife at the age of   puts in the sexiest performance i  ve seen in many a year . the film literally starts with a bang  but we are out of that comfort zone pretty quickly .  br    br   i don  t know the origins of this story by first time scriptwriter kelly masterton but i suspect that like lumet  s great    s film  dog day afternoon  it is based on fact  it  s too silly to be untrue . lumet is just about the last of those immensely versatile old  time craftsman studio directors who with immense speed were able to direct just about anything that was put in front of them . some great films were produced that way as well as some classic turkeys . this isn  t a classic of either sort  it  s a well  crafted piece of downbeat entertainment . it will probably leave you feeling that you were lucky not be a member of a family as dysfunctional as this one  but still wondering as to how they got that way . we do know the parents were happy but we see so little of the mother and hear so little about her it is impossible pick up on her relationship with the boys .  there is also a daughter whose presence seems redundant  . well  like tolstoy  we have to conclude that  each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way  .  
from the moment christopher lee puts on a pair of punk sunglasses and tries to sneak into a punk rock club  you know you  ve got a stinker on your hands  this film had potential . beneath all of the sludge there are the remnants of what could have been crafted into a decent film  if not an interesting one . the final product is a real mess  however . aside from the gratuitous nudity and some very attractive women  howling ii winds up being a laughable excuse for a horror film . christopher lee gives it a nugget of credibility  but even he cannot raise it above the level of crap .  br    br   having never seen any of the other films in this series  this critic will be forced to accept on face value that this is a genuine continuation of the events in part one . we start off at a funeral for one of the characters from the original  and within the first ten minutes we find ourselves in transylvania with a small group of heroes ready to battle a coven of werewolves . the film is paced fairly well  and there are not too many dead spots . the action is there it just isn  t filmed well . one bright spot is the music of a punk band called babel . though their song is played quite often  it is rather catchy .  br    br   the problems with this film are great in number . first off  the acting is worse than pitiful . christopher lee is good enough  but that  s where it ends . the two leads reb brown and annie mcenroe are lacking in just about everything you  d want for such characters . the writing is wretched  the editing redundant  and the direction amateurish . there are a couple nice special effect gimmicks  but the cheesy ones far out weigh them in number . sybil danning is nice to look at  but her acting performance is less than satisfactory . judd omen looks the part he plays  but his voice and acting are unconvincing to say the least . much of the dialog is in an unintelligible language that may or may not be latin .  br    br   i liked the general idea for the story . i always enjoy stories of true believers out to battle seemingly invincible forces of evil . one scene where a small group of good guys are trekking through a dark forest and shooting down a bunch of werewolves is even kind of exciting . kind of . maybe a bigger budget or a better director could have made the rest of the film a bit more compelling .  of   stars .  br    br   the hound .  br    br   side note as of this writing  the censors at youtube . com have still not taken down the ending credits with sybil danning ripping off her top several times while the babel song is playing  catch it while you can   
after a cold sex scene  between andy and gina  in south america  we know that andy is a payroll manager who finds himself in a hard economic situation where he badly needs some extra money we also discover that he has been stealing from his job and using the money to his drug habits he  s also attempting to keep up with his wife  who just might be having an affair  br    br   to solve all their problems  he persuades his brothera likable loserto join him in a plan to steal their own parent  s small store their parents are happily married and proprietors of a jewelry store situated in new york  s westchester county sixty thousand dollars is all they  ll need to get their life out of desperation  br    br   three main characters are important in this movie  br    br   first the two brothers each of them is a complex individual  threatened with multiple motivations  and sunk into doubts and disappointments the two are desperate characters  financially and emotionally  br    br   andy is selfish he feels that he has never had the love of his father he is the corrupting influence  turning his brother into an assailant  and his beautiful woman into an adulteress  br    br   hank is a puppet too weak to resist his brother  s wishes his ex  wife is one of the reasons he needs money as he owes her hundreds in child support . he longs to regain the confidence he once had with his father  br    br   the third character is their weary and deplorable father charles hanson  albert finney   especially in the haunting climactic scenes  br    br   telling you more about the details could lessen the impact of the film  and therefore the entertainment . . .  br    br   tomei  s performance conveys great depth and emotion even with her look  her touch  her particular move  br    br   lumet  s direction is firm  fresh and brutal .  
howling ii       was a complete    from the first film . whilst the first film was campy and creepy . the second one was sleazy and cheesy . the production values on this one are pretty bad and the acting is atrocious . the brother of the anchorwoman werewolf from part one wants to find out what happened to his sis  . the  scene  from the first film was badly re  created . a skinny plain looking woman accompanies bro   reb brown  to the old country  romania  to uncover the mystery to her sister  s murder  transformation  death . christopher lee appears and disappears over now and then as sort of a sage  guide to the two . sybil danning and her two biggest assets appear as stirba  the head werewolf of the romania . she also suffers from a bad case of morning face  ewww   br    br   bad movie . there  s nothing good about this stinker . i  m surprise philippe mora directed this picture because he  s usually a good film  maker . the film is so dark that you need a flashlight to watch it  no  not the content but the film stock itself  . to round the movie off you get a lousy  punk  performance from a damned wannabe  babel  . maybe if they forked over a couple of extra bucks they could  ve got the real deal instead of an imitation .  br    br   best to avoid unless you  re desperate or you lost the remote and you  re too lazy to change the channel .  
what an extraordinary crime thriller   my wife and i saw this at the toronto international film festival last week and it was far and away the best movie in an exceptionally strong festival . it  s already my second favourite film of all  time after dr . strangelove and i was definitely on an emotional high as i walked home and discussed the film with my wife .  br    br   i don  t want to spoil the plot because thrillers of this calibre are best enjoyed without preconceptions . a synopsis that i  d feel comfortable sharing is that two brothers  played by phillip seymour hoffman and ethan hawke  are planning to rob a jewellery store in westchester  new york . the film bounces back and forth in time over approximately a two week period of time  before  during and after the robbery   and one key scene is repeated at least three times . ordinarily  that could disrupt the momentum of a film but that never happens during this masterpiece . the excitement  the tension  and even the quality of the acting only seemed to get better as the film progressed . by the end  i was on the edge of my seat breathlessly waiting to see how it would all wrap up . i know that i  ve used a few clichs in this post  but i literally was on the edge of my seat . i should mention that the non  linear storyline is quite easy to follow . this isn  t the sort of movie where you  ll overhear audience members asking their friend to explain the plot during the movie .  br    br   the acting is absolutely brilliant all  around  and i doubt i would have the same admiration for the film if the casting hadn  t been so perfect . a tiny complaint is that hoffman and hawke don  t look like brothers  but that  s a minor quibble that i can easily overlook . hoffman was at his very best and some of his scenes with hawke were positively electric . marisa tomei  as hoffman  s wife  and albert finney  as the father of hoffman  hawke  are also very good in supporting roles . even some cameo performances were so impressive that i can still remember every remark  gesture and facial expression by brian o  byrne and michael shannon  absolute perfection . the robbery scene felt more authentic than any other cinematic robbery scene i  ve ever watched  and i had the same feeling of authenticity in most scenes  especially the ones with hoffman . the music helped to build up the tension throughout the movie  often the same notes played over very effectively . i had the music playing in my head the following day  even as i sat through other films . in addition to my minor complaint at the beginning of this paragraph  there was one plot twist that felt a bit unbelievable  major spoiler  so i can  t describe the scene  . otherwise  this film is pretty darn close to perfect .  br    br   there were about a dozen great films at the festival that i would enjoy watching a second time but before the devil knows you  re dead stands in a league of its own . as an aside  the director sidney lumet spoke before the film and he introduced marisa tomei and ethan hawke onto the stage . tomei didn  t speak and she acted a bit shy so lumet asked  can you believe that someone so beautiful could be so camera  shy   that comment is quite ironic considering the graphic opening scene    
after watching this  i had lost a little respect for christopher lee  this has passed over time  . this film was utter garbage . first  they tried to recreate the ending from the first  howling   with incredibly bad make  up . then they try to turn it into a sad excuse of a werewolf porn film  the plot sucks and the whole film is just awful     a brother of a werewolf victim from the first film  from the look of it  it was supposed to be dee wallace stone  teams up with lee and another woman to destroy the group of werewolves  lead by sybil danning  who seems to be naked all the time .  br    br   this is not even worth renting  unless you want to waste your time and money watching the nudity .  . try to catch it on cable instead . it would be so chopped up  it may actually make sense .  
two dysfunctional brothers  philip seymour hoffman and ethan hawke  get tired of competing for who is the bigger f  up and who daddy  albert finney  loves more  so they hatch a hair  brained scheme to rob mommy and daddy  s jewelry store so that they can clear their debts and start fresh . sounds like a great plan except that this is a suspenseful      s style melodrama about a heist gone wrong  and boy  do things really go wrong here for our hapless duo and everyone involved . lasciviously concocted by screenwriter kelly masterson and classically executed by director sidney lumet   before the devil knows you  re dead  uses the heist as its mcguffin to delve deep into family drama .  br    br   contrary to popular belief  sidney lumet is not dead . at age    he has apparently made a deal with the devil to deliver one last great film . lumet was at his zenith in the      s with films like  dog day afternoon    serpico   and one of my favorite films of all time   network  . he has somehow managed to make a film that bears all the hallmarks of his classics while intertwining some more modern elements  graphic sexuality  violence  and playing with time  frames and pov  s  into a crackling  vibrant  lean  mean  and provocative melodrama . one can only hope that some of the modern greats  like scorsese or spielberg  who emerged during the same decade lumet was at the top of his game will have this much chutzpah left when they reach that age .  br    br   lumet is a master at directing people walking through spaces to create tension and develop characters . as the cast waltzes through finely appointed manhattan offices and apartments his slowly moving camera creates a palpable sense of anxiety as we never know who might be around the next corner or what this person might do in the next room . also amazing is how lumet utilizes the multiple pov and shifting time  frame approach . the coherent and classical presentation he uses makes the similarly structured films of wunderkinds christopher nolan and alejandro gonzalez inarritu seem like amateur hour .  br    br   of course  what lumet is best at is directing amazing ensemble casts and tricking them into acting within an inch of their lives . philip seymour hoffman has never been  and most likely never will be  better than he is here . albert finney  s quietly searing portrayal of a father betrayed and at the end of his rope is a masterpiece to watch unfold . ethan hawke  normally a nondescript pretty boy  is perfect as the emotionally crippled younger brother who has skated by far too long on his charms and looks . the coup  de  grace  however  is the series of scenes between hoffman and marisa tomei  eerily on point as his flighty trophy wife . lumet runs them through the gamut of emotions that culminate in a scene that is the best of its kind since william holden taunted beatrice straight right into a best supporting actress oscar in  network .   br    br   the devil of any great film is in the details  from albert finney  s tap of his car  s trunk that won  t close due to a fender bender  to the look amy ryan  fresh off her amazing turn in  gone baby gone   gives her ex  husband ethan hawke at his mawkish promise to his little girl all three of them knows he won  t keep  to the systematic unraveling of a family on the skids  to the dialog begging for cultists to quote it  my favorite line being the hilariously threatening  do you mind if i call you chico    to the excellent carter burwell score .  before the devil knows you  re dead  is the film of the year . if something emerges to best it  then we know a few other deals must  ve been brokered with old scratch .  
the howling ii starts as it means to go on with a bizarre and surreal opening narration by christopher lee whose image is imposed over a moving star field  oh and a skeleton appears as well for some reason . he says  for it  s written the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with her blood . and i saw her sip upon a hairy beast and she held forth a golden challis full of the filthiest fornication  s and upon her forehead was written  behold i am the great mother of an inaudible word i couldn  t make out no matter how many times i rewound the tape and tried to  sorry and all abominations of the earth  . this opening narration means nothing at all and is just downright bizarre . after the opening credits which are set over shots of transylvanian architecture we get an on screen caption that informs us we  re in  los angeles  california u . s . a . city of the angels  . i knew i was in for a long   minutes . it  s probably not too long after the events of the original howling       and it  s karen white  s funeral . after the ceremony karen  s brother ben  reb brown  is spoken to by an  occult investigator  called stefan crosscoe  christopher lee  who says that karen is a werewolf and that she will come back to life . ben dismisses such nonsense . but together with one of karen  s friends and colleagues jenny  annie mcenroe  he visits stefan at his home . there stefan tells them about werewolves and how they can be killed  he mentions stirba  sybil danning  who is the queen of werewolves . stefan also shows them a photograph taken at karen  s funeral of a woman named mariana  marsha a . hunt  and that she is an extremely vicious and dangerous werewolf who wants karen . stefan says he will stake any werewoves through the heart with titanium . ben figures out that stefan means he will stake karen as well so together with jenny he travels to the graveyard where his sister  s crypt is to stop stefan . however lots of werewolves turn up and attack stefan  ben and jenny . they survive the attack and manage to find out that stirba is to be found in transylvania . they all decide to travel to transylvania and stop stirba and her werewolves from taking over the earth by fulfilling a centuries old curse . once there they travel to a small town called vlkava which means  where wolves live  and meet up with the local priest  father florin  ladislav krecmer  and his small but loyal group of werewolf hunters  hey what else can i call them  oh  and a dwarf named florica  ludmila safarova  helps too . they follow mariana who they hope will lead them to stirba . but stirba knows of stefan  s arrival and has plans for him ben and jenny . will stefan be able to put an end to stirba  s plans for world domination  will this film get any more bizarre or surreal  watch it and find out . directed by philippe mora this is one strange mess of a film . it  s poorly edited as certain sequences just jump around incoherently . the single biggest problem is the script by robert sano and gary brandner based on his novel which is all over the place and doesn  t make any sort of sense or introduces us to any proper characters that we like . luckily it moves along like a rocket and is never dull or boring  unlike the original . something strange or bizarre is always happening to keep the viewer entertained . most people will probably hate it  but for those of us who enjoy  bad  films this is right up there with the best of them . there are werewolf orgies which are just freaky to watch . we get some cool werewolf killing weaponry . the sets and locations just seem so out of place and i don  t know if this was actually shot in transylvania but it doesn  t look like what i thought mid    s transylvania would . stirba  s castle is part dungeon  part gothic castle and part modern luxury house . stirba and her servant  s costumes are very over  the  top  stirba wears an outfit that looks like it belongs in a s  m video and to be fair to her she looks pretty sexy  and her minions wear skimpy leather clothing too . the special make  up effects range from good to poor  a dwarf  s eyes explode  someone has their hand ripped off and a priest has some creature emerge from his mouth but this isn  t a film loaded with gore  although there are plenty of effect sequences with werewolf transformations and attacks . there is plenty of nudity as well as stirba and her minions are a real randy bunch of werewolves  i should also mention the music  the soundtrack is dominated by awful rock music that i hated and i ended up turning the volume down . acting is weak all round and what on earth was christopher lee thinking about when he accepted this film   i wonder what he thinks of it . basically the whole thing is a real mess  but i found it a fairly entertaining mess all the same . impossible to recommend but it kept me watching through to the end . speaking of which the end credits run over what appears to be deleted scenes and cut footage  it also features the same shot of sybil danning taking her dress off and exposing her breasts probably in excess of   times  if that  s your thing .  
  cosby   in my opinion  is a must  see cbs hit  i  m not sure if i  ve never seen every episode  but i still enjoyed it . it  s hard to say which one is my favorite . also  i really loved the theme song . if you ask me  even though i liked everyone  it would have been nice if madeline kahn hadn  t passed away during the show  s run . since that happened  i  ve always wondered what the show would have been like . everyone always gave a good performance  the production design was spectacular  the costumes were well  designed  and the writing was always very strong . in conclusion  even though it can be seen on tbs now  i strongly recommend you catch it just in case it goes off the air for good  
in theory   director  s commentary  should have worked . the talented rob bryden plays peter delane  a former television director recounting his experiences behind the camera . amongst the programmes he is alleged to have worked on are  bonanza    flambards    the duchess of duke street   and  the bounder  . his commentaries are not the least bit informative  due to his habit of wandering off the point .  br    br   but in practice  it failed dismally . it is a one  joke show  and the joke is not particularly funny . the scripts are completely lacking in wit  and bryden fails to convince as an old man . whenever stuck for anything amusing to say  which is like every five seconds  he issues a hissing laugh . rather than being amused by delane  you want to shoot him . if senile old men strike you as hilarious  then this is for you .  br    br   it didn  t help that the shows mocked were  with the exceptions of  mr  mrs  and  crossroads   rather good . for the joke to work  they needed to be really dreadful such as  charlie  s angels    o . t . t .    telly addicts    neighbours   and  new faces  .  br    br   the show tanked big time  so thankfully we are spared the horror of future editions . wouldn  t it be deliciously ironic if  director  s commentary  were someday itself the subject of a spoof   
i sincerely hope that at least the first season of cosby is released on dvd someday . the episode with hilton  s eccentric genius brother  george  played by the late roscoe lee browne   is classic hilarity . it reflects the classic sibling rivalry and love between brothers whose lives took different paths but both ended up happy .  br    br   mr . cosby and ms . rashad brilliantly recaptured the chemistry that they shared on the cosby show for many years and to put them in a more middle  class role shows the dimensions they can take as artists .  br    br   the roster of comedic dynamite . . . madeline kahn  phylicia rashad  and mr . cosby . . . classic genius   
this film  by oscar petersson  is unique . its uniqueness doesn  t lie in the story  since many a half brained hollywood production has served us comparably miserable plots  but rather in the thorough way that complete and utter lousiness in one aspect is joined with equal lousiness in all other aspects .  br    br   the dialog is worse than embarrassing . rotten acting and abysmal direction are thrown into the mix . bosnians speaking english with heavy swedish accents add an unintentional element of humor . uninspired lightning and camera  work are icing on the turkey film cake . as a sort of surprise for the audience  there are a few completely unmotivated slow motion sequences where you  d least expect any . to add insult to injury  the whole thing is cut by someone devoid of any sense of timing .  br    br   the  bad guy henchman turns good after hearing good guy  s speech  scene in the church  is the point at which is time to dethrone ed wood from the position as the worst director of all times move over ed wood  here comes oscar petersson   
i have to say that higher learning is one of the top  movies i have ever watched . it has a brilliant cast  and an equally brilliant director . singleton shows how life in university can be . there are  main story lines  the skinheads  the african  americans  and the homosexuals . i was intrigued by all of the stories  but the one that got to me the most was the storyline about kristen  battling her feelings towards another girl . the end was great . after seeing the movie   times plus  i still cry . i would have given this movie an    but i have to settlefor      .  
absolutely one of the worst movies i have ever seen  the acting  the dialog  the manuscript  the sound  the lighting  the plot line . i actually can  t say anything positive about this  although i enjoy swedish movies . the fighting scenes are so ridiculous that it  s impossible to take it seriously . and when the lead character just happens to loose his shirt  while dodging bullets in a strip bar  i  m not sure if it  s supposed to be a joke  or if someone really thinks these are ingredients in a good film   regina lund is the only half descent actor  but she disappears in a flood of laughable pronunciations and unbelievable reactions . it leaves you horrified that someone actually spent time and money on something like this . . .  
in this little film we have some great characters but a very shallow plot . it is actually nice to watch because singleton does a great job at presenting the esoteric conflicts and the interpersonal relationships . this makes the viewer forget the nonexistent realism that this movie supposedly is for . in fact what we have here is all the possible cliches and stereotypes put on celluloid in a rate higher than that of a soap . definitely not a deep movie  even if it wants to be   but better than an average college movie .  
with the releasing of  farligt frflutet  swedish film industry has truly hit rock bottom . stefan  jens hultn  has for the past years lived a calm life with his wife marie  regina lund  . one day an old friend of stefans arrives with a favor to ask him . stefan is to do a small courier job . he is supposed to bring a suitcase filled with heroine through the sweden  germany customs . unfortunately things in germany dont work out as planned and stefan is now in big trouble . it is always nice to see a swedish film that breaks the traditional family  drama pattern . unfortunately if the people involved in the production have no clue of how a movie is supposed to be written  filmed or cut the result can only be catastrophic . the content can be concluded with bad acting  an incoherent plot and idiotic dialogs . the only highlight in the movie is the unprovoked sex  scene wit the incredibly beautiful regina lund . this lasts for only a few seconds leaving approxamitly   minutes of pure  lets say what it truly is  crap .  
this was one of the dvd  s i recently bought in a set of six called  frenchfilm  to brush up our french before our planned holiday in beautiful provence this year . so far  as well as improving our french we have considerably enhanced our appreciation of french cinema .  br    br   what a breath of fresh air to the stale  predictable  unimaginative  crash bang wallop drivel being churned out by hollywood . what a good example for screenplay writers  actors  directors and cinematographers to follow . it was so stimulating also to see two identifiable characters in the lead roles without them having to be glossy magazine cover figures .  br    br   the other thing i liked about this film was the slow character and plot build up which kept you guessing as to how it was all going to end . is there any real good in this selfish thug who continually treats his seemingly nave benefactor with the type of contempt that an ex  con would display  will our sexually frustrated poor little half deaf heroine prove herself to the answer to her dreams and the situation that fate has bestowed upon her  the viewer is intrigued by these questions and the actors unravel the answers slowly and convincingly as they face events that challenge and shape their feeling towards each other .  br    br   once you have seen this film  like me you may want to see it again . i still have to work out the director  s psychological motive for the sub plot in the role of the parole officer and some of the subtle nuances of camera work are worth a second look . the plot does ask for a little imagination when our hero is given a chance to assist our misused and overworked heroine in the office . you must also be broad minded to believe in her brilliant lip reading and how some of the action falls into place . but if you go along for the thrilling ride with this example of french cinema at its best you will come out more than satisfied . four stars out of five for me .  
a few years back the same persons who created paris  j  taime .  which was imperfect but very enjoyable  my rating was a    created this piece of garbage about new york city .  br    br   in paris  i love you  j  taime  created a feeling for paris  it was made in many parts of beautiful paris .  br    br   in this current film  i did not recognize new york city  i did not feel that i was in the city of my birth .  br    br   new york does have  boroughs  i saw no scenes in the bronx  or queens  there is one scene in brooklyn   brighton beach   i saw no scenes in times square or greenwich village  no scenes of the beautiful hotels or theatres . it does have a large cast  most of the performers were not even stereotypes  they were caricatures of the lowest sort .  br    br   the very few humorous moments are all of a course sexual nature or quite insulting to the many fine new yorkers that we all know  love . .  br    br   a few of the films nominated for the  razzie  awards were far better .  br    br   ratings   out of     points  out of     imdb   out of     br    br   in my way of thinking i think the title should have been  br    br   new york  i hate you .  
when john singleton is on  he  s on   and this is one of his better films . not quite as tight as boyz  n  the  hood  but close to it  and with much of the same stellar cast  . this film was very well written  very well put together  and very well shot . there  s very little to criticize  and most of my complaints are superficial  eg where did fudge get the money for  years of college and a lot of expensive stuff  no mention of a rich background . . . and why doesn  t professor phibbs have an office  a professor of his stature should have one . . . and while we  re at it  for an engineering student  hick or not  remy  s a pretty dumb character  i  d think that he  d have a bit more in the way of basic intelligence  he talks and acts like a total buffoon  .  br    br   but that aside  the film was very sharp . a good array of characters and points of view and singleton doesn  t take sides in the story  many of the characters are unsympathetic  and he does a good job of interspersing the panthers and supremacist scenes together to show the folly on both sides .  br    br   much of the cinematography was excellent i especially loved the scene where kirsty swanson gets intimate with taryn and wayne each scene spliced together really well . also the malik  deja scenes were really well shot as well .  br    br   the dialogue was a bit much at times this film had a tendency to get really preachy at times  and it also tends to hammer the points it was making over your head when the points would be just as clear with out the bluntness  we really didn  t need the us flag with  unlearn  typed onto it  give some credit  we  re not morons . . .  . and to top it off  although most of the time singleton uses melodrama quite well  sometimes it gets way too cheezy  like deja  s death  which is fine until she screams out  why     which simply ruined the entire effect and scene  .  br    br   but the acting  in general  was top of the line . fabulous performances by omar epps  perhaps the best i  ve ever seen   kirsty swanson  who knew buffy could act     michael rapaport  surprised the hell out of me . . . after true romance and beautiful girls i though he was a one  role actor   and of course ice cube and laurence fishburne are always outstanding .  br    br   downside  jennifer connelly was flat though it  s not completely her fault her role was stereotypical and one  dimensional . generic to the highest degree . and tyra banks  who had the role  was nothing short of horrid . she whined and whined and whined . yet another in the long line of models  turned  actresses who failed miserably  though there are a few who prove the exception to this rule  .  br    br   finally  the soundtrack  wow  an amazing soundtrack  which is definitely worth buying   which fits the film like a glove . each scene has a twin song  although the tori amos songs started to really annoy me by the end . . . not her best work  . liz phair  rage against the machine  ice cube . . . how can one go wrong    br    br   all in all a really good watch  a really strong cast  great script  great film .     .  
stefan is an x  con that five years ago got married to marie . their marriage has been stable until stefan past catch up with them and he  s offered to do a courier job . stefan  s job is a heroin delivery from germany to sweden which should go easily .  br    br   in germany stefan meet elli  a girl from bosnia that has been sold to a stripclub owner . stefan dislikes what he sees and decide to help elli out of her misery . due to the fact that elli  s father during the war fleed to sweden elli now goes with stefan to sweden . to make up with the past stefan promises elli to help her find her father  no matter what it takes . finally back in sweden the whole situation seems to be more complicated than stefan ever thought of . .  br    br   this movie doesn  t seem to fit in the ordinary class of swedish movies due to the fact that it  s been americanized alot . regina lund and cecilia bergqvist makes it all average  the effects makes the movie a little too much though . see it and jugde for yourself .  br    br    
this was a great movie that had a lot of under lying issues . it dealt with issues of rascism and class . but  it also had a message of knowing yourself and taking responsibility for yourself . this movie was very deep it gave the message of that you and only you can control your destiny . it also showed that knowing yourself and being comfortable with who you are is the only way you will ever fit into society . what others think of you is not important . i believe this movie did a wonderful job of showing it . the actors i think were able to convey each character wonderfully . i just thought it was amazing how deep this movie really was . at a just glancing look you wouldn  t see how deep the movie is  but on further look you see the underlining meaning of the movie .  
i view probably    movies a year both at theaters and at home and i can say with confidence that this movie is by far the worst i have seen this year  if not ever  however i have not actually seen  quest of the delta knights  yet  . this movie is just bad joke after bad joke geared to the   year old and because i had he displeasure of viewing it on a bus trip i couldn  t walk out .  br    br   do yourself a favor and skip this one in the rental aisle . the four dollars could be better spent on any movie by numbers produced by jerry bruckheimer .  
this is the first movie i  ve seen of john singleton and he is a pretty good director . the movie starts out with a bunch of incoming freshman and it shows what happens to several of them . omar epps plays a track star with a partial scholarship and having a hard time keeping up with his work . he is friends with ice cube and beings dating tyra banks . kristy swanson is a rich girl who is date raped and becomes friends with jennifer connelly  who is a lesbian  and isn  t sure about which way to go . michael rapaport is a kid from idaho who falls in with a group of neo  nazis and their leader is cole hauser . those are the three main characters and laurence fishburne is a political science professor who tries to help them . it  s a great film and it  s unfortunate that the studio had to make several cuts to the movie .  
major payne was really not very good at all . despite being funny here and there  the story was ridiculous and the acting was poor . major payne  s voice and temperament were especially annoying . the idea was ridiculous and the things that the boys had to do in that film were even more ridiculous . i would not recommend this film to anyone .  
this movie came and went in the theaters . due to the nature of it you can see why it wasn  t well received . it was unfairly panned because of its subject matter more than the actual film itself . higher learning is not spectacular but it was good film that tried to talk about a feared subject in america racism .  br    br   plot  story higher learning is mostly centered around malik  played by omar epps   a naive track star who is has to deal with not being fast enough  and a stern professor  played by laurence fishburne  . he befriends fudge  ice cube  as well as a gorgeous lady named deja  tyra banks  . later on they end up having to deal with some skinheads on campus . remy  play by michael rapaport  is confused kid who ends up befriending some local skinheads on campus . once they impose their views on him  he becomes as racist as they are .  br    br   opinion higher learning is not without its flaws character development is scarce  okay performances by omar epps  tyra banks and the leader of the skinheads  whose name i forgot   busta rhymes doesn  t fit in this movie at all . plus women turning gay after being abused by men was clich  before this film so you know i didn  t like that part of the film with kristy swanson . other than that  this movie wasn  t half bad . laurence fishburne was good as professor phipps  even though i could do without the accent   fudge was ice cube  s best performance and michael rapaport was good as the confused remy . all in all it was one of john singleton  s best movies and is one is one of the reasons i frown on the rubbish he puts out now . cinema needs more movies like higher learning  mississippi burning and american history x and less movies like baby boy   fast  furious and a very pointless remake of shaft .  
did anyone stop to realise what sort of movie they were producing here  now lets a former marine officer becomes assinged to a group of kids at a cadet school so this should be a family comedy right  wrong . this is just a gross comedy aimed at teenagers with many bad taste moments . it might have been watchable in an extremely dumb way at this point but i found damon wayans voice to be irritating beyond belief . does he speak like that in real life  if he does then he has my sympathy but he wont be getting any of my money from watching his movies  
higher learning is a slap in the face for those of us that have been in the closet too long regardless of ethnic background . it  s a subject most of us would like to ignore but we cannot afford to if there is to be a real progressive change in the way we have to be able embrace and understand diversity . some have criticized this film as hateful or dumb but the fact of the matter is  ignorance reigns supreme in the world and several continue to help it dominate our society . everyone involved in this film has done a good deed in showing what steps must continue to be done in order to not have to make anymore films like higher learning . sure it sounds like a pipe dream but we have to start somewhere and this helps .  
but there are not too many of them . probably the worst  major release  film i have seen in my life . definitely the worst for this year . there is no point in commenting on the plot  the cast or the acting . the problem is beyond all that . it lays in the absolute stupidity of the annoying kind  not the funny kind  of everything that takes place on the screen . i don  t know why i gave it a     instead of     . probably  because of steven martini . he really did try . bottom line    minutes washed down the toilet along with a few brain cells . avoid at any cost .  
i enjoyed this movie very much . kristy swanson omar epps  and ice cube were all great in it . the movie dealt with many issues  and i didn  t know if i was going to like it  but singelton did a terrific job of creating characters that you really cared about .  
if this is someone  s  favorite  movie  they need some serious help . there is nothing funny or clever about this crapfest . i haven  t seen the original movie this is the remake of  some     s film   but it simply has to be better than this newer bastardization .  br    br   a major gets kicked out of the military for being a fringe element  and winds up teaching children at an rotc school . unfortunately  the major is daman wayans . . . so the children are in for a world of annoying  humorless asininity . can wayans whip these losers into shape  can they get him to become a little more human  the film bombs as most wayans films do  with only a few sparkling moments . william hickey gets about one minute of screen time  fair too little . this charming old man  known best to me as a  tales from the crypt  actor  known best to you as uncle louis from  christmas vacation   shines every moment he  s on screen  which isn  t much here .  br    br   bam bam bigelow also makes an appearance as a biker  which fits him perfectly . i wouldn  t mind slightly more bam bam  but i think he carried the role of  biker  about as far as it could be carried for a military film .  br    br   and then there  s the attractive teacher  who someone falls for major payne even though he treats the kids poorly  has no social skills and is simply impossible to convert into someone you would want to spend time with . she must either be incredibly stupid or incredibly desperate . i  m not sure which  though it would seem  stupid  since the movie makes it clear she gets out of the house often enough  .  br    br   wayans had one shining moment a dance sequence where he performs a series of moves  including a very nice  robot    and with the help of music from  live crew . this scene was enjoyable but hardly made up for anything else that made this film dog spittle .  br    br   seriously  avoid this film . if you want to see a film a bout a loser who helps loser kids become heroes  rent or buy  ernest goes to camp  . at least he  s a lovable loser  and actually funny . maybe if major payne had fought a badger i  d feel better  but he didn  t . forget payne  forget wayans . . . you can do so much better .  
omar epps is an outstanding actor . i really think he gets into his character alot . when deja gets shot he shows true emotion . he also shows true emotion when remmi puts the gun to him in the room . omar is a very talented actor    
sort of family parody blending  an officer and a gentleman    heartbreak ridge    full metal jacket   and without doubt other movies i am not able to remember now  into a rather dull movie  with some bright spots . the gags are always there where you would expect them  and damon wayans  s lines are  well  predictable . as i said  unfortunately this movie never surprises you . . .  
this story was probably one of the most powerful i have ever taken in . john singleton certainly went above and beyond when putting together this educational masterpiece . brilliant performances by the whole cast  but epps and rapaport turned in the best and most convincing of either young star  s career .  br    br   however  as a college student myself  many of the issues that singleton touched on were taken to the extreme . in a sense that  while they are issues faced on many college campuses  they aren  t presented as big or out in the open as this movie would make one believe . in some instances  it almost seemed ridiculous to think that something of this nature could actually occur . however  aside from the fact that it was a little over dramatic  the film was brilliant and left me stunned  unable to talk  just think . one of the things from this picture i will remember forever  was a quote from lawrence fishburn  s character   knowledge is power  without knowledge  you cannot see your power .  brilliant  just brilliant .  
  major payne  is a film about a major who makes life a living hell for his small group of boys in the marines . this film does not really have a lot to offer  but it provides several hilarious moments that are well  worth a watch . don  t expect it to be a memorable film  however . just expect to laugh your way through the film and at the expense of other people . the confrontation between major payne and the chubby boy were hilarious  and that  s really all i remember about the film except for the boys wanting revenge on major payne . again  it is not a great film  and it is probably best watched on a rainy day when you need some laughter .  
this movie had lots of great actors and actresses in it and it addressed some very noble issues . it  s full of emotion and the direction is done well . the storyline progresses very quickly  but i guess that  s better than having to watch a  hour movie . this is an easy movie to watch again and again and enjoy .  
judy holliday struck gold in     withe george cukor  s film version of  born yesterday   and from that point forward  her career consisted of trying to find material good enough to allow her to strike gold again .  br    br   it never happened . in  it should happen to you   i can  t think of a blander title  by the way   holliday does yet one more variation on the dumb blonde who  s maybe not so dumb after all  but everything about this movie feels warmed over and half hearted . even jack lemmon  in what i believe was his first film role  can  t muster up enough energy to enliven this recycled comedy . the audience knows how the movie will end virtually from the beginning  so mostly it just sits around waiting for the film to catch up .  br    br   maybe if you  re enamored of holliday you  ll enjoy this otherwise i wouldn  t bother .  br    br   grade c  
 spoilers   br    br   this movie always seems very exaggerated  until i remember that my college campus had a former  student  turned  nazi  racist  killer  who  then  committed  suicide  too his name was benjamin nathaniel smith .  br    br   look him up in the wikipedia  i added a few photos to their article about him .  br    br   it  s hard to believe  but this stuff really does happen .  br    br   i  m not a big fan of omar epps or ice cube  but larry fishburne  kristy swanson  jennifer connelly  mike rappaport were good .  
i think cliff robertson certainly was one of our finest actors . he has a half dozen classics to his credit . he does fine here as the heavy  but the direction is so bad and the pacing so tiresome  it never gets off the mark . the story starts off well although it makes me wonder how he could count on his wife hanging herself . still he mugs well and carries things along . the death knell is twofold . first of all  if we were to take the amount of time characters spend walking from one room to another or one part of the house to another  it would eat up about a third of the movie . add to that  robertson  s character sitting up in bed in the blue light  looking confused  that might add another chunk . i agree with those that said a half hour shorter would have made it a pretty decent  though insignificant film . the biggest weakness is just a convoluted plot that  when all is said and done  leaves incredible questions . i  m not putting in spoilers  but when it ends  don  t think too much . i can come up with ten what  ifs without raising a sweat . it would have been better if it had remained a ghost story .  
french film directors continue to amaze with their extraordinary ability to simulate the sights and sounds of ordinary  everyday suburban life . this was readily apparent with the release early in     of l  emploi du temps  time out   a brilliant character study of of a white collar worker  s descent into melancholy after having been fired from his job . as is the penchant of french filmmakers  many scenes were shot on real streets and in public places  giving a cinema verite feel to the story  yet l  emploi du temps also possessed an elegant look thanks to excellent camera work and some stunning location footage  most notably a swiss mountain retreat  . running fairly on the heels of that masterful movie comes another impressive french production  jacques audiard  s gritty crime caper  sur mes levres  read my lips  . actually  to tag this film a crime caper does it a disservice because it is so much more than that . as with the earlier french release  it is an incisive character study of marginal people using their wits to get ahead in a society that has turned its back on them . in a paris construction firm carla  a shy  diminutive young woman sits at her desk  sequestered to an area of the office that is a major pathway to the xerox machines and restrooms .  br    br   obnoxious coworkers use the front of carla  s desk to chat and drop off their half  finished styrofoam cups of coffee . partially deaf  carla turns her hearing aids on and off at will if noise becomes bothersome  be it the drone of the paper copiers or the shrill crying of a friend  s baby . when her boss calls her into the office to suggest that she hire a secretarial assistant to help her with the work load  carla fears she may lose her job . at the employment office carla lists the specifications she wants for her assistant  preferably male  as if she were at a personals agency . he should be   years old and clean  cut  with extensive computer and filing skills . when the agency sends over an unkempt  menacing looking young man  carla is both shocked and intrigued . they leave the office and have lunch at a local eatery  where carla interviews her prospective assistant . when she finds out that he has just gotten out of prison  carla initially wants nothing to do with paul  but has a change of heart and hires him on . although she is basically kind toward her helper  carla now finds herself in a position of authority and possessing a newfound sense of power . paul learns quickly and becomes an able worker . carla helps paul find a temporary place to live and even covers for him when his parole officer shows up one day at the office wondering why paul missed his appointment . during one of their lunch breaks carla informs paul of her hearing deficiency and reveals her ability to read lips . later  when an avaricious coworker blatantly takes over a project carla has been working on  a furious carla asks paul  s help in seeking revenge on the man . from here on in sur mes levres becomes an increasingly intense crime drama escalating into some of the most violently graphic scenes that have been shown on the screen in recent years . the screenplay borrows elements from hitchcock  most notably rear window  where carla  s lip  reading talent comes into full play using a pair of binoculars . there is a teasing  on  again  off  again sexual attraction between the two protagonists that culminates in a rather strange homage to north by northwest  but it works because of the considerable sexual heat that builds slowly between the two stars . that being said  what one carries away from this movie isn  t so much the similarities to classic hitchcock thrillers  although those elements are definitely there  but the pervasive view a of a modern day city  in this case paris  where life runs the gamut from mundane workdays to a boozy  garish nightlife where sex  drugs and laundered money infiltrate the lives of several characters . unlike hollywood productions  this is a psychological suspense yarn where the people look like the everyday man and woman on the street  where a punch in the face or groin sounds like a sickening thud and where the office is a place to be feared . it  s hitchcock with the gloves off .  
following the success of  paris  je t  aime   a group of directors decided to get together and make a similar anthology style film based in new york . unlike the original film  the stories in this film seem to sometimes come and go too quickly   by the time you think are getting into a story  it  s over in too many cases . and  the often start up and stop and then begin again   with the stories woven together . as a result  there is no title to indicate that a story is complete and it is less formal in structure .  br    br   sadly  however  while  paris  je t  aime  was hit or miss  mostly hit   most of  new york  i love you  was miss . the stories tended to be much more sexual in nature but also far less sweet   and often quite terrible . it was an amazingly dull and uninteresting film with only a few exceptional stories   and perhaps the often depressing music made it seem more so . now understand  it was good quality music but its somber tone really  really made me feel like cutting my wrists  among the better ones was the story about the young man who took a girl in a wheelchair to prom  the couple talking about cheating outside a restaurant  though this was also in the first film  and the crotchety old couple . this is all so sad because i had loved the first film so much   and i really wanted to love this film . i respected what they tried but simply didn  t like it very much .  br    br   by the way  and this is not really a complaint  but i was amazed how many people were smoking in the film . for a recent film  that was unusual in our more anti  smoking culture .  br    br   also  if you get the dvd  there are two segments included as extras that were not included in the film . one consists of kevin bacon  wearing a cool fedora  eating a hotdog . . . . and absolutely nothing more for almost ten minutes . the other features a teen who spends the film videotaping the world   including a very unhappy couple .  
of life in  some  colleges . of course there were artistic licenses taken  but some of what you saw in this film go on in some colleges .  br    br   i went to colleges in southern california where the races pretty much hang around with their own . it  s funny because these are schools that want racial unity  equality etc . and i can honestly say  that it  s there . but the thing is when class lets out  or when they  re just hanging out waiting for class  they  students  seem to just hang around with people of their own race or ethnicity . is that bad  not really . everyone needs a feeling of belonging . but like the school paper of one of the schools i attended once wrote about that   we should all try to hang around with students of other ethnicities and try to know them .  otherwise you  re creating your own segregation .  br    br   racism certainly existed in one of those schools i attended . one time someone put leaflets around campus talking about the glories of the aryan race and had the symbols of some of those racist organizations . fortunately  nothing happened like the incident in the movie where the young caucasian man went off and started shooting at a multiculturalism gathering .  br    br   i can only hope and pray that nothing like that ever will happen .  br    br   so is  higher learning  overly dramatic  exaggerated  maybe . is it way  off mark   it depends on where you went to or go to school . the race thing where the ethnicities just hang around with their own does happen . minus the hollywood exaggerations  the race thing hit pretty close to home for me .  
this movie was o . k . but it could have been much better . there are some spooky moments but there aren  t enough of them to make me ever want to see this movie again . there are some scenes you could fast forward through  not miss anything . the biggest flaw is that it is so predictable   that is the reason why i rated it so low . it  s watchable but don  t expect anything great .  
first one has to take into account the time period this film was made in .     . rappers were in it  and that added to the flair of it .  br    br   remy was a socially awkward teen trying to find his way and couldn  t  until he met and was befriended by nazis . they took him in . nazi  s aren  t all this awkward  but like most gangs  they fill a void that is missing be it economic  social  emotional  whatever . michael rappaport played the part perfectly .  br    br   omar epps was the hot shot track star  with a questionable work ethic and a chip on his shoulder . he kept trying to feel sorry for himself and his plight  and had his girlfriend and professor to straighten him out on it .  br    br   kristen was a young white girl trying to find herself and trying to fit in  until she was date raped . she then found her self experiment with her sexuality  and getting involved politically .  br    br   this film deals with racism and like most things that deal with racism  people  s own perspectives come into play .  br    br   i read so many comments about how there were no  evil  black characters but there were evil white one  nazis  . so what  remy wasn  t portrayed as evil at all  he was trying to find his way  and kept failing until some skinheads accepted him . he was scared  it was sad to see him devolve how he did . he even says right before he kills himself  i didn  t mean it  i wanted to be an engineer .  br    br   ice cube and busta rhymes were angry black men  ice cube was somewhat of an intellectual  and busta rhymes was just portrayed as a dumb thug . they both showed no consideration at all for their roommates  and generally appear to not like white people very much . they were angry like the nazis but not on the level of nazis in terms of overall badness . sorry if this makes it seem unfair  but are there really black groups like the nazis  no .  br    br   people say it shows white  bad blackgood . not true  the only bad white characters were the nazis and the police  which is more or less true in real life . kristen was a good girl  her boyfriend  omar epps roommate  was a good guy  and even remy was a good guy  he was just misguided .  br    br   omar epps  ice cube and busta were seriously flawed characters  angry and inconsiderate . although their constant harassment by police seemed to justify some of their anger . remy  s inability to fit in seemed to justify his anger as well .  br    br   good movie  well done . like all movies that deal with racism  its a great piece to get a discussion going .  br    br   i don  t think cube and busta coulda beat those nazis though .  
the character acting is a little stiff  as if it is the first time man of the actors have appeared on screen . unfortunately one of the better actresses  jean simmons  played many bit roles on tv  like in star trek tng and in the heat of the night   dies quickly and thereafter her acting can be markedly missed .  br    br   the lead role is mr ballard  as portrayed by cliff robertson . cliff is forced to carry this movie with his body language for most of the time . he doesn  t do a poor job  but it is a little overmuch to ask of an actor to plug the oceans of blank screen time during which the characters spend their time not talking and also not acting . robertson  s most memorable role may have been ben parker in the last  spider man movies  starring tobey maguire  .  br    br   the plot is predictable . a husband murders his rich wife for her money . thereafter the wife seems to comeback and haunt the husband driving him insane until he leaps from a high window  fearing the specter of his dead wife approaching him  on the day he is predicted to die no less .  br    br   the second chauffeur mr ballard hires looks a lot like an english mark hamill . uncanny really  the only thing that stands out is the utter disregard for dialogue . many minutes pass in quietness  no one speaks  and few act . it is a shame the mst  k guys never got hold of this movie . it could have been much better  if not just as predictable  with more dialogue  or shorter scenes of  nothingness  .  br    br   i kept expecting g  mork  s red eyes to appear from the shadows and proclaim that he works for the  nothing  that inhabits this film .  
john singleton  s finest film  before blockbuster wannabees like the shaft remake  this is a thought  provoking movie with overall great acting and superb balance between the stories  main characters  each with identifiable youngster problems .  br    br   what i liked about it most is that it also covers the problem of selfpity among young blacks  a problem mostly ignored by the media and other films who mostly focus on social  economical problems and racism by whites . this movie shows that blacks can be equally ignorant and racist .  br    br   the masterful thing about this film is that it deals with so many topics without getting shallow . it  s not just about racism  but about how hard it can be to adopt to a new world  college   date rape  discovering sexuality and isolation . omar epps  michael rapaport and kristy swanson each deliver fine performances  and the supporting cast is equally interesting with jennifer connelly as a lez  yay  and with ice cube and busta rhymes as college bums causing little riots .  br    br   the only negative is the caricature of a professor by laurence fishburne   peppermint    . surely  plenty of professors are nutty . but they  re not as flat . the skinheads are also a bit of a caricature  but i guess they are like that too in real life .  br    br   overall a great underrated piece of filmwork  if you liked american history x you  ll love this one .  br    br      out of    
to call a film about a crippled ghost taking revenge from beyond the grave lame and lifeless would be too ironical but this here is an undeniably undistinguished combination of gaslight            via les diaboliques        while still watchable in itself  it  s so clich  ridden as to provoke chuckles instead of the intended chills . however  thanks to the dire straits in which the british film industry found itself in the late     s  even a mediocre script such as this one was able to attract   star names  cliff robertson  as the conniving husband   jean simmons  in the title role   jenny agutter  as robertson  s artist half  sister   simon ward  as the enigmatic chauffeur   ron moody  as an ill  fated doctor   michael jayston  as robertson  s business partner   judy geeson  as simmons  best friend and jayston  s wife   flora robson  as the housekeeper   david tomlinson  as the notary reading simmons  will  and  most surprisingly perhaps  jack warner  as a gravestone sculptor   although most of them actually have nothing parts  i  m sorry to say   
the film  s design seems to be the alpha and omega of some of the major issues in this country  u . s .  . we see relationships all over at the university setting for the film . befittingly  the obvious of student v . s . teacher is present . but what the film adds to its value is its other relationships male v . s . female  white v . s . black  and the individual v . s . society . but most important of all and in direct relation to all of the other relationships is the individual v . s . himself .  br    br   i was amazed at how bilateral a point of view the director gave to showing the race relations on campus . most films typically show the injustices of one side while showing the suffering of the other . this film showed the injustices and suffering of both sides . it did not attempt to show how either was right  although i would say the skin heads were shown a much crueler and vindictive  quite obvious towards the end  . the film also discusses sex and rape . it is ironically this injustice that in some ways brings the two races together  for a time . lawrence fishburne does an over  the  top performance as the sagacious profesor phipps . he crumbles the idea of race favortism and instead shows the parallelism of the lazy and down  trodden with the industrious and positive . other stars that make this film are omar epps  ice cube  and jennifer connelly . michael rapaport gives an excellent portrayal of a confused youth with misplaced anger who is looking for acceptance . tyra banks make her film debut and proves supermodels can act .  br    br   higher learning gets its name in showing college as more than going to class and getting a piece of paper . in fact  i would say the film is almost a satire in showing students interactions with each other  rather than some dry book  as the real education at a university . it is a life  learning process  not a textual one . i think you  ll find  higher learning  is apropos to the important issues at many universities and even life in general .      
cliff robertson as a scheming husband married to a rich wife delivers a razzie  worthy performance here if there ever was one it  s as if director michael anderson kept yelling  dial it down think zombie  only less lively  through his little bullhorn as he coached robertson  s effort . the rest of the cast is barely better jennifer agutter of logan  s run fame is hardly seen in what should have been fleshed out as a pivotal role . if the quality of the acting was three times better if some of the more gaping plot holes were filled and if the pacing were given a shot of adrenaline  then this yawner might be brought up to a standard acceptable to the hallmarklifetime tv channel crowd . as is  its rating is so inexplicably high one can  t help thinking chronic insomniacs are using dominique to catch a little snoozing time . perhaps the late  night tv telemarketers are missing a major opportunity in not shilling it as such .  
i really enjoyed the    s . not being of that generation  i  m waiting for  the    s   it was interesting to see a unique four hour capsule for that era .  br    br   one major problem in the movie  however  was how unbalanced the film was in the portrayal of the families . according to promos i saw for the movie on nbc  the story was basically about two families struggling with issues in      s america . now  i may have missed something  but i think we learned more about the white family than the african american family .  br    br   i really think that the    s uses music to describe the scenes better than any dialogue that could come out of the mouths of the actors  all of which are very talented .  this is very visible at the end of the first part  about two hours in  of the mini  series .  br    br   very good movie   
  dominique  is one of those films that the expression  slow  as  molasses  must have been invented for . too many endless and repetitive sequences  how many times do we see robertson walking down the stairs slowly because he can hear someone playing the piano   . it is almost redeemed at the end by a surprising twist  which  unfortunately  is followed by a second twist that succeeds only in leaving a bad taste in our mouths . not a very enjoyable film .  
sometimes you have to look back to go forward . the    s did just that . we need to remember the past . the past is part of the future .  br    br   great mix gary j . coppola . i see a great future . you deserve to be nominated and win  the    s best mixer of the year .  br    br   best mini  series of all times .  br    br   thanks ursula  br    br    
i  ll have to add dissenting comment here . various reviews i have read compared this movie to the likes of those by wong kar wai or hou hsiao  hsien . i . e . one of the admirable flotilla of mandarin goodies that have come our way in recent years . unfortunately this isn  t quite accurate . the film plays out rather like a film school graduate  s attempt to emulate these masters . all the pieces are there  the beautiful backdrop  the vaguely minimalist dialogue  the slow swaying camerawork  and male leads  in particular  who spend a fair whack of time sitting around being contemplative . sounds good but unfortunately nothing is up to par . the dialogue is leaden . the acting is generally unable to lift the characters above type the married couple and the little sister are particularly poor and uninvolving . unfortunately when mediocre character acting is combined with a classical  chekovian   i . e . very predictable  plot  the results are at best tedious and at worst painful . i couldn  t help but see the  blue danube  river scene  for example  as verging on genre parody  although the smoggy looking  springtime  sky over the river did provide a bit of black humour . . .  i actually went to this movie on the basis that mark li ping was photographing it . while the setting is elegant  and the swaying camera attempts to replicate the mood of  flowers of shanghai   the film is not in the same league  visually . in fact i must confess that after an hour of wondering whether it was the script or the acting that was ruining the film  i suddenly remembered that i was meant to meet my flatmate for dinner and took the chance to leave  and i can  t recall the last film i walked out of  . i  m guessing from the reviews that the ending may have left a positive aftertaste but by that point i couldn  t care . if you  d like to see something along similar lines done with real talent then i  d recommend anything by the above two directors  for example  in the mood for love  or  flowers of shanghai   both of which were filmed by the talented mr ping  the former with chris doyle   and both of which are films masterful enough to inspire years of failed emulations like this . it  s not often mr hoberman leads me astray  and perhaps you  d rather listen to him  but don  t say you weren  t warned . craig .  br    br    
i wasn  t alive in the    s  so i can  t guarantee that this movie was a completely accurate representation of the period  but it is certainly a moving and fulfilling experience . there are some excellent performances  most notably by josh hamilton  of with honors   jerry o  connell  sliders   who play brothers divided by the war . bill smitrovich  a character actor who has been long ignored by many  gives a heart  filled performance as their strict father  who is forced to question his own beliefs and values as one of his sons makes him proud by going to vietnam but returns empty inside  while the other is exactly the opposite . all in all  this is a powerful and heartwarming film that i hope everyone gets a chance to experience .  
not very impressed . its difficult to offer any spoilers to this film  because there is almost no development in the plot . everything becomes clear in the first ten minutes and from there on its like watching paint dry . the acting seems very poor as well  and reminds me of the old black and white maoist era films shown occasionally on daytime chinese television . although this is difficult to tell with the female role  yuwen  as the story seems to only require her walking round like a wooden mannequin . it reminds me of fading star gong li who somehow got a reputation as a good actress in the west for having a scowl on her face all the time .  br    br   tian zhuangzhuang  s film the  blue kite  was a far better film . but don  t be fooled by the fact that springtime in a small town was set in the late    s . unlike the blue kite  the fact that this film is set in a time of upheaval is irrelevant to the plot itself  the ruins of the town seem to be nothing more than a scenic backdrop .  br    br   i wonder whether tian zhuangzhuang is simply trying to ride on the popularity of chinese films in the west and appeal to a foreign audience who can  t tell the difference between a film that is  beautiful   profound  or  hypnotic  and one that is simply tedious and insubstantial .  br    br   if any film fits the description of  overrated   this is it . i see no reason here to stop worrying about the state of the chinese film industry .  
as i saw the movie i was really shocked to see what the    s was about . i know i may be wrong about some things  but it seemed like the    s really had an effect on people of the time . some people said they would want to go back to the    s . from what i saw i would say yes for the excitement and no for the outcome . but that  s my opinion .  
good films cannot solely be based on a beautiful garden and a hill top . surprised to see it has won two awards . extremely overrated . i first saw that kind of films from china  visually stunning but also with really something captivating to say  well  more than   years ago and i  m sure there are still more coming up . this is not one of them  i  m afraid .  
this movie started slowly  then gained momentum towards the middle . however  the fact that the movie ran over two nights broke that momentum at its peak . the second part really got interesting  but then gave way to a simply pathetic ending . playing football in the yard  really  could it get any more sappy and maudlin  now i hear plans for a similar movie based on the    s . i won  t make any great efforts to tune into that one if it  s anything like  the    s .   
i rated basic instinct  high  yet that movie got less than a  rating . this film only got a  from me  but it has  .  from over    people . i don  t see a reason why they like this film so much .  br    br   this film is boring  because it hardly ever leaves those rooms in that broken big house . and it only has a total of  people in this film . it is almost two hours long which is totally unnecessary . many of dialogues are slow and meaningless . the film tone is also dark blue which is depressing to watch . the film can just be shorten to a few sentences .  br    br   this film reminds me of  three times  directed by hou hsiao hsien  that one is equally boring  the dialogues are also equally boring . it also has a high rating  i had to stop watching that one after the first story finished .  br    br   this film lacks of passion or excitement .  
i lived during those times and i think the program caught the heart of the era . i do think it should have dealt with more of the afro american issue but i think it cover a lot in the program . it was scary to sit and watch the riots on t v hoping that they would not go as far as your families home and that it would not get burnt down . i thought jerry o  connell did a great job portraying a vet coming back from the war . i went to school with guys who came back . some had changed more than others and some not so much . it bothers me when someone comments that an issue was not covered enough or it was not entertaining enough . live through it and then make comments . i thought the movie was great and that everyone in it did a remarkable job . thank you for a trip  sad and good  down memory lane .  
this is the first of  the complete dramatic works of william shakespeare  bbc series i  ve seen  and if all of them are like this  i might watch no more . being practically the full text of the play is everything this  romeo  juliet  has going for it  lacking in all other departments . alvin rakoff reveals himself as a dreadful director  both in the technical and artistic aspects . in the former  because he commits mistakes that even a first grade film student would wisely avoid . take in consideration  for example  the badly edited first shot of abraham and balthasar in the opening scene  or the nurse  s entering of friar lawrence  s cell  asking where  s romeo with him being so very in front of her that she  d clearly see him even if she was blind . and  in the latter  because every single one of the performers is misdirected  even if some of them are good actors . rebecca saire looks exactly the way i  ve always imagined juliet to look like  and she doesn  t seem to be a bad actress for a teenager  but her performance totally lacks passion of any kind . patrick ryecart as romeo is even worse  being not only as dull as juliet  but also way too old and not even good  looking  coming across as a combination of malcolm mcdowell and the chucky doll . putting them together makes impossible to think they feel anything for each other  let alone being the main players of the greatest love story ever written . alan rickman  in his screen debut  plays tybalt like if he was darth vader  which is a huge mistake that takes away the complexity that shakespeare intended  no character being a hero or a villain but all flawed human beings . this tybalt is so mean  looking that we don  t believe the characters  pity after his demise . as for paris  i kept thinking of  prince valium  from spaceballs . only celia johnson manages to do the character of the nurse some justice .  br    br   at    minutes  this production is unable to make us empathize with the characters  because the characters don  t empathize with each other and never seen to believe their own roles . the best screen version is still franco zeffirelli  s . but  to be fair  this bbc one isn  t nearly as bad as abominations like george cukor  s flamboyant geriatric version  or the crime against humanity that is baz luhrmann  s feature  length mtv video .     .  
one of the better kung fu movies  but not quite as flawless as i had hoped given the glowing reviews . the movie starts out well enough  with the jokes being visual enough that they translate the language barrier  which is rarer than you  d think for this era  and make the non  fight dialogue sequences passable  for a kung fu movie  this is a great compliment  . unlike other chinese action movies  which were always period pieces or  in the wake of jackie chan  s police story i  cop dramas  pedicab driver gives us a look at contemporary rural china . unfortunately  in the latter    of the movie it takes a nosedive into dark melodrama tragedy which i thought was unnecessary .  br    br   the action is overall good  featuring a duel between sammo and    of the shaw brothers  only  stars  kar  leung lau and then a fight at the end with that taller guy who always plays jet li  s bad guy . there  s only   minutes of combat here  which is standard  but what annoys me is the obvious speeding up of the camera frames . i get that they have to film half speed to avoid hurting each other  but there are smooth edits and then there  s this . it really takes away from the fights when it  s this obvious the footage was messed with .  br    br   that said  if you like kung fu movies  my opinion here won  t dissuade you  and if you don  t  you just wasted  minutes of your life reading this .  
this was a movie i could not wait to see  so i finally got it and i was pretty disappointed . for starters  the movie has so little said about new york  just a bunch of confusing shots of buildings  streets  bridges and cafes . it really doesn  t stay focused on the new york magic . another thing that changed my mind was the french movie set inside this movie . i know that it is a remake  but it is not a french style remake  anyway  here you will notice elements that remind you of french movies  such as long and messy scenes  no or little talking and of course everyone is smoking french style  the story follows many lives  too many for my taste  and they somehow seem connected in the end . i feel like there was no dedication to the characters as much as there was on the stories . the movie was too short to cover every single destiny everyone  s happy ending . so we can see about   people for about  minutes each . and there you have your    minutes  if you like active scenes dialogues and stuff this is not the movie for you  i give it  just because i love new york and i loved the cast   
well let me go say this because i love history and i know that movie is most important piece in our history and it was beautifully executed movie and julia stiles became my   favorite actress after seeing her in  the    s  and i own this movie in my video box with many movies and i suggest you to look for her new movies in the future and try to enjoy history      
for my first taste of shakespeare on stage  i cannot believe what these people did to a perfectly good play .  br    br    let  s start off with the good bit  shall we    br    br   alan rickman is alright  although some of his dialog could have been delivered with more feeling . the rest of the actors needed to pull it together .  br    br   romeo  romeo  whyfore art thou not dead yet  romeo  the actor  while not only completely wooden and deadpan  could not read his lines with any gusto at all . he was completely out of focus  had difficulty even looking juliet in the face  and absolutely no grace with the lines that he was given . whoever cast him deserves to be punished . juliet is almost passable  but she gives no depth to her character  and seems to be completely out of touch with the play . mercutio was incredibly creepy and completely out of character for the entirety of his dialog . benvolio was unfeeling and mercilessly choppy with his lines .  br    br   i was forced to endure this half  baked production of romeo and juliet . the acting was stilted and the costumes were nothing short of distracting . i have seen kindergarten puppet shows with more effort put into them . i only wish that i could give this movie a rating of zero .  
i can agree with other comments that there wasn  t an enormous amount of history discussed in the movie but it wasn  t a documentary  it was meant to entertain and i think it did a very good job at it .  br    br   i agree with the black family . the scenes with them seemed out of place . like all of a sudden it would be thrown in but i did catch on to the story and the connection between the families later on and found it pretty good .  br    br   despite it wasn  t a re  enactment of the   s it did bring into the light very big and important landmark periods of the decade . i found it very entertaining and worth my while to watch .  
easily the best known of all the shakespeare plays  it has been seriously let down here . shoddy direction  stagnant studio work and erratic performances spoil a fine tragedy .  br    br   in the town of verona  the capulets and the montagues have been feuding for centuries but tragedy is imminent when romeo  patrick rycart   a montague  falls in love with juliet  rebecca saire   a capulet . bloodshed soon erupts . . .  br    br   the studio work  especially in daytime scenes  seriously stagnates the energy of the play . it  s a story that  with it  s energy  deserves to be shot outdoors . coupled with this the costumes are hideous  with too many tights and ludicrous codpieces . the stage fighting looks horrendous  with far too much stretching and running around to be engaging .  br    br   patrick ryecart is too lightweight to be a truly effective romeo . he manages the character  s intensity when the plot gets going but his stately accent and bland  often inexpressive eyes limit his range . it is very hard for the audience to relate to this romeo . rebecca saire is too youthful to be a good juliet  she captures the character  s naivet but a little more sassiness would have been welcome .  br    br   the supporting roles don  t fare much better . joseph o  connor  s friar laurence is fine but too many of his best lines have been cut . anthony andrews  mercutio belongs on stage and not on camera . he gurns and gesticulates excessively and looks rather ridiculous as a result . alan rickman  underplaying his role  has virtually no presence as tybalt . he did develop an edge and intensity to deliver some fine screen performances in later years  but that isn  t in evidence here . the prince can be a fine role with his brief appearances but actor lawrence naismith fails to give the part any authority on camera . only micheal hordern  in probably his best role in this series  comes out of this with any dignity . his capulet is well  played and a joy to watch .  br    br   see one of the other versions of this story instead .  
great  great  great  that is all i can say about that movie  but imdb want at least four lines of text so i  ll elaborate . the cast was great  jerry o  connel is soooo cute    the music was great  the sixties had the best music ever  imho   the historical material was interesting  and so was the way they made the actors of the    s seem like they were actually there in the    s . and most of all  the stories of the main characters brought tears to my eyes  and that is the greatness of any drama . but in one word great   
have to admit  this version disgraces shakespeare upfront  none can act except the nurse who was my fav  juliet had good skills as a teen but she can  t give emotional depth to her lines and we really can never connect to her . she  s worse doing the scene when she is contemplating drinking the sleeping potion . . . god stop whining  i would have poured it in her mouth to shut her up  anthony andrews . . . yikes  considering his other great movies  brideshead revisited  ivanhoe  scarlet pimpernel   he  s quite a shocker in this one . and don  t get me started on romeo . . . puhleasssssee  it  s still good to see if you  re on the hunt to see every romeo and juliet ever made in the history of film . olivia and leonard  s version is still the best  followed by leslie howard  s version and then the current leo and clare   
the   s is a well balanced mini series between historical facts and a good plot . in four deliveries  we follow a north american family  with  members . but we don  t only see them . we also follow the story of several characters as a black reverend  an extremist student leader  and a soldier in vietnam . the filmography is just extraordinary . in the first chapters  we see some shots of the vietnam war  in between the scenes . the next chapter  doesn  t start where the last one finished  it starts some time after  giving us a little mystery on what happened . in general  the   s mini series  is a must see  not only for hippies fanatics  but for everyone with little curiosity about the topic .  
celia johnson is good as the nurse . michael hordern is good as capulet  though it  s his usual neighing and whinnying and not a patch on his king lear . john o  conor reads the verse well as friar laurence though he never takes it anywhere . alan rickman is good as tybalt  in the first of his  yuk  roles that would make him famous . christopher strauli  s benvolio is sympathetic .  br    br   the sets are pretty  if not stunning as in some of the other bbc shakespeare  s .  br    br   and that  s it . the rest is weak to dreadful . rebecca saire turned   during production  and hasn  t a clue about how to act juliet  she opens her eyes real wide and whines every line in exactly the same way . patrick ryecart is poorly matched to her  and his self  regard is inexplicable . the balcony scene flows smoothly and uneventfully with zero emotional or erotic impact . their deaths come as a relief . if i had a dagger  i would have offered it to them hours earlier .  br    br   anthony andrews is unspeakable as mercutio  a great shock if you remember his fine work in  brideshead revisited .  he breaks the mirror of shakespeare  s verse into a thousand shards of two or three words each  and then shouts the fragments in as disconnected and unintelligible manner as possible . in this production  queen mab abdicates . awful .  br    br   the director  alvin rakoff  shows only an intermittent gift of putting the camera where it will show us what we want to see . the opening brawl is notably incoherent . however there is humor when in a later fight  romeo apparently knees tybalt right in the cobblers . tybalt then grabs the offended region . however did that get through   br    br   rj is a long play . this version is not recommended for classroom use  or much else .  
i love the movie . it brought me back to the best time of my life .  br    br   we need that time again  now more than ever . for me it was a time of freedom  learning  and finding myself . i will always miss it . there will never be another time like the    s  unfortunately .  
this movie is phoniness incarnate  a straight      on the phoniness scale . the fakeness of the accents as well as the tightness of the cardigan spandex pants are just staggering . yanks  although the real scotland may be just as colourful  if you ever go there don  t expect to be given much of a the chance to  dance out  controversies with the locals . also  don  t attempt to sway local opinion through the otherwise fine art of tapdancing .  br    br   there are a couple of infectious singing  and  dancing scenes  but the plot is far too cheesy and linear  and the dialogue is often too weak . i also doubt whether anyone would want to be stuck in a timewarped   . th  century scottish village in the boondocks rather than gay new york city . maybe it wasn  t such a big sacrifice for that priest to have left brigadoon  maybe he was just trying to get the hell out of that dump .  br    br   watch it for the fine alternative  reality view of what a christopher streed day  parade in scotland would look like on lsd . other than that i  d only recommend it to hollywood muscial completists .  
i accidently felt on this movie on tv  and i wasn  t able to leave it . . . . it  s really an excellent movie which makes people learning about american  s history with the vietnam war  the flower power  s time  the racism  s fight . . . . it illustrates the conflict of generation  of political opinion  of race which took place in the    s . . . . i  m born in     so i didn  t know all that stuff before . . . in france  usa  s history is not a priority and that movie really learned me a lot of facts  by the way  i think all the actors are great especially jordana brewster  josh hamilton and jerry o  connell . now i can see this film more then  time each day   it  s really great . . . . what a shame it only appeared on tv not in cinemas . . .  br    br    
superficically   brigadoon  is a very promising entertainment package . gene kelly and vincente minnelli  the team behind  an american in paris   are reunited with a lot of the great craftsmen and women behind their previous collaborations . gene  s leading lady is cyd charisse  one of the best dancers of   s    s cinema  and unlike the generally superior  it  s always fair weather  this film gave them the chance for not only one but two dances . lerner and loewe were the rising team behind such future hits as  my fair lady  and minnelli  s musical masterpiece  gigi   lerner and minnelli had already demonstrated their sanguine collaborative juices on the excellent  american in paris .   br    br   what happened along the way  why is the movie itself such a stupid bore  minnelli himself didn  t want to do the movie  despite his previous warm artistic and personal relationship with lerner . maybe it was because the movie  s innate conservatism was just a bit too much of two steps forward for mgm and one step backward for vincente minnelli . but once trapped in this assignment like the denizens of brigadoon are trapped within its city limits  minnelli strove to turn it into something that would be entertaining in a specifically distracting  if not liberating way . the ultimate result is truly horrific to behold .  br    br   while aiming for the naive charm of previous minnelli hits like  cabin in the sky  and  meet me in st . louis   the plaid  tights wearing inhabitants of brigadoon can conjure up none of the illusive nostalgia of those never  have  been locales . its whimsy doesn  t even match up to the glossy luster of  yolanda and the thief  or  the pirate  because the highlands settings seem at the same time too specific for such an exotic fantasy and too generic for real human emotions . the only people in brigadoon who i at least can relate to are the malcontented man who tries to escape and the unfortunate fellow  traveler played by van johnson who accidentally shoots him . the general proceedings in the township of brigadoon itself are too arcane and provincial even to be attributed to a backwards form of christianity they seem positively pagan in their aspect . for example  in exchange for brigadoon  s immortality  the honorable and most generally  good  pastor of the town has sacrificed his own place in the supposedly blessed refuge .  br    br   at one point we  re assured that  everybody  s looking for their own brigadoon .  suffice it to say the box office for this picture confirms my own suspicion that most of us aren  t looking for this kind of quasi  queasy paradise . the premise itself is ridiculous and almost insultingly patronizing  but could work if the players were perfect . but kelly himself is the most patronizing thing about the movie  and charisse is horribly miscast as a virginal optimist in much the same way as lucille bremer was miscast in  yolanda and the thief .  van johnson does his best version of the classic oscar levant sidekick to kelly  even lighting  cigarettes at one point like levant in  aip    and he provides a lot of amusing moments . but it says something in itself if the best part of a big budget extravaganza with all the best talents of mgm is a tossed  off van johnson performance .  
can any one help find out the title and artist of the song  that was played at least halfway through the movie . i can  t remember what scene was playing . the words in the song are of a ballad . some of the lyrics go like  it  s natures way of telling you somethings wrong .  it  s natures way of telling it in a song .   it  s natures way of forgiving you .  please help me with this question . thanks so much  i have been searching the internet for days  i can  t get this song out of my mind . so now this will challenge me to find some one out there who may be able to help mer with this matter . i wish i would of been paying attention to the scene  when it was playing .  
i saw brigadoon on tv last night    sept      . i am   years old and have been watching films as long as i can remember . i can truthfully say that brigadoon stands alone as by far and away the worst film i have ever seen . the accents were shameful . the local children  s club would have produced better sets . the characters were so wooden that they probably contracted dry rot from the tears of the patrons who had the misfortune to watch them . it is to be hoped that the stars of this film had hides thick enough to protect them from the embarrassment which they must have suffered on seeing this film . the owners of this tripe should perform a great service to mankind and destroy all copies of this film .  
me and my sister rented this movie because we were in the mood for something trashy and not so demanding to watch . however the movie greatly exceeded my very low expectations .  br    br   it is so much more than just a representation of a century . it has very real portrayals of the characters within it and most of the actors do an amazing job . the different stories are baked together with actual footage from the time that gives it a very unique touch . while watching it i really felt that i cared about what happened to the characters .  br    br   i would also like to give endless amounts of praise to julia stiles in her portrayal of katie  she was great in a way that stood out   br    br   i would recommend this movie to anyone . .  
i remember when i first saw this movie  i was in sixth grade when it happened . before i saw this  i had listened to the original broadway recording of it  and i really loved it  but when i saw this  i was like  what the heck   this movie is missing a lot of the songs from the musical for crying out loud  who decided to do all of that    br    br   i really am a very huge fan of gene kelly  but this movie is probably the worst of a musical that he ever did  the movie looked more like a hollywood set than the beautiful highlands of scotland . and who the heck decided to cut all of meg  s songs out of the movie    br    br   i am willing to bet that when they saw this movie  lerner and lowe were probably wondering  who in the world decided to do this to our masterpiece   well they had a right to say that if they did  they were probably mad at the fact that hollywood turned their great musical into this rather blank movie .  br    br   song and acting wise mr . kelly  you passed the audition with flying colors  but you are in a movie that is missing a lot of the text .  br    br   so in short  if you want a good movie based on a musical by frederick lowe and alan jay lerner  this one isn  t it   br    br        
the    s is a great movie  i saw it completely in one night  about the hippy movement in the late    s . although the title would suggest otherwise the first  years of the    s are not really important in this film .  br    br   the main character of the movie is michael  a political activist who goes on the road in the us against the vietnam  war . there he meets his girlfriend  sarah . michael  s brother  brian  goes to vietnam to fight  what a surprise   . he comes back from the war and changes in a  tom cruise born on the fourth of july  look a like and then into a hippy . his dad is a pro  vietnam war type of guy  what a surprise    . michael  s sister kate gets pregnant from a rock  roll artist and runs away from home and goes to san francisco during the summer of love . the ending is very poor  father becomes a liberal and everybody is happy   but i let this slip away from my vote  the rest of the movie is very good   .  br    br   the performances by the actors are pretty good and the soundtrack of the movie is absolutely brilliant . all the main events of the sixties are in the movie  like the murders on jfk and martin luther king aswell as the big hippy protests  the summer of love and woodstock  look closely for wavy  woodstock speaker  gravy  what we have in mind is breakfast in bed for    .      as a first aid employee at the woodstock festival   br    br   in the end  the    s is a beautiful movie about a beautiful decade        
can fake scenery ruin a picture  you wouldn  t think so  but it actually for me in here . listen  i have a lot of classic  era movies and i know pretty much what to except  such as the drivers steering immobile cars in front of a screen  etc . but a lot of that hokey business has to do with action scenes . to have fake scenery  fake mountains and flowers shot after shot as seen in  brigadoon  gets insulting after awhile .  br    br   as far as the music entertainment went  this is always subjective . what songs one person likes  another may not so that shouldn  t be a big part of judging a film  whether someone likes the songs  . i could blast this movie for its corny     songs  dances  romances and characters but that was the    s and a lot of people liked this sort of things . musicals did very well in the    s . me  i liked the    s and    s with the great taps . by the    s  tap was out and this new stuff  which i can stand  was it . does that make this a lousy movie  no . it just makes one i didn  t care for very much  br    br   despite the good cast  good director and high expectations  this film bombed at the box office  and with me . i should have liked it more  being a dreamer myself and that  s a nice part of this story . i am not the cynical type and a nice town and nice people making me feel good sounds awful appeal . then why couldn  t i connect with this film  part of it also was the dancing . i don  t care for the stuff that replaced tap dancing on screen . but  no  the thing really turned me off what that staging . there was no scotland  no highlands  just a hokey  looking background to make it look that way and it turned me almost from the start . score one point for today  s realism where they  go on location  most of the time .  
what the movie the   s really represents  to those of us who growled around in the belly of america in those times  is the turbulence and diversity of the decade . despite the exaggerated  stereotyped characters  the genuineness of the issues remains clear .  br    br   not only were those radical times of change  but also very confusing times . two basic things changed our world then the     civil rights act  and the overwhelming influence of the media . those two new freedoms began social changes that soon became institutionalized .  br    br   from chaos came sensitivity  from disorder came values . bear in mind however  that the bulk of americans were not involved in this . . . they worked  they played  they watched the news . . . and slowly they became effected by the efforts and struggles of the minorities . . . the civil rights workers  the political activists  the anti  war efforts  the war on poverty . . . .  br    br   the representation of the power of the press and tv in particular  was well reflected  although the conflict between the general public  s attitude and those seeking to change things was at best ignored . . . and at worst  misrepresented . . middle class americans weren  t all standing around angrily holding baseball bats  or disowning their wayward daughters . they were confused too . let us not forget how folk singers suddenly became protest singers  and how the beatles began an onslaught that killed the folk  protest movement . there are no beatle songs in the movie  or even any mention of them .  br    br   i think if you didn  t live the decade  you might not have a sense of what the movie is about  the overall picture is a bit dim . at one point i held down a steady job while my sister lived at the hog farm commune and went to woodstock . at another point i was in haight asbury and in the detroit riots while she worked and played the housewife in maine and connecticut . roles were constantly changing .  br    br   the movie depicts three siblings of a middle class family . they represent the hippie child  the political activist  and the active military personnel . dad represents the typical attitudes  and mom represents the voice of reason  tolerance  and sometimes compromise . . . for the sake of peace .  br    br   the black family comprises a minister and his son . . . disproportionately  i think . i assume the producers knew all the variables and had to settle on limitations  or else the film would have become a long  boring  documentary . dad  s message was that anger produces bitterness  and bitterness produces chaos . it was clearly a message directed to today  s youth .  br    br   we are looking at a unique solution to social problems  and also how issues divide us . . . the   s were unusual in that way  and only the roaring   s compare . in other words  this movie has a moral after all . in the end  it is our collective individualism that survives . put that in your oxymoron list .  br    br   everyone was a god  a guru  or a free  spirited genius in the   s . it was a time of magic and madness . no one will ever nail the   s down right . . . it was too diverse  this movie is close  . at least we can say we are not ashamed of it  that we learned and grew from it  and that for once  a generation shaped and changed america . . . for the better .  
where is it written that sequels must suck  scream  didn  t  others didn  t  but this one sure did . . . problems include horrible actors  only christopher walken could act in the entire film   bad writing  you will never understand what  s going on and i even have done research on the idea of nephilim before   and just horrible choices for casting . eric roberts makes the stupidest archangel michael that i have ever seen in my life   br    br   avoid it like the plague unless you are desperate to see christopher walken . in that case just fast  forward to the parts where he is in the film  and avoid the others .  br    br   yech     
this is one of the best hong kong  action  films around and it has a tense and exciting storyline as well as great fight scenes . this sammo film has it all  romance  drama  excitement and a great hero as well . it is the only martial arts film that got me interested in the plot rather than just waiting for the fights . sammo fans  this is a must see  see also eastern condors  shanghai express  yuen biao is ace    dragons forever and enter the fat dragon .  
i  ve never been to paris  but after seeing  paris  je t  aime  i  m crazy to visit this city  i  ve been to ny several times and i love the city and its boroughs . i kinda expected to be touched by this film  to feel like jumping into a plane and fly there right away  but  lo and behold  i regret the time and money i spent with it . there are no love stories between people or a person and the city . there  s a lot of dysfunctional meetings and relations or people who know each other and it just doesn  t work out fine . maybe this reflects a characteristic of the city  where it  s said to have thousands of people living on their own . can  t you find love in new york   
this was one of the best movies i have seen . the movie relates to real life and how drugs can play a major part . although this movie appears to be produced from a low budget  i found it to be exhilarating to watch .  br    br   some may not like the story and say the script is lacking direction . however  when a person gets as deep into drugs as these characters  there is no direction is life . i feel this movie is an accurate representation of what might happen to a person if they are faced with extreme temptations .  br    br   most of the cast are newcomers to the industry . however  they all pulled it off very well . everyone seemed to do their job well and get into character appropriately .  br    br   i think this movie might be a good tool to use when dealing with a person or loved one that is involved in drugs and appears to be spiraling out of control . this movie might just scare them enough to change their ways .  
i very much looked forward to this movie . its a good family movie however  if michael landon jr .  s editing team did a better job of editing  the movie would be much better . too many scenes out of context . i do hope there is another movie from the series  they  re all very good . but  if another one is made  i beg them to take better care at editing . this story was all over the place and didn  t seem to have a center . which is unfortunate because the other movies of the series were great . i enjoy the story of willie and missy they  re both great role models . plus  the romantic side of the viewers always enjoy a good love story .  
this is an awesome classic monster flick from the    s  i just love the look of the    s in general like the cars and the music . anyway  i love the way the blob looks . i love when the everyone is at the late night horror flick at the theater and the blob comes in and crashes the party . another thing i love about it is that it takes place all in one night  just like halloween ii .  br    br   when steve and jane are making out  they see a meteor fall from space . inside the meteor is the blob . whenever the blob consumes a person  it grows bigger and bigger . they try to convince the people of the town about the blobby monster  but no one believes them until later . can anything stop this blobby creature  i highly recommend the blob     
i liked the first movie  but this is a textbook example of a sequel that would have been better of left on the drawing board . the general idea in the first movie was  if not great  then at least very interesting . this sequel tries to build upon the idea and the characters from the first movie  and though christopher walken is still good as gabriel  the whole idea suddenly gets a bit ridiculous . if you haven  t seen any of these movies  then get the first movie and forget about the sequels  they can take away all of the joy from the original .  
  the blob  qualifies as a cult sci  fi film not only because it launched    year old steve mcqueen on a trajectory to superstardom  but also because it exploited the popular themes both of alien invasion and teenage delinquency that were inseparable in the     s . interestingly  nobody in the kay linaker  theodore simonson screenplay ever refers to the amorphous  scarlet  red protoplasm that plummeted to earth in a meteor and menaced everybody in the small town of downingtown pennsylvania on a friday night as  the blob .  steve mcqueen won the role of josh randall  the old west bounty hunter in  wanted dead or alive   after producer dick powell saw this paramount pictures  release . meanwhile mcqueen  s attractive girlfriend aneta corsaut went on to star opposite andy griffith in  the andy griffith show  as sheriff taylor  s school teacher girlfriend helen crump . of course  neither mcqueen nor corsaut were teenagers  but then rarely did actual teenagers play actual teenagers . director irvin s . yeaworth  jr .  made his directorial debut with  the blob .  linaker  simonson  s screenplay synthesized four genres first  the alien invasion second  teenage delinquency third  a murder mystery  and fourth a horror chiller . moreover  while the gelatinous substance assumes various shapes  it remains largely anonymous . in other words  the eponymous jell  o neither talks nor communicates by telepathy . instead  it kills without a qualm and discriminates against nobody . the tone of  the blob  is fairly serious in spite of its somewhat campy nature .  br    br   as the filmmakers point out on the criterion dvd release of  the blob   the movie opens uncharacteristically for a sci  fi horror thriller with our hero and heroine in a remote rural locale making out and kissing . jane  anita corsaut  and steve  steve mcqueen  see a large meteor fall to the earth and drive off to find it . meanwhile  an old man finds the meteor and prods it with a stick . the meteor cracks open and a slimy bunch of goop clings to the stick . when the old timer  olin howland of  the paleface   gets a closer look at it  the goop attaches itself to his hand . the old guy runs screaming from the crater and steve nearly hits him with his jalopy . steve and jane pick the guy up and take him to see dr . hallen in town .  br    br   hallen is poised to leave town for a medical conference when steve and jane bring the old guy to his office . hallen phones his nurse to return since he may need to perform an amputation . of course  hallen has never seen anything like the substance on the man  s forearm . hallen sends steve and jane to find out what happened . our heroes run into another group of teenagers that ridicule steve  s fast driving . steve fools him into a reverse drive race  but the local police chief dave  earl rowe  lets him off the hook . steve and the teenagers visit the site of the meteor crater and find the warm remains of the meteor . after they visit the old man  s house and rescue a dog  the teenagers split for a spooky late night movie while steve and jane return to dr . hallen  s office . during the interim  the blob has entirely absorbed the old geezer  killed hallen  s nurse and attacked the doctor . neither acid thrown on the protoplasm nor hallen  s shotgun have any effect on the blob . steve catches a glimpse of the blob absorbing hallen . when steve and jane go to the police department to report the incident  dave is frankly incredulous  while sergeant bert  john benson  believes that it is a prank . bert has an axe to grind with teenagers because his wife died when one struck her car .  br    br   steve and jane take them to hallen  s office  but they can find neither hide nor hair of anybody  but dave admits that the office has been vandalized . against sgt . bert  s advice  dave turns the teens over to their respective parents . no sooner have steve and jane fooled their folks into believing that they are snugly asleep in bed than they venture out again . they drive into town and spot the old man  s dog that got away from them in front of a supermarket . when they go to retrieve the mutt  steve steps in front of the electric eye door of the grocery store and it opens . they find nobody inside  but they encounter the blob . steve and jane take refuge in a freezer and the blob doesn  t attack them . later  after they escape  steve persuades the teenagers that challenged him in a street race to alert the authorities because he is supposed to be home in bed . police chief dave and the fire department arrive at the supermarket . steve tries to convince dave that the blob is in the store . about that time  the blob kills the theater projectionist and attacks the moviegoers . suddenly  a horde of people exit the theater and dave believes steve . steve and jane wind up at a lunch counter that the blob attacks . the proprietor and our heroes hole up in the cellar and steve discovers that a fire extinguisher with its freezing contents forces the blob to back off .  br    br   the authorities collect every fire extinguisher in town and manage to freeze the blob . the pentagon sends down a team to transport the blob to the north pole . as the remains of the blob drift down to the polar ice pack  the end credit appears with a ghostly giant question mark . producer james b . harris obtained stock military footage of a globe master military transport plane depositing the parachute and its cargo .  br    br    the blob  proved to be a drive  in hit and steve mcqueen  s surge to stardom gave the film added momentum . unless you are a juvenile  this little horror movie isn  t scary at all  but yeaworth and his scenarists create a sufficient amount of paranoia and sympathy for our heroes . they never show the blob actually assimilating its victims and leave this to your imagination  so  the blob  isn  t without a modicum of subtlety .  
i  ll make this short and sweet . . . . this movie sucked        br    br   i watched part  earlier today and thought it was one of the greatest films ever  gave it  out of   stars . so i thought perhaps part  and  would be good sequels  i was wrong . this movie bored me to death and was so different from the first one  it had the plot continue and thats it . it was like bad outtakes from part one or something .  br    br   i love walken  but i felt sorry for him here . i was so happy about glenn danzig being in this film  but don  t blink you  ll miss him . there was a full cast full of crappy actors and people i don  t like such as eric roberts and jennifer beals . however  it was a breath of fresh air to see ethan embry  he  s one of the funniest people on earth .  br    br   this movie will make you like the first one a little less  so don  t watch it because you feel you owe it to yourself  being a fan of part  . i am gonna wait a few days before i watch part  and i pray it is better than this crap .  br    br   the last scene of the movie with the lightning was one of the most beautiful things ever shown on film . fast forward or skip to that if you can  t stomach the first part .  br    br    out of   stars  this was awful   
i would imagine that if steve mcqueen knew he would go on to become an icon and start  wanted dead of alive  the same year this film came out  or be in the magnificent seven two years later  he would not have done it . but he did  and we are the richer for it .  br    br   sure it  s a camp classic . horror the way it was meant to be for the drive  in theater . it  s fun and nostalgic .  br    br   it is interesting that the last lines of the film were  br    br   lieutenant dave at least we  ve got it stopped . steve andrews yeah  as long as the arctic stays cold .  br    br   they never would have imagined   years ago that the arctic would be thawing . the blob will soon return .  
it  s not often i feel compelled to give negative criticism of a film after all i often feel the maxim   if you don  t have anything good to say don  t say it at all   would be apt advice for the many naysayers we listen to everyday who nitpick at things we like . if it  s all the same to you the reader though i feel compelled to point out that with the lone exception of christopher walken in a returning role as gabriel this movie is pathetically horrid . i say this to you to warn you in advance that even if you are a fan of walken  s deadpan delivery and style or liked the original  prophecy  that you will be sorely dissapointed . if you buy it  return it . if you rent it  make sure it  s only ninety  nine cents .  br    br   what  s wrong with this movie  a full list would take too long to read and would bore you to tears  but a short summary would be the following the once rather crystalline clear picture of the relationship between angels and mortals of the first film is ripped to shreds . gabriel is turned from the rather morbid right hand of god he once was  and in this role he is wickedly funny in the first  to little more than a thug for heaven . since walken is so good at playing heavies  we all remember frank white from  king of new york   he is still enjoyable but the supporting cast is an unmitigated and unconvincing mess of mortals and angels alike who couldn  t buy a clue for   cents . if you can figure out the plot you  re a smarter man than i . one gets the feeling we wander aimlessly from scene to scene just to move the film along to walken  s next big line . by the end of the movie you  re actually wishing he  d blow his horn and make the walls of jericho fall on the people who made this un  natural disaster .  br    br   bottom line  it  s an insult to our intelligence that they made a sequel to this film in the first place . the original told the right story  answered the questions that should have been  and left alone the ones you were meant to ponder afterwards . there are no compelling reasons to follow these characters that was in the first  the priest who lost his faith  the little girl who kept the  big secret   the teacher who protected her children  even lucifer himself was more interesting by himself in the first film than all the other characters in the sequel put together . i feel sorry for anybody who sees this film and not the first because they  ll probably never want to watch the original and that  s a real tragedy .  
sure  it  s a    s drive  in special  but don  t let that fool you . in my little book  there are a number of intelligent touches with unexpected dollops of humor . catch the redoubtable mrs . porter who  s supposed to keep an eye on the doc  s place . she not only steals the scene  but darn near the whole movie . and where did those indie producers come up with the bucks to film in color  a wise decision  since the blob would not show up well in bw . yes  the result is ragged around the edges as the number of goofs illustrate . but except for several of the teens  the non  hollywood cast performs well . then too  the byplay among hot  rodders and cops comes across as lively and entertaining . pretty darn good for a couple of directors more at home in a pulpit than on a sound stage . apparently  they wanted to portray teens in a positive light at a time when the screen was filled with  juvenile delinquents  . then again  the    year old mcqueen hardly qualifies in the age department  but manages the hot  rodder attitude anyway . the movie was a hit at the time  helped along  no doubt  by the catchy title tune that got a lot of radio play . and except for the unfortunate final effects  the movie is still a lot of fun  drive  in or no drive  in . meanwhile  i  m awaiting the blob  s return now that the polar icecap is turning into  shall we say  refrigerator water .  
the prophecy ii  what  s there to say about it  they  ve completely abandoned the originality of the first film  and simply made a chris walken splatter film . it  s not even written by the original writer   br    br   if you  ve seen nr .  don  t watch nr .  it  s a real disappointment . . .  br    br   if you haven  t seen nr .  don  t watch nr .   go see nr .  to experience something original and fun  
i had first watched this several years ago on a now  defunct sicilian tv channel amazingly  the film emerged as a heftily  priced dvd from criterion not being sure what i had made of it initially  despite having attained cult status over the years  the achievement proper is clearly viewed with modesty even by genre buffs   i opted not to make the purchase  as i did with the similar and  to me  unfamiliar fiend without a face       . recently  however  i managed to acquire the blob via a copy of the spanish dvd which  interestingly  ported over the two audio commentary tracks from the criterion  special edition  but  regrettably  i could not switch off the spanish subtitles during playback of the main feature  anyway  looking at the film anew  i was surprised by how much i enjoyed it  despite many a narrative flaw  which i will get to later   as a pure example of  b  movie  schlockiness  atypically shot in pleasant color  and a time  capsule illustrating late     s social attitudes . the male lead was an early role for steve  n  mcqueen and  though the actor may have subsequently looked at it with disdain  his sole contribution to the genre proves fairly engaging not averse to juvenile kicks but still essentially a decent  and  more importantly  altruistic  kid . the special effects depicting the slimy and expanding creature are not too bad of its kind and period the film itself rises to a good climax  beginning with the monster  s invasion of a cinema  showing daughter of horror         as i mentioned recently in that film  s review but being curiously screened  flipped  and which sequence  incidentally  would be featured at the opening of a satirical italian program actually called  blob    . as to the admittedly minor quibbles i have with the film the monster is not shown traveling  it just turns up at a variety of places  never being seen by anyone   there is a baffling over  emphasis  tantamount to padding  on the kids  scrapes with police it is silly to have the town doctor shoot at the blob  as if fluid  whatever its proportion  can be destroyed by bullets   equally nonsensical is having the teenagers alert the townsfolk of the danger by making door  to  door visits  especially when considering that  at that stage  only mcqueen had actually seen the monster in action   an inferior sequel emerged in     called beware the blob   the original was then remade in      i watched this not too long ago but it seems not to have made a lasting impression on me  though i know micheal elliott loves it  . for the record  i will be following this viewing with two more collaborations between director yeaworth and producer jack h . harris  namely  d man       and dinosaurus        .  
i personally liked  the prophecy  of     a lot . christopher walken was  as always  great  and even though the film wasn  t flawless  it was a creepy and highly original horror  fantasy film that entertained immensely . this inferior     sequel is still worth watching  but mainly due to walken . walken is one of the greatest actors around  in my opinion  and he is once again outstanding in the role of the fallen archangel gabriel  whom he plays for the second time here . once again  the war between fallen and loyal angels is brought to earth . gabriel returns in order to prevent the birth of a child  namely the child of the angel danyael  russel wong  and the human woman valerie  jennifer beals  . this child could once be the determining factor of the celestial war . . . as i said above  christopher walken is once again excellent as gabriel . besides gabriel  however   the prophecy ii  sadly also includes a bunch of terribly annoying characters . the character of valerie was annoying enough  and danayel annoyed me even more . the biggest pain in the ass  however was the character of izzy  played by brittany murphy   a suicidal girl who wouldn  t shut up . still  walken  s performance isn  t the only redeeming quality of the film . the entire film is quite dreary  and well  shot in dark colors  which contributes a lot to the atmosphere . gabriel  s resurrection scene in the beginning is furthermore quite impressive  and one of the coolest moments in any of the  prophecy  films .  the prophecy ii  is nevertheless the weakest of the three  prophecy  films with walken . definitely a christopher walken one  man  show  entertaining  but nothing beyond that .  
old horror movies are interesting  plenty of screams  plenty of shouts  and plenty of humor to go along with it .  the blob  is a classic in it  s own work . steve mcqueen          plays a teen who tries to be a hero in his town . going out on a date with his girl is rather typical for all teens . but when the old man discovers the same falling object form the sky  he ends up being the victim  and steve helps him out the best he can . when its up to teen power  this movie really provides it . i know most teens have had their hardships when they act up  when danger comes around  they must learn to forget the past and start doing something good to save humanity . when the adults in town ended up learn the hard way about  the blob  running amok  they must learn to trust teenagers and not let their behavior get the better of them . the oozing juggernaut was rather cute in the day  and in my opinion i think it was jell  o  when everyone pitches in to stop the menace  the town is once again safe  thanks to good old cooperation . i still eat jello and watch this movie all the time  if you don  t like jello  tough  rating  stars  
everybody knows that gregory widen  s original  the prophecy  didn  t really require a sequel  but you also don  t need a degree in rocket science hanging above your chimney to realize that further cash  ins on this profitable horror concept were inevitable . part two is a very prototypic example of a straight  to  video sequel  meaning the creative and convoluted plot of the original has been simplified a lot in favor of more action  more witty one  liners and a lot more eerie religious scenery . the only good news is that the producers managed to keep christopher walken for the role of gabriel  and he delivers another gloriously brazen performance that promptly justifies the price of a rental . if it wasn  t for walken  s performance  and perhaps a couple of players in the supportive cast like brittany murphy and glenn danzig    the prophecy ii  surely would have disappeared into oblivion straight after its release . the movie begins with gabriel literally getting spat out of hell to proceed with his ongoing war of heaven here on earth . the purpose of his battle this time is to prevent the baby of nurse valerie rosales  jennifer beals  from getting born . for you see  her unborn child is the first ever hybrid between a heavenly angel and an earthly  monkey  and the birth of such a superior being would imply the downfall of gabriel  s evil dominion . thus  just as in the first movie  he engages a suicidal accomplice to assist him and hunts valerie all the way down to the eden for the final showdown .  the prophecy ii  is an endurable and occasionally even entertaining movie as long as you don  t make comparisons with the original and as long as you manage to overlook the multiple plot holes and errors in continuity . whenever the storyline becomes too tedious  the makers luckily enough always insert a near  brilliant christopher walken moment to distract you . his interactions with the rebellious izzy and particularly his ignorance regarding modern earthly technologies often result in worthwhile and memorable sequences . on a slightly off  topic note  i often felt like  the prophecy ii  ambitions to look similar to  terminator ii   gabriel  s resurrection looked somewhat like the teleportation of a futuristic cyborg and the eden location  where the final battle takes place  looks very similar to the steel factory where  terminator ii  ended as well . coincidence  i guess  overall  this is an inferior and passable sequel but still worth checking out in case you  re a fan of christopher walken  s unique acting charisma  and who isn  t   .  
some of those guys that watch films and complain about them for a living are forgetting something dvd menu system . i tell you the people  i watched the main screen repeat in this one about   times . it was awesome . a cinematic tapestry of cascading brilliance that had me from where it was  which was the very beginning . many times the sum and bam  i was hooked . over and over and over . and over .  br    br    doot de doot  de doo de dodedo .  and that  s just the soundtrack   br    br   i is laid aside in the bed  curled up with my vaio . the rain is in the flat roof and tonight soft is again soft . the cat is comfortable and my ankle which crosses in me  is already rested . i popped in the dvd . i was mesmerized . through the night .  doot de doot  de doo de dodedo .   br    br   the blob . see it . steve queen  two cops  and one girl in a dress . two thumbs way up   
this is another example of a sucky sequel to a great movie . i highly recommend the prophecy  but this movie was a dud from the start . the acting was decent all the way around  but the story line was weak and added nothing to the origional . a  out of   at best .  
i saw this movie at midnight on on demand the other night  not knowing what to expect . i had heard of this movie  but never really any opinions on it .  br    br   i have to say  i was impressed with what i saw . i was genuinely freaked out in some parts and i definitely recall jumping up in my seat a few times .  br    br   the blob was scary looking . now  i look in a jar of jelly and wonder if it  ll latch itself onto my hand .  br    br   steve mcqueen was really good as steve andrews  the protagonist of the film . i also liked the old man in the beginning .  br    br   for a    s horror movie  this was very well done even by today  s standards .  br    br       .  
i rented this on dvd yesterday and did not realize it was a  character study  type of movie  so i struggled to watch about an hour of it before hitting the stop button .  br    br   even with a character study theme  i just could not get into this film at all . perhaps it was my mood in wanting to watch something else  or maybe i had other expectations  but setting that aside  i tried my best to move on to finish watching  but gave up . the actors played their roles well  but the global combination did not come together to keep my interest . about the only interesting thing was the sergeant  s gun being stolen and he hurried to buy another one  and spray painted it black to appear as police issue . i think this movie should have been entitled   who stole the sergeant  s gun   scenes were well done but putting them together i once again felt robbed for anything cohesive to keep me viewing .  br    br   since i didn  t finish watching it i  d say there is some merit to renting this film . . . maybe . to me  it was a waste of good viewing effort and time . i  ll leave it up to you to try it  but it  s not one i  d strongly recommend .  
first off  i hadn  t seen  the blob  since i was  or  and viewing it as an adult was an incredible experience . pages could be written on its influence on horror films even today . and even more could be written on its social subtext with the   s  fear of teenagers  . but this simple little tale of interplanetary horror is still a damn fine scary movie if you let it be .  br    br   sure  it looks cheesy as all get out in our modern world . but  the blob  packs in some genuinely frightening moments as a band of kids track the unstoppable creature when then adults don  t believe them . in fact  there are even some pretty bleak moments in its candy  colored world . and steve mcqueen gives so much more than the story deserved on paper that we the viewers really get caught in the moment and believe in him .  br    br   to sum up  if you can take off your postmodern irony filter  there  s a lot more to love here than meets the eye .  
this series was cbs networks answer to the success of the big valley . it was a   minute western just like the abc program was . while it was an answer  it did not have the stuff to make it past season  .  br    br   the problem really became reality got lost on this show . for example  in one episode  johnny gets his eye poked out by a stick . amazingly  by the end of the show  johnny had healed entirely . along with that  the stories on this were no where near as strong as the big valley .  br    br   this is a show that i would not want dvds of   frankly hope they are never released . think since cbs was running out of lots  they re  used many familiar settings . this was one the last western series cbs produced as westerns were not real popular in the      s .  
this is a pretty well known one so i won  t get too deep into it . the basic story is about two teens who find out about a slimy alien blob of goo that arrives to earth via meteor . human contact with this slime ball burns through flesh like acid . it also absorbs human bodies making it grow bigger . nobody believes the teens  steeve mcqueen and his girlfriend  and when they finally do it seems that the blob can  t be stopped . it  s really well done for it  s age and unlike a lot of other    s flicks the pace is pretty fast . the story is very unique making it and a must see for any fan of old sci  fi and monster movies . if you can dig the gooey gore of   s horror be sure to check out the remake from    as well .  
this movie is lame and not funny at all . the plot doesn  t even make sense . some scientist who works on the fringes of science opens a doorway to another dimension  maybe hell     and his daughter gets sucked through it or something  then one day for no apparent reason she comes back and now she has big breasts and wears a skimpy outfit  i guess the demons in the other dimension made it for her   the main character is a guy who wants to marry his girlfriend but she is gay so obviously she  s more interested in her new girlfriend  and they stumble upon this witch spell book  they want to be witches or something     and the evil spell ends up getting read again which is how the evil demon comes to earth which only the bikini top girl and the spurned guy in love can stop apparently . there is topless scenes for no reason and a guy in it who my boyfriend says is a well known wrestler but his part is completely unnecessary  obviously they made something up just to put him in it because then maybe wrestling fans will actually watch this pointless movie . i  m sure the topless girls doesn  t hurt there either . the extra features on the dvd were even more confusing than the rest of the movie  i thought it might help explain what was going on but it actually just made things more confusing . who are these people and what are they doing  basically this is a go  camping  to  make  out  then  fight  a  monster movie but there are a bunch of things  like the other dimension and book seller  than make it confusing . i didn  t like the movie but it was only like five bucks so big deal . i don  t recommend watching it though it was just too stupid  i can  t think of any part of the movie that was good .  
this is one excellent sammo hung movie . actually  this is a great piece of hong kong action cinema . the story tells the story of pedicab drivers in macao looking for love and getting mixed up w  a vicious pimp . the performances are excellent and the characters are all likable and well  defined . the story is involving and has enough romance  drama  comedy  and suspense to keep one watching between fight scenes . sammo hung proves here that he  s probably the best fight choreographer in the business . the action is simply amazing  esp . the fight w  lau kar leung and the finale . billy chow and sammo hung are amazing . a must see for any fan of action .  
i saw this regurgitated pile of vignettes tonight at a preview screening and i was straight up blown away by how bad it was .  br    br   first off  the film practically flaunted its gaping blind spots . there are no black or gay new yorkers in love  or who  say  know the self  involved white people in love  i know it  s not the love crash of anvil  tastic inclusiveness but you can  t pretend to have a cinematic new york with out these fairly prevalent members of society . plus  you know the people who produced this ish thought crash deserved that ham  handed oscar  so where is everyone   br    br   possibly worse than the bizarre and willful socioeconomic ignorance were the down right offensive chapters  remember when you were in high school and people were openly disgusted with pretty young women in wheelchairs  me either  . this movie ran the gamut of ways to be the worst . bad acting  bad writing  bad directing   all spanning every possible genre ever to concern wealthy white people who smoke cigarettes outside fancy restaurants .  br    br   but thank god they finally got powerhouses hayden christensen and rachel bilson back together for that jumper reunion . and  side note  uma dodged a bullet ethan hawke looks ravaged . this  of course  is one thing in terms of his looks  but added an incredibly creepy extra vibe of horribleness to his terrifyingly scripted scene opposite poor  lovely maggie q .  br    br   i had a terrible time choosing my least favorite scene for the end of film questionnaire  but it has to be the anton yelchin  olivia thirlby bit for the sheer lack of taste  which saddens me because i really like those two actors . i don  t consider myself easily offended  but all i could do was scoff and look around with disgust like someone  s   year old aunt .  br    br   a close second place in this incredibly tight contest of terrible things is shia labeouf  s tone deaf portrayal of what it means for a former disney channel star to act against julie christie . i don  t mean opposite  i mean against . against is the only explanation . i realize now that the early sequence with orlando bloom is a relative highlight . highlight . please keep that in mind when your brain begins to leak out your ear soon after the opening credits  which seem to be a nod to the first new york real world . this film is embarrassing  strangely dated  inarticulate  ineffective  pretentious and  in the end  completely divorced from any real idea of new york at all .  br    br    the extra star is for the cloris leachman  eli wallach sequence  as it is actually quite sweet  but it is only one bright spot in what feels like hours of pointless  masturbatory torment .   
most of the atomic age monster movies i saw on television as a kid  and some of them  the blob included  scared the daylights outta me . movies like invaders from mars made it all too clear to us  small fry  that kids just weren  t to be trusted when it came to things like things invading the homeworld the blob just reiterated that fact . i recall  fondly  late evenings spent stretched on the floor watching as body snatchers and martian invaders and blobs seeped into an unsuspecting society . there was a summer  in the early     s  when a local science museum  in richmond  virginia  ran an atomic age classic every weekend . these were   mm films  and most were black and white  and the projector was noisy   and the  color  print of the blob had faded to a faint pink  but  man  was it fun . i dragged my mother along  and she enjoyed it as much as i did . it was there  at that science museum  that i truly fell in love with the blob . the filmmaker  s intent was  of course  to make money  but it was the sincerity of all involved  from the filmmakers to the  talent   the players   that made me fall in love with this movie . corny  you bet . cheesy  they don  t get any cheesier . but  man  what a movie   
this film has a very simple but somehow very bad plot . the entire movie is about a girl getting sucked through a gate to another dimension then years later it gets opened again by a witch while a group of friends  including the lead actor who is having trouble getting over his ex girlfriend who is one of the other campers along with her new partner . . . another girl . . . that  s right they  re lesbians and there is some nudity of course for no particular reason  . unfortunately demon follows the now adult girl back through . also unfortunately  none of this is ever explained . where exactly were they  where did the demon come from  how did she survive as a child in a place full of evil demons  who the hell trained her and made her a gladiator type outfit  the acting is terrible i think but it  s hard to tell because the writing is so bad maybe there was just nothing they could do with it . i give it a three because the wrestler was pretty good and the effects were pretty fun even though they were very cheap . i would not recommend it  it wasn  t quite bad enough to be funny .  
i  ve seen the blob several times and is one of the better low budget alien invasion movies from the      s .  br    br   a strange meteor lands just outside a small town and an elderly man goes to investigate this . a strange jelly like substance then attaches itself to one of his arms and a young couple who saw the meteor land arrive in time and take him to the local doctor  s  where the old man then gets completely absorbed by the mass . the doctor and his nurse are the next victims and the mass is getting bigger . when these incidents are reported to the police  they don  t believe the young couple and accuse them of making all this up . they finally believe them when the mass  now huge turns up in the town  s cinema and everybody runs into the streets screaming . it then attaches itself on a diner with the young couple and some others inside . the blob is stopped by spraying a load of fire extinguishers at it and it freezes  which is its weakness . it is then transported by plane to the frozen wastes of the arctic and disposed of there . but it is only frozen  not dead . . .  br    br   this movie has a typical setting for its period teenagers and a small town . the blob has a good rock and roll style theme song at the beginning and the movie is atmospheric throughout .  br    br   the sequel  beware  the blob followed in     and a remake came in     but this is the best of the blob movies .  br    br   the cast is lead by steve mcqueen  the great escape  and is the movie that made him a star and aneta corsaut plays his girlfriend . i  m not familiar with any of the other stars .  br    br   the blob is a must see for all sci  fi fans . fantastic .  br    br   rating  stars out of  .  
this is one of those horror flicks where twenty  somethings fool around with the dark arts around a camp fire  getting into a heap of trouble for doing so . a portal was opened containing a world of demons known as the kelippoth of the sitra achra by a man whose daughter  summer  gets kidnapped by something  taken into it . summer is trained by a mysterious group whose identities are never revealed to battle the demon monsters . this is a portion of the plot which lends itself to scrutiny . anyway  three wannabee witches  who went to high school together  renea  the most enthusiastic  serious practitioner in the dark arts  and her lesbian cohorts  jasmine and marlene  . . it  s more or less a passing fad with them  though . .  join up with buddies  jason and ricky  on a trip in the wilderness where summer vanished from her home ten years ago . opening the portal through a spoken text written in an ancient book  a demon is set free  as is summer  now a warrior babe whose training has led to a very fit and athletic body and skills that have been needed to ward off monsters in the other world .  br    br   low budget contains a loopy  but ambitious story  restraining it into a confined setting . these young adults spend a lot of time running around in the woods hoping not to be fodder for a beast . as can be the case in these movies  the demon stands on the sidelines while the story develops as summer attempts to remember how everything came to pass  while befriending jason who wishes to help her restore the lost time . the action is shot mostly in the dark  making any violence hard to decipher . brigitte kingsley  and the rest of the female cast for that matter   is some mighty nice eye candy  dressed scantily clad as a female conan  a gorgeous body we have to pleasure to gaze upon from the moment she appears until the closing of the movie . some lesbianism  . . some kissing and fondling  and nudity spice things up nicely  and the cast seem to be having fun with the goofy plot . . it  s so preposterous that the silly tone is probably appropriate for the material .  br    br   might be of interest for co  starring world wrestling entertainment  s  captain courageous  christian  real name  jason reso  as one of the group  spoofing his alter ego  as a chicken  quivering at the sound of a snapping tree twig . landy cannon is likable as unlikely hero  jason  a lovestruck  naive young man whose ex  fianc  jasmine  vanessa james  is now bi  sexual and in love with marlene  . . jasmine  s cruelty is in toying with jason  s feelings by hiding her affair with marlene from his knowledge   while ricky and renea attempt to steer him away from this idea that he can rekindle a dead flame that gone out  never to ignite again . the kelippoth demon is mostly darkly lit  i guess to refrain from showing how ludicrous  laughable it looks if presented in full . the lesbian antics of jasmine and marlene  haley shannon  is mostly tame  their love making  once alone in the woods up against a tree  is toned down and also lighted using the blackness of night . my rating is a bit favorable towards it  almost solely because of kingsley  for purely superficial reasons  rather than the plot or film  making . the movie aims to please and is marketed to the boys  and girls who love hot women  . i think  though  for the most part  the humor falls a bit flat .  
i have read many comments on this site criticizing the blob for being cheesy and or campy . the movie has been faulted for amateurish acting and weak special effects . what would you expect from a group of folks whose only experience has been in the production of low budget  locally produced  valley forge pa  christian shorts . let me tell those overly critical reviewers that this film never took itself all that serious . that fact should be evident from the mismatched theme music complete with silly lyrics played over the opening credits . for what it was meant to be  this film is excellent . i have seen a few of the recent ultra low budget attempts  blair witch project was one of them  that have absolutely no entertainment value or intelligent thought behind their plot . bwp was pure excrement . the blob  on the other hand  was well thought out  well scripted  and thoroughly entertaining . the scene where the old man comes across the meteorite and pokes the mass contained within with a stick was excellently done and genuinely creepy . the scene in the doctor  s office with the blob slowly moving under the blanket on the gurney while it consumed the old man was a cinematic horror masterpiece . bottom line is  i love this movie . i challenge anyone out there to take         .    inflated for today  s dollar value  and make a film anywhere near as entertaining and or as successful as the blob . it just can  t be done . period   br    br   thank you for taking time to read this review .  
dark rising is your typical bad  obviously quickly produced horror  sci  fi  fantasy movie . it has a strange  unexplained plot with holes so big you could fit an elephant through them . most of the time i didn  t know what the hell was going on but it didn  t really matter  it was a simple demon hunter returns from hell dimension to save campers story with confusing stuff added on about witches and a book of evil with plot elements and characters who make no sense or disappear totally for no reason . the acting is bad but there honestly is not much they can do with this script i am guessing . there is a couple topless scenes which is probably the only reason this bad movie got made  like so many other bad movies  . give this one a pass unless there is nothing else on t . v .  
this is my favorite classic . it was filmed a little west of philadelphia  pa when i was    in      and released the next year . then in      i found myself working the very same county as a rookie pa state trooper . i have always enjoyed checking out the different places where scenes were filmed . i knew the owner of the downingtown diner well  and he had a road sign out front which told all passing motorists that this was the  home of the blob  . the theater scene was in phoenixville  near valley forge park and it is still showing films today   
when i first tuned in on this morning news  i thought   wow  finally  some entertainment .  it was slightly amusing for a week or so . . . but we have to face it  these news reporters  if one can even call them that  have way too much  playing around  time .  br    br   at first  i thought jillian was a breathe of fresh air . but seriously  this woman has got not the least bit of journalist in her . she is very unprofessional . she keeps on interrupting steve when he starts informing the viewers about a certain news report . it  s just really become annoying to the point that i can  t watch it anymore .  br    br   jillian is not a good journalist . hell  she  s more of a celebrity who loves being a celebrity . hence  she instantly transforms into a celebrity around celebrities whom she  s supposed to be interviewing . she  s not very professional and quite possibly perceives her relationship with celebrities more important than being a rightfully insatiable journalist  and that  s all i can say about her .  br    br   also  disappointingly   this show has more entertainment news than necessary news reports about the world  the government  the us  or something that will benefit and  or serve the public  s best interest . they  re too focus on sensationalism that everything they talk about comes off as a commercial product . on the other hand  their field reporters are interestingly tolerable . . .  br    br   i believe  good day la  is for young teenagers and celebrities  and it is definitely not for people who actually care about the news .  br    br   side note  i  d really rather watch ktla . however  they try so hard to be entertaining sometimes . they  re still a bit dull though . oh well  i  ll stick to nbc  s  today .  abc  s  good morning america  is also okay . . . as long as diane sawyer doesn  t become way too serious .   
i grew up in royersford  pa . the town where jerry  s market was . i remember my whole family going out to watch the filming . i remember a guy showing the  blob  to me and my brothers in a bucket . i also would like to share that my mother was in the movie . her hair style was the same as aneta corsaut  s and she was ill one evening and they saw my mom and asked her to sit in the car with steve mcqueen for some shots from behind . they payed her    .   and gave her a story to tell until she passed away this past august . my mom was not a teenager and she was a few months from giving birth to my little sister .  
i had to stop watching this film  a pseudo  intellectual product for pretentious film viewers  twenty minutes into it because it was mediocre and dull enough to inspire yawns  not to mention that i was soon near tears over the   .   i had wasted at blockbuster . joanna pacula  s acting and her awfully rendered slavic accent are sufficiently terrible to set one to gritting one  s teeth . i knew that two hours of her would be two hours too many . both breuer and nietzsche are played by unremarkable actors of strikingly few talents . while we  re on the topic of talent  breuer  s supercilious assistant appears to have been pulled out of a local acting troupe . she clearly has not learned her craft . in fact  she  s really quite awful . all the public scenes looked staged  with the extras walking mechanically about in their sunday best . turning this film off was far more satisfying than turning it on . don  t rent this terrible movie . you will be sorry you spent your money .  
the blob is a great horror movie  not merely because of the vividly horrific images of its nearly unstoppable  flesh  dissolving title character  but because it features a real societal message . it is  in many ways  a  feel  good horror film .  the clever storyline is helped immeasurably by solid performances from the entire cast . the two romantic leads  steve mcqueen and aneta corsaut  bring surprising depth and sentimentality to the proceedings . they are misunderstood but very well  meaning young people  and it  s very easy to root for them .  br    br   this is a pro  society movie  and its juvenile delinquent characters cause trouble mainly out of boredom  not out of some malevolent character flaw . steve mcqueen  s drag  racing rival almost appears to be an enemy early on in the proceedings  but quickly joins in mcqueen  s campaign to save the town from the oozing invader once he sees mcqueen  s seriousness . in this way  a character situation that at first appears to be cartoonish suddenly develops depth and human realism .  br    br   the authorities  initial skepticism of the kids  wild claims is proved wrong   and once the threat is acknowledged by all  all conflict within the society disappears . this unification of purpose  and the validation of the  troublemaking  teens  becomes official when aneta corsaut  s father breaks into the school to obtain the fire extinguishers needed to freeze the blob . on any other day  breaking into the school would be considered an act of vandalism typical of a juvenile delinquent   on this particular day  it is a necessary action performed by an adult authority figure . at this turning point  it is clear that there are no lines of division between the young and the old .  br    br   this is an unusual film in that it acknowledges the perception of a  generation gap  but suggests that it is more imaginary than real  and that given a real crisis  people will naturally band together to restore order .  the blob  is a perfect tonic for the kind of depression that generally comes with a viewing of  night of the living dead        .  br    br   much has been made of the film  s cheap but innovative  and effective   visual effects . they are undeniably clever . a lot of the gravity  defying tricks we see the blob perform were achieved with miniature sets designed to be rotated . the camera was typically attached to the sets in a very firmly  locked down  position  the lights had to be similarly attached so that the lighting remained steady as the room was turned this way and that  . these scenes were often photographed one frame at a time as the room was slowly turned   the silicone blob oozed very slowly and its action needed to be sped up . in a way  this was similar to stop motion photography  but utilizing a blob of silicone rather than an articulated puppet . even today  the effects are startling and bizarre .  br    br   a very good film with an exploitative  sounding title  the blob is a must  see .  
my comments on this movie have been deleted twice  which i find pretty offending  since i am making an effort to judge this movie for other people . please be tolerant of other people  s opinion . obviously writing in the spirit of nietzsches works is not understood  so ill change my comment completely .  br    br   i think this is a really bad movie for several reasons .  br    br   subject one should be very careful in making a movie about a philosopher that is even today not understood by the masses and amongst peers brings out passionate discussions . one thing philosophers do agree on is that nietzsche was a great thinker . so making a movie about his life  which obviously includes his  ideas  is a thing one should be extremely careful with  or preferably  don  t do at all . wisdom starts with knowing what you don  t know . one might think this is not a review of the movie itself  but the movie is not about an imaginary character  it is about the life of someone who actually lived and had  has great influence on the world of yesterday  today and tomorrow . if someone tells a story about a tomato  i can express my thoughts about the story itself  but also about the chosen subject  the tomato . there is a responsibility for producers when they make a movie about actual facts . specially in a case like this and this responsibility was not taken .  br    br   screenplay one of the first things i noticed were the ridiculous accents . why  it distracts from what it should be about nietzsche and the truths he found . it doesn  t help putting things in a right geographical perspective or time  come on  make it proper english or better yet german  even mel gibson got that part right . . . letting his characters speak some gibberish aramaic in the passion .  br    br   secondly  it is well over  acted .  br    br    d  assante is not an actor to depict nietzsche . bad casting .  br    br    th  facts are way off .  br    br   and so on . its a waste of celluloid .  
absolutely the very first film that scared me to death . i happened catch it when my older brother  r . i . p .  was watching it . it was on a black and white tv and not really a good picture but it got me interested . shortly after  my folks bought a color set and  as luck would have it  the million dollar movie was showing it one sunday .  br    br   i had forgotten most of the plot  but it did not take long to catch up . . . and i got so scared i had a hard time sleeping that night  i mean sure it was just a movie but it involved a creature that not only came from space  but you could not hear it  or see it . . . and once it got hold of you it was too late . even now  after all this time it still sends a shiver up my spine . a true classic  and even better a classic that i have seen scare the pants off a new generation   br    br   long live the blob   
i rented this dvd having seen it while looking for something else . when i saw the title on the jacket i couldn  t believe my eyes . i read yalom  s book about a year ago and loved it  in fact admire yalom  s work in general .  i am a clinical psychologist .  i have watched perhaps   minutes of this movie and have had to turn it off . i  m not sure if i can take much more . at a superficial level  the faux accents  as others have commented  are simply distracting at best and irritating and vapid at worst . the acting is dull when it should be passionate and comical when it should be serious . the portrayal of lou salome is simply flippant  and the brilliant freud comes off as little more than a schoolboy . i see very little of the book  s spirit conveyed thus far . i had hoped to be able to recommend this film to my students . instead  i will refer them to the book . imagine that .  
a meteorite falls in the country of a small town  bringing a jelly creature . an old farmer is attacked by the alien in his hand  and the youths steve andrews  steve mcqueen  and his girlfriend jane martin  aneta corsaut  take him to dr . t . hallen  steven chase  . the local doctor treats carefully the blister  and asks steve to investigate the location where they found the old man . when steve returns  he sees the blob killing the doctor . steve and jane try to warn the police and the dwellers  but nobody believe on them  while the blob engulfs many people  getting bigger and bigger .  br    br    the blob  is a cult and classic sci  fi . it is a low budget movie  with many ham actors and actresses  with the exception of steve mcqueen   awful effects  but also delightful and very  but very funny . this is the first time that i see this classic  i had seen the     remake with kevin dillon   and i really recommend it to fans of steve mcqueen and sci  fi b  movies from the   s . the film subject of my review number      could not be better . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    a bolha    the blob    
the prerequisite for making such a film is a complete ignorance of nietzche  s work and personality  psychoanalytical techniques and vienna  s history . take a well  know genius you have not read  describe him as demented  include crazy physicians to cure him  a couple of somewhat good looking women  have his role played by an actor with an enormous mustache  have every character speak with the strongest accent  show ridiculous dreams  include another prestigious figure who has nothing to do with the first one  freud   mention a few words used in the genius  works  overdo everything you can  particularly music  and you are done . audience  please stay away .  
no hidden agenda . pure scifi . all fun .  br    br   i saw the original on tv and was scared pretty bad . i was a kid    br    br   the original one can be appreciated more when compared to the new one which i saw and have forgotten . the original one  starring the great movie star steve mcqueen  bullet   is by far the better and only version anyone should see .  br    br   the movie production is dated  but the fx used to make the blob stands up the test of time . i was convinced that that thing was moving on its own accord .       br    br    zafoid  
 . . . thankfully he hasn  t  yet  this is crude  simplistic student politics made into drama . it needs the viewer to buy into a series of conceits . conceit   that a british electorate could be swung from being basically right of centre to being overwhelmingly far left . conceit   that all debate in the media and the general public is unanimously ended and that the new prime minister  s only critics are sinister civil servants  mi   big business and the americans  naturally  . conceit   that this radical socialist pm can solve all union  economic and social problems with consummate ease in a way that unites the nation . conceit   that severing all ties with the us and nato is a good thing . conceit   that the soviet union isn  t a brutal and oppressive regime and that we should have had closer times with them back in the    s . and finally  conceit   that the reactionary forces of the us would actively seek to launch a coup d  etat against britain .  br    br   it  s ludicrous and the show only gained the reputation that it did by trying to cash in on some anti  thatcher feeling in the country and having left wing tv critics singing its praises . when it was made  television was still a hugely popular and influential medium with shows getting huge ratings so a widely talked about drama with a hint of controversy had a good chance of getting a big audience . ray mcinally  s performance was great  which is one of the few plus points . history and time has shown the huge weakness in the premise and plot of this show .  
who would think andy griffith  s  helen crump   aneta corsaut  had a steve mcqueen movie in her past  but that is only one of several weird and wonderful things about the ultimate     s teenagers  battle  creatures movie  which might best be described as rebel without a cause meets god knows what from outer space . the rebel is steven mcqueen  who would shortly decide that  steve  sounded less prissy   a good boy with just enough wild to be interesting the very wholesome yet understanding girlfriend is the aforementioned aneta corsaut . it was bad enough when their date was disrupted by teenage hot  rodders  but they are considerably more nonplussed when they encounter a gelatinous  man  eating what is it that rides down to earth on its own hotrod meteor   and begins gobbling up townfolk right and left . but will the grown ups believe them  of course not  what do they know  they  re just kids   br    br   the movie is teeny bopper at its teeny bopping best . the actors take the rather pretentious script very seriously  with many a soulful look into each other eyes  and the  adult  supporting cast probably says  kids   very third sentence or so . but the real pleasure of the film its creature  which is well imagined  well  executed  and often manages to generate a surprising degree of suspense . and although clearly on the cheap side  check out those miniature sets  guys    the blob is actually a fairly well  made film   and there  s that catchy little theme song thrown in for good measure . the    plus crowd  myself included  will enjoy the movie as nostalgia  but that won  t prevent them from hooting right along with the younger set at its whole  milk  and  white  bread     s sensibility  and the film would be a great choice for either family  movie night or a more sophisticated  grown ups only  get together . make plenty of jello cubes for movie snacking  gary f . taylor  aka gft  amazon reviewer  
i first saw this when it was picked as a suggestion from my tivo system . i like danny elfman and thought it might be interesting . on top of that  i  m a fan of max fleischer  s work  and this started out with the look and feel of his   s cartoon . with both of those  i thought it would hold my interest . i was wrong . just a few minutes in  and i had the fast forward button down . i ran through it in about   minutes  and thought that was it .  br    br   afterwards  i read some of the other reviews here and figured i didn  t give it enough of a chance . i recorded it again and watched it through . there  s   minutes of my life i  m not getting back .  br    br   i can  t believe there aren  t more bad reviews . personally  i think it  s because it  s hard to get to the   line comment minimum . how many ways are there to say this is a waste of time   br    br   the movie comes across as though it was made by a few junior high kids ready to outrage the world and thinking they can with breasts  profanity  and puke jokes . the characters are flat . the parody of  swinging the alphabet  is lame  essentially cobbling the tune  getting through a  e  hitting the obvious profanity a  f   and then having no idea where to go . the trip through the intestines to the expected landing doesn  t work the first time  let alone the following ones .  br    br   across the board  the entire movie is what you would expect from someone trying to  out  south park  stone and parker without the ability to determine what is and isn  t funny . this might be amusing if you  re high . otherwise  it  s not .  
what can i add that the previous comments haven  t already said . this is a great film and the light sabre duel star wars tribute has to be seen to be believed   there are moments of genius throughout this movie  if you can  see it now  thanks again to rick baker who gave me this movie many years ago   
having loved  paris  je t  aime   i highly anticipated this film and i admit i went in with high expectations  but was sorely disappointed for a number of reasons .  br    br   although  i was not expecting a re  make of  paris  in new york i was expecting the same structure . what i liked about  paris  was the breakup of the neighborhoods . you got a sense of each directors style and the story they wanted to tell . in  ny   there is no clear separation of the stories  at different points in the film  characters from different stories run into each other which made me confused as to who i was watching and what exactly was going on . also  the switch in directing was evident but confusing since there was no flow .  br    br   another thing i loved about the  paris  film was the different takes on love . it wasn  t all romantic . there was love between parents and their children  unrequited love  a lonely  middle  aged woman yearning for love etc .  it explored so many layers of the complexity of love between humans .  ny  seemed to only go for an edgy  over  the  top sexuality . there were some redeemable shorts  the older couple having spent a lifetime together  julie christie  s short   but overall the  ny  film didn  t evoke any emotion for me . i didn  t connect with any of the characters like i did with  paris  . i remember watching  paris  and feeling a deep sadness  loneliness  yearning  hopefulness  wonder . . . it just had so much soul . for me  there was no soul in the  ny  film .  br    br   maybe if i had gone into it without having  paris  looming in the back of my brain as a comparison this film might have elicited a more favorable response  but as a self  titled re  take of  paris  je t  aime  i was sorely disappointed .  
i wasn  t aware of steve mcqueen in     . i only knew that i was extremely frightened about going to see this film .  i  d been devastated by the movie  trantula  at age seven . . . but i was ten now  . the  st scene where the blob crawls up the farmer  s probing stick and engulfs his hand was enough to make me want to leave the theater . but i stayed and suffered through each of our monster  s attacks . i felt such horror when steve and his girl barely made it out of the doctor  s office  poor doc   and even more when the blob entered a movie theater and devoured a large portion of the audience . . . so many in fact that it oooooozzzzzzed out of the front doors  too huge now to fit through just one . it seemed indestructible and unlimited in growth potential  and when it trapped poor steve in a sieve  like diner  he seemed like a sure dinner to be .  br    br   to say that the blob was cold would be a modern day description  but in the end  better icy than scaring and mentally rupturing little kids .  br    br   i remember walking home that evening with my uncle nick  trying to act brave . he knew i was in trouble  and when i got into bed that night i could not only feel the blob in the room  but when i summoned up the courage to look down at the floor  there the red pulsating  heart  like hungry dude sat  waiting for me to try and get up and go to the bathroom . it took months to recover .  br    br   i  m   years old now . . . i  ve made it .  br    br   of course the blob wasn  t destroyed .  
 . . . but this has to be the worst a christmas carol adaptation of all time . and that takes some doing  what with the likes of various lifetime efforts . don  t get me wrong   i have nothing against cicely tyson . i  ve enjoyed her tremendously in other roles  look at sipsey in fried green tomatoes  for example  . but the script gives her no option but to chew the scenery . and chew it she does  with all the enthusiasm of tiny tim tying into a christmas goose .  br    br   give me the classics anytime alastair sim      . with the exception maybe of scrooged  all the others are just over  the  top efforts to grasp the past  present  or future spirit of christmas .  
i look at this page  and it seems disapproving to me to have to listen to someone ramble and rant at a real classic . sure  i agree to let everyone have their opinion  but here  s mine  br    br   this movie should not be missed by any classic horror watcher  and should be seen many casual viewers around the world . sure  it has lost some of it  s flair and greatness with age  especially in todays world of cgi effects  but that  s not why you should like it .  br    br   you should like it because it actually is a scary movie  even for today  s standards . it  s overall ickyness will creep you out just as much as the original audiences  so don  t slam a classic if you haven  t given it a chance . watch it  but not with a critical attitude . watch it to have fun  how it was originally intended .  
the premise of an african  american female scrooge in the modern  struggling city was inspired  but nothing else in this film is . here  ms . scrooge is a miserly banker who takes advantage of the employees and customers in the largely poor and black neighborhood it inhabits . there is no doubt about the good intentions of the people involved . part of the problem is that story  s roots don  t translate well into the urban setting of this film  and the script fails to make the update work . also  the constant message about sharing and giving is repeated so endlessly  the audience becomes tired of it well before the movie reaches its familiar end . this is a message film that doesn  t know when to quit . in the title role  the talented cicely tyson gives an overly uptight performance  and at times lines are difficult to understand . the charles dickens novel has been adapted so many times  it  s a struggle to adapt it in a way that makes it fresh and relevant  in spite of its very relevant message .  
the only notable thing about this film is that it was steve mcqueen  s first big starring role .  br    br   mcqueen  s talent is undeveloped and raw but refreshingly honest in this campy little sci  fi horror piece . steve shows himself as the anti  establishment  hot rod car loving actor who would become a polished icon of the film industry just five years hence .  br    br   later on  mcqueen would say he hated this film and that  he was the blob  . but everyone has to start somewhere and the blob is cute  fresh and innocent . would that we all had stayed that way .  br    br   the plot is fast paced and although predictable  still an entertaining hour or so . and it  s really fun to see steve mcqueen before he became the king of kool  and anita corsaut before she became andy taylor  s girlfriend  . a close friend sent me the dvd a while back and it  s a treasured addition to my steve mcqueen film collection .  
two old men sitting on a park bench . i dont really have a problem with this scene  only problem is that its not a scene its the entire movie  br    br   yup movies dont get anymore low concept than this . they also dont get anymore boring than this either  but theres worse to come because these two old men are chalk and cheese . one is nat moyer who is yiddish communist while the other is midge carter a former golden gloves champion whos also black . let me see now  a jew and a black man sitting on a park bench getting along fine . well i guess its possible though unlikely  but if this film has such an inoffensive scenario why play up to the jewish stereotype  why make them loud tribilistic rabble rousers who take hebrew oaths  slightly ironic that the jews seen at the start of the movie are exactly the type of jews seen in nazi propaganda films in the     s  br    br   stereotypes aside moi dearz the problem with im not rappaport is that its written for an entirely different meduim than cinema  its based on a stage play and it shows . walter matthau sleepwalks through his role as nat while this commentator almost slept through the whole movie  
the blob is a classic     s b  movie sci  fi flick . you probably know the story two teens  steve mcqueen  aneta corsaut  see a meteorite hit the ground  and when they go to look for it  they run into an old man with some weird . . . blob attached to his arm . they take him to the doctor  s office  and then go to find out what happened . from there  the blob spreads  eating everyone in its path . the special effects are cheesy fun  as is the story . there are a lot of great touches  like the cop who plays chess over the radio with a cop in another district . it  s no masterpiece  but it has a special place in its genre . steve mcqueen is very good .     .  
much like orson welles thirty years earlier  mike sarne was given  the biggest train set in the world  to play with  but unfortunately lacked the ability to do anything more than watch his train set become a train wreck that is still spoken of with shock and a strange sort of awe . despite post  modern interpretations purporting somehow to see it as a gay or even feminist tract  the fact of the matter is that it was a major disaster in     and remains one today . how anyone given the resources at mr sarne  s disposal could have screwed up so royally remains a closely  guarded secret . only michael cimino ever came close with the political and artistic armageddon that constitutes  heaven  s gate  . both films appeared to be ego trips for their respective directors but at least mr cimino had made one of the great movies of the     s before squandering the studio  s largesse  whereas mr sarne had only the rather fey  joanna  in his locker . furthermore   heaven  s gate  could boast some memorable and well  handled set  pieces where  tragically   myra breckinridge  s cupboard was bare . simply put  it is overwhelmingly the worst example of biting the hand that feeds in the history of hollywood .  
this movie is wonderful . what separates it from other    s sci  fi is the fact that the alien has no features  no face  eyes  anything  yet it can  t be killed . i especially like the idea that this film doesn  t take place over a few days  it takes place in one night  lasting supposedly past midnight . it  s also scary that once the blob gets on you  you can  t get it off . you  re stuck in it  as it dissolves your flesh and slowly devours your body . my all time favorite    s sci  fi film  and what is sometimes considered the quintessential one . i can see why this rocketed steve mcqueen to stardom . all this and a catchy theme song  how can you go wrong   
it was a disappointment to see this dvd after so many years . for me the main problem  s the uneven script .  br    br   while some of it is witty and hip  quite a bit of it is dull  unfunny and lifeless . many of the gags just sit there  lacking spark and energy .  br    br   of the cast  mae west and rachel welch come over well . roger herren in the role of rusty shines  too bad he didn  t make more films  . but for my money  there  s just too much of john huston  and poor rex reed isn  t hardly given a fighting chance . his character seems relegated to skim around on the sidelines  wondering what he  s doing in this film .  br    br   the low user rating should give an idea as to the public  s opinion of this piece . vidal  s original provided much potential that was pretty much wasted . not even the  classic  film clips did much . all in all a rather sub par effort  and it  s not likely to get much better with time .  
this movie is of almost generation  defining importance to some of us born in the early post  war years in that  and especially if you were born between     and     and loved spending saturday afternoons at your neighborhood movie house  you almost certainly saw it . and the memory of seeing it has probably stayed with you . it  s style is the stuff of a brief and somehow gloriously exciting moment in our growing up days .  br    br   it had a modern  space  age storyboard for the audiences of it  s time . the set was any town with a supermarket and a movie theater that would be packed for a friday midnight show . it has hot rods and rebellious youth  but in the  why can  t they let us have fun  way rather than the disturbed  histrionic rebel  without  a  cause way . all characters were identifiable to us  teens  parents  the old man  the doctor  the nurse  the mechanic  the boy  the puppy  even the cops  were sympathetic to us . we could relate to them all  br    br   it had a singularly horrifying monster . it  s first victim is heard moaning  it hurts . . . . . it hurts  and we were convinced and frightened . the menace grows continually throughout the story . there are intense periods of suspense  colourful effects  a fabulous lead in mcqueen  and moments of humour  both intended and not . it even had an almost over  the  top sad part to make the more sensitive of us feel like crying .  br    br   i saw it in summer  age  or so  double billed with  i married a monster from outer space   and was so thrilled by the experience of this particular double feature that i went back a couple more times before it left . everyone i knew saw it . everyone i knew loved it .  
i never much liked the myra movie  tho i appreciate how it pushed the hollywood envelope at the time . certainly miss welch  s costume became an iconic image  though i have to wonder if many people who recognize the image really saw the film and know what it was all about   br    br   i rewatched myra on fmc a couple of years ago and didn  t think it had aged any better thru the years . there  s a segment about it in the sexploitation cinema cartoon history comic books  where it  s given proper credit for putting such big stars in what was then an outrageous production . however  imho  the movie is too bitter to be charming  too silly to be a turn  on  and so busy trying to shock that it fails to inform  engage  or entertain     
i don  t think anyone besides terrence malick and maybe tran anh hung makes cinema on a purer level than claire denis . that said  i don  t love this  her newest film  quite as much as her     masterpiece  trouble every day   although it comes very close   which itself is one of my absolute favorite films . it it only because the narrative here is possibly slightly too elliptical for it  s own good . don  t get me wrong  the fact that this film barely has a plot at all is really one of the best things about it  but i think denis took it about one degree farther than it needed to go and consequently the film does flirt with incomprehensibility  and a few key plot points should have been clarified somehow  like that the main character goes to south korea to get his heart transplant  instead of just showing him there all of a sudden without any explanation of where he is or why he is there  . also some of the other characters seemed unnecessary and as if they were just excuses for denis to use actors she likes yet again  beatrice dalle  s character in particular is a little distracting because you keep expecting that she is going to have some significance  . still  the film is incredibly absorbing and the cinematography is beyond amazing . it is definitely very much a masterpiece in it  s own way . at least as good as denis  more highly  acclaimed  beau travail   if not better . claire denis has to be my favorite french director at this point  better than leos carax even . also i have to admit that the south korean sequence really does do  lost in translation  better than that film itself does  and i  unlike some  am a huge fan of that film as well  .  
i saw  myra breckinridge  when it first came out in     . i was a healthy    year  old at the time  who loved movies and really liked raquel welsh . on top of that  i had read the gore vidal novel it was based on and thought it was very funny . i saw the movie at a local drive  in and about half way through i was sorely tempted to turn the motor of my car on so that maybe i  d die of monoxide poisoning and not have to see the rest of this shipwreck of a movie . it wasn  t  smart  or  trendy   it was gross and sloppy . all the actors were tone deaf and the director didn  t have the slightest idea what he was doing . the casting of mae west was one of the worst casting choices in movie history . as one reviewer here said  her role had nothing to do with the movie or book . her character in the book is sexually beaten up by the young stud  which would never do for the legendary ms . west . oh no  the plot is changed so she sexually beats him up  very believable from a    year  old woman who looks every day of her age . i could go on  but why  it was an awful movie .  br    br   bluto  
clair denis again revisits her theme of estranged fathers  men who follow their own bliss in determined fashion  heedless of the emotion toll on their family but while nnette and boni from the earlier film live in a narrow world of marseilles  our examination of louis trebor in the intruder takes us from a remote location along the french  swiss border to half way around the world  to korea and tahiti . again the film begins in mid stream  with louis  in his sixties  coping with an ailing heart while attempting to maintain a high level of fitness . we learn that louis is no stranger to violence as his cabin is the location for smuggling and gunfire a regular occurrence . louis sleeps with a large knife under his pillow with rifles nearby . denis is in no hurry to move the action along  and we must patiently build our understanding of louis from his daily activities and the few people he deals with along the frontier including a son  sidney  grgoire colin  almost unrecognizable with long hair and a wisp of a mustache  who rejects him as a  lunatic    shown as a dedicated father of two . there are many brief scenes which  while seemingly unrelated  build up an impression of louis and his milieu . ms godard  s camera work is exhilarating here . the controlling metaphor is louis  s heart transplant for which he goes to korea and then to tahiti to search for another son  not found  and where louis  s new heart rejects him just as sidney rejected the old . we are accustomed to brief scenes in denis  s film which are inexplicable nnette astride boni feeding with a spoon a drive by shooting of boni  s father and then the briefest of images of boni with a gunshot wound in the head a scene of louis in a morgue with a cadaver with the scar of a transplant but the body of sidney . the implication  of the last two  is a rejection  real or imagined  by a father  kills something indefinable in a son .  
myron breckinridge  rex reed     gets a sex change from a doctor  john carradine   dead drunk  and comes out as myra  raquel welch  . she then decides to destroy male masculinity  or something like that  and proceeds to teach film history at an acting college run by lecherous john huston  don  t ask  and break up a young happy couple  young  handsome  hunky roger herren and farrah fawcett   yes the farrah fawcett  .  br    br   they took a great novel by gore vidal that was unfilmable and  naturally  tried to film it . they also hired an english guy with a decidedly anti  american attitude and hired a bunch of actors with questionable  talent   welch  reed  and embarassed old professionals  huston  carradine  andy devine  jim backus  mae west   threw it all together and . . . . surprise    an absolute disaster .  br    br   the film got an x rating at its release  it  s been lowered to an r   mostly because of a truly tasteless scene in which welch sodomizes rusty  roger herren  and a scene in which welch attempts to have sex with fawcett .  br    br   the movie is very scattershot . . . scenes jump all over the place and people say and do things that make no sense . it  s not good at all but i was never bored .  br    br   acting varies wildly . . . reed is horrible . . . really sad . huston chews the scenery again and again and again to a nauseating extreme . welch is actually not bad as myra but her lines make no sense so you never know what to make of her . west is hardly in the movie  a blessing  and it  s really kind of sick to hear a woman almost   years old cracking sex jokes . roger herren  whatever happened to . . .  was very young  handsome and not bad as rusty . fawcett is ok .  br    br   it  s hard to find things to say about this . . . you just watch it in disbelief . a must see movie   to believe      
films such as chocolat  beau travail  and others have propelled french director claire denis into the top echelon of the world  s most unique and accomplished filmmakers and her     film the intruder  l  intrus  adds to the depth of her portfolio . a cinematic poem that conveys a mood of abiding loneliness and loss  the film provides a glimpse into the psyche of a man who is deteriorating physically and mentally and who travels to various parts of the globe seeking redemption and peace but finds it hard to come by . loosely based on jean  luc nancy  s memoir of a heart transplant  the intruder is a film of such unrelenting opaqueness that even after two viewings it is difficult to describe it in other than subjective  impressionistic terms .  br    br   louis trebor  michael subor  is a man in his seventies who is likely dying of a heart condition and who  like the professor in ingmar bergman  s wild strawberries  attempts to come to terms with the mistakes of his life while he has time . it is clear that he is physically rugged and very wealthy but seems emotionally drained and the look on his face is one of quiet resignation . though we see only one episode of violence  where he gets out of bed in the middle of night to kill an intruder  there is a sinister sense about him . he might be an intelligence officer  a foreign agent  or a hit man .  br    br   whatever the case  he apparently is under some kind of surveillance and acts like a man that has been involved in criminal wrongdoing and is only now able to see the consequences . facial close  ups throughout the movie create a strong sense of isolation . he lives with his dogs in a cabin in the jura mountains near the french  swiss border and has an estranged son sidney  gregoire collin  whom he has long neglected . sidney lives nearby with his wife antoinette  florence loiret  caille  and their two children . in one telling scene  he meets up with his father on the street and calls him a lunatic  but that does not prevent him from taking his money .  br    br   when the film opens  we meet antoinette  a swiss border guard  who boards a van with a trained dog to sniff out some contraband . when she comes home  she is greeted by her husband who asks her with tongue  in  cheek if she has  anything to declare   other than these three individuals  the people and circumstances we see during the rest of the film may exist only in louis  imagination . louis has three women in his life and we meet them all in the film  s first half hour a pharmacist  bambou  who prepares his medication  a neighbor  batrice dalle  who is a dog breeder who refuses to care for his dogs when he goes away on a trip telling him that they are as crazy as he is  and a young russian organ dealer  katia golubeva  who he tells he wants a  young man  s heart  .  br    br   relentlessly  she stalks him throughout the film but it is apparently only in his mind . in the last section of the film  louis travels to south korea in search of a heart transplant and to tahiti to deliver a gift to a different son  one whom he has not seen for many years or perhaps has never seen . his heart transplant  however  appears to be a metaphor for a man without a heart  a man whose life has been fascinating but ultimately directionless  intruding into other people  s lives with little real empathy . the intruder contains a haunting guitar soundtrack by stuart staples of the band tindersticks  reminiscent of the guitar riff in jim jarmusch  s dead man  and gorgeous cinematography by denis regular agnes godard .  br    br   godard creates memorable images that convey a mood of longing and regret a heart beating alone in the snow  an infant in a sling looking up at his father for a good two minutes  the baby  s expression gradually turning from morose to a half smile  colored streamers blowing from a newly christened ship  a massage in a dark room by a mysterious korean masseuse  and the vast expanse of ocean seen from a bobbing ship deck . while the intruder can be frustrating because of its elliptical nature  denis forces us to respond out of our own experience  to understand the images on the screen on a very personal level . if there is any theme  a hint might be found in the opening that tells us what is revealed piecemeal in the film   your worst enemies are hiding  in the shadow  in your heart .   
that  s certainly a strange way to promote a film upon which a great deal rested . and it seems like plain suicide on the part of the studio  given that    the feuds between the cast were well known long before the movie  s release .    the feud between the producer  robert fryer  and director  michael sarne  was also common knowledge .    the cast made no secret of their contempt for the film and made it public at every opportunity  with daily bulletins from the set gleefully reported by gossip columnists everywhere .  br    br   and    the author  gore vidal hated it practically from day one . nevertheless  that tagline just about sums it up . raquel welch does  br    br   give a decent performance as myra  and she looks lovely besides . john huston is very funny as buck loner  the ex  cowboy star who runs a phony acting academy . mae west   in her first screen appearance since      naturally rewrote her part to suit herself  and she is great as   oversexed    and that  s putting it mildly    talent agent   leticia van allen . still  she must have wondered  after waiting so long for a good vehicle in which to return  how she ever ended up in this mess .  br    br   tom selleck  in his film debut  is one of her   clients   . john carradine and jim backus  as doctors  also amble in briefly . rex reed as myron  farrah fawcett and roger herren  as the victims of myra  myron  s sexual passion  are neither here nor there . the same goes for the script  which not only fails to focus on the basic plot of the book  but seems to head in at least three different directions at once . although west  s part was originally larger  she was reduced to a cameo role by the time sarne was through with the editing . and  partly because of this  she seems to be in a different movie . apparently  at some point  the producers realized that mae was going to be the film  s big draw  and  unable to replace most of her cut footage  they rushed her back to the set at the end of filming for the second of her two songs  both of which come out of nowhere . the device sarne used of throwing in old film clips of bygone stars to emphasize whatever points he was making  doesn  t work at all . by the time the movie concludes  all a weary spectator can do is wonder what in the hell it was all about . not surprisingly  just about everyone connected with the production felt the same way  and it died at the box office . a technically flawless dvd includes   among other extras  separate commentaries from both welch and sarne  each of whom have completely opposite opinions of just what went wrong . no doubt it  s home video re  release was prompted by a       vanity fair   piece  which attempted  in great detail  to do the same thing . true  the structure of the novel made a screen adaptation a dubious undertaking  but  with sarne at the helm of what was obviously a   troubled   production  it really never had a chance .  
first of all  i liked very much the central idea of locating the   intruders    others in the fragile self  on various levels  mainly subconscious but sometimes more allegorical . in fact the intruders are omnipresent throughout the film  in the swiss  french border where the pretagonist leads secluded life in the his recurring daydream and nightmare inside his ailing body after heart transplantation . . . . in the last half of the film  he becomes intruder himself  returning in ancient french colony in the hope of atoning for the past .  br    br   the overall tone is bitter rather than pathetic  full of regrets and guilts  sense of failure being more or less dominant . this is a quite grim picture of an old age  ostensibly self  dependent but hopelessly void and lonely inside . the directer composes the images more to convey passing sensations of anxiety and desire than any explicit meanings . some of them are mesmerizing  not devoid of humor though  kind of absurdist play only somnambulist can visualize .  
this hodge  podge adapted from a gore vidal novel  actually one of the great american writers  makes the magic christian and valley of the dolls look like fellini art  works . raquel welch  with an incredible body  and she  s actually not very tall  in a lead role  except for kansas city bomber when she was quite good  playing rex reed  s  bad movie reviewer not critic  alter  ego  only to be surrounded by drag queen  great chick  mae west  horny john huston  a young and  naive  farrah fawcett  pre  lee majors what a shame   and other various creep  azoids to pretend to spoof way too may things has nothing going for it except inter  spliced old films clips  i . e . widmark in kiss of death  lena horne  . . . just so they can continue to bleed the life out of everyone .  br    br   a  out of   . best performance   . it  s so bad  it  s worth seeing   
sammo has to have a   out of   for this movie as it has everything . great story  great fights  great characters and great cameos .  br    br   this film sees dick wei take on billy chow and chong fat . sammo takes on lau kar leung in a casino  sammo loses the fight but what a fight it is full of high tempo action and elements of comedy thrown in .  br    br   some great and touching moments in the film  lam ching ying pops up in a cameo and gets killed off  gutted .  br    br   the end sequence will have you reaching for the rewind button  as its one of the best end fights i  ve seen . sammo takes on loads of guys and ends up squaring up to billy chow .  
  i  ll indicate in this review the point where spoilers begin .  my dissatisfaction is split    tone  deafness     lackluster writing .  br    br   the    i agree with the first commenter  s synopsis about the lack of diversity in the characters and scope of the stories . i was surprised how  this film  at best  woefully shortchanges the real nyc by presenting a collection of people and relationships so narrow as to come across as if it  s inhabited only by the cast of gossip girl  this is coming from someone who likes gossip girl  . a few minority characters are written into the stories  but they are included by obligation  while we can see the gears under the film so clearly  striving to  be diverse  but falling ever  so  short .  br    br   the    is why everything falls short . all characters  white plus a few token minorities  are one  dimensional  cardboard cutouts of people concepts . worse  their interactions with each other are scripted in such a way that for each vignette in the film the audience is treated to what i  d say is a  gag   we get a basic conceit  then some punchline intended to be a clever twist . but even if we suspended cynicism for a moment to say   okay  that was a surprise  . . . the stories are still not that interesting  because they  too  are shallow . when you fashion stories so that their existence hinges solely on the unexpectedness of the ending  you  re writing jokes .  br    br   spoilers below . . .  br    br   the movie primarily tries to tell romantic stories . that  s fine . but romance is amazing  deep  sometimes complex . these  romantic  stories each feature a girl and a boy who at some point share the same location and get to look at each other . words exchange  thoughts are projected through voice  over  but they too only manage to communicate to the audience merely that one person is attracted to another .  br    br   meaning  there is no seduction  in the broad sense   no tension  and neither confrontation nor communion between the wills of two different people trying to reconcile their existence to accommodate the other . the only story involving a superficial  seduction  is told just so the audience ends up being surprised that the guy  ethan hawke  gets outwitted by the girl he  s hitting on  who unexpectedly turns out to be a hooker . sure  his words when trying to pick her up are interesting to hear and we are amused as we  d be if we were next to them  but there is nothing of substance to this story outside of  a then b  . so it unfolds  if something like a postcard could  unfold   with all the other tales as well a then b   that  s it  the only point being that these happen to occur  on set  in manhattan . by the way  the only brooklyn we see is the coney island sketch the only queens is the flickering of a train ride taken by a character traveling to the west village .  br    br   it  s easy to pick at movies that play into all the common stereotypes of race  gender  sexual orientation  and so on .  new york  i love you   however  deserves to be held to stricter scrutiny because of its title . we expect to see the real new york  and real new yorkers  but instead we have paraded before us the selected slice of a demographic  its characters flown in from the o . c .  plus a few others to make it seem as if we are paying attention to diversity . but when we look closer at who those characters are  the whole sham becomes an affront to the very notion of diversity and the ethnicities and cultures the movie shamefully fails to represent .  br    br   for example  the story with the latino man with the little white girl in the park  who gets mistaken by two ladies as her manny  male nanny  when in fact he  s the father . notwithstanding the last scene of this part was unnecessary from a dramatic  construction point of view  it would have been far more interesting to end it when the mother and boyfriend  stepfather are strutting the girl away   it is frankly a bit disgusting that the scene where we learn for sure that the girl  s father is latino also must inform us that he is a sexually desirable dancer . what  the dad can  t be just some guy from south america  now that he  s obviously hot  is the audience better prepared to accept that he had a kid with a middle  to  upper  class white woman  are we that naive as to require such  as if a mexican construction worker would obviously be too unpalatable .  br    br   it  s not my place to dictate where the movie should have gone . but in every conceivable set  up and plot twist  the direction taken screams status quo  appeals to safety . all these stories could have been made more interesting  even if we were forced to keep the single  dimensionality of the characters inhabiting them  at the very least by not choosing from standard and obvious stereotypes . asian girl living in chinatown being leered at by a scraggly old white guy  how  bout an asian cougar pursuing a white college kid instead . again  i  m not saying the entire conceit has to be changed . it  s just that every . damn . story premise . is so hackneyed   and thus they fail to convey anything about why one might love new york  outside the trite . the real way to have improved the film would be to have written a script worth reading .  br    br   i will concede the pleasantness of the soundtrack  the good pacing of the movie  even if what was being paced was  well  dredge   and the general feel of many of the scenes . the movie was just fine to sit through  and i wouldn  t dissuade anyone from doing so . however  it is telling that the most significant homage paid to non  superficiality is when the old opera singer says  paraphrased   that  s what i love about new york everyone  s from a different place .  well  you wouldn  t know it from watching this one .  
my take on this  at our local festival where people would see me so often they thought me a better source than i may actually have been  began with a head shake  well  i can  t summarize the plot  but it  s a really superb character study of an extremely scary man .  then  slight embarrassment  i ran into someone who actually knew what had gone down  that is  from whom trebor unwittingly gets his new heart . it  d been my last film in a long  long day halfway through the festival . maybe i  d dozed . the better a film is the more likely it triggers daydreams that send me really dreaming . don  t know . did know there was an o  henry twist achingly just beyond my ken as things finished . and knew it had to do with the heart  hence the quietly hilarious talent search . my plot  loss remark had more to do with intricacies of trebor  s connections in france  his relation to the dog woman and so on  stuff i  d been wide awake for . denis barely glances at details that might have anchored another director  s treatment .  br    br   but i write these things too often from memory  especially festival films  films whose dvd i don  t have at hand  le lait de la tendresse humaine is one of many examples .   and plot kinks fade much more quickly than broader impressions . still  or already  l  inrus in my memory is beyond all else a character study of a sort of dark  side superman  a super fiend not ensconced in genre or historical trappings but active and plausible  relatively soft  spoken  driven but patient  right among us . the scar  once he attains it  makes him  just visually i mean  in image  a sort of hybrid frankenstein monster  mad doctor and creation all in one . the actual doctors are his tools . if he doesn  t extract and install the heart himself  it  s only because it  s not possible . he  s the force  always  the parasite consuming everyone he touches and finally himself . what else is he  to suggest that he  s us  the first world versus the third  seems too simple since he feeds no less on his fellow first worlders  on all of us .  br    br   denis  s camera  s eye  when it looks at things i know  goes usually where mine would  so i tend to trust her when she looks at things i don  t know . snow trekking  too  fast bicycling  and forest darkness i  ve known in small ways  but the south seas not at all  so i made better entry into l  intrus  both france and the crystalline isles of its finish  than into beau travail . l  intrus is  for me  a very comfortable discomforting film . it  s a sequence of places portrayed familiarly  with a intimacy that allows us to know them whether we  ve seen the reality or not . a single image  trebor cycling  his massive weight on the thin racing frame  the sounds of violated air and shrieking tires  the asphalt ribbon  the dark  in  bright  sun evergreens  cued me that the film would be linear  a road trip  a single will  driven thrust .  br    br   despite trebor  s personal power  he  s a human failure . no matter who he  s with  he  s alone  though apparently he hasn  t always been . his body aborts life twice  first to need the new heart  then despite it . l  intrus is tragedy . trebor is hubris .  br    br   i  m navigating perilously the thread of what i remember . let  s leave it at that .  
it was the sixties  and anyone with long hair and a hip  distant attitude could get money to make a movie . that  s how michael sarne  director of this colossal flop  was able to get the job . sarne is one of the most supremely untalented people ever given a dollar to make a movie . in fact  the whole studio must have been tricked into agreeing to hire a guy who had made exactly one previous film  a terribly precious    s  hip black and white featurette called joanna . that film starred the similarly talentless actress  waif genevieve waite who could barely speak an entire line without breaking into some inappropriate facial expression or bat  like twitter . sarne  who was probably incapable of directing a cartoon  never mind a big  budget hollywood film  was in way over his head . david giler  s book is the best place to go to find out how the faux  infant terrible sarne was able to pull the wool over everyone  s eyes . if there is ever an historical marker which indicates the superficiality and shallowness of an era  myra breckinridge provides that marker . it embodies the emptiness and mindless excess of a decade which is more often remembered for a great sea  change in the body politic . breckinridge is a touchstone of another  equally important vein . watch this movie and you  ll get a different perspective on the less  often mentioned vacuity of spirit which so often passed for talent during those years .  br    br   many reviewers have spoken about the inter  cutting of footage from other films  especially older ones . some actually liked these clunky  comments  on what was taking place in the movie  others found them senseless  annoying  and obtrusive  though since the film is so bad itself any intrusion would have to be an improvement .  br    br   in my opinion  the real reason michael sarne put so many film clips into myra brekinridge was to paper over the bottomless insufficiency of wit and imagination that he possessed . that is to say  sarne was so imagination  challenged that he just threw these clips in to fill space and take up time . they weren  t inspiration  they were desperation . his writing skills were nonexistent  and david giler had wisely stepped away from the project as one might from a ticking bomb  so sarne was left to actually try and make a movie  and he couldn  t . it was beyond his slim capabilities . hence the introduction of what seems like one half of an entire film  s worth of clips . the ghosts of writers and directors  many long since passed on  were called upon to fix this calamitous flopperoo because sarne sure as heck wasn  t able to . this was what he came up with on those days he sat on the set and thought for eight hours while the entire cast and crew  not to mention the producers and the accountants  cooled their heels and waited for something  some great spark of imagination  a hint of originality  a soupcon of wit  to crackle forth from the brow of zeus . um  oops . no zeus  no imagination  no sparks  millions of little dollar bills with tiny wings  each made from the hundreds of licensing agreements required to use the clips  flying out the window . bye  bye .  br    br   as for myself  i hated the film clips . they denigrated sarne  s many betters  poked fun at people whose talents  even those whose skills were not great  far outstripped the abilities of the director and so ultimately served to show how lacking he was in inspiration  originality  and even of plain competency  compared to even the cheesiest of them .  
the intruder  l  intrus   a film directed by french director clair denis  is the liberation of film . it follows its own spirit across time  space  and character . there may be a plot  but what i understood of that i picked up from the description on the netflix dvd sleeve . honestly  it  s probably better to know nothing about the film before watching it  because then the viewer can set aside any and all expectations . the film demands that the viewer think  but also taunts the fact that he or she will not gain full understanding .  br    br   the human heart is the film  s enigma . every image questions its role  its nature  and its form . the heart is the intruder  that of the viewer and that of louis . louis  character is played by michel subor with the peace and mystery required by such a character . honestly  anyone could  ve played louis  character  if he or she possessed a wandering  willing  and comfortable heart . yet subor is the one featured here he becomes the film  his identity is inseparable from it . many of the film  s images lingering in my mind revolve around his expressions  vocal but mainly physical .  br    br   the intruder is poetic in its ability to capture the stillness and fullness of movement  but more fluid than any literature in the shape it refuses to take .  surrealistic  has been a term used in describing this film  but perhaps  quasirealistic  is a more adequate term . nothing in the film exists outside of the possibilities of reality the simple omnipresent score confirms that by imagining in music the connection between heartbeat and dim light .  br    br   watch the trailer a few times if you  re attracted to visual imagery see the film to see the consequences of the combination of verse and a grasping for freedom .  
anyone who knows me even remotely can tell you that i love bad movies almost as much as i love great ones  and i can honestly say that i have finally seen one of the all  time legendary bad movies the almost indescribable mess that is myra breckinridge . an adaptation of gore vidal  s best  selling book  he later disowned this film version   the star  studded myra breckinridge is truly a movie so bad that it remains bizarrely entertaining from beginning to end . the x  rated movie about sex change operations and hollywood was an absolute catastrophe at the box office and was literally booed off the screen by both critics and audiences at the time of it  s release . not surprisingly  the film went on to gain a near  legendary cult status among lovers of bad cinema  and i was actually quite excited to finally see for the first time .  br    br   director michael sarne  who only had two other previous directing credits to his name at the time   took a lot of flack for the finished film  and  in honesty  it really does not look like he had a clue about what he was trying to achieve . the film is often incoherent  with entire sequences edited together in such a half  hazzard manner that many scenes become nearly incomprehensible . also irritating is the gimmick of using archival footage from the fox film vaults and splicing it into the picture at regular intervals . this means that there is archival footage of past film stars such as judy garland and shirley temple laced into newly  film scenes of often lewd sexual acts  and the process just doesn  t work as intended  this also caused a minor uproar  as actors such as temple and loretta young sued the studio for using their image without permission  .  br    br   perhaps sarne is not the only one to blame  however  as the film  s screenplay and casting will also make many viewers shake their heads in disbelief . for instance  this film will ask you to believe that the scrawny film critic rex reed  in his first and last major film role  could have a sex change operation and emerge as the gorgeous sex goddess raquel welch   the film becomes further hard to follow when welch as myra attempts to take over a film school from her sleazy uncle  played by legendary film director john huston   seduce a nubile female film student  farrah fawcett   and teach the school  s resident bad boy  roger herren  a lesson by raping him with a strap  on dildo . did everyone follow that   br    br   and it gets even better  or worse  depending upon your perspective   i have yet to mention the film  s top  billed star the legendary screen sex symbol of the nineteen  thirties  mae west  ms . west was   year old when she appeared in this film  she had been retired for   years   and apparently she still considered herself to be a formidable sex symbol as she plays an upscale talent agent who has hunky men  including a young tom selleck  throwing themselves at her . as if this weren  t bad enough  the tone  deaf west actually performs two newly  written songs about halfway through the film  and i think that i might have endured permanent brain damage from listening to them   br    br   naturally  none of this even closely resembles anything that any person of reasonable taste would describe as  good   but i would give myra breckinridge a  out of   because it was always morbidly entertaining even when i had no idea what in the hell was supposed to be going on . also  most of the cast tries really hard . raquel  in particular  appears so hell  bent in turning her poorly  written part into something meaningful that she single  handedly succeeds in making the movie worth watching . if she had only been working with a decent screenplay and capable director then she might have finally received some respect form critics .  br    br   the rest of the cast is also fine . the endearingly over  the  top john huston  who really should have been directing the picture  has some funny moments  rex reed isn  t bad for a non  actor  and farrah fawcett is pleasantly fresh  faced and likable . roger herren is also fine  but he never appeared in another movie again after this  i guess he just couldn  t live down being the guy who was rapped by raquel welch  . and as anyone could guess from the description above  mae west was totally out of her mind when she agreed to do this movie  but that  s part of what makes it fun for those of us who love bad cinema .  
the film is not visually stunning in the conventional sense . it doesn  t present a series of pretty pictures . instead it is a visually interesting film . it forces the viewer to constantly process or perhaps imagine the context of the various shots . this sort of thing is easy to try but hard to succeed at . the film refuses to use the crutch of a genre to help the less than fully engaged viewer get what  s going on . instead the film touches on and moves through a number of different genres . the trick to loving the film is being able to enjoy this playfulness . i suspect    of north american viewers will just not get it . if you try to pin down the narrative of this film  or the philosophical message  or the symbolist structure  etc . you will waste your time . there are none of these . the film only feints towards these genres and others at times . the only unifying force in the film is claire denis  s own sense of what fits together . there are so few feature length films that come close to satisfying kant  s description of what art is  namely the enjoyment of the power of judgment itself instead of simply subsuming experiences under concepts . film usually takes the easy way out and opts for the simpler pleasure of understanding what  s happening . most film is not art . most film doesn  t come close to art . when a film does  as this one does  and is still enjoyable by a large range of viewers  it  s something of a miracle . my on negative comment is that at times i find the film too simplistically buying in to the various narrative threads that run through it . the tahiti father  son narrative  even though it  s not exactly conventional  ends up making things a little to clear and simple . it dominates too much .  
i have to say i was very curious on viewing this film  and it was considered a notorious disaster when released by   th century fox in     . it has also popped up on several critics lists of bad films  and this only deepened an interest  as i just had to see what made this movie so bad . upon seeing it  i think i have my answers . although i will say it does make for curious viewing  the acting  direction  and script are so laughingly bad  that the supposed satire is completely missing . racquel welch seems to try to carry the film  but after the opening sequence of the sex  change operation  the film goes so far down hill that she cannot handle this task alone . john huston as uncle buck loner is certainly no help  as he licks and leers at the screen  he sometimes looks like he wonders himself what he  s doing there . rex reed bounces around as myron  myra  s alter ego  and even has his own celebrated masturbation scene . bravo for debut performances  farrah fawcett plays a dumb blonde she certainly seemed convincing in this role . but  of course  arguably the most notorious role went to mae west . the sight of a   year old woman with a plastic face making sexual innuendos seemed more suitable for a horror film . i don  t mean to put this cast down personally but in this film  no one comes out looking good . the direction seems so unassured and non  existent  that the film is not only bad  but boring as well . throw in some old film footage of old stars  and the movie becomes even more disconnected . to each his own to anyone that enjoyed this  and i was glad i at least saw it  but myra breckenridge seems to be the disaster that it was always reputed to be from the beginning .  
claire denis has demonstrated repeatedly that film does not need to tell a story  that it is sufficient to create an experience that allows the viewer to take the ingredients and make of them what they will .  br    br   ostensibly the idea within the framework of a most non  linear film is the older man living on the french  swiss border  a man devoted to his dogs  who still has a lover  but whose cardiac status increasingly threatens his life . he has a son with a little family who infrequently meet with him  but when he discovers he is in need of a heart transplant he opts for going to tahiti via japan to obtain a heart transplant on the black market and to rekindle a long lost relationship with a son he had form a tahitian women years ago .  br    br   what denis does with this outline of a story is use her camera to explore the loneliness of the soul  the vastness of nature  man  s interaction with people vs animals  etc . much of the time the  film  doesn  t make sense  but that is because we try too hard to connect all the dots laid out before us in beautiful pictures . life is sort of like that we look  see  observe  integrate  process  and make of it what we will .  br    br   in using this form of film making  much as she did in the strangely beautiful  beau travail   claire denis has developed a signature technique . whether or not the viewer finds the finished product rewarding has much to do with our individual methods of processing visual and conceptual information . this is an interesting and visually captivating film  but many viewers will find it an overly long discourse about very little . perhaps watching again will change that . grady harp  
watching this last night it amazed me that fox spent so much money on it and got so little back on their investment . it  s the kind of disaster that has to be seen to be believed .  br    br   i  m sure that the first morning of filming raquel welch dusted off the shelf over her fireplace to prepare a spot for the academy award she would surely win for this daringly original movie . oops . that  s not what happened .  br    br   the infighting on the set was detailed in print by rex reed and this helped the movie attain a reputation before it was even released . when it was finally released there wasn  t the usual three ring circus of publicity . if i remember correctly  in houston it opened at drive  ins and neighborhood theatres and never played any of the big venues .  br    br   i lay most of the blame on director michael sarne  who was hot after having directed  the not all that good  joanna  a film with music about young people in swinging mod london .  br    br   if i recall correctly  fox wound up firing him and piecing the film together the best they could . that  s why scenes play out in no particular sequence and characters appear and then vanish . an impressive supporting cast  kathleen freeman  jim backus  john carradine  andy devine and others  is wasted with nothing to do .  br    br   to expand it to feature length there are numerous clips from fox movies featuring stars like carmen miranda  in amazing footage from the gang  s all here  andlaurel and hardy  who never dreamed they  d be playing in an x rated movie .  br    br   the x rating is due to occasional language numerous sexual perversions however  none of the characters seem to be having any fun . maybe somebody involved with the film had a warped puritan sensibility and figured that if they could make these things unappealing it wasn  t bad to exploit them .  br    br   this was one of the  youth  pictures that nearly bankrupted hollywood in the      s . one writer joked that easy rider  which was made for pocket change  was the most expensive movie ever made because so many films followed which tried and failed in the worst way to duplicate its success . sixtyish  once honored directors like stanley kramer and otto preminger made movies like rpm and skidoo in an effort to attract a young audience . white directors and writers attempted to make films to attract a black audience . those movies are locked somewhere in a vault and the two named and many others from that genre have never  as best i know  been out on home video or cable . they  re the studios  deep dark secret .  br    br   raquel welch  s performance in this is  all things considered  very good . with the right direction and script she could played the type of sassy liberated women rosiland russel and barbara stanwyck specialized in . she looks great and has awesome costumes . mae west is the liveliest seventy  something actress i  ve ever seen . on the one hand it  s kind of heartbreaking to watch her attempt to capture her glory from years gone by  but i  m sure she needed the money .  br    br   if you want to see a big budget x  rated movie from this era check out beyond the valley of the dolls  also from fox  because it doesn  t take itself seriously . it  s crazy kids playing with the equipment at a major studio . myra breckinridge tries to say something . there just wasn  t anyone who wanted to listen .  
two things haunt you throughout l  intrus  the intruder   who  s the intruder and is it a movie or a dream you  re watching  the ending is so shocking that for a while you  re at a loss for an answer to either of those questions . the intruder pops up as different characters  different men in different circumstances who don  t belong in the scene  so they  re expelled from it  kindly or brutally  but often without emotional involvement . the main character  louis  is a contemptible man . he  s got rough ways  some mean job and no heart . he needs one and goes after it . he has a heart transplanted and afterwards decides to start a new life . can this man succeed in his quest for redemption  a guy like that could cut your throat at the drop of a hat . you know it but claire denis doesn  t encourage you to judge him . occasionally  there  s a young russian woman  a beautiful girl who seems to inhabit someplace between heaven and earth  who does judge him . she may even punish him . but not denis . there  s the character played by beatrice dalle who wants no business with him don  t touch me  she says . but denis lets this man be himself  films him in his self  absorbed quest . i don  t know if what she films is the heart or the mind but it isn  t the traditional plot basics . whatever she films  you get it in the end . you know who  s  the  intruder  you know why  more or less  and some scenes come back to your mind with their full meaning . but was it a movie or a dream   
i bought this dvd without any previous reference but the names of john huston  raquel welch  mae west and farrah fawcett on its cover . i found the brazilian title very weird  but i decided to watch expecting to see a funny comedy maybe like  switch  . however the non  sense story is awful and hard to be described . myron breckinridge  rex reed  is submitted to a surgery to change his sex in copenhagen and he returns to hollywood telling that she is to be myra breckinridge  raquel welch  and claiming half the property of his uncle buck loner  john huston  . along the days  myra and her alter  ego myron corrupt a young couple in her uncle  s academy with kinky sex . in a certain moment  the messy screenplay is so confused that i believe the whole story was only a mind trip of myron induced by the accident . unfortunately the beauties of raquel welch and farrah fawcett are not enough to hold this flick . my vote is three .  br    br   title  brazil    homem  mulher at certo ponto    man  woman up to a point    
  the intruder  l  intrus   is a visual pilgrimage through a mysterious life .  br    br   grizzled michel subor plays  louis trebor  like jason bourne as an old man with a hidden past  living simply in an isolated hut in the woods for justifiably paranoid reasons  but attracting pretty young women who can be useful to him  . we learn more about him through dreams  flashbacks and a journey that may unfold chronologically or not  as well as through his brusque interactions with family  lovers  business associates and a striking nemesis . like  the limey   the film resonates with parent  child regrets and a suspicious past revealed through clips from an old film with the same actor as a young man  here paul ggauff  s     adventure film  le reflux   .  br    br   in a complete contrast of moods  we meet his son sidney  grgoire colin  who has to be the sexiest house husband in the world  as he sweetly and seductively does household repairs and cares for a baby  a toddler and every need of his working wife . surely director  co  writer claire denis must have created him as a woman  s fantasy if ever there was one and a lesson to other filmmakers on filming foreplay . there  s an additional extended scene where he seeks his father in the woods while carefully carrying his angelic baby in a pouch . he is everything his father is not and has every relationship his father is incapable of sustaining no wonder he thinks his father is  a lunatic .  i spent the rest of the film in dread that something bad would happen to him as the true nature of the heart of his alienated father is very gradually played out before our eyes .  br    br   the film is a puzzle  but subor is ruthlessly fascinating as we watch him traverse countries and negotiate nefarious deals  and the voice  over narration for denis  s  beau travail  was annoying anyway . we have to figure out from skylines and incidental signage that he is traveling to geneva  korea and the south pacific . time passing is indicated by the seasons changing and scars being created and healing . there are lots of images of water for cleansing and for distancing .  br    br   continuing her fascination with the morphing of colonialism into globalization  as well as playing a bit on stereotypes of the mysterious orient and russian criminals  denis has incorporated elements from robert louis stevenson  paul gauguin and marlon brando  s tahiti idylls and a    page memoir by french philosopher jean  luc nancy  the last for the title and heart  transplant plot used for an ironic theme of limited immortality which does have consequences .  br    br   while  louis  thinks he  s succeeded in being above boundaries  rules and morals  there is some amusement in the last act as the locals don  t quite know what to do with him and try to help him solve his quixotic odyssey  even as he again lies in isolation .  br    br   several people in the audience left in frustration at the elliptical  but strikingly beautiful  story telling method . the unconventional narrative does raise a lot of plot questions on details .  
seldom seen since theatrical release in      myra breckinridge has become a byword for cinematic debacles of legendary proportions . now at last on dvd in an unexpectedly handsome package  it is as unlikely to win wide audiences today as it was when first released .  br    br   gore vidal  s     bestseller was a darkly satirical statement . most filmmakers felt that the novel  s story  structure  and overall tone would not translate to film  and industry insiders were surprised when   th century fox not only acquired the rights but also hired vidal to adapt his novel to the screen . but studio executives soon had cold feet vidal  s adaptations were repeatedly rejected and novice writer  director michael sarne was brought in to bring the film to the screen .  br    br   studio executives hoped that sarne would tap into the youth market they saw as a target for the film  but sarne proved even more out of synch with the material than the executives themselves . rewrite upon rewrite followed . the cast  sensing disaster  became increasingly combative . in her dvd commentary  star raquel welch says that she seldom had any idea of what myra  s motives were from scene to scene or even within any single scene itself  and that each person involved seemed to be making an entirely different film . in the accompanying  back story  documentary  rex reed says that myra breckinridge was a film made by a bunch of people who hid in their dressing rooms while waiting for their lawyers to return their calls .  br    br   the accuracy of these comments are demonstrated by the film itself . the basics of vidal  s story are there  but not only has the story been shorn of all broader implications  it seems to have no point in and of itself . everything runs off in multiple directions  nothing connects  and numerous scenes undercut whatever logic previous scenes might have had . and while director sarne repeatedly states in his commentary that he wanted to make the film as pure farce  the only laughs generated are accidental .  br    br   chief among these accidents is mae west . it is true that west is unexpectedly well preserved in appearance and that she had lost none of her way with a one  liner   but there is no getting around the fact that she is in her seventies  and her conviction that she is the still the sexiest trick in shoe leather is extremely unsettling  to say the least . but worse  really  is the fact that west is outside her era . her efforts to translate herself into a hip and happening persona results in one of the most embarrassing self  caricatures ever seen on film .  br    br   the remaining cast is largely wasted . raquel welch  a significantly underestimated actress  plays the title role of myra very much like a barbie doll on steroids non  actor rex reed is unexpectedly effective in the role of myron  but the entire role is essentially without point . only john huston and cameo players john carradine  jim backus  william hopper  and andy devine emerge relatively unscathed . yes  it really is the debacle everyone involved in the film feared it would be fast when it should be slow  slow when it should be fast  relentlessly unfunny from start to finish . it is true that director sarne does have the occasional inspired idea   as in his use of film clips of everyone from shirley temple to judy garland to create counterpoint to the action   but by and large  whenever sarne was presented with a choice of how to do something he seems to have made the wrong one .  br    br   the how and why of that is made clear in sarne  s audio commentary . sarne did not like the novel or  for that matter  the subject matter in general . he did not want to write the screenplay  but he needed the money he emphatically did not want to direct the film  but he need the money . he makes it very clear that he disliked author gore vidal and rex reed  at one point he flatly states that reed  is not a nice person    and to this day he considers that vidal and reed worked in tandem to sabotage the film because he refused to play into their  homosexual agenda    which  when you come right down to it  seems to have been their desire that sarne actually film vidal  s novel rather than his own weirdly imagined take  off on it .  br    br   although he spends a fair amount of commentary time stating that the film is widely liked by the gay community  sarne never quite seems to understand that the appeal of the film for a gay audience arises from his ridiculously inaccurate depiction of homosexual people . when taken in tandem with the film itself  sarne emerges as more than a little homophobic   and quite frankly the single worst choice of writers and directors that could have been made for this project .  br    br   in addition to the sarne and welch commentaries and the making  of documentary  the dvd release includes several trailers and two versions of the film a  theatrical release  version and a  restored  version . the only difference between the two is that the final scene in the  restored  version has been printed to black and white . the edits made before the film went into general release have not been restored  but the documentary details what they were . the widescreen transfers of both are remarkably good and the sound is quite fine . but to end where i began  this is indeed a film that will most interest film historians  movie buffs  and cult movie fans . i give it three out of five stars for their sake alone  but everyone else should pass it by .  br    br   gary f . taylor  aka gft  amazon reviewer  
after  beau travail   everybody was waiting for claire denis to make a follow  up masterpiece that never arrived . now it has . denis makes a quantum leap in this film  an orgy of gorgeous cinematography  elliptical editing and willfully obscure narrative events that feels strange and acts even stranger . there  s a nominal plot  derived partly from the jean  luc nancy book of the same name  about a mature man in need of a heart transplant and who seeks a tahitian son he abandoned long ago but mostly it  s an exploration of the idea of intrusions personal and cultural . it takes a couple of viewings to fully comprehend  and has pacing problems close to the end  but it  s still more advanced and gripping than anything else i  ve seen this year . miss it at your peril .  
myra breckinridge is one of those rare films that established its place in film history immediately . praise for the film was absolutely nonexistent  even from the people involved in making it . this film was loathed from day one . while every now and then one will come across some maverick who will praise the film on philosophical grounds  aggressive feminism or the courage to tackle the issue of transgenderism   the film has not developed a cult following like some notorious flops do . it  s not hailed as a misunderstood masterpiece like scarface  or trotted out to be ridiculed as a camp classic like showgirls .  br    br   undoubtedly the reason is that the film  though outrageously awful  is not lovable  or even likable . myra breckinridge is just plain mean . as a hollywood satire it is cold  blooded and mean  spirited  but in a hollow pointless way . myra takes for granted that hollywood is a corrupt town  but goes further to attack such beloved icons as laurel and hardy  shirley temple  judy garland and gary cooper . the film seems to imply that everything about hollywood is by its very nature vile . it seems to think that there is something inherently courageous about mocking sacred cows  but doesn  t supply a rationale for doing the mocking in the first place . the film is also viscously anti  american and anti  establishment and anti  this and anti  that  but all in a superficial  late       s  trendy way . like casino royale ski  doo i love you  alice b . toklas and other would  be hip epics  myra is a middle  aged vision of the hippy  dippy youth culture . it tries to embrace the very attitude that it belittles . but instead of being cheerfully self  mocking  myra makes no attempt to conceal its contempt for everything that comes within its grasp . myra breckinridge has the humor of a bully there  s not a single moment of innocence in it . its intentions aren  t honorable . time magazine aptly described it as being  about as funny as a child molester   but it  s not nearly as sympathetic .  br    br   for instance  poor mae west bore the brunt of so much of the criticism aimed at the film  being described as looking like everything from an aging drag queen to a reanimated walking corpse . the octogenarian star obviously didn  t know just how ridiculous she looked playing a lecherous talent agent lusting after men young enough to be her grandsons or even her great  grandsons . but  director michael sarne had to know  but he used her anyway . why  because  she apparently was the joke . just like john huston  john carradine  grady sutton  andy devine and other veteran performers in the film  they are there only so the film can mock their age and use them to trash their film images . they are cast as smarmy self  parodies  as is rex reed  the arrogant  fey film critic  who is cast as just that in the film . but the real reed  the celebrity hound  jet  setting  talk show gossip  can be charming in an obnoxiously funny way but as myron  myra  s alter ego  he is just obnoxious . again  apparently for sarne  reed is the joke .  br    br   you watch myra breckinridge and you don  t see actors  you see victims . none more so than raquel welch . no one will ever accuse welch of being a great actress  but it is a testament to her tenacity and her appeal that she survived this film and her career prospered . being in almost every scene  welch was front and center as a target for abuse aimed at the film  but to her credit  she gives a remarkably nuanced performance . though  of course  centered between the scenery chewing huston and the almost catatonic west  welch doesn  t have to do much to strike a good balance . even so  she renders her horribly unfunny dialogue with a deadpan smirk  with just the hint of self  righteous glee that would do any james bond villain proud . legend has it that welch was snubbed by a condescending west and subjected to repeated verbal abuse on the set by bumbling director sarne  not to mention being featured in one degrading scene after another  making it all the more remarkable that she was able to give such a cool and collected performance .  br    br   the film  s only intriguing element is trying to figure out just what the film  s agenda is . the whole story is a fantasy fable  which should indicate that it has a moral to deliver  but what that might be is anybody  s guess . with all of its talk about destroying  the last vestigial traces of traditional manhood from the race   it would seem to have a feminist axe to grind . but as a feminist  myra is a monstrous figure  a sexual predator . besides  myra isn  t a woman  rather she is a delusion of myron  who presumably is a gay male . that might explain the male rape scene as well as the character  s love  hate attitude toward the macho  seemingly straight  deadhead rusty  but it doesn  t explain his  her obsession for and the supposedly lesbian tryst with farrah fawcett  s mary ann . the film is obsessed with sex  but can hardly be accused of being in favor of the sexual revolution all the sex is treated as being  if not dirty  than at least perverse and degrading . turning to gore vidal  s original novel isn  t of any help  because it is as confused and pointless as the movie .  br    br   and this is a rare movie that actually seems to hate movies . not just movies as a business  but movies as part of the culture as well . the film itself is wall  to  wall arcane references to old movies  all of which director  screenwriter sarne approaches with a seething disdain . he has raided the film vaults of   th century  fox and peppered the film with snippets of old films  not as an homage or to provide a social commentary  but to mock the innocence of old hollywood . how can an artist   if you generously want to call sarne that   make a work of art if he already hates the very medium he is working in  the very effort is totally self  defeating .  br    br   myra breckinridge doesn  t seem to be in favor of anything other than being just nasty . it hates hollywood  it hates america  it hates sex  it hates gays and straights and women and men and old people and young people and laurel and hardy and  well  you name it and it probably has a scene showing contempt for it . in a very sad and sorry way  myra breckinridge may be the first punk manifesto  a celebration of pop culture nihilism .  
this was a fine example of how an interesting film can be made without using big stars and big effects . just tell a true story about the struggles of two african american women over a turbulent century .  br    br   this movie challenges us all to look at our own personal prejudices and see that people are people  not white  black  etc .  br    br   good movie with a good message .  
generally i like horror movies  but unfortunately this fell out of the one pound bargain bin into my friends hand . we sat down to watch it  ready to be scared and ended up spraying food everywhere we were laughing so much . the concept isn  t that bad  but why they decided number ten in the series would be lucky i don  t know . the worst thing about the movie is the actors . the camera work was poor  the special effects are actually not bad if i am being generous  but overall the story failed to connect on any levels because the actors were as effective as a small lump of badly charred elm . they were wooden beyond measure  especially a foppish young actor who was fifteen years too young to be taken seriously as any kind of government agent . he looked more like a public school boy in fact . there was a really amusing sex scene where he looked like he was bobbing for apples as a busty lady rode on top of him and later his nappy sized underpants were hysterical  but then i remembered it wasn  t supposed to be a comedy . i  m desperately wracking my brain to find something positive to say about this movie apart from the occasional flash of breasts  but there simply isn  t . let  s hope ten was the lucky number and they don  t do another one  i  m not sure my ribs could take it .  
a wonderful film version of the best  selling book and smash broadway play about the lives of sadie and bessie delany  two african  american sisters who both lived over the age of    and told their story of witnessing a century of american history . ruby dee and diahann carroll give very good performances as bessie and sadie  respectively . amy madigan also is good as amy hill hearth  the white new york times reporter whose article about the sisters launched the book  etc . many of the flashback scenes and even many of the present  day ones are very powerful  if not quite as inspirational as in the book . that is the only real drawback  combined with the fact that certain aspects of the story are not presented clearly  such as the inter  racial background of the sisters  mother and why their father was so stern . but other than that  a very well  done  excellently performed  powerful movie .  
i still can  t believe how bad this movie was . if i wasn  t a massochist i don  t know if i would have survived the viewing . it looks like it cost about      to make  but it wasn  t the money that brought them down . the acting was horrid  not just bad   rd graders could have read the lines better . second  the only other reason to watch this kind of movie is the skin  and that is sorely lacking in this flick . we don  t even get to see the more attractive chicas in the buff .  br    br   ahh well  better luck next time eh   
a powerful adaptation of the best  selling book and the smash broadway play about the lives of bessie and sadie delany  two  colored  sisters who lived past the age of    . wonderfully played in their old age by ruby dee and diahann carroll  respectively  they tell their story in flashbacks to amy hill hearth  played by amy madigan   a white new york times reporter . the flashback and present  day scenes don  t have as much inspirational value in them as in the book  but really are powerful . however  certain aspects of the sisters  lives  such as the inter  racial background of their mother and the reasons behind their father  s stern personality are not presented clearly . you need to read the book to fully understand these things . which is just as well  because the book  s just as great  aside from those flaws  it  s wonderfully done and performed  especially by dee and carroll  and a very powerful and educational movie .  
yeah i saw the rough cuts . the unedited sex scenes . the dire cut scenes . almost on a par with the film  the need  for awful acting . this movie is as bad as bad films get . the bad script  bad acting  bad effects  bad locations  bad stunts bad everything . the best  actors  in the film were the lap dancers they hired for the vampire extras   br    br   sean harry  the  foppish actor  as someone else put it  makes a matchstick look talented here . his amazing ability to badly drive a car  when it is obviously being shook by people on the bonnet  check out the reflection in the windscreen   his inability to turn left  which is class . oh and don  t forget the sex scene . plus his noteworthy use of a toy gun which the props guys couldn  t even be bothered to disguise as a real gun . the other actors on screen could barely deliver their lines . it was as if half the time they were waiting for a line that wasn  t there   br    br   the  special effects  were soooo good to the point that the guys who did it took their real names off the credits   br    br   if you want a laugh at a party then rent this movie . . . then again there are plenty of good comedies that are just as funny and don  t give money to people who don  t deserve it .  
sammo hung  s     film pedicab driver is considered by many to be his masterpiece . i have to agree to some extent as the film in its greatest parts really gets as incredible and fantastic as any hong kong film ever has . it is a combination of pretty good and well written drama  interesting and sympathetic  and also non  sympathetic  characters  some genuinely funny humor and truly over  the  top hyper kung fu that is guaranteed to make many jaws drop when someone not familiar with hong kong cinema watches the film as well as it does to the experienced enthusiasts of the unique industry .  br    br   sammo and max mok siu chung play two pedicab drivers who live in hong kong in the middle part of the last century  i think . they drive their cabs and are also desperate for love . sammo is interested in local baker girl ping  nina li chi  while max one day meets a mysterious and beautiful fennie yuen kit  ying he falls madly in love with . many other characters get introduced  too  and they remain pretty clear all the time if the viewer really concentrates on the film and its plot so i cannot say the film is confusing as it could be much worse especially in hong kong  soon we get to know  for instance  that a ruthless gangster family is terrorizing the neighborhood and of course their violent acts affect our protagonists  too  and so the premise for some of the most incredibly choreographed kung fu fight sequences has been created . as well as some nice drama .  br    br   the film has a great cast . the leads are all very good and restrained  not as painfully awful over  acting and  humor  as in sammo  s otherwise great eastern condors        for example  and they are also  thanks to the carefully written screenplay  pretty likable and easy to identify with . the cast includes many familiar hk cinema faces and directors in small roles like corey yuen kwai  the legendary action director and director of films like saviour of the soul  and   ninja in the dragon  s den and fong sai yuk  and    the masterful composer lowell lo koon  ting  john woo  s the killer and ringo lam  s school on fire and prison on fire among many others  pedicab driver included    the shaw veteran liu chia liang  whom with sammo has a furious fight with sticks   alfred cheung kin  ting  the director of dark hk noir classic on the run from       the late great lam ching ying  best known for his friendly face in various hk vampire horror  kung fu  comedies  to name just a few . in fact  the cast in pedicab driver is one of the most interesting i  ve seen in any other hk production .  br    br   the film has some interesting peaceful moments most notably about the love affair between max mok and fennie yuen and one crisis they confront thanks to lowell lo  s character . they really could have done this a completely serious piece if they had wanted as the discussions about human values and meaning of love  no matter what  s your past or what you  ve done for living  get so serious and genuinely effective at the middle part that the film immediately gets much more noteworthy than our average kung fu spectacle actioner . also the other characters  efforts to cure things is very touching and tells delightfully much about right human relations and friendship  and of course love . still i think what fennie says to max  about the future  bad cooking   is very unnecessary and tones the potential of the whole segment and its themes down pretty effectively  unfortunately .  br    br   but then we get to the thing the film makers were interested the most in . which is the action  the outrageous and over  the  top action . the fight scenes include traditional kung fu  some sticks  meat cleavers and the like and they  re used here as hysterically as in the most mind blowing kung fu scene i  ve seen in any film ever  jackie chan  s drunken master ii        they really are that great  there are wires and they  re used very cleverly and people literally fly to the opposite corner of the room when they get kicked or punched . simply amazing and again something only hong kong cinema can deliver . also the dangerous stunts make the viewer hold his  her breath as the film has one fast car vs . pedicab chase sequence and various dangerous looking jumps and twisting bodies flying through the air and crushing with force to the hard destination . still the film makers seem not to  accept  the violence of the film as sammo is  like the late bruce lee  willing to give himself up after the final murderous mayhem at the gangster villa  and i think this kind of morale  no matter how obvious or shallow it may be  is a good thing even in a harmless film like this  as cinema is meant to be much more than just brainless entertainment .  br    br   the film has also some very witty bits of humor that i  m not sure everyone in hollywood or america  for example  would understand or like at all . the hilarious star wars gag at the beginning is definitely among these and it literally forced me to laugh when i realized what i was seeing . also some funny scenes are created out of sammo  s passion for ping . still  the greatest amazement  filled laugh came during the scenes depicted in the former pharagraph as the imagery of big and tall men flying with great force over the screen to the walls or furniture is simply insane and so breathtaking i just cannot hide my feelings and thoughts about these eastern film makers when i witness something like this  and this is nothing but positive and appreciating reaction  of course .  br    br   pedicab driver is among the most incredible hong kong action films that i have ever seen and easily among sammo  s greatest achievements . if the few minor flaws were not there  this could rate even brighter and higher .      
when i bought this dvd i though  it seems to be a nice light comedy about love and relationships made up in portuguese standards let  s give it a chance  i was totally wrong  what a disappointing movie  first  it  s not a comedy it  s a cheap drama which can be so melodramatic that it  s even worse than many portuguese soap operas  second  the plot is so boring  and leads nowhere it has no structure  it just flows  like the wind  in one or another direction the production is also bad  the sound mixing is horrible  because sometimes the voices are disconnected . it made me remind some old portuguese movies from the    s the acting should have been better too well  to sum up  it  s not with films like this one that portuguese cinema will improve  in fact  it was one of the worst portuguese movies i have seen in the last years  bad argument  bad acting  bad production i had no high hopes for this movie  but it was much worse than i  ve ever imagined  just forget about it   
the autobiography on which this movie is based remains one of the most heart  rending books i have ever read . it tells the amazing stories of two sisters  both who earned devotion and respect working well into their    s as a teacher and a dentist  then lived another   years with dignity . ruby dee steals the film with her perfectly nuanced performance as the rebellious  blacker  bessie  the dentist . she not only expresses her anger  angst  and wisdom well she lets you know exactly where they  ve come from using an economy of words . diahnn carroll has the feel of the older sister  the teacher  down perfectly  but i  m afraid she never makes me believe that she  s over    . no matter   the stories are well worth telling . amy madigan is a bit too extreme and intrusive in acting overwhelmed and insecure in the first half of the movie as the caucasian ny times reporter . this  too  is only a minor distraction . the stories  all true  are the attraction and although two or three get slightly damaged in the translation  most of them make it through just fine .  br    br   i recommend the book as essential reading to all people i recommend any books to . i cannot quite but this tv  movie in that rarefied air  but it certainly captures enough of the flavor to be highly worthwhile in its own right .  
  mistress of the craft  celeste works as an agent for the london branch of interpol  s bureau    which specializes in  i think  occult criminals . she possesses the eye of destiny  good in her hands  dangerous if anyone else got it .  br    br   bureau   has caught a satanist from california  hyde  no relation to dr . jekyll  . detective lucy lutz of lapd flies to england to bring him back to the us . lutz is the connection to the earlier witchcraft movies  having been played by stephanie beaton before in witchcraft  . in part   lutz was played by another woman in   lutz was a man   br    br   lutz  s part in  was not terribly big  but she  s one of the main stars in this one . though she  s left behind her high heels and short skirts  she still has revealing tops in this one . and this time around she has nude and sex scenes . beaton is pretty appealing in the role .  br    br   as usual  there are a number of sex scenes . an anonymous clubgoer has a fatal threesome with two vampires  the satanist and head vampire get it on with some kink  lutz finds an english pal  and celeste and her boyfriend make love .  br    br   the main recurring character of the witchcraft series  will spanner  does not appear in this one  although lutz mentions him to bureau   agent dixon in a conversation about vampires . she also phones her partner detective garner  parts     and    though we don  t hear his end of the conversation .  br    br   hyde is sprung from jail by a group of vampires led by raven  for a walpurgis ritual having something to do with a god named morsheba  i think  . hyde delivers all of his lines in a very flat manner  while raven overacts to a campy degree . the fight scenes are terribly choreographed .  br    br   the audio in the movie was pretty poorly recorded  and poorly edited . additionally  some dialogue gets lost under blaring music or sirens . cinematography isn  t great either . having the movie set in and actually shot in the uk was a bit of a novelty though  at least for this series .  br    br   wendy cooper is very good as celeste attractive  certainly  but more importantly she  s easily the best actor in the movie  bad fight scenes notwithstanding  . i  m quite surprised her filmography is so small . if there  s ever a witchcraft xiv  and i would bet there will be  they should bring her back  even if it means flying her to california   br    br   witchcraft x is available on its own  or in the dvd collection hotter than hell along with witchcraft xi and two unrelated movies .  
i really enjoyed watching this movie about the delany sisters . i knew of them  but that was all . this movie opened my eyes to their bravado and courage . what a pair . what sacrifices they made to live life on their own terms . this is not only a movie for african americans  but for all americans . it is sort of a history lesson and a documentary rolled into one and combined with an entertaining movie biography . the acting was superior by all included and we really do get a glimpse of the hardships these two sisters went through for many years . both sisters are quite different from each other . they came from a very loving and very strict family with high  maybe even impossible standards of perfection . it is sad to see how sadie  s father refused to allow his daughter to continue to see her boyfriend due to a possible misunderstanding . i thoroughly recommend this movie and i am glad i caught it on television the other day .  
ed wood is eclipsed and becomes orson welles . this film is fantastic . vampire witches who fight in terribly choreographed scenes and dialog that could have breaking ribs with laughter . plan  from outerspace dons  t stand a chance against this . described by the writer and psychic stephen armourae on the vampire forum as a masterpiece  he  s from england and thoroughly sarcastic .  br    br   it has stephanie beaton and the producers know whats going to save them from bankcrupcy by repeatedly using her . though she leaves me cold as she looks more like the undead than all the devil raisers . and eileen daly is just a lower rate elvira . the whole thing is badly done .  br    br   watch it for the script though  
a number of contributors have mentioned the age difference between stewart and novak . she was   and he was   when this movie was released . i think that the difference didn  t matter for a suspense drama like vertigo  but it does matter for a romantic comedy . we can easily understand  that is  why his character would be attracted to hers  but it  s less clear why hers would be attracted to his .  br    br   still  the movie works as a light romantic fantasy . the scene where she stares at him across the cat  s head  with her dark painted  on eyebrows flaring and the sounds of her humming and the cat purring  is true magic . it  s a little jarring  therefore  when the scene shifts to the top of the flatiron building  and we see the age difference very sharply . as he embraces her  she reaches up to run her fingers through his hair  but stops that motion and just brushes her fingertips lightly against his toupee .  
i bought a set of  dvds for   bucks at my local suncoast  which contained this movie and three other trashy horror flicks  including its sequel  witchcraft xi   . so basically i paid the rock bottom price of   .   for this movie  if you do the math . i can  t exactly say i was ripped off . i have a thing for trashy horror movies  but this is the kind of trash that gives trash a bad name . the budget couldn  t be over        though it appears as if they spent a total of   .    . i know it  s a low  budget film  but that  s no excuse for totally uninspired camerawork . the film  blood cult   though not very good  was made for an extremely low budget and still had fairly good camerawork and acting . the acting in this movie is the definition of  effortless   especially from that muscular guy with the texas accent . everyone is pretty much reading their lines off the page . you can take that figuratively or literally . i wouldn  t be surprised if the script was off  camera as they were performing . i said before that i  ve never seen a bad english actor . this movie has quite a few bad ones . and though english movies aren  t always good  they always seem to have at least a level of sophistication  which is why i don  t see why any englishman  or englishwoman  would volunteer to do a home  video  style schlock flick like this . did merchant ivory put a hold on their casting calls  usually  i think people are too hard on directors and actors . even some of the worst movies in hollywood have some level of professionalism in the directing  acting and cinematography departments . even when you watch a movie like  glitter  you can  t honestly say it looks like a third  grader shot those scenes  though a third  grader could  ve written the script  . i  ve seen home movies that are shot better than  witchcraft x   and that  s no exaggeration whatsoever . even the gore is minimal since the filmmakers only had money to buy some fake blood on sale at party city . not a single effort was put into making this movie   let  s just sum it up like that . you get the picture . there  s a good deal of nudity  though that doesn  t save it . however  i must say that girl with the red  orange hair  who  s either naked or wearing a cleavage  popping outfit throughout the film  is really hot   br    br   my score   out of     
the      s tv series bewitched owes it  s idea from this movie . this is the movie that jimmy stewart  kim novak made right after they were cast together in vertigo by alfred hitchcock . this one is not as obsessive as that one but novak is just as captivating .  br    br   this was jack lemmons   th movie and he is good in support here as well as ernie kovacs . the movie has a lot of good things about it . hermine gingold is very good in this movie  almost as good in support here as she was in the music man . the cast is very solid .  br    br   this movie has a late      s new york city feel  a cat that is as hexing as any feline in any movie . it is well worth watching as it is a love story with all the emotion of any   a little magic too boot .  br    br   it is not vertigo but i think because it followed that movie  viewers then did not rate it as good as it deserved  sure am glad that william asher saw it  so that the      s series got created . i am not so glad about what will ferrell did to it on the big screen  this movie is much better than that .  
john wayne  albert dekker compete for oil rights on indian territory  and for the attention of martha scott in this republic pictures film shot out of utah  usa .  br    br   an interesting western of sorts due to its characters and its more modern setting  with wayne  dekker playing the old and new factions of the west . it  s based on a story by thomson burtis who co  writes the script along with eleanore griffin and ethel hill . albert rogell directs in the workmanlike way that befits his career . a pretty mundane story is in truth saved by its final third  where thankfully the action picks up and we are treated to something resembling a pulse . the light hearted approach to the romantic strand doesn  t sit quite right  and a glorious fist fight between the two protagonists is ruined by rogell being unable to disguise the stunt men doing the work . but hey  stunt men deserve their moment of glory always . solid support comes from george  gabby  hayes and wayne as usual has much screen charisma  particularly when rattling off his pistol . but in spite of its better than usual republic budget  it remains a film of interest only to     s wayne enthusiasts .      
bell book and candle was released in december     and features james stewart  kim novak  jack lemmon . and ernie kovaks . this film had james stewart and kim novak in their second on  screen pairing  after the alfred hitchcock classic vertigo  released earlier the same year  . this was stewart  s last film as a romantic lead as he was deemed too old at age   to play that sort of part anymore . the movie is about a witch played by kim novak who is attracted to a mortal played by james stewart . she puts a spell on him and he falls head over heels in love with her . i enjoyed the movie and its cast . this movie at the time was a moderate success which was nominated for a golden globe for best movie comedy . gimmeclassics  
i saw this movie last year in media class and i have to say i really hated it . i was in year    and aged    so that may have has something to do with it . but for english this year  year    we had to read animal farm  also by george orwell . aside from the fact that the book is based on the revolution  my opinion is that it is a terrible book  and i also hated it .  br    br   but      i think it was the most disturbing movie i have ever seen  and i think that george orwell is one of the most deranged people ever to live on this planet . i  m sorry to everyone who loved his work  but i unfortunately did not . the themes in the movie were well portrayed  but the way the whole movie was set and the events that took place within it were not to my standards . this is only my opinion  and i  m sure many many other people thoroughly enjoyed this film .  
this is an honest attempt to make a bewitchingly sweet love story . the obvious inspiration behind the successful tv series  bewitched   this lovely sweet rom  com is a timeless treasure . the comparisons are obvious . jimmy stewart plays a hapless but stolid  straight .  kim novac plays a voluptuous blond witch who captures him through the use of a love spell . but when that spell is broken by a stronger witch  she contents herself with the duties of running her own shop and takes comfort in the fact that her beloved pyewacket  her feline familiar  is being cared for by her beloved aunt . you  ll recognize the aunt from  murder by death .  this movie is fun and touchingly sweet  bearing some spectacular wit and a nice witchy feel . worth a look .  
i must admit  there are few books with corresponding movies that i have actually read before seeing the cinematic adaptation . nineteen eighty  four happens to be one of those rare cases . the book was great . it was immersive and interestingly prophetic . but the movie just plain sucked . it is easily the worst film i have ever seen . the only reason i didn  t turn it off after the first  minutes was the fact that watching the movie was half of a two  part assignment for a class . it was dark and grotesque  but did nothing in the way of achieving the proper atmosphere . the acting was nothing above average  and considering the fact that there wasn  t much to act out  this was severely disappointing . the book  for example  didn  t give me the impression that winston was unable to blurt out more than a single syllable at a time . boring  disturbing  and visually unappealing  the movie totally cannibalized the book . wait a second . . . isn  t it british   
this impossible tale is of a female witch pursuing a mortal man  in a mortal world . her  community  is open among it  s members  but she conceals her witchcraft from the mortals . hmmmm . . . this is starting to sound familiar . lol . it  s not your typical movie . very  campy  performances by jack lemmon and ernie kovacs keep things from getting dull . kim novak is always a pleasure on screen  but i found her pairing with james stewart unusual  but not fatal to the story  .  br    br   with re  newed interest in all things witchy and dark  this film deserves to be discovered and re  discovered by old and new audiences . . . . . . it  s still a hoot   
i think that the shots and lighting were very poor . when i watched it for the first time i thought it was the old version       . when i really found out the true year of the film i was shocked . i didn  t know that there could be such a bad film made so recently . thats really all i wanted to say . this film had a good plot though  nothing you couldn  t miss out on if you would simply read the novel that george orwelll wrote . all i really want to say has already been said except for this i can  t believe that this film could have possibly received so many awards and nominations . i gave this film a one  awful   because i felt that it was very badly made . well that is all . so long  
kim novak  s a witch on the prowl for a mortal lover  and james stewart  s her choice . scintillating comedy of manners  from the broadway stage shot by james wong howe in witch color  and performed by a sterling cast . ernie kovacs is wonderful as the perpetually dishevelled writer redlitch . i love this movie  though few others seem to . kim alone makes it a winner in my book . ha  my   film of     .  
the book is fantastic  this film is not . there is no reason this film could not have embraced a futuristic technological vision of the book . hell  total recall was released a few years later and that did a good job of it  even a clockwork orange released in the   s did a good job of trying to make a futuristic world . the bleak german expressionistic colours  the black and white footage from the vision screens  there is no reason for this approach for when the film was made in     . the main character is in a white collar writing job yet he dresses like he works with oil and grease in a garage . this film decides to take a mock  communistic approach to set design  atmosphere and theme  yet the novel did not necessarily dictate a communist  worship  the  humble  worker theme itself . this book seriously needs to be adapted in a modern context as this book is more relevant today than ever before . i could not watch more than   minutes of this crap . the soundtrack is annoying  the lack of foresight is annoying  this film seems to have been made to deny a sense of realism or believability when that is exactly what is required to hammer the novel  s messages to the viewer .  
this is the kind of film that  if it were made today  it would probably star sandra bullock and hugh grant actually  now that i think about it  this one is quite liable to be remade one day . it  s pleasant  but with no depth whatsoever . it suffers from the almost fatal miscasting of james stewart in a role he is about   years too old for  and as a result there is no chemistry between him and the beautiful kim novak . ernie kovacs  in the small supporting role of an aspiring writer  is the only actor in the film whose performance approaches what you might call  wit  .        
  ninteen eighty  four  is a film about a futuristic society in which the government controls everything and no one can be trusted . it is a very dark film  and it is one that will not make you feel good about yourself . it is about a romance taking place in this society and the betrayal of the lovers and about human nature being self  centred . the film has some very good ideas and is done well in portraying this society with the dark tones in colours  contrasting with happiness and bright colours in the dreams  and a general feeling of loneliness through objects and people and places . however  despite the film  s cleverness at portraying this idea  the film was very slow and did not seem to quite get the idea across . it seemed to spend too much time being clever rather than telling a story .  
vertigo co  stars stewart  in his last turn as a romantic lead  and novak elevate this  stewart  s other  christmas movie   movie to above mid  level entertainment . the chemistry between the two stars makes for a fairly moving experience and further revelation can be gleaned from the movie if witchcraft is seen as a metaphor for the private pain that hampers many people  s relationships . all in all  a nice diversion with legendary stars      .  
a few weeks ago  i read the classic george orwell novel      . i was fascinated with it and thought it was one of the best books i  ve read recently . so when i rented the dvd  i was intrigued to see how this adaptation measured up . unfortunately  the movie didn  t even come close to creating the ambiance or developing the characters that orwell so masterfully did in his book . the director seems to think that everyone watching the movie has read the book  because he makes no attempt to demonstrate why the characters act and feel the way they do . john hurt  the main actor  is droll the entire way through  and hardly does any acting until the end . we never really find out what he does for a living  or why his love affair is forbidden  or what the political climate is and why the main character desires rebellion . this book cannot be done justice in movie form without proper narration and explanation of the political system oppressing the characters  and the fact that those are missing is the greatest shortcoming of this film . besides that  john hurt was a terrible casting choice  looking about   years older than the   year old winston he was supposed to be portraying . on a more positive note  however  the rest of the cast was well chosen . it  s just too bad they were put in such a horribly adapted film with the wrong lead actor .  brian o .  
this   prodigal son  and  eastern condors  are my favourite sammo hung films . the fat dragon is fatter in this outing than he was in  condors   but he  s no less sure  footed as director or actor . he is  in fact  at the top of his form and delivers a devastating  brutal actioner that boasts half a dozen amazing sequences and manages to tell a compassionate  sweet love story also . love and romance are not the director  s priorities here  but they serve as curious adjuncts to the action  and insure that viewers don  t hit the fast  forward button between the physical clashes .  br    br   the opening scene  which features a funny light sabre duel  sets a solid but deceptive tone . a sequence in which sammo  s pedicab is chased by a car is beautifully staged and sweetened with a sharp  comic tone . the fast and furious stick fight between sammo and lau kar leung is a model of dazzling choreography and sharp  superb direction  and easily one of the best ever of its type . the film  s violence escalates slowly until  finally  when the climactic showdown comes  we are subjected to some of the most brutal altercations ever seen in a sammo production . the director  actor  s assault on billy chow and a house filled with angry  menacing opponents is a bone  cracking  physically punishing delight .  br    br   terrific on every level and one of the best martial arts movies ever made .  br    br   great score  too .  
just saw it yesterday in the sao paulo intl film festival . just before going i came here to see how it was rated  and at that time it was  .   a pretty nice rate . . .  br    br   after   minutes i was dying to get out  never did this   but felt embarrassed to do so as the producer of the movie was in the screening .  br    br   i did not like at all  the dialogs are shallow and lead nowhere  the characters are shallower than the dialogs  nothing lead anywhere  and the worst and worst plenty of siemens and organics advertising on the movie . despite the fact that i already paid to go to the movie and entertain myself  i still have to be bombarded by the main character chatting on the internet and siemens mobile popping  up all the time on her lap  top or another character having a bath or cutting her hair just to have organics shampoo displayed enormously on the screen  all of this would be bearable if the plot  characters  romances  anything was good  but was bad  really bad  a  don  t know how to do  sex  in  the  city .  br    br   don  t waste your time or money .  
for those of you unfamiliar with jimmy stewart  this is one of his  lesser  films from later in his career . and  while it isn  t a great film compared to many of his other pictures  it isn  t bad and is a decent time  passer   but not much more .  br    br   kim novak is a witch in new york city and for some inexplicable reason  she decides to cast a spell on poor jimmy to make him fall in love with her . over time  the cold and detached ms . novak also begins to fall in love with stewart   and apparently in the witch  s rule book  this is a definite no  no    br    br   the film is odd in its sensibilities about the witches . they are neither the baby  sacrificing nor the all  powerful variety . most of their magic is pretty limited and pointless  such as jack lemmon using his powers to turn off street lamps  . and  very oddly  the witches all seem to be bohemians who hang out in hip bars where you might find people wearing berets and listening to crappy jazz . considering what i think of jazz  it must really stink to be a witch in this movie  s world   br    br   anyway  the film is pretty romantic and mildly comedic  but not something i would rush out to watch . the acting is pretty good  but the script doesn  t offer enough payoff to make this an exceptional film   in fact  i almost scored the film a    it was really close .  
i have heard about this novel a long time ago  many of my friends have recommend me to read it . i searched it in every place and finally found it . this is a book that every man should read  because it is genius and because of it  s vision . i enjoyed every page .  br    br   i knew about the movie and could not wait to see it . when i finally did i was very disappointed  many things that are in the book are not in the movie  i do not think that this is a spoiler  that just makes the movie not logical . . . michael radford might be a good director  but a bad writer . especially as a book adopter . the movie is not dark at all  the writing is really bad  the only thing that is good  even great  is the acting . john hurt is an amazing actor and the only face i myself could see as winston smith .  br    br   what angers me the most are the people in imdb that called this  the best adaptation ever  without even reading the book  or knowing anything about screen writing   br    br   you can only understand the brilliance of the story by reading the book  do not consider this as an alternative . as a fan of the book  i was very disappointed .  br    br   the points i gave for this movie goes for the acting .  
it  s a gentle  easy  going     s comedy . kim novak belongs to a coven of witches in manhattan . she puts a spell on neighbor jimmy stewart out of boredom but eventually falls in love with him  losing her powers . see  witches are permitted to have  hot blood  but not love . elsa lanchester is novak  s aunt  also a witch . jack lemmon is her brother  ditto . hermione gingold is the chief witch  and ernie kovacks is sidney redlich  an author who specializes in writing about witches .  br    br   i described it as a     s comedy because it could hardly be mistaken for anything else . everything is so smooth and polished  from the set decoration  through wardrobe and plot  to the performances and direction . take the character of ernie kovacks . he  s referred to as  a drunk and a nut .  and here  s how the movie demonstrates these traits . he asks for a second drink  and  though he always wears a jacket and tie like the other gentlemen  his hair is a bit long and tousled . that  s a strictly     s version of a drunk and a nut . nothing is out of place everything is tidy and free of dust . the soles of jimmy stewart  s shoes are barely scuffed .  br    br   and the zodiac club  where the witches hang out . it  s called  a low dive .  yet it  s a clean  dark place with polite waiters  a quintet of musicians  neatly dressed clientle  and potted plants against bare brick walls . that is not my idea or yours of a  low dive    not even for greenwich village in     . my idea of a dive in greenwich village is julius  s or the white horse tavern or the san remo or the swing rendezvous  a now defunct lesbian hangout . the zodiac club is a high dive compared to these .  br    br   the kookiness we always hear about is muted by today  s standards . i mean  kim novak is odd because she runs around her apartment in her bare feet . and she wears a lot of black clothes like the beatniks of the period did .  br    br   but never mind all that . it  s an enjoyable romantic comedy . kim novak is effective as gillian  who runs a primitive art shop for the uptrodden . she has a strange beauty  bulky and ethereal at the same time . she glides rather than walks  a wispy presence . her eyebrows seem drawn with a set of plastic french curves . and jimmy stewart is quite good as the bewildered and bewitched victim . in the     s he usually played in light roles . in the postwar years and for much of the     s he was the tortured protagonist  but here he puts his early experience in comedy to good use . who could resist laughing when hermione gingold forces him to wear a shawl and drink a hideous concoction of putrid fluid in order to cure him of novak  s spell  it  s good to see him as a stooge instead of the angry and indignant man of principle he was in danger of becoming . richard quine directs the movie quietly  without fireworks or special effects  and does some interesting things that the play couldn  t have had . note the scene in which novak casts the spell over stewart  when the siamese cat  s face and ears seem to merge with novak  s startling eyes .  br    br   ernie kovacks in the     s was a well  known television personality . there was never anything quite like the ernie kovacks show before   or after . it brings the word  surrealism  to mind . he could stage five minutes worth of wordless and indescribable tricks in an unpopulated room with only bartok  s concerto for orchestra as background . and he did an unimpeachable sketch using the character of percy dovetail  an effete poet . the credits kind of skip over the condoli brothers but that  s rather casual because these two guys   pete and conte   were virtuoso trumpeters with independent careers in jazz ensembles . conte was later a member of doc severison  s band on johnny carson  s late show .  br    br   the third act kind of bogs down a little and becomes more  romantic  than  comedy  . but it  s never dull . the whole film rolls along as neatly as van druten  s play and the kids will probably get a kick out of it too .  
i am a massive fan of the book and orwell is certainly my favourite writer ever since studying animal farm at gcse . i bought the dvd out of sheer curiosity  burton is an actor i hold in high regard so when i heard that he played the role of o  brien i was swung .  br    br   i watched the trailer on the dvd first and some fears started to set in  mostly regarding the frankly terrible  theme song   hearing the eurythmics mechanically shouting        over and over again to an electronic beat is as bad as it sounds .  br    br   the acting on a whole is pretty good  burton and hurt play their roles well and the tension that exists in the ministry of truth towards the end can be felt  especially in the harrowing room    scene . however this is also where the movie is let down . the movie spends too much time focusing on the love affair between winston and julia  which frankly isn  t what orwell was writing about . he was writing about a harrowing future  about how ingsoc build up a mans beliefs and then shatter them all in the name of him being made to love big brother . the movie skips over what is essentially the most important part of the book  winstons coming to terms with his position in life and the world  and his re  education via o  brien .  br    br   the comment on imdb at the moment states that the movie sticks to the book is completely incorrect . julia is not present when winston visits o  brien  they do not commit themselves to goldstien  s brotherhood and confess their crimes . there is no obvious mention of the initial instances where winston finds the article with the unpersons but it does get mentioned near the end  if you have not read the book it is completely confusing .  br    br   a terrible screenplay  which some excellent acting cannot rescue . michael radford seems to have completely missed the point orwell was trying to make  and the electronica sound track is frankly terrible .  
gillian holroyd  kim novak  is a witch . secretly  she  s attracted to her quite normal neighbor shep henderson  james stewart  . she casts a spell on shep that forces him to dump his fianc and fall for her . things are going along quite nicely until gillian discovers she really cares for this mortal man . she decides to tell him her secret . but how will shep react when he finds out that he was  tricked  into falling in love with gillian   br    br   as far as light  hearted     s comedies go  bell book and candle is good  but nothing spectacular . it  s an enjoyable enough watch and should appeal to almost anyone who sits down with it . just don  t go into the movie expecting the greatest thing since sliced bread . the movie  s cute  funny at times  and touching in the end . kim novak and james stewart do their best and have some real chemistry . novak  as others have pointed out  looks quite incredible in an understated sort of way . the supporting cast with jack lemmon  hermione gingold  and elsa lanchester is often laugh  out  loud funny and steals a lot of the spotlight from novak and stewart . the biggest problem i see is that bell book and candle can  t quite decide what kind of movie it wants to be . is it a screwball comedy  is it a romantic comedy  is it a supernatural comedy  had director richard quine stuck with just one approach  the movie might have been even better and more memorable .  
after hearing about george orwell  s prophetic masterpiece for all of my life  i  m now    but never having read the book  i am totally confused as to what i  ve just seen .  br    br   i am very familiar with the concepts covered in the novel  as i  m sure most are  but only through hearsay and quotes . without this limited knowledge this film would have been a complete mystery  and even with it i  m still no more educated about the story of     than i was before i watched it .  br    br   on the plus side . . .  br    br   the cinematography is amazing  hurt  burton deliver fine performances and the overall feel of the movie is wonderfully grim and desolate . the prostitute scene was a fantastically dark piece of film making .  br    br   now for the down sides  and there are plenty . . .  br    br   there is a war going on   at least as far as the propaganda is concerned   but why  with who  nothing is explained . there are a couple of names bandied about  eurasia etc   but they mean nothing without explanation .  br    br   who is winston  what does he do  where does he come from  where does he work  why is he changing news reports  why isn  t he on the front line  why doesn  t he eat the food in the canteen  what is that drink he  s drinking through the entire film  why is he so weak  ill  why isn  t he brainwashed like the rest of them  what  s the deal with his mother  sister  what happened to his father  a little back story would have been nice  no scrub that  essential for those like myself that haven  t read the book . without it  this is just a confusing and hard to follow art  house movie that constantly keeps you guessing at what is actually going on .  br    br   the soundtrack was dis  jointed and badly edited and the constant chatter from the big brother screens swamps the dialogue in places making it even harder to work out whats going on . i accept that this may have been an artistic choice but it  s very annoying all the same .  br    br   also  i know this has been mentioned before  but why all the nudity  it just seemed totally gratuitous and felt like it had been thrown in there to make up for the lack of any plot coverage .  br    br   i personally can  t abide the way hollywood feels it has to explain story lines word for word these days . we are not all brainwashed simpletons  but this is a few steps too far the other way . i can only imagine that it totally relies on the fact that you  ve read the book because if this film really is the  literal translation  that i  ve seen many people say  i would find it very hard to understand why     is hailed as the classic it is .  br    br   there  s no denying that it was light years ahead of it  s time and has pretty much predicted every change in our society to date   maybe this has been a sort of bible to the powers that be    but many sci  fi novelists have done the same without leaving gaping holes in the storyline .  br    br   i guess i have to do what i should have done from the start and buy a copy of the book if i  m to make any sense out of this .  br    br   all in all  very disappointed in something i  ve waited for years to watch .  
i can watch b  bc and feel all the emotions i felt when i first saw it at aged   well  maybe all but one . certainly miss k . novak has lost none of her silky allure in nearly half a century . she was a thinking youth  s diana dors . all those thinking youths now collecting their pensions can briefly regain the heart  clutching  collar  tightening  blood  pulsing ardour they felt when she gazed directly into their eyes back in the days when they were being told that they had never had it so good . now  huddled up against the cold and fearful of being mugged by a hoodie  they scuttle home as fast as their arthritic knees can carry them from the video shop  relatively happy in the certain knowledge that within the triple  locked comparative safety of their fourth  floor tower block flat they can regain just a small fragment of their lost youth and perhaps reflect that love truly is eternal . this movie is miss novak  s golden moment . she seized it avidly and gave a performance of awesome voluptuousness combined with a hypnotic awareness of her own sex  appeal and  despite all this  she convinces us that her character possesses a strange and beguiling innocence . she completely dominates the amiable mr j . stewart who seems resigned to handing her the movie . misses e . lanchester and h . gingold offer comic relief along with mr e . kovacs whose peculiar talents are strictly proscribed . mr j . lemmon plays miss novak  s brother . he is a beatnik  a species that disappeared as soon as it realised that its existence was being acknowledged by the mainstream . some of the more hardcore beats reinvented themselves as hippies a few years later . certainly they had become figures of fun by     and mr lemmon does not appear overly concerned with restraint in portraying one . but all else is mere frippery  miss novak  bathed in a particularly beautiful spectrum of technicolor  is the sole raison  d  etre for  bell  book and candle  . it survives  its reputation enhanced  as the ultimate showcase for one of hollywood  s most beautiful women . loved by moviegoers  ignored by critics  miss novak will continue to captivate with that enigmatic smile all the time thinking old men have the strength to push the  play  buttons on their dvds . one day  probably after we are all gone  she will be discovered by a new generation who will  belatedly  realise that it is quite possible for a woman to be fully  dressed and sexually attractive at the same time .  
i saw this movie literally directly after finishing the book  and maybe that was a neutral idea or a very stupid one . i think it was the latter . first of all  it was inaccurate in many small  yet important details . one of the first things i noticed was  during winston  s day to day life in his work  his conversations  eating in the cafeteria  etc . he feels free to look unhappy and make suggestive glances at people without immense fear . one of the most important parts of the book  was that even in small activities it was virtually impossible to safely show even a hint of his true emotions on his face at any moment . this is also shown in the scenes on the streets of the proletarions . in the book winston knew that this was a huge risk to wander around there and was skeptical and frightened at every trip . while in the movie  he does it so often and without fear  that you lose the important feeling of heavy surveillance and risk right off the bat .  br    br   other minor inaccuracies included winston hiding his diary in the wall  yes a very small change  but it begs the question  what  s the point  there was also the most annoying thing a director can do with a book  and that is morphing characters .  br    br   the large inaccuracies were far more disturbing  however . first of all  one of the important pieces of the book is that big brother is a government based on an intelligent  yet crude philosophy . in the movie  they skip that and go straight to making you think that the government is run by hitler with technology . which is true  in a sense  when directed with its facism  but if that  s all you get out of big brother  you really missed the point of the book . the terrifying thing about big brother is that  in a way  it has some points behind its philosophy . when o  brien is picking at winstons mind in the ministry of love  he is listening to everything winston says against big brother . the fact that he listens  and advances forward in his philosophy  is in effect what is most creepy and intriguing . in the end   careful spoiler ahead  when winston says he loves big brother  the terrifying thing is that you are not sure whether it was souly the beating and torture that caused this  or the actual power behind the philosophy . i am in no way saying that the big brother  s philosophy has points that appeal to me  but its intelligence and depth is what makes this book incredibly disturbing .  br    br   also  how could anyone feel any connection between julia and winston in the film  it was awful  no connection whatsoever .  br    br   and where was o  brien before he gave winston his address  one of the things that carried the book was winstons thoughts about o  brien before he made contact with him . in the movie  they just jump the gun .  br    br   but that about sums up why this movie was a terrible adaption because its impossible not to jump the gun and morph characters in less than two hours . how could anyone think this movie was watchable if it was under two hours  at the very least  the movie demands  hours to be able to capture some of the important moods and connections . anything less is just pointless .  br    br   if you loved the book  and i mean truly adored it  you will not approve of this movie  and chances are  you already knew you wouldn  t . because the book is unfilmable  and this movie just proves how impossible it is cram something decent into a small reel of film .  br    br   two stars out of ten  
john van druten  s  bell  book and candle  is a delightful and unexpected fantasy about a coven of modern  day witches living in new york city it was obviously an attractive movie property . it had a stellar part for gillian holroyd  for her erstwhile book publisher enforced  sweetheart  shepherd henderson and her madcap family and circle  including shep  s bewildered fiance  the hateful merle kittredge  against whose chances with shep gillian begins her magical spell  casting . it even had pyewacket  a siamese cat  familiar with well  timed miaows  sidney redlitch  a fake witch expert with atrocious pretensions and bad manners . in short  it seemed to its producer  perhaps  box  office magic . and so it proved to be . so many things were right about its production  it only had one element not perfect but i found the rest to be amusing  charming and very consistently  entertaining . to begin with  the screenplay by daniel taradash kept the best qualities of the fine theatrical play but opened out its scenes to include greenwich village and other areas of new york  s scene . the technical production was beautiful  with cinematography by the legendary james wong howe  a fine score by george duning  more  than  clever sets by louis diage and gowns by jean louis . in the attractive cast were wolfe barzell  howard mcnear  janice rule as merle  ernie kovacs as redlitch  jack lemmon as gillia  s mischievous brother  wonderful comediennes elsa lanchester and hermione gingold as fellow witches and lovely kim novak in one of her most touching parts as gillian . jimmy stewart was the imperfect element in my judgment he did well with the comedic portions of his part  but he was never convincing as a new york book publisher  and a bit too  old for the part of henderson anyhow . but director richard quine used subtle lighting  pace changes  and unusually  composed shots to indicate the oddness of the witch portions of the film  keeping the other portions very luminous but straightforward in their presentation . the plot  s main crisis in the film comes to pass when in reality gillian falls for henderson  who does not believe in witches at all . she started out merely to alienate him from his fiance  her stuck  up college rival . later  when henderson tries to walk out  he keeps coming back to her   and realizes he is under a spell  as she has apologetically tried to explain to him . . . meanwhile  sidney redlich has been summoned by witching spell to come to new york to sell his book to henderson . of course he knows nothing at all of magic  but is quite puzzled and interested to find out why he had come anywhere at all but gillian  s brother enlightens him . all comes out right in the end in this romantic satire as gillian proves her love to henderson by losing her powers   which is what happens to witches when they truly love a mortal . of course  he never really wanted to resist her anyhow . the film has sprightly dialogue  charm  and a little  magic  of its own in the fey charm of the witches and the torments gillian must undergo in her battle with herself  and to win the man she loves . a lovely ending to this beautifully  photographed and unusual romance makes its amazing realism  though a fantasy  just about complete in my view . memorably delightful .  
i had high hopes for this movie  because i enjoyed the book so much . however  i don  t think i would have understood the premise of the movie if i hadn  t already read the book . the movie is a noble attempt to show the despair of people trying to break the bonds of overpowering government rule  but the book portrays the suffering much more thoroughly . the corrupt government officials have comfortable  almost luxurious lives  while the common people struggle to obtain the bare necessities for survival . perhaps most people feel this way toward their leaders and rulers regardless of whether or not they are actually oppressed or repressed . orwell  s dystopia seems as if it could exist in many places in our modern world . it has been several years since i  ve read the book  but one hears references to big brother  the thought police  and newspeak frequently in the media and casual conversation . probably many people using these terms don  t realize where the terms came from . i strongly recommend that you read the book .  
  bell book and candle  was shown recently on cable . not having seen it for a while  we decided to take another look at this comedy . based on the james van druten  s broadway hit  which was a vehicle for rex harrison and lilli palmer in the early fifties  the film was adapted for the screen by daniel taradash . the film was directed by richard quine  who turned the play into a delightful comedy .  br    br   evidently  judging by some of the comments submitted by imdb  the big issue seems to be the pairing of the two stars  who had collaborated on  vertigo   released the same year . movie audiences didn  t think anything about the age difference when this film was released . in fact  most of the aging male stars of that period were always involved with much younger women .  br    br   the film set in manhattan during christmas is a delightful comedy that has enchanted viewers . kim novak was at the height of her beauty as it  s clear the camera adored her no matter what was she playing . as the witch that becomes human  her gillian is charming . james stewart  who plays the publisher shep  henderson  is also seen at his best . mr . stewart was an excellent comedy actor who shows in here why he was at the top .  br    br   in supporting roles the wonderful elsa lanchester  playing queenie  is a welcome addition to any movie  as she proves here . jack lemmon  s nicky holroyd  the brother of gillian  is also good . ernie kovacs is also seen as the writer sidney radlitch .  br    br   this is an excellent way to spend a winter night at home watching  bell book and candle  .  
as far as the movie goes  it  s an ok science fiction movie . it has a lot of cool stuff in it  and some quality scenes . that said  it  s not that good  and some of the stuff is pretty far fetched . . .  br    br   as for calling this another cube  movie is utter and complete bullsh  t . this is the very definition of milking a great and inventive original movie . . . the whole feel to it can be somewhat translated into the core of the first  but the introduction of people  androids as part of the  team  behind the cube itself is somewhat a stretch . . .  br    br   i gave this a   because of the backstabbing of the original . this one should have been kept sterile in so many parts of the movie that there is no place or time to mention them all . . .  br    br   watchable for those who have not seen cube  hypercube  but not recommendable for fans of the series . . .  
i watched this movie after watching practical magic  and the older film was far superior . i liked the way the lighting  makeup  and costumes changed as gillian changed in the story . jimmy stewart  s mannerisms didn  t do a lot for me in this film  but i suppose they did serve to highlight the reserve of gillian  s character . i was also struck by nicky  s and gillian  s mannerisms   it was as if the director wanted him to appear effeminate and gillian to appear masculine . the gestures nicky makes when he  s showing redlich his powers especially struck me . i  ve never thought of warlocks as being effeminate  so it was an interesting way of contrasting those characters .  
pretty disappointing prequel to the first two films  it  s got none of the suspense of the first nor the interest of the second . by concentrating on the guys who  run  the cube  it basically takes away any of the sense of tension inside the cube  as we simply don  t care about the characters inside . much of the film is simply boring  and it only becomes truly terrible with the introduction of the glass  eyed superior and the green  eyed crazy marine . after that  though  it just descends into over  the  top unintentional hilarity . the ending is fitting though  tying it back into the first one in an indirect way . the script is terrible  the acting mediocre at best  and the direction unimpressive . a much lesser follow  up .  
have not seen this     film in a very long time and greatly enjoyed kim novak playing the role as gil holroyd who is an actual witch and has an aunt named queenie holroyd who is also a witch and gillian also has a brother warlock named nick played by jack lemmon . when gillian sets her eyes on shep henderson   james stewart  who is engaged to a girl he is going to marry gillian performers some magic spells with a cat and changes his mind about his intended bride and then becomes very lust full and falls in love with gillian . the story tells that a real witch cannot fall in love  blush or cry and this begins to prove a big problem between shep and gillian  so nick and aunt queenie decided they have to do something about this situation . great film to view over and over again and a great classic film from     .  
incredible . does it get any dumber than this  not a chance . the stupidity in this movie would shame even ed wood  de palma  and woo . if the first part in the series had mediocre dialog and the second one had bad dialog  then this one has cretinous dialog . amazing . but this time the story has been lowered to the level of the dialog  too . in spite of the acting and the dialog  i liked the first two films  but  cube zero  will surely kill the franchise . the utterly moronic plot so obviously stems from the pen of a frustrated left  winger .  br    br   i sometimes wonder if such leftists even themselves realize just how anti  democracy and pro  dictatorship they are . in this movie they obviously target the us  a democracy . why don  t they target korea  iran  syria  china  zimbabwe etc . in anti  military movies  sure  most of these places are hardly likely to produce a cube like this any time soon  but that  s beside the point . it  s obvious writers of garbage like this actually admire these kinds of regimes  whether they are aware of it or not . i would even go as far as to say that anyone who adamantly attacks us foreign policies all the time  has anti  democratic beliefs in his core .  br    br   back to the movie apart from being so far  fetched that it isn  t even funny any more  the film has many obvious illogicalities . for example  for some reason the two men who supervise the cube have done it for a while and are oblivious to the pain and sadism that the project entails  yet the first one than the other suddenly turn against the system  anyone who has any idea at all about human nature will see right through this idiocy . or how about that cretinous character  the one  eyed evil bureaucrat who talks as if he  s in a bad mel brooks comedy . in fact  as soon as this creature appears the movie loses all seriousness and hence any chance of being exciting it really does become a comedy .  
after you see vertigo  then watch bell  book and candle  made within months of each other .  br    br   my second favorite kim novak film  with picnic  coming in as third .  br    br   all three performances are great  vertigo  being the best  of all .  br    br   they came to my nowhere kansas prairie town  near by  at salina  kansas in the   s  to film  picnic .  br    br   bell  book and candle  s musical score  i believe is one of alex north  s . perfect for this bit of comedy .  br    br   after vertigo  stewart and novak  did this comedy  how amusing to note the dramatic contrast .  br    br   worth your time  if you like kim novak . the greta garbo of my youth .  
i wasn  t really fond of the first  cube  movie . it was a good idea  but the annoying acting and characters always kept me from liking it too much . didn  t really feel the need to see its sequel but when i heard they were making a third movie that would act as more of a prequel to the original . i was intrigued  thinking that maybe they would fix some of the original  s problems and provide us with a memorable cast of characters . well i thought wrong .  br    br    cube zero  starts well enough by introducing us with the two characters in charge of watching and maintaining the never  ending maze of traps that plagues the people in the cube . the filmmakers succeed in providing a sense of mystery with the establishment of the two men  s daily routine . several questions are created from it  concerning the reason why people are send there and also the true nature of the ones who run the entire operation . all of which are left entirely to the viewer . the acting was a bit weak but all in all the movie  s first half moved relatively well .  br    br   with the story moving on  one of the two  watchers  begins to develop serious doubts about what he is doing . and later decides to go and help a group of the people trapped . here is where everything rapidly starts to dissolve into dull cheese .  br    br   sent by the people who run the cube program we are introduced to the character  jax  . along with his two underlings play a major reason as to why this movie is failure . to start of  jax  looks and talks more like a third rate villain taken directly from a james bond movie complete with the ever  popular  glass eye  that alone ruins any atmosphere created by the first half  s relatively nice pace . whats more is that it begins to feel more like a comedy rather than a serious movie . with some incredibly corny lines  perhaps the screenwriter got bored and didn  t care . the acting itself degrades to a further low when the former  watcher  meets the group in the cube . the entire interaction is painful to watch as is everything else following it .  br    br   again failing to impress on anything but weak characters  dialog and acting  cube zero  is a waste of time for those searching for a good horror movie .  
although i agree that it  s a good but not great movie  for many of the reasons other posters have mentioned  i still enjoy it . one reason is the music i  d call attention to the very cool appearance by the candoli brothers   conte and pete   in a well  staged scene in the nightclub . these guys were two of the best jazz trumpeters of their day  and they manage to convincingly boggle the mind of jimmy stewart by playing an hysterical trumpet duet  one trumpet in each of stewart  s ears . the candolis really did play that well  too  though i suspect the actual music for that scene was dubbed later by the two of them . i don  t know much about george duning  who gets the credit for the music  other than that he seems to have worked with the three stooges on more than one occasion   but the casting of the candoli brothers as jazz  playing warlocks was a real nice touch .  
some people might consider this movie a piece of artwork  to be able to express your imagination on film in order to create a movie filled with antagonizing pain and death . . i personally think that this movie is a disgust  which should have never been released . this movie is repulsive  illogical and meaningless . not only is it a complete waste of time but it makes you sick for days to come . the appalling images shown in the film not only make you grasp for air but they set in your mind and it takes days to forget them . such a shame that people waste their imagination on such inhumane suffering . .  kill bill  would be another example but at least  kill bill  has its purpose  meaning  climax and resolution . .  
i have seen this movie . this movie is the best according today  s need . dowry in marriages is the major problem nowadays . in stating this problem this movie is the best . in this movie  the indian values are stated very well . today  s youth must understand this problem . there is less population of girls . and due to this problem of dowry  the girls committed suicide . if this problem continues  then the day when there is no girl child  is not far away . so  keep in mind this statement  today  s youth must understand that we can not take dowry in marriages . we have to learn from this movie that the dowry should not be taken . and if we understand this problem then we can see the new trend in the society . this is the major change in the society .  
but  cinderella  gets my vote  not only for the worst of disney  s princess movies  but for the worst movie the company made during walt  s lifetime . the music is genuinely pretty  and the story deserves to be called  classic .  what fails in this movie are the characters  particularly the title character  who could only be called  the heroine  in the loosest sense of the term .  br    br   after a brief prologue  the audience is introduced to cinderella . she is waking up in the morning and singing  a dream is a wish your heart makes .  this establishes her as an idealist  and thus deserving of our sympathy  . unfortunately  the script gives us no clue as to what she is dreaming about . freedom from her servant role  the respect of her step  family  someone to talk to besides mice and birds  in one song  cut from the movie but presented in the special features section of the latest dvd  cinderella relates her wish that there could be many of her so she could do her work more efficiently . you go girlfriend  in short  cinderella is a very bland character . she passively accepts her step  family  s abuse  escaping into her unspoken dreams for relief . she only asserts herself once by reminding her stepmother that she is still a member of the family . for this  she is given permission to go the ball if she completes her housework and finds something to wear  a token gesture that is clearly absurd to everyone except  of course  cinderella . can anyone see belle or jasmine being such a doormat  if cinderella is dull  her male counterpart is nothing short of lifeless . the prince in cinderella gets no dialog and almost no screen time . we are given no indication if he is a good man  if he respects cinderella or anything . all we know is   he is a prince and   he dances well . heck  even the prince from  snow white  got to sing a romantic song at least . not only does this lack of development make the romance less interesting  it makes cinderella look like either a social climber or an idiot  weakening her already tenuous appeal .  br    br   perhaps realizing how dull the main characters were  the animators chose to give excessive screen time to the movie  s comic relief  cinderella  s friends  the mice . granted  these characters are amusing . even so  when the comic relief steals the show from the principals  well  let  s just say your story has some problems .  br    br   dinsey loves to proclaim all its animated features as  masterpieces .  while many of them are  there are some that do not deserve this appellate in any way . cinderella is a prime example of this fact .  
this may not be war  peace  but the two academy noms wouldn  t have been forthcoming if it weren  t for the genius of james wong howe . . .  br    br   this is one of the few films i  ve fallen in love with as a child and gone back to without dissatisfaction . whether you have any interest in what it offers fictively or not  bbc is a visual feast .  br    br   i  m not saying it  s his best work  i  m no expert there for sure . but the look of this movie is amazing . i love everything about it elsa lanchester  the cat  the crazy hoo  doo  the retro  downtown  ness but the way it was put on film is breathtaking .  br    br   i even like the inconsistencies pointed out on this page above  and the  special effects  that seem backward now . it all creates a really consistent world .  
the only thing that frequently pops into my head while i  m writing this review is  i  ll never get that hour and a half back    to indicate that i  m not just blowing air  i  ll compare the movie to the other movies of the cube trilogy  cube and hypercube   cube wasn  t great but it was original and that made up for some technical flaws  hypercube as a sequel lost the advantage of originality but it came out looking pretty sharp and i even liked it beter than cube  the story was better   but cube zero in comparison to it  s predecessors really isn  t worth sht  a complete lack of good fx  a very fckd up script and just plain old bad acting don  t combine well  exampleall of the time during the movie i was thinking it would be incredibly stupid if . . . should happen and then it would happen  so it  s not very original neither  my advice don  t lose that hour and a half i lost         oh and i hope this movie crashes and burns         
bell  book and candle was one of the great pop culture phenomena of the mid  twentieth century  very similar to the phenoms we see today  back in the    s  more than ten years later  there were still endless references to this film  . it made novak a huge star  put a nice item on jack lemon  s resume  cast new light on jimmy stewart  and gave lancaster and gingold new avenues to explore in their careers  both went on to continue to play witches and other curious  old bats   in film and television  .  br    br   along with the   s movie i married a witch  which helped to make veronica lake an icon   bell  book and candle inspired the grand film and tv fascination with all things witchy that began with bewitched and has continued through practical magic  worst witch and harry potter .  br    br   what i rarely see noted is that the movie is also a rather interesting alternative xmas movie . the story takes place over the christmas holidays  and  despite the fact that it is superficially about witchcraft  actually embodies a great deal of xmas spirit  giving  love  family  self  sacrifice  etc  .  br    br   i will always watch this movie  have seen it several times since my first viewing in the early    s  particularly if it is shown around or just after the holiday season . it has style  substance  a great cast  and terrific production values . and like adam  s rib  it casually expresses ideas that were rather radical for its time  are radical even now  in both movies the female character is guileless and powerful   and so always seems ahead of the times .  
this movie was yet another waste of time . . . why oh why do i keep renting crap like this  . . . someone please tell me . . . sigh oh well . back to the movie at hand cube zero is probably worth it if you really really enjoyed the first movie   like i did   and just want to check out what  s up in the last  hopefully  movie scraped together just to keep some poor actors and screenwriters employed  then of course this is the movie for you . but if you are looking for a good movie with good acting and a fantastic plot . . . evil grin then this movie is definitely for you   d . . . . ok i  m lying . . . at best this movie sucks . ok  i have to admit that certain elements to it was cool . . well . . coolish . . . and i laughed quite a few times  prolly at the wrong things  but nevertheless i was amused .    but all in all the few things that barely makes the  ok  category isn  t enough to make this movie worth it at all . . unless you count  manos  hand of fate  one of the top ten movies ever   
as a pagan  i must say this movie has little if any magickal significance . it  s a  fun  witchcraft movie and not meant to teach us anything except that love is the strongest magick of all  and never to use it in a controlling or vengeful way . that  s a lesson everyone needs to learn  not just pagans .  br    br   that having been said  this movie is wonderfully written and sweetly executed by kim novak and the venerable jimmy stewart .  br    br   hermione gingold delivers a stellar performance as bianca  elsa lanchester  with too many movie credits to mention except as ms . jane marbles of  murder by death   was wonderful as ms . novak  s absent  minded  yet  capable upstairs neighbor queenie . also starring jack lemmon  wonderful performance  and jim kovacs  brilliantly witty  .  br    br    witches can  t cry . why  they can  t shed a single tear because their heart is full of magick . they don  t have time for silly things such as love .  queenie .  br    br   gillian holroyd  novak  and her brother nicky  jack lemmon  are manhattan witches . cloaked deeply within the secret underworld of those of the craft  they live among other new yorkers as one of them  without so much as causing a raised eyebrow .  br    br   but then  along comes shepherd  shep  henderson  stewart   a steadfast  no  nonsense  dedicated businessman who is engaged to be married to gillian  s old college rival .  br    br   by a quirky mishap of chance  he finds himself moving into gillian  s building and is instantly  bewitched  by her charm and grace . by the use of magick  with a little help from pyewacket  gillian  s familiar  trained by robert e . blair  and queenie  gillian begins to work on this handsome new dream man to get back at her old enemy .  br    br   but magick should never be used to control  nor to hurt  and gillian learns that the hard way in the most bittersweet way . not only does she have to face what she  s done  but she has to face shep in her guilt .  br    br   from the critical perspective however  the movie takes a serious turn the effects are very dated to the point of being pure camp . some of the scenery was seemingly shot in the basement of someone  s small home  but at least the characters were quirky and fun .  br    br   on a personal note  pyewacket steals the show . great cat  great training by robert e . blair .  br    br   as a note of trivia  this is the roots for the beloved bewitched television sitcom . this introduces the original samantha and darrin . all the characters of note are present and accounted for . you have but to look  to see it for yourself .  br    br   this is one of my favorites  and i watch it often .  br    br   this movie gets a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
i think this one sucked on ice  because it left the cube  and gave us to much information as to the who  s and why  s . the original cube never left the cube  and it left everything to your imagination . this crap fest however  gives you it all . and i didn  t like it . . . though the acting is solid  i think the reason this one was a downer was because it was done by people other than the original filmmakers  if they had vincenzo natali do this prequel  or even the sequel i think it would have done better and would have been more true to the source . so i recommend you stay far  far away from this one  and hypercube  another movie i don  t even want to discuss . . .  i gave it a  for the acting only   
the john van druten broadway hit is brought to the screen with a maximum of star power in this romantic fantasy about a modern  day witch who beguiles a successful manhattan publisher . james stewart may get top billing  but it is kim novak who steals the show as one of the most alluring witches ever to cast a spell on the movie screen . the lead pairing is  in fact  one of the movie  s few weaknesses the gray  haired stewart seems a bit old for the role  and while it is easy to see why he falls hard for novak  it  s a little harder to understand what she finds attractive about him  as they seem mismatched in temperment and outlook .  it is one of the story  s amusing conceits that witches and warlocks are portrayed as greenwich village beatniks and bohemians .  curiously  the stewart  novak pairing would generate a lot more heat in  vertigo   released the same year as this film  but then  vertigo  had a compelling suspense story  and the benefit of alfred hitchcock  s direction .  br    br   the film  s comic moments are mostly provided by the stellar supporting cast  including a young jack lemmon  as kim  s warlock brother   elsa lanchester  their ditzy aunt   and ernie kovacs    as a befuddled writer . hermione gingold even shows up in a hilarious cameo as a sort of grand witch . there  s lots to like in this movie   wit  romance  and a great cast   that is  if you can possibly take your eyes off the enchanting miss novak . i have seen the movie a half a dozen times  and i never can .  
the killings in this movie isn  t that bad  but for sure the movie is . it  s even worse than that . it  s not even worth the wear it might cause when you slide it into your dvd  player .  br    br   not even the wear it causes on your shoulders carrying it from the dvd  store  not to speak of the money and time you spend renting and watching it . horrible .  br    br   it  s beyond understanding how anyone could say anything positive about this movie . it was just a bare masochistic tendency of mine that caused me not to stop watching  add to that the group pressure from my co  watchers .  br    br   the manuscript is awful  the directing even worse and the acting is plain despicable .  br    br   i hope you don  t see this as a spoiling your fun  i  d rather see it as a fair warning do not waste your time watching this garbage   
by some happy coincidence the same year that jimmy stewart and kim novak made alfred hitchcock  s haunting masterpiece  vertigo   they also made this light comedy . perhaps the two actors needed to do it after undergoing the heaviness of the hitchcock film . at any rate this a great companion piece to  vertigo  as it again explores a very un  likely but powerful romance . in fact the film can be seen as the flip side of  vertigo  with it  s happy ending . here again novak undergoes a transformation  in vertigo she essentially plays two women and here she  transforms  from witch to mortal . stewart is again bewitched and for awhile tormented by his love for her . unlike vertigo the two come together in  bell book and candle   a perfect antidote for the hitcock movie . again the dynamics of love and attraction are examined but in an altogether different vein . the cast is terrific . lemmon hilarious as novak  s warlock brother and elsa lancaster giving a classic performance as the aunt . ernie kovacs as the alcoholic cult writer and of course hermoine gingold playing novak  s competitor are all great . the scene with stewart drinking the potion is comedy at it  s best . anyone who has seen vertigo or even if you haven  t should see this memorable light comedy .  
those familiar with the two previous cube films pretty much know what they can expect a small group of people trapped inside a bunch of booby trapped rooms  paranoia  bad acting . . . this one is a bit different though . roughly half of the film takes place outside the cube  where we get to watch the people watching the people inside the cube  or at least five of them  .  br    br   i guess cube zero aspires to explain what the deal with the cube is  but you really don  t get to know much more than what was covered in the two first films . sure  there  s sort of an explanation in there  but it feels pretty lame compared to what was suggested in the first film .  br    br   cube zero looks rather cheap  as did its predecessors   and the fact that it shows more than just a couple of empty rooms only emphasizes this feeling . i also fell pretty confident in saying that there  s no risk that any of the actors will win any awards in the foreseeable future . they have brought back the traps from cube   though   by that i mean that they  re almost the same ones  which is a bit of a shame  .  br    br   i know that many people kind of appreciate this film and its ties with the first one  but i just feel that it  s a completely unnecessary contribution to a franchise that wasn  t that great to begin with .        
made in the same year as  vertigo   this is an equally bewitching movie  though in a much lighter vein . it  s set in an enchanted new york during the winter kim novak is a witch who casts a spell over james stewart  but gets caught in it instead . the interesting sidelight is that novak  s rival is played by janice rule  who originated the part of madge in  picnic  on broadway  the part that novak would make famous on film  .  
this is pretty much a low  budget  made for tv  type of movie intended to capitalize off of the success of the original . i  m a fan of b  movies  and this one might have been good had they not attached the name  cube  to it  because as is  the director and plot of the original were better  and this movie just about ruined my taste for the entire series . the characters are annoying and clichd  there are problems with continuity  and several outright production screw  ups . the story hardly gets a chance to develop because of superfluous dialogue and suffers from that . they more or less use the same horror gimmicks over and over throughout the movie  and because the first one was so good  this simply turns out as a disappointment .  br    br   if this was a stand  alone b  movie  i  d probably give it about a four . the    rating i give it was pretty much a statement about how it utterly paled in effects and intelligence as compared to the first .  
this is a wonderful film  makes the      s look beautifully stylish . kim novak is intriguing and compelling as a modern  day witch with one foot in manhattan and another in infinity . all the supporting performances are terrific  from jack lemmon as her bother nicky to ernie kovacs as the author of magic in mexico who is working on magic in manghattan  to elsa lanchester as the slightly batty as well as witchy aunt queenie . and then there is the cat  i have no idea how many witches  besides me  have named a cat pyewacket but suggest a zillion . jmes stewart looks out of place  but only just as much as his character is out of pace in this weird sub  world of magic and witchcraft . perfect . and it has the perfect romantic happy ending  which we believe in because movies of this vintage do have those happy endings . gillian and shep certainly have as much chance to be happy ever after as rose and charlie allnut in the african queen  another great film   
the original  cube  is a fantastic b  movie rich with paranoia  meaty characterization  and fine over  the  top performances . it  s creepy  cryptic  and cool . and it stands perfectly well  on its own  without a stupid sequel like  cube zero .   br    br   this third    film in the cube series is part retread  most of the booby traps are sadly recycled   part aberration . it takes the bold step of explaining what the cube is  something that was never revealed in the first movie  but  since said explanation is bland  i  d rather it was kept a secret . there are some potentially interesting references to the society that exists outside of the cube  but they never develop beyond hints about some kind of political  religious totalitarian state . so  what little social commentary there is feels flat and unfocused .  br    br   what works  basically nothing . the acting is purely amateur hour  the pacing is slow  how much of this movie consists of two nerds watching a screen    and the gore effects  while revolting  fail to convince . in short   cube zero  reminded me of a  cube  fan  fic  a sloppy and sophomoric clone of a good movie that definitely did not need a sequel .  
the play bell  book  and candle was a favorite of mature actresses to do in summer stock and take on the road . one famous story  told by director harold j . kennedy  has ginger rogers insisting that her then husband  william marshall  who was not an actor  costar with her . marshall wore a toupee  and when he walked through a doorway  his toupee caught on a nail and stayed behind  dangling in the doorway as he walked on stage .  br    br   the play was adapted successfully into a beautiful color film starring kim novak  james stewart  jack lemmon  elsa lanchester  hermoine gingold  ernie kovacs  and janice rule . it  s light entertainment  about a normal  appearing family of witches  novak  lemmon  and lanchester  and the publisher  stewart  who lives in their building . the most expert of them is the sultry  soft  voiced gillian  who would love to be normal . one night  with stewart in her apartment  she puts a spell on him using her siamese cat  pyewacket  and he falls in love with her .  br    br    bell book and candle  was filmed on a charming set that replicates new york . the movie is loads of fun . jack lemmon is very funny in a supporting role as gillian  s brother  a musician in the witch and warlock  laden zodiac club . he uses his powers to turn streetlights on and off and to turn on the occasional woman . janice rule is perfect as the snobby ex  college rival of gillian  now dating stewart  and ernie kovacs has a great turn as an eccentric who is writing the definitive book on witches . lanchester and gingold  of course  are always wonderful  lanchester gillian  s daft aunt and gingold as a sort of queen of witchcraft .  br    br   kim novak is a good fit for gillian  giving the character a detachment befitting a witch  showing emotion when it becomes appropriate  and with that voice  fabulous face  and magnificent wardrobe  she certainly is magical . stewart  in his last foray as a romantic lead  costars with novak as he did in vertigo  and they make an effective team . he supplies the warmth  she supplies the coolness  and somehow  together they spark . in this  of course  he  s much more elegant than in  vertigo .  a charming film  good for a sunday afternoon  good around christmas  as part of it takes place at christmastime   and great if you feel like smiling .  
follows the same path as most sequels . first one was great . second was average and this one  full of bad acting and some stupid dialog and well as a lot of suspension of disbelief  this movie was weak .  br    br   too predictable and i just couldn  t stand that henry wrinkler  like boss with that stupid eye  there was so much more they could have done with this . i liked the first one a lot . i wish they would have went more down those lines  rather than what they did here .  br    br   there was too much unexplained that needed to be explained  what time period this was in and why why why is there an old fashioned phone in that room   br    br   i understand there is another one in the works .  br    br   blah   
this movie was like any jimmy stewart film  witty  charming and very enjoyable . kim novak  s performance as gillian  the beautiful witch who longs to be human  is splendid  her subtle facial expressions  her every move and gesture all create gillian  s unique and somewhat haunting character  she left us hanging on her every word . i should not fail to mention ernie kovacs  and elsa lanchester  s highly commendable performances as the scotch loving writer obsessed with the world of magic  kovacs  and the latter as the lovable aunt who can  t seem to stop using magic even when forbidden to . the romantic scenes between stewart and novak are beautifully done and the chemistry between them is great  but then again when is the chemistry between jimmy stewart and any leading lady bad   
the screen writing is so dumb it pains me to have wasted  hours of my life i  ll never get back  where have i heard this before  . the acting is so  so . things change often enough to keep you watching and waiting for something gruesome to happen . nevertheless there isn  t a single original thing in this movie . while the first cube was a nerdy horror movie  which didn  t make a whole lot of sense in the end  cube zero has picked up on that and tries to retell exactly the same story  except this time it makes an obnoxious point of trying to spoon  feed explanations for every detail that the first movie didn  t answer . the comic thing is  the director recycles the exact scenes of the first movie that were somewhat weird  and tries to explain them . but the scenes are just copied over  there is no coherence whatsoever . this script is sooo pointless . i can imagine it being written by some half  wit   year old with a baseball cap and a pack of beer for a class project . the best part is in the end  they cripple the  good  wunderkind guy  and he becomes the retarded fellow in the first movie  and you see him when they find him   this room is green . .   in cube     . goodie gooodie  clap clap  what a twist . first of all  what about if you haven  t seen the first one  this doesn  t make any sense you nitwit director . oh  another great idea instead of the numbers to identify x  y  z coordinates of the room  cube       this time it is  letters  each one giving one of   possible coordinate values . duh . except now permutations don  t make much sense anymore . . so he lets the letters disappear before anybody can use them . . i want my money back .  br    br   i guess i had to write this down since there are just so many bad  inconsistent  or just stupid ideas in this movie . directors  writers should be required to possess some talent .  
stewart is a distinguished bachelor and a successful executive who is about to marry his fiance janice rule but instead gets involved with a capricious  sensual art dealer  kim novak  who turns out to be a greenwich village witch novak desires earnestly and intensely to love  but is unable to feel it . . .  br    br   stewart slowly falls in love with her  and looks for a way to free her from her witch  spell . . . novak resents his well  intentioned concern  as does her siamese cat  pyewacket . . . still  stewart continues in his attempts to change her into a loving  feeling woman as he aspires to marry her . . .  br    br   also blocking his way are such talented supporting actors as novak  s brother  jack lemmon   a silly  charming sorcerer who can walk nonchalantly through walls a terrible author who is writing a book about witchcraft and the head of the association of manhattan witches  none other than the incredible hermione gingold . . .  br    br   novak  s aunt queenie  elsa lanchester   unlike her other relatives  is a tender witch who accepts that nothing should prevent the course of true love . . . she aids and stimulates them in turning novak into the woman of stewart  s dreams  for a happy ending . . .  br    br   if you like to see a lightweight comedy about magic  fantasy and love beautiful cinematography stunning use of color and with an exceptional cast don  t miss this enjoyable and amusing movie  
the plot doesn  t offer any new excitements  it even starts the same as cube i . this time there are no other enhancements for the cube machinery  except for having an extra exit  which is not guarded  very ingenious . the characters are also not so well elaborated as in the first episode  they just became  flat  as in a soap opera .  br    br   if somebody makes it to the normal exit  the person would be asked some questions  like  do you believe in god    its not really creative or original and especially in my opinion it doesn  t fit into the mystery of the cube with it traps . really there is nothing much else to say about it .  
once in a while  you come upon a movie that defines your values and shows you the true depth of human emotions leaving you drained . vivah is just that  maybe more . after watching ddlj  saajan  and lamhey  i really thought that bollywood has reached its pinnacle and will never come up with anything like that  ever . boy was i wrong  i went to the store to buy some groceries and decided to pick this movie up along with the new  don   just so i can compare the great ab with shahrukh  although the decision is already made in my mind  . after debating whether i should waste almost  hours on a meaningless movie i decided to watch it realizing i had nothing else to do . when i saw the rating of u instead of an a  i was happy that at least it is something where i don  t have to watch scantily clad women with bad acting skills doing nothing but dancing on every opportunity they get and making out with every guy to show that they have more skills in bed than a hollywood b actress . for the first  minutes or so i thought i would again be subjected to meaningless story with bad acting . after all everyone who has seen shahid kapor know that he as never gained his fame as an accomplished actor . boy  was i wrong about this movie . this movie grabbed my interest after the first  minutes and would never let it go . it was a great movie with a good storyline about the vanishing traditions of our society . i liked not only that the director was brave enough to make a movie where younger generation might not relate to the concept  of arranged marriage   but also that he did it with a conviction  that it is the right thing to do  . i have no idea why some people think that the acting was not good . i felt that the acting was great and even though the music score might not be considered the best ever  it was still very very good . the good thing is this music will grow on people with time like it did with me after the i watched that movie a second time . the other good thing is that thee songs are not pushed into the script as we have all seen in so many movies . these songs actually tell a big part of the story and are certainly a welcome addition . just like ajay devgan went from being a joke to a great actor  after company   and salman found his groove after  hum aapkey hain kaun   this movie will help shahid kappor jump to being of the better actors and entertainers in bollywood . this is the first movie of his in which i like him and his role . he acted well and adjusted to being the nice good looking young rich kid . yes you will not find him playing basketball and scoring every point on a dunk like you saw shahrukh in ddlj  even though he is shown to be an indian in england  both countries not big on basketball by the way   he does come across as very believable as a person who holds true to his values . amrita rao  for the first time came across as someone to be remembered . in all her other movies she was competing with big faces which was actually hindering her . no one knew how good of an actress she really is until they watch this movie . some of the scenes in which she has to cry especially towards the end really shows her knowledge and depth of acting . although she has been in another movies she is most memorable in this one . i think this movie will and should do wonders for her . move over rani  there is finally another girl who if given a decent chance to work with good directors can grab the torch from you . she is beautiful with a great voice and has a face that exudes complete innocence . oh having almost   body fat does not hurt either  yes people i will challenge you find even  .   fat on her and unlike so many others like sonali she can actually act too  . i thought i will never be enamored by anyone  s beauty after madhuri and early kajol  but she completely changed that . shahid and amrita worked very well together and their relationship fitted their characters and they both did an excellent job  although i was waiting for shahid to turn into a girl like salman did every time he uttered  hum aapkey hain kaun   . when i finished watching this movie  it left me so emotionally drained that i decided to watch this movie again  right away  . yes right away . i have never ever done that . not even with ddlj  but this movie just had something that had to be understood again and again . i will probably watch this movie a third time over the weekend just so i can watch and relive the traditions we all grew up with . i miss those times where families sat down and had fun . when parents had time for their kids and where kids respected what their parents believed in . i know a lot of people think that movie does not portray real life but deep down don  t we all want it to happen . the families  thee tradition  the love and respect . this is what this movie will remind all of us of . i can assure you it is an extremely well made movie which you will enjoy . i am sure some young people will not like this movie but if you are over   i doubt that you will be one of them .  
this film is awful . not offensive but extremely predictable . the movie follows the life of a small town family in the mid     s . the father  the principal at the school  is going through a mid  life crisis . enter a pretty teacher from the big city who starts challenging her students  minds with some thought  provoking stuff  like think for yourself . the principal doesn  t agree with her teaching but she is pretty . you can connect the dots . his teenage daughter  winona ryder wannabe tara frederick  is fed up with the small town lifestyle and wants to live . she gets some bad advice  hangs out with some bad boys and apparently family planning wasn  t being taught at her school . shocking  seeing that director paul shapiro has mainly worked in tv  this movie plays like a more adult version of an after  school special or a very special episode of one of the more mundane sitcoms .  
i researched this film a little and discovered a web site that claims it was actually an inside joke about the post wwii greenwich village world of gays and lesbians . with the exception of stewart and novak  the warlocks and witches represented that alternative lifestyle . john van druten who wrote the stage play was apparently gay and very familiar with this greenwich village . i thought this was ironic because i first saw bell  book and candle in the theater when i was in  th or  th grade just because my parents took me . it was hard to get me to a movie that didn  t include horses  machine guns  or alien monsters and i planned on being bored . but  i remember the moment when jimmy stewart embraced kim novak on the top of the flatiron building and flung his hat away while the camera followed it fluttering to the ground . as the glorious george duning love theme soared  i suddenly got a sense of what it felt like to fall in love . the first stirrings of romantic  sexual love left me dazed as i left the theater . i am sure i  m not the only pre  adolescent boy who was seduced by kim novak  s startling  direct gaze . it  s ironic that a gay parable was able to jump  start heterosexual puberty in so many of us . i am in my late    s now and re  watched the film yesterday evening and those same feelings stirred as i watched that hat touch down fifty years later . . .  
the first cube movie was an art movie . it set up a world in which all the major archetypes of mankind were represented  and showed how they struggled to make sense of a hostile world that they couldn  t understand . it was  on the non  literal level  a  man vs . cruel nature  plot  where the individual who represented innocence and goodness came through in the end  triumphing to face a new  indefinable world beyond man  s petty squabbles a world where there were no more struggle  but peace . i rated cube a   out of    and it  s a movie that was never meant to have any sequels .  br    br   the second movie  hypercube was a massive disappointment . some of the ideas were kind of cool  but in the context of the original movie  both the story and the setting made no sense and had no meaning . still  for being fairly entertaining  i rated it a  out of   .  br    br   the third movie  cube zero  while ignoring the second  plays like a vastly inferior commercial b  movie rehash of the first  sans the symbolism . there is no  homage  or  tribute  here there is only ripping off . the same kind of plot  with some elements idiotically altered  like having letters instead of prime numbers between the cubes  an idea which shows more clearly than anything else that this is a rip  off with absolutely no originality and nothing to say  .  br    br   that we see something from  behind the scenes  means nothing  because the watchers are just part of the big bad experiment  the architects of which we hear nothing of . and  in this movie  those who get through to the exit  like kazan did at the end of the first movie  are just killed  where the bleep is the sense in that   that  s just flippin  stupid . i  m glad i didn  t pay to see this .  br    br   the production values and acting in cube zero are not too bad  but the story and the ideas are so utterly devoid of any inspiration that this movie can only get from me a rating of  out of   .  
generally  i am not a huge fan of stop  motion films and at first ruka didn  t capture my attention . however  knowing that this film was made in the repressive czechoslovakia during the soviet  domination era  the more i watched the film  the more i realized just how subversive this innocent looking little film was . this subtext really made the film come to life and gives it real staying power as both a work of art and a political statement .  br    br   the sad little film is done without any dialog  but it  s pretty clear what is happening . a cute little wooden man is making a clay pot and having a lovely time when suddenly a meddling animated hand appears and destroys the pot   making it into a sculpture of a hand instead . well  the wooden man tries again and again to chase away the hand and do his own thing . however  over time the hand becomes more and more insistent and eventually cages the man . and  by the end  the man is dead thanks to the meddling hand and the hand  in a sign of real hypocrisy  gives the man a hero  s funeral   br    br   as i said  this film is an obvious attempt by the brave jir trnka to criticize his domineering government . not surprisingly  though czechs loved the film and gave it critical praise  the state  i . e .  the hand  banned this little parable . sadly  trnka did not live to see his nation liberated a little more than two decades later during the co  called  velvet revolution  .  
following the release of cube   hypercube        and playing off the alleged success of the original cube        director ernie barbarash takes the liberty of bringing us the third installment in the trilogy  the prequel cube zero .  br    br   deep in the bowels of a giant and faceless institution  time and place unknown  two low  ranking operators  wynn  zachary bennett  and dodd  david huband  sit and observe on monitors the behavior of people that have been placed in a giant network of cubic chambers  some of which are rigged with death traps . told that the people they are observing are convicted felons who chose this horrific and deadly ordeal over a lethal injection  these observers have had no problem with their jobs until wynn  a mathematical genius  discovers that one of the prisoners  a woman named cassandra  stephanie moore  never agreed to be put inside the cube . suddenly it  s realized that perhaps their  jobs  are not what they seem  and that they may be part of something deeply sick and twisted . . .  br    br   for people that have seen and enjoyed the original cube  this prequel will probably not be to your liking . it  s not that the story does not have potential it  s simply that the first cube film never needed to be expanded on . standing alone  it is a neat little psychological thriller with very interesting concepts and a certainty about its own message . it was also nicely self  contained . the problem with cube zero is that it destroys some of the mystique of the original  attempting to answer questions with more questions but only really resulting in making a mess of what never needed fixing .  br    br   what this new film has to offer  which is questions about the psychological nature of authoritarianism and the banality of evil  certainly are good questions to be raised  but probably should have been done so on their own merits  rather than as a continuation of a film that had no such aspirations .  br    br   having said this  the other traits of the film  such as acting and direction and writing  are not awful . there is a bleak  dark look to the film akin to such film noir as  the matrix  and  dark city   and they have certainly managed to recapture the claustrophobic feeling of the first cube . unfortunately for barbarash  these are not enough positive qualities to save it .  
my discovery of the cinema of jan svankmajer opened my eyes to a whole tradition of czech animation  of which jir trnka was a pioneer . his ruka is one of the finest  most technically  impressive animated movies i  ve ever seen .  br    br   a potter wakes up and waters his plant . then he goes about making a pot . but in comes the huge hand which crashes the pot and demands that the potter make a statue of itself . he casts the hand out  but soon it returns and imprisons him in a bird cage where he  s forced to sculpt a stone hand . he sets about it  fainting from exhaustion  but eventually completes the task .  br    br   in a marvellous sequence of metacinema  the potter uses a candle to burn his visible puppet strings  which keep him in thrall  and he escapes back home . he shuts himself in and is accidentally killed by his own beloved plant when it falls on his head .  br    br   this movie doesn  t hide the fact it  s pure animation  unlike modern movies that strive to be realistic  why   . the hand  for instance  is clearly someone  s hand in a glove . everything else is clay . strings are visible and are part of the narrative  making it a precursor of the movie strings . the atmosphere is eerie that hand going after the little potter managed to instill more dread in me than many horror movies combined .  br    br   the movie is obvious but it avoids being totally manipulative for its simplicity . it  s a fable about artistic freedom and tyranny which can  t help winning the heart and mind of anyone who holds freedom as a natural right .  
  br    br   the main question i pose concerning this film is  how do you film a cole porter musical and only use  of his   songs  merman and lahr played the lead roles on broadway  here they are replaced by the weaker red skelton and lucille ball . plot changes abound and the fun is lost .  br    br   skip it .  
i saw this film when i was a young child on television  thank  you canadian broadcasting corporation  and had nightmares about it for years afterwards .  br    br   trnka was one of the mentors for bratislav pojar  one of canada  s national film board  s best animators . pojar was  in turn a mentor and collaborator for the great drouin . if you like trnka you should see  night angel  .  br    br   the symbolism is obvious  but deftly used . the oppositions of beauty and life  the plant  are placed in opposition with the anonymity of the gloved hand . the poor puppet hero is condemned despite a lack of political agenda .  br    br   what i most remembered was the feeling of oppression in the decor . the small room where the action takes place is the character  s entire world . the invasion by the hand is a complete violation of that world .  br    br   beautiful and haunting film . i found a copy of this and other wonderful shorts by trnka at the public library and showed it to my own kids . a must see .  
really  it  s nothing much . i only recommend watching it if  .  you  re a big fan of any of the main stars .  .  if you really want to check out the first time lucille ball was seen with red hair .  br    br    out of   stars  
ji trnka made his last animated short an indictment of totalitarism  which caused him trouble in his native czechoslovakia . the elements are few  the symbolisms simple  and his trademark ornaments almost absent here  allowing the viewer to concentrate on the fable . a man in his room dedicates to pottery and to take care of his only plant . but suddenly a huge hand enters the room and orders him to make a statue of itself . the man refuses and he  s persecuted by the ominous gloved hand . in these days  where the impression of reality factor seems to be erased from most animations that try to replace the real world  it is refreshing to watch a film  which makes its technique part of the enjoyment .  
this movie  i won  t call it a  film   was basically about nothing and functioned mostly for the popular acts of the time . yeah the war was on full swing  pun intended   and this movie gave the troops and our audiences a treat .  br    br   but let  s have something with a bit more substance .  br    br   loved seeing a young buddy rich on the drums . the music was good throughout .  br    br   but one cameo after another gets old fast .  br    br   i didn  t even recognize zero mostel  so if you  re one from the  greatest generation   as they say  you  ll definitely enjoy this . . .  br    br   movie .  
an absolutely brilliant film  jiri trnka  the master of puppet animation  confronts totalitarianism in this  his final  film . it would be banned by the communist czechoslovakian government  at the time   despite taking the country  s highest animation award .  br    br   in this dark and entertaining short film  an artist attempts to create a new pot for his favourite plant . he happily makes his creations while dreaming that his plant will grow to be a beautiful rose . all of a sudden  he here  s a knock at the door  and in comes this giant omnipotent hand  that tries to force the artist to make statues in it  s likeness . the artist resists as best he can  but he eventually becomes overwhelmed by the constant attempts  by the hand  to force him to conform . he becomes brainwashed an intellectual zombie . at this point the hand attaches strings to the artist  puts him in a cage  and uses him to make hand statues . all the while glorifying the artist  s work and awarding him with medals and honours .  br    br   the artist  s inner lust to be able to express himself freely is what helps him prevail over his indoctrination  and enables him escape his prison  whether it be literal or in his mind  and return to his home where he now must live in constant fear of the wrath of the omnipotent hand . he shuts himself in  thinking he is out of the reach of the almighty hand  but in the process he puts his plant and pot up high  hoping it is out of the reach of the hand  and it ends up falling on his head  killing him . the artist is inevitabally destroyed by his own creation . all because of the constant fear he had to live with once he escaped the hand  s strings . once dead  the hand paints the artist as a great person  a national hero . unfortunately not in the circumstances or for the reasons that the artist would like to be remembered .  br    br   trnka  s condemnation of totalitarian society  and their lack of right for free expression is dark  damning and an amazingly animated . it is no wonder the government banned it as this is the sort of media that people admire  and would perhaps even listen to . that was obviously not acceptable . an amazing example of an artists civil disobedience and the impact it can have . and still quite relevant today for many parts of the world  from the us to the middle east . a must see and definite   out of    talk about going out with a bang   
 . . . said a couple exiting the movie theater just as i was entering to watch this . hmm  not a good sign  but who knows  different strokes for different folks  after all . well  nope . they were being kind . godard has released work that is passionate  contempt   entertaining  band of outsiders   sometimes both  my life to live  . this is just dull intellectualism  that grates on the nerves pretty quickly . during my showing  literally half of the audience had walked out by the end of the film . if only i had been so wise .  
starlift is a pleasant and interesting throwback to those all star musical pictures that every studio was putting out during the world war ii years . when you  ve got such stars as gary cooper  james cagney  doris day  gordon macrae  and randolph scott  etc .  in the film and with such people as the gershwin brothers  cole porter  jule styne and sammy cahn supplying the music  it  s an easy to take film . and the plot isn  t even in the way .  br    br   what plot there is involves two air force enlisted men  dick wesson and ron hagerthy  trying to meet warner brothers starlet janice rule using as a gimmick the fact that both come from youngstown  ohio and hagerthy  s father was rule  s dentist as well as half of the town  s . the scheme works too well as louella parsons is soon putting them as an item in her column . yes  louella  s in the film as well . she must have liked warner brothers or jack warner catered to her more than the other studio bosses because she also used this studio to publicize her hollywood hotel radio program back in the day .  br    br   but the rest of the plot also touched on the real life efforts of ruth roman also playing herself to get her studio and others to do shows at the air force bases for the servicemen and women going to korea . some of the names i  ve mentioned and others sing and perform in a show at travis air force base where a lot of this film was shot .  br    br   one specialty number was shot for the talents of phil harris who sing  narrates a ballad look out stranger  i  m a texas ranger aided and assisted by virginia gibson  frank lovejoy and gary cooper . yup  cooper looked like he was having a great old time kidding his image .  br    br   this is the oldest of clichs when you say they don  t make them like this any more  but they really don  t because you don  t have a studio system that has all this talent under contract . that  s one thing about the demise of the old studio system we can mourn .  
the first point that calls the attention in  for ever mozart  is the absence of a plot summary in imdb . the explanation is simple since there is no story  screenplay  plot or whatever might recall the minimum structure of a movie . jean  luc godard is one of the most overrated and pretentious directors of the cinema industry and this pointless crap is among his most hermetic films . i believe that neither himself has understood what is this story about but there are intellectuals that elucubrate to justify or explain this messy movie  and it is funny to read their reviews .  br    br   my vote is one .  br    br   title  brazil    para sempre mozart    forever mozart    
as a movie this barely rates a  but for movie fans of the     s period  it  s almost a must  see and rates a  as a variety show  i was drawn to watch this by the presence of richard  captain midnight  webb who plays the colonel in charge of the event . what surprised me was the stunning performance of doris day . outside of  calamity jane   i  ve never seen her put over a song better than she does here . randolph scott is memorable as well  even if he doesn  t see much screen time . it  s been a while since i saw the movie but i was almost sure humphrey bogart put in an appearance . with so many familiar faces  it  s hard to keep track . if it ever turns up on a tv station near you  be sure to catch the doris day sequence  if nothing else   br    br    
a female country singer nicknamed  big t    seriously  that  s what they call her   risks her budding musical career and her life by falling into the company of a sleazy drunkard  busey  who wants to be her manager . his mother committed suicide  his father  s an alcoholic as well  and he has a violent temper . you can imagine where that leads . in the meantime  there  s music aplenty  as parton  with her fluid vocal talents  belts out song after song  at least half a dozen of them about texas  . steer clear of this mess and check her out in nine to five or steel magnolias instead .  
at first i didn  t like the movie cause of it being a nazi swastika drama . but after buying it and seeing it  it wasn  t that bad . i heard so many complaints about the numbers being short and ilse werner not singing . now i understand . the radio show was a super propaganda radio program . ilse  johanne and zara plus rudy shruki and band like kurt widman and his orchestra and fud cantics ex cetera never appeared in the radio show cause the singers and the bands were of the pop jazz and swing categories . the club foot had that regulated that for touring occupied areas for the soldiers to short wave radios for the soldiers also night clubs and hotels  in berlin and hamburg  and record sales only . this is why ilse wasn  t allowed to sing in this picture . this would be made up by medium budget musical  were making music       in which she would demonstrate her whistling . but this is an excellent example propaganda . inge and her aunt eichhorn  played by ida wust  goes to the     olympics . the aunt forgets her tickets so inge has to wait till her aunt comes back with the tickets . she meets carle radditz  who plays herbert  who has an extra ticket . she goes with him and it  s love at first sight . they plan to marry but the spanish war get in the way so he has to go on an assignment against the right side . carl raddatz as so many people complained about him was really handsome and not plain . when he did opfergang and they put a mustache on him plus his own suntan that made him plain looking . you see the nazi soldiers acting normal  like a scene in which a ex butcher and his troops are in france and they steal pigs from a farm and they are about to make lunch until their leader suggest to save the pigs . this reflect adolphs animal rights extremism . the character was a butcher now soldier . this was a subtle put down against meat eating . late on in world war    herbert is flying in a german airplane . we shoot one of the pilots so herbert takes over . we shoot his plane . they crash . unfortunately for us they survive . another seen the nazis soldiers go in a bomb catholic church  now it  s putting the catholics down  and hubert  s best friend helmet  played by joachim brennecke starts to play the organ  beethtoven  . more bombs come in from us . the church is bomb more the soldier continues to stay and play the organ he  s being told to leave . we end up injuring him . propaganda message  the catholic church organ cause him to become addicted to it . it injured him . see  by this time inge is with her either mother or grandma  played hedwig bleibteu  the same german grandame actress who played maria holst  s aunt in weiner blut . well  later it comes to the short view of the radio show . this was not intended to be a musical revue  such as kora terry released that same year were as well as rosen in tirol  the music as well as their side of the war was so supposed to be only the back drop . it was mainly a war romantic movie . it  s easy to take a pot shot at those soldier in the movie but in real life many of those soldiers were being forced to fight the nazi cause  cause of the job and the monthly pay that they would receive . after the war many of them who survive would regret it . this is a good swastika classic . the only problem is that today you have neo nazi and nazi skin heads  who watched the same movies to reflect their hitler worship and their . they have disturbing websites who exploit these film classics to raise money for their insanity . be careful most of the time it  s the direct hate only classics . if their scenario looks like they are glorifying it  then its a nazi website skip it . go to ihf or german wartime films dot com  amazon dot dee or german video dot net . they are legitimate .         mada a mistake it wasn  t herbert  s friend that got killed at the church . it was malte yager  s character  s friend schartzscop .  
if john waters had written and directed  house of     corpses  after being struck about the head repeatedly with a heavy object  the result would probably be something like  the blood shed .  it  s mildly entertaining for the first half hour  but then it slides into a sort of featureless glop of constant screaming and people doing things to each others genitalia with electric carving knives  cutlery and pliers . susan adriensen  sno cakes  is incredibly annoying and terry west  elvis bullion  is almost as bad in whatever it is he  s doing in front of the camera .  br    br   maybe the best thing about  the blood shed  is that it won  t take most viewers very long to forget about it .  
i loved this film  at first the slick graphics seemed odd with the grainy footage but i quickly got into it . there must have been thousands of hours of footage shot and i really admire the work done in cutting it down . if you  re easily shocked by drugs or violence it might not be the film for you but there are some great characters here   and some real tossers  . technically i liked it a lot too  they must have used a new de  interlacing algorithm or maybe it was just that the footage looked so dark anyway but i wasn  t annoyed by the usual artifacts seen in video to film transfers .  open water drove me nuts  mostly because there are cheap  progressive cameras available now and i see no excuse in not shelling for one if you intend to screen in the cinema  . sorry that  s my own little rant . i definitely recommend this film if you  ve ever been involved with the music scene  it has some tragic moments but most of it is hilarious  i might be accused of laughing at others misfortune but it  s a classic piece .  
it was jon pertwee who said  its very difficult to be funny but very easy to be silly  . well if thats the case pasty faces is  very easy  . david baker  as director  screenwriter  and his cast seem to be under the impression that comedy involves stealing scenes and style from superior britcoms like lock stock . . and trainspotting  using a completely underdeveloped script and jumping up and down speaking in a very fast voice very loudly . alan mccaffrey especially suffers from this type of ott performance but not enough to ruin the film because theres not enough of a film to ruin .  br    br   pasty faces is terrible on all fronts especially scriptwise . i couldnt understand why it ended the way it did  it just seemed to stop in a very abrupt and silly manner . oh and other glaring errors are that you need a visa to visit the usa and a green card in order to work there  this film would have you believe you can get off a plane and start a new life in america without any authorisation  that you still get paid to donate blood in america  people who i know in america  and who donate blood tell me payment for donations stopped several years ago  and that you can buy any type of weapon from a gun shop . as far as i know gun laws in america differ from state to state but no gun shops sell anti tank guns over the counter . so weve got a very erroneous view of america from a very unreal and oh so unfunny film . maybe this is revenge for braveheart a very hollywood view of the scots  perhaps  but this doesnt stop pasty faces from being a crap comedy  
what can i say  i have grown up watching hum saath saath hain  hum aapke hain koun and maine pyar kiya . soraj have always been different . movies are part of our lives in evolutionary times soraj creates something thats hard to find . love and joint family that loving and great . vivah is journey for a couple that are getting arrange marriage that turns on arrange and love marriage . shahid has done fine work . anupamji as always brilliant . amrita rao quit different even though i felt that someway the other to me she doesn  t suit in that role . we  ve seen her in ishk vishk and ab ke baras  and main ho on na . so quit different role that she isn  t in to . she is been excellent in main ho on na and ishk vishk but may be she could  ve put little more in the role . anyways great going work by barjatya . this movie rejuvenates the values that we forgot . sweet film of the year . great music and lyrics . i am not sure if its a remake but anyways brilliant story that is original . soraj  s movies have been brilliant all the way so we always expect something different from him . great work by all the cast the crew and everybody . lovely family film to enjoy with your parents  siblings  friends and love ones . i give it   out of   .  
two years before he wrote and directed  arthur   steve gordon had a minor hit with his screenplay for this crackpot comedic vehicle for henry winkler  then tv  s  the fonz  . a     s college thespian  and all  around jerk  woos a co  ed and gets married without any employment prospects on the horizon to make ends meet  he turns to the flamboyant world of wrestling  eventually becoming a  gorgeous george   like celebrity . turning likable winkler into an obnoxious goof  off probably sounded like an interesting idea at the time  and a sure way to separate him from his television alter  ego   but the jokes and situations are often wrong  headed and mean  staged rather sloppily by director carl reiner . particularly crude is a wincing bit involving herv villechaize  of  fantasy island   putting the moves on polly holliday  flo from  alice   . as henry  s beloved  kim darby looks a little out of her element   particularly when surrounded by all these tv hams   rendering the romance aspect of the script inconsequential .     from   
i should admit first i am a huge fan of the dandy warhols  and that is the reason i came watching this film .  br    br   the uniqueness of this film  compared to other modern rockumentaries  is that it  s not just about one page of a band  s history  like  i am trying to break your heart   about wilco   but rather covers long period of the band  s history . in this movie  director  producer ondi timoner closely followed friends  rivals the brian jonestown massacre  bjm  and the dandy warhols  dw  for more than  years            and shoot tremendous     hours of raw video  cut than to     hours  the future dvd release will contain much more material than the original film  . the result is astonishing  there are no fillers  the film is     pure and genuine archive footage  which gives you feeling as film progresses that you live with the bands  through all these years .  br    br   both bands in the start of their careers promised to  make a revolution  in the music making  and not to sell their souls to the devil of  record industry  . however  their paths quickly diverged  the dandy warhols signed a contract with capitol records and became relatively popular  especially in europe  after only one album  while the brian jonestown massacre  with its self  destruction  bound leader anton newcombe  dissolved into oblivion  at least how it is portrayed in the film  . and the movie follows the descent of the brian jonestown massacre  contrasted by the ascent of the dandy warhols .  br    br   first  i was delighted by the movie and its approach of telling the story of anton newcombe  for example  courtney taylor  the leader of the dandy warhols  narrates   but after some thinking i realized that something is wrong with this film .  br    br   first  it treats anton newcombe as a disappeared person . the project started in     as a documentary about several promising emerging groups  in which anton newcombe and ondi timoner were equal partners  that was the reason why all these years ondi timoner had unmediated access to the both bands  . it was anton newcombe who brought the dandy warhols into the project . in the end he was ignored completely  as if he was kicked out of the project . everybody talk about bjm  but he does not take part in the discussion . i guess he wasn  t even informed when the group started the final editing process . there are always both sides of the story  and here we have only one . . . of course  as one would expect  anton does not approve the final result and sees this movie as a betrayal of his former friends .  br    br   second  the film is very dandy warhols  biased . sure  the winner takes it all  but the fact that courtney taylor  leader of dw  narrates  even though it seems a good choice  it provides a feeling of seemingly closer involvement  and that bands  late history is represented nonproportionally  bjm is covered till      and dw  till       does not add objectivity to the film .  br    br   third  the movie is  somewhat  shallow . what does it want to teach us  as one critic said  . . . movie examines old questions where does genius fit into a commodified world  can it thrive and get its due  or does it need to self  destruct to preserve its integrity   no  it does not examine these questions  it just depicts a story of a brilliant  but unsuccessful musician  narrated by a less brilliant  but successful one  who indulges in self  assurance and eternal coolness of an ego greater than mountain .  br    br   anyway  the movie was fun  it  s raw  it  s fresh  it  s stylish  it  s . . . just god damn interesting  at least for the dw or bjm fans . for the rest of the crowd  i don  t know . . .  
i will never forget the night i saw this movie . we were on a submarine on patrol in the north atlantic and this was the scheduled movie of the evening . we all gave up after the second reel . they did not even try to show it at the mid  night showing . opting for a rerun instead . . . . . . this is all i really have to say but they have this stupid rule that my comment must contain ten lines . i  m not supposed to pad the comment with random words so i will just continue to ramble until i get my ten lines of bs . i could not find george goble listed in the credits but i remember him in the movie . the sining was terrible and the songs even worse .  
dig  i would say to anyone even if you don  t like metallica to see  some kind of monster  it is a spinal tap type documentary about one of the biggest bands in the world acting like mental kids during a breakdown of sorts . it  s fun and fascinating . along the same lines comes dig  a film about  the dandy warhol  s  and  the brian jonestown massacre  two portland bands who start off a kind of music scene in there home town only for one of the bands to become huge and one to fall by the wayside into the musical history books . right from the start the two bands pull in opposite directions just on their ability to make decisions whether good or bad . filmed over seven years and at times painful to watch we see the dandy  s meteoric rise to fame  thanks to that vodaphone ad   and the jonestown seminal fall from scene instigators to bickering wannabes . as the bands become more disjointed the friendships are stretched tension tight and at several points snap into arguments and even on stage fights . all of this is half funny and half tragic and believe it or not is perversely watch able . like i said at the beginning you can watch the metallica film even if you have no interest in the band . dig  on the other hand is slightly different and is more enjoyable and a whole lot easier to watch if you have a passing interest in either band . still a good film and more a testament to not be in a band than encouraging that as a career path . dig  is a mad ride on rock and roll  s coat tails and a fine example of the pitfalls and pleasures of being or wanting to be famous .  
this paramount version  ripoff of oklahoma   annie get your gun  calamity jane isn  t all that unusual or innovative . the marketing and intro comments may be there to salvage what is really a pretty bad movie musical western shot on a soundstage and like a live tv show . i don  t find the use of the background cyclorama  lit in various scenes with yellow  or pink  or red  or . . . . all that innovative . as noted  it looks more to me like a movie that was produced on a tv budget all soundstage  with minimal sets backed by the lighted cycs   compare to new faces  of      . the actors come off reasonably well  though . and this style was much better realized when paramount shot li  l abner in     . of couorse  this movie suggests the often repeated question  what were they thinking    
damn  was that a lot to take in . i was pretty much mesmerised throughout . it was pretty perfect  though i would say the editing had a lot to do with that . i can  t believe this guy stayed on good terms with the lot of them  anton especially  to get all of this footage without any serious . . . beef . the dandy  s did come off well  together  middle  class kids who took advantage of their situation  and rightly so   . i felt bad for jonestown and especially for anton  which maybe wasn  t what a lot of other people felt . great piece of film  making and great choice of subject  s  . i recommend this to any music  film fan . you  ll probably learn something about film  making .  
my nose is bent slightly out of shape as i write this . i had sent a previous comment on this film some weeks ago that has not yet appeared  so i assume it was rejected  even though it met all the usual guidelines .  br    br   i found this film interesting for the first thirty minutes  particularly the performance of jordi moll  a veteran actor who has appeared in such major productions as  blow  and  the alamo .  leonor watling is also quite good . unfortunately  everything sinks eventually under the weight of a truly awful  melodramatic script . there is also an abundance of gratuitous nudity that does nothing to advance the narrative or lend even an impressionistic nuance to what is otherwise a beautifully filmed piece of art .  br    br   an actual day trip to the beach at valencia would be much less arduous than having to encounter these fictional characters again anywhere  anytime .  
shot into car from through the windscreen  someone is playing someone else their latest song  someone else didn  t react  according to the voice  over . i just wonder how that came to be made . there were too many scenes in this movie that i wondered about how come a camera was there . if the scenes shot where the warhols descended on a bjm post  party are true then that was inexcusable exploitation to the max  if not  then it was a total fabrication  either way it made me uncomfortable  if that was the purpose  all the way thru this movie i kept wondering how the footage came about . taken at face value  a nice portrait of the  tortured  genius we all believe ourselves to be .  
ulises is a literature teacher that arrives to a coastal town . there  he will fell in love to martina  the most beautiful girl in town . they will start a torrid romance which will end in the tragic death of ulises at the sea . some years later  martina has married to sierra  the richest man in town and lives a quiet happy live surrounded by money . one day  the apparition of ulises will make her passion to rise up and act without thinking the consequences . the plot is quite absurd and none of the actors plays a decent part . in addition  three quarters of the film are sexual acts  which  still being well filmed  are quite tiring  as we want to see more development of the story . it is just a bad bigas luna  s film  with lots of sex  no argument and stupid characters everywhere .  
i first saw this film when i was flipping through the movie channels on my parents directv . it was on the sundance channel and was just starting . i love music  especially late   s and this is what the bjm sounded like  the dandys are alright  . everything about the brian jonestown massacre intrigued me from the music  to anton and joel  s personalities  to the illicit drug use . it was funny because as i was watching the first party scene when everyone is doing lines my parents walked by and decided to watch  the look on their faces were priceless  . anyways this is definitely one of my favorite movies because it introduced me to the brian jonestown massacre who is now my favorite band of all time .  br    br   just watch it . . . seriously  
if you  ve ever wanted to see a film that stresses style over substance  this is for you . to me  son de mar is beautiful to see  but there  s precious little substance  unless mawkish  melodramatic  manipulative love yarns turn you on . this may be one of those famous  chick flicks  you  ve heard so much about .  br    br   we  re about half  way through this film before anything really happens ulises  jordi molla  goes out to sea looking for tuna  and doesn  t come back  leaving his wife martina  leonor watling  and son to fend for themselves . then  in a furious six minutes of screen time  they bury ulises  martina gets married again  and her son grows into mid  childhood . this rapid transposition is jarring  to say the least  and very sloppy after   minutes of more or less hanging around  we  re suddenly into a full  blown melodrama  all in six minutes . i think this is called wayward narrative pacing .  br    br   five years later  ulises  as in the wandering superhero ulysses get it    returns to his  penelope   watling  only to find she  s married to sierra  eduard fernandez   an inexplicably wealthy guy  what does he do to earn all that dough   who inexplicably keeps crocodiles as pets . when martina  in great anger  questions ulises about his absence  he tells her that he  ll take her to the island of sumatra someday and she  ll understand everything .  br    br   and here  s the thing he doesn  t take her to the island of sumatra . the reference just dies somewhere in the script . he doesn  t really explain where he was and why he ignored his wife and child for five years . he doesn  t acquit himself as an honourable guy  and the movie doesn  t fill in the plot holes that are staring at us for at least half of the film . i can only assume that director bigas luna wants us to fill in the story lines with the mystical clues  fish  reptiles  the sea  he offers through breathtaking cinematography and evasive dialogue . it just doesn  t work . the narrative  arc  on this film ends up looking more like a wobbly clothesline .  br    br   i  m sure jordi molla is a good actor  but i just couldn  t buy his ulises as any kind of hero  which is what the original ulysses was supposed to be  . with moist sensuality  he spouts a short stanza of identical poetry from virgil roughly      times and each and every time it excites martina to explosive orgasm . this guy should be rented out to reinvigorate stale marriages . i  m sure virgil would be impressed . he didn  t get laid that often  as i understand it .  br    br   this poetic  device  figures prominently in the film  and i had no choice but to assume it was a gender reversal of ulysses  famous  siren song   i . e . beautiful maidens singing seductively to far  off sailors  who were doomed if they answered the  well  siren call  . if this is what bigas luna is up to  you can see the problem   he  s offering convoluted symbolism in a snatch  and  grab attempt at high art . once again  it just doesn  t work  at least in my eyes .  br    br   watling is a beautiful and magnetic young actor  but she gives us a character here who doesn  t seem to have much intellectual or even romantic depth . it  s beyond me how she could desperately fall in love with a guy who sports a for  rent sign on his face  as in vacant   oily     s  style hair that looks more like seaweed  and one of those trendy   st  century  beards   you know  four days  growth  no more  no less  . he  s supposed to be a dreamy kind of guy  i think   but those eyes of his suggest he might be suffering more from overexposure to a preposterous script .  br    br   but  don  t despair  this film is great to look at . just don  t try to connect the dots on the red herrings or think too much about what you  re hearing in the way of dialogue . you can do a lost of fast  forwarding on this film  particularly in the first   minutes  and you really won  t miss much .  
although dig  was being hailed as being closest to what the music industry is like it is highly fabricated . the director has misled the audience into believing the brian jonestown massacre disappeared off the face of the earth post     . and the rivalry between the dandy warhols and jonestown has been milked . the truth of the matter is not really exposed in this film .  br    br   that said this film is endlessly quotable and is an interesting watch as we get a look at two groups of very talented musicians creating their art . one of the best things this film has going for it is a unique perspective between the indie music scene and the larger corporate scene .  br    br   recommended mostly for the music and the two fantastic bands .  
previous comments encouraged me to check this out when it showed up on tcm  but it was a severe disappointment . lupe valdez is great  but doesn  t get enough screen time . frank morgan and eugene palette play familiar but promising characters  but the script leaves them stranded .  br    br   the movie revolves around the ego of lee tracy  s character  who is at best a self  centered  physically and verbally abusive jerk . the reactions of  the public  are poorly thought  out and unbelievable  making the  shenanigans  seem like contrivances of a bad writer . and it strains credulity that the lupe velez character could fall for him .  br    br   the  stinging one  liners  mentioned in another review must be dependent on the observer  since i didn  t even notice that an attempt was being made .  
anton newcombe makes the film and he is the main subject . watching him knock up a song if not a whole album quickly showed the guy to be a real talent . he thinks he is god but is so prollific and interesting . the dw are not really that interesting in comparison musicly or otherwise .  hey  do you haver a drivers license    anton says to the cameraman   well lets go pawn this guitar   . great use of archive  home video material . great to see rock docs still being made . a cool doc about the creative process . if you like this go see nirvana live  tonight  sold out  on dvd . a good experience anton is this film .  out of    
this film is lame  lame  lame      it takes a lot to bring me to over  exaggeration about a movie  but this movie stunk up my house   i haven  t even finished the movie yet and i had to stop to comment on how bad this movie is . i  ve never done that   as a consumer  do not spend your money on this film . wait until it comes out on a cable channel or something . it  s barely tv worthy . i really hate trashing a movie  but this movie is trash  barely above porn . should have and x rating  good plot  some frontal nudity  if that floats your boat   but horrible high school level acting . don  t know how this movie received distribution .  must have been a contractual thing .  really  if you really like watching good movies  don  t waste you time with this one . from one movie lover to another . you will be mad at yourself  let me say this as well  if you  ve been through something like this perhaps you can relate and it will have some value for you . in that case i say watch it  you may take something away from it  if not just seeing something that  s happened to you being acted out by someone else  has therapeutic value  .  
i recently rented this doc  having remembered hearing about it from imdb . com and being intrigued by the premise . i knew very little about either of these bands  but i do remember hearing  not if you were the last junkie on earth  by the dandy warhols ages ago and enjoying it . that being said  this is my perspective on the doc  br    br   one thing i found incredible about this film is there is no need to have any prior knowledge of either of these bands . the director  ondi timoner  wastes no time in engaging the audience and familiarizing them with the people in this film . i quickly became grooved to the lives both anton and courtney as well as their respective bands  the brian jonestown massacre and the dandy warhols . i think that is part of what makes this doc so good  and what makes ondi timoner such a master documentarian .  br    br   i also loved how the  story  of these bands was told . most of what you see is of the bands on tour . both bands start out playing small venues and struggling to make it in the recording industry . throughout the film  each band strives to remain unique and uncontrolled by the norm . however it is this that makes the two bands similar  and thus the brilliant perspective on how two bands of a feather can go in such different directions .  br    br   i would basically recommend this for anyone who likes film in general . you do not need to have a particular love for documentaries  or either of the bands . an appreciation for music helps  but the music itself takes a backseat to the love  hate relationship between the brian jonestown massacre and the dandy warhols .  
the only redeeming quality of this film is the actual storyline . . . otherwise  this movie was terrible . the acting was ridiculously bad  and the set design was cheesy and very tacky . the story was decent  but it was very hard to watch due to all the horrid acting . i wouldn  t recommend watching this one . . . the only redeeming quality of this film was that the actors were somewhat attractive . . . especially ryan bauer  the man who plays the soap opera star . some of the editing was well done  but there are continuity errors all over the place . . . i  m just starting to get sick and tired of watching gay movies that are bad . . . can we get a good one soon   
to suggest anton newcombe of the brian jonestown massacre could also use some therapy is putting it mildly . in dig  which won the grand jury prize at sundance  we watch him and his band self  sabotage over seven years  while ex  friends and contemporaries the dandy warhols rise to comparative greatness  a mobile phone advert  anyway  .  br    br   what elevates dig  above its contemporaries is the immense  near  biblical comic  tragedy being played out a depressingly honest treatise on art versus commerce and compromise . for all his  look at me  i  m a bloody genius  posturing  newcombe is in fact revealed to be a singularly gifted  if immensely troubled  musician  far more talented than his rival  the dandy  s courtney taylor who narrates the picture . if newcombe is dennis hopper  taylor  s peter fonda .  br    br   even sadder  taylor appears to realise this  evinced by his weary  self  loathing voice  over he knows his band won the battle  but at what cost  in truth  they sold out  made indie  lite records  kept their teeth nice and clean  and probably brushed their hair twice before bedtime  thus winning record contracts and a large tour bus . and jettisoning all credibility in the process . newcombe  on the other hand  lives in filth  is continually busted  beats up fellow band members on stage  kicks hecklers in the head  and is last glimpsed in dig  being ferried away by police  having lost the right to see his child .  br    br   two of the best films about rock  s subculture have been directed by women penelope spheeris  s the decline of western civilization and this one  an instant classic the moment it was released .  
until now  the worst movie i had ever seen was ben  arthur . you really should check the reviews for that movie instead of this one . the review statistics for this movie have been skewed positive through a relentless and unscrupulous push by some of the people involved in making it  evidence for which is fairly easy to uncover online . at least the people who made ben  arthur were honorable enough to let it stand on its own shaky legs  instead of unscrupulously promoting it so suckers like me would buy it .  br    br   everything about this movie is terrible  the script  the story  the casting  the acting  the direction  the photography  the editing  the music . . . what else goes into a movie  whatever it is  here it  s as bad as it gets . if it weren  t so unpleasant it would be ridiculous . i kept watching it thinking it must get better  because i hadn  t yet discovered that none of the positive reviews for it are reliable .  br    br   it does not take a lot of money to make a great movie  nor does a low budget mean a movie has to be bad . my favorite example of a shoestring  budget masterpiece is gus van sant  s amazing mala noche  but there are many others . sideline secretsdirector  s cut or originalis bad not because the people who made it had no money  but because they had gigantic egos and no talent for anything at all except self  promotion .  
anton newcombe and courtney taylor are friends  they both are the leads in their own respective bands anton with the brian jonestown massacre and courtney with the dandy warhols . what  s interesting about their friendship is that they are rivals its a love hate relationship . at times you both hear them praising one another  but the next second they are complaining at how stupid and self absorbed they are . while the dandy warhols went on the reach commercial success  bjm still was stuck in the underground scene and for good reason why .  br    br   the focus of dig  is more towards anton and the bjm  as they have a lot more substance . they are the most dysfunctional band . during gigs they will fight and bash each other . anton will hit other members if he feels they aren  t performing correctly . with the amount of drugs an alcohol they consume  fight was always waiting to happen . you know how people go to car races just to see if a huge car crash happens that  s why people would go to their gigs  for the fights .  br    br   anton is very unstable . always thinking himself as a music messiah  he wants to change music and create a revolution  but he could never get out of the underground . he is a very talented musician  its amazing how many instruments he can play and with such skill . but his draw back is he cant escape the world he created a prolific musician stuck in a black hole drugs  alcohol and depression . on the other side  the dandy warhols were having their own troubles . they didn  t find much success with their first album and were constantly fighting with their record label . but they found huge success in europe . but courtney keeps being sucked back into the world of anton . its interesting that both anton and courtney both had what the other needed . courtney always wanted to be musically talented as anton  though anton wouldn  t say it  he needed the commercial success that the dandy  s had  to make his revolution .  br    br   over the seven year course the film crew followed these two bands  there is a lot of footage . there is never a dull moment in dig  . it is constantly moving along as it doesn  t have time to slow down as it has to much to say  seven years of story telling in the  h   mins is a hard job . ondi timoner has done a great job of piecing together one of the best music documentaries that makes you always wanting more . even if you don  t like the bands it still deserves viewing it transcends the music to reveal a great story of a successful failure .  br    br   you wont be disappointed .  
there are some good things about the movie . the music and cinematography is great . alex wilson is hot and gives a great performance . ryan bauer is also hot . the production was very lucky to have casted them because they really give production value to the movie . jonny vincent  sean  and a lot of the boys in the movie that don  t speak are cute too . why isn  t the actress who plays amy listed in the credits  brandon alexander gives a great comedic performance as clitarissa pink .  br    br   the worse thing about the movie is probably the star  james townsend . he can  t act . he  s also very scrawny  not nice to look at at all . his arms are like spaghetti . it  s disgusting . they have no muscle tone at all . it  s no wonder he has to make his own movie and cast himself in it . no one else would cast him in anything .  br    br   james townsend is not believable as someone who would even have a girlfriend because he acts so gay . they should have casted someone else as the lead if they wanted what  s best for the movie . then again  maybe he just wants to use this movie as a vehicle to launch a career in soft  core porn  definitely not real acting because he would have taken some acting lessons . plus  anyone who does porn is blacklisted in hollywood .  br    br   the most ridiculous thing about the movie is probably the casting of a tan  skinned latina as devon  s mother . sonja fisher does not seem like an actress at all . all in all  this movie is soft  core porn and is no better than something you would see on skinemax . i think even alex wilson  probably the best thing about this movie  is embarrassed by it and doesn  t want to be associated with it . there is no photo on his imdb page and nothing else listed  so alex wilson is probably a disposable stage name . plus  i ran into him in west hollywood one time recently and when i mentioned this movie  he just turned around and walked away . i understand . if i had worked on this movie  i would be embarrassed and wouldn  t want to be associated with it either .  
one would have to be very jaded indeed not to be swept up into this gem of a film  and i  ve seen hundreds of hindi and bollywood movies  too  . the actors  the beautiful settings  locations  and surroundings  the deep emotions portrayed  the sweet songs  especially the singing voice of udit narayan  my favorite    everything was just lovely . the human  imperfect  element was also woven in  to create some drama and drive the plot  as well as allowing a heartfelt resolution . alok nath is such a terrific actor  so open with the emotions of the characters he portrays  he almost steals the show from the young stars . i highly recommend this film to anyone who loves true romances   ones that go beyond superficial beauty to real love   as one of the best films out there  hindi or otherwise   
eddie murphy  s  delirious  is completely and totally rude  crude  crass and lude . this is indeed the only way to describe this appalling  trashy piece of stand  up . eddie murphy goes for shock value rather than laughs to try and win his following over . he does manage to be funny occasionally  but mostly loses the plot with obscene language and distasteful sex jokes .  br    br   forget it  unless you happen to enjoy eddie  s foul style . i don  t think i will bother with  eddie murphy raw  . i much prefer eddie in the confines of a movie script .  br    br   saturday  january         video  
the movie is about anton newcombe . the music and careers of the two bands are simply backdrop . it  s only fair that newcombe have the last word about the film  which at this writing you can find in the  news  section at the brianjonestownmassacre website . i  d link it here but imdb won  t permit it .  br    br   documentarians are limited by what the camera captures  as well as by the need to assemble a cohesive narrative from the somewhat  random occasions when chance has put the camera lens on a sight  line with relevant happenstance . in dig   fortune smiled on the dandy warhols  capturing their rise to the status of pop  idol candidates  as they formed slickly  produced pop confections for mass consumption  most notably  bohemian like you   a song that made them global darlings thanks to a euro cell phone ad .  br    br   no such luck for brian jonestown massacre . the film captures little of what made the original bjm lineup great  with the sole exception of a single montage  lasting a minute or so  showing newcombe creating  recording a number of brief instrumental parts  unremarkable in themselves  and concluding the sequence with a playback of the lush  shimmering sounds that had to have been in newcombe  s mind and soul before they could enter the world .  br    br   three commentaries accompany the film one by the filmmakers  and two by the members of the bands  the bjm track is solely former members  and without newcombe  . both the warhols and bjm alumni point up this montage sequence as the  best  bit in the film  and i  d agree that  given the film  s focus on anton newcombe  it is the only part of the film that sheds proper light on his gift  and seems too brief to lend proper balance to this attempted portrait of the  tortured artist .   br    br   interesting thing about commentaries is that  unlike film  they are recorded in real time   one long take   which can be more honestly revelatory than a documentary that takes shape primarily through editing .  br    br   the dandies do not come off well in their comments . if the rock and roll world extends the experience of high school life for its denizens   as i believe it does   the dandies are the popularity  obsessed preppy types  the ones who listen to rock because it  s what their peers do  while the bjm crew come off as the half  rejected  half  self  exiled outsiders  to insiders like the dandies   losers   that are the real rock spirit . bjm  s joel gion  who talks a lot  nails the film  s message for me when he says  paraphrasing    you can  t forget that anton has been able to do the only thing he ever said he wanted to do . make a lot of great music .   br    br   the dandies  meanwhile  laugh too easily at every outrageous display in the course of newcombe  s meltdown  all the bjm footage here ends at      before newcombe quit heroin  . courtney taylor  taylor  s discounting of newcombe  s commitment to his vision is summed up as follows  he  s   and still living in his car . you can download all his work at his website . he was so tired of being ripped off by everyone else  he  s giving it all away . he could be making a mint .  you can practically hear him shaking his head in disbelief .  br    br   the film  s shortcomings can  t be blamed on the filmmakers rather it  s the difficulties of the documentary form  and the loss of cooperation by the film  s subject  that makes this portrait of newcombe so fragmentary . but it  s likely the best we will get  outside of his music .  br    br   i only rented disc one  which has the feature . most of the extras are on disc two . not renting that  as i  ve put in my order to buy the set .  
steven vasquez directed and co  wrote with james townsend  the star  this strange little drama cum horror flick with evidently very good ideas and intentions make a gay film that takes a different storyline than the usual fare and make a drama that wants to be judged on its merits as a thriller . so why doesn  t it work  for starters the film loses direction from the opening frame and wanders rather aimlessly throughout the film  dead set on making a suspense thriller but getting sidetracked into satisfying an audience who wants to see nude encounters . not that that is a bad thing it can certainly enhance some films that have been hollywood successes . the film also tries to talk about coming out experiences in young men and women  relationships  disturbed parenting  the club scene with all the wild antics that accompany such events  and murder . it is all a bit much to cram into a    minute film .  br    br   devon  james townsend  by all appearances is a successful kid with a kind girlfriend jenna  sarah kelly  but he has an eye for boys and visits a bar where he meets brian  alex wilson  who has been down the same path and can offer devon assistance on every level . they bond  devon comes out  and the mysteries begin boys are missing in the neighborhood  devon  s stepfather psychologist dr . kirk tyler  dan swett  is not at all what he appears to be and despite devon  s consoling mother donna  sonja fisher  devon is cast into the streets because of his new relationship . it seems dr tyler is in a dark business with hunky detective cunningham  earl mcdougle  who apparently is investigating the missing boys . . . devon gathers his resources from his understanding girlfriend jenna and her cronies and together the group unveils the dark doings of dr . tyler and his detective sidekick . and through it all donna radiates warmth and understanding as the perfect mother of a gay boy  etc .  br    br   some of the actors are pleasing to the eye  and there is very little the eye doesn  t examine frequently   but the degree of acting is at an all time low . the only thing that makes us forgive that  and in some cases it is just too poor to forgive  is the feeling of commitment on the part of everyone involved . yes  this is a low budget movie and yes  the director needs time to learn his trade . but in the end there is something to be said for the involved people to try to take a gay film to a different level . maybe their next one will be more polished . grady harp  
dig  is funny  fun  amusing  interesting  stylish  and very well done . knowing that it was made on such a shoestring budget over  years it is amazing that such a story can be told  especially with such style and substance . if you are a music fan or documentary fan this is a must see .  br    br   focusing on the brian jonestown masssacre and the dandy warhols over the years is a brilliant way to show the contrast between a decent band who meets with moderate success through perseverance and the ability to compromise and a genius megalomaniacal lead singer backed up by a varied cast of characters who sabotage their own success through drugs  alcohol  and insanity . if i did not know that this is footage of real people  i would swear it was an incredibly well written and imaginative scripted piece . the story is compelling  concise  and simply amazing .  
i bought this dvd after seeing it highly ranked here . it  s just a short   minutes zombie film . nothing special about it except for the music perhaps .  br    br   don  t buy it  not even really worth spending   minutes to see it . only if you  re really bored . . .  
a really cool flick . a must for any music snob . you don  t really have to know about the bands to enjoy the movie . before the movie  i only heard only two songs from the dandy warhols . the only thing is required is an open mind .  br    br   the movie centers around the brian jonestown massacre . the dandy warhols have a role in the film  as the  rival band   but they are second fiddle to the bjm . the dandy warhols don  t play as big of a role in the film as i originally guessed  but then again  they didn  t have the element of excitement and unpredictability of the bjm . you can  t help but be fascinated by the band and its very charismatic front man  anton newcombe . by itself  it  s an insightful film and study on the music industry . just watch this film and enjoy .  
this is a decent endeavor but the guy who wrote the screenplay seems to be a bit in the dark as to what exactly makes a zombie movie cool . no  it isn  t cgi bugs and software companies . actually i  m not sure whether it was a software company  i saw it without subtitles so i had to guess what they  re talking about . anyway my point was  instead of wasting your time animating some dumb  ass bug  why not throw in more zombies and more action .    of the   minutes consist of news bulletins  bugs  some guys yelling about something . and to makes matters worse  more boring  most of the deaths occur off  screen . i realize that  s all too common for no  budget movies  but then there were some very impressive effects  well  kind  a of  which left me wondering why did the director  or screenwriter  whatever  chose to focus on how the epidemic started  it  s a short  nobody  s gonna care anyway .  
rock n  roll is a messy business and dig  demonstrates this masterfully . a project of serious ambition  and perhaps foolhardiness  the filmmaker is able to mend together seven tumultuous years of following around two unwieldy rock groups . with that said  the abundance of quality material ensures the film  s ability to captivate the audience . if you  ve ever been interested in any realm of the music industry  this movie will undoubtedly be an arresting viewing . the music in the film  although it suffers minimally from requisite cutting and pasting  is worth the price of admission alone . the morning after i saw dig  i went straight to the record store to pick up a brian jonestown massacre album  i was already initiated to the dandy warhols  sounds  . primarily defined by its exploration of rock music  the film succeeds at other profound levels . dig  is a sincere  and sufficiently objective  glance into the destructive and volatile nature of the creative process and the people that try to wrangle those forces .  
back in the    s  when i had first seen this  i was in high school . it was cool then . now as an adult i look back at it and i say to myself . . yeah right . what was so funny  it has it  s moments but they are few and far between . it is so dated that the jokes no longer stand up . show this to a younger crowd and they will be totally lost . if you like this type of humor you may want to stick with kentucky fried movie or amazon women from the moon . tunnel vision as well as groove tube are too dated for today  s viewing .  
excellent documentary  ostensibly about the friendship and subsequent rivalry between two west coast retro rock  n  roll bands the dandy warhols and the brian jonestown massacre . what it actually turns out to be is a portrait of a borderline psychopath  anton newcomb  and his tortured relationship with the rest of the world . interestingly  for a music documentary  there is hardly any music . what there is  snatches of songs  more often than not aborted by the performers  is incidental rather than central . although the protagonists are musicians  the story is not about music but rather about a particularly american version of a british myth of a cartoon lifestyle  ie  one where nobody has to take responsibility for behaving like spoiled adolescents on a full  time basis . tantrums  drugs  violence  grossly dysfunctional attitudes  egomania on a truly epic scale  all of this is excused or positively encouraged because it conforms to some collectively held idea about what rock  n  roll is about . as a film this is a first  class documentary but it raises more questions than it answers . for example  why is anton  s music so conservative  for someone so wild and outrageous  and he is wild and outrageous  his music never seems to have progressed beyond the most obvious derivations of his   s idols  the stones  velvets etc .  for someone who claims to be able to play   instruments he has never bothered to learn to play any one of them beyond the most rudimentary level . similarly  the dandy warhols burning ambition is based on a vision of rock  n  roll which is astonishingly fossilised in     . nothing wrong with pastiches  of course  but surely there  s more to musical life than perpetually acting out a cartoon from the late   s . why don  t they take some risks with their music  in the way that their role models did  because  one suspects  this is not about music . music is just an accessory  a prop  or an excuse  to lead completely dysfunctional and irresponsible lives . but why  in the dandy warhols case  the answer is obvious to make lots of money and be famous . big deal . anton newcomb  s case is more interesting . he is obviously very talented  but every time he is given an opportunity to reach a wider audience he sabotages it  usually in the most dramatic way possible . he is terrified of success  and at the same time  deeply resents anyone else who has it  especially his former friends the dandy warhols . fascinating movie . highly recommended .  
this movie is a prime example of squandering great resources in a film . you  ve got future snl and sctv stars in their prime  such as john candy  chevy chase  laraine newman  al franken  tom davis and joe flaherty essentially making   minutes of coarse  uninspired fart and racist jokes . the concept of a network from the future subverting society could have really been taken to some interesting extremes  but instead right out the gate  makes a lame  juvenile proctology joke and stays in that vein of humor the whole way . seek out the earlier and much more subversive and witty groove tube or the later  hilarious kentucky fried movie . this movie is only for those who want to see a time capsule of bad    s sketch comedy movies .  
i couldn  t find anyone to watch dig  with me because no one i knew was a fan of either of the bands . naturally everyone assumed you can only enjoy this film if you like the music of either the dandy warhols or the brian jonestown massacre  but this is so far from the truth . the only requirement is that you have an interest in music and  or pop culture in general . the way in which the careers of the two groups are paralleled is a perfect representation of the paths a band can take  and watching the public eat up and spit out the dandy warhols is fascinating . i agree with other reviews that mention it would be nice to get a final word from anton himself  since he  s clearly depicted as his own worst enemy and the bulwark to the band  s ability to just remain .  br    br   most interesting to me is the dandys  respect for the bjm  despite their lack or reciprocation  and for anton  despite his erratic behavior  . the dandy warhols respect the art the group produces even if the group hates everything the dandy warhols now stand for  although that  s disputable  . the best line is when the drummer for the dandy  s says  i won  t have them anywhere new me again  and the guitarist unconsciously blurts out  i  ll still buy their records though .  to me  this just shows how powerful good music can be .  br    br   definitely see this movie  even if you know nothing of either band . it  s more about the themes of rock music and how they develop that makes this film so interesting . it  s rare to follow a group so closely for so long .  
i missed the beginning but i did see most of it . a friend got it on dvd in the cheap room at fye .  br    br   the skits are all very short  and yet most of them are still too long . the majority of them  they seem to have forgotten to have something funny  quite a lot of racist  sexist   homophobic  humor in it  skits based on stereotypes  or skits which use racist terms for people .  br    br   i  m trying to remember anything i thought was funny in it  and i  m having trouble . . . . the logo for the tunnel vision network is a lipsticked mouth with an eyeball in it . the mouth opens and closes over the eye like eyelids . kind of creepy .  br    br   what a disappointment . most of the actors went on to better things  and it  s lucky this bomb didn  t hold them back .  
a documentary about two rocks bands  spanning a number of years . brian jonestown massacre and the dandy warhols . what makes it special is the examination of the complex contrasting personalities and the ironies of success and failure .  br    br   anton newcombe  the main man of brian jonestown massacre  is widely recognised as a musical genius not only by his colleagues  his friends and rivals the dandy warhols  but also by record producers and most people who have worked with him . sadly he and his band members are also incapable of integrating with the real world . newcombe picks fights with band members on stage or with members of the audience  getting arrested at one point for literally kicking in the head of a fan  . newcombe knows no limits  he plays between   and    different instruments  writes and produces all bjm  s music  can produce enough songs to fill a whole album in a single day  has a prophet  like obsessiveness with his own musical genius  but is also a heavy drugs user  flies into rages at the slightest compromise of his own artistic integrity  orders his band members about as if they are lower forms of life  and can blow deals as fast as he makes them . bjm go through a large number of record labels in fast succession  they sign them up as soon as they realise newcombe  s talents and let them go as soon as they realise he is totally uncontrollable .  br    br   the warhols acknowledge their debt to newcombe  s creativity and don  t even put themselves in the same exalted sphere of greatness  but the warhols have something that bjm don  t  the ability to integrate their talents with common sense  the real world  and their market  as a mixing pot of talent  even if much of it is distilled from guru newcombe  and accessibility  they are the very definition of  cool .  dig  follows the parallel careers of the two bands with increasing poignancy . at one point  newcombe pulls stunts designed to generate publicity by sending apparent death threats and hate messages to the warhols  in a box containing live ammunition and insults like a bar of soap  to clean up their act    only he forgets to tell them it  s a stunt and they get so paranoid they take out a restraining order against newcombe . by the time the dandy warhols take off in europe with hits like  every day should be a holiday  and  bohemian like you   newcombe is becoming increasingly isolated . bjm are stopped and the band breaks up when they are arrested for possession of marijuana  the warhols get busted for drugs around the same time  let off with a warning  and even allowed to keep the grass .  br    br   the wider appeal of dig  is that the lessons of genius versus accessibility go way beyond two bands or even rock music . the downside is that it is still a documentary  however intimate  and it will mostly only appeal to dedicated film fans or people who are already interested in the music of one or both of the featured bands . newcombe may well be a largely unrecognised genius  and there are feint glimpses of this in the film  but to the unattuned ear there is little more than the assertions of the people interviewed to attest to this . in the words of one of the band members  in every spiritual tradition  you burn in hell for pretending to be god and not being able to back it up .  newcombe isn  t pretending  but numerically there are maybe still insufficient people to appreciate him in his own lifetime  and dig  has an uphill struggle to rectify the balance in favour of a tortured but largely unrecognised genius .  
in the future of      a governmental committee headed by howard hesseman  is holding hearings on tv  s first uncensored network . they sample it  s programming  that play as a series of skits . i can name the good  skit  movies on one hand  not using my thumb .  amazon women on the moon    kentucky fried movie    the meaning of life   and  mr . mike  s mondo video  . notice how i didn  t mention  tunnel vision   the reason for that is that this  movie  is death in cinematic form . none of the skits are even remotely funny  or even the least bit clever . it takes some sort of great ineptitude on the film makers  part to not even get one laugh out of me .  br    br   my grade f  br    br   eye candy dody dorn goes full frontal  
i  ve seen this movie on several different occasions . i find one of the funniest things to do is to just watch the reactions of the different types of people who go to see it .  br    br   type   old people . a lot of old japanese men and women go to this movie because they think it will be a honest  to  goodness samurai movie with lots of swordplay and medieval japanese dialogue . as soon the two protagonists begin debating horror movies while inserting expletives almost randomly throughout their sentences  the old people walk out  usually disgusted .  br    br   type   film snobs . these people think that just because a movie bears the label of  independent  that it will automatically be a load of hard  to  follow  overemotional crap that may or may not be in english . yet they see it anyway just to sing praises about it later so that people will think they are intelligent and cultured . they are really in for a surprise when they see this film . as soon as the blood begins to squirt exaggeratedly from anime  inspired sword battles or the over  the  top villain nonchalantly pegs a dog with his crossbow during a phone conversation  these people will be so dismayed  they will walk out . a few will stay just to see  how bad it will get  and later they  ll rave about what a horrible film it was to their friends .  br    br   type   people expecting to see live  action anime or matrix  like special effects . sorry folks  the martial arts are pretty solid in the film  but director yamasato really doesn  t have the budget for that kind of thing .  br    br   type   people with no expectations . these are the people who really enjoy the film . whether they had only heard of blood of the samurai  picked it at random  or stumbled into the wrong theater in an alcoholic haze  these are the people who will laugh at all the jokes and appreciate the movie for what it ultimately is entertainment . this movie was not made to enlighten or to provoke deep spiritual thought  it was meant  if i may borrow a line of dialogue from the film  to  really kick some ass .  and that  s what it does .  br    br   so depending on what type of person you are  you may or may not enjoy this film however  if you appreciate the movie for what it is and can enjoy an excess of blood and acting  then go see this movie and make sure to bring your friends .  
this is the worst movie i ever paid to see and with the exception of  they saved hitler  s brain  the worst movie i have ever seen period . when this movie came out i was a big fan of snl and sctv and therefore was anticipating what i thought would be the funniest movie that could be produced since it did not have the restrictions the tv improv shows must deal with .  br    br   the writers must have thought we will throw in some grossness  some flatulence jokes  some cheap sex and hey we have a risky side splitting laughable comedy . the game show skits are nothing more than cheap unimaginable take offs on let  s make a deal with stupid grossness . the sit com take off involving the single girl and her boyfriend was just plain bad high school humor . the stun gun advertisement was suitable humor for seasame street . the la subway skit was bland humor using tasteless bloodiness . the french chef walking around blind constantly uttering  there is no difference  with a french accent was  well you get my point .  br    br   the only funny skit involved chevy chase which lasted for a whole minute . this means you get   seconds of entertainment in this movie . oh yea i  ve read the comments about the entire country being stoned in the      s and you will like this movie if you are high . well most of the country was not stoned in the    s . if the inept writers were stoned it must have been on drowsy sinus medicine . there were  other people in the theater besides myself when i saw this movie . of course word did not get out yet about how bad the movie was .  
this movie for what it is  may be one of the most amazing indie films of recent day . made on a super small budget  the film has special effects that blow away alot of the current films  if you have a chance watch it   
stephen feinberg  who played the proctologist and was one of the writers of the movie  passed away in early     . i met steve in portland in      it was a year latter when he told me that he had been a writer in hollywood years earlier  working mostly on tv promos . he asked me not to see  tunnel vision   but it was too late  i had seen it already  actually i had seen it years before  when it was released . at that time i didn  t think it was that bad a movie . however seeing it as an adult my opinion was somewhat different . yes is is a bit puerile as well as dated . steve admitted it was not a very good movie . that said he was just a little proud of  the proctologist  sketch .  
this films makes no pretentious efforts to hide its true genre   a campy b movie . it will flat out tell you in the beginning the definition of campy . it should have also given the adjective meaning of cheese . but the two come together in this film in ways that make you go   hmmmmm . . . that  s so stupid   and then have you laughing . for example  there is a scene back in    th century japan   which shows a couple of samurai walking in the foreground of a temple . in the background of the temple  there are several tourists looking off in the distance in slippers and shorts . hmmmm . . . hahahah  i could not stop laughing . and the acting goes from decent  to bearable  to oh my lord  but that  s what makes it funny . you  ll see some decent actors and then find others really terrible . i have to digress somewhat though because i have seen stephanie sanchez in several plays and she is awesome . her air time in the film was pretty short though . i have also seen bryan yamasaki in several plays in the islands during my visits and he  s also better in theatre than in this movie . anyhow  it  s an entertaining film  if you  ve got nothing to do on a weekday evening .  
saturday night live  national lampoon  and sctv alumnus are all together in a sometimes funny sketch film .  br    br   however  it is very interesting to watch now  at the start of     . twenty years after this movie is supposed to take place  look at how many of their gags have become absolutely true there is a mock movie trailer  that probably wasn  t even clever at the time  for something called  the pregnant man  which came true with arnold schwarzenegger  s dumb movie  junior  there is a commercial spoof  that probably wasn  t even clever at the time  for something featuring sammy davis jr . and jackie onasis called  celebrity wrestling  which has now come true with a popular show called  celebrity boxing  there is a mock movie trailer  that probably wasn  t even clever at the time  that features john candy in a movie about a severed head . watch this trailer and look how similar it  s shots and plot are to frank hellenlotter  s basket case   and finally there is an ad for a late late show documentary about  a dead dream  the only two left . . .  the name of the documentary is . . . the last hippies  lol .  br    br   four prophecies come true   
i watched this movie alongwith my complete family of nine . since my younger brother has recently got married  we could connect with the goings  on . the movie stands out for the classical touch given to the romance of the engaged couple . thankfully this time all indian locales like ranikhet almora etc have been used  which have been already visited by most of the urbanites  hence adding to the connection with movie . the dialogues are much better than those in the  umrao jaan ada   a supposedly dialogue based movie . the background music is augmenting the  soft focus  of the movie . it somehow remind me of vv chopra  s  kareeb   in which neha and to some extent bobby did full justice to the character . same here  in that the lead pair does not disappoint in any department  looks or acting . the supporting cast are too good . i rate the actress playing the role of bhabhi in the front league . the situations of family interactions portrayed are real and you smile when you find yourself in place of one of the characters . songs were too suiting the scenes and going along well with the movie . however  though i respect ravindra jain for his body of work from movies to ramayana  i missed ram laxman badly .  br    br   it had no double entendres  sivan category   no bikinis  no intrigue  and no nonsense . you would comfortably watch the movie with your parents except if you  re already or going to be soon engaged . i want to express on candid thing here that though suraj proposes that the marriages is between families and not only individuals  his approach is totally individualistic . the movie is only about prem  poonam  rest of the characters are incidental . art immitating life  the  peripheral characters  are consigned to the background and the only protagonists are the lead pair .  br    br   coming back  everything was almost great . except  for the drama part . the situation of tragedy was artificially created . the outcome  the sacrifice and the ensuing heart change are not compelling at all . that is why it lacks the emotional punch  the very purpose of this turn of events . but  a twist in the tale was necessary to transcend the movie from a beautiful pre  marital video to a  feature film  . but i kept waiting for the punch and it never came . the preaching by mohnish bahal and later by alok nath on dowry was out of place and it made things too overboard . may be this will help the movie a tax  free status . but the plot could have been made more interesting and non  linear than what it was .  br    br   there were too question in my mind when the movie ended  has the movie really ended   has the movie ended   
on the     summer blockbuster hit baseketball         this is one of those movies that is usually seen on the big jumbo  tron screen in a sports bar during the day  when everyone is quite drunk . unfortunately  i was sober when i saw this movie .   br    br   so quoted the late gene siskel for this lame  brained  supposed yukfest that came out two weeks after the far superior  there  s something about mary  in a one  upmanship game during july of     .  mary  was a gross  out fest  but in addition to the many gags  it had a lot of heart  which is why it was the highest grossing comedy of that memorable summer .  br    br    baseketball  tried to outdo mary  but it fizzled in more ways that one . you take the creators of  south park   trey parker and matt stone  who are fortunately not behind the movie but in front of the camera  the only member of zaz david zucker helming the picture in desperate need of a paycheck  and the other two jim abrahams and jerry zucker clearly stayed out or probably warned him against the picture  a small bit by now   years young ernest borgnine  wasting his precious time in his distinguished career  dying on a hotdog and singing  i  m too sexy  as he videotapes his will  jenny mccarthy  who has little screen time as borgnine  s not  too  weeping trophy widow young enough to be his granddaughter  a bigger female part by yasmine bleeth as a dedicated social worker whose charges are underprivileged youngsters  and the only interesting and meaningful player in this turkey  robert vaughn as a corrupt archrival  and pointless cameos by  airplane   alumni kareem abdul jabaar and the late robert stack who seemed nostalgic for the     masterpiece and it  s much fresher humor created by the zaz family . what do all these people make up  a desperate cast and crew trying to replicate  airplane   humor and mixing it up with the crudity of  south park   but failing in every way .  br    br   to make this long     minute movie short   baseketball   a real game invented by david zucker and his friends in his hometown of milwaukee  is about two lazy losers  parker and stone  and their pint  sized mutual friend who invent baseball and basketball  hence the title  together on the driveway of one  s house . after borgnine dies  he bequeaths the ownership of his baseketball team  the milwaukee beers to parker and stone . sure enough  the game goes national  and archrivals vaughn and mccarthy want to take away ownership of the beers team from them . but bleeth is in love with both men  particularly parker  and one poor  sick charge in need of a liver transplant goes ga  ga over them . those are the characters  not strongly developed .  br    br   now witless gags ensue . blood  electroshock hair  egg  throwing and screaming are among them . parker and stone nearly kill the youngster in the hospital  but he pulls through the liver transplant . borgnine sings and rubs ointment on his chest in the videotaped will . mccarthy  who seemed to get over borgnine  s death by choking on a frank right away  quickly massages vaughn in the next scene . cheerleaders dance in skimpy outfits . there is plenty of music on the soundtrack that is played for the hard of hearing . and david zucker forces the parodies of  riverdance  and  titanic .  parody forcing is nothing new to zaz  post  airplane   and  the naked gun  series .  br    br   and like siskel  i was sober as well  but i was also getting sleepy . this movie should be played over and over to coarse  mannered barroom patrons who enjoy it as they chug down beers  but will they remain alert and awake  or pass out during the unfunny parts  if they pass out  then they won  t realize that they are luckily missing stupidity and absurdity . hats off to them   
to be honest  i had no idea what this movie was about when i started it . that  s how i watch movies whenever possible . no preconception . i thought this was going to be a movie about stoners in the woods or something . i was wrong  kinda .  br    br   loaded was kind of boring at first but once it started to get going it really hooked me . i know the feeling of being sucked into something dangerous where you feel helpless but to do things that you do not want to do .  br    br   another user commented on how this movie was silly and implausible but i beg to differ . these kinds of things do happen . i  m sorry but not everyone lives in a dream world where nothing bad can happen and crazy situations are  implausible  . really sorry but the reality of the world is that they do happen . the creator of this movie as well as the actors did a great job of portraying how things can just go bad and how people can make really bad choices . sometimes things turn out good  sometimes they turn out bad and such is life .  br    br   i highly recommend this movie .  
i  ve seen all four of the movies in this series . each one strays further and further from the books . this is the worst one yet . my problem is that it does not follow the book it is titled after in any way  the directors and producers should have named it any thing other than  love  s abiding joy .  the only thing about this movie that remotely resembles the book are the names of some of the characters  willie  missie  henry  clark  scottie and cookie  . the names  ages  genders of the children are wrong . the entire story line is no where in the book .  br    br   i find it a great disservice to janette oke  her books and her fans to produce a movie under her title that is not correct in any way . the music is too loud . the actors are not convincing  they lack emotions .  br    br   if you want a good family movie  this might do . it is clean . don  t watch it  though  if you are hoping for a condensed version of the book . i hope that this will be the last movie from this series  but i doubt it . if there are more movies made  i wish michael landon  jr and others would stick closer to the original plot and story lines . the books are excellent and  if closely followed  would make excellent movies   
very good drama although it appeared to have a few blank areas leaving the viewers to fill in the action for themselves . i can imagine life being this way for someone who can neither read nor write . this film simply smacked of the real world the wife who is suddenly the sole supporter  the live  in relatives and their quarrels  the troubled child who gets knocked up and then  typically  drops out of school  a jackass husband who takes the nest egg and buys beer with it .  thumbs up .  
     acting  not great but some good acting .  br    br       director  makes some stupid decisions for this film .  br    br       writer  story makes no sense at all and has huge amount of flaws .  br    br       overall score for this movie .  br    br   don  t waste your time with this film  it  s not worth it . i gave  for this movie and it may be too much . characters are so over exaggerated than they can ever be in real life and some pretty unexplainable stuff happens  storywise   not in good way . because of the style this film has been filmed you get bored after   minutes  too many special effects slow motions and camera shakes and fast forwards  . it  s always good that movie uses music to make the story go smooth but there  s too many tracks in this one . in the first hour there is almost      dialogs and musics  
i first saw blood of the samurai at its premiere during the hawaii international film festival . wow  blood just blew us away with its sheer verve  gore  vitality  gore  excitement  gore  utter campiness  and even more gore  and all in such great fun  especially for those of you who enjoy all those japanese chambara samurai and ninja films  you definitely have to see blood   
when i rented this i was hoping for what  reign of fire  did not deliver a clash between modern technology and mythic beasts .  br    br   instead i got a standard  monster hunts stupid people in remote building  flick  with bad script  bad music  bad effects  bad plot  bad acting . bad  bad  bad .  br    br   only reason why i did give it a  was that in theory there could exist worse movies . in theory . . . . .  
a quite good film version of the novel  though at the beginning a little bit lengthy . fortunately there are a few funny scenes from time to time . this movie is surely not for the main stream audience  but for fans of italian  or portuguese  cinema  a must  see also for mastroianni  fans .  
when i am watching a film  i am aware that it is just a movie   but nonetheless i do like to allow myself to become engrossed as much as possible under the circumstances . i think this is what makes us cry  scream  laugh  or otherwise react emotionally as audience members  even though  deep down  we know it is just a movie .  what i don  t want is for the movie to remind me it is just a movie so that i am unable to slip into the aforementioned engrossment regardless of the quality of the film . this film  s director chose to frequently use multi  angle camera shots simultaneously on the screen . maybe it is just me  but i find this to be terribly distracting and downright irritating . they might as well run a continuous banner across the bottom of the screen reading  attention this is just a movie . do not allow yourself to become too interested or engrossed  . if i want picture  in  picture   i  ll activate it from my tv remote  but never during a movie i want to enjoy .  
i thought this movie was really really great  helena did an amazing job in it  i thought she played her character very well  she  s an awesome actress      br    br   the movie was also really funny too  the jokes were great  i couldnt stop laughing     br    br   i think everyone should see it . . .    br    br    
ok . . . . i just have  words  cheesy  cheesy and cheesy  the only redeeming feature of this movie is dean cain . other than that  it  s cheeseball supreme      br    br   the movie does have some promise in the concept  an underground lab creates a real live fire breathing dragon  basically giving us more of  jurassic park  meets  reign of fire  . . . . . there are some great possibilities  but they just don  t follow through . . . . the special effects are decent  even though you know the dragon is cgi  it doesn  t horribly look like cgi . . . .  br    br   i wouldn  t lay the blame on dean cain  although he is one of the producers   i  d lay more of the blame on phillip roth  the director and writer . it  s his job to make this film . . . . and  unfortunately  he failed .  
  br    br   i suppose this is not the best film ever made but i voted it at   stars all the same . mainly because of my feelings at the end . i and all the people around me were simply touched . this is something you don  t often feel . we are all getting a bit cynical and fed up with over sentimentality  lazy manipulation or preaching in modern films . the story of the film centres around jane a young woman in the last stages of mnd and the friendship that grows between her and richard  a man on the verge of a breakdown . this could have so easily been a dull and worthy piece but it is so humorous  humane and lacking in sentimentality that it wins you over completely and against the odds is a feel good movie .  br    br   the acting from branagh and bonham  carter is superb especially the latter who is always believable and strong in her role . the chemistry between the two also lifts the movie .  br    br   the title comes from richards masterpiece  a plane made of junk and his old paintings . flying here is a symbol for both richards and janes living life to the full so that one can carry on and the other can face the end .  br    br   a beautiful and funny movie that i would recommend to anyone . don  t let the subject matter put you off .  
this movie really  i mean really  sucks . its got plot holes so big  and   foot dragon can fit through them . not to mention the dragon itself  which is inevitably the worst computer generated image ever to be put on the film real . i mean  when you see something like this  you gotta be thinking  wow  someone actually made this movie . then released it . that takes guts  . whoever they are  i  m sure they don  t work in the film business anymore .  br    br   when i hired this movie  it wasn  t in on dvd  so i  reluctantly  took it out on video . the first thing to appear  was a lord of the rings trailer  for the two towers . this was a very clever move  putting this trailer on the video . it justifies me  reluctantly  giving the film  star  otherwise i would have given it zero stars . maybe the producers though the star attraction of dean cain  i think thats how you spell it  would draw in the crowds  uh  to the video store that is  .  br    br   next they employed split screen technique  like in hulk  to  i assume  compensate for what an atrocity this piece of crap film is . on the box cover  we see a picture of our hero  and the dragon . does the dragon look exactly like the one in dragonheart  or is it just me  either way  the dragon in the film looks like a reject from gremlins   and has the cgi of a nintendo video game villain from the early    s  perhaps worse  . also  not the dragons movement as it pursues its victims  its the same fcking monotonous movement  right leg  left leg  right leg left leg  dom  dom  dom  dom dom  dom fking dooooom  this just pisses me off . maybe the filmmakers thought this was thrilling and would have the same effect of jaws . why not then have a dragon pov shot . either way  that was just funny  much like watching a weebl toon .  br    br   dean cain gives many puzzled looks during the film  maybe his coming to terms with the fact that this film could end his career  . don  t expect superman here . the first time i saw the trailer for this film  i thought it was an add for a ps  game .  br    br   as for the story  its so so bad  my  year old brother can come up with better ones when he  s unconvincingly trying to lie about why he was messing around in my room while i wasn  t there . oh  and did i mention that i fking hate the people who made this incredibly stupid stupid crap atrocious film      
i had my doubts about another love story wherein disabled individuals find meaning and redemption through honest communication . and it  s still not at the top of my list . but the performances from helena bonham carter and kenneth branagh and exemplary  almost stunning  and rescue this from being just another tear  jerker . carter  s depiction of an als victim is strong  perhaps even overdone at times  sometimes her dialog dissolves into undistinguishable mutterings  . but the overall effect is commendable and rewarding . branagh may be the perfect compliment to her performance .  br    br    
nothing could have saved this movie  not even superman .  br    br   ten years ago the special effects would have been amazing . better directing might have gotten some more feeling and better performances out of the actors . but nothing but feeding the script to a dragon could have fixed it . plot holes  bad lines  terrible pacing  endless replaying of the same shots of a cgi dragon stomping through hallways . . . ugh .  br    br   avoid this one at all costs .  br    br    
this was one of those times when i had nothing to do with   premium movie channels available to me . the theory of flight grabbed me and held my interest . i found it both touching and amusing  a nice combination of feelings . i recommend it   
if alien  jurassic park and countless other sci fi horror movies are your cup of tea  add a lot of sugar and you  ll get this one down . the film begins in jolly old england around     ad and then jumps to present day california . our hero carver  dean cain  is the new security chief and military advisor for a science lab    feet underground . he arrives  carver is also a helicopter pilot  with the lead scientist and we soon find out it  s a cloning lab and they have something newly found to clone . is it a dinosaur or what  as with the above movies  all hell breaks loose and our characters start getting picked off . the special effects on the monster are pretty good for a  direct to video  movie and dean cain does what he gets paid for . but forget the rest of the group as we find out why we have never seen them before . again  don  t go in with high expectations and you  ll be ok .  
helena bonham carter is the center of this movie . she plays her role almost immobile in a wheelchair but still brings across her traditional intensity . kenneth branagh was tolerable . the movie itself was good not exceptional . if you are a helena bonham carter fan it is worth seeing .  
  br    br   once i ignored some of the implausibilities  this was actually a fairly decent horror  monster flick . so  i  ll give some of the good points first  the dragon was quite convincing  especially as she prowled through the tunnels looking for lunch  hint she likes humans  .  the action was fairly non stop  and  after a weak beginning  i got quite absorbed in the storyline .  sorry to say  i was kind of rooting for the dragon  she was probably the most convincing and consistent character in the movie .  br    br   now for the implausible stuff maybe some spoilers  if you were hunting a fire  breathing dragon in     ad  would you charge into its cave with a barrel of gunpowder under your arm  duh .  a female character with an all  american name  blonde hair and obvious slavic accent  trying to pretend she  s spanish  huh   a lead scientist whose slavic accent you can cut with a knife  and he  s supposedly born in chicago  educated in usa   a military helicopter pilot who does his own repairs  flies a huge transport copter with no other crew  and is an expert marksman and combat soldier to boot  ok . uh huh . i won  t even mention his giving  different call signs in  minutes while communicating with his base .  br    br   it  s still better than some of the japanese monster flicks from the    s  but not by much . if we  re lucky  we won  t see dragon fighter   though naturally the ending left that possibility wide open . or  maybe  they  ll hire a real director next time .  br    br   in spite of everything  i gave this flick a  out of   . add  more if they rewrite the plot  and dean cain gets eaten in the first ten minutes .  grin   
this is the best movie i  ve seen since white and the best romantic comedy i  ve seen since the hairdresser  s husband . an emotive  beautiful masterwork from kenneth branagh and helena bonham carter . it is a tragedy this movie hasn  t gotten more recognition .  
this movie is some of the worst crap i have ever seen . i literally got a sharp pain in my head while watching this movie . the cgi was awful  and the story was just a waste of ink . dean cain  s character was mr  super  intuitive  i  can  figure  out  anything  except he can  t seem to work his own helicopter correctly . the biggest problem was the split screen camera work . i felt like i was watching the brady bunch or something  only it wasn  t different people in the boxes  just close ups and different views of the same thing . i can only figure that the actors really needed the money  because this movie wasn  t worth the film it was shot on .  
i saw this film without to know what about were . . . i  m a fan of branagh  even more his shakespeare  films  and  in the beginning  i saw it only for this . . . and i finished with tears in my eyes  because the great  great serenity  values  affect and brave philosophy about life of helena  s girl . recommended to people who are bored with tv programming  in spain  at least  .  
there have been plenty of unknown movies or movies given bad reviews that i really liked . this was not one of them .  br    br   it was overacted and used camera techniques that made me feel like i was watching a soap opera . it was ludicrously predictable and took most of the movie to get going then left you asking  that  s it   . once i decided not to take the movie too seriously and watch it from a purely corny point of view it became more enjoyable . this is one movie that would have wound up on mst     if it was still on .  
this movie truly captures the feeling of freedom . . . . . . . and what the freedom of your own integrity is worth . . . . in the most delightful  light  hearted way . not a serious  but hilarious adventure .  br    br   the story mirrors life . we don  t always get what we want right away but we find out we get what we need to to understand why we didn  t get what we wanted . . . . which results in us getting more than we thought we would get  you will get this once you see the movie .  br    br   and this movie is truly about finding love and knowing one has found it and that it totally changed one  s life .  br    br   it is one of my all time favorites . . . . . . not easy to find but worth the hunt . . . . . . . . . i guarantee you will watch it more than once   
what a dreadful movie  for some reason  scientific laboratories and outposts always have a staff of grubby  dirty  mean  spirited  misanthropes living inside . these folks who presumably work together on complicated scientific projects cannot seem to agree on how to survive death at the hands of a cgi dragon . spoilers an extra  nasty scientist whose main acting skill is  leering  and  the sinister stare  has cloned a dragon . while the lab was supposed to work on this kind of thing  the other scientists are shocked  because apparently they were all way behind in their experiments and got caught with their pants down . the rest of the story is like the thing  or ten little indians  where the staff is hunted and killed off as they try to formulate a way to escape and  or defeat the  dragon .  the cgi dragon creature is dark gray  which seems to be the popular color for most of the cheap cgi special effects . it hardly looks better than a cartoon  and the dark gray tones make it difficult to see any interesting details in the body of the dragon . all it looks like is a gray blob . the acting is less than horrible . these scientists act like a bunch of children who cannot agree on anything  and this makes it easier for the dragon to kill them off in various attempts to escape  hide  etc . dean cain is hardly better than any of the cast of unknown actors in this movie . he seems to sink to the level of his supporting cast . this movie is really  really atrocious . the acting is bad . the story is dumb . the cgi is very very cheap and amateurish . there is nothing commendable about this movie  it is not even a good time  killer to glance at while doing chores or other work .  
this is one of the best bollywood movies i have seen up until now . family and friends feel the same way about it . this movie is really romantic and dramatic at the same time . in my opinion we need more films or movies like this to keep the south asian culture alive . shahid kapoor and amrita rao acted extremely well in this  also their couple attracts a lot of people to the movies . this is a must see movie  it  s a family and romantic movie . this movie is also from the makers of hum saath saath hain and hum apke hain kon . this movie is their best right now . . . the setting of the movie was beautiful which also is a huge attraction . this movie is must see . . . recommended to everyone    
 . . . and not in a good way . baseketball is a waste of film in all most every single way . it is offensive to all the senses . this doesn  t necessarily bother me  i  ve seen plenty of bad movies  really bad movies before and will see them again . baseketball though is a caliber film where you regret wasting ninety minutes of life sitting through it . the reason baseketball offends me is that it stars trey parker and matt stone in a film they didn  t write . any respect i had for david zucker has long since depleted . his recent spoof films are lazy messes that look and feel as if they were made by pre  pubescent boys snickering at penis jokes .  airplane  was a revolutionary and very funny comedy  watching baseketball you will be amazed to discover that they were made by the same person .  br    br   i have so much respect for trey parker and matt stone . these men are the funniest and smartest comedians in mainstream entertainment today . their pictures and south park episodes are as relevant as they are funny . every joke even the fart jokes have intelligence behind them . it  s easy to forget that there is a mature way to approach immaturity . i imagine baseketball was a major growing experience for them because they hate the film for all the right reasons . it is a stupid mess with no sense of dignity or class . parker and stone have essentially whored themselves out . the film plays like a   minute episode of family guy .  br    br   parker and stone have never been great actors . they  ve been serviceable in their films . i can  t really find a way to describe their performance in baseketball  other than the fact that it feels like they are spoofing a spoof film spoofing a spoof film . every line is delivered in such a silly winking way . it  s like they are trying to make fun of the worst of these type of pictures and yet they become them in the same way . i am reminded of the south park episode  how to eat with your butt  where cartman sits in a movie theater watching a gross out comedy with no plot or plausibility except to gross out  parker and stone use the same voices they did in that scene for this entire picture . really it  s sad .  br    br   and yet that is not my problem with baseketball . my biggest gripe with the picture is that i sit there knowing that parker and stone are knowingly following this piece of crap script . i know that if they took the damn thing and rewrote it that this could have been salvaged to the point of being watchable . there isn  t any indication that zucker let them improv scenes either . parker and stone are merely tools to a bad director . baseketball has some funny concepts and i think parker especially if he were allowed to take zuckers script could have elaborated on them more . instead we get potty humor . don  t rent baseketball you can get the same laughs watching a group of grade schoolers joking around  
a bit quirky and bordering bad taste but intelligent enough to be worthy of watching . a wheelchair  bound young woman jane hatchard  helena bonham carter  is teamed with a reluctant caregiver  richard  kenneth branagh  . richard is an artist that daydreams of human flight . he builds an airplane in his garage and intends to fly it . he wants to resurrect his own troubled life by taking care of the independent  dying jane  who suffers from an neurological disease that has all but left her speechless and very little motor skills . wheelchair  bound and full of spirit  her last dying wish is to loose her virginity . she offers herself to richard  who won  t help her directly but is willing to rob a bank in order to pay a gigolo to do the deed . i found this flick ambitious and humorous . even in this role  carter has a certain charisma and likability .  
when you wish for the dragon to eat every cast member  you know you  re in for a bad ride .  br    br   i went in with very  very low expectations  having read some of the other comments  and was not let down . unlike some other cheap and failed movies  however  this one doesn  t really remain hilariously  and unintentionally  funny throughout .  br    br    spoilers follow   br    br   first of all  plot it very inconsistent . looking past the  small  mistakes  such as the dragon growing up in  hours  the whole idea it  s based on is messed up . see  the movie wants us to believe that dragons came from outer space in the form of meteorites which really were dragon eggs . after explaining this  they show some peasant poking at one with his pitchfork and the dragon pops out . later  the obligatory  crazy scientist  guy babbles on about how dragons outlived the dinosaurs . so apparently humans were around when dinosaurs were  or we just have a fine little plot hole here . the other major thing is that the lab is blown up with a force  half as strong  as what was used for hiroshima . then two guys later walk in to check everything out  and it  s almost unscathed  there  s even another dragon  which grew out of who knows what . all in all it  s very predictable . as soon as the guy mentioned cloning  i guessed they  d clone a dragon . that means that our mr . smarty  pants security guy isn  t so intuitive and smart as the movie would have you believe  if you ignore that i knew this film would be about  you know  dragons .  br    br   putting that aside  the second worst thing is the  special effects .  others have mentioned the fake rocks falling during the beginning  the cg helicopter  and the dragon . it looks a bit better than a blob  but it ruined whatever it had going for it when it trudged down the hall in the same manner time after time . to their credit  the flying dragons in the beginning looked ok from far away  although the one in the cave is probably the worst one in the whole movie .  these things are funny to watch  however . the scenes where a million different shots of the same person facing different ways are shown are not . nor are the  introduction  screens with the vital stats .  br    br   coming to the actors  they weren  t the greatest  but i guess at least they tried  they seemed more enthusiastic about what they were doing than many of the actors participating in the recent  bloodrayne   for example  and you  ve got to give them points for that . one thing i noticed though was that the woman who plays meredith often had her face covered in make  up that was many tones lighter than the rest of her . she looked like she had a bad run  in with some white  face .  br    br   the script is bad and cheesy . you don  t really notice the music  but it  s actually not too bad for the most part .  br    br   the bottom line is don  t watch it unless you want to see it because you hear it  s bad  like i did   although the only funny things are the bad cg effects . other than that  don  t waste your time and money .  
i found this movie quite by accident  but am happy that i did . kenneth branagh  s performance came close to stealing this movie from helena bonham carter  but their strong chemistry together made for a much more enjoyable movie . this movie brought to mind the excellent movies that branagh made with emma thompson . carter  s star turn here as a disabled young women seeking to complete herself was as good a performance as i have seen from a female lead in a long time . portraying a disabled person is hard to pull off  but with basically only her eyes to show her pain about her situation in life  she made it so believable . if this movie had come out after the current wave of movies with beautiful women  uglying  themselves up for roles  charlize theron  halle berry   i fell sure carter would have had strong consideration for an oscar . if you run across this movie on cable late at night as i did  trust me  it is worth the lost sleep .  
pretty standard b  movie stuff . seriously  anyone who watches  dragon fighter  with dean cain and a bunch of people making their first movie should know better than to expect real quality or even moderate intelligence . b movies exist to re  work formulas that are popular . if you give them even token analysis  you  ll wind up ruining the movie for yourself  and perhaps writing some self  important  slanderous review on imdb  .  br    br   i liked the female lead  kristine byers . she had charisma and i thought she was notably attractive . it was a memorable b  movie appearance . unfortunately  i don  t see where she has made any movies since . i  ll watch for her again .  
imagine the plight of richard  a painter  whose real passion is flying . when we first meet him  he is seen atop a building in london wearing his home made wings . he has ripped his canvases and other works  at the height of his despair  and fashions a flying device for his jump . when he falls into the protective police contraption  he doesn  t suffer a scratch  but it lands him in front of a judge who orders him to do community service . richard  whose relationship with anne apparently ended badly  decides to relocate to a rural area where he finds a place in the country with a large barn he plans to use to construct his own plane .  br    br   richard ends up trying to help jane harchard reluctantly . she is a young woman suffering from a . l . s .  or lou gehrig  s disease and is confined to a motorized wheel chair . jane is extremely intelligent  but has a dark side and a salty vocabulary . she uses a hand held device to speak sometimes  as her speech is not clear . what jane loves to do is to lose her virginity  at any cost . jane and richard clash as they meet  but a mutual tolerance soon makes them comfortable with one another .  br    br   jane  who watches porn on her computer  has a notion for finding someone like richard gere in  american gigolo   who will  for a fee  have sex with her . when richard takes her to london  they find the right man for the job . his fee is exorbitant  but they agree . since they have no money  richard decides to rob a big bank . unfortunately  things don  t go according to plan when jane realizes that she can  t go through with what she had wanted . at the end  richard takes jane for a ride in his crudely built plane for the thrill of her life  something that brings them closer  as they find an affinity with one another .  br    br   peter greengrass directed this quirky film which presents an unusual situation . jane is clearly not the romantic heroine in mainstream films  and yet  she has such a sweet aura about her that is hard not to feel for her and what she is trying to accomplish . mr . greengrass shows an affinity richar hawkins  material he wrote for the film . the movie doesn  t try to be cute or give a rosy picture of a young woman afflicted with an incurable disease .  br    br   helena bonham carter is the main reason for watching the film . she makes a wonderful jane . on the other hand  kenneth branagh doesn  t seem too well suited for this type of comedy . somehow  he has problems of his own in the way he interprets richard . gemma jones has some good moments as anne  richard  s former love .  br    br    the theory of flight  shows a good director . no doubt peter greengrass will go to bigger and better things .  
yesterday i saw the movie flyboys and my girlfriend told me it was the worst movie she  s ever seen . . . since i thought it was pretty awful as well it got me thinking  which film was the worst film i had ever seen and this was the only film that came to mind .  br    br   unfortunately it was a couple of years since i  ve seen it but i remember the horribly miscast dean cain as cocky military man  pretty boy cain doesn  t do cocky very well  . the strange deal with the cgi  helicopter when it would probably be cheaper to rent a chopper than to hire some cgi  guys to make it  but my guess is that they found the chopper as a free sample for some cgi program or the producer  s son liked to play with his new computer . and how did it look   awful . and when the dragon charges through the corridors of the complex then reuse the same shots over and over  looks very cheap .  br    br   avoid this movie  it is truly awful . . .  
although this movie has some weaknesses  it is worth seeing . i chose it because of the cast  and applaud bonham carter and branagh for choosing roles different from those they have taken in the past . both portray very troubled people  complete with warts  but make them likeable because of their humanity . the story is touching  but it is the performances that soar . bonham carter  s  jane  is a remarkable achievement  whose quest for romance opened my eyes to aspects of being disabled that i had not thought of before  but was interesting as well for other reasons . i felt the movie ended too abruptly  but better that than a drawn out emotionally manipulative ending  see  stepmom .   the very real english setting added to my enjoyment  it was england in the    s  both urban and rural  without being depressing .  
it  s hard to praise this film much . the cgi for the dragon was well done  but lacked proper modelling for light and shadow . also  the same footage is used endlessly of the dragon stomping through corridors which becomes slightly tedious .  br    br   i was amazed to see  marcus aurelius  in the acting credits  wondering what an ex  emperor of the roman empire was doing acting in this film  like  whoopie goldberg  it must be an alias  and can one blame him for using one if he appears in this stinker .  br    br   the story might been interesting  but the acting is flat  and direction is tedious . if you must watch this film  go around to your friend  s house and get drunk while doing so  then it  ll be enjoyable .  
shamefully  before i saw this film  i was unfamiliar with helena bonham carter .  br    br   i had to do some research  in order to assure myself she wasn  t actually afflicted  as was her character  with  well    what she was afflicted with . i was in absolute awe of this beautiful lady . she pulled it of flawlessly .  br    br   who would have thought that sexually explicit circumstances involving the final wants  and needs  of a unique young lady  could be interpreted as tender  and romantic  well  they can be  when the right performers present them in the proper manner  as they did in this wonderful movie . i forgot to mention how dynamically beautiful miss carter looked in this movie . i have often said she was the most beautiful creature to have ever graced the face of our earth  but she seemed to have out done herself in this particular movie .  br    br   i hope any of you who watch this movie enjoy it as much as i did . thank you for letting me express my opinion .  
there are those movies that are bad they are funny  then there are those where you scream  i want that one and a half hours of my life back  . . . thats pretty much what this is .  br    br   dean cain tries to be an actor but fails . the sfx are really bad  repeated scenes and rocks that look like falling paper  and the fake plastic guns that have torches taped on them . . . the split screen effect used to show multiple things happening at once is just terrible .  br    br   this movie cant even be used as one of those simple night entertainers  its just that bad  br    br   if i could go negative ratings  i would  
at the start  this one is from england  so  of course  i had    chances that it will be intelligent and very good cinema . i never heard of this film before . from the minute i saw helena bonham  carter  i said to myself  oh  here  s comes the feminine version of my left foot . i was right  but i was also wrong . wrong because the two movies are very differents . my left foot was a john ford alike movie and this one is a chaplin alike movie  not because this is funny  but chaplin at that great sense of melodrama that brings tears to your eyes .  i was right because in     handsome daniel day  lewis turn a little bit ugly by playing an crippled person and he did it with a great sense of reality . here  very beautiful bonham  carter did exactly the same thing  but with very feminine emotions . the story is well written and it  s very intelligent . for me  miss bonham  carter gives one of the greatest woman  s part of the      s  with emily lloyd in breaking the waves . gee  and look at her eyes  she had the most beautiful eyes of cinema since jobyna ralston  louise brooks  michele morgan and ava gardner  she  s also a true talent  as seen on many other movies . see this one  you won  t regret it  and a very fine job by branagh too   
the first   minutes of dragon fighter are entirely acceptable and surprisingly watchable . the characters are believable and interesting . the cloning lab looks really high  tech . after that  it all collapses . the characters start behaving idiotically  and a new subplot is introduced from nowhere about a fusion reactor  and this is supposedly  present day   going critical  the only plot justification of which is that it is required to kill the dragon  only it doesn  t . the finish is incredibly weak . one wonders what made a movie that started out so well turn so wrong .  br    br   all the characters except dean cain are played by russians . this results in some weird situations and details  like the character being played by vessela dimitrova being called  bailey kent  despite her heavy accent  and despite her  on one occasion  inexplicably switching to spanish   .  br    br   because of the decent start  i considered rating this movie a   but it really was more disappointing than that  so i only give it  .  
loved this film . real people  great acting  humour  unpredictable . the characters were believable and you really connected with them . if you  re looking for a film about slightly offbeat characters outside the mainstream of society and how they help each other  this would be a good choice .  
dragon fighter is the first sci  fi channel  although i guess it  s now called syfy   original movie i have ever seen . but i have seen one or two others since  and i can tell you that they were stupid  but this one really scrapes the bottom of the barrel . the cgi is done poorly  the acting is bad  the script is ridiculous  and what happens at the very end is unexpected and out of place  if you have seen dragon fighter  you probably know what i mean i didn  t want to put a spoiler in my review  . plus  there was this one musical tune that was used in pretty much every single dangerous sequence . that was really stupid they just played it over and over . and it  s definitely not original i know i  ve heard that somewhere before  i just can  t remember where  . this is one to avoid .  
this film does a superb job of depicting the plight of an als  lou gehrig  s disease  sufferer . the subject is done with compassion as well as humor . helena bonham carter is so convincing as a person with als that i found it hard to believe that she was only acting . kenneth branagh  a superb actor  lives up to expectations as the quirky artist who misbehaves and is forced to provide companionship to helena  s character as part of his  community service   an alternative to prison time . watching the development of the relationship between these two is a treat from beginning to end . tha fact that it is a fairy tale does not detract from the fabulous performances . one comes to care deeply for the two of them .  
i caught this movie on sci  fi before heading into work . if you  ve any interest in seeing dean cain dive and avoid being enveloped in flames at least a dozen times  this movie is for you . if that doesn  t peak your interest  well  i  m afraid you  ll wish that you were the one about to be enveloped in flames  because this movie is pretty bad . the acting  to begin with  is awful  awful  awful . the characters are all completely obnoxious  and the dialogue is worse than your typical z  grade  sci  fi movie . towards the end  the movie began to remind me of  hollow man   complete with escape via elevator shaft   except with a dragon  not a naked  invisible man . unlike other similar flicks  however  this one wasn  t even awesomely bad . . . it was just plain bad .  
despite its low  key release in this country  and its apparent disregard in other countries  the  r  rating in the states can  t have helped  honestly  just because hbc uses the c  word    this is actually a fine piece of work . the sentimentality does occasionally threaten to choke it  but it  s overcome by the playing of the two leads .  br    br   it  s easy to win plaudits just because you  re playing a physical or mental cripple  daniel day  lewis  geoffrey rush  dustin hoffman  etc .   and helena bonham  carter may not quite capture the physical degradation of mnd  but her vocal stretching and ruthless emotional drive compensate entirely . in fact  almost all her performance is conducted through her eyes  and what eyes   . this is an intelligent turn from an actress who is rapidly undoing her english rose reputation  and emerging as a figure of some stature . awards must surely follow  though not  alas  for this fine performance .  br    br   branagh  one feels  has never quite given his best on film  except possibly  hamlet   and there his playing was diluted by the large cast  . here  though  he tops his other appearances  playing to the hilt a self  loathing  unstable  ultimately lovable guy with a subtlety he hasn  t always displayed  and exhibiting both intelligence and depth . in short  we believe him  just as much as we could not believe him as frankenstein  as the priest in  the proposition   as the lawyer in  the gingerbread man   even as andrew in  peter  s friends  . this is surely his finest performance yet  so why could he not produce the goods much earlier   br    br   as a film  it looks more like a television offering  and without its stars it probably wouldn  t amount to very much . but it  s been a pleasure to see this pair perform their socks off like this  and i eagerly await more from them  though not  love  s labour  s lost  . . .  .  out of    but branagh and hbc get   out of   .  
this is a formula b science fiction movie  and the director made no bones about it . it is about a dragon who is restored to life by a scientific team . everything done is stuff you  ve seen many times before . it is a weak script  with no real characters . in fact  it is full of stereotype characters and situations . the director attacks this by just making it a formula movie  with no attempt to fool us  and that gives this movie a mild appeal  but it isn  t something you  re likely to remember a while . it is best seen while you  re cooking  cleaning  working out . sort of mindless fun . it has its place in entertainment  but it certainly isn  t something you sit down with friends to watch  unless you  re all just drunk and don  t care . the mass rating of  .  is probably fair . i don  t think it is as crappy as most people  but i am surprised that some people in the postings thought this was spectacular . that really eludes me  as i see no attempt to even make this a memorable film .  
not wishing to give anything away here  i would just say this technically excellent  flawlessly acted and uplifting little flic will reward the viewer with an excellent hour and a half  s entertainment it will amuse  surprise  possibly embarrass occasionally and almost certainly tug at the heartstrings from time to time  as it approaches the inevitable  but not obvious  ending without becoming clichd or predictable in any way . most definitely recommended .  br    br   a previous user  s comment gives  out of   for the film and   out of   for both branagh and bonham  carter  s outstanding performances  i agree entirely . . . .  
why else would he do this to me   br    br   not that i expect dean cain to produce hit movies . or even decent movies . i saw lois and clark  i am aware of just how . . .  good  dean cain is .  br    br   obviously this is gonna be a cheesey flick  and each cheesey flick has its own special way to make you scratch your head . i will not call these spoilers as you can  t really spoil this movie any more than it already is .  br    br   to begin with . . . why is that a fake helicopter  i mean . . . why   br    br   how come that one scientist is from chicago and that other scientist is from la and neither one could be any more eastern european if they tried  how hard would it have been to get either an american actor  or just change that lame state sheet the movie provides us with to say those people aren  t american   br    br   why are there  occasions when the movie gives us a slug line  we get helipad  day and then mess hall  day later on . and then that  s it  who cares about the timeline . to be honest  who cared about it even when they mentioned it  but i guess that  s beside the point .  br    br   does a movie really get better if you are able to view it through multiple split screens  the answer is no .  br    br   that dragon sure can walk down that hall . . over . . and over . . . and over . . . . and over . . .  br    br   who on earth was responsible for one of the worst endings in film history  it was straight out of scooby doo . oh  the dragon  s dead now . . . say  wanna get dinner  sure  but not at some chinese place . . . . with dragon in the name   ah ha ha ha   ha ha ha   haha ha  i used to be superman  aha ha ha  ha ha   br    br   fade to black  br    br   my god  it made me cringe it was so stupid .  br    br   but never fear . . even though the whole building exploded . . . and no one was left alive . . for some reason there  s a second untouched  unmanned lab that survived pretty well  so they can make a sequel . hurray for us all .  br    br    
well . . . vivah is quite a good  but typical sooraj barjatya  s movie . it shows different aspects of indian families  wedding ceremonies  etc . the movie is more than good  but not extremely good .  br    br   the big plus point of the movie is direction  music and shahid and amrita  s acting  especially the last scene  . the movie starts with a common factor of indian movie    a girl being disliked by her step  mother . story is the movie is a bit common  but it is good  good enough to make the movie a blockbuster .  br    br   minus point is common story of bollywood movie . overall i would say it is two times must watch movie  if you want to see typical indian family values and of  course love   
sophia loren plays aida  in one of the worst films of all time . she can  t lipsync . in terms of production values  the film is so bad  that at one point  while loren is mouthing  o patria mia   she leans onto what looks to be a stone wall for support  and the canvas set billows and shakes .  
the theory of flight is an engaging character study of an artist  branagh  yearning to break free of boredom and mediocrity  and a terminally ill patient  bonham  carter  in the last stages of asl  confined to a wheelchair  who desires to make love to a man before dying .  br    br   helena bonham  carter exudes wit  defiance  and independence as an asl patient who is virtually dependent upon people around her to take care of her .  br    br   kenneth branagh  sentenced through community service to take part in caring for her  complements helena  s charm with woeful melancholy  creating a sentimental  compelling love story in which two people try to help each other find the road to happiness  before time runs out .  
i mistakenly kept myself awake late last night watching this thing . about the only thing i could say good about this horrid film is that it could be used by film schools to show how not to make a movie . no proper character development  wait  i  m not even sure they were characters . set  ups were hokey and inane  and the overuse of split screens was wasted since sometimes they couldn  t even synchronize with alternate shots . if i could give this a zero or minus rating i would . sadly  it isn  t even worth the time for a few laughs .  br    br   it  s just a sad example of money wasted by hollywood  and now i waste my time even thinking about it .  
myself and  sisters watched all  series of tenko and agree this is by far one of the bbc better series . the whole cast were very convincing in the parts they portrayed and although the  rd series was somewhat slower it was compelling viewing and my evenings wont be the same without it . no doubt we will be watching it again as it is a series which i would never get sick of watching . excellent viewing and full marks to the bbc for such a brilliant series and the casting . first rate in all departments and would recommend this series to anyone although some age limits must be considered because of some adult material . so grateful to the bbc for releasing this series on dvd and video .  
the bad out takes from  reign of fire  strung together  without any real story .  br    br   dean cain tries to be a real actor  and fails again .  br    br   in the end the dragons quit in disgust .  br    br   barf   
well  tenko is without doubt the best british television show ever  the performances  the directing  the casting  the suspense  the drama . . . . . everything is fantastic about it .  br    br   although the show fell a little later in its final season  this ending movie picked up the threads nicely and wove a superb story for fans of the show and newbies . i cannot recommend this movie more  find it and watch it . but i do advise watching the series first  as the first  seasons are even better than this fantastic movie .  br    br   an obvious         
i gave this movie a  out of pure pity . my intention is not to burst anyone  s bubble  because i  ve seen  as i  ve skimmed through other comments  that this movie is quite appreciated by many . well  it is not worth any praises  and i say this because i  ve seen the original anime  basilisk  and this movie shames it deeply . perhaps if you see shinobi alone  you could like it . it is enjoyable due to the well  choreographed battles  based on fantasy more than on martial arts  and i agree that their beauty is deeply enhanced . but the story is nothing like the original one . now  i understand that when one transforms an anime  manga into a movie  one must make certain changes . i was not expecting to see the freakish characters from the anime  although they have a well  established role  and some are truly profound and well  designed . but i certainly did not expect to see immense and wrongly  placed changes  that basically ruin the entire story . characters who are dramatically and unethically mutilated  transformed in something the public might love more  perhaps . for instance  oboro  who  in the anime is a sweet  innocent girl  completely and utterly in love with gennosuke  becomes a vengeful clan leader in the movie . i liked the fact that the woman becomes strong and evades the limitations imposed on her by the era  we are talking about japan    th century   but her mood changes are unbelievable and badly written . hotarubi  which is one of my favourite characters in the film  but who is not known for her childish and sensitive nature  becomes a pathetic little girl who is not only not madly in love like in the anime  but is more or less worthless in the plot . i could go on and on  like how they made tenzen  the worst and most dangerous character in the anime  exceptionally weak and unattractive  or how gennosuke  the leading character seems completely misplaced and confused  not to mention  again weak . the music is beautiful and the image is astounding  which was expected of a japanese movie  and i appreciate it for that . but do not watch this if you  ve seen and enjoyed basilisk  because it is just hopeless . basilisk  although based on fantasy  with elements of horror and largely exaggerated is splendid and has so much more depth in its characters  storyline  historical value and it is  may i say  heartbreaking . shinobi was a waste of time and i could not believe it kept on going after what was supposed to be the climax . alas  it pains me deeply to judge a movie so harshly  but i advise you against it . please  watch the anime  or at least watch the movie first and then repair your image of what basilisk really is by watching the anime . otherwise you will have a seizure when you realize how they  ve massacred it .  
a very gritty  gutsy portrayal of a part of world war  history  that most of us in the u . s . had  have no idea ever occurred . i would love to have this on video . it only was shown on t . v . one time as far as i know  back in   or   . i have asked around for this movie  and most video stores don  t even know about it . great actresses all around  wish that i could see it again . top notch series .  
i have watched anime but i  m not a die hard fan and i don  t read manga . i say this because many of the reviewers who are waxing lyrical about this film seem to have that background . i have seen  st . john  s wort   and although it isn  t a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination  it made me pick up  shinobi   especially since everyone seems to love it .  br    br   well  i watched it this afternoon  and fought very hard to keep watching . yes  it  s very beautiful  the slow motion water scenes  the autumn leaves on the trees  even the cgi eye flicker  majestic . i liked the hawk  the costumes  even some of the fight scenes  but overall this was dull as dirt .  br    br   it seemed as if someone took  romeo and juliet   the translation even mentions that they are star crossed lovers  and threw in some  x  men  for good measure . two of the characters split wolverine  s powers  the guy dressed in a bear costume had his claws and the grey  haired guy had his ability to heal himself . then you have the girl who has a poison kiss  that  s poison ivy  from batman  . why do they give these women such dumb powers  poison girl shows her leg then kisses you to death . man  that  s some great power for you . and the other girl  can create bugs from this yellow dust that she rubs on her hands . the other woman  one of the star crossed lovers  has the power of a hypnotic stare . wow .  br    br   i sort of made it to the end of the film  by fast forwarding it  and did see a bit more tragedy than i expected . some people are comparing this to  house of flying daggers  and  hero .  don  t make that mistake . they may share similar endings  but that  s where the similarities end .  shinobi  is made by an amateur  the other films are made by an experienced filmmaker .  br    br   i would say avoid this film unless you  re   to   years old .  
five years on from the tenko survivors returning home  and from marion  s double  edged  well that  s that  .  br    br   it  s now      reunion time . the gang  s all here marion  bea  ulrica  kate  dorothy  christina  dominica  and latecomers maggie and alice . the story that unfolds is a beaut as perfectly written and acted  and as thought  provoking and moving  as the original series .  br    br   all the questions left hanging at the end of the series are neatly answered here . from marion  s family to joss  s health centre  everything has changed in five years  and not everything has changed for the best .  br    br   a trip to dominica  s plantation brings plenty of shocks and some truly edge  of  the  seat tension . there  s a real sense of tragedy and disaster as  once again  fate takes over and the women struggle for their lives . dominica finally shows her true colours  and there are some shout  at  the  telly moments of drama .  br    br   lush location filming in singapore  and an opportunity to catch up with a group of women who feel like they have become friends . it  s such a shame that this really is the end . i could watch it all over again . perfection .  
  shinobi  is one of those movies that thinks the mere act of killing off a character automatically brings a sense of gravitas or emotion to the story . unfortunately  for the audience to actually care about the people dying  you have to develop the characters  otherwise all you have is a bunch of random acts of violence . the problem is especially compounded when you have tons of characters  all of whom die .  br    br   ok  so if you can  t be bothered to make the characters memorable or sympathetic in any way  you can at least make the reasons for why they die plausible  right  nope . here we have a war between two ninja clans  with neither side really knowing why they are fighting each other . they kill each other because the emperor says so . yet even well after it becomes glaringly obvious that the emperor wants all of them dead  they still refuse to abandon their meaningless missions . that  s not stubbornness . . . that  s just plain dumb .  br    br   fine  fine  there is no character development  and the plot provides no reasonable rationale for fighting . at least they die fighting in cool action scenes  right  yet again  no  in fact  many of the fights aren  t even fights at all super ninjas that the movie spent so much time and effort introducing die suddenly  and lamely  in my opinion  . i  m talking about things like   lalala  i  m walking along and i  neck gets slashed .  the end for that character . not even halfway through the film  i threw my hands up in frustration at the ludicrousness of it .  
the film belongs to inventor  underdog genre . jake gyllenhaal  laura dern and chris cooper bring a little acting verve to story with several standard elements . well filmed  well edited  with plenty of well acted secondary roles .  br    br   some have declared this movie to be classic american hokey . it is that and more . i agree with those who say  the movie celebrates the thrill of youthful inspiration .   br    br   the film is a pleasant reminder that achievement may be born of ordinary roots .  br    br    
sorry  this movie is just a cheap tv  production . i saw very much promotion material and expect a professionell movie like  stormriders   what i was presented was a low  budget  movie like  xena  or  hercules  on tv . no atmosphere  very boring  more then worse fight  scenes . some good ideas  not more . i hope i will get the chance to make a movie like this and then i show how to do such a movie     br    br   my asian  tips  musa  the warrior    stormriders    shaolin soccer    battle royal    versus   etc .  br    br   sorry for my bad english   
in my opinion  october sky is one of the best movies of     . . . it totally has everything an emotional drama movie would need  like  wonderful story and good character interactions . october sky will remain in heart for as long as i can remember  and i just have to say a very special thanks to those who have created this film .  
this has to be some of the worst direction i  ve seen . the close  up can be a very powerful shot  but when every scene consists of nothing but close  ups  it loses all its impact .  br    br   tony scott has some very beautiful scenery to work with  the backdrops of mexico  the cantinas  the beautiful estate where anthony quinn lives  and the dusty towns costner rolls through on his journey for revenge . unfortunately we only catch quick glimpses of these places before the camera cuts to a picture of a big  giant head . even the transition scenes where costner is driving alone across mexico quickly cut to a close  up .  br    br   the score is over  dramatic and intrusive  dictating every emotion we should feel . the story itself should have been handled much better . among other things  too many people pop up out of nowhere to help costner along  it  s just bad writing .  br    br   it  s a typical thriller storyline  but many others have taken the same premise and done outstanding things with it . costner  s no way out had a somewhat similar storyline  but it was a much better movie .  br    br   the ending was completely anticlimactic and suffered from the most melodramatic scoring of the film . this movie was never going to be great  but if we saw more of mexico and less of giant heads this film might have been watchable .  
above  average film and acting partly spoiled by its completely predictable story line . even the music is chosen so that the words fit the action every time . a scent of  pleasantville  camp hangs around this flick . as a period piece  it  s more accurate than not . its depiction of the tragedy of company towns and lack of upward mobility is sketchy but moving . chris cooper turns in a first  class performance as howard  s coal  miner daddy .  
revenge on us the viewing public perhaps . i sat through this  hour movie and i was waiting for the second act to kick in so that the movie lived up to its title . but costner never avenges his lovers fate she dies and the movie ends . i was left wondering where the rest of the movie was . if a movie is called revenge then the hero better get some by the end of the film . i had a choice of seeing this or black rain at the cinema thankfully i saw the other brothers movie at the cinema instead . i caught up with this turkey on video . there was one good thing about the film and was its beautiful theme tune . listen to the cd . dont watch this its awful .  out of    
this movie will kick your ass  powerful acting in a story that pushes all of us to live out our dreams . jake gyllenhaal will go places from here  and the supporting cast was superb . why would would anyone want to stay in coalville and develop black lung anyway   
i just watched this movie and i  ve gotta say that with such a great premise and great talent this turkey just lays there    a friend lent me this movie and i watched with an open mind mainly because he had such high praise for the story .  br    br   well  the movie started off with kevin costner as a fighter pilot retiring . . . why  why did they make him a fighter pilot  he was supposedly going to be hired by anthony quinn  s character to be his new pilot . . . well  we never see costner go near a plane for the rest of the movie   br    br   costner runs into a texan  james gammon  selling a horse to a big mexican businessman and costner tags along for a ride . without knowing what happened  gammon is beat to near death and costner drives him to the meeting  which happens to be with an associate of quinn  but  nothing comes of it . . . nada  zilcho  why did they have gammon  s character  why did they have the horse sale with the quinn associate if nothing was to come of it   br    br   also  after they leave costner for dead  they make madeline stowe  s character become a whore  then she attacks one of quinn  s men that was paying for a turn . . . she stabs him with his own knife  and the next thing she  s been moved to a convent  no explanation as to why she was moved  or when it was done   br    br   too much talent wasted on such a weak script and poor editing   i only watched this because a friend owned it and let me watch it . . . i  m going to throw it at him for the  hours i wasted of my life watching the blasted thing   
i saw that movie few days ago . this movie is so great that it makes me feel that if you want something really bad that you have always dreamed about it  you can have it . this shows a big wish come true trought happiness and sadness  hopeless and failure . but if you are strong enough and your heart really belongs to something that you love you can make things different and be happy .  
this movie wastes virtually every actor  s talents in what could best be charitably called a  potboiler  .  br    br   despite it  s action  packed  top gun  opening it is all downhill from there with plenty of stereotypes and unlikely situations following each other until you try to choke yourself on your popcorn .  br    br   there are so many dead  end story lines in this movie i was guessing at one point it was made by splicing together a discarded tv series .  br    br   quinn  s mexican drug  lord role is laughable and his  associates  plucked right out of a      s quinn  martin cop show . costner  s character is wooden and gives us no reason to believe he actually fell in love with mendez  wife . nor are we convincingly led to believe the wife is aching for companionship and will jump the first hot body coming along .  br    br   definitely a  b  movie at best and a huge waste of time for everyone involved .  
i thought this movie was really really great because  in india cinemas nowadays  all you see is skin  music  and bad acting . . . in this movie  you can see some tradition  ethnicity  and at least some decency . . . although some parts were a little dramatic  guess what  that is what indian cinema is all about  after watching this movie  at least you don  t get a headache from all the loud overrated music  or any violence  its just the truth  it teaches about love  and of course caring for the person you love throughout life . . . i think it was an amazing movie . . . kids can watch it without a doubt  and adults will enjoy the simplicity that used to be india  s sure profoundness . . . until all these rap hits  miniskirts  and skin showing became a part of it .  
i suppose that today this film has relevance because it was an early sofia loren film . she was   years old when the film was made in     .  br    br   i viewed this film because i wanted to see some of sofia loren  s early work . i was surprised when she came on camera having had her skin bronzed over in brown makeup to resemble an ethiopian princess . surely  today  this would have been viewed as a slur and to be avoided in movie making . it actually became annoying watching ms . loren in skin color paint throughout the film .  br    br   yes  this film would have been better made if the real opera singers had made this movie . then  the singing and the actual facial gestures of the real artists would have been apparent . i discount the comments by others about whether the real opera singers are older and heavier in weight .  br    br   as beautiful as ms . loren was at age   and still is today  the film would have been better received as though it were being performed on the stage . after all  we don  t see beautiful young people on stage with  old opera singers  back stage singing from behind the curtain  do not discount the success of using heavy  weight opera singers . one only has to refer to the most artistically produced television commercial for the j . g . wentworth company with the opera singers on stage singing so professionally the praises of the company  s product . this is one of the best and entertaining tv commercials produced to date .  br    br   the quality of the movie print also makes this production of a somewhat lesser quality . the color ink has faded much and that can not be helped .  br    br   to improve this film on dvd the production company should add english language subtitles so that we  who do not speak italian  can know what the lyrics are saying . it would help the story and teach it more than the narrator giving   seconds of introduction to the scenes .  br    br   watch this film not because of the story of aida nor the fact that this is an opera . aside from ms . sofia loren none of her co  actors are known nor remembered by this writer . instead  watch this movie if you are a fan of ms . loren and wish to see her at age     no matter what the production is .  br    br   larry from illinois  
this film caught me by surprise . my friend told me that this movie was a  chick flick .  boy  was he wrong  this movie has a great family appeal  with no sex scenes like  other  movies . jake gyllenhaal does an excellent job in homer hickam  s shoes . the supporting cast is great  as well .  br    br   science  coming  of  age  family quarrels  a great train scene . . . this film has it all . the soundtrack is good  although the score is presented quite choppily . the   s music kicks the movie over the edge of greatness .  br    br   the dvd is definitely worth its weigh in coal . replay value is great  i  ve seen it quite a few times already .  
faces are slashed  throats are cut  blood squirts  and in end the three main characters are either depressed or they die . they even blow up kevin costner  s dog with a shotgun . why would anyone want to see a movie like this  violence is valid only when the good guys kill the bad guys  not the other way around . take for instance underworld and underworld evolution where you can enjoy seeing justice done when the demons are slain . in this movie  the good guys are cut up . see the difference  why would anyone want to make a movie that depresses the audience  beautiful photography and skilled editing in a motion picture like this is a waste of talent . let  s put this one into the category of the exquisite corpse .  
  br    br   i  m sure things didn  t exactly go the same way in the real life of homer hickam as they did in the film adaptation of his book  rocket boys  but the movie  october sky   an anagram of the book  s title  is good enough to stand alone . i have not read hickam  s memoirs  but i am still able to enjoy and understand their film adaptation . the film  directed by joe johnston and written by lewis colick  records the story of teenager homer hickam  jake gyllenhaal   beginning in october of     . it opens with the sound of a radio broadcast  bringing news of the russian satellite sputnik  the first artificial satellite in orbit . we see a images of a blue  gray town and its people mostly miners working for the olga coal company . one of the miners listens to the news on a hand  held radio as he enters the elevator shaft  but the signal is lost as he disappears into the darkness  losing sight of the starry sky above him . a melancholy violin tune fades with this image . we then get a jolt of elvis on a car radio as words on the screen inform us of the setting october        coalwood  west virginia . homer and his buddies  roy lee cook  william lee scott  and sherman o  dell  chad lindberg   are talking about football tryouts . football scholarships are the only way out of the town  and working in the mines  for these boys .  why are the jocks the only ones who get to go to college   questions homer . roy lee replies   they  re also the only ones who get the girls .  homer doesn  t make it in football like his older brother  so he is destined for the mines  and to follow in his father  s footsteps as mine foreman . until he sees the dot of light streaking across the october sky . then he wants to build a rocket .  i want to go into space   says homer . after a disastrous attempt involving a primitive rocket and his mother  s  natalie canerday  fence  homer enlists the help of the nerdy quentin wilson  chris owen  . quentin asks homer   what do you want to know about rockets   homer quickly anwers   everything .  his science teacher at big creek high school  miss frieda riley  laura dern  greatly supports homer  and the four boys work on building rockets in homer  s basement . his father  however  whose life is the mine  does not support him . john hickam  chris cooper  believes that homer shouldn  t waste his time on the rockets  that the coal mines are all that matter . the coal from the mines is used to make steel  and without steel  the country would be nothing . the difficult relationship between homer and his dad is one of the most poignant relationships i have ever seen in a film . miss riley introduces homer to the idea of entering the local science fair  with a chance to go the nationals and win a college scholarship .  you can  t just dream your way out of coalwood   she tells homer . homer and his friends act upon their dreams by working constantly on the rockets  improving the models with each attempt . despite the many attempts  the boys do not lose their determination .  what are the chances of us winning that science fair   o  dell asks homer in one of their more despairing moments .  a million to one   answers homer .  that good   o  dell replies   well  why didn  t you say so   the music  composed by mark isham  conveys sadness and hope at the same time  especially sad at a point when homer descends into the mine shaft and loses sight of the sky and his dreams of getting out of coalwood . rollicking     s  rock and roll  including songs by the coasters and buddy holly  occasionally pushes the instrumental pieces aside to create a light  hearted mood that contrasts the teenagers  lives with the lives of the miners . the film  photographed by fred murphy  also uses colors to set moods and symbolize . the town of coalwood  actually filmed in tennessee  is washed with blues  grays  and browns . it  s as if the grime from the coal sticks to everything  faces  clothes  houses  and roads . when a couple in a gleaming red convertible stops to ask for directions from the boys  it is obvious that they are from the world outside of coalwood and the olga coal company . the book on guided missile design that miss riley gives homer is red . the red stands out enough against the blue  gray world of coalwood to symbolize  getting out   but it is still subtle . the reds are fleeting hints of a world that homer only dreams of . jake gyllenhaal expresses such zeal  hope  and pertinacity as homer hickam that it is hard to believe he isn  t the real homer we see in actual footage at the end of the film . chris cooper is also extraordinarily believable as homer  s stubborn father  who doesn  t recognize  or just doesn  t want to admit  that the mine is not producing enough to keep the town alive . homer  and everyone who encourages him in his rocket  building  is aware that the town is dying . with the community disintegrating  the only way they stay together is by gathering for the rocket boys  demonstrations . again  i  m sure things didn  t happen exactly as the movie portrayed them  but what would a movie be without a bit of idealism   october sky  has just enough of that to make it a great motion picture and enough rawness to keep it real .  
payback is the game being played in this drama and the revenge plot is undone by the absurd story line that sets the stage for the fireworks that come later . why would a man become involved with the trophy wife of a ruthless mob boss in the gangster  s own mansion with suspicious henchmen all around  why would an unhappy wife encourage the attentions of a complete stranger and expect him to carry her away with him and leave her husband and boredom behind to live happily ever after with her new love  surely the hero  here kevin costner  must have expected a reaction from the cuckold husband that gives the movie an excuse to indulge in senseless gore and violence . anthony quinn  great actor that he was  surely deserved better  and madeleine stowe is the tragic figure who suffers greatly as she latches on to her prince charming . stowe is okay but her spanish accent doesn  t work . the cameos of the lesser players are good  especially miguel ferrer and john leguizamo and sally kirkland is interesting as a fading rock star .  
maybe not the most original way of telling a story  we  ve seen all this before in many movies . . but . . i liked it october sky alot anyways . it got something  great directing and good acting by all parts  especially laura dern  the teacher  and chris cooper  the father  . i wanna be a rocket  engineer     
i  ve never understood the appeal of garbo . she always comes across in her films as stuck up  not all that alluring  and that annoying voice that could have drowned out the tuba section . she was also a very limited actress  like gloria swanson far better off left in the silent era . in this her last film  her performance is very average and even unassured . she tries hard but it all comes to nothing because the script is even worse than her acting .  br    br   a would be screwball romcom that is never once believable and never gets off the ground  even though melvyn douglas manages to get airborne in the skiing scenes  which are really the only amusing thing here  .  br    br   there was potential but the script fails in almost every department  wasting every actor in it . douglas and garbo had good enough chemistry together but this one isn  t even a spot on ninotchka  which i also found to be extremely overrated .  
i watched this film without knowing anything about it whatsoever and found it similar thematically to billy elliott       . both films are based around a troubled father  son relationship . in both films  the son does not want to follow his father down the mines and dreams of a better life away from their home town . both sons face derision by their classmates and both have a strong female role model who teaches them .  br    br   the major difference that i found between the films was that october sky was an infinitely more interesting and touching film . laura dern puts in a moving performance and chris cooper plays the disapproving father very well as he went on to do in american beauty       . joe johnston surprised me with his subtle directing  very different from his other directorial features such as jumanji       and jurassic park iii       .  br    br    
it seems a shame that greta garbo ended her illustrious career at the age of   with this ridiculous mistaken  identity marital romp . coming off the success of her first romantic comedy  ernst lubitsch  s masterful  ninotchka         where she was ideally cast as an austere russian envoy  garbo is reunited with her leading man melvyn douglas for a sitcom  level story that has her playing karin borg  a plain  jane ski instructor who impulsively marries publishing executive larry blake when he becomes smitten with her . once he makes clear that work is his priority  karin inadvertently decides to masquerade as her high  living twin sister katherine to test her husband  s fidelity when he is back in manhattan .  br    br   it  s surprising that this infamous     misfire was directed by george cukor  who led garbo to her greatest dramatic performance in      s  camille   because this is as unflattering a vehicle as one could imagine for the screen legend . only someone with carole lombard  s natural sense of ease and mischief could have gotten away with the shenanigans presented in the by  the  numbers script by s . n . behrman  salka viertel and george oppenheimer . mgm  s intent behind this comedy was to contemporize and americanize garbo  s image for wartime audiences whom the studio heads felt were not interested in the tragic period characters she favored in the thirties .  br    br   however  garbo appears ill  at  ease mostly as the bogus party girl katherine and especially compared to expert farceurs like douglas and constance bennett as romantic rival griselda . photographed unflatteringly by joseph ruttenberg  garbo looks tired in many scenes and downright hideous in her teased hairdo for the  chica  choca  dance sequence . the story ends conventionally but with the addition of a lengthy physical sequence where larry tries to maneuver his skis on a series of mountain cliffs that unfortunately reminds me of sonny bono  s death . roland young and ruth gordon  in a rare appearance at this point of her career  show up in comic supporting roles as douglas  associates . this movie is not yet on dvd  and i wouldn  t consider it priority for transfer as it represents a curio in garbo  s otherwise legendary career . she was reportedly quite unhappy during the filming . i can see why .  
this film was absolutely brilliant   every performance in this film is excellent  especially jake gyllenhaal and chris cooper . it looks like mr gyllenhaal will have a huge film career if this is anything to go by . i thought that joe johnston was an odd choice as director as he is usually associated woth big budget blockbusters  jumanji  honey i shrunk the kids  . he pulls of every scene with sheer class . my favourite scene was where homer is going down the mineshaft and looking at the sky  going down  as all of his dreams were  it was beautiful . joe johnston should direct more of these brilliant  acting driven films as well as his big budget blockbuster faire  which is also excellent . kudos   to all involved in this masterpiece   
the story is a little slow and a little stupid . greta garbo doesn  t look very good and i couldn  t understand half the things she said because of her accent  which was exaggerated for this role . melvyn douglas  meanwhile  plays his normal unlikeable role and constance bennett is just so  so except for a couple of her screams  which were funny .  br    br   on the plus side  roland young had the best role in the film . i wish he had more lines  as he disappeared in the second half of the story . also  it was interesting to see ruth gordon look so young . i had only seen her in those crazy roles she played from the late    s to the    s and a whacked out old woman . story  wise  the best part might have been the final few minutes when we see a stunt man doing amazing things on skis  pretending to be douglas falling down the slopes . that was amazing and humorous footage .  br    br   overall  i can see where this film  garbo  s last  was not a box  office success . it just drags too much  going on and on about deceptions . it  s an annoying story . garbo knew it  too  and called it quits .  
the acting in this movie was superb . as an amateur rocketeer  i found very few mistakes . as a human being  it touched my heart and soul . to watch the actors  you would think that they are the actual characters . laura dern  a favorite actress of mine  left nothing out of her performance . the young actors playing the rocket boys showed talent beyond their years  especially young homer . homer  s father inspired that eternal love  hate relationship between a father and son so that it felt real . if you don  t get a lump in your throat or shed a tear when that first successful rocket goes up or when father and son come to terms  then get your pulse checked  you may be dead  .  
being born in the      s i grew up watching the tv  movies of the week  in the early    s and loved the creepy movies that were routinely shown including  crowhaven farm    bad ronald    satan  s school for girls    kolchak the night stalker   etc  but this one is just plain dumb . this is obviously the writer  s trying to capitalize on the horrific manson murders from a few years earlier . the movie stars dennis weaver of  mccloud  and  duel  fame as a father who takes his family camping on a beach . the family encounters some hippies who for some reason decide to terrorize the family . the reason for this is never explained  and weaver  s pacifistic stance is hard to swallow . for god  s sake  call the police  beat the hell of them or something  just don  t sit there and whine about it . the acting is pretty lame  the story unbelievable  etc . susan dey looks cute in a bikini but that  s about it . ignore this if it ever airs on tv .  
my wife did not realize what a gem this movie was when she picked it up . it is a story that shows real world success through hard work and determination .  br    br   that is so refreshing in a world of violent movies not that i dis  like them   but you have to love a movie that succeeds without it .  
i can  t believe i waste my time watching this garbage  i did because leonard maltin gave it an  aa  rating  and for tv movies this is usually a reliable indicator of some quality entertainment .  br    br   the acting was ok  but whoever wrote it should be forever denied access to any medium of communication . the plot is ludicrous  the motivations of the  bad guys  totally absent  and the various family interactions silly and shallow . for example  dad preaches that violent reaction to aggression is bad  but he turns out to be an  admirable  person not because of his  ignore the idiots  philosophy  but because he  s pretty good with his fists . . .  br    br   the only message i was able to glean from this pap was that the nuclear family is good and alternate living arrangements are bad . oh  and bad people happen to good people .  
october sky is a highly lauded movie  and its easy to see why . the story is easy to comprehend and many turning points are gripping  the actors and actresses do fairly good jobs  especially jake gyllenhaal and chris cooper  the hero finally gets what he wants  and its a true story . frankly i think the directors achievement is not comparable to the sparks and heat the original story generates . we dont see any special narrative or cinematography the power of the movie relies much on the riveting plot and tough situation the young hero is trapped in that most audience will find themselves identify with the characters . we feel homers desire to earn his fathers recognition and create his own future  and his resilience wins our respect . october sky reminds me of a later     japanese production of mini series rocket boy   which might owe some of the inspiration from this movie . actually these two works shot from two different cultures provide interesting comparison . when october sky unfolds a story of a young man crying out loud to claim his right over his own destiny  rocket boy offers a more compromised description that could sometimes constitute an acrid criticism of modern society . starring the outstanding actor yuji oda  rocket boy focuses on three men as ordinary as can be a travel agent who has a dream of becoming an astronaut  a boastful advertising agent who is on the brink of being torn apart by his inferiority complex resulted from the extreme success of his father and older brother  like what homer feels in his family   and a food company employee who is about to getting married but scared of this idea . the collected social consciousness superimposes its definition of success on its constituents and steps further to force them suffocate their dreams by claiming them impossible .  to compensate for his lost ideal  kobayashi  yuji  works in the tour operator because its called galaxy .  when his client fails him and his girlfriend decides to leave him  he finally finds strength from his fathers words  who had determined to be a sailor but later found life on the sea less attractive as he had presumed . but i dont regret it   his father told kobayashi  at least i tried .  it is his fathers confession that encourages him to resign his job and apply for astronautships despite the fact that he hurts his legs and needs to move around on a wheelchair . kobayashis effort finally fails  and he goes back to the travel agency . but his crazy courage inspires his friends  and everyone loves him more . just before the end of the series  kobayashi is on the job as a guide of a space camp meant to let children learn more about astronauts . after the tour is over we see him leaning against a tree  unfolding a sheet of poster he tears from the bulletin board that says astronauts wanted for     .  kobayashi looks at the piece of paper and laughs and laughs  just like a kid looking at his ticket to disneyland . kobayashi may never get what he wants  but he dares his destiny and just does it .  this series is so heart  gripping not because the hero exhibits any heroic deeds  but his ordinariness and unstoppable urge to realize his dream which make us wonder and envy . unlike dilbert or other sarcastic writings  this show enlightens us and teaches us something . homer and kobayashi both have the dream  and they do what they can despite other peoples opinions . i recommend other imdb users to see the japanese tv series . if you are a nine  to  fiver  you will feel more touched . i feel sorry that imdb doesnt have its data  maybe you can ask somebody from japan to help you .  
you might be a bit confused if you watch this silly made  for from the beginning  since the credits list susan dey as  special guest star .  um  why would a one  off mow like this have a guest star  well  if you stick with it  you  ll find yourself paying attention to little else but ms . dey  s butt  wiggling in a flowered bikini as the  partridge family  house babe frolics on the beach to which that imaginative title alludes . susan  s derrire is especially compelling when she shakes it at the camera while teasing and tickling her pseudo  disaffected brother in one mildly incestuous scene . sadly  susie and her tush fight a losing battle the jiggle  tv craze that might have put that bottom over the top was three years off  so that sweet booty just gets a supporting role . in     fat freddy silverman would have put that behind right out front and used this flick as susan  s audition tape for  charlie  s angels .  as is  our susan was denied cheesecake immortality and had to settle for a very commendable career playing somber  neurotic women .  br    br   the view beyond susan  s heinie  it must be said  is not very compelling . the scenery is nice  and photographed in a bizarre  hazy way that briefly fools you into thinking there might be some quirky creative intelligence at work behind the camera . nope . it  s just a typically suspense  challenged    s made  for  tv thriller that allowed weekly series stars to make some extra cash  and collect some cable residuals  though they obviously didn  t know that at the time  and show off their  range .  here we  re treated to a tv  scale nuclear family  squaring off against tv  scale thugs who can  t decide whether they  re a motorcycle gang or a hippie cult  thus the filmmakers split the difference by putting them in dune buggies  and have never learned one of the primary lessons of     s television don  t mess with dennis weaver  see  mccloud  and  duel   . the only potential for depth in this movie is in the aforementioned teenage  son character of steve  played by the long  forgotten  if ever  remembered  kristoffer tabori  who is supposed to be rebellious and troubled and might feel some sympathy for and attraction to the lawless mob that is  supposedly  menacing his family . but steve  as played by tabori  gosh  why didn  t we see more from this wunderkind    is actually just grumpy and moody and isn  t one bit conflicted when big d gets serious and draws a line in the proverbial  and literal  sand . for the sleep  deprived and susan deyniacs  there must be some of you out there  only .  
i loved october sky . the thing i loved most had to be the music . it worked two ways in the first hour of the film  it gives the viewer a time  frame . this is done by playing songs from the late fifties . in the second hour  an instrumental score takes over . the music now fits the mood of the film perfectly .  br    br   i did not only enjoy the music  i also quite enjoyed the cast . jake gyllenhaal as homer hickam was especially a surprise for me . he gave off a first  class performance  as did chris owen  quentin  and chris cooper  john hickam  .  br    br   i  ve seen this movie about escaping the life already laid out for you twice now  and both times i thoroughly enjoyed myself .  
this is a terrible production of bartleby  though not  as the other reviewer put it because it is  unfilmable   but rather because this version does not maintain the spirit of the book . it tells the story  almost painfully so . watching it  i could turn the pages in my book and follow along  which is not as much fun when dealing with an adaptation . rather  see the     version of bartleby featuring crispin glover . that version  while humorous  brings new details to the film while maintaining the spirit of the novel . what  s important is the spirit  not the minutiae of things like setting  character names  and costumes . the difference between these film versions is like night and day  tedious and hilarious . this version is a lesson as to what can go wrong if an adaptation is handled poorly  painful  mind  numbing schlock .  
i grew up in southern west virginia i  m about the same age as  or maybe a year older than  homer hickam  author of  the rocket boys   the book forming the true  story basis of this heart  warming film .  br    br   and so i relate closely to the west virginia coal  mining theme  and to the stunning effect sputnik had at that time  october        on all of us . the rocket boys went on to make great lives for themselves . i went on to get my degrees in physics and computer engineering . all because sputnik woke up a lot of young people to the  science gap  the u . s . s . r . had on the u . s . in those cold war days . . .  br    br   this is a wonderful film for everyone  of all ages . but if you grew up in west virginia in the late      s  it  ll touch the core of your being .  br    br   everyone get it watch it recommend it to your friends . . . who  ll thank you many times .  
a noble effort  i guess  but ultimately a poor one . before seeing this film  i felt  bartleby  the scrivener  was unfilmable . after seeing it  i still do . unfortunately  i think only those who have read the story will understand what is going on  and they will be upset at the film  s needless revisions  updating from     to      moving from new york to london  . even the superb talents of paul scofield can  t salvage what looks to me like a well meaning but misguided effort to film melville  s metaphysical classic .  
i can honestly say i never expected this movie to be good . i do not like family films . i am far from a fan of shahid kapoor . the director  s last movie  mpkdh was complete stupidity . and the music was very boring and bland . but there was amrita rao  who has become my favorite after main hoon na . there was also seema biswas  alok nath  and anupam kher who are very talented . so a few plus points .  br    br   i finally saw the movie and i was very impressed . he brings us the young lovers of mpk with a pinch of the hahk wedding  and we have a winner . the story outline is similar to hahk  light hearted in the beginning to serious mode at the end . the director also made character that you could relate to . the thing i did not like about hahk was that the characters were too eccentric . the casting adds to its perfection . shahid kapoor surprised me with a good performance . this is a major improvement  and most importantly he suits the role . the best is easily amrita rao . in fact  this is her best performance . her screen presence is so electrifying  you are bound to love her performance . sameer soni  amrutha prakash  anupam kher  alok nath and seema biswas are terrifically cast . not one actor feels out of place .  br    br   the songs were quite disappointing but they will sound better after watching them . mujhe haq hai and do anjaane ajnabi are nice ballads . milan abhi aada adhura hai is also nice in watching . the songs aren  t colorful and dancey  and they are more like ballads . the exception is hamari shaadi mein which is bound to remind you of hssh and hahk . so what was the flaw in the movie  the movie gets quite slow  and the ending is quite stretched . but the movie is still goes at a good pace  making it a perfect family film .  
      s  stella dallas  with barbara stanwyck hasn  t exactly aged well   how anyone thought a semi  updated version of the story would work now is a real puzzler . perhaps they thought jaunty  cheerfully brash bette midler could make something out of it  but this hoary script defeats her . plot about a female bartender having a baby out of wedlock  and years later giving the young girl over to the child  s wealthy father so she  ll have a shot at a better life  can  t escape tatty  old  fashioned trappings and sentiment . midler works best with a movie director who can control her excesses  but that fails to happen here stephen collins is stolid as the man who changes her life  but trini alvarado is well  cast as midler  s daughter . this is what used to be referred to as a  woman  s picture   a wallow  but it doesn  t pass muster because it stays too faithful to its      s origins .     from   
a true wholesome american story about teenagers who are interested in launching their own rocket in a rural west virginia coal mining town  after the launch of sputnik in     .  br    br   through trial  tribulations and perseverance beyond belief  they are ultimately able to achieve their goals .  br    br   jake gyllenhaal  as the leader of the group  is excellent in the title role . as his motivating science teacher  laura linney is quite good but her southern accent is over the top .  br    br   there is a standout supporting performance by chris cooper  a head miner  who wants his son to follow in his footsteps  but gradually comes around at film  s end .  br    br   what makes this film so unusual for our times is that there are no bed  hopping scenes and no profanity whatsoever . it is the epitome of an american story that is well done .  br    br   besides the science angle  we have the father  son disagreement  football scholarships as a way to escape coal mining  and the loving spirit of family .  br    br   why aren  t pictures like this recognized more at award times   
i do agree that though this story by melville just might be unfilmable  this isn  t even a credible try . to move the story into the   th century just outrages the original story  s intent and nature possibly you might have been able to move it over to england  but it must be a period piece . even our story narrator   the proprietor   tells it in a flashback  going back even further  somewhere around     . towards the end of the   th century  a strangely disobedient worker would be discarded without a thought . and the   th century  come on  give me an expletive deleted break    even around      such behavior didn  t work very well  in view of the ending . and the movie  s ending  i don  t know what it was  because i didn  t watch the entire travesty   i had to stop . this was like setting  streetcar named desire  in elizabethan england .  
based on fact  this is the story of a teenager named homer hickam  jake gyllenhaal   growing up in a coal town in west virginia where a boy  s usual destiny was to  end up in the mines .  but homer had his eye on the sky and a love for flying rockets  to the dismay of his mine  foreman father  and the consternation of the townsfolk generally . a misfit for sure  he and three of his equally outcast buddies begin making rockets  which they fly from a patch of barren land eight miles out of town  so as to no longer terrorize the community with their oft  times errant rockets . unfortunately  most of the town and especially homer  s father  chris cooper  thinks that they are wasting their time . however  the people become intrigued and soon start coming out in droves to watch the  rocketboys  send off their homemade missiles . only one teacher  laura dern  in the high school understands their efforts and lets them know that they could become contenders in the national science fair with college scholarships being the prize . now the gang must learn to perfect their craft and overcome the many problems facing them as they shoot for the stars . director joe johnston has always been a famous name for his movies such as jumanji  jurassic park    october sky  surely stands above all of his other films . without any doubts   october sky  is his best effort  obviously his best film . it  s not only a true story filmed extremely well  but even as a movie  it has every single thing  which is required for a top level cinema . and along with johnston  s extra  ordinary direction  are some exceptional performances . jake gyllenhaal was around    when this movie was released  he gives a beautiful  natural performance . he is a perfect actor . chris cooper as his father  also gives a very fine performance . the same goes for laura dern  also she looks beautiful . even the rest of the performances are extremely well . the background score was fine . highly inspiring movie  which lifts up your spirit sky high . one of those movies which definitely inspires you for all of your life . an amazing inspiring movie along with loads of entertainment . not to be missed .  
i kinda liked the film despite it  s frenzied pace . but  i did not appreciate the comment that canada was referred to as montana north . it is definitely not montana north and never will be . americans wonder why they are perceived as arrogant in the rest of the world  and that is one reason why . stop teaching the kids of the united states of america to think they own the planet . such a centrist world view is not becoming of one of the world  s great nations . even in jest . i would never refer to the usa as  alberta south  . walt would never put us down  so why start now . other than that the film was pretty goofy  better luck next time .  
i think i read this someplace joe johnston  director of the film and also one of the guys who founded industrial light and magic for work on the first star wars film  and one of his producers or something were racking their brains for a title for the movie   rocket boys   i guess  was lacking something .  br    br   one day they were messing with a pc program that forms words from other words  ie you type in a word or series of words and it mixes the letters up and forms other words  i think the technical term is an  anagram   br    br   anyway  they typed in  rocket boys  and sure enough what comes back is  october sky  . they were shocked to say the least . the title summed up everything in the movie since the movie revolves around sputnik . at first homer jr did not like the idea  but he warmed up to it after the  movie poster paperback novel  came out and took off .  
i wanted to like this movie . but it falls apart in the middle . the whole premise is a good one and ties up nicely  but the middle runs off tangent . the people i watched with were getting annoyed while it ran off course  and hoping it would end sooner than it did . another person actually fell asleep during the middle segment  i found myself day dreaming elsewhere during the schtick parts that had nothing to do with the plot . i bought it for the eye candy and it delivered that well  but it lacks pixar  s writing and soul . i think kids  and under will enjoy the ride at face vaule  while missing the plot . people old enough to follow a plot will find it wonders too far to return quickly and easily . edit out most of the middle section  make it   minutes and it would be a solid flick . i wish i had better things to say . but i don  t  
i just accidentally stumbled over this film on tv one day . it was aired in the middle of the day on a channel not exactly famous for airing good movies . this one  however  was nothing less then good .  br    br   october sky tells the true story of homer hickam  a boy inspired by the sputnick launch to become a rocket scientist . he and his friends begin to build rockets . his father is not to happy about his sons new found hobby and would rather see him become a coal  miner as himself or go to college on a football  scholarship like his brother .  br    br   the story is well written . a bit too predictable maybe  but that  s ok cause it doesn  t focus too much on those parts of the story . it  s important part  but where this is obvious the inner action  the action between the characters is focused on . the story is good . it has some clichs  but that  s ok . it  s based on actual event  s so you kind of can  t just drop out these clichs . the characters are really good . where the story is on a downhill the characters are brought out and manage to keep the action and the quality of the movie high . you get to know these characters and you get sympathy for them . they are well written and believable .  br    br   this is a good looking movie . the sets and the    s style is thorough and the pictures are well composed and well lit . this all sets the mood of the film very good .  br    br   the acting is really good . jake gyllenhaal delivers a great performance as homer hickam and chris cooper is good as john hickam . as for the rest of the cast they are good too . all together this makes out a pretty strong cast .  br    br   all in all i  m glad i caught this movie . it was first after seeing it i learned that it was based on actual events . if i had known that when seeing it  it would probably just be even more interesting . october sky is a good and interesting movie . it  s a movie i believe everyone can enjoy . it  s kind of a feel  good movie . not bad at all   
i went to see this with my wife and  yr old son . he seemed to like it a lot more than my wife and i did . the writing is surprisingly poor for a pixar  disney excursion . in fact  i had a very hard time paying attention at all . the movie does look amazing but the story just becomes so weird and long winded that i was hoping my son would fall asleep so i could pick him up and walk out .  br    br   not to say that the film isn  t an interesting concept  it  s just told so oddly   bad screenplay   especially when we  meet the family  for the first time . i know we  re supposed to get the impression that the family is wacky but good lord  they could  ve shortened that sequence by a good   minutes  seemingly  i didn  t actually time it  . by that point i was scratching my head looking for an exit .  
i have recently seen this movie due to jake  s recent success with brokeback mountain . i figured i would see the movies that i missed . i had no expectations going into the film so was astounded that i had missed this movie at all . it  s a gripping father and son tale  and it is also an underdog story . i even shed a tear at the finale of this wonderful tale . this movie appeals to all ages . the only reason i give it a  out of   is that it slows down a little in the middle  but it comes back strong in the end . the acting was great  the story was magnificent  and the cinematography was captivating given the setting of the film . go see this movie  rent it  buy it  watch it  love it  i know i did   
i really wanted to like this film  but so much of it is stolen  borrowed from other work   some of the borrowing is painfully blatant . the new york times  review pointed out that their singing frog is awfully reminiscent of the one in the famous warner brothers  cartoon   hello my baby  hello my darlin   hello my ragtime gal . . .   . but i challenge anyone to watch the fox  blue sky animated feature robots       and not find ridiculous similarities in storyline  a young inventor growing up  and a single innovative corporation distributes all great inventions .  br    br   cityscape  extremely similar camera angles capture extremely similar futuristic city environments .  br    br   . . . robots . . .  the servant robot in the robinson household has a very similar design to those in robots  and both films use a sort of retro  futuristic look .  br    br   all of this seems to be in sharp contradiction to the obnoxious quote from disney at the end  implying that the company has been a steady innovator who never looks back  which also contradicts their entire catalog of films in the   s that were pretty much clones of each other  with some minor tweaks to storyline and ethnicity  .  br    br   the filmmakers seem unable to let the story speak on its own  and instead constantly send objects and noises flying in our direction  as though we don  t have the attention span for anything less .  br    br   the villain is really well  designed and brilliantly animated  and he  s a pleasure to watch . much of the rest of the film seems thrown  together . some of the landscapes look like cgi from the mid    s .  br    br   the film actually opens with a classic mickey mouse short . by the end of this cartoon  we are reminded that disney never did have much interest in innovating or good storytelling   they seem to think that simply getting something up on the big screen is proof enough of their virtue .  
there is a bit of trivia which should be pointed out about a scene early in the movie where homer watches the attempt of december        at least that was the video used on the tv he was watching  which showed the vangard launch attempt  which failed .  br    br   he is next shown reading or dictating a letter to dr . von braun offering condolences about the failure .  br    br   von braun was at marshall space flight center in huntsville working for the army . the vanguard project was by the early nasa team which was at what soon became goddard space flight center .  br    br   the army rushed the jupiter  c  which was essentially a us made v  technology  but worked to launch a satellite in response to russia  s success with sputnik .  br    br   this error may have actually been made by homer  because of the notoriety of von braun  but his team didn  t have their attempt fail . in fact the underlying redstone was flying from   and was the first us man rated booster  used for shepard  s sub orbital flight  as well as grissom  s .  br    br   this is why this sort of movie is so good  as it hopefully will inspire people to read up and spot these bits of trivia  and in the process see what has been done  and be inspired to do more .  
this movie started out with some semblance of a plot  then abandoned it for an endless series of random characters and encounters that have nothing to do with moving the story forward . it was impossible to remain engaged with this film . this movie is a very cynical pile of garbage made by some people with animation skills but totally lacking in creativity or storytelling ability . it is a shockingly bad effort coming from a major studio . clearly there are morale and motivation problems at disney  not to mention a complete lack of oversight and quality control . that management allowed this movie to see the light of day speaks volumes about their incompetence and desperation . this movie joins my very short  worst movies of all time  list .  
i first saw jake gyllenhaal in jarhead       a little while back and  since then  i  ve been watching every one of his movies that arrives on my radar screen . like clive owen  he has an intensity  and he even resembles owen somewhat  that just oozes from the screen . i feel sure that  if he lands some meaty roles  he  ll crack an oscar one day . . .  br    br   that  s not to denigrate this film at all .  br    br   it  s a fine story  with very believable people  well  it  s based upon the author  s early shenanigans with rocketry   a great cast  chris cooper is always good  and laura dern is always on my watch list  with the appropriate mix of humor  pathos  excitement . . . and the great sound track with so many rock n roll oldies to get the feet tapping .  br    br   but  this film had a very special significance for me in      i was the same age as homer hickham like him  i looked up at the night stars to watch sputnik as it scudded across the blackness like homer also  i experimented with rocketry in my backyard and used even the exact same chemicals for fuel and like homer  i also had most of my attempts end in explosive disaster  what fun it was . . .  br    br   i didn  t achieve his great  metaphorical and physical  heights though . but  that  s what you find out when you see this movie .  br    br   sure  it  s a basic family movie  but that  s a dying breed these days  it seems . take the time to see it  with the kids you  ll all have a lot of good laughs .  
now for the truth  its very very weak storyline  for a walt disney film its total rubbish . when the robinson appear  the films all over the place  i was shocked how poor it was . it like  alice in wonderland  gone wrong  . it feels like they were short on ideas some mashed some crazy rubbish together to try and get away with it  and they don  t . after that  i sat there wishing for the end . my younger brother lost interest half way through and was confused by the story . the characters are weak and after the robinsons appear you don  t care about the ending  you just want the film to finish . its a film to forget  and forget quickly . if you  ve got some spare time  don  t waste it on this .  
a simple and effective film about what life is all about  responding to challenges . it took a lot of gall for homer and his friends to be able to grow into manhood without falling in the trap of a prefabricated future that runs from father to son  to be a miner in the local mine and never get out of that fate . it took also three different challenges for homer and his friends to conquer a personal and free future . the challenge of the first ever man  made artificial satellite  sputnik   a soviet satellite  a milestone in human history  a turning point that homer and his friends could not miss  did not want to miss . then the challenge of science and applied mechanics to calculate and to devise a rocket from scratch or rather from what they could gather in books and order in their minds . finally the challenge of a world that resists and refuses and tries to force you back into the pack  even with an untimely accident that forces you to get back into the pack for plain survival necessity  and even then homer proved he had the guts to accept the challenge that was blocking for a while his own plans and dreams . but there is another side of the story that the film does not emphasize enough . homer is the carrier of the project but he is also the carrier of the inspiration he and his friends need . if he is the one who is going to get the university scholarship  because his friends gave him precedence  his friends will also be able to get on their own roads and tracks and step out of the mining fate  thanks to the energy his inspiring example sets in front of their eyes . it is hard at times not to follow the example of the one who is like a beacon on a difficult road . but the film is also effective to show how the father resisted this dream because for him science was not the fabric of a true man  like mining or football . the working class fate that was so present in those     s and     s and still is present in some areas is too often enforced by the traditional thinking of the father . if the mother does not have the courage to speak up one day  the working class fate i am speaking of becomes a tremendous trap . here too the film is effective and it should make some parents think . this might have been the fourth challenge homer had to face the challenge of taking a road that was not the one pointed at and programmed by his own father .  br    br   dr jacques coulardeau  university paris dauphine  university paris  pantheon sorbonne  
this movie forever left an impression on me . i watched it as a freshman in high school and was home alone that night . i think i lost all respect for robert reed as an actor having been a huge fan of the  brady bunch  . i also thought the role of chuck connor was horrendous and evil . however  this movie made such an impact on me that i am now a volunteer in the women  s state prison doing bible studies and church services and trying to change womens lives  one at a time . what fascinates me is that so few people actually watched this movie . none of my friends watched it and my family is clueless to this day when i discuss this movie because they didn  t see it .  
i resisted seeing this movie and i understand why it was not a big hit in theatres .  october sky  feels and looks oh so familiar . and it is . all plot contrivances and emotions have been explored before in other films   and possibly even better . but despite it  s familiarity and resistance to all formulas hollywood  this movie is winning and likeable at every turn .  br    br   sputnik is the inspiration for this journey of the heart  mind and soul . just as the characters from steven sondheim  s musical merrily we roll along stood agape atop their apartment roof hoping it would launch their new generation   what do you call it  you call it a miracle .    sputnik has a similar affect on the young rocket boys of this true tale . while jaded townsfolk of their      s coal town dismiss the event  homer hickham sees sputnik as his ticket out of a life in the mines .  br    br   masterful direction and casting make the journey of rocket boy homer and his pals seem fresh and new . especially affecting are subplots concerning homer  s ailing young school teacher . remarkable restraint is shown in depicting their delicate relationship . also remarkable is the father  son supblot that anchors the film . perfectly played all around . even homer  s mom gets her moment without cliche or intrusion . her ultimatum to her husband is both dignified and heatbreaking .  myrtle beach  says it all .  br    br   a major video chain i despise has a sign next to this film stating that you  ll love this film or they  ll refund your money . for once  i agree with them . you  ll never look at the october sky quite the same again .  br    br    
originally aired as an abc movie of the week . this involves two young innocent female college students who are railroaded into a prison camp in a little southern town . they aren  t allowed phone calls and nobody knows they  re there . what follows is rape  torture  beatings  humiliation and degradation leading to a very disturbing conclusion .  br    br   the tv version was  for its time  grim . no nudity and the beatings were pretty tame but the overall feeling of sleaziness wore one down . the unrated version is even worse   there  s plentiful nudity  the violence is extreme and  in one particularly disgusting sequence  we see a crying female prisoner forced to strip while a lesbian guard  uses  her . yuck  there  s nothing wrong with exploitation films but this one just goes over the brink . you get the feeling that the filmmakers enjoy having these poor women being tortured and degraded   all this is shoved in your face like you  re supposed to enjoy it . the needlessly downbeat ending doesn  t help .  br    br   i  m giving it a  because the acting is good   but that actually makes the movie harder to watch . a sick  sleazy film . not recommended .  
there is an old saying that relates to the rousing new film by joe johnston that goes something like this  the man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can  t are both right .  that is a highly presumptuous statement referring to self motivating and belief in an individual  which  in this movie  stand true even after road blocks and family trouble stand in the way .  br    br    october sky  is about a young man who believes in himself named homer hickam  growing up in a strict  traditional family in the      s . homer loves in a small coal mining town where nearly every man grows up to be a miner . all of his friends  quentin  roy  and o  dell all think that their life after high school will be like everyone else  s . homer is not exited about that future .  br    br   one night  while everyone stares at the sky  a russian space craft called sputnik passes overhead . this is something new for homer  and he finds it spectacular and overwhelming . from this point on  his look at life will never be the same .  br    br   first  he tells everyone that he wants to work in the rocket scientist area for an occupation . flabbergasted at what he says  his family passes that idea over their heads and continues with life as usual his friends  however  think that this idea may have some potential . after all  quentin is a very smart individual when it comes to this kind of thing .  br    br   when the four friends start to test model rockets  and blow a white picket fence to smithereens  then what seems to be a forest fire is scared by them  they  re forced to end their progresses .  br    br   the performances in this movie are absolutely riveting from start to finish . all of the actors give performances as if this is the real mumbo jumbo here . standing out in all of the glory laura dern as miss riley . this very well may be academy award material if the judges can remember back to the beginning of the year when this film is released .  br    br   the characters are also extremely well developed . not only to the filmmakers give clear  apparent reason why homer is interested in the subject  but they also explain to the audience how they are succeeding in their studding of rocketry . we clearly understand all of the characters  motives and beliefs  especially the father  who is bent over on everlasting tradition .  br    br   the film  unfortunately  loses some of its momentum at mid  point because of a silly  recycled romantic sub  plot involving homer  s love interest and how his brother stole her from him . this type of this is becoming so awfully common in high  school movies  not that this film is aimed at high  schoolers . the actors stare at each other mindlessly  like the are in a trance . i put up with it without complaining in      s  inventing the abbots   but i have had just about enough this .  br    br   but that is just a minor complaint . with an authentic looking time period  cinematography worth an oscar and clips of the real life homer and friends at the end  whom all hit it big with their dreams  especially homer  this is the first great film of     .  br    br    
supposedly a  social commentary  on racism and prison conditions in the rural south of the      s   nightmare  is full of bad southern stereotypes  complete with phoney accents . not only would it be offensive to the sensibilities of most american southerners  this tawdry piece of work comes off as just a thinly  disguised  babe in prison  movie   especially in its uncut original version . nevertheless  acting is generally above average and the late chuck connors  in particular  does a good job of making viewers hate him   even though he looks somewhat uncomfortable in several scenes . there  s also a change  of  pace role for the late robert reed  who appears as the lecherous warden  and tina louise  previously ginger of  gilligan  s island   made a rather believable sadistic prison guard . my grade d .  br    br    
suraj barjatya is best in movies on marriage . and here he is back to his basics on vivaah . as the story goes this is a story from engagement to marriage . a movie you can watch with your entire family around you . a movie you will hate watching alone . the story is simple  but the music is good  cinematography is excellent  direction is best  everything about the movie has a class of its own . there are a lot of scenes which will make you cry and am sure if you are watching the movie with your sweetheart  you both are definitely going to hold each others hand till the end of the movie .  br    br   shahid  amrita jodi has given us hit movies earlier like ishq vishq   shikhar . though shikhar was a good movie it wasn  t accepted well by the public . a truly shahid  amrita film .  
  stella   starring bette midler in the title role  is an unabashed tearjerker . set in upstate new york  stella claire works nights as a bar maid  pouring and dancing in a workingman  s saloon . one night  in comes a slumming medical intern  stephen dallas  who woos stella  and in the course of their affair impregnates her . she spurns both his offers of marriage and abortion  sends him packing to a lucrative medical career  and raises her daughter herself in near  poverty . flash  forward   years and the daughter has grown into a gorgeous  loving  young lady . dr . dallas is not out of the picture  still maintaining a tenuous  but caring relationship with his daughter and . . i  m rambling  and worse yet  making the movie sound somewhat interesting . the acting and screenwriting are so over  the  top you  ll let out a groan in almost every scene . the chief offender is bette midler  but close behind is john goodman as her alcoholic buddy . each scene seems more contrived than the preceding right up to the finale  which is truly a hoot . taken as a dramatic piece  this film rates no more than grade d  but as camp  it scores an unintended b .  br    br    
this is a gem  a real piece of americana for all that this implies . if you are self programed to resist  life  afirming  stories  just stay away and leave the pleasure to the rest of us who still believe . and what makes the frosting on the cake truly delectable is that it is fact based on a real rags to riches story  no need to nit  pick what details were changed to make a compact story . chris cooper is one of the greatest living actors  and the complex  self  conflicted  bottom  line good at the core father he portrayed could only be pulled off successfully by someone with his skill and insight . the simple minded comments  refusing to accept a father who tries to lay down the law all the while sensing that he may possibly be off  track  expose the limitation of the commentator  not the writers or the acting . this is not for the cynical  or the simple minded .  
i saw this film in its entirety in the     s    s  yes it is gruesome  and could be the progenitor of the  faces of death  series popular in the   s    s . considering the state of so  called  driver education  these days  this one should be required viewing for everyone preparing to learn to drive . when you see violent death in all its gore  horror  you certainly  if you have any sensibility at all  get a truer perspective on the responsibilities required to drive safely  what one instant of thoughtlessness or inattentiveness at the wheel can do . i worked for bell telephone in the   s    s  and at one point was assigned to conduct a safety class . i found this film in the company library  showed it at the session  a number of people got physically sick and had to leave the room  incredibly  most of them later said  i never knew a car accident could be so terrible   this film  and another   red asphalt   is certainly reality in its most graphic form . i  ll never forget it  i only wish i could have found a copy when my children were attending  driver  s ed  in high school   
i was watching this when my wife called to inquire from the other room as to my choice of fare . my comment   i am watching my life    br    br   though younger  but only by  years or so  than the  rocket boys  i remember the absolute urgency with which sputnick was greeted by our administrators of education and how the whole science fair thing gained momentum and took me and others into the competitive whirlwind . my own tornado landed me in my own state  s science fair  in physics by     though our group was less successful in gaining the support of  for example  firefighters we approached for guidance and counsel until after a tragic event  our city went so far as to allow us to tour the nike missile site on chicago  s lakeshore .  br    br   this movie brought it all back for me and i will bet that it brought it all back for a bunch of us  ubernerds  of the late    s and early    s .  br    br   we are in a similar science brain drainage period now and really need this movie as a country . see it   
i was so excited when i discovered this was available  i couldn  t wait to see it . what a waste of energy  it  s kind of like that rarities cd by your favorite band you found in the back of the rack at your local music store . being a hard core fan you were certain that it was a valuable discovery . but once you heard it it became obvious why these dogs never made it onto a real album . this dvd is only recommended for  completionists  who must have everything lynch has done .  six men getting sick  is somewhat visually interesting but short and repetitive . it lacks the power of lynch  s later work  the grandmother  is quite simply an immature work . it  s tedious and looks like a student film . but it was the    s . . . it  s interesting only if you hope to psychoanalyze the director . but you can see  briefly  the seeds of some of his trademark images and sounds .  the alpahabet  is forgettable  no really  i can  t remember this one at all    the amputee  is pointless .  the cowboy and the frenchman  is just plain silly .  lumiere  is the only worthwhile one in the bunch . without dialog lynch tells a disturbing tale comparable with his best work . i had to watch this one several times . but it runs less than  minutes . hardly worth the trouble of renting or buying the dvd .  
this is a fine drama and a nice change of pace from today  s more hectic and loud films . it is another solid based  on  a  true store  which still means much of it could be made up for dramatic purposes . frankly  i don  t know but i liked the story .  br    br   the story is about a young man back in the fifties who gets interested in rocketry and wants to enter that field instead of working in the coal mines as everyone else  including his father  does in this west virginia town . the big problem is the conflict it causes between the boy and his father  which i think was overdone . i would like to have a little less tension between the two .  br    br   the young man  still a boy  is played by jake gyllenhaal  one of his first staring assignments  i think . he  s likable  as are his school buddies in here . it  s nice to see nice kids in a modern  day film . the two other key actors in the movie are chris cooper  the dad  and laura dern  the kid  s teacher who encourages him all the time .   br    br   the cinematography is decent the     s soundtrack is fun to hear . once again i wish there more of these kind of films made today .  
i respect the fact that this is a very popular show . however  in comparison with robert altman  s ingenious  hilarious  zany  and groundbreaking     movie classic  this show was probably destined to be less  than  mediocre . . . even if it did run for   years  that doesn  t necessarily make it any good . this show formed an all  too  integral part of my early childhood  it was on re  runs every night  and guess whose parents were watching it and laughing it up   but it  s one of the memories i don  t miss . and now that i actually have seen the movie  i can give this series an accurate critique . on its own  it  s not nearly   out of    bad . however  the characters on this show are nothing like those in the movie . some of them technically are the same  but they  re only similar in name . for instance  since when is alan alda anything like donald sutherland  his style of humor is totally different  as are his characterization and outlook . the new characters are not that great they just serve to make you miss the ones that they  re replacing . it  s the same with the new actors  including jamie farr  . the only thing that actually transfers to the series is radar  who  s still  even though played by the same actor  merely a pale imitation of the original . what else  oh  yeah . with a laugh track  it didn  t matter whether it was used in surgery scenes or not   it comes across as creepy  due to what  s going on in the other settings . and because it lasted nearly four times longer than the actual korean war  it takes viewers into this bizarre temporal rift that doesn  t work outside the world of cartoons . i  ve never liked this show  and i never will .  
  .  this movie was amazing  i watched it while i was in the town next to the one where he grew up  i went and saw the buildings that the story took place in . overall  i loved this movie  one of jake gyllenhaal  s best   also  my favorite parts were the science fair  and all the times with his father . they were so sad  it seemed . homer wanted to follow his dream and his dad didn  t seem to care one way or another . that tag line is true .  sometimes one dream is bright enough to light up the sky .   .  the way this movie was shot was impeccable  it was all so believable that it could have been recorded during the      s . dress was accurate and they had their slang down too . definitely recommend this movie   
simply  i found the tv show  mash  trite  preachy  oh ever so  politically correct   repetitious  pretentious and biggest sin of all  and that is   that it is  was  incredibly dull . you have alan alda as the main lead    star    who is so in love with himself and his cleverness  that it actually made me uncomfortable to even try and sit through an episode . the original series had both mclean stevson  and wayne rogers  whom i  ll happily admit had a certain panache and style to their character presentation . however  harry  henry  morgan  and mike farrell  both singularly and compositely together is like eating caviar and fresh oysters with wonder bread . loretta swit  which i also found dull  also to no fault of her own wasn  t a wonder to look at  and gary burghoff  who was good in the movie got tired looking and acting as the show wore on . seeing one show a year showed that to me . jamie farr was just low brow  comedy  and is not even worth really mentioning here at all . the reason i did not give it a  one  rating  which anyone reading this by now would be wondering  is that ratings of any sort is not only a subjective call  but a relative one . television  except for relatively few exceptions  is such crud . that relatively speaking  mash had some production quality   by television standards  of that era and today  and therefore it is deserved of a two . rob ritter  
  october sky  is a film that will steal your heart  fill your mind with vivid imagery  and lift your spirit . the tale of homer hickham and his dream of creating a rocket seem so simple at first  especially when the film is set in a mining town  where the future is as clear cut as the lumps of coal in the mine . but homer cannot follow in his father  s footsteps . with the encouragement of miss riley   a friendly teacher   members of his father  s staff  and his friends  homer attempts to make his dream a reality .  br    br   yet as in any true to life story  there are many stops along the way . director joe johnston lowers us into the coal mines  where we witness the chilling plight of miners stooped beneath a ceiling of rock . with lit helmets and bent posture  they resembled alien insectoids more than humans in the darkness . the hacking coughs of the miners and the blackened faces were a constant reminder of the danger the miners faced in their work .  br    br   contrasting the mine shaft  s lugubrious load are the images of homer and his friend  s rocket launches . underneath the blue bowl of sky  rockets are placed upon a pad and launched into the stratosphere . . . and nothing can match the scene when homer sees sputnik for the first time .  br    br   yet what makes the film so endearing is the relationship between the characters . homer  s father is a classic hardened man . . . but he has a soft side as well . we see that he does love his son  despite their many arguments . the love and support of miss riley is evident as well . best of all  the film is uncomfortable . it doesn  t tie everything up in a nice bow . it tears at you  lifts you up . it keeps an air of reality  which is important in a film like this .  br    br   this film can be considered a complete work . at first  i was disappointed that the film did not continue with homer  s life . i didn  t want it to end . then i realized . . . that  s what a good film does to a person . if it has done its job  you won  t want it to end . and  october sky  accomplishes just that .  
if you hate redneck accents  you  ll hate this movie . and to make it worse  you see patrick swayze  a has been trying to be a redneck . i really can  t stand redneck accents . i like billy bob thornton  he was good in slingblade  but he was annoying in this movie . and what kind of name is lonnie earl  how much more hickish can this movie get  the storyline was stupid . i  m usually not this judgemental of movies  but i couldn  t stand this movie . if you want a good billy bob thornton movie  go see slingblade .  br    br   my mom found this movie for   .   at wal mart . . . figures . . . i think i  ll wrap it up and give it to my grandma for christmas . it could just be that i can  t stand redneck accents usually  or that i can  t stand patrick swayze . maybe if patrick swayze wasn  t in it . i didn  t laugh once in the movie . i laugh at anything stupid usually . if they had shown someones fingers getting smashed  i might have laughed . people  s fingers getting smashed by accident always makes me laugh .  
this is an amazing movie and all of the actors and actresses and very good  even though some of the actors and actresses weren  t very popular in show business it seemed like they have been acting since they were  one year old  it was funny  gross and just all out a very good movie . in most parts i just didn  t know what was going to happen next  i was like i think this is going to happen  wait i think this is going to happen . all age groups will love this movie  in some parts i couldn  t stop laughing  it was so funny  but in some parts i was totally grossed out and i couldn  t believe what i was seeing  i am definitely going to see this movie again  it is one of those movies where it can  t get boring . every time you see it is so suspenseful . i definitely recommend seeing this movie    
being a fan of billy bob thornton  and the diversity of his skills  i noticed this movie listed  and was surprised i hadn  t heard of it .  br    br   i  d traveled more than usual during both the period it was being filmed in      and when it hit theaters more than      years later  that passage of time is the first clue all was not well with the production  .  br    br   now patrick swayze can  t act for sour apples  but thornton has more than enough ability to make  up for the difference between them . and charlize theron is someone whom it would be a pleasure to see  even if it showed her watching paint dry .  br    br   being curious  i checked this site  s production info . it made a whopping      per screen its opening weekend  and just over     each  after its month  s theater run in latter     . overall gross was     k  which i  d doubt could cover cast and crew  s hotel and food for a week on location .  br    br   the story is pretty benign  and even the use of the usually interesting locale of reno is as dull as the rest of the goings  on .  br    br   it  s something like several snl bits all pieced together  none individually too great at all  and the overall presentation even worse .  br    br   whatever  the expenses for this production had to be considerable  even if all worked for less than their usual fees  so the one thing which made it a barely tolerable opus was the quality of the filming and billy bob  s present  albeit understandably somewhat laconic here  compared with his usual work .  br    br   think of the three superb  totally diverse characters he portrayed in  sling blade    bandits  and  bad santa   and you know he realized this work was below standard  long before the viewers had the opportunity to confirm this . one star for him  even here  and one because production was better than  say  the typical  lifetime  flick .  
so we compromised . this was a fairly charming film  i liked the art direction  it felt far more  real  than most kids movies   and the costumes weren  t too cutesy . the child actors were not bad to watch  the adult performances trended toward cheesy  . it was great that they showed how a bullied kid bullies others as well as kids standing up to bullying .  br    br   i don  t know how many grown ups would want to see this for themselves  but it  s a great film to take a kid to . and since  barnyard  was apparently attended by     kids at the same time  i  m really glad we picked the sparsely attended showing of  worms  instead .  
i  ve seen some crappy movies in my life  but this one must be among the very worst . definately bottom    material  imo  that is  .  br    br   we follow two couples  the dodds  billy bob thornton as lonnie earl and natasha richardson as darlene  and the kirkendalls  patrick swayze as roy and charlize theron as candy  in one car on a roadtrip to reno .  br    br   apparently  lonnie isn  t too happy with his sex  life  so he cheats on his wife with candy  who  s despirately trying to have a baby . roy  meanwhile  isn  t too sure if his sperm is ok so he  s getting it checked by a doctor .  br    br   now  i had read the back of the dvd  but my girlfriend didn  t  and she blurted out after about   minutes  oh yeah  she  s gonna end up pregnant but her husband can  t have any baby  s  . spot on  as this movie is soooo predictable . as well as boring . and annoying . meaningless . offensive . terrible .  br    br   an example of how much this movie stinks . the two couples set out in their big car towards nevada  when they are stopped by  police  officers  as they didn  t stop at a stop  sign . the guys know each other and finally bribe the two officers with a case of beer . not only is this scene pointless and not important  or even relevant  for the movie  it takes about  minutes  it  s just talk and talk and talk  without ever going somewhere .  br    br   i still have to puke thinking about the ending though . apparently  roy isn  t having problems down there so he is the father of the child . how many times does that happen in the movies . . . try something new  the cheated wife ultimately forgives her husband and best friend for having the affair and they all live happily ever after . yuck .  br    br   best scene of the movie is right at the end  with a couple of shots of the grand canyon . why couldn  t they just keep the camera on that for   minutes   br    br   one would expect more from this cast  although thornton really tries   but you can  t really blame them . writers  shame on you   br    br       .  
let  s keep it simple my two kids were glued to this movie . it has its flaws from an adult perspective  but buy some jelly  worms and just enjoy it .  br    br   and the pepsi girl was excellent   br    br   and kimberly williams was pretty gosh  darned hot  although she  s not in the film very much  so don  t get too excited there .  br    br   not that  s it  s really a bad thing  but it is the kind of movie you watch just once . don  t buy the dvd .  br    br   enjoy   br    br   did i mention kimberly williams   that was for the dads .   
  br    br   what an absolutely crappy film this is . how or why this movie was made and what the hell billy bob thornton and charlize theron were doing signing up for this mediocre waste of time is beyond me . strong advise for anyone sitting down to catch a flick do not waste your time on this  film  .  
i read the book in  th grade and now a few years later i saw the movie . there are a few differences  br    br    . billy was oringinally suppose to eat   worms in   days  not   worms in one day by     pm .  br    br    . billy is suppose to get   dollars after he  s eaten all the worms . in the movie after billy eats all the worms  joe has to go to school with worms in his pants .  br    br    . joe is suppose to fake some of the worms but in the movie  he doesn  t at all .  br    br   even though there are changes  this movie is still one that kids will enjoy .  
when this film plays on television you might want to save about   minutes of your time and change the channel . there  s nothing special here that you need to see . story is about two married couples from arkansas who go on a trip together to reno . couple number one is lonnie earl dodd  billy bob thornton  who is a car dealer and having problems with his marriage . his wife is darlene  natasha richardson  and she has a low self opinion of herself and they haven  t been intimate in a long time . lonnie has been sleeping with candy  charlize theron  who is the wife of his best friend roy kirkendall  patrick swayze  . they all drive to reno and the four of them stay in one luxurious suite . roy and candy have been trying to have a baby and finally candy discovers that she is pregnant . but roy phones his doctor in arkansas and finds out that he  s sterile . candy and lonnie admit their affair and now the whole trip is in chaos . this film is directed by jordan brady and he  s made a few other low budget films but this is his first with a cast this impressive . unfortunately brady doesn  t show much comedic flair but you can  t lay all the blame on him . this script is just not funny and one of the glaring problems is that the characters are all written down to a sitcom level . just because they  re all from the south doesn  t mean that they have to be naive and idiotic . thornton  s character doesn  t have the sophistication to tip the bellboy more than a dollar . and swayze  s character is called stupid and dumb by everyone throughout the film and one of the rare good moments comes when he asks everyone to lay off of him for at least one day . penelope cruz pops up as a prostitute and it  s a totally worthless and pointless cameo . she barely speaks more than  or  lines  i think she was fulfilling an obligation to harvey and bob weinstein who are executive producers for this film . the only person who actually isn  t to bad is richardson . we watch her become more confident in herself but this plotline in the film is very obvious and cliche . all of these actors should know better and it  s hard to figure that they all read the script and liked it . it  s a complete waste of time for these actors but at least they got paid . as for the viewers  your not getting paid so skip this one   
this is a good movie  a good family movie to watch if you have nothing else to do . if you are expecting this movie to be word to word from the book  you will be very very disappointed . i was somewhat disappointed because i read the book a few times when i was in elementary school .  br    br   this is about a new kid in town named billy . he makes a bet with the school bully and the bet is not like most bets . billy has to eat   worms in one day or the bully wins .  br    br   the acting is ok  probably the worst part of the movie . the kid actors over exaggerate on many things . they think it  s apocalypse if billy does not eat the worms . hallie eisenberg did a magnificent job  though .  br    br   the plot line is good as a movie  but it sucks as a book adaptation . i was able to watch this movie without looking at the time . . . . sometimes .  br    br   overall  this was a good family movie with some weak points . i rate this movie     .  
i  ll just be vague about my potential spoiling comments . there are enough canned plot elements in this movie that it  s essentially pre  spoiled .  br    br   this movie derives a few ideas from a southern classic  to kill a mockingbird . i suppose maybe tkom got its ideas from some source . . . . at any rate  after you watch this  you  ll say   oh yeah  that is a ripoff  .  br    br   i think the truly entertaining thing about these mcmovies is once you  ve identified a plot element  is to figure out whether they  ll stick with the original  or try to twist it around . not a lot of twists in this one .  
i had lost faith in sooraj r . barjatya after the movie main prem ki deewani hoon  then a year back now i saw promos for vivah which looked good . but i didn  t want to waste my hard earned money watching it in cinema . when the film first came out on dvd i rented it and watched and i loved the movie and took back my words for sooraj . i just finished watching it yesterday again and this time i thought i have to review this movie . sooraj r . barjatyagot it right this time  okay i was not a huge fan of hum app ke hai kaun . but i have always loved manie pyar kiya  after manie pyar kiya to me i think vivah is barjatyas best work . i hardly ever cry in a movie but this movie made me feel like crying . if you have ever been in love before then there will be many moments that will touch you in this movie  the movie is just too sweet and will have you falling in love with it  my view a much underrated movie .  br    br   the story of this movie you might call desi and very old times  but to me it seemed modern because the two couples which are getting an arrange marriage are aware it  s an old tradition . it  s done in present times  lots of people don  t believe in this arrange marriage  but i do . the journey between the engagement and wedding which will always be special and this movie shows it clearly . when prem meets poonam for the first time  they show it how it is and that  s reality and my parents where saying that  s how they got married and it showed it in a way which is so real yes people the way prem and poonam meet in this movie is how most marriages happen . it was a very sweet  you feel nervous yet excited  the song  do ajnabe  shows that very well . getting back to the story yes it  s a journey which you soon get glued to between prem and poonam  shahid kapoor and amrita rao  and there families . a twist occurs in this movie which is really good  the last   mins you all will be reaching for the tissue box .  br    br   what makes this film so amazing is the chemistry between prem and poonam  how they fall for each other is too sweet . simple boy and simple girl  when they first meet during and after the song  do anjane ajnabe  it  s very sweet to watch  she hardly says anything and prem does all the talking being honest with her about his past and the girl he liked and him smoking . then it leads on to them all having a family trip and then that  s when they really do fall for each other . it makes you just want to watch the couple and watch all the sweet moments they have . another factor is that poonam chichi is really mean to her and you feel sorry for poonam because she has been treated bad and makes you want to see her happy and when she finally finds happiness  you too start feeling happy with her the movie basically makes you fall in love with poonam more then just prem . when she finds happiness through prem you want her to stay happy and also hope nothing goes wrong because the character is shown as a sweet simple girl . which brings me to performances and amrita roa as poonam is amazing in the movie  her best work till date you will fall in love with this innocent character and root her on to find happiness . shahid kapoor as prem is amazing too  he is poonam support in the film  he is her happiness the movie  together they share an amazing chemistry and i have never seen a cuter couple since srk and kajol . if ishq vishk didn  t touch you to telling you how cute they are together this surely will .  mujhe haq hai  the song and before that is amazing chemistry they show . scenes which touched me was when prem takes poonam to his room and shows her that  s where they will be staying and he opens her up and they have a moment between them which is too sweet . again if you have ever been in love with someone that much these scenes you can defiantly connect to . the film is just the sweetest thing you will see ever .  br    br   the direction is spot on  to me a good movie is basically something that can pull me in and stop me believe for this hours what is being seen here is fake and there is a camera filing them . to me this film pulled me in and for those three hours i felt really connected to the movie . the songs you will only truly like when you have seen the movie as they are songs placed in the situation after i saw the movie i been playing the songs non stop  the music is amazing  the story is simply amazing too what more can i ask for   br    br   what i can finally say it  rarely do we get a movie that makes us feel good  this movie after you have seen it will make you feel really good and make you want to be a better person . its basically the sweetest journey ever  its basically showing you they journey between engagement and marriage and many people say it  s the bestest part of your lifewell this movie actually shows you way do people actually say that  why do people actually say that the journey is just that amazing  watch this movie and you will find out why the journey is amazing   
an unmarried woman named stella  bette midler  gets pregnant by a wealthy man  stephen collins  . he offers to marry her out of a sense of obligation but she turns him down flat and decides to raise the kid on her own . things go ok until the child named jenny  trini alvarado  becomes a teenager and things gradually  and predictably  become worse .  br    br   i  ve seen both the silent version and sound version of  stella dallas  . neither one affected me much  and i cry easily  but they were well  made if dated . trying to remake this in     was just a stupid idea . i guess midler had enough power after the incomprehensible success of  beaches  to get this made . this  predictably  bombed . the story is laughable and dated by today  s standards . even though midler and alvarado give good performances this film really drags and i was bored silly by the end . stephen collins and marsha mason  both good actors  don  t help in supporting roles . flimsy and dull . really   who thought this would work  see the     stanwyck version instead . i give this a  .  
saw this today with my  year old . i thought it was cute . i agree with the other poster that it wasn  t anything like the book that i can remember  but we still enjoyed it . all of the kids are pretty good and all in all pretty entertaining . billy is the new kid who accepts a dare by the school bully to eat   worms in a day . if he loses he has to walk down the hall at school with worms in his pants . the beginning of the movie is set up to show that billy has a very weak stomach and pukes at almost anything . hilarity ensues with a bunch of different way to cook the worms . good message about standing up to bullies and of course  a sappy happy ending .  
channel surfing and caught this on logo . it was one of those  i have to watch this because it  s so horribly bad  moments  like roadhouse without the joy . the writing is atrocious completely inane and the acting is throw  up  in  your  mouth bad .  br    br   there  s low budget and then there is the abyss which is where this epic should be tossed and never seen from again . i mean  the main characters go to a ski retreat in some rented house and the house is  well  ordinary which is no big deal  but they choose to show all the houseguests pouring over it like it was the sistine chapel . i  m sorry but watching  guys stare into every    x    boring room with a futon in it and gushing is lame . i guess they didn  t learn anything from the bad news bears in breaking training  see hotel room check scene  . . . wow a toilet    yaayyyyy     i don  t buy the its all over the top so anything goes routine . if it smells like . . . and it looks like . . . well  you know the rest .  br    br   avoid like the plague .  br    br   edit apparently other more close minded reviewers believe that since i disliked this movie  i am an  obvious hater  which i can only assume means i am phobic  which of course is not true . i decided to do this wacky  crazy thing and judge the movie based on the actual content of the film and not by its mere presence  i . e . its refreshing to see . . .   br    br   sure  it may be refreshing to see but that doesn  t equate into a great movie  just give them some better material to work with and tighter direction . in fact  i applaud the effort . frankly  i  d rather go listen to my kitchens of distinction catalogue than watch this again .  
i really liked the movie . i remember reading it several times as a kid and was glad to see a movie had been made about the book .  br    br   i was kid  sitting for a boy and a girl  ages   and  and had to talk the girl in to seeing the movie . but happily  at the end  she was glad she saw it and even said that she wanted to buy it on dvd as soon as it came out .  br    br   there were some great laugh  out  loud moments and the movie was not as  gross  as i expected it would be . . . tho it did rank pretty high up there on the gross  o  meter . . .  br    br   the only thing i cannot figure out is why they had to have the  dilly  line in there that was done by woody in reference to his private part . . . that to me was the only shocker moment  and you could hear the adults in the audience audibly gasp at that moment in the movie  . . . i have no clue why that was put in the movie it added nothing to the actual movie except for that shock  gasp factor . . . other than that  a pretty good movie . nice to see the  pepsi  girl all grown up .  
what can you say about this movie  it was not terrible  but it was not good  two days earlier i had watched lillies and that was one of the best gay films i have ever seen . so this was not the best time to watch a mediocre gay flick .  br    br   the story was silly and the acting was ok . it was not bad enough to turn off  but it had some bad moments and some terrible stereotyping . it was not very well cast either .  br    br   would i recommend this movie  no you would be wasting your time and money . i don  t understand why movies like these are made and who is funding them . spend your time watching noah  s arc on logo instead . i think this is where this movie was trying to go but never got there .  
it  s a weekend i  ve been watched this funny film . and i really like it . all the kids are cute  who remind me of my own childhood with those stupid thinking . it  s a real entertaining movie for a group of families at weekend night  which could make lots of memories and laughters . kid  s humor always work . nice acting as well . simple story but cool shooting . nice job for directer to find the kid  s way . when it comes to the kid movie  i think of    and holding  . another one this year but differed aspect to the kid  s world  which is real and cruel . awesome work . h  efw focuses on the happy side of childhood  which every kid and family need . p . s . twitch  i think  is the voice of nemo from  finding nemo  .  
this movie was different in that it didn  t show the typical gay stereotypes that i  m used to seeing . but that doesn  t change the fact that it totally lacks a storyline . i  m sure that there are many gay men who are just happy to see themselves depicted on screen  since black gay characters are seldom seen  and when they are the characters are usually not fully developed . but  how hard would it have been for the writer to actually script a story with a beginning  middle and end . or how about a story that was focused . there really doesn  t seem to be a point to this film  and even though it is a low budget film  that is still no excuse for the lack of story or plot .  
it  s a strange feeling to sit alone in a theater occupied by parents and their rollicking kids . i felt like instead of a movie ticket  i should have been given a nambla membership .  br    br   based upon thomas rockwell  s respected book  how to eat fried worms starts like any children  s story moving to a new town . the new kid  fifth grader billy forrester was once popular  but has to start anew . making friends is never easy  especially when the only prospect is poindexter adam . or erica  who at     feet  is a giant .  br    br   further complicating things is joe the bully . his freckled face and sleeveless shirts are daunting . he antagonizes kids with the death ring a crackerjack ring that is rumored to kill you if you  re punched with it . but not immediately . no  the death ring unleashes a poison that kills you in the eight grade .  br    br   joe and his axis of evil welcome billy by smuggling a handful of slimy worms into his thermos . once discovered  billy plays it cool  swearing that he eats worms all the time . then he throws them at joe  s face . ewww  to win them over  billy reluctantly bets that he can eat   worms . fried  boiled  marinated in hot sauce  squashed and spread on a peanut butter sandwich . each meal is dubbed an exotic name like the  radioactive slime delight   in which the kids finally live out their dream of microwaving a living organism .  br    br   if you  ve ever met me  you  ll know that i have an uncontrollably hearty laugh . i felt like a creep erupting at a toddler whining that his  dilly dick  hurts . but fried worms is wonderfully disgusting . like a g  rated farrelly brothers film  it is both vomitous and delightful .  br    br   writer  director bob dolman is also a savvy storyteller . to raise the stakes the worms must be consumed by  pm . in addition billy holds a dark secret he has an ultra  sensitive stomach .  br    br   dolman also has a keen sense of perspective . with such accuracy  he draws on children  s insecurities and tendency to exaggerate mundane dilemmas .  br    br   if you were to hyperbolize this movie the way kids do their quandaries  you will see that it is essentially about war . freedom  fighter and freedom  hater use pubescent boys as pawns in proxy wars  only to learn a valuable lesson in unity . international leaders can learn a thing or two about global peacekeeping from fried worms .  br    br   at the end of the film  i was comforted when two chaperoning mothers behind me  looked at each other with befuddlement and agreed   that was a great movie .  great  now i won  t have to register myself in any lawful databases .  
the fact that most of the budget for this presumably went on the heavy  duty cast list shouldn  t have mattered if it had been staged with flair and imagination and some sympathy for the original  s satirical intent . instead we get risibly bad song and dance sequences featuring picturesque beggars and whores  and the final alienation is accomplished by pulling back to reveal the action has taken place on a music  hall stage  appropriately enough for a production that  s more lionel  oliver  blair than brecht . the acting talent is shamefully misused migenes and walters are good but don  t have to try very hard migenes at least has a great voice and some feel for the material . julia looks perfect as mack  but struggles with the character  straitjacketed by a fake plummy accent . harris  s peachum is embarrassingly mannered and polly is atrocious . the adaptations of lyrics  script and music are often awkward it was a bad move to base the film on marc blitzstein  s bowdlerised broadway version  but at least his words were singable  unlike most of what  s been interpolated in gestures of faithfulness . and the attempt at overcoming the low budget by filming at claustrophobic angles on mist  shrouded sets lit in garish blues and oranges as if by some bargain  basement vittorio storaro fails utterly   the film just looks cheap  shoddy and thoughtlessly made . disgraceful .  
i sat with my children as we watched this film . we all found it to be a very entertaining movie .  br    br   when billy goes to a new school  a fifth grade bully starts stuff with him and this is what leads to the eating of worms .  br    br   a bet is made and billy has only so much time to eat   worms or else . from this point the bully and his friends try to come up with nasty ways to cook  fry or bake the worms to try and get billy sick so that he will lose the bet .  br    br   billy stays strong and eats his way into becoming liked more and more by everyone  even the bullies friends .  br    br   i wont tell you if he wins the bet or not . . . you will just need to watch it to find out but i will think that if you like good family movies you will like this one .  br    br   p . s . let me add that this movie is not just for boys  i have all daughters and they really liked it a lot .  
in fact  marc blitzstein  s off  broadway adaptation of  threepenny  was not so  bowdlerised  as is generally believed .  br    br    i have a special interest in  threepenny   my dad was part of the first full production in the us u of illlinois theatre guild did it around the end of ww  . hjitler had been so nearly successful in suppressing the play that they had to reconstruct the script and score from recordings in two different languages neither english  a german prompter  s script and similar sources .  blitzstein  s adaptation   not a  translation    which had the full approval of lotte lenya   was a lot closer to the original than generally believed .  br    br   the problem is that the version thereof that most people know is the mgm cast recording  recently available on polygram on cd   which includes beatrice arthur as lucy  the  big complete girl   and can  t i see her hands on hips and shoulders thrown back on that line   bea was a major babe in the    s  paul dooley and john astin  was heavily censored by mike curb  head of mgm records   i mean     i think it was   goddamn  s got cut to just  damn  .  br    br    at one time  mgm also offered a   lp set of the entire play  doubtless as heavily censored .   
watching the commercials for this movie  i was fairly convinced that i was going to loathe it . for one thing  it was one of those  loosely based on the novel  movies  which usually means that the book author saw the script  hated it  and refused to be associated with the film . worse  the trailer showed only the most mundane slapstick imaginable  ex kid gets squirted in the face with a garden hose . . . and falls over  . so when my little brother got it into his mind that this was the  must see  film of the season  of course  he thought the same thing about  cars    over the hedge    the ant bully    monster house   etc  etc   i was admittedly less than thrilled .  br    br   but once at the theater  the film won me over for a variety of reasons . first and foremost  the writers capture  kid dialogue  better than just about any other children  s film i  ve ever seen . a prime example of this comes directly after the boys  principal accidentally eats a worm stuck in an egg omelet . the boys do a lame  over  exaggerated impression of the principal lecturing them  which makes it realistic since all little kids think  mistakenly  that they do great mocking expressions of their adult tormentors . then one of the boys asks   why did he say   alley oop    another boy responds   maybe he  s crazy   and the entire group laughs uproariously . not an overly witty rejoinder  but exactly the kind of thing a young kid would come up with on the spot and exactly the type of remark other kids his age would find hilarious . as if to confirm it  my kid brother laughed right on cue when they were spoken on  screen i could practically hear his voice spouting the same exact lines if he was placed in a similar situation .  br    br   another reason the movie works is that the writers manage to work in issues like bullying  sibling relationships  the new kid in school  and peer pressure  conformity without making any of them seem as though they were subplots for some after school special . for example  the bully  joe  isn  t stereotypical he  s definitely bad but not pure evil  and just enough of his home  life is revealed that the audience feels sympathy for him and understands his bullying origins . there  s also no  cue the dramatic music  moment where billy   worm boy   realizes what a complete tool he  s being to his younger brother woody  and yet  by the end of the movie  some type of minor transformation has been made . there  s some realism here in the way the characters resolve situations and in the way they relate to each other  and very little of it comes across as corny .  br    br   the only drawback to the movie comes in the form of an absolutely laughable dance scene that even the creators of the infamous mcdonald  s dance party in  mac and me  would scoff at . why oh why was it put into the movie   did austin rogers  adam  pull a macaulay culkin and refuse to take the role unless he was given a vehicle to showcase his oh so impressive dancing skills  the entire sequence definitely did not need to be there and had slightly less comedic value than any given show on  the history channel  .  br    br   overall  though  this movie was excellent  and the length  about an hour and twenty minutes  was just about perfect . one of the best  most realistic live action kid films you  ll ever see if you  re ever around children or just remember what being a kid was actually like .  
about halfway through  i realized i didn  t care about these characters in the least however  i watched a bit more anyway . regrettably  i came back the next day and finished it . i shouldn  t have bothered .  br    br   if you know anything about the film beforehand  you know that the lead character will be a plane crash survivor  and the title gives you a pretty good idea of what  s gonna happen afterward  he  s gonna get on the phone and call people about it  that was almost as bad as  snakes on a plane   another bad aviation catastrophe flick  .  br    br   i realize this is an old film  and the acting style in those days was much less naturalistic than today . but even by those standards  the acting was embarrassing . these weren  t characters  they were stereotypes . i suspect this movie was  more than anything  an attempt by bette davis to help her husband  s  gary merrill  career . to no avail however  i have seen oak trees display more genuine emotion than he did .  br    br   davis  playing the happy cripple  i . e .  a non  glamorous role  was probably looked on as an edgy and bold career move . it wasn  t . it was just boring . she was a kind of tiny tim in the film  making trask  merrill  s character  see the truth about love and forgiveness  although she was less winsome than tiny tim   calmly dispensing wisdom about life and relationships without a hint that her beloved husband had just died .  br    br   the final scene  where trask calls his wife back in iowa to reconcile  was so affected and over  acted on both ends of the phone line  i almost cringed . i had to remind myself that these people actually got paid for what they were doing in this film .  br    br   i noticed a lot of people seem to have enjoyed this movie . if you found it uplifting  that  s great . but frankly  i just found it bad . there are plenty of old movies from the golden age of hollywood that were far better written and acted .  
i was able to see this movie yesterday morning on a early viewing pass  br    br   i am a mom of  children  who range from   down to  . so i  m sure plenty of parents can relate to having to see many many  kids  movies . this was refreshing for me . i haven  t read this particular book  so i don  t know if it stayed true to the book or not . but it sure took the grossness factor to a high level . this is the story of the  new  kid in town and it just so happens that there are a group of boys who have formed a club of sorts and love to pick on kids . . . . sound familiar  haven  t we all suffered this one time or another . he has the little brother who he cant stand and parents that he is embarrassed about . what i enjoyed most of all was seeing how each character was totally different from another they all stood out . the bully  why do they always make the bully a red head  my daughter has red hair  and she is no bully  . . lol  is well a great bully  who finds himself being yelled at by his own big brother . it took twists and turns and well you fall in love with all of them and really find yourself routing for all the characters  even the parents  great connection between father and son . all around enjoyable  sweet  funny  gross etc . . . . . . take your kids    you will enjoy it as much as they do   
this centers on unironic notions of coming to grips with guilt .  br    br   merrill berates the distraught boy to stop his  whining  about rennie  s death . old  style real men in action  here .  br    br   the crashing model plane and car crash must have been impressive on the big screen .  br    br   the storytelling itself  despite the flashback sequences  plays it straight   all the narrators are trusted by us  regardless of the  truth  or  untruth  of the dialogue   so there  s no game with the viewer about narrative structure . this would become a rough template for future retellings  such as  fearless  .  br    br   so all we  re left with is individual performance  and at that level  it  s best for wynn  s bantering  a virtual one  man show .  
after being forced to sit through some real stinkers  racing stripes  shark boy and lava girl    i truly enjoyed watching  fried worms  . for once  i did not guess the ending  it was funny and entertaining and didn  t resort to a ton of gross  out humor  despite the title . my boys   and    both loved it too   oh and my   year old  boy  had a smile on his face the whole time . this is a family movie that is not just tolerable for the parents . the relationship with the little brother is so close to real life .  he is not stopping singing just to annoy me    also  the way the new kid tries to make friends and how those friendships actually form is right  on with the way kids behave . of course the parents have to act a little goofy   but my favorite scenes involved the dad getting used to his new job . have fun   
although i had some hopes for this film  particularly since i enjoy the acting of jason segel  freaks  geeks  undeclared  so much  i must say it was one of the worst films i  ve seen in recent memory  loser and dr t and the women are also on that list  .  br    br   yes  there were a couple of laugh out loud moments  although the movie could have been so much better . the premise was not bad  scam artists cheating their way through college meet their match when they  re discovered by someone with a proposition for them . the problem is that the characters were all so unlikable  that i didn  t care about any of them . the blackmailer  played by talented jason schwartzman  was such a psychopath that it wasn  t that funny to watch him  he wasn  t deranged in a particularly funny or charming way  he was just a crazy loser  who was actually rather dangerous and not fun to watch . the editing of the movie was hard to follow   it kept cutting between fantasy and reality and it was often unclear which was which . only two or three of the gang  s scams were really shown  you just had to take it on faith that they were indeed scam artists   showing their schemes would have made for a better movie . the so  called love story was absurd and unbelievable  in fact it was silly and poorly written and directed throughout . i could go on about the movie  s shortcomings  but you get the idea . not worth the   rental or the gas it takes to drive to and from the movie store to rent   
i thought the kids in the movie were great . i deal with kids in that age group  and i thought their behaviors were very believable . i did have a problem with the reference to the private parts made by the   year old . i didn  t think the comment was necessary and actually slightly lowered my opinion of the movie .  br    br   i think luke benward is up and coming star . i would like to see more of him on the big screen . i enjoyed his reactions to the situations that he found himself in . often kids in this age group do things without thinking through the consequences . almost all of the actors did this throughout the movie .  br    br   i also think the message of bullying needs to be examined more in movies with this age group . it is a major problem in schools today .  br    br   the ending was quite unexpected . billy  s thoughts on whether he won or didn  t win the bet were very surprising . how he handled that situation was excellent . too often today kids are not willing to compromise . the actors in this movie showed that compromise is an important part of life .  
nominated for the oscar  worst script ever  in my opinion . there  s no decent story  rediculous acting  very lousy humor . by every means possible  if you have little self respect please don  t waste your time seeing this movie . although u can see the actors can act  it leaves you dumber after watching it . precious braincells are being killed watching this crap . . .  br    br   i warned u  br    br   don  t see this movie  
if you like films about school bullies  brave children  hilarious toddlers and worm eating  then how to eat fried worms will appeal to you .  br    br   the film is about a boy named billy  who when arriving on his first day at a new school  discovers that some of his classmates have played a prank on him by putting worms into his lunch . the school bully  joe and his  team  of friends start teasing billy and calling him  worm boy  .  br    br   billy decides to play along by saying that  he eats worms all the time  . joe and his friends don  t believe him but billy assures them and bets joe that he can eat ten worms in one day otherwise he will come to school with worms in his pants .  br    br   the boys take billy up on his bet  leaving the weak stomached child with a mission to gain respect from his classmates by eating worms cooked  fried  or alive .  br    br   the film may sound gross but there are a lot of messages in it . for one  it portrays true friendship and how to accept people for who they are . it also shows you why some bullies resort to bullying other children .  br    br   the film  s protagonist  billy is a strong minded and brave person who all of us can relate to . it is easy to empathize with him as we silently cheer for him to reach his goal  even though we might not always agree with what he  s doing or the choices he makes .  br    br   the children in the film are portrayed exactly how children are in real life and the film deserves a lot of credit for that . the child actors are the stars of this show  showing true emotion and feeling than most other children  s movies portray .  br    br   some adults may not enjoy this film but kids will  perhaps even teenagers .  br    br   there are hardly any other good movies on circuit at the moment  so if you  re not in the mood to see snakes on a plane  try worms on a plate in how to eat fried worms . it is a feel good fun film and not just fear factor for kids .  
  david h . steinberg   s script seemed initially having some real smart points that could  ve made good romantic comedy  but but but  oh dear  what did ever happen in the way         br    br   i  ll tell you what happened . originally it  s  animal house       and  porky  s       . although that was long time ago  but those are the pioneers  the godfathers of the new genre  the crude teen comedy . then the     s came . after important instances that became smash hits  repulsive ones am i add  such as  problem child         dumb and dumber         the nutty professor        and  there  s something about mary       which i think slackers is affected by  there was the top of the era and the prophet of the next era  the one and only   american pie       which  s undoubtedly and incomparably a genre  s icon . after that i think every comedy of that kind got to be that highly filthy  cum laude nasty  to be admired by the youth otherwise it might be out of fashion   br    br   i believe that  slackers  had a smart plot first as a script  then its makers got to add some real big amount of  rudeness  filthiness  strangely shameless sex to be made  at those days  as easy as pie  like they had to fill every scene with freely elements such as  masturbation  oral sex  urination . . etc just to look a la  mode . they  re wholly unnecessary elements to the story but surely they are so necessary to make the profits  and to catch the latest vogue in making teen comedies . the problem is in how all of that has replaced already any possible comedy in it .  br    br   some of its moments looked literally horrible  and that as you see is the point . it  s all in  jason schwartzman   s looks and performance memorably disgusting to the utmost . so the ambition transformed from being that romantic comedy into making what wasn  t done before of pure skinning images . to be more like a horror where you  re asking all the time what nastier would happen   vomiting  farting  . . etc   these are the easiest combination to create a comedy nowadays .  br    br   though even if you hated it you  ve got to love something  mostly for being bold   for me it was only gina gershon cameo  s scene . anyhow they designed it as a whole to achieve being outrages  for  outrageousness  like an adolescent  s naughty dream . though the majority of it was near to anybody  s nightmare .  br    br   what made me sad is that this one at its core was a real potential work  and not another cheap  another stupid comedy as it eventually managed to be . remember well the details of stealing the exam  the first  minutes   so the movie  s main plot  weirdo trying to reach a girl by blackmailing cool guys  through the pattern of  boy loves girl  and girl loves another boy  because save that  it  s nothing but a candidly schlock . it dealt with its material the tacky way bunch of dirty college boys  who got nothing to do but making mawkish quip out of anything  would do . it ended up as being  and i  m sorry to say it  a smiling sht   br    br   at its end it said something  can you imagine   about how it  s the time and the place too for the impostor or the slack to win  totally like this comedy itself . it sounds good ending yet for totally another better movie which could assure my opinion about this one as smart one . . once  and it doesn  t need much to understand that this movie  s makers were the real slackers  maybe being stupid is a way to be smart in hollywood  but even if . . the final result here wasn  t at least witty by any sense of the word .  br    br   p . s  its scriptwriter  david h . steinberg   who wrote the story of  american pie   as well  has a main page at the imdb where you  ll find under the  additional details  his usual  plot keywords  which are  sex  vulgarity  crude humor  . . . they just forgot to write urineing while showering or baring   year old women   
vivah is in my book the best movie of      period   . in my book it is one of the best    movies ever made in bollywood . its sad that this movie doesn  t have that many reviews and isn  t having that much popularity .  br    br   vivah is once again a true achievement from a director who does it again . after hahk and maine pyar kiya sooraj has once again pulled off a brilliant one vivah .  br    br   this is the most simple and cute movies that i  ve seen this year . after seeing don  which was crap and later dhoom  which even beat don in that matter  i finally see a movie which is so close to my heart and my culture .  br    br   i don  t know why bollywood is moving away from the beautiful culture which we have and are making hollywood remake style crap movies like dhoom  and don .  br    br   the story is beautiful and relates much to the indian system of arranged marriage which i too would like to be a part of . our system which teaches us to obey elders  follow them and of course obey their thoughts is so brilliantly shown in this movie  . of course there isn  t any force in choosing your life partner and it should be a brief meeting between the couple and its up to them to decide as it is brilliantly shown in this movie .  br    br   coming back to the movie . . . . . vivah is a story of journey between the beautiful period of engagement and marriage . the phase where the guy meets the girl  . . . . both understand each other . . both try to assess if they could love each other for seven generations  as our system says  and the various which occur during marriages .  br    br   amrita rao is brilliant in the movie . . . . . . . shahid is ok . . . . . and alok nath and anupam kher are awesome   the songs are brilliant .  i especially like the hamari shaadi main hafte reh gye chaar and do anjaane ajnabi . . . . . .  br    br   overall a must see for anyone who still believes in the indian culture and tradition and i certainly do  .  br    br   go see this movie . . . . . . i just have to say one word . . . . . . .  br    br   bliss  .  
yes  this movie make me feel real horror  when i realized that i paid for it and spent more than  hour of my life trying to watch it . the bald guy just give me the impression of being a psycho  junkie actor and the girl is the worst actress i ever seen . believe me if you appreciate your time avoid this movie  i understand a movie requires money to be created and some movies do not have that money but that is no justification for a stupid plot and bad acting . i  m always supporting independent movies  when it deserves the support  but movies like this makes a bad name for this kind of movies . i  m still traumatized . i will not trust in any nice cover anymore .  
it started out slow after an excellent animated intro  as the director had a bunch of characters and school setting to develop . once the bet is on  though  the movie picks up the pace as it  s a race against time to see if a certain number of worms can be eaten by  pm . we had a good opportunity on the way home to discuss some things with our son bullies  helping others  mind over matter when you don  t want to do something .  br    br   of special note is the girl who played erica  erk   hallie kate eisenberg . the director kinda sneaks her in unexpectedly  and when she is on  screen she is captivating . she  s one of those  hey  she looks familiar  faces  and then i remembered that she was the little girl that pepsi featured about  years ago . she was also in  paulie   that movie about the parrot who tries to find his way home .  br    br   ms . eisenberg made many tv and movie appearances in        but then was not seen much for the next few years . she  s now   and is growing up to be a beautiful woman . her smile really warms up the screen . if she can get some more good roles she could have as good a career  or better   than haley joel osment  another three named kid actor  but hopefully without some of the problems that osment has been in lately .  br    br   anywhozitz  according to my  y . o . son  who just finished reading the story  the film did not seem to follow the book all that well  but was entertaining none the less . the ending of the film seemed like a big setup for some sequels  how to eat boiled slugs  escargot kid  s style    which might not be such a bad thing . it was nice to take the family to a movie and not have to worry about language  violence or sex scenes .  br    br   one other good aspect of the movie was the respect  fear engendered by the principal mr . burdock  boilerplate  . movies nowadays tend to show adult authority figures as buffoons . while he has one particular goofy scene  he ruled the school with a firm hand . it was also nice to see andrea martin getting some work .  
slackers is just another teen movie that  s not really worth watching . dave  devon sawa   sam  jason segel  and jeff  michael c . maronna  are about to graduate from holden university with honors in lying  cheating and scheming . the three roommates have proudly scammed their way through the last four years of college and now  during final exams  these big  men  on  campus are about to be busted by the most unlikely dude in school . the plot is very stupid and there  s no reason why to watch this unless your looking to shut off you brain for a little while . slackers is just a predictable teen flick that really adds nothing new to the genre . the comedy in slackers is either hit or miss but there  s no real true funny or original moment in the movie . its really just a collection of gags and some are actually pretty funny . though for every joke that works there  s at least eight more that don  t . the screenplay is full of penis and breast jokes that some high school and college students may enjoy . even if they do they probably won  t remember this film after awhile as its not a very memorable comedy . jason schwartzman plays the freaky ethan and after appearing in some good comedies he has stoop pretty low . jaime king and devon sawa are the other main stars but they do a rather poor job in this film . this is directed by dewey nicks and this is his first film so you can  t blame him too much . the funniest character was probably laura prepon though  she  s not in the movie very much . the film is very short at only   minutes long however  that may be too long for some people who don  t really like this type of humor . slackers isn  t the worst film of     but certainly is below average . when compared to other films in the genre there  s a lot better out there such as not another teen movie  american pie and its sequels  scary movie    etc . so unless you have seen most of them and you  re looking for something new then slackers might fit that bill but its better if you just watch something else . rating  .     a below average teen comedy that  s worth skipping .  
pre  adolescent humor is present in large quantities . the acting and story are wonderful if you can stomach the concept . those with weak constitutions will have some difficulty since the  worms  are realistic enough to cause churning of more than a few in the audience .  br    br   tom cavanagh and hallie kate eisenberg stole the spotlight  but the young ty panitz could get some serious time on screen over the next few years .  br    br   miss eisenberg has developed from a cute face into a strong young actress with charm and wonderful comic delivery .  br    br   the story does a spectacular job in dealing with bullying  friendship  and fairness . it creates an opportunity to discuss these topics in an open and frank manner while recalling some  gross  scene from the film .  
dave  devon sawa  and his friends sam  jason segel  and jeff  michael maronna  have scammed their way through college . when creepy ethan  jason schwartzman  discovers their secret  he blackmails them into helping him score with beautiful  good  hearted student angela  james king  .  br    br   stupid and incompetent  comedy   a lot more groan  inducing than laugh  inducing . movie tries appealing to its target audience with its disgusting gags  but none of them work . what  s more  it  s full of worthless  unappealing characters  and schwartzman  s character is so repulsive he  s a major turn  off . movie even tries using    s     s sexpot  actress mamie van doren in the movie  s most outrageous scene . yuck     br    br   further bringing it down are its utter predictability and the waste  yet again  of veteran comedic actor joe flaherty  s talent  when  s this guy going to stop accepting every role that comes along and do something worthwhile   br    br   all in all  the only thing i liked was james  a . k . a . jaime  king  who was very appealing  and deserved better .  br    br   this gets no more than one out of ten from me .  
i remembered this as being one of my favorite books as a child and had been wanting to read it to my  year old daughter for a while now . i knew the movie was coming out soon so we went to the library to get the book and they gave us preview passes for the next day  we rushed home and spent the afternoon reading the book so we could compare . wasn  t necessary . the only thing in common between the book and the movie is the main characters  first name  the fact that there is a bet  and a whole lot of worm eating . oh yeah  i almost forgot  the kid who cooks most of the worms likes to present his masterpieces with a french accent . how the kids know each other  the number of kids involved  how the bet came about  the number of worms that must be eaten  the time frame in which he has to eat the worms  how they are cooked  progression of friendships  climax scenes  etc .  nothing is the same . but somehow  it did not ruin the movie for me . the characters are all enjoyable  and the film did not leave me disappointed . word of caution for parents  there was one moment when you could hear the adults in the room collectively draw their breath and that was when billy  s little brother referred to his penis as a  dilly dick  . the embarrassing part came when my daughter proceeded to ask those sitting around us   does anybody know what a dilly dick is   lol . that and an occasional  shut up  is as foul mouthed as this film gets . my daughter thought she might get sick around worm  and   and was holding the empty nacho container just in case  but was fine by worm  . she and i both really enjoyed the film and had a wonderful time sharing the experience .  
this movie has no plot and no focus . yes  it  s supposed to be a slap  stick  stupid comedy  but the screen  writers have no idea what the movie was about . even the title doesn  t go along with the movie . it should have been called  cool ethan  or  cheaters never win  or something like that . the characters are not developed and no one cares what happens to them  the girl roommate character  from that    s show  was the only person worth watching . she was hilarious and stole every scene she was in . the others need to make sure that their own college diplomas are in the works since they  ll need a career other than acting .  
my wife and i took our   year old son to see this film and were absolutely delighted with the winsome fun of the film . it has extra appeal to boys and men who remember their childhood  but even women enjoy the film and especially hallie kate eisenberg  s refrain   boys are so weird .  it  s refreshing to see a film that unapologetically shows that boys and girls are indeed different in their emotional and social makeup . boys really do these kinds of strange things and usually survive to tell the story and scare their mothers silly  we enjoyed the film so much that my son and an   year old friend  myself and my daughters   year old boyfriend went to see the movie the next day for a guys day out . we had even more fun the second time around and everyone raved about it . it  s clean and delightfully acted by a pre  adolescent cast reminiscent of the tv classic  freaks and geeks  . we all feel it will become a sleeper hit not unlike the  freaks  geeks  which didn  t survive its first season but sold  out its dvd release . do see it especially if you have boys and you  ll find it stimulates conversation about fun and safety  girls will love it because of the opportunity it affords to say   boys are so weird   don  t miss it . . .  
this film looked promising but it was actually pretty bad . the premise was o . k  but the plot itself was terrible . the actors tried their best with limited material  but they could not rise above the mean spiritedness of this tacky college film . jason schwartzman was once again immensely irritating  even more so than in rushmore  the rest of the cast were quite non  eventful . scenes that should have been fun turned out to be off  putting  incredibly juvenile . tries to be a road trip  american pie but fails dismally on all levels . a total waste of everyone  s time .  
the show is really funny . nice theme . jokes and one liners are really good . with little extra tuning it can become a very popular show . but the only major negative point of this show is the cast . david spade does a great job as russell  megyn price does a good job . but who the hell did cast patrick warburton  oliver hudson and bianca kajlich .  br    br   technically russell and jeff are the main characters of the show  which make viewers wanna watch the show . russell is a playboy and jeff is a kind of frustrated family man  the relationship wiz . . . with an experience of all the problems a married couple face in a relationship .  br    br   patrick warburton  does a horrible job as jeff  he is not at all suited for the role . he is like a robot  literally there is no punch in his dialog delivery .  br    br   cast is really very important for viewers to like it . the bad acting certainly will take the show downhill . . .  
yet another venture into the realm of the teen  gross  out  comedy  set on a college campus featuring a nerd  s quest to coolness  and how he decides to blackmail a trio of popular jocks into making him get the girl . it  s all been done before  and it  s all been done in a far more satisfying manner . the gross  out humor that has made teen flicks like  american pie  and  dude  where  s my car  so popular is taken completely out of context in this installment  appearing so completely at random that the viewer can only frown and disapprove . the film is badly written  and the actors never succeed in making any of it even slightly bearable . i won  t even dignify this terrible picture by divulging  as it  s a waste of my time and yours . at best  slackers never manages to entertain or induce laughter  and at worst it is excruciatingly bad and at times completely unwatchable .  br    br   jason schwarzman  who impressed in his debut rushmore  humiliates himself by appearing in this picture and one wonders how a career can end up in the toilet so fast . please avoid  please avoid . save your money .  
i missed almost all of the first season  but when the other shows went to reruns  i started watching . i ended up buying the entire first season off itunes . this is now one of my favorite comedy shows . patrick warburton is the key . his dry sense of humor has me rolling all the time . david spade is funny  but sometimes a little russell goes a long way . i enjoy the other cast members more  but not saying he doesn  t add to the show  .  br    br   do yourself a favor . if you haven  t checked this one out  give it a try . if you can catch the episode where  jeff  goes to the sperm bank  you will see how good this show is .  br    br   i hope this series has a long run .  
the slackers as titled in this movie are three college friends dave  jeff and sam  devon sawa  michael maronna and jason segel respectively   who are about to graduate from university without sitting through an honest exam but making it end successfully . this continues until the very end when unlikeable but the most likable character of the movie nathan  schwartzman  figures out what they are up to . nathan starts blackmailing in order to make up with his dream girl as he cant pursue that in normal conditions . the only problem is when the trio starts to work on it  dave falls in love with the gorgeous and good hearted angela  james king  unfortunately  not a brilliant genre movie . schwartzman makes to watch the movie easy as his performance is brilliant . king  s performance is average  i think she was hired just to be around with her gorgeous look . the slackers is reminiscent of american pie with a different direction . jokes are as shallow as in american pie . but aren  t they all used  i think this movie is a warning to the filmmakers of the genre that they are running out of originality . overall  a few smiley moments but a horrible movie in terms of acting  except for schwartzman  and subject .  out of   
this would have to be one of the funniest tv sitcoms to come out of the states since the demise of  everybody loves raymond  . warburton is always hilarious  and in this complements the rest of the ensemble cast to perfection . david spade continues to tickle my funny bone enormously with his quite unique delivery of his lines . after having raved over the british series   coupling  i can see from just where the creators of  rules of engagement  got their original idea  but this is not intended as being a  brickbat   the absolutely brilliant dialogue and the way in which it is conveyed set this particular series completely apart . but it takes more than a competent cast to bring success to a new series  particularly in the very difficult field of comedy . having been a part of a professional tv comedy writing team for the best part of  years in australia  i can appreciate particularly  the role of director and the perceptional and creative talent of the camera crew . one of the few grievances i have with the series is the very obviously  canned  laughter . surely a live audience could have been used in the shooting of the series .  
this was surely the stupidest  crudest  most repulsive film i have seen in quite some time . i was tempted to turn off the vcr  but  as in the fascination watching a horrible car accident  i literally found it compulsively hateable in every conceivable way and slugged it out through to the end . i am by no means a prude who objects to the comedic portrayal of sexual antics on the screen . animal house  porky  s  there  s something about mary  both american pie movies  and even the notorious freddy got fingered i have found highly enjoyable on their own crude terms . mamie van doren  s breast  baring sponge bath is the most horrifying appearance by a naked geriatric since the shining . ineptly edited and shot  with incredibly annoying performances from devon sawa and jason schwartzman  the film ended  without the benefit of having made me giggle once . the only useful purpose for the film is as a textbook example of how not to make a gross out picture . oh  and it would also serve nicely as a lawn fertilizer .  
i really enjoyed the pilot  it was as amazing as i hoped it would be  if not better . patrick warburton was a riot  although at first i thought that i wouldn  t be able to stand his character . him and megyn price had little chemistry at all  but hopefully as the season goes on they  ll get more comfortable around each other . it must have been weird for megyn to go from being the star on her last show   grounded for life   to being a co  star .  br    br   bianca kajlich and oliver hudson seem really new to the whole sitcom scene  but i think in time they  ll get better . david spade  s character  to my surprise  wasn  t the whole focus of this pilot . the way he delivers his lines is so different from anyone else i  ve ever seen on tv  but i think that it is just his style . it works for him .  br    br   i think that couples  or even singles  will be able to relate to all the doubts and fights and being unsure about your decisions  that this show is about . all the situations that the characters are put in just feel like real life  not sugar  coated like most shows .  br    br   i hope for all the actors sakes that cbs gives them a chance . this show has the potential to be one of the best series  if just given the chance and time .  
if you enjoy films like american pie  road trip  van wilder avoid this cinematic refuse at all costs . it is an unamusing  mean  spirited  insipid waste of resources that should never have been discussed aloud much less actually recorded and sold to unsuspecting consumers . easily the worst film i have seen in the past   months mind  numbingly bad for the entire   minutes of it  s runtime . had it been much longer  i would not have been able to write this review without using profanity . consider yourself warned   
generally speaking  the plot was much better than i was expecting . the laugh track was a bit annoying at times and did tend to get in the way however  there were enough real chuckles in this episode to make up for it . my biggest surprise was finding some of the best lines and situations were not shown in the trailers . spade  in particular  was not presented in the best light in the earlier promotions  but his character comes across quite well in the pilot . there is is enough eye  candy to please almost anyone and all the regular characters seem up to the task ahead of them . now  if the writers can just live up to what they have begun .  
wouldn  t it be great if not another teen movie actually put an end to all of these stupid  pointless  i  m getting more sex than you are teen movies  in a perfect world  yes . yet this one is even worse . this one is not humiliating for the stars  it  s humiliating for the distributor . all of the jokes are basically college students exposing stuff that people probably have no interest in seeing  yet it  s  funny .  devon sawa  who was actually good in final destination  is just plain dull in this movie . it makes you wonder if it  s being bad on purpose . grade f  
this show will succeed because it appeals to all adults no matter where they are in their relationship . as a man married for   years  i empathize with patrick warburton  s character he loves his wife  but he assumes she knows that . i also enjoy his monotone delivery never gets too excited or too low . a nice ensemble of characters . this will be a nice addition to the monday night line  up .  br    br   i don  t know how david spade will be in his role . he is best enjoyed in small doses . he also seems a little old to still be trolling for women .  br    br   i enjoyed the pilot and i look forward to seeing how the series develops .  
what are people on here talking about  i must have seen a different movie than you guys . i was so bored that i walked out of the theater . what is up with this stuff . i only laughed once and not even that hard . whoever greenlit this movie should be taken out into the street and beaten . i usually always find something i like in a movie  but this is crazy .  slackers  makes  not another teen movie  look like a classic . it ranks up there with such trash as  body shots    con air   and  conspiracy theory  as one of the worst of all time . avoid at all costs  i thought the studio would be handing out money to people as they left the theater as a sign of their apologies  but to my dismay that wasn  t happening . looks like i will never see that money again or the two hours .  
this movie is a great attempt towards the revival of traditional indian values which are being replaced by western ones . its a joint family story showing all the ethics every person should follow while communicating with every single relative around . shahid kapoor gives a gr   performance as a desi about to tie knot with amrita rao who is also very desi and she also acts pretty well . . . the genre of the movie is the same as hahk and such movies deserve to be made in india for the revival of old traditional values . . . the movies doesn  t get   as it isn  t very good at music which counts a lot in every movie  besides this it is flawless . . . .  
i wrote a review of this movie further down after buying it on dvd and being sorely disapointed .  br    br   i tried watching it again after reading a few of the comments made since then . being a film student and making similar budgeted movies myself  ie no budget  shot on digi cam   i stand by my original comments . this is a no budget student project  and not a particularly good one   released on video  dvd to look like an award winning film  if you read the cover  . so deceving the public into thinking it  s something it  s not . i want my money back under the trades description act  complete rubbish   
maybe i need to have my head examined  but i thought this was a pretty good movie . the cg is not too bad . i have seen worse . the look of the creatures  and by creatures i mean the good and the bad snake  was pretty cool . the action scenes involving the snakes was really good  i thought . there are some lapses in logic at times  and the story doesn  t always make sense . but for a creature feature  there are a lot worse . a lot of the other creatures seemed lifted from other movies  so it  s not wholly original . i think the gist of the story is original though . there is a bit of similarity to godzilla  the big budget american version  which liked a lot . i didn  t like this movie as much  but i still say it was pretty good . i also liked the music . all in all  i think dragon wars is about a      
well  i just ordered this on my pay  per  view at home because i was bored and needed a laugh . i have to admit  i did chuckle a few times  but i don  t even remember what parts they were at . i don  t understand why this movie was made . it claims to be a comedy but seriousuly  i don  t find a singing penis  or a naked   year old woman very funny . this movie was trying to fit itself into the  gross  out  comedies of recent years such as american pie and road trip  but it just failed miserably . it was way to much gross  out then it was comedy . also  why on earth did cameron diaz attach her name to this movie     the only thing i liked about this movie was when dave and angela were in the pool . i thought it was sexy and enjoyable and well  done . besides that  avoid this movie .      
if you like sci  fi  monsters  and ancient legends  then you will love this movie    br    br   the special effects are by far the best i have seen since juarassic park hit the big screen years ago . while the acting may have been a little less than desirable  the story line and effects adequately compensated for it .  br    br   i wish now i had seen this at the movies on a theater screen instead of our   inch big screen tv .  br    br   if you like non  stop action  awesome visuals  and taste for myth and lore . . . . you have to see this movie    
there  s a lot of movies that have set release dates  only to get pulled from distribution due to a legal snafu of some kind  and then put in limbo for a long time . you can only wish a film as rotten as  slackers  remained in a coma for what it  s worth  which is miniscule . release dates were continually shifted around for this truly awful movie that is so much a bleep on the radar like it deserves . the premise kicks off under the guise of ethan  a creepy nerd with a scary obsession for the campus bombshell angela . ethan devilishly enlists the aid of david and his friends who have been scamming the school for their entire run with blackmail to help win angela . i don  t like to give spoilers out  but for a piece of crap like this i can make an exception . angela falls for david  ethan intentionally screws everything up  the good guys win . that  s what happens in a nutshell for another tired retread of the teen gross out genre . gross humor is funny  it always has been dating back to the days of the immortal classic  animal house   to the likes of contemporaries like  there  s something about mary  and  road trip  amongst dozens of others of which there are too many to mention . but when you use it as a plot point you can only get so far  case in point  ethan has an angela doll composed of her individual strands of hair of which he does god knows what with it . no one wants to take witness to watch ethan urinating in the shower while singing to himself . no one wants to watch a young man singing  she  ll be coming around the mountain  with a sock on his penis . but nothing can prepare you for the full visual assault of seeing    s bombshell mamie van doren bare her breasts at   years old . i don  t know if it  s the story  s lack of coherence  which cuts to scenes that make absolutely no sense . director dewey nicks was a former fashion photographer  and after reviewing this film  you can only wish he  ll go back to the profession . the worst thing you can do on any film  is to make it look like you  re having fun  because you detract from your objectives  just like  slackers  does  by burying it  s plot outline under a pile of gross out gags  pointless vignettes  and lack of construction . it  s like a bunch of college students got drunk  took one  s camcorder  and shot a bunch of random crap and compiled it together . if you want to see a teen gross out comedy that  s actually good  then i suggest  american pie  and  animal house   or  road trip   just something that  s entertaining  and not dreadfully bad like  slackers  . coincidentally cameron diaz makes a cameo in this film  just as she did in another bad film such as  the sweetest thing  where the story treats gross humor like another plot  instead of a device much like this disaster . . if you pass by  slackers  at your local video store  just keep on walking  and let it end up at the bottom of the shelf like it deserves .  
i have never seen such a movie before . i was on the edge of my seat and constantly laughing throughout the entire movie . i never thought such horrible acting existed it was all just too funny . the story behind the movie is decent but the movies scenes fail to portray them . i have never seen such a stupid movie in my life which is why it i think its worth watching . i give this movie   out of   for being the most pathetic movie ever created  this movie seems like it was solely created to become trash . i mean the scenes seem so fake and the actors act like  the camera is in front of them  . you will get a kick just watching how lame this movie is  me and my friend could not stop making jokes during the movie  the darthvader guy who tries to get the girl got ran over not once but twice and the second time he got ran over it sounded like he said sh   although he doesn  t speak english lol . if you watch this movie you will think to yourself that all those other movies you didn  t like you took for granted they are way better than this . this movie should be seen out of curiosity as well as what kind of movie defines lame . the evil serpent encountered the girl so many times it was ridiculous  the evil serpent just roared and roared and let her get away every time . the evil serpent had so many chances it was like god was trying to say hurry up and eat the girl how many miracles do you want . the transition between scenes leaves you wondering did i miss something  so many plot holes from scene to scene . i was laughing like crazy when they decided to  escape to mexico  to get away from the serpent . hmmmm hopping the border will save you from a serpent from korea  interesting . . . very interesting . . . . i guess hopping the border solves all problems . another scene that completely stupified me . . they met for the first time and had a romantic scene at the beach they kissed and didn  t even know each other . . . the scene was so clichd and the was no substance at least in other movies it might seem logical afterwhile but i mean they just met even though they are reincarnations there feelings were like they instantly loved each other instead of it rather developing . anyways this movie is worth watching for the sake of opening your eyes and seeing the light . bad hollywood movies will seem like heaven when compared to this . in the end its worth watching you wont get bored you will be occupied criticizing every moment  every scene in your head .  
this is the worst movie i have ever seen . i was deceived into thinking it might be good because a couple of my favorite actors are in it . now i want to punch jason schwartzman in the face for taking this role . i was physically ill after watching this film . i really don  t understand hollywood sometimes . there are so many people trying to break in that i  m sure you can skim off the top and get the very best . that way the worst movie you make is equivalent to ferris beullar instead of this sludge . the gags like the hair doll and blatantly ripping off jeans commercials added to the humorlessness of the film . glad i avoided this film and watched it on tv . this proves that you should avoid january releases at all cost .  
i enjoyed this movie and i had very low expectation due to all the negative reviews i read before going . i went because i was curious as to what all this fuss was about because some of the postings were so angry with this movie and with the koreans . oh and it  s from korea which has put out some of my favorite movies . i liked host but not my absolute favorite . some of my favorite sci  fi  fantasy movies so you can have a sense of my taste mirrormask  stardust  serenity  gattaca  willow  matrix  resident evil series  lotr  stargate  dark city .  br    br   it wasn  t confusing like everyone said and the monsters looked good and the battles great . there are some holes in the story but didn  t really matter . i sort of tune out stuff like that and stopped asking why long time ago when i see summer blockbusters . the korean legend was interesting  the reincarnation stuff was different  and i thought the main characters suspiciously dressed like korean actors in other shows . ethan  s  behr  hair looked so asian .  br    br   yes  it could be better and i hope in the future that korea  with its unusual quirky sense of life  intense emotions  and unexpected humor  can bring some diversity to the blockbuster genre . maybe a combination of host and dragon wars in the future   
it was so terrible . it wasn  t fun to watch at all . even the scene where the girl is using a vibrator  even that  s not fun to watch in this movie . i say again  the scene where a girl is masturbating with a vibrator is not even fun to watch . or maybe if that was the only part of the movie that you watched  just girl on couch using a vibrator . maybe they should have just released that one scene in theaters  maybe then the movie would be enjoyable on a certain level . my advice  fast forward to that point  watch it  rewind the movie  watch it again  rewind  repeat . maybe you could enjoy yourself for  hours that way . this movie ranks alongside i spit on your grave and doom generation in the category of worst movies that i have ever seen .  
yes  some people have said that this movie was a waste of money  but i  m the kind of die hard dragon  world  ending  holy crap action movie fan .  br    br   but if you take it from my stand point this movie had some of the best action sences were pretty dang good . but its that kind of movie that everything just fell tougher at the right time  or just about when evil was trumph something fell in to save them at the right time . though there were some funny lines and gangs throughout the movie which surprised me .  br    br   the  d graphics were pretty damn good . i mean for this kind of movie the  d effects were great     big battle that was shown in the trailers live up to whatever hype the movie had . the fight between good and evil at the end was  i have to to say could have been longer and slightly better  it was still pretty good .  br    br   now on to the parts that i think could have been better . the beginning was pretty good showing the parts that lead up to the big battles . i mean if you don  t really want to go see this movie in theaters then at least this is a dvder . . .  br    br   overall i loved the movie  but the plot just fell into place to fast and fit tougher just to well .  
this was the worst movie i have ever seen  molly  molly hall  could not act at all  she had no emotion it was all blah blah blah like she was reading out of a boring text book . the smart kid and the kid who loves food  there names weren  t worth remembering  were so annoying it drove me crazy . when ever the talked it was about some scientific thing or food . mollys dad didn  t show enough emotion about his daughter missing . the police officer and mollys dad said the same thing like four times . it was just horrible . everything was repeated way to much . beatrice should have had something bad happen to her for being so mean . i just wasted a moment in my life by watching this movie   
i see a lot of really negative posts by people who wrote in august  though the movie was not released in the us  at least  until the middle of september . maybe these are unhappy expats living in s . korea who saw it early . i am in the us and just saw it today . i thought the special effects were excellent  better than the trailer . the story was non  western  but i think we are all used to this from many other movies . it wasn  t at all hard to follow . the acting by the leads was weak  but other people were quite good . there was humor throughout  too . i rated it at  because i had a good time watching it  which is what i went for .  
one of the worst movies i  ve ever seen . acting was terrible  both for the kids and the adults . most to all characters showed no  little or not enough emotion . the lighting was terrible  and there were too many mess ups about the time of the day the film was shot  in the river scene where they just get their boat destroyed  there  s  shots the sheriff and dad in the evening on their boat  jillian and molly in the evening swimming  the rest of the kids in the daytime when it  s supposed to in the evening at the river bank  and the doctor  beatrice  and simonton at night but not in the evening getting off their boat .  the best acting in the movie was probably from the sheriff  cappy  although  there  s a slip of character when the pulse detector whatever that thing is when people die  it beeps shows cappy has died  he still moves while it can still be heard beeping  and while the nurse extra checks his pulse manually  then it shows the pulse again  and then he finally dies .  i guess it  s not going to be perfect  since it  s an independent movie  but it still could be better . not worth watching  honestly  even for kids . might as well watch something good  like the lion king or toy story if you  re going to see anything you  ll remember .  
if you are under   or above   and pretty intoxicated  you  ll enjoy d  war . if you are a seriously dedicated fan of all kinds of brainless action films  you  ll enjoy d  war . otherwise  don  t bother  i saw the movie today with my nephews and  of their friends . they really loved it and that made me feel good . after the movie was over  all the kids  my nephews and their friends  could not stop thanking me for taking them to the theater .  br    br   the cg is good . acting and directing are horrible . storyline is extremely simple . but  since the half of the audience was kids  they were screaming  shouting and cheering every time the dragons appeared on the screen . this made the viewing experience far more exciting than it should have been .  br    br   it  s a good movie to take your kids to  but except for the final battle sequence  d  war is disappointing . i give this film  out of   mainly because the kids loved it so much .  
i was aware of rohmer  s admiration for the late works of the ones he considered like great cineasts  and that normal spectators generally considered as artistic failures  as renoir  s or chaplin  s very last movies  yes  the  politique des auteurs  also has its dark side  . but with  les amours d  astre et de cladon   it  s as if rohmer himself wanted  for what may be his last movie  to perpetuate this tradition of great directors  who made a last senile movie  by adapting urf  s  l  astre   with ridiculous aesthetic codes  witch just look like a parody of rosselini  s last movies  the ones he made for tv from descartes or marx  s lives  .  br    br   in his version of  perceval   rohmer refused to film real landscapes in order to give a re  transcription of what may have been a middle age classical representation of things . the director apparently changed his mind when the xvii century is involved  and films actors  dressed like      s peasants reciting their antic text surrounded by contemporary trees and landscapes . but the all thing looks even more ridiculous than luchini and its fake trees . it  s not that the story itself is stupid  but the way rohmer mixes naturalism with artifices seems so childish and amateurism that it rapidly becomes involuntarily funny  and i  m not even talking about the irritating pronunciation of the actors  the annoying and sad humorist tries by rodolphe pauly  the ridiculous soft  erotic tone  the poor musical tentatives  or the strange fascination for trasvestisment   .  br    br   the radical aesthetic of the film ultimately makes it looks like a joke  which mixes a soft  erotic movie made for tv with theological scholastic discussions  sic   . at the beginning of the movie  rohmer teaches us that the original french region of the story is now disfigured by modernity  and that  s why he had to film  l  astre  in other parts of the country . however  i  m sure the movie would have look more modern and interesting  if rohmer would have actually still filmed the same story in a modern area with same narrative codes and artistically decisions . this film may interest a few historians  but most of the cinephiles may laugh at this last and sad rohmer  s movie .  
saxophonist ronnie bowers  dick powell  wins a studio contract and goes to hollywood . he stays at hollywwod hotel  of course  . at the same time big egotistical star mona marshall  lola lane  has a tantrum and refuses to attend the premiere of her new picture . in a panic the studio hires lookalike virginia  rosemary lane  to impersonate her and have bowers take her to the premiere not telling him it  s not marshall . naturally they fall in love . you can pretty much figure out the rest of the plot yourself .  br    br   the plot is old  to put it nicely  but powell and rosemary lane make a very likable pair and have beautiful singing voices . the score is good  highlighted by  hooray for hollywood   and director busby berkeley shows off his unique visuals in a really fun drive  in musical sequence  with edgar kennedy doing his patented slow burn  . also glenda farrell has a few funny bits as monas sister jonesie .  br    br   still the movie isn  t that good . the rest of the cast mugs ferociously and most of the humor is just not funny . lola lane especially is just lousy trying to play mona for comedy . also there is racism   a stereotypical black maid is played for laughs and there  s some truly appalling racist  humor  at one point . that  s probably what keeps this off tv most of the time . i realize it was accepted at the time but it comes across as revolting today .  br    br   all in all a so  so movie with some serious problems helped by a good cast and some great songs . i give it a  .  
canadians are too polite to boo but the audience at the toronto film festival left the theater muttering that they would rate this film  or  on their voting sheets . the premise is that a modern filmmaker is interpreting a   th century fable about the loves of shepherds and shepherdesses set in the distant past when druids were the spiritual leaders . working in three epochs presents many opportunities to introduce anachronisms including silly and impractical clothing and peculiar spiritual rites that involve really bad poetry . lovers are divided by jealousy and their rigid adherence to idiotic codes of conduct from which cross  dressing and assorted farcical situations arise . the film could have been hilarious as a monty python piece  which it too closely resembles  but rohmer  s effort falls very flat . the audience laughed at the sight jokes but otherwise bemoaned the slow pace . the ending comes all in a rush and is truly awful . this is a trivial film and a waste of your movie going time .  
when we talk hollywood hotel we could be talking about one of three things  the actual hotel  the radio program  and this film which was partially inspired by the first two . dick powell was the host of the hollywood hotel program on cbs radio network in which louella parsons dished out the weekly scoop on the stars .  br    br   powell and parsons debuted the hollywood hotel program in     so by     it had its fair share of the radio audience . powell hosted  sang  and kibitzed with louella and her movie star guests . with the power she had with her column  she was able to get the various stars to go on and plug their latest films for nothing .  br    br   then the american federation of radio artists stepped in and demanded she pay wages accordingly and they won the case . that ended the hollywood hotel program in     . of course both powell and louella went on to other radio venues . the whole story is covered in the tony thomas book  the films of dick powell .  br    br   but before the plug was pulled this film came out from powell  s home studio of warner brothers inspired by the radio program . powell plays a singer  saxophonist with the benny goodman band who gets signed to a hollywood contract . but when he gets out to hollywood he gets himself tangled up with an egotistical film star lola lane  her lookalike double real life sister rosemary lane  and a ham actor in alan mowbray .  br    br   when mowbray is called upon to sing in a civil war epic he  s making with lola lane  it  s powell  s voice they use . then mowbray develops a lina lamont problem when he  s asked to go on the hollywood hotel radio program  broadcast from the hollywood hotel . that  s got the studio in a tizzy . let  s say the problem isn  t solved the way it is singing in the rain  but powell  s manager ted healy proves to be resourceful .  br    br   richard whiting and johnny mercer provide a really nice score for the film . the big hit song comes right at the beginning as the benny goodman band with scat singing johnnie davis sing hollywood  s anthem  hooray for hollywood . my favorite however is powell and rosemary lane singing  i  m like a fish out of water . just listening to johnny mercer  s lyrics about ginger rogers running the brooklyn dodgers or sally rand without her fan  it  s a compendium of american popular culture in the thirties .  br    br   busby berkeley does the choreography here and while the film doesn  t have the soaring imaginary stuff that his earlier work with warner brothers has  the numbers are well staged . berkeley  s big moment is in a drive  in eatery where powell and healy have been forced to take jobs . the number starts with benny goodman broadcasting from the hollywood hotel doing let that be a lesson to you and then at the drive  in powell  lane and the entire place start joining in song to the exasperation of owner edgar kennedy . and you know what you can expect from edgar kennedy exasperation .  br    br   benny goodman gets to show why he was named the king of swing when the band with drummer gene krupa and xylophonist lionel hampton as part of his ensemble . that together with frances langford singing as well . and possibly the last surviving cast member of the group was a fellow who had a small bit as a radio announcer . he died in      but not before he became the   th president of the united states . ronald reagan always credited dick powell and pat o  brien as being the two guys on warner brothers who were the most helpful to an eager young player looking to make his mark .  br    br   hollywood hotel is one delightful and entertaining motion picture  dated  but charmingly so .  
it  s been said several times  not least by me  that watching an eric rohmer film is like watching paint dry it seems that monsieur rohmer resents this  he doesn  t deny it  but then how could he  he just resents it  so much so that his new movie  which may also be his last  inch allah  is set so far back in time that it  s like watching woad dry . those wonderful people who gave you the nouvelle vague  cahiers du cinema have already named it one of the best films of     so that should give you some idea . reality is not high on rohmer  s agenda so that in  th century france we have at one extreme a chteau that would not be out of place in the loire valley whilst the only other dwelling we see is a rude wooden hut . the story involves nymphs and shepherds and as he often does rohmer has cast it with unknowns who just happened to be passing so that the overall effect is that the annual class play at a school for special needs pupils was captured on film by accident . one is almost tempted to say  come back godard  all is forgiven  but even this woeful production can  t make me utter those words .  
  hollywood hotel  has relationships to many films like  ella cinders  and  merton of the movies  about someone winning a contest including a contract to make films in hollywood  only to find the road to stardom either paved with pitfalls or non  existent . in fact  as i was watching it tonight  on turner classic movies  i was considering whether or not the authors of the later musical classic  singing in the rain  may have taken some of their ideas from  hollywood hotel   most notably a temperamental leading lady star in a movie studio and a conclusion concerning one person singing a film score while another person got the credit by mouthing along on screen .  br    br    hollywood hotel  is a fascinating example of movie making in the     s . among the supporting players is louella parsons  playing herself  and  despite some negative comments i  ve seen  she has a very ingratiating personality on screen and a natural command of her lines  . she is not the only real person in the script . make  up specialist perc westmore briefly appears as himself to try to make one character resemble another .  br    br   this film also was one of the first in the career of young mr . ronald reagan  playing a radio interviewer at a movie premiere . reagan actually does quite nicely in his brief scenes  particularly when he realizes that nobody dick powell is about to take over the microphone when it should be used with more important people .  br    br   dick powell has won a hollywood contract in a contest  and is leaving his job as a saxophonist in benny goodman  s band . the beginning of this film  by the way  is quite impressive  as the band drives in a parade of trucks to give a proper goodbye to powell . they end up singing  hooray for hollywood  . the interesting thing about this wonderful number is that a lyric has been left out on purpose . throughout the johnny mercer lyrics are references to such hollywood as max factor the make  up king  rin tin tin  and even a hint of tarzan . but the original song lyric referred to looking like tyrone power . obviously jack warner and his brothers were not going to advertise the leading man of   th century fox  and the name donald duck was substituted . in any event the number showed the singers and instrumentalists of goodman  s orchestra at their best . so did a later five minute section of the film  where the band is rehearsing .  br    br   powell leaves the band and his girl friend  frances langford  and goes to hollywood  only to find he is a contract player  most likely for musicals involving saxophonists  . he is met by allen joslyn  the publicist of the studio  the owner is grant mitchell  . joslyn is not a bad fellow  but he is busy and he tends to slough off people unless it is necessary to speak to them . he parks powell at a room at the hollywood hotel  which is also where the studio  s temperamental star  lola lane  lives with her father  hugh herbert   her sister  mabel todd   and her sensible if cynical assistant  glenda farrell  . lane is like jean hagen in  singing in the rain   except her speaking voice is good . her version of  dan lockwood  is one  alexander dupre   alan mowbray  scene stealing with ease several times  . the only difference is that mowbray is not a nice guy like gene kelly was  and lane  when not wrapped up in her ego  is fully aware of it . having a fit on being by  passed for an out  of  the ordinary role she wanted  she refuses to attend the premiere of her latest film . joslyn finds a double for her  lola  s real life sister rosemary lane   and rosemary is made up to play the star at the premiere and the follow  up party . but she attends with powell  joslyn wanting someone who doesn  t know the real lola  . this leads to powell knocking down mowbray when the latter makes a pest of himself . but otherwise the evening is a success  and when the two are together they start finding each other attractive .  br    br   the complications deal with lola coming back and slapping powell in the face  after mowbray complains he was attacked by powell   and his gang of hoodlums   . powell  s contract is bought out . working with photographer turned agent ted healey  actually not too bad in this film  he even tries to do a jolson imitation at one point   the two try to find work  ending up as employees at a hamburger stand run by bad tempered edgar kennedy  the number of broken dishes and singing customers in the restaurant give edgar plenty of time to do his slow burns with gusto  . eventually powell gets a  break  by being hired to be dupre  s singing voice in a rip  off of  gone with the wind  . this leads to the final section of the film  when rosemary lane  herbert  and healey help give powell his chance to show it  s his voice  not mowbrays .  br    br   it  s quite a cute and appealing film even now . the worst aspects are due to it  s time . several jokes concerning african  americans are no longer tolerable  while trying to photograph powell as he arrives in hollywood  healey accidentally photographs a porter  and mentions to joslyn to watch out  powell photographs too darkly  get the point   . also a bit with curt bois as a fashion designer for lola lane  who is  shall we say  too high strung is not very tolerable either . herbert  s  hoo  hoo  ing is a bit much  too much of the time  but it was really popular in     . and an incident where healey nearly gets into a brawl at the premiere  this was one of his last films  reminds people of the tragic  still mysterious end of the comedian in december     . but most of the film is quite good  and won  t disappoint the viewer in     .  
the movie has only one flaw  unfortunately this flaw damages all credibility of the piece .  br    br   it starts with the condemnation of the israeli occupation of disputed territories . it fails to address the reason israelis are there . egypt  syria  iraq and jordan attacked israel . this is why israel  occupys  their land  because those countries lost it in a war they started .  br    br   the film also claims that israel has defied the u n by not complying with resolution    . problem is     was rejected immediately upon it  s inception by . . . . . the palestinians  making it void .  br    br   many films are put together well  and can really show footage that changes minds  but remember  when watching anything  believe none of what you hear  and only half of what you see .  br    br   all participants in this film are known critics of israel  and some have made many antisemitic public comments  removing any possible credibility to their words .  br    br   all participants are in dire need of a actual history lesson taught objectively  not by some palestinian sympathizer .  
i can  t believe currently this movie is rated a  .  . anyway this movie was probably one of the most touching real indian movies i have ever seen . it was really refreshing to see a movie that showed traditional family cinema . as for the story i thought it was great it was about shahid kapur being set up on an arranged marriage with amrita rao . he is kind of a happy go lucky kind of guy  while amrita rao is a traditional indian girl who is very helpful to her uncle but the only problem is her cousin doesn  t seem to get as much attention as she does so her aunt dislikes amrita with a passion . this upsets amrita because she just wants her aunt to love her . it was also very touching to see that although amrita  s family wasn  t that rich maybe just middle class to lower class  while shahids family was quite upper class  they still treated their family with respect and didn  t even ask put them down which really struck a nerve with me . this is because i  ve actually seen people being very rude to people who are not as well of thinking their below their standards which i feel is very shallow . this movie showed that shahids family was willing to look at the great values that amrita had been brought up with and turned a blind eye to the fact she wasn  t a rich business tycoons daughter or anything . all in all this movie deserved an     i wish more and more of these kind of movies were made .  
after buying the dvd in a bargain bin due to the impressive amount of features listed on the cover  i popped it in the dvd player and everything looked good . nice animated menus and a whole lot of extra features . . . but when i played the movie itself  what a let down . it is the worst thing i have ever seen and i have seen some bad movies in my time . the comment that praises the movie here at imdb is actually from the people who made the film . so don  t believe it unless you like to waste your cash   
  hollywood hotel  is a fast  moving  exuberant  wonderfully entertaining musical comedy from warners which is sadly overlooked . it should be remembered if only for providing the official theme song of tinseltown    hooray for hollywood .  the score by richard whiting and johnny mercer has a number of other gems  however  including the charming  i  m like a fish out of water   and  silhouetted in the moonlight .  the best musical number is  let that be a lesson to you   in which dick powell and company detail the misadventures of people who found themselves  behind the eight  ball   a fate which literally befalls slow  burning edgar kennedy at the number  s end . the picture celebrates hollywood glamour and punctures it all at once  as it gets a lot of comic mileage out of pompous and ego  maniacal actors and duplicitous studio executives . the cast includes a gaggle of great character comedians   allyn joslyn as a crafty press agent  ted healy as dick powell  s would  be manager  fritz feld as an excitable restaurant patron  glenda farrell as mona marshall  s sarcastic gal friday  edgar kennedy as a put  upon drive  in manager  mabel todd as mona  s goofy sister  and hugh herbert as her even goofier dad . the  racist  element mentioned in another review here is a ten  second bit where herbert appears in black  face during a pseudo   gone with the wind  sequence . it  s in questionable taste  but it shouldn  t prevent you from seeing the other delights in this film  notably the benny goodman quartet  including teddy wilson and lionel hampton   in what i believe is the only footage available on this incredible jazz combo . the  dark eyes  sequence goes on a bit too long and comes in too late  but otherwise  hollywood hotel  is a gem  well worth your time and certainly a film which should be considered for dvd release .  
a propaganda film for the palestinian  cause  . if you were expecting an unbiased documentary on the israeli  palestinian conflict  you will need to look elsewhere . if you are an anti  semite  or merely an anti  zionist    nothing wrong with advocating the destruction of a country  right   or uncritically in support of palestinian goals  e . g .  mass murder  the destruction of israel   this is the documentary for you . should make for an entertaining evening on college campuses around the uk and us . however  any informed and intellectually honest person would be outraged at the sheer number of lies presented in this video . i just hope those who truly are unaware of the situation aren  t corrupted by this anti  semitic filth .  
a fabulous film . with everything you could want in a film . huge battle scenes and lots of other action . suspense  and a romantic love story .  br    br   kind of like an old swashbuckler film . totally entertaining from start to finish .  br    br   the editing was fast and you are never bored for a second . the story is like a classic story of trouble in the royal household . the actors are beautiful and the sets magnificent . the costumes are spectacular and the stunt work is imaginative . the special effects are amazing too .  br    br   gary stretch is really impressive as an actor and gorgeous to look at . he looks like a sure bet for super stardom .  br    br   john rhys  davies is wonderful as he usually is . he is one of the great actors of our time .  br    br   and cindy burbridge  ex miss thailand is excellent and perfect for the leading lady  even doing an english accent with remarkable success .  br    br   i found out that the film has won numerous awards  and i can see why .  br    br   all in all this is an amazing independent film . see it for sure .  br    br   i highly recommend it . and give it a ten      
seriously  i  ve read some of the reviews on this film  and i have to ask  were you people watching the same movie .  br    br   yes  i give the set directors a lot of credit for being able to recreate     vintage los angeles  but so what   br    br   none of the characters are likable  the story seems aimless  karen black is simply not a very good actress . donald sutherland is just icky .  and his character  homer simpson  makes me wish for the animated version . d  oh   then you had the creepy child actor  the creepier billy barty  and so on .  br    br   this is one of those films cinema buffs love and the rest of us look at each other and go   what the heck    
i think that this film adds to diversity and is very accurate in terms of historic reconstruction . the way it shows the various communities leaving together in thailand is very interesting . . . the portuguese  the japanese  and the various communities being managed by the king . the plots around the court are as usual a struggle for power with a lot of treason . the wardrobe is fine . the film is also done locally in thailand in a reasonable production . the scene with the elefant as executors is very interesting . it is fun and i think that is also usable in schools for its historic accuracy because it shows that the european in asia were subjects of the local kings in way very different from the traditional hollywood perspective .  
friz freleng  s  speedy gonzalez  was the second cartoon to feature the title character after robert mckimson  s  cat  tails for two  . in that cartoon  speedy has been an ugly little creature with a big gold tooth but by his second appearance the famous design had already been adopted . despite looking significantly more handsome  speedy never developed into much of a character . a big hat  tremendous speed and a bad mexican accent do not a classic character make and that  s pretty much all speedy ever had going for him . nevertheless  the cocky little mouse proved enormously popular and went on to star in many shorts including some truly abysmal films from the studio  s latter days . while these early speedy shorts are better than those later atrocities in which he was frequently  rather oddly  paired up with daffy duck  they still leave much to be desired  relying on predictable gags usually based around a similar chase formula . in this self  titled episode  speedy is recruited by some other mice to steal cheese for them from the local factory which happens to be guarded by sylvester the cat . although he brings the extra weight of a star turn to the cartoon  sylvester  s role here could just as easily been filled by any other generic cartoon cat . his personality is sapped by his being forced into the predictable . undemanding role of pursuer . this was always a problem in the tweety cartoons too but speedy makes an even duller adversary thanks to his detestable cockiness and the blatant impossibility of his capture . poor old sylvester would be forced to appear alongside speedy for many years to come . despite it following a pretty basic formula and featuring minimal laughs   speedy gonzalez  won an oscar and a thoroughly undeserving star was born .  
i am the parent of a special needs child and i enjoyed the the movie very much  it was loving  warm and fun . i learned a long time ago to see the humor in things . i especially thought it was sweet how all the other characters worried about frankie and who would take care of him after his grandmother died . i attended a focus screening of the film with other parents and siblings of special needs children before the film was edited . everyone enjoyed the film and it actually inspired wonderful discussions . we talked about how our kids make us laugh and we also talked about how we worry about them . the screenwriter talked about how she work with autistic children and other special needs children as a volunteer for several years . she based the character on a real person . our family is blessed with a sense of humor that has gotten us through some very stressful times . i give the movie two thumbs up     
i  ve seen this movie today for the first time and i never heard of it before  probably because of it  s poor message .  br    br   first of all  the directing itself is quite good  the actors played well and the cgi  i  m not a fan of cgi  is magnificent . but that alone doesn  t make a movie . no story at all  no message behind beautiful exploited talents .  br    br   or do i have to make people remember  the art of a director is not only your vision but to know how to tell a story . and this is what  s missing the whole  minutes .  br    br   there for a simple  rating .  
i saw this independent film when it was in philadelphia and it was a pleasant surprise . i left the theater with a smile on my face . one of the things that made it so funny was that it was based on a true story  hilarious  it has some great character actors in it too . mindy sterling is in it and is very good . i loved her in austin powers . howard hesseman is also terrific . i remember him from head of the class . i am tired of all the dark edgy movies that keep getting made . this is fun and light  and i can watch it with my family and not be embarrassed . i keep checking to see when it will come out on dvd . i will definitely buy it .  
okay  let me break it down for you guys . . . it  s horrible   br    br   if roger kumble did such a fancy job on the first cruel intentions then why did he do such a bad job on this . i  m sorry but this movie is stupid  true it may have improved if its series was ever aired but lets be realistic . . . this movie a crock  a lot of bad acting note the shower scene  kissing cousins        what kind of line is that   slipery when wet            can we say duh  m  this movie had effort  i  ll give you that  but it was too stupid  they even tried to make it funny by giving the house servants stupid accents which actually . . . . wasn  t funny  it was pathetic . not to mention that they made everyone in the this one look absolutely nothing like the original cast . it  s as if they made them look different on purpose or something  i like watching it when i  m really really really board which doesn  t happen occasionally . for those of you who did like it . . . okay  what were you thinking  could you possibly choose this movie over the other one which had great acting and the fabulous sarah michelle gellar  a movie is gold if it has sarah michelle gellar in it  duh  but this movie doesn  t  no offense amy adams . oh  yeah since when does sebastain have a heart      ugh   
a charming  funny film that gets a solid grade all around . i saw a screener of this film recently at work . it was so nice to see this film in contrast with all the crappy horror movies i see every day . so much so  that i figured i  d write in . not sure if this film is going to theaters  but i hope it does . its a nice film to see with friends  its a charmer  and has some funny jokes . the acting was terrific  especially howard hessman and larry dorf . the directing was pretty good  not a film that needed to be over  directed  . what really makes this film stand out i think is the writing . it was like neil simon  seinfeldish  and the banter between characters is smart and has a nice rhythm . as an aspiring screenwriter  i notice those things   i  m a dork  . anyway  a really cute film that i recommend .  
i don  t usually write a comment when there are so many others but this time i feel i have to . i have spoken of taste in another review  saying it  s all in the eye of the beholder but when it comes to this film  if you like it  it simply means you have bad taste .  br    br   i love films . i loved  isle of the dead  which is pretty much an unknown bw film . i even liked  scream  and  scary movie  i liked these films because they have  if not a lot  at least something good about them . i appreciate   .   of the films i  ve seen because they tell a story which i haven  t heard before  and most directors only make films with a good storyline . throughout this film i was thinking  where is this going    even near the end   where did they get these awful actors from    was that supposed to be a joke   and suchlike . with the obvious twist looming i was sceptical  but hoped it would perhaps  make  the film and prove i hadn  t wasted my time . i was sadly mistaken . the storyline was bad to begin with and the twist actually ruined any glimmer of hope there was . here  s a rundown storyline  much like the first film  which was alright  this one is slow and sparse with no audience relation to the characters or the situations . the situations are cringeworthy and shallow and completely boring and predictable . the twist was terrible  it didn  t make me feel a thing  like excitement or wow . just  my god .  there was nothing in the bulk of the film that you could look back to and think  oooo wasn  t that clever  because it wasn  t . in  fight club  there are flashbacks at the end showing bits where tyler  s true identity was cryptically shown  and when you watched it again you saw more  it really was a work of genius  how it was written  laid out and directed . this was a meaningless attempt at an awesome twist . i think it was  wild things  that had like a pretty poor double twist and i still liked the film because the rest was ok and it wasn  t trying too hard to be a big twist . its like the ci  writer thought it was gonna be the best twist ever . but really  its just a bad story with a bad twist dumped on the end . the film ended almost immediately afterward  with the whole film void by sebastian  s whole story build up meaning nothing and a horrible half forced  paedophilic ending with a particularly young and innocent acting girl . acting  the actors in this film are appalling . almost as bad a  sunset beach .   extremely corny and badly performed . it  s not even so bad it  s good like  hunk  . the worst acting i thought came from amy adams who played kathryn  it was a rigid  pathetic and badly thought out performance by her . robin dunne was also poor . i haven  t seen  american psycho ii  yet  but no doubt his laid back  cool  style has ruined that film also .  br    br   i can  t even say it is a good film for teens  as its not . if my son or daughter liked this film i  d be ashamed . but they wouldn  t anyway  as they would take into consideration all the things that make a good film  which this film has none of . really . i  m disappointed that some have said  you might not be in the age bracket for this film  and so dislike it  i like all the films now that i liked as a teen and had very good taste . also  do you really think that when you reach    you suddenly don  t like any teenish story lines  no . i liked  mean girls  and other generic teen films  and watch  beverly hills       all the time . there  s no excuse for poor directing  acting and screenplay i  m afraid . besides  i was      when i first watched it . if anything  being older just makes you a better judge of a terrible film . i can  t believe anyone can give it      either  one of my favourite films is  memento  and i gave it  as i know there can be better . it is a shame for this site that people do that  give   s flippantly  or don  t get the films  show  and so give it  .  br    br   anyone who liked this film really should vary their taste  and perhaps their lives  and with this realise that this is the worst film ever made .  worse than  loch ness    br    br   if you aren  t a teenager with bad taste  or simply don  t have bad taste you will absolutely hate this film .  
adorable  i saw domestic import in philly in october with my kids . we all liked it so much that we saw it a second time with my parents . i haven  t heard them laugh like that in years  it was the first time that i can remember seeing a movie that my parents and my kids could enjoy . it  s really cute and we can  t wait for it to come out on dvd . they need to make more movies like domestic import . it is refreshing to go to a movie that three different generations can enjoy  and not be embarrassed  . i have not seen a movie this cute since my big fat greek wedding . i loved mindy sterling as the mother . she was also in austin powers . howard hesseman is in this too and he is hilarious . i remember him from wkrp .  
i think this is probably one of the worst movies i  ve watched in a long time .  br    br   trying to get the  same characters  with different people is such a bad idea . if they couldn  t get sara michelle g . and ryan p . in this one  they should have just cut their losses and said to heck with it . instead they get new actors that are horrible at what they did . i seriously felt like i was at a high school or  bad  college play with the lever of acting these people put forth .  br    br   where do they get some of these people  was this their first movie  it sure seemed like it .  br    br   this movie also parallels the original in a few lines of speech . i had just got done watching the first one and popped   in . i was all excited to get to watch the second one and it ended up being the worst show i  ve seen in a while . i don  t hardly ever ever turn off a movie  but this one definitely went off after about      min .  
i gave this movie such a high mark because it was really cute  really funny  all while being unpretentious . i went to see this film when it was playing in the philly area  and it was the centerpiece of a great night out with friends . the film is well written and well acted  and though it does feel a bit like a sitcom rather then a movie  that doesn  t take away from the film . you just don  t find comedies like this anymore  where you don  t have to shock people to be funny . the film centers around a ukranian housekeeper that finds herself working for a young couple in need of help . though at first she helps  soon she adds more craziness to their lives then the couple bargained for . things get further and further out of control until . . . . you  ll have to see  the banter had me laughing  even after leaving the theater . this film just put me in a good mood . i can  t wait until it is released on dvd because i want this movie in my collection .  
who actually created this piece of crap this is the worst movie i have ever seen in my life it is such a waste of time and money . i hate it how they create low budget sequels featuring d  lister actors and a storyline so similar to the  st one .  br    br   i found this movie in the bargain bin sitting right next to wild things  and death to the supermodels for   .   what a fool i was to actually think that this could be good instead i watched in disgust as poor acting stereotypes ripped of the storyline and script from the  st one .  br    br   whoever thought that this straight  to  video production was actually even a half decent film you must be on crackd or something because i think what pretty much most of the people who  ve seen this film thinks what a load of crap      
domestic import was a great movie . i laughed the whole time . it was funny on so many levels from the crazy outfits to the hilarious situations . the acting was great . alla korot  larry dorf  howard hesseman  and all the others did an awesome job . because it is an independent film written by a first  time writer  it doesn  t have the clichs that are expected of other comedies  which was such a relief . it was a unique and interesting and you fall in love with the characters and the heart  warming story . i heard it was based on a true story  if so  then that is hilarious  and amazing   . i highly recommend this movie .  
there is a reason why certain films go straight to video and of course the obvious reason is that if its too naughty for theater audience then release straight to video . of course it really wouldn  t be fair to the films that are good and yet they are also released straight to video . this one is not an exception although the film has good actors or at least actors with potential amy adams  am oscar nominee and talented actress   robin dunne who deserves better or at least a better agent  and sarah thompson who deserves roles that are a departure from teen melodramas . the film is also misstated this film takes place before cruel intentions so therefore this film is actually a prequel and rather stupid one at that . this was a waste and its really a film that is in the same level as soft core porn and pay  per  view masturbation films . fortunately for the actors  hopefully they will be able to erase this from their resumes . so if you are looking to see something naughty  but don  t have the courage to buy porn then rent this film as a starter .  
a pure reality bytes film . fragile  beautiful and amazing first film of the director . represented spain on the berlinale     . some people has compared the grammar of the film with almodovar  s films . . . well  that shouldn  t be a problem . . .  
this review also contains a spoiler of the first movie   so if you haven  t seen either movie and want to but don  t want the spoilers  please don  t read this review   br    br   while this movie is supposed to be about christian and kathryn meeting for the first time  the movie is a poor copy of the first cruel intentions . the actors that they had portray ryan phillippe  s christian and sarah michelle gellar  s kathryn are very poor substitutes indeed . neither can pull off the smarmy  snooty rich  kid attitude that the original actors did . it  s absolutely appalling that some of the dialog was verbatim   not so much between christian and kathryn  but if you listen closely enough you  ll recognize it . there are also inconsistencies in the plot  if this were truly the first meeting of christian and kathryn  then why is it that christian fell in love with a girl at the end of the movie  he supposedly was supposed to be in love for the first time in the original movie  with reese witherspoon  s character  .  br    br   also  the tie  in with the photography   you could be a model  comment at the end was totally lame and didn  t add anything at all . overall  this movie was a waste of time . i can  t believe they made a cruel intentions  .  
i liked this movies . its a another yash raj film which you know will look good on screen  all character are always nice or very nice with one exception who you know will eventually covert to being nice . . . another rule of yash raj  s film is that either hero or heroines have only one or none parent . think back to all of those films . . mpk suman didn  t have mom  hmapk salman didn  t have parents  and final rule is that you are    likely to see alock nath crying . . .  br    br   the film is good too . its a bit slow at first but keeps you entertained . there is almost no comedy but it does make you smile often enough . the little kid  hero  s nephew  is well placed and deliver very good one liners . the actress is very pretty but shy you wouldn  t get that in real life . this film doesn  t have massively big happy families living in big house which i thou was a good idea and allowed the film to be differentiated from other films . there will be lots of women crying at the end of the film . there isn  t a strong message from this film but its a good watch . if you are married  arranged marriage  the film will remind you of what you went through . and if you are not it will inform and may be scare you . . .  br    br   overall a very good looking film . no big plots or twists but a very gentle film  very much like bollywood classic .  
dont ever ever ever consider watching this sorry excuse for a film . the way it is shot  lit  acted etc . just doesn  t make sense . it  s all so bad it is difficult to watch . loads of clips are repeated beyond boredom . there seems to be no  normal  person in the entire film and the existence of the  outside world  is  well  it just doesn  t exist . and why does that bald guy become invincible all of a sudden  this film is beyond stupidity . zero .  
yeah  the poster is quite a horrible piece of work .  br    br   i thought the movie was ok . . . nothing really outstanding . . . i just was hoping that he would be a hardcore druggie and totally trash his life .  br    br   ahh  but that can  t happen to rich kids now can it  not to the son of a wealthy businessman who holds big ballroom parties and has a nice manicured lawn on the front of the mini mansion .  br    br   no . . . the kid is too good to have his life totally trashed . after all  who will drive the brand new suv and who will go to law school   br    br   ah  the poor little rich kids . . . in their quaint pretty house  with their ivy league schools  ultra clean homes and socialite parties . . . what will the world do without them   br    br   i hope they all get addicted to drugs  pass  away their life and end up in jail . . . so maybe we can see movies that don  t all revolve around the poor little rich boys and girls of the surreal world .  
spoilers  br    br   i was very disappointed in love  s abiding joy . i had been waiting a really long time to see it and i finally got the chance when it re  aired thursday night on hallmark . i love the first three  love  movies but this one was nothing like i thought it was going to be . the whole movie was sad and depressing  there were way to many goofs  and the editing was very poor  to many scenes out of context . i also think the death of baby kathy happened way to soon and clarks appearance in the movie just didn  t seem to fit . it seemed like none of the actors really wanted to be there  they were all lacking emotion . there seemed to be no interaction between missie and willie at all .  br    br   i think the script writers should have went more by the book . it seems like every movie that  s been made so far just slips further and further away from janette oke  s writings . i mean in the movie they never mentioned a thing about the mine and the two boys or clark getting hurt because of it . and i think missie and willies reactions to kathy  s death could have been shown and heard rather than just heard .  br    br   out of the four movies that have been made so far i  d have to say that love  s abiding joy is my least favorite . i hope with the next four movies that more of the book is followed and if clarks character is in them i hope he  s got a bigger part and i hope his part isn  t so bland . i also hope there is more of scottie and cookie and maybe even marty but who knows what the script writers will have in store next .  
spanish films are into a  if not golden  definitely a silver age . pidras is another example of a movie that takes people and their conflicts seriously . although the feelings are strong or nearly at life or death  level  they still aren  t really melodramatic . this could happen .  br    br   there are different stories here  which become connected . one is about the retarded girl  who doesn  t dare to pass the street to the next block . one is about the middle  aged woman who finds the lover of her life in a foot fetischist . another is about the girl with drug problems who  s lover leaves her . still another one is about the madame of a brothel who  almost  finds true love .  br    br   definitely worth seeing . it  s in spain the moviemakers take women seriously .  
christ  oh christ . . . one watches stunned  incredulous  and possibly deranged  as this tawdry exercise in mirthless smut unfolds with all the wit and dexterity of a palsied galapagos tortoise . can such things be  does this movie actually exist  or was i the unwitting guinea pig of some shadowy international drugs company  sipping my coffee unaware that it had been spiked with a dangerous hallucinogen  i  ve seen a lot of films  and a lot of bad films  but nothing prepared me for this by the end of it i was a gibbering  snivelling wreck  tearing at the carpet with my teeth like a dog  clawing at the walls  howling till my lungs were sore . i pleaded desperately  frenziedly for mercy  to whom this appeal was made  i don  t know   and longed with burning desire for the soothing balm of ozu yasujiro . sweet weeping jesus  the memories . . . sometimes they come back to me . when i  m at my most vulnerable  when i  m least able to handle them . i shudder  i break down in tears  i bite my fingernails till my hands are slathered with blood  but i can  t quite banish the awful flashbacks from my mind . i  m haunted . i  m damaged . i  m a shell of a man .  br    br   the other user comments here suggest that i am not alone in having undergone this terrifying experience  which can only mean one of two things a  the film does  in fact  exist  or b  i am but one victim among legions of an international conspiracy of truly sinister proportions . what is quite mind  boggling is that some people seem to have enjoyed their ordeal  or at least have not been left traumatised by it . perhaps they  re part of the operation . god damn them  the maniacs  god damn them all to hell        
the movie begins a with mentally  challenged girl with bright yellow sneakers looking skyward on a madrid street corner and being spellbound by a passing plane . the movie examines the life of five womenadela  leire  maricarmen  anita  isabelwho have completely different lives and choices of shoes . their shoes is the first superficial  yet affixed with some glancing meaning  clue we get at their fragile identities . in a theatrically embroidered and embellished way  a podiatrist tries to esoterically reveal the deepest secrets of a woman  s souls by the sole of her feet . the premise is risky and slightly contrived  but the tone and depth of the movie takes a daring plunge for the good .  br    br   what may have been light  hearted and superficial  quickly switches gear with the a superb dysfunctional couple scene that leaves the viewer riveted for minutes  seeing the love or lack thereof  the pain  the confusion  the hope  the needs and escape mechanisms develop through minutes different rooms of the house and down to the street and eventually below . . . what a scene     but there will be others as effective to follow and strengthen the strong characterization and directing displayed in this slice of life affair .  br    br   moving along  a woman has lost the husband she loved and inherited his kids and his taxi  while another has completely lost her husband emotionally  sexually  intellectually  but not physically . a ghost  a pending divorce reproach  regret  remorse . a new love  can you love a mirage  can you love the person in the mirror  can you love someone you can  t love  or think you can  t love  can you love and live life even though it will always be somewhat hopeless  yet isn  t it exactly these hopes and dreams that keep us here grounded and in a spectrum of relative happiness  a lot of deep themes emerge and the final act brings people and ideas together to coalesce in an existential crisis with no clear cut solution  definitive decision or effective healing . maybe a elusive thought  a fleeting feeling  but a lasting appreciation of life and of the artistry and intellect of the film . live . live again . rewind the reel . unveil the real  the important the big stones  piedras  of life . the rest is just details .  
this movie was like  the disney channel after dark .  take out the  aren  t we naughty  language and themes and you are left with dialogue and plot devices that insult the intelligence of anyone who doesn  t describe  saved by the bell  as quality television . the dialogue so laughably cliched and knowingly dirty  one might think the screenplay was the product of locking aaron spelling and joe eszterhas in a room with orders to produce an amalgam of every bad script each had ever had a hand in creating . if that was roger kumble  s intention  mission accomplished .  
i saw this movie at the   th haifa film festival  and it is one of the best i  ve seen this year . seeing it on a big screen  and i mean big  not one of those tv screens most cinemas have  with an excellent sound system always enhance the cinematic experience  as the movie takes over your eyes and ears and sucks you into the story  into the picture .  br    br   the movie presents a set of characters  which are loosely inter  connected . their stories cross at certain points  and the multiplicity of story lines reminded me very much of the great robert altman and his exquisite films . but the true hero of the movie is obviously the city of madrid  which provides the backdrop for the entire movie . it houses the characters  contains the pavements and roads on which they walk  and sets the background atmosphere for all the events  all in beautifully filmed scenes .  br    br   the movie returns again and again to certain themes  shoes  for instance   and in essence salazar makes his metaphores more and more understandable to the viewer as the movie progresses . he combines the views of the city with the shots of the characters  and elegantly matches the feeling of the scene to the background . a set of talented actors helps him portrait a wide variety of characters . one excellent example is the scene in which juaquin takes anita across the street for the first time . it might not work on a small screen  but it gave me goose bumps easily on a big screen .  br    br   the message of the movie is very positive  and accordingly the movie is light and funny at times . the music along the movie is usually pop  with a few instrumental pieces  i hope to put my hand on the soundtrack one day  although i seriously doubt i will  .  br    br   all together  i came out of this movie with a sensational feeling  and i  m not easily impressed  you  ll have to take my word for it  . for this and more i give this movie a solid     .  
i was willing to go with the original  cruel intentions .  it went along with the plot and stayed true to the characters of one of my favorite stories . however  this movie was  in my opinion  a crummy rehash with essentially the same story line and no clear character choices . i didn  t honestly care what happened to any of them . the strongest part of the original story  les liasons  not ci  is the characters and their interactions  not the events themselves . i wasn  t clear until i read the imdb that this movie was meant to be a prequel  especially since the title includes a number     i expected a sequel  but then determined that it must be a companion piece . over all  i must say that this movie read  to me at least  like a soft porn version of les liasons . i was not impressed .  
in life  we first organize stones  piedras in spanish  such as a career  family  friendship  and love . in this way  we shall find space between these to fit smaller stones  our small necessities . if you act in an inverse way  you will not have enough room for larger stones . the five protagonists in this film are women who have not been able to organize the large  stones  in their lives . ramon salazar  a spanish motion picture director defines his first feature stones in this way . the film tells the parallel  conflicting trajectory of five women anita  monica cervera         isabel  angela molina         adela  antonia san juan         leire  najwa nimri         and maricarmen  vicky pena        . all are endeavoring to remove the stones that insistently appear in their path or  worst  that are in their shoes . they are five cinderellas in search of prince charming and a new chance in life . the best story of these five cinderellas is that of anita  monica cervera  who also stars in    centimeters    busco    crimen ferpecto    entre vivir y sonar    hongos   and  octavia .  sarge booker of tujunga  california  
alright normally i am not as harsh on sequels especially if the first film is done well and was ultimately a good movie . as for     i feel that one of the top five films was cruel intentions . it had everything a great movie should have except for an original story  being adapted from a novel it was still damn good . on to cruel intentions  which was supposed to actually just be the opener for a series based on the film called manchester prep . which must not have happened . actually after seeing this trifle of a film i can understand . before the thing started i was like at least the writer and director roger kumble did this one also . well  minute into this movie i was disappointed . it starts off with a rehash of the opening of the original with a different twist sebastian instead of putting the shrinks daughter  s naked picture on the net he puts the schools principals wife in the school directory naked . this would have been alright if the lady was not like   . and basically the rest of the movie is a wannabe carbon copy of the original . which i understand the if there is nothing wrong with it leave it the way it was . but you can not do that with a movie . this actually being a prequel i gave it a chance just to see how they turned out like they did in part  . but with sebastian being more or less just a prankster and kathryn being a herself and turning sebastian into the sexual predator he was in the real story  this movie had no foundation to it . whoever did the casting on this thing was way off . they could have at least tried to get people who looked like the original cast but no  they just hired a bunch of not even really good looking actors . i am using this term although i dont know why . they for sure didnt do any in this movie .  br    br   all this movie is a bunch of one liners that dont even match the wit that the original had  well some of them did but that was just because they were from part  . another bad point was in part one you could understand the need for them to act out for attention because there was no involvement from teir parents this one had them in it and they were poorly used  as if to show why the kids are like this . it didnt work though . the best thing though about the original was that the cast had chemistry they took you into this world . the on screen tension that was there made the film what it was . this thing really ruins the experience of the first one stay way from this .  
well i do disagreed with the other comment posted . piedras is much much better them magnolia or any of the other films that were mentioned .  br    br   specially about non real characters  i think that someone just wrote that only because he never lived in the spanish society like i did  and i  m not spanish   is a very real film with real characters  very well done by one of the best spanish actress antonia san juan .  br    br   about be a european film in contrast with an american film  well we different societies  personally i dislike american modern films a lot  i like the classics and some of the andy american films but they are very few  .  br    br   is a film about the continuous constitution of a person  liked or not we all make mistakes but some can learn about the mistakes .  
  br    br   when i first started watching this movie last night on cinemax  i was shocked that it had been made . cruel intentions  in my opinion  was one of the best teen  oriented films made in years . this prequel had certain things incongruent with the original .  sebastian  s father married into wealth  then why does he have a rich aunt on long island    br    br   then i found out today that it was not really intended to be a new movie  but rather a television series  manchester prep . after hearing that  it made sense to me that it wasn  t the same as the movie  just as buffy the vampire slayer is different in tv form .  br    br   i think that roger kumble most likely added the ending that this movie had  after the series wasn  t picked up by fox . it just seems like something that would happen too fast  sebastian becoming the male version of katharyn  and i just don  t know where they would go with the next episode  since it wouldn  t be leading to the     film  which the newer ending is directed right towards .   br    br   one thing i didn  t like was that it suggested sebastian and his father had married into the wealth  which isn  t typically looked good upon in this area of new york  and sine katharyn  s mother was just an adult version of her  it didn  t seem like something a woman in her position would do  marry a man not of her social class .  br    br   as a prequel this is fairly lame . but i would have been interested to see where this had gone as a series .  
women have never looked so attractive and pathetic as in salazar  s film piedras . although editor  s cut here and there might help the film  it is exciting and enjoyable with an intense mark from pedro almodovar  s latest films .  different women are coping with their male partners and families . beginning with several different stories bound to meet as the plot goes on  salazar portraits his women characters in the same neurotic and border  line behaviour familiar to almodovar . a kleptomaniac high society lady with a fattish to smaller shoes  a burlesque house madam taking care of her disabled daughter  a drug addict dancer obsessed with her former boyfriend and a taxi  driver taking care of her late husband  s disturbed kids  all roaming the streets of madrid in well designed scenes . using some of almodovar  s familiar actresses  the director succeeds in it  s first film to give depth to all the characters sharing the film  and to create genuine sympathy with each of them . the women controls the plot line  and the men are bound to be left with each other  eventually . . . surprisingly good for a first film  and worth the time in any standard . it is noticeable that salazar hesitated in some needed guidelines to the actresses  but an impressible act is shown anyway on the screen  especially by monica cervera  which played in his former short film .  br    br   a must to all almodovar  s fans  and enjoyable to all .  
what can i say about cruel intentions   well  i can say in all honesty  i will only watch this film again if i am fastened to a chair and have my eyes opened clockwork  orange  style .  br    br   the film  stars  robin dunne  no  i never heard of him either   whose awful impression of ryan phillipe made me cringe throughout . in a case of terrible casting  dunne attempts  and fails  to carry off playing a handsome charismatic  charmer . since the actor is not handsome  nor charismatic nor charming  the character is left wholly unbelievable . amy adams   she was in an episode of buffy one time   tries to pick up where sarah michelle gellar left off and bring scheming katherine to life . . . however  adams is not that good a an actress and her performance was flat and lacking in any real emotion  often she looked like she was reading cue cards just off camera . there were two good actors in the film however  barry flatman  saw   saw   and mimi rogers  mrs kensington in austion powers   made very good and entertaining performances as the parents of sebastian and katherine and are the only reason why i rated the film as a   not a  .  br    br   the film itself is a poor version of the original  with such lows as carbon copy  s of dialogue and mimicked scenes which lacked the originality of the previous film .  br    br   i think that as a tv show  it might have worked  but if it had been recasted with people who could actually act in the main parts .  
since i watched it for the first time   piedras  is a personal favorite and one of the few pictures i actually could watch over and over again . the great screenplay depicts the lives of a bunch of women  all of them somehow interconnected  with deep understanding and sensibility . ramn salazar achieved a compelling film in his directorial debut  and proves himself as an efficient actors  director .  br    br   not that all performances are excellent  though . of all leading ladies  they range from average  najwa nimri  to very good  vicky pea   but the standing ovation should be directed to newcomer mnica cervera  who convincingly plays antonia san juan  s retarded daughter . enrique alcides is irresistibly charming as the girl  s male nurse  and there are nice small turns from andrs gertrdix  geli albaladejo and the director himself  ramn salazar .  br    br    piedras  is beautifully written and filmed  when i watched it i got so moved that i couldn  t stop thinking of it for days . i highly recommend it .  
from the very opening scene you will notice just how hard they tried to mimic the very smart and powerful  cruel intentions   and how flat it landed . you  ll also notice what a terrible choice they made by casting robin dunne as valmont . . . then in the second scene  you meet the two best things in this movie  amy adams and mimi rogers as kathryn and her mother . that is  if you can get past the fact that kathryn wasn  t blonde in the first film . . . then the movie goes on  you see the cheap romantic story from miles ago  and you notice sebastian has already met an anette in the past  here called danielle  and a cecile  here called cherie . . . how original is that for a prequel . then it turns into a low budget  wild things  type of film with lots and lots of oh  my  twists  . as i mentioned  robin dunne was a very bad choice . not that he is a bad actor  he  s good . . he just doesn  t have the charisma ryan did . amy adams  who is in my opinion one of the most talented young actresses of our time  once again delivers . but with all the talent in the world  there is no way one could save this trash . as a whole  this  movie  feels like a  beverly hills        episode . the score has been stolen from  cruel intentions  and  jawbreaker  . . . yes  they used the score from jawbreaker . . . couldn  t they at least leave that one alone   you  ll want to pass this one . if you want more cruel intentions  watch stephen frears  dangerous liaisons .  
several story lines are interwoven here around different women characters . the shoes they wear serve as an indication of their troubled lives . all are transformed at the end of the movie . adela  antonia san juan  leads a brothel her daughter anita  monica cervera  is retarded and has a restricted life . leire  najwa nimri  is a shoe designer with problems and loses her boyfriend maricarmen  vicky pea  has lost her husband and now raises the children from his deceased former wife . isabel  ngela molina  is a bored rich lady .  br    br   other characters are used to connect the five main women characters . in storytelling not everything is given away in the beginning some connections are established surprisingly late in the movie and that adds to the experience . the shoe  theme is driven to extremes for example when leire as a shoe  designer and working in a shoe store where she steals her shoes faints  she breaks one of her heels .  br    br   in editing small connections are made between the scenes . a telephone rings  a cigarette is lit  a song  etc . are used to make the connection and fast cuts . frequent change of storyline keeps it from being boring or reaching tv  levels . it is strongly music  driven to set tone and atmosphere . the cities of madrid and lisbon serve as the backdrop for the stories  and shots of those cities are used to extend the story beyond the characters . one of the more moving shots is when anita  who makes the same walk every day  widens her walk and restricted life from the relative calm of her street to the busy main road how the restriction of space is visually translated is well done . as with most spanish movies a lot of storytelling is done visually  using the soap  like stories as the simple backdrop . there is a poetic ending that is somewhat romantic and sentimental but is still beautiful .  br    br   as ramn salazar is too much in love with his own material it is overlong . some scenes are kitsch and on the soap level  including the acting  adela  s love life  isabel  s doctor  . the shoe  theme is exaggerated and is a weak metaphor .  br    br   this is often compared to magnolia because the structure is the same . but they are different . magnolia is more technically competent  but somewhat mechanical . this has more the ability to translate emotion and atmosphere visually . after seeing this  you are inclined to immediately move to the new movie  city madrid .  
i was mad anyone made this movie . i was even more angry i lost valuable minutes of my life sitting still to watch this . i could have had a wax job and been more entertained . at least cherri makes me laugh before it hurts . i was a bit confused at first but then i caught on and realized what was going on . by this time the film was half way through  and yes i am a procrastinator but i always want to see things through until the end . so i stuck it out i watched it all . not only are the actors not as attractive as in cruel intentions  they just aren  t convincing . i  ve seen my nephew cry for attention more convincingly than the supposed lust portrayed on screen in this movie . if you like bad movies with bad acting watch this .  
a true story about a true revolution    of april  a revolution against a repressive regime of   years  that was imposing a colonial war on it  s military  s  for maintaining an empire  angola  mozambique  guine  bissau  cabo verde  s . tom e principe the first and the last of the great colonial empire  s of europe  of    years  since it  s beginning in the conquest of ceuta in      a revolution by the army for the people  and for a democratic portugal the most  s surprising fact in this revolution is that it were no people killed in it  except those that died in the hand  s of pide  the political police of the state  during a brutal gunfire against an unarmed crowd protesting in front of it  s headquarters in the day of the revolution  in   of april      has it show  s on the film  . and has all revolutions it has it  s heroes  one them of was captain salgueiro maia  a returned soldier from the war  whose convictions along with the rest of the army  was that they were fighting  since      a hopeless war  and that sometimes a soldier has to disobey it  s country .  
this so  called prequel is just a badly made remake to to a better version of dangerous liasons . the plots are identical as is most of the script . i loved the book its based off of  and i loved the first movie  but i  m not even going to bother with the  rd movie . the pointless banter between the two main characters in the prequel was completely predictable and unoriginal  and . . . i just can  t stress how bad the movie was . if you don  t want to take my word for it  just watch it  and you  ll see what i mean . if you  ve read a review that says that  if you likes the first one  you  ll like the second one  the only reason that is is because it is the exact same movie  although the plot is not even as good . they took so many lines from the first movie  its hard to tell which movie you  re watching .  
principally it is the story of two men who were part of the portuguese revolution . it was easy to understand the contest  but usually directors starts from a historical fact to speak about something else  or they shows also the period before or after this fact  here everything happen during that couple of days when the revolution acts . it could also be seen as a kind of documentary . the movie focalize to these two people  showing as normal they were  not like common heroes  because the revolution come from people . although it was made from military army from the title you can understand that they were just  capitaes  as the main characters . nice colors and lights during the whole movie  excellent work for the director being her first movie  she doesn  t fall to the banal way . well shown emotions and passion of people and crowd . the character of maia  main one  is well  made and there is also a good interpretation for stefano accorsi  able to show maia  s limits  this not  being an hero .  
the first cruel intentions  the original  is my favorite movie of all time . it was an absolute masterpiece . so how on earth could they make a sequel so downright bad . sarah michelle gellar was perfect in the first movie . in this one  amy adams sucks . she is terrible . and couldn  t they have found a chick who actually looked like sarah michelle gellar  at least the same hair color    i mean come on . robin dunn isn  t as bad as adams  but he is absolutely terrible when compared to ryan phillipe . the sebastian in the first film is devious  deceitful  and much more evil than the sebastian in the prequel . and what is up with the story line . it basically goes like this . . .  br    br     sebastian has a bad rep at his first school  so the movie says  although it mentions nothing about him and his dating life  and how he has been with girls   sebastian moves to new york  and just suddenly decides he  s going to turn himself around . he  falls in love  with danielle  might i remind you that in the original  sarah michelle giller says quote  you broke up with the first person you ever loved because i said to  so how can he have been in love in the prequel     . and he  s all nice and charming  and all  good person   as he turns down sex from the chick his dad was doing .  br    br     he does a complete     and ends up in a threesome at the end of the movie  and then seducing cherry .  br    br   i mean  its terrible . and i loved the first one so much . i haven  t even seen the third one yet . i hope to god its better than this prequel .  
it is nice to see suraj barjatya back at what he is best at . a story woven around a marriage . it feels nice to have a movie in which there is no single scene which you would avoid watching with your family . though the story is simple and does not contain any new elements  you still like the movie  because of the presentation  performances  and actually the over all treatment . hats off to suraj . . the movie is about the fact that engagement leads to love . the depiction of the changes in the way of thinking  behaving once you get engaged is excellent . director has definitely given it much thought and actors have done it to perfection . though the movie is slow  you don  t mind it  because you kind of get so much involved with the story that you just wanna continue watching the joy of this newly engaged couple . as a typical rajshree stuff it has many sentimental scenes which are highly likely to make viewer burst into tears  specially ladies  . but when you come out of the cinema hall you are very much satisfied and feel that the ticket was worth    .  
the story line was very straight forward and easy to follow and contained a lot of no  brainer comedy to a point where it just got boring . some of the audience seemed to find it funny but i like more intelligent humor .  br    br   there were several known swedish actors in the movie and their performance were decent considering the script . lena endre was good looking as always .  br    br   i don  t remember the original movie so i can  t say if it  s better or worse .  br    br   if you enjoy movies like sllskapsresan this movie might be worth taking a look at .  
you know  our spirit is based on that revolution  it  s asleep . . . i can explain  i think   well . . . until that happen on   th april      our freedom was limited  we didn  t had liberty of speech  but when we got it at the revolution  it seems that portuguese people lost his opinion  we don  t use our liberty of speech  that  s all a consequence of the revolution  i think that  s clear  . . . about the movie . . . i think that it has a few mistakes on some character  s acting  but by the way i use to watch on portuguese movies it  s quite good   i like it very much   
i watched this movie at   o clock in the morning  a time in the day where i am usually very open when it comes to movies . but still i think it wasn  t good  this movie wasn  t good at all . the reasons why are many .  br    br   the acting isn  t all that good  and time after time situations occurring in it reminded me of a poor    s chevy chase comedy . i mean  come on  like the handcuff situation  and the poker situation amongst the servants . . . this movie was so obviously based very much on the first one  and thats ok . but if i hadn  t seen the first one before seeing this  it would have sucked even worse . like the ending  it came very suddenly  and i felt like i got no closure what so ever . . . sebastian changed very suddenly  and this this movie seems like it was made solely to explain nr   and like no time or effort was used on making anything else good . the score is the same as in the first one  and it didn  t feel like a movie at all . . .  br    br   they should have handled the situations with more style and class  but they didn  t  and therefore  this movie turned out bad . . .  
  capites de abril  is a very good . the story isn  t a documentary about the     revolution in portugal . but it gives us an idea of how it was like . the fiction of the story isn  t of great interest  but it doesn  t spoil the movie . the heroic actions of captain salgueiro maia aren  t exaggerations and the film is also a tribute for his deeds . captain salgueiro maia remains one of the greatest heroes of the   th of april revolution .  br    br   all the actors are very good and even the smallest roles are played wonderfully . lisbon looks beautiful as ever . don  t miss it  i liked this film very much .  
cruel intentions  is bloody awful  i mean uber  bad . words can not explain how bad it is  but i  ll give it a go anyway .  br    br   the plot of cruel intentions  is very similar to the first film . sebastian  robin dunne   is kicked out of a private school and is forced to move to new york . there he decides to make a fresh start and just a life a normal life and settle down . unfortunately he has to deal with his step  sister kathryn  amy adams  wants to drag him down . sebastain starts to fall in love danielle  sarah thompson   the innocent daughter of the headmaster of the school . kathryn wants sebastain to just sleep around with the whole school which had been describe as a  whore  house  . kathryn also wants to get revenge with cherie  keri lynn pratt   who humiliated her during the school assembly . kathryn wanted to make the freshman into the biggest slut in the school  a similar sub  plot to the first film .  br    br   cruel intentions  is basically a cancelled tv  show  which was turned into a prequel . there are so many problems with the film . it is poorly written  unfunny  and badly acted . luckily for amy adams that the show never took off because now she is a fairly big actress . whilst cruel intentions had a sense of realism and can been seen to be set in the real world  cruel intentions  is set in sitcom land and as described on amazon . co . uk  a randy version of saved by the bell  . there were some dark themes involving sex and drug use in the first film  but in cruel intentions  tried to make it funny and some of the ideas in the film shouldn  t be  such as kathryn having an affair with a teacher . other ideas also don  t work such as the secret society where all the popular kids meet to discuss the downfall of other students . the film also had a major problem of sexualised       years  old . i know that teenagers do have sex  sometimes a lot  but when done on film or television  is treated very seriously . one famous sense was when daneille encourages cherie  who is around      in the film  to simulate sex on the back of a horse to the point where she has a orgasm . the idea of turning a girl around      into a slut is just very wrong with me  and shouldn  t be made into a subject of comedy . the jokes in the film fall flat  whether if it  s a verbal gag like  she goes all moist when she sees you  to a visual gag where sebastian pushes kathryn face first into mud .  br    br   there is a lot wrong with this film  which i don  t have time to go into  but i say it should be avoid . just watch cruel intentions  whilst not a classic  still is a decent film and treats the subject matter well .  br    br   this film is just a pervert  s wet dream  having school  kids having lots of sex with each other .  
being half  portuguese doesn  t render me half  blind  nor half  prejudiced  when discussing portuguese films . not that i get to do that very often anyway . but this film was such a rush of adrenaline  yes  that  s right  it was mostly accurate as far as history went  goes  but it pulled no punches on venturing beyond usual portuguese  film territory things like using real locations in the middle of traffic  congested lisbon and recruiting a real crowd to stand in for the real crowd of almost   years ago . and by god did they get it right  ok  to sum it up very emotional if you  ve lived through it  but you  ll spot minor improvements that could have been made as well as plot necessities that were . if you  re just watching it randomly  you  re in for a good historical romp  only of the very recent history kind and a bit more thought  proving than usual . even by european standards  yes .  
basically  cruel intentions  is cruel intentions   again  only poorly done . the story is exactly the same as the first one  even some of the lines   with only a few exceptions . the cast is more unknown  and definitely less talented . instead of being seductive and drawing me into watching it  i ended up feeling dirty because it compares to watching a soft  core porn . i  m not sure whether to blame some of the idiotic lines on the actors or the writers . . . and i always feel bad saying that  because i know how hard it is to do both . . . but it was basically a two  hour waste of my life . it literally amazes me that some movies get made  and this is no exception . . . i can  t believe they  d make a third one .  
probably the first portuguese film i have seen in my life  and i enjoyed it . the plot is related of how the young army officers took the power in portugal in      to finally defeat the fascist government of caetano and to also finalize the wars in the colonies  i . e . mozambique  angola  and guinea  bissau   cape vert . most of the events shown in the film reflect with exactitude the behavior of the army officers and soldiers to conduct the coup  of the oppressed people  who were very happy with this new development and the liberty  the resistance of caetano  s men  and also in a subtle way of most conservative officials  including spinola  who took over as the new president . the portuguese revolution can be remembered because of the action of several young officers  but for me the most interesting part of the film was when the young captain expressed that portugal should develop itself democratically  and this is what the country achieved some years after this coup or revolution . the film also shows that the army officers and soldiers never wanted to kill anyone even the most serious enemies were respected at the end .  
they had such potential for this movie and they completely fall flat . in the first cruel intentions  we are left wondering what motivated the lead characters to become the way they are and act the way they do . there is almost no character development whatsoever in this prequel . it  s actually a very sad story but this film did nothing for me . it was as if they left out good writing in place of unneeded f  words . and the end makes absolutely no sense and doesn  t explain anything . the writing was just terrible . another thing that bothered me was that they used at lease  of the exact same lines that were in the original . such as  down boy   or the kissing scene  and a few others i can  t remember . i was not impressed at all by robin  s acting  but amy did a great job . that  s about the only thing that reconciled this movie .  
considering the lack of art with in african cinema  or black american cinema  . the idea offers a multidimensional look at a community assigned to hoods and dealers . but the funny thing is this is not at all the focus or even the subject of the short . but it is the unstated assertion of independence from these themes that is most sticking . the genre is unique and not the typical expectation . it is almost this departure which first catches the eye  so watching it twice is critical . the film has an aesthetic quality which lends its self to the true art of cinema .  br    br   and it is this true art that with an african voice that is extremely rare . the film doesn  t copy to attain its message  it innovates and provokes by pulling at subtle stereotypes  not racial but character based stereotypes   from a writers perspective the film is brilliant . it carries multiply messages which include a very rapid character development . it must be remember this film is less than   minutes and it manages to establish character very quickly . the usage of colour texture and music is also to be commended . but considering the director  owen alik shahadah  s last venture    years later  music is to be expected . but from a theme point  of view it seems like the idea is a departure but the satire eludes indirectly to a social problembrilliant stuff   
because  cruel  would be the only word in existence to describe the intentions of these film makers . where do you even begin  in a spout of btchiness  i  m going to start with the awful acting of nearly everybody in this movie . scratch that . nearly does not belong in that sentence . i can  t think of even one character who was portrayed well . although  in all fairness  it would be nearly impossible to portray these zero dimensional characters in a successful way . still  the girl who played katherine  whose name i purposefully don  t include  i  m pretending she doesn  t exist  remains one of the worst actors i  ve ever seen  only eclipsed by the guy who played sebastian . the story was god awful . it attempted to mirror the brilliance that was the first one but failed in so many ways . pretty much every part of it was pointless  though i will admit  grudgingly  that the plot twist was quite good it its surprise . and the ending was at least slightly humorous . but this film is up there with the worst i  ve seen . don  t watch it . just don  t . there is absolutely no value in watching it . none . it only takes away the enjoyment of the first .  
the idea ia a very short film with a lot of information . interesting  entertaining and leaves the viewer wanting more . the producer has produced a short film of excellent quality that cannot be compared to any other short film that i have seen . i have rated this film at the highest possible rating . i also recommend that it is shown to office managers and business people in any establishment . what comes out of it is the fact that people with ideas are never listened to  their voice is never heard . it is a lesson to be learned by any office that wants to go forward . i hope that the produced will produce a second part to this  idea  . i look forward to viewing the sequence . once again congrats to halaqah media in producing a film of excellence and quality with a lesson in mind .  
if you ask me the first one was really better one . look at sarah m . g .  she is real  mean  cruel girl  look at amy adams she is just little fool hanging around . she is nothing  people don  t adore her  second  sebastian was cute and hot in first movie  now he is  baby face  . story is not that good  and i do not understand . why didn  t they make this one first  it is the beginning . loosy actors  nothing with story . this is not cruel  this is playing . first one has better actors  better story  and its mean . i think that the music is better in cruel intentions  and the music is better in cruel intentions  . it is not the worst movie i saw  but in compaer with first one its one big  big  big nothing .  
the idea is a very smart title the film has a serious tongue in cheek feel to it . but it is so subtle you don  t know how to read it  are these guys doing a full blown comedy or is there something else going on . the little dialogue the film has isn  t very delicate and this adds to the power of the film . if all the sound was switched off from the film it actually wouldn  t take anything away from the film . the physical actions or the art of showing is so strong that it on its own carries the entirety of the story .  br    br   i is a blessing and with the blessing the emotion is followed by shame . i first say this film as part of a  black  film festival . after watching the film i was so impressed by the work . but then i asked myself what next  where can someone else see this work  the common association of art without purpose isn  t to be found here . you can see the intention in the design from the start to the finish . the usage of african music the style the casting everything seems planned and for a reason . the character development is amazing . the casting i think is the strongest aspect of the film the characters are easily defined within  minutes of the  minutes of actual film .  br    br   we need to see more of these kinds of films  there really needs to be greater support for the development of short films across the board .  
there isn  t one decent scene .  br    br   amy adams gives one of the worst performances of all time . proof that you a can start anywhere . the guy playing sebastian sucks  too . he doesn  t even look much like ryan phillipe . more like joshua jackson . the two other girls are terrible  as well .  br    br   then the dialogue is also crap .  br    br   sebastian  about to have threesome   if you cant beat them . . .  br    br   virgin girl who says you can  t beat  em   br    br   lame .  br    br   the ending contradicts the entire plot of the original . in the first film  it is clearly stated that kathryn and sebastian never had sex . one of the reasons sebastian wanted kathryn so bad  aside from the fact that she  s played by sarah michelle gellar  was that she was  the only girl he couldn  t have and it killed him  . she was a tease who liked playing with him . the fact that she never gave it to him increased his wanting . then in this p . o . s .  it implies that he can have her  along with a girl on the side . what  and we don  t even see the sex  either . it  s implied  making it not only stupid  pointless  and contradictory  but worthless too .  br    br   and in the first one  kathryn rejects sebastian because he fell in love  making him a loser . even though he won the bet  that crumbled his chances . then in this excrement  he looses and falls in love . so she doesn  t screw  losers   only complete losers  another thing it  s stated that sebastian has never been in love  so what do you call the thing with virgin girl   br    br   then at the end  virgin girl is all of sudden revealed to be kathryn  s evil lesbian lover  dun dun dun  and  like i said  they go into a lame offscreen threesome . stupid .  br    br   there  s several other plot contradictions . did the writer even see the first film  a  year old can point his stuff out .  br    br   after the threesome  sebastian has sex with the blonde virgin  corrupting her innocent mind in the back of a limo while kathryn and virgin girl turned evil lesbian in lame sudden plot twist sit in the front  listen  and smile evilly into the camera .  br    br   the end . . .  br    br   seeing sebastian become the ass hole he was in the first one could have made an interesting film . i guess all it took to make little sebastian bad was a threesome with two hot girls . interesting .  
this film provides us with an interesting reminder of how easy it is for so many to get caught up in the busy occupation of doing nothing . we as a people of african descent owe it to ourselves to make a change to this cycle of  all talk and no action  and start to realise in order to make a change  there needs to be less talk and more action . it is a powerful statement of the divisions of our people over small issues  and our failings to recognise the bigger picture and the need to unite in order to make a difference . . . despite its reference to the black community  all viewers can learn something from the message this film seeks to portray .  
 . . . or maybe it just is this bad . the plot is a cheap rehash of the first  which is weird  since it  s supposed to be a prequel  not a sequel . pretty much the entire movie seems like a cheap remake of the first  with scenes mimicking the things that happened in the first  only a lot more ridiculous and unlikely . where the first had a great cast  this one consist of b  list actors and rejects . the acting is mostly horrendously bad . half of the good lines in the movie are taken directly from the first  as is nearly every major character  including the ones who weren  t in the first movie . i realize this was made up by a tv series pilot episode  but that  s no excuse . they didn  t have to turn the  bad  footage into a movie . only one thing is marginally good  and that  s the erotic sequences . however  as these are nowhere near as good as the ones in the first  even this isn  t raising it above a rating of  . if you have a chance to see it for free  and you  re a straight guy  it could be worth checking out  if you want something erotic that isn  t porn . if not  avoid at all costs .      
i saw this film with a special screening of the work of owen alik shahadah . it is so interesting where did this guy come from . now he is probably the key independent african filmmaker in the world . and i am not talking about black filmmakers i am talking about filmmakers who are rooted in culture . the idea if anything testifies to the diversity and range of african themes  with his film    years later it is a african issue . but the idea doesn  t fit that mold . showing the artistic diversity . the film is an all african cast but the topic is a human topic which most of us could relate to . i just love the mild comedy in it . and the kora of tunde jegede is just amazing  it is really a art  house gem .  
this is  quite literally  the worst movie i have ever watched in my life . it may be the worst movie possible . some movies are so bad that they  re good this movie is so bad that it goes past enjoyable camp and simply becomes unwatchably awful . it is the anti  enantiodromia . we bought it with the intent to heckle  and all of my family gathered around for a fun evening of clever remarks instead  we sat in stunned silence  pitying poor peter sellers .  br    br   this is worse than the animated lord of the rings . it is worse than the matrix sequels . it is worse than krull . it is worse than any batman movie .  br    br   do not  under any circumstances  let this movie approach within ten feet of your television .  
interesting way of looking at how we as humans so often behave we are sometimes blinded by our desire to achieve perfection that we some times destroy the foundation of what we are trying to achieve . it also addresses the issue how we tend to ignore those among us who are not as outspoken and by doing this may miss out on a great opportunity . the injection of comedy also makes watching the film an enjoyable experience . . a must see for anyone who is interested in a reflective yet comical look at life . i am eagerly looking forward to your next product . hope that you will continue to provide us with quality entertainment . excellent work . . . . . . joanne  
i actually saw this movie in the theater back in it  s original release . it was painful to watch peter sellers embarrass himself so badly . the story was incredibly lame and difficult to follow  and the ending was ridiculous . it was just sad to see how the mighty had fallen . i won  t say that i  m a huge peter sellers fan  but i did thoroughly enjoy the pink panther series and i felt that he gave a strong performance in being there . but this film should never have been made . from what i  ve read  he pursued producing this film against the advice of the people around him . fine  but that still doesn  t excuse the studio actually releasing the film .  
vivah in my opinion is the best movie of      coming from a director that has proved successful throughout his career . i am not too keen in romantic movies these days  because i see them as  old wine in a new bottle  and so predictable . however  i have watched this movie three times now . . . and believe me it  s an awesome movie .  br    br   vivah goes back to the traditional route  displaying simple characters into a sensible and realistic story of the journey between engagement and marriage . the movie entertains in all manners as it can be reflected to what we do  or would do  when it comes to marriage . in that sense sooraj r . barjatya has done his homework well and has depicted a very realistic story into a well  made highly entertaining movie .  br    br   several sequences in this movie catch your interest immediately  br    br    when shahid kapoor comes to see the bride  amrita rao   the way he tries to look at her without making it too obvious in front of his and her family . the song  do anjaane ajnabi  goes well with the mood of this scene .  br    br    the first conversation between shahid and amrita  when he comes to see her  i . e . a shy shahid not knowing exactly what to talk about but pulling of a decent conversation . also amrita  s naive nature  limited eye  contact  shy characteristics and answering softly to shahid  s questions .  br    br    the emotional breakdown of amrita and her uncle  alok nath  when she feeds him at shahid  s party in the form of another  s daughter  in  law rather than her uncle  s beloved niece .  br    br   clearly the movie belongs to amrita rao all the way . the actress portrays the role of poonam with such conviction that you cannot imagine anybody else replacing her . she looks beautiful throughout the whole movie  and portrays an innocent and shy traditional girl perfectly .  br    br   shahid kapoor performs brilliantly too . he delivers a promising performance and shows that he is no less than salman khan when it comes to acting in a sooraj r . barjatya film . in fact shahid and amrita make a cute on  screen couple  without a shadow of doubt . other characters  alok nath  excellent   anupam kher  brilliant   mohan joshi  very good  .  br    br   on the whole  vivah delivers what it promised  a well made and realistic story of two families . the movie has top  notch performances  excellent story and great music to suit the film  as well as being directed by the fabulous sooraj r . barjatya . it  s a must see   
this must be one of the worst swedish movies ever made .  br    br   it is embarrassing that such a bad script was allowed to become a movie and shown in cinemas as recently as year     .  br    br   i  ve never seen so many visible sponsored products in one and the same movie . it shouldn  t be that obvious .  br    br   i can  t understand why so many known actors even thought the idea to even be visible in a movie like this . if i had any respect for some of the known actors in this movie before i saw the movie  it is gone for sure now .  br    br   i  ve heard that there will be a follow up movie to this one and i can  t understand how that is even possible .  
this film speaks a universal language one can relate it to the self  community  society or the wider world . it has a way of not only opening up several questions but also setting one in pursuit of discovering and asking the right questions in order to get to that point of self conviction  ownership . the portrayal of the stereotypes within the film addresses the archetypes around us which must be recognised as being the repeating cycle of destruction  the opposing force of innovation  creativity and growth . the factors which disturb the natural flow of things must be made apparent and tackled . the idea  is definitely a film to be experienced and not just viewed as it taps into one  s internal voice  conscience through the looking  it makes one feel as opposed to just watch .  
the fiendish plot of dr . fu manchu       . this is hands down the worst film i  ve ever seen . what a sad way for a great comedian to go out .  
spoilers contained in order to make a observation .  br    br   twenty years on from      this film speaks loads about prince  s future in the music industry .  br    br   there is a scene that sums up prince  s musical output of the last   years perfectly  which is if you took the best two songs off his last   albums you would have one fantastic album   br    br   the scene plays like this . prince runs off to his dressing room after playing one song and the owner of the club enters the dressing room to give prince an earful about his fall from grace during the    s and putting out albums that only the most hardcore fans would be able to tolerate and support his artistry .  br    br   club owner   you  re not packing them like you used to . the only person that digs your music is yourself    br    br   spooky huh  how about the musical underscore which makes prince even more evil when he smacks apollonia to the ground in two separate scenes  it gave me chills that that was not the only scene women where mistreated in this film .  br    br   i  m all for the comedy sparring  s between morris day and jerome benton as these two stole every scene they were in . but what was funny about throwing a woman into a trash can  that was plain nasty  the other nasty bit was the chalk outline of prince  s father on the floor thoughtfully provided by the minnieapolis police  which causes prince to go even more loony   fantastic    br    br   purple rain is an entertaining film overall  as it is the soundtrack of prince songs that boosts it  s value by     . but then again the film gives us another theory on prince and his music  as the film tells us that prince  s biggest song of the film is written by wendy  lisa and princes wife beating musical father   br    br   are prince and the filmmakers trying to tell us that prince stole all his best songs from his father after finding his fathers music sheets of written songs  maybe that is why prince started to run out of steam during the    s because he ran out of his fathers ideas    . . . . . . . . . . . hmmmm . . . . .  
this is not an all  around terrible comedy  but it is very dull . it has barely any laughs  and it wastes its lavish production values . there is one poignant moment near the end  when fu manchu offers a dose of his elixir to his  nemesis  and tells him that  you  ve been my one worthy adversary and now we can start all over again  . that scene  however  along with burt kwouk  s amusing cameo in the beginning  are the only memorable parts of the movie .        
purple rain is a great film if you are a    something music lover who partied to prince music in the     s . the story is a much  used formula rising musical talent must overcome personal and professional hurdles to find his audience and self  respect . prince is a bad actor  but his performance  especially of purple rain  i would die  u make it worth sitting through the film . he is himself and as a showman  as powerful on stage as mick jagger or michael jackson  circa thriller . apollonia kotero  a former prince protg  is beautiful and shows some acting talent and chemistry with prince  but her script doesn  t let her far . morris day and other supporting actors provide comedic elements .  
an unfunny  unworthy picture which is an undeserving end to peter sellers  career . it is a pity this movie was ever made .  
purple rain is so cool for the dad . we are tracking    callers from minneapolis . hudson horstachio prepares to ride a motorcycle  take a ride with franklin fizzlybear in the caddy . let  s go back to      it was a movie released and prince tripped into stardom . you would think hudson horstachio will be a superstar for his new movie in   th century fox movie called  vp  purple rain   starring hudson horstachio  voiced by dan green  who played max  s dad  the pokemon gym leader  .  tracks . tina turner  s private dancer and billy ocean  s suddenly was headed for the album as prince held more concerts . it is time we  ve pulled the plug on the     movies . our   th century fox fans are not watching anymore . the kid yells out  look out for the deer   is such a danger in mind  ralph schuckett will be composing and conducting the new movie called  vp  purple rain  released on video . tom cruise jumps into his motorcycle  brad pitt jumps into his motorcycle and hudson horstachio jumps into his motorcycle . thanks to bette midler from beaches and the keyboardists . you are beholding the heroic horstachio  hudson  bart is writing  i shall not watch purple rain  on the chalkboard  go on the bloomington ferry bridge and enjoy the kid  s festivities . hudson horstachio is watching you   
i don  t have much to say about this movie . it could have been a wonderful tour  de  force for peter sellers  but it is one of the most tragic misfires in movie history . that it was sellers final movie makes it all the more painful .  br    br   the terrible screenplay  direction and shockingly wooden performances all come dreadfully together to make this one of the most unwatchably awful movies ever made .  br    br   i wish so much that i could find even a snicker or a chuckle buried somewhere in this pile of putrid blubber  but it  s a lifeless  humorless disaster . the truth hurts .  br    br   peter  why couldn  t you have stopped at being there   
bar some of the questionable acting  there musicians at the end of the day   this in the words of quentin tarrinno is  the best rock movie ever made . . . period   br    br   think  mile  but without the rapping  a young musician  trying to prove himself to the local community  whilst struggling to cope with a broken home and a rival band . throw in the sex interest and the truly exceptional performances  this is the real  mile .  br    br   prince provides a solid performance  as does morris day and jerome benton . decent script  good direction  great plot  and spectacular performances . not forgetting the some of the best rock  pop  funk music you will ever hear .  
this may not be the very worst movie peter sellers ever did  i think that laurel goes to  the prisoner of zenda   but it is surely the most depressing . sellers  especially sans makeup as nayland smith  looks like he has just undergone chemotherapy . as fu manchu  he looks hardly better and spends most of the film  with the exception of those strangely disturbing scenes where he gets jolted with electrical currents  on the verge of collapsing under the weight of all that makeup . the supporting players also look tired and run down  and sid caeser  s presence is offensive even without his constant references to  chinks    one bright spot this would be one of the last times a major motion picture would portray asians so insultingly . . . or  for that matter  star a non  asian as one   . the film seems surprisingly cheap  with soupy photography and drab sets  even the whiz  bang elvis number at the end looks cut  rate . only the stunning helen mirren and the tall  thin  nervous guy who get his pants wet add any sparks of life to this sad affair . all in all  this film provides an eerie premonition of a great comic  s death  and an even eerier documentation of his dying .  
and i really mean that . i caught it last night on vh   and i was not expecting it to be so good . this is now one of my favorites . i must add that it has a killer soundtrack .  
it  s one of the funny things about being young that one can be fooled easily by advertising . i have spoken before on another film  in which the commercial for the  comedy  film makes it seem funnier than it is . seeing the ad for this in     made me think this was going to be a wildly funny film . what i and my brother who went and saw it with me didn  t know is that the scene used in the tv ad was the very last scene in the film   br    br   since this scene is the end result of all that came before in the film  i can only guess that there was nothing else funny to use  the last scene is  thanks to a youth potion  dr . fu manchu turns from a long bearded old man  into a bright young asian  elvis like rock star   with back up singers no less    br    br   set for no real reason  in the      s  peter sellers does his best with the material at hand but he  s not given any really good reason for his  comedic  moments . the rest of the actors were just plain dull and my brother and i sat all through this barely laughing at anything . it was only natural that we were expecting a  pink panther  type comedy  peter sellers was so great at that .  br    br   it  s a pitiful shame this was his last film before he died . his appearance on the muppet show was more entertaining than this ill  conceived flop . still  i don  t fault him . i fault everyone else involved for not trying to make a better film of this .  stars is being generous    
this film is outstanding and wonderfully scored . prince  s oscar for music was richly deserved  many people don  t know he won one  . i think this is one of the best films to watch as a couple late at night on dvd . a great surprise prince does a fine job acting  and is pretty good at conveying pain on camera . morris day  wendy  and lisa are good in their supporting roles . very cool landmark film .  
 . . . . shut it off . the prologue with fu manchu  s birthday  and the opening credits of the assassins training  is amusing . then it drops off faster than hair sprayed with neat . look for a cameo by cato in the beginning  with a figurative wink at the audience .  
our imp of the perverse did good his first time out  thats for sure . the music is the best you may ever hear by any human  but you already know that  unless you have no taste or have a brain that is too small to understand greatness . a poor script that doesn  t flesh out much of a story  but at least it has its moments . the breathtaking concert stuff is worth seeing it . he deserved an oscar for this st  even though he was at times an ego driven twit  with his towering bodyguard chick huntsbery always in front . a movie that made non  fans fans  take it or leave it . prince does need to stay clear of acting in the future though . he takes himself way to serious . he is a genius musician  but pleaseee . . just enjoy the ride  my purple maestro . . peace .  
ok so here  s the basic plot . it is      peter sellers is dr fu manchu  a    year old chinese man who has lived quite a long time . the film opens with his birthday in which he celebrates by drinking a special elixir that  even the film never mentions  prolongs his life . well on this occasion the elixir is clumsily dropped by an assistant  kato if you remember the pink panther movies  and he orders his minions to then go find  rare items to make the elixir . this creates a global man hunt in which his henchmen end up robbing museums of diamonds and venturing into london  to meet up with dr fu  s nemisis  a retired scotland yard detective nayland smith  also played by sellers who tries to stop him in what is suppose to be a witty comedic adventure .  br    br   this was apparantly sellers last full length feature film that he made before he died . the terrible tragedy is that he was in it . sellers who is such a gifted comedian and has had memorable  funny  roles in the panther movies and particualrly in the movie  the party   is anything but that in this film . this film was absolute torture to sit through and i couldn  t even finish it . he completly dies and i kept cringing while watching sellers performance . after coming of the great work of  being there  a year earlier how  i mean how can he make this and how did this thing even get made    like one person mentioned the first   . .   minutes are ok but then it is all downhill . . .  br    br   avoid like the plague .  br    br   rating  out of   .  
i have to admit that purple rain is one of my deepest guilty pleasures . purple rain not only broke boundaries  it set a decade  the costumes  the music  the behavior  and the dancing  to this day  my friends and i still jam to the purple rain soundtrack and pretend to be prince and the revolution .  br    br   now the movie itself  i just meant what i said in the title  because for the most part  this movie itself is made by the music . the acting  please don  t let me judge on that since this is one of my favorite guilty pleasures  because i know that it was not oscar worthy by any means . but i think the duo that took this movie was morris and jarome  their speech about passwords was just beyond hilarious . i just want to rate this movie on the concert sequences because i felt that it was what made the movie .  br    br   prince is a musical genius and created beautiful music . while the movie and acting is pretty bad  this movie is still a fun one to watch at night and even dance too . this movie defined the    s  so just have fun with it . prince would want it that way  just to party on down  oh  boy  that sounded lame .  br    br        
even if one didn  t realize that sellers was in poor health at the time of filming and passed away before the film  s release  the fiendish plot of dr . fu manchu would be painful viewing . it is supposedly a lampoon of sax rohmer  s famous oriental villain but it lacks any focus . the potential for satirical commentary on the anti  oriental overtones of rohmer  s concept are ignored . indeed  the movie employs racist insults . there are hardly any actual jokes or gags  just mostly actors behaving idiotically and spouting dreary lines . it is especially distressing to see sid caesar forced to spout curses and racial slurs for attempted laughs . most of the other actors embarrass themselves as well .  br    br   and then there  s peter sellers . he plays the dual roles of the sinister fu manchu  who is trying to concoct a formula to regain his youth and his stalwart british foe nayland smith . sellers isn  t one hundred per cent bad he conveys a quirky warmth as smith when he discusses his fetishistic attachment to his lawn mower and he  s oddly moving as manchu when he expresses his love for english music hall entertainment . but most of the time  he plays both roles with a weary grimness  thus further sabotaging any comical possibilities . sellers  routines where he revitalizes his fading strength with electric shocks are particularly excruciating he seems too convincingly agonized to be funny .  br    br   a few genuinely witty lines  an apt slapstick bit by burt kwouk  cato in the pink panther films  as one of manchu  s minions  and helen mirren  s amusing musical numbers cannot salvage this mess . if anyone wants to understand why peter sellers is considered a comedic genius  they won  t learn anything from the fiendish plot of dr . fu manchu .  
when this movie first came out back in      prince was one of the hottest acts around . everyone wanted to see this movie  which was not much more than a extended music video . the acting was pretty bad  but what can you expect from musicians acting on the big screen for the first time  despite that  it was still a very entertaining film  morris day and jerome benton provide some all time classic comedy  especially their rendition of  the password   which will make you think of abbott  costello doing their  who  s on first  baseball routine .  br    br   appolina  who went by a single name then  provided some beautiful breasts  so you had the brief nudity covered . plus  she is very attractive . and of course  the soundtrack of the album is one of the best prince ever recorded . prince later on had a fallout with warner bros . and changed his name  but at this particular time in his career  he was at the top of his game .  br    br   this movie doesn  t rank in the all time great category  but it is pretty entertaining .  
there  s no getting around it   this movie is terrible . i  ve seen the old christopher lee  fu manchu movies  i  m familiar with the characters and it  s serial origins  but it  s still just godawful . however  peter sellers  genius still shines through with his portrayal of nayland smith  with echoes of sadness  tragedy  and strength simmering through a stoic facade it  s a performance i place on par with peter cushing  s portrayal of van helsing but done in a tenth of the cumulative screen time of all cushing  s  dracula  movies . if the movie was done in a more serio  comic vein like bubba ho  tep by way of the      s avengers tv show  this could  ve been something special . if you  re a fu manchu or peter sellers completest  this is something you need to see  but it  s a pass for anyone else .  
this movie brings back many memories of the classic cinema of old  where actors didn  t have to take their clothes off to make viewers watch their film .  br    br   firstly i think the main plus point of this movie is the amazing chemistry between shahid and amrita  it is definitely the making of the film .  br    br   i have seen lots of comments regarding the film being sickly sweet and overly slushy . in response to this  i think to a certain degree this is a correct analysis  however considering this is a barjatya film i think that compared to mpk  hahk  hssh and mpkdh  it has been toned down significantly . hssh was almost unbearable to watch in some places .  br    br   in this film however  when the sentimental moments come along  you find yourself smiling  wishing the budding couple all the best and hoping that nothing bad happens to them .  br    br   another major plus point is the performances of shahid and amrita . both have acted very well  especially shahid who looks great in the film . amrita looks simply stunning and should be taken seriously as a future major star .  br    br   although i really enjoyed the film as a whole  i do feel that it was too long . some of the middle could have been trimmed off and it would maybe made even more of an impact . i also think the music  although it fits into the film when you see the situations is slightly old fashioned and the movie could have benefited if a more up  to  date soundtrack had been available . although the picturisation of the songs mujhe haq hain and hamari shaadi mein are wonderful .  br    br   all in all  i definitely recommend this film  its romantic  looks stunning and has a dramatic climax  i won  t go into details  just in case you haven  t seen it .  br    br   ps . if you  re prone to crying  take a tissue   i needed several   
 . . . for one of the worst swedish movies ever . . . forgive me for being dull .  br    br   first of all i haven  t seen the first one  i was bored that  s my reason for watching the  nd before the  st one   well i hope the first one is better than this  it was filled with weird cut scenes and very strange plot changes  for the people that have seen this and think     is high  belive me so do i   but it made me laugh a few times  because it was so bizarre so bad and i still laugh thinking of the punk that came up with this idea  what  s next  det sjunde inseglet ii  . sequels not based on novel or book doesn  t turning out great to often  and this is a perfect example of one .  br    br   ok i  m gonna be honest with you i did laugh a bit  it got a few decent jokes in it and slapstick humor . but don  t buy it  rent it . just let some other idiot do it or download it .  br    br       this movie will be remembered and the director is probably laughed out already . . .  
i  ve recently went back and watched this movie again from not seeing it in years . when i first seen the movie i was too young to understand what the movie was about . now that i  ve seen it again i couldn  t believe what i  ve missed all these years . for me being able to see movies for what they are  i think that this movie was great . most people feel as though the music are the best part  but i don  t think that  s true . most people don  t realize how good the story is because it  s judge by the acting . the truth of the matter is that no one in the movie were really trying to act rather they were just being themselves . the entire main cast were just playing themselves . they weren  t trying to be anyone else  but themselves .  br    br   i  ve actually watched and analyzed the work and effort put into the movie . now from my perspective  the situations shown in the movie are pretty much based on what actually went on musically in minneapolis at the time and it  s most of the things that happen are actually true events that happened in prince  s career and who can tell it better than him  the music that was coming from the city at the time was starting to be recognized and be revolutionary . it was interesting to see how the music was very influential mainly at the club  first avenue   th st entry  where in fact prince  among other musicians  got their career started . it  s also a known fact that prince and morris day always had a competition with each other in real life  but it was a friendly competition . they were always friends . so the story basically plays off of that competition aspect of their rivalry rather than their friendship which shows the true competitive side of what occurred at club  first avenue  for it  s time .  br    br   another reason why this movie is good is due to the fact that some of the situations that occur in the movie are actually based on events that prince has gone through in his life with the music aspect and the personal . to me  this made the movie more realistic as far as the emotion because he  s telling his trials and tribulations pre  superstardom . plus  his dedication he puts into his performances is phenomenal . prince made sure that every moment in the movie was done perfectly . anytime you hear a song play in the movie it  s in perfect sync with the situation at hand .  br    br   prince is in all a musical genius and he has proved it on many occasions . this movie is what really put prince on the map officially and he hasn  t slowed down since . anyone who has watched this movie or still  unbelieveably  hasn  t watched it yet  when you sit down and view this film you have have to watch it with intellect or you will miss the whole aspect of the movie . if you really love music this is definitely the movie to watch . above what anyone else says i think it  s a great movie to watch and own .  
it is true that some fans of peter sellers work may be disappointed with this  his last venture . but surely any fan of sellers will find delight in all of his films  simply because of the man  s huge talent . and the fiendish plot of dr . fu manchu is certainly no exception . unfortunately this would prove to be sellers last film   it was even released after his death   but it  s still nice to see how the man had managed to keep his irreplaceable talent right until his untimely demise . and not only do we get one sellers  but we get to  for sellers plays not only the title role but also his nemesis  the equally bizarre nayland smith  the detective on the hunt for the crazed    year old fu . the story is equally outlandish as we follow fu  s outrageous antics to make his age  defying elixir and also nayland and his group of associates trying to prevent him . just like any of sellers greater films  the film comes with a guaranteed impeccable performance from him  as well as many of his familiar  faced co  stars  david tomlinson  sid caesar  john le mesurier  clive dunn and helen mirren to name a few . it  s also nice to see pink panther stalwart burt kwouk  cato  enjoying a cameo with sellers  albeit playing the same role  but still nice . the story is indeed pretty ridiculous  as are many of the characters involved  which classes this as a film strongly under the goon influence . and  although it never reaches the heights of goon comedy  there are plenty of amusing jokes that seem to point in the right direction . the film failed commercially on it  s initial release due to the entire world mourning after sellers  death  the film was released less than  weeks after  and there is always that sorrowful thought lurking in the back of your mind when viewing it that this was sellers last film . it  s far from a great film  it  s often slow  too ridiculous  and sometimes the jokes simply aren  t there  but it is nevertheless enjoyable  if only for another top rate performance from peter sellers .  
  i only wanted to see you laughing in the purple rain .  this is an excell film . it should have been re  rated to pg    . but anyways  prince  s first film and greatest . the follow  up sucked . but i haven  t seen for years so here  s what i can remember about it . the kid  prince  has to juggle with winning over the love of his life  apollonia  herself   keeping his band together  the revolution as themselves  and the tension in his family . but his rival band  the time as themselves  is ruining his life . like morris  himself  is trying to steal apollonia from the kid . just like saturday night fever  flashdance and  mile . really good . rent it  laugh and cry and if you luv it  buy it .  
i can hardly believe i watched this again last night after more than   years . . .  br    br   some time back  i watched  fu films in a row . . . boris karloff  and all  chris lees . the last  lees  both directed  and i use that word loosely  by jess franco  were abominable . at the time  i skipped this one  remembering that  in some ways  it was even worse .  br    br   well  i watched it . never again . you know what  s worse that an abominable film  a really well  made piece of s . and that  s what fiendish plot is . it is a very good  looking movie . great production design  sets  costumes  music  photography  editing  mostly good cast  some decent acting . . .  br    br   . . . and absolutely  positively  one of the worst scripts in movie history      aaaugh      the first minute of the film is so deceptive . . . one might mistake this for a decent movie . and then they start singing  happy birthday to fu  . . . and it goes downhill . having burt kwouk  of whom his master says   your face   is familiar .   accidentally pour out fu  s elixir vitae to put out a fire  resulting in his being condemned to torture  burial and having one of his ears cut off  was the closest thing to funny they had . it was like someone decided they wanted to do a  campy  film   so ridiculous it would be funny . ridiculous  it is . . . funny . . . it ain  t . at all .  br    br   it  s sad  because it  s clear in the first few minutes that someone did a lot of research into the fu manchu series in order to get so much of it  right  . with a different script   either a really funny one  or a dead serious one  they might have   could have   should have   had a classic on their hands . a film that could have made one forget the horror of those jess franco atrocities . . . instead of making one want to dig them out as masterpieces  by comparison .  br    br   there was a period in the late    s when a whole slew of classic    s characters were revived in movies that were universally awful . buck rogers  flash gordon  tarzan  the lone ranger  charlie chan  even doc savage . i  m not sure  this one may be the worst of the lot . it took great self  control not to fast  forward over whole sections of it  especially any scenes containing sid caesar  fbi chief who was also al capone  s cousin   you see what i mean   . it isn  t just that the ideas in the film aren  t funny . . . they often make no sense whatsoever . like when they  audition  police officers to impersonate the king and queen  and we wind up seeing people  audition  dance  hall routines like singing  dancing  and riding a unicycle . how many drugs did the writers of this thing have to take for any of this to make sense to them   br    br   as i said  a shame . . . and a real waste of all that talent  including that of peter sellers  who played both fu and nayland smith   burt kwouk  who  d been in a chris lee fu film in his time   helen mirren  the police woman who shockingly falls in love with the villain and damn near steals the last half  hour of the film   . i begin to wonder if anyone will ever make a  proper  fu manchu film  or if fans will have to settle for karloff  s being almost the only one   
i  ll start by relating my first encounter with prince  s music . it was in a bar  on my   th birthday and a girl was dancing bare breasted to       playing on the speakers . i asked people  who is this singer  i was told it was prince . it was so good that it distracted me from a beautiful  topless dancer . later i started hearing other prince songs and really  digging  them . when purple rain came out i still knew very little about this fellow minnesotan . the movie blew me away . i instantly became prince  s no .  fan of the  war baby  generation . later i found out one of my cousins was his secretary  and she got me  and my nephew into a v . i . p . prince concert where we sat next to his mother . . . how cool is that  getting back to the topic at hand  i agree with siskel  ebert who called purple rain an instant classic . i have seen it over   times and absolutely love it . i thought prince  s acting was fine  apollonia struggled a bit  but all in all the acting was fine . john gielgud was not available to play  the kid  so prince took the role . the film is visually stunning  brilliantly paced  it never gets slow   and terrifically directed . i rank it among the best movie musicals of all time . the last time i watched it was after about a  year gap and it still delivered . i am so proud of fellow minnesotan prince rogers nelson and would love to tell him personally . he walked right in front of me during the above mentioned concert and said   hi   to my nephew but not me . he was chatting with his mom . i was a bit crushed but he  s still no .  with me .  
the fiendish plot of dr . fu manchu starring peter sellers in a spoof of the characters created by sax rohmer is an injustice to the end of sellers  career . the plot was very simplistic  and if done the right way could have been handled nicely  but instead it was poorly executed . part of the reasons why this film wasn  t that good was the poor dialog  cheap laughs  choppy directing  and an awkward feeling that the film was somewhat incomplete .  br    br   the acting  on the other hand  was really the only thing that kept my interest during this mixed up picture . i found sellers portrayal of diabolical manchu brilliantly done  with the occasional lines that will be remembered . for example  there is the scene where fu manchu is confused which henchman is which in which he says  ah  you all look the same to me .  i hate to admit it  but i laughed out loud with that line .  br    br   then of course a fistful of strong supporting characters really caught my attention with the likes of helen mirren as the backstabbing constable  david tomilson as sir roger avery  his last film as well  not a way to end a career   and sid ceasar  who gives a rather whimsical performance of al capone  s relative who works for the fbi  . these characters also kept me watching .  br    br   the sets were also nice . oriental designs and english society in     was depicted with elegance in this dud  of  a  picture .  br    br   in all honesty  my advice to you is to watch the film if you are a peter sellers or sid ceasar fan . otherwise  you  re better off settling on chewing aluminum foil .  
i was to young to ever know much about prince but in the past few years i  ve seen a lot of purple rain novelty tee  s and i thought they were cool but i didn  t want to buy a shirt i knew nothing about . so one saturday it came on fuse and i decided to watch it . i didn  t know what the movie was going to be about before i watched it but it was great once i found out . in the movie prince wasn  t known as prince but as  the kid  . all the performances where great to me but my favorite were purple rain  darling nicki  and i would die for you . all the songs tied into what was going on through out the movie when his mother and father were always fighting the song when doves cried described what he was feeling . i also like how clever prince was with the way he flirted with apallonia . i liked when prince and appallonia first met in the club and he stood behind her standing and then once she turned around he disappeared  great movie and now i cant even find one of those tee shirts    
this is strictly a review of the pilot episode as it appears on dvd .  br    br   television moved out of my life in      so i never followed the series or any part of it  which means that i  m immune to the nostalgic charm that moonlighting appears to have for most reviewers .  br    br    possible spoiler warning   br    br   the pilot of moonlighting is your basic  caveman meets fluffball  yarn  where a  charming  red  blooded he  man manipulates a misguided woman into realizing what she really wants and needs . the premises that the script  s  wit  is based on must have already felt stale around     . it also contains some frankly bad writing  as in the scene where maddie demolishes the furnishings instead of shooting the villain  strictly in order to prove herself the inept female in need of masculine assistance .  br    br   i often feel that susan faludi overreacts in seeing male chauvinist conspiracy in simple entertainment  but in this particular case i  m all with her  moonlighting has backlash stamped all over it .  br    br   in one sense  however  this dvd is a must for all serious bruce willis fans in addition to the pilot episode  it contains the screen test that landed willis the job . both features show to what amazing extent willis  acting ability developed between     and         die hard   in country  . impressive   br    br   rating  and i  am  a bruce willis fan    out of    
  purple rain  has never been a critic  s darling but it is a cult classic  and deserves to be . if you are a prince fan this is for you .  br    br   the main plot is prince seeing his abusive parents in himself and him falling in love with a girl . believe it or not this movie isn  t just singing and dancing . there are many intense scenes and it is heartwarming . sometimes it comes off has funny but when it works it really works . very hit and miss .  br    br   no one can really act in the film . everyone is from one of prince  s side acts like  the time  and  vanity   . still  it adds charm to the movie . when ever prince is on screen he lights it up and it fun to see him at his commercial peak .  br    br   in conclusion  go and see this if you love prince like me . if you aren  t a fan it  ll make you one .  
i tried to like this program i really did . i even bought the pilot film  first on vhs and later on dvd . however  i couldn  t get into this story because its two main characters  david   bruce willis  and  maddie   cybill shepherd  just seemed to in love with themselves  for one thing . i admit was some clever dialog in the shows  which was a key part of the success of the tv program  and i did appreciate of lot of that dialog .  br    br   basically  this was almost like the old screwball comedy movies of the    s and    s with male versus female . you get lots of arguing  accusations  yelling and screaming . a lot of people apparently love that sort of bickering  but i hate it  so i never got on the moonlighting bandwagon .  br    br   only allyce beasley as the hapless aide  agnes   was entertaining . it  s too bad she had such little air time . shepherd was nice on the eyes and i suppose women would say the same for willis  but too much arguing between the two finally turned me off .  
i don  t care how many bad reviews purple rain gets  this movie rocks  excellent movie  has it all  great music  prince of coarse    romance  and drama .  br    br   this is really a very sad movie  very moving . i don  t want to say to much more  im not into giving away the plot  but i will say this  the film is very realistic  there are so many romantic relationships that go through these problems  so many familys similiar to the one depicted in the film . i see this as being very realistic and being so real  makes the movie that much more moving . my generation loved this movie growing up  so many of us loved prince and there is alot to relate to for any teenager who has gone through similiar problems .  br    br   that said  it  s definetly not just a movie for teens  id recomend it to all age groups . and it  s not all so dark  the movie has some great music  band performance scenes  and sexy fun scenes between prince and appelonia .  
oh  sam mraovich  we know you tried so hard . this is your magnum opus  a shining example to the rest of us that you are certainly worth nomination into the academy of motion picture arts and sciences  as you state on your      era web site  . alas  it  s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt . with ben  arthur  you do just that .  br    br   seemingly assembled with a lack of instruction or education  the film  s screenplay guides us toward the truly bizarre with each new scene . it  s this insane excuse of a story that may also be the film  s best ally . beginning tepidly  the homosexually titular characters ben and arthur attempt to marry  going so far as to fly across country to do so  in the shade of vermont  s finest palm trees . but  all of this posturing is merely a lead  in for blood . then more blood  and more and more blood . i mean  there must be at least    in fake blood make  up in the final third of this film .  br    br   the film in its entirety is a technical gaffe . from the sound to the editing to the music  which consists of a single fuzzy bass note being held on a keyboard  it  s a wonder that the film even holds together on whatever media you view it on . it  s such a shame then that some decent amateur performances are wasted here .  br    br   no matter  sam . i  m sure you  ve made five figures on this flick in rentals or whatever drives poor souls  such as myself  to view this film . sadly  we  re not laughing with you .  
this is not as bad a movie as some reviewers  and as the summary at the imdb page for this movie  say it is . why  first is the fact that in     the movie makers were daring enough to confront  as one of the plot elements  the issue of domestic violence   so reviewers who complain about the plot are sadly missing one of the main points  second  without the plot element of prince  s movie relationship with his abusive father  the musical climax wouldn  t work as well as it does   so those reviewers who say that only the music is good have  once again  missed one of the points   specifically  why it is so good . . . because all of the music in this film has a plot element backdrop that makes the music more effective . third  give this movie a break  for first  time movie producers and director  this is just not that bad  there are far worse movies out there by accomplished movie people   and last  the reviewers who say that the music is  good  have also missed the point   check out the range of stylistic musical treatments  the variety  the musicianship  and the stage performance of prince   truly one of a kind  going musically where no one else was going during the      s  and with a style seen in the work of other artists  clothes and movement which costuming elements came first  michael jackson  s or prince  s  also  see if you can spot the splayed fingers sweeping in front of the eyes that prince does in this movie  long before quentin tarentino  s  pulp fiction   . as the sum of its parts  not a bad movie at all .  
when the film began  i was shocked to see it was filmed using a cheap video camera  in fact  the camera shakes and looks worse than the average home movie . even direct to dvd films should have production values better than this  heck  a large percentage of the home videos uploaded to youtube have better production values  all too often  the film seriously appears to be made by sticking the camera on a tripod and turning it on   with no camera person  closeups and anything resembling camera  work are absent in some scenes where they might have worked and in others there are too many or poorly framed closeups . yecch   br    br   the film is about two gay men who want to become married . as if was made almost a decade ago  their only option was marrying in vermont   times have definitely changed . however  the recent acceptance of gay marriage cannot in any way be attributed to this film   if anything  it set the gay marriage supporters back instead of helping as the movie stinks and never really tries to seriously address the issue . according to the film  religious people are one  dimensional idiots who carry bibles everywhere and shoot people as well as wives who have gay husbands are narrow  minded when they learn their spouses have been living a lie   go figure . i  m sure glad it gives an honest chance to both sides on the issue   br    br   the bottom line   nothing about the film shows any professionalism at all and i even hesitate to call this a film . it  s more like a home movie and doesn  t even merit a listing on imdb or even inclusion on imdb  s bottom    list of the worst rated films of all time . the acting is horrible  the writing is horrible  the direction  if there even is any  is horrible  the camera  work is horrible and the plot is horrible . it  s a home movie   there is nothing positive i can say about this in any way except that it makes the films of ed wood seem like oscar contenders in comparison and i am sure the ghost of mr . wood is smiling every time someone watches this mess   br    br   i don  t care if you are gay or straight   this film is not worth your time and i don  t know how they managed to create dvds of it . i assume one of the actors burns them on his home computer during his free time  seriously  this gives new meaning to the word  bad    br    br   by the way  if the one lady in the film was a real lawyer  wouldn  t the ability to read be an important prerequisite   i  m just sayin  .  br    br   finally  with gay marriage being such a serious and important topic  can  t we have a film that  s better than this that addresses the issue   this one  sadly  only invites laughter .  
this is the only movie i  ve seen prince in but it don  t matter . and i thought he was only great at singing boy was i wrong . this is probably his best performance . the music is great . thats why it won the oscar in     for best music to a movie  or something like that  . now he has an oscar and grammies under his belt . although the cursing gets in the way with the film  just make sure no little kids or in the room  . there isn  t to much to say without revealing the plot . you should really go out and get this movie your collection isn  t complete unless you got this movie in it . what else could i possibly say except for go and get this movie now   
what can i say  this is a piece of brilliant film  making that should have won an oscar . a copy should be kept safe in a secure vault for posterity . it should be required viewing for all high school students across the world . sam mraovich is a genius  perhaps the most genius writer  director  producer  chef  babysitter  walmart greeter to ever grace the cinema world with his art .  br    br   where do i begin with this one  every millisecond of ben and arthur was so completely breathtaking  and mraovich as arthur  wow  he is so attractive i  m surprised he didn  t go for mr . universe . i couldn  t contain myself during the nude scene . i loaned this movie to my brother and he called me on the phone saying how arthur  s nude scene turned him gay . i am totally supportive of course  because of this film and it  s beautifully crafted lessons in tolerance . why just yesterday i burned down a church and i wrote  for sam and arthur  in its smoldering ashes .  br    br   the cinematography was the best thing about this film . when that fed  ex plane took to the skies amid the palm trees of vermont  i wept  why  i never even knew they had palm trees in vermont or that people could travel on fed  ex planes before this film . it opened my eyes to a new realm of possibilities . this film inspired me to enroll in sam mraovich  s school of screen writing  acting  directing  composing  casting  producing  production design and real estate . i just want to say   thank you  mr . mraovich . thank you for bringing this creation into the world . we can never re  pay you enough .   
i own this movie and have watched it several times throughout the years since it was released . prince doesn  t stun us with his phenomenal acting style or anything  he  s a musician and i feel like that is what he displayed here  he  s just the best one to tell this story through influence . most of this movie is straightforward and teenish but that is the directors  writers fault  still it is a great movie with even better music . the principals and moral convictions in purple rain are quite strong and if more movies would rely on the basics we are taught as young children we would have a better all around environment seeing that art reflects life which reflects art .  
worst film ever  this is a statement that people here on imdb often throw around . whether it  s an uwe boll movie  bad classics like manos the hands of fate or the latest no brains summer action fest from michael bay  people are often quick to jump to the sudden conclusion that on the board they  re posting that there is nothing worse in the movie world .  br    br   i envy these people  because they  re blissfully ignorant and unaware of how deep the rabbit hole of crap movie making really goes . there are films out there so bad  so hideous  so unintentionally hilarious and so ridiculous that cults form around them to celebrate their awfulness and their discussion boards are the kindest places on the internet due to everyone agreeing unanimously that said film is really that bad .  br    br   ladies and gentlemen  i present to you ben and arthur  an   minute gay epic that is so utterly bad that it  s a lot like a violent car crash  you know it  s awful but you can  t stop looking at it . the brainchild of self proclaimed  hollywood actor  director  and may i add beached whale sam mraovich  this film is legendarily terrible . let me give you a hint of how ego driven this project was . mr mraovich not only directed this film  he wrote it  produced it  executive produced it  scored it  edited it and then finally starred in it . this is a man so blinded by his own ego and so believing of his non existent genius that like someone with an ugly child he fails to recognise just how catastrophic his bastard creation really is .  br    br   everything in this film fails on an epic level  the acting is the worst you will ever witness  the plot is the most ridiculous  the editing and cinematography is the most amateur and even the music is like nails on a chalkboard . i  m aware i  ve gone on a bit of a tangent here  but please believe me that this film is really as bad as i describe it  i would say this film is horse crap squished into a film reel  but the truth is it wasn  t even shot on film  it was shot on a digital camcorder not much better than the one sitting in your closet right now gathering dust . don  t get me wrong  i forgive low budgets for films provided the concept is interesting  for example as much as i disliked it the blair witch project proved that low budgets can still lead to an atmospheric interesting film . ben and arthur does not have a good concept to fall back on  even if this film was shot on a budget of   million with hollywoods finest actors it would still suck  the plot is that atrocious  and the characters are even worse . one of the main characters arthur who is portrayed by non other than sam mraovich is one of the most whiny loathsome little turds ever put in a film . you  ll dislike him within  minutes of the start of the film and by the end of the film that hate will have turned into outright loathing . apparently mr mraovich forgot that we  re supposed to root for the hero .  br    br   i don  t want to spoil all the gut busting hilarity you  ll experience watching this film  which i urge you not to pay for  so i will give you two tame mild examples of how stupid this film is  tame and mild as in amongst the least offending mistakes in the movie . in one cut we hear one of the main characters say how  they know a good lawyer and will give him a call  the shot fades out then fades back in and this him they spoke of earlier is actually a woman  quite a spectacular mistake to make in post production i think . the second is simple  seconds after seeing this transsexual lawyer the characters are told to fly to vermont  we then cut to a shot of a plane landing amongst palm trees in a sunny area . i  ve never been to vermont personally but i  m certain you won  t find any palm trees there .  br    br   imagine this kind of stupid amateur inconsistency stretched to nearly an hour and a half combined with ridiculous dialogue and plot and then multiply it by   and it still won  t fully prepare you for ben and arthur . imagine the absolute worst film you  ve seen in your life and imagine it being even worse and you still won  t be on the same level as ben and arthur  this film is really that bad .  br    br   however we should be glad in a way  films like this are a true rarity . they give us hope that one day we can become film makers ourselves or that we can be screenwriters . simply because we  ll have a new found sense of confidence due to the fact that we  ll know that nothing we produce no matter how amateur could be as much of a suck fest as this .  br    br   the real worst movie of all time has finally been discovered  and it is called ben and arthur .  
the movie is okay  it has it  s moments  the music scenes are the best of all  the soundtrack is a true classic . it  s a perfect album  it starts out with let  s go crazy  appropriate for the beginning as it  s a great party song and very up  tempo   take me with u  a fun pop song . . .   the beautiful ones  a cheerful ballad  probably the closest thing to rb on this whole album   computer blue  a somewhat angry anthem towards appolonia   darling nikki  one of the funniest songs ever  it very vaguely makes fun of appolonia   when doves cry  the climax to this masterpiece   i would die  u  baby i  m a star  and  of course  purple rain  a true classic  a very appropriate ending for this classic album  the movie and the album are both very good . i highly recommend them   
i don  t know what it is about this movie  director sam mraovich somehow messed up just about every little aspect in this movie . i would normally say that this is a movie that should not exist  but this movie may be the most important of all time . this movie should exist for the sole purpose of being without a doubt  the worst movie ever made  . i  ve seen bad movies in my lifetime  but this somehow breaks what i considered bad into something much more hard to imagine .  br    br   everything in this movie is hilarious  but the single funniest thing is that mraovich himself considers this to be a great movie .  br    br   oh wow . . .  
this is one of the best movies to come from bollywood in years . certainly the best this year until now . indian to the core  the panoramic visuals  the heart  pleasing dialogs and the melodious and soft music make the movie an exceptional one . the apt depiction of indianvalues and culture makes the viewer search for his  her roots in them and invigorates the mind and spirit with a sense of pride and a new lease on life .  br    br   this movie is for viewers who enjoy a call to their imagination and philosophical senses . if you like watching movies to get all your nerves excited through on  screen action  sex or terror  then this movie is not for you  because you will find that the movie is not full of   degrees twists in it . it is as simple a story for a movie as it can get . but that  s exactly where the art of the movie lies . one gets a real life experience  and the best thing is  this experience is one full of values and hope . it is about the positive side of life  about the sweet things that god has showered on humans  as against the regressive movies that insist on showing dons  terrorists and underworlds . this is not about things and people that have gone bad . it is about the goodness that still persists  and that keeps the world running . of course  every genre of movies is respectable but it takes a lot of courage and talent to come up with a movie that swims against the current and tries to open the eyes of the public to the hidden realities and truths .  br    br   having said that  here  s more . . .  br    br   the movie is the journey of a couple from their engagement to their arranged marriage  yes  that  s right  it is an arranged marriage and the couple come to know each other only through their parents  and learn to love each other . the  month gap between engagement and marriage is a long time  not full of  enticing  happenings  but one that nurtures the growing love and devotion of the couple to each other . they learn together the importance of their relationship and of this invaluable period of their lives  and work to strengthen the bonds of marriage . but have these been strengthened enough  their relationship will face the test of not only time but also fortune . will they pass this test  that is what  vivah  is about .  
ok now  lets see . what was funny in the first movie  i know  people with funny accents  people falling into the water  silly boat crashes and funny comments between the two teams . in this movie they have twisted the accent part to the max  no good . a whole a lot of people are falling into the water for uncertain reasons  no good . boatcrash  check . funny comments between the two teams  they tried but failed . also  there are too may personalities they are following in this movie . this film should be about what is happening on the water  not on land . i am sorry to say that there is too far between the funny parts and the sponsors of the film are exploited to the max . no good . all in all  i give it four out of ten since it has some funny parts .  
i love this movie    purple rain came out the year i was born and it has had my heart since i can remember . prince is so tight in this movie . i went to a special showing of purple rain last night and it was like a concert i was glad to see some true fans cause this movie is so undervalued  it is really one of the greatest movies of all time . the music is untouchable . the movie is about  the kid   played by prince  his family is dysfunctional  his band is the hottest act in town  and he has his eyes on the apollonia  an aspiring singer . there is no question why purple is my favorite color i can thank  the kid  for that . so if you have not seen this then you are need to asap . this is a classic   ever   
phew   i don  t what to say . this is a film that could be really good a with a bunch of stoned viewers . some of the acting reminded me of john waters  early offerings . perhaps i should take that back   i don  t want to insult waters  ability as a director  storyteller .  br    br   i particularly loved the lawyer taking about the  full faith and credibility  clause . it  s  full faith and credit   by the way   br    br   this also reminds me of  the conrad boys   where the main actor is also the writer  director  film editor  etc . those sort of multi  involved undertakings such as that are probably best left to very seasoned film professionals who would have the technical ability  albeit a stunt  some might say  to pull something off like that .  
you can debate prince  s acting talent  or even his choice to parody his own life in this film . there is no debate about his musical talent either then or now . he seems like a shadowy has  been twenty years later  but the music remains relevant and fantastic .  br    br   having lived through the hype of this movie  graduated high school in     i can tell you that there was nothing bigger at the time . from tipper gore  al  s wife  trying to censor  little nikki  and every thing else under the sun via the pmrc  parents music resource center  to every  air band  at the time impersonating prince  it was the absolute hottest thing out . for a few weeks at least  prince was bigger than madonna and michael jackson .  br    br   we all waited for the film and were soooooo excited when it premiered . it didn  t disappoint . everyone was caught up . i was an mtv junkie at the time  they actually played music then . . . . all the time  prince played at least once or twice an hour . i must qualify this commentary by saying that  at that time  my favorites were billy idol  oingo boingo  the fixx  flock of seagulls and others in the punk  new wave genre  the music of prince at the time transcended all types and styles . one of the reasons that some of it seems so cheesy and contrite now is that it was soooooooo big then . all the things that remind you of the    s were iconic then . it was mainstream and it seems like a clich  now . it got so popular that it became ridiculous . it  s like the rappin  granny commercial for wendy  s hamburgers .  br    br   it looks stupid now because everyone was caught up in it  sadly  kind of like a bizarre purple macarena or something . anyway  i hope this gave you all a little insight .  
oh man  what was sam mraovich thinking  what was anyone who was involved in this  film  thinking  mraovich is the head of nearly everything of  ben and arthur   director  writer  producer  also executive producer    caster  lead star  you name it  he did it . and he  mraovich  sucks more than anyone has ever sucked in every department of film making .  br    br   so what is wrong with this film  everything . the film is about two gay lovers  ben  jamie brett gabel  and arthur  mraovich  groan  . ben and arthur want to get married in a world where everyone basically hates gay people . to make things worse  ben  s crazy  ex  wife   they don  t exactly divorce   tammy  julie belknap  is steaming mad that ben  s left her for another man and demands ben that they get back together  saying that she can be gay  too   and arthur  s christian devoted  excessively hypocritical  equally batty as tammy brother  victor  is hell bent on making arthur turn straight and then try to kill him after he gets kicked out of his church .  br    br   the film is absolutely chock a block with so many goofs  ie . ben and arthur fly to vermont to get married  they go there on alaska airlines and vermont has palm trees they fly back on a fedex cargo plane  hope they were comfy in a wooden crate  plus many  many more  and plot holes to boot  victor calls killing arthur  the final plan  which later changes to  the final deed   arthur and the private  intern  detective drive the same car  blah  blah  blah  . the  actors  are all very bad and are way  way over the top the script is laughably horrible  one such example is  i don  t make sense  you don  t make sense  i make sense  that  s who makes sense    and there so much more wrong with the  movie  that i can  t write them all down .  br    br   however  the most laughable yet unbelievable thing about  ben and arthur  is that sam mraovich thinks that he has created something that is truly fantastic  see his fake reviews for  ben  arthur  and obvious comments by him on youtube .  . mraovich is narcissistic and his arrogance blinds him from seeing how awful anything with his name on it really is .  br    br   so  to conclude  forget every bad film that you claim is the worst movie ever   ben and arthur  will knock them right off that title  even paris hilton movies look like  the dark knight  compared to the monstrosity known as  ben and arthur  .  
purple rain . . . what else can i say  the title speaks for itself . but i think all the actors were well picked . the movie had a great story . i loved it  ever since i watched that movie  i  ve been stuck in the eighties  and i  m only    my favorite part of the movie was when his father died and he was picking up all of his music compositions  and the apollonia was sitting on the stairwell with his earing in her hand . critics say that its a drama but i think its more of a romance . murphy brown also did a great job in the movie  he actually acted like himself . i  m so glad i  ve seen this movie . the song purple rain  beautifully sung  was so heartfelt . i cried more than once .  
just watched this after hearing about how bad it was and wanted to see for myself . seriously  even if you read all the negative comments on here you will be nowhere near able to comprehend how awful this film actually is  although it has to be one of the most hilarious things i have ever seen  never bothered to post a comment on here before  but this piece of crap really warrants it .  br    br   firstly the entire plot is ridiculous and nonsensical . brother of the lead character  either ben or arthur  i forget which is which  and frankly it  s never very clear  wants to stop some kind of gay marriage by killing everyone in sight  because homosexuality is abhorrent to christians  but apparently mass murder isn  t . then there  s some other crap thrown in about one of the gay couple  s ex  wife trying to force him to remarry her at gunpoint . this leads to nothing  but provides us with one of the funniest lines of dialogue in the whole  film    i don  t make sense  you don  t make sense  that  s who makes sense   . brilliant .  br    br   then there  s the acting  which is just atrocious . it must be seen to be believed . my personal favourite is the apparently stoned civil rights lawyer woman  who is clearly reading her lines off of something  yet still managing to mess them up . enough said . the gay couple couldn  t be less convincing . there  s the vaguely attractive and completely gormless guy  and his boyfriend who looks like that little cartoon dough man of the bisto adverts . only fatter . and less talented .  br    br   the  film  has also been filmed by someone who is incapable of holding a camera even remotely still  and the number of mistakes throughout is amazing . the whole thing kicks off with the fat main guy in bed with a pair of boots on . yep .  br    br   but anyways  we all know how terrible this thing is  so i  d like to highlight some of the most priceless comedy moments that the  film  provides .  br    br    when the fat guy sets the church on fire and then prances like a six year old girl across the car park to make his escape . hilarious .  br    br    mildread  no idea what relation she is to the main characters  sometimes they know her  sometimes they don  t  but she pops up in a couple of scenes nonetheless . hilarious .  br    br    the stoned lawyer . already mentioned her  but she  s so funny she  s worth another mention .  br    br    the evil brothers dinner of crackers that he lays on for his guests .  br    br    the evil brother  s anti  gay potion .  br    br    the evil brother  s cats .  br    br    the ending  which i won  t give away because it must be seen to be believed . i warn you though  make sure you  re not eating at the time     the tub of lard main character  director  producer gets naked . it  s foul .  br    br   basically  ben and arthur is indescribably bad  but unintentionally the most comical thing you  ll see for a long time . literally  nothing is good about this excuse for a film  the goon of a director even manages to make the opening credits into a joke by writing his own name about   times .  
it seemed as though the year     was anything but the orwellian nightmare it was calculated to be with george orwell  s science fiction novel       turned out to be one of the happiest times in american history   the upsurge in the economy  and a reemergence in basic american values  cultivated an idealistic aura of resumed innocence which was viewed by the american people with a very auspicious disposition   there have been many ersatz renditions of classic movies in the past  but  the originals are almost always considered superior    purple rain  is such a movie in this category   made in       purple rain  provided a doggerel of eighties  happy  go  lucky quality music  which they incorporated into the making of this excellent film   certain artifacts indicative of the eighties are indeed classics   screwball comedies  neon accented clothing  and of course  the music   eighties music is considered by experts to be the best decade for music in american history   set in minneapolis   purple rain  accommodated the use of naive entertainment with the changing times of the city . when i was a little kid  i lived in minneapolis for about eight months  back then  the non  white population was under     by      african americans had made some in roads into minneapolis  and  thus  they established a firmly embedded culture of their own as well   the movie  purple rain  evokes an eighties style clothing  and music ensemble  which effortlessly captivated the movie audience   i loved the music to  purple rain   and  the innovative approach this film takes to confrontational success  is indeed  brilliant   see this movie if you have not seen it already   prince became an eighties icon with this masterpiece   for a short time  he dated kim bassinger  he must be doing something right    purple rain  put prince on the map   this film gets my emphatically assertive verdict of thumbs up      
as an actor i really like independent films but this one is amateur at best .  br    br   the boys go to vermont for a civil service yet when the plane lands it flies over a palm tree  were the directors aware that palm trees are not in vermont  pines yes  palms no . and the same for the wedding service  again nice grove of palm trees .  br    br   when the boys are leaving vt they apparently could not get a ticket on any major airline since the plane that is filmed is federal express . did they ship themselves overnight in a crate  come on guys little details like this separate an indi film from totally amateur .  br    br   the christian brother is far gayer than arthur with his bleached hair and tribal band tattoo . the two should have switched roles .  br    br   the minor characters are laughable and overact something terrible .  br    br   applause to the directors for making a gay film but pay some attention to your locations and casting next time  
ok  so it may not be the award  winning  movie of the year  type  film  apart from the brilliant soundtrack that i think won a few awards   but it is a really great film about  the kid   prince  o  take your pick  and the happenings around him living in minneapolis  playing his music . the music is absolutely superb  in my opinion you have to own this soundtrack  it is truly a classic and sums up the eighties sounds and feel in a wonderful fashion . and the movie itself plays out a nice plot  it  s worth seeing over and over again  espeically if you like prince  o  which i do  of course .  
this movie is just truly awful  the eye  candy that plays ben just can make up for everything else that is wrong with this movie .  br    br   the writer  director  producer  lead actor etc probably had a good idea to create a movie dealing with the important issues of gay marriage  family acceptance  religion  homophobia  hate crimes and just about every other issue effecting a gay man of these times  but trying to ram every issue into such a poorly conceived film does little justice to any of these causes .  br    br   the script is poor  the casting very ordinary  but the dialogue and acting is just woeful . the homo  hating brother is played by the most camp actor and there is absolutely no chemistry between the two lead actors  i think i  ve seen more passion in an corn flakes ad  . the acting is stiff  and the dialogue forced  a scene where the brother is feeding the detective his lines was the highlight  .  br    br   i  m just pleased to see that the creator of this train wreck has not pushed any other rubbish out in to distribution  and if he is thinking of doing so  i have some advise  just don  t do it .  
prince stars as  the kid  in this semi  autobiographical film of a talented  but narcissistic young musician who has a less then stellar home life . true the acting leaves a tad to be desired  barring morris day and especially clarence williams who are both pitch perfect   but the movie is still great and among the best to come out of the     s . it has the best soundtrack of any movie of the last   years at least  highly quotable lines  and the dumpster scene is hilarious   plus apollonia is just simply stunning . on an unrelated not  when i saw prince in concert in     he blew down the stadium . he is an expert showman and it was one of the best concerts that i  ve experienced .  br    br   my grade a  br    br   dvd extras disc   commentary with director albert magnoli  producer robert cavallo   director of photography donald thorin theatrical trailer trailers for  under the cherry moon  and  grafitti bridge  disc   a   minute featurette on the first avenue club  purple rain bachstage pass  a half hour featurette on the movie which i  ll review later on it  s page    riffs  raffs  and revolution the impact and influence of purple rain    minute featurette   minutes of mtv  s premiere footage  when mtv didn  t suck donkey balls    prince music videos  let  s go crazy  take me with you  when doves cry  i would die  u  baby i  m a star  and purple rain    videos by the time  jungle love and the bird   and a music video for  sex shooter  by apollonia   br    br   eye candy apollonia shows her fine ass titties  
let me first state that i enjoy watching  bad  movies . it  s funny how some of these films leave more of a lasting impression than the truly superb ones . this film is bad in a disturbingly malicious way . this vehicle for sam mraovich  s delusional ego doesn  t just border on talentless ineptitude  it has redefined the very meaning of the words . this should forever be the barometer for bad movies . sort of the mendoza line for film . mr . mraovich writes  directs  and stars as blunt object arthur sailes battling scorned wives and the christian forces of evil as he and his partner ben  dead behind the eyes  sheets struggle for marital equality . as a libertarian i believe gays should have a right to get married . ben  arthur do more harm to that cause than an army of homophobes . the portrayal of all things christian are so ugly and ham  fisted  trademark mraovich  that you can  t possibly take any of them seriously . arthur  s brother victor  the bible toting jesus freak  is so horribly over  the  top evil  effeminately gay that you have to wonder how he was cast in this role . that  s because sam  multitasking  mraovich was also casting director . the worst of it all is sam mraovich himself . when you think leading man do the words pasty  balding  and chubby come to mind  sam also delivers lines like domino  s pizza  cold and usually wrong . the final tally you suck at writing  directing  acting and casting . that  s the ed wood quadruple crown . congratulations you horrible little man .  
this electrifying musical has more than a whiff of egotism from it  s star  the musical genius that is prince . the film is   or so minutes of posing but in truth it is easy to see why it is such a cult classic .  br    br   much like other films that centre around the struggling young musician trying to be big  this has a hint of drama in it to add a dimension to the musical numbers . while this film isn  t as good as  mile as a recent example  this is entertaining none the less and the soundtrack is much better . on the dramatic side of things the story centres around the kid  prince  a young artist and regular spot at a club . the owner of the club is frustrated with the kid  s arrogance and little does the kid know that he could soon be fired and replaced by a rival . one the side the kid  s parents are having trouble  with his dad abusing her violently . during the course of the film the kid learns a few lessons in life  and learns to appreciate his friends more . it  s all stuff we have seen in coming of age dramas of course  but this is combined as a musical  a very stylised musical .  br    br   the cast are good . prince is actually quite good on the drama side  when he  s not striking a pose . he seems human and relatable . clarence williams is very good as the abusive father as well . appollonia kotero makes a good debut as princes sexy love interest .  br    br   the main strength of the movie however is the superb soundtrack . the musical numbers are well staged and electrifying . prince is no doubt a musical maestro  albeit very eccentric . when he is inspired he is great but on the flip side he will often do songs that are solely for his own taste  and occasionally his experimentation can miss  fire  but that is the same for many musical geniuses . the soundtrack for this film is excellent though  with only sexshooter being a weak point . the show  stopping performance of purple rain is the standout though . it is one of my all time favourite songs .   br    br    
sam mraovich should never be allowed to touch a camera again . if he does he should be arrested on the spot . . . at the very least for petty larceny . anybody who pays even a dime to rent any of his garbage should file a claim and be compensated . this was innocently my first viewing of his  work  . . . and it will my last . ed wood looks awfully good to me right now .  br    br   when i return this piece of crap to the video store  i will personally ask that it be taken off the shelf . an active supporter of gay cinema  i am incensed and angered that this warped  exceedingly untalented man  child be allowed to distribute and package something like this  with a coltish pretty boy on the cover  jamie brett gabel  who  thankfully  has no other acting credits in imdb  and an interesting synopsis on the back used as bait  and then market it as a  movie  rental . trust me  this has no place being on any rack anywhere it is simply not a movie in any sense of the word . offensive  irresponsible junk such as this can only be detrimental to the efforts being made to promote and support gay cinema  hell  gay rights in general   for those tempting to rent this out because of the cover  you will be disappointed . gabel is not as flattering to look at on film as he is on the cover  and he appears once or twice without a shirt   that  s it . instead  the homely mroavich inflicts on us his own disgusting  sorry  looking dough  boy nakedness .  br    br   this  thing  he  assembled  is a reverse vanity project for mraovich . both he and his friend michael habousch  who  i understand  puts out similar sleazy garbage  are terrible in this . mraovich is purposely posing as a complete no  talent  in all fields   desperate to grab onto any  loser  attention he can for himself . he is to be pitied .  
as a big  time prince fan of the last three to four years  i really can  t believe i  ve only just got round to watching  purple rain  . the brand new   disc anniversary special edition led me to buy it . wow  i was really looking forward to watching it  but i wasn  t prepared for just how electric it actually is . prince  s musical performances throughout the movie are nothing short of astounding  he really has the moves in this one . i am very familiar  from repeated listens  with the classic  purple rain  album and all its songs  but to see them in the context of the movie completely alters your perception of the tunes and lyrics  like computer blue  the beautiful ones  when doves cry and purple rain itself . there is something indescribably hypnotising about the scenes where prince and the revolution perform . the closing songs baby i  m a star and i would die for u show how much energy and sheer talent prince was brimming with in his mid    s  he  s overflowing    it blew me away . it even makes michael jackson seem inanimate even in his peak years .  br    br   prince shows you how to win the girl of your dreams  drive her to a lake  make her jump in  then drive off  absolutely hilarious stuff in hindsight .  br    br   some of the scenes are very     s and unintentionally hilarious but this adds to the film  s overall charm . morris day is the coolest cat on the block  and hilarious   and when his group the time perform the bird you get to see morris day and jerome benton light up the stage minneapolis funk style  i love their dancing in this bit  and how benton provides morris with a mirror mid  performance .  br    br   i already can  t wait to watch it again  i really can  t  extras are terrific  particularly seeing a young eddie murphy pre  beverly hills cop admit he is a  prince groupie  .  
i have no idea what on earth  or beyond  could have possibly made sam mraovich believe that this would have been a worthy project to undertake . ben  arthur is one of the worst movies ever made . in fact  i see no reason why it should not be at   on the bottom    . for although i have not seen  for example  superbabies baby geniuses     at the time of this publication   i would venture to guess that that film is considerably better than this oozing wound  because even in its vapid dismalness at least baby geniuses  was professionally made . by contrast  everything  and i do mean everything  in this film is completely unprofessional .  br    br   the movie is intended to be an attack on the christian right  s supposed bigotry and hatred toward gays . and i do emphasize  intended .  not only does it completely and utterly fail at its purpose  it also leaves an ugly scar . instead of creating a compelling and realistic portrait of a gay couple  s struggle against a society that largely opposes them  it creates tired  crass stereotypes of each party involved . ben and arthur  the namesake couple  are portrayed as two crude  sex  starved  and hopelessly romantic cardboard cutouts who marry when the laws change to allow them to do so . this meets with the opposition of ben  s brother victor  a christian minister who  like all christians  as this movie would have us believe   is loud  prying  stupid  and violent . he tries to kill ben and arthur after his associations with them get him kicked out of the ministry . just like in real life . and if you think that  s dreadful  it is   you haven  t seen it all .  br    br   the actors    here manage to completely destroy any vestige of credibility in this movie by saying their lines as if they were narrating a youtube home comedy video . but not even daniel day  lewis and marlon brando as the title characters could have saved this clunker  for there would still be the matter of the completely inane and laugh  inducing dialogue that fills every minute of the movie . every scene has at least one awkward or misplaced quote . for example  in one scene  victor tries to complain about not being able to have nieces or nephews because of his brother  s homosexuality . but instead of portraying this idea clearly  he spits out the stupid  utterly confusing  whiny  sounding line   you know what  i  m never going to have any nieces or nephews  okay  because you  re so fed up    br    br   even more glaring is the complete lack of production values . yes  i know this ain  t the dark knight  but even amateur film makers should know some basics about special effects and editing . for example  six dots of red cake dye do not suffice for realistic bullet wounds . people do not teleport across a room between takes . and objects do not fall forward when shot   br    br   do not waste your money on ben  arthur . i don  t care if you  re      or    . i don  t care if you  re gay  straight  bi  or undecided . i don  t care if you  re  just curious .  i don  t care what pathetic reason you may have to be tempted to buy this dung  heap . stay away  far away . this movie  s only redeeming quality is its ability to be used as a frisbee .  
a much undervalued film that tells the story of a young musician caught in an ever  declining spiral of domestic violence .  br    br   at times difficult to watch  while morris day is portrayed as the misogynist  prince as the knight on  motorcycle  steed  he is still called upon to twice beat a woman as part of the screenplay . that he can do this and still emerge as a flawed but vindicated hero is credit to the writing . prince is so free of ego in this film that not only does he portray himself as a narcissistic megalomaniac who beats women  but his most famous song is fictionalised as being written by his father and wendy  lisa . even further  two of his compositions  computer blue  admittedly the album  s weakest track  and darling nikki  are shown as being songs that kill off an audience . perhaps the only concession to the princely ego is a card that lists the  slightly shorter than prince  apollonia as    .  br    br   the nearly complete  amateur cast are mainly band members playing themselves  and reviewers who slate the actors on the terms that they  ve never appeared in other movies are completely missing the point   and do perfectly well under the direction . morris day gets most of the plaudits for his likable ham  though jerome benton must also get credit for bouncing off him well  particularly their stage act  which is hilarious . day and benton even go so far as to make an abbott and costello routine funny  which takes some doing .  br    br   lastly  there  s prince . while i admit to bias  i do actually think he  s a pretty good actor in terms of being able to portray a low  key version of himself . acting isn  t his profession  this was a film made for entertainment  so anyone pointing out that the guy in the lead role isn  t robert deniro and thinking they  re making a point is sadly deluded . i don  t want this review to be a derisory attack of other people  s comments  but i  ve even this film slated as having a low budget and being darkly lit . how would a film about domestic violence be shot  then  with full overhead spotlights and a cgi dinosaur walking into frame   br    br   the film acts almost as a perfect snapshot of the neon light and skinny tie era until you remember that it was actually made in a world of curly perms and tinny synths  and this isn  t some retro  recreation . prince  s best film with oscar  winning music  it sees him at his zenith  and it  s saddening to realise that  even though he would make some fine albums  he would never again capture this high .  
i was looking on imdbs bottom    because i thought id never seen anything as bad as plan  from outerspace or roller ball remake  i was wrong . ben and arthur has beaten both .  br    br   this out of the many countless amount of movies i  ve seen is the number one worst film on the i ever saw . bad directing  bad characters  horrible acting  horrible story there  s a reason nobody but sam ever says anything positive about this film . sam was a horrible annoying actor but his directing was so bad he may just overthrow ed wood .  br    br   the director should be ashamed of his work unfortunately i have to give it at least  star but it deserves  to be continued stars .  
i had never seen richard thomas play a bad guy . i wasn  t sure i would like him this way . and i wasn  t sure he could pull it off . but this astounded me . he sent shivers up my spine and caused me to take a closer look at street people . the movie is engrossing and fast paced . bruce davison is convincing but all he can really play is a nice guy . the real talent here is thomas . the ending was a little clumsy but perhaps that  s the way real people would fight . . . if you are a thomas fan you must see him here at his best being bad   
there is absolutely nothing in this movie that shows even the tiniest scrap of talent . nobody in it has ever tried acting before  even the extras in the coffee shop look as if they  ve been glued in place . nothing looks rehearsed . the film quality is terrible . most of the  action  takes place in narrow corridors or apartments with the cameraman crammed in as an afterthought  swinging some cheapo camera backwards and forwards between  actors  as they deliver their lines . no tripod and no proper microphone either  there sound quality is terrible . even  manos  fares better than this  at least they had proper equipment . what plot there is simply gets lost in the production mess .  br    br   stick to home videos  preferably made by some  year kid trying out the video feature on daddy  s new camera phone . you will be in for a long search to find a movie more inept than this .  
vivah is by no means a classic . however in the days of hardcore action  path  breaking special effects  complex plots  none of which bollywood has mastered yet   its quite refreshing to see a simple film like vivah . the story as we all know is a journey from a couple  s first meeting to their eventual wedding after some coy moments and testing times . nothing more  nothing less . the music isn  t quite in the same league as mpk or hahk but doesn  t jar your senses either . two songs stood out for me  mujhe haq hai  do anjaane . while milan abhi aadha  hamaari shaadi were hummable . shahid performs sincerely  shows a lot of potential . its good to see him play something else but the  cool dude  he normally does . amrita is very sweet and plays the role of a docile small  town girl to perfection . alok nath  anupam kher  seema biswas are terrific supports and the rest of the cast does a reasonable job . suraj  s direction is simple but effective . the movie  s prime flaw is the slow pace which might test the patience of a lot of young viewers . but all in all a good  clean  decent family movie .  
  review in english  since swedish is not allowed   br    br   i saw this movie with extremely low expectations  and i can sadly inform you that the movie barely lived up to them .  br    br   as much as i loved to see janne  loffe  karlsson on the big screen again  the writers should have realized early in the scriptwriting process that seven people falling into the water  isn  t original or funny . the story is very thin and the jokes are used and predictable  the ones that ain  t  is just plain boring . i smiled like three times during the entire film .  br    br   the placement of swedish findus products is  unintentionally  funny  why not just a big sign saying  findus made it happen   .  br    br   gta kanal  doesn  t need to be seen at the cinema or on dvd  just wait for it to air on tv  it wont take too long .  
what great locations . a visual challenge to all those who put their eye behind the lens . this little jewel is an amazing account of what you can shoot in just   days . good going folks  . i can not wait to see what your next feature will be . i  ll be with you all the way .  
i made the big mistake of actually watching this whole movie a few nights ago . god i  m still trying to recover . this movie does not even deserve a  .  average . imdb needs to have  vote ratings possible for movies that really deserve it like this one . a  .  is too high .  br    br   i had heard how awful this movie was  but i really did not think a movie could actually be that bad  especially in this day and era . i figured all of the cheesy god awful movies were only from the     s and     s . my god was i wrong . trust me folks  this movie really is that bad . it is beyond horrible it is beyond pathetic it is beyond any type of word that i can think of for it . battlefield earth looks like best picture of the year compared to this movie . snake island  which up until now was the worst movie i  d ever seen  looks like it deserves a few oscars compared to this pathetic effort .  br    br   i seriously can not believe that the makers of this movie thought this was a legitimate serious effort of producing a hollywood movie . this has no business being called a movie . in the first   seconds of the film  i seriously thought i was watching some high school theater class attempting to make a short movie . or better yet  i thought it was some saturday night live ripoff skit of the real thing . i mean  it looks exactly like that . the acting is horrible the whole movie almost looks like it was shot with a   year old vhs video camera . the special effects . . . . . . . well good lord bewitched from back in the day had better special effects than this movie . the scene where he gets shot at the door is beyond laughable and beyond cheesy . i mean seriously  my intro to acting class from  years ago in college  all of us could have put together a better movie than this . and the worst part of the entire movie  where arthur is naked in the bathroom . oh my god i almost thew up right there . i have a strong stomach  but wow that was horrible . some people should never be naked  and he  s one of them . the plot of this movie just seems to go absolutely nowhere . they talk about legal issues that we never hear about again ben talks about getting into music that we never hear about again arthur says he is looking for a job and money for college and the next thing we see is he  s running a porn shop . everything about the movie is just horrible .  br    br   this really doesn  t have much to do with my critique  but just so everyone knows  i am not a gay man . i do however support gay rights and believe we should all be treated as equals . and i would support any gay person in my church  unlike the cruel priest in this movie  who by the way seems to cuss every other word .  where is the f  ing white out   hahaha but i didn  t want anyone to think i hated this movie just because of it being about two gay guys . it has nothing to do with that this would have been just as horrible of a movie if it was ben  jill instead of ben  arthur .  br    br   i just watched this movie to see if it really was as bad as they say . and yes it was even worse than i had read . let this be a warning to everyone only watch this movie if you want to just sit back and laugh at how pathetic some movies in the   st century can still be . if you watch this movie and are actually expecting a good movie or some entertainment  i have no sympathy for you whatsoever .  br    br   on a final thought how in the world are there  movies ranked below this on imdb  there is no way there are  movies out there that are worse than this   
savage island  s raw savagery will scare the hell out of you  trust me .  br    br   when the boy of the estranged savage family is run over by some city slicker tourists  pa savage wants revenge  and he  ll stop at nothing until he gets it .  br    br   this is a real horror film with some truly wonderful horror moments .  br    br   also  the negative review clearly comes from someone who lacks proper knowledge of film . the filmmakers chose the lighting and camera  work in order to reflect the dark  murky  and egdy mood of the story in other words  to obtain a certain aesthetic .  br    br   in fact  the film has won several horror film festival awards .  
holy crap this movie was bad . i watched it just as a joke . it isn  t even so bad that it  s good in an unintentional way . this film seemed to be designed to personally make me angry . it worked really well at doing that . it  s as if the people who made this just took all of the really annoying stuff about the movie priest  added in a bunch of ugly dudes  took out anything interesting  funny  or even remotely sexy and clever out of the concoction  and then added in a bunch of old rotten cheese . that  s all this is . cheese . there isn  t a single person this film could possibly connect to . there isn  t any universe this film could possibly take place in . why can  t a film like this just be about enjoying life and being happy  why did they have to make this already stupid idea for a film even more ridiculous than it already is  why couldn  t they at least even tried to make it an okay film  or even a b  movie . now that i think of it  what they hell were they trying to do with this film  i watched it expecting a campy love story and instead i got some boring student project about some idiot who has to find the strength and courage to marry his boyfriend while his annoying christian brother tried to destroy it all    no  i  m not joking . that  s what it  s about . does that sound good  this film is pretty ignorant against people of the christan religion  with it  s stereotyping of all christians being loudmouthed  rude  and hellbent on making as many people as miserable as possible . a lot of christian people i know would never speak or act like these freaks . the film  however  is just as unfair and ignorant to the gay community as well . these have got to be the most tastelessly crafted stereotypical gay men since the guy on the radio station on that roadkill video game . it  s so nerve wracking and simply irritating to the point that i wasn  t able to fully pay attention to this film . the makers of this train  wreck had no strategy for set design  acting  camera angles  lighting  script  authenticity  or an idea to make this entertaining or interesting . there isn  t even a single sex scene  or at least not a believable one . jamie brett gabel was the only guy in the film that looked any good at all  but his good looks were sadly put to waste . this is trash . in a perfect world  this film would get voted a  .  . it  s worth  as a film alone . a mentally handicapped nun who is blind  deaf  and has tiny little bones for arms and legs and whose face is located on her armpit could write  direct  and produce a better film  and she  d probably be a better actor as well . the fact that this film exists is a crime against the word  film  itself . this film is so bad that other films should be ashamed of being available in the same watchable format . i could put a broom in a chair and then record it with a camera and then stop the film and then replace it with a mini x  mas tree and then record that and i  ve already made a film that will always be better than ben  arthur by at least half . there are only two things worse than death . torture and watching ben  arthur . i  m a homosexual and i will probably be the gayest person you will ever meet if you ever met me  and i don  t think i  ve ever been more offended by an entire film than i was by the first five seconds of this film alone . if this movie was a mistake  i will personally find a way to change the famous phrase  it  s okay to make mistakes  to  it  s okay to make mistakes unless that mistake was ben  arthur .  you know how people always say things like   good things come out of everything    i think that ben  arthur was primarily invented so that there could be something on this earth that nothing good would ever come out of . to call this movie the worst movie i  ve ever seen would be giving it way too much credit . it  s as if this film were designed just so that it could qualify in a category of it  s very own . there are good movies  there are bad movies  and then there  s ben  arthur . this is ben and arthur .  
this is a good film for    of the duration . i feel that the ending has occluded this film from higher acclaim .  br    br   it is shot in a rather naive fashion . this is clearly done to create a more chilling feel to the film  a feeling of isolation becomes apparent very soon on due to this filming technique .  br    br   the gruesome characters are very well acted and presented especially the  nutcase  called joe . however  the wholesome  normal  characters are a little too pathetic for my liking  granted  they are supposed to come across as pathetic but this is done a little ott .  br    br   the film starts slowly  and the naive camera work smacks of  b  movie to start with  and very normally but you soon get a feel of the impending brutality that is about to occur . this is one of the most  twisted  movies with respect to cold  hearted violence .  br    br   after the abrupt and unbelievably lazy ending i was left feeling disappointed . i would have given the film a  if the ending was in keeping with the rest of the film but as it is it gets only a  on the strength of the  eeriness  and nail  biting scenes earlier on in the film .  br    br   give it a watch and excuse the ending   
intrigued by the synopsis  every gay video these days has a hunk on the cover this is not necessarily to be construed as a good sign  i purchased ben and arthur without knowing a thing about it . this is my second  and i assure you it will be my last  purchase of a culture q connection video . as far as i am concerned  this dvd is nothing but a blatant rip  off . i do not make this observation lightly  i am a major collector of videos  gay and mainstream  and i can state with some authority and without hesitation that ben and arthur is quite simply the worst film i have ever sat through in my life . period . my collection boasts over      films     on them on dvd  and of those  well over    are gay and lesbian themed . i hardly own every gay movie ever made  but i am comfortable in stating that i pretty much purchase almost every gay video of interest that gets released  and very often i buy videos without knowing anything about the film . sometimes  this makes for a pleasant surprise  aimee  jaguar  it  s in the water  urbania and normal are all examples of excellent gay titles that i stumbled upon accidentally . so when i read on the box that ben and arthur concerned a conflict between gay lovers and the christian right  one of my favorite subjects  i decided to take the plunge sight unseen  despite my previously disappointing purchase of another culture q connection title  visions of sugar plums . that film was pretty bad  but compared to ben and arthur  it viewed like gone with the wind . so what was so wrong with ben and arthur  plenty  to begin with  the  plot  such as it was  was totally ridiculous . this film almost made me sympathetic to the christian right  we are asked to believe not only that a church would expel a member because his brother is gay  but that a priest would actually set up a mob style execution of a gay couple in order to save their souls  like this even makes sense  . the writing is so poor that many scenes make no sense at all  and several plot points reflect no logic  follow  up or connection to the story . murder and violence seem to be acceptable ends to the gay activist  right wing conflict on both sides  and the acting is so bad that it  s difficult to imagine how anybody in this film got hired . the characters who are supposed to be straight are almost without exception clearly gay  and nelly stereotypes to boot the gay characters are neither sexy nor interesting . this film is enough to put off anybody from buying gay themed videos forever  and the distributors should be ashamed of themselves . the only advantage this picture has over my other culture q connection purchase  visions of sugarplams  is that this one has a soundtrack with clear dialogue . hardly a distinction  since the script is so insipid that understanding the script only serves to make you more aware of how bad this film truly is . it is an embarrassment to queer culture  and i intend to warn everyone i possibly can before they waste their money on it . at   .   this film would have been way overpriced i understand that it  s soon to be re  priced under     which is still highway robbery . i paid the original price of    .    and i never felt more cheated in my life . the only true laugh connected with this drivel is the reviews  i have seen  user reviews  for this film on numerous websites  and there is always one or two that  praise  the director  writer  actor in such a way that it  s obvious that the reviewer is a friend of this ed wood wannabe . how sad . how desperate . i just wish imdb would allow you to assign zero stars  or even minus zero . if ever a film deserved it  this is it .  
i finally got around to seeing this after hearing great things about it . it actually exceeded my expectations . considering the budget involved this was a surprisingly competent and well  made film . the lack of finances actually helped this film in several ways  especially given the plot . just like the blair witch project  this film was all the better for being shot on video instead of film . another bonus whereas most low  budget horror films  even the best of the best  suffer from mediocre  to  unintentionally hysterical acting  this film actually had a talented cast  save one or two characters   particularly the two leads . the only thing missing from the film was an original storyline . it borrows heavily from better  known films like  deliverance  and  wrong turn  but if you  re like me  films of this nature never cease to be terrifying . plus  the director keeps things interesting throughout . i  d be very interested to see what the director would do with a bigger budget and i have a feeling it will only be a matter of time before we find out . . .  
i have never posted a review before  but i had to do it for this film  this film is so bad  i found myself trying to justify how bad it is by trying to think of it as kitsch or parody . but it isn  t . it is truly  un  self  consciously bad . this is a serious attempt that flops gloriously . other reviewers have pointed out the film  s many flaws  so i  ll try not to repeat these  but i do urge you to see this film . throughout it i was either speechless  literally gasping with disbelief  or rolling on the floor in hysterics . i haven  t had so much fun watching a film in years . in fact  i  m going to try to get all my friends to see it because it  s the kind of movie that needs to be shared .  br    br   my favorite parts   when arthur auditions to be a go  go boy  his dancing is unbelievable    the gratuitous nudity  the director  leading actor just had to get a nude shot in    the preacher  s office with its cardboard and crayon rendition of christ   of course  the famous wedding scene with the palm trees and the forgotten rings  what narrative function does this play       the ex  wife  s wrestling match with ben to get possession of her gun   the detailed sequence wherein arthur kills the preacher he apparently burns him up with this incredibly measly match   yes  the gay religious  fanatic brother with his bleached hair and weho fashions   and  my favorite  the use of joplin  s  the entertainer  as the opening soundtrack and  pachebel  s canon in d major  as the closing soundtrack    the list goes on and on   a must see     
very good except for the ending which was a huge disappointment .  br    br   the script was very good as was the acting . the visuals were often very grainy but this in a way added to the film as the snowy features were in good places that helped create a mood towards the film . this affect was ruined by the extremely unbelievable ending .  br    br   i was going to give this film an  out of ten but the ending knocked it down a point to  because it seemed to depart radically from the first   minutes of the movie and seemed quite forced at the end to make the film makers look clever .  br    br   this movie though was much better than films with quite a lot larger budgets and seemed to be filmed like a home movie with some extra equipment . not much in the way of special effects as these go but for suspense it was very good .  
the . worst . film . ever . made .  br    br   after watching this supposedly gay made film  i suspect someone rounded up a brain damaged half blind neo  nazi and had him make the worst gay film ever  all in some deluded attempt to attack gay culture . i had to stop the movie and call a friend to come over just so i had someone to scoff at when i paused the movie out of shock  disbelief and outrage at such sheer stupidity .  br    br   on top of all the horrible writing and acting and illogical and stupid plot  its just a poorly made film . a dog with a handycam tied to its tail could have churned out better .  br    br   seriously  after reading the few positive reviews this movie has here  i suspect the writer must have a half a dozen imdb accounts . anyone who says this film is even watchable as anything other than a joke  is a liar or being paid heavily to say so .  
who ever came up with story is one sick person . i rented it for our slumber party sleepover and all six of us got freaked out cause we  re all in an acting class together  and we know a couple of the actors from class . besides everybody screaming the whole freaky night  i had freaky nightmares . i kept thinking oh my god  if i get up to go to the bathroom to pee i  m going to be stabbed in the middle of wiping or something . i couldn  t even go to the bathroom because we watched this gruesome horror movie . i also thought why are all the girls topless in this movie but we don  t any of the boys units  you should make a horror film where the killer is a girl and chopping off units . i would watch that over and over . call it hard or soft or something stupid like that . i  m only giving this movie a  because you freaked me out freaks .  
this film was the worst film i have ever viewed . it was like a  homework assignment  for a film class . it totally misses the mark when it comes to the  message  it is trying to relay . characters are over exaggerated  poor acting and as for a plot . . . well it is utterly ridiculous . the cover shot is what made me think it may be a decent film  the co  actor is handsome and that  s about it . moral of this movie never judge a movie by it  s cover  save your time  money and energy and make your own home movie and you will be far better off than i . it was painful to watch and quite frankly i am surprised that anyone would spend money to make and distribute it   
i think this movie had to be fun to make it  for us it was fun to watch it . the actors look like they have a fun time . my girlfriends like the boy actors and my boyfriends like the girl actors . not very much do we get to have crazy fun with a movie that is horror make . i see a lot of scary movies and i would watch this one all together once more  or more because we laugh together . if this actors make other scary movies i will watch them . the grander mad man thats chase to kill the actors is very much a good bad man . he make us laugh together the most . i would give this movie a high score if you ask me .  br    br   i don  t know if the market has any more of the movies with the actors  but the main boy is cute . the actor with the grand chest has to be not real . they doesn  t look to real .  
ben  arthur could have been a   . sam mraovich wrote  directed  stared  and produced this movie . sam should have given his idea to a good writer  director  and left the acting to somebody who could act . this is a good example of one person controlling the whole production . there was nobody to tell him   sam this is bad  really bad  .  br    br   jamie brett gabel  s acting was the only good point  but he could have been so much better with a good director  and better actors to work with .  br    br   this movie is so bad i think sam mraovich should be tied to a chair and made to watch this movie  twice  . the acting and direction was so bad  this movie was turned into a comedy . you just had to laugh  and in the wrong places .  br    br   a second good point . . . . this would make a great date movie . after the first two minutes you would quit watching the movie and pay more attention to your date   
jane eyre has always been my favorite novel  when i stumbled upon this movie version in the late    s i was ecstatic  this is the best and most complete version of the book on film  this version is a little long to sit through in one sitting but well worth it . timothy dalton is amazing as rochester . i was glad that they cast a normal looking actress  zelah clark  as jane and not a glamorous person . i love the sets and the location . for anyone who is a true jane eyre fan  this is the version to watch    for those of you who are interested  i just found this version on dvd . i have watched my vhs copy almost to breaking so i was thrilled to find it on dvd .  
your first clue that this is a cheesy movie is that it was shot on video  not film . the story is convoluted  and the production is amazingly sloppy . note  for example  that when the title couple are on a plane ostensibly landing in vermont  where they  ve gone to celebrate their relationship in a civil union ceremony  the plane is shown coming into an airport surrounded by palm trees . their ceremony  in vermont  takes place in a garden of tropical plants  including palms  which wouldn  t last five minutes in the new england climate . on yet another airplane trip  the establishing shot depicts a fedex cargo plane taking off . presumably they could only afford to travel in steerage . as for the plot  this movie expects you to believe that victor  the devoutly christian brother of arthur  is kicked out of his church when the congregation learns that his brother is gay . not only that  but the pastor eventually sets victor up with a hit man to have ben and arthur killed  to purge their souls of sin .  apparently no one in this church has ever heard of the ten commandments . were it not for jamie brett gabel  who is surprisingly effective as arthur  this movie would have no redeeming qualities at all .  
last night i finished re  watching  jane eyre         the bbc mini  series adapted from charlotte bronte  s gothic romance novel which is deservingly a classic of english literature with timothy dalton  my favorite james bond  as mr . edward rochester and zelah clarke  as jane eyre  a poor orphaned    year  old girl  a governess at mr . rochester  s estate  thornfield .  jane eyre  has been one of my most beloved books since i was an    years  old girl and the friend of mine gave it to me with the words   this book is amazing  and so it was and i have read it dozens of times and i am still not tired of it . its beautiful language  refined  fragrant  and surprisingly fresh  the dialogs  and above all  two main characters  and the story of their impossible love have attracted many filmmakers .  jane eyre  has been adapted to tv and big screen many times    according to imdb . the actors as famous and marvelous as joan fontaine and orson welles  william hurt and charlotte gainsbourg  george c . scott and susannah york  ciarn hinds and samantha morton have played the couple that had overcome hundreds of obstacles made by society  laws  religion  by the differences in age  backgrounds  experiences  and by the fateful mistakes that would hunt one for many years . of all these films i  ve only seen one     minutes long bbc version from     that follows the novel closely and where timothy dalton who frequently plays dark  brooding characters did not just play edward rochester brilliantly and with class  he was mr . rochester  sardonic  vibrant  the force of nature  powerful  passionate  sexy  and tormented master of thornfield . zelah clarke was also convincing as sweet  gentle  intelligent and strong jane who feels deeply and is full of passion mixed with clear reasoning  and quiet but firm willpower .  br    br   added on september         during the last two weeks  i  ve seen five  jane eyre  movies and it was a wonderful experience . there is something to admire in every adaptation of  jane eyre  even if not all of them are completely successful . this version is still my favorite  jane eyre  film .  
oh my god . i bought this movie and . . . i . . . watched . . . the . . . whole . . . thing . . . okay  it  s going to be alright . . . i  l know i  ll be okay in a month or two . some time soon i hope to be rid of the flash backs . i was going to eat something after the movie but i just can  t seem to get up the courage to try and hold any food down at the moment . bad  yes bad . very bad . bad bad bad bad bad . wait  bad doesn  t seem to get the message across in quite the right way . hmm . . . there isn  t a word to describe just how awful . . . . not awful . . . hmm disgustingly horribly casted  acted  filmed  directed  written . now i don  t know what to do but throw it out . possibly burn it i wouldn  t want it to end up at the bottom of an architectural dig a thousand years from now . the worst movie ever since  hey happy   
playing a character from a literary classic can be a bit of a poisoned chalice for an actor  paying for the pleasure of a meaty character by competing with the fantasies of generations of readers  not to mention the numerous other actors who  ve besieged the castle before . fortunately for the fantasists  this version  with the nicely cast zelah clarke and timothy dalton  stands head and shoulders above versions that have come after it . it  s the right length to do the story full justice  and makes considerable use of bronte  s cracking dialogue none of that modern meddling away  cutting text and adding new and inferior scenes .  br    br   the magic of the original story lies in the tensions created between the central characters  and the lives circumstances create for them to lead . jane   poor  plain and little   grows up on the stinting charity of a cold aunt  her nature and independence shaped by a long spell in a very harsh school . she arrives as a governess in the household of mr rochester  utterly friendless and alone . she represses herself habitually out of duty and hard experience  but her passionate nature soon finds its touch  paper in her stern  keenly intelligent  enigmatic master  to whom she is drawn  as he is to her  by forces beyond their control . rochester is the caged tiger  busy  paving hell with energy   potentially dangerous to all who come into contact with him  but  pervious  through a chink or two  . his character is extraordinary he takes extraordinary liberties with a paid subordinate but then jane is no ordinary employee  as he sees . but a dark secret  and severe trials  lie before them both .  br    br   it  s a pleasure to hear bronte  s remarkable dialogue spoken by such accomplished actors  dalton in particular seems formed for passion on a brontean scale . if you  ve only ever seen him as a not  so  memorable bond  you  ve missed the thing he  s best at . those who  ve commented that his rochester is too handsome  miss the point of these dramatisations his character has simply too much screen time for a really ugly man to retain the viewer  s attention . timothy dalton is just right  not always or consistently handsome  but often glancingly  strikingly so  just as it should be . and zelah clarke  s jane is no wallflower she conveys the emotions of a woman who habitually represses her sense of humour and her passionate nature very successfully  allowing her rare outbursts to show to more dramatic effect .  br    br   not so long ago the bbc aired an excellent dramatisation of jean rhys  enlightened and most unsettling riposte to bronte   wide sargasso sea   imagining the back  story of the first mrs rochester . do check it out  you  ll never see the  hero  of  jane eyre  in quite the same way again .  
if an auteur gives himself  credits before the main title and about   more credits before the movie starts  and the first shot shows the auteur rolling around on a bed in lycra bike shorts  it won  t be a surprise to observe that said auteur has the kind of body that should never be seen in spandex . the kind of look that might be useful to a homosexual aversion therapist .  br    br   others have given this thing the dishing it deserves . for me the most pitiable moment came when the trip from la was signified by a plane landing at what appeared to be lax and the return was signified by a shot of a fedex cargo plane .  
all the talent mr . sooraj barjatya showed in his first  movies  i thought were all an accident because his  th one main prem ki diwani hoon was so bad . but i have to say it wasn  t an accident . this guy is talented and the way he has done vivah is just brilliant . right from the first scene it affects you . the sequences between shahid and amrita are awesome . the chemistry between these two actors gives glimpses of that between srk and kajol . as usual alok nath as the good and loving father is fantastic  so is anupam kher . but its a shahid  amrita film . amrita looks good in most scenes though shahid does look a little young to get married but he does a good job of a shy but yet morally strong groom . this movie will especially be liked by those who has gone through such beautiful moments in their life . all in all a brilliant film . hats off to mr . sooraj barjatya . . .  
yet another forgettable warners foreign intrigue  thriller   this is rendered even less enjoyable by the irritating presence of lauren bacall  who  without humphrey bogart  s tender attentions to humanize her  comes off as her usual shrill  shallow self . even master gigolo charles boyer cannot feign romantic interest in her .  
in all the comments praising or damning dalton  s performance  i thought he was excellent . he does not play rochester as a spoiled pretty rich boy  but as a roguish  powerful man . i liked this version  although the shot on video aspect was sometimes distracting  and the scenes with jane and st . john never quite gelled . i give this an  .  
this movie was laughably bad . a friend rented it from netflix and made me watch it . there are so many gaffes and goofs that it  s impossible to even bother getting to know the characters and the plot . how about these for example . . .  br    br   the  vermont airport  surrounded by palm trees  br    br   ben  s miraculously appearing shirt during a phone conversation  br    br   the priest  s palatial office . . . complete with a folding card table desk  br    br   there is a decent story hidden behind a very bad movie . but even if you look past the technical flaws  you  ll find horrid acting and casting . i was most tickled by the casting of a flamboyantly gay actor to play the right  wing religious zealot brother . his opening scene  sitting in his immaculate apartment  stroking his kitty cat  was hilarious .  br    br   i applaud the writer  director  producer  editor  star  caterer  cast dentist  composer  and whatever else he did on this move  for actually getting a movie like this distributed . if you have nothing better to do  it could be a fun group movie or even the basis of a drinking game but don  t rent it for a powerful story about homophobia and gay marriage .  
the     bbc production of  jane eyre  starring zelah clarke and timothy dalton  love him  has always been and will always be my favorite jane eyre . if you watch any other version of jane eyre without reading the book  it will be like watching some regular movie which you will forget the next day . but watching this one almost equals to reading the book . i used to watch these miniseries a lot when i was little  and they inspired me to read the book . at the time i didn  t pay attention to how close this television production was to the book . recently  i watched the     version of jane eyre and was very disappointed . it was only  hours long and didn  t have many important scenes from the book  such as my favorite gypsy scene  . after that i fell in love with this  jane eyre  even more because it includes all the important scenes of the book and it just tells the whole story  the other versions don  t  if you haven  t read the book  .  br    br   the cast of     jane eyre is excellent . it  s true that timothy dalton is a very handsome actor  handsome enough to play butler in  scarlet   and julius caesar   but he is so great as rochester that i can  t imagine anybody else playing this role . and zelah clarke is  without a doubt  the only jane that follows the description of the book . the other thing that makes this film so great is the clothes and the makeup of the actors . jane looks so modest and naive  just as bronte describes her  although she doesn  t look    but do you actually pay attention to that  . . .   br    br   some people say that this  jane eyre  is too long  but i would rather spend my whole day watching it than spend  hours watching some other version . some say the movie is dull and boring because jane is not passionate enough  or because there are not enough  kissing scenes  . i hate when they make jane eyre some  hollywood movie  with inappropriate kissing scenes . you don  t have to include  crazy  madly in love  scenes to show the love between jane and rochester . and both zelah and timothy express this love so perfectly that there are no other scenes needed   i am   years old  and many girls of my age refer to this film as  boring and old  fashioned  . but i can only feel sorry for them because they don  t appreciate the purity and beauty of it . after all  the novel is set in   th century  and that old  fashioned look makes it more attractive and more like the book .  br    br   i don  t think there will ever be any other version of jane ayre that will have the popularity and love of this one . no matter who plays jane and rochester in other movies  the real jane and rochester  for me at least  will always be zelah clarke and timothy dalton   
 . . . well  pop this into the dvd  waste an hour and a half of your life that you will never get back  and find out .  br    br   acting  what acting   br    br   production values  . . . production  . . . values   br    br   story  don  t get me started .  br    br   after many years of posting on imdb  i never thought i would see a film so bad that i truly wished for a lower rating than one . i always have found at least a reason or two to see merit  if only in the intent or the effort of the writer  the director  the cast  or the producer   br    br   in this case  they  re all the same guy    who really needs to get a handle on the fact  at least as demonstrated by this worthless waste of video tape  that he has no talent . i mean it would be a reasonable excuse if this were some junior high schooler  s  production  for his first cinema class  but the referenced  artist  behind this dreck was twenty  six at the time of this miscarriage .  br    br   just how did this ever get made  who in their right mind ever wrote a check for this  moreover  don  t let the box cover fool you there  s not even anything that remotely resembles a good sex scene or any good  exposure  of the hunk on that cover .  br    br   two final items there was one second when this  film  had redeeming value the aforementioned  talent  gets roundly punched out by his lover . i cheered  and  i did learn one thing from this  film .  . there are times when something is so very bad that it is  indeed  truly very funny . but not in any comical manner it  s just sadly humorous . very sadly humorous .  
though i did not begin to read the  classics  in literature until i was    it  s never too late . jane eyre is a favorite for many reasons  mainly because there isn  t a part of the book i liked less  only parts i enjoyed more . the     tv mini  series with zelah clarke and timothy dalton was everything i hoped it would be . i saw it as a full length movie in     . dalton  s  mr . rochester  was very good but i absolutely loved zelah  s  jane eyre  . relecting on another  classics  movie i saw recently  i was disappointed in the production  direction and dialogue . it was only faithful to the avarice and arrogance of hollywood . artistic license to the great works in literature is nothing short of plagiarism . using the title after such license is fraud . leave it to the brits to get this one right  among others  . you won  t be able to reread the book without reliving the movie with it  s proper context and spirit . well done bbc .  
the only reason that this movie is rated a  is that zero is not one of the selection options . with a plot thinner than depression era cabbage soup  horrific acting  and special effects that look like they came out of the  thunderbirds  tv series  it is amazing that widmark didn  t kill the director for putting this black mark on his resume . even by      s standards  the special effects are atrocious  except for a couple of underwater submarine sequences . i can only assume that it was nominated for best special effects because  except for       leagues under the sea and them   there wasn  t anybody else doing effects . it was certainly no contest for disney that year if this was their only competition . i wouldn  t recommend the film  even for hard core submarine movie buffs  as the most realistic scene on the submarine was limited to one shot where seawater can be seen dribbling down the up  raised periscope . there are other  much better  sub films that you can enjoy from this era  like the aforementioned       leagues or torpedo run .  
when my now college age daughter was in preschool  this miniseries appeared on ae from    each morning . my neighbor and i made a pact that we wouldn  t miss a minute of jane eyre and our kids were late for preschool every morning for the whole week . good choice .  br    br   i  d forgotten how much i loved this movie until i got out my old vhs copy recently . timothy dalton is very handsome  but still perfect as rochester . the dark  craggy face  the imperious demeanor tempered with humor and tenderness were straight from the pages of the book . although dalton eats a little scenery  i couldn  t sit through an adaptation starring wimpy william hurt or grumpy ciaran hinds . the magic here is that women love dalton and get caught up in the romance .  br    br   i would love to know what  s become of zelah clarke . she is dead on as jane  quiet  formal  saying volumes with but a look . the sparkle in her eyes gives viewers a glimpse of the strength and spirited nature that helped jane survive the mistreatment she endured in youth . criticism of her performance as  wooden  is misplaced . a servant in a proper english household would have maintained just such a demeanor  but she speaks passionately when overcome with emotion . unlike many other screen janes  she appears plain enough to be jane yet pretty enough to allow the audience to buy rochester  s attraction to her .  br    br   bronte  s dialog is a large part of why the book endures the script keeps much of it intact . dalton and clarke capture the interplay between jane and rochester with wit and quiet intensity . although jane appears as plain and sweet as vanilla custard  she refuses to be cowed by the dark  blustery rochester . the two leads play off each other beautifully .  br    br   this is the most perfect adaptation of the best romance novel ever .  
the leap years stars some heavy hitters in the local and regional film and television scene . and yet  they cannot save this movie . it has so many things going against it  over acting  overly melodramatic  poor script  inconsistent direction and too few things going for it  decent music  good cinematography . this comment is mainly for anyone who throws all local movies into one basket after watching this film and says all local movies are bad . please do not judge the rest based on this one film . this is a television soap opera masquerading as a romantic feature film . my hopes were high when i bought my ticket and my hopes were dashed five minutes into the film .  
i have recently seen this production on dvd . it is the first time i have seen it since it was originally broadcast in     and it was just as good as i remembered . at first as was worried it would seem old fashioned and i suppose it is a little dated and very wordy as the bbc serials were back then .  i miss those wonderful costume dramas that seemed to be always on sunday afternoons back then  but that aside it is as near perfect as it could have been . i am a bit of a  jane eyre  purist as it is my favourite book and have never seen another production that is a faithful to the book as this one . i have recently re  read the book as well and some of the dialogue is just spot on . reading the scene near the end where rochester questions jane about what st john was like i noticed their words were exactly reproduced on screen by dalton and clarke and done perfectly .  br    br   all the other productions that have been done all seem lacking in some way  some even leave out the  rivers  family and their connection to jane altogether . i also think this is the only production to include the  gypsy  scene done correctly .  br    br   the casting is perfect  zelah clarke is like jane is described in the book  small plain and dark  and i disagree that she looked too old . timothy dalton may be a little too handsome but he is absolutely perfect as rochester  portraying every aspect of his character just right and acting his socks off  i agree with other comment that he even appears quite scary at time  like in the scene when he turns around slowly at the church when the wedding is interrupted  his expression is fantastically frightening . but then in another favourite scene his joy is wonderful to see when jane runs down the stairs and into his arms the morning after they declare their love for one another . a love that is wonderfully portrayed and totally believable . oh to be loved by a man like that  there were a couple of scenes that were strangely missing however  like when jane climbs in to bed with the dying helen and also when rochester takes jane shopping for her wedding things  i thought that one was in it but maybe my memory is playing tricks  .  br    br   finally if you never see another production of jane eyre  you simply most see this one it is simply perfection   
i must preface this by saying i am a huge romantic . hence i really wanted to like this film . so i  m writing my thoughts to save the rest of you from the disappointment i felt watching it . the leap years tells the destiny  filled tale of li  ann who falls for the suave jeremy and they commit to meet every leap year . a very romantic premise  based on a great short story and with a cast that doesn  t feel like you  re watching yet another jack neo flick . then why oh why is it so bad  firstly  i feel the filmmakers thought they were shooting a music video  because they chose to replace storytelling and any true emotions with cheesy montages  predictable actions and clichd lines . i am both upset and embarrassed to have been one of the first few in singapore to watch the leap years  but those of us in the cinema would agree that our muffled groans at the cringe  worthy performances spoke volumes . my hope was to watch a romantic movie that would surpass forever fever  the best singaporean romantic comedy so far  and the leap years does not even come close . some blogs have called it the crap years which is harsh but ultimately true . don  t waste your money or your emotions like i did . the movie will make you give up on love forever .  
this has to be the best adaptation i have seen it  s my favourite and i think it stays very close to the book . what really makes this a must see though is the casting of the two lead actors . the wonderful timothy dalton is the best rochester i have seen on screen brooding and tragic  while zelah clarke is the perfect combination of strength  courage  shyness and gentleness as jane . the story  as i  m sure most people know  is this  the young and plain jane eyre is a teacher at a charity school for girls in the      s who advertises her services as a governess in the newspapers . she is offered the post of governess at the big mansion thornfield hall to tutor adele the young ward of the halls mysterious and respected owner mr rochester . as the months go on he falls in love with jane and puts into effect a few situations to try and see if jane is as madly in love with him as he is with her . however there is a secret still waiting to be discovered at thornfield hall and when it is it  s effects are devastating . this is a moving and well acted drama with nice locations and gorgeous costumes plus as i said earlier excellent acting especially from zelah and timothy .  
there are no spoilers in this review because everything was already shown in the movie  s trailer . i am trying to be balanced in my review because i strongly support local movies  but i can  t help but support the backlash against this movie . it is slow  boring and bordering on pointless . even the  almost nice and believable moments  were immediately undercut by painful clichs and bad acting . vernetta lopez and wong li lin  whom i usually love  were only passable in this movie . it felt like the director was trying to make a melodramatic tv soap  then got carried away and decided to put it on the big screen . the leap years should come with an ra rating  rated awful  but it hasn  t changed my faith in local movies . more good films will come  so long as more films like these don  t get made .  
if a more masterful adaptation than this one even existed  you need not look for it you will find all and more in this near  perfect presentation of charlotte bront  s masterpiece .  br    br   rarely have i seen a film that would urge me to read the novel on which it was based  but i admit to that here . although i have not read jane eyre  i am convinced that i have missed very little in the way of dialogue and plot or of intensity and emotion . i only wish to explore the novel due to the immense curiosity and emotion that this masterpiece has stirred within me .  br    br   i need not divulge anything in the way of plot here . let me just say this if you are perhaps unsure as to whether you should watch or read the beautiful story that is jane eyre  i implore you to doubt no more  every atom of might and magic that has reared jane eyre as a popular classic of english literature has successfully been captured in this film .  br    br   what bront did not bring herself  clarke and dalton managed to translate in the limelight with stupendous intensity . the movie  s success is  no doubt  due in no small part to their acting prowess .  br    br   love jane eyre or hate her  but appreciate the richness  the vitality  the truth of the story love the characters love the actors all just as you would love what is great in cinema .  
recherche is a good word to describe this movie .  br    br   let  s say every movie has a selling point  a gimmick . transformers  gimmick is the awesome effects as well as fan boys nostalgia . sleepless in seattle  s gimmick is situational in their tag  line   what if someone you never met  someone you never saw  someone you never knew was the only someone for you   many romance relies heavily on these gimmicks and some through draw of big names . leap years employs both by using the irish folklore as the circumstance and featuring considerably famous names within the country .  br    br   so now that the audience are in the cinema  besides all the usual elements in characters  conflict or consequences  crisis  resolve and denouement  they also look forward to stimulating dialog  more absorbing situations as a result of the leap years  interesting sub  plots and perhaps  to a certain extent  a good twist in the middle or towards the end of the story that favors the circumstances of the characters .  br    br   this is what jean yeo is trying not to achieve . if they  ve tried to  their goal was apparently in the other court  at the other stadium  on the other end of the planet . she and her writer  alain layrac  utterly failed to provide stimulating dialog . most of the lines were contrived . it seems that they have a bag filled with lines which she would like to use in her movie  okay  these are the lines and quotes which i  ve heard or read from either movies i  ve seen or books i  ve read before and they all sound good to me . if they sound good to me  they will sound good to the audience . therefore  all i have to do is piece them all together . i am going to use all of them .  the result is cathartic . i can  t say that the lines were unnecessary and bears no relation to the story or in driving the plot on  but they seem to spring out of nowhere  catching you off guard with these quotable quotes .  br    br   on a personal level  i know people who cite quotes based on most of the situations in our dialog  trying to make it meaningful to themselves while nodding along . i don  t go out with them anymore because the urge to punch them is overwhelming .  br    br   secondly  the characters portrayed are silly and one  dimensional . with exception to the unnatural dialog which implies their motivation  necessary to drive the plot   there was no sense of conviction in them . i haven  t an idea who they are . they are all simpletons spouting lines from the advice column of a female  oriented magazine .  br    br   the gimmick in the leap years is not enough to drive the story on because the circumstances are too shallow . then again  there are movies with less but fared better than this  aren  t there . they made it up with my first and second point . moreover  the sub  plots are inconsequential  not that it  s a bad thing for movies  and thin  bad thing  .  br    br   jean yeo and the producers are trying to pass off the terrible plot with fancy locations and passable photography . this is because they probably understand that it is possible and easier to attain the approval from some viewers than the others with the good use of cinematography  soundtrack and filming location . these non  discerning viewers .  br    br   it is not even the kind of movie that is so bad that it  s good . it is just bad . don  t watch this .  
this is  in my opinion  much better than either of the       s versions  but is still not all that good . it feels dated  probably because it is  but it does stand up well compared to other bbc      s period pieces such as mansfield park and northanger abbey .  br    br   the length of this adaptation allows for a much better adaptation of the book than either of the     s versions  and st john rivers is at least covered  although not very well . timothy dalton is very good as rochester  but the actress playing jane is much too old . there is definitely scope for a tv adaptation of this length that has more than a tenner spent on it .  
  the leap years  is a movie adapted from an e  novella by singapore writer catherine lim  which became the first singapore novel  novella to be sold over the internet . the film had a tortuous post  production schedule shot in early      it was slated for release at the end of      but only turn up eventually  years later  on the   th february      a leap year .  br    br   before i say anything  i must first admit i  m no fan of the romance genre  so i may be a little biased against this film  i watched it merely because it was a singapore production  and that it  s available for borrowing at my neighborhood library . here  s my two cents on the movie .  br    br   let  s just start by saying that other than qi yu  wu  s ks and wong li  lin  everybody here of note seems to be a eurasian . the love interest is a eurasian  ananda everingham   and wong  s trio of buddies are all  er  hem  eurasians . does this film perpetuate the stereotype that falling in love and associating with eurasians are more  in  than the common chinese  or whatever asian race you are   i don  t know  it sure seems that way . also  everyone in the movie speaks in some mystical  anglified  accent which doesn  t exist anywhere  certainly not in singapore . it  s the kind of  semi  perfect english  that authorities would like us speak  but which doesn  t exist anywhere outside  say  the mtv channel . the effect is that the dialog of the movie sounds forced and stilted  not helped by the lack of true  blue singaporeans in the cast .  br    br   the scriptwriter seems to be trying too hard to string one  liners after one  liners . after twenty minutes  the  wit  of the movie starts to pall and the film starts serving up its usual plate of clichs .  br    br   i guess i didn  t enjoy the movie because the entire premise of sustaining a love affair over   long years seems unbelievable .  br    br   there are other incredulities in the film . i can  t for one believe that ks  played by qi yu  wu  would fall for one of wong  s girlfriends . and the scene where the bridegroom says   go  before i change my mind   has been used in a hundred east asian  korean  chinese  hong kong  taiwanese etc  tv serials . . .  br    br   so  stars for this film . the production value is fair  and wong li  lin tries her best  but she  s not helped by the script . joan chen has a    minute bit  part in the movie as the older wong and is perhaps the best actress of the lot  but  hey  her role is just cameo .  br    br   if you come across  the leap years  in the rental or library  you may want to pop it in the dvd player for curiosity  s sake  but otherwise  for people who don  t exactly enjoy the romance genre  you can decide whether or not to give it a miss .  
this was a fabulous adaptation of jane eyre . the only problem i had with it was that i didn  t like zelah clarke . i thought she was too old and made jane seem much to timid . in the book jane seemed like a much stronger character . i was really annoyed by this portrayal of her . the part where it  s the morning after rochester asks her to marry him and she runs up to him and hugs him always makes me laugh . i think they made a bad choice in casting her . but dalton was absolutely wonderful as rochester . he makes this version of jane eyre worth seeing . another thing that made this version not quite     was the quality of film . i know it was made in the eighties for tv . if it had been a feature film  and better quality  it would have been perfect . my main complaint however  is that zelah clarke was definitely too old .  
randolph scott is leaving the usa for the greener pastures of canada  s british columbia . he wants to start a cattle ranch there with partner bill williams and cook lee tung foo . they stampede their small herd over a toll bridge erected by victor jory . later jory rustles their cattle and williams loses his left arm during the fracas .  br    br   from     until     when he retired  randolph scott made a series of good adult themed westerns  some of them considered real classics . unfortunately the cariboo trail will never be listed among his best westerns .  br    br   it  s more like the material that roy rogers or gene autry might use . the story is downright silly at times . williams who was along for the ride with scott  he wanted to go prospect for gold as there was a big strike at the time . he doesn  t blame the rustlers  he blames scott for convincing him to make the trip for the loss of his arm .  br    br   also there  s a scene in the film when scott  lee tung foo  and gabby hayes are captured by indians . they escape because gabby  s mule has been taught to kick on command and he kicks away at the indians allowing our heroes to escape . i  m not sure that would have played in a rogers film .  br    br   furthermore the story actually wants you to believe that tyro prospector randolph scott accidentally stumbles on a gold strike after just a few lessons from prospector gabby hayes on how to find gold .  br    br   this was gabby hayes  s farewell feature film part . it would have been better had he gone out in a good western and in fact he had done a couple of better ones with randolph scott before this .  br    br   i will say this  though no caribou made any appearance in the film  this is one of the few canadian locale films from the past that did not have any mounties .  br    br   but if i were you unless you are a big fan of randolph scott or gabby hayes  take the next detour off the cariboo trail .  
i liked timothy dalton very much even though he was a bit young and too handsome for mr r . but i thought zelah clarke too plump and short . this version however was very true to the novel and very well filmed . i have seen  versions  orson welles is still my favorite mr r  though george c scott did very well and it  s a toss up between joan fontaine and sussanah york  although they were both a bit too old for the role . i recently saw a brilliant tv version of rebecca with charles dance and emilia fox . i would love to see those two do jane eyre . by the time i got to watching the ciarin hinds version  i think i was jane eyred out  but i will never tire of those first few minutes of hearing joan fontaine  s voice narrate the opening of the first version i ever saw . i always want to go back and read the book again .  
it gets really bad . the only half  way redeeming quality is the effects from the thousands of bullets used during the film . there are context errors everywhere . the acting is horrible  save kirk . the story is as holey as the grail  and the belief that the movie is a video game in itself just kills the movie  if it wasn  t already a corpse . so all in all it  s a waste of your life . i would have given this a zero had that been an option on the rating scale .  
my comments for vivah   its a charming  idealistic love story starring shahid kapoor and amrita rao . the film takes us back to small pleasures like the bride and bridegroom  s families sleeping on the floor  playing games together  their friendly banter and mutual respect . vivah is about the sanctity of marriage and the importance of commitment between two individuals . yes  the central romance is naively visualized . but the sneaked  in romantic moments between the to  be  married couple and their stubborn resistance to modern courtship games makes you crave for the idealism . the film predictably concludes with the marriage and the groom  on the wedding night  tells his new bride who suffers from burn injuries  come let me do your dressing   br    br   v i v a h  showcases a lot of good things  beauty of arranged marriage  beauty of indian culture  beauty of indian woman  last but not least a nice idealism of the about  to  be  couple waiting to get married . . . . playing by the rules  simple yet beautiful such a simple story . . . . no plot . . . no villain  as is the case with most of sooraj barjatya films . sooraj sir is back to what he does best . he has made the movie with full conviction . its a very sweet film  which teaches the current generation a lot of good things bout arranged marriage  the union of  families . i think amrita rao  looks very good  she has acted very well . she has most of the good scenes  although i thought the last half hour was completely to shahid kapur  who for a change gives an awesomely restrained performance . i also liked the acting of all others for ex . the choti i . e . amrita prakash  alok nath  anupam kher  shahid  s bro  sis  in  law . it almost seemed as real and recognizable as it could . sooraj sir has got another nice family film to his credit after maine pyar kiya  hahk  hum saath saath hain . the chemistry between shahid  amrita is awesome .  br    br   stuff like sanctity in a marriage  relationship  avoiding courtship  mutual respect  care  space  waiting for getting married  officially   praying  sacrficing for ur beloved  all these and more get showcased in vivah . there  s still some good audience who r going  enjoying this film . some of the folks  audience are already excited after seeing  that they r thinking bout arranged  marriage   thats success if you ask me . it seems amrita rao  our actress  from  vivah result for a nice performance has been bestowed the prestigious dadsaheb phalke award for       hats off to her for this achievement chalo  even though vivah  shahid or amrita didn  t get any of the film  fare  other awards  least this is news to cheer about   congrats to amrita rao  for showing us a visual of indian bride  to  be in the purest form and of course to sooraj barjatya for portraying her the best way   shudn  t forget shahid kapur and all others who make vivah as sweet and legendary as it is today   imagine  to share the same pedestal as the legendary dilip kumar . . . . . . . . . . its no mean achievement   congrats to amrita rao  for taking her career to another level with this award . . . . i personally feel  she should keep doing movies only with shahid kapur   they make a cute couple and their on  screen chemistry reminds me of srk  kajol or aamir khan  juhi chawla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  br    br   some points that i observed  few of the elements     if u notice carefully  amrita rao looks so good because shes always wearing traditional dresses . she gives every bit of the indian woman essence  in this film   perfect fit   shahid kapur is like most of us  not exactly ready for marriage or early  marriage . . . . but prem listens carefully to the step  wise talk given by his dad  having full faith in anupam kher . eventually  honesty    trust  are the keywords that he reflects in his first talk with amrita . most people would think such a first meeting with a total stranger plus for a limited time is never enough to judge a person . but according to what i saw in this film  i have a feeling  that two people who are made for each other can connect within a  st meet also  its possible      in the entire movie  there are basically  or  sequences where shahid  amrita are together  or shown to be together . its unlike most other romantic  wedding  based movies where hero  heroine are always singing  dancing or nowadays  doing cheap stuff . but the beauty of each of these  sequences   characterized by restraint  innocence  respect for the other    i really liked the relationship shown between chacha alok nath  amrita rao . these kinda movies should highlight the indifference shown to daughters  girl  kids in some parts of india .   romantic scenes between lead couple are shot very nicely  no cheap scenes  songs are beautifully pictured   words like  jal    praarthana  e . t . c . are going to be buzzwords for all girls who liked this film   personally  i really am fond of many dialogs in this film .   last but not the least  the entire hospital scene where shahid puts  sindhoor  to amrita when shes struggling for life  is terrific . those dialogs between the couple are so touching and u feel the love  i  cant  do  without  u  its a hats  off feeling     br    br    in many ways  vivah reminded me of maine pyar kiya  ddlj  qayamat se qayamat tak  hum dil de chuke sanam  for the freshness  on  screen  chemistry of the lead pair      if u ask me   along with films like rang de basanti  lage raho munnabhai  dor  corporate and kabul express  v i v a h ranks among the best films made in     . in fact  i think vivah does deserve better viewing  business than dhoom  or fanaa or golmaal or all those time  pass  fuzzy  style  crap movies    
lauren bacall and charles boyer do not provide the right chemistry here in this     film .  br    br   there is a good story here about the axis trying to obtain coal to use for the upcoming war . unfortunately  this part of the story is not emphasized . instead  we deal with a supposedly bungling boyer . by the way  bacall is as british as vladimir putin .  br    br   the real acting kudos goes to veteran oscar winner katina paxinou . as was the case with her memorable pilar in the     oscar winner   for whom the bell tolls   paxinou again plays a spanish revolutionary but this time she is a double  crossing counter  spy for the pro  franco group . she is quite a vicious character hereespecially  when she throws a   year old child out the window . she believed that boyer had given the child important material to hide .  
spoiler alert i wish i could discuss this without revealing specific plot points  but i can  t . sorry .   br    br   i was looking for an imdb review of the george c . scott movie when i stumbled across the summary and reviews for this version . it had so many positive reviews that i decided to order it even though  a  while truncated and rushed  i thought george c . scott embodied the tortured nature  and physical appearance  of the book  s rochester to a t and  b  even while looking at the dvd  s cover  i was thinking  isn  t timothy dalton too good  looking for the role   the latter concern was reinforced by the fact that i decided to re  read the book while the dvd was on backorder . that said  the minute i started watching this  i was captivated . at first it was disconcerting to hear      s dialog spoken as written   with little or no attempts at modernization   but dalton and clarke threw themselves into it so thoroughly  that i actually enjoyed the fact that the adapters trusted the audience to follow archaic speech . to have so much of the book up on the screen was an extra bonus . i know someone who won  t watch any versions of jane eyre because  who wants to see a film about a man who keeps a poor crazy woman in the attic   frankly  if someone who hadn  t read the book stumbled across the hour and a half or two hour versions  they would think that  s pretty much all the story entails   rochester  s secret and its affect on everyone around him . luckily  this version is actually about jane eyre  s whole life .  br    br   some people have criticized the casting . dalton is too dashing clarke is too reserved . i can  t argue against the first point  but he is so  in the moment  that i believe he is rochester . to me  clarke  s performance is on the mark . jane eyre is quiet  guarded . if one remembers the book  so much of the adult jane  s fieriness and passion occurs during her private struggles . some of the criticisms baffle me . reviewers say clarke is too short or isn  t pretty enough . the book goes on ad infinitum about how small and plain jane is . ms . clarke shouldn  t be tall and the filmmakers toned down her looks to make jane  s declarations of her lack of beauty credible . she can scarcely help it if dalton is tall . some say there is no chemistry between the leads . what    the scene when jane finally comes out of her room after the wedding fiasco fairly vibrates with passion and longing and sadness and regret   and that  s just the first example that comes to mind .  br    br   i do agree with some of the other criticisms . i too missed more scenes with helen burns and the rivers siblings . some of the dialog was oddly truncated . when rochester declares   jane  you misjudge me . i do not hate her because she is mad   i waited for the rest of the exchange when rochester explains how if jane were to go mad  he would still love and care for her . it  s a powerful moment in the book  and i wish it had been included . i think it was a mistake to bring a scene with rochester into the part of the story where jane is on her own . it might have been done for clarity  s sake  but i found it jarring . i wanted the sly humor of the scene where jane opines that rochester  s ardor will cool and he  ll become gruff again  but he may  like  her again by and by . dalton  s performance is so good that the rare misstep is glaring   when rochester weeps in the library  i saw him as an actor doing a crying scene  not as rochester . as for the sets  if anyone has ever caught an episode of the      s show  dark shadows   one knows what to expect   very stark and sometimes rickety looking interiors . others have commented thoroughly and succinctly about the make  up job rochester sports at the end . yikes  it is bad . the conclusion is too abrupt . after all that anguish and suspense  i wanted a more rounded off ending . and  on my copy of the dvd  having credits at the beginning and end of all eleven      minute episodes gets to be a bit much . that said  i am so glad i have this film and will watch it again and again .  
the question  when one sees a movie this bad  is not necessarily   how did a movie this bad get made   or even   why did i see this awful in the first place   but   what have i learned from this experience   here  s what i learned  br    br    just because the  rules  of horror movies have been catalogued and satirized countless times in the last ten years doesn  t mean someone won  t go ahead and make a movie that uses all of them  without a shred of humor or irony .  br    br    if your movie has to be described as loosely based on the video game  you have script problems .  br    br    the black character may not always die first  but the asian character does always know kung  fu .  br    br    while you may be proud that you figured out how to do the  the matrix effect  on a budget  that doesn  t necessarily mean you should use it over and over again ad nausea .  br    br    being ron howard  s brother does not guarantee choice roles .  br    br    whenever a scene doesn  t edit together  just use some footage from the video game  no one will notice .  br    br    if your cousin  s rap  metal band offers to write your movie  s theme for free  politely decline .  br    br    zombie movies are not about people killing zombies . they  re about zombies killing people  preferably in the most gruesome way possible . that  s what makes them scary .  br    br    white people who can pay      to get to a rave deserve to die .  br    br    if you find an old book  it will tell you everything you need to know . anything else you will figure out on your own two lines after someone asks   what was that   or   where are we    br    br    bare breasts are not horror movie panacea .  br    br    a helicopter boom shot and a licensing deal with sega magically transforms your movie from  student film  to  major studio release  . try it   br    br    just because you can name  drop all three  living dead  movies  that does not make you george romero . or even paul w . s . anderson .  br    br   i  ve seen worse movies  but only because i  ve seen  mortal kombat annihilation .   
i am a jane eyre lover and a purist  and this version includes almost all of the important details of the book  and the characters are portrayed as i imagined them . jane eyre is a complex story of great richness and can  t be delivered properly in a feature  length format  so it needs a tv mini  series . timothy dalton  s rochester is probably the best ever . there has been a lot of discussion about how attractive he is and his age . in the book  jane  the narrator  describes him as  about    and not young  but not yet middle aged . i think timothy dalton was about   when he made this  so that is about right . also  we only have jane  s opinion of whether rochester is handsome . she only just met him and he asks her bluntly what she thinks . as an inexperienced and humble girl  i can  t imagine her saying she did think him handsome . the actor playing rochester needs to show us the character of the man  and this is fulfilled to perfection . i love the relationship between the two leads  which is the crucial thing about this story  and the humour of their encounters . other versions have blown it  but this gets it right . the     version with toby stephens  aged   years  is in progress on bbc  and is very good indeed  so i will decide whether that is my favourite when it is completed .  br    br   on viewing this series again  after watching the     version  i have decided that this version with timothy dalton and zelah clark is the best  charlotte bronte  s dialogue is preserved and this is essential to the power of the story . modernisation just doesn  t work  it  s a victorian story and having archaic poetic speech suits the characters . this version has an excellent cast  zelah clark is tiny and the difference in height between her and rochester is important timothy dalton has real presence and is an amazing actor . there are no extra scenes to divert from the plot and the screenplay includes all the essential scenes  but leaves out unnecessary details  making it to the point and gripping . i recommend it to all true jane eyre fans .  
what can i say  i ignored the reviews and went to see it myself . damn the reviews were so right . what a waste of money considering it  s budget .  br    br   good thing  i went to see kill bill after this one .  br    br   to see a really scary movie  would be crossroads   br    br   bottom line   i like  girl in gold boots  better than this crap .  
i studied charlotte bronte  s novel in high school  and it left me with a stunning impression . here was a beautiful novel about a young woman  s struggle to find love and acceptance in the dark times of victorian england . this young woman was jane eyre  a poor and plain character with a strong mind and will of her own . her story  which bronte told through jane  s own eyes  was both sad and inspiring .  br    br   as part of our study  we watched the     adaptation of the story  and it blew me away . the mini  series not only made the effort to stay true to bronte  s original text and the essence of the story  but the actors who portrayed the characters were just great . both zelah clarke  jane eyre  and timothy dalton  jane  s lover  by the name of rochester  captured brilliantly the essence of their characters . i cannot imagine anyone else in their roles .  the other performances of rochester in other versions such as the     version lack the passion  energy  and tenderness needed to portray rochester accurately . i say that timothy dalton comes out on top because he possesses all these characteristics in his portrayal of rochester . zelah clarke not only looks like jane eyre  but she captures jane  s quiet  but firm and passionate nature brilliantly . she holds in her emotions  like the jane of the book  at the appropriate moments in the story but allows her fire to come out in jane  s passionate scenes . the chemistry that clarke and dalton portray in their scenes together is also credible and true to jane and rochester  s devoted relationship .  as well  the supporting actors also fit their roles perfectly  and the sets fit the gothic nature of the story .  br    br   i strongly recommend this version of the classic bronte tale . if you have not read the book before  then you can watch this production as a faithful introduction to this beautiful story .  
when i go to see a movie about zombie  s  i  m not expecting oscar calibre performances  or writing on the level of the godfather  but i do expect the actors to at least not look like their straining to read their cue cards  and dialogue that doesn  t sound like it was typed out   minutes before the actor reads it into the camera . this movie was just awful  i actually got up and left about   minutes in and went next door and watched cold creek manor  that wasn  t very good either  but it seemed like citizen kane compared to this pile of crap . on the plus side  the girls were very pretty  that  s probably the only thing that kept me in my seat for longer than the first  minutes  in fact i left after the hottest one got killed  there wasn  t anything to hold my interest after that .  
i think this is a great version  i came on here before  to help me find which version i should use and i went to jane eyre     and read a comment from users comment and then helped me to get this version . i do not regret picking this version and neither will you . i tried watching all the other versions and none matched up to it  there is nothing like the book  and trust me if you are reading the book you want something that is going to match up with it . when you are looking for something real and moving after you have read the book it is hard because you want something that is going to match up with that . i would say god personally led me to this version . it points to true love for a humans . i would say god  s love is greater . if there is anything better  i would like to see it . but so far there is none like it   
i have never seen a worse movie .  br    br   it is possible to take a shootem up video game and make it into a decent movie .  br    br   mistake   absolutely no connection to any of the characters . in this movie you don  t bond with any of the characters because . . . you don  t get a chance .  br    br   the only character that is sympathetic or even interesting is the deck hand salish as played by clint howard . except for this unique character  the outcome of the movie is meaningless as all the characters were lifeless from the begining .  br    br   mistake   the worst gunfight scene ever . i love gunfights . i love when the heros open up on the badguys and clean house . heck i even like to watch a badguy clean house sometimes . but this gunfight was weird i guess that the best way to describe it is  apathetic  i  ve seen people shoot with more feeling and emotion while playing the videogame . in this movie it looked and felt like the  actors  were simply walking through shooting everything that moved without emotion .  br    br   why  where  s the trash talking  where  s the snarls of rage amongst the gunfire  these are supposed to be kids that got caught at a rave gone bad . . . but even real soldiers acting professionally and ruthlessly show their humanity .  br    br   if you want a good horror movie about a secluded house full of monsters  i recomend sam rami  s evil dead series . do not see the disaster that is house of the dead . i hope that they burn the master and all copies of this movie .  
there have been many film and tv productions of jane eyre each with aspects to recommend them  but i suspect this is the one that people will still be discovering and falling in love with decades from now . it  s just a classic  and offers much more of the story than others do  . timothy dalton is utterly in his element as rochester  rarely missing the mark his performance is astonishingly nimble and many  colored  while never straying too far from the dark complexities of the character . zelah clarke  s jane is more cerebral than otherworldly  but she makes a perfect foil for dalton  who  appropriately  towers over her   the nuances of her performance come through better on a second viewing  once you  ve absorbed the shock of dalton  s charisma  . there are some technical faults and a couple of moments where the production values could have been better though this pretty much was a top  of  the  line production by the bbc  s standards of that time . but  it  s the performances that are the real pleasure . don  t miss this one   
i usually like zombie movies  but this one was just plain bad .  br    br   the good parts girl swimming topless with thong bottoms  sonya salomaa  s topless  and ona grauer  s boobs jiggling in a skimpy top when she ran .  br    br   the bad part too much video cuts  too much matrix slow motion  it drags the action   not enough blood and guts  bad acting  and no story . the only other person in the theater was smart and left right after the topless swimming scene . a total waste of   and time . i give it a  out of   .  
there are many adaptations of charlotte bront  s classic novel  jane eyre   and taking into consideration the numerous reviews written about them there is also a lively discussion on which of them is the best . the short film adaptations all suffer from the fact that it is simply not possible to cram the whole plot of the novel into a movie of about a    min . length  consequently these movies only show few parts of the novel . the tv series have proved to be a more suitable format to render all the different episodes of the heroine  s life .  br    br   there are three tv mini series  released in        and     . the     version is not only the worst of these three  but the worst of all jane eyre adaptations and a striking example of a completely overrated film . the novel  s beautiful lines are substituted by insipid and trivial ones  and crucial scenes are either deleted or replaced by scenes which have nothing whatever to do with the novel . what it all leads to then is that the characters portrayed have not only nothing in common with the rochester and jane of the novel and behave in exactly the opposite way as described in the book  but that also their behaviour and language is absolutely not consistent with the behaviour of the period in which the novel is set . it is a silly soap opera  in which the actors look and act as if they had been put in the costumes of the     ies by mistake . this  jane eyre   as it dares to call itself  is indeed a slap in the face of charlotte bront .  br    br   the     version is very faithful to the novel in that the long dialogues between mr . rochester and jane are rendered in nearly their full length . but what works beautifully in the novel does not necessarily work beautifully on the screen . at times the language of the novel is too complex and convoluted as to appear natural when spoken on screen  and the constant interruptions of the dialogues by jane  s voice  overs add to the impression of artificiality and staginess . and despite the faithfulness to the novel the essence of the scenes is not captured . another problem is the casting of the main characters . sorcha cusack  s portrayal of jane as a bold  self  confident  worldly  wise young woman is totally at odds with the literary model  and michael jayston  although a good actor  does simply not possess the commanding physical presence nor the charisma necessary to play rochester . although a decent adaptation it simply fails to convey the passion and intensity of the novel and never really captivates the audience .  br    br   all the faults of the    version stand corrected in the tv mini series of    with timothy dalton and zelah clarke . although from a purist  s point of view timothy dalton is too handsome  tall and lean to be rochester  he possesses the essential qualities for the role he has an imposing physical presence  great magnetism and an air of self  assurance and authority . and despite his undeniable handsomeness he looks grim and stern enough to play the gloomy master of thornfield convincingly . but the excellence of his performance lies in the way he renders all the facets of rochester  s character . of all the actors who have played rochester he is the only one to capture them all rochester  s harshness  nearly insolence  his moodiness and abruptness  as well as his humorous side  his tenderness  his solicitude and deep  frantic love . dalton  s handling of charlotte bront  s language is equally superb . even rochester  s most far  fetched and complicated thoughts ring absolutely true and natural when dalton delivers them . he is the definitive rochester  unsurpassed and unsurpassable  and after watching him in this role it is impossible to imagine rochester to be played in any other way or by any other actor .  br    br   zelah clarke delivers an equally excellent performance in a role that is possibly even more difficult to play well than the one of rochester . she portrays exactly the jane of the novel  an outwardly shy  reserved and guarded young woman  but who possesses a great depth of feeling and an equally great strength of will . she catches beautifully the duality in jane  s character her modesty and respectfulness on the one hand  and her fire and passion on the other  her seeming frailty and her indomitable sense of right and wrong . she and dalton have wonderful chemistry and their scenes together are pure delight .  br    br   as regards faithfulness to the literary model this version also quotes verbatim from the novel as does the    version  but with one important difference the dialogues are shortened in this version  but the core lines which are essential for the characterisation of the protagonists and the development of the plot are rendered unchanged . thus the scriptwriter avoided any artificiality of speech  while still fully preserving the beauty and originality of charlotte bront  s language . and in contrast to the earlier bbc version the essence of each scene is perfectly captured .  br    br   the plot of the novel is followed with even greater accuracy than in the    series . it is nearly a scene for scene enactment of the novel  where equal time and emphasis is given to each episode of jane  s life . it is the only jane eyre adaptation that has a gypsy scene worthy of the novel  and the only one which does full justice to the novel  s pivotal and most heartrending scene when jane and rochester meet after the aborted wedding . timothy dalton in particular plays that scene with superb skill . he renders with almost painful intensity rochester  s anguish as he realizes jane  s resolution to leave him  his frantic attempts to make her stay and his final despair as she indeed leaves him . it is a heartbreaking  almost devastating  scene  which will stay with the viewer for a long time .  br    br   with even the smaller roles perfectly cast  an excellent script and two ideal leading actors this is the definitive and only true  jane eyre  .  
this is about the worst movie i have ever seen . this movie does match the quality of such movies as  they    cabin fever   but even those had name actors where this one fell short . the  eye candy  of this movie looked to be a   woman with a bad face lift .  just an example of the quality  . i would have rated this movie in the negative if possible . ladies i have to tell you that the men were not bad to look at  but not much either . if you were planning on going to see this movie i would strongly recommend saving your money .  
this review comes nearly   years late . nevertheless  it has to be mentioned that i chanced by a copy of this movie sometime in early     and watched it repeatedly for  months straight  i just had to write about it  i got smitten and forgot anything else existed once i saw this movie . how ironic it is to see literature  s ugliest male protagonist portrayed by the handsomest man  yet  what a welcome irony  it suited me perfectly and more so because timothy dalton did full justice to his role . he delivered an astounding and triumphant performance  i have never seen anything like it  all the other actors are very good too . the whole movie was put together beautifully . i don  t care what anyone says about this movie . i just love it and love it  it made me happy and satisfied . it crushes me a bit to say this but i prefer jane eyre     to ae  s pj  which i believe is the ultimate mini  series .  br    br   the excerpts from jane eyre spooked me a little back in school . i never got around to reading the book seriously knowing the story line so well . seeing this particular production made the story come to life for me and drove me to a near frenzy . the scenes and mr . dalton  s voice haunted me endlessly and finally led me to read the book seriously  which  of course is a masterpiece . bravo to the whole team and especially to mr . dalton   this movie is now a part of me .  br    br   i give it      rating .  
you know you  re in trouble when the opening narration basically tells you who survives . it all goes downhill from there . unnecessary   matrix   influenced bullet  time camera work . pointless cuts to video game footage . crusty old sea captains and wacky seamen . ravers who become skilled combatants in the blink of an eye . even the zombies are boring .  br    br   i was hoping for at least a  so bad it  s good  zombie movie  but this one is  so bad those involved with its creation should be barred from ever making a movie again  .  br    br    
i have to say that this miniseries was the best interpretation of the beloved novel  jane eyre  . both dalton and clarke are very believable as rochester and jane . i  ve seen other versions  but none compare to this one . the best one for me . i could never imagine anyone else playing these characters ever again . the last time i saw this one was in     when i was only   . at that time  i was a bookworm and i had just read charlotte bronte  s novel . i was completely enchanted by this miniseries and i remember not missing any of the episodes . i  d like to see it again because it  s so good .     
the house of the dead was the worst movie i have ever seen  between the pathetic  matrix     camera angle attemps and the cheesy acting i fell asleep . i don  t think that the director and set manager could decide whether it was raining or not  because there would be rain on one side of the boat and not the other . i would rate this movie a  out of       being the best   being the worst  . also jumping scenes from the movie to the game was really annoying  it makes you wonder if they were just making up for lose time . i beg anyone who reads this  not to see it . it  s not worth the time .  
i really have to say  this was always a favorite of mine when i went to see my grandma . and it still is . it is very  very close to the book . the way it is filmed  and the players were just all excellent  i have to recommend this movie to everyone who hasn  t seen it . almost everyone i talk to hates tv movies  but this was really great  i gave it      .  
the thing about calling  house of the dead  the worst movie of all time is that it  s really not . there are worse movies out there . i watch alot of hong kong ninja movies that are basically the result of an unfinished japanese police drama having footage of ninjas inserted at the end to create something that could technically be called  a movie .   br    br   house of the dead is however one of the worst films i  ve ever seen at the theatres . walking out half way through  i actually felt i was somewhat dumber for having set through   minutes of this piece of garbage .  
this is the best version  so far  that you will see and the most true to the bronte work . dalton is a little tough to imagine as rochester who jane eyre declared  not handsome  . but his acting overcomes this and zelah clark  pretty as she is  is also a complete and believable jane eyre . this production is a lengthy watch but well worth it . nearly direct quotes from the book are in the script and if you want the very first true  romance  in literature  this is the way to see it . i own every copy of this movie and have read and re  read the original . the filming may seem a little dated now but there will never be another like this .  
it is cheese . if all you want is a video game  complete with what look like straight  from  the  computer cutaway sequences for action the film was too cheap to actually make special effects for  this is it . my friend and i actually had a great time seeing it  since the theatre was mostly empty and we could heckle a bit . this movie really requires heckling .  br    br   plot  there was a plot  ok  some stupid college or later types get invited to  the rave of the year  and go to one of the san juan islands   if they  d only stayed back in seattle  they would have survived .   direct quote  or nearly .  to attend . they get there and everyone is gone  and the site is somewhat wrecked  but hey  the keg is still full   . with the help of a crusty old captain and a coast guard woman  who acted only slightly less tough  and slightly less well  than cynthia rothrock   they fight lots of zombies  some which spit acid   get an earful of freaky legends  and mostly get killed . that  s about it .  br    br   it  s not quite as bad as demonicus  but not by much  and still better than severed  they are sort of my own personal alpha and omega for bad movies  the former is bad but fun to heckle  and the latter is just too freaking bad to watch more than once  . on the other hand  if you  re expecting a video game movie as excellent as resident evil  run away    run away now     br    br   ok  some real big questions  without too many spoilers   since when did spanish ships of the   th century venture into the pacific northwest      why is anyone in the pacific northwest smuggling guns  and to whom  canada  for crying out loud    why is a rave on an unnamed  oh  excuse me  it  s called  isla del muerto   shya  right  san juan island  and outdoors  still keeping in mind this is the pacific northwet . and the rave has about   people in attendance   the rave of the year   my patoot .  br    br   lucky thing there  s lots of hatchets around . lots of them . everyone has them . must be a hatchet sales outlet nearby .  br    br   finally  while the movie started out playing with a little  parody   with nudges at i know what you did and jaws   it didn  t carry it through near enough .  br    br   ok  really finally  when the introductory comments  in a voice  over  no less  casually mention that one of the characters  gave up her boyfriend to focus on her fencing  you can be darn sure there  ll be some fencing by the end of the movie . not good fencing  but a couple of people hacking at each other with swords  anyway .  
i watched this in july and even with the christmas theme  found it touching and sensitive . it is not for someone with a reality  mind as it is full of fantasy and lovely moments that sometimes don  t make sense . william russ did a grand job as hank . i have only seen him in the remake of the long  hot summer where he played a weak character . but in this one  the expression in his eyes throughout  as hank considered the things that were happening to him  was wonderful and tender . valerie bertinelli was excellent and lovely as usual and very believable in this role . and peter falk as max was splendid and always brought a smile when he appeared in a number of important scenes . there were many special scenes  including the one where hank realizes who max really was in his life . it  s not for everyone . . . . . especially those who aren  t into  feel  good  movies and this is definitely one  if you like everything to be perfect and make sense  avoid this one . but i think it is well  worth re  watching  which is why i taped it .  yes  some of us still have vcrs .    
this film was done in really poor taste . the script was really bad . i feel really sad for the late gregory peck who took on the title role of this b  movie adaptation of one of history  s greatest generals . the movie was politically incorrect and downright insensitive to the others who fought the japanese in world war  . there was a scene where i almost vomited  it showed macarthur in a bunker in corregidor island talking to the troops like a seasoned politician when he comes across a wounded  one legged filipino soldier . the soldier bleeding and dying manages to sit up straight upon seeing the general and says  no papa  no mama  no uncle sam  and macarthur gives his little pep talk that americans would never abandon  the philippines . the scene ends with the soldier being invigorated by macarthur  s words and gives him a smart salute . i mean if there was a more condescending scene portraying the u . s . as the great white savior of the world please tell me because this one takes the cake . it showed that filipinos are damsels in distress incapable of honor and have to rely on the great americans solely for redemption . it blatantly and purposely overshadowed the contributions of the members of the usaffe  united states armed forces of the far east   these are filipino volunteers that were integrated in the us military during world war   who died side by side with the americans fighting the japanese  who walked side by side with americans in the death march of bataan and defended corregidor island by launching a guerilla offensive after macarthur left for australia with his famous i shall return  speech . my late grandfather  a filipino world war  veteran and usaffe soldier was one of the many who fought the japanese with honor and love for the home country . i think this movie does not give honor to them and to the thousands of others that macarthur relied on for intelligence preparations for his famous return in the leyte gulf landing .  
i felt duty bound to watch the     timothy dalton  zelah clarke adaptation of  jane eyre   because i  d just written an article about the     bbc  jane eyre  for thescreamonline .  br    br   so  i approached watching this the way i  d approach doing homework .  br    br   i was irritated at first . the lighting in this version is bad . everyone  everything is washed out in a bright white klieg light that  in some scenes  casts shadows on the wall behind the characters .  br    br   and the sound is poorly recorded . i felt like i was listening to a high school play .  br    br   and the pancake make  up is way too heavy .  br    br   and the sets don  t fully convey the gothic mood of the novel . they are too fussy  too martha stewart . i just can  t see bronte  s rochester abiding such martha stewart domestic arrangements . orson welles  rochester lived in cave  like gloom  very appropriate to the novel  s gothic mood .  br    br   and yet . . . with all those objections . . . not only is this the best  jane eyre  i  ve seen  it may be the best adaptation of any novel i  ve ever seen .  br    br   this  jane eyre   in spite of its technical flaws  brought the feeling back to me of reading  jane eyre  for the first time .  br    br   the critics of this production say it is too close to the book . for me  someone who valued the book and didn  t need it to be any less  wordy  or any less  christian  or any more sexed up  this version  s faithfulness to the novel bronte actually wrote is its finest asset .  br    br   bronte wrote a darn good book . there  s a reason it has lasted    years plus  while other  slicker  sexier and easier texts  have disappeared .  br    br   as a long time  jane eyre  fan  i was prejudiced against timothy dalton as rochester . rochester is  famously  not handsome jane and rochester are literature  s famous ugly couple . and timothy dalton is nothing if not stunningly handsome .  br    br   but dalton gives a mesmerizing performance as rochester . he just blew me away . i  ve never seen anything like his utter devotion to the role  the text  the dialogue  and rochester  s love for jane . dalton brings the page  s rochester to quivering life on screen .  br    br   rochester is meant to be a bit scary . dalton is scary . welles got the scary streak down  too  for example  when he shouts  enough   after fontaine plays a short piano piece . but dalton is scary more than once  here . you really can  t tell if he  s going to hurt jane  or himself  in his desperation .  br    br   rochester  s imperiousness  his humor  his rage  his vulnerability dalton conveys all  sometimes seconds apart . it  s stunning .  br    br   and here  s the key thing   the actor performing rochester has to convey that he has spent over a decade of his life in utter despair  lonely  living with an ugly  life  destroying secret .  br    br   no other actor i  ve seen attempt this part conveys that black hole of despair as timothy dalton does . current fan favorite toby stephens doesn  t even try . dalton hits it out of the park . if i saw timothy dalton performing rochester in a singles bar  i would say   that guy is trouble . don  t even look at him .  he  s that radioactive with tamped down agony .  br    br   zelah clarke is not only  overall  the best jane i  ve seen  she  s one of the very few janes whom producers were willing to cast as the book casts jane . no  folks who know  jane eyre  only from the     version  bronte did not describe a statuesque  robust jane with finely arched eyebrows and pouty lips . rather  charlotte bronte  s jane is  indeed  poor  plain  obscure  and little  and not pretty .  br    br   zelah has a small mouth  close  set eyes  and a bit of a nose . she  s truly  little .  she is no fashion model . and she is the best jane  the truest to the book .  br    br   some described her a cold or boring . no  she  s true to the book . bronte  s jane is not a red hot mama  she  s a sheltered  deprived teen whose inner passions come out only at key moments  as zelah  s do here . the book  s jane is someone you have to watch slowly  carefully  patiently  observantly  if you want to truly plumb her depths . you have to watch zelah  here  to get to know who she really is .  br    br   i would have liked to have seen more fire in zelah in one key scene  but that  s one scene out of five hours in which she is  otherwise  very good .  br    br   in spite of its closeness to the text  this version  like every other version i  ve seen  shys away from fully explicating the overtly christian themes in  jane eyre .  christianity is not incidental subtext in  jane eyre   it is central .  br    br   helen burns instructs jane in christianity  thus giving her a subversive  counter cultural way to read  and live  her apparently doomed  pinched life . it is christianity  and a christian god  who convinces poor  plain  obscure jane of her equal worth  her need to live up to her ideals  and her rejection of a key marriage proposal . that isn  t made fully clear here .  br    br   in any case  charlotte bronte wrote an excellent  complex  rich novel  and this adaptation of it  of all the ones i  ve seen  mines and honors the novel best of any adaptation i  ve seen  and that says a lot .  br    br   other versions  that don  t fully honor the book  end up being a chore to watch in many places . if you don  t care about what charlotte bronte has to say about child abuse  or the hypocrisy of a culture built on looks and money  your adaptation of much of the book will be something people fast forward through to get to the kissing scenes between jane and rochester .  br    br   this version  like bronte  s novel  realizes that everything bronte wrote   about jane  s experiences at lowood  and her relationship to st . john   are part of what makes jane  s relationship to rochester as explosive and unforgettable as it is .  
okay  let me start off by saying that nothing in this will come as a surprise to anyone who  s read the other comments . that being said  my g  d  this movie reeked  i mean  wow  i didn  t know it was possible to throw as much money as they obviously did at something and still come out worse than any roger corman movie  corman was probably pitched this movie at some point but declined due to the poor quality of the script  the only reason this movie got made in the first place is that someone said   hey  zombies are popular . video games are popular . what game can we get a hold of that has zombies in it  resident evil  no  someone else got there first . silent hill  no  too silent . people will never sit in a dark room just to be scared silly . hey  didn  t sega have a game where people ran around shooting zombies  they  re out of the platform biz  we could get that for pennies    br    br   basically they tried their best to make a movie that felt like the video game  even down to shooting the combat as if the characters were actually playing the game .  br    br   the first and major problem is that the original game was horrid . i mean   br    br   bad  movie  merchandising  made  into  a  worse  game  in  two  weeks  and  then  shippe d  out  and  bought  by  morons  and  their  parents  for  christmas horrid . the graphics were boring . the monsters were boring . the levels were boring . the interface was boring . the case was boring . in other words  this was a boring game . and that was the arcade version . the home version was even worse  with the home version  you didn  t even get the shotgun to hold in your hand while you were being bored silly by this pointless game  but i digress .  br    br   the second problem is that they went so far as to actually intercut scenes from actual gameplay during the fight scenes . huh    didn  t the editor have enough confidence in the effects to indicate that there was an actual fight going on  not to mention that every fight was shot from the perspective of a video game  which may explain the tedious use of matrix  style effects . the problem with this is that the game was a first  person shooter  the player proceeds from the pov of the character  . maybe that  s why they put in the game graphics  to let you know that they were alluding to the game . . . right  whatever . . .  br    br   anyway  the only thing that made this entire experience remotely enjoyable was the fact that everyone in the theatre was making fun of the movie out loud  so my sudden fits of hysterical laughter and general incredulity were taken as commonplace and didn  t get me kicked out .  br    br   to sum up  don  t go see this movie  don  t even deign to rent it when it comes out on video in a couple of week . run . just run .  
i had no idea what jane eyre was before i saw this miniseries . i had read and watched many classics before  and i believed that most classics were boring  over  worded  and overrated stories with moderately interesting plots at best . this jane eyre miniseries completely changed my conceptions .  br    br   zelah clarke is a fabulous actress  and she gives a wonderful portrayal of jane eyre . her accent is delightful and her quiet  yet firm nature matches the young governess  character exactly . timothy dalton is an amazing rochester . his passion and energy in the film makes me believe that he was born to play the brooding master of thornfield hall . i couldn  t sleep at all the night after i had watched this miniseries . the plot is both haunting and inspiring . the characters are masterfully performed  and the story is incredible . this is the best version of jane eyre to ever appear on film .  br    br   i read the book later and was amazed at how closely this miniseries followed charolette bronte  s writing . jane eyre is now my favorite film and book . if you want to see a masterpiece that will change your life  watch the     bbc version of jane eyre .  
i usually try to be professional and constructive when i criticize movies  but my god    this was the worst movie i have ever seen . bad acting  bad effects  bad script  bad everything   br    br   the plot follows a group of teen cliche  s on their way to a rave  that takes place in broad daylight  at a remote island . however  when the group arrives  all they find is an empty dance floor and bloody clothes . determined to find out what happened to the rest of the party  goers  the clan set  s off on a mission through a zombie  infested forest . during this crusade  they are aided by a police chick and a sea captain that just happens to have the right number of weapons to give to each of the kids . they also meet up with jonathan cherry and some other survivors . basically the rest of the movie is a collection of poorly directed action sequences including a far too long shootout outside of the  house of the dead .  this fight came complete with cheesy hollywood violence  redundant clips from the hotd video game  and sloppy matrix  esque camera rotations . one of the character  s even volunteers to sacrifice himself to save the others . why  not because he was noble and brave  but because part of his face got scarred by acid a zombie spat on him after he continued to beat the creature long after it had been disabled  i  m supposed to feel sorry for this guy     br    br   to sum it all up  there is absolutely no point in seeing this movie unless you want to see for yourself just how terrible it is . the theater i was in was more dead than the zombies on the screen  and i  m sure the money i wasted seeing this piece of sht could easily cover the costs it took to make it . grade f  
those who love the book jane eyre as i do  it  s my all time favorite  and i re read it at least once a year  will love this version . timothy dalton is just a tad too good looking to be mr . rochester  but other than that  he does a marvelous job portraying the brooding master of thornfield . zelah clarke may have been just a little too old to play the   year old jane  but when i watch this movie  i don  t think about the ages of the characters . the dialog from the film is taken almost verbatim from the book  which was very smart . sure  this film might seem a little long  but it  s the only version i  ve seen that includes part  of the story .  br    br   i wish the people who made this film had been involved in the newer zeferelli version  as it would have helped that mess of a film .  br    br   i also realized the last time i watched this video that judy cornwell plays  aunt reed   she is so versatile that i didn  t recognize her . she plays daisy in keeping up appearances  and also played mrs . musgrove in      s persuasion  another wonderful adaption  .  br    br   update got the dvd this week  and it  s marvelous to see the original unedited version . there  s lots more at the beginning  young jane at gateshead and at lowood .  and at the end  they  ve restored lots of things   i always wondered why st . john had a slip of paper when he reveals that he knows who jane is   because the part where he tears it from her painting was edited out of the us vhs version   . rosamund oliver is in it . . . she was completely cut out of the vhs . as far as i could tell  they hadn  t edited out any of timothy dalton  s parts  so nothing new there  but it is great to see the whole miniseries in its entirety after all these years of enjoying the vhs . thanks  bbc  ps . . . i would have paid more for a special edition dvd . . . with maybe some interviews with the stars . . . or a making of show   
just like everybody else have said  the acting is awful  no story or whatsoever  poor directing . about the sfx  the    degree  matrix style shooting   shoot is stupid enough  but for each characters . i mean come on gimme a break . and what  s up with all those video game scenes  just to remind us it  s a  video game adaptation   jesus  they should have fired whoever think up this idea .  br    br    .          
this wonderful     bbc television production  not a movie  as others have written here  of the classic love story  jane eyre   starring timothy dalton as rochester  and zelah clarke as jane  is the finest version that has been made to date  since it is the most faithful to the novel by charlotte bronte in both concept and dialogue .  br    br   a classic becomes a classic for very specific reasons when film producers start to meddle with a classic  s very lifeblood then that classic is destroyed . thankfully the producers of this  jane eyre  approached the story with respect and faithfulness towards the original  which results in a spectacularly addictive concoction that is worth viewing multiple times  to enjoy its multi  layers of sweetness and delight and suspense . the performances are delightful  the music is just right  even the gothic design of the house and outdoor shots are beautiful  and set the right tone for the production .  br    br   my only criticism  though slight  is that this version  like every other version ever made of jane eyre  ignores the christian influences that built jane  s character and influenced her moral choices . in today  s modern world a woman in jane  s situation wouldn  t think twice but to stay with rochester after finding out he had an insane wife and was still married to her .  oh  just get a divorce   she would say to her man  or she would live in sin with him . but jane eyre knew she couldn  t settle for this course in life and respect herself . why  this decision was based on the foundations of the christian faith she had been taught since childhood  not from the brutal calvinist lowood institution  but from the christian example of a true friend  helen burns  who was martyred rather than not turn the other cheek . someday i would like to see some version depict these influences a little more fully in an adaptation . a classic novel that ends with the heroine writing  even so  come lord jesus   should not have the foundations of that faith stripped out of it .  
if there were a movie that deserved a  out of    this would be it .  house of the dead  redefines the term  bad movie  . other bad movies  such as  when a stranger calls  or  premonition   will actually look much better when compared to  house of the dead  . the basic  plot  of house of the dead is a group of twenty  somethings travel to a remote island to attend the  rave of the century  . when they get there  they only find some tents  a bar  a stage  and some bloody t  shirts . they decide to stay anyway  and they are soon attacked by zombies .  br    br   there is absolutely nothing redeeming about this movie . it is not entertaining . instead  it is painful to watch because of how terrible it is . the acting is unbelievably bad . in a dvd interview  one of the actors claimed that uwe boll  the director  is not afraid to tell someone when they are doing a good job or a bad job in a scene . this is a blatant lie . the script appears to have been written by an    year  old  who decided to include a scene of someone throwing up on a girl  s chest and to include the hilarious line   it smells like someone farted out here .  the characters have no personality or depth and they do some of the most moronic things ever seen in a horror movie . somewhere along the way  the characters also magically transform into a swat team to take down the zombies . it  s like they don  t even have to aim their guns and they automatically shoot the zombies in the head .  br    br   the scariest thing by far about this movie is the directing . there is something wrong with uwe boll . boll  s camera work is astonishingly disjointed . his pans to zombies running through the forest are more silly than menacing . worse yet  boll actually thought it would be a good idea to include small bits of footage from the house of the dead video game into the movie . quite often  and at the most random times  you will suddenly see an animated zombie getting shot . it makes no sense . no one in their right mind would think that was a good idea . it  s like boll wants to remind us repeatedly that this movie is supposed to be based on the video game . uwe boll also decided it would be cool to include slow motion    degree rotating shots during the action scenes  a la  the matrix  . unfortunately  he does it way too often and each shot is nauseating . the soundtrack to this movie also boggles the mind . most action scenes are accompanied by loud rap track . this also adds to the ensuing headaches caused by the atrocious  house of the dead  .  br    br    house of the dead  isn  t bad because it  s based on a video game . in fact  it has very little to do with the video game . it also does not fit into the category of  so bad that it  s good  . it does however fit into the category of  so bad that it  s painful  . this movie just plain sucks . uwe boll should never be let anywhere near another movie set . even his presence will curse a production . to all the directors out there whenever one of your movies gets a bad review  all you have to do is remember that you didn  t make  house of the dead  and you will feel much better . i will never get those   minutes of my life back . to sum it up  words really cannot describe just how bad this movie is . everyone involved in the production of this film  especially uwe boll  should be ashamed of themselves . although what i have said may make  house of the dead  sound funny  it really isn  t . nothing about it is funny . avoid this at all costs .  
yes  this production is long  good news for bronte fans   and it has a somewhat dated feel  but both the casting and acting are so brilliant that you won  t want to watch any other versions   br    br   timothy dalton is edward rochester . . . it  s that simple . i don  t care that other reviewers claim he  s too handsome . dalton is attractive  certainly  but no pretty  boy . in fact he possesses a craggy  angular dark charm that  in my mind  is quite in keeping with the mysterious  very masculine mr r . and he takes on rochester  s sad  tortured persona so poignantly . he portrays ferocity when the scene calls for it  but also displays rochester  s tender  passionate  emotional side as well .  imo the newer ae production suffers in that ciaran hinds  whom i normally adore  seems to bluster and bully his way throughout . i  ve read the book many times and i never felt that rochester was meant to be perceived as a nonstop snarling beast .   br    br   when i reread the novel  i always see zelah clarke as jane . ms . clarke  to me  resembles jane as she describes herself  and is described by others  . small  childlike  fairy . . . though it  s true the actress doesn  t look    she portrays jane  s attributes so well . while other reviews have claimed that her acting is wooden or unemotional  one must remember that the character spent  years at lowood being trained to hold her emotions and  passionate nature  in check . her main inspiration was her childhood friend helen  who was the picture of demure submission . although her true nature was dissimilar  jane learned to master her temper and appear docile  in keeping with the school  s aims for its charity students who would go into  service  . jane becomes a governess in the household of the rich mr . rochester . she would certainly not speak to him as an equal . even later on when she gave as well as she got  she would always be sure to remember that her station was well below that of her employer . nevertheless  if you read the book  to which this production stays amazingly close  you can clearly see the small struggles zelah  as  jane endures as she subdues her emotions in order to remain mild and even  tempered .  br    br   the chemistry between dalton and clarke is just right  i think . no  it does not in the least resemble hollywood  thank god  it  s not a hollywood sort of book  but theirs is a romance which is true  devoted and loyal . and for a woman like jane  who never presumed to have any love come her way  it is a minor miracle .  br    br   the rest of the casting is terrific  and i love the fact that nearly every character from the book is present here . so  too  is much of the rich  poetic original dialogue . this version is the only one that i know of to include the lovely  infamous  gypsy scene  and in general  features more humor than other versions i  ve seen . in particular  the mutual teasing between the lead characters comes straight from the book and is so delightful   br    br   jane eyre was  in many ways  one of the first novelized feminists . she finally accepted love on her own terms and independently  and  at last  as rochester  s true equal . just beautiful   
fck me  i  ve seen some incredibly horrific movies in my time but this takes the pss   br    br   honestly i can  t express in words how bad this film actually is . besides the plot that isn  t really there  the comically crap acting  the hilariously dreadful excuses for zombies you know what  i could go on all day . every little thing in this film is either stupid  pointless  crap or embarrassing . i express to anyone who wants to watch this movie . . . don  t   br    br   i  m ashamed to say  i have this on my rack . it  s hidden away right at the god damn bottom of the huge pile . i couldn  t even give this horse  sht excuse for a film away . that  s how bad it is .  
double exposure was a tremendous surprise . it contains outstanding acting  particularly from the underrated callan   fine cinematography and a compelling storyline . in other words  it  s one of the finest horror efforts to emerge from the     s .  br    br   callan plays a fashion photographer who experiences dreams of murdering his models  at a time when he is reunited with his psychologically volatile brother  who happens to be missing an arm and a leg  . when the models callan dreams about killing actually turn up dead  the photographer begins to doubt his own sanity . . . but there is more to the picture than he is seeing .  br    br   this film never received the praise it deserves . most critics and filmgoers lump it in with the horde of slasher films released at the same time  but it stands high above the bulk of that sorry lot . it  s clever and unique  which isn  t something one can comfortably say about most films of this genre  but it  s also passionately crafted and performed . double exposure is a gem of its kind .  
wow  i didn  t know that someone would make this movie  its awful  i have written down  things that can tell why u do not want to see this movie .  br    br   number    its the biggest rave ever  where is the that rave  i could only see a few people dancing around . .  br    br    . when they are on the rave  they can only see blood everywhere  no people  two ruined tents and one stage . . and what do they do   they drink   br    br    . the worst actors i have ever seen  the captain and his crew . . awful   br    br    . when one of the people is firing an ordinary gun  he shoots almost   times without reloading   br    br    . i didn  t knew every person in the world could fight as a pro  must be a new thing . .  br    br   i wonder what the producer was thinking   this is going to be a big hit  its gonna be a classic  . . sure u dumb st anyway don  t see this movie  its a waist of time . my eyes are still bleeding   
troubled men  s magazine photographer adrien wilde  well played with considerable intensity by michael callan  has horrific nightmares in which he brutally murders his models . when the lovely ladies start turning up dead for real  adrien worries that he might be the killer . writer  director william byron hillman relates the engrossing story at a steady pace  builds a reasonable amount of tension  delivers a few gruesomely effective moments of savage misogynistic violence  one woman who has a plastic garbage bag with a rattlesnake in it placed over her head rates as the definite squirm  inducing highlight   puts a refreshing emphasis on the nicely drawn and engaging true  to  life characters  further grounds everything in a plausible everyday world  and tops things off with a nice smattering of tasty female nudity . the fine acting from an excellent cast helps matters a whole lot joanna pettet as sunny  charming love interest mindy jordache  james stacy as adrien  s macho double amputee brother b . j .  seymour cassel as adrien  s concerned psychiatrist dr . frank curtis  don potter as adrien  s feisty gay assistant louis  pamela hensley as gutsy homicide detective sergeant fountain  cleavon little as a hard  nosed police chief  and misty rowe as sweet  bubbly model bambi . r . michael stringer  s polished cinematography makes impressive occasional use of breathtaking panoramic aerial shots . jack goga  s ominous rattling score likewise does the trick . popping up in cool bit parts are robert tessier as a gruff bartender  sally kirkland as a saucy hooker  kathy shower as a fierce female wrestler b . j . grapples with in the ring  and frances bay in one of her standard old woman roles . a solid and enjoyable picture .  
you know that feeling of hilarity you get when you watch a film that  s trying so hard to be a serious  thought provoking piece of cinema and fails miserably  when you can  t help but bust out laughing at the sheer terrible nature of the trash littering your screen   house of the dead  struggles to achieve even this low graded level of cinema .  br    br   from start to end  house of the dead  manages to recreate the feeling like you  ve just woken up to find out that the cat has laid it  s curled business neatly on your forehead while you slept . it is clear from the start that the female actors have been cast for their cleavage size  which they exploit shamelessly  whereas the males for their hardcore  kick  ass  attitude . i honestly did not care any of the characters for any moment of the film and found myself actually wishing their demise so as to spare me a good hour of this torture . uwe boll should have considered screening two hours of footage from the actual game as a movie . at least then we  ll get better acting however not all blame can be placed on the actors as it is certainly a challenge to produce a convincing film when faced with the script of this film . it is arguably the worst section of the film and actually contains such lines as  these are zombies  pure and simple  and  no cap  n  we must not go there  it  s evil   .  br    br   we all know that zombie movies are never going to be particularly thought provoking or full of meaning at best they are a harmless two hours of action  blood and closet terror . trash  yes  but entertaining trash . not the kind of trash which bursts out of your bin bag as you haul it across the room and smothers your shoes in sour milk cartons and decaying banana skins . according to imdb   house of the dead  received such bad reviews that no danish cinemas bought the movie . if only we could have had the same privilege .  br    br   final score     .  
to call this episode brilliant feels like too little . to say it keeps up the excellent work of the season premiere is reductive too   cause there  s never been a far  from  great sopranos episode so far . in fact  the title might be a smug invitation for those who aren  t real fans yet join the club . . .  br    br   picking up where junior left off  putting a bullet in his nephew  s gut after mistaking him for a crook he killed in the first season   the story begins with tony being absolutely fine . with no recollection whatsoever of what happened to him  he  s attending some kind of convention . only he  s not speaking with his normal accent  and there seems to be something wrong with his papers apparently  he is not tony soprano but kevin finnerty  or at least that  s what a group of people think  and until the mess is sorted out he can  t leave his hotel .  br    br   naturally  in pure sopranos tradition  that turns out to be nothing but a dream tony is actually in a coma  with the doctors uncertain regarding his fate  his family and friends worried sick and junior refusing to believe the whole thing actually happened . unfortunately it did  and anthony jr . looks willing to avenge the attempt on his father  s life .  br    br   dreams have popped up rather frequently in the series  often as some kind of spiritual trial for the protagonists  most notably in the season five show the test dream  . join the club  however  takes the metaphysical qualities of the program  already hinted at by the previous episode  s use of a william s . burroughs poem  and pushes the envelope in the most audacious way tony hallucinating about his dead friends  the first occurrence of the sort was caused by food poisoning  four seasons ago  is one thing  him actually being in what would appear to be purgatory is radically different . the  heavenly  section of the story is crammed with allegorical significances  not least the name tony is given  as one character points out  spelling it in a certain way will give you the word  infinity    and none of it comes off as overblown or far  fetched david chase has created a piece of work that is far too intelligent to use weird set  ups just for their own sake it all helps the narrative . talking about  help from above  in the case of tony soprano might be stretching it a tad  though .  
i have watched some pretty poor films in the past  but what the hell were they thinking of when they made this movie . had the production crew turned into zombies when they came up with the idea of making it  because you sure have to be brain dead to find any enjoyment in it .  br    br   i am a fan of most genres and enjoy  shoot  em up  games  but merging the daft scenes from the game just made this ridiculous and unwatchable .  br    br   as most have already said  there was hardly any script and the acting was weak . i won  t waste my time describing it .  br    br   anyone who rates this film above  has to be part of the production company or sega  or else they have a very warped concept of entertainment .  br    br   i must say  i was more annoyed with the video shop  who gave this a thumbs up  which led me to rent it . thank god i had a second film to watch to restore some of my faith in movies .  br    br   comic book guy would be right if he said  worst movie ever    
its too bad a lot of people didn  t understand this and the next episode .  br    br   but don  t worry  ill explain it too you    br    br   this episode is split in  parts .  br    br   first part is tony  s  dream  in his coma . second part is what happens in real life .  br    br   now what people didn  t understand is that tony  s dream is more then just a dream . in this episode its about his preparation for his death . he loses his own identity and eventually even forgets himself  thus he disconnects all his bindings with this world . you will notice what i  m saying at the doctor scene  where tony says he has lost his briefcase which contains  his life  . they makers really did a superb job of interpreting they  re own thoughts of what happens when you die .  br    br   if you understand the whole plot you will find this and the next episode an unique thing  with great spiritual meanings .  br    br   like every sopranos episode the acting and filming is superb .  br    br   only thing i didn  t understand was what the role where of the monks . gonna re watch it till i get this .  br    br   anyways this episode really touched me  and i don  t think anyone else can make a better view of what happens in a almost death experience .  br    br        no doubt .  
this is the only film i  ve seen that is made by uwe boll  i knew that he is probably the worst director ever who always makes films based on video games also that  house of the dead  is one of imdb bottom    . but i still wanted to watch it because i  m a huge fan of the game and i wanted to see what doe  s the film have that makes it so bad . after watching it i do agree that it is crap  the movie had no story . in the first      minutes there was nothing but topless teenage girls with no brains running about  for a moment there i was wondering are the zombies brain  dead  or the girls are   then at night time the zombies popped out of nowhere  started attacking people later a woman started shooting them i mean it takes you one place then the other every  minutes . is it supposed to be a comedy   or horror  or both  before i knew it i fell asleep at the second half  woke up during the end credits so i did not manage to watch all of it  which is a good thing  the film is a true insult to the classic game  uwe boll please do not make any more films . thank you   
let me start off by saying that after watching this episode for the first time on dvd at   o  clock p . m . one night  i could not fall asleep until about     a . m .  br    br   this brief review may contain spoilers .  br    br   i  m a long  time fan of the sopranos and i can safely say this is the best episode i  ve seen . i  m not saying everyone should feel this way  but i do . this episode is identical to the weekend i spent with my family  watching over my own father  comatose in the icu before he passed .  br    br   the episode begins with tony in an alternate reality he is a salesman who  s identity has been mistaken for that of a man named kevin finnerty .  br    br   by the time ten minutes had gone by  i knew either tony was dreaming  or i was watching some other show . it wasn  t like the normal sopranos and i loved it .  br    br   option  is confirmed when anthony  or  kevin   looks into the sky at a  helicopter spotlight  and we see prodding through it  a doctor with a flashlight . we see this only for a moment and the sequence plays out until we go back to real life in a situation similar to the one i just stated .  br    br   tony has come out of the coma for only a moment . his boys take a . j . home and carmella  overcome by stress  breaks down in the hallway a signature moment in the episode .  br    br   for the remainder of the episode  we cut in between the real world the family dealing with the potential negative outcome of this coma  and tony  s alternate reality  which parallels what  s going on both in his mind and in the real world around him .  br    br   then comes the stellar point in the episode after a . j . finishes telling his mother he  s flunked school  she walks in to see meadow sitting at anthony  s side .  br    br   she approaches tony  and utters the best line of the episode  anthony  can you hear us   in tony  s world  he enters a dark hotel room and turns on a light . he takes off his shoes and goes to the phone . he tries to dial  but he cannot   as if he were trying to say something back to carmella  but couldn  t physically bring himself to do so . not yet .  br    br   he sits down and looks out his window . a shimmering light that has reoccurred throughout the episode now seems to call to him from the other side of the city .  br    br    when it  s cold i  d like to die  by moby marries perfectly with these last images and helps in creating an emotional roller  coaster of an episode .  br    br     out of   .  br    br   p . s .  watch the next episode . you find out what the light is . it  s wonderful .  
this movie has received a lot of bad press from people who don  t understand what it was meant to be . one must understand that this movie was never meant to be taken seriously . it  s camp  along the same lines as  army of darkness .  aod was silly  but funny and bad in a good way .  house of the dead  fails to be  good bad .  .  br    br   there are qualities inherent in good campy movies  most important of those being believable fantasy . one needs to believe what  s happening in a movie to see the humor when a situation goes incredibly wrong . without boundaries  the movie becomes absurd . hotd lacks any believability .  br    br   worse still  hotd brings nothing new to the genre  and repeats the same plot twists and character reactions that many horror movies inevitably start to exhibit . for example  all too often  horror movies fall into the trap where the main characters find love amongst the gore and destruction . i don  t know about you  but when i  m being chased by zombies  i wanna make out with a hot chick . believe it  no  then  you probably won  t believe it when the characters start sucking each other  s faces in this movie .  br    br   beyond the obvious issues that plague this movie like so many other horror movies  uwe boll elected to add scenes from the video game of zombies being shot  randomly whenever a character shoots a zombie in the movie . not only is there no clear rationale for this artistic choice  but it distracts one from an already unbelievable plot . further  there are frequent and numerous examples of bad acting  and seemingly no attempts by the director to guide the actors  reactions to events . . . leaving the movie with no redeeming qualities . avoid . . .  
if anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of this film please read the bottom of this description first telecast by cbs on november         the made  for  tv finding john christmas is a sequel to the previous year  s a town without christmas  with peter falk reprising his role as versatile guardian angel max . valerie bertinelli plays kathleen mcallister  a divorced small  town nurse whose depression . . . over the fact that the hospital er she maintains may be forced to shut down because of a         debt is briefly lifted when she spots a newspaper picture taken by photojournalist noah greeley  david cubitt  . the picture shows an act of bravery performed by noah  s firefighter brother hank  william russ   who mysteriously left town   years ago and hasn  t been seen since . hank would like to quietly slip back into town without explanation or fanfare  but this proves impossible when noah  s newspaper posts a        reward to identify hank  known only to the public as  john christmas .  and there  s something  very  very curious about that photo it also shows a santa claus suit seemingly floating in midair without an occupant . that elusive  santa  is of course the angelic max  who pops up now and again throughout the story in a variety of guises to solve problems  dispense advice  tie up loose plot strands   and even share a musical duet with kathleen  s talented daughter socorro  jennifer pisana  .  br    br   interested in having a copy write to me here iamaseal  yahoo . com  
when george c . scott played the title role in  patton   you saw him directing tanks with pumps of his fist  shooting at german dive bombers with a revolver  and spewing profanity at superiors and subordinates alike . the most action we get from gregory peck as  macarthur   a figure from the same war of debatably greater accomplishment  is when he taps mapboards with his finger and raises that famous eyebrow of his .  br    br   comparing peck  s performance with scott  s may be unfair . yet the fact  macarthur  was made by the same producer and scored by the same composer begs parallels  as does the fact both films open with the generals addressing cadets at west point . it  s clear to me the filmmakers were looking to mimic that oscar  winning film of a few years before . but while peck looks the part more than scott ever did  he comes off as mostly bland in a story that feels less like drama than a wikipedia walkthrough of macarthur  s later career .  br    br    to this day there are those who think he was a dangerous demagogue and others who say he was one of the greatest men who ever lived   an opening title crawl tells us . it  s a typical dishwater bit of post  vietnam sophistry about those who led america  s military  very much of its time  but what we get here is neither view . macarthur as presented here doesn  t anger or inspire the way he did in life .  br    br   director joseph sargent  who went on to helm the famous turkey  jaws the revenge   does a paint  by  numbers job with bland battle montages and some obvious set use  as when the chinese attack u . s . forces in korea   while the script by hal barwood and matthew robbins trots out a macarthur who comes across as good  natured to the point of blandness  a bit too caught up in his public image  but never less than decent .  br    br   here you see him stepping off the landing craft making his return to the phillipines . there you see him addressing congress in his  old soldiers never die  speech . for a long stretch of time he sits in a movie theater in toyko  waiting for the north koreans to cross the   th parallel so we can get on with the story while newsreel footage details japan  s rise from the ashes under his enlightened rule . peck  s co  actors  marj dusay as his devoted wife   you  re my finest soldier   and nicolas coaster as a loyal aide  burnish teary eyes in the direction of their companion  s magnificence but garner no interest on their own .  br    br   even when he argues with others  peck never raises his voice and for the most part wins his arguments with thunderous eloquence . when admiral nimitz suggests delaying the recapture of the philippines  a point of personal pride as well as tactical concern for macarthur  macarthur comes back with the comment  just now  as i listened to his plan  i thought i saw our flag going down .  doubtless the real nimitz would have had something to say about that  but the character in the movie just bows his head and meekly accepts the insult in the presence of president roosevelt .  br    br   the only person in the movie who macarthur seriously disagrees with is harry s truman  who ed flanders does a fine job with despite a prosthetic nose that makes him resemble toucan sam . truman  s firing of macarthur should be a dramatic high point  but here it takes place in a quiet dinner conversation  in which peck plays macarthur as nothing less than a genial martyr .  br    br   i  ve never been sold by peck  s standing at the upper pantheon of screen stars he delivers great presence but lacks complexity even in many of his best  known roles . but it  s unfair to dock him so much here  as he gets little help defining macarthur as anything other than a speechifying bore . except for two scenes  one where he rails against the surrender of the philippines   he struck old glory and ran up a bedsheet    and another where he has a mini  breakdown while awaiting the u . s . invasion of inchon  inveighing against communists undermining him at the white house  peck really plays peck here  not the complex character who inspired the famous sobriquet  american caesar .  the real macarthur might have been worthy of such a comparison . what you get here is less worthy of shakespeare than shakes the clown .  
with the badly injured tony in an induced coma  two things happen tony imagines himself leading the life of a salesman attending a business convention  while his family and friends go through hell trying to cope with the possible loss of the big man . the dream sequences are right out of an old twilight zone episode  as tony finds himself transformed into an average joe trying to deal with a missing wallet and mixed  up identities while on a cross  country business trip . his intonation as a blazer  and khaki  wearing schnook is more mid  american and less that of an italian thug from noo joisey . a nice touch . the shockingly long  haired  hippy  dippy aj  whom paulie calls  van helsing  at one point  has a nice scene with his comatose old man . the best moment has the big boys trying to talk about life without tony  which immediately breaks down into a territorial dispute . vito gets off a line about the new  dead gene possibly having been a closet case  which is interesting in light of what we are about to learn about vito .  
this is by far the worst movie i have ever watched . i  ve seen some pretty awful movies in my time but this ones takes the cake  no  wait  i mean the the whole damn bakery . it is so bad that i believe a word to describe the way you will feel after watching this atrocity has yet to be created . please just do yourself a favor  if you ever get the urge to watch this and watch thirty minutes of that annoying purple dinosaur barney  then multiply that thirty times fold and you would still only get a small fraction of the horror you would be in store for . in summation  i guess you really can call it a horror movie  but only if you  re willing to be scared senseless by the worst acting in the business and utterly pointless story .  br    br   real rating     disgusting  
okay  i didn  t get the purgatory thing the first time i watched this episode . it seemed like something significant was going on that i couldn  t put my finger on . this time those costa mesa fires on tv really caught my attention  and it helped that i was just writing an essay on inferno  but let me see what hasn  t been discussed yet . . .  br    br   a twop review mentioned that tony had  flights of stairs to go down because of the broken elevator . yeah   is a significant number for lots of reasons  especially religious  but here  s one more for ya . on a hunch i consulted wikipedia  and guess what dante divided into  levels  purgatorio . excluding ante  purgatory and paradise .  the stuff at the bottom of the stairs and . . . what tony can  t get to .   br    br   on to the allegedly  random  monk  slap scene . as soon as the monks appeared  it fit perfectly in place with tony trying to get out of purgatory . you can tell he got worried when that christian commercial  death  disease  and sin  came on  and he  s getting more and more desperate because christian heaven is looking kinda iffy for him . by the time he meets the monks he  s thinking  hey maybe these guys can help me   which sounds like contemplating other religions  e . g . buddhism  and wondering if some other path could take him to  salvation  . not that tony is necessarily literally thinking about becoming a buddhist  but it appears finnerty tried that  and messed up  . that slap in the face basically tells tony there  s no quick fix  as in  no  you can  t suddenly embrace buddhism and get out of here .  br    br   tony was initially not too concerned about getting to heaven . but at the  conference entrance   he realizes that  s not going to be so easy for him . at first i saw the name vs . driver  s license problem as tony having led sort of a double life  what with the killing people and sleeping around that he kept secret from most people . he feels free to have an affair with quasi  melfi because  he  s kevin finnerty  . he figures out that he can fool some people with kf  s cards  like hotel receptionists  but it won  t get him out of purgatory . those helicopters  the helicopters of heaven   are keeping track of him and everything he does .  br    br   after reading all the theories on  infinnerty   though  it seems like kf  s identity is a reminder of the infinite different paths tony could  ve taken in his life . possibly along with the car joke involving infiniti  s that made no sense to me otherwise . aaaand at that point my brain fizzles out .  
well  i had to sit down at the computer and write down the review immediately after watching this puddle of ooze . why  because i have to let it be known to all of you just how bad this movie is . it  s unbelievably bad . just to let you in on how bad it is  i  ll offer this little detail about the movie . during scenes of mayhem  which usually consists of people shooting or kicking zombies  they intercut scenes from the video game . yes  you heard me right . this movie really sucks . in fact  it makes me think about the fact that it costs ten dollars these days just to get into the theaters these days . and to see corn filled crap like this  there is no story to speak of and the movie basically has nothing to offer other than the occasional boob shot and really cheap kills . i  m really disappointed with this  knowing that i watched it . ok  i  m dumbstruck . it  s so bad i can  t even find the words . rating zero out of  .  
let  s start this review out on a positive note   i am very glad they didn  t decide to wimp out with tony being shot and do a retrospective season like some people were rumoring . actually  creator and writer of this episode david chase did quite the opposite . we don  t actually know if tony will live or die . he  s in a coma and his chances of recovering are very slim to none . this episode seemed to move very slow  and the coma induced dream tony was in involving mistaken identity and robed asian monks slapping the sht out of him was absolutely  flat  out weird . after    minutes i got a little sick of everyone grieving  but that shouldn  t be a reason to slam this episode . it was a weird and unpredictable episode  but it was still well  written and intense . edie falco gave an astounding career  defining performance in this episode as the conflicted wife having to face with her husband  s could  be demise . i also found it interesting aj dropped out of school and swore a vendetta against junior  which aj most likely won  t have the balls to pull off . silvio is now acting  boss which opens numerous doors to problems in later episodes . there were a lot of great quips in this episode  also  and i think vito  pole  smoker  spadafore may meet his demise if he keeps being a greedy s . o . b .  br    br   this wasn  t a great episode and disappointed only because even though tony kills people  we as an audience adore him and feel he is our hero of the show . this was a necessary episode for the series  even though it was a little snore inducing towards the conclusion . kudos to edie falco  s performance  and david chase and the writers for creating this wholly original and unpredictable plot twist . this is the only season of  the sopranos  where i haven  t a fcking clue where it is going to go . i can  t wait for next week  s episode . my rating  .      br    br   best line of the episode  paulie to aj    let  s go  van helsing    
i found this movie in the  horror  section of my video store . that seems to make sense as most zombie movies have their place there . from romero  s  dead  trilogy to    days later .  however upon watching it  you can quickly see what this movie really is .  br    br   it is actually a music video that goes progressively faster and gets more and more and more gory . there is no horror here folks . just some half  way decently staged action scenes which soon grow tiresome because they last . . . and last . . . and last . . . and soon you get the feeling maybe you  re dvd player accidentally skipped back  minutes  but no  this is how they actually made the movie . it  s a pity . i think anyone could find a better use for   million dollars in the movie industry than make this lump o  crud . though some of the    effects were cool  but once again  they were over used and grew tedious since it was the same stunt over and over again each time  just with a different character .  br    br   also what is royally annoying is the splicing on of footage from the arcade game . i  ve played the game . it sucks . so why did they put it in here  oh that  s right  this isn  t a movie but a music video  and it  s a poor one at that .      br    br   rated r a lot of violence  gore  and profanity  
it holds very true to the original manga of the same name  aka  tramps like us in the u . s  but it can still be enjoyed even if you haven  t read the manga . it  s a different kind of tail  showing a strong and independent woman who hurts just like everyone else . however  because of her outward strength  she fears showing her inner feelings and thus let  s those around her hurt her with their blunt comments . the only one who truly figures her out and who she can be at ease with is her new pet . . . human . . . momo . if you want something different than the normal boring stuff with some wonderful j  dorama  japanese drama  actors  resses then this is definitely the series to watch . . . and read   
okay  so i  m not a big video game buff  but was the game house of the dead really famous enough to make a movie from  sure  they went as far as to actually put in quick video game clips throughout the movie  as though justifying any particular scene of violence  but there are dozens and dozens of games that look exactly the same  with the hand in the bottom on the screen  supposedly your own  holding whatever weapon and goo  ing all kinds of aliens or walking dead or snipers or whatever the case may be .  br    br   it  s an interesting premise in house of the dead  with a lot of college kids  loaded college kids  as it were  kids who are able to pay some fisherman something like       just for a ride after they miss their boat  trying to get out to this island for what is supposed to be the rave of the year . the first thing that comes to mind about house of the dead after watching it is that it has become increasingly clear that modern horror movies have become nothing more than an exercise in coming up with creative ways to get a lot of scantily clad teenagers into exactly the same situations . at least in this case  the fact that they were on their way to a rave excuses the way the girls are dressed . they look badly out of place running around the woods in cute little halter  tops  but at least they thought they were dressed for the occasion .  br    br   clint howard  tellingly the most interesting character in the film by far  delivers an absolutely awful performance  the greatness of which overshadows every other actor in the movie . i can  t stand it when well  known actors change their accents in movies  it is so rarely effective  and howard here shows that it is equally flat to have an well  known actor pretend that he  s this hardened fisherman with a raspy voice from years of breathing salty air . he didn  t even rasp well . it sounded like he was eating a cinnamon roll before shooting and accidentally inhaled some powdered sugar or something . real tough there  clint  i expected more from him  but then again  he did agree to a part in this mess .  br    br   once we get to the island  the movie temporarily turns into any one of the friday the   th movies that took place at camp crystal lake . lots of teenagers played by actors who were way too old for their parts getting naked and then killed . the nudity was impressive  i guess  but let  s consider something for a minute . these kids pay almost two grand to get out to this island to go to the rave of the year  find no one  and say  well  who wants a beer  even the guy who pulled that stack of hundreds out of his wallet to get them all over there didn  t think anything of it that they found a full bar and not a single solitary person in sight . here you have the input from director uwe boll  there  s alcohol  they won  t notice that the party they came for consists of no one but themselves   br    br   so not only do they start drinking  not minding the fact that the whole party seems to have vacated the island  but when one of the girls goes off into the dark woods to find out where everyone is  dragging one other girl and one of the guys reluctantly along   the guy and the girl who stay behind to get smashed decide that it would be a great idea to strip down for a quickie now that they  re alone . it  s like they expected to find the island empty  and now that they rest of the people that they came over with were gone for a little while  they would have some privacy since there  s no one else around . brilliant   br    br   now for the things that everyone hated  judging by the reviews that i  ve read about the movie . yes  intersplicing shots from the video game into the movie  mostly in order to show that  yes  the movie was being faithful to  directly copying the video game . sure  it was a stupid idea . i can  t imagine who thought up that little nugget  but worse than that is the matrix  style bullet time scenes that were thrown in over and over and over and over . after the first time  at which point i found it pretentious and cheesy for a movie like this to have a shot like that as though it was something original  it is noticeable more for the technique of the shot itself rather than any dramatic meaning or creation of any kind of tension for the film .  br    br   one of the things that makes a zombie film scary and gets you on the edge of your seat is to have them slowly but relentlessly coming after the living humans  who are much faster but getting tired  running out of places to run  and with a terrifying shortage of things with which to fight the zombies off with . the first two are done right in the movie  the kids are terrified and don  t have a lot of places to run since they  re on an island  but since they caught a ride over with a smuggler  they find themselves heavily armed . and i mean that very strongly . i mean  these people have everything from machine guns to hand grenades  which removes most of the tension of the impending walking dead .  br    br   then you have what i call the techno  slasher scene . since the rave never happened  and i guess since uwe boll thought people were going to be disappointed at not hearing any techno music in the movie  there  s one scene right in the middle where all the humans are fighting off the living dead  and amazingly enough it turns into something of a music video . there  s techno music blasting as the shots are edited together faster and faster until it  s nothing but a blur of gory shot  mostly only about  frames long  which is about    of a second  flashing across the screen in time with the speed techno music . clever  i guess  but it has no place in a horror movie because it completely removes any sense of scariness or tension of even the gross  out effect because you can  t see any one thing for long enough to react to it . you  re just watching these shots fly across the screen and wondering what the hell the director was thinking when he decided that it would be a good idea to put something like this in the movie .  br    br   i  ve seen a lot of people compare this movie to resident evil  mostly claiming that it copies the premise of it  and they  re exactly right . i appreciate that at least here  as was not the case in resident evil  it wasn  t some man  made virus that turned people into walking dead that were able to infect other people  changing them the way vampires turn others into vampires .   days later was also clearly an inspiration for this movie  it  s just too bad that house of the dead didn  t do a single original thing  except for the somewhat moronic idea of putting in quick shots of the video game on which it is based  just in case you forget . i really think that this should have been a much better movie . while obviously i can  t say that i know much about the game it  s based on  just the title and the movie poster deserve a much better movie  but unfortunately i think that  s more often the case than not with horror movies . it  s really kind of sad when a movie comes out that is so obviously advertised as a no  holds  barred horror film  and the scariest thing in the entire movie is the closing shot  which suggests the possibility of a sequel .  
i first encountered this show when i was staying in japan for six months last year . i found it in the internet when i was looking for sub  titled dramas to help me with my japanese . my host mother warned me to stay away from it because she thought it was weird  but i found it delightful  koyuki showed such conflicting character traits and matsujun  s spirit made my day every time i tuned in  i first saw him on  hana yori dango   but i liked him much better in this   br    br   although the characters are interesting and well  developed  i was disappointed to find that they didn  t change very much throughout the show . their relationship grew  but they didn  t really . still  a fun time had by all  even for fukushima   .  
ok  first of all  i am a huge zombie movie fan . i loved all of romero  s flicks and thoroughly enjoyed the re  make of dawn of the dead . so when i had heard every single critic railing this movie i was still optimistic . i mean  critics hated resident evil  and while it may not be a particularly great film  i enjoyed it if not for the fact that it was just a fun zombie shoot  em up with a half decent plot . this however  is pure crap . terrible dialogue  half  assed plot  and video game scenes inserted into the film . who in their right mind thought that was a good idea . the only thing about this movie  i use the term loosely  that i enjoyed was jurgen prochnow as captain kirk  ugh  . while his name throws originality out the window  you can see in his performance that he knows he  s in a god awful film and he might as well make the best of it . everyone else acts as if they  re doing shakespeare . and very badly i might add . basically the only reason anyone should see this monstrosity is if you a .  are a huge zombie buff and must see every zombie flick made or b .  like to play mst  k  the home game . see it with friends and be prepared for tons of unintentional laughs .  br    br    
i don  t give a movie or a show ten very often but this show touched a nerve in a way no other show has . i found the entire series on mysoju . com and thought the premise looked interesting so i took a look see . i wasn  t disappointed in what i saw i was moved . this story stays on the tender side as the main characters move us through the scenes . sumire iwaya  played thoughtfully by koyuki  shows us human nature as she wants to keep troubles from being shown . no one really wants to lay their soul out in front of a perspective mate . so instead she substitutes a human  played by an adorable matsumoto jun  as a pet . this pet is like any other creature we would consider a pet . the difference he can retaliate in the same way  after all momo is a man  not a dog . as he is treated like a pet  he reacts to situations how a dog might react . she spends time with the new boyfriend  momo gets jealous . it  s when she realizes that her pet isn  t just a pet that the sexual tension between the two starts to become thick  momo is a dance prodigy . her thinking slowly changes as we start to get a glance at his own thoughts . matsumoto takes us from seeing a character who is very one dimensional in the beginning  to two dimensional when we see he  s a dancer  to a three dimensional character when we see him start to fall for his master as a man  not as a dog . in my opinion  it  s worth watching this story just to see this character develop . plus matsumoto plays momo with such tenderness you almost start to wish you had one too . neither wants to think about the future and how their relationship will change  but as momo  the name she gives him as one would name their new puppy  states  we both knew this wasn  t going to be able to last . watch this show with a open mind  it  s worth it .  
laid up and drugged out  as a kidney stone wended its merry way through my scarred urinary tract  with absolutely nothing better to do than let the painkillers swoon me into semi  oblivion  i happened to catch this movie on cable . i wouldn  t want anyone to think that i paid to view it in a cinema  or rented it  or  heaven forfend   that i watched it straight .  br    br   having played this sensationally gruesome video game and avidly trod the doomed rooms and dread passageways of the house  battling chariot  type     the hanged man  type      and other impossible sentinels  my curiosity was piqued as to how the game would transfer to the movie screen .  br    br   it doesn  t .  br    br   the banal plot revolves around a group of  crazy kids   a la scooby doo  attending a remote island for a world  shaking  rave   whatever that is .  you kids today with your hula  hoops and your mini  skirts and your pat boone  after bribing a boat captain thousands in cash to ferry them there  a stupidity which begs its own network of rhetoric   they find the  rave  deserted .  br    br   passing mention is made of a  house   presumably the titular house of the dead  but most of the action takes place on fake outdoor sets and other locales divorced from any semblance of haunted residence .  br    br   a fallen video camera acts as flashback filler  showing the island in the throes of a  party   is that it  oh  so this  rave  thingy is just a  party   in the grand tradition of re  euphemizing  used cars  as  pre  owned   or  shell shock  as  post  traumatic stress disorder   the word  party  is now too square for you drug  addled  silicone  implanted  metrosexual jagoffs   br    br   it is learned that the party was broken up by rampaging zombies . intelligent thought stops here  br    br   i don  t think the pinheads who call themselves screenwriters and directors understand the mythos behind zombie re  animation . zombies can  t die  they  re already un  dead . they do not bleed  they know no pain . unless their bodies are completely annihilated  they will continue being animated . at least  that  s what my jamaican witch priestess tells me .  br    br   which means that a .   shot into their  hearts  is not going to stop them  nor will a machete to the torso . and a shotgun blast to the chest will certainly not bring forth gouts of blood . at least in the video game  s logic  the shooter pumps so many rounds into each monster that it is completely decimated  leaving a fetid mush that cannot re  animate itself .  br    br   yet each actor  slash  model gets their matrix  circular  camera moment  slaying zombies on all fronts with single bullets and karate chops to the sternum . seriously  these zombies are more ineffective than the stormtroopers from  return of the jedi   who get knocked out when ewoks trip them .  br    br   i suppose the film  s writer  mark altman  having penned the not  too  shabby  free enterprise   felt compelled to insert a captain kirk reference  in the character of jurgen prochnow  who must have needed milk money desperately to have succumbed to appearing in this aromatic dung  swill . there is also a reference to prochnow  s primo role in the magnificent  das boot   when one of the untrained b  actors mentions that he  looks like a u  boat captain  .  . i wonder how many of this movie  s target audience of square  eyed swine picked up on any of the snide references to other films  as when prochnow declares   say hello to my little friend   presaging his machine gun moment .  br    br   aimed at a demographic who have not the wherewithal to comprehend the sisyphean futility of the video  game concept  i . e . the game ends when you die  you cannot win   this is merely a slasher film for the mindless and mindless at heart . accordingly  everyone dies in due course  except for a heterosexual pair of attractive white people .  br    br   a better use for this film  s scant yet misused budget might have been to send the cast through acting school  although ona grauer  s left breast did a good job  as did her right breast  and those slomo running scenes priceless  i especially liked the final scene with ona trying to act like she  s been stabbed  but looking like she  s just eaten ice cream too fast .  br    br   attempting to do something more constructive with my time  i pulled out my digitally  restored    th anniversary  special edition  widescreen anamorphic dvd of  manos the hands of fate .  ah  yes   the drugs were suitably brain  numbing  now here was some quality film  making  br    br    movie maniacs  visit www . poffysmoviemania . com   
kimi wa petto is a cute story about a girl who one day finds a boy inside a box that is outside her apartment one day . she decides to bring him in and fix his cuts . she then leaves a note for him to eats some food she made then go home because she had to go to work . when she gets home however she finds that he is still there . he tells her that he wants to live there with her like a brother or cousin . in desperation to get him to leave she tells him that if he became her pet then he could stay . and as a pet she says that he would have no rights and do whatever she told him .  not in that perverted way   to her surprise he agrees and from then on he is known as momo  her pet .  
this is one of the worst films i  ve seen . the only positive thing i can say is it was so bad that is seemed comical . first off  there  s no plot . the actors appear to be reading off cue cards and do the dumbest things . such as being chased by dead people but yet wanting to go out and look for their friends . also the zombies were terrible  no where near as fun as any of romero  s work  who gets s plug in the movie . and the dumbest part of all was they kept showing flashes of the video game in the action sequences . like we don  t get the video game is about shooting zombies . also  all the   somethings some how know how to use automatic weapons and hit a target without even aiming the gun . and the way the people die is so stupid . it  s like they run out of ammo so stand around waiting to be jumped on . and when cornered in front of the house they run out of ammo instead of shooting the door open  so dumb .  br    br   final verdict if any of these actors appear in another film  then they  ve been blessed with a second chance . definitely the worst film i  ve seen in years . a b  movie on cinemax is better .  
this is actually a groovy  neat little flick  made on absolutely no discernible budget with shot on video crinkliness . it takes a little while to warm up to it . the acting is so bad that it soon acquires a zen  like charm . after a few scenes  you stop noticing the awkward lines or rehearsed sound of some deliveries . the characters all develop a quirky charm  especially  richard  . forget anthony hopkins  maidens is the guy i  d hire to play a raving psychopath . he just seems to enjoy it so very much  mixed in with the scenes of mad  slasher gore and zombie infestation are some truly visually effective shots of the title character   the midnight skater  zooming through the campus in a black hoodie  looking for all the world like a cross between the grim reaper and  say  the silver surfer . these shots make the sometimes ludicrous things the characters say about the skater seem almost ominous . the soundtrack features some very fun garage  punk tunes and the raspy  raucous meanness of it meshes well with the film  s mood . thumbs upish  i say .  
there are some movies you just know they are going to be bad from frame one . even if you were totally oblivious of ed wood  s work  one look at that commentator from  plan  from outer space  and you just know you are not gonna see the next cinematic masterpiece . just like that  when i saw the first shot of uwe bolls masterpiece  house of dead   with that guy sitting at the front of the house starting his introduction while trying desperately to sound like he just arrived from sin city  i knew i  m in for a helluva ride .  br    br   so  the movie starts like this  first the lead character says that everybody else is going to die . you know  to keep you wandering . then he starts introducing the rest of the characters with lines like  karma . . thinks she  s foxy brown  or  alicia . . my ex . . we broke up recently . . i had to study and she had to fence  . no  i  m not kidding .  br    br   anyway  this bunch of    somethings who couldn  t act their way out of a wet paper  bag are going to the  rave of the century   rave in question being a few tents  a port  a  potty and a shoddy stage located on small island in the middle of the pacific . our gang missed the ferry  but thankfully will find a way to get there  the way being a fisher  boat ran by kirk  cpt kirk  get it  man  whoever wrote this script is a genius  and his sidekick who is a bastard child of simpsons  cpt mcallister and that hook killer who knows what you did last summer .  br    br   to make the long story short  the gang gets to the island  finds nobody there except some bloody t  shirts and then decide to run the hell away from there . no wait  they do not  they actually get all happy and like cos there  s free booze .  br    br   with that scene the movie hits rock bottom and then against all odds proceeds to go further downhill . some guys in rubber suits start running around  there is some screaming and shooting  our gang goes to some house to meet some other gang  they go out of the house  meet cpt kirk and some police woman  who between them have about    pounds of weapons  and then decide to go back to the house . somewhere along the line they transform into a s . w . a . t . team  enter the matrix  the rubber  suit guys start multiplying like bacteria and i start to cry because i actually paid to see this . to add insult to the injury  every few minutes there are shots from the video game this crap is based on and there is a cute game  over cut  scene for a few characters when they die .  br    br   i seriously hate this movie . it doesn  t even fit in that famed  so bad it  s good  category . it  s just plain bad . the script is bad  the zombies are awful  there is no tension  lines are bad  actors are bad . . the list just goes on .  br    br   you will probably want to see this movie just because of its reputation of being awful . don  t . there are bad movies that deserve to be watched . this is not one of them .  
b movie  yes . diy  yes . first movie  yes . but aestheically a . this movie definitely had some bad sound  editing  lighting  acting  etc . etc . problems . however  this movie has many positive things about it . first off  the most annoying character dies first  second  its made to be a parody  funny b rated horror movie . the comments our killer makes to his victims left me and my friends rolling around on the floor laughing .  br    br   the problem is a lot of people try to take every independent movie and expect it to be a masterpiece . take it for what it is  a bunch of kids right out of high school made their first movie . for what it is  just that  it is really good .  
there are people out there who will greenlight anything  that is the only explanation i can offer as to why the house of the dead movie exists . and that  s only scary part to the whole movie . it  s so bad you  ll go off movies forever . i seriously wanted to switch this off and turn the tv over to the paint drying channel but i was bound by my word to suffer the whole thing . i don  t know why i do these bad things to myself .  br    br   as if it matters  here  s the basic jist of the  story  . a group of twenty  somethings are so desperate to go out to some island in the pacific northwest  canada actually  because it  s cheap  for the  rave of the century   which consists of about  people and un  raving music  that they pay some craggy old fisherman      to take them there after they miss the main ferry . that  s gotta be some rave to be worth all that dough  the fisherman warns them that the island is also known as the island of the dead  hang on  i thought this was house of the dead   and that they are all doomed yadda yadda yadda .  br    br   first faults here . why would a tiny little rave  of the century my foot   be held on some remote island  why would anyone willingly pay loads of money to get it  why pay even more to the craggy old fisherman to take them back when they could just come back with the others   br    br   once they arrive they discover that the rave  which consists of about  tents  a small stage and a port  a  john  has been smashed  there  s blood everywhere and no one is around . what would any rationally thinking person do  run for their lives of course . but no  these clueless  obviously blind people decide to go look for them . soon enough they discover an old ramshackle house that  s   times as big on the inside as it is on the outside . another half hour of stumbling around in the forest follows  as an excuse to kill of some of the lesser characters  and after much tedium they arrive back at the house again . the characters  like the movie  go nowhere .  br    br   jammed into this ghastly disaster is a superabundance of gibberish dialogue  heinous acting  mumbo  jumbo exposition and zillions of clips from the once  popular arcade game of the same name . why this was universally accepted as a good idea with the filmmakers i  ll never know . the clips have no reference to any of the scenes and only degrade this trash even further  if that is at all possible .  br    br   it has nothing to do with the game save for some cheap  throwaway line at the end . it makes resident evil look like cinematic glory . hell  even the double dragon movie seems multi  oscar worthy in comparison to this junk . the only one who comes out of this with his dignity still intact is jurgen prochnow . he could have just taken his money and ran but he tries his best with the awful script and brings a tiny bit of pathos to his character . the rest of the cast suck i  m afraid . the characters are idiots and deserve to die .  br    br   plus  if you cut out the swearing and pointless nudity  i see no reason why this film cannot be shown on saturday morning tv . it  s not frightening in the slightest . pirates of the caribbean is more scary than the skeletal bad guys in this film . and where did all those bad guys come from anyway  there were only a few people on the island to begin with . i guess this justifies the reason they chose to reuse footage over and over . i kid you not  you  ll see the same zombie die a dozen times .  br    br   who  s ultimately to blame for that scandalous waste of celluloid  none other than director uwe boll . his control over the movie is non  existent . you can clearly the see actors have no idea what they should be doing and that the zombies aren  t really taking it all seriously . the actors seem like they  re reading off cue cards as they constantly pause in the middle of long sentences and carry on talking as soon as they see the next card . it all feels very unnatural .  br    br   plus the film is shot like a two  part mini  series . i have indeed seen better tv productions . and don  t get me started on the editing . the film is an incoherent babble with thousands upon thousands of pointless shots and dozens of meaningless camera pans . no real skill or talent was put into making this at all . it truly baffles and boggles the mind how movies this unfathomably bad can get made and george a . romero can  t even get anyone to take his calls . house of the dead makes some idiotic reference to romero in a lazy attempt to be  post  modern  but it only irritates that they think this is in the same league as a real zombie movie .  br    br   for what it  s worth  the  .     anamorphic picture looks great and the dolby  .  soundtrack is clean but very unimpressive and only serves to pronounce the heavily over  used adr even more . the dvd comes with extras but why torture yourself . isn  t this review warning enough  stay away  you are all doomed i tell you  doomed  doomed     
dead to rights is about a police officer named jack slate who finds his murdered father and goes after the man that he thinks killed him . jack is later shot and framed for the murder of the man he suspected of killing his father .  br    br   several months later on the day jack is going to be executed he escapes from prison and searches the city for the man who framed him for murder . jack  s search leads him through a trail of beep that doesn  t end until everyone is dead .  br    br   through out the game jack uses weapons from m  carbines to his dog shadow to kill endless streams of people in   levels . the game play is basically  kill   people  find switch to open door . kill   people  find switch to open door  over and over until the level is done . there are fun mini games too like playing as a stripper to distract bouncers at a night club so jack can get to another area in the club  or bomb disarming .  br    br   dead to rights is also a hard game . you will be put in an area swarming with bad guys armed with sub machine guns while you only have a pistol . near the end of the game skill turns to dust and you have to rely on luck .  br    br   dead to rights is as gory as it is hard . if you shoot a guy in the face with a shot gun blood will splatter on the walls  ceiling and floor . and since there are several guys in each area the walls will be painted in blood .  br    br   family fun for everyone .  
lynn hollister  a small  town lawyer  travels to the nearby big city on business connected with the death of his friend johnny .  yes  lynn is a man despite the feminine  sounding christian name . were the scriptwriters trying to make a snide reference to the fact that john wayne  s birth name was  marion    hollister at first believes johnny  s death to have been an accident  but soon realises that johnny was murdered . further investigations reveal a web of corruption  criminality and election rigging connected to boss cameron  the leading light in city  s political machine .  br    br   that sounds like the plot of a gritty crime thriller  possibly made in the film noir style which was starting to become popular in     . it isn  t .  a man betrayed   despite its theme  is more like a light romantic comedy than a crime drama . hollister falls in love with cameron  s attractive daughter sabra  and the film then concentrates as much on their resulting romance as on the suspense elements .  br    br   this film might just have worked if it had been made as a straightforward serious drama . one reviewer states that john wayne is not at all believable as a lawyer  but he couldn  t play a cowboy in every movie  and a tough crusading lawyer taking on the forces of organised crime would probably have been well within his compass . where i do agree with that reviewer is when he says that wayne was no cary grant impersonator . romantic comedy just wasn  t up his street . one of the weaknesses of the studio system is that actors could be required to play any part their bosses demanded of them  regardless of whether it was up their street or not  and as wayne was one of the few major stars working for republic pictures they doubtless wanted to get as much mileage out of him as they could .  br    br   that said  not even cary grant himself could have made  a man betrayed  work as a comedy . that  s not a reflection on his comic talents it  s a reflection on the total lack of amusing material in this film . i doubt if anyone  no matter how well developed their sense of humour might be  could find anything to laugh at in it . the film  s light  hearted tone doesn  t make it a successful comedy it just prevents it from being taken seriously as anything else . this is one of those films that are neither fish nor flesh nor fowl nor good red herring .      
having been a fan of  columbo   i was sorely disappointed in  corky romano  . while certainly a funny movie  falk  s mob boss character was a far cry from the lovable lieutenant he  s played for so many years  especially with the offensive language he used . after  corky romano   i was honestly both surprised by and soured on mr . peter falk . however  having just seen  finding john christmas  and its predecessor   a town without christmas   for the first time within a week of each other  i have to say that  max   peter  s falk  s delightful character in both movies  is surely as memorable and lovable as  columbo  . while parts of the movie are quite predictable  such scenes in no way take away from the enjoyment of seeing the story played out . i too wish i had recorded both of these heartwarming christmas movies  and i highly recommend them whether you  re a falk fan  a christmas nut  or simply someone who enjoys the occasional feel  good movie of the week . this movie may end up lost among the throngs of made  for  tv holiday flicks  so be sure to find  finding john christmas  before it  s too late .  
although i have to admit i laughed more watching this movie than the last few comedies i saw .  br    br   the budget must have consisted of pocket change from the actors . the production values are so low that they actual made it kind of fun to watch . reminds me of the robot monster made up of a guy in a gorilla suit with a cardboard diving helmet on .  br    br   in one scene a hapless victim gets their arm and leg cut off . geez  hard to believe but the black knight scene from holy grail was more realistic . i kept wondering why the victim didn  t start shouting  none shall pass  and  it  s only a flesh wound  i  ve had worse  . it was one of the funniest scenes i  ve seen in the past year .  br    br   the  gladiator  demon  was a stitch too . between the horribly cheap costume and the geeky look of the guy in it the end result was hysterical .  br    br   truly a movie that is bad enough to be watchable . kind of like seeing a slow motion auto accident on film .  br    br    
generally it was a good movie with an ideal ending the acting was spectacular and the characters didn  t stray from their persons . i especially liked the plot  although you knew what was going to happen it still gave the element of surprise through out the entire movie . however  i find that coming on to the ending it could have been a little longer  extended maybe   to me it seemed like it was rushed a bit as if the writer was trying to take linens off the lines before the rain fell . for instance  what happened to tristan  s brother  hayden  for all we know he died in the hospital . maybe he was the one that setup the entire thing   who knows  maybe there will be a sequel  maybe  if there is . . i cant wait to see it .  
i rented this movie about  years ago  and it still stands out in my mind as the worst movie ever made . i don  t think i ever finished it . it is worse than a home video made by a high school student . i remember them doing a flashback to     something and in the flashback there was a man with a polo shirt  oakley sunglasses and a newer suv  like a toyota rav   or something  i don  t remember  . i don  t understand how they could have possibly said that to be in the   s . he might have had a cell phone too  i cant remember  it was just horrible . i returned it to the video store and asked them why they even carry the movie and if i could get the hour of my life back . to this day it is the worst movie i have ever seen  and i have seen some pretty bad ones .  
i  ve read countless of posts about this game being so similar to max payne  when i played it the first time i thought it was a bit weird arcade  like game with a desire to rip  off the max payne style  not just bullet  time  . so when i played it for a couple of hours i realized how much fun it is  and how different from  max payne   yeah the bullet time is a bit similar but i think it fits differently to the game  style . this game is non  stop action  a mix between a shoot  em up and a fight  em up  so much fun  as a big fan of max payne i must say that the storyline of dtr is not near to the greatness of max payne  the graphics are a bit average and some of the levels look the same  but if you want a bit more of that  bullet  time  you should definitely own this game .  
one wonders how the script came to be written .  br    br   wayne and the other performers do an ok job but as it is neither comedy  romantic thriller or anything else it is all rather disappointing .  br    br   one feels as if one of the threads had been pursued it could have been something worthwhile . it is nonetheless interesting to see a real turkey of a story made just before the usa became directly involved with the war . i wonder if the surrounding politics had something to do with trying to make a movie for all tastes but ending up with something that pleases no one .  br    br   nonetheless it has historical value .  
dev anand  or prashant  and zeenat aman  jasbir  janice  are siblings brought up in single parent families . jasbir  the sister  grows up in an affluent environment but this is not enough to lead her to reject her life and ultimately join a hippie movement that eventually leads her to drugs . prashant  the brother  on the other hand grows up in a less affluent environment but grows up to be a matured gentleman . the story marks prashant making efforts to save his little sister  who is perpetually in a trance  from a hostile hippie environment . this movie stands the test of time  commenting that cults and hippie groups are a place for those who give up on their lives when they should instead stand up and be counted in the face of adversity . great music compositions in this movie that mean different things in different situations and to different people  and the director brings forth an eerie feeling to it .  
this is the movie that epitomizes the dd fear of the   s  and even today  . the fear being that people who play dd  or any other role  playing game for that matter  will be  sucked in  and lose their ability to distinguish reality from fantasy  and go on killing sprees  child sacrifices  suicide  etc  . great movie for anyone who likes to blame the problems of society on inanimate objects  but anyone who has played a role  playing game  a video game  or even acted in a play will see this as an insult to their intelligence . it is to dd what wargames was to computers . plus as a movie  it just kinda sucks .  
one must admit  that dev has an eye for beauty and talent . he gave a break to zeenat aman  a successful model  and also former winner of beauty pageant  s title  by casting her in a role  which was tailor  made for her debut . her bespectacled  stoned look  and her swaying at the hypnotizing music  made her an instant darling of the viewers . this movie is a treat to the eyes  with it  s scenic locales  ethnic people  those buddha temples  and chirpy  naughty mumtaz  who looks quite attractive  in her ethnic wear  and dancing skills . dev is of course  adorable  and this is one of his commercially successful performance . hare rama manages to keep the interest going  with it  s carefully written script  editing  and captivating music . like des pardes  his another movie  anand has handled the topic of youngsters falling in the habit of drug addiction  and the theory of them coming from disturbed families  and troubled childhood  is quite plausible . a good entertainer  this movie retains it  s freshness till date   
i own this movie . not by choice  i do . i was really bored the other day and the box intrigued me . so i popped it in the old vcr and spent the next hour and a half of my life crying  why god why   . the story  line was not that bad  as an gamer i could appreciate bits of it . i think that maybe if you  re into super geeky  cheese romantic scenes you  ll enjoy this film .  i always thought of myself as a vulcan you know like dr . spock . . . unable to love  there is very few good things to say about this film  truly it is awful . but if you  re up to really badly made film this is the one for you    the real story  s much more interesting though    br    br   if i had to sum up this film in one word it would be  br    br   lame  
this is one of the movies of dev anand who gave great yet distinct movies to hindi movie industries such as jewel thief and guide . the story is short  if you ask me what is the story   plot is simple  a brother seeks for his lost sister . sister has joined the hippies who smoke from pot and chant hare rama hare krishna . yet the movie portrays few of the significant events that the world experienced in    s . hippie culture  their submission to drugs  freedom  escaping duty  family  and adopting anything new such as eastern  which was new for whites  religion . they have been handled perfectly . zeenat gave her best and dev as usual was remarkable . songs are the best used  unlike they are abused for the sake of having songs  in this movie . they have not been spoiled . one perfect example is  dekho o deewano . . . ram ka naam badnam na karo  . each word in the song is very philosophical and meaningful . the end is tragic but that is not the essence of the movie . overall devji who does believe in making different movies has been successful in showing what he wanted to show here . a must see to experience hippie culture and beautiful nepal of    s .  
many people like to point to this tv movie when arguing with the vast legions of hanks  philes out there that tom did in fact make crappy films  i think  bachelor party  was great  but that  s another story  . the movie focuses on a  dungeons and dragons  style game  that eventually drives our young gump to hallucinatory madness . the story is charmingly early     s  focusing as it does on the imminent threat to our youth posed by those evil role  playing games .  br    br   i  however  prefer to view  mazes and monsters  as the turning point in the  whatever happened to chris makepeace   story . we all remember him as  rudy the rabbit  in  meatballs  and as the hapless clifford in  my bodyguard   where he gave us all a vicarious thrill by beating the crap out of matt dillon . few could argue  especially those of us who read  dynamite   on a regular basis  that great things were in store for him .  br    br   and then came rona jaffe . the line between bad acting and bad writing is razor thin  so i leave it to you to decide whose fault makepeace  s performance in this is . all i know is that the last major release i saw him in was  vamp   and that was     . he had a small role as sean penn  s brother in  falcon and the snowman   but by that time the brat pack torch had been passed to others with straighter hair and flashier resumes .  br    br   i can  t in good conscience recommend this movie . watch it if only to see a younger  more idealistic chris makepeace  before rona jaffe feasted on his soul .  
the story for hare rama hare krishna actually came to dev anand  s mind when he saw hippies and their fallen values in kathmandu where he was on a visit after the protests against his previous prem pujari in calcutta . he was low in spirits because his film had been opposed and some had burnt prem pujari  s posters . but the life of hippies re ignited a story in dev  s mind to be made into a film .  br    br   this was dev anand  s perhaps best directorial effort . the film was a blockbuster super hit at the box office and zeenat aman as dev  s sister made a tremendous impact .  br    br   this film was dev anand  s call to the nation to keep up their moral values .  br    br   it is about a montereal based indian family and the brother  s role is a very affectionate one for his sister . but the parents quarrel and separate leaving prashant  dev  with mother and jasbir  zeenat  with father . she is repeatedly told that her mother and brother are dead and she eventually believes that she will never see prashant again .  br    br   she is ill treated by her step mother and she runs away from home . dev grows up to be a pilot and he learns that jasbir is in kathmandu with certain hippies .  br    br   to reunite with his sister  dev travels to kathmandu and meets shanti  mumtaz  who was to later marry him and also janice who in reality is jasbir with a new name and new identity . she has forgotten her childhood and dev too .  br    br   dev has to get his sister back amongst all other happenings which include his being suspected as a thief in kathmandu and the people are after his life .  br    br   this was a story well directed and acted  both by dev anand . we see more of zeenat aman than of mumtaz . but the music by rahul dev burman was well composed . dev had first offered the music to be composed by sachin dev burman but burman da did not want dev to do the film . he was very close to dev and his earlier film prem pujari  though was good  but had been opposed in calcutta . burman da wanted dev to try a lighter subject as he thought hippie cultist film might reignite people  s anger against dev . but dev continued with the film reassuring burman da and the film was indeed a success .  br    br   r d burman had asha bhosle sing the award winning dum maro dum . kanchi re kanchi re was another good number .  br    br   overall it is a good film .  
i have seen this movie many times   and recently read the book the movie is based on  and every time i see it  i just want to slap all four of them . the fact that they don  t clue in to the fact that tom hank  s character is flipping into his dd  oops mm    persona   oh  he  s just acting in character .   outside of the gaming session . that and the fact that after three months of therapy  let  s just destroy all that and feed his delusions  these kind of people are what give rpgs a bad name .  br    br   also the corny  love ballad   and the music done by  cat on a piano  and  stop us if we get too annoying  are almost enough to set your teeth on edge   
this one grew on me . i love the r . d . burman music and in spite of the cruder elements of the story i found much to be moved by as i kept re  watching the movie . the brother  sister plot line is powerful  i thought there  s also more probably obligatory stuff  like bar fights  a loony crime story  etc . that are just distracting .  though not unfunny from a certain point of view .  also the english translation is definitely by someone for whom it was a bit of a stretch  and as loony as it is i am grateful to him for doing it .  br    br   like many of the bollywood movies i  ve seen  this one is melodramatic and opera  like  including here notably a song sung first by a little boy to cheer up his abused and unhappy sister  and then the same song sung   or so years later by the man who has travelled to kathmandu seeking to re  connect with this girl  grown up and troubled  she had been told her brother and mother were dead   numbing her pain with drugs .  br    br   a super thing about this     movie is that it is about the hippie movement  which brought hordes of seekers to india  from an indian point of view  that sees them as people driven to india by a spiritual hunger aroused by the failings of their own societies  but nonetheless  in india  living only for the pleasures of the moment . the hippie singing  dancing  drugging scenes are truly wonderful  and accurate in their tone  i  m old enough to remember   and i feel pretty sure that the masses of young white zoned  out kids are actual hippie extras  as i remember hearing about kids on the caravan to the east getting this kind of work in bollywood .  br    br    it is not about the actual hare krishna movement  though the movie hippies sing a krishna  rama chant  as do a group of actual indian devotees  unrelated to the hippies  in the opening scene of the movie .   br    br   virginia  
this film is horrible . bad acting  bad writing  bad music . it  s just horrible . not only is it incredibly misrepresentative of role  playing games  but the key elements of the film are poorly executed . may the god i don  t believe in have mercy on the souls of the miserable wretches who conceived and gave birth to this abomination .  
we do not come across movies on brother  sister relationship in indian cinema  or any other language or medium . this relationship has several aspects which have not been exploited in movies or novels . typically  a sister is depicted as a pile  on who can be used for ransom in the climax . this movie treats the subject in an entirely different light .  br    br   it is inspired by george eliot  s novel  the mill on the floss  . the brother is very prosaic  all  good  the blue  eyed boy who is a conventionally good son and a favorite with his mother . the sister is romantic  wild and defiant of the unwritten rules of the society . in spite of this  the love of the brother  sister is the winner .  br    br   this movie is about the love of the two siblings who are separated in childhood and revival of the same feeling when they meet years later . it is also the quest of the subdued brother to reunite with his sister who has chosen to be wild to defy the world .  br    br   although the movie and the novel are set about  centuries apart in two distant countries  yet the sentiments are the same and still hold true .  
the subject matter seems pretty dated today . adapted for tv from rona jaffe  s book we trip and stumble through a fantasy existence . four college students get deeply involved playing a live version of the board game mazes and dragons  based on dungeons and dragons  . one player  a young tom hanks  enters the fantasy world too deep . his co  players must come to his rescue and save him from self inflicted harm .  br    br   david wallace  wendy crewson and chris makepeace round out the game  s foursome . support cast is made up of veteran actors like murray hamilton  vera miles  anne francis and susan strasberg .  br    br   at this date  it seems lumbering and tame . but the highlight of watching is seeing tom hanks between his  bosom buddies  salad days and his big splash in splash on the silver screen . the youngest of viewer will get most enjoyment .  
hare rama hare krishna was the biggest hit movie of     . filmed almost entirely in kathmandu  the capital of nepal  the movie depicts not only with the theme of a broken family  but also a relationship between a brother and a sister  as well as drugs and the hippie movement  which made many people think that it involved the iskon  the movement for krishna consciousness .  br    br   the movie begins with scenes of drugs and being informed that the woman dancing in front is the narrator  s sister . going back to the past the brother and sister are happily playing around the house only to hear their parents arguing . this soon leads to a split in the family . the brother goes with the mother and the sister with the father .  br    br   as years pass  the brother goes in search of his sister and is informed that she no longer lives with the father and that she has moved to nepal . here  prashant  the brother not only finds love  but he also finds his sister  janice . but he finds out that she is not only in the wrong company of friends but is also on drugs as she wants to block all memory of her past . with help of shanti  his love  the brother tries to get his sister away from all this but has to overcome many obstacles  including people who stoop to all sorts of levels to stop him this is a multi cast movie and is led by the director and producer himself  dev anand and also stars zeenat aman  her first movie   mumtaz  rajendranath  prem chopra  jnr mehmood  a . k . hangal and achala sachdev . the music is superbly provided by the late r . d . burman  whose last score was       a love story .  during the filming  dev anand asked panchamda  r . d . burman  to compose something special for this film . days later panchamda came back with the composition of  dum maro dum .  the song was an instant hit .  
this film sold for one  dollar at wal  mart on a dvd and so i do not feel like i lost anything for watching this film  except my time . enjoyed the acting of tom hanks   robbie wheeling   who was very young looking and gave an outstanding performance considering it was a horrible script . the story is about college students who decided to play the game mazes  monsters  only in a very realistic setting . robbie wheeling has had problems in the past playing this game at other colleges and is advised by his parents to leave the game alone and get good grades . robbie meets a very nice gal and has a romantic fling with her and once he starts playing the game  he stops making love to her and acts like a monk . there are some scenes in the film which are taken running around the former world trade center and also in the observation floor and roof area . it is rather sad viewing this part of the film where so many human beings died because of evil in the world . this is not a very good film  except for tom hanks trying to keep the film above the sinking level of entertainment .  
  the shooter  was a different type of film for michael dudikoff . although normally associated with action flicks that incorporate martial arts  this film  because it was a western  enabled him to display that he is a far more capable actor than certain formula story lines have allowed .  br    br   the major problem  of course  is that the film does not allow any solid character development . the fleshing in is really left to the viewer . we can only guess at the sadness that has made the shooter  whose real name is michael atherton  the killer that he is  a killer  mind you  that a little town  terrorized by a local bully  welcomes as a hero who can release it from its misery .  
if you didn  t know better  you would believe the christian moral majority in their preachy testimonial of the sins of the young  their questing for satan  and that hell was just brimming with advanced dungeons and dragons fans .  br    br   none of these items bears one grain of truth  folks . this work does nothing but give the southern baptists a chance to take a breath  while the movie continues to spout their erroneous and alarmist views concerning a creative and original gaming system .  br    br   tom hanks contributes a stellar performance for this work  but even that wasn  t enough to save it . it  s crap . it  s beneath crap . it is ignorance breeding ignorance and as such  it rates nothing from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
star rating  the works  just misses the mark  that little bit in between  lagging behind  the pits  br    br   mike atherton  dudikoff  is peacefully making his way in the wild west when he spots a group of men mistreating a lady . being a gentleman  he naturally steps in and puts a stop to this and in doing so kills the son of a nasty enforcer . this is just the beginning of a all guns blazing battle to the finish from which there will be only one winner .  br    br   m dudikoff is an action star who  s never truly managed to take off with me . maybe i discovered him too late and after the other film i saw with him in it last monday  the human shield  it was just another dud  ha ha  added to the list . but i have a thing for westerns  being films that just sort of transport me to a different time and place and provide real escapist entertainment and with this dudikoff has picked one of his better scripts  as his films go anyway .  br    br   the film hits a few low points in the shape of a naff central villain  sounding like a blank marlon brando and some generally ropey acting from some of the cast  along with the obligatory cheap looking sets . but if  for some strange reason  your life ever depended on watching a dudikoff film  this would be one of your best choices .   
first off  i knew nothing about  mazes and monster  before i watched it . i had no knowledge of the role  playing controversy behind it or the fact that it was a made  for  tv movie . when i looked at the cover  the updated dvd one  i seriously thought it would be another fantasy adventure like  legend   with tom hank as the nerdy hero from     s earth entering a mythical world to save a princess from an evil maze filled with monsters . sounds exciting  right  that is what the cover suggests to you at first glance . i was given this movie as a gift  obviously under the same premise because my aunt knows i  m into action movies with a medieval myth theme . and it has tom hanks  one of my favorite actors . so i popped this movie in  expecting a feel good movie with tom hanks in a   s special effects world that would be good for a laugh .  br    br   no  none of this happens . now before i continue i will confess  i am a nerd but i have no interest in role  playing games . that is all this movie is about so my interest in the content is lukewarm at best . and mm  copyright infringement   is not even a feel good role  playing based movie with lovable geeks that uses their imagination to enter a world of awesomeness . no  this is an anti  role  playing movie that must have been made by some religious folk  the same people who also think barney is the work of satan .  i understand  satan is a crafty fellow but i don  t think he is desperate enough for soul to lull rpg lovers into worship him . this movie is thee anti  gamer movie . this is what i get from this movie it hates rpgs and not only does it make fun of the people engaging in role  playing but it makes poor tom hanks a mental patient .  br    br   tom had an excuse to talk to a volleyball in  castaway   poor guy was alone but tom somehow made his insanity fun and you literally saw the volleyball as a lovable character through tom  s good acting . i wish i watched that movie instead of this . in this movie  tom is attacked by a make believe dragon creature  it looks like a poorly made mascot for a rpg team  and has a split personality that is creepy at best . tom  s acting only exceeds to make you feel bad for his character and nothing else . i get that the poor guy lost his brother and is not right in the head because of it so the movie does win points for being intentionally tragic . i am not one for films that exploit mental illness and the ending to  mm  made me feel like crp . luckily i watched  hudson hawk  afterwards and got a good laugh before my soul was crushed any further . yah   hh  surpasses  mm  by . . . a lot  this is not one of tom  s better films . in fact it is thee most depressing movie i  ve ever seen him in  even  saving private ryan  is not this depressing  . i walked in hoping to watch a feel good movie and i ended up feeling the exact opposite . if you want to watch a sad  both emotionally and visually  movie then by all means watch this . if this movie is to convey a message  it is this  don  t play rpgs if you are cuckoo for coco  puffs .   
this cute animated short features two comic icons  betty boop and henry .  br    br   henry is the bald  slightly portly boy from the comics who never speaks .  br    br   well here he does speak   br    br   he wants to get a puppy from betty boop  s pet store  and when he is left to mind the store  some hilarious hijinks ensue .  br    br   betty sings a song about pets  henry gets in a battle with birds and a monkey  but everything works out in the end .  
seriously . i just wrapped up my first viewing of demonicus and words have failed me .  br    br   i remember a time when i would see charles band  s name on a film and my heart would race . he was never a wes craven or a john carpenter . he was a bastion of hope for the little man . the guy whose movies arrived at the video store instead of the multiplex  but they still rocked harder than most of the trendy junk we otherwise had to endure .  br    br   and now . . . this .  br    br   a painfully  obvious californian walking trail doubles for  the alps  and an abandoned train tunnel is actually supposed to be  an ancient cave  . i mean  they didn  t even try to dress the thing up with moss or film it in a way that might suggest it was anything other than an old train tunnel  ugh  instead of a creepy demon gladiator  as the cover implies  we  re treated to a dude wearing the latest in wal  mart halloween apparel . there  s a pretty cool looking corpse  who occasionally comes to life to belch and wiggle his fingers  but he doesn  t even learn to stand until the final five minutes . why couldn  t he be the villain  instead  we  ve got frat boy joe with a plastic sword . ouch .  br    br   charles band . . . you should be ashamed that your name is attached to such tripe . i love movies that are so bad  they  re good . hell  i occasionally enjoy a flick thats so bad  its just bad . this one  however  is just unwatchable . a perfect example of making a buck  rather than making a quality film .  
i feel this is one of the best movies i  ve seen  i  m an older male and love most westerns . i love movies based in part at least on facts  if i am not mistaken this is such a movie . i also like revenge type movies  this qualifies there as well in my opinion . some of my favorite parts of the movie were the opening scene with the whipping and the barn shooting scene . i felt the corral beating scene was a little overkill but did not affect how i feel about the complete movie . i saw what i think is a continuation of this movie in a gun smoke episode . i also enjoyed that . i recommend taking the time to watch this movie  i will watch it again . i also felt the romance parts of this movie were well played . i thought it was so out of character for randy travis to play a villain type  but i always enjoy his acting .  
i  d completely forgotten about this film until now . this was the most blatant and worst attempt to demonise a hobby that i have ever seen . it  s message seemed to be   don  t teenagers use their imagination they might take games seriously  go mad and hurt people .  i can only guess that the unimaginative writers of this piece thought that dd style games are form of evil ritual or arcane worship .  
action  horror  sci  fi  exploitation director fred olen ray shows he has some talent as a director . character actor william smith is one of the best tough  bad guys in the industry . he treats the viewer with the best acting performance of his career . as for randy travis he gives his best lee van cleef impression . he  s not bad in the film . smith and travis make the movie . as for the rest of the cast none of them really stand out . ray did a great job directing this flick  smith and travis were good  i  d give this b western on a scale of one to ten  ten being the best  a seven .  
this film reminds me a lot of the anti  drug films of the    s and    s due to the fact that it was made by people that have obviously never experienced the social evil that they are warning us about . tom hanks and his buddies are  role playing   but there are no dice  lots of candles  and then you are just swept away in a bad montage showing hanks falling for the lady in the group . quite funny but misguided . i wonder how many poor kids had their dd stuff destroyed  and were told that the use of their imagination was the road to destruction . as a film it  s basically an after school special  bad acting  although hanks does show some of his talent  and relationship talks  and no one seems to be having any fun . it seems these films have a psychological focus on adolescents starting on the road to adultism  which is more serious  apparently  and requires you to buckle down and do the things everyone else does . despite my vote of   this is worth watching due to its unique genre  scare films  which i personally find quite funny .  
yesterday  i went alone to the cinema  because here in mexico  most of the times movies from other countries are part of the so called  camra alternativa   alternative camera  . but after i saw this movie  i realized that not all the foreign movies are alternative . afortunately  this is a good a example . but i have to said that i enjoyed so much this movie . . that at the end i was happy . . this movie is a little spoon of hope in these days . and the main lesson for me . . is that at the end of the day . . . the love is main force behind us . this is a good option to see a good movie in spanish . . . and i have to mention the good music . . specially the main song of the movie . . cosas que hacen que la vida valga la pena . . . . excellent song     
the only value in this movie is basically to laugh at how bad it really is . with a plot that makes your average middle  school writer look good  and acting which is almost as good  it gets my bottom score . one of tom hanks very early films where he obviously didn  t have the pleasure to be real picky . the best special effect of the movie consists of a guy dressed up in an incredibly fake rubber monster consume .  
gmez pereira is the responsible for some of the most despicable comedies of latest spanish cinema  just take a look at his curriculum vitae   so i didn  t expect that much of  cosas que hacen . . .  . . . in fact i don  t know why in the world did i decide to watch it . anyway  i just did . . . and what a surprise . it looks that gmez pereira has finally matured and now he  s capable of making a good movie . he  s last work deals with the midlife crisis  the disappointing  and the seeking for a second chance after you  ve ruined it all . the last half hour of the movie  the more dramatic  is the best part  and it just makes worth watching the film . also we have eduard fernandez playing the main role  and i keep on thinking he  s the best actor of his generation  by far  .  br    br   my rate      
i caught this movie at a small screening held by members of my college  s gaming club . we were forewarned that this would be the  reefer madness  of gaming  and this movie more than delivered .  br    br   tom hanks plays robbie  a young man re  starting his college career after  resting  for a semester . what we  the viewer  find out as the movie progresses  is that robbie was hopelessly addicted to a role  playing game called  mazes and monsters   a game that he gets re  acquainted with after a gaming group recruit him for a campaign .  br    br   this movie is laughable on many  many levels . one scene features the group  gaming by candlelight   which is probably the best way i can describe it . while i  m sure that this was meant to be  cultish  in some way  as most gamers know  it  s horribly inaccurate . most role  play sessions are done in well  lit rooms  usually over some chee  tohs and a can of soda .  br    br   the acting  while not oscar  caliber  isn  t gut  wrenchingly awful either . this is one of tom hanks  s first roles  and bosom buddies and bachelor party were still a year or two over the horizon . the supporting cast  while not very memorable  still hand forth decent performances .  br    br   mainly the badness lies in the fact that it was a made  for  tv movie that shows the  dangers of gaming  worth a view if you and your friends are planning a bad movie night .  
in what appears an attempt to mix drama and comedy  manuel gomez pereira made this film   things that make life worthwhile .  it is not an original discovery  by many voice you have  quite off the pitch  by the way   but it departs somewhat from the norm in the spanish cinema . the downside is that the elements forming the film are poorly combined  and while some points are not well developed  others are out of place . a day in the lives of two people close to the median age . it  s basically what the movie gmez pereira . jorge  eduard fernandez  is a stationary  parado  one which  despite load on your back with a drama major  seems willing to see things change . only this explains his commitment to a minor could mean a turning point in its existence . in line with audrey tautou of  long dating   jean  pierre jeunet        jorge says things like this to herself  if i find a coin before the corner that is now going to change my luck .  of course it finds it  begins to play  today could be a great day   hoy puede ser un gran dia  by joan manuel serrat and in a few crosses on its way hortensia  ana belen  . she is another woman entry age  divorced and a little lonely . take valeriana for sleeping  organizes birthday parties as an exemplary mother  said her belief in god and leads to a speed of homicidal mother . hortensia is a woman of many contradictions in his behavior  life was going in his head driving data as     of people fall in love only once in a lifetime  and said although it is short of jorge and unemployed and does not preclude the possibility that it is a  sadistic  sleeping in his shoulder in the cinema at the earliest opportunity . later came a communion  a dance in the luxurious wedding banquet  the back of a car and other things that players seem to live unique experiences like that but end up doing quite heavy for the viewer .  things that make life worthwhile  debate between us is the drama of two adult persons who have no other that leads them to see where their strange relationship and  conversely  make us take the case as a comedy  focusing on things like a chinese singing at a wedding  which seem to be amusing in itself  or the gait of a drunk person . the problem is that it does not leave us time to connect with the players  therefore we can not identify with the dramatic  and not give us a solid base comic too  leaving everything except pure joke . in the end  all mixed in a way that the viewer no longer know very well whether to laugh or mourn  and ends up not doing either . and it is true that something is not seen a thousand times  is not the kind of film that we find to bend every corner  but it is not sufficiently different or special as we want to do . ana beln  which apparently far less than the   years that has in this film  and eduard fernandez are two actors who are very enjoyable to see working  but this time it seems ready or comfortable enough in scenes that require him to break the calm that prevails in the film  so in moments like the  accident  with the children of the bar thing seems to be slipping from their hands . perhaps a very dramatic change that has to do  but that is no excuse to lower our guard . in any case  both interpreters are erected easily the highlight of the function .  things that make life worthwhile  work only up to the modest level of entertainment . any claim that is beyond that point has not been fulfilled  as a romantic comedy or dramatic as that  we presume  they wanted to do  can not afford to have little moments finished successful  beyond bad  as that in which one of the characters talk and laugh  lost drunk  compared to a boy who remains in a coma in part because of him . neither do much for people like rosario pardo  making the typical friend launched whose biggest contribution to the film is the phrase  must be screwed over   and songs from the soundtrack  though significant  not just fit . it is true that the film by manuel gomez pereira has its hits  some of the moments involving jose sacristan   but the whole is a anodyne story  a film with good intentions and a nice result when the better .  
many things become clear when watching this film   the acting is terrible . tom hanks and wendy crewson are so  so  but the parent  child conflict borders soap opera  ish . the other two boys an overly pouty child prodigy and your stereotypical i  m  a  babe  but  i  m  really  sensitive  inside blonde dreamboat   the film as a whole is depressing and disappointing   robbie  s dreams and episodes are disturbing  acted by tom hanks     the inclusion of the beginning love ballads is an odd choice   we are all special friends      the weird lines and side plots are not made any better by the terrible acting and   this is a really bad movie . expect to be disappointed   and probably disturbed .  
what does the marquis de sade have to do with egyptian archaeology and mermaid worshipping cults  tobe hooper tries to answer that question in one weird little film .  br    br   genie is a young cutie who visits her nerdy archaeology father in alexandria  egypt . genie gets caught up with a mysterious hooker  and blatant lesbian  who services daddy on the side . daddy gets sent back to the site  where he uncovers a tomb with what appears to be a mermaid on it . genie meets a descendant of the marquis de sade  and falls for a hunky egyptian  providing the film  s hottest scenes  . eventually  genie finds out she is to be a sacrifice and the protracted and bloody climax gets going . wrapped around this story is footage of the marquis de sade in prison  talking to a portrait of what looks like genie .  br    br   robert englund is terrific as both the marquis and his descendant . his acting abilities have always been sideswiped by his makeup requirements  so he is allowed to shine here . his best performance is still in  killer tongue   if you have not seen that yet .  br    br   the rest of the cast  including young genie  are pretty and average . the script  however  is problematic . you will quickly learn that the marquis scenes are completely unnecessary  except maybe the film makers had access to the cool set . the mermaid cult that eventually saves genie makes no sense whatsoever . who the mermaid is is never explained  and its link to christianity  which is hyped throughout the film  is nothing . the film is very anti  christian  as the archaeologist is a bible spouting father  but likes to be tied up by the local prostitute . there are plenty of scenes of depravity and violence  but hooper probably had little idea of what the screenwriters were trying to say . i know i have no idea .  br    br   so why am i recommending this film  it is weird . there is an extended sex scene . for the ladies  hunky egyptian rides a horse completely nude . englund is marvelous . do you like snakes  this film is full of them . this is like roger corman with a bigger budget . knowing hooper somehow came up with  crocodile  after this is rather sad .  night terrors  is not perfect  but definitely worth a winking  unserious look .  br    br   this is rated  r  for physical violence  some sexual violence  gore  profanity  female nudity  male nudity  sexual content  sexual references  and drug abuse .  br    br    
checking the spoiler alert just in case .  br    br   perhaps one of the most horrendous movies i have ever seen  mazes and monsters felt like i wasted    minutes of my life . the only redeeming quality of the movie were scenes that tried to be serious  but just ended up being funny since they were so bad . evil dead anyone  unfortunately for mm  fortunately for us  it did not develop a cult following and result in a trilogy . this movie tried to address a series of problems that the main character  robbie  played by hanks  encountered throughout the film . it ended up being a fear mongering video about stereotypes that helped fuel the dd is the devil movement in the   s .  br    br   if you want to avoid wasting your time and money  steer clear of this junk .  br    br   p . s .  even though the cover looks kinda interesting  which is why i guess my brother bought it  it in no way takes place in a fantasy realm  unless you consider new england or new york city to be such a place .  
stupid  stupid  stupid . i think that angelina jolie is probably one of the most talented actress  today  but a movie like this isn  t just worth her time . she deserves better  and so does everyone else in this movie . talent is just wasted . sorry  but i don  t feel like writing a review for this .  br    br   i give it no stars out of  .  
hoo boy  this was a real trial to get through . the dvd case has tom hanks  mug plastered on it and that is the only reason that anybody would buy it . he looks about forty on the box  however  the movie was made in      so he still has his bosom buddies  do and of course is about forty pounds lighter . the plot concerns a dungeons and dragons like game that hanks and his three friends play and hanks ends up thinking the whole thing is real . chris makepeace is a boy genius named jay jay and the best thing about the movie is that he wears a succession of funny hats . ooh  look  he has a yellow hardhat on with a tuxedo  now he  s dressed like a wwi pilot  this was a truly awful movie but in a bad way . a bunch of vets pop up mostly as parents of the kids . there  s anne  i  m honey west  dammit   francis and louise sorel  who actually looks kind of hot . murray hamilton  the mayor from jaws  has a thankless roll as a cop . wendy crewson  is the love interest for hanks and some blonde guy i have never seen before or since . there is some syrupy music here and there and absolutely no tension or sense of danger or excitement . there is a monster that only hanks can see because he  s  you know  nuts . the monster is played by the late  great kevin peter hall  he of predator fame . a friend of mine got this out of the ol  discount bin at mallwart and advised me to chuck it in the trash without even looking at it  so naturally i had to see if it was as bad as all that . it was . the night before  i watched apollo    so after that  this movie was a bit of a shock . do yourself a favor and leave it in the bin . oh yeah  after hanks almost jumps from one of the world trade center towers because of his delusions  he goes home to recuperate and is visited by his friends . hanks mother  a drunken vera miles  says he is coming along nicely now but when they walk down to the lake to visit him in his tennis outfit  he is crazier than ever . the end  
this truly funny movie has a zany cast of characters  just about every voluptuous middle  aged female in hollywood  and a touching  funny love story . the capomezza  s and the malacici  s are rival caterers in an italian neighborhood in new york . they are also at opposite   extreme   ends of the taste scale . their children are cast in the lead roles of a church production of romeo and juliet . naturally  they fall in love . on stage  the mayhem and confusion that this causes  as the parents feud with each other and their kids  is played out for us against the backdrop of the capomezza  s magnificently tasteless home  and their magnificently tasteless catered weddings .  br    br   besides the four over  the  top parents and the charming young lovers  the characters include a vaguely wise priest  a plain  speaking grandma  a lady who waves a wand and passes on spiritual advice she receives from a medium called the blessed roscoe  a motel with beds shaped like the back seat of a car  and two doves . there is not a sight gag or a punch line that doesn  t click in this fast paced movie .  br    br   even the family names of the two families are part of the fun .  capomezza  could be interpreted as  low  brows   and  malacici  could mean  stuck  up snobs .   br    br   if you are sensitive about italian stereotypes  you may not like this movie . if bette midler embarrasses you  you may not like it  because all of the women in this movie make bette midler look like martha stewart . the rest of us should love it   
yes  about the only thing this film is memorable for is that it starred a youngish tom hanks who only a few short years later would be a relevant star in hollywood . here though is not a movie that is going to showcase his talents much at all and the only other thing that might be considered somewhat entertaining about this flick is the scene where he thinks he sees a monsters and runs a guy through . yes  this movie is about the evils of playing a game that makes a group of people use their imaginations and try to come up with interesting scenarios . basically  an after school type special about the evils of the game dungeons and dragons cleverly retitled here as mazes and monsters . apparently  the makers of this film thought that nerds should not have fun of any sort unless they were going to go out and do underage drinking  drugs  having lots of unprotected sex and harass other weaker children like all the popular kids were doing . no  these bad people were playing a game that actually required one to use there brain  heaven  s no  not that  if they have a brain they actually may be able to think for themselves and not be brainwashed by certain groups out there . yes  i think this movie is utterly stupid and a waste of time . granted  it could be a movie against addiction  but there are a lot fewer people who died taking dungeons and dragons to far in its entire existence than than say what drunk driving claims in like a month .  
first off  let me say i have wanted to see this movie for about a year now because i knew angelina jolie was in it and i love her . but my love for her has nothing to do with my opinion of the movie . anyhow  no video stores carried it but low and behold the local library did . i watched it and absolutely loved it . yes there were italian stereotypes but it was done well and funny . it was not degrading in any way .  br    br   every actor and actress did a superb job . i laughed very hard at the sexual humor . overall  i think this movie is well worth seeing if you can find it . it is adorable and just plain fun to watch . i rarely rank movies as a   but i give this one a       br    br   go find it and watch it   
the psychology of this movie is really weird to try and figure out . its often billed as an anti  rpg movie  but its really not that simple . here are come apparent contradictions that make me wonder just what  if anything  they  re trying to say about gaming .  br    br   they laboriously introduce all the characters home lives by way of introduction  all of them having parents who are divorced  alcoholic  and totally out of touch with their lives except for the times they  re harshly pressuring them to succeed . tom hanks is arguably the worst off  having just failed out of another school and still dealing with a brother who disappeared and may be dead .  br    br   its mentioned a couple of times that they play the game to work through problems in their real lives . and sure enough  at the end  when they go to see robbie  hanks   they  re all happy and well  adjusted  embarking on their adult careers  problems solved  games put away  daniel doesn  t even want to design computer games any more   and even robbie  s mother  who  s been constantly drunk and dissatisfied  is suddenly the happy homemaker  looking fresh and bright and arranging flowers .  br    br   sure  jj suddenly  and quite cheerfully it seems  decides to commit suicide  but the reason seems to be entirely because he  s a lonely boy genius who can  t get a date  and not because his character dies  as in the famous jack chick tract  which happens afterward anyways  and it almost seems like he does it on purpose so he can end daniels game and get everyone to come play his . in fact  the prospect of live  action role playing in the caverns seems to be the only thing that saves him from killing himself   and in what may be the coolest tableau scene in the whole movie  kate  looking very fetching in chain mail  looks right at the camera and says something like   the scariest monsters are the ones in our own minds .   br    br   the biggest fantasy element in this movie is the two muggers passing up the rich couple so they can rob the dirty  homeless  looking guy of his magic beans . the recurring theme  a  the way we were  for the   s  might have been poignant at the end  but as a way to kick off a movie is downright depressing and seems out of place . and for one final mystery  our hero  wearing full pardu regalia  has a psychotic break  becomes his character completely and embarks on his quest  so of course the first thing he does is change into    century street clothes .  br    br   so maybe the movie  s irrational  but i guess its dealing with an irrational topic . in those days a circle of kids with dice and pencils was regarded as tainted and possibly possessed  and you could go insane if they spoke their mumbo  jumbo at you . the anti  game paranoia is pretty much summed up in the first scene  where the reporter asks the cop whats going on  the cop says a kids lost in the tunnels and there  s a chance mazes and monsters is somehow involved . the reporter admits to being vaguely familiar with the game  although he allows his own children to play it   then turns to the camera and reels off a polished spiel that blames the game for everything and admits no possibility of another explanation . in the end  its no masterpiece  but interesting as made  for  tv movies go .  
the movie itself made me want to go and call someone so they could enjoy it too . it was extremely funny . angelena jolie was wonderful as juliet . the parents are hilarious . they are caterers as well as enemies . the kids play the parts of romeo and juliet in the church play . they fall in love and their parents try to keep them apart .  spoiler ahead . i think  they sneak off after a party and do it . surprisingly they still want to get married in the end of the movie . if you don  t like stereotypes and the defilement of classic literature don  t watch . if you don  t mind those you will have a blast watching this one .  
i didn  t even know this was originally a made  for  tv movie when i saw it  but i guessed it through the running time . it has the same washed  out colors  bland characters  and horrible synthesized music that i remember from the    s  plus a  social platform  that practically screams  afterschool special  . anyhoo .  br    br   rona jaffe  s  thank you  mazes and monsters was made in the heyday of dungeons  dragons  a pen  and  paper rpg that took the hearts of millions of geeks around america . i count myself one of said geeks  tho i have never played dd specifically i have dabbled in one of its brethren . mm was also made in the heyday of dd  s major controversy  that it was so engrossing that people could lose touch with reality  be worshiping satan without knowing  blah blah . i suppose it was a legitimate concern at one point  if extremely rare  but it dates this movie horrendously .  br    br   we meet  young college students  who play the aptly named mazes and monsters  to socialize and have a little time away from mundane life . except that mm as presented is more boring than their mundane lives . none of the allure of gaming is presented here  and jay jay  s request to take mm into  the real world  comes out of nowhere . it  s just an excuse to make one of the characters go crazy out of nowhere also  though at that point we don  t really care . jay jay  robbie  kate and daniel are supposed to be different  but they  re all rich waspy prigs who have problems no one really has .  br    br   but things just continue  getting worse in more ways than one . the low budget comes dreadfully clear   i love the  entrance  sign and cardboard cutout to the forbidden caverns  robbie  pardu shows why he  s not a warrior in the oafiest stabbing scene ever  and the payoff atop the  two towers  is unintentionally hilarious . tom hanks  blubbering  jay jay  what am i doing here   made me laugh for minutes on end . definitely the low point in his career .  br    br   don  t look at it as a cogent satire  just a laughable piece of    s tv trash  and you  ll still have a good time . that is  if you can stay awake . the majority is mostly boring  but it  s all worthwhile for pardu  s breakdown at the end . at least tom hanks has gotten better . not that he could go much worse from here .  
perhaps in an attempt to find another  hot property  for adaptation  the brothers fleischer thought back to their highly successful foray into the world of the newspaper comic strip with their production of      s popeye the sailor  fleischer studios  paramount  . although it was a part of the betty boop series  miss b . only made a brief appearance in the short leaving the rest as a pilot episode for the possible emergence of a full blown series .  br    br   as is now common knowledge  the gruff  squinty eyed  brawlin  seaman became perhaps the most successful cartoon series ever outlasting and literally outliving the fleischers and their studio  lasting to this day .  br    br   returning to king features for another try at luck was no doubt the reason for trying out the very popular henry comic strip character in a betty boop outing objective being the seeking of another series . the reasoning then surely seemed sound . henry was a most popular feature in the hearst papers  line  up appearing as both a daily and on sunday  s color comics supplement  puck  the comics weekly . you know   what fools these mortals be   remember that one  schultz  in viewing the chubby  little  bald boy comic strip  hero  and his on screen antics  both solo and in tandem with miss betty we were pleasantly surprised in seeing just how well the character was handled . the story and director dave fleischer both afforded a plethora of comic strip  like situations and sight gags that seemed most appropriate for the character of little henry . these mostly silent vignettes were very important to the animated film in remaining faithful to the printed page as the henry feature was mostly done in a sort of  color  mime  .  br    br   in the cartoon  titled betty boop with henry the funniest living american  fleischer studios  paramount pictures corporation        we see what is basically being a one situational exercise being punctuated with the usual array of dave fleischer  s rapid fire  machine gun  like gags . in short  henry spots a puppy in the window of betty boop  s pet shop . it is a sort of love at first sight as henry attempts to purchase the little pup dog with the only money he had  to coins in his pocket . he is in formed by miss boop that it would be   .   in depression era money to make the purchase . tears appear as the little guy leaves dejectedly .  br    br   but a reprieve is soon on the horizon as betty asks the boy to mind the store  while she leaves on urgent business . in return for his services  miss betty promises him the little dog in return . of course  they have a deal and betty leaves .  br    br   getting to the work of cleaning cages and feeding the livestock affords the opportunity for the fleischer crew to fire up a whole new string of gags this time featuring bird seed  henry  s bald pate and push brooms .  but not all at once of course  schultz   henry  s enthusiasm for mass feeding of the store  s avian population by first literally seeding his head soon leads to a mass defection of the birds out of the store to the open street in a mass jail break .  br    br   betty returns to this sight and expresses her disappointment and anger with henry  s temporary custodial care . all bets were off  no doggie for henry . he begins to leave dejectedly but soon convinces the proprietress to give him another shot at fixing things up . his head covered with bird seed  he manages to corral all of the little feathered creatures returning them to their pet store coop . happily  the little fella leaves but this time he has his own affectionate  little  face licking puppy .  br    br   undoubetly this was a winning combination . we have the carefree  energy filled  free wheeling of the boy  the kindness of betty and the emotions of the situation and doubtful outcome of the  boy and his dog  situation . max and dave fleischer had given us a sort of almost minor mini  masterpiece of a surreal comedy short .  br    br   we were quite surprised that no henry series followed . judging by the fairly faithful treatment of the character  it certainly could have been sustained for some time . at any rate  this teaming was in many ways the best of the betty boop try out pictures . although the first  popeye the sailor  fleischer  paramount        was the most successful  and barely had any betty boop in it  save for a cameo as a carnival hula dancer   the henry short was much better than the two following king features  tryouts   betty boop and the little king and betty boop and little jimmy  both     .  br    br   poodle schnitz    
i rented this one to see vanesa talor one more time . she can act  but doesn  t get a chance in this clunker . the opening sequence is an elaborate crane shot of mountain landscapes . must have come from a stock archive  because the movie is shot direct to videotape . the production values make  blair witch  look professional . there  s a really cheesy animated statue  but no other effects worth noting . this movie is bad  but not amusingly so . the players would do well not to mention it on their resumes .  
a delightfully unpretentious send up of romeo and juliet . approach with no expectations other than having a good time and you will enjoy this one . a talented group of comic actors let go and have a riot in this light  hearted performers  vehicle . bad reviews were due to a snobbishness about treatments of shakespeare . some people feel that all film must be  important     if you share those views  don  t bother . the credits read  introducing  angelina jolie  which is not even close to being true  but she is astoundingly beautiful as the juliet character  and  as always  her acting is wonderful    and  considering her age at the time  even her dialect is pretty good . recreating this classic tale with feuding italian families in the catering business in new york results in great fun . see it in the right frame of mind and you will laugh out loud .  
when the film started the first  minutes seemed like a travelogue of california  i was wondering if i got the tapes mixed up . then i breathed a sigh of relief to see paul thomas in a scene with the lovely joanna storm and laurie smith . this is being spied on by jimmy  a young tom byron  . jimmy  s aunt  honey wilder  is concerned about his behavior so she hires him a private teacher  kay parker  . i could do without the animal  robot role  playing  or the incest aspects . there  s one good sex scene  between byron and parker  but it  s not good enough to save this film .  br    br   my grade d  
once again  i was browsing through the discount video bin and picked up this movie for   .   . fifty  percent of the time the movies i find in the bin are pure crap  i mean horrible beyond belief  but half the time they turn out to be surprisingly good . this movie is much better than i expected . i found it very engaging  though it was obviously made by an amateur .  br    br   the direction is nothing special  but the story is intriguing with some good thrills . i expected it to be more of a comedy  but i wasn  t too disappointed .  br    br   for a thriller  this movie is surprisingly good  natured . there  s no bloody violence  no profanity  no nudity  no sex . usually  these movies require all four of those elements . the pg rating is well  deserved   not like  sixteen candles  where the  f  word is used twice and there  s a brief gratuitous nude scene .  br    br   i just wish the romance between corey haim and his love interest could  ve been developed more . the film does tend to be plot  heavy  and the potentially good subplots are pushed off to the side . instead of developing a chemistry between the two of them  we end up watching a careless three  minute montage of them on their romantic endeavors . they end up kissing at the end  but there  s so little chemistry that it seems forced .  br    br    the dream machine  is no gem  but it  s good  clean entertainment . it  s quite forgettable   especially with a cast of unknowns  except for haim   but it  s also much better than you  d expect .  br    br   my score   out of     
all you need to know about this film happens in the first five minutes it looks cool  it has a solid original soundtrack reflective of the late    s period  and all but a couple of its characters are unlikeable . once you get that message  you may as well switch to another film .  br    br   davies  s protagonist ignores his beautiful girlfriend  one of the few people in his life who cares about him . then by the time he takes her advice to join her in the real world   instead of living a fantasy film of which he  s the imagined director   he does so by pushing her aside and pairing up with an actress he  s idealized beyond reason . a couple laughs and some thoughtful art direction are the only things worth watching here .  br    br   the film is also interesting as documentation of jason schwartzman  s fall from mount rushmore . in rushmore  schwartzman  s annoying brattiness was something to be overcome  but here it  s his character  s only quality . schwartzman  s family connection clearly landed him in this role here  s hoping his choices improve .  
there have been far too few mainstream films set in post  colonial africa  and the ones that have are a mixed bunch . this one  with its altruistic pretensions to expose slavery in the     s  shows the best and worst values of africa  which turn out not to be too different to the values of humanity as a whole . it also has shortcomings  given the undue influence of western pre  conceptions of africans and  especially  arabs .  br    br   dr anansa linderby  the beautiful african  american wife of the english doctor david linderby  is captured by arab slave  traders  along with a teenage sanufu girl and a young boy . the lead slave  trader  suleiman  is every bit the stage arab  with his flowery and sometimes humorous rhetoric  and gestures to match  which would not be out of place on  carry on follow that camel  but are not up the standard this film deserves . peter ustinov of course had more than enough skills to address some of the shortcomings of the script  and he rescued what could otherwise have been a woeful one  dimensional character .  br    br   continuing the stereotypical theme  all three of suleiman  s arab employees are unintelligent and one has paedophilic tendencies towards the boy  which thankfully are not portrayed on the screen .  br    br   one of david  s first ports of call is the local police officer  a stereotypical pompous and incompetent african bureaucrat . david then meets two stereotypical white ex  pats  an englishman  walker  played by rex harrison  and an american  sandell  played by william holden  . sandell is a mercenary with  conventional  views on mixed  race relationships  who initially refuses to help unless david provides payment up front . won over by david  s love for anansa  and conscious of his own inability to find love  he agrees to take david up in his helicopter to help search for anansa . they find suleiman and his captives crossing the border and are unable to pursue them into the neighbouring territory  as a result of sandell  s hesitation and david  s lack of experience with firearms  his helicopter is shot down but david survives .  br    br   we then see david introduced to malik  kabir bedi   an african who has lost his family to suleiman and is now only driven by vengeance . they find the sanufu girl with a group of tuareg and know they are on the right track to find suleiman .  br    br   in one of the most heart  rending scenes they kill a party of slave traders only to find that it was not suleiman  s group  and have no choice but to send their captives to the tuaregs they met earlier .  br    br   later on we discover that the young boy who had been raped is a witch doctor and  in an excellent scene with supernatural overtones  he uses his knowledge to kill one of suleiman  s henchmen . anansa on her part  and despite the scepticism of the boy  manages to engineer the demise of suleiman  s two other employees .  br    br   by this time suleiman and his slaves are within days of reaching the slave market .  br    br   suleiman  now in no doubt that anansa is  trouble   attempts to sell her to an obscenely wealthy arab prince  omar sharif  who is corrupt but intelligent . on discovering that anansa is an american working for the u . n .  the prince rather unwisely decides to carry on with the bargaining without considering the consequences . the scene where the two men haggle is one of the best in the film .  br    br   at the slave market  the young boy is sold to a middle  aged german paedophile  and we are left to guess whether the boy will still be considered  wunderbar  when his owner is on the receiving end of his witch  doctoring skills .  br    br   david and malik finally confront suleiman and there is a bitter  sweet ending from malik  s point of view .  br    br   ultimately  david and anansa are re  united  and malik  whose life is in ruins  can console himself with having seen the task he set himself completed .  br    br   the overall plot of the film is excellent but it loses marks for its stereotypical portrayal of nearly all the leading characters . credit must go to all the leading actors for addressing many of the shortcomings of the scripting .  
i really love the sexy action and sci  fi films of the sixties and its because of the actress  s that appeared in them . they found the sexiest women to be in these films and it didn  t matter if they could act  remember  candy    . the reason i was disappointed by this film was because it wasn  t nostalgic enough . the story here has a european sci  fi film called  dragonfly  being made and the director is fired . so the producers decide to let a young aspiring filmmaker  jeremy davies  to complete the picture . they  re is one real beautiful woman in the film who plays dragonfly but she  s barely in it . film is written and directed by roman coppola who uses some of his fathers exploits from his early days and puts it into the script . i wish the film could have been an homage to those early films . they could have lots of cameos by actors who appeared in them . there is one actor in this film who was popular from the sixties and its john phillip law  barbarella  . gerard depardieu  giancarlo giannini and dean stockwell appear as well . i guess i  m going to have to continue waiting for a director to make a good homage to the films of the sixties . if any are reading this   make it as sexy as you can   i  ll be waiting   
ashanti is a very   s sort of film       to be precise  . it reminded me of the wild geese in a way  richard burton  richard harris and roger moore on a mission in africa  . it  s a very good film too  and i enjoyed it a lot .  br    br   david  michael caine  is a doctor working in africa and is married to a beautiful ashanti woman called anansa  beverley johnson  who has trained in medicine in america and is also a doctor . while they  re doctoring  one day she is snatched by slavers working for an arabic slave trader called suleiman  played perfectly by peter ustinov  of all people  . the rest of the film is david trying to get her back .  br    br   michael caine is a brilliant actor  of course  and plays a character who is very determined and prepared to do anything to get his wife back  but rather hopeless with a gun and action stuff . he  s helped out first by a englishman campaigning against the slave trade that no one acknowledges is going on  rex harrison    then briefly by a helicopter pilot  william holden   and then by an arab called malik  kabir bedi  . malik has a score to settle with suleiman  he is very intense throughout  a very engaging character   and so rides off with david to find him and get anansa back  this involves a wonderful scene in which david fails miserably to get on his camel .  br    br   then there  s lots of adventure . there  s also lots of morality  questioning . the progress of the story is a little predictable from this point  and there are a few liberties taken with plotting to move things along faster  but it  s all pretty forgivable . the question is  will david get to anansa before peter ustinov sells her on to omar sharif  yes  of course omar sharif is in it     
from the nepotism capitol of the world comes another junk flick in a fancy wrapper .  cq  tells a lame  disjointed mess of a story which is little more than a bunch of silly caricatures  a babe  and straight man davies running around trying to make a stupid sci  fi flick . i can  t think of any reason anyone would want to spend time with this ridiculous attempt at film making .  d   
this movie is visually stunning . who cares if she can act or not . each scene is a work of art composed and captured by john derek . the locations  set designs  and costumes function perfectly to convey what is found in a love story comprised of beauty  youth and wealth . in some ways i would like to see this movie as a tribute to john and bo derek  s story . and . . . this commentary would not be complete without mentioning anthony quinn  s role as father  mentor  lover  and his portrayal of a man  of men  lost to a bygone era when men were men . there are some of us who find value in strength and direction wrapped in a confidence that contributes to a sense of confidence  containment  and security . yes  they do not make men like that anymore  but  then how often do you find women who are made like bo derek .  
style but no substance . not as funny as it should be . not as deep as it wants to be .  br    br   this is another in the genre of films about the difficulties of filmmaking . a young filmaker is hired to finish a campy   s sci  fi movie called codenamedragonfly . think barbarella  or danger diabolique .  br    br   but jeremy davies is an angst  ridden filmmaker . he  s no hack he  s an artist . the movie he wants to make is a diary of his life . hardly original .  br    br   all the characters outside of jeremy davies filmmaker are as thin as rice  paper . characters that might be interesting  such as his father  his doppelganger  or jason schwarzmann as a hack director are introduced and then shown the door without adding a thing .  br    br   this movie is full of eye candy but when compared to other films about filmmakers such as stardust memories or     it pales in comparison . those movies are funny  provocative with well  developed characters . those movies have lessons that apply outside  br    br   the movie wants to be comic and campy but its just derivative and there is not one funny scene . the filmmakers describe it as a send  up but what  s the satirical target  the actors say it  s an homage but i think i would rather a full  length version of codenamedragonfly .  br    br   coppola is clearly amused by the setting as is evident by the visual humor of the sci  fi movie within a movie . but he fails to share why we should be amused .  br    br   outside of the sci  fi movie its just a mess . there are continuity errors  the filmmaker chooses a sci  fi weapon after its already been chosen . what   br    br   just because he has a scene were the filmmaker is confronted by the critics complaining about the lack of story  lack of a point  a scene where he admits empty cleverness does not mean that he has addressed those criticisms .  br    br   i guess if your roman coppola you can get away with making a movie about an angst  ridden idealistic filmmaker who doesn  t know what he wants to say and so ends up saying nothing . in that sense it may be considered autobiograhical .  br    br   i would watch it at circuit city on a wall full of tvs if i had a choice . watch the    minute codenamedragonfly movies included on the dvd as extras and then send it back .  
bo derek  s beauty and john derek  s revolutionary direction make this film worthwhile .  br    br   bo  looking more gorgeous than ever  is a recently widowed woman who is experiencing visitations from her  dead  husband  anthony quinn  . he has a plan . bo must procure the body of a young man so that her ghost of a husband can make his transformation from spectre back to corporeal life . can she find a fitting candidate  how will she do him in so tony can do his thing   br    br   with bo  s attributes  john  s unique direction  quinn  s film presence  and  thanks to john  a very pretty exotic look to the entire film  this movie is pleasant viewing .  
cq could have been good  campy fun . but it commits the only unforgivable sin it is b  o  r  i  n  g  the pace is deadly slow and the plot is fairly confused and so artificial that it  s next to impossible to care where it  s going . the story would have been acceptable in a creative writing class from a thoughtful and sensitive eighth grader but this video should have carried a warning label  caution student film . fit for viewing only by relatives of the film maker .   
i  d read about flavia the heretic for many years  but i only got to see it early last year  when i went on an insane movie  buying binge  and  for whatever reason  it has been on my mind lately  though it  s been some months since i watched it .  br    br   it  s a striking film  set in italy somewhere around the   th century . definitely medieval  era  though i don  t think any specific year is ever given  . this being the time of christian ascendancy  the age is a time of utter madness  and the movie captures this very well .  br    br   flavia  our protagonist  is a young lady who encounters a fallen muslim on a battlefield . he seems a warm and intriguing fellow  and she  s immediately taken with him . her father  a soldier of a a family of some standing  comes along  almost immediately  and murders the wounded man right before her eyes . but she  ll continue to see him in her dreams .  br    br   her father ships her off to a convent that seems more like an open  air insane asylum   the residents  so harshly repressed by unyielding medieval christianity  slowly go mad . flavia comes under the influence of one of the nuttier nuns . but in a mad world  only the sane are truly mad  and this sociopathic sister clearly recognizes the insanity around her . her take on the times in which they live strikes a chord with flavia  who  being young and apparently sheltered  is beginning to question everything about this world in which she finds herself trapped .  br    br   the movie is unflinching in its portrayal of that world  showcasing a lot of unpleasantness . we see a horse gelded  a lord rape one of the women of his lands in a pig  sty  the pious torture of a young nun . through it all  flavia observes and questions  rejecting  eventually  the christian dogma that creates such a parade of horrors in terms that would gain the movie some criticism over the years for seeming anachronistic . i disagree with that criticism . flavia  s views  though sometimes expressed in ways that vaguely mirror  for example  then  contemporary feminist commentary  the movie was made in       revolve around what are really pretty obvious questions . it is  perhaps  difficult to believe she could be so much of a fish out of water in her own time  but that  s the sort of minor point it doesn  t do to belabor . flavia is written in such a way to allow those of our era  or of any era  to empathize with her plight . getting bogged down on such a matter would be missing the forest for the trees .  br    br   flavia is heartened when the muslims arrive  invading the countryside  and she finds  in their leader  a new version of the handsome islamist who still visits her dreams . smitten with her almost immediately  he allows her to virtually lead his army  becoming a joan of arc figure in full battle  gear  and directing the invaders to pull down christian society  and wreak vengeance upon all those she  s seen commit evil .  br    br   is she the herald of a new and better world  she may think so  but muslims of that era weren  t big on feminism  either  as she soon learns the hard way . as they say  meet the new boss . . .  br    br   this is really just a thumbnail of some of the things that happen in flavia the heretic . the movie is quite grim  and with a very downbeat  rather depressing ending . not a mass  audience movie at all  to be sure . it  s quite good  though  and doesn  t belong on the  nunsploitation  pile on which it is often carelessly thrown . i think there  s much value in the final film  and i  m glad i saw it .  
okay  the film festival crowd probably loved it . but your average  popcorn munching movie goer who has scraped to  gether the ten or fifteen bucks it costs to see a movie these days will probably wonder why he or she made this choice . if it  s stamped  copolla  it  s automatically great stuff  right  wrong  it  s a neat spoof of filmdom  s pretensions . but it  s terribly  in .  i worry when film makers are more concerned about entertaining themselves rather than the public . it  s interesting as a cinematic curio and it does have a chuckle or two in it . but once it  s run its course in the movies and on tv  the dust will grow thick on the film cans and tape boxes holding it . hardly either epochal or an epic   
post  feminist depiction of cruelty and sadism .  br    br   spoiler alert   br    br   this underrated gem of a film tells the story of flavia  a fifteenth century girl of noble birth walled up in a convent after defining her father and indeed the whole of medieval christian society by viewing a fallen islamic warrior as a human rather than demonic figure .  br    br   unable to accept the patriarchal rule of the convent  explicitly stated in a scene where the bishop arrives flanked by soldiers and monks  flavia begins to explicitly question the society in which she finds herself and  through butting up against a whole system of subjugation  repression and violence  inevitably brings a tragic end not only to herself but all those around her .  br    br   billed as a piece of nunsploitation this is far from the truth . this is a film depiction the consequences of violence  the effects of patriarchal dominance  the nature of rebellion and the corruption of the human spirit .  br    br   i described it in the title of this piece as  post  feminist  and in the end flavia  s triumphs must always be corrupted  compromised and perverted by men . even flavia  s gruesome end is perpetrated by men for men  the women turn away and only the monks look on without horror .  br    br   as to the much discussed violence this is a depiction of the effects of violence and the horrors of a world driven mad by religious excess . to have shied away from the violence would have limited the film  s impact  would have cheapened the film and allowed it to be assimilated within the patriarchal discourse it is exposing . in addition it is a realistic portrait of medieval society .  br    br   beautifully filmed  brilliantly acted  notably by florinda bolkin and maria casares   containing a wonderful score by piovani and still challenging after all these years flavia is a classic of european cinema .  
cq was the worst film i saw this year . nearly every film i choose to see in the theater is at least entertaining or has something to say . this film looked like like it was directed by a film student for his intro . to filmmaking class . his father makes great films . his sister made a good one . but brother roman  no  one critic had the audacity to compare this film to godard  s le mpris  contempt  . while coppola  jr . did take the same idea  a film about film  he tried too hard to make himself seem european  artsy  and witty  when it  s all really just kitsch . the lead actor carries the same expression through the whole film  like he  s either in awe or in shock of this film being made around him . schwartzman somehow manages to pull off his role as a flamboyant director . depardieu is alright . the one scene that has any real film spoof humor at all is  surprisingly  not the b  movie scenes  but rather one which takes place in italy a montage of shots of several various characters inside a very small car  driving around picking up and dropping off random people . this was the only thing that reminded me of the cinema i am guessing he was trying to spoof . or rip  off . or both . the documentary with the lead talking into the camera and filming various objects has been played out  the ending was tagged on for the sake of a  twist  or artistic value . . . i suppose the funniest thing about this film was the film itself  and not in the way it intended . no wonder this film was sent back after a festival screening to be re  edited or re  shot or whatever  which makes me curious as to just how bad it was before . i can  t believe it could have been worse than this . if you want to see a good parody of film check out the austin powers films . any of them . the opening to the third is more entertaining and more genius than this entire film . lil  romy  for the sake of cinema  please go back to directing your cousin  s music videos . leave the godfathers to daddy .  
expecting to see another nunsploitation movie with a mean mother superior abusing and torturing her charges  flavia turned out to be much more than i had anticipated .  br    br   it actually has a feminist storyline  though i don  t think such a term existed in the era in which the movie is set . it certainly wasn  t practiced . women  and the jews and the poor  are very downtrodden and locked into menial spots in society . throughout the story  sister flavia  florinda bolkan  witnesses the tyranny of her time until she just can  t sit there any longer and actually does something about it  albeit with disastrous results .  br    br   the pre  credit sequence has flavia as a young adolescent near a battlefield . she sees an injured  evil  muslim soldier  one of the few still alive  and tries to assist him . before she can  her hate  filled father beheads the soldier and waves his head in her face  great family dynamics  huh   . after this  her father forces her to join a convent where she witnesses even more injustice . though scenes do involve violence  rape and nuns  i would consider this more of a historical drama than nunsploitation .  br    br   indeed  many of the ingredients for a trashy exploitation piece are there  but the acting  camera  work  storyline and music are too good to keep it down in that level . most  nun  films i  ve seen usually have the basic premise of a good girl somehow winds up in a convent  where the mother superior is a supreme bitch that likes to whip people and  or make their lives a living hell .  br    br   flavia spends much of the first part of he movie passively questioning all of the atrocities happening around her . much of her passivity is forgotten when she becomes acquainted with the strong  spirited  but slightly loony  she likes to pee outside like me  but it  s a lot easier for guys  sister agatha . when a group of muslims attack their abbey  flavia and agatha do not cower in fear like the other nuns . their attackers actually function as their liberators  of the cruelty and near  slavery of the abbey  . in fact  it is a christian  not a muslim invader  that impales dear sister agatha .  br    br   it is agatha  s death that sends flavia on her violent crusade against those who have oppressed her . . . her father treats her like dirt . her muslim lover deserts her at a very inopportune time . i don  t want to give out too much of the rest of the story  but be prepared to be shocked  devastated and saddened at the conclusion . this is a great film  so don  t be put off by its  undeserved  reputation as a trash epic . plus  how on earth could a movie featuring florinda bolkan and claudio cassinelli go wrong  i am not familiar with mara casares  other works  but sister agatha is a hell of a character .  br    br   i have read many great reviews of the synapse  us  release  but i love my german x  rated kult dvd copy . it isn  t anamorphic       but actually has a little more picture information on all of the edges than synapse  s release .  br    br   and there are also many great  wise or funny lines of dialogue  many from sister agatha   br    br    why is god male  the father  the son  and the holy spirit they  re all male    flavia  br    br    these men are afraid  look at them  sister  afraid their power will be taken away from them    sr . agatha  regarding christians fleeing after the muslims arrive   br    br    woman  where are you going  the moslems can do nothing to you that the christians haven  t done  ha ha ha    sr . agatha  to a group of fleeing christian women   br    br    lord bless these moslems  for putting fear into these pompous christians .   flavia  br    br    does it take the mere sight of a moslem to make you h  t your underclothing    sr . agatha  br    br   closing message  flavia gaetani  not yet a muslim  no longer a christian  was punished as a runaway nun . the idea for the film came from events which occurred during the musalman invasions of italy culminating in what even today is remembered as the martyrdom of the    at otranto   
cq is incredibly slow  and i  m a david mamet fan . the movie follows around a young filmmaker who is making a very barbarella  esque film . after that the movie started to lose me . deep and profound  not really . the movie  dragonfly  being made in cq has the problem of having no ending . this greatly parallels cq  which also lacks an ending  in my opinion  .  br    br   i was lucky enough to catch this movie at the sxsw film festival . i had fairly high expectations having just watched y tu mama tambien and several other great movies . i was also looking forward to jason schwartzman  s performance . but it was not an easy film to get into . if you  re not into    s sci  fi or slow movies that go no where  skip it .  br    br   cq feels like a student film . if you want a recent sci  fi  esque indie film rent donnie darko  it won  t put you to sleep .  
  flavia  la monaca muslmana  aka .  flavia the heretic  of     is a truly disturbing and uncompromising piece of italian exploitation cinema that  to a certain extent  follows a somewhat feminist premise  though the level of sleaze and brutality would probably disgust the majority of feminists  . set mostly in a convent  and with a nun as the eponymous central protagonist  great performance by the wonderful florinda bolkan    flavia the heretic  may be referred to as a  nunsploitation  film . however  this film differs quite drastically from the typical nunsploitation flicks from the time  as it doesn  t so much focus on the nunsploitation elements such as lesbianism  sadistic lesbian punishments  etc . personally  i saw more similarities to the hexploitation flicks of the time  such as  mark of the devil    even though this one doesn  t treat the topic of witch  hunts   which focus on the brutal execution of christian fundamentalism in the middle ages and early modern period .  br    br   italy around      after witnessing her despotic father behead a wounded muslim soldier  young flavia is forced to become a nun in a convent . when her father condemns a fellow nun to a torturous death for a small misdemeanor years later  falvia  s disgust with male violence against women turns into hatred against the despotic church  and she joins a band of arabic scavengers . . .  br    br   one thing is for sure   flavia the heretic  is not for the faint  hearted  and neither is it for those who want happy endings . director gianfranco mingozzi obviously tried to make his film as realistic and disturbing as possible  especially in its nasty scenes . the many torture  and execution  scenes are extremely disturbing  with skinnings  spikings and other gruesome scenes in explicit detail  the most shocking scene probably being the torture of the young nun quite in the beginning of the film . the violence here is never superfluous  however . after all  this gruesome methods actually were reality in the time the film is set in . the film is very well  made  with realistic costumes  fantastic settings an elegant cinematography and a great score by nicola piovani . the stunningly beautiful and great florinda bolkan has proved her talent in many great italian cult  productions  including lucio fulci  s giallo  masterpiece  non si sevizia un paperino  of      . she delivers another great  charismatic performance here  and i couldn  t imagine another actress fitting as well in the role as she does . the film has some minor inconsistencies  e . g . why does the rigid church let bizarre cult  followers into convents in the first place  . however  it is overall amazing how realistic this film is .  flavia the heretic  should definitely not be missed by my fellow fans of italian exploitation cinema . this is a great exploitation flick overall  though it definitely is a deeply depressing one and therefore should be watched in the right mood . highly recommended to fans of disturbing exploitation cinema .  .      
this is a movie about making a movie . such movies may be entertaining  but they need some substance  to do so . it did not happen here  i am afraid . mr coppola did not inherit his father  s skills  unfortunately  neither did his sister  who can however make movies which one might watch  .  br    br   i do wonder how this movie came to get such rave reviews .  br    br   let  s see the lead male actor  supposedly a director  is as expressive as a frozen squid and his voice has the same pitch whatever he says  the lead female actress has an expression on her face that never changes  the plot is totally segmented in bits with perhaps one single connecting element  the movie within the movie idea must be more stale than paleolithic rocks . . . would that be enough   br    br   i regretted every single moment i watched this movie . a walk with the dog is far superior entertainment to this unbelievably lame movie . it  s as if a franois truffaut plot were directed by dick cheney . . .  br    br   brazil  some other classic sf movies  you must be really joking . . .  
at least for a half hour a week . i haven  t been interested in anything on the big  networks  abc  cbs  nbc  in years . all of the lions are interesting  although larry can get annoying at times . i really like the middle earth action figures they bring in with hunter . most of the other characters are interesting as well . the sideshow of siegfried and roy is entertaining at times  too . the animation is top notch  and definitely the best cg that has been done on a weekly tv show . usually when they hire big names to star in a show  they  re trying to hide a poor script or characters . not entirely true in this show though  there  s a couple characters that were weak and improved by the voice acting  but overall the characters stand on their own .  br    br   this is definitely for   and up . there  s nothing here that most kids haven  t already heard before though  and most of the jokes would probably just fly right over their heads . it  s definitely not as crude and edgy as south park  but does bring some of the same  bash everyone  feel to it . one example is that it makes fun of both dick cheney and barbara streisand at the same time in one episode .  br    br   father of the pride and other dreamworks productions like shrek also feel like the spiritual successors of animaniacs  pinky and the brain  and freakazoid . it  s the same type of humor grown up . it may not be as witty as spielberg  s classic tv series  but it  s still good .  br    br   i hope that it finishes this season off well  and is renewed for future seasons . otherwise i may never find a reason to watch the big  again .  
this film is exactly what you get when you really over stretch your abilities  it  s like someone who has just passed there driving test and then pitting them in a formula  grand prix  not i might add  the us grand prix as everyone might pull out due to dodgy tyres and you might just win   that is how far short this film falls . now don  t take this the wrong way  i love b  movies  around half my collection is made of b  movies but i don  t think there are enough letters in the alphabet to describe how bad this film is .  br    br   first of the story  for a b  movie  isn  t that bad  it has potential there to make a b  movie brand  were not talking friday   th potential  but potential none the less . but what really lets this film down is the acting  at not one second do i believe anything  it  s like watching qvc except the presenters on qvc tend to have a heavier tan .  br    br   in summary i  d like to say i  ve seen worse films  but i can  t .  
there is so much that can be said about this film . it is not your typical nunsploitation . of course  there is nudity and sex with nuns  but that is almost incidental to the story .  br    br   it is set in   th century italy  at the time of the martyrdom of    christians at otranto . the battle between the muslims and the christians takes up a good part of the film . it was interesting when everyone was running from the muslim hoards  that the mother superior would ask   why do you fear the muslims   they will not do anything that the christians have done to you   certainly  there was enough torture on both sides .  br    br   sister flavia  florinda bolkan  is sent to a convent for defying her father . in the process  she witnesses and endures many things the gelding of a stallion  the rape of a local woman by a new duke  the torture of a nun who was overcome during a visit by the tarantula sect  and a whipping herself when she ran off with a jew . the torture was particularly gruesome with hot wax being poured on the nun  and her nipples cut off .  br    br   sister flavia is bound to continue to get into trouble as she questions the male  dominated society in which she lives . she even asks jesus  why the father  son and holy ghost are all men .  br    br   eventually  she joins the leader of the muslims as his lover and they sack the convent . here is where you see more flesh than you can possible enjoy at one time . but  tragedy is to come . she manages to exact sweet revenge on all  including the duke and her father  but finds that the muslim lover treats her exactly the same . she is a woman and that is all there is to it .  br    br   i won  t describe what the holy men of the church did to this heretic at the end  but it predates the torture of saw or hostel by decades .  br    br   nunsploitation fans will be satisfied with the treats  but movie lovers will find plenty of meat to digest .  
i should qualify that title  now that i think about it . checkout is not entirely worthless . i  ve had the opportunity to see it twice  and on the second time i did get a great laugh at the movie  s expense . so i guess it  s worth something for that . and also it  s worthwhile for the excruciating pain it caused me on my first viewing . as another reviewer pointed out  this film is hackneyed in every sense of the word . not a single original thought went into this movie  which makes the comment below about the originality of the premise entirely baffling to me  . the film is nothing but a long line of cliches which are strung together and paraded around as a movie . it is definitely not the next clerks  it is definitely not original  and it is absolutely not  good  clean fun .  the film is absolute agony to the uninitiated  after seeing it a first time  the second time can be quite funny  in an insulting sort of way  . as i looked around the theater  it was obvious that nearly everyone  barring perhaps the elderly  were completely bored or pained by this movie . during some of the particularly emotional scenes  like where nick chews out his mother  the audience was actually cringing because it was so poorly done . i even heard someone groan in the theater  something i had heretofore never witnessed . i don  t care where you have the chance to see this movie  be it at a film festival  or in a indie theater  or wherever . do yourself a favor  skip this movie with a vengeance . unless you  re like me and just can  t resist the opportunity to see what may truly be the worst movie ever made .  
flavia the heretic is a strange entry in the nunsploit genre  equal parts sleaze  feministic journey  and  history  as we follow flavia on her strange trip .  br    br   we start off with flavia in a convent . . . she ain  t too happy there cuz she doesn  t believe in all the male  dominated  rules  and macho  ism of the world around her and escapes from the convent with her jewish pal  abraham . they are both eventually caught and flavia is brought back to the convent where she joins another  non  believing  nun in hastening a moslem invasion . flavia hangs out with the moslems who take over the convent and get  busy  with the nuns in a strange set of scenes . eventually the moslems roll  out and flavia is punished as a traitor to christianity in another singularly brutal scene . . .  br    br   this one has pretty much all the stuff that i like to see in a    s era exploit film  some good gore  including nipple  removal  and a nice leg  skinning scene  some decent nudity  including the requisite full  frontal  and a decent storyline as well . i will say that it sorta dragged in a few points  but not enough to get truly bored with it . i would definitely recommend this one to nunsploit     s exploit fans . . .      
i went in to this movie thinking it was going to be the next clerks  but left feeling let down . the humor was weak and the characters fairly flat . that isn  t to say it was all bad  the idea of the dating service in the grocery store seemed like pretty fertile material  but the director switched focus to the cliche  d  save the mom  and  pop store from the evil corporation guy  . i felt like if he would have just stuck with the dating service plot  he would have come out with a much more memorable movie . now  to do the film justice  i am from the rochester area and loved the way he portrayed webster . in fact  the best kevin smith  of clerks  homage here was giving props to his hometown . webster  ny is to checkout what red bank  nj is to clerks . the director wisely threw in a date at nick tahou  s . trust me  as far as things to do in rochester  a garbage plate is at the top of the list . i was lucky enough to see this film at the little in rochester so everybody knew when the odes to the town came up and appreciated them .  
too many sources routinely lump this thought  provoking period drama in part based on historical fact together with the superficially similar  nunsploitation  which was a mainstay in    s euro trash cinema  overlooking the righteous anger that drives the whole endeavor . perhaps coincidentally it was also director gianfranco mingozzi  s singular attempt at narrative film  making outside of many well  received documentaries .  br    br   safely set within a historical context  flavia charts the growing rebellion of an early   th century italian nun  florinda bolkan  s career performance  even surpassing her sterling work in lucio fulci  s devastating don  t torture a duckling   locked away in convent by her not so nobleman father in a desperate attempt to curb the girl  s budding sensuous nature . wondering why women are relegated to secondary roles at best in life as in holy scripture  she is confronted by ways in which male domination can rupture female lives  inspiring revolt fueled by the ranting of semi  crazed older sister agatha  indelibly portrayed by veteran actress maria casars from marcel carn  s les enfants du paradis  and  more constructively  by a muslim invasion . joining the oppressors and perhaps unwittingly manipulating them to do her bidding  flavia truly becomes the outcast she already felt herself to be  with expected tragic results .  br    br   with its breathtaking widescreen compositions by alfio contini  who shot michelangelo antonioni  s zabriskie point  this is an uncompromising and austere account of one woman  s fierce yet ultimately futile fight against patriarchal society which allotted her no rights beyond childbearing or whoring as sister agatha wryly remarks . a lengthy drug  induced fantasy sequence clearly modeled on ken russell  s otherwise far more flamboyant devils notwithstanding  the movie turns out relatively stingy in the skin department  making something of a mockery out of its semi  porn reputation . this is a serious work deserving rediscovery and restoration of its unjustly tarnished reputation .  
maximally manipulative anabel sims  betsy drake  sets out to trap her ideal man  aided by her co  worker  julie . esteemed pediatrician madison brown  cary grant  goes from bemused to betrothed in the space of   minutes on film  but to the viewer it  s all eternity . can a movie receive less than one star  this one is a prime candidate .  
flavia  florinda bolkan of  don  t torture a duckling  fame  is locked away in a convent of carnal desires by her father . tired of all of the sadism she sees around her  rape of a young woman in a pigsty  sexual cravings  horse castration  flavia decides to run from the convent with her jewish friend from the outside  abraham . the two don  t get very far before they are captured and then brought back to be tortured and forced to repent . after punishment she joins up with a band of muslims called the tarantulas  who had invaded the convent prior and leads a crusade that turns into nothing short of a bloody battle behind the convent walls .  flavia the heretic  is a well  directed and fairly notorious piece of italian nunsploitation . the film is slightly gruesome and sleazy at times . the acting is great and the characters are well  developed . overall   flavia the heretic  is a genuinely moving and intelligent movie with plenty of nudity and gore . you can  t go wrong with it .  out of   .  
i always found betsy drake rather creepy  and this movie reinforces that . as another review said  this is a stalker movie that isn  t very funny . i watched it because it has cg in it  but he hardly gets any screen time . it  s no  north by northwest  . . .  
reportedy based on actual historical events  this disturbingly violent  bloody  and shocking period epic sustains viewer interest by creating a verisimilitude missing in the majority of films set in a remote era . ms . bolkan  s portrayal of the rebellious nun is a tour de force . her gradual transformation in character from an obedient if unwilling complicitor in social injustices of her day is adeptly evidenced by telling sequences her witnessing of the hated local duke  s casual rapist activity  her forbidden love affair with a jew  her criminal defection to the invading moslem forces of the sensual prince ahmed  anthony corlan  there are some painfully realistic gory sequences  human flaying  in this film that are not for the squeamish  but viewers with strong stomachs and an interest in medieval history should find ample interest . deserves to be seen  if only as an antidote to hollywood depictions of the medieval world .  
remade today  this film would be a very creepy  very disturbing dark comedy . stalking  obsession  and a web of lies and manipulations are given a     gloss of aren  t  they  cute harmlessness . drake plays the stalker  an unabashed user of people  alternately pathetic and manipulative  grant plays the stalking victim  alternately angry and oblivious .  br    br   vastly disturbing i haven  t been able to look at classic romances with the same suspension of disbelief since .  br    br    
flavia the heretic is an undeniable work of art and probably my number one recommendation to state that the euro  exploitation cinema is severely underrated and not to be ignored . this is an intelligent and complex film  beautifully realized and  surprise  pretty damn accurate  this is more than just meaningless sleaze or gratuitous violence and it  s about time those prudish film committees who categorize flavia as forbidden trash reckon this as well . flavia is a beautiful   th century adolescent  forced to live the life of an obedient nun in a strict convent . she refuses to accept her being inferior just because she  s female and she curses her fellow sister for being so tolerant about this . after a fruitless attempt to escape  she befriends another rebellious nun and she even guides a troop of bloodthirsty muslims into the walls of the convent .  br    br   flavia is a downright mesmerizing film  almost impossible to believe that director gianfranco mingozzi managed to make it appear so realistic and so disturbing . i challenge you to come up with a title that centers on the topic of pioneer  feminism more intensely than flavia does . several sequences are quite shocking  on the verge of nightmarish  actually  as the camera zooms in on brutal rapes  torture and mutilation . yet all this raw footage isn  t just used to satisfy perverted gorehounds  mind you . i  m strongly convinced that they  re part of the statement  flavia  is trying to communicate humanity  the catholic church in particular  historically proved itself to be a hypocrite and discriminating race and there  s no use in denying it any further . films like  flavia  the heretic  have the courage to question and openly condemn our precious ancestors and i truly admire them for it . flavia is an outstanding and fundamental exploitation film because of its substance  but it  s even brought to an higher level by the wondrous cinematography  the glorious costumes  scenery and a breathtaking musical score by nicola piovani . florinda bolkin is very convincing as the ambitious and headstrong nun but it  s mara casares who steals the show as sister agatha . she  s a man  hating and loud  mouthed nun who likes to urinate in the open field  amen  sister   
this woman never stops talking throughout the movie . she memorized every line  and delivered all without a bit of natural emotion . she also has a most uncharming lisp  and the pitch of her voice sounds like nails on a blackboard . this film has way too much betsy drake  and not enough cary grant  who carried what little was left of the film entirely on his own .  
let  s think people  quit bad  mouthing the original  for it  s time the original battlestar series was a masterpiece  even still with all the stars  story lines and art . lorne greene was great as adama and richard hatch was perfect as apollo and dirk benedict was funny as starbuck  but i dare say  not as pretty as katee as starbuck .  br    br   i loved the episode with the pegasus and greetings from earth was good john calicos was great as baltar  war of the gods  the best was experiment in terra  i thought that was a tribute in a way to heaven can wait  then you had the women of battlestar  not to compare them to let  s say tricia who is outstandingly beautiful as number six  but jane seymour  s beauty could not be compared to . let alone loerrta spang as cassiopea was fantastic . she had beauty that a rainbow would be embarrassed by . i loved the original as much as the new .  br    br   can you imagine if john calicos had a number six     br    br   thankyou for listening .  
i  m among millions who consider themselves cary grant fans  but i can  t think of a single reason to recommend this movie . i don  t understand the casting of betsy drake and it appears no one else did  if we  re to judge from the small number of films in which she played afterwards .  br    br   most fans will agree that katharine hepburn was superb at chasing and catching cary grant in bringing up baby . here the director or writers try to rehash the idea  but it fails miserably . i  ve read comments about how  creepy  drake was  but i thought that was far too mild a description . franchot tone walked through this one as if he were hungover . a casting disaster is one thing . this film is a total disaster .  br    br   this one doesn  t deserve   lines of comments and i don  t know why that  s a requirement . too bad this one was preserved when so many worthwhile films lie rotting in vaults .  br    br   unless you want to torture someone  give this one a wide berth .  
this movie is pretty good . half a year ago  i bought it on dvd . but first i thought that it was the original film . i have seen the series and it is a good film  but here  they have put  the living legend  part  and    and  fire in space  together . the same as they did with the first film  but with other episodes . but still  it is a pretty good film . only the ending is strange  you don  t see what happens with the pegasus  . but i still think that it is pretty good . the actors and special effects were good . if you haven  t seen it  go see it . starringrichard hatch  dirk benedict  lorne greene  herb . jefferson jr .  tony swartz  terry carter  lloyd bridges  jack stauffer .  
stalker is right  girl sees guy  girl wants guy  girl contrives mundane ways to keep bumping into him  girl won  t leave him alone  girl pretends to be a patient  girl can  t stop talking about him  girl pretends to love another guy  or two   he doesn  t pay attention to her because she  s annoying  girl still won  t leave him alone . played right  drake  s character could have been charming but she  s completely  wholly  unrelenting in her pursuit of cary grant  s character  her girlfriend  in  cahoots is dull  and sadly  drake  s attempt at playing   charmingly screwball  comes off as   disturbingly demented .  grant is himself  as usual  which is fine for cary but it  s as close to a phoned  in performance as i  ve ever seen from him . the direction is lackluster and the dialog is just plain dim .  br    br   screwball comedy is very difficult to do successfully and when it fails  like in this stubbed  out butt of an attempt  it just stinks . worse still  drake spends the entire film in need of a lot of valium and a restraining order . she ruins any humor to be found in this drier than mummy dust relic .  
although others have commented that this video is just an edited version of the two shows  fire in space  and  living legend   if you watch the original shows you  ll find that dialogue from this video edition was edited out . i found this video version much better because scenes and lines were added to it . i would say if you want to see the show in its original version  see the video versions on vhs . they have more to offer the fan than the original episodes being offered on dvd now . another good video is conquest for the earth  which had more scenes from galactica     than did the actual broadcasts themselves . overall  i rate this as a   because it gives you more to enjoy than what the networks wanted to show in the time slot they gave the producers .  
one  note comedy that probably sets modern day feminists  teeth on edge . department store clerk betsy drake is in love with the idea of babies and marriage  pinning her hopes on women  s magazines until she spies super  bait in the form of sleek bachelor cary grant . the rest of the film plods from one ploy to the next as the relentless drake pursues her quarry . i guess the word  perky  just about sum  s up drake  s approach to the role . she does have a charming smile  but after   minutes of memorizing her dentures  i began to overdose . grant  s role is basically secondary and minus his usual flair . there is one scene  however  that almost salvages this slender exercise . drake queries the hapless grant following his lecture to a roomful of respectable ladies . here her perky manner has an unforced freshness that is really quite remarkable  and had the production not rubbed our noses in that upbeat grin for   minutes  the film might have amounted to more than a girls  camp day  dream  circa     .  
as i said in my comment about the first part these two movies are better than most science fiction fans confess .  br    br   the scenario in the second movie is not that moving as we don  t see the destruction of human civilization  but the aftermath  thousands of refugees fleeing in tiny space cans  protected by only one powerful spaceship .  br    br   but when battlestar pegasus appears  the story heats up  carrying the battle back to the cylon planets . okay  it has a little bit of mad max because all they fight for is fuel for their spaceships to travel on to find the distant earth  but it works for me . it is thrilling science fiction entertainment featuring fine actors and decent special effects  even though those tend to repeat themselves  to say the least     .  br    br   i would have loved a continuation with starbuck and apollo on board . instead  we got a second sequel with no name characters who proved that the story had worked before especially because the feature characters were so well  chosen . . .  br    br   so thumbs down for the productions of      but thumbs up for the two movies from     .  
heavenly days commits a serious comedy faux pas it  s desperate to teach us a civics lesson  and it won  t stop until we  ve passed the final exam . fibber mcgee and molly take a trip to washington  where they see the senate in action  or inaction  if you prefer   have a spat with their senator  eugene palette in one of the worst roles of his career   get acquainted with a gaggle of annoying stereotypical refugee children  and meet a man on a train reading a book by henry wallace . henry wallace   a year later  he was considered a near communist dupe  but in      he was a  ok . add in some truly awful musical moments  a whole lot of flagwaving hooey  and a boring subplot about newspaper reporters  and you  ve got a film that must have had philip wylie ready to pen generation of vipers   d . c . boogaloo . drastically unfun  heavenly days is another reminder that the devil has all the best tunes .  
i never saw it on tv but rented the dvd through netflix as soon as i found that it was available . i had high expectations  and was not disappointed . it  s funny  and the animation is excellent . that level of quality i would only have expected from feature films  so i  m surprised at some of the bad comments on it . maybe the dvd release had improved animation  one bonus to the dvd is that it was fun to see both versions of the pilot . i  m an adult  and i really appreciate that it is for adults . it isn  t only kids who like cute animated characters . it is nowhere near  raunchy  as some have claimed  but i can see where some parents wouldn  t want their young children to see it . i  m very disappointed that it was cancelled . i wish they would produce more episodes . or perhaps a movie .  
for some reason  various young couples hiking through the italian alps split up to see who can reach their campsite designation first . james  gregory lee kenyon  enters a cave  finds a skeleton of an ancient demonic gladiator and becomes possessed by the spirit of  tyranus  when he puts on a helmet belonging to the corpse . he then spends the rest of the film running around in the woods hunting down his friends and hacking off their limbs to add to some stew to bring the undead  demonicus  back to life . this shot  on  digital full moon release is stupid  senseless  has terrible acting and sound and the  los  angeles national forest is a poor substitute for italy . however  it  s pretty high on the unintentional laugh scale thanks mainly to the overwrought lead performance . whether bug  eyed running around in cheap  looking armor brandishing a sword or spouting neurotic latin gibberish about demons and resurrection  kenyon  s ridiculous facial expressions and awkward line delivery must be seen to be believed . oh well  at least he  s not boring like most of the rest of the cast .  
found this flick in a videostore  it cost   to buy . the whole movie stinks really bad  the so  called colonel  who would the hero here if the cover could have been trusted  must be in his eighties and is barely able to walk . he nevertheless manages to shoot some of the dumbest ninjas in the world . then the story leaves the colonel  which makes sense given the old man  s inability to do anything worth mentioning  a now two terrifyingly eighties  looking guys take over  in what must have been some sort of story . i got lost a hundred times but didn  t mind  because the movie is so bad  it  s real fun to watch . zero  budget trash with actors not deserving that name . go check it out   
the idea of making a miniseries about the berlin airlift seemed to me as one of the more interesting german  post  war movies . it is a theme that has not been explored much as yet . however  the makers of this series stuffed it with clichs . it starts already with the dvd cover of the movie  which is a direct copy of the cover of  pearl harbor  .  br    br   luise kielberg  bettina zimmermann  gets to hear that her husband  who is a doctor   ulrich noethen  has died in russia and after the war she  s struggling to survive . she finds a job at the american base  gets to work for the coolest and highest ranking officer  heino ferch  in town  falls in love with  m  gets pregnant  and all of a sudden her husband turns up again . come on    we  ve seen this once too often . heino ferch and ulrich noethen play their role quite well bettina zimmermann however never really seems to convince . for some reason it always seems she  s somewhat too late in giving the right emotional reaction to the scenes . it just didn  t work for me .  br    br   the action scenes with the planes and the air lift  we  re sometimes exciting  more often not . nasty things always seemed to happen to the same pilot .  br    br   unless you  re a big fan of wwii movies  i suggest you spend your money on something else chocolate ice  cream brings a lot more satisfaction   br    br    out     
hey people  what  s up . it  s me man  the one and only mike  sonny sakura killer  kelly . you know . . . . . . . . you can  t really write a review on the script of sakura  cause there we didn  t have one . as far as i know  the story was just made up as we went along . i had the best time of my life making that film  and got so much stank that i ran out of jism . . . . . . . . . . . fun times . so glad that you all enjoyed the film . i really didn  t get to do the fights that i had envisioned . every time i set up some moves  the fight director kept changing them . still  i had a blast and met some really great people . especially the purple female ninja who has seem to fall of the film  making scene .  
a few weeks ago the german broadcaster  sat   advertised this movie as the  tv  event of the year   sorry  but i  ve seen better things on tv this year .  br    br   i didn  t thought much of the movie but i soon reminisced about two other horrible movies when i watched the commercial  namely titanic and pearl harbor because the picture looked so familiar the  heroine   if i can really call her that  in the middle and her two  loved  ones  next to her  pearl harbor  anyone  in fact the love  story is a poor man  s version of the one in pearl harbor and that one was already poor   br    br   but as i like watching movies and analyzing their patterns i eventually decided to watch that rubbish . the movie begins with a doctor leaving his family for the military strike against russia near the end of the third reich promising his wife that he will return . now fast forward to spring      germany lost the war and the allies  russia captured the country and they both try to eliminate each other for world power and their ideologies capitalism versus communism . well  i guess you already know the story because you have to know it  the movie doesn  t really bother with it so much and literally takes a dump on historical facts . the movie tries to depict the us government as angels and completely ignores the contribution of other countries during the airlift especially great britain who was responsible for nearly a quarter of the rations despite having their country bombed from a country that they  re trying to help .  br    br   what was also pretty annoying were the historical remarks the people said in the movie like when the heroine  s mother tells her daughter that germany might be parted in two with a response like  that  s impossible   or when stalin  where the director thought we just stick similarly looking mustache on the actor and he will look like him  says that russia has to stop  coca cola  from spreading in germany . yeah right  if stalin has ever said something like this . or there is this one us pilot who tells his fellow of a bread with meat and everything possible in it  please  burgers were invented way before that time .  br    br   in the movie you once see a map showing the airlines  funnily enough the map looks like it came straight out of a laser printer  in    . the us general lucius clay who  s main idea was to stay in berlin is portrayed as a guy who is mean and grumpy and all the ideas he historically had like for example the airlift and improving on that idea came from the fictive character phillip turner  the love interest of the main actress which leads me to other aspects not enough african  american soldiers in the movie  there were like two in the whole film  also relationships between us soldiers and german civilians was not allowed and by a revealing of such a relationship the us soldier would  ve been sent home . i don  t want to say that there were no relationships at all but in this movie there was a couple that almost got married  if it wasn  t for the death of the pilot in his fake cgi plane which looked terribly unrealistic especially the cgi fire   br    br   if it wasn  t enough all americans in this movie spoke accent  free german although they only were in germany for a couple of months  look i  m also american living in germany for my whole life and even i have a little accent . notably bad was also the child acting  the kids had like two expressions on their faces  normal  i  look  monotonous  like  a  robot  and grinning .  br    br   all in all the movie was boring from beginning to end moving way too slow especially the love story which was the same as the one in pearl harbor just with half of the dialogue . the sad part is that the movie was very successful   .   millions watched the first part and  .   millions the second part the day after thus sat  receiving two consecutive wins in the overall market share and a whopping win in the commercial relevant group . but like i always think the biggest pile of bull  crap is where the most flies go to .  
it  s hard to rate films like this  because do you rate it on production or just fun   br    br   i saw this film back in about        or so when i was a boy and i  m sorry to say it started a life long fascination with ninjas . the plot is fairly dire and the acting is of course terrible  but there is a certain mystique surrounding the ninjas in this film which makes for quite a good atmosphere . what is important are the fight scenes  while a  little  sparce  are really good .  br    br   i must say it was better when i was a boy  only now can i see the glaring points of unbelievable nonsense in the film  but as a  sit back with a few beers  martial arts film i can  t fault it  it delivers and is much better than the mountains of  american ninja  style rubbish that was churned out in the    s with hundreds of guys in black suits but really not very good fight scenes .  br    br   in an interesting note  dusty nelson  the writer and director of sakura killers did another ninja film under the bonaire movie flag called  white phantom  i have no idea if this was meant to be a sequel to sakura killers  but the sakura clan is once again a main feature  including the same logo and similar story only this time including a white ninja . this too  while being mostly dire  had a small sense of atmosphere but the fight scenes are even more sparce and to be frank  are pretty awful .  br    br   so  if you are a martial arts fan then give it a blast to kill a few hours   
what a fantastic premise a movie about the berlin airlift . it should have it all . tragedy . suspense . comradeship . rivals . berliner frauleins and tough us pilots . love and tears . what we  ve got  is a film with none of the above . heino ferch tries to impersonate john wayne or so  but he fails miserably . he acts so wooden  that at any given moment he should crack . he tries to play the tough guy  instead of being a tough guy  why would bettina zimmermann  s character fall in love with him  cause they were throwing stones in a lake  cause he brings her coal bricks  the sfx are very  very well done . too much though . the hundreds or so planes over berlin  look like an attack  fighter  formation  squadron rather than an organised airlift  as it actually was . interestingly enough  the white house  the kremlin  and general lucius d . clays office seem all to be one and the same dark and dusty set . notice the same drapes  hanging deep down the windows  as if a protective shield against nuclear fallout . why is almost every scene inside dark and dusty  by the way  general lucius d . clay  comes across as a small time  insecure  looser general  who doest trust in his own noble idea the airlift . he was very much the opposite . so you combine all those individual blunders and the result is a film with that builds toward no passion  no suspense and no historic accuracy . sad  it started out so promising  
don  t listen to the many acerbic and derisory comments heaped upon this film . . . . . simply put  as regards ninja movies  this my friends is about as good as it gets   br    br   yes it  s silly  yes the acting and script are admittedly absolutely atrocious  but by gum  it  s so much bloody fun  in fact  as is often the case with b  movies  the horrendous  acting   which in the case of the movie in question  is truly amongst the worst i have ever had the joy to behold   and ridiculous  plot  actually only serve to elevate the enjoyment level ten fold .  br    br   obviously the fight scenes are the main attraction in this though and for the most part i  m pleased to say  they  re very well choreographed  especially the final showdown  during which we witness that ninja are not ostensibly constrained by the normal laws of gravity . . . .   br    br   trust me on this  if you are a fan of ninja movies and you have not yet seen sakura killers  then you are truly missing out on what is in my opinion  one of the true jewels in the crown of the genre .  
to put it simply  i am not fond of westerns . and having never sat through one from beginning to end  i decided to watch  my darling clementine  and see it all the way through  no matter how painful it was for me . at first it was excruciating as expected . i found the acting to be laughable  the scenery  your standard dessert  horses and cowboys  boring and the music and its timing teetering on the edge of painful . however  after mentally pep talking myself to struggle on  after the first   minutes it began to be quite a bit easier for me to endure . focusing in on the cinematography  and how john ford managed to make even the dullest situations  dull according to me that is  look quite stunning at times  made it a lot more interesting .  br    br   in conclusion  i can  t go so far as to say that i enjoyed the movie by the end of it . however it was made well enough for me to sit all the way through to the very end  and that in itself impresses me .  
if you only read a synopsis of the plot  this movie would sound like quite a typical one of the      s . the story would seem quite contrived  the subject matter maudlin . the strength and beauty of this film is in the direct  earthy performances of the cast . i have seldom seen jean harlow display such a range of feeling  rich and subtle nuances float over her face . if you watch their faces during the wedding ceremony in the chapel  there is such an obvious depth of feeling between the principal characters . the raw emotions are so sincerely portrayed  so true . the final sequence is almost unbearably poignant when clark gable looks down with such joy and surprise at his son  lifts him up and proudly says   my kid    i couldn  t help remember that mr . gable  s own son was born to him posthumously . this is one of the finest examples of depression era cinema .  
one can deal with historical inaccuracies  but this film was just too much . practically nothing was even close to truth  and even for the era  it was seen as silly .  br    br   in defense of ford  it was revealed on an old talk show  that he was operating on the story as told to him by the real wyatt earp  who was obviously old  senile  and replayed the scene his own way . earp told the director about the stagecoach  and how it was planned to happen during the stagecoach arrival  so despite what other historians claim  wyat himself asserts that it was premeditated .  br    br   this movie portrays earp as an honest man  and also his brothers . history doesn  t exactly say they were or weren  t . most people like to interject a bit of deceit and lawlessness into their characters  but that is nothing new . the truth is probably closer to them being the law abiding sorts of gunfight at the ok corral . men who saw it as a career  and believe me  in the old west  you didn  t have time to think about too much else .  br    br   characters that don  t exist  characters depicted dying at the corral who really didn  t  all make this a weaker film . it is further weakened by mature  who really didn  t make a convincing doc . he may be the worst cast choice ever for doc  but at the same time we must remember that older movies were closer to the era and closer to a feel for the truth . after all  ford did get information first hand from wyatt earp .  br    br   it is also weakened by the all so predictable events involving the mexican girl . hollywood was very pro nazi in those days  and ready to kill off brunette women in very predictable fashion to show their patronage to hitler idealism . this occurs in most movies until the eighties . it is no excuse  and does cheapen the art  however .  br    br   the actors who play the earps do well  and brennan is always a thrill . in fact  mature may be the only acting downside of this flick . still  it is the weakest of the old ok corral movies .  
jean harlow and clark gable were a great on screen team and this may be their best movie together .  br    br   yes  hold your man can be cheesy and predictable  but that  s not what i love about the movie . i love seeing harlow and gable together and in this film they are simply wonderful . it is obvious that they really enjoyed working together and that is part of what makes this such a wonderful film .  br    br   the witty dialogue  great script and attention to detail are the other things that make this such a good movie . i loved this movie the first time i saw it and on each subsequent viewing i always notice at least one new detail . to me  that is a mark of a great film .  br    br   the dialogue and script are better than most movies from this time period  early    s  . i adore classic movies  but i admit that most of them are just average and at times don  t hold my interest . hold your man is one of the exceptions .  br    br   this has a lot to do with the fact that hold your man is a  pre  code  movie .  the hays code was not enforced until a year after hold your man .  this movie could not have been made under the code . well  it could have been made  but it would have been an entirely different story . thank goodness the code was not enforced until     . otherwise  we would have missed out on this gem .  
this video guide was the masterpiece of the year     . beautifully done  matthew perry and jennifer aniston have major on  screen chemistry when they talk about what the start button does . i  m waiting for microsoft to release a special edition dvd complete with deleted scenes  bill gates commentary  a documentary of how windows   compares to windows xp  and more   br    br   overall       should have won at least a golden globe   
one of the great mysteries of life  suffered from daily  is why nice girls so often are more interested in the jerks and heels than in the nice guys .  br    br   worse  when the nice guys even want to marry those girls  the girls still prefer the jerks and heels  even after the jerks and heels have shown their contempt  have shown they  re just interested in using the girls .  br    br   stu erwin is the nice guy  who continues to be nice after being lied to and cheated and even after losing the girl completely .  br    br   clark gable is the jerk  and he is perfect in the role  rather a sad note to his fans .  br    br   jean harlow comes across as a more slender mae west  even sounding like la west in some of her cynical throwaway lines .  br    br   somewhat puzzling is that so many of the other characters  intended to be bad guys   i mean  heck  they  re locked up  so they must be   are so obviously nice people .  br    br   in fact  there are lots of nice people here  people who  in a lesser film or story  would be snarling and back  stabbing but here go out of their way to help someone else .  br    br   so  maybe the story is rather clichd  at least by modern standards  but ultimately the viewer will be glad to have watched .  br    br   the biggest complaint i have is that so many really good actors are not given credit . once again  we can say a fervent  thank you  to imdb . com .  
i refused to watch this when it originally aired  treasuring the memory of the late  lamented     s series with mike pratt and kenneth cope  but i can never resist a challenge . i should have known better . not quite a remake  and more of a parody than a homage  this show didn  t quite know how to play it  and plumped with infantile comedy and cartoon plots and characters . the three main characters were little more than caricatures of the actors  and only emilia fox could act  bob mortimer is painful in a straight role  . the supporting cast were merely comedian  acquaintances of vic and bob  s wanting to be part of the in  joke  and far too aware of the situation to be convincing . and the cgi  though the effects couldn  t help be an improvement on those available   years earlier  merely dazzled the viewer with lights and camera work  and did little to mask the poor quality of the scripts and dialogue . all style and no substance .  and whereas the     s show is mocked for being very much of its time  this  update  is now also very dated  with  matrix   style fashions  obligatory  girl power  scenes  and less than subtle tension between the two living leads .   
i expected this film to be a run  of  the  mill      s romance . boy meets girl  they fall in love  boy loses girl  boy wins her back in the end . it wasn  t like that at all . clark gable plays con artist eddie with all his usual charisma and mischievous eyebrow raising . he is hiding out from the cops when he bursts into ruby  jean harlow   s apartment  to find her covered in bubbles in the bathtub  no less . instant chemistry . she plays hard to get for a while  but a girl can only resist that grin for so long . the heat between them is evident  and there are some scenes that are definitely pre  production code  when a blackmail job goes bad and ruby ends up in a boarding house for  troubled girls   she is miserable and  thanks to the ragging her roommate gives her  begins to believe that eddie will never come for her . harlow plays the hard  nosed  fast talking ruby perfectly . she never lets gable get all the good lines  there is an especially moving scene with her playing  their song  on the piano that is acted perfectly . the last fifteen minutes have me crying every time . a truly sweet romance .  
  the bank        chaplin   the bank  was one of charlie  s     essanay films . while these group of films are more watchable than their     counterparts  this one seems a bit below average . the gag with the janitorial double combo  locked vault and the tough  luck ending that has charlie waking up from a dream  in which he is stroking the lead lady  s hair  only to be stroking the head of a mop he had used as a quasi pillow  are both classic chaplin moments . they are both ironically the beginning and the end . the middle is filled in with fighting with the rival co  worker janitor and busting up a bank robbery to win the girl . the mop is probably the greatest physical prop of this movie and charlie uses it to expert comedic effect whether while it is the intention of his character or not . the mop seems to be charlie  s alter  ego doing things he wishes he could do but wouldn  t with his own two hands . interesting stuff but there  s better .  
hold your man finds jean harlow  working class girl from brooklyn falling for con man clark gable and getting in all kinds of trouble . the film starts out as his film  but by the time it  s over the emphasis definitely switches to her character .  br    br   the film opens with gable pulling a street con game with partner  garry owen and the mark yelling for the cops . as he  s being chased gable ducks into harlow  s apartment and being he  s such a charming fellow  she shields him .  br    br   before long she  s involved with him and unfortunately with his rackets . gable  harlow  and owen try pulling a badger game on a drunken paul hurst  but then gable won  t go through with it . of course when hurst realizes it was a con  he  s still sore and gets belligerent and gable has to punch him out . but then he winds up dead outside harlow  s apartment and that platinum blond hair makes her easy to identify . she goes up on an accomplice to manslaughter .  br    br   the rest of the film is her  s and her adjustment to prison life . her interaction with the other female prisoners give her some very good scenes . i think some of the material was later used for the mgm classic caged .  br    br   harlow also gets to do the title song and it  s done as torch style ballad  very popular back in those days . she talk  sings it in the manner of sophie tucker and quite well .  br    br   gable is well cast as the con man who develops a conscience  a part he  d play often  most notably in my favorite gable film  honky tonk .  br    br   still it  s harlow who gets to shine in this film . i think it  s one of the best she did at mgm  her fans should not miss it .  
we  ve all seen this story a hundred times . you can see each plot turn coming a mile away . the relationship between the mother and daughter is way too sweet and understanding to pass for realistic . janet mcteer  s performance is stock southern hot  ticket mother in vintage clothes . should have been made for the lifetime channel .  
this movie is witty  watchable and utterly touching . and now often do you get to see jean harlow  or any actress of this era  for that matter  give another woman a swift punch in the jaw   twice    br    br   after harlow  s ruby is sent to a reformatory after getting mixed up with gable  s edward hall  he of that cheesy yet endearing crooked smile   her predicament becomes all the more complicated when she discovers that she is pregnant  and she  s convinced that this rake has abandoned her  but in fact  her love has reformed him and he comes to see her  despite the fact that he will be arrested  and from the help of a minister  are married .  br    br   the wonderful relationship that harlow shares with her fellow inmates is second only to her electric chemistry with gable  who was her most frequent leading man . her cynical character is a perfect match for gable  s smooth  talking crook . what  s not to like   br    br    you know  you wouldn  t be a bad looking dame  if it wasn  t for your face   ruby cuttingly remarks to gypsy  her rival .  if you  re going to get that close to me  i  ll have to open the other window    br    br   priceless     
while watching the film  i  m not sure what direstion it was to take . there  s a reason a writer shouldn  t direct his work and even act in it as well  you can  t do it all . i felt the story really suffered in this film due to the director wearing so many hats . ms . mcteer is the film . to add to her amazing talents  her portrayal of this woman was why i was engaged . here is a british actress who can do anything . in my view  conflict is what makes drama and a great story . i felt this film didn  t have that . everything was somewhat easy for the characters  there were no real obstacles preventing the chahracters from getting what they wanted . watch the film for the sweetness  but most of all for ms . mcteer  s brilliant performance .  
father of the pride is a pleasant surprise it is funny  witty and features some great voice acting . the show is about the family of a lion who is acting as the attraction of siegfried  roy shows . indeed all of them are stereotypes but that  s what makes them so funny . fotp is not a kiddie  cartoon it includes some crude adult humor but in a very mild way . it is full of popculture references and celebrity cameos and most of them are very well executed . i  d say i  ll give the show a  out of ten because it is nice fairly well executed but not very original  i  ve seen most of those stereotypes many times before  even in that particular order   
warning spoilers a really stupid movie about a group of young excursionists in italy that find an armor of mythical warrior with a demonic souls . one of them wears it and becomes possessed by the spirit of a demon . it  s killing time and several of his friends die under his blade to revive the demon corpse .  br    br   a waste of time for the viewers  as the fine young ladies in the movie leave their clothes on  the gore is ludicrous at best  and the acting is terrible  perfect pairing for such a bad script  br    br    
clark gable plays a con man who busts into the life of hard  boiled dame jean harlow . he tries to sucker her while she brushes him off with her tough  gal attitude . despite their cynicism and cons they fall in love . when gable accidentally kills a man during a sting he runs out leaving loyal harlow to women  s prison where she discovers she  s pregnant . anita loos  and howard emmett rogers  writing is excellent throughout with many well  drawn and surprising characters  including a jewish socialist woman inmate and a black woman inmate and her preacher father played with hardly a trace of stereotype  . gable and harlow show their mettle as actors adding telling nuances and quirks to their characters that send them beyond the typical gable and harlow roles . and the direction is much better than you  d expect from sam wood . one beautiful shot has harlow being inducted into the prison  then led out into a surprisingly snowy courtyard as the camera tracks after her . this is one of the best of both the  criminals in love  and  women  s prison  genres and has some of the best hard  boiled dialogue ever written .  
disappointing  predictable film in which a woman  mc teer  travels with her daughter from state to state because she can  t maintain relationships and find happiness . in this genre  anywhere but here  starring susan sarandon and natalie portman gave a much better insight into a mother  daughter relationship . with better acting as well .  
what can i say   ms erika eleniak is my favorite blonde girl ever  and like a italian american  fan number one of female beauty i can  t forget this movie .  br    br   you know i really don  t remember a lot about the plot  or the situations or the other actors . i only can remember about drop dead gorgeous erika and that in this film she looks better than ever  i really don  t care if it was a bad movie or a good movie  i only care the nice moments i had been a teenager in brooklyn just contemplating erika  s beauty .  br    br   well just to conclude if you are an erika eleniak  s beauty fan like me definitely this film is for you .  
this movie is  despite its  independent  status  a stupid hollywood version of a nauseating mother  daughter relationship . it wasnt that bad at first  but somewhere during the course of the movie   around the time that the daughter goes out with that guy  i think   it turns into a cheesey mother  daughter bonding movie . im sorry  but i dont know of any mothers who have that kind of relationship with their daughter . . . its probably better that way  though .  
i have seen this film on countless occasions  and thoroughly enjoyed it each time . this is mostly due to the lovely erika eleniak  a great actress with incredible looks . plus  any film starring tom berenger and dennis hopper is bound to be entertaining .  
 . . . but the actress playing the daughter just doesn  t come across as credible .  br    br   it doesn  t work for me when i see an actress of about   years playing the role of a    year  old . . . other commentators have suggested that this is one of the messages of this film  that children may sometimes seem more adult  like than adults  but with the casting as it is in this film  it just doesn  t work for me .  br    br   you might want to check other comments to find out what this film is actually about  because i couldn  t bear watching it to the end .  br    br   i agree that the premise for this film is beautiful though  i wish another director would try to pick up this story again .  
well  the movie isn  t exactly  funny .   br    br   okay  i admit  there are a few humorous lines  but definitely nothing that is laugh  out  loud funny . for example right before a steamy sex scene between eleniak and one of her male costars  sh is handcuffed to the bedpost and he cannot remove her shirt . before leaving the room to retrieve the key  he tells her   okay  don  t go anywhere .   br    br   see  humorous  but not funny .  br    br   the plot and acting are pretty good .  br    br   but erika eleniak definitely steals the show . she  s hot and sexy and there is a really steamy scene with her that one can  t help but rewind and re  watch .  br    br   there are also some other very sexy scenes with her and she has some very provocative lines .  br    br   overall   stars . i  d only give it three if not for erika eleniak .  
if i hadn  t read his name on the dvd cover  i never would have suspected that this rather gushy and old fashioned musical was made by a man so closely associated with the french new wave . in fact  the film is so far from that  that i wonder if back in the   s and   s  new wave auteurs would have absolutely hated this type of film   it  s so . . . so . . . unreal . and  it seems to have little to do with so many of his previous films . this isn  t necessarily a bad thing   just a very surprising thing .  br    br   what i also found a bit surprising was the amount of praise some of the reviewers gave this film   especially when there are so many better french musicals out there . the songs in this film were simply not particularly interesting and the characters all seemed so bland and stereotypical . if i had to see another rich person who fretted about how hard it is to be rich or get a good sale price on a designer outfit  i was going to puke .  br    br   the bottom line is that like american musicals  not every french musical is gold . this film is not another  les parapluies de cherbourg   umbrellas of cherbourg or  huit femmes   eight women  and despite the presence of audrey tautou  i can  t see much reason to recommend it as anything other than a dull oddity .  
no movie with dennis hopper  gary busey  erika eleniak  tom berenger  dean stockwell  marilu henner deserves a rating under  on here . this is a poor mans version of movies like   blocks or the timeless midnight run except the prisoner being transported here is the very easy on the eye ms . eleniak . tom berenger plays another gruff  maverick military type well and william mcnamara plays his rookie  about to be discharged foil well . the plot on the face of it is absurd because i lost count of the times eleniak should have and could have escaped but this is an entertaining feel  good movie and there are good cameos from all of the above actors that keep the movie rolling . this isn  t really a family movie as there is some swearing and a rare nude scene with eleniak but this is a lot better than some of the other guff that came out around this time .  
resnais  wow  the genius who brought us hiroshima mon amour takes on the challenge of making a     s french musical in vibrant colour . the opening voice  over with old  embellished inter  titles was a nice touch . then the camera aperture opens  like the old hand crankers  on a black  white placard . the camera backs off  or rather  up   suddenly showing us the surprisingly brilliant colours of an elegant table set for a tea party . this is all in the first   seconds .  br    br   then the music starts . a rather banal and forgettable diddy featuring an unconvincing chorus of  girls blabbering some nonsense which has no relevance to the film  and yes  i speak french  so i can  t blame it on the subtitles  . those characters whiz out the door and are replaced by more people who break into an even more forgettable song . then they leave  and finally audrey tautou appears and we hear our first appreciable dialogue   minutes into the film .  br    br   i  m not sure what resnais intended by starting off with such a yawning waste of time  musical cacophony . but the effect on the viewer is to make you want to hurl skittles at the screen and storm out . i endured .  br    br   it didn  t get much better . i  ll tell you why . there is absolutely no familiarity with any of the characters . we don  t even see their faces half the time  as resnais seems too intent on showing off the expensive scenery to care about the actual people in front of the camera  . people flit on  off stage like moths around a lamp  and we the audience are unable to focus on any particular person or plot . it  s as if you were to take every episode of the brady bunch and cram it into a  hour movie . with bad songs .  br    br   the only thing that kept me watching as long as i did   hour  was that i was looking at the camera techniques  lighting and scenery which were all  i admit  excellent . but is that enough to hold your attention for  hours  not me . maybe tomorrow i  ll try watching the end . aw  who am i kidding . i have more important things to do . i  m sure you do  too . skip this .  
if you want a fun romp with loads of subtle humor  then you will enjoy this flick .  br    br   i don  t understand why anyone wouldn  t enjoy this one . take it for what it is a vehicle for dennis hopper to mess with your head and make you laugh . it ain  t shakespeare  but it is well done . ericka eleniak is absolutely beautiful and holds her own in this one  better than any episode of baywatch  and shows a knack for subtle humor . too bad she hasn  t had many opportunities to expand on that .  br    br   tom berenger fits his role of  real navy  perfectly and william mcnamara does a solid job as a hustler .  br    br   throw in a walk  on by hopper in the middle of the chase for  the cherry on this sundae  and you  ve got a movie that kept my attention and kept me laughing . i bought this one as soon as it was available .  br    br   brain  candy .  
first  i should mention that i really enjoyed ishii katsuhito  s previous film  samehada otoko to momojiri onna    shark skin man and peach hip girl   . although it owed a debt to tarentino  s  pulp fiction   ishii  s cast was up to the task of carrying the story  and the entire film crackled with energy . the scenes between asano tadanobu and gashuin tatsuya were particularly engaging . there was action  intrigue  bizarre characterizations  enough sex to keep things interesting  and an utterly unpredictable story line .  br    br   so it was with a certain amount of anticipation and optimism that i began to watch  party   . and my enthusiasm was certainly piqued with the opening credits  which left my wife and i actually stunned by how dynamic and exciting they were the mix of anime and live  action work was brilliant  then  the actual movie started . actually  it didn  t so much  start  as sort of shuffle in the side door and stand there  fumbling through its pockets  looking uncomfortable .  br    br   the entire film takes place in three rooms . one is a futuristic voyeur  s paradise  borrowed a bit from  shark skin man . . .    another is a travel agent  s office  and the third  and far the most used  is a seedy hotel room . in that room  a cast of seven characters meets and . . . does approximately nothing . really . i  m no stranger to  talking  films . one of my all  time favorites is  my dinner with andre   the talkiest of all talking films .  my dinner with andre  is far more exciting  and it just has two middle  aged men discussing their lives over dinner . the key is that andre gregory and wallace shawn tell interesting stories . the cast of  party   literally just whine at each other for the entire film .  no  you don  t    yes  i do    no  you really don  t    yes  i really do    no  you really  really don  t   yes  i really . . .  you get the idea  i hope . i wish the directer had .  br    br    party  is an unbelievably unengaging film . there is only the flimsiest of plots  money stolen from the yakuza  just like in  shark skin man . . .    accompanied by almost no action . there is no interesting dialog . the characters are largely uninteresting . it was as if ishii took the throwaway conversational moments from tarentino  s films and built an entire film around them . but tarentino  s conversations always have their own internal logic and wit   they call it a  royale  with cheese    . not so with the dialog here  which is duller than you can imagine . if it weren  t for the brief  hilarious cameo from gashuin  who is always marvelous  and a low  key performance from the awesome asano tadanobu  i would  ve given  party   a single star . it really was chore to make it all the way through .  
my wife and i have watched this movie twice . both of us used to be in the military . besides being funny as hell  it offers a very realistic view of life in the navy from the perspective of a navy enlisted man  and tells it  like it really is  . we  re adding this movie to our permanent collection   
pointless short about a bunch of half naked men slapping and punching each other . that  s it . for about  minutes we see this . it  s shot in black and white with tons of half  naked men running around slapping each other to the tune of dreadful music . it looks interesting but there  s no plot and really   the violence inherent in this got disturbing . also the homo eroticism in this is played up but mixing it with violence was not a good idea . some people who like avant garde material might like this but i found it incomprehensible  boring  stupid and  ocassionally  disturbing . really   what is the point in all this  i saw it as part of a festival of gay shorts and the audience sat there in stunned silence . i really wish i could go lower than  .  
is this your typical women in chains navy transport love story  maybe  hell  you know how the formula works by now  pretty woman is introduced in to a picture  someone has to fall in love with her .  br    br   i think this film does follow some typical story lines  but that doesn  t say anything about the content . there are great scenes with crispen glover  dennis hopper  and gary busey  although short . some things didn  t make sense  such as the need to get in to random fights  but it is entertaining to watch  the fights were actually well done .  br    br   this is definitely a comedy foremost  but it does have a lot of good feel to it . the humor is well balanced  you won  t hurt your stomach on this  but you will keep a smile .  br    br   there is a little bit of steamy action  so not one for the kids .  
if you are hoping for anything new  you have chosen the wrong movie . who can think that a movie that is a virtual replay of it  s predeccesors can be good . maybe the producer and maybe the director but hopefully they were not serious when they made this thing . this whole movie is like making a greatest hits dvd of the  st  films  but changing the actors . bhhaaaad .  
i felt this movie was as much about human sexuality as anything else  whether intentionally or not . we are also shown how absurd and paradoxical it is for women not to be allowed to such a nationally important event  meanwhile forgetting the pasts of our respective  advanced  nations . i write from japan  where women merely got the right to vote   years ago  and female technical engineers are a recent phenomenon . pubs in england were once all  male  the business world was totally off  limits for women in america until rather recently  and women in china had their feet bound so they couldn  t develop feet strong enough to escape their husbands . iran is conveniently going through this stage in our time  and we get a good look at how ridiculous we have all looked at one time or another . back to the issue of sexuality  we are made to wonder what it may be intrinsically about women that make them unfit for a soccer game  the official reason is that the men are bad  . especially such boyish girls  a couple so much so that you even get the feeling that lesbianism is on the agenda as well . i think one point is that not all women are the same  and the women the police are trying to  protect  are not the ones who would try to get in in the first place . the opening scenes of the approach to the stadium makes you appreciate the valor of the young women trying to get in   and each one separately   at all . it is a brutish man  s world . any woman brave enough to try to go should be allowed  the world of sexuality is not one  size  fits  all .  br    br   meanwhile  the apprehended criminal girls bond inside the makeshift pen awaiting their deportation to who  knows  where  and in a much more subtle way  begin to bond with the guards keeping watch over them . these had definite ideas about women and femininity  which were being challenged head  on . the change in attitude is glacial  but visible .  br    br   since the movie is pure iran from the first moment  it takes a little easing  into for the foreigner  but the characters have a special way of endearing themselves to you  and you end up getting the whole picture  and even understanding the men  s misunderstandings and give them slack . the supposed villain is the unseen patriarchy of the ayatollahs  which remain unseen and unnamed  and likely unremembered .  br    br   knowing that this movie was filmed during the actual event of the iran  bahrain match gives me a feeling of awe for all involved .  
its unfortunate that someone decided to spin off on the best horror movies of all time in my book . this poor copy steals lots of material from the first three films going as far as even copying how persons die and what will happen in the future to the key characters and it basically tries to cram in three films into one and fails . it fails even to create a good scary atmosphere for one  except with the odd exception where the impressive choral music brings back memories of the old films  .  br    br   the only thing we can be thankful for is that there has not been an omen v .  
it was simple and yet so nice . i think the whole sense of sex segregation in society  which can be bitter  was shown very delicately . it had a bitter kind of hummer in it . the fact that most of the actors were not professionals  made the movie more tangible and more realistic . there was a  documentary  side to the movie too . the best scenes were those that all the girls  banned from watching  were listening passionately to the soldier  who is supposed to keep an eye on them  broadcasting the game . if you are an iranian  the familiar cheering and dancing in the streets after a game won  fills you up with national pride   if you are not iranian  you  ll still love it all the same   
  the omen   the awakening  is a made  for  television sequel to the original  the omen  film . instead of satan possessing the body of a little boy  he possesses the body of a little girl adopted by rich parents  who is bullied at school and who ends up getting revenge against those who do her wrong . the film seems to struggle with any horror factor  and a lot of the events that happen are simply silly rather than particularly frightening  and it is difficult to believe that this little girl is satan  even with all of the events that surround it . i just did not find this film very suspenseful or frightening  particularly when compared to the original .  
one word supurrrrb  i don  t think i have see anything like this in a long time on network or cable television . watching this show was like taking a breath of fresh air amid tv schedule filled with reality shows and boring re  runs .  br    br   i have to say i had my reservations . after all  critics were almost unanimous in crying foul and downgrading the show . but when half an hour was over  by the way  thank you  nbc  for running a commercial  free show   i was left with the feeling of instant love  love at first glance  the true love that one feels in his guts . everything about this show screamed excellence .  br    br   graphics in this show were at least as good as finding nemo and shrek . no small feat considering those movies took years to be developed .  br    br   cast was marvelous . i am partial to john goodman  s voice  but the rest of the team certainly were on par with john . special mention lisa kudrow  s guest appearance . she was on top of the game creating neurotic  pudgy  and lovable panda with a jewish streak in her .  panda from brooklyn  only in this show .   br    br   script was funny  with a lot of inside and adult jokes which were sharp  yet not tacky . a note for all parents this is not for children . this show was never advertised as such  and there  s a reason why it  s set for  pm  not  pm . so if you  d like to complain about  objectionable context   save your breath . adults deserve a comedy made just for them  and father of the pride is it .  br    br   not everything was perfect . i was a bit puzzled by siegfried and roy  s characters . do i sense  stereotype  when it comes to them  yes  they are gay . yes  they are flamboyant . yes  they speak with german accents . but that  s yesterday  s news . give us something new  something fresh  something funny . putting the old jokes in a new show is definitely the wrong approach . i understand that the creators of this show wanted to use the  star power  that these guys have . that  s fine by me . but please don  t dwell on something everybody already knows by heart . hopefully  the rest of the show is not going to play the same old record over and over .  br    br   in general  the show is definitely a must  see  tv . funny  witty  with a few unexpected twists here and there   there haven  t been a comedy this good since seinfeld . i am certainly looking forward to the next episode .  
okay  this movie fck in  rules . it is without question one of the most technically inept pieces of cinema ever made . absolutely terrible  but you gotta see it . rent this with your buddies and come up with a drinking game or just have fun  it  s hilarious . and the behind  the  scenes featurette proves it  you can do anything with paper plates and finger paint . awesome . okay  rent it just for this one scene two characters are actually walking in place for about  minutes in a shot . the director  on the commentary  says  yeah  the tracking was so smooth it looks like they  re . . .  . yeah  right man  they are totally walking in place . it  s so funny .  
there are enough sad stories about women and their oppression by religious  political and societal means . not to diminish the films and stories about genital mutilation and reproductive rights  as well as wage inequality  and marginalization in society  all in the name of allah or god or some other ridiculous justification  but sometimes it is helpful to just take another approach and shed some light on the subject .  br    br   the setting is the     match between iran and bahrain to qualify for the world cup . passions are high and several women try to disguise themselves as men to get into the match .  br    br   the women who were caught  played by sima mobarak  shahi  shayesteh irani  ayda sadeqi  golnaz farmani  and mahnaz zabihi  and detained for prosecution provided a funny and illuminating glimpse into the customs of this country and  most likely  all muslim countries . their interaction with the iranian soldiers who were guarding and transporting them  both city and villagers  and the father who was looking for his daughter provided some hilarious moments as we thought about why they have such unwritten rules .  br    br   it is mainly about a paternalistic society that feels it has to save it  s women from the crude behavior of it  s men . rather than educating the male population  they deny privilege and rights to the women .  br    br   seeing the changes in the soldiers responsible and the reflection of iranian society  it is nos surprise this film will not get any play in iran . but jafar panahi has a winner on his hands for those able to see it .  
the only connection this movie has to horror is that it is horribly unentertaining . i would rather prick my finger with a rusty nail than have to sit through it again . even for a tv movie it is flat . the cast is boring . the screenplay is as exciting as a bowl of sand . how two directors conspired to create such a nothing movie will remain one of the great mysteries of the   th century . there is only one scene even vaguely worthy of inclusion in the omen franchise  and it is shot in slo  mo and cut short at the anticipated pay  off . if you are tempted to see this  pop it in  set your alarm clock for   minutes and get comfy . with any luck you  ll doze off quickly  and the alarm will wake you once the worst is over . namely  this movie .  
which do you think the average person would know more  less about iranian cinema or iranian football  interestingly  the two come to the forefront of controversial iranian filmmaker jafar panahi  s latest film entitled  offside   a tale that uses football or access to football as a backdrop for a series of scenes revolving around one  s right to do something or go somewhere and an individual  s right to extend that courtesy if and when they  d like to . the odd thing is  you don  t come away from offside having learnt about iranian football or too much about iranian cinema  unless it  s an education in panahi  s controversial style   but you do come away feeling enlightened  that at least someone from iran has taken a controversial issue that is clearly still very much in force in a nation like iran  and is willing to present it to an international audience rather than exploit it .  br    br   i can remember the     world cup  i  m sure many people can . it was the summer after my initial year out at university and after the slog that was my first year  a summer of world cup football acted as a nicely timed tonic . needless to say  i saw practically every game bar the ones they show simultaneously with the other ones at the very end of the group stages so that to avoid incidences as seen in spain    when it was thought west germany and austria transpired to get a result between them that would see them both through at the expense of algeria .  br    br   anyone in britain that was watching the bbc  s broadcast of the iran  mexico game  both nations  first of the tournament  may remember that at the top of the show  the bbc  s football anchorman gary lineker let off a snide comment to introduce the match . it went something like  we  ve seen giants germany  england  argentina and holland play but now we get to see . . . . . . . . . mexico and iran battle it out  . the emphasis on the latter two being inferior was clear and that maybe watching them was a chore . it  s a shame because there are people  and films like offside present them  who are really willing to see iran play to the point where they risk their well  being to achieve it and it  s sad when people in a position of power dismiss what they deem  inferior  when there are others who  d do anything to have the chance to otherwise engage .  br    br   when immediately thinking of the words  iran    football  and  world cup   my mind flies back to the france    game between said nation and america . here is a film about a world cup game of sorts involving iran but where some or indeed most iranian filmmakers may well have opted to present a tale revolving around iran  s famous victory over the united states and what that meant to them  director panahi chooses to look at what goes on behind the scenes and presents a story from the stands as women are barred from football matches and are not allowed to live the ecstasy of winning a game of immense magnitude . you can imagine a heavy handed film detailing iran  s  victory  as a lumbering propaganda film designed to exploit as they  defeat  a western power or  enemy  at a sport they perhaps were not expected to do so in .  br    br   a couple of films that spring to mind when it comes to beating the unbeatable at their own game are     indian film  lagaan   in which the indian peasants defeat the ruling british at cricket . similalry       s  the game of their lives  sees the americans defeat the english at a football match only this time in the     world cup . the differences between these films and offside are immense offside is looking at a situation behind a state  s mentality and dares to explore an essence of feminism as the girls  trying to see their beloved iran defeat bahrain and qualify for the world cup  are rounded up like animals and kept in a crude purgatory mere feet from a barred window that would allow them to see the game . the reasoning is to do with the foul language the men  may   not will  but  may  use during the game . the film presents iran as so incompetent that they cannot take away a man  s right to swear and ban the bad language but must ban a woman  s right to see the game all together  it is no wonder panahi  s film was itself banned in iran .  br    br   but panahi remembers to include what makes the rule so crazy in the first place by frequently allowing his female characters to both smoke cigarettes and use mobile phones  two things the doctors and scientists will have you think are far more dangerous to the human body  mind than hearing a little bit of foul language at a football match . panahi pays special attention to the title of his film  offside  which itself is a ruling within football detailing when an  attacker  is  caught  trying to gain an advantage in the field of play . the parallels run with the womens  position in the film as these advancing  supposedly without right  individuals are caught trying to put one over the opposition team that being the state itself .  br    br   i think offside is one of the better films to come out of the middle east and surrounding gulf area that i  ve seen . it  s a tense but humbling film about people who do not carry any acting history according to the imdb and thus  the acting is raw and real adding that quaint neo  realist aura to it all . the immediate ending is haunting and the constant verbal battle between the male soldiers and female wrong  doers who dared to defy the state is wonderful . i also think for anyone to actually dislike the film for the reasons i  ve mentioned shows a distinct level of callous  either that or you work in the iranian government .  
since i  d seen the other three  i figured i might as well catch this made for tv fourth part of the omen series . as a stand alone film  this movie is mediocre but as a sequel to the     masterpiece it  s a travesty . the film goes along the same route that many series  go down when they  re running out of ideas that being the idea of changing the male lead to a female . it  s always obvious that this film was made for television as the acting is very standard  the plot lacks ideas and the gruesome murder scenes seen in the previous three are kept to a bloodless minimum . the film does keep a thread with the original  which i won  t reveal as despite being obvious that revelation is one of the most interesting aspects of the movie . the basics of the plot largely copy richard donner  s original  and see a young couple adopt a child  which they name delia  not damiella or damiana  fortunately  . there  s a big dog involved  and a child minder and pretty soon  the wife starts to suspect that the child may not quite be normal as she  s menstruating at eight years old  and never suffered from any illnesses . . .  br    br   the first two sequels to the omen weren  t bad at all  and the series really should have ended at number three . i guess there was money involved somewhere down the line  as there really is no artistic reason why this film should have been made . it brings nothing to the table in terms of originality  and the only thing it  s likely to succeed in doing is annoying fans of the series . the film looks and feels like a tv movie all the way through and for the most part plays out like a film about the troubled upbringing of a young girl . indeed  asia vieira does look like a little bitch but she never convinces that she  s the antichrist  as her stares are redundant and most of the  evil  she does is laughable . faye grant is given the meatiest role  and doesn  t impress while the rest of the cast regret agreeing to star in such an awful waste of time . the only good thing about this movie is the theme tune  which of course has been ripped off from the original and is overused . on the whole  this film really isn  t worth seeing as it delivers nothing that the series is famous for  and doesn  t even do justice to weaker second sequel .  
offside is the story of teenage  girls who tried to sneak in the stadium to watch final world cup qualifying soccer match in tehran that may lead iran to the     world cup in germany . females are forbidden to go to stadium by law in iran  although many of them dress like boys and sneak in . stadium guards search every one at the entrance to make sure no one carries fireworks and of course no girl gets in .  br    br   like most of panahi  s work  his armature cast  s performance was superb . you actually think that you are watching a documentary . the dialogs between the girls and the privates were executed delicately and astonishingly believable . the film depicts the interactions between captives and the drafted guards who themselves are serving mandartory away from their family and friends in a funny sort of way . at the end  the audience realizes that there is not such a difference between the girls and the guards who were just following orders .  
on the surface the idea of omen  was good . it  s nice to see that the devil child could be a girl . in fact  sometimes  as in the exorcist  when girls are possessed or are devilry it  s very effective . but in omen   it stunk .  br    br   delia does not make me think that she could be a devil child  rather she is a child with issues . issues that maybe only a therapist  rather then a priest could help . she does not look scary or devilish . rather  she looks sulky and moody .  br    br   this film had potential and if it was made by the same people who had made the previous three films it could of worked . but it  s rather insulting really to make a sequel to one of the most favoured horror trilogies  as a made for tv movie special .  br    br   on so many levels it lets down . it  s cheap looking  the acting is hammish and the effects are typical of a tv drama . the characters do not bring any sympathy  and you do not route for them . i recently re  watched it after someone brought it for me for christmas  and it has dated appalling .  br    br   if your thinking of watching this  then i would suggest that you don  t . watch one of the others  or watch the exorcist  or watch the good son . just don  t waste your time on this drivel   
this is a totally delightful and unexpected film . you start by following a young person who hopes to get into the qualifying football game between bahrain and iran . if iran win they will get into the     world cup in germany . the problem is the young person is a girl and girls  or women for that matter  are not allowed into football matches to  sit with men  . what follows is a wonderful comedy  played with consummate skill by a small ensemble cast . the film explores the absurdity of restrictions on the freedom of women  and for that matter the young soldiers who have to corral them  . there are some excellent set pieces  not least when one of the girls must go to the toilet and  of course  the stadium has no toilets for women . the camera work is of the simplest and in some ways this story could have been told as a stage play . yet it is the small scale that gives the film its bite . great cinema  no  probably not great entertainment  for sure .  
what was the deal with the clothes  they were all dressed like something out of the late    s early   s . the cars were even were outdated . the school was outdated . the nuns attire was outdated  and the hospital looked like something from the    s  with its wards and wooden staircases and things . nothing in the whole movie implied it took place in     . my mother was laughing  saying  geeeee  od  when was this movie made   when we pressed the  info button  on our remote  we were sure     had to be typo  did anybody else notice this  my favorite part  though  was when the woman tells her uppity muck husband  on the telephone  about the inverted cross in the mirror  and he just says  well  look  i  ve got a congress meeting . i  ll talk to you about it later .  that line was just classic . just like a man  my mothers favorite part was when they gave the  spawn of the devil child  her very own rottweiler . my mother said  just what the spawn of the devil needs . . . a rottweiler  she also enjoyed all of the people collapsing in the churches  clutching their chests . her other favorite part was the guy at the school parking lot  driving  miles a hour  driving right into the garbage truck  dump truck  front end loader thingee . he had about   seconds to just stop the car . . . but he just kept going  with a real dumb vacant look on his face . i mean  how fast can you go in a school parking lot     whatever   
in iran  women are not permitted to attend men  s sporting events  apparently to  protect  them from all the cursing and foul language they might hear emanating from the male fans  so since men can  t restrain or behave themselves  women are forced to suffer . go figure .  .  offside  tells the tale of a half dozen or so young women who  dressed like men  attempt to sneak into the high  stakes match between iran and bahrain that  in      qualified iran to go to the world cup  the movie was actually filmed in large part during that game  .  br    br    offside  is a slice  of  life comedy that will remind you of all those great humanistic films   the shop on main street    loves of a blonde    closely watched trains  etc .  that flowed out of communist czechoslovakia as part of the  prague miracle  in the mid      s . as with many of those works   offside  is more concerned with observing life than with devising any kind of elaborately contrived fictional narrative . indeed  it is the simplicity of the setup and the naturalism of the style that make the movie so effective .  br    br   once their ruse is discovered  the girls are corralled into a small pen right outside the stadium where they can hear the raucous cheering emanating from the game inside . stuck where they are  all they can do is plead with the security guards to let them go in  guards who are basically bumbling  good  natured lads who are compelled to do their duty as a part of their compulsory military service . even most of the men going into the stadium don  t seem particularly perturbed at the thought of these women being allowed in . still the prohibition persists . yet  how can one not be impressed by the very real courage and spunk displayed by these women as they go up against a system that continues to enforce such a ridiculously regressive and archaic restriction  and  yet  the purpose of these women is not to rally behind a cause or to make a  point .  they are simply obsessed fans with a burning desire to watch a soccer game and  like all the men in the country  cheer on their team .  br    br   it  s hard to tell just how much of the dialogue is scripted and how much of it is extemporaneous  but  in either case  the actors  with their marvelously expressive faces  do a magnificent job making each moment seem utterly real and convincing . mohammad kheir  abadi and shayesteh irani are notable standouts in a uniformly excellent cast . the structure of the film is also very loose and freeform  as writer  director jafar panahi and co  writer shadmehr rastin focus for a few brief moments on one or two of the characters  then move smoothly and effortlessly onto others . with this documentary  type approach  we come to feel as if we are witnessing an actual event unfolding in  real time .  very often  it  s quite easy for us to forget we  re actually watching a movie .  br    br   it was a very smart move on the part of the filmmakers to include so much good  natured humor in the film  it  s what the czech filmmakers did as well   the better to point up the utter absurdity of the situation and broaden the appeal of the film for audiences both domestic and foreign .  offside  is obviously a cry for justice  but it is one that is made all the more effective by its refusal to make of its story a heavy  breathing tragedy . instead  it realizes that nothing breaks down social barriers quite as efficiently as humor and an appeal to the audience  s common humanity . and isn  t that what true art is supposed to be all about  in its own quiet  understated way   offside  is one of the great  under  appreciated gems of     .  
this inferior sequel based by the characters created by david selzer and harvey bernhard  also producer  concern on a matrimony named gene  michael woods  and karen york  faye grant  . they adopt a little girl named delia from a convent . gene york about re  elect for congressman and he presides the financing committee . meanwhile  delia seems to be around when inexplicable deaths happen . she creates wreak havoc when goes a metaphysical fair  as stores of numerology  therapy  counselling heal  yoga  tarots  among others are destroyed . karen york hires an eye private  michael lerner  to investigate the weird and bizarre events .  br    br   this tv sequel displays thrills  chills  creepy events and gory killing . delia such as damien seems to dispatch new eerie murder every few minutes of film  happening horrible killings . the chief excitement lies in watching what new and innocent victim can be made by the middling special effects . furthermore  mediocre protagonists  faye grant and michael woods  however nice cast secondary  such as michael lerner  madison mason  duncan fraser and the recently deceased don s davis  he was an army captain turned into acting . as always  excellent musical score taken from omen i and iii by the great jerry goldsmith . the movie is exclusively for hardcore followers omen saga . the motion picture is badly directed by jorge montesi and dominique othenin girard . previous and much better versions are the following  the immensely superior original  omen   gregory peck  lee remick  by richard donner  damien   william holden  lee grant  by don taylor  final conflict   sam neil and tisa harrow  by grahame baker . rating  below average .  
different film directors from different countries have contributed to the film medium a lot by their thoughts . as a result  we have experienced different genres when the medium is concerned . jafar panahi  unlike j . l . godard or f . truffault  believes in simple story telling schematic narratives is one of the main traits of his directorial job . he has trust upon the automatic as well as critical intelligence of the viewer he does not feel any necessity to go for alienation or such things to reach to the viewers . he is equally effective despite being conventional . offside        is another schematic creation from him  where gender subordination of middle  east asia gets gradually clear to everybody as the simple but catchy tale of the movie progresses . now  a  days  when all of us are shouting on the issue of rights of women  this movie very calmly creeps into our mind and ultimately becomes a hump for our critical intelligence by conveying the message that the egality of human rights is nothing but an illusive good  an utopia . paternity will never let the women to be empowered . an important soccer match where the nation is participating  a teenage girl who understands the game well  loves her nation does not have the rights to enter into the stadium to cheer for her country . she is merely permitted to listen to the live commentary . her alias could not work for her . as a result  she had to undergo several humiliating situations . from the very beginning her worried father ran here and there for her daughter . at the end of the day  celebration came as the nation won the match which the girl could not see as she was detained in the outer side of the stadium during the match time . but the celebration cannot suppress the question of rights of women which remain in every corner of the world in different format . jafar panahi has most successfully pointed to this issue of gender abuse from with in the frame of conventional film making and patriarchy as well . a global tragedy has been dealt with ease and some times with humour which  in turn  teases our being constantly .  
having listened to and enjoyed harvey bernhard  s omen ii commentary i was shocked to discover he was also behind this absolute piece of rubbish . it  s like a really bad tv movie you might glimpse in the middle of the day when you have the flu and are too ill to reach the remote . i think at the bit where michael lerner is confronted by what i can only describe as a high school cast of les miserables my mouth hung open in disbelief . and then my mouth was going up and down because i was laughing so much . dire . i don  t know why i have to write a minimum of ten lines  i have made my point succinctly  there  s nothing clever about all this modern verbiage .  
ah  the best and funniest movie about female football fans  only slightly better than the     saga of teenage delusion set in north london  qv  . by the way  i just watched this on film              and am ruing my inability to set the pvr  .  br    br   this is easily my second favourite football movie after  mike bassett england manager   but this time with the added twist of looking like a guerrilla piece of movie  making from a team who apparently keep making movies which are banned in the country in which they are made  just think about the bit where the girls are taken from the stadium just as the sun is setting fast reactions all round  .  br    br   it is rare for a movie to make me laugh out loud  but when the rural soldier escorted one of the girls into the lavvies while forcing her to wear an inpromptu mask made from a poster of ali daei  i couldn  t stop waking the others in the house with my snorts  especially when the young soldier misunderstood the grandfather  s calls for assistance . . .  br    br   speaking of the toilets  i just wish i could speak farsi so that i could work out the writing on the toilet walls  yes  there were a few scribblings in roman script  but they mostly referred to wanky american rock bands  .  br    br   also  on the rural  and  farsi theme  don  t you reckon that omid djalili sounds like a yokel when he talks farsi  listen to the custody sergeant in this movie and then go  yup .   br    br   i  m not going to bore on about the sexual politics of iran  and i  m not going to bore on about the dubious acting my love for this movie comes from the script and the editing top notch stuff .  br    br   here  s a list of my top favourite football movies  . mike bassett  england manager  . offside  . those glory glory days  . a shot at glory  . the arsenal stadium mystery  
and it did . it is through my experience that when a horror film reaches  franchise  status  and subsequent titles are released thereafter  they all  in turn  become stricken by one inevitable factor irrelevance . omen iv the awakening makes no exception to this rule  featuring another small child supposedly embracing their role as the anti  christ  foretold by a religious prophecy . haven  t we seen this before  wasn  t it enough that  over the span of three films prior to this release  we  ve experienced the rise and fall of damien thorn  if you  re a horror enthusiast such as myself  you  ll realize that it  s common for a horror movie that has many sequels and prequels to its credit to fade away into redundancy  children of the corn  hellraiser  phantasm the list goes on . at this point in the game  i  m sure you know what to expect when you  re prepared to view the fourth title in a series . regardless  there are times when you sit back and realize how shameless some filmmakers are . omen iv the awakening is just that  too  a shameless money making exercise .  br    br   this film does not offer anything new or intriguing to the omen lineup . as unique and genuine as omen iv tries to be compared to its siblings  the similarities and plot devices are embarrassingly alike . elements like the guardian dog  the involvement of a priest  the skepticism of the people involved  the decapitation death scene  clearly a homage to the original film when the journalist is beheaded by the sheet of glass  . . . even right down to the father  s involvement in politics and prestige within the community make it too predictable .  br    br   although it is common to star a b  rated cast into a horror title this far into a series  the acting is off the charts  chock  full of ridiculousness and unintentional humor due to some of the poorly delivered lines throughout this film . the atmosphere has completely vanished in comparison to the first three titles . in addition  the epic score composed by goldsmith in the previous movies has been replaced by an auditory debacle an absolute joke  and made me wonder if it was actually intended to be used for this film or just pulled from a  bank  of stock audio . . . which really says something  because rarely do i comment on the lousy misuse of a musical score  until now .  br    br   all in all  i  d call omen iv the awakening a failure . in the world of horror movies that carry a long list of titles behind them  some manage to hit the mark and some don  t . if you  re interested in creating another notch on your weathered horror belt such as i am for completion purposes  perhaps you could carve this title into it as well  if not for entertainment value  then to appreciate when a film is executed properly  or poorly .  
not a bad film . somehow i was made to actually root for the iranians to win the game played in the movie even though i don  t know anything about soccer and am not a fan . the ending on the bus was exhilarating .  br    br   the film itself deals with the issue of women in iran  and how they are not allowed to go into sporting arenas amongst men because their swearing is inappropriate for women to hear . despite this law  some women try to sneak in  but many of them get caught and detained . it  s really astonishing that any society could still have such antiquated notions of gender . in an interview  panahi says his films are documents of history and its injustices  and that one day in the future we can watch these movies and see how iran once lived . one hopes that future will come sooner rather than later .  
after the already disappointing  final conflict   the series hits rock  bottom with this very weak fourth entry . at least the third film tried  unsuccessfully  to continue the story of damien  while this one simply rehashes and copies ideas from the  omen   animals are afraid of the antichrist  the death of one man is very similar to the death of the photographer in the first film  . but what looked exciting and creative there looks just dumb here . and the little girl looks simply like a spoiled kid .  
on the face of it a film about women wanting to see a football match wouldn  t appeal much to somebody with little interest in football such as myself however this isn  t about football it is about discrimination and the women  s enthusiasm for the sport they love .  br    br   the film opens on the day of a crucial world cup qualifying match between iran and bahrain  a girl is trying to get in to tehran  s azadi stadium by dressing like a boy  it looks like she will get in until a soldier tries to search her . once caught she is taken to a small enclosure high up on the outside of the stadium where there are a handful of women who had already been caught  here they are guarded by a small group of conscript soldiers who  s leader would rather be back home tending his livestock . we never learn the character  s names but we get to know them as people as the girls plead with the guards to let them watch though a nearby gap in the wall and when refused try to get them to at least provide a commentary .  br    br   as well as making an important point about the rigid gender segregation in much of present day iran the film contains many hilarious moments such as the  disguise  one of the girls is made to wear when going to the toilet and the girl who disguised herself as a soldier and was only caught because she chose to watch the match from a seat reserved for a senior officer . the girls enthusiasm for the game is such that by the end the viewer is likely to be on the edge of their seat hoping that iran will win and thus get to go to the finals in germany . the soldiers aren  t shown as fundamentalists  they are just conscripts who are there because they have to be and when explaining to the girls why woman can  t watch men  s sports don  t seem that convinced by their own arguments .  br    br   it is a shame that this film can  t be seen in iran itself but it is good that the wider world can see it and thus see that ordinary iranians aren  t a bunch of fanatics desperate to wage war on the west but normal people with the same passions and concerns as people everywhere . the cast did a great job in making their characters seem like real people rather than mere caricatures .  
spoilers like some evil tinkers  to  evers  to  chance double  play combination we have in  omen iv  the evil seed of the deceased antichrist damien thorn come back . terrorizing his parents his schoolmates his neighbors and finally the entire world as a she named delia york  asia vieila . after being given to a  deserving  couple the yorks karen  gene  fay grant  michael woods  by the catholic church  s st . francis orphanage .  br    br   little delia didn  t waste any time making her peasants felt by scratching her mom at a house party . later delia almost get killed by a runaway truck only to have herself saved by this  devil dog  named ryder . going to school delia takes care of the local bully by getting the big guy to wet himself in front of all his classmates . later when his father threatens the yorks with a law suit she has his head sliced off in a self  induced traffic accident  delia is someone that you never mess with if you know what  s good for you .  br    br   meanwhile dalia  s dad gene becomes a big man in town on his own  or so he thinks  by getting elected to the congress as a champion of the clean air and green trees crowd instead of letting the smog and concrete boys take over the neighborhood with his eye now on he white house itself  did his bratty and strange daughter delia have anything to do with gene york  s sudden good fortune   br    br   it  s only later when jo  ann hearen  is hired as delia  s nanny that the truth  s comes out about her strange and evil powers . jo a new age type realizes that delia is a bit weird  after turning all her white crystals black  and calls her new age guru noah  jim byrnes  to come over and check her out . noah is so upset by what he sees in delia kirilian color vibrations  all black and blue with a little pinch of red  that it flips him out so bad that he almost crashed into delia  s moms car .  br    br   taken on a trip to a psychic festival by jo delia turns the entire event into an inferno setting the place  through mental telepathy  on fire and heaving everyone there run for cover including poor noah who was at the festival and ended up with his leg broken . the and shaken and battered guru was so shook up by the whole experience that he later checked out of the country to become a hermit in the tibetan wilderness .  br    br   jo herself is later thrown out  with the help of the sweet and cuddly family pet ryder  of a second floor window to her death because she knew and talked too much . it  s when karen is again pregnant that she decides  finally  to find out the truth about the real parents of delia . that  s when she  and we in the audience  come face to face with the truth . she  s not only the feared antichrist of revelations she  s his twin sister  her brother the antichrist himself is about to come on the scene as her kid brother the sill unborn alexander york   br    br   three times were more then enough for the antichrist coming back to earth to bring about armageddon . the movie going public were already getting a little tired of of him and his evil adventures . with a fourth really not necessary since daimen thorn  the original antichrist  had been dead and buried for years . were put through the usual ringer with no one believing that little delia is  thee  antichrist until it was almost too late to stop her in her deadly rounds of destroying the entire human race . the movie as bad as it is is also far too long    minutes  for a horror flick that could well have told it  s story is as little as   minutes .  br    br   having a private eye earl knight  mchael learner  and later a former catholic nun sister yvonne  megan lehch  and now faith healer felichy in the film only to be killed off didn  t help the plot either . it only prolonged the suffering of those of us watching the movie . you could see the surprise ending coming almost as soon as the film  omen iv  began with the bases being cleared for delia  s eventual takeover of the civilized as well as uncivilized world . what was a bit of a surprise was delia doing it with a little help from friends .  
i probably doubled my knowledge of iran when i saw secret ballot       . now i know about four times as much  i doubt i learned a whole heck of a lot from not without my daughter        .  br    br   offside is a splendid budget iranian comedy about a group a girls  working individually  to attend a decisive soccer match for their country  s place in the world cup . women are not allowed to attend soccer matches  so the nation  s armed forces have been mobilized to save any women who try to enter from themselves . some  teen   girls try to crash the party by dressing as boys  but are caught . the movie is mostly set at this holding pen where the girls are detained by soldiers  awaiting some unspecified punishment  although  the girl who dressed as a soldier claims that she was one insignia away from being executed    br    br   the movie explores the absurdity of the situation . the thinking that bars women from football matches comes down to it being too raunchy an experience for the fairer sexa philosophy not unknown in the west less than    years ago . this farce comes to a head when a girl needs to go to the bathroom  so a soldier escorting her demands that she cover her eyes so she can  t see the graffiti . the conflict is not entirely about the battle of the sexes at one point some friction arises between a solider who is rural and the girls who are urban .  br    br   fortunately  this movie was not too culturally esoteric that the comedy was lost on this neighbour and cultural cousin of the great satan . you have to be in the mood for it  but no one should avoid this movie because they think that they won  t get it .  
well since seeing part  s  through  i can honestly say that they should have never made part  . everything from the tacky  and i do mean tacky score to the really bad acting  i dare anyone to watch this and not be bored out of their minds .  br    br   i mean parts  to  kept the vibe strong on the plot of damion  but without him around in this one it  s just not the same . sure by the end of part  i was getting a little tired of the continued story line  s  but it was a good closure at the end of the third one . again there was no reason for a part  . even if there was they could have done a much better job than this sht i had to sit through  lol . there goes an hour and a half of my life i  ll never see again .  
i don  t know why some people criticise that show so much .  br    br   it is a great  funny show  probably not the right material for mainstream prime  time  but still . . .  br    br   the family dynamics are funny  and all in all the same you see in most comedy shows . the supporting characters are absolutely hilarious . the plots of the individual episodes and the frequent siegfried  roy jibes are only just above average  but ever so often you have sub  plots or one  liners that make you roll on the floor laughing .  br    br   this show was well worth the  pounds i paid for it .  br    br   rating      
this movie is about tyrannus  a gladiator who is brought back from the dead to summon tyrannus  a gladiator who must be brought back from the dead . tyrannus  we learn after about an hour  is also called demonicus . this adds much needed depth to the screenplay and calls into question our assumptions about identity  psychology and ourselves .  br    br   the spirit of tyrannus accomplishes his little to  do list  killing some people and saying repetitive phrases in latin  by possessing the body of a college guy . he uses a magic mind  control helmet to do this  which the college boy willingly puts on his head  and then at several points in the movie  takes off and puts back on .  br    br   maria performs oral sex on a poor man  s sean willian scott  and tyrannus wears the rollerball glove . tyrannus has his own green backlighting for no reason  and has apparently been sitting next to cg fire in an ancient concrete tunnel for centuries like this . utter misfortune .  br    br   this movie is empty and will hurt you . see it .  
i have to point out  before you read this review  that in no way  is this a statement against iranian people . . . if you really want to read something into it  than hopefully you see  that i  m against politicians in general . . . but if you  re looking to be offended . . . i can  t help you   br    br   not in iran as this movie is banned there  see imdb trivia for this movie  . which is a shame  because the movie is great . would it not be for  grbavica   this movie would have won at the international film festival in berlin .  br    br   rightfully so  it was the runner  up  or second place if you will  . why  because it is a movie about oppression . it  s not even that this is a complete women issue . it is about the government trying to keep the people down . an analogy so clear that the government felt the need to ban the movie . but by banning it nothing is resolved and  or can they make this movie disappear   br    br   another reviewer had a great summary line  comedy about a tragedy   that sums it up pretty well   
omen iv the awakening starts at the  st . frances orphanage  where husband  wife karen  faye grant   gene york  michael woods  are given a baby girl by sister yvonne  megan leitch  who they have adopted  they name her delia . at first things go well but as the years pass  delia  asia vieria  grows up karen becomes suspicious of her as death  disaster follows her  karen is convinced that she is evil itself . karen then finds out that she is pregnant but discovers a sinister plot to use her as a surrogate mother for th next antichrist  gets a shock when she finds out who delia  s real father was . . .  br    br   originally to be directed by dominique othenin  girard who either quit or was sacked  was replaced by jorge montesi who completed the film although why he bothered is anyone  s guess as omen iv the awakening is absolutely terrible  a disgrace when compared to it illustrious predecessors . the script by brian taggert is hilariously bad  i  m not sure whether this nonsense actually looked good as the written word on a piece of paper but there are so many things wrong with it that i find even that hard to believe . as a serious film omen iv the awakening falls flat on it  s face  it really does work better if you look at it as a comedy spoof  i mean the scene towards the end when the detective comes face  to  face with a bunch of zombie carol singers who are singing an ominous gothic song has to be seen to be believed  i thought it was absolutely hilarious  ridiculous in equal measure . then there  s the pointless difference between this  the other omen films in that this time it  s a young girl  the question i ask here is why  seriously  why  there  s no reason at all  isn  t used to any effect at all anyway . then of course there  s the stupid twist at the end which claims delia has been keeping her brother  s embryo inside herself  that in a sinister conspiracy involving a group of satan worshippers it has been implanted in karen so she can give birth to the antichrist is moronic  comes across as just plain daft . at first it has a certain entertainment value in how bad it is but the unintentional hilarity gives way to complete boredom sooner rather than later .  br    br   it  s obviously impossible to know how much of omen iv the awakening was directed by girard  montesi but you can sort of tell all was not well behind the camera as it  s a shabby  cheap looking poorly made film which was actually made  for  tv  it shows with the bland  flat  unimaginative cinematography  production design . then there  s the total lack of scares  atmosphere  tension  gore which are the main elements that made the previous omen films so effective .  br    br   the budget must have been pretty low  the film looks like it was . the best most stylish thing about omen iv the awakening is the final shot in which the camera rises up in the air as delia walks away into the distance to reveal a crucifix shaped cross made by two overlapping path  s but this is the very last shot before the end credits roll which says just about everything . i have to mention the music which sounds awful  more suited to a comedy  is very inappropriate sounding . the acting is alright at best but as usual the kid annoys .  br    br   omen iv the awakening is rubbish  it  s a totally ridiculous film that tries to be serious  just ends up coming across as stupid . the change of director  s probably didn  t help either  that  s still not a excuse though . the last omen film to date following the original the omen        damien omen ii        the final conflict       all of which are far superior to this .  
that  s what one of the girls said at the end .  br    br   is the soccer game a metaphor for a qualifying game between the girls  or more broadly  a free  thinking group  and the authority   to germany  means to a future that  s of hope   br    br   it  s one of the most unforgettable cinematic experience i  ve ever had   despite the crude cinematography and plot  and mild over  acting  though i like the cast   they  re lovable and well above the expectation for amateurs  . the ridiculous situation is well captured . i can feel the deep frustration being denied to a game  being female and a soccer fan  and i cannot stop thinking how to make a convincing disguise . i wonder why there  s no women  s section in which protection from dirty language and bad behavior can be provided   defeating the flawed reasons for the deny .  br    br   the movie is very cleverly made   the amazing title  the filming during the actual game  the spontaneity  and various methods to put the viewers into the shoes of the characters   the game that  s so important but inaccessible  not shown   the luring light and cheering sound from the stadium  the confinement of the van  and the uselessness of it when those inside connect with the celebrating crowds outside . i can feel the comfort coming from the radio  the drinks and the food  and of course  the kindness and consideration from each character to others . during the end credits  i am amused that no character has a name   he  s just any  soldier  and she  s just any  girl  or  sister  .  
to the small minority seen here praising this film get serious . i know it  s down to peoples personal opinion at the end of the day  but anyone with more than a couple of brain cells can surely see that this is total rubbish . so bad it does not deserve to be part of this franchise . i can only assume those saying how great this is are friends with somebody involved in the film and are trying to give their career a push . poor in every way  don  t con people by saying otherwise . storyline is a weak rehash of the previous entries  script is likewise . attempts to hide the lack of originality by using a girl instead  wow   don  t disguise the film  makers lack of ideas  and there is sadly a complete lack of any scares . absolutely no redeeming qualities  utter utter turd . i  ve awarded this pair of chancers one mark simply for having had the nous to get someone to fund this piece of crap . they must have put more effort into that than they did into actually making the film . shame .  
this was the first of panahi  s films that i have seen  i saw it at melbourne film festival . i was totally absorbed by the different characters that he creates and how differently they react and behave compared to aussie kids and yet on other levels how similarly . i think perhaps if more people could see movies like this  they could see people as individuals and avoid racism that can often be fueled by the fear of the unknown . there are the obvious large political differences between oz culture and iranian culture  but i found the more subtle differences between the characters  that this film fleshes out so successfully on screen  extremely fascinating . there are idiosyncrasies in the characters that seem to me  so unique . i found it made the characters compelling viewing .  
i recently decided to revisit the omen trilogy only to discover that insert demonic music here there is a fourth . i didn  t expect much from it  and in that respect it certainly lived up to my expectations . if you  re into watching bad movies for a laugh  then this just may be the movie for you . oh  where do we start   br    br   from the onset  the  made for tv  look and feel of the movie was obvious . the music was often inappropriately matched with what was happening in the movie and therefore  at best  distracting . the script had all the suspense of an  year  olds work of fiction . but one thing that must be said is that the lacking script was very well matched up with the appalling acting . numerous scenes left me contemplating whether it was the script or the acting that was the source of ridiculousness .  br    br   the story itself is quite thin  centering on all the crazy antics of the daughter of damien thorn  adopted out by wrong  doing and badly acted nuns . there is the usual lot of mysterious and convoluted deaths that personally made me yawn as the  drama  unfolded  and the usual third  party investigator into the whole affair . later  via some medical phenomena  damien thorn jnr is born . and that pretty much wraps up the plot . the whole thing is executed rather badly right from the beginning with the lack of suspense making the movie one monotonous and  or ridiculous scene after another .  br    br   there were many wtf    moments too that provides the unintended comedy relief . for example  what  s with the major over  reaction at the beginning of the movie when the baby scratches the mother  s cheek   hardly a     degree  head  turning omen . i also laughed at the over  reaction at the baptism . the baby cries  and everyone looks very concerned . the distressed mother runs out of the church and the priest is left looking very alarmed while crossing himself . huh  then there is the new  age nanny that seems to have carte blanche on exposing an  year  old to all kind of alternative spiritualism . i laughed when the nanny suggested bringing the troubled delia to a psychic fair to meet the nanny  s hippie friends and the mother just shrugs her shoulders and allows it .  yeah that  s groovy  fill my troubled  year old daughter  s head with all this mysticism stuff . that  s cool . i don  t need to be there .  of course this would be expected from a mother who allows her daughter to adopt a fully grown rottweiler they encounter on the street that could bite the little girls head off as a snack . the entire scene at the psychic fair is quite comical in a slapstick kinda way  from the horrified reactionary stares of the psychics to delia  to the ensuing inferno .  br    br   i also laughed at how the nun  s death is considered a  freak accident  . here we have a religious zealot   who is described as being part of a cult   who is fanatically preaching in a pit full of rattlesnakes to prove how god  s glory will protect them . she antagonizes the snakes by handling them and somehow she is bitten several times . hardly a freak accident . more like a successful suicide attempt .  br    br   the snakes  vs  nun scene wasn  t the only comical death . there is the slow  speed car accident resulting in decapitation in a school parking lot . then there is the slow  motion demolition ball headed straight for the detective . i believe i may have gone and made a coffee when the slow  motion started only to come back to see the demolition ball still headed straight for the  concerned  detective . then there is the quintessential who  shot  who clich death  where a gun goes off and both act as if they have been shot for several seconds while exchanging horrified glances . then someone goes tumbling down the stairs revealing who the real victim was . additionally  the death of the priest at the beginning of the movie seemed a little strange and pointless to me . he runs around looking at the architecture of the church . obviously finding this quite distressing  he eventually collapses  clutching his chest and dies . apparently something demonic was happening  as this is what the music was suggesting . ummm . ok .  br    br   i am surprised that others have reviewed this film favorably and  in particularly  as a  worthy sequel  . it is difficult not to notice the non  sensical script  the unrealistic acting  and the inappropriate musical score . the movie lacks any suspense  relying heavily on delia  s  demonic stare  to provide a sense of horror  which becomes rather annoying after a short time .  br    br   bottom line  this is a bad movie with the only redeeming feature being it  s unintended potential for being a comedy .  
in iran  the islamic revolution has shaped all parts of life  including everyday things . but people still go on living their lives  generally just doing the things you  d expect  like go to soccer matches to cheer on the national team as it  s in the running to qualify for the world cup . except women aren  t allowed to go to the soccer stadium to watch the game .  br    br   a frequently funny little film follows the small group of women that were caught sneaking into the soccer stadium and the little group of bored soldiers assigned to guard them in a holding pen just outside the stadium . the absurdity of the situation  the simple wish of these women to cheer on the team  nothing subversive there   and little human touches about the lives of everyone adds up to quite a fine comment on humanity versus the ideology .  br    br   amateurish acting  good script and dialogue  a really enjoyable film . bend it like beckham  sort of  a warm heart and a joy in the daily interests and pleasures of people .  
the first question that springs to mind after watching this rubbish is who on earth gave these idiots the right to use the omen name on this movie  it is a shambolic  embarrassing  pathetic atempt to carry on the omen franchise . when the film starts the backing music sounds like it has been lifted straight from a bugs bunny cartoon and from then on the film gets worse  i dont know who wrote the script but i bet they got a e  for it when they took it back to show their teacher  it is difficult after a while to tell if this is a comedy because what happens is so funny and so un true to the original omen it beggers belief . the acting is laughable  especially from the leading lady faye grant . she keeps pulling silly faces or is she finding it difficult not to laugh  it  s hard to tell . the worst sequal i have ever had the misfortune to witness .  out of   .  
another fantastic film from a country  where due to decades of oppression from fundamentalist regimes  has no problems in creating passionate subject matter . panahi takes a different approach this time around with a blend of ironic comedy and an endearing  non  professional cast . while still getting across his message of what he sees as being inherently wrong with his country  he does so without the need of a heavy storyline . it is a positive take on a country  in particular its people  that the iranian population desperately need . the greatest pity is it won  t be released domestically . the insular  paranoid iranian government assert that this fine film maker is only successful overseas because he is part of a global conspiracy to embarrass them . after growing up amid revolution and watching the academics  artists and educated  disappear  over the last   years he shows great bravery in continuing to put his work out there . the realism achieved by shooting at the actual world cup qualifier really transports you to the event . the fact he shot it on   mm is amazing as most would only attempt this project using a digital format . it looks fantastic . his insistence in only using non  professional actors also really works in this film . fine performances all round . after watching many films showing the problems iran has and also the news media reporting the facts we can tend to demonise the people as well as the government . this film does the opposite . it shows us they still love the same things and that by laughing at themselves and the absurd rules of sharia law that maybe a change for the better isn  t too far away . some call panahi a feminist film maker but i think he just fights for the most oppressed demographic in iran . young  independent women .  
this sequel is a total rehash of the first film . a completely pointless movie . it basically just took every single sceanrio of the first film and they redid it in omen iv except with a female antichrist this time . it even ends the same way as the first one  the music is too busy and interfering  and because its pretty much a copy of omen i  it  s extremely predictable . it  s not a horrible movie  it  s not terribly made  there is much worse movies out there  this just had absolutely no point in being made . the omen remake from     is much worse  even more pointless than this  so i guess it has that . if you someone pointed a gun to your head and you had to choose to watch this sequel or the     reamke  i guess i  d choose this .  
panahi  whose previous films such as the circle and crimson gold have seemed to range from dour to grim  has produced in his new offside a funny  obstreperous  joyously chaotic ensemble piece that ends on a note of liberation and heartfelt fun  yet the movie deals with material quite as challenging and relevant as anything else he  s done . by focusing on a group of ardent girl soccer fans caught sneaking into the pre  world cup bahrain  iran match in tehran stadium  panahi brings up issues of national spirit and independent  mindedness  and the contradictions  and sheer absurdity  of the regime  s religious gender apartheid in a world of modern competition with a majority youth population and urban girls who increasingly think for themselves .  br    br   as the film opens we breathlessly join one of the girls in a bus  with a father pursing a lost daughter . this one has a disguise and has national colors as warpaint  but we cringe with her in the knowledge of what  s going to happen she  s still easily spotted . the thing is  most of the men around don  t really care . still  rules are rules  and once they try to make it through the various checkpoints on the way into the big stadium the would  be soccer girls  or some of them anyway  get rounded up and held in a little compound upstairs in the stadium by some mostly young  green  and rustic soldier  cops who have no idea how to deal with these big city girls  independent ideas and would rather be watching the game  whose roar we constantly hear in the background  themselves . each girl is different  represents a different set of reasons for wanting to break the rules and different ways of doing it . one wore a soldier  s uniform and got into the officers  section . one is tough and masculine and mocking and provocative  she could pass for a pretty boy  and teasingly hints at that  are you a girl or a boy    which would you like me to be    . one doesn  t care very much about soccer but went to honor a dead comrade . one  aida sadeghi  is an ardent soccer player herself  and so on . these tehrani girls are stubborn and smart and they walk all over the uptight rural lieutenant in charge of them  safar samandar  . one of the rural cops  mohamad kheirabadi  takes the girl soccer player to the men  s restroom  of course there  s no ladies    forcing her to wear a poster of an italian football star as a mask . a comedy of errors and chaos follows in which the girl escapes .  br    br   later a spiffy looking van comes with an officer who directs the cops to take the girls to the vice department  violating sexual segregation rules qualifies as vice . a male gets mixed in with them  a kid who  s chronically guilty of smuggling fireworks into the games . the van turns out not to be so spiffy the radio aerial is broken . but one cop holds it in place so they can listen to the increasingly heart  stopping reportage . cops and prisoners are all joined in a common excitement now . there  s no score  the game goes to penalty kicks  and the winner will go to germany .  br    br   in the background through all this is a real game  a real stadium  and real masses of young men crazy about the outcome of this event . the excitement is tremendous  and the streets are jammed with cars and flags and a milling mob of supporters praying for an iranian win and united in their excitement .  br    br   what makes this film so good  as may be clear by now  is that it  s shot during the evening of an actual game with a real finale that turns everything around . this  in contrast to panahi  s previous highly calculated narrative trajectories  is spontaneous vrit film  making that improvises in rhythm with a captured background of actual events and sweeps you into its excitement in ways that are quite thrilling .  br    br   the essence of offside is the disconnect between modern world soccer madness and retro  islamic social prohibitions repressing women  the latter existing at a time when young iranian women are becoming part of a global world in which females participate in sport and share in the ardor of national team spirit . how exactly do you reconcile the country  s ambition to become a modern global power with social attitudes that are medieval  a lot of offisde is astonishingly real  including the way everybody tries to talk their way out of everything . the director  s decision to inject young actors into an actual sports mega  event leads to a stunningly effective blend of documentary  polemic  and fiction that is too energetic to seem to have a bone to pick  and that ends in a way that  s brilliant and moving .  br    br   i  ve had reservations about panahi  s films before  but this one kicks ass . panahi does something remarkable here . he critiques his society  presents an unusual drama  and touches our hearts with a sense of a nation  s aspirations .  
omen iv       was a bad made  for  t . v . movie . since the    s were over  i guess the executives were experimenting in meth  the drug of choice during the    s  because there is no other reason to explain this travesty . why did they even bother making this  a t . v . movie  what were they mulling over when this one came up on the idea board  did they even think for a second that this movie would catch on as . perhaps they thought it could make it as a series  we  ll never know . but i know one thing . this movie was the major reason why i never bought the omen trilogy . they should have knocked off a couple of bucks instead of putting out this  extra  disc .  br    br   omen iv is basically a average american family remake of the first film . instead of a snot nosed punk kid  we get the spooky girl who  s a total brat to everyone around her . if the family had stronger parenting skills  then none of the demonic events that have transpired in the past films would have never occurred . these parents need to put their foot down and do some real discipline   br    br   not recommended  best to avoid at all cost   
the us state dept . would not like us to see this movie  because they have a beef with the iranian govt . however  it shows us just how civilized iran really is  despite the content of the film  which centers on the struggle of women there for equal rights in the simplest of terms the ability to watch a soccer game at the stadium  which is strictly limited to male audiences alone . the film is hilariously funny  and in and of itself is proof of freedom of speech and expression in iran . i enjoyed this movie intensely . five girls try to penetrate the police border at the ticket gates to a soccer match between iran and bahrain . the ensuing comedy is too funny to describe  from the bus trip to the stadium  to the interceding of the police and subsequent detention of the girls  to the resulting end . don  t miss this classic film . its a must see . one of the best foreign films i  ve seen in years .  
this is a truly wretched little film . admittedly the original  un  holy trinity was governed by the law of diminishing returns with the third   the final conflict  degenerating into a ridiculous sub  plot about half  way through the film apparently merely to provide the requisite needlessly convoluted deaths that had by now become the whole raison d  etre for the  omen  series . but then to foist this jumped  up tv movie  beware purchasers of the omen box set on dvd  don  t be fooled by the widescreen ratio of the transfer  this was and is strictly small  screen stuff  on the back of a series of generally fine demonic chillers was unforgivable  particularly  endorsed as it was  by the exec . producer and producer of the first three movies mace neufeld and harvey bernhard . i  d give  away the plot if there was any  besides the usual death scenes  hopelessly toned down for tv sensibilities  and some of the worst acting i  ve seen . all involved in this project down to the catering people should be ashamed this travesty ever made it to the screen  let alone masquerading under the omen name . if one person is convinced by my review to avoid this mess  i  ll feel better for it .  
  cinema is dead  long live the cinema   said peter greenaway  one of the most innovative and productive contemporary directors  at the last year  s romanian film festival anonimul  which got to the third edition and takes place in the danube delta . this year the direction prize went to jafar panahi  s  offside  . i got to see it this evening in bucharest at the festival  s retrospective . cinema is dead but still very lively . panahi  s film tells in a compelling manner how iranian society looks . digitally filmed   offside  is a story inspired by a real  life event happened to panahi  s daughter the trouble and risk took when decided to attend a football match . this is forbidden in iran as we are informed . what panahi manages to do is to render with few means  but with  probably  a lot of work  intelligence and humor the cultural patterns in a society that places women at a distinct level . the absurdity of the laws becomes comical . the film has a happy end  after all because iran  s team goes to the world cup . what i appreciated most was the concept  the idea behind this film . i would be very interested to see panahi  s other films that were forbidden in iran as well . i guess that he can be thought as an activist director .  
i saw the omen when i was   on tv . i enjoyed the trilogy . so when the chance to finally see one at the cinema came around i didnt pass it up . i went in to the cinema knowing that what i was about to see wasnt a cinema release but a made for tv film . however being a fan i couldnt resist . but this omen movie which i saw at a midnight screening didnt bring chills it brought laughter . risible dialogue such as  it is written that if a baby cries during baptism they reject there god  . what nonsense . no decent set pieces . faye grant so good in v is wasted with this script from hell . no suprises and no fun . however i did laugh out loud several times at our bad it was . truly pathetic .  out of    
in the white balloon and crimson gold  the two other films by jafar panahi that i  ve seen  the director mines surprising amounts of depth in subjects that seem  on the surface  slight . in offside  panahi  s seriocomic tribute to iranian women standing up for their rights  i don  t think he  s as successful . not that what he  s saying isn  t important  of course  and it  s too bad that  like pretty much every other panahi film  iranians can  t see it  . but  after a while  the film feels a tad flat  and it feels long even at   minutes . not saying i didn  t like it  though . the actors are all fantastic  and the celebration at the end of the film is infectious . but it  s not an important work  in my opinion .  
the fact that i watched this entire movie says something about it . . . or me . it is not a good movie . terrible in fact . but terrible in the way that kept my attention in that perverse manner that is akin to watching a tragedy and not being able to look away . it would have made a great mst  k subject   br    br   most of the things that make a terrible movie enjoyable are here bad dialogue  inappropriate music  contrived plot sequences  ridiculous pseudoscience . you  ll thrill to slo  mo death sequences  the poor victims with mouths agape and waaaaaaaay too much time to contemplate their impending doom  facing the outrageously contrived deliverer of their deaths . your heart will be warmed by old action scene cliches like when two women struggle for a gun and it goes off  but who  s shot  both look at themselves  then the other  then themselves  then  seemingly   minutes later   one finally goes down . you  ll sing along  in latin of course  with the street carolers that turn into a ghastly death  s  choir that  for a moment  threatened to turn the movie into a twisted musical .  br    br   so if you believe like i do that as movies get worse they get better  then this might be a decent choice for you . it  s not as funny as my current sci  fi schlock favorite   they live  featuring rowdy roddy piper  but it  s more fun to watch than luke  warm movies like omen ii or iii .  br    br   i give it  out of   .  
jafar panahi  s comedy  drama  offside  portrays some women trying to enter a tehran sports arena from which women are banned . the official reason lots of foul language  and the soccer players have their legs showing . but of course  it  s really a case of sexism . so  most of the movie consists of mild comic relief as the women try to ask the men serious questions about why women are banned from the stadium  and one woman even comes up with her own scheme to defy the men .  br    br   as i understand  all of jafar panahi  s movies  this one included  are banned in iran . the real tragedy is that the cia  s     overthrow of the prime minister and subsequent backing of the brutal shah gave ayatollah khomeini an excuse to use his narrow interpretation of the koran to establish a chauvinistic society  and that george w . bush  s current policy towards iran gives mahmoud ahmadinejad an excuse to act the cowboy and tighten censorship .  br    br   above all  this is a neat look at people coming up with ways to challenge the system . not a great movie  but worth seeing . considering that all jafar panahi  s movies are banned  i wonder how he  s able to even make them .  
as with many other pop  culture franchise series  this line just didn  t know when to quit . instead of leaving things as they were perfectly ended  they went on to generate this the first installment of this franchise to fall sorely short of the mark .  br    br   this movie should never have happened . it was not intended for there to have been a fourth movie in this line  and it sure shows . the premise is idiotic and the portrayals were the same .  br    br   after the wonderful experience which was the omen  this was a major disappointment which stank of    s cheese and horrible acting . it was reminiscent of the amityville horror in those aspects  and left a terrible  lingering stench long after it was over .  br    br   it rates a  .     from . . .  br    br   the fiend  .  
  father of the pride  was another of those good shows that unfortunately don  t have a very long life . and that is pretty sad  specially if you consider that almost all the time the worst shows are still on air  think in  the simple life   i admit that are many similarities with this show and  the simpsons   but despite the similarities  the show have it own merits . the animation is just adequate  not incredible  but is good . the best are the characters . all the animals are very likable and funny  and even sigfried and roy had their moments . the music was good  i liked many of the songs .  br    br   even if the show isn  t very original  i think that this had lots of potential . like  mission hill  a show that isn  t very famous but i liked a lot  this didn  t have the appreciation that it deserved . what a shame .  
i mean really  how could charles band the head of full moon let a total stink  ball like demonicus out . i mean it should never got the green light to begin with . the story is repetitive  the characters are weak at best  there is no real story on tyranus other then he  s a bad dude . then they writer or director goes out his way for a bad ending . that  s right a bad ending  demonicus rises . the last survivor escapes a deadly cave in  then a picture of chimera comes to life  cheaply i might add and chases her out . then as she is walking home ala funhouse . a statue that has been destroyed centuries ago reappears for no reason just to collapse on top of her . i mean  that makes no sense . what the hell was charles thinking allowing this pile of puke to be made  with four different movie companies they were that desperate for movies . they could have asked me  i had better ideas then demonicus . thanksgiving turkey .  
in iran  women are officially banned from men  s sporting events . in june      the iran  s national soccer team has an important game against bahrain in the azadi stadium for the qualification of the world cup . a group of iranian girls and lovers of soccer dresses like boys and unsuccessfully attempts to enter in the stadium being arrested .  br    br   soccer  and flamengo  s team   beach and movies are my greatest passions therefore i loved this little gem about a group of girls and their passion for soccer . the director jafar panahi  from  the white balloon    the mirror  and  the circle   shot this movie on the day that iran defeated bahrain and qualified to the world cup in germany . the dramatic and funny adventure of these iranian girls is one of the most delightful movies i have ever seen . my vote is nine .  br    br   title  brazil   not available  
honestly  i don  t know what  s funnier  this horrific remake  or the comments on this board . masterpiece  s review had me in tears  that  s so funny . anyway  this movie is the among the worst movies ever  and certainly the bottom of the barrel for sequels . the  omen  name on the title made me stop and watch it this morning on hbo  but it  s a slap in the face to the other three  especially the original . there are so many classically bad moments  but my favorite is the guy catching fire from the juggler at the psychic fair   good times  this movie is to the omen series what  scary movie  is to the entire genre . avoid unless you  re looking for a good laugh .  
i don  t know how and where do the iranian directors get their inspiration in coming up with a plot like this . in fact  it  s a very simple plot that many directors could come up with    but may not be able to project it onto a movie the way jafar panahi did .  br    br   the film is like  worlds revolving at the same time  one connected to the other  the football match and the battle between sexes that  s going on behind the walls of the stadium .  br    br   it makes you feel like you are in the movie and you  re one of the characters  and while watching the movie  as if you also would like to have a glimpse of the football match . you will feel exactly the same excitement and sentiments as those female actors in the movie . it  s gripping in a way that you wanted to see the ending  you will want to find out the verdict  you  ll be dying to see what will happen to the girls .  br    br   i like the intermittent conversations between the smoking girl and one of the military trainee . it  s like venus vs mars  it really shows the difference in the thinking of men and women and the struggle of women to get equal rights and opportunity especially in a very patriarchal society like iran .  br    br   this is the second movie of jafar panahi that i have seen  the first being crimson gold  and am looking forward to watching some more .  br    br   am already hooked with iranian movies and this one is a must  see   
only the antichrist could have been behind such a disaster . one only hopes that this irony was the motivating force behind the  film   this movie was so bad  it forced me to register with imdb  finally  just so i could trash it . what makes this movie all the more tragic is that it had such great source material  i have never seen a movie where all the elements were so grotesquely mediocre as to render the result less than the sum of its parts .  br    br   it may seem insignificant  but i  d like to start with the score . as the proud owner of a music degree  i must register my indignation  i was torn between laughter and dry heaves as i listened to what john scheffer did to goldsmith  s brilliant score it was far more gruesome than any of the burlesque death scenes  and almost as inadvertently comedic . it was by far the most inappropriate score i  ve heard since  well  i really can  t think of a worse one . maybe jaws    br    br   as for the plot . . . i  m sorry . new age mysticism    what ever happened to the gritty realism of the original trilogy  in those films  more so in the first two than the third  but still    the supernatural was for the most part implied  and it was this subtlety that made the movies so eerily believable . here we have crystals going black  calling all skeksis and mystics    and inverted crucifixes galore  even though in certain scenes the crucifux would be perfectly normal but for the camera angle . gone is the refined psychlogical manipulation tapping the malaise inherent in our collective psyche in its place a boorish  slap in the face  of recycled clich and transparent incompetence . add to that a lead  actress  so unbelievably annoying that you fervently thank the director for those scenes from which she is absent . never have i seen a little girl so fundamentally irritating since little stephanie ruined all in the family .  br    br   other than that  i have no strong feelings on the subject    luckily the first three films are sufficiently adroit as to render this train  wreck of wasted celluloid inconsequential or  at the very most  a study in how not to make a film . viewer beware  may induce vomiting if you  re lucky .  
in iran  women are not admitted to soccer games . officially it  s because they are to be spared from the vulgar language and behavior of the male audience . but of course it is about sexism . women are lower forms of human beings .  br    br   some brave girls oppose this and try to get into the stadium by using different tricks . they are caught by soldiers and hold in a kind of cage  until the police will come and pick them up .  br    br   despite the insane situation  this is a film with lots of humor . it  s also encouraging to see how people always find different ways of fighting oppression . you  ll get touched at the same time as you have lots of laughs . good job by director jafar panahi . this is in many ways a heroic comedy .  
this movie is unworthy of the omen title . it is so bad that it has actually damaged the classic nature of the first three . it never should have been made  they ought to change the title .  br    br   they don  t even spell damien thorn  s name correctly     and there are no daggers  the most important element of all the omen films . pull it from the shelves and burn it .  
in iran women are prohibited from attending live sporting events because of the fear that they will be  corrupted  by bad language  close proximity to thousands of men  and the fact that there are no toilet facilities for women in the antiquated stadiums . based on an actual incident involving the daughter of the director  jafar panahi  s offside follows six girls  disguised as men  who are refused entry into the soccer match in     between iran and bahrain  a match that will decide whether or not iran goes to the world cup . in a departure from the bleak  minimalist films we have been accustomed to from iran over the last ten years  offside is an exuberant comedy that has a patriotic fervor and a universal appeal but contains enough subversive social commentary to warrant its prohibition from screenings in iran .  br    br   shot with a digital camera using non  professional actors who are more than up to the task  the girls try to sneak into azadi stadium in tehran but are arrested and placed in a holding area outside of the stadium . they are guarded by three young army conscripts  safdar samandar  mohammed kheir  abadi  and masoud kheymeh  kaboud  who express ambivalence about their task but are pledged to follow the rules . the women are soccer enthusiasts  not political activists and cheer for iran  s victory but this does not deter the soldiers from detaining them while they wait for the girls to be transported to the vice squad and an uncertain future .  br    br   outspoken rather than acting like victims  they continually question the soldiers about the rationale behind the restrictions  making their absurdity quite obvious . although they can hear the crowd noise  the women cannot see the action but achieve a minor victory when they persuade one of the soldiers to provide a running commentary on the game . one of the funniest sequences takes place when a female  prisoner  is escorted to the men  s room by a soldier . the young recruit then must cope with a near riot when he has to prevent anyone else from using the facilities while the girl is still inside .  br    br   little by little  to paraphrase adlai stevenson  that which unites them turns out to be greater than that which divides them and the unlikely antagonists rally behind their country and root for the victory that will send iran to the world cup . although the point is made early and often and the film sags a bit in the middle  offside makes a telling point about a society where a political elite with a medieval social mentality has to contend with an growing group of educated and politically astute citizens . one can only hope that world pressure and the awakening of its own people will force the ayatollahs to come to terms with the   st century .  
i don  t know how this movie received so many positive reviews on this site  i  m a big vonnegut fan and am very familiar with the story this showtime original film bastardized beyond belief  but even if i wasn  t  the poor acting  very poor casting  sean astin as the brilliant  athletic  and all around individual  harrison   the guy  s completely generic   and sub  standard writing rendered this tripe barely watchable . someone pointed out how cute that maculay culkin line was . if you read that and thought that was pure comic brilliance  sadly  it probably was the most intentionally funny part of the movie   maybe you  ll like this movie . but if you  re a vonnegut fan or not completely insane  don  t see it . please .  
this film is being described as a comedy  but it wasn  t a comedy at all . like any panahi film  it was a very realistic drama depicting the common thread of social inequity and hypocrisy . but it was very funny much lighter than the director  s dark and serious the circle  my favourite iranian film  . the resourcefulness of the girls and the banter between them and the soldiers was both completely believable  as if it were a documentary  and completely hilarious .  br    br   the filming the actual match and aftermath was astonishing . it added a realism much like australia  s kenny  of course a very different film .  br    br   the performances from all the non  professional actors  soldiers and girls  were very credible . it was very moving to see the passion  disappointment and excitement of these girls . anyone in this country who thinks muslim girls wearing a chador are any different to their own daughters should go see this film  it will be a real eye  opener .  br    br   to me  the soldiers represented the current paradigm . they started out with stock  standard official policy responses to all the pleas of the girls . as the film progressed  they found it more and more difficult to maintain this stance . when what seems like all of teheran breaks out into wild celebration  everyone is caught up in it  and the ridiculousness of the current policies is obvious to one and all .  br    br   it was a very moving and unexpected ending  and gave the film a really nice blend of emotions  frivolity  drama and social commentary . though it  s adult cinema  i think mature  minded children from about seven onwards would really appreciate this film  as long as they can read subtitles  .  br    br   it is remarkable that a repressive country like iran is able to produce films of such quality by the likes of panahi and kiarostami . perhaps the constraints there force directors to be extremely resourceful . australian  and other  film makers could take a leaf out of their book .  
man  even plan  from outer space is better than this movie . this flick doesn  t have enough plot for half an hour  yet they managed to extend it for an eternity of more than an hour . jet li and corey yuen are pretty good  specially in those exaggerated fight scenes  but stuff like the legend of fong sai yuk is much better than this sorry thing that would be better left unmade .  
finally  an iranian film that is not made by majidi  kiarostami or the makhmalbafs . this is a non  documentary  an entertaining black comedy with subversive young girls subtly kicking the  system  in its ass . it  s all about football and its funny  its really funny . the director says  the places are real  the event is real  and so are the characters and the extras . this is why i purposely chose not to use professional actors  as their presence would have introduced a notion of falseness .  the non  actors will have you rooting for them straightaway unless a . your heart is made of stone b . you are blind . excellently scripted  the film challenges patriarchal authority with an almost absurd freshness . it has won the jury grand prize  berlin      . dear reader  it  s near  perfect . where  where can i get hold of it   
considering that i felt like picking up a new jet li film to see some but kicking and brainless hand to hand fighting  i grabbed this title .  br    br   unfortunatly  this movie contains more gun battles  ala chow yun fat but nowhere near as good   than jet li and company  s acrobatic fighting . thus it was a let down .  br    br   the faucet fighting was interesting and even funny  considering this was something totaly unexpected in a jet li film for me  more on the line of say jackie chan .  br    br   but alas i  d recommend fist of legend  tai chi master  or even the enforcer over this dissapointment .  br    br   rating  for martial arts rating  for overall movie score  
i saw this film at the toronto international film festival . filmed during an actual qualifying match for the     world cup  offside works brilliantly as both a comedy and a tragedy . the film follows the fortunes of a group of young women who are caught trying to sneak into a football match at tehran  s azadi stadium . the country  s islamic religious leaders have decreed that women may not sit with men at sporting events  lest they be exposed to cursing and other morally questionable behaviour . this hasn  t stopped the country  s young female fans  who continue to sneak in using various tricks . but panahi focuses on a small group who have been caught and are being detained agonizingly close to the action . they beg the bored soldiers guarding them to let them go or at least to let them watch the match . the soldiers tell them they shouldn  t have tried to get in  that they could have watched the game at home on tv . they banter back and forth in almost real  time as the game continues  just off  camera .  br    br   there is one very funny sequence where a young soldier accompanies one of the girls to the restroom . since there are no female restrooms at stadiums  he has to clear the room of any men before he can allow her to go in . plus  he makes her cover her face so no one can see she  s a woman . this is accomplished using a poster of iranian soccer star ali daei as a mask  with eye holes punched out .  br    br   you get a real sense that even the soldiers are baffled by the prohibition  and are only carrying out their orders so as to hasten the end of their compulsory military service . one soldier complains that he was supposed to be on leave so he could take care of his family  s cattle in the countryside . little by little  the girls and the soldiers talk to each other  and there are numerous small acts of kindness on both sides to show that these are basically good people living in terrible circumstances . however  the soldiers  constant reminder that  the chief  is on his way lends a sense of menace  since we don  t know what sort of punishment the women will face .  br    br   unlike most iranian films  which are known for their strong visuals  offside is filmed in a realist style with no artifice . in fact  the film was made during the actual qualifying match against bahrain that took place on june       . the  plot  in many ways was determined by the result on the pitch . if iran won the match  they would qualify . if they lost  they would not . since the world cup has come and gone  i don  t think it is a spoiler to say that iran won the match . the scenes of celebration at the end of the film were real and spontaneous  which gave the film a real authenticity . seeing how much this meant to the people of iran was deeply touching .  br    br   as well  one of the young women makes reference at the end of the film to seven fans who died during the iran  japan match on march    just a few weeks before . they were trampled to death after police began to spray the crowd with water to move them in a certain direction . knowing that this was a real  life tragedy added another level of poignancy to the celebrations .  br    br   i don  t want to go off on a long political tangent  but this film gave me real hope that there are those in iran who are hoping for change and working at it . iran is a nation of young people  and it is only a matter of time before they take the place of their elders in the political sphere . films like this one show the proud spirit of the iranian people in spite of their present difficulties  and it  s my sincere hope that there is a brighter future for them .  
ok first of all let me say that i  m still amazed of how the plot sucks   br    br   but than again its a movie that sequels a steven segal movie only with no steven segal omg     br    br   just random low budget action scenes really no point i  m still amazed i burned   min on this crap really    br    br   just rent a jacky chan movie or go see wwf more fun and has no and presume not to have and plot    plz plz plz avoid it   btw the best actor playing there is bill goldberg and that says a lot    br    br   and no he doesn  t play very well like i said plz avoid it pfff i still cant believe i wasted   min and spent   min more writing this      
several young iranian women dress as boys and try to get into a world cup qualifying match between iran and bahrain . when they  re caught  they  re penned in an area where the match remains within earshot  but out of sight . the prisoners plead to be let go  but rules are rules .  br    br   given the pedigree of its director  jafar panahi  it was disarming to discover that offside is a comedy  and a frequently hilarious one . in      s the mirror  panahi presents two versions of iranian girlhood and leaves the audience to wonder which one is  real  . in      s the circle  several iranian women step outside the system their transgressions are different  but they all end up in the same tragic place .  br    br   however  thinking now about offside  it  s hard to imagine it as anything other than a comedy  because the situation it presents is so obviously ridiculous . as the women demand to know why they can  t watch the soccer match and their captors struggle to answer  the only possible outcome is comedy .  br    br   what makes offside most affecting is that the young women are not portrayed as activists attacking the system . they are simply soccer fans and patriots  and despite the fact that they are clearly being treated unfairly  they never lose their focus on the match and the historic victory that is within their nation  s grasp .  
wow  why would anybody make a sequel to an already rancid film  half past dead was a bad movie but at least at had an idea of what it wanted to be . hpd  has no clue of what it wants to be . it just exists on screen for reasons i cant explain . spoiler the whole movie is this twitch  played by kurupt of tha dogg pound  gets transferred to another jail where there might be a box filled with gold bricks buried . in the jail  a riot breaks out between rival inmates  one of them gets shot by a guy named cortez and cortez plans his escape . during a conjugal visit  twitch  s fiance and burke  s  played by bill goldberg  daughter get kidnapped by cortez and are held in an execution room . burke reluctantly befriends twitch and they end up getting into trouble with the idiotic inmates while finding out that cortez has their loved ones .  br    br   opinion this is the most unnecessary sequel since universal soldier the return . the script is terrible  the acting is horrendous  the dialog is a joke and everybody in this movie is a caricature . look  i know it was low budget film but that is not an excuse for these guys to not put effort into what they do . nobody in this  movie  believes in the characters they play . nobody in this  movie can be taken seriously as an actor . kurupt should be ashamed of himself . his character  twitch  is pretty much a spineless minstrel puppet who spends most of his time posing while getting jacked up by burke or the other inmates . bill goldberg spends most of his time sulking throughout the movie as if he had to take a phd  pretty huge dump  . the fight scenes are poorly choreographed and pathetic and for an action movie hpd  is pretty boring even when action is happening  don  t let anybody tell you that this movie is somewhat decent . it stinks and is a prime reason why people despise follywood .  
i found this to be a surprisingly light  handed touch at a      s culture  clash movie . john wayne would hardly be one  s first choice as a cultural attache  being about as diplomatic with his good intentions as a bull  run in harrods . but this time he was left to play a part that was far more passive than his usual bluff persona  and he accomplished his task with style . the duke was a guy who really could act well . his facial expressions and body language could be extremely subtle .  br    br   despite his considerable presence both as an actor and in terms of screen time  he failed to dominate this movie . many of his good intentions came a cropper . he had authority over nobody  and the intermittent narrative was provided by the titular geisha to whom he was the barbarian .  br    br   the story of american attempts to curry favour with an isolationist japan was one of political intrigue rather than swashbuckling or hell  for  leather battles . i cannot comment on the accuracy of its research but the strangeness of the oriental culture to western sensibilities was demonstrated well . there was a great deal of minutely  choreographed ceremony entailing what looked to this observer like authentic costume and props . the set pieces were complex and detailed . a lot of money and thought had been applied to it .  br    br   the fractured romance between wayne and his geisha added a little extra element  and stopped the movie becoming just a political or flag  waving effort . script was good without being too wordy . there was a great deal of japanese dialogue  but the lengthy periods of translation didn  t interfere with the narrative . it was nice to see plenty of genuine orientals on the set . whether or not they were japanese  i couldn  t say . but anyway they looked the part . at least the leads were not played by cross  dressing caucasians  unlike other efforts such as  blood alley   yes  i know they were chinese   the inn of the sixth happiness  or even  the king and i  .  br    br   frankly  i enjoyed this more than any of those other movies . the script was better for a start . i never liked the songs in  the king and i   and wasn  t impressed by the heavy  laden anti  communist subtext of  blood alley  . i confess to never having seen this work before and found it compared very favourably to many of the duke  s more popular outings .  br    br   recommended .  
half past dead  starring steven seagal in the main role was a major b  hit . half past dead  is just a direct  to  video sequel  an action movie with nothing lose but with no capacity to win something . it  s less entertaining than the first one in all aspects . but it  s although worthy a look . if you like action movies or just something to watch during a popcorn session if you also like to watch former wwe stars on screen or even if you love to watch sequels  even if they are direct or not .  br    br   kurupt did a good job  bill goldberg was below the average  i think he isn  t made to the job . kurupt is a good comedian  i say . the rest did the job  but nothing amazing  nothing far from alright .  br    br   technical details  well  a production made by sony can  t be great . cinematography was a disaster but overall direction was acceptable . whatever  just watch it if you want . if you watch  you won  t lose anything . but if you don  t . . . well  you won  t lose either .  
in the barbarian and the geisha  john wayne plays townsend harris  a real envoy from the united states who was responsible for truly opening up japan to international relations in the late     s . before him  commodore perry basically pushed into japan with gunboats and forced a treaty upon the japanese in     . harris  who arrived just a bit later  worked through the details and helped ensure compliance   as many of the japanese felt no particular inclination to honor the first treaty . all this is true and shown in the film . according to some other sources i found  the romance between harris and a japanese geisha is mostly fiction and this romance is much of the focus of this film  hence  the title  .  br    br   my first reaction the first time i saw this movie was one of surprise . john wayne as a diplomat   when he  s being diplomatic in most films  he says please and thank you as he pummels people     so seeing him playing a man who is not a man of action and is able to play the diplomatic game seemed very odd indeed . in fact  i can  t think of too many actors in     who would have been more unusual for this role . by the way  i  ve seen photos of harris and wayne has practically no resemblance to him at all .  br    br   however  despite the story taking a lot of liberties with the truth and the strange casting  the film is still very watchable . the color cinematography is nice  the film shows some nice insights into japanese customs and culture and the acting isn  t bad . all in all  a likable and watchable film despite it  s odd casting .  br    br   ps   read through the trivia for this film . you find out a bit more about the real life characters as well as a supposed fight between wayne and the director  john huston  where wayne apparently knocked him out   based on what i  ve read about huston and the way he got along with actors  this is an incident i tend to believe . and  it  s also a nice example of john wayne  diplomacy  .  
for those of you who were desperate to find out what happened to twitch in the original movie  heres your chance  and then get back to the real world .  br    br   the guy who hid the gold in the first movie told twitch  so he gets transferred to another prison  where wrestling champs hang around looking broody . twitch plans to leave the jail in a month to get the gold to start a life with his woman .  br    br   then something happens and someone gets shot  and the film turns into die hard in another prison . but the wrestler  s daughter is caught up in it all  so he and twitch go to find her and twitch  s woman .  br    br   as you can imagine  the acting is below par  it features a lot of  really annoying  rap music  and poorly edited fight scenes . on the plus side  it  s got that hispanic bloke in it  who stars in every prison  action  thriller ever made  and he shuts a door in this .  br    br   it  s not very eventful  but at least it  s harmless .  br    br   if you were a massive fan of the original  it  s okay  ish stuff .  br    br   if not  you have been warned .  
i had watched as much of the series as i could manage to watch on television  but unfortunately  started a job that got me working evenings . i managed to catch some recordings of it  at least . . . and  of course  purchased the recently released dvd of the complete series . watching the dvd  you can see that the animation was a bit more crude at first  but they ironed out a fair number of the flaws after the pilot was done . the voices are well suited to the characters  and the writing is excellent . it  s rather refreshing to see animation getting back to it  s roots by reintroducing adult themes . thing is  with the way society has come in the last century  you need to be a bit more blatant about it by today  s standards in order to be recognised as an adult  oriented show . the characters have very realistic personalities and are placed in situations that parallel what we often face in real life . it  s your typical sitcom in that regard  but the humor is more like what you  d expect from late night television like a talk show skit or saturday night live . . . back when snl was actually funny . good job  dreamworks . perhaps you need to work with one of the more liberal networks to keep this series going . . . and also improve the marketing of merchandise for the series to help defray it  s high costs . it  s a challenge to do this for a cartoon of a mature nature though . hmm . . .  
this movie is so awful  it is hard to find the right words to describe it   br    br   at first the story is so ridiculous . a narrow  minded human can write a better plot  the actors are boring and untalented  perhaps they were compelled to play in this cheesy film .  br    br   the camera receptions of the national forest are the only good in this whole movie . i should feel ashame  because i paid for this lousy picture .  br    br   hopefully nobody makes a sequel or make a similar film with such a worse storyline     
this is very much not the sort of movie for which john wayne is known . he plays a diplomat  a man who gets things done through words and persuasion rather than physical action . the film moves with a quiet realism through its superficially unexciting story .  br    br   for the open  minded  the patient and the thoughtful  this movie is a rich depiction of an intriguing part of history .  br    br   there are two intertwining stories . the big story is of internalised  isolationist japan and externalised  expansionist america clashing when their interests conflict . the small  human  story is of an outsider barbarian  wayne  and a civilised geisha  s initial hostility and dislike turning to mutual respect and love . the human story is a reflection of the greater story of the two nations .  br    br   the movie is very well done and all actors play their roles well . the two lead roles are performed to perfection . john wayne is excellent as townsend harris  striking exactly the right blend of force and negotiation in his dealings with the japanese . eiko ando is likewise excellent as the geisha of the title  charming and delightful . the interaction between her character and john wayne  s is particularly well portrayed . this is exactly how these two individuals  as they are depicted in the film  would have behaved .  br    br   the script is very well written . it lacks all pomposity . and is a realistic depiction of the manner in which the depicted events may have occurred . the characters are real people  not self  consciously  great  figures from history . furthermore  the clash of cultures and interests is portrayed with great skill and subtlety . indeed  the clash of a traditionalist  and traditionally powerful  isolationist japan and a rising  newly powerful nation from across the ocean is summarised very well in one exchange between john wayne and the local japanese baron . wayne complains that shipwrecked sailors are beheaded if they land in japan  and that passing ships cannot even put into port for water . the baron responds that japan just wants to be left alone . wayne  s character replies that japan is at an increasingly important crossroads of international shipping  and that if things continue as before the nation will be regarded as nothing more than a band of brigands infesting an important roadway . a very real summary of the way in which the two countries each saw themselves as being in the right  and saw the other as being in the wrong . the resultant clash between two self  righteous peoples with conflicting interests has its reflections throughout history  a continuing theme that echoes into the present and on into the future .  br    br   cinematography and the depiction of mid  nineteenth century japan  before the accelerated growth towards industrialisation that was to follow later in the century  is excellent . a visual treat  and an enlightening insight into japan  s ancient civilisation .  br    br   i highly recommend anyone  whether a john wayne fan or not  to watch this film if you get the chance . just be aware that it isn  t an action film . it is a representation of an interesting place and time in history  and a slow  boiling love story which  much to their surprise  comes to dominate the personal lives of the two main characters . watch this film on its merits  without preconceptions  allow yourself to be immersed in its story  and you will thoroughly enjoy it .  br    br   all in all  an excellent film .  
star rating  saturday night  friday night  friday morning  sunday night  monday morning  br    br   long time inmate twitch  kurupt  gets himself transfered to a tougher prison than the re  opened alcatraz . he claims it  s to be closer to his lady but his real motives are a bit more grandiose . there he crosses paths with burke  bill goldberg  a bulky prisoner who can take care of himself . twitch  despite being less muscular  is just as mouthy and is pretty much the same . but there is a gang war brewing between the black and hispanic inmates that explodes into a hostile takeover of the prison when the black  s gang leader is shot dead and the finger points at burke . but the sh  t really hits the fan when the real killer and leader of the hispanics  cortez  robert madrid  takes twitch  s girlfriend and burke  s daughter hostage .  br    br   steven seagal doesn  t do sequels  reportedly very opposed to the idea of under siege  and only agreeing to do it on the condition the film company he was with at the time let direct his own movie  so despite this being a dvd sequel  the lead role this time round goes to bill golberg  steve doesn  t even appear in some of the stock footage from the first film that appears towards the end .  but there  s a reason he hasn  t done much work since universal soldier  and that  s because he  s not much of an actor  and not much of an action star either  managing a character that begins as very dark and brooding but unsubtly turns into a standard action hero awkwardly quipping off dull one  liners . support wise  veterans from the first film  kurupt and tony plana  have merely jumped at the chance of extra work .  br    br   this is a film that  s tried to copy the style of the original quite well  with the dim lighting  dark shadows and rap music playing over a lot of it . it does this quite well  unfortunately it can  t contend with an unengaging hero  an equally cardboard villain and an apathetic story that the makers do very much seem to have made up as they went along .   
an interesting look at japan prior to opening to the west . john wayne as america  s first consul to japan arrives in accordance with agreements resulting from perry  s gunboat diplomacy . he is not welcome . wayne eventually wins his meeting with the shogun after bring a cholera epidemic  introduced by an american ship  under control . there follows a colorful procession to the capital bearing gifts for the shogun  including a bottle of old tanglefoot . the meeting with the shogun  the debates among the japanese nobles and an assassination during an archery exhibit present an interesting look at the politics of the period . altogether a rather enjoyable movie and besides how often do you get to see the duke lose a fight to a guy half his size .  
i can  t believe that none of the official reviews for this movie warn people that it contains two quite upsetting sexual assault scenes . it  s as though our culture accepts this kind of behavior as simply sexual but not violent . my biggest problem with the movie is that it doesn  t seem to condemn these assaults  as in  the woman who is repeatedly assaulted and pressured never holds the men accountable for their actions  and neither does anyone else . one man is stopped from completing the assault when someone throws a dagger at him  but he is reprimanded only with  you cannot force a woman to love you  rather than  you should never force a woman sexually  you jerk  . . . from a woman  s point of view  the movie is a let down . it sort of  throws a bone  to women in letting them be both skilled fighters and leaders  but the movie is much more defined by the romance  which is characterized by the notion that human sexuality must involve an imbalance of power  with men dominating the woman they love . this amazing martial arts fighter doesn  t use any of her fighting skills to try to fend off her attackers . she never even makes them apologize  rather  she seems apologetic . overall  a depressing and upsetting movie  with some great cinematography and some cool fight scenes  but not as good as hero by a long shot .  
if you like film  don  t miss this one . if you prefer action  or horror  or romance  then you  ll wonder what  s happening . everyone here is stuck in a gangster film . and what happens is transcendental murder .  br    br   there are few similar films . no doubt it will see limited release  and be hard to find . but the search will be worth it . if you want to study a mileu as a potential symbol  then this is indeed a film to study .  br    br   you can  t watch it once . if you do you  ll never see what  s happening . dark city is better . joe vrs . the volcano is more fun . but mad dog time could convert the gangsta crowd to symbolism . . . or at least to think twice before shooting again .  
first of all  i too was expecting another hero   a fantastic work of art for the action genre . i  ve only seen parts of crouching tiger hidden dragon  but i can imagine that it is better than hofd .  br    br   basic elements from hero are found in hofd great landscapes  mesmerizing cinematography  and sincere acting  i mean  if you can  t understand a word they are saying  without the subtitles  but you still care   that  s good acting   br    br   what went wrong  what begins with political intrigue wanders into a love story . worse  it  s a soap opera  like love triangle . you have three characters who  i guess  fall in love with each other  for no good reasons . this movie basically falls apart after the escape from the jail  i fell asleep about forty minutes into it  . it  s almost as if they changed writers at that point . the remainder of the movie is about how a character is  like the wind .  ick . also  you really have to stretch your suspension of disbelief to believe the action set pieces . this isn  t unique to this genre  but since the story is weak  you can  t wait for the action  and then  when the fighting does breaks out  it really wasn  t that good . the beginning grabs you  but then this movie just runs out of gas .  
hint number one  read the title as  the time of the mad dog   or perhaps dogs . this is a pretty good ensemble piece  look at the cast and rent it  you know you  re curious already   and first  time director bishop gives them their chance  taking his time  letting the characters interact and chew the scenery as they wait  not enthusiastically  for the return of  the big boss  and whatever revenge ensues .  br    br   for some of us  the highlight is seeing christopher jones after his self  imposed exile from films he remains a commanding film presence . and yes  with christopher jones  larry bishop and richard pryor involved  this is the  wild in the streets  reunion party   
after just   minutes into this film  i began to miss zhang yimou  s earlier  more weighty films that looked at the politics and society of china from unique perspectives . his turn to martial arts films was a serious misstep in my humble opinion . hero was his worst film since operation cougar  with a needlessly complex story and acting more wooden than that found in a john agar film . shi mian mai fu is no different . as an american who has been studying chinese films for a few years now  and understands and can speak some mandarin   i  m sure my opinion is different from many others as i  m coming from a different background . smmf  like hero  is not really a traditional a kung fu film  and it  s certainly not a wuxia pian film . there are no sword  sorcery or chivalry elements here . this is a completely different vehicle than infinitely more watchable films such as a chinese ghost story  all    the butterfly murders  green snake  et al . while those all featured charismatic leads who looked like they were actually enjoying what they do  smmf features bland  and sometimes laughable  dialogue combined with cardboard acting . zhang ziyi plays a blind person about as well as ben affleck . there  s an air of superiority with this film that  s really quite insulting . it takes itself so seriously  it just becomes a huge joke by the end . all the actors look as though this is the most important piece of celluloid in history  they destroy any chance of actually conveying emotions  and the complete humorlessness of it really makes you wonder if zhang yimou was making a film per se  or simply a showcase  i . e . an  ego booster   for zhang ziyi . the camera is literally making out with her face and she gets sexually assaulted not once but twice in the film . her acting range really hasn  t extended past her ability to play a naive  w  itch . she  s so concentrated on her acting  she comes across as cold and lifeless  as though she  s reading her lines from a notecard . it  s so funny to hear american critics and film people  like the completely clueless quentin tarantino  call this film a masterpiece . i guess if they see a bunch of asian actors on screen looking really important while flying through a bamboo forest  they  re tricked into thinking it  s brilliant film  making . ching siu tung  s choreography  while still retaining his trademark style  editing  and postures  lacks the vitality and originality of his earlier films like a chinese ghost story  dragon inn  and duel to the death . sadly to say  the wirework in this film is really subpar  and if there  s subpar  obvious wirework  then you probably shouldn  t have filmed it at high speed . the same goes for the special effects which have a distinct b  movie feel to them . beans  daggers  bowls  arrows  swords  and other random objects fly through the air  after being thrown  with no regard for logic  turning  climbing  and banking as though there  s a little pilot inside . i know that logic doesn  t really hold a place in stylized chinese martial arts films  but if you don  t want to induce a mass amount of giggling from your audience  then you should probably work on your compositing a bit more . mass melodrama  unintentionally funny dramatic moments  boring fight scenes  really uninspired plot twists are what await you with shi mian mai fu . it  s obvious that zhang yimou is no longer making movies for chinese audiences . this is meant to crack into the western market just as cthd did . after watching hero and smmf  i  ve come to the conclusion that if zhang yimou wants to make hollywood films  he  s definitely off to the right start . smmf is basically the phantom menace of chinese martial arts films . and i thought hero was bad .  
before i start  i should point out that i know the editor of this film . we  ve never met  but we belong to the same fanzine  those things which came before message boards   and we have talked on the phone  so i do have a bias here . anyway . . .  br    br   somehow  it  s ironic how while the  rat pack  culture of the late    s and early to mid     s made a comeback in the mid     s  this movie  from the son of one of the original rat pack  and which was made in a similar fashion  was a flop . not only that  it was a critical flop i believe peter travers of rolling stone was the only one who did not savage this  he gave it a mixed review  as i recall  . and while i don  t think this is the greatest film in the world  and i am not a fan of the rat pack  or  cocktail   culture  i do think this is worth seeing .  br    br   for one thing  this looks stylish  and moves right along . for another  the core performances are all good . richard dreyfus is surprisingly restrained here as the head gangster coming back from a sanitarium  and has a droll edge to him . jeff goldblum goes back to the quietly ironic performances he gave in his pre  blockbuster days  like the big chill . and while ellen barkin is only required to vamp in this movie  she does it entertainingly . admittedly  it  s not a great film the dialogue is mostly made up of puns  and a lot of them don  t work  like the whole  zen of ben  speech  . and gabriel byrne and kyle maclachlan are awful here . still  i was entertained  and if you like gangster films  you might be too .  
as someone who was staggered at the incredible visuals of  hero   i was anxious to see this film which was billed as being along the same lines  but better . it also featured an actress i like ziyi zhang . well  i was disappointed on both counts . i bought the dvd of this film sight  unseen  and that was a mistake . it was not better .  br    br   i realize these flying  through  the  air martial arts films are pure fantasy but this story is stretched so far past anything remotely believable it just made me shake my head in disappointing disbelief . a blind woman defeating hundreds of opponents  sorry  that  s going a little far . also  the major male character  jin   takeshi kaneshiro  was so annoying with his dialog  stupid look on his face and stupid laugh  that he ruined the film  too .  br    br   despite the wonderful colors and amazing action scenes  this story  to me  just didn  t have an appeal to make it a movie worth owning . this film is no  hero  of mine   
it was hard for me to believe all of the negative comments regarding this all  star flick . i laughed through the entire picture  as did my entire family . the movie clearly defined itself as an old time gangster comedy   the players were hysterical   i  ll bet they had a good old time while making it . of course goldblum and dreyfuss were great   and how about those everly sisters  each of the two falco  s  and the divine music throughout . rob reiner made a great laughing limo driver  and gabriel byrne a laughable neurotic . not to mention gregory hines  burt reynolds  the sleepy joe character and the whole mortuary and grave digger references . paul anka was his usual entertaining self  with the added attraction of running scared after byrne decided to make a duet of his  my way  welcome home to vick performance .  br    br   i am of the opinion that this movie was a comical tribute to frank sinatra and friends dreyfuss imitated him well . i am also of the opinion that no one  of any age  would even think of imitating the actions which occurred in this movie   it  s a joke   not a terrifying  gangsta  film . the cars and clothing were impressive  as was the decorative   vic  s place .   br    br   truly  i think of  mad dog time  as a musical comedy  less harmful than many cartoons  tv crime dramas  and talk shows . i would recommend the video for an evening of family entertainment .  
i was very surprised how bad this movie was . nice cinematography and beautiful landscapes can only take the movie so far . i was hoping for a rerun of hero  but this is much  much worse .  br    br   this movie is why kung fu movies got a bad reputation in the first place . no believable characters  even within the cartoonish world of kung fu movies  these characters are ridiculous   virtually no plot  and ridiculous story twists .  br    br   this movie is so boring and so frustrating because it reminds you of trying to play a make believe game with a child . every time you think your silly battle makes some sense  they invent another ridiculous twist that makes no sense   ah ha  you only think you  ve got me with your super powers and       ray guns  but i ate my vitamins laced with plutonium and teflon  so your ray guns don  t work and i  m invulnerable to your super powers . . . . tap tap no trade backs infinity plus one .   children can continue with this lunacy  because they don  t really care whether anyone is listening because they are having a fun time . however  for the viewer  especially the adult viewer  this long movie is worse than a bout with bad gas .  br    br   spoilers ahead note to kung fu movie makers   a  if you have a knife in your back it hurts unless you are on pcp  in which case your kung fu is not strong   b  if you repeatedly fall on your back  which has a knife in it  it will hurt more and do more damage  unless it is a fake prop   c  when you get stabbed in the heart with a knife  you die  especially in ancient china where there isn  t a kaiser permanente around the corner   d  kung fu fights don  t last for hours while  feet of snow falls  and  e  sometimes it is worth while explaining your characters and their motivations .  br    br   in any event  go watch hero again  because at least within its own little world it is comprehensible .  
i love this movie . it  s wacky  funny  violent  surreal  played out in a madman  s head  and definitely not your usual comedy .  br    br   if you don  t find the film amusing then i guess it  s just not for your tastes  so this is a tough one to write a review for .  br    br   for reference  some other comedies i love are the big lebowski  the princess bride  and zoolander  that one only got me the second time around  . there are others  but my taste is definitely for the unusual  and i am willing to accept that most people just don  t tend to like that kind of thing . i make no apologies for having an unusual sense of humour  at least i have one .  br    br   the scenes and characters of this particular movie are well put together  the verbal humour is hilarious  the situations are intriguing  the acting is very good  as you would expect of the cast   though the acting demands made of the cast by the script are not particularly high . the overall package makes for fun  funny  watchable yet violent entertainment .  
normally  i am a pretty generous critic  but in the case of this film i have to say it was incredibly bad . i am stunned by how positive most reviews seem to be .  br    br   there were some gorgeous shots  but it  s too bad they were wasted on this sinkhole of a movie . it might have worked if  daggers  was purely an action flick and not a romance  but unfortunately the film is built around an empty love triangle . there is no chemistry between either of the couples  whatever exists between mei and her men seems to be more lust than love  and for the most part the dialogue is just silly . this may be just a problem with translation  but the frequent usage of the word  flirt  in particular reminded me of  th grade  not head  over  heels  together forever  worth  dying  for love i also felt we were beat over the head with the wind metaphor . the audience is given very little about the characters to really care about  and therefore very little emotional investment in the movie as a whole . i was wishing for a remote control to fast forward  i was slumped in my seat ready to snore  but mostly i just cringed a lot .  br    br   spoiler  br    br   now  the icing on the cake . or rather  adding insult to injury . the ending was truly one of the most horrible  laughable ones i have ever seen . the boys are having their stag fight and screaming and yelling and hacking at each other . oh  and then it starts to snow . randomly . oh  and then mei  dagger embedded in heart  suddenly pops up out of the weeds . then she throws a dagger that seems to take about  minutes to reach it  s destination  even slowing conveniently midscreen to hit a tiny blood droplet . wow  cool .  br    br   well  then mei dies finally i guess because she threw the dagger that was lodged in her chest and bled to death . jin sings  sobs  holds her body close  screen goes blank . i  and the people surrounding me  are chuckling . not a good sign .  br    br   visually stunning  but ultimately a failure .  
this has to be one of my favourite movies of all time . the dialogue  with the constant use of puns is very tight  the cast are superb  and the plot is highly original .  br    br   don  t take my word for it  watch this movie and enjoy it for yourself .  
i gave this a  . there are so many plot twists that you can never be sure to root for . total mayhem . everyone gets killed or nearly so . i am tired of cross hairs and changing views . i cannot give the plot away . convoluted and insane . if i had paid to see this i would demand my money back . i wish reviews were more honest .  
simply  one of the funiest movies i  ve ever seen . it  s a parody of crime  life  parody of everything that represents the chicago     .  there is no realy need to underestimate this movie because rating is under  . its a opinion of a mass  and mass is hypnotized . who decide to watch it  it will regret  who decide not to watch it  will regret more .  
the banner says it all  this is one really bad movie  which is sad because i normally like sheffer  and i have been impressed with andrea roth in other roles . this  however  is terrible . i wont waste any more time . . . its just that bad .  
loopy  but shrewd and formidable mob boss vic  an excellent performance by richard dreyfuss  gets released from a mental hospital . several of vic  s fellow criminal cohorts who include volatile henchman  brass balls  ben london  a gloriously manic and over  the  top hammy portrayal by gabriel byrne   the smarmy jake parker  a perfectly smug kyle maclachlan   and vicious rival  wacky  jacky jackson  a neat turn by burt reynolds  all try to bump vic off . meanwhile  laid  back and self  assured hit  man mickey holliday  nicely played with low  key confidence by jeff goldblum  finds himself caught in the middle of all this deadly lunacy . writer  director larry bishop brings a supremely hip  quirky  and original idiosyncratic sensibility to this deliciously dark and deadpan pitch  black comedy about betrayal  loyalty  and ruthless ambition run dangerously amok . the bang  up cast have a field day with the colorfully grotesque rogues  gallery of blithely amoral and treacherous hoodlums ellen barkin as tough  sultry moll rita everly  henry silva as vic  s reliable right  hand man sleepy joe carisle  gregory hines as philosophical smoothie jules flamingo  diane lane as vic  s sweet  perky mistress grace  billy drago as the slimy wells  and christopher jones as brutish rub  out artist nicholas falco . bishop makes the most of his juicy secondary role as lethal and laconic ace assassin nick . popping up in nifty bits are billy idol as a blustery thug  michael j . pollard as the ill  fated red  joey bishop as mortician mr . gottlieb  rob reiner as a jolly chauffeur  and richard pryor as jimmy the gravedigger . byrne  s delightfully insane duet with singer paul anka on  my way  rates as a definite sidesplitting highlight . a tense and amusing climactic mexican stand  off likewise tickles the funny bone something hysterical . frank byers  slick cinematography  the outrageously nutty dialogue  earl rose  s jazzy cocktail lounge score  and a choice soundtrack of vintage swinging golden oldies all further enhance the engagingly peculiar charm of this immensely entertaining one  of  a  kind curio .  
while i watched this movie  i tried to figure out why they bothered making it . though the main plot of the movie is potentially good  there are all sorts of unrelated  unnecessary subplots . the marketing people in hollywood must have dictated the multiple bad guys  perpetual double  crosses and the man and woman who get too close and have sex . it  s odd that we see more of them having sex than we did of the president and his mistress . the many plots and subplots make the film too broad and none of the characters are properly developed  i really didn  t feel like i knew any character  except that everyone is corrupt and evil . the ending is totally incomplete  it left me more than just wanting what might have been  but what was supposed to be . in the end  there is really no explanation of why anyone does what they do  except to serve as additional corrupt characters who commit a double  cross . i  m surprised that so many established  and good  actors agreed to make such a hollow movie . this seemed like a movie made by college students who are working on their  nd or  rd project .  br    br   don  t waste your time unless you are in a film class and want an example of what not to do when making a movie .  
father of the pride was the best new show to hit television since family guy . it was yet another masterpiece from the talented people at dreamworks animation . like the simpsons  the show centers around a nuclear family  of white lions  in this case  . it also contains many memorable supporting characters including roger the surly orangutan  vincent the italian  american flamingo  the eccentric white tigers blake and victoria  the faux patriotic snout brothers and chutney the elephant . the other stars of the show are the sigfreid and roy . they are incredibly eccentric and do everything in a grandiose manner  making the most mundane activities entertaining . the combination of cute animal characters with very adult dialog and controversial issues  drugs  prejudice  etc  is the source of the program  s brilliance .  br    br   the blame for this show  s failure lies with nbc . they opted to broadcast the episodes in no particular order  perhaps being influenced by which guest stars they could promote  rather than the more logical production order . several times  the show was preempted for an extra half  hour of such dreck as the biggest loser  as if   minutes of that was not enough   it is indeed an ill omen for the future of television as art if an original and daring show like this fails while fear factor and american idol dominate .  br    br   luckily  the complete series was released on dvd and the show now has an opportunity to gain a larger following .       
my wife and i like to rent really stupid horror  sci  fi movies and watch them with our friends for a laugh . we saw this one on fullmoondirect . com and decided to add it to our netflix list . now  when i say this movie is awful  i mean it in a good way . everything about it  the acting  camera  work  story  costumes  is just so cheezy and low budget but thats what makes it so good . i think in one scene the actors looked like they were actually walking in place . i really hope that whoever made this film wasn  t serious when they made it because if they were  then that would just be sad . if you like to watch really stupid horror movies just to make fun of them then i recommend this one .  
this is no art  house film  it  s mainstream entertainment .  br    br   lot  s of beautiful people  ta  and action . i found it very entertaining . it  s not supposed to be intellectually stimulating  it  s a fun film to watch  jesse and chace are funny too  which is just gravy . definitely worth a rental .  br    br   so in summary  i  d recommend checking it out for a little friday night entertainment with the boys or even your girl  if she likes to see other girls get it on    br    br   the villains are good too . vinnie  corey large  the hatian guy from heroes . very nasty villains .  
really  i can  t believe that i spent   on this movie . i am a huge zombie fanatic and thought the movie couldn  t be that bad . it had zombies in it right  was i wrong  to be honest the movie had it  s moments . . . i thought it was cool when the guy got his head ripped off but that was about it . overall i think that it would be more enjoyable to slide down a razorblade slide on my bare nutsack into a vat of vinegar then watch this movie again . the movie could have been better if we could see some boob but i had to watch the trailers for the other movies produced by this company to see that . buyer beware . . . unless you are into masochism .  
i don  t know much about the rat pack  and frank sinatra always seemed a bit too self  consciously full of himself to me . so when i call this one of my all  time faves  it  s nothing to do with a tribute  band mentality . as another reviewer says  mad dog time is about symbolism  not realism . it  s kafkaesque  a pity kyle maclachlan is probably the weakest of a very strong crowd  when he was so good as josef k   it  s stylish  knowing  sardonic and slick . jeff goldblum is navigating his way around a variety of characters  trying not to get shot and acting deftly rather than dorkily  trying to stay abreast of what he knows and others don  t  whom he can outshoot and whom he can  t . gabriel byrne and richard dreyfuss  his best performance  have a ball  and the supporting cast look spot  on . the symbolism  the settings  the one outdoor motion shot with jeff goldblum walking down the steps seems really weird after so much lounge lizardry   the dialogue  style  not practicality  is the order of the day   it  s all about characters interacting  not really gangsterism . fun to watch  must  ve been fun to do . what the critics were up to is really a mystery . . .  
spoiler alert well i think this movie is probably the worst film ever made . probably in the style of ed wood  without the heart  . the lightning is terrible . the music is very bad  piano and orgue . . . come on   . the acting is . . . well there is no acting   br    br   there  s a guy who actually goes in the wood to search for his missing wife and take the time to have sex with a stranger .  br    br   the killer is a fat  unscary clown who couldn  t outrun a turtle   br    br   every members of the cast is stupid and the director put every clichs of slashers movies in the film without effort .  br    br   the end is so far the most stupid ever made . think about it the guy  ken hebert  who  s acting skill is about the same as his writing  he  s the brain behind this flop  invite a co  worker and two of his friends to his cabin for the week  end and kills them . . . on monday morning he goes back to is office like nothing happen .  br    br   the tragedy is that mr . hebert try to make us beleive that it  s a family affair that goes on for generation  his uncle is the clown killer   br    br   so of course no cops are gonna question him after his co  worker goes missing . . .  br    br   whatever .  br    br    
i originally saw this very dark comedy around     or so on cable tv . what a surprise and delight  everyone is covertly armed in this movie  dreyfuss plays the  mental  don  remember the new york don who was supposed to be schizophrenic  art imitates life or vice  versa   . diane lane and ellen barkin are at their most beautiful and not to be toyed with  thus proving that beauty and toughness do go together  then there is the great  bullshit  scene between barkin and jeff goldblum  rita and mickey  where they verbally play off the world  bullshit .  this film is both subtle and bald . for all the shooting  it can be a very quiet film . and  you have the opportunity to see several actors in their final or near final roles . joey bishop . richard pryor . henry silva . it is not a film for everyone . but  if you like a film that has a lot of word play and keeps moving without blowing up everything in sight  this is the film for you . roger ebert dumps on this film . he  s flat wrong . this is a fine  fine film  maybe just not one for ebert . i consider it as a   because of how well it is done and how funny the script can be  while not really being a straight comedy kind of film . i like it so well that i bought it on dvd because it just doesn  t get shown very much on cable tv . now  it  s all mine   
spoilers ahead if you want to call them that . . .  br    br   i would almost recommend this film just so people can truly see a     . where to begin  we  ll start from the top . . .  br    br   the story don  t believe the premise  the movie has nothing to do with abandoned cars  and people finially understanding what the mysterious happenings are . it  s a draub  basic  go to cabin movie with no intensity or  effort  .  br    br   the screenplay i usually give credit to indie screenwriters  it  s hard work when you are starting out . . . but this is crap . the story is flat  it leaves you emotionless the entire movie . the dialogue is extremely weak and predictable boasting lines of  woah  you totally freaked me out  and  i was wondering if you  d uh . . . if you  d like to . . uh  would you come to the cabin with me   . it makes me want to rip out all my hair  one strand at a time and feed it to myself .  br    br   the characters holy crap     some have described the characters as flat  i want to take it one step further and say that they actually have a reverse character arch . . they actually start working on a parallel universe and almost start acting backwards . . .  br    br   the actors worse than the characters are the actors . they take already poor written characters and add in terrible high school drama acting . the  woah you totally freaked me out  was said so monotone and slow  like it was dumbed down . i could complain for hours on the actors alone .  br    br   technical lighting an eight year old would be disappointed with lighting on this movie . too shadowy in areas  too bleached in others . the director shouldn  t use light as an emotion until he learns how to light a basic scene properly . baby steps  sound how many sound guys does it take to make a really shotty sounding movie   . with that many sound guys this should sound amazing but quite the opposite has occured . there is one scene in particular that really sticks out  these guys are driving in a car and the sound of the car changes with every camera angle . . . . weak  camera learn to use it .  br    br   anyway  i  m running out of complaining space . . . . . rent it  i dare you . . . rent it and learn from it . . . give it a  rating . . it deserves it .  br    br   signing off . . . amanda christmas  
most of the comments have been positive but i would like to add that viewers should also focus on the sets . the set designer used a lot of beautiful art deco treatments along with beautiful buildings  stairs  doors  furniture and so forth . it is worth paying attention to . the movie is driven by characterization and symbolism which is very rich . all the gangster actors were cast  it was like seeing old friends and it was a treat . the dialog was amusing at times but stilted at times and i suppose it was meant to be that way . this is a film buff  s film . it was made by people  for people who love the medium . don  t miss this one .  
this movie is just horrible . it  s boring  it  s low quality  the actors are just the worst actors i have ever seen and the scenario is so bad that it  s hilarious .  br    br   the  main  actor is supposed to be the hot guy who gets all the girls  but he  s ugly  overweight and looks like he  s from the early    s .  br    br   all the characters are away for the week  end for a get together amongst friends  but nobody are actually friends  the married couple hasn  t seen the  main  guy in over  years and even back then they weren  t really friends . the  date  of the main guy only knows him from work and than there  s a girl they pick  up at a bar . now tell me that you would risk losing your job to spend a week  end at your cabin with people that aren  t even your real friends . because that  s what he does at the beginning of the movie   br    br   do not waste even one minute of your time on this lemon . i  ve made home movies scarier than this   br    br    
when seeing this movie you should take notice to that its not a normal movie . it has no real story just characters  a bunch of gangster characters who come together in a perfect harmony . the dialogue is wonderful  you can just lay back and listen . the movie stands out thats why its hard to find a right way of describing it .  br    br   thats why the user comments on this movie is so mixed .  br    br   i for one love the movie and recommend it to all who love one  liners and things that differ from the  normal  . you cant really put the finger on whats so wonderful about it its just a comical world where gangsters rule . a place of love and danger . a movie that you can see more than one time .  
i am writing this review having watched it several months ago . . . . the trailer looked promising enough for me to buy this lame excuse for a movie . it is a complete joke . . . . and literally a spit in the face of real classics of the early generation of horror like texas chainsaw massacre       which they even had the gall to compare itself to on the back of the cover art . the producer who played brandon should go flip burgers and serve up greasy hamburgers . . . . hell he might not even be good at that either  the lighting was bad bad bad and a big annoyance through out the film you couldn  t even see the actor  s faces sometimes . i don  t even remember the rest of the cast members which is sad really  bad they never do anything to impress you to make them memorable . that  s all the time i will waste on this review please stay as far away as you can from this pile of junk even if you get it for   cents don  t do it buy s piece of gum at least it would keep you entertained   br    br   if you want good quality low budget fun  far better than this . . . then check out a jeff hayes film . . . . because it takes talent to make it in horror and the kid has it   br    br   i gave this  star just for the cover art . . . . thats the only thing worth liking abut this so called  film   br    br    rick blalock  
this movie is great . simply . it is rare that you find a comedy with levels  and this is a bloody good example of such . when i saw this movie first  as the credit rolled  a friend and i looked to one another and asked . . .  did you just catch that   for those doubters  look at the levels . see the comparisons between vick and the people in the club  the dna  see the diverse characters  each jostling for position  and if you see nothing else  see the connection between the cure of vick and the path through the film . it  s all in vick  s head  the opening line about vick  s world . the closing scene with the camera going into vick  s head  and inside  a whole universe  thoroughly quotable  wonderful cartoon gangsters  beautiful  beautiful  beautiful   
i have seen a lot of stupid movies in my life  a lot  but this is without a doubt the worst one ever  i usually like dumb movies  if they are somewhat entertaining  but i can  t even think of one good thing about this movie . i like  teen witch  for heaven  s sake . but s . i . c . k . has horrible acting  lame porn music throughout the whole thing  and even the sex scenes sucked  i would have to compare the lameness of this movie to the likes of  twin dragons    puppet master vs the demonic toys  or even  a very brady sequel  . although  this is by far worse then any of those . i beg you  don  t even waste your time . believe me  its  hours you  ll never get back .  
this a superb self  contained work that is unconnected with anything before or after . brat pack crooning and club exclusivity are not my biscuits of choice  but in this law  free world they make an alluring ambiance . the film is packed with our guys  distinctive actors who add distinction to this work with winning performances . the dialogue is a joy . in fact it  s a new vernacular . one of the few films that can be watched repeatedly with deepening appreciation .  br    br   highpoints include billy idol  s british loutishness  ben london  s vulturine brassware  kyle  s squirmishness  and the survey of ad hoc philosophies .  
me and a friend rented this movie because it sounded really good . but we were wrong . first of the acting . . . . wow . . . the acting was the worst  the effects were really bad as well  it seemed like a film a college kid made . the plot was pretty good  but it  d been done . the thing that ruined the movies the most were the actors . the main guy was the worst actor ever . . . it  s a shame i  m even calling him an actor . . . the only good thing about this movie was it was so bad it was funny . . . so if you want a good laugh see it . . . . but other than that . . . stay far away from this one . i usually love b list movies and such  but this one . . . i do not know how it was passed to even be put on video . . . this one is the worst i  ve seen . . and i  ve seen some bad ones .  
the world is a terrible place . but this movie is farce and it  s fun . and if you don  t like it . . . you don  t get it . . . and if you don  t get . . . it doesn  t matter . it  s up to you if you want to play along . every actor in this one had fun . it  s only a joke . and that  s good enough for me . gabriel byrne is priceless . byrne and paul anka doing my way is  as  vic  puts it   . . . the best version ever  . okay . . . it  s no masterpiece  but it  s not bad . i was warned against seeing it  but i  m sure glad i did . . .  
this film is the worst excuse for a motion picture i have ever seen . to begin  i  d like to say the the front cover of this film is by all means misleading  if you think you are about to see a truly scary horror film with a monster clown  you are soooo wrong . in fact the killers face doesn  t even slightly resemble the front cover  it  s just an image they must have found on google and thought it looked cool . speaking of things they found and thought it looked cool  there is a scene in this film where some of the gang are searching for the friend in the old woods  then suddenly the screen chops to a scene where there is a mother deer nurturing it  s young in a glisten of sunlight . . . i mean seriously wtf    how is this relevant to the dark woods they are wandering through  i bought this film from a man at a market hoping it would be entertaining  if it wasn  t horror then at least it would be funny right  wrong  the next day i gave it to my work colleague ridding myself from the plague named s . i . c . k  br    br   bottom line is don  t see this film     
not a movie for everyone  but this movie is in my top   . i am a lover of black comedy . with a cast including richard dreyfus  vic   jeff goldblum  mick   larry bishop  nick  and gabriel byrne  ben  brass balls  london  in the leads  the lines can  t help but be dry . the supporting cast is nearly dead center . counting the minor flaws in the movie ellen barkin  s make  up gave her face has a washed out look there were a couple of gimme cameos by joey bishop and richard pryor that served no purpose  and michael j . pollard  s screen time was too short . over all  the cast was just incredible without egos to wreck a fine script . if you have seen larry bishop  s  writer  director  film  underworld  a dark crime flick   you will enjoy this one . his next outing  writer  director  actor  is hell ride with michael madsen and quentin tarantino .  
i rented this film about a month ago when i had nothing else to do on a friday night . all i can say to describe this worthless film is  trash  the acting is so badly done i  ve seen kids in high school do a better job the whole cast seems like they  re just reading their lines out  no feeling  no emotion  and no room to capture the viewer . on another note the special effects were insanely cheesy and the whole thing looked like it had been shot with a camera anyone can buy a radio shack .  br    br   the clown himself looks nothing like the one on the video cover . heck he doesn  t even show up in the film until near the end and all he does it hum songs and go around stalking a few characters . there is no real murder shown either so this isn  t a real slasher film either since i  ve seen it i  ve questioned a few things  . if is  serial insane clown killer  wouldn  t that be a serial killer who kills clowns   . if your friend goes missing why would you go out into the woods to have sex rather than look for her  sad really .  br    br    . why is it that the only real acting sputtered vainly out at the end all of a sudden  did the cast finally decide to show effort in their jobs  this film is as sad as they come . my advice is to avoid renting it lest you waste an hour or two of your time laughing more than screaming .  
if you are used to seeing gabriel byrne in serious roles such as tom in millers crossing or keaton in the usual suspects i recommend you take a look at this film . even if you are not a fan of gabriel byrne in particular  all the actors in this film give really great performances . if you  ve got about eleven bucks  that is close to nine quid  i say order it online  or rent it from you favorite movie rental place . guaranteed to make you laugh  whether or not you normally like gangster type movies . mad dog time  trigger happy is one of those movies you never forget  and find yourself watching over and over . you will talk about it so much your friends will be begging to borrow it .  
this movie was definitely the worst movie i  ve seen in my entire life  and i  ve seen some pretty bad movies . i didn  t like the way this movie was filmed . all of the actors are unknown  and it looks as though a bunch of friends got together and decided to film their own movie . but it  s absolutely horrible . i  ve never seen a worse movie . the story is so fake  and i just found that it took a really long time to get to the end of the movie . there was no plot  it looked as though it wasn  t planned out before they started filming . the story is too weird . i didn  t like how slow it took to get to the point of the movie . there was no point in even filming this movie . if you  re considering watching this movie  don  t . you  re just wasting your time .  
dear god where do i begin . this is bar none the best movie i  ve ever seen . the camera angles are great but in my opinion the acting was the best . why the script writers for this movie aren  t writing big budget films i will never understand . another is the cast . it is great . this is the best ted raimi film out there for sure . i know some of you out there are probably thinking  no way he has plenty better  but no your wrong . raptor island is a work of art . i hope it should have goten best movie of the year instead of that crappy movie crash with a bunch of no names and no raptors . i believe this movie is truly the most wonderful thing ever .  
hey everyone . . .  br    br   there really isn  t much to say for this movie at all . the basic plot is that a guy  brandon  takes a few friends on a trip to his cabin in the woods for a weekend holiday away from work . after picking up a girl on the way there  things start going badly wrong for all of them .  br    br   the storyline alone  written by the actor playing brandon  i believe  although i could be wrong here  is unlikely and unconvincing  and is acted out accordingly . the  clown killer  himself is a rather a sad excuse for a psychotic killer . far from being a dark  mysterious but most of all  intelligent predator  we are instead offered a rather clumsy  nursery rhyme  singing buffoon who appears to be going through a minor mid life crisis . the only thing that warranted the writing of this comment were the sex scenes and whatever gore there was in the film  the quality of the film led me to derive some enjoyment out of such things  .  br    br   in short  this film falls below every possible set standard . admittedly  i was sharing a few beers with a close friend as i watched this  so we managed to scrape together some relative entertainment value out of this film and it is therefore only fair to mention that s . i . c . k did fall just shy of a two rating . however  in reality   and with the benefit of hindsight  the one star rating is a more than legitimate score for this film .  br    br    star out of ten .  
i  m sure that most people already know the story  the miserly ebenezer scrooge gets a visit from three spirits  the ghosts of christmas past  present and yet to come  who highlight parts of his life in the hopes of saving his soul and changing his ways . dickens  classic story in one form or another has stood the test of time to become a beloved holiday favorite .  br    br   while i grew up watching the     version starring alastair sims  and i believe that he is the definitive scrooge  i have been impressed with this version  which was released when i was in high school . george c . scott plays a convincing and mean ebenezer scrooge  and the actors playing the ghosts are rather frightening and menacing . david warner is a good bob cratchit as well .  br    br   this version is beautifully filmed  and uses more modern filming styles  for the      s  which make it more palatable for my children than the     black and white version .  br    br   this is a worthy adaptation of the story and is one that i watch almost every year at some point in the christmas season .  
some kids are hiking in the mountains  and one of them goes into a large tunnel and discovers some old mummified gladiator . he puts on the gladiator  s helmet and spends the rest of the movie killing all the other hikers .  br    br   this thing is just so utterly senseless it  s maddening . here  s a short list of things that don  t make any sense  br    br     a guy and a girl are in their tent and they think they hear something outside . the guy goes out to investigate and finds another hiker outside . then he hears his girlfriend scream so they head back to the tent  arriving the next morning    he was only   feet away   br    br     these two dunderheads then hear another girl scream  what     feet away    but don  t investigate because they  re afraid they  ll get lost .  br    br     another guy and a girl are walking around  and in about their   th scene together the girl informs the guy that due to the circumstances  protocol no longer requires him to address her as professor . i mean  what the . . .  first off  that  s just a really stupid thing to say  secondly he never called her professor in the first nine scenes they were in together .  br    br     a wounded girl attacks demonicus and he stops her  telling her that part of his gladiator training taught him how to wound without killing . um  yeah  we kinda noticed she  s wounded and not dead because she  s up and walking around . but  thanks for that tidbit of information .  br    br     one girl is tied up in demonicus  lair  and when someone attempts to free her  she instead instructs this person to go and get help . um  look  idiot  if she set you free  which would take about  seconds  there would be no need to get help .  br    br   and it just goes on and on . the whole middle part of the movie is spent with the two idiots getting lost in the woods  then they fight  then they pitch a tent and ignore the screams of their friends  then they wander around some more . it  s just so damned boring and pointless that i turned the dvd off halfway through .  br    br   none of these characters are sympathetic  especially the ones that get the majority of the screen time . demonicus himself made me laugh out loud every time i saw him  he looks like a kid in a halloween costume  scrunching his face up to look evil . he runs  or should i say scampers around like he  s gay . the special effects are comedic  the acting is for the most part awful  and nothing makes any sense .  br    br   overall  maybe this concept could have produced an enjoyably campy film if they put some more time and effort into it  getting rid of the ludicrous dialogue  creating characters with actual likable personalities  having some sort of logical flow to the action  and maybe even making demonicus a female character in a sexy gladiator outfit . but no  instead we get this senseless pile of nonsense that will bore you to death .  
wow  how can i even discuss this movie without tears coming to my eyes  it was surely the highlight of my year   nay   my life . as if the raptor graphics weren  t amazing enough  the award  winning editors continued to use the exact same shot throughout the entire movie  even when the background didn  t actually match up with the setting of the scene . wow  what genius . and while the movie is full of plot  holes  for instance  a few clips of a t  rex type animal where a raptor should be and one key moment where pappy finds a torture chamber  screams  colin  s a girl   and runs out  i will never forget the brilliance that is raptor planet . thank you sci  fi for another classic .  
ok  i adore this film . . . i will credit this movie  alone  for making me such a die  hard horror fanatic . i could never watch this movie alone . i  ve also heard many many stories of the effect it had in it  s original release at the theatres  on its viewers . incredible masterpiece . . . . horrible  psychological stuff scares the pants off me . oh bless their hearts  whoever made this awesome film . i love it . i thought the whole film was decent and interesting . this movie is so scary  this is the scariest movie i have ever seen in my life  not that what happens in the film and the idea of the film are not scary enough  but what always got me  was brendan  s fabulous acting . best horror film ever . nothing can ever be this scary again . halloween viewing at its evilest .  
this was the worst movie i  ve ever seen  yet it was also the best movie . sci fi original movie  s are supposed to be bad  that  s what makes them fun  the line   i like my dinosaur meat well done   is probably the best quote ever  also  the plot sounds like something out of a pot induced dream . i can imagine it now  the writers waking up after a long night of getting high and playing dance dance revolution  then putting ideas together for this space marines got to alien planet  which is infested with dinosaurs and has medieval houses in it  to protect a science team studying the planet . best idea ever  in fact  in fits the complete sci fi original movie checklist guns dinosaurs medieval times space travel terrible acting  br    br   so go watch this movie  but don  t buy it .  
the cover on the dvd and disc is freaking awesome  you would think they made a movie about sweet tooth from twisted metal black which is still a really great idea  but this movie  s actors are worst then ben  s performance in pearl harbor  porno  s have better quality and better actors . i was gonna buy the dvd but luckily i rented it first  the plot and script are also horrible  nothing seems to go to together so the movie really never makes sense . the poor attempts to frighten you using flashback scenes are worse then ones used in    s sitcom shows and in the end it  ll leave you wanting to bang your head against the wall of your house .  
i love to watch this movie a lot because of all the scary scenes about the raptors . i like raptors because they are scary . my favorite parts are the ones where the raptor looks behind the pillar because it reminds me of a scene from the friday the   th movie with the girl who eats the banana .  br    br   i really love to watch a lot of this movie because the computer graphics seem a little fake but it  s okay because once you get into the movie you hardly even notice what is going on and i think it  s got a good ending even though i didn  t really understand what was going on on my first couple viewings i figured it out over time and that  s the important part . the other important part is how scary the dinosaurs can be if you  re watching it the first time .  br    br   this is best movie .  
worst movie on earth . i don  t even know where to begin but i hope i can save another person from punishing themselves with this movie . when it comes to acting and lighting  this movie is similar to a bad porno without the sex . the actors are some of the worst i  ve ever seen  and couldn  t have been worse even if they were trying to make a complete mockery of this movie . the movie must have had a record breaking low budget which i  m sure was wasted almost solely on the movie  s cover . this movie has now become a running joke with friends of mine and has become the standard for comparing other garbage movies . i would like to point of that no other movie even begins to compare . i feel personally responsible for suggesting a friend and me watch this movie and am surprised she still considers me a friend after the torment i put us through . don  t see this movie   
i liked this show a lot  we got the first and only  it would appear  series in the uk on channel  . the characterisation was right on the money  a bit like the simpsons in that all the different facets of small town populace were represented .  br    br   there was no laughter track  i hadn  t seen this on an american tv comedy at the time except for on larry sanders and it really worked well here  heightening the suggestion that these wacky cops were really like that  and not just hamming it up for the cameras .  br    br   all in all  a quirky little number that tickled me just right i can  t help but think that maybe it missed it  s mark with certain audiences . i think it would have been a cult hit in the uk had it been shown at an acceptable hour .  br    br   i  ll round this off with my standard comment where the hell can i get hold of this to watch it again  any ideas   
this was by far the worst low budget horror movie i have ever seen . i am an open minded guy and i always love a good horror movie . in fact  when i  m renting movies i specifically look for some good underrated horror movies . they are always good for a laugh  believe i know  i have seen many . but this movie was just so terrible it wasn  t worth a chuckle . i was considering turning it off in the first five minutes . . . which i probably should have . there is nothing good about it  first and foremost  the camera crew suck  d a . the intro was stupid just like the ending . acting and special effects were terrible . please i  m begging you  do not watch this movie  you will absolutely hate it .  
only saw this show a few times  but will live in my memory .  br    br   it is very frustrating that it is so difficult to find this anywhere to purchase and yet there seem to be endless repeats of stuff like friends  especially even more difficult to obtain being in england i guess . .   br    br   they say it was low ratings or was it a complaint from the bakersfield pd themselves  maybe it was just too clever for certain people   br    br   anyhow  just about the one comedy i would love to see again but is almost impossible to find . i hear it is being or has been repeated on another network  but alas not over here    br    br   summary ingenious .  
well . . . overall  this movie was pretty much worthless  and it  s basically a horror movie that ended up being more of a comedy . i just rented this movie last night when me and my friends went to blockbuster looking for a scary movie . this definitely wasn  t what we were looking for  but it satisfied us for humor . the actors in this movie  especially brandon  are so fake that it  s funny . and especially that tracy girl whenever she  s in the boarded up room telling the clown to go away . they show almost no emotion and it  s just so obvious that they  re acting . and also when the clown is looking through that black box paper thing and grabs mark  he doesn  t even look like he  s scared even though the clown like grabbed him and started attacking him . and seriously  would you just be jogging if you were being chased down  i  d be sprinting for my life   even though anyone could probably outrun that clown because he  s like    lbs .  not to mention that the effects aren  t that great  like whenever the clown chops off susan  s head in the forest  then whenever he throws her head into the boarded up room with denise and tracy whenever denise throws the head back over . also like in the previous guy  s comment  the beginning makes absolutely no sense and i don  t even see why it was even included in the movie . so what  was this movie made in      the music made it sound like it was made in like the      s  and the camera  ing    doesn  t even really look professional . half of the time  it seems like the camera can  t even stay steady when it  s suppose to be . overall  i  d have to say i enjoyed the movie . i wouldn  t recommend it though if you  re trying to find something to scare you  but if you  re looking for something to maybe make fun of or get a laugh out of  i  d recommend it for sure .  
prominent attorney walter pidgeon takes a murder case pro bono  wins an acquittal and discovers that his client  keefe braselle  was not only guilty but part of an extortion ring reaching to the highest eschelons of the city . panged by his own complicity  he undertakes an investigation  stumbles onto the identity of the  unknown man  who heads the syndicate  and murders him .  br    br   the ironies engage when braselle is charged with this second murder and pidgeon must defend him by pointing to the existence of another  unknown man    himself . though somewhat short of urban grit and long on rhetoric  the unknown man belongs to the noir cycle less by style or structure than by its acknowledgement of the pervasive corruption of american municipal politics that came to light in the postwar years .  
this movie was so bad  it was terrible  it was awful  i cannot stress it enough  the acting  directing  story  characters and everything about it was bad  it was so corny and clichd . don  t be fooled by the cover  or the tag line  the  texas massacre  is nothing to laugh at .  are you frogging  kidding me  it was ridiculous .  br    br   the first  minutes of the film is good until it gets to the main character brendan  ok now turn it off . what i got from the film was  a bunch of ugly  annoying and immature people go to a cabin in the middle of the woods and a clown that sings nursery rhymes kills them in unoriginal and fake ways .  br    br   this movie was a waste of my time and money  and it would be a waste of your money and time too  i fast forward through most of the movie because it was so terrible  i just wanted to see how each bad actor died  and it still wasn  t worth it  just looking at the cover is a waste of time . this is seriously the worst movie ever  rating doesn  t deserve one .  
walter pidgeon is braley mason  a civil attorney who takes on a criminal case in  the unknown man   a     film also starring ann harding  barry sullivan  keefe braselle  and richard anderson . a great believer in justice  pidgeon accepts a pro bono case defending a young man  rudi walchek  braselle  accused of murder and gets him acquitted . shortly afterward  he realizes that the man is guilty and was extorting protection money from his victim as well as other shopkeepers in the neighborhood . he is advised by the da  sullivan  that rudi is small change  that to wipe out the organized crime  one has to find the top man . mason finds the top man  and is faced with a dilemma .  br    br    the unknown man  is a small  black and white film that manages to hold the viewer  s interest with its various plot twists  though the plot is somewhat contrived . it  s really the story of a good man seeking his god  justice  and what he is willing to do in order to attain it . and that  s the most contrived part of all . i suppose there was a time before o . j .  the menendez brothers  etc .  etc .  when people believed in justice and the integrity of attorneys . for this viewer anyway  those days are long over .  br    br   walter pidgeon does an excellent job   his handsome  elegant demeanor and declamatory voice show us a successful  confident man but also a deeply caring one . pidgeon had a magnificent career spanning   years but never really rose to superstardom . he was a solid actor who could play just about anything and did . it may be because by the time he was getting leads  he was well into his thirties and missed being a matine idol or it could be he lacked that certain something or that he was typed early on as second lead to a big female star like greer garson . hard to say . he gives an honest and touching performance here .  br    br   very good movie with good performances .  
ok  so i rented this clown  like  chainsaw  massacre  esquire film  not expected much  but i did like the novel approach to a serial killer film .  from the back of the box is the following synopsis   at first  it was just a joke  a myth around the campfire  for five friends staying at a remote cabin in the texas woods . but when they began to disappear one  by  one  replaced by scattered  bloodied body parts and voodoo effigies  the remaining few scramble for their lives . but he  s out there . and he  s sick . and all he wants is blood . . .  so obviously from the get  go it doesn  t make sense why is this clown in the woods to begin with  why a clown  why are their dolls with the word  food  drawn on them  why why why  hardly anything gets answered in this  hour   min . bore fest except where this clown lives . the characters are dumb guys  dumb girls  and a hell of a lot of bitchiness . one in particular is a girl whom they brought from a restaurant up the road  whom they thought they should help because she was getting hassled by some guy she knew . what warrants that as an excuse to bring a girl into your circle of friends or their cabin  she  of course  begins planting seeds of jealousy  having the men have sex with her by feeding their dumb minds everything they want to hear .  br    br   the music was an average affair  standard frantic keyboard music like in every horror film without differences  . the actors seemed to be brought from some soap opera the way they complained and whined about everything . the idea that the main guy in the film takes this girl to the cabin as their first date makes for a horrible date  but of course  she unrealistically gives herself to him on the first night of getting to know him . there was hardly a budget spent of anything  it seems  but there was a clown outfit and plenty of cheap    store dolls lying around in the woods  which was a horribly bland place to shoot this whole movie  been done too many times  . i was also waiting for the clown to jump into the house to kill the remaining  characters of the film  in through the glass maybe   but nothing exciting like that ever entered the film . i guess you were just supposed to like the clown being a killer or something .  br    br   i had to give the film a  . it was an interesting premise  clown as the texas chainsaw massacre character  essentially  and i  ll give them a star for acting serious all the way through when the movie could  ve totally been a b  movie  style video  but they opted for the more legitimate style of video . but ultimately  i probably would  ve felt like renting the killer klowns from mars video again before going back to check this out . ah  but that cover art . . . pretty awesome drawing .  
i  ve seen this film criticized with the statement   if you can get past the moralizing . . .  that misses the point . moralizing is in the conscience of the beholder  as it were . this is a decent film with a standard murder mystery  but with a distinct twist that surfaces midway through . the resolution leaves the viewer wondering   what would i have done in this position   and i have to believe that  s exactly what the filmmaker intended . to that end  and to the end of entertaining the audience  the film succeeds . i also like the way that the violence is never on stage  but just off camera . we know what has just happened it  s just not served up in front of us  then rubbed in our faces  as it would be today with contemporary blood and gore dressing . besides  the violence is not the point . the point is the protagonist  s moral dilemma  which is cleverly  albeit disturbingly  resolved .  
i bought this from blockbuster for   p . the guy behind the counter said the reason it was so cheap was because the disc was scratched to sht  but failed to mention that the reason it was so cheap was because the film was a pss poor effort that sucked harder than paris hilton in a hotel room home video . talking of home videos  since when has it been fair game to release them as films  i mean to say  films used to employ actors and technicians and scriptwriters and so on  not any more  just gather your friends and lame  o ideas together for the weekend  lavish the production with an   .   budget  and get someone to fall down the stairs with a casio keyboard  the soundtrack   then slap it on the shelves  for some poor sap  me   to take home in lonely desperation . but here  s the clincher  i fast forwarded through most of this  and tossed it to one side  ready for the hammers . . . until the next night  while watching a darren day horror  hellbreed     .   to take home and keep from a different blockbuster  . now this film made  grim weekend  look like the exorcist  so i slapped grim weekend back on  to catch up on some of the moments listed on the wonderful imdb boards  that viewers claimed were hilarious . sure enough  once i had got over the misery  the pain  and the horror  of realising grim weekend was utter chod on toast  i could enjoy  savour  and downright get down to the funny stuff . and there  s a lot of it . check the boards . then check the flick . hell  it might even be worth it . awwwww crap   
red skelton was still another major star who made the transition from movies to television with ease .  br    br   his shows certainly brought a laughter to the american households of years back .  br    br   he would begin the show with an opening monologue . afterwards  we would have a variety of characters . remember gertrude and heathcliff in the monologue  how can we ever forget san fernando red  i remember one episode where as a king red introduced his queen by referring to her as your fatness .  br    br   go know that red would use his comedic talents to really hide from his tragic life . he lost a son to leukemia at age   or so . his wife  georgia  died by suicide .  
this is quite possibly the worst movie i have ever seen . again i made the mistake of buying the movie because the synapse on the back sounded cool and the front cover looked pretty cool too  after buying this and the movie  malevolence  which i reviewed on here as well  i have learned my lesson  . i love horror movies that take place in the woods or in the desert or on a farm . this supposedly takes place in the woods of texas but was probably filmed in the director  s backyard . the production was probably the worst i ever seen . the actors were absolutely the worst . the story didn  t have anything to do with what the back cover said . i even tried to sell it to f . y . e and some other  mom and pop  store that buys used dvds and neither would take it . thats how awful this poor miserable excuse for a movie was . i have seen some bad movies before  troll  for example  but this definitely takes the cake . i didn  t think there was a worse movie than  troll   . boy was i wrong  do not buy this movie unless someone hands it to you for free but even than your stuck with it unless you throw it out which is what i am about to do      
 . . . . . . . playing kaddiddlehopper  col san fernando  etc . the man was pretty wide ranging and a scream . i love watching him interact w  amanda blake  or don knotts or whomever   he clearly was having a ball and i think he made it easier on his guests as well   so long as they knew ahead of time it wasn  t a disciplined    take kind of production . relax and be loose was clearly the name of the game there .  br    br   he reminds me of guys like milton berle  benny hill  maybe jerry lewis some too . great timing  ancient gags that kept audiences in stitches for decades  sheer enjoyment about what he was doing . his sad little clown he played was good too   but in a touching manner .  br    br   personally i think he  s great  having just bought a two dvd set of his shows from    or so  it brings his stuff back in a fond way for me . i can remember seeing him on tv at the end of his run when he was winding up the series in     or so .  br    br   check this out if you are a fan or curious . he was a riot .  
i don  t know what you guys are talking about  the first time i watched this movie with two of my friends we couldn  t stop crying . this is one of the funniest shits i  ve ever seen . that comment about the porn is so right though hahahaha .  br    br   yeah this movie actually is the worse  but it did bring tears to my eyes due to the phony characters  poor dialog and acting . not to mention the expensive cameras they used to film it   it looks like one of those movies out of my drivers ed . class . the props look like they came out of a high school drama show . the music sounds like it is from an original nintendo system game . the only thing that even came close the scaring me about this movie was that it had a killer clown which  who isn  t creeped out by fat  lurking clowns  hahaha if someone were to ever watch this though  they need to look out for the actors verbal errors like lisping on words and some of their facial expressions . hahahaha i died .  br    br   susan  
i enjoy all the versions of this story but this one is my all time favorite . george c . scott gives a depth to the scrooge character that the others do not give . the movie shows more about why he becomes so bitter . the changes in scrooge appear gradually as he encounters the different ghosts and the incidents that they show him .  br    br   this movie has the best tiny tim by far . he is the right age rather than being played by someone who is almost a teenager as in the other films . anthony walters still has all or most of his baby teeth .  br    br   david warner is wonderful as bob cratchit . he is such a versatile actor . he portrays a man who clearly loves his family . he plays the role with dignity neither as a wimpy man cowering under scrooges  thumb but as a man who gracefully puts up with it because he has a family to provide for . susannah york and the other actors do a fine job of bringing the characters to life . edward woodward is the best ghost of christmas present i  ve ever seen . most often he is played as a jolly santa type character . in this he shows anger at scrooges attitudes and really makes scrooge reconsider .  br    br   the costumes and the sets really bring the london of dickens time to life . a wonderful movie .  
i cannot believe this woodenly written and directed piece of cliche film got made . there are about four good looking shots  the director should think about switching to still photography  and that  s it . a strong cast is utterly wasted  scenes repeatedly end at the least interesting moments and the script says nothing new . please spare yourself this movie .  
an mgm miniature short subject .  br    br   the editor of the cole county clarion must decide what is the real important news for his readers an impending frost which may spell disaster to their crops  or the sensational shooting  down of a notorious gangster on their small town main street .  br    br   this is an enjoyable little one  reeler  featuring a good performance by comic charles chic  sale . today  s viewers will perhaps be more interested in the appearance of uncredited james stewart  as sale  s nephew  assistant . slow talking  somewhat goofy  stewart shows many of the attributes which would make him a huge star in a very short time .  br    br   often overlooked or neglected today  the one and two  reel short subjects were useful to the studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents  both in front  behind the camera . the dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film  something like writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel . economical to produce in terms of both budget  schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material  short subjects were the perfect complement to the studios  feature films .  
if this film was a comedy  i would have given it a   . oh my  where do i begin  put it this way   i  ve seen lots of terrible horror films  but this one makes troll  look like freakin  saving private ryan . it  s as if a group of porn filmmakers decided to make a horror film  changed their mind in midproduction and decided to do a comedy  then went back to horror  and then decided that they should have just stuck with porno  softcore at that  . everything about this film is simply terrible the musical score  someone shoot the guy who invented the yamaha keyboard   the script  the directing  the cinematography  the acting . there simply are no words to describe this . oh wait  yes there are holy   .  
as romantic comedies go  this was a cute and winning one . i thought that the writing could have been stronger to build up the final connection a bit better  but that is not a huge tripping point . but  amanda detmer and scott wolf give nice performances and are as charming as ever . these are two of my favorite actors  and i was just glad to see them cast as romantic leads . i hope to see them cast in more projects soon .  br    br   overall  this movie won  t change your life  but is is sweet  warm and winning . not a bad thing to be at all .  
i rented this movie roughly    years ago and was instantly disappointed .  br    br   i wanted to see a b  movie slasher flick  but ended up with a fecal matter for my eyes . the acting was similar to watching grass dry . i  ve seen better acting in a softcore film . . .  br    br   the idea that a crazy killer comes out of nowhere baffled me . how was this a horror movie   br    br   this movie  s production value  was laughable at best . there were no scares . it seemed like a high school student got a new video camera for christmas . the plot was all over the place  if existent . if you are bored looking for a bad horror movie to rent  skip this one . there are much better b  movies out there .  
im glad that someone has made a movie about how hard it is to risk your heart for a second time . or third . this movie is exactly what it promises to be  lovely  amusing and it gives you this good feeling around your heart when it ends . the plot might be not very inventive  but there are millions of ways to tell the story and they have not been all used yet . the cast is perfectly selected although scott wolf does not look like a father of an eight year old not even when he is wearing a suit . so  the sparks are on all the right places  supporting cast is lovably supporting and although you could probably predict the whole movie you would not want to switch the channel . it is just the right sort of entertainment for a sunday evening .  
please do not let the cover of this movie fool you . and if you  re looking for a cheap horror movie to laugh at this isn  t it . usually i will go for stupid if it  s funny  but this stupid was so stupid it almost  or possibly did  make me stupid .  br    br   the film quality is better than a handheld  but not by much  and it  s quite possible the music was created by pressing the samba  key on a casio keyboard . these problems should never really be a deterent from seeing a horror movie but add this amazing  weep  cast  and you have a real humdinger .  br    br   the story is about a guy who invites his friends up to his family cabin in texas for the weekend . he also extends the invitation to his lady crush in his office . on the way there they meet a female in distress  who is then invited to come along by the other girls .  br    br   the stay at the cabin includes sex and nudity and soon everyone  s panties are in a bunch when one girl disappears and odd items turn up in the house .  br    br   from there you  the audience  and the morons  um  actors  try to figure out what  s going on and they soon begin to distrust one another . overall i think i have made it sound better than it is . the main struggle with this movie is that the characters are very underdeveloped  the plot contrived  the acting bad and the motivations clueless . once more this could be forgiveable it it was the least bit funny but alas  it is not .  br    br   the twist ending is only a twist in that no one would guess it simply because if you really thought back through the movie it would not have made sense anyway . please don  t let this review stop you from seeing the shear wonderment of this movie .  woah  my nose just grew eight inches .   
for me this movie was powerful . i don  t want to be a spoiler  but i had a friend years ago we were like brothers . this movie brought back some vivid memories .  br    br   for some reason  i couldn  t place my vote for this movie which would have been a   . i kept getting a message like  no votes have been placed . . . .  and yet i saw in the stats that there were . will try again tomorrow  monday  .  br    br   minor flaws i overlooked . it was the relationships between the characters that got me . beautifully acted and real situations . i  ve been in a couple of them .  br    br   a small gem of a movie . just like  spring forward  is another overlooked gem . i  m very glad movies like these are still being made about relationships between people  well written  sensitively unfolded with first  class acting and direction . after all  isn  t that what it  s all about   
what did i just watch  i spent   minutes of my precious life watching one of the dumbest movies i  ve ever seen . the concept of a serial killer clown is actually quite scary seeing is there are a lot of people who are afraid of clowns . . . . but having it be a    pound nursery rhyme reciting killer clown makes a mockery of the genre . i still am wondering how the character mark wasn  t able to run away from the clown . . . he  s    pounds  he  s gotta get tired eventually . the whole ending made me get up and literally say aloud  what did i just watch   apparently brandon is denise  s cousin . . . . and they had got it on near the middle of the movie meaning he had sex with his cousin . . . . . yeah that  s something people want so see shudders .  br    br   another thing i found hilariously stupid was the opening scene where the clown stabs a woman and she says  what did you do   well bytch  what do you think he just did  the last thing that was stupidly funny was one second the main character was slapping the hitch  hiker and calling her a cnt and then  minutes later saying violence isn  t helping anything . . . . did the writer of the script give the line to the wrong guy  none of this movie makes sense anyway .  br    br   the movie was more or less a dumb low budget porno which i got sucked into buying  all  .    and got no entertainment out of it besides the sex scenes . i  m surprised the fat clown didn  t join the orgy  would have fit right in . i hoped the movie would have some entertainment value like other b movies might have  but i was wrong . this is a moronic piece of garbage that  s not even worth watching .  br    br    out of    
i  ve read a few of the reviews and i  m kinda sad that a lot of the story seems glossed over . its easy to do because its not a book  its a movie and there  s only so much that can be done in a movie  us or canadian  or anywhere .  br    br   colm feore does  at least for a recovering  fg  hag  like myself  a great job of not only playing the  friendly neighborhood  gay man  but playing sick . i mean  the man really can  t get much more pale  though  you might never know it from the strip down near the . . . um  end .  br    br   if you need decrepit  there are a few sking movies you might like .  br    br   being the daughter of a recovering alchoholic  the druggie brother david cubitt was the trick for me . i  m going to give him cred  he grew up quick  and believe me that  s good . and  as an aspiring writer  moimeme  i can dig a lot of his insights and overviews . but i  m more prosy than poetic .  br    br   i may be easy to please  but i enjoyed it . a nice story pretty well put together  by canadians  quelle surprise . just toed the line of the  movie of the week   missing it by not being as drawn out  greatly appreciated . and it was rather cleverly portrayed .  
ok i own this dvd i got it new at amazon . . . i mean i think its badass and a pretty cool flick and melissa bale the slutty  bitchy girl they pick up is hot as hell . . .  the acting sucks and the whole polt just sucks the clown is some huge guy wearing a mask and its disgusting but its ok i wouldn  t recommend it if like u wanted to rent a good entertaining flick after a hard days work but if u have nothing else to do and ur obbsessed with this stupid movies like i am  watch it sometime  and i do not know how artisan dvd has s . i . c . k . in its dvd collection  s . i . c . k . is not good enough to be owned by a half way decent movie company ok well thats all  
i have found this movie available for streaming on netflix and thought i  d give it a try .  br    br   the plot revolves around ryan and theo taylor  colm feore and david cubitt  who have finally seen each other after their father has passed away . ryan and theo at first argue about who did what . but later  theo finds out that his brother ryan is not only gay but he is dying of a terminal illness . so  ryan and theo spend their time patching up their differences .  br    br   this is such an incredible film . i have only seen colm feore in season  of   but he was phenomenal in this . david cubitt  an actor i have never heard of before did a phenomenal job as well .  br    br   i would recommend this to those who are interested in the gay and lesbian genre . this is one movie you don  t want to miss .  br    br   i give this film   stars out of   . excellent film   
s . i . c . k . really stands for so incredibly crappy i killed myself . there was absolutely no acting to speak of . the best part of the whole production was the art work on the cover of the box . the budgeting of this movie was sufficient . the filming was sub sesame street . the production looks like that of the underground filming for mob hits . the props used in this movie were stolen from a clothing store . the ending was so predictable you should fast forward to the last  minutes and laugh . if there is a book out there for this movie i  m sure it  s better . i would avoid this at all costs . i did enjoy the intimate scenes they made the whole movie worth it . just kidding .  
i have to be honest and say i bought this movie  not because of the content  but because david cubitt is in it i know . . . shallow  or what   but  come on  mr cubitt is a fantastic actor to put it mildly .  br    br   i really didn  t know what to expect from watching this movie  i  d read the other write up  and those on other sites but i have to say i was drawn into the world of the brothers almost from the get go . david cubitt as theo  and colm feore as ryan are so believable as the two estranged brothers  the film moves through their relationship as they start to try getting to know each other again after their fathers death . the scene where theo finds out ryan is gay was played brilliantly  he literally walks in on a scene and tries to leave without ryan noticing  which of course he has .  br    br   the film has been very well researched and is therefore incredibly sad  moving  uplifting and a celebration of life in parts . i came away from this feeling sad at what ryan went through but also with the knowledge that he was given hope and unconditional love by the ex drug addict brother theo . i agree with the other reviewer who finds the scene where theo says he will be a father moving  and i  d go a little further to say i actually vocalised my thoughts at ryan when he cruelly says to theo  what makes you think you can be a father  and theo says simply  you .  theo walks away then  but that small exchange of dialogue speaks volumes to the almost self pitying aspect of ryan who is brought up sharply by the simple retort .  br    br   a brilliantly conceived movie on all counts  the acting  directing  writing etc are all so well done . i can  t really find anything else to say about this movie  except to say that it is very hard dealing with the death of a loved one but this is done superbly  to the infinite degree . the respect for the subject matter and the outpouring of love  without being contrite and mawkish  speaks volumes in this rather selfish world we live in today . well done to all concerned .  br    br   not many movies bring me to tears and give me pause to think about life in general  and also to be glad for all the things i have and not be sad for the things i don  t  but this movie did  it was unbelievably uplifting considering the subject matter .  
me and a group of friends rent horrible videos to laugh at them  trust me it has lead to some horribly spent money but also some great laughs . s . i . c . k . is one of the better horror  but  funny movie we  ve rented . the plot is over  done  the whole take your friends into the woods and never return thing is very old . the goriest part of the movie looks like your visiting the local butcher shop except a little dirtier and with blood on the play dough looking meat . and if anyone has ever been scared of this movie at any time they should stick to cartoon network for the rest of their life  it  s pathetic . the good aspects of the movie are that the two girls in it are reasonably hot  one better then the other and you see them both naked during the movie . the other good aspect is that this movie is so bad at times that you will laugh till you cry . i don  t like watching horrible acting or renting these horrible videos  i don  t find that fun but seeing the amount of effort these people put into it and still come out so bad is hilarious and worth renting . unless you are too mature to laugh at someone  s downfalls i would recommend it .  br    br   if your renting  buying it to laugh at it i  d give it an  .  .  
i am writing this after just seeing the perfect son at the     gay and lesbian mardi gras film festival in sydney  australia .  br    br   when their father dies  two estranged brothers meet at the funeral and after discovering that one of the brothers is dying from aids  they enter on a heart warming journey of reconciliation . the two leads do a magnificent job of creating the gradual warmth and respect that builds up between them as the movie progresses . i do have one qualm about the movie though  whilst the brother who is dying acts sick  he doesn  t look it . a person of  t  cells would look quite ill  not even a make up job to make the actor look ill was employed . a small gripe  but one that makes it a bit less realistic . despite that one small gripe  the perfect son is a wonderful movie and should you have the chance to see it  do . i  m hoping for a dvd release in the near future   
this was  so far  the worst movie i have seen in my entire life  and i have seen some really bad movies . i saw this movie at my local video store  and the cover looked like it could be a decent horror movie . little did i know that the cover would be the best part of the movie . where to start  the filming of the movie was scattered and boring . at one point  there is a one  minute scene of no one talking  just a car driving to a ranch on a normal sunny day . nothing happened  they just drove in silence . the whole movie is boring  with annoying  unbelievable dialogue and basically no plot to speak of . if you rent this movie  watch it with some friends and it might make a good comedy . otherwise  when you see this movie  run .  
the perfect son is a story about two    something brothers  one who is seemingly  perfect  and the other who is basically a screw  up  frequently landing himself in drug rehab centers . after the death of their father  the two are brought together after a long absence and the usual sibling rivalry resurfaces . it isn  t until the  perfect  brother makes the startling revelation that he has aids that the irresponsible younger brother finally makes a move to get his life in order  and take some responsibility .  br    br   the movie does a nice job of chronicling the younger brother  s  comeback   though it may seem a bit far  fetched at times  beating drug addiction is never so easy  . what makes the film more tender is the treatment of aids  a topic that has become somewhat passe in cinema over the last     years . and also the development of an almost sweet relationship between the two formerly feuding brothers is very believable and well  done . the two main actors were both very competent  if not terribly charismatic .  br    br   a solid first feature effort from director and writer leonard farlinger whose own brother died of aids . the ending is nicely done as well .  br    br    
lucky me  i got a sneak peak at this pathetic little shot  in  texas  horror  flick from artisan entertainment a week before it hit video shelves and let me tell you . . . i  ve rarely laughed so hard in my life as i did watching this atrocious megabomb fly off the rails and steal the title of  worst killer clown movie ever made  from the insufferably stupid full moon fiasco killjoy  i  m sure many of us horror fans have suffered through that one   from all indications  it was shot on dv  and it doesn  t really  look  all that bad quality  wise for digital  but boy does it ever fail miserably in every other area where it counts   br    br   the story  slight and cliche as it is  goes as follows . . . an executive  ken hebert  who also scripted and co  produced with the director  takes skeptical co  worker tracy  amanda watson  and horny married couple mark and susan  hank fields and chris buck  along on a weekend getaway to a  yawn  secluded cabin    miles  from the nearest town . on the way there  they pick up a bitchy  slutty hitchhiker  melissa bale  in a bar and end up at their destination where a nightly campfire tale about a murderous clown stalking the very same wooded area comes true when each of the profanity  yackin  pot  smokin friends  disappears one  by  one  with only mutilated doll parts left behind to tell the tale of their fates .  br    br   the killer clown doesn  t even show up in the film until near the end and it looks nothing like the demonic depiction of it on the video box  aside from being morbidly obese  . it basically spends an hour prancing around in the woods  chopping up wood and blabbing nursery rhymes . i cannot say enough bad things about the cast  especially the two guys and the hitchhiker chick  who either deliver their insipid dialogue with a bare minimum of enthusiasm or overact at the most inappropriate times . doesn  t really help that the script is completely and utterly devoid of suspense  originality  intelligence  general coherence or humor . i could go on for days on how inept this film is  how many continuity errors there are and how amateurish the whole production is  but i  ll just nod off by pointing out the whole package is quite a riot in that boy  this  sucks kind of way .  br    br   also noting that the film has been released here in the us as s . i . c . k .  serial insane clown killer  . it  s currently catalogued under its  original title  of grim weekend .  br    br   score  out of    
i have seen the perfect son about three times . i fail to see how this film is a gay film  i am not even gay  but i don  t see it as a gay film . it is a film with a gay character  i can  t see why every film with a gay character should be strictly a film about being gay . i find the film to be sympathetic to the study of death  the death of someone who is your kin . i think theo turns his life around fairly quickly after rehab because he wants to and watching his brother dying in front of him makes him reassess his life . i found the dialog in the scene when theo tells ryan he is going to be a father to be very moving  ryan states that he doesn  t want to know about the things he is never going to see or share with anyone . isn  t that horrific and sad  i highly recommend the film .  
one of the worst movies i ever saw . my only thought was  how can i get my money back from hollywood video  . this is no way worth four dollars  or any dollars . i think it was an attempt to rip off the mexican  or vin diesel  s movies  but it failed miserably to do this .  br    br   the acting was terrible  i felt sorry for the actors that they couldn  t find something better to do with their time . the story was ridiculous . we were calling out the lines ahead of the actors  it was so predictable . the mexican accent of the leading lady was insultingly exaggerated  worse than a cartoon .  br    br   skip it .  
ten out of ten stars  br    br   it  s hard to believe this was a made for television movie . just the phrase   made of tv   makes me shudder . the production values for made for tv movies are almost always remarkably lower than production values for professional movie studios . that being said  this version of the  christmas carol  should have been released in theaters  because it is that good . it  s my personal favorite of all the  christmas carol  movies because every aspect of this production are of the highest quality . yes  there are some minor on screen glitches with two of the ghosts that visit scrooge  but there isn  t a movie in existence that doesn  t have at least a couple of mistakes .  br    br   scott turns in a stellar performance as scrooge  he  s a pleasure to watch . in fact  i can  t think of one performance in this film that shouldn  t be applauded . the costuming  location shooting  and winter backdrop are mesmerizing . the musical score is endearing and heart warming . add to that  solid directing  flawless cinematography  and faithful scripting we have here what will one day be considered a holiday classic . it really hasn  t been around long enough to be a classic  but mark my words  one day soon it will be . this film has turned into a yearly christmas tradition in my home because it embodies the true meaning behind christmas love  selflessness  and giving . in as selfish  greedy world  my family and i can lose ourselves in  the christmas carol   starring george c . scott .  
i watched this movie  and hoped for something to get better the entire time . what is so great about a guy with no emotion  yawn  br    br   you never see alex show emotion for anyone other than his son . yeah  i know that this is why his son is the only one to cause him to lose his temper  if you can call it that   i get it .  br    br   characters are undeveloped  relationships aren  t given enough time to be understood . in one scene sarah says they won  t fall in love  and the next time we see her she  s talking about how his death really shook her up because they were so close  logic synapses abound in this film .  br    br   it  s like someone watched boogie nights and wrote this part to mimic little bill . even the scene where he  loses his temper  is the same as when little bill shoots his wife  down to the facial expression  or lack thereof  . yes  william h . macy is good at portraying a man without emotion  been there  done that  can you say magnolia   br    br   this movie didn  t only lack emotion  it lacked substance  a good script  developed characters  and a plot . and it certainly lacks my recommendation .    br    br   a  
  dangerous offender  is the story of a seemingly anti  social girl  and how she got that way . it  s based on a true story  and though i was irritated by the one  note depiction i . e . ever scowling  of the title character  and the hard  to  believe dedication of her lawyer  i  m forced to accept that life does imitate art  and that there are people out there like that .  br    br   the movie succeeds  for me  because  although there  s little softening of the title character  s demeanour until almost the end  one is gradually moved to sympathy for her  as the movie shows how she got to her present state  which proves to be self  destructive  rather than anti  social .  br    br   truly a moving movie  which will bring a lump to your throat  when you think on it  which will be often .  br    br   despite its many flaws   including that it  s hard to watch  sometimes  because of bodily functions  and suicide attempts  this is another production that i  m proud to call canadian .  
saw this movie recently and had higher hopes . not so much based upon the director  who hadn  t made a cinematographic release before  but more based upon its cast . harvey keitel  scott glenn and craig wasson  lead role in body double  a brian de palma masterpiece  have all starred in great movies . not together though  and this fact hasn  t exactly changed because of this one .  br    br   the film is unbelievable  very predictable and clich . the only thing that might make it slightly appealing is the selection of locations on which it  s been shot . in my humble opinion don  t waste your time on this one .  
this film was on last week and although at that time of the day  around  pm  the quality of the movies is almost never good  at least here on mexican tv   i couldn  t switch the tv off . the story about madelene moore really touches you . she doesn  t come across as a very sympathetic character at first  but seeing the whole film  you just want her so succeed . this film really leaves you thinking . and i think that basically due to the great acting of brooke johnson . i had never heard of her before nor knowingly seen her in another film  but this was great great acting . compliments to brooke . i hope to see her in another film soon .  
are we talking about the same movie  this movie is totally ridiculous  the plot is disgusting and completely without logic . its a typical straight to dvd  tv  movie including all the necessary ingredients for a horrible movie experience over  acting by has been actors  side steps from the plot that are left unexplained  the girl shows her tts  why  god  why     people do not react to things as they would in real life . i  m not even gonna bother you with details  it would take all night . well  ok  just one if two people were murdered in front of you as you were walking down the street  one of the victims practically dies in your arms  his blood spurts from his head  wound all over you  would your first concern be  oh  he left the world and the last thing he saw was my angry face    my thoughts goes to harvey and his lost career .  
this is a great film . touching and strong . the direction is without question breathless . good work to the team . i feel so sorry for marlene  by the grace of god go you or i  
it  s not a terrible movie  really  and glenn and keitel are top  notch actors . further  they do an acceptable job with the very weak script . the scenery is lush and the plot has some interesting twists . further  i umderstand why these actors and the crew made the film  they are professionals and they get paid for it . but i do wonder why studios spend the time and money to make a film and then don  t release it for theater audiences  even if a film is a box  office flop  surely it makes some money . if you are a fan of keitel or glenn  rent the video or catch it on tv  as did i . granted  the movie won  t help solve the immigration quandary with mexico  but the experience is far better than    of the standard tv fare of today .  
having lived in ontario my whole life  in the same town that marlene moore grew up in  i  ve heard stories of her from my parents  grandparents and family members . so when i found out that they would be filming a movie about her  and that the beginning would be shot on my street  and her house quite close to mine i was excited .  br    br   if you read the book rock a bye baby  which is about marlene moore you get quite the different image of her as a person  she was considered awkwardly beautiful by people who really had the chance to know her with the exception of her own family who frequently abused her as a child  with the exception of one of her brothers . also  if you live in my area and are intelligent enough to listen to those around you who knew her from school you  d find out that she was truly wounded before she even set foot in an institution  she was always defensive and what would seem like an unwillingness to learn in a school environment was actually embarrassment over the fact that she was unable to .  br    br   marlene did not deserve the life she was given  with the lack of help she desperately needed to receive . it was the government and the people around her that aided further in her death by not attempting to understand her needs and why she did what she did . i still find myself angered that she was put in jail for self  defense from a man who tried to rape her . as her brother once said   they didn  t know what to do with her so they locked her away and it killed her .  i believe in that with all my heart .  br    br   rest in peace marlene  you deserve it so much .  
terrible    i don  t want to be too negative but this film has an iq of stupid monkey . what a disaster . i just couldn  t believe how bad this movie is . the dialogs are just very strange and off topic  the camera work at times just horrible  the music at times like a soundtrack for lawrence of arabia  i just watched this film to see how much worse it can get . some of the side kick  actors  are total disaster . sorry but all my thumbs and toes and anything that can hang downwards on my body is falling to the ground . harvey keitle is a great actor but who knows maybe he is in financial crunch to take a part in such a fiasco film . . . . . this movie should have been presented to all the students in all the film schools just to teach them a lesson of how not to make a film  
the sensuous nurse       was a italian sexual comedy that starred the one time bond girl ursula andress . man was she hot in this movie . . she was stacked and built like a  brick house . ursula was smoking hot in this movie . i have never seen a nurse  s outfit that filled out before .  br    br   ms . andress stars as a nurse who is hired to take care of a rich elderly man . even one in the house seems to be knocking the boots . one night  the nurse decides to take the grandson  s temperature and give some needed t . l . c . to her ancient client . the old man takes to his nurse and this angers the rest of the family . what kind of job did the family hire her out to do  will the geezer fall for her car giver  how can she deal with the octogenarian crone and the rest of the family  to find out you need to find a copy of the sensuous nurse   italian but badly dubbed into english .  br    br   highly recommended .  
an ok flick  set in mexico  about a hit  man  scott glenn  who hitches a ride with struggling american writer and his mexican girlfriend after a hit . he pays them to take him to the border  but things get out of hand .  br    br   it starts well enough  but quickly struggles and dies .  br    br   spoiler  br    br   the eventual relationship twist is badly set up and difficult to believe . an absence of passion  and essentially no reasoning behind her leaving one man for the other  made it ridiculous  and the ending was predictable and dull .  br    br   end spoiler  br    br   harvey keitel is the us agent on the hit  man  s trail  but he seems a little confused as to how boring and slow the script is . . .  
anna  ursula andress  is brought in as an official r . n . by ex  lover benito varotto  duilio del prete   ostensibly to nurse an aging widower  count leonida bottacin  mario piso   back to health after a heart attack . but benito is actually leading a group of heirs and businessmen  including american entrepreneur mr . kitch  jack palance   with ulterior motives  reflected by what anna hopefully will actually accomplish with the count . he has a history of  well  liking women  and would be actually a bit more  vulnerable  as he is cured . the bad guys get derailed as anna does not go along and grows closer to the count . the ending might be said to be ironic  but it is probably better described as predictable .  br    br   but so much for plot   this film is totally an erotic comedy  from start to finish  and oh how good . there are many nude scenes  including ones of anna and jole  one of the malevolent heiresses  played by luciana paluzzi . both ursula and luciana are noteworthy continental ex  bond women  and thus fulfill the fantasies of male viewers . as she did in thunderball  remember fiona volpe   luciana plays a femme fatale  sort of  although less elegantly .  br    br   perhaps the best scene is anna  s  slow  complete strip and jump in bed with the young adone  the  other patient   who incredibly is resisting   in an attempt to find out what he knows about the plot . but even at this point she is already two  faced  for the better   for she has decided not to go along . however  benito is more than a two  timer with women  having had lengthy flings in the past with both anna and jole  and the rival best erotic scene follows an invective  filled  to put it mildly  argument between him and jole . this is a standing  up encounter in which luciana is down to black panties only . another nice one is ursula swimming fully naked in the estate  s pool . the count is free  as the client  to put his hands wherever he wants to on ursula  and he takes advantage . hey  somehow i  ve gone back to the actresses  names in my descriptions . erotic scenes involving other women include an amusing naked wine cellar chase .  the sensuous nurse  is compact    minutes  but it doesn  t need to be   it is enjoyable without interruption  start to finish . definitely recommended .  br    br    
the reason this is such a bad movie is because it is so very badly written  and this is entirely the fault of the hack novelist robert james waller  also author of bridges of madison county . the writing is bad because the plot is perfectly trite and the dialogue is wooden and implausible . a failing couplea blocked american writer and a pretty mexican woman with a history of which she is ashamedare swept up by a strong  self  directed criminal  and after a few adventures  mostly terrifically violent  alternating with scenes that show the warmer side of the assassin  she leaves the impotent partner for the killer  who  bad as he is  sees her more clearly than anyone has before . nothing can help this movie succeed  not even the seamed face of scott glenn as the killer  not the appealing latinity of giovanna zacaras as luz  and not even the stalwart performance of harvey keitel as the cia specialist assigned to track the killer down . a serious waste of time .  
german private tv is ill  renowned for copying dutch and  naturally  us formats . well  in the case of edel  starck  the xeroxing only went as far as the basics screwball .  br    br   you can  t stand screwball comedy  don  t watch edel  starck . seriously . if you expect yet another lawyers  drama thingy similar to laworder or something  well  go somewhere else .  or watch laworder as it  s quite brilliant at what it does  but i digress .  es is funny  often addresses thought  provoking themes  is funny  romantic  funny  funny  and witty  too .  br    br   frankly  i am quite dismayed the writers didn  t get better deals after the serial  s final . and my cynical nature needs to readjust itself re private german television productions . german residents will understand what i  m talking about .  br    br   in short watch it . i don  t have the foggiest what the english synchronisation is like  but hey  it  s worth learning german just to watch them four seasons . pseudo  happy end included .  
poorly  made  blaxploitation  crime  drama aimed squarely at the black urban market of the early     s . pam grier stars in the title role  that of a nurse who becomes a one  woman vigilante after drug  dealing thugs make coffy  s little sister a junkie . violent nonsense plods along doggedly  with canned energy and excitement only grier  s flaring temper gives the narrative a jolt  she  s not much of an actress here  but she connects with the audience in a primal way  . not much different from what charles bronson was doing at this time  the film was marketed and advertised as crass exploitation yet still managed to find a sizable inner  city audience . today however  it  s merely a footnote in    s film history  and lacks the wide  range appeal of other movies in this genre .     from   
this series it  s  something different  . sometimes european series are less accurate than the usa ones  but this time authors have hit the right target creating a mix that works in a smoothly way . edel  starck is great  it has all great plot  smart  witty  always well delivered lines  an amazing theatrical timing showed by all the stars and beautiful shots of berlin  one of the most interesting city in the world . it  s entertaining to see how things works in the justice field in other countries than the usa and for once  feel  the old europe way of dealing with life . kudos to all the cast and crew for a well done comedy that is going to be a must to see in the years to come . watching the series in german is super .  
far from providing the caffeine kick you  d expect from a film that shares its name with the most energy  boosting of warm beverages  coffy clunks about and never really rises above being just a ropey revenge tale . indeed  if the movie was a cup of coffee  it  d be rather weak and watery  littered with a few undesirable dregs and lacking in a lingering aftertaste . sporadically it hits the spot  but otherwise it isn  t the hot action  drama it hopes to be .  br    br   plot  wise  coffy is a nurse who takes the law into her own hands and delivers hard justice to the drug  pushing  lady  pimpin   mob  suckers that hooked her younger sister into a depraved  sick state . socio  political commentary on the plight of urban black youths in america is prominent in coffy  and it makes for some thought  provoking stuff as coffy crusades against the political corruption and white establishment racism that profits and acts as a parasite off the targeted afro  american minorities . sadly  the timely messages are undermined by the film  s poor quality and lack of focus . coffy  s ideas are important  it  s just that they are not well  aimed .  br    br   one of the plus points of coffy is the presence of blaxploitation icon pam grier . grier goes at her role with gusto and makes for an appealing action heroine as she shotguns down the scum in her often spectacular acts of vigilante violence  how do you deal with a house full of hoods  drive the car right through the front door   . it  s just a shame that the storyline wavers on occasions  wasting time squeezing as much sexual exploitation as possible . the low budget can  t have helped  but neither does the fact that for a blaxploitation flick  coffy lacks groove . just as the issues are undermined by the lack of quality  consequently the entertainment and excitement are also skewered by moments of dullness and misdirection .  br    br   the total result is workmanlike and wooden . we get a hip heroine but not a hip movie . it  s a shame as coffy has its moments and should rightly be regarded as a key film in the blaxploitation craze it just never ascends above being an average  lukewarm number .  
true  the idea for this tv series may have sprung from the immense success which ally mcbeal is enjoying worldwide  even here in germany . however  this said  edel  starck is very different from ally mcbeal in many ways .  br    br   the two main characters work beautifully together . felix edel  felix noble   played by well  known german actor  christoph m . ohrt and sandra starck  sandra strong  noble  strong  get it      played by charming rebecca immanuel  exchange quick romantic repartees and continually spy on each other while engaging in sitcom  like criminal cases in berlin and surroundings . further  they are aided by a magnificent cast of co  stars  most notably their secretary  played by isabel tuengerthal  who is a rare gem with great comic potential . also the shady wheeler  dealer  otto  and the noble childhood pal of felix  frank  work very well  not to forget sandra  s best friend and room  mate  patricia  played by the beautiful barbara demmer .  br    br   all  in  all a joy to watch on monday nites no wonder that the series and its stars have received several prizes . will felix get sandra   br    br   i hope that we will have to wait for many more episodes to find out . . . . . .  
pam grier stars as coffy . she  s a nurse who seeks revenge  on the drug dealers who got her sister hooked on bad heroine . like any   s blaxploitation flick  you can expect to see the racist bad guys get their just desserts .  br    br   there were scores of these films made during the   s  and they were really demeaning to both black and white audiences alike . this is mainly due to the vicious racial hostility in these films  and the degrading  stereotypical characters . especially the female characters .  br    br   other common threads between coffy  and other films of its type  include brutal violence  corrupt cops  car chases  a generous abundance of nudity  and sex  crazed gorgeous women . not to mention urban ghettos populated by drug  dealers  pimps  mobsters  and other criminal scum .  br    br   pam grier  was the undisputed queen of   s blaxploitation heroines . she was magnificent  being both tough  as  nails  and drop  dead gorgeous . like in her other films  pam outshines the other characters  in coffy . in fact  pam is so charismatic on screen  that these sorts of films are unwatchable  without her as the main character .  br    br   if you like pam grier  you  re better off seeing her other films  like foxy brown  or perhaps friday foster . these films have much less empty sleaze  than coffy does . pam  s character in coffy  degrades herself way too much to get the bad guys . pam  s characters in her other blaxploitation films  don  t stoop as low to get revenge  as coffy did .  br    br   i  d say  only watch coffy  if you  re unable to see any of pam grier  s other films . otherwise  coffy is a waste of time . only pam  s talent as an actress  makes viewing coffy bearable .  
for those of you that don  t that reference  clubberin was  fists hitting one body . . .  br    br   anyways  onto the review .  br    br   i miss wcw saturday night . some of my favorite wrestling moments took place on this stage . i remember watching stunning steve austin  rick rude  brian pillman  cactus jack  dustin rhodes  johnny b . badd  ddp in his jobber days  lord steven regal  harlem heat  ricky steamboat  sting . . . i  d be here a while listing everyone . point is wcw had an awesome roster in the pre hogan days and they were producing entertaining television . dusty rhodes on commentary in it  s later years gave me a whole new reason to watch when i started smoking pot as a teenager . . . i really wish vince would put him on the mic for a show or two  maybe at the next great american bash  they clubberin  here comes da plunda  he was great .  br    br    dirrty  
i thought they should have called this movie  whites  instead of  heights  . godawful . . . the kind of film that makes people hate new yorkers . people who are so self obsessed and think their lives are so important . . . give me a break . such a lily white cast that glenn close was the most ethnic character in it  this film was crying out for someone real to come in and steal it . . . and so they introduce  get this  a character even whiter than the rest of the cast  i thought he was an albino at first  who  s supposed to be welsh  i  m still trying to decipher that accent  intellectually dishonest . . . this movie is the kind of film that  s able to fool so many people into thinking it  s worthwhile because it has the trappings of something more ambitious . better to fill the theaters with mi     than with this pretentious crap . . . must have been a better play because you can  t fall off the floor .  
i saw this movie in sixth grade around christmas time  and i was really excited about seeing it  and when i heard that george c . scott was in it  i was really excited  because i really love george c . scott  when me and my class were watching this movie  i was really into it  and when it was over  i was really impressed  i thought that it was totally fabulous  this is the best version of charles dickens  classic novel that i have seen so far  george c . scott  s performance as scrooge is something else  i thought that he was the perfect choice  he was scrooge  he is the definitive scrooge  i  ve seen two different versions of a christmas carol  the other is the one with patrick stewart  but this is the better one   br    br   what it really great about this is the acting  i thought that the actors were fabulous  everyone was  the spirits  tiny tim  bob cratchit  everyone  they could not have found anyone better than the ones they had doing the parts  but the best part of the movie was george c . scott  when i saw him  i thought that he was the absolute best  he is the definitive ebenezer scrooge  i do not think that they could have found someone better  i don  t think that they could have found anyone better to replace anyone in the movie   br    br   this movie is probably the definitive movie adaption of the classic by charles dickens  and i really think that you will agree  you will think that this movie is fabulous  i am probably going to have to buy this movie on dvd  because i thought that it was totally fabulous  i totally recommend that you see this masterpiece  this is the best version of a christmas carol  period .  br    br         
undeveloped  unbelievable story line   by the time i sort of figured out where it was going  i no longer cared  bad casting .  come on . . . william macy as a hit man     bad directing   have you ever seen tracey ullman perform so badly    was i supposed to care what happened to the unethical incompetent  uncaring john ritter character   bad script . . .  really  i  m not looking for a formula script but this was really awful  the only really good thing in it was the kid . ten lines  it  s not ok if your comment is less than ten lines  come on   whose rules are those  why can  t i say what i have to say in less than   lines    isn  t that kind of arbitrary  why isn  t it ok to have less than   lines of comment   
possible spoiler adam sandler is usually typecast in comedy  but in  reign   gives a deeply moving performance . while there are people who showed courage facing post september         sandler plays fineman  a widower who is lonely and  lost in his own world  . johnson  cheadle   a practicing dentist  encounters his old college buddy  sandler  and wants to catch up on  old times  . we see  as in rain man  dustin hoffman   fineman also gets emotional and withdrawn in stressful situations . oldies music  appears to be a comfort and  psychological  crutch for him to lean on .  br    br   johnson looks for  in fineman  that certain pleasure and ease missing in his family . he also feels unhappy and unsatisfied in his job . in the same instance  he also wants to make sure his friend does not fall through the social  cracks  . i came away from this movie  with a different outlook and more sympathetic compassion for grieving families .  
what a wasted cast .  br    br   this is one of the most disappointing films i  ve seen .  br    br   usually roger ebert does not let me down  but i feel cheated after seeing this movie .  br    br   the only thrill is seeing elizabeth banks in her bra . that is a sorry statement about this movie . it held so much promise  but it was like dry humping a transvestite .  br    br   this is self absorbed tripe .  br    br   i cannot express deeply enough my bitterness at having sat through this movie  and hope i can forewarn you of the same disappointment .  
sandler is amazing again . . . i have already become a sandler fan . this movie is the saddest sandler story . its expression is fantastic . i cried more watching click but there are some similar points . to consider the value of the family before losing it and to be able to say  i love you  are a few of the most impressive truths in life . . . it is tough  it is real . . . and actually there is a real owner of this success  binder . i don  t think another director could give these emotions in such a way .  br    br   cheadle and burrows are also amazing . . . cheadle is one of my favorites since crash . don  t expect laughing or much positive atmosphere . . . if you are ready to face the realities of life  don  t miss this movie .  
this hal roach comedy short  a tough winter  is the ninety  ninth in the  our gang  little rascals  series and the eleventh talkie . bascally a showcase for black comic stepin fetchit who gets special billing here  we see him going to his shack where the gang hangs out . farina retrieves a love letter from the mail for him and is told by stepin to read it since he can  t read it during the day as he goes to night school . it happens to be from his sweetheart in tennesse so now farina has to have his ears stuffed with cotton since it  s too hot for him to hear  in another room  weezer relays instructions to mary ann of making taffy from the radio but because he keeps running back and forth to the kitchen  he misses the lady announcer  s segue to rice pudding and spanish tamale confusing mary ann with additions of tabasco and lux  after the concoction is completed  jackie and the rest of the gang help themselves with the awful tasting but very sticky substance as everyone gets stuck on the walls as a result . as they all try to clean the mess  stepin works in the basement on various pipes and electrical outlets that mixes variable appliances  functions such a telephone that vacuums  a vacuum that rings  and a refrigerator that plays music  the end . what i  ve just described portends the meandering nature of this  our gang  short that served as the pilot for a potential stepin fetchit movie short series . it  s just as well that it never took place as fetchit  s characterization of the lazy negro was amusing only in small doses and would be considered highly offensive today . many of the scenes i  ve just described are good for some laughs though the final sequence was so confusing that the results were just too blah for me . so in summary  a tough winter is a curio worth seeing at least once . by the way  stepin  s real name was lincoln theodore perry .  
a powerfully wonderful movie . you are held in a death  grip once you let yourself get involved with the story . a successful dentist  alan johnson  don cheadle   is torn in a life crisis of balancing his career with his family . he notices his former college roommate charlie fineman  adam sandler  and wants to touch base . he finds that charlie  who lost his wife and family in the     attack on america  is no longer in touch with reality . . . choosing to involve his mind with his favorite music from the past and video games . the former roommates rekindle their friendship and strengthen their former bond . johnson has his friend angela oakhurts  liv tyler   a psychiatrist  to try and bring charlie out of his grief . . . but it is alan that accomplishes in getting his friend to emerge from his deep darkness . jada pinkett smith plays johnson  s wife . writer and director mike binder plays the role of charlie  s attorney  guardian . also in the cast saffron burrows  donald sutherland  adell modell and robert klein . outstanding soundtrack featuring the likes of bruce springsteen  graham nash  pear jam and the pretenders .  br    br   note i have never been a sandler fan but i found him outstanding in this role . in some of the scenes  i thought out loud . . . why has he never been approached to play singer  songwriter bob dylan in a biopic .  
rounding out the        all  talkie  our gang  release schedule   a tough winter  features two storylines . first  wheezer and mary ann  home alone on a wintry day  decide to make some taffy . little wheezer relays the directions to mary ann from a radio cooking show . the problem wheezer relays information from different shows and mary ann ends up putting soap in the mix  funny moments occur when the rest of the gang shows up to pull the taffy  and end up getting it all over the house   br    br   the second storyline deals with stepin fetchit  a neighbor  handyman of the gang  and his interactions with the gang .  br    br    a tough winter   to my knowledge  has never been shown on television  although it is available on home video . the reason for this is the stepin fetchit characterization which shows a shifty  sly  and slow  moving character .  our gang  producer hal roach called fetchit a  skilled comic  and used this  our gang  entry as a pilot for a fetchit comedy series that never saw the light of day . understandably  fetchit  s characterization is offensive to many people today  which explains why the film has been shelved .  br    br   although there are some funny moments both with fetchit and the taffy   a tough winter  is a plodding and meandering effort . if one positive came out of this film  it was that the hal roach studios grew confident and experienced in making talkies . the sound in the film is good  and some of the sound effects used are very funny . for this reason  this film in part paved the way for the excellent         our gang  films .  br    br    out of   .  
i  m not a fan of adam sandler . in fact  i don  t think i  ve ever liked him in anything i  ve seen him in . the opening scene of this movie confirmed my worst fears . there was adam sandler  playing a somewhat ridiculous looking character riding around new york city on a motor scooter  looking pitiful and lost . typical sandler  type loser character again  i thought . i almost gave up then and there . but then  as i stuck with this  i actually discovered something i never knew before adam sandler can act  he is truly outstanding in this movie as charlie  a lost and lonely figure  whose entire family  including the dog  was killed in one of the hijacked planes on     and who has apparently lost all touch with reality as a result . don cheadle plays his former college roommate who unexpectedly reconnects with charlie and takes it on as his mission to help him get better . of course  cheadle  s alan johnson has his own problems and sources of unhappiness  and somehow these two men manage to help each other through their difficulties . the two of them made a completely believable team  and sandler in particular made charlie real  working through his emotions and feelings . this is not a sandler comedy . if your looking for that go to some of his other  sillier  stuff . this is a pretty heavy movie  sometimes sad  sometimes hopeful and always engrossing . there are some funny parts in it . i loved the scene in which charlie convinces alan to confront his partners by reminding him of how tough he was in college  and then the conversation the two of them have afterward .  br    br   i personally didn  t think that saffron burrows added much to the movie as donna  an obviously needy patient of johnson  s . the only reason for the character seemed  based on one flashback  to be that she looked eerily like charlie  s late wife  but that was never really developed  and i just didn  t care that much for the character . do look for the part of the judge  however  played by donald sutherland  who i thought nailed the part bang  on . as far as i  m concerned  though  this is sandler  s movie  and kudos to him for a great performance . definitely his best in my opinion .      
how do i begin to review a film that will soon be recognized as the worst film of all time  by the worst director of all time   a film that could develop a cult following because it  s so bad it  s good    br    br   an analytical approach criticizing the film seems both pointless and part of band  wagon syndrome   let  s bash freely without worry of backlash because every other human on earth is doing it  and the people who like the film like it for those flaws we  d cite .  br    br   the film  s universal poor quality goes without saying    sixteen years of alcohol  is not without competition for title of worst film so it has to sink pretty low to acquire the title and keep a hold of it  but i believe this film could go the distance . imdb doesn  t allow enough words to cite all the films failures  and it be much easier to site the elements  sixteen years of alcohol  does right . unfortunately  those moments of glory are so far buried in the shadows of this film  s poorness that that  s a task not worth pursuing .  br    br   my impressions  i thought i knew what i was getting into  i had been warned to drink several cups of coffee before sitting down to watch this one  wish that suggestion had been cups of vodka  . despite my low expectations   sixteen years of alcohol  failed to entertain me even on a make fun of the bad movie  level . not just bad  but obnoxiously bad as though jobson intentionally tried to make this film a poetical yawn but went into overkill and shoved the poetry down our throats making it not profound but funny . . . and supposedly jobson sincerely tried to make a good movie  even after viewing the  sixteen years of alcohol  promotional literature  i have trouble believing jobson  s sincerity . pointless and obnoxious till the end with a several grin  chuckle moments  all i  m sure none intentional  spiced the film  and those few elements prevented me from turning the dvd off . so bad it  s good  no . it had just enough  i can  t believe this is a serious movie moments  to keep me from turning it off  and nothing more .  br    br   definitely a film to watch with a group of bad  movie connoisseurs . get your own running commentary going . that would  ve significantly improved the experience for me . so bad it  s mike myers commentating in his cod scottish accent on it as it runs  to turn this whole piece of sludge into a comic farce  ok dare ma man  pass me annuder gliss of dat wiskey  .  
i have to admit  this movie moved me to the extent that i burst in tears . however  i always think about things twice  and instead of writing a eulogy that would define the film as flawless and impeccable  i prefer taking the risk of a closer look .  br    br   first what  s first the movie has an undeniable impact on the viewer simply because it starts out and continues as a slow  paced movie that doesn  t try to blow you away with the actual scenes from     . thumbs up for this stroke of genius  because  unlike stone  s world trade center this film fortunately doesn  t focus on the attack itself but on the fallout which  similar to the fallout of a nuclear explosion  is hardly visible but nonetheless dangerous and devastating . the psychological impact  the sheer devastation that     caused and the havoc it wreaked on the american people is almost palpable in this movie . i think binder managed an astute observation of the american post     society and sandler in my opinion sky rocketed from an average comedy actor to a real talent who delivers a performance worthy of an oscar .  br    br   however in the film blood diamond  the di caprio character says and i quote  ah  these americans . always want to take about their feelings  . now  i don  t want to belittle their sufferngs  but i sure would like to make a comparison . ever since     the entire world is confronted with mementos  memorials and commemorations of     . the hollywood industry and writers such as safran foer more than allude to     in their works . now  this huge amount of cultural products  dealing with      turn the death of     people into the biggest tragedy of this young century . the number of books written on the subject and the number of films directed on this subject  and i say this with all due respect  blow the importance of this atrocious crime somewhat out of proportion .  br    br   fact is people die every day due to unjust actions and horrible crimes committed by bad or simply lost people . we have a war in iraq  in afghanistan  in birma and lots of other countries . on a daily basis  we forget about the poverty the african people suffer from and we tend do empathize with them to a lesser degree than with the american victims of     simply because they are black and because their lives don  t have much in common with our western lives . africa neither has the money nor the potential to commemorate their national tragedies in a way america can . so  what i am saying is this the reason why we feel more for the     victims of     and their families is because we are constantly reminded of     . not a day goes by without a newspaper article  a film or a book that discusses     .  br    br   in conclusion i commiserated with charlie fineman  but i wasn  t sure whether i had the right to feel for him more than for a hutu who lost his entire family in the rwandan civil war .  br    br   you catch my thrift   
as others have pointed out this movie is a load of pretentious drivel for the mindless or masochists .  br    br   we all know after seeing trainspotting and acid house that scotland is one of the most depressing places in the first world . but unlike trainspotting and acid house without a good dose of humour or gritty realism movies like this do not work . and even more importantly without a decent script a movie will not work and there is nothing new  inspiring or thought provoking about the script for this movie .  br    br   the fact that this movie won a couple of bafta  s shows how bad the british film industry is at the moment . i thought the aussie movie industry was pretty bad at the moment but unfortunately the british industry is even worse .  br    br   this movie is so bad i wouldn  t even bother renting it from the weeklies section .  br    br   do yourself a favour and give this movie a wide berth .  
alan johnson  don cheadle  is a successful dentist  who shares his practice with other business partners . alan also has an loving wife  jada pinkett smith  and he has two daughter  camille lache smith  imani hakim  . he also let his parents stay in his huge apartment in new york city . but somehow  he feels that his life is somewhat empty . one ordinary day in the city  he sees his old college roommate charlie fireman  adam sandler  . which alan hasn  t seen charlie in years . when alan tries to befriends with charlie again . charlie is a lonely depressed man  who hides his true feelings from people who cares for him . since charlie unexpectedly loses his family in a plane crash  they were on one of the planes of september        . when alan nearly feels comfortable with charlie . when alan mentions things of his past  charlie turns violent towards alan or anyone who mentions his deceased family . now alan tries to help charlie and tries to make his life a little easier for himself . but alan finds out making charlie talking about his true feelings is more difficult than expected .  br    br   written and directed by mike bender  blankman  indian summer  the upside of anger  made an wonderfully touching human drama that moments of sadness  truth and comedy as well . sandler offers an impressive dramatic performance  which sandler offers more in his dramatic role than he did on paul thomas anderson  s punch  drunk love . cheadle is excellent as usual . pinkett smith is fine as alan  s supportive wife  liv tyler is also good as the young psychiatrist and saffron burrows is quite good as the beautiful odd lonely woman  who has a wild crush on alan . this film was sadly an box office disappointment  despite it had some great reviews . the cast are first  rate here  the writing  director is wonderful and russ t . alsobrook  s terrific widescreen cinematography . the movie has great nyc locations  which the film makes new york a beautiful city to look at in the picture .  br    br   dvd has an sharp anamorphic widescreen   .      transfer and an good  dolby digital  .  surround sound . dvd also an jam session with sandler  cheadle  an featurette  photo montage and previews . i was expecting more for the dvd features like an audio commentary track by the director and deleted scenes .  reign over me  is certainly one of the best films that came out this year . i am sure  this movie looked great in the big screen . which sadly  i haven  t had a chance to see it in a theater . but it is also the kind of movie that plays well on dvd . the film has an good soundtrack as well and it has plenty of familiar faces in supporting roles and bit  parts . even the director has a bit  part as byran sugarman  who  s an actor himself .  reign over me  is one of the most underrated pictures of this year . it is also the best sandler film in my taste since  the wedding singer  . don  t miss it . hd widescreen .      out of   .  
i feel like i  ve been had  the con is on  don  t fall for it . after reading glowing reviews  the director was a film reviewer with sky for years so must have a lot of mates in the press ready to do him a favour by writing favorable reviews  i expected solid acting  atmosphere  suspense  strong characterization  an intriguing plot development and poetic moments . sadly   sixteen years of alcohol   doesn  t deliver on the critics promises  for the most part  sacrifices these qualities in lieu of cheesy low budget special effects  what was that clichd cobweb scene in there for    unrealistic fight choreography and mindless mind numbing narration  clich edits and camera angles .  br    br    sixteen years of alcohol  starts off interestingly with some beautiful location shots in scotland  but it  s straight downhill from here . unfortunately  instead of spending some time building atmosphere  creating characters we might care about  or building suspense  the director opts to begin driving you crazy with self indulgent heavy handed twaddle voice  over  s . the lead characters are so unsympathetic and are so badly acted  the audience doesn  t care what happens to them  desperate actors do desperate things . . . like this movie  . to make matters worse  the  homage  s   typical of a director trying to pay his dues to past masters  are either utterly clich or unconvincing . the soundtrack is the only thing that lifted me and kept me in the cinema but even that failed to support the dramatic narrative other connecting a period of time to the action .  br    br   for some reason the movie got increasingly flawed and to be quite honest annoying . i still watched the whole damn thing   br    br   i guess i liked the attempt at gritty realism in the film but even that was destroyed when they were often inter  cut with weird and abstract  sometimes pointless scenes . you don  t need a huge budget to make truly moving film  so much has been said about how little money they had to make this film  half a million is not a little bit of money . . . so no excuses  sometimes i wonder what the actors . . . or their agents were thinking   br    br   pass on this turkey unless you  re masochistic or mindless anyway . . . . not my thing  br    br    .      
if you didn  t enjoy this movie  either your dead  or you hate adam sandler or don cheadle .  br    br   an excellent cast  all of who gave good performances . this movie proved that adam sandler is good actor  despite what critics say . adam sandler is becoming a very well respected actor . it all started with his performance in big daddy  then he did a couple bad movies  then he broke through with terrific performance in   first dates  the longest yard  then click  and now reign over me .  br    br   back to the movie . adam sandler plays a man who has lost everything . the closest thing to family he has are a mother  in  law and father  in  law . after his old college roommate  cheadle  ran into him  he seems to turn his life around . i will say no more  because i do not want to ruin the movie  but i strongly recommend this movie . one of the best movies of     .  
this film was a yawn from titles to credits  it  s boring to the point of tedium and the acting is wooden and stilted  admittedly this was director richard jobson directing debut  but who on earth green  lit a script as poorly developed as this one  looks like another money down the drain government project  scottish screen are credited surprise  surprise  . i nearly fell asleep three times and my review will unfortunately have to be more restrained than this one . please  please mister jobson what ever you  ve been doing prior to directing this sedative of a film  go back to it   
most who go to this movie will have an idea what it is about a man loses his entire family and even his dog in a flight from boston that fateful morning of september        . what you probably won  t know before seeing this film is this how that would feel what do you do with that and how would that affect you and the way you relate to every waking day  the story unfolds painfully slow from the gate and then warms up nicely as it gains a little speed while the recently renewed relationship between dentist alan johnson   don cheadle  and ex  college roommate charlie fineman   adam sandler  solidifies and begins to take shape . characters appear in this film whose presence initially seem obligatory and not well developed but in fact  stay with this story  and you find that the simplicity of each character is what makes this story believable  and accurate . real people inhabit a real situation whereby they can do little but stand aside while one amongst them disintegrates . the pain inside charlie  s soul is subtly evident from first introduction and grows as we learn more about his character brilliantly revealed by sandler  as layers of an onion  one layer at a time with lightness and weight combined . it  s so subtle a performance that he sneaks up on you and gets inside your head while you are watching him on screen . cheadle  s alan johnson is equally subtle and very don cheadle . always watchable  the ease that  s apparent when cheadle  s on screen speaks to his consummate acting skills . alan  s relationship with charlie fineman is delicate in texture  just as the situation would demand . fineman doesn  t want friendship  nor anybody intruding into his cloistered life and yet  the likable quality that alan owns is simple and honest enough to intrigue even a recluse like charlie . it is alan who has the task of gingerly opening up charlie  s carefully sealed life . there is inherent danger in the process . the more alan nudges charlie to open up  going so far as engaging the services of friend and psychologist angela oakhurst   liv tyler  the nearer the danger of pushing charlie over the edge . it  s an abyss that charlie teeters on each and every waking moment and one he has learned to navigate through sheer dint of denial . he has denied everything that priorly existed for him in order to exist with his loss . unfortunately  his grief is one thing he cannot deny . sandler withdraws so deeply into his character  s pain during the story  s unfolding that  by the time he meets his demons head  on  the viewer shares his pain almost equally . alan stands beside charlie throughout this exacting process at the risk of lousing up his own perfect home  life  run with admirable grace and efficiency by wife janeane .  jada pinkett smith  while tending to charlie  s recovery  alan looks inward and recognizes his own silent screams at the death of the independence he once owned and the boy he has lost becoming a man . his reward for helping charlie is helping himself reconnect with what he has lost . the theme is much like the fisher king another story of a man who isolates himself to the point of madness from sorrow and loss . like the fisher king  the story concludes with the traditional  there is someone for everyone theme . reign over me  s lidia sinclair   played by the wonderful amanda plummer in the fisher king  is donna remar   saffron burrows  a woman on the verge of breakdown and sketchy patient of johnson  s  who turns out to be the just unstable enough to complement charlie  s borderline insanity . it  s a good ending to the story  but the one element probably least likely to ring true . then again  maybe there really is someone for everyone . devorah macdonald vancouver  bc  
this film limps from self indulgent moment to self indulgent moment  promising to develop into something worth hanging on for . but it doesn  t . it  s flat  self conscious  unimaginative and tedious .  br    br   a series of set images and backdrops don  t make a film  they make a calendar . this kind of pitiful socialist pseudo drama documentary   it  s true it really happened   not only fails to entertain  it fails to convince  so it doesn  t even function as social history . clichs co  mingled with bad acting make this a film very difficult to finish  the amusement factor wearing off fairly quickly . the characters are one dimensional  never developing to the extent that one feels for them . the director  s ego is the largest character in this film .  
what we  ve got here is a situation . a man is found to be in distress and people want to help him   in contrasting ways . at the end they are forced to let it go . you can  t fix people . and though in various aspects reign over me is conventionally hollywood  that message isn  t .  br    br   this story is not about charlie fineman  adam sandler   a man who lost his wife and three daughters in a     plane who  s gone into a nearly psychotic state of ptss since . it  s about what meeting charlie does to alan johnson  don cheadle   a dentist in new york who was his roommate in dental school and  knowing about his tragedy  spots him on the street and reconnects . charlie is riding around on a little toy motorized scooter   a pretty fanciful contraption for negotiating manhattan traffic   with big headphones on over a mass of unruly hair . the hair is sandler  s chief prop to show he  s deranged . and the use of music as an escape must hit home to every ipod  wielding subway rider .  br    br   charlie is a disaster  but paradoxically alan  stuck with a controlling wife  jada pinkett smith   soon begins to envy him . charlie is living like an nutty adolescent boy with a huge trust fund  insurance money from the tragedy   and starts dragging alan off to  hang out    eat chinese   buy records  or watch a mel brooks marathon at a rep house . charlie lives in a nice big apartment protected by a mean landlady  redoing the kitchen over and over  collecting old vinyl of springsteen  the who  etc .  and playing a video game called shadow of the collosus on a giant screen in a big empty living room .  br    br   charlie  s in  laws are deeply concerned about him  but also somehow resentful  as we learn later . alan has a new patient who is propositioning him . charlie  s desperation makes us see alan  s . trying to help charlie partly permits alan to escape from his own stifling realities but partly just makes him more acutely aware of them .  br    br   cheadle and sandler make an odd couple  but that doesn  t matter  because it  s convincing that they might both need each other . charlie is desperate for the companionship of a friend who never knew his family  because to escape his loss  he is pretending he never had one . and so what if as a roommate charlie slept naked and sleep walked and had terrible musical taste  no motown   alan wants an escape from his tidy  emasculating life . he  s under the thumb not just of his wife but of his dental partners  who lord it over him though it  s he who set up the practice . they  re white  by the way  and he  s black .  br    br   there  s also the lascivious patient from hell  who seriously disrupts things at the dental offices  but starts looking different when charlie comes by and notices she  s a babe . his libido seems to be lurking ready to revive at any minute . he  s also drawn to the breasts of liv tyler  a psychotherapist in the same building as the dentists who starts trying to treat charlie when he admits he might need help .  br    br   sandler  s mad scenes are a little too theatrical  as are a lot of the plot devices  in fact this movie feels like a play at more than one point   but he has several monologues where he expresses his sorrow in ways that are deeply touching .  br    br   charlie  s not just delusional and sad  but dangerous and violent  and all these efforts to help him start to backfire . the movie is admirable in the way it conveys a sense that people can  t be made right . this is an interesting movie   sometimes a touching one   and it  s the first time     has been dealt with in terms of survivor suffering . but there is an element of comedy that seems tasteless at times  many of the people are too broadly drawn  and the overly grand hollywood interiors have dreadful dcor only the manhattan streets look real . there  s a courtroom scene that is preposterous  and donald sutherland is a judge who  s too good to be true . alan  s family problem is resolved too easily with a phone call . and yet this is worth watching for the acting   the control and subtlety of cheadle  and sandler in a serious role almost as good as the one he had in p . t . anderson  s     punch  drunk love  though that  s clearly a better movie  in fact a much better one .  
i found this film embarrassing to watch . i felt like it was shoving the storyline down my throat as if i couldn  t pick up the subtleties i needed a voice over to spell them all out for me constantly .  br    br   having a father who is still an alcoholic  i didn  t really feel it was a film about alcoholism as such . alcoholics  true alcoholics are very lonely people inside  in my opinion of course . they find it hard to communicate  something that the main character had no problem with really  except he did have a problem saying i love you at one point  which was a bit of a feeble effort at establishing his cold character . he was constantly surrounded with people too    br    br   i felt cheated that at no point were we really alone with the character to really get a sense of his inner loneliness and turmoil . i couldn  t connect with the character and felt no link at all considering my father . i felt nothing at all when it had finished  just relief it was over .  br    br   kevin mckidd is an okay actor but not a tough guy feature lead  the clockwork orange thing was as subtle as a brick . mckidd was too old for the teen  they should have got three different characters or avoided the teen stage and concentrated more on the adult mckidd .  br    br   on a good note  i felt the little boy actor was really good at the start of the film    
i didn  t really go into  reign over me  knowing exactly what to expect either from the director or the story . the plot was easy enough to understand  i suppose . this guy  s whole family died in      and he shuts the world out of his life . alright . i didn  t know if it was going to use the attachment of terrorism as a platform to speak on that or other issues relating to it  and it really doesn  t on a very obvious level  so if you  re scared to be surrounded by political opinions that may be different from yours  i wouldn  t worry about it . i think the writing even made a point never to explicitly mention  september the eleventh  .  br    br   overall  i was impressed . it was a very moving picture . the movie has a sense of humor  and it is very sharp  but it is definitely a drama where it counts . i typically don  t like to think that comedic actors are incapable of actually acting  but sometimes  let  s be honest  they are . adam sandler is definitely capable of it  and though i think so  you may disagree  jim carrey is also very well  rounded . . sometimes  . sandler  s portrayal of charlie fineman took a character that on the surface seems completely unreal and makes it become absolutely believable . i read many reviews that criticized the writing of alan johnson  s  don cheadle in another excellent role  if not one that seems similar to a few of his more recent pictures  wife  who is played well by jada pinkett smith  calling her static and dull  but that is completely untrue .  br    br   she has depth  but some of it gets hidden behind the main story  which does drift in and out of focus occasionally .  which also brings to mind some very unusual transitions done early in the movie  with a weird  make everything out of focus  fadeout . after about the first   minutes  they aren  t used anymore . maybe it  s significant for the characters outlook  artistically  or maybe they just realized how irritating it was .  the film gradually begins to reveal to us the point  one of several  but definitely the most explicit  of the story  which is that sometimes people have to deal with grief in their own way . maybe it seems unorthodox to us  maybe it seems downright unhealthy  but maybe what some people want more than anything is just to forget . to just exist . the films soundtrack was excellent  and it used music to pursue and amplify moods  rather than establish them  which gives credit to the actors and the writers .  br    br   the movie takes it  s name from the song  love  reign o  er me   off of the who  s rock opera  quadrophenia . the song itself is fairly insignificant to the actual story  but it is used powerfully in the movie over the course of the climax  and at the very end . the movie is paced well  and does not feel like it  s dragging anywhere in it  s length  which is a little over  hours . if you can accept adam sandler  s portrayal of this deeply heartbroken and broken down man  you will enjoy the movie . you will become entangled in the story  and you will genuinely feel for the characters in every minute of it . it is not the best movie of the year  and there  s nothing groundbreaking or positively amazing in it  but it  s a very enjoyable  watchable movie  all in all .  
this film was terrible . i have given it the high score of  as i have seen worse  but very few .  br    br   from the clichd start of having the end of the film at the start and going back to the start at the end this film used everything in the box of tricks used in film making just for the sake of it  like a kid with too many toys . there was the endless  boring repetitive narration  slow motion  freeze frame  flashbacks and merged images etc  none of which made a dull film any better .  br    br   it is called    years of alcohol   but there was little drinking or drunkeness and no depiction of withdrawal with the film jumping about all over the place with no coherent sense . the story was badly written and extremely pretentious and the direction was equally poor and it is a shame that people have put up further money for more films by mr jobson  previously know for being in a rubbish group and on tv making as much sense as this film does .  br    br   i found it a major struggle to see this to the end but in the hope of it getting better i carried on to the bitter but it really was a waste of time and i would have been better off not bothering .  
in our household  we are enormous fans of a christmas carol and watch virtually every version each christmas  including the old     reginald owen and the modern     patrick stewart . our overall favorite is the     black  white classic  because alastair sim is ebeneezer scrooge and his conversion rings the truest . however  this     rendition has its own unique merits and makes a lovely  entertaining story  quite faithful generally to dickens  novel .  see my comments on the other film adaptations  if interested   br    br   first of all  george c . scott can certainly seem pretty crotchety and doesn  t make a bad scrooge . i adore his sideburns  his long topcoat  hat . he cuts the finest fashion figure of the lot  and quite a handsome gentleman . however  sometimes it seems scott is enjoying his role as scrooge just a wee bit too much and not taking it quite as seriously as he ought   br    br   this rendition has the best overall christmas atmosphere  hopeful and optimistic . somehow you know this story is going to have a happy ending . filmed in the town of shrewsbury  england  it just seems somehow very british . the film has a lovely musical score  with wonderful  lively caroling music throughout all the appropriate portions of the tale . sometimes i could almost smell the chestnuts roasting and the pudding singing in the copper   br    br   marley  s anguished ghost  with his wonderful jaw dropping scene  and the three spirits are all quite convincing . christmas past is a lovely ethereal lady  christmas present wonderfully giant and jovial  christmas yet to come shrouded and foreboding as always . however  i found scrooge  s nephew  fred  a wee bit quiet  grim  not nearly as jolly  hearty as he should be . i like the nephew  s wife  whom they  ve named janet  with her lovely  sprightly period hairstyle . instead of blind man  s bluff  they  ve concocted a game called similes for the nephew  s christmas dinner party  which is a cute little touch  scrooge getting right into the spirit of the thing .  br    br   the cratchits and their somewhat meagre  though much appreciated  christmas dinner are well depicted  with bob  david warner  suitably sympathetic and long  suffering in his miles of scarf . mrs . cratchit is charmingly portrayed by susannah york  who also starred with george c . scott in the wonderful     adaptation of jane eyre . above all  this version has unquestionably the best tiny tim  not only an adorable  endearing little waif but sickly . with those dark circles under his eyes  the frail wee thing looks unlikely to survive the hour   br    br   this is a delightful  heartwarming version of the holiday classic . with its festive atmosphere  it  s sure to put you in the spirit of the season .  
macy  ullman and sutherland were as great as usual . ritter wasn  t bad either . what  s her name was as pretty as usual . it could have been a good movie . to bad the plot was atrocious . it was completely predictable  trite and boring .  br    br   from the first   minutes  the rest of the movie was laid out like a child  s paint by numbers routine . the characters were stock pieces of cut out cardboard . there was nothing new or interesting to say and that completely outweighed the acting  which was a pity .  br    br   finally  too bad the script writer wasn  t the victim . especially with the  precocious  lines from the child  which were completely unbelievable .  br    br   again  it  s only the acting that prevented a much lower score .  
let me say that i love adam sandler  watching reign over me i was paying close attention to his acting  br    br   when he raises his voice  i cant help but think of happy gilmore yelling at a golf ball  then i snap back as adam sandler sucks me in  br    br   reign over me is a great film  a film that comes off slow at first with you expecting emotion in every scene  br    br   don cheadle always does a great job and is no exception here with some truly great lines and is worthy of an oscar in any movie he does  br    br   adam sandler was amazing in so many ways not only was this his most dramatic  best acted film of his career . but i can recall laughing out loud at many parts of this film  br    br   the supporting cast was great also with saffron burroughs and jada pinkett smith  br    br   i would highly recommend this movie its got tremendous acting beautiful shots of nyc great comedy great drama and a new found respect for adam sandler if you ever doubted him or a reassurance at how great don cheadle is  
this movie was terrible . the first half hour is much like a . . . well  apologies for the lack of articulation  but it was simply a bad version of a clockwork orange . the first scene is almost photocopied from one of the first in clockwork  supposedly it was a tribute  as per the appearance of the clockwork poster on the protagonist  s wall  however  ripoff  is the more appropriate word . the movie felt as though it was torn right from the kubrick classic  only filmed through a new director  s eyes . a blind director . unfortunately when it stops its massacre of kubrick  s work  the film gets even worse . as another commentator said  the deepness of this film is just shoved down your throat . arrogant  self absorbed and ultimately meaningless drivel .  br    br   perhaps the protagonists ramblings would touch a nerve if there was any actual character development in this movie . i felt absolutely nothing for this guy . and i  m an alcoholic  so i figure that if anyone might be able to feel anything for him  it would be me . awful character development  dialogue and plot .  br    br   the worst part about this movie is the title . for a film called    years of alcohol   the alcoholism is hardly a factor in the flick . see first paragraph  it was such a butchering of a clockwork orange i can  t get over it . a more suited title would have been    years of violence   or  even better   a clockwork banana  .  br    br   just do yourself a favor and avoid this movie . if you disregard my advice and take it out anyway  drink . trust me .  
on september   th       millions were killed but      lives ended in an especially gruesome manner . they were the victim of a plane hijacking by extremists whose sole mission was to destroy buildings  but more importantly  people . this film takes an in  depth look at four people whose lives were cut short by this disastrous event and one man whose life was shattered by the loss of their lives .  br    br   charlie fineman  played by adam sandler   a former dentist living in new york  loses his wife and three children on september   th as they were on their way to los angeles . emotionally annihilated by the events  he eventually loses touch with everyone who reminds him of his former life including his in  laws and his best friend  played  respectively  by robert klein  melinda dillon  and mike bender  . he goes into completely denial and does his best to forget about his former life . this continues until he runs into his old college friend alan johnson  played by don cheadle  who fineman doesn  t seem to remember . the two begin to catch up  but fineman believes johnson was sent by people from his former life to persuade him into finding help . slowly  but surely  fineman regains his trust for johnson .  br    br   while all this is happening  alan johnson  s life is going down the wrong path . he is a self man  dentist  who helps start a dental practice . one day  a patient of his named donna remar  played by saffron burrows  attempts to make a move on him  telling him that she would like to perform oral sex for him . this is an unwelcome surprise to dr . johnson since he is a married man with two children . as he is coming home from work on a particular workday  he sees his old friend  fineman  and tries to flag him down . he is unsuccessful  but he gets another opportunity and persuades fineman to get a come of coffee with him to catch up  despite the fact that fineman doesn  t know who he is .  br    br   one of the most interesting things about this movie is its use of music as a motif . one of fineman  s physiological crutches is music  particularly springsteen and other classic rock artists . when fineman is asked to open up about his past or to talk about things he finds unpleasant  he puts on his earphones and drowns out the world with things his music .  br    br   when the film was over  i had me thinking how would i cope with the loss of my family  how would i deal with such a tragic events . it  s something we don  t really think about too often . we always think they  ll be there and we often take them for granted  whether we intend to or not . we usually realize how important they are when it  s too late and a blow like that can destroy someone physically  emotionally  and physiologically . i really don  t know how i would be able to deal with something like that . would i face the problem head on  cope  and move on with my life or would i just put my headphones on and block the world   
this is only the second time i stopped a video  dvd part way through .  br    br   i was willing to give this film the benefit of the doubt at first  even though it managed to be both shallow  clichd and stupid . . and joyless  plodding and pretentious .  br    br   it was like an after school special directed by that weird grade nine kid who thinks nobody understands him . . . creepy and sad  with voice  over narration that only the most deluded adolescent would consider poetry . . . and some singing  and . . . no  really  the poor child  s suffering . . .  br    br   enough  already  especially when it morphed into a brazen  clumsy  and insulting clockwork orange ripoff . and did i mention the singing   br    br   this isn  t the worst film i  ve ever seen  but certainly the one i  ve felt least compelled to sit through . i don  t recommend it to anyone .  
most people  especially young people  may not understand this film . it looks like a story of loss  when it is actually a story about being alone . some people may never feel loneliness at this level .  br    br   cheadles character johnson reflected the total opposite of sandlers character fineman . where johnson felt trapped by his blessings  fineman was trying to forget his life in the same perspective . jada is a wonderful additive to the cast and sandler pulls tears . cheadle had the comic role and was a great supporter for sandler .  br    br   i see oscars somewhere here . a very fine film . if you have ever lost and felt alone  this film will assure you that you  re not alone .  br    br   jerry  
you can often tell a movie didn  t turn out like it should by the heavy use of a narrator . this film features this device throughout . richard jobson not entirely content to write direct and even fund some of this film adds to his credits by reading excerpts of his own semi  autobiographical writing which combined with some pretty editing manages to gloss over what is a dull depressing tale which he must be mistaking for genuine art  house . kevin mckidd puts in a good performance . everyone else is okay .  br    br   budget constraints meant that all scenes are shot in daylight though most are obviously meant to be at night  though if you know serious alcoholics they mainly operate in the day so for me it adds a touch of realism .  br    br   the funniest part of this film is a waitress who fails to age a single day in the   odd years that elapse between her appearances  a more extreme version of the problem mckidd has who goes from   to   without changing more than his clothes . bless .  
reign over me        adam sandler  don cheadle  jada pinkett  smith  liv tyler  saffron burrows  donald sutherland  robert klein  melinda dillon  mike binder  jonathan banks  rae allen  paula newsome . at times affecting and at times middling dramedy about a thoroughly depressed man who lost his family on      sandler in his best role since  punch  drunk love   who winds up re  united with his old college roommate and friend  cheadle continuing to do impressive work with every role to date   a well  to  do dentist who seems to have it all  family  wealth  happiness  but really sees an ally in freedom with his troubled friend  s own personal life offerings . written and directed by binder  who co  stars as sandler  s former  best friend and acting accountant  with equal parts humor and genuine heartache the film works best when the two stars share the screen until the last act falls into an almost movie  of  the  week treacle with to tidy a solution to the matters at hand .  
i got lured by the title . . . i was expecting an insightful and intriguing journey into alcoholism  instead i got a rather boring and uninspiring story about a rowdy scot .  br    br   the leading character isn  t given much psychological depth  unless you are willing to classify cheesy teen  like poetry as psychology .  br    br   it was a shame  because the core of the story could have been good  with a better effort to depict the inner feelings of a man who had to live with alcohol and violence since his youth .  br    br   sadly  the general idea seems to be more like  i  m the way i am because that  s the way i am  . and the laughingly bad attempt at giving some sort of poetic edge to a lower  class man makes things even worse . resorting to the overused clich of the  pote maudit  reeks of a quick fix  a cheap way to make a dull movie seem smart  artsy and meaningful .  br    br   but    years of alcohol  isn  t much smart  artsy or meaningful . . . the leading character doesn  t evolve at all  and the feeble attempt of changing fails without a good explanation . just like the initial attempt happened rather out of the blue .  br    br   the movie borrows heavily from classics such as a clockwork orange and trainspotting  but it ultimately fails to recapture their greatness  not even for a few seconds .  br    br   jobson put too much emphasis on the artistic side of the story  and neglected the rest  giving us a movie which is pleasant to the eye but insipid to the brain .  
as someone who has never condescended adam sandler in terms of talent  as is done to him and many comic actors like him  i walked in to reign over me expecting a great film  not simply because of his presence in the movie but because i thought that it looked very good overall . even someone who already thought that sandler could deliver an effective dramatic performance is writing here that i was surprised at how fantastic he is in it . he will make you weep  especially in his purposefully sudden and unexpected monologue . what  s amazing about his role is that it  s a character it  s hard to say we  ve seen before . we  ve seen many emotionally scarred characters  many mentally retarded people  many loners  many passionate self  centered artists  but sandler  s charlie fineman is none of these . he may have a taste of each of them in some ways  but his character is truly unpredictable and completely individual . it  s a joy for the audience to be drawn in emotionally by him and be tugged every which way by someone whose problems  mindset  and provocations are completely different from most characters like him .  br    br   don cheadle delivers an interesting performance on a completely different level . he is every man . he is the most normal possible person in the world  so much so that you will hardly find many characters like his either  or at least any that are played the way he plays alan johnson  whose name is even found on the assembly line . cheadle is brilliant in that he is funny  jolting  smart  and stupid the way so many normal people are .  br    br   the rest of the cast is populated by actors and actresses who  ve hardly done anything in awhile in smaller but quite colorful roles . jada pinkett  smith is the overly refined upper middle class wife  donald sutherland is the impatient but surprising judge  robert klein is sandler  s desensitized father  in  law .  br    br   mike binder  s script is quite brilliant because it says something quite profound about the wonders of communication in all of its guises . it  s much more subtle than  say  babel  and has a much more close  to  home ideal .  br    br   the camera is only interested in the reality of its images as opposed to the mere style . this film struck me as sort of a sendback to the kitchen  sink style of the     s . cinematography was grainy and unfastened  but that was its charm . it wasn  t about attracting us to the camera itself and the gloss that would  ve diluted its stories with such .  br    br   the music  which plays a major role in the film  and its title  is very powerful . near the beginning  you feel like you  re in for another about schmidt or little miss sunshine sort of soundtrack  but you soon realize you  re in for more than that . in fact  the film is packed with lots of music that stimulates a lot of the most emotional scenes .  br    br   reign over me is a major statement not only for society but also for film itself . it goes to show that even the director of blankman is capable of wonders .  
there is a key aspect of film that jobson seems to have forgotten  it has the ability to tell a story by showing it to you . you don  t need to tell the audience what to think  because they  ll see it . the action here is interspersed with some of the most ponderous narration unleashed on the unsuspecting public  the purple prose of the sensitive fifth former . and it should be unnecessary because their is a fine cast here and some beautifully composed and shot visuals . maybe jobbo felt that the basic story needed a lit bit of support . and he may have been right  it lacks a basic credibility   s edinburgh wasn  t exactly full of beautiful brainy girls with a penchant for the velvet underground and a soft spot for a passing sociopath . from the too neat and new looking clothes that character wears to the cod intellectualism that tries to link it all together  it  s all too contrived for my taste .  
time and time again  it seems that the comedic actors of hollywood are surprising me with their talents as dramatic performers first it was robin williams   one hour photo          then it was jim carrey   eternal sunshine        being one example  then will ferrell   stranger than fiction         and now adam sandler . yes  that  s absolutely right the guy who has based an entire career on making brainless  goofball comedies i  m not complaining i  ve always been a fan has finally given me a performance of which he can be proud . of course  some readers may be wondering whatever happened to  punch  drunk love         but i can only assure you that it  s a film i  m currently taking measures to see as soon as possible  since i  ve heard it  s terrific . my first film from director mike binder   reign over me   is an intelligent and respectful exploration of grief and friendship . though it does occasionally stray into all  too  familiar territory  the somewhat predictable storyline proves surprisingly deep and moving  with both sandler and don cheadle giving memorable performances .  br    br   alan johnson  cheadle  is a successful dentist with a good family  though he finds himself unable to communicate adequately with his wife  jada pinkett smith  and so his marriage is a little shaky . charlie fineman  adam sandler  is alan  s ex  college roommate  a man who lost his entire family in the terrorist attacks of september         and who is still confronting his overwhelming feelings of grief . a disheveled figure with messy hair and downcast eyes often likened in appearance to bob dylan  charlie has abandoned his career in dentistry  and spends his time in solitude listening to music with headphones that cut out all sound from the outside world  driving around manhattan in his motorised scooter  immersing himself in fantastical video games and repeatedly redecorating his apartment kitchen in accordance with his deceased wife  s final wishes . when alan and charlie meet for the first time in years  the latter doesn  t even recognise an old friend  having completely abandoned any memories prior to his life  crippling experience . indeed  at first he doesn  t even acknowledge the existence of his family  and abruptly loses his temper whenever anybody suggests that he seek counselling .  br    br   initially  it may seem a bit exploitative for the filmmakers to be using the september   attacks as a storytelling device . afterall  wouldn  t it be just as devastating if charlie  s family had died in an ordinary  everyday car accident  however  if you consider that the director  s intention was to demonstrate the enormous pain caused to ordinary citizens by the tragedy  then  reign over me  does a very good job . it  s easy to get so caught up in meaningless statistics that you neglect the emotional costs of the terrorist attacks this is the first      orientated film i  ve seen that truly dealt with the suffering of those who weren  t even involved  whose only anguish was caused through losing those whom they loved . adam sandler shows surprising range in a difficult role  one which would have crumbled to pieces had he not been up to the task . snapping instantly between cheerfulness  anger and depression  charlie fineman is a man with whom we can deeply sympathise  a hollow soul who  thanks to the companionship of an old friend  can finally glimpse light at the end of a dark  bleak tunnel .  
i have only recently been able to catch up with the films of marilyn miller since they are not shown on tcm in the uk . i have been much intrigued over the years because this was one of the superstars of the   s . what was she really like . to some stars of this era like jolson some of the magic still shines through  but alas not for miller . her dancing seems awkward and poorly choreographed  her singing somewhat limited and as an actress she makes ruby keeler seem like hepburn . even worse in this film as the public had grown tired of musicals virtually all of the musical numbers have been deleted . so we are left with a comedy of that period with little real appeal . she was being paid        for this  so i have only two conclusion . either she was poorly served by the cinema or she had no talent at all . i think that the truth is nearer the later than the former .  
there may be spoilers   br    br   charlie fineman  adam sandler   who lost his family in a tragedy   the terrorist attacks of sept .     still grieves over their deaths . he runs into his former college roommate  alan johnson  don cheadle   and the two rekindle their friendship . alan vows to help his old friend come to terms with the terrible loss . this is a simplification of the basic story of reign over me .  br    br   this movie is  however  a story of how fate intercedes in our lives when we ourselves may be powerless do any thing about our own states of being . alan is stuck in a life that he knows is no longer fulfilling . he feels friendless and out of touch with his own reality . he is unable to communicate with his wife and his associates at work . he can  t express his feelings and as a result feels lost and distant from his own world . he chances upon charlie on the streets of manhattan while driving from his job . eventually he meets and discovers that charlie   who originally does not remember alan   is living in a false reality of his own . charlie has gone back to a time in his life when he had no family . he lives as if he were still a student playing in a rock band  collecting vinyl records of the   s and   s bands  and playing video games . he has escaped to a better and safer time in his life where there are no bad guys and he has a lot less to lose . everyone in this movie is affected in some way by the tragedy that has affected charlie and his remission to a formerly different and better    place . his landlady is his protector and great enabler . his in  laws are subtracted from his life because they would take him back to the reality that his family is now gone from his life . and alan is most affected by him because alan wants to   in at first a selfish desire to escape from his own reality  to be with charlie as a means to subtract himself from his own stifled reality and then he wants to find a way to help charlie begin to recover from his self  induced guilt and denial of loss . it is through this relationship that not only is charlie able to begin to heal himself but that alan  in fact  learns to communicate and sate his true desires with his associates at work and  eventually  is able to admit to his wife he has not been able to communicate his real feelings to her but that he strongly wants to because he does love her . it is in fact a poignant moment in the film when the stuff has hit the fan and charlie is being confronted with the reality of being put away that he and alan are talking about the situation together over  chinese  that charlie states that he is in fact worried about alan and not himself .  br    br   this movie will  if you let it  take you through a river of emotions and leave you thinking . it will have you laughing at how charlie uses his words  like people really do in everyday life  to make a comical statement of fact about a real situation . it will leave you on the verge of tears   in my case actual tears   when charlie confronts his grief and begins to come to grips with his tremendous loss . and that in fact the tragic reality is his guilt and loss has really never left him and he dealt with it in the only way he knew denial . it will make you curse at the cold  unthinking actions of a young prosecutor trying to win his  case    as i actually did at charlie  s hearing   and it will make you smile at the commonsense of a old and wise  stern judge   donald sutherland who is great at his short distinct role and gives the best performance of a wise  stern person in the legal profession since wilford brimley played an assistant attorney general in absence of malice .   br    br   this movie was also amazing to me for a few other reasons    i never looked at my watch once during the showing of the film . which means it had me from the beginning to the end     although the cast was interracial  this fact was not important to the playing out of the roles of the characters in the film . race was a non  factor to the performance of the roles in this movie . amazing people can actually interact with out this fact being brought out  and    the only real reference to     is when charlie  s financial attorney refers to the tragedy of charlie  s loss as  what charlie had become on      . time will be the true test of how this movie will stand out in the future but if the purpose of a movie is not to just entertain but to make one think and have that movie stay with you long after you leave the theatre then reign over me succeeded phenomenally as far as i am concerned . i have not yet forgotten this wonderful thought provoking film and i will wait impatiently for the day i can purchase it as a dvd .  
marilyn miller made only three films before her untimely death  the marvelous sally        the comedy her majesty love       and this trifle  sunny       . it is quite poor both as an early talkie and as an attempt at a musical  although she has four dance numbers  she only sings two songs  who  and one man alone  . the rest of the score including the spritely title tune are jettisoned  although we can hear the latter in the background scoring . miller looks overweight and amateurish here  no star quality at all . even her dancing is cloutish . the film is very badly written  stock full of stale and unfunny jokes and stupid situations . if you  re interested in miller as a performer  by all means  check it out  but for general entertainment  stay away .  
in new york  the family man dentist alan johnson  don cheadle  meets his former roommate and friend charlie fineman  adam sandler  by chance on the street . charlie became a lonely and deranged man after the loss of his wife and three daughters in the tragic september   th while alan has problems to discuss his innermost feelings with his wife . alan reties his friendship with charlie and they become close to each other . alan tries to fix charlie  s life  sending him to the psychologist angela oakhurst  liv tyler   but charlie has an aggressive reaction to the treatment and is send to court .  br    br    reign over me  is a good drama about loss  friendship  family and loneliness . the september   th is irrelevant to the plot it could be a car accident  a fire or any other tragedy  as well as the sexual harassment of donna remar  played by the gorgeous saffron burrows  to alan . but the family drama works  supported by the great performances of adam sandler and don cheadle . liv tyler is quite impossible to be recognized  i do not know whether she is using excessive make  up to look older  but her face is weird . my vote is seven .  br    br   title  brazil    reine sobre mim    reign over me    
im still in doubt if this is just a horrible movie or the worse movie i ever saw . actors are painful and its impossible to get into the text .  br    br   don  t waist your time into this movie . by submitting this comment you are agreeing to the terms laid out in our copyright statement . your submission must be your own original work . your comments will normally be posted on the site within    business days . comments that do not meet the guidelines will not be posted . please write in english only . html or boards mark  up is not supported though paragraph breaks will be inserted if you leave a blank line between paragraph . by submitting this comment you are agreeing to the terms laid out in our copyright statement . your submission must be your own original work . your comments will normally be posted on the site within    business days . comments that do not meet the guidelines will not be posted . please write in english only . html or boards mark  up is not supported though paragraph breaks will be inserted if you leave a blank line between paragraph .  
reign over me is a success due to the powerful work by adam sandler and don cheadle . while comedic actors going dramatic has been seen as somewhat of a distraction  sandler is no stranger to playing more serious roles . most of the characters he portrays have an unstable temperament and a vulnerability that can burst at any moment . he might even be typecast for characters with such hidden anger problems . however  this performance has some considerable dramatic weight  unlike his roles in less comedic fare like punch  drunk love and spanglish .  br    br   in the film  alan johnson  cheadle  runs into his old college roommate  charlie finerman  sandler   whom he hasn  t seen in several years . five years before  charlie suffered the overwhelming loss of his wife and three daughters in a plane crash . charlie barely even recognizes cheadle  s character due to the repression of his memories and consequent reclusive childish lifestyle since the accident . it isn  t until alan persists in engaging him in conversation that charlie remembers who he is . their renewed relationship that follows will allow finerman to have a friend who doesn  t speak about his loss  eventually enabling him to confront the thoughts and feelings he has suppressed on his own terms .  br    br   though writer  director mike binder doesn  t show much sense of an individual style and some of his shots and transitions are a bit awkward  he does have a knack of getting decent to great performances from his actors while being a talented and funny writer . he shot this film with a digital camera  as more and more filmmakers are doing today  enabling the crew to shoot the night scenes with limited lighting . this kept the colorful backgrounds of new york city in focus  but resulted in creating frequent digital grain  which resembles blue specks scattered and moving on the screen .  br    br   almost every main character in reign over me gives a great performance . jada  pinkett smith and especially liv tyler are memorable in their respective roles as a frustrated wife to cheadle  s character and a psychiatrist . however  it is sandler and cheadle that give some of their finest work to date . they completely owned this movie . sandler actually plays a character that doesn  t outwardly resemble or act like himself at all  partially credited to his bob dylan  esquire wig . though cheadle  s character has more screen time than sandler  they both should be considered to be leading roles  as they equally support and help each other throughout the film .  br    br   music also plays a great part in this film  especially the title song  reign over me   or  love  reign o  er me  by the who  and later covered by pearl jam . in one of the most powerful moments of the film  binder shows sandler using music to shut out his feelings and memories  but this particular song provokes such intense emotion that rather than diminishing his anger  it incites his emotions . all an all  reign over me is an enjoyable  sad  yet many times funny film  driven by its amazing leading performances .  
from the moment the film begins  already there is a discrepancy . as this film takes place on the borders of normandy and the middle east  and is also an international film  one would expect proper accents portrayed . this is not done as the majority of the cast sound american . also  i find the acting to be rehearsed at best  the story line a little difficult to follow from the beginning . who is who  otherwise the film is very accurate in costume and scenery . if you want to see a movie to get a feel of what it was like in the past  albeit the lack of accents  then this movie is worth a rent . if you  re looking for a movie as epic as kingdom of heaven  then look elsewhere .  
the feel of this movie was amazing . adam sandler  s performance was very inspiring . as he played a very rattled and fragile character  he took his ability to the very edge and really worked the role . his character was really interesting . i can see myself reading the script for this movie and not being half as interested in the part as sandler made me . for someone who plays primarily comedy roles  he pulled off a serious role with what seemed to be his own quirks and input . i especially loved the scene in which adam and don  s characters rode the motorized scooter around the city . i familiarized with the moment  because it seemed like don was witnessing one thing adam does to get away from it all . with his video games  music  and many other things he does to keep him from thinking about the past  riding his scooter with his headphones on seemed like an escape from his thoughts . this movie is definitely worth the watch .  
this film is probably pro  muslimization .  br    br   why do i write that  the main character has a muslim father and a christian mother . he lives his first   years in a christian village . in the end of the film he seemingly is a muslim because of his head  wear  that he has kept his amulet  and his general clothing . he has a six year old child  who wears the same head  wear and therefore is probably a muslim  although the mother is a christian . the main character thus chooses to  it seems  to be a muslim and his child becomes a muslim . no one of the other male main characters  which are christians  seems to breed a child . there are more muslims in the world of this movie at the end of it  it therefore seems .  
this version of the charles dickens novel features george c scott as the scrooge . fine casting  especially the choice of scott  who plays the role to the hilt . . a fine cast supports him in the very good adaption . a modern day holiday classic on a scale of one to ten . .   
users who have rated this movie so highly simply can  t have seen enough good films to compare it with . have they all been brainwashed   i have rarely felt so disappointed by a film and some of that must be attributable to the ridiculous hype surrounding this movie .  br    br   from the first  bu is just a chase film . we pick it up at the end of one chase and go straight into another . and another . and another . and another . do you see a pattern emerging  there is virtually no time  wasted  on plot  character development  or boring old reality .  br    br   if you haven  t see the other two bourne films  you  re pretty lost . if you have  you only wish you were lost  somewhere a long way from a cinema .  br    br   paul greengrass  s dispassionate style worked exceptionally well on united   which was a sentiment overload desperate to happen  but on bourne and his interminable woes it just has the effect of removing the audience from involvement with the character . he runs . he jumps . he punches . he gets blown up . he clears tall buildings . yada yada yada . above all  he survives . he survives like a plastic action man survives  which only makes the ridiculous stunts he pulls all the more slack and lacking in any kind of tension . so he drives off a building  so what  he  ll survive . yawn .  br    br   there  s a girl thrown into the mix because bourne  s love interest died in a previous incarnation  but she  s just decor . i  ve seen more character depth and snappy dialogue in episodes of captain scarlet .  br    br   bourne  s own journey of literal self  discovery is dull and formless and tells us nothing we didn  t know from the first movie . he was turned into a killing machine . big deal . he finds out his true identity . so what  it doesn  t have any emotional resonance when it comes .  br    br   the  twist  ending is telegraphed and weak . oh  dear  the more i think about this film the more i hate it  i  ve already reduced my score to  during the writing of this comment  i  d better end now before the slide continues .  br    br   i love a good action flick and i love a good thriller . the bourne ultimatum is neither . it  s a loud  tedious series of flashy edits  ridiculous sound effects and cartoon violence .  br    br   the idea that it  shows the way  to the bond franchise is utter crap . casino royale blows it out of the water .  
let me start by saying at the young age of   i was suddenly widowed . i was devastated as he was not sick    he died unexpectedly basically of a coronary    his carotids blew out   he died behind our house . there was a lot of speculation from police  cause he fell on something and it bashed his head in . i was a suspect for murder until the autopsy came back .  br    br   my children were as traumatized as i was  so in love with a good father figure as he . i had three small children  no education  no financial support . i took it very  very hard .  br    br   within two years my in  laws attacked me verbally  physically  emotionally and spiritually demanding i grieve not in front of the children  and put on masks and showed people what they wanted to see  not show them my pain during holidays . . . nobody stood up for me and my choice to sit out one holiday  except of course  the grief therapist i was seeing that had advised me to follow my heart and soul . my in  laws didn  t get it  it changed forever my relationship with them  and i have never been back for a holiday . this is only one example of how my grief was disrespected  my own  new  husband has seen me fall apart talking about the trauma when i shared from my soul . i collapse  can not breathe  hyperventilate  and generally am defunct for a few days if i even try to convey the hidden pain .  br    br   now about this movie . . .  br    br   today  my soul was stirred  my heart broken . my fears and pain re  surfaced from the real demons this movie presents how one grieves compared to how others expect us too and the demons within . adam sandler portrayed perfectly the horrendous agony you face  overcome and most of all  work through on your own time  this movie dredged up all the pain that i have tried over the years to deal with . you see  when something harms your soul so profoundly  so deep that utterances are all that come from your mouth in moments of thinking  you can not deal with it without wishing you were dead and walking through life  in a dead state .  br    br   the bible has a scripture  romans     that i have clung to  that when my mouth and soul know not what to pray for  that god  s holy spirit carries that agony to the feet of god   i need not speak . sandler portrayed that to perfection   br    br   there is a scene where he has been hauled into a court hearing  for mental health commitment purposes  and he goes back in to face his in  laws     familiar to me     and he tells them the stunning truths that he has been possessed by  per se  that he can  t get over . it  s a profoundly strong  and mighty performance . i started bawling and had a hard time after wards getting up to walk out from the theater feeling my legs too weak to do so . my son was with me and saw it first hand  my precise motions while trying to hold it all together a lesson for him  my youngest who barely remembers his daddy . it  s been   years for me but this movie brought me back to the moment of losing my in  laws forever when they demanded a mask on my emotions and my surrendering to their desires  instead of respect to my own .  br    br   i write this  so that if you are a griever  you are prepared for this movie  but recommend it highly in the     star performance sandler gave .  br    br   if you are not yet a griever  please take a lesson from his movie and just listen and accept people  s choices in their grief  letting them find peace in their own time  sometimes  the soul can not utter the words to convey our pain .  br    br   go see this movie with tissues and not without preparing to take it in . . . to your soul   
my score for this crap      for the technical only . everything else is very bad .  br    br   another film that makes no sense . clearly it seems that creating a good script for film or television is almost a impossible mission .  br    br   while it  s easy to understand why politicians never say the truth  they are among the biggest liars on the planet  it is difficult to understand how to make films so pathetic .  br    br   we must believe that taking people for morons . perhaps it was reason to believe  since    of the films are crap . because they are stupid and ridiculous and very bad scenarios .  br    br   when you look at the price we give oscars  we understand better why we continue to make films any more ridiculous than others .  br    br   and oddly enough it was always money for such nonsense . but it was not for education and health .  br    br   if you still want to listen to this st  press super fast forward button  at least   x  .  
reign over me  titled after the who song  is a movie that is sure to bring a tear to almost everyone  s eye . it was a moving story of a guy  sandler  that lost his family in the     world trade center attacks . years later  he runs into an old college roommate  cheadle  that he doesn  t even recognize due to the post  dramatic stress ensued by the loss of his family . the two rekindle their old friendship and cheadle  s character  johnson  realizes that he must get sandler  s character  fineman  some help before it  s too late .  br    br   this was the first movie that has made me cry in a long time . it  s completely worth watching and after seeing it  i  m positive the viewer will appreciate his or her family much more .  
when i saw the preview for this on tv i was thinking   ok its gonna be a good werewolf movie  but it was not . it was not scary at all  acting was good  plot was horrible  the military bid was just plain stupid . i think the sci  fi channel could of done better than this piece of crap . the movie made it sound like arron was going to turn into a werewolf  instead he turned psycho and bit some doctor  s throat out . if you have read some of my other reviews on other movies  there all positive  but this one is not simply because the story was terrible . one out of   max . im sure you all were expecting some werewolf flick  but i bet you didn  t expect this . beyond loch nes was way better than this movie  heck  any movie thats on the sci  fi channel is better than this movie .  
greetings again from the darkness . how rare it is for a film to examine the lost soul of men in pain . adam sandler stars as charlie  a man who lost his family in the     tragedy  and has since lost his career  his reason to live and arguably  his sanity . don cheadle co  stars as sandler  s former dental school roommate who appears to have the perfect life  that sandler apparently had prior to      .  br    br   of course the parallels in these men  s lives are obvious  but it is actually refreshing to see men  s feelings on display in a movie . . . feelings other than lust and revenge  that is . watching how they actually help each other by just being there is painful and heartfelt . writer  director mike binder   the upside of anger   and sandler  s accountant in this film  really brings a different look and feel to the film . some of the scenes don  t work as well as others  but overall it is well written and solidly directed .  br    br   sandler and cheadle are both excellent . sandler  s character reminds a bit of his fine performance in  punch drunk love   but here he brings much more depth . cheadle is always fine and does a nice job of expressing the burden he carries . . . just by watching him work a jigsaw puzzle .  br    br   support work is excellent by jada pinkett smith  as cheadle  s wife   liv tyler  as a very patient psychiatrist   saffron burrows  in an oddly appealing role   donald sutherland as an irritated judge and melinda dillon and robert klein as sandler  s in  laws .  br    br   the film really touches on how the tragic events of that day affected one man so deeply that he is basically ruined . in addition to the interesting story and some great shots of nyc  you have to love any film that features vocals from chrissy hynde  bruce springsteen and roger daltrey . . . as well as eddie vedder impersonating daltrey . not exactly a chipper upbeat film  but it is a quality film with an unusual story .  
the plot sounded like it had promise . to be honest i did not watch the entire movie . after about an hour into the movie i had to make a decision . is this movie worth watching until it conclusion  the answer was clearly no  it was not the fact that the human body could not receive a transplant from a different species without rejecting it . nor the premise that he was being chased by secret government authorities for an human  wolf transplant . it was because the movie was badly written  acting lacked emotion and i did not understand the several dream sequences with the wolves and buffaloes . when he was running to the zoo with a dog pack and leaving them at the front of the zoo gate the saying  if you can  t run with the big dogs don  t leave the porch  kept running through my bored mind . save yourself the time and skip this movie . i can guarantee if you do dare to watch it you will sit there slack jawed as i did wondering why anyone waste money  time  energy and effort to make this insulting outrage to american cinema .  
this movie was amazing  it is the kind of movie where you watch it and rather than look at other movies by actor you look at other movies by director  writer . sandler did a good job working a character outside of his comfort zone and the always good cheadle did a great job too . this movie is great for a mature intelligent audience . the acting was fantastic and can only be surpassed by the writing and directing of the film . this film focuses on the real americans  the past generation  no stereotypes or racism just people who have come together and realized the true meaning of life . this film is about loss and coping . instead of picking on psychiatry  it defines it  not as someone who heals you magically  but rather through the necessity of talking out your feeling to an impartial someone you can trust will not judge you  but rather will guide you though your thoughts . this movie is all round amazing   
this movie has some fatal flaws in it  how someone could walk through an open back door of a highly secure medical facility is unbelievable . then this same person just walks around the facility and enters the dr .  s office  is just bad writing or bad editing .  br    br   very very very predictable movie .  br    br   i am not sure how this film got made  except it is was filmed in canada  and probably received a government grant .  br    br   i must say the person playing aaron  cory monteith  did a good job .  br    br   unless you are really bored and there is nothing else to watch on television then i would say it will kill some time  but otherwise  it is a movie no actor would want on their resume .  
love hurts . that  i think  is the main message mike binder  s newest film reign over me brings across . whether that love has caused your relationship to become stagnant  or has brought anger from the one you love cheating for years  or has broken your heart to the point of being unable to open yourself up to the world  love hurts . the great thing about this film  however  is not in its portrayal of these lost souls trying to let their past heartbreaks go  but in the eventual restart of new bonds for the future . no one in this drama is perfect they are all at some degree trapped emotionally in relationships that they can  t free themselves from alone . there is some heavy subject material here and i credit binder for never making the story turn into a political diatribe  but instead infusing the serious moments with some real nice comedic bits allowing the tale to stay character  based and small in scale compared to the epic event that looms overhead . what could have become a trite vehicle for opinions on how     effected us all  ends up being a story about two men and a connection they share that is the only thing which can save their lives from a life of depression and regret .  br    br   this is a new career performance for adam sandler . i like to think that my favorite director paul thomas anderson was the first to see the childish  pent  up anger in his stupid comedies as something to use dramatically . the juvenility of a character like billy madison allows for laughs and potty humor  but also can be used to show a repressed man  shy and shutout to the world around hima man with no confidence that needs an event of compassion to break him from his shell . anderson let sandler do just that in his masterpiece punch  drunk love and mike binder has taken it one step further . sandler plays former dentist charlie fineman whose wife and three kids were killed in one of the planes that took down the world trade center on     . that one moment crushed any life that he had and as a result  he became reclusive and started to believe he couldn  t remember anything that happened before that day . he really delivers a moving portrait of a man trying to keep up the charade in his head while those around him  those that love him  try and open him up to the reality of what happened and what the future holds . always on edge and ready to snap at any moment when something is mentioned to spark the memory of his perished family  he goes through life with his ipod and headphones  shutting out everything so as not to be tempted remember .  br    br   reign over me is not about charlie fineman though  it is about dentist and family man alan johnson . a man that has trapped himself into a marriage and dental practice that both have stagnated into monotony  johnson needs as much help in his life as his old college roommate charlie does . played perfectly by the always brilliant don cheadle  johnson has lost his backbone to try and change his life . he has no friends and when he sees charlie  by chance  one day  his life evolves into something he hasn  t felt in   years . he revels in the chance to go out with an old friend no matter how much he has changed from the death of his family . cheadle  s character wants to revert back to the college days of hanging out and sandler  s doesn  t mind because all that was before he met his wife . the two men get what they want and allow themselves to grow close despite the years of solitude that used to rule their lives . once they begin opening up though  it is inevitable that the subject of the tragedy will creep up and test the faade they have created for themselves .  br    br   the supporting cast does an amazing job helping keep up appearances for the two leads . jada pinkett smith has never been an actress that impressed me and throughout the film played the tough as nails wife nicely  but it is her final scene on the phone with cheadle that really showed me something different and true . liv tyler is a bit out of her element as a psychiatrist  but the movie calls her on this fact and makes the miscasting  perfect casting . the many small cameos are also effective  even writer  director mike binder  s role as sandler  s old best friend and accountant   my only gripe here is why he feels the need to put his name in the opening credits as an actor when it is everywhere  considering it is his film  . last but not least is the beautiful saffron burrows . she is a great actress and plays the love  crushed divorce trying to put her life back together wonderfully . a role that seems comic relief at first  but ends up being an integral aspect for what is to come .  br    br   binder has crafted one of the best dramatic character studies i have seen in a long time . the direction is almost flawless   the blurring between cuts and characters in the fore  background really annoyed me in the beginning   the acting superb  and the story true to itself  never taking the easy way out or wrapping itself up with a neatly tied bow at the conclusion . even the music was fantastic and used to enhance  not to lead us emotionally   why after two great uses of the titular song by the who did binder feel the need to use the inferior eddie veddar remake for the end  i don  t know  but it did unfortunately stick out for me  . reign over me is a film about love and how although it can cause the worst pain imaginable  it can also save us from regret and allow us to once again see the world as a place of beauty and hope .  
i couldn  t believe that this movie dates from      it had all the looks of a below  average seventies horror  flick . didn  t they have any knowledge of modern special effects or cgi    didn  t they know that in the post  millennium the violence in a supposed horror  and  or scifi  movie should at least be a little bit graphic  or did i get the purpose wrong  was it supposed to be a deep and meaningful story of man and animal  bound together in the big cycle of life  or a warning to mankind not to mess with nature  or something like that   it doesn  t really matter  either way it turned out wrong and to me this movie failed on all accounts .  br    br   first of all the premise is very improbable . if at a given time you  re capable of replacing a total eye  no responsible medical scientist would start his very first human attempt with both eyes at the same time  that  s totally unprofessional . and to do all this apparently without informed consent of the patient   and why on earth choose for eyes that have a totally unusual color for humans  and make the victim look like a freak   by the way  i noticed that all the real wolves in the movie had puppy  like normal dark eyes  couldn  t they have waited for such a specimen  the story is lame  it  s about this poor guy aaron who gets these weird eye  transplants  which suddenly makes him feel like the donor  wolf  or at least  that  s what i make of it  and then he  s being chased by some military men . especially this last bit is ridiculous . i mean  i can understand that the army is interested in the results of the experiment  imagine soldiers with night  vision eye  sight   but as the operation fails on account of the apparent nervous breakdown of the patient  it  s beyond me why they  re out to kill him . why not leave him alone and look for another usable recipient   a volunteering soldier maybe    . and why try to kill everyone else that  s involved with poor aaron  isn  t that a bit steep   who the hell are these militaries anyway  i hope not the us army or the government  they behave like psychopaths  walking around the hospital waving automatic weapons  raiding private apartments like they  re after some public enemy    and displaying during the ultimate show  down in the woods a total lack of discipline  like a bunch of frightened schoolchildren  panicking and shooting randomly around .  br    br   aaron  for some unfathomable medical reason  feels like a wolf after the transplantation of the eyes . why would that be    he suddenly sees visions of wandering wolves . what is this  are we supposed to believe that the memories of the donor  wolf are situated in it  s eye  balls    and that the recipient of these eye  balls also adopts the wolf  s craving for red  life   meat and can jump off of a   feet high balcony and land unharmed on his all  fours like a cat  can a wolf even do that     .  br    br   the acting  or the lack thereof  didn  t help the credibility of all this either everyone stumbles through their lines like wooden dolls  especially this indian girl  she may be pretty but she can only come up with one expression  vexed  and some disinterested mumblings about the force of nature  and it beats me why aaron all of a sudden is all over her  but hey  there probably had to be at least one love  scene   . i really sympathized with actor cory monteith  who seems like a nice guy with a handsome enough face  but they didn  t give him much to go with . he has to run around bare  chested for more than half of the movie  which could have been fun to watch  but then they had better chosen someone with a more impressive physique  monteith really should leave his shirt on . his  few  killings and attacks are hardly shown  we just hear some growling and cries of fear and then there  s another victim lying down and aaron with some more blood on his face and chest . not much for a modern sci  fi horror  the only good acting came from justine bateman  and i really like to see how she has matured into a beautiful and classy forty  something lady . she did what she could with her silly lines and she even convinced me of being this doctor with good intentions  but they made her character a kind of a wimp  who gets totally bossed around by the leader of these militaries . what a pity that the script didn  t make her stand up a bit more   br    br   in the end this sums up as being a silly and rather boring movie  hardly scary or thrilling  with unbelievable goings  on  a lot of overlong national geographic  like visuals of wolves running around woods and slopes  who cares      some pretentious indian ramblings about man and nature and an uneven musical score with poppy songs at the most inappropriate moments . i guess the word  superfluous  covers it all .  
i saw this at a screening last night too . i was totally blown away at how much better this movie was than what i expected . not many movies can combine dark comedy and current event drama and not have it fall apart in the conclusion .  br    br   i won  t bother rehashing the plot too much because i think the less you know about this movie going into it makes it that much better . but i will say that adam sandler  s performance was really refreshing and real . he was funny  and much funnier than most of his most recent comedies . don cheadle was believable as always .  br    br   this movie isn  t funny like borat or billy madison but it has a good pace about it . i  d say    of the audience laughed for most of the film . midway through the movie slows down to address the drama end of things and does a really nice job of tying it all together .  br    br   i also thought it was really cool how instead of playing up the whole black friend  white friend thing they chose to just ignore it and focus on the relationships themselves .  
hybrid starts as water treatment planet security guard aaron scates  cory monteith  is involved in an accident which leaves him blind . luckily it just so happens that brilliant scientist dr . andrea hewitt  justine bateman  who works for olaris has developed an operation to transplant organs from one species to another  hewitt decides aaron would be perfect for her first human experiment . hewitt  her team transplant the eyes of a wolf into aaron  he miraculously regains his sight . brilliant  right  well  no not really since aaron starts to go mad as he sees random images of wolves  starts to develop a lust for blood . aaron escapes the olaris building  goes on the run but he is too valuable to just let go  a full scale search is mounted to capture him . . .  br    br   directed by yelena lanskaya this is yet another sci  fi channel offering that is quite simply put terrible in every possible way  i think it probably started out life as a straight  creature feature  but ended up as one of the most boring  dull sci  fi channel films i have seen that doesn  t even feature any sort of monster or creature . hybrid is awful  the script is terrible  i am not even sure who it was meant to appeal to . the initial set  up is ok with aaron getting wolf eyes but then hybrid ditches the sci  fi elements  becomes some sort of horrible drama as it focuses entirely on aaron  s mental state as he wonders around doing nothing in particular with some native american woman . yep  you don  t think the sci  fi channel could make a film about wolves  put loads of rubbish about native american mythology in there as well do you  the dynamics of the character  s is bizarre  aaron is shown as the persecuted hero yet he is the only character to kill anyone in the film  is a fairly unlikable  ungrateful  annoying person while dr . hewitt is shown as the evil scientist yet she gives aaron back his sight  does nothing but try to help him . i mean aaron is given back the gift of sight yet hewitt is the villain  also the regular sci  fi channel staple of us military intervention is present  the problem is why do they want aaron so badly  he isn  t a soldier  while he has wolves eyes to help him see in the dark he  s utterly unremarkable . the script can  t make it  s mind up whether it  s all in aaron  s mind or it  s real  the ending is hilariously bad with a half naked  rememeber this was made for telly  aaron running through a forest with a pack of wolves set to some horrible music that i think is supposed to be emotional but makes it even more funny . there are so many things wrong with hybrid  it  s slower than hell  there  s virtually no action  there  s no werewolves  the film goes round in circles trying to get into aaron  s mind yet it  s all so ridiculous  silly  boring you won  t care one bit  there  s never any explanation as to why despite just having wolves eyes transplanted aaron starts to develop other wolf senses .  br    br   as a diabetic i have problems with my eyes  hell i have had major surgery on my right eye  i can guarantee you that after an operation your eye would be puffed up  you wouldn  t be able to open it  it would hurt like hell yet despite having eye transplants as soon as aaron wakes up in bed his eyes are perfect with no swelling or even redness . there are no special effects  no blood or gore or violence  nothing to excite you . in fact now i think about it there  s nothing even remotely horror or sci  fi feeling about this  it feels like a drab film of the week .  br    br   filmed in manitoba in canada the film looks ok but is bland  forgettable . the acting is poor from all involved none of whom i have seen before  hopefully never again .  br    br   hybrid is a terrible film that is obviously marketed as some werewolve  creature feature  but is far from that  most people will really struggle to get to the awful ending which will probably have you in stitches .  
this film screened last night at austin  s paramount theater as part of the sxsw film festival . we were graced with the presence of director mike binder and stars adam sandler and don cheadle who took audience questions after the film . it is a remarkable and powerful film about what it is like to lose yourself and begin to find your way back . the performances are phenomenal and the story manages to be both tragic and funny in a way that is all too rare .  the trailer for the film tries a little too hard to emphasize the comedic aspects .   br    br   this is a breakout role for adam sandler . while he has begun to transition to more dramatic roles with punch  drunk love and spanglish  this role is a significant step forward for him as a dramatic actor . he deserves an oscar nomination as he continues down to transition to more dramatic roles as tom hanks did and jim carrey is also doing . in this role  he seemed to be trying to channel dustin hoffman in rain man . although playing an autistic man is certainly very different than sandler  s traumatized character  both characters for different reasons are trapped in their own worlds of child  like isolation and confusion .  br    br   don cheadle  s performance is less surprising  but just as good . after hotel rwanda and crash  we  ve come to expect remarkable nuanced performances from cheadle . he has the qualities of sincerity and honesty that comes through in this role . but he  too  is also broken and struggling if not in the such profound ways as sandler  s character . cheadle is struggling with difficulties in both his marriage and in his professional life as a dentist . together the characters played by cheadle and sandler struggle to heal each other in the way that true friends often do  in a way that reminds me of matt damon and robin williams in good will hunting  . they are both searching for that part of the themselves that they have lost and trying to find again .  br    br   reign over me is one of the best major studio films to be released this year . the soundtrack  which is almost another character in the plot is wonderful . the filming in the streets of new york  a city that suffered a great tragedy and has also had to heal itself  is also quite beautiful . the supporting roles by jada pinkett smith  liv tyler  saffron burrows  in a very odd role   donald sutherland  and mike binder himself are all quite good .  br    br   writer  director mike binder has really delivered a story that so many will be able to connect with on numerous levels . this is a story about grief  family  healing  male friendship  mental health  and the meaning of love . reign over me does not disappoint . the film is almost hypnotic as it draws you into the lives of its characters . hollywood would have a much better reputation if it made more character  driven charming films like reign over me .  
i hired out hybrid on the weekend . what a disappointment  a stupid lame attempt at a tele  movie . the guy they got for the lead was totally weak and when running he did a lot looked like he was eating those minty sweets . . . with his backside  the wolf contacts he wore were great  though i feel the actor relied on them too much  as there was nothing menacing about his acting at all . the wise native american indian chick has to be one of the most stony hard faced hags ever seen . talk about a sour cow  she smiled about once for the entire film  and i think that is because she had sex . the sex scene was lame too . they may as well have shown blowing curtains  if you can dig that .  br    br   last of all  and this is a big pet hate of mine  on the cover and the dvd menu  the losers digitally drew in cool sharp teeth on the guy . they were nowhere to be seen in the film .    
it  s not very often a movie can literally make the entire audience laugh  and five minutes later fill their eyes with tears . many movies try to do this  but few can deliver the emotional impact that this film did . adam sandler practically drags you in with his heated and often violent outbursts  but also makes you laugh when the shadow of his past isn  t pulling him down . i  m not going to ruin anything  but there is one scene in particular that should have your eyes watering and lip quivering . even the most macho of men would have to be heartless bastards to not feel something while watching this movie . don cheadle gives another great performance  but is out  shined by sandler . liv tyler and jada pinkett smith give solid performances  but nothing in the line of the two leading roles . sandler  s humor is still present  which actually saved this film from being border  line depressing . there are several laughs to be had  but don  t think you will stay there long  because it gets serious again without much warning .  br    br   i could go on and on about how well this movie hit on just about every emotion the human body contains  but i will cut this one short . i feel there is no need to tell you anything more . do yourself a favor and take the time to see this movie . even if you have to wait until it comes out on dvd  it  s     worth the time . a deeply moving film sure to put tears in your eyes and a smile on your face . . . unless of course . . . you are a heartless soul .  
the plot sounds vaguely interesting . . . a scientist  bateman  discovers how to transplant animal eyes and optic nerves into other animals  like humans . a young man  monteith  is blinded saving a coworker at work  the scientist gets a call from a doctor that the young man is a good candidate to be the first human recipient . the recipient starts becoming more and wolf  like  but the effect is nothing more than  weird eyes  and running at night with dogs   for the whole movie  the budget is too low  the dialogue too stilted  i laughed out loud at some of the ridiculous talk   and the acting too inept . long portions of the movie are nothing more than dreamy looks  eerie music and interspersed clips of wolves in the wild . way too long even at   minutes  boring  and devoid of ideas .  br    br   the military want to use the eye transplants to give wounded soldiers back their eyesight  and presumably want to militarize the technology . there  s a silly subplot about a beautiful indian girl  korey  who thinks she can help  using indian wisdom about the wolves . they make love while music heavy on drums and indian chanting is heard  crazy  man  the love making takes place immediately after a gruesome murder  who edited this turkey   a grouchy  medicine man  who spouts platitudes seems to do little  except for adding atmosphere .  br    br   here  s two ridiculous scenes . a worker at the research lab goes into the animal room to discover the monkeys have been let out of their cages . she gets scared  looks left at the monkeys  turns right  turns left  turns right  turns left . . this goes on for a while  who edited this    . run out of the damn lab  it was so stupid i started laughing . another ridiculous scene  our hero is at home  escapes out a window as the heavily armed military arrive  he leaves the window open  the military guys go to the open window  look out the window  they say  looks like he was here   and leave  he went out the open window  guys   crazy .  br    br   near the end of the movie  military guys are firing machine guns over and over at trees  when obviously nothing is there  easier to place the squibs i guess . they have  machine guns which have cut down trees  but decide to fight our hero with  knife    shoot the guy   who wrote this trash   there  s a pointless confrontation at the end  and believe me i  m not spoiling anything for you  there  s not enough plot to spoil .  br    br   i figure the whole thing was a tax write  off or a rush job to make use of unused budget money left over from some better movie .  
i just got back from a screening a couple of hours ago  and i was very happy with the movie when i left it . it  s very intense  and the closest i  ve come to crying in a movie in quite some time . that is a credit to adam sandler  who delivers a magnificent performance on many levels  and who probably deserves an oscar nom for it  were it not coming out so early in the year . don cheadle gives his usual superb performance playing the straight man to adam  s disturbed .  br    br   there is some humor  but most of it is really only funny in comparison to the tearjerking moments  as adam deals with his loss and don struggles to help him . adam plays two levels very well . . . when he is mentally stable he is funny and likable  but when he is  well  less stable he  s powerful and dark .  br    br   i recommend it for anyone who likes intense mental dramas about difficult friendship and loss .  
oh a vaguely once famous actress in a film where she plays a mother to a child . its being shown on bbc  at half past midnight  i wonder if . . . yup its a tvm  br    br   youve got to hand it to tvm producers  not content on making one mediocre movie  they usually give us two mediocre movies where two themes are mixed together and nowhere to hide is no different . the first theme is a woman in danger theme cross pollinated with a woman suffering from the pain of a divorce theme which means we have a scene of the heroine surviving a murder attempt followed by a scene having her son sam ask why she divorced  and being a tvm she answers that the reason is  that people change  rather than say something along the lines like  im a right slapper  or your daddy cruises mens public toilets for sex  as does happen in real life divorce cases . and its young sam i feel sorry for  not only are his parents divorced but hes as thick as two short planks . actually since hes so stupid he deserves no sympathy because hes unaware that a man flushing stuff down a toilet is a drug dealer  unaware that you might die if someone shoots at you  and unaware that i love lucy is painfully unfunny . if only our own childhoods were so innocent  ah well as orwell said  ignorance is strength  . oh hold on sam is suddenly an expert on marine life  is this character development or poor scripting  i know what one my moneys on . and strange that sam the boy genuis hasnt noticed that if the story is set in     then why do people often wear clothes  drive cars and ride trains from the     s  but as it turns out during a plot twist its the mother whos the dummy . then theres a final plot twist that left me feeling like an idiot for watching this  
this movie is proof that film noire is an enduring style  and extremely worthy of stay alive . for me  it is he best example of film noire since chinatown .  br    br   it will  unfortunately  never get the recognition it deserves . it was never promoted properly when it was first released and has had to build its cadre of fans through venues like vanguard cinema and word of mouth rental referrals .  br    br   i highly recommend that people looking for something more than mindless entertainment rent this movie and delved into its highly convoluted plot .  
although i had heard this film was a little dry  i watch whatever scott bakula is in . at the start of this film i had high hopes for the classic cheesy but enjoyable scott  gets  girl ending and until   minutes before the end it was going great . the plot twist was crazy and unexpected and very clever . i kept my fingers crossed that it would work out and it would all be some horrible misunderstanding  right up until when the credits rolled and i realised that there was not going to be a happy and contented ending . unfortunately i was left regretting that i  d watched it and hurriedly putting on some quantum leap to restore my faith in the goodness of the great scott   
everyone is surely familiar with this most famous of stories  a heartless businessman is visited by the ghost of his dead partner on christmas eve and warned that if he continues in his uncaring ways then he will be doomed to an afterlife in chains . so that he can avoid his partner  s fate he is visited by three spirits who show him visions of christmases past  present and yet to come  so that he will hopefully see the error of his ways before it is too late . a rather morbid tale one might think  but it is classic charles dickens  and also one of the most famous and popular christmas stories of all time .  br    br   to me this is the definitive version of dickens  timeless story it  s the one i always remember watching in school  and i remember being absolutely terrified by it  the ghost of jacob marley  the final scene with the ghost of christmas present under the bridge  and the ghost of christmas yet  to  come especially i found very frightening . how on earth did the film gain the  u  certificate   for non  uk readers  u  is the lowest classification  it means family friendly and children welcome  nothing to scare them etc . . . this is certainly not the case though  as some smaller children will undoubtedly find the final segment positively terrifying with the grim reaper  like spectre of christmas future .  br    br   be that as it may  from the many versions of this classic story i have seen adapted for film  this is possibly the most faithful to the book . most notably included is a segment rarely seen in film adaptations of the original text  that of the ghost of christmas present showing scrooge the two children hidden under his robe  you  d never get away with a scene like that nowadays   . the two children represent ignorance and need  although changed to want in this film  .  br    br   criticisms for me however become apparent having watched it again with more objective and trained eyes  the main one of which being that george c . scott  s portrayal of scrooge seems simply not cold enough . he laughs too much . i don  t want to use the word jolly because of course ebeneezer is anything but  but he does seem to be merely a grumpy old man  rather than the positively unkind  cold and uncaring man that he is in the book and other films . patrick stewart portrayed him excellently in one of the most recent versions filmed  and michael caine  despite acting alongside the muppets  was positively cold . further  the development of the character over the course of the film as he learns more about the error of his ways and grows towards redemption is unconvincing and appears inconsistent . he appears to have changed little by the time he reaches the third spirit  s final lesson .  br    br   but ignoring this one  albeit major  quibble  it is still a spellbinding and ultimately heart  warming christmas tale  as all christmas films should be . london of course looks like the perfect picturesque quaint snow  covered english town that many americans probably imagine it still is  the truth is that even then that london was grey and grimy  and any snow would never have been so white   and everyone is so impeccably dressed too  even the poor people look rather dapper . but of course it  s a christmas film  so why shouldn  t everything look nice  perfect holiday season viewing coupled with copies of it  s a wonderful life  miracle on   th street and the snowman and you  ve got everything you need .  
i don  t understand people . why is it that this movie is getting an  .            i had high hopes for this movie  but once i was about a half hour into it i just wanted to leave the theater . in the vast majority of the reviews on this site people are saying that this is one of the best action movies they  ve seen  or of the summer  year  etc .  they say it  s an excellent conclusion . wtf                what has been concluded  besides the fact that bourne can ride motorcycles  shoot  and fight better than anyone else he comes across   what do you learn about bourne  s character in this movie          absolutely f nothing        okay  there  s a lot of action  but what  s so great about the action in this movie   i don  t like the cinematography and film editing . the shaky camera effect and fast changing shots were used too much and they get old fast  i didn  t mind them in supremacy because it was still easy to follow and was not used in excess  and made me quite dizzy . i was quickly wishing i had saved my  for something else .  br    br   this movie has no plot . all this movie is is a    minute chase seen . bourne  who you learn absolutely nothing about in the entire    minutes of the movie  is a perfectionist at everything he attempts . there is absolutely no character development in this movie  you know nothing about anyone  and there is a wide array of new characters that are introduced in this installment . some people said that this movie has incredible writing and suspense .                    what writing     what suspense    there  s no suspense . bourne is so perfect at doing everything he does  i don  t think he has anything to worry about . if this is the best movie of the year     i may just quit watching movies entirely      br    br   many people have also said that matt damon  s performance in this movie is one of the best  if not the best  of his career . what performance   how many lines did he have in this movie    i have some respect for damon because he has been in movies that i liked and has played different kinds of characters  but a good actor is someone that you can barely recognize from one movie to the next  someone who chooses different types of roles . not someone who plays the same roles over and over again  which damon doesn  t do  but an example of someone who does is vin diesel  .  br    br   anyways  this movie was a big disappointment to me . i do not recommend this movie but i do recommend the first two  bourne identity and bourne supremacy  and i most definitely recommend reading the three books  which are much different then the movies  .  
i had never heard of this film prior to seeing it  i wondered if it was an independent film  and i was correct  but with a good cast i decided to chance it . basically drifter michael williams  nicolas cage  is in the town red rock  wyoming  looking for a job  and meeting bar owner wayne brown  pleasantville  s j . t . walsh  he is given a large sum of money  mistaken for a hit  man he has hired to kill his unfaithful wife suzanne  lara flynn boyle  . he does not correct him  takes the money  and goes to warn suzanne  and after she makes him a counteroffer  he decides he needs to leave . when wayne knows his real identity  he chases michael shooting a big gun  until he gets in a car with lyle from dallas  dennis hopper  . but things get complicated when michael realises lyle is the hit  man he was mistaken for  and he makes a quick retreat . he goes back to suzanne  and knowing they are both in danger  they plan to leave town together  and add another complication by falling for each other . before they leave however  suzanne insists they go and steal a big amount money in the safe . of course things aren  t going to go smoothly  and wayne and lyle catch up to them  and lyle forces them and now tied  up wayne to go and get the buried money . in the end  lyle and wayne both get what they deserve  michael and suzanne do get on a moving train together  but it is obvious she cares more about the money  and she gets what she deserves too . also starring craig reay as jim  vance johnson as mr . johnson  timothy carhart as deputy matt greytack  dwight yoakam as truck driver and robert apel as howard . the performances  apart from maybe a lame boyle  are all fine and dandy  and it has got quite a good film noir feel for a black comedy thriller . very good   
although this isn  t a  great film   there  s something compelling and memorable about it . like another commenter on the film  i saw this in childhood . it  s been thirty three years since      but i have never forgotten the story or its ridiculously cumbersome title . see it if you have the opportunity . you  ll feel like a voyeur of small town life as it evolves through the decades . more than any other film  this one brings a human face to the historical drama of early twentieth century  progress .  it  s engaging enough for a young viewer and memorable enough for an older one . furthermore  it  s easy to like the characters and watch their passage through time .  
one thing i always liked about robert ludlum thrillers is just when you think you have it figured out  it goes in a completely different direction . there are so many twists and turns in this film that i have a sore neck from watching .  br    br   one thing i also like about director john dahl  kill me again  rounders  unforgettable  is that he can be depended upon to direct and  in this case  write  with his brother rick  a good story .  br    br   now  add nick cage  dennis hopper  lara flynn boyle  and j . t . walsh to the cast and you have a story that will keep your interest even if they are playing characters that all of them have perfected . dahl seems to bring out the best in folks  and this will keep you interested  and guessing  until the very end .  
this low  grade universal chiller has just been announced as an upcoming dvd release but  intended as part of a collection of similar movies that i already had in my possession  i decided to acquire it from other channels rather than wait for that legitimate release . which is just as well  since the end result was not anything particularly special  if decently atmospheric at that   for starters  the plot is pretty weak  even though in a way it anticipates the vincent price vehicle theatre of blood       albeit without any of that film  s campy gusto . what we have here  in fact  is a penniless sculptor  martin kosleck   whom we even see sharing his measly plate of cheese with his pet cat   who  upon finding himself on the receiving end of art critic alan napier  s vitriolic pen one time too many  decides to end it all by hurling himself into the nearby river . however  while contemplating just that action  he is anticipated by rondo hatton  s escaped killer dubbed  the creeper  and  naturally enough  saves the poor guy  s life with the intention of having the latter do all the dirty work for him in gratitude  although it is supposedly set in the art circles of new york  all we really see at work is kosleck and commercial painter robert lowery  who keeps painting the same statuesque blonde girl joan shawlee over and over in banal poses  how is that for art   who  conveniently enough  is engaged to a rival art critic  virginia grey  of napier  s  before long  the latter is discovered with his spine broken and lowery is suspected but then investigating detective bill goodwin gets the bright idea of engaging another critic to publish a scathing review of lowery  s work  i did not know that publicity sketches got reviewed    so as to gauge how violent his reaction is going to be  in the meantime  kosleck deludes himself into thinking that he is creating his masterpiece by sculpting hatton  s uniquely craggy  and recognizable  visage which  needless to say  attracts the attention of the constantly visiting grey  we are led to believe that she lacks material for her weekly column  much to the chagrin of both artist and model . bafflingly  although the creeper is fully aware of how grey looks  thanks to her aforementioned haunting of kosleck  s flea  bitten pad   he bumps off shawlee  who had by then become goodwin  s girl   in lowery  s apartment and  overhearing kosleck talking to  you guessed it  grey about his intention to dump him as the fall guy for the police  sends the slow  witted giant off his deep endeven down to destroying his own now  completed stony image . curiously enough  although this was hatton  s penultimate film  his name in the credits is preceded by the epithet  introducing    
red rock west is one of those rare films that keeps you guessing the entire time as to what will happen next . nicolas cage is mistaken for a contract killer as he enters a small town trying to find work . dennis hopper is the bad guy and no one plays them better . look for a brief appearance by country singing star dwight yoakam . this is a serious drama most of the time but there are some lighter moments . what matters is that you will enjoy this low budget but high quality effort   
this is a typical late universal horror flick its technically comptent  if by the numbers  with a cookie cutter plot and some serious overacting . the most interesting part of this film is its stunt casting of rondo hatton  a man with a bone disease as the film  s  monster  . its sad to see this man exploited  but he probably made good use of the money they paid him . hatton is less horrifying than the studio hoped  as i more often felt pity over fear or even loathing . martin koslack is on board as the film  s mad artist  and he is very amusing in this part . i for one enjoy seeing koslack in just about anything for some reason the man amuses me . the only other part of the film that entertained me is the film  s absurd take on the art world . here we are shown evil art critics who revel in their ability to break artists this is side by side with the film  s male  hero  who is an  artist  who paints . . . get this . . . pin up girls . somehow our hero  s work is reviewed side by side with the villan  s absurdist sculpture . also amusing is the film  s chief nasty critic  who at one point claims that he despises the hero  s pin up art because  women like that don  t exist  to which our heroine replies with an assurance that the critic just doesn  t get out enough . finally  there  s a bit of a subplot about the heroine  s  who is an art critic herself  domestication by the leading man . . . . completely anti  feminist and ridiculous to witness . overall this film is a rather mediocre picture with a few amusing elements .  
like many of you i am a great fan of the real thing  the     s noir films  but red rock west was a real treat for all of us longing for the past . the term  neo  noir  has been so often used inappropriately in the last ten years that it has lost its meaning and its impact . john dahl  s film on the other hand  truly deserved to be described as such . the casting is perfect all around and would have felt right at home with tay garnett or jacques tourneur . the plot is so tight that you are hooked within the first fifteen minutes . james m . cain would have appreciated it . many contemporary films leave me wondering why they don  t make them like they used to  and i  m not even that old . movies such as red rock west give us hope for the future while paying tribute to the past .  
the peculiar charisma of martin kosleck brings a certain believability to his character of the frustrated artist . he imbues his dialog with an odd sense of realism  making the sculptor marcel a convincing individual . the character manages to come across as a real person and not so much a typical b movie villain .  br    br   the story line is nothing to write home about  and many scenes are dull . what makes it work is the strange chemistry between kosleck and rondo hatton as the creeper . kosleck  s talkative  philosophical character is contrasted with hatton  s low key  monosyllabic approach . the character of the creeper isn  t developed much beyond a basic monster level  but hatton suggests undeveloped possibilities and makes you wonder about his back story .  br    br   this movie was on shock theater a lot when i was a kid  so i have a certain nostalgic fondness for it . it  s worth seeing once  anyway  for those who enjoy forties horror movies .  
this modern film noir with its off beat humour and dizzying succession of plot twists delivers a story full of surprises  dangerous characters and excellent entertainment from start to finish . it  s impossible not to empathise with the honest  unassuming hero or to be gripped by the ways in which he tries to navigate his way out of the terrible predicaments that he finds himself in  so all you can do is fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride .  br    br   the story of an ordinary guy who makes a poor decision and then finds that the repercussions propel him into an uncontrollable sequence of events from which he is unable to extricate himself is pure film noir . the same is true of the themes of murder  deceit  corruption and duplicity which are pervasive throughout . many of the familiar noir visual motifs are also present  such as the way in which cigarette smoke is lit  the rain soaked roads at night  the heavily shadowed interiors and the lines of shadow  created by louvred doors  across people  s faces .  br    br   michael williams  nicolas cage   an injured war veteran without money or a job  stops off at a bar in red rock  wyoming and is mistaken by the proprietor wayne brown  j t walsh  for a hit man that he  s arranged to employ to murder his wife suzanne  lara flynn boyle  . michael  a naturally reticent person  does nothing to disabuse wayne of his misapprehension  especially as he could use a job and at first doesn  t realise what he  d be expected to do . after having been told what his mission is and been given a       advance  he goes to see suzanne and warns her about wayne  s plan . she doesn  t seem overly concerned about the danger she  s in and offers michael double the fee wayne had offered  for him to eliminate her husband .  br    br   michael decides to take the money he  d received from both parties and leave town . his plan fails however  when he accidentally drives into a man who is standing in the middle of the road and decides to take him to hospital to receive treatment for his injuries . at the hospital  things get more complicated when it emerges that the patient is suzanne  s lover and he has two bullets in his stomach . this leads to the local law enforcement officers getting involved and the revelation that wayne is the sheriff   from this point on  things get even more complicated and also decidedly more dangerous especially when the real hit man  lyle from dallas  dennis hopper  arrives on the scene .  br    br    red rock west  has some great moments of suspense   an example of this is the scene in which michael makes his escape from wayne  s bar  and also some great performances from its very strong cast . nicolas cage  s expressions are extremely natural and convincing as he reacts to a variety of situations with anxiety  surprise or uncertainty and j t walsh is also particularly good as a deceptive character who  s always concealing more than he  s actually saying . dennis hopper is intensely threatening as the vicious contract killer  a role he plays with great gusto  and lara flynn boyle looks suitably cold and calculating as the femme fatale . dwight yoakam also provides some good support and moments of humour in his cameo role as a no nonsense truck driver .  br    br   incredibly   red rock west  was originally destined to be denied a general cinema release but has justifiably emerged from its modest beginnings to eventually be recognised as the great movie that it really is .  
this documentary is at its best when it is simply showing the ayurvedic healers  offices and treatment preparation . there is no denying the grinding poverty in india and desperation of even their wealthier clients . however  as an argument for ayurvedic medicine in general  this film fails miserably . although indian clients mention having seen  aleopathic  doctors  those doctors are not interviewed  and we have to take the vague statements of their patients at face value    the doctor said there was no cure    the doctor said it was cancer  etc . well   no cure  doesn  t mean  no treatment   and what type of cancer exactly does the patient have  the film is at its most feeble when showing ayurvedic practice in america . there it is reduced  apparently  to the stunning suggestion that having a high powered wall street job can make your stomach hurt .  
before nicholas cage was a big action star  he was a great actor . this lesser  known movie is where cage gives one of his best performances .  red rock west  was a low  budget  almost un  known film  but is one of my favorite movies of all time . i discovered it walking down the video store aisle  and wanted to see cage and hopper  who also is great in the movie  appear together . go get this one  and i  m sure you won  t be disappointed .  
it  s about time we see a movie that stays unbiased towards these old indian traditions . at times it is clear how most of the  doctors  are charlatans  even lying about how they don  t charge their clients . while they are wearing their gold watches  the  donation  box is mandatory . notice that there are only a couple of people who get  cured  while we see quite a few cases .  br    br   keep in mind while watching that ingesting mercury is not toxic and that the smallest indian bank note is  rupee  while the average salary in india is      ru  month .  
this is a  sleeper  . it defines nicholas cage . the plot is intricate and totally absorbing . the ending will blow you away .  br    br   see it whenever you have the opportunity .  
while watching this movie i got sick . i have been grewing up with pippi and every time was a real pleasure . when my wife came to sweden she was looking at the oldies and had a real good laugh . but this american version should be renamed and never be shown again . it is terrible from beginning to it  s end . how can they manage to make it soo bad . well i guess someone blames the translation ha ha ha . . but they are never close to pippi . may this movie never been seen again and never sent out on a broadcast . burn the movie and save the kids . if you want to look at pippi then look at the original movie and have a good laugh . we love pippi inger nilsson  sorry tami erin you will never stand up to be pippi . . oh yes . . when read the  spoilers  explanation    spoiling  a surprise and robbing the viewer of the suspense and enjoyment of the film .  well i guess the director stands for this . . . you are looking at this movie at your own risk . . it is really a waste of time . . .  
a surprise thriller with more twists and double crosses than a doodle pad . a great cast mixing it up with an intriguing plot overseen by a twin peaks  ish influence in director dahl . nicholas cage is a very underrated actor and shows a great portrayal of a man in a bind looking for the right thing to do . j . t . walsh  rip to a great actor  is always a wonderful villain  as is dennis hopper . it  s such a shame he never made to a higher profile in the biz . i  m sure he has his followers  though . in all  this is a great film that shows you that you don  t need big bangs or a commercial soundtrack to be an entertaining film .  
this appalling film somehow saw the light of day in     . it looks and sounds as if it had been produced   or   years earlier  and features some of the worst songs ever included in a major motion picture . i weep for the parents and children who paid top dollar to see this .  
dahl seems to have been under the influence of wenders  the american friend . innocent nick cage gets recruited for a hit . dennis hopper plays a real hit man . lara flynn boyle is dangerous . the hero gets more entangled the more he tries to extricate hisself . and small town america does not seem all that safer than the big city . like it  s predecessor mentioned above  this movie has lots of plot twists and turns that seem improbable  but all lead to the cathartic self discovery .  
this is another north east florida production  filmed mainly in and near by to fernandina beach and the kingsley plantation . i was rather surprised the company was able to take over the main street of fernandina beach as long as was necessary to achieve the street scenes . the film is pretty  and pretty bad . tami erin is cute  but overacts . eileen brennan overacts even more . good for small kids  or for those who like fluff in large doses . a  from the miller  movies formula .  
the more i watch nicholas cage  the more i appreciate him as an actor . watching this movie now  in       i can see that it doesn  t really fit into the genre of movies that was coming out in the early   s . i don  t really think it can be considered a film noir  but it is pretty dark at times  due mostly to the lighting and odd personalities of the characters .  br    br   typical performances from each of the three main actors  who all did a good job with their roles . i thought  however  that hopper and boyle  s characters were left undeveloped  as it was sometimes hard to understand what they were doing and why they were doing it . hopper is a love him or hate him kind of guy . the plot is really good  and although i found some parts to be very unrealistic  there were parts where i had to hand it to the director  i . e . when he first sees the sheriff  . all in all  this movie is definitely worth watching .      
this movie . . . i don  t know . why they would take such an indellible character as pippi longstocking and cast the singularly charmless tami erin  i will never know . why they would spend money on art direction and some not  all  that  bad special effects  then not bother to edit it properly  i will never know . why the sets and costumes are sometimes in period  and sometimes bizarrely not  why they commissioned such bad songs  why the script doesn  t make any sense whatsoever  not even on a silly  children  s film level  . . . . what were they thinking   nothing about this movie is quite as it should be . every single part is dubbed  and always poorly   every sound effect is slightly wrong  every edit is in the wrong place  every performance is bad in some way . it does manage to create an appropriate atmosphere  despite all the problems  but it never captures the magic that is astrid lindgren  s creation .  
when this initially aired in      my wife and i taped it on our very first vhs recorder . i still have that aging tape  which i try to watch annually . it was the year my first child was born  and seeing a christmas carol in this incarnation brings back fond memories of happy times   many hours of which were spent with this film playing in the background . i finally broke down this year and ordered a dvd  which prompted me to take a moment to write this brief reaction to the movie . charles dickens  story is captured in outstanding fashion here . george c . scott is absolutely amazing and totally believable as scrooge . the supporting cast is equally spectacular . this is  to my mind  a flawless production . little details add much to the enjoyment . the game  similes  scrooge  s nephew and wife play with their party guests is a neat item .  i  ve since re  created it with my high school english students as a brief respite from class work   honestly  i can think of few ways to entertain myself over the holidays i enjoy more than indulging in this cbs production  which was originally sponsored by ibm .  incidentally  it  s fun to watch the old tape with the original ibm commercials . . . which show just how much computers have evolved in   years . amazing how things have changed   bottom line a christmas carol is a timeless story  and this rendition is a timeless classic . enjoy . . . and god bless us  every one   
how sheep  like the movie going public so often proves to be . as soon as a few critics say something new is good  ie   shake  cam    everyone jumps on the bandwagon  as if they are devoid of independent thought . this was not a good movie  it was a dreadful movie .   plot   what plot  bourne was chased from here to there  from beginning to end . that  s the plot . don  t look for anything deeper than this .   cinematography   do me a favor  any  year old armed with an old and battered  mm movie camera would do a far better job  i am not exaggerating here  . this film is a tour  de  force of astonishingly amateurish camera  work . the ridiculous shaking of every  i really do mean every  scene will cause dizziness and nausea .   believable   oh yes definitely . this is a masterpiece of credibility . i loved scenes about bourne being chased by  local  police through the winding market streets of tangier .  i  ve been to tangier . even the guides can  t navigate their way through those streets but bourne shook off    police with speed and finesse . greengrass must be laughing his head off at the gullibility of his film disciples .   editing   i don  t know what the editor was on when he did this film but i want some   every scene is between  .  and  seconds . i felt nauseous at the end of the film from the strobe effect of the  scenes  flashing by .   directing   hmmm . this is an interesting aspect . the film appears to have actually not had any directing . more a case of greengrass throwing a copy of the script  all two pages  at the cameramen and told to  shoot a few scenes whilst drunk  .   don  t worry boys  we  ll tie the scenes together in the editing room  . the editor should be tarred  feathered and put in the stocks for allowing this monstrosity to hit the silver screen   not one but two senior cia operatives giving the tender feminine treatment to the mistreated and misunderstood jason bourne .  putting their lives on the line for someone they couldn  t even be sure wasn  t a traitor . talk about stupid nincompoops .  whilst the evil male cia members plot to terminate any operative who so much as drops a paper  clip on the floor  .  well  all men are evil  aren  t they   except for snags of course  . yes  this really is a modern and politically correct film that shows the females to be the heroes of the day and the oppressive males as the real threat to humanity .   when the you  know  what finally hits the fan  good triumphs over evil  just like it always does  eh   and the would  be assassin gets the drop on jason bourne  he suddenly undergoes a guilt trip and refrains from pulling the trigger  yeah  right . . .   at that very moment  the evil deputy director just happens to turn up  gun in hand and he does pull the trigger .  how did this   year old man run so fast and not even be out of breath  wonders will never cease   don  t worry  there  s a senate hearing and the baddies get pulled up before the courts . well  we can  t have nasty  politically incorrect  cia operatives going round shooting people  can we  how lovely to see a true to life p . c . film of the noughties .              the bourne ultimatum is utter rubbish .  
a lovely old  fashioned thriller coming on like a cross between alfred hitchcock and david lynch   red rock west  follows the misadventures of injured veteran unemployed oil worker mr n . cage as his luck turns from bad to worse after he ends up with an empty gas tank and barely enough money for a cup of coffee in a one ute town in the back of beyond . it has been established right from the start that mr cage might be down but he is not out  and he might be broke but he will not steal  not even in his present dire circumstances . consequently when he is mistaken by mr j . t . walsh for the man he has commissioned to murder his wife  mr cage calls on the wife to warn her of her husband  s intentions . in turn she  in the person of miss l . f . boyle  offers him even more money to murder mr walsh . mr cage decides to leave whilst he is still in front but as he is driving out of town he hits a man in the road . tempted as he might be to drive on  he takes the man to hospital  where it turns out he has been shot . mr cage is detained by the deputies who call the sheriff who turns out to be mr j . t . walsh . events take a further complicated turn when  escaping from custody  mr . cage narrowly avoids being run over by the real hit  man on his way to fulfill his commission . about now you might be forgiven for thinking  enough already   but as it happens on the screen it seems a completely logical turn of events  the narrative flow of the movie at this point seeming unstoppable . mr d . hopper is comfortably cast as the hired killer  like mr cage a usmc veteran . this little piece of serendipity keeps mr cage alive long enough out  think the murderous trio and survive  a little more battered but still unbowed . it is a tribute to everybody involved that what sounds on paper remarkably like a piece of nonsense is in fact a tense exceptionally well made picture with fine performances all round .  red rock west  is a movie  lover  s movie . within five minutes you know you are going somewhere you  ve been before on plenty of occasions  but you  ll be very happy during the trip .  
the last couple of weeks in the life of a dead vagabond woman is told in flashbacks . like the vagabond  the film wanders aimlessly and rather pointlessly . mona  the lazy  sullen  and drug  addicted title character  is not likable and bonnaire does little to make her interesting . although there is some pretentious dialog attempting to explain why mona has chosen this miserable lifestyle  her motivations are never really clear . the episodic nature of the film  involving some random characters  becomes tiresome after a while  making it seem much longer than its running time . it is also hard to believe that an attractive young homeless woman would not draw more attention from men .  
a drifter looking for a job is mistaken for a hit man in a small wyoming town  leading to all kinds of complications . cage is perfectly cast as the unlucky schmuck hoping to make a quick buck and get out of town but finding he can  t escape the title town . hopper does what he does best  playing a psycho known as  lyle from dallas   the real hit man . walsh as a crooked sheriff and boyle as a femme fatale round out the fine cast . the script by brothers john and rick dahl contains delicious twists and turns  and john  s direction creates a terrific  neo noir  atmosphere . witty and very entertaining  it sucks the viewer in from the start and never lets up .  
mona the vagabond lives on the fringes of french society  in a life without meaning  purpose or direction .  br    br   i watched this because of all the stellar reviews  but i  m afraid i must have missed something . the character of mona has little or no personality while drifting through life being rude to people  getting high and contributing nothing to anyone  s life . she  s not interesting or exciting . she  s just useless .  br    br   i  ve seen and known enough people like that there is no secret meaning to what they  re doing . they are just lazy bums . i wouldn  t want mona anywhere near me  as she tends to steal anything that isn  t nailed down and leave her friends in the lurch . sure she  s enigmatic  because there isn  t anything to her . lots of junkies  winos and bums i  ve seen are enigmatic i wouldn  t want to see a film about them either .  br    br   possibly there is something there that i totally missed . otherwise i  m assuming that all the reviews are from people who assume anything done by a french female director is high art .  
red rock west is one of those tight noir thrillers we rarely see anymore . it  s well paced  well acted and doesn  t leave us with loose ends or unanswered questions so typical in this genre .  br    br   nicolas cage stars as michael  an unemployed texas roughneck  desperate enough for a job to drive all the way to wyoming for potential employment . he is honest to a fault  but always on the dark side of fate .  br    br   after failing to obtain gainful employment  michael stumbles into the red rock bar where the owner wayne  j . t . walsh  mistakes him for a contract killer he summoned from dallas  hired to do in his lovely but lethal wife suzanne  lara flynn boyle  .  br    br   wayne gives michael the necessary details and a down payment for the hit on the adulterous suzie . with no intent on following through  michael accepts the money and then sets out to warn suzanne of her impending demise . he also mails a letter to the local sheriff exposing the plot and splits .  br    br   as fate would dictate  michael is not going to be rid of the situation that easy . while leaving in a violent rainstorm  he runs down suzannes lover . of course michael being michael  he takes him to the local hospital where it  s discovered that he  s also been shot .  br    br   the sheriff is summoned and as luck would have it  wayne is also the local law . michael manages to escape while being taken on that last ride and is subsequently picked up by the real  lyle from dallas  played with murderous glee by the quirky dennis hopper . after discovering that they  re fellow marines  lyle insists that michael join him for a drink at  where else  the red rock bar . there wayne realizes his mistake and soon he and lyle are in hot pursuit of michael who falls willingly into suzannes waiting arms .  br    br   as the pace picks up we learn that wayne and suzanne are really wanted armed robbers  on the lam for a multi million dollar theft . getting the money now becomes the films central focus with a series of betrayals  double crosses and murders .  br    br   the film was very well cast . nicolas cage was typically low key  dennis hopper and lara flynn bolye assumed their respective roles with more than ample ability . the best performance was by the late j . t . walsh who was menacing without appearing to be . walsh was a great character actor who left us much too soon .  br    br   marc reshoskys photography utilized many unique angles which added to the suspense and plot development . the film was further enhanced by john dahl  s tight directorial style and morris chestnut  s rapid fire editing .  
because you can put it on fast forward and watch the inane story  without having to listen to banal dialogue  and be finished in   minutes max . come to think of it  even   minutes is too much to waste on enid  blyton  meets  struggling  wanna  be  artists . vomit .  
from the director of movies  last seduction  and  kill me again   comes another movie in the noir style . john dahl created a niche for himself by making movies on the themes of adultery  blackmailing in the early   s . though i did not have much of an opinion in regards to last seduction . but nowadays mr dahl has resorted to directing television shows . its a shame since the man had talent .  br    br   spoilers this is quite an impressive movie which revolves around a drifter cage  that comes in to the town of wyoming for a job . however he does not prove lucky and becomes mistaken for a hit  man from texas by bar owner j . t walsh . he is given the task to kill his wife  boyle  . but cage decides to split after taking the upfront payment without doing it . on the way out of town he accidentally hits a guy on the road  who he then takes back to the local hospital . at that point cage coincidently meets walsh again  who also appears to be the local sheriff . after that cage escapes from his clutches but meets in to the real hit  man that happens to be dennis hopper .  br    br   john dahl has co  written and directed this movie . therefore it goes to show that a project can turn out decent when a director puts his thoughts on screen . the direction is of good standard  however while watching the movie i got a made for tv movie feeling . there were too many close up frames . however this does not deter the movie from being an enjoyable experience . the movie had good pace and the structure was perfect . dahl written the script with good duration of lenght .  br    br   cage portrayed the role as a drifter realistically  though to me his performance seemed somewhat restrained . his facial expressions were on the mark . lara flynn boyle was hot and handled her part perfectly as the femme fatale . her hairstyle was far out and can make any guy go on his knees . hopper played his part well . but i feel he was miscast for this role . he did not convince me that he had the qualities of a hit  man . the role was not written keeping his personality in mind .  br    br   while viewing one will get deja vu of previous movies like  the hot spot  and  a perfect murder  . due to the fact that some sub plots are similar . overall if you are a fan of noir movies  then this one is for you . worth recommending .      
very bad movie . . . . . . . . and i mean very bad . . . the plot is predictable  and it  s eally cheesy  the creativeness of the battle and the dance scenes for the time are the only reason i didn  t give the movie a one  other than that . . . this is def a movie one can def afford not to watch . . . . . i feel while watching the movie  the idea behind the movie was an interesting one tho kind of clich . . . . bringing country bumpkins to the city blah blah blah  but i feel it might have been at least a little better if it just wasn  t so cheesy  very poorly portrayed from idea to screen  i think . the plot is somewhat predictable at times  tho the dancing i can say at times  is pretty good  the break dance battle twist was good . . . . . if u just pop the movie and watch the dance scenes and make up your own dialog maybe it can be a  . . . lol  
an excellent example of  cowboy noir   as it  s been called  in which unemployed michael  nicolas cage  loses out on a job because he insists on being honest  he  s got a bum leg  . with really nothing else he can do  he decides that for once he  s going to lie . when he walks into a bar  and the owner wayne  the late  great j . t . walsh  mistakes him for a hit  man whom wayne has hired to do in his sexy young wife suzanne  lara flynn boyle in fine form   michael plays along and accepts waynes  money . then he goes to suzanne and informs her of her husbands  intentions  and accepts her money to get rid of wayne  if that didn  t complicate things enough  the real hit  man   lyle from dallas   dennis hopper  in a perfect role for him  shows up and michael is in even more trouble than before .  br    br    red rock west  gets a lot out of the locations . director john dahl  who co  wrote the script with his brother rick  was smart in realizing the potential of a story set in a truly isolated small town that may have seen better days and in which the residents could be involved in any manner of schemes . it  s also an amusing idea of the kind of trouble an honest person could get into if they decided to abandon their principles and give in to any level of temptation . it  s an appreciably dark and twist  laden story with an assortment of main characters that are if not corrupt  have at least been morally compromised like michael . the lighting by cinematographer marc reshovsky is superb in its moodiness even the climax set in a graveyard lends a nice morbid quality to the whole thing . even if the writing isn  t particularly  logical or credible   the film has a nice way of intriguing the viewer and just drawing them right in .  br    br   cage does a good job in the lead  but his co  stars have a grand old time sinking their teeth into their meaty and greed  motivated characters . hopper  boyle  and walsh are all fun to watch in these parts . timothy carhart and dan shor are fine as walshs  deputies  in one especially good twist  walsh is also the local sheriff   and there  s an entertaining cameo role for country  western star dwight yoakam  who also graces the film with an enjoyable end credits tune .  br    br   it  s quite a good little film worth checking out . it moves forward at an impressive pace  and if nothing else is certainly never boring .  br    br        
mae clarke will always be remembered as the girl whose face james cagney showed a grapefruit into in the same year  s the public enemy . she will not be remembered for this weird little story about a a hood  s girl who finds that her past will always be with her .  br    br   in some ways  this looks a bit antique for      almost as if you are looking at      s famously inert lights of new york . but don  t be fooled . although ted tetzlaff  s photography is still in the big scenes  there  s lots of movement  indicating distraction to the moviegoers in the set  ups to them . but in competition with the fast  paced stuff that it seems that everyone was doing at warner  s  this attempt to bring the woman  s viewpoint into the genre as a tearjerker doesn  t work  nor is mae clarke the actress to carry the effort .  
red rock west is a perfect example of how good a film can be with practically no budget . all you need is a smart script  good actors and loads of atmosphere . rrw delivers all these and more .  br    br   nic cage plays an ex  marine  injured in lebanon  who is down to his last  dollars after being refused a job on an oilfield because of his bad knee . he roles into red rock and is mistaken by bartender wayne  jt walsh  not quite as his most menacing  but still evil  for a hit  man from texas .  br    br   he pays him to kill his wife and make it look like burglary . only when he gets there  just to check her out . she offers him double to kill wayne . cage just wants to get the hell out of town with his free money and leave the sparring lovers be . but a series of mishaps and setbacks results in him yo  yoing in and out of red rock  back and forth . eventually this leads to a run  in with lyle from dallas  a cheeky and somehow sympathetic dennis hopper   the real hit  man from texas who offers to help without knowing he  s making the plot more complicated .  br    br   rrw never had a big release  thus most of it  s audience discovered it on video or on cable tv showings . viewing it in such a way might make it seem like a tv movie but it  s bigger than that . the slick  slowly  timed direction  moody score and howling desert wind would have all made for a great movie in theatres but the best you can do these days is watch the dvd on a big hdtv .  br    br   the only weak point of the movie i can think of is lara flynn boyle  s boring femme fatale with the nasty dyke  ish hairdo . i certainly wouldn  t fall for her but if you assume that nic cage  s character is in to militant lesbians then you  ll accept it nonetheless .  
the  trivia  page on imdb claims the filmmakers protested because this film was re  cut by the studio to  simplify the plot  . if so  that effort was a total failure  as this is one of the most incoherent narratives i  ve ever seen in a film   i  d hate to have seen it before the plot was  simplified .   br    br   it  s sad to see warren with so little character to go on that even he can  t do anything with the inept material . it  s interesting to see caron in    s mode instead of her hollywood  era glamour garb and persona  but it  s sad to see her haplessly wander through this doing  a  favor  to  her  producer  husband dreck . she would actually later hook up with and marry the director  instead   who  you  ll note  never directed anything again  but did strictly  st or  nd a . d . work in tv from here on out . that oughta tell you enough right there .  br    br   i call this  interesting  because i have an automatic fondness for american films of this period  and this role does add perspective to oates  otherwise fantastic     output  two  lane blacktop  the hired hand  . but the      s detective as fish  out  of  water in     s l . a .  theme  which is the only thing the movie really has to say  is sold in way too heavy  handed a manner . a similar theme would be far more effectively handled two years later in altman  s the long goodbye . and as far as oates playing a hard  bitten guy on a doomed errand  three years on  he would give his definitive performance in bring me the head of alfredo garcia . if you haven  t seen those  don  t waste your time with this   
what we have here is a damn good little nineties thriller that  while perhaps lacking in substance  still provides great entertainment throughout it  s running time and overall does everything you could possibly want a film of this nature to do . i saw this film principally because it was directed by john dahl  a highly underrated director behind great thrillers such as the last seduction  rounders and roadkill . i figured that if this film was up to standard of what i  ve already seen from the director  it would be well worth watching  and red rock west is certainly a film that dahl can be proud of . the plot focuses on the overly moral michael a man travelling across america looking for work . he ends up finding it one day when he stumbles upon a bar in red rock county  only catch is that the job is to murder a man  s wife . he  s been mistaken for a killer named lyle  but instead of doing the job he plays both sides against each other and eventually plans to make a getaway . however  his attempts to escape are unsuccessful and he finds himself in a bad situation when the real lyle turns up . . .  br    br   john dahl appears to enjoy setting thrillers on the road he did it three years earlier with kill me again  and again almost a decade on from this film with roadkill . it  s not hard to see why dahl chooses this sort of location  as it provides a fabulous atmosphere for a thriller the likes of this one . dahl also provides his film with a  film noir  like atmosphere  as the plot mainly focuses on the central character and the word he is plunged into is full of dark and mysterious characters . the acting is largely very good  with nicholas cage doing an excellent job in the lead role  and getting a  class support from lara flynn boyle  j . t . walsh and  of course  dennis hopper who once again commands the screen with his over the top performance . it has to be said that the second half of the film isn  t as gripping as the first  but red rock west certainly is never boring and the way that dahl orchestrates the grand finale is excellent in that all the central characters get to be a part of it . overall  red rock west is a film that you  re unlikely to regret watching . it  s thrilling throughout  and you can  t ask for much more than that   
in the many films i have seen warren oates  i have come to a definite conclusion  here is one talented individual . i first saw mr . oates back in the      s television series called stoney burke . from then on  i followed his career closely and felt he was destined for great roles . that happened in      when sam peckinpah gave him top billing in a film called  bring me the head of alfredo garcia .  of course  his biggest claim to fame was his magnificent role in  the wild bunch  . i have always thought he was quite able to bring any character a certain magic  that is until i saw him in this flop . the movie is called  chandler   a tribute to the iron fisted detectives of the      s created by raymond chandler . because  the synopsis said it was about a hard nose private eye  i was immediately interested . however  i sat patiently through the entire film and found it to be a dull  dis  interesting  slow pace  twisted  confusing saga which if it had a theme or plot must have been left on some dark back room self . collectively and with some of hollywood  s best supporting stars  such as alex dreier  mitch ryan  gordon pinsent  charles mcgraw  richard loo and scatman crothers  this movie had enough power to reach mach five  however  it fizzled on the launchpad and went no where . as a result  one of my favorite actor  s got stuck in a poorly made vehicle which never got off the ground .   
as others have commented  i checked this out after siskel and ebert listed this as one of their top   movies of the year . what a gift . i then went out to buy it  just so that i could loan it out .  br    br   best quote  dwight yoakum stops his truck when he realizes that someone  cage  is on top of his cab . when cage peers down  he apologizes .  i  m sorry if i scared you .  yoakum thrusts his pistol in cage  s face with  does this look like i  m scared   great bit of humor after an exciting  and temporary  escape .  br    br   there really was a sense of fun to this . the constant sighting of the  welcome to red rock  sign elicits a groan and a smiling head shake . the music created a hunting  eerie quality to the film reminiscent of  twin peaks  . unlike  twin peaks   though  it doesn  t spoil things by going too far into the outlandish  needing to  top  itself .  br    br   i admit watching the credits      times . you see  they had yoakum  s  thousand miles from nowhere   perfectly chosen  playing as a freight train curved around down to the desert floor . . with snow  capped mountains in the distance . this was incredible  fluid framing . further  i  ve never seen a better unification of sight and sound on film . also  it totally fit the story .  
i saw this film when it was first released . the memory of how bad it was has stayed with me almost forty years . i didn  t want to trust my own sentiments about the movie when i saw it  so i consulted a movie review published in a major metropolitan newspaper the next day  sentiment confirmed  the reviewer wrote that the movie was incoherent  indecipherable  and uninspiring . a little research reveals that the producer was star leslie caron  s husband  thus the whiff of nepotism suggests the beginning for this awful film . the film  s roster of many capable actors  caron  warren oates  scatman crothers  gloria grahame  and james sikking among others  suggests that it holds some promise . but the death of this film is attributable to its terrible screenplay . the  mystery  implicated is so obscure and so little revealed throughout the film that the viewer is left perplexed from scene to scene . the movie seems torn between being a detective mystery and an espionage thriller  but never settles upon one or the other . the sense of suspense is entirely absent . the main characters settle on playing dry  emotionless types in a fashion that inspires no empathy whatsoever . the cinematography is pedestrian . the result is that the hapless viewer loses interest in the characters  the plot  and  in the end  the film itself . i am little surprised that there is no version of this pathetic film available to purchase . i hope that if tcm finds a print of this film and feels compelled to air it that it is safely relegated to the     am slot .  
much to your presumable happiness fair readers  cage and hopper did meet and fortunately not in a lynch moviebecause red rock west is way better than any lynch movie  . nicolas cage is a thirdrate actor  the porcelain babe is a surrogate femme fatal  only daddy hopper is as mean as ever  . red rock west is  despite the trite cast  one of my favorite american thrillers in a word  a thriller with some twists .  br    br   one notices mainly the gusto  the awesome pace  the thrills  the nice suspense  lara flynn boyle  s cute tight small ass  cage  s enviable physical shape  though undeniably ugly  with sharp  bird features  thick eyebrows and thin  rare hair  cage displayed a fine overall shape    hopper  s consummate routine  some moderately but truly funny moments  cage  s play with his intended persona  hopper  s rigid  psychopathic allure  lara  s meanness  cage seems a roamer  the archetypal gloomy roamer of the noir cinema  hungry  tough if needed  naive  dirty  tired . lara flynn boyle performs as the cold mean seductress  walsh as her heartless husband  and hopper as the lynchian hit  man he  s already done before .  br    br   cage looks indeed rather groggy or dizzy or very confused and having a severe hangover . but this might be his regular look .  
former private eye  turned  security guard ditches his latest droning job and is immediately offered a chance to return to his previous profession . his assignment to tail a mysterious french woman newly arrived in california . . . and apparently wanted by suit  and  tie racketeers . unsuccessful attempt to update the film noir genre  without enough sting or wit  or involving plot dynamics  in the screenplay . director and co  scenarist paul magwood  who later claimed the picture was edited without his involvement  doesn  t give off the impression of having high regard for the    s films his  chandler  was borne from his nostalgia is appropriately rumpled  but also bitter  tinged and somewhat indifferent . the handling is curiously  commendably low  keyed  and warren oates is well  cast as this    s variant on the  private dick  archetype  but the movie doesn  t have any snap . nice to see leslie caron and gloria grahame in the cast   though neither has much to do  and caron  s hot  and  cold running character is exasperating throughout . vivid cinematography by alan stensvold  nice location shooting  but it fails to come to any kind of a boil .     from   
red rock west        br    br   nicolas cage gets embroiled in a deadly crime without at first knowing it  and the dominos lead to increasing peril  adventure and misadventure in the wild forlorn american west of the     s . red rock west is often brutal and sometimes hilarious  and cage pulls off the mixture with his usual sardonic wit and wary ease .  br    br   is the plot over the top  yes . is dennis hopper perfect as a crazed  almost likable killer  yes . does cage stand a chance  well  you have to watch and see . it never lets up  and it took me by surprise the first time i saw it . on second viewing yesterday  i was surprised at how well it held up  how well constructed it was  and how macabre and funny it was at the same time .  br    br   director ron dahl  who also helped write  is known more for his tv work  but with rounders and this film he shows a deft hand with sensational plots . it  s saved by its humor by the way  and by the caricatures . the bar is sleazy  the cops questionable . and don  t miss a really inspired cameo by dwight yoakam as a truck driver .  
according to imdb  as well as to every other website that holds a review this  thing  doesn  t have a director . well  that would surely explain a lot  just a bunch of people that gathered together to shoot some perverted porn sequences and throw in an ultra  thin storyline about devil  worshiping and women sacrifices inside the walls of a secluded sanitarium .  hardgore  is a prime example of totally demented    s smut  as it  s really made with a minimum of production values and scripting inspiration . horror movies about satanic cults were hugely popular during the early    s and pornography as well  so why not combine the two  here we have a simplistic story about a young nymphomaniac girl who  s committed to a mental asylum  and from the first night already  she  s drawn into a network of drugs  psychedelic orgies  rape  torture and dildo  action . really  a lot of dildo  action . the friendly lesbian nurse tries to warn her  but she has her throat slit even the same night . the horror aspects are truly poorly elaborated  going from laughably un  scary satan masks to virulent severed penises attacks . the photography and acting performances are almost intolerably amateurish  but what do you expect from a film that features footage of sperm  firing dildos and talking amputated male reproduction organs  leading lady justina lynn is a rather good looking girl with a ravishing body  but most of her co  stars  male  female  are hideous and excessively haired sleaze balls .  
although george c . scott is the only actor in this version of acc without a british accent  he more than makes up for it with his over  the  top and larger  than  life interpretation of ebenezer scrooge .  br    br   particularly effective is when he confronts bob cratchit in his office at the movie  s end . as scott stands before a large window  sunlight casts a glowing mantle over him all you can see is his silhouette . augmented by scott  s voice  a ponderous growl  the effect is galvanizing . . . much like marlon brando  s first scene in apocalypse now .  the horror   indeed   br    br   however  as they say  the very thing that works for you can also work against you . because scott displays such gleeful ferocity throughout the movie  it proves infectious . to put it another way  the  before  scrooge is almost as charismatic as the  after   even though he really shouldn  t be . it  s what you might call the  doctor smith  effect  since jonathan harris used a very similar approach when playing that role and numerous other heavies  stage and screen alike  .  br    br   actually  i myself don  t consider scott  s glib rage a liability . but other  christmas carol  purists might . see the film and judge for yourselves .  
i may not be the one to review this movie because after   minutes of pure boredom and stupidity i turned the channel . the original series only lasted  years which can be said about the careers for adam west and burt ward . put these two  actors  in a stupid movie and the result is twice as bad .  
this movie started me on a nick cage kick . it is a story full of twists and turns  a movie of motives and moves . of  course  dennis hopper was a ham  but j . t . walsh and laura flyyn boyle are the perfect pair to catch the unsuspecting man who has fallen into their web . everything about this movie is good  cinematography  story pace and most of all the end . cage excels at what he does best  it  s not to be an action hero but to be an everyman caught in the snares of life .  
the number of goofs in this episode was higher than the first  . they don  t follow their own rules about spirits where destruction of the body makes the spirit dissolve . this one dropped a second body . that body  and dean  drop about   feet from sam but then they are right with sam . flashlights go out in an unlighted asylum  at night  and we can still see everything . it  s night but light is streaming through the windows . a ghost that died in      s is making cell phones calls  come on  there is no way sam could get a psychiatrist to see him in the same day he makes an appointment and the doctor talks to sam like it wasn  t his first visit . sam and dean knew there were other bodies in the asylum and innocent spirits still lurking and didn  t do anything to help them . that doesn  t seem like a thing the winchester boys would do . oh and after crawling around on a dirt filled mattress and all around a nasty asylum the girls  makeup and hair is perfect and not a smudge on her white shirt .  br    br   while the implementation of this episode had problems the premise was good and a few times i was not creeped out but nervous as dean sat reading elicots  journal . i just knew that an object so intensely personal to the ghost would draw it to the person violating it  s sanctity . elicot didn  t appear . maybe that is a fault for such an important object or place  like elicot  s office  should draw the spirit when a living being touches or enters . when they separate i want to scream . . .  that  s how you die  always stay together and watch each others backs   but they don  t listen to me o the elicot spirit and his special ability was a very nice touch . it  s prime  time show but i do wish the horror of elicot strapping one of his victims down and using anticipation of torture to creep us out further .  br    br   especially because of the lighting goofs i gave this a  . sudden darkness or the flickering of the whole scene  s lighting as the flashlight flickers is all that more terrifying . the lighter coming or the flashlight reviving and instantly a spirit is in their face is shocking . i understand the directors wants us to see his scene but then make a mention or obvious connection by elicot touching an electric socket and the lights coming on . have the characters respond to the fact an asylum with no power suddenly has lights in the one room . blue white lights flickering as electric arcs just like elicot  s finger power .  br    br   seriously  mcg could have done better .  
dennis hopper and jt walsh steal the show here . cage and boyle are fine  but what gives this neo  noir its juice is hopper  s creepy  violent character and jt walsh  s sneakiness .  br    br   a drifter gets mistaken for a hit  man  and tries to make a little dough out of it  but gets in over his head .  br    br   i found a strange parallel in the opening scene of this movie  when cage walks into a trailer in wyoming to get drilling work  with the help of his buddy . . . and the opening scene in brokeback mountain  when the character does the same thing  but that  s another story .  br    br   dennis hopper is at his best here . . . cocky  one  step  ahead villainous  seething and explosively violent . jt walsh  rip  is also great as the man with a dark past  trying to live legitimately  well  almost  .  br    br   there are only  real characters of note here  with the exception of the hard  working deputy in the town of red rock  wyoming . the first twist hits early on  and from there it  s a nice neo  noir adventure in some sleepy little town . satisfying .  pts .  
my kids picked this out at the video store . . . it  s great to hear liza as dorothy cause she sounds just like her mom . but there are too many bad songs  and the animation is pretty crude compared to other cartoons of that time .  
i came home late one night and turned on the tv  to see siskel and ebert summarizing their picks of the week . i didn  t hear anything about  red rock west   except two thumbs up and see it before it went away . it wouldn  t stay in theaters very long because of the distributor  s money problems and lack of promotion  but they said it deserved better .  br    br   the next afternoon  i followed their advice . they were right  it was some of the most fun i have ever had at the movies . as some readers point out  there are a few plot holes and the last   minutes don  t ever seem to end . but it  s well worth it  for the fine craftwork that went into the first hour . it  s the best role that i have ever seen for nicholas cage  but almost everybody seems perfectly cast . dennis hopper goes almost over the top  which gets silly but reinforces how well everything else works . the sets and the music contribute a great deal to almost every scene .  br    br   when i rented it later for my family  it didn  t work as well . the long scenes that built the tension in the theater were difficult to appreciate  with the distractions at home . it deserves your full attention turn off the phone  make sure you won  t be disturbed  watch and listen to every scene  especially in the beginning .  
 . . . and ethel merman buffs  too  will love her loud  bossy vocals as the wicked witch mombi  but this cartoon sequel to  the wizard of oz  is bereft of real imagination  substituting fantasy and excitement with noisy action  and cheaply repeating its footage like a bad music video  . little dorothy is whisked back to oz  which has gone to ruin  and meets old and new friends . the inelegant animation is stuck somewhere between the weakest walt disney and the less  inspired shows from hanna  barbera  however many of the songs are good  particularly dorothy  s sweet lament  it  s a far away land   superbly performed by liza minnelli . you can count on minnelli for energy  which is why the movie perks up whenever dorothy is around . much of it is unmemorable  and i  m not even sure baby  boomers will get a charge from it since it has been out of circulation for so long . as a curiosity item  just fair .  from   
some movies you just know you  re going to love from the first few seconds . this is one of those movies . tracing it  s roots back to  double indemnity   and  the postman always rings twice  in the    s  this was a great example of modern film noir in the    s . nick cage plays the  down on his luck  main character who gets entangled in a husband  wife murder plot  and his luck goes from bad to worse to even worse as he tries and tries to get away from the people  town  violence and threat of red rock west . lots of twists and turns  great performances by cage  hopper and walsh  an hypnotic slide  guitar musical backdrop  and seamless directing make this a real joy . favorite line when cage looks at the empty gas gauge in the get  away car  shakes his head and says  fin  story of my life .   
really  truly  abysmally  garishly  awful . but actor clayton moore  the movie lone ranger  acquits himself competently as an actor . he  s the only one .  br    br   a rare treat  for five minutes  if you want to plumb the depths of grotesquely transparent special effects  southern california as  the moon   again and again and again   and acting so woodenly inept that it may be a spoof . . . except that it  s clear that it isn  t   no humor here  except unintentionally .  br    br   the dialogue may be worse than any of these other aspects  and the costumes . . . well  enough said . plot  what plot  bad guy  well  head bad guy  and his henchmen  including his earthly agent called krog  listen carefully or you  ll suspect it  s a spoof on the name of mcdonald  s founder ray kroc  and his unbelievably inept gunsels  who  however  have handguns that never need reloading as does commando cody  so there are numerous firefight standoffs  .  br    br   enjoy .  
  red rock west  was far and away one of the best suspense thrillers of the    s with a superb script  by john and rick dahl  that kept you guessing throughout and on the edge of your seat for most of the film . it was brilliantly directed by john dahl and featured a marvellous cast including nicolas cage  dennis hopper  lara flynn boyle and especially j . t . walsh  in a memorable performance  making this a riveting and captivating thriller not to be missed . the film never had much publicity on release  in fact i first caught up with it on tv  and is therefore one of those special little gems that you have to seek out but this unique film is now slowly gaining a cult following .  br    br   nicolas cage is michael williams who is broke and out of work when he finds himself in the small town of red rock . mistaken for a contract killer named lyle from dallas he is shocked to be offered        to murder the wife of bar owner wayne brown  the excellent j . t . walsh  . he plays along with the plan and decides he should go and warn brown  s wife suzanne  lara flynn boyle  but then the plot thickens and there are so many twists  turns and surprises  and double dealings  that cage is thrown from one crisis to another and finds himself trapped in a terrible situation he can  t drag himself out of  then just to complicate matters even further the real lyle turns up to carry out the contract killing  played by everyone  s favourite heavy dennis hopper  . when hopper discovers what has happened he goes after cage but no one could forsee the surprising events that follow .  br    br   some favourite lines from the film  br    br   nicolas cage  to lara flynn boyle    i hate to see an innocent woman get hurt but it  s an awful lot of money  .  br    br   j . t . walsh  to cage    michael williams . well  michael  you  re going to be spending some time with us till we get to the bottom of this  .  br    br   boyle  to cage    you  re not a killer   . cage  that  s right  no . but the guy i  m supposed to be just rode into town so you gotta get out of here  .  br    br   boyle  to cage    o . k . how you  re going to explain impersonating a hired killer and taking        from my husband   .  br    br   an extraordinarily entertaining little thriller  just   minutes  with a storyline that never lets up and powerful acting by all the principals . any film featuring j . t . walsh is o . k . in my book and  red rock west  was one of his best . how sad it was that this exceptional actor  s career was cut tragically short by a heart attack in     . the most prolific period for  film noir  was without any doubt the forties but  red rock west  is a good modern example of the genre and has jumped right into my  top ten  list of all time favourite films . i look forward to more like this from director john dahl .      . clive roberts .  br    br    
oh  man  how low serials had fallen as by      this dull thing is precisely the kind of serial that annoyed annie wilkes  from misery  . not only the heroes escape the traps by adding scenes that weren  t there in the previous chapter  and that couldn  t possibly be there  tell me that when the baddies blow up the plain in episode  to  they wouldn  t see the characters jump   but i think this serial has the world  s record of stock footage . i mean  most of it is stock footage  and not just from another serials  apparently all the flying sequences come from king of the rocket men  and the cool  molten rocks  scenes of episode  to  is from adventures of captain marvel   but from itself  the whole  trip to the moon  sequence  which is probably the shortest ever  it  s   seconds long and the characters never seem to leave earth  s atmosphere  from episode  is repeated in episode   and episode   is all scenes from previous episodes   ever wondered why mst  k never did episodes      and    well  they had to stop after  so they didn  t have to do the whole thing again   .  br    br   don  t get me started on the science factor . prepare to see the sunniest moon ever  and moon men that can not breathe on their own world  what were they smoking   br    br   and if this is not enough  it  s too talky and the stunts  usually the best thing in serials  are few and far . visually  wise  am i the only one who thinks that commando cody  s bullet  shaped  or is it lemon  shaped  helmet is totally ridiculous  looking  the rocketeer  s was way cooler  no matter how bad that movie was  and man  was it awful  . the tank  like vehicle isn  t much better  it looks like a bunch of kids made it for halloween . the only positive thing i can think of about it is that the actor who plays the hero is homely instead of the usual muscular hunk  hey  everybody has the right to be an hero    but then he  s so unappealing . . .  br    br   not even worth watching for nostalgia  s sake . see captain marvel instead .     .  br    br    btw  check out the memorable quotes section for a real women  s lib pearl  .  
if you like plot turns  this is your movie . it is impossible at any moment to predict what will happen next . nothing is as it appears or ends as you think it will . the characters are all gritty and engaging . cage is at his best . dennis hopper again shows his delightfully sinister side . jt walsh is perfect in his last performance . laura boyle sizzles . dwight yoakum makes a film debut superbly in a cameo . i categorize this movie as  i am having a really  really  really bad day  film . not a slow minute in this film . a real sleeper . this movie is underrated and  sadly  overlooked .  
this serial is interesting to watch as an mst  k feature  but for todays audience that  s all it is . i was really surprised to see the year it was made as     . considering that fact alone makes this a solid  lowly    in my book . the cars used don  t even look contemporary  they look like stuff from the    s . it  s basically cody  the lone world  s salvation  sheesh talk about an insult to everyone else  like the military   anyway it  s cody in his nipple ring flying suit against graber and daley two dumbss henchman who sport handguns and an occasional ray gun thats pretty lame in its own right  enjoy . if you want to watch a really good serial see flash gordan  it  s full of rockets that attack each other and a good evil nemesis and also good looking women  this has none of that . and flash was made   or so years before this crap so you can give it some slack . something made in      this bad  deserves a  . nuff said . give it a  if your watching it as a mst  k episode  those guys have some good fun with it a tweak of the nipples here  a tweak there and i  m flying  and now as an added bonus  i bring you the commander cody theme song as originally sung by joel and his two character bots tom servo and crow aboard the satellite of love for episode eight the enemy planet  br    br    singing at the very beginning credits    br    br    tom servo singing  your watching commander cody . . . . he is the new character from republic   br    br   he gets in trouble every week . . . but he  s saved by editing   br    br   just a tweak of his nipples . . . sends him on his way   br    br   a pumpkin head and a rocket pack . . . . will save the day   br    br    joel singing  his labratory is a boxing ring . . . when bad guys come to mix it up   br    br   somebody always gets kidnapped . . . and cody has to fix it up   br    br   he drinks his tea at al  s cafe . . . and flies along on wires   br    br   he beats the crooks and flies with hooks . . . and puts out forest fires   br    br    crow singing   br    br   bad guys beware . . . cody is there   br    br   you  ll like his hair it  s under his helmut . . . and because we can  t think of a good rhyme   br    br   that  s the end of the commander cody theme song . . . so sit right back with a will of granite   br    br   and watch chapter eight  cause that  s the enemy planet  
in any number of films  you can find nicholas cage as a strong  silent hero  dennis hopper as a homicidal maniac  lara flynn boyle as a vamp  tramp  and the late  lamented j . t . walsh as the heavy . these are the types of roles these four can play in their sleep  and they have done so often enough that to see them playing them again borders on cliche . what a relief  therefore  that john dahl  a master at getting a lot of mood out of a little action  directed this nuanced noirish thriller . hopper manages to keep from going over the top  cage shows a little more depth than his usually  superficial action heroes  boyle is by turns sultry  innocent  and scheming  and one gets a sense of the hard iron of the soul that is central to his character  wayne . dahl  s direction gives a sense of the emptiness of the big sky country where the story takes place while also being intimate enough to show how a wrinkled brow can indicate a radical change of plot in store . the plot twists are top  notch  and one of the other great twists in this movie is that some of the supporting characters actually act as if they have brains . it isn  t often that minor characters like deputy sheriffs have more brains than their headlining superiors . but with a director as smart as dahl  you shouldn  t be surprised by the intelligence of anything connected with this film . an excellent movie .  
the radar men from the moon is a pretty typical fare of      s serials . the special effects are pretty cheap  the lunar rovers are obviously world war ii surplus jeeps with painted plywood over them  and the like . the acting is only so  so . it does inspire the imagination of children  to whom i believe this was directed to . by today  s standards  it  s boring  cheap  and bad . there  s also a hefty amount of stock footage in the first  episodes of natural disasters .  
vaguely reminiscent of great      s westerns  like  the treasure of the sierra madre          red rock west  is a story about conscience  greed  and betrayal . michael  nicolas cage  is a down and out  but honest  young man from texas who goes west in search of work and money . he finds both  but not in the way he had expected .  br    br   the film  s screenplay contains plenty of surprises and plot twists . excellent cinematography  adroit film editing  and moody western music add tension and suspense . the expansiveness of the big sky country provides a wonderful setting . and the acting ranges from good to excellent  with great performances from dennis hopper and j . t . walsh . dwight yoakam  s specially recorded country  western song provides the film with a strong finale .  br    br   correctly labeled as neo  noir   red rock west  strikes me as being something else  as well . the plot is full of amazing coincidences and improbable timing  so much so that others may regard the screenplay as flawed . ordinarily  i would agree . in this case  however  when combined with the moody atmosphere  and the fact that the small town of red rock seems almost empty of normal daily life  the coincidences and unlikely timing suggest a story that  beyond  noirish   is . . . surreal . it  s almost as if fate deliberately intervenes with improbable events so as to force michael to come to grips with himself . from this point of view  the coincidences are not script flaws at all . they are necessary plot points in a nightmarish story of a young man who must confront his own demons . . . disguised as other characters .  br    br   all we need here is rod serling  in a postscript  explaining  in his always clearly enunciated voice  that . . . a young man  searching for himself  stops in a small  almost deserted town a thousand miles from nowhere . it  s his final layover in a journey to . . . the twilight zone .  
i saw most of the episodes of rmftm as a teenager on  cliffhanger theater  running after midnight on a local station some years ago  and then again when mystery science theatre riffed on it in the early    s . time has not been kind to it .  br    br   i can certainly make allowances for the special effects  which were quite impressive for a low budget    s serial  imo commando cody  s flying scenes were better than george reeves  superman  s in his tv show  . and i can also make allowances for the ahem   acting   and fight choreography  . except for the guy who plays the ruler of the moon men . he is incredibly miscast . he looks and acts like the fellow who comes to fix your plumbing  not the despotic ruler of an alien race . even the corny dialog works all right  everyone rattles off their lines like strings of firecrackers  with no wasted time or pauses for things like  thought  or  introspection  . since everyone does this  the viewer finds it immersive after awhile  and even to my modern sensibilities  it doesn  t bother much .  br    br   what really irritates me is the writing and the plotting . i  m not talking about the sunny weather on the moon  or baking soda powered rocket ships  or a flying suit that has controls labeled  up  down  and  fast  slow  . i  m not even bothered by the cheesiness of the resolutions to the cliffhangers that end each chapter . i  m talking about the fact that our supposed heroes are dumber than fence posts and have no cumulative memory . and by the fact that although that the dialog clips along like an express train  the plot goes through the same motions again and again .  br    br   dig it commando cody and his pal are the spearhead of a top secret hi tech science lab charged with protecting earth  or at least the usa  against an insidious alien invasion . but his office has no guards or security checkpoints . they don  t even have locks on the front doors . so the bad guys walk right in and beat the crap out of the cody and his staff . . . not once  perhaps understandable  but several times . they even kidnap his female assistant on the second try . and they never get any smarter . to further prove my point  allow me to point out the way that cody jumps in his flying suit and flies around getting into trouble and never actually seems to succeed in catching anyone . he does this over and over and over . cody also flies his ship to the moon  the woman assistant comes along to cook   stays for about   seconds and immediately turns around and comes back . cody captures one of the atomic ray guns . . . and immediately loses it again to the bad guys because he couldn  t be bothered to lock it up . and so on .  br    br   and you would think that if cody  s efforts were so vital to saving the usa from the moon men  that he might ask for a few soldiers with carbines  a few helicopters and a tank or two to back him up  instead of just working with the local police all the time . this was supposed to be a military operation  but they act like it  s another episode of  gangbusters  .  br    br   it  s all rather hard to stomach . i appreciate that the creators were severely limited in the scope of their story by budget and time constraints . . . and i appreciate that cody is actually a reasonably tough hombre  even though he loses half of his fistfights  . but i just can  t help yelling  door  lock the doooor    when the gangsters simply walk into his lab  or try to blow up the ship and there are no security measures at the landing site in place . . . not even a fence    .  br    br   still  it  s ok . of the three republic serials i  ve watched   phantom creeps  had a better plot  and  undersea kingdom  had more atmosphere  hah   and a better hero than  radar men   but it  s an ok time  waster .  br    br   btw . . . why  radar  men  they didn  t use radar  they used atomic ray guns . shouldn  t the title have been  atomic ray gun men from the moon    
this is an excellent modern  day film noir . . . .  excellent  in that it  s interesting  start  to  finish . there are some holes in here and some goofy parts that make you shake your head in disbelief . . . . . but i haven  t found anyone who didn  t get caught up in this story . the movie has the right amount of action  suspense  plot twists and interesting characters . in addition  it sports some nice colors and cinematography plus a good guitar  based soundtrack .  br    br   i labeled this crime movie a  film noir  because it  s gritty and the all the characters are no good . even the only supposed  good guy  played by nicholas cage  gets himself in trouble by lying and has a quick affair he should  t have . he also does something at the end which isn  t right  but i  m not going the spoil it by saying . suffice to say  however  that the rest of the characters are so bad they make cage look good   br    br   speaking of  bad guys   does anyone do it better than dennis hopper  not many . at least in the  deranged  category  he  s tough to beat . lara flynn boyle is fun to watch for a bunch of reasons . j . t . walsh gives another great supporting performance  too .  br    br   this is one of those films that never got much publicity  but it should have . you  ll have fun watching this . by the way  try saying the name of this movie out loud three times fast without messing it up   
 . . . at least during its first half . if it had started out with the three buddies in the navy and concentrated on the naval action scenes  it would have been a much better and tighter film . the second half of the film is worth it  especially for the action sequences and close up shots of early   th century ships  but it  s like a dull toothache getting there . also  don  t watch this film just because ginger rogers is in it . she has an important role  but it  s a small one .  br    br   the film starts out showing three new york city buddies working the tourist trade and also in good  natured competition for the hand of sally  ginger rogers   a singing candy salesgirl along the avenue . world war i breaks out  the three buddies seem completely indifferent to the struggle  yet enlist in the navy anyways . the one of the three with the least industry as a civilian  bill boyd as baltimore  winds up the commanding officer to the other two  robert armstrong as dutch and james gleason as skeets  . to make matters more complex  sally has fallen in love with one of the three  but doesn  t have the chance to tell him before the three sail off to war .  br    br   the film is a little more interesting on board ship  mainly because of the close shots we have of the ship itself  and also because the chemistry among the three buddies is believable . however  james gleason at age   looks a bit long in the tooth to be a swabby  especially when the sign at the enlistment office said you had to be between   and   to be eligible .  br    br   one real obvious flaw in the film that made me believe that everything outside the naval scenes was slapped together with minimum care is the costume design  or  i should say  the lack of it . in the scenes in new york just prior to wwi we have everyone dressed in the fashions of     and everyone driving the cars of      no effort was taken to bring this film into period .  br    br   in conclusion  if you watch the few scenes with ginger rogers in them and the last   minutes involving the naval suicide mission  you  ve seen everything here worth seeing . the rest is padding .  
this is a film i saw when it first came out  and which i have seen a few more times over the years . it  s always enjoyable .  br    br   one thing is that the comedy does not take sides it skewers labor and capitalists equally . only sid seems outside the classic struggle  even though he  s responsible for it .  br    br   spoiler warning do not read further if you haven  t seen the film  br    br   this is a fantasy  though presented fairly plausibly . ask yourself could someone support most of his or her weight in a single strand of fabric  it would cut through almost any support .  br    br   also  when cornered in an alley  sid uses a garbage can cover like a knight  s shield . cute symbolism .  br    br   someday  i  ll get this on dvd .  
the threesome of bill boyd  robert armstrong  and james gleason play coney island carnys vying for the hand of ginger rogers  a working gal who sells salt water taffy . with the outbreak of world war i  the threesome enlist and pursue ginger from afar . the first half of this rko pathe production is hard going  with the three male leads chewing up the scenery with overcooked one  liners and  snappy  dialogue that quickly grows tiresome . the second half concentrates on action sequences as the us navy pursues both a german merchant cruiser and a u  boat . these sequences are lively and well  filmed  but overall this is an overlong and unsatisfying comedy  drama with a flat ending . for fans of the stars only .  
okay  there are a ton of reviews here  what can i possibly add   br    br   i will try anyway .  br    br   the reason this is my favorite scrooge is because of everything . the sets  outdoor locations  costumes are so beautiful and authentic . the music is sweet . the supporting cast is very well done . one of my favorites is the narrator  nephew  played by roger rees . his understated sincerity is touching and his voice is the sound of christmas to me . david warner is also a totally believable bob cratchit . his is a difficult life  but he remains positive and dignified .  br    br   the best part of course  is george c . scott as ebenezer scrooge . some have said his portrayal too gruff . i couldn  t disagree more . his exchanges at the beginning while cold or harsh  weren  t out of character . he is a terribly disillusioned man who  s heart has been hardened by the vicissitudes of life and his own lust for wealth .  br    br   during the flashbacks  it  s obvious that he isn  t all gruff . this is where we see that there is hope for him . if he was totally gone  his partner marley would never have come for his sake in the first place . and after all  we are none of us past hoping . i think that is a huge part of what dickens was trying to say . when scrooge looks in on his dance at his employer  s with belle  you see him smile regretfully as he tells belle in the flashback that he will go through life  with a grin on my face .  clive donner was smart enough as the director to allow these moments on film . sometimes they get left on the editing room floor .  br    br   and finally  his conversion is so absolutely full of joy that it makes me cry tears of joy every time i see it . his apology to his nephew fred  so sincere  so moving  it is the spirit not only of christmas  but of humanity itself . the joy he brings to fred  to his wife are so apparent . and the line that gets me every time   god forgive me for the time i  ve wasted .   br    br   bravi tutti   
i loved the batman tv series and was really looking forward to this . but they tried to do too much .  br    br   why they had the story of adam west and burt ward trying to recover the batmobile was beyond me . i don  t want to knock burt or adam for the way they look now . . . . . it  s been   years since they appeared at batman and robin  but to see them dressed in dress suits and fighting  badguys  was kinda sad . i would rather of just seen the ex  stars do commentary . the batmobile side story was stupid .  br    br   as for the flashback movie  i think it was too short and left out way too much . it was really just a quick overview in my opinion . i  d like more background . they showed the penguin and joker for about a minute each just to tell the same stuff i already knew . the joker had a mustache under his makeup and the penguin had to smoke even though he hated it and was an ex  smoker . that was it on those  .  br    br   i  d love to read the book . i am sure it has more in it that this showed . like why was there  riddlers or why  catwoman  s or  mister freezes . where was commishioner gordon  cheif ohara  alfred  mister freeze  king tut  etc . the list goes on . like i said even the ones that were in this one were barely in it .  br    br   very disappointing . and really corny .  
my first child was born the year this program came out  and i played the record album for the boys every christmas thereafter . when the cd came out  i bought about ten copies and still give them to friends and relatives as they start families . . . it invariably becomes their favorite christmas album . i recently found several dvd  s  made on dvd  r from video tapes  probably  for sale on ebay . the one i bought was an excellent copy  and it was so great to see the show again after more than   years . there are some songs on the show that were not on the album  and some of the songs on the album were studio versions of the same songs on the show . but both the cd and dvd will stay in our library as the best christmas entertainment ever .  
a woman asks for advice on the road to reach a mysterious town  and hears two ghoulish stories from the local weirdo  both zombie related . but perhaps fate has something nasty in store for her too . . .  br    br   the zombie chronicles is absolutely one of the worst films i have ever seen . in fact i must confess  so bad was it i fast forwarded through most of the garbage . and there was a lot of that  believe me . it runs for just   minutes  and there is still tons of filler . you get some skinhead doing a lot of push ups  plenty of dull kissy  kissy scenes between goofy teens  that rhymed  tee hee  and some fine examples of why some people should never become actors .  br    br   as for the title characters  they barely even have a footnote in the film . why  you get more undead action in the intro than you do the preceding feature  though  considering how pathetic the eyes bursting out of sockets and the eating of brains sequences are  amongst other  delights    maybe that  s a blessing in disguise .  br    br   and to top it all off  it looks likes it  s been filmed on someone  s mobile phone for broadcast on youtube . jerky camera  work  scratches on the print  flickering lights . . . i had to rub my eyes when i realised it was made in      and not     . even the clothes and fashioned look about three decades out of date   br    br   if you think i  m not qualified to do a review of chronicles having not seen the whole film  then go ahead . you try sitting through it  i betcha you won  t even make it to the first appearance of the blue  smartie coloured freaks before making your excuses and leaving . it is truly laughable that anyone chose to release it  and honestly you  ll get far more fun resting your drink on the disc than actually torturing your dvd player with this gigglesome excuse for horror . in fact  don  t for surprised if it packs it  s bags and leaves in the morning  leaving you doomed to watch vhs tapes for the rest of your life . you have been warned . . .      br    br   p . s what kind of    rated horror has the woman keep a massive sports bra on during the obligatory sex scene   see  the movie can  t even get that part right . . .  
if the man in the white suit had been done in america  can  t you see either danny kaye or jerry lewis trying on alec guinness  s sidney stratton on for size   br    br   this is one of the best of alec guinness  s films and certainly one of the best that ealing studios in the united kingdom ever turned out . it  s so perfectly fits within the time frame of the new labour government and the society it was trying to build . it  s amazing how in times of crisis capital and labor can agree .  br    br   alec guinness this meek little schnook of a man is obsessed with the idea that he can invent clothing that will never need cleaning  that in fact repels all kinds of foreign matter the minute it touches the garment .  br    br   he  s a persistent cuss and he does succeed . of course the implications haven  t really been thought through about the kind of impact clothing like that will have on society . in the end everyone is chasing him down like they would a fugitive  almost like peter lorre from m or orson welles in the stranger or even robert newton in oliver twist .  br    br   it  s the mark of a great comedy film that a potentially serious situation like that chase as described in some of the serious films i  ve mentioned can be played for laughs . poor guinness  s suit is not only white and stain repellent  but it glows like a neon sign .  br    br   other than guinness the best performances are from cecil parker as yet another pompous oaf  joan greenwood as his siren daughter and ernest thesiger the biggest clothing manufacturer in the uk   br    br   come to think of it  did paramount borrow that suit from ealing and give it to john travolta for saturday night fever   
it is very unfortunate when a movie such as this is made . a great deal of work and money has been put into a film that is amateur at best .  br    br   the editing drags on  there are obvious mistakes that could have been corrected easily in a second take  and the soundtrack is unimaginative . so much more could have been done with this video movie . i guess they ran out of time  or videotape .  br    br   hand  held shots have a distinct amateur feel to them .  
what a wonderful movie  eligible for so many labels it never gets science fiction  film  noir  with a script and dialog of high intelligence which assumes an educated  cultured audience . . . . . the kind of english language movie only done in pre      england  and shown only in usa art movie houses when it first arrived   and never  ever done in the usa .  br    br   main characters in the man in the white suit       starring sir alec guiness and joan greenwood routinely use polysyllabic  science reference words like  polymer  and discuss and explain concepts of chemistry like  long chain molecules  and then communicate the importance of these to the average man and the benefits science provides him .  br    br   the man in the white suit       is the opposite of the video  game explosion movies which now       dominate world cinema  and certainly dominate major usa cinema . . . . . . . it  s a carefully acted  intelligently told story delivered by gifted and believable educated english actors  who play educated  accomplished people   and it  s all done with comedy  charm  pathos  and sense of irony which ancient greek dramatists would have approved of .  br    br   everybody should see this movie  and someday  somehow  some worthy filmmaker and his supporters should make another like it .  br    br   it  s wonderful .  
in this extremely low  budget  i  ve seen home movies made with better production value  australian utter rip  off of  the burning    friday the   th   a band is planning to make a music video while on a houseboat . they  re stalked by a serial killer who was burned years before . this movie is even proclaimed to be  the worst australian film ever made  in it  s dvd promotional material . that  s it  s only selling point  complete and utter rubbish in every considerable way . perhaps a few chuckles here and there for bad movie lovers  but it still made me want to burn out my retinas .  br    br   eye candy a quick flash of barely existent itty bitty titties in a lame shower scene  br    br   my grade f  
i saw this movie only after hearing raves about it for years . needless to say  the actual experience proved a bit anticlimactic . but still  alec guiness energetically leads a wonderful cast in a jolly  if formulaic  romp through industrial post  wwii england .  br    br   this is the familiar tale of the woes of inventing the perfect everyday product . remember the car that runs on water  remember the promise of nuclear energy  in this case  it  s a fabric that doesn  t wear out  wrinkle  or even get dirty  of course  fabric manufacturers and their workers are horrified at the prospect of being put out of business  and so the plot gets a bit thick .  br    br   guiness makes the whole enterprise worthwhile  and watching him blow up a factory research lab over and over again is quite a blast   those brits . . . always the stiff upper lip when under fire .  the film might chug along exactly like guiness  s goofy invention  but it  s a good ride all the same .  
why was this film made  even keeping in mind the generous tax concessions that australian film investors were given  there can be no reasonable explanation for this film being given the go  ahead . for goodness sakes  the actors cast in this film are aussie b  grade celebs  not actors  people like john michael  hollywood  howson  the original drummer from the band in hey hey its saturday  and the voice  over guy in countdown . but in saying that  this is still very watchable as long as you give it the brain attention it deserves  none . the script is bad  even for a self  confessed b  grade horror  and the acting and film quality is worse . it often looks as though it is a home movie  but even a home movie has  realism  . anyone interested in australian cinema  please  for the love of god  pretend this film was never made .  
  the man in the white suit  is another feather in the cap of expert scottish director alexander mackendrick  whisky galore   sweet smell of success  . the star of the film is alec guinness  whose comedies include kind hearts and coronets and the lavender hill mob  . guiness brings his usual class to the film  and makes it much more than a typical comedy .  br    br   in fact  the comedy isn  t entirely overt . by the end of the picture  it  s nearly become a complete drama . it  s the sort of ealing studio comedy that is calculated not to produce laughter  but a sense of general amusement  like the best british comedy of the time .  br    br   the whole idea of the suit isn  t very original  but the way it is executed is . the film is highly original  and recommended to any fan of guiness or britsh comedy .  br    br    .  out of    
this movie should not classify as cinema . although it is over   years old now  it should never  ever have gotten funding  and is a blight on the australian film industry  which is now producing such brilliant films as  the dish   br    br   the actors cannot act  the music is . . to be blunt  not music  the storyline is completely nonexistent and is a struggle to sit through .  br    br   do not watch this film . it is a complete waste of your time .  
  they were always trying to get me killed   alec guinness once wrote of the man in the white suit  s technicians .  they thought actors got in the way of things .  he went on to describe how he  d been given a wire rope to climb down and  assured it was safe  narrowly avoided serious injury when it suddenly snapped mid  descent .  br    br    people get in the way of things  might be a maxim tailor  made for white suit inventor sidney stratton  fittingly played blank slate  fashion by alec guinness  in alexander mackendrick  s definitive ealing film of     . certainly  he cares only about his work  its realisation  and sod the consequences . and similarly  with the exception of a couple of peripheral characters  there  s almost nobody to root for in this chilly satire on capital and labour .  br    br   told in flashback  the film concerns stratton  s invention of a dirt  resistant  everlasting fibre  fashioned into the white suit of the title   and subsequent attempts by the clothing industry and its unions to suppress it .  br    br   while the industry fears the bottom will drop out of the market  the shop floor stewards worry about finding themselves out of a job . abduction and bribery attempts follow  with both money and an industry chief  s daughter on offer  daphne  the delectable    packs  a  day  voiced joan greenwood   to the tragi  comic end .  br    br    what  s to become of my bit of washing when there  s no washing to do   bemoans stratton  s landlady near the close . a notion stratton hadn  t even considered  and has disregarded again by the movie  s ambiguous coda .  br    br   a superior  if decidedly downbeat comedy  expertly performed  and pretty much answering the oft  raised question of whatever happened to the everlasting light bulb and the car that ran on water . . .  
this absolute trash is based so closely on the friday the   th series that is practically a carbon copy  accept for it being an australian film with people who can  t act .  br    br   once upon a time a young boy got burnt up accidentally during the filming of a music video at lake eildon . now  a number of years later  the boy is all grown up and taking revenge on anybody who comes to the lake to film a music video . it is cliche  ridden and a waste of time and money  see it only out of curiosity  or if you  re an aspiring actor trying to learn how not to  not be able to  act . lead role alan dale used to star in the television soap opera neighbours  but ended up in the x files  how did that happen   
while hollywood got sort of stagnant during the few years after wwii  england developed a very prolific film industry . in  the man in the white suit   inventor sidney stratton  alec guinness  creates a suit that never gets dirty . unfortunately  this means that certain other businesses are now likely to go out of business  how can sidney deal with this and maintain his dignity  this is an example of one of the great movies in which alec guinness starred before he became obi wan kenobi . it  s a good look at the overall absurdity of the business world . if you  re planning to start any kind of business  you might want to consider watching this movie .  
i just finished watching this on tv and what can i say but this is the worst film i have ever seen  i  m embarrassed to be from melbourne  where the film was made . diabolical acting  amateurish makeup effects and a really bad soundtrack . as for the plot  well  thats even more stupid  some of the scenes just left me stunned as to how bad it was . there  s a reason they put these types of films on late night tv  because they  re utter rubbish  avoid at all costs .  
other commentators have detailed the plot and the social parables and commentary as well  or better  that i could  but i would like to join in my admiration for this little jewel of a film . it holds up very well indeed more that   years later in every category  screenplay  acting  photography  set design  sound design . . . it really is a classic of sorts . this was my first exposure to the  young  alec guinness  and it  s obvious from the first frames what made him so special as to eventually receive a knighthood .  br    br   i only rate it an    because it  s essentially a rather lightweight parable that examines human nature but doesn  t really skewer it and because the plot takes the easy way out at the end  rather than actually resolving conflict between the inventor and the mill workers and industrialists who are chasing him all over town . also  a couple minutes of thought reveals the basic flaw in the logic of the screenplay  wear and tear is hardly ever the determining factor in buying new clothes  especially dress clothes   children grow up  people change sizes  gain and lose weight  and go with the latest fashions all the time  and have as long as looms have woven cloth . and if nothing else  the manufacturer would make a fortune providing indestructible material for military uniforms  especially bdus  .  br    br   still  this is a great film . if you get a chance to see it on a classic movie channel  you should .  
houseboat horror is a great title for this film . it  s absolutely spot  on  and therefore the only aspect of the film for which i can give   out of   . there are houseboats  there is horror  there  s even horror that takes place on houseboats . but if there were ever a tagline for the film poster  it would surely be  something shonky this way comes . . .  for houseboat horror is easily the worst australian horror film i  ve ever seen  not to mention one of the worst horror films i  ve ever seen  and a fairly atrocious attempt at film  making in general . the good news is  it  s so bloody awful  it sails straight through the zone of viewer contempt into the wonderful world of unintentional hilarity . it  s worth watching because it  s bloody awful .  br    br   the category of  worst  comes not from the storyline  for the simple reason that there actually is one a record producer  a film crew and a rock band drive up to the mystifyingly  named lake infinity  a picturesque rural retreat somewhere in victoria  in reality lake eildon  to shoot a music video . someone isn  t especially happy to see them there and  possibly in an attempt to do the audience a favour  starts picking them off one by one with a very sharp knife . even more mystifying is how long it takes the survivors to actually notice this   br    br   on the surface  it looks like a very bog  standard b  movie slasher . you  ve got highly  annoying youths  intolerant elders  creepy locals  one of whom  a petrol station attendant  would easily win a gurning competition   and let  s face it  my description of the murderer could easily be jason voorhees . ah  but if only the acting and production values were anywhere near as good as the comparative masterpiece that was friday the   th part vii . unfortunately  houseboat horror is completely devoid of both these things .  br    br   but in the end  this only makes what you do get so ridiculous and amusing . fans of one  time  late show  and  get this  member tony martin will already be aware of some of the real dialogue gems   check out the view . . . you  ll bar up     while the actual song to accompany the music video is so bad it has to be heard to be believed  i can  t help wondering if writer  director ollie wood hoped it would actually become a hit . the horror element is comparable i think to b  slashers of the genre and particularly of the period  but there were times when i couldn  t help imagining someone biting into a hamburger off  screen and seeing a volley of tomato sauce sprayed at the wall on  screen .  br    br   indeed  if you  ve been listening to tony martin recommending this film as hilarious rubbish like myself  i don  t think you  ll be disappointed . any fans of  so  bad  it  s  good  horror should not pass up the opportunity . whether you  ll  bar up  or not though is another matter . if  on the other hand  you are in search of genuine excellence in the australian horror genre  get yourself a copy of the incomparable  long weekend  and don  t look back .  
ealing studios  a television and film production company based in west london  claims to be the oldest film studio in the world . though it has been consistently churning out films and television programmes since the     s  its golden age was most certainly between     and      when it produced a string of comedy masterpieces  many starring the great alec guinness . such well  known titles include  whisky galore           passport to pimlico          kind hearts and coronets          the lavender hill mob          the titfield thunderbolt        and  the ladykillers       .  one of ealing studio  s most beloved films   the man in the white suit   was released in      and starred alec guiness as sidney stratton  a brilliant inventor who engineers a remarkable fabric  an invention that unexpectedly makes him more enemies than friends .  br    br   sidney stratton is poor and unappreciated  but he has scientific talent in great abundance . due to his under  qualification  the only jobs he is able to get are as a janitor or labourer at any of the large textile factories  where he secretly undertakes his own experiments using the company  s own money and equipment . after being found out and ejected countless times  sidney is convinced that he is only weeks away from a momentous scientific discovery that will revolutionise the textiles industry . encouraged by his daughter daphne  joan greenwood   textile mill owner alan birnley  cecil parker  takes a keen interest in sidney  s exploits and agrees to finance any further work . after numerous failed attempts and quite a few earth  shattering explosions  sidney eventually unveils his amazing creation an almost  luminous white fabric that never gets dirty and never wears out .  br    br   if sidney thought that his invention would make him a hero  then he was sorely disappointed . the all  powerful bosses of textiles industry  headed by the frail sir john kierlaw  ernest thesiger   unite to ensure that the revolutionary invention  which could completely cripple their businesses  never goes into full  scale production . likewise  the humble labourers in the workers  union hear of sidney  s creation and also set out to erase it from existence  fearing for their jobs . the inventor  however  is convinced that the ever  lasting fabric will bring relief and happiness to many  and refuses to give in to the demand of others  despite being threatened with violence and offered         in compensation . throughout all his troubles to announce his invention to the media  only one person offers sidney her complete sympathy and support  birnley  s daughter daphne  who is engaged to be married to somebody else but falls in love with sidney  s plight anyway .  br    br    the man in the white suit  is a clever and hilarious comedy  made great by a witty script  written by john dighton  roger macdougall and director alexander mackendrick  and a quirky and charismatic performance from an inimitable alec guinness . there are also a few good  natured swipes at capitalism  and of how big industries can hold back progress for the sake of their own monetary situations  though we can certainly see the arguments for either side of the debate .  
  houseboat horror  is often regarded as the worst australian film ever made and described as a typical slasher film  which carried the promotion  see the movie that can  t get an academy award  . an underground disco band members begins to die slashed to death by burned maniac as they are attempting to shoot a music video on a remote lake in the australian outback . badly acted and written slasher flick with zero suspense and annoying characters . it certainly delivers the goreheads are split in half with a machete  throats are cut and a woman is killed with a horseshoe . if you like cheesy slasher movies you can give this one a try  but you have been warned . at least it  s better than swedish  the bleeder  .  out of   .  
often tagged as a comedy  the man in the white suit is laying out far more than a chuckle here and there .  br    br   sidney stratton is an eccentric inventor who isn  t getting the chances to flourish his inventions on the world because nobody pays him notice  he merely is the odd ball odd job man about the place as it were . after bluffing his way into birnley  s textile mill  he uses their laboratory to achieve his goal of inventing a fabric that not only never wears out  but also never needs to be cleaned  . he is at first proclaimed a genius and those who ignored him at first suddenly want a big piece of him  but then the doom portents of an industry going bust rears its head and acclaim quickly turns to something far more scary .  br    br   yes the film is very funny  in fact some scenes are dam hilarious  but it  s the satirical edge to the film that lifts it way above the ordinary to me . the contradictions about the advent of technology is a crucial theme here  do we want inventions that save us fortunes whilst closing down industries   you only have to see what happened to the coal industry in britain to know what i  m on about . the decade the film was made is a crucial point to note  the making of nuclear weapons became more than just hearsay  science was advancing to frighteningly new proportions . you watch this film and see the quick turnaround of events for the main protagonist stanley  from hero to enemy in one foul swoop  a victim of his own pursuit to better mankind   it  s so dark the film should of been called the man in the black suit .  br    br   i honestly can  t find anything wrong in this film  the script from roger macdougall  john dighton  and director alex mackendrick could be filmed today and it wouldn  t be out of place such is the sharpness and thought of mind it has . the sound and setting is tremendous  the direction is seamless  with the tonal shift adroitly handled by mackendrick . some of the scenes are just wonderful  one in particular tugs on the heart strings and brings one to think of a certain scene in david lynch  s elephant man some   years later  and yet after such a downturn of events the film still manages to take a wink as the genius that is alec guinness gets to close out the film to keep the viewers pondering not only the future of stanley  but also the rest of us in this rapidly advancing world .  br    br   a timeless masterpiece  thematically and as a piece of art       .  
watching a videotaped replay of about  various          spider  man cartoons made me realize why i couldn  t stomach it when it first came out .  br    br   i  m from the old school  where the     spider  man cartoon was the best and still remains the best .  i won  t get into the psychedelic version which is terrible  give me traditional villains please .   br    br   the acting in the new stuff is lousy  read off a sheet with either no feeling or overacting . paul soles  where are you now  this guy was the best at voice acting for spider  man . no one comes close . watching secret wars  a great idea for a cartoon mini  series  made me wince . dr . doom sounds like a comedy version of bela lugosi . in a scene with red skull and doc ock  red skull has no german accent while ock is heavy russian  the old marvel comic hero series from     had much better voice acting . iron man sounded like he was wearing an iron mask  captain america sounded authoritative not like some teenage kid . paul frees as the thing in the   s was the best thing ever . the old voice actors were pioneers and there will never be anyone like them . ever hear mel blanc  s son  no way can he replicate his dad .  br    br   the animation is clunky . okay  so they have all the fancy character shadings and nicely painted backrounds . sometimes you can say more with less movement if more movement looks bad . sometimes when you let the computer take over the movements they become robotic . i really don  t think any of these animators know what in betweeners are .  br    br   the stories are badly written  and some of the lines they give the heroes are horrible . why  for example  when heroes are teamed together for the first time they start fighting with each other  in secret wars  it was a lame excuse that got them in disagreement . i can see if the hero was dark  unknown and mysterious  like the punisher  but why the thing and iron man can  t hold their tempers with each other is ridiculous  then the torch joins in . this is just another of the later comic trends to get heroes to square off at each other for a few seconds because  everyone  wants to see that stuff . give them a better reason to fight and maybe it can be pulled off  but  hey what are you doing here  and  you don  t tell me what to do  are lame reasons . another badly written scene is in the wedding where harry osborne unmasks himself to spoil peter  s wedding . that whole scenario was awful .  br    br   last  but certainly not least  is what another critic calls juvenile violence  meaning no punches at all . in secret wars  the lizard carefully ducked the thing  s charge . but the thing punches the bad guys across an entire block in the comics . he must simply revert to lifting heavy things and subduing a bad guy by grabbing hold of him in the cartoons . sure  these cartoons were not made strictly for us adults but for kids under   . that  s why they can  t have punching  because mommy and daddy don  t believe in that type of violence . but you can blow things up  these cartoons will include that . as a kid before political correctness came in fashion i saw cartoons punching each other . what  s wrong with a punch to the chops  is there really less violence in the world today because those slick and crafty new cartoons took out the punch  i find this the most insulting of all when i watch the new stuff . they  ve written out  the punch  because we could all hurt ourselves .  br    br   kids  enjoy these cartoons all you want  i  ve seen enough .  br    br       rating  
a chemist develops a fabric that never gets dirty or wears out  but it is seen as a threat to the survival of various industries . in this delightful ealing studios comedy  guinness is marvelous as the mild  mannered but persistent chemist . greenwood  with her sensual voice  plays the love interest parker is her harried father . thesiger is amusing as a patriarch of the fabric industry . while telling an engaging story  the film also raises some intriguing questions about science  the economy  and politics . it is adeptly directed by mackendrick  who would go on to make  the ladykillers  and the sublime  sweet smell of success  later in the     s .  
i liked this show  i think it was nothing with wrong with it  only that spidey don  t punch anyone but only for that the show doesn  t suck  some people only think this show is bad because of that . the story was great and it was fun when other heroes appeared like x  men  the punisher  daredevil and iron man  to bad sandman never appear but i kinda like it  best spidey show ever   my favorite episodes are  . turning point  . spider wars  . the hobgoblin  . the alien costume  . mutant agenda  br    br   but there are some episodes that was really really bad like rocket racer and the spot which was embarrassing to watch . and i don  t like morbius and hydro man . first of morbius suck plasma instead of blood and i don  t like vampires . and it irritates me that he was almost the main villain in season  . of course i have to mentioned hydro man  he was terrible  i rather see sandman  his last appearance was so terrible . and i don  t like spidey as the man  spider   br    br   but i guess everything than this was bad   
ok . i  m biased . i live near shrewsbury in england  where this wonderful movie was filmed . it still looks the same now . i remember them filming here quite vividly  and the fake snow on the streets for days on end . often  when i  m walking through shrewsbury i see a street or a house and it will remind me of this film .  br    br   george c . scott  s scrooge is a more realistic character than many of the other screen versions . his physical appearance isn  t the typical miser . scott  s is big and imposing . a man who finds those smaller than himself to be inferior .  br    br   we all know the story and the quotes . the book is one of the most cherished works in the english language . and i don  t believe there are many cynics who would say that people aren  t capable of change and redemption . this film version portrays all of that quite beautifully . george c . scott may be american but he plays the part of the english miser with wonderful skill .  br    br   i love this movie . if you haven  t seen this version i would strongly urge that you do . it  s usually available for a very small amount of money . . . or are you too mean   
okay guys  we know why we watch film like  the invisible maniac   just look at the cover  man   . t and a all over the place  with a lot more t than a  . but . . . shouldn  t there be a story to go with it   br    br    c  mon   i can hear you say   this is just girls gettin  naked  who needs a story      br    br   well  if this were called  the naked maniacs   i wouldn  t have a problem . but since these guys are cribbing from  the invisible man   they need to have a bit of story hereabouts  you know  to keep your mind busy .  br    br   however  all they can muster up is how this crazy doctor creates an invisibility serum and  when he cracks  uses it to spy on naked women and ends up killing a lot of teenagers . and when you see the smarmy  looking teenagers he goes after  you  ll be grateful .  br    br   one star  for the t and a  but there  s a little too much gore for you skin fans  so proceed with caution .  br    br   tidbit  yes  it  s that savannah .  
i enjoyed this film . but i was surprised to see people referring to it as a comedy . it was amusing at times  but really  it wasn  t very funny at all . if i  d been expecting it to be a comedy  i might have been disappointed with the film  but  going in with no expectations  i found it to be enjoyable and engaging . maybe it was because  as an engineer  i identified with the protagonist . i was less concerned with satire of capital or labor  and more into the basic story of a man fighting for his invention . a man who  s less interested in monetary gain from his invention than he is in seeing it come to fruition and be put into production . he  s absolutely heroic when he refuses to take the big money and the hot woman in return for suppressing his invention . so i find it interesting that people here have compared it to jurassic park me  i compare it to the fountainhead .  
as long as you can suffer it  if you like watching people waking up  getting up  getting dressed  having a shower  preparing dinner  watching each other  having sex in the dark  then going back to bed to sleep . . . if you like tacky flats  narrow bedrooms and kitchens  long minutes of silence . . . . if you like getting bored for two hours  feeling the thrill of  real intimate false art   then you will like it . but if you don  t  just try to see a good movie  there are thousands .  as long as you are here   but do we want to stay  this german movie got the award of the torino gay film festival italian journalists still don  t understand why the jury took such a bad decision  as the festival presented lot of talented movies . maybe to be nice with a german  as they don  t often get awards  well   the lives of others  did . . . but this one is excellent but not gay . so maybe it is a question of fashion . germans are they  in  again  no matter what  or maybe only for a hustler  s glance of some directors   
sidney stratton is having trouble maintaining jobs at various textile mills mainly because of his experimentation in the textile laboratories . stratton  s experimenting on a formula for a new fabric which would create the ultimate fabric  one that never gets dirty  never wrinkles  or wears out . when stratton eventually creates the fabric he creates enemies in all the textile workers  who will lose their jobs  and the owners  who will lose money since one mill has the exclusive rights   so stratton in his white suit becomes the most hunted man in england . the film is ideal and only ealing could have made it so . guiness  performance  and a great supporting cast such as greenwood  thesiger  and parker  and mackendrick  s direction make the film a delight  but the real hero is the story itself  a nice satire on business and industry with additional elements of drama  romance  and suspense . rating   .  
it  s interesting that all who  so far  seemed to like this film had no expectations   i guess that  s the trick . in contrast with them  i had optimistic expectations  and that was a mistake . as soon as i saw how close to the faces the camera always was  i knew we were in the hands of an extremely amateur director   that  s always a clear sign of them  they think it is arty or effective or intense to hold the camera about two inches away from the actors . the actors in this film  though  had only one facial expression each .  br    br   if the close camera wasn  t enough  the lack of light in the film killed it . the film seemed to be entirely filmed in the dark . so now we know that the cinematographer was a rank amateur  as well .  ooh ooh  we  re going to light the set with a flashlight  that will make it all seem intimate   no  that made it all seem invisible .  br    br   on top of the serious technical flaws  there was absolutely no story beyond the barest hint of an idea that was never developed  and nothing new about this kind of relationship was illuminated .  perhaps this is a new kind of film for germany  but in los angeles  forget about it .   br    br   the fact that this film won a couple of film festival awards doesn  t indicate the quality of the film  but besmirches the quality of these particular festivals . i can assure you that this film won  t win anything in the festival where i saw it . in fact  two times during the film it seemed that it was finally over and people started to get up to leave  this was one of the side effects of the cinematographer  s  total darkness  technique  . but when the film shuddered on  instead  there were moans coming from the audience . and once the movie finally did end  it was clear that it hadn  t mattered if it actually had ended at either of the two earlier points . an earlier ending would have saved the audience from yet more monotonous scenes of domesticity  folding sheets  cutting vegetables  spreading honey on bread  . yeah  we get it  the life of the lonely old man was boring   but we figured that one out at the very beginning .  br    br   i recommend that audiences miss this one  it has absolutely nothing to offer sophisticated movie  goers .  
when i saw this film in the     s  i wanted to be a scientist too . there was something magical and useful in science . i took a girl  friend along to see it a second time . i don  t think she was as impressed as i was  this film was comical yet serious  at a time when synthetic fibres were rather new . lessons from this film could be applied to issues relating to gm experimentation of today .  
this film was screen as part of the     sydney mardi gras film festival . i had no expectation of the film as someone else choose it for me .  br    br   i actually like films that take time to develop  films that allow the characters to unfold and lets the story flow . stillness is good . but this film though was just plain slow .  br    br   credit must go to the two main actors . there was a sense of tension between them as two totally different people  misfits really  come together in a very awkward way . there were tender moments and sadness as we learned more about them .  br    br   i also liked the setting and the way it was shot . it was claustrophobic and monochrome and it added to the film  s intimacy and reinforces the oddness of the characters .  br    br   i just don  t understand the ending . what was the point of it all   
in my mind the best of the ealing comedies and one of my favourite films of all time . the theme of workers v . management  with lots of talk of unions and rights  perhaps dates the film a bit now as it  s no longer a subject discussed all that much but that doesn  t stop  white suit  from being a show stopping classic .  br    br   the plot  about a man trying to create a revolutionary new fabric which ends up putting the textiles industry into turmoil  doesn  t sound exciting when written down but the film retains that essential spark of fantasy mixed with reality that marks it out as a true ealing comedy . the fabric repels dirt and can never wear out  the titular white suit that alec guinness wears throughout the second half becomes the centrepiece for several iconic images and sequences  such as guinness being able to use his indestructible thread to scale a sheer wall  the script itself is full of dry wit   is he all right    yes .   pity .   and characterisation is first rate . i  m always astonished by the wonderful direction in these films as well . comedies of later eras would adopt a  point the camera at the actors and let it roll  mentality but the ealing films always attempted interesting lighting and angles and innovations . this film is no exception .  br    br   of course  it  s the cast that lifts the material to dizzying heights . alec guinness gives a fantastically understated performance  with eyes that convey wonder  joy and crushing defeat whenever the story demands it . stratton is a man oblivious to everything except his work . such an insular character could quickly have become boring or irritating but guinness effortlessly makes him likable  so much so that the closing stages of the film generate a real sense of urgency as stratton tries to come out on top in a world that wants to bury everything he  s ever worked for . joan greenwood plays another of her strong female roles and is an absolute delight to watch as usual  as are befuddled cecil parker and slimy michael gough everybody gets laughs without even trying to . it  s comical british understatement at its finest .  br    br    the man in the white suit  is   minutes of sheer brilliance  with a great plot  great cast  sparkling wit and healthy dollops of cynicism . absolutely top notch .  
i wholeheartedly disagree with the other viewers of this wretched film . the only reason why i didn  t rate it  for awful was due to the great talent of carmen miranda . the beginning and end are the best parents due to her gifted singing and dancing .  br    br   the problem is with the rest of the picture . alice faye comes off quite hollow . don ameche has a great singing voice but with the wretched writing material  he comes off so terribly corny .  br    br   the plot is a real stiff here with ameche assuming two parts as a song and dance man and a baron not happily married to faye .  br    br   it seems that by playing the song and dance man  ameche  s marriage gets a second change to reignite . some silly nonsense about the baron having to clear up business and being away allows him to play both parts .  br    br   s . z . sakal is given little to do here and so his comedic gifts are not given the opportunity to shine . ditto for j . carrol naish who actually appears uncomfortable in his role .  br    br   this is a chica chica boom bomb of a film .  
although most americans have little knowledge of his work other than star wars  alec guinness produced an amazing body of work   particularly in the     s      s   ranging from dramas to quirky comedies . i particularly love his comedies  as they are so well  done and seem so natural and real on the screen   far different from the usual fare from hollywood .  br    br   this being said  this was the film that sparked my interest in these movies . it  s plot was so odd and cute that it is very unlikely the film would have been made anywhere   except for ealing studios   which had a particular fondness for  little  films like this one .  br    br   guinness is a nerdy little scientist that works for a textile company . he wants to experiment in order to create a synthetic fabric that is indestructible  though he is not working for the company as a researcher but for janitorial work  so  he tends to sneak into labs  either during the day if no one suspects or at night  and try his hand at inventing . repeatedly  he is caught  such as after he blew up the lab  and given the boot until one day he actually succeeds  then  despite the importance of the discovery  he sets off a completely unanticipated chain of events   and then the fun begins .  br    br   the film is a wonderful satire that pokes fun at industry  unions  the government and people in general .  
despite the acclaim on the dvd cover of the version i borrowed  this film was a disappointment . yes  it is far more realistic than other war films of the period for depicting the mud  boredom and frustration of the grunt  but unfortunately one comes away from it thinking that  s all there is to this movie . there is no plot and the dialogue is monotonous . it  s not that a good war film needs to have a battle scene every five minute . one of the best world war ii films   twelve o  clock high   has very little action . but it compensates with crackling dialogue and psychological tension . the exception to  the story of g . i . joe  is a brief battle segment  titled  city under siege  on the dvd  which takes place in italy . admittedly it is one of the most fast  paced and convincing combat scenes of any war movie . but alas  the rest of the film is not worth watching just for this highlight . another turn  off is pvt . dondaro  played by wally cassell  who is meant to be a  romeo  but comes off a pervert . by contrast  sgt . warnicki is a sympathetic  if flawed  man . as he says to capt . walker  mitchum  when volunteering for another patrol  every step forward is a step closer . . . to home .  but that last step  one patrol too many  drives him over the mental brink . too bad the rest of the movie doesn  t do justice to some otherwise fine touches . as for meredith  s portrayal of pyle . . . it is practically comatose .  
one of the things that makes this ealing comedy so outrageously funny is the clever editing . shots that would be considered absolutely essential to most modern comedies are deliberately left out .  this is what was known as british understatement .   br    br   three instances a comic fight is edited like this . alec guiness has invented a new cloth that will ruin the industry . half a dozen businessmen invite him to their office to try to get him to sign a contract relinquishing his control of the cloth so that production can be suppressed . when he catches on to this  guiness stands up and turns to walk to the door . two men block his way .  excuse me   he says quietly  taking a step forward . the two men move between guiness and the camera . cut . a secretary is sitting outside at her desk . there is silence until the buzzer begins signaling her frantically . she takes up her notebook and opens the door to the inner office where a full  fledged noisy donnybrook is in progress and the room is half wrecked . guiness dashes out the open door .  br    br   the following example would be unthinkable today . during the research phase of his invention guiness sets up an elaborate chemical apparatus but instead of converting the experimental liquid into the new cloth  the device explodes . again and again it explodes . the laboratory is cleared of all other work . the blasts continue . ceilings fall down . windows are blown out . the director of research is seated at his desk in a tiny office cluttered with debris  a bandage on his head . when the door behind him opens he jumps a foot in the air .  sit down   he tells his visitor   there  s another one due at any moment .  it is excruciatingly amusing   and there is not a single shot of any explosions . this would be unimaginable now without a fireball  and maybe a building collapsing in slow motion .  br    br   last example  consisting of a series of quick  relentless cuts  put together precisely . guiness is being pursued and is cornered in the lobby of an office building by people who want him to sign the contract . faced with two men about to grapple with him  guiness backs up with a determined expression . he bumps against a pedestal with an iron bust on it . the bust topples backward and bumps against the wall . there is a shot lasting about one second of the bust hitting the wall . another brief shot of a metal shield hung above the bust being jarred loose and falling down . quick cut to guiness  s head rising into the frame . cut to the two men staring into the camera while horrible brass banging and thudding sounds are heard off screen . cut to guiness flat on his back . nobody today would have the cojones to not show guiness being crowned by that shield .  br    br   i won  t go on with this . it  s a comedy alright but a pretty bitter one underneath all the hilarity . in solving one set of problems  guiness has created dozens of others . he is opposed both by management and labor  neither of which is shown to much advantage . and of course the economic implications have to do with more than cloth .  what about that car that runs on water with a pinch of something or other in it   one of the workers asks .  vested interests   comments another worker  as thorstein veblen nods in his grave . what would happen if our problems with energy were solved overnight  if i owned shares of exxon   and i think i do   i  d shudder at the thought . where would the oil industry be if there were no more need for oil  for that matter  where would the police force and the fbi be if crime were to suddenly disappear  this is a thoughtful and very amusing movie  superbly directed and edited . the roster of performers is peerless . joanne greenwood with that husky voice . the blithering cecil parker . the wheezing mummified ernest thesiger .  br    br   a first  rate job all around .  
heavily re  edited and often confusing  the original screen version of man on fire was at least ten years out of date when it was made and the passing years haven  t made it any better . this is the kind of movie that producers with too much money and too little experience make to get attention and everyone else does just to pay off their outstanding alimony or their drug dealer  with scott glenn  s bodyguard going out on a limb to rescue his    year  old charge  the kidnapped daughter of a wealthy italian family . an interesting cast  joe pesci  brooke adams  danny aiello  jonathan pryce  have all done better  the action is sluggish and sparse and only john scott  s exceptionally fine score  part of which turned up in the last reel of die hard  makes a positive impression . one case where the remake  made by tony scott  the original choice of director for this version  is an improvement .  
the man in the white suit  like i  m all right jack  takes a dim view of both labor and capital . alec guinness is a scientific genius  but an eccentric one  he has never gotten his university degree due to an . . . err . . . accident in a college laboratory  . he manages to push himself into various industrial labs in the textile industry . when the film begins he is in michael gough  s company  and gough  in a memorable moment  is trying to impress his would  be father  in  law  cecil parker  by showing him the ship  shape firm he runs . while having lunch with parker and parker  s daughter  joan greenwood   gough gets a message regarding some problems about the lab  s unexpectedly large budget problems . he reads the huge expenditures  due to guinness  s experiments   and chokes on his coffee .  br    br   guinness goes on to work at parker  s firm  and repeats the same tricks he did with gough  but parker discovers it too . greenwood has discovered what guinness is working on  and convinces parker to continue the experiments  but now legally  . the result guinness and his assistant has apparently figured out how to make an artificial fiber that can constantly change the electronic bonds within it  s molecular structure so that  for all intents and purposes  the fiber will remain in tact for good . any textile made from it will never fade  get dirty  or wear out  it will last forever .  br    br   guinness has support from a female shop steward  but not her chief . he sees guinness as selling out to the rich . but when he explains to them what he  s done  they turn against him . if everyone has clothes that will last forever then they will not need new clothes  soon parkers  fellow textile tycoons  led by gough  ernest theisinger  in a wonderful performance  and howard marion  crawford  are equally panic stricken by what may end their businesses . they seek to suppress the invention . with only greenwood in his corner  although parker sort of sympathizes with him   guinness tries to get the news of his discovery to the public .  br    br   in the end  guinness is defeated by science as well as greed . but he ends the film seeing the error in his calculations  and we guess that one day he may still pull off his discovery after all .  br    br   it  s a brilliant comedy . but is the argument for suppression valid  at one point the difficulties of making the textile are shown  you have to heat the threads to a high temperature to actually enable the ends of the material to be united . there is nothing that shows the cloth will stretch if the owner gets fat  or contract if the owner gets thin  . are we to believe that people only would want one set of clothing for ever  what happened to fashion changes and new styles  and the cloth is only made in the color white  making guinness look like a white knight  . we are told that color dye would have to be added earlier in the process . wouldn  t that have an effect on the chemical reactions that maintain the structure of the textile   br    br   alas this is not a science paper  but a film about the hypocrisies of labor and capital in modern industry . as such it is brilliant . but those questions i mention keep bothering me about the validity of suppressing guinness  invention  
steve mcqueen has certainly a lot of loyal fans out there . he certainly was a charismatic fellow  one of the most charismatic the big screen ever knew . but even mcqueen can  t save this turkey of a film  shot with what looks like a brownie camera in the actual locations in st . louis .  br    br   mcqueen  s a new kid with no criminal record brought into the planning of a bank heist by one of the other gang . there  s more than a broad hint that there  s a gay relationship going on between young steve and david clarke . he  s not liked at all by the other heist members  mainly because of his lack of criminal resume .  br    br   steve also has a girl friend in molly mccarthy and she suspects something afoot  especially when he starts hanging around with crahan denton and james dukas as well as clarke  all pretty rough characters . that would certainly get my suspicions aroused .  br    br   the great st . louis bank robbery had two directors charles guggenheim and john stix . guggenheim did mostly documentaries and stix didn  t do much of anything . one of those two jokers decided steve  s performance was best served by doing a bad marlon brando imitation .  br    br   this film may go down as the worst ever done by steve mcqueen . i  m willing to bet that dick powell and four star productions had already signed him for wanted dead or alive because i can  t believe they would have if they saw this .  br    br   or they would have seen something the public would have overlooked except for the dressing for this turkey .  
an unassuming  subtle and lean film   the man in the white suit  is yet another breath of fresh air in filmic format from ealing studios . while i suspect some modern viewers may initially find it obscure  i doubt many would fail to be charmed by the expert way the plot  the themes and characters are languidly relayed during the film  s course .  br    br   the genuinely great alec guinness gives another fine characterization in a film perhaps not as obviously virtuoso as ealing  s inspired  kind hearts and coronets  from     . this time  he merely plays one character rather than eight  but as the unworldly inventor and scientist sidney stratton  he always finds the correct tone and expression . along with guinness  subtle  expressive performance  the rest of the cast are effective . of the main players  cecil parker and ernest thesiger do stand out . thesiger is compellingly absurd as the crippled but influential business grandee  while parker is dependable as the ineffectual yet pivotal mill owner and father . father  that is  of joan greenwood  the deftly delectable comic actress  who is at her insurmountable peak in this film . resplendent and seductive of aspect and diction  she is quite sublime in this film  a fine contrast with the similarly unusual  but more maladroit guinness . the scene where she seemingly tries to tempt him is played so adeptly by the pair that it is both deeply poignant and amusing . . .  br    br   the themes are handled very effectively  with no easy morals drawn . the complexities of the relationships between science  business and the workforce are insightfully and enjoyably examined . expertly helmed by alexander mackendrick  this film is technically adept in all areas evocative photography  fitting sound effects and music and a wistful script  all quietly impress . a thoroughly satisfying film  with guinness and greenwood magnificent .  br    br   rating         
when the remake of when a stranger calls was out  obviously i was interested in watching the original . then when i read about the original  which i recall had my sisters totally freaked out back in the day  i saw that the real money is on black christmas  which apparently beat everyone to the  the caller is in the house  punch . so i netflix that  and it sits at the top of my list for months due to its  very long wait .  all this time i am getting more and more eager to see it  then one day  out of the blue  it finally arrives  . . . and it  s a total snore .  br    br   sure  maybe i had elevated expectations  but i don  t think it would have gained more had i seen it fresh . the thing is it  s christmas in some canadian college town  and there  s this sorority having a party . we see some killer  pov shots as he climbs this trellis and sneaks into the attic . so we know he  s in the house . then we  re introduced to our characters  olivia hussey as the mousy  whiny  canadian  accented jess . margot kidder as the annoying  overtly aggressive alcoholic barb . she  s so annoying even her mother dis  invites her for her christmas festivities . there  s also this irritating janis ian clone   phil   and this alcoholic den mother mrs . mac  seen taking nips from the various bottles of booze she has stashed all over the house . we also meet jess  s highly  strung boyfriend peter  played by keir dullea of     and bunny lake is missing fame  though halfway through the film i was still asking myself  which one  s keir dullea    br    br   so it seems that the house has been receiving obscene phone calls  but this was before email  so they couldn  t ask him to send a photo . then  well  you know how they say those plastic dry  cleaning bags are not a toy  one of the sisters finds that out the hard way . don  t worry if you don  t catch the first   shots of the plastic  encased corpse face as it reposes in the attic  there  ll be   more interspersed throughout the film  obviously there to make you say  oh my god  there  s a corpse in the attic   though after the first hour that changes to  how come the dumb police haven  t found the rather prominently  placed plastic  encased corpse in the attic   especially as it is made abundantly clear that it is clearly visible from outside the house . really  any time before csi came on the air must have been such a golden age of crime the cops are so dumb . fortunately some of them look like john saxon .  br    br   anyway  after a lot more darn boring human drama  the house mother fears that her precious kitty has ascended a vertical ladder and has pushed open a heavy  looking trap door that rests atop it  those wily cats    for she sticks her head in there and ends up with a hook pulley in her neck for the trouble . now we have two corpses up in the attic  hey  why don  t we have   more shots trying to chill us by the fact that there are now two corpses in the attic   br    br   so by now the police have begun to take the situation seriously  and tap the houses  phone and station a cop outside . they inform jess and her pal janis ian that if the obscene caller calls back  they need to keep him on the phone . jessica  who has grown even more whiny  mousy and annoying keeps asking the caller  who is this  what do you want  who are you   after like the first   calls  when it is clear that he is not going to answer her . isn  t that like a sign a developmental disability  the inability to learn from unsuccessful attempts at something  and what  s he going to do  suddenly say  oh yeah  hi  it  s bob from the laundromat   dumb jess .  br    br   spoilers  anyway  soon janis ian and lois lane  kidder  are piled in bed with ketchup splashed on their faces  this film  s idea of gore   and idiot jess realizes that not a single door or window in the house is locked . hello  are you being stalked or what  then the cops realize that the killer is in the house  and call jess and tell her  don  t ask questions  just do as i say walk to the front door and get out .  so what does moron jess do  starts screaming  phil  barb  phil  barb   hey  great idea sister . now why don  t you go right upstairs where you know a psychotic killer is lurking  of course she does  and sees her former friends  all splashed with ketchup  prompting this viewer to scream at the screen  have a clue now     br    br   now  obviously one needs to be understanding and realize that this movie was made before the classic slasher movie tropes were solidly in place  and that it doesn  t move to the same pace we  re used to  and seeing a plastic  covered corpse in the attic like    times probably was scary back in the day  and people weren  t used to being stalked by psychopaths  so they wouldn  t think to  you know  lock the doors or windows . and they might be tempted to wander upstairs when they have just been told that a rabid killer is up there . you see  people were stupid back in the   s . we have to understand that . one of the big shocks is that we don  t even see our proto  final girl kill the psycho . but believe me  that fact is more interesting being read in this review than sitting through the movie for . spoilers end   br    br         hey  check out cinema de merde  my website on bad and cheesy movies  with a few good movies thrown in  . you can find the url in my email address above .  
i  ve had this movie on tape for years and started watching it again this morning  while waiting for my laundry    how ironic   mostly because i wanted to hear benjamin frankel  s title music again . i ended up sitting through about the first half hour  entranced by how wonderfully assured the direction  writing  and performances are . the movie is like a who  s who of   s british character stars cecil parker  michael gough  miles malleson  duncan lamont  and particularly ernest thesiger  great as the dessicated old giant of the textile mills . not to mention alec guinness and joan greenwood  not character players as such but charming  charismatic leads . this is science fiction in its purest form and droll comedy as well . an all  time classic  and i hope no one ever tries to remake it   
this is a weak film with a troubled history of cuts and re  naming . it doesn  t work at all . firstly the dramaturgy is all wrong . it  s very slow moving at first and then hastily and unsatisfactorily moves to an end . but there is also  and that may have to do with the cuts  an uneasy moving between genres . it starts off with being a thriller to be taken at face value and then degenerates into a farce rather than satire . the ending may be funny but it  s also so blunt that i almost felt it insulted my intelligence  what little there is  . so the film tries to be everything but does not really succeed on any level at all . you can also see that in the very unsteady character development . you almost get the impression connery plays three roles rather than one .  
this alec guinness starrer is a very good fun political satire of corporate industry  and a light eccentric character study as well .  br    br   the pacing is a bit slow for a comedy  and none of it is really rolling  on  the  floor type funny  except perhaps the sound effects for the experiments . but it does have its amusing moments  and it is very deft in its execution . the big explosions segment is probably the most farcical element .  br    br   the union procedures are quite droll  very reminiscent of i  m all right jack especially the feminine socialist with a light romantic crush on guinness  character . the political machinations actually carry the story . ernest thesigner is very notable as a heavy .  br    br   i don  t think this one works quite as well as the ladykillers  or kind hearts and coronets but even light ealing comedy is better than nothing .  
i  d never heard of this  then found out it  s the man with the deadly lens  which i  d heard of but not seen . connery  s presence drove me to buy it  and it  s not good . it wants to be a sort of cross between dr strangelove and mash  but it just isn  t that funny  unless you find the name general wombat    funny . it comes across as a flat   s thriller until the last ten minutes  when it springs to life . there are many  many flat scenes in the whitehouse between the president and his aides which don  t work . it  s almost as if the initial cut was too long  and the first half was edited down to get to the whole nuclear bomb ransom storyline and the suicide bomber attacks  which i think are meant to be played for laughs  but again  aren  t that funny . the location filming is excellent but the studio stuff looks like cheap tv . i could not believe the man responsible for key largo  crossfire and elmer gantry did this . only laugh connery throws away his wig before putting on his helmet and jumping out of a plane . it makes never say never again look like genius .  
i first saw this version of  a christmas carol  when it first appeared on television . i actually anticipated seeing the film when it was advertised and it more than lived up to my expectations . i have now purchased the dvd and plan to watch it every year . with the exception of  it  s a wonderful life  i consider this version of  a christmas carol  one of the best christmas movies ever made . george c . scott is excellent and a superb cast led by roger rees surrounds him  scott proves once again that he is one of finest actors of our time . scott has the artistic talent and acting ability to play any role and keep the character unique to himself . how can someone be remembered as both patton and scrooge  scott does so easily . the direction is marvelous with the fine sets  costumes and music that give the movie a special feeling of the time  place and era depicted . you will simply love this movie and will place it among your favorites to watch during the holiday season .  
this movie is just plain bad . it isn  t even worth watching to make fun of it . the lunatic professor is just plain annoying . even suspending disbelief to allow for invisibility  which i glady do for the sake of good bad movies  and allowing for exceedingly stupid victims in a horror movie  this movie asks for even more than that . if you are looking for women  s locker room shower scenes  and random sexual encounters  get a porn  if you are looking for a good  bad movie  get something else . if you want to simply waste your time on an annoying bad movie  rent this .  
the man in the white suit is one of those delightful comedies that ealing studies made so well in the    s and    s . the plot of this one follows a man that invents a cloth that neither gets dirty nor breaks . of course  this is a huge breakthrough in the world of textiles . however  things are not that simple as the cloth will threaten the way of life of many people  including cloth manufacturers  the cloth mill  s workforces  and even an old lady that does her washing every week . the man in the white suit is a film about scientific advances  and the way that they don  t always help as the old woman says at one point in the movie   why cant you scientists just leave things alone    br    br   like a lot ealing comedies  this one stars sir alec guinness . alec guinness is a fantastic actor he has the ability to light up the screen with his presence  and he does in this film  literally   but he also manages to portray his characters in a down to earth and believable way . he is suitably creepy in this film  and he captures just the right atmosphere for his character an intelligent and ambitious  but slightly naive scientist . along with guinness  the man in the white suit also features joan greenwood  the deep voiced actress that co  starred with guinness in the simply divine  kind hearts and coronets  and michael gough  a man that would go on to get himself the role of alfred in the batman films . the acting in the film isn  t always great  but it is always decent  and it  s fits with the film .  br    br   the man in the white suit is an intelligent  thought  provoking and witty comedy with a moral . the comedy isn  t always obvious  and it doesn  t always work  but the film is not meant to be a film that provokes belly laughs  so that is forgivable . i recommend this movie  basically  to anyone that is a fan of movies .  
follow  up to      s far better  cleopatra jones  has statuesque black actress tamara dobson returning to her signature role as chic  super  tough narcotics agent  here busting a heroin ring in hong kong . cross  pollination of blaxploitation action  flick and kung  fu b  movie is fun at the outset but eventually flags . the shoot  out finale is right off the assembly  line  and dobson herself seems less energetic than before  she  s still sexy  and she puts a unique spin on her comically  stilted dialogue  but these surroundings may have been too much of one thing for her   she  s jaded  . stella stevens plays the villainess this time she  s good  but can  t match shelley winters in the predecessor .  from   
contains spoilers  also  my quotes may not be exact .  br    br   everyone always notes the satire in social commentary and economic parallels  how true . but to me  i see this movie as much more than that . i love the symbolism of this guy in a glowing white suit . there is so much confusion and filth in the world around him  but it won  t stick . alec guiness was the perfect guy to play this  his boyish grins and eternal curiousity are so appropriate  br    br    that  s ingenious  can you tell me  what is the ratio of ink to petrol    br    br   the only moment of defeat is when he realizes that his invention hasn  t worked after all  standing there almost naked . yet  more than shame is the simple disappointment that  it didn  t work .  he  s never really intimidated by people . remember   br    br    but sidney  we want to stop it too .   br    br   barely a moments hesitation before he  s off trying to get away again . does he show any sign of the pain such a betrayal must  ve caused  no .  br    br   also notable is dapne  s role . she is sick and tired of money and power . she thinks she  s finally found love  outside of her father  s company . at first she doesn  t really care about sidney anymore than anyone else . but that moment when he falls off her car and she goes back to see if maybe she killed him  and yet he is still thinking only of the beauty of his invention . she  s finally found something she thinks is worth living for . the funny thing is that it  s not even romance . it is friendship  but of such an ephemeral nature that the title almost doesn  t fit . it  s more admiration  and perhaps even inspiration .  br    br   upon her discovery that michael has no real love for her  and that her father is completely incompetent to take care of her  she gives into cynicism and tries to temp sidney . fortunately she finds that there really are people in this world living for more than power  money and lust . what a refreshment  br    br    thank you sidney . if you would  ve said  yes  i think i  d have strangled you .   br    br   i love the very end  when all of this crazy business seems to have come to nothing . but then  the bubbly  quirky beat starts up and sidney goes off  his stride matching the tune dauntless . where is daphne  we don  t really know  but they weren  t really in love and she wasn  t really a scientist . he got help escaping and she got  a shot in the arm of hope .   pollyanna  a cont  d relationship would  ve been nice  but as billy joel says  it  s more than i  d hoped for . . .   br    br    
if you liked watching mel gibson in million dollar hotel then you might enjoy watching burt reynolds in yet another film so bad it could never be distributed . i can only attest to the dvd version so maybe the vhs version is better quality wise but the movies night and dark scenes have been so poorly done that everythings seems red . i first thought my dvd players was messed up . it wasn  t . if you insist on watching it i recommend you adjust the color on your tv until it is black and white . if you don  t you will never be able to get through the film . if you do it will simply remind you of a poor film students attempt to revist the style of pulp fiction .  
when i learned of sir alec guinness  death  this was the first of his many films i thought of re  seeing . what a wonderful droll commentary the film provides even after all these years . and guinness helps to weave the charm into every frame . his eyes and face are as luminous as that white suit he wears . both he and the film have to be considered lifetime favorites .  
this film describes the experiences of a couple of hit men  one of them burt reynolds   a prostitute  and two drag queens over the interval of a few hours on one night in miami . the convergent storylines eventually bring all the people together at one place and time . the movie was mildly entertaining  but the big problem was that everything happens at night and many scenes were literally under  exposed to the point that it was impossible to see what was happening . in a few scenes you can actually see where they tried to  stretch  the developing process to save the images . somebody didn  t know how to operate a movie camera . amazing that this film was even released   
i can  t say whether the post  wwii british comedies produced at the ealing studios are an acquired taste or not  but i am completely addicted  and the man in the white suit is one of the best . no need to go into the well  known plot about the threat posed to both the textile industry and the textile unions by an indestructible  dirt  resistant fiber . suffice it to say that the slings and arrows suffered by the naively idealistic sidney stratton in pursuing his polymer vision make for a comedic delight . many of the well  known faces from the world of british character actors  the nervous cecil parker  the suavely devious michael gough  and the bluntly ruthless ernest thesinger  put in wonderful performances . guinness  as always and forever  is superb  and joan greenwood is delectable as daphne  just the way she enunciates the word  daddy   makes the entire movie worth seeing  .  br    br    knudsen          
the bfg is one of roald dahl  s most cherished books  but in this animated adaptation the magic just isn  t there . this version remains pretty faithful to dahl  s original story so one can  t lay the blame on john hambley  s script . if anything the fault lies with the colourless animation  the lethargic pace and the generally lacklustre voice  overs . one would be right to expect this story to make for a happy  vibrant  fun  filled movie . . . . . instead  the film is a hopelessly dull affair that becomes quite tedious to watch . children who are not familiar with the story should definitely read the book first  all the film will achieve is to put them off read what is actually a children  s  classic .  br    br   young orphan sophie  voice of amanda root  lives in a none  too  friendly orphanage under the cruel supervision of mrs clonkers . one evening she is peering through the window when she spots a massive figure walking stealthily down the village street . the figure realises it has been seen  so it reaches in through the window and scoops sophie from her bed  placing her into its enormous pocket before fleeing into the night . sophie soon discovers that she has been kidnapped by a giant from giant country  and fears that he will eat her . but to her relief he turns out to be a kind and sensitive member of his species who introduces himself as the bfg  voice of david jason  . the bfg refuses to eat people  instead restricting himself to foul  tasting vegetables known as snozzcumbers . however  giant country is populated by numerous other giants who do feast  every night  as it happens  on poor unsuspecting humans . sophie and the bfg become great friends  and soon they come up with a plan to thwart the other giants . together they go to the queen of england  voice of angela thorne  with their remarkable story and beg her to send the army and the air force to fight the man  eating giants . the queen agrees and so begins a dangerous operation to capture the bad giants before they can harm anyone else .  br    br   jason voices the bfg quite well  one of the few pluses in the film  but his good work is almost ruined by somewhat poor sound quality . the rest of the voice work is decidedly uninspired  with very little to bring the characters to life . similarly  the bfg is the only character that is imaginatively animated  sophie lacks appeal  and the giants are boringly designed  and look almost indistinguishable from each other  . even the places are uninventive giant country especially comes up short  being nothing more than a barren wasteland with occasional rocks and canyons . at   minutes the film is not exactly lengthy  yet it drags quite badly in parts due to the soporific handling of several sequences . little of dahl  s mischievous humour is conveyed satisfactorily . one chapter in the book deals with the bfg  s love of  whizzpopping   farting  and is laugh  out  loud hilarious . in the film  the same section is totally killed by unfunny handling . i came to the the bfg expecting lots of zest  fun and enjoyment  but what i got was pretty much the opposite  this one is a failed misfire that simply doesn  t match the calibre of the book in any department  unfortunately  therefore  it must go down as one to skip .  
for me this is ealing studio  s most perfect film  as fresh and relevant half a century later as it was the day it was released .  br    br   as a satire on economic notions of  growth  and the commercial need for in  built obsolescence  it could scarcely be more up  to  the  minute . and of what other film can it be said that the hero literally wears the plot   br    br   oddly  there are parallels with jurassic park  in which messing with the environment will literally turn round and bite you . but spielberg shied away from the book  s brilliant central conceit to tack on some nonsense about  children  . hmmm .  br    br   in the man in the white suit  alec guiness plays an idealistic young scientist who comes up with a cloth that never gets dirty and never wears out . suddenly workers and capital at the northern english mill where he is working are united as never before in protection of their livelihoods .  br    br   of course  being ealing  it  s a comedy  but it needn  t have been . the complex interplay of vested  should that be suited   interests plays out beautifully  as one by one all parties realize that  progress  is a threat  and that disposability and waste are what keep the looms turning .  br    br   but  yes  this is a comedy  albeit a pointed one  and amid the political ironies are delicious performances  and some good old  fashioned knock  about laughs .  br    br   nonetheless  it  s the biting satire that endures  dazzling and white .  
this was not enjoyable to watch . frank puts all his dreams on the back burner and gets a normal  boring   job just so his stepson can go to film school  but his stepson decides that he  ll make a humiliating documentary about the man instead . a documentary filmmaker should point the camera and simply shoot  not manipulate and comment with snide captions . the bitterness and resentment of the filmmaker towards his stepfather is obvious . and sad . the goal seems to be to make frank appear dumb and pathetic  instead he comes across as the most human of the  people featured .  br    br   essentially a smear campaign all dressed up as something much smarter and edgier than it really is . it left me with an intense dislike for the filmmaker .  
a super comedy series from the     s  two series were made in total  that suffered in the uk ratings due to poor scheduling . when you are up against established comedies like  minder   even the best new comedies are going to struggle to get noticed .  br    br   luckily  i caught the series from episode one and followed it avidly . i mentioned it to friends and family at the time  but everyone seemed to have been watching something else . very  very frustrating .  br    br   anyway  i loved both series and never forgot it .  br    br   then i looked it up on the internet and found that an ultra  fan was trying to get both series released  on his own  .  br    br   well  both series are now available on dvd .  br    br   http   www . replaydvd . co . uk  joking  apart  s  . htm  
did anyone edit this film  or was it only the dvd release that had huge thirty second gaps between scenes  it  s ok though  i fell asleep watching it the first time . then i fell asleep the second time and the third time . the plot is actually not the worst i  ve seen  but it  s close . the acting is not the worst i  ve seen either . . . but it  s close . the production . . . . well  i can honestly say that it was the worst i had ever seen in my life  not trying to be spiteful  but unhinged could have used some more production .  br    br   please don  t think i  m a hater of horror films  or even that i didn  t enjoy this film . i just felt i was laughing at the film much more than i felt i was laughing along with it . the gruesome moments were not too poorly done  but could have been done better even with a shoestring budget .  br    br   characters seemed awkwardly developed  or ignored all together  twist ending was pretty bad  and the exposition took forever without exposing much .  br    br   i  d recommend avoiding this movie .  br    br        
this is one of the funniest series ever  i laughed till my sides split and rolled around on the floor . if only someone would release in america . region  or   non  pal please .  br    br   i know it being released in the uk but that  s region  and pal besides  let  s give this series its fair shake . america must know this series . moffat is a genius . i loved tracie bennett  s quirky  goofy role in this . of course i liked fiona gillies  but tracie was a treasure   br    br   release this show in america  or show it again on the pbs stations . i need to laugh and laugh again  please indulge us  please  please   br    br   thanks for reading .  
after the opening credits  there  s a black screen for about a minute . a minute of nothing  then a girl wakes up and takes a shower . then her and two college friends are driving to a rock concert  after much padding  they hit something and skid off the road . they awaken in a cabin inhabited by a wheelchair  bound old lady and her offspring . the killings are sadly very tame for a supposed video nasty . the twist ending silly and predictable . no one involved in the mess would ever make anything of note again . so there are still happy endings sometimes .  br    br   eye candy sara ansley gets topless  and laurel munson has full frontal on display  br    br   my grade d  
  deliverance  is a dead  on example of what wonderful movies came out of the    s . while your jaw is dropped during a  terminator  movie  are you really sacred  i don  t think so  because you are there to see what new cgis have been strung together  plot matters not .  br    br   so many daily situations can become terrifying for no reason at all  because there are so many people involved in daily living  like a trip to the market . . . . . or a walk down a dimly  lighted street .  deliverance  is so frightening  because those innocent actions can turn deadly in a heart  beat . venturing into the backwoods is a frolic in fun  anyone who has that notion does not read the papers  watch the daily news  nor has not seen some of the other movies that depict the seriousness of  trespassing  into territories where outsiders are not welcome . it is almost unbelievable that the advance dish on  deliverance  didn  t inform almost everyone going to view it this was no picnic  and  squeal like a pig  wasn  t a part of  deulling banjos  .  br    br   i hate the term  hillbillies   because  as some  users  wrote  that demeans entire regions of people who are very content to live as they know how  without the interference of modern life . much is made of  inbred   that is not sexuality peculiar to the backwoods .  chinatown  should teach us that lesson . however  city  slickers are extremely dumb to enter a closed society and give them attitude . i know lots of  hillbillies   they are moral people  when left to themselves . their  justice  can be brutal when they feel threatened or humiliated  just like the  justice  in city streets . they don  t need any part of the city  the city should take its canoe  ing and camping to legal sites .  br    br    deliverance  was the last film i found jon voight to do any real acting  i hope i  m wrong . he was extremely underpaid for  midnight cowboy   because he was unknown  but demonstrated that he could do that role at the drop of a hat . his acting in  deliverance  was superb . it gave us a clear demonstration ordinary people can move mountains  if it  s necessary  but who wants to be thought  of as  ordinary  today  his stifled sob at the dinner was brilliant . wow  for burt reynolds    one must ask what led him into those other tacky films  his manliness  although misguided  in this film set the pace for the endurance necessary to make it out of the wilderness  not only in the backwoods  but the wilderness of everyday  life . ned beatty was stellar  his underwear may not have had  versace  stitched on it  but his shell  shocked performance was perfect . as noted  he became stronger than any of the group by the end of the movie . ronny cox played the moral guy to the hilt  every man should have his determination to do what is right . several  users  have theorized he was shot  or lost his balance when he pitched  into the river  my theory is that he was so disgusted with the whole journey  he committed suicide . no gunshot was heard during the scene and voight and beatty did not find a wound .  br    br   james dicey certainly knows how to weave a suspenseful tale  and was great as the sheriff  it is said he was so terrified of acting he came to the set drunk every day . his character could see the three canoe  rs were guilty of surviving  but also knew they didn  t stand a chance against a jury of the local people  no matter how kindly they were treated in  aintry  . he was also aware that the meaner of the locals could be cruel . justice    don  t come back up here again  . not many  users  knew  hillbillies  were used in the film where ever it was possible  what actors could portray them better  the  mountain  men  were actually mountain  men . . . . . . .  br    br   every detail of this movie was perfect  no doubt it was dangerous to play in . play in  better  fight  for  your  life  in . i  ve experienced some near  dangerous incidents  and am content to live outside of the fray  you guys who feel your manhood raging can have my part .  br    br   that we have absolutely killed  and continue to do so  irreplaceable areas of this country in undeniable . to be able to view its grandeur on any media is enthralling  but it leaves a bitter taste to realize some do not care about it . los angeles  where i live  is a perfect example it  s built  up right into the territories for wild animals  and steadfastly believes humans come before animals . those are their rightful habitats  we should leave them be just that . any wonder why coyotes and bears and wolves wander into neighborhoods  they  re theirs .  br    br   in some less threatening way  we all need to experience the lessons to be learned from  deliverance   to understand our advancement technologically does not lead to supremacy . i thank all those city  slickers who went out into the wilderness to produce this modern classic  so that it can scare the heck out of me when i watch it . you can have the thrill of danger  i  ll stick to the tv .    out  of    .  
when i rented  unhinged   i was expecting a gore movie . the box even claimed that the movie had extreme scenes of violence that were cut from the theatrical release  i now have serious doubts about this being released in the theater  . after finishing the movie  i wondered how it could even receive a video release .  br    br   the plot is as follows a group of three young women on a car trip crash their car into a tree . these women somehow manage to make their way to a mansion  which contains an extremely sexist woman . beyond this point  the movie is mainly composed of useless scenes that are intended to make the movie long enough for release .  br    br   one of the things that makes this movie awful is the acting . lisa munson  who plays the main character  looks as though she is reading her lines off cue cards . the others acting is bad  but not nearly as bad as hers . another thing that makes this movie bad is the camera technique . many shots are taken by cameras attached to the ceiling . this gets very annoying as the movie progresses . on top of all that  there is very little gore  which makes the box very misleading .  br    br   don  t waste your time on this one . my rating  out of    
one of my favorite movies to date starts as an adventure through the wild side of a team of four men from atlanta . the idea of living the chulawasse river before it  s turned into a lake comes from burt reynold  s lewis  who unconsciously drowns his fellas into their worst nightmare . but if the first half of the film appears rather like an action movie  the second half carries the viewer into a totally different story  with our men forced to make a decision that  they know  will change their lives forever . in very bad ways . at the end of the movie  each person is gonna be forced to deal with the scars of what had just to be a quite week  end on the river but muted into a fight for survival . the movie  except some pretty evident goofs  is very well directed and beautifully shot into a paradise of nature that steals your breath . the photography is excellent as well . voight  reynolds  cox and beatty are all excellent in showing how a single event can ruin in different ways four different lives only tied to the same mistake .  
i normally do not take the time to make comments that few people will read  about movies few will see . however  in this case  i feel i must warn all those who might consider wasting time on it . i just finished watching it only five minutes ago . this is  quite simply  one of the worst movies that i have ever seen in my life . the acting is horrible  a plot is nonexistent  and production values are poverty level at best . i know that even a low budget movie can be great  but not this one . there is only thing that could have saved this movie for any horror fan  s purposes   more on  screen gore and slashing  the grand total of three times that this occurs is off  screen . while it is effective and reasonably disturbing when it happens   especially the end scene   there is simply not enough of it . the movie is just too long for it  s minimal content  too dialogue heavy  and consequently almost impossible to watch . what happens  to put it all in a nutshell with room to spare  three teenage girls irresponsibly and knowingly go out driving through an isolated area where over   girls have previously been abducted and murdered . their car  of course  breaks down  and they are taken to an old boring house inhabited by three crazy people   one of whom is the psychotic killer . all three are eventually murdered  one by one  off  screen  after what seems like an eternity of boring  slow  paced nonsense . as i said  the only things worth watching even once are the murders . please don  t buy it or rent it just for that  and don  t be fooled like i was by the misleading box art and movie description . save your money and your time .  
this movie is a classic in every sense of the word . it is very entertaining and also very disturbing . the acting in this movie is well done . the story itself is believable  suspenseful  and well thought out . character development is also done well  the audience can clearly see how each of the characters is emotionally tested through this film . the villains in this movie are very threatening  from the first moment the audience sees them they can tell that they are up to something . this movie shows how a human being  when taken from civilization and put in the middle of the woods  facing a life or death situation can slowly become almost as wild and feral as the animals that inhabit it . not everyone is going to like this film  there is a lot of disturbing content that may make some viewers uncomfortable . it is definitely worth watching . this movie is a masterpiece .  
i bought this movie for   at a used cd store  and i kinda regret it . i  ll start by saying i  m a huge fan of cheesy horror flicks . they provide a horribly tacky cheap entertainment . this movie entertained for the first half hour  because it was so bad it could be made fun of in an mst  k style manner quite easily . then it got boring .  br    br   the acting is the scariest part of the movie . while great acting is not to be expected  this was laughably bad and  honestly  provided all of the entertainment that was to be had . this is the plus side to the movie . where the movie really falters in entertaining is the writing  lighting  and the editing .  br    br   this movie provides way too many  what the  is going on   moments . there are many moments  such as the mother having strange fits at dinner  and then that having absolutely no consequence in the movie . along the lines of dinner  someone in charge decided it was fun to watch people eat refined food for five minutes straight without dialogue every time a meal was served . during the meals and other inappropriate moments  the scene cuts away to pure darkness outside . then cuts back in . and speaking of darkness outside  one of the funniest parts of the movie is the climate  where apparently it isn  t nighttime unless it  s raining . and speaking of darkness  a big problem with the movie is that it  s so poorly lit you can  t see what  s going on half the time  which is more of a frustration than anything . in one of the climactic scenes  you can  t even tell what you  re supposed to be seeing that  s so shocking .  br    br   and when it comes to climactic scenes  unhinged contains one of the worst . i  ve seen people say  wow  that surprised me  and that  s good .  i can say that the big reveal did surprise me  because i didn  t see it coming . the reason i didn  t see it coming is because it made absolutely no sense . i won  t ruin it for you  but i will tell you that my friend and i spent a good twenty minutes rewinding to various parts of the movie to find anything that would have validated that at all  and all we found were more things saying that it wasn  t possible .  br    br   all in all  this movie is actually better when you watch it with the commentary tracks that make fun of it . i love crap horror movies  but this was too much .  
this is the best film version of dicken  s classic tale . i  ve seen it over and over on vhs  and recently acquired the dvd version  which is formatted for tv  not wide  screen  . what i find interesting about this teleplay is the cast of english actors who are now recognizable since many have appeared in other films  shows in north america since     . my biggest surprise is edward woodward   the equalizer   as the ghost of christmas present .  
saw this late one night on cable . at the time i didn  t know that the girl billed as  shannon wilsey  was actually porn star savannah  but she was so beautiful  and got naked so often  thank god  that i actually sat through this brain  rotting drivel . i like cheesy flicks as much as the next guy   more than the next guy  actually   but this was way beyond cheesy and more into rancid . the truly annoying overacting by the mad scientist and the director  s  writers  and special effects people  s virtually total incompetence detracts from the gratuitous nudity that is the movie  s only saving grace . savannah  before she turned into the plasticized barbie doll she became as a porn queen  is really interesting to watch   she  s drop  dead gorgeous  bursts into uncontrollable giggling at times  glances off  camera and laughs and just generally seems to be having a really good time  which is more than can be said for the audience . for even though savannah and her colleagues spend a fair amount of this picture naked  it still can  t hide the fact that this is an incredibly stupid  badly made and annoying movie . if you know someone who has it on video  or if it comes on cable some night  check it out  but don  t waste your money on a rental .  
i am a member of a canoeing club and i can tell you the truth that deliverance is synonomous with the peacefulness and tranquility of the experience . as we put our boats into the water  banjoes echo in the back of the conscious mind . this movie is timeless because it waxes philosophical of human  s place in nature and technology  s effect upon man  s relationship with nature . we see it in the bow fishing . we see it in the home made tent . there is also city man  s disdain and feeling of superiority to the rural woodsman  cracker  . the fact that the banker from atlanta  ned beatty  has  bad teeth  is meant to put him on the same level with the woodsmen who also have bad teeth . ultimately  the struggle of life and death supersedes  civilized man  s  suppositives about  the law  . this canoe trip ends too soon for the viewer  but alas not soon enough for the characters .  
i  too  was fooled by the packaging . i  too  fell for the gory packaging and the dvd casing that claims  grieved fans as every copy was pulled from shelves  . though it was inexpensive    .     it wasn  t really all that worth it  no scares  and very limited gore . the ending was very cheesy and didn  t deliver the punch it should have . i really don  t even know how it became a  video nasty  with how very tame it is . the story drags  the characters are obvious amateur actors . . . it doesn  t live up to the promise . the dvd bonus feature  the  interview   is very strange as the director appears very incoherent and not all there . the lead actress talks like she  s appearing in a shakespearean production . it  s a great laugh .  
and this is a very disturbing film . i may be wrong  but this is the last film where i considered burt reynolds an actual actor  who transformed the role  and delivered a message .  br    br   jon voight and ned beatty are also excellent . they are unassuming and unaware businessmen wanting to enjoy the country . little did they know what would happen next .  br    br   the photography and sets are realistic and natural . this was before the days of wes craven .  br    br   what is most disturbing about this film is the fact that places like this still exist . in america  country folk still detest city people it is almost a century and a half since the civil war .  br    br   you will enjoy this film . it was filmed in the rural sections of south georgia  which still exist . just don  t drive past that to mobile  alabama that area still has not been repaired since hurricane katrina .      .  
basic slasher movie premise   young ladies wreck their car and end up staying with a creepy family . yawn .  br    br   watching   minutes of a premonition of oj  s car chase with a white sedan instead of a bronco . yawn .  br    br   old lady with hot and cold dementia controlling her daughter . . . yawn  br    br     minutes of watching the actors eat  yawn trying to identify what the heck they are eating . . . ok there might be a drinking game here . . . nope  yawn  br    br   complimentary shower scenes . . . ok got my interest for a couple of seconds .  br    br   completely random and uninspired killings . . . yawn  br    br   the ending . . . dude  that psycho is deranged  why couldn  t the rest of the movie be like the last  minutes . . . unfortunately that is it  my advice  fast forward to the last five minutes and watch that and then put something good in the player  for me i am going back to sleep .  
spoilers four men  ed  jon voight   lewis  burt reynolds   drew  ronny cox  and bobby  ned beatty   decide to go on a rafting trip on the cahulawassee river  before it is flooded .  br    br   they wanted to have fun  to have a nice weekend in the nature .  br    br   but when two mountain men cross their path and rape one of them  bobby   everything begins to go to hell in a handbasket  and this  nice weekend  will even cost one of the four  s life . . .  br    br    deliverance   which in italian is stupidly titled  un tranquillo weekend di paura    a calm weekend of fear    is the grandad of movies like  texas chainsaw massacre    the hills have eyes    wrong turn    last house on the left  and all the other  evil nature  revenge  subgenre films  and one of the scariest  right next to  the hills have eyes  .  br    br   based on a book by james dickey  who appears in the movie as sheriff bullard   it  s a chilling story on how someone can go into a situation thinking he knows everything  when he doesn  t .  br    br   and the image of the dead man  s hand raising from under the water  or the hands holding the rifle from the one  sheet are haunting images that will never leave your mind .  br    br   deliverance     .  
  unhinged  is one strange little film  a forgotten slasher from the golden age of the genre . it  s hard to really write a satisfying review of this film simply because of the fact that the film is so unique . it  s plot is fairly overdone   three young women on their way to a rock concert get in a car crash and end up stranded at the mansion of an eccentric old woman and her spinster daughter . very quickly  the ladies realize something is not quite right when they hear strange breathing and noises from the attic . on top of that  the mother and daughter seem to have a very  very strange relationship  as they quarrel intensely in front of their houseguest at dinner . the old mother even goes as far as calling her daughter a whore and slut and accuses her of sneaking guys in at night to sleep with them . halfway through the film  when one girl finally decides she better wander off to find help  the killing begins .  br    br   as far as the acting goes  this film is at the bottom of the barrel . none of the three stranded girls can act  particularly the  lead  girl . it is almost unbelievable to hear them deliver their lines in the same  wooden tone throughout the film . the mother and daughter are better  but not much . the film is also quite dull in parts and really  really drags . the killings are gruesome  but nothing we haven  t seen before . however  as mentioned on here  the film really gains points with it brilliantly disturbing and gory ending . it comes totally from left field and has the same shock value as the ending the the camp classic  sleepaway camp .  unfortunately  the rest of the film is a bore and suffers from horrendous acting and boring  boring pacing . the isolated  creepy looking mansion and the dark  foreboding lighting does give the film a grainy realism  but that is quickly shattered when one of the characters attempts to act . it may be worth it if you can stick it out until the end  but i say you are better off just fast forwarding to the last   minutes .  out    
impactful film of four city slickers in crisis in appalachia has become synonymous with rural depravity . each of four businessmen face their darkest fears when they tackle a challenging whitewater trip  on a river about to be replaced by a dam . when locals along the way decide to  have their way  with the interlopers it leads to several deaths and loads of trauma for the survivors . each of the travelers is outstanding  although voight gives the lead and strongest performance . the rural scenery and culture is well  captured  including the breathtaking dueling banjos sequence . i saw this on a date when it came out  not exactly the perfect date movie  although we both enjoyed it  . i sort of remember this as a break  out dramatic performance for burt  voight was already established . not the sort of movie you could watch every week but it has a strong punch and is beautifully filmed .  
i bought unhinged because i got suckered by the gory picture on the cover . if you want to see all the good parts of the movie just look on the back of the box . all the kills are shown and i can honestly tell you that they look much better in the still frames than they do in the movie .  br    br   having said that  let  s look at the plot . a group of college girls driving to a rock concert  by way of the deep  dark woods in one of the longest driving sequences ever captured on celluloid  slide off the road . no visible damage is done to the car but apparently it was enough to put one of the characters in a comatose state for the rest of the film  or perhaps she read the script and was already in a coma before filming began  .  br    br   the two remaining girls wake up in a big  isolated house . the house  by the way  is fabulous and manages more drama just by its presence than any of the actors in the film . for some reason  though  this house has no roads going to it . the only way you can get to the main road is by hiking five miles through the woods . the girls spend the rest of unhinged sitting around listening to weird conversations between an old rich bitch  who looks like george washington in drag  and her equally homely  sexually repressed daughter . the girls apparently were in no hurry to get back from that concert anyway being that they packed more clothes than the cast of gilligan  s island for that three hour tour .  br    br   by the time we  the viewers  get to the kill scenes  we no longer care . we wish that someone would kill us just to end our suffering . unhinged finally wraps up with a quite shocking ending that deserved to be in a much better film . it  s almost as though the ending  the one good idea in the film  was written first and then the writers tried to make a movie leading up to it .  br    br   unhinged is ultimately a boring film with bad acting  inept directing  and a plot with more holes than a leper in a porno film  sorry . i  m not sure where that came from  . you will get an idea of how bad this movie is during the opening credits when  for some reason that is never explained  the screen goes black for about two minutes while the characters talk about nothing worth remembering . don  t waste your time . you  ll just feel unhinged and want your time and money back .  
i recall seeing this film on tv some years ago and not paying full attention  maybe even missing the first half  so i came to the conclusion that it was dull and over rated . i decided to revisit it last night to see if i had missed anything the first time . i certainly did . this is one of the most disturbing and amazing films of all time and it has clearly had much influence on films today and probably will forever . i can  t believe i thought this film was boring   br    br   a young jon voight and burt reynolds give the performances of their careers and are supported by ned beatty and ronny cox . this story will leave you with a sense of disgust and dread long after you watch it  it is truly horrifying . oh  and did i mention that the theme song is great  as well  well it is  and this movie should be seen by movie fans everywhere .  br    br   everyone should see this movie for the experience . just don  t expect a picnic .  
banned as a  video nasty  in the uk  unhinged has naturally gained quite a bit of notoriety . however  the most shocking thing i found about the film was its amateurishness in all departments . the bloodletting i could handle the terrible acting  shoddy editing  awful direction  lousy script and abysmal soundtrack were much harder to take .  br    br   three girls on their way to a music festival crash into a ravine during a storm . they are rescued by a friendly stranger who takes them to a nearby house . the owner of the house  a batty old lady  and her spinster daughter  welcome the girls in  allowing them to stay for a few days in order to recuperate . however  someone doesn  t want the girls to leaveever  one by one they fall victim to an unseen assailant .  br    br   taking a long time to get going and featuring some of the worst performances ever in a horror film  and that takes some doing   unhinged is a truly awful film . the music is a total mess  it sounds like a three year old has been let loose on a synthesiser  and as such  it complements the movie perfectly . only a couple of bloody scenes towards the end and a bit of gratuitous nudity save unhinged from getting the lowest possible score .  br    br   if you are a horror completist  and unfortunately  i am   you will want to see this in order to tick it off the video nasty watch  list . but be warnedit is really  really bad .  
deliverance is john boorman  s     horror  thriller movie about a group of four atlanta businessmen  burt reynolds  jon voight  ned beatty and ronnie cox   that undertake a canoe trip down the cahulawassee river before the river is dammed . along the way  a raft  no pun intended  of unpleasant things happen to the men . despite the nasty happenings in this picture  boorman captures the natural beauty of the river nicely . the location was really chosen well . indeed  this would still be a very nice film to watch  had the canoe trip gone smoothly . the lush forests and gentle landscape only make the horror more horrible . not only is the location scenic  but also beautifully shot thanks to cinematographer vilmos zsigmond . it has been said that burt reynolds  performance as the outdoorsman  lewis  is the star acting role in this film . i reckon however  that jon voight steals the show with his role as the suburban family man  ed  who is rapidly forced to change his demeanour in order to survive . in fact  the scene in which climbs the cliff was not a stuntman . it was voight himself . to cut costs the filming wasn  t insured and the actors did their own stunts . the soundtrack is particularly noteworthy . eric weissberg  s and steve mendel  s performance on guitar and banjo as part of the duelling banjos sequence remains one of the most awesome pieces of soundtrack in the history of cinema for the sheer intensity of its performance . at a couple of other points in the movie  we are treated to more  softer  banjo music which provides a very pleasant accompaniment to the trip down the river for all the good points of this film  i did find it a little lacking in purpose . it doesn  t build suspense very well and it isn  t really as gruesome as we have been led to believe . the plot itself is somewhat poor and it doesn  t really go anywhere . nevertheless  this movie has enough good points to get my recommendation . i did like it but for fans of gore  there isn  t really much of it . none really  in fact . it isn  t so much a horror film as an adventure film that turns a little bit sour . think of it like rambo first blood meets three men in a boat . look out for a very young charley boorman as ed  s son . i did like this movie  the soundtrack  cinematography and acting earns it a well deserved  out of   .  
i had never heard of this one before the owner of my local dvd rental outlet mentioned it to me being a     s horror flick with the notorious distinction of having been banned in the u . k .  i decided to check it out . the film turned out be a dull  amateurish and ugly  looking ride the sound recording is so poor that dialogue is unintelligible half of the time  whereas the acting gives new meaning to the word inept   br    br   what  s worse  the film follows the awfully tired formula of a trio of teenage girls being involved in an accident and finding themselves sheltered by a dysfunctional family living in remote surroundings . soon  one of the girls goes to look for help and is never heard from again another  still bed  ridden  is quickly disposed of  after being forgotten for most of the duration  . the heroine is the one to interact the most with the three inhabitants of the house a harridan of a bible  thumping mother  cue horrendous overacting   her repressed  and long  suffering  daughter  and the latter  s weirdo brother who occasionally appears on the scene to drool over the sleeping female guests .  br    br   often resorting to dinner  table reminiscences by the man  hating mother  as a means of filling in the dreary  to say nothing of unoriginal  backstory  and which invariably develop into mother  daughter sparring contests  the film does have one ace up its sleeve  the twist ending is as unexpected as it is ingenious  but it does little to remove the bad taste left in the mouth by the film  as much through the lameness of it all as the intermittent gore  or the inescapable feeling of having wasted   minutes of my time . . .  
  it  s all up to you  ed    now you get to play the game .  the day my father left my mother  he took me to see this film with his new girlfriend  on opening day at the cinerama dome in hollywood . i was but fourteen years old . i wasn  t even entirely sure what i was seeing  but i will never forgot it  especially the scene with ned beatty .  br    br   watching it today  thirty  six years later  it still gives me quivers .  br    br   my father was a huge burt reynolds fan  hence the reason for standing in line for almost an hour in to watch what was supposed to be an  action movie .  i had seen two films at the dome prior to this  grand prix  and  the song of norway .  well this wasn  t exactly mario andretti or the brady bunch . after leaving the theater  i was shell  shocked .  br    br   but even at that tender age  i appreciated the artistry . . . and after seeing again today  am i surprised i was still standing after witnessing this highly disturbing  yet extremely well  crafted film .  br    br   suffice it to say it was a traumatic experience for a fourteen year  old that had yet to kiss his first girlfriend . i don  t blame my father for taking me  but it was a bit much for a child to witness .  br    br   as an adult  i still find it quite disturbing  yet i am still very impressed with the quality of the film  making .  br    br   burt reynolds as an absolute wonder  as are all the principles . . . from billy redden as the inbred guitar wonder  to ronny cox as the terrified insurance salesman . . . everyone does an admirable job . the sound quality is second to none  from the chirping birds to the ticking clocks . the photography  cinematography . . . all the technical aspects of this remarkable film are first rate .  br    br   the moral questions raised  from murdering the sexual assaulters to the aftermath of dealing with killing a human being  remain as profound today as they did when this groundbreaking film was released . and the classic sequences of attempting to survive in the wilderness after dealing with such unforeseen brutality are life  altering . these four men  city men  suddenly confronted with a situation with never imagined  raise the bar from action to horror .  br    br   it  s a classic to be sure . and the phrase  you have a pretty mouth  has been quoted endlessly  from saturday night live to off  the  cuff comments around water  cooler at work  this movie is without a doubt a huge part of our societal pop culture . . . as much as  make my day  or  i  ll be back  ever were .  br    br   so what would you do if you found your friends being sexually assaulted at gunpoint by mountain men far away from your life in the city  cozy bed  wife and kids  and if you took the measures burt reynolds did  and i would have done the same  would you bury the body beneath the soon  to  be  lake  or stand trial and take your chances  the bottom line is deliverance delivers . you can take that to the bank . if this movie doesn  t get under your skin  then you are not human .  br    br   even if you have seen this before  rent it again and ask yourself the above question .  br    br   my favorite part of the film remains the same ed failing to kill the deer . . . then changing . life and it  s unpredictable circumstance can change a man . and i suppose that  s what this film is all about jon voight  in particular  as ed  gives the best performance here . and he remains one of the more gifted actors in hollywood history  from midnight cowboy to his highly underrated performance as franklin d . roosevelt in pearl harbor  his acting lifts the movie to another level . climbing the rocks at dusk  terrified and determined to make it right it needs to be seen to be believed . i guarantee your heart rate will elevated to a new level .  br    br   briskly paced  tense  taut and tightly drawn as a as a banjo string  this is a morality play that asks questions that remain today . times have changes  but our choices as human beings have not .  br    br   ten out of ten stars .  
unhinged follows the typical plot of the early    s slasher trend . pretty young girls in peril . i have to give it up for the filmmaker who used a helicopter for some of the early road  trip shots  you actually think for a second there  s going to be quality in the production . watching  unhinged  was like seeing an amateur acting class go through it  s warm  up . some of the most awkward  badly lit  overlong scenes are played out with the gusto of a valium overdose . i wondered why they didn  t just put the cue  cards on camera so the actresses wouldn  t have to constantly shift their gaze . the two main girls were obviously chosen for their ta factor rather than talent . laurel munson as the main chick terry is as exciting as watching paint dry . two nude scenes make for an adolescent thrill . janet penner and virginia settle as the crazy  creepy daughter and mother the chicks find themselves stranded with compete for worst acting ever . long pauses  weird expressions  emphasis on the wrong word  it  s all there and is a delight for those of us out there who love bad films . the scenes shift suddenly with long black  outs you could drive a mack truck through . cartoon lightning crashes across shots without even bothering to show the sky . eighties eyeshadow assaults the viewer . but ya know  it grew on me . i felt sorry for it . i wanted to hug it  kiss it  s boo  boos and make it better . the ending doesn  t make up for the damage it  s caused but i grinned anyway . i have my own theories regarding the whole  banned  hype and hope that anyone who chooses to view this film does so with substantial substance abuse and a sense of humor . otherwise pass .  
when a movie shocks you with it  s disturbing  brooding atmosphere  and grabs you by the throat with it  s stunning cinematography  you just know that you have stumbled upon a treat  masterpiece of a film . although with most modern movies  extremely enjoyable as some are  those that really shock you into focus are the strongest  and are the ones that are most critically acclaimed and mostly  stick with you for a life time . i say  proudly  that i am a fan of movies that disturb  not just horror movies  but those that send a vibe laden with foreboding . movies like breakdown and the missing  that send a chill down your spine  making you think  holy crap  that could happen to me   and visually entice you  are up there with some of my favorite aspects in a movie . because i am only    i did not grow up with actors like burt renyolds  jon voight and ned beatty  albeit i am familiar with them  i didn  t watch them grow and proceed as actors  as opposed to actors now like shia labouf and justin long . i must say  after the long hype and witnessing deliverance for the first time  i was so admired by these veteran actors in a movie made more than   years ago  and still lives it  s terror up in competition to modern movies . burt renyolds plays lewis  the macho self appointed leader of a group of four friends on a canoe trip down a fictitious river before a dam is made  filling the whole wilderness in water . renyolds  character is an experienced adventurer  sort of no nonsense  and filled with machismo . witnessing him portray the tough guy  made me think differently about him as an actor  as i have only seen him as a seedy old guy or an angry politician . the dialog the director provides for his character gives him enough malice to be proved as a strong and even intimidating leader . ronny cox and ned beatty play as the novice adventurers  drew and bob respectively  joining in for the fun of a canoe trip . the actor that i thoroughly enjoyed watching was jon voight  once again i have only seen him as an older actor  however  unlike renyolds  i have quite liked voight  s acting  and i don  t regard anaconda when i say that   for example the national treasure movies . voight plays ed  whom  like lewis  is experienced in adventuring but is seen as a more reserved character  a reluctant hero  leader and definitely lacks lewis  machismo . the film basically opens up with the four driving into a small town while asking to find someone to drive their cars to the bottom of the river whilst they canoe the rapids and camp along the riverside . you immediately get a creepy vibe from the hillbilly characters we are introduced to  like the imbred kid who plays the infamous  duelling banjo  s  at the start of the film with ronny cox  s character drew and more so the two mountain men in the films pivotal and disturbing rape scene . as with all atmospheric movies  from this moment on  dread and confusion fills the characters as well as the audience and it is here we see the characters take shape and change form . the canoe trip that follows is expertly shot and it is from here the men fight against both human and nature  s odds for survival . the film  s cinematics do not let up  and i back that comment up with the scene in which ed fights one of the rapist mountain men with a composite bow . as ed falls on to one of his arrows and notices his enemy approaching him  cocks his rifle  only to shoot the floor as he falls with an arrow in his neck was possible the greatest piece of cinematic shooting i have seen in a film . in wrapping up  deliverance is one film  who  s dread and atmosphere carry the mood across and to this date  remains one of the best films in cinematic history .  
i  ve never really considered myself much of  student  when it comes to watching films  i watch them  form an opinion and that  s it . but unhinged changed all this . this film is without a doubt the most inept attempt at film making i  ve ever seen . every kid who rocks up at university thinking they  re gonna be the next spielberg or tarantino needs to be handed this film with a handbook titled  how not to make a film  . not only is there no story to be had  the film makers weren  t even competent enough to make a film worth watching . it  s been a while since i saw it  but all i can say is watch the overhead tracking shots in the opening scenes . they are never ending  it  s almost like having your teeth pulled  only not as much fun .  
this is one of the greatest films ever made . it  s an all  time classic . the character played by ned beatty undergoes one of the greatest on screen transformations ever portrayed . he is a shallow  almost useless  overweight insurance salesman . he is proud of his ignorance  and yet judges the  backwards hicks  to be the ignorant ones . when he compliments the old man on his hat  and the old man responds   you don  t know nothing    the tone is set . it  s true . he really doesn  t  know nothing  .  but one backwoods anal rape later  the man is practically a warrior . his shallow fake bravery is toned down into serious resolve . the old self is forever dead  left in some far off woods  soon to be under hundreds of feet of water . and what of lewis  our intrepid guide  lewis is a philosopher  hunter  warrior  and he  s just about nuts . burt reynolds proved himself as an actor way back in     in this film  completely giving himself in to this wonderful role . who wouldn  t want to have a friend like lewis if one was to venture into the dangers of a forgotten  soon to be left behind world like the one our hapless travelers find themselves in . this film speaks to us on so many levels . the story feels real . it works as a complete action  adventure  with wonderful cinematography  and deliberate  grinding pacing . it works as a bit of a horror film  with the danger and almost surrealism of the encounter with the vile rednecks who objectify their  sow  ned beatty . but it also works as an art film  using incredible amounts of symbolism to convey truths that go to our very core . i have seen this film at least fifty times  and every time it comes on  i find i have to watch it . you have to watch it quite a few times to even begin to comprehend it . this is one deep movie . this is one well  acted movie . and this is one hell of a story . i gave it a   out of    and put it in my   all time greatest films ever made  along with schindler  s list  casablanca  taxi driver  and sling blade  among others . movies that make you think . movies that take you beyond having to think . movies that use a story to make their point  without trying to preach to you . if you think you know deliverance  you might  but again  you might not . it really is that good .  
ever watched a movie that lost the plot  well  this didn  t even really have one to begin with .  br    br   where to begin  the achingly tedious scenes of our heroine sitting around the house with actually no sense of menace or even foreboding created even during the apparently constant thunderstorms  that are strangely never actually heard in the house  great double glazing   the house that is apparently only a few miles from a town yet is several hours walk away    or the third girl who serves no purpose to the plot except to provide a surprisingly quick gory murder just as the tedium becomes unbearable  or even the beginning which suggests a spate of    killings throughout the area even though it is apparent the killer never ventures far from the house  or the bizarre ritual with the salt  pepper that pretty much sums up most of the films inherent lack of direction .  br    br   add a lead actress who can  t act but at least is willing to do some completely irrelevant nude shower scenes and this video is truly nasty  but not in the way you hope .  br    br   given a following simply for being banned in the uk in the    s  mostly because of a final surprisingly over extended murder  it offers nothing but curiosity value  and one classic  daft  murder  don  t worry  its telegraphed at least ten minutes before  .  br    br   after a walk in the woods our victim comes to a rather steep upward slope which they obviously struggle up . halfway through they see a figure at the top dressed in black and brandishing a large scythe . what do they do  slide down and run like the rest of us  no  of course not  they struggle to the top and stand conveniently nice and upright in front of the murder weapon .  br    br   it really is only a movie as they say . .  
before watching this film i had heard a lot about it and certain scenes in the film  but listening wasn  t doing it for me so i planned on watching it and wow  ned beatty  ronny cox  jon voight and burt reynolds make for an interesting group of individuals who are hell bent on canoing down the cahulawassee river and the unfortunate series of events that transpires upon them all . the character development takes some time in enveloping the viewer with a better understanding of each person  but eventually you know these guys like they were your friend . the acting  dialogue is very very real  as close to reality as you can get for hollywood acting . reynolds character  lewis  was interesting as a guy who comes off very tough but underneath the manly veneer lies a very soft and broken man  i was impressed with his performance   jon voight seems to be the character thats on the spotlight the most  the unfortunate circumstances that seem to find him at every corner really mold and caste him into a different man at the end  his character transition was excellent  . ned beatty and ronny cox really seem like the silly lunkheads that just like to joke around and don  t seem to get too awful serious unless they have too  and they did . . . i really was amazed at director boorman  s vision of dickey  s novel  very impressed . you cannot go your whole life without watching this film . i give it eight out of ten stars  extremely impressed .  
twist endings can be really cool in a movie . it  s especially interesting when the twist is right in front of our eyes  but we just don  t pay attention . those type of twist endings are the one  s that make people think . then we  ve got twists like this film has . twists that  whether or not you pay attention  you have no clue what  s going to happen . when they reveal this kind of random twist  instead of shock  it  s somewhat a dumbfounded reaction . this film starts off like it  s going to be an interesting take on horror  but after about   minutes  it  s nothing but boring dialogue and a stupid twist .  br    br   three young women are going to a concert  so they get lost traveling through the woods  and hit a tree trunk . they end up at some old creepy lady  s house  who hates men  and they are greeted by her homely daughter marion  laurel munson  . strange goings on happen as these girls stay at this house for several days instead of trying to leave or get home  and the suspense progresses into a dumb slasher .  br    br   this film is too caught up in it  s dialogue  and it  s always between only a few characters . we have the main three girls  the creepy spinster and the old lady  and conversation of any importance does not go beyond these five . to make matters worse  they never have anything interesting to say . it  s actually quite maddening sitting through their conversations . we want to know what  s going on  and instead they just talk and talk and talk  about nothing  .  br    br   plot holes are abundant here . the house these girls stay at when they get in their car accident is apparently three miles from anywhere . . . wow  three miles  a two hour or less walk will kill them . why didn  t they get a ride with the worker for this household who was driving into town  did he have a one seater  how come these girls never question leaving and just willingly stay  rarely even checking up on each other  why did this have to have so many dumb twists  maybe the answers are in the boring script .  br    br   having a slasher film with five characters is really a bad idea . it  s not thrilling  it  s not scary  and the ending is definitely out there  but undoubtedly dumb .  br    br   my rating     out of  .   mins . r for nudity and violence .  
i saw a lot films about charles dickens  christmas carol . but this one is the best of all  there is an atmosphere which is exactly the same as in the book . the actors  george c . scott and others  are great  unfortunately  you can  t often watch the film in germany and switzerland .  
here  s an interesting little movie that strictly gives the phrase  low budget  a horrible name . our physics teacher who has about nine kids creates a strange serum that causes  molecular reorganization  . students are hopelessly killed from fake coincidences of submarine sandwiches and flying school supplies . sounds like a resurrection of classic b  movies from the   s  right  nope  it  s not an example of high camp fun  which is way  way off the mark . a glamorous showcase of breasts and butts ensues our desire for pleasure  opposing the horror that should have had   .    more in the first place . bottom  of  the  barrel entertainment at its best  aided by pints of red blood and dead student bodies . atrocious movies like this would make the ultimately catastrophic guru the mad monk       the work of an intelligent genius who has a master  s degree in film production  it  s an automatic  f   so rest easy   
  deliverance  is one of the best exploitation films to come out of that wonderful      s decade from whence so many other exploitation films came .  br    br   a group of friends sets out on a canoe trip down a river in the south and they become victimized by a bunch of toothless hillbillies who pretty much try to ruin their lives . it  s awesome .  br    br   we are treated to anal rape  vicious beatings  bow and arrow killings  shootings  broken bones  etc . . . a lot like      s  texas chainsaw massacre   to say that  deliverance  is believable would be immature . this would never and could never happen  even in the dark ages of     .  br    br    deliverance  is a very entertaining ride and packed full of action . it is one in a huge pile of exploitation films to come from the early    s and it  arguably  sits on top of that pile with it  s great acting  superb cinematography and excellent writing .  br    br    out of    kids .  
unhinged was part of the video nasty censorship film selection that the uk built up in the    s . keeps the gory stuff out of the hands of children  don  t you know  it must have left many wondering what the fuss was all about . by today  s standard  unhinged is a tame little fairy tale .  br    br    girls are off to a jazz concert . . . and right away  you know the body count is going to be quite low . they get lost in the woods   wind up getting in a car accident that looks so fake it  s laughable . they are picked up by some nearby residents that live in the woods in a creepy house . one of the girls is seriously injured and has to stay upstairs . then there  s talking . talking about why the girls are here  and how they must be to dinner on time because mother doesn  t like it when someone is late . and more talking . yakkity yak . some suspense is built as a crazy guy is walking around and harassing the girls  and someone  s eyeball is looking through holes in the walls at the pretty girls in something that looks like hitchcock  s psycho . i digress because there is so much blah blah in this film  that you wonder when the killings are going to start . in fact  one of the girls gets so bored out of her mind that she walks in the woods  alone  looking for the town . smart move . she probably knew about the lonely virgin walking alone in the woods part  but just didn  t care . more talk continues after this as we wait  wait  and wait some more until the next girl may or may not be killed .  br    br   and then there  s the twist ending . the  expected  unexpected for some viewers  for others a real gotcha . quite possibly the only reason why someone would really want to watch this . i don  t care how twisted it is  nothing in this movie makes up for the most boring time i had watching it . even with the minor impact of the ending  the director just didn  t have what it takes to really deliver a good story with it . it would have made a much better   minute   hour tv episode on say  tales from the darkside .  br    br   if you really must get this for any reason  perhaps just to say you  ve watched every slasher movie  do yourself a favor and have the fast  forward button ready . since the movie has so many unimportant scenes  just zoom through them  and in no time  you  ll get to the  wow  that  s what it was all this time  ending . oh and halfway through the movie there  s a shower scene with  girls showing boo  bees . horray for boo  bees . those beautiful buzzing honey  making boo  bees .  
the makers of this fine film did a terrific job of getting you involved with the characters  as they suffered through this horrible ordeal . the horrific scene in the woods was done so superbly that you forget that these men were just actors  playing parts . i have never gotten so immersed in a film as i have this one . burt reynolds and jon voight were never better on screen  as well as fine performances by ned beatty  ronny cox  bill mckinney  and though he appeared only briefly  james dickey  the man who authored the book upon which the film is based  as the sheriff of aintry . it is somewhat disturbing  and kids  of course  should be shielded from it  but this is great  dramatic cinema .  
this movie was banned in england  why  tom savini  george romero  dario argento  lucio fulci and others had done far worse before and have continued to so since . . .  br    br   this movie has all the basic elements of a decent   s or early    s horror film . good looking girls  who can  t act to save their lives  by the way   a terrible lightning storm with a torrential downpour  a scythe  a crazy brother wandering around the family estate  and actually a pretty damn good twist at the end . but banned  seriously . when the english parliament banned this movie  the italians probably laughed their collective asses off at how backwards and prudish the brits really were .  br    br   there was maybe two minutes of total screen time devoted to the violence and gore  which was greatly underdone  . there was nudity but no sex although allusions to sex were made  obviously . but absolutely nothing worthy of being banned .  br    br   i would like to see what could have been done if the filmmakers had a decent budget to work with . as it stands  the film is entertaining  but the lack of picture and sound quality take away from the end result .  br    br   banned . . . what a joke . . .  
deliverance is a stunning thriller  every bit as exciting as any good thriller should aspire to be but also stomach  churningly frightening . though it is not a horror movie  it is just as terrifying as any classic horror film . the very thought of being a normal red  blooded male enjoying an adventure weekend miles from any form of civilisation  only to be captured and sodomised by a couple of violent hillbillies  is surely the worst nightmare of   .   of the world  s population . it would have been easy for deliverance to slip into exploitation territory  but john boorman has cleverly avoided the temptation to go down such a route and has made a film that explores  questions and challenges the very meaning of masculinity . with so many films  you come away wishing to heaven that you could step into the hero  s shoes  performing heroic deeds and saving the day and getting the girl . . . . but with deliverance  you come away praying to god that you  ll never have to experience what these four protagonists go through .  br    br   four city guys  ed  jon voight   lewis  burt reynolds   drew  ronny cox  and bobby  ned beatty   head out into the wilderness to spend a few days canoing down a soon  to  be  dammed river . the guys are riding the rapids in pairs  and ed and bobby inadvertently get a little too far ahead of the others so they pull in to the riverside and await their pals in the adjacent woodland . here  they fall foul of two local woodlanders  bill mckinney and herbert coward   who tie ed to a tree  while one of them strips and rapes bobby instructing him  perversely  to  squeal like a pig  . lewis and drew arrive unseen and lewis  being a fair archer  kills the rapist while the other hillbilly beats a hasty retreat into the forest . under great emotional stress  the four canoeists decide to conceal the event and get out of the area . but they find the river increasingly dangerous to negotiate as they journey downstream  and the risk to their lives heightens when the surviving hillbilly returns to take shots at them with his rifle from some unseen vantage point in the rocky cliffs beside the river .  br    br   deliverance is very powerful as a survival tale  but even more powerful  and disturbing  as a study of macho attitudes being torn apart and left in humiliated tatters . though all the performances are remarkable  one must take particular note of beatty  s efforts in a role that many actors would  ve turned down . the film is very similar thematically to the     film straw dogs  both films deal with terrifying sexual violence in isolated locales  and in both the eventual violent revenge exacted by the victim does not result in any sense of satisfaction . the backdrop of the rugged countryside in deliverance is beautiful to look at  but it also adds to the tension by placing the four canoeists in a setting where they are at the mercy of the hillbillies and the landscape  with nobody to rely on other than themselves . this truly is suspenseful film  making at its finest .  
i tried to like this slasher  like i try to enjoy all slasher films . i mean mindless slaying mixed with a little nudity and some suspense  how can you go wrong . but unhinged i think is an example of that formula going wrong . the main issue is the horrible acting of the main three girls that landed up in the house . it was as if they were under sedation  and it stopped me from ever getting interested in their plight . the film aims for suspense and creepiness but the by the numbers direction saps it of those  and leaves the movie pretty dull . it  s a shame  because if the movie was better executed  it would have have been ace . the story and characters are pretty creepy and there are some dark and bizarrely humorous moments of interaction between the mother  the girls  and the daughter in the old house . there  s some good nudity  and occasional splashy bloodletting  just not enough to give the film the kick it needed . the finale is pretty twisted and fearsome  and does give the film a big lift but sadly  its too little too late . so  in my opinion  one to avoid  unless you really love obscure slasher films . there  s a fair amount of potential  but the film delivers too little to be worthwhile .  
it  s a shame that deliverance is mainly known as the redneck rape movie and for dueling banjos . even people that have seen the film can  t get their mind off of that rape scene . it  s not as bad as the rape scene in pulp fiction . it  s certainly not as bad as any female rape scene in just about any movie . people tend to miss the power of the film that contains the infamous buggery scene .  br    br   the acting  plot  cinematography  and soundtrack of deliverance all lend a hand to it  s brooding charisma . the backcountry it was shot in is beautiful and is quite in contrast to the dark subject matter . the actors both major and minor make you feel like you are rafting down that river right along with them .  br    br   the thing that separates this film from others is the tangible sense of dread that it inspires . not many films can make you feel this creeped out . bottom line this movie is a classic . i can  t really say much more than that .  
if one sits down to watch unhinged  it is probably because its advertisements  video boxes  whatever  scream that it was banned in the uk for over   years  as virtually every video nasty does  . it  s true exploitation and taboo excites people and draws them in with their promise of controversy . being an exploitation fan  however  none of this was new to me . the advertisements that scream that the film was banned in the uk don  t necessarily make me want to watch it in fact  the first thing that usually pops into my head is how disgustingly paranoid british censors are . how i came to viewing this then is simple it promised gore and it was only   .   . the price alone alerted me not to have any hopes of this being the next halloween  but a cheap padding of your dvd collection never hurts . i did force myself  however  to watch it all in one sitting  because i find that deciding to save the rest for another day makes you even less inspired to finish it . so anyway  after   minutes of unhinged  i found that i had come across the cheapest sleeping aid in existence . i think the distributors could make a fortune if they simply changed their marketing technique .  br    br   the layout of unhinged is of any common slasher from the   s . there  s unnecessary shower scenes and exploitative gore . that  s about it . anyway  it starts with a group of three attractive co  eds crashing their car on the way to a concert . though two of them  terry and nancy  are okay  one  gloria  is severely injured and is out of commission for the rest of the movie . they are rescued and receive shelter at a mansion  that happens to have no phone  of course  with rather strange occupants marion is a middle  aged woman with a man  hating mother who constantly accuses marion of sneaking men into the house in order to sleep with them  echoes of psycho   . she also happens to have a crazy brother carl who lives in the woods  because her mother  s hatred for men is so intense that she refuses to let him stay in the house . after hanging with marion for awhile  terry  our  hero   and nancy decide they must contact their parents . despite everyone  s warnings  nancy braves the dangerous woods to make it to a phone  her fate is not hard to predict  . after that  we see gloria again  who is then promptly butchered with an ax . when terry discovers that gloria has disappeared from her room  she decides something isn  t right with this picture and sets out to find her missing friends . that may be easier said than done  however  with crazy carl lurking around  br    br   after viewing unhinged  i read an overwhelming number of reviews declaring that unhinged worked perfectly because it took its time to build its subject matter that created real tension by the time the moment of truth comes at the end . normally  i do not drag other people  s opinions into my reviews  especially when they contradict my views   but in this case  i was so puzzled by their reactions that i thought it would be relevant to mention . this is because in actuality  the film crawls . normally for the slow  building tactic to work  the audience must have a strong sense that the characters are in danger . oh sure  we see two of them get murdered  but between that are endless scenes of conversation and boredom . we are aware that there  s a killer on the loose  but this is only focused on three times in the film that means there  s no reason to fear for the victims . instead  the film  s events are explained not by the actions of the characters  but are drawn out for us by perpetual talking . if there  s one thing i can assure you from watching this  it  s that scenes of characters merely conversing with each other for   minutes are very tedious . none of this is helped by the atrocious acting . it seems that this was another case of the director needing actors and decided to gather his friends around instead of finding anyone with experience .  br    br   of course  i  d be a liar if i said there wasn  t one part of the movie that i enjoyed . specifically  the ending was one of the best i  ve ever seen in a slasher film you just do not expect that to happen . just knowing that the director had the balls to do something like that is spectacular . ah  i won  t spoil it for you  nor will i say that the ending completely makes up for the rest of the slow  moving film  but it definitely will get your attention . other than that  the other two murder scenes bring at least some faster paced material  but it  s not like you couldn  t tell exactly who was going to die fifteen minutes into the film . anyone looking for a bloodbath will be disappointed  however those are the only scenes of gore present . that and  of course  no one scene can save an entire movie . i normally preach the doctrine that as long as there  s action  the worse a movie is  the better it gets . unhinged only grasps one part of this concept . the whole film just feels luke  warm there  s potential alright  but the director either wasn  t experienced enough to make it work or just didn  t know what the hell he was doing .  
spoilers spoilers packed with memorable moments  such as the quote above  immortalized by primus   deliverance tells the story of four guys who take a trip to the wild woods to go white water rafting and get away from the big city for a while only to find that their fun soon takes a bad turn . this is not a hollywood film . there are virtually no special effects whatsoever  the setting is extremely realistic  and nothing at all is sugarcoated or made pretty . the city boys look like city boys  and even the tough guy louis  portrayed with precision by burt reynolds  is clearly at the mercy of the wild on this trip . this is a perfect example of a what  if film . what if a few friends went river rafting in an area of the woods that none of them were familiar with  and ended up desperately trying to avoid being tried and convicted for murders that they were forced to commit to save their own lives   br    br   there is clearly a very strong element of the film that deals with societal and class structure and the relationship  or lack thereof  between rural and urban peoples . when the four guys arrive in the woods early in the film  they clearly do not quite know how to interact with the people who live out there  and they speak to them as though they are unsure whether they will understand or be able to communicate . this communication block is most memorably illustrated in the dueling banjoes scene  in which they are trying to gas up the car and truck and get someone to drive the vehicles downriver for them . while drew and the obviously inbred and probably mentally deficient boy on the porch are dueling with their guitar and banjo  one of the best scenes in the film   louis is having some difficulty buying the gas  and bobby makes a comment about genetic deficiencies and how pathetic it all is . when the boy turns away from drew  who had offered to shake his hand after their stupendous jam session  bobby tells him to give the kid a couple bucks  knowing that none of them are quite sure how to react .  br    br   this is the kind of thing that we see in deliverance that sets up so much of the tension that is to follow . this great scene where a lot of fun was had  including the funniest  redneck dancing  scene until o brother  where art thou   ended with everyone awkwardly unsure what to do around each other . these people are apples and oranges  and they live by completely different rules of life . the people that louis  bobby  drew and ed encounter in the hills grew up separated from modern society and modern laws  and live by the rules of nature  which do not include thou shalt not kill . confused by their awkward behavior  the four friends set out on the river  hoping for the weirdness to end and for the adventure to begin .  br    br    spoilers  when they are briefly separated from each other and ed and bobby run into the hillbillies beside the river who quickly turn unpleasant  the uncertainty about the way that these people live  which was established by the scene above  comes into play to create the most tension during the scene . i think that a good sign of a quality thriller like this is that the tragic element of the film  namely the assaults and actual murders  takes up a very small amount of screen time but remain some of the most memorable parts of the film . there is no gratuitous violence here  it  s all there for an obvious purpose and it achieves a startlingly powerful effect .  br    br   the move is about the violent clash of two very different kinds of people  and what can happen when they inadvertently find themselves at war with each other . the trip down the rest of the river after the assault  which takes up the majority of the film  delivers some spectacularly effective tension  and keeps you on the edge of your seat while not bombarding you with so much happening that you become numb . it is surprisingly effective when we find out that ed may very well have killed the wrong man up there on the cliff  and the tension in the film doesn  t even let up when the three surviving members of the team reach the bottom of the river  because they deliver a questionable explanation to the police about what happened up there on the river and why the deputy  s brother  in  law is missing .  br    br   this is a very disturbing film  which is a testament to its success  because it  s pretty obvious that a film like this is meant to shake people up a little bit . the hillbillies are the human  i . e . more realistic  version of the sub  human rednecks seen in childish but fairly similar films like gator bait and gator bait   neither of which could possibly ever be compared to a timeless film like deliverance . when we follow these four men through their fateful weekend in the woods  the natural element is so real and we get to know the men so well and in such a subtle fashion that it  s almost like we  as individuals of the audience  are really a fifth member of the team . it  s not often that a film is able to come across that way .  
there  s only one thing i  m going to say about cat in the hat . . . as a kids movie and a good comedy movie it sucks . . . i lost track of how many terrible jokes in the movie that not only sucked but weren  t exactly kid appropriate . oh and by the way the way the cat in the hat talked was annoying . . . as for the plot i completely forgot . who cares it sucked anyway . i  m not sure why mike myers joined but i think the writers were trying to make it sound like him in austin powers without the swinger talk and it overly succeeded  but so what it was annoying . don  t see it  it belongs in the bottom    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the jokes are so unkiddy it  s funny  
this is without a doubt one of the best movies i have ever seen . the first time i saw it i was about  or   years old . i began looking sometime before the rape scene . and when i saw it i was really shocked thinking  what kinda sick movie is this   . today i  ve seen it from the beginning and really understood how great this movie really is . it  s exciting  frightening  shocking and in it  s own unique way disturbing . but the best thing about it is the ending where the audience is shown that this experience will haunt the characters for the rest of their lifes . it  ll torture their conscience and they will worry for the rest of their lifes about the bodies being found in that river . and there is nothing they can do about it  it  s something they have to live with . this ending is one of the most unhappy endings in movie history and very smart  brilliant and horrifying  br    br   and the acting is also great  especially jon voight and burt reynolds . magnificent acting in this movie . all in all  john boorman has created one of the best movies throughout movie history based on dick chaney  s novel . a must see for all the movie lovers  
shame shame shame on ua  dw for what you do   br    br   i was appalled .  br    br   do not take kids to see this movie . the humor is totally inappropriate for children  plus they  ll be bored and disappointed . certainly we all have read theo  s wonderful children book and certainly we have expectations . . . but this is pure trash . dr . seuss would be ashamed and certainly would  ve never given his  thumbs up  at such a dastardly attempt to capitalize on a classic .  br    br   what a pity .  br    br   spend your money on the book . if you own a copy  then buy the book and donate it to a toys for tots program . this movie is not worth a  free  ticket viewing .  br    br   stick with the book . the tv cartoon version works well if you want a visual portrayal  save your money . . . seriously . save your money  it will be on cable by saint patty  s day .  br    br   shame shame shame on what they do    
james dickey is a wonderfully descriptive author . when one reads  deliverance   one is instantly transported into the lush backwoods of the deep south . when one watches john boorman  s film version of the book  one realizes just how accurately he captures the essence of the book . the camera is as descriptive as the narration . the characters are fully realized  and the portrayals are fantastic . i first saw this movie in      after my freshman year of college . i was in a phase where i was watching movies that were all released within a couple of years of my birth in     . among them were  patton    papillon   and  all the president  s men   fine films  all of them . this one was easily the class of the group . that says a lot .  
an absolutely atrocious adaptation of the wonderful children  s book . crude and inappropriate humor  some scary parts  and a sickening side story about the mom  s boyfriend wanting to send the boy away to military school to get him out of the way makes this totally inappropriate for the kids who will most likely want to see it because of the book      yr olds . don  t waste your money  your time  or your good judgement .  
engrossing drama of four men on a canoing weekend down a remote river . they are pacifist ed  jon voight   adventurous  violent lewis  burt reynolds   obnoxious bobby  ned beatty  and nice guy drew  ronny cox  . the first   minute are great   there  s the incredible dueling banjos sequence  interesting interplay among the characters and just stunning widescreen cinematography by vilmos zsigmond . then two hillbillies attack ed and bobby . one of them rapes bobby . . . and the trip becomes a nightmare .  br    br   just unbelievable . the scenery is incredibly beautiful yet this horrific violence is taking place . to be truthful  beatty  s rape has never bothered me   i  m very aware it  s being faked despite the good acting . this movie also shows how the characters change   ed has his pacifism tested  lewis becomes weak  bobby is violated by one of the people he mocked earlier on and drew tries to keep himself sane . direction by john boorman is also very assured and the sounds of the forest and the river help the mood immensely .  br    br   the acting is mostly good . voight is just ok in the lead   he  s been better . beatty is also just ok   but it is his debut film and he has guts for taking such a risky role . cox is very good especially when things start falling apart . and reynolds is just superb   one of his best acting jobs ever  how this wasn  t even nominated for an academy award escapes me . also bill mckinney and herbert coward are way too believable as the hillbillies .  br    br   a powerful film   not for children . try to see an uncut version   the tv version is butchered . also letter  boxed viewing is essential to capture the breathtaking images .  
most movies i can sit through easily  even if i do not particularly like the movie . i am the type of person who recognizes great films even if i do not like the genre . this is the first movie i could not stand to watch . cat in the hat is the worst movie i have ever seen   and i  ve seen a lot of movies . the acting is okay  myers is good as the cat  it  s just that he is really annoying  . the silly songs the cat sings were boring and monotonous  even for the children in the audience . the plot drags on and on  and viewers must suffer through poor dialogue . the  witty  parental remarks are disgusting  not funny  i remember some awful comment about a garden hoe being compared to  well  a type of person people call a  ho   . even though the movie is really short  it seemed to last forever . do not waste your time . i know small kids who hated this movie . if children can  t stand it  i do not know how any adults can . i would like to fume more about this film but i do not even feel like wasting anymore time writing this review about it . i hated it  so  in summary  do not spend   minutes of your life watching this  see a good movie   br    br       stars   the lowest review i have ever given a movie .  
this was  undoubtedly  the most disturbing movie that i have ever seen . the first part of the movie  though strange  has a light and amusing quality to it . the journey begins on such a peaceful note  detailing and emphasizing the beauty of the hills of appalachia . but that is misleading beyond belief . the obvious social problems  inbreeding  and the deformities of the countryside  s inhabitants are only the first disturbing aspects of the movie . i can still hear bobby moaning in pain  and i shudder at the thought . lewis  s leg made me wince . yet  while the movie was  on the whole  very disturbing and distressing  it posed some interesting questions . when is it moral  or right to take another individual  s life  what can morality drive us to do  or not do  in some cases  and are dignity and moral integrity more important than life itself  whatever conclusions one may draw from the film  it is an achievement in its own right  despite certain aspects that were chillingly real and gruesome  .  
no redeeming features  this film is rubbish . its jokes don  t begin to be funny . the humour for children is pathetic  and the attempts to appeal to adults just add a tacky smuttishness to the whole miserable package . sitting through it with my children just made me uncomfortable about what might be coming next . i couldn  t enjoy the film at all . although my child for whom the dvd was bought enjoyed the fact that she owned a new dvd  neither she nor her sisters expressed much interest in seeing it again  unlike with monsters inc  finding nemo  jungle book  lion king  etc . which all get frequent requests for replays .  
i watched this movie in the wee hours of the morning when i should have been asleep . this  in itself  was testimony that deliverance was a spell  binding movie . i think boorman did a wonderful job on directing this film . how expertly the early scene with the hill folk and the dueling banjos was done . it showed so well and early on how inherently reserved and simple the people of the area were . case in point  near the end of the  duel   the banjo  playing boy was smiling  loved his banjo   but when drew tried to shake the boy  s hand after the  duel   the kid was too reserved to respond . the river trip never left you bored  for sure . the rape scene was brutal  but necessary to show just what the group was up against in this backwoods area of georgia . i think beatty  s traumatic shock afterward was well done . some have said he was pretty unaffected by the ordeal . i disagree  if you really payed attention  he was unresponsive during the entire action immediately following  in which reynolds put the arrow through the attacker and they chased off the toothless guy . it was confusing when ed killed the other guy later  at the top of the cliff . it almost appeared that the arrow was shot while ed was curled up and expecting to die  but then you realize the arrow he had shot earlier had finally taken effect .  br    br   anyway  a great movie  and i was wavering between an  and  on my vote  but after reading a message from a disgruntled voter who gave it a     i gave it a     . this individual  s reasoning seemed based on personal bias  rather than an objective viewpoint  and his vote was obviously a non  correlating attempt to lower the rating .  
dr . seuss would sure be mad right now if he was alive . cat in the hat proves to show how movie productions can take a classic story and turn it into a mindless pile of goop . we have mike myers as the infamous cat in the hat  big mistake  myers proves he can  t act in this film . he acts like a prissy show girl with a thousand tricks up his sleeve . the kids in this movie are all right  somewhere in between the lines of dull and annoying . the story is just like the original with a couple of tweaks and like most movies based on other stories  never tweak with the original story  bringing in the evil neighbor quin was a bad idea . he is a stupid villain that would never get anywhere in life . this movie is like a rejected comic strip from the newspaper if you think about it . the film sure does look tacky  sure there are a funny adult jokes like where the cat cuts of his tail and the censor goes off before he says a naughty word  mildly funny . at least the grinch had spunk  and the film was actually good  this film is a cartoonish piece of snot with bright colors and bad mediocre acting . was mike myers even in this movie actually  and another thing  the fish . what is with that stupid fish  first time you see him  he  s an actual fish . next time you see him  he  s all animated and talking . but he looks like an animated piece of rubber play dough  this film is a total off target wreck . good joke  bad joke  bad  bad  bad  good joke  i  m surprised it even had good jokes like the water park ride joke  that was good . so please if you have the choice  watch the grinch instead of this mess .  
you could stage a version of charles dickens   a christmas carol  with sock puppets and i  ll probably watch it . ever since i was a child  this has been one of my favorite stories . maybe it  s the idea that there is good in everyone  and that therefore no one is beyond redemption  that appeals to me  but for whatever reason i never miss an opportunity to watch one of the many screen adaptations of this timeless classic when they  re on tv as they inevitably are this time of year .  br    br   what makes this version really stand out is the somber gravitas that the cast bring to their respective roles . lines we  ve heard dozens of times in the past take on a whole new intensity  and each character becomes more real and believable in the hands of this wonderful ensemble .  br    br   george c . scott was nominated for an emmy in     for this role . it is to his everlasting credit that rather than sleepwalking through this oft  portrayed role of scrooge  he instead gave it a fresh interpretation that was  in my opinion  one of his finest performances ever . he wisely did not attempt a british accent  instead delivering his lines in that famous gravelly voice . his scrooge is not merely a cranky old man  as he is so often portrayed   but a man who harbors a profound anger against the world . as he is visited in turn by each of the three spirits  we understand how this anger took root  grew  and ultimately strangled his soul . as he is forced to review his life  we see him alternately softening  and then relapsing again into unrepentant obstinacy . and in the great dramatic scene when he  kneeling and weeping at his own grave  begs for mercy as he attempts to convince the third spirit of his repentance and desire to alter his life  we see a man who has been utterly broken and brought to his knees literally and figuratively . scott has made scrooge utterly believable and painfully human .  br    br   impressive as scott  s performance is  the ensemble of supporting actors contributes significantly the this version  s dark beauty . fred holywell  scrooge  s nephew  is an excellent example of this . often portrayed as an affable buffoon  here he is played by roger rees with an emotional intensity missing from earlier portrayals . when he implores scrooge   i ask nothing of you . i want nothing from you . why can  t we be friends    we see in his face not only his frustration  but his pain at scrooge  s self  imposed separation from his only living relative . it is a moving performance  and one of the movie  s most dramatic scenes .  br    br   even more magnificent is the performance given by the wonderful english actor frank finlay as scrooge  s late partner  jacob marley . in most versions of this tale  the scene with marley tends to be a bit of a low point in the film  simply because it  s difficult to portray a dead man convincingly  and the results are usually just plain silly  ooooh  look  it  s a scary ghost . . . . . . . not   in this version  it is perhaps the most riveting scene in the whole movie . marley  s entrance  as the locks on scrooge  s door fly open of their own accord and the sound of chains rattling echo throughout the house  is wonderfully creepy . but finlay  s marley is no ethereal spirit . he is a tortured soul  inspiring both horror and pity . marley may be a ghost  but his rage and regret over a life wasted on the pursuit of wealth  and his despair at his realization that his sins are now beyond redress  are still very human . as portrayed by finlay  we have no problem believing that even the flinty scrooge would be shaken by this nightmarish apparition . finlay really steals the scene here  something not easy to do when you  re opposite george c . scott .  br    br   and it just goes on and on  one remarkable performance after another  making it seem like you  re experiencing this story for the first time . edward woodward  remember him from the equalizer   is by turns both jovial and menacing as the ghost of christmas present . when he delivers the famous line   it may well be that in the sight of heaven you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man  s child  he is no longer a jolly santa claus surrogate  but an avenging angel who gives scrooge a much needed verbal spanking .  br    br   susannah york is a wonderfully tart tongued mrs . cratchit  and david warner brings marvelous depth to the long suffering bob cratchit  a man who goes through life bearing the triple crosses of poverty  a sick child  and an insufferable boss . his face alternately shows his cheerful courage  and also  at times  his weariness  in the face of intolerable circumstances . later  in the scene in which scrooge is shown by the ghost of christmas yet to come the cratchit family after the death of tiny tim  warner  s performance  while hardly uttering a word  will move you to tears .  
take one look at the cover of this movie  and you know right away that you are not about to watch a landmark film . this is cheese filmmaking in every respect  but it does have its moments . despite the look of utter trash that the movie gives  the story is actually interesting at some points  although it is undeniably pulled along mainly by the cheerleading squads  shower scenes and sex scenes with numerous personality  free boyfriends . the acting is awful and the director did little more than point and shoot  which is why the extensive amount of nudity was needed to keep the audience  s attention .  br    br   in the nutty professor  a hopelessly geeky professor discovers a potion that can turn him into a cool and stylish womanizer  whereas in the invisible maniac  a mentally damaged professor discovers a potion that can make him invisible  allowing him to spy on  and kill  for some reason  his students . boring fodder . don  t expect any kind of mental stimulation from this  and prepare yourself for shrill and enormously overdone maniacal laughter which gets real annoying real quick . . .  
as peckinpah did with straw dogs  and kubrick with a clockwork orange  director john boorman delivers an effective film about man  s violent side in deliverance  arguably a definitive horror film of the     s . burt reynolds  jon voight  ned beatty  and ronny cox portray four atlanta businessmen who decide to take a canoe trip down the wild cahulawassee river in northern georgia before it is dammed up into what reynolds calls  one big  dead lake .   br    br   but the local mountain folk take a painfully obvious dim view of these  city boys  carousing through their woods . and the following day  continuing on down the river  beatty and voight are accosted and sexually assaulted  the film  s infamous  squeal   sequence  by two vicious mountain men  bill mckinney  herbert  cowboy  coward  . thus  what started out as nothing more than a lark through the appalachians has now turned into a nightmare in which our four protagonists come to see the thin line that exists between what we think of as civilization and what we think of as barbarism .  br    br   james dickey adapted the screenplay from his own best  selling book  and the result is an often gripping and disturbing shocker . often known for its  squeal   and  dueling banjos  sequences  deliverance is also quite a pulse  pounding ordeal  with the four leading men superb in their roles  and mckinney and coward making for two of the most frightening villains of all times . a must  see film for those willing to take a chance .  
spend your time any other way  even housework is better than this movie . the jokes aren  t funny  the fun rhymes that are dr . seus aren  t there . a very lousy way to waste an evening . my kids     laughed a little at the beginning the younger ones got bored with it and left to play barbies and the older ones left to play ps  and surf the net . my wife left and did dishes . so i finished it alone . it was the worst  kids  movie i have seen . if you want to watch a fun kids movie watch shrek   that movie is fun for kids and their parents . avoid this movie . it isn  t funny  isn  t cute  the cat  s makeup is about the only good thing in it and you can see that on the disc label .  
john boorman  s  deliverance  concerns four suburban atlanta dwellers who take a ride down the swift waters of the cahulawassee the river is about to disappear for a dam construction and the flooding of the last untamed stretches of land  br    br   the four friends emphasize different characters a virile sports enthusiast who has never been insured in his life since there is no specific risk in it  burt reynolds   a passionate family man and a guitar player  ronny cox   an overweight bachelor insurance salesman  ned beatty   and a quiet  thoughtful married man with a son who loves to smoke his pipe  jon voight  .  br    br   what follows is the men  s nightmarish explorations against the hostile violence of natureit is also an ideal code of moral principle about civilized men falling prey to the dark laws of the wilderness  br    br   superbly shot  this thrilling adult adventure certainly contains some genuinely gripping scenes  
i  ve seen some bad things in my time . a half dead cow trying to get out of waist high mud a head on collision between two cars a thousand plates smashing on a kitchen floor human beings living like animals .  br    br   but never in my life have i seen anything as bad as the cat in the hat .  br    br   this film is worse than     worse than hitler  worse than vllad the impaler  worse than people who put kittens in microwaves .  br    br   it is the most disturbing film of all time  easy .  br    br   i used to think it was a joke  some elaborate joke and that mike myers was maybe a high cocaine sniffing drug addled betting junkie who lost a bet or something .  br    br   i shudder  
after having seen deliverance  movies like pulp fiction don  t seem so extreme . maybe by today  s blood and bullets standards it doesn  t seem so edgy  but if you think that this was     and that the movie has a truly sinister core then it makes you think differently .  br    br   when i started watching this movie nothing really seemed unusual until i got to the  dueling banjos  scene . in that scene the brutality and edge of this film is truly visible . as i watched drew  ronny cox  robocop  go head to head with a seemingly retarted young boy it really shows how edgy this movies can get . when you think that the kid has a small banjo  which he could of probably made by hand  compared to drew  s nice expensive guitar  you really figure out just how out of their territory the four men are .  br    br   as the plot goes it  s very believable and never stretches past its limits . but what really distinguishes this film  about four business men who get more than they bargained for on a canoe trip  is that director john boorman  excalibur  breaks all the characters away from plain caricatures or stereotypes . so as the movie goes into full horror and suspense i really cared about all four men and what would happen to them .  br    br   the acting is universally excellent . with jon voight  midnight cowboy  enemy of the state  and burt reynolds  boogie nights  striptease  leading the great cast . jon voight does probably the hardest thing of all in this film and that is making his transformation from family man to warrior very believable . unlike reynolds whose character is a warrior from the start  voight  s character transforms over the course of the movie . ned beatty  life  is also good in an extremely hard role  come on getting raped by a hillbilly  while ronny cox turns in a believable performance .  br    br   one thing that really made this movies powerful for me is that the villains were as terrifying as any i had ever seen . bill mckinney and herbert  cowboy  coward were excellent and extremely frightening as the hillbilly  s .  br    br   overall deliverance was excellent and i suggest it to anyone  except for people with weak stomachs and kids .      . see this movie .  
i was so looking forward to seeing this when it was in production . but it turned out to be the the biggest let down . a far cry from the whimsical world of dr seuss . it was vulgar and distasteful i don  t think dr seuss would have approved . how the grinch stole christmas was much better . i understand it had some subtle adult jokes in it but my children have yet to catch on . whereas the cat in the hat screamed vulgarity they caught a lot more than i would have liked . growing up with dr seuss it really bothered me to see how this timeless classic got trashed on the big screen . lets see what they do with horton hears a who . i hope this one does dr seuss some justice .  
deliverance is the fascinating  haunting and sometimes even disturbing tale by james dickey  turned into a brilliant movie by john boorman . it  s about four businessmen  driven by manhood and macho  behavior  who  re spending a canoeing weekend high up in the mountains . up there  they  re faced with every darkest side of man and every worst form of human misery . . . poverty  buggery and even physical harassment  these four men intended to travel down the river for adventure and excitement but their trip soon changes into an odyssey through a violent and lurking mountain  land  completely estranged from all forms of civilisation . all these elements actually make deliverance one of the most nightmarish films i  ve ever seen . just about everything that happens to these men  you pray that you  ll never find yourself to be in a similar situation . pure talking cinema  deliverance is a very important movie as well . john boorman  s best  closely followed by zardoz and excalibur  was  and still is  a very influential film and it contains several memorable scenes that already featured in numberless other movies . just think about the terrific  duelling banjos  musical score and  of course  the unforgettable homosexual  squeal like a pig  rape scene . all the actors deliver  haha  perfect acting performances . especially jon voight . a must see motion picture    
holy cow  what a piece of sht this movie is . i didn  t how these filmmakers could take a    word book and turn it into a movie . i guess they didn  t know either  i don  t remember any farting or belching in the book  do you   br    br   they took this all times childrens classic  added some farting  belching and sexual inuindo  and prostituted it into a kaka joke . this should give you a good idea of what these hollywood producers think like . i have to say  visually it was interesting  but the brilliant visual story is ruined by toilet humor  if you even think that kind of thing is funny  i don  t want the kids that i know to think it is .  br    br   don  t take your kids to see  don  t rent the dvd . i hope the ghost of doctor suess ghost comes and haunts the people that made this movie .  
in what is arguably the best outdoor adventure film of all time  four city guys confront nature  s wrath  in a story of survival . the setting is backwoods georgia  with its forests  mountains  and wild rivers .  br    br   the director  john boorman  chose to use local people  not actors  to portray secondary characters . these locals imbue the film with a depth of characterization unequaled in film history . no central casting  actors  could ever come close to these people  s remarkable faces  voices  or actions . i don  t recall a film wherein the secondary characters are so realistic and colorful . as much as anything else  it is this gritty realism that makes this film so amazing .  br    br   another strength is the film  s theme . nature  in the wild  can be violent . how appropriate that the setting should be the american south . very few places in the u . s . are  or have been  as violent as redneck country . in a story about darwinian survival of the fittest  the film conveys the idea that humans are part of nature  not separate from it .  br    br    deliverance  is very much a product of its time when  unlike today  americans expressed concern over a vanishing wilderness . the film  s magnificent scenery  the sounds of birds  frogs  crickets  and the roar of the river rapids  combined with the absence of civilization  all convey an environmental message . and that is another strength of the film .  br    br   at an entertainment level  the tension gradually escalates  as the plot proceeds . not even half way into the film the tension becomes extreme  and then never lets up  not until the final credits roll . very few films can sustain that level of intensity over such a long span of plot .  br    br   finally  the film  s technical quality is topnotch . direction and editing are flawless . cinematography is excellent . dialogue is interesting . and the acting is terrific . burt reynolds has never been better . ned beatty is perfectly cast and does a fine job . and jon voight should have been nominated for an oscar . if there is a weak link in the film  it is the music  which strikes me as timid .  br    br   overall   deliverance  almost certainly will appeal to viewers who like outdoor adventure . even for those who don  t  the gritty characterizations  the acting  and the plot tension are reasons enough to watch this film  one of the finest in cinema history .  
when my own child is begging me to leave the opening show of this film  i know it is bad . i wanted to claw my eyes out . i wanted to reach through the screen and slap mike myers for sacrificing the last shred of dignity he had . this is one of the few films in my life i have watched and immediately wished to  unwatch   if only it were possible . the other films being  troll   and  fast and furious   both which are better than this crap in the hat .  br    br   i may drink myself to sleep tonight in a vain attempt to forget i ever witnessed this blasphemy on the good seuss name .  br    br   to mike myers  i say stick with austin or even resurrect waynes world . just because it worked for jim carrey  doesn  t mean seuss is a success for all canadians .  br    br    
  deliverance  is a brilliant condensed epic of a group of thoroughly modern men who embark on a canoe trip to briefly commune with nature  and instead have to fight for their sanity  their lives  and perhaps even their souls . the film has aged well . despite being made in the early seventies  it certainly doesn  t look particularly dated . it still possesses a visceral punch and iconic status as a dramatic post   death of the sixties  philosophical  and  cultural shock vehicle . there are very few films with similar conceits that can compare favourably to it  although the legendary sam peckinpah  s stuff would have to be up there . yes  there has been considerable debate and discussion about the film  s most confronting scene  which i won  t expand upon here   and undoubtedly one of the most confronting scenes in the entire history of the cinematic medium  but what surprises about this film is how achingly beautiful it is at times . this seems to be generally overlooked  yet in retrospect quite understandably so  . the cinematography that captures the essence of the vanishing  fragile river wilderness is often absolutely stunning  and it counterbalances the film as  in a moment of brief madness  we the viewers  along with the characters themselves  are plunged into unrelenting nightmare .  deliverance  s narrative is fittingly lean and sinewy  and it is surprising how quickly events unfold from point of establishment  through to crisis  and aftermath . it all takes place very quickly  which lends a sense of very real urgency to the film . the setting is established effectively through the opening credits . the characters are all well  drawn despite limited time spent on back story . we know just enough about them to know them for the kind of man they are  like them and ultimately fear for them when all goes to hell . the conflict and violence within the movie seems to erupt out of nowhere  with a frightening lack of logic . this is author james dickey  s theme  that any prevailing romanticism about the nature of man  s perceived inherent  goodness  can only wilt and die when his barely suppressed animal instincts come to the fore . there are no demons or bogeymen here . the predatory hillbillies  as the film  s central villains  are merely crude  terrifyingly amoral cousins of our protagonists . they shock because their evil is petty and tangible . the film has no peripheral characters . all reflect something about the weaknesses and uncertainties of urbanised homo sapiens in the latter   th century  and all are very real and recognisable . burt reynolds is wonderful in this movie as the gung  ho and almost fatally over  confident survivalist  lewis  and it is a shame to think that he really couldn  t recapture his brief moment of dramatic glory throughout the rest of his still sputtering up  and  down career   boogie nights  excluded  perhaps  . trust me  if your are not a reynolds fan  you will be impressed with his performance here . john voight is his usual effortlessly accomplished self  and ned beatty and ronny cox both make significant contributions . this is simply a great quartet of actors . to conclude  i must speculate as to if and when  deliverance  author james dickey  s  to the white sea  will be made . for those that enjoyed    this film  ttws is a similarly harrowing tale of an american air force pilot  s struggle for survival after being shot down over the japanese mainland during ww  . it  s more of the typically bleak existentialism and primordial savagery that is dickey  s trademark  but it has all the makings of a truly spectacular  poetic cinematic experience . there was the suggestion a few years ago that the coen brothers might be producing it  but that eventually came to nothing . being an avid coen  o  phile it disappoints me to think what might have been had they gotten the green light on ttws  rather than their last couple of relatively undistinguished efforts . returning to  deliverance   it  s impossible to imagine a movie of such honest  unnerving brutality being made in these times  and that is pretty shameful . we  the cinema  going public  are all the poorer for this .  
well i guess i know the answer to that question . for the money  we have been so bombarded with cat in the hat advertising and merchandise that we almost believe there has to be something good about this movie . i admit  i thought the trailers looked bad  but i still had to give it a chance . well i should have went with my instincts . it was a complete piece hollywood trash . once again proving that the average person can be programed into believing anything they say is good  must be good . aside from the insulting fact that the film is only about   minutes long  it obviously started with a moth eaten script . it  s chock full of failed attempts at senseless humor  and awful pastel sceneries . it jumps all over the universe with no destination nor direction . this is then compounded with  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . yes i  ll say it  bad acting  i couldn  t help but feel like i was watching  coffee talk  on snl every time mike myers opened his mouth . was the cat intended to be a middle aged jewish woman  spencer breslin and dakota fanning were no prize either  but mr . myers should disappear under a rock somewhere until he  s ready to make another austin powers movie . f   no stars   on a scale of     . save your money   
unlike many other films  which are disturbing either by dint of their naked unpleasantness  man bites dog  or their sheer violence  most peckinpah films   deliverance shocks by its plausibility . certainly  the buggery scene is pretty straightforward in its unpleasantness  but the film  s effect derives far more from its slow build  up and the tangible sense of isolation surrounding the four leads  both before and after everything starts to go wrong . the moment when the canoes pass under the child on the bridge  who does not even acknowledge the men he had earlier played music with  let alone show any sign of human affection towards them  is among the most sinister in modern film . the tension increases steadily throughout the canoe trip  and perseveres even after the final credits  the ending makes the significance of the characters  ordeals horrifically real . the movie  s plausibility is greatly aided by the playing of the leads  particularly ned beatty and jon voight as the victim and reluctant hero respectively . burt reynolds  too  has never been better . the film  s cultural influence is demonstrable by the number of people who will understand a reference to  banjo territory   perhaps only get carter has done such an effective hatchet  job on a region  s tourist industry . i can think of only a handful of movies which put me into such a serious depression after they had finished  the oppressive atmosphere of se  en is the best comparison i can think of . although so much of it is excellent of itself  deliverance is a classic above all because there are no adequate points of comparison with it  it is unique .  
the sun was not shining  it was too wet to play  so i went to the movies  that cold  cold  wet date day .  br    br    the cat in the hat  was the name of the flick  and when it was over  my stomach was sick .  br    br   mike myers played the cat  his humor was lame  and kids needn  t see this  the humor was not tame .  br    br   the film was like drinking milk  from a rabid cow  so it is fun to have fun  yet the filmmakers didn  t know how .  br    br   this film  in short is atrocious . the acting was bad  the plot was tweaked too much  and the humor was surprisingly very crude .  br    br   it starts with conrad and sally  a rule breaker and a future sheriff . when their mother has to go to work  she gets mrs . kwan to babysit . possibly the lone funny part in the movie is when mrs . kwan is watching a taiwanese court room  a la c  span . she soon falls asleep  and here comes the cat .  br    br   the film starts to spiral out of control . the cat came to try to let the kids have some fun . he  s got thing  and thing   who suddenly start trashing the house . he improvises a tv infomercial  and accidentally slices his tail off . and when the cat goes full carmen miranda  it  s not funny . possibly his only funny disguise is as a hippie activist . and there  s a fish who tries warning the kids about the cat .  br    br   too bad he didn  t warn us this film was as much fun as sour milk  or chopping your tail off .  br    br   soon the kids are outside looking for the family dog  who has the key to a crate on his collar . if the crate is not locked soon  their house will be home to the cat  s universe . here it gets a little more interesting  but not enough to save the film .  br    br   the acting  overall  is horrible . mike meyers brings his brand of irreverent austin powers humor to the cat  saying things like  you dirty ho  and imagining himself as a woman for the rest of his life after a whack in the testicles while posing as a pinata . spencer breslin is great as the trouble  making conrad  and dakota fanning is cute as sally  though they alone are not enough to save this horrendous aortic dissection waiting to kill john ritter  accident waiting to happen  . alec baldwin  s slick and slimey lawrence quinn is disgusting  ever trying to woo the kids mom  who is played by kelly preston . and sean hayes is mr . humberfloob  mom  s boss  and is also the voice of the fish . the latter three are also bland .  br    br   overall  if i were a parent i would not take my kids who are into potty humor  cause there  s plenty of it and more . save your   .   and see something else . as the late great dr . seuss once said   br    br   it is fun to have fun  but you have to know how . really  universal  stop  theodore  s already turning over in his grave .  br    br   like my mom always says   curiousity killed the cat  .  the cat in the hat  out of   
how can you sum up just exactly how feelgood and right and touching this film is   for several weeks this dvd leaped off the shelf at me every time i went in the store  having seen steve carrell in a couple of films previously  i didn  t want to smear my thought process of him  so i resisted and resisted  until finally i grabbed it up with a  what the hell   attitude  and how surprised was i  i just wish i had purchased it earlier . having watched it three times in two days i am still smiling at how the portrayal of a widower struggling with three daughters  yearning for that which is missing since the passing of his beloved wife  who thus meets an intriguing woman  charming her in such a profound and interesting  dare i say bookish   way  throws a whole different light onto life that makes him realize she is what he has been searching for .  br    br   the snag of that woman being his brothers girl complicates matters  which portray dan comically shy and with a heartfelt chagrin  seeing his  someone special  bringing such fun and enjoyment into the family home as well as his brothers life . you just really begin to feel for him .  br    br   then when the blind date occurs with ruthie draper  that is the turning point in marie  s estimation of dan   the look she gives him when he repeats her comment  about not liking ruthie  sheer green  eyed monster  triggering an absolutely hilarious scene as the two couples compete on the dance floor  this sequence is one of the most well  crafted as dan starts to loosen up with regard to marie .  br    br   other gut  wrenching scenes  dan returns from the book and tackle shop  confronted by his brothers  begins to describe what has just occurred . . . . when dan  s face drops it brings a sharp intake of breath    br    br   his youngest daughter lilly making the present celebrating their love for suzanne  his late wife  brings a little heartfelt warmth and a little gulp as dan realizes just what he has lost in life .  br    br   when dan plays guitar and sings at the talent show . . . . his voice cracking slightly as he reprises the song . . . . absolute gem   br    br   the acceptance of what occurs late in the film by his daughters . . . they all three love their father and want to see him happy  will not let him deny his love for marie the desperateness of dan not to fail his daughters because he is their rock  their stronghold . . . and tell him so much more than that with just a few words .  br    br   i could go on and on but i will leave it for now  maybe return and add more comments here in the near future . . . . but i will end by saying . . . .  br    br   . . . . if you want to watch a film that is just so damn good  with twists of comedy to lighten up the drama  that never feels forced or crass  that comes over as a genuine portrayal of a man discovering new life  not just with a woman but also with his extended family  then look no further .  br    br   dan in real life   out of   for such a well  rendered cinematic experience with a score by sondre lerche  that intimately takes you there throughout whilst never being intrusive  with fine performances by the ensemble cast . i cannot wait to re  watch this again    
just about everything in this movie is wrong  wrong  wrong . take mike myers  for example . he  s reached the point where you realize that his shtick hasn  t changed since his snl days  over ten years ago . he  s doing the same cutesy stream  of  consciousness jokes and the same voices . his cat is painfully unfunny . he tries way to hard . he  s some weird type a comedian  not the cool cat he  s supposed to be . the rest of the movie is just as bad . the sets are unbelievably ugly    and clearly a waste of millions of dollars .  cardboard cut  outs for the background buildings would have made more sense than constructing an entire neighborhood and main street .  alec balwin tries to do a funny great santini impression  but he ends up looking and sounding incoherent . there  s even an innapropriate cheesecake moment with faux celebrity paris hilton    that sticks in the mind simply because this is supposed to be a dr . seuss story . avoid this movie at all costs  folks . it  s not even an interesting train wreck .  i hope they  ll make horton hears a who with robin williams . then we  ll have the bad  seuss movie  starring  spasitc  comedian trilogy .   
this is a sublime piece of film  making . it flows at just the right pace throughout . the accompanying music fits perfectly and is very pleasant to the ear . the humorous parts are hilarious and made even more so by the largely depressingly tragic nature of the film .  br    br   however  despite much comment about the inherent tragedy of the storyline it was anything but depressing for me to watch . i thoroughly enjoyed it in a way that i haven  t experienced for a long time . that is to say  it is superb and yet without all the common trappings of modern films such as sex  violence and unnecessary special effects .  br    br    dan in real life  lacks nothing for being without the regular vices . it has a fully matured plot that just doesn  t require  and indeed would be ruined by  any further embellishment . at the same time  the theme is entirely adult . it  s a piece of art in and of itself that encapsulates you entirely and you want for nothing more than it already offers .  br    br   there are some scenes that feel a bit  waltons  but these actually make perfect sense in the long run as they contrast the more dysfunctional moments . the rosier makes way for the tragic which then gives over to the idyllic which turns to the darker etc . this undulating landscape of emotional cinematography creates a perfect balance and keeps the viewer in a state of lithium  like stability . the peaks and troughs are gentle but more than adequate in the pleasure they instill .  br    br   i highly recommend watching this film regardless of what genre you normally enjoy . put aside any prejudices because this is a must see   
there are plenty of comments already posted saying exactly how i felt about this film so ill keep it short .  br    br    the grinch  i thought was marvellous  jim carrey is a truly talented  physical comedian as well as being a versatile clever actor  in my opinion  . mike myers on the other hand gets his laughs by being annoying . i used to like him very much in his  waynes world  and  so i married an axe murderer  days  but ive never been fond of austin powers and  the cat in the hat  has just finished me off .  br    br   this film was horrible  the gags were horrible  inappropriate for children not only in adult content but in the fact that some of them were so dated they havent amused anyone for   years  the plot was messy  messy  messy  its a shame really because the children were very likeable as was  mom  . they probably could have picked a better villain than alec baldwin  but he could have pulled it off if it weren  t for myers ugly  revolting over  acted portrayal of the cat .  br    br   i mean  did myers even glance at a script  was one written  the other actors seemed to have one  but the cat just seemed to be winging it   br    br   on the other hand i would like to mention that the sets and props were marvellous    but unfortunately they cant save this film .  br    br   poor dr seuss  the man was a genius  dont ruin his reputation by adapting his work in a such a lazy  messy way     br    br        
i watch romantic comedies with some hesitation  for romantic comedies feature age old clichs which make a movie uninteresting . typically in a romantic comedy  there is a girl and there is a guy  both fall in love  then have troubles  and then win over the troubles to marry or whatever . but  this movie is a different story  it is really very different from the romantic comedies i have seen of lately .  br    br   there is a widowed guy  dan   there is a girl  marie  . dan meets marie in a bookshop and talk for sometime  after sometime marie has to leave . dan develops something for her  and when this something starts to turn meaningful  we get a twist . marie is the girlfriend of his brother . unheeded of the circumstances  dan flirts with marie and realizes that he loves her  and even marie loves him  but their love would not just be possible . how it is made possible forms the rest of the story .  br    br   steve carell performs well  juliette binoche is good as marie . and every other stuff is done well . it is a good movie  watch it .  
bad . bad . bad . those three lines sum up this crappy little film that can only attract idiot children and their parents to the cinema . and its . . .   movie in america  what is this country thinking  mike myers looking more like micheal jackson . some chineese lady that falls asleep within  minutes . a lame plot with dirty jokes . it  s grotesuque and awful . when green  eggs and ham comes out in     i  ll be so happy   not  eddie murphy and tracy morgan will probably play two hipsters trying to find the lost green  eggs and ham . they  ll try to chase sam  i  am and that mean guy who are running away with it .  i hope they don  t ruin the classic book .  don  t waste time and money by seeing this .  
this story is told and retold and continues to be retold in every possibly way imagine . the immortal charles dicken  s story has been recreated in every possible way imagine . i admit i have not seen the classic alistair sim version and i  m sure someday i will but i would be blown away if it touched even close to this amazing eighties version . i believe that if dickens himself had created his story for film this would be it .  br    br   the story is well known  i won  t go into much detail because everyone has seen it in one form or another . a rich  stingy  mean  old man is visited by the ghost of his former partner and warned about his mean ways . in order to straighten him out he is visited by three spirits  each which show him a different perspective of his life and the people he is involved with  past  present and future . finally in seeing all this before him he realizes the error of his ways in a big way and attempts retribution for all the wrong he has done .  br    br   george c . scott is absolutely  undeniably perfect for this role . he takes hold of the ebeneezer scrooge role and makes it his own and creates an incredible character . he is not just a mean old man  but someone who has been effected by certain situations in his life that has made him bitter and angry at the world . there is compassion within him but he holds it below everything else and is very self involved . scott delivers the role of perfection when it comes to scrooge .  br    br   not only does the leading role make this film but everything else fits into place . this is a grand epic of victorian england  dickens england is recreated before our very eyes  the sights and the sounds and you can almost feel the breeze in your face and the smells of the market . director clive donner brilliantly recreates this scene and leaves nothing to the imagination . i could watch this film on mute and be dazzled by the scenery . it  s not spectacular scenery per se but it  s real . the film takes us from the high class traders market to the very dismal pits of poverty and everything in between .  br    br   the rest of the cast fits into their roles and brings their literary counterparts to life . bob cratchitt  played by david warner and his entire family including and especially the young tiny tim played by anthony walters were wonderful . the ghosts each had their own distinct personality and added to the dark mood of this story . a christmas carol is not a light story . dickens wrote this story for a dark period in england  s life and it  s one of the few christmas tales that is really dark  almost scary  and it has to be scary in order to scare a man who has been a miser for so many years into turning around . the dark feel to the story is captured in this film and is downright frightening and yet the end lifts your spirits and captures christmas miracles . the score to this film is also something to be mentioned as it is epic and grand and beautiful to listen to whether it  s the actual score or the christmas music  everything fits together . apparently christmas movies are my favorite because i insist everyone see this christmas carol above all others .       
the invisible maniac starts as a young kevin dornwinkle  kris russell  is caught by his strict mother  marilyn adams  watching a girl  tracy walker  strip through his telescope . . . cut to  twenty years later   kevin dornwinkle  noel peters  is now a physics professor who claims to have discovered a way to turn things invisible using a  mollecular reconstruction  serum . however during a demonstration in front of his fellow scientists it fails  they all laugh at him  dornwinkle goes mad kills a few of them  is locked away in a mental institute from which he escapes . jump forward  two weeks later   a group of summer college students discuss the tragic death of their physics teacher when the headmistress mrs . cello  stephanie blake as stella blalack  says that she has hired a replacement  yes you  ve guessed it it  s dornwinkle . the student don  t take to him  treat him like dirt  however dornwinkle has perfected his invisibility serum  uses it to satisfy his perverted sexual urges  his desire for revenge . . .  br    br   co  written  directed by adam rifkin wisely hiding under the pseudonym rif coogan  i wouldn  t want my name to be associated with this turd of a film either  the invisible maniac is real bottom of the barrel stuff . the script by rifkin  sorry coogan  tony markes is awful . it tries to be a teenage sex  comedy  horror hybrid that just fails in every department . for a start the sex is nothing more than a few female shower scenes  a few boob shots  not much else i  m afraid  the birds in the invisible maniac aren  t even that good looking . the comedy is lame  every joke misses by the proverbial mile  this is the kind of film that thinks someone fighting an invisible man or having henry  jason logan  a mute man trying to make a phone call is funny . the invisible maniac makes the police academy            series of films look like the pinnacle of sophistication  as for the horror aspect that too is lame . it  s also an incredibly slow  it takes over half an hour before dornwinkles even becomes invisible   dull  predictable  boring  has highly annoying  unlikable teenage character  s .  br    br   director rifkin or coogan or whatever does absolutely nothing to try  make the invisible maniac an even slightly enjoyable experience . there  s no scares  tension or atmosphere  as a whole the film is a real chore to sit through . he does nothing with the invisibility angle  just a few doors opening on their own is as adventurous as it gets . there is very little gore or violence  a bit of splashing blood  a few strangulations  the only decent bit in the whole film when someone has their head blown off with a shotgun  unfortunately he was invisible at the time  we only get to see the headless torso afterwards .  br    br   the budget must have been low   i mean really low because this is one seriously cheap looking film . dornwinkles laboratory is basically two jars on his bedside cabinet  when he escapes from the mental institution he has all of one dog sent after him  the entire school has about a dozen pupils  two teachers . the invisible maniac is a poorly made film throughout it  s   minute duration  i spotted the boom mike on at least one occasion . . . lets just say the acting is of a low standard  leave it at that .  br    br   the invisible maniac is crap  plain  simple . i found no redeeming features in it at all  there are so many more better films out there you can watch so there is no reason whatsoever to waste your time on this rubbish . definitely one to avoid .  
i loved the story . somewhere  a poster said there are no families like the one portrayed in this film . well maybe there ought to be . i thought everybody seemed really human and believable . what a top notch cast . what great music on the soundtrack . what a nice this  and what a nice that  but most of all  i will say two words to recommend this film .  br    br   steve carell .  br    br   he really showed a nice  subtle depth that touched me . he was truly commanding as a widower who had dedicated himself maybe a little too much to being a good dad first  at the cost of denying his own needs .  br    br   did he act like a petulant ass  why  yes he did .  br    br   and you see  that  s what was perfect about this film . the actor who played this character made me believe he was feeling something  and not simply acting like he was feeling something  and he conveyed to me perfectly what it was that he was feeling  and what he was feeling was denied .  br    br   denied happiness .  br    br   denied fulfillment .  br    br   denied love .  br    br   losing your love is painful beyond belief  and many who do so will never feel something like that again .  br    br   beautiful film .  br    br   i gave it an eight out of ten .  
this movie has made me upset  when i think of cat in the hat . im thinking of cat in the hat books . you know  the one from a few years back that parents read to thier children . well  i though that this movie would be a lot like that  but much to my suprise was nothing like the books  insted it is more like young adult humor movie . in one part cat is talking to a gardening tool  hoe  cat talks to it like it is his hoe  agin adult humor  . the naming of his car i all so though was a little untastful for a kids movie . under the rating you  ll find mild cude humor and some double  entendres . i think in short this means adult humor . i wish i could return this movie  wal  mart said they wouldn  t because the movie has been opened . if you are thinking about buying this i suggest that maybe rent before you buy .  
steve carell stars as a person who you can relate to  sort of  in dan in real life  a film which i expected not to like but ended up liking it . not that the movie is laugh out loud funny it  s just that it has a big heart . we all like steve carell  this isn  t what fans of the office would expect to see from him  but you know what  i liked this movie .  br    br   carell stars as dan burns  a widowed father who  s daughters don  t really like him . one weekend  him and his daughters travel down to see his family . while there  he goes to a bookstore and falls for a woman . when he gets back to his house  he finds out that his brother mitch  played by dane cook  is dating this woman  played by juliette binoche  .  br    br   dan in real life  at times  i found a bit unbelievable . are the burns family really the kind of people who do exercises together and play board games together and do a bunch of other family things  i would highly doubt that . i don  t know any family who is like that . is that stopping me from giving it a thumbs up  no .  br    br   dan in real life    
the cat in the hat is just a slap in the face film . mike myers as the cat in the hat is downright not funny and mike myers could not have been any worse . this is his worst film he has ever been in . the acting and the story was just terrible . i mean how could they make the most beloved stories by dr . seuss be made into film and being one of the worst films of all  time and such a disappointment . i couldn  t have seen a more worst film than this besides  maybe baby geniuses . but this film is just so bad i can  t even describe how badly they made this film . bo welch should be fired or the writer should .  br    br   hedeen  s outlook     no stars f  
clean family oriented movie . i laughed  i cried . . . i loved it . i was worried i wouldn  t be able to see steve carrell as anything but goofy michael from the office . boy  was i wrong . he should win an oscar for his performance . i will definitely buy this on dvd when it comes out . my husband enjoyed it and he isn  t into movies of this  type  . i saw it with  other couples in the   year old range and we all agreed it was the best movie we had seen in a long time and certainly the cleanest . only  cuss word  not even sure why it was pg   . i would highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes comedy  drama  romance and more   
inappropriate . the pg rating that this movie gets is yet another huge misstep by the mpaa . whale rider gets a pg    but this movie gets a pg  please . parents don  t be fooled  taking an elementary school child to this movie is a huge mistake . there were numerous times i found myself being uncomfortable not just because the humor was inappropriate for kids  but also because it was totally out of the blue and unnecessary .  br    br   but all that aside  the cat in the hat is still a terrible movie . the casting and overall look of the movie are the only saving graces . the beautiful kelly preston and the always likeable  or hateable in this case  alec baldwin are both good in their roles even though preston is almost too beautiful for a role like this . the kids are conditioned actors and it shows  especially with dakota fanning . fanning is the only human aspect of the film that kept me watching and not throwing things at the screen .  br    br   did i mention there was an oversized talking cat in this movie  mike myers is absolutely deplorable . i didn  t like him as the voice of shrek  and i truly believe now that myers should not be allowed near the realm of children  s films ever again . his portrayal of the cat is a slightly toned down version of fat bastard and austin powers .  br    br   in the end  the cat should not have come  he should have stayed away  but he came  even if just for a day  he ruined   minutes of my life    minutes of personal anger and strife .  br    br   the cat in the hat may be the worst kids movie ever .  
i loved  dan in real life  . a wonderful journey  to  love story like you  ve got mail or while you were sleeping  but not ridiculously full of sight gags and crude jokes  and not so romantic it makes you wanna throw up .  br    br   dan burns  steven carrell  is a popular advice columnist who can  t seem to get things in his own life straightened out . until one day  on a family gathering  trip  he meets and instantly connects with marie  the always beautiful juliette binoche  a radiant specimen of a woman who seems to be framed in a hazy filter hearkening back to the starlets of classic cinema . chemistry happens over a cup of tea and muffin  but marie must be off for a previous engagement  and they must part ways .  br    br   later we are treated to dan  s tight  knit  fun  loving relatives who not only have big breakfasts together but also enjoy using the intelligent and sweetly dorky dan as the butt of many bachelor jokes . what i liked so much was that although the family  s characteristics could be seen as obnoxious to some  i thought it was a great portrayal of a big family that doesn  t venture into parody or crude exaggeration . the burns family is simply a close  loving group of people who are truly interested in the best for dan . there are wonderfully awkward family moments that aren  t unrealistic . the family is nosey  but never mean  spirited or gossipy quirky  but never outlandish .  br    br   and then dan falls in love with his brother  s girlfriend he  s brought to the family gathering . and thus begins a roller  coaster of restrained longing and funny love  budding .  br    br   i could go on but i just thought this movie was simply awesome . it  s not particularly  hip  or  clever   never too wordy and obsessed with dry humor or biting wit as many comedies are in modern cinema . there is a nice balance of storytelling visuals and funny  but  real dialogue . in fact  early in the movie  the initial spark of love begins with whimsical discussion in a classic hollywood  style conversation where the characters say what they  re thinking out loud .  br    br   so i  ve probably rambled and repeated myself  but i highly recommend  dan in real life  . it  s a great date movie  trust me  you  ll laugh  and only if you  re a geek like me you  ll get a bit teary  eyed . filled with fun and magical love   dan in real life  won  t disappoint .  br    br     .  out of  stars grade a  
mean spirited  and down right degrading adaptation to the classic children  s tale not only lacks the charm of its forefather but lacks any talent what so ever . mike myers should not only be ashamed of himself for his horrible performance that is a clear rip off of what jim carrey did but he should give up acting all together . he is so annoying that you would want to beat the crap out of him if you were able to jump right in the film . the sets are ugly and the cinematography is very poor . i have seen a lot of bad film this year  but this not only takes the cake but it is with out a doubt one the worse films ever made .  
the widower family man dan burns  steve carell  writes the column  dan in real life  giving advices for families in the new jersey standard and raises his three daughters alone . jane  allison pill   the older  has just got her driving license but dan does not allow her to drive cara  brittany robertson  has a crush on his high  school mate marty and the young lily  marlene lawston  misses her mother . when dan and his daughters travel to rhode island for a family reunion  he meets marie  juliette binoche  in a bookstore and they spend hours talking to each other . they feel attracted for each other  but marie receives a phone call and leaves dan  giving her phone number first . dan immediately falls in love for marie  but when he return to his parent  s home  he finds that marie is the girlfriend of his wolf brother mitch burns  dane cook   who is also in love with her . along the weekend  the attraction between the clumsy dan and marie increases and they have to take a decision .  br    br    dan in real life  is a great surprise and a delightful movie  with comedy  romance and drama . the chemistry of the gorgeous juliette binoche and steve carell is awesome and it is very easy to know why everybody loves marie . the trio allison pill  brittany robertson and marlene lawston is fantastic and their characters are responsible for some of the best moments of this story . the screenplay is wonderful and the performances of the talented actors and actresses are stunning  with a realistic behavior of a family meeting . follow the advice of dan  s column and plan to be surprised with the reunion of the burns  family . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    eu  meu irmo e nossa namorada    me  my brother and our girlfriend    
well the previews looked funny and i usually don  t go to movies on opening night especially with my kids because . . . . . . well you never know . here is a movie that doesn  t appeal either to children or adults as the jokes are too perverse for children and falls completely flat for entertainment purposes for adults . i was actually embarrassed to be with my  and  year old and having to explain to my  year old what s h  t spells . essentially what happens here is a total twisting of dr . seuss  s classic . it adds an evil and lazy neighbor who wants to marry the children  s mother for her money . if that was a subplot  then maybe that would have been fine but it ends up being the major plot around the whole movie and  the cat  plays more of a subplot role in exposing the neighbor to the mom for who he really is . take my advice and read the book and pass on the movie .  
steve carell once again stars in a light romantic movie about choices  family and pressure . by judging on the plot and cover art of the movie i was expecting a flat  out comedy  lots of laughs and unrealistic elements  but i guess i was wrong . sure the movie had some comedy  but it felt much more of a light drama to me and steve carell once again gave a great performance . the movie itself really tackles true observations and that was a strong element i found . but  the ending felt a little bit rushed and predictable . through  out  the cinematography was great  the acting was great and the message it delivered was obvious but yet still very important . though  it came down to old  flat and predictable ending . i  d reckon if different choices were made at the end of the movie  perhaps for the bad  even  this movie would get better publicity . still a fun movie .  
from the acting  direction  scriptwriting and art direction this film is just entirely ill conceived and the money would have been better spent on shoes for land mine victims . when did we get so sad that they have to fill a a children  s movie with sexual innuendo to keep the parents attention .  br    br   dr suess is rolling in his grave right now  what with the  dirty ho   s . h . i . t  and fake erection scenes etc etc etc . its shameful how they trade on the name of suess to get the parents to bring their kids  throw in the profanities to try for the teens and a few sad parents who won  t watch a a film with their child if there is no t  a . greed greed and more greed .  br    br   compare this to the classic children  s films and we can get a disturbing view of world is turning into . these guys should stick to making mtv videos . how on earth this movie got     votes as a perfect   is beyond me .  unless its the directors family   
dan  the widowed father of three girls  has his own advice column that will probably go into syndication . after his wife  s death  he has taken time to raise his daughters . having known no romance in quite some time  nothing prepares him for the encounter with the radiant marie  at a local book store in a rhode island small town on the ocean  where he has gone to celebrate thanksgiving with the rest of his big family . after liking marie at first sight  little prepares him when the gorgeous woman appears at the family compound . after all  she is the date of dan  s brother  mitch .  br    br   it is clear from the outset that dan and marie are made for one another  and although we sense what the outcome will be  we go for the fun ride that peter hedges  the director wants to give us . mr . hedges  an author and screenplay writer on his own  has given us two excellent novels   what  s eating gilber grapes   and  an ocean in iowa   and the delightful indie   pieces of april  which he also directed . it  s just a coincidence that both movies deal with families during thanksgiving reunions .  br    br   the best thing in the film was the natural chemistry between the two stars  steve carell and juliette binoche . mr . carell  in fact  keeps getting better all the time . in many ways  he remind us of jack lemmon  in his take of comedy and serious material . what can one say about ms . binoche  an intelligent actress  and a bright presence in any film . she proves she is right up to doing comedy  convincing us about her marie .  br    br   the only sad note is the waste of talent in the picture . john mahoney  diane wiest  norbert leo butz  jessica hecht  emily blunt  allison pill  amy ryan  have nothing to do . they just serve as incidental music for decoration . dane cook  who is seen as brother mitch  fares better because he gets to recite more lines than the others .  br    br    dan in real life  is a delightful film that will please everyone .  
this movie was physically painful to sit through  maybe because  like many people my age  and younger  i grew up with dr . seuss and loved his books  funny  clever  whimsical and subversive at the same time .  the cat in the hat  sucks all of the interest and spark out of the story  and mike myer  s performance as the cat is mostly bewildering . why the borscht belt accent  the unfunny patter  the inappropriate jokes  the charmless costume  i had to go back and re  read the books to see the real problem the books are simple . this movie is overblown and way  way too long .  br    br   you don  t expect every kids  movie to be toy story or the iron giant  but this one set a new low . how could mike myers need the money   
i was drawn to dan in real life from the excellent reviews and the thirst for a dramedy that was well written  thank you peter hedges  and because when steve carell stars in the film  you know an audience is going to find like in little miss sunshine  a performance that is very entertaining and rewarding . dan in real life delivered that promise .  br    br   the film is so real to many families world wide that have lost a member and yet have gone on with their lives in search of something that will give them the magic back before their loss . with steve carell and the wondrous juliette binoche  their relationship was so beautifully done and written that their scenes were so real to their characters and to their journeys . the cast  sets and story made dan in real life one to remember as we head into the holidays ahead .  
if you liked the grinch movie . . . go watch that again  because this was no where near as good a seussian movie translation . mike myers  cat is probably the most annoying character to  grace  the screen in recent times . his voice  accent is terrible and he laughs at his own jokes with an awful weasing sound  which is about the only laughing i heard at the theater . not even the kids liked this one folks  and kids laugh at anything now . save your money and go see looney tunes back in action if you  re really looking for a fun holiday family movie .  
i saw a special advance screening of this today . i have to let you know  i  m not a huge fan of either dane cook or steve carell  so i really had no expectations going into this . i ended up enjoying it quite a bit .  br    br   dan in real life is the story of a widower with  daughters who goes to spend a weekend with his family . while at a bookstore  he meets the woman of his dreams  only to find out that she happens to be his brother  s girlfriend .  br    br   this movie is pretty well made  the soundtrack  cinematography  and acting are all top  notch  especially steve carell . my problem with it was mostly that there seemed to be a lack of character development  mostly with dane cook  s character . we never really get a close look at the relationship between dane and steve  s characters  and i felt that it could have helped a bit in showing what dan  s inner conflict about being in love with dane  s girlfriend was like . other than this though  dan in real life is definitely a solid  sweet film  definitely a nice break from all the horror and action movies we  ve been getting this year .  
the only good thing about this unfunny dreck is that i didn  t have to pay for it . i saw it for free at college . and if a college student can  t find humor in something that was free  it  s hopeless .  br    br   stale acting and poor jokes cannot be masked by an excellent  yet bewildering set design  that goes out of its way to market volkswagon beetles  . i don  t know what michaels myers was doing in this movie  but i have never seen anything more depressing . this was nothing more than a blatant effort to capitalize on the previous success of the grinch  which has its opponents  but i enjoyed it very much  . it  s difficult not to sit through this failure and wonder what better projects were passed over to fund it .  br    br   you want a funny seuss adaptation  go with the grinch .  
there is a scene in dan in real life where the family is competing to see which sex can finish the crossword puzzle first . the answer to one of the clues is murphy  s law anything that can go wrong  will go wrong . this is exactly the case for dan burns  steve carell  the office  a columnist for the local newspaper . dan is an expert at giving advice for everyday life  yet he comes to realize that things aren  t so picture perfect in his own . dan in real life is amazing at capturing these ironies of everyday life and is successful at embracing the comedy  tragedy  and beauty of them all . besides that this movie is pretty damn hilarious .  br    br   the death of his wife forces dan to raise his three daughters all on his own . . . each daughter in their own pivotal stages in life the first one anxious to try out her drivers license  the middle one well into her teenage angst phase  and the youngest one drifting away from early childhood . things take a turn for dan when he goes to rhode island for a family reunion and stumbles across an intriguing woman in a bookstore .  br    br   her name is marie  juliette binoche  chocolat  and she is looking for a book to help her avoid awkward situations . . . which is precisely whats in store when they get thrown into the burns family household .  br    br   if you  ve seen steve carell in the office or little miss sunshine  you  d know that he is incomparable with comedic timing and a tremendously dynamic actor as well . steve carell is awesome at capturing all the emotions that come with family life the frustration and sincere compassion . the family as well as the house itself provides a warm environment for the movie that contrasts the inner turmoil that builds throughout the movie and finally bursts out in a pretty suspenseful climax . the movie only falls short in some of the predictable outcomes  yet at the same time life is made up of both irony and predictability which is an irony within itself .  br    br   dan in real life is definitely worth seeing  for the sole enjoyment of watching all the funny subtleties we often miss in everyday life  and i  ll most likely enjoy it a second time  or even a third . just  put it on my tab .   
audrey  i know you truly cherish your husband ted  s memory but please do his legacy justice and heed his wishes . dr . seuss refused to license his characters during his lifetime for a very good reason . we beg of you to please stop cashing in on his stories  images  fantasies and characters . they are getting disemboweled by the powers that be of hollywood and broadway . the children of tomorrow will be stuck with these histrionic and grotesque interpretations that will forever pollute the loving warmth and innocence of his books .  br    br   it is indeed your property to do with as you wish . i just wish you would listen to the advice of others for a little while . save what is left of dr . seuss . thank you .  
as the celebration of christmas has evolved through the years  whether one concentrates on the religious or the secular traditions  it is a time when people are supposed to behave a little better to each other . that has somehow slipped past one ebenezer scrooge  merchant and money lender in   th century london .  br    br   as his nephew points out to his uncle  he doesn  t keep christmas in any way because scrooge feels the whole thing is humbug . the humanity in scrooge was driven out long ago  he  s a hard case  a whole lot like his   th century counterpart  mr . potter of bedford falls  new york .  br    br   but as charles dickens told this tale  redemption is not too late for any of us and a lonely ghost and three spirits visit scrooge and show him how .  br    br   a christmas carol is such a timeless holiday classic that we sometimes forget that it is as much a social commentary of   th century great britain as oliver twist was . the characters in this film are middle and lower class . the cratchits are a couple of rungs above the street people in oliver twist  but they are having to struggle to stay up there . still love and happiness radiate their home  no thanks to the guy bob cratchit works for .  br    br   like george bailey who did a whole lot of good in his life and just had to be reminded how much  ebenezer scrooge needed a wake up call as to the potentiality he still had for doing some good in this old world .  br    br   patrick stewart in his live performances and filmed play has pretty much taken over the part of scrooge . but george c . scott captures the old miser pretty well in this film . the meanness of him  but with a trace of sadness that makes us root for him to change . scott joins a fine tradition of people like reginald owen and alastair sim who  ve both done great interpretations of scrooge .  br    br   among the supporting roles i particularly enjoyed david warner as bob cratchit and edward woodward as a hearty and stern spirit of christmas present .  br    br   according to imdb this is one of   versions of a christmas carol made that they have archived and it is one of the best .  
why is this show so popular  it  s beyond me why people like it . i think it  s one of the worst sitcoms out there .  br    br   because it  s so popular  i  ve tried more than once to watch it and i can  t make it through an entire episode .  br    br   for one thing  the acting is horrible . everybody is overacting to the point where it  s annoying to watch . they talk in unnatural voices  use unnatural tones  and have unnatural body language . i  ve seen better acting in a kindergarten school play .  br    br   for another thing  it  s not funny . the plots are dull . they  re not creative  intelligent  or funny . shouldn  t a sitcom be funny   why am i not laughing   br    br   lastly  what is seventies about this  it  s about as authentic to the seventies as  happy days  was to the fifties .  br    br   oh and what is up with ashton kutcher  who cast this untalented dweeb  and now he  s making movies   oh  save us all   br    br   if people think this is quality television  it worries me .  
i  m not a steve carell fan however i like this movie about dan  an advice columnist  who goes to his parents house for a stay with his kids and ends up falling in love with his brother  s girlfriend . its a story thats been told before  but not like this . there are simply too many little bits that make the film better than it should be . the cast is wonderful  and even if carell is not my cup of tea  he is quite good as the widower who  s suppose to know everything but finds that knowing is different than feeling and that sometimes life surprises you . at times witty and wise in the way that an annoying hallmark card can be  the film still some how manages to grow on you and be something more than a run of the mill film . worth a look see  
film critics of the world  i apologize . it is your job to give advice to the moviegoing public so that they can wisely choose what to spend money on . but i ignored your advice and i have been deeply hurt . however  my decision to see  the cat in the hat  wasn  t made haphazardly . you see  three years ago all of you critics said that we should all avoid the  calamity  known as  how the grinch stole christmas  . then some friends of mine took me to see it and it turned out to be a colorful  funny and almost hypnotic yuletide treat . so when the critics unleashed their fury against  the cat in the hat   another big budget seuss update with a big name star in the title role  i thought that it must be the same old song . how wrong i was .  br    br   for five whole minutes i thought i was in the clear . the opening credits are clever  the kids are charming and the production values are top notch . then the cat showed up . there are many problems from this point on  but the biggest one was the woeful miscasting of mike myers . where  the grinch  was saved by the inspired casting of jim carrey   the cat  was destroyed by myers . he can be very funny when his energies are applied where they belong  comic sketches . every movie he  s made that was truly funny was really just a feature length comedy sketch  from  wayne  s world  to  austin powers  . so he tries to do the same thing here  it  s just that these comedy sketches are more like the stuff that they stick at the end of snl  not funny  just painful . not that the writers helped him out any . after the charming prologue the movie turns into an hour of repulsive bodily humor gags  poorly timed pratfalls and insultingly stunted attempts at hip humor . this movie was the most disheartening cinematic experience i have ever had . period . so much talent and work went into something so vile . i know that the adult stars of this movie will be relatively unscathed by this mess  i just hope that the wonderful spencer breslin and dakota fanning will get more chances to show their charms in far better movies . if you are a parent  please avoid this like the plague . with movies like  elf  and  brother bear  currently in theaters  you have far better choices .  
steve carell plays dan burns  newspaper agony uncle and dedicated single father to three girls . at a large family homecoming dan meets his perfect woman  only to find out that she is in a relationship with his brother .  br    br   what  s a man to do   br    br   i rather liked  dan in real life   but i would imagine the success or otherwise of this flick is going to be down to whether you are willing to accept steve carell playing a part relatively straight and restrained  rather than going through the broad comedy moves that have made him so successful . if you cannot accept it  fear not   get smart  will be along later in the year  but for the record i thought he was very good .  br    br    dan in real life  starts off like your typical  incidentally amusing  family drama  but it gets funnier and funnier as it goes along and carell  s frustration with his situation grows . it  s not massively original  but if you only saw movies with original ideas  cinematic pickings would be very scarce indeed  wouldn  t they    but  dan in real life  is entertaining  and a good cast  who wouldn  t fall in love at first sight with the luminous juliette binoche   make the most of an insightful enough script that contains many a ponder on the meaning and passion of love .  br    br   i hope that steve carell pushes himself and does something as interesting again .  
don  t get me wrong  i assumed this movie would be stupid  i honestly did  i gave it an incredibly low standard to meet . the only reason i even saw it was because there were a bunch of girls going  different story for a different time  . as i began watching i noticed something  this film was terrible . now there are two types of terrible  there  s freddy vs . jason terrible  where you and your friends sit back and laugh and joke about how terrible it is  and then there is a movie like this . the cat in the hat failed to create even a momentary interest in me . as i watched the first bit of it not only was i bored senseless  but i felt as though i had in some way been violated by the horrendousness of said movie . mike myers is usually brilliant  i love the majority of his work  but something in this movie didn  t click . one of the things that the director  producers  writers  whatevers changed was that they refused to use any of the colors of the original book  red  black  white  on any character but the cat . coincidentally or not  they also refused to capture any of the original  and i hate to use this word  but it fits  zaniness of the original . the book was like an ice cream sunday  colorful and delicious  and the movie was about as bland and hard to swallow as sawdust .  br    br   avoid this like a leprous prostitute .  
marie you are smooth . dan no  i  m not smooth . i  m dan .  br    br   if you  re anything like me  smooth and single do not go together . you see someone you like  rare enough as that can be  and you want to say something but you don  t . or maybe you do say something but it ends up being perhaps the least intelligent thing you  ve ever said in your life . more often then not though  you stare from afar and admire without having to deal with taking that which most agree is the only way to get anywhere in life  a risk . you can  t blame a guy for being a little frightened though . maybe he  s been burned hard before or maybe he  s trying to focus all his energy on his career . there are reasons  some valid  some not  and all of them can be interpreted as excuses rather than reason . you tell yourself you don  t need it or it isn  t the right time for you but you still wish it were happening . any way you break it down  it  s not easy . sound familiar  if you thought yes even just a little  then dan in real life  the new comedy from director peter hedges  is a must  see . it will reach inside of you and somehow manage to both break and warm your heart all at once .  br    br   the dan from the title is dan burns  steve carell   an advice columnist who is admired for his insight into living a balanced  fulfilling and morally uplifting life . four years or so before the film opens on dan waking up to his day  he lost his wife and love of his life . after that tragedy  dan was left to raise their three daughters alone . between that and focusing on his career  finding love again was not one of dan  s priorities . and so he became more functional than feeling . removed from the power of intimacy  dan no longer knows what it means to be that close to someone and has resigned himself to never knowing that again . that is  until he meets marie  juliette binoche  in a book and tackle shop in connecticut on a quiet morning . they  re interaction is casual  comfortable and it catches both of them off guard . there is only one problem really . she is already seeing someone . unfortunately for all involved  that someone is dan  s brother  mitch  dane cook  . his entire family has come up to their parents  country home for their yearly visit and dan must now spend the weekend pining and yearning for the fleeting feeling he had with marie that morning . it only lasted an hour or so but it only took that long to awaken dan  s heart from its coma .  br    br   with so many family members to deal with  jack mahoney and dianne wiest are at the helm   dan in real life does drift away from its grander purpose from time to time . while the cyclone of kids and parents and aunts and uncles makes for trying times for dan  hedges also uses it unnecessarily as a means to distract  with the presumption that it would ultimately make for a more complete film . luckily  hedges has got carell to carry the heavy burden . it is a pleasure to watch steve carell come into his own more and more with every picture he makes  despite the occasional evan almighty  sized misstep  . he is charismatic  charming and obviously a sharp humorist . as dan  he is also self  deprecating  awkward and scared . carell is the rare comedian who pushes himself to find character in his roles rather than rely solely on his comedic instincts and established persona . perhaps more importantly  he is entirely relatable as dan . whether he  s flopping down on the cot in the laundry room where he is subjected to sleep as the only single adult at this reunion or fidgeting around the kitchen  unable to stan d still in his anxiety  dan is every guy who has even been unsure of himself and felt alone in the crowd . carell gives dan so much heart that he becomes the heart of the film itself at the same time .  br    br   i wondered after seeing the film if i enjoyed the it as much as i did  despite its slight shortcomings  juliette binoche  i know you might like to lighten up every now and then but i don  t recommend it unless there is chocolate involved   because of where i am in my life . would someone who has found that someone else derive as much meaning and comfort from this film  i can  t say . what i can say  as someone who knows what it means to be lonely  dan in real life knows what it means to be surprised by life and love and how these moments and people need to be appreciated and cherished . it also knows that anyone who might be feeling lonely on any given day or for months at a time needs to be reminded that surprises still happen .  
there is no way to avoid a comparison between the cat in the hat and the grinch who stole christmas  so let  s get that part out of the way . first of all  let me start by saying that i think grinch was an underrated and unappreciated film . cat was . . . well  just awful .  br    br   jim carey was cast because he is a brilliant physical comedian  and fearlessly commits to over the top  outrageous characters . mike myers fell back on his old bag of tricks .  br    br   why  why  why mike myers   the kids could care less  and the austin powers demographic isn  t going to spy this film . so  what was the studio thinking   br    br   the cat was also apparently related to linda richmond . can we talk  why a new york accent  not entirely consistent with anything dr . seuss has ever written . myers was even allowed to sneak in his scottish shtick . i wonder how many different voices the director and the studio tried to edit out of before they just gave in and said  as long as you don  t say fahklempt   you can keep the accents .  meyers never seemed to find any sort of comfort  either with the costume  make  up  or dialogue .  br    br   the jokes  what few there were  were crude and age inappropriate . when myers picks up a garden hoe and delivers to the camera  dirty ho   everything but the rim shot was missing  and even that wouldn  t have helped .  br    br   the same folks who created  whoville   clearly had a hand in the creation of the town and the houses in  cat  . the sets and props were very appealing  giving the viewer a much needed distraction from the bad writing  direction  and myers .  br    br   there was some fun to be had with alec baldwin and kelly preston . dakota fanning was the only actor who seemed to be aware she was in a movie based on a dr . seuss classic  and stayed true to the genre .  br    br   call the spca . this cat should be neutered and never be allowed to reproduce again . please  please  no sequel .  
i was lucky enough to see this at a pre  screening last night  oct .    and i was incredibly surprised by the wonderful plot and genuinely heart felt acting .  br    br   while the plot is not particularly complicated or exceptionally new  the story unfolds in a way that feels fresh  unique  and distinctly  indy  in style . it isn  t something that can easily be compared to films of the past  it  s a unique take on a sort of classic middle  aged depressed love story .  br    br   i was particularly struck by the casting of the film . down to every last extra in the family  it was a beautiful and talented cast . the three daughters did a wonderful job  the talent was evenly dispersed between them and none of them  out  shone  the other two .  br    br   it was truly a delightful film  appropriate for all ages and laugh out loud funny while also being truly touching and heart warming . it was a wonderful break from the sex jokes and nudity of recent films .  
as a veteran of many  many pretentious french films i thought i  d taken the worst the industry had to offer and was able to stomach anything . but not this . pointless  relentless  violent  unpleasant  meaningless . . . the film has nothing to offer and is random hatred and aggression dressed up as pretentious art . avoid at all costs .  
i got to see this film at a preview and was dazzled by it . it  s not the typical romantic comedy . i can  t remember laughing so hard at a film and yet being moved by it . the laughs aren  t gags here   they  re observations  laughs of recognition  little shocks of  oh  my god  i thought i was the only one who felt that way   i won  t give away the plot  which is more than just  guy falls in love with his brother  s girlfriend .  the whole family plays a part in the relationship here . probably the best blend of laughter and warmth since  while you were sleeping .   br    br   steve carell goes much deeper than he  s gone before  and for the first time i really liked him . the cast is amazing  a list of veteran theater actors whom i  ve loved in other roles  but they blend to make a convincing family . dianne wiest is lovely as the mother  juliette binoche is luminous and hilarious  who knew she was funny    and even the reviled dane cook gives a warm  quiet  touching performance . the sondre lerche soundtrack is a wonderful addition  and i  ll buy the cd the second it  s available .  br    br   don  t miss this one .  
in modern day eastern europe life is hard and for young women prostitution is one of the only career options and one taken  reluctantly  by melania . she attracts the attentions of an american  seymour  who becomes obsessed with her  paying more and more money for time with her until he eventually wants to buy her outright . she has two pimps with differring emotional attachments to her and she is generally passed around like some piece of baggage with no feelings of her own . however  we are in  modern art  house cinema  territory  so conventions like narrative structure  lighting the subject so it can be seen  camera techniques that add to rather than distract from the action and a vaguely consistent plot can all be abandoned . much of the time i had no idea what was supposed to be happening and very rarely did i care . people began leaving the screening almost before the last latecomers had arrived and i don  t think i  ve ever seen so many people walk out .  br    br   images are important to the director  characters slowly emerge from or disappear into a dark screen  we get long lingering shots of nothing in particular and one sex scene takes place in infra  red . in fact for such an unconventional film the sex scenes were remarkably ordinary missionary positions between naked people in bed abounded and there were no drugs or related weirdness . but perhaps these days being ordinary is unconventional .  br    br   on the whole  almost entirely without merit .  br    br    
the most satisfying element about  dan in real life  is that the relationship between dan  steve carell  and marie  juliette binoche  makes sense and is beautifully realistic . the casting of oscar  winner juliette binoche as dan  s love interest was a superb decision she is exceptionally talented  intelligent  naturally attractive and  thank goodness  appropriately aged for the part  had this movie been made with jessica alba or scarlett johansson  it would have been a disaster .  br    br   another wonderful aspect about  dan in real life  is that it is a perfect film for adults who are interested in a mature comedy that leaves out the three pillars of the  frat pack  formula dumb chicks  chauvinistic guys  and sleazy jokes .  dan in real life  is witty and has fun  intelligent laughs throughout . whereas other comedies incorporate or are almost entirely based on jokes that shock the audience into laughing  the jokes from  dan in real life  are more natural and clever  and involve some thinking on the part of the audience .  br    br   my only problem with  dan in real life  is that the rebellious  middle daughter is played too outrageously by actress brittany robertson . it  s difficult to say if this was a personal choice on her part or a choice by the director . either way  her character is unrealistic and annoying . but  this is only a minor flaw in the film  and does not take away from the story as a whole .  br    br   all in all   dan in real life  is a great film  a fantastic escape from the redundancy of offensive and dumbed  down comedies . the quality of the writing  directing  acting  and  especially  cinematography is excellent . it is simply a beautiful  light  hearted comedy .  
beautifully photographed and ably acted  generally  but the writing is very slipshod . there are scenes of such unbelievability that there is no joy in the watching . the fact that the young lover has a twin brother  for instance  is so contrived that i groaned out loud . and the  emotion  light bulb connection  seems gimmicky  too .  br    br   i don  t know  though . if you have a few glasses of wine and feel like relaxing with something pretty to look at with a few flaccid comedic scenes  this is a pretty good movie . no major effort on the part of the viewer required . but italian film  especially italian comedy  is usually much  much better than this .  
for romance  s sake  as a married man . the following two films are recommended .  br    br    . brief encounter by david lean        uk  br    br   well  when a woman goes to a railway station  something may happen . and it happened  how she longed to be there  in a little tavern waiting for the man of her dreams . but she was married . . . the man was a stranger to the fantasizing woman  br    br    . xiao cheng zhi chun by fei mu        china  br    br   well  when a woman goes to the market to buy fish  grocery and medicine  passing through the ruins of an ancient wall in a small town  there is much to think about  about the melancholy of her life  her sick husband in self  pity and lack of future . . . just when a jubilant young doctor arrived  something happened . . . the doctor was a high school honey of the fantasizing woman  br    br   in both movies  from great directors of uk and china  the passion vs restraint was so intense  yet in the end the intimate feelings had not developed into any physical contacts . that leaves you with a great after  taste  sniffing it intensely without biting it .  
pretty crazy whodunit featuring an all black cast trying to figure out who murdered the philandering trumpet player who was just about to go to hollywood to make it big . was it his wife  his girlfriend  his would  be  girlfriend  her father  his butler  the newspaper guy  who knows  and who cares  the result of this is just a little underwhelming  and the actors here don  t really get me in a mood to care one way or another finding out . why snake venom as a weapon  who knows  who cares  the music in this is alright  but there  s little of it  and most of it is pretty  let  s get this over with  this isn  t worthy of your time . there are better all  black casted movies out there .  
this is a film about deep and unspoken human relationships .  br    br   eventually they do become spoken  but is there a chance to change anything about the situation .  br    br   originally made in shanghai     and quite free of propaganda the film introduces us to the dai family . there is still some weight about the history that surrounds the family . history usually has weight in chinese literature and serious film .  br    br   a young married couple  liyan  an invalid  and his wife yuwen live in a once great family compound that is partially ruined .  br    br   a bright contrast is liyan  s young sister who cannot really remember the past of the family but accepts everything in quite a natural way . her spirit is as bright as the other two are reserved .  br    br   into this apparently stable world comes an unexpected visitor . . .  br    br   i ended up feeling quite sad  but definitely a superior film .  
this had to be one of the most god awful wrestlemanias ever and is only saved by  matches . the hardcore match between edge and mick foley  also vince mcmahon against shaun michaels . the main event between cena and triple h was a complete washout and to be honest i nearly fell asleep it was so actionless  the casket match was not worthy of having the undertaker appear in it and the match between the boogie man and booker t was a complete joke . if you are really a big fan of the wwe and have missed the early days of the wwf and the wrestlemanias   and   you  ll probably love this . but i found that this wrestlemania left a lot to be desired .  
this is a nice little movie with a nice story  that plays the most important role in the entire movie .  br    br   it  s a quite intriguing dramatic story  with also romance present in it . the story is being told slowly but this works out all too well for its build up . the characters are nice and portrayed nicely by its actors . normally i  m not a too big fan of the asian acting style but the acting in this movie was simply good .  br    br   of course the movie is quite different in its approach and style from other genre movies  produced in the west . in a way this movie is more advanced already with its approach than the western movies made during the same era .  br    br   i only wished the movie its visual style would had been a bit better . for a movie that is considered a kind of an art  house movie this movie is certainly lacking in some well looking sequences . this was obviously a quite cheap movie to make and it got made quite generically . not that this is a bad thing  it just prevent this movie from truly distinct itself and raising itself above the genre .  br    br   but oh well  this movie is all about its well constructed story and characters that are in it . in that regard this movie most certainly does not disappoint .  br    br        
if there was some weird inversed oscar academy awards festival this flick would win it all . it has all the gods  excellent plot  extreme special effects coupled with extremely good acting skills and of course in every role there is a celebrity superstar . well  this could be the scenario if the world was inversed  but it  s not . instead it  s the worst horror flick ever made  not only bad actors that seem to read the scripts from a teleprinter with bad dyslexia  but also extremely low on special effects . for example the devil costume  which by the way is a must  see   is something of the most hilarious i  ve ever seen . whenever i saw that red  black so called monster on screen i couldn  t hold my laugh back . and to top of things it looked like the funny creature was transported by a conveyor  belt .  br    br   do not do the same mistake as i did . checking imdb seeing that the movie was released in      had less than five votes and thinking   well  it  s worth a shot  can  t be that bad  .  br    br   yes it could .  br    br   i  m not even going to waste more words on this movie .  
tian  s remake is no good at all . i only click on his remake documentary to see wei wei  the original actress back in the classic     film say a few words to the crew . we are going to meet wei wei this sunday            after the showing of xiao cheng zhi chun in the hong kong film archiev . wei wei is almost   years old in silver hair  her cameo appearance in hong kong films is always a surprise to her fans . in this year  s hong kong film festival  a special program is dedicated to fei mu  director of this epic movie and wei wei  s still shot from the movie is being seen all around in hong kong . my son  who turns   this year  is surprised wei wei was so beautiful then .  
this movie seemed like it was going to be better than it ended up being . the cinematography is good  the acting seemed solid  the dialogue wasn  t too stiff . . . but then about twenty minutes in there  s this long scene with a doctor who you know is actually a patient at the asylum pretending to be a doctor  and it just goes south from there .  br    br   on top of that  the demon is about the silliest looking hellspawn since the godzilla  looking thing in curse of the demon . there  s also some odd demon worshippers who wear masks that look like the exploding teens from the beginning of logan  s run .  br    br   in the end  the cinematography couldn  t save this movie . despite some pretty solid performances by the actors  the story just doesn  t go anywhere . i think  hellbored  would have been a better title for this .  
and possibly closest to the dickens story line . although i find the young ebenezer hard to watch  who  s idea was that period hair  surely they could have done better than that    scott does an incredible job as scrooge . his delivery of some of the lines from dickens finally brought it to life for me . edward woodward is everything we expect and more of the ghost of christmas present . i find g . c . scott  s scrooge much more of a believable miser than the more current version done by patrick stewart . the scene christmas morning when scrooge realizes he hasn  t  missed it   is enough to convince one that scott knows how to act versus overact . he  s phenomenal here . nearly the entire cast is incredible . the tiny tim in this version of the christmas carol is a little tough to look at  almost too sweet . still the music and the scenery make this a must watch every holiday . enjoy   
as someone who lived through  and still remembers that decade vividly  if the actual    s had been half this funny and  semi  normal  they would have been so much more enjoyable . actual kids in that era did not act or behave anything close to as bright  eyed and normal as these kids did . the country  s youth was still under the influence of the hippies and the drug culture all that    s rebellion that it spawned  especially in the behavior departmentthe petulance  the smugness  the self  righteousness  the childishness  the unreasonableness of them  none of the characters exhibit any of that .  br    br   someone compared to  happy days   and i can see whythey were both sitcoms that take place   years before the current time they were broadcast  and they both offer only surface  cliched depictions of the actual eras  not even close to the full scope of it  just showing the obvious things  the fashions  toys  music  contraptions  etc  and that  s it . for those too young to remember  or weren  t born then  trust me  the    s weren  t like that  any more than  happy days  were like the actual    s  as  mash  didn  t accurately portray life at a us army medical base during the korean war  etc .  
mature intelligent and highly charged melodrama unbelivebly filmed in china in     . wei wei  s stunning performance as the catylast in a love triangle is simply stunning if you have the oppurunity to see this magnificent film take it  
i just watched this movie . in one word sucky  the story is bad  the acting is  if possible  even worse . the movie has one or two nice moments  but thats it and having those two small good moments  doesn  t make up for anything in between  before or after those moments . a montrocity of a movie  not even worth watching on tv . . .  
xiao chen zhi chun is a great movie  not only in the year it was shot but also now . it  s an art movie which is not outdated even in   st century . the director maintained a good narrative skill and thus made the story so smooth   br    br   the movie reminds me of the later french new wave movie francois truffaut  s  femme d  a cote  which is of the similar topic .  
james bishop  matt stasi  goes to a mental illness facility  for a medical residence assignment with dr . mccort  bruce paynes  . there  he realizes that many interns are being killed by the ripper   who takes their souls to the devil  in a cult promoted by dr . mccort . this story is so absurd and imbecile that it is impossible to write a summary . the dialogs are so ridiculous  specially when the character of helen  the blonde fianc of james bishop arrives in the asylum  that it is almost unbelievable that a writer has had the courage to include them in a screenplay . and what about the return of james to the hospital to bring the files of the dead patients  and the cast  composed of ham actors and actresses  honestly  i do not know what or who is the worst in this film the screenplay  the director or the cast . the correct answer certainly is all of them . i saw this flick on cable television  and i am astonished how can a producer spend money in such a garbage . this horror movie becomes very funny considering the absurd of the plot . my vote is three .  br    br   title  brazil   demnio   devil    
henri verneuil represented the commercial cinema in france from          . always strong at the box  office  and usually telling dramatic and suspenseful tales of casino robberies  mafia score  settling and world war ii battles  verneuil could be counted on to give us two solid hours of entertainment on saturday night . he worked with the cream of the male actors of his day gabin  belmondo  fernandel  delon  sharif  anthony quinn . i . . . comme icare is the only time he directed yves montand . it  s an oddly static film  taking place mainly in offices and conference rooms  containing not one chase scene and hardly any violence .  br    br   montand gives a good performance  if somewhat dry  and he is well supported by the other actors . i couldn  t help wondering what costa  gavras could have done with this story  on the basis of z  the lambrakis assassination  and l  aveu  the torture of artur london in czechoslovakia by stalinists  .  
don  t even waste your time  let alone pay rental for this piece of dreck  how it got made is beyond me .  i don  t know why there  s a minimum of   lines . . . i  ve already summarized this trashy movie  but  oh well . . .  the acting was awful  like they all needed lessons . the plot was weak  the ending . . . feh  i think the cinematography was the only thing that didn  t totally suck . . . well  maybe the sound was minimalistically ok . the one good thing is  if they could make this movie  even make some money with it  there may be hope for any screenwriter with a real idea . so  you  all take heart  i guess the same holds true of actors . . . if these people actually got paid  then you can  too   
this is a must see for anybody who loves thriller  s specially political thriller . one scene that stands out is milgram experiment it is shot to perfection very rarely do we get to see a movie shot and scripted the way this movie is presented .  br    br   the movie starts with a kennedy like assassination and a three member team is constituted to investigate the assassination . however one of the member does not agree with the final findings of the committee . as per the terms set that member would initiate a one man investigation into the assassination . this investigation gets him involved in into to deep and dark secrets of high office politics and the way they are controlled .  
i was fooled to rent this movie by its impressive cover . alas . it is easily one of the worst movies ever made . judging by the acting of the film characters  it  s more a comedy than a horror film . no surprise why no one else has written comments on the imdb . avoid it .  
this movie i saw some   years ago  maybe more   i took it in a rental and never found it to buy even in french sites . the end is very surprising and intelligent . i would like very much to watch it again because i think it  s as surpring as the sixth sense althogh a completely different kind of movie .  
if i have to give this movie a score on a linear scale  then i have to give it a low score     .  br    br   but it was entertaining  and there are several good things to say about the movie .  br    br   the psychiatrist candidate james bishop is assigned to st . andrews hospital for his resident  and is exited and eager to  change the world  .  br    br   from the beginning of the movie you know that the hospital is hiding an evil truth  but james thinks he can make a difference and doesn  t recognise this evil .  br    br   the story builds fairly well  you know all the time that there is a truth in what the patients are telling about some resident evil  and wonder when and how james will discover this . also when the break comes  james is in a way hunted by the evil  and you feel some suspense until  the fight  is over .  br    br   add an innocent beautiful girlfriend that arrives at the worst possible time and other standard horror elements  and you get the picture .  br    br   the character buildup is actually fairly good  you are introduced to most of the people that gets killed  some of them you  get to know  .  br    br   the film sets an unpleasant scene  this is also done fairly well . there are mysteries that are unveiled  in an acceptable way .  br    br   the main character  james is very believable  the story about an eager student starting to work is good in this setting .  br    br   what kills this movie is  stupid special effects  a modern version of  plan  from outer space   type bad  the evil monster looks like a red scarecrow   some bad acting  or probably very few takes when filming   the main characters sometimes acts badly  and somtimes good .  the sound is at times very cheap .  br    br   i kept thinking  i could make a movie like this with my home video camera  throughout the film .  
i saw this film for the very first time several years ago  and was hooked up in an instant . it is great and much better than j . f . k . cause you always have to think  can it happen to me  can i become a murderer   you cannot turn of the tv or your vcr without thinking about the plot and the end  which you should  nt miss under any circumstances .  
because others have gone to the trouble of summarizing the plot  i  d like to mention a few points about this film . there may be spoilers here i don  t care enough to filter them out .  br    br    given the film  s low budget  the creature design was quite good . it  s actually nice to see a direct  to  video horror film that  s not slathered with awful cgi . unfortunately the digital film quality  s quite grainy in places  and it  s most noticeable in the well  lit white halls of the asylum .  br    br    ridiculous lighting design plagues parts of this film  to say nothing of the variations in the passage of time . i understand the director might have been trying to simulate dementia  but in order for this to be effective consistent time flow needed to be established . as  is  it merely seems amateurish .  br    br    plot twists were numerous but consistently predictable . i neither had a doubt in my mind of the identity of the robed cultists  nor of the fact that some kind of lame evil  trumps  good development would surface at the end .  br    br    this may seem like quibbling  but characters in this film reliably fail to employ any kind of common sense . first of all  regulatory commissions would be all over a mental health center that unilaterally declared all patient and employee deaths cardiac arrest  induced . why would the head psychiatrist also be capable of performing autopsies  why wasn  t a plot point made of these impressive qualifications  or of his introduction to his odd choice of religion  what  s the background  what  s supposed to make us care about anyone in this  and just as importantly  who in their right mind would go through the introduction to the place  see everything that was so frighteningly wrong with it  and then conclude that it was still a fine place to pursue a residency  this film didn  t even respect its characters enough to give their intelligence the benefit of the doubt .  br    br   bottom line see the wicker man instead .  
finally a thriller which omits the car chases  explosions and other eye catching effects . the movie combines a simple plot  assasination of a french president  with an excellent background . it takes a look behind mans behavior with authorities  and explains why we would obey almost every order  even murder  which would be given to us .  br    br   furthermore it shows us how secret services can manipulate the run of history and how hardly they can be controlled . the best thing on this movie is  that there is no classic  hollywood end  which can easily be predicted .  
hellborn starts as a young psychiatric doctor named james bishop  matt stasi  takes up his residency at st . andrews insane asylum  or  mental illness facility  as they like to call it there . with nearly    patients bishop meets his boss dr . mccort  bruce payne   is put to work  he gets ward  a  where some seriously deranged  dangerous patients are held . if that wasn  t bad enough during his first round of visits bishop finds a dead body  has threatening sounding graffiti messages sprayed over his room . bishop starts to hear stories from the patients about sinister goings  on at the asylum  soon finds out for himself the stories have more than a hint of truth about them . . .  br    br   known as asylum of the damned in the us this supernatural horror film was directed by philip j . jones  i sort of liked it but in the end there were too many unsatisfying elements for me to totally enjoy it . the script by matt mccombs takes itself pretty seriously  i quite liked the basic idea behind  some of it  s ideas but there are a few things which work against it . for a start the film is just too slow  the story is pretty good  doesn  t give itself away too early but it takes an absolute age for it to get going  i was rapidly losing interest with each passing minute . i also thought the so  called twist ending was far too predictable  the ending itself far too bland  forgettable . it  s a shame because i liked the story  the character  s  the setting  some of the ideas but it  s simply too slow  frankly dull to keep one entertained over it  s   minute duration . it  s one of those films which i would like to recommend but in all honesty i can  t .  br    br   director jones does a good job  this is actually a well lit  quite atmospheric film . i wouldn  t say there  s anything scary here . i  m not sure if hellborn was shot in a real insane asylum but if it wasn  t they did a great job on the sets  the film looks pretty good overall . unfortunately there is a real lack of gore or action  there are two hand  print shaped wounds  a severed tongue  that  s it  absolutely nothing else in terms of blood or gore which has to go down as a disappointment . depending on who you believe  which review you read the special effects are either the worst ever or very good  well as a devoted watcher of low budget horror i was very impressed with the effects especially the demon thing which looks mightily impressive  is a man in a suit type effect rather than a terrible cgi computer graphic although it  s an impressive suit . it all depends on your expectations i suppose .  br    br   technically the film is good  it looks nice enough  the lack of cgi computer effects is something i welcome . the acting isn  t great though  it certainly could have been better .  br    br   hellborn is a film that disappointed me  there were some good stuff about it but at the same time some terrible stuff which unfortunately outweighs the good . i sort of liked parts of it but as a whole   minute viewing experience i  d find it totally impossible to recommend to anyone .  
the first time i saw this film  i was in shock for days afterwards . its painstaking and absorbing treatment of the subject holds the attention  helped by good acting and some really intriguing music . the ending  quite simply  had me gasping . first rate   
the cast although nothing special  all do an ok job  the story seems like a good idea  the script is bearable and the end has quite a good twist so what  s wrong with it   br    br   for a start the special effects are really bad  if this was made in the    s  it might look ok but in     there is just no excuse for visuals as poor as this . it makes me laugh that the dvd cover claims very proudly  from the special effects creator of jeepers creepers  .  br    br   secondly the direction is weak  this film just does not capture the essence of the story  a doctor feeding the hospital inmates souls to the devil  or demon type creature  should be tense or frightening it simply isn  t .  br    br   all in all this is a pretty poor film  and although bearable and at times mildly entertaining  it is still probably best left alone .  br    br   a rather sad      
highly memorable  intelligent and suspenseful movie from one of french movies  true geniuses  the formidably able henri verneuil . the plot is an exact parallel of the jfk assassination  and takes place in a non  descript  fictional country . the film  visually as well as plot  wise  is razor  sharp . shot with meticulous precision  it follows henry volnay  the procuror who takes on himself to unravel the coup . in many ways  it  s a very disturbing movie  not the least for the cold and analytical precision of its comment on a so  called modern state  s inner workings . the atmosphere and characters are all utterly believable  and verneuil left nothing to chance in its tight plotting . on another level  this relatively little  known movie just had a   years head  start on oliver stone  who was acclaimed for the  jfk  movie  a inferior film in many areas  the least of which not being credibility . . .  br    br   it  s a masterpiece  any cinema lover should see it  preferably in its original french version with subs .  
i  ve seen some very terrible horror movies in my time  and while this isn  t the worst of the bunch  it  s certainly in the lower half . the script starts off ok . a young doctor goes to a hospital as an intern  hoping it will vault him to a better job for him and his future wife . cute huh  the movie then heads straight into the toilet when you realize that something is killing patients . turns out that there  s a demon on the basement that  s harvesting people  s souls . it  s the job of the  doctor   nurse  and  security guard in the entire hospital staff to drag this mental patient downstairs  do a ritual that pretty much just involves cutting the tongue out  and then allowing the haunted house prop of a demon to come out and steal his soul through the magic of cheesy special effects . at this point the movie gets so ridiculously stupid  i was begging for it to be over . there was still an hour to go . it looked like a half an hour  tales from the crypt  episode that somehow got stretched into an hour and a half crap  fest . from tiny lister doing his best john coffey  the green mile  impersonation to tracy scoggins playing the stereotypical frigid nurse ratchet  this movie fails in every possible level . i gave this  stars for only two reason .   his fianc is pretty hot  she eased the pain a little towards the end and   the movie actually looks ok  a lot better than the current trend of horror movies being made with wal  mart quality home cameras .  br    br   in the end  avoid this turd even if you have the blockbuster movie pass  which i do  and i still felt cheated  . as a bonus drinking game  you and your buddies take a shot every time matt stasi  dr . james bishop  shakes his head while talking . you  ll be drunk   minutes into the movie .  
i  m not tired to say this is one of the best political thrillers ever made . the story takes place in a fictional state  but obviously it deals with the murder of kennedy . a truthful and honest district attorney  played by yves montand  does not believe that the murder was planned and executed by the single man daslow  oswald  and though all other officials want to close the case he continuous to investigate with his team .  br    br   the screenplay is written tight and fast and holds the tension till the end . just the part dealing with the milgram experiment about authorities is  though not uninteresting  a bit out of place . the ending sequence  explaining who icarus really is  partly shot in slow motion and intensified by a morricone soundtrack is the most powerful sequence i have ever seen in a movie .  
in theory  films should be a form of entertainment . while this excludes documentaries and other experimental forms of film  making most movies  specially genre films  must not only tell it  s story or message  they must entertain their target audience in some way . all this just to say that in my opinion a bad movie is not a movie with low production values or low  budget  a bad movie is one that is boring .  br    br    hellborn  or  asylum of the damned  as is known in the u . s .  is a bad movie simply because it is just not involving  and irremediably boring and tiresome . while it has a very good premise  it is just poorly developed and the mediocre acting doesn  t make things better . on another hands the film probably could had been a fine or even classic b  movie  but here it is just a bad attempt at film  making .  br    br   director philip j . jones tells the tale of james bishop  matt stasi   a young psychiatry resident  who just got his dream job at st . andrew mental hospital but the old asylum seems to hide a secret . after the mysterious death of some patients and the constant rumors of satanic practices  james decides to find out what is going on only to find the incredulity of his boss  dr . mccort  bruce payne   who believes that bishop is going as insane as his patients .  br    br   while the premise is quite interesting  the execution of the film leaves a lot to be desired . in an attempt of making a supernatural psychological thriller  jones goes for the easy way out and makes a movie filled with every clich of the genre . of course  there are lots of great movies that are also filled with clichs but in  hellborn  every single one is wasted and turned into a cheap jump scare to keep things moving  resulting in a boring and predictable storyline .  br    br   the acting is quite mediocre for the most part  with one big exception bruce payne gives a top  notch performance that makes the movie look unworthy of such good acting . matt stasi is very weak as the lead character and the rest of the cast make forgettable performances .  br    br   despite all this flaws  one thing has to be written about  hellborn   it has a visual look very good for the budget and very similar to modern day big  budget hollywod  horror  productions . also  the make  up and prosthetics are done very nicely and the designs for the main antagonist are quite good . sadly  the rest of the special effects are awful and outdated  making a huge contrast with the make  up  prosthetics .  br    br    hellborn  is a movie with a few good things outnumbered by its serious flaws with terrible results . hardcore horror or b  movie fans may be interested by its premise but it is a boring and tiresome experience .      
this is simply one of the finest renditions of dicken  s classic tale . the script very accurately follows the story originally penned by dickens  and captures a perfect balance between a film atmosphere and a play atmosphere . viewers fond of either format will find enough of the story rooted in their presentation style of choice .  br    br   george c . scott brings a delightfully realistic approach to the character of scrooge  and is very convincing in the character development instigated by the visits of the ghosts . i found that he was able to win me over to the point where i sympathized with the old miser  something rarely done in other versions . the superb job done by the supporting actors add greatly to this production  which is simply the most enjoyable of all the christmas carol versions i have seen .  
i  ve tried to watch this show several times  but for a show called  that    s show   i don  t find much apart from a few haircuts and the occasional reference to disco that actually evokes the    s   the decade in which i grew up . of the episodes i have seen  most of the plots and jokes could be set in any time period . take away the novelty of  supposedly  being set in the    s  and the show is neither interesting nor funny .  br    br   if you  re looking for a show that more successfully represents the experience of youth in america in the    s  in my humble opinion you can do no better than  the wonder years .   
first time i saw this movie was in the eighties  but reviewed now this thriller is still actual . some newer movies focus on similar topics  but they do not match this french milestone .  br    br   a president  obviously jf kennedy  gets shot in an open car during a public appearance . the resulting huge investigation finds the  lee harvey oswald  figure of this movie guilty  but one member of the jury insists in further inquiry . he reveals some surprising evidence . . .  br    br   unlike oliver stone  s jfk  a movie with the same plot  this one does not play with emotions  but concentrates in a exciting description of a conspiracy and how everything fits together  drawing a new picture of the assassination . even a real psychological experiment is used for this explanation of the crime scene . compared to jfk this movie is more reasonable  intelligent and thrilling . parts of the plot can be found in a lot of newer movies  i had a kind of deja vu sometimes sitting in the cinema .  br    br    i . . . comme icare  is a  must see  . its unique and brilliant  and the music by ennio morricone is wonderful . this movie deserves a very good ranking  if it was a hollywood production it would be famous for sure .  br    br    
this is complete and absolute garbage  a fine example of what a bad movie is like  this can  t be appealing to anyone  not even b  movie fans . do not  i repeat  do not waste precious time of your life on this piece of trash . bad acting  bad directing  horrible  but i mean really horrible  script  and complete lack of an idea as to what entertainment  of any form  is . i bought the dvd for  dollars  i swear i could almost pay someone to take it . burning it would not be enough for what this movie did to me . i like b  movies  the killer toys  the weird lagoon monsters  but this is nowhere near . you know those movies that are so bad they are funny  not even . just plain old pathetic .  
henri verneuil  s film may be not so famous as parallax view   days of the condor or jfk but it is certainly not worse and sometimes even better than these classic representatives of the genre . action takes place in fictional western state where fictional president has been killed . after several years of investigation  special government commission decides that president was killed by a lone gunman . but one man  prosecutor volney  played by yves montand  thinks there  s something more to be investigated and so the film starts . this movie doesn  t deal with some exact theories  but it embraces the whole structure of relationship between government and society in today  s world . such film could be made only in the      ies but it will never lose it  s actuality . furthermore  it  s even a bit frightful how precise are it  s oracles .   out of   .  
this film makes you really appreciate the invention of the fast forward button on your remote control . it  s exquisite boredom in beautiful pictures . for once hamilton goes relatively easy on soft focus shots . however  what i found hard to take about the film was that although anja schte was about   when it was shot the girls are portrayed as much younger than they actually are . this whole lolita thing especially as there is an older man involved leaves me rather uneasy . the heroine is actually shaved in the pubic area in order to make her look even younger than she is . come on  sex is a nice past time  between consenting adults . another thing i found odd was that neither beart nor schte have a nude scene in the film  well  not a proper one at least .  
this film was enjoyable but for the wrong reasons . the co  ordination of the action sequences are laughable and make the film have some funny slap stick moments . robert ginty and fred williamson have a memorable scene together near the end  where williamson says to ginty   you sure do get around buddy boy   . i did enjoy this film only for ginty and williamson  but not for the storyline that must have been written on the back of a napkin in four lines and the rest ad  libbed most likely . a film with over   parts only has a credit list for   or so . it seems odd that no one else has a credit in the film  maybe they had some insight into how the finished product would look . the one thing this film does have going for it is that it is quite violent  so that tripled with fred williamson and robert ginty make for a film worth seeing .  
one star for the  plot  . one star for the acting . one star for the dubbing into squeaky  voiced american . five stars for monica broeke and inge maria granzow  with their propensity for taking all their clothes off . and ten out of ten for the divine emmanuelle bart  two years before she made  manon des sources  . bart also undresses a couple of times  but even fully  clothed her presence is enough to make this film eminently watchable . watch out for the scene where she tells her friend about the three  first times  for a girl . it  s corny  but still far more erotic than the rather laughably choreographed  love scenes  featuring broeke  granzow and patrick bauchau . incidentally  the cinematography is not great the stills for the closing credits are a better indication of what david hamilton is capable of .  
white fire has so much going for it . with larry bird look  alike robert ginty leading the charge blazing away with his fabulous hair and super macho mustache  the movie soars above other low  budget actioners . the charisma he has in this makes tom selleck look like a putz . with ginty beating up everyone  the movie only rises in awesomeness when a story of diamond intrigue enters into play . then add in fred williamson  some frontal bush  chainsaw attacks and some awesome incest themes . . . . this flick ends up delivering on all cylinders . if you  re looking for some awesome b  action  this is where it  s at . now  if i can just get my hands on that soundtrack .  
this ludicrous film offers the standard      s  hippie mentality  in a nut shell and bores us in the process . its an attempt to rationalize absurd marriages of young  innocent women with old age sex fiends and wash ups . a naive young hippy played by the waif  like  kay lenz  hitch hikes and sleeps with all the wrong guys  and then one day she meets the ridiculous  holden   already in old age  hard liquor drinking and washed up as an actor  and she decides that she is in  love  with him . if you think that is superficial  the whole film encapsulates such scenes . she keeps saying how much she  loves  him and she only met him  it wears thin and really quick . i couldn  t help but laugh throughout the film . its obvious she  s just using him as a meal ticket but the director is immature enough to think we are going to buy that there is actually any love taking place . a disgusting scene is where the two are naked and having sex  i had to fast forward it because it almost inspired me to vomit . a corny offering of music from the    s is also spread through the film . avoid this if you can . grade d .  
white fire was recommended to me by a guy who owns it on two separate dvd releases and on vhs . he claimed it  s one of the funniest and coolest low budget actioners ever made . i generally don  t watch movies knowing that they  re going to be bad  but i made an exception for this one . . . and i was very glad that i did .  br    br   it  s filled to the brim with action  much of it surprisingly  graphically gory   sleaze  isolated to nudity with a key female character  but there  s so much of it in one scene that it becomes hilarious  and outrageously awkward dialogue  all of which adds to the laughter  inducing tone of the film .  br    br   ginty  the unusual looking star of the exterminator  and countless other low budget action turds  is amusing in the lead  giving the best performance he could muster . williamson is better than usual  clearly hamming it up with unparalleled glee  and he doesn  t come in until midway through  . the rest of the cast is also fun to watch  particularly the villains  one of whom is a sadistic sexpot who speaks with an accent that appears to be a mish  mash of spanish and italian . she  s priceless .  br    br   again  i can  t stress enough how gory it was . it  s not so bloody that it  s nauseating  but it  s uncommonly violent in parts with some meaty squibs going off in the shootouts and it has a grueling torture sequence that no man will soon forget . also  when ginty is being swarmed by a pack of bad guys  he conveniently gets a hold of a chainsaw and the splatter moments that follow will have any and all action fans cheering and spilling their beers .  br    br   don  t miss white fire . it  s a rollicking  if mind  numbingly stupid  action classic .  
the only thing that surprises me more than the number of people who liked this movie is that it was directed by clint eastwood  whose work i admire immensely . the leads had absolutely no chemistry . not for a second could i believe that there was anything deeper than lust between them . the story just didn  t ring true . add to that stilted conversation  tons of stereotypes  and an incredibly slow plot that basically leads nowhere  and you  ve got yourself a real stinker . kay lenz  s nude scenes might be worthwhile for those seeking some salacious fare  but otherwise this is a colossal waste of time . my thoughts as i watched the movie was that itwould have been better titled  cheesy .   
superbly trashy and wondrously unpretentious    s exploitation  hooray  the pre  credits opening sequences somewhat give the false impression that we  re dealing with a serious and harrowing drama  but you need not fear because barely ten minutes later we  re up until our necks in nonsensical chainsaw battles  rough fist  fights  lurid dialogs and gratuitous nudity  bo and ingrid are two orphaned siblings with an unusually close and even slightly perverted relationship . can you imagine playfully ripping off the towel that covers your sister  s naked body and then stare at her unshaven genitals for several whole minutes  well  bo does that to his sister and  judging by her dubbed laughter  she doesn  t mind at all . sick  dude  anyway  as kids they fled from russia with their parents  but nasty soldiers brutally slaughtered mommy and daddy . a friendly smuggler took custody over them  however  and even raised and trained bo and ingrid into expert smugglers . when the actual plot lifts off    years later  they  re facing their ultimate quest as the mythical and incredibly valuable white fire diamond is coincidentally found in a mine . very few things in life ever made as little sense as the plot and narrative structure of  white fire   but it sure is a lot of fun to watch . most of the time you have no clue who  s beating up who or for what cause  and i bet the actors understood even less  but whatever  the violence is magnificently grotesque and every single plot twist is pleasingly retarded . the script goes totally bonkers beyond repair when suddenly  and i won  t reveal for what reason  bo needs a replacement for ingrid and fred williamson enters the scene with a big cigar in his mouth and his sleazy black fingers all over the local prostitutes . bo  s principal opponent is an italian chick with big breasts but a hideous accent  the preposterous but catchy theme song plays at least a dozen times throughout the film  there  s the obligatory  we  re  falling  in  love  montage and loads of other attractions  my god  what a brilliant experience . the original french title translates itself as  life to survive   which is uniquely appropriate because it makes just as much sense as the rest of the movie none   
this is a terrible film  and not one scene has an ounce of truthful emotion . the characters are uninflected  obviously drawn  predictable and the story line is obvious and typical hollywood wish fulfillment .  br    br   william holden  so sad to see him in this role  was   when this film was made  but he  s playing someone in his early   s and looks like he  s in his   s . kay lenz was   and was scripted to find him irresistibly attractive . i think the dog they found by the side of the road was sexier and had more life than their erotic connection .  br    br   holden  s character   the same age as clint eastwood when he directed this film   not  coincidentally   is placed with obvious trappings of   s pre  hippie cool the bachelor pad  the swinging hi  fi  the lunches at yamashiro . but the film is ridiculously uncool  a clanging claptrap of old fogies desperately wishing that the free spirits they saw on sunset and in laurel canyon would find them and their big honkin  cars sexy .  br    br   ugh . youth culture was never that desperate . and i shudder to think that bill holden was so desperate for youth that he took this embarrassing part .  
what can you say about the film white fire . amazing  fantastic  disturbing  hilarious  these words are not big enough to describe the event which is white fire . from wobbly  garbled beginning to profound end  this movie will entertain throughout .  br    br   our movie begins in the woods of a country somewhere in the world . a family is hiding from unmarked soldiers in costume shop uniforms . when the father separates from the mother and their childen  you get a real sense of what kind of movie you  re about to watch . father makes sure to roll down hills in his all white outfit  and is polite as he gets people  s attention before he shoots them  but alas  dad is burned alive in what looks like a very unsupervised  unsafe stunt . meanwhile  mom and the kids are running down a beach with an armed soldier trailing about  feet behind them . he too gives a stern warning before action in the form of a bizarre  halt    and then promptly wastes the mother . this action sequence sets up the happy childhood of our heroes bo and ingred .  br    br   so now we fast forward about   years    if you  re honest about the hero  s age  to beautiful turkey  where bo and ingred have settled as professional thieves  or diamond prospectors  or something . ingred works at a diamond mine where she helps herself to the goods  while bo  masterfully played by the dynamic robert ginty  drives around the desert in his denim outfits . bo and ingrid have an interesting relationship . they don  t seem to have any friends other than each other  and they spend all of their time together . that coupled with the fact that bo has expressed his desire to sleep with his sister as evidenced in lines such as  you know its a shame you  re my sister  he says to her while she  s stark naked  make for a very dynamic duo . bo is then crushed when ingrid is killed  as he wanders the beaches of turkey with his ceremonial pink grief scarf . a renewal of hope occurs when bo finds a girl who looks like ingrid  and gives her plastic surgery to make her look exactly like ingrid . this opens the door for bo to have sex with his sister without it being technically wrong . bo is a real fan of ethical grey areas  and he is overjoyed with his new love .  br    br   so anyway  there  s a lot of fun action scenes  ridiculous violence  great acting  impossible to follow plot  lines  fred  the hammer  williamson  for some reason   and a big chunk of dirty ice which is supposed to be a giant diamond  which later explodes  . all of these things are great  but the bo and ingrid relationship is what makes this movie special . . . . really special . so i heartily encourage everyone to behold the majesty that is white fire . you may be glad you did . . or not .  
trifling romantic drama directed by clint eastwood about the loving relationship which grows between a comely hippie  kay lenz  and a los angeles real estate agent in his golden years  william holden  surprisingly affable within this highly  concocted arrangement  . the script is slight but not without some thoughtful passages still  the scenario is such a middle  aged clich by now that most of the picture comes off as puerile . it may have worked much better with different leads holden and lenz don  t match up well  her stature is so slight he seems to tower over her   making their intimate scenes less stirring than simply uncomfortable . dated  blurry  romantic  and mostly unmemorable .  from   
absolutely fantastic trash . . . . this one has it all nudity  good fight scenes  gore  action  explosions etc . it also stars the wonderful belinda mayne as ingrid  not olga as the other reviewer pointed out  although olga turns into ingrid later on in the film  you  ll have to watch it to see what i mean  .  br    br   i won  t bother to go into the story as it  s far too long winded and not very interesting . the relationship between ingrid and her brother bo  robert ginty  is interesting  watch the towel stealing scene to see what i mean .  br    br   the fight scenes were at once quite good and then spoilt by some really shoddy gore effects that looked like they were done by the team who did city of the walking dead  i . e . strange coloured blood gushing out of neck wounds  .  br    br   i  d advise fans of low budget trash to check it out if they can track down a copy  its pretty rare though and i couldn  t ever see anyone bothering to re  release it so it  ll become all the rarer in a few years .  br    br   anyway i  d recommend it solely for belinda mayne  s great nude scenes  that lady  s a fox   
you have a strong stomach . holden was actually   years old at filming but looked near   and he only lived another  years . at one point holden said   i am over twice your age .  okay  try triple grandpa  the  old enough to be your father  theme they were shooting for didn  t work . granted senior citizens sometimes wind up with legal teens . more power to them  but that doesn  t mean i want to watch it . it  s not a matter of judgment but the digestive track . i like my food where it belongs . lenz is fun to watch and the   s cars  clothes  furniture  etc . make it worth it if it comes on cable late at night and you want to watch something to wind down for bed . it would have been nice to see the blonde friend of lenz  the one who hocked her guitar  get more scenes . pleasingly spacey . . . who was this chick  i  m going to try and find out .  
  painting is seeing  then remembering better than you saw .  so says dick heldar  ronald colman   the painter in the light that failed . the movie is in the grand old hollywood style  starring ronald colman and a bravura supporting cast that includes ida lupino in her first important role  dependable character actor dudley digges  who also co  starred with colman in condemned .   and a solid performance by the wonderful actor walter huston .  br    br   the title and opening sequences of the film pretty much give away the fact that dick will lose his sight . he  s blinded by gun powder discharge as he and childhood sweetheart maisie  muriel angelus  are playing with a pistol . later a wound while fighting in the sudan is the catalyst for his blindness . he becomes a famous painter  but he  s already blinded by ambition  and doesn  t really reach his full potential until the point that his sight is leaving him . enter bad girl bessie  ida lupino   and his self destruction is set in motion . lupino is very powerful in this role and plays off colman very well . her evil tart reminds me of bette davis in of human bondage .  br    br   well acted and well directed  this is one of my favorite colman melodramas .  
when i look for new cars  i expect not to be shown boats . when i drink fountain coke  i should expect that the drink contains coke . when i watch a movie that embellishes itself with the name of en excellent scientist  i expect that it is in some way relevant to that person or their work . this could have been people discussing my grannys  diary . the material covered is relevant only in that they vaguely tirade science . i fell asleep the first time i tried to watch it   the second time i stopped watching it .  br    br   i love science  documentaries . i would rather watch them over the latest blockbuster . however this falls far short of providing anything worth your time  avoid at all costs .  
a boy and a girl is chased by a local warrior because the boy killed  by accident  the warriors father  or whoever he was  . and they travel through the nature of africa  s most ruff areas .  br    br   the acting in this movie isn  t that good  except for that elephant kid  . but it  s a very good adventure and it  s not very censored  there is some blood  flesh and nudity  which lighten up the movie a bit  .  br    br   i give this movie a  because of it  s picture of the african nature and it  s action .  
i thought the movie was a poor documentary . nothing of substance was discussed . it seemed to cheapen the ideas and did not provide anything new . the film lacked wonder or romance or anything that would really drive one to science . most scientists appeared  stereotyped  and sometimes weird . a woman said that her awards didn  t matter a whole lot  only children that were helped . she said that after a   minute scene where she explained all her awards . playing  humble scientist   are we   i have equations dancing in my head   another said . i don  t see how that explains anything to us . it hasn  t covered significant effects of science on our culture . politics of science were barely touched .  br    br   not a bad flick for a      year  olds . other than that  i felt it was boring and unrevealing .  br    br        
  telefilms  tend to fall under the pitfalls of a low budget and a hasty shooting schedule  which is why this film always tends to buck the trend .  br    br   george c . scott embodies ebenezer scrooge perfectly  fully encompassing all of his cold tendencies  and still makes him a simpathetic character . the production value for this film was exceptional  never relying on boffo special effects or soundstage set  ups  yet relying on the depth and clarity of on  site shooting and strong backdrops . a movie that certainly stands alone .  
i have never understood the appeal of this show . the acting is poor  debra jo rupp being a notable exception   the plots of most episodes are trite and uninspiring  the dialogue is weak  the jokes unfunny and it is painful to try and sit through even half an episode . furthermore the link between this show and the    s  is extremely tenuous beyond the style of dress and the scenery and background used for the show  it seems to be nothing more than a modern sitcom with the same old unfunny  clichd scripts that modern sitcoms have dressed up as depicting a show from twenty years ago in the hope that it will gain some nostalgic viewers or something like that . both  happy days  and  the wonder years  employ the same technique much more effectively and are actually a pleasure to watch in contrast to this horrible  pathetic excuse for a show  
i am a huge john denver fan . i have a large collection of his music on vinyl . i saw this christmas special when it was originally on tv and loved it . i have the original vinyl album and cd . i have the original cd and later release . the later release is missing several songs though . i see that it has been released this year with all original songs . to my surprise i found the original cd for sale at    .   . wow  to think that a christmas cd would be worth that much . to me no amount is worth selling this treasure . it is my favorite christmas cd . i have never been able to find it on vhs or dvd . i would love to have either version . if anyone has one available please let me know . thanks  
the zombie chronicles  br    br   aspect ratio  .      nu  view   d   br    br   sound format mono  br    br   whilst searching for a  literal  ghost town in the middle of nowhere  a young reporter  emmy smith  picks up a grizzled hitchhiker  joseph haggerty  who tells her two stories involving flesh  eating zombies reputed to haunt the area .  br    br   an absolute waste of time  hobbled from the outset by haggerty  s painfully amateurish performance in a key role . worse still  the two stories which make up the bulk of the running time are utterly routine  made worse by indifferent performances and lackluster direction by brad sykes  previously responsible for the likes of camp blood       . this isn  t a  fun  movie in the sense that ed wood  s movies are  fun   he  at least  believed in what he was doing and was sincere in his efforts  despite a lack of talent   sykes  home  made movies are  in fact  aggravating  boring and almost completely devoid of any redeeming virtue  and most viewers will feel justifiably angry and cheated by such unimaginative  badly  conceived junk . the   d format is utterly wasted here .  
i saw this film on television and fascinated by the beauty of jennifer mccomb . it was a neat film and you can watch it for the beauty of africa and of course mccomb . at that time i was thrilled watching this movie and from then onwards i am trying for vcd of this film but i am unable to find it . huge african lions makes appearance int his film and we will be spell bounded simply by the size of those animals and grace of them . all section of audience can watch this movie particularly children will enjoy this film . but some scenes involving mccomb forces parental guidance for this film . it is a enjoyable holiday movie for one and all .  
this movie is really bad . the acting is plain awful except michael ironside . i don  t get the story . richard grieco is the only survivor after a fight between two mc  gangs . he comes to a town and suddenly he is choosened to fight against the bad people who wants indian  land . at the cover it said he was a indian himself that returned too his home  town  i didn  t hear that in the movie  if so it wasn  t clear .  br    br   richard grieco was one hell of a bad actor . stiff and ugly . he said his lines like it too . and we wouldn  t talk about sean young  she hasn  been any of my favourite actors but in this movie she plays a indian women who falls in love with bolt  grieco  . she is awful .  br    br   when i rented it i choosed between this and subterfuge with amanda pays . i choosed this one because of michael ironside was in the cast . maybe i should have taken subterfuge .  br    br   don  t see this unless you think richard grieco looks tough on a motorbike with sunglasses .  br    br   i will soon uptade the cast  list because i have it at home . i wrote it down after i seen the movie .  
i had seen this movie when it got released  and when i was   years old   and i still vividly recollect the wonderful scenes of how the hero  heroine escape every time when faced with danger   and the best feature of the movie was the portrayal of the villain  i think many so  called action movies copied a lot many  escape scenes  from this movie   and not only does it never impress me when i see such copying  it always increases my appreciation for this masterpiece    the lead actors have acted wonderfully . the slow and realistic development of the chemistry b  w the hero and heroine was extremely natural and wonderfully portrayed . as children  we felt that the love that developed b  w them was very natural   the way they face and overcome all their trials and tribulations together was something that can make even kids realize the value of true love  sacrifice and caring . i recommend that every person see this movie when given a chance     vijay .  
this is the page for  house of exorcism   but most people have confused this film with the mario bava masterpiece   lisa  the devil   which explains the ridiculously high rating for this   house of exorcism .  when  lisa  the devil  was shown at film festivals in the early    s  it was a critical success . audiences responded well to that gorgeous  gothic horror film . unfortunately it was a bit ahead of it  s time  and was considered too unusual  and not commercial enough for mass consumption . no distributor would buy it . so producer alfredo leone decided to edit  lisa   seemingly with a chainsaw  by removing just about half of the original film  and adding new scenes  which he filmed two years after the original product  it is important to note that bava had little to do with these new  hideous additions  so technically  house of exorcism  is not a bava film . the original product is a slow  dreamy  classy production . a few minutes into the film  the viewer is jarred out of this dream world  as suddenly we see lisa   two years older  and with a very different haircut   begin to writhe on the ground  making guttural sounds and croaking epitaphs like  suck my cok   etc . subtle  huh  and the film continues like this  jumping back and forth between a beautiful  visual film  and a grade z  exorcist  rip  off . leone was trying to incorporate these shock scenes  while keeping some semblance of a story intact . he failed miserably . when the choice was made to basically destroy  lisa and the devil   bava himself refused  saying that his film was too beautiful to cut . he was right  and it must have been quite sad for this artist to see all his work destroyed and flushed down the toilet . it was many years before the original  lisa and the devil  was seen again  re  surfacing on late night television . i had seen  lisa  long before i saw this new version  and it was downright disturbing to witness one of my favorite films  vandalised  in this way . worth seeing only for curiosity sake . otherwise avoid this insidious disaster like the plague .  
i liked this movie very much . although this movie doesn  t boast of big  or even known  names  its very charming . its one of those feel good types where you know that everythings gonna be just fine in the end . my favorite scene is with the baby elephant part . i rate this movie at  .   
this movie was bizarre  completely inexplicable  and hysterical to watch with friends while drinking in a big empty house . i really love the opening stuff with lisa wandering about lost in a gorgeous city . i want to be a beautiful stranger lost in some exotic european locale  though maybe not in a low budget horror flick . definitely get the ending where there are the strangely non  sexual sex scenes that were cut out  in my dvd copy anyway  . don  t attempt to understand it  just go along and watch out for the weird bits . . . which is everything . don  t watch this if you actually want plot or characterization or anything at all to make sense . pretty beautiful  though you may just give up on this and decide to watch an actual horror movie  like say  dead alive .  
a bit slow and boring  the tale of an old man and his wife living a delapidated building and interacting with a fixed cast of characters like the mailman  the brothers sitting on the porch  the wealthy cigar smoking man . the photography of the river is marvelous  as is the interior period decoration . if you like decoration of banana republic stores  this is a must .  
also known in a different form as  house of exorcism   this messy  br    br   little film takes itself so seriously as to kill any entertainment value  br    br   whatsoever .  br    br   the spare plot involves european tourist elke sommer who has a  br    br   chance run in with telly savalas  who looks just like the devil she  br    br   saw on a fresco in the square . sommer is given a ride to a  br    br   mysterious house in the country  where savalas happens to be  br    br   butler . there  she is mistaken for a long dead woman  and the real  br    br   soap opera theatrics begin . the house  s blind matriarch  s  br    br   husband had an affair with the dead woman  who was the  br    br   matriarch  s son  s fiancee . the couple who gave sommer the ride   br    br   well  the woman is giving the chauffeur  uh   back seat driving  br    br   lessons   and the husband knows and does not care . eventually   br    br   most of the cast is killed  sommer is drugged and raped   br    br   escapes  and the viewer is taken to a climax on board an empty  br    br   airplane . . . which must have resembled the empty theaters this  br    br   thing played in .  br    br   the alternate version of this   house of exorcism   has scenes  br    br   added involving a priest .  br    br   the vhs copy of this  from elite entertainment  is crystal clear and  br    br   letterboxed . there are  extras  after the end credits deleted sex  br    br   and gore scenes .  br    br   mario bava  s direction is fast and furious  but his screenplay is  br    br   awful . there are half baked ideas  abandoned plotlines  and  br    br   stunning conveniences that do nothing more than propel this thing  br    br   in some sort of forward direction . you have life like dummies for  br    br   practice funerals  the blind matriarch does not act all that blind   br    br   and savalas is given the same lollipops he had in  kojak    who  br    br   haunts ya  baby   .  br    br   the project seems like they had two name stars  then wrote the  br    br   script quickly  something that happens in hollywood on a daily  br    br   occurrence now . savalas looks completely lost  delivering his  br    br   lines haltingly  and wishing his character had not died in  the dirty  br    br   dozen .  sommer runs around and screams and gasps a lot  but  br    br   her character is a blank  i use the term  character  loosely . the  br    br   only thing we know about her is her name .  br    br   this is a real weird film  and your reaction to it might depend on  br    br   how heavily you are into eurohorror  and kojak . i for one cannot  br    br   recomment  lisa and the devil .   br    br   this is unrated  and including all the extras at the end of the vhs  br    br   copy  contains strong physical violence  sexual violence  strong  br    br   gore  strong female nudity  male nudity  sexual content  and adult  br    br   situations  
as many people know  mexican cinema was very poor after the so  called golden age of the mexican cinema  fortunately  during the late    s  and early   st century  great movies like la ley de herodes  bajo california  amores perros  y tu mam tambin and  of course  el coronel no tiene quien le escriba  appeared . el coronel . . .  is a wonderful movie  that retells the classic story by gabriel garca mrquez  by eliminating the magic realism elements  and replacing them with the crude reality lived in mexico  not only by people like the colonel  who wait for their pensions  but by more than the half of the mexican population  who live in complete poverty . the film  s characters  satirically represent classic characters found in mexican society  such as the nationalist colonel  the cold and even ambitious priest  the hypocrite  but at the same time loyal compadre  the tolerant and patient wife  the hidden homosexual  etc . this movie  is a must  see if you want to know more about mexican society  and specially  if you want to watch a gorgeous movie  by one of mexico  s finest directors  
the only reason i watched this film was because i had recently read robert hough  s less than perfect  but interesting  fictionalised account of the life of big cat trainer mabel stark . beaty appears as a character in the book  in a less than flattering light .  br    br   i hadn  t realised until checking the movie out later on the imdb that it was originally a serial . whoever edited the original running time of    minutes down to the   minuted version available on dvd has done a hell of a good job . the shortened version plays just as well as any b movie of the period despite the many  duh  what   moments . for instance are we really expected to believe our hero dug that twenty foot deep tiger trap in a morning without even getting his jodhpurs dirty  looking over the chapter titles i see that number five is titled  gorilla warfare  and number eleven is called  the gorilla  . there were no gorillas at all in the movie . i guess that  s where some of the cuts were made .  br    br   historicaly interesting .  
this is a truly magnificent and heartwrenching film     ripstein  s locations are spectacular  extremely detailed and well lit  the dialogue is extraordinarily garca mrquez  no doubt about it . fernando lujn and marisa paredes give us outstanding performances as the colonel and his wife .  br    br   you must see it     
i  m not going to criticize the movie . there isn  t that much to talk about . it has good animal actions scenes which were probably pretty astonishing at the time . clyde beatty isn  t exactly a matine idol . he  s a little slight and not particularly good looking . but that  s ok . he  s the man in that lion cage . we know that when he can  t take the time away from his lions to tend to his girlfriend  he will end up on an island with her and have to save the day . someone said earlier that it is a history lesson . the scenes at the circus are of another day  especially the kids who hang around . i didn  t realize that even back in the thirties  they sailed on three masted schooners . it looked like something out of     . i guess that  s the stock footage they had . no wonder the thing got wrecked . they  re always talking about fixing her up . there  s even a dirigible . it tells us a little about male female relationships at the time  a kind of giggly silliness . but if you don  t take it too seriously  you can have fun watching it .  
a sober  reflexive piece  a little miniature which blossoms into a magnificent humane pictorial sequence which goes beyond a mere dramatization for the screen . this quiet little story will hold you enthralled  if you do not have too many problems with the various spanish accents ranging from mexican to peruvian  and marisa paredes  more authentic iberian peninsular usage  garcadiego has accomplished a perfect adaptation from the novel even the grand maestro garca mrquez should be proud of her superb work . and hats off to arturo ripstein who has so ably concerted the whole effort into a gem  a ruby  and so refined  so elegant  so sensitive  so touchingly . . . . .  br    br   el coronel  fernando lujn  is waiting to get his pension  while he continues to live in his ramshackle timber dwelling deep in the colombian jungle  however  filmed elsewhere  not in colombia  with his fighting cock and his wife  in that order   . and that is all there is to it .  br    br   but  oh  so much more . . . . this film is a rhapsody .  br    br   i must see this poetic little piece again as soon as possible . worth the high side of  out of    which is very high on my scale .  br    br   this is not light commercial hollywood stuff .  
ah yes  the vs series  mvc  being the pinnacle . it  s been said before  this is what you get when half of the crew fell asleep on the job  unfortunately the gameplay half did . don  t get me wrong  this is fun  but you get tired of mashing buttons . as for the plot summary  ahahahahahaaaaa . . . there is no plot . beat that guy at the end and win  eh  who plays this by their self anyway   
the government that he fought to establish to recognize his loyalty with a promised and much needed pension . ripstein  s lyrical work is a sweet ode to all those who  like the colonel  suffer under the abuses of a cynical and hardened society that strengthens itself by denying its citizens the means to live with dignity and purpose . unlike the absurdity of waiting for godot  the colonel  s wait for the arrival of his pension gives hope and significance to his otherwise miserable life . two things in the film drive the colonel who is masterfully played by fernando lujan the hope that his military pension will one day arrive and the knowledge that his son  agustin  died for a noble cause  a reason other than a drunken fracas at a rigged cockfight . unable to realize the former  and forced to prove to the world the latter  the colonel does the only thing he can do  set about training his son  s fighting cock . the cock is now the warrior who can bring fortune and justice to the colonel and his asthmatic wife  but his fighting ring is that of the killer of his former owner  agustin . in a tense scene of confrontation between the colonel and nogales  his son  s killer  the colonel is offered by nogales  a paid government agent  money enough to equal the colonel  s full pension . but  this is blood money hush money designed to hide the fact that those in power have turned their backs on one who fought for their political ideals  and to conceal to the world that the warrior colonel  s son was assassinated because he wrote for an underground paper that favored the rights of labor unions and the common man . with maximum dignity  the colonel rejects nogales  offer  picks up his fighting rooster and walks away as nobly as his old legs can carry him . once he is at home  dona lola  his scolding wife  wants to know why the colonel refused the money when both of them are starving . in response to her continued question   what are we going to eat until november  when the cockfighting season begins    the colonel responds   shit .  excrement is what the poor and disenfranchised have been eating all of their lives  and excrement is a meal that the colonel willingly chooses to eat with dignity  knowing that he could never sell his soul to those who oppress him . the colonel waits as the only man of honor and valor in a world without principles .  
i always get frustrated by films that were obviously written by one gender . especially when they obviously don  t do enough research to find out when something not only doesn  t ring true  but rings blatently false .  br    br   the scene i am remembering is the one in the bathroom where jack tells his football teammates that he got diane pregnant . in no way  shape  or form would a guy ever cheer another guy getting a girl pregnant in high school . they might cheer about the guy having sex with the hot cheerleader  but i can also guarantee that the first the football team heard about it would not be at a urinal .  br    br   it was obvious that this film didn  t take itself so seriously  and it wasn  t hideously bad  but come on   
in a poor village in mexico  the colonel  fernando lujn  lives with his asthmatic wife lola  marisa paredes  in an old house . lola still grieves the death of their son augustin some time ago . the colonel has been expecting for his pension of fighter in a war against catholic church for almost twenty  seven years . however  for political reasons  the present government wants to forget this old fight . without having any possession or money  but a valuable gamecock  they struggle to survival with the expectation of the acknowledgement letter from the government  recognizing the law and paying for the delayed pension . this slow and touching movie reflects the social and financial situation of most of the elder retired persons in third world countries . in brazil  most of the retired persons has to survive with about us      per month . the debts of the colonel in the story were made to pay for a graveyard for his son  otherwise he would be buried as an indigent . outstanding performance of the cast  in a very sad story that is reality in the poor countries . my vote is eight .  br    br   title  brazil    no se escreve ao coronel    do not write to the colonel   br    br    
this movie looked like it was going to be really funny . i was very excited to see it but was very disappointed . it was very unrealistic . the plot was also pretty weak . i was expecting it to be really funny but the jokes weren  t even that good . i was also really disappointed with the ending . i would not recommend this movie to anyone .  
wow  this movie was absolutely brilliant . i really don  t know why everyone says it has a slow pace . i thought the pace was perfect . the movie is about michael sullivan played by tom hanks with perfection who is a sort of hit  man  killer working for john rooney  paul newman  . he disslikes this job but does it because rooney payed for his house and helps him financially . he had nothing and mr . rooney gave him everything . but  his children are unaware that this is his job  and when one witnesses a cold blooded murder by him  he is placed in an awkward position . and when an atrocity occurs  he leaves with his son and is bent on revenge . they rob abanks and much more and build a bond . they  re the perfect team . hanks does a great job as always as well as jude law who plays his creepy role to perfection . this drama is highly recommended as it shows a beautiful story and greatly shows how the     s were .  
the storyplot was okay by itself  but the film felt very bubbly and fake . it also had the worst ending . they were probably going for a surprise ending  but all it did was leave me the question of what the whole point of the story was . all other teen movies are better than this one .  
the setting and actors make this television movie for me the best rendition of dickens  classic tale . george c . scott is very believable as is the rest of the cast . his scrooge oozes with nastiness until the very end of the movie . then his character changes to one who is truly repentant . the   th century english town chosen for the setting creates an ambiance that is fitting to dickens and adds to the plausibility of this film . it is a movie i watch every christmas along with the real grinch and it  s a wonderful life .  
i caught this film on azn on cable . it sounded like it would be a good film  a japanese  green card  . i can  t say i  ve ever disliked an asian film  quite the contrary . some of the most incredible horror films of all time are japanese and korean  and i am a huge fan of john woo  s hong kong films . i an not adverse to a light hearted films  like tampopo or chung king express  two of my favourites   so i thought i would like this . well  i would rather slit my wrists and drink my own blood than watch this laborious  badly acted film ever again .  br    br   i think the director steven okazaki must have spiked the water with quaalude  because no one in this film had a personality . and when any of the characters did try to act  as opposed to mumbling a line or two  their performance came across as forced and incredibly fake . i honestly did not think that anyone had ever acted before . . . the only person who sounded genuine was brenda aoki . . i find it amazing that this is promoted as a comedy  because i didn  t laugh once . even more surprising is that cbs morning news called this  a refreshing breath of comedy  . it was neither refreshing  nor a breath of comedy . and the ending was very predictable  the previous reviewer must be an idiot to think such things .  br    br   avoid this film unless you want to see a boring predictable plot line and wooden acting . i actually think that  spike of bensonhurst  is a better acted film than this . . . and i walked out half way through that film   
in the winter of      supposedly    year  old tyler hoechlin  as michael sullivan jr .  wonders what his mobster father tom hanks  michael  mike  sullivan  does for a living . young hoechlin follows mr . hanks to  work  one evening  and witnesses him blasting away some rival gangsters . this leads  in a very roundabout way  to  godfather   type paul newman  as john rooney  hiring independent hit  man jude law  as harlen maguire  to track down hoechlin and hanks  who are off to cool their heels in chicago . hanks thinks they will be safe with a relative  which is puzzling when you consider the characters  line of work .  br    br   looking uncannily like paul peterson   the donna reed show    hoechlin does a terrific job for director sam mendes and  getting to work with this cast makes him the luckiest young actor of     . but  the most striking thing about  road to perdition  is the stunning cinematography of conrad l . hall  which deservedly won a career capping  academy award  for the late photographer . mr . hall  s work is truly superlative . this helps make up for the overall impression of a measured  contrived staginess to both the narrative and visuals . the deviating end is abruptly uplifting  the unrelated dog is an example of the aforementioned staginess  .  br    br    road to perdition          sam mendes  tom hanks  tyler hoechlin  paul newman  jude law  
sugar spice is one of the worst movies of     . the film tries to cross heathers and bring it on and fails . when i saw last january i was so disgusted by the film that i walked and talked on my cell phone to my girlfriend for the last half hour of the movie . i  ve heard that the dvd has a director  s cut maybe i  ll check it out  but this pg    trash movie is s and the worst kind of s . maybe if the film had some ta that would  ve have made it okay . but the gags are lame and the acting is horrible . worse than a troma film .  
a bloody gangster story which takes place in the years of great depression . it tells us about another notorious hit  man  michael  mike  salliwan . somehow  this time the story turns the other way round mike fights to save his life and his only remaining son  because the rest of his family was killed due to dirty game of his own boss . he succeeds in his revenge and secures honorable future to his son  but gets killed in the end . such stories never have happy end after all .  br    br   the role of mike salliwan senior was wonderfully played by tom hanks  and the part of mr . rooney  the mafia boss  was performed by paul newman . the film makes a great impression  and we hear the well  known phrase  we rob banks  . this film is still worth watching although you could have expected something bigger from sam mendes after his american beauty .  
i wanted to see this movie ever since it was first advertised on tv . i went to tinsel town to see it last night at     . i regret the day that wasted my ticket on this trash when i could of saw something better . the beginning was all a bunch sex trash and cliches . they exaggerated the way love works in reality . all of the girls were stereo types . the boyfriend was too stupid for his own age . the passing gases that the pregnant girl kept having barely got any laughs . the bank robbery was completely boring with gags that have been used in other movies . their getaway car was an old beat up chevy van that they claimed that had no breaks . hey why didn  t they get nice girlish vehicle for the robbery instead  it might have boosted the audience opinion about the movie . this movie was very low low low low low budgeted since nothing in there was damaged or destroyed . this movie had a lot of stuff in it that would drive christian people nuts . hey i even expected a car chase scene because all bank robbing movies have car chases but i but there was never any . so i rate this movie b which stands for low budgeted and  out of ten stars .  
this is a film that can make you want to see it again . i especially  liked the way it ended . i did not see the end coming  but when laws was not blown away the first time  one suspects he will be back again .  br    br   the story is gripping and could have been more psychological  but i understand the story needed to capture the viewer and the action was necessary for that .  br    br   hard to believe michael jr . could be so apparently unmoved as his younger brother and mother as blown away . but  i can appreciate the scene play couldn  t really take our attention there because it had a greater story to tell .  br    br   some have complained about hanks as a gangster . i believe that isn  t justified . if his character had been any harder  he would not have cared if his son pulled a trigger or not .  br    br   eight stars for this one . although it was released in      i just saw it for the first time yesterday on dvd .  
i can  t believe it that was the worst movie i have ever seen in my life . i laughed a couple of times .  probably because of how stupid it was  if someone paid me to see that movie again i wouldn  t . the plot was so horrible  it made no sense  and the acting was so bad that i couldn  t even tell if they were trying . that movie was terrible rating f  
a great gangster film . sam mendes has directed this beautiful movie showing another father  son camaraderie . brilliant star  cast leading with tom hanks  michael sullivan  has done a terrific job . great acting by him again . he is an acting legend . great acting too from paul newman  jude law and daniel craig . casting is just too good . the plot is quite good . you will enjoy the movie . a great portrayal of the gangster of the      s . set in the      s  this will surely stand out as the zenith of all gangster movies of that era . soundtrack is pretty good an apt to the movie . a great flick in totality showing what a father does to protect his son . way underrated for my liking . deserved a fully deserved   .  
i tried to watch this movie three separate times . the night i rented it . got through about   minutes hoping it would be better if i had a night  s rest . watched   more the next day  almost vomited at how stupid it was . . . it wasn  t even funny stupid which is sometimes a fun movie to watch but this movie was just crap with a capital s  if you know what i mean in the censored world we live in  . and finally on the third day i watched over an hour of the dumb thing and i didn  t enjoy one single moment  not even one . how did this script get greenlighted . oh boy   br    br   g  br    br        the one is for cheerleaders . . . they deserve at least something for all their hardwork .  
this is one of the best movies i  ve ever seen . it has very good acting by hanks  newman  and everyone else . definitely jude law  s best performance . the cinematography is excellent  the editing is about as good  and includes a great original score that really fits in with the mood of the movie . the production design is also a factor in what makes this movie special . to me  it takes a lot to beat godfather  but the fantastic cinematography displayed wins this contest . definitely a best picture nominee in my book .  
please  spare me of these movies that teach us that crime is fun and justified . couple that with a vacuous script with an intense desire to be a farrelly or a coen brother  plus the lives of yet another group of supposedly high school age people acting out their dawson creek  brand teen angst complete with a genxyz soundtrack that woefully tries to make the movie  feel  cool and  we have intensely and painfully inept satire .  br    br   this isn  t even watered  down  ferris bueller  . . . i  d rather watch a traffic light change .  br    br   only one scene stands out as anywhere near worth the price of admission when the betty masked girls meet a richard nixon masked friend . it  s a surreal moment . priceless even .  br    br   but for the rest of it  i  d rather have a toothache . at least i can apply some benzocaine  tm  to stop the pain .  
one of my favorite movies  with a very nostalgic ending . the movie is about the sullivan family  obviously michael sullivan  the father  is one of the main members of the mafia  the killer to say it this way  and an expert one . one of the kids wants to know the work of his father  a terrible mistake   so he hides on his father  s car and well  he sees tom hanks in action to say it this way .  br    br   mafia doesn  t rules  in mafia nobody wins  when they want you out  they take you out . of course you can see anyone who works at the mafia with a giant house  the best car in the world  whatever you like  but make a wrong work  or make something your  boss  doesn  t want  and you  re fired  and killed .  br    br   you can see what i mean in the movie  sullivan jr . sees something he didn  t had to see  and well  almost all his family gets killed for that  wrong thing  his son did . the movie is really entertaining  you see how the sullivan  s live after being chased by the mafia  or kinda of that .  br    br   this movie is kinda of sad  shows us about revenge  those dirty works people do  almost everything you like . hopefully the guy is reading this comment doesn  t works for the mafia  and if you work at the mafia make yourself a favor and get the hell out of the country before you get killed by your boss and their workers .  br    br   this movie receives       
ok  i have watched the original french version . but i can  t imagine this being better with subtitles .  br    br   all i have to say that this is the most boring movie i have seen in a long time . there are almost no redeeming qualities to this film . that  s why i can  t understand all the positive reviews . it might be realistic in a sense but some real stories are best left untold .  br    br   i usually like slow paced movies as long as it serves the purpose of the movie . tarkovsky  s solaris is extremely slow paced but it allows introspection and sets the mood of the film for example . but in this case  the movie is just filed with mindless dialog that manage to tell us little about the characters . none of which i could identify with or care for . in a lot of the scenes i found myself thinking  when are they going to shut up   the acting was pretty bad . not in an overacting obvious kind of way . but it seems none of the actors cared about their characters and they all looked like they wanted to be elsewhere in most of the scenes . this might be due to the uninspired dialog they were given . also the whole flow of the movie felt quite mechanical . going from one scene to the next . it seems this movie was just written  badly  but never directed .  br    br   this is one of the few films that i can say generated no emotional response from any of the scenes . no suspense  no fear  no anticipation  no sorrow  no introspection  no intellectual stimulation  no interest what so ever .  br    br   a perfect example of what i call an anti  movie .  
tom hanks like you  ve never seen him before . hanks plays michael sullivan   the angel of death  . he is a hitman for his surrogate father john rooney  paul newman  an elderly irish mob boss . sullivan  s young son  tyler hoechlin  witnesses what his father does for a living and both are soon on the road for seven weeks robbing banks to avenge the murder of sullivan  s wife and other son . enter jude law as a reporter  photographer willing to kill sullivan himself for the chance to add to his collection of photos of dead mobsters . filmed beautifully catching the drama of life in the    s . sometimes the pace bogs down  but then a burst of graphic violence sustains the story . director sam mendes directs this powerful drama about loyalty  responsibility  betrayal and the bonding of a secretive man and his young son . other notable cast members are dylan baker  stanley tucci  daniel craig and jennifer jason leigh . hanks again proves to be excellent in a very memorable movie . make room for some oscars   
frank sinatra plays a no  goodnik ex  soldier and frustrated writer  hard  living and hard  drinking  who returns to his midwestern hometown and reunites with his estranged brother  arthur kennedy   now the town big  shot with a disinterested wife and headstrong daughter . frank gets involved with gambler dean martin  uneducated flooze shirley maclaine  and has some run  ins with the law  but what he really wants to do is write and settle down with a good woman . over  simplified drama verging on soap opera  with a role for maclaine that is by turns overly  colorful  and embarrassingly sentimental  her drunken belting on  after you  ve gone  is however the film  s highlight  and is expertly handled  . director vincente minnelli oversees it in straight  forward fashion  but he  s in surprisingly glum spirits and most of the big scenes are flat or dense . the picture looks incredibly handsome in widescreen  with a nice eye for detail and composition  but the story and these characters are stuck in the dregs .  from   
this is an excellent film  tom hanks and paul newman performed great  i was really surprised when newman was beating on his son  that was a great scene and the shooting scenes were staged good . i was very surprised about the end . rent this film today as it is one of tom hanks  best   
vincente minelli movies are usually worth your time meet me in st louis  the bad and the beautiful . i awaited this movie with great interest . but what a disappointment .  br    br   some came running is scene after scene of go  nowhere fatalism . sinatra is a sad sack  returned from the war to find disappointing family relationships  a disappointing floozy hanging on him  living in disappointing digs as a gal persuades him to finish his disappointing writing project . the movie has a big dramatic finish in which a disappointing villain catches up with sinatra and macclane and something disappointing happens . the sequence is intended to be tension  filled but minelli is no hitchcock he gets so distracted by pretty colors  he doesn  t notice the scene is a wheezing clich and the characters are so thinly  drawn and poorly developed we don  t particularly care that they get shot .  especially macclane  but that  s the only real cinematography in the project . otherwise we look at constipated characters standing around bars  living rooms getting on each others nerves for two hours . hell is other people  apparently .  br    br   there is nothing going on in this movie . the dilemma of soldiers returning to displacement and indifference after ww  is handled more deftly in  the best years of our lives .  and either of two inge products   splendor in the grass  and  picnic  covers the desperation of being trapped in a dead  end town  with much more poignance .  
an excellent depiction of one of the more unwholesome aspects of that era . i loved the visuals   very fitting for a story connected to a graphic novel .  br    br   i thought tom hanks was really great in this  he came across very well as someone who has been hardened by his work  which he didn  t fully choose for himself  but still wants to have a normal life for his family . he does the best he can to see that happen . don  t want to spoil the plot   but you have to see this movie if you are a person who wants more from a movie than the usual shoot  em up action  gangster format .  it is violent though .   
poor performances by sinatra  martin and hyer . grossly underdeveloped supporting characters . annoying talky with no real plot . ending leaves you flatter than a pancake  with more loose ends than you could tie up in four sequels  that is  if you even cared about these wooden characters  . maclaine is the only real asset . that penultimate sequence in which the  chicago hood  searches for the sinatra character is laughable . the music in that sequence also is poor . and in the final scene when martin  s character removes his hat for the woman he called a  pig   almost made me go outside and find a stone to throw through my television screen .  
tom hanks has been in such hit movies as forrest gump  saving private ryan  and the green mile . for the most part  his roles have been good guys that we cheer for . in road to perdition  his character michael sullivanis a little bit different .  br    br   in sam mendes  film road to perdition based on the graphic novel by max allan collins  he shows the story of a man and his son on the road during the great depression in chicago . what is different about this little road trip is that sullivan is a hit  man who is now being hunted by his former partner . his boss or ex  boss john rooney  paul newman  loves him almost more than his own son  sullivan  s partner connor  daniel craig  .  br    br   after a job done the wrong way because of connor  the only witness to his mistake are sullivan and his son who wasn  t supposed to be there . so connor tries to take out sullivan and his family  but only gets the wife and other son peter . sullivan outsmarts the hit and rushes home to find michael jr . sitting at the table . . . just sitting . with his wife and child dead  sullivan takes to the road to find answers .  br    br   the story follows the two as sullivan tries to make things right in memory of his wife and kid  and for michael who feels like he is to blame for all this . he feels his curiosity killed his mother and brother . tyler hoechlin does a terrific job as michael jr . he brings maturity and also a sense of still being juvenile . his loss of innocence is well acted out as he travels from town to town  leaving nothing behind him .  br    br   mendes  previous hit film was american beauty which received five oscars including best picture and best director . this film didn  t do nearly as well at the oscars only winning one award for best cinematography but receiving five other nominations for music  sound  and a best actor in a supporting role for paul newman . this picture is a great story that takes you on a ride through the midwest and into the legend of mike sullivan husband  hit  man  and devoted father . this movie is a sleeper film that should be watched for years to come .  
but i doubt many were running to see this movie . or  some came running out of the cinema  . okay  that  s a bit harsh .  br    br   the film starts in an unintentionally comical way frankie  boy comes back to his hometown after many years  this already smells of clichs  and the whole town is shaken by his arrival he is talked about  everyone wants to talk to him  and every woman he meets flirts with him like there  s no tomorrow  even his niece hints that she would gladly have dropped her date to chat with frankie  boy a little longer  even his pretty niece wants a piece of him  sounds like one of those laughable  mike hammer  episodes where every single female wants stacey keach . and  like stacey keach  frankie  boy is anything but a good  looking woman  s wet dream . in real life  someone like sinatra  without the fame  wouldn  t get within    m of someone as beautiful as maclaine . but in this hollywood movie it  s the other way around maclaine is absolutely nuts about frankie  boy  but he couldn  t care less  sinatra plays his  cool  shtick much too often in his movies  and it is rarely credible . dean martin is kind of miscast he isn  t miscast as a card  player  but rather because of the accent which simply doesn  t suit him . maclaine is charming as ever  but she plays a caricature  and this reliance on caricatures is one of the basic problems with the film . the main characters are all some sort of stereotypes out of bad or seen  it  all  before movies and cheap novels frankie is the  cool cat  who comes back to town to get all the women  and he couldn  t care less about his writing  which  predictably  eventually garners recognition   martin is a sleazy but friendly card  player maclaine is the dumb  but very likable bimbo frankie  s blond love  interest is a snotty literary expert frankie  s brother is the successful guy who married into his wife  s business and has a lousy marriage and so on . clichs .  br    br   the story contains a couple of coincidences which are a little too far  fetched for my taste frankie just happens to bump into his niece in a locale his niece just happens to be meters away from her daddy when the latter kisses his secretary for the first time and then there is the awful  stupid ending .  br    br   in it  a drunk guy bent on killing frankie  boy somehow manages to find him in a carnival of all places  the place is utterly crowded  with the typical noise and chaos  plus it  s happening in the evening  and yet the guy somehow finds frankie  in spite of being drunk as a doorknob  and shoots at him . but guess who he kills  maclaine . she jumps in front of the bullet to save frankie a clich which comic  book writers might cringe at . this utterly pathetic  over  dramatic  and annoying ending certainly cannot please any  even semi  intelligent  viewer . and this happens on the same day that maclaine and sinatra got married  the writer of this nonsense seems to have read crappy dime novels his whole life  how else is the writing of this movie to be explained  there is even a card game in which a brawl ensues with frankie  martin vs . some clich caricatures out of the writer  s  vivid  imagination .  it was like a damn western suddenly .  another dumb thing is the way sinatra was crazy about the boring snotty  nosed bimbo and pretty much ignored maclaine . as the movie progresses we find out that sinatra finds maclaine to be too dumb for him  just as the blond bimbo finds sinatra to be too low  class for her . there is a certain snobbism and disdain to be detected in the script regarding maclaine . maclaine is treated as worthless by everyone  while the blond bimbo is treated as a princess and an intellectual the ironic truth is that the latter  s character comes off as rather dumb and not at all as intellectual her behaviour  comments  and opinions are mostly clichd  silly  confused  pretentious  and primitive . at least maclaine  s character knows that she  maclaine  is dumb . there is another irony that i didn  t fail to notice sinatra had trouble finding an ending for his latest story  much like the writer of this movie  and that  s why he came up with the corny  crappy finale .  br    br   the film basically has a solid cast  and the photography is nice  but the script  though sometimes okay  relies to heavily on silly nonsense instead of on reality  based characters and events .  br    br   if you  re interested in reading my  biographies  of shirley maclaine and other hollywood intellectuals  contact me by e  mail .  
i know many people have a special fondness for the alistair sim version of dickens  story  but for me  this     version is the one to beat . my wife and i own a copy of this film on vhs  and we watch it together every christmas eve . i often remark that we could watch it on halloween too  because it  s a very creepy ghost story .  br    br   scott   typecast as scrooge   is shudderingly mean and nasty  making his transformation all the more miraculous and moving . i think it  s up there with his performance in patton . the spirits are all effective  each one creepier than the last . watching the dark  floating  skeletal form of the spirit of christmas yet to come sends shivers down my spine every year . and what a supporting cast  david warner  in particular  is in top form as bob cratchit  as is susannah york as his wife .  br    br   i seem to recall that this version sticks closer to the original story than most others   but i may be mistaken  as it  s been several years since i read it . regardless  this is a terrific christmas classic .  
 may contain spoilers .   br    br   if living on tokyo time were some bold experiment where real  life wanna  be actors were given film parts on the condition that they would be required to take a combination of powerful prescription anti  anxiety  anti  depression  and anti  psychotic medications  this is the classic psych ward combo that renders patients into drooling zombies  all during filming  then this movie would hold far more interest . or  if the film production was another type of experiment where all of the actors were sleep deprived before and during filming  then tokyo time could be more easily explained .  br    br   as it is  this film is filled with lifeless  low  energy actors . in the scene where the new husband was sitting on the stairs talking with his sister  it appeared that he was having trouble keeping his eyes open . in almost every scene he speaks his lines sitting down with every part of his body motionless . from beginning to end  his facial expression is best described as  near sleep .   br    br   fret not about the actors speaking over each other  s lines because these actors can barely finish droning out any lines of dialog . everyone speaks with a depressing  monotone voice . no laughing . no yelling . no vigor . no one has energy enough to crack a smile . the result complete and total boredom .  br    br   and it does not help matters that the direction is simple and amateurish .  br    br   avoid this lifeless film at all costs . better to watch greencard which has a similar plot and has charm and energy . or  for an unconventional japanese romance story  check out the long vacation which has an ample amount of everything living on tokyo time does not .  
this is a beautiful film . the true tale of bond between father and son . this is by far  tom hanks at his finest . tom hanks is really out of the box in this movie . he usually has the nice guy roles . yet in this film  he comes off in this film as a bit gritty  but still emerges smelling like a rose  even until the very last scene  the assassination of his character . the cast of this movie was well put together . i also love the part when there is total silence when tom hanks  character shoots and kills all of the men in mr . rooney  s group . there is something chilling and yet profound about no sound in that scene  just simply emotion . i love the look on john rooney  paul newman  s character  s face when he realizes even before seeing him  that it is tom hanks  s character getting revenge  and he knows his fate has come . the first time i saw this movie i was blown away and knew i had to go out and get the video and i since have  adding it to my collection of my all time favorite movies .  br    br   tom hanks is my favorite actor  so this film has a special place in me .  
possible spoilers this movie  s reputation precedes it  so it was with anticipation that i sat down to watch it in letterbox on tcm . what a major disappointment .  br    br   the cast is superb and the production values are first  rate  but the characters are without depth  the plot is thin  and the whole thing goes on too long . for a movie that deals with alcoholism  family divisions  unfaithfulness  gambling  and sexual repression  the movie is curiously flat  prosaic  lifeless  and cliche  ridden . one example is the portrayal of frank hirsch  s unfaithfuness his rather heavy  handed request to his wife to  go upstairs and relax a bit  followed by her predictable pleading of a headache  leads  even more predictably  to his evening liaison with his secretary   hey nancy  i  ve got the blues tonight . let  s go for a drive    all according to well  worn formula . we don  t feel these are real people  but cardboard cutouts acting in a marionette play . also  the source of the obvious friction between frank and dave hirsch is never really explored or explained . dave  s infatuation with the on  again  off  again gwen is inexplicable in light of her fatuous inability to defecate or get off the pot . his subsequent marriage of desperation to the shirley maclaine  ginny character is  from the moment of its being presented to this viewer  anyway  obviously doomed to fail  and it was clear  by the conventions of this type of soap opera  that it could only be resolved by someone being killed . the moment the jealous lover started running around with the gun i started a bet with myself as to who  dave or ginny  would get killed . the whole thing was phony with a capital  p  .  br    br   having said that  maclaine  s performance and that of dean martin are the standouts here . but on the whole i find the movie  s interest to be purely that of a period piece of hollywood history .  
i think that this film is brilliant . there are many reasons why but these are some of them   the good acting by tom and tyler   brilliant machine gun scene that was a piece of brilliance   i thought that the ending was a good twist because i never expected that at the end all credit to sam mendes . as well as a these  points the film form of the film is good as well . i am a film student at college and we studied this film in great detail and it was one of the best films i have seen in many years . i  d just like to say a big thank you to all of the people involved in making this film . lastly i would like to say the best scene in the film is the machine gun scene where john rooney gets kill it is just pure brilliance in shooting the scene in silence until john rooney says  i  m glad it  s you  it is a lot better like that i think because the viewer creates there own sound and that sound is totally different for every viewer just brilliant .  br    br   thank you for reading this comment written by ross kirk aged    
this film has been receiving a lot of play lately during the day on either hbo or cinemax . the reason is that they are assuming people would be interested in comparing it to the leonardo dicaprio  tom hanks caper of the same name . the only reason to see it is for the attractive matt lattanzi . yum  although i must say matt was more than a little long in the tooth to be playing a high schooler . if he were a woman  they  d have had him playing the mother of a high schooler   is is just me  or is his daughter starting to look like shelley duvall   oh yeah  the plot   who cares  typical teen highjinx played by adults .  
this is the first tom hanks movie i have gotten the privilege of seeing in the theater  although he is my favorite . when i heard he was going to play a hit  man  i was a little stunned thinking  can mr . hanks pull this one off   and he did in high fashion . this      s depression era film is a about loyalty  redemption  and one path that you don  t want your children stumbling down . tom hanks leads a stellar cast as michael sullivan . being the family man  and the secret life of the contract killer for the oscar nominated paul newman . this movie tom hanks relies more on reaction and gaze rather than dialogue  which he delivers a knockout performance .  br    br   on one night of one of his jobs  michael  s son michael jr .  played by newcomer tyler hoechlin  witnesses the hit . and michael sr .  s partner in crime  fellow stage actor daniel craig can  t have that information out . so he wacks out the son and wife of michael sr .  except michael jr . so the two head for chicago to get conner rooney  son of paul newman  s mr . rooney  .  br    br   the drama and intense plot really thickens from their as father trys to set things right  even though son is along for the ride . while on this deadly journey  someone has hired a hit for michael sr . the assassin would be the photographer of the deceased harlen maguire  played by a stain  teethed jude law .  br    br   the movie will have you feeling the old days . and with thomas newman  s beautiful and haunting oscar nominated score to go along with it  you can  t help but appreciate this film from oscar winning director sam mendes . so sit back  and enjoy the wild ride .  
wow  i remember so many awful films that loosely revolved around high school from the early     s . they usually had someincredibly strained plot and lots of   year old actors pretending to be students . as i watched this film i felt a little of the nostalgia of growing up in the     s . however  then i find out that this film was made in      say what  well  the nostalgia factor ends right there  this is just bad . the plot has the city preparing to close a high school and threatening to bus all of the students to inner city high schools . which is odd  in that the students at this school are both wealthy and abundant . in fact  the main character lives in a mansion . makes you wonder how they cannot find money to keep this school alive  have they never heard of property taxes . oh  but here is the kicker . the school board says that they will keep the school alive  if the students can raise         . so the seniors go about doing this . hmmm  you raise         but instead of saving that for college  you put it towards saving the high school that you are a senior in  and why exactly would they close an overpopulated school before the year is out  and . . . ahh forget it  this film was stupid and made in        
i loved this film  i  m a true tom hanks fan  and i have always been impressed with all of his work . from his most dramatic roles like cast away  the green mile  saving private ryan  forrest gump  apollo    philadelphia . to his hilarious roles like a league of their own  turner and hooch  catch me if you can  the lady killers  big  of course toy story . but in this film hanks isn  t the only great actor who lights up the screen . tyler hoechlin  an up and coming star who shows great promise in hollywood co stars as hanks son and delivers nothing short of a great performance . he is certainly someone to watch out for over his career  i believe he will do great things . paul newman as always delivers a brilliant performance on screen . he is truly a legend . we can  t forget the people who didn  t have such big roles in the film  but still helped make it great . the beautiful  very talented jennifer jason leigh  who  s performance in bastard out of carolina  single white female i will never forget  brings her grace to the screen as hank  s wife in the film and does a superb job . liam aiken is another found treasure in film . he does such a great job with such a small role  and like his roles in lemony snickets  and sweet november  and i dreamed of africa he gives a great performance .  
the plot of this film is not strong at all  lots of holes . if you approach it as a car movie its not bad  lots of great cars in this one . the reason i like it is because i am from the area where this was filmed . i get the most enjoyment looking at the recognizable places in st . cloud mn and seeing how the town has changed since   . its an interesting historical piece for us locals . seems like whenever a film is made here everyone wants some relationship to it . it is impossible to find a copy in any of the local video stores as they were all stolen once it came out on vhs . had to get a copy from japan on ebay i find it interesting how the path of the drag race is all over town . i didn  t know the director was from st . cloud .  
after gorging myself on a variety of seemingly immature movies purchased on ex  rental dvds  i figured that the time was right for a little serious drama and who better to provide it than sam mendes  for a number of reasons   american beauty  doesn  t appeal to me as much as this film which is easily the darkest thing that tom hanks has ever done and probably one of the most underrated films of the last decade . for this is not a simple gangster tale lifted from its graphic novel origins  and is simply wonderful to watch because of it . and despite my usual allergy to any film with tom hanks  name on it  still can  t watch  big  without wanting a cat to kick   i  m glad i gave this a try because this is one of those movies that you  ll kick yourself for if you miss it .  br    br   normally squeaky  clean hanks plays michael sullivan  a devoted family man and father of two sons growing up during prohibition in the early      s . he is also a professional hit  man to mob boss john rooney  paul newman  but has managed to keep his job a secret from his sons . but after his eldest  tyler hoechlin  witnesses his dad involved in a mob killing  the pair are forced to go on the run as john seeks to tidy the matter up . soon  father and son are pursued to chicago where a fellow hit  man  a menacing jude law  is waiting for them .  br    br   on the face of it  it reads like a pretty standard gangster film but as i  ve said  this isn  t really about gangsters at all . it  s about the relationship between a father and son thrown together in the most tragic of circumstances . hanks is  grits teeth  superb as the tortured man who finds out that everything has its price and little hoechlin is also good as sullivan  s son . in all honesty  there is not a single performance that i could single out as weaker than the others  the cast is pretty much faultless . as is the cinematography and costumes  and it  s not often i praise costumes   which recreates the    s with stunning effect . there has been so much effort to get everything right and it pays off in spades . this could easily have looked rubbish  they admit that the early    s look was difficult to put down  but it doesn  t and that deserves every bit of credit . chicago especially looks fantastic  lined with hundreds of rickety cars from the era and filled with people in monochrome suits and hats . true time  travel  even if a little cgi is needed .  br    br   the story is also a winner  offering a human face to what is often seen as a stereotypical genre of movie villain . law is surprisingly menacing as the almost mechanical killer maguire and proves that you don  t have to be cagney or de niro or brando to play a gangster . the film is decidedly noir  ish  driving rain and ill  lit warehouses predominate but at least violence and killing are  finally  seen to have an emotional and psychological impact on those who perpetrate and those who merely witness such acts . the whole thing is evocative of a previous age and previous movies but it sweeps away the old and refreshes with a modern tale of redemption amid the tommy  gun shootouts and extortion rackets . it can feel a little slow in places  especially if you  re used to masses of gun  play in movies like most modern audiences  like yours truly  but sometimes  words can speak louder than actions . mendes has delivered a fine follow  up to his oscar  winning debut  a film which is as intelligent as it is beautiful to watch .  road to perdition  may not be to everyone  s tastes but this is one dvd i shall not be exchanging anytime soon .  
story of a good  for  nothing poet and a sidekick singer who puts his words to music . director danny boyle has lost none of his predilection for raking in the gutter of humanity for characters but he has lost  in this film  the edge for creating inspiring and funny films . strumpet is painful to watch and barely justified by the fact that it was made for tv .  
road to perdition can be summed up by thomas newman  s score . it  s haunting and beautiful but you  re aware that this music is similar to newman  s other work and while listening to the soundtrack you  re reminded of scent of a woman  meeting joe black and the shawshank redemption you  re reminded of other films as the story unfolds on screen . as the sullivans drive round america trying to escape from a psychotic hit man you think of the getaway  irish gangsters is miller  s crossing whilst the subtext of guilt and redemption can be summed up by coppola and leone  s gangster epics . despite having a seen it all before feel this shouldn  t be taken as a heavy criticism of sam mendes film which i repeat is haunting and beautiful and the only flaws that work against it is a very slow opening twenty minutes and i was slightly confused as the events that caused michael sullivan to be betrayed . but if you stop to consider how much of a sentimental mess spielberg might have made with the story that revolves around a father and his twelve year old son running for their lives you can  t help thinking what a superb director mendes is  br    br   road to perdition is a film where the entire cast give flawless performances . i  ve never been all that keen on tom hanks but he  s every bit as good here as he has been in any starring role  probably better . paul newman plays a character with an irish accent but at no point did i believe i was watching an american screen legend putting on a false accent  newman  s performance works due to the subtle body language  his character is torn up by guilt but newman never milks it or goes over the top . while never upstaging newman who gives the best performance in the movie the two brit supporting actors craig and law are also very memorable as american gangsters and while law will still have a long career as a leading actor one wonders how daniel craig might have progressed as a character actor if he hadn  t decided to become james bond  a role which heralds the end of an actors career  
this utterly dull  senseless  pointless  spiritless  and dumb movie isn  t the final proof that the world can forget about danny boyle and his post   trainspotting  movies  the beach  already took care of that . what this low  budget oddity does is merely to secure his place among those who started very well but got completely lost in drugs  booze  ego  self  delusion  bad management or whatever it was that lead to this once  promising director  s quick demise .  br    br   the premise is absurd two losers  ecclestone and some bimbo jenna g  a rapper  likely  meet by chance and spontaneously start singing with fervour more akin to lunatic asylum inhabitants than a potential hit  making duo  which they become . a friend of theirs  an even bigger illiterate loser  becomes their manager by smashing a store window and stealing a video  camera by which he films them in  action   and then shows the tape to some music people who actually show interest in this garbage . now  i know that the uk in recent years has put out incredible junk  but this is ridiculous the music makes oasis seem like the beatles . during the studio recordings  the duo  strumpet  change lyrics in every take and ecclestone quite arrogantly tells the music biz guys to take it or leave it  and quite absurdly they do take it . not only is the music total and utter trash  but its  performers  are anti  social these newcomers are supposed to be calling the shots . it  s just too dumb . it  s plain awful .  br    br   the dialog is unfunny and goes nowhere  and this rags  to  bitches story has no point and makes no sense . it often feels improvised  under the influence of drugs . danny boyle is a complete idiot . this little piece of trash is so bad it  s embarrassing to watch . ecclestone  s i . q . also has to be questioned for agreeing to be part of this nonsense . whoever financed this      joke should leave the movie business before they end up selling their own underwear on street corners .  
having been driven out of the house and into the theater by the sweltering heat  i could not have been more pleased . the road to perdition  directed by sam mendes  american beauty   is destined to become one of the greatest movies of all time . perhaps i  m just getting old perhaps i  ve just seen the same themes recycled time and again . but this movie is indeed different .  br    br   the story opens with young michael sullivan jr . facing out to the sea  contemplating the duality of his father  s legacy   one of the best men to ever live  one of the most evil . this duality snakes its way throughout the movie . the story revolves around crime boss john rooney  paul newman  and michael sullivan  tom hanks   the young man rooney once took in and who now serves as his personal  angel of death .  rooney is tied by blood to his own son  but tied by love and loyalty to michael . young michael jr .  intrigued by the stories he reads  steals away in his father  s car one night while dad goes off to  work  with connor rooney  heir to the family  business .  connor lets the situation get out of hand  and what was meant only to be a warning turns into murder   witnessed by michael jr . upon the discovery that young michael has seen what he should not have seen  the plot is set in motion as conflicting loyalties collide . soon  michael sr . is on the run with his young son  pursued by contract killer harlen  the reporter  maguire  jude law  .  br    br   i will disclose no further details in order to avoid any potential spoilers . however  i strongly encourage viewers to examine the many dualities that present themselves in the movie problems between sons and fathers  michael sr  jr .  john rooney  son connor   between the world at home and the world at  work   between good and evil  between those who pretend to be men of god and those who really are  between  clean  money and  dirty   between the town of perdition and perdition as hell . and along the way  savor the visual brilliance of cinematographer conrad l . hall   nominations   oscars for best cinematography   rain pouring off fedoras  shots through mirrors  especially on swinging doors   tommy  gun flashes from out of the shadows  absent any sound . not only has    year  old hall given us perhaps the best cinematic product of his career  but    year  old paul newman offers one of his best performances ever .  br    br   yes . . . i may be getting old . but i  ve seen a lot . . . and this is fresh and invigorating . the road to perdition presents a lasting and loving tribute to the gangster genre  to films of the   s  to dark comic  book figures lurking in the darkness  to villains and heroes  to american film in general . go see it   
way back when i was renting videos for free i picked this one up . oops the things i wanted to mention outside the summary already given were these .   someone who had a lot to do with making this movie had a strange and sick fascination for food  it was gross and unecessary .   there is some kind of a soundtrack in the background of the film that seems to be there the entire time and by the way i felt for days after viewing this trash i figure they had something subliminal going on in the track . either that or it was just traumatisingly bad or both . many times throughout the movie you can tell the writer and director did not have much experience or talent . and don  t even ask about the acting .  
this is the best mob film ever made . it deserved more then what it got at the oscars . nominated for things like its score  art direction  supporting role  newman   this film could have easily been nominated for best picture  director  mendes   actor  hanks   supporting actor  newman and law  and won   hanks gives one of his best performances  and the kid who played michel jr . was so good that i  m surprised i don  t see him in more movies today . critics themselves didn  t give this film enough credit . but besides the incredible performances  another real star of this film is the incredible music . this was by far the best score of the year . it was nominated but didn  t win . this is a great film that should be seen by everyone . my grade  a  
i  ve been trying to track down this film just by googling bad phrases about  teenagers seduce and kill man in his house  and such . i think i first saw parts of this film when i was about   years old when it was running on cable . it made quite an impression  it  s the kind of film that kids know they shouldn  t be watching  and switch the channel when their parents come in . when i saw who the cast was  i couldn  t believe that some of these good actors were in such a horrible movie . then again  if you like to see men who cheat on their wives get murdered  then this is an interesting film . also  if i recall  there  s some pretty interesting pseudo  lesbian moments . probably the dumbest ending of all time  but still . . . memorable .  
frankly  this movie has gone over the heads of most of its detractors .  br    br   the opposite of perdition  being lost  is salvation  being saved  and this movie is one of a very few to deal with those two concepts . the movie also explores the love and disappointments that attend the father  son relationship . it should be noted at the outset that none of these are currently fashionable themes .  br    br   the premise is that the fathers in the move  hit  man michael sullivan  tom hanks  and his crime boss john rooney  paul newman   love their sons and will do anything to protect them . but rooney  s son connor is even more evil than the rest . he kills one of rooney  s loyal soldiers to cover up his own stealing from his father . when connor learns that sullivan  s son michael witnessed it  he mistakenly kills sullivan  s other son  and sullivan  s wife  in an attempt to silence witnesses .  br    br   sullivan decides he wants revenge at any price  even at the terribly high price of perdition . rooney  who in one scene curses the day connor was born  refuses to give up his son connor to sullivan  and hires a contract killer named maguire  jude law  to kill sullivan and his son . so rooney joins his son connor on the road to perdition .  br    br   for the rest of the movie  accompanied by his surviving son young michael  sullivan pursues connor rooney down the road to perdition  and maguire pursues sullivan . when sullivan confronts rooney in a church basement  and demands that he give up connor because connor murdered his family  rooney says   michael  there are only murderers in this room  . .  and there  s only one guarantee  none of us will see heaven .  as the movie ends  somewhat predictably  one character is saved and one character repents .  br    br   i  m not a big tom hanks fan  but he does step out of character to play hit  man sullivan convincingly  giving a subtle and laconic performance . newman does well as the old irish gangster rooney  showing a hard edge in his face and manner  his eyes haunted by connor  s misdeeds . jude law plays maguire in a suitably creepy way . tyler hoechlin plays young michael naturally and without affectation .  br    br   the cinematography constantly played light off from darkness  echoing the themes of salvation and perdition . the camera drew from a palette of greens and greys . the greys belonged to the fathers and the urban landscapes of depression era illinois . the greens belonged to the younger sons and that state  s rural flatlands . thomas newman  s lush  sonorous and haunting music had faint irish overtones and was played out in copland  like arrangements . the sets were authentic mid  western urban  factories  churches . the homes shone with gleaming woodwork .  br    br   the excellence of the movie lies in its generation of a unique feeling out of its profound themes  distinctive acting  and enveloping music and cinematography . the only negative was a slight anti  gun message slipped into the screenplay y  the movie  s only nod to political correctness .  br    br   i give this movie a   out of    in time it will be acknowledged as a great film .  
there is a lot of talk of torture these days . that  s all this movie is . it  s about a good person who makes a bad decision . because of his kindness  he becomes vulnerable to two psychotic women . from then on its a just  for  kicks assault on him . i don  t know at what point you do something about it . there is a wife and child out there somewhere he has great feelings of guilt and fear . but there should have been some times when he could have acted . the movie seems to be somebody  s joke . i suppose in the wake of the manson murders  we had a bit of a fixation on the likes of these two . nevertheless  why would someone make a film like this  what appeals does it have except for sadism . the conclusion is totally unsatisfying  but that could have been remedied with an obvious plot twist . oh  well . another hour and a half of my life .  
this is one of the best made movies from     . maybe it is not the best movie  but it looks the best  has great acting and is directed perfectly by sam mendes  who debuted with  american beauty  .  br    br   it tells the story of a gangster named michael sullivan  tom hanks  who is seen by his son  tyler hoechlin  on one of his jobs . michael  s boss  john rooney  paul newman   thinks things will be okay but his jealous son connor rooney  daniel craig  sets both his father and michael up  leading to the death of michael  s wife  jennifer jason leigh  and second son . michael thinks rooney is responsible and rooney has to choose for himself and sends a hit  man harlen maguire  jude law  to finish the job . since michael is a respected man within the organization he tries to win some friends who can help him including mob boss frank nitti  stanley tucci  .  br    br   in a way  road to perdition  is a standard gangster movie but it is so well made you almost can not see that . this movie is good in its production design  art direction  sound  music and most of all in its cinematography . all these elements are able to surprise and create suspense although the outcome is pretty certain . that hoechlin is not a annoying kid and hanks  law and newman know how to act helps  of course .  br    br   based on a comic this movie is so much better than you would expect and although it has it flaws it belongs to the better movies in the genre . sometimes there are events where you realize you have seen it so many times before  but for some reason it also feels fresh at the same time . the scenes between the adult hanks and the child hoechlin help in that area . see this movie that will look familiar at times but is totally new on a lot of areas .  
this     cult movie has two crazed lesbians  sandra locke  colleen camp  appearing at the home of wealthy socialite doctor george manning  seymour cassel   in hope of help in locating a residence they can  t seem to find . but these two have other plans in mind  when they find out george  s wife is out of town  they end up taking control of the residence  tying up the george  killing a delivery boy while destroying the place all in one evening . bizarre and disturbing movie  but the two get there just reward in the same bizarre way as the movie ends . most will either dislike it right off or get caught up in this ludicrous movie after about   minutes into it . either way some even consider this a cult classic .  br    br   larry dodson  
so this made for tv film scores only a  .  on this site  bah  humbug  without question this     version of dickens  classic tale is the best ever made . and yes  the hound has seen the     version which was also good  but not good enough . the lack of color is perhaps the biggest shortcoming of that version  although the acting was wonderful .  br    br   george c . scott is simply incredible as ebenezer scrooge . we all know the story of this stingy businessman who is haunted by the ghost of his dead partner  then by three other spirits later on that evening . scott is properly gruff as scrooge . too gruff in fact for some critics who claim he is unable to project the new  found glee that he awakens to on christmas morning after the spirits teach him a valuable lesson . but hey  this is george c . scott . he  s never going to go dancing down the street in a fit of joy . he has too much dignity  and his scrooge projects his emotion in a realistic manner .  br    br   the supporting performances are uniformly excellent  as are the costumes  music  and scenery .   th century london comes to life in clive donner  s visionary style . the film even borders on frightening in several scenes involving the spirits . the important tale of morality shines through in every frame  though .  br    br   you won  t often find this version aired on television anymore  and that is a disappointment . the     version of a christmas carol should be a required part of every household  s celebration of the holiday . when the decorations come out of the basement  this film should find its way into the dvd player at least once during the season .  br    br     of   stars .  br    br   the hound .  
happy go lovely is a waste of everybody  s time and talent including the audience . the lightness of the old  hat mistaken identity and faux scandal plot lines is eminently forgivable . very few people watched these movies for their plots . but  they usually had some interesting minor characters involved in subplots   not here . they usually had interesting choreography and breathtaking dancing and catchy songs . not happy go lovely . and vera  ellen as the female lead played the whole movie as a second banana looking desperately for a star to play off it   and instead she was called upon to carry the movie  and couldn  t do it . the scottish locale was wasted . usually automatically ubiquitous droll scottish whimsy is absent . the photography was pedestrian . the musical numbers were pedestrian . cesar romero gives his usual professional performance  chewing up the scenery since no one else was doing his part  in the type of producer role essayed frequently by walter abel and adolph menjou . david niven is just fine  and no one could do david niven like david niven . at the end of the day  if you adore niven as i do  it  s reason enough to waste   minutes on happy go lovely . if not  skip it .  
conrad hall went out with a bang . the great film photographer finished his illustrious career with this movie before passing on . he did himself proud as this is one of the best  looking crime films you  ll ever see .  br    br   of course  the acting ain  t bad when you have tom hanks and paul newman playing the leads  the amount of action in here is just right  too not too much not too little .  br    br   none of the characters in here  frankly  are  good guys  as hanks is a professional hit  man for town boss newman . hanks  only redeeming quality is not wanting his young son to wind up a killer like him  although he does teach him how to be the getaway man in robberies  huh   br    br   as good as the acting is and as interesting as the story is  the real star of this film is cinematographer hall  who paints scene after beautiful scene with his lens . his work is just awesome .  
i guess that this movie is based on some kind of a true story . . . . it  s about two young girls who molest a grown man for   hrs .  i don  t see where the terror comes into play here . . . . there are some  weird  and  surreal  sequences in the movie . and the two girls  sandra locke and . . . ah . . . oh well  play the roll of two psycho  man haters to the hilt . . . they do a pretty good job  although some of it is just a tad over the top  . the movie  s not good  and it  s not horrible it  s just really really dated  i mean this thing is dripping with the    s . . . . it  s not really bad if you like that sort of thing . . . you know . . . that thang   
i f you thought sam mendes  first film  the much heralded american beauty was a movie with style to spare  wait until you see his highly anticipated second effort  the unrelentingly grim    s gangster melodrama road to perdition . some critics have hailed this new movie as a worthy successor to the godfather  a rash judgment made by several reviewers taken with mr . mendes  extraordinary technical prowess . if the mechanics of movie making are what make a picture great  then yes  road to perdition is a distant cousin to the godfather in terms of what it achieves in cinematography  editing  music scoring and sound . what it doesn  t have is a resonance that all great stories and some very rare movies have that stay with the viewer long after the experience of reading or seeing it is over . as with american beauty  there is a cold  distancing feel to this movie  despite some very tense scenes involving paternal love  loyalty and betrayal .  br    br   this story of a hit man  tom hanks  and his relationship to a surrogate father  figure who is also his boss  an elderly irish mob leader  paul newman   seems to have been culled from innumerable gangster movies of years past . the father  son motif that hangs over this picture is so heavy handed in its treatment that there is not much room for spontaneity  the entire enterprise has been very carefully wrought  and nearly all the dialog is delivered with an air of great portent  this is obviously a gangster film  hence the requisite amount of violence and bloodshed  but the film is nearly devoid of any humor to speak of  only in scenes involving a young boy driving a getaway car in a cunningly edited montage is there any sense of lightheartedness to leaven the pervasive sense of doom .  br    br   that being said  i have nothing but the highest praise for the stunning look of this film  indeed  it is not an overstatement to say that this is one of the most beautifully photographed and designed movies i have ever seen . veteran cameraman conrad hall will very likely win another oscar for his work here . the production  s sets and costumes are just as exemplary  in fact  the entire film is a technical marvel . mr . mendes continues to astonish with his vivid use of color  and he and mr . hall again make very dramatic use of red blood splattered against pale colored walls  all the more effective and disconcerting due to the preponderance of blacks  blues and grays that dominate the movie  s color scheme .  br    br   if i have failed to duly note the acting  it is not because the actors do not purport themselves ably  everyone in the film is top notch  with special mention going to the two malevolent bad guys  daniel craig is the classic  man you love to hate   the spoiled  impulsive son of newman  s gangster father  and an almost unrecognizable jude law as an especially slimy miscreant who goes on pursuit of hanks and his son and figures very importantly in the film  s riveting second half . but acting in a movie this dazzling is bound to take a back seat to the photographic fireworks on display here . if a rolls  royce was a movie  i  ve no doubt it would look like road to perdition .  
this is an atrocious movie . two demented young women seduce and torture a middle aged man . there  s not much to give away in regards to a plot or a  spoiler  . i would only comment that the ending is nearly the most preposterous part of the flick . much of the film involves locke and camp cackling obnoxiously  all the while grinning psychotically at the camera . add to this a soundtrack that repeats again and again  including a vaudevillian song about  dear old dad  that suggests an incestuous quality the viewer never really sees . the music is annoying at first  then ends up subjecting the viewer to a torture worse than that depicted on the screen . the theme here is of youth run amok  understandable as a reaction to the    s  but done with little imagination or style . avoid it   
i loved so much about this movie . . . the time taken to develop the characters  the attention to detail  the superb performances  the stunning lighting and cinematography  the wonderful soundtrack . . .  br    br   it has a combined intensity and lightness of touch that won  t work for anyone who wants the typical fast  paced action flick . if we lived in elizabethan days  i  d say this movie  s a bit like a shakespearean tragedy . but since we don  t  let  s say it  s more like a drama  suspense movie .  br    br   the plot is simple  but the story is complex . the movie is intelligent in the way relationships and issues are explored . much of the story is shown rather than told  which i find makes it more subtle and moving  and which also works well for a story based on a comic book  or graphic novel  . at times i felt i was actually there in the     s  part of this story  there was such a realistic yet dream  like quality in the style of its telling .  br    br   i don  t often prefer movies to the books they were based upon  but in this case i do .  though i did enjoy the book too .  i  ve bought the dvd  which is great because it has some wonderful deleted scenes and insightful commentary .  br    br    i also took my little cousin  who  s a little younger than the boy in the movie  to see it after i saw it for the first time  because he has issues at home and i wanted to use this as a way of starting a discussion on father  son issues with him . he loved it  and the discussion .   
so this guy named george is sitting home alone on his birthday when two women show up . george  s wife is at a hospital taking care of their son so when the wife is away george gets in the bubble bath and makes love to both of the girls . it isn  t that great of a scene because it really doesn  t show anything . after that the birthday boy wakes up the next morning and the girls are still at his house . they make him a nice breakfast but george isn  t hungry . george isn  t very happy and he tries to ditch them but when he gets home the girls are still at his house . the girls have had enough with old george and no longer want to cook for them . they both turn out to be major psychopaths and use george in their little crazy game . i liked that the girls just did what they wanted and messed up george  s house . george wasn  t really that great to his two guests . when george said he was a married man  he really didn  t seem to mean it . george looked like tom tucker on family guy . i was for the two girls the whole time .  
this couldn  t have been better . the strong restraints on mike sullivan  s expressions couldn  t have been portrayed in any other way . tom hanks delivers the best performance of his career . young tyler hoechlin drives an emotional wheel playing the basis character for the story . and veteran paul newman gives one of his best character performances in a long time .  br    br   this film is based on a bold graphic novel by max allan collins and richard piers rayner . this is a father  son story which basically employs the two candidates solely unfit for the roles . mike sullivan had no father as a child  so john rooney took him in . although a generous man  mr . rooney involved himself in organized crime . therefore  the debt of sullivan was only to be paid off in involving himself in the business . now  sullivan has a wife and two children and is trying to keep his children safe  but at the same time pay back his boss . the events to follow  will test sullivan  s loyalty and embrace his family  s fate .  br    br   with a great adaptation by david self  the dialogue comes out seldomly  but yet very virtuous . the story unfolds in a beautiful      s setting  brilliant art direction by richard l . johnson  nancy haigh  covered with a dark rainy  snow on the ground  exterior . driving the story  is thomas newman  s wonderful irish score  settling in only when necessary .  br    br   but the most important technical element in the film is conrad l . hall  s beautiful photography . this is some of the best cinematography i  ve seen and i watch a lot of films . the scene when mike and michael are in the car  entering chicago is quite impressive . the shot starts at the front of the car  revealing mike  hanks  through the windshield . it subsequently dollys around to the side of the car  to see michael  hoechlin  awakening and peering out his side window . as it continues  it trucks sideways and dollys back  completely around the car and reveals a gorgeous scenic      s chicago .  br    br   with a great cast and crew  the principle man creates a brazenly amazing film . i  m talking about sam mendes  who made his feature film debut in     with american beauty .  won him various awards  before american beauty  mendes worked as a play director for the british theater  but decided that he wanted to move on saying that there was nothing new for him in theater . with only two films  sam mendes has marked himself in my book as one of the great directors  in a list of about twenty  five  .  br    br   the film illuminates a brazen genre that has its hits and misses and expresses the true theme brilliantly . the photography  acting and story is phenominal . i  m still waiting for scorcesee  s gangs of new york  but for now  i  m fully confident in saying that this is the  best film of the year  . considering it  s competition  signs  insomnia  minority report  thats a strong statement .  
a text prologue warns us that we should not allow evil to enter our house  but i think the more apt word is  entropy .  good grief  what slobs these two babes are   br    br   george  seymour cassell  is alone in his san francisco office and his monstrously expensive home in tiburon while his wife and child are away in san diego . two girls  sondra locke as jackson and colleen camp as donna  knock on his door  asking directions . well  it  s raining  and they  re shivering like two drenched pitiful kittens  and they  re not sure of the address they  re looking for  and  what with one thing and another  george invites them to come in and partake of his pizza by the fire . all three of them wind up in george  s bath tub and there follows about five minutes of mostly undifferentiated nudity in double exposure  triple exposure  quadruple exposure  and dodekakuple exposure . they spend the night in a threesome and the next morning the girls fix him breakfast . but something has gotten slightly cockeyed because georgie  s guests gobble everything down with their fingers and pour ketchup and syrup all over the linen and    you eat like animals    george exclaims and tells them to get out . in his dreams .  br    br   now  don  t get me wrong . sondra locke is an extraordinary looking young blond with cobalt  blue eyes and colleen camp bounces around like a superball . you gotta say  they breed  em mighty cute down there in shelbyville  tennessee  where locke comes from  and they breed  em with bodacious tushes too  as we can  t help but note after the first five or ten minutes .  br    br   but when the girls go berserk  so does the movie . the film is thereafter bathed in a garish green light . the pair put on ghoulish makeup and make gargoyle faces at themselves in the mirrors . they brain a delivery boy and then drown him to make sure . they cuss up a storm and smash windows and furniture . they have one of those scenes in which two people sit across the table from one another  licking food and then jumping each other  s bones .  br    br   and georgie  they first render georgie unconscious with mace  which contains nothing that you can  t find in that little red bottle of mcilheny  s tabasco sauce in your kitchen cabinet   tie him up  pour flour and milk all over him  subject him to a psychotic trial  put him through one of those tolstoy  type semi  executions  slap him around  dress up in outlandish costumes  then prance out on him and his virtually destroyed upper  middle  class home  and are dispatched by a delivery van ex machina .  br    br   as for the acting  it  s as if someone had told georgie   first act polite to these girls  then act panicked after you  re tied up .  and to the girls  first act shy  unwilling to impose on anyone  then act crazy .  and that  s it .  br    br   the photography and location work are straight out of a     s porn movie . i  m not sure that suggests a total lack of skill . it takes effort and talent to turn san francisco ugly . the score gives us two leitmotivs . georgie  s is some pop tune with lyrics about  being free  and  giving in .  jackson and donna  s is a catchy rinky  tink thing called  my good old dad .   br    br   i approve of the moral lesson behind the story  though . there are some things you should simply not give in to  even though they might look like a lot of fun at first . all very educational .  
acting this film is a very well acted film . i will say that the performances are slightly weak at times but for the most part  the acting is very good . the only actor that blew me away with his performance was jude law as harlen maguire . he was incredible  tom hanks seemed alittle unsure at at a few points throughout the film but he too was incredible . paul newman  good as always . cinematography this is what made the movie a masterpiece  and i rarely use that word  . conrad hall is a true genius . if at any point in the movie you were to pause it  you will see the delicately crafted work of this man . he sets up every shot so that nothing is left out . when the camera is still  there is a postcard like quality to the screen . when the camera is moving  every shot is planned to understated perfection . but it doesn  t stop there . conrads choice of colors and contrast between light and dark settings is a work of art . the way he lights the set is some of the most amazing lighting work i  ve seen . his work on this movie made it what it is . this movie is at the top of the list for best cinematography with lotr  black hawk down  hero  cthd  moulin rouge  and vertigo . story people will say this movie is a     s gangster flick but  i believe they missed the point of the movie . it is a love story about a hit  man who fails in trying to protect his son from the life he chose . it is a brilliantly crafted story that unfolds into a beautiful bond between two people who have nothing but each other . the screen writing is worthy of an oscar . music thomas newman conducts a sad but hopeful score to intensify this sad but hopeful story . the music is some of the most beautiful and moving scores i  ve herd . direction sam mendes is a new director with a feel of an experienced director . the symbols he uses and the performances he gets from his actors is a rarity in todays film  making world . i will be on the lookout for the next sam mendes film .      one of the most moving and beautiful movies i  ve ever seen .  
i am a fan of the previous best of the best films . but this one was awful . no wonder i had such a hard time finding it . i tried  video rental stores  until i found one with a copy of this movie . the acting was terrible  the plot was a joke  and the action was bad as well .  br    br   i really miss alex grady  travis brigley  and the original kickboxing characters and theme that this film had with the first  movies .  br    br   john  
road to perdition  a movie undeservedly overlooked at that year oscars is the second work of sam mendes  and in my opinion his best work   a director who three years before won oscar for his widely acclaimed but controversial american beauty . this is a terrific movie  and at the same time ultimately poignant and sad .  br    br   it  s a story of a relatively wealthy and happy family from outward appearance during difficult times of depression when the  michael sullivan  a father of two children  played by great tom hanks  i  m not his admirer but ought to say that  is a hit  man for local mafia boss  played by paul newman . his eldest son  a thirteen years boy michael sullivan jr .  perfectly played by young tyler hoechlin  after years of blissful ignorance finds out what is his father job and on what money their family live . prompted by his curiosity and his aspiration to know truth he accidentally becomes a witness of a murder  committed by john rooney  son of his father boss . such discovery strikes an innocent soul and it caused numerous events that changed his life forever . the atmosphere of the period  all the backgrounds and decorations are perfectly created  editing and cinematography are almost flawless while the story is well written . but the main line of the movie  the most important moments and points of the movie and the key factor of the movie success are difficult father  son relations in bad times . they are shown so deeply  strong and believable . tom hanks does excellent and has one of the best performances of his career in a quite unusual role for him and all acting across the board is superb . finally worth to mention a very nice score by paul newman and in the result we get an outstanding work of all people involved in making this beautiful  but one more time sad  masterpiece . i believe road to perdition belongs to greatest achievements of film  making of this decade and undoubtedly one of the best films of the year .  br    br   my grade   out of    
believe it or not  this movie is worse than number three . it  s slower  the acting is worse  and the story is very weak . there isn  t a lot of good to say about this movie . even the fight scenes are more dull than number three  and i would have thought that impossible . this is a very slow   minutes . painful  in fact . i stuck it through  hoping it would get better . if you really want to see this movie  you should try to find a cheap rental of it . it is hard to find  for purchase  that is  and probably for good reason . like number three  this movie has nothing to do with the first two . it is the same in name only . anyway  the most i can give best of the bestwithout warning is      
deranged and graphically gory japanese film about little beings taking people over and turning them into necroborg  zombie like machines  which beat and hack each other apart so that the winner can eat the loser . in the middle of this a pair of lovers become infected .  br    br   technically superb horror comedy    is only for those with strong stomachs as blood and body parts go flying . good taste prevents me from describing what happens here  but lets just say its pretty gruesome . if you like this sort of thing with form several steps above slender content by all means see this film . personally i  m not normally one to enjoy films like this on anything but the how sick and twisted do they go level . here i was intrigued enough that i can suggest it to people i know who like really gory movies . . its also a film with enough going on in the details that i want to see it again since now that i know what was going on  as revealed in the end  i want to go back and see what it was i didn  t catch on to . there is an internal logic rare in these films .  br    br    ish out of   for those who like blood and severed limbs  its a zero or more precisely a run and hide alert for everyone else .  
best of the best   is better than   but just barely . basically  i say this because part  doesn  t contradict parts     like  does    ie . their is no reference to tommy lee having siblings  .  br    br   anyway  i liked the russian plot line of the story  and especially sven ole  thorsen  s bit part as boris . aside from that though and a few fighting scenes  the movie is nothing special . the limited budget is also very noticeable  especially in the airplane blow  up scene  .  br    br   also  part  does not really have a moral or say anything like part  did  there are a couple of more better known actors  hudson  thorsen  in part   but alas nothing like the beginning of the series  and even these characters have very small roles  .  br    br   alas  it seems best of the best is the rhee show  and to be truthful  he cannot carry a movie .  br    br   saw on tape  rating   
some may feel that the rating i have just given is a bit generous  but for what this film is i think the directors have done a good job with that they had available to them  this is also a film a film of an acquired taste   br    br   my immediate thought was the direct connection to the classic cult film  the thing  i . e the parasitical aliens from outta space  infesting human host to then reek havoc wherever possible   br    br   you can see how this film pays homage to such a film and others of the horror  gore genre  however cleverly maintains its own originality  well these things fight each other for one and then continue to eat then fallen rival  only killing and picking a human when it needs a new host  to then pick another fight with another infected host  and this film even throws in a love story but i wont say no more otherwise it gives too much away .  br    br   great  but like i said of an acquired taste  so don  t be surprised if you don  t like the film . it is low budget and yes it is blood thirsty  with the creatures  aliens  things morphing their limbs into crude looking weapons  i . e saws  drills  blades and even the odd gun to all but decimate there opponent . i found myself cringing at what i was being shown but at the same time glued to the screen wondering what was going to happen next   br    br   so if you like gore  you like aliens  you like fighting and even maybe a little bit of love thrown in somewhere  then i must recommend this film as a must see . i just wish i came across this earlier then i did   
spoilers i rented  tesis   or  thesis  in english  on the strength of director alejandro amenabar  s later effort  the others  . based on what a brilliantly measured and horrifyingly effective creepfest that film was  i assumed his earlier efforts would be of a similar quality and i was in the mood for some good horror . instead i wound up with the most tedious  preposterous excuse for a lame  brained slasher movie i  ve seen since the german film  anatomie   which this one kinda reminded me of  .  br    br   the plot has potential but it  s thrown away within the first   minutes . it revolves around innocent  n  pretty psychology student angela  s  ana torrent  a jessica harper deadringer  thesis on the subject of violence in films . through some far  fetched circumstances too dumb to go into here  she winds up in possession of a  snuff  tape on which two men torture  mutilate and kill a young girl for the camera . angela  and her horror  buff friend chema  fele martinez  are both shocked yet intrigued by the tape and decide to get to the bottom of who  s responsible for it .  br    br   this leads to . . . well  nothing .  br    br   they never really give a reason for why they want to find the girl  s killers  since they resolutely refuse to contact the police throughout any of the unfolding events  even when their own lives at risk  and the mystery itself is as limp as graham norton in a room full of bunny girls . there is only one proper  clue   the type of camera the killers used is discovered  and that  s a  a really weak one and b  wheeled out in the first   minutes . the rest of the so  called  unravelling  just occurs through blind luck  increasingly ridiculous plot twists and a slew of awful  transparent and thoroughly pointless red herrings that are chucked in merely to pad out the running time .  br    br   seriously  amenabar might know his stuff about ghost stories but he  s clearly never read a detective book in his life . the key to a good whodunnit is to have a large cluster of potential suspects and to eliminate them one by one with clever deduction and the gradual discovery of more and more evidence  before moving in for the final twist . in  tesis   potential spoiler ahead the killer  s identity is guessed correctly by the amateur  detectives  almost instantly and then we get    minutes of the writer trying feebly to throw us off the scent until he runs out of ideas  throws his hands up and says  ok  ya got me  it was him after all   as for any kind of logic or motive behind the crimes  no such luck . you  re watching the wrong movie if that  s what you  re after .  br    br   the only thing that drags  tesis  down further from just being a dumb  badly written thriller is the way it actually tries to make some ludicrous  muddled  up  point  about violence in films . i have no idea what stance it  s attempting to take on the subject but it seems determined to cram in a ton of misguided  confused psychobabble  in between the rest of the gibberish  and say  look at me  i  m political   . the final scenes  in which the  point  of the movie is supposedly hammered home  are so utterly absurd and puerile  one can  t help but wonder if amenabar feels embarrassed now when he watches this . if he doesn  t  he certainly should . this is total  amateur night at the slasher house  stuff .  br    br   overall i can  t believe i wasted two whole hours  it felt like at least six  on this  just hoping something might happen . the urban legend of  snuff films   and that is basically all they are  despite the way this film tries to suggest they  re some kind of criminal phenomenon sweeping the world   is an area that can be so tantalisingly exploited in good horror films   videodrome  anyone   but it  s so easy to step over the line into childlike  wouldn  t it be cool if   territory with it  ie  my little eye   . . .  tesis  hits an all  time low for the  snuff movie  genre . on every level  this one is better left dead and buried . i  ll award it a  out of    for some nice lighting  but that  s all it  s getting .  
why aren  t more films  especially american  more like meatball machine   br    br   this is my first official on  line review and i am charged with  electrical ecstasy  after having chosen  meatball machine  as my first endeavor . this is a review  so i  ll try to stick to mere reflection and gut emotion .  br    br   i mean  this is one creative piece of work even though it is clearly inspired by the now classic tetsuo  so what if it  s not all original  i own both of these films and though tetsuo is one strange son of a bitch  meatball machine is far superior and can be sat through without the strong desire to indulge in a dose of mind altering drugs to clarify film significance . meatball machine is as elaborate in it  s story as it is in its high influx of blood and gore . thank you jesus for japanese cinema   br    br   simply put  the last time my dreams were overrun by visions of horror happened after watching nightmare on elm street when i was  or so . i could picture in my dreams a tongue coming out of a telephone for weeks on end . this time  at    my dreams were pleasantly awe inspiring .  br    br   in this film human bodies are host to aliens whose sole purpose is to try and fulfill their never ending quench for human flesh and blood . humans become flesh eating cyborgs    there  s more    fight scenes   great music   great point  of  view shots  decent acting by the woman cyborg  at least better than her male counterpart  . the fight seen in the end is worth watching ten or twenty times .  br    br   oh  and did i forget to mention it  s a love story  wow  i hate love stories but this takes the cake   br    br   i can  t wait to have friends over to watch this film once more just to see the reaction on their faces . sadly  i took time to write this review because i  m afraid most friends and family wont understand meatball machine . the truth is america as a whole is not prepared for meatball machine .  br    br   lastly  my wife walked in while i was watching the climactic fight scene at the end and she was speechless . normally she says something like  why are you watching that junk   this time she had nothing to say . i was glad   br    br   this is not junk . this isn  t just splatter  splatter for the sake of splatter is also great  . this is art my friends . art .  br    br   chacho  
when i saw the commercial for this  i was all about seeing it . now  forgive me  but it  s been so long since i  ve seen it that i don  t recall how it went . suffice it to say  the movie i saw bore no resemblance to the  movie  they sold me on .  br    br   i was bored  annoyed  and incredibly disappointed by this movie . and if it wasn  t bad enough  they had to sink it even further with that awful reggae music . not exactly mood  setting music for a horror movie  eh mon  i guess if you never saw the commercial  or trailer  i suppose  you may think this is some hot stuff . for my money  the commercial was way better .  
for fans of troma or the cyberpunk genre mixed with a little blood shed then this film for you  there is a good amount of blood shed within the confines of this film  also the effects can be impressionable and awesome . the plot is ridiculous and refreshing  not being chained down to what we as audiences are expectant of from films these days .  br    br   also notable are the little aliens  who i found cute . all in all  it  s a good film for fans of the genre . also recommended are films such as tetsuothe iron man and versus for that weird japanese film approach  filled with wonderful obscurity and bloodshed . of course  seeing this film you should already have knowledge of the two .  
a bunch of kids set up a theatre to have an all  night horror movie marathon . however  as the night goes on  there  s somebody among them killing them off one by one . who is it . . . and why  i saw this in a theatre way back in     . i was looking forward to it   but boy  it did not work at all . the premise is a good one  they have a very appealing young cast and some pros like dee wallace stone on board . . . but it doesn  t work . the story stops making sense halfway through  that could be because of some huge editing before the film was released   the killings are relatively bloodless  how this got an r rating is beyond me  and the unmasking of the killer at the end was boring and stupid .  br    br   it  s really too bad   this movie had potential . with a better script this could have become a great horror film . as it stands though it  s mostly forgotten and the cast itself seems embarrassed by it  i heard stone won  t talk about this one  . i give it a  and that  s just for the cast .  
far richer in texture and character than even the classics from the    s and    s . george c . scott was born to be scrooge  just as he was born to be patton . mr . scott will be known as one of the greatest actors of the   th century . the character of scrooge as played by mr . scott seemed to jump off the screen . scott as scrooge brought an richer  more robust  yet a more deeply moving scrooge to the screen than any of his predecessors in the role of the meanest man in   th century london . mr . scott seemed to bring scrooge to a more personal  understandable yet highly conflicted level his role was acted with the great authority scott always bring to the screen yet his usual bellicose voice would sometimes be brought to a whisper  almost as a soliloquy  as he would berate the christmas holiday in one breath  yet reveal his own human frailty in his next line . he could portray the sour and crusty scrooge  and a misunderstood  sympathetic scrooge all in the same scene .  br    br   truly a remarkable performance by a giant of his generation .  
  happy go lovely  has only two things going for it . and those two things are vera  ellen  s legs . this is a british  excelsior films  version of an m  g  m musical complete with second tier stars . i would imagine that vera  ellen took this role thinking that it might finally propel her to the status of a major musical star . but  i  m sorry to say  ms . ellen  s chance did not pay off .  br    br   opening with a horrible scottish number and stumbling thru awful dialog to the next dull tune  this movie seems very heavy handed and sloppy . the predictable mistaken identity plot is very thin  and with the exception of david niven  cesar romero  who is way over the top in his role of a producer  and bobby howes  who is totally wasted in a nothing role  the rest of the cast is totally forgettable .  br    br   the choreography is boring  but ms . ellen gives it her all . she was never as famous as most of the other musical stars  and she shouldn  t be since she couldn  t sing and even had a  dancing stand in  in several of her pictures  . but when she did dance  it was just entrancing .  br    br   it  s too bad that this film that could have made her a star did not give her the tools she needed to shine .  br    br    out of    
most of the feedback i  ve heard concerning meatball machine has been pretty mixed . a couple even saying that they think  it sucked  . well  to those people i say  get some fckin imagination and go fck yourself . this was a very entertaining flick .  br    br   the story starts with this mechanical bug which attacks and somehow transforms its hosts into these gwar  costume looking  deathbots called necroborgs . eventually you learn that these mechanical bugs also attach a little parasite onto you  which then is able to control your actions due to hot  wiring your nervous system . unfortunately for two love  seeking lonely young adults  they happen to cross paths with the mechanical bug  and before you know it transformations are taking place and blood is being splattered . is there a way to stop the transformation  maybe a way to stop this mechanical bug threat  why do the necroborgs fight one another  do the two desperate singles get to express their feelings for one another and do the nasty  only one way to find out .  br    br   going into meatball machine i was kinda wary due to the mixed reactions  but it turned out being a great surprise . a few unanswered questions  some average acting at times and a slightly confusing ending are the only weak points i can think of . from the anime feel to it  to the parasites becoming little characters themselves and even to the low budget feel  this movie hits the right mark much more than it misses . with a ever  developing story that  s interesting enough to keep oneself asking questions throughout mixed with the cool make  up effects and blood splatter  this is one flick fans of bizarro  horror  tetsuo  splatter fans should check out .  outta    
the only reason to see this movie is for a brilliant performance by thom  adcox hernandez who is underused in the movie within the movie . as usual tom villard is good  too . otherwise it  s cp . the possesor doesn  t even exist how does he magically change the letters on the theatre marquee to spell out  the possessor   lame .  
wow baby  this is indeed some fine asian horror  gore  and a crazy outlandish movie . this is a japanese splatterfest that reminded me a little of tetsuo  except in this case with all the blood and guts  there is a bizarre love story . it  s hard to imagine how they even dreamed up this visually stunning movie  with some unique alien creatures that infect humans as parasites  turning them into part machine or i guess cyborgs . the only thing wrong with these creatures after they take over a human  is they need to kill each other and eat the other . hmmm  yum yum . this would probably be called industrial splatter or something like that  with a superb soundtrack to add to all the fun . the movie also borrows a little from carpenter  s  the thing  in creature design and effects . i would put this in the must  have category for gorehounds  as there is non  stop carnage and some very fine gore . and a must  have for stoners  because you don  t even need to read the sub  titles  the visual images alone are enough of a mind trip . the design of the little creatures that inhabit the human body like a fetus reminded me a little of frank henenlotter  s movies  which is another homage to some excellent gore films with a sense of humour .  meatball machine  is great fun for gorehounds  there is no doubt about it  and i simply loved it .  
i suppose many people comment  review their first movie on imdb because the movie was spectacular or horrible   i  m writing due to the latter .  br    br   i was excited for the sequel to  wargames  . . i thought the original was quite good considering its time period and content  i felt it was worth watching more than once . this being      i had high hopes for what they would do with this film . computers  gaming  terror  military over  zealousness have all grown so much since the time of the first film  and  wargames the dead code  had an opportunity to bring it all into a great flick .  br    br   the movie failed on pretty much every level  but i particularly blame the writers and anyone who had any input regarding the realism of gaming aspects .  the dead code  was a      s air flight simulator with a few people on the ground waving their arms . meanwhile  will farmer is button mashing about      commands   none of which are impacting what is happening on the screen . until finally he  wins  by clicking a box on the screen with his mouse that release gas that instantly kills       virtual people  nobody is near the gas  . because he beat  levels in   minutes  this tells ripley  the real life war machine  that he is a high level terror threat .  br    br   even though any     year old could complete this same task  the government believes he is a lethal threat to humanity . they say things like  he has expert knowledge of bio  terror  . . . he displayed less knowledge than someone who read the first  paragraphs of the wiki entry on bio  terror . so then a movie  long chase scene with about .    of the budget and excitement of any of the bourne titles ensues . they have about     opportunities to catch him and clear up the entire matter . . sometimes they are mad they barely miss him . . but other times they masterfully create opportunities just let him go intentionally to follow him .  br    br   ugh . . . i would write more . . but i already wasted  .  hours watching this  i would rather watch the broderick and joshua play tic  tac  toe for  .  hours .  
don  t be fooled by the silly title folks  this is one sweet ride  a true successor to tetsuo the iron man and ichi the killer  this gem starts with a bang and lays the gore on thick until the credits roll . it seems that aliens are taking over people  s bodies and modifying them into war  machines  which are then used to fight each other in a twisted game for the amusement of their species . the winner of the battle eats the loser alive . that  s mostly it for plot  but who cares when the gore is this good  i have no idea how many buckets of slime were used  but it  s disgusting to behold . there is interesting and effective use of stop  motion when the takeovers are in progress  and loving care is lavished on all of the creature and make  up effects . the cgi is a bit limited  but that actually doesn  t detract from the overall quality one bit  at least for me . this was truly a fun and stomach  turning film that deserves much praise  and has truly earned its place in the stack of cult classics . find it and watch  you won  t be disappointed   
i don  t know what else to say about this horrible movie that hasn  t already been said . honestly i have only myself to be angry with . i should have know better when i saw the title of this movie that it would be a horrible piece of crap  but i loved war games so i indulged my whim . i will live to regret that decision the rest of my life . from the very start when the government people explained that their super computer could determine who a terrorist was just by how well they played a video game i knew i was in for a ride though the land  that  good  writing  forgot . the list of very  very  very bad plot lines  dialog  and acting is so long i would crash imdb if i tried to post it . to those people who said that they have seen worst movies than this one please tell me . i am actually curious to see something that could top this steaming pile of horse dung .  
the japanese cyber  punk films have never really done a whole lot for me  but of the handful that i  ve seen  most have been at least visually interesting and at least mostly entertaining . meatball machine is no exception .  br    br   the storyline is about a species of parasites that take over human hosts  takes control of their bodies  turns them into  necroborgs   and causes them to fight each other with the sole purpose of eating each other  apparently as a  game  for the enjoyment of said parasites . the film mainly revolves around a shy guy and gal who fall for each other  but whose love  affair is cut short by both being infected with the parasites  and are forced to fight each other . it becomes a test of human  will vs . the parasite  s control over their physical bodies . . .  br    br   meatball machine will invariably be compared to tetsuo  as most cyber  punk films are   and for good reason . there are definitely some thematic parallels  though the films are definitely different . there  s plenty of fun  splattery moments in meatball machine  and the creature  borg fx are definitely the high  point  a mixture of tetsuo  meets  gwar that are both elaborate and inventive . depending on your taste for these types of films  meatball machine may or may not be your thing . if you enjoy hyper  kinetic cyber  punk films with a healthy dose of splatter  this one  s for you . . .      
let  s face it   if you rented a stdvd sequel of a forgotten    s gem  and expected it to be better than the aforementioned  then you are an idiot . wargames the dead code joins the long running list of unnecessary sequels that the dvd market has filled so easily . movies like this don  t need spoilers  because you already know them .  br    br   the  plot  for this  film   is as follows nerd meets girl girl likes nerd nerd likes girl nerd gets accidentally involved with top secret government computer nerd and girl go to another country nerd and girl end up being persecuted by government suits in the other country nerd and girl meet some important old guy that dies at key point in the  film   nerd and girl are captured the top secret government computer gets crazy nerd is hired to beat top secret government computer nerd beats top secret computer by using the same old top secret computer from the first wargames  film   nerd saves the day nerd gets laid .  br    br   the end .  br    br   the acting  script  effects  score  and cinematography are what you would expect   b  grade . some familiar faces are in here  and unless you are a mega fan of colm feore  then you should avoid this one . granted  the movie won  t make you insane enough to eat your own toes by seeing it  so if you like cheap looking stdvd sequels  then you are right at home .  br    br   sadly  mathew broderick was too involved with some  masterpiece   that he couldn  t even do a five second cameo in this one . but can you blame him   
meatball machine is an amazing splatter film  it has an original plot with young love  buckets of blood  and weird alien creatures that mutate people into freakish robotic war machines .  br    br   now the film isn  t for everyone  people who love splatter films or the movie tetsuo the iron man will applaud it .  br    br   the special effects can be cheesy at some points of the film  but your not exactly suppose to take the film very seriously .  br    br   yet  all in all it  s a lot of fun  well if you find budding romantics infested with slimy tumor like gobbles who seek to destroy each other in bloody alien oozing battles .  
i didn  t enjoy this film . i thought the acting wasn  t very good and the story was boring . a   year old computer saving the day  i thought that this was just slightly far fetched  even for a film . i couldn  t figure out why they couldn  t just turn it off  why not take a sledgehammer to it .  br    br   its a shame  but after the original film from the   s you expected so much more than what was actually delivered . this film could have been a   st century version of the old film  it wasn  t . if that is what you want to watch  do not watch this film   br    br   even if the old computer hadn  t have turned up to save day  this would still  in my opinion  be a very very cheesy flick . .  
i don  t know whether to recommend this movie to the fans of  tetsuo  or not . why  tetsuo   because you can easily label some things about this movie as a very obvious  tetsuo  rip  off . the concept is similar  editing is equally frantic and fast  which is good because  aside from making the movie more dynamic  it obscures some flaws caused by low budget and other factors .  br    br   there is lot more gore  less eroticism and  in the case of  meatball machine   the transformation of human being into a creature that  s partially a machine  sounds familiar   called  necroborg   very original  is caused by slimy little aliens .  br    br   these slimy little scums from outer space actually use human beings as vessels for their gladiator games that they play with each other . they infest the body  somehow manage to put an insane amount of mechanical parts in it pulling them seemingly out of nowhere and turn it into a killing machine that targets other necroborgs . their aim is to defeat another alien who is in another necroborg  rip it out of the corpse and eat it .  br    br   all in all  the plot sounds somewhat silly and i didn  t expect much  but at the end i actually enjoyed this film .  br    br   as i said before  this is a low budget flick  but it  s still relatively decent . don  t expect much from actors  they  re mostly not very good  but it can be tolerated . i liked the atmosphere and gore  certain bizarre situations and the way the movie is directed and edited . although the story is not too original  it possesses certain charm  to me at least .  br    br    out of   .  
will farmer  lanter  plays a computer game that simulates a terrorist attack  and ripley  the super government computer  designed to profile potential terrorists  tracks him because will borrowed  by hacking  some money from his next door neighbor  s bank account to pay for a class trip to play chess in philadelphia . the next door neighbor whose computer will was fixing  has relatives in the mid  east who thru their bank send money to the neighbor  s bank  and ripley sees a terrorist connection . ripley has the power to call up missile strikes . oh  oh   br    br   this version of war games has a much faster pace and more aggressiveness than the war games movie in the early     s . well  the electronic industry has so much more to work with these days . makes sense . so the movie dazzles us with fantastic cgi on computer screens  and once joshua  the forerunner to ripley  is found operational  we are left with watching computer against computer and the humans are cringing  hoping  praying . sort of  oh  oh  ing  omg  ing  and more cringing hoping things will go their way . in other words we are now experiencing a made  for  tv type movie  and it  s oh hum time . go back to the     s and watch the original war games movie . it  s much better .  br    br   but  we really have to ask ourselves are we making computers too intelligent where one day  in time  they will rule us  hmmm . .  br    br   violence yes . sex no . nudity no . language no .  
directed by the duo yudai yamaguchi  battlefield baseball  and jun  ichi yamamoto  meatball machine  is apparently a remake of yamamoto  s     movie with the same name . i doubt i  ll ever get a chance to see the original so i  ll just stick commenting on this one . first of what is  meatball machine   a simple in noway pretentious low budget industrial splatter flick packed with great make up effects and gore . it  s not something you  ll end up writing books about but it  s nevertheless entertaining if you dig this type of cinema .  br    br    meatball machine  follows the well known plot . boy loves girl but is too afraid to ask her on a date . boy finally meets girl . girl gets infected by a parasitic alien creature that turns her into a homicidal cyborg . boy  in turn does also transform into said thing  and goes on a quest to save his love . will he succeed  who gives a damn  as long as there is carnage and death i  m satisfied .  br    br   the plot is simple  relatively clichd but it does it  s job well enough setting the movie  s course straight forward into a bloody confrontation between the two leading characters . there is a subplot focusing on how the parasite that infected the girl came into to their lives . and yes it too luckily shows more violence . i  m happy . acting is what you would expect from a no budget splatter film . it  s not exactly painful for the ears but it  s not exactly good either .  br    br   the movie  s main attraction besides the violence and gore  like i haven  t mentioned that enough already  are the cyborg designs . done by keita amemiya who  s work in creating outlandish creatures and costumes for both movies and video  games is well known . the necroborgs as they are called in  meatball machine  look stunningly detailed . without the usage of cgi amemiya  s designs are a breathtaking fusion of flesh and metal  painfully awesome in their appearance . able to transforms various parts of the body into cool weaponry such as saws  rocket launchers  blood  firing shotguns and so on and so on . though you can easily recognize the cheapness of the film  necroborgs are a  movie class .  br    br    meatball machine  is  tetsuo the iron man  mixed up with  alien  all done in low budget and extra ketchup mode . it  s an immensely entertaining film that disregards modern special effects and proves that the splatter genre is still alive and kicking .  
if you thought that the original from   was bad then try out this modern day masterpiece . how could it be worse more you ask  well . . . at least in the first one you had ally sheedy jogging in a sports bra . other than updated graphics  modern day themes  such as terrorists   modern weapons and a sexy new voice for ripley unfortunately this is the same sad tired story . anyone that saw the first one could see exactly where the next scene  line in the story was going . and for anyone that didn  t see the first one . . . well consider yourself lucky that you only watched it once . maybe in another   years hollywood will try again .  
this movie is the first time movie experience for several people in the cast . all of them are experienced actors and have played in several tv series and plays . sahan gokbakar is a well known comedian in turkey . it  s kind of strange to see him in a thriller  while he is at the peak of his comedy career in turkey . this movie is togan gokbakar  s first long shot and pretty much the first experience as a director . but they all did a good job . we are happy to see such enthusiastic young cast . they seem very promising for the future of the turkish film industry . doga rutkay being long time sweetheart of sahan gokbakar  is also a talented actress  who is known for her recent play in  number    theatrical play and several tv series .  
a below average looking video game is turned into some sort of conspiracy to have the next terrorist discovered in the usa backyard . welcome to the lunacy of cheaply made direct to video movies . its full of no  name actors and actresses with little valuable plot .  br    br   anyway  this strange game goes on and our  hero  bets real money and does good at it . it is sort of like gambling  except the gambling part is gone and it sucks . instead its an online game with little real value and you get authorities on your tail if you do good .  br    br   what makes it even stranger is that two strange computer programs battle it out somehow and all is saved in the end . i will leave the viewer to see how it all comes to fruition .  br    br   overall  not even worth a   rental . borrow it  please .  d    
it is an excellent thriller from turkey which can make sense . great job from gokbakar brothers .  br    br   first of all  i want to point on screen play . generally screen play in most films from turkey is not enough  but gen has the best shots to be said  perfect  . and also transition parts are really excellent .  br    br   on the other hand   gen  has a great topic that influence everyone . especially  a woman  who wants to be a psyciatrist in a sanitarium  has a mother that is a habitual insanity . principal causes and psychological consequences are given in gen . the only thing you have to do is to combine all the hints .  br    br   there is an impressive aggression part doga rutkay and sahan gokbakar played . this performance may be more realistic than  irrversible  monica bellucci   .  br    br   the last thing i want to say is  watch this movie  you  ll get confused   
i can  t believe i watched this expecting more . it starts out ok . this movie pushes the limits of reality way to far   at least the first one was somewhat realistic . it rips off the first movie and even mentions the joshua project . anyone who knows anything about computers will hate this movie . it does have one good message in it though  watch out for big brother    the movie just makes it seem like big brother is way bigger than he actually is in reality . that was very aggravating . even the make  up on the actors was completely bad . some of the acting is pretty good . some of the acting is really bad though . the script was ok at some points and completely messed up at other parts . this movie plays on convenience about every five minutes . like i said  i can  t believe i watched it expecting more . i think i am gonna pop in the original to get back to earth . . . q  
a young  only    director with great talent  a powerful scenario  young and ambitious cast with all theatrical background . . .  br    br   one of the first tries of a thriller in turkish cinema  which seems in the future we  ll have some more based on the success . . .  br    br   shot on high definition video  the movie is perhaps effected on world thrillers  especially the american thrillers . the technical and cinematographic character is quite well done  the scenes are all well worked on . not too much blood but sufficient enough to make you think you  re in a blood bath too . . .  br    br   the scenario is quite wise but with certain clues  a clever audience can easily predict what  s going on and at the end when everything settles down you  re getting somehow weird to conclude the result .  br    br   well done tiglon  one of the biggest dvd distributors in turkey  it is not easy to decide for such a movie in their first try as a production company . . .  
i wondered why john wood was not playing dr . falken until i watched the film . bad plot  bad science  bad acting and overall a bad film . please don  t watch this film . rent the original  war games  if you are feeling nostalgic .  br    br   i didn  t like the bending of the plot to beat  the  terrorist  threat idea either . in the first film w . o . p . r was built because russia had     s of warheads pointed at the u . s . a . in this film the idea behind the computer was to kill terrorist in training before they are a threat . politics aside  one of the good thing about the first film was the highlighting that even a stupid computer could grasp the idea of the pointlessness of war in the end . no such insight is offered in this film .  
this     version of the dickens  classic a christmas carol   directed by clive donner  stars george c . scott as ebenezer scrooge . by this time around  the challenge for the filmmaker was to take such familiar material and make it seem fresh and new again and  happily to say  with this film donner not only met the challenge but surpassed any expectations anyone might have had for it . he tells the story with precision and an eye to detail  and extracts performances from his actors that are nothing less than superlative  especially scott . one could argue that the definitive portrayal of scrooge   one of the best known characters in literary fiction  ever   was created by alastair sim in the     film but i think with his performance here  scott has now achieved that distinction . there is such a purity and honesty in his scrooge that it becomes difficult to even consider anyone else in the role once you  ve seen scott do it simply put  he is scrooge . and what a tribute it is to such a gifted actor to be able to take such a well known figure and make it so uniquely his own is quite miraculous . it is truly a joy to see an actor ply his trade so well  to be able to make a character so real  from every word he utters down to the finest expression of his face  and to make it all ring so true . it  s a study in perfection .  br    br   the other members of the cast are splendid as well  but then again they have to be in order to maintain the integrity of scott  s performance and they do . frank finlay is the ghost of jacob marley a notable turn  though not as memorable  perhaps  as the one by alec guinness  as marley  in the film  scrooge .  angela pleasence is a welcome visage as the spirit of christmas past edward woodward  grand and boisterous  and altogether convincing as the spirit of christmas present and michael carter  grim and menacing as the spirit of christmas yet to come .  br    br   david warner hits just the right mark with his bob cratchit  bringing a sincerity to the role that measures up well to the standard of quality set by scott  s scrooge  and susannah york fares just as well as mrs . cratchit . the real gem to be found here  though  is the performance of young anthony walters as tiny tim it  s heartfelt without ever becoming maudlin  and simply one of the best interpretations   and the most real   ever presented on film .  br    br   the excellent supporting cast includes roger rees  fred holywell  and also the narrator of the film   caroline langrishe  janet holywell   lucy gutteridge  belle   michael gough  mr . poole  and joanne whalley  fan  . a flawless presentation  this version of a christmas carol  sets the standard against which all others must be gauged no matter how many versions you may have seen  watching this one is like seeing it for the first time ever . and forever after  whenever you think of scrooge  the image your mind will conjure up will be that of george c . scott . a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying experience  this film demands a place in the annual schedule of the holiday festivities of every home . i rate this one      .  
the oddly  named vera  ellen was to movie dancing what sonja henie was to movie ice  skating blonde  girlish  always delightful to watch  but not an especially good actress and usually lumbered with weak material . when i watch vera  ellen  s sexy apache dance with gene kelly in  words and music   i can  t help noticing that her blouse  yellow with narrow red horizontal stripes  seems to be made out of the south vietnam flag . for some reason  the very american vera  ellen starred in two musicals  made several years apart  set in edinburgh  a city not noted for its tap  dancers  let  s be happy  and  happy go lovely  .  br    br   in the latter  cesar romero plays an american impresario who for some reason is staging a musical in edinburgh . there  s a vague attempt to link this show to the edinburgh festival  which is nonsense the festival is not a showcase for splashy leg  shows . we also see a couple of stock shots of the royal mile apart from a few highland accents  there  s absolutely no attempt to convey scottish atmosphere in this movie . the funniest gag occurs at the very beginning  when we learn that the title of romero  s show is  frolics to you   this is a cheeky pun that britons will get and yanks won  t .  br    br   vera  ellen is  as usual  cute and appealing and an impressive dancer  but the very few musical numbers in this movie are boring and bad . the plot   mistaken identity between magnate david niven and reporter gordon jackson   is brainless  though no more so than the plots of several dozen hollywood musicals . romero is less annoying than usual here  probably because  for once  he isn  t required to convince us that he  s interested in bedding the heroine .  br    br   the single biggest offence of this movie is its misuse of bobby howes . the father of sally ann howes was a major star of west end stage musicals his wistful rendition of  she  s my lovely  was a big hit in britain in     . here  he shows up in several scenes as romero  s dogsbody but never has a chance to participate in a musical number  nor even any real comedy . it  s absolutely criminal that this movie   with a title containing the word  lovely   sure to evoke howes  s greatest hit   would cast a major british musical star but give him nothing to do   br    br   the delightful character actress ambrosine phillpotts  whom i worked with once  shines in one restaurant sequence  and there  s a glimpse of the doomed beauty kay kendall . as vera  ellen  s confidante  somebody named diane hart speaks in one of the most annoying voices i  ve ever heard it sounds like an attempt to imitate joan greenwood and glynis johns both at the same go  but doesn  t match either . val guest has a story credit  but this movie doesn  t come up to the quality of his brilliant comedies . the colour photography is wretched  though i realise that postwar britain could not afford hollywood  s process work .  happy go lovely  is at utmost best a pleasant time  waster  with  waster  being the operative word . i  ll rate this movie just  out of   .  
despite of the success in comedy or drama  the turkish directors are failure in horror  thriller .  okul  dbbe  are good examples for the awful horror turkish films .  br    br   but if you watch  gen  you will understand that it is a strike . the atmosphere of the movie is impressive and dark . also the special features are colorful and not cheap . the soundtracks fit the movie  but the script is not totally perfect and the theme of the movie is ordinary .  br    br   as a result  gen  does not add any difference to horror movies  but it does not disappoint thriller fans . in this respect it is a success for yesilcam and turkey .        
after highlander   which i am still in denial about   i thought is was impossible to make a sequel that could make me cry because it was so bad . i was wrong . i loved the original wargames  however  this movie is inaccurate with computer details and details about the original movie . the original wargames at least had some hacks that worked . whoever wrote this movie knew nothing about computers except how to use a word processor . i doubt he or she even watched the original movie . the acting isn  t even convincing . please save yourselves  under no circumstances watch this movie . i don  t care if the channel is stuck on the tv and you can  t turn the tv off . this movie will ruin your life .  
i must say  i was surprised with the quality of the movie . it was far better than i expected . scenario and acting is quite good . the director made a good job as well . although some scenes look a bit clumsy  it is a decent movie overall . the idea was definitely brilliant and the truth did not reveal itself till the very end . the mental hospital atmosphere was given quite good . the plot was clear  consistent and well thought . some people may find it a bit boring though since the story line is very focused and they take their time for character and story development . moral of the story  it is a decent movie for its genre and it is astonishingly good .  
this is one of the worse movies that i have ever seen in my entire life . i wish i could travel back in time and do the following  br    br     find out where the  movie   war games  the dead code  was filmed   watch the original war games with my current computer knowledge and the eyes of a     preteen .   break into the pentagon computer in the    s with the knowledge and perspective learned and remembered .   reprogram the whopper to nuke the location of the dead code minutes prior to its first day of filming   come back to the present  have a beer and get will smith and tommy lee jones to  flash  my memory blank of the whole event  especially my original viewing of  the dead code    have another beer and watch wars games   be happy until the next bad remake of a good    s movie .  br    br     did i forget the have jar jar killed . i am not sure if i would have to travel into the future for that . maybe i need access to a wormhole .  
a real classic . a shipload of sailors trying to get to the towns daughters while their fathers go to extremes to deter the sailors attempts . a maidens cry for aid results in the dispatch of the  rape squad  . a cult film waiting to happen   
just plain good old stupid .  br    br   i mean really stupid  not the good stupid like killer tomatoes  or ed wood movies  this is probably the most stupid movie i ever have seen . to give this movie an golden turkey is an insult to turkeys . to call this movie dumb is offensive even to dumb people .  br    br   if this is the future of american cinema and art we are better off to really start world war  and  at the same time and let the cockroaches run the show after .  br    br   now i have to get drunk to wash this insult to my single braincell off . . . .  br    br   this is a really good movie if you are suicidal .  
i agree with the other comments . i saw this movie years ago . christopher plummer is hilarious as a dandy . the ribaldry is unsurpassed . if this comes out on video  i will definitely buy it .  
no wonder this was released straight to dvd here in australia  no redeeming features what so ever . the dialog was hokey  the acting  awful and the script sucked   whoever thought it would be a good idea to do a sequel or follow up to the far superior john badham film  wargames from the   s  well they must of been on something cause it was a bad idea   amanda walsh was good in it as the eye candy  love interest  while matt lanter was good as the other main lead  that is about it . i would not recommend wargames the dead code to anyone  check out hackers or the original wargames film  both are better than this piece of crap    
lock up your daughters is one of the best high  spirited comedies i have ever seen .  br    br   it is misunderstood since it lacks the  social commentary  values that many films of the day       required to be successful .  br    br   the characters are over  the  top satires of everyday people and played to that purpose by all of the actors .  br    br   christopher plummer shines especially bright as lord foppington  a noble with hair too big to fit in the door .  br    br   the plot involves the usual   th century stuff mistaken identities  thwarted romances  corrupt government officials  and jokes at every turn .  br    br   it answers the questions what happens when  rambunctious  eager to party sailors are on leave in a small british coastal town  and  who do they get involved with and how does it all turn out   br    br   despite doing poorly at the box office  it has great costumes  excellent music  based on the mermaid theatre musical of the same name   great  lively acting and sets that are obviously authentic .  br    br   that it has never been released on either vhs or dvd is truly a shame  since so many bad movies are released every day .  
this is the worst  and i mean the worst computers based movie i have ever seen . the whole plot is totally unconvincing and full of stupidity .  br    br   i mean . . .  br    br   the guy in this movie can actually speak with computer as a real person . now you probably think this must be some super cool high  tech computer  well  it is  but he does it also with other very poor and weak computer which does not even have graphic interface .  br    br   and the main idea how to overload the  super  computer by connecting to it via computer game on the net is really stupid . my mobile phone will shut the lighting down to preserve the energy but apparently this genius computer cant decide whether to use its resources to deal with national security threats or to load computer games .  br    br   there are also some other bad things about it but i just don  t have time for this .  br    br   i just cant believe someone could actually record movie stupid as this  
i saw this film   years ago on tnt . it was susanah york  s birthday and they were showing this film as a double feature with tom jones       . i have not seen this film on tv since . i took interest in seeing this film because one of the stars is the very funny and talented jim dale  as lusty the sailor . i believe that dale now does the narration of the harry potter books on casette  but anyway he is quite funny . this is a fast paced comedy . it is not on vhs or dvd . columbia pictures should go through their film collection  and consider restoring and releasing this film to dvd . christopher plummer is hilarious as lord fopington  ian bannen is also quite humorous as ramble the sailor . this is a bawdy comedy  the kind of film one no longer sees  with great production values .     stars out of   
you have to understand  when wargames was released in      it created a generation of wannabe computer hackers . the idea that a teenager could do anything of far reaching proportions  let alone deter a world war was novel and thrilling . real computers were beginning to show up in people  s homes  and for the first time  society was becoming interconnected in a way that made the movie  s premise excitingly prescient . granted  a talking computer that balanced it  s free time between chess and global thermonuclear war was a bit far fetched  but the brilliant commentary on nuclear proliferation and the cold war made up for it . i  ve probably even heard of the hackers that this movie was actually based on .  br    br   fast forward   years  and we have a horrible mutant of a thing that i loathe to call a  sequel   called wargames the dead code . i  ll just dig right in . first of all  the plot hinges on a government operated gambling site where folks who win the games automatically become terror suspects . you  re probably very confused right now . the idea is that eventually the terrorist will click on the sub  game within the web site called  the dead code  where they pilot a plane over a city  spraying it with bioweapons . at some point in the game  you have to choose between  sarin gas  and  anthrax   and if you choose  sarin   then you  re automatically confirmed as a bioterrorism weapons expert and your family is taken into custody and interrogated . in the movie  this actually happens . however  since the payment for the game was made from a bank account that was suspicious  it obviously all makes sense .  br    br   second  the avatar of the ai in this straight  to  dvd bomb is an annoying flash animation that keeps repeating the pop  up  ad  esquire sound bite  play with me baby  . because apparently in the future  advanced ai loses interest in intellectual pursuits like chess  and gets into porn .  br    br   third  the motivation for these  hackers  is profit and women  as opposed to pure curiosity as in the original movie . for some reason  recent hacker movies feel the need to portray all young adults as average surfer dude kind of people who are just like everyone else . that may work for your average sitcom  but c  mon  you don  t learn how to take over government computers by doing your hair  playing sports  and shopping at the mall  folks . the one novel thing i noticed was that at some point in the dialogue there is a reference to a matt damon movie  and then later there is the phrase   good hunting  will  . i swear  they named the main character will just for that phrase so they could send a high five to mr . damon . this will kid isn  t bad  but he was certainly wasn  t like any obsessive hacker i  ve ever met . i can  t fully state how annoyed i am that this movie shares the same name as the original  because it has absolutely nothing in common with it except professor falken and joshua  wopr  make a reappearance in this movie  as a limp old man who apparently is dying of boredom  and a dilapidated old tic  tac  toe machine with a higher pitched voice . after some prodding  joshua  the ai  has what appears to be sex with the new ai with the porn voice  a bunch of board games flash on the big screens  and the whole  the only way to win  is not to play  revelation is supposed to be the crowning moment . except that those of us who saw the original  you know  those who would want to see this in the first place have already been there and done that . a recycled ending for a movie made from last month  s compost .  br    br   the new movie was directed by a guy who  s done       and written by guys who do b movies . the original was directed by a guy who  s been keeping himself busy with  heroes   so you see the quality difference there . there was talk of a real remake  but i hope they don  t destroy this classic all over again . i swear  if i have to  i  ll visit every gambling web site until i find the one that  s run by a psychotic government computer . the saving grace is that i was able to stream this on netflix  so at least the only energy i expended watching this disaster was for breathing  clicking  and indigestion .  
when our local tv station first launched  it filled a lot of its schedule with old british programming .  lock up your daughters   was duly aired  and i   swayed by the opening few seconds of the film   popped in a blank tape . best thing i ever did .  br    br   the actors are beautifully suited to their characters and bring them to delightful life  complete with appropriate accents  christopher plummer  s foppington will leave you in stitches  as will hoyden and her family  . double entendres abound  plot  line wheels within wheels mix and match the characters  hilarious sight gags lurk in every scene  and risqu comments are made on a regular basis .  br    br   i showed the film to friends a few years ago and they called the piece  a lost treasure   as much for the cast as for the story . to this day i can crack up just thinking about the dialog . should this gem ever find its way to a dvd release  i  ll be at the front of the line .  
this movie is mostly chase scenes and special effects . it is very weak on plot . most of the computer talk was just mumbo  jumbo . i watched this because i was a big fan of the original war games movie which was based mostly on computer fact and real computer terminology . this movie had none of that . most of the computer scenes were not only impossible and highly unrealistic of real computers and networks  but just lame . it is like it was written by somebody who has no comprehension of real computers .  br    br   the ripley game was lame and was essentially just an arcade game . no real hacking  so what was the point  movie was boring . lame sequel .  
i love this anime  i was laughing my head off with all of the jokes and the violence  mostly from akane ranma  s reluctant but short tempered  fiancee   is so slapstick however ranma does deserve it but he does try his best to make amends . . . clumsily . the main character ranma goes to china to train only to fall into the cursed jusenkkyo spring and turns into a girl when splashed by cold water . from then on it  s pure chaos one after another . among the stand outs are the deranged brother and sister duo of kuno and kodachi  the sexy shampoo  the pervert happosai all causing trouble for our hero  heroine . however it is ranma  s selfish father genma who winds up being the culprit for the mess most of the time . if anyone want an anime that  s funny  this is the one . it  s cuter and better with the japanese dub .  
i really didn  t have high expectations and i must admit that i wasn  t disappointed . this movie is so terrible that i felt obligated to register an account here at imdb just to warn others not to waste their time . the storyline is terrible and you keep asking yourself throughout the movie  can it get any worse   yes  it can  somehow they manage to make it worst by every minute and you end up thinking  i want my  hour   minutes back   . somebody got to pay for this   br    br   i dare you to find a movie which is worst that this . . .  br    br   i really didn  t have high expectations and i must admit that i wasn  t disappointed . this movie is so terrible that i felt obligated to register an account here at imdb just to warn others not to waste their time . the storyline is terrible and you keep asking yourself throughout the movie  can it get any worse   yes  it can  somehow they manage to make it worst by every minute and you end up thinking  i want my  hour   minutes back   . somebody got to pay for this   br    br   i dare you to find a movie which is worst that this . . .  
so i consider myself pretty big into the anime scene  with very few shows i simply will not watch .  br    br   this show  however  i would recommend to anyone .  br    br   quite possibly the most original series to date  its got just about everything i could ask for . a side story  so to speak  about an unconditional love that will not be admitted to  a very blatant comedy  and a very well put together voice acting cast  both japanese and american translation  .  br    br   if not for the terribly funny aspect to it  it would be  just another anime .  br    br   more or less  as i have noticed  a  love it or hate it   very few people i have seen introduced to this series will end up with a distaste for it .  br    br   original to the core  with everything you could ask for in an afternoon  bet the house on this series . i  m ready to assure you that you will enjoy it .  
i thought this was a sequel of some sorts  and it is meant to be to the original from     . but a sequel is not taking the original plot and destroying it .  br    br   i actually had very little expectations to this movie  but i just wasted   minutes of life . no suspense  i actually feel clairvoyant  poor acting  and so filled with technical errors  so i as a computer geek just couldn  t believe it . they have tried to make it a mix between a generic war movie and   hours . but this is not even worthy of a low budget tv movie .  br    br   do not see this movie  this is a complete waste of time . instead get the original . the theme is still valid . don  t let to much power into a machine . and the acting and plot is far more exiting and compelling .  
wow . . . i mean wow this has got to be one of the best story  s i  ve ever had the chance to read  watch . we all know this famous story . two martial artist  a man and his son  go to train in the forbidden cursed springs and while ignoring their warnings they both fall in a spring each . the dad  genma  the spring of drowned panda . and   year old ranma  the spring of drowned girl . now with every splash of cold water they turn into the very being titled to the spring they landed in . crazy enough yet  no  thats just the beginning . as if being one of the strongest teenagers to ever exist who turns into a female wasn  t enough  ranma has to deal with crazed martial arts teachers and hundreds of insane art styles  an insane high school principle  opponents right and left who have a score to settle with ranma wither it be for messing up their life early on somehow or for  stealling  their loved ones . and speaking of loved ones  i  ve lost track of how many times a boy or a girl has fallen in love with ranma . and not once has it been his fiance  akane . and thats just from the first few chapters  episodes of the series .  br    br   the story itself is amazing . i have never come across something so crazy  so bizarre  so . . . so . . . out of this world and yet its so down to earth and believable . . . i can  t even describe it to its fullest . its just a charming story thats so easy to get into . what i like about it is the humor . not once have i laughed out loud this much from a manga  and it doesn  t have to try any of the stunts you would catch in simpson  s or something of the sort . i could read any part of the comic and i would be laughing from beginning to end . another thing is the characters . ranma  you would think making him too strong would be a set back but nooo . . . with every little problem the story throws at him he  s doing his best just to survive half the time and his personality is that of a foolish young boy it would seem but when worst comes to worst he can be a calculating genius . and to think  of the hundreds of perverts in the show  ranma who hates the idea of perverts all together is considered by everyone in his town  more so by akane  the worst pervert to ever live . his father genma  you would think the father character would blend in to the background right  correct  but whenever he does have some spotlight . . . he just gives you more reasons to hate him yet at the same love him  you think you know the worst dad ever from an anime  you haven  t met genma . ryoga  probably one of ranma  s greatest rivals and my favorite character  next to ranma  . . . and probably one of the only people he can actually stand . most likely the strongest character in the series but has two faults  one is his curse that turns him into a baby pig but his worst fault . . . is his lack of sense in direction  then we have . . . you know  i could spend hours at the computer explaining all the characters  the story  s  everything positive about it but that would be just pointless .  br    br   check out the series if you haven  t  now  you will not regret it  though i would advise checking the comic out first . i like the anime  but i  ve had some trouble getting the series at a good price . and a small nitpick  the humor doesn  t seem to translate to the anime as well as the manga . i think partly because the comic seems more cartoonish to me . but either way  its a win win    out of     
i  ll try to use words to describe this on . . . .  br    br   i saw the original  which was good in its own way  but back then i should have feared a sequel .  br    br   and i was  afraid  when i picked this one up  but now that i  ve seen it  i have to say  it  s even worse then i thought . why these movies still get money still makes my mind spin .  br    br   let  s start with the actorsthey aren  t all that good  but it has to be said  some make heads turn by being just plain awful . but what can an actor do with a script like this one . it  s trying to be a copy of the original only this time the places have changed  any form of story is gone and any attempt of actually coming up with something that hasn  t been done before  fails miserably . in a futile attempt to get it up  to  date  they try to make it exciting by making use of the whole  big  brother  theme  but that has been worn out ages ago and offers nothing but a filler for between the beginning and the end . an attempt was made to try to save the movie by making a ton of references to the    original  but it just ended up being plain funny and sometimes a bit sad . in conclusion  if you have nothing  and i mean nothing  to do . . . go watch it  or play frisbee . . . with the dvd . . . . by yourself . it  ll offer you the same amount of fun . . i promise  
this movie is a very realistic view of a police squad in a small german town as seen through the eyes of a woman recruit . she brings her way of dealing with the law  which means more than simple convictions . the strong performance of the main character  supported by good dialogues makes this flick very enjoyable .  
i don  t think any player in hollywood history lasted as long as david niven did given most of the weak films he had to carry by dint of his incredible charm . he could act  got an oscar for it  but most of the material he did was as light as one ply of two ply tissue paper .  br    br   happy go lovely is a case in point . it  s a musical and for the most part you  ll remember vera  ellen  s dancing . you  ll remember that they are in scot  s costume as the film is set in edinburgh during their festival . but if you can recall a single song from it you must have a photographic memory .  br    br   the plot is light . vera  ellen is the american lead in a musical that apparently is getting its out of town tryout in edinburgh . she starts in the chorus and runs late one day . she gets a lift from the chauffeur of a millionaire greeting card king . everybody now assumes she  s the main squeeze of the millionaire . doors open up as they  ve never opened before .  br    br   the millionaire is david niven and he goes along with it and the various situations that are engendered by the mistake . cesar romero has some good moments here as the frantic producer of this musical .  br    br   in the end though happy go lovely is light and harmless fluff which david niven did so much of and got so tired of .  
admittedly  i first picked up ranma    when i was around twelve . i was in the library and searched desperately for something good to read . then  i went to the comic  manga section and spotted this book . at my first few reads through the chapters i didn  t really know what was going on  but i knew that i loved it . i even took it home for a few more reads over . frankly  i wasn  t getting anywhere . and then  about five months  i  m   now  ago my friend was watching some anime series and i remembered about this manga . i couldn  t remember what it was called  but recalled that the author was rumiko takahashi  creator of inu yasha . i googled it  and then made a rash decision to watch all    episodes . at first i was a little thrown off by the     graphics  but it didn  t really matter in the end . no anime has ever made me laugh so hard and rewind  watch again . i once watched   consecutive episodes within a day . i don  t know how i did it . . . but i couldn  t stop . eventually  after about two days  i grew obsessed . i even dreamt   as crazy as this sounds   about watching ranma . never have i found a series so enjoyable  so funny  and so heartwarming to watch . to this day    episodes are not enough to keep me satisfied . of course the cliffhanger ending was enough to make me go bonkers  but the series alone was enough to make me continue reading .  br    br   ranma    is about a boy named ranma saotome and his dad genma saotome . intense martial artists . they are so intense  that they went to the ancient training grounds in china and became  cursed  . the grounds were full of different pools of springs  and if you land in one  you take the shape of whatever drowned there when doused in cold water . for genma  that was a panda  and for ranma that was a . . . girl  it  s a very crafty fun loving story . on top of that  genma promises his friend that ranma will marry one of his daughters to keep the tendo dojo alive .  course the one he gets matched up with hates his guts and the feelings mutual . obviously they start to like one another  but both way to stubborn to admit it . but . . genma has a history of doing this . he promised ranma to many girls .  br    br   trust me . it  s worth watching . it  s humorous  heartwarming and all around amazing .  
thank god i watched this at a friend  s place and did not pay for it . the plot is horribly transparent and the whole movie felt like an episode of a tv show . if you have any knowledge of computers or electronics  watch out . you will feel feel like the movie is an insult to your intelligence .  br    br   also  actress turned much music vj amanda walsh displays the worst acting i have ever seen  excluding porn . she  s lucky that matt lanter is actually decent . he  s the one that carries the movie .  br    br   i hate that i wasted nearly two hours of my life watching this movie  it  s a shame that they got to call it a sequel  because i was a fan of the original  which was actually pretty good .  
   ranma   is my favorite anime by rumiko takahashi . the woman really knows how to entertain us with a good story  that is not only a comedy  but also an action anime . the main character of the story is ranma saotome  a teenager boy who is also an expert in martial arts . ranma is engaged to akane because of an arrangement of both fathers  who are great friends and trained together during many years .  br    br   akane is the younger and most violent sister of the tendo  s kasumi is the oldest and is very sweet and nabiki is the middle and loves to win money no matter what .  br    br   ranma and akane fight all the time  specially because both have a very bad temper  and when they discover that ranma becomes a girl when splashed with cold water as well as his father becomes a panda  many new characters and situations starts to happen . they also discover the reason of the transformation while fighting  ranma and his father fell in a cursed river . but not only them had this kind of fate . . .  br    br   if you watched   ranma      and liked  i would recommend you   inuyasha   and   maison ikkoku   two other good creations from rumiko  s hands .  
like many others have commented before me here  i have to say that this movie is bad  but not the worst i  ve seen . there will be no direct references to movie plots or sequences in this comment  because i hate spoilers .  br    br   i got a feeling i was watching an episode of a tv show or something  where they had gotten a hold of some extra  to spend on cgi  i  ve seen worse of those  . . . all in all  it is quite an insult to the viewer  at least if you have any knowledge about computers and  or technology at all . there are just too many of these moments of insults to make me feel comfortable  and i found myself just begging for it all to end  fast  halfway through . in addition  there are countless  easy way out  scenarios  which also is an insult to your intelligence as a thinking human being . . .  br    br   this movie absolutely fades in comparison to the old  wargames   and i think it  s a damn shame they even got to call it a sequel .  br    br   two stars from me  because of one thing and one thing only the actors  performances aren  t half  bad  considering the regurgitated crap of a script they had to work with . still  they should never have signed on to this movie . not really a career  move  but i guess we all have bills to pay .  br    br   to those of you who gave this movie top score . . . you have to be on the studio  s payroll or something  that  s my only explanation .  br    br   to all who haven  t seen this one by all means  watch it and make up your own mind . but lower your expectations to the floor  and then some  .  
first things first  edison chen did a fantastic  believable job as a cambodian hit  man  born and bred in the dumps and a gladiatorial ring  where he honed his craft of savage battery in order to survive  living on the mantra of kill or be killed . in a role that had little dialogue  or at least a few lines in cambodian  thai  his performance is compelling  probably what should have been in the jet li vehicle danny the dog  where a man is bred for the sole purpose of fighting  and on someone else  s leash .  br    br   like danny the dog  the much talked about bare knuckle fight sequences are not choreographed stylistically  but rather designed as normal  brutal fisticuffs  where everything goes . this probably brought a sense of realism and grit when you see the characters slug it out at each other  s throats  in defending their own lives while taking it away from others . it  s a grim  gritty and dark movie both literally and figuratively  and this sets it apart from the usual run off the mill cop thriller production .  br    br   edison plays a hired gun from cambodia  who becomes a fugitive in hong kong  on the run from the cops as his pickup had gone awry . leading the chase is the team led by cheung siu  fai  who has to contend with maverick member inspector ti  sam lee   who  s inclusion and acceptance in the team had to do with the sins of his father . so begins a cat and mouse game in the dark shades and shadows of the seedier looking side of hong kong .  br    br   the story itself works on multiple levels  especially in the character studies of the hit  man  and the cop . on opposite sides of the law  we see within each character not the black and white  but the shades of grey . with the hit  man  we see his caring side when he got hooked up and developed feelings of love for a girl  pei pei   bringing about a sense of maturity  tenderness  and revealing a heart of gold . the cop  with questionable tactics and attitudes  makes you wonder how one would buckle when willing to do anything it takes to get the job done . there are many interesting moments of moral questioning  on how anti  hero  despicable strategies are adopted . you  ll ask  what makes a man  and what makes a beast  and if we have the tendency to switch sides depending on circumstances  do we have that dark inner streak in all of us  transforming from man to dog  and dog to man  dog bite dog grips you from the start and never lets go until the end  though there are points mid way through that seemed to drag  especially on its tender moments  and it suffered too from not knowing when to end . if i should pick a favourite scene  then it must be the one in the market food centre  extremely well controlled and delivered  a suspenseful edge of your seat moment . listen out for the musical score too  and you  re not dreaming if you hear growls of dogs .  br    br   highly recommended  especially if you think that you  ve seen about almost everything from the cop thriller genre .  
i think this could  ve been a decent movie  and some of its parts are ok . . . but in whole it  s a b movie . same about the plot  parts are ok but it has several holes and oddities that doesn  t quite add up . acting is mostly ok  i  ve seen worse of this too .    br    br   the beginning sets the level  with cars driving in the desert  making  cool  but totally unnecessary jumps through some small dunes  in slow motion  cool    like the drivers had never seen sand before . . . it gets slightly better from there  but not much .  br    br   if you  re gonna rent this  get another one too and use this one as a warm  up . keep expectations low and it might work for you .  
first of all that i would like to say is that edison chen is extremely hot and that sam lee is looking much better than before xd  this is probably one of the most original movies i have seen so far shows a poverty lifestyle background of a cambodian . the cambodian  edison aka pang  goes around killing people to survive himself has done it throughout his entire life . sam lee  s  wai  duty is to capture the cambodian for good . there are tons of violent actions but has a good story to it . the movie shows the struggles between those two characters they both beat each other like angry dogs . go and watch ppl . . . strongly suggessted     go hk films   
this is loosely based on the ideas of the original    s hit . it  s set in the modern day as we see a base in afghanistan get destroyed by a uav right at the start .  br    br   and that  s exactly where the movie jumps the shark . uav  s aren  t armed . they could be but i don  t think it  s ever been tried for real . we get to see the computer that has masterminded this operation  called r . i . p . l . e . y . we are introduced to  hacker  will farmer  he  s good at chemistry  electronics which doesn  t make him a computer hacker   his love interest  annie   will  s  st attempt at hacking is not only a complete failure his ip address is also logged and annie guessed who it was . we also meet wills mom who works for a chemical company .  br    br   wills taking money from his neighbours bank account  mr massude  isn  t a hack  he helped him set up the account   we then get a nod back to the original movie where they decide against playing global thermonuclear war  they play the dead code . the trace the ripley office are running is not on will but on massude  s pc so all the evidence they were gathering was useless against will .  br    br   exactly why ripley shut will  s machine down isn  t explained  he  s only playing an online game    also why it felt the need to have to shut down all the electricity in the entire block he lived in as well . why a counter terrorism agency would see this as a viable target is extremely questionable . as for ripley activating his mobile phone  i think not  it wasn  t connected to the pc and the message wouldn  t play unless he actually answered the phone so there  s more bad  hacking  science there too .  br    br   ripley agents arrive at massude  s home  take him away  will is given a envelope which turns out to contain a lot of money . will searching for the licence plate of the car that took massude isn  t a  hack  as you never see him break into the dmv computer . the ripley agents who grab dennis in the airport as he  s looking for will have no authority to arrest or detain him . will  s mother hadn  t  been stealing chemicals  bio agents  either . and even if she did they had no right to arrest or detain dennis . patriot act or not .  br    br   i don  t know why will was worried about being arrested for any crime in canada as its a totally different country with different laws to the us .  br    br   the computer has gone rogue and all the action its taken against will  his mother  dennis wasn  t sanctioned by a government agency . the phone phreak we see will do is the  st show of any hacking skill in the movie  we also get a hack into ripley which seemed too easy for such a powerful system .  br    br   the  guy  who ran into annie at the airport  was also watching them in the street was nothing to do with ripley  the laughable notion that ripley could track a cellphone whilst underground was as stupid as the idea that a computer reads lips .  br    br   another reference to the original movie when they mention stephen falken as the designer of the system ripley replaced  the joshua project . we discover that the  guy  who ran into annie is falken  not played by the original actor sadly  who faked his own death .  br    br   we also get to see wopr as  what  s going to help  them beat ripley and they kept the same voice used back then . falken  wopr are destroyed too quickly after being hardly used at all  the same explosion should kill will  annie  the russian . it  s also unlikely they  d create a self  contained computer system that has the ability to nuke or drop chemical weapons on the country it operates out of .  br    br   the whole  decontamination  plot  idea are totally unbelievable . those kinds of orders would have to go through the president or joint chiefs of staff . so yet another laughable  unbelievable idea .  br    br   the ip hacks against ripley aren  t done by will  he just contacts one of his friends who suggests  implements the idea . it  s excessively laughable that will would get a login just from increasing ripley  s operating temperature . having joshua as a backdoor into ripley  especially after it had been blown to bits  is an incredible cop  out and screams of a very desperate writer who had no ideas left and wanted to get this movie over and done with .  br    br   there is an awful good where ripley is playing dead code and we see a countdown  saying   minutes  then ripley says  decontamination in   minutes   how crap is that when they can  t even keep up with their own timer  ripley  s attack mission against philadelphia is halted  far too easily in my opinion  and it decides to attack joshua in its internal circuits and reroutes the missile aimed a philly to washington where ripley is stationed . the idea of the nuclear exchange to make ripley realise what she  s doing won  t work  surely she  d already know if she had joshua insider her as he  d already learnt this lesson in the original movie   is yet another nod back to the original movie .  br    br   their cop  out at having ripley repeat joshua  s exact same words form the end of the original movie just goes to show how many original ideas they were unable to come up with .  br    br   if you want to point fingers for bad  stolen ideas the men to blame are randall badat  rob kerchner . this is an awful movie and is best avoided .  
this has got to be the best movie i  ve ever seen .  br    br   combine breathtaking cinematography with stunning acting and a gripping plot  and you have a masterpiece .  br    br   dog bite dog had me gripping the edge of my seat during some scenes  recoiling in horror during others  and left me drowning in my own tears after the tragic ending .  br    br   the film left a deep impression on me . it  s shockingly violent scenes contrasted sharply with the poignant and tender  love  scenes . the film is undeserving of it  s cat iii  nudity  rating there are no nude scenes whatsoever  and the  love  scenes do not even involve kissing or  making out  .  br    br   the message which this film presented to me  all human beings  no matter how violent or cruel they may seem  have a tender side . edison chen does a superb job playing the part of the murderous pang .  br    br   i rate this film      . it  s a must  watch .  
some people seem to think this was the worst movie they have ever seen  and i understand where they  re coming from  but i really have seen worse .  br    br   that being said  the movies that i can recall  ie the ones i haven  t blocked out  that were worse than this  were so bad that they physically pained every sense that was involved with watching the movie . the movies that are worse than war games  are the ones that make you want to gouge out your eyes  or stab sharp objects in your ears to keep yourself from having another piece of your soul ripped away from you by the awfulness .  br    br   war games the dead code isn  t that bad  but it comes pretty close . yes i was a fan of the original  but no i wasn  t expecting miracles from this one . let  s face it the original wasn  t really that great of a movie in the first place  it was basically just a campy   s teen romance flick with some geek  appeal to it .  br    br   that  s all i was hoping for  something bad  but that might have tugged at my geek  strings . was that too much to ask for  is it really not possible to do better than the original war games  even for a straight to video release  well apparently that was too much to ask for . stay away from this movie . at first it  s just bad  like  oh yeah  this is bad  but i  m kind of enjoying it  maybe the end will be good like in the original .  and then it just gets worse and worse  and by the end  trust me  you will wish you had not seen this movie .  
dog bite dog isn  t going to be for everyone  but i really enjoyed it . full of slapping  stabbing and shooting  but don  t worry  the lead  s a terrible shot   it can best be described as a violent romp through hong kong and cambodia . edison cheng plays pang  a cambodian assassin in town to kill a barrister . despite being filthy from his journey  he  s almost immediately seated at a huge table in the middle of an obviously expensive restaurant . if this sounds wildly implausible to you  you should probably avoid this film . it acted as my cue to suspend disbelief  and i had a lot more fun for it .  br    br   chasing pang down is wai  sam lee   a young  edgy cop who likes to smack people around almost as much as he likes to smoke . wai walks a fine line that has internal affairs investigating him  and his father  a legendary good cop  is in a coma following a drug deal that went south  the implication is that wai is letting his father take the rap for his own corrupt dealings  .  br    br   there are a car crashes  lots of killings  and a strange and awkward love story on offer here  all played out in almost comic  book style . i suspect the humour was deliberate  nobody uses gargantuan concrete bludgeons without an eye for the extravagantly absurd   though the over  the  top nature lost a number of my fellow audience members . there are at least three points where the film might have ended  and at    mins it may have benefited from more ruthless editing  or the deletion of one of the narrative threads  the light  hearted stuff worked well  so i would have left out the interactions with the three fathers  .  br    br   i  m inclined to give it a  high  pass  however  if only because of the ending  i  ve rarely heard so many people laugh so loudly at what should have been a poignant moment . this is one to see with a group of friends who love the ridiculous  
i can  t say that wargames the dead code is the worst movie i  ve ever seen  as it had one or two decent moments  but i can easily say it  s the most transparent movie i  ve ever seen . not once did a plot device present itself without me guessing it    minutes in advance . there was no subtlety to anything the movie did  no intelligence evident at all behind the scenes . every spoken or typed line  s intent was so glaringly obvious it was impossible to  get into  the movie .  br    br   i found myself laughing at the horribly thought out plot line  and the bumbled attempts to reclaim the audience  far more often than i found myself enjoying the movie .  
ultra  grim crime drama from pou  soi cheang  the director of  home sweet home  . tonally  it reminded me of billy tang  s  run and kill   although it  s not as polished as that . nevertheless  it  s an engaging  flawed bit of mayhem about a cambodian loner  pang  edison chen   who arrives in hong kong to kill a lawyer . while fleeing the scene  he kills the partner of cop sam wai  who  to add insult to injury  is in the midst of dealing with his dying father  so sam begins an insane  obsessive manhunt for pang that results in close to a dozen dead bodies and relentless violence . there must be something in the air lately because i  ve never seen so many humans beating the pulp out of each other as i have lately . this is grim  nasty stuff  which is why i  m so partial to it  and i applaud its downbeat vibe . it  s visually arresting and the sound design is very unique . dramatically  everything spirals downwards until every character finds him  or herself in a world of screaming pain . a subplot involving pang  s attachment to a sexually abused girl adds depth to the story and spawns a surprise fourth act which boasts a fine act of grotesque surgery .  
i see a lot of movies . saw the original wargames years ago and loved it . computers where still  a big mystery  for the most of us and the movie was convincing  in it  s own way .  br    br   this one  however  looks like a low budget wednesday night special . total crap  from start to finish .  br    br   the plot is so weak  you won  t believe it until you see the movie  which i would not recommend in the first place  . i can not point out one actor that actually did a good job in this movie . but hey  with that script i would  ve been surprised if anyone could do a good job acting . lots of clich scenes . cgi looks like it  s taken out of the    version .  br    br   bah  no  i  m getting in a bad mood just writing about this . do not watch this movie .  br    br   life  s to short to waste it on watching crappy movies .  
i watched the dvd of this movie which also comes with an excellent commentary track  in english  . it seems in cambodia  the subtitles in english say the character is speaking thai but the movie says cambodia  a very violent evil man is raising boys to be killers using starvation and training them to fight and kill . he sends pang to kill some people in china and during the killings a cop  s partner is killed . the cop wai is a loose cannon who is worried about his father who is also a cop who was shot and is in a coma . wai  s chief is his dad  s friend and is worried about wai  s erratic behavior . he doesn  t know wai was the one who caught his dad in dealing with drug dealers and shot him and put him into the coma . pang escapes and hides in a squalid landfill shack where he meets a woman who came here to find her mother and keeps repeating her father won  t let her leave  pang doesn  t speak chinese and doesn  t understand this but saves her from her father who appears to be having sex with her maybe this is the reason for cat iii  . wai becomes more and more obsessed with getting pang but pang is almost unstoppable . even after pang steals a boat and takes the woman to his home where they are married and she becomes pregnant wai follows and joins the evil man  who  s training the boys  making a deal to fight and train so he can get pang . there is a big showdown between wai and pang with the terribly abused woman the major victim and leaving wai dead and pang cutting out his child from the dead mother only to die and leave him as the possible next boy to be raised as a killer . this film is beautifully photographed with an excellent soundtrack . there are many very brutal violent scenes . the woman having a long nail pulled out of her foot . knives to the neck and torso . guns fired directly to the head . and several very intense beatings . it maybe grim intense and downbeat but it is definitely worth seeing .  
it happened with assault on prescient   in      it happened with the lost boys in     and now it  s happened with another classic from the    s wargames . . .   why  oh why  oh why won  t hollywood ever learn  leave them alone . . .  they can  t be remade . . .  they suck . . . .  we all hate them . . . .  .  br    br   those of you who haven  t seen the original     version with matthew broderick  ally sheedy  go rent  buy it now . . . .   the hardware may look dated  the special effects are not new millennium but it still beats this rubbish hands down . . . .  br    br   for those of us who lived through the    s when hacking was sexy  the internet was something mysterious and your disks came as a   floppy variety  well we now possess the wisdom to avoid this film like a thermonuclear war   br    br   never before has  a nice game of chess  seemed the better option . . . .  
some comments here on imdb have likened dog bite dog to the classic cat iii films of the   s  but although it is undoubtedly brutal  violent and very downbeat  this film from pou  soi cheang isn  t really sleazy  lurid or sensationalist enough to earn that comparison . however  it still packs a punch that makes it worth a watch  particularly if gritty  hard  edged action is your thing .  br    br   edison chen plays pang  a cambodian hit  man who travels to hong kong to assassinate the wife of a judge sam lee is wai  the ruthless cop who is determined to track him down  whatever the cost . with wai closing in on his target  pang will stop at nothing to ensure his escapeuntil he meets yue  a pretty illegal immigrant who needs his help to escape her life of abuse .  br    br   a relentlessly harsh drama with great cinematography  amazing sound design  a haunting score  and solid performances from chen and lee  as well as newcomer pei pei as pang  s love interest   dog bite dog is one for fans of hard  hitting asian hyper  violence  think along the lines of chan  wook park  s vengeance trilogy  . stabbings  shootings  merciless beatings all happen regularly in this film and are caught unflinchingly by director cheang .  br    br   of course  this is the kind of tale that is destined to have an unhappy ending for all involved  and sure enough  pretty much everyone in this film dies  rather nasty deaths  . unfortunately  there is a fine line between tragedy and  unintentional  comedy  and in its final moments  dog bite dog crosses it in a laughably over  dramatic final scene  pang and wai are locked in battle as a pregnant yue looks on . eventually  after all three have suffered severe stab wounds during the fracas  a wounded pang performs a diy ceasarean on  a now dead  yue  delivering their baby moments before he himself dies .  br    br   whilst this film might not be a  classic  slice of hong kong excess  with its deliriously ott action and stylish visuals  it  s still worth seeking out .  
wow . . . this has got to be the dumbest movie i  ve ever seen . we watched it in english class . . . and this movie made absolutely no sense . i would never  ever watch this movie again . . . and my sympathy to those who have ever paid to see it .  
as i understand it  after the chinese took over hong kong  the infamous cat .  hong kong movies kind of disappeared . at least until now  and what an amazing movie this one is . i knew it was a rough crime drama going in  but being the first cat .  i  ve purchased that  s been made recently  i wasn  t sure what to expect .  br    br   a cambodian hit  man goes to hong kong to knock off the wife of a judge  who is also a lawyer . turns out  the judge made the arrangements for the hit  man  because she was divorcing the judge  and threatening to take all his money . this is all known within the first ten minutes  so nothing is being given away . after the hit  the cops locate the hit  man pretty fast  but in trying to arrest him  several police officers and civilians are killed . he eludes the police and now the race is on to catch the guy  before he escapes back to cambodia . this is a movie that never stops  and hardly gives the viewer a chance to catch their breath . yes  it is very violent and intense  many cops are killed  as the hit  man proves very very hard to track  and take down when they do locate him . along the way  the hit  man in trying to hide in a dump  finds a women being raped and mistreated by some man . he helps her  and saves her from the guy  and she persuades the hit  man to take her along with him in his escape . i loved this movie  it  s like a roller  coaster that just keeps moving and moving at high speed  as one incident leads to another  and the police at times are just as bad or worse as the hit  man . the acting is exceptionally good  and the location filming and photography is at time breathtaking . there  s no let up in this movie  not even with the very very incredible ending . the ending is pretty much unbelievable  and also a fitting end to all the action and violence . yes  the violence is brutal at times  but this is a very no nonsense crime drama  that will knock your socks off .  dog eat dog  definitely needs a more widespread release  including an r  release for sure . great movie  highly recommended .  
certainly not horrible  but definitely not good .  br    br   cry  the beloved country       was directed by darrell roodt and written for the screen by ronald harwood  adapted from the     novel by alan paton  . starring james earl jones and richard harris .  br    br   the film is about pre  apartheid south africa  and the stories of a black man and a white man intertwining . the pious but naive preacher stephen kumalo  james earl jones  receives a letter from johannesburg saying that he must come immediately he later finds that his son has killed a man . the rich farmer  landowner james jarvis  richard harris  finds that his son  a fighter for black rights  was the one killed by kumalo  s son . in this they connect .  br    br   i cannot compare it to the     film of the same name  for i have not seen it . or the     musical titled lost in the stars for i have also not seen it both look better than this one . but cry freedom  on the other hand  i have seen it has a much more urgent air to it  like it actually is trying to say something where the film cry  the beloved country seems to have no idea where it is going . very  wishy  washy  . i refuse to compare the film to the novel  except that i did enjoy the novel more than i enjoyed the film  because novels and films are two extremely different media and there is no point in trying to transfer directly one to the other or compare them via the same means .  br    br   frankly  this movie blew . well  i guess it wasn  t that bad    five  out  of  ten    but it wasn  t that good either . both of the leads  both very capable actors pull some of the most wooden performances i have seen with some of the most awkward dialogue in film history  but that can be blamed on he screenwriter  ronald harwood  who is also oddly off is game with this film  having also written the sublime the pianist  and being julia  . among other things the point and themes of the novel are lost almost entirely in its transition to film for the third time there is little  if any  tension with any moment of the film  racially or suspensefully . the music doesn  t help . the painfully misplaced and boringly pastoral orchestra tracks really help with this dulling down of the film . one upside is the cinematography  with many rather good or great shots  but unfortunately  this does not help the film too much .  br    br   the last  striking words of alan paton  s novel are displayed in the last moments of the film . it is too bad that they seem to be so disconnected from the film that was just shown . i don  t know what nelson mandela might have seen in this film .  br    br   thanks for your time .  
the simple hand camera both gives some almost documentary feeling to this film  and also relates to the dogma films .  br    br   did you ever get bored of those hollywood  style cop flicks with brawny guys who get assignments james bond would be envious of  fed up with the married  living  single cop  the divorced  but  family  man  the personified doughnut and the tough hunter  ever wondered how the real police work is like   br    br   well  for germany  this film shows you . set in the north between west germany and east germany  former ddr  an laid off post office clerk starts her job  fresh from policeschool . she quickly finds her way around the usual customers  and becomes accustomed to life as a policewoman . . . but this is not much fun .  br    br   other german crime films like derrick  der alte et cetera have dignified officers talking calmly with suspects . these cops here have to deal with the lowest on the social ladder . good dialogue and realism makes this an interesting view  even more if you know that part of germany a bit .  
it  s amazing that this movie turns out to be in one of my hitlists after all . it is by far the number  worst movie i have ever seen .  br    br   not only have i ever been this bored before  luckily not for more then    hours   the pre  adolescent attempts at humor that feature it are not even close to getting but one of the corners of my mouth slightly tilted . after the first very awkward part  you tend to hope that the other parts will be at least slightly better . you hope in vain  it only goes downhill from there .  br    br   the movie has no story worth telling whatsoever and repeats this non  story three times . one can only hope that by some miracle all remaining copies of this movie are lost forever and trent harris never lays his hands on a camera again . . .  
despite being quite far removed from my expectations  i was thoroughly impressed by dog bite dog . i rented it not knowing much about it  but i essentially expected it to be a martial arts  action film in the standard hong kong action tradition  of which i am a devoted fan . i ended up getting something entirely different  which is not at all a bad thing . while the film could be classified as such  and there is definitely some good action and hand to hand combat scenes in the film  it is definitely not the primary focus . its characters are infinitely more important to the film than its fights  a rather uncommon thing in many hong kong action movies .  br    br   i was really quite surprised by the intricacy of the characters and character relationships in the film . the lead character  played by edison chen  who is really very good   becomes infinitely more complex by the end of the film than i ever thought he would be after watching the first thirty minutes . the police characters also defied my expectations thoroughly . in fact  the stark and honest portrayal of the seldom seen dark side of the police force was quite possible my favorite aspect of the film . i don  t know that i would say dog bite dog entirely subverts typical notions of bad criminal  good cop  but it certainly distorts them in ways not often seen in film  unfortunately  . so many films  especially hong kong action films i find  portray police in what is frankly a very ignorantly idealized light . this is one of my least favorite things about the genre . i was pleasantly surprised to see that dog bite dog actually had some very unique  and really quite courageous  ideas to present about the police force . there are negotiation scenes in this film that i have never seen the likes of before  and doubt i will ever see again  and am sure i will remember for quite a while . also  the criminal characters are shown from an interesting perspective as well  there is some documentary footage in the film of cambodian boys no older than ten being made to fight each other to the death with their bare hands  which i thought was one of the film  s most powerful and moving moments . it says a lot about the reason these guys are the way they are  rather than simply condemning them . also  the relationship between chen  s character and the girl he meets in the junk yard reveals a lot about his character . it wasn  t until this element entered the film that i really started to see the film as an emotional experience rather than only a visceral one . there is something about most on screen relationships that doesn  t quite get through to me  but for some reason this one really did . the actress does an incredible job with this role which i imagine was not easy to play .  br    br   dog bite dog also features some really breathtaking cinematography  all though it is unfortunately rather uneven . there were some moments that i found really striking  particularly in the last segment of the film  but there was also a good deal of camera work that was just ok . another slight problem i had was with the pacing  which i also felt was uneven . i found a lot of the  looking for a boat  scenes to be a little alienating  all though it quickly picks up after that . the action scenes are short and not too plentiful  but are truly powerful and effecting  particularly towards the end . the fight choreography is honestly not all that impressive for the most part  all though to its credit it is solid and fairly realistic  but the true strength is the emotional content behind the fights . the final scene  while not a marvel of martial artistry or fight choreography  is one of the most powerful final fights i have ever seen  and i  ve seen quite a few martial arts films .  br    br   i suppose the biggest determining factor of whether or not one will get much out of dog bite dog is whether or not you can connect with the characters . all of them are certainly some of the more flawed characters one is likely to see in a film of any kind  but there was something very human about all of them that i couldn  t help but be drawn to and really feel for them  particularly chen  s girlfriend . i should say that i doubt most people will like the film as much as i did simply because i imagine that most people will not like or care about the characters in the same way  but i still recommend it highly all the same . it is truly a deeply moving and effecting film if you give it a chance .  
for the first time in years  i  ve felt the need to log into imdb today to cleanse myself of this movie by writing a review  because it was just such a let  down to watch . the plot sounded awesome when i read it  i expected a minimal mystery thriller  a claustrophobic phantom hunt . unfortunately  it all gets watered down so bad by a mundane  tiring love story and too many contrived and teeth  gnashingly stupid  no  one  says  things  like  this  except  in  bad  movies   dialogs that it  s just agonizing .  br    br   here  s a quick run down of the worst offenses of this piece of film  br    br    the script relies so heavily on coincidences and the inexplicable and inexcusable stupidity of the main characters that it  s just laughable . no  actually  it  s angering . and lazy .  br    br    related to that cheap thrills . a long parade  just in time  moments .  br    br    the main characters . alright  it seems that the screenwriter has never experienced actual human beings in real life  but instead has gained all his knowledge from bad movies . thus  his characters are boring  lifeless second generation clichs . they are mere plot  devices  place  holders without the slightest bit of personality . they are  man and woman in break  up who still love each other  . never seen that one before except in        movies and it  s not getting any more realistic or enjoyable . think of the blandest two  dimensional hollywood fare and you  ve got it . there is not one character in this movie that is even remotely fresh  charming  or interesting .  br    br    the far  fetched  vague resolution that  s swaying very bad and needs just one nudge to topple  though the word  resolution  might be ill  fitting here  because the movie is a swampy mess that isn  t going anywhere anyway . by the time you  re through  though  you don  t care anymore . the last third of the movie i just fast  forwarded  because it was just so unbearable to watch .  br    br   okay  that  s it . whatever redeeming features this movie has  it all gets buried under incompetence . don  t watch this turd .  
i gotta be straight  up  i haven  t seen a film as solid as dog bite dog in quite a while . i  m a big fan of the  old  school  late   s to mid   s era catiii films  and i had been hearing that that  style  of films is making a bit of a come  back with films such as this  and herman yau  s gong tau  which as of this writing i have not yet seen . . .   so i was very interested to give some of these newer  wave catiii films a shot . did this film live up to my expectations  absolutely  but not quite in the fashion that i imagined .  br    br   the story follows a young  animalistic  resourceful and virtually unstoppable thai hit  man with a somewhat vague history who comes to hong kong to complete a  mission  . due to some bad  luck  he is quickly identified by a roguish copy  who exudes many of the same qualities as our hit  man   and is quickly apprehended and captured . this state of affairs doesn  t last long though  as the un  named assassin escapes from his captors and quickly shows the local police that he is not to be taken lightly . the hunt is on  and a cat  and  mouse game between the police and the  mad dog   as the police refer to him  ensues . along the way  mad dog is inadvertently befriended by a slow  witted young woman  and a bond forms between the two when she helps him out of a sticky situation . the ante keeps getting upped as mad dog  s only objective is to get out of hong kong and back to thailand by any means necessary  and the cops keep trying to reel him in alive . . .  br    br   i could probably write ten paragraphs about this complex and thoroughly layered film  but i don  t want to give too much away . i watched dog bite dog knowing nothing about the premise  and i think it  s the type of film that is definitely better appreciated that way . as to comparisons to the older  style catiii films . . . there are some similarities . dog bite dog has some hyper  violent moments reminiscent of the  good ol  days   but is never quite as sleazy or grimy as old  school classicks like the untold story or red to kill . where many of the older catiii films  main intention was to  shock   dog bite dog is a far more thought  out and well  rounded production  though that  s not to take anything away from those catiii films that i hold so dear . . .  . this film is far more  emotional  than it is exploitative  and as we learn more about the characters and their backgrounds  the audience begins to bond and identify with both sides . there really are no clear  cut  good  and  bad  guys  as mad dog shows moments of extreme compassion  and the cops stoop to extremely unorthodox methods to try to flesh out the killer . there  s also no nudity  sex in this film  which is a typical characteristic of the older catiii films . personally  i would compare dog bite dog more to park  s sympathy for mr . vengeance or perhaps the pang brother  s bangkok dangerous  as both of those films mixed extremely emotional overtones with strong and unflinching action and violence . again  there  s pretty much nothing that i didn  t like about this film . the acting is dead  on  the cinematography is sharp and well done  and the whole film skillfully blends several different elements successfully in a way that isn  t seen very often . is this film  and others like it . . .  the  rebirth  of the catiii film  not exactly  but it is a very solid film that  s absolutely worth checking out . . .      
someone  some day  should do a study of architecture as it figures in horror films of all those explorations of weirdly laid out mansions  searches for secret passageways and crypts  trackings of monsters through air ducts  and so forth . offhand i can recall only a few films in which architecture played a major role throughout    demon seed    cube   the remake of  thirteen ghosts    but it  s at the heart of every story about a spooky house or church or crypt it  s all about the character and the affect of spaces  passages  and walls . so i was looking forward to this thriller where it promised to be central . the idea is this an architect has built   actually  rebuilt   for himself a huge and rambling house his wife has just left him  mainly because of his own self  centeredness  but also  it is intimated  because she can  t get used to the place since he remodeled it . living in unaccustomed solitude  real this time  rather than virtual   he comes to suspect that somebody else   a stranger who had come to the door one evening asking to use the phone and then suddenly disappeared   is living into the house with him only the place is big enough so that he never sees him .  br    br   this is a good start for a melodrama  whose development one would expect to follow some such lines as these after searching the house for the intruder a few times without success  the architect resorts to his blueprints to undertake more systematic searches  trying in various ways to surprise  intercept  or ambush the intruder  maybe by means of some special features he built into the structure . meanwhile the intruder has discovered hiding places and back ways between places that the architect didn  t foresee or doesn  t remember . the movie would turn into a cat  and  mouse game  a hunt  a battle and finally  in trying to trap the intruder  the architect himself would end up trapped in his own creation  in some way he didn  t expect . then he would be forced to think himself out of it   and maybe at the same time out of his own self  imposed isolation   and in a final twist would nail  and maybe even kill  the er .  br    br   nothing like this happens in this movie the house is just a house  the architect is just a guy  and his nemesis is of an unknown character  if he exists at all . here is what does happen in the movie once the intruder is installed in the house   if he is   the architect begins hearing noises  but when he goes to investigate finds nothing . he calls the police  they think he  s slightly nuts he persuades his estranged wife to spend the night  she thinks he  s more nuts . at last  more or less accidentally  he runs into the intruder  doesn  t get a good look  but figures  who else could it be    not a hard question  in a story with  to that point  fewer than three principal characters   whereupon he locks the doors  lowers the grills on the windows  throws away the key  i don  t know why he thought this necessary   and leaves his victim to starve . i missed why this was a given the doors and walls are made of steel  in any event  the architect takes to sleeping in his car . and since the idea of the movie has languished undeveloped and cannot now be developed further  something else must be devised to take its place . and this is it the architect   are you ready    moves into the house of the man who  presumably  moved into his  and lives there in the same way . how is this possible  it is not  but the movie takes this route to try and make it seem so the architect has drawn a picture of the man who came to his door and when he leaves the house he takes the picture with him and while sitting in his car  he throws the picture into the street and two kids pick it up and observe that it looks like martin  their neighbor whereupon the architect asks where his house is and the kids point the way .  br    br   if this sequence seems to verge on the implausible  what ensues plunges right in . the architect takes up residence with martin  s wheelchair  ridden wife  unbeknownst to her so stealthy in his moves and so cunning in his reading of his hostess that he  s able always to leave a room just as she enters or to duck out of sight just as she turns around . throughout this section the movie is clever in one way  making  or leaving it to the viewer to make  the point that his life with this stranger  who doesn  t know he  s there  is in essence the same life he lived with his wife  as a virtual recluse with her as a convenient buffer . but at the same time  his inability to live in the world makes his transformation into raffles the cat  burglar entirely incredible . not to go into the series of twists at the end   including another murder achieved by locking someone in behind another invincible door   this one in front of a landing so flimsy that it collapses under the weight of a wheelchair two nice people who take murder in stride and  before the story started  the unnoticed construction of a tunnel under several houses . . . . to the final  long  anticipated twist  the movie adds another  to make it even more offensive  and then . . . ends .  br    br   here is a story that depends on the development of two things   the idea of the stranger in the house  and the character of the man whose house it is   and fumbles both . the first fumble makes it boring the second made me angry  as it pushed its main character farther and farther along a more and more zigzaggy path  and never offered any explanation for the character who most required one martin the tunnel  builder and sneak  tenant . the story should be redone by someone  some day .  
those individuals familiar with asian cinema  as a whole  are aware that japan is renowned  or notorious  for it  s hyper  violent films and korea is now garnering a reputation for viciously brutal films . dog bites dog  while not necessarily getting as hyper  violent as the craziest miike film  nor is it as unapologetically brutal as some koreas more ambitious efforts  it is a perfect in between with its own brand of brutality all it  s own . the greatest strength this film has though  like the greatest of the japanese or korean efforts  is that the brutality  rather than detracting from the film  actually develops the characters  if not  pushing the story forward . the two main characters are both incredibly vicious individuals with their own motivations and emotional underpinning for being as such . sam lee  s character  for instance  is on the edge from the very start and slowly and surely  amidst various encounters with chang  s character  it is revealed why he is . without spoiling this part of the story too much  it involves the morally ambiguous nature of his father . chang  s character  on the other hand  has his most primal instincts honed to  if not perfection  brutal efficiency . surprisingly  chang  s story arch  while not necessarily revealing a more human side  actually reveals a side to our animal nature which many forget about which is the natural ability to recognize a fellow broken animal  and no i am not talking about sam lee  rather pei pei  s garbage dump girl character  . ultimately however  for the first   minutes or so  it is a  more or less  straight forward cat and mouse  or dog chase dog  film in which every encounter ends in at least one death  seriously  once sam lee and chang square off  some one will die  and the fun part of movie is you never know who hands will commit the act . which brings us to the film  s one weakness . unforunatley to delve into it would be yet another spoiler but  to put it simply  it is guilty of pushing one of the main points of the film since  rather then letting the point be made as is   minutes into the film  the film goes on for another   minutes or so to further emphasize it . don  t get me wrong  if transitioned better from the   minute mark to the climax and if the final act wasn  t filled with sweet music  in fact if it  like the majority of the film  kept the music to the barest minimum and let the disturbing sound effects do their job   it still could have worked and not detract from the film . as it is though  despite the third act having the most vicious and bloody of the encounters  the way it was handled made it feel tacked on  and almost  insults the viewers intelligence since it felt it had to go this far to get it across . nevertheless  it is still a breath of fresh air from hong kong cinema since even the most bloody of the martial arts films never reaches the level of viciousness and brutality while keeping the the character archs in tact .  
one of the worst films i have ever had the displeasure of sitting through  killer tongue is a horrible melange of the worst elements of the rocky horror picture show  brain damage  and pulp fiction . designed primarily to offend  apparently  but so inane that only the most hidebound conservatives would be taken in by it .  
wow . if you think that a film can  t fatigue in some way  then you haven  t seen dog bite dog . this film pulls no punches  and it doesn  t shy away from showing very disturbing images at all . much like salo  this one shows us the dehumanization of the human spirit . it is gritty  dark  depressing and hopeless  but it is also one of the best films to ever come out of hong kong .  br    br   the script is much more of the same  but don  t go on thinking it is incredibly clichd . it basically is about a troubling and obsessive detective in a cat and mouse game  against a professional and emotionless hit  man . while the script offers nothing new on the surface  it does provide a lot of questions about the dark side of humanity . is violence really that necessary  do we become more or less human when we abuse a  year old child  without pity  without remorse  in turn  we humans act no less than rabid dogs when we are blinded by anger  this is a sad truth . it is a topic that the director brilliantly explores  without limiting himself at all . besides the cat and mouse chase  the script also develops two separate story lines for the main characters . one is about love  and the other is about redemption . even if the script isn  t that new  it is still wonderfully written and it keeps you glued to the seat at all times .  br    br   the acting is really  really good . edison chen as the hit  man is incredible he proves that he isn  t just any pretty face . he is ruthless  vile and beyond likable . sam lee as the obsessed cop is also outstanding . the supporting cast  in short  is excellent . the music is also worth mentioning . very somber score by ben cheung  with some effective light hearted songs played at key dark moments in the film . the cinematography by yuen man is also really good .  br    br   overall  this catiii film is highly recommended . very well paced  incredibly acted  marvelously scored and just really good at the end of it all . however  as many have pointed out  this is not a movie for everyone . if you dislike strong violence then you should stay away from this one . if you don  t like seeing heavy negativity in film then this isn  t for you too . in the end  a powerhouse film      .  
not totally off the wall in a good way  but just totally stupid .  killer tongue  is an uneasy mixture of sci  fi  horror  and supposed comedy . what this equates to is a mindless and totally incoherent film . there is very little dialog  mainly due to the fact that the script  if there was one  is complete  pond scum  . i wouldn  t even call it strange  more like just  total nonsense  . this movie is certain to disappoint  and you have been warned . there is absolutely no reason to waste time on this  and if you do  the pungent smell will linger like rotten fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . merk  
this has to be one of the best movies to come out of hk in a long time  i was eagerly waiting to get my hands on this movie just looking at the title . loads of fantastic actors in this show and i was particularly impressed with sam lee  s impossibly believable insane behavior and edison  s portrayal of a killer machine  which totally reversed his normal idol image . i would definitely recommend to those looking for a stylish and action packed movie . however  i must warn you  this is also an equally depressing movie  as every character in the movie is in some kind of dead end and trouble of their own  and struggling to breathe . makes you think about what is life about really .  
this has to be one of the most outrageously stupid movies i have ever seen in my entire life . just when i think i have seen the stupidest scene in history  along comes an even dumber and more bizarre scene . i think the transvestite poodles did it for me  or better yet  her talking tongue . . . or perhaps the guy getting the virgin mother statue mounted to a jeep windshield caught in his throat . decisions  decisions . . .  
it  s remarkable and quite praiseworthy how writers and directors continue to make great movies out of one of the oldest and most  over  used story lines in cinema   dog bite dog  is basically not much more than just the simple story of an lone copper obsessively chasing a brilliant criminal  only pou  soi cheang distinguishes his film from the rest by being extremely violent  relentless . this is unquestionably one of the grittiest and most uncompromising movies i  ve ever seen  with an atmosphere of constant nihilism and characters that seem to come walking straight out of hell  not even the installments in chan  wook park  s trilogy of vengeance  with the exception of  oldboy   perhaps  or any other infamous cat  iii film ever released were as sadistic and brutal as some of the events depicted in  dog bite dog  . pang is a young and ruthless cambodian assassin who lands in the crowded streets of hong kong to eliminate the wife of an eminent judge in a restaurant . when the police arrives at the place  young officer wai sees how pang hastily flees from the scene of the crime and follow him . the first actual confrontation between the two rabid dogs results in a gigantic blood bath  as pang mercilessly kills several hostages and even wai  s long time friend and colleague . from then on begins a thrilling and action  packed cat and mouse game between the frustrated cop and the professional killer . the latter also saves a young girl from the constant sexual abuse of her father and stays with her at her shed in the local garbage dump . what makes this routine action  thriller so fascinating  apart from the explicit violence  are the main characters  backgrounds  pang  the hit  man  is a cambodian orphan and has been trained to fight  kill for money ever since he was a child . he knows no restrictions  has no mercy and barely speaks a word . wai  the cop  became particularly ruthless and unorthodox ever since his role  model father  also a cop  lies in a coma after a drug  related incident . lai doesn  t question suspects and witnesses he yells at them and he  s prepared to sacrifice everything in order to stop his brand new nemesis . people with a weak stomach or tangled nerves are advised to stay away from this film  because the cruelty and shocks featuring in  dog bite dog  can easily cause nausea . it  s not the type of violence where bloodied heads and chopped off limbs fly through the air  but more like the intense and utterly disturbing type where people attempt to crush their opponents mentally as well as physically . the filming locations are effectively dark and eerie and the extremely sober music makes the already harrowing tone of the movie even more petrifying . the performances are terrific  i wouldn  t be surprised if edison chen and sam lee treated each other like enemies on the film set as well  because their on screen hatred and disgust feels a little too legitimate .  dog bite dog  is a powerful and unforgettable film  highly recommended if you can stomach it . if you fear you can  t  just wait a few years for the inevitable american remake which will unquestionably soften the premise a little .  
first of all let  s start out by saying that robert englund doug bradley and melinda clark should be commended for having to be associated with this piece of drivel . i had to give this a  it wouldn  t let me give it a zero . wanna know how bad this movie is  my mom calls me from across town and tells me  son  i just watched the stupidest movie ever . i responded as saying  the killer tongue huh   she was like how did you know that  that  s how bad this movie is . i mean it looked like a good movie at first freddy pinhead melinda . okay i  ll give it a chance . i sat through the rest of this movie only because i wrote a column for reviews of horror movies . i implore you  don  t waste your time money or even brain cells on this ludicrous piece of crap . run away . far away . if you see it on the shelf at hollywood video blockbuster or even your local video store  turn it around and walk away . . . . and i still want my two hours back dang it  
one of the most nihilistic and brutal films i  ve ever seen  but also one of the most tragic and moving ones . this is an action  melodrama like the world has never seen it before . sometimes the plot got me close to tears  while in the next moment delivering shocking revelations like a bone  crunching blow to the guts . chilling performance by edison chen . the story of a hk  cop and a cambodian killer hunting each other down  while bit by bit losing their humanity  is a strong one . featuring very little dialog in favor of haunting imagery and gritty camera  work   dog bite dog  is pure hk  bloodshed without the heroism .  
really bad movie . maybe the worst i  ve ever seen . alien invasion  a la the blob  without the acting . meteorite turns beautiful woman into a host body for nasty tongue . bad plot  bad fake tongue . absurd comedy worth missing . wash your hair or take out the trash .  
finally we have before us a category iii movie for the summer     season . made of equal parts cruelty  crime and passion  dog bite dog benefits not merely from an apt title  but also flexible direction  superb cinematography and respectable performances from most involved . of course there has to be a catch  manifested here in the form of several glaring inconsistencies  yet all told dbd represents the mature spirit we  d love to see more of in the hk mainstream .  br    br   it also marks the heralded return of edison chen  long absent since the initial d debacle of a year ago . chen  s reserved machismo does wonders for the movie  yet would have had it rough without opposite sam lee  whose knack for alternating between physical comedy  crazy  n  the city  no problem   and lunatic menace has culminated in the strongest role we  ve seen from him since made in hong kong .  br    br   together  the duo makes dog bite dog  and hopefully edison  s going to get an easier break from now on as a consequence his touch transformed projects from princess d to the infernal affairs saga  and still he remains a rare occurrence .  br    br   mostly upon commencing  dbd showcases some mesmerizing imagery  playing gorgeous tricks with light  shadow and perspective . the soundtrack boosts this atmospheric effect  adding to the overall unreal mood the film purveys . much of the resultant combination probably has to do with writer matt chow  previously engaged in likewise gruesome three extremes . dog bite dog retains numerous traits recalled from that horror project  namely rundown urbanscapes and a pervasive air of something eerie lurking round the corner .  br    br   rest assured  though  this isn  t a horror movie  instead following a path trodden before by classic one nite in mongkok  albeit from a miles more perverse angle . replacing daniel wu  s reluctant mainland assassin character we have edison  playing a nameless killing machine hailing from cambodia  s underworld . sent hong kong  way to execute a single target  the nearly silent assassin takes care of business immediately upon arrival  a process chillingly depicted courtesy of the film  s brilliant visuals .  br    br   although weaned from childhood to become a professional killer  edison  s eponymous wild dog still has human weaknesses and leaves a trail  picked up on by a cid team sent to investigate . this assembly features a nice cameo by mob  movie stalwart lam suet  and good support from tv star wayne lai . however  sam lee  s renegade officer wai leads the charge  revealing himself to be a highly disturbed individual but excellent cop nonetheless . we gradually learn wai  s inner  conflict stems from his father  s police corruption background  evoking demons handy in the relentless pursuit that ensues .  br    br   a minor body count transpires  as edison seems to consider taking prisoners a no  no . there  s quite the violence quotient in store  even though gore per se feels toned down in places  and adult language only makes a token appearance . once more  no nudity  leading one to conclude cat iii  s are being handed these days a bit hastily . still  dbd  s a relatively mature theatrical release  and we applaud its arrival .  br    br   in between the fighting  stabbing  hacking and shooting  even a career murderer needs some romance  and just like daniel wu had cecilia cheung in one nite  so does intrepid mr . chen get a sweetheart  done beautifully by new comer pei pei . her unnamed character  lots of anonymity in this one  meets edison  s at a strangely deserted landfill  abused by her father to the point of repulsive madness and yearning for escape . when the killer ditches hk  he agrees to take her with him  and they go on the run together  love blooming en route . while the movie doesn  t linger on lovey  dovey stuff  our hearts go out to pei pei  s tragic character and her endless suffering . she renders the timid but valiant protagonist amazingly well  establishing that there aren  t any good or bad guys here  evinced by the highly sobering finale .  br    br   director cheang soi  s portfolio includes recent suspense thriller home sweet home and love battlefield with eason chan  two numbers likely surpassed in most accounts by dog bite dog  s sinister demeanor . cheang manages to keep dbd flowing throughout  and considering the many parts in play here  stands up to critical standards erected by people like johnny to in his watershed nocturnal epic the mission . a couple of glitches do come about  to wit edison miraculously shrugging off a shot to the chest  but these are highly forgivable .  br    br   marking triumphant returns for two young  talented performers of the kind hong kong needs if we want the city  s movie heyday to come back  dog bite dog doesn  t stand out for story . its forte lies in strong portrayals and style  buoyed along on the strength of thespian muscle and a keen eye for visual and auditory finesse .  br    br   hk has a long  time  honored tradition of stories to do with the city  s nighttime alter  ego  something dog bite dog upholds lovingly  amounting to a solid run if not an outright masterpiece .  br    br   rating      
impenetrable rubbish . this has to be one of the worst movies i have ever seen . the dialogue is ghastly  the horror effects are laughable . the only thing that kept me watching was the ever  splendid and totally underrated michael cule .  
as others have mentioned  all the women that go nude in this film are mostly absolutely gorgeous . the plot very ably shows the hypocrisy of the female libido . when men are around they want to be pursued  but when no  men  are around  they become the pursuers of a   year old boy . and the boy becomes a man really fast  we should all be so lucky at this age   . he then gets up the courage to pursue his true love .  
can a  pix ever  ever  ever do anything right  this movie was meant to be seen on tv in a letterbox format . since a  pix doesn  t even believe in pan and scan  we see whole scenes where a shoulder on the left side of the screen talks to a shoulder on the right side . of course  not that you are missing much . this movie is incredibly bad . it  s very hard to enjoy a film where characters are screaming at the top of their lungs during    of the movie for no reason .  
most reviews say that this is the weakest point in hamilton  s short movie career . this movie is a bit different from the rest  and considering it the best or the worst depends on what you expect from a movie  and what you expect from hamilton .  br    br   knowing hamilton as a photographer  you can be slightly surprised . while bilitis looks like his books in a movement with all those young girls discovering themselves and relations with each other on the edge of lesbian  with a plot connecting these scenes  laura concentrates on few characters what enables developing relations among them  male  female  artist  model  but though we see beautiful photos  many of them better than his average  their number is reduced for the sake of the plot . tendres cousines is different from both  it is only hamilton  s movie that looks more like a film than like a collection of moving photos . because of that it can be acceptable to wider audience than hamilton  s fans  looking like an erotic comedy  but not german soft  core type   schulmdchen report  fans would be very disappointed  . you won  t laugh a lot  but you can smile  and that  s something you don  t often get from hamilton  . unlike all other hamilton  s movies the age of female varies . unlike other movies main character is a boy . unlike his usual works this one isn  t put out of place and out of time . we have characters that live their life  have their destiny and don  t lead us only from one photo to another  from one nude girl to another .  br    br   unfortunately  hamilton  again  gets lost with a script in his hands . girls on beaches  under shower  in low  light rooms  in gardens  under tents  in front of mirrors  regardless of the amount of clothes  this is his territory  he can shoot minutes and hours  and whatever he does you  ll always feel the artist  s eye and hand behind it . but when he has to present us average everyday life he stops being hamilton and becomes average director who just follows the script . hamilton is best known for his nudes  but they are just a part of his work . and in tendres cousines we have a reverse situation his girls are not in the best shots . nature  garden  house remind us on hamilton  s work  often neglected part of it   while girls  even when nude  don  t have anything special in the way he presents us . maybe hamilton was confused having a boy in front of camera  maybe he was thinking about a line that censorship would accept  maybe he was really trying to make something new  and no one dared to tell him he shouldn  t   but he neglected what he was mostly praised for .  
here  s a horror version of priscilla queen of the desert  they wish   starring melinda  mindy  return of the living dead   clarke as candy  a desert dweller who pulls off a bank heist with boyfriend johnny  jason durr  . he ends up in a south  of  the  border prison run by the sadistic chief screw  an overacting robert englund in a toupee  . she and her beloved pet poodles end up in hiding at a gas station convent until they  re transformed by a newly fallen meteor . the dogs turn into obnoxious drag queen  bitches  and candy develops a very long  talking  killing forked tongue she can  t control . thugs looking for the stolen loot and other assorted numbskulls add extra complications .  br    br   first off  clarke is fantastic and makes what there is to make of this movie . you watch her and see someone very funny during the slapstick scenes  very convincing during the horror scenes and very sexy in various wigs and disguises  including an eye  popping  skin tight latex bodysuit . . . and wonder how come this actress isn  t a huge star . it  s too bad the rest of this cult attempt doesn  t live up to her promise .  br    br   blame director  scripter sciamma  who thinks the outlandish premise alone is enough to sustain laughs . . . but his vulgar gags  annoying supporting characters and stupid dialogue are no substitute for a real sense of humor . another nail in the coffin the film looks cheap  lots of garish colors and sets are strangely muted by muddy photography and the dusty desert locales . luckily for sciamma that clarke is in his film  because she alone keeps you watching .  
i would never have thought that it would be possible to make such an impressive movie without any music . but it is . just the pictures . watch out for that picture anne talking with that little boy benny  bout the soul . really strong . might make you feel different .  
so  i got a hold of this as an assignment for trent harris  who teaches occasionally in the film dept at the u of u . i guess this is his only real way to get anyone to see his film . . .  br    br   the documentary section at the beginning dragged on . yes  the kid is a nut  job from no where  but that  s not good enough to keep it interesting .  br    br   seeing sean penn dressed as a onj is the only highlight . . . and after about thirty seconds it loses all humor .  br    br   when crispin glover takes on larry  the story  telling was better  but i just couldn  t take anymore . . .  
i like david hamilton  s artistic photographs of nude women at the border of womanhood  sometimes erotic  though never pornographic . someone else liked them  too  because my david hamilton books were stolen . in one book were seen a few pictures of a young boy  obviously nude  intimate with a young woman older than he  also nude . though discrete  there was strong sexual connotation . new territory for david hamilton which proved to be either stills from the movie tendres cousines or perhaps photos taken on set .  br    br   the art of still photography unfortunately does not automatically translate to cinematography . soft focus becomes out  of  focus and discrete angles become confusing  perhaps because  in motion  they cannot be considered . you either see it or miss it and there  s no time to observe  to comprehend . the movie is supposed to be a farce  and funny things do happen  but it doesn  t  hang together   perhaps because the story develops so slowly and one may wonder just what  s going on . eventually  the    year  old julien has intercourse with his cousin  but it  s soft core  with no genital contact shown on camera . since it  s a farce  we have a disappointing virgin and an embarrassing caught in the act gag and  having caught them  julien  s father even gives him a cigarette to complete the experience . in fairness  the film is in french and conforms to french cinematic forms  which may just be too subtle for most americans even with english subtitles to help us phillistines along .  br    br   it  s been suggested that this film is child pornography and that certainly results from today  s climate where sexual exploitation of children is clearly a serious problem . nobody in their right mind wants to endorse or appear to endorse the sexual abuse of children  so there  s practically no room left for children to be seen in even the mildest erotic context without immediately activating alarms over sexual violence and exploitation . guys will think  lucky julien   even as they agree that sex and children in the movies is a  bad thing   all the while still wishing they could have been a julien at that age . women  too  may have similar thoughts  but all such considerations must be pushed out of one  s conscious mind . hysterically  the worst assumptions have become automatic and matters of children and sex are rigorously avoided . too bad  since sexual awakening is a real human experience . afer all  children do grow up and become sexual beings as julien does . it  s a fit literary subject  cinema included  but taboo under the threat of sexual violence against children . david hamilton  i think  was taking a risk to make a movie on this topic even in     . he was somewhat successful at exploring this sensitive topic  and  unfortunately  we  re unlikely to see better in the near future for fear of the child pornography label .  
former brat pack actor and all round pretty boy rob lowe stars in a film set in a high security american prison . i had a gut feeling his character was going to be popular for all the wrong reasons like tobias in the first series of oz  but proximity isnt that kind of film  its more like a  man on the run  film like the fugitive . it also makes a nod to the themes of punishment and justice with james coburn putting in a cameo as the spokesman for a justice for victims pressure group but any intelligent discussion on how society should treat criminals is completely ignored as the film degenerates into tired old cliches of shoot outs and car chases  
this movie documents the harlem ball circuit of the mid eighties . much more fun than than palazzo volpi  though just as diseased  this movie is a true gem of squalor . one cannot help but sympathize with the characters because of their freakness . the sole purpose of middle class intellectuals is to document the phenomenons of the trash and the glitz . here the most genius of trash is extremely well documented and duly glamorized . the characters  penchant for idolatry of all that is glamorous inspires even more adoration of the characters themselves on part of the viewer  creating a  phenomenon of a phenomenon  effect which makes this movie a piece of art .  
that is the only thing i can positive to say about this movie . cleveland is the star  i  ve been there and never saw the city look this good . beautiful river and cityscapes .  br    br   this movie moves ahead at such a pace they hope you won  t notice the lack of real world relevance . people running around and shooting guns without any consequence . for example  there is a shoot out at rob lowe  s character  s house  two cars are stolen  and yet the cops don  t show up there till much later in the movie . murder for hire never looked so implausible .  br    br   whoever wrote this movie should be on the receiving end of one the movies countless stray bullets . many of the actors in this movie are so much better than this . i check the date of the movie just to make sure it wasn  t written during the writers strike but alas this was not the case . this movie is currently in rotation on universal  s hd channel  unless you want to drool of over lowe there is no reason to watch it .  
after growing up in the gritty streets of detroit  mi  and having friends who traveled to new york balls  i fell into the lifestyle of being a house member . i joined the house of theieves . we adapted the same rules as most houses  but we were professional crooks that would boost and commit credit card fraud to obtain the fabulous jewels and clothes we desired . i even learned how to profess the making of checks and driver  s license and cash them in over seventeen states  until a jealous queen called the secret service on me and i went to federal prison . but  i learned a lot from these queens in this movie and i highly recommend you watch it yourself . you can even read about how i grew up in the houses here in detroit and the criminal activity we indulged in . my book  identity schemes is available on sale at amazon dot com or at identity schemes dot com . but trust me  it is a lot better than paris is burning  because its a     make .  
this thrown together piece of fecal matter adds together so many ludicrous scenarios that in the end it  s a laugh riot of absolute hilarity . too bad as the premise is promising  as it so often is in duhllywood   but in the hands of this scriptwriter it segues off into la la land .  br    br   lowe is in prison serving time for a dui that killed off his mistress . we get to see him having nightmares just so that we know he feels real bad about this . then his cell mate neighbor hangs himself . or does he  lowe has some suspicions but drops them quickly . his suspicions are so weak that the bad guys have nothing to worry about . so why do they then set him up to be killed  ah  that  s where this story could get interesting . that  s where it falls off the rails  and once off the rails it decides it can get away with insulting the viewers attention for the next numbing hour .  br    br   spoilers  br    br   i won  t bore with an endless recounting of the irrationality of what follows  but contemplate this ending . lowe has been trapped by the bad guys on a train . they want a tape he has  because that tape will screw their boss  and them . so on to the train come  cops  guns drawn  ready to rescue lowe . the bad guys kill the cops  in front of half the passengers and then . . . . continue chasing lowe to get the tape . hello     killing  cops in public will get you into deep doodo  to hell with the tape . yet off they go through a mall shooting up the place  as if the public did not exist as witnesses  and in the end lowe is grabbed and the bad guy still wants the tape     
i waited a while to post a review of this documentary because when i first saw it over   years ago  i wanted to think carefully about what i wanted to write .  br    br   i found from a documentary standpoint that this is a darned good documentary . it did what it set out to do  show me something i had no idea about and kept me interested in this world it explored . i knew nothing of the drag world and finding out about them and the  balls  was just spectacular to me . these folks were just so talented with what they do and how they do it  for competition . the catty folks  the complainers  even i was angry when someone told the judge that the coat the drag queen was wearing wasn  t a man  s coat    the jealous  it  s all there like in every other competition . like every other competition like it . which i felt was a point .  br    br   you had the older drag queen talking about how the balls  used  to be compared to the newer drag queens who have changed the balls and made more competition categories   and even those who looked on knowing that the future of balls would change even more when they were ready to walk the runway . it was interesting to hear that some of the contestants were living out on the street two minutes before the ball but came to compete  it was that important to them  then there was sad stories  stories of who  s  house  and  house mother  brought out the best and the brightest in competition . it was interesting .  br    br   now to add after   years of seeing this film  i lived through the so called  madonna  craze . i spotted a few familiar faces from this documentary who ended up with madonna during her  vogue  phase and rightfully so . if not for those individuals  madonna wouldn  t have had a  vogue  phase  i know that now . credit should be given where credit is due . makes me wonder  if anyone else from mainstream america would watch this documentary  they  ll learn they  re not as  mainstream  as they think .  
  proximity  tells of a convict  lowe  who thinks the prison staff is out to kill him . this very ordinary film is an action  drama with a weak plot stereotypical  poorly developed characters and a one dimensional performance by lowe . a forgettable film not worthy of further commentary .  
yeah this films is tops . cant recommend it more . gay or strait its a great doco for anyone who likes film . very funny  sad and interesting . never dull . great access . a film made with passion and interest in the subject matter . some of the performances and just amazing . if you only find this film on vhs it is still very worth watching . great .   out of   . i got to see part of this doco years about ten years ago and did not understand what i was watching . the interviews are very revealing about egos of the performers who are like heavy  weight boxers trying to punch their way out of the ghetto . the filmmaker was apparently a first timer so what an achievement . cool . track it down .  
an uptight voyeur who wants to commit suicide encounters a free spirited bad  seed who has  weeks to live and then they  re off to discover america . get the idea  there  s not an original moment in this whole movie .  
wonderfully put together . . i wish there was a follow up to this documentary to follow up with the lives of some and celebrate the lives of others lost . . . there should be a part two . . a real one . it was great . . the film wasn  t long enough . . i would like to know why the creator of the film did not follow up   this is so important to the community period . . well if your are reading this please consider doing another documentary of this sort . . . i am really tired of hearing from naive writers how aids and men go together when they don  t actually its the hetero  s that we need to look into . . this film didn  t even bother to mention hiv or aids and i was so glad for that . . i really appreciated the break downs and definitions too . thank you s much for allowing this film to exist .  
i remember watching this film back in    when it first came out  what an awful film . the acting was atrocious the plot was so flimsy it would or is that should have blew away in a breath of wind . i think it put me to sleep on more than one occasion  i was not tired that i remember . please avoid at all costs better still have all your teeth taken out with no anaesthetic cos that would be more entertaining . it  s just a pity i couldn  t give it a zero or a negative score . i wish i had not wasted my money getting this one from the video shop all i can say was that the tape it was on was still brand new practically hardly surprising as the film was so poor . if i remember right i sat  watched it with a girl i really wanted to go out with  the fact she was sat next to me was still not enough to keep me awake thats how bad this film was .  
the film really challenges your notions of identity and the society we live in . it is well made and very powerful . the persons in the film are honest and revealing about the world that exists outside of the normative ideological perspective . i believe it give great insight into a sub  culture who shakes the very ideas that the viewer has of society . it is shocking at times and more powerful because of it . some parts were difficult to watch  as most reality is  but it is not over done . its good the first time you watch it  but it becomes even better the second or third time around because you have had the chance to wrap your mind around the very topics they discuss and challenge .  
following the disasterous revolution  this film was pretty much the final nail in the coffin of goldcrest and thus the british film industry . the film is absolute pants  it  s full of music from the attempted mid     s jazz revival and based on a book  author that was briefly popular at that time and has deservedly sank back into obscurity . temple searched for ages trying to find suzette and came up with  th wonders patsy kensett another person who was briefly popular at the time . by the time the film came out of post production the jazz revival was over  as was kensett  s career and the film met a totally uncaring film public .  br    br   mediocre would be an overstatement for some of the worst  campest  cheesiest acting to ever grace the british silver screen watching it almost   years on and the film is truely cringeworthy .  
fifteen years later and paris is burning is still aflame . this is a classic in black gay films  right up there with the other honorary black gay films  the color purple and mahoganoy . this seminal work captures underground and underclass  i . e .  underserved  black and latin gay culture and community like no other work before or since  including all the sentimental harlem rennaissance gay retrospectives and renderings . they  re good  but this is the best  dare i say the only  real   film you  ll find on the subject . it  s relentlessy cunty  the classic house music invention  comes to hollywood  non  stop  hilarious camp  like only we do it  and dead  on social critique . all this by a white female director  who obviously must have been a sister gurl or mizz thing in a former life .  i could go on  but i think you get the point by now i love this movie   
recreation of      s  london  soho and the up  and  coming people . based on a cult novel .  br    br   julian temple is a video director . no more  no less . give him   million dollars and he will make you a   million dollar pop video . here he forgets that two minutes with people that can  t really act is one thing  but two hours  what was he thinking of . besides who are the audience  who cares about a book that was well remembered way  back  when . the usual london story of the chancer taking his chance .  br    br   what could really drag this film even further down  oh i know  third rate songs that sound like they were made up on the spot . david bowie crones the film title over and over a few times and that is the highlight . the soundtrack album is clay pigeon material .  br    br   there is one good thing though . good recreation of period soho . shame they couldn  t think of anything to put in front of it .  
when paris is burning came out  i totally dismissed it . i was not into the whole madonna and vogueing phenomenon . i thought it was going to be campy and silly . how wrong i was about this movie . i watched it after the movie had been out for ten years and i ran out and bought it . it took me back to a time and place of fun and excitement . i felt as though i knew all of the characters personally . the   s were spectacular and the movie captured the essence of the gay culture . what a terrific job  i went on the internet and found out what some of the original casts members were doing now but i have not been able to locate all of them . if any one has any information on any of the casts members please let me know .  br    br   i hope they make another documentary . i loved it  
  absolute beginners  was a film for the younger generation  a multi  time film that discussed the issues that teens were facing in britain and how these troubled  constantly hitting each note  teen  s problems can relate to the youth of tomorrow . it could have been dubbed the  moulin rouge  of the   s  but it disappeared . it made its very shallow mark on the world  snuck under the radar  and can now be found collecting dust at either the musical section  the comedy section  or the politically obscure section of that seedy video store that doesn  t need chain money to survive . alas  that wasn  t where i found it  but i found it  watched it  tried my hardest to sing along with it  stared into bowie  s eyes  but found myself faded by the end . did it not survive the test of time  is     s london too far removed from our current society  is bowie too creepy  i think  absolute beginners  falls somewhere into each of these questions as the perfect example of cinema that starts out with a bang  but withers to a mere sparkle by the end .  br    br    absolute beginners  opens with a huge number that takes us through the non  gritty streets of london which involve theft nightly  prostitutes on every corner  dance throughout  booze like rivers  and the swankiest ties on nearly every individual . sounds like a place we would all hate to be  right  director julien temple keeps the mood light and flashy throughout most of the songs as we attempt to learn something about a plethora of our main characters . the one we follow most is colin played by eddie o  connell who follows his dreams of being a photographer while shooting his favorite girl  suzette  played by patsy kensit  . these two have chemistry  and while suzette looks like a pre  rehab lohan  to me they worked . there was a huge spark between them  the chemistry was like lava  and i believed that these two could take me down a road i had never traveled . i was ready  but then  something happened . temple takes us out of the nightlife  takes us out of the city we grew up with at the beginning  and completely reverses the roles without any dedication to the first . suzette runs away  colin becomes a pervert  and bowie  well  i am not quite sure what his role is but he sings amazingly well while climbing a mountain  i can tell you that much . temple gives us this flashy city  this opportunity to see those that inhabit it  but leaves us hanging high and dry when it is time to pull the trigger . we learn about colin  mainly  but nobody else . i could probably watch this film again and still be equally confused as to whom is angry at whom  and what importance fashion had to that era . also  were they teens really  they all seemed like they were pushing their late   s  but maybe it was my tv .  br    br   character development thrown right out the door  temple tries to overcompensate by giving us bigger  more lavish songs using even more characters that we know nothing about . one of my favorite songs in the film uses this thought as a prime example . temple uses a split house to show us the lives of colin  s parents  of which i didn  t know it was them until after the film  and a song which screams apathy . great song  too many characters  not enough time  suddenly dragged into another scene of missing coherency  and it just falls apart in your hands . then  if that wasn  t enough  we are rocking our heads to the beat of some great songs  rubbing our noggin  trying to understand where our characters are or are going  and temple throws in hatred  anger  and politics into the final act . while i was hoping that this film would have a dedicated theme  i didn  t think racism would be on the top of the bill . suddenly  friends are missing  people are angry  and there is some random guy running around fighting colin because he lives in poverty and has a friend of a different race  somebody help me out here . it seemed completely rushed and overwhelming  nearly to the point of wanting to turn the film off . to me  the ending of  absolute beginners  was nowhere near the excitement from the opening number . that first part set the pace  and temple could not keep up .  br    br   overall  i must say that temple can direct a music video  but i don  t think he was quite prepared for the feature film . i don  t think this film will ever make it into full  cult  status  and will probably remain unremembered or in the dollar bin for years to come . it is a fun film to watch initially  but when we get to that final part  it just explodes from the inside . i wanted some cutting edge work  but instead what i found was a freaky bowie coupled with characters i cared nothing for . i could see how this film could relate to the youth of the   s  but by the end it just felt forced . i think everyone in this production should have taken a moment and listened to  motivation  by the ever  freaky bowie in this film  it may have helped solidify this feature into better cult status . i am glad that i watched this film once  but that is all that my small brain can take . i loved the way that temple caught me from the beginning  but he couldn  t control his characters  way too many   and the songs didn  t seem to match the final moments of the film . it came out of nowhere  and it was unwelcomed . if this was a film about racism  it needed to be from the beginning .  absolute beginners  was a welcomed adventure  but i don  t think i will be dusting this film off in the future .  br    br   grade  out of   
growing up in nyc in the late    s  early    s club  scene  i can personally say this is one of the most important documentaries made in covering that place in this time period . no madonna did not come up with the idea of voguing but this is where she got it from  instead of taking out violence on each other or in bitchy cat fights  voguing allowed people to  fight  within the confines of everything short of touching each other  which would warrant an automatic disqualification  . seeing these kind of extraordinarily talented  well orchestrated  throw  downs  in the clubs was nothing short of spectacular and all the big names from back in the day are here . . . pepper la beija  paris dupre  xtragavaganza  etc . . . all commemorated in the likes of such period  pieces as malcom mclaren  s song  deep in vogue  . . . it didn  t matter who you were  or where you were from because when you walked through those doors into this  magic kingdom  of sorts  you became part of something bigger than yourself  you were important  and most importantly the creation of your own moves and imagination . . . and anybody from anywhere could become king  or queen  as the case may have been . the words and wit were just as sharp as the moves on the floor . all of the tension  excitement  and magic of that very urban nyc energy is captured in this film . brilliant    please release on dvd for the world to see    thank you   
this movie is horrible if you pay attention to it . it  s a perfect movie if you just watch the colorful images dance across the screen  each one with no apparent connection to the next . i rented this movie because i  m a david bowie fan  and i really appreciate musicals . in finality  bowie was in the film for a total of ten minutes and the songs and dance sequences were sparse and left something to be desired . the moral of the story was really befuddling . i couldn  t tell if it was about racial issues in london in the     s or about not selling out . for the first half of the movie i was chuckling at how cheesy it was but i liked the campiness of the  no selling out  message . when blacks started being murdered i thought my tape had gotten messed up . maybe i rented half of two different movies  nope  there was a  keep britain white  song and dance sequence . i  m sorry  but wwii is not something you can write a musical about . at least not a musical that could conceivably be described as  campy  as i have several times in this review . overall i  d say this movie could do a whole lot better if it made up its mind and cast better actors .  and put david bowie in it for longer goddammit   my grade c   
wow  i have seen so many bad low budget films lately  but this one is great . the very realistic portrayal of police life in a city on the east german coast is a strong contrast to other crime movies or series . i loved the main actress and the absolute rejection of any prevalent clich about the police . this film is realistic like a documentation and entertaining like a drama at the same time . a perfect tradeoff   
how did this become a blockbuster  dear god i don  t know where to start why this movie sucked too much . the movie was predictable  there was no originality . the only thing i can admire is the acting of some characters . the movie was too bright  they should have done something with the lighting  eg . making the environment more darker . the make up on certain dead characters made this movie look like a     horror flick . this is      people don  t get scared by other people wearing heavy make up . most of the horror scenes we  re taken from other hollywood or asian horror movies . total rip off  this is why i don  t watch tagalog movies . the only reason why so many people  screamed  while watching this movie is because of conformity . how many times do we have to copy scenes from the ring and improvise it that instead of the girl coming out of the tv  its now coming from the window next door  no matter how you put it  its still a rip off . if you want a good horror movie  go watch the   best horror movie listed on this website .  
documentary starts in     in nyc where black and hispanic drag queens hold  balls  . that  s where they dress up however they like  strut their stuff in front of an audience and are voted on . we get to know many of the members and see how they all hold together and support each other . as one man says to another    you have three strikes against you   you  re black  gay and a drag queen  . these are people who  sadly  are not accepted in society   only at the balls . there they can be whoever and whatever they want and be accepted . then the film cuts to three years later       and you see how things have changed  tragically for some  .  br    br   sounds depressing but it  s not . most of the people interviewed are actually very funny and get a lot of humor out of their situations . they  re well aware of their position in society and accept it with humor   just as they should . we find out they all live in  houses  run by various  mothers  and all help each other out . the sense of community in this film is fascinating .  br    br   when this film came out in     it was controversial   and a big hit . it won best documentary awards at numerous festivals   but was never even nominated for an academy award . their reason was  black and hispanic drag queens are not academy material  . fascinating isn  t it  homophobia and racism all together .  br    br   seen today it  s still a great film   and a period piece . it just isn  t like that anymore   the ny they show no longer exists . the balls are still held but not in the spirit we see here . also drag has become more  accepted  in society  for better or worse  . and i  ve heard the houses are gone too . that  s kind of sad . i would like to know where these characters are now   i know two died of aids but i have no idea about the others . and what did happen to that   year old and   year old shown   br    br   still  it a one of a kind documentary   fascinating  funny and riveting . a must see all the way  a definite   . where  s the dvd     
the film is based on a genuine     s novel .  br    br   journalist colin mcinnes wrote a set of three  london novels    absolute beginners    city of spades  and  mr love and justice  . i have read all three . the first two are excellent . the last  perhaps an experiment that did not come off . but mcinnes  s work is highly acclaimed and rightly so . this musical is the novelist  s ultimate nightmare  to see the fruits of one  s mind being turned into a glitzy  badly  acted  soporific one  dimensional apology of a film that says it captures the spirit of     s london  and does nothing of the sort .  br    br   thank goodness colin mcinnes wasn  t alive to witness it .  
an excellent documentry . i personally remember this growing up in nyc in the early    s . this movie is for anyone that wasn  t around during that time period . this shows the one thing the african american gay underclass felt was solely theirs and the love and camadrie you see is real . the people are real and sadly few are still alive as this is being written . the balls are still held but not to the extent that they were in the the nineteen eighties . that time is gone forever . this is a good pre  homo thug  movie . when queens were really proud to be extroverts . goodbye to storyville this is another era gone but greatly documented all hail film   
if you  ve read the original novel  as i did  you will probably hate this thing .  br    br   the film version of  absolute beginners  is a nightmarish conglomerate of     s anachronisms attempting to create a  period piece  set in the late     s and failing to re  create or even pay homage to that period   the us monstrosity of  dirty dancing  does similar to      except that film proved financially successful despite having equally amateurish screen writing . in addition to suffering from  looking too     s   the characters have been changed  re  arranged  and downplayed to the point that the only characteristics they have in common with those of the novel are the slightest superficial looks and  of course  their names suze is transformed from the narrator  s flighty ex  girlfriend and promiscuous negrophile who willingly plans to marry a closeted old queen for money  at her own admittance in the first few pages  into a hapless and naive  eve   archetype seduced by fame and glamour  exploited and somehow scammed into a sham marriage by her boss  who surprisingly wasn  t given a van dyke and pointy hairstyle . she and the narrator  re  named  colin   after the book  s author  colin macinnes  for the film  are also in a relationship .  br    br   big jill  s character  a lesbian seemingly butch yet  fop like  in her mid    s who acts as pimp to a cadre of young and bubble  headed lesbians  and one of the narrator  s closest friends  dispensing frank wisdom to the narrator  is reduced to a sort of  named extra  with only a few throw  away lines  and tonnes of comical outfits .  br    br   the fabulous hoplite  a gay young man and another close friend of the narrator in the novel  is also reduced to the point of being pointless in the film  camped  up and all but ignored .  br    br   the narrator  s father in the novel is a sort of sad minor character but in the film  he  s played to come off as optimistic and oddly spirited despite the squalid neighbourhood  and the disarray of his marriage to the narrator  s mum seems  for all practical purposes  ignored .  br    br   in its favour  the music  for what it is  is well  composed  and you have to give the production and writing crews credit for actually taking a line from the book   . . . some days  they  ll write musicals about the     s . . .   as their inspiration to write a musical  but in the world of bad camped  up musicals  this is among the most poorly executed in the bunch . unlike  shock treatment  or  starstruck  crucial plot elements are treated as afterthoughts . unlike  the apple   there is a choppy and uneven flow between musical numbers and spoken dialogue .  br    br   you really can  t blame it  s  too     s  feel on the fact that it was created in the     s . the film version of  annie  released in      pays a wonderfully well  executed tribute to the look and feel of new york city in the     s  and  napolean dynamite  manages to capture a gritty sort of look and feel of the     s despite being made on a low budget in      though it  s not explicitly set in the     s  those who lived through the decade cannot deny that the film  feels very     s   . obviously  it was  possible  to make something good out of this  especially considering the iconic status that the source novel has in the uk  but it fails most apparently in the look and feel  and also in its treatment of the source material  which is downright disrespectful .  br    br   perhaps if you haven  t read and have no intentions of reading the novel  you could enjoy this campy     s anachronism giving a shameful parody of late      s soho london  s modernist jazz set . i can definitely see what the writing team were attempting  but they definitely could have done better . with boy george as a household name and mixed  race musicians and bands on the charts in     uk  they definitely did  not  need to bowdlerise the characters in the ways that they ended up doing . in fact  i  d go so far as saying that the writers wound up doing what both the book and film criticised harshly   it ended up having a bunch of adults cranking out crap and treating its targeted teen  aged audience like two  bit idiots to make a quick buck off of .  
this film came out   years years ago  and was a revelation even for people who knew something of the drag scene in new york . the textbooks on drag performance say nothing of these vogueing houses . anthony slide  s  great pretenders  says nothing . julian fleisher  s  the drag queens of new york an illustrated field guide  with its flow chart of influence that pulls together julian eltinge  minette  the warhol queens  and the   s club scene  and postdates the film  ignores the houses completely . even laurence senelick  s  the changing room   the closest thing that we have to a definitive book on drag performance rushes quickly past the film and does not give the background information that one would have expected from it .  br    br   i understand from the film itself  and various articles i found on the web that this house system goes back decades . the major film performance by a house member prior to     seems to be chrystal la beija in  the queen       . the historical context is the biggest missing part of  paris is burning  .  br    br   the film is valuable because it focuses on a scene otherwise being ignored . it is a valuable snapshot of life in     . the unfortunate fact that venus xtravaganza was murdered during filming provides a very dramatic ending  but this is not the only film about transsexuals to include a real  life murder . as we now know  dorian corey had a mummified corpse in her literal closet  but this did not come out until three years later .  br    br   of historical importance  but we still need someone to do either a book or a documentary film that provides more context .  
i  ve seen the movie only recently  although it appeared in     . i hoped to see an entertaining movie  but let me tell you  princess blade is nothing compared to azumi . the  princess  is not very talkative  as you may have noticed . . . she reminded me of jean claude van damme  who only stared to make his point  then beat the crap out of the opponents . during the entire movie  i waited to hear at least a confession about what she liked  why was she fighting  who did she love and trust . i waited in vain . crappy movie . crappy dialog . don  t watch it unless you want to be bored out of your minds  it  s so bad  that in the end i was wondering how i managed not to scream in frustration  and a half hour . approximately . i give a     .  
first of all i am a butch  straight white male . but even with that handicap i love this movie . it  s about real people . a real time and place . and of course new york city in the    s . i had many gay friends growing up in new york in the eighties and the one thing about them i always admired was their courage to live their lives the way they wanted to live them . no matter what the consequences . that  s courageous . you have to admire that . this is a great film  watch it and take in what it was like to be a flamboyant african american or hispanic gay man in the new york of the eighties . it  s real life . bottom line it  s real life .  
judging by some of the comments in imdb  i was expecting an action movie  perhaps a dramatic one or a stupid one or a simple one or a comicy one  but essentially an action movie .  br    br   whatever it is that i watched  it certainly didn  t feel like a movie . the story is simple and straightforward  even though the prologue tries to make it seem complicated  . take three interest groups   the government   the rebels   a group of assassins .  br    br   now subtract the first  they never appear in the movie  . then simply let one of the assassins  the princess  become a rogue on a revenge trip . add in a rebel love  interest with a guilty conscience . and you  ve got the ingredients .  br    br   but they still did not manage to turn it into a story or a movie . between some random action sequences and some odd visuals trying to be sci  fi on a low budget  what you  re left with is a feeling of emptiness . the movie just does not feel like a movie  but a weird  incoherent  boring dream .  br    br   avoid .  br    br        
while many unfortunately passed on  the ballroom scene is still very much alive and carrying on their legacy . some are still very much alive and quite well  octavia is more radiant and beautiful than ever  willi ninja is very accomplished and gives a great deal of support to the gay community as a whole  pepper labeija just passed on last year of natural cause  may she rest in peace . after anji  s passing carmen became the mother of the house of xtravaganza  she was in the beach scene  and she is looking more and more lovely as well . some balls have categories dedicated to those who have passed  may they all rest in peace . there is currently another project underway known as  how do i look    you can check out the website at www . howdoilooknyc . org .  
i registered for imdb just to comment on this movie .  br    br   i just got done sitting through this movie  and the only thing that impressed me  was that i somehow had the will power to not stop it .  br    br   i  ve seen a pretty decent number of action movies and what not  but princess blade has some of the worst fights i  ve ever seen in a movie . most of the sword fighting involves mindlessly swinging the swords back and fourth and hoping the opponent isn  t doing the same . i  ve seen a good many student films with better action and stronger plots .  br    br   so now we have a  futuristic  action movie with poor action  and virtually no sign of the future .  br    br   most of the movie doesn  t even have any action and shows the developing relationship with the princess and the farmboy  terrorist and his disturbed sister . the movie has multiple plot lines  and none of them really pan out to be worth anything .  br    br   part of the problem may have been that i watched the dub  which was quite bad . the entire cast mumbled all their lines so it was hard to follow what was going on . but i got the general idea .  knowing exactly what was said would not have saved the movie in my eyes   br    br   if you  ve heard about this being a futuristic action  ninja flick  then you  ve heard wrong . thats what i thought it was when i heard about it  and now i  ve lost   minutes of my life . don  t let this happen to you . steer well clear of it .  
in the beginning of this film  one of the commentators says that he was told that he has two strikes against him he is black and male . but in addition to that  he has a third strike he  s gay .  you  re going to have to be stronger than you ever imagined   he is told .  paris is burning  is a documentary about gay black and hispanic men who are tranvestites or transsexuals .  br    br   the miracle of  paris is burning  is that director jennie livingston takes a subject that could have very easily become a freak show and allows the people in it their humanity . we learn their views of homosexuality  men  women  their hopes  their disappointments  their dreams . some of these dreams are so unattainable it  s tragic . many of the people are seriously in denial  br    br   this is not a film for everyone . there are shots in this movie of nude transsexuals . if you have a problem with homosexuality  then this movie isn  t for you . but if you do see this movie you  ll realise  paris is burning  isn  t really about men wearing women  s clothes  it  s about a group of people who are routinely marginalised and put down by society at large  and what they do to get a sense of community in their lives .  br    br   i  ve watched this movie four times since it was released in      because it says so many things it  s a commentary about materialism in our culture  about gender roles  about rich and poor people  about the media and what it celebrates  about fame and adulation .  paris is burning  is one of the most humane  and one of the saddest  movies i  ve ever seen .  
in the recent movement to bring asian films over to america  this is the last movie that should be released here . being a big fan of asian movies from all genres  i was browsing the net and came across this soong to be re  released into the us market so i decided to check it out ahead of time and rent this at a local video store .  br    br   trust me . . . the action scenes are incredibly disappointing  crouching tiger and iron monkey completely blew this movie out of the water . jet li would fall asleep watching the fighting sequences . if you  re looking for martial arts entertainment  your time would be better off with a jackie chan flick     br    br   moreover . . . you think you  re going to watch a martial arts with about a girl engulfed in vengence for her parents death but surprise    a good hour of this movie in the middle has is filled with dialogue  an absense of action  the lack of devloping a tangent plot  pretty much nothing to do with the premise we are exposed to . it has more to do with the relationship between her and the boy  and the boy with his conspiracy group in which the producer  director dedicated no time in elbaorating  and yet dedicated a portion of the film dragging the issue . would of been much better off if they had just cut that whole hour and developed the story in itself through another film and focus on the martial arts aspect .  br    br   speaking of which  i really don  t believe the choreographer of iron monkey  did the action sequence in princess blade . i was completely insulted in the frequent usage of slow motion and quick camera changes to portray the assassins physical swiftness . i just didn  t buy it .  br    br   please . . . i  m warning you to please do not waste your time  money with this movie . the premise is intrigueing  and the trailer might even tempt you but i am positive that this movie is not suited for the public  maybe in japan but not in the states  and will be the worst film brought over to the states from the asian film industry .  
this movie documents a transformative experience for a group of young men  and the experience of watching it is in itself transformative for the viewer . few movies even aspire to this level of transcendence  and i can think of no other movie   documentary or drama   that achieves it . there is no other movie in which i have both laughed so much and cried so much . yes  it is about dmd and accessible travel on those issues alone  it is a worthwhile venture  but it is more . it is about friendship . it is about life itself  about living every day that you  re alive . and it  s a great  fun  adventurous narrative . this is why god created the cinema  see this movie     
there is simply no use in trying to glorify any part of this film .  br    br   it was straight up trash . at the very beginning you might think that you are in for a visually stunning piece of cinematography . . . and then shortly thereafter you are hit with a large sack  burlap  of fail  the fighting is barely martial  the acting is teetering on the edge of par  and the music is not worth describing . there is only enough of a story to have created an excuse for this film to have been made . the decisions that the characters make and the way that they deal with the situations is weak  and did nothing but frustrate me . i think that the only reason this film came about was to act as a bit of fan service by using yumiko shaku .  
this is a must  see documentary movie for anyone who fears that modern youth has lost its taste for real  life adventure and its sense of morality . darius goes west is an amazing roller  coaster of a story . we live the lives of darius and the crew as they embark on the journey of a lifetime . darius has duchenne muscular dystrophy  a disease which affects all the muscles in his body . he is confined to a wheelchair  and needs round  the  clock attention . so how could this crew of young friends possibly manage to take him on a      mile round  trip to the west coast and back  watch the movie and experience the ups and downs of this great adventure  laugh and cry with the crew as they cope with unimaginable challenges along the way  and enjoy the final triumph when they arrive back three weeks later in their home town to a rapturous reception and some great surprises   
as much as i like japanese movies this one didn  t just cut it . . . a movie that is supposed to be about rebels and the survival of a royal blood line turned out to be a very slow paced movie with a doubtful plot .  br    br   the photography is ok  though i  ve seen much better sword fight scenes in other japanese movies  the fast cameras and the way they followed the characters didn  t convince me at all . the soundtrack is so weak you don  t even notice its presence . but worst of all was the way the plot evolved . i have to admit that  at some times  i had a hard time understanding who was who and what was going on . . . anyway the platonic love between the main character and another one was completely unnecessary and seemed to come from a hollywood influence .  br    br   all in all  if your looking for an action japanese movie this isn  t it . its very slow  with very few sword fight scenes and very sentimental . . . in a bad way . . .  
i tracked the trip two years ago on the internet  now i  ve seen the film   what a ride  and what a trip to finally get to know darius weems  such a courageous  wise  funny and talented spirit  and what a crew  to listen to darius laughing from being in the water at panama city  to see his trepidation of being too close to alligators in louisiana  the wonder in his eyes as he rode in a hot air balloon  the excitement of rafting through some rapids  the bet to eat a spoonful of wasabi  and the phone calls home  and as always  boys will be boys . this film needs to be seen by everyone  young and old alike . darius and his mother are models of strength and courage . and the crew members are testaments to the heart of the younger generation . they got darius a new wheelchair they documented accessibility problems they took darius on the trip of his life and they touched many  many lives . by raising awareness of dmd and encouraging funding for research  this film will help accomplish the final goal of darius goes west  a cure for dmd .  
robert colomb has two full  time jobs . he  s known throughout the world as a globetrotting tv reporter . less well  known but equally effortful are his exploits as a full  time philanderer .  br    br   i saw vivre pour vivre  dubbed in english with the title  live for life .  some life  robert seems to always have at least three women in his life one mistress on her way out  one on her way in  and the cheated wife at home . it helps that robert is a glib liar . among his most useful lies are i  ll call you tomorrow  and my work took longer than planned .  he spends a lot of time and money on planes  trains and hotel rooms for his succession of liaisons . you wonder when this guy will get caught with his pants down .  br    br   some may find his life exciting  but i thought it to be tedious . his companions  including his wife  catherine  are all attractive and desirable women . but his lifestyle is so hectic and he is so deceitful  you wonder if he  s enjoying all this .  br    br   adding to the tedium is considerable footage that doesn  t further the plot . there are extended sections with no dialogue or french  only dialogue . we see documentaries of wars  torture  and troop training interspersed with the live action . when robert  s flight returns from africa  we wait and wait for the plane to land and taxi to the airport terminal .  br    br   annie girardot is the standout performer in this film . hers was the most interesting character and she played it to perfection . it was also nice to see candice bergen at the beginning of her career . i can  t find fault with yves montand  s performance of what was basically an amoral bum .  br    br   i enjoyed some of claude lelouch  s novel techniques . in a hotel room scene  the camera pans around the room as robert and his mistress argue . we catch sight of them briefly during each pass around the room . in another scene set on a sleeping car of a train  robert is lying on the upper bunk while his wife is on the lower . robert is giving his wife some important but distressing news  but we hear only parts of it because of the clatter of the train . i sensed that his wife was also unable to absorb every word due to the shocking nature of the news . i also liked the exciting safari scenes in africa . the cinematography of those scenes and of those in amsterdam was superb .  br    br   i reviewed this movie as part of a project at the library of congress . i  ve named the project fifty   notable films forgotten within   years . as best i can determine  this film  like the other forty  nine i  ve identified  has not been on video  telecast  or distributed in the u . s . since its original release . in my opinion  it is worthy of being made available again .  br    br    
i saw this film at the santa barbara film festival  and there was not a dry eye in the house . it is incredible to see not only what a great person darius is  but how admirable the rest of the team is too and at such a young age .  br    br   it also made me think how disgusting mtv was  and how on being given an opportunity to involve and inspire in a positive way  they declined . shows you whether they really care about the youth and their viewers at all .  br    br   it  s a wonderful and heart warming true story . . . take your tissues but it  s great to see how caring and inspiring youth of today can be .  
boring  badly written italian exploitation flick . lots of nudity  gore and awful acting . the werewolf makeup was the only thing that would raise a laugh . complete rubbish  even for fans of cheesy italian horror . please avoid .  
there are many police dramas doing the rounds . i am not sure why . it  s probably to do with the old basic theme of good versus evil .  br    br   this film has a documentary style as we follow the difficult initiation of anne  a raw recruit  into a police squad stationed in the baltic area . no attempt is made to glamorise the police . they are truly down to earth  harsh at times and unforgiving  anne on the other hand has a soft heart perhaps a little more understanding of the human condition . against all rules she sometimes holds back incriminating information found on her strip searches and other investigations .  br    br   this is not a pleasant film . not one to relax you . there is not much feeling of optimism in it . the police seem to be involved in a losing battle . tomorrow there will be more bashings  more murders  more family break  ups  and more distressed children . let  s face it . this is the world we live in .  br    br   as days go by anne becomes more intimately involved with the police and with the families they are investigating . the only real warmth in the film is that provided by the character benny  a   year old from a broken family . anne has her own way of patching things up . she turns a blind eye to benny  s shoplifting and tries to help him as best she can . i was surprised though that she went so far as to seduce benny  s father . it set me wondering if it was in consideration of the father or her own needs . after all  the film makes it clear that she was desperately in need of a partner and loving children .  br    br   well cast but not my idea of an evening  s entertainment   
i would have given this movie a  out of   if it weren  t for ms . claudine barretto  s performance . and i will take this time to overlook that kris aquino  s here . and . . . end .  br    br   i really avoid watching pinoy horror movies because stories lack originality and i really think that  some  writers don  t give enough attention to the characters  and their progression  in their stories  redundant    . it was as if they  pushed  the movie onwards when their storytelling stank . and my goodness  creative exhaustion led them to rip  off other movies . why   why did this movie get a good review   i wouldn  t give it that much merit . the movie was kind of scary  but the movie seemed more freaky as it deals with filipino folklore . . . it goes into my list of  most likely to happen  category . i just wished they spent more time improving the story lines and fix those flash back sequences  never mind if the lighting sucked  it wouldn  t matter much if the content would blow you away . . sayang .  
yes i have a copy of it on vhs uncut in great condition that i transfered to dvd and if anyone one wants to bring back the memories of a christmas classic please emil me at dmd     verizon . net . i searched everywhere and i found nothing on this and i thought that i cant be the only one on this planet that has this classic on tape there has to be other people and if they do i fit in with them being that very very few that has this classic so i consider myself lucky and i have all of the muppets christmas except one that john denver did with the muppets again i thinks its called a smokey mountain holiday im not to sure but its close .  
you have to admire brad sykes even if you don  t particularly want to  a man who churns out budget horror after budget horror to less than enthusiastic receptions . but keeps on doing it all the same . even the half  hearted praise than surrounds his camp blood films is given grudgingly and i  m as guilty of this as anyone . brad normally manages to throw something interesting into the mix  a neat idea  a kooky character  whatever  but without the funds to take it further than base level  he relies on the audience to cut him some slack and appreciate it for what it is and what it could be . joe haggerty gives a spirited and very funny performance as ebenezer jackson and its a credit to sykes that he can sense that this oddball turn is going to work within the framework of the film . coming to a multiplex near you  in a parallel universe  somewhere .  
this movie is a touching story about an adventure taken by    year  old darius weems . darius has duchenne muscular dystrophy  a still un  curable disease that took the life of his brother at age nineteen and is the number one killer of babies in the united states . him and a few close friends travel across the country to los angeles with the goal of getting his wheelchair customized on mtv  s  pimp my ride  one of his favorite shows . the journey begins in georgia  where darius grew up and has never left . the gang head west for a trip that all its participants will never forget . darius gets to ride in a boat for the first time  ride in a hot air balloon  swim in the ocean and visit sights he  s always wanted to see like the grand canyon and new orleans . the filmmakers here clearly have an emotional connection to the material . they make no money from sales of the    dvds .    goes toward researching the disease and   goes toward making more copies . the film has won over   awards at festivals and i agree with the quote given to the film by variety   certain to stir hearts  .  
very strange but occasionally elegant exploitation movie with no real story  but benefiting from its stunningly ravishing lead actress and a handful of nice  gruesome make  up effects . daniella is a beautiful twenty  something girl  carrying with her the trauma of being raped at the age of   . nightmares and hallucinations lead her further into believing she  s the reincarnation of a female ancestor who was said to be a werewolf . she kills her brother  in  law during a nightly encounter and gets submitted in a hospital . she escapes again  however  and randomly devours more men whilst on the run for police detectives  doctors and relatives . it  s all pretty to look at and listen too  really great soundtrack   but the absence of plot and continuity become irritating quite fast . luckily enough  leading lady annik borel rarely ever wears clothes and she fills up the boring moments by dancing naked around a fire . the film is too long  too weird and too forgettable . the biggest surprise comes at the end  when suddenly and out of the blue  director rino di silvestro tries to make us believe that his movie was based on true facts . yeah  right . . .  
darius goes west is an amazing documentary about a teenager  weems  with duchenne muscular dystrophy  and his   friends who take him on a cross  country trip to see if  pimp my ride  will pimp out his wheelchair .  br    br   i recently watched this movie at the sunscreen film festival . it played twice over the course of the festival . this movie is an amazing story about the human spirit  and the spirit of weem  s friends . i do not say this often about movies  but after watching this movie  i feel moved to do something towards the cause . every festival this movie has taken part in  this movie has won an award of some kind . it is in the tribeca film festival  and it is going to london and athens  greece . i would not be surprised if this movie went all the way to the academy awards . it is snowballing out of control . if anyone has a chance to see this movie  wherever it is playing  go  take as many people as possible  and go  it is heading to new orleans for a film festival  then on to atlanta and palm beach  fl . darius is from georgia  so i expect the tickets for the atlanta showing will be sold out quickly  if they are not already . please  go see this movie  dgw  talk about it   br    br    kish  
this film ends with a speech in which the narrator tells us the fates of two of the lead characters and that the names of people and places have been changed . . . before telling us that relation to actual people and events are purely coincidental . this ending line actually sums up everything that has gone before it as rino di silvestro  s messy film completely lacks vision  and if there is any point to the plot it wasn  t put there on purpose . werewolf woman is often seen as a guilty pleasure or a  so bad it  s good  film  but i completely disagree . normally  i enjoy films like this but werewolf woman is indeed a bad film  and despite all the sex and savagery on display it doesn  t even make for a fun watch  and that really is unforgivable . the film really doesn  t have much plot  but the thin sliver we are given involves a young woman  who also happens to dream that she is a werewolf . she dreams of going out and finding men  having sex with them and eventually killing them . back in the real world  she falls in love  but her lover is killed and she goes out for revenge . . .  br    br   the film is made up of scenes of sex and gore  which are padded out with extremely dull talking sequences in which various characters mull over the recent events . these scenes are probably there to forward the plot and build characters but they really don  t do that  and succeed only in turning what could have been a passable exploitation romp into an extremely underwhelming film . it would seem that the director was more interested in style and atmosphere than the plot  and this is shown by the fact that the film looks and sounds nice . the sex scenes are often overlong and not very erotic  but the gore works well . the premise is ripe for giving way to a very sexy slice of exploitation  as there  s plenty of naked women  and the fact that the central character has a werewolf origin means that there could be plenty of erotica but this isn  t capitalised on  and while i can stomach huge doses of bad acting and poorly done plot lines  i really can  t stand watching films and being bored . overall  i wouldn  t even recommend this film to big exploitation fans . there  s plenty of better stuff than this out there  and while the title may sound intriguing  the film isn  t .  
darius goes west is a film depicting american belief that everything is possible if you try hard enough . this wonderful fun filled and sometimes heartbreaking film shows a young man who never expected  but longed to see  what was outside the confines of his lovely city of athens  ga . darius wished to see the ocean . his longtime friends logan  ben and several other good friends decided to make darius  wish come true . they started small  ben  logan  s mom started an email campaign to bring awareness to darius  condition duchenne muscular dystrophy and to raise funds for the fellas to take darius to not only see the ocean but to see these great united states . to say the young college buddies succeeded in bringing hope and awareness to this dreaded disease would be an understatement . they realized darius  dream and then some . they put their lives on hold while showing love  care and tons of fun to darius while helping darius see how he can in turn show those same traits to others suffering from dmd . darius went on to volunteer for the red cross  sitting in his chair collecting money  along with his buddies  outside a local grocery store . his wonderful smile tells the world that dreams do come true  all you need is hope and a group of college friends to support and care for you . give darius and all the guys an oscar  no one else deserves it more . martha sweeney .  
daniella has some issues brewing under her attractive exterior . she starts to lose her mind when she finds out about a distant relative  who she resembles  that was burned for being a werewolf . she goes a bit feral when she beads horny men and slashes out their throats . she does eventually find a man that helps contain her inner beast but when others ruin their bliss she extracts her violent and furry revenge .  br    br    werewolf woman  isn  t a very goof film but it does pose as a good crowd film . a fun time could be had by harping the bad acting  dubbing  translation and the just plain cheesiness of the production . but on it  s own it moves slowly but does have ample nudity to keep you awakebarely .  
i have one word to someup this movie  wow  i saw  darius goes west  at the tribeca film festival . people in the theater were sobbing . this movie shows the hardships that darius sufferes with muscular dystrophy . the movie was very well done and really made you part of the movie  i was so emotionally moved by the movie because it made us remember that we are very fortunate to be perfectly healthy  some people in this world are less fortuate then us . and sometimes we should give them a had and help them  to the very end . i would give them ten stars  they gave darius a had when they weren  t asked to  they did  t do it for the money they did it for a friend in need  darius  the world should know  darius went west .  
  a young woman suffers from the delusion that she is a werewolf  based upon a family legend of an ancestor accused of and killed for allegedly being one . due to her past treatment by men  she travels the countryside seducing and killing the men she meets . falling in love with a kind man  her life appears to take a turn for the better when she is raped and her lover is killed by a band of thugs . traumatized again by these latest events  the woman returns to her violent ways and seeks revenge on the thugs   according to the dvd sleeve  s synopsis .  br    br   rino di silvestro  s  la lupa mannara  begins with full frontal  writhing  moaning dance by shapely blonde annik borel  who  as daniella neseri  mistakenly believes she is a werewolf . the hottest part is when the camera catches background fire between her legs . the opening  flashback  reveals her hairy ancestor was  probably  a lycanthropic creature . ms . borel is  unfortunately  not a werewolf she is merely a very strong lunatic .  br    br   as a film   werewolf woman   in english  would have been better if borel  s character really was a female werewolf with her sexual victimization a great bit of characterization . but  as far as     s skin and blood flicks go  this one is hard to beat . bouncy borel is either nude or sexily clad throughout the film  which features a fair amount of gratuitous gore . dazzling dagmar lassander  as elena  and hunky howard ross  as luca  are good supporting players .  
  darius goes west  is the touching story of a brave teen coping with duchenne  s muscular dystrophy and his personal quest to see the pacific ocean . he receives help and encouragement from a group of young men who love and care for him while going on this quest .  br    br   the story has a natural drama and honest portrayal of the commitment of young people to help one of their own stricken with this incurable disease .  br    br   anyone who thinks young people are self  centered and narcissistic will find this movie to turn that stereotype on its head . it is the power of the young people and their engagement with darius  plight that is very compelling in this documentary .  
first thing i noticed in this movie of course  was the unnecessary amount of nudity . it  s not oozing nudity or anything  but a lot that was not needed . annik borel plays a disturbed woman believing her families ghost stories that her ancestor who eerily resembles her was a werewolf  and believes their fate are destined to be the same . which actually i found quite interesting . the original wolf man was intended to be a completely psychological movie  but universal threw in the actual wolf man you were never supposed to see for n extra buck or two . i find this concept of someone not really being a werewolf interesting . unfortunately this is not the film i was searching for .  br    br   instead we know shes not a werewolf from the beginning  so there  s no thrill or twist  also they attempt to make the film seem like a this really happened scenario . they fail there too adding one or two parts of the film referring to this being reality . at first i was excited upon reading the description of the film . but i slowly realized it was a cover just so they could expose the main characters breasts as often as possible .  br    br   annik borel is either a decent actor playing a great psychotic role  or a really bad actor playing a psychotic role . since the character danniele has no brains and is just a nut who runs around insane and snarling and snapping like a wolf  it takes little skill to play . she has moments were her performance breaks through for a creepy moment but is quickly ruined by the poor camera work and light . the idea is great  but hideously executed throughout the film .      
well i wasn  t sure what the film was going to be like as i had only seen a little clip but i was thinking its going to be good and i was right i watched it twice on the day i got it and well it is my favourite film .  br    br   i think alison lohan played the part of beth really well she is such a grate actress and the writer must have gone into a lot of research to find out about bulimia although the ending when beth is in the hospital an has  horus observation after meals because iv been told like  house is ok and also that hospitals doesn  t help bulimics as iv been told which is probably why i  m still at home even tho my sister and mum would like to have me hospitalised as i to have bulimia but this is a grate film i recommend it to any one with or with out an eating disorder or for people who know some one with eating disorders as it can let them in to the lives of a bulimic person and see the world how they do a bit over all a grate film and i recommend it to any one and any type of person  
this italian film from the     s is not even in the class with dog soldiers  the howling  or even that awful american werewolf in paris  but . . . it is fun to watch . i  m talking about watching the lead actress  a stunning blonde  run amok in her birthday suit . we  re talking about graphic  complete nudity . . . it  s obvious that she is a real blonde . . . humma humma humma   the story is a hoot  the sfx are childish  and the acting  for the most part  stinks . the only redeeming value of this movie is all  and there is a lot  the nudity  sex scenes . tame by hbo standards  but still fun to see when you find yourself without a date on saturday night . ok . . . here  s the spoiler . . . there is no werewolf  except in the opening scene of the heroine      s ancestor . the girl just imagines that she  s a werewolf . . . in other words  a clinical lycanthrope .  
this was the best movie i  ve ever seen about bulimia . it hit the exact spot of what bulimia is really about and how it  s not always about being skinny and dieting . it showed how people with bulimia tend to think about things such as their outlook on life  friends and themselves . the best line and the part that really shows what the problem with bulimia is  is when beth says   it  s not about you   that line really showed a lot about the character and others with the same problem . it showed that people with bulimia don  t have this problem because of anything that has to do with anyone else . it has to do with them and them only . it shows that it  s time to talk about the person with the problem instead of putting the attention all on themselves . it showed that beth needed to call out for attention at that moment and she needed her mom  s attention at that time the most .  
  la lupa mannara  aka .  werewolf woman  of     is a film with a highly promising title  but  sadly  the film itself is pretty far away from being a must  see for my fellow italian horror buffs . you won  t hear me say that rino di silvestri  s film is entirely bad  it has its stylish moments  and the first half is actually great fun to watch  though the fun is unintentional  . the film also profits from an exceptionally exhibitionist leading actress  annik borel . however  the film  which has no real plot  at least no linear one  often makes no sense at all  and it drags incredibly throughout the mostly superfluous second half .  br    br   daniella  annik borel  has strange dreams about a dancing around naked in the night before turning into a werewolf woman . since she was a raped as a girl  daniella is afraid of men . then  when her sister  cult siren dagmar lassander  comes to visit with her husband  daniella suddenly feels attracted to the husband and subsequently turns into a werewolf woman herself . . . or something . the storyline really doesn  t make the slightest sense  which makes the film a lot of fun to watch throughout the first half . the leading character daniella is some schizophrenic mixture of frigid hysteric and lusty nymphomaniac  who occasionally turns into a werewolf woman . director di silvestri chose to make up for the plot  holes with a lot of of female nudity  which works fine for me . there are also some pretty well  done gore moments . the film is never even slightly suspenseful or creepy  but it is very entertaining in the beginning . also  there are no attempts to hide that this is a slice of sleaze  the camera often does close  ups on the miss borel  s private parts for the simple heck of it . i  m not complaining . then  for some reason  di silvestri chose to make the film longer by completely changing the direction in which it was going . while daniella is  at first  a typical werewolf  who cannot help but follow the urges of her curse  this suddenly changes when she meets a guy  howard ross  who was in fernando di leo  s  il boss  of      . suddenly  she goes back to normal again  and the subsequent part of the film does not at all go in hand with the first half . it gets pretty damn boring after a while all things considered  it probably would have been better for this   minute film to be only   minutes long . at the end  they even want to make us believe that the absurd story  if one can call it that  is based on true events .  werewolf woman  has some redeeming qualities my fellow italo  horror fans can give it a try . however  if you wanna watch italian horror  exploitation cinema from the   s  there are hundreds of films that you should see before seeing this one .  
this is a film which should be seen by anybody interested in  effected by  or suffering from an eating disorder . it is an amazingly accurate and sensitive portrayal of bulimia in a teenage girl  its causes and its symptoms . the girl is played by one of the most brilliant young actresses working in cinema today  alison lohman  who was later so spectacular in  where the truth lies  . i would recommend that this film be shown in all schools  as you will never see a better on this subject . alison lohman is absolutely outstanding  and one marvels at her ability to convey the anguish of a girl suffering from this compulsive disorder . if barometers tell us the air pressure  alison lohman tells us the emotional pressure with the same degree of accuracy . her emotional range is so precise  each scene could be measured microscopically for its gradations of trauma  on a scale of rising hysteria and desperation which reaches unbearable intensity . mare winningham is the perfect choice to play her mother  and does so with immense sympathy and a range of emotions just as finely tuned as lohman  s . together  they make a pair of sensitive emotional oscillators vibrating in resonance with one another . this film is really an astonishing achievement  and director katt shea should be proud of it . the only reason for not seeing it is if you are not interested in people . but even if you like nature films best  this is after all animal behaviour at the sharp edge . bulimia is an extreme version of how a tormented soul can destroy her own body in a frenzy of despair . and if we don  t sympathise with people suffering from the depths of despair  then we are dead inside .  
don  t listen to the misleading title  werewolf woman  . the europeans are well known for putting an emphasis on sex and nudity over actual scares in their horror films  but this one here is just a bit too much .  werewolf woman  seems to have a sleazy sex scene copped off with the title character going crazy and brutally killing her partner . fun the first few times  but a hundred minutes of this becomes very monotonous quickly . shes not even a werewolf  but a schizo chick whose ancestor was hanged for lycanthropy . the film can  t even decide its tone  with the first ten minutes  a flashback  being legitimate supernatural horror  i thought i was in for a trash classic after these  to a rather poor character study of the female being repeatedly abused and tortured to a revenge thriller . at the end  the director insists this is based on a true story . yeah  all right .  br    br   to be fair  there are a few entertaining aspects of the production . the title werewolf woman is a looker and there are a few nice gore effects and nude scenes . however  these become rather monotonous quickly . also  the dubbed dialog is pretty hilarious in a camp fashion  especially the worlds most swinging doctor  he drinks on the job  . unfortunately  the film becomes pretty irritating fast . there  s no actual plot or anything else really . its a shame  because reading a description i felt the film had some real potential .  werewolf woman  is far overlong  slow moving  and a bit too pointless  even by the standards of the exploitation genre .        
if you havn  t seen this movie i highly recommend you do . it  s an excellent true story . i love alison lohman she is so talented side note i also loved her in  th heaven . the whole story line is amazing and the way they chose there characters waz awesome . the acting in this film is  br    br   very awesome .  
man  what the hell were the people who made this film on  and more importantly where can i get some  the opening scene sets the tone for the film a woman writhing naked in a circle of fire  transforming into a werewolf . and this is no rick baker  american werewolf  transformation  folks . we  re talking some of the worst makeup ever captured on film here . i can just imagine some stoned italian spreading glue on naked annik borel  who plays daniela  the film  s protagoness  is that a word     and asking her to roll in fur . that  s how bad it is .  br    br   from here on in it doesn  t get much better . minutes are wasted as the scenery chewing male actors waffle on about daniela and her condition or something  i can  t remember  but the dialogue is so bad if you don  t laugh at it you  ll cry  .  br    br   the funny thing is daniela isn  t even a werewolf  she  s a psycho who goes mental whenever there is a man around  understandable  as she was raped as a child  so she thinks she becomes a werewolf like her ancestor  the opening scene  . she can  t help but tear out the throat of every man she meets  and she only wants to be loved  things start looking up for daniela as she meets and falls in love with a buff stuntman who doesn  t trigger her  episodes  . check out the montage here  one of the cheesiest you  ll ever see  laughing and hugging after diving headfirst through a window  .  br    br   daniela  s luck doesn  t hold out as the film takes a brutal turn  she is suddenly viciously beaten and raped by a group of thugs who kill the stuntman . reminiscent of  i spit on your grave   daniela extracts bloody vengeance on her rapists .  br    br   this is    minutes of my life i will never get back . but hey  that  s the game you play when you  re a film geek .  
this was a pretty good movie  i liked it . i thought it was a pretty accurate look at bulimia and how it  s not about dieting  it  s about having a pain so deep that they have to find a way to deal with it and they choose this . beth was a very accurately drawn character and in the scene where she confronts her mom about the eating disorder you can see the pain inside her and hear it in her voice and you know how deep the pain is that she is feeling . i also think one of the best lines in the movie is where beth yells the words   it  s not about you .  to her mother . those words were so true and added so much to that scene in the movie . i think that that scene was definitely the most important scene in that movie .  
i started watching this movie expecting some barely tolerable hammer horror film wannabe . . . and i wasn  t far off . there  s a fair amount of glimpsed gore  and they threw in lots of nudity  but the latter half of the movie presents a few ironic twists . holy cow  they actually put a little thought into the story  and didn  t completely fall into the predictable stuff one expected at the outset . and dare i say it  some of the  gratuitous  nudity wasn  t so gratuitous after all  because it fit in with the story and setting .  br    br   don  t get me wrong  it  s still overall a bad movie  but as bad movies go  it  s a shade more intelligent than the really horrible tripe like mesa of lost women and robot monster .  
this is a movie that has a lot of things that only japanese people can understand . even well translated  there are some things that are obviously private jokes or regional symbolism . my guess is that it tried to send a message of some sort  but that just got wasted on me .  br    br   what i felt that is basically this is a mediocre movie with nice special effects . some kid becomes  the one  and in the end has almost no relevance to a yokai war that makes no sense whatsoever anyway . it would have been nice to understand what the hell they were talking about  but between the azumi bean washing yokai and the one that looks like a big tongued umbrella  rihanna eat your heart out   i couldn  t really discern the plot .  br    br   bottom line nice visuals  the kid screams a lot  the river princess is terrible cute and the rest is crap .  
oh dear . i was so disappointed that this movie was just a rip  off of japan  s ringu . well  i guess the u . s . made their version of it as well  but at least it was an outright remake . so  so sad . i very much enjoy watching filipino movies and know some great things can come out of such a little country  so i can  t believe this had to happen . claudine and kris are such big names there  surprised they would be affiliated with plagiarism . to any aspiring movie makers out there in the philippines you do not have to stoop this low to make money . there are many movie buffs that are watching the movies filipinos put out and enjoying them   
i cried my heart out  watching this movie . i have never suffered from any eating disorder  but i think this must be a very true picture .  br    br   alison lohman is excellent  she expresses these feelings amazingly well . my teenage years came back to me so vividly . anyone who has gone through difficult times as a child or teenager will be able to relate to this movie . i recommend you all to see it   br    br   the music is great too  i  ve now discovered diana lorden .  br    br   i  m also looking forward to seeing alison lohman in white olander  because i am positive she is perfectly suited for the role as agnes .  
in hollywood in the      s and      s  i think that every studio can make a western  except warner bros . the few times they try  it always ridiculous  except  perhaps  for they died with their boots on  which is a cavalery western .  i have read that humphrey bogart  seing james cagney with this big cowboy hat on his head  said that he looks like a mushroom . true  cagney and bogart are too urban  too xxe century to be credible in a western movie . the story here had no suprise  and it did  t help . every   minutes  i figure i can see bogart and cagney drops their little guns and put hands in a machine gun to get away from the set in a      s black car .  
this was surprisingly intelligent for a tv movie  and quite true to my own experience of bulimia . it was actually well  researched  and i can only assume it was written by someone who  s gone through a similar experience  because it had all the little details . the characters were quite well  drawn  and the performances by mare winningham and alison lohman were great . i think what i like most was that they made them specific and smart  and there was no dumbing down of the reasons for beth  s bulimia  it wasn  t some  diet gone out of control  caused by the pressures placed on girls by the media  pressures we  re not actually going to address . . .   . her mother wasn  t completely clueless  too often on television they  ll take an issue that everyone has some awareness of and try to tell us that their protagonists are the last remaining people on earth who don  t   diabetes  what  s that  oh  my world is all askew  doctor  please explain it all to me as if i  m a small child   etc  . it was brilliant that her mother was a psychologist and even she didn  t see the signs . and the scenes where beth was throwing up weren  t overly melodramatic and sensationalist  and concentrated more on bulimics  need for secrecy  and their out  of  controlness . the scene where beth tells her mother she  s bulimic would  ve made me cry if there hadn  t been other people in the room .  br    br   okay  so i liked those bits . what didn  t work for me so well was the ending  which headed back to the tv movie territory we know and don  t particularly love  but i guess they had to wrap it up .  you  too  can cure your child  s eating disorder  if you have lots and lots of money and live in america . . .   br    br   and can i just say again that i really like mare winningham . she  s great .  
there are so many goofy things about this movie that i can  t possibly name but a few  br    br   bogart  s character  . his name  whip mccord  too easy  so i  ll leave it at that . boy  it makes humphrey  sound good .   . his long  curly hair and silly sideburns .  . his black bart get  up  complete with spurs   . not sure what shade of lipgloss they  ve got him wearing  but it ain  t none too flattering .  br    br   cagney  s character  jim kincaid    . his lipstick doesn  t do him any favors  either .  . the man is being swallowed by his hat during the entire film  could they not find a hat to fit him  even a little       . his pants are too tight in the rear .  . he blows the smoke off his gun one too many times  if you know what i mean  and i think you do .  br    br   if you are a casual bogart or cagney fan  and figure it might be a change of pace to see them in a western  do yourself a favor and forget that thought . even the horses look embarrassed   that is  when they don  t look bored .   br    br   in all fairness  i admit that westerns are my least favorite film genre  but i  ve still seen much  much better than this .  br    br   on a comedy level  or as high camp  the oklahoma kid works . otherwise  it  s viewer beware . therefore  see this only if a  you must see every western out there b  you are a true cagney or bogie completist c  any of the above comments appeal to you . woah . .  
the good thing about this movie the concept is interesting and there are some funny scenes . it also makes you think of those little things in life that could greatly affect the life of someone else without you ever knowing . its a small world and this little movie shows us .  br    br   the bad thingthere are too many characters and its hard to tell who the main character is but its still a great movie .  br    br   its a great movie and many people compare it to magnolia which i haven  t seen .  br    br        br    br   not rated    i would rate it pg    for brief violence  some language and sexual situations .  
right up until the end the bad guys have the upper  hand  always  which kind of put into question the competence of the good guys . a couple of innocent  man  accused  of  a  crime plots are irritating . some unnecessary dialogue in which various dull legal issues get debated . this is just a mediocre dumb old western  so what  s this nonsense about trying to keep things  realistic   cagney  s atypical presence in a western is one of the few  if not the only  entertaining thing about the movie . somewhere around the middle there is a ridiculously  timed marriage proposal sort of like  where is the kid hiding     where is he   . . . oh  and by the way  will you marry me    
it is hard to describe bug in words  it is one of those films that truly has to be seen to be understood . it follows a narrative that is more fluid and interesting than anything i have seen lately in a hollywood release . as its characters react to the chain of events in different ways  and as the events dictate different paths for the characters to follow  the audience is merely an observer . the almost proustian narrative flow of thought to thought  the very spontaneity in the script will have you glued to the screen  waiting anxiously to see how it all works out in the end . and as far as the thematic elements . . . there is a particular sequence in the film that goes from melancholy  to bright and beautiful  and then to tragic  all within the span of about a minute . and it works .  br    br   this movie is pure magic . it reminds one why independent film is perhaps the brightest star the film industry currently has . perhaps with more movies of bug  s quality  people will start to take notice .  
i  m guessing the writers have never read a book of any kind  much less a dickens novel  and certainly not david copperfield  and that they based their screenplay on another poorly written screenplay  possibly an adaptation of copperfield  though just as likely anything else  from which they randomly discarded about a third of the pages and then shuffled the rest  along with some random pages from a screenplay that someone  s eighth grade nephew had written for an english class  and for which he had received a failing grade .  br    br   if the casting was a bad joke  e . g .  richards as kramer playing micawber  which it was  then the direction and acting were the poorly  delivered punch lines . getting beyond kramer as micawber  if possible  ham was such a complete ogre  hunch  back and all  that i was half expecting at some point to see him being pursued by an angry pitch  fork and torch wielding mob of villagers . uriah was almost as much of a clown figure as micawber . mr . murdstone evoked about as much terror as that muppet vampire from sesame street . the actor playing older david was  i believe  actually a woman . in any case  looking perpetually as if he wished he could find a mirror to see how pretty he looked  and fancied that he looked quite pretty indeed  he could scarcely convince us that he was writing with a quill pen . and while we  re on that subject  in one of the many gross inaccuracies perpetrated by the half  wit producers of this embarrassment  in the unnecessary shots of david writing his story he appears to be somewhere between   and   years old  when he should be in his forties . perhaps the greatest transgression  although it  s difficult to choose  was the invented showdown between david and murdstone as he courted a third wife in switzerland  preceded of course by the invented death of murdstone  s second wife . while they were at it it is a wonder they didn  t send heep to the guillotine  and have him deliver sidney carton  s famous last words . it couldn  t have made things much worse really . it might have been far far better .  br    br   there are literally thousands of small and large sins against literature throughout this miscarriage of art  and anyone who watches it runs the risk of severe and permanent damage to all aspects of their sensibility .  
as a producer of indie movies and a harsh critic of such  i have to say i loved this movie . it is funny and intelligent  well directed and entertaining . hats off to the producers and directors for making a good one  i  ll be watching for the next one . i gave it a   .  
i wouldn  t recommend this unless you  re keen on david copperfield and want to  complete the set  . there are some good performances  e . g . uriah heep  and well directed moments  e . g . the beating   but on the whole it really pales in comparison with the     bbc version  as well as earlier versions .  br    br   there are inexplicable changes to the story that really serve no great purpose except  possibly  to dumb it down  the stolen jewels being a case in point  . the american cast were poorly chosen sally field is a good actress  but she is wrong as betsy trotwood  and her english accent is only slightly better than dick van dyke  s cockney . i can see why michael richards was chosen to play mr micawber he hams it up rather too much  however  and becomes irritating . he also speaks his lines in an accent that goes beyond eccentric and becomes simply preposterous . anthony andrews is menacing as mr murdstone  but one almost expects him to don a black cape and tie david  s mother to a railway line  though this is perhaps partly the fault of dickens  .  br    br   i got this for free with a newspaper . it helped pass a sunday afternoon  but i felt more disappointed than charmed at the end of it  
this is a great movie  most of us have seen jurassic park  where the chaos theory is summarized by telling about a butterfly  s wings  causing a tornado on the other side of the planet . well  bug is all about that  or at least something  don  t worry this is no spoiler  i  m definitely not a religious type and don  t believe in pre  destined stuff  fate  etc  but this movie surely makes you wonder if coincidence really exists . . .  br    br   further more  the acting and camera are excellent too  another prove that it  s still possible to make a good movie without a zillion bucks  
it seems evident from this adaptation that he did not . not only did he leave the plot behind  he made up his own  the things that he chose to leave in were so ridiculously unbelievable that i was happy he chose to leave out some of the most important parts of the novel . the plot was hazy  inconsistent and choppy to say the least . i don  t want to say anything mean  spirited about the actors  but they can  t act  dickens is difficult  of course  but this is pathetic  micawber was nothing more than a mid  nineteenth century kramer  and the less said about betsy trotwood the better  if you want to see the real copperfield  watch the wonderful     bbc adaptation . as for the screenplay writer  i think he read the cliff  s notes   
worth watching twice because of the rapid  paced causal shifts among several compelling stories   bug  emerges as a wholly satisfying work of art that plays ever  optimistic love against myriad examples of frustrating reality .  br    br   my favorite characters are wallace  john carroll lynch  whose overriding concern for life   from that of a cockroach to the airline passengers for whom he is partially responsible   frames the film olive  christina kirk   who spends considerable time creating surreal but tasty meals for her impossible husband ernie  chris bauer   and mitchell  a cable tv technician with unbounded trust in fortune cookie messages  you will meet the girl of your dreams .   br    br   against such optimism are the forces of quirky reality  all generated by actions of the characters parking tickets  a clogged drain in a chinese food  donut shop  tv disruption  a crushed auto fender  an obliterated dinner reservation that eventually results in cancellation of a hawaiian vacation .  br    br   the film is funny olive getting drunk at a chippendale performance  johnston  michael hitchcock  as a customer service rep attempting to deal with an irate customer  the germ  obsessive cyr  brian cox  facing a restaurant inspector  dwight  jamie kennedy  reacting to his girlfriend  s refusal to have children by writing hostile chinese cookie fortunes  your girlfriend is lying to you  and the guy who falls asleep while manning a jackhammer because he spent the night looking for his girlfriend  s missing cat .  br    br   a minor story with public cable access host  darryl theirse  and a local acting teacher reading from  the boy in the bubble  expresses the major theme love comes from the heart .  br    br    bug  entertains on much the same level as  trains  planes and automobiles  but on a lower budget and with a fresher eye .  
first off  i had my doubts just looking at the dvd box and reading it saying that it was about of bunch of teens gathering at a lake where they will find do or something . any movie that has a premise like this has failed miserably  even as a slasher movie  except for the first friday the   th .  br    br   i wanted to get up and stop watching the movie at least   times  but i just kept thinking that it had to get a little better . it didn  t . usually  i think every movie has something that you can take from it . this has nothing .  br    br   do yourself a favor  and find something constructive to do for   minutes . like  give yourself papercuts  or eat dirt .  
this was a very entertaining movie and i really enjoyed it  i don  t normally rent movies like these  ie . indie flicks  however  i was attracted to the film because it had an incredible cast which included jamie kennedy  whom i have loved since the scream trilogy . the movie director took a risk  and it is a risky risk  in telling the lives of many  and i mean many  different people and having the intertwine at various intervals . taking that risk was a good idea because it  s end result is an exceedingly good film .  br    br   the film has a few main characters dwight  jamie kennedy   a disgruntled fortune cookie writer whose relationship with his girlfriend is on the rocks because of an argument . wallace gregory  john carroll lynch   an airplane loader  technician who has a love for all living things  except  perhaps meter maids  and who despite his good heart has an increasing amount of bad luck . cyr  brian cox   the owner of a chinese restaurant  donut shop who is a germaphobe and because of is his fear of germs places his assistant  cook sung   alexis cruz  under pressure to keep up with his phobia . ernie   christopher bauer  is married to olive   christina kirk  who he is convinced is trying to stop him have fun  look ridiculous  go insane  and not live a normal life . they begin to have petty and almost crazy arguments and olive seriously begins to have doubts about ernie . gordon   grant heslov  is a man whose life isn  t going very well  as bad things begin to add up in his life he decides to take it in hand . mitchel   jon huertas  is convinced that gwen   alexandra westcourt  is the girl of his dreams and that they are destined for each other  though she is more skeptical . he attempts to woo her every chance he gets and he certainly makes attempts  johnston   michael hitchcock  has just been fired from his job and has doubts about his role as provider  he takes another job that he just isn  t suited for . his wife annelle   arabella field  is comforting through out his job loss experience until she learns that johnston wasn  t quite the loving husband she thought he was .  br    br   all in all i definitely suggest this movie   br    br    erica  
three years ago  rachel  therese fretwell  was partying at the lake with her friends when her brother falls out of a boat and drowns . rachel  s friends think it is time for her to stop beating herself up and taking blame for something she had no control over . so grab the brew and something to chew and head back to the same lake that has been in rachel  s constant nightmares . as expected  a bloodbath has already started when two of the friends are splattered before even heading to the party . this flick has the feel of a high school play where everyone forgot their lines and  winged it  . . . very badly  writer marcos gabriel gave himself the meatier role as rachel  s boyfriend leo . outside of fretwell and gabriel there are some pretty lame acting and a few characters you would like to choke the crap out of before they get  offed  . giving attention to a few more players that had the nerve to appear erin gallagher  andrew williams  jasmine trice and derek nieves . this is one memorial day you wouldn  t mind missing .  
i recently bought this movie and i do not regret having it at all as a matter of fact i am very please have this movie to add to my collection . matt manfredi and phil hay  movie directors  took less than one month to film and spent about  million eur to produce this great movie . this proves that not only big productions make great movies .  br    br   the title of this movie fits in perfectly . in computer language bug means program error which causes reactions in computer function . our reactions can cause these negative side effects  but also great moments of beauty . the vertiginous happenings in this movie start with the death of a bug . a man witnesses the  crime  on the other side of the road . . . from there onwards everything gets complicated . . .  br    br   i point out john carrol lynch   fargo    wallece  the man who cannot make everything right at all .  
i have to say although this movie was formulaic throughout with a plot stolen from films like friday the   th  i know what you did last summer  this movie wasn  t that bad . in fact it wasn  t as bad as most of the horror films hollywood has released recently . the killings although at times a little too imaginative were in most instances just that  original . the cast was mediocre which is to be expected from low  budget features but much better than what that much bigger studio artisan  lions gate has been offering . my only real complaint that wasn  t due to the film  s budget  which must have been small  was the contrived  twist  ending . i  m sorry but this is what put this film in the bad category for me . the ending was just stupid and tacked on . before that i was a little bored  but actually enjoying it .      
ok so a   for a     star movie you ask  . . . well see this one and maybe it will make more sense . . hitchcock never blended scenes together better . . . . the film weaves scenes together flawlessly from the start and yet you don  t get that scattered feeling you sometimes get when a movie runs you through the many characters it attempts to develop . you sense that the characters will show you something unusual about themselves and then they don  t disappoint you when they do . screenwriter  producer phil hay  s surreal tale of life  blended with an absolutely superb soundtrack makes you think more about the  degrees of separation in life than the movie by the same title . . . i will be looking for more good things from this producer in the future .  
if you can believe it  another group of teens return to another lakeside cabin three years after another one of those fatal  accidents  claimed one of their number . low and behold  a psycho wearing a patterned hockey mask  a cheap papery one at that  turns up to waste them one by one . this mechanical  friday the   th  knock off gained slight notoriety as one of the first digitally  shot features  but that  s where the interesting facts end and all that remains is a predictable  amateur production with sub  par performances and a recurring boom  mic intrusion . a last  second twist does little to lift the spirits  and  memorial day  is something best tossed in a lake and forgotten about . one for insane slasher collectors only .  
the only reason i  m giving this a  is that the other kid actors who played tadashi  s tormentors were not up to the job . i presume they were just kids who happened to be the right age and handy  but they were not well coached  and their scenes were a minor annoyance .  br    br   i say not to judge this by u . s . standards because it  s full of ambiguities and the kinds of equivocations that japanese culture readily embraces  and is not beholden to the black  hat  white  hat moral constraints u . s . kids  films are routinely subjected to . for example  there is a preciously funny moment when tadashi  s small band of yokai companions finds themselves let down and abandoned by the other yokai  and shojo   the avuncular kirin herald   does what many a stressed  out japanese adult would do . hint this would not happen in a disney film . this picture also has the best product placement for beer you will ever see in a kids  movie .  br    br   early on  there  s a moment where a school teacher smacks a couple of bullies on the head with her attendance book . there was a tv commercial in japan a couple years before this movie came out . it was a stop  motion clay animation about a kid who  s depressed and playing guitar and singing the blues in his room . his mother yells at him from downstairs to shut up . then  someone gives him a candy bar and he cheers up and sings a happy tune  but his mother comes in and tells him to shut up again and gives him a dope slap that leaves a dent in his forehead . i mention this commercial  because it was considered funny  and i didn  t hear any objections to it while i was there . there is a lot more bloodshed and physical cruelty on screen in  the great yokai war  than one would find in a disney movie . as a parent  if this were a u . s . film  i would be up in arms about such things  although not necessarily the moral lessons drawn at the end of the picture  which  of course  are also not black and white . since it  s a japanese movie  i accept that those cultural norms allow for imagery that would not get past the standards and practices cops in a u . s . production . however  i  d probably be a little uneasy taking young kids to see it without giving them some sort of pre  show briefing and  or post  show debriefing about the violence and other off  color stuff  or i  d wait till they  re older to show it to them .  
silly  simplistic  and short  gun crazy  volume   a woman from nowhere  goes nowhere .  br    br   this brief  just over sixty minutes  tale isn  t so much inspired by the classic spaghetti westerns as it is a rip  off of sam raimi  s the quick  the dead  his admitted homage to the spaghetti westerns  brought into a contemporary setting . in quick  dead  sharon stone  s character seeks revenge against the dastardly sheriff  played by gene hackman  who  when she was but an urchin  placed the fate of her father  a brief cameo by gary sinise  in her hands she accidentally shot him through the head . in gun crazy  saki  played by the nimble ryoko yonekura  seeks revenge against the dastardly mr . tojo  played with minimalist appeal by shingo tsurumi   who  when she was but an urchin  placed the fate of her father in her hands she let her foot slip off the clutch  and dear ole dad was drawn and quartered by a semi truck . the only significant difference  despite the settings  is the fact that tojo sadistically cripples saki with  well  i won  t spoil that for you in case you decide to watch it .  br    br   in short  saki  a pale imitation of the clint eastwood  s  man with no name   rides into the town  basically  there  s a auto shop and a tavern alongside an american military base  so i guess that suffices for a town  corrupted by tojo  the local crimelord with a ridiculously high price on his head for reasons never explained or explored . confessing her true self as a bounty hunter  saki takes on the local gunmen in shootouts whose choreography bares more than a passing similarity to the works of johnny to and john woo . of course  by the end of the film saki has endured her fair amount of torture at the hands of the bad guys  but she rises to the occasion  on her knees  in a laughable attempt at a surprise ending  and vanquishes all of her enemies with a rocket launcher .  br    br   don  t ask where she gets the rocket launcher . just watch it for yourself . try not to laugh .  br    br   the image quality is average for the dvd release . there is a grainy quality to several sequences  but  all in all  this isn  t a bad transfer . the sound quality leaves a bit to the imagination at times  but  again  it isn  t a bad transfer .  br    br   rather  it  s a bad film .  
there are so many  hollywood  movies made now that are not only torture to watch  but also have no bearing on anyone  s life  whatsoever . granted  movies don  t always have to have deep meaning  but it  s nice to know that there are still film  makers out there who care about telling  human  stories . i won  t give away the premise of this brilliant film  however  the screenplay is surely one of the more complex and memorable ones i have ever seen in my life  and i  m a    year  old film buff too  bug ranks top ten on my list of favorites  which includes on the waterfront  sunset boulevard  and black narcissus  to name just a few . this  moving  movie should become one of your favorites also  that is  if you have a heart   
it is a piece of crap  not funny at all . during the whole movie nothing ever happens . i almost fell asleep  which in my case happens only if a movie is rally bad .  that is why it didn  t get   awful  out of   but   . don  t be fooled  like i was  by first review . a waste of money and your time  spend it on other stuff . at this point i  m finished with my review but i have to fill in at least ten lines of text so i will go on . . . .  ctrlc  ctrlv      it is a piece of crap  not funny at all . during the whole movie nothing ever happens . i almost fell asleep  which in my case happens only if a movie is rally bad .  that is why it didn  t get   awful  out of   but   . don  t be fooled  like i was  by first review . a waste of money and your time  spend it on other stuff . it is a piece of crap  not funny at all . during the whole movie nothing ever happens . i almost fell asleep  which in my case happens only if a movie is rally bad .  that is why it didn  t get   awful  out of   but   . don  t be fooled  like i was  by first review . a waste of money and your time  spend it on other stuff .  
i last night i had the pleasure of seeing the movie bug at the florida film festival and let me say it was a real treat . the directors were there and they did a qa afterwards . the movie begins with a young boy smashing a roach beneath his foot  a man who is nearby parking his car sees the young boy smash it and runs to ask the kid why  why  did he have to kill that living creature   in his rush to counsel the youth in the error of his ways  the man neglects to pay his parking meter  which starts off a whole chain of events involving people not at all related to him  some funny  some sad  and some ridiculous . this movie has a lot of laughs  lots  and there are many actors which you will recognize . the main actors who stood out in the film for me were jamie kennedy  from his comedy show the jamie kennedy experiment  playing a fortune cookie writer john carroll lynch  who plays drew  s cross dressing brother on the drew carey show  playing the animal loving guy who just can  t get it right brian cox  the original hannibal lecter in manhunter  playing the germaphobic owner of a donut and chinese food take out joint . there is one line where cox tells his chef to wash off some pigs blood that is on the sidewalk by saying  clean up that death  which is quite funny mostly because of cox  s  obsessed with germs  delivery . the funniest moment in the movie comes when a young boy imitates his father  whom he heard earlier in the day yell out motherf   while in the classroom . another extremely funny and surreal scene is when trudie styler  mrs . sting herself  and another actor perform a scene on a cable access show  from the film the boy in the plastic bubble . the actor who hosts the cable access show is just amazing he is so serious and deadpan and his performance as both the doctor and the boy in the plastic bubble is enthralling . there are many other fine and funny actors and actresses in this film and having shot it in less than a month with a budget of just about   million  the directors phil hay and matt manfredi  who are screenwriters by trade  having written crazy  beautiful and the upcoming tuxedo starring jackie chan  have achieved a film that is great  funny and endearing .  
i was dying to see this once i saw the ridiculous meatballs poster and divined that it had to be the best satire ever . what a brilliant idea for a satire   the genre is rife . unfortunately  the finished product  as i think all involved probably realize  is a catalogue of missed opportunities  not  quite  there performances and  thankfully   a few extremely hilarious  inspired bits . janeane garafolo  who is very striking  looks really bad here  probably because she is uncomfortably struggling to make her flat role funny . david hyde pierce is just sad to watch  trying to hard to be funny and looking like a castro nerd . molly shannon is so funny just seeing her makes you laugh  but somehow her segment fails to snowball into something hysterical . paul rudd had great teen mannerisms and was sexy as hell  the other guys are also really funny  the nerdier ones  . i think the problem is the director just doesn  t move things along at the right pace . he starts out very deadpan  and that sets the monotone . but when he lets things get really outrageous  the drug sequence is the second funniest moment i  ve had all year in movies  the first also coming in a lame movie andrea martin in all over the guy complaining about the movie in  out   it  s just plain funny . i wanted this movie to work so badly  but it just didn  t . the clothes and styling for     are   .   perfect  and the very few songs used are also perfect . this ends up as a medium  bad mad tv episode  complete with frustratingly overlong sketches .  
i just watched this movie on showtime . quite by accident actually . if i wouldn  t have only had  hrs of sleep for the past two days then i wouldn  t have came home early from work . if i hadn  t came home early from work i wouldn  t have seen this movie . i wouldn  t have known what i was missing  but i would  ve missed a lot .  br    br   that  s the way this movie is . it  s almost playing on the kevin bacon effect . that and causality  hence my verbiage above  . ever character is intertwined in some way or another . action  reaction  interaction  non  interaction . this movie is just wonderful . i  m going to have to find a copy to buy .  
when i saw that this movie was being shown on tv  i was really looking forward to it . i grew up in the      s and like everyone else who has grown up in that era  have seen every    s teen and summer camp movie out there . so i couldn  t wait to see this movie that totally spoofs that film genre . what a disappointment   the movie was nothing but a bunch of really bad jokes and gags over and over  with hardly any plot and no substance . and the filmmakers attempts at dark humor totally failed  some of these so  called jokes didn  t come across as anything but downright cruel and offensive . the only good things about this film were the wardrobe  music  and acting . it was nice to go on a nostalgia trip and see all of the summer clothing styles from the    s  and the same goes for the music . and the acting was top  notch throughout almost all of hollywood  s best comedians were present . too bad they didn  t have better material to work with .  
hmmmm  want a little romance with your mystery  this has it . i think if the romance was ditched this would have made for a better movie . but how could the romance be ditched when the story  s borrowed from something called a harlequin romance novel  whatever the heck that is . had the romance been ditched  the story might have been a little too weak . the mystery here wasn  t too bad  quite interesting but nothing on the level of mission impossible international espionage . oh well . i thought mel harris was pretty good her short skirts  i think  added some sex appeal . . . but this rob stewart guy probably could have been better cast  maybe with a more well known tv movie actor . the directing was decent and the writing could have been improved on  both could have been a little edgier  a little darker  more adventurous . one thing that was great about this was the use of real european locations . that could easily have been changed so this could have been filmed in canada but they really were in magnificently beautiful places like budapest . possibly a drawback was the director and  or cinematographer  s choice to frame certain shots picture postcard perfect . not good . had this been a more dramatic motion picture shot for the big screen  picture postcard perfect scenes really need to take a backseat and just be a nice part of the background . this was just a tv  movie  though  so they had to add some ummmph to the picture and some of that ummmph came from the scenery . overall  twasn  t really a bad movie . i  ll tell you what  this was absolutely the best canadian  hungarian production i have ever seen   and the only that i know of .  i hereby proclaim this to be a mediocre made  for  tv movie  giving it a grade of c   
ben stiller doesn  t so much act as react . and he does it very well . he is very dependent on the comedy going on around him . in there  s something about mary  the stand  up hair scene only works because of stiller trying to keep a straight face . when he confronts mary  s other two suitors  he is the unfunniest guy in the room but the scene is hilarious .  br    br   in along came polly  the formula breaks down for reasons that are difficult to fathom . stiller is surrounded by an array of comic talent . hank azaria and philip seymour hoffman get the best lines  of which there are too few . having said that  hoffman relies a little too much on bodily humour  you know we are in trouble when they go to the fart jokes to raise a laugh . a basketball scene where hoffman hams it up is completely overplayed  though it throws up one predicament in the form of a shirtless opponent that does raise a smile  noticeably through stiller  s reaction  . however  everyone seems to be acting in a bubble  there is very little reaction . hoffman and stiller  s characters could have played off each other much  much more . aniston again reprises her rachael role  but stiller is no ross . it is more of a  joey with a crush on rachael  scenario .  br    br   polly is a by  the  numbers rom  com and that is its failing  it lacks heart . you don  t root for the characters . with a little bit more work we could have had a deeper story  but in the end the film  s failure comes down to poor writing . worth watching if it pops up on tv on a slow night  but you  ll regret forking out cash to see it .  
the movie i thought was excellent it was suppose to be about romance with a little suspense in between .  br    br   rob stewart is a wonderful actor i don  t know why people keep giving him a bad rap . as for mel harris she is a great actress and for those who thinks she looks too old for rob it  s only by five years .  br    br   rob had a lead role in his own tv series as well as one on the scifi channel . i  m sure you remember topical heat aka sweating bullets and painkiller jane .  br    br   he also starred in a number of tv movies and is now making a tv mini series .  br    br   they need to give him more leading roles that is what he is best at .  
considering the potential this move had  the reality was disappointing . while it  s always nice to see jennifer aniston in a movie  even that couldn  t turn this around . most of the action was predictable . the jokes were flat to mildly amusing . and the characters were not very interesting . i wanted to like this film  but it just never happened . ben stiller was hilarious in  there  s something about mary  . here it looks like he  s just going thru the motions . if they have to lift plot points from  friends   they should have known something was wrong . the toilet humor should have stayed in the closet    .  br    br   watch    first dates  instead .  
on first watching this film it is hard to know quite what has happened  but on a subsequent viewing it become more clear . i enjoyed this movie . dean cain was excellent in the role of bob . lexa doig  s character was confusing to understand  at first  she was out to trap bob but i really believe she landed up loving him although by then she had broken his heart . dean cain  s performance was an usual excellent . he gets better with every film he does . my only question at the end of the film was what happened to bob  camilla and the baby . it was left for the viewer to decide  
this film offers absolutely no imagination in it  s premise nor in it  s execution but these are just two things that come to mind after watching this so  called comedy that has no energy to speak of . story is about nit  picky over analytical insurance risk manager reuben feffer  ben stiller  who finds his new wife lisa  debra messing  cheating on him with a scuba instructor  hank azaria  after only one day on their honeymoon . upon returning home reuben and his best friend sandy  philip seymour hoffman  go to a party and run into polly prince  jennifer aniston  whom they went to school with years earlier .  br    br   spoiler alert polly is forgetful and sloppy and lives carefree which is the opposite of who reuben is as a person but they start to date and reuben starts to change as a person as he starts to try out new things such as salsa dancing and eating spicy foods . but one day lisa comes back and wants to remain married to reuben but he really doesn  t want to but polly decides to leave as she doesn  t believe in marriage to begin with .  br    br   this film is the second directing effort by john hamburg who wrote two generally unfunny screenplays in  zoolander  and  meet the parents  but those two films seem like classics compared to this stale piece of drivel . it  s very easy to say something is not funny but i think with this film it  s even easier to figure out why . this film is totally and utterly predictable from start to finish with every scene looking as if it  s only happening because of the ridiculousness of the script . hamburg who also wrote the script seems to have written this without any thought of trying something different and at times he seems to be trying to generate the same energy as  there  s something about mary  but instead the events seem incredibly forced . did anyone really think the blind ferret was funny  if you do  your easy  a few times during the film characters would inexplicably have these emotional speeches that are supposed to summarize everything but all they achieve is overstating the obvious . stiller works a lot but maybe he should work less and just wait for the better scripts to come his way because this film doesn  t work as a comedy or as a romance .  
warning  spoilers ahead   br    br   spoilers  br    br   i  ve seen movie in german  so it might be  that i missed some clues .  br    br   despite some weakness in the plot  it  s a movie that came through to me . i liked especially lexa doig  s acting . sometimes i got impression  that she is camille . but i can  t stop wondering  what happened at the end with bob  cassie and baby . i belive  she  after initially being set on bob  eventually ended up loving him and regretting what happened with his brother and being forced to lie to him . otherwise it  s a bit strange  that she would carry his baby and love it . it  s up to viewer to decide  and i don  t like such endings . dean cain was as good as ever  eric roberts . . well  i  ve seen him better but also worse .  br    br   i believe that the film is more an analysis of human relations and reacting in unexpected situations than a crime story .  br    br   bottom line is  i liked it very much .  
make no bones about it . there are a lot of things wrong with this movie . it  s clichd the whole way  not very funny  predictable  and illogical . let  s start at the beginning characters . there  s the boring  luckless guy  giving stiller another notch in his boring  luckless guy belt  the allegedly wild  but in reality just fairly normal  love interest  whom aniston plays well  but really needed no effort to do so  the fat  jovial friend  and then the assortment of clichs an annoying daredevil australian guy  a confident spanish guy  etc . the storyline the beginning is slightly unusual  but thereafter goes into the standard any  movie style  with every plot turn as predictable as your average knock  knock joke . the biggest problem was that stiller  s character  s  development  really seemed to come from nothing  like your average school play  the writers knew where he started and where he ended  but didn  t put enough stock into properly telling the middle bit . finally  the alleged  jokes  were nothing but highly watered down versions of standard gross  out humour there was a regulation chunder scene  sweaty fat men  etc .  br    br   in conclusion  the simple fact about this movie is that learning the meaning of the word  shart  was the only good thing . hamburg really dished up a dog  s dinner here  and the sugar coating of stiller and aniston may have lured the viewers  but the taste left at the end was just as rancid .  br    br   final comment this film may have been dreadful  but aniston still picked a better between  friends  seasons movie than kudrow  s odious  marci x .   
this is by far the funniest short made by the two comic geniuses . from the time they walk in  to the time hardy just falls off the roof  this keeps me laughing hysterically . i highly suggest that every fan of laurel and hardy should see this short . i also recommend all of the ghost series . if you are looking for laughs  see this movie and you will be happy .  
okay  i absolutely love ben stiller  although i am lukewarm about jennifer aniston . i do not think this girl can act in the least . every movie or sitcom i  ve seen her in is very hard to get past her fake acting . it sounds like she is just standing there reading right off the script . this movie only had one good thing about it  and that  s that ben stiller was in it . this plot is so used and abused it  s ridiculous . how many movies have this same type of plot   can we say  forces of nature    not only is the plot so old  but the outcome is so predictable  it  s boring . i knew everything that was going to happen before it did . it was a bore  but watching stiller is always a delight     
some of my favorite laurel and hardy films have very  very little plot . instead  they give them a rather mundane situation and just let them be hilarious  films such as help mates and busy bodies are among the funniest as you see the boys working or cleaning house . here in dirty work  most of the film is akin to these other two films   stan and ollie are chimney sweeps and spend most of the film trying  quite unsuccessfully  to clean a crazy professor  s chimney . seeing ollie fall through the chimney  the boys making the house a total mess and the insane behaviors of stanley all work together to make a very pleasing film .  br    br   however  in an odd twist  there is also a really weird subplot that begins and ends the movie . it seems that the professor is truly a mad scientist and he is working on a formula to make things younger . late in the film  you see him make a duck into a duckling and even a duckling into an egg  given that he then leaves the boys alone in the room  is it any surprise what happens next  while this subplot was unnecessary  it worked well enough . what worked exceptionally well was the middle portion . give the boys nothing exciting to do and you  ll be amazed at the hilarious results . one of the team  s better films and it almost earns a  .  
this has to be one of the worst films i have ever seen . the dvd was given to me free with an order i placed online for non dvd related items .  br    br   no wonder they were given away  surely no one could part with money for this drivel .  br    br   how some reviewers can say they found it hilarious beggars belief  the person who includes it in the worst five films ever has got it spot on .  br    br   how on earth a talented actor like philip seymour hoffman could get involved in this rubbish is unbelievable . mostly toilet humour and badly done at that .  br    br   anyone wanting to be entertained should avoid this at all costs .  
stan laurel and oliver hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history  and deservedly so  so i am happy to see any of their films . professor noodle  lucien littlefield  is nearing the completion of his rejuvenation formula  with the ability to reverse ageing  after twenty years . ollie and stan are the chimney sweeps that arrive to do their job  and very quickly ollie wants to get away from stan making mistakes . ollie goes to the roof to help with the other end of the brush at the top of the chimney  but stan in the living room ends up pushing the him back in the attic . after breaking an extension  stan gets a replacement  a loaded gun  from off the wall  and of course it fires the brush off . stan goes up to have a look  and ollie  standing on the attic door of the roof  falls into the greenhouse . stan asks if he was hurt  and ollie only answers with  i have nothing to say .  ollie gets back on the roof  and he and stan end up in a tug and pull squabble which ends up in ollie falling down and destroying the chimney . ollie  hatless  in the fireplace is hit on the head by many bricks coming down  and the butler jessup  sam adams  is covered in chimney ash smoke  oh  and ollie still has nothing to say to stan . the boys decide to clean up the mess  and when stan tears the carpet with the shovel  ollie asks  can  t you do anything right   and stan replies  i have nothing to say   getting the shovel bashed on his head . as ollie holds a bag for stan to shovel in the ashes  they get distracted by a painting on the wall  and the ashes end up down ollie  s trousers  so stan gets another shovel bashed on the head . professor noodle finishes his formula  and does a final test on a duck  with a drop in a tank of water  changing it into a duckling . he also shows the boys his success  turning the duckling into an egg  and he next proposes to use a human subject  i . e . his butler . while he  s gone  the boys decide to test the formula for themselves  but ollie ends up being knocked by stan into the water tank with all the formula . in the end  what was once ollie comes out  an ape  and when stan asks him to speak  all ollie ape says is  i have nothing to say   and stan whimpers . filled with wonderful slapstick and all classic comedy you could want from a black and white film  it is an enjoyable film . stan laurel and oliver hardy were number  on the comedians  comedian . very good   
i saw this for free  thankfully  and wish it was better than it was  but it  s really the same old stuff that movie studios seem to foist on us in the last ten years .  br    br   ben stiller and jennifer anniston play a couple who are opposites  and yet they are attracted to each other .  br    br   if that plot line doesn  t take you by surprise and thrill you  the movie won  t either .  br    br   lots of sight gags and fart jokes . halfway through the movie i began to realize that ben stiller really isn  t that funny  but he tries very hard . and jennifer anniston really isn  t that pretty  but her hair looks great . and hank azaria and phillip seymore hoffman must have got paid a great deal of money to be in this kind of average ho  hum movie  i  ve come to expect more from them .  br    br   what was interesting was that i saw this after i saw american splendor  which is a truly funny and original movie  and i compared the two in my head  and found myself wishing that the movie executives would be forced to sit through those two movies back to back  perhaps that would knock some sense into them and  br    br   they  d start making better movies with unknowns rather than this formulaic stuff that plays best on airplanes .  
i just finished watching this movie and i must say that i was so impressed . everything about it was superb . the acting the characters  the story . a believable child who grew into brave  always willing to help others . his mum must be proud . i could not take my eyes off this film for fear of missing something . it is the prefect fable  tale with morals  cute and scary sprites and  monsters  but nevertheless heartwarming folk . a child poked and bullied at school who becomes a hero . picked to be a rider at the local village festival and a journey to the goblin mountain where he discovers the yokai  who are amazing creations that brian froud would be proud of . and the evil kato and his off sider who definitely needed a hug . these evil people capture the yokai and throw them into a red pit along with unwanted objects  like motorbikes and other mechanical things and these meld into one horribly violent robotic monsters whose only job is to kill . takashi a young boy is the one to become their saviour  alongside a red man  dragon a turtle man and a river princess as well as a cute little creature that  if it had been america they could have turned it into a cuddly toy and sold it at all good toy stores . the lines are good especially the don  t try this at home kids and other gems that bring a smile to your lips . suspend belief and watch this with a child or on your own and enjoy  though i must admit that the end was a wee bit sad . and not necessarily so . cheers furdion  
chances are if i watched this again i might get physically sick  the film is so annoying . . . . . unless you believe in psychics  re  incarnation and the other hocus  pocus which this promotes big  time . the  re  cycling of souls   they call it here . puh  leeze .  br    br   this story has been done several times before with such films as  heaven can wait .  it  s also been done a lot better . too bad they had to waste the talents of robert downey jr .  cybill shepherd  ryan o  neal and mary stuart masterson .  br    br   at least it  s a pretty tame film  language  wise . that  s about the only redeeming quality of this movie .  
i have seen dirty work several times and is probably my favourite stan and ollie short .  br    br   in this one  stan and ollie are chimney sweeps and get the job to clean the chimney at the home of professor noodle  lucien littlefield  . while noodle is doing mad experiments in his lab  stan and ollie cause much chaos trying to clean the chimney and make a mess of the living room . the end is where ollie falls into a tank of special formula that noodle uses for his experiments and this turns him into a chimp  the best part is where ollie falls down the chimney and loads of bricks land on his head  but he doesn  t seem to suffer much pain from this .  br    br   dirty work is stan and ollie at their funniest . great fun .  br    br   rating  stars out of  .  
i realize several ben stiller movies are out or will be out this year  but perhaps he should insist on quality  not quantity .  br    br   i was dumbfounded at what the filmmakers thought passed for comedy in  along came polly .   br    br   stiller  s reuben is grating  charmless and ranks as one of the worst performances of the year . stiller  s schtick is getting tiresome . he undoubtedly has comic talent  but he needs to either find another schtick or take a break  find some material that is actually funny . because his movies are going from painfully humorless to excruciatingly bad .  br    br   there  s absolutely no chemistry between stiller and jennifer aniston  which is a shame because she  s a good  smart actress with a promising career . as long as she keeps making more movies such as  the good girl   in which she  s terrific  and less like  along came polly   she  ll have a career of which she could be proud .  br    br   aniston tries desperately to overcome the limp material with which she  s working  but it  s a daunting task for any actress . with the exception of a few moments with alec baldwin  as reuben  s boss stan  and philip seymour hoffman  as reuben  s best friend sandy  there  s nothing funny in this awful film . other supporting characters  including debra messing as lisa and hank azaria as claude  are annoying . azaria  s accent is not only stupid  it  s terribly unfunny .  br    br   the premise of  along came polly  certainly showed promise . unfortunately  it needed a writer who could actually turn it into a good comedy  instead of this lame  dull  boring excuse for a comedy .  
a laurel  hardy comedy short . the boys arrive to sweep the chimneys at the home of professor noodle  a mad scientist who  s just perfected his rejuvenation serum . stan  ollie proceed with their dirty work  spreading destruction inside the house and on the roof . then the professor wants to try out his new potion . . .  br    br   a very funny little film . the ending is a bit abrupt  but much of the slapstick leading up to it is terrific . especially good is stan  ollie  s contest of wills at opposite ends of the chimney . that  s lucien littlefield as the professor .  
the movie appeals to public due to charisma of ben stiller and notoriety of j . aniston . it seems that we have here a recipe for a successful title  but there  s nothing successful in this movie .  br    br   polly is very well played by aniston  no doubt . this is the kind of character which suits her perfectly .  br    br   bem stiller is the same troublesome guy like in  meet the parents   but in this movie the comic scenes are few compared to the title mentioned above .  br    br   the script is very poor with nothing special at all . with this two well payed actors the things could get a lot better  but what can they do when there is such a poor story and script .  br    br    out of   .  
the concept of having laurel  hardy this time in the role of chimney sweepers works out surprisingly hilarious . it guarantees some funny situations and silly antics  from especially stan laurel of course as usual .  br    br   the movie also has a subplot with a nutty professor who is working on a rejuvenation formula . it doesn  t really sound like a logical mix of story lines and incoherent but both plot lines blend in perfectly toward the memorable ending . it  s still a bit weird but its funny nevertheless  so it works for the movie .  br    br   the supporting cast of the movie is surprising good . sam adams is great as the stereotypical butler and lucien littlefield goes deliciously over  the  top as the nutty professor .  br    br   the movie is filled with some excellent timed and hilarious constructed sequences  which are all quite predictable but become hilarious to watch nevertheless thanks to the way they are all executed . it all helps to make  dirty work  to be one of the better laurel  hardy shorts .  br    br        
i have an awful pan  and  scan videotape of  boom    and i want to see it in all its widescreen glory . so i voted    and hope you will too . together  we can pull this movie down into the pits of cinematic dross  and hope that someone will see an opportunity for big money in releasing  boom   in its director  s cut extended version . the movie is one of my howling favoritesyou just look at the people involved  the director  the actors  the cameraman  and you say to yourself   yep  i guess you can fool some of the people for a lot of time .  producers considering the dvd release of  boom   should note that  everywhere it  s been shown  there have been sellout crowds in the theaters . but it hasn  t been up to frostbite falls yet .  
in many ways dirty work is a predictable lh short on the surface with the boys going to sweep someones chimney . guess what happens next  thats right slapstick at its most sucessful ensues .  br    br   but theres one or two things that seem untypical . ollie for example is very unlikable  hes arrogant  hes rude  and not only to stan look at the way he addresses the servant with  hey you  and takes a childish huff very easily with his catchphrase being  i have nothing to say  . in short ollie plays a bully in a very unlikable way and i much prefer to see him to play the arrogant coward where hes always at his funniest  br    br   dirty work also lacks the reportary regulars of the other lh shorts like finlayson  long  busch and housman which means when we switch to the mad scientist plotline theres a slightly creepy atmosphere that jars with the rest of the movie  br    br   having said that this is still a good short mainly down to stan . also watch out for a scene featuring a fish . many jokes  plots from lh feature fish and this is another one  
is rich  ailing elizabeth taylor courting the angel of death on her island fortress in the mediterranean  or is she just overreacting   or more precisely  overacting   as usual  actually  both are applicable in director joseph losey  s wandering  meandering mess called  boom   appropriately titled since tempers in the lush  luxurious setting are nearly ready to explode . richard burton climbs taylor  s mountain uninvited she dresses him in a samurai  s robe complete with saber . though great  looking in widescreen  the picture is otherwise quite deadly  a failure even liz  n dick  philes should shun  the stars  collective  what the hell   attitude to their late     s film careers reached an ego  mad nadir here  . pointless  confused  and maddening   boom  is a catastrophe   although screenwriter tennessee williams  who adapted his own unsuccessful play  the milk train doesn  t stop here anymore   was said to be quite fond of it   from   
this is an unusual laurel  hardy comedy with something of a split personality at times it feels like two movies made in different styles spliced into a single short . happily  each portion is funny in its own right  and the boys  seemingly effortless clowning carries the day and synthesizes the film  s disparate elements into an entertaining whole . while i  ve never heard a fan cite dirty work as his or her favorite laurel  hardy comedy  it  s nonetheless one that everybody seems to like .  br    br   our story is set in the home of professor noodle  who represents one key element of the story  line a wildly over  the  top parody of mad scientist scenarios . this marks a rare venture into sci  fi territory for lh abbott  costello and the three stooges tangled with mad doctors far more often than stan  ollie . in any event  the professor is obsessed with creating a rejuvenating serum that can make people younger  while his sarcastic butler  jessup  expresses the viewer  s skepticism with rolled eyes and the occasional dry quip . meanwhile  stan  ollie are chimney sweeps who show up at the professor  s home the very day he perfects his solution .  their  portion of the film consists of characteristic  but first  rate  slapstick involving the chimney  the roof  shovels  and a number of unfortunate mishaps . if you don  t enjoy watching these guys screw up a task then you probably won  t like dirty work  but for fans of the team this movie is a feast . the highlight comes when ollie plummets through the chimney  lands in the fireplace  and is then pummeled with bricks that fall onto his head with maddening rhythmic precision  one by one . i also like the shot of ollie tumbling off the roof into a greenhouse the process work is so slapdash i suspect it was something of an inside joke  the way w . c . fields  movies would feature the world  s worst rear  projection screens .  br    br   the slapstick stuff is great fun  but it  s the mad scientist motif that makes this film offbeat  and two supporting players deserve a tip of the bowler hat prolific character actor lucien littlefield is terrific as the professor  delivering his overripe lines with relish and cackling with hammy glee  while sam adams is a stitch in the less showy role of jessup the butler . as great as stan laurel and oliver hardy were in their prime  it  s always worth noting that their supporting casts at the hal roach studio gave their films an enormous boost . so too  usually  did the background music of le roy shield  but dirty work marks a rare occasion from this period that a roach comedy has no musical accompaniment at all after the opening credits . mood music might have enhanced the proceedings  but no matter this is a highly enjoyable comedy anyhow  and a prime example of what made laurel  hardy so popular in their day .  
whatever rating i give boom is only because of the superb location photography of sardinia and rome . otherwise  this is only for hardcore addicts of elizabeth taylor  her downward phase   and richard burton  his miscasting phase  . tennessee williams wrote  the milk train doesn  t stop here anymore  and is supposed to be very fond of this adaptation of his play   but apparently  he was the only one . taylor reportedly hated it and burton needed the money .  br    br   whatever  it amounts to a hill of beans with taylor posturing and fuming in her shrill manner  exploding at the servants and exchanging bad baby  talk with no less than noel coward who seems to be a visitor from another film when he finally appears .  br    br   it  s so campy that among taylor fans it  s probably considered a  must see  kind of thing . but if you can sit through this one without a drink in your hand  you  re way ahead of me . sadly  this is the film that signified the end of taylor being taken seriously as a film actress  even after winning two oscars . for burton  it was equally disastrous and the critics called it a bomb . judge for yourself if you dare .  
the romance of the movie  which is also its main theme  is good and nicely presented . however  the surrounding of the love story is too lyric  graphical and unrealistic . even worse  the psychology of the main character is weird and incomprehensible  exactly like the end of the movie . don  t hesitate to watch this movie  if it attracted your interest  but don  t expect too much of it either .  
wow  pretty terrible stuff . the richard burton  elizabeth taylor roadshow lands in sardinia and hooks up with arty director joseph losey for this remarkably ill  conceived tennessee williams fiasco . taylor plays a rich  dying widow holding fort over her minions on an island where she dictates  very loudly  her memoirs to an incredibly patient secretary . when scoundrel burton shows up claiming to be a poet and old friend  taylor realizes her time is up . ludicrious in the extreme    it  s difficult to determine if taylor and burton are acting badly or if it was williams  intention to make their characters so unappealing . if that  s the case  then the acting is brilliant  burton mumbles his lines  including the word boom several times  while taylor screeches her  s . she  s really awful . so is noel coward as taylor  s catty confidante  the  witch of capri .   br    br   presumably boom is about how fleeting time is and how fast life moves along    two standard williams themes  but it  s so misdirected by losey  that had taylor and burton not spelled it out for the audience during their mostly inane monologues  any substance the film has would have been completely diluted .  br    br   boom does have stunning photography    the camera would have to have been out of focus to screw up the beauty of sardinia  the supporting cast features joanna shimkus  the great romolo valli as taylor  s resourceful doctor and michael dunn as her nasty dwarf security guard . . . both he and his dogs do a number on burton   
a lonely depressed french boy mathieu  jeremie elkaim  on vacation in the summer  meets and falls in love with cedric  the gorgeous stephane rideau  . quiet and slow this is a very frustrating movie . on one hand  i was absorbed by it and really felt for the two boys . on the other i was getting annoyed   the film constantly keeps flashing around from the past to the present with no rhyme or reason . it  s very confusing and pointless .  br    br   spoilers ahead     br    br   also there are tons of plot holes   mathieu  at one point  does something that ends him up in the hospital . what is it   we  re never told  then he breaks up with cedric and tells everybody else he  s living with him . why  we  re not told . then he hooks up inexplicably with another guy at the end . why  no explanation . it  s clear cedric loves mathieu and mathieu is living in the same town so . . . however it is a tribute to the film that you really care about the characters so much . if only things were explained   br    br   elkaim as mathieu is not good . he  s tall  handsome and has a nice body   but he can  t act . his idea of acting is sitting around with a blank look on his face   all the time . rideau  on the other hand  is great . he  s very handsome  has a very nice body and is one hell of an actor . also he has an incredible sexual magnetism about him . there is full frontal male nudity  lots of kissing and a fairly explicit sex scene in the movie which is great   most movies shy away from showing male  male love scenes . this one doesn  t and it helps to see how the characters care and feel for each other .  br    br   so  a frustrating film but somewhat worth seeing   especially for rideau  s nude scenes   that is  if you like good  looking nude young men   br    br    
this astonishing waste of production money is filmic proof that the rich and famous can be just as stupid and wasteful as politicians . from a  silly  play by tennessee williams and directed  with a dead hand  by joseph losey and starring taylor and burton and noel coward  this project filmed in a spectacular cliff  top mountain island mansion in the mediterranean must have seemed a sure fire winner when presented to universal in     . the result is so absurd and tedious that it almost defies belief . visually the film is spectacular but that is the force of nature that has allowed the setting and the fact that a real home is used instead of a set . the shrill antics of a screeching taylor  burton  s half asleep wanderings  the loony dialog  noel coward laughing at himself  the ridiculous story and plot devices and the absurd costuming simply irritate the viewer . boom is a disgrace  a waste of money and talent and clear proof that lauded famous people can be idiots just like the rest of the planet  s plebs . not even fun . just terrible and mad shocking waste .  
this movie has a special way of telling the story  at first i found it rather odd as it jumped through time and i had no idea whats happening .  br    br   anyway the story line was although simple  but still very real and touching . you met someone the first time  you fell in love completely  but broke up at last and promoted a deadly agony . who hasn  t go through this  but we will never forget this kind of pain in our life .  br    br   i would say i am rather touched as two actor has shown great performance in showing the love between the characters . i just wish that the story could be a happy ending .  
boy  this was one lousy movie  while i haven  t seen all of the burton  taylor collaborations  i can say with confidence that this is the worst . this rich but ill woman  taylor  of course  owns this beautiful island in the meditteranean  ruling over a put  upon staff when she  s suddenly visited by this traveling poet  who mouths platitudes . in fact  the whole film is just a talk fest  with much of the talk making no sense . even in      no one could make heads or tails of this pretentious nonsense  and the passage of time makes that even more clear . if it weren  t for the beautiful cinematography and scenery  it would deserve a negative rating . the only thing this film is good for is its unintentional laughs at the expense of the stars .  
this movie was more of a passage into manhood for one gay man  and how he must deal with everyone . his mother is depressed  his younger sister is a pain  his older sister is somewhat accepting . the relationship looks good with his boyfriend  exhooker and he leaves his family to try life with this first guy . unfortunately  the new guy screws around on him and says it really didn  t mean anything . our young gay man goes bonkers and ends up in the looney bin and eventually leaves  dumping his new lover and starting over . we are left with him starting over and viewing  not participating  in happiness . so maybe things will go better for him in the future . the ending was kind of a downer but the whole movie was entirely realistic and so i will let this real ending slip bye with a high rating .  
  boom  has garnered itself a something of a reputation . with heavyweights taylor  burton  noel coward  tennessee williams and joseph losey  one might be tempted to think  how bad could it be  well  it  s a lot worse than you could possibly imagine .  br    br   the sad and disturbing fact of  boom  is that is seems to signal the decline and fall of the aforementioned heavyweights . it was only director joseph losey who having plummeted the depths with  modesty blaise  and  boom   some may wish to add  secret ceremony    managed to recuperate and in     create his best work  the wonderful  go  between  .  br    br   saddest of all is the work of tennesee williams . from the mid forties until the early sixties  williams penned a number of plays which have gained classic status  remaining in theater repertory throughout the world  many becoming much praised films . when william  s muse deserted him  probably owing to his notorious substance abuse  it deserted him for good . williams at his best is an actor  s dream providing many unforgettable performances .  were ava gardner or deborah kerr ever better than in  night of the iguana    taylor in particular  shone in both  cat on a hot tin roof  and  suddenly last summer  . there is an anecdote in which supposedly taylor asks john gielgud whether he would teach her to play shakespeare  to which he replied  if you will teach me to play tennessee williams  . had gielgud seen  boom  he would have held his tongue . taylor simply has never been worse  turning in a cringe inducing performance . despite her face photographing well  she is decidedly podgy . besides the physical decline  from this time onwards she would basically lose credibility as a serious actress with a string of completely forgettable  and worse  roles to her credit .  br    br   much the same could be said of burton . following his short lived theatrical stardom  he won fame and fortune in hollywood . but the body of his work from this point onwards       would be unremarkable to say the least .  br    br   noel coward had long ceased being a force in the theater where his drawing room comedies had been replaced by the likes of williams and the british  angry young men  . he seems to be enjoying himself camping it up  but barely manages to amuses  that from the man who claimed such a talent .  br    br   the only cast member who maintains her dignity is young joanna shimkus  who in a few years would forego a promising screen career to become mrs . sidney poitier .  br    br    boom  reeks of self indulgence it  s simply out of control . a rather sad pointer to careers gone wrong rather than a camp fun fest as some have suggested .  
a very close and sharp discription of the bubbling and dynamic emotional world of specialy one   year old guy  that makes his first experiences in his gay love to an other boy  during an vacation with a part of his family .  br    br   i liked this film because of his extremly clear and surrogated storytelling  with all this  sound  close  ups  and quiet moments wich had been full of intensive moods .  br    br    
occasionally one is served a new entre from foreign films . that is their great attraction . they take from life and serve it up raw . american films  rarely dare to touch the forbidden subjects of society . too many hang  ups and a morbid fear of financial failure . the almighty dollar  determines their selections . something which invites european directors . in addition  audiences world wide remain hungry for  different  films  especially those which offer a savory bite out of the wretched  suffering body of humanity . despite the fear of directors or producers  many audiences yearn for beauty  poetry  and the pristine flavor of life . that is what the film  to the left of the father  offers to curious audiences . a family locked in the belief that unity of family stems from the unity of it  s obedience to tradition . yet when the patriarch of a family forgets it  s members are flesh and blood humans  filled with raging  unbridled dreams and dark passions  then the two are set in motions against itself . selton mello plays andr a son who seeks to control his inner passions with the stagnant philosophy of his father . raul cortez plays his father . simone spoladore is ana a young woman who seeks to quench a forbidden thirst from the family waters . leonardo medeiros is pedro  the elder brother . the film offers much  but does takes an extremely inordinate amount of time to say it .   
takashi miike is one of my favorite directors and i was worried about him doing a kids film  because i would hate to see him depart from his films i came to love visitor q  gozu  izo  ichi the killer and black socioty trilogy . lately he seems to be exploring new territory and i think he  s succeeding . still this was the first of his films i  d seen him take that direction  so i was nervous . of coarse i bought it without seeing it and was glad i did .  br    br   great yokai war is a perfect kids film and adults should like it too . the whole film reminded me so much of the movies i loved as a child neverending story  labyrinth  return to oz  etc . i enjoyed those films because they didn  t treat kids like they  re stupid and this one doesn  t either . the dark underlying morals are there  but  it  s also as silly as any kids film should be . i personally wasn  t bothered by the cgi and prosthetics . i feel like they fit well and don  t think kids will notice .  br    br   if you are a die hard takashi miike fan  you may not like this one . but  i suggest giving it a shot . it proves that miike is as diverse and talented as i suspected he is . he also continues to make his signature miike films outside of these ones  which is very reassuring .  br    br   to those people that are new to takashi miike and want something light hearted or dramatic like this one  i suggest these other miike films  zebraman   the happiness of the katakuris   sabu  and  the bird people in china .   br    br   good job takashi miike      stars .  
  chances are  a big mistake to see . you could know director emile ardolino from  dirty dancing  and  sister act  and should expect something amusing from him . but i guess i have to disillusion you . he made a really  really bad movie .  br    br   according to the story christopher mcdonald dies to reburn as a baby . the baby grows up robert downey jr  and jr returns his former home town where she meets his former daughter  mary stuart masterson  complicated  huh   .  br    br   they fall in love with each other . then appears jr former wife  cybill shepherd  and jr falls in love with her too . i guess i don  t even have to mention that she loves ryan o  neil .  br    br   in one of his first roles robert downey jr  s on his worst . he copies michael j fox .  br    br   after the  moonlighting  shepherd proves that she  s not suitable for acting in movies .  br    br   anyway  there  s one thing this unfunny comedy can be used as antidote to insomnia .  
most hollywood movies fail to capture the full range of experience of teenagers . this film demonstrates exactly how to do it right . it combines elements of humour  suffering  rebellion  etc . in a way that is comlex  sympathetic . the ending could be a bit clearer  but the fact that the director doesn  t spell everything out for you in advance before coming to the conclusion means that this film assumes a more intelligent viewer .  
i was always curious about this film because it is so tough to find  so when i stumbled upon it on ebay i forked over the    and bought it  now i understand why its so rare  this film is so bad  so terribly written and hopelessly low budget that the ending credits  which show all of the cut scenes where they fumbled their lines  are literally the movie  s highlight . the film is about a psychic  pettyjohn  cast for one obvious reason  her topless scene  whom uses her powers with an experimental machine to pull objects from another dimension into this reality . when she pulls in some kind of box like object the military nonchalantly throws it into the open back of a truck with one soldier to guard it  and gee  what do you know  surprise  a kid in a foam  rubber monster costume pops out  instantly kills the soldier with a scratch across his face  then escapes to a nearby city . but rather than deploy half the armed forces of the county to find it and protect the public those in charge just leave it up to pettyjohn and ray to find it on their own  but no matter  this movie blows all its credibility long before then . this barely escapes being voted a  by me only because of unintentional laughs  somebody needs to alert the producers of  mystery science theater      if they don  t know about it already   out    really  really bad   
the plot of the story and the performance of the lead actors are very much down  to  earth  the romance between two teen  age boys on the screen was done in good taste . you can easily relate to their emotions if you are one but if you are not one  you can appreciate the kind of love the film is trying to impart .  
if you  re watching this movie  you  re either a fred olen ray fan  you found it on the   .   shelf at suncoast and thought  what do i have to lose    or you spun around the video store with your eyes closed and rented the first movie your finger touched .  br    br   this movie is hysterically bad . it  s got everything a terrible movie needs a screenplay featuring jaw  dropping dialogue and baffling detours in the plot  wacky science involving psychics and other dimensions  continuity that seems to travel through wormholes in time and space  actors that are not only wooden  but seems to border on befuddled  gratuitous nudity  not all of it is what you necessarily would ask for   and of course  a   monster played by what i assume is fred olen ray  s kid .  br    br   underneath it all  however  there is something resembling heart   as if mickey  judy decided to get together all the kids in the neighborhood and make a monster movie  hey  my dad can direct it  yeah  we can use red paint from my johnny  s dad  s hardware store  and i know this ex  stripper who can act in it   .  br    br   watch for the blooper reel over the credits   you get to find out why the final cut of the movie was so crappy .  br    br   incidentally  biohazard ii . . . the alien force is also worth a look  but doesn  t have the same enjoyably crappy veneer this one does .  
the movie is very realistic . absolutely  it does not belong to the hollywood cinema genre where every line must be pronounced in a perfect manner and where every move is precise . the actors playing the roles of the lovers do a great job representing the characters  feelings and thoughts  their everyday life adventures . overall  the movie climaxes the viewer to a depressed state . this is where the realism of the whole story is apparent . not everything happens the way we think it should happen . i can say though that the movie does not end on a bad note . we watch  we learn  we experience ourselves . that is probably the moral of this story .  
i couldn  t believe some of the horrible dialog coming out of people  s mouths  and the end reel of bloopers attached to body of the film was a real hoot . and we get titty shots of angelique pettyjohn  sort of  and loren crabtree to boot .  br    br   a teleportation device activated by psychic angelique pettyjohn brings an alien container to an underground lab out in the desert . according to director fred olen ray  they were leftover sets from the klaus kinski film  android which gives the film an increased value beyond how cheap it looks .  br    br   inside the container is a midget alien  played by ray  s son  who starts clawing people to death . it was pretty funny watching this little  creature  in a black reptile suit with what looks like large beetle shells attached to it  running around in the dark . we even get to see the little thing stamp and tear at a poster of et  which i thought was hilarious .  br    br   and then there  s what looks like a snake that also comes out of the container that gets hammered to death by william fair  after the mini creature chews into frank mcdonald  s neck in the kitchen . a low budget take on alien  i suppose . . .  br    br   the whole thing ends abruptly  looking like they ran out of film at the end before the blooper reel comes in with the end credits . talk about a lack of funding . . .  br    br   fred olen ray also mentions in the director  s commentary that they also weren  t sure if aldo ray would make through the shooting and remember his lines . he barely did .  br    br   low budget cheese sneeze . it  s fun to watch  i  ll grant ya that .  br    br    out of    
this movie has everything . emotion  power  affection  stephane rideau  s adorable naked beach dance . . . it exposes the need for real inner communion and outer communication in any relationship . just because cedric and mathieu are a couple who happen to be gay doesn  t mean there isn  t quite useful insight for anybody in it . i would probably classify it as a gay movie  but one that can be appreciated and loved by heterosexual people as well as homosexual and bisexual people . mathieu  s incapacity to handle his emotions divulges the way our society doesn  t encourage us to act any differently  and that is what engenders the discord between him and cedric . this is definitely a must  see      
below average movie with poor music considering a movie based on music    ordinary script  direction with full of blunders . salman khan was at his usual acting . ajay  s performance deteriorating with time as his looks  especially his styles as a rock star were pathetic . asin was just a showpiece only . overall i felt like wasting my money in cinema . salman khan remains as immature as   years ago compared to aamir khan . there were many songs in the movie all boring except  man ko ati  . the most important song to impress the uk music sponsor was most unimpressive .  khanabadosh  can be very easily understood by an english music sponsor . the other movie i saw last week was  wake up sid  which was simple slow love story with good direction  acting despite average music  
i  m gonna give it to ya straight . . . this movie is amazing . foreign gay films are so fast surpassing american gay films in production quality acting and story . while so many american indie gay films are grainy  bad sound  amateur acting  trite story lines  and a surprising lack of any nudity or erotica  top  quality foreign gay films have been popping up like this one from france . the cinematography is beautiful  thought out  meaningful . the story is adult and complex  but not difficult for anyone to follow   the acting is intense and professional . both leads are fantastic  as well as the entire cast . the boys are more than just good  looking and there  s plenty of full frontal nudity . you follow the entire year of these boys  from their meeting to the end . all the little nuances of a relationship  s  the details of falling in  and out  of love are there beautifully performed . it left me wanting more . check it out   
first thing first . in this genre movie the first thing you need is a good music  and thats where mr . shankar and his party fails .  br    br   music is completely pale and uneffective . on other hand there is ajay devgan  who has removed a letter  a  from his spelling  done good job but was of no use to a bad casted movies like this .  br    br   asin is like a doll which is used to amuse public  even though she is good to look at but her role in movie is to dance  actually she is dancing member of a rock band and i don  t think any rock band have there dancer as a member of band .  br    br   in nut shell this movie is a piece of crap a piece of t . watch it if you wanna get fooled .  
  presque rien  is a story of two young boys falling in love during summer stay by the seaside . i don  t want to tell the plot  because it  s not what  s most important about this film  but you can be sure that it  s interesting and original  . the best part of this movie is the cinematography . the visual side of  presque rien  is so amazing it deserves highest note . it leaves you charmed with its beauty .  br    br   as for the plot  it is shown in uneven  rather complicated way . there is no simple chronology nor there are answers to all the questions the film brings . but this is what makes  presque rien  even more interesting . i recommend this movie to all the people for whom the artistic side of films is very important and they will not be disappointed .  
it  s a bad season for bollywood with all the big releases with a massive hype surrounding proving to be duds at the box office . london dreams is no exception to that . let  s dissect it . . . it  s all about chasing your dreams and how far will you go to achieve it . sounds impressive right  but unfortunately the film is not .  br    br   arjun  ajay devgan  is an aspiring musician who wants to make it big someday . his dream is to perform in wembley stadium in front of a cheering       audience calling out his name . he is joined by two brothers  zoheb  wasim  debutants aditya roy  ranvijay  and a ravishing priya  asin  . together they form  london dreams  their dream band . after impressing the chief of a record company  they become overnight sensations . arjun is secretly in love with priya which he doesn  t want to reveal till he achieves his goal . arjun then brings his childhood friend manjit khosla aka mannu  salman khan   a carefree flirtatious guy who has got no ambitions in life  to join their band . mannu is a trained musician and a real talent for whom later arjun become envious for mannu  s superior skills and his affair with priya . arjun with the help of zoheb plans to blight mannu . what happens next forms the rest of the movies .  br    br   coming to the technical aspects  we feel only the shadow of vipul amritlal sha whom we have admired in namaste london . felt like he simply visualized the screenplay . to cut it short  a glorified cameraman . screenplay by suresh nair dulls even though it has its moments . defined in a predictable fashion  the screenplay bore you to stiff . camera work was awesome in capturing the beauty of london . it  s the only entertaining part while watching songs .  br    br   few songs are hummable while others are passable noisy fare . ajay was the one who stole the show with his negative character . salman is monotonous and he irks you . asin is forgettable and i don  t that she will make it big in bollywood . aditya roy is impressive while ranvijay is strictly ok . brinda as the bitch is what we have seen in innumerable movies . ompuri is ongoing with the proceedings . i don  t want to pen down about the flaws as it will be a herculean task .  br    br   finally let me put it simple and straight  london dreams is a soulless movie which you may better enjoy on dvd .  
there is certainly emotion between the two main characters as they explore their relationship   one based primarily on physical attraction from the beginning . and there is also emotion in the inner  workings of mathieu  s family dealing w  his mother  s problems   and how that comes to bear on their relationship . but the problem is it leaves a lot of things unanswered  unless i  m just too dumb to pick up on them  . why is mathieu in a mental hospital  what led to the boys  break  up  and the flashing back between present and past is a little hard to follow at first . it seems like the main reason to rent this movie is to enjoy some homoerotic vicarious thrills  or some male nudity . but as a love story or character study it is lacking and unsatisfying .  
the lack of content in this movie amazed me the most . first i though that people was going to compare this to rock on  but i  m really surprised myself to say that this was worst than rock on  so  so story horrible cast ajay devgan jamming with salman khan and asin you gotta be kidding me . the music was okay khanabadosh was the track of the movie the rest was bad  vipul shah hasn  t still learn from singh is king  s critically bashed comedy . now asin . . where do she come from sorry for asin  s fan out there but she suckd big time in this movie seriously bad acting she didn  t look good at all overdose of make  up  my final verdict go watch aladin with your family instead wasting your time here .  
deeply emotional . it can  t leave you neutral .  br    br   yes it  s a love story between    years old boys . but it  s only the body of this movie . and it  s been removed . you only feel what happened with these boys . you feel the soul of the movie . with of course some action  some sex  but this is no pornography  too many feelings .  br    br   it was only a summer  story   and it became  from love to hate  almost to death  the most important time of their lives . i loved it  you will too  whatever your feelings are .  
london dreams  directed by vipul shah  is a frustratingly foolish film about foolish people . it  s the kind of film whose central conflict could be instantly resolved if the characters concerned simply sat down and had a chat . ajay devgan plays arjun  an aspiring pop  artiste obsessed with performing before a cheering crowd at london  s wembley stadium . he becomes jealous of his devoted best friend and band  mate manu  played by salman khan  who is evidently more talented than him  but nowhere near as focused or ambitious . arjun decides to sabotage manu when the latter  s popularity threatens to outshine his own . now here  s where a heart  to  heart might have helped . had arjun explained what this wembley fixation meant to him  manu would have graciously backed off and let arjun fulfill his childhood dream  and we  d have been spared the agony of watching the rest of this uninspiring drivel . but director vipul shah and his writers are in no mood to do us any favours . london dreams is packed with unintentionally hilarious gems like that back  story involving arjun  s grandpa who committed suicide out of shame for getting stage  fright at a packed wembley concert . or the ridiculous incident at a show where manu must take over vocal responsibilities after a blast of confetti practically chokes arjun into silence . the idiocy  however  doesn  t end there . in his attempts to shame manu publicly  arjun uses his connections to get manu hooked onto drugs . a buxom groupie urges manu to down a couple of tequila shots with her but replaces his salt with cocaine . before you know it  manu has acquired quite the appetite for the addictive white powder  practically chomping it down like dinner . if that isn  t silly enough  there  s a crude scene later in which manu chases after the said girl to find out who she  s been taking orders from . the pursuit ends in a dark london alley where the girl gets down on her knees pretending to do the unmentionable so as to mislead manu  s girlfriend who  s been secretly following after them . wait  there  s more  expect to howl hysterically when arjun snaps off his belt and whips himself mercilessly to banish all thoughts of romance or lust towards the band  s lead dancer priya  played by asin  because nothing and no one must distract him from his musical goals . too generously inspired by milos forman  s amadeus for it to merit any comparison with last year  s rock on   vipul shah  s latest is a clunky melodrama that  s as loosely directed as it is scripted . the film goes for broad humor  over  the  top emotions  and basically chooses loudness over subtlety . that works for manu  s character  with salman khan playing him all loutish and lovable  but in the case of arjun  ajay devgan comes off too passive with a performance that is mostly internalised . when arjun does reach boiling point however  it results in an awkward pre  climax scene in which he lectures a packed concert hall and is understandably pelted with plastic bottles as punishment . of the remaining cast  there  s not a kind word i can say for asin  who practically lit up ghajini with her ebullient charm  but disappoints here with unnecessary over  acting in a thankless role . ranvijay singh and aditya roy kapur  reduced to mere sidekicks in the band  show up at regular intervals  usually to utter some inane dialogue like   we  ll rock it dude   for its dim  witted writing and sloppy direction  london dreams is ultimately a tiresome watch . if you must  watch it for salman khan who  s turned buffoonery into a bonafide acting style . it  s the only thing that  ll make you smile in this sad  sad film .  
i liked this film very much . the story jumps back and forth quite a bit and is not easy to follow . there is no resolution to the story whatsoever  and you are left to wonder what really happened . since i like that sort of film i enjoyed this . i especially like the  dating  scenes between the boys and i was drawn into their lives . and of course any film with a naked staphane rideau will get a couple of extra points .     
vipul shah has done some really impressive work as a filmmaker in the past .  waqt  the race against time  and  namaste london  were entertaining and interesting to watch .  singh is kinng  was fun  which he produced . his latest outing as a filmmaker  london dreams  comes up as his careers weakest fare .  br    br    london dreams  has a mediocre storyline  it  s about how success turns friendship into hatred . agreed  it has the potential but when you watch  london dreams  you wonder what  s happening  this film has maybe the worst climax in recent times . vipul shah the writer puts vipul shah the director down .  br    br   the first hour is boring  the second hour is better but again the climax is horrendous . how can anyone forgive a person who decided to destroy you  i won  t . ajay devgn suddenly decides to go to india and ask forgiveness to his diaper buddy  thanks to his uncle om puri . when he reaches india  rather than slapping or abusing him salman welcomes him with band baja and says he was the reason behind the entire fiasco  was vipul shah  s intension to show salman  s character as a god  if yes  than you  ve failed completely . the only question i want to ask vipul shah is that  would you welcome a person who destroyed you with such a great reception  write what you feel  don  t fool us the audience  we are sensible enough to understand what  s good or not .  br    br   this is a musical but the music by shankar  eshaan  loy is terrible . not a single song stays in your mind .  br    br   salman is superb though . he carries the film on his shoulders and does really  really well in the emotional scenes . but again his character is shown as a god  which makes him look like a retard in the end . ajay is equally good  but salman has over  shadowed him completely . asin is wasted  and what is a great talent like om puri doing in this film  rannvijay hams  though aditya roy kapoor excels . brinda parekh is alright as the vamp .  br    br   on the whole  this dream remains a dream   
screened at the san francisco international film festival under the title  come undone   april               . the cinematographer uses techniques that add to the storytelling . even with fall  winter backgrounds for the  present  and spring summer for the  flashbacks  there can be some difficulty following the continuity .  br    br   whether either lead is gay  the actors well  portray the budding relationship in real life terms from physical violence toward each other to their passionate lovemaking . the story pulls you into the characters a bit slowly in the beginning . but as the end approaches  you really care about where these guys will be next summer  you  too  will want a sequel to find out .  
who were they kidding with this  there was just too much in this film that was hard to digest . right from when arjun  ajay devgan  unknowingly wishes death on his father to when he arrives in london with his uncle  played by om puri  only to abandon him minutes later . the only problem with that theory is that anybody who has ever passed through london heathrow knows that such a fte would be impossible to pull off and especially not by an indian . but the film problems do not end there  there  s the issue of the two main leads  salman khan and ajay devgan  passing as rock  stars on the verge of achieving their dreams . i mean yeah we saw success come to susan boyle  a woman in the uk achieving her dreams after age    but that was a rare case . it was really hard for me to suspend my disbelief because i felt that the casting of salman and ajay was just ill  conceived . they would never cast madhuri dixit and sridevi to play the same roles so why should we be forced to watch ajay devgan and salman khan  men well into their   s  prance around desperately trying to hang on to their   s  let  s not even talk about the most self  conscious actress on screen today  asin . this is her second film  that i have seen  and she is just hopeless as an actress  so conscious of her looks that she only concerns herself with looking good and voguing for the camera rather than giving in a good acting performance . it  s just hard to believe that she turned down all those other movie roles to star in this fluff and then be so fluffy as an actress  nothing to write home about at all . and to top all of that  the film just boringly dragged on . there  s nothing special about it at all  trust me you will predict every clichd thing that is going to happen in it .  
  yokai daisenso  is a children  s film by takashi miike  but as you might expect  it  s probably a bit too dark  scary for younger ones . however  older children may well eat this up  that is  if you play it dubbed in english .  br    br   the story is that of a young boy  who has moved with his mother to the country  to live with his grandfather  after a divorce . during a village festival the boy is chosen as a  kirin rider   a great honor  but with that honor comes much danger and adventure  of course .  br    br   meanwhile  evil doings are at hand as a woman in a white mini skirt  go  go boots  a beehive hair  do  teams up with an evil yokai to turn people  s resentments and discarded items against them . and this evil has manifested itself as a flying city in the form of a monster that heads for the city of rage itself  tokyo . one quite funny scene has two derelicts watching the monster fly over the city . . . says one   oh  it  s only gamera  .  br    br   the young boy has befriended yokai  which are monsters of a kind  mostly benign  that have isolated themselves away from humans  and all the yokai in japan band together to fight the evil .  br    br   in many ways miike  crew have taken the late    s  early    s yokai films and turned them into a modern action adventure film for  older  kids that also combines some strange mechanical monsters that made me think of  transformers  . the look and feel of the film is great  the effects are entertaining  and some of the humor will just sail right over kid  s heads  but still  older ones might enjoy it . as for adults  there  s not much here not to like  if you  re a fan of japanese monster movies you  ll enjoy the heck out of this .  br    br   cool  fun stuff  kind of dark at times but perhaps that  s just miike . . and what a wild ride .  out of   .  
predictable plot . simple dialogue . shockingly unemotional performances . but robert downey  jr . is so cute  i gave this  poor man  s afternoon special  a  instead of the  or  it so richly deserved .  
i found this film the first time when i was searching for some works in witch stphane rideau had participate  still in an extraordinary ravishment caused by the astonishingly beautiful les roseaux sauvages  in portuguese  juncos silvestres   by andr tchin . i was searching for similar movies  in the come of age line . i found then presque rien  a movie where the director sbastien lifshitz deliciously amazes us  earning a nomination by the cannes festival in     . the story is about two guys  the kind boy next door  mathieu  jrmie elkam  and cdric  stphane rideau   who meet during the summer vacations . in a land far from where he lives  mathieu spends is days at the beach with his sister . there he meets cdric  a local  with whom he starts this estival and revealing relationship  much by means of the sensual and seducer personality that stphane rideau gives his characters   in les roseaux sauvages   years younger  he still preserves the innocence of the sweet seducer  witch matures here in experience  . exemplar in directing  in the amorous sequence  in the intimate and confessing description that is made about a boys first facing his  still ambiguous  sexuality and great love . the first love  in its terrible progression ecstasy  despair . the best of the film is the best of france the fervent passion  the hot and excited rationalism  the brownish beauty  the simple and natural acceptance made by the families  although not without surprise and first anger . still  there is the beach  the luminosity  the lightness e simplicity of summer  the freshness of breeze  the surge     s melody  and the expressive eyes of an introverted elkam  hesitant  hurt  puzzled  passionate  . the sex is not avoided nor exploited  it is treated as it is  with no exhibitionist intention . in virtue of pure talent  this is a work of drama of uncommon quality  without cheap sentimentalism  showing an inevitably real image of two homosexual in their prime youth as any ordinary person  although with a social fear of rejection and shame . it is well worthy being seen  especially by those who adore french movies  although the dvd front cover is very lame  with the two actors in between tens of stars  greased with brilliantine  . a movie witch  in my opinion  deserves an      
maaan  where do i start with this god awful movie . bad bad bad story telling . i do not know what the director was thinking when he made this movie . namaste london was quite an enjoyable movie to be honest . . even the soundtrack was good . but in this one . . oh my good . . for a movie which is supposed to be a musical one . . the songs are soooo bad . ar rahman should have been the music director .  br    br   given two great actors a much better job should have been done by the director . even though the first half sucks  the last   mins of the movie are ok . performances from salman and ajay save the movie from being a total disaster .  br    br   watch it if you have nothing better to do . the last good movie from bollywood i watched  and i do watch a load of them  is dev d and wake up sid .  
what seemed at first just another introverted french flick offering no more than baleful sentiment became for me  on second viewing  a genuinely insightful and quite satisfying presentation .  br    br   spoiler of sorts follows .  br    br   poor cedric he apparently didn  t know what hit him . poor audience we were at first caught up in what seemed a really beautiful and romantic story only to be led back and forth into the dark reality of mismatch . these two guys just didn  t belong together from their first ambiguous encounter . as much as mathieu and cedric were sexually attracted to each other  the absence of a deeper emotional tie made it impossible for mathieu  an intellectual being  to find fulfillment in sharing life with someone whose sensibilities were more attuned to carnival festivities and romps on the beach .  br    br   on a purely technical note  i loved the camera action in this film . subtitles were totally unnecessary  even though my french is  presque rien .  i could watch it again without the annoying english translation and enjoy it even more . this was a polished  very professionally made motion picture . though many scenes seem superfluous  i rate it nine out of ten .  
the movie is a total crap . we have two good actors who are miscast and a meat  head of an actor salman khan just to attract the female audience . the story is a crap . the characters poorly sketched . non existent story telling . no editing to speak of . ajay devgan as a rock star . . that is a dream in itself . the movie drags along to the point of decadence . the whole charade about arjun bringing his manna to london  let him grope his girlfriend and let him not play at wembley  vimbley in the dubbing process  is absurd . salman khan  s over the top acting or faking is too painful to watch . i remember seeing some good movies from this producer vipul shah but this is not one of them . it seems all the good directors are falling prey to the box office mania . . that the mumbai media morons have created . this is yet another crap movie in the lines of  wanted  with idiot actor like salman khan who has no place in a good hindi cinema . he is good to the indian cinema as titanic was to the winter cruise business . on a positive note  i like asin character dancing bharatnatyam when she changes to the western style dancing when the teacher is not looking .  
i agree that the movie is a little slow at spots having many scenes of mundane everyday life and no dialog . and i wasn  t impressed right after i watched it . however  after a few days  i realized that the movie stays with me and it evokes a melancholy mood which lingers in my mind . my appreciation of this movie increases . it certainly merits a higher consideration than those movies that are instantly forgettable .  br    br   as many have commented  the movie is non  linear and that  s a hallmark of european film  making as opposed to the linear narrative form that hollywood favors . i don  t really know whether it  s true or not . many also dislike its confusing structure and lack of clear explanations . to those viewers  i don  t think there is much i can say to change their opinions . however  for others who have yet to see the film  do expect to be challenged and don  t expect the film to supply all the answers and you might come away enjoying it more than you would otherwise .  br    br   the movie skips around a bit but really chronicles just  time periods . pay attention to the hair style and you can easily separate out  of the  periods . it is also not as confusing as suggested just enjoy and it  ll all be clear at the end .  br    br   yes  lots of things are left unsaid or not shown  and lots of situations are left unexplored . but isn  t that what life is like  a lot of time you  re not sure of the motives of your friends  loved ones unless you confront them and even then  you can never be     sure if they told you the whole truth . this type of movies forces us to interpret the reasons behind the actions . the movie does  however  leave enough hints for you to make some reasonable assumptions . for example  mathieu is manic depressive  to the point of suicidal . why  i don  t know  maybe his life is not turning out exactly as he expects it maybe he misses his family but hasn  t forgiven his father for abandoning his sick mother at her hours of need maybe after all he sacrifices for cedric  rearranging and indeed  shattering his life to be with him  he realizes that it is all  coming undone  . i think the director meant to show us that he has always been a little off  mentality fragile by that scene w  the dead bird . maybe he has a very sensitive psyche and all these stresses are taking a toll on him . but we  re also shown that he is not some animal torturing psycho by his loving interaction w  the stray cat . also  there is one conversation between the doctor and cedric that sheds light on the reason behind the breakup and maybe the suicide attempt . the doctor asks him if everything is okay  and cedric thinks so even though he cheated on mathieu once  but that  s nothing  according to cedric . is that the only reason  we don  t know  there are probably others  all mixed up together . is it paramount that we know exactly what they are  i don  t think so  for this movie . another telltale sign that they are ultimately not compatible is the historical ruins scene . mathieu is interested in studying the ruins  cedric is not . he is the one w  the raging hormone who focuses only on the physical side without an intellectual side that mathieu obviously needs .  br    br   finally  the ending is really rather hopeful and sweet . i was pleasantly surprised by the turn of events after the bleak tone that edges toward the end .  br    br   i have two complaints for the dvd . one is the sound . it  s very soft . i had to crank up the volume to hear the dialog and then when it switched to a bar or outdoor crowd scene  it became too loud . the other is that the subtitles can  t be turn off they stay on the screen . most foreign movie dvds not released by a major studio are shoddy this way unfortunately .  
the film was written   years back and a different director was planning it with srk and aamir in lead roles  br    br   the film finally was made now with vipul shah directing it and ajay and salman starring together after a decade hum dil de chuke sanam        br    br   the movie however falls short due to it  s    s handling and worst it  s loopholes  br    br   the film tries to pack in too many commercial ingredients and we also hav the love triangle  br    br   everything is predictable and filmy and too clichd  br    br   there are loopholes like how ajay runs away from london airport and makes a place for himself with no one  even the way he starts his band is not convincing the second half gets better with the twist in the tale of ajay destroying salman but sadly the climax falls short and the film ends on a bad note  br    br   direction by vipul shah is ordinary to below average music is the worst point  most songs are mediocre  br    br   amongst actors ajay gives his best shot though he isn  t convincing as a rock singer yet he does superb as the negative role salman however irritates with his punjabi and talking nonsense he only impresses when he gets drugged and thereon asin is nothing great just a show piece ranvijay should stick to mtv om puri is okay  
first love is a desperately difficult subject to pull off convincingly in cinema  the all  encompassing passion involved generally ends up as a pale imitation or  worse  slightly ridiculous .  br    br   lifshitz manages to avoid all the pitfalls and delivers a moving  sexy  thoroughly engrossing tale of love  disaster and possible redemption  while tangentially touching on some of the deeper themes in human existence .  br    br   the core story is of mathieu     a solitary  introverted boy who meets cdric  brasher  more outgoing but just as lonely  while on holiday with his family . as the summer warms on  they fall in love and  when the holidays end  decide to live together . a year later  the relationship ends in catastrophe cdric cheats on mathieu who  distraught  tries to take his own life . he survives and  in order to get perspective back on his life he returns to the seaside town where they first met  this time cloaked in the chill of winter .  br    br   if the tale was told like this it would never have the impact it does much of it is implied  all of it happens non  sequentially .  br    br   the intricate narrative is essential to getting a deeper feeling of the passions experienced  through the use of counterpoint and temporal perspective . fortunately  the three time  lines used  the summer of love  the post  suicide psychiatric hospital and the winter of reconstruction  are colour coded warm yellows and oranges for the summer  an almost frighteningly chill blue for the hospital scenes and warming browns and blues for the winter seaside .  br    br   both main actors put in excellent performances though  whilst it  s a delight to see stphane rideau  cdric  used to his full capacity  i  m more used to seeing him under  stretched in gael morel  s rather limp dramas   jrmie elkaim  mathieu  has to be singled out for special mention you can feel his loneliness  then his almost incredulous passion  then his character crumbling behind a wall of aphasia . beautifully crafted gestures get across far more than dialogue ever could .  br    br   the themes touched upon are almost classic in french cinema our difficulty in really understanding what another is feeling our difficulty in communicating fully the shifting sands of meaning the film  s title  presque rien   almost nothing  points to all of these and  indeed  to one of the key scenes in the film in trying to understand why mathieu attempted to kill himself  a psychiatrist asks cdric if he had ever cheated on him  non enfin  oui une fois  mais ce n  tait rien   no well  yes once  but it was nothing  . cdric still loves mathieu  he brought him to the hospital during the suicide attempt  none of which we see  and tries desperately to contact him again once he leaves  but cannot understand that he has lost him forever  because something that seemed nothing to him  a meaningless affair  is everything to mathieu .  br    br   whilst the film is darker than the rather unfortunate pierre et gilles poster would suggest  it is not without hope we get to see cdric  s slow  painful attempts to get back in touch with life  first through a cat he adopts  then through work in a local bar and finally contact with pierre  who may be his next love . but here the story ends a teenage passion  over within the year  another perhaps beginning . so what was it  almost nothing  certainly not when you  re living it  
i just wondering what is the purpose of making movies like this  the profit  and to whom they are referring what intelligence must use your brain to watch something like this crap  this movie is watchable by under  years old children if you are adults don  t try to watch it . thats the reason i think hollywood started to use cartoons in movies with actors like this you must forget the art of cinema  be sure that you ll have tons of pop corn to consume for time to pass till this movie ends also get many cola  s hamburgers your laptop your cellphone this movie can be used easily in a restaurant but for sure not in a theater  my dog who is always next to my family when watching a movie left the building . the sure thing is that this movie is referring to people with no demands from the cinema art . the only thing that this movie can be used is for watching it when making the supermarket shopping list . i am giving  stars for supporting the india  s cinema efforts but for nothing more or less . .  
stephane rideau was already a star for his tour de force in  wild reeds   and he is one of france  s biggest indie stars . in this film  he plays cedric  a local boy who meets vacationing mathieu  newcomer jamie elkaim  in a stunning  nuanced  ethereal performance  at the beach . mathieu has a complex relationship with his ill mother  demanding aunt and sister  with whom he has a competitive relationship  . soon  the two are falling in love .  br    br   the film  s fractured narrative   which is comprised of lengthy flash  backs  bits and pieces of the present  and real  time forward  movement into the future   is a little daunting . director sebastien lifshitz doesn  t signal which time  period we are in  and the story line can be difficult to follow . but stick it out the film  s final   minutes are so engrossing that you won  t be able to take your eyes off the screen . by turns heart  breaking and uplifting  this film ranks with  beautiful thing  as must  see cinema .  
the movie is plain bad . simply awful . the string of bad movies from bollywood has no end  they must be running out of excuses for making such awful movies  or not  .  br    br   the problem seems to be with mainly the directors . this movie has  good actors who have proved in the past that the have the ability to deliver great performance . . . but they were directed so poorly . the poor script did not help either .  br    br   this movie has plenty of ridiculous moments and very bad editing in the first half . for instance   br    br   after his  st big concert  ajay devgan  meets up with om puri  from whom he ran away some   years ago and talked to again  and all om puri finds to say is to beware of his friendship with salman    what a load of crap . seriously . not to mention the baaad soundtrack . whatever happened to shankar ehsaan loy   br    br   ajay devgun is total miscast for portraying a rockstar .  br    br   only saving grace are the good performances in the second half . ajay shines as his character shows his dark side . so does salman as the drug addict .  br    br   watch it maybe only for the last half hour .  
maybe  presque rien  is not the best movie ever made . . . but it is better than many of you have said . i still haven  t seen a homo  themed movie better than this one .  br    br   you americans are accustomed to watch very narrative movies  with a clear beginning  development and outcome . but european movies are less narrative  but makes you think much and feel .  br    br   many of you didn  t understand the sense of the movie . . the purpose of this one is not show us a simple  summer loving movie   with commercial characters who  fall in love and live happy forever  . summer holidays and beach are only a background  and this movie is directed to every young boy who may feel identified with those boys .  br    br   maybe some of you didn  t understand well this movie  because of its  parts  showed as flashbacks . these  moments are  summertime in pornichet  when they meet and love .  after a year and half living together in nantes  mathieu doesn  t go to a psychiatric himself . he tries to suicide taking something  and cedric brings him to hospital . later  he appears talking with a psychiatrist to find the reason about he done that .  the last part  is when mathieu come back to pornichet  in winter  alone . . to think about how his life have changed  how his life become to be  and trying to find himself .  br    br   it  s possible that some people couldn  t understand all this well  because all the scenes are mixed among them . but anyway  as i said before . . . this is not a funny movie . if what someone want to see is meat  for that  we have belami movies .  br    br   presque rien  what want to show us  is how cruel can be the life  for a young boy who is not sure about his feelings and not sure about what to do in life . mathieu only wants to go away from home  and try to live the kind of life that he thought could bring him the happiness . . but what seemed perfect at the beginning . . later is not as good as he thought  and he become troubled  and feel that he has lost the way of his life . he is lost and doesn  t know what he really wants to do  or what makes him happy . he finally become depressed and tries to commit suicide .  br    br   so  funny  is not a funny movie . very hot scenes  only a few . . but this is not a movie for entertainment . is all about feelings . . . friendship  love  happiness  unhappiness  pain  depression  loneliness . . . i  as many others  feel identified with life and problems of mathieu  and that is what director wanted to do . . a movie who show us the cruel reality of a boy  s life .  br    br   for me  the best homo  themed movie ever .  
i ended up watching this movie before even going through any of the reviews  on the request of a female . just out of curiosity  i thought  let me find out if there are people who actually recommend others to watch this movie . i am quite shocked to find such long and positive reviews on this website that makes me conclude that it  s a scam .  br    br   as far as my opinion goes  i have to ask   are these filmmakers retarded or do they assume that the viewers are retarded   the movie is atrocious on so many levels and i  m not even talking about the story or presentation .  br    br   so  these bunch of guys plus one girl  the lead actress  form a music band guessing from the constant presence of guitars it is supposed to be a rock band . hell  when did dancers started becoming the part of a rock band    anyway  let me accept it as the  bollywood  version  of  a  rock  band  but amusingly enough all the scores which actually had these two guitarists doing all kinds of cool  rock gestures  and i am assuming they were playing the instruments  the sound of the guitar was completely missing    i simply can  t comprehend the magnitude of stupidity here . . . .  br    br   i am just going to conclude here because it is absolutely not worth pointing out any further flaws in the movie . bollywood directors seem to have no shame anymore          
an adult  realistic  cruel  dark story  like a second part of  les roseaux savages   the wild reeds   plenty of beauty and sadness  ellipsis and silences  shadows and little sparks of hope . a man searching for a warm companion  a better life  a sincere attitude .  
this movie has the made for tv stink all over it . though  it started out with great intentions  featuring great looking sets and authentic props and costumes . the film quickly degenerated into horrible on the nose cheesy dialogue  and rushed tv sappy melodramatic acting . the characters were so sappy that at times i thought that they are about to degenerate into a bilious puddle of goo  and the action was so convoluted and poorly cut that it looked as it the soldiers were merely standing around and taking turns shooting at one another . the germans were so unrealistically depicted that it was painful to watch . the only thing that the german officers talked about was how wonderful the americans are . please take my word for this . i am a huge fan of the war genre  and this movie is crap . nevertheless  this dvd does have an excellent extra feature  covering letters from the wwi front lines  thus making this rental not a total waste of my time .  
  presque rien    come undone   is an earlier work by the inordinately gifted writer  director sbastien lifshitz  with the collaboration of writer stphane bouquet  the team that gave us the later  wild side   . as we come to understand lifshitz  s manner of storytelling each of his works becomes more treasureable . by allowing his tender and sensitive love stories to unfold in the same random fashion found in the minds of confused and insecure youths  time now  time passed  time reflective  time imagined  time alone  lifshitz makes his tales more personal  involving the viewer with every aspect of the characters  responses . it takes a bit of work to key into his method  but going with his technique draws us deeply into the film .  br    br   mathieu  handsome and gifted jrmie elkam  is visiting the seaside for a holiday  a time to allow his mother  dominique reymond  to struggle with her undefined illness  cared for by the worldly and wise annick  marie matheron  and accompanied by his sister sarah  laetitia legrix   their distant father has remained at home for business reasons . weaving in and out of the first moments of the film are images of mathieu alone  looking depressed  riding trains  speaking to someone in a little recorder . we are left to wonder whether the unfolding action is all memory or contemporary action .  br    br   while sunning at the beach mathieu notices a handsome youth his age starring at him  and we can feel mathieu  s emotions quivering with confusion . the youth cdric  stphane rideau  follows mathieu and his sister home  continuing the mystery of attraction . soon cdric approaches mathieu and a gentle introduction leads to a kiss that begins a passionate love obsession . mathieu is terrified of the direction he is taking  rebuffs cdric  s public approaches  but continues to seek him out for consignations . the two young men are fully in the throes of being in love and the enactment of the physical aspect of this relationship  so very necessary to understanding this story  is shared with the audience in some very erotic and sensual scenes . yet as the summer wears on mathieu  a committed student  realizes that cdric is a drifter working in a condiment stand at a carnival . it becomes apparent that cdric is the dionysian partner while mathieu is the apollonian one in a telling time in architectural ruin mathieu is excited by the beauty of the history and space while cdric is only interested in the place as a new hideaway for lovemaking .  br    br   mathieu is a complex person  coping with his familial ties strained by critical illness and a non  present father  a fear of his burgeoning sexuality  and his nascent passion for cdric . their moments of joy are disrupted by cdric  s admission of infidelity and mathieu  s inability to cope with that issue and eventually they part ways . time passes  family changes are made  and mathieu drifts into depression including a suicide attempt . the manner in which mathieu copes with all of these challenges and finds solace  strangely enough  in one of cdric  s past lovers pierre  nils ohlund  brings the film to an ambiguous yet wholly successful climax .  br    br   after viewing the film the feeling of identification with these characters is so strong that the desire to start the film from the beginning now with the knowledge of the complete story is powerful . lifshitz has given us a film of meditation with passion  conflicts with passion  s powers found in love  and a quiet film of silences and reveries that are incomparably beautiful . the entire cast is superb and the direction is gentle and provocative . lifshitz is most assuredly one of the bright lights of film  making . in french with english subtitles . highly recommended . grady harp  
   i am not weapon expert  but even i can see difference between u . s . army riffles in wwi and wwii . in movie we can see privates  armed with  m  garand   invented in year        not authentic      springfield   aka  silent death    who privates use until wwii . difference  m  can load    times more ammunition and  times more fire rate  m  was semi  automatic  springfield requires reloading after every shot . little difference     german army uniforms has borrowed from     year too . especially  helmets . german helmets until end of wwi have significant pike on top  we cannot see even one in movie . and if we make little additional search in archives  how much truthful is this  true story   i am surprised  how much  truthful  can be film directors in a pursuit of cheap propagation .  
  come undone  appears to elicit a lot of opinions among the contributors to this forum . granted  it  s a film that promises a take on gay life  as most viewers expect and somehow  it gets away from that promise into an introspective view at a young man  s soul . the film has a way of staying with us even when it has ended . it is a character study about how a young man gets involved into a love affair with someone so much different than him that  in the end  will leave mathieu confused  hurt and depressed when things don  t go according to what he hoped the relationship would be .  br    br   if you haven  t seen the film  perhaps you would like to stop reading .  br    br   sebastien lifshitz  the director of the film  has told his story from mathieu  s viewpoint . most viewers appear to be disoriented by the different times within the film  but there are hints that are not obvious  as one can see  in retrospect . the story is told in flashbacks that might add to the way some people will view the film . this is a story about the doomed the love mathieu felt for cedric and the ultimate breakdown of their life together .  br    br   first of all  cedric  the handsome young local  pursues mathieu until he succeeds in convincing him he likes him . mathieu feels the attraction for cedric too . we realize how different both young men are by the way cedric tells mathieu  s family how he feels school is not for him . on the other hand  mathieu  who wants to be an architect  finds beauty in the abandoned place where cedric has taken him . we watch as mathieu  reading from the guide book  wants cedric  s attention .  br    br   when mathieu comes out to his mother  she wisely tells him about the importance of continuing his career . she also points out about what future both of them would have together  which proves to be true . mathieu appears to have learned his lesson  the hard way . he goes on to an uncertain life with cedric and attempts to take his own life . we watch him in the hospital speaking to a psychiatrist that has treated his wounded soul .  br    br   the ending might be confusing for most viewers  but there is a moment in the film when mathieu goes to work in a bar where we see him washing glasses and looking intently to pierre  the young man who frequents the bar . that is why when mathieu goes looking for pierre at his house  appears to be hard to imagine . yet  we have seen the way mathieu is obviously interested in pierre . the last scene at the beach  when pierre and mathieu are seen strolling in the sand  has a hopeful sign that things will be better between them as they watch a young boy  apparently lost  but then realizing the father is nearby .  br    br   jeremie elkaim makes mathieu one of the most complex characters in recent films . this is a young man who is hard to understand on a simple level . mathieu has suffered a lot  first with the separation of his parents  then with his depressed mother and with losing cedric . stephan rideau  who has been seen on other important french films  is equally good  as the shallow cedric .  br    br   while  come undone  will divide opinions  the film deserves a viewing because of the complexity and the care sebastien lifshitz gives to the story .  
my god  what an incredible movie it is  reminded me so much of the similar scene in mel gibson  s movie  we were soldiers  when  the company is not lost  they  re just cut off  and the other scene in pearl harbour when the british officer says to ben affleck  if all americans are like you  then god help the nation that goes to war with america   br    br   put all  movies together and you would have enough bullshit to fertilise the entire sahara desert .  br    br   the story of the cut  off battalion may be real enough but the movie could have done without all that american preachy jingoistic propaganda attached to it . there were audible groans in the cinema during the above  mentioned scene in pearl harbour  no kidding either  the lost battalion however is really in a class of its own  .  br    br    americans think they are unbeatableinspired bravery .  i actually cringed and damn near puked at all the swill being spewed out throughout this diarrhoeic disaster  the movie that is   br    br   the fighting scenes were well made   stars for that  but if the script is manure  then wrapped even in brightly coloured ribbons  it is still manure . the writer  james carabatsos  also wrote those other screamershamburger hill  no mercy  heartbreak ridge . someone  please shoot him before he writes any more such garbage .  br    br   the director  russell mulcahy is an australian too . god  the shame     
  presque rien  is a beautifully observed portrait of the experiences of a young french homosexual . eschewing both stereotypes and preaching  it  s a wonderfully naturalistic film  superbly acted  shot with a feel for the seaside town where the action takes place  never melodramatic but often painfully real . if anything it  s almost too realistic  as there  s little in the way of conventional plot  just scenes from a life . but the absence of conventional dramatic tension counts for less than it might in a world so subtly drawn .  presque rien  might not be the most exciting film ever made but its simple humanism serves it well compared with the pre  conceived celebratory or bigoted viewpoints that often mar treatments of this theme . worth a watch .  
after watching this movie i was honestly disappointed  not because of the actors  story or directing  i was disappointed by this film advertisements .  br    br   the trailers were suggesting that the battalion  have chosen the third way out  other than surrender or die  polish infos were even misguiding that they had the choice between being killed by own artillery or german guns  they even translated the title wrong as  misplaced battalion   . this have tickled the right spot and i bought the movie .  br    br   the disappointment started when i realized that the third way is to just sit down and count dead bodies followed by sitting down and counting dead bodies . . . then i began to think  hey  this story can  t be that simple . . . i bet this clever officer will find some cunning way to save what left of his troops  . well  he didn  t  they were just sitting and waiting for something to happen . and so was i .  br    br   the story was based on real events of world war i  so the writers couldn  t make much use of their imagination  but even thought i found this movie really unchallenging and even a little bit boring . and as i wrote in the first place  it isn  t fault of actors  writers or director  their marketing people have raised my expectations high above the level that this movie could cope with .  
yokai monsters spook warfare  yokai daisenso       a movie about  yokai  or traditional japanese  monsters  of folklore . it is alternatively known as big monster war or as ghosts on parade .  br    br   the yokai of the first installment include the teapot freak  kappa water imp  a living  brella  a woman whose sheeks can grow extremely gigantic  a woman with a second face on the back of her head  a dwarf priest with an enormous gourd  like wrist   so on .  br    br   these sorts of whimsical monsters derive not only from fairy lore  but from a type of summer entertainment of the tokugawa era  comparable to today  s halloween haunted houses  or the  freak shows  of yesteryear but with exclusively phony freaks . ghosts  goldfish monsters  dancing one  headed umbrellas were trumped up to create  chills  during the hot summers . the fatcheek woman  such were recreated by tricks or illusions  based on monsters depicted in medieval scrolls  if their design for the movie is a bit simple  hoky  this makes them all the more representative of what historically was recreated for summer chills .  br    br   these rather endearing monsters have to face off  destroy an ancient babylonian vampire demon who has come to japan  disguised himself as a samurai lord . despite that some of the japanese apparitions are a bit goofy   too many of the costumes scarsely more than masks without even moving lips as they speak  it is all played very poker  faced  is very charming . it has some beautiful cinematography  much as would be provided in a cgi film of the same decade . viewed in the right mood or with the right friends  it is exciting  moving  touching .  br    br   yoshiyuki kuroda also directed the famed lone wolf  cub white heaven  hell       and was the special fx director for the excellent daimajin trilogy . the yokai monsters series is not the equal of majin at its best  but the yokai are nevertheless great fun . the first miike movie which is the most child  oriented of his family films  with the gozu  izoo consecutively more serious though none too severe for young viewers .  
first i liked that movie . it seemed to me a nice comedy with some silly moments . the costume designer albert wolsky did his best    the same as wonderful set decorator robert r . benton  this man really had a very good taste    but the script writers disappointed me extremely . the best ending would be the scene on the ladder  but instead of it  they decided that the father and his daughter should be together . don  t like the ending . the father becomes boyfriend of his own daughter and his ex  wife knows about it and finds it alright . it would be ok  if the scriptwriters would for example say that now there is a different soul in the body  but they did not  they only deprived him of memories . the actors were good  they were really funny . cybill shepherd was charming  robert downey jr . was very funny in the dancing scene     . . . but some of the moments spoil even the impression of good acting . for example  corinne jeffries  played by cybill shepherd after the death of her husband was waiting for him   years  it  s a long time    she was true to him  she loved nobody but him  and when she met him and was just about making love to him  after a scene with her friend philip train  ryan o  neal   she very easily betrayed the man she was longing for so many years    it would be a good movie  if not the ending and some missed human psychology .  
only after some contemplation did i decide i liked this movie . and after reading comments from all the other posters here  and thinking about it some more  i decided that i liked it tremendously . i love american films  probably because they are so narrative . they usually have a well  defined beginning  middle  and end .  presque rien   on the other hand  makes no such attempt . i disagree with other posters that say it  s  too artsy .  in every way  this film is meant to evoke your sense memories . so often throughout the film you feel like you  re there . . . you feel the summer sun  the breezes  the heat  the winter chill  the companionship  the loneliness  etc .  etc .  br    br   in every way  the director pulls you into the lives of the characters  which is why so many people feel so strongly that the movie disappointed them . after i finished watching it  i felt the same . but upon some reflection  i recognized that this is how the movie had to be the  story  isn  t the narrative  it  s the emotions you  the viewer  feel .  br    br   the lighting  scenery  and camera angles immerse you in the scenes  they  re rich  exquisite  and alive with detail and nuance . although i normally cannot countenance films without a fully developed plot  after all  isn  t a movie  supposed  to tell a story   this film is definitely one of my new favorites .  
when this movie was first shown on television i had high hopes that we would finally have a decent movie about world war i as experienced by american soldiers . unfortunately this is not it .  br    br   it should have been a good movie about wwi . even though it was made for television it is obvious that a real effort was made to use appropriate equipment and props . but the writing and directing are badly lacking  even though the makers of this movie obviously borrowed freely from quite a few well made war movies . war movie clichs abound such as the arrogant general who apparently does not care a flip about the lives of his men . when will hollywood realize that  even though there have been plenty of bad generals  most combat unit generals have seen plenty of combat themselves and are not naive about what the average grunt experiences  the first part of this movie appeared to be  paths of glory  with american uniforms . except that  paths of glory  was emotionally gripping . later on there was chamberlain  s charge  except uphill  from  gettysburg  and even the capture of the american soldier by a ring of enemy soldiers from  the thin red line  . but in  the thin red line  the soldier was alone when captured . in this movie a ring forms around the new prisoner in the middle of a battle .  br    br   if this movie used a military adviser they ignored him . even though the actors  and i never could forget they were actors while watching  mouthed military tactics i didn  t see very much of it . the american soldiers would stand up to be shot while the germans attacked . and the infamous storm troopers  who were apparently blind  appeared to use no tactics whatsoever in their attack . in the real war  the tactics were what made storm troopers so effective . but the silliest scene was the attack of the german flamethrowers . in this scene the german flamethrower operators walked in a broad line towards the defending americans . if that had been real they would never have gotten close enough to use their flamethrowers before they had all been dropped by the defender  s bullets .  br    br   okay  so most war movies are unrealistic when it comes to the tactics shown . but it is still disappointing . but what really turned me off to this flick was the typical anti  war anti  military angle that movie makers seem to think is important . true  war is hell . but most american soldiers  even though they grumble and gripe  tend to believe in what they are doing and can be rather gung  ho about it . my grandfather served in world war i . and even though he died four years before i was born i have been told how proud he was of his service .  
after losing the emmy for her performance as mama rose in the television version of gypsy  bette won an emmy the following year for bette midler diva las vegas  a live concert special filmed for hbo from las vegas . midler  who has been performing live on stage since the      s  proves that she is still one of the most electrifying live performers in the business . from her opening number  her classic  friends   where she descends from the wings atop a beautiful prop cloud  bette commands the stage with style and charisma from a rap  styled number called  i look good  she then proves that she has a way with a joke like few other performers in this business as she segues her way through a variety of musical selections . the section of the show where she salutes burlesque goes on a little too long but she does manage to incorporate her old sophie tucker jokes here to good advantage  even though she actually forgets one joke in the middle of telling it  but her ad  libbing until she remembers it is hysterical  . bette also treats us to  rose  s turn  from gypsy and the title tune from her smash film the rose as well as a shameless plug for her hit movie the first wives club . she brings the house down near the end with  stay with me  baby  from the rose and her only   hit record   wind beneath my wings  from beaches . it  s a dazzling evening of musical comedy entertainment and for midler fans  it  s a must .  
i want to say the acting is bad  but i think it was the directing that made it so . i never thought much of highlander  same director  but that one could be blamed on the   s .  br    br   this one however  has no excuses . people get shot while exiting trenches with a man in front of him   those kind of mistakes  along with an unclear time line  weird battle tactics  sub  par cutting and poor visual effects  makes this one a sub  par film over all .  br    br   then like so many other have commented  all this american bullshit . the german general being practically scared of his captured american private . be prepared to swallow a lot of it  although in small doses .  br    br   to sum it up  a not horrible but still definitely sub  par war movie in all aspects .  
a longtime fan of bette midler  i must say her recorded live concerts are my favorites . bette thrills us with her jokes and brings us to tears with her ballads . a literal rainbow of emotion and talent  bette shows us her best from her solid repertoire  as well as new songs from the  bette of roses  album . spanning generations of people she offers something for everyone . the one and only divine diva proves here that she is the most intensely talented performer around .  
i usually read reviews before i watch a movie . guess what  i didn  t do that before watching tlb  and i have to say i was very surprised to see the above average rating at imdb . i found it to have a total lack of story . you just get dropped into it  and  sadly  not in the way saving private ryan dropped us into the movie   and it also has a sudden end  which was very unsatisfying for me .  br    br   i have to admit  the wounded soldiers looked pretty realistic to me  especially with the low budget in mind . but prepare yourself to have a laugh . . . some guys are being tossed through the air after an explosion as if they are olympic gymnasts . a mid  air corkscrew or somersault during ww i is a bit too much for me  especially when it  s performed countless times during the movie . . .  br    br   but the parts that really got me laughing until i almost cried were the scenes containing close combat . the screaming and shouting german voices . . . unbelievably funny . it seems as if they are spoken by one single actor  voice performer  because they all sound exactly the same  and it just sounds like a  typical  german voice .  br    br   i would absolutely not recommend this movie to anyone  except to people who just want to have some laughs because of the sad and corny quality of it .  
love it  love it  love it  this is another absolutely superb performance from the divine miss m . from the beginning to the end  this is one big treat  don  t rent it  buy it now   
how cynical are the writers  to pander so . i may be an american citizen  but i don  t need to see other americans pat each other on the back for an hour and half in order to enjoy a film . i  m astonished that so few have commented on how utterly jingoistic  sentimental and trite the dialogue in this film really is . the historical inaccuracies of the film are not as gross and offensive as in  u       which changes british submariners to american ones  but you still walk away feeling a little slimy . really  the germans in this film do nothing but admire the americans between battle scenes  how sad  unnecessary  i  d just like to say to the writers it  s obvious to many of us that you can  t capture real people  with real problems  under real pressure  and that you  ve taken some very well tested shortcuts . lucky for you there will always be nationalist nutjobs to appreciate your sugar  coated tripe .  
bette midler showcases her talents and beauty in  diva las vegas  . i am thrilled that i taped it and i am able to view whenever i want to . she possesses what it takes to keep an audience in captivity . her voice is as beautiful as ever and will truly impress you . the highlight of the show was her singing  stay with me  from her     movie  the rose  . you can feel the emotion in the song and will end up having goose bumps . the show will leave you with the urge to go out and either rent a bette midler movie or go to the nearest music store and purchase one of bette midler  s albums .  
this book  based movie is truly awful  and a big disappointment . we  ve been waiting for this move over a month . many film reviewer were hopeful for it . also in newspapers and tv  it made big sense . when   th april comes  many people regretfully noticed that movie is really awful . why  first of all story was so monotone . it has been many indefinite scenes  sometimes it  s hard to realize what  s going on . the actresses  out of hulya avsar  weren  t harmonized with their roles  especially vildan atasever . she acts better in comedy films  in this movie  a kind of drama  she couldn  t disposed of her previous role . and finally movie is too short  just   minutes .  
bette midler is indescribable in this concert . she gives her all every time she is on stage . whether we are laughing at her jokes and antics or dabbing our eyes at the strains of one of her tremendous ballads  bette midler moves her audience . if you can  t see it live  which is the best way to see bette  then this is the next best thing . an interesting thing to look at is how incredible her voice has changed and matured over the years but never lost its power . her more  vocally correct  version of  stay with me  never loses anything in spirit from the rose or divine madness  here it is just more pure and as heartfelt as ever . i will treasure this concert for a very long time .  
interesting  hardly . the  scientific evidence  the movie provides for its point  which is basicly that jews are a cancer  is so stupid and lame  it  s almost laughable  if we didn  t know what happened in that era  .  br    br   important  nah . i can  t imagine germans  even at that horrid time  would like or believe this movie . compare it to riefenstahl  s triumf des willens . now that was i movie i was impressed with . this is just silly garbage .  br    br    best  part is a scene from m  one of my all  time favorites  where  the jew  as the announcer so eloquently keeps reminding us  lorre plays a child  molester and murderer . in the eyes of these film  makers  only a depraved mind can do so . uh  huh . didn  t know m was hitler  s favorite movie  right   br    br   no  it  s just plain stupid . even for it  s nazi  propaganda genre .     .  
bette midler is again divine  raunchily humorous . in love with burlesque . capable of bringing you down to tears either with old jokes with new dresses or merely with old songs with more power  punch than ever . all in all singing new ballads  power  singing the good old  perennial ones such as  the rose    stay with me  and yes  even  wind beneath my wings  . the best way to appreciate the divine miss m has always been libe  since this is the next best thing to it  i strongly recommended to all with a mixture of adult wide  eyed enchantment and appreciation and a child  s mischievous wish for pushing all boundaries   
having seen  triumph of the will   i can only say this movie is ghastly  even measured against the historically low  standards  of the time . naturally it  s all totally fabricated and prejudicial . this is what one would expect of      s german propaganda . unfortunately  the quality of the presentation  itself  is hackneyed and cheap . it  s also so blatantly ridiculous that even contemporary germans must  ve left the theater holding their noses . in a genre renowned for its base appeal  lack of originality and unapologetic wrong  headedness  this film doesn  t even qualify as  bad .  it would have to improve significantly to attain that status   
story of ireland in the    s . this film is a beautiful reconstruction of small time ireland in the      s . all the gang are there see below . master boyle  the boys  the cannon  sp o  donnell  senator doogan  s daugter  rose  agnes  maura and una . see this film . feel ireland as it was .  br    br    
this film is justly famous as one of the most horrible examples of propaganda ever produced . the insistent equation of jews with disease is simply  br    br   pathological  and even worse it almost becomes believable for brief seconds  br    br   through its sheer repetition . the fact that something this crude works  even  br    br   briefly  is an object lesson in itself . you have to have a strong stomach and a firm grip on yourself to sit through this  and i wouldn  t recommend trying unless you have a good reason .  
this is a small film  few characters  theatrical . and yet it says something about ireland that you won  t find elsewhere . this film is ireland . in all it  s grubiness  it  s sadness  it  s self  delusion . the boys  master doyle  sp o  donell  the cannon  senator doogan  s daughter  gar and above all madge . i know them . i  m in the pub with them or kneeling to pray with them . they are our sad history and they are our present .  
     .  a visit to the lodz ghetto in nazi  occupied poland  recorded by a german cameramen with the naive co  operation of the jewish community  is combined with archival footage  clips from international newsreels  and excerpts from related cultural films to portray the world  s jews as swindlers and parasites . this  documentary  interprets jewish life from the viewpoint of traditional anti  semitism and nazi ideology . a candid  cinematically  unique expression of racial hatred . i personally find this film frightening and highly offensive . one can only hope that such pictures as this will never reach the screen again .  
after reading the original play i thought it would have been much more difficult to adapt to screen than it turned out to be . donal mccann puts in a once  off great performance as public gar  the repressed antagonist who is manifested openly on screen by his extroverted  but unseen to others  alterego  private gar . eamonn kelly also plays an excellent  screwballs  whose inability to communicate his feelings is matched only by gar .  br    br   definitely worth renting out if you can find it .  probably unavailable outside ireland  uk   
that shall be a documentary  i saw it  which is forbidden in germany  and i have to say  that it was the worst documentary i  ve ever seen . it is nothing but one big lie from the beginning to the end . who can doubt after this trash that all jews were supposed to be killed in the concentration camps   
     toronto film festival report it is official  takashi miike  is whacked .  br    br   the annual midnight screening of the new  takashi miike  film   the big spook war  or  the great yokai war  or  ykai daisens  . call it what you will this is a fanatical ride .  br    br   colin geddes  the fearless programmer stated this film was originally geared towards children in japan . think of  lord of the rings  or  neverending story  for japan . after the screening i can understand where they were going with that  but damn this is  takashi miike  after all . he directed the    film  ichi the killer   when it screening at the festival barf bags were handed out at the screening . and no  that wasn  t just a marketing ploy .  br    br   plot summary a young boy with a troubled home life becomes  chosen   and he stumbles into the middle of a great spirit war  where he meets a group of friendly spirits who become his companions through his journey .  br    br   this is not really for kids  well not  too  young . certainly see them getting scared shitless with some of these spirits  even the friendly ones  on display . this is unlike anything i  ve seen in the movie theater before . a fantasy naturally  some very funny  but dark  material . you will not be bored can guarantee that . will this ever hit north america  doubtful .  br    br   my rating  b  
films starring child actors put themselves on the back foot from the very beginning . while there are some exceptions  the majority of kids just cant act and even the ones that can normally become annoying after a few minutes . the kids in paperhouse have managed to capture the worst of both worlds  as they  re both very annoying and they don  t have an ounce of acting ability between them . in short they  re rubbish . this isn  t good considering that they  re the leads  and it especially isn  t good when you consider the fact that it is virtually impossible to take this film seriously because of the rubbish actors . it  s a shame that this film is such a dead loss as the plot isn  t  not completely  . it follows a young girl who  after drawing a picture of a house in her notebook  wakes up in the fantasy world that she has created . it soon becomes apparent to her that she can manipulate this world through her drawings  and so sets about making various changes  until her dream eventually becomes a nightmare . oh dear .  br    br   as you can see  this plot line gives a nice base for a good fantasy horror movie . however  it is squandered through a number of fatal faults . first and foremost  in spite of the premise being an excellent premise for lots of inventiveness the movie is extremely stale . the central plot is hardly played with at all  and the result is an entirely boring experience . the lack of tension is another huge gaping flaw in the movie  as it sees fit to drag every sequence out to a point that you just don  t care any more  which is due to a lack of ideas  . thanks in part to it  s lead characters  the film feels like a kids movie throughout . this is to be expected as it stars kids  but bernard rose should have decided the slant that he wanted to put on the story as the horror in the movie is laughable at best . the film is also very cheesy  and the  romance  between the two leads is extremely cringe  worthy  and makes for very painful viewing . in fact  if i had to sum this travesty up in one word  i would choose  painful  . paperhouse is poorly acted  laughably plotted  very corny and dull on the whole . save yourself the pain  see something else .  
one of the best movies i ever saw was an irish movie titled philadelphia  here i come . i read the play before i saw the movie and loved them both . it  s the story of a young man preparing to leave ireland to go to america because he can  t earn a living in ireland . it is told both from the perspective of the young man  whom the other characters in the film can see  and another young man representing his uncensored thoughts and feelings .  but who cannot be seen by the other characters in the film . it is a very sad movie  but deeply touching  and i would recommend this film to anyone who wants something to think about . i love any irish movie  or almost any movie about ireland  and any film that has the late irish actor donal mccann in it gets my vote . i would watch that man chew gum for  hours on screen  and unfortunately  i have . terrible shame to have lost him so young .  
the eternal jew  der ewige jude  does not have what we today would call the markings of a scholarly document rather than naming experts or sources to support what it says  it simply says  without opposition  what it wants us to believe  one will concede that american newsreels of that period were also much less regulated than would seem ethical to a modern audience  often inserting dramatized scenes and passing them off as actual news footage  . add to this directed propaganda the fact that filmmaker hippler was  preaching to the converted   not so much asking gentile europeans to hate the jews as validating the feelings so many of them must have held already  in order to have allowed the holocaust that followed . the weakest link in the film  s logic shows in its  rat  analogy  wherein it goes on to explain the behavior of rats  and then adds something to the effect of  well  jewish people are like that too .  similarly it characterizes jewish people as ugly by showing ugly jewish people in comparison to attractive gentiles the accompanying leap of faith is that ugly is bad . the film appears to contradict itself a few times  for example by attacking western painters who portrayed old testament characters as light  skinned europeans thereby the text admits that so  called  hebrew  ethnicity is in fact an ingrained aspect of christian culture . it also shows ghetto jews willingly living in roach  infested filth  despite the supposed treasure they  ve hoarded  and then flip  flops by saying that these same undesirables live in wealth and luxury as soon as they leave the ghetto . incidentally  who wouldn  t  the use of scenes from a well  known american film  house of rothschild  shows an equally blurry deployment of logic . first the film is denounced as having been made by jews then it is apparently used by hippler to verify the deceptiveness of jews  the aforementioned pretense of poverty by ghetto jews  shown as a means of avoiding taxation  although the rothschild character  s  spin  is that jews are taxed excessively   finally the rothschild film is once again execrated for implying that the famed banking family invented the checking account . this apparent indecisiveness in whether the american footage is shown positively or negatively might become clearer with repeated viewings  but at first sight it makes for some murky moviewatching . for all of eternal jew  s imperfections  i was at first surprised that the imdb viewer rating for this film is as high as it is  just shy of a    to date . i  d say the reason is that ej  s documentary value has exceeded its original purpose  offering us  unintentionally  a look into the lives of european jews as they would not be seen a few years hence . needless to say the film  s very badness also provides an historical insight into bad  or simply evil  filmmaking as a propagandist  s tool . about this time i should expect director hippler to flip  flop once again  springing forward to say  that  s what i meant to do all along   the scenes depicting animal slaughter are particularly gruesome  and show same as decidedly inhumane  contrary to the intent of kosher law to prevent animal suffering . i would like for someone who has seen the film  and has some knowledge of these procedures  to comment on whether the portrayal is accurate .  
paulie is a fantasy of a littler girl or perhaps her recollection of what her youth was like growing up .  br    br   tony shaloub executes a flawless performance as an russian scientist  phd  who cannot find decent work in america . he befriends an isolated parrot while performing meanial duties of a janitor at a behavioral science lab .  br    br   the chief doctor is a bitter man  as paulie  who can speak and fully comprehend language and learn  embarasses the doctor  who later banishses him to the lower levels of the building  where mikail  tony s .  finds him .  br    br   paulie recants his life with marie and how they lost each other . the quest begins to reunite paulie with marie  only more than   years has passed .  br    br   the movie ends  some will say predictably  with mikail reuniting paulie with marie . the story closes with the three entering marie  s home  where you can make the final your own choice .  br    br   great family film   
i would perhaps give  or  to this propaganda film because it shows when and how a propaganda film becomes successful . if there are people who watch this piece and think that  well then jews must have done something to be treated the way they were treated in ww    then the movie is very cleverly made to conceal  why  s and  how  s as well as mix correct and false observations on how a people live . what more can a propaganda movie aim for  the part in which an american movie about the rothschild family is included is re  used very shrewdly here  for instance . the question of why the jew keeps his wealth away from the officer is never asked . no one mentions the system of taxation within that particular social strata .  br    br   besides  the level of excitement  or  the level of disgust  in the movie increases slowly and the solution  like end of the movie suits the aim and the musts of doing propaganda . the audience would leave in joy and gratefulness to the times that are coming up . . . well done .  br    br   in the movie  there is a kind of simplicity that addresses the most basic emotional perception of the audience . the movie is kind of history today  so no need to fuss much about it actually . however  in this simplicity of words of ethnic degradation  a careful watcher can find relevance to today  s cultural hatred  violence  decivilization as well as the problems of integration . overall  fine trash .  
i know  i know it  s childish . but i just love this type of movie . a bird that suffered a lot of  mishaps  and still hasn  t lost his faith in humanity and his sense of humor . what  s special about this film is the fact that the main character is paulie  the parrot  and he  s not used as a boost to some hotshot human actor . furthermore i like the storyline paulie tells his lifestory to a cleaner at the point he hit rock bottom .  by the way jay mohr  s voice almost sounds like joe pesci  s   . and cheech marin of course  the man is humor to me . ever since i saw  up in smoke  i have appreciated his naive way of performing  making a simple situation a hilarious one . . can  t help myself .  
while most of the movie is very amateurish  the kosher slaughter scene is played up  but not untrue . kosher law says that an animal must be conscious when the blade touches it  s skin . the kosher slaughter scene is accurate as anyone knows who has seen one  or has seen the peta film showing a kosher slaughter  in which the animals throat is cut  and the esophagus cut out while it is still alive  conscious  and obviously suffering . we must remember that history is written by the victors . is one even allowed to even think that maybe the nazis were right    br    br   doesn  t it say anything that the nazis had outlawed this vicious religious slaughter  and the jews are still practicing it even today   
paulie sounds like the most saccharine  lachrymose and sentimental garbage you could ever find  yet it  s actually much better than you might expect . the daftness of the plot could so easily have set the tone for the whole film  but actually in most other departments the film is charming .  br    br   in case you  re wondering  paulie is a parrot . bought for a little girl with speech difficulties  paulie becomes her best friend and goes everywhere with her . he even sits on her shoulder during speech therapy lessons  and eventually becomes a super  intelligent speaker himself . however  paulie is sent away by the little girl  s mother and he spends the rest of the film trying to get from n . y . c to l . a to be re  united with her .  br    br   so  why does this awful  sounding film succeed relatively well  firstly  it boasts some interesting and impressive animatronic effects . secondly  and far more significantly  it has the courage to embrace its ludicrous premise and tells a genuinely moving  often humourous story without worrying too much about the obvious flaws in the storyline . thirdly  it has several surprisingly strong performances  including jay mohr as a wily crook  gena rowlands as a kind old lady  and cheech marin  yes  the dope  smoking cheech marin   as a musical immigrant . it might not be a classic  but paulie is sound entertainment for kids of all ages .  
  plants are the most cunning and vicious of all life forms   informs one dopey would  be victim in  the seedpeople   a silly  flaccid remake of  invasion of the bodysnatchers    day of the triffids   and about a thousand udder moovies . and why are seeds moore dangerous than plants  one might ask  because  according to the same dolt   seeds can chase us  . yes  i can remember one horrifying incident when the moocow was just a calf  being chased all the way home from school by ravenous dandylion seed . . . yeah  right . unfortunately  the  monsters  in this seedy little turkey kind of look like shaggy little muppets  some of which roll around like evil tumbleweeds  others which sail about on strings . there  s not even the tiniest inkling of terror or suspense to be found here . for reasons left unexplained  the seed monsters are knocked out by   volt ultra  violet lights  even though they can walk about in the daylight  which has about                  times more uv energy . as you can see  not much thought was put into this cow flop . the moocow says go weed yer garden instead of wasting your photosynthesis here .   p  
i didn  t give this movie a perfect score in order to be honest in comparing to great classics like  citizen kane  and  seven samaurai .  however  this movie is so all  around wonderful  it  s a real shame it scores so poorly for the general imdb voter . however  the imdb voter leans to the geeky  and  paulie  doesn  t qualify for that .  br    br   the only acting criticism i might suggest is that hallie kate eisenberg didn  t portray the perfect stuttering child . i  m sorry  but asking a  year  old child to out  do dustin hoffman as the rainman is asking for the impossible in film  making .  br    br   moving past that minor complaint  the movie has the best of many films buddy road  trip  con  games  hero as friendly party  animal  party  bird    disney  like humor for young and old  etc . what  s not to like  tony shaloub wears his role like a pair of comfortable jeans . that  s normal for him  it seems .   i  m russian . . . i like long stories .  i don  t like mangoes  but he almost makes me want to go out and buy one . watch the movie and that will make sense .  br    br   buddy hackett and cheech marin make very appropriate appearances in the film . roles that are quite fitting to what we all know about them . i have always found jay mohr to be a bit slimy  and his on  screen role fits that as well . the only surprise to me was finding that jay was also paulie  s voice . in the end  even that works well put parrot and anti  parrot together as a team and it creates a magic of its own .  br    br   if you are trying to find a film for you and the kids that is neither insulting nor boring for either   paulie  is a perfect candidate . i will  however  admit that a happy moment colors my review of  paulie .  i was on a road  trip during a major heat  wave . the car  s air  conditioning died  half the restaurants had dead cooling  as did our hotel  and i said   let  s watch a movie where there is working air  conditioning .  so we did . so for    minutes we were cooled  amused  and given a heart  warming experience . when i saw it recently on vcr under less emotional circumstances  i realized just how well this movie was made .  br    br   it  s a sleeper film you won  t regret watching .  
this flick reminds me some really bad science  fiction movies from    s and    s . it is not scary or interesting  but it  s dull  cheesy and stupid . special effects are laughable  all actors are ludicrous and the ending is simply awful . don  t waste your money  rent or buy something better . i give it  .  out of    i found this turkey quite amusing because of its stupidity  .  
most folks might say that if one were to spend a saturday night watching a movie  you must be really bored . actually  i had just gotten back home from being out and turned on the tv and there it was   paulie  .  br    br   i had missed the opening credits  so i didn  t know the name of it but i saw that it had cheech marin in it  so i naturally thought i had tuned into  born in east l . a .  when i saw him talking to a talking parrot  i was ready to dismiss this as the kind of flop movie they show late in the night .  br    br   happy to say  it was better than that . as you know  if you don  t already paulie is lost and trying to get back to his original owner . seems it  s taken years to find her . what should be paulie  s advantage is actually a dis  advantage in ways . people come across a literate parrot and all they see is a way to make money or benefit themselves .  br    br   while cheech marin  s character  is  making money from him  he  s not mean to him . the dance sequences with the parrots are something kids will find cute  i found them amusing .  br    br   paulie  who  s naive   learns quickly that not all humans are nice people . especially the owner of an animal research lab . the man lies to him saying he  ll help him find his owner as long as he helps in his animal communications research . paulie is now stuck but decides to make a fool out of the man at a demonstration to others of paulie  s vocal ability .  br    br   throughout the film paulie  s telling his story to the facilities janitor who ends up freeing him  several other animals and finding the location of paulie  s owner . it  s a touching reunion .  br    br    out of    the wing clipping scene should have been assumed and not shown . that part might bother younger children . otherwise  it  s a great movie for older kids and adults who are a kid at heart .  end   
la chute de la maison usher  or the fall of the house of usher as it  s know amongst english audiences  starts with allan  charles lamy  heading for the castle of his good friend sir roderick usher  jean debucourt  who sent him a letter saying that his wife madeleine is ill . once there allan finds madeleine very sick  her husband roderick determined  almost obsessed to paint her portrait . as roderick paints madeleine becomes weaker  weaker almost as if the picture is draining the life out of her  allan tries to help his friend but tragedy soon strikes . . .  br    br   this french production was co  written  produced  directed by jean epstein  was the second of two filmed the fall of the house of usher adaptations during      honestly i don  t know the original novel was published in      i mean you wait   years for a filmed adaptation  two come along at the same time  anyway  i feel that i have a bit of a problem here as i have read plenty of positive comments about la chute de la maison usher  maybe i  m not the right sort of person to write a comment on it but i have to say that it simply didn  t do anything for me . i didn  t like it  obviously the first thing to say is that this is a silent film  therefore it relies on imagery but even so i thought the story was weak  i thought as a whole the film was boring  dull even though it only lasts for about an hour  it really didn  t do anything for me at all . la chute de la maison usher was made almost   years ago  that is literally a lifetime  the world  cinema  tastes have moved on a lot since then  i found no enjoyment in this film . i feel this film has dated badly  probably wasn  t that good to start with anyway . i never felt for any of the character  s  i never cared about anything that was happening  i found it all rather tedious to sit through  i  m sorry if i  ve offended any silent film fans out there but that  s the way i felt .  br    br   director epstein does an ok job  a lot of people ramble on about the imagery in la chute de la maison usher  i will freely admit it definitely has it  s moments but i thought they were few  far between . shots of people  s mouths moving  not actually hearing what they say just seemed weird to me  i didn  t like the music  the version i saw kept the original french language insert cards which were narrated by guy with the most awful sounding thick french accent which was also off putting . based on the story by edgar allen poe i doubt this has much resemblance to it apart from one or two basic elements  stick with the fantastic roger corman house of usher starring vincent price .  br    br   technically the film was ok considering when it was made . you simply cannot tell about the acting as no one ever speaks although the film is full of unnatural exaggerated movements to try  suggest emotions or reflect what  s happening which works to an extent but after a while just looks a bit daft .  br    br   la chute de la maison usher will appeal to those who crave a bygone era  who live in caves or who are stuck in the past  for me i like my films to have a story  not to bore me  to have sound  i  m sorry if that last statement makes me sound like an uneducated idiot but that  s how i feel . the world has moved on since      for the better .  
the movie was very sweet and heartwarming  i cry almost every time i watch the movie . i would recommend this movie for every one . the movie was so inspiring to me . the actors did a great job of acting  and the movie was very well played and done . the movie was about a little girl who owned a parrot of whom she named paulie . paulie had gotten separated from her by her parents because they thought it would be best for her .  br    br   after paulie had experienced so many people he ended up in a cage by himself in a basement . finally this russian man who had gotten a job at a place as a janitor . had found paulie in the basement and paulie began to talk to him telling him the story of his life . in the end the man helped paulie reunite with marie  the little girl who raised paulie  . love overcame all the obstacles .  
movies have put me to sleep before  but no movie has ever done that twice  so it took me three sittings actually to finish it . the dialog was bad . women spoke stiltedly and the men were caricatures . and two of the supposedly japanese women looked chinese  had chinese names and spoke with clearly chinese accents . i  m still trying to figure out why the emmenthal men were sexually wrapped up with each other .   minus     equals a tough choice do i give this movie a rating of one  or two   br    br   movies have put me to sleep before  but no movie has ever done that twice  so it took me three sittings actually to finish it . the dialog was bad . women spoke stiltedly and the men were caricatures . and two of the supposedly japanese women looked chinese  had chinese names and spoke with clearly chinese accents . i  m still trying to figure out why the emmenthal men were sexually wrapped up with each other .   minus     equals a tough choice do i give this movie a rating of one  or two   
this movie seems on the surface to be a run of mill kids movie that parents can regretfully watch with their mostly entertained little kids . the movie seems and is mostly geared towards children yet it does not stop on this level . i watched this movie first as a young child and found it to be funny  entertaining  and heartwarming and did not see it again for several years . i watched it again recently at age   and found it to be almost as funny but just as heartwarming and entertaining . this movie is highly underrated and contains many messages of real life . this movie is an inspirational quest story that is made for kids yet epic in its own right . i recommend this movie to anyone of any age .  
somewhere i  d read that this film is supposed to be a comedy . after seeing it  i  d call it anything but . the point of this movie eludes me . the dialogue is all extremely superficial and absurd  many of the sets seemed to be afterthoughts  and despite all the nudity and implied sexual content  there  s nothing erotic about this film . . . all leaving me to wonder just what the heck this thing is about  the title premise could have been the basis for a fun  if politically incorrect  comedy . instead  we  re treated to cheap  amateurish  unfinished sketches and depravity and weirdness for its own sake . if i want that  i  ll go buy a grace jones cd .  
made me wish my own happy birds could talk . tisk tisk on the reviewer who dissed the movie . a sweet story that people of all ages will enjoy . paulie is a lovable little treasure . he has quite a few clever lines that truly made me laugh . i especially loved the dance sequences during his showbiz stint . you can forgive the obvious clichs as you cheer him on in his quest to be reunited with marie . a charming movie featuring two strong characters who genuinely befriend the little parrot separated from his young owner . would have liked to have seen more of the woman who becomes blind and must abandon their mutual journey . i liked her artistic and poetic inspirations  a shame she could not share paulie  s reunion . bless paulie in his new home  at last with marie  perhaps joined by the nice young man who helped him defeat the antagonists to complete his journey .  
i am sorry to say that it was one of the worst films i  ve ever seen . although visually fascinating  e . g . the use of colour was absolutely stunning   it was pretty boring and disturbing  see the father  son incest  .  br    br   what  s more  music is totally absent  and if you think of those wonderful soundtracks by michael nyman  who wrote the soundtracks for most of greenaway  s films  then you can imagine what a difference it makes .  br    br    
i have to tell you  this is a great movie . it surprises me sometimes how good a movie with no pretenses can be . this one is just fabulous . it could be that it isn  t trying too hard to send any kind of message it just tells a whimsical  fun story . i gave it a   out of   .  
this movie was awful in the worst way you just didn  t care . you didn  t care what happened in the plot you didn  t care about the characters . everyone was devoid of heart . i ended up walking out about an   minutes into it because i simply didn  t want to subject my mind to it any more . there is far too much sex in the film . sex can be okay it can even make the movie  hence karma sutra  but the intercourse here was not beautiful or sexy . it was just ugly . don  t see this film .  
what a strangely wonderful  if sometimes slight and bulky  big  budget fantasy this is . takashi miike had already proved  by the time he got to the great yokhai war  that he could dip into other films aside from his supposed niche of the crime  yakuza genre  visitor q and andromedia showed this  the former great the latter lesser  . but here miike  in his first and only co  screen writing credit no less  proves that he can deliver the goods on a post  modern soup of mythical fantasy conventions  and with it boatload of cgi  creature  effects and make  up  and an epic battle that is more like a  festival  than something out of lord of the rings . the comparisons can be made far and wide  to be sure  and the most obvious to jump on would be miyazaki  for the seemingly unique mixture of kids  as  big  heroes  power  hungry sorcerers looking for the energy of the earth as the main source  machinery as the greatest evil  and many bizarrely defined  flamboyantly designed creatures  or yokai of the title  . but there can also be comparisons made to star wars  especially to the gungan battle in tpm  and to the whole power  play between good and evil with similar forces . or to anime like samurai  . or  of course  to henson  s films . and through all of these comparisons  and even through the flaws or over  reaching moments  it  s miike all the way with the sensibilities of effects and characters .  br    br   here  ryunosuke kamiki plays tadashi  the prototypical kid who starts out sort of gullible and sensitive to things in the world  but will become the hero in a world going into darkness . the darkness is from an evil sorcerer  who gets his energy from all of the rage and wretched vibes in the human world  and who is also starting to put to death the spirits and other creatures  the yokhai  into a fire that sends them into gigantic robots that have only one mission  to destroy and kill anything in their paths . tadashi gets as pumped up to fight sato the sorcerer as the yokai once sato  s main minion and cohort  agi  kill bill  s chiaki kuriyama  another great villainies  steals tadashi  s little furry companion  a sunekosuri . soon  things come to a head  in a climax that brings to mind many other fantasy films and stories  but can only be contained  up to a point  by miike and his crew . i would probably recommend the great yokai war for kids  but in the forward note that it  s not some watered down fantasy in american circles . this has creatures galore  including a one  eyed umbrella stand  and a walking  talking wall  not to mention a turtle  a fire serpent  and a woman who became cursed by sato . so the variety is on high on that end  and one might almost feel like the creatures and effects  which grows to unfathomable heights when the  festival  hits with the yokai reaching hundreds of miles in scope . but there  s also a sense of fantasy being strong in both the light and the dark  and sunekosuri becomes perhaps the greatest emotional tool at miike  s disposal  and not just because it  s cuteness squared   where else to get an audience riled up than over a little furry ball of fury  who ends up in a tragic battle with tadashi in robot form   br    br   yet through all of this  the sense of anarchy that can be found in the brightest spots of miike  s career is here as well  which distinguishes it from its animated  muppet and sci  fi counterparts . there  s the bizarre humor as usual  including a song dedicated to akuzi beans at a crucial moment in the climax  and more than a few flights of fancy with the creatures and fight scenes  i loved  for example  the guy with the big blue head who has to make it smaller  or the anxious turtle  yokai  . the biggest danger with miike  s access to bigger special effects and computer wizardry  which he flirts with  is overkill on this end . he  s got everything down  i  m sure  with storyboards  and he creates some memorable impressions with some compositions  one of them is when all is said and done  and tadashi and the  other  human character are in the middle of the tokyo rubble in an overhead shot   but the cgi is sometimes a little unconvincing with the robots  and the interplay skirts on being too flamboyant  and some visuals  like the overlay of the yokai spreading the word about the big festival on the map  just seem weak and pat . i almost wondered if miike might dip into  bad  spy kids territory  quite frankly .  br    br   but this liability aside  the great yokai war provides more than a share of excitement  goofy thrills  and innocent melodrama that came with many of the best childhood fantasies . it owes a lot to cinema  as well as traditional japanese folklore  but the screws are always turning even in its most ludicrous and veeringly confusing beats . it  s not the filmmaker at his very best  but working in experimentation in a commercial medium ends up working to his advantage . it  s got a neat little message  and lots of cool adventure .  .      
in      paperhouse was hailed as a  thinking man  s horror film .  wow  you might say  sign me up . this thing is a mess . it features a one time young actress who has a range of like  to  . g . headley with a bad british  dubbed  accent  and a story with no chills  thrills or spills .  br    br   it isn  t even interesting psycho  babble . one will only laugh at its cheap effects and long for a showing of leprechaun  .  br    br   the story involves a girl with glandular fever who escapes in her dreams . what you get isn  t good horror  art house or even a decent after  school special . i found myself after the two hour point saying . . where did my two hours go .  br    br   the direction is uninspired and i wished it could even be pretentious . . . something interesting . . it seems like the producers were on lithium .  br    br   even in the dream world things are boring .  br    br   a short no on this one .  
this is such a great movie to watch with young children . i  m always looking for an excuse to watch it over  over . gena was good  cheech was fun  the russian was good  maria was adorable  of course paulie was the best   
greenaway seems to have a habit of trying deliberately to disgust his viewers . this film opens with incest   and purposeless  meaningless  casual incest at that . that  s greenaway  s big problem . he prefers parlor tricks to shock over actually doing anything meaningful . technical skill isn  t enough . he  s just a bit perverse for the sake of perversity .  
add paulie the parrot to beloved movie animal characters . this movie is a love story  bird and gena rowlands  bird and beloved marie  michael and marie . a russian janitor helps a talking and thinking parrot find his rightful owner many years after marie  s parents sell him to a pawn shop . before the heart warming ending we learn all the misadventures of paulie . cheech marin and his dancing parrots are marvelous . beautiful photography throughout . great little movie  word of mouth will make it a cult favorite .  
to borrow from dorothy parker this is not a film to be tossed aside  br    br   lightly . it should be thrown with great force .  br    br   this is an excruciating mess . and i  m a greenaway fan .  br    br   mind  numbingly awful  br    br    the mummy returns  has much more artistic merit  
i absolutely loved this movie  it was so good  this movie is told by the parrot  paulie  s point of view . paulie is given to the little girl marie  as a present . paulie helps marie learn to talk and they become best friends . but when paulie tells marie to fly  she falls and the bird is sent away . that  s when the adventure begins . paulie goes through so much to find his way back to marie . this movie is so sweet  funny  touching  sad  and more . when i first watched this movie  it made me cry . the birds courage and urge to go find his marie for all that time  was so touching . i must say that the ending is so sweet and sad  but you  ll have to watch it to find out how it goes . at the end  the janitor tries to help him  after hearing his story . will he find his long lost marie or not  find out when you watch this sweet  heart warming movie . it  ll touch your heart . rating    
to overcome the death of his wife  an old man does what anyone in his position would naturally do  at least in a peter greenaway movie   he and his son populate their home with eight and a half  one has no legs  women and embark on a sexual odyssey . this being a greenaway film  there is lots of pretentious and uninteresting blabbering and of course there is unnecessary male nudity . in fact the father and son share a bed sleeping in the nude . gross . besides  who wants to see an old guy full frontal  for those who are not into the homo  erotic scene  one of the women likes to do the nasty with horses . there is no story  just a random collection of dull scenes .  
spoiler this is a great film about a conure . he goes through quite the ordeal trying to get back to his little girl owner . he learns a lot through his journey and meets up with a lot of other beautiful birds . if you love birds like my wife does  this film is for you . this film also has some sad parts that make the tears run . in the end it all works out for paulie and his russian friend . rent this for the whole family  everyone will enjoy this .  
i am giving this pretentious piece of garbage a  simply because i don  t believe there is a worse movie in the world .  br    br   i hate this movie  i hate the acting  dialog  setting  writing and directing . i hope everyone that was involved in this movie burns and rots in the darkest circle of hell .  br    br   damn this disgusting waste of time .  br    br   i pray every day that this movie is just a figment of my imagination . i pray that i dreamt the movie  and that i will never have to see it at  br    br   my local video store again .  br    br   burn in hell  
this movie brought tears to my eyes john roberts really knew how to get to viewers  hearts  directing this wonderful picture where life is viewed through the mind and heart of paulie . we discover from time to time  with the help of sensitive and talented directors like john  that even small creatures like paulie have a heart . i just couldn  t stop my tears  even though the film has a happy end . this is great  after thousands of films i saw through my life   paulie  really touched me deeply . this is  after the  ugly duckling   the second picture that really turned me upside down .  
stilted  stagy  strange and opaque  if visually striking . . . a wannabe  erotic fantasy . really boring  way too much male nudity  including father  son incest   and just a sort of shameless pointlessness . i will confess  however  that certain passages of dialogue  taken on their own terms  do have a lulling  haunting quality .  
a very refreshing story  the life of a parrot with an intellect higher than an average human  s . shows humans from a bird  s point of view . especially liked the portrayal of different types of characters that the bird spends time with . not all birds are bird  brained . . .  
i dont know about you  but i  ve always felt drawn to  art  cinema . the first  art  film i managed to get a hold of was peter greenaway  s  the cook  the thief  his wife and her lover   which blew my mind and creative spiret into overdrive . the film was the ultimate paradox  both beautiful and grotesque . . . this is what  art cinema  was about  exploring intellectual ideas and bringing the visceral to the screen with purpose . life  real life  can be like living in a madhouse  and art expressed shows it for what it is . i love movies of all types  but especially those that both entertain and have something to say  whether i agree with it  s stance or no . . .  br    br        women   is a dry  clinical  comedy  where a father and son gather a harem to fufill their many sexual fantasies . there is only a very brief allusion to fellini in the film  unlike what the previews have suggested . the main focus of the film falls on the  close  relationship between father and son  brought together after the mothers  death . in the early scenes of the film the fathers  sadness is believable  you can feel his pain . what happens afterwards is plain by greenaway standards  the gathering of the harem  observations on love and death  and flesh displayed for the sake of flesh . . . one could argue this  but i feel the movie to be shallow and pointless . and the idea that this could be a comedy is perplexing to me . the acting for the most part if fine  . . . especially good are polly walker and amanda plummer  though poor mandy should put her clothes back on  what the film lacks is a compelling story  and the usual greenaway touches of excess that made his other films so wonderful to watch .  br    br   while filled with moments of insight  and the occasional taboo       women  is too cut and paste to be considered art  too bland to considered  funny   and simply too dull to be considered worthwhile .  br    br   save your money . . . i can only recommend this film as a sleeping aid .  br    br    out of    
a sentimental story with a sentimental sound track . it  s about a little girl  with a voice impediment  who treasures her green parrot paulie . the parrot thinks and talks like a human being and gives help and advice to his constant companion .  br    br   the parrot is definitely the star of the film . at times mischievous and at times in fits of depression the bird captures the mood in a most remarkable and expressive way . the synchronised voice too is very well done and within a minute or two you can actually believe that this intelligent little bird exists .  br    br   early in the film her father gives the bird to a pawnbroker and the subsequent scenes tell the story of paulie  s constant struggle over many years to be re  united with his mistress . one of the many memorable scenes is when he falls into bad company and is encouraged to spy on people using the automatic teller machines . paulie it seems has a phenomenal memory .  br    br   the ending is predictable  but who would want it otherwise . children will love this film and anybody who keeps a bird as a pet will delight in paulie  s antics .  
writer  director peter greenaway cements his title as the high lord of art house pretension with his latest exercise in obnoxious self  indulgence    women . the film follows a wealthy englishman and his son on their mutual quest for sexual satisfaction  as they lure and blackmail women  guess how many  into joining their personal collection of concubines .  br    br   think of any possible way that this premise could be offensive  and chances are greenaway  s done it . the female characters are little more than a catalogue of fetishes for the two protagonists to partake of . there  s the kabuki  obsessed mio  the ever  pregnant giaconda and beryl  who  s got a thing for farm animals . giulietta has no legs and uses a wheelchair  she  s the  half woman   get it  greenaway vehemently denies all accusations of misogyny  but if this isn  t it  then what is   br    br   the film goes on to eroticize anything and everything having to do with japan  a continuation of themes from his snore  worthy  but less sexist      film  the pillow book . but where the the pillow book was erotic and graceful    women just gets horny and exploitative . greenaway  s work is tasteless and arrogant in its fetishism  and the only person likely to enjoy watching it is the auteur himself .  
a talking parrot isn  t a hugely imaginative idea for a new film  but paulie turns a simple idea into a brilliant  heartwarming film that will delight the whole family . it manages to bridge the gap between sentimental trash and cruel harshness during marie and paulie  s separation  and all the events in the film lead to a hugely satisfying emotional conclusion . the animal training is well  done  everyone will be affected when paulie spreads his wings and flies for the first time . paulie is a great character and should have received way more success  though this film wasn  t a highlight of      unlike saving private ryan . this hour and a half will surely be an enjoyable one and one that you will remember . paulie  s story is a moving  sad  happy and interesting one  from the moment he is first seen to the moment he is united with his original owner  you will enjoy following him and watching him learning about friendship and the grim realities of life along the way . not one to be missed if you have any kind of heart or emotion .      
this is a baffling film .  br    br   the beauty in sexual relations between men and women is shown degraded by a set of men and women who can only be described as a collection of oddballs and misfits .  br    br   greenaway acknowledges his inspiration to fellini  s film       but whereas fellini is a titan of world cinema  greenaway is not .  br    br   he has none of the maestro  s lightness of touch nor his ability to convey feelings and emotions with a deftness of clarity .  br    br   he is pretentious  the film being divided into chapters with a written introduction to each  as if the viewer has to be guided into the film except that the written notices only stay on screen for a few seconds  not long enough to be read by the audience with the result that they are mostly ignored .  br    br   as for the women  only two can be described as lookers  palmira  played by polly walker and giaconda played by natacha amal . the rest ooze with ordinariness . both the women and the men retreat from the harsh light of reality into the dim shades of fantasy .  br    br   greenaway obviously wants to make the point that sexual fantasy does not lead to happiness . the women themselves are depressing since they render their services in exchange for money . relations between men and women are debased into a commercial transaction .  br    br   there is no sense of joy or happiness or love in the film  indeed there are several scenes that are deeply unpleasant   br    br   the suggestion of an incestuous relationship between father and son  philip and storey emmental played respectively by john standing and matthew delamere . the callous disregard of both men that giaconda is carrying their child  she in fact  gets pregnant twice  the first foetus being aborted and the second time  she is sent away to a destination chosen by the men from a flight book . both men having sex with a woman who has no legs   the half woman in the title  . the beastiality that exists between beryl  played by amanda plummer  with a pig named hortense . father and son sharing women between them . women enjoying being beaten sexually . the father sleeping with the corpse of his dead wife .  br    br   mercifully  none of these scenes are shown sexually  only hinted at .  br    br   the hinted degradation of women is such that there cannot be any wonder that the film was booed at when it was first premiered at cannes . what is more extraordinary is that the actresses in the film lined up to defend it  showing yet again that there is no limit to the naivety of women and that women will fool themselves into being exploited by men .  br    br   greenaway  s directorial style is pretentious  it is a triumph of style over substance  a depiction of film as art accompanied by the abandonment of common sense .  br    br   greenaway tries to attain the sublimity of surrealism but only succeeds in showing the banality of human relationships .  
i approach films about talking animals with care . for every wonderful one like babe  you get an equally poor one like the dreadful remake of homeward bound the incredible journey . or in the case of cats  dogs  you have a great idea for a film not living up to its potential . when i heard about paulie  the premise of a wisecracking parrot didn  t exactly fill me with confidence . but i found the film a pleasant surprise . and it manages to sneak its way into your heart without you realising .  br    br   a russian janitor  misha vilyenkov  tony shaloub  gets a job in a research laboratory . one day  he hears singing coming from the basement . and when he investigates  he finds a parrot in its cage singing its little heart out . misha becomes fascinated with the bird  especially when it turns out the parrot can not only sing  it can talk . and not a few phrases either . its a parrot you can actually make conversation with .  br    br   the parrot is called paulie  voiced by jay mohr   and recognises a fellow castaway in misha . wondering how this world to the wise bird ended up in a dusty basement  misha convinces paulie to tell him his life story . which all began when he was a baby  and in the care of marie  a five year old girl with a stutter . the two of them became birds of a feather  ok  bad pun   .  br    br   when marie  s parents became concerned about her close friendship with a bird  they considered sending him away . and they finally did after marie nearly injured herself in a fall after teaching paulie to fly . desperate to be reunited with her  paulie begins a long journey across america  which includes a diverse number of new owners  flying great distances  and even ending up behind bars . of a cage that is   br    br   paulie was one of a number of talking animal films released by dreamworks in the late   s . and although it wasn  t afforded the same recognition or box  office success of babe  paulie succeeds on quite a few levels  and is an occasional work of striking intelligence .  br    br   jay mohr  s stand  up style of acting is well suited to the part of paulie . he never plays the part as too smug  even if he is a bit of a smart aleck . paulie  s worldly  but he is also naive in his way .  br    br   because he  s lived a rather sheltered life with marie  when he  s taken away  he has to fend for himself for the first time . and when he falls into the hands of different owners  they make promises to paulie to reunite him with marie  which he believes . only for those promises to be broken time and again .  br    br   paulie is admittedly a little episodic . it follows the eclectic people paulie ends up with  and how he slowly gets brought closer and closer to marie . he first winds up in a pawn shop  where he is adopted by ivy  gena rowlands   a kindly woman who teaches him the meaning of manners . she sympathises with paulie  s situation  and drives an rv across america to find marie .  br    br   paulie is an occasionally very touching film . his scenes with ivy are some of the best . wonderful moments of paulie perched on her shoulder singing tom jones numbers . the way she instills in him the need for hope is great  and some of the dialogue is quite well written and even thought  provoking  br    br    there are things in life you put off  because you think you  re gonna do them later . but the real thing ivy taught me is you gotta live like there may not be a later .   br    br   the scene where ivy passes away en route leaving paulie all alone is a very heart  rending moment . and the sequence where he plucks up the courage to fly for the first time across the grand canyon  soaring majestically is such a beautifully composed scene it stays with you for hours after the film  s over .  br    br   despite the occasional sad moment  there are plenty of laughs to be had . paulie falls in with a group of performing parrots at a spanish outdoor restaurant . the animatronic effects here are really excellent as four birds do a perfectly choreographed dance number . and paulie even gets to have a romance . which is dashed when he falls in with a petty thief  played by mohr as well  . that may be the only complaint i have . as soon as you get comfortable with one situation  the film then moves paulie on to another .  br    br   the scene where paulie is taught to steal money from atm machines is funny  but a little disturbing too . i  m amazed dreamworks were granted the chance to include such a scene in a kids film . and paulie  s diamond robbery is very mission impossible . he  s caught in the act  and shipped off to the lab for animal testing  where he  s remained ever since .  br    br   the story finally comes full circle at the lab  where misha vows to help paulie . of course they do find marie . but the final revelation is a scene of such shocking intensity  i was left numb for several minutes . paulie may never get the longevity babe has  but i believe its an equally brilliant film . the same laughs . the same flawless effects . and the same surprising intelligence .  br    br   a minor gem .  
greenaway  s films pose as clever  erudite and innovative . yet his style and grammar originate and remind viewers of films made in the world war  era of film  making the frame composition  use of mid  shot  the static camera . it may be well to rub against mainstream movies with this style but it is not new . perhaps like that other  innovator   ts eliot  he draws more from the past than in looking forward as an authentic innovator would or could .  br    br   yet greenaway  s biggest failing is that he cannot write . his dialog and even plot structure is mechanical and logical but without the vitality of another dramatic logician  brecht . where this weakness is most apparent is in his humor  which is poised and logical  so the joke is dead before it  s delivered . the result is tedium if it  s not funny  it has failed ask a stand  up comedian to justify their act if the audience doesn  t respond . perhaps the well  read director could learn something from freud on humor .  br    br   finally  like woody allen  greenaway has manipulated his actors over the years to work like clones . they speak the lines with a bored  smug air like narcissistic adolescents .  br    br   this film  despite its design and lighting  is meretricious .  
so you think a talking parrot is not your cup of tea huh  well  think again . paulie is a wonderful film filled with touching moments . the characters are all lovable especially paulie as he enters the lives of many people on his journey . it is journey worth experiencing . don  t miss it  it is available on home video .  
in one respect  it  s like  the wizard of oz   with paris in black  and  white and the riviera in color . but it  s supposedly about possessive love  destructiveness and moral decadence  while actually being about designer gowns  shots of the riveria  lots of big expensive cars  and music  and dancing interludes that suggest vincente minnelli on one of his off  days . watchable  but a remarkable example of desperate  dark plot material and glitzy style heading in opposite directions .  was this the model for  the talented mister ripley  does anyone sense an affinity between jean seberg and matt damon    
a lot people get hung up on this films tag as a  children  s film   and that it certainly is  though it is one made for adults . takashi miike uses the fantasy genre  particularly  the children  s fantasy genre  as a springboard into the wild territory that is the great yokai war .  br    br   the setup is simple a boy is selected to play the  hero  in this years annual festival  only to discover his role is much more real than he could have imagined . what follows is a hallucinatory  grotesque  whimsical  and often funny journey through the world of japanese folklore  but wait there  s also an evil villain on the lose who wants to destroy the world . however  the villain here  is not a mere demon  it is the demon  spirit of the accumulated resentment of those things which humans  use  and  discard  . usuing a chamber made out of pure liquid hate  resentment  the villain transforms the vibrant colorful yokai spirits into soulless ten foot tall makeshift robots which chainsaw for arms and eyes like burning coals  those whove played the video game  sonic the hedghog  might remember a certain dr . robotnik performing similar procedures to the cute and cuddly  s who sonic had to then  liberate   .  br    br   the hero in this film is actually the least interesting character  essentially playing the straight man  in a world gone suddenly mad . though he does go through the typical heroes trials he more often than not cowers  as do many of the yokia themselves  who seem truly defenseless against the murderous robots  some spirits being umbrellas with eyes  talking walls  or creatures whose soul purpose in life is to count beans . . . of course in this magical world of miike  s yokai war even beans take a magical power when one believes in them .  br    br   in several ways this film subverts the normal conventions of children  s fantasy  as few  if any  of the characters are heroic  their victory being a combination of happenstance  almost arbitrary faith  and a desire to party . the yokai spirits  only rally together and lay siege the villains hideout  after they mistake the end of the world invasion of earth for a great yokai festival  and even then only to dance and party . also the film ends not with the usual celebratory all  s well that ends well fantasy ending  but with a final scene  showing our hero years older  with an adult job  now unable to see the yokai spirits of his youth  who then despondently turn to the villain  who being a spirit can never really die . this ending  with it  s yokai spirit who is the spitting image of pokemon  s pikachu  warns us not just of leaving behind our childhood selves  but of the horrors of over  consumption . the villain is resentment caused when humans no longer have reverence for the world and the objects around them  in japanese folklore nearly every object has some kind of spirit   and so when they are used and discarded as we in consumer societies do without reverence  they become soulless vengeful machines  not unlike those seen in modern video games  suggesting that though our imaginations and myths do not ever really die  but can become deformed .  br    br   this is one of the first scripts miike has contributed to  and i believe it shows  as there  s a tightness conceptually that sometimes gets swept under the rug by his exuberance for visual playfulness . though i  ve focused mostly on the story  since lots of users here seem to write it off   i do want to say that visually it  s a kaleidescope of cgi  stop animation  costume  and live puppetry  that works remarkably well . there  s a dreamlike quality to a lot of the film  and the miyazaki comparisons are warranted  as are the neverending story and labrynth comparisons  though this film is sharper and more adult than either . the yokai are beaten  brutalized  and turned into machines of living hate  who i believe even kill a few humans  a deformed aborted calf with a mans face is born and dies in the films grotesque opening  while a sexual undercurrent  the women with the long neck licking the face of our boy hero  or another characters persistent memory of touching the thigh of a young scantily clad water spirit as a boy  seem to linger a bit too long for most western tastes  especially when considering this is a  children  s film  . however these are slight enough to catch adult attentions while minor enough  not to traumatize any children to bad . grims fairy tales  before revisions  did much worse  far more often .  br    br   all and all this is one of miikes most accessible and engaging ventures yet  with enough visual drama and great performances  the yokai spirits have a humanism and an absurd humor to them  thats laugh out loud funny at times  to appeal to audiences of all ages  and a steady conceptual undercurrent strong enough to draw in an adult audience who have presumably brought their children or else come out of a sense of nostalgia for the long lost fantasy films of their youth . the latter group the film seems to address the most fervently asking that they not just continue passive consumption of the world around them  but show reverence to those spirits within them which seemed so much closer to reality in childhood . another beautiful  funny  and truly original film from a thrilling director who hasn  t come close to his apex . instant classic .  
an intriguing premise of hand  drawn fantasy come to life in a child  s fever dreams . however  i imagine the average nonfictional child is far more adept at scaring themselves than bernard rose is at riveting the viewer . the duel between anna  s two realities drags on far too long to sustain interest  especially considering that the little girl playing her is the most abrasive child actor i  ve ever seen .  br    br   use only for kindling .  
paulie was cute  cool  enjoyable and quite fulfilling . i went to this movie expecting to view a typical  family  movie  one that within moments would find me unconscious and drooling on the floor . my mindframe immediately changed when i was quickly captivated by the movie  s wholesomeness . it is rare that you find a family movie that is thorough and can be coined  wholesome  . most are cheaply made  written and produced purely to attract young family members  who  ll then drag the unfortunate elders to a mind numbing   minutes of overused sight gags and plots .  br    br   oh yes  paulie had a plot . it told the story of a young girl  marie  and her best friend paulie the parrot  who unbelievably could talk and quite frequently held conversations with her . marie  s dorky jerk father found this unbelievable  and thought paulie to be damaging to his   year old daughter  s mental health  and quickly tore them apart . we follow paulie  s adventures  and misadventures  as he attempts to reunite with his beloved owner  meeting many memorable characters along the way . oh yeah  paulie really could  smart  talk and had a swift new jersey accent . cool . the plot held thick and entertaining throughout  keeping me attracted . paulie is the best family movie i have found and wholeheartedly enjoyed . ever . seriously . pick up a copy and sit back and enjoy a true family movie  with the whole family . no sleeping . i promise .  
jean seberg had not one iota of acting talent . like all her films   bonjour tristesse  suffers not at all from her looks  though she is perhaps the first of those modern women whom tom wolfe gleefully  accurately describes as  boys with breasts   publicists  of course  use the word  gamine   but suffers grievously from seberg  s dull  monotonous  killing voice . in all her films when had to play anger  seberg played it with grossly audible  distracting  gasping panting between her monotonously droned verbalizations . oy .  br    br   preminger  s adaptation of franoise sagan  s breathlessly juvenile  fantasy soap opera plot is noteworthy only for his lush cinematography  but then that  s difficult to funk on the photogenic french riviera  and perhaps for his apt  but certainly not groundbreaking  employment of black  white for the present day scenes from which seberg  s monotone narration delivers us to the flashed  back  to color past .  br    br   juliette grco has a brief moment  as a nightclub chanteuse in the black  white spotlight  delivering in smoky dietrichesque voice the bleak existentialist lyric of the title song . this moment is nowadays  in retrospect  more than a wee bit drle . except  of course  if you  re french  particularly if you  re a french     er  longing for the glorious days of the barricades roundabout the sorbonne  and your kids riot to retain the lifelong sinecures which have blighted and emasculated france  s economy then you still believe in sartre and foucault and all such arcane  irrelevant theorists .  br    br   david niven has the hardest role  having to play with sufficient gusto an aging hedonist who  s yet to grasp that life isn  t all about sagan  s teenybopper notions of a hip  cool  swingin    mon copain   papa . deborah kerr delivers her usual  consummately professional presence  convincingly playing the woman who suffers undeservedly seberg  s spiteful teenaged snot  nose jealousy  fulfilling sagan  s shallow teen fantasy of the classical theme of  there can be only one queen bee in the hive    in fact  to kerr belongs this film  s sole great and memorable on  screen moment .  br    br   the dialogue is unnatural  i agree with an earlier reviewer who said that it sounds to be  badly translated  from french combine the unnatural scripting with seberg  s incomparably dull  unendurable monotone and you can save that valium for another night . atop all that the ineptly synched post  production voice dubbing is  almost throughout  obvious and thus much more than irksome this is especially true of the dubbing for mylne demongeot because it spoils her otherwise very pleasing dumb blonde performance .  br    br   hunky geoffrey horne gets the short end of the stick here  a very good looking young man who also suffered from a less  than  lovely  uncinematic voice which  when paired with seberg  s drone  yields unconvincing scenes of puppy love .  horne was  shall we say  merely adequate in  bridge on the river kwai   perhaps because his end was held up by those great cinema pros william holden and jack hawkins instead of being unsupported by the regrettably ungifted seberg  .  br    br   in sum  bonjour tristesse  is pretty to look at but it  s shallow  immature soap thin gruel with suds .  
this is absolutely the best none  animated family film i  ve seen in quite a while  back to the first homeward bound . paulie is a humerous movie about life through a parrot  s pov . it  s a really touching movie and ranks high among family films  up to disney status  imho .  
this is shallow hedonism and  or social commentary wrapped in a tragic tale about a jealous young woman  s scheme to drive apart her father and his fiance . is it incest or just a view through the eyes of a daughter with an electra complex  who cares  all of the characters  except for anne  deborah kerr  are vacuous and vile . seberg is poor  i agree with the  boys with breasts  comment of an earlier review  . the plot plodded . this predictable material was sufficient for about   minutes of film that unfortunately was stretched over an hour and a half  if you want to see great gowns and jewels on the riviera  i recommend  to catch a thief   in which you will get the added bonuses of an entertaining story and likable characters .  br    br   i like for films to entertain me . i personally don  t really care where a film is set . whatever the time or place  i want a good story  comedy or drama . i also want to see some enjoyable characters . it doesn  t hurt if i can relate to them . poor deborah kerr gives a typically good performance  and so does david niven in a despicable role .  br    br   the    rating is solely for kerr and niven  and for the cinematography  the rich color scenes and the murky  foreboding black and white scenes . unfortunately  all the great cinematography in the world cannot salvage a poor story with un  enjoyable characters . a sow  s ear is still a sow  s ear . consequently watching this mess was a serious waste of my time .  
i don  t know who could find fault with a simply human and funny film like this with lots of delights for your heart . i enjoyed each minute of it and guessed the ending half way through the movie   but that did not disappoint me at all . it will not only touch your heart but it  s such a good family friendly film   we need many more like these   
bonjour tristesse covers similar ground as  the member of the wedding .  to wit  a possessive daughter tries to prevent a relationship from forming between a beloved family member and an interloper . while critics love  member of the wedding   i find julie harris to be a jumbo  drag and an adenoidal  scenery  chomping thespian in everything she  s been in . this portrays irritating  rich idiots as in last year at marienbad  but this time it  s a travelogue .  br    br   in this preminger movie sequences develop  but characters do not . for the first   minutes he  s content to blur the father  daughter relationship between seberg and niven  making uncomfortable sexual readings possible . once the conflict is introduced  seberg can  t deliver the depth the part requires . kerr pulls rank and turns the film into  endless love .  seberg  s vacuous narration  is like something out of strange interlude  it is not good . i really wish someone other than niven was in his role . he spends so much time normalizing orthodox british behavior in all his movies  he never gets around to the character .  br    br   in the most memorable sequence  an evening out dancing becomes a free  for  all in a harbor . bertolucci steals the entire scene for his empty exercise   the conformist .  kerr is on board to clasp her hands and portray another major pain  as in black narcissus  night of the iguana  king and i  heaven knows mr . allyson  tea and sympathy  etc . etc .  . really  kerr was a horrible actress . i wish every movie with her could end with a fatal car crash  or even better  start with one .  br    br   people uncomfortable with ambiguity should avoid this .  
i was very surprised with this film . i was touched with the lives that paulie touched along his way to find his  marie  the little girl he was separated from . the humor was also very good and it did not hurt the story as i thought it would probably do . actually i was expecting  paulie wants a cracker  jokes to hurt this film but even that was done in a very humorous scene that turns very touching when paulie is in the research lab press room conference . so if you wish to see a good  animal that talks  film check this one out  much better than dr . dolittle in my opinion . paulie also has a surprised twist in the end that is done very nicely as well .  
the over  heated plot of  bonjour tristesse  is taken from a juvenile first novel by francoise sagan  which became a best  seller  though god knows why . for teenagers wanting to get rid of a potential step  parent it may have a certain appeal . don  t be taken in by the fact that david niven plays the playboy father and deborah kerr the step  mother  in  prospect . unfortunately  too much rests on the frail shoulders of jean seberg . she  s beautiful and easily fulfills the image of a spoiled teenager . the problem is that she can strike poses but she can  t act . anyone who saw her as joan of arc in otto preminger  s st . joan   seberg  s first film   knows she was incapable at   of carrying a film . this movie  also by preminger  fulfills the  promise  of the first . it was her second movie she was now   . what was preminger thinking  that niven and kerr could compensate for seberg  s lack of acting capacity  not a chance  seberg  s character is at the center of the story and  pretty though she is  convincing though she may be physically as a   year old  she can  t meet the emotional demands of the role . i don  t know if she ever became a successful actress in her short life because she did not have an impact on my consciousness in her later pictures . but anyone who thinks this film is better than mediocre needs a taste check . in spite of niven and kerr  this remains a juvenile story executed in juvenile fashion by a beautiful young girl who badly needed acting lessons .  
i was entranced by this touching and hilarious film  not to mention surprised . i was also surprised to find that the voice of paulie was performed by jay mohr . the performance was so finely nuanced  neither wavering into schmaltz nor becoming too hard under the new jersey swagger  that i thought that this must be some unsung old pro  not the baby  faced mr . mohr . a very impressive performance  indeed  and it  s gratifying to see his talents being taken seriously in a string of quirky  indie films .  
otto preminger directs this light as a feather story . bohemian jean seberg and her equally bohemian widower father david niven holiday in the south of france with nutty mylne demongeot . things are fine until family friend deborah kerr shows up . nivens  a degenerate womanizer  finds the conquest of kerr too hard to resist . that  s fine with seberg  as long as niven loves her and leaves her  as he  s done with all the women in his past . . . including demongeot  . when it appears as though she  s becoming second banana in niven  s life  seberg exact revenge on kerr . preminger tells the story in flashbacks from seberg  s perspective and cleverly combines black and white with sunnier color scenes . the cinematography by georges prinal is stunning . the film features some of preminger  s least heavy  handed direction  although he rarely allows any close  ups  which makes it difficult to make out what the actors are really feeling . arthur laurents wrote the script and it  s full of acidic dialog and funny scenes  mostly involving bird  brained demongeot  . seberg acquits herself fairly well  but niven is at his least appealing . . . and he shows no chemistry with either seberg or kerr . preminger really mis  steps with that casting . it  s a role that seems tailor made for someone closer to charles boyer . with geoffrey horne as seberg  s would  be suitor and martita hunt as his daffy mother . juliette grco  playing herself  sings the title song in a paris nightclub . the great titles are by preminger regular saul bass .  
some people might call  paulie  a kids  movie  but i wish to assert that it  s more than that . probably more than anything else  this movie successfully goes to great lengths to show the plight of immigrants in the united states  topical given the recent debates . portraying a parrot telling a russian immigrant janitor  tony shalhoub  of how he searched america for his original owners  the movie tells several stories . there  s the elderly woman  gena rowlands  whom he befriends  then a mexican immigrant  cheech marin   and others .  br    br   all in all  it  s a very well done movie . i usually don  t expect much from these sorts of movies  but this one is a treat . i certainly recommend it . also starring jay mohr  buddy hackett  bruce davison  hallie eisenberg and trini alvarado .  
warning  don  t even consider watching this film in any form . it  s not even worth downloading from the internet . every bit of porn has more substance than this wasted piece of celluloid . the so  called filmmakers apparently have absolutely no idea how to make a film . they couldn  t tell a good joke to save their lives . it  s an insult to any human being . if you  re looking for a fun  filled movie  go look somewhere else .  br    br   let  s hope this mr . unterwaldt  the  jr .  being a good indication for his obvious inexperience and intellectual infancy  dies a slow  painful death and never makes a film again .  br    br   in fact  it  s even a waste of time to write anything about this crap  that  s why i  ll stop right now and rather watch a good film .  
i  m no fan of newer movies  but this one was a real pleasure to watch . adults and children could watch it together  how unusual  my aunt liked it  too . it had laughter  tears  love  adventure  special effects  good actors  and a talking parrot . it reminded me of a favourite  the wizard of oz . the hero  paulie  an intelligent parrot  is separated from his home and family and goes through many adventures  temptations and disappointments  always keeping in mind his resolution to find his friend  marie . highly recommended .  
i guess i have still enough brain left to not find this movie funny .  great comedians  but a very poor movie  the  best  performance still did nina hagen  br    br   trivia did you realize that it the  real world  scenes  in hamburg  the cars are almost only new bmws    br    br   i guess i have still enough brain left to not find this movie funny .  great comedians  but a very poor movie  the  best  performance still did nina hagen  br    br   trivia did you realize that it the  real world  scenes  in hamburg  the cars are almost only new bmws    
this is a really heart  warming family movie . it has absolutely brilliant animal training and  acting   if you can call it like that  as well  just think about the dog in  how the grinch stole christmas  . . . it was plain bad training  . the paulie story is extremely well done  well reproduced and in general the characters are really elaborated too . not more to say except that this is a great movie   br    br   my ratings story  .      acting  .      animalsfx  .      cinematography     .  br    br   my overall rating      big family movie and very worth watching   
i  ve seen the first of the dwarf  movies and sometimes i had little fun watching it . there are many famous tv  comedyactors appearing in the first part and presented  in fantasy costumes  typical little episodes of their stand  up  program and exactly that is the problem the second movie has to struggle with . everything was already there . . . . nothing new to obtain . you  re familiar with most of the often boring and dumb  jokes  and you always feel like their goal was to put in every comedylooser of the last decade who wants to get back on stage . there  s nothing important about the story typical fairy  tale story of rumpelstiltskin  without any importance . i expected something like that but that  s nothing i could complain about . i  m actually complaining about the lazy story writers who had an entire background story their only business was to get many jokes and parodies inside but they didn  t get it anyway . this crap is except the great appearance of helge schneider a total waste of time and money .  if you don  t like him then remove  points of my evaluation  if you like to save your money and get bad jokes then watch the crap that  s broad casted every friday evening on sat  or rtl for free . i  m sure you will recognize some  laugthers  i saw last night in cinema .  
i have seen this film numerous times and for the life of me  i cannot understand why some people compare this to babe . this film is not about the secret life of all animals who secretly can talk . instead  it is about a parrot who learns to talk to help his owner  a little girl with a serious stammer  overcome her speech impediment only to be separated from her in a heart  wrenching scene early on . then the great journey begins . paulie the parrot sets out to try and find his one great friend  marie .  br    br   along the way  he meets several wonderful people and numerous nasty people . he falls in love with a girl parrot and loses her . he gets conned into a life of crime and then captured by a bad scientist who wants to exploit him .  br    br   he recounts his tale to a sympathetic janitor in the lab who agrees to help him escape and find his beloved marie .  br    br   tony shaloub shines as the kindly janitor who has an open mind and big heart and who determines to help little paulie despite the risks . jay mohr plays the voice of the parrot and one of the seedy characters he comes across .  br    br   there is a little suggestive language but this film is appropriate for most kids and even more so if the parents join in on the fun and watch too . it is a witty  clever  epic animal  adventure story and ultimately a great love story about a bird and his little girl . he search for marie ends with a quite an unexpected surprise for most people who dont know much about parrots .  br    br   kids who have seen the wild green parrot tribes in los angeles and pasadena will especially benefit from seeing this film and understanding that birds  especially parrots are not disposable pets . all children everywhere  will see that pets form deep attachments themselves and that the love and loyalty of a dog or parrot is a gift to be treasured .  br    br   so no babe here  more of an incredible journey with a twist .  br    br   enjoy and try no to tear up during the sad parts .  
there are a lot of highly talented filmmakers  actors in germany now . none of them are associated with this  movie  .  br    br   why in the world do producers actually invest money in something like this this  you could have made   good films with the budget of this garbage  it  s not entertaining to have seven grown men running around as dwarfs  pretending to be funny . what is funny though is that the film  s producer  who happens to be the oldest guy of the bunch  is playing the youngest dwarf .  br    br   the film is filled with moments that scream for captions saying  you  re supposed to laugh now   . it  s hard to believe that this crap  s supposed to be a comedy .  br    br   many people actually stood up and left the cinema   minutes into the movie . i should have done the same instead of wasting my time . . .  br    br   pain   
something about  paulie  touched my heart as few movies do . it is a witty  funny yet emotional movie . i  m a late comer in becoming a fan of this movie . i didn  t see  paulie  until may      and have since ordered the widescreen dvd from a seller at ebay .  br    br   the special effects of showing paulie talking are superb . my son asked me how the bird knew so many phrases . probably my favorite part of the movie is when paulie is in gena rowlands  ivy  s  company followed by cheech marin  ignacio  . tony shalhoub  misha  plays an excellent part as the good hearted human . you root for him all the way through the movie .  br    br   you can  t go wrong renting or buying this movie    
despite what a lot of other people thought about the first movie  i really liked it . this one however . how to sum it up in one word   this movie is  and here comes the word   crap   br    br   but let  s look at it part by part here is the plot finally the old queen has been removed from her castle  but her successor snow white has problems of another sort the court  jester  father of her son  has gone astray  as the super  spliss  goes to the extreme  to battle his gray hair and sells the royal offspring for some blond and full hair . in her desperation snow white seeks the help of bubi  otto walkees   who must first find his other six dwarf companions and then try to find the royal offspring or at least try to find the name of rumpelstiltskin .  br    br   the whole plot seems to have been written on a weekend  where the writers were very drunk but were just under pressure from the studio to write the screenplay .  br    br   yes  there are some good jokes . even for fans of the first part  or for fans of any of the other actors  it  s really not worth buying the the dvd . believe me .  br    br   the only thing  that at least kind of saves the movie from complete oblivion  are the performances of some of the actors . that  s why i gave the move     . sadly  the script is so bad that none of the actors or all of them combined can make up for the bad story .  br    br   for example  at one point  they even cross over in our reality  and sadly . . they don  t do anything funny while being here .  br    br   still  a lot of great actors in this movie otto waalkes  ralf schmitz  martin schneider  nina hagen  cosma shiva hagen   especially funny   rdiger hoffmann as the mirror  helge schneider and many more but sadly all these comedians aren  t able to bring this really bad script to life .  br    br   maybe it is a treat for some hardcore fans but for regular movie goers or by now dvd renters or buyers it  s not worth the money .  br    br   i even regret renting the movie .  
miike makes a children  s adventure film  not unlike the neverending story . it  s actually one of my least favorite of the director  s films . even the worst miike is better than a good many films  though  and the great yokai war has a lot in it that  s worth recommending . it  s at least as loud and obnoxious as most american kiddie flicks . i might think kids themselves would find a lot to like in it  the dvd includes an english dub   but  like all of miike  s films  it can tend to move very slowly . that means you  ve got kind of a weird unevenness  where sometimes there  s a loud action sequence and the next scene will drag on forever as characters converse . the story itself isn  t very good  either  and miike  s perpetual flaw of incoherency rears its ugly head . most of what i liked came from the technical side of things . this has to be miike  s most expensive movie  and it looks fantastic .  yokai  are japanese spirits  and they come in all different  fantastical forms  and the costume designers  special effects crew  and everyone else involved in the designs just did an outstanding job . i  ve seen the     film this one is supposedly based on  yokai monsters spook warfare   and the cheesy rubber  suit monsters you can find there have been transformed into more believable entities using state  of  the  art makeup and special effects . i especially liked the look of one of the bad guys  or girls  in this case   agi  who sports dark eye shadow  a tight  white outfit  a white beehive hairdo and a whip . she  s played  incidentally  by chiaki kuriyama  whom you might remember as lucy liu  s teenage henchgirl in kill bill vol .  . the hero of the film is played by ryunosuke kamiki  who provided voices for miyazaki  s spirited away and howl  s moving castle .  
i was rooting for this film as it  s a remake of a     s children  s tv series  escape into night  which  though chaotic and stilted at times was definitely odd  fascinating and disturbing . the acting in  paperhouse  is wooden  unintentionally a joke . the overdubs didn  t add tension they only reinforced that i was sat watching a botch . casting exasperated the dreary dialogue which resulted in relationships lacking warmth  chemistry or conviction . as in most lacklustre films there are a few good supporting acts these people should be comforted  consoled and reassured that they will not be held responsible . out of all the possible endings the most unexpected was chosen . . . lamer than i could have dreamt .  br    br    escape into night  deserves a proper remake  written by someone with life experience and directed with a subtle mind .  
i was reviewing some old vhs tapes i have and came across the tv show john denver  the muppets a christmas together . this made me go to my computer and look it up to see if i could find a dvd version of this show to buy . i was disappointed not to be able to find it yet on dvd . the show aired in     and was a delightful show . i have the record and the cd but i would love to buy a dvd version of this show . the tape is old and picture quality is pretty good but fading  the sound is not as good as the cd . there is also a few other songs not put on the cd . as a fan of john denver and of the muppets  a dvd of this show would really be a good seller . if you don  t have the cd it is a wonderful chritmas collection of songs taken from that show . the album is also good if you can find it and still have a record player to play it on .  
 . . oh wait  i can  this movie is not for the typical film snob  unless you want to brush up on your typical cinematic definitions  like  continuity editing  and  geographic match  . i couldn  t tell where i was in this movie . one second they  re in the present  next minute their supposedly in the    s driving a modern suv and wearing what looked like to me as    s style clothing . i think . i couldn  t pay long enough attention to it since the acting was just horrible . i think it only got attention because it has a  d which i did not watch . if you  re a b  movie buff  and by b  movie i mean bad movie  then this film is for you . it  s home  movie and all non  sense style will keep you laughing for as long as you can stay awake . if your tastes are more for goddard and antonioni  though  just skip this one .  
somehow  this movie manages to be invigorating  bittersweet  and heartwarming at the same time . stars like tony shalhoub  from providence  bring the tale to life . the story itself is inspiring . we see a desperate  up  and  down life through the most innocent eyes imaginable a bird  s .  br    br   paulie begins his life as a baby parrot given to a little girl  played by hallie eisenberg  also known as the pepsi girl  with a speech impediment . while she learns to speak correctly  so does paulie . however  unlike most birds  he can speak and understand everything being said . the military father doesn  t like the bird  so he is sent to a pawn shop and bought by an aging artist  ivy . she teaches him manners  etc .  while traveling across the country to find paulie  s owner . the movie continues with several twists of fate  until paulie ends up at a laboratory where he is eventually hidden away in a basement  and found by a russian custodian  who is touched by the bird  s story . the plot is in keeping with the simple  metaphorical theme that language is a gift  and a curse . i would like to say that the soundtrack is astounding . a beautiful mixture of flute  digital base  and horns enhance the movie to the point of pure ecstasy . the sweeping camera angles and breathtaking scenery beautify the story even more . and  as a final remark  the puppetry is entirely believable .  unlike in star wars  where yoda resembles a muppet  this film is one of my favorite movies  with the added remark that my wonderful parakeet of four years died recently . overall  i give this movie  out of four stars  two thumbs up  and a big hug .  
i agree with most of the other guys . a waste of photons and valuable time .  br    br   nearly no joke is worth the paper is was written on . the only highlight from my pov is olli dittrich as pinocchio .   egal  ich muss eh waldsterben   this reminds of old times with rtl samstag nacht . it is hard to describe the performances of the actors  since most of them don  t even seem to have a good time during production and just  do their thing  . camera is ok  plot is laughable  i think you would be ashamed even if you discuss this with lots of beers .  br    br   apart from this i yawned all the time  wondered about how a script like this could even be considered for production and waited for the end .  br    br   my  year old son was pleased  but then he is pleased by so little at this age     br    br   anyway  a  point rating here nearly is  point too much . . .  
a fantastic show and an unrealized classic the league of gentlemen remains as one of the greatest modern comedies of recent times .  br    br   with a dark and bizarre style of humor that towers over the tired  formulaic approach of it  s inferior  yet unfortunately far more acknowledged successor  little britain  the league of gentlemen was truly something special during a rather quiet era in british comedy .  br    br   up until it  s arrival on the scene  there had never really been anything like the league of gentlemen before . on the surface  a seemingly simplistic sketch show  the show soon unfolds as a vivid  sinister but incredibly hilarious universe populated with all manner of brilliant comedic creations . what really sets the show apart from it  s rivals  is it  s approach to telling us it  s story . rather than serve us re  hashed sketches  barely distinguishable from the next  here we see each individual or group of characters go through their various journeys and story lines . no visit to them is the same  and each time they offer us up with a surprise .  br    br   gradually  over three series  and a christmas special  the fictional town of royston vasey is heaving with a grotesque yet hilarious populace . and that  s probably the main reason why the show is such a joy to watch  and also the reason why the show would easily merit more series   unlike other current shows like the catherine tate show or more importantly little britain  the league both know when a character has run it  s course  and have the opportunity to deal with that . several fan favorite  s  who could have easily been kept on to entertain further  bowed out before the series came to a close  giving room for fellow characters to grow more  or allow for the introduction of newer residents of royston vasey to make their mark .  br    br   another thing that sets this show above others is that the writing team approach the script process with care and intelligence . as mentioned before  all four members of the league have a sound mind when it comes to judging the longevity of their creations  and when it  s time to call it quits in respect to certain characters . this awareness has also meant the league of gentlemen undergoes a bold evolution  not usually seen in a show of this nature . the narrative driven  and far darker third series is a brave step away from the more sketch based first two series  and this bold move by the league really pays off . with the third series  there  s less of an urgency for them to please an audience  and like the christmas special  they pursue individual stories with a clear narrative  unlike the more sketch  based previous series  that  succesfully  binded together various sets of sketches into a series  long story arc .  br    br   the third series is both a refreshing change of pace of style  as well as a real treat for fans who  ve already seen the first two . despite some polarized opinion on the third series  any real fan of the league will appreciate what the third series has to offer  as well as really enjoy the more character based episodes  that only delve deeper into fan favorite  s  but pair up and inter  wine characters that might not have crossed paths previously .  br    br   it might take a little trying to get into the change in style  but it  s definitely worth it  and in my opinion  the third series is the best and also provides a firm conclusion to the series .  br    br   the show  s not without it  s drawbacks  and very occasionally certain characters and set pieces appear somewhat out of place  but for the most part  the genius writing  dark nature of the show and the host of brilliant characters  that are often all too close to real life  make for a real treat and prove what comedy should be about and puts much of the more recent  catch phrase driven and often desperate attempts at comedy to shame  
a really bad sequel . part  had a lot of funny moments  part  is just bad  in a boring way  and obviously made to squeeze money out of the fans .  br    br   shame on you  otto waalkes   br    br   the only slightly amusing moment in the film is helge schneider who apparently seems to be pised about the other characters . it  s quite easy to identify with him . . .  br    br   the screenplay is sloppy  non  existent . the director should do everyone a favor and quit his job immediately . the acting is worse than a  nd grade school play .  br    br   technically the movie is awful as well  but who can blame the cinematographer  sound guys who had to work with such an untalented director   
the town of royston vasey is a weird  but wonderful place . the characters would be just wrong and too disturbing but the fantastically brilliant writing means that it works  and it works very well . most people will know others with a touch of some characters  but hopefully no one knows people with extremes of personalities such as tubbs and edward  the stranger  hating owners of the local shop  or the pen  obsessed pauline who treats  dole scum  with much contempt . that was only a few of the strange inhabitants . the tv works consists of  series and a christmas special . there are references to many horror films  such as the wicker man . a more recent addition to the range of works is a film  the league of gentlemens apocalypse  of which i will not say much but highly recommend . all in all the league of gentlemen is a hilarious comedy show with genius writing and brilliantly bonkers characters . i would definitely say that it is worth watching as you wont regret it   
i don  t think this movie was rated correctly . i took my copy and blacked out the pg rating and wrote down r . i would not recommend this for anyone under   or    whatever the r limit is .  br    br   why  it contains a scene in the jungle with several topless indian women . i don  t know about you  but that  s not something for little children to be watching . true  it might be the traditional  clothing style  of the african    indians  but . . . i think partial nudity should give a movie an r rating .  br    br   i haven  t seen the movie recently  but i guess otherwise  it was alright .  
one of the best comedy series to ever come out of britain . mark gatiss  reece shearsmith and steve pemberton are terrific actors and performers who seem at home with drama as they are with comedy . ably supported by their writing partner jeremy dyson  they have peopled the series with the most memorable characters of recent years . little britain pales into insignificance as a poor imitation of their ideas . consistently original and groundbreaking i am sure that as many people hate these series as love them but i am equally as sure that no one could have no opinion on log . i have yet to see the feature length movie but i have heard good things and bad things so i will reserve judgement . the original radio series from which log came was as innovative as the tv series became . i don  t know whether the tv series made it to the us but i would be fascinated to see how american audiences found the weird englishness of the humour  
for those who are too young to know this or for those who have forgotten  the disney company went almost down the tubes by the end of the     s . people were not seeing their movies anymore and the company was not producing the usual wholesome material . . . . at least no what people expected . a major problem profanity .  br    br   yes  the idiots running the disney movies during that decade would produce films with swear words  including the lord  s name in vain  if you can believe that  interspersed in these  family films .  in fact that happens twice here in the first   minutes   br    br   this movie  in addition to the language problems  has a nasty tone to it  too  which made it unlikeable almost right from the beginning . thankfully  disney woke up and has produced a lot of great material since these decadent    s movies .   touchstone  is disney  just under another name .   
i can  t believe it  s been ten years since this show first aired on tv and delighted viewers with its unique mixture of comedy and horror . this is the show that gave birth to a good part of modern british humor dr . terrible  s house of horrible garth marenghi  s darkplace the mighty boosh snuff box . many have imitated this show  s style  and i don  t deny some have surpassed its quality . but jermy dyson deserves being remembered for having started the trend  with actors mark gatiss  steve pemberton  and reece shearsmith .  br    br   together they created royston vasey  a sinister small town in england  s idyllic countryside  where unsuspecting tourists and passers  by come across an obsessive couple that wants to keep the town local and free of strangers where the unemployed are abused and insulted at the job center where a farmer uses real people as scarecrows where a vet kills all the animals he tries to cure where a gypsy circus kidnaps people and where the butcher adds something secret but irresistible to the food to hook people on .  br    br   this is just a whiff of what the viewer can find in the league of gentlemen . by themselves  the three actors give birth to dozens and dozens of unique characters . the make up and prosthetics are so good i actually thought i watching a lot more actors on the show than there were . but it  s also great acting the way they change their voices and their body movement  the really become other people .  br    br   most of the jokes start with something ordinary  from real life  and then blows up into something unsettling  sometimes gut  wrenching . sometimes it  s pure horror without a set up  like in papa lazarou  s character . just imagine a creepy circus owner on make  up barging into someone  s house and kidnapping women to be his wives . no explanation given . it  s that creepy . then there are the numerous references to horror movies se  en  the silence of the lambs  nosferatu  the exorcist  etc .  br    br   fans of horror will love it  fans of comedy will love it . as any traveler entering knows  there  s a sign there that says  welcome to royston vasey you  ll never leave .  any viewer who gives this show a chance will agree . once you discover the league of gentlemen  you  ll never want anything else  you  ll never forget it .  
okay  if you have a couple hours to waste  or if you just really hate your life  i would say watch this movie . if anything it  s good for a few laughs . not only do you have obese  topless natives  but also special effects so bad they are probably outlawed in most states . seriuosly  the rating of  pg  is pretty humorous too  once you see the native porn extravaganza . i wouldn  t give this movie to my retarded nephew . you couldn  t even show this to iraqi prisoners without violating the geneva convention . the plot is sketchy  and clich  and dumb  and stupid . the acting is horrible  and the ending is so painful to watch i actually began pouring salt into my eye just to take my mind off of the idiocy filling my tv screen .  
this is probably the best television show i  ve ever seen . i first saw it on comedy central several years ago . at the time i was unaware that it had been dramatically edited and was shown out of order  and having just watched all three series in order and unedited  thank you internet and your wondrous  series of tubes   i am so glad i rediscovered it  i think comedy central sort of picked and chose their way through series one and two to make a  season  . . . . . . and i tried to get friends and family to watch it  but nobody really seemed to like it  i need new friends  . so  on my own  i made the best out of it that i could . even when i felt like it was waning a bit  i still felt compelled to continue watching . years after when i discovered little britain  i immediately recognized pauline from log as having influenced marjorie in fat fighters . also  i love the idea of writers who act the entire show . . . .  not new  but done impeccably here  . lb has nothing on log   no offense  matt  david . . . . love you   this is indeed a darkly comedic piece of genius . serial murder  implied cannibalism . . . . . you name it and it  s probably found in this wonderful  unique piece of tv art . the location shots from the very first scene themselves are chilling and seem to beckon you to the town of royston vasey . . . . . you  ll never leave  i think my favorite character would have to be tubbs  but each character as portrayed has it  s own  charm  . my least favorite was papa lazarous  that was until he re  surfaced in series three  clever and wholly unexpected   it  s best to watch several episodes in a row as it drives the continuity and as i said before  becomes so compelling  while repulsing  that you really can  t stop watching . this is not for those with weak stomachs  kids  conservatives or grandma  unless you  ve got one saucy granny   i have always loved british tv  particularly comedies  from monty python to benny hill  red dwarf to keeping up appearances  absolutely fabulous and the british originals coupling and the office  but not their us counterparts . . . . sorry  . this is unlike any of those in that it completely redraws the line between what  s funny and what  s just sick and twisted . nothing  nothing on us tv has ever come close to this level of entertainment . us broadcast tv is so sad and lame  i can barely stand to watch any of it . it  s kind of sad that even our cable channels don  t have the guts to show unedited versions of this gem  your loss  comedy central  . thankfully there are shows like this one that come from the  across the pond  that redeem the entire medium every decade or so . basic cable here in the us has been making tiny steps the last few years in confidently  crossing lines  with more graphic sexual content  drug use and adult language  but they are still years away from just deciding to be adults about showing real life  adult behavior  instead of just murder obsession and blowing things up  sheesh  it  s like the same basic show format for the past   years   don  t even get me started on us sitcoms  waste of time and lots of wasted money . . . . . . did you know that  according to jim  has been on the air for   years      years   anyway . . . watch this show  get it on dvd  do what you must and then make your friends watch it as well  you  ve never seen anything like it . there are three specials that i have not watched yet . . . . i  m saving them to spring on my best friend next time he visits . he  ll watch them  even if i have to chain him up and paint him with excrement  lines and lines and lines and lines  note that series three departs from one and two . . . . the greater town seems to fall away to concentrate on newer characters  the laugh track is gone  thank bloody hell   the theme is more band and less orchestra and a bit of the story takes place outside of royston vasey . don  t be thrown by any of that as by the end  the series has preserved the quiet perversity first demonstrated in series one and two . i think these four guys have created something sort of undefinable . brilliant  confident and absolutely demented . you will want to re  watch it again and again . it  s amazing that in  seconds of screen time they can go from cheap sight  gag to horrifying blasphemy then end with a single actors close  up facial expression . if ever i were to meet any of the writer  performers  i  d implore them not to recreate it or try to top it . . . . . i  d just say  can i help you at all    then they  d probably slap me  so i  d ask them to sign the slap  mark     out of    
i saw the movie as a child when it was released in the theater and it was so bad that it became the makings of a family joke . if the ranking had a zero  this movie would get it . the dinosaurs were awful . the storyline was ridiculous . the acting really doesn  t qualify to be called acting . the only reason i even remember the name of the movie so well is because my family still talks about how bad it really was .  
the league of gentlemen is one of the funniest  strangest  darkest and most unforgettable comedies of our time . so much so  it paved the way for more comedies of its ilk  many of which have copied the style  but have never succeeded .  br    br   unlike every other sketch show around  the characters of the league of gentlemen are all loosely connected . firstly they all live in the fictional town of royston vasey  in the back of beyond of northern england .  br    br   the first characters to greet newcomers are tubbs and edwrad  the pig  faced owners of a supposedly local shop situated so far away most of the residents probably don  t know of its existence . other oddities include the denton family  with an obsession with hygiene  chastity and toads hillary briss who sells a special yet thankfully unknown brand of meat pauline  a restart officer with a sharp tongue and even sharper pens mr . chinnery  kind  hearted vet and menace to all things four  legged geoff tipps  a plastics salesman with a vicious sense of humour  often involving guns  electric tubes and . . . . . . . plums       br    br   despite being a comedy at heart  the league of gentlemen often transcends genres whilst never appearing to be spoofing or ripping off other people  s material . there are several horror references such as the disappearance of a hiker  a pair of silent twins  an obsessive circus owner  and a sudden outbreak of nosebleeds . even more striking are moments when the series takes on a more sobre tone and aforementioned characters such as pauline and geoff are shown in a more sympathetic  vulnerable light . the film adaptation is the best demonstration of this  but some fans may decide they belong local .  br    br   the equally underrated third series also takes a different route  instead of sketches each episode focuses on an individual character with each storyline leading to one conclusion involving a plastic bag and a runaway theatre company van . although many fans may not enjoy the structure of the film or the third series as much as the first two  they  re certainly signs to how inventive the league of gentlemen can be  and how unafraid to explore new areas .  br    br   in short  the league of gentlemen is definitely worth a look  as like the welcome signs says you  ll never leave   
 . . . and i actually gave it a zero on my personal     scale . i have been attending movies since     and have seen well over     in the theater  i don  t rate movies that i see only on tv  . this is the only movie i have ever rated zero .  br    br   my wife and i took our four children  then aged        and   and even the kids thought it was terrible . in fact  it was my daughter  now    who alerted me to this site  amazed that the movie was getting an overall rating of    .  br    br   the animation of the dinosaurs looked amateurish at the time  and is even worse in retrospect   the acting  particularly by sean young  is atrocious and the story line is simply silly .  br    br    
about a year ago i finally gave up on american television . i thought of giving up television completely until a friend who had lived in england showed me some programs that included the office  extras  blackadder  and the league of gentlemen . it was then that i decided to switch to british television . among all the shows listed above  the league of gentlemen is easily the most dark and twisted of them all  providing guilty laughs and material not found in any other comedy i  ve seen yet . characters included are the most unhappily married couple  a butcher that puts ingredients in the meat that go unsaid  probably for the best   a deranged couple that look over a local shop that only caters to local people  and the worst veterinarian ever . this program is one of the best i  ve seen .  
this wasn  t what i wanted to see . i bought this on dvd and under the movie i found myself irritated and turned off the movie for a moment .  br    br   heres what i didn  t like  br    br    they were shooting at the father  br    br    the tribes was really annoying  br    br    the dinosaurs  mostly  looked to faked  br    br    the bad scientist well he was annoying  br    br    the picture quality on the dvd was really bad  br    br   what i did like  br    br    the music by jerry goldsmith . this music is really great . i have the bootleg soundtrack from this movie . sadly the sound quality is not good  but its ok for its time .  br    br    the first time we see the dinosaurs they inspire a sort of awe .  br    br    baby is kinda cute when he is in the water and is playing  br    br    that funny scene with the tent .  br    br    the children who sees this film would hopefully learn that evil always loses .  
i never really watched this program before although it came highly recommended by members of my family . funnily enough  my girlfriend lives in hadfield  the filming location  and she pointed out a few landmarks when i first visited .  br    br   this got my interest going so i bought the  st series on video and sat down to watch . besides recognising some of the locations  i found myself not in the least bit surprised . once again the bbc were responsible for producing another example of the finest comedy in the world . tlog easily ranks up there with red dwarf  fawlty towers and monty python as probably the best .  br    br   suffice to say i am hooked on the program now . the characters are superb and show unusual depth while retaining a scarily realistic edge . the look and feel of the program is perfect and reflects the sometimes bleak feeling of the north  no disrespect to hadfield which i have found a very welcoming and warm place  .  br    br   i only hope that it continues its originality throughout its run  which based upon the  nd series which concluded its rerun in the uk last night  it certainly is  .  br    br   well done the bbc    
when the employees of a theater find an old reel of film  they decide to show it at the midnight screening of night of the living dead  assuming it  s an old preview reel . unfortunately  it  s actually an old nazi mind control experiment that turns the audience into a horde of mindless shuffling zombies .  br    br   i can  t understand the hate for this movie . it is a low budget independent production with a lot of camp  but it doesn  t deserve a   .   here on imdb . it is just so much fun . it is obvious that the filmmakers have a reasonable knowledge and love of old horror movies  and they have created an entertaining tribute to them sprinkled with references and homages to a variety of them . it has the feel of such things as night of the living dead  in many ways  very similar   evil dead  and army of darkness  and various others .  br    br   i liked the explanation of how the zombies  though really just hypnotized into thinking they are zombies  actually come to have the physical attributes of the living dead  unbelievable  perhaps  but i appreciate the effort by the writers to explain it . the gore effects were decent for the budget  the acting was all right  and the story was entertaining .  br    br   i liked it .  
i first flicked onto the log accidentally one night while waching television since then  i have never missed an episode .  br    br   it  s humour is very weird  like a cross between brass eye  s social commentary  the fast show  s excellent one  liners  and an amazing plot that seems to develop each week without ever going anywhere . the best example of this was hillary briss  s special stuff  what was that all about   br    br   the humour will not appeal to all . some will say it  s just too sick  and it  s easy to see where they  re coming from . nonetheless  give it a try . if you don  t like it  don  t watch it  but if you do like it you  ll be very glad you took my advice .  
   seconds into the opening credits  i had this feeling that this was going to be a bad movie  but i didn  t know just how bad . then the actor playing the evil nazi scientist opens his mouth and my friend and i decide that in order to survive this movie  we  ll have to turn the volume down  make up our own dialogue and double the speed on the dvd . but that didn  t help . about half way through we turned it off . now  i  ve lived through some very bad movies before  both with and without the aide of  mystery science theater      and  svengoolie   but there are just some movies which i doubt even the bots can save . the biggest part of the movie that bothered me the most was that the people hypnotized into believing they  re zombies had rotting green skin . i guess they were all hypnotized into death  then hypnotized into rotting themselves . stick to the real b  movie cult classics like  plan nine from outer space .   
now  i have seen a lot of movies in my day  but out of every single one there have been a very select few that have been really good to me . and i  m a   year old man which is impressed by this movie directed towards a younger audience . this is a very underrated gem for those who watch foreign movies . almost all the acting is believable  the graphics are decent  for which you won  t even be caring about as you watch the movie . trust me  bitching about the graphics would be a stupid thing to do   the story is well written and it  s a movie that everyone can enjoy not just the kids .  br    br   here  s basically what this movie made me to . it one  made me laugh . . . a lot  two  made me feel for the characters like you  re suppose to  and three  it  s a very uplifting story . by the end of this movie you will feel good . sure  what anime out there hasn  t featured some young kid turning into a great warrior and whatever to defeat some great evil . it  s a formula that is used a lot . but  in this case it is forgivable because even though they use puppets for some characters and some average graphics you  d see  years ago  the appearance of it is not to be judged . it  s very touching  the ending is original  and it keeps you into the movie like it is suppose to . if you however try comparing this to other movies like  the never  ending story  or whatever it will diverse your opinion . watch it as it is and you will enjoy it .  br    br   it has been a good long while since i  ve been impressed like this . the only other movie where i have gotten this feeling is when i saw tmnt way back when it came out . there is something about this movie i felt about tmnt that really made me love it . so don  t over  analyze or take this movie too seriously  just enjoy it .  
normally i  m not the sort to be scared by horror movies  but this movie is the exception . some how this movie got into my mind    it is a very simple movie but at the same time extremelly effective  it has great atmosphere and this leads to some shocking moments  the girls father coming down the hill is a real standout . another seen was the family photo i wasn  t expecting that and i jumped out my seat    i would recommend everyone to see this movie  with the lights out it will stay with you for a long time       
this is what makes me proud to be british . this is by far the funniest thing on tv . the league consists of jeremy dyson  steve pemberton  mark gatiss and the lovely reece shearsmith . totally underrated  this horror  comedy is perfection . the characters are iconic and the catchphrases bizarre   hello dave  . it is a comedy that everyone simply must watch .  br    br   the best thing about the league of gentlemen is that it is always fresh  and always pushing the boundaries . it does not need to rely on catchphrases  unlike little britain  for it to be funny . the fact that the league are willing to kill off arguably their most famous and iconic characters  shows us that they  ve got balls of steel .  
it  s obvious that the people who made  dead at the box office  love b  movie horror . overt references to the genre are peppered throughout  from stock characters  the authority figure who doesn  t believe the monstrous invasion is really happening  to kevin smith style discussions to reenacting duane jones  last moments from  night of the living dead  not once but twice .  br    br   unfortunately it takes more than love to make a good movie .  br    br   the staging and shot choice are unexciting and unimaginative . while a common admonition in film school is to avoid  mastershot theatre   telling the story completely in a wide master shot  here we find the obverse as in several sequences it  s hard to figure out the spatial relationships between characters as the story is told in a series of medium shots with no establishing shot to tie it together . editing is drab and basic and at times there are unmotivated cuts . the lighting is flat and sometimes muddy  making the scenes in the darkened theatre hard to make out  was there lighting  or was this shot with available light only   . some shots are out of focus . the dialogue is trite  and the performances  for the most part  one  note  isaiah robinson shows some energy and screen presence as curtis  and the fellow playing the projectionist has some pleasantly dickish line readings michael allen williams as the theater manager and casey kirkpatrick as enthusiastic film geek eric have some nice moments  . the premise is silly  even for a b horror flick  also  it  s too bad dr eisner was unaware of project paperclip  he could  ve saved himself a lot of trouble   . the  zombies  are non  threatening  and their makeup is unconvincing  although the chunky zombie trying to get a gumball out of the machine raised a smile  . for a zombie fan film  there is very little blood or violence  although what there is  is handled pretty well . the incidental music  while stylistically uneven  is kind of nice at times  and there are some good foley effects . the  time warp  parody was a fun listen  although the images going along with it were less fun to watch . unfortunately  the looped dialogue sounds flat . was this shot non  sync  doubtful  it looks like video through and through   i watched the special introduction by troma films  lloyd kaufman before the main feature  although it consisted essentially of kaufman plugging his own stuff and admitting that he hadn  t seen the movie while someone mugged in a toxie mask  its production and entertainment values were higher than  dead . . .  itself  quick aside to whoever put the dvd together  the countdown on film leader beeps only on the flash  frame   not on every number plus one more after  . for that matter  the vampire film theatregoers are seen watching early in  dead . . .  looked a lot more entertaining than this . recommendation to avoid  unless you know someone involved in the production or are an ardent lloyd kaufman completist  he plays  kaufman the minion  in the film  within  a  film  .  br    br    full disclosure my girlfriend is an extra in this movie . i swear this did not color my review .   
well  i just discovered that there is a show more disgusting and shocking than  little britain  and i like it   the league of gentlemen  is a sick british comedy that is about the most awful  insane and disgusting small town in all the uk . this place makes dibley and craggy island  from  the vicar of dibley  and  father ted   seem pretty normal   the format of the show is a lot like little britain except that all of it centers around the townspeople of this one hellish town . both shows feature the same skits again and again every episode and some obviously inspired  little britain   particularly the job seeking class skit  . but the show differs because although it is crude like  little britain   hence not a show for kids   the show has a sick and sadistic quality that sets it apart from all these shows . in particular  animal cruelty and serial killing are recurring themes throughout the show .  br    br   now if you haven  t guessed  this is not a show for kids  the easily offended or normal people and that  s probably why i liked it . however  you really do need very thick skin and a love of the awful to enjoy this to the max . funny and incredibly irreverent beyond belief   you have to see it to believe it .  
a response to previous comments made by residents of the region where this motion picture was lensed one person suggested that the closing and destruction of the ocean view amusement park led to a downturn in the surrounding neighborhoods . this is simply not true . prior to the construction of interstate    which bypasses the ocean view area  the primary route for traffic went through the heart of ocean view . once the interstate was completed  ocean view rapidly became a ghost town with businesses closing up and an increase in crime . this led to a huge reduction in revenues for the park  which also faced new competition from nearby busch gardens in williamsburg . meanwhile  in the past few years  the city of norfolk has done a remarkable job of fostering redevelopment so that the area has become a sought  after location for construction of high  end housing .  br    br   it has also been said that the destruction footage of the roller coaster was used in the film  rollercoaster  . this is also untrue . footage was shot of two coaster cars careening off the ride for that film  but the actual explosions and collapse are exclusive to  death of ocean view park  .  br    br   as to the film itself  the storyline of a  supernatural  force in the water adjacent to the park was certainly silly  but somewhat typical for b  grade movies of the time . with the cast involved  there should be no surprise that the scenery was gnawed in almost every scene by the primary actors . i don  t believe this film was intended to be another  citizen kane   i believe playboy was experimenting with a new non  nude format to determine if this was an area for the company to expand into  apparently not   . a strange force in the water causing strange events in an old amusement park probably sounded good at the conference table  but proved unmanageable in execution . the roller coaster and the rest of the park was destined for the wrecking ball anyway  let  s come up with a weird way to justify an explosive demise   .  br    br   for the casual movie viewer  this would be a  see once and forget about it  film  except for diana canova fans   but for the thousands of people who live in the region and have fond memories of the park  this movie is like a  walk down memory lane  for footage of the park as well as old footage of downtown norfolk  the first  harborfest   and old dominion university . even a limited release of this film on dvd would be welcome .  
another review likened this troupe to a cross between monty python and twin peaks  also aptly . yet another review expounded on the differences between the comedy we enjoy non  critically and black comedy  also well worth consideration .  br    br   watch the whole thing  all three series . at the end  all the characters are tied up and the puzzle pieces fall into place just as well as a douglas adams novel . the detail and intricacies are staggering . thoroughly post  modern . wickedly funny  and startlingly tragic . not for kids . not for those with thin skins or who lack objectivity . thought  provoking . at once literal  figurative  and surreal in disturbing ways . the blackest comedy i can recall .  br    br   and very possibly the most wonderful thing i will ever see .  
this movie is one of the most wildly distorted portrayals of history . horribly inaccurate  this movie does nothing to honor the hundreds of thousands of dutch  british  chinese  american and indigenous enslaved laborers that the sadistic japanese killed and tortured to death . the bridge was to be built  over the bodies of the white man  as stated by the head japanese engineer . it is disgusting that such unspeakable horrors committed by the japanese captors is the source of a movie  where the bridge itself  isn  t even close to accurate to the actual bridge . the actual bridge was built of steel and concrete  not wood . what of the survivors who are still alive today  they hate the movie and all that it is supposed to represent . their friends were starved  tortured  and murdered by cruel sadists . those that didn  t die of dysantry  starvation  or disease are deeply hurt by the movie that makes such light of their dark times .  
this series premiered on the cable tv station  comedy central  in the united states . it was chopped to death  and shown out of sequence . this was sad for the audience it should have attracted  it didn  t and fell by the wayside . luckily  at the same time my cable company went digital and i got the bbc . thank goodness because i got to see  the league of gentlemen  in order  complete and uncut .  br    br    the league of gentlemen  troupe is right up there with england  s  monty python  s flying circus  and canada  s  the kids in the hall  . but . . a warning .  br    br    the league of gentlemen  though are one step beyond . it  s not only about dressing in drag and lampooning the cultural ills  it goes deeper and much  much  darker . i can tell many of you now   it will offend certain groups of people  it will enrage others . but remember  its only comedy . . dark  dark comedy . if that is not your thing  don  t watch . if you think you know dark comedy  watch this   if you get angry and upset  then you don  t quite know dark comedy .  br    br   these guys got it right  and right on the button . they are brilliant  they are excellent and i enjoyed each and every character creation . there  s a complete story that is told here from episode one to the end . you cannot watch this one episode at a time  willy nilly  that is one of the charms of this series . watch it in order . see how creative and stylish and deeply disturbed these guys are . no one and nothing is out of bounds . that  my dears  is  dark humor  . bravo   
the first time i watched cold case was after it had run for about a year on danish television . at the time it came to the tv it nearly drowned in  or  other american crime shows aired roughly the same time .  br    br   i saw it and i was bored to death . the substandard actors with the self righteous faces and morals were a pain in the behind . the entire premise that so much money was given